TOS- Vol 1, Pt 1, Ch 10

The Overlord Saga

Vol I. Past, Present, Future

Chapter 10: The Impostor and the Replacement

Having called off the fight on the behalf of Jamie’s unexpected arrival, the Overlord sat in her office, with Jamie sitting on the opposite side of the desk. Lifting a glass of tea, the Overlord took a long and thoughtful drink as Jamie shifted awkwardly in the chair, looking around the office, thoroughly impressed. “You’ve a nice book collection on that back shelf there,” Jamie said, as though trying to make some lame small talk. The Overlord nodded, gulping, and began to say something but Jamie then added, “No Old Man and the Sea?”

“If I have to read about another old geezer letting a shark eat his marlin, I’ll personally start Armageddon- with or without God’s approval,” the Overlord remarked dryly.

“Haha, indeed!” Jamie laughed, swirling the glass of Coke before taking a drink. “So you and the Insurgent Leader still at odds with each other?”

“Yep,” the Overlord replied.

“Is that why you guys burned half the freaking forest to the ground?”

“Something like that.”

“I always knew you loved fire, Emily, but geesh.”

“Overlord. It’s Overlord. I can’t let them hear you calling me that.”

“Right. You’re the boss lady nowadays.”

“Nowadays.”

Jamie laughed and shook her head, “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” The Overlord stirred uncomfortably in her chair as she begin to concoct all sorts of theories about why her old friend had come to visit. Were there problems in the mortal world? Did they need her help? ‘If Jamie got herself into trouble, I’ll freaking kill her right here and now’, the Overlord thought.

“There’s a certainly questionable occurrence that has... well... occurred, for a lack of a better word, in the mortal world,” Jamie began, “I thought you’d be interested, considering it has your name all over it... Literally.”

“What?” the Overlord frowned, thoroughly confused by Jamie’s spontaneity.

“Have you been to Antarctica recently?” Jamie asked.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been there,” the Overlord replied.

“So there is an impostor...” Jamie rubbed her chin, “How interesting...”

“A what?” the Overlord stood up suddenly, eyes widening. “An impostor? WHAT!?”

“I was researching... There’s a Mount Overlord in Antarctica. It’s a dormant volcano, but I figured whoever named it might be attempting to pose as you,” Jamie shrugged, “Sounds like it’s time for a beatdown.”

“A mountain in Antarctica?” the Overlord frowned, plopping back into her chair. She rubbed her forehead, feeling her stress meter increase by approximately 50 points. To be honest, the constant war with the Insurgent Leader had already contributed to her bad mood, plus the lack of Pamprin, and the fact that the Soul-Keeper seemed to be missing.

An impostor was never a good thing in the villain community. While you received credit for a lot of work, it occasionally got to the point where things began growing slightly ridiculous. The Overlord recalled a particular case- the well-known case of Ansem the Wise. You see, Ansem was a great man, a man of wisdom and leadership. His apprentice was, for a lack of a better word, an ambitious git that stuck his nose where it didn’t belong. When Ansem’s apprentice accidentally unleashed pure dark forces upon multiple worlds and universes, the apprentice took on the name of Ansem. Soon enough, everyone went running around, claiming to be Ansem. It was an Ansem-fest, but, unfortunately for the real Ansem, all of the blame was laid on him, rather than the moronic apprentice.

The Overlord could think of many ways how this could turn into an equally disastrous ordeal. As much as she was evil, the Overlord never truly aspired to unleashed ultimate evil forces upon multiple worlds, resulting in thousands of casualties and an all-around bloody mess that she’d eventually have to clean up. And what if this impostor began screwing up major time with the cops and got caught? How embarrassing would it be to read of ‘The Overlord’s Capture’ in the next Edmond Sun, Daily Prophet, or New York Times?

“So I deal with them,” the Overlord nodded.

“It’ll take time to find it,” Jamie warned.

“I know...” the Overlord frowned, “I’ll need a replacement to hold off the Insurgents while I’m gone.”

“That’s problematic. I was hoping to watch you kick the impostor’s butt,” Jamie shrugged.

“Ifill,” the Overlord said suddenly, “Ifill would.”

“The Twin?” Jamie asked.

“Yes,” the Overlord stood up, “The Twin.”

“So you’re going to see her?” Jamie stood up.

“We need to leave immediately if we want to stop the impostor in time. We’ll deal with him accordingly,” the Overlord began toward the door, but paused, “We’ll need back up. I’ll fetch the Advisor and the Soul-Keeper if we can find them...”

“I’m sure Colby’s around-” Jamie began, but was cut off.

The Overlord threw herself to the ground as something went flying through the window, shattering the glass. She tackled Jamie in the process as shards of glass flew through the air, littering the floor. The Soul-Keeper sat up suddenly, breathing heavily and blinking a few times, “Whoa...”

“Soul-Keeper?” the Overlord began.

“That was rough,” the Soul-Keeper stated as Sexist jumped into the room, holding both flails in his hands. The Soul-Keeper pushed himself to his feet, then sighed.

“What’s going on?” the Overlord asked, looking at Sexist, frowning, “Put those away. You know I don’t like you swinging those in public. Might break something.”

“I’m free...” Sexist panted, “I’ll be free, Overlord... Just you wait...”

The Overlord held up a hand and began to speak when the Advisor came running in, looking horrified at the shattered glass everywhere. “What happened?” the Advisor looked between Sexist, the Overlord, the Soul-Keeper, and Jamie, then right back at the Soul-Keeper, “What did YOU do!?”

“Me!?” the Soul-Keeper exclaimed.

“Well, this is about as great of a group as any to go to Antarctica,” the Overlord said wearily, “Either that or the Dungeon for you, Sexist.”

“Antarctica?” Sexist began in confusion.

“Well, first, to the Twin’s house. Soul-Keeper... You wanna stop panting and get over here and warp us all?” the Overlord asked, clapping her hands, “Chop, chop, I wanna get this over with.”

“Antarctica?” the Soul-Keeper asked, “Why are we... Oh, never mind, I never wanna know what you’re up to. It’s usually bad.”

The Overlord smirked at this, then nodded, “Usually.” She grabbed her scythe, then grabbed Sexist by the arm with her free hand, “You behave. Or I’ll give you to the Soul-Keeper. Forever.”

“Oh geez...” Sexist scowled.

The Soul-Keeper lifted his staff as the Advisor yelled in protest, still unsure of what was happening. As he slammed the bottom of the staff into the floor, a bright light flooded the room. The Overlord closed her eyes, letting go of Sexist’s arm and taking a deep breath. ‘Antarctica... What a bizarre place to set up a lair. This impostor sucks. I want a better one,’ the Overlord thought moodily. ‘Really? No one goes to Antarctica. This is a pain in the ass... I hate the cold.’

When she opened her eyes, she realized that they had appeared into a house, looking incredibly out of place. The Overlord took a gander about the living room, then walked out into the hall, glancing up and down the interior of the house. A young teen was peering down the hall, staring at the Overlord. Startling, the Overlord asked, “Is the Twin home?”

“Overlord!” the teen exclaimed.

“Ah... Little Ifill. You’ve grown...” the Overlord nodded to her.

“I’ll get her,” Little Ifill nodded, then disappeared.

“So... Is the Twin her sister?” Sexist asked Jamie, looking highly confused.

“No one really knows,” Jamie shrugged.

The Overlord was about to make a snide comment when she was suddenly and very harshly tackled to the ground by something very neon and incredibly loud. As the Overlord hit the ground and maybe even skidded a half of a foot, the others drew back in fear. Between the ‘what the hell’ that had been yelled as the Overlord hit the ground and the raucous laughing, it was a miracle that the others could even hear themselves think.

“OVERLORD!”

“Twin... You’re killing me,” the Overlord commented and took in a deep breath of what felt like glorious air as the Twin released her. Sitting up, the Overlord shot the others an apologetic look, then hopped to her feet, helping the Twin up as she went. The Twin ran a hand through her long blonde hair (which had very prominent purple layers underneath) and adjusted the beret that sat loosely on top of her head.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever!” the Twin exclaimed.

“I know, right?” the Overlord laughed, then said, “I wish it wasn’t cause I needed your help, but... I kinda have a problem I need you to help me with.”

“What is it?” the Twin asked, “Insurgents?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Is he being rude?”

“Somewhat.”

“What do you need me to do?”

The Overlord took in a deep breath, walking very lightly away from the Twin. Gazing about the calm, peaceful house, she ran her hand across the counter, then asked, “Remember the good old days?” When the Twin said nothing but watched her, the Overlord ran a hand through her dark spiky hair, “I still can’t believe you stayed here. Still got the fight in you?”

“I haven’t fought in awhile, you know that,” the Twin remarked.

“Not since...?” the Overlord began.

“The Uberlord,” the Twin interrupted. “I still remember the old days, Overlord. But why-”
“I need you to fill in for me,” the Overlord began.

“What?”

“There’s a bit of business-”

“What’s going on?”

“An impostor. On Earth. I have a back up plan and it requires that someone takes my place temporarily.”

“An impostor? Why’s that so important?”

“Remember Ansem?”

“Ohhh... Gotcha.”

“I need a replacement.”

“So you need me to...?”

“Run the war while I’m dealing with the impostor.”

“War?”

“The Insurgents are on the brink of invasion. They’ve tried to break through the gates already... But I need someone who can fight as good as the Insurgent Leader, if not better. I need you to pretend to be me, Twin,” the Overlord faced her suddenly, hands resting firmly on the counter. “I’m placing you and the Ninja-Lord in charge of the Fortress.”

“You want me to...?” the Twin’s eyes widened, “Wow...”

“In my office, there’s a secret vault. It has a cloak that I took to get a few charms. If you wear it, you’ll take on the appearance of me to any who approach you. There’s a spare scythe in there, too, but it’s only a replica. Granted, it’s sharp enough to do some damage, but it’s not the real deal, if you understand what I mean...” the Overlord explained rapidly, “I have to go...”

“You know I’d like to run the army,” the Twin smirked, “I don’t fight well with scythes.”

“Then your bow? Your sword? Anything at all to help you. The Insurgent Leader might get suspicious if the Overlord forsakes her scythe, but still... He knows I can wield a sword better than most,” the Overlord remarked.

“He and you trained together, didn’t you?” the Twin asked.

“Hence why we can never beat each other. We know each other too well,” the Overlord smiled grimly, “So... You’ll do it?”

“Hahaha, I’d be stupid to pass up this opportunity. So... When do I start?” the Twin asked.

“Now,” the Overlord nodded, “You still can get to the Fortress, right? You know how to travel there?”

“Right...” the Twin nodded. “I’ll take my sister, too. If that’s okay. She wasn’t there for the Great Epic Battle.”

“Ha... Sure,” the Overlord nodded, “The more the merrier. I don’t know when I’ll be back, though. Just a warning. Might be a day. Might be two. Might be a month.”

“I know,” the Twin replied, “Just promise me you’ll come back alive, okay?”

“Ha... Of course!” the Overlord replied, “Remember to tell the Ninja-Lord that she’s in charge of the army, too. I’ll not have my Fortress overrun by the time I return.”

“I’ll not let a single Insurgent past the front gates,” the Twin laughed.

“You’d better not!” the Overlord laughed as well, then nodded, “You’ll do fine being me. I know you will.”

“Are we going to go?” the Advisor asked, arms folded. “You still haven’t told me what all is going on...”

“Later,” the Overlord waved a hand, “Ifill... Thanks for this.”

“No problem,” the Twin nodded and waved, “Happy traveling. Kick the impostor’s ass for me.”

“You got it,” the Overlord nodded, “Soul-Keeper. We travel to Antarctica now.”

The Soul-Keeper lifted his staff, a glowing light radiating from its top, “TO ANTARCTICA! THE LAND OF POLAR BEARS AND REINDEER!”

“That’s the North Pole, you idiot!” the Advisor exclaimed seconds before the staff hit the ground. The Overlord shut her eyes tightly as blinding light washed away the calm, peaceful Ifill house.

She grabbed onto Jamie’s arm, eyes still shut. She thought of how she probably ought to have warned the Twin about Gabriel potentially coming back for the rent. She thought about how she should have warned the Twin about how Underling Tinkerbell was missing. She thought about how she should have told the Twin that there was a secret storage of wine in the basement... She thought about all of these things, feeling her heart lurching in nervousness. She wondered if- and desperately hoped that- the Insurgent Leader would not realize her absence. She hoped that the others would understand and that they would not mind it too much if she left...

‘They’ll be fine...’ the Overlord thought, ‘I hope...’

END OF PART ONE