Constantine the Laughing Magician Presents – Life in the Real World
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Chapter 10: After Boxing Day and the Lunar New Year, I Need Myself a Tall Pint
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~ So, you recall how we came to find Lae's brother killed off by my sworn enemy the demon king Nergal – and how Lae vowed to have revenge against the ones who took her people to use them in a trafficking scheme? Did ya' follow all of that, blokes? Really? Hats off to you, then. The whole finale in Dragul's kingdom was crossed off my list by the way. One. I hate Halloween. Two? Someone "better" snatched up my spot. A whole pound of bloody gold was in that pot! But I've only been invited now, so there could be an uprising next month with those lovely wanker – vamps. Then I'll swoop in and take the job. No, herm. Monkie – business aside... I took on the case of the smuggling ring which turns out to be…
In Hong Kong.
We are off to Asia after all, mates! Sit tight! The plot, she thickens…..And the end of the Lunar new year with her.
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Stalls so brightly painted, you'd think this was a sea of wil – o – wisps calling out on a starmy night like tis one. The lanterns on the street I've chased a new ghoul to are flickering. Ah! Back to my chase, on the clock an' ready to stuff my face full of take out and hot tea in the next chapter.
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Trese didn't stick by me, yet Lae is resilient and has good mates in high places. She's a natural at avoiding carts, cars and buses as we mosey out towards the seedier underbelly points in all of Hong Kong.
Han Chinese, says Lae. You can never tell as a British person, but I'm a detective. I know how to handle my bets…that sounds a bit dated however as I nod her off.
And... the vampire just rushed into a nightclub. Love it already. A hard sigh from Lae as she tugs my arm to go in first. I thought I was the bloody tourist?
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It is inconspicuous, that demon. In Chinese culture, the blood sucker is more feminine than male yet this one has gained the ability to swap genders… The smoke in the room is hogging my right to some perfect oxygen as we stamp through the entrance and Lae gets us in quicker with her tongue. Cantonese was what I read up on that's primarily used by the locals…but….
I see the language of the unknown. Not a smoker's den – a hell's bit o' rhythm.
As in –
RAVE.
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I didn't just get a bump by some damned teenager in skin –
"Dear gods…." I fall back into Lae, yet it's not her. Bloody sin it isn't as I run the other way up a fight.
"HOW DO WE GET TO YOUR CONTACT??" I shouted to Lae, she's on her way yet so are some unsavory blokes right behind. I guess that's my cue.
I try to walk away faster, have the damned ghoulies let up their position, and Lae gets it. She swings round into a kick and puts a damper on the vamp's sights.
"Should I –
Turning round, I pull out my words of a magi and let the arse tryin' to sneak a peek head for the railing.
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We got caught by the owner's wanker tweedle dee an' dummy boy, who is still giving me a stink eye that really –
"Mr. Constantine and, dear Cousin?"
"You are bargaining with these humans?" Lae snips at the man, even as he as them withheld by the strong men and women of his mini posse. His office has a mobster cliché; a fish tank. How peculiar…
My stomach just sank to being rescued, so Lae is our ticket then?
"This is Cousin Lau." The man looked less Phys and more skeleton by his whiskers whipping at the ground. His eyes were hidden beneath thick shades and he was…short. Lae was average height in her country but he? A toddler's weight to boot.
"Lae, you are stepping atop forces that cannot be contained. I'd advise your friends to do the same and leave, but you know too much about…"
"He was anything but decent; by his blood, he was right to have been ripped apart." Lae spoke of her brother. The one that Nergal had killed before he'd been sent packing through the power of the same dark arts that had sent him to wallow in hell, Where Astra was still being digested…for all eternity.
"Harsh, but I must agree with my relative. I want you to hunt down a case; one that will get you the files you want as well to shut down the smuggling of our kind."
"You've been using this space, this club as a hide out for freed Phys and other magical creatures." Her eyes grew full of sorrow for them, her heart strong and sure.
"I care as much as we should, together." The short nightclub owner grinned with a gold tooth or two poking out beside a set of sharp primate's canines. I wished for a glass later, not some ruffie in this shit show of a host's bar.
"Then I will go. Where is the file you want us to reclaim?"
The grinning ego maniac across the room hopped back up to his seat. "The Triads' have it." He said with his fingers in a sign of prayer and good faith. "May, the gods allow you to finish by tomorrow…. I will pray for your success, dear relative and Mr. John Constantine." I could have sworn I'd seen a long tail swish from the shadowy background. Lae nodded, keeping to her word while I tagged off and shoved my hands into my pockets, mulling over what we'd just signed up for.
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"Guns?"
"Check."
"Ammo?"
"Are you sayin' what I do is too much? Not with a bunch of goons, like yours?"
In the night as the lanterns all down the streets of Hong Kong illuminated the hour, one masked warrior raised a brow below his clock relic, while his accomplice just shrugged. "You asked to bring me. I'm just here for getting paid and don't wanna be all out of practice this winter." The accomplice was a young woman in a mask that matched her superior's. She rolled her eyes haughtily at the one giving her a migraine. She rolled her shoulders, setting free strands of her long white hair that was her…parent's fault and a bad attitude that could slice through the strongest titanium alloy.
"Patience. I just want to be sure you've not gotten soft over the holidays." The one beside her was not only trained to stay in top physical form, he'd never known much else.
"Kids these days don't stick to a game plan unless they get something else in return. Be better than that, Rose. I taught –
"Ravager, dad." The grinning girl sniffed, letting the name roll off of her tongue a bit for added effect. " I got this." She got her blades prepped them under the night sky. The rooftop only had them with a sniper's shot at keeping a low profile. Slade Wilson sighed, yes. This was a high stakes job. Some mob bosses had a secret smuggling operation and he'd been called onboard to check it out. To shut it down if possible.
"The Chinese government wants this all, hush hush. It could turn into a political problem if we're not quick enough."
"Shit. Looks like their gangs are already en route to the rendezvous." Rose clicked her tongue as the device in her hand popped out. A blinking red dot was moving on the screen. "Why aren't you wired to your mask? That's a waste of energy to carry –
"If I need a second to pause, so lighten up." Rose shooed her dad as he sat, waiting to crouch over and take that leap towards the next rooftop.
"Any other delays, dear?"
"If we don't get along famously before chopping each others' heads off, then nope." Rose frowned and pocketed the unit. She got ready to jump. Her dad was not as flexible. She was a fast learner anyway.
"Try to keep up, old timer."
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Told you. Never expect the unexpected?? I love crossing over and over and DS is ok in my book. I'm dropping a Harley bomb later in later chapters on when the journey gets weirder. So, the night club fight was short because Lae has family all across Asian. Cousins? Species? Get it? Anyway, that's all for now. Rest to come!