“I’m telling you,” Zacchaeus said to Issac, “we died and somehow we ended up in my version of heaven.” They walked the busy streets of Two Rivers. It was very similar to large cities from the Earth the two had left, but in addition to impressive buildings of metal and glass that rose high up into the sky and reflected the sunlight, there were also buildings made of bamboo that gave the city a tropical flavor. The bamboo buildings were thatched with tropical grasses and reinforced by metal to reach the heights of the metallic skyscrapers.
The two walked the streets that are designated for pedestrians, roads on the planet are identified for travel by either vehicles or pedestrians and never both.
“This whole planet is like something I dreamed up,” Zacchaeus said. “Turtle people, these big ass cities, the gangs and shit. Even the music is hip hop adjacent. I feel like this shit was made for me.”
“The multiverse is practically infinite from our vantage,” Issac explained. “It stands to reason that there is a world to fulfill the fantasy of each human on our Earth and every other, and every Bludonian on this Bludon and every other. And we know that it was not chance that brought us here. It is uncanny how well you fit into everything here. I don’t have to worry about you getting into any trouble? The gangs of Bludon are vicious, even if the Flow Records organization that we have encountered is very buttoned up and professional. The stories I have read and heard about blu and organ trafficking are horrendous.”
“I’m rolling with the Guardians,” Zacchaeus said. “The ones loyal to Maxx roll up anywhere they want, fuck a territory.”
“The Guardians are mighty and command respect, but they are alighed with Beku, which means they have enemies outside of Two Rivers who will do them them harm the moment they can figure out how to hurt a Guardian.”
“Even if they can hurt a Guardian, nothing on this planet is a match for the Needy…” Zaccaheus started.
“How is he settling into the Fonlands?” Issac interjects. “I trust that he is not a danger to the Fonlanders of Sakpata’s disc.”
“Its crazy how easy he fit in. He ain’t what he was. I been with the Needy long enough to feel all of the horrible things he was apart of. I felt what he felt when he first became the Needy. Since he been in the Fonlands, he not thinking the same way he was.”
“His connection to Omega of our universe is severed, but he was dark and evil before he made that connection.”
“Right,” Zacchaeus nodded, “but bonding with humans, spending time with Mavis Turner and then me, he learned to appreciate the humanity he despised. And now in the Fonlands, he has peers who understand him and give him a purpose he didn’t have at home. He still dangerous, probably more so ‘cause that Essence from the Fonlands ain’t no joke, but he ain’t the same monster that he was. He ain’t into being dangerous no more and he trusts his power to me. He give me most of his power and he chillin’ in the caves.”
The two arrived at the large glass building where they would meet the blu known as Ijapa. While they had down time, Maxx encouraged them to explore Bludon and Ijapa was a Bludonian restauranteur and socialite who was a fixture of Bludonian social life. She was one of the most famous inhabitants of Two Rivers and she owned restaurants all over the planet.
Ijapa greeted them at the door and showed them inside the building from a side entrance. They took an elevator and the door opened onto what Zacchaeus recognized as a nightclub that was filled with blues enjoying a party.
“Maxx tells me that you are a natural Smiting player,” Isjapa said as she led them through the crowd of blues. “You and Beku were able to beat him and Coxx in Smites. That is impressive, even if you were just playing casually. He asked that I help you make a Smiting deck of your own. Will you be making a deck as well, Master Issac?”
“I hadn’t planned on it,” Issac said, “but I might as well. It seems to be a very popular game on this planet, a good way to while the time while Wazad and I chart Outer Spacetime and figure out how to get a message to Maria.”
She led them to the bar and through a door behind it, into a hallway, then through another door that led to another well attended club, but the music wasn’t as loud and less blues were dancing. Most sat at tables with Smiting grids decorating the top, and most were in the middle of intense games, some with blues spectating at their tables. Ijapa led Zacchaeus and Issac to a large table in a pardoned off section of the room and Ijapa smiled pleasantly as waiters brought many binders that were full of Smiting cards.
“The Deck you build should represent you,” Ijapa explained. “Imagine that you are a powerful Vodun of the Fonlands and you are populating your disc with beings, objects, and locations that will make it intimidating to challenge to any aggressor. Choose beings that you would be happy to fight next to in real life, to give your life alongside in glorious battle. Once you have chosen your deck, you will be able to play any version of Smiting that exists.”
Now, Zacchaeus loves Bludon more than he would admit to Issac, but they spend much less time together though they do meet regularly for a game of Smiting. Zacchaeus loves playing Smites, but has been improving his skills with other versions of the game that are played one on one. Or, he does when he isn’t fighting Daemon with Maxx. Since their encounter with the Omega, Daemon attacks on Bludon have popped up everywhere around the globe and he has seen the monstrosities that they are first hand. They are like demons, but most of the Daemon he has encountered have been blues corrupted by Minyak so they have deformed blu bodies that shine like oil and can split to create deformed Daemon from the parts. He still hadn’t laid eyes on Minyak, not until the day he is with Maxx and his team on a remote island waiting for sunset. The Queen Rowen’s security has gotten much better at detecting when and where Daemon will appear on Bludon using advance science that Zacchaeus gets bored listening to.
“That thing don’t look like the Needy,” Zacchaeus says as he floats next to Maxx, the Queen Rowen, and the team of Guardians. A large whale has emerged from the water and opened its mouth to reveal Minyak who did look like the Needy when he took a form outside of Zacchaeus, but Minyak has tendrils in the whale that make it look corrupted and cancerous, like it is rotting and its pieces are growing eyes and moaning mouths.
“I have seen the Needy,” the Queen Rowen says, “that is exactly what it looks like, without the nasty beast attached to it, of course.”
“We have to confront them in space,” Maxx says, referring to the Daemon colony that Minyak had appeared to tell them was approaching Bludon. “Someone stay here and get in touch with Coxx, we will likely need reinforcements. Everyone else, with me.”
Zacchaeus flies after Maxx and when they are in space, they see the large asteroid approaching the planet.
“Zacchaeus and the Guardians,” Maxx says through the telepathic link that the Queen Rowen maintains between them all, “we will land on the asteroid and kill as many Daemon as we can. Rowen, can you redirect the asteroid?”
“I will need someone with me while I do it,” she says. “Someone to carry me.”
“I’ll do it,” Flex, one of the Guardians, volunteers as soon as she says it. “I mean, if no one else wants to miss the brawl on the asteroid. Not that I am afraid of the fight…”
“We all know you crushing on the Queen, Flex,” Zacchaeus says.
“Don’t embarrass him,” the Queen Rowen says. “Thank you, Flex. Let’s get to it.”
Zacchaeus follows Maxx to the asteroid and they land on the rocky surface. The other Guardians land nearby and then Zacchaeus sees the Daemon encircle them. He is horrified by the deformed bodies. He is afraid, stunned by the sights. The things that Minyak had deformed were hard to look at, but these Daemon are a shock to his system.
A red skinned Daemon emerges from the crowd. It has large fangs that hang over its lips and horns that protrude from its head.
“I am Shoun,” the Daemon says. “I presume you are here to try to stop the inevitable. I am here to reassure you that there is no stopping us. Yield or die.”
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