Deal with the Devil!

John waved at me as soon as I entered the Starbucks.

His face was awash with worry and paralyzing anxiety.

"Hey! Thanks for coming on such short notice. I-i-i couldn't bear to stay at home for a minute longer." He shuddered, trails of tears still wet on his face.

"What happened? You sounded panicked..." I asked taking a seat as he took another sip of hot chocolate.

Of course, I knew exactly what was wrong.

Hehehehehe.

He was falling straight into my web.

"It was...you were right. I-my whole life is a lie. I don't...I don't know what to do....." He said, looking at me pleadingly.

I sighed, and leaned back in my chair.

"And what do you want me to do about it?" I asked, eyeing the counter for my order.

"I-I don't know. I just...please. I need help." He couldn't even articulate himself.

I smiled.

"Alright. Since you're so damn confused, let me do the talking. You went home, confirmed my theory?"

He nodded, his eyes flickering.

"She was, it was like talking to a doll. I don't even...." His voice quivered, "Did she ever love me? Or was it all an illusion? Did I mind control her from the start?"

"What you want to ask is, can you ever know true love? Or any genuine relationship?" I guessed.

He nodded again.

"In a word. No. Probably not." I gave it to him straight.

"Then..." He trailed off, uncertain.

"Now, you have two choices." I laid out my hands onto the table.

"I can take away your memories of our meeting. Send you back home. Tomorrow, you wake up thinking you had a weird dream and go back to living a lie. The blue pill." I unfurled my grip, revealing a green gummy bear.

"That's green." He pointed out.

"Shut up." I muttered, embarrassed, "I couldn't find a blue gummy bear on such short notice. Focus on the point."

"Okay, sorry." He said, "But no. I don't want to live a lie anymore. I don't want to go back to that fake life."

"Well, that's fine." I shrugged, "The other choice is that you go back to your old life and pretend nothing is wrong. Put on that smile of yours and show your face back on the campaign trail. And try not to mind control anyone this time."

Why was I telling him to go back? Because him not doing that, dropping out of the presidential race would cause a ripple effect potentially fucking up the entire timeline.

I can't have that happen.

Not outside my control.

"That's the same choice as the first one! I can't do that anymore!" He argued.

"Ah! But it is not." I explained, revealing the red gummy bear in my other hand, "Because in this choice, I will teach you magic. Guide you on the path of mystery. If you choose it. And at a price."

"But why do I have to go back to ...that." He asked, disappointed.

"Think about it like this. What would happen if you just went missing? If you suddenly dropped out of the race? Wouldn't that raise suspicion?

Moreover, your wife may not have truly loved you, but I can see it in your eyes. You do love her still."

"No, I-!"

I gently grabbed his hand and squeezed it comforting him.

"If you didn't love her you wouldn't be in so much pain right now, would you, John?" I pointed out.

He looked away, grinding his teeth.

This won't do. I want him to have a weakness I can use if he goes rogue in the future.

"But she doesn't love me." He said.

"Does it matter? She is your wife, regardless. Maybe yours isn't the most picturesque, conventional romance but if you wanted perfection, you already had it with your mind control. A perfect scripted life of fulfillment. Just enough struggle to make life worth living. More than enough pleasure. The verisimilitude of love. Happiness. What more could a guy need?"

"Freedom. Everyone needs freedom. If I marry someone, I want to be the one to make that choice. I don't want a perfect life in the gilded cage of destiny. I would rather have a flawed one in the frontiers of possibility."

I smiled. Now he's on the right track.

Too bad I need him on the wrong one.

Well, pushing him too hard at this point is only going to drive him away.

Let's back off a bit.

Try another approach.

"Fine. Divorce your wife. Create your own perfect life. But before you do that John, tell me. Why did you run for senate? What did you hope to achieve?" I asked, appealing to his ideals, his better nature.

And almost instantly he realized.

"I wanted to help make the lives of others better. To improve and change them for the better." He admitted.

Yes. Yes!

Go on.

Trip yourself back into the plantation!

"But now I realise how wrong I was." He added.

Yes-Wait what?

"I shouldn't be the one to decide what others want, if I can't even figure out what I want!"

Wait no! Stop.

Don't go down that route you idiot!

"I think I need a break from politics."

No!

"To focus on myself. Explore. Learn. Understand who I truly am. Who I want to be."

Dammit!

Why did you choose to have a midlife crisis now?!

I screamed internally while maintaining a smiling facade on the outside, trying desperately to hide the bloodlust I was feeling for him.

I hate when people don't just follow where I'm leading.

Why won't you just become my puppet?!

Actually, now that I put it that way...it really sounds evil. Which I am but still.....

I mean who wants to see themselves as the evil. Everyone likes to think of themselves as the hero of their own story, even evil bastards like me.

Sheesh.

Let's just focus on out little gun monkey first.

"Alright. You want to take a break. Learn to control your powers. Good idea. Then what?" I asked.

"Then....I stand for president again. This time on my own volition. Without mind controlling people. Make them really believe what I say of their own free will." He said, light returning to his eyes.

Aha!

That's the John Gaines I know.

A moral paragon, through and through.

I'll have so much fun corrupting him!

To see him broken, his very foundations shattered...hn!

No!

No. Control yourself Jay.

Play the nice guy.

Gotta get him to sign that slave contract first before I reveal my true nature. If I ever reveal my true nature.

"Good idea. Now, let's discuss payment."

"Sure. How do I pay? Cash? Card? I can transfer online-"

I raised a hand to stop him.

"No. No. Nothing of the sort. Haven't you ever read a fantasy story or fairy tale?" I asked.

"Not a fan of fantasy. More of a superheroes and detective fiction guy." He confessed.

"Ah, that explains so much." I chuckled, "All that logical reasoning and idealistic moral fiber had to come from somewhere. You like Batman?"

"Who doesn't?! He's the coolest, most awesome superhero ever. The way he balances his humanity with his code-"

I shook my head, tuning his nerdy rant out.

Yeah. That explains a whole lot.

"Okay, I get it. Batman is awesome. I am a fan too. Love it when he breaks all of a kid's bones for selling four ounces of weed on a street corner." I mocked.

"Yeah. It depends on the writer." He defended.

"I know. Classic Batman is my favourite too. And Captain America." I geeked out.

"So true. I have an issue of Civil War preserved. Mint condition." John replied.

"Oh my god, yes. Best Cap story ever written." I agreed, before realizing I was getting dragged away from the contract, "But back to the topic at hand ..."

"Oh! Yes. Payment." He remembered.

"So I want you to pay me with work. Odd jobs while you learn. Run an errand. Fetch some item. Little quests. Nothing too difficult." I lied, "They can be tests for your magical ability too! So double whammy on that one."

"That sounds nice. I can do that." He nodded.

"Good. Let's make it official then." I brought out a contract. A Word As Bond soul contract.

Unbreakable once signed.

"Let's keep things simple. I have a contract usually ready and drafted for stuff like this. We can just use that. Here." I pushed the contract towards him.

"Check it and see if you find anything you don't like. Then just drop a bit of blood and magic into that circle to your left and we're done." I said.

He skimmed the contract and nodded.

"Yeah. Looks fine. Don't reveal your secrets. Contract lasts till training. After training I do one thing you ask. You're not going to ask anything bad are you?"

"Nah. It's just like a graduation test of sorts. I'll tell you to go and do something or get some item from a far away land or maybe create a new spell or something. To see how much you have learnt." I waved his concerns off.

"That's fine." He agreed, and signed the contract.

I smiled.

Sucker!

There was a reason I had kept the wording loose and simple. To trick him into a lull.

Little did he know he was signing a deal with the Devil!

My final condition for him, the undeniable last request?

Be my slave. Forever.

Hehehehehehahahhahahaha!

I cackled like a villain internally as I went over the contract again.

Yup. All in order.

"Great." I smiled warmly at him, extending a handshake.

"To a brand new friendship."

"Of course." He replied, shaking my hand.

Then beside us, a voice echoed.

"Gay Walking! Is there a Gay Walking here? Your order is ready. I repeat Mr. Gay Walking."

"I think that's for you..." John snickered like a toddler, "Mr. Gay."

I rolled my eyes.

Starbucks employees. They never learn.

"Yeah. Laugh it up chuckles. Once the training starts you're gonna cry like a bitch." I replied playfully, getting up and walked over to the counter, snatching up my order.

"See you next week." I told John, "3 p.m. sharp. Don't be late."

"You got it." He replied, waving back as I left.

____________________

John signs a deal with the devil, and MC is back to his old shenanigans!

Now, all that's left is to set up the lab and we're back in the game!

Till then, thanks for reading!

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