Holy wowzers! An update only four days after the previous update! Looking forward to getting this over with, so hopefully the next part should be up pretty quickly too. Should be only two more parts after this one. Enjoy and please review.


"Shoot it! Quick!"

BLAMBLAM. BLAM. Three police officers shot at the hairless wolf that had been summoned to fight them. One bullet hit between the eyes and the demonic animal, with a sedated roar, collapsed and somersaulted due to its inertia. The policemen hurriedly jumped over the beast as they chased a robed man down an alleyway. The man, sweat dripping from his brow, briefly turned his head to see his pursuers. When he looked forward again, he saw Kerlikowske flanked by two SWAT soldiers.

The man reached into his cloak to draw something, but one of the SWAT men shot him in the leg. He cried of pain mixed with anger as he slowly kneeled to the floor. It was an hour before the sun was meant to set, but for the man things were already getting dark. Kerlikowske's fat silhouette looked over him.

"Where is the Guild? Where are the rest of you hiding?"

The wizard spit at him. "Wait until the headwitch returns," he answered with spite. "She'll flay the skin off of your police force, then turn this entire city into a disaster zone."

"Last warning," said Kerlikowske evenly. The wizard again reached into his robes and pulled out a thin stick, and the SWAT officer dutifully shot him with a burst of three bullets to the chest.

"Get the wand," said the police chief as he turned away. "List it on the records as a deadly weapon he was armed with. And tell Waste Collection to be quick with the body; this won't be the last one they'll have to clean up."


Morning lights spilled across LA. Looking down from the TCW Tower, at an astonishing 517 feet high, filled Klara with both wonder at the scenery and a paralyzing fear. After taking a few seconds' look, she shakily backed away from the roof's edge.

"Afraid of heights?" asked Molly.

"Afraid of what would happen if I fell from such a height," said Klara.

"Don't worry, I'd catch you," said Karolina, who was joyfully flying around.

"Hey, don't give us away," yelled Chase, who was being forced to polish one of Kenyon's many enchanted pots. "I'm worried enough already that a news helicopter will spot us or something."

"I took that into account," said Kenyon. "We have a collected a powerful amount of magical items. A simply barrier spell should hide us while we complete the ritual." Kenyon finished searching through the herbs, stood upright and took a deep breath. "Everything should be ready."

"Cool," said Nico. She looked around. Everyone had their eyes on either her or Kenyon. "So then… when do we start?"

"This afternoon," he said. "Things need to be put into the correct order. Robot," he pointed to Victor. "Arrange those sacred stones into this pattern I drew, won't you?"

Before Victor did so, he took a moment to whisper to Nico. "There isn't any aspect of the deal you aren't telling us, right? He helps you resurrect Gert and Alex, you give him the spellbook and your staff. Is that is?"

"That's it," answered Nico nonchalantly. She then smiled and stroked Victor's cheek. "Why is everyone so worried? This spell is legit; I've read all about it in the spellbook so I know Kenyon isn't tricking us. We should be happy: Gert's coming back to us."

"But your staff," said Victor.

"I'd give my right arm to reverse Gert's death," Nico answered boldly. "So screw some cursed stick my parents left me."

"Okay," said Victor, "But give the signal, and Molly punches him out of his robes."

Nico sighed. "Do you need help with those stones?" Victor nodded. He then wondered how Kenyon knew he was a robot.


Police led a handcuffed wizard into a car. Kerlikowske grunted. "Another dead lead. Why won't they tell us anything?" He looked at his watch; it was almost 2 O'clock. They had been chasing stragglers since morning, but had still not found the big hideaway.

The police car began to drive off. Then it stopped in the middle of an intersection. "What the hell's he doing?" asked one officer near the chief, holding a Starbucks coffee. The driver and his partner quickly opened their doors and leaped out of the car, which was turning a hot red. It exploded, causing several nearby cars trying to cross the intersection to crash. Debris flew all over the sidewalks and passersby ran for cover. Kerlikowske, the seeds of fear collecting in his guy, watched the wizard they had caught stand in the middle of the street perfectly fine.

"You picked the wrong witch to capture," he said in the voice of an old woman. The wizard began to change into a woman; long gray hair flowed down her back and a wooden, twice crooked staff grew into her hand. Earrings shaped like a crescent moon adorned her ears and shined with the same brilliance as her sky blue eyes.

"Stay where you are," shouted one policewoman. She and several other officers aimed their guns. But a cloud of smoke had descended behind them, inside of which were several members of the Guild Arcana, fifteen to twenty of them standing in formation.

"You wanted to find some magic?" a witch in their group said. "It's in the air." The smoke seemed to collect into several tiny clouds, which then turned into bees. The bees viciously flew towards the police officers, who started firing at them rather futilely. Kerlikowske, stricken with fear, had already run off to his car and called for backup on the radio. The policemen retreated.

"There will be more of them, headwitch," said the witch who led the group.

"Gather up our remaining members and you will take them easily, Sister Summersale. As for me, I have business to attend to with a certain traitor."

The headwitch tapped her staff on the ground and began to levitate into the air. The wizards, meanwhile, were charging up fireballs into their hands.


"What the heck is that?"

"You hear it too?"

"It sounds like a battlefield down there."

"Is that… Is that a dragon?"

"The Guild," said Kenyon in a tense tone. "They're fighting someone."

"Yeah," said Chase as he joined the whole group (even Klara) in looking down from the edge of the roof. "Christ, lights are flying all over the place."

"Those would be spells," said Nico. "That police chief, he must have gone after them."

"But if they're fighting in the middle of the streets, people are going to get hurt," said Karolina.

"Kenyon, can't you like, call them off?" asked Nico.

"Call them off? I'm not that high ranking a member, my dear."

"We have to help them," said Molly. "We're superheroes. We can't let them ruin our city."

"I agree," said Victor. "We've got to get down there, and Kenyon's coming with us."

"What?" said Kenyon. "No. We have to complete the ritual. Or else the preparations will expire and we'll have to start all over."

"Listen buddy…"

"Victor!" yelled Nico. "Take the team down in the leapfrog. Fight off those wizards and witches. I'm doing the ritual with Kenyon."

"But Nico…"

"Kenyon's guild may force him to leave after this battle, and we may never get a chance like this again. So you're in charge now, alright? If I'm wrong, feel free to confiscate my black nail polish when this is all over."

"If we're going to go," said Chase, "Now would be a good time."

Victor sighed. "Team motto everybody. No intentamos morir."

"What?" asked Chase.

"Try not to die."

Chase, Victor, Molly, and Klara all hopped into the leapfrog, parked conspicuously on the roof. Victor took the pilot seat. Karolina began flying down on her own. The leapfrog had just started hovering by the time she got there and confronted a group of three wizards.

"Stop at once," she said. "I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Stick around," said one wizard as a pile of gray goo sprayed from his hands. Karolina gracefully dodged it.

"Did… did you just try to shoot sticky goo on me?" The wizards were lost for words. "Gross!" Karolina released a massive energy blast from her hands. The last thing the three wizards saw was a burst of light before they were rendered unconscious. Karolina had trained her abilities with Xavin, and knew how to avoid going lethal.

Meanwhile, back on the rooftop, Kenyon took Nico aside. "It's time we started. I'll set up the barrier." He waved a wand into the air and a dark streak came out of it. When it was thirty or so feet above them, it exploded and spread out radially, becoming a dark dome encompassing the rooftop. "This will make sure the ritual is not disturbed." Nico tightly closed her eyes as she cut her skin with a switchblade. The Staff of One came out, and the sacred stones began to glow.

While down below, the leapfrog had entered a realm of chaos. Police and SWAT vehicles were setting up roadblocks everywhere, and the Guild was out in full force, summoning monsters and casting hexes left and right. Neither side seemed to be distinguishing the civilians either; police were forcefully suppressing passersby and the wizards seemed to be having fun making people run with bats and explosions. Chase squinted at the window and saw police shoot down an ogre before a fireball flew past the window.

"Master," it said. "Sensors detect hostility and high likelihood of damage."

"Tell us something we don't know," said Victor.

"Tactical analysis suggests that the best way to abate the violence would be removal of the largest instigator."

"Largest… do you mean magic? You mean there's a way to stop their magic."

"No master. By largest instigator I mean the summoned dragon rampaging through the streets."

"Dragon?"

Out from the side of the TCW Tower appeared a green, scaled, yellow-eyed, fire-breathing… well, basically a dragon. It growled at the leapfrog and took a deep breath.

"We are so dead," said Molly.


A picture of Gertrude Yorkes lay among other magical items tossed into the center of the circle of stones, all now engraved with a glowing symbol. With pots, herbs, and even small statues spread everywhere, the scene reminded Nico of an archaeological dig. Nico and Kenyon stood at opposite ends of the circle; she held the staff into the air while Kenyon recited the incantation in an unknown language. The translucent dome began to surge with energy; it began to block out light and things became very dark. A flash of lighting came from the top and struck Nico's staff, and suddenly she could understand what Kenyon was saying,

Open ye dark gates. Open ye abodes of the dead. Release to us whom we ask, and may our offerings keep Death fed.

A powerful wave spread over Nico, a force that felt like it was crushing her body. She kneeled down under its weight. "Resist it, Nico," screamed Kenyon. "It is the power of death. Command it to bring your friend back. Concentrate like I told you."

Nico concentrated. She stood up and held the staff up high, and thought about Gert. She thought about how much she wanted her friend back, but not just Gert. She also thought about Alex. She wanted death to give both of them up. Bring back my friend, she kept repeating to herself. Who, a voice whispered. Who will you bring back? "Bring back Gertrude Yorkes," Nico screamed. She stretched her arms, holding the staff far above her head. "Resurrection!"

Kenyon had begun chanting again, a smile trickling across his face. A ball of light appeared in the center of the circle of stones. Nico, free of the powerful wave, noticed for the first time that there was some kind of portal under the ball of light. "What's going on?"

"The resurrection is taking place. The necessary parts are coming from the portal. Your friend is being put together inside the light. When it is done, the portal will close."

"Then we need to resurrect Alex, before the portal closes again. Cast the iteria magica."

"I already did." Nico noticed that the Staff of One was no longer in her hands. It was in Kenyon's. "Oh, a little thing I forgot to tell you about. Once the iteria magica is cast, the default owner of the staff may change. Since you promised it to me, I took the liberty of taking it."

"Then you'll have to do the next resurrection."

"Rather hasty, aren't you?" he said. "I'm afraid there won't be a second resurrection."

Nico's eyes popped wide open. "What the $%# are you talking about?"

Kenyon gave a long, hearty laugh. "This is why I love working with teenagers. Their emotions are so wild, so malleable." He took notice of Nico's glare. "Don't look so downtrodden, girl. Didn't I tell you I was an empath? I made your little team trust me, and now I have you exactly where I want you."

"You… you controlled us?"

"Oh no, not controlled. Empaths can manipulate emotion, not control them. After saving your friends from the police station, it was easy getting your team to trust me. Victor was a little harder to crack since he's a robot, but even he came around, mostly thanks to your confidence."

"My confidence?" Nico could not believe what she was hearing. "Did you manipulate that into me too?"

"Partially. But you were pretty motivated yourself, and the desire to give up your magic, that was all you. You're very noble, Nico. Part of me wishes you were my daughter. Too bad you have to die."

"So what now?" screamed Nico. "This whole resurrection was a trap?"

"Oh, the resurrection is real. You yourself read the whole procedure in the spellbook. But I'm afraid I ripped out one specific detail: the need for a sacrifice."

The crushing wave flowed over Nico again, stronger than before.