"This property belongs to me and the charges were dropped. Although, I'm not exactly sure who's responsible for that..." Chris says, arguing with Deputy Parrish over his weapon.
I sigh as the sheriff and I walk over. "I am." The sheriff announces us, leaning towards Parrish. "I'll take care of this, Parrish."
"Sheriff, I'm not kidding. This thing's a few watts away from being a lightsaber." Parrish states. I look over to see Derek glance at Chris distastefully.
"I said I'll take care of it." The sheriff says forcefully, taking the 'lightsaber'.
"We need to talk to you." I whisper to the hunter and werewolf. The sheriff and I lead them to the sheriff's office.
"The specialist I saw in LA told me the same thing that every doctor says when he's trying to avoid a lawsuit." The sheriff starts. "'We can't say for sure.' And then I spoke with Melissa and Lizzie." He turns to me and I pick up where he left off.
I take out two brain scans from a folder. "These are brain scans. Mrs. Stilinski's, Claudia's and Stiles'." I hand them the scans to look at. "We knew that they looked similar. But those are the same. Exactly the same."
"I'm guessing this isn't possible?" Derek asks.
"Not even remotely." I answer.
"So the trickster is still playing tricks." Chris concludes.
"But why this trick?" Derek leans over the desk, looking at the scans.
"When I was in the army, an officer told me, 'If you want to defeat your enemy, you don't take away their courage. You take away their hope.'" The sheriff says.
"The same thing is true for hunting. Most hunters start out on a revenge fantasy. If they lose the will to fight off a monster, they're as good as dead." I agree.
"You two don't look like people who give up on hope easily." Chris observes.
"But Stiles might." The sheriff hints. "If this thing inside him, if it's using his mother's disease as some sort of physiological trick, than this isn't just a fight for his body--"
"It's also a fight for his mind." I finish.
"You know he has left people severely injured." Chris states.
"And others severely dead." Derek cocks his head, earning a tight glare from me.
"That's why I need the three of you." The sheriff declares. "I need people who are experienced in this kind of thing. I need you to help me stop him."
"And by stop him, you mean trap him." Chris clarifies. The sheriff hesitantly gives the 'lightsaber' back to Chris. Chris grabs it, and takes it back, the sheriff and him having a staring contest.
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"This is everything non-lethal I could find." Allison shakes her head, showing us the table full of weapons. We stopped by my house to pick up some extra weapons and Bobby, but we have no idea what we are up against.
"Take all of it." Chris demands.
"What's the plan here?" The sheriff asks as Allison and I bag the weapons.
"Our best shot right now is for Derek to try to pick up Stiles' scent at Eichen House. Especially if he went through something stressful there."
"Should all six of us be going to the same place?" Bobby asks skeptically.
"Absolutely not." I shake my head. "It would be a trap waiting to happen." I glance up at Bobby, remembering the last time we all went to a place surrounded by demons. "Where else has he been showing up?"
"School, the hospital." Allison answers.
"Hold on, we did this already. He disappeared. We started looking for him. Then walked right into a trap at the hospital." Derek announces.
"He's getting us to repeat the same moves." Chris states.
"What do we do? Wait for him to come find us?" Allison asks.
"We can't." Bobby says.
"Not if the oni find him when the sun goes down." I agree.
"Scott's working on that right now, with Kira." The sheriff tells us.
"That's the problem." Bobby starts. "We're all trying to outfox the fox."
A silence comes over the group. "Listen." The sheriff sighs. "I'll understand if anyone wants to back out." Everyone looks around, but I know my answer.
"You know me. I'm in no matter what." I state.
"It wouldn't be the first wolf to run from a fox." Derek says, grabbing a taser.
"Apparently I'm carrying a lightsaber." Chris agrees.
"You idjits are gonna need me." I hear Bobby mumble, grabbing a weapon.
"Dad, you and Bobby go to the school. Lizzie and Derek go to Eichen. Sheriff, it's you and me in the hospital." Allison instructs. "All meet back at the station." Allison and the sheriff rush out, leaving the three hunters and the wolf.
Chris grabs a gun before walking out with Bobby. "Making sure you have a few lethal options just in case?" Derek asks with distaste.
"I like to prepare for the worst." Chris responds before leaving with Bobby.
"Looks like it's you and me, wolfie." I grin.
"Never call me that." Derek rolls his eyes.
"Ok," I pause. "Sourwolf." He scoffs as he follows me towards the school.
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We get to Eichen and I pull out my FBI badge. Derek raises an eyebrow and I scoff. "How else are we gonna get in?" He stays quiet as we approach the front desk. Unfortunately, Brunski, the head orderly, is manning it today. "Agent Delgado, FBI."
"You're not FBI." He sneers. "You're a high school kid with an internship here."
"That was faked so I could see how this institution was run." I say with a sweet smile. His expression drops as I lean in and whisper, "You are going to show us the basement, now, or I'll have you arrested for life on the basis of how you treat your patients."
He gulps before mumbling, "Follow me." I send Derek a smile before following Brunski. "May I ask what he is doing here?" He motions to Derek and my glare hardens.
"He's part of the ongoing investigation. His involvement is crucial and classified." I say, making his clench his jaw.
We reach a door and he unlocks it. I hold out my hand for the key, which he drops. "Be out soon." He warns before walking away.
Derek walks in first and I shut the door behind us. "Catch anything?" I ask, bored.
"No. Shut up and maybe I will." Derek snaps and I roll my eyes.
"You know, you don't have to be rude." I mutter.
"You're a hunter." He spits.
"A hunter that has been helping from the beginning. A hunter that is on the same side." I explain.
"Really? And what's your side?"
"Save Stiles, kill the nogitsune so it won't hurt anyone else." I say simply.
"I don't believe you." Derek answers.
"I'm telling the truth. You can listen to my heartbeat."
"I've heard you lie before, Lizzie. You can steady your heart rate." Derek says.
"Listen, I just want to keep my friends safe." I claim.
"But you don't care who you hurt in the process." Derek thinks he knows everything.
"Actually, I do. I don't like people dying anymore than you or Scott does. I'm trying to save people, Derek, not kill them." He goes silent after my statement.
"Found his scent." Derek states as my phone goes off.
"And they found Stiles." I breathe, reading the text.
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"What is all this?" Chris asks, looking at the chess board. Names are on sticky notes, attached to each piece. "What are the sticky notes for?"
"This is what Stiles used to try and explain to me about all of you." The sheriff answers.
"'The Savage'?" Bobby asks, chuckling.
"Kate's name, not mine." I grumble.
"Maybe it's a message from Stiles." Allison suggests. "The real Stiles."
"I doubt it. The nogitsune is a demon and they have a pretty strong hold on their me- vessels." Bobby stops himself before saying meatsuits, probably to stop himself from being rude.
"You think there's any reason my name's on the king?" Derek asks.
"And mine on the queen?" I look down to see the Savage and Derek next to each other, as king and queen.
"Wel, you're heavily guarded." The sheriff answers Derek.
"And you are probably the most powerful and smartest person on the board." Bobby praises, answering me. I smile proudly before the sheriff continues.
"Though, I guess the alarming detail is that you are one move away from being in checkmate and Lizzie can't escape capture."
"It's not a message from Stiles." Bobby concludes.
"It's a threat from the nogitsune." Chris finishes the thought.
"He's at the loft, that's what he's trying to tell us." Allison says.
"And he wants us to go there." Bobby adds.
"Nights falling." Derek inputs.
"This couldn't sound more like a trap." Chris says.
"I don't think it is." The sheriff shakes his head.
"I think your opinion might be slightly biased, sheriff." Chris scolds.
"No, he's right." I say, looking at the pieces. "What we are dealing with here is someone who lacks motive. Like just desserts, just up for a game."
"Meaning what?" Chris spits, annoyed.
"He's not a killer. It's a trickster. The killing is a by-product." I answer, thinking of Gabriel.
"If you are trying to say it won't kill us, I'm not feeling too confidant about that." Derek adds.
"I'm not saying that, like at all. But that's not it's main goal. It wants irony. It wants to play a trick, tell a joke. All we need to do is play along and come up with a new punchline."
"The sun is setting, Lizzie. What do you have in mind?" Bobby asks.
I give him one of my signature smirks. "Something Gabriel-worthy."
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I watch as the sheriff swings the door to Derek's loft open. "Hey, dad." I hear Void Stiles say. The sheriff shows what ever is inside the handcuffs. "You wanna handcuff me?"
"If my son is still here, if there is a part of him standing here in front of me, then he'll put these on willingly and he'll come with me, because he knows I'm here to protect him from himself and from others." The sheriff states, walking in.
I hear the click of the handcuffs before the sheriff says, "You're not my son."
The handcuffs break and we all file in, making a circle around Stiles. He has dark circles under his eyes and looks extremely pale. As if he can sense her discomfort, he watches Allison move next to her father. I take out a taser and shoot.
Instead of hitting him, the nogitsune grabs it without looking. He turns his head with an evil sneer before throwing the taser away. I keep my face neutral as Allison's expression turns to pure fear.
Derek growls before attacking, only to be thrown away by the nogitsune. The click of a gun makes me whip towards Chris. The nogitsune looks amused as Bobby and I glance at each other.
"Argent, listen to me, don't do this." The sheriff pleads, holding out a hand.
"Why not? I've done it before. Werewolves, berserkers. I can easily add a nogitsune to the list." Everyone is eyeing his with a different expression, whether it be fear, anger or annoyance.
The sheriff pulls his gun and the nogitsune moves his lips into an 'O' shape. "You're not going to shoot my son."
"You said it yourself, sheriff. That's not your son."
"Put it down." The sheriff demands. "Put it down." Stiles' face shifts into one of terror.
"Dad, he's gonna shoot me." He mutters, looking between the gun and his father. I know it's not actually Stiles and Chris does too.
"Chris, listen to me." I say gently. "Shooting him with normal bullets won't work. He is still a demon."
"But he's different, Bobby said so himself." Chris answers, gun still trained on Stiles. "Maybe it'll work."
"He's gonna kill me, dad." Stiles pipes up.
"Don't listen." Bobby orders, watching the sheriff's expression.
"Put it down, put it down!" The sheriff barks. "Now! Do it!"
Stiles' expression changes again to one of amusement. He look right at Chris and says, "Pull the trigger. Come on."
"Listen to me, you put the gun down now!" The sheriff yells.
"Shoot me." The nogitsune urges.
"Put the gun down now!"
"Go on. SHOOT ME!"
"Put the gun down!!
"Shoot me!!"
"Argent, you put it down!!"
As the yelling continues, Allison grabs onto me, muttering to herself. "Strife." I realize, looking at Allison in amazement.
The light suddenly goes out and the silent ones turn to the darkness coming in through the window. "Stop, stop it!" Allison yells.
"STOP! This is what he wants!" I scream angrily."This is exactly what he wants."
"Not exactly." The nogitsune cocks it's head. "Was kind of hoping Scott would be here." I growl and he notices, sending me a wicked smile. "But you'll do. And I'm glad you all have your guns out. But you're not going to kill me." It turns to the window, and four oni appear from the shadows. "You're here to protect me."
Chris and the sheriff lower their guns in shock as Bobby and I react. He grabs a gun as I grab my knife. The nogitsune backs up as the oni bring out swords. Bobby starts to shoot as I run forward, expertly fighting against their swords with my knife.
Two oni disappear as Chris and the sheriff start to shoot. I see Allison and Derek slide behind the nogitsune, where the oni appeared. They all raise their swords and run forward.
All I can see is the dark aura around them as I fight. Suddenly, they disappear. I whimper as pain shoots from my still-healing wound in my stomach. I turn around to see Derek on the ground, holding his cut arm. I also find that the nogitsune is no where to be found.
Footsteps draw my attention and I see Chris and Bobby spin to the entry and aim their guns as Kira and Scott run in. I drop down beside Derek and inspect the wound, not caring about the stitches which would have opened up.
"What happened?" Scott asks.
"They disappeared." Allison answers. "They literally just vanished."
"And so did Stiles." The sheriff breathes.
I'M SO SORRY!!! I PROMISE I WILL GET MORE UP, TIME JUST GOT AWAY! I'm back to school tomorrow but I have a six hour plane ride on Wednesday where I will hopefully get another few chapters done. I promise I will finish 3B As soon as possible, before posting on any other story. I'm really trying, but I just hate writing for this season. I have so much planned though and can't wait to finish!
Hope you enjoyed!!