Haze & Chaos - Retaliation Part 6
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Master Post - Patreon
February 23, 2025
Will was hoping time would drag on for him leading up to the week of the first hearing. Preparing for the case was stressful, and receiving letters that detailed what he had to do was dread-inducing given that his team had to interact with Laurence’s as per standard protocol for civil cases. As if to pull the rug out from under Will’s feet, February 23rd had arrived in no time at all. On the other hand, Will was kind of glad that the preparation went smoothly and quickly given that he did not want this matter taking months of his life–he would have just gone and hunted down Laurence if that was the case. Thankfully there seemed to be no sign of danger, allowing Antonio to drive Will and Sam to New York City. Jackson had offered to drive the two, but Antonio insisted as memories from his past life had enthralled him in a grip of inescapable nostalgia.
Starting the day prior, the trip was not long compared to the journey to Red River City back in September, and it was vastly more comfortable given its circumstances (despite a lurking dread the three could not shake). Seeing the skyscrapers that formed the city skyline in the distance as they got near was exciting, helping to shake away any boredom or anxiety they had accumulated. New York City had been through a lot ever since 2019 to 2020 given that Night Salem City from The Great Uncity had extended into it. The original city itself had not changed much, but there were now areas where the sky changed to a starry sky in broad daylight with the impossible buildings The Great Uncity was famous for appearing alongside the proud skyscrapers of The Big Apple. Sam felt a little odd as they entered the city given that she had lived in The Great Uncity for a time… but then again, it was not like she was important to The Great Uncity. Her unfortunate escapades with Gore Bloodblade were a mere blip on the radar for a place such as Night Salem City, let alone the Uncity itself.
The group would be staying at The Nightstar Hotel in The Night Salem region. It was a luxurious, 5-star hotel with a portion of its staff allied with The League. This made it easy for Anton and Abraham to book an extended suite that suited their needs. The hotel was opulent with heavy emphasis on art deco architecture and interior design, making it utterly beautiful to behold. A kindly bellhop with tidy brown hair who had tended to the others welcomed the three and escorted them up to their suite, assisting them with their luggage in the process. He offered to take the cool-looking black and red suitcase Will was carrying, but Will smiled and assured him he had it taken care of. The suite itself was to die for, with the same art deco stylings rendered out in royal reds and warm golds, all topped off with a stunning view of the city from high up.
After getting settled in and catching up real quickly with the others (Anton, Abraham, Wendelin, Quincy, Caelan, and Lionel), Will, Sam, and Antonio figured they would take it easy and go explore the city the next day. Following an amazing night’s sleep, Will was ready to go as soon as he had Haze on. The only thing Abraham asked was that Will behaved himself and referred all questions about the case to him. And as much as Abraham wanted to go with him given what had happened to him and Professor Marcel back in 1905, he had matters relating to the first hearing to sort out. The plan was to go to Central Park and hang out, and potentially meet up with some of Will’s friends from Gemini, as he had been on multiple missions with them in the past. Will, Sam, Antonio, and Quincy were in the elevator and heading out through the lobby after breakfast that morning, ready and eager to go for a walk.
Stepping outside and being greeted with a relaxed cacophony of cars going by and honking their horns, Will shook his head with a smile. “Jeez, this place hasn’t changed much.” Will had to sniffle as it was still winter out, and while things were starting to warm up, there were still patches of snow here and there.
Will’s attitude made Antonio laugh as he glanced around, getting a good look at the towers that loomed over them as the cold nipped at his nose. “Says you! I remember back when this place was all dirt roads, tenements, and brownstones!” He had to pause to take in the nostalgia for a moment. “Feels weird to be back here without the boys and with all these skyscrapers–the early ones were nowhere near as big or plentiful. Hey, Will, is the old Flatiron still standing?”
“Yup, and Gemini is looking to buy it. They don’t want to stay at Maddox Tower forever, you know?”
“Wow…” Quincy said with a nod, legitimately amazed. Notably he was wearing winter clothing that was a bit more subtle–still fancy and high quality, but nowhere near enough to get him mugged or anything like that. “Hey, thanks for bringing me along, guys.”
“No problem, Quincy,” Will replied. “I mean you don’t have anything to do with the court case, so why sit around all day doing nothing?”
“Haha, true,” he said as they started to walk down the sidewalk. “So where are we heading first?”
“I’d say Central Park–”
“Ooh, let’s have lunch there!” Sam suggested as she stomped her feet to keep warm, despite being bundled up in her shiny down jacket with a faux fur-lined collar. “Night Salem City no doubt extended it a bit by stretching into this place, and I can guarantee it’s a bit warmer there.”
“Yeah,” Will agreed. “You should see it, Antonio–it’s arguably a small forest now.”
Antonio was quietly stunned by that. “Seriously? Well then, that’s quite the improvement from back in the day.” As they stepped away from the hotel and back into the New York side of the city, he noticed there was paper and plastic occasionally strewn across the walkway. “Uffa, I remember this place being a lot cleaner a hundred years ago… and we had horse drawn carriages back then.”
This made Quincy laugh. “Yeah, for a city supposedly so successful, they could definitely drop a few dollars to clean these sidewalks up.”
“That’s bureaucracy for you,” Will dryly noted. “Remember Mayor Jokko Shitrock–I mean, Smithrock? One of Hector’s goons? Blame him–it got so bad that Gemini had to work together with The ULTRAMagic Guild to get rid of him…”
“BOYO,” Sam exclaimed with her hands on her hips. They had to wait at a crosswalk for the sign to indicate that they could cross. “You said back in September that you had never been to The Unlight…” Her playful exasperation made the other two chuckle.
“Sam, I didn’t realize it was the guild back then, ha,” Will countered as the lit-up sign gave them the go ahead to cross, with cars humming and waiting to get moving again as they did. “I didn’t even know what The Unlight was–the cover story had always been that the merge was some ‘unexplained phenomenon.’”
“Who’d they send–do you remember?” Antonio asked as they passed by a noisy shop with neon lights.
Will paused for a second, blowing air through pursed lips. “I think it was… Barry, Ignatius, Ludwig… and someone I don’t recognize… it was like this weird, jellyfish-like creature…”
Sam also took a second to think about it, racking her mind to see if she could identify that last member. “Shoot shoot, I met him while you were in the past… ULTRAMagic Drifter, I think? He looked like a stygio… stygiomedusa gigantea, right?”
“Yeah, I think so!”
Antonio nodded as they came to an intersection, with him checking the signs to see where they needed to go. “Alright… um… this way? The Unlight is messing with my sense of direction…”
Sam giggled and leaned into Will. “No worry, as you just need to know where you’re going in The Unlight–aye, Boyo?”
Will squeezed her shoulders and smiled. “Thankfully I have a pretty good idea where we need to go, assuming this place hasn’t changed again…” As they began to walk with time becoming irrelevant, seeming like they were approaching Central Park without actually being near it, Will realized something important… “GUYS, we’re going in the opposite direction of… shoot…” He snapped his fingers a couple of times, but was able to figure it out. “Hook & Ladder Company 8!”
Quincy chuckled, despite being weirded out by how everything was distorting around them a little. “Haha, is that a tourist destination?"
“Dude, that’s where they filmed Ghostbusters!” Antonio cried, amazed Quincy had not picked up on that. “They have the sign up there too!”
“Dang it!” he complained with a chuckle. “Well hey, maybe we can go see it after everything is all said and done?”
Will sighed, a little concerned about something esoteric. “Hopefully it’s still there…”
Sam then patted him on the back. “Boyo, with how iconic that movie is, I’m pretty sure The Unlight Stone itself is making sure it stands forever.”
“Wait, a stone?” Quincy asked as they found themselves nearing what looked like a park leading into some woods. It was notably a lot warmer, like mid Spring.
“It’s the ancient object that fell into the void during the Epoch that allowed The Unlight to form in the first place,” Sam explained. “No one has ever found it, but it has an avatar it sends out to see the sights.”
“Incredible…” Quincy said in awe. He then glanced around after realizing where they were. “Shoot, how did we get here so fast?!” This warranted some more chuckles. “Oh, Will, remember that one streamer you told me to watch? The Swedish one?”
“Joel? What about him?”
Quincy gave a mischievous chuckle. “Want to go see if he left any CDs outside the firehouse?”
This made Will and Sam laugh as they meandered around the entrance to the park, subconsciously waiting for something to happen, little did they realize it. “Nah, I’m pretty sure that was a one-time joke,” Will pointed out.
“Besides, it would probably be ruined by now if it was left out there,” Sam added.
Quincy subtly shook his head in resignation. “So, think we’ll run into his friend? Vin… Vin–something…”
“Vinny Vinesauce?” Will said as he patted his shoulder. “I mean it’s not impossible, but let’s not go bugging them–I don’t know them, they don’t know me…”
“I don’t know, Will,” Antonio put in as a car went honking by. “Laurence did make a pretty big ass of himself…”
“True, but those guys never get into politics–something I commend them for, a real ‘run while you still can’ situation…” Will took a second to compose himself with an exhale through his nose. “Let’s just focus on why we’re here…” And then there was what sounded like an explosion nearby. “UM, OKAY THEN?”
“Don’t worry, Boyo–I’ll take care of whatever this is for you!” Sam said as she changed into Morrigan, with the three following after her as she ran towards the commotion.
Nearby in a 4-way intersection was a fight of magic proportions. Barry of all people was zipping around casting his electric spells against a truly wicked, forsaken man. This awful man was The Earl Profane, a vile agent of The Profane Alliance… and one who should not have been in the city. Possessing white hair, menacing yellow and black eyes, skin like that of a graying rose; he wore Victorian attire that hailed from an England that never existed with a fancy top hat to match. Accompanying Barry–to oppose this villainous man who cast the most bizarre spells wreaking destruction in their path–was a youthful man who looked like a shadow construct, and a muscular, blonde-haired man in beat-up jeans and a leather jacket. While the shadow construct worked towards getting civilians away from the clash, the blonde-haired man punched a skeletal horse sent forth by The Earl away with a hand encased in what looked like enlarged, red plastic.
“PACE, watch out for misfortune!” Barry called out as he landed skidding back across the road, his feet kicking up eclectic sparks as he did.
“Ah come on, what’s the worst that could… SHIT.” The blonde-haired man had to dodge as the horse had collided with a lamppost that fell onto a manhole cover that shot upwards and nearly landed on him. “HEY, that costs taxpayer’s dollars!”
The Earl Profane was annoyed and would have been smiling if he had not had more important things to worry about. Still, he found it in him to engage in some banter as he tapped his feet, sending the horse away. “A putrid sign of the decadence that has subsumed mankind–in truth I don’t care as it will all be irrelevant one day…”
Pace spat on the ground and grunted. “Rat bastard… Liam, those civilians alright?”
The shadow construct looked particularly annoyed as he tried to push away someone taking a picture with their phone. “PACE, WOULD YOU STOP BEING SO RECKLESS AGAINST HIM!?”
“HEY, don’t look at me! Blame tuxedo-pants here for being a damn coward!”
“I’m a coward?” The Earl Profane questioned, with a twinge of frustration on his face as he subtly clenched his fists. “I find such accusations pointless coming from those who clung to the hierarchy that forsook them so long ago in the bygone times of the written word–not to mention those loathsome wastels who infest my ranks at the moment…” That last comment had a particular venom in it, but it was not directed towards his opponents.
“Yeah, you bastard!” Pace shot back
“Don’t antagonize him, Pace!” Liam growled through gritted teeth. “He’s doing enough damage already and we don’t have Isador or The Earl of Shadows here!”
“He’s got a point, Pace,” Barry had to agree as he hummed with a crackle of electricity intended to get Pace's attention. “That misfortune magic is a royal pain in the rear… Also you’re dealing with some bad employees, aye, your grace?” He smiled as he said that, relishing in the irreverence towards their foe.
The Earl Profane straightened out his tuxedo and adjusted his top hat, making sure the extravagant feather tucked into the hatband around it was still there. “One could say that, and we’re about to see a grand show that will determine his fate–and I’m hoping the fool parishes…”
Before anyone else could speak, someone had leapt with a roar of effort and landed in front of the trio with his back to them. His body was silver like metal, his legs were digitigrade with enlarged clawed-feet, his hair was orange like rust, and his strong arms were ready to start clobbering. As his bladed tail swished around, he turned his body back and smiled. “Pace, Liam–Hey, guys!” Will said with elation in his voice.
Next:
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight
Master Post - Patreon
February 23, 2025
Will was hoping time would drag on for him leading up to the week of the first hearing. Preparing for the case was stressful, and receiving letters that detailed what he had to do was dread-inducing given that his team had to interact with Laurence’s as per standard protocol for civil cases. As if to pull the rug out from under Will’s feet, February 23rd had arrived in no time at all. On the other hand, Will was kind of glad that the preparation went smoothly and quickly given that he did not want this matter taking months of his life–he would have just gone and hunted down Laurence if that was the case. Thankfully there seemed to be no sign of danger, allowing Antonio to drive Will and Sam to New York City. Jackson had offered to drive the two, but Antonio insisted as memories from his past life had enthralled him in a grip of inescapable nostalgia.
Starting the day prior, the trip was not long compared to the journey to Red River City back in September, and it was vastly more comfortable given its circumstances (despite a lurking dread the three could not shake). Seeing the skyscrapers that formed the city skyline in the distance as they got near was exciting, helping to shake away any boredom or anxiety they had accumulated. New York City had been through a lot ever since 2019 to 2020 given that Night Salem City from The Great Uncity had extended into it. The original city itself had not changed much, but there were now areas where the sky changed to a starry sky in broad daylight with the impossible buildings The Great Uncity was famous for appearing alongside the proud skyscrapers of The Big Apple. Sam felt a little odd as they entered the city given that she had lived in The Great Uncity for a time… but then again, it was not like she was important to The Great Uncity. Her unfortunate escapades with Gore Bloodblade were a mere blip on the radar for a place such as Night Salem City, let alone the Uncity itself.
The group would be staying at The Nightstar Hotel in The Night Salem region. It was a luxurious, 5-star hotel with a portion of its staff allied with The League. This made it easy for Anton and Abraham to book an extended suite that suited their needs. The hotel was opulent with heavy emphasis on art deco architecture and interior design, making it utterly beautiful to behold. A kindly bellhop with tidy brown hair who had tended to the others welcomed the three and escorted them up to their suite, assisting them with their luggage in the process. He offered to take the cool-looking black and red suitcase Will was carrying, but Will smiled and assured him he had it taken care of. The suite itself was to die for, with the same art deco stylings rendered out in royal reds and warm golds, all topped off with a stunning view of the city from high up.
After getting settled in and catching up real quickly with the others (Anton, Abraham, Wendelin, Quincy, Caelan, and Lionel), Will, Sam, and Antonio figured they would take it easy and go explore the city the next day. Following an amazing night’s sleep, Will was ready to go as soon as he had Haze on. The only thing Abraham asked was that Will behaved himself and referred all questions about the case to him. And as much as Abraham wanted to go with him given what had happened to him and Professor Marcel back in 1905, he had matters relating to the first hearing to sort out. The plan was to go to Central Park and hang out, and potentially meet up with some of Will’s friends from Gemini, as he had been on multiple missions with them in the past. Will, Sam, Antonio, and Quincy were in the elevator and heading out through the lobby after breakfast that morning, ready and eager to go for a walk.
Stepping outside and being greeted with a relaxed cacophony of cars going by and honking their horns, Will shook his head with a smile. “Jeez, this place hasn’t changed much.” Will had to sniffle as it was still winter out, and while things were starting to warm up, there were still patches of snow here and there.
Will’s attitude made Antonio laugh as he glanced around, getting a good look at the towers that loomed over them as the cold nipped at his nose. “Says you! I remember back when this place was all dirt roads, tenements, and brownstones!” He had to pause to take in the nostalgia for a moment. “Feels weird to be back here without the boys and with all these skyscrapers–the early ones were nowhere near as big or plentiful. Hey, Will, is the old Flatiron still standing?”
“Yup, and Gemini is looking to buy it. They don’t want to stay at Maddox Tower forever, you know?”
“Wow…” Quincy said with a nod, legitimately amazed. Notably he was wearing winter clothing that was a bit more subtle–still fancy and high quality, but nowhere near enough to get him mugged or anything like that. “Hey, thanks for bringing me along, guys.”
“No problem, Quincy,” Will replied. “I mean you don’t have anything to do with the court case, so why sit around all day doing nothing?”
“Haha, true,” he said as they started to walk down the sidewalk. “So where are we heading first?”
“I’d say Central Park–”
“Ooh, let’s have lunch there!” Sam suggested as she stomped her feet to keep warm, despite being bundled up in her shiny down jacket with a faux fur-lined collar. “Night Salem City no doubt extended it a bit by stretching into this place, and I can guarantee it’s a bit warmer there.”
“Yeah,” Will agreed. “You should see it, Antonio–it’s arguably a small forest now.”
Antonio was quietly stunned by that. “Seriously? Well then, that’s quite the improvement from back in the day.” As they stepped away from the hotel and back into the New York side of the city, he noticed there was paper and plastic occasionally strewn across the walkway. “Uffa, I remember this place being a lot cleaner a hundred years ago… and we had horse drawn carriages back then.”
This made Quincy laugh. “Yeah, for a city supposedly so successful, they could definitely drop a few dollars to clean these sidewalks up.”
“That’s bureaucracy for you,” Will dryly noted. “Remember Mayor Jokko Shitrock–I mean, Smithrock? One of Hector’s goons? Blame him–it got so bad that Gemini had to work together with The ULTRAMagic Guild to get rid of him…”
“BOYO,” Sam exclaimed with her hands on her hips. They had to wait at a crosswalk for the sign to indicate that they could cross. “You said back in September that you had never been to The Unlight…” Her playful exasperation made the other two chuckle.
“Sam, I didn’t realize it was the guild back then, ha,” Will countered as the lit-up sign gave them the go ahead to cross, with cars humming and waiting to get moving again as they did. “I didn’t even know what The Unlight was–the cover story had always been that the merge was some ‘unexplained phenomenon.’”
“Who’d they send–do you remember?” Antonio asked as they passed by a noisy shop with neon lights.
Will paused for a second, blowing air through pursed lips. “I think it was… Barry, Ignatius, Ludwig… and someone I don’t recognize… it was like this weird, jellyfish-like creature…”
Sam also took a second to think about it, racking her mind to see if she could identify that last member. “Shoot shoot, I met him while you were in the past… ULTRAMagic Drifter, I think? He looked like a stygio… stygiomedusa gigantea, right?”
“Yeah, I think so!”
Antonio nodded as they came to an intersection, with him checking the signs to see where they needed to go. “Alright… um… this way? The Unlight is messing with my sense of direction…”
Sam giggled and leaned into Will. “No worry, as you just need to know where you’re going in The Unlight–aye, Boyo?”
Will squeezed her shoulders and smiled. “Thankfully I have a pretty good idea where we need to go, assuming this place hasn’t changed again…” As they began to walk with time becoming irrelevant, seeming like they were approaching Central Park without actually being near it, Will realized something important… “GUYS, we’re going in the opposite direction of… shoot…” He snapped his fingers a couple of times, but was able to figure it out. “Hook & Ladder Company 8!”
Quincy chuckled, despite being weirded out by how everything was distorting around them a little. “Haha, is that a tourist destination?"
“Dude, that’s where they filmed Ghostbusters!” Antonio cried, amazed Quincy had not picked up on that. “They have the sign up there too!”
“Dang it!” he complained with a chuckle. “Well hey, maybe we can go see it after everything is all said and done?”
Will sighed, a little concerned about something esoteric. “Hopefully it’s still there…”
Sam then patted him on the back. “Boyo, with how iconic that movie is, I’m pretty sure The Unlight Stone itself is making sure it stands forever.”
“Wait, a stone?” Quincy asked as they found themselves nearing what looked like a park leading into some woods. It was notably a lot warmer, like mid Spring.
“It’s the ancient object that fell into the void during the Epoch that allowed The Unlight to form in the first place,” Sam explained. “No one has ever found it, but it has an avatar it sends out to see the sights.”
“Incredible…” Quincy said in awe. He then glanced around after realizing where they were. “Shoot, how did we get here so fast?!” This warranted some more chuckles. “Oh, Will, remember that one streamer you told me to watch? The Swedish one?”
“Joel? What about him?”
Quincy gave a mischievous chuckle. “Want to go see if he left any CDs outside the firehouse?”
This made Will and Sam laugh as they meandered around the entrance to the park, subconsciously waiting for something to happen, little did they realize it. “Nah, I’m pretty sure that was a one-time joke,” Will pointed out.
“Besides, it would probably be ruined by now if it was left out there,” Sam added.
Quincy subtly shook his head in resignation. “So, think we’ll run into his friend? Vin… Vin–something…”
“Vinny Vinesauce?” Will said as he patted his shoulder. “I mean it’s not impossible, but let’s not go bugging them–I don’t know them, they don’t know me…”
“I don’t know, Will,” Antonio put in as a car went honking by. “Laurence did make a pretty big ass of himself…”
“True, but those guys never get into politics–something I commend them for, a real ‘run while you still can’ situation…” Will took a second to compose himself with an exhale through his nose. “Let’s just focus on why we’re here…” And then there was what sounded like an explosion nearby. “UM, OKAY THEN?”
“Don’t worry, Boyo–I’ll take care of whatever this is for you!” Sam said as she changed into Morrigan, with the three following after her as she ran towards the commotion.
Nearby in a 4-way intersection was a fight of magic proportions. Barry of all people was zipping around casting his electric spells against a truly wicked, forsaken man. This awful man was The Earl Profane, a vile agent of The Profane Alliance… and one who should not have been in the city. Possessing white hair, menacing yellow and black eyes, skin like that of a graying rose; he wore Victorian attire that hailed from an England that never existed with a fancy top hat to match. Accompanying Barry–to oppose this villainous man who cast the most bizarre spells wreaking destruction in their path–was a youthful man who looked like a shadow construct, and a muscular, blonde-haired man in beat-up jeans and a leather jacket. While the shadow construct worked towards getting civilians away from the clash, the blonde-haired man punched a skeletal horse sent forth by The Earl away with a hand encased in what looked like enlarged, red plastic.
“PACE, watch out for misfortune!” Barry called out as he landed skidding back across the road, his feet kicking up eclectic sparks as he did.
“Ah come on, what’s the worst that could… SHIT.” The blonde-haired man had to dodge as the horse had collided with a lamppost that fell onto a manhole cover that shot upwards and nearly landed on him. “HEY, that costs taxpayer’s dollars!”
The Earl Profane was annoyed and would have been smiling if he had not had more important things to worry about. Still, he found it in him to engage in some banter as he tapped his feet, sending the horse away. “A putrid sign of the decadence that has subsumed mankind–in truth I don’t care as it will all be irrelevant one day…”
Pace spat on the ground and grunted. “Rat bastard… Liam, those civilians alright?”
The shadow construct looked particularly annoyed as he tried to push away someone taking a picture with their phone. “PACE, WOULD YOU STOP BEING SO RECKLESS AGAINST HIM!?”
“HEY, don’t look at me! Blame tuxedo-pants here for being a damn coward!”
“I’m a coward?” The Earl Profane questioned, with a twinge of frustration on his face as he subtly clenched his fists. “I find such accusations pointless coming from those who clung to the hierarchy that forsook them so long ago in the bygone times of the written word–not to mention those loathsome wastels who infest my ranks at the moment…” That last comment had a particular venom in it, but it was not directed towards his opponents.
“Yeah, you bastard!” Pace shot back
“Don’t antagonize him, Pace!” Liam growled through gritted teeth. “He’s doing enough damage already and we don’t have Isador or The Earl of Shadows here!”
“He’s got a point, Pace,” Barry had to agree as he hummed with a crackle of electricity intended to get Pace's attention. “That misfortune magic is a royal pain in the rear… Also you’re dealing with some bad employees, aye, your grace?” He smiled as he said that, relishing in the irreverence towards their foe.
The Earl Profane straightened out his tuxedo and adjusted his top hat, making sure the extravagant feather tucked into the hatband around it was still there. “One could say that, and we’re about to see a grand show that will determine his fate–and I’m hoping the fool parishes…”
Before anyone else could speak, someone had leapt with a roar of effort and landed in front of the trio with his back to them. His body was silver like metal, his legs were digitigrade with enlarged clawed-feet, his hair was orange like rust, and his strong arms were ready to start clobbering. As his bladed tail swished around, he turned his body back and smiled. “Pace, Liam–Hey, guys!” Will said with elation in his voice.
Next:
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight
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