Chapter 653: “-SKELETONS, A WHOLE BUNCH OF ‘EM.”

Matching proof to a hypothesis wasn't always the best start, for tis the latter must follow the former. No ground to base the formulated thoughts, only one path of visible solution presented itself; personal intervention. He would have acted alone, and emphasis on the would have, instead, the information relayed to Kul and Asmodeus. 

From the day to day of Igna making music, chastising Thena's attempts at art, and constant evaluation of the town's status, the scenery swapped for two characters of great strength. 

Wings flapped, the wind blows harshly, and the ground approaches fast. Over in the distance, mud-shape giants wake from liquid form, hallow holes in place of eyes and mouth, the hands lazily attempted to swat the flying miscreants. 

"Keep him steady," voiced Draconis, "-Beelzebub's monsters are strong."

"Harder than you think," returned Saniata, "-jump off and break the beast already." Vast empty fields of sand, the remainder of Dorchester. "-what a pain," he scowled and leaped. Looking up at the duo, a neatly sized fiery arrow broke through the beast to which the mud solidified and crumbled. *Crash,* dust, and dirt faded behind.

"Good job," said Lilith in the company of the shy Beelzebub.

"Come on little bro," sighed Draconis, "-you could have made the monsters a bit stronger."

"Enough you two," hailed Intherna towards the right on a little hill. Prior images of a hardened battle crumbled, reality settled into a parasol and beach chairs. Sun, sand, and sea sparkled beyond the mount; the four generals came to the sea for training. Increasing habitants made the realm closer to reality, the female residents were few but greaten gradually. Many fell in love, got married, who knew what heir a resident of the realm would make. A question the freely dressed Miira wondered through her sunglasses, the warmness of the sun sufficed for a nice tan, '-throughout the other dimension, Igna's is the strongest, closer to creation and abundance of mana, the residents are potential vessels for elements, tis a thing of wonder. Strap four high-tier beings in an expanding world, the density of mana is heavier than before, the monsters and natural enemies far exceed commonness. Tis free to say, the children will be monsters of their own.' 

Tiny feet scattered into the sand, "-can't catch me!" mocked Draconis. 

"Don't worry," smirked Saniata, "-I don't need to," an upward stroke conjured a water-snake from the crystal lagoon, the smug Draconis didn't pay heed, and so, near the edge of the water, the snake pounced. 

"Cold," he paused, '-and sticky.'

"Too bad," shrugged Intherna, "-she wins." 

"Where's Gophy?" 

"No idea," replied Miira lowering her glasses, "-shouldn't you be with her?"

"Nah," shrugged Lilith, "-she said don't worry."

"What she working on anyway?"

"I heard," returned Intherna, "-Igna asked her to ready the land of Totrya for some invasion, I don't fully get it."

"Seriously…" the lashes shut, "-Intherna, Lilith, Igna's planning on merging the realm of Monsters into the shadow realm."

"I get why he would," said Lilith, "-if combined, the potential of this place would be unreachable. Gods, demons, none could dare harm us then."

"If Scifer had been closer to completing the domain, he'd still be alive. Instead, he chose to die and safeguard the monster realm." Gem-like strutters of waves against the shore gave a general idea of the following week. A resort at about a 5-minute walk was 'training' ground.

Pull from the ever-giving sun, sand, and sea, Kul and Asmodeus were on their way back. Tale proved to be a waste of time. A few days later on the 11th, the atmosphere didn't spark confidence. Asmodeus and Kul waited before a council of strongly armed men. At the head, the general of Yonak's boss, the same man they sold narcotics to. "It was them," said Esvalo, "-my men said they stole the prior shipment and resold it to the Saku's. You know damn well the market for drugs is limited, the shipments are slow, and minimum, handmade stuff is cheap and ineffective…"

"Shut up," fired the boss, "-Asmo, tell me, is this true?" Arrogant smoke from incense sticks diffused outward of a deity's statue, the crowd felt bigger, or so was the illusion fabricated by cascading ambers."

"What's more valuable to you, the word of a two-faced opportunist or a newly formed gang. Come on," he menacingly glared, "-the man said it himself, the shipment was cheap and ineffective. What about our products, they're exquisite and very sought after. Personally, Saku, Yonak, Leon, and even the Vermillion, whoever comes with a better price, we'll sell too. I ought to say, shame on your family; we're allies in name only, not on the street. That fat-fuck attacked our manor, I made it clear, any infringement onto Raven's members or property will be met in full," a sidestep allowed a clearer view onto a murderous psycho. Faint white lines formed on her back palm, the eyelashes bleached to a pure white as for the eyes of which made into pure golden menace, "-tis as was said," she hovered, "-our property was damaged," five ominously small orbs appeared atop her long fingers, "-enjoy the pain," three faded through the wall and,*BANG,* three immediate explosions followed, the remainder two dispersed into the building, no explosion, her hovering hair swayed and returned to normal.

"Next time," two large steps had him gawking the general, "-consult the lackeys before subjecting us to this useless drama. Transfer the one million, it should be enough to cover the sustained damages." 

"Are you insane?" rebutted Grie(name of the general) "-one million for what, shit information?"

"No, one million for your safety," no movements, not even a faint, what was seen, a blink and four guards instantly fell. Fear and the threat of death was one he'd been used to. This time, what loomed within wasn't fear, but terror, '-who is this guy,' he gulped. Men who gave all for the family were killed easily, "-I'll transfer the cash." A notification displayed the transfer. "Pleasure doing business." Once they left, horrified guests ran to the meeting room, "-BOSS, OUR MEN WERE KILLED."

"What do you mean?" the perplexed emotion-fueled to disheartened fear, "-don't tell me…" they pelted to an exclusive lounge where the remains of two relatively unknown starlets and the son of Luon's godfather slept in his own blood. A mangled mess, the inner organs blathered out the mouth. 

'The heir is dead…' panted Esvalo, '-this can't be happening, a death leaves the heritage up for debate. I never planned for this eventuality; how badly are the families going to take this?'

Outside, a very lavish car drove past the fiery mess of exploded vehicles, "-how was it?" inquired Éclair.

"Pretty good," he said.

"Then we're on for the next part of the plan," smirked Éclair, "-take us to Stanley's homage, we ought to pay the family a visit."

"Can't they just phone ahead?" voiced Kul.

"No, I've shut their communication. Esvalo wishes to war, we'll give him one." Moreover, the reason wasn't as simple as starting a war, no, instead, the current quest was to infiltrate and claim one of the four families. 

Thus, the booming center of town approached. No time was wasted, the location of their hideout, a penthouse at a five-star hotel, took much negotiating for an audience. In the end, the mention of the heir solicited a violent response. The hotel staff, visibly allied to the family, took to escort the three smartly dressed figures to a representative. After the lobby, a worker's only area sprawled in view. The corridors led to a bemusing tiny compartment of which gave outside. 

"Are you the Raven's?"

"And who are you?" 

"A lawyer," replied one, "-I need to confirm a few things, mind answering my questions?" 

"Sure," the gloomy weather set the scene.

To the station, the rise in popularity from Kinless and Aceline was strong a week into the events. For the first time, an invitation to a talk show promoted and showcased their popularity. "-Are you excited for this?" 

"Not much." The Paker's show, a local comical relief with a mild following, had few popular snippets on the Arcanum. In no way was the show popular, the viewership peaked at five thousand. 

"Talk shows are hypocritical," her face didn't inspire confidence. Once at the set, the staff watched in awe, '-the production is very nice…' Live-audience soon filled the seats. Aceline didn't show much interest, "-hey there," said a handsomely dressed man, "-you must be Kinless and Aceline?" 

"Yes, and you are?"

"Parker," said he in a very smug manner, "-the staff will take care of the makeup. We're going live in thirty minutes, tis the reboot of our show, try and relax." A bitter taste forced a pout from Aceline. Cameras and nice lighting faded to a bright room of mirrors and makeup.

"I told you," said Aceline, "-this place is a shit show. They want us to boost their popularity."

"Don't worry about it," said Igna, "-we're using them as well." The arrangement was to promote the new single, 'Ghoul's Pain.' 

Producers were adamant to the point of annoyance. Pressure stacked until the start, the show went live, the host began by casually addressing the crowd and making small talk. The humor and jokes were nicely written. 

"You ought to sing," he demanded, "-I don't care, this is our reboot, we need viewers."

"Hey, hey," interjected Igna, "-what's your problem?" hailed he. "-I went to the toilet and this is how you treat my bandmate?" 

"Listen," glared the producer, "-do as we say…"

"You listen to me," fired Igna, "-I don't care about this show. We came here to promote our song. Aceline's sick from overworking."

"What's the deal here?" approached security, "-producer, something the matter?"

"Yes," he slipped in behind a taller man, "-they're refusing to cooperate."

"Don't worry," said Aceline, "-I'll perform if I have to." A brief introduction followed behind, "-let's welcome our guests, Kinless and Aceline!" 

"Watch me," said Igna, "-Aceline, don't worry about singing." 

*Applause,* "-welcome to Parker's show," said the host.

"Good to be here," said Igna, "-I have to say, courtesy is a word not many people know around these parts." The backdrop of the landscape view of a bridge gave a sense of relief. 

"Why do you say that?" inquired the host, the crowd chuckled.

"Well, I'll leave it to the people's imagination."

"Alright," he quickly moved on, "-about the displayed heroism, how did it feel?"

"Bad, pretty bad," retorted Igna, "-I won't lie, the publicity is great, I wish the heroes who helped would be given the same treatment."

"What about you, Aceline?"

"I felt like I needed to do something," said she, "-pardon my voice, the constant shouting's pretty rough," she implied an ulterior motive.

"Now excuse you," the crowd laughed.

"What," she paused, "-did I say it was because of you?" she snickered, the audience loved it. In minutes, Parker's show became Igna and Aceline's. Producers hailed in the background, naught could be done. Jokes after jokes, the conversation altered as Parker interjected, they made fun of his face, outfit, and mannerism. 

An earthquake rocked the town. A group of armed men lingered out of Fuda Mountain. "-here we are," said they, "-the gate opened to the city." Dragons flew and roared. "-Come undead army, arise from thy eternal slumber!" skeletons descended. 

"We're going to capture a great view," said a jovial photographer.

"An earthquake," said the assistant, "-watch out for rock-slides."

"It's safe," he proclaimed, "-look at the view," they face the sea of buildings, "-imagine, tis but a mere little town for showmanship. Alphia has more jaw-dropping sights in weight, I'm glad we saved for the vacation." 

"Yeah sure, a vacation at a cheap motel. I haven't slept a bit since." 

*Click,* "-hey, isn't that bird strange?" the silhouette of a reptile flapped in the distance.

"WAIT, LOOK AT THE DUST!" cried the assistant, "-SKELETONS, A WHOLE BUNCH OF 'EM."

"Productions for certain movies are top-tier."

"I don't think…" rotten breath landed with a roar,"-RUN!"