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The phone started ringing as soon as Morgan and Alex walked in the door from their dinner. Alex had insisted on calling in a date night, because, as he put it, “I’m taking you out to a very fancy restaurant, our child is not home for the night, and I’m paying. I’m calling it what I want.”
When Morgan vehemently refused the phrase, and Alex asked him why they were even going out anyway, Morgan answered, “all the parenting books say that the parents should take time away from their kids everyone in a while to have a chance to relax, so they can always be at their best for their children” Alex just snorted and went back to fixing his tie.
“Hey Alex, put the leftovers in the fridge for me while I answer the phone, alright?”
“Alright, fine. But if this food gets forgotten I’m giving it to Hawk. This is an $80 steak and I’m not seeing it go to waste.”
“Alex, you know he only likes human flesh. Also, since when have you cared about food going to waste?”
“No, no, he loves human flesh. He will tolerate other flesh though. And this is a really good fucking steak. Our child deserves the best meat and I will ensure he has it. Even if it is ridiculously overpriced.”
“Yeah, I know it was overpriced, but did you have to kill the manager? I could have dealt without blood splatter next to my dinner.”
“What did you want me to do? Let them rob me blind?”
Morgan just sighed and picked up the phone, which had still not stopped ringing. “Hello, Morgan speaking. If you're calling about an apartment, I’m afraid you’ll have to call back during office hours. However, if-”
“I see you, Morgan. I see you with that demon. You have betrayed your bloodline, and for that, you will die. You both will.” The phone hung up suddenly, and the dial tone left his ears ringing.
“Hey, Alex?” He calls, walking slowly into the kitchen. “What’s up,” Alex says back, head still inside the fridge where he’s rummaging through to find a pack of beer they bought for tonight.
“Game night is gonna have to wait.”
Alex breaks the beer bottle he’s holding. Glass splatters everywhere, except at Morgan. With a snap of his fingers, it’s all cleaned up.
“Why?” He whines. “Hawk is with Barnaby and Ohio across the hall, Barnaby warned all the heroes not to patrol tonight because I would kill them immediately, and all the villains knew not to start shit because I would be busy.”
“Because some creepy guy just called and said he sees me and ‘that demon,’ and said that that I’ve betrayed my bloodline, and for that, I will die.”
“So we’re getting surveilled again?”
“Nah, if we were they wouldn’t outright call us or let us know. That’s the dumbest thing in the book. I think it’s just a zealous civilian.”
“Want me to teleport him here and get it over with?”
“I don’t know. He mentioned ‘my bloodline’, and my family, and it’s weird that he brought them up. Like, that’s so random?”
“But Morgan. Game night! You promised to play Risk with me again.”
“Alex, I said no such thing. I have no plans for you to burn down my apartment building because I took Europe from you again, and you know it.”
“Morgan, that was one time, and there was only a little property damage to my base. Come onnnn.”
A knife gets picked up and thrown at Alex’s head. He whips his head up, looking around, and with a wave of his hand, a shield is thrown around Morgan. When Morgan glances at him, he mutters, “don’t worry, Hawks safe. Barnaby’s apartment has had a protective charm around it all evening. Only we can enter.” Morgan nods.
“Who are you?” Alex calls out.
The phone rings again, and they let the answering machine take over.
A crackling voice comes over the speaker. “I warned you. The demon will die. And you will follow Morgan.”
Alex stalks over to the phone. “Who the fuck are you,” he asks, but all he is answered with is the dial tone.
“My name is Broderick,” he hears, and he swings his head around, seeing Morgan standing almost unnaturally still, eyes glowing a bright yellow.
“I have made it my life and death’s purpose to rid the world of demons like you.” The words are coming out of Morgan’s mouth, but it’s not Morgan’s voice.
“And why do you think I’m a demon, creepy ghost possessing my friend's body?”
“Your eyes. They glow yellow, and that is the mark of the unnatural.”
“Then take a look in the fucking mirror man. I ain’t the only one with yellow eyes in this room.”
The ghost hisses at Alex, and he rolls his eyes. “Alright, I’ve had enough. Get out of his body, or I’ll make you.”
The ghost smirks, saying, “ Ghosts can only possess their blood. Tell my grandson I say hello.” Suddenly, Morgan’s yellow eyes disappear, and he lets out an almost sigh as he collapses. Alex reaches out and catches him as he falls.
“Hey, Morgan. Wake up. I need you here when I beat your however many great grandpa’s ass,” he says while shaking him.
“Wha jus’ happened?” Morgan asks, eyes slowly blinking open. “Your grandpa decided to possess your body to talk to me.”
He groans. “I hate my family.” Alex nods sympathetically. Morgan stands up and immediately starts yelling into the air.
“You fucking dickhead! I’ll show you not to possess people! I’ll kick your little ghost ass!”
“He also told me to say hello,” Alex says, watching in amusement.
Morgan proceeds to yell for another minute.
When he’s done, Alex hands him a glass of water. Morgan nods his thanks before taking a sip.
“So, what’s the plan,” Alex asks when Morgan’s done.
“It’s after you. You come up with the plan.”
“But it’s your ancestor that’s trying to kill me.”
“My family members are always trying to kill you.”
“But you love coming up with plans. That’s your thing. Tell me you don’t already have one.”
Morgan sighs. “I read on Reddit that the only way to get rid of a ghost is to exorcise it. So one of us has to grab a bible.”
Alex stares at him. “Your kidding right?”
“What,” Morgan shrugs, “Reddit is a great source of information.”
“No, not about Reddit, I know how great it is. But you know I’m an atheist. I’m not touching a bible.”
It’s Morgan’s turn to be annoyed.
“Seriously? Alex, I’m not asking you to put on a cassock, I’m just asking you to get me a bible.”
“Well, what would we do with it anyway?”
“I don’t know, hit the ghost?”
“Morgan, it’s a ghost. You can’t hit it.”
“Alright fine, let me look this up. Give me 10 minutes.”
Alex does as told, and when Morgan returns, he looks slightly annoyed. “Alright, he’s held in this world by his grave, so we have to find it and destroy it. Now, I’m pretty sure it’s somewhere in Wales because that’s where my family is from. But can’t you just snap your fingers and make him leave?
“I mean, it’s worth a try. But I don’t think it will work. He’s dead, and I don’t know if my powers work on ghosts.”
Alex snaps his fingers, and they wait for a few seconds before a chair is picked up and lobbed at Morgan’s head.
“Well, I guess that answers that question,” Alex says, catching the chair in midair.
He snaps his finger again, and they’re teleported to Wales. Morgan darts inside the nearest store, and comes out with a small map. They spend the next hour teleporting to every graveyard in Wales and looking for Morgan’s fucking ancestor Broderick.
When they reach graveyard number 16, both of them are tired and annoyed. Alex more so, because he was looking forward to Risk with Morgan.
“This better be it, I swear to god,” Morgan mutters.
They search through the rows as fast as possible, and then Morgan calls for Alex. Alex runs over, to where Morgan is staring at a crumbling tombstone, the name almost erased from the weathered stone.
“Died 1756. He’s an old bastard.”
“This is kind of sad. I mean, no one remembers him. A crumbling tombstone with no name is all he has left. I’m sure that even if we didn’t come here this would be gone in a couple of years.”
“Yes, yes, very sad. Anyways,” Alex says, snapping his fingers. The grave marker immediately crumbles into pieces, a small cloud of dust rising up. They can hear a faint shriek in the distance, and when they wait a couple of minutes and nothing happens, they assume their annoying poltergeist is finally gone.
“Hey!” Morgan cries, turning towards Alex.
“There comes a time when morals and empathy suck. This is that time,” Alex says, smirking.
“As much as I should be upset at you, if I had my way we would have been sitting here for three hours wondering if it was a horrible thing to do.”
“Yes, we would have. But my way is easier, so let’s go home and have a round of risk. We can go see Hawk and play with Ohio and Barnaby if you’re really that worried about me being a sore loser.”
Alex snaps his finger and they’re back at their apartment. Alex walks over to the game closet and starts rooting through it.
“They’re not strong enough to stop you,” Morgan says with a smile.
“No,” Alex replies, coming back with Risk in his hands and a confident smile in place. “But Hawk will be very cross with me, and I have to set a good example for him. So I won’t.”
“Fine,” Morgan sighs, grabbing the steak from the fridge on his way out.
When they enter Barnaby and Ohio’s apartment, Hawk is snuggling with Kotetsu by the window, and Ohio’s making late-night pancakes. They all roll their eyes when Alex starts unpacking the Risk board, but within minutes they’re seated around the table and laughing, and Ohio’s complaining about making more pancakes.