John Victor: The Origins

CHAPTER 22

"Should we go inside?" Nick whispered.

"Yeah, let's enter quietly and see who's there." I replied.

"But what if it's Krueger? I'm not fit to fight, dude."

"I doubt it's him. I can feel his demonic energy when he's nearby. It's more likely to be a stray dog or some intruder. This place is known for being a hotspot where people do drugs without getting caught."

"Alright, let's find out then."

We entered cautiously and noticed a mess of items scattered around. Nick accidentally knocked over a jar and stumbled.

"Watch your footing." I whispered.

"Who's there?" a voice echoed from the basement, sounding somewhat familiar. As we moved closer, we heard someone speaking loudly in a different language. We cautiously descended into the basement and found an individual rummaging through Fred's wardrobe.

"Hey, turn around!" Nick exclaimed. To our surprise, it was Messi. He looked startled to see us.

"I thought you two were dead." Messi blurted out.

"Why is that?" Nick inquired.

"Didn't the demon king confront you at the museum and take Fred away?" Messi questioned.

"How are you aware of that?" I inquired.

"Come on, I'm Messi, the messenger of dimensions. I'm privy to everything happening across all realms. I even operate a newspaper company that covers intriguing stories from various dimensions: The Daily Messi." Messi pulled out a camera from his backpack and snapped a photo of us. "You two will be in tomorrow's headlines." Messi chuckled.

Nick snatched the camera from his grip, slammed it onto the ground, and crushed it under his foot. "Why so serious, man?" Messi retreated a step. "Anyway, I'm not here for a fight. I just want the gold Fred owes me. I'll take it and be on my way." he added. He then released a flock of birds from his backpack.

"Scour the entire place, and if you find any gold, bring it to me." he ordered. The birds dispersed, swiftly searching every nook and cranny.

Nick managed to catch one bird and crushed it in his hand. "You're not walking out of here with anything. Get lost." he warned.

In an instant, all the birds turned their attention toward us, their formerly blue feathers morphing into eerie bat-like forms with vivid red eyes. A sharp, piercing sound reverberated as they surged toward us, launching an assault. "Uh-oh." I exclaimed. The air was filled with their attacks, their bites coming from all directions.

Amidst the chaos, Messi's laughter echoed, "You guys shouldn't have messed with us." Reacting swiftly, Nick conjured a baseball bat from the hat and swung it skillfully to repel the attacking creatures. He retrieved another bat and tossed it to me, and I immediately joined the fight. With determined and forceful swings, we managed to successfully fend off the aggressive onslaught.

"Quite the show, isn't it? But let's see if you can handle round two." Messi remarked, as he released a swarm of hundreds of bats from his backpack. Nick's retort was swift, "We might need a machine gun for this." Yet, our situation transformed suddenly as pink energy beams emerged from behind us, obliterating the bats to ashes. A collective shock swept over us.

"What the fuck? How is this even possible?" Messi exclaimed.

Turning towards the source of this unexpected intervention, we witnessed a figure emerging from the shadows. A long-haired woman with blonde locks was dressed in pink attire and wore a unicorn mask concealing the front of her face.