Haze & Chaos - Retaliation Part 7
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Liam was stunned by what he was seeing, but it was a welcome reprieve regardless. “Will, is that you?”
“HEY, Billy!” Pace said as he stepped to give Will a high five and fist bump. “Good to see you again–honestly thought you were dead!”
Will laughed, Pace’s smart ass brand of humor always being a pleasure. “Pace, it was just one incident…”
“And Nickie Sparkles and that weird song she sang at your birthday party.”
Will inhaled and sighed. “You know, I’m starting to realize there is something terrifying behind her given what I’ve been learning recently…”
“Will, what are you doing here?” Barry asked as he stepped over. “Oh right, the trial…”
That made Will chuckle. “I could ask the same of you–Sam and the others are over there, by the way,” he said as he pointed in their general direction, with Haze hovering around them in his cloud form.
“Hey guys!” Barry called out waving towards them, with Pace and Liam giving their own quick waves.
Glancing over to their opponent, Will could see he was growing impatient as the earl began tapping his foot. “The Earl Profane?”
Liam nodded. “Yeah–we’re not sure what he’s up to, and Isador isn’t here to lend a hand… AND IT WOULD BE NICE IF THIS HOOLIGAN WOULD JUST BE CAREFUL FOR TWO SECONDS!” he complained, clearly indicating Pace.
Pace let out a sharp exhale and shook his head. “Oh come on, no one’s gotten hurt yet…” As if by a stroke of cosmic irony, there was a young girl crying on the sidewalk nearby, her leg scraped and looking like some blood had come out. “Aw jeez… Will, tag in for me while I take care of this…” he said as he walked away. “Hey, kid, come with me–it’s dangerous here! Do you know where your parents are…?”
“Hey, he actually used your real name for once,” Liam playfully chided as Pace picked up the girl and carefully took her to where he had hurried the onlookers off to.
“Any time before the heat death of the universe, gentlemen,” The Earl Profane pointed out with utmost snark. He was fiddling with a grisly, dark crimson-colored energy in his hands.
The three frowned at him and turned back to each other. “So what’s the deal? And what are you doing here, Barry?” Will inquired.
Barry gave off a quick hum of electricity to calm himself. “The Earl’s poking his nose around, and we think it’s because of Laurence–”
“Is there no mystery left unturned, Mr. Boyle?” The Earl Profane interrupted. “But yes, that may be the case today…”
With a quick grunt, Barry resumed. “...And I just so happened to be in the neighborhood since Scotty’s here in the city at the moment.”
“Really?” Will inquired, with Barry nodding.
“I’m sure you’re aware of The Earl’s magic, Will?” Liam questioned.
“A real pain in the ass, if you ask me,” Pace added before Will could answer as he rejoined the group. “Girl’s taken care of–Oh shoot, Will who’s this devil? Because I know this isn’t Faustus…”
With a proud laugh for seemingly nowhere, a metallic body emerged from Will’s left arm and took the shape of a devil with orange eyes, rust-colored hair, and filed-down horns on his head. Leaning on an imaginary table, he smiled at the three. “The name’s Steele, Cliff Steele–I’m a long-time friend of Faustus and Mira, and figured I’d tag along for this mission.”
“Nice to meet you, Cliff,” Liam replied as he shook hands, with Barry following suit accompanied with a nod.
“Welcome to the party, it’s been a ball,” Pace greeted with his handshake.
“Cliff’s been eager to tag along ever since I got back,” Will clarified. “Not going to lie, I like this form,” he said as he looked at his hands and closed them, his metal body shining in the sunlight.
Cliff then produced three business cards and handed them to the trio. “Swing by my shop in Inferno if you ever need some smithing done–Cliff Steele Smithing, open Monday through Friday at 8 AM to 5 PM.”
The Earl Profane expressed his displeasure with a loud scoff. “So not only do I have to wait through the pleasantries, but soliciting on top of that? What is this forsaken world even coming to?!”
Will exhaled through his nose as he turned around, with Cliff sharing the same displeased look. “Then just run away–you’re clearly outnumbered!”
“Time is money, your grace–if you’re wasting time, then you’re wasting money,” Cliff stated.
“I can’t leave until one of us is this victor, as per my magic,” the earl groaned.
“Well ain’t that the darndest thing you ever heard,” said Cliff with a nod.
“Yeah, be careful,” Liam warned. “The earl’s magic creates localized misfortune for whoever he fights, and we’re locked in at the moment–he can be defeated, but it’s not easy.”
Will looked at the impatient earl and wondered if he could handle him… “What if I fought him?”
“Doable,” Liam replied, as he would have to dispel his magic to rope you in.” This made the earl scowl at them, making Liam grin.
“Oh ho ho ho,” Morrigan chortled as she walked over. “So if I did this…” She snapped her fingers, causing a piece of asphalt to glow, hover up, and fly at the earl, striking him in the head and knocking him over.
“Yes,” Liam said bluntly with a hint of relief that help had finally come to save them.
“YOU IDIOT!” The earl shot back as he got up. “YOU THINK I’M DEFENSELESS?!” Despite the constraints of his signature magic, a ball of dark crimson fire formed in his hands that he lifted up, floating into the air and shooting smaller fireballs at Morrigan. “The arrogance of man knows no bounds…”
Upon being stricken by the fire, Morrigan slowly began turning to stone, causing everyone to spring into action. Pace formed a barrier of what looked like red plastic to fend off the flames, but they were slowly turning his barrier to stone. Liam was unsure what to do, but Barry would form an electric barrier to protect him, fairing better than Pace. Normally Will would have gone into a frenzy over Morrigan being harmed, but something about being merged with Cliff kept him weirdly calm–Cliff was also ready to lay into the earl, but something strange from within Will kept him restrained in his actions. The Earl Profane noticed Will slowly walking towards him, and he immediately sensed the presence of something else, however–an eldritch presence that he could have sworn he was familiar with. As Will raised his fist that was enlarging through Cliff’s magic, the earl saw a toothy grin of sharp teeth that made it all click for him…
“So that’s who Nickie Sparkles is…” he remarked with a clever smile.
“OKAY,” Will said with his voice overshadowed by someone else, and then wound up for a good punch. The earl was sent flying across the road as Will watched with a creepy stare, the chaos dispelling the petrifying fireball spell in the process.
With his nose dripping blood from a hard smack against the ground, the earl stumbled to his feet and laughed. “SO, it looks like we’re not getting any help from The Eternal Order anymore… Good riddance…” he cursed as he spat on the ground.
Will maintained his stare, alarming the others. With the earl starting to rear up for another attack and complaining over how his first three opponents were not doing enough to trigger his signature magic, a giant jumping spider, magenta and black in color, leapt over and landed on top of the earl. It was Antonio, who roared in his face and began jamming his legs into the ground to strike him. The earl rolled back and forth in a panic, finally dropping his spell on Barry, Pace, and Liam so he could focus. With proper positioning the earl lunged himself away and was going to refocus his magic, but Antonio stuck him with a web and flung him in the opposite direction, with Quincy catching him with an enlarged rubber hand courtesy of Tudor. He then began spinning, as difficult as it was, to fling the earl into the air and send him soaring away from the group. And throughout this Will watched, still and calm in his trance until Cliff regained control and slapped him across the face.
“WILL!” he shouted as the others went to congratulate Antonio and Quincy.
“Huh, what?”
Given his profession as a blacksmith, Cliff always had an eye for when something was off, and now was no exception. “Will, what got into you? What was that back there? I mean jeez, is this something related to the bizarre void magic you're using now?”
“Wait, huh? Where did the earl go?”
Feeling like he needed to go solve this issue himself (or at least to the best of his abilities), Cliff whistled. “Haze, switch out with me!”
Haze quickly flew over and enveloped Will in a shiny black membrane, quickly morphing into his base form. “What’s the matter, Cliff?” he asked as he stuck Will’s hand up. “I mean, I sensed something too, if that’s what you’re referring to…”
“Wait a second…” Will interrupted, his head popping off with Haze retrieving it. “Ow… I’m starting to remember something… I punched the earl, didn’t I?”
Cliff nodded, then stroked his chin to help focus his thoughts. “I need to go make some phone calls real quickly…” he said as he started to walk off.
“You’re leaving, Cliff?” Will asked as he made sure his head was screwed on right, clearly disappointed. “What about lunch?”
“Sorry, Will, but I need to confirm or deconfirm a few things with Faustus and Mira… Don’t get into any trouble while I’m gone–I might need the rest of the day.” Of course he needed to think of who could take his place in the interim as he went and moved a fallen mailbox out of the road. “Annoyingly we haven’t gotten a hold of Inkblot yet… Where’s Mayhem?”
“Here in the city,” Pace put in, throwing his arm around Will’s shoulders and startling him in the process. “He should be at Maddox Tower at the moment–he’s been interested in joining Gemini.”
“Perfect!” Cliff said as he summoned a door from his workshop. “Call on him for the time being, Will. I should be back tomorrow.” And with that, he exited Earth and the door vanished behind him.
Pace was also someone who was known for being fairly shrewd and nodded. “Something wrong, Billy? You know you can talk to me…”
“I… don’t know at the moment. Everything’s kind of a blur, and I don’t know why…” Will noted as Pace walked him over to the sidewalk, keeping his arm around him as they headed towards the entrance of Central Park.
Quickly turning his attention to the police officers who were beginning to investigate the sight of the battle, Pace quickly addressed them. “Hey, officers, give Gemini a call if you find anything weird!” Once they confirmed Pace’s suggestion, he turned his attention back to Will. “What was that punch, my man? You really slugged the earl good!”
“Err, yeah… Jeez, why do I have Nickie’s music stuck in my head now?”
Pace subtly nodded, making a note to let his superiors know what was going on. “Aw don’t worry about it, Billy. Let’s get some grub in you–that’ll fix you right up,” he said as he put and shook his shoulder.
“Boyo!” Sam said as she went to the two. “You okay?”
Pace let go of Will, and he went to hug Sam. “Yeah, I’m okay… Uh, Sam?” He had noticed that her left hand was heavier than it should have been.
Sam pulled away and watched as the last of the stone faded away, flexing her fingers afterwards. “Now I am… jeez, that was like having an allergic reaction…”
“What do you mean?” Pace inquired.
“You know like when your hand swells up and feels like it’s going to start bleeding if you bend or move it wrong?”
Pace clapped, knowing exactly what she was referring to. “Christ, I know–abosutely hate that feeling.”
Will smiled, then said “Pace, this is Sam–Sam, Pace Jephson–Gemini’s top field agent and the information guy alongside Scevola, Gemini’s tracker.”
“Nice to meet you, Sam–we’ve heard a lot about you,” Pace said as he held out his hand.
“Yeah, you too,” Sam said as she shook hands. “Boyo’s been telling me about his adventures with you guys ever since I joined the Brigade.”
“Alway’s a blast when he’s around,” Pace stated as they rejoined the others. “Me, him, and Liam go roughing it around The Big Apple, get into trouble, then go for a pizza afterwards.”
Will chuckled, feeling nostalgic for their past adventures. “Well things are going to be different given my ULTRAMagic…”
“And you’re Specialist promotion too,” Liam added. “Congratulations, Will.”
“Thanks,” he replied with a smile.
“Hold up!” Haze cut in. “Let me get a good look at Liam here…” he said as his eye stalk emerged to visually scan the man.
While this was happening, Antonio and Quincy went to address Will’s weird behavior. “I’m sure you’ve been asked this already, Will, but are you okay?” Antonio inquired. “Because there’s definitely something weird going on.
“Is this stuff a regular occurrence for you as of late?” Quincy questioned.
“It’s hard to say, as void magic is always new territory for beginners,” Barry put in. “Although Will’s a bit of an oddball given that he’s done void magic before back in the Epoch…”
“Huh?” Pace said, a little lost.
“You know, the first phase of the Cosmos, back I was The Hunter of Old, and he was Zalmarren, one of The Nightmare of Old.”
Pace slowly nodded. “Oh yeah, that weird stuff… Jeez, raises more questions than it answers if you ask me… Billy, were you planning to swing by HQ?”
“I could, as we’re not really doing anything important today, and I did want to pay you guys a visit.”
“Yeah, we can go visit after lunch,” Sam concluded. “Plus it will probably be a good idea to introduce me, given that I’m going to be coming along next time you come here.”
Will smiled and gave Sam another hug. “Of course–you’ll like the guys at Gemini, Sam.”
“Heh, hopefully Brandie keeps her attitude in check,” Liam remarked, warranting a chuckle from Pace and Will.
Antonio cleared his throat and began scanning the area for a grocery store. “I’ll go get us some food–hamburgers and hotdogs sound good?”
“Absolutely,” Liam answered, with everyone else nodding. “Central Park is nice and balmy today. I’ll even chip in some money to–”
Pace laughed and gave Liam a good pat on the shoulder. “With your income, kid? Shouldn’t you ask the chief for a slight raise?”
Liam gave him an unamused look, causing more chuckles. “Pace, I have more than enough for hotdogs and hamburgers…”
Pace laughed and got out his wallet to see how much money he had. “Modest McCleery over here…”
“O’Cleery, Pace…” Liam chided, with a hint that Pace loved to yank his chain with that ‘mistake.’
“Liam won’t take a pay raise, even though he’s well and truly earned it, ha. Liam, you help get things set up here. I’ll go with Antonio and get the food–Antonio, you wouldn’t happen to be the same Antonio from a hundred years ago, would you?” he asked as they started to walk down the sidewalk.
“You… you guys know about that stuff?” Antonio was a bit surprised, feeling a weird sense of pride despite how hectic that lifetime was.
“Of course we do–the 1905 incident was pivotal for The League’s founding. Swap some stories with me, Antonio. This place had to be widely different back then…”
Once the two were out of earshot, Liam turned towards Will and Sam as they headed to find a picnic table and grill. “More of the 1905 incident is being revealed to us at the behest of Mr. Van Helsing. Is Antonio telling you guys about that stuff?”
“Starting to,” Will answered.
“Mm-hm,” Sam added as she took off her coat and held it under her arm. “He’s a little hesitant as he has mixed feelings about that time, but he’s told us some new stuff so far.”
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ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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Liam was stunned by what he was seeing, but it was a welcome reprieve regardless. “Will, is that you?”
“HEY, Billy!” Pace said as he stepped to give Will a high five and fist bump. “Good to see you again–honestly thought you were dead!”
Will laughed, Pace’s smart ass brand of humor always being a pleasure. “Pace, it was just one incident…”
“And Nickie Sparkles and that weird song she sang at your birthday party.”
Will inhaled and sighed. “You know, I’m starting to realize there is something terrifying behind her given what I’ve been learning recently…”
“Will, what are you doing here?” Barry asked as he stepped over. “Oh right, the trial…”
That made Will chuckle. “I could ask the same of you–Sam and the others are over there, by the way,” he said as he pointed in their general direction, with Haze hovering around them in his cloud form.
“Hey guys!” Barry called out waving towards them, with Pace and Liam giving their own quick waves.
Glancing over to their opponent, Will could see he was growing impatient as the earl began tapping his foot. “The Earl Profane?”
Liam nodded. “Yeah–we’re not sure what he’s up to, and Isador isn’t here to lend a hand… AND IT WOULD BE NICE IF THIS HOOLIGAN WOULD JUST BE CAREFUL FOR TWO SECONDS!” he complained, clearly indicating Pace.
Pace let out a sharp exhale and shook his head. “Oh come on, no one’s gotten hurt yet…” As if by a stroke of cosmic irony, there was a young girl crying on the sidewalk nearby, her leg scraped and looking like some blood had come out. “Aw jeez… Will, tag in for me while I take care of this…” he said as he walked away. “Hey, kid, come with me–it’s dangerous here! Do you know where your parents are…?”
“Hey, he actually used your real name for once,” Liam playfully chided as Pace picked up the girl and carefully took her to where he had hurried the onlookers off to.
“Any time before the heat death of the universe, gentlemen,” The Earl Profane pointed out with utmost snark. He was fiddling with a grisly, dark crimson-colored energy in his hands.
The three frowned at him and turned back to each other. “So what’s the deal? And what are you doing here, Barry?” Will inquired.
Barry gave off a quick hum of electricity to calm himself. “The Earl’s poking his nose around, and we think it’s because of Laurence–”
“Is there no mystery left unturned, Mr. Boyle?” The Earl Profane interrupted. “But yes, that may be the case today…”
With a quick grunt, Barry resumed. “...And I just so happened to be in the neighborhood since Scotty’s here in the city at the moment.”
“Really?” Will inquired, with Barry nodding.
“I’m sure you’re aware of The Earl’s magic, Will?” Liam questioned.
“A real pain in the ass, if you ask me,” Pace added before Will could answer as he rejoined the group. “Girl’s taken care of–Oh shoot, Will who’s this devil? Because I know this isn’t Faustus…”
With a proud laugh for seemingly nowhere, a metallic body emerged from Will’s left arm and took the shape of a devil with orange eyes, rust-colored hair, and filed-down horns on his head. Leaning on an imaginary table, he smiled at the three. “The name’s Steele, Cliff Steele–I’m a long-time friend of Faustus and Mira, and figured I’d tag along for this mission.”
“Nice to meet you, Cliff,” Liam replied as he shook hands, with Barry following suit accompanied with a nod.
“Welcome to the party, it’s been a ball,” Pace greeted with his handshake.
“Cliff’s been eager to tag along ever since I got back,” Will clarified. “Not going to lie, I like this form,” he said as he looked at his hands and closed them, his metal body shining in the sunlight.
Cliff then produced three business cards and handed them to the trio. “Swing by my shop in Inferno if you ever need some smithing done–Cliff Steele Smithing, open Monday through Friday at 8 AM to 5 PM.”
The Earl Profane expressed his displeasure with a loud scoff. “So not only do I have to wait through the pleasantries, but soliciting on top of that? What is this forsaken world even coming to?!”
Will exhaled through his nose as he turned around, with Cliff sharing the same displeased look. “Then just run away–you’re clearly outnumbered!”
“Time is money, your grace–if you’re wasting time, then you’re wasting money,” Cliff stated.
“I can’t leave until one of us is this victor, as per my magic,” the earl groaned.
“Well ain’t that the darndest thing you ever heard,” said Cliff with a nod.
“Yeah, be careful,” Liam warned. “The earl’s magic creates localized misfortune for whoever he fights, and we’re locked in at the moment–he can be defeated, but it’s not easy.”
Will looked at the impatient earl and wondered if he could handle him… “What if I fought him?”
“Doable,” Liam replied, as he would have to dispel his magic to rope you in.” This made the earl scowl at them, making Liam grin.
“Oh ho ho ho,” Morrigan chortled as she walked over. “So if I did this…” She snapped her fingers, causing a piece of asphalt to glow, hover up, and fly at the earl, striking him in the head and knocking him over.
“Yes,” Liam said bluntly with a hint of relief that help had finally come to save them.
“YOU IDIOT!” The earl shot back as he got up. “YOU THINK I’M DEFENSELESS?!” Despite the constraints of his signature magic, a ball of dark crimson fire formed in his hands that he lifted up, floating into the air and shooting smaller fireballs at Morrigan. “The arrogance of man knows no bounds…”
Upon being stricken by the fire, Morrigan slowly began turning to stone, causing everyone to spring into action. Pace formed a barrier of what looked like red plastic to fend off the flames, but they were slowly turning his barrier to stone. Liam was unsure what to do, but Barry would form an electric barrier to protect him, fairing better than Pace. Normally Will would have gone into a frenzy over Morrigan being harmed, but something about being merged with Cliff kept him weirdly calm–Cliff was also ready to lay into the earl, but something strange from within Will kept him restrained in his actions. The Earl Profane noticed Will slowly walking towards him, and he immediately sensed the presence of something else, however–an eldritch presence that he could have sworn he was familiar with. As Will raised his fist that was enlarging through Cliff’s magic, the earl saw a toothy grin of sharp teeth that made it all click for him…
“So that’s who Nickie Sparkles is…” he remarked with a clever smile.
“OKAY,” Will said with his voice overshadowed by someone else, and then wound up for a good punch. The earl was sent flying across the road as Will watched with a creepy stare, the chaos dispelling the petrifying fireball spell in the process.
With his nose dripping blood from a hard smack against the ground, the earl stumbled to his feet and laughed. “SO, it looks like we’re not getting any help from The Eternal Order anymore… Good riddance…” he cursed as he spat on the ground.
Will maintained his stare, alarming the others. With the earl starting to rear up for another attack and complaining over how his first three opponents were not doing enough to trigger his signature magic, a giant jumping spider, magenta and black in color, leapt over and landed on top of the earl. It was Antonio, who roared in his face and began jamming his legs into the ground to strike him. The earl rolled back and forth in a panic, finally dropping his spell on Barry, Pace, and Liam so he could focus. With proper positioning the earl lunged himself away and was going to refocus his magic, but Antonio stuck him with a web and flung him in the opposite direction, with Quincy catching him with an enlarged rubber hand courtesy of Tudor. He then began spinning, as difficult as it was, to fling the earl into the air and send him soaring away from the group. And throughout this Will watched, still and calm in his trance until Cliff regained control and slapped him across the face.
“WILL!” he shouted as the others went to congratulate Antonio and Quincy.
“Huh, what?”
Given his profession as a blacksmith, Cliff always had an eye for when something was off, and now was no exception. “Will, what got into you? What was that back there? I mean jeez, is this something related to the bizarre void magic you're using now?”
“Wait, huh? Where did the earl go?”
Feeling like he needed to go solve this issue himself (or at least to the best of his abilities), Cliff whistled. “Haze, switch out with me!”
Haze quickly flew over and enveloped Will in a shiny black membrane, quickly morphing into his base form. “What’s the matter, Cliff?” he asked as he stuck Will’s hand up. “I mean, I sensed something too, if that’s what you’re referring to…”
“Wait a second…” Will interrupted, his head popping off with Haze retrieving it. “Ow… I’m starting to remember something… I punched the earl, didn’t I?”
Cliff nodded, then stroked his chin to help focus his thoughts. “I need to go make some phone calls real quickly…” he said as he started to walk off.
“You’re leaving, Cliff?” Will asked as he made sure his head was screwed on right, clearly disappointed. “What about lunch?”
“Sorry, Will, but I need to confirm or deconfirm a few things with Faustus and Mira… Don’t get into any trouble while I’m gone–I might need the rest of the day.” Of course he needed to think of who could take his place in the interim as he went and moved a fallen mailbox out of the road. “Annoyingly we haven’t gotten a hold of Inkblot yet… Where’s Mayhem?”
“Here in the city,” Pace put in, throwing his arm around Will’s shoulders and startling him in the process. “He should be at Maddox Tower at the moment–he’s been interested in joining Gemini.”
“Perfect!” Cliff said as he summoned a door from his workshop. “Call on him for the time being, Will. I should be back tomorrow.” And with that, he exited Earth and the door vanished behind him.
Pace was also someone who was known for being fairly shrewd and nodded. “Something wrong, Billy? You know you can talk to me…”
“I… don’t know at the moment. Everything’s kind of a blur, and I don’t know why…” Will noted as Pace walked him over to the sidewalk, keeping his arm around him as they headed towards the entrance of Central Park.
Quickly turning his attention to the police officers who were beginning to investigate the sight of the battle, Pace quickly addressed them. “Hey, officers, give Gemini a call if you find anything weird!” Once they confirmed Pace’s suggestion, he turned his attention back to Will. “What was that punch, my man? You really slugged the earl good!”
“Err, yeah… Jeez, why do I have Nickie’s music stuck in my head now?”
Pace subtly nodded, making a note to let his superiors know what was going on. “Aw don’t worry about it, Billy. Let’s get some grub in you–that’ll fix you right up,” he said as he put and shook his shoulder.
“Boyo!” Sam said as she went to the two. “You okay?”
Pace let go of Will, and he went to hug Sam. “Yeah, I’m okay… Uh, Sam?” He had noticed that her left hand was heavier than it should have been.
Sam pulled away and watched as the last of the stone faded away, flexing her fingers afterwards. “Now I am… jeez, that was like having an allergic reaction…”
“What do you mean?” Pace inquired.
“You know like when your hand swells up and feels like it’s going to start bleeding if you bend or move it wrong?”
Pace clapped, knowing exactly what she was referring to. “Christ, I know–abosutely hate that feeling.”
Will smiled, then said “Pace, this is Sam–Sam, Pace Jephson–Gemini’s top field agent and the information guy alongside Scevola, Gemini’s tracker.”
“Nice to meet you, Sam–we’ve heard a lot about you,” Pace said as he held out his hand.
“Yeah, you too,” Sam said as she shook hands. “Boyo’s been telling me about his adventures with you guys ever since I joined the Brigade.”
“Alway’s a blast when he’s around,” Pace stated as they rejoined the others. “Me, him, and Liam go roughing it around The Big Apple, get into trouble, then go for a pizza afterwards.”
Will chuckled, feeling nostalgic for their past adventures. “Well things are going to be different given my ULTRAMagic…”
“And you’re Specialist promotion too,” Liam added. “Congratulations, Will.”
“Thanks,” he replied with a smile.
“Hold up!” Haze cut in. “Let me get a good look at Liam here…” he said as his eye stalk emerged to visually scan the man.
While this was happening, Antonio and Quincy went to address Will’s weird behavior. “I’m sure you’ve been asked this already, Will, but are you okay?” Antonio inquired. “Because there’s definitely something weird going on.
“Is this stuff a regular occurrence for you as of late?” Quincy questioned.
“It’s hard to say, as void magic is always new territory for beginners,” Barry put in. “Although Will’s a bit of an oddball given that he’s done void magic before back in the Epoch…”
“Huh?” Pace said, a little lost.
“You know, the first phase of the Cosmos, back I was The Hunter of Old, and he was Zalmarren, one of The Nightmare of Old.”
Pace slowly nodded. “Oh yeah, that weird stuff… Jeez, raises more questions than it answers if you ask me… Billy, were you planning to swing by HQ?”
“I could, as we’re not really doing anything important today, and I did want to pay you guys a visit.”
“Yeah, we can go visit after lunch,” Sam concluded. “Plus it will probably be a good idea to introduce me, given that I’m going to be coming along next time you come here.”
Will smiled and gave Sam another hug. “Of course–you’ll like the guys at Gemini, Sam.”
“Heh, hopefully Brandie keeps her attitude in check,” Liam remarked, warranting a chuckle from Pace and Will.
Antonio cleared his throat and began scanning the area for a grocery store. “I’ll go get us some food–hamburgers and hotdogs sound good?”
“Absolutely,” Liam answered, with everyone else nodding. “Central Park is nice and balmy today. I’ll even chip in some money to–”
Pace laughed and gave Liam a good pat on the shoulder. “With your income, kid? Shouldn’t you ask the chief for a slight raise?”
Liam gave him an unamused look, causing more chuckles. “Pace, I have more than enough for hotdogs and hamburgers…”
Pace laughed and got out his wallet to see how much money he had. “Modest McCleery over here…”
“O’Cleery, Pace…” Liam chided, with a hint that Pace loved to yank his chain with that ‘mistake.’
“Liam won’t take a pay raise, even though he’s well and truly earned it, ha. Liam, you help get things set up here. I’ll go with Antonio and get the food–Antonio, you wouldn’t happen to be the same Antonio from a hundred years ago, would you?” he asked as they started to walk down the sidewalk.
“You… you guys know about that stuff?” Antonio was a bit surprised, feeling a weird sense of pride despite how hectic that lifetime was.
“Of course we do–the 1905 incident was pivotal for The League’s founding. Swap some stories with me, Antonio. This place had to be widely different back then…”
Once the two were out of earshot, Liam turned towards Will and Sam as they headed to find a picnic table and grill. “More of the 1905 incident is being revealed to us at the behest of Mr. Van Helsing. Is Antonio telling you guys about that stuff?”
“Starting to,” Will answered.
“Mm-hm,” Sam added as she took off her coat and held it under her arm. “He’s a little hesitant as he has mixed feelings about that time, but he’s told us some new stuff so far.”
Next:
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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