CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Sometimes I get the feeling that the odds are always, ALWAYS stacked against good.
We are always going to endure the most terrible, awful of trials, sometimes for the cruelest of reasons. All we want to do is either see the ones we love safe, or to keep our home protected, or to stop people of incredibly cruel spirits from harming others.
The saying goes "No good deed goes unpunished". But that's not entirely true. Because you see…we underdogs bet on ourselves. We know we have all the odds against us. And that means the payoff…
It's a real jackpot.
"Woof!"
Grey happily walked down the sidewalk, a big grin on his face. Since meeting up with Eve he had become a lot more cheerful and less angry and upset. Her cheerful personality was rubbing off on him, he was sure of it. As he headed into the ice cream store and ordered two waffle cones of mint chocolate chip, one for him and one for Eve, who was waiting at the park, he grinned and allowed his gumdrop-shaped nose to take the scent of the many flavors in…
A good sniff and he was back.
"Let's see…how about…mint?" Grey asked as he held Ewa Lani's paw in his own clawed hand, careful not to scratch her. She nodded eagerly and licked her lips as Grey pointed up at the menu and ordered them waffle cones…chocolate-coated waffle cones.
"Do you like your mate?" Grey laughed gently, nuzzling Ewa Lani's neck with his head, a purr in his throat.
"Yes, I sure do!" She reassured him, nuzzling him back.
"Woof!" He laughed happily as he handed her his cone.
"Woof! Do you like mint chocolate chip?" Grey asked as he approached Eve and handed her her cone in the park. The two sat down on a bench as Eve's deeply beautiful eyes glittered and she beamed happily.
"Yep! I really like it. I really like YOU too." She added quietly, nervously, tracing a circle in the ground with her foot. Smiling, Grey nuzzled he neck, enjoying the warmth her furry body gave him in return, feeling her purr tickle him.
…
…
…
…Rupert took a few steps forward on the grass, feeling it slowly tickle his feet. The fog surrounded him, almost seemed to fill his very self, wanting to permeate every orifice of his body. There was no sound…
No sound. Very wrong. No birds. No insects. No people. No NOTHING.
This was not good, Rupert Jacques von Hamsterviel thought, folding his arms and frowning deeply. This wasn't Purgatory, he knew that for sure. Purgatory had ORDER. Furthermore, it was a beautiful place. Slightly haunting at times, but beautiful to ensure that those within it would continue trying. Nobody would want to keep moving forward in the middle of a dark, deep forest. But to continue travelling through a beautiful hallway on a lush red carpet as stained glass windows of crystal poured light onto glass pews…that was something that made you feel…welcome.
This did not make him feel welcome, not even if he was in his old neighborhood, at his home planet.
Jennet was the Muridean name for it. It meant, quite simply, "Burrow". Home. The GFA did not usually accept this name and simply called it Muridea. They called the Murideans something else too, usually, making Rupert smile grimly as he thought out loud to try and get his mind off how frightened he felt.
"And so folks, we begin a new round of "Who had the worst childhood"? Today in comparison I offer up Jumba, who's parents were domineering, horrid people who liked to point how fat he was and who had an old brother who's best "present" at Hanukah was a punch to the face. And now for ME. One of my childhood nicknames was "Chewy". Along with "Tangy, but Robust"!"
He laughed grimly, noticing something up ahead: a sign. Right ahead in front of a hill that had another circular door in it. These kinds of houses were all over his country. You walked up and placed your paw on an identification pad hidden in the hill and you'd be let in if you were a member of the household or invited in by one such member. Then you'd be taken down under the hill to where the TRUE home was, carried across the hills to other regions of the valley. There were underground tunnels all over the place…the Catacombs of Alass-Lorr. If one ever got LOST down in there, you would not make it long. Eventually a moving home would come and you would be squashed and dragged along and-
The sign read something mocking and morbid. "If you want to see your precious neighbors again, then you should just DIE. But you might be heading to a different place than THEY did, HAMSTERVIEL…"
The way it was written in dark black marker…there were small bumps in the writing. Hammy understood why. Somebody had been writing this and had been laughing uncontrollably at the message they were writing-
A laugh. An unmistakable laugh. High, gay, quick. He turned his head and saw somebody in the open window.
She had a set of green eyes and a body that was quite…nice. Even by non-Muridean standards, you would think her "huggable", very much so, or, in the words of more predatory types, somebody who looked like they fit the bill for "taste great, less filling". She laughed again and ducked back into the house, vanishing, her laughter slowly fading as the house elevator sank down and rushed away.
Esme Celeste von Hamsterviel. His sister. Black Marketeer, rebellious against their parents, constantly doting on her brothers. She'd taken them on all sorts of trips, especially her black market ones. What she didn't end up selling at the markets she'd toss off trains to the poor in a mixture of devilish glee at doing something that would drive her parents made and small, warm feeling at doing something that made people cheer for her.
Attention and love, the biggest weakness of the Hamsterviel line, Rupert thought. It was what they always seemed to crave…
His sensitive ears picked up the approach of the elevator. He placed his hand on where he knew to be the ID pad, years of experience from childhood coming back to life, summers spent relaxing, rolling down on his side like a barrel as he went down the hills…
The door opened and he was greeted with the sight of a small, homely room. It had a few pictures on the wall of various Muridean families, a couple landscapes…there. One of the owner…one of his Uncle, Charles. Brown fur. Green eyes. Ponytail…
Hammy approached it and poked the eyes. The picture slid up, revealing a keypad and a map to the side of the pad. Enter in a destination…
His only lead was his sister and where SHE would go. He decided to go for somewhere all-too-familiar to both of them…the old building that was their parent's, CEOs and masters of the Muridean marketplace.
The elevator took off.
…
…
…
…over by Jerusalem, Jacques frowned as he knocked the wrench into his palm, looking over the jeep that he had to take back to the dimensional portal that would return them to HQ. Zoburg was late…fine. Jacques hoped he'd gotten his car stuck in a ditch. Maybe a lion had decided to come along and eat him up. Go Simba.
Jumping underneath the jeep, Jacques furiously worked the wrench as a hammer, a small welding tool and a screwdriver lay to his far right. He quickly twisted the wiring the way he wanted, added a tweaking touch with the screwdriver, then welded shut a hole that had been knocked open in the gas pipe.
Frowning as the car still didn't turn on, Jacques grabbed the wrench and then went to town on the jeep, banging and striking it all over. With a final THA-THONKA-CRUNK, it started up as Jacques smirked. "Ha. Just needed some toughly tough love." He remarked.
"Move…over.."
Jacques looked to the right to see that Zoburg was SOAKING wet and sizzling horribly. There was raw hatred in his eyes and he was clenching his fists tightly as he approached the jeep.
"Where's Naomi?" Jacques inquired.
"She…TRICKED…me." Zoburg snarled. "She shot the gun's ammunition into the clouds. They had some…salt-like catalyst. It sparked a rainstorm on the spot. She shoved me out of the car and took off. I was soaked and burnt all over and I've been walking for three hours to get here." Zoburg hissed. "She wasted our resources and time just so she could wave goodbye cheekily to me from her car as the rain sizzled my flesh!"
Jacques resisted the urge to say "Sounds like time well spent" and nodded sympathetically. "Hateful bitch." He lied, really wishing he could kiss her paw right then and there.
"Yes, why can't you be more supportive of me like this ALL the time?" Zoburg spoke up quietly.
"Aw, don't-I…I don't MEAN it!" Jacques insisted gently, holding up his paws.
"Anyhow, let's get going." Zoburg remarked, getting into the jeep. "Good thing THIS didn't get soaked." He added, holding up a folder. Jacques held it in his paws, frowning a little.
"This is…what?"
"My plans for the girl." Zoburg explained. "I've detailed everything."
Jacques opened up the folder and began to look through it as Zoburg focused only on driving. It was a good thing too, because if he had looked at Jacques even just ONCE during the short time it took for them to drive from where the jeep had been to where the dimensional portal was, then he would have seen the utterly horrified look on Jacques's face that flashed across his features. The depth to which Zoburg planned to go to in terms of cruelty towards the girl was…
Beyond description.
Simply beyond description. Jacques wouldn't be able to do justice to how sick the plan was. How…EVIL.
Zoburg meanwhile, had turned his head and now saw Jacques looked sick, the folder put away. "If you're going to puke, it shall not be in MY car." He said, picking Jacques up and tossing him out of the still-moving jeep, laughing as he took off. Jacques muttered hatefully and dusted himself off, then began walking.
Soon enough he had reached a large hill. He began to walk up it, hearing many voices on the other side. He peeked his head over and gaped at the sight.
Naomi was standing by White, and all around them were various experiments, people and aliens. All of them, Jacques could guess, were inhabitants of Jerusalem, which appeared abandoned at the moment. He wondered what was going on as the pink dot from "Dream" hovered around his tail, calmly waiting.
"Well?" Naomi inquired, looking confused. "You said you had to evacuate everyone out of the city, that it was a matter of the most deadly importance."
"Oh yes." White agreed. Jacques super-good hearing picked up and he heard something. It sounded like…
He looked up and soon saw what the sound was coming from. OH SCHISSE!
"You see, the thing is, Jerusalem is about to be destroyed." White said. "I couldn't just let you all get squished." He added, holding up his palms.
"How?" Naomi asked. "A bomb?" She inquired. "Or is the Corporation bombing us?"
White shook his head. "Nope. I'm crashing a giant Irken "Dreadnought" class cruiser into the city."
Naomi's mouth hung open slightly. She looked like she'd been hit in the face. A moment later it came down, hulking, huge, burning slightly from the atmospheric change, a dark purple and red mass of machinery that SLAMMED into Jerusalem with the largest CRUDDA-CRASH that Jacques had ever heard, sending an enormous dust cloud towards them all that was roughly the side of a tsunami wave. Jacques covered his head as it swept over his head and when it, at long last, passed over, he looked up.
White was already on the horizon, his laughter echoing in the air as a pale, furious Naomi stared at the horrible wreckage of Jerusalem as people tore their clothes, wailing and sobbing, others cursing visibly, others simply staring, unable to believe, it could not BE, it couldn't!
"…you…SON…OF…A…" Naomi finally managed to get out, tugging on her long antennae.
"Oh my." Jacques thought out loud. "How are they going to rebuild THAT? A pity they've got no-"
SCWHOOSH! The pink orb circling his tail shot forward across the heads of all the people below him, like a comet. Naomi squeaked in surprise, turning her head to see Jacques gaping at the sight, one paw held up, pointing at the sight…
The walls were being brought back up, brick by brick. Wood and wall were being remolded, stone cracks were vanishing, filled back up. Wells that had been broken were now mended, halls that had been torn down were erected. Things were becoming, quite simply, fixed.
"Oh…MY…" Naomi gasped as she looked the scene over. At last, it was finished…one by one the people filed in, unable to believe their eyes. Jerusalem looked…as good as new. Even the damaged Wailing Wall was…
People then turned to Jacques as she walked towards what he had subconsciously produced, the pink orb whizzing around him. Naomi then got on her knees and bowed.
"You rebuilt this city I love. I will not forget this." She said, getting back up. "I've got IMMENSE pull...let me ask you, how can I ever repay you?"
Many ideas came to Jacques as he looked her over. He could ask for money. For a "favor". For a "favor favor", Naomi WAS beautiful and it had been ages since he'd last touched a woman. But something else came to mind.
"…my brother has a son. His name is Junior von Hamsterviel." Jacques said. "If you are to ever meet him, I would like you treat him with the utmost respect and kindness. He…has potential. Potential to be someone very great and…"
He almost said it, but he just trailed off, looking to the side nervously, twirling one foot paw in the ground. Naomi nodded as the others around him bowed respectfully or nodded. "I will not forget." She insisted. "You have my word. I will also help escort you to wherever you'd like."
"Well, I DO need to get to the airport. I must take a plane to France, to Paris…"
He had almost said it. Almost.
Very great and very good…
She led him inside the city. They began to head towards the airport, unaware that what had sunk into the ground beneath the city, caused by the crashing of the ship, was now slowly spreading a mist that was seeping up from the dusty ground…
…
…
…
…Grey and Eve sat on the beach now, watching the gulls fly through the air as a wind blew their fur, cooling them. Grey noticed Eve was…antsy. She was fidgeting, rocking back and forth. It reminded him of how his dad would jiggle his leg when he was sitting at a table, or fiddle with his hands, fingers intertwining over and over. He recalled occasionally telling his dad "DAAAAD! Stop being autistic!"
But he knew how to calm her down. He patted her on the arm and she immediately stopped and sighed happily.
"Scratch lightly, okay? I got a bad itch, but don't scratch too deep." Ewa Lani told him as they sat underneath a tree, his green/black eyes gazing into hers as she nervously blushed. He nodded and held his claws up, gently scratching her head, making her hum happily, her tail wagging. A big grin spread over her face and she soon gently laid her head in his lap.
The sweet scent of her body was now far closer than it had before. He kept scratching until at last she faded into sleep and he gently stroked her head, looking down at her the way one looks upon the most precious of things…
"Scratch lightly, with the claw tips." Eve requested gently. "On my back, okay?"
Grey nodded and carefully held his claws up, lightly scratching with his claws. Up and down, up and down, caressing. She shuddered with pleasure and smiled, leaning against him as he smiled back at her, seeing her fall gently into sleep. Soon he was stroking her hair as she slept against his shoulder.
…
…
…
…Green, Junior and Orion looked around the enormous hallway of the Galactic Federal Alliance. Unlike Star Command, which had green, purple and white as a paint job, the GFA had blue and gold everywhere intermixed with silver. The whole place looked unmistakably regal and expensive above all…
There were flagpoles, long and proudly displaying every single Senatorial face that belonged on the Council for the GFA. Some of the faces were looking especially haughty and proud, others simply smiled, a few scowled as if the pictures had been taken not inside of a specially-designated office, but the shower.
Huge light fixtures hung from the top as they walked along the bridge-like hallway of the GFA towards an enormous golden set of double doors. At the front and to the right was a desk with a female secretary sitting there. She looked remarkably beautiful, above all her eyes were filled with life and warmth.
Upon seeing Orion, she dropped the phone from her paws and immediately beamed, then jumped over the desk and GLOMPED him on the spot.
"Oh, it's good to see you too, Sara!" Orion said happily, hugging her tightly. "Green, Junior, I would like for all of you to meet my wife, Sara."
Sara let go of Orion and bowed. "A pleasure." She said. "I'm Head Secretary for Grand Councilman Rueben. How may I be of service to you and my sweetie-poo?"
Orion nervously blushed at this nickname. "Sweetie-poo"?" Green snickered.
"Uh, listen honeybunches, we'd like to see the big man himself." Orion told Sara.
"Sure thing. But first, gimme some sugar, sugar!" Sara laughed, kissing Orion full on the lips.
"Hold on, Hot-Lips, No tongue before-MMMMM…nebbah mibe…" He mumbled out, kissing her passionately back.
"Honeybunches? Sugar? Hot-Lips?" Green wondered.
"Sure you guys can go in." Sara said once Orion and she had finished. She led them in through the large golden doors and there were greeted by the sight of Rueben sitting on a large throne, looking over a bunch of papers, one pen held in his paw. The lovable yellow, big-nosed oaf hadn't changed much, save for some graying hair on his brown-tipped antennae and his face was slightly scraggly.
"Alright, yes, no…no, none of that…but we'll need THAT…and some of these."
"Sandwich ingredients?" Sara asked, grinning visibly.
Rueben didn't look up yet. "Yep! We've got that big costume ball comin' up tomorrow and…wait…" He sniffed the air, then turned from his papers ot actually look at who was with Sara. "Well I'll be darned. Orion! And you brought two friends!"
Rueben put the papers down and hopped down a small set of stairs over to them. He took Green and Junior's hand, shaking them thoroughly. "I recognize YOU, even though the last time I saw you, I could hold you in one arm!" He told Junior, laughing. "Your pops, your mum, how they doin', Junior?"
"They're all right." Junior said, nodding. "This is Green." He told Rueben.
Rueben looked her over. "…you're definitely Grey's kid." He decided. "The way your hair is and your eyes…who's your mom?"
"Kila." Green explained, nodding.
"KILA?" Rueben's eyes went wide. "Oh why didn't you say so? Any friend of hers is a friend of mine." He told her. "She was always one of the boys to me." He added, grinning broadly.
"Yeah, I know." Green added. "She talked a lot about you. Said you always smelled of mayo. I can see she was right." She laughed.
"Hey, now I smell like royalty." Rueben added. "…with mayo on top." He sniggered. "Seriously though, what can I do to help you? But be quick, I've only got twenty minutes before I have to get moving on a project. The GFA's computers have been experiencing static problems and-"
"We're here to warn you about an assassination attempt." Junior explained. "There's this person named Frequency, he's extremely dangerous and he's coming after you. We wanted to warn you in person so nobody could intercept the message somehow."
"Fair 'nuff." Rueben admitted, nodding as he folded his arms. "Let me guess, he's a member of this "Corporation" I've been hearin' 'bout?"
"Yeah." Green agreed. "And-"
BEEEEOOOOOOO…
The lights went out all over GFA HQ before an emergency generator kicked on 30 seconds later. Green's eyes narrowed as she clenched her fists. "And he's obviously now snuck into the building…"
…
…
…
…Rupert frowned as the elevator's walls began to be stripped away. Soon only wire mesh remained to cover the entire thing and keep it still. Yet…he felt it wouldn't give into a free fall. It was as if something was…watching him.
And he soon saw what exactly WAS watching him. It was a black thing with dark eyes…it's vague form was familiar…oddly, frighteningly familiar. He couldn't put a name on it. He ought to, he knew THAT, but…
The thing cackled and then vanished from sight as a clanking noise told him he was nearing the end of the elevator shaft. A moment later it stopped, the door opening.
He walked outside of the elevator, deciding to change his clothes. He focused, and his dark robes swirled around him, his scythe appearing in his paws. He had reason to be unnerved by his surroundings, reason to be wary…he now found himself within a special hallway of E.G.O, the Evil Genius Organization. There were pictures on the walls of various evil geniuses, among them himself, Jacques, Jumba, even White, for some frightening reason. Several of them had deep gouge marks in their pictures which showed that they had tried to sell out EGO and thus paid the price…
There was a doorway…it ought to lead into the cafeteria, this he knew. The Hallway of Fame and Shame had always led to the cafeteria. Memory clouded his vision as he watched it all play out before him, literally reliving his past…
…"Yes, it is TRUE that I am on the council to decide who is going to be the next Scion!" Rupert announced, folding his arms as he addressed the people in the hall, who all looked him over. "It is ALSO true that my favors cannot be BOUGHT, COERCED, OR…or…"
He turned his head, sniffing the air and noticing that Mortlegax was holding up something beautifully-scented and grinning.
"Is…that…schnitzel?" Rupert spoke quietly.
"It IS, just like you're ALWAYS talking about…" Mortlegax whispered slyly.
"Well…um…er, uh…" Rupert nervously gulped. "I…could…put in a good word or two for you…"
As he stuffed his face full of schnitzel, he grinned inwardly. Let the extortion begin!...
Opening the door, he found himself in an enormous hall that had dozens of loooong tables and benches placed for others to sit AT said tables. Food that had, at some point, been deliciously edible were now rotten and covered in mold and what looked like pond scum was flies swirled overhead. The tapestries on the walls that showed off colors of EGO: purple, red, blue, darkest black and green…all of them representative of traits that EGO admired: royal, pure blood, a desire for revenge, creative genius, cruelty and, above all, a desire to be the absolute best.
There, huddling in the corner, was Jenkins Makaia, He was holding his face in his hands, tears brimming in his eyes.
"Jay?" Rupert spoke softly, surprised, putting the scythe away. It retracted into a small wooden ball and he put it in his robe's pocket as he approached Jay, realizing that the ceiling seemed too low…that the criss-crossing beams above his head made of strong metal were…creaking slightly. How odd.
"He…he doesn't like this." Jay whispered. "Doesn't like it one bit. He…hasn't forgotten, hasn't forgotten how you took HER for your bride…hasn't forgotten how you opposed him before…"
"Jay, what is going on? Why are you here in Purgatory? Who is "he"?" Rupert asked.
"You KNOM wh-who!" Jay shouted, pointing at Rupert with a shaking claw. "You know goddamn well who! You-"
He looked up, and screamed in horror, claws digging into the wall as his eyes widened in fear. Rupert looked up and instantly regretted it…it was the black thing. It looked like Leroy, only with black fur and teeth and paws stained with blood.
"Hooooowwww I hate you!" The thing muttered venomously. It was clinging to the criss-crossing beams above them the way a monkey might cling to the grills of it's cage. It looked down with utter hatred in it's soulless eyes, it's four arms gripping the beams tightly. "Stupid rat…you're so weak! Marry MY daughter, WILL YOU?"
SLAM! A fist shot through and Rupert barely dodged as the thing snarled again. "INTERFERE WITH MY PLANS FOR KILLING STITCH, HUH?"
SHUDDA-BOOM! Another fist came down. Rupert jumped to the side this time as the black thing snarled again, some spit flying and sizzling holes in the floor. "STAND STILL YOU LITTLE RAT, LET ME TURN YOU INTO A THROW RUG!"
Rupert rushed around the dining hall as Jenkins screamed and cowered in the corner. He quickly took out the small wooden ball that was in his pocket and it stretched out to form his scythe once more. He jumped over a table whose contents went flying as the thing flung another punch at him. The food splattered on the ground and began to dissolve into black tar that formed bugs, which skittered around before rushing at Rupert.
Rupert sliced and slashed them away, barely managing to roll out of the way of the horrible fist of the black thing as it cackled. "You know so little…you may think you're a prince and can handle me, but a Kaiser outranks a prince!"
He then spat out a wad of acidic spit that burnt another hole in the ground. Rupert jumped up through the air and sliced at one of the hands that was gripped around the roof beams. The black thing yelled horridly and held it's paw and it's features distorted for a second before it returned to normal and kept punching at Rupert, crooning foul words filled with venom at the Muridean…
EXCEPT, Rupert noticed, when his prey got near Jenkins. Realizing this was the answer, Rupert jumped through the air and held his scythe blade up to Jay's neck as Jay's eyes shut tight in horror.
"Try anything and I give your son a new way to breathe: across his NECK." Rupert snarled.
The black thing then howled furiously and it changed fully…an image imposed itself in front of Rupert's vision of the thing, and soon the black thing had landed in front of him, covered in beautiful robes, wearing many rings, a papal tiara and a furious glare on it's face.
"You…little…WRETCH!" The thing hissed, taking a step back and pointing with a ringed claw digit. "I will tear your eyes open for this…"
"No…you won't." Rupert said softly, placing his scythe more deeper into Jay's neck, making him whimper. "I am perfectly willing to kill him so as to ensure that I may continue to find the ones I came for. I may feel remorse for it later, but it will still be done." He went on.
The black thing's eyes now widened and it turned pale. Not with horror or fear or shock, but with rage. It could, soon, not bear to simply stare at him, and finally lunged forward.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG! Now it was a deadly dance as Rupert forced the thing back from Jay as much as possible, striking and slashing with his scythe. The black thing cackled horridly and continued to strike at Rupert with it's ringed claws as Jay clung back, looking upon the black thing with a mixture of fear and admiration.
"You little pest." The thing finally hissed. "I'll get you later!" With that, it twirled it's cape, and then was gone in a flash of dark purple light. Hamsterviel folded his arms and looked behind him…
Jay had run off. He sighed. That boy ought to have known better. Running off in a place like THIS?
…
…
…
…Lilo's room at the HQ of the Corporation, a temporary home which, out of perhaps some tiny form of pity, Azazel had fixed up. He was fluffing up the pillow of her bed, and had painted a lovely shade of light green onto the walls, including making little flower decals in the walls like on her long red t-shirt. He smiled at the youthful teenage girl and put the pillow down.
"There! Now it's a bit more like home, right?" He asked politely. He was being awfully nice for somebody who was not merely a member of the Corporation, but a demonic entity/fallen angel reborn.
"Er…mahalo." Lilo said politely, nodding her head.
"I, uh…I'm sorry about…coming off a bit too strongly earlier to your friend the dragon. I shouldn't have been so quick to judge. I keep doing that, being too quick to judge. I AM trying to work on it." He admitted nervously. He seemed like a schoolboy seeking reassurance.
Jacques then appeared in the doorway. He was not in his right mind, Lilo could feel horror coming off of him, horror, disgust and nervousness. He took a deep breath and spoke up.
"I need to address Ms. Pelekai personally about her power." He told Azazel.
Azazel nodded firmly and left the room as Jacques closed the door and folded his arms, then snapped his "fingers". "The cameras are temporarily playing a feed that will repeat to the main camera room and the audio sensors in here are now disabled. I helped BUILD all of the Corporation HQs, I know secrets about these places the others know nothing of. But that is not important."
Jacques motioned for Lilo to sit on her bed and as she did so he placed his paws together and nervously bit his lip. "You helped my brother. A Hamsterviel does not forget compassion so easily. We pay our debts back and reward our helpers…though I wish I could give you a much better reward than…"
He sighed deeply. "Zoburg will turn you into something worse than Barty. Worse than what Patch became. To transform Zoe into Void, your body and spirit must be heavily broken. He'll torture you. He'll break you. He'll ravage you in ways I cannot even…what 561 would have done to you all those years ago, it would have been simply the TIP of the iceberg. I WISH I could say that is all Zoburg will have him do now that he is working for us, I wish that...that…"
He didn't finish, but Lilo found her eyes widening when she realized the implications. She felt a sob well up.
"It might very well BE a practical use for your power, but the manner in which he is going about it is disgusting. So…I offer you this, little girl." Jacques spoke softly.
He handed Lilo a small vial. It had a crystalline/green hue to it as he continued. "One sip of this and you will perish quickly and without pain. You can live…and suffer…or die peacefully, ensuring that your power is not used to hurt your precious family. It is your choice."
He then gave what might have been an attempt at a respectful nod, and left the room quickly as Lilo looked the vial over.
They'd been almost…kind words from him. He was trying to be merciful, he was afraid of being caught by the Corporation but neither did he really want her to suffer, or to see what she endured. He was cowardly, she understood that, and yet offering her this was…rather brave.
She looked the vial over. She knew she could NOT let them turn her power to evil. She COULDN'T. But…she was afraid of death, of dying and leaving her family all alone. What if it didn't kill her right away and they brought her back? What if Azazel used his power to…
She pocketed it. Just in case an opportunity came, she'd hold onto it. She hoped though she would not need to use it.
…
…
…
…Echo and Yuna and Alex nervously grimaced as a very, very, VERY long and thick anaconda with green and brown scales spanked the CRAP out of a tiger-like, youthful experiment who had been forced to drop a katana from his paws.
"THIS-IS-WHAT-YOU-GET-FOR-FUCKING-AROUND-WITH-YAKUZA-GO-HOME-TO-YOUR-MOTHER!" The anaconda roared out.
It then pulled the tiger, stretching it the way you'd stretch a rubber band, and shot the experiment out of the open door. The poor thing landed in a dumpster across the way as the anaconda spiraled around and around, shrinking and changing before their eyes into a familiar, white-robed form. King then stood up, katana in his black claws, placing it back in it's case.
"They always send people to steal weapons from my dojo here." He told them. "I'm glad you came to the Mobian gate on such short notice, we have little time to train."
"That happens often?" Alex asked.
"Yes, the weapons here are enchanted, valuable." King went on. "Mafia, KGB, CIA, Yakuza, all sorts of organizations go for the weapons here. Not all of them try to STEAL, but I send them away all the same. Cobra Bubbles wanted THIS once." He said, holding up the necklace around his neck. "Thinking it was magical. It IS, but not in the way he thinks."
"What's it do?"
King took out an apple…two, actually. He held them before Yuna and Echo as Patch sat on a bench nearby, looking interested.
"I did this for Patch…I now do it for you. Will you become the Receivers of my Wisdom? Knowledge is an important tool of any scientist and magician and must be properly used. Will you accept my secret teachings and swear only to pass them on if I ask it of you? And to not use them improperly or for cruelty?"
"We promise." They both said.
"Bite." He told them offering the apples.
They bit into them, and they felt a light static shock fill their bodies, then a beautiful, sweet warmth as…a veil lifted from them. That was what if felt like, things seemed…clearer, like they had been looking into darkness before and had walked back into a light room.
King held the apples up and they transformed into crystalline orbs, just like the ones he wore in a necklace around him now. He placed them into the necklace and it grew larger. "They now contain memories of you and your selves. I will always remember you, my trusted students. If you abuse the knowledge I give you, I will remove the ball that represents you. I've had to do so…more times than I would like to talk about." He added quietly.
"What will you teach us?" Yuna asked.
"Ah, now THAT…is the question." King laughed. "I can teach you to bewitch the soul and ensare the mind and heart. I can have you shoot fire across fields and summon tsunamis. But I'll start you off with…different techniques. And I warn you, my methods can be…unorthodox." He added softly.
"We're ready." Echo insisted. "TOTALLY ready."
"We will see, younglings." King spoke softly. "We will see."