Haze & Chaos - Reunion B Part 7
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“Alright… I think we’re good…” Will said with a shaky voice as he looked around the seemingly empty and roomy chamber. Pulsing lines of light in the walls and ceiling illuminated the room with a soft white glow–and across the walls were more of the story of the battles against the mad flame cultists. These ones presented the quandaries presented by the encroaching Void Era that spurned the cultists into their fervor. The concerns were valid, but the solutions the cultists presented through silvered words were not. “Geez, looks like some things never change…” Will remarked as he studied the carvings. “Did we see who else ended up with us?”
Morrigan took a second to think, her mind finally settling down. “I think I saw the others get stuck with Ripsaw and Esteri–definitely.” she then adjusted her armor, as one of her pauldrons had loosened.
“Liss and Akaya too?” Yale questioned.
“Um… Akaya, I think…?”
Yale nodded and called out “Liss? You there?” After a moment’s wait, he shook his head. “He would’ve sounded off by now.”
Morrigan nodded and shuddered a little, feeling like they were being watched. “So what do we do now, Specialist?” she nervously asked. Morrigan had been brought to Lost Era temples back when she was working with Karnage, but that did not mean she ever got used to it.
Will looked around once more and sighed. “We keep moving forward–look for the fragment chamber and go retrieve it.” It was easier said than done, but there was a way through that seemed to go deeper into the temple. Just as he was about to exit, he paused as his blood chilled with a realization. “Wait, did you see Anker with the others?”
Morrigan returned to the thought and racked her mind to see if she had caught any trace of him. “N-no…”
“Shit…” Will said as he began searching for him… and then he felt his throat grow irritated and dry. And then came the hoarse, hacking coughing, causing him to stumble around as he struggled to breathe properly. “SAM!” he wheezed out.
“WILL!” she tried to call back under similar conditions. “Where’d you go!?” The room had become flooded with a thick, red mist that disoriented the two.
“ARGH!” he cried as someone hit him in the chest, sending him reeling back. Haze was also having trouble figuring out what was going on.
“Ah ah ah, Will–no getting away from me this time,” Anker taunted as he hit him again, obscured by the mist. “You’re going to tell me where The Crimson God is since we have a little one-on-one time…”
Will coughed again, trying to steady himself on the wall. “I TOLD YOU I DON’T KNOW WHERE HE IS!” This led to him getting kicked and falling forward.
“I KNOW YOU DO!” Anker rebuked. “The Blood God knows his brother has been active as of late–And Crimson is tied to you whether you realize it or not! Tell me where he is!”
“DAMN IT ALL,” Will growled as he got pushed over and rolled across the floor. He could have sworn he saw Anker’s silhouette and swung at him… but only managed to graze him.
Morrigan knew she saw Will take a swing and tried to move towards him, despite her eyes stinging. “WILL… use… YOUR VOID… MAGIC!” she tried to say through coughs.
“I DON’T THINK HE CAN FOCUS LONG ENOUGH, SAM!” Yale called out from the ceiling. He wanted to fly in and help, but his magic could only do so much against Anker’s void magic, and he feared that he would just get in the way even if he could properly ward it off.
After another hit, Haze had had enough. “Damn it… hold on, Will–I have an idea…” he quietly said to himself. In a flash he fully engulfed Will and morphed into a special suit with a gasmask-like hood that fit nicely onto Will’s body. He then flushed out the mist through the gaskets, giving Will a chance to recover. “MAKE IT COUNT, WILL!”
Will quickly noticed Anker’s figure in the mist with the irritants gone from his eyes and punched him square in the side of the head, causing Anker to lose track of him. “HAHA!” Will celebrated, only for Anker to come running at him. He swiftly dodged and felt Haze drag him over to a wall.
“STAY QUIET!” he whisper-yelled, which was thankfully kept inside the suit.
“Right, right…” Will whispered back.
Anker was still on the hunt, and he was faintly discernible. “Come out–come out wherever you are, Will… We’re not leaving until you tell me where The Crimson God is. I can smell him on you! Animus and I need to know where he is!”
“Animus?” Will questioned to himself. “What does he have to do with this?”
“Anker’s always been this crazy?” Haze wondered with a scoff.
“Yes and no…”
“I see… Hold on, Will–I have another idea…”
Haze did something that amazed Will to no end. First he turned shiny like rubber film, followed by Will going completely invisible save for a distortion effect in place of his body. He was still technically visible to a degree, but it was more than enough to deal with Anker given the conditions that had been created. Keeping quiet and watching his steps, Will looked for Anker. The man was vigilant, keeping his ears open for any noises. Morrigan was frantically calling out for Will, and her growing panic made a perfect cover for the small noises his footsteps made. Will soon found Anker and figured the best way to go was to restrain him. The wait for the right moment dragged on forever–but once Anker had his back turned to Will he went for it! He grabbed Anker’s arms, attempting to get them behind his back so he could hold him, but Anker wrestled him off. Will then rammed into Anker with his weight and knocked him on his chest–pressing his knee down on his scapula.
“YALE, SAM–ANYONE, DO SOMETHING!” Will called out even though the gasmask that somewhat muffled his voice.
“ON IT, WILL!” Yale called out. The mist was beginning to fail, so that allowed him to use a spell that summoned rain within the chamber. It was a magic rain that would not wet the stone, but would easily dissipate the mist.
Morrigan felt her coughs easing and focus come back, but saw Anker shake Will off of him. “I GOT YOU, BOYO!” she exclaimed as she put out her hand, levitated Anker with an invisible force, and pinned him up against the wall. He was completely helpless as he struggled in vain to break free from Morrigan’s magic.
“GOOD JOB, SAM!” Will complimented as he walked over, fading back into sight. “Oops, I mean ‘Good job, Devilfay,’ ha! Anyways…” Will then sucker punched Anker in the gut… even though he was completely helpless.
“Oww…” he moaned. “Touché, I guess…”
“What’s the big idea, Anker!?” Will demanded to know, sticking his finger in his face. “You realize we have bigger issues to deal with right now, right?!”
Anker gritted his teeth as he kept struggling, only for Morrigan’s magic to strengthen, creating a vice-like grip around him that might as well have turned him into a statue (which prompted him to settle down, to his chagrin). “We need to know where The Crimson God is, and I know you know…”
“NO. I. DON’T,” Will growled. “I only know where Mads is! And what heck does this have to do with Animus? We’ve been looking for him ever since the beginning of the year…’
“We have our reasons…” Anker answered. “Ever since The Blood God got out of The Commercialverse and started working with Vlad IV he’s been looking into what his brother has been doing given that he disappeared from The Eternal Order, notably after The Tyrant War…”
Morrigan did the unprecedented and eased up on her magic, letting Anker go. “Yeah, I’ve been wondering about that too… It was pretty obvious who he was, even with Karnage and Anne assuming their ‘Gore’ and ‘Fran’ identities…” She then realized what she had done and pushed Anker back up against the wall (albeit with lighter star magic).
Yale then flew right into Anker’s face. “Look, stop asking Will about this stuff–we’ve got a bigger issue at the moment. If you want to talk about it, contact The League and we’ll have a chat.”
Anker sighed in frustration, but eased his clenched fists. “Fine–I suppose we can take care of Perkele first. After all, we are still trying to figure out why he’s been speaking to Mephistopheles as of late…”
“Wait, what?” Morrigan and Yale questioned in unison. The mystery flew over Will and Haze’s heads.
“Again, it’s something we’re looking into,” Anker reminded them as he was let down. “We couldn’t care less about the fragment–especially after some of the things Animus has told me.”
“Right…” Will skeptically agreed. “The suit’s staying on by the way–don’t think I’ve forgotten Operation Blood Drive…”
“Oh come now, Will–it was all in good fun,” Anker tried to handwave, only to get a growl in response. He then shrugged and followed the three out of the chamber.
“Boyo?” Morrigan inquired as they stepped out onto a giant set of stairs that loomed in mid air over a colossal, seemingly bottomless chamber with a pulsing red light so far below them that it would have given anyone vertigo.
They passed by rooms of the temple that were suspended in mid air as red lines pulsed down the herculean walls, creating a truly surreal sight to behold. Will shook his head and replied “Check my mission record with Gemini…”
Morrigan figured she would heed his instructions as they pressed on. She then got a good look at Haze’s new form and whistled as Will walked. “Damn, Boyo–that’s a neato-looking suit…”
He paused with an awkward smile face as Anker nudged him with a chuckle. “Hey, you’re still on thin ice, Anker… Also–Sam…” he said with an embarrassed chuckle.
“And there’s more where that came from, babe,” Haze snuck in, with Will promptly slapping his hand. This made the others laugh.
Ripsaw and Esteri were not having a good time, but it was not because they were making any progress. Their magic was going haywire as they flew all over the place, unable to control their bodies. Ripsaw was nothing but plates of deformed metal, his torso and arms wrapped in saw chains, and his lower legs were forced inwards as they flailed about. He jolted back and forth screaming as his saw chains kept trying to move in opposite directions. Esteri was nothing but gunbarrels, being encased in a giant one and wobbling around trying to free herself, failing to realize the metal had her encased and trapped inside. Akaya, Vlastimir, and Ekaterina were stuck watching the spectacle unfold, unsure how to help the two delinquents as they kept cursing their current predicament. The three quickly understood why Faustus and Mira were so hesitant to follow them in.
Vlastimir winced as Ripsaw’s chains anchored him to the ground, causing him to struggle more violently. “Jeez, makes me wish he had a rubber devil as a partner…”
Ekaterina was confused by that, then had the reference hit her. “Vlastimir–is now really the time to be thinking like that?” she chided.
Akaya chuckled, albeit in a disappointed way. He then noticed the giant barrel encasing Esteri shrink and compress her, making her look like a featureless, restrained metal statue with a mouth that shot out magic slugs like a normal shotgun in place of her screaming. Suffice it to say it was time to intervene. “Hold on, I have a spell from the old days that might help…” Akaya took his two fingers and rubbed them against his tongue and flung two wads of a rusty, glittery substance onto the two struggling necromancers, causing glowing red chains of electricity to separate them from their devils. Allon and Abelone looked incredibly malformed, but were no worse for wear.
“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, MALTE!?!” Allon roared at his partner as he shambled away, a mess of saws and dragging chains. “I’M HEADING BACK TO HELL–LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU GET OUT OF THIS GODFORSAKEN PLACE!” He then vanished into a spurting cloud of sparks and foul-smelling smoke.
“Sorry, Esteri, but you’re on your own with this one…” Abelone tried to say as he groaned in pain, his body mostly jagged metal. He then disappeared with what sounded like a gunshot.
“Shit…” Esteri complained as she laid there trying to catch her breath.
Ripsaw let everything sink in, then slammed his hand on the stone floor. “DAMN IT ALL–now what are we going to do!?”
Vlastimir walked over shaking his head and offered Ripsaw a hand. “Well firstly I’d imagine getting up would be a good idea…”
He was hesitant at first, but relented and accepted the help. Ripsaw was a little wobbly, but steadied himself. “So now what?”
Ekaterina went over to help Esteri. “Here…”
“Thanks,” she replied. “Welp, looks like we're up shit creek without a paddle, Malte…”
“Yeah, I noticed, Esteri…” he snapped back, then groaned. “That’s just lovely… And what the hell, Vlastimir? You’re just going to help us after all the times I picked on you and Will?”
Vlastimir shrugged. “Malte, I’ve been through a lot worse than what you’ve put me through–I’ve seen infinitely worse! And Blood would be disappointed with us if we left you guys behind…”
“No two ways about it,” Ekaterina added.
Akaya stepped forward and gave Ripsaw a pat on the shoulder. “Malte, my boy–it looks like you’re going to have to come with us. No sense staying here.”
He gave a light exhale and smiled a little. “That separation spell was so annoying back in the day.”
Akaya laughed. “True, but it came in handy just now, didn’t it? Stick with us for the time being. Do you two have any other magic you can cast?” They shook their heads.
“You don’t remember, Akaya?” Vlastimir asked with a giggle, causing Akaya to give a lighthearted facepalm.
“Well I’ve tried to use soul magic before…” Esteri said as she conjured up a pink ball of light in her hands that spun around, bounced, and exploded into a small storm of tiny confetti. “That’s all I got though…”
Vlastimir nodded, whose subtle nuance was like that of a proud teacher. “You two need to work on your other magic! Master Vilho Rinne of the four great sword masters of The Iron City told us that we shouldn’t be predictable–that we should have a backup just in case something happens to your magic or weapons!”
Ekaterina gave him an incredulous look and crossed her arms. “So where’s that backup sword Master Vilho told you to get, Mister Dracul?” Vlastimir responded with a cheeky grin and a chuckle, making everyone else laugh.
“So what, should I just start practicing alchemy then?” Ripsaw interjected. “I was never really good at it…”
“I think you gave up way too soon, Malte,” Akaya pointed out. “Everyone has the potential to be great inside of them, and you can’t let your fears get in the way. If you mess up–so what? I thought it was a good idea to spread my influence through psychosis as a way to take control of the world, but look where I am now!”
Ripsaw shook his head. “Alright, alright–I’ll give it a shot when I get some free time…”
“Hey, you two could join M.A.I.G.!” Ekaterina pointed out. “You two still have a bit of a record, but I’d imagine they’d take care of you.”
Ripsaw and Esteri legitimately considered that idea for a second, but it did not feel right for some reason. “Let’s focus on the clown for now, ‘kay?” Ripsaw said as he and Esteri started to leave the chamber.
Vlastimir went right over to Ripsaw and held out his hand. “Malte? It’s going to be alright.”
He paused, then smiled and shook hands. “Thanks, Vlastimir.”
“Yeah, you two are cool,” Esteri said as she also shook his hand.
“So, Vlastimir, what about your magic?” Ripsaw asked as they started walking down the stairs.
Vlastimir paused and tried to manifest a spell, except it completely coated him in his blood, leaving him featureless and his hands useless before he pulled it back in. “I feel in control, but I’ll have to be careful…”
As they continued on, Esteri thought of something. “Hey, Ekaterina?”
“Just call me ‘Eka,’” she replied with a smile.
“Cool–those ribbons are sick as hell. Where’d you get them again?”
She sighed as extended one and wobbled it. “The Lich of Old–and it seems what I’ve been told about him sourcing them from a Lost Era entity is true, because I feel way more stronger here.” Notably her ribbons looked stronger to boot.
“Damn–would’ve hated to have fought you here…” Esteri noted as she shook Ekaterina’s shoulder.
Akaya stroked his chin, wondering if his colleagues would be interested in potential research. “Intriguing… I’ll have to speak to my co-workers, Eka–as I have some that would be interested in this topic…”
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“Alright… I think we’re good…” Will said with a shaky voice as he looked around the seemingly empty and roomy chamber. Pulsing lines of light in the walls and ceiling illuminated the room with a soft white glow–and across the walls were more of the story of the battles against the mad flame cultists. These ones presented the quandaries presented by the encroaching Void Era that spurned the cultists into their fervor. The concerns were valid, but the solutions the cultists presented through silvered words were not. “Geez, looks like some things never change…” Will remarked as he studied the carvings. “Did we see who else ended up with us?”
Morrigan took a second to think, her mind finally settling down. “I think I saw the others get stuck with Ripsaw and Esteri–definitely.” she then adjusted her armor, as one of her pauldrons had loosened.
“Liss and Akaya too?” Yale questioned.
“Um… Akaya, I think…?”
Yale nodded and called out “Liss? You there?” After a moment’s wait, he shook his head. “He would’ve sounded off by now.”
Morrigan nodded and shuddered a little, feeling like they were being watched. “So what do we do now, Specialist?” she nervously asked. Morrigan had been brought to Lost Era temples back when she was working with Karnage, but that did not mean she ever got used to it.
Will looked around once more and sighed. “We keep moving forward–look for the fragment chamber and go retrieve it.” It was easier said than done, but there was a way through that seemed to go deeper into the temple. Just as he was about to exit, he paused as his blood chilled with a realization. “Wait, did you see Anker with the others?”
Morrigan returned to the thought and racked her mind to see if she had caught any trace of him. “N-no…”
“Shit…” Will said as he began searching for him… and then he felt his throat grow irritated and dry. And then came the hoarse, hacking coughing, causing him to stumble around as he struggled to breathe properly. “SAM!” he wheezed out.
“WILL!” she tried to call back under similar conditions. “Where’d you go!?” The room had become flooded with a thick, red mist that disoriented the two.
“ARGH!” he cried as someone hit him in the chest, sending him reeling back. Haze was also having trouble figuring out what was going on.
“Ah ah ah, Will–no getting away from me this time,” Anker taunted as he hit him again, obscured by the mist. “You’re going to tell me where The Crimson God is since we have a little one-on-one time…”
Will coughed again, trying to steady himself on the wall. “I TOLD YOU I DON’T KNOW WHERE HE IS!” This led to him getting kicked and falling forward.
“I KNOW YOU DO!” Anker rebuked. “The Blood God knows his brother has been active as of late–And Crimson is tied to you whether you realize it or not! Tell me where he is!”
“DAMN IT ALL,” Will growled as he got pushed over and rolled across the floor. He could have sworn he saw Anker’s silhouette and swung at him… but only managed to graze him.
Morrigan knew she saw Will take a swing and tried to move towards him, despite her eyes stinging. “WILL… use… YOUR VOID… MAGIC!” she tried to say through coughs.
“I DON’T THINK HE CAN FOCUS LONG ENOUGH, SAM!” Yale called out from the ceiling. He wanted to fly in and help, but his magic could only do so much against Anker’s void magic, and he feared that he would just get in the way even if he could properly ward it off.
After another hit, Haze had had enough. “Damn it… hold on, Will–I have an idea…” he quietly said to himself. In a flash he fully engulfed Will and morphed into a special suit with a gasmask-like hood that fit nicely onto Will’s body. He then flushed out the mist through the gaskets, giving Will a chance to recover. “MAKE IT COUNT, WILL!”
Will quickly noticed Anker’s figure in the mist with the irritants gone from his eyes and punched him square in the side of the head, causing Anker to lose track of him. “HAHA!” Will celebrated, only for Anker to come running at him. He swiftly dodged and felt Haze drag him over to a wall.
“STAY QUIET!” he whisper-yelled, which was thankfully kept inside the suit.
“Right, right…” Will whispered back.
Anker was still on the hunt, and he was faintly discernible. “Come out–come out wherever you are, Will… We’re not leaving until you tell me where The Crimson God is. I can smell him on you! Animus and I need to know where he is!”
“Animus?” Will questioned to himself. “What does he have to do with this?”
“Anker’s always been this crazy?” Haze wondered with a scoff.
“Yes and no…”
“I see… Hold on, Will–I have another idea…”
Haze did something that amazed Will to no end. First he turned shiny like rubber film, followed by Will going completely invisible save for a distortion effect in place of his body. He was still technically visible to a degree, but it was more than enough to deal with Anker given the conditions that had been created. Keeping quiet and watching his steps, Will looked for Anker. The man was vigilant, keeping his ears open for any noises. Morrigan was frantically calling out for Will, and her growing panic made a perfect cover for the small noises his footsteps made. Will soon found Anker and figured the best way to go was to restrain him. The wait for the right moment dragged on forever–but once Anker had his back turned to Will he went for it! He grabbed Anker’s arms, attempting to get them behind his back so he could hold him, but Anker wrestled him off. Will then rammed into Anker with his weight and knocked him on his chest–pressing his knee down on his scapula.
“YALE, SAM–ANYONE, DO SOMETHING!” Will called out even though the gasmask that somewhat muffled his voice.
“ON IT, WILL!” Yale called out. The mist was beginning to fail, so that allowed him to use a spell that summoned rain within the chamber. It was a magic rain that would not wet the stone, but would easily dissipate the mist.
Morrigan felt her coughs easing and focus come back, but saw Anker shake Will off of him. “I GOT YOU, BOYO!” she exclaimed as she put out her hand, levitated Anker with an invisible force, and pinned him up against the wall. He was completely helpless as he struggled in vain to break free from Morrigan’s magic.
“GOOD JOB, SAM!” Will complimented as he walked over, fading back into sight. “Oops, I mean ‘Good job, Devilfay,’ ha! Anyways…” Will then sucker punched Anker in the gut… even though he was completely helpless.
“Oww…” he moaned. “Touché, I guess…”
“What’s the big idea, Anker!?” Will demanded to know, sticking his finger in his face. “You realize we have bigger issues to deal with right now, right?!”
Anker gritted his teeth as he kept struggling, only for Morrigan’s magic to strengthen, creating a vice-like grip around him that might as well have turned him into a statue (which prompted him to settle down, to his chagrin). “We need to know where The Crimson God is, and I know you know…”
“NO. I. DON’T,” Will growled. “I only know where Mads is! And what heck does this have to do with Animus? We’ve been looking for him ever since the beginning of the year…’
“We have our reasons…” Anker answered. “Ever since The Blood God got out of The Commercialverse and started working with Vlad IV he’s been looking into what his brother has been doing given that he disappeared from The Eternal Order, notably after The Tyrant War…”
Morrigan did the unprecedented and eased up on her magic, letting Anker go. “Yeah, I’ve been wondering about that too… It was pretty obvious who he was, even with Karnage and Anne assuming their ‘Gore’ and ‘Fran’ identities…” She then realized what she had done and pushed Anker back up against the wall (albeit with lighter star magic).
Yale then flew right into Anker’s face. “Look, stop asking Will about this stuff–we’ve got a bigger issue at the moment. If you want to talk about it, contact The League and we’ll have a chat.”
Anker sighed in frustration, but eased his clenched fists. “Fine–I suppose we can take care of Perkele first. After all, we are still trying to figure out why he’s been speaking to Mephistopheles as of late…”
“Wait, what?” Morrigan and Yale questioned in unison. The mystery flew over Will and Haze’s heads.
“Again, it’s something we’re looking into,” Anker reminded them as he was let down. “We couldn’t care less about the fragment–especially after some of the things Animus has told me.”
“Right…” Will skeptically agreed. “The suit’s staying on by the way–don’t think I’ve forgotten Operation Blood Drive…”
“Oh come now, Will–it was all in good fun,” Anker tried to handwave, only to get a growl in response. He then shrugged and followed the three out of the chamber.
“Boyo?” Morrigan inquired as they stepped out onto a giant set of stairs that loomed in mid air over a colossal, seemingly bottomless chamber with a pulsing red light so far below them that it would have given anyone vertigo.
They passed by rooms of the temple that were suspended in mid air as red lines pulsed down the herculean walls, creating a truly surreal sight to behold. Will shook his head and replied “Check my mission record with Gemini…”
Morrigan figured she would heed his instructions as they pressed on. She then got a good look at Haze’s new form and whistled as Will walked. “Damn, Boyo–that’s a neato-looking suit…”
He paused with an awkward smile face as Anker nudged him with a chuckle. “Hey, you’re still on thin ice, Anker… Also–Sam…” he said with an embarrassed chuckle.
“And there’s more where that came from, babe,” Haze snuck in, with Will promptly slapping his hand. This made the others laugh.
Ripsaw and Esteri were not having a good time, but it was not because they were making any progress. Their magic was going haywire as they flew all over the place, unable to control their bodies. Ripsaw was nothing but plates of deformed metal, his torso and arms wrapped in saw chains, and his lower legs were forced inwards as they flailed about. He jolted back and forth screaming as his saw chains kept trying to move in opposite directions. Esteri was nothing but gunbarrels, being encased in a giant one and wobbling around trying to free herself, failing to realize the metal had her encased and trapped inside. Akaya, Vlastimir, and Ekaterina were stuck watching the spectacle unfold, unsure how to help the two delinquents as they kept cursing their current predicament. The three quickly understood why Faustus and Mira were so hesitant to follow them in.
Vlastimir winced as Ripsaw’s chains anchored him to the ground, causing him to struggle more violently. “Jeez, makes me wish he had a rubber devil as a partner…”
Ekaterina was confused by that, then had the reference hit her. “Vlastimir–is now really the time to be thinking like that?” she chided.
Akaya chuckled, albeit in a disappointed way. He then noticed the giant barrel encasing Esteri shrink and compress her, making her look like a featureless, restrained metal statue with a mouth that shot out magic slugs like a normal shotgun in place of her screaming. Suffice it to say it was time to intervene. “Hold on, I have a spell from the old days that might help…” Akaya took his two fingers and rubbed them against his tongue and flung two wads of a rusty, glittery substance onto the two struggling necromancers, causing glowing red chains of electricity to separate them from their devils. Allon and Abelone looked incredibly malformed, but were no worse for wear.
“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING, MALTE!?!” Allon roared at his partner as he shambled away, a mess of saws and dragging chains. “I’M HEADING BACK TO HELL–LET ME KNOW WHEN YOU GET OUT OF THIS GODFORSAKEN PLACE!” He then vanished into a spurting cloud of sparks and foul-smelling smoke.
“Sorry, Esteri, but you’re on your own with this one…” Abelone tried to say as he groaned in pain, his body mostly jagged metal. He then disappeared with what sounded like a gunshot.
“Shit…” Esteri complained as she laid there trying to catch her breath.
Ripsaw let everything sink in, then slammed his hand on the stone floor. “DAMN IT ALL–now what are we going to do!?”
Vlastimir walked over shaking his head and offered Ripsaw a hand. “Well firstly I’d imagine getting up would be a good idea…”
He was hesitant at first, but relented and accepted the help. Ripsaw was a little wobbly, but steadied himself. “So now what?”
Ekaterina went over to help Esteri. “Here…”
“Thanks,” she replied. “Welp, looks like we're up shit creek without a paddle, Malte…”
“Yeah, I noticed, Esteri…” he snapped back, then groaned. “That’s just lovely… And what the hell, Vlastimir? You’re just going to help us after all the times I picked on you and Will?”
Vlastimir shrugged. “Malte, I’ve been through a lot worse than what you’ve put me through–I’ve seen infinitely worse! And Blood would be disappointed with us if we left you guys behind…”
“No two ways about it,” Ekaterina added.
Akaya stepped forward and gave Ripsaw a pat on the shoulder. “Malte, my boy–it looks like you’re going to have to come with us. No sense staying here.”
He gave a light exhale and smiled a little. “That separation spell was so annoying back in the day.”
Akaya laughed. “True, but it came in handy just now, didn’t it? Stick with us for the time being. Do you two have any other magic you can cast?” They shook their heads.
“You don’t remember, Akaya?” Vlastimir asked with a giggle, causing Akaya to give a lighthearted facepalm.
“Well I’ve tried to use soul magic before…” Esteri said as she conjured up a pink ball of light in her hands that spun around, bounced, and exploded into a small storm of tiny confetti. “That’s all I got though…”
Vlastimir nodded, whose subtle nuance was like that of a proud teacher. “You two need to work on your other magic! Master Vilho Rinne of the four great sword masters of The Iron City told us that we shouldn’t be predictable–that we should have a backup just in case something happens to your magic or weapons!”
Ekaterina gave him an incredulous look and crossed her arms. “So where’s that backup sword Master Vilho told you to get, Mister Dracul?” Vlastimir responded with a cheeky grin and a chuckle, making everyone else laugh.
“So what, should I just start practicing alchemy then?” Ripsaw interjected. “I was never really good at it…”
“I think you gave up way too soon, Malte,” Akaya pointed out. “Everyone has the potential to be great inside of them, and you can’t let your fears get in the way. If you mess up–so what? I thought it was a good idea to spread my influence through psychosis as a way to take control of the world, but look where I am now!”
Ripsaw shook his head. “Alright, alright–I’ll give it a shot when I get some free time…”
“Hey, you two could join M.A.I.G.!” Ekaterina pointed out. “You two still have a bit of a record, but I’d imagine they’d take care of you.”
Ripsaw and Esteri legitimately considered that idea for a second, but it did not feel right for some reason. “Let’s focus on the clown for now, ‘kay?” Ripsaw said as he and Esteri started to leave the chamber.
Vlastimir went right over to Ripsaw and held out his hand. “Malte? It’s going to be alright.”
He paused, then smiled and shook hands. “Thanks, Vlastimir.”
“Yeah, you two are cool,” Esteri said as she also shook his hand.
“So, Vlastimir, what about your magic?” Ripsaw asked as they started walking down the stairs.
Vlastimir paused and tried to manifest a spell, except it completely coated him in his blood, leaving him featureless and his hands useless before he pulled it back in. “I feel in control, but I’ll have to be careful…”
As they continued on, Esteri thought of something. “Hey, Ekaterina?”
“Just call me ‘Eka,’” she replied with a smile.
“Cool–those ribbons are sick as hell. Where’d you get them again?”
She sighed as extended one and wobbled it. “The Lich of Old–and it seems what I’ve been told about him sourcing them from a Lost Era entity is true, because I feel way more stronger here.” Notably her ribbons looked stronger to boot.
“Damn–would’ve hated to have fought you here…” Esteri noted as she shook Ekaterina’s shoulder.
Akaya stroked his chin, wondering if his colleagues would be interested in potential research. “Intriguing… I’ll have to speak to my co-workers, Eka–as I have some that would be interested in this topic…”
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