68 Dark Palace #68
In the dim, sketchy depths of the drug lab nestled deep in the Parador jungle, I found myself squaring off against three goons who looked like they'd been binging on Eclipso-flavored shadows. With a flick of my wrists, I summoned my trusty twin short swords, their tips twinkling with the radiant energy of light magic.
Taking a quick scan around, I noticed the rest of the Shadow Fighters duking it out in their own corners before I turned my attention back to my creepy adversaries.
No time for hesitation. I lunged forward, ready to tango with these shadowy dudes. The first one, hovering above the ground like some discount wizard, shot out a dark, worm-like twisty tendril my way.
Gross, right? But I wasn't about to let some shadow worm ruin my day. I sliced through it like it was made of soggy spaghetti.
But wait, there's more! More tendrils came squirming at me from every direction, like a bad case of tentacle flu. I figured, why not crank up the dazzle? I pumped even more light magic into my blade raising it high in the air and making them shine brighter than a disco ball at a vampire rave. The thugs stumbled back, blinking like they'd just stared into the sun.
With them momentarily blinded, I went full-on action hero and barrelled toward the closest thug. I wrestled him to the ground and grabbed his noggin, ready to give him a taste of my divine light show.
"Be buried in the light of god!" I proclaimed for no reason whatsoever as I zapped him with enough light magic to make a disco ball jealous.
With a grimace, I watched as the thug's body twitched and spasmed as he'd just downed a bad batch of expired energy drinks. The half-circle mark on his face fizzled away into nothing, leaving behind one ordinary-looking guy, aside from the fact that he'd just been possessed by a demonic creature.
But there was no time to dwell on the weirdness. Unlike the hyenas, no smoke cloud escaped the thug's body-- just a little black diamond projectile spewing out of his mouth like he was auditioning for a low-budget magic show. Quick reflexes kicked in, and I snagged the thing mid-air, tossing it into my shadow storage before it could pull any more tricks.
Before I could even catch my breath, the other two shadow goons decided to play tag team, charging at me like I'd insulted their momma.
"Ah, the joys of multitasking," I muttered under my breath, giving my twin blades a twirl as I squared up to meet them head-on. It's Time to wrap this up, pronto.
After a solid fifteen-minute smackdown, I stood amidst the wreckage of the now-burning drug lab, surveying my handiwork. The place was a mess, with thugs strewn like confetti, and the flames licking hungrily at what was left of their shady operations.
The local authorities were in for a treat with all these miscreants gift-wrapped and cuffed.
Dealing with the other two goons possessed by Eclipso wasn't exactly a cakewalk, but hey, I managed. They coughed up those pesky black diamonds just like the first guy.
I retrieved one of the diamonds from my shadowy storage and tried my light magic cleansing trick. The diamond glowed brightly for a second, but the darkness came creeping back the moment I stopped. Still, it looked a tad less ominous, which was a win in my book.
With the diamond safely stashed away for later pondering, I turned to check on the Shadow Fighters. They were all high-fiving and whooping it up, basking in the glory of another job well done. Three days in Parador, and we'd been hitting the Count's drug dens like a wrecking ball, freeing folks from Eclipso's clutches left and right.
Morale was sky-high, but call me paranoid—I couldn't shake the feeling that things were going a little too smoothly. You know that gut-twist sensation when the calm feels more like the eye of a storm? Yeah, that.
The past few days had been like walking through a fog of uncertainty, but now, it felt like we were barreling straight into the heart of a storm.
Then, to top it all off, the night decided to pull a real number on us.
The sky darkened, the stars dimmed, and this bone-chilling cold settled in. Like clockwork, a figure started to coalesce out of the shadows. And, yep, you guessed it, it wasn't the ice cream man.
Eclipso—yeah, the big bad we'd been hunting—stepped into the spotlight. He was all dark and foreboding, the kind of guy who probably had "evil mastermind" on his business card. But hey, at least I saw this coming from a mile away, so that has to amount to something.
"Ah, Bruce Gordon and his merry band of misfits," Eclipso crooned, his voice dripping with malice. "You've been quite the thorn in my side."
I kept up my Crusader act, masking the urge to roll my eyes at being dismissed as a supporting character. "There you are, fiend!" I exclaimed, pointing my gun at Eclipso and firing.
He casually tilted his head to the side and dodged the projectile. "And what do we have here...? An unknown variable wielding the repulsive golden light..." He said, maintaining his grin as he looked down at me. "I'll have you regret even being born soon enough..."
Yup, this guy officially pisses me off. I'll definitely wipe that disgusting smirk off his face sooner or later. "Speak, demon! What are you scheming? Why did you allow us to move unhindered in your territory?"
Eclipso chuckled, like he was indulging a particularly amusing joke. "Oh, I had to make sure everything was just right for our little meet and greet. And now that we're all here..." With a flick of his wrist, he whisked us away to what looked like the swankiest reception hall in the universe.
The jerk flashed us a grin. "Welcome to my humble abode, my dear Shadow Fighters." And with that, poof, he was gone, leaving us to pick up the pieces of our suddenly much weirder night.
"I'll be waiting for you in the throne room... if you can reach it, that is..." Eclipso's voice echoed in the area, followed by a sinister chuckle fit for an evil mastermind.
Peacemaker wasted no time in getting down to business, his investigative instincts kicking into overdrive. He made his way to the front door, ready to throw it open and shed some light on our mysterious situation. But then, he froze. Something wasn't right.
"Hey, guys!" he called out urgently, his voice tinged with a mix of confusion and disbelief. "You need to see this!"
We all rushed over to see what had him so rattled, and when we looked out the door, our jaws hit the floor. There it was, clear as day—Planet Earth, hanging in the sky like some surreal painting.
Yolanda summed up what we were all thinking with a shaky voice. "Are we... are we on the moon?" Her words hung in the air, echoing the disbelief that rippled through the team. It was like a bad sci-fi flick come to life.
Trying to regain control of the situation, Gordon stepped forward, attempting to calm the chaos. "Everyone, please, let's not panic. This is unexpected, but our mission—"
Before he could finish, the Creeper pounced, grabbing Gordon by the collar with a ferocity that sent a chill down my spine.
"You shut your mouth, you damned imbecile!" the Creeper snarled, his grip tightening around Gordon's neck as his eyes burned with rage. "We're only in this mess because of you!"
Realizing what's happening, I sprang into action, darting forward and smacking the Creeper's wrist to break his hold on Gordon. The Creeper whirled on me, his fury palpable as he swung his arm at me, but I ducked and shoved him away.
As the Creeper stumbled back, I seized my small wooden cross, clutching it tightly as I began my incantation. "Submit yourselves, then, to God," I muttered, infusing the cross with a dazzling light for dramatic effect. "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you! Fear no evil!" I added, casting a radiant golden-white glow that flooded the space.
Caught off guard, the Creeper stumbled mid-charge, confusion clouding his eyes as if he'd just woken up from a particularly bizarre dream. He rubbed his forehead, trying to make sense of it all, before focusing his gaze on me. "What... what happened...?" he asked, sounding disoriented.
"Eclipso happened," I replied solemnly. "He can only possess those who give in to anger and violence..." I explained, my tone matter-of-fact. "That's why he brought us to his palace, where even the slightest annoyance could erupt into blinding rage."
