A/N: Longest chapter so far, mainly because I couldn't figure out a logical place to evenly break it. Please keep up the reviews and please tell people about this story if you like it!
Yue sat in the helicopter next to Castle, and Vitellio sat facing them, back turned to the cockpit in which Marcus put on the headset and started the engine.
Yue put on her overcoat and took inventory. Of her potions, she had just her purple Red Bull potion left. She had the emergency wand and ring.
This is not enough…
Yue then noticed that a certain brown stain that she could never wash out was missing. She frowned and checked the pockets again.
Is this my coat? It's so soft and clean…What would he gain by switching it?…oh.
"Mr. Vitellio, when the hell did you find the time to get my coat dry-cleaned?"
"I have a reputation too, you know," the Young Don said as if by way of explanation. He sounded irritated.
"Sure. Whatever. Look, I warn you right now, these current supplies may be enough to take the gravity mage alone, but he's got swarms of amateur mages prowling the streets."
"Ah, that reminds me, I bear gifts."
Vitellio reached back and brought out a long felt covered case. He opened the latches and turned the box around.
"This was found in the remains of your residence. I hope it is of use to you, because I went through a lot of trouble to get this."
Yue stared at the open case. Inside sat her magic staff. It was a thin, black metal rod with a crescent moon at the end. It had a few burn marks on it, but was otherwise intact. Yue lifted it with both hands, spun the staff a couple of times, and glared at the Young Don.
"Why? You put yourself in a lot of danger giving this to me. I could blow this helicopter right out of the sky in an instant."
"It is in my best interests. You can't kill me—I still haven't told you where your friend is."
"Fine then. Drop us off where you found us, and if you're having second thoughts about our deal," Yue pointed the staff's end at Vitellio's neck, "then I won't."
"You're getting better at this. Relax, you'll get what you want, all in good time."
Outside of Castle's apartment building
The helicopter landed in the middle of the street. A few cars were flipped and burning, many of the windows in buildings were broken, and the streetlights were all out. The lights in the skyscrapers remained on, but the orange glow of fires and the sounds of gunfire and explosions had replaced the rest of the sights and sounds of the city.
Yue and Castle jumped out of the helicopter. Castle ran to his apartment to get his car keys, but Yue stayed back.
"Your turn. Where is my friend?" Yue had to shout over the helicopter's noise.
Vitellio tossed her a clear plastic case with a CD inside and smiled. The helicopter began to rise, and Yue looked at the CD.
It was blank.
She looked back up, but the helicopter by then was already high in the sky. Yue cursed and looked back at the CD. It appeared to have some data on it, but not much.
Castle came back with the keys and looked at the CD.
"What's this? Did he give it to you?"
Yue quickly stuffed it into her coat.
"It's not important right now. I've got to go stop the mages doing that," Yue pointed to the far off plumes of smoke and pale orange light, "and I need you to go to the police station and make sure that their forces are being mobilized. I'll handle the mages, but I'm sure every two bit gangster saw an opportunity today and started looting and shooting. If and only if you're in a life-threatening emergency, you can use the Pactio card to telepathically contact me. Please don't go looking for an emergency. Likewise, I can contact you and even summon you. Not much else to it."
Castle nodded and turned to open the trunk of his car. Yue looked suspiciously over his shoulder.
Inside were a few military issue grenades, a pump action shotgun, an assault rifle, a rifle scope, gun holsters, two pistols, and a host of other survival gear, including a riot helmet and bullet proof vest.
"Holy crap. You are one insane guy, you know that? I hope you don't plan on running in guns blazing like that."
Castle donned the riot gear and picked up the shotgun. He then brandished his Pactio card.
"Not alone, at least."
"Yeah, what is your artifact?"
Yue swore that Castle almost giggled when she asked him this.
"Well, if I'm thinking about this right, which, let's be honest, probably not, the book and quill let me summon the spirit of past writers. Back in the ship? That was Sun Tzu, master of deceptive warfare."
Yue blinked. "…For once, I agree with you. That might just be the coolest artifact ever."
"I know right?"
The ground shook very slightly, and a new tower of smoke was visible on the horizon.
"You've got to go. Where do you…" Castle trailed off as Yue ignored him, and proceeded to fly away on a broom.
"…I've really got to get my hands on some magic."
Yue swerved left and right to avoid the fire coming from the ground. Not magic arrows, but bullets. A dozen wooden mannequins wearing hoods and carrying bats, guns, crowbars, knives, and other simple weapons fired at her.
I'm just going to have to deal with them won't I?
Yue jumped off her broom and landed on one of the mannequins, crushing it instantly. A few magic words later, the group of shadow puppets lay burned and scattered about.
Somewhere around here there is a powerful shadow mage controlling these. Finding him is a priority.
Yue followed the path from where she saw the shadow puppets coming, and so she slowly walked into Time's Square, and took note of her surroundings. One word came to mind.
Destruction.
People in cloaks and hoods were shooting magic arrows haphazardly into buildings, cars, and whatever or whoever else got in the way. Cars were overturned, the large screens shattered and sprayed with graffiti. The lights were all broken, so the brightest place on earth was in darkness. Smoke was coming from the windows of a few buildings. Then her attention came to the ground, and her stomach turned.
Oh god.
Charred, frozen, and disintegrated were the bodies that lay about the once busy city center. They were men, women, and children, all littered about. The cloaked mages seemed not to care.
Yue stood, unable to move. At first, she was confused.
What kind of pure malice…what the hell in their brains went completely wrong?! This is not magic! This is not what it was supposed to be! What is in their heads that made them do this?!
The anger came next. A cold, desolate fury.
Well, there is only one way to find out. How about we take a look inside? All at once, shall we?
She pointed her staff at the black sky, and shouted.
"Lux!"
The light blinded the cloaked mages, and they turned to face their challenger, to see the source of the light. As the light faded, they assembled into a loose group.
They did not like what they saw.
With a snap of her fingers, a wide-brimmed witches' hat materialized and plopped onto Yue's head. A quick Adeat brought out her sword in her left hand, and she carried her staff in her right. Her hands glowed blue with delayed spells. A broom appeared strapped to her back. She walked with the pale moon to her back, and the street was dark. Her grey coat billowed out behind her, fluttering like a cape. The group of amateur mages froze in place. All they could see was her silhouette and a pair of purple eyes staring from the darkness.
They were understandably terrified. They had not fought yet—only pillaged.
"I can see it in your pathetic faces. You've done terrible things in the name of your 'captain', Erwin Zeigler. You know it. You've burned, destroyed, looted, and murdered just tonight. I bet it even felt a little bit good. But you all know that sins come with consequences. I am those consequences. Anyone who surrenders will not be hurt. Anyone who doesn't…well I was never good at holding back."
A young man with a trident stepped forward to within a few paces of Yue. He removed his hood, revealing a dark-skinned face with green eyes and jet black hair. The six foot man gulped as he faced the five foot Yue.
"I will fight you as the People's Champion." His voice wavered. "My name is Karl Oberst, a member of Zeigler's Righteous Army. I now challenge you, Yue Ayase of the— "
In a swift motion, Yue brought down the blunt edge of her staff on Oberst's head. The young mage collapsed immediately. A young woman in the front screamed, while the rest either gasped or jumped back.
"I haven't the time or mana to waste fighting all of you. Surrender. If you do, I can guarantee your safety. You will face legal action, but only the murderers among you will serve life sentences."
To the credit of every amateur mage in that group, they readied their spells, some shouting dramatically, others whispering. A few even began to run at the mage.
Nobody ever surrenders.
Yue grabbed her broom and flew up a few dozen feet, and readied her own spell.
"Foa Zo Cratia Socratica! Locos Umbrae Regnans Scáthach! In Manum Meum Dedo Iaculum Daemonium Cum Spinis Triginta! Iaculationes Fulgorum!"
She held out her hand and in a burst of energy thirty spears of lightning appeared in her palm. Each glowed as bright as the moon. She hurled them down like an angry god, and the mages below stopped chanting.
Most had never seen a spell of this class. All the magic they had taught themselves to terrorize others paled in comparison.
They all screamed, dived for cover, or covered their heads when the she rained down the spears. Each landed with a thunderous roar. When the dust cleared, the young woman who had screamed before looked around. Nobody was hurt, and her comrades were slowly getting up.
Thank God, she missed.
The spears, she noticed, had landed in a perfect circle around all of them.
But in the silence, a voice rang out.
"Utatur Iaculationes ut paries! Cum his iaculationibus fiat! Carcerem Sphaeris!"
The spears all buzzed with the same, resonating tone and a transparent blue hemisphere that crackled with electricity formed around them.
They had all been trapped with just one spell.
One of the mages tried to force her way out of their new cell. The second her hand touched the blue wall, however, she was flung back into the huddled mass of people in the center. Her limp form writhed as electricity arced across her body.
Yue landed behind them and sheathed her broom. She spoke with an almost disgusted tone.
"Do not attempt to resist. Authorities will shortly arrive to take you into custody. I guarantee your right to a fair trial, and I guarantee your right to a summary punishment if and when you are found guilty of causing mayhem, destruction of public property, vandalism, grand theft auto, grand larceny, murder, arson, armed robbery, and…"
Her sentence broke off midway, because she got her first good look at the rogue mages in the sphere she created.
They look like, well, rebellious teenagers?
Many of the figures wore multicolored Mohawks, piercings and tattoos across their bodies, and some even wore black face paint. A few of the more scared looking appeared more like Oberst, young, wide-eyed, and idealistic. Some were outcasts, rejected by society. Others were convinced they were fighting for a cause.
They had all been fooled by Erwin Zeigler.
And because she was lost in thought, she failed to notice they had begun chanting in unison. Not a spell, but something else entirely. She felt a chill down her spine—not a nervous feeling, but a literal cold that made her shiver.
There's more?
"…He cometh, the Iceman cometh, he cometh, the Iceman cometh…"
At least they seem well-read, though just a bit creepily fanatical.
She turned around and scanned the dark street for her enemy. It looked empty.
"Crystallizatio Tellustris!"
Yue froze. Literally.
The ground around her flash froze, covering her legs in ice. Yue struggled for a moment, but her legs were firmly stuck. She twisted to her right where she heard the voice. A man with gray hair and neatly trimmed beard stepped out of the destroyed electronics shop and gave her an oddly friendly smile.
"Frigerans Exarmatio."
A blast of icy wind blew away Yue's sword, coat, and staff. They skittered to the ground a few meters to her left.
"You were a little arrogant to just charge straight in here, weren't you? No need for introductions really. We all know you, the little celebrity, and as for me, the youngsters call me The Iceman. I find it a bit distasteful personally, but it will do for now."
The Iceman came closer and examined his captive. He chuckled.
"That's a very nice ring there, Ms.—sorry, Mrs. Ayase. Tell me, who's the lucky man and why wasn't I invited to the reception?"
"What makes you say he's lucky?"
He laughed. "I like you, young lady."
The Iceman smiled a wide, toothy smile.
"Unfortunately, I'm going to have to let my apprentices you've handily captured rip you to shreds. It won't hurt…much."
"I could have killed them all! I was more merciful than—"
"I am not merciful." He wore the same smile. Yue shivered. "You should not have captured them. Killing one or two of them would have taught them a fairly good lesson, actually."
"Is that how you teach students? I was of the school of thought that a teacher should try not to kill his pupils, but clearly I am in the presence of a fantastic mentor."
The Iceman pointed his hand at the lightning sphere and bellowed, "Nivis Casus!"
A white explosion erupted on the side of the makeshift prison and shook the ground. Thrown outwards were thousands of snowflakes, which covered the ground in a white snow.
But The Iceman scowled at Yue. The lightning prison remained completely intact. Yue gave him a sarcastic shrug.
"Maybe you're not as good as you think."
"Maybe, I'll just have to do it myself."
He pointed his hand at Yue.
"Veniant Spiritus Glaciales Obscurantes!"
Yue began pulling her legs, trying to break free of the ice.
" Cum Obscuratione Flet Tempestas Nivalis."
Yue shouted. "No! Please, have mercy!"
" Nivis Tempestas Obscurans!"
A black vortex of ice and snow barreled towards Yue.
And Yue dropped the act and put up her right hand, ring shining.
"Dexter emmitam! Jovis Tempestas Fulguriensis!"
A white tornado of wind burst forth, and met the black vortex. As they collided, a massive crash drowned out all the other noises. And for a moment black and white held even.
The Iceman squinted and leaned forward. The barrier pushed forward.
Yue was getting pushed back.
Not good, not good…
The grey haired mage shouted over the noise. "You're smart, carrying multiple magic focusers. But it doesn't matter, because no matter how clever you are, I am stronger."
Yue smirked, and then raised her left hand.
"What's the saying…Oh right, isn't it brains over brawn?"
The Iceman's eyes' widened.
"Sinister Emittam! Jovis Tempestas Fulguriensis!"
The unhindered second white tornado flew straight at The Iceman and met its mark.
For a moment, there was the crunch of bones breaking.
Then the roar of the second tornado almost drowned out the sound of the man's body going straight through the brick wall of the shop he came from.
Then silence.
The amateur mages stood in shocked silence at the battle. They no longer chanted his name.
Yue had other problems. His ice and snow tornado vaporized when he was hit, but the ice trapping her still held fast. Even being half frozen didn't stop her from sweating and panting from exertion.
Even after two thundering tempests, it's not over.
She heard the spell before she saw it.
"Nivis Casus!"
The most dangerous part of an explosion is not the fire. It's the shockwave of the air being crushed into a tiny space in a short time.
The pressure wave of the icy explosion right in front of her felt like being hit by a truck. She was torn from the ice and flew backwards, skidding along the asphalt.