by Y. Falstaff
Hardened by the sight of Jizzy, Rick knew that he had to get the hell out of there. As he struggled to unstrap Jizzy's naked body from the table, he only hoped that any sounds the kull had made were mistaken as the torturing of his victims instead. Finally freeing Jizzy a few minutes later, Rick held her head in his hands and tried to get her to come to, but she seemed hopelessly lost in a daze and only mumbled incoherently, not even recognizing him.
The thought then occurred to him that once she was of sound mind again, she could just wish herself well, and he intended to have her do so first thing, but for now, he couldn't hang around. The three of them had to get the hell out of there and back to the sewers to make their escape. Immediately dismissing the idea that Jizzy could wish them out of the dungeon and to safety, Rick solicited Kitty's help, and the two of them carefully carried the broken genie out of the torture chamber and back towards the sewer.
After several frantic minutes, where Rick honestly felt they'd have the whole of the kull army on them in no time, Rick and Kitty somehow managed to sneak back out of the palace dungeon and back down the iron ladder, all along carrying the half-conscious genie with them. Now standing back in the sewers, Rick honestly couldn't believe their luck, and after taking a couple deep breaths of relief, he decided that he definitely didn't want to do anything like that ever again. As it was quite a struggle for the two of them to carry the genie as far as they had, Rick definitely had it in his mind to somehow revive her, so that she might be able to simply wish them out of there.
“Damn it! We need to wake her up. She needs to be up. We need to wake her somehow... Snap out of it, Jizzy! Snap out of it!...” Rick frustratingly rambled, cupping Jizzy's bloody face in his hands and watching her beautiful blue eyes roll back into her head again as she abruptly swooned.
His eyes then resting on the tiny flaming servant that Darkness had created to help him escape the city, Rick watched the flaming humanoid bow and then start off down the tunnel, expecting them to follow.
“No, wait! Let's take a break here. I'm spent. I also don't want to carry her the whole fucking way,” Rick breathed, trying to catch his breath.
As he watched the tiny flaming servant stop, Rick realized he needed more help than just Kitty to see all this through. He was stuck in quite a dilemma, and he knew that he'd have to call on all his resources to see him through it. Maybe there was something Darkness could do to pull Jizzy from her catatonic state? Maybe she could heal her? Maybe she knew something he didn't?
“Darkness!” Rick called, gritting his teeth and shaking his head.
A moment later, Rick felt a chill run down his spine, and at the same time, he felt his penis suddenly start to stiffen, as if it unconsciously knew dripping sex was only heartbeats away. Swallowing the spittle that reflexively splashed into his mouth, Rick turned his head away from the light, which he had placed on the floor, and he saw the inviting curves of the teasing demon in the shadows.
“You called?” Darkness sultry voice asked in her usual playful way.
“I rescued Jizzy, but there is something wrong with her. I don't know if it is from the torture, or...?” Rick began before being cutoff.
“The seers. They have drugged her.”
“Drugged her?”
“Yes, that is why I left you with my little servant. I expected as much,” Darkness casually explained.
“But why would they do that?” Rick asked, cradling Jizzy's head in his hands while Kitty stood nearby with his shotgun in hand.
“The answer to that question is rather obvious. Do you really need me to...?” Darkness sarcastically began, her voice bored.
“Yes, I need you to answer! I... I'm fucking new to all this shit! Just a day ago, I was sitting at a desk in an office, selling clients on bullshit investment products, and listening to my neighbor fart all day. I'm not familiar at all with all these kull, seers, and their ways,” Rick explained, his voice strained and more than a little frustrated.
“Because she is a djinn with miraculous powers, Rick, she poses a serious threat to them. If she were herself and not in a drugged state, she could protect herself against their designs. When they captured her, they likely first drugged her with a needle-shot from a blowgun. It is how the seers like to work. They are more like djinn bounty hunters really, quite clever,” Darkness calmly explained.
“So... So they've kept her drugged this whole time? How long will the effects last? Can you cure her?” Rick riffled off, his eyes wandering back to the demon's alluring silhouette and his mind remembering the all the pleasurable sensations he had running his tool in and out of her.
“The effects are easily...” Darkness began, but then she suddenly stopped and her voice became more urgent with the next words she said. “Wait! Where is the bottle?!”
“What?!”
“Where is the bottle, Rick?!”
“The bottle?! I don't know? What does it matter? I have the cap. I have control. I am the master,” Rick shot back defensively.
“No! The bottle is required still, Rick. You must go back and get it,” Darkness immediately instructed.
At her words, Rick's eyes bulged, and he felt like she had just asked him to climb Mount Everest while doing a handstand. There was no way on Earth he wanted to go back up there into that dungeon. There just had to be another way.
“Go back and get it!? Are you fucking crazy?! Those kull are giants! We were lucky to escape with Jizzy without getting caught. I am not going back up there!” Rick insisted, suddenly shooting to his feet to protest.
“Did you not see the bottle with her?” Darkness continued to press, taking a step forward.
“No... No, I didn't. What does it matter? I have the cap and Jizzy!” Rick repeated in frustration, pulling the ornate cap from his pocket and showing it to the demon.
“All three are required, Rick. You must go back and get the bottle. There is no other way. If you don't, they will be able to easily track you down once they realize you have fled with her. Her powers are limited without the bottle anyway. You see, you have to have that bottle,” Darkness insisted.
“Fuck! Why didn't you say that before?!” Rick shouted back in frustration, waving his hand at her in anger.
“I thought you knew that already. Are you sure the bottle wasn't where she was being held?” Darkness asked again.
“No, it wasn't there! She was in a torture room of some kind. I would have noticed it there. It would have stuck out,” Rick frustratingly returned, shaking his head at the absurdity of what he was being asked to do.
“Then perhaps try Manza-zar's audience chamber... or his bedroom,” Darkness then helpfully suggested.
“What the fuck are you talking about!? What the fuck am I supposed to do, walk up and ask the asshole for it back? Hi, I am that dummy, Rick, you've been hunting for, and I just rescued Jizzy. She's actually down in the sewers right now, but, uh, I win asshole, so surrender the bottle too,” Rick sarcastically rambled.
“Amusing, but no,” Darkness calmly replied, and then she reached up and took something off her neck and handed it down to Rick. “Take this. Leave your weapon. Only you go. This will disguise you.”
“Disguise me?! How is a cheap piece of Halloween jewelry going to disguise me?! What, I am supposed to pretend I'm a transvestite servant or something?!” Rick incredulously breathed, taking what appeared to be a gaudy silver necklace a woman might wear with a smoky stone attached.
“No. This is called a doppelganger amulet, and it is prized in many arcane circles. When you put it on, you will take on the form of Manza-zar. This should allow you to freely travel within the palace and find that bottle,” Darkness explained.
Narrowing his eyes, Rick growled, “You know, this could have been very helpful about twenty-fucking minutes ago.”
“It is a priceless artifact and not one, even now, that I am handing over lightly. You have your djinn, now go and get her bottle,” Darkness instructed, clearly not wanting to argue with him.
> Exhaling and wrestling with his fears internally, Rick stared at the ornate necklace and shook his head.
“So, how does this thing work?”
“You simply put it on, and you will assume Manza-zar's form. I have met him before. I know what he looks like. You will look and sound just like him. But, be warned, if you come across any seers, if they suspect you in any way, they will be able to magically detect your ruse and either slay or apprehend you. In addition, steer clear of Manza-zar himself,” Darkness carefully instructed.
“Steer clear of Manza-zar?! I don't even know what he fucking looks like?” Rick protested.
“I will resolve that for you momentarily. It doesn't matter though. I think with all the commotion taking place in the city overhead, he should be leading his soldiers against my kin, so I think you should be safe,” Darkness guessed.
“You think I should be safe?” Rick agonized, slouching his shoulders in defeat.
While Rick thought just rescuing Jizzy was stressful and about the most heroic thing he had ever done in his entire life, going back up into that palace honestly bordered on insanity to him. The way he looked at it, they had just gotten lucky so far. Every minute, every second, he took not getting further away from the palace was just courting disaster and inevitably flirting with getting caught.
“There is no easy way out of this, Rick. You must retrieve that bottle, and the longer you waste arguing with me, the longer they have to discover Jizabel has escaped and come after you. Only when you possess both the bottle and the cap, will you be able to fully restore Jizabel and utilize her powers for your designs. This is a must,” Darkness assured him.
“Well, fuck it! I might as well do something else completely crazy, right?!” Rick finally conceded, taking the necklace and slipping it over his head.
As soon as he did so, Rick suddenly felt a queer change rippling through his entire body. In an instant, he felt goosebumps pepper his flesh, he began to sweat profusely, and he momentarily felt dizzy. As he reached up and put his hand against the nearby wall for support, Rick looked down for a moment to steady himself from the sudden intense vertigo sensations he felt overtaking him.
“Meow?” Kitty worried from nearby.
A moment later though, all those sudden changes over his body seemed to fade in a blink of an eye, and he had mastered himself once again. Looking up, Rick noticed Darkness' two burning eyes were no longer floating above him in the air like before, but she seemed to have somehow shrunk, and he now looked down upon her. Not fully understanding just what had happened, Rick turned around and looked down at Kitty, and he noticed that she too seemed like she had shrunk. Not only that, but Kitty stared up at him in disbelief and gave out a hesitant meow once again.
It was at that moment though, Rick suddenly realized exactly what had happened. When looking up, he saw the tunnel's stone ceiling just right over his head and the broad tunnel itself seemed to have gotten a whole lot smaller.
“Holy shit!” Rick breathed, suddenly realizing that the world hadn't gotten smaller around him, but he had gotten a whole lot bigger.
“I told you that the amulet would disguise you as Manza-zar,” Darkness chuckled, amused at his response.
“Ya, I guess... I guess I just didn't think about it,” Rick stuttered, staring down at his own hands which were now massive.
“Meow?” Kitty asked again, this time sniffing at his leg.
“It's me, Kitty. I'm just... changed,” Rick tried to assure her, and he saw her face looking confused but she did seem to be gradually coming to the understanding that it was, in fact, him.
“Observe!” Darkness then announced, and the shadowy demon held up her clawed hand.
As Rick looked on, a wavy black pool, like a puddle of ink, rippled for a moment in the air before the demon, and gradually, during the next few heartbeats, Rick saw a face emerging out of the ripples, a face he knew was now his, and a face he knew belonged to Manza-zar.
“Behold. You are now the perfect likeness of Manza-zar,” Darkness explained.
Staring at his reflection in the pool of darkness, Rick saw his nose and lips were broad, his eyes a deep walnut color, and his hair was dark as night. Even his skin was a deep coppery color, fine-tuned by living years and years in this scorched land of unending days. With just his natural bearing, Rick thought he had a commanding look about him, like a man who was accustomed to ordering others around and having his orders strictly obeyed or clearly there would be deadly consequences.
“Wow! I look like bad-ass motherfucker!” Rick breathed.
“You look like Manza-zar,” Darkness corrected, and she lowered her hand and the image immediately vanished. “So if you see him at a distance, avoid him at all costs, and get as far away as you can.”
“Good advice. He doesn't look like someone I want to piss off or meet in a dark alley in the middle of the night,” Rick warily noted.
“You have already have pissed him off, Rick. Just avoid meeting him and you'll be fine,” Darkness cleverly returned. “The amulet has disguised your clothing as well, to resemble what they wear, but beware, once you remove your clothing for whatever reason and the garments are no longer attached to your body, they will reveal their true form, just as if you took off the amulet.”
“Good. Good. All right. So... how long does this... little amulet work?” Rick asked, suddenly reaching down into his pants and feeling his enormous penis.
“What are you doing?” Darkness asked.
“I'm just checking to see if... everything changed. My god these kull have giant elephant dicks!” Rick marveled, feeling his giant penis and realizing it was as long as his forearm was before and twice as thick, just like the kull who had been molesting Jizzy.
“So easily amused,” Darkness blandly noted.
“Hey! You were pretty easily amused too not that long ago... Anyway how long will this thing work?” Rick asked.
“As long as you keep it on. I would not suggest taking it off until you return here,” Darkness soundly advised.
“Good idea. Well, I better not waste any more time. I can't believe I'm fucking doing this, but...”
“It must be done, Rick,” Darkness assured him.
“Right,” Rick replied, nodding his head and glancing back down at the unconscious genie.
“I will leave you now. Good luck. Call me when you are safe,” Darkness concluded.
“I will. Kitty, use my shotgun and guard Jizzy. I will whisper down to you from above when I come back. Hopefully, this all won't take too long. Listen for my voice, all right?” Rick instructed.
Staring up at him with wide eyes, Kitty simply nodded her head and moved aside so that he could climb up the iron ladder. Stepping over to the ladder again, Rick stared up at it and shook his head. He honestly couldn't believe he was going back into the palace dungeon, and at that moment, he hoped he would be back in five-to-ten minutes. Little did he know, he'd be gone for a little bit longer than that.
A Plethora
While at first Rick had to force himself not to appear to be sneaking around, after he passed a couple guards and started into the upper reaches of the palace proper, he was well into his acting role as lord of the city and growing into it by the moment. Strutting around with his naked chest puffed out like a rooster and with his hands firmly behind his back, Rick was soon marching around the opulent palace like he owned it, and he now felt like he knew how the CEOs felt strutting around his office at Samuel Barton & Sons.
As he strut by open chambers full of lavish furniture and armed guards seemed to be around almost every corner, at one point, Rick paused at an open window and stared out into the chaos taking place in the city below. While inside the palace it was still and peaceful, outside in the streets it was absolute mayhem. Staring down into the white-walled city from high above, Rick could see countless flashes of light in the darkness of the night, like fireworks going off in the distance, and even high overhead, he saw those strange sailing ships in the sky s
uddenly explode and come tumbling down from the heavens. Everywhere he looked it seems were explosions and the screams of the dying, and seeing the carnage from a distance, Rick swallowed hard and realized he had personally brought all this death and destruction to this world. All those heavy thoughts though only pressed him to find that bottle that much quicker, and he stepped away from the window and continued his search of the enormous palace.
After crossing through a couple corridors and peeking into a few lavish rooms, Rick then smelled something that gave him pause and immediately piqued his curiosity. He wasn't sure exactly what he was smelling at first, but he knew deep down he wanted to check it out. Swinging around a corner, he caught one of the eleven-foot tall guards picking his nose, and as soon as the guard saw him, he immediately shot to attention and pretended that he hadn't been doing anything. Abruptly stepping right up to the guard at the intersection, Rick stared hard at the cowering kull, who fearfully averted his gaze and stood at full attention. Feeling a little devilish, Rick then began his shrewd line of questioning.