Disclaimer: Don't own anything, please do not sue me.
Author's note: So this story is inspired by the material from the corebooks of CJ Carella's Witchcraft and Armageddon: The End Times Are Here. The most amazing thing about Witchcraft and it's quasi-sequel is the back-story that manages to tie everything together and make it make sense within their own worlds, that it doesn't require having to go all over the place with making one aspect more complicated than the rest. For example. Vampires have been so common that the lore for most fiction involving them changes depending on the writer. Yet these games make it easier to understand their existence by giving them a common source of how they're made but with differences in what sustains them. If you wish to understand more, I can only say that you must research the material yourself but I will field any questions. Also, there will be some slight changes to some of the cosmology of these games, if only to suit what I'm doing for this story, which the game rules also say is acceptable. So here we go, and I promise to continue with my other stories.
Los Angeles, California
2016
At the rear entrance of a nightclub, two figures stumbled out into the wide alleyway with one clutching the other from behind. As they stumbled into the light from a street-light, it seemed that the aggressor was a male with shaggy hair and had his face pressed into a young woman's neck. From a fair distance, an onlooker could see that there was blood trailing down her neck. The young woman could not scream as the man's hand was grasped over her her mouth. He would've continued to bleed her until he stopped as if he felt something. Taking his mouth from her neck, the man looked up and sniffed the air as if he found something intoxicating. As he turned towards the entrance of the alleyway, he spotted a young man with slightly spiky brown hair, wearing a blue, white, and black plaid shirt in black jeans and boots approach. As the aggressor looked at the newcomer, he released the young woman and gave a predatory smile to the young man.
"I had hoped this nubile young thing satisfy me. But it seems you have more than enough energy to satisfy me and my buds," the man said as seven other men came out of the shadows before he continued, "You're not what we normally swing for. But we can't resist the power behind all those feelings you've got bottled up."
"You not taking anything from me or anyone else, Nosferatu," the young man replied as he pulled out a silver blade that appeared as if it were glowing. The surrounding men noticed that the hilt contained an indigo jewel that glowed as well, with the hilt being in the shape of a crucifix.
"Shit! I thought I knew this guy! It's Freddie Benson from iCarly! We get this guy, we get all the fine honeys we want!" said one of the surrounding men.
"Don't think so, leech," Freddie said before he leapt at the leader.
The leader grabbed the blade only to have it make his hand sizzle at a touch, making him wonder how the hell he could be burning. Freddie spun and kicked the man, knocking him back a dozen feet before he landed at the end of the alley. The leader looked up to see Freddie muttering something before he thrust his hand out. The next instance saw what appeared to be indigo/white fire launch from the tech producer's hand, and set the leader on fire. As the flames consumed him, his skinned was completely burned off and showed his skeleton, revealing elongated canines for teeth. The other men looked enraged and their canines lengthened as well.
"Sorry we took so long," came another young lady's voice before she continued, "We too late for the party?"
Freddie turned to see Jade West with her dark hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a black shirt that exposed a bit of cleavage, with a black short-sleeved pleather jacket, black jeans, and black combat boots. Next to her was Tori Vega with her hair down wearing a blue jean ensemble and a red shirt. Andre stood behind Tori and wore an outfit that was designed to look like a soldier's uniform but was colored all black. The remaining seven creatures roared at what they perceived was an insignificant threat, despite sensing power behind the young adults.
Andre sidestepped the girls and ran past them and Freddie before he tackled the center vampire and began pummeling him. Tori channeled fire from her hands and fired at two of the men who charged her, turning them to dust. She looked over to Andre to see that he had managed to take off the man's head. The remaining four looked to Jade and Freddie. The former goth girl looked to the tech producer and smirked at him before they both pulled out what appeared to be silver crosses with a white gem embedded in the center of both. The two young adults glowed blue before the pointed the crosses at the other four and the holy objects glowed with such intensity that it was like sunlight before the remain four disintegrated. The four young adults came together ready to celebrate until Andre caught their attention.
"Guys, it's not over yet," he said as five more men appeared.
Before anyone else could do anything, a glowing figure dropped from the sky and landed between the two groups. The glow mostly faded before it revealed a pair of blue/white glowing wings that covered the figure in question. The wings unfurled and revealed a blonde girl about the same age as the other four young adults, and her face held a sneer at the men that appeared out of place.
"Freddie Benson and Sam Puckett! A Sentinel and a nephilim?! We are so fucked!" the leading man said.
"Well, you're right about Freddie and about what I am," the blonde girl said with a smile before it turned into a deep scowl, "but you've got the wrong Puckett."
The half-angel slowly approached the creatures as they stepped back and turned around. Unfortunately for them, the nephilim was much faster as she appeared behind them as they turned. The leading man (as if he was one by this point) was grabbed by is throat before his entire body was set on fire and his charred husk became ashes. The other four beasts looked on in fear. They were to slow to react as the blonde half-breed summoned a sword with a blue/silver flame that formed the blade and she slashed out, turning them all to the dust with the celestial fire that she had inherited from her absent father. The four humans of the group smiled at their companion.
"Nice work as always Melanie," Jade said, "but how did you know we were here?"
"I may be half-angel but there's a lot from my dad that I was able to pick up. Besides, you're my friends. I couldn't just let you guys go facing trouble and not help," she explained. Freddie smiled as she was as far from being like Sam and Pam than most people would imagine once they really got to know her.
"Well, we do appreciate it nonetheless," Freddie spoke up, "but we need to take care of the girl first."
Freddie looked over and saw the poor girl looking like a deer caught in the headlights, which was as closed to the feeling she was experiencing as far as anyone could tell. Freddie knelt down next to her and looked her over to check and see if there were any other injuries. The girl in question had dark brown hair, fair skin, brown eyes, and appeared with a figure that was between Tori's and Jade's shape.
"What the fuck was that?!" the girl asked.
"Have you seen the news stories about what's going on?" Jade asked as she stood next to Freddie. The girl looked at his firm expression but could not see any condemnation.
"You're talking about that guy in the cloak with the gas mask over in Germany?" she asked, making Freddie nod his head, "Funny. My folks were always telling me about being out in the bad parts of town. Guess they'd be showing me if they saw me now."
"What all do you know so far?" Tori asked with Andre standing beside her.
"Some years ago, everyone in Berlin just up and died. Except for one guy. He's the Dark Apostle. And he's been doing his damned best to try and take over the world," she said as she ruminated on the news stories she watched, "And everything here in the states isn't as good as most would believe since we've got some cities cordoned off."
"So you saw what happened when some of the lower angels came down and fought?" Andre asked.
"Yeah I did," the girl said, "Sort of put things into perspective. Knowing that we could be as powerful but not having powers like that trying to destroy us..."
Freddie looked at her with sympathy before he decided to get to the heart of the matter, "Here's the rundown: those goes were vampyres. Unlike what you see in movies, these guys are essentially the living dead. But they don't feed on blood, but something else. Something that you saw us do. But we'll have to explain this later. You need rest."
"She can come with us," Tori said catching the others by surprise. The others looked to her and nodded in agreement. Melanie stepped to the girl and placed a hand on her head, which glowed from the blonde's head, healing the wound on her neck. Melanie offered the same hand to her and the girl took it.
"So what do we call you?" the good Puckett twin asked.
"You can call me Ada," she replied as she looked to Tori. The group moved out and away from the alley and walked back to safety.
Los Angeles Arms Apartments
The six young adults entered the two floor apartment and the fighters of the group proceeded to take off their weapons, which ranged from knives and guns, to holy objects and even what appeared to Ada to be charms and talismans.
"Who the hell are you guys?" she said as she looked at Andre and Tori, "I know I haven't seen you since graduation but what were you into?"
Tori and Andre took a good look at the girl and realized that they did know her. It was surprising as the girl in question was someone that the pair had paid scant attention to in school.
"Oh my god, you're shrugger!" Tori said. Freddie looked perplexed with the name before Jade moved over to her.
"Oh my god, it is you. I am so sorry I didn't recognize you," Jade said as she walked up and hugged her.
"Jade?" Tori said.
"I asked her to be a part of my performance at school before Sikowitz canceled it for the Prome. I've seen her perform and she was amazing. But it hasn't mattered for years. The whole world has been fucked to hell for the last eight years. All that matters is that we survive unless we can stop this," the former goth said. Tori looked at her friend with a bot of regret at what she had missed years ago.
"That still doesn't answer my question," Ada threw in. The others looked to each other and looked back at the former Hollywood Arts student. Jade stepped forward, deciding to bite the bullet.
"It's like this..."
Four years ago...
It was a midsummer night as Jade sat in the Jet Brew coffeehouse with the styrofoam coffee cup in her left hand and swishing the liquid around. She had broken up with Beck a month before Graduation, citing that there relationship had not changed or gone anywhere. It wasn't too disheartening when Beck hadn't tried to defend their relationship and simply agreed and decided to let it end there. What was surprising was how Tori would come to Jade and tell her about when Beck came to her and tried to use similar moves that he had used on her during the Platinum Music Awards debacle. Only this time, he was the vulnerable guy with the heart of gold. However, Tori had quickly told him of how she still would not pursue him.
Jade smiled at the thought of finally reconciling with Tori after all of the time spent being antagonistic during high school and finding that they really could be friends. It was something to be said of a person when they could find time to smile in light of the crisis that had been going on around the world. As she continued ruminating on the change in her life, she was accompanied by a tall, pale man with long, dark and stringy hair. The man stared at her almost in contempt until she had enough.
"What do you want?" she asked. The man simply smirked.
"Nothing. At least not nothing you could offer upfront," he said.
"Screw you," Jade said before she got up and walked out.
The aspiring entertainer found herself walking down the street before she realized that the street was seemingly deserted. As she looked around, she began to worry especially one she spotted the same man following her, with an expression that seemed to her as if he intended harm. The young lady quickened her walking pace when she saw that no one would be coming and broke out into a run. When she got two blocks away, something flew down from the sky and nearly caused her to scream. The thing had large chiropteran wings, with a face could only be described as a mix between a bull and ant-eater. It had long claws on its fingers and had legs like a bull.
"You smell delicious," the thing said to her. Jade backed away before she turned and ran only to bump into the pale man at the shop. The man pushed her aside and suddenly drew a flaming sword from nowhere and charged the creature. Jade noticed the monster do the same before the man grew a pair of feathered wings and took flight. It didn't take long for the fight to end when the man slammed the monster and stabbed it in the place where it's heart would be if it were human. The monster disintegrated before it was no more.
"What the hell was that?!" Jade asked as she tried to stopped shaking, "Are you an angel?"
"Yes," the man said as he looked at her indifferently, "My name is Galael. I'm what my brothers, sisters, and...others refer to as Heaven's leg-breaker."
"So you followed me to bait that thing out of hiding?" she asked.
"And to make sure that you were no threat. But you still can be. So I see no reason why I shouldn't just-"
"Galael," came another female voice, stopping the angel from making a move. Galael looked back and saw a beautiful brunette woman that was taller than him, and her beautiful blue eyes held a steely gaze that seemed to mar her face.
"It's very rare to see you out and about here," the male angel said.
"What can I say, I enjoy getting out every once in a while. Unlike you, I don't enjoy my assignments more than I should. Go back home until we call for you," she said. Galael return the glare with a cold expression of his own before he opened his wings and shot into the air.
"Sorry about him. He's overzealous. Sometimes I wonder. Are you alright?" the woman asked.
"Yeah. But who are you?"
"I'm Michele," she said, getting a raised eyebrow before she continued, "the archangel."
"A bit feminine aren't you? Last I checked 'Michael' was a guy," Jade said trying not to be sarcastic.
"Yeah, that's what I figured before I incarnated into this form," the celestial being said as she caught Jade's confused expression, "My siblings and I are purely spiritual entities. Whenever we appear like this, we usually have to...'grow our own skin' so we can approach you without the usual reaction. But the gender isn't left up to us, since we don't view ourselves the way humans do. Imagine my surprise when I came onto this plane looking like this."
"Interesting. Why did you send that Galileo guy away? What did he mean about me being a threat?"
"It's a rather long story. But I'll keep it short. The Munich disaster is one of many events that signaled the coming of a cataclysmic event. But this is bigger than the rest. An ancient city summoned the shade of a horrible creature that can distort reality as we know it, known as a Mad God. Ever since that war, many of my brothers have seen humans as mere children who need a firm, really firm hand to guide them or they need to be kept ignorant about the truth of reality. Galael is one of those who do any and everything possible to get rid of what he perceives as a possible threat. He saw you as one because of your potential," Michele said.
"Potential?"
"You're one of the many humans born with the capability of using the energy of creation. In a word, magic."
"Magic? Seriously?" Jade asked.
"You saw Galael took out one of our brothers and magic is unbelievable?" Michele said with a smirk.
"How exactly would this make me a threat?" the pale girl replied.
"To many of my siblings, humankind's potential to surpass us and become closer to the Creator is an enviable trait. He created your kind in His image, so you can be closer to him in ways we can't. But these powers are a double-edged sword. The thought of what you can do can be tempting. Which is why someone like me can help you. But you'd also have someone else by your side," Michele said with a smile.
"Jade?" came a familiar male voice. The young woman turned around to find Freddie Benson looking at her in astonishment.
Present...
"So angels and demons are real. But what were those guys that attacked?" Ada asked.
"Those are vampyres. And as I said earlier, they weren't intending on feeding from your blood, but what's contained inside you. You're what's called a magician. Not like the guys with the stage tricks and such. But the things you saw us do are caused by what is generally known as magic. The energy of it flows through everything and everyone. Vampyres feed off the essence, which is what we know as the energy that makes up magic. There's a lot that's out there, and we're on the precipice of finding out how much there can be," Freddie said.
"I guess I'll find out later," Ada said trying to stifle a yawn, "I need some sleep."
"It's fine. Come on. You can sleep in my room," Melanie said as she led the former performing arts student to the bedroom on the first floor.
"I guess we'll head up too. Good night guys," Tori said as she took Andre's hand and they headed upstairs. When they heard the door close, Freddie sat on the couch in the living room while Jade went tot he fridge and pulled out a couple of beers. She joined the former tech producer on the couch and handed him one, which he accepted with a smile.
"Wanna talk about it?" she asked.
"Just wondering how long this whole thing can keep going. It's been four years since we came together. Six years since I found out about my family line and just what all I'm capable of. I'm surprised other Sentinels didn't try to hunt me down," Freddie said.
Jade could only nod as she remembered what Freddie had told her about his father, who he had not known or seen until months before he graduated. Learning that his mother was apart of a secret society of 'Inspired' magician's secretly working to help people was mind-blowing in itself. Learning that his father was a true immortal descended from the citizens of Atlantis threw him even further. It was no wonder he held such a deep fascination for technology. And his mother's helicopter mentality made more sense, as he imagined there were many enemies the Sentinels made, both deserved and undeserved.
"There's no reason to ever worry about them. Besides, you've got heart and imagination, two things a lot of those guys lack. You are the true definition of what they should be. And it's that same guy that I feel in love with four years ago," Jade said as she leaned in and kissed Freddie deeply. They continued for a few moments before Freddie broke the kiss and looked into the blue eyes of the former goth girl. It had taken four years for him to rediscover who he was when he left Seattle, and the woman in front of him and stood by him every step of the way; something he didn't have before.
"Sometimes I still wonder if God is making me think this is all a dream," he said with a smirk.
"I don't think you have to worry about that ever happening," Jade said as her smirk turned more predator, "If He were, you'd get a heads-up, you being so close to him as an Inspired."
Freddie smiled knowing that she was right. He took her hand and led them to their bedroom on the third floor down from Tori and Andre's. After their nightly rituals, the pair laid on their bed and contemplated having saved another life, as well as a potential ally. Freddie soon felt Jade was fast asleep as she laid on him, with her chest steadily expanding and compressing from the deep breathing. He slightly turned and opened the drawer in his nightstand and held the velvet box, smiling at what he hoped would be a bright future in the bleakness surrounding the world.