Irium

"If he perfects that ability," Dues answers to the question ringing loudly like an alarm clock in my head, "he might even be able to control powerful beings, like Roswaisa, and turn them into his slaves. Quite the fascinating ability, isn"t it?"

She starts walking over the bushes. "Unfortunately, since he"s against me, he won"t get the chance to perfect it."

s.h.i.t!

"Don"t you dare try to stop me! It"ll only end up in you getting hurt." She says with a glance at me as I try to get up.

Although I hate to admit it, she might be right. Cartel blew up his chance to get away. I don"t think there"s a way out for him now. But,

"Wait!" surprising me and her both, the birdlike human in question comes out of trees and stands in front of Dues. He looks nervous. He looks calculating. But, in no aspect does he look afraid.

"I think … there"s been a misunderstanding, G.o.ddess."

"Oh!?" She laughs and asks as if she is letting a child give his excuse before punishing him, "And how is that?"

"The thing is, G.o.ddess, I never intended for there to be any harm to you." Cartel says with his best smile, "All I wanted – was to show you … that I could be an a.s.set to you."

In a not-so-convincing way, Cartel says so. Dues seems like she is about to roll her eyes but Cartel continues, "See I, I think you are amazing … and I want to … help you in your quest of … Pfft! Ha! Hahaha!"

All of sudden, he starts to laugh and he laughs so much he needs to bring a hand to his stomach to stop the laughing.

"I can"t do this." He says while still laughing, "I can"t play this "I"m-so-innocent-I-only-wanted-to-impress-you" part."

As if laughing has made it harder to walk, he almost trips over nothing as he continues. Even Dues is left baffled at this.

"Hey Niviks, come out! We are busted anyway!" He says and the old Frost steps out from a distance. Dues ignores him and keeps her eyes on Cartel.

"What"s so funny, you birdlike midget?" She asks in a somewhat irritated tone. Cartel, as hears that question, somehow stops himself from laughing and looks back at her as he says,

"Are you irritated now, Dues? Wow! I am so glad to see that!"

"You won"t be so glad when you break every single bone in your body. Who the h.e.l.l are you anyway?"

Cartel takes the support of a tree as he answers, "Why, I am Cartel Hopkins, the man your two very-beloved subordinates have been searching for all this time."

Dues" face stiffens up as she hears that.

"Seeing as how you have turned me into such a big celebrity on Earth, I"d think you would have at least seen a picture of me or something."

She puts a hand on her forehead, as if not even listening to him. While it"s very appeasing to my heart to see her smirk wiped off her face, I am kinda lost as to what this birdie is planning to do to get out of this situation.

Dues seems like she is at a loss for what to say to Cartel so he continues, "Well, in any case, it"s very nice meeting you, G.o.ddess."

"What the f.u.c.k are you doing, Cartel?" Niviks asks with "confused" written all over his face.

"What? Now that my cover is blown anyway, what"s the point of trying to put up masks and what"s the point of stupid lies? We should just be honest about things here."

"You-" Dues finally opens her mouth to say something but Cartel cuts her off with a finger and a click of tongue.

"There"s something you should know." He says with a deep voice, "I was just told Irium about this right before you came and I think you should know it as well. My goal towards which I have been working for years – is to become the king of the planet known as Earth."

Although she doesn"t seem like she"s completely over her bafflement, Dues" attention is grabbed nonetheless.

"And I AM going to become the king, no matter what." He says as he looks her right in the eye. "And you won"t be able to do a single thing to stop me."

Seeing that provocative att.i.tude, Dues" eyebrows twitch and she says in an irritated voice, "I could incinerate you right here, right now. Tell me how that wouldn"t stop you!"

"Hahahahaha!!!" Cartel laughs as if he is looking at an angsty teen who makes bigger threats than she would ever be capable of living up to.

"…" Dues stays silent and only grits her teeth as she sees that.

"You … Hahaha! You … HAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!" Trying his best to stop the laughter, Cartel almost falls down. He balances himself however and finally speaks, "You wouldn"t do that, Dues. You know why?"

Staring at her like he has already won the game, "It"s because you haven"t done it already. It"s because you are a reasonable person. It"s because you realize that by killing me, there"s that tiny, little, microscopic chance something of a backup plan of mine will be triggered and that would backfire on you … big time."

He pauses just to look at her face which shows that her irritation at Cartel being right and so he continues, "It"s because you are so insecure. It"s because deep inside, you know you are no G.o.d but just a flimsy little b.i.t.c.h who has bit on more than she can chew."

As he says this, I am left stunned at how he has seemingly turned the tables.

As he says this, Niviks is left smiling at how he has apparently turned the tables.

As he says this, Dues is left shaking at how he has definitely turned the tables.

"You are a hundred lives too early to stop me, you delusional "G.o.ddess"."

*****