"We're going to need a vacation after this, guys," I whispered as my companions and I cautiously made our way to the right side of the shadowed park, with the now human-Alberich advancing on point, and with Zok trailing behind. How could this visit have gone so terribly wrong? A simple supply run had somehow kicked off the destabilization of this entire fucking world!
No one answered me, but Alberich then turned around, and even though his face was covered by pieces of red cloth, his (now entirely blue) eyes were visible, which made my breath catch again. He looked just like Tzeentch now! How was I supposed to get used to this? Alberich's body swap into this suspicious form was a conclusive reminder that my life really was at the mercy of the Architect of Fate, and that he was to blame for all this recent insanity. I was truly just a plaything for that eldritch entity, I thought with exasperation. Getting your life ruined in chaotic and complex ways was really just standard for being involved in that god's inexorable schemes, I thought with a huff. Poor Magnus never stood a chance against that Chaos God.
The timer was now at 6:12, and we had quickly decided that our plan was to hug the buildings along the right side of the Square once we started to see Harlequin-induced mayhem light up the neighborhood. Unfortunately, there weren't a lot of places to hide that weren't behind various military controlled road blocks, but at least I had the benefit of my strengthening Sight powers at my disposal. Hopefully, the Warp would remain "on" while we made our sneaky escape to the art museum. And hopefully, any surveillance cameras wouldn't catch our identities, but I was still definitely worried about what Heinrich had said. The cult leader had warned us that Evna surveillance could somehow see through masks and face coverings, so I simply prayed for the best for us.
I swallowed nervously as I watched the timer on the giant display slowly tick down. What were the Harlequins planning? The large group of people that had been watching the Sinclair newscast had begun to spread out, and some had begun to cautiously peer into a line of closed shops on either side of the Square, and examine garbage cans, presumably for where my hiding place would be. It was only a matter of time before they reached this park, but we weren't planning on staying here long anyway.
Sinclair Tower yawned ominously above us, and small flyers and shuttles hovered far overhead. This gave me the impression that those in power may already know where I was hiding, and that this whole stunt by Justinian was just a flex to demonstrate his power. A handful of Wheelers skidded down the elevated rails that surrounded the Square, and each battle servitor was laughing madly as they zipped through the area at a high rate of speed. This situation was so bad that it was almost comical, I thought.
As I contemplated the subversive Sinclair family's power and my unfortunate situation, a crawling instinct suggested that instead of avoiding conflict tonight, I should simply run right into Sinclair Tower and destroy every single corrupt human I could sense in a whirlwind of retributive violence. I even found myself fantasizing about how glorious it would feel to cut down swaths of heretics using the Nemeses Argentum, and most disturbingly, I discovered that the thought actually caused me to tremble in unsettling anticipation. My teeth even began to chatter in feral excitement.
Beside me, Alberich touched my shoulder and brought me back to reality. "Look," he indicated, covertly pointing toward a strange animate dark shape slinking around through the crowd outside the tower. The shape was stealing itself away through the crowd like a dark rumor.
My eye was drawn to the shifting shadow. People shuddered when it drew near, and when I watched it, I felt a chill pass over my very soul. I was then able to sense that I had been "seen" somehow.
And now, to our second performance! This one hopes to see you again another day, little godling! the Solitaire's unsettling telepathic voice spoke to me in mind as I watched the deadly Aeldari creature slip through an open second story window after an effortless leap upward. Wow, these people had no idea what they were about to experience. Justinian was probably doomed, barring some sort of evil miracle.
Right around the 5:55 minute mark on the timer, I heard an electric buzzing snap echo through the air, and a woman screamed in the large crowd. A cry of "Someone's been shot!" rang out from somewhere, and I took this as our cue to start wandering away from this soon-to-be orgy of clown-induced death.
The three of us began to slink around the right side of Rhymes Square as we hugged a line of closed tourist shops and parked futuristic vehicles. The road to the right of the tower is where we needed to go. Sinclair Tower stood between two parallel streets, and right now, everyone's attention was fixated on the person who had been shot on the left road.
We were about one third of the way through the Square when a man cried out, "She's dead! That Erika Romanov bitch did this, I wager! Beast! She's here somewhere! Spread out! Find her!"
"Murderer!" a woman shouted in outrage. I tried not to worry about this, and my companions and I continued on our way. According to the map, we were six large city blocks away from the art museum once we started walking along the right hand road. Our next escape tunnel was behind the art museum. The soft glow of tall incandescent street lights lit each side street, which definitely didn't make things easy for us.
A deep sense within me really hated sneaking around like this. Again, I felt a strong urge to make all these ignorant fools submit to me instead of skulking around in the dark. It felt insulting to hide like this when I should be forcefully exsanguinating the rot from within this world. Unbidden fantasies of burning scores of evildoers alive with purifying gold fire alighted vividly in my mind with a pleasant shiver, and a soft ripple of gold light rose around my head and shoulders, even as I tried to remain hidden. It would be just so damn satisfying to punish these wicked ignorant people associated with that family, so easy to break their wills under mine, I thought, almost salivating with the desire for action.
No, I then thought, realizing how aberrant my internal monologue had become. I clenched my jaw as my heart fluttered. What the hell?! I'm not going to subjugate people for my own gratification! Killing people for fun because they "deserved it" was not a habit that I wanted to pick up!
Alberich luckily tugged on my sleeve, which broke me out of my rumination, and we continued walking. We ducked behind a parked car. So far, the three of us had not been seen. Whatever the Harlequins were doing was diverting most of the crowd to the left side of the Square.
From our hiding place, I saw that the large group of people were now nervously chattering amongst themselves, and I could now see light reflecting off the metal of what appeared to be firearms strapped to a few hips. Well, shit.
"Some of them have guns," Zok quietly rumbled beside me.
"Yeah, but I have magic. If anyone starts anything, I guess I can just throw a fireball into that mess, but I don't want to kill all those people," I quietly answered. I noticed that Alberich was holding his temple as he bowed his head beside me. I motioned that we should be on our way when I saw that the coast was clear. We'd now be walking along a short sidewalk, keeping our passage hidden by crouching behind more parked futuristic vehicles.
After a few moments of quiet stalking, Alberich telepathically whispered to me as he led the way: I sense danger. I sense many powerful forms moving through the Square and into the building. They use magic that conceals their passage. Do you sense anything?
Before I could answer, another electric snapping sound echoed in the crowd as we advanced, and more frightened screaming rose like a flock of sea birds as someone else was shot. My stomach then unexpectedly lurched, and I felt a disturbance in the Warp nearby. It was severe enough that I felt as if I needed to stop again behind another parked car.
You should keep walking! Do not delay! There is danger! the distinctive telepathic voice of the Shadowseer helpfully recommended as two more people fell, presumably having been killed by the Harlequins. I immediately listened to this suggestion, and I led my companions on a harried crouch walk toward the rightward street bordering Sinclair Tower. A glimpse of the timer registered that we were now at 2:16 as the Shadowseer's voice spoke to me in mind again: The Sinclair family has expected trouble it seems! Get out of the Square! We now know that there are numerous sorcerers both inside and outside of Sinclair Tower, and they are preparing to-
The next events happened quickly. As we passed another parked car and readied ourselves to pass an alley, three military soldiers in black body armor quickly emerged before us! Each faced us with what appeared to be futuristic automatic weapons. The center man pointed his strange weapon at us, and the soldiers aggressively blocked our way!
In a loud authoritarian voice, the lead man said: "Erika Romanov! On order of governor Langwidere and the Sinclair family, you have been ordered to-"
The head of the man speaking to me then exploded like an overripe tomato, and he fell to the ground. Happy giggling along with the tinkling of bells could be heard as the two other soldiers then quickly began to aim their weapons at us! I spied the shape of the Shadowseer dancing away in a watery blur of light and shadow.
Time briefly slowed down for me as I telekinetically gripped the weapons of both men, tearing them away! Before they could recover themselves, I then picked up the two remaining soldiers and slammed them to the ground like dolls, hoping to stun but not kill them. Unfortunately, my actions had made us very visible, and I could now hear screams as I perceived innumerable eyes upon me as time restarted!
"Anarchist witches with a mutant! Look!" I heard someone shout as two bullets sailed over my head! "Kill them! Kill the terrorists!"
"That's enough!" I growled, pulling on my Sight again as I felt the Key devour the soul of the first man. A pleasant wave of energy washed through me, and I turned my attention to the gawping crowd. My Corona then became very bright as I struggled to restrain myself through this rush of power. One of the two men I had telekinetically throttled had managed to recover his weapon, and began to desperately stand, enraged at me. Seeing this caused my patience to expire, and I snapped. I hurled a bolt of energy his way from my fingertips, which caused him to drop dead as it struck him in the chest. His soul was also claimed, which empowered me further.
Oh, this sort of power felt so good to draw upon, I realized as I gazed at the horrified crowd before me in slowed time. I inhaled the emotional scent of reverence and fear through this frightened crowd, and it was delicious! Another bullet sailed my way from an angry woman at the front of the mob. Faster than blinking, I simply caught the projectile with my left hand, and threw it back at my assailant, striking her in the forehead and instantly killing her. Her soul was now also devoured.
Feast on those who would subdue you, little sister, Sebastian had instructed me, after all. If humans weren't meant to be consumed, then why were their souls so delicious?
Again, I struggled to pull myself back from wanting to destroy everyone around me. Taking a breath, I crushed my desire for wanton violence, and I decided to simply brainwash everyone into submission instead.
With a push, I forcefully projected my willpower into as many people as I could inside the crowd. I felt my grip fully reach within the souls of a third of the people that had been advancing toward me in slowed time. Their mental defenses burned before me like dry grass, and now, their wills were under my thrall. This was almost too easy! And wow, doing all this right now felt absolutely incredible!
Governor Langwidere and Justinian Sinclair are your enemies! I boomed inside their souls. Defend me against those who would subjugate me, and destroy those who would follow Chaos! I am the Inheritor, and you will do as I command!
My heart began to painfully flutter again, and this brought me back to reality. Time began to move more normally for me once again, and I gasped. Noise exploded through my world as chaos struck the Square! People turned on one another instead of fighting me, and began to fight each other with savage rage! I continued to grip my chest while breathing heavily, momentarily stunned. I had been experiencing chest pains now and again while using my psyker powers, and now, this pain was officially starting to worry me along with my alarming new behavior. Realizing this, I took a few deep breaths as I withdrew my Corona. Another bullet raced toward me, but was deflected by some kind of helpful force field raised by Alberich nearby.
"What did you do to them?!" Alberich asked me as Zok struck a man who had broken through the mob to assault me, knocking him to the ground.
"Forget it! Let's go!" I replied, still clutching my chest and disturbed by my murderous impulses. Worry about this later! We had to get out of here!
"So much for stealth!" Alberich groaned as I led the way. Behind me, I could hear the noise of the maddened crowd. More electric snapping sounds echoed across the Square as we started to lope away again. Whatever other chaotic dangers were present within Rhymes Square, the Harlequins could deal with them.
We continued racing ahead down the sidewalk that stood against Sinclair Tower's right side. From here, we could see that there were actually numerous displays and projected screens covering the side of the tower, each displaying the timer that was now at 1:19. Not that it meant anything now since people had decided to actively assault me instead of letting me pass. As we passed another alley, five more military police then ambushed us from a barred side street, and these men were more heavily armed than the previous three. Immediately, I could sense that two of these men were Blanks, and my stomach turned. They both wore what appeared to be special dark red uniforms that held elaborate sunburst shield pins on their lapels. These soldiers immediately braced themselves against the street and sidewalk, forcing us to stop!
"Stop right there, criminal scum!" one of the Blanks yelled ahead of me. The large screens on the side of the tower began to flicker. "Stop in the name of the governor!"
The governor was associated with Chaos, and she had tried to kill me, I quickly remembered. This, of course, set me off again, and I felt my anger surge as this new group of soldiers aimed their weapons at me.
"You DARE make demands of ME?!" I boomed, feeling my Corona reflexively blaze back into light. I was tired of this stupid world and all the constant bullshit I had experienced here! With a wave of my hand, I telekinetically shattered one of the tall windows of Sinclair Tower to my left. With an artful gesture, I pulled the innumerable shattered glass fragments up into the air. Before any of these soldiers could react, I telekinetically hurled the shards ahead of me with great force, savagely raining terror upon this armed group. One of the Blanks fell, his neck sliced open by a flying glass shard as the three of us continued to run past. His soul was not pulled, which made sense, since he didn't really have one. I could feel both confusion and fear radiate from Alberich's and Zok's souls as we continued to run. The smell of blood struck me, and I found it invigorating as the three of us continued to flee. We had to get to that art museum!
Behind me, I heard shouting as at least one soldier attempted to shoot us as we ran. I heard Zok cry out, but he continued to run along with us. With an airy shimmer, I sensed again that Alberich's helpful psychic force field had surrounded us again, so that was good.
We continued running down these shadowed streets. Cries of pain and disturbances of the Warp were perceived behind me, but I was not dealing with any of that. I wanted to go home! I wanted to go to Molech and get home and leave this cursed reality behind! Above, the large screens around us flickered again, and now, much to my dismay, the smiling face of governor Langwidere now loomed over us on many displays positioned here. The governor wore the head I seen her wear at the party, which had long honey-colored curls and pale blue eyes, and her dress was a long dark purple leather dress embellished with bits of sharp metal. It made her look especially malevolent.
"I see you over there, loser. Trash. You think you can run from me, Evanora?" Langwidere laughed as I shattered one of the displays, and hurled the glassy fragments behind us to impede our pursuers. Another soul was pulled by the Key.
"Your planet sucks, lady," I shouted upward toward the remaining displays. A soldier charged at us from an alleyway, and was quickly dispatched by Zok, who had punched her in the throat, causing her to immediately drop. We wasted no time, and continued running!
"Evie darling, did I ever tell you who my father was? I think I told you, but I don't quite recall!" Langwidere's projection laughed as bullets ricocheted off of Alberich's force field. The art museum was just at the end of this road. It was a large darkened square building that lay in the center of a wide traffic circle. We were so close!
"Is your father Abaddon the Despoiler? Because if he is, you sure take after him because of your constant fucking failures!" I zinged.
More bullets struck Alberich's force field as we passed what appeared to be a road block leading to a wealthy neighborhood to our right. A car was parked perpendicularly against the road, and numerous soldiers shot at us from behind the vehicle. With an expenditure of energy, I then telekinetically picked the vehicle up, and rolled it onto the soldiers, instantly killing two, and injuring more. Energy surged through me once again, and the Key gorged on even more tasty souls.
"Funny, funny," Langwidere laughed at me from a display that I then telekinetically shattered into a thousand pieces. "But truthfully, I'm the Fabricator-General of Mars' daughter, you see. I've always been daddy's little girl, and I know that if I ask dear father a favor, he'll deliver it to me! I can make it so you will never have any rest wherever you run, even in this remote area of space! Even if you escape here, you will be hunted for the rest of your miserable life!"
"Sounds like dad couldn't fucking stand you either since he sent you to live all the way out here. Pretty sure he was ashamed of you!" I barked as I picked up a futuristic motorcycle and hurled it across the street at a group of new soldiers who had just appeared from a closed shop. Instead of trying to shoot me, they decided to run away from the rampaging gold demigod instead. I almost began to laugh. Langwidere was the fucking Fabricator-General's daughter? Really? Thanks a lot for this plot twist, Tzeentch. Really appreciate it.
I could sense that my last retort had actually struck home, and all of the governor's projected features twisted in anger.
I continued to shout at the governor: "If you're so fucking important why don't you spend your time on protecting your planets? I don't care who your dad is! All the people of this world are in trouble! They need leadership, not your petty Chaos bullshit!"
Langwidere narrowed her blue eyes, and the many displays that projected her face appeared pensive. "But, I am helping my people! I give them hope and freedom, and I have for thousands of years! I even gave them a really nice party tonight, one that you ended up ruining with your rudeness! Speaking of that, there is an ongoing vigil to stop the all the terrible terroristic violence over at the Statue of Libertine right now. Why don't you join them, dear Evie? I've even been told an old friend wants to meet you there! When I'm done with the Tower of Reason, I can visit, and we can let bygones be bygones! I've been informed that the souls of ten thousand people became inspired to blissful peace this evening alone!"
The governor woman is mad! Alberich transmitted to me as he continued running. He adjusted the red scarf around his face and neck. Pity the worlds that languish under her!
You got that right, pal, I replied. As I picked up another car and hurled it at more people like an evil Sith Lord, I realized something. Despite Heinrich's warnings that he would immediately be perceived by surveillance out in public, I had seen no reaction or alarm from Langwidere at seeing Alberich in Heinrich's body. She appeared entirely focused on me.
"So, it looks to me like you've lost our little competition! As you have probably seen by now, I've mastered soul transference, and I've saved my worlds! It seems you're still just some nobody wicked witch of the east that no one cares about! You never should have come here, but I'm almost glad you came! And I-"
The screens began to flicker, and then, they all died. We didn't stop to consider this, and continued running. No more soldiers seemed to be following us, and the art museum was just a block ahead! Distantly behind me, I heard one of the surviving soldiers say, "...let them take care of her!"
Unfortunately, we now spied a brand new danger, as it appeared that the art museum was now surrounded by a swarm of gibbering Wheelers! Each servitor was laughing madly as they circled the city block that contained the darkened structure, which was shaped like a large square Roman Parthenon. Far behind me, I then sensed reality begin to fray as another daemonic summoning event began to take place, and distant screams of pain and pleasure began to add to the chaos of this terrible evening. A brief mental image of a familiar Aeldari man with harsh grey eyes and long dark hair passed through my mind's eye. He appeared to be hurling bolts of energy into a knot of daemonettes that had been summoned in Rhymes Square, which was now covered in blood. I realized that I recognized this man! This Aeldari was that Evoray guy I had met at Langwidere's party! Hopefully, he could win whatever battle he was in and escape this world, because I sure as hell wasn't turning around and fighting yet another group of daemons right now!
We stopped close to the Wheelers that swarmed around the museum, both on the elevated rail line, and on street level. The servitors, luckily, did not seem to react to our presence, and seemed to be malfunctioning. I motioned for my companions to follow me into an alley. While we caught our breath, and before making a plan on how to get around this building to our escape tunnel, the looming display screens glitched and crackled again before fixing into a flat neon green color. Strangely, I now noticed that all the Wheelers had stopped laughing, and were all frozen where they stood. Some of them even fell over.
All the Wheelers then looked upward, each turning their computer monitor heads toward one of the many large displays that hung against the buildings here.
A grating metal voice speaking an alien language echoed through the streets, and I could hear distant screams from both the battle at Rhymes Square, and other individuals further in the city. Craning my neck upward, I put my eyes on what the screens were displaying.
Shock caused my halo to brighten further to the point where Alberich and Zok cringed away from me. "Oh no," I whispered as I recognized the face before me. "No! He's here already!"
On the displays, the head of a familiar alien monster appeared. The metal creature's face was long, thin, and entirely metallic. We had seen him before, and I immediately recognized his luminous and expressive green eyes as he seemed to study whatever camera he was looking into that enabled him to project himself onto these screens. He even appeared somewhat confused, and his metal brow was knit. The alien's mouth was contorted into an almost impossible metal approximation of pursed lips. Long metal fingers gripped his thin chin as he made a contemplative buzzing "hmm" noise. Atop his head, a tall distinctive jeweled crown marked this individual as someone we had met before, and both Alberich and I now stood stunned at what we were seeing. I realized that the Wheelers still seemed to be in a completely incapacitated and maddened state, and did not see us, despite our close proximity.
"The Nome King?" I whispered. "But, how...?"
Zok was confused, and quietly asked us, "Who is the Nome King?" He clutched at his left arm, and it now appeared that he had been injured.
Before we could answer, the Wheelers all suddenly began to madly laugh again. Apparently, they had heard us, and began to repeat, "Who is the Nome King?!" while cackling madly.
As the Wheelers jeered with insanity, the screen then glitched again, and went black. Afterward, the ground beneath us began to quake! More screams echoed through the streets in the direction in which we had come, and after about ten seconds of quaking, all the street lights in this neighborhood guttered out! As this happened, a sudden migraine struck me, causing Alberich and I to double over. Retching and shaking, I recognized the familiar uncomfortable feeling of the activation of the anti-Warp pylon. Despite how uncomfortable this was, I was happy that the pylon was active, because this meant that not only had the tech-priests continued to successfully defend the Tower of Reason, but also that any effort to summon Am'Erika would fail, and any daemons that had been called into existence back at Rhymes Square were now banished.
The quake shook the ground beneath us, and a crack arced up the side of the art museum. The Wheelers continued to laugh and jeer, "Who is the Nome King?" over and over again as if they had heard the funniest joke in existence.
"My leader?" Alberich whispered to me, his eyes wide with concern.
"Yeah, that was the Nome King, alright. He's coming here. He followed us, just like I said before," I replied as I shook my head, not quite understanding how everything had gone so wrong in such a short amount of time. Despite the influence of the pylon, my intuition was able to easily inform me that the Nome King's forces were now in this planetary system, and soon, he would be here to add even more chaos to this apocalyptic situation. I sighed, and added, "At least I don't think his fleet is at full strength, knowing what happened to his planet because of us. Maybe he's just by himself and a couple of his lychguard guys?"
"The alien is angry at you, yes. But, I believe that he wants Null's belt as well," Alberich responded, also catching his breath. "I told him to leave that belt, and he did not listen!"
Zok was occupying himself with tearing one of his sleeves, and making a makeshift tourniquet for his bleeding left arm. It appeared that he had been shot, but that the wound wasn't immediately lethal. It would have to wait for treatment.
I shook my head, and laughed uncomfortably. My heart still ached as I leaned against the side of the building facing the art museum. At least the Wheelers didn't seem aggressive right now while they gibbered madly and laughed, but knowing my luck, that would probably change soon, so we should probably get going. We were only a short distance away from the port now, so hopefully, the worst was behind us.