ULTRAMagic Interlude - Chapter 8
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Master Post - Patreon
Ultimatum had a very interesting story to tell, with many twists and turns that elaborated a tragic, yet hopeful tale. Originally he was a human that ended up on the wrong path after murdering a belligerent addict that had been harassing his family for two decades. What pushed him to his breaking point was the fact that the police refused to do anything because the addict was considered an ‘Informant’ (which Ultimatum clarified as a ‘snitch’). After that incident he could not give a fig about society. Following a string of robberies, scams, and the accidental murder of a few drug dealers, he was erroneously given a death row sentence. It did not bother him as he had dealt with his enemy and did not care about life anymore.
Things became messy when a shady, corrupt government organization drafted him for top secret experiments. These were not for the bettering of humanity, rather they were to see if the anomalies being tested could be weaponized. Ultimatum was tasked with entering The Scream, a 10th dimensional realm that could not be truly comprehended by those of the 3rd dimension. The organization in question forced him to read a curse that would send him to The Scream (how they acquired the curse was unclear). What happened next was a blur, but he described it as being ripped apart across all of reality and then being reassembled in an instant. Adding insult to injury, he did not even make it into The Scream.
“Once the high of becoming 7D against my will wore off, I found myself back in the laboratory. At that point I was something beyond furious and took out said anger on the scientists… by returning them to the Prima Materia.”
Valentina was shocked. “Goodness, that’s quite the punishment now…”
“As far as I’m concerned, I was being merciful. After learning what I learned, that level of irreverence towards God is inexcusable. It doesn’t help that there are other universes where similar nonsense happens… Plus I had a spoiled astral entity-no one you guys know-telling me I should go wild and… well he’s a friend of mine who helped me keep my head on straight, so I felt obligated to heed his suggestions.”
“Wow… so what happened next?” Blood-Wraith inquired. “Did you do anything about that organization?”
“Naturally the sirens began blaring, with the facility claiming there was an XKZ-7 end of the world scenario happening. In a daze, I began erasing whatever I could. Eventually I ended up deleting the entire facility. At that point, military units began showing up. I got a little irritated given that I had a pounding headache and let them fire upon me. I then sent it all back to them. Once that was all said and done, I erased them and all knowledge of The Scream from that universe… I think.”
“I don’t know how to feel, but they all sounded like a bunch of meanies,” Auda stated.
Ultimatum laughed, the remorse being lost on Auda. “Well Auda, I can definitely say that the security personnel weren’t going to win any contests with their manners. Now the next thing I did was head to The Unlight to clear my head. After a bout of wandering, I ran into one of those primordials I imagine you are all familiar with.”
This piqued Brenna’s interest. “Oh? Bizarre, which one was it?”
“Well, it was some brutalist-looking, stone man saying he was ‘The Madman of Old.’”
“Er, that one doesn’t exist…”
“Oh no, he absolutely does, Brenna,” Valentina corrected. “He’s one of the ones that should not be known, a forbidden primordial.”
Brenna was confused. “Forbidden? May I ask you to elaborate?”
“As we all know, God created a group of entities to test the Cosmos when it was in its infancy. In time, these beings were asked to reincarnate to maintain the stability of the Cosmos. Some refused, hence the Hunters and the Descendants. The others… The others were tasked with staying as they were. Sadly this is where my useful knowledge ends. The missions of the forbidden primordials are poorly understood by Heaven.”
Ultimatum nodded. “I asked the Madman what his mission was and he brought me along on one. All he said was that he needed to seal up breaches in the Cosmos.”
“That’s strange,” Blood-Wraith said to himself. “I had no idea the primordials were that complex.”
“Agreed,” Ultimatum replied. “Now aside from that strangeness, the Madman took the time to help me achieve ULTRAMagic at the behest of another primordial...”
“Oh! I presume this relates to what you wanted to discuss?”
“Precisely, Blood-Wraith. So after that, the Madman handed me off to an entity calling himself the ULTRAMagic Entity. He suggested starting a guild for ULTRAMagic mages and pointed out where I can find some. The Cosmos is a mess and we both want to seek out powerful mages to help keep it in order. Our plan is to station ourselves in The Unlight and make sure troublemakers don’t abuse it to damage the Cosmos. A tall order, but I think we can do it with enough mages. Blood-Wraith, Brenna, what do you two think?”
The two thought about the proposal for a couple of minutes. “That does sound like a fun time,” Brenna admitted. “It’d certainly be a great help given all the mages that are popping up.” she nudged Blood-Wraith.
“I don’t know how to feel about this,” Blood-Wraith reflected. “I suppose I could join…hum… argh, I’m on the fence about this. Are you sure this’ll work, Ultimatum?”
“No, but that’s not going to stop me from trying until I get it right.”
He had ambition, which gave Blood-Wraith confidence. “I’ll join, if you can get the guild off the ground… er, maybe that’s too difficult though… um… then again, what if another Milosh situation pops up? You know what? Stay in contact with me! Things are pretty shaky at the moment…”
“I understand. I’ll concede that this is a bit sudden. And obviously I can’t force you to join. Still, I do legitimately think you would be a fantastic member. The ULTRAMagic Entity also seems to think so” Ultimatum assured. He had been cautioned that Blood-Wraith would be apprehensive due to his age.
“This ULTRAMagic Entity sounds weird…” Blood-Wraith noted.
“Agreed,” Brenna replied. “That’s a bit of a new one for me.”
Ultimatum chuckled. “Believe it or not, that's not the weirdest entity I’ve encountered. You should have seen it before I ended up in Universe-X090X. I was stuck in the heat death of my universe and went through an entire journey to get back to my parents…”
“Ooh, sounds exciting…” Auda remarked with awe in her voice.
“Want me to tell you about it?” They all nodded. “Alright, where do I begin?”
At that point it was getting late. The five talked some more after the story before finally settling down for the night. Back in the Iron City, Vlastimir was checking in on Desislav. It was a beautiful night in The Iron City, with the stars twinkling away in the night sky.
“Now you’re sure you’re okay?” Vlastimir inquired. “You’re sure you’re not going mad?”
“Vlastimir, stop worrying. I’ll be fine. Also don’t you have a date to be on?”
“Yes, he does” Ekaterina replied as she yanked him over with her magnetic ribbons.
Dragoslava shook her head. “Careful, Eka. Don’t wrap him up like what you did to me.”
Ekaterina noticed she used a few too many ribbons. “Oh, oops-I did not mean to do that.”
“Hey, I don’t mind, ha” Vlastimir remarked.
“You-you… please don’t fill my head with naughty thoughts,” Ekaterina grumbled as she took Vlastimir by the hand.
“Well hey, they had to come from somewhere…” Vlastimir pointed out as they walked off. This made Dragoslava and Desislav laugh. The couple eventually arrived at a secluded, forested park. Vlastimir was very chatty, innocently pestering Ekaterina. “Oh come on, mummify me! It’ll be cool… and metal as flip.”
They stopped at a clearing. “Okay, fine. I’ll admit that I kind of like wrapping people up, but it’s not that kind of date…”
Vlastimir paused, processed this, then smiled. “Okay, my apologies!”
“Just like that?”
“Yup.”
“Oh, okay then. So now what?”
Vlastimir shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ve never been on a date before. My madness has always been a bit off putting to other girls… want to talk about our powers?”
“Sure, why not? So what can you do, Vlastimir?”
He stood there, letting his black blood seep out of his pores. It clung to his skin like a bodysuit. “Heh, I’m actually a demon… dragon whose blood is the offspring of a wicked, celestial dragon.”
Ekaterina felt the black ooze on his arm. It was wet and shiny, yet left no residue on her. “What even is this? What can it do?”
“A lot, actually. It can cast magic, clothe me, protect me, form weapons, absorb food, become wings, and even turn me into a sword if you ever need one… no wait, that was so mom could seal me away that one time… Dang it, or was that a cartoon I watched one time?”
“Pardon?”
“Ahem, Yeah; my mom is a witch, alchemist, occultist, and a mad scientist. She had me so she could create the ultimate weapon.”
That was bizarre to hear, causing Ekaterina to take a seat on a park bench for a moment. “Wait, she had you… to forge a weapon?”
Vlastimir nodded. “Yes, but she loves me regardless.”
Ekaterina was very confused. “Really? How so?”
“Well for one, she paid for cable TV so I could watch Saturday morning cartoons. She also bought me toys, movies, and video games. And she let me try all sorts of tasty foods she liked…”
“That… sounds like she was keeping you distracted…”
Vlastimir shook his head in denial. “No no no, there were times when she hugged me when either of us were feeling sad. She also never trained me past 9 o’clock.”
“I see…” Ekaterina was quickly realizing her date had issues. “So what about your father?”
“My father… Zoltan Dracul! He was constantly working, but always gave me a hug when he came home. Also in hindsight, there were a bunch of occasions where I’m pretty sure he was keeping my mother in check… but the two do love each other. They’d always do lovey-dovey stuff with each other, like hugging and kissing.”
“Huh, sounds like you had things pretty well despite all of the hiccups…”
Vlastimir tilted his head. “What’s wrong, Eka?”
She got up, crossed her arms, and leaned against a tree. “Oh, nothing… just my parents, I guess…”
“Were they mean?” He asked as he walked over.
“Not really, it’s just that they didn’t care about me. I took interest in painting and they didn’t care! They were a bunch of rich, snobby, oil tycoons. All they wanted was money and for me to join the family business.”
“Is that why you joined the Lich?”
“No, that was because I was a ghost that had just died because my parents had a knack for making enemies…”
Vlastimir was appalled by this. “How unfortunate! Ekaterina, I may be clinically mad, but just know that you have my utmost sympathy.”
Ekaterina chuckled. “You’re sweet, you know that? Fortunately all that nonsense is in the past.”
“Exactly! And now you can focus on being a painter. One of my friends back home is an artist and he always beat himself up over his art, but kept improving as time went on.”
“How nice. Oh, if you’re wondering about the magnetic ribbons, I didn’t have them in my previous life. The Lich gave them to me to stop Dragoslava.”
Vlastimir nodded like he had an idea. “So do you think they’d work on me?”
“What do you mean?”
“Would they cling to me?”
Ekaterina thought about it and decided to humor him as he covered a section of his arm with his blood. There was no interaction with it. “Nope, I guess not. Your blood isn’t magnetic.”
“Bummer…Diamagnetic, I guess. Hey, I have a technique that can subdue anyone! I call it ‘Ensnaring Bud.’ Want to see it?”
“Really? That’s an interesting name. Why do you call it… aiyee!” Ekaterina found herself stuck in a giant rose bud with her head sticking out. It was shiny, black, and stretchy. “How bizarre…”
“Haha, that’s why!” Vlastimir threw his hands up. “It just came to me one day, during an obsession with rose bushes I had…” He snapped his fingers, freeing Ekaterina. “Personally I’d relax in it, but it’s not very comfy.”
“That’s quite unique. Do you happen to name all of them?”
“Yup…” He checked his watch… which was broken. “Oh my, it’s getting close to dinner time. Let’s roll!”
“Oh, alright then. Where are we going though?” Ekaterina asked.
“Well I asked Dragoslava and she recommended ‘The Moonlight Garden.’ Apparently Kresimira and Corentin went there all the time back in the day.”
Next: Chapter 9
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
Ultimatum had a very interesting story to tell, with many twists and turns that elaborated a tragic, yet hopeful tale. Originally he was a human that ended up on the wrong path after murdering a belligerent addict that had been harassing his family for two decades. What pushed him to his breaking point was the fact that the police refused to do anything because the addict was considered an ‘Informant’ (which Ultimatum clarified as a ‘snitch’). After that incident he could not give a fig about society. Following a string of robberies, scams, and the accidental murder of a few drug dealers, he was erroneously given a death row sentence. It did not bother him as he had dealt with his enemy and did not care about life anymore.
Things became messy when a shady, corrupt government organization drafted him for top secret experiments. These were not for the bettering of humanity, rather they were to see if the anomalies being tested could be weaponized. Ultimatum was tasked with entering The Scream, a 10th dimensional realm that could not be truly comprehended by those of the 3rd dimension. The organization in question forced him to read a curse that would send him to The Scream (how they acquired the curse was unclear). What happened next was a blur, but he described it as being ripped apart across all of reality and then being reassembled in an instant. Adding insult to injury, he did not even make it into The Scream.
“Once the high of becoming 7D against my will wore off, I found myself back in the laboratory. At that point I was something beyond furious and took out said anger on the scientists… by returning them to the Prima Materia.”
Valentina was shocked. “Goodness, that’s quite the punishment now…”
“As far as I’m concerned, I was being merciful. After learning what I learned, that level of irreverence towards God is inexcusable. It doesn’t help that there are other universes where similar nonsense happens… Plus I had a spoiled astral entity-no one you guys know-telling me I should go wild and… well he’s a friend of mine who helped me keep my head on straight, so I felt obligated to heed his suggestions.”
“Wow… so what happened next?” Blood-Wraith inquired. “Did you do anything about that organization?”
“Naturally the sirens began blaring, with the facility claiming there was an XKZ-7 end of the world scenario happening. In a daze, I began erasing whatever I could. Eventually I ended up deleting the entire facility. At that point, military units began showing up. I got a little irritated given that I had a pounding headache and let them fire upon me. I then sent it all back to them. Once that was all said and done, I erased them and all knowledge of The Scream from that universe… I think.”
“I don’t know how to feel, but they all sounded like a bunch of meanies,” Auda stated.
Ultimatum laughed, the remorse being lost on Auda. “Well Auda, I can definitely say that the security personnel weren’t going to win any contests with their manners. Now the next thing I did was head to The Unlight to clear my head. After a bout of wandering, I ran into one of those primordials I imagine you are all familiar with.”
This piqued Brenna’s interest. “Oh? Bizarre, which one was it?”
“Well, it was some brutalist-looking, stone man saying he was ‘The Madman of Old.’”
“Er, that one doesn’t exist…”
“Oh no, he absolutely does, Brenna,” Valentina corrected. “He’s one of the ones that should not be known, a forbidden primordial.”
Brenna was confused. “Forbidden? May I ask you to elaborate?”
“As we all know, God created a group of entities to test the Cosmos when it was in its infancy. In time, these beings were asked to reincarnate to maintain the stability of the Cosmos. Some refused, hence the Hunters and the Descendants. The others… The others were tasked with staying as they were. Sadly this is where my useful knowledge ends. The missions of the forbidden primordials are poorly understood by Heaven.”
Ultimatum nodded. “I asked the Madman what his mission was and he brought me along on one. All he said was that he needed to seal up breaches in the Cosmos.”
“That’s strange,” Blood-Wraith said to himself. “I had no idea the primordials were that complex.”
“Agreed,” Ultimatum replied. “Now aside from that strangeness, the Madman took the time to help me achieve ULTRAMagic at the behest of another primordial...”
“Oh! I presume this relates to what you wanted to discuss?”
“Precisely, Blood-Wraith. So after that, the Madman handed me off to an entity calling himself the ULTRAMagic Entity. He suggested starting a guild for ULTRAMagic mages and pointed out where I can find some. The Cosmos is a mess and we both want to seek out powerful mages to help keep it in order. Our plan is to station ourselves in The Unlight and make sure troublemakers don’t abuse it to damage the Cosmos. A tall order, but I think we can do it with enough mages. Blood-Wraith, Brenna, what do you two think?”
The two thought about the proposal for a couple of minutes. “That does sound like a fun time,” Brenna admitted. “It’d certainly be a great help given all the mages that are popping up.” she nudged Blood-Wraith.
“I don’t know how to feel about this,” Blood-Wraith reflected. “I suppose I could join…hum… argh, I’m on the fence about this. Are you sure this’ll work, Ultimatum?”
“No, but that’s not going to stop me from trying until I get it right.”
He had ambition, which gave Blood-Wraith confidence. “I’ll join, if you can get the guild off the ground… er, maybe that’s too difficult though… um… then again, what if another Milosh situation pops up? You know what? Stay in contact with me! Things are pretty shaky at the moment…”
“I understand. I’ll concede that this is a bit sudden. And obviously I can’t force you to join. Still, I do legitimately think you would be a fantastic member. The ULTRAMagic Entity also seems to think so” Ultimatum assured. He had been cautioned that Blood-Wraith would be apprehensive due to his age.
“This ULTRAMagic Entity sounds weird…” Blood-Wraith noted.
“Agreed,” Brenna replied. “That’s a bit of a new one for me.”
Ultimatum chuckled. “Believe it or not, that's not the weirdest entity I’ve encountered. You should have seen it before I ended up in Universe-X090X. I was stuck in the heat death of my universe and went through an entire journey to get back to my parents…”
“Ooh, sounds exciting…” Auda remarked with awe in her voice.
“Want me to tell you about it?” They all nodded. “Alright, where do I begin?”
At that point it was getting late. The five talked some more after the story before finally settling down for the night. Back in the Iron City, Vlastimir was checking in on Desislav. It was a beautiful night in The Iron City, with the stars twinkling away in the night sky.
“Now you’re sure you’re okay?” Vlastimir inquired. “You’re sure you’re not going mad?”
“Vlastimir, stop worrying. I’ll be fine. Also don’t you have a date to be on?”
“Yes, he does” Ekaterina replied as she yanked him over with her magnetic ribbons.
Dragoslava shook her head. “Careful, Eka. Don’t wrap him up like what you did to me.”
Ekaterina noticed she used a few too many ribbons. “Oh, oops-I did not mean to do that.”
“Hey, I don’t mind, ha” Vlastimir remarked.
“You-you… please don’t fill my head with naughty thoughts,” Ekaterina grumbled as she took Vlastimir by the hand.
“Well hey, they had to come from somewhere…” Vlastimir pointed out as they walked off. This made Dragoslava and Desislav laugh. The couple eventually arrived at a secluded, forested park. Vlastimir was very chatty, innocently pestering Ekaterina. “Oh come on, mummify me! It’ll be cool… and metal as flip.”
They stopped at a clearing. “Okay, fine. I’ll admit that I kind of like wrapping people up, but it’s not that kind of date…”
Vlastimir paused, processed this, then smiled. “Okay, my apologies!”
“Just like that?”
“Yup.”
“Oh, okay then. So now what?”
Vlastimir shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ve never been on a date before. My madness has always been a bit off putting to other girls… want to talk about our powers?”
“Sure, why not? So what can you do, Vlastimir?”
He stood there, letting his black blood seep out of his pores. It clung to his skin like a bodysuit. “Heh, I’m actually a demon… dragon whose blood is the offspring of a wicked, celestial dragon.”
Ekaterina felt the black ooze on his arm. It was wet and shiny, yet left no residue on her. “What even is this? What can it do?”
“A lot, actually. It can cast magic, clothe me, protect me, form weapons, absorb food, become wings, and even turn me into a sword if you ever need one… no wait, that was so mom could seal me away that one time… Dang it, or was that a cartoon I watched one time?”
“Pardon?”
“Ahem, Yeah; my mom is a witch, alchemist, occultist, and a mad scientist. She had me so she could create the ultimate weapon.”
That was bizarre to hear, causing Ekaterina to take a seat on a park bench for a moment. “Wait, she had you… to forge a weapon?”
Vlastimir nodded. “Yes, but she loves me regardless.”
Ekaterina was very confused. “Really? How so?”
“Well for one, she paid for cable TV so I could watch Saturday morning cartoons. She also bought me toys, movies, and video games. And she let me try all sorts of tasty foods she liked…”
“That… sounds like she was keeping you distracted…”
Vlastimir shook his head in denial. “No no no, there were times when she hugged me when either of us were feeling sad. She also never trained me past 9 o’clock.”
“I see…” Ekaterina was quickly realizing her date had issues. “So what about your father?”
“My father… Zoltan Dracul! He was constantly working, but always gave me a hug when he came home. Also in hindsight, there were a bunch of occasions where I’m pretty sure he was keeping my mother in check… but the two do love each other. They’d always do lovey-dovey stuff with each other, like hugging and kissing.”
“Huh, sounds like you had things pretty well despite all of the hiccups…”
Vlastimir tilted his head. “What’s wrong, Eka?”
She got up, crossed her arms, and leaned against a tree. “Oh, nothing… just my parents, I guess…”
“Were they mean?” He asked as he walked over.
“Not really, it’s just that they didn’t care about me. I took interest in painting and they didn’t care! They were a bunch of rich, snobby, oil tycoons. All they wanted was money and for me to join the family business.”
“Is that why you joined the Lich?”
“No, that was because I was a ghost that had just died because my parents had a knack for making enemies…”
Vlastimir was appalled by this. “How unfortunate! Ekaterina, I may be clinically mad, but just know that you have my utmost sympathy.”
Ekaterina chuckled. “You’re sweet, you know that? Fortunately all that nonsense is in the past.”
“Exactly! And now you can focus on being a painter. One of my friends back home is an artist and he always beat himself up over his art, but kept improving as time went on.”
“How nice. Oh, if you’re wondering about the magnetic ribbons, I didn’t have them in my previous life. The Lich gave them to me to stop Dragoslava.”
Vlastimir nodded like he had an idea. “So do you think they’d work on me?”
“What do you mean?”
“Would they cling to me?”
Ekaterina thought about it and decided to humor him as he covered a section of his arm with his blood. There was no interaction with it. “Nope, I guess not. Your blood isn’t magnetic.”
“Bummer…Diamagnetic, I guess. Hey, I have a technique that can subdue anyone! I call it ‘Ensnaring Bud.’ Want to see it?”
“Really? That’s an interesting name. Why do you call it… aiyee!” Ekaterina found herself stuck in a giant rose bud with her head sticking out. It was shiny, black, and stretchy. “How bizarre…”
“Haha, that’s why!” Vlastimir threw his hands up. “It just came to me one day, during an obsession with rose bushes I had…” He snapped his fingers, freeing Ekaterina. “Personally I’d relax in it, but it’s not very comfy.”
“That’s quite unique. Do you happen to name all of them?”
“Yup…” He checked his watch… which was broken. “Oh my, it’s getting close to dinner time. Let’s roll!”
“Oh, alright then. Where are we going though?” Ekaterina asked.
“Well I asked Dragoslava and she recommended ‘The Moonlight Garden.’ Apparently Kresimira and Corentin went there all the time back in the day.”
Next: Chapter 9
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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