Waller could not believe the mess he was in. It was supposed to be a simple undercover mission. The plan was just to go in, listen to whatever garbage the Wizard spewed and then get out easy-peasy. And yet here he was, with a kid in tow, surrounded by a horde of monsters that looked like they belonged in a surrealist's art museum right outside enemy headquarters while armed only with a silver plate worn over his fingers and a bag of salt in his pocket. With so many monsters (the most monsters he'd seen in one day in a long, long time), he doubted what he had would be enough.
It was at that moment, that Jackie decided to speak up. "Uh . . . I'm guessing by the way your hands are trembling and the way you're looking around, we're in really deep doo-doo right now."
Waller wanted to shout at the kid, "Yeah? And whose fault do you think it is?" He was unbelievably angry with Jackie for putting him in "deep doo-doo". But now was not the time for that. Think, Waller. Think! How can you get out of this mess?
He looked around, wracking his brain. But as far as he could see, there was no way out. The monsters were all tightly packed together, leaving no gaps to slip out of. Even if Waller knocked one aside to give himself room to slip away, the other monsters would pounce on him and he'd be finished. And then Jackie would be next.
Hoping to be a little bit helpful, the kid suggested, "I don't suppose these guys would be open to parley?"
Waller did one more survey of the monsters around them. Some of the monsters licked their lips with disgustingly long tongues. A wolf with three eyes and a scorpion's tail had a waterfall of drool flowing out of its mouth.
"No, I don't think they would be."
"Why haven't they attacked yet?"
"Probably because of the salt bath you gave us earlier." But Waller knew the salt's protection won't last for long. Its effectiveness will surely fade. And the monsters knew that. It was only a matter of time.
And that time was now.
The biggest of the monsters, an elephant-sized velociraptor with gorilla arms, lunged. Waller raised the silver plate at it, but the monster was smart. It went at Waller's left and swung a huge fist.
Waller jumped back and narrowly avoided a devastating blow but was then snagged by the vine of an uprooted flower standing at five feet tall with a cackling skull nestled between its yellow petals. He got pulled to the ground and pinned down by the smaller monsters. Many of them were repelled by whatever little salt grains remained stuck on the accountant's clothes, but some dog-sized ones resisted and clung on.
Waller didn't have time to shrug the little beasts off when a ginormous gorilla fist came falling down over his head. The rest of the larger monsters pounced towards Jackie, but he couldn't see and didn't react at all.
Fist and claw were an inch from Waller and Jackie's faces respectively when a split second later, something like a super wind gust swept all the monsters aside and sent them tumbling down the road.
Waller blinked, bewildered. So did Jackie, though not for the same reason.
He remained unaware of the extremely narrow brush with death. Because as far as he could see, the street around him and Waller, was empty. At least until he blinked his eyes and then found a man in a three-piece suit standing in front of him, a hand resting on a unique T-shaped cane.
Jackie recognized him immediately. It was the man who had saved him before, the one Daisy called the Rat.
In surprise, Jackie cried out, "What are you doing here?"
With a tip of his Fedora hat, the Rat replied, "I happened to be in the area when I saw you and this fine gentleman here in a spot of trouble. I must say, Jackie Li, you are quite the magnet for it."
Waller turned to see who Jackie was talking to and the bewilderment on his face exploded into full-blown shock. Louder than Jackie, he shouted, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE!?"
The Rat glanced at the accountant and then his eyes lit up. "Oh! Thomas Waller! It has been a long time, hasn't it?"
Opposite of the Rat's mild pleasure, Waller glared. "Not long enough."
Jackie turned from the Rat to Waller. "Uh . . . You guys know each other?"
"You could say that," said Waller, without taking his distrustful eyes off the gentlemanly cane wielder.
"I would love to play catch up with you both, but that will have to wait." The Rat nodded towards the side of the road where the monsters shook off their daze and picked themselves up. "Excuse me while I go tidy this place up."
He tipped his hat again and then started strolling over to the monsters. The monsters saw the gentleman coming, growled and then all charged at him at once.
First was the velociraptor, which threw one of its gorilla fists down over the Rat's head. But in one swift motion, the Rat drew a sword out of his cane and weaved around the ginormous creature in a spin. The blade sliced cleanly through the beast's side like a knife through soft butter. Before the velociraptor hit the ground, it completely crumbled to ashes.
From behind the Rat, the toad with carpenter nails for teeth leaped with its mouth wide open. Only to split in half a second later. Its ashes flew away with the wind.
One by one, huge, hideous, mix mashed creatures disappeared into clusters of ashes, slain with ease by one man who appeared to be in his fifties or sixties. All Jackie could see, however, was the man just dancing down the road while swinging a sword in wide, elegant swipes and twirls. It was still impressive to watch for the boy who had only seen such sword dances on Wuxia television before.
Pretty quickly, the remaining monsters realized they stood no chance against this man in a straight fight, so they circled around him and aimed their fangs, claws and whatnot at Waller and Jackie instead. They were swift. But Waller wasn't about to let the Rat earn all the credit in this battle.
He already had his own bag of salt ready and flung it in front of him. An intense fireworks display happened right in front of his nose. Dozens and dozens of crackles and pops ruptured his eardrums. But it was worth it to see those monsters get what was coming for them. Waller's childhood had been ruined by their kind, so he's always felt vengeful against them.
With the monsters all momentarily stunned, the Rat seized his chance to dispatch the rest of them. He dove straight into the horde, slicing and dicing without mercy as he made sharp zigzags around the street. Not even half a minute passed before he was done with his one-sided extermination and sheathed his sword.
Despite the display of extreme acrobatics, the Rat didn't look tired at all. He didn't even have a single bead of sweat on his forehead.
"Is everyone okay?" he asked.
Jackie nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for the save. Those were some nice moves back there. Where did you learn to do stuff like that?"
"You are welcome, young man," the Rat said with a proud smile. "I learned my fighting techniques from a martial arts master when I was small child alongside many others my age. I have many fond memories from those days. It has been a while though, since I last saw so many Egregors in one place."
Jackie blinked. "Egre-what?"
"Egregors," the Rat said slowly. "That is what those creatures were, the ones you cannot see."
"You mean the invisible monsters?" asked Jackie. "Why are they called Egre-whatsits?"
"It's because," Waller chimed in, "the way those pests look depends on the kind of brain the people around them got."
"Egregors are born shapeless, like goo," said the Rat. "As they mature, they transform from absorbing the thoughts of human beings around them, becoming a mixture of whatever those thoughts contain.
"Say for example a young Egregor happened to be near a person thinking about cats. As that Egregor grows, it will start looking more like a cat. And then the Egregor runs into someone thinking about toasters. The Egregor will then take the shape of a toaster."
"I think I get it," said Jackie. "Then when the Egregor grows up, it'll look like a toaster with cat legs. Or maybe it will look like a cat, but with a toaster for a head. Something like that?"
The Rat nodded.
"Okay, enough of the monster biology lesson," Waller cut through. He glared at the Rat. "What are you doin here, Liu?"
Jackie blinked. "Liu? I thought you were called the Rat."
"Ah, so you already know the nickname I earned from my career. But I suppose it is high time I gave a proper introduction." The old Asian gentleman took off his hat. "I am Arthur Liu, an enforcer of the Black Tortoise Order, part of the greater Four Corners Union. But a great many people know me by the name I gained after earning my rank as one of the Twelve Zodiac, the Rat. A bit too grandiose and over dramatic for my liking, so I much prefer to be called by my name."
"Pleasure to meet you." Jackie extended his hand out and then added, "Again, I guess."
Liu gave Jackie's hand a firm shake and replied, "Likewise."
"ENOUGH!" Waller's patience had long reached its end. "Tell me what you're doing here Liu and get out!"
"Well, which is it?" Liu asked. "Tell you what I am doing here or get out? I can't do both. Or maybe I can. Modern technology can allow even common folk to accomplish feats once thought magical or fantastical."
"Liu, I swear if you don't stop joking around . . ."
"There is no need for threats, Thomas," Liu said. "You and I are friends, aren't we?"
"We are NOT friends," snapped Waller.
"Why, Thomas! I am hurt!"
Waller growled. HIs face as red as a tomato.
Liu sighed. "Very well. If you must know, the recent rise of a group in this city caught my interest. They are called the Gathering, I believe."
"So the Wizard's that bad, huh?" Waller said.
"I believe today has shown how dangerous he is," Liu said, throwing a glance at Jackie. "Assuming, of course, this so-called Wizard is who controlled those Egregors."
"Yeah," said Waller. "He's the one who started the whole thing."
"So that explains it," said Liu. "When I arrived in this city, I sensed a . . . What do you Americans call it? . . . A disturbance in the Force."
Jackie giggled. "An old man just quoted Star Wars."
Waller rolled his eyes and shook his head with a groan.
"It was most strong in areas the Gathering have been known to congregate," Liu continued to explain, "Concerned, I tracked the Gathering to this street and came to find out more about them when I saw you two surrounded by hostile Egregors."
"I suppose I should be thankful you came when you did," Waller said. "Dealing with you is better than dealing with being monster chow. Maybe. It's too bad you came here for nothing though. You just missed them. The Gathering's done with their thing, and they've all gone home. I seriously doubt they'll be back."
"On the contrary, Thomas," said Liu, "my trip was not for nothing. I have two witnesses here who surely has information I can learn from. Even if not, I have learned plenty already."
"How so?" asked a curious Jackie.
"The size of the Egregors, the sheer number of them left behind just to guard this one location, it shows this Wizard is capable of great, terrible things."
"Or how wasteful he is," Waller pointed out.
"Maybe," Liu conceded. "But that does not make him any less of a threat that could bring large-scale harm to this city."
"Do you think that's what the Ritual's all about?" asked Jackie. "Make some kind of big disaster happen that'd hurt a lot of people?"
Liu raised an eyebrow. "A Ritual?"
"It's something the Wizard guy mentioned in his rant," replied Waller. "It's what he calls a plan he's got that he wants everyone in the Gathering to be a part of."
"That's a rather ominous name for a group activity," Liu remarked. "Were you able to learn anything in particular about this Ritual?"
"Just one thing," said Jackie. "A keyword: revenge."
"I see." Liu rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "A task, likely supernatural in nature, that will involve a large group of people spearheaded by a man capable of taming numerous monsters with the goal of accomplishing revenge. All this confirms my initial fears of large-scale harm to this city and your hypothesis of a big disaster that will hurt many people. I suspect dozens if not hundreds will suffer. The Gathering must be stopped. If possible, I'd like your assistance."
Waller glared at Liu, eyes full of suspicion. "You're asking me for help?"
"Both of you, actually," said Liu, once again giving Jackie a meaningful look. "You both know far more about the Gathering than I do. And evidently your skills in detective work could rival that of the great Sherlock Holmes. Your aid would allow me to swiftly deal with the Gathering before any damage can be done. And you need me to deal with the Gathering as you both clearly cannot handle them on your own. What do you say?"
Jackie not only felt Liu's gaze but also Waller's. Both men didn't have to wait long for an answer, though because Jackie already made up his mind.
"Here's my answer," the young man said. And then he gave it.
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