316: A Plague of Phantoms: Old Dog, Older Tricks IV

"You picked the wrong old man to fuck with! Time to die!" I growled then channeled burst attribute mana into my feet, propelling myself towards the closest of the American soldiers.

The soldier in question froze at the sight of me rapidly approaching only to be pushed out of the way by another nearby soldier as I swung my scythe. The second soldier was cleaved in two and his corpse burst into flames and reduced to ash.

'One down… nineteen to go…' I thought.

Thanks to Slaughter's playground; which was still in effect thanks to the fact that Seamus was the one to cast it and was part of my base; I knew the location of each soldier inside. I could also hear every word spoken inside the confines of the barrier. The spell was a type of space altering barrier that physically shifted those inside it slightly making them imperceptible to anyone outside the barrier. Even if someone walked into the space after the spell was cast would never notice anyone trapped inside the barrier as well as any damage to the area.

I spun around and decapitated the first soldier with a swipe of my tail hand. Movement out of the corner of my eyes drew my attention and I turned to see several more soldiers running down the pathway to the bottom of the mountain.

I took a deep breath and exhaled then dashed forward while channeling mana. Bursting forward I raised my scythe and my axe and started cutting down the soldiers one after another.

'Nine down…eleven more to go.' I thought as I skidded to a stop. 'I should leave one alive to get some information…'

I mentally checked the destination of the others trapped inside Slaughter's playground and found that most of them were running towards the boundaries of the barrier. I turned and ran towards the closest soldier, quickly cleaving him in two then spun on my hoof and threw the scythe and axe at the next soldiers. The two spinning blades cut through trees and boulders before reaching their targets. Immediately they turned and went after the next and the next until there was only one left.

I mentally recalled both weapons then started walking to the last survivor. He'd reached the edge of the barrier by splintering off from the others in this hit squad and trying to run away on his own. It only took me a few moments for the soldier to come into view. He was banging his gun against the invisible barrier that separated the space inside the barrier from the space of the outside world.

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" He screamed as he slammed his gun against ot for the umpteenth time.

"You won't escape that way." I said holding my arm and tail hand out, catching both the scythe and axe in those hands. The soldier spun around and saw me approaching then screamed and pointed his gun at me. "Americans and your guns…Seamus is right, you lot spent too much time in isolation thinking your were something with your little boomsticks. How strong are you right now little man."

"FUCKING MONSTER! STAY BACK!" The soldier screamed and pulled the trigger only for nothing to happen.

Deep inside Seamus consciousness I sensed a twinge of pain and sadness form inside his subconscious from me being called monster. There was a lot of pain there. I fixed the American with my gaze and threw my axe to the side. It flew in and arch and sliced the gun the soldier was holding in half before embedding itself in the barrier.

"Says the cowards that tried to jump a old man in his seventies." I retorted then in engulfing my legs in the blue flames of incinerate attribute mana I propelled myself forward and grabbed the soldier by the neck, lifting him off the ground.

He screamed and started swinging the smoldering butt of the gun at my arms but it wasn't hard enough to hurt. I rolled my eyes then spun on my hoofs and slammed his head into the barrier a few times before hoisting into the air and holding the blade of my flame scythe to his neck.

"I have questions and you will answer them. Fail to and I will start cutting off limbs, you cowardly fucker!" I growled.

"fime not hansoring smit wonster!" The soldier replied with a lisp. I broke his nose with one of the barrier face slams. Without a word I grabbed the axe embedded in the barrier with my tail hand and cleanly sliced off one of his hands. He howled in pain, a look of shock and surprise on his face. Though the wound was immediately cauterize by the axe.

"Trust me, you will boy. That old man that makes up half of my fusion has done far worse just for himself. Do you want to wager how far he will bid me go for the sake of his grandson?" I replied. The soldier suppressed tears though his fear was apparent. " Now tell me, who planned this ambush, why, and how did you know to set it up here?"

"I…" The soldier started then immediately clammed up. I sighed and raised my axe again, getting him to talk. "Fin twy would I falk? You can kwill me after I twell you ezeryfing?"

"You are going to die regardless boy. You have seen too much. The only thing your co-operation will earn you is a swift and painless end." I replied.

"Then I hive no fucking rewason to zalk, you crystal cursed monstwer!" He snapped.

"Fine." I said then threw the soldier into the air and grabbed his leg.

I threw him around like a rag doll, slamming him into the barrier, the ground, nearby trees and boulders. Hearing several cracks and wet snaps along the way. Feeling he'd had enough I held the boy up by his leg and looked him over. He was barely hanging on, his face a unrecognizable mesh of blood and flesh. He breathed with a juicy rasp that had a slight gurgle to it.

"Broken, shattered foe, breathe an endless sigh. Mended by the light, continue your fight. Vocallian cast: Demonic healing." I chanted as a utility spell sigil formed in front of my mouth.

The soldier's body was bathed in dripping shadows. His wounds snapping and stitching themselves closed. Broken bones mending with loud cracks and pops. This was a slow and very painful healing that caused the soldier to scream in agony, unable to pass out thanks to one of the effects of the spell. Even after the spell resolved and his wounds were healed he still felt the pain of each wound.

"I can heal you over and over again boy. Your suffering prolonged and pain enhanced with each heal. By the twentieth you might lose your mind." I said with a soft growl. The soldier screamed, tears flowing down his cheeks.

"The president! President Beaufort! You weren't the real target. It was supposed to be the splicer brats with Chase Kingston! Someone was supposed to lure them away!" The soldier cried.

"Who?!" I demanded.

"I don't know! Not my mission. We were just supposed to jump and kill the brats!"

I sighed then threw the soldier into the air, grabbing my scythe in both hands I cleaved the soldier down the middle with one downward stroke. Killing him instantly.

"Children…soldiers these days have no shame." I said then turned and started walking back towards the path leading up the mountain. Once I stood in front of the cavern leading up to the summit I snapped my fingers un undid Slaughter's playground and Ignition reaper blaze scythe. "Seamus and Colossus should hurry back before their absence is noticed."

Green crystal started encompassing my body as I started floating up into the air. Allowing the fusion to come undone, I felt Seamus and Colossus separate consciousness to split.

Seamus

I gasped as I opened my eyes and saw myself floating a foot off the ground. Colossus body fragmented into thousands of crystals that were being pulled together into one solid shape. Once that shape was complete he burst free of the crystal and I found myself falling. I was lucky and landed on my feet. While I wasn't old enough to break a hip from the height, I also wasn't one to tempt fate. Colossus landed beside me snorted in exasperation.

"That felt…weird…" Colossus groaned.

"Ya mean tirin'?" I asked then snorted. "I'm too old for this shite."

Colossus looked up at me with a unbelieving expression then snorted and started towards the cave entrance.

"Someone else might believe that but I've seen all your memories now. I know that being over seventy is not even considered middle aged for your tribe." Colossus said as he walked away. I frowned and started after the little Hell-Hog.

"Oy, don't go blabbing that shite ta the world." I grumbled. Colossus looked back at me, seeming insulted.

"I know…not even the Star Shaper will get that out of me." Colossus said with a harrumph then trotted into the cave. He stopped a few feet inside then turned back to look at me. "You're not a monster. The ones who did all that stuff to you…they're the monsters. So stop thinking you are one! You're nothing like them."

Those words stunned me to silence. I wanted to scream at the evo, tell him he didn't know nothing but the truth was he did know everything thanks to the fusion. In fact he was the last living being outside of Sullivardic village that knew everything about my past. And the only other being that knew the how much harder Chase's life was going to become. Bitting down the bile I felt building in my throat I smiled weakly at the evo.

"If ya say so Colossus."

Chase

Present time

"OH GODS! IM GONNA THROW UP!" Jane groaned in a dramatic fashion as she held onto Grimm-Guard's shell for dear life.

"Stop being dramatic!" I yelled from my position on top of Grimm-Guard's head. Jane looked at me incredulously

"I'M BEING DRAMATIC? YOU HAD TO KNOCK OUT YOUR GRANDPA JUST TO GET HIM ON GRIMM-GUARD!" Jane bellowed. I turned to look at the still unconscious body of my Grandpa Seamus being held by Bone-lasher.

"He has a thing about centipedes. I'm the same with arachnids." I defended.

"I think you're worse than your Grandpa though…" Louie muttered under his breath. I frowned at the scientist and crossed my arms.

"I have trauma!" I exclaimed.

"Make excuses later when we aren't on a time crunch for yet another duel that could end the company!" Jane snapped.

"I'm sensing a lot of hostility from you right now." I said calmly. Jane started casting an offensive spell sigil and glared at me.

"I'll show you hostility!" Jane snapped.

"Jane don't shot the master of the giant evo we are riding on!" Angie snapped. Jane paused and noticed that Grimm-Guard was chittering angrily. She stopped casting her spell and crossed her arms.

"Let's just get back to the King's Glaive. I'm guessing you are going to need a lot of mana like you did when you altered Jingles…I mean Bellial...?" Jane asked. I noticed the slight hitch in her voice when she said Bellial's old name.

"I'll need a lot of mana but before that I'll need to have a little conversation with my evos." I said. This caused Alberto and Bo to look at me strange.

"Why?" They both asked in unison.

"Because subject XX01 is a very moody and has been causing a little trouble inside my farm crystal." I replied.

"Keeps trying to break out of its territory." Grimm-Guard chattered angrily.

"It's mind is fractured." I said in defense of the original ancient Liger shark.

"Doesn't explain why you need to talk to all your evos Chase. Besides two of them are in Egypt." Louie said.

"Distance doesn't matter when it comes to talking to an evo that has a strong bond with you." Bo said confidently. I nodded in agreement while lightly patting Grimm-Guard on the head.

"The subject's mind is so fractured that in order to start fixing and altering it's genetic structure we'll first need to heal it's mind." I said.

"That sounds difficult." Angie said then scratched her forehead. "Wouldn't it be easier to create a new evo?"

"Yes and no…" I replied. Angie frowned at that response. Alberto spoke up to elaborate for me.

"The core feature of Shaping is that it creates large batches of powerful evos, however it takes time. Time we don't have. If we created a new evo from scratched it wouldn't be combat ready by tonight." Alberto answered.

"And that evo is really annoying as it is now and all of Star Boss' chosen would greatly appreciate it if he's fixed!" Grimm-Guard added with great enthusiasm.

"So the subject is affecting all your other evos?" Damon asked.

"No…he's just loud." Grimm-Guard chattered angrily.

"Either way, conversations need to be had! Alberto, Bo, both of you talk to Madilyn and familiarize yourselves with the lysdale script of the subject when we get to King's Glaive. Damon, find Astrid and Iris and have them head to the King's Glaive as well. I might need to use all of you as mana batteries."

"Not that again…" Damon groaned.

"Suck it up Damon! I'm not losing to that dumpster fire of a Paragon and trash god of a father!" Alberto growled.

"Please! Like Chase would lose to Loki after all the unofficial fights they had." Louie said.

"I'm not taking any chances." Alberto said, determination burning in his eyes.

"Star Boss! King's Glaive below!" Grimm-Guard exclaimed. I looked down and saw that mana train nestled in the little willow forest Grove below.

"ALBERTO, BO WE'RE HEADING DOWN!" I exclaimed, then glanced off further inland. 'I wonder how Sin and Nate are doing with the demonstrations?'