Blood Redemption

by Captain Ben Brazee MD

Part 1 of Jack Crest's story. Needs edits

Blood Redemption

"A hero, That's what you were." Written by Ben Brazee

I took four steps down from the wooden stage erected on Crissy Field, San Francisco, and pondered what had just happened to me. I had received a large plot of land on a different world inhabited by fierce barbaric nomads, a large chunk of money and the eternal gratitude of humanity for saving them from a gathering of vampires that had the numbers and power to wipe out life as we know it within a week. But doing so had wrought a horrible cost on me, but at the same time a horrible benefit. It had opened up communication with a primal predator spirit that had supposedly seamed itself with my soul before I was born so that it could experience the hunt again. While this had given me incredible powers like rune making on the spot and a massive boost to adrenaline, it made me feel like I was losing who I was. Besides that, my body was riddled with bullet holes and slash marks from the fighting against the vampires. Scars are the markers of victory. Floated through my head, doubtlessly an idea conceived by the predator spirit. I left the steps to a small backstage area of pavilions where food and drinks were offered. fog was gathering on the horizon, but that was more than ordinary to anyone who lives in north California. A lady in a red blouse and khaki pants approached me and shook my hand and said "Thank you!" In a bouncy, way too happy voice. I got the message that the world was thankful when they handed me a 401k and an extra hundred thousand dollars, excluding some real estate and probably a lot more to come. The lady walked off, I grabbed some bread, roast beef and condiments from a buffet in a pavilion where people began to clap for me as I spread Dijon over a slice of pita bread.

Then some robed jackass punched me in the gut and I felt a sudden teleportation. I was in a dark room, glowing runes floated around in the darkness, time was moving very slowly. The jackass was nowhere to be found, which disappointed me. "That was some stunt you pulled off, killing some eighty vampires over two days." I was punched in the stomach again, but this time some type of predatory examination went into it. I felt a light protrusion from the main fist, which lingered on my flesh due to the slowing of time and the speed of instincts. That told me the assailant was not a good puncher, and that combined with the slow time and the glowing runes in darkness was a sure sign of wizardry afoot. I then recognized that I must have been trying to lie down or something along those lines, as I was angled, but there seemed to be no ground or gravity in this place, which made me sure of magical involvement by the magical government M.E.R.L.I.N. "You made us look pretty bad at an occasion where we should have been the unchallenged, successful authority." The voice repeated.

"Sorry, I thought that stopping bad guys and protecting humanity was a good thing, my bad."

"Leave him alone Clayton, your job is retrieval, not reprimandation." A different voice said. "Now Jack, we, the M.E.R.L.I.N. council would like to thank you for what you did in the interests of humanity and wizard kind alike, but there are some things that must be attended to lest we have to waive any rewards you have received and convict you for your crimes. Yes, we are aware that the fight was not clean, we saw you invoke a blood rune in the embassy, but part of our gratitude to you means waiving the sentencing for any black magic you used in the slaying of the vampires." A pause, as if waiting for me to speak.

Time to shut down the smartass part of my mind for a minute and be humble "Thank you Council of Elders." Good. "I'll throw in some prune juice for you if you can heal my wounds." Oh shit. There was a moment of silence, a single chuckle and more silence.

"Talk like that is not considered respectful to one's elders, betters and superiors." A different, female voice said. Thank Christ that was just the old person way of saying "Shut Up."

"Jack, the last thing that you must know is that we will be keeping an eye on you, measuring your new strengths and weaknesses, examining the ways you fight so that we know how to stop fighters like you from making too big of a mess." That had been as nice a scolding as I had ever gotten from a major governing body.

"Thanks but it's not that big a deal, it's the same fighting that took out the Sorcerer warlord a few months ago." I replied

"Do not attempt to pull wool over our eyes Jack, we are aware of the spirit now awake inside of you, the one that allowed you to survive all those blows and defeat the vampires." Before I could respond I was gone, no darkness, no glowing runes, no voices. I was standing right where I was what seemed like five minutes ago, but the people were still clapping. The M.E.R.L.I.N. must have slowed down time to a point where all that only took five seconds rather than five minutes. I could use that to cut down DVR space well, once I bought a DVR.

I was chewing through the large, 6 inch tall sandwich when Wyatt, apparently suffering from a half burned beard and a broken leg hobbled towards me. "It would be a smart idea to stay here Jack, a hero, even if just one for a day, should be public, not private. Is the mustard any good?" He said as he mused towards the buffet.

"I shall Wyatt, thanks for the tip. And by all magic the buffet is delicious, the roast beef seems to be cut from wild boars and the honey baked ham at the end there is what I plan on eating for the rest of my life."

"Very well then, I shall see you around I presume?" Wyatt said as he approached the long rectangular table.

"Yes my friend, you shall." I said as I began to walk away towards a out of place bar type thing where I requested and got a rum & coke on the house. There was a large group on the outskirts of the pavilions, which I now realized were set up so that there were two rows of white pavilions with a type of aisle in between them. Michael could be heard clanking around in his armor and I started to hone in on his position via sounds of metal hitting metal and "God bless you my child, what is it?" Way to be hip Michael, blessings are the most popular greeting ever. Then I realized that he must be having a mega burst of faith after surviving the vampire raid we did. It made perfect sense, God hates me, God loves him, and god protects him and gives me a gun and tells me to stop the evil. Piece of cake. I wandered my way towards Michael, who turned out to be talking to reporters with Jimmy and Beth. I then shirked back to not steal the spotlight. It looked like they were being interviewed, and I just sipped my drink until the interview was over and stepped out towards the crowd. I was just a few feet away from my circle of friends when I was jumped by a team of reporters with cameras relaying the interview to several different television stations as I was talking. It took me a dazed moment to realize that as I was screwing up the interview, millions of people across America would see me screw up as it happened. Modern technology sucks.

"Hello, I'm Sarah Lily of Channel Eight news, would you answer some questions for us?" The lead reporter asked. I got the sinking feeling that this would be the first of many. The camera guy seemed to be counting hairs on my face with the camera, which made my mind have a seizure at this important moment.

"Sure why not." Damn again!

"Okay, so how did you, a basic wizard for hire, become so involved in fighting the vampires, how did it all start?" Shit, a basic question, the hardest type.

"Well it all began when I was drinking with my buddy, Jimmy." Oh god… "And some strangers I had never seen before entered the bar. I talked to them, they sounded… different. I cast a small divination spell and found out that the male of the couple had a powerful aura of dark energy. I dueled him under the laws of magical combat and won, but in the fight he revealed his vampiric nature." That could have actually gone worse. Another news team just showed up and had their camera guy start filming me.

"Alright then, and how did you end up fighting the whole brood of vampires?" The reporter asked. Time to send out some credit to my friends.

"Well my good friend and advisor Wyatt of The New World and Beth combined magic to make a divination ritual that found out where they were hiding, in the Bay Area Embassy to the Supernatural. We showed up there and did what we had to do to kill them. At the cost of the building." Not so bad.

The whole pack of news groups were all piling up on me now, I felt somewhat stunned. I finished my Rum and Coke. A different reporter asked a new question. "Are the reports that you turned into a beast like creature and used black magic, runes and hand to hand combat to kill them true Jack?" Oh shit.

"Jack, you can't hide the truth from mortals." Floated through my head, I looked around and saw Wyatt standing by the buffet still, giving me a bit of a nod.

"I did turn into somewhat of a beast, using an outsider spirit of the hunt I imprisoned in me before the battle, and in its carnal rage it used blood runes and black magic, but I was not firm of mind when that happened. I will use caution and enhanced binding techniques when I use that spirit again, and I apologize to my superiors in the M.E.R.L.I.N. for doing so." That was a horrible question!

"Last question, what will you do now?" Oh boy, what would I do next? I could go back to my flat and live with Beth for years to come, or make things more interesting and punch this reporter in the face. As good as an idea as option two was, I responded otherwise.

"I'll do my best to continue to serve my community by killing any vampires I find crawling around on these next few days. Hopefully I can go back to being a bum, just with more money to waste this time." Whatever… I stopped caring about my answers just before that question. But I still got that sinking feeling that somewhere out there, some jackass was laughing at me. The reporters gradually dissipated like lions leaving a kill, and I felt relieved and discontented at the same time. You would think saving humanity from becoming snacks for vampires would give you a little more screen time. Hell, maybe a little more money while they were at it.

"That was surprisingly well done Jack." Beth said as she walked up to me in her formal robes popular among wizards. I was not one of those, where she had long flowing sheets of alchemic purple silk, I had a bloody pair of thick jeans and a metal cape. Where she had a emblem of her group within the Merlin society alchemically emblazoned across her chest, I had a T-Shirt with the question "What would Richard do?" glancing out from my demon hide-leather jacket. She was also considerably less bandaged then me, I had a large patch of medical love taped to my half eaten side, it kept the remnants of my organs and skin from falling out, which was good. "I didn't think you were such a lover of community bonding." She joked. Everyone who lived within my roaring distance knew that I probably taught little kids curse words when my alchemic experiments failed, or when my alarm clock went off.

"Yeah I'm really big on community; we have to keep our innocent and sacred youth protected and happy. People who spend their lives bumming around on the streets without a job should be evicted." I said sarcastically. A small awkward moment passed as I observed her looking at my extremely hairy arms, thick, sharp ended finger nails like claws and my legs that were twice as thick as they once were, and poised for a pounce. "I don't know why either Beth." The question was unasked, but we knew it was there.

"It doesn't change anything Jack; you saved my life, and millions of others." She choked out the words. "I like you a lot Jack. I don't know you well enough to love you, but I was scared when you changed and fought those vampires alone." She was looking to the side now, where Wyatt kept his watchful eye on us from behind a sandwich that dwarfed his hands. I paused for a moment. I didn't have anything to say.

"Look Beth, I like you to, I just don't know who I am now. I'm more powerful than I've ever been before, I have more money than I can count and I'm famous. If you think that this isn't me, then we're on the same page. If I could become my old self again just to have you, then I would, I guess I love you Beth, unconditionally." I paused as we stared into each other's eyes for a long moment. I could see in my reflection that mine had Spellglow, a wizard gene trait that makes our eyes emit light when we have strong emotions or a lot of magical energy. But the point remained the same; we stood like that for a long powerful moment, in the middle of public, before we leaned into each other and kissed for a passionate moment. My mind flitted around thoughts of claiming her as my mate and carrying her back to my home, but then my true self beat back the beast as we locked tongues. Then her tongue brushed against my teeth and I felt it touch a sharp canine. We disconnected and looked at each other in silence. I blushed deeper than she did and my home dog Jimmy rushed in to break the situation's kneecaps.

"Hey guys! What did you guys get?" He said from his tuxedo in a oddly cheery voice. He was a short guy, but tough enough to throw through buildings and a marksman good enough to shoot a tazer across traffic to hit a anorexic vampire slave discreetly.

"I got a hundred thousand dollars and an award." Beth said.

"I got several hundred thousand bucks, a full retirement fund and magical commendation/beatdown." I said, I noticed max walking towards us, within earshot of the conversation.

"I got a rock." Came from Max, my bartender who participated in the fight against the vampires with his shotgun, brutal rage and enslaved demons. He had graying hair and the strong smell of the alcohol and spirits (small time magician) that he brewed in his tavern/ microbrewery. He wore a white silk shirt that was just a shade off the clean bandages covering his shoulders and back, with a black vest over it and a pair of dress pants. Casual, but a good enough look to be in public with. "Wha dyou wanna do now folks?" Max asked in his usual half southern, half hoarse and deep voice.

"Tell you the truth, I'm kinda gonna go on an energy and knowledge binge common to most wizards." Nods from Beth, an indifferent glance from Jimmy "You know, usual power craze. Probably gonna hit the magic shop at pier thirty nine, buy some potions of healing, energy in a can and some new books and toys." I realized how tired I was.

"Any kind of requirement on a healing potion?" Jimmy said. Like most mortals, he accepted magic but did not practice or even begin to understand it past energy and a path to flow through.

"No, you just get the jitters and then a hell of a crash if you drink past two, maybe three for the tougher ones." Beth explained. Her voice had changed since the vampires, it had become more relaxed, more matter of fact. Perhaps it was her supposed vengeance on the vampires, perhaps it was merely the fact that the threat was gone. But damn she was hot like my vampire vanquishing fire.

"I'll come with you then, maybe get myself some new threads and a decent lava lamp, maybe a minifridge or three, possibly a hammock-bed." His mind went off on a trail of thoughts that supposedly led to his well furnished, tricked out bachelor pad that no one is allowed to see. But it is definitely nice and cool, just under repairs whenever someone comes over. "To the wizard mobile!" he said with false gusto as he limped off towards the parking lot.

"You guys go on, I've gotta work the bar tonight, too tired to pullup Sheila to work the shift." Max said. I knew well enough not to contradict him. So Beth and I walked out to the parking lot holding hands, through an infinite sea of flashing cameras and empty souled reporters selling themselves for the deal on our romance. Romance is for fools, Beth was my well loved lady friend, but still just a person. Jimmy looked expectantly towards me in a glance that we had developed during our explorations of this beautiful world we live in, and I obliged him by enveloping him in my flight spell, he rode shotgun in our flight.

It took us a matter of minutes before we reached the mall by the San Francisco Wharfs, where there was a mall I found acceptable as a tribute to capitalism. The mall was built very long, like a massive hallway with eating areas on each end. It had a half decent magic shop too, so that was good. We landed right outside the entrance to it, placed symmetrically in the middle and we walked past red brick walls with bits of mortar seeping out from between them. The large wood and glass French doors to the building let into a massive hallway as before described, with high ceilings with windows near the top of them. Small shops, each equal in proportion, ran along the sides of the building, indented in the walls. Large stands of unique items were being sold in the space between the walls of shops, which went up two levels. An artificial stream ran straight down the middle of the mall, without a current to its river. The stands with their white canvas tent style roofs were lining this. Since the revelation of magic, more and more of these shops began to sell magic type things like scrolls, non arcane activated wands and potions. I went right for the overpriced healing potions that hardly healed a scraped knee. I bit of basic potion mixing after forking out a hundred and forty bucks made them into a more potent version, which I then gulped down. My side, which was riddled with bullet holes, medical tape and a doctor's sanity felt a little less sore. My leg, which had been marked with long cuts from a vampire with a butterfly knife, looked fine when I rolled up my jeans to look at it. Some dark scars were still there, but it was otherwise okay. I worked out another hundred and forty for later. Beth and Jimmy meanwhile, were browsing the stand to see if there was any other way to heal themselves, possibly without stimulating the economy into a landslide. Jimmy of course went right for the healing potions as I had, not knowing that there could have been a better option. He grabbed one, paid twenty bucks for a small can of it and drank it down. I didn't see how his wounds healed but he seemed pleased with it. Beth on the other hand, made the wise choice of not choosing anything. "Let's just go to the magic shop over there."

The man behind the counter protested. "They don't have anything we don't have. Come stay, our prices our better." A look from Beth with her eyes glowing from a fear spell made him back down without commentary. We strode over a small Asian style bridge to the magic shop, which was packed with stuff on the grocery store style isles that lined it from the wide entrance to the store. Me and Beth started looking at the west wall before a bunch of magic fanatics (it happens, people who aren't magicians become obsessed over magic and start pissing me off.) started eyeing my staff, so I just walked with it. On the west wall were scrolls for magicians in training, wizards who didn't want to put effort into a long ceremony or people who needed to school pupils on the fly. I fell into the first category, so quite a few of my un spellbound spells were from these, namely Pyromenthil, which I simply souped up from a basic elemental self defense spell. The scrolls they had came mainly with only basic spells like lights, sounds, alarms, limited flight, that sort of thing. But they did have a healing spell. Thank you god, I know you don't care about my kind, but thanks anyways.

"See, this is why women window shop, you get the best deals." Beth said as she picked out one of the scrolls of healing wrapped tightly in plastic. I grabbed one to and shooed away the magic fanatics with a powerful glance and a reach for the self defense scrolls. Me and Beth shared a smile as we wandered over to where Jimmy was, talking to one of the employees about their alchemy spells. "I have to see this." Beth said quietly as we spied on from afar.

"So, what type of alchemy can you teach me, namely I need bullets or beer to appear in a designated point at a designated time, you follow?" Jimmy said to the poor employee who really shouldn't have to deal with this. It was too funny.

"Well it depends on how small of a place you need to alchemize it, what you intend to transmute and how well you know the place." The Asian lady employee, said. Some strangely enhanced vision thing that had been going on and off all day let me see that her name plate said Angela. Poor Angela, we will miss you.

"Well I've heard that you don't always have to transmute something, it's possible just to make it." Jimmy said coolly as he stared around at the numerous scrolls. Angela was clearly annoyed.

"Well for one, that type of alchemy is pretty out of your league if you can't already perform magic, and two, I'm not allowed to teach you that." Angela turned out to be quite firm when pushed to the edge.

"Well that really cheeses me off!" Jimmy said loudly as he stomped out of the room, turning to stare at me and Beth laughing like idiots, and smiled. In case no one got the memo, Jimmy just made a really big funny, considering that if he isn't on duty he can't focus and take things seriously at all. So Beth and I bought all the stuff we intended to buy, for her a ring of energy absorption that would help her gain magical energy faster, and a scroll of Healing for Dummies. Racism at its peak. I bought the same scroll, a mantle of comfort that would let me stay at a specified temperature despite any climate, and a design for a greater summoning circle I intended to put on top of my lesser summoning circle. We walked over across the dull beams of mid afternoon light that shone through the windows at the top of the mall past several niche stores and eventually came up to a string of good ones where Beth managed to carry three times as much as I did when I bought seven pairs of jeans, mismatched t shirts, a big towel and a towable self contained mini fridge. I was very happy with how well I threw my money away. My stomach craved some food and that bestial spirit that I had been half suppressing was craving meat. "Where did the corpses of the undead go?" It asked my mind. I sub consciously corrected it (itself?) "We ate all the babies a long time ago." I laughed at myself. Then I realized how stupid this all was and steered the group towards the food court.

"Jack, you do realize that the quality of food gets better by the foot as we get away from this very spot?" Jimmy turned and said to me. "I say we go over to your place and celebrate correctly." Beth nodded.

"That does it, Jimmy go call Pepperspice pizza and tell them to bring five triple meat pizzas, Three Hawaiian pizzas and whatever you want to eat." I said as we turned around. I then got all caught up in the moment and stepped into the artificial stream. Damn.

"Anything else my majesty of infinite grace and dry shoes?" Jimmy joked as he began to walk away towards the outside of the mall, where one of a dying breed of payphones still survives.

"Isn't that a lot of food Jack?" Beth asked as she furrowed her brow. I started shaking off my shoe and wondering what the hell I would answer.

"I'm hungry." Was all that needed to be said in my opinion.

"No, I think it's hungry." Beth said firmly. For half a moment my thoughts scrambled around inside my head. Okay, maybe ten seconds of silence passed. Then it made sense.

"Beth… I know. There have been changes of late. But this is my body, once dormant bestial spirit or not, and I have to survive in it. I am in control." I replied as I touched her arm. She almost seemed to jerk away at my touch. You are in control so I can save my strength, I only need to influence. Floated through my head. "Fuck you, I am the host, you are the guest." Floated back at it. If you're never going to take that mate, rename me inmate. Came back. Yes I can access your mind; it has proven quite useful in my preparedness for our next anarchy spasm.

"Then why did you order the triple meat pizzas?" Beth said, calmer this time.

"Some parts I can agree with regarding this spirit, like its taste in fine dining." We both chuckled a bit as we walked past the artificial stream, staffs out.

"Is it just me or is your staff cycling slower through its elements?" I said to Beth, trying desperately to change the topic of our conversation away from my… changes. Her staff was spending up to what seemed like fifteen seconds on each element, much slower then it normally cycled.

"Yes." She seemed a little relieved. "It's because its correlated with my magic energy level, which is lower after the affair at the Embassy to the Supernatural." Beth said, referring to the hell we had rained down on the vampire brood that was staying in a secret room there, during which I had awakened this spirit.

"I see." Was all I could say as I opened the door for her as we walked outside. Jimmy was talking on a payphone shielded from the weather by a little plastic box. He whispered over to me as we stood ten feet from the door, collecting attention and applause.

"Jack, what's your address? And the guy at Pepperspice Pizza says thanks."

"Tell him to look for the big magical flares coming from the penthouse flat near the park. And tell him I said hi or something." We started flying back to my flat, Jimmy riding on the side of my flight spell as we looped and rolled through the sky like idiots. I swirled around the bay bridge in a car smashing, gut wrenching aerial maneuver we laughed, the wind stealing away the sound, the sun causing dark shadows of the bridge on the bay water. Treasure Island, an artificial island in the middle of the bay bridge where my flat was, came all too soon. We landed with a thud and several balancing steps as we tumbled onto the roof.

"Landings are never easy with multiple people." I explained as we opened the small door to the communal stairs that lead up to the roof. We took five stairs down into another door that led to a hallway that went past my door, a orange and yellow carpet leading from that to the stairs to the outside porch three stories below. I disarmed the light wards I had up and entered my home, holding the door open for Beth and Jimmy. Beth threw the bags she had collected into an alcove by the door, on top of my one worn out pair of alternate shoes. "Welcome to my palace." I said as we walked into the main area of my flat, a living room with a collection of new and used leather couches that got nice and cold when left alone, a pull up bar and a alchemic television. The T.V. showed static a quarter of the time, due to the ways prevailing magical energy from alchemy tended to screw up technology that used motherboards and stuff like that. But it worked for me to enough to complain about the news and act like a five year old to action shows and movies on television. I tried to make a DvD player but ended up incinerating a DVD and having to Alchemically destroy my creation because realchimizing it would expose me to lots of harmful radiation. From the living room things branched out in three ways, forwards was a modern style kitchen with a fridge, freezer and stove made by alchemy, I dared not make a toaster lest I make a nuke type device instead. Not that the difference is too fine. I figured it also made me a size slimmer and a pair of years healthier.

"I still can't believe you don't have a complete kitchen." Jimmy murmured as he rifled through my fridge. "It's a microwave. It's such a small deal it's got the word micro in it. Jesus…" he stacked up drinks on my granite counter (Alchemy) and began arraying them in a style that screamed failed bartender. Made sense.

"I think it's a fine idea not to eat food cooked with nigh nuclear technology." Beth commented and smiled as she walked down my hallway that leads to a study at the end of a thick Redwood door, consecrated with some out of place druidism. She shoved it open and entered my study. And flew out backwards In a neat trick. A bloody, angry teenage girl came charging out after her, blood pouring from her mouth, screaming. The words became intelligible as my enhanced sense kicked in from the primal spirit that was part of me.

"You end here! You murderous bitch!" The enraged nineteen year old screeched at Beth. Jimmy, quick on the gun as I due to his years of training and practice in the police/ swat training seminars. I slammed my hands on the granite counter and alchemized it, I needed a way to kill them without destroying my flat and the surrounding neighborhood with the type of magic I'd used lately. So I made a saber from the counter and pulled it out. A second vampire accomplice/victim came running down the hallway from my study, its neck extended, mouth going in for a bite against Beth. Neck extended. I brought the saber down in a heavy sweep, with force that I felt I would have never had in my arms should this not be a combat scenario. Thud thud went the head and body of the magically enhanced victim. Beth tussled on the ground with the first one as it tried to bring a knife on her throat. Jimmy spun a silencer onto his handgun and took aim. I jumped over my kill's head and lunged in with the saber. "Huahhhh…." Clummp went the falling corpse as I withdrew my saber from it's ribcage and Beth scrambled out from underneath it. My study door all of a sudden burst open and some dark magic came flying at me, a bolt of forbidden pain. But Beth was all over it at this point and she put her hands on opposite shoulders and said in a light voice.

"Ultimatum." The universal command word for everyone's unique ultimatum spell, which is the strongest spell a magician has in their arsenal due to an enhanced spellbinding ritual. A distortion of light appeared behind me, and as I turned around to see the shadow bolt coming at me, I noticed what Beth's ultimatum was. It was a super shield. The bolt landed on the shield, which formed a dome around me, and reflected backwards to the channeling bitch in my study. It hit her straight on and she crumpled to the floor, the shadow magic devouring her soul through her chest. That's what you get for being a jackass kids.

"Are you alright?" I said after Jimmy thudded a bullet into the dying girl, ending her misery. I extended my hand towards Beth as she lay propped against my bedroom door, to bring her up.

Beth, out of breath said "Yeah, I'll be okay." She paused. "Just shaken." That made sense, it wasn't every day when a friend's house turned out to have vampire victims who don't have boyfriends anymore that attempt to kill you.

"Not stirred." Jimmy said as I hauled up Beth. I then began to wonder what we would do with all of these corpses, just lying there in my apartment. Jimmy asked the question for me "What do we do with the bodies? This counts as excessive use of self defense, which would jail us."

"You mean murder?" I corrected

"Not murder, it can't be murder." Beth said faintly. All this violence seemed to be taking a toll on her. Perhaps it was because she was the target.

"I'll teleport them into the silt at the bottom of the bay, no one can find them there. This is not murder, at least on my part. Someone attacked my guests while they were in my home, I have reason to defend my guests, my property and myself from any assailant. Plus this whole world saving thing has given me some political hellfire to rein down, especially regarding vampire related crap. I'll be right back." I said. Silence followed as I hauled all of the parts of the fallen assailants up to the roof, where the bay could be seen. I alchemized the door of the roof shut and used my circle teleportation spell to teleport the bodies and their parts to some point a hundred and eighty feet beneath the surface of the water. I figured that at that point they would be either partly or completely buried in the mud at the bottom of the bay, which would keep authorities blind to my self defense murder tactics. I figured that they entered using magic through my window at some point in the day, and then avoided triggering my energy stealing wards by staying in my less warded study. I channeled energy into the teleportation spell and about seven seconds later they were a hundred and eighty feet below the bay surface. It was a truly beautiful night out too; the stars were decently visible even in the heart of the city glow. Shall we howl and prove our dominance of this jungle? The beast within said to me. It even seemed to pad up next to me in a spirit form that I was sure was part of my imagination. I counseled myself on this, and given the earliness of the evening, for it was only six thirty, and the respect and reverence the neighborhood, area and city had for me, I did it. I put my leg on the edge of the roof, looked down at the three story drop beneath me. It seemed comical to me now, even in my wounded state. I laughed quietly and after a minute, Let out my loudest yell possible, which is earsplitting to people right next to me, and can be heard for an estimated mile on a good day like this. "RAAAAAA!" hung in the evening air as I tilted my head towards the night, crescent moon still rising. The stars themselves seemed to glimmer with success as I roared into the night sky. People opened windows on some instances as I simply stood on the rooftop, staff in my right hand, looking up at the stars with arms outspread. None of them told me to shut up.

I returned to the stairs after un-alchemizing the door, the beast whispered in my head: Now we are king of the jungle. No I am king of the jungle, you're the passenger. No, we are one and the same, no matter how long you deny it, I am you and now you are me. We simply share this body. I have allowed you to be in control for so long since I never found myself tact at things like everyday life, but if we are going to take this role on, then I am interested in this life. No, this is still my body, you are simply along for the ride. I will not let you control me, you are not me. I said to the beast with my thoughts, but in my heart of hearts, it and I knew that it was right. I say both it and he due to its masculine nature, which makes me occasionally screw up and make it more relatable. I can't have that if I'm going to be in control of this. Very well my "host" we shall do this your way in times of peace and mine in times of violence. But one who has blood on his teeth can never go back, the hunt will take you someday Jack. I opened the door and pulled up my mental block against this spirit as Beth and Jimmy walked over to my one pride and joy of my house. The scroll collection. The scrolls are my versions of DVD's, which I started using after the DVD player incident. The scrolls are one use copies of movies that I place on the T.V. and the T.V. absorbs it and begins to play the movie bound on the scroll. It's actually pretty cool, but I miss out on all of those supposed "Amazing bonus features." I personally believe that those can't be that cool, or people would watch them more.

"Dude, this is awesome." Jimmy said for the third time ever about my scroll collection alone. The variety in the fifty scrolls is pretty good, but I try to get all the classics in before any new things unless their good, non mainstream stuff that the wizardly crowd seems to be drawn to. I have scrolls from Casablanca to The brotherhood of the wolf and am very proud of my complete James Bond collection. But this is all to make up for the fact that I can't go to in theater movies. Stupid alchemic aura, messing with the electricity flows due to my frequent use of alchemy. I can't find a way to get that to stop happening, for it would open up a world of conveniences like cell phones and DVD's and reliable lightning rods.

"Here we go." I said as I snatched up the greater alchemic circle plans and walked over to my study. "You guys pick out a movie or something, I'll make this circle." And so I went to work alchemizing the new circle. With alchemy I could change my floor into alchemic silver that would be useful to contain the summoned creatures, but I would have to get this right from the start or the whole series of arcane runes and symbols would be screwed up. So I alchemized the floor around the outside of my current circle with the new runes and symbols, each in a specific pattern, some pulling energy in, others swirling it around. The outside row, which was exceptionally complex, was a mighty barricade that drained the magic energy from anything that tried to escape the circle, which would thusly dispel any otherworldly creatures, seeing how their life force on this realm was destroyed. This was about all I knew of summoning and conjuration, it wasn't really my thing. The doorbell rang sometime while I was working and Jimmy called me out of my study to examine the towering stack of pizza boxes, nine pizzas high. I opened each box and smelled it with the help of the beast, they were authentic. I realized I was salivating all over so I scrambled around for my check book while the delivery guy gave me weird looks and said that my total was one hundred and sixty dollars. I scribbled out a check and ripped it to the delivery guy and began to eat. The meat of the pizzas tasted different, it tasted amazing, like the taste of victory itself. "This is why we hunt." The beast commented as I moved on to my third or fourth slice. I hadn't realized it but I was extremely famished. Sixth. Seventh. Ninth and eighth came two at a time. Tenth. Next box.

"Starving children around the world would scorn at you." Beth joked as she began her second slice of Hawaiian apparently we were all hungry. I tried to consider an intelligent answer to that and came up with one, amazing.

"Mummph mehrrr kaahhhhjuuum" Not as intelligent as I had hoped. I swallowed everything that was left of that slice and responded. "I'm starving and an adult, which means that I have no one to give food to me. Much worse from my perspective." I tore off what I expected to be my thirteenth slice of pizza. Jimmy just shook his head and ate his Supreme. I wiped my greasy hands on my sleeve and went back to work, leaving my guests to finish in peace. I couldn't believe my stomach could hold that much. Or that I was still thinking about what pizza I would eat next. Regardless, I began my work again and finished quickly, and stepped back to examine my work. The circle now covered about an eight foot diameter circle of my study, which left very little space for me to navigate around my desk, cabinets and counter, and bookshelves. Granted it was a small study, it was much smaller now. I walked back out to the living room, not bothering to see if my new circle would work or not, and sat on the couch with Beth, Jimmy in a large comfy chair. The Brotherhood of the Wolf was playing on my television, and it was just past the credits. We sat together and watched.

The next day I woke up exceptionally tired. The Brotherhood of the Wolf was a long movie, but it was the first of three, we had stayed up eating and drinking and talking and watching late into the night. I felt even more tired and weak due to the lack of magic energy I had to bear, I had spent most of it in spells two days ago. I noticed that I was asleep on the couch, it was nearing midday and Beth was already up, brewing coffee. Brave soul, my coffee maker has a minor imp in it that vents steam at intruders. This would be cynically comical or just plain hilarious. I watched her for a minute and decided that the imp either A) liked her or B) found a flaw in my circles and simply left. It happens more then you would think.

"Morning snooze." Beth said somewhat sleepily as I crawled off of the couch and gave her a hug. "Jimmy is still asleep, as you can see." I turned around and noticed that someone had drawn a sharpy mustache on Jimmy. And hearts on his cheeks, which brought me crying to my knees with the very thought of having somebody post a picture of that on the internet. It truly does suck not to have a computer that can access the internet. Or a camera. "Shh. He slept like a log while I drew that on him." She smiled and chuckled to herself. "I almost went on to put flour on his hands and then touch his face, but I was laughing too hard." She collected a cup of coffee from the coffee maker. Holy crap.

I wiped the tears of joy from my eyes and asked "How long have you been up?" I opened the fridge and stared blindly into the cold and light.

"Since seven ten." Beth responded coolly and sipped her coffee as she gazed into what I called food. I glanced at the clock in the living room. It was nine twenty three. I closed the fridge, deciding to save the remains of last night's junk food binge for tomorrow. I instead opened up my more formal cooking cabinet, one of two and retrieved three bottles of pancake batter. It wasn't like restaurant quality pancake batter, it was shake and bake. I opened a bottle and turned on my faucet, the strongest kitchen appliance I have, and put some water in the bottle. I handed the bottle to Beth with the words.

"Shake it baby." Before I turned to prepare the next one, I checked to see if she actually would. Then I realized the beast was simply controlling my sex drive, and I continued my attempt to shut it out. I would recover my mind and soul if it was the last thing I did. I prepared another three bottles of the batter before Jimmy woke up. Beth had continued her bottle's journey and turned on the alchemic cooking circle with a basic activation spell. Jimmy slowly wandered over to the two of us clattering pans around in my U shaped kitchenette, which lead off of the living room. His white T shirt and jeans and ruffled black hair made him look younger, or perhaps it was the "I'm still a growing man and I get twelve hours of sleep regardless of work situation" look.

"What is thissh ruckus?" Jimmy slurred slightly. I put another pan on the stove and poured half a bottle into it, filling it. Beth was to intent on reheating the alchemic circle to notice, I was hoping she would answer. "I said, whatsh all thish ruckus!" he had raised his tone.

"This. Is. Pancakes!" I said back to him at the same tone. He walked drearily over to the bathroom, from there I just continued cooking pancakes.

"What the fuck!" Broke the silence and me and Beth cracked up as we imagined the look on Jimmy's doodled face. He came storming out into the dining area/ kitchen laughing but angry at the same time. Then he just began to crack up as we all braced ourselves against something, trying to calm down but just a look at Jimmy would send us back into spasms of joy. When we pulled ourselves back together, the first few pancakes were burnt, the later ones were much better though. We ate in silence before Jimmy left to do whatever it was Jimmy planned to do. I realized that it was Saturday, I had an appointment at a hospital out of town for restitching and bandaging my side.

"So, what are you doing today?" I asked Beth as I forked through my seventh pancake. I still couldn't figure out how I was eating all of this food and not feeling sick or getting fat. Or dying of a heart attack after last night's pizza frenzy.

"I got an appointment at that hospital south of the city, the one with alchemically proofed machines. Their gonna restitch me there." I replied.

"Ok, I'm going to see some of my girl friends, they're going to want to hear all about this." She said matter of factly. We finished eating and left, me flying out towards the very place where they had stitched me up in the first place, staff in hand. It took me quite some time to get there; it was almost noon when I did.

The hospital looked like most others, three buildings placed on some back hills, large multi level parking lot with plenty of elevators, big side area filled with backup generators, that sort of stuff. The only difference between this hospital and all the others was that one whole building had been built using alchemically proofed materials, so that wizards who practiced alchemy often could sue it safely. I sure didn't want some magnetic throwback to pull the plug on granny, so I went here. I landed on top of the Magician's ward and took the large elevator down to the bottom, where I checked in my appointment.

"okay, so you are Mr. Crest?" The secretary asked me, she hid behind a large white desk with neatly organized files cluttering it. She and a team of four others manned the harpoons down here I suspected. "Then your doctor is waiting for you in the third hall on the left, fifth floor. Room two o nine. Hurry, Dr. Daniels is a impatient fellow." She smiled at my dust cloud as I began to sprint towards the stairs. I realized that I was sprinting much faster, probably due to my new beastie spirit. My side suddenly hurt like shit, but I kept on running, no place to get an injury like a hospital. I covered the five floors in a minute, which seemed pretty good. I continued my run at a jog to hallway three, room two o nine. I twisted the metal door bar and entered.

"Ah, you must be jack. So sorry that your old doctor had to retire." I had a doctor? Why wasn't I informed of this? Who was this guy? Oh right. Mr. Jack Daniels. "Well, if you'll just take a seat up here we'll get started." He had a deep voice, and tan skin, like a jogger. I noted that his arms were well muscled where his scrubs didn't cover, which confirmed my thoughts that his man was in fact a doctor of health.

"Sorry I'm late." I said, catching my breath. I pulled in just a little bit of magic energy from the surrounding environment to help.

"Oh no, it's fine. I don't mind waiting. Now, remove your shirt please." I took off my mantle, cape and shirt to reveal my heavily bandaged side. He removed the bandages slowly after putting on this disposable rubber gloves that failed Balloon College. When he finally removed all my bandages, I dared a look at my side. I almost threw up, which was good. Other times I looked at the gore pile that was my side, I threw up on the spot. It looked like a slaughterhouse of myself, but without the hope of hamburgers sometime in the definitely vegetarian future.

"Hmm." Doctor's head lurched forwards and around, apparently this wasn't the normal sort of stitches job. "Well, given the circumstance, you've healed quite well." He walked over to a cabinet on the other side of the room, above a sink and a counter. I looked out the window at the drop towards the parking lot and examined the cars, holding my staff that was on the cushioned bench I was sitting on. It was easy to tell where the employee parking was due to the excellent cars the surgeons got. The doctor had prepared a needle and had begun to walk towards me. Out of curiosity I inquired.

"What's in the needle doc?" he glanced at it lightly.

"Oh nothing." That was a bad answer. Time to get aggressive the feral spirit said.

"I said. What's in the needle doc?" He paused before me now.

"Just an anesthetic." He avoided my glance, even when my hellglow wasn't active. I got a gut feeling. He turned towards the window. Then the needle came swinging around at me. I flipped around, cautious of my wounded side, where organs like my kidneys could easily be stolen. He lurched again with the needle at me, I dodged around in the tiny room, calling my magic to bear. Out of nowhere he landed a kick to my unharmed side, toppling me the side. I hit the door with my head and he took a short step forward before coming down at my leg with the syringe. I hit his arm with my staff, deflecting the blow. I seriously wanted to know what was in the syringe now. I alchemized the door's hinges off and tried to throw it at him, which was not a question of strength with this type of adrenaline flowing, but accuracy. Question failed, door flying out window. Then the doctor lunged at me again. I kicked him back this time, but he almost got my kicking foot. Then the Beast took over and grabbed him by the syringe hand. A twist and a snap of bone made him drop the needle and begin to scream in pain. I proceeded to smash him by the broken arm against the remains of the window. I held him outside the window, five stories up. "Jesus Christ you crazy bitch!"

"Not what you should say to the person keeping you alive." My arms were hardly even tiring. This was morally unstable but great. "Now I'll ask you one last time, what's in the needle doc?" Wind flapped around us, but I was used to it, hanging out at this altitude.

"Cyanide, look man this wasn't my idea." Oh, intrigue. The beast decided that his actions were stronger than his ideas.

"The world rewards action, not intention." Hand released. The supposed doctor fell five stories, right onto a Jaguar. Stupid surgeons. People screamed and I made myself scarce, pacing the opposite way a escaping murderer would, forming an alibi. He told me to head over to surgery. I hoped they never asked about the door. I had come to terms that this man was not a doctor, instead he was a hitman. A wolf in sheep's clothing. People had poked their heads out in the hallway as I turned the corner, but they didn't notice me, they noticed the broken window. I cast my healing spell on my wounded side specifically, after I took a moment to look at it. There were several minor holes from the stitches they had given me, which was creepy enough in themselves, but the activity of the day had made some of them begin to bleed. That combined with the threads poking in and out of my wounds, the memories associated with it, and the weird lumps that were in it, were what made me throw up. I stomached my pancakes once more and cast the spell. Most of the stitch holes healed, I felt significantly better, but definitely more tired from the large amount of energy I had put into the spell. I was on the roof once more. I descended down to surgery when I remembered that I shouldn't do anything with my side all open to the world and such. They freaked out over me and patched me up like the emergency room, and when they asked how I got this I referred them to my file. Then I returned to the roof and flew off home. That hadn't gone well, but I at least was able to figure out who did this. It would be any surviving vampires, however few. I was probably public enemy number one on the vampire hit list, which made a wolf in sheep's clothing move more than likely. It is good to have an expanded intelligence; it keeps my natural stupidity looking good. All wizards are smarter than Homo Sapiens Sapiens, as the smarter wizards were more famous, and fame brings ladies, which bring smarter offspring. Darwinian Theory.

I was over downtown San Francisco, near the piers, where I shopped yesterday. There was a large congregation of police cars outside the building next to the mall I visited yesterday, across the street. It was a small glass building, with only four or five stories, small for it's type. I landed to see what all the fuss was about, expecting the worst.

Some police chief type man walked up to me as I stood ready with my staff. "Jack Crest? Ironic you're here. Vampires are in there, bitter about their losses from these past few days, mainly on your behalf. We tried to call you, but apparently you don't have a cell phone." Called it. "It seems fitting, that Jack Crest the Vampire Slayer go in to kill that son of a bitch." He paused.

"I see no reason why I, a civilian, should be forced to perform SWAT duties." I stated coolly as I looked around for Jimmy.

"How about this, you're a member of M.E.R.L.I.N. aren't ya?" He stated. He ahd a thick mustache, expected. Brownish blond hair. Expected. A pair of rather large pistols in shoulder holder thingys. Not as expected. Prominently displayed badge. Expected. I saw where this was going… "Then as a mortal authority, you are bound to do any reasonable task by M.E.R.L.I.N. that I command you to do. Vampire slaying is reasonable for someone who's title is "The Vampire Slayer." I knew this would happen. "Now go kill that vampire and his bitches."

"Very well." Was all I said as I strode through the hodgepodge of cars, trucks and police tape, unheeding people telling me to stop. Some people who had been walking along the street cheered me in. I stepped through a shattered glass door to what could be my death cheered by the masses. Great to be me. There was spotty illumination caused by the midday sun, very weird. I got an eerie feeling that the beast shut out.

We cannot let them know we are afraid. The beast said. I was scrambiling my brain for a way not to be killed by a vampire ambush. I wasn't coming up with an answer anytime soon. Hallways opened up on both sides of me, with their respective side's secretary desk next to them. A corporate merger incarnate. Then gunfire broke out from one of the desks, the one to my left. I turned with lightning speed to see the bullets being slowed by my ward, I jumped to the side as some vampire victim pumped lead at me from behind a billowing cloud of paper. I slid along the ground as the crowd outside, who must have heard this, panicked. I got behind the desk she was shooting from, using it as cover. She slammed another clip in as I alchemized the desk into the roof. Now neither of us had cover. Gunfire erupted again from some type of machine gun, I never really saw it. I bounded away from my ex hiding place with feline grace and landed on the wall behind the desk, near the edge of the hallway. I drew my sword as I kicked off of the wall in a truly beastly maneuver where I hacked at her as I flew through the air, before she had even turned around from my first bound. I landed next to her brown haired head in the middle of the hallway and heard something whistling down the hallway that ran to my right. Something thudded into my elbow and I reflexively dropped my sword. My arm then shut down, but it didn't hurt. It was numb, I looked at it wearily and realized I had been shot by a dart gun, and someone in a invisibility spell was at the end of the hallway firing. Another whistling, I pulled up my shield and moved in a zigzagging pattern down the right hallway. I was sprinting fast, too fast to be normal. I realized what was giving me all this energy oddly. The beast was metabolizing all of the food I ate that I didn't need into magical energy and now I could access it. Pretty flipping sweet.

"Die you murderous scum!" The shooter yelled, a masculine voice this time, means a female vampire was about too. But the yell came from behind me, opposite the way of the first shots. Fucking teleportation and invisibility. I decided not to stab the next victim, I activated my wand bracer and let down my shield. I fired the wands, first came earth. It made some of the floor tiles float up in front of me, like cards in my hand, and then fly outwards. Thunk thud thunk crack crack crack. Three of the tiles hit their mark, a wounded voice cried out in pain. I looked down the hallway to see a big guy lying on the ground, two floor tiles protruding from his legs. The gun lay across the hall from him. The third tile was pretty square in the center of his chest, he was bleeding profusely. He tried to crawl across the hallway, but I calmly fired the wand of air in my bracer, and it brought the dart gun to me. I flexed my forehead area muscles and my eyes seemed t extend. Everything was closer, like I had hawk vision or something. I pulled the trigger on the dart gun, which had been brought right to my hand. The dart whistled across the hallway and landed in the man's sternum, easing his pain but still incapacitating him.

But where were the vampires? The hallway that the man was in ended in a series of offices and some stairs up to what was the floor of the next story and the ceiling of this one. The hallway I had run down at first ended in the same thing. "If this is some type of His and hers murder trap for me, I'll be exceptionally disappointed. I walked towards the stairs in my hallway. I tried to be as tactical as I could in approaching them, but it ended up as me looking up them as I walked onto the first step. Second Step. Third Step. Holy Shit. Fourth Step. Drop tumble rustling of clothing, something was behind me. Scream dash. Something sttod at the top of the stairs. As I tried to turn around to kick the legs out from under me of whatever was behind me, It pushed me onto the stairs. I fell face first onto the sharp steps, it hurt like shit. I tried to get back up but a combination of a foot on my spine and my numb right arm made me end up just turning around. Some pale guy, a vampire, stood in front of me at the bottom of the stairs. The top of the stairs person was the female vampire, both grinned horrible, horrible grins of satisfaction. I tried to kick the teeth out of the guy's smiling face, but all I managed to do was slip down the stairs.

"Jack Crest." It hung in the air like a falling vase. The woman was saying it. "Very nice that we see you. Jack Crest the Vampire Slayer." She paused. I tried to look up and saw an inexplicably hot woman standing at the top of the stairs. Blonde hair, wasp waist, legs that could and would probably kill me, smile with fangs. That sort of thing incased in a bloody business suit. "Soon to be Jack Crest the Vampire Slayed." Horrible sense of humor.

I beg to differ almost came to my lips, but the guy at the bottom of the stairs obviously hated interruption, so he put his foot on my lungs and pressed pretty damn hard. I started to asphyxiate, slowly. "Don't kill him yet Ray, at least let me drink him first." Oh shit. The female continued. "It is time for some equivalency here, a familiar term for an Alchemist. I know some myself, and I find its laws more interesting then it's applications. One for one, they say, unless you really know what you're doing and can simply, Create. You do not know what you're doing Jack Crest the Vampire Slayer. You now suffer equivalency instead of inconsistent Alchemy." I figured something out. I lightly cast a fire spell, the non souped up version of my "Pyromenthil" spell on my hand. It burned lightly, but it allowed me to do something that I've always wanted to do. With my last few breath's I roared in my loudest voice

"Falcon Punch!" And slammed my fist into Ray the Vampire's leg. I broke it off in a bowl of flames right at the knee and sent him flying across the stairway. I leaped up and got to the bottom of the stairs and pulled up my shield. The Beast requested to speak directly, and for once I obliged him. Okay, he was in control this entire time. "You seek equivalency? Fool, there is no equivalency in the world. Only fools believe that all is well and good, and among predators such as ourselves, only madmen seek justice." My voice was a throaty growl.

"Who do you think you are to claim that, beast? I don't care if you built the predators that stalk the world today, there are laws to the world you know." The vampire kept her cool in face of an ancient predator, not bad.

"Let me tell you something. A lion hunts to kill, for food. It boldly brings down a zebra with the help of her pride in a dance of death that the entire Serengeti knows. But when the lions are done using the Zebra's corpse, in come the hyenas. They did not hunt the Zebra, but they benefit anyways. They steal it's corpse and use it for themselves. They benefit without cost, Where is the equivalency?" I continued.

"Face your death with courage Jack Crest the Vampire Slayer." The vampire at the bottom of the stairs said as he got up. He must have been exceptionally well fed to hardly pause for fifteen seconds at the loss of his leg.

"I asked where the equivalency is." Simple enough. "You don't see it because it isn't there. There is no equivalency in life you fools. What is done is done, all we can do is fight back and make our own rules. Your morals, what little you have, are all lies. You have failed to realize that after all these years, you are the hunted, you are the minority, and now, you realize it just when you think you've won. You haven't won. You've lost. And you will always lose. Prepare to entire the next life you fools, be thankful for what has been taught to you on this day." Ray the Vampire charged at me again, with lightning speed. He slammed me against a wall, I kneed him in the testicles. He went down in pain and I brought my shoe to his face, he screamed in pain as the Vampire form the top of the stairs charged me, she flung me from him and clawed at my face, shattering my magic shield. We slid along the floor for a few feet before I knocked her off of me with my force wand on the bracer. She hit the celing and rebounded onto the floor, where she and Ray both charged me. This time I was on top of it and used some of my magic energy to activate my staff's star blasting function. I fired at Ray, who was in front of the other vampire, and knocked him back as he ran with his hands due to the loss of his leg. I fired directly at his neck and he flung out backwards. He bled a ton as I moved the aiming point down to his heart and then stomach, right along the Chakra line. I don't know if that has any significance, but if it does then his Chakras are FUBAR. The other vampire stabbed me in the ribs with a short knife, but my slowing wards made it not go so deep before I lunged backwards and smashed her with my staff. I beat her with the top part that was a moon in the daytime and a sun in the nighttime. So she got a razor sharp moon of energy theft right to the face. She crumpled down as I pushed further into the strike, stealing the energy she needed to survive. Then I kicked her right in the jaw to increase effects. She gave up in the end as I drew my sword once more to end her extended life. I cut off the head and took in the energy of my defeated enemies. It was a small compromise to the amount of energy I had expelled today.

Ass kicked, Body wounded, energies depleted, time to go home. I thought to myself. My heart was racing from the combat, and as I emerged from the building scratched up but victorious, the crowd cheered again. "Thank you, thank you my people. Now leave me alone, I'm tired and pissed that vampires are still trying to kill me." I sincerely hoped that those two were the last, or at least the last of the stupid ones. I talked shortly with the police officers, got an EMT to stitch up the wounds I had gotten and they gave me a little shock type thing to wake up my arm. I flew home staff in hand, and landed in the open window of my study. Experience taught me to lock it tightly. I was dog tired from the combat, flat out of magical energy and really out of it for the day, so I went to bed at two o clock in the afternoon.

Whatever part of my brain makes me stay awake wondering what'll try to kill me next, I donate it to whoever the hell wants it. I couldn't sleep for a half decent amount of time, or I'd be right near sleep and then I would get this jolt feeling and jump out of bed. It was hell considering I had spent the greater part of my day doing this for eight hours. My nerves and hairs were on end, I was scared as hell as to what might come looking for me next. It was ten o clock at night, and me, a forty nine year old man who had the body of a twenty year old, was scared shitless of what was outside my bedroom door. I tried one last time to sleep. I felt tlike this time I might have it, and I soon began to dream. The dream started with blood. I woke up in a cold sweat, clutching the wall near my bed, facing the door. Enough was enough, I grabbed my staff and cast a light spell I used in place of lightbulbs. The world outside was still in dusk, maybe that was freaking me out, the time of day was the same as to the time when I fought the vampires with my friends four days ago. That was definitely freaking me out, as it would anyone who cared for their life or doubted their ability to defeat an entire race of foes.

I walked over to my study, across my flat. Pushed open the door and went to work thinking about what I could do at this late hour. I didn't have a remarkable amount of magic energy to deal with, so full creations were probably out of the question, the spring air was cool enough so that I took off my mantle of comfort. Hey. I just got a bad idea. I set my mantle of comfort down on the table; it was a lame item anyways. I began to flow magic energy through it, trying to breathe calmly as I did this. Like a bomb diffuser I removed the heating aspect from it. The small aura of energy from light fires floated around my gesturing hands. Slowly I calmed down the rapid series of disenchanting gestures I learned from my parents. I set the aura down on my table and looked at it. Fire magic. Hot damn. Then I simply pulled it into my palm. Just like that, with only five gestures the aura floated from the desk inside of me, and I felt warmer and more powerful. The mantle looked somewhat gray and lifeless and had a slightly blue tinge to it now, touching it felt like opening a freezer. For kicks I broke off the cooling mechanism too, and imported the aura of chilliness into my wand revolver. I put the new aura specifically into the water element wand, destroying it's boiling water capabilities, but giving targets hypothermia for sure. It was pretty BAMF. The now mundane mantle just sat there on my desk, and it had a strange feeling of failure around it. I tossed it in the trash.

I awoke slowly as I slipped from my desk chair to the ground. I must have fallen asleep sometime last night as I wondered what would be my next project. I walked out to the kitchen and had some breakfast. Breakfast was a short glass of orange juice and leftover anything. I hit the town, walked around the streets of Yerba Buena Island in San Francisco Bay, looking to see if anyone needed my help as I pulled in magic energy from the surrounding environment. One person came out of a house built on part land and part stilts facing a cliff to the bay and exclaimed with vibrant energy "Mr. Crest, Mr. Crest!" I turned around to see a middle aged man stepping out of his house, judging by the Spellglow in his eyes, he was tied to the magic community. "The M.E.R.L.I.N. contacted me, they wanted me to seek you out and tell you about something." He paused as I nodded. "Here, I have it written down exactly as they said it, ahem." He shuffled through his pockets and pulled out a note card. "Alright here, here we go. To Wizard Jack Crest the Vampire Slayer, we assign you the duty of public aid during the upcoming diplomacy event, Shifter's Week. You will be asked and thusly commanded by any willing member of the public to transform them into another form in accordance with the Laws of Transformation. This is a command by the M.E.R.L.I.N., and disobedience will be punished harshly. Go forth and perform your duties wizard. There you go sir." He then handed the note card to me when he was done reading it. I had no idea what the hell to do, or where to go to perform my "Duties of public aid". Maybe I'll just go find Beth, she'd know what to do.

"Thank you my good man." I patted the guy on the back and took off into the air, I think he melted beneath me. So I flew out to Beth's apartment in Nob Hill, just west of Chinatown. I waved at a few people and noticed an oddly large amount of cheetahs and eagles and falcons around the city. Either shifter's week was real or the zoo got raided by P.E.T.A. and the animals now run free. I landed on the roof of Beth's building and entered through the unlocked roof door. Down a spiraling flight of stairs to her back door. Snicker. I knocked three times before she opened it and let me in.

"Hey, how's it goin?" She said calmly. Her shock of red hair was done up in a thingy and she had her silk shirt and jeans on. It made me want to go buy silk shirts in China Town four blocks away, looked nice. I entered into her kitchen, following her to her living room themed red. The couch was covered in red velvet, with red colored leather on twin seats facing each other, There was a cheap but nice flat screen TV on the wall above a dinky fireplace. Pictures lined the wall behind the main area, which had a rug beneath a coffee table in the center of it all. I heard a shower streaming in a pair of rooms that led off of this room, which had a door to an outside hallway.

"Fine, I came to you with some questions." I replied.

"Sure, what can I do for you?" Um… Right, business before pleasure Mr. Bond.

"You know anything about this thing "Shifter's Week?"

"Oh yeah, I did it for someone when I went to get the paper. Just perform transformations into whatever it is people request. If you're tired and have a line in front of you you can access to tap their energies, it's really easy." We sat on opposing red leather chairs. A toweled brunette came out of one of the two rooms that led off of this one, surrounded by steam. Embarrassed, she hurried over to the room next to it. Me and Beth laughed a bit at that and I tapped the energy in it. God I was low today. How the hell was I supposed to transform people when I had this little energy? How the hell was I supposed to transform people when I didn't know transforming spells?

"Yeah, I kinda don't know how to transform others. My version is self only, for learning purposes."

"Hmm… but you can do runic magics?" Beth asked as she reclined back in her chair, which swung out a leg rest. She actually took that pretty calmly considering that I was master of the most potent form of energy known, that I knew enough about them to scribe the runes with alchemy and that I knew one of the three world ending runes. Kinda weird how she freaked out about me being part bestial spirit but not phased at all that I was a rune master.

"Yep, as of three nights ago I am master of the scribed spirits." I was. The Bestial Spirit had apparently handed me some runic information it had gathered at some point, and now I knew or could figure out some of the most potent forms of magic with ease.

"Then you could use totemic embracement to transform them. Simply use the same type of energy that makes runes potent and convert that into spirits. So one's inner spirit becomes more potent, then even the most basic of spells will free the spirit and they will become whatever their totem is. If it isn't what they request, which will be unlikely, seeing how one's inner spirit is simply a simplified, primal animal of one's' self, then simply make it manifest with more traits of the requested animal. In example, should the client request a horse but their totem is a bird, simply make the aspects of the bird more tied to the earth, make the blistering winds that would surround the spirit outside of the soul with the thunder of pounding hooves. They will then manifest when you blur the line between spirit and body as a horse that will jump exceptionally well. Simple." Beth just worked her wizardly mind well, combined with a healthy understanding of conjuration, spirits and outsiders would allow her to do that. But what of the runic understanding Jack? The beast within said to me. Shit. Impossible. Shitting impossible. Beth could simply not be another runic master. That would be freaking impossible. Freaking impossible. Freaking shitting impossible that Beth could end the world with a sentence of runes, turn the cosmos on their head and smash it. Beth could not make heroes run in fear, seasons turn backwards and reform mountains. I then realized that I could do all that. Fuckin sweet.

Time to ask the most obvious, relationship ruining, dumbass question known to wizards. That counts as more then just humans, for we have the whole extended world of magic to bother our friends with. "Beth, are you a runic master?" Oh shit. Sometime the brunette came out and entered the kitchen, looking at us oddly.

"No." Beth started to crack up. Wow. I am such a dumbass. "I am not a runic master. You are simply overpowered." That makes me way too overpowered for my good, for not only do I have kick ass adrenaline, bestial traits, an expanded mind and magic powers, but the ability to do what was mentioned above.

"Oh. Good." I replied simply. The idea had been cleared from my mind. "So, want to just walk around and "perform our Duties of public aid?"

"Why not? Kathy, I'm going out, I'll be back later." Ahah, so that was the mystery brunettes name

"Sure Beth." Kathy replied back from the kitchen. We walked out the door and down a short flight of stairs to the street. A cheetah passed us by, it must be a common request. Out to the streets we went, Beth took most of the transformations as we walked towards the park, for we both knew that I could seriously screw things up if I transformed someone wrong. Eventually I managed to successfully transform someone and give them an easy way to return to human form, and reminded them that if one turn from one shapeshifted form to another, then their mind will be lost forever, replaced with the mind of the first shapeshift.

We entered a grassy field of Golden Gate park, three blocks from Beth's apartment. A booth ahd been set up there by the M.E.R.L.I.N. for wizards to sit in and a line to form in front of it, as people awaited their transformations. A scrawny, official looking nerd wizard sat in the booth next to an equally pale female wizard. Why are my kind such bookworms? Perhaps we should relieve them of duty so the public can see what wizards look like when we aren't being appointed by the M.E.R.L.I.N.

"What to do Beth? Should we relieve them of duty and then I will take my place on the public throne?" I murmured to her from the back of the line. If people didn't see my staff or hers in the middle of the crowd, they needed a lesson in observation. I mean, it's a freaking half moon floating feet above an indescribable wood/metal hybrid of a magic staff, with stars floating all around it and my hands, glowing. Seriously people.

"I wouldn't go in a portable john if my life depended on it and yes, we shall." How did I miss that one? We walked next to the line as people stared at our magic, until we got past the thirty people and got to the booth. It looked suspiciously like a cardboard box on a massive scale, with stools and a counter.

"I'm Jack Crest the Vampire Slayer, this is my girlfriend Beth the Ass Kicker, we relieve you of duty, now scramble for your lives peons." The little guy and the girl stared at me for a second before they slowly walked out a gap in the side of the booth, then ran away. Flee fuzzy little man peach, flee.

"That went well." Beth said as she walked through the dor they left through. I hoped over the counter and landed on a tall stool as she asked a hipster "What would you like to become today?" I didn't even hear the answer as I leaned my staff against the side of the booth.

"What would you like to be?" Rang throughout the booth as we talked to more and more mortals as I slowly transformed them into their totemic spirits, modified as needed. People flew, flopped or simply galloped away. I pretty much mooched all of the energy I needed to perform my transformations off of the clients, they thought it was great fun, so it worked for me. I still got pretty tired from all the energy flowing through me, just makes you sore. In your soul. It took about three hours for me to stop caring. At some point, being a public figure makes you want to kill the public, so I just flew away after I turned some guy into a tiger. Beth kind of understood me, and said that it was time to take a short break, replacements should be there in some point in the future. They cheered for us as I waited for her ten feet above the air, I realized that there was something that would make me appear like a BAMF to them forever. I alchemized the air beneath me to burn beneath me based on a chemical change in my shoes, the air became gaseous phosphorous, burned bright white and green, as I soared off with Beth into the evening sky, twirling round each other in a romantic but still badass fashion. We both laughed a lot as I cut out the spell of flight that carried us both. Down towards the clouds we dove, in freefall that never got boring, even in a lifetime of flying, I loved it still. I can't believe what Jimmy tells me, about how people stop enjoying flights on planes, insanity. Come on people, it's a flight, you're flying miles above the earth, in a metal tube with wings, air being pumped to you and windows. But people manage to complain about the food and drink.

We dove back to earth at a breakneck pace, and as soon as the tallest of buildings were at our level, I restarted our flight. I both laughed as we zoomed above the streets of China Town, as the day went on into the sunset. I landed Beth next to her apartment building without stopping and continued my flight away. I stopped into a magic shop, one in the heart of the city. Flanked by gourmet restaurants, as most things are in San Francisco, it was one of the higher end magic shops that actually sold more then voodoo charms and fairy tears. This one sold herbs in bulk, with the identity of the herb, it's properties in magic, and it's sciencetific information, with the extra long price tag placed separately so it could have proper spacing. The shop also had walls lined with diagrams and formulas for alchemic circles, a entire back wall dedicated to staffs and a cabinet full of boxes upon boxes of high quality wands. To the rich wizard, as I now was, it was a candy store. It pays to save humanity, in literal form. One of the helpful staff in bright gold robes strode up to me, a woman in her thirties. Apparently she was my guide to this store of wonders and power, I had noticed that the other two current customers had one, always a member of the opposite gender.

"Welcome to Veneration" That was the name of this candy store of the arcane. "What do you seek today?" I noted the wizardly dialect, seeking, what do you, an attempt to touch my heart. How swell. But really, veneration is like venerable, old. I wouldn't name my store a better adjective for old.

"I seek" Ha, I use the question as part of the answer. "Mistletoe, holly berries, elemental wands and fur of the lycanthrope." I planned to use those reagents, at least a few of them, for communication and possible separation with my bestial spirit. Someone looked at me strangely. I knew something was wrong. The beast took some control and enhanced my senses; these attempts on my life were getting tedious and predictable. They left their attendant and went into the rental summoning room; A horrible crashing sound came out of the closed door. An attendant came flying out of the room, and three black skinned demons came out in front of the man. They stood in front of him as I shoved my attendant out of the way; something was seriously about this guy's magic. And not the cooling Mr. amazing part. The man began to channel a spell at me, I felt it plunging into my soul and taking hold. Black magic bullshit, I ran towards the cabinet clearly labeled wands as I activated my wand bracer and fired it like my life depended on it. If this guy could summon three powerful demons just like that and then plunge his magic into my soul, I was out of my league, at least in my current condition. Icy water flowed out at one of the demons as I stumbled over a table containing a large pile of discounted scrolls, and Jerked open the cabinet as my next wand fired, earth. The Demon that had been hit by water remained vigilant as the next wand was triggered. The cement flew up from beneath one of the hardwood floor panels, a thick block of it, which flew at the demon closest to it now. I felt my soul being jerked around, he was trying to cut something from it.

"The Beast is mine!" Oh. That. Shit. "You do not understand it's strength, and so it is not yours to claim! Arraghh!" maybe this spell was taking a lot out of him. I tried to access my magic for the next wand to fire, but the spell he was casting was cutting off the vital connection of energy stored in the soul to patterns of the mind. I drew my sword as I collapsed in front of the cabinet, the pain all over my body was too much to go on. It was like my blood burned, like my arm and body hair was caught on fire, like magma flowed in my veins. I braced myself against the cutlass and looked at him, pretending the magma in my veins was instead glacial ice. I felt the beast trying to intervene, but the magic separated him from me. As I wanted, maybe this guy was instead purifying me of something that wasn't me that was inside me. No. that could not be. He would kill me by taking part of my soul away, ad that was something I could not have. My Bestially enhanced instincts drove me into hyper drive. I got tunnel vision and only saw what was a threat. Demons. Conjuror. I brought my staff to bear in my other hand and stood up. The pain was gone. All that was left was rage, this man made an unprovoked attack on my life, for a spirit I just learned about four days ago. Pyromenthil was a bad idea at this range and environment, but the stars were a good one. I turned it sideways and silently they began their ripping, tearing flight of incineration at the demon wall guarding this fucker. Energy, adrenaline and pain flowed out of me and into the staff, turning immediately into energy for stars. And so the hundreds of quarter inch stars flew from the staff in great numbers, simply tearing apart one demon, and hamstringing another. The loss of part of his conjuration spell broke his channeled spell, and the pain stopped again. What was a minor reduction due to my feral adrenaline rush became a burst of toughness against this fuck as I began to run. I wasn't in control, I was running towards this guy and his last claw bearing demon.

Claw bearing demon was no more as I inscribed a rune of knowledge, a self synergistic rune and dispelled that demon with some previously unknown magic. Pretty cool, pretty cool. The conjuror guy, now down two and a half demons, was probably having an inner mind freakout. The beast spoke, an d my voice was a growl like a angry wolf.

"You think that you are strong enough? Do you believe that you can handle all that is predatory, all that kills?" I kicked that guy back into the restaurant on one side of the building. Through a door, one wall and a table-booth. Damn son of a bitch struggled to his broken feet one last time. As I strode toward him through the panicked crowd, he screamed. "That's what I thought. In order to run in my pack, in order to be my manifestation, you must have nerves of glacial ice." Son of a bitch stole my quote. "You must fight alone or in a group without hesitation. You must know what the hell your doing, something you don't. Cub's should learn to respect that which is stronger than them. You obviously missed that part." Holy crap. According to the first hunting predator, I'm a hardass who doesn't know fear. Kind of an honor you know?

"I know how to control spirits like you, you all have a weakness. I researched you as soon as I learned about you, you're weak to the one thin g you can't identify. Love. It's her isn't it? The one who fought with you, Beth." Oh shit. This guy just got personal. And creeper like. Apparently my face registered that, and I regained control of my body. "I thought so. I have demons coming at her now, how long do you think she could survive against them in that apartment?" Something made me not believe him. Then I realized it, he was pulling in energy from the fear the restaurant goers had, using it in a bluffing spell. This fucker thought he could talk me off now. No fucking way. I readied my sword for the final blow.

"You can't trick me. This was a spontaneous thing. You saw me and thought you could take away my beast. I don't particularly like the beast, but it's mine and no one else's." Then that knowledge rune gave me an idea, it was boring, but effective. I alchemized the concrete floor he was on through the window of the restaurant and onto one of the approaching cop cars. They were pretty damn fast this time. I had escaped that little attempt on my life unscathed. But for how long would this go on? I walked back to the damaged wall where I forced the attacker, and slowly made an unequal transmutation to repair it. People came up to me and asked me if I was okay, I tried to focus, making drywall out of nothing wasn't easy. With time I sealed off the inquisitive public on one side by floating a perfectly fitting chunk of drywall into the missing section as my assailant was carried away. The people within the magic shop, they became a problem.

"Sir, are you okay?"

"Sir, what was that?"

"Sir, what did he mean?"

"Sir…" Blah blah blah blah blah. Sure I was freaked out by the increasing numbers of attempts on my life, but other people really could shut up about it more often. There was actually very little damage to the shop, which was good. I was absolutely dog tired andhad no magical energies left to use whatsoever, but at least I was safe and in fair condition for now. Cops walked into the shop, I obliged them to take me outside for interrogation.

"So, Mr. Crest. Will you explain to us your side of what just happened here?" The San Francisco Police Department chief Rory Jackson asked me. He looked like what a stereotypical police chief looked like to me, blond hair, blond mustache, on the heavier side, but not overweight, skin red from work, weird fibery jacket thing with a police badge proudly displayed. "Start with when you entered the store."

I replied to him three or four times "When I entered the store everything was fine, there were two other people shopping there with their store attendants or something." I made a point to reply the same story every time, to the word. "An attendant showed up to me and I talked to her about what I was looking to buy, just regents for a spirit communication spell. Then one fellow, browsing the shelves intently and ignoring his attendant, looks up at me, and we make eye contact. He was midsized, nothing remarkable about him. After we make eye contact, he rushes into the summoning room they rent out, the door to it was right behind him. There was a moment where the door was shut, a sound acme out of the room with a light red glow from underneath the door, and all of a sudden three identical demons come out of the room. They block the door as he tries to steal the bestial spirit that awoke in me when I fought the vampires at the embassy, with black magic he tries to rip it from my soul, which would kill me. I tried to rush for the wand cabinet to fight him, but as I go there the beast within me took over and launched an attack at the demons. That broke his painful black magic spell, and I had the advantage as I sent him flying through the wall with a burst of force after incapacitating or dispelling his demons. From there, all I remember is some muddled conversation and me alchemizing the cement he was sitting on through a magnetic field out the window. Sorry that it busted up that squad car." I tried to pull in some energy, but there simply wasn't enough in the surrounding area or given my current condition to be useful. After the fourth time of going through this for "Memory Jogging" Chief Jackson let me go as he went over the notes he took on my speech. He approached other witnesses to the attack as I tried to hail a cab for the first time ever. I never used taxis because they cost the equivalent of buying a car and gas for it, but only using it for one trip.

"Treasure Island parkside drive please." I said absentmindedly to the cabby. I was worried over the multiple attacks on me or people or the world that I was now thrown into. I had become a guardian of the humanity against vampires, unexpectedly and suddenly. I needed to talk to someone about this.

"Aint you that Jack Crest fella on the news?" No way. Would not talk about flustering whirlwind of chaos and violence to cab driver. I would rather talk to the beast about it then that. It isn't a good idea to hate me floated through my mind, from the beast. Shut up you damn wolf/panther/instinct spirit.

"Aint you supposed to be driving?" Threat averted. I sat and stared out at the incoming fog on this fine early spring's evening, and considered what the hell I was thinking about. Oh right, the attacks. It might be easier if I only had to look out for myself, rather than be the hero of San Francisco and protect the entire SF bay from vampires. Oh my god, that was my punishment for misbehavior. The M.E.R.L.I.N. had given me that title as a punishment, so that because I had attacked the vampires, now they made the public realize that I was the vampire slayer. And day or night, rain or shine, no matter the circumstances, I was their hero and could not let them down. Those bastards really had way too much time on their hands to figure this out. I was thankful that the cabby had remained silent as we crossed onto the bridge connecting the two main islands of the bay, Yerba Buena and Treasure. A moment of confused introspection later I wrote a check to the cabby that could pay off the national debt and exited the cab, walking towards my flat. I called Wyatt, my druid buddy when I got there, my telephone is the one non alchemized technology in my house that works occasionally.

"Hey Wyatt, how are you?" I spoke into the phone after Wyatt picked it up. Wyatt was roughly one thousand nine hundred and sixty years old, but he had the body of a fifty year old due to some black magic, a Tattoo of Eternity.

"I am well Jack, why do you call?" That was definitely Wyatt.

"I'd like some counsel on life, can you come over?"

"You kids, It's seven in the evening and you think it's midday." Aww…. "I'll be there in a moment." That's Wyatt for sure, he doesn't talk in minutes and hours, moments, lifetimes, seasons and moon phases were his time.

"See you in a moment then." It does get unnerving. Wyatt probably strode calmly over to his teleportation circle, like he owned the place wherever he lived, and cast a quick, extremely well developed spell. I heard a thump on the roof and guessed it wasn't Santa. Wyatt soon appeared at my door and knocked once with his staff before I opened the door. He stood before me in robes of living vines, wound together tightly into sleeves and a robe. Moderate level druidic magic, I could have done it before I got more into Alchemy.

"Hello Jack, may I enter?" Wyatt always asked for permission to enter someone's home, unless it was a time for blowing down the door, he did that too.

"You are welcome here, enter." Sometimes us wizards just talk like the good old days just for the hell of it. Or because they were the good old days.

"Thank you." Wyatt entered and set his staff by the door as I locked it. We sat on chairs in the living room, the sun on the top of my staff the only illumination. "Now you wanted me to counsel you on something?"

"Yes Wyatt, in case you didn't hear, I've been in multiple combat situations since the night against the vampires. The first came when two days after our reward ceremony, I went to the hospital for a check up on the recovery of my wounds. There was a fake doctor already there, in the room where I was told to go to. He tried to stab me with a needle full of something; I cared not to find out what it was after he refused to tell me what it was and fought me. I left in a hurry after getting my wounded side stitched up in surgery again using deception. Flying back from the hospital, I was asked by the police to stop a attack of vampires in a building near the mall where Beth, Jimmy and I shopped the day before. There were two vampires who expected me, and I fought them to the death with very little magic energy to bring to bear, it was harsh combat without my familiar amount of energy to throw into spells. The next day I was attacked by a magician who tried to steal the beast from me while I was shopping for regents, that was today. I sit before you now with less energy then I can ever recall, a still healing side that I can't touch due to pain, and a bestial predatory spirit within me that I wish to exile. Is there any wisdom that you, in all your years, have to give me?"

"Jack" Wyatt said then paused "To begin, you must be at peace with yourself." Damn, this is going to be one of those "You have all the knowledge you need." Conversations. "The beast within you is already a part of you, and as you learned, must stay part of you if you are to survive. This is more than just the sense of keeping your soul intact, for if these attacks are what you say they are, then the beast is part of the solution of defending yourself, not the problem."

"I would face fewer opponents if there wasn't a temptingly powerful spirit for the victor."

"But you would be fighting off an entire race of superhumans, and seeing how they fought at the Embassy, aren't afraid to die. Jack, embrace the beast." The Druid speaks wisely, I will not have the opportunity to live as a wizard for a long time if you die, and frankly, the wealth of memories and formulas can be quite entertaining sometimes. You can access my memories (the beast's dialogue to Jack is in italics) You can access my memories? Jack, I can take control of your body when I see fit, of course I can access your memories.

"Is it speaking Jack?" Wyatt said as he leaned forward intently. Apparently he found great interest in this spirit, as a druid and a scholar.

"How can you tell?"

"Your eyes, they go vertical as a cat's as you stare out at something, and you stop moving completely, not even a twitch." I never noticed that. It must be the internal dialogue, it freaks everyone out until about a month or two, or so they say.

"Huh… that's interesting. But this creature, it can't be me can it? It can access my memories, but I am Jack Crest, it is the beast. How can we be one and the same? We are separate beings but he lives in the body intended for me. To tell you the truth, it's just the ideas he floats through my head, like when I hang out with Beth, he refers to her as my mate, and wants nothing but… The Act with her. I want it to be silent, even if it means that I have to hide from the world. I am myself, and myself alone, I've lived my life by myself to this point, and the way it acts is not how society wants a hero as myself to act. I lived this life, and now he is going to ruin it. I cannot let Jack Crest become a screwed up Lycanthrope, even if it would fit in with modern vampire slaying stereotypes." I stood up and walked over to my sink and pulled the tab on two tall glasses of water in semi clean glasses. I brought them down and set them on my living room table.

"Very well Jack, I see that you cannot accept yourself for who you are." He leaned back in his chair and smirked as he took a sip from his water glass. "You should know that teenage girls have that problem." That jackass just compared me to a teenage girl. What a douche bag.

"It is not that I can't accept that I am the beast-" I replied staggered.

"Yes it is." He set the glass down and put his arms on the armrests. "Jack, I can heal you, fight with you and consol you, but I cannot bring you to terms with yourself, that is the greatest fight, and it is always fought alone." A long silence filled the room as I tried to take that in. "This is what you asked for isn't it Jack?" His tone seemed to be turning angry. "Or did you think that I was just a savior? Never mind, I know your answer. You thought that I would free you from this horrible monster that rages inside of you, as a grandmaster druid could. Jack, I am not what you think I am. I stay in relation to you because I realize people of your stance need people like me to help them. I'm not an ace in the hole, good evening Jack Crest." That was enough. This fucker couldn't insult me in my own home like that.

"What the hell do you mean my stance!" I was talking in a raised tone now, something other people would value as their strongest yell. "You think that this is all some master fucking plan to make me a hero?" I paused, I was standing up and my arms were swung wide. Wyatt remained seated, unstirred.

"Calm yourself Jack."

"Like hell I'll calm myself, I've turned into some monster I don't even know, am expected to save the world by those fuckers on the streets and am the target of constant attacks, how the fuck am I supposed to calm down, how the fuck am I supposed to be happy, how the fuck am I supposed to fucking survive? How motherfucker, how the hell do you think I should fucking keep fucking going?" I tried to keep my voice down, but it's natural loudness made me believe that people over on Yerba Buena island would be hearing us just fine.

"Jack, you need to calm down, it's okay."

"No, it's not fucking okay, do you fucking understand me? The man in the mirror is someone foreign to me, someone I can't fucking relate to. Who the fuck am I Wyatt, tell me!" I was breathing heavily, I felt much calmer. I started to sniffle. Congratulations on confirming your weakness Jack. Now the whole pack knows of your inner strife. Shut the fuck up before I jump us off a bridge, for realsies this time to. As I said, I almost cried. Almost.

"Jack, Jack, Jack, you can't do this to yourself. Your going through denial, and I can't imagine what your going through, but you have to calm down. The answers are within you jack, maybe not prepackaged, but you know what you must do." I sat there, cooling my heels. Everything would be okay, everything will be fine, repeated through my head like a broken record. I calmed down, Wyatt left. I just sat there thinking about what he said. About what I said. I needed something to calm me down, so I went over to the only bar on Treasure Island, a pirate like bar called the Salted Doubloon, where a middle aged magically trained mortal named Max worked his brewing magic with the help of spirits. The non alcoholic kind of spirit mind you. I summoned my motor cycle, a week's worth of alchemy and auto building plan reviewing, made piece by piece with alchemy from four hundred dollars worth of industrial steel. I summoned it right out of the pavement, it rose up in a light ring of fire as I smiled, my tear stained cheeks moving sorely. The bike rose from the cement in the ring of fire, the fire receded around it as it held in position. Then fell apart completely from the way I had used it at the Embassy. As a battering ram, chainsaw and vehicle. At the same time. It managed to completely shut down the structural integrity of the bike, and it died. Pieces littered the pavement as I kneeled down and swore under my breath. People looked out at me weeping over my destroyed motorcycle. There is officially no god. It's freaking impossible that anything with the power to stop this from happening and didn't existed. I walked, like a regular old mortal, after carrying the parts up to my study via flight and an open window. Life sucks right now, I have to walk like an old world mortal.

Ten minutes of walking later and I arrived at the Salted Doubloon, the windows letting the soft yellow light from inside out into the dark spring night. I pushed open the doors to the bar and people looked at me, some of them worried. Those could be people who heard me yelling at Wyatt, which I guess was my way of yelling at myself. Most of them simply returned to their booth seats or square tables after I walked up to the bar, where people abandoned seats to get away from me. And they call me a hero. Max approached me fearless of my brooding mood and glowing eyes, for he has glacial ice flowing in his veins.

"Usual?" Max was not big on words.

"Yep" I ordered what Max called mood drinks, which are considerably cheaper then actually ordering a specific beverage. He gives you a drink based on what he divines your feeling at the moment. He slid me a glass of water from across the bar. "Water?"

"Purity, from what I heard you screaming."

"Screw drinking. Can I use your circles?" I meant his advanced magical circles he carved into the cement under his bar, in the basement. It was there that he had a tiny microbrewery and summoning circle, which he used to conjure three silent folk to do his bidding and work the brewery.

"For what?"

"Isolation." It was a premium for me in the city to have my own space.

"Fine." He tossed me a key ring and directed me towards a door near the two bathroom doors. I opened it and went down some steps in the dark, which didn't seem so dark at all. It was the beast, giving me it's cat like eyesight. I see no reason to stumble like a cub when we can move with confidence. We can talk in a minute I said back. Max's magic circle was pretty good, it was inlaid with alchemized steel from some professionals sent in from who knows where. It must have cost a lot to build, but it was easy to finance such products when you have a monopoly on alcohol to one hundred and sixty people. I pulled energy in from the surrounding atmosphere, just part of the energy that existed everywhere. Max would be pissed that I took energy from his servants, but I was going to tip him for this anyways. I pushed the little amount of energy I had to use into the circle, after I sat in the center of it, and I sealed it off from the rest of the world, light, sound, force, magical energies couldn't penetrate this barrier unless they broke up the circle itself.

"Alright, let's talk beast." I said out loud. The beast would hear me inside and have to speak back to me with sound rather then thoughts while we were in this activated circle. The voice it used within my head annoyed the crap out of me, so I had it do this.

"About what?" It's voice was at times a bears low growl, sometimes a high cat's screech, others the shriek of a hawk.

"Quite obviously, your participation in my life."

"I don't see what you don't understand, we are one and the same, you lived in charge of the body for forty two years of it's life, now I want the remainder."

"I don't really like that idea, mainly because the body was designed to fit me, specifically me. The soul of Jack Crest, not the spirit of the hunt. It's mine. I also don't like it because it means that I'm in the backseat for four hundred and forty eight years of my life." Wizardly mind powers confirmed that was right.

"Don't be foolish, in the world of the hunt and the wild, a predator even as strong as yourself scarcely has forty additional sets of seasons to live. A mighty beast is a mighty fine target, or so they say."

"That's reassuring, thank you so much for reinforcing my confidence in my safety and good health."

"Host, understand that those can be years filled with happiness and ease or hardship and sorrow depending on how you make them."

"One problem, I can't do anything while I'm in the backseat. And no guarantees I'll keep us alive to let that happen, I can do the craziest things sometimes."

"Do you mean that you would take your own life?"

"No I mean I could spontaneously take a Hawaii vacation, duh I mean I'll take my life before I would hand you the wheel."

"A sad death for such a bold hero."

"I'm hardly a hero, I killed those vampires with black magic and cheating, I paid a grave price for it in my wounds and awakening you. Now I destroy buildings in my fight to protect myself from these constant attackers. And why? All because it's my god damn fucking duty to save the mortals."

"Host, it does not bother me that you don't enjoy your victory, it bothers me that you still have ideas of things being underhanded and trickery."

"What, you don't consider using black magic overkill?"

"Do whatever you must to survive. That is all."

"Newsflash jackass, that's not how I can roll. I've got a zero tolerance policy on black magic for my tattoo, and if you start throwing it around in just everyday situations, we'll be dead before the enemies can get to us."

"Whatever you must. I'm aiming for a situation where we won't have to use the Dark Forces."

"Oh, no one calls them the Dark Forces anymore. Just a thing."

"So, are you satisfied with our little chat?"

"We didn't come to anything yet?"

"If you must, state your idea so we can move on, this bores me." The idea of a yawn floated through my head.

"I'm expected to be the guardian of the people now, so I'll be placed into more combat situations. I'll fight them my way for as long as I can, if I need help, you step in and do whatever you must. Then I get control back, and we live.

"That plan involves waiting for them to come to us, why don't we hunt for them?"

I was prepared for that question. "Because this lets me keep up the lifestyle I enjoy, and anything that tears me away from that, say a vampire conspiracy, has to go. Are we clear on the plan?"

"I am not a lapdog you can order around you know."

"Are we clear?" Stay firm.

"Yes…" With that I ended the isolation of the circle and looked at a clock near the door. That had only taken twenty minutes. Interesting. I returned upstairs to have a few drinks, laughed for a bit with max, which helped reenergize me, and went home to get sick and fall asleep on the couch out of magical energy restoring drinks.

Awoken by the sunlight piercing the windows in my kitchen that shone into my living room, I scrambled the fridge for leftover pizza. It tasted nothing like what it was supposed to taste like, and I didn't order it with mushrooms, it had plenty of their cousins. After possibly harming myself with that, I sat down on my couch and wondered what to do first. Oh, right. The motorcycle. I trudged over to my study, opened my blueprints drawer and took out the valuable plans and gazed at the pile of parts still there. Maybe there was an easy way to this, maybe I could make a spell that would use benign spirits to do good to the motorcycle, bringing its pieces together. I grabbed my outdated copy of the two thousand page encyclopedia ethereala arcana with my hands and arms. That is freaking hard, but apparently I have bear strength thanks to the beast. I set it down on the floor as gently as I could and flipped through its pages, using a basic spell to sort it by benign creatures first; looking for ones that could fix my bike. I found some tiny fae creature that could do it, but it would still take a while. Whatever. I set to work on my summoning circle kept in a closet, pronouncing it's name and ringing a tiny bell that I kept in my regents drawer. Ten minutes of repeating "Shori" over and over later, a trio of the tiny, speechless creatures appeared. I opened the summoning circle and they flew out and began to piece my bike back together. Piece by fractured piece.

I headed outside and into the bright sunlight of a north California spring noon. My hangover was making the sun seem even brighter and the world an unhappy place, so I went back inside to my study. I ignored the Shori for a while as I fixed myself a potion that would cure my hangover. Magic rocks. The Shori reminded me of Will o Wisps, back from my summer camp days. They were little fae that illuminate the air around them with a benign presence that made stuff better. All they needed to do was sit there. A minute later the potion took effect and I returned to the outside, judging by the un it was twelve or twelve thirty, and as normal, I had nothing to do except walk around and see who needs the services of a shaman. I did my usual lap around the edge of treasure island, but as I neared the pedestrian bridge to Yerba Buena Island, I noticed a series of signs.

MAKE YOUR SOUND

LIKE NEVER BEFORE

ANYONE CAN

AT THE ECHO CLUB

MAGIC COMES ALIVE WITH SOUND!

YOUR SOUND

Some addresses and stuff that anyone without the eyes of a hawk would need binoculars or a microscope to see.

Legal disclaimers to the fact that there are magic forces contained in the club.

The posters, there was a whole wall of them along the bridge, were purple and shimmering with magic. I tore three down and absorbed their magic energy discreetly, for I was still tired as hell. Maybe I'd go there with Beth, if she proposed going there. I'd do anything I could to avoid it, it seemed like it was a club for the happy, joyous crowd of people born after the cold war. I was the complete opposite of that, so I decided to avoid going at all costs as I ended my walk across the bridge to Yerba Buena Island. I summoned my staff to my hands to look more businesslike as I bummed around looking for work.

"Excuse me sir, but you are a magician?" Came off of the bridge. A man and his wife, both in their late thirties or forties, in full body wetsuits, came up behind me, squeaking along.

"Indeed I am." I turned to them and gave them a smug look. I knew what was coming next, a transformation.

"Can you make us into seals for our morning swim?" The man asked.

"You swim in the morning?"

"Do I have to demand it?"

"Fine." A moment later I had performed my M.E.R.L.I.N. duties to them and had transformed the couple into a pair of seals. At least I think that's what they wanted. I continued on my regular route around Treasure and Yerba Buena Islands, got one call for my alchemy skills and fifty dollars as reward for it, then flew over to San Francisco, to go visit Beth and get some more work. I began to consider my financial situation. I reviewed my memory of the deed the government had given to me as a reward, and through my improved wizard memory I remembered that it said that instead of five percent of my income before taxes going to my retirement, it was fifty. Combine that with the five hundred thousand dollars I got from the U.N. and hundred thousand dollars from the city of San Francisco, and retirement was already payed for. At age negative six. This left me quite a bit of money to use, provided I found a way to alchemize my own gas or make my bum shamanism work out. Maybe I'd buy real estate, the market was right for it, housing was apparently down at the moment.

Speaking of real estate, I owned some. Quite a bit actually. All I had to do was work out a type of "Don't maim me" treaty with the natives on Starwave bay, who were known for their ferocious combat and cunning. It was supposedly fine for people who had lordship of that land who got along with the natives, others failed to survive the first visit. The M.E.R.L.I.N. were obviously testing me, that area is taught about by wizard mentors as "Where the hesitant and poor speakers go to die." I flew over an entire alley covered with echo club posters, so I landed and stole all the magic power in the alley from the posters. That really gave me a charge, I felt like how I felt prior to yesterday's continued attempts on my life, and the day before. Right, so Starwave Bay has ferocious and clever natives who roam a gargantuan plot of land via spiritual teleportation using memories as a guide. Needless to say, their magicians have to be pretty capable to do that. If I was to visit them I would have to prove myself to be on a level with their magicians, or at least that had become my plan for whenever I visited there first. I landed by Beth's apartment at one in the afternoon, chatted with her and her roommate for a minute before we went out for food at some insanely high quality restaurant. Me and Beth that is. The restaurant was a Chinese food place in the heart of China town, P.F. Chang's level food without the crackerbox atmosphere, for real Chinese people went here. Me and Beth sat down with our staves in our casual attire amongst staring Asian businessmen filling the restaurant.

"So." Beth said as we stared down our menus.

"What?"

"We've seen each other for the last seven days in a row."

"What are you implying?"

"I think we're a couple."

Interesting thought. I am part of a couple. "I guess so. Do we have to do anything special now?"

"Well we don't seem to know much about each other considering about half our time last week has been spent together."

"Alright, sensitive woman side of the relationship, ask some more questions."

"I ask you questions, and counts as you asking them to me to, okay? Great." I might be about to get screwed, and not the enjoyable kind. "What past relationships have you had?" Called it.

"Uhhmmm…" Supergenius wizard mind powers, activate! "I've had three relationships with women other then you. The first relationship I had was with a blond wizard from my wizard training camp, she was cute, we were the summer camp version of Harry Potter and Hermione." I paused as she took that one down after setting down her menu.

"Harry Potter and Hermione didn't fall in love with each other."

"Oh. Never mind about that part then. My second was during the Trueblood feud." Goodbye Beth.

She freaked out and flipped her menu up as a shield. "You were one of those bastards in the Trueblood freud?" The menu suddenly flew passed me after I dodged it, into the cushioning of the booth. "I can't believe I slept with you!" That was awkward.

"I was really young, I was recruited by the rebels with bribery and promises that I would be in power. I'm a second generation wizard; it was as appealing of an offer as I'd ever known. They said they could use my alchemy and it would land me a job as Chief of the new Alchemic Society. Then the combat began, and I was captured in the assault on Tyr Island in the Mediterranean. I had barely jumped out of the helicopter with my brigade before the professional Wardens and Peacekeepers of the Church and M.E.R.L.I.N. blew the thing up, as we charged the beach tongues of fire lashed out from the fortress, the beach grew a massive trench as another Alchemist on our side provided us with cover. That was the worst thing the rebels could have done, jumping into that trench, but my brigade and I entered. A M.E.R.L.I.N. alchemist filled the trench on top of us, from left to right. I got out of there with a second to spare, but Church Wardens were all around me. I tried to fly out but someone jammed my flight spell. I had become the last man on the beach, I surrendered."

Beth stared me down for a long cool minute. "I'm one of those folks you sought to cleanse the council from. My mother was a magician, my father a mortal. You tried to make me a warlock, along with three quarters of the M.E.R.L.I.N. by force too."

"In ignorance. I was in a way seduced with the promise of that leadership position in the new M.E.R.L.I.N. and my girlfriend at the moment, a sexy bitch who lured me into the rebellion."

"Jack. I don't know what to say about you. I love you as you are now, but after you tell me of this now, I can't stand you. It's coupled with the beast within and I can scarcely believe you're the same person." That seriously hurt. I loved Beth, just a little not extreme altar worshipping devotion, but that seriously hurt me. I knew my face showed it, probably making me one of the more effeminate men alive, showing emotional pain. Must not. Damn she doesn't love me… "Jack, it's not like that. It's not that I don't like you it's just that you have a lot of problems." Wheeoo now I have issues. I looked down at my menu. The waiter came by and leaned into our table oblivious of the strange feelings being passed around.

"May I take your order?"

"I'll have the dim sum, chicken fried rice, the seafood special, those crab wontons and three orders of Sichuan Shrimp. For desert I will have your largest slice of chocolate cake and a promising fortune cookie." I folded my menu calmly up and handed it to the terrified and scribbiling waiter. Then I waited for him to finish writing my order before he picked up my menu.

"Will that be for the two of you?" The waiter said in his try-to-be-calm-they-can't-legally-eat-you voice.

"No, I'll have a…" The waiter flicked out his pen and stared at the paper like a Nascar driver does the track. "Order of fried green beans and Mongolian beef." She smiled at the waiter as her red hair floated around.

"Very well then, due to the size of your order, it may take a while."

"We can wait." I stared at the waiter as he walked timidly away. Thank god that was not my job.

"Right, so where were we?" Beth said. We both knew where we were, expanded intelligence wizards don't lose their place.

"You were thrashing my ego and in the process of making my heart into an appetizer."

"Oh right. See how you just ordered back there?"

"I didn't order, I demanded."

"Right, but that's just it, you're not human enough in that way. You seem to be like a composite patchwork of good and evil put together in a wizard body."

"Wow Beth, sorry I've done things that are both good and bad in my life, maybe that's what makes me even more human, I'm not perfect and I know that. I don't need magic, spirits or rage to know that I'll never be perfect, maybe you do. Maybe you're already perfect, I thought so." We both paused. I really thought that that could have been said more gently, maybe with less emphasis on the idea that nobody's perfect theme. We paused for a moment, Some busboy came by and placed a few containers of sauces on our table. We sat across each other from the booth, both with arms folded. Her red hair and denim jacket made her look pretty damn good. Are we going to do our job yet? Shut up beast, this is a precision matter.

"Alright. Maybe I was a little blunt there. Your too good at this. You can't have been a bad guy, rich guy, poor guy, loving and hating guy, you can't be a blackguard of evil at one point and a hero of the human race another year. It's impossible for someone to be as reserved as yourself at some points, but let loose with bestial rage at another time. You can't be a smart, bookish, prepared wizard and a tough, athletic and fearless survivor at the same time. It's too right, what are you?" Beth was seriously asking me now. Like, what outside spirit was I.

"Baby, I'm the jackpot if you look at it that way." Beth leaned in now, interested with a strongly feminine but powerful look on her face. "If I can be as paradox as that, a hero and a blackguard, a beast and a human at the same time and I'm as in love with you as I am, then your problems are solved. I don't know how I do these things, how I'm good and bad, strong and smart but in the same time weak and stupid when compared to others. All I know is that I keep living, keep dreaming about you. I might not be perfect, but if I'm what you just described me as, I'm not far off." Beth scooted over from her side of the booth to mine and kissed me deeply on the lips. I felt her tongue pass my sharp canine teeth, and continue. It didn't bother her anymore. "Let me guess, that last bit was both sexy and unattractive?"

"A little bit." Beth moved away from my face. She settled back into the middle of the booth. I hoped no one had seen that last little fun part we had together. They had. Beth shook her hair back to her regular hair shape. Several heads were turned towards us, both our chests were heaving and I was tearing in the feelings of lust and love we had just shared. "What?" Beth said back to the wordless phrasing of the nearest perverts staring at her chest. I cuddled my staff on the other side of my body, a little more clear of a statement to everyone that yes indeed, I was that dude on TV who saved your ass, stop staring at my woman.

"Now, I'm supposed to be asking you about your past relationships or something right?"

"Indeed Mr. Hypocritical Perfection."

"So, what about them?"

"Three. Two with mortals one with another wizard." She sipped from her glass of water and then continued. "The first was my high school sweetheart, a pitifully stupid mortal. He was a linebacker during our senior year, I was almost one of those bitchy clique girls if I wasn't smart enough to be a little nicer. I had to play the smart advisor to their leader, which was a total waste of my expanded intelligence, but it let me keep relations with a mega hottie." Totally not discouraging. "So that's how I got through my senior year, straight A's of course, as you probably did too." Yeah, but I had to try a little, you know writing and stuff. "So the second man I loved was a wizard, but we never came out about it to each other. The exscuses we made to each other were always so ironic, like we'd both practice "Spirit yoga" and that accounted for the magic energy that grants the bearer of a lot of it more energy. I broke up with him after a month; he kept treating me like I was stupid because that was how I had to play it. Lastly I dated a nice mortal, he was very sweet, very kind to me but he was just brainless compared to me and I could hardly stand it after a pair of month. I very kindly dumped him a year before the vampire incident.

"Interesting." Our food came a few minutes later, the waiter came in breaking the silence with grunts and swearing under his breath. I shoveled food in my mouth, but still had time to taste it. It was amazing beyond what I can describe to taste the beef and noodles. I ate like there was no tomorrow, clearing out a small sea of shrimp and a field of noodles. I personally supported some rice farming village in my consumption of the Eastern Grain. And it was delicious like ambrosia.

"Hey Jack?" Oh crap. Beth was about to scold me on being such a slobby eater. "If you can walk after this, shall we dance?" Here comes the Echo Club talk.

"Where do you wish to see the demonstration of my musical magic?"

"How about that new place called the Echo Club?" Called it.

"Do you have any back up places?" Must avoid horrible place. Dumb advertisements. Must avoid.

"I'd really like to go there, if you don't mind." At this point in my life, I realized that ina relationship, "if you don't mind" means do it or it's over.

"Then let's go, my lady." I had finished eating, and used plates with half scraps of rice littered the table. We payed by check and used my flight spell to get there, it wasn't hard to find a big searchlight changing color beaming into the night sky in the heart of the Castro District.

We landed in a small parking lot and entered past a line of shrubberies standing guard in what some might call a small park. We pushed open a set of double doors into a strange scene. It looked like something from Alice in Wonderland, there were hearts floating around, passing through me as I entered. There was a big mass of ectoplasm floating above a clearly magical circle that looked like it was made to amplify magical energies made near it. Couples of all orientation surrounded the outskirts of the dance floor, which was about as large as one and a half the size of my flat. The hearts floating around were cartoon, not actual hearts, just making sure. Oh and by the way, my ears hurt like shit from my now sensitive hearing and the insane amounts of sound pumped into the room from amps surrounding the circular, shell shaped club.

The big mass of ectoplasm floating above the dance floor was obviously made to be manipulated by mortals, something that is probably iffy on the alchemic society's rules. You see, ectoplasm is what you get when you transmute something over and over until it is completely free of what it originally was, it can be used for training beginner alchemists due to it's easy to transmute ways and is generally disliked by higher up alchemists because of it's way of turning back to its translucent, amorphous liquid state. It is arguably a path to a Philiosopher's Stone, but I've never bothered to investigate it. The druidic society despises the stuff, as it is the complete opposite of what they stand for. It is change constant, they aim to keep things how they are forever. But what you really need to know about ectoplasm is that it can be transmuted by just about anyone, it responds to magic in drastic ways to comparatively little magic, is hated by druids and is used to train baby alchemists because it always turns back to a amorphous liquid state. And now the dancers were yelling at it, changing it's color and shape with their emotions and sounds. Now that dumbass poster made sense.

"Hey Jack!" Beth shouted over the massive amps.

"What?" I shouted back at her as she pulled me onto the dance floor, staff floating around her.

"Show them what you can do to that ectoplasm!" Oh baby. With my transmution skills, I could probably make that ectoplasm into something actually useful. Without a further word I hit the back of my hands together and rubbed them away from each other, my wordless trigger for my powerful alchemy spell. I sent the magic spinning out into the heart of the massive glob of ectoplasm and prepared something awesome to happen. Then it happened.

The edges of the ectoplasm glob were suddenly rigid from where they were once flipping and quivering about. Then they burst into flame that filtered flower sparks down from it onto the dance floor, something that could be called fiery passion. At the center of the ectoplasm, visible to the outside, I put the face of the vampire ringleader I killed, smiling, fangs bared. Then I made the fire burn over her face and reveal the image of a saber toothed tiger roar at the moon before I changed the image one last time to a leaping cat. Then I ended the spell with the ectoplasm turning into a large hyacinth flower, the Hawaiian kind. Suck on that mortals. Everyone stopped dancing and stared at the burning flower spectacle I had just created. Ooo's and ahh's echoed around the building, almost reaching the level of the actual music deafening me by the second. People watched me and Beth stride out onto the dance floor as the ectoplasm slowly turned back to its natural lame state. The music changed into another song and me and Beth danced late into the night, moving along the magic circle, silently taking in all the energy it had to offer. Music can create energy through sound, it's waves being a source of energy, but mainly the emotions and feelings that are stirred up by the sounds. People can get all of their magical energy off of sound; I still use emotions for my main source of energy. Dancing also provides a lucrative source of energy, which can basically be boiled down to motion, unity and music, which can be made very powerful when there is a large group of people doing it, such as here. If the correct dances are done on certain nights, then even mortals saying spell words that seem like babble to them, these sources can make enough power to make the spell work. But if you have an actual magician working the spell, amazing things can happen.

"Hey Jack, let's hit the back!" Beth yelled at me as I spun her back and slid back. Sexy times, thanks! I was a little tired from dancing for an hour or so.

"Alright!" We moved through the crowd under the booming glob of ectoplasm. Beth led the way through the crowd, by my hand. We approached the edge of the crowd where couples of all orientation played at the edge of intimacy. We found a door leading to anywhere and we entered. People were taking a step closer into intimacy through the door, which led to a stairwell. Beth and I continued down the stairs and against a door, alone. The door was rigid steel with a little glass viewing hatch, through which was along white hallway.

"You are smooth sweetie." Beth said as we pressed our lips together. I bore her against the door, pressing further into the kiss. It lasted several long sweet minutes before as we shifted about, the door tipped open. I grabbed Beth with my powerful grip and kept her precious head from cracking on the hard tile floor. Beth cast her light fly spell and hovered to standing position.

"You okay hon?" I said to her as I picked my staff up from the wall and wiped the second hand lipstick off of my lips.

She grabbed her staff before she straightened out her shirt out a bit and tussled her hair. "Of course, thanks for the save though."

"You want to see what's down that hallway Beth?"

"It's not a real big deal sweetie, let's just go out to your flat." I really wanted to know what the hell was back in that hallway.

"I'll just be a second." I pushed past Beth and into the hallway. She sighed and followed me in. Staff in hand, thick, course hair covering my eyes, I proceeded down the hallway. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw in that hallway. There were recesses in the hallway, alcoves if you would. They were caked in blood and corpses, mangled, destroyed corpses. I felt sick as I realized one of them twitched. The alcoves were on either side of me and I saw in one that on the floor were circles. Alchemic circles. I could only conclude one thing, that whoever was running this place was performing flesh transmutations, forbidden alchemy. The soul cannot drift that close to another soul, it cannot merge with another body, if it does so then if they have any differences, they clash. The clash of souls is something people should not see. It bubbles and rips the skin, the effected body bleeds and distorts. It's bones sharpen and cut through the skin, it dies without death. The creature suffers an enormous amount of pain, enough to drive them insane even without the mental torture they undergo. There are no words for the clash of pain, misery and sadness that goes on to those under the effects of a flesh transmutation. Most of the time, both souls are so critically wounded that any hope of an afterlife for them if completely wiped out, they only last a few bleeding minutes in their next world before they are gone forever. It is for reason every alchemist agrees upon that those who transmute flesh are to be killed on site, and their labs burned.

"Jack…"

"I know Beth."

"Let's get... Out of here."

"It's our duty to kill whoever is doing this."

"Let someone else do it, I'll tell the M.E.R.L.I.N., you just contain yourself." I threw up after I took one last glance at one of the cages containing the horrible remnants of the transmutations.

"Right, let's get the hell out of here." Jack, is there some mention of combat? No beast, we can't do that now. Hmmm… (low growling sounds) But soon. Probably not actually Beast. I believe so.

We ran up the stairs and got the hell out of that horrible club. Passing along the dance floor I realized where all the energy I had at one point stolen was going. Into the transmutations. Christ. At least I had gotten a lot of energy from it, and probably slowed some of the twisted experiments that were going on down there. That made me feel great, which in turn gave me extra spell energy.

"Alright Jack, I'll talk to the M.E.R.L.I.N., you just stay calm. It's not your duty to stop that, you aren't of that position." Beth said to me calmly as I began to invoke my flight spell on her.

"Right, but I will be preparing spells in case I am called upon to stop this bastard."

"I wish you wouldn't Jack." Beth said as she began to levitate an inch off the ground.

"Very well, if that's how you want it."

"Thank you."

"Good night honey"

"Night sweetie." We leaned in and kissed one last time for the night before we sped off into the night sky in our separate directions. Whatever she said, I was going to kick that douchbag's ass soon enough. That's what I knew you would say I really wished the beast was a little less so in tune with my feelings. It's part of who you are now Jack. You are a vigilante if you need to If I need to. I'm talking to Jimmy about this before we start pulling any Vampires in the Supernatural Embassy shit again. I went home and got some sleep, until three the next morning.

The next day I awoke and stumbled over to my study window, at three o'clock, as before mentioned. I flew out the open window and headed over to city hall, where I was recognized and hailed as a hero. Again. I really do love this type of thing. I approached the secretary to the mayor and asked her if I could speak to him.

"Mr. Mayor, Jack Crest wishes to see you." She spoke into the buzzer/intercom/phone thingy.

"Jack Crest? The Vampire Slayer? Send him in." She bade me the door with a smile and a salute. All of a sudden it's Super General Jack Crest The Vampire Slayer, hero of everyone for me, should I enter a government building. I stepped away from the thick, semi organized desk and opened some large Redwood doors entering the mayor's office.

"Mr. Crest! Quite nice to see you on such a nice green spring day. I would love to personally commend you for your heroic actions against the vampires, so I will." The man was a totally forgettable guy. His voice was middle tone, he had brown hair, green eyes and was tall and lean. His black suit with purple tie made him look like he was trying to be politically balanced. Must be an election coming up if he's actually thinking about voting and people getting what they want.

"Right right, thank you sir." I looked around the square office, it had pictures of significant past mayors of San Francisco, and he was obviously hoping to be the one who made San Francisco the Magic Capital of the world. I would be fine with that. "I come to you with a matter of some urgency, with regards to that big new club in the Castro that you can see in Colorado. Don't tell me you haven't seen the Echo Club."

"Indeed I have, I pass it every day on my way from here. What is it about that club that makes you wish to talk to me?" He was obviously trying to talk in a wizardly, high ended tone. This bothered me a little bit.

"Well, me and my girlfriend, Beth Mclane, we went dancing there yesterday. And after a night on the dance floor we went off to find some privacy downstairs. After a minute or two we went through a large steel door and into a bright white hallway." I was purposefully pulling this guy's calm out, seeing if the ice behind his eyes was real or just cubes. I doubted it. He shifted for a second in his big, super comfy looking governmental chair. Definitely not calm and collected on the inside. Something is bothering him, and not us. Right beast, for once you have a point. Something like an affair, or bribery, such is the way of politicians. You can shut up now beast. I only wish to share my information on prey of such a species. "In the hallway, there were alcoves, small rooms even. These rooms had transmutation circles in their floors, and they were made for one purpose only. Flesh transmutation. I need not tell you that flesh transmutation is illegal by the laws of Alchemy, for its depravity and use of black magic that eviscerates the soul. Never has it been performed successfully, that being that one creature gains the targeted limbs and cells from the other transmuted creature. There were experiments being done there in those circles. The experiments were being powered by the dancers on the magic circle above the hallway. I am confident that the owner of the club knew this was happening, and I want him arrested and prosecuted to the highest degree." The mayor was pausing for a minute before I noticed a small bead of sweat coming down from his left temple.

"Well Mr. Crest, that is quite a lengthy claim. I somewhat doubt it, but why don't you check with him? I will buzz my secretary to send him over from our department of buildings and construction, and we can verify your claim." Before I could stop him and tell him that he would obviously lie out of this, he had buzzed his secretary. I resigned as we waited for him to come through that door I had done only six minutes ago. With a burst of force the tall, broad shouldered man entered the room. He had a short goatee dyed neon green, which was gelled to the point of sharpness. He carried a thin, metal staff that changed colors, glowing in each color of the rainbow. It was a scintillating pattern that was really distracting. I sensed he carried a lot of magic energy with him through a light hum in the air. He wore a massive mantle with semi precious gems implanted in it, even hanging off it. He had a shirt made from what looked like the skin of a spirit wolf, which was not easy to get seeing how spirit wolves were known for tearing the throat out from behind anyone hunting them in a pack action. That was the spirit of the wolf. On his arms were bracers made from feathers, which must have given him such swiftness of the arms and shoulders. Looking around his well muscled arms I noticed his gloves had pictures of shields on the back of the hand. This dude was a well enchanted magician with a ton of power and time.

"You called me Mr. Mayor and Mr. Crest?" The new dude said in a voice a little higher then what one would expect from a man of his size. I got the impression he was gay, it didn't faze me or change my opinion, but I just had it in the back of my head.

"Yes Mr. Hanas we called because Mr. Crest had a high accusation on your club, Echo Club. Jack why don't you tell him what you believe to be happening?" I thought he was a mayor, not a kindergarten teacher.

"I know what you're doing Mr. Hanas. I know what goes on behind the dancing, singing and magic. Depravity, taint and corruption go on. Your dark research is not unknown to me. I know perfectly well, as does a good friend of mine that you have been performing flesh transmutations underneath your club." A long pause ensued as he stared, a little shocked and a little scared, but he smiled and said

"Mr. Crest, I don't know what you're talking about. You think I know about some supposed dark magic underneath my club? I know that there is a lot of storage space down there, but I've never checked. Possibly a small cult is hiding there, but I am not willingly supporting flesh transmutations underneath my club." His magical energy being emitted were all wrong, if he was really surprised the energy would be a burst, the energy was instead a high note of peril, and a mishmash of energy going on and off from his energy of confusion about me knowing about his dark magic, his evil transmutations, his depraved alchemy.

"Do not lie to me Mr. Hanas, I know what the hell your doing. Admit it now or I'll pull another Vampires in the Embassy stunt, except this one will be Dark Alchemists in the Nightclub."

"I don't like your tone Mr. Crest, it sounds like you are threatening me."

"No shit Sherlock, that's what a threat is. Abandon your research, stop your alchemy and destroy your circles or it won't be M.E.R.L.I.N. law you're subjected to, but vigilante justice."

"Mr. Crest, if you don't calm down right now and apologize to our friend Mr. Hanas here, then I will end this meeting with command." The mayor had intervened. You were probably right beast. Moneys on bribery from Hanas to the mayor. I enjoy knowing the secrets of my prey.

"Yes Mr. Crest, I'm beginning to think that this is more about you disliking me because I'm gay rather than any actual claim. Which are entirely fabricated anyways."

"What? No, no. I would never insult someone for a choice they made that did not have a harmful effect on me or my environment." That was my generic I don't hate gay people speech. It was entirely true, but when you're at this position in an argument, nothing you say is true.

"I don't believe you. Mr. Mayor, if you wouldn't mind, I think this meeting has ceased to be productive."

"I believe so to Mr. Hanas, Jack Crest, leave, I may call on you for testimony to the police on threatening to vandalize Mr. Hanas's property." Without a word I stormed out the door. It shall come to combat then shan't it? Yes beast, we'll kill that motherfucker even if it's the end of us. I got put on super probation for using black magic, there is no possible way he's getting off scot free. I'll spellbind some more spells, break down some magic items for their power, then we'll kill that motherfucker on his in his own fucking club. I like that type of plan. I told you that once you have entered the great hunt, this great cycle of stalking, chasing, clashing and wining. Once in it, you never leave the great cycle, you only get taken down by the next in line for the position of Alpha Predator . Right, right. Any way predators get some kind of not being eaten retirement? Anything? That is not amusing, you don't poke fun at the Great Hunt.

I flew out from the center of the city, past the beautiful center of the government in San Francisco, which truly is a work of art in a city of pretty cool Victorian buildings. I absorbed the energy from the wind rubbing across my face, and that made me delight at the stockpile of magic power that I had gotten from the club. It was like being six and waking up to Christmas morning, staring at the tree and smiling that smile of simple happiness to be alive when you see your presents. I got home and landed in my study, where I found my motorcycle completely repaired. Like I said, waking up to Christmas when your six, ultimate happiness. I flipped open my bigass spellbook of all useful spells I could ever think of. Half of the spells in it were from my camp years, which were great and informative, learning the art of magic from centaurs, genies and my peers. The others were ones I had written but not spellbound onto me, or enchantments for things I wanted to make into magic items that I simply hadn't gotten around to. I looked at it and found a fine enhancement for a chest piece that I had made at camp. It worked on all materials and stimulated the stem cells and healing energies in the body to healing the wearer faster. I developed a fine idea for it. After a quick jaunt to a diving supply shop I had three shirts of shark mail and a dream. I laid them down in an enchanting circle I alchemized into the floor just that minute, and began to perform the five minute enchanting ritual. Five minutes of gestures and arcane words I had invoked my healing spell and the enchantment into the shark mail shirts and donned them one by one. The mail was strong as hell, would heal me and made me feel like both a nerd and a BAMF at the same time. I kept flipping through the book, and I managed to spell bind a few new spells onto me. The first was a new ward that would make a copy of my shield spell whenever I received a hit from what it would identify as a bullet. I realized I needed it after being shot up in the Embassy. I learned a new spell that would shove who ever I hit with it back twenty yards, hopefully through a series of walls. I made a modification to my earth wand that would instead of simply making the nearest rock fly to where I pointed it; it would do the tile flinging/shielding move I used against that last pair of vampires after my false check up. I cast a spell on my staff that would amplify its small energy generation ability when I enter an adrenaline rush. I also made the stars appear faster, which made them glow sort of red, but it remained useful.

I alchemized a few more clips of ammunition for my Desert Eagle, which wasn't easy as far as my type of alchemy. I took a pair of potions to heal me and a couple of energy potions, down to the gullet they went. I picked up the skull of the Vampire Leader, something that I made into a trinket tied to my belt of sturdiness. It had a lot of black magic energy in it, which was just a specialized form of energy that would only work for black magic. I hoped to use it as a source of energy for my magic dispelling spell, which simply used any form of energy to stop an equivalent force of magic. It was useful because I could dispel as much magic as I needed without making an anti energy field. I had everything I needed to fight. Tonight he would go down like those Swedish guys in the Diehard trilogy. Maybe in the same manner to, it was going to be a violent night. My side had completely healed, my head was full of spells and plans, and my soul was full of spell energy ready to rip through my opponents. I'm stalling, in case you don't get the picture, I'm stalling. I called Wyatt, I needed a talk on violence.

"Wyatt?"

"The one and only." That was a weird answer from him.

"Can we talk?"

"It's fine with me."

"I'm about to go into a combat situation against an enemy who's been performing flesh transmutation research, and I need to know if you think it's reasonable."

"Are you sure they have been doing this?"

"I saw it with my own eyes."

"Jack, you know what you must do."

"That's what you always say, but I just don't know. I can't think right about this. The city refuses to do anything about this, I don't know about the M.E.R.L.I.N. but if they do what mortals want, nothing will stop this. I don't know if I'm vigilante enough to stop this."

"Jack, if you think this is right, then do it. Personally I think you should step back and wait for other people to solve this. You've done your bit, no need to be a superhero, as you implied in our last talk." That actually helped a lot.

"Thank you Wyatt, for everything. I'm going to stop this guy, it feels right to me. If I don't see you again, then know that I see you as my secondary father."

"That means a lot to me Jack, good luck and good night."

"To you to."

I called Jimmy and asked him to see if he would come over and talk with me. Not the best follow up to The Elder, but who cares. Jimmy was over in a quarter of an hour later, in his street cloths of a hoodie, t shirt and jeans.

"Whassup Jack?"

"Can we talk and watch TV?"

"Sure."

I turned the TV on and put in a spider man movie scroll, my only superhero movie scroll, they simply are far too predictable. We watched in silence for an hour and a half until the old grandma type person who lived in his house for some reason gave the theme concept for the movie. Then the thought hit me. "With great power comes responsibility Peter…" I paused the movie and stared into space for a second. That was me she was talking to. I had great power, maybe it's my job to stop that bastard.

"Oi, Jack. They'll say that four hundred more times now play it." Jimmy said from his token chair. I didn't do anything for a second or two, just let that idea hit me. This was my duty. I was a hero now, whether I liked it or not. The beast gave me great power, to something that was already more powerful then mortals will ever be. I had to stop that bastard from continuing his experiments, who knew how many he had already killed in his experiments. "Jack, it doesn't take a wizard's genius mind to know what you're thinking. It's your duty as a citizen of America to fight political corruption, maybe by destroying the corruptor, I don't know. There's something in the constitution or Declaration of Independence about it. Just do it Jack, it'll make my life easier." Jimmy said in a serious tone for once.

"I'm going to get a drink, if your coming, then don't talk to me, I need to talk to my last consultant." We both knew I was going to go see Max. Wordlessly I flew us both to the bar, where I sat directly in front of Max in my chain mail, staff and other magical combat gear.

"Mood Max." That was the simple request for one of Max's mood drinks. He wordlessly retrieved a bottle of high grade gin, a magic energy potion and one of those energy drinks teenagers lose sleep with. He mixed the energy drink and the potion together and put them in a shotglass in front of me, and poured two shots of gin for him and I.

"Looks like you're going to go solve a problem."

"I came for advice about it actually."

"What's your problem?"

"I don't know if I should do what I'm about to do. I did everything I can think of to use peace in its solution, but at this point, words have been used up. I'm about to go spill some of his blood. Preferably all of it, my opponent is performing dark alchemy, the darkest type." Jimmy had made himself scarce, I drank both of the glasses before me and he filled the gin one again. "I don't feel like I should be doing this. It's like being a hero of the people, but will probably end in the destruction of a city block and the death of at least one tonight. It doesn't feel right." I shot down the glass again. It was graciously refilled as I put down a set of four dollar bills. It felt good to rummage around in my pockets for money once more, it makes it seem like it's worth more.

"Jack, do what you think is right. Remember that you are a great hero to the public, they will be on your side." Max replied as he took a shot of gin himself then gave someone else their order.

"How am I a great hero, I'm just a oddly strong wizard who kills vampires."

"Some are born great, others achieve greatness, still others have greatness thrust upon them." That was it. No more consultations. I was burning this fucker down tonight. I left the bar, the energy drink giving me the jitters a bit, but I summoned my motorcycle through its regular fanfare. It rumbled like a quartet of huge lions. Pissed off lions. I got on and rode out from Treasure and Yerba Buena Islands to the city, it was on now. No turning back. And so we begin the chase. Indeed Beast, indeed. I entered San Francisco proper in ten minutes, I could have flown, but this just made me feel awesome, especially with the clinking of my chain mail in the rain, it hit the other layers and my metal cape. I entered the Castro district, and drove lightly down a alley filled with steam from vents and stuff. Using my hawk like vision, I looked at the Echo Club across the street and thought of my plan of entry. The doors were stained glass, I could smash through them and ride right to the stairs, jump down those and enter the lab. Alchemize a tunnel through a rain drain into the lab. Take out the researchers and guards there one by one, like a lioness hunting with her pack we will separate he who we must kill and destroy him. That was a good plan. Don't compare me to females in the future though. So the plan was set, enter through alchemy, go all Solid Snake (Some things you learn from kids) on the people there until the alarm was set. Then all that was left was the firefight. And the pain. And the adrenaline. That sweet adrenaline, that burst of energy in the critical moment. I can't think of a better moment then when the rage hits the blood. I quietly alchemized through a storm drain through the earth until using the same type of alchemy I did that found the vampire room in the embassy, I checked a space where I thought the lab was for high concentrations of carbon stacked on each other. A moment of searching later I had found it. Time to get this party started. I got close to the roof of the lab, which was still underground. I was right behind someone standing in front of a glass cage in a corridor. Time to kill that fucker. I cast one last alchemy and broke through the roof and onto the guard in a burst of gunshots and falling rubble. The shots were mine from a newly silenced Desert Eagle; the guard was bleeding out on the ground, but kept fumbling for his gun. I should mention that I shot him straight in the eyes. In a instinctual fury I held down the trigger for three or four seconds as I aimed at the guards shoulders, trying to disable him. He kneed me upwards in the balls and my shots went wide onto the wall. I drew my sword as he brought the gun to his wounded shoulder. I parried the barrel of the gun upwards as I slammed into the guard, then I pushed him against the wall in the resulting pause I stabbed the guard right in the heart, then the beast gave some burst of strength that let me swing the sword around cut the guy down on the arm, cutting it off then a slice that beheaded him. He finally fell to the ground, I was breathing heavily and looking around. Luckily no one saw me, and he hadn't gotten even a scream in, or a shot.

A homunculus. This Mr. Hanas truly shall be a difficult foe to face down. So that's what this guy was. I threw the body up into the tunnel I had made to get in and sealed it with some of the rubble I had taken down with me when I came into the corridor. I walked down the corridor under my minor invisibility spell that was helped by the beast's knack for stealth and stalking prey. There was a pair of scientists in front of a large glass cage, inside something was clawing to get out. I brought my staff up to the front of me, a place where I liked it to be when I cast spells. They stood there in their lab coats with wands in their hands. Hopefully these guys weren't homunculi or there would be a struggle. Then I said it, the command word that would hopefully bring these guys down. "Pyromenthil." Went under my breath as fire leaped out, shattering the invisibility spell. The red flames leaped out from my staff in a cone of energy and magic fire. It slammed one of them into a wall and set him on fire, but he was already dead. The second guy got flown back down the white hallway and slid, burning across the floor of white tile under fluorescent lights. A quick draw on my gun brought him down. These guys weren't homunculi.

But the guard who yelled "Intruder, backup!" and fired his machine gun at me was one. I leaped out of the way of the shots using the spell the beast taught me to slow time for a bit. What was once the quarter second time it would take a bullet to hit me became half a second, and when aided with my speed increasing reflex ward, I got the hell away from those shots and activated a few wands from my revolver against him. I was lucky, the wands activated were fire and air. The nimbus of searing fire shot towards him and collided with the shooter, sending him against the wall burning. The air wand sent a whirlwind of air twenty feet in diameter seven feet in front of me, which was enough to send the bullets a second homunculus guard had fired at me after he showed up scattering away from me. The second guard had simply used his inhuman muscle power to sprint to where the first guard was then shoot with accuracy rivaling mine. Not that I'm some master marksman, but I do use a gun often. The first guard started firing again, but I had my shield spell in front of me by then and was firing spells from my wand revolver at him as they both shouted for back up. The force wand mashed him from being smashed against the wall to dead and buried under the earth outside the lab. I smashed him through the wall six feet to where he was crushed by an estimated hundred feet of earth. The second guard's shots were blocked by my shield, and we ran together for close quarters combat, me with my sword, him with clawlike hands. He went under for a strike at my legs or worse, I jumped and cut him in the jugular with primal precision. Me and the beast Were one. He struggled to his feet, but I had made quick cuts at this spine and removed two vertebrae by then with powerful strokes of my saber. But five more guards were pointing guns at me from twenty feet down the side of the hallway I had come from. I smashed open the glass on one of the nearest alchemy cages and jumped in, disabling the alchemy by pulling in all the energy feeding it. Four guards could be heard with my hawklike ears coming down from the other side with a large, magical figure. I had succeeded at drawing out that bitch. I poked my Desert Eagle out from the edge of the wall that formed the alcove where the now inactive circle and fired with half and aim at the knees of the guards twenty feet away. They fired back, and apparently their shots would have hit me for I felt my immunity ward go up. It would only function for four seconds, not enough for me to do a half decent Pyromenthil at them, and then it would have to regenerate itself for a half an hour. Unless I channeled energy directly back to it. Blood spurted out all the way to in front of me, so I take it that I hit.

"I know it's you Jack Crest." The man I took for Mr. Hanas said from down the hallway.

"No, it was professor Plum, with the candelabra in the library." I retorted.

"I'm sure now. Give it up Jack, I've already won this fight."

"Bullshit."

"Kill the guards Jack, my real goal is to fight you one on one in a battle of magicians."

"Then you kill the guards."

"Oh, but I love the primal grace you fight with, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to watch you slaughter foes like this."

"Very well then." Then I broke everyone's plans and put my shield spell behind me and roared "Pyromenthil!" at the guards near Mr. Hanas. They all flew back, and as I smashed into the glass cage on the other side, I realized that I really should take in the energy in these circles; I was already feeling some of the loss of energy. I wasn't going to kill anyone until I actually too these bastards down, no more jumping from cover to cover, it was time for a good old American Wizard Firefight to the Death. I prepared myself, Hanas said a few redundant words, maybe they were some good quote or something, I really didn't care. I started to pay attention to what he was saying for a second or two.

"So, this research is simply so if I am wounded in the fight then I can recover, and live to defeat whoever arises as a hero again later. What is it those Greeks said? Oh yes, he who wins the battle is he who dies another day." That was a stupid quote. I overestimate the super villan ratings on my foes.

"Hey Hanas, want to know something!" I yelled as I prepared to charge out and blast that motherfucker with a fury divine.

"What is it Jack?" He smiled with his voice.

"I know when you die, I forsaw it."

"How did you do that Jack? And when is it?" He kept on smiling with his voice.

"It's tonight, I forsaw it with my own two eyes!" I then leaped out from the alcove and landed on my feet, poised to jump. It was a bluff, but what the hell. I felt my immunity spell go up, four seconds of invincibility. "Pyromenthil!" I roared down the hallway at Hanas and his guard homunculi. Staff aimed, magical fire leapt out as I channeled energy into the spell. Lots of it. Fire leaped down the hallway, covering the whole space, searing at a temperature I placed at one thousand and fifty degrees. Tile scorched, a smell of sulphur, carbon and smoke filled the air as I activated my shield behind me to keep the bullets the other set of homunculi were ripping at me from destroying my back. I dodged a shot of what I sensed to be draining magic from Hanas as I turned tail and ran down at the homunculi. I was running exceptionally fast at the machine guns, and I felt them hit me with their bullets. The chainmail clinked and blocked a significant amount of them as I triggered my earth wand "Stickspell!" I yelled as I pointed it at the tiles, which rose up in front of me and protected me from some of the shots, they chipped and broke with each shot, but it gave me time to take three of them down. I used the star blasting function on my staff to rip through the one closest to the left wall. I reaimed it at two others and gave a few shots from the floating tiles at them, which stuck in one's neck and took another out at the knees. Meanwhile I pulled a shield up behind me a second to late as I felt a pair of bullets thud into my back. Push the pain away and Kill! The beast roared inside me as I brought my fist, flaming, down onto the already hurt homunculus and mashed his face burning into the tiles as I jumped out of the way of some of the shots of the two homunculi I did not yet kill. They were aiming at my head, on single shot mode, some beast enhanced senses told me as I landed on the head of another homunculus as it reached for its gun. I stomped on it three brutal times as I realized that an energy draining beam from Hanas had pulled down my shield. A second too late. Hanas roared some obscure spell command and I was sent flying down the hallway, into the fist of some giant magical being. Or was it a magical fist? Indeed it was. He had alchemized ectoplasm into a solid fist like object that had just caught me. Bullets ripped into it, but his continuing alchemy protected me with gello like ectoplasm. Then the fist began to crush, and it was horrible. The fist closed tightly, crushing me in blinding pain. I felt it ripping away some of my energy with each crush, in addition to smashing my ribs, it was a pain unbearable. It hurt so bad, and I couldn't move my arms to gesture for spells or to wriggle out, it was frustrating as I knew that a few more clenches and I would be out. It was more than frustrating. It was infuriating. I did not come here to get knocked out by some cheap ass spell. Fight Back! The beast coached as we acted in unison. For once, in unison. "Aaaaaggghhhh!" I roared out in the hallway, Hanas clenched his ears. I roared at the top of my lungs, I wasn't screaming, I wasn't yelling, I was roaring at this situation. "I AM THE KING OF THIS HELLFUCK!" and in a fit of rage I ripped out of the spell. It shattered around me as I ran out of the palm of the spell, which spattered around then disappeared into raw ectoplasm. I charged across the breaking down bodies of homunculi as I ran at Hanas, who was obviously disabled by the loss. I was taking shots from guns near Hanas, some breaking the mail but I kept running as I drew my sword, he kneeling on the ground trying to recover from a spell broken on his soul. I jumped down on him, but he rolled out of the way and stuck a knife in my unprotected knee. My metal cape started blocking shot from a homunculus behind me, and I fired my wand revolver forwards at Hanas and the other homunculus. It fired a invisible ray of force at the pair, which completely smashed the gun of the homunculus against the wall, breaking it and the arm of the homunculus. Maybe both, I was more focused on Hanas, who was alchemizing tiles from the floor.

"I love being a copycat!" he yelled as the tiles flew towards me. I shielded my face with my arms as I ran to the side. Three of them broke on my chainmail, but they still hurt like shit. I couldn't do this alone, I needed help. I dove back for an alcove as Hanas struggled to get to his feet. I pulled the dagger from my upper knee and cast my healing spell on it as I drew in energy from the dance above us. I was getting tired now, and I seriously needed help. I pulled out my gun and made a decision, an epiphany. Beth could help me. I could communicate with her if she was truly my soulmate by simply focusing on her aspect in my soul. It would only work if me and her were truly meant to be. But it's not like I had great ideas to roll around in, unless I was bleeding them. Then I had plenty of options.

Pushing all thoughts aside, I focused. Like all wizards, I can become calm in most any situation, and I did that. I called out to Beth in my heart of Hearts.

"Beth? Are you here?" I felt an emptiness inside me. Maybe she was not.

"Jack? You've been hurt…" Beth replied. I was overjoyed. We were meant to be together, she was the counterpart of my heart. That was a relief. I pulled in the energy I generated from that. Every bit counts.

"Beth, I need your help." I said to her. I added a note of desperation to that.

"I told you not to start this Jack."

"And I was a fool, I didn't listen to you. But I need help. You know what this means Beth."

"We can do this, we are meant for each other in the master scheme of the world. I see that. I'm coming Jack, relinquish this and let me see through your eyes for a second." I didn't get what she meant by that for a second, but then I felt it. A possession rising through me, out into my eyes. Then Beth appeared, in robes of white silk. She swung her staff around head and fire leapt out as she bent down, so a large disk of fire floated over her head. Then she started channeling it around. It cut a homunculus in half, vertically. Another set of ten had arrived as Hanas hid behind a corner. I put my shield spell on Beth as she cut through them at the waists. "Jack, use your Alchemy!" She yelled as we switched positions in the hallway. She shielded me with her expert brick wall shield as I got the message. Twenty of them armed with double steak knives were surrounding Hanas, protecting him. Hanas fired a bolt of ice magic at me, but Beth protected me with her magic. I clapped the back of my palms together and slid them off and aimed the bolt of Alchemy magic as the homunculi. "Against all, break down the allies of my enemy, cut them apart!" I yelled as a command for the spell as it hit one of the Homunculi. I then understood how to break them apart. Destroy the flesh. Flesh is comprised of carbon stacked on top of itself over and over. In a flash of genius I did this. I tore apart the bonds of the carbon molecules and the flesh of the Homonculi, standing guard in front of Hanas simply fell apart. The machine gunners behind me went down to. Hanas sprinted forward with a pair of daggers drawn; Beth moved to intercept him with a block with her staff. I wanted to help but I had to keep destroying the homunculi, which were now scrambling around. In a clash of wizards, Hanas grabbed Beth and twirled her around, and she dropped her staff. He put his daggers to her throat, pretty red hair spilled over her shoulders. I turned and stopped the transmutation, the homunculi were dead.

"Looks like I win Jack." Hanas said as Beth struggled under him. His strong arms kept her in place. I had nothing I could do; he was using her as a hostage and a shield. "But there are no terms this time. No, nothing you can do to save her. The wounds these daggers cause don't heal, unlike that other one I got you with. Now say goodbye!" He said and smiled as he plunged the daggers into Beth's stomach. A slow death, miserable bastard. He ran out of my sight as I caught Beth as she fell to the floor. Oh my Christ, she could die.

"Jack. I know you didn't mean this."

"You'll be fine Beth, don't worry."

"No Jack, I won't. I know this. Nothing would please me more then to spend my last moments with you though."

"But Beth, we can heal you. He's not that good, we can get the M.E.R.L.I.N. to fix you, and you'll be fine."

"I'm sorry honey, but I was hit. It's not your fault, please don't think it like that." She turned weakly to reveal a large set of seven bullet holes in her back. Christ. I was in shock. Beth could not simply die.

"Oh my god Beth." I had nothing to say but "I love you sweetie. I love you like no other. Please, don't die. I can't take it."

"I wish I could choose when I die Jack, but it's simply that… my time has come. I'll look for you in the afterlife, hopefully we won't meet."

"Beth, if these are indeed our last words then." I paused. That was a hard thing to say. "Then I love you." Beth smiled. Thank you god. And damn you while I'm here.

"Jack, I love you more then I have life to explain." We moved close to each other, something that was agonizing for both of us. We kissed, long, slow passionate. I cried as I brought her face closer to mine. Then she fell backwards slowly as her eyes closed. Oh my fucking Christ. I touched her beck, slowly, I wasn't checking for a pulse, but I didn't feel one.

"Is the whore dead yet?" Someone who could have only been Hanas said from behind me. Mourn and sadness turned to infinite, unbearable rage. That motherfucker. I clenched her staff and mine, I felt it's energy flow through me. I didn't answer. "I said, is the whore dead yet?"

"Say one word and they won't find your body burned on a wall. They'll find it on several walls. Recently dead."

"Like I care, I've won this battle, I killed the one you love, the one fate paired with you. Killing you would almost hurt you less. But I'll do it anyways." I hadn't turned from Beth yet, to face Hanas. I felt for my gun in my belt then I found it. I whirled around and pulled off some shots. Hanas sprinted back from where he stood to the other hallway, one I hadn't yet been down and he kept hiding behind. I roared at that motherfucker, rage boiling inside me, he crossed a line now. I ran after him, my gun ran out of bullets. I put it back in the belt and picked up a machine gun dropped by one of the vaporized homunculi. I looked down at Hanas running down the hallway, wounded. I pulled that trigger with all my might as shots ran across the hallway. A fine mist of blood sprayed out from behind him, but he kept running and eventually got to a steel door, the very one me and Beth made out at. He slammed through it as I began my fly spell to get after him. I hurtled down the hallway after that bitch, no one does that to me, he killed the one I loved. He killed Beth, the motherfucker.

"You die tonight Hanas!" I kicked through the door, sending it flying off its hinges. A storm of lead came at me from the stairwell, I pulled up my shield as I sprinted up the stairs. A homunculus was shooting from the stairs, I set my hand on fire with that one spell. Then I embodied my rage in a crushing blow that smashed his face down, I broke straight through the nose, shattering it. Bone and cartilage went everywhere as I moved in with four rapid cuts from my sword at the extremities, and as I continued up the stairwell, the limbs of the homunculus fell to the metal stairs. Hanas kept running up the stairs and I followed him at full speed. He crossed a line killing your mate. I'll stop him Go ahead beast, but leave me the final blow. I felt the beast take control as I leaped up the stairs, I jumped from one part of the fire escape stairs up to another, catching up to Hanas. Hanas at this point had run out to the dance floor, a bitch move to make me kill him in front of all those people. I care not if the sparrows and other beasts watch the hunt Good spirit type thing. I burst onto the dance floor, staves in hand. Hanas started to fly up to the glass ceiling above the club. I flew up there in a burst of speed, guns blazing. Apparently the people below found that startling/scary. Hanas and I burst through the glass ceiling as I approached his shield. He hit me upwards with a burst of force and pulled out an Uzi. He chased me through the night sky with that. I headed for the bay after he got a series of painful hits on my left arm, bleeding everywhere. He sent out some of those painful, energy draining bolts. These ones hit right on target and I dropped out of the sky, thirty feet into the bay. My chainmail was almost useless, but it still dragged me down. I surrendered. I let the armor drag me down to the bottom of the bay, down deeper to the filth and mud at the bottom. Hanas floated above me, firing a few shots into the water. One hit me right in the thigh. That was almost a horrible shot. He drifted out of sight as I decided that maybe it was all over. Beth, my honey, the love of my life, was dead. Killed by him. I couldn't bring her back, I was useless. And nonetheless, I couldn't avenge her, and it was my crappy shield that brought her down. I wasn't good enough for her, not to mention it was my actions that brought her there. To her death. I hit the bottom of the bay. It hurt like shit, my whole damn body was wounded. Maybe it was time to die. I was out of energy entirely, I hadn't enough to even let me use my flight spell. It was indeed time to die. I felt my breath slowly leave my body, time to start my exit of the world.

We will not die here. Shut up beast, it's time to die. I refuse to end this life in the very mud where we hid our kills earlier. The enemy we face is strong indeed, but he has done something that we cannot let him get away with. We cannot let him make us die in the dirt like this. We are hunters, we are warriors, you are a Wizard. Is this how you want to die? Drowning in the silt in the bay because you lost a mate? Fight back damn it, we can die later. Fuck. The beast was right; it was time to go save the motherfucking day. But there was simply nothing left. Then I realized it. The hope I just gained. It was usable for energy. Hope made some of the best energy ever, so I pulled it in. There was also rage, and grief, brewing inside me. I took them in and then the beast spoke. There is one strike, one spell that I have yet to reveal. I shall do it now. We can tear the energy from our prey with this ability; it can even kill them should we need to. At the very least it will drain the spell energy of this Hanas foe. I suddenly understood a knew spell. It was simply there, like I had always known it, just never realized it. I noticed a crab scuttling by as I made some strange changes on my face. I felt them. The beast had grown gills. Sharks cannot go unmentioned as parts of my dogma. I swam surprisingly fast towards the shore. I reached the beach near Crissy field filled with horrible irony. I figured Hanas would have reported this to the cops, I had to stay hidden. There was a drunken homeless man on the beach. I could… that was wrong. I'll do this. Before I knew it the beast had seized control of me and had drained the life from the homeless guy. I felt a lot better, much more energy, wounds healing. But inside I felt bad. I had just killed a man. To save others, it seems one death is good for preventing more. Right. Time to find more hobos. I flew through the air, pulling in any energy I could find. This battle wasn't over yet. I flew back towards the Echo Club, flying high. I looked down into the broken glass ceiling and utilized the enhanced vision the beast gave to me to search for Hanas in the crowd below. He was just down there dancing with his customers. I bet I could just drop down and grab him, take him back up and throw him down to the ground. That was a good enough plan for me. With most of my major wounds healed, a great amount of my energy restored, I flew down. Like a falcon I moved in for the grab. Then Wyatt burst into my conscious with some strange communications magic.

"Jack, wait." I came to a screeching halt in the air, some hundred feet above the shattered glass. He was talking like he was floating around me, I kept looking around to see if he actually was. "I am projecting my voice to you with a ventriloquism spell, and I have to warn you."

"I already figured that the police would be after me." I really didn't want to hear this right now.

"No Jack, it's about yourself. You already went up against this foe, Hanas, once, fighting him again is stupid."

"It must be done Wyatt, I have to avenge Beth. He killed her, in front of me." The floating voice stopped for a second.

"I'm sorry for your loss, if you don't mind, how did she go?"

"My shield spell failed her, bullets got to her. It was my fault."

"I see what you seek then."

"Vengance, duh."

"No Jack think, Do you seek vengeance for her death, or do you seek redemption for failing her?" Holy crap. He just got into my psyche and figured things out that I hadn't. I was seeking both. Maybe more on the redemption for failing her side. My god. "I know what it's like to be a young man. Nothing I can say will stop you, nothing I can say will bring you back, but there is one small thing I can do for you." Before I had time to ask, he continued. "Good Luck Jack. I will mourn for the loss of Beth." Then the presence, the voice was gone. My heels were almost cooled by that conversation. Almost. I still boiled with rage, and an urge to prove to Beth that I could defeat Hanas. I can do it. I can save myself. I climbed a bit higher into the sky, to restart my dive. At a sufficient level an estimated three hundred feet above the shattered roof, I looked down, with eyes of a hawk. I saw Hanas, dancing his final moments away. I dove. Pushing all of my might into flying down, I bore down at the large guy in the left center of the dance floor. I passed the shattered roof in a manner of seconds. Staff in my left hand, I watched Hanas look up at me the moment before I swooped in and grabbed him. I clenched him under the shoulders as I moved sideways around the club, completing one lap of the round club before I flew back through the roof. He struggled like crap, and his weight do to size and stature were a burden, but I hauled him up to far past the roof of the club.

"I thought you were dead!" He yelled in frustration.

The beast took control for a second and said "If only it were that easy. Do you see those woods over there?" He obviously mentioned the prominent Presidio Park in west San Francisco, which could be seen from here clearly on this night.

"The Presidio, what about it!" He had a little panic in his voice. I love that sound in my foe's voice.

"We fought in your grounds first, now we fight in my grounds." I looked down past Hanas and noticed something. They were a crap load of cop cars down there. And swat cars. And people looking at me with guns. I flew us like hell out of there, towards the presidio. Enhanced vision showed me that they were radioing people. I bolted us out of there to the woods, with Hanas struggling all the way. Cars followed us from below, I didn't care. I dropped him three minutes later thirty feet off the ground in the center of the woods there. "You get one minute to run and hide. Fight with no mercy, expect none." I agreed with the beast here.

"What do you think you're doing?" Hanas said to me as I perched on a branch.

"Hunting. Run now prey, time grows short." The big man took a pair of moments to get up before he started running away from me. And so the chase begins again. With the greatest of prey running terrified through the forest, we give chase. I don't see why we gave him this mercy. The mercy of the idea of your life suddenly ending is not a great one. Now, we give chase. I flew through the treetops, hidden by branches, looking down on him. Suddenly cop cars swerved through a turn, someone shot at me. People jumped from cars, trucks and vans. Then the boys in blue let loose their bullets, and the treetops became a shooting range. I do not enjoy standing in the center of a shooting range. Allow me. I felt my features twist and morph, I leapt down from the branches. Fifty feet. And landed in a bush. I sprinted from the bush to another tree, on all fours and faster then I'd ever ran before. I had turned into a panther, the master stalker. People ran past me as I scrambled up a tree and hid in its boughs, if anyone saw me then this would get much harder. I also had to find Hanas before they did, for then he would for sure be surrounded by people I didn't want to kill. When a squad of five or so marines past by, flashlights beaming strategically everywhere, I landed silently behind them. Dodging flashlights I made my way through the forest, nose to the ground. I smelled Hanas, a smell of magic, blood and people. He is not far.

Indeed he was not, for after moving silently into some bushes, which were actually being watched by some dumbass cops, I saw him trying to hide behind a tree. I was directly in front of him, his chest was heaving, and he did not see me. The cops were on the other side of the bush I was hiding in. I wouldn't have much time to finish him. Strike with your sword, but pounce as a cat before I return us to your form. Know what you want to say to this foe. Right beast, prepare to pounce. I pulled in some last energy to the stockpile I had regrown. We pounced at him, unshifting form as we flew th rough the air. I drew my sword as he screamed and I slammed into him. He made some feeble stabs with those dangerous daggers, but I grabbed his wrist with my free hand and clenched with mighty force. He screamed some more. I heard the cops shuffle through the bush

"Freeze!" one of them yelled. I broke Hanas's wrist in my powerful grab. Hanas and I locked eyes as I kneeled, feet on his massive, robed chest. My sword was raised above his neck, we stared into each others eyes. Words were not needed, but I said them anyways.

"You got what you wanted."

"I can't complain about it."

"What have you learned with this lifetime?"

"How to transmute flesh."

"Wrong answer. Be careful what you wish for. Beth, see this kill, I can do it." I brought the sword down. A crack of gunfire. A teleportation. Oh shit. A motherfucking teleportation. Do not want. All of a sudden we were at a construction site. By the beach, there was scaffolding and rebar everywhere. Magic circles covered the whole place, Hanas in one, me in another. Was this a M.E.R.L.I.N. move?

"So, this is our battle?" Hanas was free from me, we both had our staffs, I had Beth's lying at my feet. "Let's fight then."

"Pyromenthil!" I yelled at him as I brought my staff to the front of my, fire leaped out and spread in an inferno of a cone. Hanas shielded himself and jumped to the side, firing those energy draining pain bolts. I pulled up my shield, they pulled it down, but it had managed to protect me from the trio of shots. I fired the stars from my staff as I began to fly, shooting the silver/red stars at Hanas. Hanas shielded, but I kept firing the stars, for their truly was a wealth of them. My staff began to run out, but Hanas's shield spell failed him and his robes and his self were sliced up. He launched a new spell at me, a alchemy. It sent me dodging his shots as bars of steel from the site flew through the air. Then he fired a new spell to accompany it as the bars hovered around in strange, unpredictable patterns at high speeds. He started throwing lightning, which is a dangerous element to wield. It's hard to aim, but hell, it's lightening. It kills on contact. Three shots missed, but they were coming fast and the combined dodging sequences got me down and I was hit. The lightning sent me screaming through the air to another part of the construction site, it hurt more then how I had been shot at the Embassy. It hurt like running through a burning building. While covered in gas.

I had to get back up, if not he'd just hit me with some more painful spells. I pulled out my gun and fired some shots at him from behind a large cement structure towering thirty feet above me. It appeared I was also standing on a tower, some hundred feet of the ground. I didn't know if the four shots hit or not, but the gun ran empty. I dropped it and prepared to set his magic energy on fire, he seemed to have a lot of it. I was tired, wounded like hell, and scared shitless by all this fighting, but Hanas wasn't. He popped out from the other side of the cement building, the one I wasn't looking down, and started to throw knives at me. Probably never heal wounding knives, but I easily sent them back at him with alchemy. Some of them got damn close to my face though. The first got him, right in the chest, but the others were blocked by a well made shield. But at least I had him where I wanted him, for I noticed that his shield was strong, but he couldn't move while it was up. I needed him to stay in place, for losing sight of him canceled the energy burn or drain spell. But this time I made it. I swing of my staff and a short gesture with my hands and I accessed his energy storage in his soul. He had an ass load of magic power, but then I turned that against him. He burned, from the soul out. his shield went down as he screamed in pain. I started to drain the magic energy from him, as an ultimate ending. I really needed the energy I was getting from him, my stockpile was hurt using the stars and through the pain of being hit by a lightning bolt. I ran up to him as he recovered, he would be flat out of energy, and even if he could, any spells he had bound to him would be burned out in the fires of his soul that I had started. I'm a little pyromaniac yep yep.

"god fucking damn, what magic is that?" I remained silent as I prepared my wand revolver. It was on force, perfect. I was all ready to fire it when he limped towards the edge of the tower and fired another lightning bolt at me. That's how fast lightning magic is, faster than instinct. I was hit badly by the blast, even worse than the first shot. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins more than blood, mainly because I had lost too much of that. The lightning bolt ripped through me, it felt like I had ingested a broken oven and it was heating my heart. I was knocked to my feet as he prepared something or other. I hit him with the force wand as I got back up, but he used some similar magic to pull me forwards. The problem was, forwards meant balancing on a sloped edge of the tower, though at least he would be knocked off. But he wasn't. All of a sudden I was standing on a rain gutter, right next to his hands. I was about to stomp his feet off the gutter and let him fall to his death, but something happened. He let go as he made a alchemy spell. That was awesome. Then I felt something. The alchemy was beneath me. All of a sudden I couldn't see, blood spurted out from my chest as I roared in pain. It felt like my stomach was being torn in half, like I had been gouged through with a spear. I opened my eyes as the beast made a small rune next to me with alchemy, I looked down. There was a cement pole sticking through me. Jesus shitting Christ it hurt too much for words to describe. I really hoped Hanas lay dead down there, but for now, survival was top priority. It is alright, our work here is done. The one you call Hanas is dead. Damn right he's dead. Our hunt is completed. It is time to die. No, it's not. We have finally made things better for Beth, it is too late to quit now. I realized the light of redeeming myself before Beth was pushing the pain away. Maybe there was in fact a whole in my shield, and in my guts now, but maybe Beth will forgive me for letting her die now. And so we move on to join her in the next world. I apologize for doubting you Jack, being a part of you has proven to be a fine experience in magic and wizardry, my expectation had been one of a boring life spent experimenting and studying. It was a shame I was dormant until now, it seems that the end of your life is the finest. What's this about dying? In the words of Monty Python, it's only a flesh wound. A wound as grievous as this at a point where your energy is so low, it is a change in the wind when one tries to hide from wolves. The best thing we can do is prepare ourselves to part ways soon in the next life. This was pissing me off. I had just finally found new meaning, new hope in a time without dearest Beth. The beast inside me accepting death was not what I really wanted to hear right now. Beast, will you help me survive? I've already made the survival rune, but at this point, we are doomed. The hunters, police men you call them, search for us. They want us to be taken inside, likely to be killed. Continuing to fight will only prolong and worsen the inevitable. Not if we openly surrender, but it sounds like you won't help. I'm doing this myself. I reviewed the situation. I was in mind numbing pain, there was a concrete spear nailing me to a building, an estimated ten stories or more off the ground. I had no magic energy to bring to bear whatsoever, and to press the point, my torso felt like it should be amputated to save the pain. Could be worse actually. I felt the energy of Hanas, my dead foe flow up to me. It flowed to me naturally; it was part of the big magic the druids laid down when they were in power. This gave me the energy to fight back the massive concrete stick pointing out of me. I had a plan. I smacked my hands together, triggering my alchemy spell, and then I tapped them against the concrete pole. I felt the structure in chemicals and in physics and other sciency, alchemy stuff. I broke it off four inches above my chest, turning the stuff that I knocked off into oxygen. Now came the moment of truth. I had to lift myself up, and lean off of the remaining cement, so that when I got off it I could lie down in pain without starting everything again. I gathered my strength about me, and readied myself to get the hell off of this shit. One. Two. Motherfucking three.

"GAAAHH! AAHH! AHHGH AHHH! UAGHH AHHH AGGHH!" I was screaming, it hurt so fucking bad as I tried to get off the cement pole. My forces, you humans really do take this urban survival stuff seriously don't you? I finally got off the cement pole and leaned to the other side of the slanted roof, still barely hanging on by my feet on the rain gutter. It hurt like a bitch specialized for making pain and other things that make me hurt. To give you a scale, it hurt like getting a stomach ache. From eating nails and knives. But I was off the god damn cement pole. Thank you Christ, I know you don't like me for being a wizard and all, but thanks.

Speaking of Christ, I heard the rustling of chain and plate mail, the clinking of god on metal. Michael was here. What the fuck? Why was Michael was here? Who cares about the Knight, were alive. That was some feat Jack, perhaps we will survive. I would enjoy that. I felt like I had enough magic energy to cast my healing spell. If only I could focus for the ten or twelve seconds to cast it. "Hello Jack, it's going to be okay." Michael said as he picked me up in a cradling hold with his massive, exceptionally strong arms. "The Hand of God took me off vacation to solve this. It turns out being your warden and not being in on your little schemes can be tiring." He carried me down some ramps on the scaffolding of the construction building. Oh right, Michael was supposed to stop me from doing shit like this, just going after and dealing out vigilante justice to people. I must have blacked out for a few minutes because my next memory was us at the bottom of the building. Michael set me down, I used my staff to help me stand up and walk. He started using some healing spell on me. Thank god for divine magic and it's awesome healing. Heh, that's a funny. I walked over to Hanas, and looked through his possessions. Cop cars started screaming down the street next to the beach, near Crissy Field. Oh the horrible irony, the horrible, horrible irony. Hanas had a few hundred dollar bills in his pockets, I took those. He had a small book on his person, and under my attuned magical eye I saw that it was something that everyone wanted. It was a Warlock's Spellbook, and everyone in the magical community knew what it did. It absorbed nearby spells and put them into a easy to spellbind format, until it's pages were filled up with easy to spellbind spells. With it, the bearer gathers new magic exceptionally fast. I looked through it and found his lightning spell, a quick way to put down an alchemic circle and the permanent wound enchantment in it. The sounds of flying wizards, cops and more Knights of the Hand of God could be heard as I stealthily tucked the book into one of my pockets. A cop yelled through a megaphone my rights as I placed my staff on the ground after visibly channeling my energy into it. A clearly M.E.R.L.I.N. sentinel picked it up as he approached from behind a magical shield. One of the Knights of the Hand of God approached and put a medallion around my neck. It didn't feel restricting. Holy crap. They just awarded me. The cops pushed me into a car and took me directly to a holding cell downtown, where the mayor of San Francisco came to talk to me a few minutes later. I was still in shock that the order created by Archangel Michael under direct orders from his boss to make to control magicians had awarded me for killing someone. With magic.

"Well Jack, it turns out your not the hero we thought you were." The mayor was looking in on me from behind a suit that could feed a developing nation for years to come. "We did in fact find that Mr. Hanas was performing alchemy of humans, but you should have come in and filed a report about this, or told us." I noticed he was with two members of the M.E.R.L.I.N. and some other official looking folks.

"Bitch, I did file a report, I talked to you in person for like fifteen minutes about what he was doing. You were just paid to not to do anything about his experiments. When you refused to do anything about it I did what is my responsibility as a wizard, and an American to protect mortals from people like this and fight corruption in the government.

"Know your place Crest! Spreading lies like this about me will only bring you trouble. You fail to realize also that you caused thousands of dollars in damage through your alchemy, vandalized someone else's property, wasted police resources and killed a man. Though you did stop an insidious criminal, so I think it only befitting that we lessen the prosecution placed on you. A panel of judges from the M.E.R.L.I.N. and I have agreed that the punishment fitting you is exile. You have twenty four hours to leave this city and never return within five miles of it or you will be shot on sight. Is that clear?"

"Clear as your lies."

21