THE VROL TRILOGY (58 page)

Quite satisfied that he had made a sufficient
string of insults, the lycan male grunted and slammed his open palm
down on the bar top. Not paying attention to anyone behind him, he
didn't notice that Dons was watching with great interest hoping for
a fight so he could see what Max was capable of.

"Look, I don't want any trouble, pal. Like I
said, I'm just passing through."

The lycan again slammed his open palm on the
bar top and demanded an answer from Max.

"Are you a butt-boy for the humans? Tell
me!"

Max was off his stool in a blur and had taken
the lycan male out through the front doors so quickly that no one
really even saw it happen. They were there one second, and gone the
next. Dons, Jessica and Cassandra ran outside to see Max holding
the man up in the air by his jacket collar, looking at him with a
really pissed-off expression.

"Look, bud. I gave you an
out,
and you could have shut your
damned mouth but you didn't. I don't know about these parts, but
where I come from we lycans treat each other, and even other
species, with respect. Well, except for a really smelly group, but
that's a totally different deal. I'm going to give you the chance
to walk away and leave me alone. Take it - I'm not
asking
either."

Max set the man down, and not in a delicate
fashion. The lycan scrambled up from the ground and backed away, an
insidious grin on his face.

"You think you can push me around, punk? Do
you know who I am?"

"Oh my goodness… does anyone know who this
nice young man is? He seems to have lost his memory and can't
remember his name," Max called out in a sarcastically feminine
voice, figuring he might as well goad the man on - he wasn't going
to leave anytime soon.

That was all it took to set the lycan
off. He growled and prepared to charge Max in front of a growing
crowd encircling them, which was starting to chant,
"
fight fight fight
." Max
looked around and saw that the only way to get out of his current
situation was to take the man out, so he opted to do so in a very
quick, clean manner.

The lycan male threw his arms into the air,
prompting the crowd to cheer for him. Yelling and growling he
pumped his fists and tried to work the crowd up into a frenzy. Max
started to sidestep around the perimeter, inside the growing throng
of people itching to see a fight, when he came up to Dons' position
in the crowd.

"Hey mate, be careful with this one. His
name's Marko, and he's a real badass. I won't even fight him
without my girls around."

Max gave Dons a quizzical look, and wondered
why he would only fight with his girls around - whatever that
meant. So he continued to sidestep around, staying completely
opposite of the Marko fellow, and intended on ending any future
chances of a challenge from anyone.

"Hey, your name is Marko, right? I heard
about you. Yeah, you like to wear lipstick and put on neko panties
- dirty neko panties, after you've sniffed them, right?"

Max's attempt at insulting the lycan
worked perfectly. The man charged straight at him with a look of
mindless rage.
A
s soon as Marko was
within arm's reach, Max executed a perfectly timed punch into the
man's in the chest while simultaneously executing a gravicantus
that enhanced the hit tenfold. Marko was immediately push/punched
into the air and flew back a distance of 100 meters, only to land
in a crumpled heap, having suffered a punctured lung and a broken
sternum and ribs. It would be a long time before he could breathe
without pain. Seeing the dust cloud that was created as the result
of Marko's hard landing, a small group of four lycans immediately
ran over to the fallen man's location, not wanting to be the next
ones on the newcomer's agenda.

The crowd had fallen to a dead silence, and
Max turned around to see Dons staring with his one eye, mouth
slightly agape. Looking at his levels, Max saw that they were all
topped off, as he only used a simple gravicantus and performed one
feat of strength. He did punch Marko with all of his strength, and
thinking about it he felt like a bit of a cheat, but needed to shut
everyone up so he could go about his business.

Max looked at the door to the bar and walked
towards it, the crowd quickly opening a pathway for him. Without
looking back, he entered the club and headed for the kitchen, where
he felt his food was probably ready. But upon entering into the
small room, which had the delicious scent of a typical stew, he saw
a normal-sized man stirring the pot and looking down into it with a
smile on his face.

"Hello - smells good, doesn't it?" asked Max,
only to be ignored by the man stirring the pot, which Max found
extremely rude and annoying. "Hey - are you accustomed to going
into a kitchen and messing with someone's food?" he added.

The man looked up - he was about Max's age,
had brown hair and a medium build. He looked fairly well fed, and
most certainly not a warrior type.

"Oh, hello. You must be Max. Jessica told me
about you. She said you are looking for the magic man."

"Yeah, that's right. And who would you be?"
asked Max, hoping that the man in front of him was not the
so-called magic man, but suspecting otherwise.

"Well then, that would be me. I'm Adam,
resident mage extraordinaire at your service."

Chapter
5 - Luigi meets Krynos

Draagh, Jennie, Liliana and their new travel
companion, former Rear Admiral Luigi Bagatelle, found themselves in
the meadow out front of Krynos' massive castle. Bagatelle looked
around, admiring the ancient stone construction, obviously rendered
by hand. He had brought along everything he could - some clothes,
his personal console and stinger - even though the latter two would
be useless where they were - and some pens and paper, which were
considered archaic, but would be the only way he could take notes
on his experiences.

Liliana took her uncle's hand and squealed in
delight.

"Tio! Welcome home! This is where we live,
and it is really very cool!"

Bagatelle had already grown fond of the
little girl - she had pure honesty about her, even though she also
maintained a vicious streak that was apparent when she got excited
about Jennie's mangling of Lt. Johnson's skull.

"Yes Liliana - this is quite impressive. Are
you going to give me a tour?" he asked, fully expecting the answer
to be a resounding yes. But before she could answer, Draagh
announced the arrival of King Krynos.

"Ahh, Krynos my brother - we bring good
tidings, and another of your brethren."

"Draagh! Jennie! Little Miss Gunnarsson! I am
pleased you returned safely."

Bagatelle watched as a very large and
imposing bearded man approached, but wore a giant smile that
betrayed his intimidating appearance. Krynos, on the other hand,
eyed the new arrival with modest approval as he approached
Bagatelle and extended his hand.

"I am Krynos, king of these lands. You must
be the Bagaduchi, yes?"

"Erm, Bagatelle, your honor. Luigi Bagatelle,
and the pleasure is mine."

Jennie nearly had to cover her mouth and nose
to hide her snickering when she heard Krynos mangle her brother's
surname.

"My friends," exclaimed the king, "I believe
we should repair to the main hall for dinner. I am famished, as I
assume you all are."

Krynos received nods all around, and thus he
led them into the courtyard and on into the main hall where food
was waiting for them. Bagatelle stayed with the group as he scanned
the area, noticing that nearly everyone in the courtyard was
staring at him. He also noticed that he could smell each individual
person.

The group of five sat at a large table to
eat. It was unusual that Krynos sat at a table on the main floor,
but he was especially glad that his friends had returned. Bagatelle
simply looked around with curious amusement. Everything he had been
told was real, down to the last detail. He would have never
imagined that it would be like this, and wished that he had been
able to accompany Jennie when she first left Old-Earth for this
world. But he did need to safely return the Revolution to Azul,
which unfortunately resulted in Councilman Johnson framing him. In
any case, he knew that the Revolution and his crew were fine.

Krynos looked across the table at Bagatelle,
and wearing a giant smile addressed him in a most respective manner
- despite flubbing the man's last name.

"So, my friend Baganello - I have been told
that you are a military leader of the highest order where you come
from."

Bagatelle merely nodded, realizing that
Krynos wasn't going to get his name right for a while, and in an
amazing display of modesty said, "That was there, King Krynos. Here
I am just a novice, ready and willing to learn."

The latter part of his statement was probably
the most difficult sentence he had ever spoken in his entire life,
but he knew that if he were to master his so-called lycan skills he
would have to keep an open mind and work hard. However, the display
of modesty did not go unnoticed, as Krynos responded to the former
admiral's answer.

"My dear sir - the best, the most wise and
powerful of lycan leaders always start with a humbleness such as
you display. Please, it is time to eat."

Plates were set down in front of each of them
and Bagatelle started taking note of his senses - he could smell
things he had never been able to in the past. His nose detected the
individual peppercorns in his plate, and even told him how many
servants were behind a wall. He remained quiet while Draagh and
Jennie recounted their tale of going to Azul and showing Liliana
the new world.

"Ah yes, I would like to see another world
one day soon. My brother, do you think you could take me on one of
your quests?"

Draagh smiled and nodded his head.

"But of course, Lord Krynos. It would be a
pleasure to have you along. Of course I would have to first ensure
that you retain your skills, as there are a few worlds where they
simply disappear for the duration of your time there."

"It is true, my king," exclaimed
Liliana. "We went to my mother's home and we pretended to be
normals. I could not even smell the pathways where the sewage runs!
It was so plain, but quite
cool
."

Jennie put her hand on Liliana's shoulder,
prompting her to start eating her dinner, but was unaware that the
little girl had her wand in her lap underneath the table. She
smiled innocently at her mother, and then started to eat while
watching her uncle out of the corner of her eye.

Krynos also dug into his food, along with
everyone else. Bagatelle went to put a fork in some of the steaming
venison, but as he did his plate moved a few centimeters away from
him. He quickly looked at everyone at the table, but they all
seemed busy eating from their own plates. So he went to spear
another chunk of meat and this time was successful. As he chewed on
the delicious cut he noticed that his plate was slowly creeping
back towards him, and he figured out what was happening. Acting as
if he had not seen his plate moving he made an over-exaggerated
attempt to get more meat with his fork. His plate suddenly went
flying across the room in a flash, as everyone turned to look at
the little girl who was brandishing a blushing face.

Dead silence hung in the air as everyone
glared at Liliana - until Bagatelle started laughing out loud. It
was a boisterous laugh, full of joy and happiness as he slid over
next to his newfound niece and tussled her hair, causing her to
grow an awkward grin. Of course everyone else followed in the
laughter while Jennie put her hand out expectedly. Liliana placed
her wand in her mother's hand and went back to eating while
snickering. The funniest thing about it all was that the little
girl didn't even need a wand - she just liked having a physical
object to use.

Bagatelle was provided with a fresh plate of
meat and purple potatoes and dug in with gusto, listening to the
sounds around him - birds chirping, plates clanging - even chains
being dragged many floors below in the dungeon. Everything was
fascinating to him, and he knew that he had much to learn.

"So G, how do you like the food here? Not
bad, eh?"

Jennie was eating with modest table manners,
but Bagatelle knew that she simply viewed chow as an inconvenience,
and that her time could be better spent elsewhere.

"Hey, I really like it a lot, Jennie. It's
very tasty - better than jraxon and fritas for sure."

Krynos broke into the conversation, as he had
never had the chance to interview a man who commanded an entire
space fleet before.

"So, my new friend Bagatellos - please do
tell me a bit about your great ship that flies amongst the
stars."

Bagatelle felt somewhat honored that a
king in the future would want to know about his ship, so he gave a
basic description of the ship and what its purpose was. Krynos was
familiar with concepts such as the vacuum in space and the planet
being a globe, so Bagatelle was able to describe what had happened
to the ship when Lt. Johnson sabotaged the protective field in the
flight deck. That prompted Krynos to excitedly recount the tale of
Jennie's defeat of Ryder Johnson -
the
vampire who courted death
(Krynos always liked to put a dramatic spin on his stories).
Of course, Jennie's destruction of Johnson's skull turned into
Johnson's entire body being liquefied and absorbed into the stones
of the mezzanine floor, but they all let Krynos ramble on.
Bagatelle looked around and felt really, really good. He had never
been so comfortable in an unfamiliar place before.