Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #59
Local Starbucks, LA[February 11, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"As I was saying, before someone very rudely pulled all of us into the Astral Realm very haphazardly, I am here because I have credible news of someone successfully bypassing the rules of the treaty that I have signed. Someone from the Line of Cain, one of the Elders most probably, has made some sort of pact with the Lords of Hell, allowing him significant leeway when it comes to the–"
"But that's impossible." He butts in, "All extradimensional contractual pipelines have been sealed, as far as I know. They should not be open for another five years, Kamar Taj sees to that. If there was a stray crack somewhere, the Ancient One would've–"
"Oh, wake up to reality!" He leans back at her outburst, "You think your Ancient One is so perfect? That Kamar Taj can monitor every single sub dimension, every single dimensional outflow, every single call request, every single dimensional spill? No, that would be impossible, kid. I haven't yet figured out how they converted one of the smaller pipelines into a full blown dimensional connection but I will."
The hunger in her eyes scared him at the moment. That was another scary aspect of the Red Matron, her scientific rigor. Once burned as a witch with a curiosity never seen before, she represents the pinnacle of vampiric magical research, so much so that even the denizens of Transylvania, along with their ruler, respect her. Her words of the dimensional mechanisms ran straight over his head since, as mentioned before, he thought he had time to go through that stuff later on.
As it turns out, someone somehow contacted the Hell Lords to gain extraordinary powers, powers strong enough to bypass the Treaty.
"My point is, someone has done it and they have done it for a single goal, as far as I can tell. They need something, the Hell Lords, and for that, they have risked significant backlash by aligning with us Vampires. All to get something or someone."
His eyes widened at that.
"Colin," Jin'ya stated with an air of finality.
"Yes." She nodded solemnly, "Your little charge, the Life Giver's fame has now reached the halls of Hell and they now demand the one who can give them nearly limitless life force." She then turned to him with an amused smirk on her face, "Isn't that right, Colin Baxter?"
"Be that as it may, that still doesn't explain how you could approach him without breaking the laws," Jin'Ya asked her.
She then beamed at them, "Ah! That's where the beauty of reading and comprehension comes into play. You guys used English for the treaty, which, fair, was something that the majority of the members spoke and understood, but it is also something that has a vast potential to be misused or misunderstood."
His brows furrowed as he realised where she was going with this. She probably used some sort of loophole in the treaty to get around the no approaching him rule. He was sure she would reveal it soon enough because someone like her–
"You see, the Demons from Hell, while powerful and greedy, are not stupid. They have not hedged all their bets on a single vampiric faction, however powerful they may be. No, they have also approached another entity, sealed and vastly weakened from its peak, but in very close proximity with their target."
"Ta-Lo" he whispered, as things finally began making sense.
"Yes, my dear Life Giver. You see, the treaty left a certain leeway in the way you can do things, i.e., how you can build allies. The ones who you deem trustworthy are elevated in terms of getting around some of the stricter stuff on the treaty. As you can guess, when I politely requested a meeting with the Village Chief of Ta-Lo and relayed my concerns–concerns that were confirmed by the Water Dragon, he was more than happy enough to give me permission to approach you on my own, effectively making me a member of Ta-Lo as far as the treaty is concerned."
"Wow." That was all he could say as she smirked, basking in her supposed sense of superiority. She then faltered as he asked, "All of that? For what? Just to meet me? Because no matter how much you help me, I am never going to give you CHI, let's be very clear about that."
She then, honest to Stan Lee, pouted at him, "Oh! Come on, why be a spoilsport? I came all the way here just to warn you, that has to count for something, right?"
He snorted as her effect of intimidation just slid right off of him as Jin'Ya was right beside him. Bitch, using psionic manipulation in front of a Psionic Dragon. You wish to die? Was something he wished to say to her but he did not have a death wish as of now.
"I have been more than aware of the effects of my CHI on your king. If given freely, it is the greatest elixir for your kind, instantly elevating you above your base desires and granting you relief from any hunger for decades, maybe centuries based on the amount I can provide BUT I have also been warned by the foremost user of Time Magic that going down that route leads to nothing but devastation, as a new class of Vampires begins to take hold and exert their authority on your entire species." He stated before standing up.
"Now, I have a lot of work to do, something that I have been neglecting for a while now. If you have names, locations, or any other info, now is the time to share it but do note that you will not be getting CHI in return. Something else can certainly be negotiated." He did his best to sound serious because this woman meant business and while he was mostly a greenhorn when it came to mystical dealings, he had JIn'Ya with him who would correct him if he went off course.
"That's the thing, little Life-Giver." She stated with an air of superiority around her like she knew something he didn't, which was most likely.
"That's my only condition. A little sliver of what you pump regularly into Ta-Lo, pumped directly into me in exchange for all the information I have."
Ewww, that made it sound gross. There was no way he was going to do what came to his mind to a woman that old, despite her looks. Obviously, he did not let any of it show on his face, he was not dumb.
"Then I am sorry to say but we have no deal. We will look for them on our own. In exchange for bringing this to our attention, I promise to overlook this incident but know this, if you try this again, I can and will shatter your soul and feed the remains to Astral Terrors, do you understand?" Jin'Ya leaned forward as his soul exerted pressure on the very reality around them, making the space around them wobble as if it would break apart at any point.
"Oh, sod off with the threats, they don't work. I am your equal, if not in the Astral Realm, then in the material universe. I won't go down that easily and any battle between us will just force the others into action, so calm down, will you? You stupid Dragon." She grumbled as she just gave him a look and he blinked as he found himself back in his seat.
"Now," She flashed him a strained smile, "I know that you are very hesitant in creating a deranged hungry monster addicted to CHI but I am different, I can guarantee my own sanity. I have done similar stuff before."
"Really?" Jin'Ya scoffed, "When?"
She shot him a nasty look and then quieted down, "Even if I agree to stay in the Mirror Dimension for my research with the only key being in your hands?"
He immediately countered "If the key is in the Ancient One's hands." Like hell, he was going to trust himself for a task of this magnitude.
She scoffed, "Oh, that bald headed demon would just love that. She would never let me out. I might as well just present my True Name and True Heart on a gold platter to her."
She then looked at him with a gleam in her eyes that honestly made him feel uncomfortable. She then glanced at Jin'Ya before replying, "What if I made the same deal as him," She jutted her chin at Jin'Ya.
He was confused for exactly a second before the world around him blurred and then he was left in that booth with Jin'Ya and the Red Matron nowhere in sight.
"Well, damn." He sighed. This was going to be messy.
He pulled out his sling ring and went to the bathroom. He might need to call in the Ancient One on this. Jin'Ya would not take kindly to this and the last thing they needed was a fight of that level, destroying part of the planet.
"Oh, man, she is going to be pissed. Stupid Village Chief," He cursed that old man for this, and to some extent, the Water Dragon but the Water Dragon was chill so most of his anger was placed on the Chief.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.