The Lesser One Arc 2 Chapter 27: Betrayal

 

Betrayal

After a few minutes spent spinning my mental wheels, I calm down enough to actually enjoy the party. The award ceremony is in a different room of the palace and will begin in an hour. The current luncheon is for the mingling of parties who were involved, all part of a big social structure and hierarchy. The Brits really are stuffy when it comes to things like this. I spend the time spouting pleasantries and trying not to appear boorish. Though, I suspect I can get away with a bit more because I’m an American.

After the luncheon is the awards ceremony. I am presented with the medal by a high ranking official. The number of text boxes floating above heads is stunning. It seems like one out of every ten people plays Fallen Angels. And a lot of the people at this function are high on the score sheet. The highest scorer, of course, is the queen herself. She remains sandwiched between bodyguards the entire time, so I can’t even get close to her. I do my best to not stare.

This is a whole new world. A world where I am, yet again, at the very bottom. While I can conjure large amounts of pure energy like I did while fighting the S-class portal, I am still stuck when it comes to cards. From research, it appears that stopping a powerful spirit with very old spirit rings is as easy as using a card called “spirit crush,” among others.

I am glad when the ceremony is finally over. I spend a bit more time on pleasantries, and then I retire from the crowd and return to the limo.

Sebastian looks at me through the rearview mirror as we drive out of the palace lot. “You appear to be worried about something.”

“No one told me the queen of England herself played Fallen Angels.”

“It does not surprise me.” Sebastian’s gloved hands make a soft sound as they move along the steering wheel. Night has already fallen. Being in a vehicle at this time has always made me feel quite strange. As if the whole world is waiting on me. As if I am in a cocoon of darkness.

We arrive at the Esmex building and I step out. We enter the lobby. I am a bit hungry, despite the luncheon, so I head to the bar at the corner where the breakfast menu is served during the morning hours. Obviously I can’t buy alcohol but they do sell fish and chips. I order a platter for me, and turn to Chris. “You’re vegetarian, right?”

Chris nods. “Just some eggplant, please.”

“Eggplant? Do they sell that here?”

The bartender nods. “Eggplant. Coming right up.”

Two minutes later the bartender pushes me a plate of fish and chips and Chris a plate of steamed eggplant. I watch her eat it for a moment. Then I turn to my own food.

We finish fifteen minutes later. Five minutes after that I am collapsed on my bed. I am dead tired after everything that happened today. I have thirteen days left in my London adventure.

I decide to call Dr. Barrimore through Gaggle Interactions ™. I dial his number—it’s in the morning over there. He picks up.

“Markus! How have you been doing? I heard you got awarded a second Adventurer’s Cross!”

“I did. Hey, do you know anything about a game called Fallen Angels?”

Dr. Barrimore scrunches his nose. “No. Never heard of it.”

I am a bit surprised to hear that. However, once I think about trying to tell him about it, I lose all ability to form a coherent sentence. It’s just like the memetic hazard surrounding the Silverbones. Now I know why only a few people know about Fallen Angels even though it’s a really powerful platform.

“I, ah, I’ve just been wanting to play some video games. That’s all.”

“Well then, maybe you and I can have a game of Warto Car when you get back.”

“You play Warto Car?”

“My nephews love it.”

I spend about an hour shooting the breeze with Dr. Barrimore, and then I hang up and return to my bed. I am dead tired, and I fall asleep without even taking off my suit.

When I wake up I am cramped. My legs feel like they are full of iron bars. I creak my way to the bathroom and see that the suit left a mark on my cheek as I slept.

Chris is sitting in the kitchen at the kitchen table, reading a book and drinking coffee, not tea. It seems she is adapting to our world.

The doorbell rings. I open it to see Jorge, who is wearing the same style of Hawaiian shirt as before. Except this time, the shirt is torn. “Please, come with me. I need your help. You’re the only S-class adventurer who plays Fallen Angels.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Anderson has taken the whole of the Honey Badgers hostage. He plans to kill one of them for every ten minutes we don’t provide him with the Resolution of Suffering card.”

“I thought you were only at fifty-eight percent.”

“Well, a mysterious donor gave us the rest of the Angel Points we needed. But when we went to exchange the points, that’s when Anderson used his spirit magic to trap us in the pocket dimension. Only I was able to escape.”

I think for a moment. “I’ll help.”

Chris moves from the kitchen and stands next to me. “It’s going to be dangerous.”

“I understand that.”

Jorge gets on his knees. “Please. You have to help. Every ten minutes he’s going to kill someone.”

“Let’s go.” I pick up my phone to call Sebastian.

Chris brings my hand down with hers. “The entrance is just down the street, remember?”

“Oh, right.”

Five minutes later we are at the call box that doubles as the entrance to the pocket dimension. Jorge steps through. Chris and I follow.

“Is this where he’s keeping the hostages?” I look around the small entrance lobby.

“He’s keeping them inside the main chamber.” Jorge opens the door a crack and peers through.

I hear a voice coming from behind the door. “I know you’re there, Jorge. Did you bring me the card like I asked you to?”

Jorge grimaces before opening the door. “I brought it.”

“You were twenty minutes late. I’ve already offed Geon and Robert.”

“You’re a monster.”

“It’s classy nowadays.”

Jorge enters the main chamber. Chris and I follow.

Anderson has all of the members of the Honey Badgers tied up with some sort of translucent string. Jorge takes out a card and slowly approaches him.

“This is what you wanted.” He holds it out. “Just take it.”

I suppose this is where I’m supposed to come in? I make a move towards Anderson.

He points with his finger and a blast of web flies out, straight at me. I manage to dodge. The web sticks to the ground behind me.

“You have good reflexes, boy.” Anderson points towards one of the wrapped up players and snaps his fingers. “For trying something, I’m going to kill this man. What was his name? I don’t remember.”

“Please, don’t.” Jorge continues to approach Anderson with the card.

“Too late.” Anderson waves his hand and the translucent threads squeeze the man until he gurgles and dies.

I feel sick to my stomach. This is not an image that will be leaving my mind any time soon. Anderson’s grin is huge.

Jorge gives the card to Anderson. Anderson looks at it, grins wider, and then snaps his fingers. The webs around the members of the Honey Badgers begin to snap, wire by wire. Anderson pulls out an object and tosses it to the ground. In an instant he disappears. We are left with the members of the Honey Badgers, who are now trying to take off the remains of the web.

“So …” I look at Jorge. “I guess he got away with it.”

Jorge collapses to the ground, covering his face with his hands. “We’ll never be able to leave this game.”

“I believe in you. I think you should keep trying. Don’t give up.”

Jorge stands up and wipes his tears. “Can you help us with this? I know you have the power to acquire a lot more Angel Points than any of us can.”

“Are Angel Points transferrable?”

“If you mean able to be given to others, then yes.”

“I’ll do it. I’ve only got two weeks left here in London but I’ll do my best to help you. I won’t be able offer any of my Angel Points. I have a lot of money, though, and that may be helpful to you.”

“You’re just going to give us that money?”

“I’ll say its so that I can call in a favor at a later date. Some of you look pretty strong even though you’re in this group.”

“Skill in combat does not translate well to skill in Fallen Angels.” Jorge wipes his forehead with a handkerchief. “We’re going to have to start all over again.”

“I think Anderson can be beaten.”

Jorge looks at me incredulously. “How do you think we can do that?”

“I can track him down. He killed three people. And these are murders. We need to call the police.”

“Yeah …” Jorge takes out his cell phone. “Yeah. That seems like the best course of action.”

Ten minutes later I am standing outside the phone booth portal, watching as paramedics load the three bodies onto an ambulance. A detective approaches me.

“Detective Orines. Tell me what happened here.”

“A man named Anderson killed these people over a sports dispute.”

“Sports?”

Detective Orines is not a player, so I can’t talk about Fallen Angels with him—even if I wanted to.

“Yeah. But a little different.”

Detective Orines makes a few notes in his notebook. “We’re on the case. I’ve heard that this Anderson fellow has an item that allows him to teleport.”

“Yeah.”

“We’ve hired a member of Wagner’s Right of Way to track him. You know who they are, right?”

“Who hasn’t heard of them?” I do my best to fake a smile. Those portal beings sure are getting up to some shenanigans while I’m not watching.

An elf with a police uniform approaches me. She has white hair just like Chris and her eyes are deep purple. She pushes Detective Orines aside. Orines doesn’t seem to mind, instead nodding and backing away to talk to someone else.

The elf bows slightly. “Hello, wielder of the Bone of Wisdom.”

“Uh, hi.” I do my best to smile.

“I thank you for providing me with the support that I need to do my job.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“My name is Lace. It is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance.”

“Yeah. Just find that Anderson guy and make sure he pays for killing those people.”

Lace turns away. “We’re tracking a signature that might be him. Do you care to come with me?”

I think for a moment. “Yeah. How are you going to try to catch up with him?”

Lace takes out a small blue pearl. “This will lead us straight to him.”

“But he teleported.”

“The range appears to be small. He’s still somewhere in the greater London area.”

A helicopter approaches from the south, hovering over the phone booth and landing in the street.

Lace, Chris, and I climb on, as well as Detective Orines. The helicopter takes off, following the direction of Lace’s blue pearl. We fly across most of the city before the pearl starts to react. It snaps into position, pointing to the east. We follow it for five minutes.

A car, on the ground, suddenly speeds up.

Orines grins. “Looks like we got him, folks.”