Page 1973

Apparently, Damian had been thinking the same thing. "Don't act like you don't already know. I'm sure you know exactly who they are."

"Hmm." Morgunov turned slowly toward Damian and, with an abrupt flatness, said, "Perhaps I just wanted to know if you would try to lie to me again."

At that, Damian seemed to lose most of his fervor, and Parson could feel a physical difference in the environment. The upturned earth all around them shifted beneath the extra weight in the air. Even the slime on Morgunov's arm settled down.

Without moving his head, Morgunov's silver-gray eyes shifted to Germal. "You. You are one of the Monster's men, are you not?"

"I am." Germal looked perfectly calm, at least.

Morgunov spared a glance for Parson as well but chose not to address him and returned to Germal. A morsel of his earlier cheer found his face again. "What does Slime-o want with you?"

"I have no idea," said Germal.

"Hazard a guess, then," said Morgunov.

Germal opened his mouth but apparently didn't know what to say. He looked to Nerovoy for help, then to Parson.

Parson wished he hadn't done that, because it made Morgunov look in his direction, too.

"Do you know something?" said the Mad Demon.

Parson clenched his jaw, trying to think.

The silence only seemed to amuse Morgunov. "Come now, General Miles. Your hesitation does a disservice to the Vanguard's reputation."

Parson struggled not to scowl.

"What would your Lawman think if he was here? I imagine he would be embarrassed by his pupil, hmm?" The Mad Demon smiled wide again. "Or do you think he, too, would be afraid?"

'Parson,' came Overra's private voice.

He didn't need her to say anything more. He knew what she was warning him against. No matter how much he cared for Lamont as his mentor, he wasn't about to let this bastard goad him into reacting stupidly.

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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 2 of 2))
Damian ignored the question and asked his own. "You say you were worried about me, but I was hardly in any danger. Why did you really decide to show yourself?"

Morgunov's smile became briefly manic in that infamous way. "I was planning to just observe from afar, but when this little guy appeared, my curiosity was piqued." The rainbow slime was slapping him in the face with enough force to create ground-shaking impacts, but it didn't seem to be bothering him in the slightest. "I'll admit, I was worried that you and your friends here were going to destroy it without even bothering to analyze it first! Which would've been so heartless of you! I mean, just look at how cute it is!"

The ooze manifested a sudden mouth and hissed at him.

"Ehehe. What should I call you? Binky? Slime-o? Stretchy McJeffy?"

Parson was helping Germal to his feet, finally, but he was still wary of moving any closer to Morgunov. Maybe it didn't matter at this point, but frankly, he was at a loss for what to do now.

Damian and Feromas seemed to be having a silent conversation, but it was again Damian who decided to speak up. "That thing was trying to kill us."

"You don't know that," said Morgunov. "Maybe Slime-o just wanted some attention."

It latched onto his face.

Morgunov grabbed it with his other hand and squeezed it like a balloon before yanking it off again. "Some face-hugging attention. But isn't that what we all want, at the end of the day? I don't see what's so wrong about it."

"It kept attacking us," said Damian. "And I'm certain it was trying to touch my friend over there."

And Morgunov's gaze finally turned to Parson and Germal. "Mmhmm. And just who are these friends of yours, by the way?" Somehow, the man's smile only ever seemed to widen. "Introduce me, why don't you?"

Did he really not know? Parson had to wonder. He certainly didn't know the Mad Demon like Damian did, but it didn't seem unlikely that the man might decide to play dumb on any number of different subjects.

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((The Mon/Wen/Fri Double -- page 1 of 2))
Parson tried to think. The Mad Demon was here--quite possibly the most dangerous person on the planet. What was the best way to handle this development? Did Morgunov know who he was? That he was Vanguard? Would it be better to just flee?

Damian just ignored all of those concerns and called out to him. "Morgunov! What the hell are you doing here?!" Somehow, he sounded more like he was talking to a child than to his superior officer. "Don't tell me you were following me again!"

"Okay, I won't tell you!" said Morgunov, not bothering to remove his gaze from the slime.

Germal seemed to be regaining his senses, Parson noticed.

Parson was reluctant to get any closer to the Mad Demon, so he decided to move toward Germal instead.

"You can't keep doing this," Damian said, having walked right up to him. "I told you. I need my space."

"Aw, don't be like that," said Morgunov. "I was just concerned for your well-being, my boy."

"Yes, well, as you can see, I'm perfectly fine."

"Hmm, I'm not so sure you are. You wouldn't have allowed me to follow you if you were in top form." With his free hand, Morgunov touched Damian's forehead. "You're not coming down with something, are you?"

Damian batted him away. "Stop that. You're being ridiculous."

"Silly boy. Just because you're a servant doesn't mean you're immune to sickness."

"Um. Yes, it does."

Morgunov just stared at him for a second. "Oh, yeah, I guess you're right. But hey, you should still be careful. What if someone engineered a new disease that specifically targets servants, huh? Where will you and all of your certitude be then, huh?"

Damian's expression was flat. "And who would do such a thing? Other than you?"

"What, I don't count?" said Morgunov. "I could betray you at any time, you know. Why, perhaps I'll use this technicolor puke here to achieve some nefarious end. You can never be too careful, Damian. Why aren't you wearing the mittens I made for you? They'll help keep the germs at bay, you know. Especially in this cold."