Patronverse Previews - September

Drakaina has cut loose and now the entire city of Munich is at risk from her wrath

So on a day unlike any other (yeah I went there) out heroes assemble to take down a deadly threat

But the real threat finally has what it needs, and it’s ready to take the next step to the domination of Earth

“Oh my god.” Maya whispered as she stood among the crowd of tourists looking up at the TV Screen showing the carnage being wrought in Munich. “What is that thing?”

“My nightmare.” Danika whispered as she turned to look at the departure board as more and more flights crossing European air space were listed as delayed or cancelled. “I saw that thing when I was a little girl, it was the herald of something horrible.” She added, as she fought her way out of the gawking crowd.

“Danni what do you mean ‘something horrible’?” Maya asked as Danika slumped down on a chair, her head in her hands as if she was living through some kind of personal nightmare.

“I had plastic surgery for the first time when I was thirteen.” Danika replied quietly as she ran her hand over her cheeks. “My mother had turned into a monster all because of her quest to kill that thing. Every time she failed she punished me, told me it was my fault. And it grew out of control on my thirteenth birthday. She took a soldering iron, heated it up, chained me down and then burnt the skin off my cheeks.”

“She did what?!” Maya exclaimed, her voice loud enough to cause some of the people nearby to shoot her a series of awkward looks.

“I got my revenge, you see I was arrested for the first time the day after my thirteenth birthday. It was easy, there was always a gun or a knife around, and after she’d been drinking she was an easy target. I literally buried the hatchet, right between her shoulders and then I called the police.” Danika replied quietly. “She had a certain influence over local law enforcement you see, I’d gone for help multiple times with scars or wounds inflicted on my body by her, but they always were encouraged to look the other way. I didn’t kill her, I was too weak to achieve that, but ultimately that failure made sure they took me away from her. And ultimately I won, my case was taken to a court in Odessa, and the judge and jury were appalled at what had happened to me. After that, life became a lot easier.”

“I knew you hated your mother, I never knew why until now.” Maya replied as she looked back at the screen and the savage draconic figure incinerating an armoured vehicle.

“I did, and now I can see the monster who poisoned her and I pity it and what it has become.” Danika sighed as she looked at the screen. “She was kind the only time I met her, she was how a mother should be, and she’s showing a mothers rage now. More fire will just increase her ire, she needs to know that she can grieve, that she can be understood.”

“Is this some kind of female Oedipus Complex?” Maya asked cautiously, as Danika cracked a slight smile at her comment.

“It might just be.” She added. “We need to get into the firestorm, and I think our employer may just have a way to deliver us there.”

Danika is outnumbered and outgunned once again

Worse than that her enemies have wired the Proteus ready to scuttle her and send all those aboard to the ocean depths.

Having just escaped one ship wreck, can Danika prevent herself from going down with yet another ship?

Skidding down the staircase, Danika heard the feet of the pirates above her and loaded the armour piercing rounds she’d taken off one of the dead men into the TAR-21 she’d policed off of one of Anders lieutenants and opened fire, the rounds boring through the floor above her, the sound of ricochets joined by screams of pain from the borders. Without hesitating Danika headed lower into the bowls of the ship into the engineering section, the engines inside had been stalled and the room itself had been abandoned save for the bodies of the dead crew and the spider like maintenance drones already attending to the matter of draining the corpses of all their fat and muscle.

“She went down here!” A voice called from the hallway, one that forced Danika to postpone lamenting the dead and instead hurried her into the salvage storage bay. The few times she’d been on ships like the Proteus before, this area had usually been full of salvage liberated from the wrecks of doomed vessels ready to be returned to their owners. Today however, there was nothing aboard, no cover save for the magnetic cradles used to store vehicles and other items prone to slipping about when the ship was tossed by the rolling waves. Checking her ammunition, Danika realised that this phased retreat wasn’t going to leave her with either the time or bullets to liberate the remaining crew tethered to the bomb in the rear salvage bay. Ducking into one of the cradles, she pulled out her knife and her remaining white phosphorus grenade and waited, her hands wrapping the pull trigger of the explosive round the blade of the driving knife.

“Next room is empty.” A voice with a native accent called as four men entered the room, three of them were locals, most likely hired from Haiti to act as guns for hire for Anders full time crew. Their poor state of dress and scavenged weapons were in sharp contrast to the fourth man dressed in urban camouflage and holding a state of the art assault rifle linked to the same headset Danika had taken from the man she’d lured outside.

“It’s empty when I say it’s empty.” The professional soldier replied in a South African accent. “Go back into engineering and cover the exits, I don’t want that little b***h flanking me from behind.” He added as the Haitian muscle returned to the next room. Cautiously the man walked to the first cradle, unaware that Danika was hiding inside the structure, knife poised ready to strike. Reaching the edge of the structure, the man had second to strike before his prey struck, the knife stabbing into his chest before he had a chance to let off a shot or shout a warning. Quietly Danika levered the man back towards the door and dropped the corpse threw into the other side before slamming the door shut, the knife clenched in her hand with the pin, minus the grenade, still wrapped around the blade.

As she did screams in French and Creole could be heard on the other side, followed by a sharp hissing sound and a muffled explosion as the bomb went off, dousing the men in the other side with a cloud of thick smoke that burnt the throats and eyes of the men trapped inside with their leaders body. Turning to the dropped rifle, Danika removed the ammo clip and counted twelve bullets contained inside. “This will have to do.” She sighed to herself. “This ship is running out of time.” She added as she watched the countdown timer on the bomb set in one of the salvage bays rapidly count down towards zero.

The action shifts to Tanzania as Danika and her new assistant go on the hunt for Zanzibar’s deadliest acid bomber

Little does she know that unseen forces are conspiring to lead her to a far more rewarding job

Meanwhile the Wishing Demon and his human associate Zimmerman retrieve a deadly artefact from the cave of the First Scribe

Danika walked over to the parked Jeep, her hands resting on the sidearm holstered on her hip as she watched the native porters load water and supplied onto the back of the vehicle. She got within fifteen meters before Zimmerman turned round, a stub nosed revolver pointed at her head, the cruel barrel overshadowed in wickedness by the smile on the big Texan’s face.

“Well looks like there’s all kind of vermin out here in Africa.” Zimmerman sneered as Danika removed her hand from her pistol. “Smart move Danni, I don’t want to have to get into a fire-fight right outside the hotel.”

“Neither do I.” Danika replied. “I’d much prefer to slip a blade between your ribs for what you did!” She hissed, malice dripping like venom from her words. “But out of professional courtesy and respect for our client I’ll refrain from doing that!”

“Your client is different to my client. I ain’t here to chase some backwoods bottle smasher.” Zimmerman replied, the revolver still trained on his former partner’s head. “And out of professional courtesy, not to mention respect for my client I ain’t telling you no more than that.” He added as the Wishing Demon stepped out of the car rental agency, a few blue sparks running up and down his arms and the sword holstered across his shoulders. “Now excuse me, we have to leave.” Zimmerman sneered as the local porters closed the back of the vehicle up and handed the big man a set of keys and a bundle of well-worn maps. Lowering his gun, Zimmerman climbed into the cab and started the engine, whilst the Wishing Demon shot Danika a look before skulking away towards the passenger seat.

“Who was that?” The Demon asked his partner as he closed the door.

“Former friend of mine, we had a falling out over a business mater.” Zimmerman replied as he checked to see where Danika was in the rear view mirror, before throwing the vehicle into reverse straight towards her, his target leaping out the way just in time, dust staining her clothes and skin. “She won’t be a problem, she’s occupied by some local matters by the sounds of it.”

“If that is what you believe then I will trust your judgment.” The Wishing Demon stated as Danika stood up and threw a stone picked up from the roar at the car, the projectile bouncing off the back window. The first missile was joined by three more, the first one striking the roof, whilst the second went long and low, bouncing off the bottom of the vehicle as Zimmerman threw the car into first and drove away.

The last fell short and Zimmerman wound down the window and sneered back at Danika, only for a fifth stone to come flying at him, the master mercenary getting inside just in time, with the rock smashing the driver’s side door mirror instead.

“You were saying?” The Demon purred, a look of amusement hidden on his face under the mask he wore.

“No more than that at least!!” Zimmerman growled as he drove towards the bridge off of Zanzibar and out towards their destination in the country.

Dr Bailey Winters has stumbled across the scientific find of the century, the Oceanid known as Nemacyst

Unfortunately Nemacyst’s dead sisters are not happy about this and are trying to kill them on the orders of the Necromancer

Meanwhile something big is heading towards the Stern-Illing Institute at full steam with pure malicious intent.

Bailey swung the oar at the necrotic Oceanid as it attempted to crawl onto the deck, the blow fracturing the creature’s jaws, splinters of teeth shattering onto the wooden jetty. With a swift kick Bailey knocked the creature back into the water just as another attacker smashed through the wooden boards behind her and made a grab at her legs. Spinning round Bailey slammed the oar threw the creatures neck, the weakened bone and muscle giving way and severing the monstrosities spinal cord. As the body slid back into the water, lifeless and finally dead, the head kept snapping, the opening of its jaw propelling the head towards its prey’s exposed legs.

“She Ape, be on guard, the foe is not yet defeated.” Nemacyst called from her position prone on the deck, blood trickling down from a bite wound to her arm. Heading her ‘allies advice, Bailey swung the oar down and knocked the head back into the water, before dropping her makeshift spear and leaping over the hole in the water to where Nemacyst was lying, the clawed hand of an Oceanid reached out to grab her.

“How would you stop this, I mean culturally what rituals prevent dead Oceanids from stalking the living?” Bailey asked, as she picked Nemacyst up and staggered to the supply gate for the institute.

“The abyss claims them, we don’t know what happens to them after that.” Nemacyst replied bitterly as Bailey placed her down next to a container labelled formaldehyde. “Don’t touch that, it’s dangerous to living flesh, we use it to keep dead specimens fresh for study.” She told the Oceanid, as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

“Ape poison, I’m not surprised, such things were a constant danger to my people.” Nemacyst spat, as Bailey looked down at the tub, and then to the two remaining Oceanid’s scrambling onto the jetty.

“Good thinking.” She replied, as she lifted the tub of the Formaldehyde off, the smell causing her to cough and splutter. “Ape poison for killing stuck up fish.” She added, as she picked up Nemacyst and took a step back from the tub. As she did the first Oceanid reached the vat, took a sniff and recoiled, the remains of the flesh on its face corroding at the airborne fumes. With a hiss it dived back into the water, its decaying sister following suit, before both figures shot off out of the bay and headed south.

“The poison, stop the poison.” Nemacyst hissed, the skin on her body bubbling from the airborne vapour released from the vat of chemicals. Rushing forward Bailey slammed the lid back onto the tub, before keying in her entry code, her Oceanid companion fading in and out of consciousness as she typed, her fingers now racing against the very thing that had saved her only second before.

The Ancient Lords of Xibulba have surfaced in Barcelona, ready for a shot at a new life

Unfortunately a big challenge lays ahead namely being human

And what’s more human than hosting a house warming party. Cue a trip to the local Hypermarket and a whole lot of trouble

Onca slotted the euro coin into the trolley and unhitched the cable connecting it to the others, the other lords of Xibulba watching in fascination at the act. Placing the foul smelling clutch bag she’d found in the house they’d taken over in the end of the cart, she pushed it in to the Hypermart out of the warm morning sun and into the air-conditioned interior.

“Okay so while we’re in here we need to keep a low profile and only get the things we need.” She stated as she looked over her four companions, each one of them looking around the store atrium with awe and amazement. “So that means no ritual murders, no spontaneous mass orgies and no leaving your human forms. Do you understand all this?” She asked, a tinge of weariness entering her voice.

“Of course.” Bulac stated, as he took a deep sniff out of the air and stalked towards the garden department.

“And no wandering off!!” Onca called as she took her eyes off the cart for a few seconds, before returning her gaze as the sound of rattling wheels sounded as Camazotz and Zotzhilda ran off pushing the cart in the opposite way to Bulac. “Oh come on, is it too much to ask that we all stay together!!”

“They may surprise you.” Chimalmat stated in his strong reassuring voice, as he took Onca’s hand and flashed her a toothy smile. “Come, what do we need first?”

“Food in general, maybe some fruit to go with the meat not to mention coffee and chocolate.” Onca replied as she heard a crash in the distance. “Listen here’s a list.” She sighed as she handed Chimalmat a piece of paper followed by a second euro coin. “Get another cart and start gathering food, I’m going to make sure that the others are not getting into too much trouble.” She added, as she ran in the same direction Bulac had stalked off into, her nails dug into the palm of her hand so far that a few drops of blood dripped onto the floor.

Turning to look at the row of trolleys, Chimalmat attempted to slot the coin into the open socket, only for his stubby stone fingers to fail miserably at this task. Scratching his chin for a while, he threw the coin over his shoulder and placed one powerful hand on the metal chain restraining the cart and snapped it with ease. “Now what did Itzel want?” He whispered to himself as he peered at the list. “Hmm what are watermelons and asparagus?” He asked as he walked back into the store, only for a short elderly Hispanic woman in a green apron to approach him cautiously, her eyes flicking to the broken chain with every step she was taking.

“You are not meant to break this.” She croaked as she reached the cart and ran the broken chain through her fingers.

“I’m sorry I was having trouble with my fingers Lady…” Chimalmat stopped and peered at the name badge, “…Rosalina.”

“Is it arthritis?” Rosalina asked, her tone relaxing as she spoke to the strange man holding the cart. “I sometimes have to take three or four attempts to get the coin in. My fingers are not what they used to be, it’s all the work in the freezers I did as a girl.”

“Your fingers are quite beautiful Lady.” Chimalmat said, a wide smile spreading across his rugged face. “I could use a little more help, it appears that my memory is as worn as my hands. Would you accompany me on the quest to complete the list?”

“I’d be happy to help.” Rosalina answered. “Now what did you say your name was again?”