ULTRAMagic Interval - Chapter 14

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       “Excuse me? A date to the amusement park?!” Trumna exclaimed. “Today, after everything that’s happened? No! Out of the question!”

Will figured this would happen. “Even with Faustus and Mayhem on watch?”

Trumna turned his chair around. “My mind is made up.”

“What if Vlastimir and Ekaterina go with us?”

“Pardon? How would that change anything?”

A gooey, black splotch appeared on the wall, with Vlastimir stepping out of it. “It would actually change a lot, Mr. Wintergate…”

Trumna scooted back in his chair in a panic, crashing into a side table. “Vlastimir! How the hell did you get in here!?”

“Sneaky Doorway. It’s one of my many, original techniques.”

“Right. I see we need to improve our security measures…” Trumna scooted back over to his desk. “So how would you assure Will’s safety?”

“Me and Eka would be with him…”

“I said that already” Will interjected.

“Ah, of course. Well Eka and I were at The Dark Grand Desert and I helped Leif defeat The Lich of Old. I think we can handle whatever Valentin and Bethany can dish out.”

Trumna nodded, but it was easy to tell he was still a bit skeptical. “Yes, that… You know, son, you don’t exactly have the most credible sources to back that up…”

“I can vouch for him, Trumna,” Sam put in. “I wish I couldn’t, but I can.”

Turning his chair away from everyone again, Trumna thought about it. “I…I guess so… but no going down any allies this time and I’m sending undercover agents with you. It was River Thrill Park you wanted to go to, right?” Will nodded. “I’d love to call in GRENADIER and the Liger Brigade right now, but that would make people panic. And the thing is we have enough intel to justify their presence at the moment…”

“So we can go?” Will asked.

“Oh alright. Get back here immediately if anything happens, you hear?”

“Roger that, Trumna!” Will agreed as he left with Sam and Vlastimir.

“And Vlastimir, keep that knowledge of yours on a need to know basis, aye?”

“Loud and clear, Mr. Wintergate, haha!”

Antares and Zoltan were not thrilled about Will’s galavanting, but Reynard was of the mindset of letting the kids have some fun. They were all grown adults, they could look after themselves. Naturally Antares brought up the past two incidents, so Reynard sent Jackson to head towards the amusement park. Umuka also cautioned Will that he was playing with fire, only to get handwaved. Suffice it to say he would be watching Will like a hawk, with Faustus and Mayhem on standby.

River Thrill Park was like any other amusement park. Rollercoaters towered above everything with the excited screams of park goers zipping by, the smell of deep fried food occasionally wafted through the air, and upbeat rock blasted over the speakers throughout the park. The colorful signs with their bright lights for various attractions had Will excited, leaving him unsure what to do first. Sam took his hand and led the group to a coaster called The Red Cyclone, a complex steel track ride.

After that fun experience, the two couples split up to tackle some rides they were each eyeing. They convened at lunch time, eagerly telling each other about the rides they rode. As for their meal, it was a simple pepperoni pizza at one of the many food stands. While not the best, it was still fairly tasty.

“I have no idea how you two had the nerve for Titan Quake, Vlastimir,” Will remarked. “Suspended looping coasters terrify me.”

Vlastimir laughed. “Me and Eka have been through way worse, ha.”

Ekaterina nodded and leaned in. “Getting pummeled with Drago by Desislav kind of takes the cake…”

“Ahem, we got to keep The Unlight stuff on the down low,” Vlastimir quietly reminded her.

“Oh right, right… Vlastimir, what about your classmates from the academy? Should we talk about them?”

“YES!” he exclaimed, banging his hand on the table. “Will, everyone is dying to see you again, especially Mable and Evan.”

Will laughed, even though his memory was still a little fuzzy. “Yeah, sounds about right.”

“Who’s Mable and Evan?” Sam inquired.

“Next to Will, Mable also helped bring me out of my shell when I first arrived at the academy,” Vlastimir answered. “Evan is a blade devil and her partner. He is one of the coolest dudes you’ll ever meet.”

“Ah, Necromancers I take it?” Sam deduced.

Will nodded. “Yeah. The academy had a good number of us, but there were more alchemists at the end of the day. On a side note, you’ll like Mable, Sam.”

“I got to meet her not too long after we got back,” Ekaterina added. “She’s very bold and upfront. A real friendly go-getter.”

“I like the sound of her already,” Sam remarked. “So did you guys just study magic at the academy?”

“No, there were science, math, and history courses,” Will replied. “Albeit the history was stuff they didn’t teach you in normal schools… I think.”

“You’re right,” Vlastimir pointed out. “The fun, eerie stuff you won’t find in any standard text book” he said in a funny, creepy voice. The others chuckled.

“Honestly it was a lot more fun than public school, if I remember correctly.”

“Not going to lie, Boyo, I’m a little jealous in hindsight,” said Sam. “I wish I could have gone to a school like that.”

“There’s college level courses you can take,” Vlastimir replied.

“Really?”

“Yup… you know what? I’m going to bug dad to get Professor Milan here as fast as possible, ha!”

After checking out a few more rides, the group spent the rest of the day at the various skill games, winning prizes and having fun. Little did they realize that they had been watched all throughout their visit to the park. Valentin had used one of his hexes to disguise himself and Bethany as a father and daughter duo of park goers. His magic was flawless as always, as Will had never suspected a thing. The dullahan had a few neck vents here and there, but he assumed that it was just ambient anxiety. Despite this, Valentin had Bethany go out and scout the park regardless.

Valentin was shuffling his deck at a table in a less frequented break area of the park when Bethany happily walked up with her hair a bit messy. “You rode one of the rides, didn’t you?” he asked with a displeased tone.

“We’re at an amusement park… OF COURSE I’M GOING TO RIDE ONE OF THE RIDES.”

“So what did you find out?”

She groaned. “While there are tons of undercover M.A.I.G. agents everywhere, none of them have any idea we’re here. Umuka is present and he’s very suspicious that we might be here, however.”

“And you didn’t tip him off?” Bethany glared at Valentin. “Either way, I think I’ve collected enough info on WIlliam to come up with some new plans…”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Divide and conquer is proving to be ineffective as he has help here in Red River. Frontal attacks are a waste of time as that will just prompt reinforcements. What we need is a targeted attack that will leave Will vulnerable…”

“We tried that… twice.”

“Ah, but this time we’ll go after his friends…”

“What, are we going to tie Samantha to a railroad track?”

“Maturity is not your strong suit, is it?”

“Insufferable clown,” Bethany muttered.

Valentin sighed. “I think those two devils will help us out greatly” he said as he held up two cards between his fingers.

“Okay, but what about that dragon?”

“Vlastimir Dracul does complicate things a bit, especially if it’s true that he helped defeat The Lich. We’ll have to strike quick and hard with this gambit…”

“And if it fails?”

“I do not speak in failure, but if the worst case scenario occurs, I will call upon The Xanthous King.”

That gave Bethany the chills. “That foul thing?”

“A failed experiment, but one we can make use of. Getting him to cooperate will be a hurdle, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

Despite being a warm September, it got fairly cold at night. With the twilight chill setting in, Will and the group headed back to M.A.I.G. headquarters. Reynard watched as Jackson brought Sam and Will into his quarters, the two carrying some food, collectibles, and a couple of stuffed animals. He could tell they had a very fun time.

“So how’d it go, you two?” Reynard asked. “Valentin didn’t rear his ugly head, did he?”

“We didn’t see him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to slip by us somehow” Jackson answered.

“Other than that, things were great,” said Will.

Mary came walking down the stairs leading to the loft that held Reynard’s lounge. “Hey, guys. Have fun?”

“Hey, Mary,” Will replied. “We haven’t been to an amusement park in a while, so yeah.”

Sam set some covered, paper plates on the island countertop. “Reynard, Mary? Jackson said we should get you two some funnel cake.”

“Much appreciated,” Reynard thanked as he broke a piece off of his and ate it.

“Thank you, Jack,” Mary replied as she took hers.

“No prob. So, Mary, were you able to dig up anything?”

She sighed. “It’s not looking good, Jack. The criminal underground is in an uproar as The Death Knell Coven is ramping up recruitment, hunting down any scumbag that merely sneezes magic pixie dust. Even Vlad IV has had that god-awful coven cross his path a couple of times.”

“That lines up with what he said about those random joe schmoes asking him for favors and help” Reynard recalled.

An uneasy shade of yellow smoke was emanating from Will’s neck. “I’m not in any danger, am I?”

“No more than you are now,” Mary assured him. “Besides, some of my friends are legitimately interested in you, so I doubt they’ll let anything funny happen. Plus Shark will rip any Ne’er-do-wells to shreds, so there’s that too.”

“Don’t worry about it, Will,” Jackson said as he patted him on the back. “If anyone comes after you, we’ll slap them with a life sentence quicker than they can blink.”

“Thanks, guys…” Will picked up his stuff and made his way to his bedroom. “I’m going to get ready for bed.”

Sam also grabbed her stuff and followed him. “I’m going to join him. Goodnight, guys.” It was clear that she wanted to be there for him given that he was obviously unsettled.

Once he was all cleaned up, Will hopped into bed. Sam joined him a moment later. “Sam? Are you upset over the me and Bran thing?”

“Pardon? Mary reveals some serious information and that’s what you’re worried about?” He nodded. “It is what it is, Boyo. It doesn’t bother me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I wish you would’ve told me sooner, but Bran seems like a cool dude.”

Will paused to think. “I’ve felt bad about getting a bit naughty with him for a while now. We’re on a mission, I’m tired, and then huzzah, he has a way with words and…”

“Well hey, that’s another reason why I’m not upset with you. You told me and are being honest about it, unlike my ex who acted like him getting frisky with another girl would break the seventh seal if he told me about it.”

“Oh, wow… um…”

“Don’t apologize, Will. It’s alright. And given my foolhardy quest to conquer the Unlight from so long ago, I’m in no position to criticize you over your misdeeds… You two didn’t get too heated, did you?”

“Nah, we never got that serious. The fact that I’m in a relationship stopped that.”

“I rest my case. It was all in good fun.” Sam then kissed Will. “How about we wind down with a movie?” She reached for one of the remotes, turning on the television mounted on the opposite wall.

Will relaxed a little as he realized he had been a bit paranoid over Sam. She had always been reasonable and understanding, although he made a mental note to grow up a bit. And truthfully he was questioning going to the amusement park. He wanted to apologize to Sam, but that legitimately put him in danger. All of this caused his neck to let off more yellow smoke, which caught Sam’s attention. She then removed his head, letting the smoke vent, and held his head before hers.

“Boyo, relax. It’s not good for you to worry like this.”

“Right, Sam. Sorry.”

Next: Chapter 15

ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)