It wasn't the fault of two out-of-the-loop teens that they lacked the purchasing power to obtain artifacts of great power from an inter-extra-outer-dimensional corporate Merchant. The only thing they had of value were the clothes on the backs and their otherwise impressive X-gene, neither of which either were willing to part with.
It was understandable. Isaac understood that. But that was not to say that he wasn't a bit letdown. Still, it was a little setback, all things considered.
Alas, before he could make any more effort to persuade them further, at least in hopes of a future purchase, the doors opened as an anxious Mikhail and an eager Callisto marched in.
"Mikhail!"
The moment the stoic man saw Sally, he stomped forward and wrapped her into a relieved hug.
"Oh little one, you worry us." As he released her from his arms, Callisto shoved her way past him and glared down at Sally.
"You've got some nerve, brat." Sally shrunk in reflex in the face of Callisto's glare. "Annalee has been shouting my ears off for the past 20 minutes. I'll he correcting this fuck up of yours when we get back."
"Cali, don't be harsh. She was attacked." Mikhail tried to reason with the daredevil but that just made her glare harshly at Sally.
"Something that wouldn't have happened if she had not gotten stupid enough to come out here, and also ditch the team she came with." Her sharp words rent asunder any plea Mikhail could make on Sally's behalf, all of which made Callisto even angrier.
"We're leaving."
Sally's head hung low from Callisto's rebuke as well as the fact that she had made Nana Lee worry. In fact, the latter was way worse.
"I don't know what kind of trouble she's in, but she saved my life. Those bastards would've torched my ass if it wasn't for her."
"Huh? Who's the tagalong riffraff?"
Rus froze the moment the pirate lady turned to stare at him. It was as if someone had leveled a really really sharp knife at his throat.
"R-Rus. Russel C-Collins." He did not hold it against his mouth for stuttering. She was just that scary.
"Who were they?" She asked straightly.
Rus grimaced. "They called themselves Friends of Humanity. They're some kind of cult scum with a hate boner for mutants. I don't know how they found me but I did not really want to stick around and ask."
Mikhail turned towards Isaac, who had remained silent since their arrival, and held his hand out for a shake. "Sorry for the mess, Isaac."
Isaac, ever the polite Merchant, waved it off with a laugh. "Don't worry about it. If anything you could have given me a few more seconds to finish my persuading speech before coming in."
Mikhail laughed. Callisto on the other hand rolled her eyes, only stopping when she saw the look on both Sally's and Rus' faces.
"What?"
"N-Nothing." Both teens shook their heads rapidly in fright.
"Unless you want to know how your tongue tastes flambéed, out with it."
Sally used her chin to gesture at Isaac who was conversing with Mikhail and murmured quietly beside Callisto.
"Those guys… they came into the store… he made them disappear.".
"Really," she looked completely unsurpassed. "No wonder I lost their scent after we arrived." She just shrugged and nonchalantly disregarded Sally's worries.
Neither Sally nor Rus knew how to react to her lack of reaction, so as wise children that they were, they took the cue and refrained from making a mention of it.
"I'll be back later, Isaac. I have to get the two of them home." Mikhail said.
"Don't worry about it." Isaac replied understandably. Of course the kids were the priority. Obviously.
They all froze as they heard the bell jingle again. Sally and Rus' eyes drifted between the two leaders of the Morlocks and the Merchant who stood smilingly behind his counter.
"A pawnshop, really? This is the place of great importance you said you were taking me to?" The disbelieving voice of a caustic-sarcastic girl rang out from the entrance, causing their shoulders to sag in relief.
They all relaxed somewhat, except Mikhail who had grown more rigid. He recognized that voice.
"Holy shi–"
Either Rus or Sally, or both of them, exclaimed when they saw the dull green full-armored figure with a cape from behind the shelf that led to the entrance.
"Illyana!" Mikhail exclaimed when he saw his sister trailing behind Dr. Doom inside Junk 'N Stuff.
"Mik!" She looked just as surprised to see him here but then her eyes became suspicious. "Wait? Is this the same place you got your pocket dimension?"
"Ah..." Mikhail trailed off and looked towards Doom who practically ignored his presence as he came up to the counter before Isaac.
"It is, isn't it!" she paddled up to Doom and looked across the counter to Isaac who stood there with his most neutral smile. "And what are you supposed to be? Some kind of black market demon or something?"
"Not something. Merchant." Isaac replied with a short bow and held his hand to his chest. "Isaac. Welcome to Junk 'N Stuff."
She raised a brow at the name. "Huh uh. And what kind of name is that anyway?"
"Illyana, be respectful to Isaac." Mikhail promptly warned. His sister had grown really caustic and verbal, but that was not reason to be rudely direct.
He turned to Callisto who was eying Dr. Doom with a surgical gaze, "Take them back to the hideout for now, Cali. I'll be back soon."
"Suit yourself." She didn't have to say anything as both teens automatically kicked into motion.
"You could have just gone with your girlfriend, bro."
"Bro?"
"Suit yourself man."
"Shoppe Keeper," Doom started as he put something down on the counter. "The Cosmic Control Rod."
"Oh my." Isaac, transfixed, lifted the rod of great power and was mesmerized by it. Now this, this was the perfect example of 'highlight of the day'. He put down the rod with the glow still in his eyes and regarded Doom respectfully.
"Truly, you bring me the rarest finds, good sir."
"You give your service the courtesy of the words you speak. And Doom regards it the same, for Doom is no pauper." The armored monarch remarked regally in a tone that bespoke of how obvious both of their actions were.
—The Cosmic Control Rod: This singular artifact is the soul of the Negative Zone, the antimatter decaying universe (or parallel subspace as critics say).
The possession of this artifact not only grants immortality and the means to drain and siphon the antimatter of the Negative Zone(as well as other forms of energy) to fuel oneself, it also grants the wielder increased intellect and a slew of other abilities such as flight, a super enhanced physique, energy projection and also the ability to manipulate matter on a fundamental scale.
While this is all good and dandy, the prize of this glow stick is the absolute dominion of the trillions upon trillions of inhabitants of the Negative Zone, aptly named The Annihilation Wave.
*Why is that important, you say? I mean, who knows. Definitely not space conquerors and universal tyrants…. Definitely not.
"And I reckon you're here for a quality exchange rather than to simply sell?"
"Astute."
"And do you have what you want in mind or should I…"
"The Biomnitrix, for one." Doom instantly replied. Isaac did not look surprised.
"Unfortunately sir, while the rod is—"
Doom placed a book of great magic on the table, so much so that Illyana instantly flinched and doubled back towards Mikhail when she caught a whiff of it.
Isaac looked at the book and a greater surprise washed his face. "The Darkhold…. Now this I did not expect."
—The Darkhold: The Book of the Damned? The Book of Sins? The name doesn't matter for this is a true copy of the inscribed scriptures.
The Darkhold is not a spellbook in the traditional sense. It is a repository of the most dangerous magic in existence—a complete library of the black arts, written by the being who invented them.
Immortality and resurrection, infernal curses, vampirism and lycanthropy, dimensional energy siphoning, dreamwalking and dreamweaving, psychic amplification, chaos and endbringing, creation and destruction—tis but a fraction of what the Darkhold contains.
It is not merely a book of spells. It is a conduit. A doorway. A leash held by something ancient that is still on the other end, waiting.
*This is not a book. This is a wound in reality that someone bound in leather and called a grimoire.
*What? You still need a line of warning after all this?
Oh but this was all he lived for.
"My collector's soul is burning with curiosity, so if you don't mind me asking, sir, how did you come to acquire this?"
"Doom pried it off the corpse of an ambitious witch. She sought a fool's gambit when she attempted to withhold it from Doom's demands."
Isaac nodded, curiosity sated, and simply brought out an alien-looking container and set it besides the rod.
"The Biomnitrix. An absolutely fantastic choice. But will that be all, sir?"
Doom turned towards Illyana who hadn't realized when she'd scurried towards Mikhail. Seeing Doom looking at her, she left her brother's side and walked towards Doom, eying the dark magic book warily.
"Something for her, I reckon?"
Isaac looked at Illyana who turned to stare at him suspiciously. He then looked from her to Mikhail and a scheming smile, as suspected by Illyana, slowly took over his expression.
"I believe, in the interest of multiple parties, that I have the perfect thing for her."
He went to one of the lockers behind him, and to Mikhail's surprised gasp, opened it and took out a katana and set it before Illyana.
"The Yamato, famously owned by Vergil of Sparda… and occasionally Dante, when he's being dramatic."
—Yamato (Devil May Cry): There are swords, and then there are concepts given edge. Yamato is the latter. Forged from the fangs of the demon lord Sparda, this katana is not a weapon you swing. It is a philosophy you enact.
This slender fragile-looking blade does not gleam. It does not burn. It simply waits. And when it moves, it does not cut. It separates.
Yamato's unique property is that it can sever anything. Not in the physical sense alone—a mundane sword can cut flesh and bone. Yamato cuts concepts. It can sever the barrier between dimensions. It can cut through magic, through time, through the very fabric of reality. It can separate a demon from its power. It can separate a soul from its body. It can separate a lie from the truth.
*Professional User's Tip: What is the best way to assert dominance? — Judgement Cut. (Frequently asked question.)
"That's nice and all, but I already have a sword." Illyana said, not understanding why she would need a sword when she already had one.
Turns out that Doom did not agree with her sentiment.
"Foolish girl. What have I said about surface assumptions?"
Illyana froze and gave a shaky smile. "Not to partake in them?"
"It is to 'Never' partake in them." Her mentor corrected sternly.
With a healthy dose of experience, she quickly turned back to the sword to prevent another monologue of lessons. She read the tag a second time, and slowed down even more as she read through it a third time.
'Okay, this shit is busted.' True, but that wasn't it. Doom wasn't that superficial. If the power was apparent then the next thing to look for was utility.
'A sword made from a demon lord… wait.'
"Hey, can I fuse my soul sword with this?"
The magic coiled around the blade made that idea a possibility. As it was, according to Doom, her soul sword was still infant in its development and it could primarily only harm spirits and demons, nothing else, at least for now. Well other than that, it seems to work better in Limbo.
"Yes." Isaac replied. "Better yet, you can fuse it that way and further fuse it into yourself as you seem to have a knack with demonic energies."
"Though a minor warning; the Yamato contains its own ego. Chances are it will subsume your soul sword into itself just so it would become the only soul blade you have. You might be able to reverse it if you have a strong enough will, but either way the blade becomes yours."
"That so? My willpower is pretty strong." She smirked.
"You are strongly willful. There is a difference." Doom remarked, wiping the smirk off her face.
"What else?" Isaac asked. It almost looked as if he was being generous with a sales discount, except that The Darkhold and the Cosmic Control Rod were just that valuable.
"Will it compass one of those cultivation techniques you offered last time?"
"Some, yes, but I'm afraid it doesn't give you leeway to purchase techniques like Heaven-Sealing Scriptures, Primordial Origin Immortal Technique, or the He-Hua Zi-Zai Great Method."
Isaac frowned tightly and made a so-so gesture with his hands. "I might… might make do with the Great Way of the Buddha Technique, and even that would be me pushing it with just these."
"Hmm," Doom nodded and took the Biomnitrix pod into his storage space, "Doom is not one that would push another beyond his means. Doom will render an exchange equal to what Doom wants. Till then, Shoppe Keeper."
Like he arrived, Doom left without regarding the presence of anyone other than himself.
"See you later, Mik!" Illyana shouted as she followed after Doom. "And we'll be visiting Petya a week from now. No excuses."
The shop quieted down after they left, leaving Mikhail and Isaac staring at each other; Isaac looking neutrally oblivious while Mikhail turned from surprise to thanks.
"You are a good friend, Isaac."
"While I have no idea what you mean by that, thanks. I try to be." Mikhail nodded, accepting his words for what they were.
"Later then, friend."
"When I see you, Mikhail."
.
...…..
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While conversations went on in the shop, the two teens silently followed after a silent Callisto as she led them, not to the nearest entrance, but one farther away from the shop.
"Hmm, this is perfect." Callisto said as they came up to a dead end. "How about you come out instead of making me do it."
To Rus and Sally's surprise, and also their horror, a group of clearly maliciously-intending humans pooled into the entrance and blocked off their exit.
"Good, that's all of you." Callisto nodded and pulled out a dagger with a fiery glow.
"Kneel where you are, you filthy mut—" the woman who spoke had her words cut short as she exploded into a bonfire.
The two behind her shared in her fate as Callisto stabbed through them with her Salamander Dagger.
Her two charges stared on with dumbstruck horror as she made a brief work of their attackers in a handful of seconds.
"What the fuck are you gaping at? Hop on it!" She shouted harshly at them, knocking them out of their daze, as she left the dead end trail behind with an artistic number of humanoid bonfires.
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