A/N: Thank you to the people who read and review! I have finally finished writing the story, and this chapter marks roughly the two-thirds mark in the plot. Please keep reading and reviewing!
As she got up, she spat out the blood in her mouth. Her arms were covered in scrapes and bruises, and her left cheek had a long gash in it. She staggered on her feet, which were still numb with cold, and clumsily grabbed her staff and sword. Her blue silk blouse was stained black and red in various places, and the sleeves were shredded.
The Iceman was not much better off. His forehead dribbled with blood, and he walked with a slight limp as he exited the electronics store for the second time.
"All right, you fat bastard, you can beat me up all you want." She lifted a scrap of blue silk from the street. "But this was my friend's shirt! I hope you're going to pay for this. Ugh, I need to call her and get her insurance on the line."
The Iceman hesitated. Her words confused him.
Why did she care about her stupid blouse? Why did she have insurance on it? What the hell is she talking about?! I'm not fat!
Yue seized her chance.
"Evocatio Valcyarium Septem! Contubernia Gladiaria! Capiam Agite!"
Seven ghostly images of Yue in gleaming armor with smooth, tapered helmets and carrying spears and shields surrounded her.
"Scelestum capite et interfacite."
The ghostly valkyries charged, spears forward, straight at the ice mage. At the last moment, however, they peeled off and started flying around him, harassing him, and evading his wild punches. Every now and then his flailing would catch one and it would freeze, shattering on the ground.
These spirits can't hurt me. The one I have to look out for is…
He never completed that thought.
Yue plowed through one of the valkyries, and lunged with her sword at The Iceman.
"Raika-houken!"
A dozen magic arrows spiraled and converged on the tip of the blade, joined, and exploded forward. The combined bolt struck The Iceman square in the chest, flinging him into the pole of a street light.
If one listened carefully, there was yet another crunch.
Yue, sweating, panting, and bleeding, stomped over to his slumped over form.
"You taught your 'students' with fear. Now they don't fear you. I wonder what they might do to a weakened tyrant."
Yue picked him up and carried him to the still crackling sphere of lightning. When she walked over, the other young mages stepped back.
Yue unceremoniously dropped the ice mage into the prison with his former students.
"When this is all over," She sternly addressed the captives, "Find me. Anyone who has not maimed or killed another person will be welcome to learn proper magic under me. I'm no teacher, but I'm confident that I will be better than he was." Her expression softened. "Magic is meant to help people, not to cause mayhem and destruction. Use the gifts you have for a purpose you're proud of."
With that, she picked up her coat from the ground and put it on, checking its contents.
I've spent too long with this lot. I've still got to find Chisame.
Yue looked at the CD that the Young Don had thrown to her, and went into the electronics store.
While Yue was fighting the mages…
Castle fidgeted nervously as the elevator dinged away. The detective's offices were on the fourth floor, so he decided to skip the stairs.
From the outside, however, the building was completely dark. No lights were on, and there wasn't a single sign of activity.
With a final ding, the doors separated, and Castle slowly edged into the unlit office.
It doesn't look like much has happened here…lets be cautious, this could be a trap.
He quietly tiptoed towards Beckett's now empty desk, shotgun loaded and ready to fire. He concentrated on slowing his breathing, rolling his toes to minimize noise, and scanned the area.
So when Beckett jumped up from behind her desk and shouted "Freeze!", Castle nearly wet himself.
"Castle? What are you doing here? Where have you been all this time?"
With that, Ryan and Esposito came from behind their desks and breathed sighs of relief. Other uniformed and plainclothes officers appeared as well, all with various pistols and shotguns drawn. The captain himself peeked out from behind his door at Castle.
"There is a really long story behind all of that which I promise to tell you later. For now, we've all got to go help Ayase."
"What is she even doing that she needs all of us to help her?" Esposito asked.
"You know all those mages and mannequins out there going nuts and trying to destroy everything? She's trying to stop them."
"Wait, you think those freaks out there are some kinda wizards?"
Castle frowned and looked at Ryan. "You didn't tell him?"
The detective shrugged. "Freaks did the job, and convincing him is hard anyway."
"Convincing me of what, dammit!"
Beckett slammed her hand on the table. "Mr. Castle is right. We've got jobs to do. Everyone here, form teams and begin evacuating citizens with the FBI agents and SWAT Teams. Apprehend looters and other criminals, and if you see anyone with…special unexplainable abilities, report their location to the other teams and run as fast as possible in the other direction. That's correct, do not attempt to engage them without reason."
The other officers and detectives in the room all left the building with their weapons, off to help the citizens of the city without question.
Beckett stared at the three men arguing and pointed at the Captain's office.
"In. Now."
Captain Montgomery's office
"Mr. Castle, you seem to have an idea of what the hell is going on out there, so you have about 20 seconds to explain it to me." The captain peeked out of the blinds on his window. "I saw someone flip a car with one hand. There are goddamn mannequins walking around with guns and knives. What happened in the one day of vacation I took that the city decided to implode?"
"Twenty seconds? A group of disgruntled mages started staging massive riots and attacks in order to throw the city into chaos for…I'm not sure what."
The veteran captain stared at him for a moment. "You're allowed to work here, Mr. Castle, because you're an asset and I like you. Don't make me regret that."
"Woah, I'm not lying! That's actually magic out there! Wait, I can prove it, too!"
Castle fished around for his Pactio card and proudly displayed it to everyone.
Esposito snorted. "Really bro? Tarot cards?"
"Just watch. Adeat!"
A yellow glow surrounded Castle as the ragged book and golden quill materialized in his hands, and a brown monk's habit shimmered into existence on his shoulders.
Castle frowned. "I'll admit, even I wasn't expecting the cloak. That's new."
The four others in the room stood bewildered to various degrees. Captain Montgomery put his head in his hands and groaned.
"I'm getting too old for this shit. What the hell happened? Explain clearly and fully this time."
And for the first time, Castle told the four people in the room the entire story, from meeting Yue and her apartment being burned down, through all the attacks and getting kidnapped, all the way to Zeigler's identity and connection with the now destroyed Mage Association. He left out the mechanism behind their Pactio, however.
Esposito shook his head. "No offense Castle, but making stories is what you do for a living. You don't buy this, right Captain?"
Montgomery stared back at him, unsure. "I think I am going with him on this one."
"Beckett, surely you don't believe in this! Come on! I can't be the only one!" Esposito said, desperately.
She frowned in response. "After what I've seen, I think the only logical thing is to believe in the existence of supernatural abilities. But I just realized, that doesn't really matter. Now, Esposito, you agree that people need our help out there, right?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Then its settled, we have to help them no matter the situation."
Esposito scowled. "All right. I will agree to helping people, but not to wizards."
Castle shrugged. "That's fine by me, actually. Now, a few of us have got to stay here. I'm sure there are a lot of sensitive things here that we don't want to just leave open. I recommend that Captain Montgomery and Esposito stay here. The three of us will find whoever is controlling those mannequins. Sound good?"
The four detectives nodded. Castle pumped his shotgun.
"All right, let's DO THIS."
"How many years have you waited to do that?"
"At least twenty."