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Chapter 941: A Clark Kent Problem
🕑 Added 2024-09-13 23:00:07 +0000 UTCDarius and Michael were nervous. They were political officials, their silver-rank coming from cores. Their limited combat training consisted of a basic course and annual two-week refreshers. It was far from enough to make them confident about entering vampire territory or, even worse, Asano territory.
They began their day by portalling across the planet. Their two gold-rank bodyguards, the only reason they agreed to any of this, secured the other side first. These were some of the old guard who had also ranked up through cores, but were rich on both training and experience. The scant handful who had hit gold without cores were strategic assets, too valuable for bodyguard duty.
On the other side of the portal was the city of Nitra. The vampires hadn’t done too much damage, the population having evacuated before the blood suckers had the courage to approach Asano territory. The vampires had come through when the Asano Clan went into hiding, but no populace meant no massacre. The damage to the city came from more than a decade of abandonment and the occasional wandering monster.
They arrived in the carpark of a shopping centre. Someone had taken the abandoned cars and piled them up on one end leaving clear space. What was left of a sign reading ‘Atrium Optiva’ dangled from the wall. Waiting for them were three people, currently getting the eyeball from their gold-rank guards.
One of the three looked nervous at the attention. Darius and Michael could sense his silver-rank aura, although his showed no signs of the monster core use responsible for their own ranks. The last two were unfazed by the attention, a large Pacific Islander and a Japanese man.
The political officials recognised the other two Asano Clan gold rankers. Shiro Asano was the former Patriarch of the Japanese Network’s Asano Clan, and had his hand casually resting on the hilt of his sheathed blade. Taika Williams was postulated to be one of the strongest people on the planet, alongside Rufus Remore. He was eating a popsicle.
With their arrival, the three clan members moved to greet them and make introductions. The silver-ranker was Wesley Asano, a clan member with a vehicle essence who would serve as their driver. He conjured up a limousine with black paint and black windows, that could have been plucked from a gangster movie set in the sixties.
They were driven through the city, seeing that at least the streets they were driving through had been cleared. This was obviously where the clan usually had visitors arrive, as no one was portalling into the clan territory directly. Leaving the city, what looked like a freshly built road led into the countryside. There was no mistaking the Asano Clan city as they approached it, situated in what had once been pastoral land.
The city was strange, showing no signs of the cloud-like substance it was supposedly built from. The buildings were a mix of aggressive concrete, shining glass and plant life both abundant and heavily integrated. Seated across from them, Taika Williams looked like a sardine in a can, even in the large car. Seeing them peer out the window, he offered an explanation unprompted.
“Ken oversaw all this. Jason’s Dad. After Jason ate all the vampires and rebuilt the city, he let his old man and some architects in the clan redesign the whole place. It’s a mix of eco-brutalism and solar punk, or so I’m told. I don’t know what either of those things are, but being able to fake concrete instead of using the real stuff is better for the environment, apparently. Not sure that matters in the middle of a vampire apocalypse, or why you’d want to fake concrete, but Ken seemed happy.”
Michael and Darius glanced at each other at the phrase ‘ate all the vampires,’ but didn’t comment. They reached the centre of the city, stopping outside it’s tallest building. From the outside, it looked like a massive stack of staggered balcony gardens, with no safety rails. The interior continued the heavy plant theme, with open spaces and high ceilings. Natural light filled the space too well to be actually natural, but the effect was pleasant. The two political staffers were used to cubicles, offices and bureaucratic hallways.
They were led upstairs on an elevator that was just an open-sided platform, not even enclosed by glass. It took them to a large circular chamber ringed by shadowy portal arches. One arch stood out from the others by the colours, being of milky white stone instead of obsidian black. It was also filled with gold, silver and blue instead of roiling darkness. Their instincts recoiled against going through unknown portals, but they followed Taika through, nonetheless.
On the other side they found themselves in another building, very different from the one they had just left. It looked like an old hotel, decorated in such monotone shades of grey and black it was like stepping into a black and white movie. If not for the bright teal of Michael’s tie, Darious would have suspected sudden-onset colour blindness.
“I told you that tie was too much,” Darius muttered as they were led to the birdcage elevator that continued the archaic styling.
Waiting for them in the lobby was a man they both recognised. They had worked with Boris Ketland for years, believing him to be a counterpart of similar rank to themselves, but in the Cabal. It was only later they discovered he was both a global leader and one of the angel-like messengers. Even now, he rarely appeared outside of human proportions, or showed off his wings.
“Mike. Darius. I’d ask if you were nervous, but I can feel your auras. Don’t worry; the vampires here are all very gentle. By vampire standards.”
The gold-rank bodyguards had grown increasingly stoic over the course of the journey, and now could pass as statues, their eyes were locked on Boris. He led their little entourage outside where Wesley conjured his car again, along with a second one. The bodyguards protested Boris’ instruction to join Taika and Shiro in the other car while he went with Michal and Darius.
“I hate to break it to you,” Boris told them, “but you’re ornamental here at best. You are under the protection of myself and Jason Asano, which means the only things able to harm you are myself and Jason. And if that’s what we want, there’s nothing you can do about, so get in the second car before I put you in there.”
The bodyguards bristled, but obeyed are a short discussion under their breath. Michael and Darius then joined Boris in the first car, which drove them through the noir graphic novel that passed for a city. There was a sense of unreality to the place, exacerbated by knowing they really were in a magical pocket realm. The silver light of the moon hid more than it illuminated, creating dark corners and shadow-filled alleys. Traffic was light, the cars having the same out-of-time feel as their own vehicle. Few people were out in the heavy rain, those that were making indistinct shapes under the diffuse gaslight on the streetlamps.
“Feels like being in a Dashiell Hammett novel right?” Boris asked, watching them peer out the windows. “You can make a gritty monologue, if you feel the need.”
“Why are we doing this here again?” Darius asked. “This place is spooky and full of vampires. I know this is a clandestine meeting, but this seems like we may be taking it too far.”
“This is where Jason conducts his more hidden business,” Boris explained. “Your people wanted the in-person meeting, and this is where he wants it.”
“He really is here, then?” Michael asked.
“Technically, he’s in a liminal space between universes that doesn’t exist in any way that’s comprehensible to entities that exist within physical reality. But yes, he’s here. His avatars have been explained to you, right?”
The men nodded.
“It still seems strange,” Michael said. “But what doesn’t, here?”
“That’s a good attitude to hold,” Boris told him.
The car pulled over and they got out. The rain didn’t reach them, twisting in the air to fall on the ground around them.
“What’s going on there?” Michael asked.
“I’m pushing the rain away with my aura,” Boris said. “I’m not getting water on this suit.”
“You can’t move physical things with your aura,” Michael said.
“No,” Boris corrected. “You can't move physical things with your aura.”
The second car pulled up to let out Taika, Shiro and the bodyguards. After the guards confirmed the status of their charges, they all went inside. It was the kind of building where people got murdered in old movies. It looked to have been some kind of clothing factory, machines and tables painted in years of grime.
Taika, Shiro and Wesley stayed behind as the rest took another old-style elevator, Boris operating it with a lever instead of buttons. It took them up to another floor, wholly unlike the factory floor they had just left. This level contained a speakeasy style bar, all dark leather and dim lighting. They could see people at tables and booths, none of whom glanced over at their entrance.
There was a coatroom where an attendant was taking coats and hats. They spotted Asano, handing over his, drenched in rain. He waited for them to do the same before shaking their hands in turn, without so much as a glance at the bodyguards.
“Gentlemen,” he greeted them. “Jason Asano.”
“I’m Darius Shepherd, United States Department of Supernatural Affairs. This is Michael Glasser, State Department.”
Asano led them through the bar to a secluded booth at the back and slid around the table, making room for Boris and the two officials. There was no room for their guards, who would not have sat anyway, looming over the table.
“Your boys can go take a seat at the bar,” he said.
“We’re fine,” one of the guards grunted.
“And you’ll stay that way unless you think I was asking,” Asano said, looking at them for the first time. Darius and Michael saw their gold-rank guards flinch, seeing the signs of aura suppression despite not sensing a thing. The guards sent them an inquisitive glance, departing at a slight nod from Michael. Asano’s eyes didn’t leave them until they sat at the bar and refused drinks from the bartender. He then turned to the two officials with a friendly smile.
Michael and Darius were unsure what to make of Asano. Rumours placed him somewhere between dangerous lunatic and capricious god. There was certainly a presence too him, as if everything around him was slightly out of focus while he was crystal clear.
“What brought you two gentlemen all this way?” he asked them. “Boris seemed confident that it was worth meeting you.”
“We need to discuss a potential threat,” Darius said. “One that affects all of us.”
“All of us being…?”
“The whole planet.”
Asano sighed, leaning back with a weary expression.
“I’ve done my world-saving,” he said. “It’s past time the rest of you started picking up the slack.”
“We intended to take this to your clan,” Darius said. “We approached Mr Ketland as a go-between, and he insisted we bring it to you personally.”
Asano turned to Boris.
“And why is that?” he asked.
“Because this isn’t a Clark Kent problem,” Boris said. “This is a Superman problem. You can’t pretend like you’re like everyone else on this one. The clan isn’t up for this kind of fight. No one on Earth is.”
“What fight?” Jason asked.
“As I’m sure you’re aware,” Michael said, “there is a lot of concern about you and your clan. Your impending return has led to some activity that has us concerned.”
“Activity by me?”
“No,” Darius said. “It’s in reaction to you.”
“For context,” Michael explained, “there is something of a secret council amongst Earth’s most powerful players. Somewhere between a secret society and the United Nations, with various countries and other state-level actors being represented. The mission statement of the group is to navigate challenges that affect us all.”
“You and your family come up a lot,” Darius added.
“But that’s not what we’re here about,” Michael said. “Not directly. “The group, as I mentioned, is concerned about your return. About what you will do, and how the world will collectively respond.”
“I’ve been giving the same thing my consideration as well,” Asano said.
“The secret council have gone beyond consideration,” Darius said. “One of their unstated objectives is to make sure the people in power stay that way, through the upheavals that magic has brought. They see you as potentially the greatest threat to that objective. You operate on a different paradigm to traditional forms of global power. That was fine when you were a silver-ranker, albeit a strong one with impressive reserves of resources and knowledge. But your clan has been laying the groundwork for you to be seen as far more than that, now. They portray you less a gold ranker and more like some god-king about to descend upon the Earth.”
“That’s fair,” Boris said. “To my people, he essentially is a god-king. Even the ones who see him as an enemy.”
“Be that as it may,” Darius said, “the reality doesn’t actually matter right now. The perception of it is what’s causing the problem at hand. The secret council has decided that if you can’t be controlled and you can’t be contained, you have to be removed.”
“I was expecting some reaction along those lines,” Jason said. “You’re talking about more than just a few assassination attempts, though, aren’t you?”
Darius nodded.
“A means has been found to contact other people like you. Powerful people who exist beyond our world.”
“They’ve struck a deal,” Michael said, picking up the narrative. “To bring these outsiders into our dimension to take you off the board. And in return, certain concessions have been made.”
“What concessions?” Asano asked.
“We’re not sure,” Darius said. “The United States representatives were completely against this approach and were cut out, early in the proceedings. We still have people reporting from inside the group, but we and others in opposition to the plan have been removed from its planning.”
“You were against it?”
“The view of the United States Government,” Michael said, “is that welcoming an unknown alien force onto our world is akin to giving invaders a beachhead. We might see you as a threat to our interests, Mr Asano, but we respect your right to be a huge pain in our nation’s collective ass. Bringing in outsiders is selling the cow to get lessons on how to milk it.”
“You realise that I’m bringing in my own force of outsiders.”
“But are they coming to serve your interests, or theirs?”
“It’s more of a tourist situation, really. Most will follow my lead, but I am bringing a diplomatic contingent. They want to begin establishing relations for when our worlds are in closer contact.”
Darius and Michael shared a look.
“We will definitely need to discuss that with our people,” Michael said. “What you’re describing, though, sounds like open foreign relations.”
“I’d say that’s accurate,” Asano told them.
“What we’re talking about,” Darius said, “Is inviting Darth Vader into Cloud City and hoping he doesn’t change the deal on us.”
Michael turned to look at him.
“Really, Darius?”
“Oh, because your farming metaphors were such classic diplomatic language.”
Asano chuckled, drawing their attention.
“Whoever picked you two did their research,” he said. “They clearly understood that I would respond better to you than someone more caught up in formality.”
The pair looked at each other. They had wondered between themselves why they had been chosen.
“The United States wasn’t tempted to use this chance to get me out of the way?” Asano asked them.
“Mr Asano,” Michael said. “The United States, like every nation, is not without flaws. Our power and prominence mean that those flaws can, from time to time, create outsized problems. I think, perhaps, you can sympathise with this.”
“I can,” Jason acknowledged.
“For all our issues, our nation’s flaws does not include a lack of independent spirit. We didn’t let King George tell us what to do. We didn’t let the Network tell us what to do. If you decide you’re going to come back and start conquering things, we won’t let you tell us what to do. We aren’t going to stand by while people throw open the gate to the wolves, just because they’re afraid one of the sheep is too big.”
“I take it that you have some kind of proposal.”
“A unified front. A show of force that will convince these outsiders to back off. Or to fight them, if they don’t. There are some obstacles to navigate, starting with the Australian government. Our understanding is that you will arrive at the standing stones in South Australia, the ones you built to leave this dimension.”
“That’s right,” Jason said.
“The Australian government is one of the driving forces for this plan to bring in alien assets to combat you. They’re afraid you’re going to come back and take over the whole country, or at least cause problems after their treatment of your family. They are normally very accommodating to US operations, but they do not want us involved in this. But this deal with the outsiders is an extreme secret. Only a handful of representatives in each participating group are even aware of it. The Australians can’t just come out and say they don’t want their allies on site because they’ve organised a secret alien ambush. Lacking knowledge of that, their own diplomats will push to include us.”
“What about other groups? Who will be against you in this, and how far are they willing to take their opposition? Will they fight you? And me?”
“We don’t know how far they would go. Military conflict between nations on Australian soil is something we hope everyone will want to avoid. Our best assessment is that they won’t take the side of the outsiders if it comes to violence. They’ll stand by and see what happens, but there is always the chance for things to go wrong. It wouldn’t be the first war started by the bad decision of an idiot. As for who will be on the other side, Australia, China, Indonesia and the United Kingdom are the key players.”
“Russia and most of Africa are Cabal territory,” Boris said. “We won’t intercede. Much of Asia is torn between the old Network factions and the Cabal, so they’re up in the air.”
“These conflicts go all the way back to the Makassar disaster,” Michael said. “Indonesia is especially fractured, with whole regions warring for independence. Asia as a whole has no unity in their magic factions, with Cabal and Network groups still vying for control.”
“My guess would be no involvement from Asia at large, except Indonesia,” Boris said. “Your clan made some discreet but not-unnoticed interventions, supplying essences and training to independence groups there. The Indonesian government hates your guts.”
“The rest of Asia are unlikely to intervene, though,” Darius said.
“Agreed,” Boris said with a nod. “Europe, meaning the vampires, is an open question. The other groups won’t want to side with them, but they may come out anyway. The vampires are terrified of you after the way you reclaimed your clan territories. They could be a wild card.”
“That leaves the Network factions,” Darius said. “Our Network in the USA is now reconciled with the government, so they’re on your side. China will be against you. Same for the… what are they calling themselves now? The True Network?”
“They just rebranded again,” Michael said. “They’re back to just being ‘the Network.’ For what? The fourth time?”
Boris groaned.
“Anyway,” he said, “they hate you. Basically, everyone in the Network who had a problem with you from your last trip to Earth is in that group. The GDC will be on our side in this. Which will probably mean staying out of it, but not actively helping.”
Jason expression remained blank as they went over the various factions and how they would react to his return and potential interception by cosmic forces.
“I need to think, and consult my people. Thank you, gentlemen, for coming all this way. And for showing trust enough to place yourselves within one of my seats of power.”
Taking the clear dismissal, Michael and Darius said their goodbyes and collected their guards on the way to the elevator.
***
Jason and Boris watched the elevator descend from their booth, taking away the Americans.
“Well,” Jason said. “This complicates things.”
“It does.”
“We need to talk, Boris.”
“We do.”
“Do you know how much communication these people are having with the Jakaar pirates?”
Boris turned his head to give Jason a flat look.
“Jason, what did you do?”
Comments
BJ
The people of earth should be happy it's jason and not me. I would show up take my family and let the whole world know that the planet will die and that I could save you but the powers that be just want to stay in power. So good luck with that I will not be back.
ItWasIDIO!!
WTF!! We ahead the curve baby!!!
