With or without Zander's prompting, Dipper rapidly shifted the gears of his car. "Don't have to tell me twice," Dipper grunted. The screeching tires and the acrid scent of burnt rubber churned the air, and the car lurched forward.
Mabel spun in her seat, looking past Zander, who had taken to leaning forward in his middle seat. She gave him a quick smile. She saw Soos and Wendy steering to catch up. Most importantly, she saw her pink pig next to Soos. He was panicking, but certainly fine. The handyman driving the expensive dragster car was doing his best to soothe the small swine, but to little avail.
"Waddles is scared," Mabel mentioned.
"He's not the only one," Dipper grunted as he roared down the street, and turned towards the highway. As he checked behind him briefly, he got a look on Zander, who was removing his mask. "Why don't you show your face to people normally?" Dipper asked. Zander glanced up to him, his mask lowered just inches lower than his head. He glanced up to Dipper, his brows furrowed in thought. Dipper saw the look, and grumbled, "Not going to say?"
Zander, his face revealed, stated, "Protection."
"From who?" Dipper furthered.
"The nasty, cruel world who doesn't want Rock-stars to also be master martial-artists!" Mabel answered with a shy grin to Zander. He rolled his eyes and chuckled.
"Mabel, seriously," Dipper glared at her, and in the mirror, looked to Zander, "Your practically impervious to being hurt. The battle between you and Omir? You walked away. The... what happened... to Gravity Falls? You escaped. What can a mask protect you from?"
Zander nodded with Dipper's points, taking in his wonder as the boy explained it away. Zander glanced behind him, and saw the bus of his comrades a great distance away. As the car bumped while climbing onto the highway, he leaned back against the car seat.
"Not all armor is meant to protect the wearer," Zander sighed, rubbing a hand over his head.
"What?!" Dipper laughed beside himself.
"That was so mystical mumbo-jumbo," Mabel awed.
"Thanks Mabel," Zander smirked, and looked back to Dipper, "In my position, there are just a few people who don't like who I really am. Letting those I work closely with know who I am might just put a target on their back. So, I wear the mask. One identity to mask others."
"A superhero mask?" Dipper summarized. He shook his head, a red creeping up his cheeks. "That doesn't actually work," he scowled, yet aware of just how slightly cool Zander was about his answer.
"Maybe not to the standard man or woman," Zander argued, "But it's worked for me long enough."
"How long is that?" Dipper darted his question in.
Zander smirked and nodded. "For long enough."
A loud rattle of the windows called their attention away from the topic. Zander was a flash of movement. The mask, that only had been off for a few moments, was slapped onto his face and strapped around his head. Dipper looked ahead to the highway first; a truthful vacancy of other cars meant he could look away for a moment. As Mabel pressed her nose against the passenger window, he craned his head forward and looked up through the windshield.
Zander stayed leaning back, his mask on. "They're catching up," he stated.
One helicopter flew ahead. Painted black, with exception to a single golden icon on the sliding door on the side: two hands coming together to hold a four-pointed star of sorts. A shiver went down Dipper's spine, and Mabel joined him, looking ahead now.
"That's the bad-guys logo thingy!" Mabel pointed.
The man in the back seat snorted. "They're clutching destiny," Zander mentioned. When Mabel looked back to him, he added, "it's Graupner's cult, the Rising Grasp."
"That's their sigil?" Dipper asked, as the helicopter ahead started to turn, flying above suburban neighborhoods.
Mabel, watching the helicopter with laser-focus, asked, "And how do they have helicopters again?"
Zander reminded them, "All of Omir's funds, every single penny, was liquidized. Graupner found a way to collect it all and pool it to his own name. Also, there are two helicopters."
A second airborne vehicle soared past the car, even more low-hanging than the last one. Painted black with its icon of Graupner's cult, it stayed in pace with Dipper's car. A moment later, they were all engulfed in bright white light.
Flinching from the searchlight, Dipper shouted, "Oh, that's not helping me drive!"
"These losers need to leave us alone!" Mabel shouted, and lowered the window. The roar of wind engulfed the car, and Dipper gasped, her hair billowing in his face as she pulled it outside.
"Mabel! Get back inside!" he demanded, trying to steer effectively with the car mostly blinded.
"LEAVE US ALONE, YOU SORE LOSER!" she roared up at the helicopter.
The door one the closest helicopter slid open. Mabel yanked her head inside with a yelp, and closed the window, and the twins stared ahead as they saw the person standing in the helicopter look down at them.
Graupner Kinley stood in the helicopter, looking down at the twins with one red gem and his other remaining eye. His face was contorted in a grim sneer fit for a man with deadly thoughts on his mind. He called into the helicopter, which flew aside, leaving the twins alone for a moment.
Mabel, with a sheepish grin, admitted, "I had no idea he was actually there, just b-t-dubs."
"So, Graupner wants to watch," Zander noted, looking out the left side window as the helicopter flew away.
"What is his problem?" Dipper asked to Zander.
"Why ask me?" Zander said.
Dipper, despite his mistrust in the man, reminded Zander, "Because you kind of have an answer to everything?"
"Oh," Zander said, and leaned into the seat, "Well sure, I got one – he's a huge jerk."
"Hah!" Mabel barked. "Great minds think alike!"
"Great," Dipper grumbled, "Answer of a lifetime."
"Look man," Zander leaned forward, speaking to the twins, "I know a whole lot, okay? History is my shadow – I'm familiar with it. That kid? He's been hiding in Omir's shadow. Everything I know about that kid comes from this summer. I have suspicions, but they're all theories otherwise."
Dipper opened his mouth to talk, but as they passed under a bridge, Dipper spotted movement on the highway entrances. As they passed through, he scanned the mirror, and saw a truck, flanked by two motorcycles revving onto the highway.
"Friends of yours?" Dipper asked.
The man in the mask spun around and saw the newcomers. "No."
"Great," Dipper growled, "So we've got company above and below us."
"Cheer up dude," Mabel assured him, "It's just a car and two motorcycles. What're they going to do, ram us?" The car jolted to the side. Windows on Dipper's side of the car cracked and metal bent inward as Dipper's car jolted to the side. Mabel cried out, "I forgot to knock on wood!"
Dipper slowed the car down, and spun the wheel aside, steering the car away from the assaulting truck. As he passed behind it slightly, he saw that it too had the painted symbol on it's side.
"Dipper, drive ahead," Zander told him.
"He's going to ram me!" Dipper shouted back, "Heck, he already did! Half my car is-"
"That truck model can't pass your maximum speed. The bus with my students will take care of these followers," Zander informed him calmly.
Dipper looked back to him briefly. "You think so?"
Zander bolted forward, and grasped the steering wheel, twisting it aside. Dipper shouted as the car lurched aside, barely missing the truck that had come to a dead stop in front of them. As they zoomed by the truck, it screeched it's tires again and chased after.
"The heck was that?!" Dipper gasped.
"Did they actually want to crash into us?" Mabel gasped, holding onto her chest as she heaved.
Zander let go of the wheel as Dipper again took his spot, and he leaned back. "I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this suddenly."
"Suddenly!?" Dipper laughed. "Your people and you fought an entire lobby of these guys and now you're starting to get a bad feeling?"
Zander eyed them, his shimmering emerald eyes catching the little light the car provided. "Well, yeah," he meagerly offered them.
Dipper checked in the mirror again. Aside from the helicopter that was steadily flying over the highway, the scene was hectic. Wendy had turned quickly, and became the aggressor against the two new motorcycles. As one sided next to Soos's car, she came aside it, and kicked out at the driver's wheel with her boot. The swerve was enough for the motorcyclist to fall behind, skidding to a halt to gain control.
The Dipper noticed the other motorcycle coming up onto his car. He made to evade, but it merely went around. As he, Mabel, and Zander traced his movements, the driver lifted something from his pocket.
"He's got a gun!" Mabel screamed, and dove in front of Dipper.
The driver lowered the pistol, the backseat was a blur. The back-side door on Mabel's side swung out and open as Zander used himself as a bludgeoning weapon. Using the swinging out door as an arc to attack, he kicked out, holding onto the handle as he struck the drive in the chest and face with two heels. The man flew off the bike, rolling to the side of the highway as the bike clattered and fell aside, sparks flying as metal grated against pavement.
"Daaang!" Mabel cheered.
The door swung back, and Zander slid back into the car. As he skidded over to the center, he slipped, and turned back to the door. "I hate it when that happens," he mumbled as he pulled out his cloak from the door, caught in the crack.
"Did you just kill someone?" Dipper gasped, craning his head to see the wreckage of the bike.
With a mumble, Zander admitted, "Doubt it."
"Zander would never kill anyone," Mabel added. "He's above using lethal force and all that stuff."
Zander nodded to her, and looked to Dipper. "The driver should live. Broken arm and leg probably, but he'll live. Not that he may deserve it considering he was about to shoot at the two of you, but Mabel's right. Killing is for those that don't know how to resolve an issue without escalating it to mortal ends."
Mabel turned in her seat to look at him. "You say the coolest things."
"Only some times," Zander shrugged.
"Yeah, yeah, cool stuff," Dipper grumbled, and checked his driver-side mirror, and then groaned. "Really?" he whined, "They took the mirror with it when they rammed us!"
"Don't complain," Mabel scolded him, "Besides, I bet Soos could-"
"Repair it, I was just thinking about-" Dipper started.
The two were cut out by a screech of tires. The occupants of Dipper's care turned in their seat to see what was happening. Wendy had dealt with the other biker, who had been trying to position himself next to Soos. Yet only after that biker flew off the side of the highway did the truck come racing up to her, and attempting ramming her.
"C'mon, warrior Wendy!" Mabel cheered as Dipper turned to face the road, looking into his rear-view mirror.
The bus behind them all sped forward, and Wendy had a spare moment to react before the truck was slammed from behind by the Bus of the Paths. As Soos and Wendy's vehicles swerved away and out of danger, the bus shunted the truck aside, knocking it into a concrete divider in the middle of the highway. The truck slammed still, the engine compartment smoking.
"Nice!" Mabel cheered.
"And we were worried," Dipper sighed, "Man. Your students don't mess around."
"I guess not," Zander nodded.
Then, from another exit they passed, a loud blare of sound caught the entire crew off-guard. "BLESSED BE MAGIC, AND THY RETURN!" A Microphone nearby was readied and shouting out. Then came the flood-lights from a large vehicle, now blasting itself onto the road. The ground shook and trembled, and Dipper fought to maintain control over his car. The vehicle was massive.
"Is that a garbage truck!?" Dipper shouted as the crying of the voice blotted out most of his hearing.
True to his words, the sloppily painted and clearly stolen garbage truck made it's grand entrance onto to highway. No less than a dozen men and women, of all looks and sizes, made make-shift attachments
"A war-garbage truck," Mabel noted. "Either the coolest, or the second coolest thing a bad-guy has thrown at us."
The voice floated through the air, clear as the night sky. Then they saw him. Atop the garbage truck, strapped by no less than ten bungie cords to the moving vehicle; a man with a long sheet of paper, from which he shouted into a microphone.
"Rejoice, all men and women in this dry, deserted age!" the man atop the garbage truck shouted, "For this is a coming of great flourish and peace! Magic comes again! Feel it in the air, in your voice, between your loved ones!" the truck turned and made for Wendy's bike.
The Wendy audibly screamed and pushed herself forward, urging the bike to go faster. Only barely did she manage to speed ahead, avoiding the absolute pummeling from the indecently heavy machine now behind her.
"And know, enemies of the coming times of magic," the man atop the truck shouted, pointing to Wendy, "that ye shall be punished for your lack of sight! Your ignorance is punishable!" Then the man's face stretched obscenely as he screamed with a conviction only a madman could have. "DEATH AWAITS THOSE WHO STAND IN THE WAY OF THE GREAT LICH! DEEAAATTHHH!"
The bus filled with the students of the paths collided on the side with the truck, shaking it momentarily off Wendy's path. The red-head turned and made to be the opposite side of the highway.
"Fiends! Interlopers! Bask in the WILL OF THE AWAITED!" the preacher atop the garage truck struggled to turn and point to the bus, seemingly tied to stand facing forward. "FALL BEFORE OUR POWER!"
The truck returned the action from the bus. Without another sign of warning, the truck spun on its wheels and crashed into the side of the bus. Glass shattered and metal frames bent inward as the sheer weight and size of the truck out-matched that of the bus the Paths had acquired.
In Dipper's car, Zander shot up and watched with utmost attention as the bus, filled with his students, fell to the side and came to a screeching halt in the middle of the road.
Zander's movement was quick as it was decisive. In an instant, he already broke out the door that had been jammed shut on Dipper's side, and he held himself out. In the wind the man peered back at the wreckage.
"What're you going to do?" Dipper shouted as the wind from the rushing highway billowed into the car.
The hidden face turned to the twins, and Zander pointed to them both. "Get off the highway. They're clearly waiting for you all here. If we can funnel them off their cars and trucks, you'll have a better chance dealing with them."
"Wait, us dealing with them?!" Dipper gasped.
"You're leaving?" Mabel whined.
A pain clear in his voice, Zander told them, "I need to see to my people. They're going to need help. Those cultists won't just drive by them either – they'll sweep around and try a coup de grace. I'm not going to let anything else happen to my people."
For a quick moment, Dipper stared back at the Guardsman, at the Master of the Paths, and at Zander. He had his disagreements with this mystic figure. Heck, he could make a list of reasons why he didn't trust him. Yet… he couldn't deny the man's need to preserve other's lives.
"You'll be okay?" Dipper asked.
Zander laughed from under the mask. "I think so. Just don't go too far. It'll be a while before we catch up with you guys!"
And with that, Zander leapt out of the car.
"Woah! Watch him spin!" Mabel gasped, watching what Dipper could only hear
"Yeah, I bet he's all impressive looking and stuff," Dipper mumbled, and glanced behind the car with his rear-view. Zander was already on his feet, darting southward on the highway. He instantly passed Soos and Wendy, who were now the only companions to the twins in the highway, save for two helicopters coming at them from the south. Behind the motorcycle and dragster however…
"Mabel, I think Graupner is doing another 'throwing everything he's got' at us thing," Dipper gulped as his eyes focused on the distant background.
"What makes you say-" she turned and scanned past Zander. Six more pickup trucks, now piled in by similar looking cultists, all drove as fast as they can to catch up with the gang. "Oh. Oh yeah, that's not too good."
"I hate to use his idea, but Zander's right!" Dipper decided, "They were ready for us on the highway! If we can find a place that doesn't have as much road functionality as a highway does-"
"Find a what!?" Mabel shouted at him.
"Find a smaller road or something!" Dipper shouted.
The lights on his car reflected off a sign ahead, and his eyes flickered to it. A state park was coming up in the next exit.
"I got it," Dipper smiled to himself, turning the car to the appropriate turn. Mabel stared at him as a small 'tic-toc' sound filled the room. After a moment, and after changing lanes, Dipper looked back. "What?"
"We're being chased by, like, a hundred crazed people, and you're using blinkers," Mabel snorted.
"Rules of the road aren't above anyone, Mabel!" Dipper shouted, his face flashing with heat. "Ignore the laws of safety, and we enter anarchy!"
"Yeah? You can tell that to the guys riding on top of the truck with the microphone," Mabel laughed.
"Who in this car hasn't crashed their bikes at least twice?" Dipper retorted, checking behind the car to see Wendy and Soos following in pursuit, "Oh wait, not me!"
Mabel, red in the face, shouted back, "At least one of those times was because reality was being exploded!"
Arguing their way into the forest, the car came to a screeching halt by some parking spots. Dipper and Mabel found a brief truce, and they rushed out as quickly as they could. Soos jumped out of the car with Waddles, who squealed and bounded over to Mabel.
"Waddles! Buddy!" Mabel cried out as she lowered herself to him.
Soos, rushing to their side, pointed back to the roads. "Dudes, that was some 'Angry Alfred' stuff back there?" Soos called out, panting as he ran to them. "Makes me so happy that like, only two of them had actual guns."
"What's Angry Alfred?" Dipper asked.
"Eh, you know, standard post-apocalyptic movie, except mostly about cars," Soos shrugged, "I hear they're making a sequel about it, but I dunno, probably won't be any good."
Before Dipper could rationalize Soos' input, Wendy's bike came up to them and stopped, as the redhead stepped off and next to them, a sway in her step. Dipper rushed to her, his hands out for her to grab. "You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah. Being chased down by a monster thing like that – doesn't matter if you're dead or not, man. Freakin' intense," she admitted. She ruffled a hand through her thick red hair, and all Dipper could do was let his hands fall to his side and watch for a moment. After all, if he couldn't enjoy the small, pretty things, times like these would be unbearable. Wendy sighed, shaking Dipper from his day-dream, and she asked, "So why are we here? In a state park?"
Dipper explained, "The size and number of cars chasing us-"
Soos cut in after Dipper, "Which will be here super-soon-"
"Yes, thank you Soos," Dipper grumbled.
"No prob, dude."
"-Won't be able to funnel effectively onto such a small path. One by one, or at best, two by two, they'll come crashing in. This tighter space," Dipper turned about to the park entrance with dim light provided by a small path lamp, "Will allow us a vantage – they won't be able to get a surround on us as, long as we stay mobile!"
"Right!" Mabel cheered, holding a very nervous Waddles, "Staying mobile!"
"Once they're here, all we have to do is keep on our feet while knocking those who catch up to us out! Eventually they have to run out of people! We'll out-strafe these cultists, and send them back crying to Grauper!"
"Who'll probably torture them to death!" Mabel cheered.
"Wow," Wendy said, staring at the triumphant Mabel.
"Yeah, really Mabel?" Dipper asked.
"A little dark there, dawg," Soos admitted.
"I have my moments," Mabel shrugged, unhampered.
The scraping of Pebbles, the grinding of tires, and the shouts and yells of coming people had the four turn back to the street.
"One more time," Wendy quietly said aloud as the night became brighter and brighter, car-lights flooding the forest before them, "The plan?"
"Stay mobile, stay together, and don't get cornered-"
The garbage truck made its grand arrival; crashing into the thickest tree on the path and wedging itself into it. Glass rained into the woods and the man ontop of the vehicle lurched forward, losing grip of his prized microphone.
"Get ready for-" Dipper started.
He was cut off by yet another member of the party, this time so panicked and terrified that he ran into the forest. The pig was loose.
"WADDLES, NO!" Mabel screamed, and ran after him.
"Wait! Stay together!" Dipper shouted, watching his sister flee after her pig.
"Aw, shoot dawg," Soos stammered slightly, and then ran after Mabel.
"Let's go!" Dipper nodded to Wendy, ignoring the calls to war behind them as the members of the truck began to unload. "Of all the times for Waddles to lose his cool!" Dipper snapped as he ran into the woods.
"He is just a pig," Wendy pointed out.
"A pig who's seen at least ten times more craziness than any other pig on planet earth! Or animal for that matter!" Dipper exclaimed, only to then doubt his thought as he squinted, "At least that I know of."
"Mabel!" Soos ahead called out, "Dipper said to stay together!"
"He's trying to run into a ditch!" Mabel called back.
"No!" Dipper shouted with great agitation.
"Dipper says to not let that happen!" Soos called ahead.
"He just ran into the ditch!" Mabel cried back.
"C'MON!" Dipper roared. "I asked for three things! Only three!"
"Dipper," Wendy turned to him, stopping in her tracks, "Hold on a sec."
"Huh? What is it?" Dipper quickly asked, worry filling his mind as he studied her serious stare.
"If Waddles is going to get everyone cornered, I gotta play bait," Wendy said. "I'm going to run off that way," she pointed to her right, "And see if they don't tag after me.
"What?! Wendy, we need to stay together!" Dipper declared, his mind now flashing images of what he could find if something bad were to happen to her. "The plan can work still!"
"We gotta think on our feet, Dipper," Wendy admitted. "Besides, only those two stupid bikers had guns. And even if those guys have weapons," she pointed to the coming men and women, "What can they really do to me anyway?"
Dipper stared at her, hating his every brain cell that agreed with her logic. His mind, his emotional side craved her to be near him, where he could protect her, and her him. Where he could see her, know that she was still fine.
Then again, she was older than him. And if there was someone out there who could fight on her own and kick-ass and take names, it was Wendy Corduroy.
"Okay," Dipper sighed, "Just don't-"
She cut him off, tussling his hair briefly before departing into the woods. "Hey!" she cried, shouting and whistling after the men and women rushing into the woods. Dipper saw the movement divert, mostly rushing after Wendy with flashlights. A few still were coming his way.
Dipper turned, and rushed back towards Mabel and Soos, who had managed to slip into a creek.
"Not even a ditch!" Dipper complained. Turning to Soos, he found Mabel, kneeling into the water next to a fallen tree. "What's wrong? Did the tree fall?"
"Waddles ran under here!" Mabel cried, reaching inside. "Come out Waddles! Please!" she demanded. From under the fallen tree, Dipper could hear the cries of the frightened pig, who had managed to find the safest place for him.
"Mabel," Dipper softly approached her, "Waddles will be fine. If you won't be able to get him-"
"I'm not leaving my pig behind us, in woods we don't know, filled with men who want to hurt us! Or WADDLES!" Mable yelled, tears streaming down her eyes, "What if they take him away and hurt him instead of me!?"
"Aw, that's not cool," Soos shook his head, "Waddles never did anything wrong!"
"Exactly! Soos gets it!" Mabel exclaimed.
"Mabel, c'mon, we need to-"
From above, a new voice cried out, "AHA!"
Mable shot up, her fists at the ready. One of the cultists, a thin, tall man with curly red hair stood above them, black jacket and jeans blending well with the shadows of night around them.
"I found three of the four, all in one spot! Master Kinley will be so grateful of my findings!" the man snarled.
"Master Kinley? Ew," Mabel stuck out her tongue and shivered.
"Graupner isn't the type to reward anyone, idiot," Dipper pointed at him.
"Oh, he is," the man nodded, "I've seen his gifts. He can teach magic. Extend our lives. Make us live forever," the man said with awe. "He will come soon, and when he does," he leaned back, "He will find me watching over your three unconscious bodies!" he roared and dived down after them.
This turned out to be a huge mistake. Mabel had more than sufficient training, along with Dipper. Soos was a pretty big guy. More damning to this man, more than anything else, was Mabel was emotionally compromised. She was furious. The sounds of combat pouring out from the creek were entirely one sided. After a brief interlude, the single cultist tried desperately to climb back out. "H-help! They're strong! They know the Paaaaaaaths-" he cried as six hands grabbed back onto him, and dragged him back down into the water to finished their dirty work with him.
Standing over the soaked and beaten body, Dipper heaved a lout sigh and looked to his sister. "Mabel, if Graupner is coming, he'll probably be able take us down with one shot in a place like this. That fire spell of his works perfectly in a super-closed space."
"I thought we wanted super-closed spaces!" Mabel cried out, "You said you wanted it!"
"While being mobile!" Dipper argued.
"Guys," Soos butted in, "C'mon, work together here."
"Right, sorry," Dipper nodded, as did Mabel.
"Dipper, look," Mabel reached out and grabbed his hand, "I won't leave Waddles behind. Not like this."
"Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that," Dipper nodded, ignoring the sounds of Helicopters circling overhead.
"I can take care of myself, and Soos is getting pretty good at beating up people too," she admitted, giving Soos a satisfied smile.
Holding up his fist, Soos declared, "I think I knocked out two incisors from that dudes mouth just now!"
Dipper nodded. "That won't mean anything if Graupner gets here. I doubt he'd just let us fight him. More like he'd just torch the entire creek."
"So, what do we do?" Mabel asked.
Dipper smiled. "You do your thing," he said, backing away, "I'll do mine."
"Dipper," Mabel closed her eyes for a moment, "Just… don't get hurt again, okay?
"Relax," Dipper smiled, "Zander showed me how stupid I was last time. I won't make the same mistake again."
"Okay bro. Go beat 'em up," she grinned at him.
"You two – oh, on your left!" Dipper pointed as three men arrived, diving off the side towards Soos and Mabel.
Dipper ran away from the stream side. His sister's voice, smashing out and battling the cultists of the Warlock, echoed in the air. Three gone in, and he even saw more rushing into the stream. By the sounds of it, Mabel and Soos were still clearly in control of the whole thing.
He could also hear Wendy out there, distant from Mabel and Soos. Dipper turned about, looking for her. The woods were dark, and only the lights of the two helicopters flying in circles overhead occasionally lit an area for them- aside from the one that circled over Mabel, Soos, and Waddles.
Finally, as he passed by a tree, Dipper saw her. Wendy.
She was on the playground, weaving around the supporting metal columns that held up the plastic, rubber, and steel kingdom meant for children. As much as she would avoid someone and then deliver a kick or punch back, she would also receive a blow. It didn't stop her- Wendy seemed incapable of slowing down.
Dipper made to run at her, starting forward. Then three cultists rose from a hill before him, and lunged.
"Dang it!" Dipper growled, ducking under the first and kicking back at him. As his foot made contact with the man's back, a woman grabbed onto his arms and threw herself, and him to the ground.
Now rolling away from his allies, Dipper made a bolstered effort to work with the turns of the hill to escape the woman. He elbowed her in the side as she toppled with him. She slid away, groaning and clutching her side. Dipper stood up, now at the base of the small incline of a hill. One man was starting to stand, and the other jumped at Dipper, his fist pulled back for the attack.
"Stop it!" Dipper shouted, side-stepping the flying punch. As he retreated, the flying offender landed, and followed, throwing a flurry of fists and punches towards Dipper, who evaded all that came at him, smaller and more trained than the man before him. "Do you really think Graupner is going to help people!? He's insane!"
"He will grant us-" he swung at Dipper, who ducked, "Great immortality!" he then kicked at the twin, who leapt back.
"And we will be rewarded with power!" The woman said, rushing up behind the man throwing the fists.
"Okay, fine!" Dipper took out heavy step back, and readied himself. "You're all brainwashed! I'm so sorry, but I'm going to knock that brain... washed... out of you!" he shouted.
The man lunged forward again, and drove a fist straight at Dipper's face. He ducked, wrapped his arm and palm onto the offending arm, and then pivoted. With the forward momentum of the attacker, and Dipper's re-direction, the man twisted off his feet and slammed into a tree, face first.
Managing to step over the slumping man's legs, Dipper continued to retreat away from the lunging woman. She again trained to grab hold of him, arms out stretched. This time Dipper grabbed one and turned, flipping her to the ground. As she fell, Dipper kneeled and drove his fist into her stomach twice. A loud cough and groan later, she was clutching her stomach in pain.
"Two out of-" Dipper grinned and stood up.
The third, and technically first of the three that had come for him, threw a jab into his face. A blinding flash of white seared his mind, and Dipper stumbled back. Cold trickled down his lips from his nose, which throbbed with pain.
"Great, you can throw a punch," Dipper wiped away the cold form his lips, which as he scanned his hand, realized was his blood.
"You're going back with me, Pines," the man said, his arms at his side in a boxer stance.
"I'm not going anywhere I don't want to," Dipper scowled, flicking his hand away, scattering his blood onto the leaves around him. With a moment to study his foe, Dipper re-positioned himself, and prepared. He wouldn't be the aggressor here.
The man took his cue, and slid forward, jabbing out again. Yet Dipper saw the bluff that was a feint punch, and quickly countered. He struck out at the coming fist with an uppercut. He predicted correctly; the placement of the actual jab was exactly where he needed it to be. Dipper managed to hit a tender spot; the pocket of the elbow, with his own fist.
The man gasped and pulled back his injured arm, throwing him off balance as he turned to one side. Dipper, his mind racing at a million miles a minute, saw the chance. The knee was exposed, and he swept at it with his own foot. The cultist-boxer tried pulling back at the same time, which lowered the weight of the foot. He stumbled to the side, now off balance.
Dipper only had to turn to face the side-stumbling man, and lift a foot forward. Kicking outwards against the attacker, Dipper threw the man against a tree with a heavy thud. The boxer gasped and fell forward. His stare dropped to the ground as the head fell limp.
Dipper stood above him, a fifteen-year-old having beaten, by Dipper's guess, someone in his mid-twenties. He just took on three men and women, alone, and beat them. It was a thrill strong enough to almost block out the throbbing pain in his nose.
"I'm actually... decent at this," he mused, looking to his bruised and scraped knuckles.
Something primeval in his mind roared a warning as loud as a gunshot. Dipper spun about to look into the woods. Something triggered his senses beyond scent or smell or even hearing.
A wall of black flame raced towards him.
"NO!" Dipper dived out of the way, rolling behind one particularly thick tree among many. The terrible wrath of black fire passed by him, eating at the spot he had only just been. Without looking behind him, Dipper heard the footsteps over the flames and embers now catching in the trees.
"Pines, good to see you again," the voice of Graupner Kinley called out from the darkness on the other side of the three.
"Warlock," Dipper called back.
"Going to stop hiding behind that tree?" he asked, his lighter voice reached Dipper.
"Going to ever fix your attitude?" Dipper called back.
There was a silence from the other end. For a single moment, Dipper grinned, certain that he may have struck verbally wounded him. Then, that mystical sense, coupled with the roaring of wind, and Dipper dived out from behind the tree. It was instantly devoured by another jet of black fire, with swallowed the trunk hole.
As he ran into the darkness of the night, Dipper finally saw him again. The Warlock, Graupner Kinley, not thirty feet away. His hands shone with the remains of the black fire, and he wore new robes- black, multilayered and hooded. As Dipper dived behind a new cluster of trees, the cackling voice called out.
"It's rude to not look at someone when they're talking to you," Graupner snarled loudly, shouting over the crackling flames he caused.
"I make an exception for you," Dipper called back.
"You shouldn't hide," Graupner shouted, "I'll just find you in the end."
"Sure, and you shouldn't use magic," Dipper retorted, "Seems fair, doesn't it?"
Another pause. Dipper honed every sense he had on the spot he knew Graupner had been at. Even with the distance sounds of Mabel, Wendy, and Soos fighting off the multiple cultists, he was able to detect Graupners presence. Then there was the shuffling of cloth and breaking of twigs. He was approaching.
"Okay, Pines," Graupner called back, "I'll take that bet."
"You'll what?" Dipper gasped.
"I won't use magic if you come out," he replied, coming closer.
"Just those knives of yours, huh?" Dipper asked, slowly lowering himself to a large branch next to him. Giving it a quick check, he felt its solid weight. Not rotten or frail; still somewhat living and plenty heavy for a swing. With it in hand, he stepped out, holding the stick at the ready. Graupner was no man of his word.
Yet no fire came his way. The one-eyed spell-caster stared out before Dipper, his hands at his side, even without knife or dagger. Graupner's face was split in a grin.
"I'm going to be more than fair, Pines," Graupner called out.
"Are you?" Dipper snorted, still approaching. "I have my doubts."
His words didn't deter the Warlock. With a turn of conversation, the man named Graupner Kinley blurted out, "I killed your friend."
Dipper stalled. Lips numb, he looked out. Graupner had a pleased, gentle smile to him. Dipper, breathless, asked, "What did you say?"
"Yuki's dead, and I take credit for it. I think you should as well, seeing as how he only got into that position because of your own stupidity, but I'll happily claim the kill," Graupner declared, holding his hands out from him on either side. Dipper's trembling grasp on the branch tightened, small bits of uneven bark cutting into his palm. He was sure that his head was ringing with this terrible cry; like a monster in pain. It was a miracle Dipper could hear anything at all. His fists trembled. Graupner saw him twitch, and he smiled. "You go ahead, and take three swings on me."
"What?"
"Three hits. You can hit me three times and then we'll play for real," Graupner said. Dipper stared, but Graupner sneered, and added, "What? You wanted to get even last time. I think three hits for free sounds like a good start, doesn't it?"
"Oh," Dipper nodded, the throbbing sound of rushing blood in his ears overcoming his senses, "Since you put it like that, I-"
Dipper charged at him, his feet digging so hard into the dirt that he sprayed a trail of leaves and twigs in his wake. He was still twenty feet away, and Graupner had all the time in the world to react. All he did was flinch, and let Dipper come.
"One!" Dipper roared, and swing the branch like a baseball bat at his stomach. The cloak did little to protect the Warlock from the impact. The branch held firm as the ribs of the man it struck against bent inwards, yet not breaking. Graupner Kinley gasped as every inch of air in his lungs escaped him.
Dipper spun, turning about to position himself to Graupner's side. "TWO!" he roared, and swing at Graupner's knee-pocket.
The leg bent forward as the end of the branch collided with softer inner-leg. Falling to the ground with a pained wheeze, the Warlock turned and looked up to Dipper, his one eye leaking tears.
He found Dipper, both hands above his head, holding the branch as a mighty weapon.
"THREE!"
Dipper drove the stick as hard as he could downward. The path was true, and the Warlock made no effort to move. With a resounding and sickening crack, the branch and the Warlock's head connected. Graupner Kinley flopped onto the ground like a broken rag. His eyes were still wide open, unfocused.
Dipper heaved as he looked down at the unmoving body. With the smallest realization, he noticed his branch had snapped in half, and was dangling from the middle.
"I'll deal with you later," Dipper grumbled, and tossed the branch aside, and turned back towards the entrance of the woods, to his friends and sister.
Then that instinct flared in his mind, and he rolled aside just in time to avoid a burst of that same black fire. Now behind a tree, Dipper panted.
"HOW ARE YOU STILL UP!?" Dipper shouted, glancing around the tree.
"Because you're stupid, Pines," Graupner chuckled, standing up slowly and dusting off his cloak, "I'm not the same as you anymore. Because… I'm better than you."
Dipper cursed himself mentally, and turned back to the tree. Now that there wasn't hatred burning through his veins, he could remember. "So, you really are a Wraith?" he asked of his enemy.
Graupner let out another bark of a laugh. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm above that now – above your little friend across the park. I am something more. I took the spell to its absolute completion. I am now the one true Lich."
The name ran a cold shiver down Dipper's spine. Instinctively he raced a hand for his vest and pulled out his journal. The notes had nothing on the more specific types of undead, but Dipper had ensured to add anything and everything he had found in his research. There was a difference to Liches and wraiths. He remembered that wraiths were related to them, and something called wights.
From the other side of the tree, Graupner cackled, "Impressed, Pines?"
"Impressed that you have enough brain cells left in your head to talk still!" Dipper shouted as he shoved away the journal. "If you're not a wraith, you'll have a way to be destroyed!"
"Oh, you think so?" Graupner chuckled. "Then by all means, try me."
Dipper gripped his fists together and clenched his jaw. This would be a moment in all the training Mabel had provided, and put to the test.
Her words floated into his mind.
You have to feel a light in your head.
Dipper closed his eyes and focused as hard as he could manage without forcing the image onto himself. His senses sharpened and his readiness increased. From Arline to Mabel, and from sister to Brother, Dipper would take his chances now.
He turned out from the tree and rushed at Graupner again.
Fire blasted out at Dipper. He ducked. He dodged aside as more fire blasted at him.
Again and again, he avoided and evaded each of the attacks. Graupner grew increasingly frustrated. Each miss he snarled and snapped low curses in foreign languages at Dipper, so alien and odd to his ears that it could have just as well been gibberish. But he grew closer- Dipper was gaining distance.
One final blast of the demon fire and Dipper wove around and threw a heavy punch across the Warlock's eye. The blow was solid, and Graupner gasped and spun aside, clutching his head. Dipper wouldn't let another opportunity slip. Again and again, he struck out, making each hit strong enough to count without sacrificing his own pacing or footing.
This wasn't going to be a Dipper who made a mistake in battle. He remembered the cost of becoming compromised. Graupner made the mistakes now, and Dipper would use each one to his advantage. Sixteen strikes and counting, and Dipper stepped back and avoided a floating dagger rising up from the cloak to cut at him.
The staggering spell-caster then landed his foot calmly and sighed. "Damn. You dodge to well to be cut anymore."
Dipper stared at the foe before him. This… this was what it must be like to fight Wendy. Someone who, no matter how hard, or how many times you hit them, feel nothing. A true terror. Undead.
"I'm just getting warmed up," Dipper threatened.
"Oh yeah? I call your bluff, Pines," Graupner sneered.
"What makes you think it's a bluff?" Dipper demanded, keeping to his stance.
"All you've ever learned from your dumb sister was how to throw a punch," the Warlock laughed. As he did, he shook his head. "The paths. They think that if you can keep punching and kicking long enough, you can control powers. Maybe you can, in twenty years!" the Warlock roared with laughter.
Dipper felt his knuckles in the cool summer air. Against all his hopes and wishes, he felt the pain of striking skull and bone boring into his skin. His knuckles ached. They were raw and worn with the previous fights, and now this one on top of it. Graupner's laughter filled the air, and all he could do was sit there and watch.
Unless…
Dipper lowered his hands and slowly reached inside his vest. The feeling of book spine pressed back against his finger tips and Dipper slowly pulled out his journal. Graupner turned and stared at him, as Dipper turned to a page, any page, with something on it he could use.
He wouldn't let Graupner get the best of him.
He did have more than one option to use now.
Clearing his throat, Dipper called into the air, "Authritea naudi, babraki kuokulo, athiri natirii-"
"What is this?" Graupner snorted, "Casting a 'spell'?" he asked quoting the word.
Dipper pressed onward. "Sylvani, Sumouni. Enthralious!"
A gust of wind expelled out from Dipper, tossing twigs and leaves and even dust from the ground. The Warlock blinked as his smile faded from his face.
All around them, groaning of wood became louder and louder. To Dipper's shock, but even more so, to the Warlock's shock, trees began to stand up and move above, faces etched in their bark as they looked around, a deep, earthy moan as they peered about in the darkness.
"What is this!?" Graupner shouted.
"Summoning tree-spirits," Dipper smirked, looking back to Graupner, "Just to level the playing field a little bit.
"How?!" Graupner barked, "How did you do that!?"
"You know, that's not all I can do!" Dipper snapped, spotting a simpler, much more refined spell. "Adripio adtonitus!"
Dipper nearly dropped the journal as light expelled around his fingertips. Cackling with energy, Dipper found that on each of his fingertips, a buzz of lightning now resided, ready to be commanded.
"It's that book," Graupner snarled, pointing to Dipper, "You're using that book to cast magic!"
"Here! Have a taste!" Dipper said, and pointed a finger outward.
A bolt of lightning, true, terrible lightning, shot outwards towards Graupner. The night around them both vanished into the bright blue light.
Yet in the split moment Dipper had shot the magic forward he gasped. Graupner had extended a single hand, and in his fist, a smoking trail drifted upwards from the palm. Dipper did check his own finger, and found one small charge of lighting missing from his hand.
"So, you can cast magic," he smirked, a cruel flicker in his one eye, "Let me show you how a professional does it, amateur!" Graupner snarled, and then threw his own fist forward. Dipper dived out of the way, avoiding the fire, and nearly walking into one of the new tree-creatures that was storming about, swiping at the fleeing cultists.
Dipper spun around back to Graupner as the man approached him. Dipper again dived out of the way. Yet the leg of the one tree creature caught fire, and the being screamed, filling the air with a sorrowful moan.
Just as Dipper made to turn and throw more magic at Graupner, the beast between them turned, and stomped at him.
Diving aside, Dipper shouted, "What!? Why is it attacking me!? I summoned it!
"Feral!?" Graupner laughed, "You summoned feral tree-spirits to fight on your behalf!?" Graupner leaned against another tree as the one assaulting spirit spun about, flailing as the fires spread across its body. "That's just hysterical!"
"Shut up," Dipper growled.
"Haha- make me," Graupner snarled.
All he had left was rage and instinct. The spell, however it functioned, was going to aid him, here and now, and put the warlock to shame. Dipper roared and clapped his hands together, unleashing onto the Warlock all nine remaining bolts of lightning simultaneously. The forest burst into new light. It was like day had come, all by result of Dipper's brief escapade with dangerous magic.
When he could finally see again, both from the shock of the brightness he created and the blast of energy that had dried out his eyes, Dipper blinked and looked forward. Graupner was on the ground, singed and burned. He looked thoroughly ruined by the lightning.
Slightly fearful of his own handiwork, Dipper panted and gasped. "Oh… ugh. Wow. I beat-"
"HAH!" Graupner laughed, and then stood up, rolling to a stand as quickly as the lightning had come.
Dipper stared in disbelief. "But… You're burnt! Singed! I literally cooked you!"
"Yeah, it feels horrible, by the way," Graupner said, cracking his neck. Dipper stared at him, seeing the caked and horribly blistered skin rejuvenate before his eyes like shards of frost melting into water. In record time, a man, cooked to a crisp, returned to his raw, regular, undead self.
"Dang it," Dipper growled, ready to reach back for his book. Only, his head became suddenly very light. He swayed, and grasped the closest stationary tree, holding him stead. Things were feeling a little more numb than usual.
"Uh oh," Graupner stepped closer, opening his palm to create more of his black fire, "Someone is feeling a little tired because of magic-overuse."
"What?" Dipper gasped.
"Pines, you really know nothing about magic," Graupner sneered, "You don't just start using magic by starting with whatever spell you want. It takes study, practice, and conditioning to learn to ignore the effects of spells you control. Especially multiple ones," he added, approaching the winded and dizzy Dipper.
"Yeah? Well, I'm up for more!" Dipper shouted, and shoved himself away from his tree, and reached out for his journal. Despite his wishes, however, his body was not ready for the sudden action. The book slipped from his hands and fell to his side as he slipped to his knees.
"Tsk-tsk," the Warlock shook his head, now only feet from Dipper, "And t-to think, when you were making no progress just punching me, at least you could run away. You had your chance, and you couldn't even do it now. You really just can't help yourself, can you?"
Dipper crawled away, grasping at the journal and rising to stand. Yet he swayed again, his vision no longer straight. His shoulder hit a tree, and he winced, feeling the muscle clench against the impact.
From the distance, Graupner's voice called out, "Stay still for me, Pines. And you can tell your friend, Yuki, that he also had his chance to not d-"
A blur of wind cut out the words from Dipper. He turned back from the tree, and found another figure in a black cloak before him, and a huge spear of celestial, starry-blackness held out in a wide swing. Graupner had been thrown off his feet and a dozen feet away, rolling to his side.
A voice as cold as winter spoke. "So, the apprentice thinks he's in charge, and only after one week," The deepened voice of Zander Maximillion, the Gaurdsman, said as the masked figure watched Graupner crawl to a stand. Two small fireballs ignited in the Warlocks' hands as he glared at the Guardsman. "You really don't think you can kill me with those, do you?" Zander asked him.
"No. I don't have to," Graupner answered, and tossed both simultaneously. One aimed straight for Dipper and Zander, which was instantly patted out with a long sweep of the spear. The other flew to the side, and struck a weakened tree. It then fell towards Dipper.
"Grab on!" Zander shouted, turning and holding out the spear for Dipper.
Without regard, Dipper did as told, and felt his body lurch in the monuments force that Zander used with his swing. Dipper was lifted up and away from his spot just as the burning tree crashed down to where he had just been.
Dipper stared at Zander, the image of the Gaurdsman swaying before him. He reached out and patted the cloaked arm. "Thanks," Dipper managed.
A small snort from Zander, and he followed up with, "Anytime, buddy."
Distant in the woods, the sound of a rising helicopter forced Dipper to turn and watch as Graupner got his getaway. "No!" Dipper shouted, starting to rush after him. The same iron hand that had lifted him away from danger held him back, clamped down on his shoulder like a vice. "Zander, he's getting away!"
"Good. Less to worry about," the Guardsman noted.
"But-"
"Our worries aren't about him. We can get to him one day. We have the world to save right now, remember?" Zander reminded him.
Dipper turned around, the cloud of anger and righteousness simmering away. With a terrible, guilty tar-like feeling in his chest, Dipper told Zander, "He was talking about Yuki. He said he was proud of what he did."
Zander said nothing, instead looking up to the sky as the helicopter flew overhead, vanishing with its 'precious' cargo. Graupner had gotten away. Zander, however, seemed fine with the retreat. He told the exhausted teen, "Justice and revenge can come another day. Yuki… was patient, after all. What would he, Yuki, suggest we do?" Zander asked of Dipper.
Dipper looked to the mask, wanting to scold him for taking Yuki's name just as lightly. Yet… no ill will was coming from his unlikely ally. Instead, he chose to nod and resign his anger for another day. Zander was, to the teenager's frustration, correct.
Sensing the acknowledgement, Zander cracked his neck side by side, and said to Dipper, "Now, get your sister, Soos, and Wendy, out of here." He walked away, towards the deeper side of the woods, towards the sounds of fighting and screams for retreat.
Dipper frowned, and pointed out, "What? But we're not done-"
The Guardsman said over his shoulder, "My students and I have a mission – to cover for you all so you can continue your mission. Collect the stones, and save the world from magic?" Zander reminded him, turning to face him with the mask. "Besides, I don't think you guys really want to be here when my gang and I start taking down these tree spirits. By the way," he asked, "What's up with that?"
"Huh?" Dipper asked.
Zander pointed a thumber over his shoulder at the vegetation-based carnage. "Tree spirits. There's a bunch of them. More than zero, which means too many. Did Graupner try summoning them or something?"
A little antsy, Dipper shrugged and said, "Uh, I think so. Hey, I'll go now, okay? Good luck with all this," Dipper said, and raced past him.
Leaving behind the silent Guardsman, Dipper raced through the combat that was now rampant in the woods. The boy named Drew was brandishing a long kukri, a machete of sorts. The man Mabel identified as 'Rushtar' was giving a hell of a boxing match against a crowd of retreating cultists. The woman with long black hair flew past Dipper, slamming her fist into the center of one of the rampant tree-spirits, which fell with a crash. There was the other two, the short woman and the man with thick, short hair, who were tag-teaming a few cultists who strayed behind.
As he eyed the destruction, someone familiar called out, "Dipper!"
"Wendy," Dipper gasped, darting underneath a charging Tree-spirit to the red-head.
Rushing for Dipper, Wendy pointed at the dozen or so animated beings of flora. "The heck is going on now? I was dealing with these crazy cultists, and now trees are running around – playing golf with whoever they find first!"
Further heat running down the back of his neck, Dipper commented, "Yeah, we should go before we end up on their next par."
"Find Soos?" Wendy suggested.
"And find Mabel!" Dipper cried, and the two turned, running through even more war-torn, midnight woods.
There, at the top of the creek, Mabel was carrying a shivering, trembling pig over her shoulder. Soos crawled out after her, covered in mud and dirt.
"You guys look great," Dipper mentioned, looking at Soos.
"Considering Soos and I easily took down twenty-five guys and gals, yeah, we're looking pretty good," Mabel admitted, a large bruise over her left eyebrow.
"Also, mud is pretty healthy for the skin," Soos pointed out, holding out his filthy hands, "So I feel less obligated to wash."
Bidding the two hurry, Dipper snapped, "Let's deal with that after we leave!"
"What!?" Mabel gasped. "But the cavalry just showed up!"
"Mabel-"
She whined, "I wanna see Zander before we go!"
"Your pig's safety, or satisfying your crush – what's it going to be?" Dipper demanded of Mabel. Her eyes turned to the pig in her arms, and with a deflated sigh, she nodded. Dipper waved them all to follow, "Good! Let's get out of her before anything else freaky happens."
"Yeah!" Soos laughed, "Like, I dunno, huge tree people coming out of no-where and attacking people indiscriminately." A huge-tree spirit stomped over-head, chasing a crowd of cultists while swinging a half of a tree-trunk. As they ran by, Soos pointed. "Hey dudes, look! That thing I just said is happening! …Cool."
Finally making it to the vehicles, Wendy flipped herself onto the bike, and revved it first. "They didn't touch any of my stuff."
"Mister Pines car is okay!" Soos cried out as he stepped inside, "Wxcept for the mud I just splashed everywhere. Whoops."
Mabel scrambled into the car with Dipper. As he took to the driver seat, she reached into the back, checking their items.
"Looks clear!" she called.
With a heavy sigh, Dipper turned the car on, and after Soos and Wendy, went in reverse. The last sights of the battle fading from sight, and his eyelids heavy but mind clear, Dipper drove his sister and pig away from harm.
"So," Mabel said to Dipper, getting in her seat, "You kick butt out there?"
"Eh," Dipper shrugged as Waddles scrambled into the back seats, "Took out three guys on my own."
"Nice!" she nodded. "Run into jerk-face himself?" Her brother could only grumble. "But… everything is okay! I mean, I bet he got away or something stupid," she rolled her eyes, "But at least you're okay? You held up against him again! And nothing bad happened!"
"Yeah," Dipper nodded, giving her his best smile before facing back to the road.
Yet his mind raced at one acknowledgement.
I am now the one true lich.
He knew that name, but only in fiction. He knew that the same vein of dark ritual was required to make such a thing, but beyond that, Dipper had no clue to what that meant. Whatever a Lich was, Dipper was certain it wasn't anything better than Wendy. It was just another form of torturous existence that gave power to the cursed person. That said, if Graupner Kinley was a horrible person when he was already scared of people punching him in the face, Dipper shuddered to imagine what he would be like now that he didn't care about physical retaliation.
Following a heavy sigh, Dipper quietly said, "It's a long road ahead of us," and let the wind caress his face as he drove northward.
*really sad, pathetic fanfair, but hey, it's really trying*
(EZB bursts forward from the darkness that is 'Author Hiatus') WABAAM WORLD, I'm baaaack!
Man it's been a while. A month! Two weeks longer than it should have been! But hey, that's the world for you, amiright?
…but seriously, am I right? Am I doing 'life' wrong? Someone hand me the life manual. And not the board game, or I swear I'll chew it in front of your face.
So, I want to make this clear to everyone before another panic happens. I'm back this week, but I'm gone again next week. I'm going to PAX East! Sadly, I don't work on a laptop, and that means I can't take this fantastic hobby/other job with me. Sorry folks, got one more week where I post nothing, and then we're back on schedule. Forever. Until the story ends.
I have only a few things to say, but I'm sure I'll think of more while I'm typing. First- you guys, all of you, are so amazing. I screwed up my timing on my off time, and felt so bad about it all. When I finally get back to all you, sending me those wonderful reviews and PM's, and all I see is positivity and love- I die a little on the inside (in a good way!) So, yeah, thank you so much. You guys make having this story worth writing.
And on a similar note: the wonderful human being (may be a celestial being actually… hard to tell) drew something amazing.
: / roseverdict . tumblr post / 142913493330 / oh-i-drew-a-things
You guys know what to do with that. Look it up. And now that my heart grew three sizes that day. (I need a surgeon, actually. Help.)
So, to all you fans, new, old, patient, or bounding up and down ready for more, I bid you a good evening, and thank you so much for being the best parts of my life.
(EZB's heart literally tears itself out of his chest, and runs off screaming)
Hey! I needed tha- (EZB is ded.)
Sifting through the remains of the woods, the boy named Drew stepped onto the remains of one of the greater tree spirits. The crunch called to his attention, and he gasped, stepping back. "Oops," he gasped, and looked around.
"Careful where you step," the tall woman of long black hair, Rin, reminded him coldly.
Drew nodded. "Yeah, got you," he said, and stepped closer to the group. "I found at least two more of these things out there," he threw his thumb over his shoulder, barely missing the guitar case on his shoulder.
"That makes fifteen tree spirits," Maureen the menace said as she walked in.
"Fifteen?" the boy gasped.
"I found one behind the playgrounds by a stream," she sighed. "They all are sleeping again though. Cute when they aren't angered to the point of murder-murder death kill."
Leaning against a nearby tree, the scratched up, but otherwise healthy, form of the bald warrior chuckled. "Fifteen of these things stomping around the woods," 'Rushtar' shook his head, "That's just luck for you."
Standing nearby, almost entirely obscured by the darkness, the voice of the guardsman postulated, "Was it luck?"
"I'd think so too," the teacher of Drew, Nadan, added. "They turned most of these cultists on their heels. Probably the only reason that the kids survived until we arrived."
With a tiny giggle, Maureen the Menace said, "Good thing this Graupner guy doesn't know how to control tree spirits. Bonehead."
"Indeed," the Master of the paths quietly noted.
"You'd think he would though," Drew added, "I mean, that horrible black fire is all over the place. Well," he looked about, "Was all over the place. He could control magic."
"Not all magic is the same," Rushtar pointed out, "Different elements, require regents, heck, components to a spell, like verbal commands or physical cues-"
"Magic is magic," the Master snapped, twisting around to view his followers. Rushtar, his calm, sarcastic demeanor fell away and he became silent. Their grandmaster reminded them, "Do not think that because these things exist in the world naturally that anything other than a spell summoned them. If one had arrived, a coincidence could excuse this. Fifteen is far too many to be allowed in an area like this. They were summoned, and that means magic was used. And magic is-"
"Corrupting," Maureen quickly added, "Yes, big spooky dark one. We understand."
"...Good," The Master nodded. "Collect evidence for our investigation. Anything at all that wouldn't belong and looks recent, bring it along."
"Really?" Drew asked. Nadan gave him a trying look, and the teen wilted. "I-I mean – yeah, sure."
As the group spread out once more, beginning to lift charred pieces of wood and chunks of lumber, Nadan approached the Master of the Paths. His voice, deep and dark as the night, echoed around him.
"You seem troubled by the spirits," he noted.
"Troubled is a word," the master agreed, "I know only a little about the Warlock. His methods of magical use are... limited. He prefers direct, potent abilities. That demon flame, for example," he nodded to a burned tree.
Nadan looked to the charred ashes along some trees. Eminating from them were violet embers, a blight upon the life. Nadan asked, "So, this kind of spell is beyond his usage? Perhaps not his type?"
"Maybe," The master turned to him from the woods, "He could be discovering the source that his master before him used, and added to his repertoire. Still..." the master leaned down to the fallen tree-spirit, and touched the now still face that had grown into the bark. "This man, Kinley... he doesn't strike me as the type to learn something like this."
"How so?"
The master looked up. "Nature would never ally itself to him. He works with terrible, unnatural intents and forces."
"Maybe that is why they all went berserk," Nadan answered, "He summoned their forces, and they turned against him."
"Hmm..." The Master stood up, yet said nothing.
Nadan awaited his teacher to speak. When no such words came, he suggested, "Should I go find a new car depot for us to purchase a van? Or do we want to steal another bus?"
"What would be acceptable," the master nodded, and watched as the large man ran off, leaving the woods for the main streets.
Zander stood there, looking around at the ruin the battle in the woods had caused. Behind his mask, his eyes screwed up in thought. Frowning and squinting at the felled wooden spirit, he mumbled to himself. "Why would he summon these..." Then he shook his head, and stepped forward.
He had more pressing things to do. Orders had to be given. After all, they were without constant transport now, and acting swiftly would be required.
Blf ziv zolmv, xsrow. Gsviv rh lmob wzipmvhh uli blf, zmw lmob wvzgs uli blfi kvlkov.
-AND-
Migyncgym nby vymn junb ni nuey uly nby ihym qy ufihy gomn nlupyf. Uhx migy junbm qy nlupyf niaynbyl ih nolh xiqh xuleyl pyhnolym qy jlyxcwn. Nbcm cm nby uvmifony iz wigvuncha Guacw- nby Qyuls Junbm.