ULTRAMagic Interval - Chapter 1
Chapter 0 | First | Next
Master Post - Patreon
Will was having a fairly pleasant dream that night. He had been whisked away back to his childhood, coming home from the store with a new toy. The world of the dream was incredibly odd and the toy could have only existed in the dream, but Will did not care. He was happy and that was all that mattered. Just as he was about to arrive home and wake up, something changed.
The happy-go-lucky atmosphere was replaced with a foreboding and ominous haze of uncertainty. Will could feel how wrong things had become, the bizarre sensation of not being able to wake up filling him with dread. The wind howled past him, chilling him to the bone as he found himself in a field of cracked ground and dead grass. Turning around, he saw what looked like a ghost in the distance. Its details were too vague to make out at first, but it quickly did not matter as it started to run towards him. Feeling an intense wave of fear overwhelm him, Will ran away as fast as he could.
Running in the dream was easier said than done. No matter how far he ran, the ghost was always on the verge of catching him, on top of the dream having bizarre physics. Screaming and maniacal laughter rang out all around the two, drowning out any call for help Will made. All of it was a truly unbearable experience. Will could feel his legs about to give out, but he kept going. A precipice was upon him and he prepared to jump… only to miss the other ledge and plummet into the abyss below.
Naturally Will was making a great deal of commotion and this was sensed by Kyu. Kyu was a strange, child-sized, alien humanoid. The ribbon-like antenna that sat atop his head of pink hair knew something was wrong. Opening Will’s door startled him when he saw his best friend thrashing about, unable to wake up. He immediately went to Sam’s door, pounding on it as hard as he could.
“SAM! HELP!” He called out.
Opening the door was Samantha Devilfay, Will’s girlfriend. She was still in her pajamas (pajama pants and a T-shirt) and her long, brown hair was quite messy. Sam had also heard the commotion and was just about to go check on Will. “Kyu, what’s going on!?”
“It’s Will. He’s having trouble waking up. Come on!”
Seeing Will in that much distress was a harrowing sight for Sam. “Oh God!” She tried to shake him awake, but it was difficult and ineffective. “Hold on, I got a spell for this!” Sam said an incantation to herself and formed an orb of energy in her hands. Just as she was about to bring it to Will’s head, his arm flew up and knocked it away, ruining her concentration. “No, the spell!”
Kyu groaned in frustration towards the entire situation, but then had an idea. “He’s not going to like this…” What looked like a stinger emerged from the dorsal side of his hand. “But it’s all I can think of.”
“Kyu? What are you doing?” Sam asked, a bit worried.
“This!” Kyu held down Will’s arm and jammed the stinger into it.
The ghost had jumped after Will, not even giving him a break as he fell to his figurative death. Fortunately things changed again, but it was not exactly pleasant. Will felt a sharp, burning sensation in his arm. It then spread all over his body. Unable to take the pain anymore, he was jolted awake.
“OW OW OW!!” Will shouted while trying to catch his breath. “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?” It was unclear if he was referring to the dream or the bee sting.
Sam went and hugged Will as tight as she could. “Will! Don’t worry, everything’s alright now…”
“Sam? Sam!” He hugged back just as tight. “It was horrible, Sam. There was… it was… a gh-ghost… there was a ghost and…”
“Easy, Will. Easy,” Kyu said, trying to calm him down. “Take a breath first, ease your nerves, then talk.”
He took a breath, relaxed, and brushed his long, messy brown hair out of his brown eyes. “Guys, a ghost was chasing me and I couldn’t wake up. I think it hijacked my dream…”
Sam looked very concerned. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes, that was too vivid to be a coincidence…”
“Well that’s not a good sign…” Kyu said to himself. “I’ll go get Antonio and the others.”
Upon Kyu leaving, Will took a moment to explain the dream to Sam. She was unsure what to make of it, but was sympathetic regardless. The apparent fact that Will could not properly explain what the ghost looked like was a massive roadblock. To say it exacerbated Sam’s concern was an understatement.
Working up his nerves, Will cautiously stuck his head out into the slightly narrow hallway. It was lined with bedroom doors on both sides and silent, as usual. With Sam by his side, he made his way to the stairs on the far side and went downstairs. The two were greeted by the smell of breakfast being prepared. In the kitchen (which lined the interior of the front wall) was Antonio Pari, their close friend and landlord.
“Will! How are you doing? Holding up alright?”
He exhaled. “Alright, Antonio…” Will replied as he sat down on the couch in the living room, opposite the kitchen.
“I’d give you a hug, but I’m in the middle of making breakfast,” Antonio said as he brushed his red hair aside. It was a little messy. “Sam, hug him for me.”
“Will do!” she happily obliged.
“Buster and Olivia woke up late, so they’ll be over in a minute,” Antonio stated. “I also called Randalph, but it sounds like he’ll be late.”
Will nodded. “That’s fine.”
“Was the dream really that bad?”
“Yeah…”
Antonio began setting up food on the dining table, which was out in the open next to the kitchen. “I knew this area was haunted when I bought these houses, but this is a little ridiculous.”
Will nodded again and looked out the living room window. Across the road was Antonio’s house. They all lived out in the countryside atop a great hill, so they were on their own for the most part. Seeing Kyu coming back with Buster and Olivia made Will feel better. They entered the house as he was getting some pancakes and bacon.
“Will!” Buster exclaimed. “Are you alright?” Buster was a plucky journalist with brown hair and purple eyes. There was always something strange about him, but the group could never place it.
“We’re here for you, Will,” Olivia added. She was also a journalist, with natural silver hair in a bob cut and scarlet eyes. Normally she preferred to put on some light makeup in the morning, but this was a bit of an emergency.
Will swallowed his food and drank some orange juice. “Thanks, guys. Don’t worry, I’m doing better now.”
“He’s still a little jittery, but better,” Sam confirmed.
“Alright, Will,” Kyu said as he got his food. “Tell us everything you can about the dream and…” he paused. “Randalph still isn’t here?”
Just as he said that, someone entered the house. “Sorry I’m late, everyone! Tusk and his boys needed some help with an alchemical experiment.”
Randalph went about his usual greetings and then went for some food. He was quite the odd chap as he was essentially a humanoid goat. Randalph looked close enough to a human, but had upwards horns coming from his head, was covered in dark purple fur, and goat ears curved up from the sides of his head. Specifically he was a Goatman from Limbo, albeit his people had long since moved to the Unlight. Of importance was that he was a seasoned alchemist and a good friend of the group.
Once everyone was ready, Will explained his dream in full. “... and then Kyu stung me and woke me up. Ow…”
Randalph stroked his chin. “I see… was there anything else? Did anything happen before you went to bed, perhaps?”
“Well… I did catch a glimpse of Umuka again. You know, that weird black and purple ghost that’s been following me around as of late?”
This was cause for alarm, especially with Olivia. “Will, dear? You’re not going to be fond of this, but I really think you should tell Antares about this.”
Will groaned. “I’d rather not…”
“What’s the matter?” Randalph inquired. “The Liger Brigade is more than equipped to handle a petty ghost. Something like this is a regular Tuesday for the paranormal squad.”
“I haven’t been filing reports like I should…” Will admitted.
Kyu sighed, with the others not being surprised. “I’ll go get your communicator” he said as he went upstairs.
“Will, you really should call Captain Briggs,” Buster reasoned. “If this isn’t an emergency, then you’ll at least get some peace of mind.”
Will knew what was going to happen. “He’s going to reprimand me, I just know it…”
Randalph straightened out his indigo coat. “Will, in the immortal words of Douglas Adams, don’t panic. I’m sure it’ll be fine. And just to be safe with this situation, I’ll go fetch some friends of mine. I’ll be back in a flash, Antonio.”
“Alright then, see you soon,” he replied as Randalph left. “Olivia, be sure to tell your cousin to take it easy on Will,” he requested with a chuckle.
Kyu returned with a compact, cell phone looking device. The cover of it was engraved with the insignia of The Liger Brigade. The brigade themselves were a freelance, military organization that helped keep the world safe, albeit they leaned more into the anomalous and magical threats. Will and Antares were good friends, with the latter drafting the former into the brigade years prior. Antares did not want his friend going into U.S. military service.
Will turned on the communicator and entered a special number that opened up a secure channel. He felt his heart drop when the call was almost instantaneously answered. “Ca-captain Briggs?”
“Private, you’re three reports overdue.”
“I...I know. Antares, this is going to sound really awkward, but I had a bad dream last night…”
Antares did his best to hold back a laugh. “Well normally I’d say this is Ellen’s forte, but I’ll assume it’s pertinent to us given that you contacted me. Private, who are you with right now?”
“Everyone but Randalph.”
“Antares?” said Olivia. “I was the one who suggested the call.”
Antares paused. “I see. So what happened in the dream, Private?”
Will gave him the rundown of everything. Thankfully the others reminded him of Umuka when he nearly forgot to mention him. He then hesitated. “Antares, there’s one more detail to mention, but it relates to file XB-047…”
“That’s not good. Everyone? This is confidential information we need to discuss. Since I trust all of you, do you swear to secrecy on this matter?” Antares waited as everyone accepted. “Alright, go ahead, Private.”
“Now I'm not completely sure about this, but I think the ghost potentially resembled Bethany.”
While Antares took a second to process that, Sam realized something. “Wait, Boyo, did you lie to me?”
“Sorry, Sam. Like he said, this stuff is confidential. To be fair, I wasn’t sure initially…”
“Private?” Antares cut in. “If that’s the case, we’ve potentially got trouble on our hands. I’m not sure what to do right this second, but I’ll open a case for this. Keep me posted and call me with the emergency line if anything else happens, and I mean anything.”
“Roger that, Captain.”
“Very good, Private. And the same goes for all of you. Captain Briggs, over and out.”
Will closed the communicator and took a calming breath. “Well, that went well…”
“So who’s this Bethany person?” Antonio asked, a little worried. “Is she dangerous?”
“Possibly,” Will replied.
“For now, let’s just say she’s an ancestor of Antares and mine,” Olivia elaborated.
Antonio gave a light groan. “I’m starting to regret leaving my demon side back in Inferno…”
“Should we bunker down, maybe?” Buster suggested. “You know, fortify the houses or something similar? Aggressive ghosts are a bit of a new one for me.”
Kyu chuckled. “Well I don’t know how well that would work given that she could walk through walls and whatnot. For now let’s keep our eyes open and don't do anything stupid.”
“No more bee stings?” Will interjected.
“Well it worked, didn’t it?”
Will hesitantly nodded, looking at the slightly red spot on his arm. “Yeah…”
Sam patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, Boyo. I got your back. In fact, I’m going to go tell Ellen while I get dressed, okay?”
“Sure, just keep the Bethany stuff on the down low unless she already knows about it, alright?”
“Of course,” Sam replied as she went up the stairs.
Buster started to head for the front door. “I guess we better go get ready for the day then. Coming, Olivia?”
“Indeed. Don’t worry, Will. Everything is going to be alright, especially now that we have Antares on the case,” she reassured as the two left.
Antonio began cleaning up, moving stuff into the dishwasher. “Don’t fret, Will. I’ll keep you safe no matter what.”
“Thanks, Antonio,” Will said as he got up to stretch.
Kyu’s antennae went wild for a second. “Oh, hello? Just who did Randalph bring with him? Devils? Faustus?”
“You don’t have to knock…” Randalph’s voice said from the other side of the door.
“I’m knocking anyway,” an unfamiliar voice replied.
“Huh, well that’s slightly out of the blue…” Antonio remarked as a knock was heard at the door. “Come on in!” he called out.
Next: Chapter 2
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
Will was having a fairly pleasant dream that night. He had been whisked away back to his childhood, coming home from the store with a new toy. The world of the dream was incredibly odd and the toy could have only existed in the dream, but Will did not care. He was happy and that was all that mattered. Just as he was about to arrive home and wake up, something changed.
The happy-go-lucky atmosphere was replaced with a foreboding and ominous haze of uncertainty. Will could feel how wrong things had become, the bizarre sensation of not being able to wake up filling him with dread. The wind howled past him, chilling him to the bone as he found himself in a field of cracked ground and dead grass. Turning around, he saw what looked like a ghost in the distance. Its details were too vague to make out at first, but it quickly did not matter as it started to run towards him. Feeling an intense wave of fear overwhelm him, Will ran away as fast as he could.
Running in the dream was easier said than done. No matter how far he ran, the ghost was always on the verge of catching him, on top of the dream having bizarre physics. Screaming and maniacal laughter rang out all around the two, drowning out any call for help Will made. All of it was a truly unbearable experience. Will could feel his legs about to give out, but he kept going. A precipice was upon him and he prepared to jump… only to miss the other ledge and plummet into the abyss below.
Naturally Will was making a great deal of commotion and this was sensed by Kyu. Kyu was a strange, child-sized, alien humanoid. The ribbon-like antenna that sat atop his head of pink hair knew something was wrong. Opening Will’s door startled him when he saw his best friend thrashing about, unable to wake up. He immediately went to Sam’s door, pounding on it as hard as he could.
“SAM! HELP!” He called out.
Opening the door was Samantha Devilfay, Will’s girlfriend. She was still in her pajamas (pajama pants and a T-shirt) and her long, brown hair was quite messy. Sam had also heard the commotion and was just about to go check on Will. “Kyu, what’s going on!?”
“It’s Will. He’s having trouble waking up. Come on!”
Seeing Will in that much distress was a harrowing sight for Sam. “Oh God!” She tried to shake him awake, but it was difficult and ineffective. “Hold on, I got a spell for this!” Sam said an incantation to herself and formed an orb of energy in her hands. Just as she was about to bring it to Will’s head, his arm flew up and knocked it away, ruining her concentration. “No, the spell!”
Kyu groaned in frustration towards the entire situation, but then had an idea. “He’s not going to like this…” What looked like a stinger emerged from the dorsal side of his hand. “But it’s all I can think of.”
“Kyu? What are you doing?” Sam asked, a bit worried.
“This!” Kyu held down Will’s arm and jammed the stinger into it.
The ghost had jumped after Will, not even giving him a break as he fell to his figurative death. Fortunately things changed again, but it was not exactly pleasant. Will felt a sharp, burning sensation in his arm. It then spread all over his body. Unable to take the pain anymore, he was jolted awake.
“OW OW OW!!” Will shouted while trying to catch his breath. “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?” It was unclear if he was referring to the dream or the bee sting.
Sam went and hugged Will as tight as she could. “Will! Don’t worry, everything’s alright now…”
“Sam? Sam!” He hugged back just as tight. “It was horrible, Sam. There was… it was… a gh-ghost… there was a ghost and…”
“Easy, Will. Easy,” Kyu said, trying to calm him down. “Take a breath first, ease your nerves, then talk.”
He took a breath, relaxed, and brushed his long, messy brown hair out of his brown eyes. “Guys, a ghost was chasing me and I couldn’t wake up. I think it hijacked my dream…”
Sam looked very concerned. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes, that was too vivid to be a coincidence…”
“Well that’s not a good sign…” Kyu said to himself. “I’ll go get Antonio and the others.”
Upon Kyu leaving, Will took a moment to explain the dream to Sam. She was unsure what to make of it, but was sympathetic regardless. The apparent fact that Will could not properly explain what the ghost looked like was a massive roadblock. To say it exacerbated Sam’s concern was an understatement.
Working up his nerves, Will cautiously stuck his head out into the slightly narrow hallway. It was lined with bedroom doors on both sides and silent, as usual. With Sam by his side, he made his way to the stairs on the far side and went downstairs. The two were greeted by the smell of breakfast being prepared. In the kitchen (which lined the interior of the front wall) was Antonio Pari, their close friend and landlord.
“Will! How are you doing? Holding up alright?”
He exhaled. “Alright, Antonio…” Will replied as he sat down on the couch in the living room, opposite the kitchen.
“I’d give you a hug, but I’m in the middle of making breakfast,” Antonio said as he brushed his red hair aside. It was a little messy. “Sam, hug him for me.”
“Will do!” she happily obliged.
“Buster and Olivia woke up late, so they’ll be over in a minute,” Antonio stated. “I also called Randalph, but it sounds like he’ll be late.”
Will nodded. “That’s fine.”
“Was the dream really that bad?”
“Yeah…”
Antonio began setting up food on the dining table, which was out in the open next to the kitchen. “I knew this area was haunted when I bought these houses, but this is a little ridiculous.”
Will nodded again and looked out the living room window. Across the road was Antonio’s house. They all lived out in the countryside atop a great hill, so they were on their own for the most part. Seeing Kyu coming back with Buster and Olivia made Will feel better. They entered the house as he was getting some pancakes and bacon.
“Will!” Buster exclaimed. “Are you alright?” Buster was a plucky journalist with brown hair and purple eyes. There was always something strange about him, but the group could never place it.
“We’re here for you, Will,” Olivia added. She was also a journalist, with natural silver hair in a bob cut and scarlet eyes. Normally she preferred to put on some light makeup in the morning, but this was a bit of an emergency.
Will swallowed his food and drank some orange juice. “Thanks, guys. Don’t worry, I’m doing better now.”
“He’s still a little jittery, but better,” Sam confirmed.
“Alright, Will,” Kyu said as he got his food. “Tell us everything you can about the dream and…” he paused. “Randalph still isn’t here?”
Just as he said that, someone entered the house. “Sorry I’m late, everyone! Tusk and his boys needed some help with an alchemical experiment.”
Randalph went about his usual greetings and then went for some food. He was quite the odd chap as he was essentially a humanoid goat. Randalph looked close enough to a human, but had upwards horns coming from his head, was covered in dark purple fur, and goat ears curved up from the sides of his head. Specifically he was a Goatman from Limbo, albeit his people had long since moved to the Unlight. Of importance was that he was a seasoned alchemist and a good friend of the group.
Once everyone was ready, Will explained his dream in full. “... and then Kyu stung me and woke me up. Ow…”
Randalph stroked his chin. “I see… was there anything else? Did anything happen before you went to bed, perhaps?”
“Well… I did catch a glimpse of Umuka again. You know, that weird black and purple ghost that’s been following me around as of late?”
This was cause for alarm, especially with Olivia. “Will, dear? You’re not going to be fond of this, but I really think you should tell Antares about this.”
Will groaned. “I’d rather not…”
“What’s the matter?” Randalph inquired. “The Liger Brigade is more than equipped to handle a petty ghost. Something like this is a regular Tuesday for the paranormal squad.”
“I haven’t been filing reports like I should…” Will admitted.
Kyu sighed, with the others not being surprised. “I’ll go get your communicator” he said as he went upstairs.
“Will, you really should call Captain Briggs,” Buster reasoned. “If this isn’t an emergency, then you’ll at least get some peace of mind.”
Will knew what was going to happen. “He’s going to reprimand me, I just know it…”
Randalph straightened out his indigo coat. “Will, in the immortal words of Douglas Adams, don’t panic. I’m sure it’ll be fine. And just to be safe with this situation, I’ll go fetch some friends of mine. I’ll be back in a flash, Antonio.”
“Alright then, see you soon,” he replied as Randalph left. “Olivia, be sure to tell your cousin to take it easy on Will,” he requested with a chuckle.
Kyu returned with a compact, cell phone looking device. The cover of it was engraved with the insignia of The Liger Brigade. The brigade themselves were a freelance, military organization that helped keep the world safe, albeit they leaned more into the anomalous and magical threats. Will and Antares were good friends, with the latter drafting the former into the brigade years prior. Antares did not want his friend going into U.S. military service.
Will turned on the communicator and entered a special number that opened up a secure channel. He felt his heart drop when the call was almost instantaneously answered. “Ca-captain Briggs?”
“Private, you’re three reports overdue.”
“I...I know. Antares, this is going to sound really awkward, but I had a bad dream last night…”
Antares did his best to hold back a laugh. “Well normally I’d say this is Ellen’s forte, but I’ll assume it’s pertinent to us given that you contacted me. Private, who are you with right now?”
“Everyone but Randalph.”
“Antares?” said Olivia. “I was the one who suggested the call.”
Antares paused. “I see. So what happened in the dream, Private?”
Will gave him the rundown of everything. Thankfully the others reminded him of Umuka when he nearly forgot to mention him. He then hesitated. “Antares, there’s one more detail to mention, but it relates to file XB-047…”
“That’s not good. Everyone? This is confidential information we need to discuss. Since I trust all of you, do you swear to secrecy on this matter?” Antares waited as everyone accepted. “Alright, go ahead, Private.”
“Now I'm not completely sure about this, but I think the ghost potentially resembled Bethany.”
While Antares took a second to process that, Sam realized something. “Wait, Boyo, did you lie to me?”
“Sorry, Sam. Like he said, this stuff is confidential. To be fair, I wasn’t sure initially…”
“Private?” Antares cut in. “If that’s the case, we’ve potentially got trouble on our hands. I’m not sure what to do right this second, but I’ll open a case for this. Keep me posted and call me with the emergency line if anything else happens, and I mean anything.”
“Roger that, Captain.”
“Very good, Private. And the same goes for all of you. Captain Briggs, over and out.”
Will closed the communicator and took a calming breath. “Well, that went well…”
“So who’s this Bethany person?” Antonio asked, a little worried. “Is she dangerous?”
“Possibly,” Will replied.
“For now, let’s just say she’s an ancestor of Antares and mine,” Olivia elaborated.
Antonio gave a light groan. “I’m starting to regret leaving my demon side back in Inferno…”
“Should we bunker down, maybe?” Buster suggested. “You know, fortify the houses or something similar? Aggressive ghosts are a bit of a new one for me.”
Kyu chuckled. “Well I don’t know how well that would work given that she could walk through walls and whatnot. For now let’s keep our eyes open and don't do anything stupid.”
“No more bee stings?” Will interjected.
“Well it worked, didn’t it?”
Will hesitantly nodded, looking at the slightly red spot on his arm. “Yeah…”
Sam patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, Boyo. I got your back. In fact, I’m going to go tell Ellen while I get dressed, okay?”
“Sure, just keep the Bethany stuff on the down low unless she already knows about it, alright?”
“Of course,” Sam replied as she went up the stairs.
Buster started to head for the front door. “I guess we better go get ready for the day then. Coming, Olivia?”
“Indeed. Don’t worry, Will. Everything is going to be alright, especially now that we have Antares on the case,” she reassured as the two left.
Antonio began cleaning up, moving stuff into the dishwasher. “Don’t fret, Will. I’ll keep you safe no matter what.”
“Thanks, Antonio,” Will said as he got up to stretch.
Kyu’s antennae went wild for a second. “Oh, hello? Just who did Randalph bring with him? Devils? Faustus?”
“You don’t have to knock…” Randalph’s voice said from the other side of the door.
“I’m knocking anyway,” an unfamiliar voice replied.
“Huh, well that’s slightly out of the blue…” Antonio remarked as a knock was heard at the door. “Come on in!” he called out.
Next: Chapter 2
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Comments
Post a Comment