ULTRAMagic Interval - Chapter 13
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After the group went over the past two weeks and Vlastimir explained what he had been through in the Unlight, he got up to think. It was incredible that his old friend was going through a similar journey to Blood-Wraith. While the situation on Earth was not as dire, there was still a fair deal of concern. Vlastimir had left The Iron City before Milosh’s death was confirmed, leading to him being uncertain if the cult was behind Valentin’s actions.
“Hum…” Vlastimir said as he finished a calm lap around the lounge. “We need to ascertain if this has anything to do with Milosh…”
“From what I remember, Milosh Proch died a long time ago,” Buster answered. “The cult on the other hand? They’re still around…” he groaned.
Sam exhaled, with a hint of solidarity. “Annoyingly…”
Vlastimir fist pumped towards Ekaterina and she followed suit. “I knew Barna and Dunja could do it” she stated with a tone of proud relief.
Will was a little confused. “Proch? He’s not related to Professor Milan, is he?”
“Uh…” Vlastimir paused. “That’s a good question.” He continued to think. “It didn’t come up when I was in The Iron City… Perhaps we should ask Professor Milan if he shows up? Dad was mentioning calling him in, haha.”
“That’s probably our best bet. Besides, I need to thank him for the chocolate… and bug him for more, hehe.”
“Will!” Vlastimir said with a sudden clap. “You need help, very special help…” In the strangest sight ever, Vlastimir reached into his chest, pushing past bones and organs to retrieve a blue flame. “What’s the matter?” He asked in response to the horrified looks he had received.
“Well I think that officially tops having to witness amputations…” Adrien admitted.
Will rubbed his neck, having cringed a little. “Thanks, Vlastimir…” The fragment weirdly went into his chest, unlike the others. Sam looked a little concerned, but Buster put his hand on her shoulder, calming her down.
“That was… something else,” Olivia commented.
Ekaterina nodded. “To be fair, I’m a bit strange myself.”
“You don’t say…”
Ekaterina bent back her hand, causing a metal ribbon to emerge from her arm. “As strange as they come.”
“So that’s what I was feeling?” Will noted. “Er, no offense, Eka.”
“None taken,” she replied. “These were originally intended to counter Drago’s metal body, but I’ve made them into my own thing.”
Sam wanted to comment, but sensed something. “I think Bran is about to show up.”
“What makes you say that?” Will asked.
“Succubus intuition…”
As if like clockwork, Bran swung the door open, slightly out of breath. “Vlastimir Dracul!?”
“Yes, that would be me” he replied, making the others chuckle over his courtesy.
“I would like to speak with you in my lab… also here’s your security cards. Keep them on you at all times.”
“Thank you,” he said as he handed one of the envelopes to Ekaterina. “Ooh, shiny…” Vlastimir commented as he marveled at the card.
Bran straightened himself out. “Adrien, I’m stealing Vlastimir and Ekaterina from you.”
Adrien laughed, albeit slightly weak as he was still getting over what Vlastimir had done. “Just like that, amigo?”
“I’ve been waiting years for this day, please let me have this.”
“Alright, alright. Vlastimir, Eka, this is Bran Lommel, one of M.A.I.G.’s best scientists.”
Bran blushed a little. “Oh stop it…”
Vlastimir took a second to study Bran, noting that his cotton bodysuit and M.A.I.G. issued jacket seemed out of place to him. “Bran, you’re… a 62 year old succubus, correct?”
“Wow, right on the money, Mr. Dracul.”
Ekaterina blinked, utterly confused. “Wait, I thought succubi were supposed to be women… also you’re 62? You look 26 at most.”
“You’re right, but a male succubus can be born if you have a succubus mother and a human father. Also that’s demon longevity for you, ha.”
“Incredible.”
“Alright, let’s get moving then. Will, Sam? Could you two come along too?”
Buster thought to himself as the five left the lounge. “Hey, Olivia? Want to get the ball rolling on those interviews since they’ll be busy?”
“I don’t see why not.”
Bran’s quarters were a bit out of the way, being somewhat deep into the research sector of the base. The group was not far from the anomaly containment zone and they could feel it. How Bran got any sleep that close to all of that was beyond them. After entering a code into a keypad and swiping his card through, Bran led everyone inside. It was quite the spacious laboratory, with LED lights lining the shiny, onyx walls. Large instruments and machines were all over, humming and beeping as they performed their functions. On the far end of the gigantic room was a loft, presumably where Bran slept.
“Welcome to my place, everyone,” Bran said as he cleared off the main desk. “Mind the cables and wires and make yourselves right at home… just don’t touch anything if it's beeping with blinking lights.”
As the four marveled at the devices and instruments all around, Will noticed an odd blueprint on one of the tables. “Hey, Bran? What’s this? A… multiversal jump gate?”
“Oops! You’re not supposed to see that yet!” Bran quickly rolled up the paper. “It’s very top secret… but we may or may not be working on a means of traveling to other universes. Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone, got it? This is very, VERY important to us.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice.”
“May I ask what prompted this research?” Vlastimir inquired.
Bran groaned a little as he did not want them meddling into things they should not, but Vlastimir’s pleasant demeanor got the best of him. “I can’t disclose the full details, but let’s just say someone from what we call Universe-15 has been trying to get into contact with us.”
“Interesting,” Ekaterina remarked. “Curiously what number is our universe?”
“Universe-23. Don’t ask what the numbers mean, they’re fairly arbitrary.”
Vlastimir nodded, then looked around. “Have you tried looking into Reality Errors, Bran? They could help you get to Universe-15.”
“We’ve heard of them. Have you been in them before?”
“Yup. Me and Master Gostislav have had to travel through them in the past.”
“Intriguing, I’ll have to pick your brain about them when we get the chance.” Bran then got out some medical tools and beakers. “Vlastimir, may I have a sample of your blood for my research?”
He smiled in a seemingly unsettling, yet supportive manner. “Of course, but we won’t need any of those tools.”
“We won’t? How so?”
“Vlastimir can easily remove blood from his body,” Ekaterina answered. “Would you also like a sample of one of my ribbons, Bran?”
“Sure, if you don’t mind. What’s so special about them, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Ekaterina extended a ribbon, with it clinging to the metal desk. “Need I say more?”
Bran was amazed as he studied the phenomenon. “A potentially organic metal with magnetic properties? Incredible! Let’s get busy. Sam, Will? You two can head up to my loft if you don’t feel like sitting through all of this.”
“Sure, Bran. Thanks,” Will replied as Sam followed him up the stairs.
Bran’s loft was fairly messy, as was to be expected. Clothes, blankets, plastic cases for various types of media, and wads of crumpled up paper were strewn about across the floor. While the desk was also fairly cluttered, the high end monitors and overbuilt PC tower stood out like a sore thumb. Will took a seat at the small table and picked up a piece of salt-water taffy from the bowl in the center while Sam looked around.
“I see he has an interest in rubber clothing…” Sam remarked as she peaked into the closest.
Will felt a little embarrassed. “Yeah, he does, heh…”
“Boyo, you said you’ve been on missions with him before. Have you two been getting into some mischievous things behind my back?”
“Maybe…”
“Boyo!”
“Sorry! If it’s any consolation, we had plans to bring you along on a mission or two. It’s just that it’s kind of hard to justify bringing a civilian along for official stuff…”
Sam then noticed something for her in the closet, slightly blushed, and calmly shut it. “Oh my…” She then took a seat in the desk chair. “Jeez, just what do you get up to, Will?”
“A lot… you’d think it would just be some standard paperwork, but then you end up going to alternate realms…”
“Is it only Bran?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright then. Not going to lie, I like the cut of his jib so far, succubus to succubus…” Sam paused as she realized something. “Is he single?” Will nodded as he ate another taffy. “Yup, that explains a lot.”
Will was about to speak, paused, and sighed. “Bran is… We… Bran is still fun to hang out with when he’s not being his true self. He’s a massive nerd and knows computers like the back of his hand. Also you should see the AMVs he works on. They are fantastic.”
“Isn’t he supposed to be a scientist doing scientist things though?”
“Yeah, but he has a lot of down time while his machines are running, ha.”
Will opened up a folder on the computer, with Bran quickly noticing the sound of his work playing on his computer speakers. He was hoping the two would sample his creations as he wanted to make a good impression with Sam. There was no getting around some of the things he and Will had gotten up to in the past. Plus Bran was taking a liking to Sam. From what he could tell, she was the emotional support Will needed. It would have been nice if she could have been with Will on some of his past missions, looking back on it.
“Alright, now that we have the samples, could you two fill these out?” Bran slid some packets of paper forward.
Ekaterina took hers and studied it. “What is it?”
“Just a questionnaire about your abilities. You don’t have to write down anything personal or revealing, just tell us what it’s like to have your abilities.”
Vlastimir gave an accepting shrug. “Fine with me,” he said as he took his pencil and began writing stuff down. Ekaterina saw this and followed his lead.
“And don’t worry, all of this will be kept confidential,” Bran assured them as he got up. “While you two do that, I’m going to go check on Sam and Will.” Heading up to his loft, he smiled seeing the two enjoying an AMV featuring a 10 minute, late 70s rock song.
Once it was over, Will noticed Bran. “Hey, Bran. How did the sampling go?”
“Great… Vlastimir’s blood is incredibly strange though.”
Will nodded. “You should’ve seen what he did right before you showed up at the lounge.”
“Really? Well anyways, would you two like to show me what you can do with your magic? Especially given recent circumstances.”
“Sure, Bran.”
“And Sam, I’d definitely like to see your alchemical skills in action, given that you’re currently looking into making a Philosopher’s Stone.”
“Sure, I don’t see why not…” Then it hit her. “Hold up! How do you know about that?”
Bran realized his screw up. “Oh, I mean…”
“Bran, you’d only know that if you went through her files, because I certainly haven’t talked about it… unless…” Will had a similar realization. “BRAN! YOU BUGGED HER COMPUTER TOO?”
“SORRY, Sorry! Orders from Trumna, I swear!”
Sam was beside herself with the most bewildered look on her face. “NSA mother truckers… So that’s what Kyu’s been dealing with in our network?” A window then popped up on the monitor, depicting a 16-bit sprite of Kyu giving the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture. She knew who it was directed at.
“To be fair, I really wish the government didn’t mandate that every OS has backdoors in it” Bran reasoned. “Even Linux has this nonsense. It’s why we have unique computer architecture for all of our computers.”
Sam groaned. She was still annoyed, but sympathized with Bran. “Well Ellen trusts you guys, so I guess there’s that… Jeez, first the closet and now this?”
“Oh, you saw that? What did you think?”
Will lightly whacked him upside the head. “Bran!”
“Sorry, sorry, wrong time…”
After a moment of awkward silence, Will had an idea. “Sam, want to go on a date tomorrow?”
She was caught a little off guard. “Well of course, Boyo. Where to though?”
“You two could go to River Thrill Park, but good luck trying to get Trumna to approve that with all that’s happened so far, ha,” Bran pointed out.
Will thought about it for a second. “Vlastimir, Eka, want to go with Sam and I to the amusement park? As a double date?”
“Oh, sure, Will,” Vlastimir answered.
“As long as it’s safe to do so, that’d be wonderful,” Ekaterina added.
“There, two of the strongest warriors in the Cosmos are going to be with us,” Will boasted.
Sam laughed. “If you’re certain, Boyo. To be fair, I’d be damned if I ever let Valentin lay a single finger on you.”
Bran shrugged. “Well if things go south, Reynard will have GRENADIER here faster than Valentin can even draw a card. Best of luck to you guys.”
Next: Chapter 14
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
After the group went over the past two weeks and Vlastimir explained what he had been through in the Unlight, he got up to think. It was incredible that his old friend was going through a similar journey to Blood-Wraith. While the situation on Earth was not as dire, there was still a fair deal of concern. Vlastimir had left The Iron City before Milosh’s death was confirmed, leading to him being uncertain if the cult was behind Valentin’s actions.
“Hum…” Vlastimir said as he finished a calm lap around the lounge. “We need to ascertain if this has anything to do with Milosh…”
“From what I remember, Milosh Proch died a long time ago,” Buster answered. “The cult on the other hand? They’re still around…” he groaned.
Sam exhaled, with a hint of solidarity. “Annoyingly…”
Vlastimir fist pumped towards Ekaterina and she followed suit. “I knew Barna and Dunja could do it” she stated with a tone of proud relief.
Will was a little confused. “Proch? He’s not related to Professor Milan, is he?”
“Uh…” Vlastimir paused. “That’s a good question.” He continued to think. “It didn’t come up when I was in The Iron City… Perhaps we should ask Professor Milan if he shows up? Dad was mentioning calling him in, haha.”
“That’s probably our best bet. Besides, I need to thank him for the chocolate… and bug him for more, hehe.”
“Will!” Vlastimir said with a sudden clap. “You need help, very special help…” In the strangest sight ever, Vlastimir reached into his chest, pushing past bones and organs to retrieve a blue flame. “What’s the matter?” He asked in response to the horrified looks he had received.
“Well I think that officially tops having to witness amputations…” Adrien admitted.
Will rubbed his neck, having cringed a little. “Thanks, Vlastimir…” The fragment weirdly went into his chest, unlike the others. Sam looked a little concerned, but Buster put his hand on her shoulder, calming her down.
“That was… something else,” Olivia commented.
Ekaterina nodded. “To be fair, I’m a bit strange myself.”
“You don’t say…”
Ekaterina bent back her hand, causing a metal ribbon to emerge from her arm. “As strange as they come.”
“So that’s what I was feeling?” Will noted. “Er, no offense, Eka.”
“None taken,” she replied. “These were originally intended to counter Drago’s metal body, but I’ve made them into my own thing.”
Sam wanted to comment, but sensed something. “I think Bran is about to show up.”
“What makes you say that?” Will asked.
“Succubus intuition…”
As if like clockwork, Bran swung the door open, slightly out of breath. “Vlastimir Dracul!?”
“Yes, that would be me” he replied, making the others chuckle over his courtesy.
“I would like to speak with you in my lab… also here’s your security cards. Keep them on you at all times.”
“Thank you,” he said as he handed one of the envelopes to Ekaterina. “Ooh, shiny…” Vlastimir commented as he marveled at the card.
Bran straightened himself out. “Adrien, I’m stealing Vlastimir and Ekaterina from you.”
Adrien laughed, albeit slightly weak as he was still getting over what Vlastimir had done. “Just like that, amigo?”
“I’ve been waiting years for this day, please let me have this.”
“Alright, alright. Vlastimir, Eka, this is Bran Lommel, one of M.A.I.G.’s best scientists.”
Bran blushed a little. “Oh stop it…”
Vlastimir took a second to study Bran, noting that his cotton bodysuit and M.A.I.G. issued jacket seemed out of place to him. “Bran, you’re… a 62 year old succubus, correct?”
“Wow, right on the money, Mr. Dracul.”
Ekaterina blinked, utterly confused. “Wait, I thought succubi were supposed to be women… also you’re 62? You look 26 at most.”
“You’re right, but a male succubus can be born if you have a succubus mother and a human father. Also that’s demon longevity for you, ha.”
“Incredible.”
“Alright, let’s get moving then. Will, Sam? Could you two come along too?”
Buster thought to himself as the five left the lounge. “Hey, Olivia? Want to get the ball rolling on those interviews since they’ll be busy?”
“I don’t see why not.”
Bran’s quarters were a bit out of the way, being somewhat deep into the research sector of the base. The group was not far from the anomaly containment zone and they could feel it. How Bran got any sleep that close to all of that was beyond them. After entering a code into a keypad and swiping his card through, Bran led everyone inside. It was quite the spacious laboratory, with LED lights lining the shiny, onyx walls. Large instruments and machines were all over, humming and beeping as they performed their functions. On the far end of the gigantic room was a loft, presumably where Bran slept.
“Welcome to my place, everyone,” Bran said as he cleared off the main desk. “Mind the cables and wires and make yourselves right at home… just don’t touch anything if it's beeping with blinking lights.”
As the four marveled at the devices and instruments all around, Will noticed an odd blueprint on one of the tables. “Hey, Bran? What’s this? A… multiversal jump gate?”
“Oops! You’re not supposed to see that yet!” Bran quickly rolled up the paper. “It’s very top secret… but we may or may not be working on a means of traveling to other universes. Don’t breathe a word of this to anyone, got it? This is very, VERY important to us.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice.”
“May I ask what prompted this research?” Vlastimir inquired.
Bran groaned a little as he did not want them meddling into things they should not, but Vlastimir’s pleasant demeanor got the best of him. “I can’t disclose the full details, but let’s just say someone from what we call Universe-15 has been trying to get into contact with us.”
“Interesting,” Ekaterina remarked. “Curiously what number is our universe?”
“Universe-23. Don’t ask what the numbers mean, they’re fairly arbitrary.”
Vlastimir nodded, then looked around. “Have you tried looking into Reality Errors, Bran? They could help you get to Universe-15.”
“We’ve heard of them. Have you been in them before?”
“Yup. Me and Master Gostislav have had to travel through them in the past.”
“Intriguing, I’ll have to pick your brain about them when we get the chance.” Bran then got out some medical tools and beakers. “Vlastimir, may I have a sample of your blood for my research?”
He smiled in a seemingly unsettling, yet supportive manner. “Of course, but we won’t need any of those tools.”
“We won’t? How so?”
“Vlastimir can easily remove blood from his body,” Ekaterina answered. “Would you also like a sample of one of my ribbons, Bran?”
“Sure, if you don’t mind. What’s so special about them, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Ekaterina extended a ribbon, with it clinging to the metal desk. “Need I say more?”
Bran was amazed as he studied the phenomenon. “A potentially organic metal with magnetic properties? Incredible! Let’s get busy. Sam, Will? You two can head up to my loft if you don’t feel like sitting through all of this.”
“Sure, Bran. Thanks,” Will replied as Sam followed him up the stairs.
Bran’s loft was fairly messy, as was to be expected. Clothes, blankets, plastic cases for various types of media, and wads of crumpled up paper were strewn about across the floor. While the desk was also fairly cluttered, the high end monitors and overbuilt PC tower stood out like a sore thumb. Will took a seat at the small table and picked up a piece of salt-water taffy from the bowl in the center while Sam looked around.
“I see he has an interest in rubber clothing…” Sam remarked as she peaked into the closest.
Will felt a little embarrassed. “Yeah, he does, heh…”
“Boyo, you said you’ve been on missions with him before. Have you two been getting into some mischievous things behind my back?”
“Maybe…”
“Boyo!”
“Sorry! If it’s any consolation, we had plans to bring you along on a mission or two. It’s just that it’s kind of hard to justify bringing a civilian along for official stuff…”
Sam then noticed something for her in the closet, slightly blushed, and calmly shut it. “Oh my…” She then took a seat in the desk chair. “Jeez, just what do you get up to, Will?”
“A lot… you’d think it would just be some standard paperwork, but then you end up going to alternate realms…”
“Is it only Bran?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright then. Not going to lie, I like the cut of his jib so far, succubus to succubus…” Sam paused as she realized something. “Is he single?” Will nodded as he ate another taffy. “Yup, that explains a lot.”
Will was about to speak, paused, and sighed. “Bran is… We… Bran is still fun to hang out with when he’s not being his true self. He’s a massive nerd and knows computers like the back of his hand. Also you should see the AMVs he works on. They are fantastic.”
“Isn’t he supposed to be a scientist doing scientist things though?”
“Yeah, but he has a lot of down time while his machines are running, ha.”
Will opened up a folder on the computer, with Bran quickly noticing the sound of his work playing on his computer speakers. He was hoping the two would sample his creations as he wanted to make a good impression with Sam. There was no getting around some of the things he and Will had gotten up to in the past. Plus Bran was taking a liking to Sam. From what he could tell, she was the emotional support Will needed. It would have been nice if she could have been with Will on some of his past missions, looking back on it.
“Alright, now that we have the samples, could you two fill these out?” Bran slid some packets of paper forward.
Ekaterina took hers and studied it. “What is it?”
“Just a questionnaire about your abilities. You don’t have to write down anything personal or revealing, just tell us what it’s like to have your abilities.”
Vlastimir gave an accepting shrug. “Fine with me,” he said as he took his pencil and began writing stuff down. Ekaterina saw this and followed his lead.
“And don’t worry, all of this will be kept confidential,” Bran assured them as he got up. “While you two do that, I’m going to go check on Sam and Will.” Heading up to his loft, he smiled seeing the two enjoying an AMV featuring a 10 minute, late 70s rock song.
Once it was over, Will noticed Bran. “Hey, Bran. How did the sampling go?”
“Great… Vlastimir’s blood is incredibly strange though.”
Will nodded. “You should’ve seen what he did right before you showed up at the lounge.”
“Really? Well anyways, would you two like to show me what you can do with your magic? Especially given recent circumstances.”
“Sure, Bran.”
“And Sam, I’d definitely like to see your alchemical skills in action, given that you’re currently looking into making a Philosopher’s Stone.”
“Sure, I don’t see why not…” Then it hit her. “Hold up! How do you know about that?”
Bran realized his screw up. “Oh, I mean…”
“Bran, you’d only know that if you went through her files, because I certainly haven’t talked about it… unless…” Will had a similar realization. “BRAN! YOU BUGGED HER COMPUTER TOO?”
“SORRY, Sorry! Orders from Trumna, I swear!”
Sam was beside herself with the most bewildered look on her face. “NSA mother truckers… So that’s what Kyu’s been dealing with in our network?” A window then popped up on the monitor, depicting a 16-bit sprite of Kyu giving the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture. She knew who it was directed at.
“To be fair, I really wish the government didn’t mandate that every OS has backdoors in it” Bran reasoned. “Even Linux has this nonsense. It’s why we have unique computer architecture for all of our computers.”
Sam groaned. She was still annoyed, but sympathized with Bran. “Well Ellen trusts you guys, so I guess there’s that… Jeez, first the closet and now this?”
“Oh, you saw that? What did you think?”
Will lightly whacked him upside the head. “Bran!”
“Sorry, sorry, wrong time…”
After a moment of awkward silence, Will had an idea. “Sam, want to go on a date tomorrow?”
She was caught a little off guard. “Well of course, Boyo. Where to though?”
“You two could go to River Thrill Park, but good luck trying to get Trumna to approve that with all that’s happened so far, ha,” Bran pointed out.
Will thought about it for a second. “Vlastimir, Eka, want to go with Sam and I to the amusement park? As a double date?”
“Oh, sure, Will,” Vlastimir answered.
“As long as it’s safe to do so, that’d be wonderful,” Ekaterina added.
“There, two of the strongest warriors in the Cosmos are going to be with us,” Will boasted.
Sam laughed. “If you’re certain, Boyo. To be fair, I’d be damned if I ever let Valentin lay a single finger on you.”
Bran shrugged. “Well if things go south, Reynard will have GRENADIER here faster than Valentin can even draw a card. Best of luck to you guys.”
Next: Chapter 14
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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