Somewhere, West Virginia, USA.
Morty hated the hospital, too many memories of his mom and grandpa. The hospital food left something to be desired as well. They kept him overnight to recover, though by now he had his fill of the sterile smell.
He was leaving, while the doctors advised against it. His face was still pretty bruised from Jeb, well, his EVERYTHING was bruised.
Morty sighed as they wheeled him to the front. He really fucked up. Jeb and him have always butted heads over stupid stuff. But this time must have really done it. He's thrown punches before, but they were always pulled so as not to actually hurt him.
Not this time. If Clive wasn't there Jeb might have actually killed him. He might actually have to apologize this time. Normally he would just give Jeb his space and wait for his temper to calm down. But this might have been a bit too much.
Morty was shocked out of his wallowing when he got to the front of the hospital and saw the ogre sisters and about 20 goblins with them! The sisters had made more or less full recoveries. He wasn't sure why the goblins were here though.
The hospital staff didn't seem too concerned with the sisters, their priorities seems to be the goblins. Several staff are attempting to get them to the ER. Though it doesn't last as the goblins pull out knives and scare off the staff.
As he's wheeled towards them he hears the staff talking about "advanced leprosy" "serious gangrene" and "days or weeks to live". He couldn't help but laugh. Which he regretted. His ribs still hurt like a horse kicked him.
The sisters got up and rushed over when they saw him. Almost hitting an exit sign in their hurry.
"Master! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just a little bruised up is all. Some rest and some sweet painkillers and I'll be right as rain!" Morty cheered as he got out of the wheelchair.
"What are you doing here though? I thought I said to stay and keep the goblins in line?"
The sisters shuffled nervously.
"We did, but we were worried. Also-"
"Wez wuz att'ckd Boss!" The goblin Headman said as he came up to Morty.
"Attacked? Did the kobolds or Jeb attack while I was gone?" He wouldn't put it past Jeb to get more blood while he was gone. He didn't kill him for various reasons. But he could get away with killing the goblins no problem.
"No, humans dressed in dark robes with pointed hoods attacked." Orga said.
A shiver ran over the collective three.
"And monsters."
He had an idea that the "hooded robes" were Jeb's family from the hills. Its always been assumed that some of the more "esoteric" of the hill folk worshiped the "Crone on the Hill" like she was some Dark God ready to usher them into a new age of superstition and sorcery.
Morty thought it was a load of poppycock! Didn't mean that they weren't dangerous though. These "monsters" however made him more concerned. It wasn't surprising that the goblins were scared shitless. But the sisters?
"What did the monsters look like?"
"Great beasts! Almost as big as a grown man! They lumbered on all fours, claws gouged out the ground like it was paper!" Urga said with fear.
"Mawz cer'cld wif jagged teef loike a great sandwerm!" The Headman continued.
"Dozens of pitch black eyes covered their long head!" Orga finished.
Ok, Morty thought. That scratches off damn near everything he could think of that it could've ACTUALLY been. As he was about to speak though he was interrupted as the wall mounted TV nearby chimed with the news.
"Series of gunfire and explosions rocked the sleepy little town of Somewhere last night! Though this isn't the first time the town had some excitement of this sort! After some local miners were reported as missing years ago the National Guard raided the mountains. The people living in the mountains were blamed for the disappearances. Dozens of people were killed. Men, women, even children. All evidence found was later discredited as fabricated! The governor at the time decided not to run for re-election. Health and family were the reasons stated! Local law enforcement refused to respond to last night's adventure stating the following. It ain't our business. It wasn't then! It isn't now!"
Morty winced. He remembered hearing about that. The whole thing was a shitshow. Turns out the "missing miners" were bogus and that the whole thing was an attempt to get rid of the people in the hills so his grandfather could buy up the, now unoccupied, land. His family barely survived the legal fallout that followed. It took damn near everything they had to brush it under the rug. After the former governor was found in his home with no eyes, tongue, or ears, guards were put outside the manor 24/7 for almost 4 years!
Nothing ever came of it though. But when people actually DID start to vanish near the mountain the reports were locked away like the plague.
"More local news! A short diseased man was killed earlier this morning as police attempted to subdue the man, who officers believed to be high on methamphetamine! The following footage is graphic! Viewer discretion is advised!"
Morty's jaw dropped as he watched what looked like a goblin tweaked out his gourd pop up on TV!
"WITNESS ME FER I AM YER NEW GOD MADE FLESH!!!"
"Sir! Get down on your knees and hands behind your head!"
"AAAAAHAHHHAHA!!!"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Morty watched as the tweaker goblin ran straight at the cops, then proceeded to get utterly blasted.
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"What a truly tragic occurrence!"
"What the fuck was that?!" Morty cursed as he pointed to the now swissified goblin.
The goblin Headman answered.
"Well, aft'r da att'ack som of da bois skat'erd!"
"How many?!"
"Most of the ones that survived." Orga said before gesturing out the door to about another 40 goblins sat about loitering.
"What about the spawning pools? The mine?!"
"We don't know. When it became obvious that we were losing we and the goblins that went on the raids with you, as well as some survivors. We fled into the town where they didn't chase after us." Urga stated.
Morty felt numb. After the mess with Jeb, he couldn't afford to lose the mine too!
"Take me to the mine!"
"Master?"
"TAKE ME TO THE GODDAMN MINE!!!"
And to the mine they went. The ogre sisters took turns carrying Morty, the goblins that were "loyal" to Morty followed. When they got to the mine the sight shocked Morty.
It was clean!
"I thought you said you were attacked?!"
"We were!" The sisters said confused as they and the goblins looked around where hours ago was a bloodbath!
They cautiously made their way towards the mine elevator. Morty, the sisters, and about a dozen others got on the elevator as the others stood guard outside.
It was pitch black when they got to the bottom. It wasn't the familiar darkness that Morty and the others had gotten used to. It was a strange, unfriendly thing that felt like they were walking into something unknown. It made Morty's hair stand on end.
The sisters led the way, their and the goblins dark-attuned visions were better than Morty's. As they got further the feeling of being unwelcomed grew until it was suffocating. They had almost reached Goblintown when they stopped.
"Why did you guys stop?" Morty asked, his voice failing to echo in the shaft.
His answer came as he could hear a single pair of footsteps coming from ahead. Then they stopped. Then the sisters and goblins turned and ran.
"What the hell?! Why are we running away?!"
He asked, but there was something SCREAMING at the back of his mind that just said to RUN, FLEE, HIDE, and PREY!
As they booked it back to the elevator he could hear some of the goblins with him let out yelps as whatever was in the darkness claimed them with a sickening crunch!
They finally made it to the elevator and Morty slammed the up button. The damn thing took a PAINFULLY long time to get started and begin to ascend. As it did Morty felt SOMETHING rush towards them! Their luck held as they cleared the shaft. But it did little for their nerves as they just watched through the grate. Waiting for whatever it was that chased them to climb after them.
They didn't breathe until they were at the top and in the sun. The ones on guard were still here and looked between them and the mine like hell itself would chase after them!
"Go, GO!"
They didn't need any encouragement as a sister picked him up and they all booked it to the Duval estate. While cruel eldritch eyes watched them hungerly from the darkness.
When they finally got outside the manor they were all breathing heavily. Even Morty was hyperventilating! Whatever that was, scared him worse than anything! Something in his head, something old and primal was terrified of it!
Morty calmed down as his familiar home soothed his sheer fucking terror. The sisters, goblins and him entered the mansion. He desperately needed a drink. A strong one.
The first thing he did when he entered his home was beeline it towards the kitchen, and the liquor cabinet. The sisters followed along while the Headman and the rest of the goblins explored their Boss's home. They seemed to take a particular liking to the old white, gold, and blue French colonial uniforms in the armory/family armor display room that Morty's family had since Louisiana was still Nouvelle-France. The Headman and the rest of his honor guard liked the tricorne hats, putting them on and taking some form of pleasure in mimicking the poses of the mannequins and portraits.
Morty in the mean time was downing a bottle of expensive bourbon like it was his last. As he stopped to take a breath however his attention was called to Charles the head butler, who coughed to get his attention.
"I see you are drinking already."
"Not. One. More. FUCKING. WORD!" Morty seethed in-between gasps of air.
"Vulgarity already? Charming as always Mortimer." Charles sneered.
"You have no fucking clue what I've been through the last few days!"
"Oh but I think I do. In fact, even your father 'has a fucking clue' as you so elegantly put it."
Morty stopped his drinking and looked at the snide head butler.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, he is here. In your grandfather's bedchambers. He awaits your presence." He smugly stated as he sneered at Morty.
Morty set down the glass decanter as he and the sisters made their way up the stairs towards his grandfather's room and his waiting father.
As he entered he saw his father, looming over his grandfather. His back towards Morty. The sisters, perhaps sensing this was personal, waited outside the room. Charles made to close the doors but was stopped by Morty's father.
"Leave them Charles! This is to be no secret."
Charles merely bowed his head and stood aside.
His father sighed.
"I am disappointed Mortimer. I had hoped that responsibility would be enough to make you more respectable. But it would seem that not only has it failed to do so, it has turned you even more into a failure!"
His father didn't even bother to turn towards his son. His gaze was kept on Morty's grandfather instead.
"Not only did you not resolve the issues with the miners, but you lost the mine itself! As if that wasn't enough of an embarrassment! You are seen running around town with these scantily clad hideous women! To add even further insult you have traded your mongrel friends with these leprous gypsies!"
This time he did turn towards Morty, a look of disdain and arrogance on his face.
"You are too sentimental. You grow attached to these lesser, unclean, people! But what can I expect? Your mother was nothing more than a worthless whore who pleaded for my father so that she might have better than a dirty street corner and my own father is not but a parasitic vegetable now!"
He took a step closer to the heart monitor.
"So it would seem that the time has come to expunge the weakness from this family! You are disowned from the Duval estate! Charles here will stand witness to this decree."
He held a finger over a button on the heart monitor.
"And I amputate a dead bough from this family tree!"
Then he pushed on the button. Morty just watched, wide eyed as the line on the monitor flattened and his hearing numbed as all he heard was the flatline beep of the machine.
He didn't know what his father said next. He knew he was talking, but all he saw when he looked at him was red.
"YOU FUCKER!!!"
Morty charged his father. The height difference meant that he had to jump and grapple as he held on and assaulted his him.
His father lashed out at Morty but it was no good as his fury and rage gave him an iron grip and he held on as he savaged him. He was vaguely aware of Charles trying to intervene. But the sisters stopped him as they just let Morty fight a frenzied struggle.
Scratching and clawing as he continued to fight he felt a moment of weightlessness, then him and his father crashed onto something. He groaned as he started to get up, he lifted his hand and found blood. But it wasn't his.
He looked down at the source of the blood and found that his father had been impaled on a broken wooden leg of the entryway table! Morty looked around and found that they had apparently left his grandfather's room and fought all the way to the edge of the bannister. Where they fell over the side and onto the table.
He looked over at his father, he was coughing up blood as the table leg had pierced his abdomen. He got up and looked down at his dying father.
"Who's dat boss?" The Headman asked as him and the other goblins had gathered around when they heard the noise.
"My father. My, worthless, father!" Morty said as he watched the blood pool get bigger. His father continuing to choke on his own blood.
Morty stepped over to his father who, for once, looked up at Morty with fear in his eyes. Morty raised his foot and pressed down on his father's throat. With the orc it was survival. With the kobolds it was deemed a, at the time, necessity. But with his father, it just felt good!
Morty smiled a cruel broken smile as he watched the life leave his father's terrified eyes. His last desperate struggle ending in a last pathetic gurgle.
"M-m-master Duval?!"
Morty looked up to where he saw Charles and the ogre sisters. The former looked down in horror at the sight of Morty and his father. He turned to Morty with a hateful defiant glare.
"I will have you jailed for this!"
With a nod of his head though a sister grabbed the butler by his head, then squeezed! Morty however watched as his goblin honor guard, Headman included, made an almost robotic motion and came over to Morty's father. They then proceeded to kneel and dip their tricorne hats in his pool of blood. They then stood, straighter than before. Red caps dripping down their faces and staining their "acquired" uniforms.
Morty heard a squelch as Charles met his end. He watched however as the other staff start to gather and look, pale faced, between the grisly scene and Morty. He looked down at his "Red Caps" and gave them an order.
"No-one leaves alive."
The bloody goblins got wicked smiles as they turned and chased after the fleeing screaming staff.
Morty however made his way numbly up the stairs, the sisters following. He gave his grandfather a kiss on the head before putting his blanket over his face. He then made his way to his own room. He stood in the center of his room as it all hit him.
He screamed and yelled as he picked up a expensive side table and threw it at the wall. He continued trashing his room in a grief filled rage as the sisters just watched and waited for their Master to finish.
Which wasn't long. Booze and adrenaline can only do so much. He sat on his bed and cried.
"I lost EVERYTHING! Jeb hates me! Clive probably thinks I'm a bigger piece of shit than before! The mines gone! My family's gone! EVERYTHINGS GONE!!!"
The sisters came and sat on opposite sides of him on the bed.
"We've lost almost everything too."
Morty was about to angerly retort when he remembered who he was about to lash out at. The sisters were driven from their home and enslaved, then they were transported to a strange new world.
"Almost? If what you said was true you don't have anything left."
"We have you Master." Orga said as she placed a meaty hand on Morty's shoulder.
He huffed.
"Yeah. Lucky you, you picked a master that's failed at everything he did. Now all I have left is a mansion that may as well be a pair of gold slippers in the desert!"
"You lost your family. We lost ours. So lets make a new one!" Urga said cheerfully.
Morty just chuckled.
"Thanks. But you really should find someone bet-"
He was interrupted as she kissed him. Her kiss covering half his face! But there was a sweetness to it. Something that said to him that everything would be ok. When she pulled away Orga leapt in to fill the void. Both sisters taking the break in-between to strip themselves and Morty. If he was going to die, it was going to be a hell of a way to go!
So while the goblins chased down the fleeing servants, Morty and the ogre sisters got to work making a new family. Mindful of Morty's wounds and surprisingly gentle.