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Blaze approaches Alastor in the living room, holding out his gloved hands in an inviting gesture. “All right, Alastor, it’s settled!” he says. “I’ll help you!” Alastor, his teeth bared and fists clenched, growls, “You’re gonna track down my killer so I can tear his head off?”
Blaze presses his index fingers together hesitantly and says, “Uh… no.”
With a smile full of idealistic hope, Blaze clasps his hands together and says, “I’m gonna help you cross the veil into the light!”
Alastor furrows his eyebrows, glaring at Blaze with intense, glowing white eyes. He pauses, then asks, “What light?”
Looking a little concerned, Blaze asks, “You… You don’t see the light? Not even a teeny tiny bit?” He gestures with his thumb and forefinger close together.
A zoomed-out view shows Blaze’s living room obscured by heavy smoke, the only visible area directly surrounding Blaze, Alastor, and Evie. Blaze is illuminated with a faint glow. Alastor looks around and says, “I see you. I see 10 feet around you. And I see a fuck-ton of smoke.”
With a cheery grin, Blaze stands behind Alastor. As he guides him forward by the shoulders, he says, “Well, we’ll work on clearing out some of that smoke.”
Blaze seats Alastor in one of the chairs at the meeting table. He says, “When you murder people in life, their spiritual turmoil can cling to you and make it harder to find peace and clarity. If you can’t find peace, you can’t find the light.”
Blaze leans close to Alastor from behind. He continues to smile, while Alastor looks dubious. Blaze says, “And the best way to find peace is to make amends with those you harmed.”
Blaze whirls Alastor around in his chair to face Evie. As Alastor and Evie stare at each other in surprise, Blaze smiles and proclaims, “You can start by apologizing to Evie!”
Quietly, Evie says, Uh… Blaze…” Alastor frowns and grips the sides of his chair as he asks Blaze, “What’s that supposed to do?” Blaze props himself on Alastor’s chair back and says, “It’ll foster peace between you and bring you closer to the light!”
Looking manically excited, Blaze holds his hands up in a quoting motion and says, “‘I’m sorry I murdered you.’ Try it!” Alastor looks over his shoulder at Blaze with a skeptical frown.
Alastor turns back to face Evie, his narrowed eyes glowing and his mouth twisting into a devious smirk.
Slouching insolently in his seat, Alastor folds his arms and says exaggeratedly, “I’m sorry I murdered you.”
With a big PLOOF, Alastor erupts into his smoky form.
Blaze looks down at him and says, “Try it again with less sarcasm.”
Evie turns away, her eyes rolled and her arms crossed. She says, “He’s a lost cause, Blaze. He’s destined for the smoke.” Behind her, Blaze looks horrified. He cries, “He can be saved from the smoke!!!” In the background, smoky Alastor yells, “I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE FUCKING SMOKE!”
Alastor gestures wildly and says, “I was lured into that church, you know. Someone targeted me, set a trap. But I…”
He looks down, his eyebrows furrowed, and he says, “I can’t remember what they said to get me there.” His gaze shifts to the side, and he pauses, then says, “I can’t remember a lot of things.”
Alastor descends on a startled Blaze, smoke billowing from him as he bares his teeth. He says, “But you can help me track the guy down.” His voice starts breaking up into smoke-speak as he yells, “Then I’ll WRING all the answers out of him before I GOUGE HIS EYES OUT and TOSS HIS HEAD DOWN A BOWLING LANE!”
Blaze looks earnestly into Alastor’s eyes. Holding a hand to his heart, he says, “I’m not that kind of medium, Alastor. I can’t solve your murder. I can only help you make peace with it.”
Alastor grabs Blaze by his shirt collar and slams him against the wall. In full smoke-speak, he yells, “THERE’S NOT GONNA BE ANY PEACE UNTIL THAT GUY’S GOT A TAG ON HIS TOE!”
Blaze whips off his right glove, wrapping his bare, glowing hand around Alastor’s fist, which is still gripping his shirt. With a challenging smirk, Blaze says, “Let’s get you another cup of tea.”
Alastor’s eyebrows furrow as he stares silently at Blaze’s glowing hand on his.
Alastor reluctantly releases Blaze’s shirt. He glares down at Blaze’s confident smile, then mutters, “You’re as annoying as you are cute.”
Curling his lip in a look of barely controlled wrath, Alastor says, “And you’re really… really… really cute.”
Blaze adjusts his shirt and smirks as Alastor walks away.
A logo appears: Into the Smoke. Intothesmokecomic.com
An image shows nine ghost hands converging to pet Otto, a content fat black cat. Each hand has several names written on it. Text reads: Special Thanks to my Patrons. Pledge on Patreon at patreon.com/bob_artist. The words “Pledge on Patreon” are crossed out and replaced with the words, “Pet Otto.” An additional URL reads intothesmokecomic.com.
This is the midpoint of chapter 2, and the start of hiatus! But we have a couple of very cool guest episodes coming up, so watch for that on our usual every-other-week schedule!
As for me, I’ll be doing what I’ve been doing since two years before the comic launched: working to get the next pages done!
The second half of chapter 2 is the part I’ve been looking forward to the most, in terms of early moments. It includes one of my all-time favorite scenes (which also happens to be, uh, pretty spicy). I CAN’T WAIT!!
More info on future updates will come later.
We got a few new names on the credits sheet! Otto is getting petted SO much. It’ll update again when I come back from hiatus, so be sure to join and then submit your name!
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So let’s keep things lively through the hiatus! Since I’m not getting surgery this time, I should be able to chat a lot more! And I bet you’ll have some things to say about the guest episodes too! 😀