To Die For(Dangerous Games II)

cbraund · May 7, 2002, 19:14

The Dangerous Games Pentology

Dangerous Games

To Die For (Dangerous Games II)

Patriots and Tyrants (Dangerous Games III)

Organised Chaos (Dangerous Games IV)

Illusions of Victory (Dangerous Games V)

Hope you enjoy(ed) reading these stories!

Chris AKA Nemesis

***************************************

King Charles Smith was coronated a week after Spartacus's death. Spartacus had left a will to make sure that the crown passed smoothly to the person he had been a mentor to all these years. He had also left his best friend and Charlie's uncle, Walter Dixon to advise the new King.

With the army fully loyal to the King, the throne was safely occupied without any trouble.

**********************************************

Charlie was angered by the news. Russia had declared its independence, and he couldn't do a thing to stop them. The Greek Army, whilst loyal, was too weak now to invade Russia again, and even if it could, he didn't doubt for an instant that once he entered Russia with his army, those who opposed him at home would use the chance to usurp him, and make sure he didn't have a home to return to.

And he didn't want to be a King without a country.

Walter shrugged when Charlie looked hopefully at him.

"You know as well as I do that there is nothing that can be done." he said sorrowfully. It was a shame to lose such a resource rich area.

"I know, but I feel so helpless, so powerless! I thought Kings were supposed to have power!"

"They do, but not as much as you think. They are only able to best use the resources available to them, not perform miracles, although most citizens will expect them to."

"You sound more and more like Spartacus everyday." Charlie smiled, remembering his mentor.

"Well, he was my oldest friend." Walter said mournfully. "I miss him too, but he isn't coming back. He gave you his country, now for God's sake use the opportunity to rebuild Greece, not worry about some country that the tyrant Alexander invaded because he was bored on a Sunday!"

***********************************************

Charlie turned the armoured, specially-made Aston Martin Vanquish onto the motorway between Athens and Sparta. It was midnight, and dark, so he could finally enjoy his passion for fast dirving, alone in the dark without the bodyguards who he felt suffocated him with their presence.

The road was clear, so he put his foot down. 70mph, 80mph, 90mph, 100mph.

As he zoomed past another junction, he saw three cars begin to pull onto the motorway, and speed up fast.

"Uh oh." he muttered. Fine, if they wanted to play games, he'd play games.

He put his foot down further.

110mph, 120mph, 130mph he read on the dash.

He kept on accelerating.

180mph, 190mph, 200mph. Finally the car had reached its top speed, and still the other cars were gaining on him.

What the hell kind of cars were they, he wondered? Must be some kind of sports car, possibly a Jaguar XKR. They were popular in Athens with the rich.

The machine gun rounds hitting the bullet-proof rear window shook him, and he glanced behind, fearfully.

The three cars were stil gaining, and now two had opened fire upon him with machine guns.

What was the third doing? Wait, what was that pointing out of the window of it?!

Charlie jinked the car just in time to avoid the anti-tank rocket that struck the road where his car had been.

Oh sh*t, he cursed. That kind of weapon can destroy this car! He couldn't be certain they didn't have more, and so decided to take action.

He drew his Walther PPK from the glove compartment, and pressed a button to open a small gunport in the rear window. It was a little hole that he could shoot through.

He turned around, keeping one hand on the steering wheel, and pointed the PPK out of the gunport.

He fired as he passed under a footbridge.

One car veered off of the road, its driver shot dead, and smashed into the support of the bridge, exploding in a fireball.

He was still one heck of a shot, he grinned to himself.

Now he concentrated on the car which had fired the rocket. He had to silence it before it could fire another.

But this car's driver was good. He jinked when Charlie fired, so the shot went wide.

Charlie fired two more rounds, both missing.

In his obsession to hit that car though, he had forgotten about the other one. He remembered it when it nudged the left rear end of his Vanquish, causing him to jolt and miss yet again.

He turned back around, trying to gain control of the car once more as it crashed through a fence.

But it was too late. He desperately jumped against the door as the Aston Martin plummeted over a cliff.

**********************************************

"He's still in a coma." the doctor spoke quietly to the man in charge.

"Well, he currently has plenty of time to rest. But report to me on his progress every day."

**********************************************

Tune in tomorrow to find out what happens next! Who takes control of the country? Has Charlie survived the crash, or was that someone else? All will be revealed by the end of the story!

Comments are appreciated!

Chris AKA Nemesis

civman2000 · May 7, 2002, 19:34

Great sequel! What about that second civil war that was supposed to follow Spartacus's death though?

cbraund · May 7, 2002, 19:40

As it says, Spartacus was more clever than the assassin must have believed, as he had nominated a heir. With the army fully behind him, Charles Smith came to power, with no one opposing him.

But if you want civil war, just wait and see!

Chris

cbraund · May 7, 2002, 20:33

Since response has been good, here goes another part tonight:

*************************************************

"Sir, the King is dead. Repeat, the King is dead." the voice on the phone reported by mobile from the scene.

"Good. Your work there is done, now get out."

*************************************************

Walter looked shaken as he approached the podium.

"I have a report from the police that the King was involved in a high speed car accident. Hope is fading that he will be found alive, as the car was found spread across a wide area. It is likely his body will never be recovered.

"I believe this may have been the work of an assassin, as we all know that King Spartacus's killer hasn't been found. I believe the two may be linked, and so I am ordering the tightening of security around all VIPs.

"Finally, with no clear leader, to keep Greece stable, I shall take control until Greece is strong enough to become a democracy. I hate having to do this, but it is the only option I have at the moment.

"Thank you and goodnight."

**********************************************

All across Greece, smaller leaders vyed for power against each other. The local militia and army regiments, now no longer having a true King to support, turned to the lord they were most loyal to. And that was not Walter for most of them, but a local leige.

The Governor of Sofia, as the Governor of the most important Greek town near the Russian border, had already made his position safe, with all nearby troops loyal only to him. He began to launch raids into Russia, determined to crush the rebellious state in the name of his King.

Anarchy reigned throughout Greece, even in Athens itself, where Walter fought for power.

Finally he gained it.

*********************************************

The scruffy figure darted towards the Palace, then lay in wait in the shadows for King Walter to emerge.

The cameras appeared an hour later, setting up their lights ready to catch a glimpse of the King when he would get into his limo to have a meeting with the Governor of Sparta.

*********************************************

Walter sat back in his chair and relaxed, looking around the Royal Office. His office. It had been hard work getting here, but he was finally here.

And he was going to stay here, he was determined. No one would take this away from him.

*********************************************

"He is showing signs of recovery, but he still hasn't woke up." the doctor reported.

"Damn. We need him to wake up soon!" the man cursed and walked off.

*********************************************

King Walter emerged, and nodded to the cameras, as he stepped towards the limo.

A grimy figure jumped up and approached him, pulling down their hood.

"I am alive!" shouted the man.

Walter stared into the face of Charles Smith. Then he smiled and hugged the man.

********************************************

The Governor of Sparta was startled to see King Charles appear in the doorway rather than Walter. This man was supposed to be dead!

"I am glad to see you are well, your highness." the Governor spoke.

"The hell you are! Now, I am your King, and your city will once again join my nation or face the consequences!"

"You and whose army?! There's no real fighting men left alive! Even your Hoplites are hurt badly!"

"A ship has arrived from its fact finding mission in America, the HMS Spartacus. It's crew are all fighting men, armed and dangerous, and fanatically loyal to the King. Me. So do you want me to destroy your city and kill you, or welcome you back to my nation?"

"I see your point. I will gladly join my ruler in his struggle to re-unite Greece." the Governor scowled.

**********************************************

Walter grabbed his mobile, and dialed the number.

"You were supposed to have killed him!" he roared.

"Sorry sir, we were sure he was dead." the assassin spoke quietly. After the hit on Spartacus, he was sure this one would have worked.

"Well, if you want a job doing properly, do it yourself." Walter muttered.

***********************************************

Walter entered the Royal Office after knocking twice. It was midnight, but the King was still there, wokring hard on his plans to reunite Greece.

"What do you want?" Charles demanded without looking up.

"Power." Walter growled, raising his pistol to point at the King.

He pulled the trigger.

The gunshot woke up most of the street.

********************************************

Walter stared at the gun. It had made a noise, but no bullet had come out!

"I've had my eye on you since I arrived back, Walter. I had your gun switched for a replica too, to make sure you couldn't harm me." Charlie spoke as two men from the Hoplites appeared out of the shadows behind Walter, and pointed guns at him.

Walter looked around in anger and fear.

"Tell me Walter, is power really worth that much to you?"

"It's to die for." Walter laughed, knowing his time was coming. He saw Charlie nod, and turn away before the Hoplites opened fire.

******************************************

"What are you saying?!" the Hoplite Director asked his agent.

"That Walter was the one who ordered Charles's death to remove evidence against him and to gain power, but not Spartacus's, although he knew about it."

"Then who did?!"

"Charles himself!"

"What?! You have to keep this between you and me! Now tell me, why would Charles kill Spartacus?"

"Because he knew he was heir to the throne due to his uncle telling him so, and he knew that Spartacus would have a child within a year to guarantee the stablity of Greece."

"So yet another murderer resides on the throne..." the Director spoke softly.

*********************************************

Hope you like the extra intrigue! It hasn't anywhere near finished yet! Comments welcomed!

Chris AKA Nemesis

Metaliturtle · May 7, 2002, 20:35

CB, in America, nobody ever jinks cars, can you swerve and jerk instead?

Still an exciting chase anyway

GeneralTacticus · May 7, 2002, 23:19

I didn't think this was set in America?

Metaliturtle · May 7, 2002, 23:48

Me neither, I just can't stand British racing terms is all

Metaliturtle · May 7, 2002, 23:54

I really like the additional twists and turns, maybe a little more dialogue, but otherwise, EXCELLENT!!!

civman2000 · May 8, 2002, 07:51

never guessed that charles was involved in it all too!

civman2000 · May 8, 2002, 07:55

do you mind if I nominate this story or do you want it to be in the next one like metaliturtle wants his new story?

cbraund · May 8, 2002, 09:27

If Dangerous Games is in this contest, then I want to wait until the next one, I don't want them going against each other!

Thanks
Nemesis

cbraund · May 8, 2002, 19:17

Charles smiled at the Governor of Sparta's discomfort. They were at a banquet celebrating successive victories against those who would not reunite with Greece. The Governor of Sofia had hurt the Russians enough that they were begging for peace, and the only city left in rebel hands now was Tirana.

"So, Duke Thomas, I hear you knew Spartacus when you were both young."

"Yes, my father sent me off to the barracks to be raised by the military, as is the tradition in my family, being from militaristic Sparta and all. We shared a room, and until we were six and training began, were just left to our own devices apart from a few educational classes each day.

"We were allowed outside the camp, but as we had no money couldn't do many things, so we began to, well, pickpocket."

Charles grinned, and winked. "We all do things as children we wouldn't do as leaders."

"Yes." Thomas Francis laughed. "Well, we would only steal form the rich, thinking we were little Robin Hoods, stealing from the rich to give to the poor, us. He was a crafty one, Spartacus. Even then I knew he would go far, he had a knack of knowing exactly when to strike, which is so important in battle."

Charles nodded. "He taught me all he could, and he was a great teacher. He always taught me to never reveal a weakness, and always exploit any that I saw in an enemy, but to make sure it wasn't a trap. He was always the general, even when he was still a captain."

Francis chuckled, and then gazed into the distance, remembering his fallen comrade.

Justin Daniels, Director of the Hoplites, listened in disgust to Charles's memories. How could the man kill someone he looked up to so much? Didn't he have any morals, any emotions? What was it with those born in Athens who come to power? he thought. All seem to be bad eggs. Phillip was from Macedonia, he was a great leader. Alexander was born in Athens, he was a tyrant. Spartacus was born in Sparta, and was a great leader for the moment he held power. And Charles and Walter had both been from Athens, and both were murderers.

And one still lived. But not if he had anything to do with it.

********************************************

"He's awake!" the doctor cried.

"Great. Give him some time to rest, then prepare him to move."

********************************************

Charles threw the wine glass at the wall.

"What do you mean they refused my fair offer?! Tirana is mine! I am the King! If they do not see that, then they will pay the ultimate price!"

"Sir?" the Hoplite asked puzzled.

"Bombard the city to ruins, then capture it. And then burn the ruins to the ground, and kill every soldier, man, woman and child in that city! Wipe it off the map! Show the people what happens when you rebel against your rightful King!"

"But sir!" the Hoplite protested.

"NOW!"

"Sir." the Hoplite nodded as he walked from the room.

*******************************************

"He has left to go to Athens. He will do the job soon."

"Very good. Long live King Charles!" the voice said sarcastically.

*******************************************

Charles stormed up to his office. He was stopped by his secretary.

"Your Highness, there is a man in there waiting for you. I had the Hoplites check him, he is carrying no weapons. But he says he has something for you."

"What was his name?"

"He called himself the Count of Monte Cristo, Higness."

Charles tried to recall where he'd heard the name before. As he marched towards the door, he remembered it from a film he had watched recently of the same name, where a man had been out for revenge.

Probably just the best fake name he could think of, Charles thought, and shrugged off the feeling of unease as he opened the door.

He saw his chair facing away from him, and recognised the top of the head.

"Justin Daniels, what the hell do you want?" he demanded.

The chair slowly turned, and Charles realised he had made a mistake about who it was. He turned pale.

"You're dead!" he screamed.

***********************************************

"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." Spartacus smiled at his friend's shock. "And I must say, what a warm welcome for your King."

"You are not the King! I am King! And you aren't going to take that away from me!" Charles drew his pistol. "This time I'm going to make sure you're really dead!"

He pointed the gun at Spartacus.

Justin emerged from the shadows, and fired once, shooting the pistol from Charles's hands. He pointed the gun at Charles's head, waiting for the order from Spartacus to fire.

"You see, when I fought my brother for the throne, although I didn't show it to those in the room, I was actually very badly wounded. Justin here arranged for a double to take my place while I rested in a secret Hoplite military hospital in the mountains, as no one could see me weak, or my enemies would seize their chance. I slipped into a coma though, but when I finally woke I was told what had happened, and of your treachery. It seems that the double trick worked better than I ever dreamed, it has effectively removed all those who would oppose me by getting them to destroy each other. Although the price of the entire Army is way too high. And your order to destroy Tirana has been stopped, as throughout this the Hoplites have been completely loyal to me."

Charles stared at the ground.

Spartacus poured himself a glass of wine, and raised it to Charles.

"Touché." he toasted the usurper.

Justin fired, and Charles was dead before he hit the floor.

************************************************

"Well sir, it would seem all of your opponents are gone, and your announcement has revived Greece and Tirana has joined us once more." Justin smiled at the King. Charles's body had been removed a while ago.

"Not quite all of my opponents. Neither Charles nor Walter killed their targets with their own hands. There was an assassin. From the report on the attempt on Charles's life, we can see he has sports cars, a rare luxury in Greece. From my double's assassination, we know that he can blend in with the crowd. But that is not enough, we don't really know who it is.

"So I must wait for him to come to me. And when he tries to kill me again, I will get him."

************************************************

That's it for tonight, but this is nowhere near the end yet! Find out who the assassin was and whether Spartacus can kill him before he kills Spartacus tomorrow!

Comments appreciated!

Chris AKA Nemesis

civman2000 · May 9, 2002, 11:35

oh why do you make it so predictable? justin of course is the assassin (and I know now you will change you're plans he would fit best for it...)

cbraund · May 9, 2002, 11:42

lol, you've seen something I haven't then! Cause Justin was the one who kept Spartacus alive, despite the fact that he could have killed him easily while he was in a coma!

But you'll have to wait and see. Let me promise you though, it's gonna be a lot more interesting than that!

Nemesis

cbraund · May 9, 2002, 15:37

MOTHER F*CKING MOUSE! MOTHER F*CKING MESSAGE BOARD!

Sorry, just had to get that out of my system, as I've just written most of the story, and then accidentally knocked the mouse off the side. It's one of those with a side button to go back on webpages, and that button was hit.

When I pressed forward again, all of my hard work was gone. So if I seem a little p*ssed off, that's why, I just spent half an hour or so on that!

Now, on with the story yet a-f*cking-gain!

***********************************************

Spartacus winked at the woman once more. She was the daughter of the elderly Duke Ricol, the British Ambassador to Greece.

She was beautiful in a white ballgown, mixing in with Athen's elite at the celebration of Spartacus's return.

"What is her name?" he asked Peter.

"Jennifer Ricol." Peter replied. "And no, she is not currently going out with anyone."

"Good." Spartacus smiled as he walked towards her.

"May I have this dance?" he asked. She nodded.

They walked into the middle of the ballroom and began to dance, much to the disgust of some other young women who were trying to gain the King's attention.

************************************************

Spartacus had a smile on his face as he got to work.

"Make me a report on all of those who could be the assassin." Spartacus ordered Peter Black, his Prince's Guard-turned-Hoplite bodyguard. He trusted Peter, as he was one of the first to declare for Spartacus during the civil war, and had been a good ally when Spartacus had been in command of the Royal Guard regiment that he had been in.

"Is the Director to know of this?" he asked.

"No." Spartacus shook his head.

************************************************

That night, a shadowy figure silently slipped into the royal car park. He placed a bomb under a car, then went away as quietly as he had come, unknown that he was being watched.

************************************************

"Very interesting indeed." Spartacus muttered to himself, reading through the report.

Then the door opened, and in rushed Peter, panting.

"What is it?" the King asked.

"The assassin planted a bomb under your Mercedes CLK." Peter gasped for breath.

"Did you see who it was?" Spartacus asked calmly.

Peter told him.

"No!" Spartacus was horrified. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, and his Hoplite training would give him the expertees needed for this kind of job. And I've checked his accounts, he's received large payments from Charles, Walter and another person. It is possible that another person paid him to kill you, and now wants the job done properly, which is why he has to do it again."

"And where is Justin now?"

"At the Hoplite base."

"Contact him and tell him to meet me at Thomas's house, as I want at least one friend there. And put the car on a transporter and bring it with us, we're going to play a game."

The phone calls were made, and soon they were on their way.

*********************************************

"Spartacus!" Thomas greeted his friend. "What a pleasure to see you!"

Justin pulled up in his car, and hopped out.

Both he and Thomas were looking at the transport with confused looks on their faces.

I've got such a good actor for a friend, Spartacus thought.

"I'm here to give you a present, Thomas, for your faithful service to me. I am getting a new Aston Martin from England, and would like you to have my old Mercedes CLK, as I know you will look after it."

"Thank you my friend!" Thomas smiled warmly.

Such a good actor.

"Well it must be test driven." Spartacus pointed out. "Justin?"

"Sir?"

"Can you please give Thomas the key?"

Justin handed it over, having a key for every one of Spartacus's cars.

"Ummm, I think we should eat first, I'm starving!" Thomas said hopefully, looking worried.

"No, I insist that you test drive the car now." Spartacus said coldly.

Thomas saw that both Justin and Peter had drawn their pistols, and had them pointed at him.

"How did you know?" he finally asked Spartacus.

"Peter has been keeping an eye out for me. He saw you plant the bomb. Plus finding out you were in the Hoplites and that you had been paid by Walter and Charles and another person all added to the evidence. But why did you do it?"

"Because I needed the money. When I supported you during the civil war against Alexander, Sparta was damaged. But you wouldn't give anyone compensation afterwards to repair damage, so I had to pay for it all to be repaired myself. That made me angry with you, and two people offering me money to kill you seemed too good to be true, killing two birds with one stone you might say. Then Walter being the loving uncle he was added to my money even more because he thought I could kill Charles, having been so good at killing you."

"Who was the third person who paid you?"

Thomas ducked and rolled as Peter fired at him. He went for his own gun, but found it had gone missing.

"Looking for this?" Spartacus asked, holding it up. "I always knew my pickpocketing skills would come in handy one day."

Thomas growled and charged at Spartacus, but didn't make it another step before a bullet from Justin put an end to his life.

"Why did you fire without permission?" Spartacus demanded.

"I thought he was going for his gun, you never told me you were taking it." Peter explained.

"Oh, damn, I forgot, sorry. Oh well." Spartacus remembered he had only told that part of his plan to Justin, not Peter.

He and Justin believed Peter's explaination, neither realising that he had opened fire just before Thomas was going to reveal who his third employer was.

************************************************

Spartacus walked under the Hoplite honour guard with his wife.
Jennifer was now his Queen, and she was a month pregnant with his heir.

Life couldn't get any better, he thought happily. It had been two months since Thomas had been killed, and it seemed all opposition to Spartacus had evaporated. His leadership had strengthened the army once more, and Russia didn't dare put a foot wrong incase he decided to try and conquer them once more.

He nodded to his best man, Peter Black as he passed him, and then nodded at Daniels on the other side.

Life was good.

************************************************

The distinguished guest was just sitting down at the Governor of Sofia's table to dine when his mobile phone rang.

He answered it.

"Yes Peter?" the guest spoke.

"Sir, the assassin you paid failed. I only just managed to kill him before he revealed your name to Spartacus. I have had to lay low, and so I wasn't able to contact you."

"Damn." the guest cursed. "It seems I will have to attend to this personally."

"Yes... My Prince."

***********************************************

Here we go again

!

Anyway, this story is finished for now, I added in the special ending so that there can be a Dangerous Games III if enough people want one.

And for those of you who didn't bother to read DG1, Alexander liked to be called Prince, instead of King. So you work out who that was at the end!

Now if I ever write DGIII, I just have to think how the hell could he have survived!

But I probably will never write it, as I much prefer an uncertain ending

Comments appreciated!

Chris AKA Nemesis

civman2000 · May 9, 2002, 17:11

just like spartacus: he had a stunt double

Jaguar · May 9, 2002, 18:14

Great!!! Except to many assassinations and stunt-doubles.

cbraund · May 9, 2002, 18:36

lol, there was only ever one double!

As for Alexander, I haven't a clue how he survived, or even if it is Alexander! It could just be someone who thinks that he should be Prince... I really don't know, it just came to me as a weird ending!

And I agree too many assassinations, but the Dangerous Games stories are supposed to show how power corrupts.

Anyway, on my next story, I will be going back to my normal style with less twists than in these, but don't worry, I enjoy twists so much now there'll be quite a few in most stories I write from now on!

Chris

cbraund · May 9, 2002, 18:41

Okay, I can reveal that because my scheming mind has been considering how Alexander can come back, there will be a Dangerous Games III. It have a lot less assassinations and twists in, and more of my normal writing style. I hope to merge those into an effective story. It will start tomorrow night hopefully!

Chris

cbraund · May 13, 2002, 19:20

Just bumping it up cause it's in the next round nominations.

DG3 should be finished to compete in the 6th contest, I don't want it competing with this one!

Nemesis