The Most Dangerous Mitch in the Multiverse

by Paul Ormond

  “That’s obvious, but that priestess took her,” Davis said.

  “And we’re going to rescue her,” Kalis said.

  “Now that is a plan I can get behind,” Robert said. “Let’s get out of this closet and get her back.”

  “You just hold your horses, Robert,” Gerald said before turning back to Kalis. “What would you do to rescue her?”

  “This priestess is a member of the cult of Joru. They operate across the multi-verse,” Kalis said as more explosions shook the complex. “It’s all a scam as far as I can tell, a story used to cow people into obedience, but their high-ranking members are zealots through and through. If we want to get SoHee back, we must distract her. This Chronath is sacred to the followers of Joru. If we attack it, we will draw her wrath and pull her away from SoHee.”

  “You want us to go out there and fight that monster? That’s your plan?” Robert asked.

  “I think she’s right,” Gerald said. “The only way she’ll turn away from SoHee is if we offend her Gods. Let’s hope she hasn’t sacrificed her already.”

  “The thing I know about cultists is that they always want to make a spectacle of their sacrifices,” Kalis said. “She’ll probably try to do some kind of ritual.”

  “Then we need to stop her before she does,” Gerald said.

  “We’ll need the majority of you to attack the Chronath from all sides. Its attacks are powerful, but it is hindered by its size. Draw its attention and lead it to you. Once the priestess sees you attacking the creature, she’ll be forced to deal with you. As she moves in, Robert and I will engage her in battle.”

  “I can handle that. She won’t know what hit her,” Robert said.

  “I suggest you keep your ego in check. The priestess is a formidable opponent. She possesses great power, and her armor is almost impenetrable. It will take our combined strength to overcome her. But we don’t need to defeat her. We just need to distract her while Gerald frees SoHee.”

  “But we’re still stuck in here,” Gerald said.

  “Yes, we are,” Kalis said, but I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve. “Let’s check our weapons before we make a move. Is everybody online and active?”

  “All good here,” Davis said, activating his suit.

  “Yup, locked and loaded,” Babcock said before a ripple of energy passed over her body..

  “Ready as I can be,” Jamison said, standing up.

  “Allan, are you up for all this?” Robert asked.

  “Do I look like I’m scared?” Allan said. “And you can stop pretending like I’m your assistant or something. The amount of crap I’ve been through because of you. You don’t need to worry about me. I’ve survived a few battles already, and I’m also a level 57 mage in DeathWorld, so I know my way around a monster fight.”

  “Is that right?” Robert said. “I’m sure your video game skills will come in handy on the battlefield.”

  “I’ll be fine. It’s the priestess you need to watch out for,” Allan said. “I know how much you hate getting beat up by girls.”

  “I have a lot of respect for women,” Robert said.

  “If you have to say it, then it’s clearly not true,” Babcock said from the side.

  “How come everybody is ganging up on me again?” Robert asked.

  “Because you have spent your whole life looking down on everybody,” Kalis said. “Do like Gerald said and be a team player. I’m going to take out this door. Hopefully, we can get clear without drawing too much attention. We go right back down the hall we came from. If you get lost, just follow the sounds of the Chronath. Stick to the plan and we’ll get through this. We’re not trying to win the war. We only need to get SoHee out of here alive.”

  “What happens after we get SoHee?” Gerald asked.

  “Then we get off this rock,” Kalis said. “Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan for that as well, but it won’t matter unless we get her.”

  “What about the battle? Are we just going to leave these people here to fight it out?” Babcock asked.

  “Yes,” Kalis said while she readied herself before the door.

  “But there is a war going on?” Babcock said.

  “And if we don’t get out of here, we’ll be swept up by the Masters forces when they arrive,” Kalis said. “I understand that you want to fight them, but now is not the time. As far as I can tell, the rebel army has no intention of winning this fight. They are badly outnumbered, and when the Masters arrive, things will only get worse. That is why we need to move now.”

  “Then bust that door down already,” Robert said while Kalis glared at him. “I’m sorry. Will you please bust that door down already?”

  “That is more like it,” Kalis said, manifesting a large orb in her hand. “You see what happens when you are polite.”

  Before Robert could respond, Kalis released the orb, and the door exploded on impact. As the smoke cleared, she charged toward the opening.

  “Don’t hesitate and stick to the plan,” Kalis shouted after she leveled another orb at one of the guards recovering from the blast.

  “You heard the lady,” Robert shouted, charging forward. “I’m going to enjoy this.”

  “You stick to the plan,” Gerald yelled. “And we’ll be watching you.”

  “Don’t worry, Gerald. I’ll show you where my loyalty lies, and you know what happens to the people who betray me,” Robert shouted after he exited the storage room.

  CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

  THE PRIESTESS PULLED the chariot into a wide arcing turn, rising above the top of the stadium before setting her sights on the Chronath. As the creature roared and stomped its thick limbs, she raced toward it at an alarming rate.

  The Chronath gnashed its teeth after it spotted the chariot charging forward and stood on its hind legs. Lashing out with razor-sharp claws, it attempted to pluck the craft out of midair, but at the last moment the priestess cranked the chariot to the left and banked into a hard turn under the Chronath’s massive limb. Before SoHee could tell what was happening, the priestess lined up the chariot with the back of the Chronath’s head and drove forward at top speed.

  SoHee watched as the chariot raced over the spiked back of the Chronath. Seconds before impact, several bursts of light exploded around the vehicle, and SoHee spotted a blue glow emanating from the base of the craft. Without a struggle, the chariot made contact with the top of the Chronath’s skull and landed with no more than a thud.

  Instead of thrashing in anger, the Chronath dropped to the ground and let loose a thick snort. Extending her arm over her head, a long blue lash extended out of the Priestess’s arm and she struck out at the nose of the creature.

  Upon command, the monster trudged forward, exiting the stadium. As the Chronath passed over dozens of buildings, SoHee looked down to see Chalthantarians fighting in the streets. Citizens in common clothes were engaged in heavy combat with the white-robed guards of the UAFC while rebel soldiers charged into the battle.

  “This is the work of your beloved, Mitch Mythic,” the priestess said without looking back. “Bear witness to the destruction created in his wake. He disabled the control grid, and now chaos runs rampant in the streets. He has betrayed you and embraced Horamus.”

  “Mitch would never betray us,” SoHee shouted.

  “If that is what you truly believe, why is there so much doubt in your voice?” the priestess asked, guiding the Chronath toward a large hill rising above the city with a lash of her whip

  “I’m not in any doubt,” SoHee shouted.

  “I highly doubt that,” the Priestess said before the creature leaped off of a large building onto a road leading to the top of the hill. “Mitch is a slave to his ambition, as all men are. He cannot resist the opportunity to achieve glory, and that is what he has done just now. We sent him on a mission to aid us in our quest for peace. If he was successful in his task, you all would have been released, but he was persuaded by our enemies to double cross us and bring about more chaos and destruction
in the vain pursuit of freedom.”

  “How do you know Mitch did all of this?” SoHee asked while the Chronath lumbered to the top of the hill.

  “I have seen it with my own eyes, and I can show it to you,” the Priestess said before a holographic image appeared before SoHee. In the display, a video of Mitch leveling his spear at a large beam played on a loop before SoHee’s eyes.

  “Behold the evil deeds of Mitch Mythic. Here he is destroying the main power generator of our Republic. This act allowed these poisoned souls to rise up against the order we have fought hard to impose, an order of peace benefitting all. These heathens believe they can change the fate of Chalthantar, but we shall show them that only the Gods have the power to do that.”

  “None of this is helping anything,” SoHee shouted. “How can more death and destruction be the answer?”

  “Horamus can only be dealt with in one way: eradication,” the Priestess said after the Chronath entered a level plateau ringed by enormous pillars. Passing through a towering gate, the priestess guided the creature toward the center of the ring and lashed at its side with two quick strikes.

  Following the priestess’s order, the Chronath dropped down to a resting position with its head directed toward a thick altar sitting over a set of columns. Behind the altar stood a towering statue of a multi-limbed creature. SoHee instantly recognized the characteristics of the animal from their encounter with the Jushkoo Queen when they first arrived in Chalthantar. Behind the statue sat the mouth of a large cave cut into the hillside like a gash.

  “As horrendous as it may seem, there is only one way to rid ourselves of this evil,” the priestess said before the band of light binding SoHee elevated her into the air. “You, sweet Goddess, will help us end Mitch Mythic’s reign of terror, or we shall all succumb to the fires of Chaos. He continues to grow in strength. If we allow him to carry on unimpeded, none will be safe from his wrath. Here, under the eye of the Jushkoo Queen, Goddess of the underworld, we will eliminate the threat Mitch Mythic poses to the universe.”

  “And where exactly are you getting your information from?” SoHee asked after she was placed upon the altar by the band of light. Thick lashes wrapped around her wrist and fastened themselves to the edge of the stone while the Priestess looked on from her perch atop the Chronath’s head.

  “I have seen it in visions. The same visions you have seen. The same visions the great Mother has seen,” the priestess said. “No good will come if Mitch Mythic continues down this path. I have foreseen it, but together we can alter his destiny. This place is a holy place: the throne of the Jushkoo Queen. She, of all creatures, is the one true harmonizing force in Chalthantar. Who else but a mother could know what to do about an unruly brood?”

  “Is this what Mother told you?” SoHee said.

  “This and a lot more, so much more,” the priestess said. “If you only knew your true potential, the things you could do, the things we could to do to bring harmony to the multi-verse.”

  “You sound like Mother just now,” SoHee said. “Yes, I have seen these visions you speak of, and I have heard Mother’s plan for the multi-verse. It’s all well and good that you believe you can bring about this harmony you speak of, but this Horasmus you speak of has his place too. In the grip of chaos we can discover who we truly are and what we are capable of.”

  “This is heresy,” the Priestess said. “Those that align themselves with Horasmus must be destroyed. Are you telling me you have fallen for this madness as well?”

  “I’m telling you that the more you and Mother try to harmonize everything the more chaos is going to seep in and destroy your plans,” SoHee said.

  “It sounds like you have made your decision,” the priestess said, lashing at the chronath.

  “My decision was made a long time ago,” SoHee said as the creature’s monstrous head rose above her. “The universe has a funny way of helping us make those decisions. What we choose to believe and who we choose to follow. But I am loyal to my friends and my friends are loyal to me.”

  “That may be true, but where are your friends now when you need them most?” the priestess said before the chronath opened its jaws and roared.

  “My friends are all around me,” SoHee said after a flash of light exploded before the chronath forcing the massive creature to retreat. Stumbling backward as the monster shrieked again, the priestess struggled to regain her balance. The chronath dropped back to the ground, and the priestess seized the helm of the chariot, but she looked down upon the altar to discover SoHee immersed in a pulsing green orb.

  “What is this blasphemy?” the priestess shrieked before SoHee broke free from her lashes and rose into the air before her.

  “It’s the chaos you fear,” SoHee said.

  “I am not afraid of chaos,” the priestess said, lashing at the Chronath. “Chaos is something I enjoy crushing under my heel. I think it’s time you and I had a little discussion about your place in the world.”

  “It sounds like we’ve got a lot to talk about,” SoHee said while the sphere around her swelled to an enormous size.

  “That’s a lovely trick, but I’m afraid it will not be enough to stop the strength of the Chronath,” the priestess said, driving the creature forward.

  “We’ll see about that,” SoHee said as two enormous arms extended from the orb and struck the ground.

  “I’ll end you now,” the priestess shrieked while the Chronath struck out with its thick fore paw.

  In a flash of light, a thick green limb caught the clawed fist of the monster before it struck the sphere, stopping the chronath in its tracks.

  “Didn’t your Gods tell you not to underestimate your opponents?” SoHee asked after she struck the chronath with her other limb.

  “You’ve got some nerve thinking you can lecture me about the Gods,” the priestess hollered as she recovered from the blow. “Your lack of respect for our divine rulers will be your undoing.”

  Raising her arms to the sky, the priestess drew several large pulses of light from the surrounding air. She pulled her arm back and unleashed a firestorm in SoHee’s direction while the chronath charged forward.

  “Feel the wrath of the Gods, you ungrateful wretch,” the priestess shouted.

  Driven back by the rampaging chronath, SoHee did her best to fend off the attack, but each pulse triggered a massive explosion as it impacted the surface of the sphere and she struggled to stay upright.

  “I don’t see what all the fuss was about you and your powers,” the priestess said as the chronath raised itself up over SoHee. “You’ve crumbled like the delicate flower you are after a few blows.”

  “You haven’t seen anything yet,” SoHee said, rising into the air.

  “I’ve seen enough to know that I will enjoy destroying you while the Gods look on,” the priestess shouted.

  Dodging another blow, SoHee moved to the left of the creature and shoved a pulse of energy at the Chronath’s head, knocking it to its side.

  “Enjoying yourself now?” SoHee shouted before she pushed forward.

  “I intend to enjoy every second of crushing you into obedience,” the priestess hollered.

  Before the creature had a chance to charge, several blasts struck the monster from the side. Looking to her left, SoHee spotted a group of figures rise above the columns circling the plateau.

  “Oh good,” the priestess said. “You’re friends have come to join the party. I look forward to teaching them some manners as well.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

  AS THEY CAME over a sand-blown ridge, Mitch spotted a city in the valley below. Smoke rose across the skyline while the sounds of explosions tore through the air.

  “It looks like we found the spot,” Kate said.

  “And it sounds like the RGC kept up their end of the bargain,” Mitch said. “Let’s hope our people are ok.”

  “We’ll find out soon enough,” TaeJun said. “But we should be careful. It’s going to be hard to tell who’s who down t
here.”

  “I’m going to guess that we should head in that direction,” Gaelin said, pointing toward a hilltop at the edge of the city immersed in a firefight.

  “I think you might be right,” Mitch said after a burst of bright green light rose over the hill. “Let’s come around from the side and see if we can get a good look before we go charging in. And keep an eye out for our buddy KiGuan. You know he’s gonna pop in any time now.”

  “And I think that second is now,” TaeJun said, looking to his left.

  “That’s not surprising,” Mitch said as a half dozen figures burst out of a cloud bank and fired in their direction.

  “No point in trying to hide now,” Kate shouted. “And everybody knows the best defense is a good offense. We’ll draw their fire. You just focus on KiGuan. You’re the one he wants, anyway.”

  “I think I can handle it,” Mitch said, dodging a blast. “After you take them out, head to that hill, and we’ll see what we can do to help.”

  “You keep your distance, and don’t do anything stupid,” TaeJun shouted before he banked away from Mitch.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” Mitch said.

  KiGuan had managed to close in on Mitch, but there was still a considerable distance between the two. Explosions to his right caught his attention as his friends fired upon the soldiers flanking KiGuan. Drawn away from their positions, the soldiers gave chase after Kate, Gaelin, and TaeJun dropped toward the ground.

  Several blasts ripped past his head, and Mitch glanced back to see KiGuan bearing down on from his right.

  “There is no point in running anymore,” KiGuan shouted. “These rebels you are assisting will soon fall under the strength of our allies, and we have reinforcements on the way to assist in the battle. If you surrender now, no harm will come to you.”

  “That’s what everybody says,” Mitch shouted, rolling away from a blast. “Of course some harm will come to me. Isn’t that why you want to capture me?”