John, favoring a leg with a faint limp slowly made his way to Alice who crawled over to him before looking up at him with a pitiful gaze before happily accepting the offered hand to help her up. "Well, that was something," she quipped, a small pained laugh escaping her lips before she winced. The blows from the recent fight hurt more than she was willing to admit. "Couldn't you have brought your medieval friend sooner though? Or was he busy with a Renaissance fair?" John offered a small smirk, a flash of amusement in his eyes.
Slowly Alice forced herself upright, a mischievous glint in her own gaze yet hidden within it a searching look. "Alright, let's not keep him waiting. Off we go to Wonderland through this mysterious door! I would rather we not anger the boss of the asshole who just kicked our asses, especially when he could so easily man handle that red asshole! What do we have to lose anyway? If he wanted to harm us he could have let his manager do it or even just kill us himself rather than leading us through some kind of trap. Afterall, what's the worst that could happen?" She knew that line often jinxed things but did it as a test, noticing how John's smirk seemed to deepen.
"Hopefully, it will be more in our own weight class this time," John mused, a low chuckle rumbling in his chest. "Or rather, your weight class. If it were mine, we'd probably be crushed before we even had a chance to fight." Alice managed a small laugh in return, though a flicker of concern creased her brow. The darkness she'd glimpsed in him earlier, this new almost detached part of his personality and is reaction to her jinxing remark slightly unsettled her and the fact that his severe soul injury seemed to be a non-issue anymore only seemed to deepened her confusion. For now she chose to follow and watch him in hopes to find out what was happening to him well also vowing to herself that she would grow strong enough to destroy that damned manager and anyone else who threatened them in the future, to grow strong enough to crush anything and everything in their path without a care.
As John and Alice stepped through the shimmering threshold, chains still connected to Dave and Greeny slowly dragged them along, seemingly intent to take them with but just as they reached the door it snapped shut with a violent crack. The impossibly sharp edge slicing through the chains as effortlessly as a hot knife through soft butter. Broken from there source remaining chains wrapped around them began to dissolve into particles of grey light, shimmering and floating away into the air. Dave and Greeny, seizing this unexpected opportunity didn't hesitate. They fled as soon as the last of the chains dissipated, each with their own desperate agenda. Dave, driven by ambition began to envision the rebuilding of his empire, of reshaping the future to his desire and to take it further than he had before, already deciding on where to start and what to do. Greeny though seemed to be consumed by vengeance, choosing to try and find a safe haven to cultivate her strength, well plotting revenge against the "humans," John and Alice for daring to treat a higher species with such contempt, her desire to pay them back for the humiliation burning like a fire in her chest and driving her actions as she left in the opposite direction.
The moment they fully crossed, the door vanished behind them, dropping them in a long and echoing hall. The Jester stood a bit further ahead, standing as if he had been patiently waiting. The manager still held by one leg but no longer struggling, instead seemingly resigned to its fate.
"Come along now," the Jester called out, his baritone voice smooth yet unnerving, far different than it had been on Johns first meeting with him. "My office is just up ahead. We'll be sorting this out, along with figuring out what to do with the two of you there. I am honestly surprised you're still alive though to be honest. Or rather that your hosts alive." He glanced back over his shoulder as he delivered the last words, with its Alice let out a loud "I knew it!" well her knife pointed accusingly at John.
"I bloody knew it!" she yelled, her voice laced with betrayal. "You've been acting really different since this morning! First with the whole dark, edgy and cool thing and then that joke a bit ago and everything else as the red guy showed up! Even your eyes changed entirely, so who are you?! You know what? It doesn't matter! Bring back John or so help me I will beat the ever-loving shit out of you and maybe even carve you open and rip him out if I have to in order to bring him back!" Her blade was now pressed against his throat.
"Now now children, you can have your spat later," the Jester interjected even as he continued to walk. His voice taking on a far darker and ominous tone, "Don't go wasting more of my time or else."
The person currently acting as John chuckled, a wide, unconcerned smile spreading across his face as he lightly pushed Alice's knife away from his throat. "Let's not anger the guy who's easily handling the other guy who kicked our asses alright? Besides unlike you me and the others have been with John for years little girl, where as you have only been around him for a few days. Not gonna lie though, you are quite cute and easy on the eyes. He could definitely do far worse and honestly? You're a massive improvement on what he had in the past."
"My name is Braedon," he introduced himself, offering a small casual wave. A taunting, teasing smirk played on his lips as he tapped his temple. "I'm someone who's been up top with Johnny boy for a long time. One of the oldest ones, not the oldest but definitely not the newest by a long shot. Pleasure to meet ya. Now, let's keep up with the scary guy who could cut us down really easily if annoyed, it will also give me a bit of much needed time to get used to using Johns body." He said plainly before smoothly falling into step behind the Jester. Alice followed but her mind was reeling as she was tried to process this bewildering revelation and change.
"Wait, what are you even talking about?" Alice asked, her voice laced with confusion as she tried desperately to make sense of Braedon. "I don't act as if I can just understand all that out of nowhere. Are you some kind split personality of his or something?"
Braedon paused for a moment, seemingly gathering his thoughts before calmly and carefully beginning his explanation. "I suppose it could be something like that. I'll try to explain all of us once we're back to some semblance of normal, but if you're worried about John then don't be. I'm just as much a part of him as the others he has in his head. I'm just the most stable and calm one so I was who was allowed to come out. The recent chaos made it easier for us to force ourselves out and take control of his body, normally there's requirements and consent is needed but I'm getting off track. We've forced John into a state of rest while his soul recovers and to prevent anything from happening to him and to keep him from wrestling back control early we gently nudged him into his subconscious. So, well everyone else focuses on a rapid recovery I'm out and in control. Can't say it's comfortable though, a bit to much mass and to much of a heavy hitter tank like build, personally I prefer a more speed like body but beggars can't be choosers."
As Braedon finished speaking and Alice tried to make sense of it, giving him small glares well muttering something under her breath they entered what appeared to be a surprisingly mundane business office. A bookshelf lined one wall, a sleek desk with a computer and a chair sat opposite it, flanked by two visitor chairs. Everything about the room screamed ordinary except for the grotesque rack against the far wall. The red being was strapped to it, held tightly by shackles with the Jester standing directly in front of him.
"I'm rather disappointed," the Jester began, his voice cold as ice, a visible effort to restrain a deeper fury. "I knew you lot tend to do your own thing from time to time. I overlooked it because it never impacted upper management, those who control the entire thing. And if it ever did cross too many lines, or would have a negative impact on us, you lot were often smart enough to ensure it could never be linked back, remaining mere speculation and never proof or evidence, it's also why I always gave you and the others under my so much freedom to do as you pleased without constant supervision like others do their managers." He said before swiftly turning his gaze towards Braedon and Alice. His tone and anger wasn't directed at them yet it still carried a palpable pressure, a heavy weight.
"Hmm? You two," he instructed, a dismissive wave of his hand, "go sit down for now. I'll be with you in a moment. I first need to finish with this failure of a imp." He turned his full attention back to the red being, his anger and rage now radiating from him in visible, pulsing waves along with an oppressive aura that filled the room.
"So why is it that instead of handling things the usual way, in secret and easily deniable, you instead pulled this shit and openly displayed such a bad side?!" the Jester roared, his voice echoing with indignation. "Do you have any idea how bad an image you've set for my department?! I've worked hard to get to this point, to be in charge of this area! I gave you all the level of freedom you enjoy because you where always proved to be competent! But then you had to not only break the rules and my trust in you and the others but also openly exhibited such a terrible image that reflects directly on me and puts my position in jeopardy! I now need to put out the fires that will inevitably come from your actions, explain to my own bosses and the viewing gods who witnessed along with defending myself from the others who wish to take my position, so tell me what do you have to say for yourself?!"
As he spoke, the Jester pulled a lever and the rack began to tighten, stretching the managers limbs further well causing them to let out a sickening popping sound that slowly filled the air before being swallowed by his choked gasps of agony before the Jester released the lever to halt the torture. Alice watched with a grim satisfaction blooming within her, glad to see the manager suffer in front of her and yet a part of her was upset that she wasn't the one inflicting the pain, secretly wishing for far worse than a simple rack as punishment. Braedon, however seemed entirely indifferent to it, his gaze calm and blank well apparently lost in thought, undisturbed by the gruesome scene unfolding before him where John would have probably felt uncomfortable, another thing Alice noticed and didn't feel comfortable or happy about when comparing this person using John's body to John himself.
"Blame them! It's their fault this happened!" the manager shrieked frantically, its eyes burning with fury as it glared past the Jester at the pair, wishing its stare could cause them to fall dead. "They should have just died at the start like the rest of the weaklings! Then none of this would have happened and my precious Giga Tanteract would still be around, things would have flowed normally! They broke the regular way of things and destroyed the flow that has always been with the current scenario!"
"And yet you were the one to break the rules, you where also the one with a big mouth who made it so my section will be in deep shit even if I finally get things to go smoothly, not them!" the Jester roared back. Alice seemed poised to retort, a smirk already forming on her face but Braedon gently placed a finger over her lips to silence her as he shook his head earning an annoyed scowl before sending him a small glare.
"Just be quiet and listen," Braedon whispered, moving his finger from her lips and patting her head. "Sometimes the smallest, most seemingly pointless words can give you all the information you need. And this right here, is giving us a bit of insight into the backstage of our own changed world, small bits of information we wouldn't be privy to if we weren't brought here" He told her as he turned his gave back to the pair in front of him with a serene and neutral look well Alice begrudgingly accepted his words well settling back to listen.
"But they—" The manager began to speak again, only for the words to be cut off abruptly.
"Did nothing wrong as I've already stated!" the Jester snapped. "The Giga Tanteract was left to live as an ordinary creature, yet it would normally grow and reproduce but this isn't the first time a being meets its end shortly after being introduced to an event world! That's why raid beasts are kept secured and bred before we ever let them loose for an event. You had no right to interfere you idiot! To make it worse you clearly stated you had let it get an early start in the past as well, that's another point they can use against me to question my management skills, I was already questioned whether this led to the early deaths of there chosen in previous events! Imps are supposed to keep things flowing and interesting without visible and blatant interference. I don't mind or even care if you take chances or push your luck, as long as you don't get caught and you cover your tracks properly, that was the rule I set for all of you when I took this position."
His voice grew colder as his tone deepened into something monstrous. His body swelling, straining against the seams of his suit as the porcelain mask seemed to crack. Jagged, broken horns slowly forcing their way through the eye‑holes and lifting it up to show a human like face with a far too large a mouth filled with multiple sets of savage, jagged teeth and a deep orange glow where his eyes should have been.
His clawed fingers—now razor‑sharp—extended from log‑thick arms that he used to dig into the managers chest then downward, forcing a scream of pure agony as they inched themselves down. When the claws reached the stomach, the Jester pressed deeper, pulling out a rough, stone‑like object etched with strange markings.
The managers scream turned into a ragged howl before falling silent. Blood trickled from its lips showing that that his vocal cords had been torn and its throat damaged from the screaming. Smoke slowly began to rise from its body as the skin tightened, ripped and then peeled away. Limbs were torn from his torso with a sickening ripping noise as the creature's form shrank until only a mangled heap remained on the floor, only faintly recognizable as the red being it had once been.
Leaning over the broken remains the Jester hissed, "I'll make sure to finish your punishment later." before taking a slow, deliberate breath causing his monstrous form to shrink back to its usual size, mask settling back into place as if it had never been moved. With what seemed like a final, satisfied grin he settled back into his seat opposite Alice and Braedon, to resume the conversation with them as if nothing had happened.