the 5k around the world Part II (Location 3): Ireland

Keith grimaced. "Actually, I'm even more sure of it now that I've seen it. Mama probably went on a date here when she was younger and wanted me to see it for myself." He shook his head. "Mama wouldn't have been bothered by boarded up doors; she just would've apparated in." He held up the pocket watch and frowned. "But of course, it won't be that easy for us."

Keith frowned.

"Or..." he said, an idea coming into his head, "or..." he looked around wildly for a moment before bending down in front of a small drain. He carefully put the pocket watch in the shallow indent and covered it up with an old rusty trash can. "Now," he said, grinning, "apparate us in."

Jack listened to him and went forward to rattle the doorknobs, but there was no use. And not to mention that the doors were not only locked, but boarded up. A Bombarda spell would work, but Jack had a feeling she did not need to cause any more trouble that she had already.

She watched Keith carefully set the watch out of the way of prying eyes or theiving hands and then turned back to her. At his words she grinned and gripped his arm. "Get ready," she said in a voice that said, trust me, this is not going to be fun.

She turned on the spot and apparated, fully use to the uncomfortable feeling it gave. She landed in the middle of a room in the abandoned theater and opened her mouth slightly, excited for the adventure as she released Keith.

Keith did not find apparation pleasant.

Trying to describe it was...difficult. He always felt like he was being squashed down, crushed. Unable to breathe, move, or even think, even for a fraction of a second, was torture for him. Like being squeezed through a tube at high speeds, apparating always left him sore, disorientated, and most of all, dizzy.

As soon as they appeared in the dusty theater, Keith fell to his knees and threw up.

"Ok," he said, still breathing heavily. "Ow."

Throwing up seemed to have gotten the sensation out of his system however, and he was able to stand, albeit shakily. "We've still got way too much time," Keith said after a few moments. "She's never given me this much time before. It's been too easy." He looked around the theater, which was dusty and full of shadows...

Wait. Were those shadows moving?

Keith cursed. Even Mama was't that senile...

But apparently she was. Because as the small creatures stepped out of the shadows, Keith could make out dozens of tiny red caps.

Jack wrinkled her nose and pointed her wand at the mess, clearing it away with a flick. She turned to Keith to tease him a bit, but a movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she turned to face whatever it was that was there, her wand raised.

"Lumos." She was so glad that she could use magic, she thought as the beam of light fell upon the bodies of the Red Caps. She groaned... She did not need to be fighting a magical creature every two days. "Lumos Maxima," she muttered, expanding the light as she cursed.

Keith swallowed.

Red Caps were not what you wanted to stumble across in the middle of an abandon theater. It was dark, narrow, and littered with things that could trip you up - something the smaller, more bestial red caps could use to their advantage. And there were a lot of them. And if they had been here for any length of time...

Oh, yes. There it was. The portkey.

A silver trophy, the portkey was currently in the possession of the largest Red Cap Keith had ever seen. The thing was easily four feet tall and built like a gorilla - barrel chested with thick, beefy arms that could probably break Keith's neck if they ever got close.

Fortunately for Keith, he had one of the most powerful things on the planet standing right next to him.

An armed adult wizard.

True, Jack hadn't technically graduated yet, but she could still rain fire from the heavens, shoot lightning from her hand, and basically bend the laws of reality until they fit her liking. There weren't a lot of things that could go up against that.

And Keith? Well, he had a two-by-four.

"This is probably going to hurt."

Jack nodded and tightened her grip on her wand, feeling bad for the Red Caps for only a moment. Magical creatures always saddened her, because she always seemed to be pitted against them, no matter how intrigued she was by them. They may be animals, but did they really know better?

That was kind of Jack's hang up.

She said to Keith, "Don't let them cut you or anything. They see or smell blood-" she shuddered for effect. "Let's just say, they'll be a lot happier than we will be."

She pointed at the nearest Red Cap. "Stupefy!" Caught off guard, it feel over, but now the rest were on alert. They managed to escape most of her stunning spells, so she began to send Impedimentas, to try and lighten the load a bit.

"Right," Keith said, hefting the 2x4. Unlike Jack, he had no problem with beating a few red caps senseless. He needed the portkey, and they were in his way. He would've kicked puppies if he had to.

A red cap charged him, startled by Jack's stupefy, and Keith knocked it upside the head with the plank of wood. It fell to the ground ad struggled to it's feet, at which point Keith slammed it over the top of the head. Repeatedly.

Two more red caps attacked, and he swung the 2x4, only for them to grab it mid swing and attempt to yank it out of his hands. Keith pulled back, and so started a bizarre game of tug-o-war, with the 12 year old Keith on one side and two red caps on the other.

Keith lost.

His finger slipped, and a splinter got caught under his nail, causing him to release the board with a hiss of pain. The red caps threw it to the side and charged, Keith managing to fend one of them off with a well place kick to the face. The other one launched itself at him, Keith barely managing to catch the tiny thing before it ate his face. he let out a shout and threw it into it's charging brethren, desperately searching for a weapon.

He kicked another red cap away but they were closing in now, pressing towards the two wizards from all sides. Jack was holding her own well enough (if it wasn't for her Keith would be long dead) but if she didn't start pulling out the stops soon, the red caps would overwhelm them with sheer numbers and ferocity.

Jack slowly backed up as she started to aim wider in the hopes of hitting more than one of the creatures at a time. Keith had been able to knock a few of them out of the fight with a long plank of wood, but it had gotten ripped from his hands not long after that, too, to add to the chaos. He was managing with just kicking them, but they were getting more desperate.

She turned her head towards Keith and said, "Close your eyes." She held her wand out in front of her and closed her own eyes. "Lumos Maxima!" So stunning was the light that she heard the Red Caps voice their displeasure as they all withdrew. She flicked her eyes open and began pointing her wand at cluster to cluster. "Bombarda! Bombarda!"

This spell not only sent them flying, but it hit the ground beneath them, sending rubble flying like shrapnel. Only a few spells was enough to drive them back, sending a few of the more cowardly ones running. "I got your back," she told Keith.

Keith grinned. Jack had really let loose, and the red caps were running with their metaphorical tails between their legs. But there was one problem.

The big one, the one with the portkey, was also running.

"Shit..." Keith muttered, leaping over the chairs in pursuit of the thing. "I hope you've got my back!"

He leapt over one red cap, kicking another in the face as he landed. The big one was getting away though, heading towards the screen. They probably had some sort of nest back there...and Keith did not want to see red cap babies.

Well, and he'd probably be brutally slaughtered by the magical creatures. But mainly the creepy babies. Keith dove at the giant red cap and managed to get a hand on the portkey, elbowing the thing and trying to make it let go. It held on (it was unfairly strong for such a little thing) and started hitting Keith back. "Oh come on!"

Jack saw what Keith was focused on now; the largest Red Cap, that happened to hold what she guessed was the portkey, was trying to escape with it. Keith took after it quickly, bowling over a few of the stray Red Caps that had been too stupid or slow to get out of her way.

She followed behind him at a quick pace, taking down the remaining Red Caps with ease now that she had fallen into her comfort zone once more. She could see the Red Cap fleeing and she took aim, saying "Impedimenta." It only brushed by but it was enough for it to slow down so that Keith could tackle it.

They were having trouble now though. Jack raised her wand but she saw that there was the change she would hit Keith. She slipped her wand into her pocket and ran over to the Red Cap, kicking out, her shoe landing square across its face.