"Now, I'm about to break your bodies, shatter your minds and ensure even your souls will be torn apart into tiny fragments." the manager sneered before a malicious smirk dancing across his lips. He loomed over Alice and John, an oppressive shadow cast by his immense form. "Then, I'll have you fixed up and do it over and over, using your screams to lull me to sleep. Any last words?"
"Parley!" Alice's voice cut through the chilling threat, sharp with desperation. The manager furrowed his brow, utterly perplexed by the sudden outburst as his gaze fell upon her. "It means you must take us to your captain, as per the rules!" she continued, a wide, almost prideful smile fighting its way onto her face. "See? I can also have good ideas." If John could he would have facepalmed so hard he'd have left a permanent imprint from what Alice had just tried.
"What are you even going on about?" He scoffed, his annoyance visibly mounting once more. "Is this 'Parley' word supposed to be some kind of magic? And what do you mean by captain? You're making absolutely no sense."
"Take us to your leader? Oh, come on! Something's got to work," Alice implored, a faint hint of worry finally permeating her forced cheerfulness as she pushed herself to stand, moving instinctively closer to John. "Hey, are we supposed to wait for you to suddenly get a massive power boost or awaken some kind of hidden power to beat the crap out of this guy? Or is someone going to burst in and save us?" She asked John before having her gaze flicker around the desolate space as if expecting a hero to materialize or John to suddenly grow super strong and beat this guy. "Any time now would be good! Some kind of BS boost, item, a random hero popping up or anything!"
John grunted as he pushed himself upright as glared at the manager, a grim resolve settling on his features. "And I'm sorry to burst your bubble Alice, but that's not happening. He's fast and his hits pack a serious punch. Not to mention those canes are deadly if they even graze us." He glanced around the kitchen. "I'm also out of knives, so where down to your dagger, our scythes and my chains but I'd prefer to not risk seeing what would happen if they were to come into contact with those canes." He shook his head. "And yeah, I know this is where I should probably say we should run and grow stronger, but his position in this world means he could easily find us due to the viewers or however else they view people, unlike some lucky main character in a novel or anime who can easily hide away and come back stronger for revenge. And who would even come to save us? That weird old man we met? My brother who probably slaughtered our pets and parents? We're up shit creek without a paddle right now." He paused, a flicker of an idea igniting in his eyes. "But I do have one idea we could possibly try, it was something that was sometimes used in apocalypse and system novels."
"Amusing," the manager said with a chuckle, condescension dripping with every word as he watched them without worries. "I must say I'm glad you at least understand the situation even partly. It would be amusing though, to see if someone really did come through to 'save' you bastards. And you are also right; I'd easily track you down no matter where you go through the various systems and watchers. But please, go ahead and try whatever you can, your seemingly clever idea you got from works of fiction. It will no doubt be the last thing you get to do before I begin the torture and it will be quite fun to shatter your hopes. Consider it a final act of mercy."
"So your aware those stories are, or rather were rather entertaining," John challenged, his voice starting calm but then growing louder, a hint of manic energy creeping into it as a grin not only formed on his lips but slowly began to widen. "And who's to say they weren't glimpses into different worlds? Much like how our dreams can be glimpses into the various realms and realities that exist alongside our own. But I'm not going to debate this with you; it would waste time and be pointless and I doubt you would care anyway. Rather I want to ask you something, how exactly do you think you'll get away with this? Also, I'd probably look behind you if I were you, your boss doesn't seem happy."
"Is that all? Simply put even if a god or two complained and cried foul, which I'm doubtful about as you lot wouldn't be worth the effort and the higher ups would no doubt find it a hassle to look such a small thing and even if they did it would take time before anything actually happened to me, at which point I would have already brushed it under the rug like many others do!" the manager said with an eye roll as if the entire explanation was a bore. With a sudden, brutal movement faster than they could see he grabbed one of the chains and pulled John toward him before wrapping it around John's throat, a cruel smile stretching his wide mouth past anything that could be considered normal as he slowly began to choke him with it. "And the whole 'behind you' thing is so stupid. Do I look like an idiot who would fall for that?"
"Oh? Is that so?" A deep, resonant baritone voice suddenly cut through the air directly behind the manager. The words were a quiet, deadly whisper that seemed to vibrate with immense power.
He froze, his triumphant smirk dissolving into a look of sheer terror as he dropped John who landed on the ground with a choked gasp, sputtering and rubbing his raw throat yet clearly amused. Slowly the manager began to tremble, sweat beading on his brow as he turned around, only to be grabbed by the throat and lifted effortlessly off the ground by the same jester figure John had met when everything had first changed.
"Boss!" he croaked, his voice strained and barely audible, before the pressure on his windpipe increased, cutting off anything else he could have said.
"Now you remember who's in charge?" the Jester said, his grip tightening as his eyes glowed with an unnerving fury, softened only slightly as he looked at John and Alice. "You all are coming with me. And you," he added, directing his gaze at John, a mix of annoyance and amusement in his tone. "I did not think you would once again cause me to show up around you. Yet, only a few days later, I'm forced once to an incident where your right in the middle and possible cause. Do you not think I have far better things to do?"
John chuckled, still catching his breath but grateful for their unexpected savior. "Good to see you as well. But what can I say? I really missed you and really wanted to see you again to hopefully give some answers. Either way I'm really glad you're here, though."
"It was more luck than anything. The complaints came in droves, all pushed forward by a rather annoying individual who claimed you had captured and dragged his chosen into a real mess." the Jester explained with a sigh, not bothering to elaborate further. "But enough of all that. Pick up the girl and follow me." He dropped the manager before grabbing him by the leg, then produced a shimmering key from nowhere. With a flick of his wrist he opened a swirling, luminous door in the air in front of them.
"Don't make me wait. I have no patience right now due to this disturbance; and to think, I had just finished my paperwork and instead of getting a chance to rest I had to come sort out this mess, no doubt it will cause a mountain of new forms I will need to process." the Jester grumbled as he stepping through the ethereal doorway, dragging the manager behind him who clawed desperately at the ground trying to resist but was utterly helpless against the Jester's strength.