Episode 10: The Bell of the Ball (Part 4)

The auction continued as Gustave planned. Items worth tens of millions of dollars flew out from the arena.

Meanwhile, the battle between Luigi and me became nothing more than a test of luck and endurance. Our hair, once healthy and luscious, developed craters as we hit each other with the magical hammers. Our stamina has also taken a hit as we panted like dogs that were under the heat of the sun.

"And sold! To number 34 for 400 million dollars!" shouted Gustave. "Enjoy your Unicorn Horn, Sir."

While the lovely older gentleman happily gave the horn to his granddaughter, Luigi and I were clutching our knees.

"Isn't it about time you gave up?" Luigi groaned.

"You go ahead," I responded. "I'm still raring to go."

I acted tough, but my hairline and my knees were both reaching their limits.

"And with that, we are headed to our finale!" Gustave screamed at the mic.

The entire venue went dark. Two blinding spotlights lit up the middle of the arena. Drum rolls echoed throughout. And slowly rising from the ground was a glass pedestal that housed a single item.

"It's time for our final item. The one, the only, the Alarm Bell of the Floating Coffin!"

Everyone gasped in wonder and curiosity as the rusted, blackened bell reflected the bright lights. Meanwhile, Luigi and I reflexively sighed in relief at the sight of our final destination.

"What? You sighing? Thought you still had gas in the tank?" Luigi taunted.

"Pot calling the kettle black," I responded.

While I wanted to beat Luigi, I did have a mission to complete. I darted my eyes in search for my allies.

Maria was focused on Mariel.

Alejandro and Rosemary were near the exit.

Mateo scanned everything from the top floor. Although the lady he had his arms around sure made me question his focus.

And Chakob sat with Mikail near the arena.

Upon the bell's reveal, Mikail's eyes remained the same. Odd. Wasn't this the item he always wanted? No, stop that! I shook the doubt out of my head. This was it. If we could get that bell, we'll have a bargaining chip to negotiate with him.

I tapped my ear to signal my allies to turn on their earpieces. We didn't want to get sussed out so we didn't turn on comms unless it was absolutely necessary.

Everyone got my signal and they tapped their ears as well.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen!" Gustave continued. "This bell belonged Captain Keane 'The Undying'. Legends tell that he led a fleet of pirate ships in Fantasia's original world to plunder and loot every island and city they could find. Some say that this bell holds great power but no one knows what it is."

Gustave's explanation whetted everyone's appetites as I heard a collective gulp from the audience.

"Now the bidding starts at 100 million dollars! Can I get a hundred million?"

And with that, Gustave's mouth ran like a machine gun again.

This should take a while. So, I used this opportunity to contact outside.

"Mr. Han," I whispered. "Any news?"

"Nah, sorry Roberts," he responded. "I'm beginning to think that The Miracleworker didn't show up to their own event."

"Based on how careful they've been, it was a long shot anyway," I replied. "So all we can do is win this bell and give Mikail a reason to help us catch them."

"That is if he REALLY wanted it," he chuckled.

"I believe Chakob," I said. "If he thinks that Mikail desperately wants this bell, then I'm sure he'll do anything to get it."

"And can I anyone go for 600 million?" Gustave continued.

The bid was increasingly becoming unreachable. More and more people dropped out as Gustave continually increased the price. However, there were two faces that were unfazed.

"You know, Chakob, I know what your plan is," Mikail said.

Good. The earpiece was working. I can hear their conversation.

"Oh? What's that?" Chakob asked.

"You want The Miracleworker," he responded. "And you think that if you get the bell, I'll give her up in exchange for it."

"Aww you know me so well," Chakob chuckled.

"It's a bit simplistic, but has a high chance of working," Mikail said. "But my friend, there's one thing you forgot to consider."

"And what's that?" Chakob raised an eyebrow.

"She got to me first," Mikail whispered and raised his number. "1 billion dollars for the bell!"

At that announcement, everyone in the room gasped, including Gustave.

"1 billion dollars for number 66," Gustave said. "And who are you betting on, good sir?"

Mikail thought for a bit and turned his eyes on me.

"How about we make this interesting?" he smirked. "Bet for Gambino-Nero."

The crowd murmured amongst themselves. The atmosphere's pressure cranked up a hundredfold. A staggering amount of money. A competitive bet. What more could an audience ask for?

As everyone's excitement climbed and their expectations ran wild, Chakob howled in laughter.

"Oh mi amigo, you kill me," he said. "Isn't that peanuts for us? I raise the bid 5 billion dollars and bet on Roberts."

At that, the chairs shifted. Some were even clutching their chests.

"Holy shit, Roberts. Your in-law's loaded," Mr. Han said in my ear.

"I see that the Finance Department still hasn't figured out where he's hiding his money," I said.

"5 billion dollars!" Gustave exclaimed. "Can anyone bid more?"

"You're crazy my friend," Mikail chuckled. "I thought that with your business on the rocks, I can finally outbid you on something. Well no matter, the bell's fake anyway."

I froze. Fake? What's going on here?

"No one else?" Gustave asked. "Well if that's the case, Mr. Rodriguez, we need to verify that you have the amount you bid. News of your business is... shaky at best you see."

Chakob waved his hand in dismissal and Gustave promptly exited the stage.

With the MC gone, everyone babbled their own conversations as they waited for his return.

"Oh you've gotten boring, you old goat," Chakob pouted. "A fake bell? They must've given you a backdoor deal. What did they ask in return huh?"

Faced with a series of questions, Mikail just took a sip of his wine and calmly turned to Chakob.

"No hard feelings, Rodriguez," Mikail said. "But to get what I want, I had to throw you under the bus."

"Business is business, I guess," Chakob shrugged. "So? What did she tell you to do."

Instead of keeping his attention on Chakob, Mikail's eyes locked with mine and he gave me a sly smile.

"Officer Roberts, I've tapped into your earpiece's frequency so we can have a conversation. Please nod if you can hear me," Mikail said.

I nodded.

"Good," he said. "Look, you're a good officer, and that's why you have no business being in our world. So as a favor, I'm going to give you a taste of how cruel the underworld can be. And then hopefully, you wake up and leave everything behind."

After he said that, he pulled out a device from his pocket. And from the moment I saw it, I knew exactly what it was.

"A detonator?" I exclaimed.

"What?" Luigi asked in confusion.

I just ignored him and spent my undivided attention to this new development.

"Are you planning to blow us all up Mikail?" I asked.

"It's all up to Chakob really," he replied. "You see, the truth is that The Miracleworker set this all up to expose the fraud you really are."

"All this for me?" Chakob said, acting all embarrassed. "You shouldn't have. I've been nothing but honest you know."

"Right... honest," he chuckled. "Everyone thinks you've become senile. Weak. The greatest drug lord in recent history, letting his daughter marry a no-name cop. Now that's pathetic," he scoffed. "But when twenty of her best agents got caught by Officer Roberts, she knew you're still as strong as ever."

"Enough with the backstory. What're you planning?" I asked.

"Simple, really," he replied. "There's a bomb strapped underneath the elevated arena. With Chakob's skills, he can easily get to it before I press this button. It's easy to diffuse, but of course, she already set up high-speed cameras all over the venue to capture the moment he rescues everyone. Then with that evidence, she'll expose that he's still quite strong and that should make everyone in the underworld stop this feeding frenzy you started."

"And The Miracleworker can get back to business," I concluded.

"Exactly," Mikail said.

"You're crazy!" I exclaimed. "And what makes you think I can't stop the bomb myself? Or that Chakob will even take the bait?"

To that, Mikail chuckled. "First of all, Chakob will do what's right because he's soft, Officer," he replied. "In all his years as a drug lord, he never killed anyone who didn't deserve it. And as for your audacious claim of stopping the bomb yourself, do you really believe that you can do it with your pathetic control? Please. My dog can control magic better than you. All you have going for you is the brute strength from your bloodline."

Damn it! He thought this through. It was manageable when they're only after my life. But now that they've involved innocent people, my hands were tied.

"Mr. Han?" I asked.

"No good," he replied. "We don't know the exact location of the bomb. And even if we did, opening a warp willy nilly near a mana bomb can cause complications if it explodes."

Shit! A mana bomb can level an entire city block so evacuating everyone was pointless. My control sucks so I wouldn't be able to create a vacuum like my mom could. And now, Mr. Han, who was probably the most powerful out of all of us, couldn't do anything.

I rifled through my brain a hundred, no thousands of times but I couldn't find an answer. All options have disappeared.

I looked at Maria who was intently listening to the entire exchange. We turned our lives upside-down for this mission. She had to live with a stranger in a new country all for the sake of making the world a better place. Will all of that just end here?

As my head spun and my desperation grew, my ears picked up a faint chuckle from Chakob.

Then that chuckle grew to amused laughter. And then to a full blown cackle that echoed through the walls.

Everyone in the venue turned their attention to him. Some had looks of confusion, some with concern, and some with judgement.

But while that laughter weirded out everyone, it somehow gave me a sense of comfort.

"What a good plan. A very good plan, Milagro!" he shouted. "Can you hear me? I know you're here! You're very amusing! This might be checkmate for us."

The crowd stirred once more. Security inched closer to him.

"See, Officer Roberts?" Mikail said smugly. "Chakob's going to save everyone and-"

"But I refuse!" Chakob interjected.

"What?" Mikail gasped.

"You see, a parent's job isn't to save his kids from every danger, Mikail," Chakob said. "It's to believe in them and catch them should they fail." He then turned to me. "So hijo! I believe in you. If you want me to diffuse the bomb and stop the operation, I can do that. But if you're greedy like us Rodriguez, then you'll find a way to save everyone AND continue the operation."

Chakob's eyes... They had no doubt.

I chuckled silently.

"Fucking hell..." I sighed. "Did you really have to blurt that out in the middle of this crowd?"

Chakob's encouraging speech had sone sensitive information in them but thankfully, everyone heard the word "bomb" and were too panicked to hear everything else.

I turned to Maria who returned my gaze with an encouraging smile.

This fucking family... I swear.

"Minerva," I called out to the only person that could tell me my next steps.

"Took you long enough," she said as she popped out of my front pocket. "I was wondering if you'll ever call for me."

"What's your assessment?" I asked.

"I've ran seven quadrillion simulations to find the best course of action," she replied.

"And?"

"I found one, but it'll hurt like a motherfucker and will have tremendous future repercussions," she replied.

"The internet's really changed you," I sighed. "But I trust you. Let's do it."

"Roger. Do EVERY word I say. One deviation and it'll ruin everything," she said.

"You've changed, Chakob," Mikail said. "You were soft, but you've always been strong. That's why no one could touch you. But now, you're risking it all on a police officer? And for what? For your sick game of trying to make the underworld implode? Well, let's see just how far you're going to believe in your son!"

He then raised the detonator for everyone to see.

"This is goodbye, Chakob," he said. "If you don't save us, we'll see each other in hell."

His thumb pressed the button and it responded with a click.

"Initiating Magic Circuit override," Minerva said. "Sharing CPU with the host."

And in that instant, a piercing, burning, pain shot throughout my body.

"ARGH!" I yelped.

"Stay conscious. I have full control of your Magic Circuit but you still need to feed me power," she said.

I blinked my eyes to keep myself from passing out. And as I did, I saw that everything around me has crawled to an almost complete stop.

"Detonation time: approximately 5 milliseconds," she said. "Officer Roberts! Produce frost magic now!"

Following her instructions, I dug deep inside of me and scraped as much of Christina's magic as I could. Minerva then stretched her hands and in that instant, an intricate pillar of ice materialized over the arena. In the middle of this ice pillar was Luigi. He was trapped, confused and was clearly pissed.

"Apparatus for diverting mana bomb energy: complete," Minerva continued.

The first step was successful but my body was being ripped apart from the inside. The pain was surreal, as if I was outside my body.

"Hey, Officer Roberts, stay with me," Minerva slapped my face. "I need you to produce wind magic this time."

I concentrated my entire being into controlling the wind around me. But it was no use. I was tired. The pain was immense. My breath was shallow. I was dying.

"Fuck!" Minerva swore. "Injecting adrenaline shot."

After a prick in my chest, I gasped to life. The pain subsided just enough for me to do what Minerva asked.

She stretched out her hands again and the winds obeyed her commands. It funneled through the twisting patterns in the ice. And in that moment, the plan was complete.

"Detonation," she confirmed.

Time sped up again.

The crowd panicked at the sight of the giant ice pillar that suddenly appeared out of thin air.

In the corner of my eyes, I saw Maria leap off the stage with Mariel in her arms. Chakob simply crossed his arms while wearing the most smug smile on his face. And Mikail's eyes widened in shock as he witnessed an impossible feat done by someone he insulted.

And when time returned to normal, the explosion hit.

It was mute. Muffled. As Minerva planned, the ice completely covered the bomb. And the explosion that was meant to destroy everything was pulled upwards by the strong winds inside the tunnels in the ice. The blue hue of the mana bomb rose up until it reached Luigi who shouted profanities at us.

"Roberts!" he yelled as his body absorbed every single flame of the explosion. "How dare you?"

"The Efreet is working well as a heat absorption unit," Minerva said like she was observing an experiment. "Archiving information."

I chuckled weakly. "Did you really... have to-"

Before I could finish the sentence, my knees buckled and darkness consumed me as my body fell with a thud on the floor.

"Officer Roberts!" Minerva's voice was the last thing that rang in my ears.