"Vic!"
Two low, suppressed growls hit Vic like an ice bucket challenge, instantly freezing him mid-party.
Stiffly, he turned his head to find Enid and Wednesday standing shoulder-to-shoulder.
Enid's blue eyes were shimmering with moisture, the rims slightly red. Wednesday, however, was a glacier. Her face was locked in perma-frost, and her dark, abyssal eyes looked ready to fire actual ice picks.
"Oh..."
Vic deflated instantly. He hid the gourd behind his back, straightened his spine, and looked down submissively. He looked exactly like a prankster caught red-handed by the principal, awaiting the gavel of fate.
However, the Symbiote on his shoulder clearly hadn't sobered up from the celebration. A few black tendrils were still swaying to the rhythm of the BGM playing in their shared brain.
One curious tentacle even poked Vic in the head.
"Bro, why'd you cut the music? Don't stop the party!" Venom's raspy voice complained.
"Uh oh..."
It was only then that Venom belatedly felt the two death stares capable of turning magma into dry ice. It immediately lost its nerve. Zip! All the tendrils retracted, transforming into a limp, black puddle on Vic's shoulder, pretending to be nothing more than a mundane, albeit ugly, scarf.
"I'm sorry..."
Vic's voice was a whisper, barely audible, his head hanging lower. He radiated an aura of pure 'I know I sinned.'
"Do you have any idea what you did?"
Enid's voice carried a hint of a sob, but it was mostly filled with lingering terror.
"You can't just shove random cursed objects into your mouth! Do you think that's a snack? What if it killed you? You... you terrified us!"
Vic looked up, peering pitifully at Enid. His usually chaotic, manic eyes were now swimming with tears, looking like a kicked golden retriever.
His lip quivered slightly, pouting just enough to signal an incoming flood of tears.
"I..."
He opened his mouth but only managed a single syllable. It was a look that could melt a stone gargoyle.
All of Enid's prepared lectures died in her throat. Seeing that expression, she felt like a feather had brushed against her heart—it was frustrating, but she was melting.
"Don't... don't look at me like that..."
She tried to hold the line, but her tone was already crumbling.
"That trick won't work... I... Ugh, fine. You win."
She finally surrendered, turning her head away in frustration and yielding the battlefield to her roommate.
"Wednesday, you tag in! I can't handle the face."
Wednesday let out a cold scoff, delivering a poisonous critique: "Pathetic. You folded over a cheap parlor trick."
She stepped forward, ready to eviscerate this reckless idiot with her signature brand of logic and dread.
However, she was met with Vic's eyes—brimming with unshed tears, shimmering like tragic stars, staring straight at her in silence.
It was the look of an orphan abandoned in a Victorian winter, pure and fragile, screaming, 'I know I was wrong, please have mercy.'
Wednesday: "..."
Her chamber of vitriol jammed instantly.
Her cold, dead eyes locked with his teary, starry ones. The standoff lasted for three agonizing seconds.
Wednesday abruptly looked away. She inhaled sharply—almost imperceptibly—and spoke with uncharacteristic speed, sounding almost rushed.
"Do not repeat this error."
Having said her piece, she immediately retreated to Enid's side, crossing her arms to regain her cold, aloof composure. Though, the tips of her ears were suspiciously pink.
Enid shot her a side-eye that screamed, 'I thought you were stronger than me?'
Wednesday stared back blankly, her eyes retorting, 'We speak of this never.'
Standing on the sidelines, Jade watched the whole thing with her jaw on the floor. She was shook.
Holy crap! What level of sorcery is this?!
She watched Vic's instant facial control, the calculated tears, the precision pouting...
This wasn't just acting; this was art. It was a weapon! It was the skeleton key to getting away with murder!
Jade's hands trembled with excitement. she wanted to whip out a notebook right now and document the angle of the gaze, the muscle control, and the timing.
If she mastered this technique, would she ever fear Uncle Jackie's lectures again? Incomplete homework? No snacks?
One look, and she'd be invincible!
Seeing the 'All Clear' signal, Vic's tragic mask vanished instantly. His signature grin returned to his face as if the teary-eyed boy from a second ago had been a hallucination.
Like a magician, he pulled two fancy, foil-wrapped chocolates from his pocket and shoved them into Enid and Wednesday's hands as a peace offering.
"Okay, okay, lesson learned! I promise, never again!"
His tone was light, coaxing.
"Here, have a treat. For the trauma."
Enid looked at the expensive chocolate, then at Vic's "I'm a good boy" face. She sighed helplessly, but the corner of her mouth twitched upward.
Wednesday weighed the chocolate in her hand, glanced at Vic, and said coldly, "Bribery."
But she unwrapped it anyway and took a small, delicate bite.
She hated sweets, but Vic's offerings were legally exempt.
"Hey! Where's my bribe?!"
Jade, who had been watching the show, stomped her foot in protest.
"Kids get cavities at night," Vic reasoned, deadpan.
"That is ageist discrimination!" Jade accused, puffing up her cheeks.
Vic just chuckled and deliberately ruffled her hair, ignoring her indignant squawks.
After the brief interlude, Vic's attention returned to the ancient gourd in his hand.
"So... what exactly is this thing?"
Vic rubbed the cool, glazed surface of the gourd, curiosity taking the wheel again.
"Taste was weird, though. Aside from getting Venom high, I don't feel anything special."
Venom popped out of his shoulder slightly, raspy voice agreeing, "Tasted like spicy jet fuel! Or... uh, battery acid. Hell of a kick, though."
At that moment, the ghost of Goody Addams, who had been observing silently, drifted closer. Her spectral fingers pointed vaguely at the gourd, her brow furrowed.
"This vessel... is significant. I sense an aura attached to it—ancient and potent. It radiates a purifying light."
"This is no ordinary object. It feels like... a relic left by a Ascended Master, designed to banish darkness."
She paused, her tone turning solemn.
"That wisp of demonic energy Vic just... 'drank'... was likely stripped from a demon when it was sealed away."
Vic sprinted over to the display case he had smashed earlier, digging through the debris until he found a placard that was still mostly legible.
He blew the glass dust off the surface and, using the emergency lighting of the exhibit hall, read it aloud:
"Divine Artifact: The Gourd of the Immortal Li. Legend states that the crippled sage used this very vessel to banish the ruler of the Atlantean Kingdom, the Water Demon—Bai Tza—into the Netherworld."
He finished reading and tossed the placard aside with a loud clang.
"Whoa," Vic whistled, sounding like he'd just discovered a new toy. "Atlantis? The Water Demon Bai Tza? That sounds way cooler than Shendu's dusty statue!"
In stark contrast to his excitement—
"Oh, good heavens!!"
Jackie Chan let out a wail of despair, clutching his head with both hands as if trying to keep his brain from exploding.
"One Shendu isn't enough?! Now we have a Water Demon?! And she's the Queen of Atlantis?! How many of these doomsday trinkets are hidden in this world?!"
Jackie felt his vision go dark, a deep sense of powerlessness washing over him.
Why was the burden of saving the world getting heavier? He just wanted to do archaeology in peace and quiet.