Chapter 116 - 117: Generous Gomez

Chapter 116: Chapter 117: Generous Gomez

Chapter 117: Generous Gomez

Gomez Addams and Morticia Addams remained completely unconcerned by the prank, looking more pleased than worried as Pugsley wiped Holy Water from his face. Morticia sighed fondly and said, "It’s nice to see the children are still so close." Gomez twirled his mustache with obvious pride and replied, "Of course, cara mia. This is perfectly normal entertainment in the Addams household."

Pugsley flashed Axel Vance a gap-toothed grin before returning his attention to the Blood Jade. He turned the dark-red object over several times, studying it with an intensity that made the room unusually quiet except for the occasional thoughtful sound he made under his breath. After several minutes, his round face brightened with genuine excitement.

"Uncle Axel, this thing is a real treasure," Pugsley announced as he held the jade up. "There’s a strange energy structure inside it that helps supernatural power flow much more efficiently." Axel nodded, because the explanation matched what both he and Lionel had already sensed from the artifact.

"I know it conducts Psionic Power extremely well," Axel said, "but that still doesn’t tell me how to use it." Pugsley tilted his head, thought for a moment, and raised one finger. "It needs a home. Somewhere it can stay comfortably while still letting all that anger inside it come out."

"A medium," Axel said immediately. Pugsley nodded enthusiastically and explained that the best choice would be some kind of weapon capable of resonating with the Blood Jade. The exact process was clearly supernatural rather than ordinary craftsmanship, but the basic idea was simple enough: the artifact needed something with the right history and nature to act as its host.

Axel’s first thought was the Chainsaw Sword. The weapon had followed him through multiple supernatural battles and already responded naturally to his Psionic Power, but after considering it for a moment, he rejected the idea. The Chainsaw Sword was already perfectly suited to brutal close-range combat, while the Blood Jade felt as though it wanted to release energy in a very different way.

What Axel lacked was range.

That thought made him look at Pugsley. "Could you put it into a firearm instead?" he asked, and the boy’s eyes immediately widened with delight while Wednesday gave Axel a rare approving glance.

"Uncle Axel, that’s wonderfully violent," Pugsley said. "I like it." Then his expression became serious again as he explained that, according to the strange supernatural logic of the Blood Jade, an ordinary new weapon would not be suitable.

"It needs to be old," Pugsley continued. "Something with history. Something that’s been around death long enough to have a little personality of its own." Axel frowned and asked how old, prompting Pugsley to think carefully before answering.

"At least a hundred years."

Axel stared at him. "A hundred years?" Any firearm that old would normally belong in a museum collection or locked inside the home of a wealthy collector, not sitting around waiting to become part of a supernatural experiment.

Before Axel could complain further, Gomez suddenly laughed. "An old gun? I believe I have exactly what you need." His tone was so casual that Axel immediately turned toward him.

Gomez leaned back with a nostalgic smile. "There was a gentleman in the West many years ago who claimed he was the finest bounty hunter alive. Apparently someone had placed a rather flattering price on my head, so naturally he came looking for me." Morticia slipped an arm around her husband and murmured, "My darling, people have always found you irresistible."

"Quite true," Gomez replied proudly, kissing the back of her hand. "Unfortunately for the bounty hunter, he failed, but before we parted ways he left me a very tasteful gift." He snapped his fingers, and Lurch appeared with his usual ghostlike silence.

The towering butler carried a long wooden presentation case decorated with dark carvings. He placed it carefully on the table and opened the lid, revealing an antique double-barreled shotgun with the unmistakable styling of a Colt Model 1878. The weapon looked less like something meant for combat and more like an elaborate relic from the Old West.

Its metalwork had aged into a deep dark-gold finish, with intertwined roses and thorns engraved along the surface. The stock was made from polished dark wood, while a small silver skull ornament decorated the grip area. Even without touching it, Axel could feel something cold and unpleasant clinging to the antique.

It carried history.

Violent history.

Gomez gestured toward the weapon. "The fellow claimed more than a hundred souls had met their end on the wrong side of this little beauty." Whether the story was entirely accurate hardly mattered, because the atmosphere surrounding the gun was strong enough for Axel to feel without any special effort.

Axel reached out and rested his fingers lightly against the old wood. A strange chill climbed across his skin, accompanied by flashes of imagined gun smoke, empty Western roads, and blood darkening desert sand. Whatever had happened around the weapon over the decades, it had left something behind.

"This thing has a soul," Axel murmured.

Gomez smiled broadly. "Then it sounds perfect. Consider it yours." Axel looked up sharply, because the antique was clearly worth far more than something a person normally handed away during casual conversation.

"Gomez, this is too valuable to call a casual gift," Axel said seriously. "I owe you for this." Gomez immediately waved away the concern and wrapped an arm around Morticia’s waist.

"Nonsense, my friend. Friends shouldn’t keep ledgers." His smile became even warmer as he added, "Just visit more often. The house is always more entertaining when you’re here."

Axel understood there was no point arguing with an Addams about normal standards of value. He accepted the antique shotgun, then pulled out the Blood Jade and handed both items to Pugsley. "All right, little guy. Let’s see what you can do."

Pugsley carried the gun and jade to a nearby table and placed them side by side with great ceremony. His face became so serious that Axel expected candles, strange symbols, or some elaborate Addams family ritual to begin at any moment. Even Wednesday watched closely, suggesting the process might actually be important.

Then Pugsley turned around and started digging through an old box in the corner.

Axel waited.

A moment later, Pugsley dragged out an enormous iron hammer that was nearly as tall as he was.

Axel stared at it.

Whatever ritual he had been expecting, this definitely was not it.

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