Happy Blog Day Everyone!
Following last week's short Blog, I've brought the goods this time as Gabriel takes centre stage with a Short Diversions to call his own, quite nervous on the reactions on this one!
Before that though, let's check in on the lovable duo...
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
Well here it is, issue #60!
A bit of a challenge again, trying to match the poses in all three frames. I'd like to think I'm getting better! Got a fun one planned for next week mind, a homage to one of my favourite movies, hopefully I don't mess it up! If you want a clue, the directors initials are MB.
Short Diversions: The Contract
Ah Gabriel, despite being one of my favourite characters, there's surprisingly little work staring him, though recent years has seen an uptick (the Decagon Key, Malarkey's Fade to Noir, Malarkey's Hubble Bubble all contain Gabriel stories of a sort.) One day his main story will get out there, to see what his plans actually are.
Till then, enjoy his short deviation:
--------------------------------
The Contract
“You can take your time, I’m in no rush, and neither should you, with a monumental decision like this…” The brown haired man said, his crystal blue eyes shining out of the darkened corner of the room.
“But Mister…” another man said, sitting at a large desk, a dozen of open folders were strewn about in a chaotic fashion.
“I told you last time we did business, just call me Gabriel. There’s no need for formalities with us, we’re friends aren’t we? And friends help each other, which is what I’m doing now,” Gabriel spoke over the other man’s mumblings that were incoherent disagreements with the current situation.
“Help? You said that last time! You promised me the free world!”
“I gave you all the tools you needed. Not my fault you put your focus on the wrong place…That being your bank account. I told you to play the long con, but c’est la vie, as the people say.”
The man buried his head in his hands.
“My company needed it! Everything I’d worked so hard to achieve! It would have been wiped out thanks to those idiots on the board…” the man sneered. “They wanted to retire me, push me aside when I’ve given them everything!” He swept everything from the desk.
“And let me guess…They’re doing it all again?” Gabriel casually walked over to the bar, looking at all the empty bottles. “You didn’t listen to me and now history repeats itself…What a shocker.”
“No matter what I do, it’s not enough for them, they’re just waiting for me to fail.”
“And fail you will, if nothing changes,” Gabriel gave him a smirk.
“I won’t let that happen! I have my dream still to achieve!But…”
“But? But what? What are you wanting to say but are too afraid to say? What is it you actually want me to do this time? What part of your survival do I have to help with? Is it to help procure yet more funds to stave off another coup d'etat?” Gabriel picked up a red apple from the fruit bowl near all the used up liquor bottles.
“You know I can help you with anything you want. You simply have to say the words and then sit back. Of course, that board of investors isn’t your only problem is it?” He took a bite, savouring the taste.
“What?” the man asked in surprise. “W-what d-do you m-mean?” A stammer appeared in his voice, as the very idea of a new threat, scared him.
“Didn’t you know? I thought their investigation looked amateurish to me, I can see two of their cars outside the window now!”
On hearing this, the man showed a new level of urgency and leapt to the windows, throwing open the blinds, letting the dying light of the sun in. He peered down at the streets so far below, wondering which cars Gabriel had been talking about. Different thoughts raced through his head, thinking back over the last few days, if he could remember seeing anything that looked out of the ordinary.
“W-Whose i-investigation is it?”
Gabriel didn’t reply, he simply smiled.
“P-please, y-you have t-to tell me!”
“Since you asked so nicely, your government, or I guess, to be precise, whichever one handles business affairs. That much money appeared at once, the last time I helped you, and the way you handled it. People were going to take notice. Congratulations, you’re being investigated for corruption!”
“No, no, no!” The man closed the blinds again in a hurry, and started pacing across the floor. There were several times when he stopped and started to say something, only to abandon it before the first syllable had even left his mouth.
“Guess when that news breaks, or if they decide to close the net, it will be game over for you…And a nice long stay in one of their prisons. I hear they’re nice places for people like you to be in. Especially if you’ve no money to bribe inmates for protection!”
“You can’t let them arrest me!” The man threw himself at Gabriel, grabbing hold of the bottom part of his shirt.
“You know what I want to hear. Say that, and we can get to work. I know how I can both save your business, and yourself from a long and humiliating spell in prison.”
“I…” the man was about to say those magic words, but at the last moment, he hesitated, instead asking a different question. “W-What w-would you w-want in exchange this time?”
“Hmm, an interesting question, but since I’ve not even collected the first payment, I would say not to lose any sleep over it. Helping you here is its own reward, so how about it? Are you going to take back your life, or are you going to roll over for the vultures that are circling overhead?” Gabriel leaned in, a pen forming in his hand from black mist that swept out from his body. The man took a deep breath, wanting to calm himself before signing anything, but the thoughts of his impending future, and his inevitable fate if he let things play out, caused him to snatch the pen.
“Gabriel, can we please have a d-deal.”
“Of course, I only aim to please,” Gabriel said bowing, his smile growing wider, a contract forming in his hand.
***
An hour later.
A different man was walking in stride through an underground carpark, his destination, his expensive car, bought so that everyone would notice him. His slick combed back hair and spotless suit designed to give people the impression that he was above them, that their petty lives were of no concern to him, as long as he got what he wanted.
Just as he looked down on others, something else was looking down on him. As the man approached his car, close enough to unlock it with his keys, a slithering shadow gathered behind him. From it arose a roughly humanoid shape, though the arms and legs seemed to be hidden. The face was hidden behind a pearlescent mask, with two baleful red eyes glaring out from it. Brown hair gave the impression that whatever this was, used to be human. The man turned with a start, but was quickly silenced as the masked entity shot a tendril of shadows into him. The man struggled in mid air, but hung lifeless, and the monster that killed him allowed itself to be absorbed into the dead man.
All this happened within a second, and the once dead man dusted himself down, stretching his limbs as if each one was new. He bent down to look in the car’s wing mirrors, rubbing his face and stretching the skin. Satisfied, he got in the car and drove away.
***
A week later
“Well, don’t you look happier!” Gabriel said, walking into his client’s office. Whereas before it seemed to reek of desperation, the mood was more upbeat. The bar had been restocked with expensive brands and a bottle of champagne lay in ice, ready to toast success. The client was busy, signing documents and sending the multitude of assistants scurrying off with tasks.
“I am!” the client said in-between dishing out orders. Gabriel went near the desk, and noted the newspaper that had been put there amongst other urgent paperwork. The headline spoke of a company executive that had gone on a rampage, killing his fellow board members and his own family in a murder-suicide. The police, in a surprisingly quick investigation, had chalked it up to a high-flying lifestyle and drugs taking its toll on an overachiever. Gabriel was proud of the characterization. He’d recommended that exact description after all. The client had found a lot of his issues had melted away with the deaths of his rivals. The government had also seemingly called off its own investigation. Whether that was connected to the passing of the board, or something that Gabriel had done didn’t matter to him anymore than the fact that he was safe. As a bonus, all the drama over what had happened to the board had allowed him to leverage several contacts he had. The client had back to back interviews in the days after the ‘tragic’ event.
“I don’t know how you did it, but you did it! Things have never been better! I feel fantastic, it feels like I can do anything again!”
“Well, maybe it’d be better if you didn’t ask too many questions. I’ll say that Void is a very efficient friend of mine. He’ll be more than happy to know that his work was appreciated.”
The man felt a little uneasy at that comment, an inkling of what kind of person he was dealing with crept into his mind, but he was in too deep now.
“Something wrong?” Gabriel questioned, leaning closer, so that the man saw his own reflection in his crystal eyes.
“N-nothing! I’m just…Curious as to what you actually want in exchange for all this!” the man quickly said, trying to cover up any doubt.
“Well, funny you should mention it, but I do have a favour, and you’ll like it,” Gabriel tossed him a newspaper, having it appear in a poof of black mist. He then sat on the desk, watching eagerly as the man looked over the front page.
“The governor is retiring? How does this affect me? You already handled my problem with the government?”
“I want you to replace him. Or at least, throw your hat in the ring. I have no doubt you’ll win though, being a self made man who won’t shy away from telling those in power the truth of the common man,” Gabriel laughed as he spoke. “It writes itself, see?” He waved a hand over the desk, and a new contract appeared on the table, even wordier than the last one.
“Can you guarantee that?” the man asked as he glanced over it.
“I wouldn’t be telling you to do it otherwise! Just between you and me, I persuaded the governor to step down. He’d used up all his political expediency and I needed some fresh blood in the role. You, I can have everything you need on your desk in two days. What do you say?”
“D-do I have a choice?” the weariness came out in his voice. Part of the man wanted to jump at this opportunity, it was a brief step away from his dream goal, but given that Gabriel was manoeuvring all this, and had shown that he wasn’t above getting rid of his pawns, the fear was real.
“You know the answer to that…” Gabriel smiled again. “Relax, isn’t this what you’ve always wanted? This is a foot step to that power, power that I’ll deliver right into your hands. Besides, it’s just another signature, right? What haven’t you signed away to me already…”
The man thought about it, he had wanted this, and it was true, securing Gabriel’s help had come with its own costs, would this be any different? No, this might be his only shot, he certainly probably wouldn’t manage it on his own, and if Gabriel pivoted to someone else? He shuddered involuntarily.
Gabriel didn’t say anything, he just formed the same pen as before, and handed it to the man.
“Come on, I’ll be here with you every step of the way, future Mr President.”
Those three words did it, the man took the pen, and signed the new contract, not caring for what those words would mean for everyone else…
--------------------------------
That's it for this week!
Till next time,
Keep on writing!
Peter James Martin
Quick Links
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir
