Exquisite Corpse: "Get Off My Farm, Punk!” - Chapter Six

Part of a collaborative literary experience that started here.

As a quick sumary: Quetzalcoatl the Aztec God suddenly appeared in New York in modern times. He burns some people, finds his old lover and discovers that they are pretty much the only gods left. The police investigates the deaths while his lovers devices a plan to get the old Status Quo back.

I highly recomend reading the other parts, they are good. In current order of publication, they are:

Chapter 1 by @blockurator

Chapter 2 by @sarez 

Chapter 3 by @quillfire 

Chapter 4 by @ireenchew 

Chapter 5 by @fromage 

And well, this certainly was an interesting experience. I decided mostly for some "alternate" scenes instead of making my participation all about moving forward, mainly because at least for me, some stuff in earlier chapters was somewhat confusing. I hope to have made a good service to the cause. In any case, here it is:

In The Alley:

So, is it enough to make a BBQ or something?, God knows I’ll need to do something big for Sheryl if I want to be forgiven for ruining our dinner… again…

Sorry Jack, but this things usually don’t happen so close to each other, hell, I didn’t even thought they could happen at all, but here we have it: 2 spontaneous combustion in less than 24 hours!

The detective started to register the area, watching the charred remains surrounded by gold residue, and after a while he found… a feather?, yes that’s what it was, a small piece of white fluff like those found inside some pillows. If before he suspected the two incidents to be connected, he was now almost sure of that.

Sir?, we have a witness. -said the voice of one of his assistants. Just exactly what he needed.

Following behind his subordinate, the detective found himself in front of a young boy no more than 15 years old, ragged clothes and greasy long hair, probably homeless. Jack felt a small pain in his heart, but work was first, and no matter what he did, there will always be homeless people.

Well boy, what did you see?

The kid gave him a cold stare, with strangely bright eyes, before smiling and responding: A couple, an old lady and some dude in a feathered snake costume. They entered that alley, something like a big fire shone and they came out, but the guy was without any costume. They went towards the nearby parking lot and entered a sports car.

What kind of sports car?

I think it was a green Aston Martin, really nice one

The kid was left go, and Detective Hampton tried to think of a plausible theory. An old lady and a snake enter an alley, something explodes, and the snake is a guy. Did New York really have to be so weird?. Little did he know that the weirdness was only beginning.

In the Aston Martin:

The god watched how his old lover gave him one of the most fierce stares he had ever seen, in a face that even without the mortal wrinkles, was not that of the woman he fell in love with. She had changed.

You own me one Quetzal, you helped that girl despite everyone’s warnings, despite MY thoughts of it. Now you’ve got to do this for all our friends and family, for the other gods and our home.

He was silent for a while. She was right, this was his fault, and if he went to war for one girl and her brother, he would ask the prince of hell for his help for the sake of his people.

What would we have to do first?, from the way our powers have diminished, we would need extra energy to even contact Asmodeus, let alone do anything grand scale. He said resigned.

I’ve made my research, and while almost all the gods may be gone, their power hasn’t disappeared completely. Shards of their divinity have been scattered and hidden around the world, and I know someone who can help us find them.

Another god?

Someone who may want to become one.

In the Police Department:

When news of a second spontaneous combustion reached the forensics department, everyone there became excited at the chance to analyze and compare such a strange phenomenon. Everyone else gave those people weird looks because of that, but they always did anyways.

One thing was different this time though, as Detective Jack Hampton had also been expecting the results with a poorly hidden eager expression. When he got the results (including a quick preliminary version of the second incident), he grabbed the sheets of paper and locked himself in his office.

He had been that way for a while, sometimes silent, sometimes screaming a random word from the report. The was human DNA, too damaged to determine the identity by that, that was to be expected, but also snake and bird DNA, and in the second result, gold particles. GOLD!, he wasn’t an expert in explosives, but he never heard of an explosive device that worked with gold, even less one used by a fucking humanoid snake-bird-thing!.

In the middle of his musings, the phone rang, and he felt it louder than ever before. His nerves were suffering, maybe an early retirement wouldn’t be so bad… But he picked the phone anyways.

…

Hello?

Oh yes, hello officer, I may have some help regarding the burning bodies –that got his attention.

Who are you?, we haven’t told anyone about anything like that

YET, you may have to if those people aren’t stopped

This seemed suspicious, but until they had any leads, it was worth hearing it. –Tell me what you know.

Check for Allen Taylor, he was seen in an Aston Martin Vanquish Volante, going towards “Coincidence Street”, you should go for it, fast, with lots of people. Your guys are dangerous and may be getting another accomplice.

In the Hotel Room:

So, can you tell me who are you and what the hell is going on here?

We already told you, we need the Shards of Divinity, and because of the stars of your birth, you KNOW about them even if you don’t realize it, and you are going to help us –said the old woman

Look, I said that stuff, but I don’t know what you are talking about, I just said what first came to mind!, and that still doesn’t explain the police following us and… oh God!, my wife and kid!, we have to help them!

Please don’t mention that bearded bastard again… and don’t worry, your family will be fine, I think –said the guy.

Quetzal my dear, you also have a beard now, an ugly one… go check the bathroom, they may have some razors so you can shave.

He watched the two of them interact, and felt that their personalities didn’t match their appearances. Two senior citizens driving a super car and escaping the police, maybe he should include that in a future novel… NO!, enough copying!, he had wanted to become a famous writer, and took too seriously the saying of “imitation is the best compliment”, it seems that he was discovered before reaching the consecrated heaven of big bestsellers.

Thinking about it, the police and gunshots were indeed too much of a consequence for him, but he would have been in trouble even without these people. An active but unproductive imagination, that had always been his curse, and now he was some kind of oracle for a quest that was such a temptation for a new story…

By the way, which are your names? –the kind-of-kidnapped writer asked. The now beardless man watched his companion, and she gave him a nod before answering.

Quetzalcoatl and Cihucoatl, Aztec Gods. Feel honored mortal.

Somewhere else, inside a luxurious office:

A man hung up the phone and grabbed his glass of aged whisky to drink a little bit. Closing his eyes, he reveled both in its flavor and the new path things were taking. He didn’t count with Quetzalcoatl getting out of The Void at this time, but he was prepared for everything since he first learned of Cihuacoatl’s plan. But humans were not prepared, they wouldn’t be able to endure the wrath of the old gods now that they have stopped believing even in their own, now almost an empty husk that refuses to die.

He smiled. But they have become smart and powerful. Just a little help, a tiny push in the right direction, and things could be stopped before they even began. He was sorry for them the gods, well, almost sorry, his business was still priority.

He had found a way to keep himself alive, and even profit far more than ever before, because even if the Old Forces were pretty much forgotten, humans were still needy and ambitious creatures. And what’s a soul for a human when it could be exchanged for every material thing it ever dreamed of?. He didn’t hate his previous life, but this one was better, and he will keep it that way.

He finished his whisky when someone entered his office. A young boy no more than 15 years old, ragged clothes and greasy long hair, he looked homeless, but the man knew he wasn’t.

You know, it’s funny, those gods still don’t realize they left behind gold dust every time they change shape –said the boy

Oh yes, one of many things they ignore about themselves, want some whiskey? –answered the man while pouring himself another glass.

Aaaaand... that will do it, now I leave the destiny of this characters in the hands of @blueteddy