《The Bartender at the End of the Universe》Ch 232: A Pale Horse and a Bullet Short
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"I'm guessing it's not ready, right?" Sentenza asked as he unceremoniously tossed Ted onto the floor behind Narissa.
"You'll know when it's fixed, trust me." Narissa grumbled angrily.
"I wasn't talking about this box." he said firmly as he whipped out a pistol and snapped it open to inspect the bullet chambers closer.
Narissa looked confused for just a moment before realization dawned on her. She stopped what she was doing and turned around towards him.
"Of course it isn't!" she scoffed. "It's not something that can just be rushed like that."
"How hard can it be?" he asked as he pulled out a fresh cigarillo. "You've already done it once."
Narissa put a hand on her head and let out an exasperated sigh. "And what, you thought I'd just be carrying it around on me? I'm not that insane."
Sentenza calmly and meticulously pulled a match from his pocket and ran it along his boot. The match burst into flames at the tip, and he used it to light the nicotine stick in between his lips. He shook out the match and then flicked it away.
After he took a long drag, he turned his fierce gaze towards Narissa. He pointed at a pouch on her belt and said, "I figured you'd leave it somewhere safe, and just grab it when you wanted it."
Narissa looked down at where he was pointing, and then turned away from him. She let out a huff, "Just what are you impl..." she caught herself and let out another frustrated sigh. "Fine whatever. Of course you already knew."
"So then go on and grab it." he commanded. "I'd rather not risk the kind of heat coming from the fight out there."
"Look, so I hid a little something from you? I wasn't lying about that. There isn't any that are finished." Narissa explained.
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"Then give me one that isn't finished." he said flatly.
Bakade walked through into the fleshy room at that moment, and Narissa turned her eyes away. The skinny girl gently set Nugget next to Ted. "Ccccaaaaaannnn yyyyooouuuu wwwaaatttccchhh ttthhheeemmm?"
"Yeah sure, go out and have fun." Narissa replied as she turned her back to them and waved her hand over her shoulder. "I'll get this thing working, and make sure these two keep out of the fight. Okay?"
Bakade nodded, but as she went to leave, Sentenza stayed put. The older man crossed his arms as he stared at the back of Narissa's head.
BOOM!
An explosion outside rocked the entire room, but throughout the entire thing, Sentenza's kept his eyes on the witch.
"I'm not asking." Sentenza said calmly as he clicked his gun back into place where it just so happened to be pointing in Narissa's general direction.
Narissa clenched her fists and grit her teeth. She spun around and was all smiles as she looked at Sentenza apologetically.
"I'm so sorry dear," she said in a sickly-sweet voice. "I'm fresh out from the last one I gave you. I've been working so hard since then; I've hardly had time to bake any more."
Sentenza seemed frozen in place for just a moment as his finger moved to his trigger.
"Fine." he finally said as he holstered his pistol. He lifted his hat and ran his hand through his hair as he sighed.
"This is gonna be messy..." Sentenza grumbled. He put his hat back on his head and pulled on the brim to lower it down just a little more. He turned and looked at Bakade who was still standing there and soaking in the exchange. "Do you figure we can lure them up top?"
Bakade shook her head. "Ttttooo eeeaaasssyyy fffooorrr ttthhheee fffiiiirrrsssttt tttoooo fffooolllooowww tttoooo gggeeeettt ssssuuurrrrooouuunnnddddeeedddd."
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Sentenza nodded. "Fair assumption. I know I wouldn't do it without finishing off my other enemy first."
He scratched his neck and grumbled as the sounds of destruction intensified outside.
"You figure that monster will stay up there?" he asked.
"Who?" Bakade replied as she tilted her moose skull to the side.
"What do you mean, who? That thing that was trying to kill you and the lady hen when I found you." he scoffed.
"Hhhhuuuhhh? Sssshhheee jjjuuusssttt wwwaaannnttteeeddd aaaa dddeeeaaallll." Bakade shrugged.
Sentenza snorted. "Yeah, a sweet deal for her. Like asking you to reach into a basket full of snakes so it could rob your corpse when you're dead."
Narissa had turned away from them but was listening very intently to their conversation. A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead as she pretended to work on repairing the room.
"Whoa!" Og'drimun cheered. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"
Heck yeah bro! Death hollered happily. Now this is better than walking by far!
Og'drimun had attempted another summoning. However, their strange position within intersecting realities both bolstered his abilities and limited them. As he tried to craft a giant fire breathing dragon to slay their enemies, he instead created a homunculus that looked almost exactly like a pale horse.
However, this was no ordinary horse. Sure, it looked normal in just about every way, but it seemed to be able to step on the very air itself. It had no wings, but it also seemed to have no trouble supporting itself on any spot it deemed fit to stand upon.
As Death rode atop it with Og'drimun inside his ribcage, the horse took charge. The shockwaves had no impact on the pale horse as it galloped any direction it pleased.
When the wolf flew up to attack it, Og'drimun put up a magical barrier that managed to repel the attack. However, as the sword slammed against the shield, a wave of light passed over them.
As the light flashed over them, the horse's flesh drained away for a moment to reveal an ominous skeletal form with far more spikes and what almost looked like blades imbedded along its larger bones.
But, as the barrier faded away, so too did the internal vision of the horse. And, once again it was nothing more than a regular horse.
Dude! Did you see that? Death cheered.
"If you mean that weird skeleton thing, then yeah I did!" the demon cheered from within his cage.
The horse was silent as it galloped up further into the sky.
This horse is almost as cool as if you summoned a magic skateboard to ride around on! Death nodded happily.
The homunculus horse turned its head back towards the skeleton on its back. Its eye stared straight at Death's skull.
Er, I mean... Death coughed. Nothing could beat this awesome horse. Not even the coolest dirt bike, or rollerblades.
The horse turned its head forward again and started to gallop faster and faster.
"Hey uh, maybe don't insult the thing we're riding on next time?" Og'drimun whispered.
Death shrugged. Hey, I didn't mean to. It felt like an awesome compliment to me dude.
As the horse started to slow down and turn its head back again, Death added, Uh, but I can totally see I was wrong about that, and it won't happen again!
The horse started moving again and turned its head forward. In unison both Og'drimun and Death let out a relieved sigh.
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