Psycho Gem

Chapter 19: The Plan

"Lost," Malcolm felt a sense of melancholy as he spoke, feeling his connection with Tracks completely disappear. "I have lost him... I wanted to make him see what I saw but he's been taken from me..."

He held up the final token of Lemore, gazing at its shimmering gold surface, "but at least now I can finally begin to achieve my dream. Perhaps, once it is done, he will understand..."

His followers watched as he reached down his suit and pulled out the necklace with all of the other eleven coins, placing the final one in the empty space between. A wide grin spread across his face. He was free, and it was time to have some fun.

"Is it finally time, my lord?" asked one of the half breeds, "When do we leave?"

Malcolm turned to his disciples, "I will be leaving immediately. You've all played your part, but the first step in this grand endeavour shall be taken by me alone. Prepare the portal."

His disciples began to toil away at a stone wall with a complicated series of pentagrams inscribed on the walls, waiting for the correct blood rituals to open a door to another universe through Hell...

..............................................................................................................................

Tracks sat on the roof of Leo's house, resting his arms on his knees. Gazing at the clouds in the sky, he noticed something moving beside him.

"Are you doing okay, Tracks?" Leo asked as he walked along the roof and sat beside him.

Tracks lowered his head with a sigh.

"I was in agony for a whole day, I was turned into a vampire, I learned I was the son of a killer god, who is also an evil Magus, and I killed people... including my own two parents... what do you think?" he responded, glaring at him.

"Just wanted to be polite," he said. "Wait, an evil Magus? Really?"

Tracks nodded in response.

"Huh, doesn't that technically make Magus your Dad? Geez, this parallel universe craziness always gives me a headache."

There was an uncomfortable minute of silence.

"Why me?" Tracks suddenly spoke.

"Why what?"

"Why do I have to go through this? Why did I have to experience any of this? Is it some kind of cosmic punishment? What did I do wrong? Why do I deserve this?" he stood up, his voice becoming filled with anger the more he spoke, "If Magus never took me out into this hell, I wouldn't have lost them! I never asked for any of this! Why me?!?"

Leo let out a sigh before answering.

"You're right. You don't deserve this. Nobody does, but here you are. Magus and I were friends for a long time. I remember us and our friends would get into all kinds of dangerous missions. For the entire time I knew Magus, he was always the kindest of us. He was a reliable man and a good friend. That all changed when it happened..."

"When what happened?" Tracks asked

"One of our friends, named Veil, got a little too power-hungry and betrayed us. She would've killed us if we hadn't defeated her. Magus was the one who managed to stop her, and when Starlight and I found her afterwards, we saw her dead from a bullet through the head and Magus' gun lying on the ground. I never saw or heard from him for four years... until today."

Tracks stood there in silence...

"There's no getting through life without tragedy, it's just the way it is. Magus dealt with his tragedy by running away from it, and in doing so he lost himself. The big question for you is, how're you gonna deal with yours?"