Chapter 14:
The two green-skinned giants shoved Qin Gang into a chair. The short, ugly mercenary glared at the pair with hatred through his one good eye. He'd been on his way in to work with a bucket full of tea when he'd been snatched off the street at gunpoint and dragged to this place. His captors had given him no reason for abducting him and even less say in the matter.
Momentarily, the door before him opened, and a singular figure sauntered in. The slim woman's hips wig-wagged sensually in the sexy little dress she wore. "The Slut of Szolnok," growled Qin Gang, as Orzsebet sat herself before him. With an impish smile, the thin woman remarked, "you know who I am. That's already a bad sign."
Flushing, the mercenary tried bluster, declaring, "you've no power over me, whore. I have an army..." One of the giants slammed his head into the table and held it there until the wood began to creak.
Leaning down until her lips were even with his face, Orzsebet whispered, "if you know who I am, you know who my master is, Qin Gang, just as you should know what he's capable of. I don't really control these two. They're his creatures."
Straightening, Orzsebet murmured, "you were sold a very bad deal. Whatever you're guarding isn't worth what my master will do to you..." As if in reminder of the things that Finn the Human was reported to have done, the pressure on his head increased as though the massive thug would push his face through the table or crush his skull.
"I'm sorry," the merc howled! "I'm sorry. I apologize..." The massive giant released his grip on Qin Gang's head and even drew him back upright.
Crossing her legs artfully, the slim woman—the King's mistress—leaned back in her chair and examined her fingernails and the new coat of polish coating them. The message was clear. She had plenty of time.
"A ship's coming today," the mercenary burbled, "an airship. They're coming for a small box in the warehouse I guard." "Where's it going," Orzsebet responded. "Who's going to receive it?" "I-it's going to a warehouse in the Bandit Lands in the west," Qin Gang replied. "A man named Enzo is to receive it."
Resting her elbows on the table as if she were having a fun chat with a friend, Orzsebet asked, "what is he to do with the box?" "Safeguard it," the merc rumbled. "He has access to an ancient factory there. It's... somewhat restored. He has access to electric power to run it. He's supposed to be making farming implements..."
Bit by bit the slim woman prized information out of the mercenary, learning of the disposition of the guards, who they reported too, and what the warehouse's defenses were. When finally they were done, she felt she had what she needed to make a go of a raid.
Rising, she declared, "I think we're done..." The minute those words had left her mouth, the hostile giant grasped Qin Gang's head and snapped his neck like it was a twig, hurling the body on the floor. The second man immediately drew a sword.
Spinning around, the slim woman rumbled, "I imagined you'd wait until I had left..." She could hear the sick-making sounds of them chopping off the mercenary chief's head for mounting to one of the pikes they'd brought for the occasion. Based on the number of mercenaries inside the warehouse, they were likely to need more than the hundred or so pikes they'd brought. They were going to be chopping off heads for hours today.
A hundred miles to the north, a strange, burning smell arose in Kim Ssan's warehouse. The suddenness of the smell and the terrifying strength of it had every man within searching high and low for the source in a state of terror. Shit burned down in these small towns in the boondocks. Without the sophisticated plumbing infrastructure of the coastal cities, the only hope for a burning building's inhabitants was often just a bucket-brigade, so prevention was key.
As the mercenary guards and warehouse employees were searching high and low, a conflagration flared to sudden, violent life. Out of the massive blaze strode a pair of figures. One was a tall, pale man with the golden hair often seen in the west. The second resembled nothing so much as a beautifully crafted Karakuri doll, replete with ornate dress.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen," the strange man announced. "This warehouse is now the property of the King of Ooo. You are allowed to surrender..." "Encouraged, honey," the doll corrected. "I believe the word you want is 'encouraged'." "Thanks, babe," Jay agreed. "You are all encouraged to surrender. Those not guilty of major crimes will be jailed for a time and then released to return to their lives. The rest will be jailed permanently."
One of the soldiers chuckled, "buddy, I don't know how you got in here, but you won't leave alive..." "I am the blade of the King," intoned the blonde stranger. One of the mercenaries leveled a pistol at him and fired, but a bolt of flame that came from thin air boiled the iron dart down to nothing.
"Forged in fire," growled Jay, "and quenched in blood..." A second man and a third fired on him. A slug of steaming earth shot into the air, capturing both darts. Chuckling, Annabelle remarked, "he can do this all day fellas. Just surrender. Surrender, or your souls will become mine..."
"Infinite Scarlet," snarled Jay. The air shimmered in the warehouse and the familiar walls of crates and bails melted away. The mercenaries suddenly found themselves in a burned land with fires raging on the horizon around them.
Isekai.
The word whispered through the ranks of the men gathered in that place like a particularly chill wind. They had somehow fallen through a hole in reality to land in a very unfamiliar place.
Before their eyes, the stranger conjured two blades of demonic fire. Rushing forward, he decapitated the captain and the lead sergeant, sending their heads flying. Immediately, the demonic doll swooped in. Taking a deep breath, she inhaled the souls of the dead men.
The hapless soldiers raised their weapons and opened fire. A swatch of hellfire erupted from the ground, incinerating dozens of darts, as the terrifying assassin rushed towards the soldiers. A blast of flame from the sky killed two men at once, and then the stranger was among them, darting and slashing with those unstoppable blades.
Their heavy ceramic armor, imported from the Truth Kingdom did nothing to stop those blades. Gunfire couldn't quite seem to touch their foe. And, as each man fell, his terrifying companion was right there to devour their souls.
As they came down to the last few standing, one of the terrified soldiers threw down his weapons and surrendered. Defiant to the last, the remaining two drew their fighting-knives. Those mattered less than the guns had, as the stranger removed their hands at the wrist with deft strokes from his swords before removing their heads.
Just as quickly as it had appeared, the terrifying isekai the stranger had conjured was gone, replaced by the familiar scenes of the nameless village where the warehouse stood. Stroking the last man's terrified face, the demoness burbled, "congratulations, sweety. You get to live, and you get to keep your soul." He could see the tortured faces of his comrades floating in the demoness's eyes. "Do what you can with the days you have left on this earth," said she, as she stepped past him.
The warehouse was burning furiously, taking the corpses of the mercenaries, the filth they'd guarded, and the dangerous artifact stashed there into oblivion. Striding up behind her husband, Annabelle rested her chin on his shoulder. "I've been thinking," she murmured.
She could feel him tense. They'd been fighting lately—rather a lot. With a sigh, she admitted, "I was greedy, Jay. We had something nice, and I damaged it with my greed." Slipping her arms around his middle, the demoness sighed, "I can't promise it won't happen again, but I'm trying..." With a sigh, Jay nodded.
Stepping in front of him, Annabelle whispered, "we could just slip off... There's no reason for us to ride back with the cyborgs..." Stroking her long, dark hair, the tall fellow responded, "you're pregnant." Much as he wanted some snatch, he knew better. Taking her by the arm, he turned away from the ugly scene of the fire and strode down the road towards the edge of town, where their ride was waiting.
As the day drew to a close, the King of Ooo cast his eyes out on an ugly scene. The soldiers who'd been guarding the warehouse in question had been a pack of the nastiest fellows from the broken lands west of Princess Sakura's domain. Only a handful could claim to have truly done nothing awful enough to rate execution with many being adherents of the now-deceased Bandit-Princess.
As Lord Yu watched, the yellow-haired giant brought a cup of steaming hot tea to his lips and drank deep as if he saw a forest of heads on pikes erected along the road every day. It was an example of the bitter, ugly warfare that the folk who'd allied themselves with Truth Kingdom had walked away from centuries ago.
Almost as if reading his thoughts, the big man remarked, "sometimes people need to be reminded of why we no longer do these things..." Yu shivered. This was one hell of a reminder!
As Yu contemplated the ugliness they'd seen this day, the tall stranger's phone rang. Setting aside the teacup, the big man drew the phone out and glanced at the bezel. Flicking it open, he murmured, "hey, babe. Yeah, just finishing up. No, I didn't do anything..."
Rolling his eyes—every woman that owned a piece of him seemed to want control—Finn the King said, "my new friend had enough soldiers that the thing went fairly quickly. We surprised them as someone was coming out to get dim-sum."
Nodding, the big man said, "huh. You should have told me that sooner. I didn't know you've never had it. If we have time, I'll take you and Rosie to dim-sum."
As Lord Yu listened to that one-sided conversation, the big man tensed. "You're sure of this," he murmured. "No way anybody was able to stow away or something?" With a heavy sigh and muttered curses, Finn said, "we cleaned up most of it. I just wish we knew what the last item was. Ok, babe. I'll see you when I see you. Clean up and get out of there."
Hanging up, the tall stranger slipped his phone back in his pocket. Said he, "I wish to thank you, Lord Yu. Rest assured that the Crown of Ooo will remember your aid. I'll put praises for your name in Princess Sakura's ear."
The Lord bowed to the stranger. Finn returned his bow. Straightening, he offered the Lord a handshake, saying, "until we are met again." "Until we meet once more," agreed Lord Yu. With no further word, the blonde giant strode off, his ever-present shadows falling in at his back, their paranoid eyes falling on Yu Feng.
"He must be a good man," Lord Yu's bodyguard remarked. At his master's frown, the soldier remarked, "when your master is loved, your guard can be more relaxed, my lord. Those... they're wary, but not so wary that they'd kill a man for coming too close to their master." "Let us pray he stays that way," Yu responded, as his eyes flicked to the cruel message along the highway.
Far to the west, Peppermint Butler announced the beginning of the Special Audience called for the Privy Council. Those souls who'd stuck around across the winter rose, their eyes going to the door through which the King or his surrogate customarily entered. Momentarily, gasps of shock and surprise filtered through the crowd, as Fionna came sauntering through, looking the business in one of her signature blue and white gowns.
As the gathered courtiers, Odessa among them, watched, the Bad Bunny walked onto the dais and sat down, crossing her legs artfully. Her expression was studiously neutral, though her grey eyes flicked from one face to the next as if taking note of those who seemed overly concerned.
"Good morning, everyone," Fionna announced. "I asked that this special session be called to apprise you of the outcome of significant matters in the far east." Several of the gathered nobles shivered as New Fionna got down to business.
Continuing, Fionna announced, "early today, we executed searches of several of the suspected warehouses. We were able to interdict the transshipment of several pieces of stolen technology. The seized technology will be destroyed."
The tall woman let them digest that a moment. In cool tones, she declared, "we will not be taking questions today. His Majesty is engaged in fact-finding regarding those who were involved in the thefts. He seeks to establish links to those who might be aiding and abetting the enemies of the Peace of Ooo from within the Civilized Kingdoms. Once we know more, the Privy Council will be apprised of our findings. That is all."
Of course, the very fact that she'd said there would be no questions caused the room to erupt. Ignoring one and all, Fionna rose and strode down off the dais and straight through the door into the private section of the palace.
Though it took a lot out of her to do that, this little meeting had been a good opportunity to get a look at those who had an interest in her well-being. More to the point, the reactions were almost laugh-out-loud funny. While her father still had to make good on his promise to track a few of the shipments back to the troublemakers, in the right now, Fionna had a date with an exercise machine. She really needed to get her stamina back.
She left a room in turmoil, with half the folk there drawing their phones almost before she'd left the room. A couple even took snaps of her to send to distant masters who'd maybe counted on Fionna being down for the count. Tania Stanek was among those.
Princess Tania, she styled herself now. She was princess of the Kingdom of Humans far to the west. Her dubious credentials had gotten her plenty of dates and social engagements, since she'd arrived here, though she'd obtained precious little in the way of allies for her father. Now, she typed out a message on the phone French Toast had given her, letting her father's allies, the wax-folk, know that Fionna was up and about once more.
As the sun set in the far east, Loli slipped into the airship's little salon to find her husband and son there, working away on schematics. Her sons efforts—and hers—had helped crack the code on the laser weapon. There was a better than even chance they could not only duplicate it, but scale it up to something far larger. This was the weapon against Bonnibel her husband had hoped for.
Of course, there was a larger truth. They had no way to power such a machine, nor did they have a way to move it. Gordon Wells had his stolen cargo ship, just now floating at anchor off the coast of Desert Kingdom. Unfortunately, while the ship was mobile, they had no real way to use it to engage Bonnibel's kingdom from the ocean—much less to truly damage the infrastructure there. In its current state, the weapon was a mere curiosity—a toy for two men who were far too old to be playing with action figures.
Loli, on the other hand, was obsessed with the tantalizing words the blonde giant had spoken. He would gift them a domain of their own—to run in whatever fashion they desired if they would turn away from conflict.
Her husband had refused to even discuss the matter, when she brought it up. As far as he was concerned, any promises that Bonnibel made were null and void. Nor did he trust the tall stranger. But he sounded so sincere, thought Loli. Finn the Human seemed sincere enough that the plump woman had pulled on something nice to surprise her husband with in hopes of getting him to listen to the stranger's words.
Unfortunately, the sight of Chicle talking Gumbald through the structure of the laser-ray suggested that her platitudes were going to fall on deaf ears. From being randy as an old goat, he'd turned curmudgeonly and angry. He wanted to kill Bonnibel, and he saw anything that didn't fit that goal as a mere distraction.
Loli stepped back out of the door. The last time she'd put on anything sexy, her son had laughed at her. She didn't need laughter right now. A voice in her mind commanded, you have to find a way to change his mind. Your lives depend on it.
The plump woman retraced her steps, bound for the cabin she shared with her husband, intending to change clothes once again. Seeming to shirk would do little for Gumbald's mood and nothing to help change his mind.
We have not reached the beginning of the end of the Gum War, but perhaps we have reached the end of the beginning. :)