Donatello snickered. "Oh, sorry! I completely forgot to mention that those eye drops are actually pretty painful."
That was a lie. He never forgot about that nasty little side effect and purposely withheld it until it was too late. Neither was he actually sorry.
Jackie dropped to his knees in agony, hands pressing against his eyes. Even with them closed, he could still feel them burning as tears rolled down the sides of his face. Alice watched with tears of her own, but the pain was in her heart and not where the tears came from.
After some time of taking in sharp, hissing breaths, Jackie gingerly removed his hands and opened his eyes. They still stung, but not as badly as before. His vision was thoroughly blurred at first, but it cleared up after a couple of rapid blinks. When he lifted up his head, he found a pair of empty, black pits staring back at him.
The empty eye sockets belonged to a face of stone-gray skin stretched tightly over a misshapen skull. Only three strands of white gossamer hair could be counted on the otherwise bare head of the bone-thin man (if it could be called that).
Jackie fell backwards, screaming. He was prepared to see something scary, but he wasn't prepared enough to come face to face with a horrific, zombie-like creature. Fear overtook every part of his brain and urged to him to get as far away from the hideous being as possible, which he did by frantically crawling on all fours only to end up face to face with a bulldog with its head replaced by a green flower bulb.
The flower bulb split open five ways, looking like a sea star. Curved and pointed fangs lined the edges and a tongue with its own mouth and set of fangs flew out screeching.
"Ah! Ah! AH!" Jackie shrieked three times and retreated, but bumped into the knees of the zombie. "Ah!"
Donatello watched laughing. Zak laughed with him. A few others joined as well. Some were grimly satisfied by Jackie's suffering, but quite a lot did not find it amusing at all. Alice certainly didn't and she felt blistering hatred towards those who laughed.
Jackie fled a third way, only for a porcelain doll to jump out in front of him. The doll resembled a girl with curly blond hair and dressed in a frilly pink dress. It looked like a normal doll until its head split open down the middle revealing a set of sharp, triangle teeth.
With nowhere to run, Jackie's only recourse was to curl up in a ball and hyperventilate.
Donatello decided he finally had enough and strolled over. He knelt beside Jackie still curled up, clutching the hair at the back of his head and breathing loudly in and out, in and out.
"So, how is it being one of us? Not so great, huh? Tell you what? You don't have to wait for those drops to wear off. You can escape this horrible nightmare right now by taking this."
Donatello took from his pocket another bottle. Unlike the one from before, this one was made with pink glass. He dangled it in front of Jackie's face.
Jackie heard every word, understood it and watched the bottle hungrily as it was gently swayed side to side. Slowly, he reached for it, his hand shaking badly. And then he snatched it from Donatello's fingertips and hugged it close to his chest.
Donatello smiled triumphantly and sniffed. "Thought so."
He straightened up, looked at his expectant audience and gestured to the boy lying on the floor.
"See? This guy said he wanted to understand. But the moment he took a step into our world, just a tiny peek, he instantly wants out. Look at him right now as he is about to abandon us, just like everyone else who called themselves our friends, our family."
With a smile, he turned back around. "Go on, then," he said to Jackie. "Use it. Use those drops and leave us. Turn your back on us. Abandon us to our plight."
Jackie didn't hear. He was too focused on twisting open the bottle. But as he did so, his eyes caught sight of Alice who was looking back at him from behind the bars of a cage with centipede legs and eyes all over. They were close enough to each other for Jackie to see the tears rolled down the cheeks of his beloved friend, the girl that he had been risking his life to find and rescue.
He took a look around at the hideous Egregors that served under the Wizard and then at the bottle in his still-trembling hands. His mind raced.
Even now, those monsters terrified him. But they were something that Alice had lived with her whole life. She had to deal with them all alone. And she will probably still deal with them all alone the rest of her life if Jackie put whatever was in the pink bottle into his eyes.
No. No way in Hell was he letting that happen.
The rhythm of Jackie's breathing quickened and grew more intense. He sprang up and with all his might, hurled the pink bottle away. He didn't wait to see it crash against the wall and shatter to pieces with a splat of blue juice that trickled down to the floor. His back was turned to it as he twisted off the cap of the brown bottle. But instead of using the dropper, he tossed that aside too and poured the whole bottle's contents into his eyes.
Even Donatello was shocked by what Jackie did. The Wizard's jaw dropped, unable to believe his eyes and thought, Holy . . . This kid's insane!
With the bottle empty, Jackie no longer needed it and tossed it aside like he did its cap/dropper. It bounced off the floor and cracked but otherwise remained intact, a fortune its pink twin did not have. He wiped the skin around his eyes dry with the sleeve of his jacket and then glared at Donatello. "I'm not abandoning anyone."
No sooner did he make that declaration, the side effects of the eye drops kicked in and inflicted torturous pain worse than the last. Way worse.
He collapsed onto the floor screaming while pressing his hands over his burning eyes. And then he spasmed, kicking against the floor as if trying to do a tap dance while also laying on his back before going limp.
Alice screamed through the bindings over her mouth. She thought the worse had come to pass and it made her heart burst in despair.
Donatello stared at Jackie for a bit, waiting to see if something else would happen. But nothing did, so he turned his back to the fallen boy and addressed the crowd.
"Well, that's that, then," he said casually. "Let's get back to the Ritual, shall we?"
He grinned at his followers, but none of them could muster a grin back.
Sensing the gloom hanging over the Gathering, he said to them, "Oh, lighten up. He was never one of us! And he never will be. He can't understand you like I can. He definitely can't do anything to help you now."
Jackie's fingers twitched.
"But I can," Donatello Putts continued. "I have. And I am. Wasn't it me who showed you how to control these monsters so you never have to he afraid of them? Wasn't me who showed each and every one of you that you're not alone? And wasn't it me who gave you all a place to belong when even your own houses, or condos, didn't even feel like home?"
Jackie opened his eyes to the ceiling. He rolled them over to the sound of Donatello's voice and it was there he noticed a trio of black rags flying around one of the stage lights. No one else noticed because their eyes were all on their leader who was, himself, absorbed in trying to get everything back on track.
"We can make the world a better place for me. For us. This Ritual is the ticket to that. It's now or never, folks."
Then came a snap. Everyone looked up. And the down went the light fixture to the head of the boy who had taken Alice's place as an Acolyte.
The boy saw the big, bell-shaped light above him fall. But then the next thing he knew, he was pushed into a crowd of people and heard a crash. And then an agonized cry.
He looked ahead, astonished to see Jackie lying flat on his stomach in front of him. On Jackie's right leg was the face of the stage light.
It quickly clicked in the boy that his life had been saved. And it was by none other than the guy he, and everyone else thought was an enemy.
Again, Alice screamed. She was at first elated to see Jackie moving again but then felt her heart tear apart the second time this day when he dove to the rescue the boy.
But she wasn't the only one horrified by the accident.
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Panicked, Donatello raced back over to the magic circle and knelt beside Jackie. "Are you okay? There's not a scratch on you is there?"
He was not speaking to Jackie, who was breathing heavy from the pain endured from his leg injury. Nor was the Wizard speaking to the boy who nearly lost his life from that heavy piece of stage equipment that was swept out of the way by an invisible force. His gaze, his entire concern, was aimed at the red drawings on the floor.
With the thorough care of a mother concerned over her child's bloody knee, he examined the area of the scribblings struck by the stage light. As he did so, he swat away Jackie's injured leg.
"Ow!"
When he was done with his examination, Donatello breathed a sigh of relief and straightened up. The scribbles were unharmed.
"Alright! Good news, everyone! The magic circle is A-okay! Let's get back to where we left off, shall we?"
He flashed the Gathering a big smile, but none of his followers smiled back.
Quickly, Donatello's smile turned into a frown, and after clapping his hands a few times, "What's wrong with all of you? Times a-wasting people! Come on! We haven't got all day! We got a Ritual to complete, some revenge that needs revenging!"
Still, the Gathering did not budge and glared at him. One girl voiced what they were all thinking. "What the hell is wrong with you? A kid nearly got killed! But all you cared about were some drawings on the floor!"
Donatello was quickly offended. "Some drawings? SOME DRAWINGS? I worked my fingers to the bone to draw this magic circle, checking and re-checking there's not a line out of place, for this very moment! For this Ritual! How could anything be more important?"
That outburst proved to Donatello Putts' biggest mistake since both his family's business empire and reputation burned to the ground by his own hands.
"You don't care about us!" a girl shouted at him. "You never did! The only ones who were really looking out for us were Jackie and Alice! They were right all along!"
"Yeah!"
"That's right!"
Pretty soon, murmurings of suspicion elevated in volume to shouts of conviction. No one wanted to do the Ritual anymore, let alone continue to follow this man.
"You can forget about me doing this stupid Ritual!"
"Yeah, count me out!"
"I'm out of here!"
"You want to do the Ritual so badly? Just do it yourself!"
It was more than the once great Wizard could take, and he truly lost his temper.
"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! Why, why, why, why, why, why, WHY? WHY WON'T ANYONE JUST SHUT UP AND DO WHAT I WANT? WHY? ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS WHENEVER I GET AN IDEA, THEY SAY IT WON'T WORK. IT'S A BAD IDEA. THEY NEVER UNDERSTAND ME! THEY NEVER UNDERSTAND MY GENIUS! WHO CARES IF SOMEONE GETS HURT IN THE PROCESS? HUH? DO OTHER PEOPLE MATTER MORE THAN ME? NO! NOTHING MATTERS MORE THAN WHAT I WANT! NOTHING MATTERS MORE THAN ME!"
In his tantrum, he completely exposed his true self. Whatever lingering attachments or trust a scant few members of the Gathering still had, were instantly wiped away. Their dismay at the realization they were just Donatello Putts' tools grew, and so did their voices of dissent. That's when the Wizard threw his hands up to the ceiling in preparation to lash out with his occultic powers. But he never got the chance to.
While everyone was distracted, Taylor took the chance to sneak away and enter the stage from the side. She rushed over to cage monster and hissed, "Psst! Alice!"
Alice rolled her eyes to the left where Taylor stood.
"Quick! Now's your chance to get out! Remember what you learned about these things."
After giving Taylor an understanding nod and watching her take a few steps back, Alice closed her eye in concentration. She felt the ribbons on her quiver as she reached into the monster's mind with her will.
Let me go, she mentally commanded.
The cage monster immediately loosened its hold and retracted the ribbons, unceremoniously dropping Alice down. She hit the floor with a painful thump just as the door swung open.
When she saw the Wizard raise his hands up to attack, she quickly jumped out of the cage and threw an attack of her own. It was the spell she had ready to sabotage the Ritual's essential magic circle, a basic pyrokinetic attack. A big ball of fire was flung off Alice's hand and hit Donatello Putts' side. The fireball exploded on impact and sent the Wizard tumbling across the floor.
Alice watched, hands over mouth, in horror as he rolled left and right, screaming while covered in a blanket of dancing flames. Behind her, Taylor gazed at the Wizard's suffering with a look of grim satisfaction. And then the flames died away and Donatello Putts laid still.
Believing the worst, Alice fell to her knees, tears streaming down the sides of her face and she whimpered. "Oh no, oh no, oh no. What have I done?"
Taylor walked up from behind and placed a comforting hand on Alice's shoulder. "You didn't do anything wrong. It was either him or them. And look, it's not as bad as you think."
Alice looked. To her relief, Donatello Putts rolled to his side with a groan. But she was horrified again when she saw as he sat up that the side of his face struck by her attack was darkened and blistered. However, she would soon discover even that was temporary. The burn marks and blisters quickly shrank as the Wizard clumsily stood back up. He swayed about as if strongly inebriated and even slurred like one.
"You don't want to help me get revenge? Fine!" He shouted in half-sob. "I don't need you. I don't need any of you!"
He swung his pointer finger at everyone.
"I'll find other people, SMARTER people, who'll help. People who won't STUPIDLY miss a chance to get their own revenge! And when I get enough people, you'll be sorry. You'll ALL be sorry! Because once I start the Ritual up again, I'll be aiming it at all of you too! Hell, while I'm at it, I'll take the whole city down!"
"Oh, now that, I cannot allow."
As soon as Jackie heard that familiar voice and that familiar accent, his blood ran cold.
Donatello frowned and turned around to see who had spoken. Strolling in from the front of the restaurant was a middle-aged Asian man in a black three-piece suit beneath a long trench coat and a fedora hat.
"Who the hell are you?" Donatello rudely asked.
The man stopped a couple of feet from the Wizard and tipped his hat.
"Allow me to introduce myself," he said, both hands resting on top his cane. "I am Arthur Liu, an enforcer for the Black Tortoise Order."
"Who of the what? Never heard of you."
"Evidently," Liu said, turning his nose up at the Wizard. "If you had, you would not be so brazen."
"That right?" Donatello said. The last of the scars inflicted by Alice had faded. On his mental command, the hideous monsters that had scared Jackie out of his mind soundlessly approached the new uninvited guest from behind.
The closest was the dog monster with that flower bud head. It opened its five-way mouth and slowly reached around Liu's head. A split second later, Liu spun around the beast like a top. There was a glint of metal and in a reversal of roles, Liu stood behind the three monsters, sword blade pointing right. All three monsters crumbled into dust.
Donatello Putts was stunned by how easily his ferocious monsters had been dispatched, and so quickly too, by that dainty-looking sword. He looked at Liu, their eyes met, and then he ran. But he didn't get very far.
Liu casually pointed at the fleeing Wizard and then jerked his finger up.
With a cry of pain, Donatello fell. Blood caked the back of his shirt beneath his shoulder. "OOOOWWW!"
He was racked with agony and unable to do anything except weakly look up as Liu slowly and menacingly walked towards him, eyes lit in fear.
"What do you want with me?" he cried.
Liu stopped and answered, "I think that should be obvious. I've come to end your life."
"What did I ever do to deserve this?"
Liu coldly gazed over the fallen Wizard. "Are you seriously asking that after confessing your intentions to misuse forbidden Western knowledge to commit murder?"
"Wasn't trying to murder anyone!"
Again, Liu pointed at Donatello. Blood burst from the Wizard's lap. "Argh!"
The surrounding Gathering cried out and grimaced. Others turned away, covering their eyes. Some just stood paralyzed.
"Do not lie to me," Liu growled at Donatello. "Not now when your plans have already been made clear. You have proven yourself a danger to the world. Worse, you tricked innocent children into nearly dirtying their own hands and jump to their doom."
He threw a look towards the Gathering, who flinched and backed away with feelings of dread stirred up within them. It was obvious to them all by the way he trounced the Wizard that this fedora hat-wearing gentleman was dangerous. Not just dangerous, downright frightening. Only one person, however, dared to talk to him.
"Stop!"
Liu did so and slowly turned. "What do you want, Jackie Li?"
Jackie approached with a crawl, unable to stand on account of his injured leg. He glared back at the enforcer of the Black Tortoise Order and bravely answered, "I told you what I want. I want you to stop. There's no need to unalive him."
Liu raised an eyebrow. "Unalive?"
Donatello Putts took this chance to try crawl away, only for a wound to burst open from his other thigh. "Argh!"
This was not something any of them wanted to see, no matter how much they now hated him. Some of the younger members whimpered and shrank into the embrace of the more protective older members.
"I said stop!" Jackie shouted.
Liu frowned at Jackie. "Why do you defend this knave? You know what he wanted to do. You understand what he would have accomplished if his plans were not interrupted. Countless lives could have been lost because of him. The world will be better off without him."
"Maybe," Jackie admitted. His voice was strained and the pressure of his fingers on the floor increased as he tried to fight back against the pain in his leg. "But it's still wrong. And it doesn't have to be this way. There's no getting away for him now."
"I said before, countless lives could have been lost because of him. I will add countless more could still be lost if the dangerous knowledge tucked in his brain were allowed to be spread. He is too dangerous to keep alive."
"But he hasn't done that yet! And who is he going to tell?"
"Yeah!" cried Donatello. "I won't tell anyone! I swear!"
Liu snapped at him, "Your oaths mean nothing to me." And then the enforcer returned his attention to Jackie, pointing the sword straight at the young man's head. "You are too naive, Jackie Li. You do not understand the depths of darkness in this world and the sacrifices necessary to keep that darkness at bay."
But Jackie shook his head. "No," he said. "I understand plenty. I just don't want it to get darker than it already has. For me. For Alice. For every one of these guys." He glanced back at all the Gathering members before locking eyes with Liu. "For you too."
Liu raised his eyebrows. For the first time, in a long time, he was astonished. His sword wavered for a moment but then was still again.
Then came a bang after the kitchen door flew open and hit the wall. Waller had come bursting in.
"That's enough, Liu!" he shouted. "Put the sword away and leave."
"And what if I refuse?" asked the enforcer. "Will you try and make comply?"
"Don't need to," Waller said. He pulled from his pocket several sheets of paper that he tossed Liu's way.
One sheet drifted close enough for Liu to catch. But even without the close look, he recognized his own talismans. "I see. So you disabled the barrier I erected to contain the Ritual's effects as well as keep any riffraff out. That was rather foolhardy of you. What if the Ritual was still ongoing when you did that?"
"Well, I figured you'd have finished putting a stop to it already," Waller said. "But as you can see, with that fancy force field of yours down and all the pests under that idiot exterminated by you, the cops will have no trouble getting here. It's only a matter of minutes. If you want to steer clear of them, now is your only chance to beat it."
Even now, sirens could be heard wailing from outside. Lots of them.
Arnold must be bringing in a whole army, thought Jackie.
"Hmph! Very well," said Liu. "I will leave. Congratulations, boy. Today, it seems, will end in your favor. But don't expect it to happen again. One day, you will have no choice but to choose between two evils for the greater good. And as for the rest of you . . . "
He slowly waved his sword, pointing it at each and every one of the Gathering. They all shrank back in fear.
"Be grateful for this boy and his kindness!" Liu told the Gathering. "He has saved all of your lives. If he had not stopped you, you all would have become dangerous threats to humanity that need to be destroyed. And know this: I am not the only one in this world who hunts such threats. All such hunters will be watching you. Follow the same path as this Wizard, and you WILL meet your doom. We will come for you."
He turned to the Wizard. "And as for you," he said, pointing his sword and eliciting a short, frightened shriek, "you most of all are lucky. But I warn you, do not test the limits of your fortune. Money and lawyers cannot protect you as they have done in the past. Such things do not bind me or people like me. Nor can you ever hide from the likes of us, least of all from me. I will be watching you. Try anything and I will end you. Slowly."
Donatello Putts shook his head up and down. He could just be trembling in fear, but Liu took that as a nod of understanding and finally sheathed his sword. Having said all he needed to, he exited the restaurant without another word.
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