Case #5-The Witch of the West Woods, Part 2

Case #5-The Witch of the West Woods, Part 2

"So what is your name, anyway?" I ask the wizard who we first spoke with as we make our way through the West Woods.

"My name is Gary," the wizard answers.

"And I'm Lary!" A second wizard chimes in.

"He's asking me, not you!" Gary the wizard snaps.

At first, the West Woods seemed like a normal forest, but the deeper we ventured on, the more dangerous it became. The trees are so tall and cumbersome that they block out almost every last droplet of sunlight that attempts to illuminate the forest. The swamp water is a toxic green color that burns your eyes and nose if you so much as smell it, and on top of that, every fly that buzzes over it drops instantly into the acidic put below. Poisonous bubbles and gas seep from the water. Creepy purple and green spotted frogs reside on top of the lily pads and algae. At least I think they're frogs. They have horns. Even the deer are purple, and even the birds have horns, as well.

We continue or trek through the woods, with Gary leading the way, holding a map. That is, until we come face to face with a giant toxic pond spending so far that we can't see a way around it. It's about a couple hundred feet wide, as well.

"Huh, that wasn't here last time?" Gary says as he looks back and forth between the map and the bond.

"The woods…they're alive!" Lary wails. "The Poison Witch Circe Salem is using her curse magic to stop us from getting to her!"

"That's ridiculous, how could she be controlling the woods from the vil-" Gary begins to say, but he's interrupted when we hear some rumbling come from the pond as the water begins to to split. Giant waves crash onto short, dousing some of the wizards who howl in pain as their skin begins to melt.

Evelyn cringes in fear and disgust as she ducks behind me for cover.

Next, a giant figure begins to crawl out of the acidic swamp water, and we see that it's a giant purple frog, about the size of an SUV. The frog is purple all over with poisonous green spots, and it's back is covered with algae and slime.

The frog fixes its beady eyes on us as it sticks out its tongue, wrapping it around another wizard and swiftly dragging him into its mouth. The wizard screams in pain as it's swallowed by the frog in one fell swoop.

"What…what is that thing?!" Evelyn cries.

"I'm not sure!" I answer. "The Reaper Encyclopedia doesn't have too much information about the West Woods!"

"That's because the West Woods have only become like this recently!" Gary cries. "Ever since Circe Salem was born."

"Well then, it looks like we'll have to fight our way through," I reply. "Crimson! Raiden!"

"Right!" My two allies reply as Crimson ignites her hands in Hellfire and Raiden brandishes his spell book and wand.

"That girl…is a Devil?!" Larry cries.

"And that small boy is a wizard?" Gary asks.

"And what are you?" The two villagers then ask as they turn around to face the cowering Evelyn.

"I'M NOTHING!" She snaps.

"Hellfire Scream!" Crimson shouts as she thrusts a hand towards the giant frog, releasing a rush of flames which engulf the frog in the fiery blast, causing it to howl in pain.

As for Raiden, he begins flipping through his spellbook before stopping on a specific page. Raiden then begins twirling his wand through the air as it crackles with blue electricity. "Fulminis Ure!" Raiden shouts as he aims his wand at the giant frog. Firing off a bolt of lightning electrocutes the frog, causing it to let out another scream of pain.

As for me, I raise my sickle-sword high above my head as I leap into the air above the giant frog, aiming my sickle-sword for its back.

Once Crimson's flames and Raiden's lightning dissipates, the frog aims its beady eyes at Evelyn and opens its mouth up wide, shooting its creepy, long pink tongue towards Evelyn.

"Shit, Evelyn!" I cry.

Gary and Larry scream as they jump to the side, leaving Evelyn exposed, who lets out a shriek as she cowers in fear. But then, Evelyn opens her eyes again as she lowers her hand and stands back up. "Wait a minute…I have this!" Evelyn says as she reaches to her belt and draws the whip that I gave her, snapping it together.

"Get 'em, Evelyn!" I cheer.

"Right!" Evelyn replies as she swings her whip towards the frog, attempting to slice its tongue. But…it misses. "Oh crap!" Evelyn cries as the frog wraps its tongue around her. Evelyn screams as the frog retracts its tongue, dragging Evelyn towards it.

"Shoot…" I say to myself as I drop to the ground. "I guess I should have taught Evelyn how to use that beforehand…"

Evelyn screams as the frog continues dragging her into its mouth, but before Evelyn could be swallowed by the giant frog and melted by its acidic saliva, I slice the frog's tongue in half, causing the frog to scream in pain as Evelyn drops to the ground.

"Let me out of here!" Evelyn shouts as she attempts to wiggle her way out of the tongue. Gary and Larry rush to Evelyn's rescue and attempt to free the girl.

"Now…it's Reaping Time!" I shout as I raise my sickle-sword high into the air above my head, before swinging it downwards with all my might, piercing the back of the giant frog, sending sickly blue blood spurting everywhere. The giant frog screams in pain as it drops to the ground in a pool of its blue blood.

"Soul Harvest!" I shout as my entire body begins to glow a dim blue color as I plunge my hand into the frog's chest. "Your soul is mine, bitch!" I roar as I rip my hand out of the frog, yanking its soul out in the process. I slip the soul into my messenger bag.

"We got it!" Raiden exclaims.

Evelyn gags as she knocks the frog's severed tongue off of her stomach then wipes off its saliva. "What the Hell was that, guys?!" Evelyn snaps as she spins around and aims an accusing finger at Gary and Larry.

"What…what do you mean?" Gary asks.

"You guys are supposed to be wizards-'' Evelyn begins to say as she storms over to Gary. "But you didn't fight?! You let me, a defenseless, cute girl, be…defiled by the frog's tongue instead!"

"You see, we're incredibly weak!" Gary stammers as he trembles under Evelyn's wrath as he holds his hands up in surrender. "I don't even think I could beat a fly!"

Evelyn sighs as she lowers her finger and turns around. "That's right, if you were strong, you wouldn't be asking for our help," she says.

"Well…the Reaper's help," Gary replies. "I saw you with that whip.

"SHUT UP!" Evelyn snaps.

I watch Evelyn argue with Gary until I hear a noise crom from the frog, and I turn and peer down at the giant frog, seeing a small mushroom pop out of its back.

"Woah…what's this…?" I ask as I crouch down and reach out to the mushroom.

"Reaper, NO!" Gary shouts as she shoves Evelyn to the side, but it's too late. Spores shoot out of the mushroom and into my face, causing me to sneeze.

"ACK!" I cringe as I fall onto my back. "What the heck was that?!"

"Poisonous mushrooms sprout from these frogs' backs when they die In order to take out their target with them," Gary explains. "Those are mushrooms who's spores cause whoever is infected by them to hallucinate!"

"Hallucinate?!" Evelyn cries. "What's gonna happen to Zach?!"

***

Evelyn, Gary, and the rest watch in fear as Zach pushes himself off of the ground and draws his sickle-sword. Slowly, Zach turns around to face his friends, and they see that his eyes are glossed over and have turned pink.

"Oh no…" Gary whispers.

"What, what's the matter?!" Evelyn cries.

"The Reaper…" Gary begins to say. "-Has been taken over by the mushroom!"

With a roar, Zach charges Evelyn and co, his Sickle-Sword poised and ready to strike.

"Crap, what do we do?!" Evelyn cries.

"We'll have to make an antidote!" Gary answers. "The Devil will have to hold him off until then!"

"Whaaa…?" Crimson asks. "I'm not doing that. I already fought Zach once, and now that we're friends, I don't want to do it again!"

"Fine, then the wizard can do it!" Gary says as he plants himself on the ground and opens up his satchel.

"ME?!" Raiden yelps. "Zach will kill me! He's a Reaper, afterall!"

"Fine, then we'll both fight," Crimson says as she ignites her hands in Hellfire.

"I'll follow your lead," Raiden replies as he draws his wand and spellbook.

With a roar, Zach swings his sickle-sword towards Crimson, who backflips out of the way to dodge.

"Hellfire Scream!" Crimson shouts as she thrusts a hand towards Zach, releasing a rush of Hellfire, who slides to the side to dodge, then charges again.

"You can make an antidote from the mushroom?" Evelyn asks.

"Yes," Gary answers. "I've had to become good at making them, due to our situation."

Crimson and the hallucinating Zach continue exchanging blows.

"Human girl!" Gary exclaims as he spreads a blanket across the forest floor then begins taking out all sorts of tools and instruments.

"Yeah?" Evelyn asks as she crouches down besides Gary.

"Take this," Gary orders as he thrusts a knife into Evelyn's hands. "Get me that mushroom."

"But won't I get infected too, then?!" Evelyn cries.

"No, the mushroom only has enough spores for one target," Gary explains. "You'll be safe. Besides, if you get infected, we don't have to worry. It's not like you're a threat quite like how the Reaper is."

"IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE A BACK-HANDED COMPLIMENT?!" Evelyn snaps, before sighing and turning around towards the giant frog. "Fine," Evelyn sighs. "This is gonna be sooo gross…"

Evelyn continues creeping towards the giant frog, but the hallucinating Zach notices this. He fixes his glossed-over eyes towards Evelyn, lets out a roar, and charges.

Evelyn flinches in fear, but Crimson leaps in front of her in order to protect the girl. Zach slashes his sickle-sword towards Crimson, who catches its blade with two flaming hands.

"Don't worry, Evelyn, I'll protect you!" Crimson grunts as she struggles against Zach's monstrous strength.

Th-thanks!" Evelyn stammers as she hustles over to the frog.

Once next to the frog, Evelyn crouches down and gingerly grabs the mushroom sticking out of its back. Evelyn gags as she saws the mushroom off, before grabbing it and rushing back over to Gary.

"Here you go!" Evelyn says as she couches down next to Gary and thrusts the mushroom into his hands.

"There we go!" Gary says as he takes a knife and begins dissecting the mushroom, placing part of it into a vile then mixing it into some mysterious liquid. "-Here you go!" Gary then says as he thrust the antidote into Evelyn's hands. "This will cure the Reaper."

"Crimson, here!" Evelyn shouts as she tosses the vile over to the Devil, who snatches it out of the air.

"Thanks!" Crimson replies as she allows for the Hellfire engulfing her hands to dissipate. "Raiden!"

"Right!" Raiden replies as he begins flipping through his spellbook before stopping on a specific page. Raiden then begins twirling his wand through the air as the wind begins to howl. "Gravitas Ventus!" Raiden shouts as he aims his wand at Zach, firing off a powerful gust of wind which sends Zach flying backwards, pinning him against a tree. Zach flails savagely as he attempts to break free from Raiden's wind.

Crimson ignites her hand in Hellfire as she gets into a throwing position and brings the antidote vile above her head. "Hellfire…" Crimson shouts as she takes a step forwards and launches her arm.

"What's she doing, she'll break the vile?!" Gary cries.

"No, Crimson has a plan," Evelyn smirks.

"-PITCH!" Crimson shouts as she tosses the vile towards Zach with all of her might, using her flames to increase the speed of the vile as he flies through the air like a fireball.

The vile flies over to Zach, slamming into the tree above his head and shatters, dousing the Reaper with the antidote. Raiden allows for his wind to ease up, and Zach's imp body drops to the ground.

***

"What…happened…?" I ask as I sit up and rub my head, blinking rapidly. "My head hurts…why do I feel hot…?" I look up to see everyone staring at me. "Did I…fall asleep?" I ask.

"You went on an acid trip," Evelyn explains as she crouches down and helps Gary clean up his test tubes and other equipment.

 "HUH?!" I cry.