Haze & Chaos - Retaliation Part 14
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Laurence was barreling around, screeching and slamming his body into whatever he encountered, with the group having to be quick on their feet. Despite Laurence’s form decaying before their very eyes, he was alarmingly nimble. The abhorrent beast let loose a stream of a disgusting, red, plasma-like substance from his main mouth as his other mouths coughed up blood and the wasted remains of his soul as he burned through his life essence to try and kill Will. A hard strike to the head from Will’s spiked, metalized fist sent Laurence reeling back, but then he grew a second head from his shoulder that let out a foul stench and began to charge up another laser beam. Acting quickly, Quincy wanted to take a manhole cover and replicate a move he saw from a movie recently, but could not get the cover out of the hole. Mary then rushed over and turned her hand into a jack that popped the cover like a bottle cap. Slinging his rubbery arm around one of the few standing lamp poles he could find, Quincy stretched his arms quite far, readied the manhole cover, and let it fly.
The metal disk had become incredibly lethal in that nigh-instantenous moment, taking the second head clean off. Morrigan had noticed that and grinned, catching the cover in mid air with her magic despite how far it had flown and slingshotted it right back at Laurence. It took off an arm and he roared in pain as loud as he could. Antonio then loaded a shell glowing with a red aura into his shotgun and ran at the beast as it was about to fall over. Antonio had shifted to helping out with the shadow constructs, switching places with Shark-X, but he saw an opportunity he had to go for. A massive explosion rang out from his gun and knocked Laurence back over on to his other side, with Shark-X loudly celebrating that amazing shot from the spider demon. In a surprising show of endurance he was barely clinging onto, Laurence stumbled to his feet and began shambling towards the courthouse, as Will had stepped aside to take a breather.
Anton and Lionel had to act, so the boy began forcing his fire and ice magic together to create an explosive orb, but it was going to need more power. Anton was at a loss for what to do, as his powers as General Bloodthresher could potentially destabilize reality around them. And he could have just called on his commanders with ease, but he needed to act right then and there, or Laurence would destroy the courthouse and get a good shot in at Will. Growing to roughly 8 feet tall, Anton took on the form of General Bloodthresher for the first time in what felt like ages. He instructed Lionel to hold the sphere of magic up to him and produced a red ribbon of energy that caused it to begin rumbling like it was going to explode. Anton then took the orb and chucked it like a baseball as hard as he could. Laurence was hit with another explosion that caused the beast to fly up in the air. There was no time for celebration though, as Laurence was going to land on a car–and that car had a family stuck inside as the locks had failed.
The mother, father, and son screamed at the top of their lungs in deathly fear as the sky darkened above them and braced for the worse… except Anton had shot forward in just the nick of time, holding the flailing beast above him and tossing it away from the car. Scotty and Shark-X raced in, ripping the doors off of the vehicle and getting the family over to Pace and Liam where they would get them to safety. Anton was not done yet, as Laurence was recovering through a surge of Audoin’s magic, so he charged at feel speed, the ground shaking beneath him. The group roared and cheered as Anton picked Laurence up by the tail, swinging him round and round before finally hurling him into a parking lot where there were no people. Will had the biggest moment of fanboyish glee, as a faint memory of him as Zasiel playing Apocalypse Conquest Requiem: Tournament Fighter with a young Blood-Wraith came back to him–That display of heroism and grit from Anton made the whole court case nonsense worth it.
Will could not just sit around and gawk, he had to get back into the action. Having Haze go to Cliff, Will got out his Azure Spider hex and turned into the giant spider to really tussle with Laurence. He carefully unleashed a barrage of blue lava at Laurence, clawing at him with his dangerous, metal legs whenever he could. The melee was intense as Laurence whaled on Will, with Antonio taking on his true form–a giant, black and magenta jumping spider–to back his friend up. Lionel had another idea, and indicated for Will and Antonio to bring Laurence close enough to him. Morrigan had taken off into the air, and Will and Antonio did as they were instructed with help from Anton. Laurence was in the midst of his frenzy and had not realized what had happened when he found his leg frozen to the ground until it was too late–Morrigan came in like a screaming comet of purple fire that caused an explosion of both energy and gravitational forces. Laurence was flung up in the air like a ragdoll and crashed to the ground with a massive thud.
Sensing it was time for the final blow, Mary and Shark-X called out Will to lift his front legs up. The two latched on and when Will had them up high enough, they leapt into the air and came down on Laurence’s head with their fists–Shark-X using both for maximum strength and Mary’s fist turned into an anvil. The two slammed down on Laurence with great force, cracking the beast’s skull with ease. Laurence howled in pain and defeat, panicking and shambling away as fast as he could. Seeing that he was running away to recuperate, Mayhem yelled for Scotty, Mary, and Shark-X to follow him, further stating they would finish him off. Once the coast was clear, Anton then returned to his human form and went to go check on Quincy (who had demerged from Tudor) as the group took a moment to breathe. Will, however, was not ready to settle down just yet…
“THAT’S RIGHT–WHO WON THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, ASSHOLE!?!” he roared with triumphant laughter as he stomped his eight legs and spun around in circles.
Antonio scurried over to him and stopped him with one leg to get him to calm down. “Will, one spider to another, good job.”
“You think so?” Will asked. He then rumbled and reverted back to normal, the Azure Spider card drifting down to him, catching it despite how wobbly he was.
“Yeah, you’re really getting the hang of it,” Antonio complimented as he returned to his human form. “Shoot, where’s my gun… oh, there it is,” he said as he went to pick up his shotgun and brush it off. “Jeez, if only the boss and the boys could’ve seen that.”
Morrigan hurried over to give Will a hug, making sure he was okay. “Boyo, new plan: If this ever happens again, we’ll just go after the troublemaker with some people from the guild.”
Will chuckled. “Yeah, good call… Hey, Lionel!”
“Did you see what I did, Will?!” he questioned as he ran over. “Cool, right?”
“Hell yeah, my dude,” Will replied as he high fived him. “You’ve definitely got a place in the Brigade and the guild, no two ways about it.”
Quincy stepped over, followed by Anton and Tudor, looking utterly exhausted. “Jeez, just tell me; how does that stack up to The Red River City Incident?”
Will and Morrigan thought about it for a second as they glanced up at the sky. “Um…” Will started to say, really racking his brain. “I’d say dealing with Bethany in her manticore form, just below fighting Sanguine–Sam?”
She chuckled, shaking her head. “Yeah, I’d say that’s a fair assessment. Also jeez, we haven’t heard from Bethany in a bit–we should go check on her sometime.”
“Absolutely,” Will agreed. “Still want to join the Brigade, Quincy?”
Quincy gave a series of hysterical laughs, with Anton patting him on the back to calm him. “Sure, just don’t throw me into the deep end like that…”
Tudor gave him a reassuring nudge. “Well either way I think he has potential, and this will definitely look good when presenting to Antares–right, Will?”
“Absolutely,” he replied with a thumbs up. “And Quincy, that move with the manhole cover was awesome!”
“Hey, I try,” he replied with a triumphant chuckle.
Anton could not help but laugh. “I’m never going to hear the end of it from your mother…”
“Or The Owl God for that matter,” Abraham remarked as he walked over with Clancy, Caelan, and Wendelin, careful not to trip over or step on the rubble. “Well that’s one way to end a case, albeit I’d be lying if I said I was surprised, haha.”
Will glanced over to the ruined courthouse and grimaced at his recklessness. “Erm, sorry about the courtroom, your honor…”
“Don’t worry about it, son,” Clancy said as he shook his hand. “You did what you had to to keep those people safe, and they owe you a debt of gratitude. Also don’t worry about the rest of the hearing…” He also glanced at the destruction. “Um, yeah, I think it’s pretty cut and dry at this point–and I’m sure the jury will agree.” This warranted a round of laughter from the group.
“Wunderbar, einfach wunderbar,” Wendelin said as he clapped his hands. “Und I will lend any support I can to the repairs of the courthouse.”
“Very generous of you, Mr. Kiefer, thank you.”
“See, this is why America was always meant to be a thing,” Caelan pointed out off-the-cuff. “You Yanks don’t take no bollocks from us, your government–"
“DAD, MOM!!” Orion exclaimed in frustration as he emerged from a tear in reality. “WHAT WAS THAT?”
Will laughed and picked up his son for a hug. “Alright, come here… Don’t worry, it’s all good now,” he said as he set him down, with him going to get a hug from Morrigan. “Your honor, this is my adopted son, Orion.”
“Pleasure to meet you, lad,” said Clancy.
“Likewise,” Orion quickly replied as he was set down. “Jeez, Dad, do you keep forgetting how squishy you are as a lower dimensional?” This made the others chuckle.
“Don’t worry, little buddy,” Antonio answered with a clap. “I think we had that in the bag… also did you say you were heading out? Don’t worry, everyone, Will and Sam called a sitter.”
Anton crossed his arms and laughed a little. “A ninth dimensional needs babysitting? Then again, it is the responsible thing to do regardless.”
“Who’d you get?” Caelan inquired.
“We were going to go with Faustus and Mira, per Cliff’s suggestion,” Will said as the metal devil walked over and nodded. “But Fianna was at Ellen’s, so we asked her.”
“Oh hey, Fianna Pembroke?” Caelan asked, surprised, receiving a nod from Sam and Will. “I’ve been meaning to catch up with her, as she was helping out in the mines the other week or two… Hey, Will, can I hang out with Orion at your place?”
“Sure,” he answered, Sam nodding in agreement.
“Your honor?” Caelan said as he turned to Clancy.
“Go on right ahead–I think we could all use a break after that.”
“I’m going too,” Lionel added. “Got to tell Kyu and the others about what happened!”
As the boys vanished into the tear, Cliff nodded in contemplation. “Hey, Will? Can I take Haze for a spin some time?”
This made Will let out a quick chuckle. “Sure, I don’t mind. Haze?”
“Well hey, if you’re going to be summoning devils left and right, it pays to get to know them,” Haze replied. “You would not believe how crazy our magic gets sometimes, your honor.”
Clancy laughed as he stepped away to go see if he could salvage his belongings from the wreckage. “I can certainly believe it!”
“Everyone’s okay, aside from some scrapes and bruises,” Liam announced as he walked over with Pace. “And Aalders is making sure everything stays orderly. You guys all okay?” Everyone nodded.
Wendelin then turned to Anton. “Not the way I wanted to get rid of that leech, Laurence, but I will take what I can get.”
Anton nodded, knowing what he was referring to in regards to The Eternal Order. “Indeed.”
“It’s a shame we took care of it before the rest of the guys got here,” Pace observed. “But hey, it is what it is… oh, Will, amscray–Brandie’s on the way.” This made him laugh when Liam and Will started laughing.
“Quick–someone get Bran here on the double!” Will half-joked, warranting chuckles from the others.
Amidst the merriment of that day’s victory, Laurence was running for his life, on the verge of dying with each frantic step. Somewhere deep in the Night Salem City region he stumbled into an empty warehouse zone. Right before him was The Earl Profane, who did not look happy to see him. “EARL, HELP ME!!!” he struggled to wheeze despite his rapidly putrefying body.
“Oh no, you’re done,” he said coldly with a hint of disgust.
“WHAT!!!” Laurence roared, failing to slam the ground with his feet.
“I don’t care what that degenerate, Satan, thinks is good for the alliance, YOU. ARE. DONE. I didn’t get mangled by the engine to have you waste my time.”
“TRAITOR! I’LL KILL YOU ALL!” Laurence screamed as he thrashed about starting to lose limbs.
The Earl Profane then gave an evil smile as he sensed multiple people approaching. “Dosvidaniya, you sorry sack of shit–have fun in hell!” He said as he leapt away.
And as if by perfect comedic timing from a Cosmos with a cruel sense of humor, Perkele emerged from the shadows, adjusting his bowtie. “Oh my, how unfortunate–goodness, you should have also been sued for plagiarizing that one game Will and Valentin like to play… What was it again? Bloodborne I think?” In truth Laurence was not actually a ‘copy’ of the character he was thinking of, and the reference flew right over Laurence’s head, but Perkele did not care and wanted to be a smartass.
“HELP ME, WASTEL!!! WHERE IS SEBASTIAN?!”
“OOOH, SORRY, but it looks I got some more bad news for you, chief: Sebastian has kindly told you to ‘get lost, you worthless undesirable…’” Laurence gave one last pathetic roar and was about to slam what was left of his fist down on Perkele, only for the two to hear an excited roar that was close by. “And I’d dare say that’s HR looking for you, horse-teeth–Good luck!” Perkele jeered as he slipped out of view for the moment.
And then everything went dead silent with a still that would have sent a chill down even the mightiest of spines. Nothing… nothing… and then came Shark-X, plummeting like a bomb onto Laurence! He laid and tore into the monster, making sure it stayed down once and for all. Mary, Scotty, and Mayhem came running up and winced as Shark-X slammed Laurence’s head in a way that silenced him for good. He shuddered with a guilty chuckle as he stepped over to them, shaking his legs and fists off. Suffice it to say he was going to need a shower once he got back home.
“Alright, off to the glue factory with him!” Shark-X joked as he joined the three.
Scotty scoffed at that joke, and rightfully so given that he was a farmer. “Well I’d get on your case for that remark, but I can’t say I feel any sympathy for Laurence, especially after what he did–also I don’t want any glue made from his sorry hide…”
That remark made Perkele laugh as he emerged from his hiding spot. “I’d dare say he was never good for anything, Mr. Cottonwood.”
“What’re you doing here, Perkele?”
“Just giving Laurence the news of his termination so we could really rub it in–kick the sad fool while he was down, as he deserved.”
Mary groaned over how foul Laurence’s putrefied corpse smelled and got out her phone. “Is that all you came here to do?”
“Actually no,” he said as he produced an envelope from inside his tuxedo. “Give this to your higher-ups in The League–it’s about the XTRON virus and what Vlad IV has found out about it. Furthermore, try to convince him to get some help before he walks right into a trap.”
Mary took the envelope and nodded, slipping it into her tuxedo. “I’ll pass it on. Ahem, time to call the ACF…” she said as she stepped aside to dial the number.
Scotty knelt down and focused, causing his eyes to glow yellow for a moment. “Jeez, Audoin, you rotten piece of… Yeah, this is his magic, no two ways about it.”
“Do you think it’s an isolated incident?” Mayhem wondered.
“Yeah, because Audoin would have had his constructs here if it was actually one of his plots…”
Shark-X nodded, as he seemed to be catching on. “So does this mean everyone was telling Laurence to piss off?”
“Most likely,” Mayhem answered. “Perkele?”
“Absolutely, albeit I came here of my own accord. Sebastian knew this was happening and was tempted to be a shadow sponsor of the lawsuit.”
Scotty nodded at that fact as it caught his curiosity. “Interesting–meaning Sebastian is done with The Profane Alliance?” Perkele nodded, not feeling the need to say anything.
Things went quiet for a second as Mary started talking over the phone, so Shark-X started bouncing around a little. “Perkele, you saw that move I pulled?” he inquired with a smile.
“Utterly fantastic, Shark–a brilliant display of brutality,” Perkele complimented with a laugh. “Not going to lie, I’m a bit jealous–”
“Everyone, Brendan wants to speak to all of us…” Mary said as she put her phone on speakerphone.
“Alright, can everyone hear me?” To those that would have been new to the situation, they would have been surprised to hear a young boy’s voice. Alas, this was one of the highest ranking members of 05 RED Command of The Anomaly Containment Foundation. “So this is indeed an isolated incident?”
“Looks like it, Kiddo,” Scotty answered as he stood up. “We’re going to need a clean up and–”
“Already on their way, Scott–just stay put until they get there. Perkele, promise you won’t leak our secrets?”
Perkele laughed as he took his hat off to adjust it. “Not my mission today, Brendan. Ernust gives his regards.”
There was a pause, as Brendan seemed to be writing something down, and it could be faintly heard over the speaker. “Alrighty then. Mary, are Sam and Will alright?”
“Last time we checked, sure… why, though?”
“Well you know with all the chaos ramping up, we’d like to keep an eye on those two–I mean come on, Mary, they adopt a Dream Realm resident from Sirius’ neck of the woods and you think we wouldn’t be interested in that too?”
Mary started to open her mouth, then shut it. “Good point,” she replied with a light giggle.
“Also Nickie Sparkles is in town for an impromptu concert and the last time she sang around Will…” There was a grunt that sounded like a wolf’s growl, followed by him writing something else down. “I really hope she’s not there just to cause more trouble–Perkele, you aware she’s actually The Zombie God?”
“I’ve been introduced,” he said with a smile Brendan could see through the phone call.
Mayhem put his hand to his chin and clicked his tongue, remembering what happened with Will the other day. “So you guys are looking into that oddity Will and Cliff ran into while dealing with The Earl Profane?”
“Yeah,” Brendan answered as he wrote something else down. “I got a really bad feeling about the near future and Will’s void magic. Nosmirc says Will and Mads aren’t getting along as well as some had hoped–the two don’t hate each other, but we really need Goolubber to return to being Will’s void patron.”
“Ah yes, his past as Zalmarren?” Perkele questioned.
“What… how… how did you…?” Brendan demanded to know.
“Valentin may or may not have accidentally passed on some ancient memories to me.”
Brendan sighed and clearly shook his head on his end. “Perkele, can I ask a favor of you–can you go see what Nickie is up to? Maybe check in with Loki and report back to Volf for us?”
“I don’t see why not–I imagine she hasn’t told Volf about this either.”
“Thank you. Mary, Shark? Tell Clara and Xxz about this so they have a heads up for what might happen going forward…” They both agreed. “Mayhem, do what you can to keep an eye on Will for us?”
Mayhem looked pretty happy as he straightened out his jester’s coat. “Sure thing, my boy, as I’ve been meaning to hang out with Will again.”
“And before I go, Scotty, can you meet me at The Dark Divers Guild Hall after everything’s all cleaned up? There’s some anomalies on our end crossing into IGL territory that I need some information on.”
“Of course I can, Brendan–we’ll have some coffee and cornbread over it.”
That made Brendan chuckle. “Thanks, it’s been a bit of a long day on our end, and it had little to do with Laurence, so imagine how we feel over this nonsense. Sometimes I wish I could go back to being a wolf, haha…”
Next: Special 1
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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Laurence was barreling around, screeching and slamming his body into whatever he encountered, with the group having to be quick on their feet. Despite Laurence’s form decaying before their very eyes, he was alarmingly nimble. The abhorrent beast let loose a stream of a disgusting, red, plasma-like substance from his main mouth as his other mouths coughed up blood and the wasted remains of his soul as he burned through his life essence to try and kill Will. A hard strike to the head from Will’s spiked, metalized fist sent Laurence reeling back, but then he grew a second head from his shoulder that let out a foul stench and began to charge up another laser beam. Acting quickly, Quincy wanted to take a manhole cover and replicate a move he saw from a movie recently, but could not get the cover out of the hole. Mary then rushed over and turned her hand into a jack that popped the cover like a bottle cap. Slinging his rubbery arm around one of the few standing lamp poles he could find, Quincy stretched his arms quite far, readied the manhole cover, and let it fly.
The metal disk had become incredibly lethal in that nigh-instantenous moment, taking the second head clean off. Morrigan had noticed that and grinned, catching the cover in mid air with her magic despite how far it had flown and slingshotted it right back at Laurence. It took off an arm and he roared in pain as loud as he could. Antonio then loaded a shell glowing with a red aura into his shotgun and ran at the beast as it was about to fall over. Antonio had shifted to helping out with the shadow constructs, switching places with Shark-X, but he saw an opportunity he had to go for. A massive explosion rang out from his gun and knocked Laurence back over on to his other side, with Shark-X loudly celebrating that amazing shot from the spider demon. In a surprising show of endurance he was barely clinging onto, Laurence stumbled to his feet and began shambling towards the courthouse, as Will had stepped aside to take a breather.
Anton and Lionel had to act, so the boy began forcing his fire and ice magic together to create an explosive orb, but it was going to need more power. Anton was at a loss for what to do, as his powers as General Bloodthresher could potentially destabilize reality around them. And he could have just called on his commanders with ease, but he needed to act right then and there, or Laurence would destroy the courthouse and get a good shot in at Will. Growing to roughly 8 feet tall, Anton took on the form of General Bloodthresher for the first time in what felt like ages. He instructed Lionel to hold the sphere of magic up to him and produced a red ribbon of energy that caused it to begin rumbling like it was going to explode. Anton then took the orb and chucked it like a baseball as hard as he could. Laurence was hit with another explosion that caused the beast to fly up in the air. There was no time for celebration though, as Laurence was going to land on a car–and that car had a family stuck inside as the locks had failed.
The mother, father, and son screamed at the top of their lungs in deathly fear as the sky darkened above them and braced for the worse… except Anton had shot forward in just the nick of time, holding the flailing beast above him and tossing it away from the car. Scotty and Shark-X raced in, ripping the doors off of the vehicle and getting the family over to Pace and Liam where they would get them to safety. Anton was not done yet, as Laurence was recovering through a surge of Audoin’s magic, so he charged at feel speed, the ground shaking beneath him. The group roared and cheered as Anton picked Laurence up by the tail, swinging him round and round before finally hurling him into a parking lot where there were no people. Will had the biggest moment of fanboyish glee, as a faint memory of him as Zasiel playing Apocalypse Conquest Requiem: Tournament Fighter with a young Blood-Wraith came back to him–That display of heroism and grit from Anton made the whole court case nonsense worth it.
Will could not just sit around and gawk, he had to get back into the action. Having Haze go to Cliff, Will got out his Azure Spider hex and turned into the giant spider to really tussle with Laurence. He carefully unleashed a barrage of blue lava at Laurence, clawing at him with his dangerous, metal legs whenever he could. The melee was intense as Laurence whaled on Will, with Antonio taking on his true form–a giant, black and magenta jumping spider–to back his friend up. Lionel had another idea, and indicated for Will and Antonio to bring Laurence close enough to him. Morrigan had taken off into the air, and Will and Antonio did as they were instructed with help from Anton. Laurence was in the midst of his frenzy and had not realized what had happened when he found his leg frozen to the ground until it was too late–Morrigan came in like a screaming comet of purple fire that caused an explosion of both energy and gravitational forces. Laurence was flung up in the air like a ragdoll and crashed to the ground with a massive thud.
Sensing it was time for the final blow, Mary and Shark-X called out Will to lift his front legs up. The two latched on and when Will had them up high enough, they leapt into the air and came down on Laurence’s head with their fists–Shark-X using both for maximum strength and Mary’s fist turned into an anvil. The two slammed down on Laurence with great force, cracking the beast’s skull with ease. Laurence howled in pain and defeat, panicking and shambling away as fast as he could. Seeing that he was running away to recuperate, Mayhem yelled for Scotty, Mary, and Shark-X to follow him, further stating they would finish him off. Once the coast was clear, Anton then returned to his human form and went to go check on Quincy (who had demerged from Tudor) as the group took a moment to breathe. Will, however, was not ready to settle down just yet…
“THAT’S RIGHT–WHO WON THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, ASSHOLE!?!” he roared with triumphant laughter as he stomped his eight legs and spun around in circles.
Antonio scurried over to him and stopped him with one leg to get him to calm down. “Will, one spider to another, good job.”
“You think so?” Will asked. He then rumbled and reverted back to normal, the Azure Spider card drifting down to him, catching it despite how wobbly he was.
“Yeah, you’re really getting the hang of it,” Antonio complimented as he returned to his human form. “Shoot, where’s my gun… oh, there it is,” he said as he went to pick up his shotgun and brush it off. “Jeez, if only the boss and the boys could’ve seen that.”
Morrigan hurried over to give Will a hug, making sure he was okay. “Boyo, new plan: If this ever happens again, we’ll just go after the troublemaker with some people from the guild.”
Will chuckled. “Yeah, good call… Hey, Lionel!”
“Did you see what I did, Will?!” he questioned as he ran over. “Cool, right?”
“Hell yeah, my dude,” Will replied as he high fived him. “You’ve definitely got a place in the Brigade and the guild, no two ways about it.”
Quincy stepped over, followed by Anton and Tudor, looking utterly exhausted. “Jeez, just tell me; how does that stack up to The Red River City Incident?”
Will and Morrigan thought about it for a second as they glanced up at the sky. “Um…” Will started to say, really racking his brain. “I’d say dealing with Bethany in her manticore form, just below fighting Sanguine–Sam?”
She chuckled, shaking her head. “Yeah, I’d say that’s a fair assessment. Also jeez, we haven’t heard from Bethany in a bit–we should go check on her sometime.”
“Absolutely,” Will agreed. “Still want to join the Brigade, Quincy?”
Quincy gave a series of hysterical laughs, with Anton patting him on the back to calm him. “Sure, just don’t throw me into the deep end like that…”
Tudor gave him a reassuring nudge. “Well either way I think he has potential, and this will definitely look good when presenting to Antares–right, Will?”
“Absolutely,” he replied with a thumbs up. “And Quincy, that move with the manhole cover was awesome!”
“Hey, I try,” he replied with a triumphant chuckle.
Anton could not help but laugh. “I’m never going to hear the end of it from your mother…”
“Or The Owl God for that matter,” Abraham remarked as he walked over with Clancy, Caelan, and Wendelin, careful not to trip over or step on the rubble. “Well that’s one way to end a case, albeit I’d be lying if I said I was surprised, haha.”
Will glanced over to the ruined courthouse and grimaced at his recklessness. “Erm, sorry about the courtroom, your honor…”
“Don’t worry about it, son,” Clancy said as he shook his hand. “You did what you had to to keep those people safe, and they owe you a debt of gratitude. Also don’t worry about the rest of the hearing…” He also glanced at the destruction. “Um, yeah, I think it’s pretty cut and dry at this point–and I’m sure the jury will agree.” This warranted a round of laughter from the group.
“Wunderbar, einfach wunderbar,” Wendelin said as he clapped his hands. “Und I will lend any support I can to the repairs of the courthouse.”
“Very generous of you, Mr. Kiefer, thank you.”
“See, this is why America was always meant to be a thing,” Caelan pointed out off-the-cuff. “You Yanks don’t take no bollocks from us, your government–"
“DAD, MOM!!” Orion exclaimed in frustration as he emerged from a tear in reality. “WHAT WAS THAT?”
Will laughed and picked up his son for a hug. “Alright, come here… Don’t worry, it’s all good now,” he said as he set him down, with him going to get a hug from Morrigan. “Your honor, this is my adopted son, Orion.”
“Pleasure to meet you, lad,” said Clancy.
“Likewise,” Orion quickly replied as he was set down. “Jeez, Dad, do you keep forgetting how squishy you are as a lower dimensional?” This made the others chuckle.
“Don’t worry, little buddy,” Antonio answered with a clap. “I think we had that in the bag… also did you say you were heading out? Don’t worry, everyone, Will and Sam called a sitter.”
Anton crossed his arms and laughed a little. “A ninth dimensional needs babysitting? Then again, it is the responsible thing to do regardless.”
“Who’d you get?” Caelan inquired.
“We were going to go with Faustus and Mira, per Cliff’s suggestion,” Will said as the metal devil walked over and nodded. “But Fianna was at Ellen’s, so we asked her.”
“Oh hey, Fianna Pembroke?” Caelan asked, surprised, receiving a nod from Sam and Will. “I’ve been meaning to catch up with her, as she was helping out in the mines the other week or two… Hey, Will, can I hang out with Orion at your place?”
“Sure,” he answered, Sam nodding in agreement.
“Your honor?” Caelan said as he turned to Clancy.
“Go on right ahead–I think we could all use a break after that.”
“I’m going too,” Lionel added. “Got to tell Kyu and the others about what happened!”
As the boys vanished into the tear, Cliff nodded in contemplation. “Hey, Will? Can I take Haze for a spin some time?”
This made Will let out a quick chuckle. “Sure, I don’t mind. Haze?”
“Well hey, if you’re going to be summoning devils left and right, it pays to get to know them,” Haze replied. “You would not believe how crazy our magic gets sometimes, your honor.”
Clancy laughed as he stepped away to go see if he could salvage his belongings from the wreckage. “I can certainly believe it!”
“Everyone’s okay, aside from some scrapes and bruises,” Liam announced as he walked over with Pace. “And Aalders is making sure everything stays orderly. You guys all okay?” Everyone nodded.
Wendelin then turned to Anton. “Not the way I wanted to get rid of that leech, Laurence, but I will take what I can get.”
Anton nodded, knowing what he was referring to in regards to The Eternal Order. “Indeed.”
“It’s a shame we took care of it before the rest of the guys got here,” Pace observed. “But hey, it is what it is… oh, Will, amscray–Brandie’s on the way.” This made him laugh when Liam and Will started laughing.
“Quick–someone get Bran here on the double!” Will half-joked, warranting chuckles from the others.
Amidst the merriment of that day’s victory, Laurence was running for his life, on the verge of dying with each frantic step. Somewhere deep in the Night Salem City region he stumbled into an empty warehouse zone. Right before him was The Earl Profane, who did not look happy to see him. “EARL, HELP ME!!!” he struggled to wheeze despite his rapidly putrefying body.
“Oh no, you’re done,” he said coldly with a hint of disgust.
“WHAT!!!” Laurence roared, failing to slam the ground with his feet.
“I don’t care what that degenerate, Satan, thinks is good for the alliance, YOU. ARE. DONE. I didn’t get mangled by the engine to have you waste my time.”
“TRAITOR! I’LL KILL YOU ALL!” Laurence screamed as he thrashed about starting to lose limbs.
The Earl Profane then gave an evil smile as he sensed multiple people approaching. “Dosvidaniya, you sorry sack of shit–have fun in hell!” He said as he leapt away.
And as if by perfect comedic timing from a Cosmos with a cruel sense of humor, Perkele emerged from the shadows, adjusting his bowtie. “Oh my, how unfortunate–goodness, you should have also been sued for plagiarizing that one game Will and Valentin like to play… What was it again? Bloodborne I think?” In truth Laurence was not actually a ‘copy’ of the character he was thinking of, and the reference flew right over Laurence’s head, but Perkele did not care and wanted to be a smartass.
“HELP ME, WASTEL!!! WHERE IS SEBASTIAN?!”
“OOOH, SORRY, but it looks I got some more bad news for you, chief: Sebastian has kindly told you to ‘get lost, you worthless undesirable…’” Laurence gave one last pathetic roar and was about to slam what was left of his fist down on Perkele, only for the two to hear an excited roar that was close by. “And I’d dare say that’s HR looking for you, horse-teeth–Good luck!” Perkele jeered as he slipped out of view for the moment.
And then everything went dead silent with a still that would have sent a chill down even the mightiest of spines. Nothing… nothing… and then came Shark-X, plummeting like a bomb onto Laurence! He laid and tore into the monster, making sure it stayed down once and for all. Mary, Scotty, and Mayhem came running up and winced as Shark-X slammed Laurence’s head in a way that silenced him for good. He shuddered with a guilty chuckle as he stepped over to them, shaking his legs and fists off. Suffice it to say he was going to need a shower once he got back home.
“Alright, off to the glue factory with him!” Shark-X joked as he joined the three.
Scotty scoffed at that joke, and rightfully so given that he was a farmer. “Well I’d get on your case for that remark, but I can’t say I feel any sympathy for Laurence, especially after what he did–also I don’t want any glue made from his sorry hide…”
That remark made Perkele laugh as he emerged from his hiding spot. “I’d dare say he was never good for anything, Mr. Cottonwood.”
“What’re you doing here, Perkele?”
“Just giving Laurence the news of his termination so we could really rub it in–kick the sad fool while he was down, as he deserved.”
Mary groaned over how foul Laurence’s putrefied corpse smelled and got out her phone. “Is that all you came here to do?”
“Actually no,” he said as he produced an envelope from inside his tuxedo. “Give this to your higher-ups in The League–it’s about the XTRON virus and what Vlad IV has found out about it. Furthermore, try to convince him to get some help before he walks right into a trap.”
Mary took the envelope and nodded, slipping it into her tuxedo. “I’ll pass it on. Ahem, time to call the ACF…” she said as she stepped aside to dial the number.
Scotty knelt down and focused, causing his eyes to glow yellow for a moment. “Jeez, Audoin, you rotten piece of… Yeah, this is his magic, no two ways about it.”
“Do you think it’s an isolated incident?” Mayhem wondered.
“Yeah, because Audoin would have had his constructs here if it was actually one of his plots…”
Shark-X nodded, as he seemed to be catching on. “So does this mean everyone was telling Laurence to piss off?”
“Most likely,” Mayhem answered. “Perkele?”
“Absolutely, albeit I came here of my own accord. Sebastian knew this was happening and was tempted to be a shadow sponsor of the lawsuit.”
Scotty nodded at that fact as it caught his curiosity. “Interesting–meaning Sebastian is done with The Profane Alliance?” Perkele nodded, not feeling the need to say anything.
Things went quiet for a second as Mary started talking over the phone, so Shark-X started bouncing around a little. “Perkele, you saw that move I pulled?” he inquired with a smile.
“Utterly fantastic, Shark–a brilliant display of brutality,” Perkele complimented with a laugh. “Not going to lie, I’m a bit jealous–”
“Everyone, Brendan wants to speak to all of us…” Mary said as she put her phone on speakerphone.
“Alright, can everyone hear me?” To those that would have been new to the situation, they would have been surprised to hear a young boy’s voice. Alas, this was one of the highest ranking members of 05 RED Command of The Anomaly Containment Foundation. “So this is indeed an isolated incident?”
“Looks like it, Kiddo,” Scotty answered as he stood up. “We’re going to need a clean up and–”
“Already on their way, Scott–just stay put until they get there. Perkele, promise you won’t leak our secrets?”
Perkele laughed as he took his hat off to adjust it. “Not my mission today, Brendan. Ernust gives his regards.”
There was a pause, as Brendan seemed to be writing something down, and it could be faintly heard over the speaker. “Alrighty then. Mary, are Sam and Will alright?”
“Last time we checked, sure… why, though?”
“Well you know with all the chaos ramping up, we’d like to keep an eye on those two–I mean come on, Mary, they adopt a Dream Realm resident from Sirius’ neck of the woods and you think we wouldn’t be interested in that too?”
Mary started to open her mouth, then shut it. “Good point,” she replied with a light giggle.
“Also Nickie Sparkles is in town for an impromptu concert and the last time she sang around Will…” There was a grunt that sounded like a wolf’s growl, followed by him writing something else down. “I really hope she’s not there just to cause more trouble–Perkele, you aware she’s actually The Zombie God?”
“I’ve been introduced,” he said with a smile Brendan could see through the phone call.
Mayhem put his hand to his chin and clicked his tongue, remembering what happened with Will the other day. “So you guys are looking into that oddity Will and Cliff ran into while dealing with The Earl Profane?”
“Yeah,” Brendan answered as he wrote something else down. “I got a really bad feeling about the near future and Will’s void magic. Nosmirc says Will and Mads aren’t getting along as well as some had hoped–the two don’t hate each other, but we really need Goolubber to return to being Will’s void patron.”
“Ah yes, his past as Zalmarren?” Perkele questioned.
“What… how… how did you…?” Brendan demanded to know.
“Valentin may or may not have accidentally passed on some ancient memories to me.”
Brendan sighed and clearly shook his head on his end. “Perkele, can I ask a favor of you–can you go see what Nickie is up to? Maybe check in with Loki and report back to Volf for us?”
“I don’t see why not–I imagine she hasn’t told Volf about this either.”
“Thank you. Mary, Shark? Tell Clara and Xxz about this so they have a heads up for what might happen going forward…” They both agreed. “Mayhem, do what you can to keep an eye on Will for us?”
Mayhem looked pretty happy as he straightened out his jester’s coat. “Sure thing, my boy, as I’ve been meaning to hang out with Will again.”
“And before I go, Scotty, can you meet me at The Dark Divers Guild Hall after everything’s all cleaned up? There’s some anomalies on our end crossing into IGL territory that I need some information on.”
“Of course I can, Brendan–we’ll have some coffee and cornbread over it.”
That made Brendan chuckle. “Thanks, it’s been a bit of a long day on our end, and it had little to do with Laurence, so imagine how we feel over this nonsense. Sometimes I wish I could go back to being a wolf, haha…”
Next: Special 1
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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