Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



The last words were spoken with so much malice and malevolence that I couldn't help but shudder. "I don't think you have been to Drury Lane in a while Rip," I said, trying to suppress my body's natural instinct to hide from a bigger predator.

"You seem to know me," he said after a pause. His voice no longer sounded as evil as it had before, this time he seemed almost innocent. "That's funny, I don't recall seeing anyone like you here. I would have eaten you first if that was the case."  And the malevolence was back.

"We aren't from here," I reassured him. "Just visiting."

"Visiting?" he asked, once again in his confused tone. Sometimes it was hard to keep up with how fast he could change between his two different personalities… and that was coming from me.

"Yeah, the world went to pot, figured I could steal a few things from here," I said with a shrug. "Unless you wanted them?"

"What were you looking for?" he asked. I had to say, I was relieved that I was able to keep a conversation going and not have him coming out of whatever room he was currently spying on us in.

"Bikes," said Wang Chao, interjecting himself into our conversation. I cringed while Rip remained silent.

"I don't like you," he said after a few minutes. "Maybe I would like your tongue, it would prevent you from speaking out of turn. You know, children should be seen and not heard."  And we were back to the psycho-crazy Ripper. Great going Wang Chao.

"If you could let us know where the toys are kept, we can get out of your hair so much faster," I said with a purr, trying to take his attention off of the boys and back onto me.

"The toys here are mine," he said in a possessive tone.

"Ah, but good boys share their toys with friends," I said almost like I was talking to a toddler, and in a way, I was.

"Are we friends?" And there went the toddler personality and back to the overprotective guardian.

"We are," I assured him as I took Hades out of my space. The cat was going to kill me by the end of this, but I was pretty sure he was plotting my downfall anyways so I might as well make use of him first.

"I don't remember a – oooh, kitty!" There was a bang and all of a sudden, a massive body was flying towards me.  My men tried to step in front of me, to protect me from the threat, but I turned and glared at them. This was not the time.

I understood how they must have felt threatened. Ripper was not a normal human by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, he was more like the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk than he was prince charming. Or maybe Quasimoto.I think you should take a look at

His blond hair was long and unkept as if fell over his face, preventing anyone from seeing his protruding eye or the massive amount of scars over his cheeks and forehead. He had a hunched back, that I was sure would make him a lot taller than he was right now and his right leg was broken at the ankle. But despite his appearance, his temper, and his perchance for ripping things apart, he was a pretty good guy.

I held Hades under his front legs and over the top of my head. Not like I was actually able to keep him out of reaching distance, but it was more the idea than the actual result.  As soon as I held Hades up, Rip fell to his butt on the bloody floor and looked down at me.

And when I say looked down, I mean, even sitting, he was a giant. I understand that I was not a great judge of height, but I would not be surprised if the man in front of me was at least 7'5" tall and was built like a brick shithouse. He also had two personalities inside of his body, a… consequence… of his years of torture. At least now I know where he was held all those years.

"Can I pet the kitty?" he asked, keeping his hands on his knees like a good boy. "Now!" growled the other personality as he tried to lunge forward to rip Hades from my hands. "No!" said the child and the body froze, the personalities fighting against each other for domination.

"How about this, Rip, you can have the kitty for a few minutes and then Ripper can have him after."  Have you ever felt like a kindergarten teacher? I was seriously not cut out for the role, but at least I knew how to manage the giant seated at my feet.

"You know us," said the malevolent voice, his eyes gleaming with hatred and blood lust.

"I know you," I replied, a smile on my face. I was so happy that the men were able to listen to me enough to stay still and let me handle the situation. It would not have been too good otherwise.

"But I don't know you," complained the child.

"We met in our past lives," I said with as much gentleness and kindness as I could infuse into my voice.

"Were we friends in our past life?" he asked, tilting his head to look at me.

"Well, you didn't try to eat me or kill me, so yes, I believe we were friends."

A deep grunt came from the man as he took over the body. "Kitty, now," he grumbled as I handed him Hades. I prayed that the cat was smart enough not to scratch the big, scary killer. By the look on his face, I knew I would be paying for this for a while, but he sat peacefully in the man's lap and hands the size of my head pet him.

"You want my toys?" grumbled Ripper as he continued to pet Hades. I could practically see the anger and tension leaving him with each stroke. It had always amazed me how someone that big and scary would turn into a puddle of goo as soon as he saw an animal of any kind.