AFTER ALL

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…SUSHI…

Riddick made sure he was schooling his expression into perfect neutrality during the meeting, even as his eyes slid shut under those dark goggles. After the very literal kick in the ass he had received from Jack- who was shockingly calm about the whole situation, all things considering- he had finally agreed upon an official meeting with the scores of Advisers, who all had something that demanded his immediate attention. And so here he was.

But damn, the meeting was boring. He had remained quiet throughout the proceedings, occasionally making a blunt ‘suggestion’ on this and that. Things like “should we go forward with the extermination of Helion Prime”, and “There are still several hundred Breeders to be Purified and converted, my lord”. He wouldn’t be having any of that. Of course, he didn’t exactly know WHAT they should be doing, instead…but in the meantime, leaving Helion Prime and all of it’s residents alone. Preparations were being made, even as he sat there, dozing lightly.

Vaako was there too, of course- and don’t think Riddick didn’t notice the occasional stares he was receiving from the Commander. Really, the man was beginning to arouse suspicion- he was, after all, the next in command is something ‘happened’ to Riddick!

Riddick couldn’t possibly know that, behind the constant staring and absent minded fidgeting, Vaako was actually thinking about when the last time his Lord Marshal could have eaten was. It had to have been quite some time- no wonder the man was dozing behind his goggles, as if Vaako didn’t notice. There hadn’t been any gruesome, bloody murders…or disappearances…or people missing chunks of flesh, recently. So it had to have been long before Riddick ever became involved with the Necromongers…perhaps even before they landed on Helion. Which was almost two weeks ago, now. Which meant, to Vaako, that his Lord Marshal must be staring at the lot of them as if they were a buffet, by now.

Which he was.

***

Jack sprawled on the massive, satin coated bed that she supposed Riddick had been in just hours ago. She was in the middle of a very intense staring battle with one of her hero’s new pets- an aptly named Hellhound recently rescued from the abandoned Crematoria on Riddick’s request. The Hellhound was currently winning, as the species actually only blinked once every few hours, and Jack had already done so thrice in the past minute, calling them flukes.

Other Hellhounds were draped about various furniture and rugs laid out especially for them and their armor-plated bodies. Already, the alpha female of the little pride had managed to destroy several innocent pillows, just by sitting on them. Not that Riddick cared- as far as he was concerned, they could do whatever and sleep wherever they pleased. As if anyone was going to stop them.

Jack gave up trying to ‘intimidate’ the Hellhound, sitting upright and contemplating the bed she was occupying. It was just…unnecessarily large. A leftover from the previous Lord Marshal, one of the few piece of furniture and décor that Riddick hadn’t insisted be removed. She looked over to the three Hellhounds comfortably destroying his sheets on the other side of the bed.
“It’s an orgy bed, you know.” She confided in them, as their ears perked up and all eyes swiveled to meet her, the sudden center of attention. “Yea, I mean, Riddick’s huge…but this could fit like…all of you guys, plus Riddick, plus dinner, plus maybe that little fruitcake that hangs around all the time. Vaaka, or whatever. “
One of the Hellhound wormed closer to her, successfully destroying the sheets under its body, and shoved its thorny head under her arm. She had become rather fond of the beasts, and they happily accepted her into their pack, following Riddick’s lead. She hardly got a color change or a scale rattle, these days…but woe betide anybody else that came into the back few rooms of Riddick’s little compound.

The Hellhound she was scratching absently nudged her again, snuffling impatiently- they liked to be roughed a bit. In fact, the only way to clean their incredibly thick scales was with a steel wired brush Riddick had brought up- it was normally used to scrape caked on grease from engine parts. She obliged the creature, digging her short fingernails into the bits of skin uncovered when the scales were moved.

All day, while poor Riddick was confined to his little meeting, she had been flipping through the various channels of the ships security cameras, as if it were an entertainment broadcast. Mostly it was boring- the command center of the ship, perpetually busy…sometimes a small commotion in the soldier’s barracks. Really, the Necromongers didn’t show much emotion at all. Everything got done with a cold precision, with very little drama at all. The thing that fascinated her the most, though, was the process of Purifying that every Necro went through on an almost weekly basis. It seemed as if it were a shower, for them- several times she had watched a heated argument break out between two people, only to watch it end with them disappearing into the Purifyer’s chamber, to reappear again as calm as ever…as though nothing had happened.

And if Purifying was a shower, then sex was like brushing your teeth, for them. Just constant, really. There seemed to be no taboo- and no discernment between the genders- for them. She supposed it was because they race simply couldn’t reproduce…so why not just fuck constantly?

She accidently flipped to a particular camera, giving her waaaay too long a glimpse of a rather plump, old noble hilt-deep in some much younger woman.
“Aw sick. Look at that! Gaw, look!” She pointed at the holo-screen with the remote, and the Hellhounds obediantly turned to look at it, then back at her with their perpetually wide, glowing eyes. They seemed unaffected.

Suddenly all the jagged edged heads spun in the direction of the doors, where Riddick entered just a second later. He gave a brief glance at the holo screen before grabbing the remote, flicking it off, and tossing it aside. He, too, seemed unaffected. Jack left his bed, giving him room to sit at it’s edge and remove his goggles, absently placing them atop the head of the nearest Hellhound. It was silent for all of thirty seconds before Jack spoke up.

“Yanno…these guys are like zombies, sort of.” She ignored the slant eyed look she was getting from Riddick and went on, “I mean like….really horny, mean zombies. Except they don’t eat brains, but I mean…totally just as scary. And they have those neck things.”

“Jack…I have no idea what you’re talking about. Where do you pick up this shit?” Jack simply shrugged and flopped down on the bed next to her “Big Bad”.


***

She had, at first, been rather angry with him. He had resorted to placating her with a huge dinner in his rooms, but of course she swerved back on topic after a very unladylike burp. As soon as she was finished, Riddick dismissed Vaako who had been, of course, very confounded at the whole situation. He wanted to ask his Lord Marshal about 300 questions, and seemed on the verge of doing so…but was bodily removed from the rooms. He’d get over it.

Jack had not asked how everything had happened, or if Riddick was alright, first….she had not wondered why Riddick was suddenly King of the Dead-ish People, or admonished him for loosing track of her during the initial invasion. No, Jack’s first concern was why, instead of eating her, Riddick had frozen Kyra’s body.

After all, he had fully believed the young, unfortunate woman to be Jack- they did, admittedly, look stunningly alike. Forget the fact that Jack had kept a very short haircut, and the imposter clearly had a long, flowing mane. Who knew what….dastardly things the Necromongers were capable of?

After being (literally) squeezed for information, Vaako had revealed the whole scheme to the Lord Marshal- the young woman had been mistakenly picked up, thought to be the young woman so loved by Riddick, revealed by the psychic Quasi-Dead. Of course she protested, and was subdued and converted, in the hopes that it would damage the fearsome Furyan.

Jack, for her part, had stayed hidden with Imam’s wife and little girl, bringing them to the undeground lair that had served as Riddick’s home for the past five years. They were safe there, and no Necromongers found them….though a few had found the cats, and that said beasts were incredibly vicious and seemed to crave human flesh, for some odd reason.
When Jack learned of Riddick’s sudden plan to stop the Necromongers, she had, at first, denied it. Riddick wouldn’t have done something so rash! But, as usual, she underestimated her friend. And when he disappeared into the Legion ship, so had she, slipping in much the same way he had and hiding in the most unused spot, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
He had taught her very well.

And when she finally met up with him again, in his private chambers and much to his shock, she went ahead and hugged him, anyways.
But, of course, she had wanted to know why he hadn’t done as promised! Why, after that half-hearted vow almost five years ago, he hadn’t “Eaten her, as, like, the best tribute ever. Except for the face”.

Riddick hadn’t known how to answer that, exactly.


***

And now here they were, all that mess put behind them, and the body of ‘Kyra’ shot into space with very little ceremony.

Riddick massaged his temples as Jack gave the Hellhound nearby a good grooming, dislodging caked on blood and dirt from the creature onto his bed. Yes, it was good to have her back. And, of course, she broke the temporary silence again, giving him a small prod that, were it any other person, would have caused a sudden loss of limb.
“Hey Big Bad. Not looking so good these days. When’s the last time you ate?” She sat up and peered at him worriedly as he paused to consider the question. He seemed to slump a bit, letting out a tired sigh.
“I…dunno, Jack. S’been a while.” He left it at that, gently pushign her out of the way before lying back into the incredibly soft bed. The Hellhounds immediately collected around him, like a living, not-so-comfortable barrier against the world. They were well-meaning, anyway.

“Pff, no wonder. They would probably be like…sushi, or something,” Jack stood and stretched, once again turning on the holo-screen as Riddick wondered what the hell ‘sushi’ was, “I mean, you know. Cold and rubbery, like fish that hasn’t been cooked right. Dead. Gross.”
She flipped to one of the cameras displaying the outside of the doors to one of the numerous Purifying chambers in the ship, just as three expressionless Necromongers left it.
“I think it’s all this….Purifying they do, Riddick. C’mere, look.” Reluctantly, Riddick left the bed to stand beside Jack who, despite all examples of the contrary, often had good advice. “Look. I think it sort of…puts their bodies in cold storage, you know? It keeps them from feeling anything, even most kinds of pain-“ She stopped and grinned, remembering Vaako’s wonderful reaction to her vicious attack on his manhood, “-Keeps them from behaving like most humans do…They have to feel…set apart from them. I wouldn’t want to eat that, either.”
She glanced to side to see if Riddick had anything to say about her brilliant comparison. Riddick was watching the screen, as a dark skinned woman entered the chamber, stalking stiff leggedly as if quite upset. She left a few minutes later, almost in a daze. Her eyes were blank and her limbs relaxed, and she let herself drift off into another hallway, not seeming to notice the small spots of blood she was leaving behind her from the freshly opened scars on her neck.

Riddick considered it for a moment and decided that no, he would not like to eat that. He wasn’t a scavenger. He quietly took the remote receiver from Jack and, after examining it for a few moments, found the correct button- somewhere across the ship, Vaako was being very loudly paged. It was a very loud sound in his ear, one that he had sincerely hoped never to hear again from the Lord Marshal’s chambers. But he obeyed, abandoning his inspection of the current flight data to go attend to his Lord. He would be lying if he had said he wasn’t just a tiny bit nervous.


***

It was one of the rare times he was permitted to see Riddick’s oddly shining eyes, reflecting any dim light in the room. Currently, images from the holo-screen played across them like tiny mirrors, and Vaako knew he was staring entirely too obviously. It took a few seconds for Vaako to realize that the Lord Marshal was speaking to him directly, and he tore his gaze away, examining the screen at which was being pointed.

“Vaako. Tell me why you people Purify.” Riddick’s voice was, as always, a quite growl, but Vaako found himself a bit startled anyways. He straightened up, shoving all other thoughts away. It was a perfectly valid question.
“Well, my lord, it’s a simple ritual involving the Quasi-Dead. The original wounds we received at the time of our conversion- our rebirth, if you will- are reopened and the blood drained-“

“I didn’t ask how, Vaako.” Riddick quieted a few of the growling Hellhounds with a wave of his hand. The beast strolled over anyways, flanking him and staring at Vaako almost…hungrily. Vaako closed his mouth quietly and thought for a moment. There were, fo course, the obvious physical ‘benefits’ of the ritual, but he had a sinking feeling that wasn’t what Riddick was interested in. He tried for it anyways.

“I…we experience a dulling of all pains, my lord, and of course a removal of human-like emotions. It also calms the nerves and-“ He was once again cut off and Riddick silently narrowed his eyes and gave him a look at, very clearly, said ‘I know you aren’t an idiot, now answer the fucking question’. Vaako sighed and folded his arms across his chest, conceding defeat.
“I don’t know, my lord. We’ve just…always done it.”

That finally seemed to satisfy Riddick, and the Lord Marshal took his gaze from Vaako for a little while, again watching the holo-screen. For the first time, Vaako noticed Jack hovering around behind the Hellhounds, watching him with a very keen interest. She gave him one smug little smile, just before Riddick declared:
“Great. I want you- all of you- to stop it. Stop…Purifying. In fact, I want those Quasi-Dead…removed.” He nodded once, turning off the holo-screen and sparing Vaako a glance. A small smile played about on his face at the dawning expression of horror on Vaako’s. The man’s arms came down to hang limpy at his sides, his jaw slightly ajar. It was incredibly undignified. Hilarious, even.
It took a few minutes for Vaako to recover and another few to realize that his Lord Marshal was not joking. His jaw clicked shut.

“My…my lord, really this is not a good course of action. I really, REALLY must advise against it. I…it is just…ridiculous-“

It was time, Riddick decided, to exert some of his recently aquired power. He strode forward, the Hellhounds shadowing him, scales clattering ominously. Vaako, to his credit, refused to back away, even when the Lord Marshal was just about a foot away, eyes boring silver lined holes straight into his skull so his brains could leak out.
“Are you questioning my…judgement?” He all but snarled, secretly taking a tiny bit of pleasure from being able to say anything with actual authority. Vaako still didn’t back away, even managing to summon the brass balls necessary to refute.
“No, my Lord. I think perhaps you should consider another possibility, or…” He trailed off as Riddick sidled even closer to the man- Vaako ALMOST shrank away this time, feeling the warm breath ghosting across his face.
“You think I should reconsider? Do you also think I shouldn’t be in command?” Riddick did snarl this time, any amusement fading rapidly. Vaako paled a bit, actually leaning away from the man, feet still rotted in place.
“N-no, my lord. I really just-“
“Don’t ‘really just’ anything.” Riddick snapped.

From across the room, Jack was thinking the whole process looked very much like a tango. A dangerous tango, accompanied by the Mariachi band of Hellhounds growling and rattling and hissing.
Vaako knew he had lost the argument as soon as it started, but he seemed to be buying his brain time to wrap around the concept of cutting off all Purifying. It was sick, it was cruel, it was a punishment, it was totally uncalled for, it was…
It suddenly hit him, then, and he finally backed off a couple steps, which seemed to pacify Riddick. The Hellhounds, sensing the sudden change, backed off as well, some even turning to go back to sleep. Almost as a little reminder, though, the Alpha Male stayed by Riddick’s side, spines splayed out and displaying a hint of red.
“My lord…I..” He paused, considering his next words very carefully, leaning back against the door behind him. “I know it has been…some time since you’ve….eaten.” He left it as a question, part of anticipating being his lord’s next meal. What a way to go.

It set Riddick back on his heels, and his first instinct was to quickly eliminate the second person to know about his little ‘secret’- for that was exactly what Vaako had meant. Clever man, seeing through his unusual commands so quickly. Suddenly Jack was behind him, one hand gingerly touching a broad shoulder.
“Hey Riddick…I think it’s ok. If he was going to snitch, he would have done it by now, right?” Jack murmured, effectively ending any thoughts the predatory man had about taking Vaako’s throat out. Jack gave good advice. He trusted her- but still.
In one quick stride, he was pressing Vaako up against the door, one large hand almost squeezing the air out of the First Commander’s lungs. From this close, all Vaako could see were the man’s eyes- they may have been expressionless, but there was a deep ferocity about them, now.

“You go give those orders, Vaako. And if you tell a soul, I’m taking your liver out.” It was just two sentences, but it was two very well said and well accentuated sentences. Vaako got the point, between the very real threat, the weight on his chest, and the sickeningly pinning gaze he was under. And all at once, it was gone. Riddick turned away from him, leaving him flattened up against the door. Vaako remained so still for so long, one of the Hellhounds wandered over to sniff at his leg. That jerked him out of his miniature panic attack. Riddick still had his back to him…and Vaako quite suddenly realized the huge amount of trust the Lord Marshal had just placed in him. Something even the previous Lord had failed to do, which had, ultimately, been his downfall. Vaako understood, then, that the fiercely unpredictable man before him…may just be more fit to rule. He cleared his throat, startling the Hellhound away from him with a little growl.

“…Yes, sir.” And he was gone before Riddick could
turn around.