Date: Mon, 18 May 2015 05:09:54 +0000 (UTC) From: John Steigerwald Subject: Prince of the Rogue's Court 3 Hi, Attached is the next chapter of the Prince of the Rogue's Court. Please keep my name off of the title and use my email address instead. Thanks a lot. Hey fans, Sorry for the long wait. I got writer's block real bad lately. Remember two things readers. If you are under 18, get the heck out of here and come back when you can vote. Second, DON'T FORGET TO DONATE TO NIFTY! KEEP THE SITE GOING! Enjoy ******************************************************************************* Prince of the Rogue's Court 3 The Rogue had disappeared. No one knew where he had gone. His house, his accounts, his family were all gone. The Underworld fell into chaos as every thief, murderer, and rapist went on a rampage. No one was safe. Dad and I hid out in our safe house in the downtown district. It was a penthouse apartment with all the bells and whistles. I was very good with tech, so I had modified the building to protect us. No one could get into the building without a pass and the top three floors were deathtraps to any but us and the chosen few who stayed with us. I sat in the living room watching the city below. Police were out in force, trying to stop the riots and looting. I could hear dad shouting at the video phone at the other Lieutenants, trying to get them to take control. No one was stepping up. Up town was much more quiet than the rest of the city. Dad had full control over it, even from hiding in here. I heard Dad roar and something went flying and crashed against the far wall. Looking at it, I saw it was the video phone. I turned to Dad and raised an eyebrow at him. He knew me well enough to know what I was asking. "30 men have been arrested in the Financial District," he growled. "Arsonists have gone on a spree in the Factory District. The Red Light District has been taken over by Sabine. He is leading his men through the district and raping every woman he comes across. Worse, he and his men are giving them the new fertility drug, which is guaranteed to get a woman pregnant. "All of the abortion clinics have been hit by protesters. They've been dismantled and looted. It will be months before new ones open. Hospitals are collapsing from the patient loads. Doctors are on triple shifts and are doing surgery in the parking lots. None of the Lieutenants are going to do anything." I had never seen Dad so defeated. I knew we had to do something too. It was time for me to show him my new project. "Dad, someone has to do something. And I think that someone is going to be you." "Son, I cannot go up against the entire underworld with just a handful of men." "With my new armor and exo-suits you can." It was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. Dad looked at me incredulously and I couldn't blame him. The Exo Program had been abandoned as a lost cause decades ago, but with new technology, I had revived it. The Exo Suit was an armor that resisted projectiles of any kind, any blade forged by man, and could keep the wearer alive under the harshest of conditions, such as the vacuum of space. I had made several prototypes and each one was perfect. I led Dad to my room and pulled out the command type. Dad's eyes bugged out as he saw the device. It was white and blue and only the size of my palm. I ordered Dad to strip down to his skivvies and then placed the drone on the center of his chest. Contact and the press of a button activated it. Two black wings of metal shot out and wrapped itself around his shoulders and met in the back. Slowly, more metal appeared and flowed like water down his body into every crack and crevice. His underwear were torn to shreds by the flowing metal. The metal molded itself to his ass and cock, completely covering it and protecting it. Finally, it made its way down his legs and encased his feet. Over at the computer, I booted up the program. Dad was in control of the suit, but his onboard AI would help control and regulate function. I instructed Dad in the operation of the suit and introduced him to EXO. EXO was programmed to be polite and to be of assisstance to its wearer and its creator. I activated Life Support and showed him combat mode. Dad hand picked the other five who would accompany him on his mission. I would remain behind as the coordinator. I was patched into the city's mainframe, so I was able to track police and criminal movements. I sent them after Arsons first. The city was on fire and a miracle was needed. I rerouted a commercial airliner and had them dump buckets of a new chemical substance designed for fires on that sector of the city. I contacted rusher friends of mine in that sector and soon had intel coming in. I reached out to other districts and found other friends to give me intel. Soon i had more information coming in from all over the city. More than the police were getting. Protests were soon shut down as Dad and his officers shot stunners into the crowds, which bounced from person to person. I sent out medical drones to help those who had been hurt by the rioters. This included any contraceptives that any women needed. Lastly, we targeted Sabine. He did not go down easily. He came to us, so to speak. I was tracking him when the alarms of the lower levels went off. "Dad," I said calmly into the mike. "We've got company." "Are they good people?" he asked, our code for friend or foe. "I think we've fallen in with a very bad crowd," I said, code for enemies. "The one whom you've been looking for is paying us a visit." Dad swore on the other end. I heard lots of movement. I activated the defenses and watched as they walked into trap after trap, one after the other falling. Sabine was down 20 men when the rest wouldn't take another step. He shot two of them before realizing he was on his own. He walked forward alone. I let him get twenty feet from the rest before I boxed him in. The rest fell down a shoot into the basement. Sabine, he got to the door, where Dad's bodyguards waited for him. Even after all my traps, Sabine did not spook easily. He would never go down without a fight. The two guards I had were not enough. I had one chance to stop him once and for all. He came in and saw me sitting there on the couch, outside the control room, like nothing was wrong. "Sabine," I said happily. "What a surprise! I'm so glad to see you." "You are?" Sabine said with surprise. He had a raspy voice from too many cigarettes and lots of alcohol. He was an ugly beast and I couldn't think of one good reason for him to have gotten that wife of his. "Well I am most glad to see you. Where is your father?" "Oh, he went out on some errand," I said with nonchalance. "Some disturbance or another. Can I get you a drink? Some Euphoria or Weed? Dad just got in a new shipment and it really is the best stuff." I pulled a vial from the side of the couch. It was full of a light blue liquid. "Pure Euphoria, non diluted." I said. "One drop good for several hours." "No, Evan," he said with malice. "Your father has made a mess of things. He has taken down the ringleaders of our little riot at the worst possible moment for me. Now I hear he wants my blood. I intend to cut out his heart both physically and mentally." he leveled his gun at me and aimed for my head. "It took a lot to find this place. Your father must love you, stupid as you are. I can see why he never brought you to the Court." "So you seek to kill me, to enrage my father and make him come after you in his fury, hoping he'll slip up." I said it as a statement. I knew why he was here. Known it from the beginning. With me dead, Dad would be furious and in his grief, he would make mistakes and likely get himself killed. "Yes," he said, his finger pulling the trigger. The shot went off and sailed right through me. I grinned at him as he realized that he had just shot a holographic construct. It was too late for him though to do anything about it. I jumped out of the control room and smashed the Euphoria into his face. Sabine howled as the chemicals took effect. He fell to the ground writhing in pain. His mind was still there so I calmly said while disarming him, "Euphoria in such concentrated doses can cause extreme pain, hallucinations, mental torture, insanity and death. Strong concentrations can be absorbed through the skin and affect the mind. Variations of this affect depends on where the chemicals enter the body and how far the signals have to travel to the brain. Right in the face ought to do it." Sabine was already losing his grip on reality. I could see it. I moved fast and chained him up. Dad came flying in a few minutes later and found Sabine sinking into madness. His arms were chained to the wall and he was fighting them. I sat at the control rooms terminal, watching Sabine's men navigate the labyrinth. I chose my targets this time and when only his blood kin were left, I offered them a deal. They were exhausted, these three men. Weary of battle, uncertainty, and the ever increasing odds of death, they agreed to my terms. Sabine's family would hand over the oldest son, who was just my age. He would be our hostage as he was the next heir. The holdings of the family would be reduced. Should the family rebel again, they would lose their lives or end up like their patriarch. I showed them Sabine. He was wild and deranged already and it would only get worse. Dad's guard went down into the labyrinth and brought me our prisoners. Sabine was hauled away to a more secure location. I turned to my proud father and said, "With Sabine's fall, the city is yours. You are effectively the Rogue of Captial City. What are your orders?" "This is our city," he said coming over to me and hugging me. "We never would have survived without the Exo Suits. You are now the Prince of the Rogue's Court. Only my orders shall supercede yours. Once the city is under control, we will bring back order and bring about a truce between the Police and the Rogues. One that will protect our interests and secure our position." "We got this Dad," I said. "I've already reached out to the surviving Lieutenants. I told them if they want a chance to keep what they have, then they need to assert control and swear fealty. The riots are over. Pharmacists are distributing anti-pregnancy meds to all the women Sabine and his men raped. The arsons of the Factory District have been arrested. "Red cross has sent more doctors and are setting up clinics to treat the less severly wounded. Garrez has orders to see to their safety or loose the waterfront. The men that were arrested before escaped during the prison riot and have made it underground. The prison itself has had a hacker fix it's files, minus a few that shouldn't be there." Dad looked at me and said, "You are a marvel, my Prince." "You are a great warrior, my King. Whatever the future holds, we will deal with it as a family." ****************************************************************************** End of Chapter 3. More to come when I get the inspiration. All comments and criticisms are welcome. It helps me be a better writer. Send them to reiedogawa@yahoo.com