Māmōn's eyes blaze in anger and frustration as Gemstar stymie's his devilish domination.
He nods as she walks through the portal, then lugs the limp body toward the opening;
"Crayke. Close the portal when I place our immortal here through..."
Māmōn drops the man's body through, but keeping hold of his winged ankles, so they remain on the villianous side of the portal...
With a menacing smile he speaks;
"Now. Close it. The wing'ed feet will make for priceless trophies!"
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Crackerjack grins maliciously, and closes the portal. A moment later, Māmōn is clutching two severed feet. Each is emitting a faint trail of green smoke, the same color as the portals. Sadly, the wings on the boots disappeared when he fell unconscious; this "trophy" won't be particularly valuable.
"Interesting...I've never done that with my portals before. Looks like the energy of the portal cauterized the wounds instantly. Handy!"
"Now, let's get out of here."
Crackerjack starts fiddling with the dials on his Multi-Tool again, the same way he did when you first arrived. Then he opens a new portal, leading back to Lazarus's estate. All of a sudden, he looks Exhausted.
The hulking demon nods approvingly at the results, then drops the feet bereft of the winged boots, with a disappointed glower.
"How disappointing... At least we have hobbled Hermes..."
Māmōn steps through the new portal, then eyes his fatigued ally with diabolic interest;
"Tired Crayke? Can't last the breakneck pace..?"
Nevi watches the muscle demon walk through the portal and looks back at the bags of jewels.
"He could have carried jewels himself..." Nevi grumbles, picking up a bag and walking through the portal.
"You don't need him when you've got us!" Jared says cheerily, as he and the other servants toss the remaining bags through.
"Tired Crayke? Can't last the breakneck pace..?"
Crackerjack slumps down in the nearest chair before retorting.
"You try making thousands of calculations per second to compensate for the fluctuations in spacetime over long distances, and let's see if you're not mentally exhausted afterwards."
"I know it's hard to believe, but even my magnificent mind has its limits."
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"But we've composed a song celebrating your victory!" Jared protests.
"It has thirty-seven verses..." another guard chimes in, seeming to be on the verge of tears.
"We will be back for you in time for the talent show, where everybody can hear your song. For now, just sit quietly over there."
They seem satisfied with that.
"Very well! We look forward to seeing your act, Princess!"
They sit down in a neat little row, right under some graffiti that reads "Keep New Jackstown Wierd!!!"
She will wave goodbye to her current favorite minions and step through.
Māmōn raises a scaled eyebrow in scepticism of Crackerjack's self-professed brilliance;
"Quite. I've encountered many geniuses o'er the millennia... yet here I stand as their bones bleach in history's sun..."
The demon flexes his clawed hand, tapping Crackerjack's head with malign undertones;
"Do try to stay alive Crayke. I would so hate to see another gifted mind removed from its crushed skull."
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Crackerjack looks up at the demon with a confident smirk.
"And how many of those 'geniuses' knew how to fold space like a sheet of paper? Or create matter from nothing? Or boost their metabolic processes in order to move, think, and create at unprecedented speeds?"
"Death is just another problem for which I haven't yet found the solution. Key word being "yet". Don't you worry, Māmōn - I intend for my legacy to continue forever."
Nevi sets down her bag next to the ones that were thrown though the portal.
"More important... Where do we put the jewels."
"I can think of a thousand machines off the top of my head that could use refined or powdered gemstones to great effect, but given your own limited imagination I assume you mean where do we hide them away like a squirrel's nuts in abject fear of the authorities and lesser criminals making off with them?"
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Nevi shrugs. "If they made off with our jewels, are they really lesser criminals?"
Māmōn casts his baleful gaze upon Crackerjack;
"Indeed. What price for immortality? All the tea in China? All the bullion in Fort Knox? All the jewels we just stole..."
The hulking demon flashes an infernal smile, then awaits those more technically minded to ascertain how secure their loot is.
"If I do it right, the price will be nonexistent, nothing more than a bit of time, which I will have an infinite amount of with the success. There are many ways to immortality already. Brain transplantation, uploading consciousness, repeated cloning, machies to rejuvenate youth. And, even," he gives Mamon a side eye "Infernal bargains."
"But all of these lack a certain je ne sais quoi. They're either not true immortality, require the sacrifice of body or existential certainty, or require other unsavory trade-offs and compromises that makes them inelegant solutions. The true trick will be finding a immortality that truly gives me eternal life without any of the unpleasant side effects that someone like our dear Lazarus has to contend with."
"Do not everyone of jump at once."
Nevi open up the bags and searches them for anything non-jewel.
Nevi REALLY scrutinizes those bags.
She finds nothing out of the ordinary with the bags or the jewels.
While she is searching, Crackerjack's phone rings.
Crackerjack taps the face of his (heavily) modified Peach Watch.
"Yes? Why are you disturbing me?"
"Now, now, Crackerjack. Is that any way to talk to your new partner?"
You instantly recognize the voice of Sylph, the enigmatic individual who contacted you via the TV in your hotel room.
"A point of order. While I'm not averse to working with a showman such as yourself, we never did technically agree to work with each other, you cancelled communications before an agreement could be reached."
"But I am nothing if not a benevolent and understanding man, so I am willing to hear whatever proposal you wish to provide...though a phone call? Really? Hardly up to the same snuff as your previous appearance."
"That was a one-way message. For our first encounter, I believed that a dramatic introduction was more important than a direct line of communication. I'm sure you understand."
"As for this phone call, I'm afraid it was the only way I could contact you in your current location. Once I tracked the exit point of your most recent portal, I was shocked to find that the building you're in has no cable or internet service! Fortunately, you seem the be the only one in your group with a smartphone, so isolating its signal and finding your number was quite easy."
"I must say, I expected the mighty Crackerjack's base of operations to be a bit more...advanced. I anticipated layers upon layers of electromagnetic interference from countless computers and gadgets. Instead, I see nothing except your phone. Forgive my rudeness, but is that your true lair, or just some sort of temporary safehouse?"
"To be quite honest, I don't even own the place. One of my minions provided a place for us to meet up and regroup later."
"I have no permanent place of address myself. As you have so adroitly demonstrated, it is passingly simple to track down someone in this day and age if they don't keep moving. Any gear I need can be manufactured on the fly in any case, so what need to I have for most amenities?"
Nevi shrugs after inspecting the bags. "I see nothing."
"Hm, I see. Even so, I think you should inform your minion that the nineteenth century is over."
"I happen to be a transient myself, in a sense. I have all but abandoned flesh and blood, and exist primarily as living energy. This allows me to 'travel' and communicate through various technological media."
"But enough about me. I must say, I am quite impressed with your work today. On top of clearing the vault, you managed to cripple one hero while breaking the spirit of another! Normally Gemstar can't be kept away from the cameras and reporters, but I think she'll try to avoid the press this time." Sylph makes an odd, staggered hissing sound...which you suddenly realize is laughter.
"Now, let's talk business. I have no physical needs, nor any desire for wealth or political power. All I want from you is...entertainment. A chaotic spectacle. Occasionally, I may ask you to do some legwork for me - there are some places even I cannot reach, without a physical body. But for the most part, you will be free to spread chaos as you see fit."
"In exchange, I will give you information and...suggest courses of action to carry out your schemes. Whatever you need or want, I can show you the way to get it. With my guidance, the world will tremble at the very mention of your name!"
"Does that sound...agreeable?"
The Princess had tuned out when they were talking about unimportant boring stuff. But at the end they got around to the good things. Spectacle! "Ooh!"
The contents of the conversation do little to shift Māmōn's glower from Crackerjack;
"I do love how you refer to us as minions Crayke. Very ironic of you..."
The demon flashes a needle toothed smile;
"Of course when I do the same, it carries far more gravitas..."
Māmōn then addresses the disembodied entity's plan for the villains;
"Interesting... A state of chaos to grant us opportunities and our desires... for your amusement. Nothing else?"
"Chaos was already part of my plans."
"You're telling me you're going to provide me with a permanent audience? You really didn't need to say any more."
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"Ah, you have me on speakerphone." Sylph doesn't seem to like that.
"I do not eat or sleep. I cannot directly interact with the physical world. What use would I have for material wealth?"
"There are many who might conspire to control or destroy me, if they learned of my existence. Why should I seek fame or glory, when it comes with the risk of total annihilation?"
"All that remains of me is my mind. A mind that processes information at speeds unfathomable to the human brain. I get bored, quickly and easily. So yes, you will act for my amusement and nothing else...because there is nothing else."
"Entertainment? I am all about entertainment." she clears her throat and begins winding up for a big number...
"I think that being observer to this has merits of its own." Nevi says, shrugging.
"I imagine if he wanted a body, he wouldn't have given up his old one to start."
"Precisely. And even then, I would hesitate to put myself in a body that someone else built. I can't be too careful when my very existence is at risk."
Māmōn listens intently, then
"Surely a body would allow you to experience the chaos first hand... Savor it... Crayke could build you a bespoke vessel... or I'm sure one of my associates would volunteer?"
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"Demon does not speak for me on this." Nevi asserts.
"Your concern is touching, demon, but I am already as close to the action as I would like to be. There is a world of difference between having front-row seats at a hockey game, and throwing yourself into the rink."
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Since nobody has stopped her, the Princess sings out!
Fade in on a girl
With a hunger for fame
And a face and a name to remember.
The past fades away
Because as of this day
Norma Jean's gone,
She's moving on.
Her smile and your fantasies
Play a duet
That will make you forget
Where you are.
The music starts playing
It's the beat of her heart saying,
"Let me be your star."
Flash back to a girl
With a song in her heart
As she's waiting to start the adventure.
The fire and drive
That make dreams come alive,
They fill her soul.
She's in control.
The drama, the laughter,
The tears just like pearls.
Well, they're all in this girl's repertoire.
It's all for the taking,
And it's magic we'll be making.
Let me be your star.
I'll just have to forget the hurt that came before,
Forget what used to be.
The past is on the cutting room floor,
The future is here with me.
Choose me!
Fade up on a star
With it all in her sights
All the love and the lights
That surround her.
Someday she’ll think twice
Of the dues and the price
She’ll have to pay
She’ll have to pay
But not today
But not today
Then she’ll do all she can
For the love of one man
And for millions who look from afar.
And what you’ve been needing
Is all here and my heart’s bleeding.
Let me be your star!
Sylph says nothing for several seconds.
"Well. That was certainly...diverting."
"I assume you intend to sell your loot, so I have taken the liberty of compiling a list of promising buyers in the area. In order to avoid unwanted attention, I suggest you spread your wares among as many of these establishments as possible, over the course of several days."
A moment later, Crackerjack receives the list as an attachment.
"I believe that concludes our business for now, so I shall leave you to rest and celebrate your victory. I look forward to working with you."
The call disconnects.
Māmōn glowers, his eyes flashing deep crimson as some unnamed plan is quickly stymied.
Fools. Mortal fools. If we bottle the spirit we could have supped at our leisure...
His diabolic chain of thought is shattered by The Princess breaking into song...
... it does little to improve his mood.
As Sylph seeks to wrap up its latest iteration with the group, the demon leaves the entity with his own sharp words.
"We are not fools creature. Some of our number have lived for millennia. Do not treat us like naive babes or court fools... We know our trade. We know villainy..."