Interlude 2
Aizen –
The Soul Reaper walked out of the rift he had made with the Quill and looked up at an ancient, large door. He had come to a world based on the game Talisman, and he now stood before the threshold to the Inner World. This was a point in the game where you had to be ready to bleed to get to the crown of power at the center. Aizen would not bleed as he took this Inner World for himself.
He selected this place because of its great security and defenses. It was a position of power from which he could experiment with the Calamus of Canon and make ready his plans. He was not going to be like the other vulgar Vigilantes and use this Quill to get his every desire. That was the weak man's way out. He was not weak.
The Hogyoku had been a failure when he fought Ichigo, but he was certain now that that was a fluke. He was just missing one important detail. He would single it out and rewrite his god making device so that it would not fail him. On top of that, he would use the Quill to craft the wards needed to protect himself from the Vigilantes when they came for him, as well as the Accursed who warred across the Realms. He was not so soulish as to just dismiss them.
From what he had gleaned from the elves, this Quill of Inspiration was merely a tool to Abominations on their way to something much greater. They would still come for him, and he would be ready for them.
Incredibly, it brought a smile to his lips to realize that he finally had a good load of challenging work before him.
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Ezekiel –
The Abomination feasted on the smut reeds, as the seaweed was called, and used their stories he consumed to empower him. He shifted his form to something akin to the Taken King, with a crown like head and tattered wings taking him over the hole the Vigilantes had blown into his Dreadnaught. It was an incredible feat of strength. He had read of something similar in a book before, and was still impressed to see it here.
This is frustrating, he thought. Not only did that fool Tscheapwhetzar manage to get together a capable bunch of thieves, one of them even made off with the Quill! I knew it was going to be a trap when I received the information from Aizen, but I was not expecting this, nor his speed. I had hoped his hubris would lead him to facing me.
Now, I must track him once again!
It was maddening. He was even more upset a message came to him through the hum of the ship. Someone was there to see him. He wondered which of his fellow Abominations had come to try and steal his glory, or to berate him. He melded with the ship and sped quickly to the deck in the Dreadnaught's head. There, he was surprised to see a young man dressed very peculiarly. He looked to be no older than sixteen, and was in black wizard robes with bands of gold and red feathers strapped to his arms and across his chest. A beaked mask was clutched in his hands. It looked Aztec in design.
"And what pit did you call from that made you think you could summon me on my own ship," Ezekiel demanded.
The boy looked to him and plastered a confident look on his face that Ezekiel immediately wanted to tear off. "My name is Priest. I am the high priest of the King's Cult. I am a being made from the minds of brilliant writers and the powers of an Abomination."
True. He did reek of one of Ezekiel's kin. Still he snarled, "And how does this give you authority over me!?"
He had never heard of this cult before, and the boy looked like an upstart.
"I do not have authority over you yet," the boy admitted, somewhat annoyed. "But we are equals. I am come from the future. I have fought and will fight again at the Towers of Time."
Ezekiel stopped in his movement to strangle the kid when he heard those words. How could this Priest know that they were planning to attack the fabled towers that controlled the flows and laws of time throughout the Realms? Was he really connected with the King?
"Good. I would prefer if we didn't fight," Priest said quickly, taking a cautionary step away from Ezekiel. "You and I will need to work together if we are to win. See, things go badly for us at the Towers. And that is because we are unprepared for the ferocity that the Guardians and the Tscheapwhetzar bring with them. We need the Quill of Inspiration. That is what will turn the tides!
"I possess knowledge from the future that will greatly benefit you in your hunt. Together, you and I can claim great glory and take our rightful places at the King's right hand. What say you, Ezekiel? Shall we partners," Priest asked, proffering his hand.
The Abomination seized his hand pulled him close. Blowing putrid breath into the kid's face, he said, "If we are going to work together, then you are going to tell me everything. Everything! And if any of it does not smell right, I will kill you, equal or no."
Remarkably, Priest grinned and answered, "Then we have ourselves a deal. Let's get started."
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The Tscheapwhetzar and a Guardian –
They looked out on the great Cube, torn in half, and still held by the gigantic claws that had done it. The claws themselves were severed from the Dreadnaught they had once belonged to. Light and knowledge bled from the cube and mixed the dissipating darkness from the claws, creating a mist like star dust. The great mind of the Tumblrverse was gone. The Tscheapwhetzar and Guardian had made it on to the scene too late, but they had delivered their own crushing blows to the Abominations.
Still, it wasn't enough, as the fiends continued to spread through the nebula.
The Tscheapwhetzar spoke up and said, "You know, if we were friends, or even close colleagues, we'd probably be chatting about stupid stuff right now, while checking out this gruesome scene. Het, Charlie, did you see that game last night? Sure did, Bill Joe Thorthrop III; I was on the edge of my seat! Super close!
"Yeah! They're gonna take the championship!
"I had tickets until my wife and I decided to get a divorce. She's getting the tickets and dog, while I get the kids.
"That's rough buddy. But you know, my wife's cousin's old roommate's older sister is single, and she has a lovely personality. I could set you two up for a date?
"Then let me buy you a drink after work and we can chat deets!"
The Guardian growled, "How can you make light of something like this!?"
"I eat worlds and have destroyed entire systems to get what I wanted in the past," the Tscheapwhetzar shrugged. "I am used to carnage and pointless destruction. Obliteration with a cause is much more fascinating, and while I shoot the breeze with the fake you, my friend, I am going through a dozen different scenarios in my mind."
"Oh? Care to enlighten me," the Guardian asked, annoyed.
"First of all, can you feel the trace presence of Destiny's Deepness," the tattered cloaked man asked. "It definitely feels like the worm gods. I wonder what they were doing here. But they would never work with the Abominations, at least directly. Both would be wanting to conquer the other. Plus, the Darkness doesn't play with others. However, that is all a distraction."
"Then why even bring it up!?"
The Tscheapwhetzar held up a finger and silenced the other man from speaking further. "Think about it. In this war, each battle is meant to have importance. Each bow is a potentially crippling one. However, when you are on the field of combat, you only deal a crippling blow when you want to slow your enemy down. A fatal stroke is preferred, because you then don't have to fear your foe as you push forward. In the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong fought to cripple American soldiers, rather than outright killing them. Demoralization and slowing down the war effort was the only way they could prepare themselves to deliver the final blow. In an essence, the Vietnam War was a war of distractions.
"So, if we apply that logic here, then maybe, just like the visit of the Hive's worm gods, even this massive attack was just a distraction," the Tscheapwhetzar almost whispered. "Entire worlds raided. Ancient tombs broken open. Trophies taken without so much as a drop of blood spilled. Schemes within schemes. I think it is all a cover."
The Guardian was silent for a moment, contemplating his ally's words behind a shut visor on his gleaming, white armor. "Then what are the Abomination s even after?"
The Tscheapwhetzar narrowed his eyes at the battlefield and said, "I am no longer sure, myself."
They were silent for a while yet, and then the Tscheapwhetzar stated, "I'm famished! I could use a good lunch right about now. Also, friend, I would like to retain the corpses of the next Abominations we kill. I really want to see what makes them tick."
The Guardian saw a pocket watch appear in the other man's hands as he said this, and then said, "I am sure we can arrange an agreement with the rest of the Council. Though it will probably require you removing your forces from a few worlds."
Grimacing, the Tscheapwhetzar said, "And you guys wonder I don't come to your group picnics. You should have just turned a blind eye to me. But fine, if it means that I don't have anyone breathing down my neck and grading my cutting skills, then I'll do it."
He gave the grizzly sight of the Cube one last look and blessed his lucky stars that the Guardian had not gotten a whiff of the villains he under his Contract, who had been this way. He needed them back with that Quill yesterday!