Chapter Twenty-One! What's Krane gonna do?!

I'm too excited for a long author's note, so I'm going to keep this short.

I'd like to thank my readers and reviewers before noting that this chapter gets remarkably horrifying towards the end. You were warned. :3

Gg180000: Lol I play the Rockstar game "Red Dead Redemption" and love lassoing people just to drag them behind my horse until they die. :P…Are we bad people? O_o

DisneyXDGirl: "I'm dead, see?" *lays flat on the floor with his eyes closed and his tongue sticking out to the side for good measure*

Mia-Teresa-Davenport: "Lol I'm still not getting anyone talking to me about it, so it's a you problem. xD"

AllAmericanSlurp: "Lay off the tail! I need that for showing irritation and balancing while I fly!"

DarkestKing: "I will not be getting you any launch codes this evening, sir. :3"

Also, I think you'll rather enjoy the ending of this chapter.

UnknownForNow: This whole situation is about to turn out bad.

Let's get on with it! Leo?

"Zara doesn't own Lab Rats or anything you recognize. If you don't recognize it, it's probably hers."

Good luck.

"No two persons ever read the same book."

Edmund Wilson

"I always say that modernization is not an abstract thing; it's a very specific task."

Dmitry Medvedev

Chapter Twenty-One – Lord Soad

Chase

Ferran and Krane.

That about figured. Jackasses traveled in packs, right?

And, finally, we found a connection with the Council as the two entered the building in which the meeting was being held.

Oly and I landed outside, still appearing as birds to avoid detection, and stared at the door. "At least we know that the Council is more corrupt than everyone thought," Oly noted.

I pecked her head sharply with my beak. "Not the time for jokes," I hissed.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood before everyone dies," she defended.

I glared at her. "We're not going to stand around out here while everyone is slaughtered!"

"What are we supposed to do?" Oly huffed. "Fly home and get Azazel's Bane?"

I chirped excitedly at the idea. "Yes! That's perfect! Go get it!"

Oly ruffled her feathers a bit. "Can't. Master told me not to let you out of my sight."

Damn it, Douglas! "Fine. Then find a phone, call Bree and get her to bring Azazel's Bane."

"I can't do that, either."

"Why the hell not?" I huffed.

Oly buried her beak in her wing and mumbled something even I couldn't hear, obviously embarrassed.

I glared at her. "Speak up."

Her head shot up, and she fixed me with a hard look. "I don't know how to use a phone!"

I stared at her for a second before responding. "You don't know how to use a phone?" When she shook her head, my feathers ruffled up. "You're over 3,000 years old. You should know how to use a fucking phone!"

"I never had to before," she snapped. "I usually go back to my master or wait to be summoned when I have a message I want to give him."

I resisted the urge to kick something. Not that I would do much damage with my raven feet, but it would make me feel better. Using a phone seems like a skill she should have learned in case she needed it.

Why? My voice asked. She has no one to call from the Otherworld, and she has an eternity to wait for her master to call her back. She has no use for that skill.

Damn it, the thing had a point.

I sighed. "You're going to learn today, then. We just have to find a phone first."

"…A threat for a threat leaves the whole world terrified. Blow for blow never settles the score. Word for word, it's time we clarify: We the people did not want war…"

Flobots, "Stand Up"

"Sometimes, I think I'm crumbling from the inside out. I can feel a parasite gnawing at the coffin encasing my soul and exposing the pretense of overconfidence for what it truly is – dust…"

Ella Schmeits, Dust

Douglas

Leo's sudden wish to leave Summoner Hall's apprenticeship was met with some discord. Oh, if only they knew what the "upstanding" Hall had done. Douglas would have loved to tell them - to incite a political rebellion against Hall simply for the hell of it - but Hall would know then that Leo had told.

So, while Leo seemed to want nothing more than to disappear, Douglas gave answers to every question he heard.

Even if it was nothing but sarcasm or random bullshit.

"You just became apprenticed! Why are you leaving?"

"Last I checked, we were still in this room. No one has left yet."

"Councilor Hall is one of the finest Summoners in North America! Why would you not want to learn from him?"

"I would explain it, but I only have two crayons and a puppet. We'd need more for you to understand."

"Are you stupid?"

"Are you high?"

Obviously, he was making enemies, but messing with them was just too much fun. If it stopped their questions, then he was going to do it. Beside him, Leo glanced around at the door as it opened. Douglas ignored the sound, not caring that some idiot was late to the meeting.

Summoner Hall, however, was very interested in the person who had entered the room. He appeared relieved and excited as he gestured towards the back. "You are late."

"It's Krane," Leo hissed in Douglas' ear. "Krane and that guy Hellcat hates."

Now those were idiots Douglas cared about. He glanced back over his shoulder as the room fell silent, biting his cheek to keep from laughing at Krane's new eye patch.

Nicely done, Oly. Nicely done.

Krane narrowed his one good eye at Douglas, but did nothing else. The other man – the "glow stick," as Chase called him – spoke up. "We were delayed by traffic. You try crossing a street with hundreds of cars."

Smartass.

Hall, however, nodded as if it was a perfectly reasonable excuse. "You're here now. That's all that matters." He made a sweeping motion towards everyone. "Might I present the very epicenter of my latest research: David Burnett." At this, the man who bothered Chase so much smiled a bit and waved politely. After a second, Hall went on. "He is the living proof that demons can be controlled beyond the level they currently are."

Around the room, demons against the wall started scoffing and muttering amongst themselves. They weren't inclined to believe that they could be controlled better. Summoners still had trouble with them even though their wills were bound.

Apparently, some of the Council shared their skepticism. An older member raised her hand. "Summoner Hall, are you proposing that demons could be cured of their mischievous ways?"

Some polite laughter travelled through the Council. Hall smiled at the woman. "Not at all, Ms. Donna," he answered. "I am saying that there is a way to make their powers our own."

The demons along the wall started laughing out loud. Loud hisses and orders for silence restored order in seconds.

Hall gestured towards Krane and Burnett. "These two approached me with the idea a few months back. So, as you know, I hired some people to research further into demons and Circles until, a few weeks ago, I finally found the answer." He paused and dropped his voice, leaning forward for dramatic effect. "I have discovered a new Circle. One that allows us to use a demon's powers as our own. You see, the human body can become a Circle itself, trapping the demon inside. If someone has a strong enough will, they can control the creature and use its strength."

This whole speech was met with horrified and morbidly curious silence. Even the demons along the walls were listening more intently, no doubt already thinking of ways to twist the information to their advantage. Douglas, however, was fuming a bit. Hall had used him to do research on Krane's behalf. It was like Krane had played a game with him.

Nothing to be done about it now, though. "And how, pray tell, does a human become a Circle?" Douglas asked, hoping to throw Hall into a monologue that allowed time to think. Krane was unlikely to let them leave alive, after all.

Hall grinned. Usually an irritatingly cheerful thing, Hall's smile bore a kind of maniacal glee this time. It was a tad unnerving. "One simply has to stand in the Summoning Circle. It's quite simple, really."

Douglas couldn't keep track of how many Councilors blanched at this revelation. Standing in the Summoning Circle was essentially the first thing they were warned against when they had learned to summon. Leo himself looked like he was going to be sick.

"What's to stop the demon from eating someone in their Circle?" an apprentice pointed out, frowning.

Hall glanced at the young man. "Because the demon is inside the person. Allow me to show you." He gestured at Krane. "Sir, since you set this marvelous discovery in motion, would you like to demonstrate?"

Krane nodded, his one eye gleaming with madness and lust for power. Douglas shuddered, wishing that he had seen the insanity before he ever did anything to give Krane power. "Yes," Krane answered, his voice laced with glee. "I want to do it with Soad."

A collective gasp of fear and reverence from the demons along the wall made the hair on the back of Douglas' neck stand on end. This demon – whoever he was – was obviously very powerful. From the corner of his eye, Douglas saw Yahn bury his face against Adam as he trembled. On Leo's shoulder, Ysthry squeaked and his her face under her wings.

The Council had apparently caught on, the younger members looking at the older ones for explanation. However, Hall grinned. "Feeling strong, are you? Very well. Let's get a few of you to help me draw the Circle, shall we?" When no one leapt forward, he sighed and gestured at two demons. "You two are helping me then. And you're not allowed to mess up the lines, the incense, or any other part of this. Understood?"

With a bit of muttering, the two afrits stepped forward to help.

While Hall and the demons cleared out a large area for the summoning, Krane grinned and stepped towards Leo. Douglas set his jaw and turned to face his former friend in crime, now turned enemy in his quest to rule the earth. Keeping himself carefully between Krane and Leo, Douglas crossed his arms. "What?"

Krane didn't lose his maniacal smirk. "You and your family are first."

"How do you even know that you'll be able to use Soad's power?" Douglas challenged.

"Yeah," an apprentice agreed from nearby. "How do we know you won't just turn into a holding cell for the creature?"

Krane glanced back at Burnett, who had been silent up to this point. Burnett gave a smile and raised his hand. After a second, a bolt of white energy shot from his fingers, hitting the wall across the room. While everyone gasped in astonishment and renewed fear, Krane turned his attention back to Douglas. "We can use it."

Douglas felt like his throat was about to close as he took an involuntary step back. Krane was already strong. Having a demon's power would render him unstoppable. "We won't let you do this," Douglas hissed between his teeth, somehow sounding more confident than he really was.

Krane spread his arms wide, his face lighting up with triumph. "You can't stop me. This is months in the making. It's too late."

"Then why would you try to get rid of us before?" Leo asked shyly, peeking around Douglas. "Why didn't you wait until now? Because it seems like a waste of effort."

Douglas noted that Adam was sneaking towards them, keeping himself hidden as best he could from Krane's view. With a broken arm, the kid was probably going to end up failing at whatever plan he had formed, but Douglas decided that it was all they had. "Leo has a point," Douglas agreed.

"Magicians use a trick called sleight of hand," Krane explained, his voice condescending. "If I kept your attention on one thing, you wouldn't see me doing this."

The great Douglas Davenport, fooled by sleight of hand. The shame!

Adam was almost upon Krane. In the background, Burnett was watching this with his head tilted curiously. It was strange that he wouldn't help his ally. Yahn jumped to the floor to get out of the way when Adam let out a loud cry and charged.

The second Krane heard Adam, the psycho was across the room, his hands raised. Adam was frozen mid-stride, shock written on his face. Douglas frowned and tried to move when he figured out that he couldn't move himself. Leo whimpered beside him, obviously discovering the same thing.

Maybe it had been a bad idea to give Krane molecularkenesis.

"Anyone else want to challenge me?" Krane growled.

The Councilors and apprentices alike all shook their heads, some even backing away from them.

Wonderful; now Krane would have no one to stop him. He would get whatever power Soad offered and easily crush everyone in the room, if the reactions of the demons were anything to go by.

Douglas sighed in defeat. This entire situation sucked.

Several minutes passed as Hall and his demons drew two extraordinarily ornate Circles to summon Soad. Whatever his standing among demons, Soad was at least as powerful as Joraed. The thought was frightening. Krane was going to have all of that at his disposal soon. Douglas swallowed hard. "Sorry, guys," he mumbled quietly to Adam and Leo. It was his fault, after all. He had created the monster that was Krane, had given him the strength he needed to set the entire thing in motion.

Adam frowned. "I'm sure Krane hid his craziness well. Hall obviously hasn't seen it."

"Hall is crazy himself," Leo muttered. "What do we do?"

"We can't do anything," Douglas informed them, struggling to keep his voice from breaking. He felt like he could cry at the injustice of it all. "Krane wins."

"He can't win," Adam huffed. "Good guys always win."

"Grow up, Adam," Douglas found himself hissing. "Good guys only win in fairy tales! In reality, the world is run by those clever enough to take advantage of the weak and helpless."

When Adam's face fell, Douglas immediately regretted shattering the illusion that Adam had been living in his entire life. The idea that bad guys always lost, that kind heroes would prevail in the end, the stupid romantic notion that all evil was doomed to failure was all just a falsehood, put forth by parents who were trying to get their children to behave and believed by people who didn't want to see the world for what it was: Evil, cold, and violently cruel.

His innocent ideology destroyed, Adam didn't say anything else.

Instead, it was Leo who spoke. "Maybe the bad guys keep winning because everyone fights fire with fire. If acts of violence are met with more acts of violence, then who is the good guy?"

Leave it to a scrawny teenager to give Douglas a different perspective on just about everything. Douglas opened his mouth several times to refute the statement, but always had to close it again. Leo was right. If everyone was attacking each other, then everyone was the enemy. To him, the government and Christianity were his foes. However, to them, he was the bad guy. Douglas had seen Donnie as the enemy after taking his children away, but Don had seen him as the threat.

Well, at least he learned something mind-blowing before he died.

"That will do it," Hall declared, inspecting the Circles. He nodded at Krane. "I'll get the book. You can step into this Circle now." Hall gestured at the larger of the two Circles, indicating that it would be the one that contained Soad.

Krane grinned at them tauntingly and strode across the room towards the Circle, carefully stepping into it without smudging the lines. The entire time, he held his hands up, binding the only three who had tried to stop him in place. Hall returned after a moment with an old book, opening it up and flipping through its pages before he found what he was looking for. Stepping into the Summoner's Circle across from Krane, he smiled at the Council. "Now watch."

The summons was ten minutes long, filled with complicated words and phrasing that Douglas had a hard time understanding. Soad was apparently very, very old on top of being a powerful entity. During the time when Hall was speaking, the entire room was filled with silent tension. However, just as Hall prepared to speak the final words, Krane became excited enough to lose focus. Douglas found himself rapidly gaining the ability to move. "Ysthry," he hissed, "Can you move?" When the imp nodded, Douglas felt ecstatic. "Go stop Hall!"

"How?" Ysthry asked.

Leo, obviously upset by what he was about to say, answered her question. "Sting him."

Douglas was surprised. He hadn't thought that Leo had the kind of foresight – or mental strength - required to order something like that. He had basically passed a death sentence on Hall, obviously realizing that there was no other way to save everyone. If Hall finished, then Soad would be trapped in Krane. But, should Hall be stopped and escape, then he could try again.

His murder was drastic but necessary.

Ysthry shot across the room, her little wings beating frantically. However, it was too late. Just as Ysthry entered the Summoner's Circle and whipped her tail around to sink both of her stingers into Hall's arm, Hall uttered the final word.

Douglas had to admit that he was morbidly curious as to what Ysthry's venom did. However, he wished he hadn't seen it. Hall fell to the floor just as Krane did, both screaming in agony. However, where Krane twitched and clutched at his head, Hall went still after several seconds, blood pouring from his mouth, nose, eyes, and the wounds Ysthry had created in his arm. A crimson lake formed around the now deceased Summoner Hall, adding a horrifying backdrop to whatever was happening with Krane and Soad as Krane finally went silent. He twitched several more times in the span of a few minutes, and no one dared to move. It was a horrifying scene to watch.

Ysthry flew back across the room to land on Leo's shoulder, sniffing at the tears streaking down her Master's cheeks. Leo would likely be plagued forever by what he just had Ysthry do. Douglas patted his shoulder as he watched Krane's body. Was it possible that Soad was too powerful to be contained inside the human body? Was Krane about to fall apart at the seams, so to speak?

However, Krane went entirely still for a second – a slight bit of blood running out of his mouth - before sitting up. He rose to his feet and dusted himself off, glancing around the room with confusion in his eyes. After a second, he laughed. It was a horrifying sound, one that sent visible chills down everyone's spine. When he spoke, his voice was much deeper than it had ever been. "My will isn't bound! I'm free on this plane!"

Burnett bowed. "Lord Soad!"

Around the room, every demon – including Yahn and Ysthry - fell to their faces on the floor, bowing before Soad as Douglas realized exactly what had happened.

Soad had eaten Krane's brain and was now free to use his body as he wished.

Lord Soad was free on Earth.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Summoners can't control jack shit when they let a demon inside of them. xD Sneaky little guys will destroy your mind and take over.

Hopefully, you enjoyed Krane's death. Killed by his arrogance. What a way to go. :P Of course, now everyone's fucked because Soad is here to play.

So, DisneyXDGirl, were you right?

Also, poor Leo. He's going to have to live with that forever. If Soad doesn't kill him, that is.

Anyways, you'll all have to wait until next time to find out what happens!

So, until then, enjoy!

*Bows and exits*