by N. P. Martin
"I’ll explain on the way." I turned around again, and shouted to Max. "Let’s go!"
Max disappeared, and then spoke within me. "Don’t have a heart attack on my account, Creed," he said.
"You get what you need?" I said staring at my family, the pain of doing so killing me, but I didn’t care if I was getting to see them. "Like I even care."
"Yes, I did, though it wasn’t what I expected—"
"Don’t care."
My family all waved to me. After waving back, I looked at them one final time, and then turned and left the room, rage and sorrow about to boil over in me. Which I hoped they did.
But only when I caught up with LeBron.
Then I would teach him the meaning of pain.
30
No Time
We made it out of the mountain lair without much trouble. A few of LeBron’s more loyal men tried to stop us, but I swiftly dealt with them using only my fists, which I was more than happy to do, except for the fact that I was now on a clock. LeBron was probably on Earth by now, preparing to set the bomb to end all bombs.
"We’re never going to make it," I said when we got outside to the desert. "There’s not enough time. By the time we cross the desert on foot…" I shook my head in despair.
"I can teleport us to the portal," Max said.
"What?" I said aloud.
"What?" Moira said.
"Max said he can teleport us to the portal, even though he said he couldn’t teleport us on the way here," I said.
"So I lied," Max said. "Big deal. I’m a demon. Now do you want a lift or not?"
I sighed and shook my head. "Just fucking do it."
As soon as I grabbed Moira’s arm, we vanished and reappeared in front of the portal leading to the Astral Plane. Torrents of souls still poured through it, and I couldn’t help but think what a cruel joke the whole cosmic system was.
Moira stood staring in wonder. "I’ve never seen this. I can barely remember coming through it."
"Fascinating," I said bluntly. "Jump aboard now, come on…"
"What?" she said staring at me. "I don’t know how."
"Just think of me as a portal and walk inside. I’ve already used a spell that will allow me to receive your spirit."
She nodded like she was unsure of the whole thing. Under normal circumstances, I would have gently lead her through the whole process of inserting her spirit self inside of me, but these were not normal circumstances, and I didn’t have the time or the patience to fuck about. "Okay," she said. "I just walk…into you, right?"
"Yes, just come forward…"
"What if it doesn’t work?"
"For fuck’s sake…" I stamped forward and pulled her roughly toward me. She then disappeared as if she had fallen into a black hole.
"Fuck, this is weird," Moira said from inside me. "It’s like being you…only not."
"Don’t crowd me please," Max said.
"I’m sorry, I don’t—"
"I said don’t crowd me!"
"How am I—"
"Enough!" I shouted aloud. "The two of you, shut the fuck up!"
"Feeling a bit enraged, Creed, are we?" Max said.
"I’m fucking warning you, Max," I said. "If you don’t stop I will make it my fucking mission to hunt you down in the Underworld and destroy your demon ass, even if you fucking kill me, I’ll still find a way. You hear me?"
"He can be very convincing when he wants to be," Max said quietly to Moira. "He’d make a great demon…"
I closed my eyes for a second as I took a deep breath. There was no time to be pissed at Max. Max could wait.
Running toward the portal, I jumped off the ground and dived into the swirling red mass of energy, soon finding myself once more in the shadowy Astral Plane. Then, once I’d cast a Direction Spell, I sped off toward the Earthly Plane, praying that I wouldn’t be too late when I got there.
They say the journey always seems quicker on the way back. Thankfully in this case, that turned out to be true. My journey back through the Astral Plane seemed to take half the time it did before, perhaps because I wasn’t attacked by any astral predators, or maybe just because Max wasn’t talking incessantly this time, or perhaps even because my every action was being fueled by pain and rage. More so because, for a second there before I left the Gray Lands, I actually thought there was a slim chance that LeBron really was bluffing. Not about the bomb. I was certain he wasn’t bluffing about that. But about my family ceasing to exist once I went through the portal. The second I went through, though, I realized I was kidding myself if I thought my family was still in existence. A man like LeBron, though mad as a hatter, didn’t kid when it came to using his power to hurt others. He was a classic sadist, and was probably loving this little game he had going with me, more so than if he had killed me outright. But that is always their biggest weakness, isn’t it? Hubris. The need to prove their dominance over others. The need to be the smartest one in the room at all times.
Only they aren’t always the smartest.
Are they?
I exited the Astral Plane through the portal in Sanaka’s Sanctum. Landing in the room, I was met, not by Sanaka, but by Ray, who was sitting on a chair next to my physical body, which still lay on the floor in the same position.
"It’s about bloody time," Ray said standing and stretching as if he had been sitting for ages. "I thought you were never coming back."
"Ray?" I said in surprise. "What are you doing here? Where’s Sanaka?"
"I was worried about my only nephew," he said. "I had to come, to make sure you were all right."
"And Sanaka?" I said looking around and seeing no sign of my mentor.
Ray shook his head, as if he didn’t quite know how to explain where Sanaka was. "He had to leave…on an emergency."
"Emergency? What kind of emergency?"
Ray came forward and placed his hands on my arms. "Don’t worry about him, he’s fine. You know Sanaka, always the mysterious type. The important thing is, you’re back."
There seemed to be more to the story than Ray was letting on. Sanaka would never have left my side unless he was forced to, which told me whatever had caused him to leave suddenly, it must have been serious. I decided to let it slide for now. There were more important things to worry about. If Sanaka was in some kind of trouble, I was confident he could handle it himself.
I smiled somewhat forlornly at Ray. "You know me, Ray, I’m like a bad penny…"
"Well, your body is waiting, son." He gestured down at my physical form. It was like looking down at a corpse. I hardly recognized myself. It seemed like Max’s presence had been taking its toll on my body while I was away. My skin was an ashen gray, and my eyes looked sunken. Pretty much what I would have looked like as a ghoul, had my father’s curse taken full effect at the time.
"Is that a fucking boil on my neck?" I said in disgust.
"Yes, that’s a common outbreak on the possessed," Max said. "It will clear up once I’m gone."
"You’re actually leaving?"
"Yes. Itchy feet. Count yourself lucky you survived me, Creed. You’re the first."
"I’m flattered."
Moira chose that moment to make her exit, or should I say, entrance. "Are we…on Earth?" she asked as she looked around the room.
"Who is this?" Ray asked, more bemused than surprised. "Did you pick up a hitchhiker, August?"
"Something like that," I said. "Ray, this is Moira. She needs a body."
"What’s wrong with the one she has?"
"Eh, she’s a ghost…"
"I’m just kidding. I suppose you want me to…"
"If you could, yeah. I’ve got a more pressing matter to deal with." I walked forward and lay down on top of my physical body, as it and my astral form became one again.
"Anything I can help you with?" Ray asked as he took my hand and helped me up. My body felt stiff and sore, and shockingly weak. I didn’t know how I was supposed to hunt LeBron in this state, never mind stop him.
"Yes, actually," I said, wincing at the pain in my body. "First, I need to find someone right away, and second…" I trailed off as wooziness made me unsteady on my feet.
"Woah," Ray said grabbing my arm. "You can barely stand. You need to rest and recuperate."
I shook my head. "There’s no time…I can’t."
"Why not? What’s going on, son?"
I shut my eyes as I became overwhelmed, not only by the pain and weakness, but by the despair that came from the fact that I was in no state to go after LeBron. I couldn’t even fucking hold myself up!
"It’s me doing that to him," Max stated as bluntly as ever as he now stood next to me in the form of Evil Creed.
"No shit!" Ray said glaring at Max, showing a rare glimpse of anger. Obviously Sanaka had passed on his All Seeing Spell to Ray before leaving. "I think it’s time you left, demon. I trust you got what you wanted already?"
Max nodded. "I did actually, which surprised me because I thought—"
"I don’t care what you thought, demon," Ray snarled. "Leave my nephew and go back to the Underworld where you belong."
"No…" I barely managed to say. "I need him…"
"Need him?" Ray said. "What the bloody hell for?"
"LeBron…teleport…"
"You’re not making sense, August. Who or what is LeBron?"
"I think he’s trying to say that he needs me to teleport him to LeBron, the fool who is trying to blow this world up," Max said. "As neither of you two can teleport far enough if need be. Am I right, Creed?"
I nodded. "He stays…"
Ray shook his head, confused now. "If he stays much longer he’ll kill you, son."
"I hate to say it," Max said. "But your uncle is right, Creed. You’re on your last legs, my old son."
They were both right. I was dying. There was no doubt about that. Max had to go. At least until I could heal. "Possess Ray instead," I said.
"What?" Ray said still holding me up. "Absolutely not! There is no way in fucking hell I’m letting that filthy, disgusting thing inside—"
"Ray!" I said clutching at his chest. "This is life or death…trust me."
"Then possess someone else," Ray argued.
"THERE’S NO FUCKING TIME, RAY!" I screamed suddenly. "THERE’S NO TIME…THERE’S—"
The world went black.
31
Battle Ready
I woke up half screaming in a panic, to find myself lying on a chaise lounge in Sanaka’s living room. Moira, or at least her ghost, was standing over me. "It’s okay," she said reassuringly. "You’re safe, Creed."
I sat there blinking for a moment as my focus gradually recovered, and I soon realized that I was feeling physically a whole lot better than I did before. "What happened?" I asked Moira.
"You basically collapsed into a coma," Ray answered. I hadn’t realized he was in the room. He was sitting over by the fireplace puffing on his pipe. "I worked my magic on you, though. You can thank me later."
"Thanks, Ray," I said as I swung my legs off the seat. "What about…"
"The demon?" Ray said. "Oh, he’s right here inside of me, driving me fucking crazy for the last hour. August, son, how did you put up with him for so long?"
I ignored his question, because I couldn’t get past the fact that I’d been out for a whole hour. "LeBron," I said. "We have to do the Location Spell…now!"
"Already done," Ray said.
I looked at Moira, and she nodded. "You won’t believe where he is," she said.
"I think August knows where he is already," Ray said, before blowing out a long stream of smoke.
"Blackham," I said without hesitation.
"You must have made some impression on the man for him to want to detonate his bomb in your home town," Ray said.
I shook my head. "Motherfucking psychopath…I have to go, right now." I spotted my trench coat draped over one of the chairs, and I went and put it on, as if I was a soldier gearing up for battle. A quick check told me that my magic reserves were at maximum thanks to Ray’s rejuvenation methods. "I’ll be needing Max back as well."
"With pleasure," Ray said as he stood up, tensing for a second as Max’s spirit left his body and jumped into mine.
"Hello again, Creed," Max said. "Feeling better, I see."
"Yeah," I said. "No thanks to you. This is just temporary. Don’t get too comfortable in there."
"I have no intentions of sticking around after I take you to where you need to go. I’m curious though, why don’t you teleport yourself? Anyone would think you like me being in you."
I tutted in disgust. "As if. I’m just conserving my magic."
Max laughed. "I will miss you, Creed."
"I’ll miss you too, Max…like a fucking hole in the head," I said. "Now take me to LeBron."
"Wait," Ray said, as if he’d heard my conversation with Max. "I’m coming with you."
I shook my head. "This isn’t your fight, Ray."
"Bollocks it isn’t my fight," he said. "I live on this planet as well, don’t I, along with the billions of other people this asshole LeBron is planning on blowing up. Not my fight…" He shook his head again in annoyance.
"All right, fine," I said. "I don’t have time to argue with you."
"No, you don’t."
"Can we just go now?" Max said. "I’m becoming bored by all these heroics."
"You should be sticking around to help, Max," I said. "This is your playground, is it not? How would you get your fun if there’s no one here to…do what you do with?"
"There are other worlds in the multiverse. Earth is not the only fruit. Far from it."
"Fine, whatever," I said. "Take us where we need to go, then you can fuck off forever."
"No need to be so tetchy, Creed. You humans, so easily offended, so…"
"Whatever, Max," I said aloud, then looked at Ray. "Let’s go, Ray."
Ray had his battered brown trench coat on now. He also held his centuries old Druidic staff. "Ready," he said as he grabbed my arm.
"What about me?" Moira asked from across the room. "Am I supposed to just hang around here?"
"Make yourself at home," Ray said. "Just stay out of the East wing."
"What’s in the East wing?"
We had already teleported before Ray could answer.
32
Playing Fields
We landed in Gadsden Park, which was situated across the river in Bankhurst. According to Ray, this is where LeBron is supposed to be. We stood just outside the front entrance of the Zoo, memories of my recent protest here coming back to me; memories that would probably have brought a smile to my face if current circumstances were not so dire. "This park is massive," I said. "LeBron could be anywhere."
"Don’t worry," Ray said holding up his staff. "He won’t be hard to find."
"Time for me to leave now, Creed," Max said. "I’d like to satisfy a few urges before there is no one left on this planet to kill."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence there, Max," I said.
"Well, I’ll say this for you, Creed. If anyone can stop LeBron, it’s you, and your…uncle. You know your uncle has a very weird inner life?"
"Isn’t everybody’s inner life weird?"
"Where humans are concerned, I suppose you are right."
"Thanks for the lift, Max," I said as I looked around the park for signs of LeBron, and seeing nothing but darkness and shadows. "Sure you don’t want to stick around? Your power could prove useful."
"No, thanks," Max said. "I’m sure you can handle it, Creed."
"Fine. Just don’t blame me when there’s no one left to play with."
"You’ll be the first person I’ll blame."
"I’m sure of that."
Max laughed. "Well, Creed, it’s been real, as you humans say. Try not to get everybody killed."
"Fuck off."
He exited my body in a rush at that point, his spirit moving invisibly through the night to God knows where. Probably into the body of some
other chump, who most certainly wouldn’t survive the experience the way I did. If anyone survived this night, that is.
"I have a lock on LeBron," Ray said as he pointed his staff toward Cedar Lake and the playing fields beyond. "He’s that way."
"Are you sure?" I asked him. "We only get one chance at this."
Ray threw me a look. "Who do you think you are talking to, some apprentice?"
I shook my head. "Of course not. I’m just…"
"I know." Ray held his hand out. "Come. I’ll teleport us over there."
When we landed near the playing fields, I looked around and couldn’t see anyone, and then Ray pointed with his staff to the center of the field. Squinting in the darkness, I saw a hunched figure, the half moon barely providing enough light to create an outline around it. "That’s him," I said with certainty, my anger beginning to rise once more as I thought about my family, and what LeBron had done to them.
"We should call for backup," Ray said. "Just to be on the safe side."
I shook my head as I focused on the figure in the middle of the field. "There’s no time, and who would we call anyway?"
"I’ve already tried to contact Tetsuo…again."
"And?"
"He may be off world. I got no response."
"Then it’s just us."
"It would seem that way," Ray said. "Let’s go and get this bastard."
Just as we started to move toward LeBron, the sky above his head seemed to tear as a small portal of reddish energy began to form, glowing against the dark backdrop. "Fuck," I said halting mid-step. "That can’t be good."
"He’s opened a bloody portal!" Ray said.
My hand slipped inside my trench coat and pulled out the Druidic knife from its sheath. "Not for long."
My focus was on LeBron as I started running toward him, my boots thumping loudly on the wet grass, which LeBron obviously heard, because he turned around. A smile came over his face as he saw me running at him, my arm up as I held the knife behind my head.
LeBron waited, still smiling at me as the portal continued to open.