Haze & Chaos - Retaliation Part 5
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“Why are you guys acting so weird?” Will questioned, glancing around the room. Anton was facepalming, Abraham had a displeased look on his face as he stared blankly to avoid Will’s eyes, and Caelan had an expression that looked like a boss who did not know how to break it to his employee. Quincy elected to remain silent and kept his face buried in his magazine. “Guys, you’re creeping me out…” And then there was the knock at the door.
Anton sighed and shook his head. “Come on in…” He then quickly put his people-face back on.
“Hey, everyone…” a boy’s voice that sounded weirdly close to Will’s said as the door creaked open. The boy in question was strange, and even then that did not fully capture the weird feeling he gave off. His lavender-colored body was sleek, futuristic with segmented and glowing parts, and he looked incredibly fit. Embedded in his chest was an apparently-flexible, glass-like plate that served as a window into his body which allowed one to view a glowing, ball-like organ. Surprisingly his silver hair was relatively normal, and his demeanor presented that of a polite, young boy. “Nice to meet you, Will…”
Abraham sighed and crossed his arms. “Will, this is Genome, an experiment Laurence tasked Wendelin with making…”
“Na dann,” Wendelin interjected. “You’re just going to spoil the answers right out the gate?” Wendelin could see the unamused looks he was getting and took a calm breath–especially considering the confused expression Will was giving him. With a clap he said “It stands to reason that The Eternal Order and their allies were up to all sorts of devious experiments, and I am not innocent in this state of affairs. There was a little… project that Laurence was engaging in alongside Sebastian–stemming from old grudges Hector held from a time he should not have remembered–where we were attempting to harness ULTRAMagic, before Bethany paid you a little visit to your lovely home on Sunset Hill.”
“Hold on a second,” Antares interrupted. “So Will wasn’t the only target during Red River?”
“It’s more complicated than that…”
Antares glanced towards Will and shot him a ‘I don’t like where this is going’ look. He then looked at the boy. “Lt. Colonel Briggs–nice to meet you, kid,” he said as he held out his hand, receiving a handshake that was way too similar to Will’s. “So what does our other star witness have to do with all of this?”
Wendelin cleared his throat, choosing his words adequately as always. “Starting all the way back in… oh, 2015 was it? We were working on DNA-based experiments to see if we could create living weapons that could serve the higher-ups and harness the power of our enemies–not too dissimilar to what was seen during The Extinction War. Genome here was part of a recent batch of particularly successful subjects that I secretly sabotaged.”
“Sabotaged?” Antares questioned with a playful, yet careful curiosity. “How so? And what are we talking about here? Gestalts? Constructs? Clones?”
“Are you familiar with the individual known as Shark-X?”
Will and Antares glanced at each other and nodded. “We’ve had our suspicions,” the latter replied.
“Well let’s just say I made it so neither of these fine young men were loyal to Laurence or his cronies,” Wendelin answered with a gleeful pride that was hidden in his composed words. “I planned to present Shark-X to The League as a new member, but he escaped…” This made Will and Antares chuckle as they remembered some of their past adventures with Shark-X.
“Should… should I tell him, Wendelin?” Genome asked.
“If you feel up to it, mein junge,” he said as he stepped back.
Genome took a breath and turned to Will. “Um, Will? I know we just met… and you just got told I’m a mad science experiment… but, um… I’m–I’m a clone… of you…”
There was a moment of deathly silence in the room that could have been on par with the stillness before the big bang. Will felt the strongest surge of adrenaline he had ever felt, rivaling some of the most terrifying moments during The Red River City Incident as he looked at the boy… his clone… He then walked over to Wendelin, a subtle menace following him even though it did not appear so by his gait. “WHEN?” he growled in a low tone of voice.
“The Texas Incident,” Wendlin answered plainly and truthfully, without a hint of disrespect.
“Goddamn it!” Antares swore as he stomped his foot. “I knew sending you alone was a mistake in more ways than one!”
Abraham could see Will’s anger flaring up and went over to calm him with a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Will, it’s going to be alright–Wendlin has confirmed that Genome was the only successful clone of his batch, and made sure he’s a good lad.”
Will continued to clench his fist as his shoulders rose with his anger, but Abraham’s words were like that of a calming friend he had not heard in so long. “Abe… I’ve been cloned,” Will said in a tone that felt like it was from a past life as his rage melted away, comforted by his old friend’s reassurance.
“I know–I’m not happy about it either, but the boy is noble just like you. And I imagine Wendelin has some more explaining to do,” the last part he said through gritted teeth.
“Sicherlich,” Wendelin replied as he stepped back forward. “Genome was funded by evil money, but he is a work of art!” he said with dramatic flair. “I would not have committed to crafting him had I not been struck by the muse of inspiration.”
Antares had the most incredulous look on his face. “Well that’s an odd way to put it…”
Wendelin smiled, as there was nothing that would get in the way of his pride as a craftsman. “Delving deep into the depths of The True Abyss, I found an amazing fungus that I molded into what I deem to be a perfect being–someone who is nigh-immortal and is not bound by the progression of time! Not only that, but he also possesses a wide array of abilities and great potential for magic…” He could see that he was not exactly winning the others over. “And while Laurence had tasked me with creating a clone of Herr Ford, I was not going to hand such a precious specimen over to a mad thug such as Laurence or a raging tyrant like Karnage. I hereby present him as a gift to The League and The Liger Brigade as sign of good will, and my gratitude for The League choosing to cooperate with The Running God.”
Will shook his head as he could not believe what he was hearing, but had to accept it regardless. “So to be clear: You didn’t make him for the court case either?”
“Nein–but it would be foolish of us not to capitalize on this golden opportunity!” he said with a triumphant fist.
“So that’s why Aalders was so insistent on being a part of this…” Antares noted with a groan.
“Ja, and the jurors, officers, and participants have been carefully selected. While we have the odds in our favor, our goal is not necessarily to win–it is to force Laurence through the discovery process. Genome and Caelan are our insurance, and to really drive home our case if we feel like taking a victory lap. Need I detail the havoc it will cause for our enemies once their misdeeds become known?”
Will felt fairly weak from all of that excitement, and went to go sit down in one of the comfy chairs, slouching in the seat. “Jeez, do I even need to say anything for this case?”
Anton took a subtle breath to keep himself composed. “If things go our way, you won’t have to utter a single word, Will. Truthfully this whole situation is a mess, in more ways than one. And if I had managed to reconcile with Sepulcher after Lost Carcosa, we probably wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. Sadly we’re just going to have to roll with the punches–”
“Yeah, I get what you mean…”
Quincy had finally worked up the nerve to say something and put down his magazine. He was not trying to hide, rather he had no idea what to say in the first place. “Will?” he said as he placed his hand on the back of the chair. “Cam and I have hung out with Genome–he’s a cool kid… and definitely a lot like you in certain moments.”
Will sighed and looked at Genome, who was clearly concerned for him. “Genome, aye?”
“Um, yeah,” he replied, stepping over to the chair. “I mean, my codename was just a string of letters and numbers, so I figured part of the name of the project would fit me, hehe. ‘Genome’ does sound pretty cool at the end of the day.”
That enthusiasm, despite all that had happened, brought a smile to Will’s face, and it reminded him of when he was young… Oh, what was he saying? Genome was him when he was younger! “So who did he stay with after he was finished?”
“I handed him off to Kit once he was stable enough,” Wendelin answered.
Abraham nodded in response. “You can trust Kit, Will.”
Will sighed and thought further. “Can I name him at least?” he asked of the others.
“Wait, what?” Genome questioned.
“A proper name,” Anton replied. “I don’t see why not?”
“It is the least I can do for all of the trouble,” Wendelin answered with a gesture of hospitality.
Will gave it some more thought, as he needed to come up with something strong and cool. He may not have realized it up front, but deep down he was hellbent on claiming Genome as his own given everything that he had gone through. “How about… Lionel! Lionel Ford!”
“Lionel?” the boy questioned.
Caelan nodded and came over to pat him on the shoulder. “Yeah, that’s a fine name, Will. Nice and strong, and noble to boot.”
“Um, okay then!” Lionel agreed. “Lionel it is!”
Anton smiled, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. “Lionel, would you like to show Will and Antares some of your magic real quickly?”
“Oh yeah! Guys, check this out!” He then focused, and in one hand appeared a fireball and in the other a ball of icy winds, with Antares giving him an approving nod.
Was that Faustus and Mira’s magic? Will nodded regardless as Lionel dissipated the magic. “How’d you do that? That was impressive either way.”
“I’d dare say it’s that potential for magic Wendelin mentioned,” Quincy figured.
“I may have also granted him the properties of shadow constructs,” Wendelin pointed out. “Shadow constructs made from purity I might add.”
“Hey, Haze?” said Will. “You’ve been pretty quiet–what do you think?”
Haze took control of Will’s arm and brought his hand up to Lionel’s level. “Well, you know me, Will–I don’t want to barge in with my snark when you’re having a moment… And yeah, he definitely feels like me… Yeah, nice to meet you, Lionel.”
Antares groaned a little as he leaned with his hand on Anton’s desk. “Jeez, how are we going to handle this one… And we can just have him?” Wendelin nodded in confirmation. “Hmm… We could hand him off to Wing X–he’d probably get along well with Zarnak… WAIT, I got an idea–Gemini!”
“Gemini?” Lionel questioned, with his curiosity caught.
“Yeah, The Gemini Division–they’re our eyes and ears over in NYC, keeping an eye on anomalous shit that slips in through Night Salem City. Honestly You’d be perfect there–nobody would suspect a thing… Do you have a human form?”
Lionel chuckled as his form turned to that of a human, with the illusion of a shirt and jeans. “No problemo, sir!”
Antares gave a laugh of endearment and patted Lionel on the shoulder. “Good man, Lionel…”
Will had to interrupt as Lionel looked just like him as a child, albeit with silver hair. “Okay, that’s going to take some getting used to…” This made the others chuckle. “Jeez, the others are going to lose it when they find out about you… Lionel, do you want to come visit my house after we’re done here? You know, get to meet the others me and Orion live with?”
“Sure, Will,” he said as he reverted back. “I’ve been told you have a really nice house.”
He chuckled and stood up. “Well it’s Sam’s house, ha. So, anything else we need to discuss?”
“Just the time and place, and some other minor details we’ll need to be aware of,” Abraham answered. “I know you’ve been through a lot just now, Will, and no one will fault you if you’re not feeling up to this–Do you still want to be involved?”
“Of course I do,” Will answered without hesitation. “Do you know how drunk off of sedatives I was after The Texas Incident? That rat bastard Laurence is going to be lucky I don’t kill him on the spot…”
Abraham laughed in solidarity at that righteous bravado, and gave Will a good pat on the shoulder–he was surprisingly strong for someone his age. “Now that’s the Marcel I know! Alright, let’s iron out the fine details and we’ll be on our way.”
The rest of the conversation thankfully was nothing special. All they really needed to go over at that point was the time, place, and courthouse the trial would take place in. Anton had eyed Gough Huxley U.S. Courthouse in New York City, which was in The Night Salem City region of the city. Anton and Abraham had a feeling that Laurence was going to try to pull something underhanded, backed up by Wendelin’s insight, so being in close proximity to The Unlight was a good idea, meaning that they could call on The ULTRAMagic Guild with ease if need be. Will had it easy, as all he needed to do was show up, look pretty, and behave himself–which was not hard to do. Abraham and Wendelin would handle the heavy lifting for the case, and from the sounds of it, Wendelin had a very good feeling about the discovery process. Of course there were some worries that Laurence would try to leak details from pre-trial preparations, but Wendelin viewed this as more ammo for them to work with. Once things seemed settled enough, Will said his goodbyes for now and went to go get Orion with Lionel.
With the two boys ready to go, Will stood there in the foyer with them, mentally preparing himself to create a void door. “Alright, here we go…”
“Ach, Herr Ford–a moment of your time?” Wendelin said as he came walking over with what looked like a book wrapped in brown paper. “Utilizing your void magic I see?”
“Yeah–Mads has made things incredibly convenient these past couple of months.”
“What’s up, Wendelin?” Lionel wondered.
“A gift, for William’s troubles,” he answered as he set the item down on a small table. “Firstmost, I would like to apologize for The Texas Incident–while I had no hand in that, it feels pertinent to express my condolences…”
Orion nodded with a skeptical undertone and stepped in front of Will. “Careful, Dad, there are some higher dimensional shenanigans going on here…”
Wendelin laughed and ruffled the boy’s hair (to Orion’s chagrin). “How observant you are!”
“So I take it that my DNA being stolen was more opportunistic by The Sons of Hecate?” Will inquired.
“Ja. As compensation for your troubles, I have a special grimoire for you–procured from my private collection,” he said as he gestured towards the package.
“Oh? What kind of grimoire?” Will asked as he inspected the coarse paper, wrapped in brown twine.
“As you most certainly know by now, my original… employers–”
“The Nazis?”
Wendelin exhaled with a subtle, annoyed smile on his face. “Ja–were quite interested in occult knowledge–”
“Yeah, the whole German Occult revival and Wotanist nonsense.”
Wendelin nodded, feeling like he was speaking to another person he could potentially confide in, but that was for another day. “Ach, such pursuits were fueled by utmost delusion in an attempt to validate a world view who had fallen victim to its own hubris.”
“Hubris?” Orion scoffed. “I think that was a little more than hubris from what I’ve learned.”
This warranted a chuckle from Wendelin. “Wahr wahr, and I myself never truly attached to the idiotic barbarism of the regime and that blithering Hitler–fool should have stayed a failed artist… The point is that I never understood the purpose of the extreme violence I witnessed, being content with just removing and barring the people we deemed as enemies–progress and science was my modus operandi, seeking to build humanity up higher and higher… and you can imagine what response that elicited from my nationalistic father and cowardly mother…”
Will, Lionel, and Orion all winced. “Condolences,” Will said.
“Alas, it’s ancient history at this point… And I obviously knew vastly more than the Nazis could ever dream of knowing…” Wendelin then gestured towards the book. “If you’re worried about this being some Blavatsky dribble or Wotanist gibberish, I invite you to take a look…”
Will finally bit, and unwrapped the package… and was quite surprised by what he found. “The Witches’ Codex? Hold up a second… It can’t be!”
“But it is–an original, first addition codex. You studied from this book at The Hermetic Academy of Magic, didn’t you? And if you find no new knowledge from this book, I’m certain Ellen Corcoran would love to get her hands on it–given all of the trouble she has been having with that blasted MLM, Herba-Witch…”
Will smiled and nodded as he looked through the ancient pages of the book, the smell of centuries old must hitting his nose like a light slap. “Yeah, I hear you… how are those scam artists even still in business?”
“WarmthGate, investment firms of their ilk, and private equity allied with The Extinction Order,” he answered simply and plainly. “Nothing but money laundering at this point.”
Will clicked his tongue with an annoyed look on his face. “Yup, that’s what I figured… Well, thank you, Wendelin–I really appreciate it. Sam’s definitely going to have a field day with this.”
“You’re very welcome, and just know that there are members of The Eternal Order very interested in you helping to stave off that foul Lost Darkness God…”
Before Wendelin could say anything else, Quincy had walked down the stairs and spotted the four. “Oh, Mom! Will’s about to head out!”
“Thank you, Quincy,” a woman’s voice called out. Hurrying down the stairs with her son following behind was a beautiful woman dressed in a black t-shirt, stylish jeans, and had gorgeous black hair that went past her shoulders. Her eyes with a deep purple, and anyone who caught a glimpse of them could have sworn they were staring into the void of space. “Goodness, Will, I am so sorry you have to go through all of this nonsense with that piece of garbage, Laurence.”
“Hey, Morgane,” he said as he shook her hand. “And thanks. I think we got things all taken care of…”
“And I’m also sorry for not sitting in on the meeting. I wanted to, but I had a painting I needed to finish–”
“It’s a good one too,” Quincy added.
Morgane then noticed the book he was holding and was immediately interested. “Oh, what’s this? The Witches’ Codex?”
“First edition too–Wedenlin gave it to me… you know, for all the trouble.”
Morgane nodded and turned her head to face him. “Ah, Wendelin–heading out too?”
“Ja, Madame Aster,” he said with a polite bow. “Sadly I have business I need to tend to on my airship. Good day, everyone–and best of luck to you, Lionel.”
“You too, Wendelin,” he replied as he shook his hand.
Wendelin then snapped his fingers, summoning a door made of lighting and thunder in the foyer. “Auf Wiedersehen!” he said as he entered the door, with it vanishing behind him.
Morgane shook her head, knowing full well who he actually was. “Keep an eye on him going forward, Will–let’s just say Anton and I go all the way back to the Epoch with him, amongst others…”
Will was a little nervous, but smiled regardless, as he had certainly heard his fair share of odd stories during his four months in The Unlight. “Sorry to leave so soon, but I got to get Orion home, and Lionel needs to meet everyone else…”
Morgane chuckled. “Of course, dear. Tell Sam and the others I said hi.”
“Will do–let’s go, boys. Nez Roh!” Will called out, turning the mansion’s front door into a void door.
Next:
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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“Why are you guys acting so weird?” Will questioned, glancing around the room. Anton was facepalming, Abraham had a displeased look on his face as he stared blankly to avoid Will’s eyes, and Caelan had an expression that looked like a boss who did not know how to break it to his employee. Quincy elected to remain silent and kept his face buried in his magazine. “Guys, you’re creeping me out…” And then there was the knock at the door.
Anton sighed and shook his head. “Come on in…” He then quickly put his people-face back on.
“Hey, everyone…” a boy’s voice that sounded weirdly close to Will’s said as the door creaked open. The boy in question was strange, and even then that did not fully capture the weird feeling he gave off. His lavender-colored body was sleek, futuristic with segmented and glowing parts, and he looked incredibly fit. Embedded in his chest was an apparently-flexible, glass-like plate that served as a window into his body which allowed one to view a glowing, ball-like organ. Surprisingly his silver hair was relatively normal, and his demeanor presented that of a polite, young boy. “Nice to meet you, Will…”
Abraham sighed and crossed his arms. “Will, this is Genome, an experiment Laurence tasked Wendelin with making…”
“Na dann,” Wendelin interjected. “You’re just going to spoil the answers right out the gate?” Wendelin could see the unamused looks he was getting and took a calm breath–especially considering the confused expression Will was giving him. With a clap he said “It stands to reason that The Eternal Order and their allies were up to all sorts of devious experiments, and I am not innocent in this state of affairs. There was a little… project that Laurence was engaging in alongside Sebastian–stemming from old grudges Hector held from a time he should not have remembered–where we were attempting to harness ULTRAMagic, before Bethany paid you a little visit to your lovely home on Sunset Hill.”
“Hold on a second,” Antares interrupted. “So Will wasn’t the only target during Red River?”
“It’s more complicated than that…”
Antares glanced towards Will and shot him a ‘I don’t like where this is going’ look. He then looked at the boy. “Lt. Colonel Briggs–nice to meet you, kid,” he said as he held out his hand, receiving a handshake that was way too similar to Will’s. “So what does our other star witness have to do with all of this?”
Wendelin cleared his throat, choosing his words adequately as always. “Starting all the way back in… oh, 2015 was it? We were working on DNA-based experiments to see if we could create living weapons that could serve the higher-ups and harness the power of our enemies–not too dissimilar to what was seen during The Extinction War. Genome here was part of a recent batch of particularly successful subjects that I secretly sabotaged.”
“Sabotaged?” Antares questioned with a playful, yet careful curiosity. “How so? And what are we talking about here? Gestalts? Constructs? Clones?”
“Are you familiar with the individual known as Shark-X?”
Will and Antares glanced at each other and nodded. “We’ve had our suspicions,” the latter replied.
“Well let’s just say I made it so neither of these fine young men were loyal to Laurence or his cronies,” Wendelin answered with a gleeful pride that was hidden in his composed words. “I planned to present Shark-X to The League as a new member, but he escaped…” This made Will and Antares chuckle as they remembered some of their past adventures with Shark-X.
“Should… should I tell him, Wendelin?” Genome asked.
“If you feel up to it, mein junge,” he said as he stepped back.
Genome took a breath and turned to Will. “Um, Will? I know we just met… and you just got told I’m a mad science experiment… but, um… I’m–I’m a clone… of you…”
There was a moment of deathly silence in the room that could have been on par with the stillness before the big bang. Will felt the strongest surge of adrenaline he had ever felt, rivaling some of the most terrifying moments during The Red River City Incident as he looked at the boy… his clone… He then walked over to Wendelin, a subtle menace following him even though it did not appear so by his gait. “WHEN?” he growled in a low tone of voice.
“The Texas Incident,” Wendlin answered plainly and truthfully, without a hint of disrespect.
“Goddamn it!” Antares swore as he stomped his foot. “I knew sending you alone was a mistake in more ways than one!”
Abraham could see Will’s anger flaring up and went over to calm him with a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Will, it’s going to be alright–Wendlin has confirmed that Genome was the only successful clone of his batch, and made sure he’s a good lad.”
Will continued to clench his fist as his shoulders rose with his anger, but Abraham’s words were like that of a calming friend he had not heard in so long. “Abe… I’ve been cloned,” Will said in a tone that felt like it was from a past life as his rage melted away, comforted by his old friend’s reassurance.
“I know–I’m not happy about it either, but the boy is noble just like you. And I imagine Wendelin has some more explaining to do,” the last part he said through gritted teeth.
“Sicherlich,” Wendelin replied as he stepped back forward. “Genome was funded by evil money, but he is a work of art!” he said with dramatic flair. “I would not have committed to crafting him had I not been struck by the muse of inspiration.”
Antares had the most incredulous look on his face. “Well that’s an odd way to put it…”
Wendelin smiled, as there was nothing that would get in the way of his pride as a craftsman. “Delving deep into the depths of The True Abyss, I found an amazing fungus that I molded into what I deem to be a perfect being–someone who is nigh-immortal and is not bound by the progression of time! Not only that, but he also possesses a wide array of abilities and great potential for magic…” He could see that he was not exactly winning the others over. “And while Laurence had tasked me with creating a clone of Herr Ford, I was not going to hand such a precious specimen over to a mad thug such as Laurence or a raging tyrant like Karnage. I hereby present him as a gift to The League and The Liger Brigade as sign of good will, and my gratitude for The League choosing to cooperate with The Running God.”
Will shook his head as he could not believe what he was hearing, but had to accept it regardless. “So to be clear: You didn’t make him for the court case either?”
“Nein–but it would be foolish of us not to capitalize on this golden opportunity!” he said with a triumphant fist.
“So that’s why Aalders was so insistent on being a part of this…” Antares noted with a groan.
“Ja, and the jurors, officers, and participants have been carefully selected. While we have the odds in our favor, our goal is not necessarily to win–it is to force Laurence through the discovery process. Genome and Caelan are our insurance, and to really drive home our case if we feel like taking a victory lap. Need I detail the havoc it will cause for our enemies once their misdeeds become known?”
Will felt fairly weak from all of that excitement, and went to go sit down in one of the comfy chairs, slouching in the seat. “Jeez, do I even need to say anything for this case?”
Anton took a subtle breath to keep himself composed. “If things go our way, you won’t have to utter a single word, Will. Truthfully this whole situation is a mess, in more ways than one. And if I had managed to reconcile with Sepulcher after Lost Carcosa, we probably wouldn’t be in this situation in the first place. Sadly we’re just going to have to roll with the punches–”
“Yeah, I get what you mean…”
Quincy had finally worked up the nerve to say something and put down his magazine. He was not trying to hide, rather he had no idea what to say in the first place. “Will?” he said as he placed his hand on the back of the chair. “Cam and I have hung out with Genome–he’s a cool kid… and definitely a lot like you in certain moments.”
Will sighed and looked at Genome, who was clearly concerned for him. “Genome, aye?”
“Um, yeah,” he replied, stepping over to the chair. “I mean, my codename was just a string of letters and numbers, so I figured part of the name of the project would fit me, hehe. ‘Genome’ does sound pretty cool at the end of the day.”
That enthusiasm, despite all that had happened, brought a smile to Will’s face, and it reminded him of when he was young… Oh, what was he saying? Genome was him when he was younger! “So who did he stay with after he was finished?”
“I handed him off to Kit once he was stable enough,” Wendelin answered.
Abraham nodded in response. “You can trust Kit, Will.”
Will sighed and thought further. “Can I name him at least?” he asked of the others.
“Wait, what?” Genome questioned.
“A proper name,” Anton replied. “I don’t see why not?”
“It is the least I can do for all of the trouble,” Wendelin answered with a gesture of hospitality.
Will gave it some more thought, as he needed to come up with something strong and cool. He may not have realized it up front, but deep down he was hellbent on claiming Genome as his own given everything that he had gone through. “How about… Lionel! Lionel Ford!”
“Lionel?” the boy questioned.
Caelan nodded and came over to pat him on the shoulder. “Yeah, that’s a fine name, Will. Nice and strong, and noble to boot.”
“Um, okay then!” Lionel agreed. “Lionel it is!”
Anton smiled, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. “Lionel, would you like to show Will and Antares some of your magic real quickly?”
“Oh yeah! Guys, check this out!” He then focused, and in one hand appeared a fireball and in the other a ball of icy winds, with Antares giving him an approving nod.
Was that Faustus and Mira’s magic? Will nodded regardless as Lionel dissipated the magic. “How’d you do that? That was impressive either way.”
“I’d dare say it’s that potential for magic Wendelin mentioned,” Quincy figured.
“I may have also granted him the properties of shadow constructs,” Wendelin pointed out. “Shadow constructs made from purity I might add.”
“Hey, Haze?” said Will. “You’ve been pretty quiet–what do you think?”
Haze took control of Will’s arm and brought his hand up to Lionel’s level. “Well, you know me, Will–I don’t want to barge in with my snark when you’re having a moment… And yeah, he definitely feels like me… Yeah, nice to meet you, Lionel.”
Antares groaned a little as he leaned with his hand on Anton’s desk. “Jeez, how are we going to handle this one… And we can just have him?” Wendelin nodded in confirmation. “Hmm… We could hand him off to Wing X–he’d probably get along well with Zarnak… WAIT, I got an idea–Gemini!”
“Gemini?” Lionel questioned, with his curiosity caught.
“Yeah, The Gemini Division–they’re our eyes and ears over in NYC, keeping an eye on anomalous shit that slips in through Night Salem City. Honestly You’d be perfect there–nobody would suspect a thing… Do you have a human form?”
Lionel chuckled as his form turned to that of a human, with the illusion of a shirt and jeans. “No problemo, sir!”
Antares gave a laugh of endearment and patted Lionel on the shoulder. “Good man, Lionel…”
Will had to interrupt as Lionel looked just like him as a child, albeit with silver hair. “Okay, that’s going to take some getting used to…” This made the others chuckle. “Jeez, the others are going to lose it when they find out about you… Lionel, do you want to come visit my house after we’re done here? You know, get to meet the others me and Orion live with?”
“Sure, Will,” he said as he reverted back. “I’ve been told you have a really nice house.”
He chuckled and stood up. “Well it’s Sam’s house, ha. So, anything else we need to discuss?”
“Just the time and place, and some other minor details we’ll need to be aware of,” Abraham answered. “I know you’ve been through a lot just now, Will, and no one will fault you if you’re not feeling up to this–Do you still want to be involved?”
“Of course I do,” Will answered without hesitation. “Do you know how drunk off of sedatives I was after The Texas Incident? That rat bastard Laurence is going to be lucky I don’t kill him on the spot…”
Abraham laughed in solidarity at that righteous bravado, and gave Will a good pat on the shoulder–he was surprisingly strong for someone his age. “Now that’s the Marcel I know! Alright, let’s iron out the fine details and we’ll be on our way.”
The rest of the conversation thankfully was nothing special. All they really needed to go over at that point was the time, place, and courthouse the trial would take place in. Anton had eyed Gough Huxley U.S. Courthouse in New York City, which was in The Night Salem City region of the city. Anton and Abraham had a feeling that Laurence was going to try to pull something underhanded, backed up by Wendelin’s insight, so being in close proximity to The Unlight was a good idea, meaning that they could call on The ULTRAMagic Guild with ease if need be. Will had it easy, as all he needed to do was show up, look pretty, and behave himself–which was not hard to do. Abraham and Wendelin would handle the heavy lifting for the case, and from the sounds of it, Wendelin had a very good feeling about the discovery process. Of course there were some worries that Laurence would try to leak details from pre-trial preparations, but Wendelin viewed this as more ammo for them to work with. Once things seemed settled enough, Will said his goodbyes for now and went to go get Orion with Lionel.
With the two boys ready to go, Will stood there in the foyer with them, mentally preparing himself to create a void door. “Alright, here we go…”
“Ach, Herr Ford–a moment of your time?” Wendelin said as he came walking over with what looked like a book wrapped in brown paper. “Utilizing your void magic I see?”
“Yeah–Mads has made things incredibly convenient these past couple of months.”
“What’s up, Wendelin?” Lionel wondered.
“A gift, for William’s troubles,” he answered as he set the item down on a small table. “Firstmost, I would like to apologize for The Texas Incident–while I had no hand in that, it feels pertinent to express my condolences…”
Orion nodded with a skeptical undertone and stepped in front of Will. “Careful, Dad, there are some higher dimensional shenanigans going on here…”
Wendelin laughed and ruffled the boy’s hair (to Orion’s chagrin). “How observant you are!”
“So I take it that my DNA being stolen was more opportunistic by The Sons of Hecate?” Will inquired.
“Ja. As compensation for your troubles, I have a special grimoire for you–procured from my private collection,” he said as he gestured towards the package.
“Oh? What kind of grimoire?” Will asked as he inspected the coarse paper, wrapped in brown twine.
“As you most certainly know by now, my original… employers–”
“The Nazis?”
Wendelin exhaled with a subtle, annoyed smile on his face. “Ja–were quite interested in occult knowledge–”
“Yeah, the whole German Occult revival and Wotanist nonsense.”
Wendelin nodded, feeling like he was speaking to another person he could potentially confide in, but that was for another day. “Ach, such pursuits were fueled by utmost delusion in an attempt to validate a world view who had fallen victim to its own hubris.”
“Hubris?” Orion scoffed. “I think that was a little more than hubris from what I’ve learned.”
This warranted a chuckle from Wendelin. “Wahr wahr, and I myself never truly attached to the idiotic barbarism of the regime and that blithering Hitler–fool should have stayed a failed artist… The point is that I never understood the purpose of the extreme violence I witnessed, being content with just removing and barring the people we deemed as enemies–progress and science was my modus operandi, seeking to build humanity up higher and higher… and you can imagine what response that elicited from my nationalistic father and cowardly mother…”
Will, Lionel, and Orion all winced. “Condolences,” Will said.
“Alas, it’s ancient history at this point… And I obviously knew vastly more than the Nazis could ever dream of knowing…” Wendelin then gestured towards the book. “If you’re worried about this being some Blavatsky dribble or Wotanist gibberish, I invite you to take a look…”
Will finally bit, and unwrapped the package… and was quite surprised by what he found. “The Witches’ Codex? Hold up a second… It can’t be!”
“But it is–an original, first addition codex. You studied from this book at The Hermetic Academy of Magic, didn’t you? And if you find no new knowledge from this book, I’m certain Ellen Corcoran would love to get her hands on it–given all of the trouble she has been having with that blasted MLM, Herba-Witch…”
Will smiled and nodded as he looked through the ancient pages of the book, the smell of centuries old must hitting his nose like a light slap. “Yeah, I hear you… how are those scam artists even still in business?”
“WarmthGate, investment firms of their ilk, and private equity allied with The Extinction Order,” he answered simply and plainly. “Nothing but money laundering at this point.”
Will clicked his tongue with an annoyed look on his face. “Yup, that’s what I figured… Well, thank you, Wendelin–I really appreciate it. Sam’s definitely going to have a field day with this.”
“You’re very welcome, and just know that there are members of The Eternal Order very interested in you helping to stave off that foul Lost Darkness God…”
Before Wendelin could say anything else, Quincy had walked down the stairs and spotted the four. “Oh, Mom! Will’s about to head out!”
“Thank you, Quincy,” a woman’s voice called out. Hurrying down the stairs with her son following behind was a beautiful woman dressed in a black t-shirt, stylish jeans, and had gorgeous black hair that went past her shoulders. Her eyes with a deep purple, and anyone who caught a glimpse of them could have sworn they were staring into the void of space. “Goodness, Will, I am so sorry you have to go through all of this nonsense with that piece of garbage, Laurence.”
“Hey, Morgane,” he said as he shook her hand. “And thanks. I think we got things all taken care of…”
“And I’m also sorry for not sitting in on the meeting. I wanted to, but I had a painting I needed to finish–”
“It’s a good one too,” Quincy added.
Morgane then noticed the book he was holding and was immediately interested. “Oh, what’s this? The Witches’ Codex?”
“First edition too–Wedenlin gave it to me… you know, for all the trouble.”
Morgane nodded and turned her head to face him. “Ah, Wendelin–heading out too?”
“Ja, Madame Aster,” he said with a polite bow. “Sadly I have business I need to tend to on my airship. Good day, everyone–and best of luck to you, Lionel.”
“You too, Wendelin,” he replied as he shook his hand.
Wendelin then snapped his fingers, summoning a door made of lighting and thunder in the foyer. “Auf Wiedersehen!” he said as he entered the door, with it vanishing behind him.
Morgane shook her head, knowing full well who he actually was. “Keep an eye on him going forward, Will–let’s just say Anton and I go all the way back to the Epoch with him, amongst others…”
Will was a little nervous, but smiled regardless, as he had certainly heard his fair share of odd stories during his four months in The Unlight. “Sorry to leave so soon, but I got to get Orion home, and Lionel needs to meet everyone else…”
Morgane chuckled. “Of course, dear. Tell Sam and the others I said hi.”
“Will do–let’s go, boys. Nez Roh!” Will called out, turning the mansion’s front door into a void door.
Next:
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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