Finn’s words were cut short as Alex snapped, causing a shroud of black and white light to erge and devour them.
By the ti it receded, the trio were standing in the place Finn had pointed to.
"Where next?" Alex inquired.
"Just ahead."
Nodding, Alex led the group, utilizing Mindscape to shield the Chiras from whatever had infiltrated their minds the first ti.
Master
Charlotte suddenly called out with Alex nodding. "I know."
Alice and Finn had already gotten into offensive positions while scanning the area around them.
Just then, there was a flash and a beam of light descended.
Alex glanced up and imdiately snapped, allowing them to teleport away just as the beam struck, causing the area they’d been standing in to evaporate in an instant.
"That was..."
Before Finn could finish, the orchestrator behind the attack landed and his mask was revealed.
"Phineas." Alice instinctively called out only to pause as she realized she may have been a bit too careless.
"It would seem you guys really enjoy your clown masks," Alex comnted as he made to snap.
"Apologies but..." Phineas suddenly trailed off only to continue. "Please, co with ."
Alex frowned. "Why?"
"He awaits your arrival."
"Who?"
"The master," Phineas said in a tone of reverence before turning to lead the way.
Frowning, Alex pondered for a mont before going after Phineas.
An uncanny thought had ford at so point but he didn’t want to believe it even as the streets they crossed continued to grow in familiarity.
Soon, they arrived before the very familiar porch and Alex couldn’t deny it any longer.
Phineas pushed open the door and entered, with Alex entering only to pause at the unnatural sight within.
The entire sitting room once filled with warmth now stood cold with an ice sculpture of Rose seated at her favorite rocking chair beside the fireplace.
In the kitchen just ahead stood a familiar back, hunched over, seemingly cutting sothing with the efficiency of a trained chef.
"Albus," Alex muttered softly as he took a step forward.
Albus paused what he was doing before slowly turning to et Alex’s gaze.
A good portion of his face seed to be covered in white fur with one eye a deep icy blue while the other retained its brown coloration.
"You ca," Albus muttered with a twisted smile that left Alex unnerved.
"What did you do, Albus?"
Outrightly ignoring Alex’s question, Albus intoned. "I figured it out, Alex, the concoction we’d made was flawed from the start. The thodology we used however was perfect. I have co up with a theory that might work, but I need your expertise."
"Albus."
"Before, We focused on forcing the malignant cells into a lazy state with the use of the black waters of your domain. However, I dare say that with enough energy, those dastardly cells would be able to fight back the laziness. So how about if we prevent them from being able to draw any energy?... I suggest we use frost, it should be able to sap away any energy that the cells would be able to conjure, destroying them before they can act."
"Albus!" Alex exclaid, causing Albus to finally stop his rant.
Taking a deep breath as he took a step forward, Alex inquired. "What’s going on, Albus?... Where is Rose?... Why is your face like that?"
Albus didn’t seem inclined to respond as he turned away from Alex, leaving the ’Dark Lord’ no choice but to take another step forward.
"Albus, I’m talking to you."
Still no response.
"Albus!"
The old man finally reacted, his body trembling as he turned to face Alex. "I didn’t know what else to do."
"What did you do?"
"She didn’t even have a complete corpse, Alex. She turned into a tree, a fucking tree!" Albus lanted before suddenly letting out a laughter oozing with sadness.
Realizing who Albus was referring to, Alex felt a deep sense of lancholy... or at least, tried to feel that way.
"Albus..."
Pulling at the ’fur’ on his face, Albus continued. "I had no choice. She spoke to and told that I could bring her back. Naturally, I didn’t hesitate to take the offer. Now we have a chance, Alex, I can bring back Rose permanently this ti. Please, I need your help. Just like last ti, I already have all the ingredients."
"Albus, you know I can’t accept this."
"Why!?" Albus loudly questioned, clearly incensed by Alex’s response. "She treated you like family, you ungrateful bastard. So why can’t you do this?... Why!?"
Alex looked on with sadness in his eyes as he could understand Albus’s situation.
Just like Albus, he had taken a deal to return to his family.
Just like Albus, he was willing to do everything to reach his goal.
But there was a line that couldn’t be crossed and that was going against the morals that made him who he was.
Crossing it would an becoming a different person and what if she found out?... Would she be able to accept the monster that committed atrocities?
He thought not.
So, he remarked. "Would Rose be happy seeing you like this?... Would she want you to sacrifice thousands for her sake?"
"It doesn’t matter!" Albus remained hellbent on completing his goals. "I deserve happiness and she is my happiness!... So no matter what, I will bring her back."
"I cannot allow that, Albus," Alex muttered, playing the role of a Hero as best he could.
"You won’t stop , Alex. Leave, just get out if you don’t plan on helping!"
Before more could be said, Finn and Alice suddenly appeared on both sides of the professor and at the sa ti, lashed out with their fists.
On striking him, cracks erged on Albus’s skin after which his body turned into snow.
At the sa ti, Phineas attacked Alex only to be shoved back by Charlotte.
But that was hardly the end of it as even more clown faces began to appear, quickly surrounding Alex, Alice, and Finn inside Albus’s humble abode.
"You imbeciles couldn’t just wait a bit longer, could you?" Alex chided the Chira duo.
"Apologies. We thought a surprise attack was the best strategy considering the circumstances." Finn responded.
Just then, Albus appeared at the doorstep of his ho.
Glaring hatefully at Alex, he scread. "Get out!"
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