WebNovels

Chapter 161 - Chapter 146: Citizenship Problems

Greg sat next to the chief of police. "Thank you for allowing me to help. I'm glad to be able to contribute to the situation at hand." The man in his head spoke for him. On the one hand, it was annoying not being able to say what he wanted. On the other hand, he got to enjoy amenities. He had a steady salary now that paid FAR above what he was making at the wash, and his own warm and spacey office he could sleep in now. Could you at least attempt to find your own dwelling? 

I lived in a van, anything is a step up. Actually that's probably for the best. The money is going to the people now, not the mayor's pockets. Anything that gets us a step up on eliminating those rotten witches will be beneficial to our cause.

Guys, the dude's talking to us. Cool it with the conversations. "...and while I'm personally down with going the extra mile, we can't exactly just start bursting through everyone's home without a warrant. We need to know what we're looking for." Great, I missed over half the conversation. I kept track of everything. Just make sure to go along with everything that I have to say.

"Well for starters, we have an image of certain individuals." They placed down the images of Steven's friends, the snake imposter, and the gems. "Even before getting into the damage and chaos they cause, none of them have identification, and aren't US citizens."

"So illegal immigrants?"

"That's what they appear to be on the surface." Greg nodded. "However, if you look further into their record, you will find that each and everyone one of these individuals have been in the center of every single disaster that has occurred across Gravesfield. They actively contribute to this town's destruction, and leave the rest of us to clean up the scraps." He responded, showing off images of destroyed locations, linking them with appearances of them on the scene. Jacob was useful for something after all.  "Forgive me if I sound paranoid … but I think we may be dealing with terrorists."

"Sir, pardon me for intruding…but a lot of these pictures include your son."

"I am well aware…and as much as I care, I cannot condone what he has been doing." Greg put up the show and began to get misty eyed. "My personal belief is that he's being coerced by terrible influences. And I genuinely hope that is the case." Remind me why we can't actively go after Clawthorne? Too suspicious for a parent to hate their child. You built an image, remember? "But he has broken the law, so it is my hope that we stop him and these terrible people before his soul is lost, and bring him to justice so he may properly pay for his crimes."

"Understood sir, and sorry for your loss."

"I've come to terms with it as much as I can." He let out a sigh. So far so good … Wait, one more thing. "Oh,and one more thing." He placed pictures of Connie and her family. "Investigate Officer Mahaswarren and his family. His daughter is intimately close with these horrible people, and we can't afford to have liabilities of any kind." Wait, should we do this? It's not her fault the imposter brought her into this. No, but she is a lead. At worst she gets arrested. No harm, no foul. And they've actively gotten in the way and assisted those vile witches. Any allies of them is an enemy of humanity!

"Understood … thank you for your assistance sir." The officer spoke, before walking out of the room. Now we simply put on a good image and wait. Not to be a downer or anything, but sending the police after the crystal gems is a horrible idea. They'll get squashed in seconds. Precisely. They'll have no choice but to retaliate. And if they retaliate, the town, and humanity as a whole, will be forced to realize they can't treat the threat lightly. They'll HAVE to up the ante. Those brave men and women will give their lives to a noble cause.

Well … at least he had a new living space to enjoy.

=======================================================================

Amethyst groaned as the police once more ran away. "How many times does that make it today … six?" The short gem rolled their eyes. Ever since Greg became the mayor, the entire town's been a lot more boring to live in, mainly that she couldn't walk the streets without some boy in blue trying to put cuffs on her.

"Right actually. That guy with a broken arm came back for round two." Lapis spoke, tiredness in her voice. "And it was so … exhausting to not try to drown them."

"Keep your patience, Lapis, they're just humans. They're reacting out of ignorance and fear." Garnet noted, just grabbing cops and putting them over her shoulder without even fighting back.

"And how long do we have to do this until they stop?" The blue gem asked, tossing another dude into the air. "Because newsflash, just because we can stand still for a hundred years doesn't mean I want to. I barely tolerate this planet as it is."

"... We just keep it up for their sake." Garnet responded, tossing another guy.

"Um … that's not really a time table Garnet." Amethyst said. "Come on future gal, when do they calm down?"

"Ask again when I manage to see a future where Greg isn't in office." Garnet responded. Why was that not reassuring?

"Since when does Greg like taking boring jobs like that?" The guy was like the ultimate couch potato. His laziness was almost inspiring in a way.

"Since he decided to be a vindictive dick that needs to be put down." Lapis responded. "Seriously, just one shot to the neck, Lucci agrees with me."

"They plan on assassinating the mayor! They are terrorists!" One of the officers exclaimed, speaking into a radio. "Code red, I repeat, code red! Lock the town down! Bring in the National Guard! Bring the marines! Bring-"

"Okay; you need a break from your little toys." Amethyst used her whip to knock the radio out of the man's hands.

"Return fire!" They began firing bullets … which did nothing.

"… I'm gonna knock them out. That's a fine line to draw." The purple gem spoke as she spun forward, kicking them in the head. "No hard feelings dudes, but you did this to yourselves!"

"…Attacking humans….Rose would be so disheartened by where we are now." Garnet grumbled.

"Well from everything we know, she was a big fat stinking liar that hurt just as many people as she helped, so I guess that balances out." Lapis held about ten officers in the air. "So who's gonna explain this to Pearl? Cause I'm not in the mood to be near her at all."

"I can handle her. If she goes off the rails again, I can just poof her." Garnet nodded. "Now come on, we need to refortify the temple … again." The others were probably having a blast planning something other than just keeping the police occupied.

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"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Sasha heard Marcy wave her hands. "You're telling us Hell is real…and that it's livable?"

"Livable, yes. Tolerable, not so much." Luz grumbled. "We met one or two decent people, but it's not an experience I'd want to relieve anytime soon."

"Speak for yourself, next chance I get at going back, I'm taking it." Lucci snickered. "A land where I can beat up anyone who pisses me off, blow up buildings as they just get fixed right back up, no consequences whatsoever, and the only real threat are two asshole kids. Not to mention the musical numbers, it felt just like home …"

Anne turned her. "In terms of child therapy, is any of that healthy?"

"I honestly have no idea. The cultural acceptance in their world makes any form of progress difficult to measure." Sasha admitted. "I'm still stuck at the fact you made a literal portal to hell."

"Again, freak accident." Luz sighed. "At least Charlie gives that place some form of hope."

"Speaking of, this whole situation is feeling pretty hopeless." Gus pointed out. "How did Mr. Universe get so popular to be a viable candidate? He's not exactly the most likable person in town."

"No clue." Marcy admitted. "Me and Masha kept a trail on him the whole time. All he did was stare in the mirror, sleep, eat, then speak to the public. No practice, nothing."

"Not to mention we didn't have the best candidate to work with ourselves." Anne sighed. "Dewey was a mess even with us feeding him every line."

"I think his family history with the town was the only thing he had going for himself." Luz threw in there. "How is Vee anyways?"

"Fine enough. She pretended to be you for the week to hide." Sasha answered. "She even got every aspect of your personality down pat, right down to the fantasy tropes and self deprecation."

"Gee, thanks." The girl grumbled. "So, does anyone here know someone of higher political power to boot him out of office?"

Sasha thought it over. "There's only one person I know that could possibly help us out here, but Mr.X has been pretty MIA these days. Apparently he's trying to figure out why there's an entire section of the planet suddenly missing." Anne shrugged.

The kids all collectively winced. "The Cluster."

"The what now?" The three adults asked.

"Giant ball of crumbled gem shards in the earth that would have killed us all if Lucci didn't destroy it." Amity explained. "Apparently Homeworld thought if you can't have a planet, destroy it."

"A thousand souls screamed in my head to stop…and I couldn't." The boy looked to the side. Yeesh, Earth therapy wasn't going to help him any time soon.

Marcy patted the boy's back. "Hey; don't sweat it: I got my mind trapped in a hive mind once that tried to take over my body. I still dream of being trapped in a cold dark simulation of my own selfish decisions." … Sasha made a note to add her to future sessions.

"Can't we just get rid of the problem at the source?" Boscha asked. "Go in at night and off the bastard and hide the body. Not like anyone is going to miss him. Heck; my crystal would hate this planet a whole lot less if he was dead."

"Do you want the moral reason or the practical reason for why that's not an option?" Sasha asked.

"Practically, morality kind of fell apart the second we were sent to hell." Willow said.

"He already raised the issue, at this point you'd have to kill every police officer if you want to handle this through sheer brutality. And don't even think about doing that, because it's only going to escalate, and escalate, until you have the whole world against you."

"The world's always been against us." Lucci rolled his eyes. "If I had a snail for someone who wanted me dead for existing, I wouldn't need to be a criminal."

"This is so dumb; this probably isn't about getting revenge or whatever, he's probably just being petty because mom broke up with him." Luz groaned.

"If that's the case.." They turned; seeing Mrs. Noceda walking into the room. "Then maybe I can talk him out of it."

"Ms Noceda, please don't lower yourself like that." Gus pleaded. "We all got front row seats to what it means to sell out your body, and we'd rather not have that happen to you."

"…Gus, I love ya pal, but if I didn't have context to what you're talking about, I'd deck you." Luz stated. "But he's right mom. You shouldn't have to get involved for our sakes."

"It's either that or Lucci storms the office and kills him outright." Sasha pointed out.

"I'm with Lucci's plan." Boscha, Amity, and Willow all raised their hands.

"I'm not against it, but I'll stay open to ideas that don't garden more attention on us." Hunter raised his hand.

"Well we could let him go and do something horrible later down the line as he slowly ruins our lives more and more because he'll never let his children have free will until he helps our enemies actively destroy all life for the slightest hint of prosperity and ruin all the happiness any child could ever feel." Amity said. "You know … like a parent usually does…no offense to you Ms. Noceda. You're one of the few good ones."

"Thanks…I think." Camila sighed. "How about I try to talk to Greg, but have the rest of you on standby if something goes wrong."

"We could wait outside the room if you want." Gus offered. "If normal demons in hell can't see through them, then I'm positive whatever security Mr. Universe will be no problem. ."

"Yeah, about that…there's not going to be any lingering side effects to you dudes being in hell, right?" Anne asked.

"I don't think so. It was pretty obvious we were all heading there anyway." Boscha shrugged. "Besides, from what I could gather , the whole afterlife system is rigged anyways."

"Pretty much just fighting someone in anger once is enough to get you sent to hell for all eternity." Willow responded. "But it's technically like a tougher version of the Boiling Isles, so it probably won't be too bad."

"Suddenly I'm glad I'm becoming a multiversal guardian." Anne muttered.

"What?"

"Long story, let's try Camila's plan."

=======================================================================

Camila took a deep breath as she walked up to the secretary. "I'm here to see Greg Universe." Her daughter has been to hell. HELL! And she was going to end up there when she died! What kind of mother would be okay with that!? She knew that she needed to be more supportive of her daughter…but that was ridiculous!

Camila steadied herself, taking a deep breath. She would forget about that for now….actually she wouldn't but she would try her hardest to push it to the side for the moment.

"Name?" The woman asked.

"Camila Noceda." She responded.

"Just a moment." Right now the children needed her. She had to get in there, talk to Greg, and get him to stop harassing these children. Worse comes to worse, she could … ugh, get back with him. That was complicated for so many reasons, least of all her incoming pregnancy…

Oh shit, what if this was what this whole thing was about? What if Greg knew and was angry for not telling him!? No, no that wasn't it, no one knew except Luz and Sasha. So it couldn't be about that, not in the slightest … well she was getting bigger, so he might know in some way or form.

"Go on in." The woman said, pointing to the door.

She steeled herself, walking into the pristine room, where Greg sat, working on multiple papers silently, almost laser focused. "Hey there Camila." He spoke without looking up. "I'm gonna ask you to make it quick, I have to deal with trying to secure money for the town that Dewey blew on giant ice cream."

"Yes…" This was so uncanny. For the first time since she's known him, Greg actually looked professional. "You look like you're doing well."

"What can I say, I finally got a kick in the back, and it prompted me to get my life together." He responded. "There's some coffee if you want some."

"Oh, No thanks." That confirmed he didn't know about the baby, so that was a minor relief. "I came by because…well...I'm proud that you're on your feet….I'm not sure if this new turn in your life…is you."

The man hit his head against the desk, before slowly raising it. "First you don't want anything to do with me, telling me I'm just a pathetic, drunk piece of shit without a job, telling me to stay away from you and your house. Now that I'm actually doing something with my life and getting back on track, you want me to stop?"

"No, that's not that, it's how you're going about it." Camila clarified. "I know you're frustrated at your son, mad at Vee, but you're ruining their lives."

"All I'm doing is protecting the town at large." The man shrugged carelessly. "Between reckless driving to the point someone nearly dies, to destroying buildings with screams, to the amount of people with broken homes, they can't just keep doing what they want without consequences."

"While I don't necessarily disagree, you're turning the whole town against them, against all the kids. You're telling people to hate them just for existing!"

"If they simply didn't resist arrest, then there'd be no need to have anyone against them." He responded. "The medical bills for the officers alone are starting to pile up."

"Because you sent them at them!" Camila exclaimed. 

"Then they should let themselves get taken in. That's the point of sending them to begin with." The man rolled his eyes.

Camila scoffed. "You definitely have changed Greg. The man I knew for all his faults at least understood empathy."

He was silent before going back to his papers. "If that's all you wanted to say, I should get back to this." The man said it so carelessly!

"You know Greg, a week ago, your cousin came to your family barn. I got a small picture of who you are." Camila growled. "The truth of the matter is that you're a coward. You run away from everything because you have no idea who you want to be! You did it with your parents; you did it with Marty, you did it with Vee, and I have no doubt that when things get tough, you're going to run away from this too."

He slowly looked up, gazing at her with a tranquil fury, but saying nothing. 

"That's all I have to say." She went for the door. "Goodbye; Mr mayor."

"Tell me….Camila…what was the first time you ever felt ashamed of your daughter?"

She froze, slowly turning back to meet cold, emotionless eyes. "… What?"

"When was the first moment you realized what a deranged and deluded freak you gave birth to?" He asked again. 

"Don't you dare-!"

"Oh I dare. I dare to say that you are incredibly ashamed. So ashamed that when the first opportunity came to get her out of your sight,you did without a second thought."

"That was NOT what happened!" She screamed.

"Then why did you never run to that camp and look for her yourself?" He went on. "You could've gone there to confirm for yourself. Heck; you never so much as contacted her beyond texts and a phone call, and didn't know she was gone for a month. Admit it.." The bastard came creepily close to her. "You wanted her gone. You wished she was dead."

"I never-"

"It was the one thing you and I had in common." The man grabbed her arms. "Two tired and stressed parents, suffering at the hands of brats we wished never existed. We shared such passionate moments knowing life would be better without them."

"It was never about that." She growled.

"You're very bad at lying, you know that?" They said, before letting her go. "Goodbye Camil-"

Slap

"I told you, never touch me again, asshole." She pulled back her hand; noticing something off. Greg's face felt abnormally squishy.

"I can see where your daughter gets her ability to poke the bear. I'm a nice guy at the moment, so let me say this …" They looked into her eyes with an utter soulless expression as their face seemed perfectly fine. "Walk away now before you lose your second child."

He…he…he threatene-

"That's it asshole!" A pink blur crashed through the walls, slamming Greg into the floor.

=======================================================================

Lucci watched as the bastard rolled onto the floor. "No more games!" He screamed, pulling out a shield. "Stop all this now, or I will end you, here and now!!" No one threatened their family, especially not their future baby sibling.

"Mom, mom; you alright!!?" Luz comforted her mom as the others rushed in. "He didn't lay a finger on you, did he!?"

"It's fine, he just….caught me off guard." Ms. Noceda breathed shakily.

The man simply stood back up, dusting himself off, and walked back to his desk. "Do you want her to leave first, or do you want to keep pressing on?" They asked as if they didn't see him as a threat.

"Ms. Noceda…best that you leave now. It's going to get messy in a minute." Amity spoke.

"I ... Alright." The woman hurried away, helped by Willow, as the rest of them continued to glare at his Sperm Donor.

"You know, if the point was to tell me to stop, barging into my office like a wild animal isn't the best way to go." The bastard laughed. "If anything, it helps my case. The new mayor of Gravesfield. Advocates for the safety of the people, threatened and or killed by the very threat he warned against."

"Yeah, well when you threaten a woman and her unborn child, that's where we draw the line." Gus glared. "And just a side note…Luz's mom is pregnant?"

"Wasn't it obvious?" Boscha asked. "She's gone through months of getting bigger in the stomach."

"I thought she was just eating too much." Hunter stated. "I didn't want to say anything because I thought it would make her angry to bring it up."

"We can discuss this later!" Lucci exclaimed, taking out his buzz saw. "You keep getting worse and worse every time I turn my back. You get no chances this time."

"Go ahead Clawthorne, kill me." The man smiled. "My neck is quite vulnerable after all if you feel like your usual threat of beheading someone. That is your go too, it was against Oldalia Blight, against the Golden Guard, and against Belos."

The group paused, freezing up. "Lucci…did you…" Willow began to ask.

"I never brought up those names with him." Lucci answered. "How …"

"Come now." The thing rolled their eyes. "I would have assumed my dear Hunter would have put it together from the way I speak."

"You..you're back." Hunter gasped, and everyone realized who he was talking about. "Belos."

"That's Mayor Universe to you…if only you could've changed that insipid name." The bastard grumbled.

"So, you possessed another worthless bastard just as pathetic as you." Lucci noted with a smirk. "The only difference now is that your face is a hundred times more punchable."

"Yes it is. Completely defenseless and free for the taking." They noted. "And for everyone to witness your brutality as well."

"That's the idea-" Luz stopped him before he could charge forward. "Come on, he's literally asking for it."

"No, attacking him is giving him exactly what he wants." Luz told him.

"Clever girl. Let me tell you how this works." He smiled, pointing in a direction. "There is a camera, which is recording a man speaking to his son, who broke into the room without sound. After being questioned, the man will say it was simply a misunderstanding … but killing an 'innocent' man for the world to see?" Belos smirked. "A confirmed threat for humanity to rally against … just as it should be."

"So you've done it again, Emperor Belos." Gus grumbled. "You manipulated yourself to the top to a position where you're politically untouchable."

"You say that as if the task was hard." The bastard laughed. "Those Cursed gems did all the heavy lifting. They haven't changed in four hundred years, with their secrecy and their disregard for property damage. Add in the extra chaos you six brought in the last three months, and rallying the town against you was child's play."

He had them by the fucking ball and chain. "So … what then?" Lucci asked. "We just walk away while you continue to sow more and more chaos."

"If you wish to prove your innocence, simply run through the legal system within a jail cell." They shrugged. "Of course, since the gems prove normal facilities won't do any good, you'll likely be hoisted off to somewhere far off heavily guarded." He stated. "Now either leave me to my work, or seal your fates."

"Fates....Pffft….Hahahahahahahaha…" Lucci couldn't help but laugh at that. "Yeah, funny thing about that word, Boolus. My friends and I…we all just found out Hell is real. Every single rotten self-righteous belief you've convinced yourself of….it's all utter bullshit." He continued to snicker. "You're going to the fiery inferno where all the damn go down to dance. And the best part about it." He walked up, dangerously close to the man. "Is that when you get there….I'll get to look forward to seeing you again, and torment you for all eternity."

SLING

Lucci didn't even flinch when Belos slashed a razor against his face, only smirking as the man's fury was brought out, pure rage incarnate painted on his face.. "If your plan is to get a rise out of me to expose myself, it won't work. I'm not so susceptible to your lies, demon."

"Who said I was lying?" Lucci cackled. "How about I prove it to you and stop giving a shit?" He asked. "No more holding back on the police, no more morality … I just punch you until I know you're gone for good and never bother us again." He got even closer. "After all, you seem pretty comfortable with dying, right? We're exposed, and you die protecting the world…because after all…after killing your brother, killing the Golden Guards, killing that idiot from the museum, and nearly killing a child, you have nothing to fear from god…right?"

The man frowned, glaring down at him. "You know, there was one downside to picking out this body." The man admitted.

"Oh really?" Lucci questioned, amused.

"I finally figured out it wasn't just Rose you inherited your anger from." They moved their hand under the table … and Lucci couldn't breath. "Artificial magic … away from cameras, how I've missed this."

"How did you…!?" Hunter exclaimed.

"I wasn't just the creator, Peridot had quite the insight into how it functioned." Lucci fell to the floor, trying to take in air. "And if you all thought I was trouble before, I'm quite sure Noceda can spin quite the tale of how futile it is to attack me when I can cast."

"Gaagh."

"I'm quite aware that you're adaptable to air loss, but you can only last so long, and I only need a few minutes at most to take your gem."

=======================================================================

Luz ran forward, grabbing Lucci and pulling him back. "Willow, shield! Hunter, get him out of here!" Suddenly her entire body was paralyzed.

"I'm afraid that's not in your best interests. Like I said earlier the camera has been going on, the police are running through the building now." The bastard inside of the fatter bastard smirked as he launched her into a wall. "Oh, you have no idea how relieved I am to have this power back. With my previous experience along Peridot and Bismuth's engineering capabilities, I'm nearly at my previous peak."

"The witch hunter hates witches but loves the power. How many times do we need to point out the hypocrisy before it gets stuck in your big fat head?!" Willow summoned vines to grab the man by the throat.

Said plants instantly died, turning to dust. "Once more, I suggest you surrender, you're only making it worse on yourself." He spoke as if their fates were already set in stone.

"We're not going to sit down and-" Amity raised her abominations, which were quickly turned back, binding her in place.

"You children really have learned nothing from your previous encounters." The bastard laughed. "I've already won. I have what I want. This world will turn against you, no corner or shadow will be available for you to hide in, and I can continue to lead Gravesfield into a better future, which will expand to the rest of the country, and soon enough, the world." He grinned. "... Going to have to fix a lot of problems though. Global warming alone is enough of a hassle without going into economics."

"What, you're just going to keep processing people over and over again so you can stay in power?" Boscha questioned as she threw a potion at him….which was float upward into the ceiling.

"As we humans now say, if it ain't broke." Belos shrugged. "Once this body wears out its usefulness, I can hop to the next one, and the next, and so on and so forth. I'll stop once I complete my goal, fret not."

"And … what the hell … is that?" Luz asked with a glare.

In return, Belos turned to her with the coldest eyes she's ever seen him have before. "When humanity is the only being left in existence." He turned, looking out the window. "Thanks to Peridot, I have the technological know-how to extend mankind's current capabilities. I will advance them to their full potential, and I will take mankind to the stars, eliminating each and every vile threat that's out there."

Great, Belos was becoming a mustache twirling Saturday morning super villain, except he could probably back up the claims. "Guy's not to be a downer, but we're getting nowhere here." Gus sighed. "He doesn't even have to try to fight us, neither does he want to. Unless we got some secret weapon, it's better if we hightail it out of here."

"We tried hightailing it, we can't grab Lucci without being grabbed." Amity said in her bindings. "He wants his gem too much to consider letting him go."

"What if we set fire to the building?" Boscha suggested. "Police have to evacuate, Belos has to focus on putting it out, we escape with everyone."

Belos proceeded to freeze her on the spot. "How about you don't discuss your plans within hearing distance for starters?"

"Oh fuck you." Luz growled, internally debating what to do next. She wasn't about to leave Lucci in Belos's hands, but they had nothing against him. "Damn artificial magic, as if he wasn't strong enough with the pink…" She paused. Belos was still able to use his form here, still able to absorb people. Lucci could use his bubble magic, and glyphon could use their glyph magic. "Gus, work your mojo, I'm going to try something potentially stupid."

"So normal Luz stuff." The kid asked as he prepared a circle. "Okay lets see how you like the Adrian Graye Vernworth treatment!" And a blast of light was shot at Belos's head.

"No, I've faced you illusions before, I won't fall pry….Rose…..What…don't pay attention to ROSE YOU BITCH No, ignore those images, I am in control here!" Belos began clinching his head, parts of his flesh becoming bulgy as the bastard held himself down.

Well, effective enough. Luz reached into her pocket, pulling out a glyph. "Lucci, if you can do anything … bleed!" She shouted, slamming a piece of paper next to him.

"Cutting myself….not the worst…thing…I've done…" Lucci gripped the back of her sword, and sliced his hand. "After facing an eldritch demon, this is surprisingly tame for me." He laughed as he let the blood fall on the paper.

"Okay, Lucci's bleeding, what's that supposed to do?" Willow asked.

"Belos has the pink glyph. Lucci is the source of it." She quickly summed it up as she began using the blood as ink. "Come on, super powered energy, don't fail us now!" She shouted, slamming it on the ground at Belos's feet.

It did nothing as the man continued to fight off the hold. "Rose will pay!  Enough of you inane jabbering! That woman's caused quite enough trouble as it is! That's my woman you're talking about! You need better taste!" 

Lucci began gagging. "Agreeing … with that … abomination … stars." He passed out.

"rOSe!  STop saying her vile NAME!" The man stepped on the piece of paper. "You WILL listen to me, and will do exactly what I have to say-!"

PWSSSSSSSSH!

"AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!" Pink light lit off inside of the fat batard's body, making the flesh inflate and bulge like a balloon, and for a split second, mr. universe and the Belos sludge seamed separate, with a gray and green energy hanging off of it….before they were sent back into the body and forced them out the window.

"Hey … it worked" Luz gasped in shock and amazement.… "It-"

"FREEZE!" The police shouted, aiming guns at all of them. "Hand in the air, or we will open fir-"

Thump

"Okay, even I know…we should leave….while we still can." Lucci gasped a big breath of air, creating a giant barrier that forced the cops out of the room. "Any sign of Boolus?"

"Nothing." Hunter looked out the window. "Don't see anybody. Probably talking to the police downstairs. Let's fly out of here before he comes back up."

Amity grabbed her, putting Luz on Ghost as they began flying away. "Well … Belos is back in power and strong as ever, but even smarter."

"I wouldn't say just as strong. Remember, he said nearly at his peak." Gus recalled. "And it doesn't look like he has full control over Mr. Universe either. Guess the rage gene Lucci shares with him makes it harder for him to control."

"Between that and Spinel's description of Pink, I'm starting to think it's a miracle he's as calm as he is." Willow deadpanned.

"Thank you. It takes a lot of self control, a lot of people don't recognize the effort I put in." Lucci smirked. "So how were you able to knock him around anyways Luz? I thought glyphs were powerless here."

"Only when they don't have magic to circulate and navigate. Your power provides that." Luz answered, looking at the blood soaked paper. "I can use the glyphs as long as they're diamond powered."

"Doesn't Belos have that too?" Amity asked. "That's why he's an immortal plant sludge thing?"

"Cause it amplifies plant magic, life, biology, stuff like that." Luz explained.

"Wait, if this powered him up, can't it bring him down?" Willow asked.

There was a moment of silence. "He did split apart Glyphon when we first fought." Lucci noted. "And he merged with both Bismuth and Peridot to make himself stronger…if we figure out how to use it…we can break him apart piece by piece."

"As it stands, we need an edge against him." Luz closed her firsts. "He has political power now, probably will keep guards close that won't know the truth."

"What can we use against him that we don't already have?" Hunter asked.

"...Other diamonds." Luz answered. "We need to learn the Blue Glyph."

"MEOW!" The staff immediately flipped over as Luz fell into the trees. 

"GHOST!" Amit chastised. "Sorry Luz!"

"S'kay…I'm used to it by now." At least they had a plan now. Although easier said than done.

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