ULTRAMagic Interval - Chapter 27
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Zoltan was not surprised to see that Will had managed to sneak out of the base. As he held onto a rather early looter with a strong headlock, he noted that keeping an eye on Will was going to be more challenging than actually keeping him safe. After handing the would-be criminal off to Officer Greens, Zoltan hopped into the BTR and instructed the driver to head right back to M.A.I.G. headquarters. Will naturally protested, so Marcus turned it into an order. When it became clear that Will was going to make a run for it, Marcus facepalmed and snapped his fingers. Glowing, black wrappings wrapped around Will up to his chin, keeping him in place. Despite being skeptical of magic, Marcus evidently knew some spells.
Fortunately enough troops had arrived by that point, allowing the group to fall back. One or two gunshots were not enough against Sebastian’s constructs, but sustained fire from an assault rifle would do the trick. The soldiers had their work cut out for them regardless though. Upon the group returning to headquarters, Antares did not scold Will, which was a little surprising. Rather, he wanted to talk to him later at dinner. Will was to report to Canteen AF-1 at 6 o’clock sharp. Everybody else was a little confused and worried, but Antares assured them all it was nothing serious. He just wanted to talk to the Private.
The canteen was fairly active that night, despite all of the commotion in the city. It was a giant room, comparable to a warehouse and lit with hanging lights. Noisy and a little hectic, the soft, yellow lighting and delicious smell of fresh food served to ease Will’s anxiety a bit. Warm greetings from some of the M.A.I.G. soldiers he knew also helped. Spotting the Captain, Colonel, and Jackson, Will hurried over to the far end of a long table near the wall.
“Captain, Colonel, sirs!” Will said with a salute.
“At ease, Private,” Antares replied. “Take a load off.”
Will sat down next to Jackson, where a tray of food was ready for him. On it was a plate of three Salisbury steaks, green beans, two bread rolls, and a mound of mashed potatoes smothered in gravy. He was not a fan of gravy and it was clear Antares told one of them to give him whatever, but he was too hungry from earlier to care. Plus there was the fact that all of it smelled utterly delectable and made his stomach growl. Something was missing, however, causing Will to focus and snap his fingers. Faustus’ hand appeared through a small portal and slipped him a bottle of sparkling water… despite the four being very close to a vending machine.
“Permission to speak casually,” Will requested.
“Granted,” Antares said as he ate some of his meatloaf.
“So what’s up guys?” Will then took a bite of his steaks.
Jackson patted him on the arm, then ate some of his own food. “Starting today, you’re a hero, Weatherman.”
“We saw that, erm, spell of yours and Faustus’ on the monitors” Antares said as he passed the saltshaker to Marcus. “You’re definitely in line for some medals, but there is a slight fly in the ointment…”
Will took a breath, feeling nervous. “What’s… what’s the matter?”
“We spoke to Mr. Highland earlier about the horde,” Marcus put in. “And we’ve been able to confirm that Sebastian did indeed target inmates specifically for conversion into shadow constructs. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, William: You wiped a lot of criminals today.”
“Well, um, is that a bad thing?” Will questioned as he ate some of his potatoes. His gaze was slightly averted, focusing on his food.
“Agreed,” Jackson added, startling Will. “Those dirtbags weren’t worth the cells they were held in if they gave in that easily.” Will gave a weak smile in response to this.
Marcus had some more of his steak, then groaned. “A bit cavalier towards such a serious situation, don’t you think?”
“But I saved those students, didn’t I?” Will questioned.
“Roughly 700 people at that,” Jackson clarified.
“Obviously,” Marcus replied. “And it was truly amazing what you did today, an act of unparalleled bravery and patriotism… I just wish it didn’t involve so much death.”
“What are you getting at, Marcus?” Jackson inquired.
Marcus groaned again, not wanting to discuss the elephant in the room… but he had to. “William, in the world I come from, there are those who look for things to take advantage of, be it for ideology or agenda…”
“Ah jeez, here we go…” Jackson complained.
“I’m not following…” Will interjected.
“Politicians,” he grunted.
“Oh…”
Marcus cleared his throat. “What we’re doing here is a force of good, but scurrying rats are everywhere, happy to zero in on any mistake in the hopes of taking our achievements away from us. You need to be extra careful in this line of work, William.”
Antares rested his cheek on his hand and gave an exasperated sigh. “And you wonder why I left the U.S. army, Mark. I’m going to need a cig at this rate… Mark’s not wrong, Will. You’ve seen how bad those FBI grunts can get…”
Will felt his food turn sour for a moment. “Of course the government would ruin everything… wouldn’t be surprised if those jerks were secretly working with Sebastian…”
“I wouldn’t go that far, William,” Marcus reassured. “Although I’ve certainly seen some questionable people in the upper echelons recently.”
Jackson covered his mouth as he burped, then stretched a little. “Look, if any of those bunghole politicians have a problem with Will, they can take it up with me. Those criminals got what they deserved, end of story.” he then cleared his throat and patted Will’s shoulder. “Still, it probably wouldn’t hurt to avoid jumping to the nuclear option if possible, Will.”
“I guess you’re right, Jack,” Will said as he took a sip of his drink.
“Your heart’s in the right place, William,” Marcus put in. “You’ve got great power now, and that power comes with immense responsibility. It is that responsibility that separates us from awful men like Sebastian.”
That made Will feel better, causing the last of his food to taste sweeter. “Well surely something else good came from me incinerating those criminals, right?”
“Of course,” said Marcus. “A good chunk of those criminals were heading towards life sentences and some were a part of some serious crime rings.” Will cackled and bounced around in his seat in response to that.”
“Somewhat unrelated, but something interesting happened during all of the chaos, Will,” Jackson pointed out.
“And what’s that?”
“20 of the constructs didn’t join the horde and Anomaly Containment was able to round them up. Apparently Liam was among them, Antares.”
Antares nearly choked on his drink, with Marcus patting him on the back. “They got O’Cleery!? Is he okay?”
“I guess so. I talked to him before they put him in containment and he seemed to be his old self…”
Will was a little confused, feeling like he had heard that name before. “Who’s Liam?”
Antares indicated for everyone to lean in. “Liam’s a private investigator we hired to look into some businesses taking government funding that we believe have ties to Sebastian. Liam got in too deep recently, was framed, and we’ve been shuffling him around from jail to jail to keep him out of prison.”
“And presumably he was brought here to be moved into M.A.I.G.’s custody?” Marcus reasonably inquired.
“Precisely…”
“Then wouldn't it be prudent to declare him ‘dead’ given what happened today?”
The gears in Antares’ head began to turn and it could be seen on his face. “That is a brilliant idea, Mark! Why didn’t I think of that sooner?” He then stood up, looking pleased. “Pardon me, guys, I need to go talk to Trumna and Reynard.”
“Hold up, Antares,” Jackson cut in. “You should have Milan send him to The Unlight. Elaine says The Iron City has some of the best security around.”
“You guys are on a roll tonight!” Antares said with a clap before leaving the canteen.
Marcus straightened out his uniform, then picked up the empty trays. “Well, I’m glad that sorted itself out…”
Jackson noticed Will looking at him with a quizzical look. “What?”
“You’re dating Elaine, aren’t you? No two ways about it…”
He groaned a little, then chuckled. “Alright, fine. We’re dating.”
Will gave him a cheeky grin. “Ha, knew it. Here’s some advice: she’s a bit of a neat-freak and can be prone to mental breakdowns-I can certainly relate…”
Jackson nodded. “Duly noted.”
“She’s into movies, especially science fiction and cosmic horror. Also she adores 16-bit games, with JRPGs being her favorite.”
“Oh, okay then.”
“You’ll need to talk to Sam for other stuff though. Girl things, if you catch my meaning…”
Marcus came back with some ice cream sandwiches and laughed. “I had no idea you had such a gentle side, Jackson.”
“Hey, I can be a nice guy if I want to,” Jackson pointed out as he took his sandwich and unwrapped it. “It’s just that this world is annoying like that…”
As the sun rose the next morning over the valleys of Mt. Steadyrock, Sebastian was discontented. He paced back and forth in the wet grass, unsure what to do with the diminished amount of constructs that had returned. “What a troubling upset…” he grunted.
“Oh what’s the matter, my darling furor to be?” Anne cooed as she rubbed his cheek.
“M.A.I.G. has more bite than I initially thought, and that bothersome William took out my horde…”
“Then how about I capture and torture him?” Anne said as a gruesome shadow danced around her hand. “Surely it shouldn’t be too difficult…”
“No,” he replied quickly and firmly. “I shall be the one to take him out. Subterfuge would only serve to make him a martyr. His spark needs to be stomped out, just like the rest of them. His blood shall paint our flags red, even I have to do it myself.”
Anne gave a maniacal, demonic sounding laugh. “Your penchant for violence is most invigorating, my darling Sebastian…”
Over at the crypt’s entrance, Valentin rolled his eyes in disgust. “Degenerate, heathenous, scum… your day is coming…”
“Karppinen!” Sebastian called out.
“What?” Valentin groaned.
“Take the brat and head to the city with these shadow golems.”
Valentin straightened out his jaw as he walked over to the hulking, imposing army. Each golem was made of a black and red material that was a mix of Earth and iron. There were audible gears turning and chaotic energy bled out of their cracked, bulky chassis, which invoked the imagery of a skeleton. There were only 490 this time, but that was made up for with size and strength. Valentin began walking with the golems following, their heavy feat thumping the ground as they trudged forward.
“And Karppinen: do not fail before I arrive in the city,” Sebastian instructed with irritation in his voice.
“Oh please, take your time, herr kommandant. Do not fret over measly peasants such as myself…”
Once the march had made it to the edge of the city, Valentin darted off while the golems headed inwards. They were going after essential workers, but Valentin had other plans. He slipped into a vacant, cozy cafe and began preparing some coffee to ease his nerves. The smoky aroma of the drink calmed him down, but this was foiled when Bethany came walking in. It was not her, rather it was him being reminded that he was still in Hell. Valentin finished up and went to sit down at a table near the main counter.
“So what’s on the docket today?” She asked as she went over to a glass case full of cakes and large cookies, looking for the perfect treat.
“You realize that I’m going to have to pay for that, right?”
Bethany picked out a double chocolate cookie and gave it a good sniff, the scent pleasing her. “Yeah, and? You have money, don’t you?”
Valentin sighed and smiled a little, accepting the impending deficit in his funds as Bethany went about preparing a milkshake for herself. “Well we cut it close, tipping Mayhem off like that.”
“Which was your idea… then again, I am friends with some of those kids.”
“We’re going to have to go toe to toe with M.A.I.G. to throw off Sebastian’s suspicion…”
“Which will not be a problem…”
“Meaning you’ll have to confront Zoltan at some point in the near future.”
“Oh… well let’s cross that bridge when we get there,” Bethany replied before she bit into the soft cookie. It was very tasty, easing her now slightly frayed nerves. She then went for a sip of her milkshake, having done quite well on it for a 17th century girl.
Valentin took a sip of his coffee, looking out the window as a golem ran by. “Rile up Will and make it good.”
“Good… how good?”
Valentin subtly groaned. “It’s so tempting to join them now… distract them, but don’t put any of them out of commission like what Sebastian did to Adrien and Satsuki.”
“Obviously… Not going to lie, Will, Jack, and Antares are pretty handsome…” Bethany began sucking up the last bit of her milkshake with her straw.
“And that’s relevant how exactly?”
“I don’t know! Jeez, just trying to keep things light, you know?”
Valentin then got out a card and set it on the table. The image on it was unclear, as if it was still forming in a cloud of cosmic dust. “If I can set up this hex I have in mind, Sebastian’s ability to create shadow constructs will be greatly diminished. If not, we’ll have to go to plan B.”
“And plan B is what this time? Given what happened last time…”
There was a look of great unease on Valentin’s face, like something was haunting him. “If all else fails, I’ll have to call on Sylvia, the Discordant God of Sin. I’m not thrilled about that prospect, given the things I’ve done, but desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Bethany could sense the worry in his voice and felt bad. “Oh, I see…” Once he finished counting out some money, Bethany took it in her hands. “Here, I’ll take care of this for you.” She then went over to the cash register and neatly deposited the money, followed by her writing a note detailing what they took. It was the least she could do for Valentin and the Cafe.
Next: Chapter 28
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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Zoltan was not surprised to see that Will had managed to sneak out of the base. As he held onto a rather early looter with a strong headlock, he noted that keeping an eye on Will was going to be more challenging than actually keeping him safe. After handing the would-be criminal off to Officer Greens, Zoltan hopped into the BTR and instructed the driver to head right back to M.A.I.G. headquarters. Will naturally protested, so Marcus turned it into an order. When it became clear that Will was going to make a run for it, Marcus facepalmed and snapped his fingers. Glowing, black wrappings wrapped around Will up to his chin, keeping him in place. Despite being skeptical of magic, Marcus evidently knew some spells.
Fortunately enough troops had arrived by that point, allowing the group to fall back. One or two gunshots were not enough against Sebastian’s constructs, but sustained fire from an assault rifle would do the trick. The soldiers had their work cut out for them regardless though. Upon the group returning to headquarters, Antares did not scold Will, which was a little surprising. Rather, he wanted to talk to him later at dinner. Will was to report to Canteen AF-1 at 6 o’clock sharp. Everybody else was a little confused and worried, but Antares assured them all it was nothing serious. He just wanted to talk to the Private.
The canteen was fairly active that night, despite all of the commotion in the city. It was a giant room, comparable to a warehouse and lit with hanging lights. Noisy and a little hectic, the soft, yellow lighting and delicious smell of fresh food served to ease Will’s anxiety a bit. Warm greetings from some of the M.A.I.G. soldiers he knew also helped. Spotting the Captain, Colonel, and Jackson, Will hurried over to the far end of a long table near the wall.
“Captain, Colonel, sirs!” Will said with a salute.
“At ease, Private,” Antares replied. “Take a load off.”
Will sat down next to Jackson, where a tray of food was ready for him. On it was a plate of three Salisbury steaks, green beans, two bread rolls, and a mound of mashed potatoes smothered in gravy. He was not a fan of gravy and it was clear Antares told one of them to give him whatever, but he was too hungry from earlier to care. Plus there was the fact that all of it smelled utterly delectable and made his stomach growl. Something was missing, however, causing Will to focus and snap his fingers. Faustus’ hand appeared through a small portal and slipped him a bottle of sparkling water… despite the four being very close to a vending machine.
“Permission to speak casually,” Will requested.
“Granted,” Antares said as he ate some of his meatloaf.
“So what’s up guys?” Will then took a bite of his steaks.
Jackson patted him on the arm, then ate some of his own food. “Starting today, you’re a hero, Weatherman.”
“We saw that, erm, spell of yours and Faustus’ on the monitors” Antares said as he passed the saltshaker to Marcus. “You’re definitely in line for some medals, but there is a slight fly in the ointment…”
Will took a breath, feeling nervous. “What’s… what’s the matter?”
“We spoke to Mr. Highland earlier about the horde,” Marcus put in. “And we’ve been able to confirm that Sebastian did indeed target inmates specifically for conversion into shadow constructs. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, William: You wiped a lot of criminals today.”
“Well, um, is that a bad thing?” Will questioned as he ate some of his potatoes. His gaze was slightly averted, focusing on his food.
“Agreed,” Jackson added, startling Will. “Those dirtbags weren’t worth the cells they were held in if they gave in that easily.” Will gave a weak smile in response to this.
Marcus had some more of his steak, then groaned. “A bit cavalier towards such a serious situation, don’t you think?”
“But I saved those students, didn’t I?” Will questioned.
“Roughly 700 people at that,” Jackson clarified.
“Obviously,” Marcus replied. “And it was truly amazing what you did today, an act of unparalleled bravery and patriotism… I just wish it didn’t involve so much death.”
“What are you getting at, Marcus?” Jackson inquired.
Marcus groaned again, not wanting to discuss the elephant in the room… but he had to. “William, in the world I come from, there are those who look for things to take advantage of, be it for ideology or agenda…”
“Ah jeez, here we go…” Jackson complained.
“I’m not following…” Will interjected.
“Politicians,” he grunted.
“Oh…”
Marcus cleared his throat. “What we’re doing here is a force of good, but scurrying rats are everywhere, happy to zero in on any mistake in the hopes of taking our achievements away from us. You need to be extra careful in this line of work, William.”
Antares rested his cheek on his hand and gave an exasperated sigh. “And you wonder why I left the U.S. army, Mark. I’m going to need a cig at this rate… Mark’s not wrong, Will. You’ve seen how bad those FBI grunts can get…”
Will felt his food turn sour for a moment. “Of course the government would ruin everything… wouldn’t be surprised if those jerks were secretly working with Sebastian…”
“I wouldn’t go that far, William,” Marcus reassured. “Although I’ve certainly seen some questionable people in the upper echelons recently.”
Jackson covered his mouth as he burped, then stretched a little. “Look, if any of those bunghole politicians have a problem with Will, they can take it up with me. Those criminals got what they deserved, end of story.” he then cleared his throat and patted Will’s shoulder. “Still, it probably wouldn’t hurt to avoid jumping to the nuclear option if possible, Will.”
“I guess you’re right, Jack,” Will said as he took a sip of his drink.
“Your heart’s in the right place, William,” Marcus put in. “You’ve got great power now, and that power comes with immense responsibility. It is that responsibility that separates us from awful men like Sebastian.”
That made Will feel better, causing the last of his food to taste sweeter. “Well surely something else good came from me incinerating those criminals, right?”
“Of course,” said Marcus. “A good chunk of those criminals were heading towards life sentences and some were a part of some serious crime rings.” Will cackled and bounced around in his seat in response to that.”
“Somewhat unrelated, but something interesting happened during all of the chaos, Will,” Jackson pointed out.
“And what’s that?”
“20 of the constructs didn’t join the horde and Anomaly Containment was able to round them up. Apparently Liam was among them, Antares.”
Antares nearly choked on his drink, with Marcus patting him on the back. “They got O’Cleery!? Is he okay?”
“I guess so. I talked to him before they put him in containment and he seemed to be his old self…”
Will was a little confused, feeling like he had heard that name before. “Who’s Liam?”
Antares indicated for everyone to lean in. “Liam’s a private investigator we hired to look into some businesses taking government funding that we believe have ties to Sebastian. Liam got in too deep recently, was framed, and we’ve been shuffling him around from jail to jail to keep him out of prison.”
“And presumably he was brought here to be moved into M.A.I.G.’s custody?” Marcus reasonably inquired.
“Precisely…”
“Then wouldn't it be prudent to declare him ‘dead’ given what happened today?”
The gears in Antares’ head began to turn and it could be seen on his face. “That is a brilliant idea, Mark! Why didn’t I think of that sooner?” He then stood up, looking pleased. “Pardon me, guys, I need to go talk to Trumna and Reynard.”
“Hold up, Antares,” Jackson cut in. “You should have Milan send him to The Unlight. Elaine says The Iron City has some of the best security around.”
“You guys are on a roll tonight!” Antares said with a clap before leaving the canteen.
Marcus straightened out his uniform, then picked up the empty trays. “Well, I’m glad that sorted itself out…”
Jackson noticed Will looking at him with a quizzical look. “What?”
“You’re dating Elaine, aren’t you? No two ways about it…”
He groaned a little, then chuckled. “Alright, fine. We’re dating.”
Will gave him a cheeky grin. “Ha, knew it. Here’s some advice: she’s a bit of a neat-freak and can be prone to mental breakdowns-I can certainly relate…”
Jackson nodded. “Duly noted.”
“She’s into movies, especially science fiction and cosmic horror. Also she adores 16-bit games, with JRPGs being her favorite.”
“Oh, okay then.”
“You’ll need to talk to Sam for other stuff though. Girl things, if you catch my meaning…”
Marcus came back with some ice cream sandwiches and laughed. “I had no idea you had such a gentle side, Jackson.”
“Hey, I can be a nice guy if I want to,” Jackson pointed out as he took his sandwich and unwrapped it. “It’s just that this world is annoying like that…”
As the sun rose the next morning over the valleys of Mt. Steadyrock, Sebastian was discontented. He paced back and forth in the wet grass, unsure what to do with the diminished amount of constructs that had returned. “What a troubling upset…” he grunted.
“Oh what’s the matter, my darling furor to be?” Anne cooed as she rubbed his cheek.
“M.A.I.G. has more bite than I initially thought, and that bothersome William took out my horde…”
“Then how about I capture and torture him?” Anne said as a gruesome shadow danced around her hand. “Surely it shouldn’t be too difficult…”
“No,” he replied quickly and firmly. “I shall be the one to take him out. Subterfuge would only serve to make him a martyr. His spark needs to be stomped out, just like the rest of them. His blood shall paint our flags red, even I have to do it myself.”
Anne gave a maniacal, demonic sounding laugh. “Your penchant for violence is most invigorating, my darling Sebastian…”
Over at the crypt’s entrance, Valentin rolled his eyes in disgust. “Degenerate, heathenous, scum… your day is coming…”
“Karppinen!” Sebastian called out.
“What?” Valentin groaned.
“Take the brat and head to the city with these shadow golems.”
Valentin straightened out his jaw as he walked over to the hulking, imposing army. Each golem was made of a black and red material that was a mix of Earth and iron. There were audible gears turning and chaotic energy bled out of their cracked, bulky chassis, which invoked the imagery of a skeleton. There were only 490 this time, but that was made up for with size and strength. Valentin began walking with the golems following, their heavy feat thumping the ground as they trudged forward.
“And Karppinen: do not fail before I arrive in the city,” Sebastian instructed with irritation in his voice.
“Oh please, take your time, herr kommandant. Do not fret over measly peasants such as myself…”
Once the march had made it to the edge of the city, Valentin darted off while the golems headed inwards. They were going after essential workers, but Valentin had other plans. He slipped into a vacant, cozy cafe and began preparing some coffee to ease his nerves. The smoky aroma of the drink calmed him down, but this was foiled when Bethany came walking in. It was not her, rather it was him being reminded that he was still in Hell. Valentin finished up and went to sit down at a table near the main counter.
“So what’s on the docket today?” She asked as she went over to a glass case full of cakes and large cookies, looking for the perfect treat.
“You realize that I’m going to have to pay for that, right?”
Bethany picked out a double chocolate cookie and gave it a good sniff, the scent pleasing her. “Yeah, and? You have money, don’t you?”
Valentin sighed and smiled a little, accepting the impending deficit in his funds as Bethany went about preparing a milkshake for herself. “Well we cut it close, tipping Mayhem off like that.”
“Which was your idea… then again, I am friends with some of those kids.”
“We’re going to have to go toe to toe with M.A.I.G. to throw off Sebastian’s suspicion…”
“Which will not be a problem…”
“Meaning you’ll have to confront Zoltan at some point in the near future.”
“Oh… well let’s cross that bridge when we get there,” Bethany replied before she bit into the soft cookie. It was very tasty, easing her now slightly frayed nerves. She then went for a sip of her milkshake, having done quite well on it for a 17th century girl.
Valentin took a sip of his coffee, looking out the window as a golem ran by. “Rile up Will and make it good.”
“Good… how good?”
Valentin subtly groaned. “It’s so tempting to join them now… distract them, but don’t put any of them out of commission like what Sebastian did to Adrien and Satsuki.”
“Obviously… Not going to lie, Will, Jack, and Antares are pretty handsome…” Bethany began sucking up the last bit of her milkshake with her straw.
“And that’s relevant how exactly?”
“I don’t know! Jeez, just trying to keep things light, you know?”
Valentin then got out a card and set it on the table. The image on it was unclear, as if it was still forming in a cloud of cosmic dust. “If I can set up this hex I have in mind, Sebastian’s ability to create shadow constructs will be greatly diminished. If not, we’ll have to go to plan B.”
“And plan B is what this time? Given what happened last time…”
There was a look of great unease on Valentin’s face, like something was haunting him. “If all else fails, I’ll have to call on Sylvia, the Discordant God of Sin. I’m not thrilled about that prospect, given the things I’ve done, but desperate times call for desperate measures.”
Bethany could sense the worry in his voice and felt bad. “Oh, I see…” Once he finished counting out some money, Bethany took it in her hands. “Here, I’ll take care of this for you.” She then went over to the cash register and neatly deposited the money, followed by her writing a note detailing what they took. It was the least she could do for Valentin and the Cafe.
Next: Chapter 28
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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