Scenes: Part IX
White Mage’s Library
He was up all night. How could he help it? Six months from now, one of the most dangerous demons known to man was going to make his move. The thing was that no one knew where he was or who he had bonded to. They just knew that if they did not find Mallefus’ host before he burst free that there would be utter chaos… a bloodbath. If Estophalum finds him first and kills him? It’s that much worse.
The first process would be to figure out what type of host a demon like Mallefus would take. A mortal with no superpowers would not be ideal. The change to the mortal would be dramatic, rippling like a beacon for all to see. For a mortal with powers, Mallefus can disguise his energy to match theirs. As weak as he is now, that would give him plenty of time to recharge. Everyone would simply interpret it as the natural progression of a person growing into his powers.
There is also the possibility that someone else is hiding him… but that REALLY is not likely. No reason exists to hide such a sick and twisted demon like that. No reason at all… Mischance said that he noticed the black hole about two months ago. That was the magic time.
“Two months ago… What has happened in the past two months?” Grover grabbed a blank notebook off his shelf. The best way to approach this would be systematically. In all the Hellfire Courts, there have been people who have changed dramatically in one way or another. They might not like it, but he was going to have to start keeping tabs on everyone…
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A lot has happened. Just in the space of two months. This was NOT the same court he had left after that mess happened with the soul devourer. (The Hunt) Darque Feonix calls himself Ozymandias. Blackfire quit as queen and has taken up residence at the Grey Court. SlashR was dead. Diablo joined. Nebula became queen. Khalid became Mufasa… sort of. He’s got a fourteen-year-old girl for an assassin. Gomurr’s grown about a foot and a half and has developed a tan. Christian calls him daddy. Oh yeah… and his new White Warlord is another version – a twisted, sarcastic, smart-ass version – of Robert Maxwell. Not Harbinger, though… Cronos. With an agenda of his own, of course… These days, who doesn’t have one?
“All right, Cronos,” SuperGrover said. “You already know this, so…”
“Fine, then quit wasting my time.”
“It’s debatable who is wasting whose time, here,” Grover snapped back. “I’m sure that you have some reason, whatever it is, for pushing his buttons, but leave him alone.”
“Me? Pushing his buttons?” he asked. “I wouldn’t dream of it… We ALL know he is mentally stable now and…”
Grover sighed. Some days it just did not pay to be king. “I’m not telling you again. I’m not going to have all this infighting inside my court. All of that has to come to an end.”
“In that case, shouldn’t you have your White Rook and Knight in here instead?”
“I’ll deal with them soon enough. The issue at hand is you. Don’t make me regret vouching for you.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Cronos said, standing up from his chair. “Not at all.” With an arrogant smirk, he disappeared into thin air, leaving the room altogether.
Grover stood up to look out the window overlooking the courtyard with the statue of the Harbinger. Case said that the risk was not worth it, but I said that this was a different Maxwell. He’s different, all right.
“You have no idea…” he heard behind him. Grover spun around immediately, leveling a blade formed from Excalibur at his visitor’s neck. “Now come on,” his visitor smiled. “It hasn’t been THAT long since we were best buddies…”
“It’s never happened,” Grover said. “Leave… Now.”
“Do you HONESTLY think your insignificant metal can have any effect on me?” the HellGoat asked. “Here!” He grabbed Grover’s wrist and pulled the blade across his neck. At first there was no effect, but then HellGoat’s head toppled down. The two demonic horns imbedded themselves in the floor, supporting the rest of the decapitated head.
“Cute,” Grover said.
HellGoat’s body bent over, his hands pawing the ground looking for the head. “Hey! You! Over here!” Finally, the hands found it and returned it to the neck backwards. The head turned of its own volition, righting itself to look forward. “Good thing I did those head-spinning exercises…”
“What do you want?” Grover said.
“No… I don’t want something… but YOU do,” he said. “You’ve seen some of Khalid’s visions through the bond you share. You know he is going to die.”
“And you have come to offer a way to save him… right?”
“Actually… No. I don’t like the bastard. I plan on laughing my fool ass off while his life trickles away. No, I’m offering a way for you cut off the aftermath. You get a chance to save thousands, millions, billions of lives… and protect this mudball from a threat greater than you know. You get to live up to your title as Champion…” (alluded to in Phantom Nails)
“No,” Grover said. “I’ve seen the type of deal you make. I want no part of it.”
“He will die,” HellGoat said. “He will be hated, despised, and labeled a traitor… All that has life will curse his name. You… and only YOU determine if that life will continue to flourish… or be wiped away in the coming tempest.”
“What cost?”
“Oh…” he said. “But that would be telling…” He disappeared in a cloud of smoke, more for dramatic effect than for necessity.
What the hell was going on?
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“Get OUT!” Khalid fought against the fingers locked in a deathgrip on his neck. It was futile to struggle. That just made his opponent enjoy it all the more. Yet, it was not in his nature to surrender. What he was really doing was spinning things in his mind, gathering information to make a strategic move.
“No, I don’t think so…” his opponent said, pulling Khalid closer to his face. Khalid responded with a growl. The man at first laughed, but then responded with a growl that was fiercer and more demonic. “I think I like my new home JUST fine.”
“You can’t HAVE it!”
“You’ll just have to do something ABOUT it, won’t you… ‘Khalid’… ‘Mufasa’… or do you go by ‘Purified’ these days?”
“You can COUNT on it!” Khalid spat.
His opponent backhanded him across the face, splitting open his lip. Then, he followed it up with a punch before he threw Khalid to the ground. Before he could get up, his opponent ran over kicking him in the chin.
“Know this,” The man grabbed him by the base of his braid and planted his thumb and forefinger painfully on the underside of his neck. Khalid blinked his eyes open to look at his assailant’s face… a mirror image of his own. The doppelganger squeezed even tighter laughing in his face. “You have two choices, Purified… Do nothing and I burst free… Release me and I am free. Either way, I’m free…” he tilted Khalid’s head up. “and I could never have done it with out you!” With that he moved his hands as if to snap Khalid’s neck…
Khalid snapped awake in his office chair, sending a stack of papers lying on his desk all over the floor. He came to his feet and leaned over his desk, trying to calm the pulsing in his temples when he heard a knock at the door. “Come on in,” Khalid said.
“Uncle K-Lid, it’s time for my saxop…” Christian stopped in the doorway as if he was transfixed.
Just as Khalid was about to look toward the child, he saw a drop of crimson land on his desk. He rubbed the back of his hand across his lip, noticing the bloody streak… and that his jaw was tender. He looked toward the child, not quite sure what he expected to see. “Christian, I…”
“How come I’m not hearing any hon…” Grover’s voice carried through the door. He stopped, noticing that Khalid’s face was a bloody mess… as if he just got the shit beat out of him. “Um… Christian… Go see Alice.”
“Uncle K-Lid is… in… pain…” Christian said.
“Go,” Grover said more forcefully. “Uncle Khalid and I have to talk.”
End Part IX
Mufasa
King of Kemet
King of Insanity
The White Rook
XMBB Editor
The only man ever denied entrance into the Beer Cult.
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