The Lesser One Arc 2 Version 2 Chapter 23: Thanks

 

Thanks

The battlefield is chaos. Bullets fly everywhere, people scream, blasts of spirit magic scour the air. I am locked in battle with an evil clown. Smoke floats between us. I swing my halberd at the clown.

The clown blocks the halberd with a small star-shaped dagger. His eyes, which are bright red, glare at me. “You’re Markus.” The clown grins, displaying rotten yellow teeth. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“What do you want?” I throw away my halberd and conjure a short sword. The halberd clatters to the ground.

“Me?” The clown licks his dagger. “I just want to cause chaos.”

Sebastian appears next to me, coming out of a ball of smoke. “Demon!” He points to the clown. “I shall be your doom!”

“What, these are demons?” I stand back to back with Sebastian.

“The mortal enemies of devils.” Sebastian flicks his wrist and flaming smoke forms a spear in his hand. “They’re chaos incarnate.”

The clown whistles. Two other clowns walk up beside it. They get into formation and press the attack.

“You handle the center!” Sebastian rushes to engage the clowns.

I focus on the original clown. The clown pulls out three more daggers and then tosses them into the air. They zip around him as his hands become a blur.

I conjure a shield to go with my sword. The daggers fly around my head. Two of them strike my shield, deflecting off the Rearden Metal and changing direction. The clown appears to be psychically controlling the blades.

The clown catches two blades and then leaps towards me. The other two blades fly at me from behind. I duck, conjure a plate at the back of my neck, and kick the clown off his feet. The flying blades clang against my neck guard. The clown trips, falling to the ground. I stab it in the back, ripping apart its clown suit. Blood spatters everywhere.

Sebastian regroups with me, having defeated the two other clowns. He is covered in blood, some of which I think is his. He wipes his mouth. “We’re not done yet.” He turns to me. “But this isn’t your fight anymore.”

A legion of tanks pull around the corner. Hundreds of military police arrive in armored vehicles. Helicopters hover over the street. Two jet aircraft scream overhead. The stomping of boots drowns out the sounds of battle.

The clowns, sensing that they’re losing the advantage, melt away into alleyways and into the sewer through several open manholes.

Sebastian collapses. I lean over him. “Someone! An elf! Get over here!”

Tia arrives by my side two seconds later. “He’s going. Heavy blood loss.” She rips a strip from her shirt. “Hold this while I sing his blood vessels shut.” She starts chanting in elvish and Sebastian’s body lights up.

Sebastian’s eyes open. “It happened again.” He coughs. “I can’t help but get hurt every time we fight.”

“I’m happy to heal you every time.” I lean over Sebastian. “Tia. What should I modify?”

“Here, here. He needs splints. His ribs are fractured and puncturing his lungs.”

I conjure splints and fuse metal with bone. Sebastian coughs again, clearly in pain. Tia sings his wound shut and then wraps it with her makeshift bandages.

Only then does the battlefield seem to come into focus. The ground is slick with blood. There are dead clowns everywhere, as well as some dead demons, dryads, and elves. There are also a large number of dead humans.

The scene is being managed by the military and police. I know I’m not getting out of this one without an explanation. A detective that I recognize approaches me.

“Barley!” I walk towards him.

Barley sighs. “Markus, you’ve gotten caught up in something big again, haven’t you?”

“These things seem to follow me.” I do my best to smile, considering the circumstances.

Barley looks around. “I’m glad I was working a nearby beat. But god, that was some eldritch bull. I’ve never seen a killer clown before today, and now I wish I hadn’t.” He rubs his neck.

I run my arm along my shoulder. “Man, you wouldn’t believe the crazy stuff I’ve been through recently.”

Barley grimaces. “Yeah. You’re probably not telling me the majority of it. I assume that you’ve done some things that you can’t tell me.” He shrugs. “I won’t ask. I have enough work to do on my own.” He yells at a number of lower-ranking officers. “Sorry, Markus. I have a warzone to take care of.” He walks away.

I stand in the middle of the devastation, waiting for someone to approach me. But it seems that the police and military have more pressing things to worry about. After about half an hour, after a few policemen give me the most basic of questioning, I’m allowed to leave. Mandrake, Sebastian, me, and Tia all climb back into the limo. It’s full of cracks, but the thing is bulletproof, so no bullets actually made it inside. We drive away.

Sebastian taps his hand along the bottom the seat. “I …” He frowns. “I’m missing something.”

“What?” I blink.

“The key. The key to my safe.” Sebastian grips the wheel. “I had a key here.”

“What was it for?”

Sebastian grits his teeth. “It was for the Pulumex.”

“The what now?”

Sebastian shakes his head. “The Pulumex. It’s an artifact of great value. I’m its keeper.”

“You never told me anything about this.” I frown.

“I know. It has nothing to do with you. Those demons. They knew what they were doing. They were after the Pulumex.”

“What is the Pulumex, exactly? Explain it to me.”

Mandrake crosses his arms. “Tell us now. We might not have needed to know before, but we need to know now.”

Sebastian keeps his gaze straight ahead, on the road. “It’s a device that opens a portal between Hell and reality.”

“Why were you the keeper of something that dangerous?”

“Jirgrar left the key with me. Five other devils have keys like mine. One needs three to open the safe.” Sebastian shudders. “If they manage to acquire the other two, then an invasion will take place.”

“Well that’s not good.” I look out the window. “But the other keys are safe, right?”

“I haven’t heard of them being stolen.”

“Then we won’t worry about them.” I hold up my palms. “As long as they don’t get the other two, we won’t have to worry about an invasion of crazy killer clowns.”

Sebastian sighs. “You’re calmer than I am.” He shakes his head. “But I’ll do as you recommend.” He glances back at me. “You do have another thing to worry about, after all. Have you thought about how you’re going to gather the remaining votes?”

“Yeah. If I get votes from the rest of the Brights, and hopefully Grey, then I’ll only need three votes from the Darks.”

“Right.” Sebastian taps the steering wheel. “The Bright votes will be relatively uncomplicated. You’re going to have to head to Hawaii for Robin’s quest, and we have no idea what Grey will want from you, but three more Darks? That sounds like a load of trouble.”

“I know. So far, I know of Ronald, Deeve, and Biren. Biren wants me to wake up Alice.”

Mandrake counts on his fingers. “That leaves Wreck, Generica, and Elina.”

“Okay. That’s seventeen in total, right?”

Mandrake nods. “Correct.” He lowers his hands. “That means that you need to convince half of the remaining Darks to vote for you.”

“I’ve already got four of them to vote for me.” I hold my palm open. “I think the others might be easy enough.”

“You’ve been lucky so far.” Mandrake folds his arms. “You need to take these things with the precautions they deserve.”

“Right.” I wrinkle my nose. “It’s Grey that I’m most worried about. I really wonder what he’s going to want from me.”

“Right.” Mandrake sighs. “He’s an oddball. I really don’t understand him at all.”

“Well, we can just ask him the next time we see him.” My phone rings. “Do you mind?”

Mandrake shakes his head.

I answer. “Hey. Crayton?”

“Yes. Markus, there’s going to be a dinner party tonight to celebrate the release of Rearden Metal a month from now. I know you won’t be here then. Please arrive at the Esmex ballroom, dressed appropriately, by seven. Thanks.” Crayton hangs up.

I put my phone in my pocket. “Looks like I’m going to a dinner party.”

“Of course.”

We pull up to the Esmex building. I enter, take the elevator to my room, and then dress for the party. A few hours remain, so I spend them playing Jenma with Mandrake and Sebastian. We play a version of the game known as Domination, which is multi-player. As always, I lose.

When it’s time for the party, I makes sure I look the part, and then we take the elevator to the ballroom floor. There are important-looking people already arriving. The inside of the ballroom contains a number of tables with refreshments on them. There is a large dining table at the room’s center.

I see Crayton. He approaches me, holding a wine glass. “I never really got to thank you for saving me back then.” He takes a sip. “That’s just another thing I have to be grateful to you for.”

“It was nothing, really.” I do my best to smile.

Crayton motions toward the crowd of wealthy people. “You’re the star of the show, Markus. You’re the guy who invented the metal. I hope I’m not putting you up to too much, but if you’re up for it, I’d like for you to give a speech before the meal.”

“Okay.” I look around the room. “Do you have anything non-alcoholic?”

Crayton motions to a butler. He whispers to him. The butler nods and, two minutes later, returns with a fancy glass full of sparkling grape juice. Crayton winks at me. “You can’t be too careful, can you?”

I take the glass. It’s actually really tasty. I shoot the breeze with Crayton for about ten minutes before Crayton bows, walks to the front of the table, and addresses everyone.

“We are here today to celebrate the launch of a new enterprise!” He raises his glass. “I know a lot of things have been happening in the city recently, but now is a time to forget those things and enjoy the evening! We are running a charity raffle at the table near the door. Please talk to Janice if you want to know more. In other news, Rearden Metal is about to enter production at a large scale! Our profits are expected to rise by at least twenty percent!”

The crowd claps.

Crayton lowers his glass. “I know I’ve been a bit scatterbrained since my daughter went into a coma. But I want to tell you now, that from here on out, her condition won’t affect my organization or running of this company. I am fully committed to my role as CEO of one of the biggest companies in the UK, nay, the whole world.” He smiles, and motions with his hand. “I hope you have as much fun tonight as I will.” He nods his head and steps down. “Now, to give you a little taste of what he’s up to, here’s the star of tonight’s show. Markus Red.” Crayton motions to me.

I step up to the plate. “Um, thanks.” Crayton hands me a microphone. I speak into it. “I, uh, I really didn’t expect to be here tonight. I’ve been working hard to bring you, the, uh, the best product that I can.” I nod, smile, and then step down. There is a spattering of applause.

Crayton leans close to me. “You did fine.” He bumps me on the shoulder.

I do my best to grin. “Thanks.”

 

24

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