Miracle

Pt. 35

"You think this is the place?" Max said, his gaze fixed on the towering, blood-red, spiral-shaped building that pierced through the thick, smoky air. They stood across the street, partially obscured by the perpetual gloom, careful not to draw attention.
"Well, she did say we couldn't miss it," Alex replied, his eyes on the two hulking green demons guarding the main doorway, their forms like jagged monoliths against the infernal glow of the distant city.

Max pulled a stick of gum from his front pocket, slowly unwrapping it before popping it into his mouth, chewing loudly. Alex shot him a side-eye, a silent, "Are you serious right now?" look.
Max shrugged, his grin wide. "Don't judge. I'm fucking hungry, dude." He blew a large bubble, letting it pop with a loud snap. "So, what's the plan here, Ken?... 'Cuz it's not like we can just walk in."

Alex fell silent, his brow furrowed. He had to admit, he knew it would be incredibly difficult to get Lily out of here in one piece, but he had no idea how he was even going to get into this building. The problem felt insurmountable.
After a long moment of Alex's silence, Max sighed dramatically. "So, it's up to me to come up with something, I guess." Max ran his fingers through his white hair, his eyes darting around, deep in thought. Alex was magically inert here, so any magical solution would have to rely entirely on Max's spoken-word magic. Alex would probably be furious if he just killed the guards, so that wasn't an option. Then, a mischievous gleam appeared in Max's eyes.

He snapped his fingers together, a faint pop. He had an idea—a way to get them out of the way without resorting to extreme violence.
He took the chewed gum out of his mouth, holding the gooey wad in his palm "Eww, Maximus! What are you doing?" Alex exclaimed, a look of utter disgust on his face.

Max sucked his teeth. "Watch and learn, Kenny boy." A wide, impish grin spread across his lips. Alex slapped him lightly upside the head. "I told you my name's Al—" Max held his other hand up, right in Alex's face, effectively shutting him up. "Don't care. Just watch."
Alex rolled his eyes, sighing loudly, but reluctantly kept his gaze on the warlock.
"Clonmischif!" Max whispered, focusing intently on the chewed gum in his palm.

Alex watched, utterly fascinated, as the gum slowly began to take the precise shape of a miniature, gummy Maximus, no bigger than Alex's thumb. The tiny figure looked up at them, waving a minuscule hand "Hey, buddy, wanna cause a little trouble?" Max asked the little spitball, his voice conspiratorial.
The gummy Max seemed to bounce with excitement, eager to get up to no good.
"You see those ugly guys over there?" Max pointed across the street towards the two hulking green demons.

The little gum Max turned its head, its tiny, featureless face looking over at the guards, then nodded enthusiastically. "Go have a blast." It jumped out of Max's hand, launching itself across the street towards the demons, moving much faster than Alex had anticipated. They both watched, mesmerized, as the tiny, gummy Max landed perfectly on one of the demon's broad shoulders.

"Ooookay, so now what?" Alex whispered, a mixture of awe and confusion in his voice.
Max grinned, watching the unfolding scene like it was a free, private TV show. "Just keep watching."
The gummy Max grinned as it landed perfectly on the demon's coarse, leathery shoulder.

"Wow, I can't wait to go on break," one of the demons grumbled to the other, shaking his massive head.
The demon the gummy Max was perched on grunted in agreement. "Right? A break would be so good right now." Gummy Max's grin widened. It climbed silently up to the demon's ear, then mimicked the other demon's voice with uncanny accuracy. "Not as good as your mother was last night."
The demon with gummy Max on his shoulder whipped his head around, his eyes blazing, looking directly at the unaware coworker. "What the fuck did you just say!?"

Gummy Max softly chuckled, putting tiny hands over its mouth, before leaning back into the demon's ear again. "I fucked your mom last night, is that a problem?"
The demon looked at his coworker in utter disbelief, his face darkening with rage, before raising his massive fist and punching him hard on the head. Both demons roared, stumbling backward, then fell to the ground, instantly dissolving into a chaotic brawl.

Gummy Max, still laughing, clung gleefully to the demon's earlobe as they rolled in the dirt, throwing wild punches "Let's go!" Alex whispered, seizing the opportunity. He sprinted across the street, Max right behind him, easily slipping past the brawling demons who were too consumed by their fight to notice them.

Near the doorway, on a coat rack, hung a pair of black cloaks with deep, concealing hoods. Max snatched them both, then pulled Alex into a nearby, cramped storage closet so they wouldn't be out in the open. He threw one of the cloaks at Alex. "These should help us blend in a little better while we look for Lily." Alex looked at the dark fabric before pulling it on, the rough material surprisingly heavy. "I thought you said my outfit was good before we came here?"

Max rolled his eyes, pulling on the other cloak. It was a little big for him, trailing slightly on the floor, but it would have to do. "I didn't want to hurt your feelings, but you look like even more of a nerd than usual now. Come here, your hair looks too good." Alex leaned his head down, and Max furiously messed it up, running his hands through it, pulling at the strands. "Okay, okay, that's enough!" Alex protested, pulling away.

His hair probably looked like a bird's nest now, but at least he still had his beautiful face "God, even after doing all that, you still look handsome... I hate you for that," Max grumbled, shaking his head before pulling on his own hood. It completely covered his head, only his mouth showing. Alex laughed softly, pushing Max's shoulder playfully. Then he pulled on his own hood, letting the shadows conceal his features.

Max cracked the closet door open, peeping through the sliver of space. He looked back at Alex, a wide, confident grin on his lips. "Let's go get your woman."

(Mia note:Aww I imagine gummy Max being so adorable)