3rd Interlude Entry

Percy finally can join in the battle now that Kenny has embraced his power.

3^rd Interlude Entry

      A couple of hours before the attack on San Francisco, there was a festive mood in the parlour of Percy’s enormous mansion. This carpeted room sat overlooking the ocean and was a two story hanging room off the side of the cliff with a tear drop shaped chandelier in the middle of it. Burgundy drapes and gold trimming gave the room a Chateau d’Amboise feel to it. The chandelier hung over top an emerald poker table with Percy, Kayla and Pierson the butler. They were sipping on their own chosen drink; Kayla had on a white wrap dress and a vodka martini with orange food coloring in her hand, Percy word a tan three piece suit with a scotch on the rocks and Pierson sipped on a glass of Merlot in a white collared shirt and slacks. They sat playing poker as the white marble fireplace burned softly.

      Small carved pumpkins sat on the mantel with black long candles burning beside orange short ones. A portrait of a castle in England hung in a vintage gold frame over the fireplace with walls like velvet surrounding them ending with a thick white oak door and a brown grandfather clock. Percy and Kayla were laughing at a joke Pierson remembered from his childhood days when the door opened and Christian walked in brushing lent of his skin tight Superman costume to which Kayla made a foxy cat call.

      “I should’ve never let you talk me into wearing this, Percy.”

      “Don’t blame him,” Kayla confessed, “I gave him the idea. I mean, can you blame me?” She made a motion to squeeze Christian’s chest but he gently slapped her hand away.

      “I hate showing off my body like this.”

      “Excuse me?” Percy interjected, “This from someone who can’t stop working out in the gym downstairs.”

      “Or training combat with me.” Kayla added. Pierson had glanced over his spectacles as he collected the cards to shuffle.

      “You could use a little more training.” He smirked but Christian groaned.

      “See? Already people think I’m fat!”

      Kayla couldn’t stop herself from laughing till her side hurt.

      “You sound like such a woman.” She snickered to which Percy nodded, picking up his cards the butler dealt.

      “Sorry, mate, but you do.”

      “F**k all of you.” Christian fell into his chair, “I’m going to meet Kenny and his friend’s in the City.”

      Kayla tapped his shoulder and did another cat call.

      “Is someone falling in love?”

      “No, crazy lady, stop drinking.” Christian rolled his eyes, “He is my Custody, remember?”

      “If you say so,” she gulped the rest of her drink and placed it on the coaster with two buttons, a red and green one, above her stack of cards. Once she tapped the green button twice, there was a small chime and her glass refilled to the brim. Christian had pressed the red one and a Ireland crafted beer rose from his coaster.

      “I certainly hope you aren’t catching any type of emotions, my friend.” Percy had lit a small cigar and took a few puffs.

      “Oh, come off it,” Christian rebutted after a few gulps, “Don’t start that again.”

      “Master Beal is correct, Christian…”

      “Not you too? What is this gang up on the tall guy day?”

      “Actually, I don’t think any of this has to do with your Custody,” Kayla had glanced around the room as the men were talking before interrupting, “It doesn’t matter where you are, he will find you, remember?”

      Christian rubbed his face in frustration and glared at everyone.

      “I didn’t forget about him or what he did to me.”

      Percy sighed as they began playing poker around the table for an hour and a half in light conversation. Red chips thrown amongst blue and white ones as the game progressed and Kayla told Pierson to repeat his joke again, making Christian laugh into his cards:

      “A knight came before his queen in questioning his paternity of two children;

      Queen: Sir, have you fathered any children?

      Knight: No my lady, I have not.

      Queen: Indeed, you do not have the look of a man who could please his mistress when he held her in his arms, for your beard is little more than the kind of fuzz that ladies have in certain places. I do not doubt your word, for it is easy to judge from the state of the hay whether the pitchfork is any good.

      Knight: Lady, answer me without deceit, is there any hair between your legs?

      Queen: None at all.

      Knight: Indeed I do believe you, for grass does not grow on a well-beaten path.”

      The room erupted in laughter with him as Pierson chuckled as well when the grandfather clock struck seven thirty with chimes and Christian stood up.

      “I have to go meet my other group of friends outside of you people.” He winked at Kayla as he turned to leave.

      “Chris, don’t forget we are helping out at the food bank tomorrow to get them started on the holidays.”

      “Ah, thanks. I totally forgot.”

      “Of course and oh, the throwing star!”

      “That I never forget.”

      And Christian said his good nights and exited.

 

      Once the game ended another hour from the time he left, Percy took a stroll in the soft night’s breeze with a match bowler hat, gazing with a sparkle of love in his eyes at the moon, while Pierson followed behind with a small knapsack and a brass framed monocle, taking time to smell the air. The cliffs beside hide the shoreline from their view but they heard the crash, saw the open ocean on the dark horizon and could feel the sea breeze. The butler’s monocle rested in his right eye and reflected a sharp light abruptly.

      “Master Beal…”

      Percy had stopped walking and was eyeing the clear starry skies.

      “I feel it too, Pierson, the winds have shifted. Something’s not right.”

      They both advanced their speed up the nearest hill and crossed over a rickety footbridge with iron ropes. Percy took out his pocket watch and checked the time when they exited an invisible rippling force, it was thirty minutes after eight and just as they curved around to face the San Francisco Bay Area and the city’s skyline, large explosions were seen steaming from the east to the west. They made out another fireball explosion toward Twin Peaks and dark figures swarming like a vultures around the area.

      “Percival, should we intervene?”

      “Not yet.”

      And suddenly there was a small twinkle followed by a burst of white light from the same area, holding the fire at bay and Percy proudly smiled.

      “Now we intervene,” Percy never broke his attention from the white twinkle that was dying out, “Quickly, I need Jack’s Erebus Rod and the Diamond Sphere- Oh, thank you.”

      Pierson had already magically pulled the items out of the small knapsack and was handing placing them in Percy’s hands. There was a long midnight blue crystallized staff, with a very narrow black blade at the top but separated from the staff by an eight pointed pinwheel star made of red jasper and enameled gold, and a large sphere made with zinc and diamond with a silver spider cap.

      He immediately spun the sphere in the air, the cap illuminated as the sphere split into five more exact copies and they all disappeared with haste. Not a moment after the spheres vanished, six body sized diamond encrusted pods appeared behind the two with immobilized loved ones of Kenny. As he took off his hat and handed it back to his butler, Percy began speaking,

      “Pierson, accompany our dear guests back to the Estate and watch over them till my return. Make sure they get anything they need and are at the upmost comfort level.”

      “Right away.” And Pierson snapped his fingers and he and the pods blinked away.

 

      Valencia was approaching an unconscious Christian with murder in her eyes and fire webbing through her fingers, in the destroyed stone building with shards of glass and metal spewed over the littered floor of clothes and debris, when a powerful blue pixelated force propelled her into the adjacent liquor store, making an indent in the wall with her body. Percy stood with the Erebus Rod by his side and was walking out of the ruined building toward his opponent. But she had already appeared back on her feet, laughing vindictively.

      “I was wondering when you would show up, Percy. We all know you can’t help but put your nose in other people’s business. It’s a shame that my servant will kill your protégé before his Protector can show up to save him.”

      “You should’ve stayed deceased after your betrayal, Valencia. Now, Kiete!”

      The rod vibrated profusely and as Percy twirled it over his head with enormous speed, the blade forcefully ejected a deep tsunami of blue hallucinogenic energy that rippled over the entire city, covering it like a wavy blanket and obliterating every demonic creature. Valencia was struggling to keep her black splintered shield from deteriorating under the blue pressure until she forfeited and retreated in a shattered black flicker back to the north in a trail of shards.

      Percy turned back and walked toward his friend, noticing the blue energy dissipating, the crater returning to its normal state and the fire doused out in every corner. He knelt by his side, pulled out a vile full of pink liquid and a translucent stopper. With three drops on Christian’s bloody chest, he instantly sat up, gulping and coughing for air.

      “She’s…back…Kenny….where….is he?” Christian had his left hand feeling for his glasses and his other clutched on Percy’s shoulder, who met him with a warm smile pulling out a new pair of spectacles from his inside coat pocket.

      “Go to him, he needs you now at the Oakland City Hall building. I need to return to his friends at the Estate.”

      And without hesitation as he placed on his glasses, Christian angrily vanished in a fiery ball of static, leaving his Superman costume in his stead. Percy stood up and grimly looked around the ruined area, blood splattered on every surface, car alarms going off throughout the city and cries for help in the air. But when he saw the flock of doves approaching from the south, he smiled and returned inside his library with a pixelated flash of blue light.

      He laid the rod down on his desk, removed his jacket to place it on the coat hanger, straightened his cuffs and proceeded to the door, crossing over a painting of a tall blue eyed, short haired blonde man, in British Royal attire. Percy had one of himself in the same attire done and placed next to it, both paintings were curtained with thick burgundy laced drapes. When he approached the door to open it, Pierson entered from the other side.

      “I’m sorry,” both of them said together, startled yet relieved.

      “Where are the guests?” Percy asked, opening the door wider.

      “In the dining room with a six course meal prepared and served, dessert on its way and they requested a television to watch the news.” Pierson made a face at the last part of his sentence, as Percy thanked him and made his way down two flights of marble steps and across the crystal foyer that opened up to the East Bay hills, with clicks of his metal heels. There was loud talking coming from the dining room closed off by thick red sliding doors.

      As he entered the room cautiously, the commotion ceased and everybody stared with fear at him, still in their respected Halloween costume. Percy noticed no one had eaten or touched any of the food that was holstered above the middle of the table; there was a freshly made turkey with gravy, corn bread, cabbage, enchiladas, fried plantains, goat curry and lemonade or iced tea. They all were huddled in a corner, away from the long dining table that sat underneath the sparkling moonlight made by a computerized program to always show a clear moonlit night or a bright sunny morning in the ceiling. There was an eighty inch flat screen television that was showing an aerial view of a devastated San Francisco that was seeing a rapid clean up that no one knew how it was happening. One report showed birds flapping away debris and doves were reuniting loved ones. But no one noticed it, as Percy crossed the room with that same warm smile.

      “You all are safe now and no harm will come to you here. Everything that has happened is over for you six so there is no more need to worry.”

      “Who are you, what the hell just happened and where the f**k is Kenny?!” Tonya barked, to which everyone gave a collective ‘yeah’ toward him. Percy stopped walking and extended his arms out.

      “Please, sit and let me introduce myself as Percival Beal, the master of this Estate. I, too, am like your dear friend, Kenneth-”

      “Only I call him Kenneth!” Malcolm yelled crossly.

      “My apologies, please, let me rephrase,” Percy gently said, “Your dear friend, Kenny, should be arriving any moment with the man whom I’m sure you all have met by now.”

      “Christian? The neighbor?” Junior questioned and Percy nodded. He kindly bid them all to sit again, and slowly but surely, one by one, they did. Smelling the food made the stomachs growl but there was still hesitation in the air. Percy began to explain Kenny’s mission and the foretelling of his power and what is supposed to happen. Tonya’s eyes widen at the mention of a supernatural war that would either end life or save it, and with Kenny there was a great chance life would be saved. As long as he stayed on a positive path, surrounded by love and support, then the darkness that was approaching would be foiled and fooled. For the purity of Kenny’s power was fueled by his love for everyone at the table and that love shielded him from direct contact with evil forces. Which is what, he explained, was what attacked San Francisco tonight.

      “So this wasn’t a joke or a dream?” Malcolm questioned to himself.

      “I am afraid not,” Percy paced around the table, “Please, now I am sure you all are hungry and assure you that I am no enemy of yours. But the exact opposite.”

      “We don’t know you well enough to be a friend.” Teddy rebutted, putting globs of gravy on his turkey slices. Percy chuckled as the room was full of bustle from passing food around.

      “I understand that sentiment but I meant that I am the one who will protect you guys from the enemies of your friend.”

      “This stuff is all real?” Malcolm asked again.

      “Unfortunately, it is all real, Master Whitley.”

      Everyone was taken aback by the name Malcolm was called, including Malcolm himself.

      “You hear that, I am Master Whitley. F**k yeah.”

      The door to the dining room sprung open suddenly and to everyone’s surprise Christian limped in alone, cussing and staggering into the nearest chair. Tonya had gasped and sprang up to tend to his bloody wounds, Shawn, Junior and Jerry ran over to remove his shirt and hold him down as Percy inspected the sizzling bullet holes that was eating Christian’s flesh. Teddy just bounced around crying and panicking. The Protector screamed in pain suddenly as he was held down, Tonya dabbed it with alcohol that she had in her purse and Percy rushed over to the cabinet under the television stand and yanked out a vile with indigo liquid and another with brown.

      Christian screamed again as the holes were eating his skin, making the wounds larger.

      “What’s happening to him?” Jerry questioned, frantically trying to hold the Protector down as Percy dabbed the blue liquid on the bullet holes. He quickly handed the objects to Tonya.

      “Please, continue dabbing like this. And it’s a flesh eating wound, Jericho.” He looked at Christian with stern eyes, ignoring Jerry’s baffled reaction to his name, “I don’t care how much you protest, drink this!”

      He jammed the brown vile in his hand but Christian stubbornly dropped it.

      “I’ll recover…”

      Percy seemed ready for the resistance and had yanked out a syringe from his vest pocket, jabbed the needle in the brown liquid and then into Christian’s neck, who gave a muffled groan and winced. As he pushed down on the syringe, the holes stopped sizzling and were healing up. Christian glared at Percy as he rubbed the area the needle was in.

      “Teddy, SHUT UP!” Shawn screamed, releasing his hold on Christian’s leg.

      “There are some bandages in the top drawer behind you.” Percy said to Teddy, who was now freaking out even more at the sight of blood. But Christian had already sprung up, knocking over Shawn, retrieved the bandages himself and bolted out the door. There was a dead silence in the room as they turned their attention on Percy, who had stood and looked up at his ceiling.

      With a short wave of his finger, the clear moonlit scene vaporized into a forming scene of Kenny being overtaken by the fire, hunched over in fear, and when the Black Hand reached for him another pulled at his shirt and Kenny vanished from the hold of the darkness again. Percy did another wave of his finger and the ceiling returned to the nighttime.

      “Excuse me, dear guests, but I must go retrieve your loved one for you.” He clapped twice and wine was brought into the room by winged coasters, “Enjoy yourselves until we return and I give you my word that every question you have will be answered.”

      But without waiting for a response, Percy tore out the room and pixelated to the opening of the oak trail, summoning a black leather medicine bag to his side with a bright blue flash of energy. And when he rushed over the hill and spotted Christian, he let out a small sigh of relief when he saw Kenny, hanging on to his shoulder crying, and hurried his steps to meet the Host of the Chaos seed.