Haze & Chaos - Retaliation Part 8
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Amidst the war between gods Will and his friends found themselves embroiled in, moments to relax were a bit of a luxury, but when they came they were greatly appreciated. Will was at peace in the lush and tranquil Central Park, having completely forgotten about the impending court case against Laurence as he chatted and waited for his food. The birds sang their songs, the squirrels skittered about, and the smell of charcoal grilling wafted in the air. Will getting to finally talk about his missions with Gemini was also a relief given all of the bizarre things that happened on those adventures that he was unable to tell Sam and the others about for so long. Liam also had his mind set at ease hearing Will and Sam’s side of The Red River City Incident… of course he had to get on Will’s case for falling for Valentin’s traps given what was happening to him at the time. And it turned out that Liam may have had a chance to break out of jail, but did not want to, lest he get slapped with charges The Liger Brigade did not plan for…
“Argh, in hindsight I should have gone for it…” Liam lamented. It was a little unclear if he was being serious or lighthearted about it.
Pace gave a quick chuckle as he leaned in on the wooden table. “On one hand, it was a no-brainer, kid. On the other, is this form you’re in now the worst thing ever?” Liam groaned in response to this, his frustration palpable.
“Being a shadow construct is not the end of the world, Liam,” Haze put in. “You might just be able to become a quasi-voidcaller–calling on father’s magic. I’m sure he’d be happy to answer your call–”
“Father?” Liam questioned.
Will thought for a second on that one, thinking back to some of the conversations he had had with Haze. “I think he means The Shadow God?” Haze nodded Will’s hand.
Liam grunted as he readjusted his position on the bench. “I mean, I guess so… It’s just…” He sighed and swallowed his pride. “...It’s just that I was talking to this one girl here in the city, and now it feels like I’m going to outlive her if we become a thing…”
“Then just be friends,” Pace bluntly interjected as Antonio brought over the platter with the hotdogs and hamburgers to the center of the table. “You didn’t hit it off with her, did you?”
Liam gave Pace the most incredulous look possible. “Gee, thanks, Pace–Just feeling like I’m completely detached from human love at the moment…”
Sam grinned, thinking about the issue for a second as she took her plastic fork and went for a hotdog and a burger. “He’s absolutely Mal’s type, Boyo…”
“Pardon?” Liam asked.
Will thought back to the Future Squad mission for a second as he dressed his hotdog with onions, relish, ketchup, and mustard. “You think so? I mean, yeah, Liam’s always been a bit of a worrywort, and given what I’ve heard about Mal’s adventurous side…”
“Hey!” Liam complained, a little embarrassed.
“You guys think so?” Antonio asked with a laugh as he sat down at the end of the table (given that there was not enough room on the benches).
Sam nodded as she cracked open her can of soda. “She needs someone to keep an eye on her. Her bestie, Cosmosia, is there for her, but you know how busy she usually is in The Abyssal Dungeon.”
“She’d get Liam to relax a bit?” Pace inquired with a laugh as put some chips on his plate next to his hotdog and well-dressed cheeseburger.
Barry, sitting at the opposite end of Antonio (because he specifically wanted that spot), hummed with a curious-sounding arc of electricity. “Yeah, I could see Mal hanging out with someone like him.”
“Wait, really?” Liam wondered, his interest growing.
“She’s a hop, skip, and a jump away at the moment, so why not?”
Pace then patted Liam on the back, startling him a little. “There you go, kid, problem solved!” Of course Liam did not view it as that simple, but Pace knew he would figure it out. “Quincy, quick question since you’re super rich: Are there chips for rich people? Like, potato chips made out of solid gold potatoes or something like that?”
That made Quincy crack up, with the others smiling and chuckling. “I don’t know, chips are chips at the end of the day. To be fair there are brands that are ‘higher quality’ and more expensive, but it’s arguable if they’re worth buying given that it’s potato chips we’re talking about.”
“He does have the higher quality food at his house,” Will added. “Pace, good call on getting sour cream and onion chips–finally tried them last year and good lord they are great.”
“I know, right?” he answered as he swallowed his bite, followed by him wiping his face. After licking his lips real quickly, he turned to Antonio. “Great job on the food Antonio–you should come cook for us sometime.”
“Thanks, I got it from my mom and Xavier,” he replied with a smile.
“Will, update on the Deep Vampires–we're making headway learning more about them…”
Will burped, excused himself, and leaned in. “Really? I found out some stuff too in The Unlight, but what have you guys found?”
Pace cleared his throat and said “First off, this is all a part of Operation Deep Vampires back in 2020–creative, I know. It was Will’s first mission with us and things were a little bumpy given that we had formed 3 years prior and were brought into the brigade in 2020, but we needed an extra set of hands and he did just fine.” He then stretched his chest and relaxed. “So initially we thought the Deep Vampires, which turned out to be masses of worms taking the shape of people, were from The Unlight–NOPE, turns out they were from The Dark Void, as one of our contacts in The City of Steel was able to do some digging on them and may have found a big nest deep in the Dark Void.”
Liam had finished his burger and prepared to speak with a clearing of his throat. “And we finally got Clancy to spill some of the beans about why his brood really wanted to set up shop in the deeper parts of the city here.”
“Clancy, Boyo?” Sam inquired.
“Clancy Harker, a deep vampire me and Liam befriended,” Will answered.
“Something may have been causing trouble in the Dark Void,” Pace continued as he placed his used napkin on his paper plate. “And Barry can fill in that part.”
Barry hummed with surprised electricity, feeling a little special that it was his turn to talk. “Ah yes–Will, it is possible that The Screaming Knight’s entrance into The Void Era may have spooked them. The Roaring Ones, The Screaming Knight’s kin, are not exactly the most comforting entities to be around, and it’s furtherly possible the Deep Vampires are up in arms over them.”
Quincy seemed to be lost, as he just stared and nodded, having no idea as to what was being said. “Is this stuff… um… Lost Era stuff?”
Barry nodded. “Oh, Will? Can I fix something I’ve stated in the past?”
“Sure, Barry, shoot,” he answered.
“You know how I kept saying in the past that Teunis split from The Highway Knight?” Will nodded. “Well, It’s more complicated than that, because you see he technically came forward and reincarnated the proper way, but then he also crossed the gap through a Screaming Gravastar to deal with The Screaming Knight, so basically he’s occupying the present as both–”
“HOLD UP,” Pace interrupted. “I’m not a nerd, but wouldn’t that create one of those time paradox-things?”
Barry smiled and gave an exhale that hinted at how frustratingly complicated the topic was. “Not when you’re from an era without time… we’re weird like that.”
Pace nodded, even if he was not sure what to think. “Jeez, that is weird…”
“Yeah, even I have to admit that’s a little hard to wrap my mind around,” Liam remarked.
“A headache and a half,” Haze asserted. “Luckily Will’s not from The Lost Era, haha.”
“Right…” Pace said as he got up. “So, Will, want to head to HQ and say hi?”
“Sure,” he answered with enthusiasm as he got up. “Oh, wait, we got to clean up first…”
“You guys go ahead, I’ll take the leftovers back to the hotel,” Antonio assured as he started picking up.
Will nodded, albeit a little disappointed. “You sure you don’t want to come along?”
Antonio chuckled. “You know me–I get a little nervous with this stuff at times…”
Barry joined him and started putting stuff away in the reusable bags Antonio had picked up at the store. “Hey, Antonio, can you take me to see Abramah and Anton? Given that the court case has been the talk of the town back at the guild, I would like to get their perspective on things.”
“Sure, Barry, and thanks.”
With that taken care of, Will, Quincy, and Sam began to leave with Pace and Liam. “Alright then, we’ll see you guys later?” Will inquired.
“Meet you back at the suite,” Antonio agreed.
“Alright, let’s roll then!” Will said with a clap. “Thanks for the food, Antonio–and Pace, ha.”
As fun as it would have been to take a walk through the spectacular forest Central Park had become thanks to The Unlight’s influence, Will had a feeling he should swing by Maddox Tower to see the rest of Gemini, or at least the people that were there. It also felt like they were crossing back into the real world so to speak, as the cold air of late winter with hints of spring hit them head on as they put their coats back on (except for Will, with Haze turning back into his winter gear form). Central Park was fun, but they could not stay there forever. Maddox Tower served as both the headquarters for The Gemini Division and Maddox Heavy Industries, the latter being a major supplier of vehicles, equipment, and parts for The League and its member organizations. Its CEO, Charon Maddox, was also a founding member of The League, so it was only natural that he hosted the ragtag Gemini while they looked for a more permanent residence–which had taken some time given that getting a hold of the famous Flatiron building was a royal pain in the rear with how many bidders they all had to deal with.
As the group walked through part of the Night Salem region of the city, Pace realized something he wanted to tell Will, given that Will had been working with Ludwig and Rostislav. “Will, you know Ludwig and Rostislav, and how they’re from Universe-0X?”
“Yeah, what about them?”
“Well apparently Lester found out some stuff about that ‘Calamity 0’ event that took place,” he said as they passed by a shop on the corner that had a notable, gothic vampire vs werewolves theme to it.
Sam nodded as she looked in the shop window and saw a black dress that would have been perfect for a halloween party. “Those two don’t really talk about that stuff,” she put in as she returned to walking. “Boyo can attest to that.”
“Mm, yeah,” he replied. “I guess it’s a mix of ancient history and a time the Spiritus Magni of their universe loathed.”
Pace nodded towards the sidewalk they needed to go down after they turned the corner. “So Lester was out and about, going to that Viridis planet in the Time Void–you know, the one where the Multiverse Patrol lives–and apparently a group of radical werewolves were heading to Universe-0X during the Calamity 0 era to cause trouble, but someone at the Viridis embassy recognized the troublemaker and kicked his ass.”
“Huh…” Will thought about that for a second. “Well, I… I think I could ask Captain Roger about it, as he is from Universe-0X… although I think Teunis is still fighting with him…”
“Teunis isn’t still giving you trouble, is he?” Liam inquired as they could see their destination in sight.
“How’d you find out about that?” Will questioned with a laugh. “We–we’ve smoothed things over… Teunis wasn’t out to get me, he just wanted me to get serious, and I get it now…”
“I know his type,” Pace said with a reassuring pat to Will’s back. “Getting back to the werewolves, apparently their hides were impervious to damage, but Lester proved that wrong with Lady Liberty–”
That made Sam laugh, and Quincy shared the confusion. “Wait, ‘Lady Liberty?’” she asked for clarification.
Pace chuckled, wishing she could see the thing in question. “A mech walker-thing Lester made with his technomancy–loaded with enough guns to make an arm’s dealer cry.” He then indicated for the group to look up at the skyscraper that looked like it had been plucked straight from a painting set in the 1940s. “And here we are: Maddox Tower.”
Entering the lobby, the group was greeted by an interior design consisting of a mix of classical and art deco, similar to the Nightstar, albeit there was a clear influence of The Epoch of The Cosmos that Will and Sam picked up on. Things were fairly calm as people in business suits occasionally went back and forth. The group were glanced at a few times, but the employees were fairly busy with their own work and could not put much thought into the visitors, although they definitely recognized Will with subtle smiles on their faces. Walking up to the front desk made of fine, polished wood, a female secretary with tied-back brown hair glanced up from her work and subtly shook her head in regards to Pace.
“Elise, what’s good in the neighborhood?” Pace asked as he leaned on the desk. “Chief available at the moment?”
“Hello, Pace–I believe he’s in a meeting with Charon and Karolyn right now, but they should be able to make time for you… Goodness, Will? Is that you?”
Will smiled and stepped over. “Hey, Ms. Brownell–haha, yeah, I’ve been through a lot recently…”
“I heard about what happened in Red River…” She then noticed Sam. “Oh, is this Samantha?”
Will nodded and brought her forward. “Yes indeed–Sam, this is Elise Brownell. She mans the front desk and–”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of her–she’s friends with Ellen. Nice to finally meet you, Elise,” she said as she shook her hand.
“Nice to meet you too, Sam–Ellen’s said a lot about you. And it's an honor to hear you joined The Liger Brigade. Here’s hoping Will gets some more missions here in the city. And don’t worry, Pace, I’m familiar with Quincy…”
“Hey,” Quincy replied with a hint of shyness. He had a slight nervous streak when it came to any corporate headquarters, and what he heard about the true nature of people like Charon was a little intimidating.
Elise then glanced over past the right of her desk and saw exactly who she needed. “Archibald, Pace and Liam are back…”
“Ah yes, very good,” an older gentleman in a tuxedo said as he walked over. He had combed back, receding grayish-brown hair with a wrinkled face that suggested ages of experience… but there was something else to him that felt vastly more ancient. “Pace, Liam, I trust that The Earl Profane has been dealt with?”
“Yup,” Pace answered with a smugness that was well-deserved. “Will and his group came in, laid the smack down on him, and Quincy here sent him flying–literally!”
Archibald glanced towards Will and smiled. “Good to have you back, Mr. Ford–I hope the earl didn’t cause you too much trouble, given your impending court date?”
“Hey, Jeeves–and no, it wasn’t too much of a hassle. Sam, this is Archibald Jeeves, Charon’s assistant.”
Sam shook his hand. “A pleasure to meet you–”
“Morrigan Devilfay, quite the surprise given what happened during The Tyrant War,” Archibald said, catching the three off guard.
“How… How do you know about that?” Sam questioned as she took her hand back, slightly leaning away with uncertainty. It was not impossible as Will had explained that Gemini and Charon were in the know about The Unlight, but something about the way he said that seemed different.
Archibald cleared his throat with a subtle smile on his face, harkening to pride from ages ago. “I suppose it would be ideal to inform you that I was once The Butler of Old, in service to The Knight of Old–and it behooves me to stay up to date on what occurs in The Unlight, especially given the ramifications The Tyrant War had. I was also quite surprised when Zalmarren of all people was sent to work with Gemini back in 2020,” he said, indicating Will. He then shifted his attention to Quincy. “Quincy, firstly good to see you again. Secondly, are things alright on your end?”
Quincy smiled and shook his hand. “Hey, Archibald–yeah, things are a-ok.” He then quickly turned to the others and said “Archibald and my father were friends, in case you guys are wondering.”
“That’s good to hear, my boy,” Archibald replied. “And remember that you can always come to talk to me about your… father’s passing.” There was a clear sign Archibald was also affected by Vasil’s assination, but now was not the time for reminiscing. Composing himself, Archibald began to lead the group to the elevators. “I shall see our guests up to Charon’s office, Ms. Brownell.”
“I’ll shoot them a message,” she replied as she waved goodbye to them.
As they filed into the fancy, well-maintained elevator with a mirror wall, Pace remembered something he should mention. “Jeeves, speaking of shooting messages, let Scevola know he needs to do some digging as to what The Earl Profane is up to. I have a good idea why he’s here in the city at the moment, but I don’t think Isador’s fully aware.”
“Of course, Pace–I’ll take care of it when we get to Charon’s office.”
Next:
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
Amidst the war between gods Will and his friends found themselves embroiled in, moments to relax were a bit of a luxury, but when they came they were greatly appreciated. Will was at peace in the lush and tranquil Central Park, having completely forgotten about the impending court case against Laurence as he chatted and waited for his food. The birds sang their songs, the squirrels skittered about, and the smell of charcoal grilling wafted in the air. Will getting to finally talk about his missions with Gemini was also a relief given all of the bizarre things that happened on those adventures that he was unable to tell Sam and the others about for so long. Liam also had his mind set at ease hearing Will and Sam’s side of The Red River City Incident… of course he had to get on Will’s case for falling for Valentin’s traps given what was happening to him at the time. And it turned out that Liam may have had a chance to break out of jail, but did not want to, lest he get slapped with charges The Liger Brigade did not plan for…
“Argh, in hindsight I should have gone for it…” Liam lamented. It was a little unclear if he was being serious or lighthearted about it.
Pace gave a quick chuckle as he leaned in on the wooden table. “On one hand, it was a no-brainer, kid. On the other, is this form you’re in now the worst thing ever?” Liam groaned in response to this, his frustration palpable.
“Being a shadow construct is not the end of the world, Liam,” Haze put in. “You might just be able to become a quasi-voidcaller–calling on father’s magic. I’m sure he’d be happy to answer your call–”
“Father?” Liam questioned.
Will thought for a second on that one, thinking back to some of the conversations he had had with Haze. “I think he means The Shadow God?” Haze nodded Will’s hand.
Liam grunted as he readjusted his position on the bench. “I mean, I guess so… It’s just…” He sighed and swallowed his pride. “...It’s just that I was talking to this one girl here in the city, and now it feels like I’m going to outlive her if we become a thing…”
“Then just be friends,” Pace bluntly interjected as Antonio brought over the platter with the hotdogs and hamburgers to the center of the table. “You didn’t hit it off with her, did you?”
Liam gave Pace the most incredulous look possible. “Gee, thanks, Pace–Just feeling like I’m completely detached from human love at the moment…”
Sam grinned, thinking about the issue for a second as she took her plastic fork and went for a hotdog and a burger. “He’s absolutely Mal’s type, Boyo…”
“Pardon?” Liam asked.
Will thought back to the Future Squad mission for a second as he dressed his hotdog with onions, relish, ketchup, and mustard. “You think so? I mean, yeah, Liam’s always been a bit of a worrywort, and given what I’ve heard about Mal’s adventurous side…”
“Hey!” Liam complained, a little embarrassed.
“You guys think so?” Antonio asked with a laugh as he sat down at the end of the table (given that there was not enough room on the benches).
Sam nodded as she cracked open her can of soda. “She needs someone to keep an eye on her. Her bestie, Cosmosia, is there for her, but you know how busy she usually is in The Abyssal Dungeon.”
“She’d get Liam to relax a bit?” Pace inquired with a laugh as put some chips on his plate next to his hotdog and well-dressed cheeseburger.
Barry, sitting at the opposite end of Antonio (because he specifically wanted that spot), hummed with a curious-sounding arc of electricity. “Yeah, I could see Mal hanging out with someone like him.”
“Wait, really?” Liam wondered, his interest growing.
“She’s a hop, skip, and a jump away at the moment, so why not?”
Pace then patted Liam on the back, startling him a little. “There you go, kid, problem solved!” Of course Liam did not view it as that simple, but Pace knew he would figure it out. “Quincy, quick question since you’re super rich: Are there chips for rich people? Like, potato chips made out of solid gold potatoes or something like that?”
That made Quincy crack up, with the others smiling and chuckling. “I don’t know, chips are chips at the end of the day. To be fair there are brands that are ‘higher quality’ and more expensive, but it’s arguable if they’re worth buying given that it’s potato chips we’re talking about.”
“He does have the higher quality food at his house,” Will added. “Pace, good call on getting sour cream and onion chips–finally tried them last year and good lord they are great.”
“I know, right?” he answered as he swallowed his bite, followed by him wiping his face. After licking his lips real quickly, he turned to Antonio. “Great job on the food Antonio–you should come cook for us sometime.”
“Thanks, I got it from my mom and Xavier,” he replied with a smile.
“Will, update on the Deep Vampires–we're making headway learning more about them…”
Will burped, excused himself, and leaned in. “Really? I found out some stuff too in The Unlight, but what have you guys found?”
Pace cleared his throat and said “First off, this is all a part of Operation Deep Vampires back in 2020–creative, I know. It was Will’s first mission with us and things were a little bumpy given that we had formed 3 years prior and were brought into the brigade in 2020, but we needed an extra set of hands and he did just fine.” He then stretched his chest and relaxed. “So initially we thought the Deep Vampires, which turned out to be masses of worms taking the shape of people, were from The Unlight–NOPE, turns out they were from The Dark Void, as one of our contacts in The City of Steel was able to do some digging on them and may have found a big nest deep in the Dark Void.”
Liam had finished his burger and prepared to speak with a clearing of his throat. “And we finally got Clancy to spill some of the beans about why his brood really wanted to set up shop in the deeper parts of the city here.”
“Clancy, Boyo?” Sam inquired.
“Clancy Harker, a deep vampire me and Liam befriended,” Will answered.
“Something may have been causing trouble in the Dark Void,” Pace continued as he placed his used napkin on his paper plate. “And Barry can fill in that part.”
Barry hummed with surprised electricity, feeling a little special that it was his turn to talk. “Ah yes–Will, it is possible that The Screaming Knight’s entrance into The Void Era may have spooked them. The Roaring Ones, The Screaming Knight’s kin, are not exactly the most comforting entities to be around, and it’s furtherly possible the Deep Vampires are up in arms over them.”
Quincy seemed to be lost, as he just stared and nodded, having no idea as to what was being said. “Is this stuff… um… Lost Era stuff?”
Barry nodded. “Oh, Will? Can I fix something I’ve stated in the past?”
“Sure, Barry, shoot,” he answered.
“You know how I kept saying in the past that Teunis split from The Highway Knight?” Will nodded. “Well, It’s more complicated than that, because you see he technically came forward and reincarnated the proper way, but then he also crossed the gap through a Screaming Gravastar to deal with The Screaming Knight, so basically he’s occupying the present as both–”
“HOLD UP,” Pace interrupted. “I’m not a nerd, but wouldn’t that create one of those time paradox-things?”
Barry smiled and gave an exhale that hinted at how frustratingly complicated the topic was. “Not when you’re from an era without time… we’re weird like that.”
Pace nodded, even if he was not sure what to think. “Jeez, that is weird…”
“Yeah, even I have to admit that’s a little hard to wrap my mind around,” Liam remarked.
“A headache and a half,” Haze asserted. “Luckily Will’s not from The Lost Era, haha.”
“Right…” Pace said as he got up. “So, Will, want to head to HQ and say hi?”
“Sure,” he answered with enthusiasm as he got up. “Oh, wait, we got to clean up first…”
“You guys go ahead, I’ll take the leftovers back to the hotel,” Antonio assured as he started picking up.
Will nodded, albeit a little disappointed. “You sure you don’t want to come along?”
Antonio chuckled. “You know me–I get a little nervous with this stuff at times…”
Barry joined him and started putting stuff away in the reusable bags Antonio had picked up at the store. “Hey, Antonio, can you take me to see Abramah and Anton? Given that the court case has been the talk of the town back at the guild, I would like to get their perspective on things.”
“Sure, Barry, and thanks.”
With that taken care of, Will, Quincy, and Sam began to leave with Pace and Liam. “Alright then, we’ll see you guys later?” Will inquired.
“Meet you back at the suite,” Antonio agreed.
“Alright, let’s roll then!” Will said with a clap. “Thanks for the food, Antonio–and Pace, ha.”
As fun as it would have been to take a walk through the spectacular forest Central Park had become thanks to The Unlight’s influence, Will had a feeling he should swing by Maddox Tower to see the rest of Gemini, or at least the people that were there. It also felt like they were crossing back into the real world so to speak, as the cold air of late winter with hints of spring hit them head on as they put their coats back on (except for Will, with Haze turning back into his winter gear form). Central Park was fun, but they could not stay there forever. Maddox Tower served as both the headquarters for The Gemini Division and Maddox Heavy Industries, the latter being a major supplier of vehicles, equipment, and parts for The League and its member organizations. Its CEO, Charon Maddox, was also a founding member of The League, so it was only natural that he hosted the ragtag Gemini while they looked for a more permanent residence–which had taken some time given that getting a hold of the famous Flatiron building was a royal pain in the rear with how many bidders they all had to deal with.
As the group walked through part of the Night Salem region of the city, Pace realized something he wanted to tell Will, given that Will had been working with Ludwig and Rostislav. “Will, you know Ludwig and Rostislav, and how they’re from Universe-0X?”
“Yeah, what about them?”
“Well apparently Lester found out some stuff about that ‘Calamity 0’ event that took place,” he said as they passed by a shop on the corner that had a notable, gothic vampire vs werewolves theme to it.
Sam nodded as she looked in the shop window and saw a black dress that would have been perfect for a halloween party. “Those two don’t really talk about that stuff,” she put in as she returned to walking. “Boyo can attest to that.”
“Mm, yeah,” he replied. “I guess it’s a mix of ancient history and a time the Spiritus Magni of their universe loathed.”
Pace nodded towards the sidewalk they needed to go down after they turned the corner. “So Lester was out and about, going to that Viridis planet in the Time Void–you know, the one where the Multiverse Patrol lives–and apparently a group of radical werewolves were heading to Universe-0X during the Calamity 0 era to cause trouble, but someone at the Viridis embassy recognized the troublemaker and kicked his ass.”
“Huh…” Will thought about that for a second. “Well, I… I think I could ask Captain Roger about it, as he is from Universe-0X… although I think Teunis is still fighting with him…”
“Teunis isn’t still giving you trouble, is he?” Liam inquired as they could see their destination in sight.
“How’d you find out about that?” Will questioned with a laugh. “We–we’ve smoothed things over… Teunis wasn’t out to get me, he just wanted me to get serious, and I get it now…”
“I know his type,” Pace said with a reassuring pat to Will’s back. “Getting back to the werewolves, apparently their hides were impervious to damage, but Lester proved that wrong with Lady Liberty–”
That made Sam laugh, and Quincy shared the confusion. “Wait, ‘Lady Liberty?’” she asked for clarification.
Pace chuckled, wishing she could see the thing in question. “A mech walker-thing Lester made with his technomancy–loaded with enough guns to make an arm’s dealer cry.” He then indicated for the group to look up at the skyscraper that looked like it had been plucked straight from a painting set in the 1940s. “And here we are: Maddox Tower.”
Entering the lobby, the group was greeted by an interior design consisting of a mix of classical and art deco, similar to the Nightstar, albeit there was a clear influence of The Epoch of The Cosmos that Will and Sam picked up on. Things were fairly calm as people in business suits occasionally went back and forth. The group were glanced at a few times, but the employees were fairly busy with their own work and could not put much thought into the visitors, although they definitely recognized Will with subtle smiles on their faces. Walking up to the front desk made of fine, polished wood, a female secretary with tied-back brown hair glanced up from her work and subtly shook her head in regards to Pace.
“Elise, what’s good in the neighborhood?” Pace asked as he leaned on the desk. “Chief available at the moment?”
“Hello, Pace–I believe he’s in a meeting with Charon and Karolyn right now, but they should be able to make time for you… Goodness, Will? Is that you?”
Will smiled and stepped over. “Hey, Ms. Brownell–haha, yeah, I’ve been through a lot recently…”
“I heard about what happened in Red River…” She then noticed Sam. “Oh, is this Samantha?”
Will nodded and brought her forward. “Yes indeed–Sam, this is Elise Brownell. She mans the front desk and–”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of her–she’s friends with Ellen. Nice to finally meet you, Elise,” she said as she shook her hand.
“Nice to meet you too, Sam–Ellen’s said a lot about you. And it's an honor to hear you joined The Liger Brigade. Here’s hoping Will gets some more missions here in the city. And don’t worry, Pace, I’m familiar with Quincy…”
“Hey,” Quincy replied with a hint of shyness. He had a slight nervous streak when it came to any corporate headquarters, and what he heard about the true nature of people like Charon was a little intimidating.
Elise then glanced over past the right of her desk and saw exactly who she needed. “Archibald, Pace and Liam are back…”
“Ah yes, very good,” an older gentleman in a tuxedo said as he walked over. He had combed back, receding grayish-brown hair with a wrinkled face that suggested ages of experience… but there was something else to him that felt vastly more ancient. “Pace, Liam, I trust that The Earl Profane has been dealt with?”
“Yup,” Pace answered with a smugness that was well-deserved. “Will and his group came in, laid the smack down on him, and Quincy here sent him flying–literally!”
Archibald glanced towards Will and smiled. “Good to have you back, Mr. Ford–I hope the earl didn’t cause you too much trouble, given your impending court date?”
“Hey, Jeeves–and no, it wasn’t too much of a hassle. Sam, this is Archibald Jeeves, Charon’s assistant.”
Sam shook his hand. “A pleasure to meet you–”
“Morrigan Devilfay, quite the surprise given what happened during The Tyrant War,” Archibald said, catching the three off guard.
“How… How do you know about that?” Sam questioned as she took her hand back, slightly leaning away with uncertainty. It was not impossible as Will had explained that Gemini and Charon were in the know about The Unlight, but something about the way he said that seemed different.
Archibald cleared his throat with a subtle smile on his face, harkening to pride from ages ago. “I suppose it would be ideal to inform you that I was once The Butler of Old, in service to The Knight of Old–and it behooves me to stay up to date on what occurs in The Unlight, especially given the ramifications The Tyrant War had. I was also quite surprised when Zalmarren of all people was sent to work with Gemini back in 2020,” he said, indicating Will. He then shifted his attention to Quincy. “Quincy, firstly good to see you again. Secondly, are things alright on your end?”
Quincy smiled and shook his hand. “Hey, Archibald–yeah, things are a-ok.” He then quickly turned to the others and said “Archibald and my father were friends, in case you guys are wondering.”
“That’s good to hear, my boy,” Archibald replied. “And remember that you can always come to talk to me about your… father’s passing.” There was a clear sign Archibald was also affected by Vasil’s assination, but now was not the time for reminiscing. Composing himself, Archibald began to lead the group to the elevators. “I shall see our guests up to Charon’s office, Ms. Brownell.”
“I’ll shoot them a message,” she replied as she waved goodbye to them.
As they filed into the fancy, well-maintained elevator with a mirror wall, Pace remembered something he should mention. “Jeeves, speaking of shooting messages, let Scevola know he needs to do some digging as to what The Earl Profane is up to. I have a good idea why he’s here in the city at the moment, but I don’t think Isador’s fully aware.”
“Of course, Pace–I’ll take care of it when we get to Charon’s office.”
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ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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