ULTRAMagic Eon 2 - Chapter 2

Previous | First | Next

Master Post - Patreon


    “Are they… did they get past the gates?” Blood-Wraith inquired.

    “No, they’re sitting in the road again,” Dragoslava answered plainly.

    Blood-Wraith let out a loud groan and began to make his way out of the main hall. “That is just lovely! New faces and they’re probably going to get scared off by those zero IQ activists!”

    Shaye gave a quick laugh as he and Ahhotep followed Dragoslava, Mal, Tiberius, Schwarzes, and Quasar out of the guild hall. “Activists? What in the Sam Hill would they be protesting?”

    “They keep claiming we’re not inclusive enough because of the ULTRAMagic requirement,” Schwarzes answered. “Dad’s dealt with these types before. They demand we be better and that we stand with them in solidarity… even though we’re actively protecting the entire Cosmos.”

    “Oh, so they’re communists?” Shaye deduced.

    Dragoslava laughed, recalling her trips to Earth-23. “Usually, but even then they don’t adhere to it. You should see some of the socialists from Universe-23 that own luxurious mansions.”

    “Hold up a second,” Ahhotep interrupted. “Don’t you help people achieve ULTRAMagic if the need arises?”

    Blood-Wraith paused the group as they neared the exit, having been faced with that question before. “These people don’t have an iota of magic potential, your majesty. They’ll watch some flashy, overrated, big budget movie about blue cat aliens and think they’re insightful somehow because they finally decided to take out the recycling… SOMEHOW.”

    “Oh my… Well then I’ll have to address them myself, as per my duty as Pharaoh.”

    Making their way outside, past the lush courtyards and to the majestic front gates, the group was met by the sight of a protest from the activists. They were an eclectic and sloppy collection of individuals from various versions of Earth, all displaced in The Unlight for one reason or another. A line of them were sitting in the road while the others marched around with signs and placards decrying the guild and The Iron City. At first they did not notice the group, but this changed when Blood-Wraith started marching up to the leader of the group, a fairly muscular looking man with sunglasses and a slight tan that made him look a little too privileged to be protesting.

    “Well well well, if it isn’t Rick Dirrt,” Blood-Wraith mockingly announced. “What’s the matter, Ricky? Run out of beggars to bully today?”

    “DON’T TALK SHIT TO ME YOU LITTLE BRAT! GATEKEEPING LITTLE SHIT!” Rick roared as he got into a shoving match with Blood-Wraith. This sent everyone into a panic, with the activists screaming at Blood-Wraith of all people to stop, like they were supposed to be yelling at Rick.

    Schwarzes got in the middle of the two, broke it up, and shoved Rick back. “ALRIGHT, ENOUGH! Jesus, every single time with you people!”

    “Mr. Dirrt, this is Iron City territory and by King Englehart’s decree you are not allowed to be here,” Tiberius sternly asserted as he stepped over. “Either vacate these premises or we will be contacting the Iron City Royal Guard. And I imagine they won’t be happy to see you again…”

    A woman with a nose piercing and half-shave hair cut then hurried over and spat at his boots. “OKAY, BOOMER!” This caused the rest of the activists to laugh, except it all sounded incredibly disingenuous, like they were secretly mocking her. The guild members did not share the humor and rightfully scowled at them.

    A quick tremor popped up as Tiberius growled. He then conjured up a bird made of light with a snap of his fingers and sent it off. “Fine then. Wait right there, if that’s how you insolent whelps want to play this game…”

    “I hate you with every fiber of my being, Rick,” Blood-Wraith said with venom in his words, loathing the kind of man Rick was. “I’ll protect the Cosmos, but I won’t protect you. You’re no better than Milosh…”

    “YEAH YEAH, keep gatekeeping you little dirtbag!” he shot back in a haughty tone of voice. “Just keep being a puppet of The Eternal Order! Little Pinocchio boy! Little Pinocchio gots no strings on him! PINOCCHIO!”

    Blood-Wraith felt his anger reaching a breaking point as the most violent smile invaded his face. “Ah yes, despite the fact that I AM ACTIVELY FIGHTING AGAINST THEM!”

    “NO ONE CARES!!!” the woman screamed in his face. Blood-Wraith looked as if he was ready to strangle all of them, clenching his fists and flaring his nostrils.

    “EXCUSE ME, LADY!” Shaye interjected as he got in between them. “Just wait a cotton-picking moment! Where in the blue blazes are your manners?!”

    “NO ONE CARES!!!” She screamed again. Shaye tried to speak, only for another “NO ONE CARES!!!” And this was followed by another “NO ONE CARES!!!” when Tiberius tried to speak up. And as if on cue, the standing activists began marching around the road block chanting ‘WE ARE THE MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLE!’ It was incredibly annoying as it sounded as vapid and meaningless as it seemed, a monument to worthless platitudes.

    “What in tarnation are they even prattering on about?!” Shaye demanded to know.

    “ROT IN ABADDON, RICK!” Blood-Wraith barked. “I’LL TAKE YOU THERE MYSELF!!” Rick had an insufferably smug grin on his face and gestured for someone behind him to charge forward. The man was a masked activist and he seemed to be whirling something around in what looked like a sock. The object hit Blood-Wraith in the side of the head, except the event played out without actually affecting him. “Nice try, buddy…”

    Quasar then pulled the makeshift weapon towards him with an invisible force and absorbed it, spaghettifying the object into nothingness. “A BIKE LOCK?”

    “HOW DARE YOU!?” Ahhotep exclaimed in anger as she went right up to the masked man. “I will not have thuggery such as that in my divine presence! I demand to know your name!!” The masked man was about to respond, but then realized who Ahhotep was (rather it was more of a baseless assumption) and went completely quiet and still, with a blank look in his eyes.

    Shaye then went up and shoved the man’s shoulder, only for nothing to happen. “Her divine majesty gave you an order, hombre…” The man then lifted his mask a little and spat at Shaye’s boots.

    “YOU SHALL NOT DEFY QUEEN AHHOTEP VII, SCOUNDREL!” Ahhotep shouted with royal fury in her voice as she ripped his ski mask off. “WHAT IS YOUR NAME?!”

    “He’s Clark Smithy, Ahhotep,” Dragoslava pointed out. “And I’ve seen this type before on Earth-23. They won’t challenge certain people, no matter how hard they’re confronted.”

    Ahhotep’s anger had reached its apex, and the gods would certainly not be keen on what she was about to say. “UNCOUTH HEATHENS! Your hearts shall be infinitely heavier than the feather of Ma’at, ALL OF YOU!”

    Mal was getting tired of the usual activist trite, so she put her hands together like she was about to move something. “Alright, enough of this nonsense…” She then parted them, causing the activists to be shoved off the road by an invisible force, startling all of them.

    “FREAKS!!” One of the activists screamed as he tried to throw a rock at Mal.

    Quasar caught the rock with his gravity and hurled it back at full force. “Don’t you hurt Mal!!”

    “Alright, that’s it!” Blood-Wraith yelled as he stomped away from everyone. “UZC FLZO ARU!”

    What appeared in his place in a rumble and cloud of dust was a tyrannosaurus made of black metal and yellow fire that resembled Golden Dragon. Blood-Wraith roared at the activists, causing them to scream in terror and scramble back to their pickup truck. They then tore out of there, but the dinosaur was still chasing after. All of them thought they were safe under the assumption their pursuer was slow, but Blood-Wraith was able to match their speed and then some. As they screamed at the top of their lungs, Rick floored it, going at dangerously high speeds. They nearly lost several of the activists, who hung limply off the edge of the flatbed walls, screaming in terror even louder trying to get Rick’s attention. Blood-Wraith did not take any joy in their unyielding fear and stupidity, but it was cathartic to see them run like cowards. Blood-Wraith gave up once they were all a mile away from the guild as he was growing tired.

    After a long and loud roar venting his frustrations, he reverted back to normal. “Stinking cowards… Flzo.” A metal doorway then appeared for him.

    Back at the guild, the group was waiting for Blood-Wraith to return. “You okay, Blood?” Dragoslava asked as he stepped out of the void door.

    Blood-Wraith sighed. “Yeah, and I ran them off. Sorry you had to see all of that, Shaye, Ahhotep…”

    “Well shoot, Blood-Wraith, you’ve got some of the hardest nerves this side of the Rio Grande!” Shaye commended as he patted him on the back. “It takes a real man to stand his ground like that. An iron-clad will like that would get you very far in the army! Don’t let those dirtbags ever push you around.”

    “You’ve certainly made it clear why you were knighted in the first place,” Ahhotep added. “I would have loved to have someone like you as a part of my royal court. And it’s clear that the guild is just as strong…”

    “No two ways about it, I tell you what!”

    Blood-Wraith smiled, feeling better hearing that praise. “Thanks. I’m… I’m going to go tell dad and Theobold about what just happened…”

    “Blood, I firmly believe it is time to fight back,” Tiberius asserted. “Gore and Morrigan have pushed us too far for too long…”

    The void door appeared once more and Blood-Wraith paused before entering it. “Oh boy…” He then noticed Mal about to speak. “I know, Mal. I know what Gummi said… let me talk to the Captain-General and Englehart, and see what they think,” Blood-Wraith conceded as he stepped through, with the door vanishing behind them.

    “How long has this been going on for exactly?” Ahhotep asked.

    “For the past year,” Schwarzes answered with a sigh. “I knew we were in for a rough ride when we started the guild, but all of this was unexpected. And that attempted assault is a bit new.”

    “Then I share your plight, Schwarzes, as I wasn’t expecting this either.”

    “I did say it was going to get crazy out in the Cosmos proper,” Shaye said as he picked up one of the left behind placards.

    “That you did, dear,” Ahhotep agreed.

    “Just wait until you guys meet Morrigan, ha,” Quasar pointed out with a slight shudder. “Either way, I’m certain Blood can handle it, because he’s cool like that.”

    “I will take your word for it in spades, little man,” Shaye said with a chuckle. “Oh, Tiberius, we talked to Tomek and Dreadnaught this morning. They are on their way, just needing to clean some things up in their neck of the woods.”

    “Ah, very good,” Tiberius replied as he took a breath to ease his nerves. He then began to head in. “If anyone needs me, I shall be informing the rest of the guild about what happened.”

    Once things were all picked up, the group also headed inside the gates, but took a seat at some of the picnic tables in the courtyard to relax a bit. “So where did those rapscallions crawl out from?” Shaye wondered. “Aisde from other versions of Earth?”

    “The Great Uncity, a place that completely misses the point of The Unlight,” Dragoslava answered.

    “How so?”

    “The Unlight is boundless and full of potential. You’re not supposed to consolidate and centralize like The Uncity does.”

    “The Uncity is so big that our authority is not even recognized there,” Schwarzes continued. “The guild is recognized by The Iron City, Shadowland, The Central Unlight Explorers Guild, The Fire Elves, The Unending Forest, The Great Stone Lake, Fire World, Earth World, Aqua World, Droomopolis, and The Market District; but obviously The Uncity dwarfs all of them combined. They have their own police force and military, so we stay out of their business. Of course the Uncity is one big pot of people from all walks of life, and with an eclectic and disparate population like that, you’re bound to get some bad eggs here and there… and then you have dirtbags like Gore Bloodblade come along and cause trouble!”

    “Wow, it reminds me of the Big Apple cranked up to 11,” Shaye remarked.

    Dragoslava chuckled as she put away a notepad. “Me and Blood have been joking about how when The Unlight expands again, we all move into the old Deep Unlight so we don’t have to deal with the Uncity anymore…”

    “Goodness, Dragoslava,” said Ahhotep. “That’s so… devious.” This made her give a mischievous chuckle.

    “Blood’s actually regretting how harsh he was on Will back when the Future Squad was around,” Mal put in as she leaned on the table. “Given how annoying the activists have been.”

    “Wait, really?” Quasar questioned with curiosity as he leaned in.

    “Makes sense,” Schwarzes said with a laugh. “If he thought dad was bad, he should see the rest of Earth-23… the human realm, not Inferno.”

    “I take it Will is another member of the guild?” Shaye reasoned.

    “Yes, but he is a future member who came back to the past with the aforementioned Future Squad to help us out with Valerie before she joined the guild.”

    “We should probably tell these two all about that,” Mal stated as she stretched. “It was quite the happening after all.”

    Shaye got himself comfy in his seat and popped a stick of chewing gum into his mouth. “Well if you’ve got a yarn to spin, we’re all ears.”

    “Most certainly,” said Ahhotep. “A tale about the guild’s missions would be quite illuminating.”

    “Alright then,” Schwarzes replied, summoning a bottle of water with a snap of his fingers. “Believe it or not this goes all the way back to a conversation I had with Beorhtric MacAdams right after the Droomopolis incident…”


Next: Chapter 3

ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

ULTRAMagic Alternate Legal Disclaimer

ULTRAMagic Alternate Master Post

ULTRAMagic Archive - Entry 27