Chapter 13
"So what's the plan?" Vicky asked, as I led her towards the airport lockers.
"Gather information, track down the bad guy, then take him down?" I replied, as I punched in the code of my locker, desperately hoping that the electronic system wouldn't explode on me.
"You do know that that's not actually a plan, right? I mean, It's the steps of a plan, but it's not a plan," she said as she snuck a look at the contents of my locker.
This locker, unlike my last one, wasn't filled with filth from Emma and her cronies. Instead, it contained a shirt, a hoodie, comfy sweatpants, and a backpack to stash my costume in.
"Mind watching my back while I change?" I asked.
"Sure, but, aren't you afraid people will recognize you if you're in your civvies with me?"
"Good point, can you change into civvies?" I asked her.
"Skits... I'm internationally renowned for having a public identity."
"Internationally? You mean you've got horny European teenagers following you on Twitter?"
"You get what I mean," Victoria pouted. My assumption had probably been correct. Still, Vicky prided herself on her popularity, and the few times that we'd stopped a crime together, she'd insisted it wasn't a real capture unless we put a selfie online with the caught criminal in the background. She'd been mostly kidding, but only mostly.
"Look, this is Chicago, not the Bay. Put on a hoodie or something and you're just as invisible as everyone else. The only way anyone would recognize you is if you start flying around all of a sudden."
"Oh great, now you're telling me I can't just float everywhere. You're not my mom!" she replied with a grin on her face. It took a while before she realized what she just said.
"Now, as for the plan, I'm afraid I'm going to have to start by feeding the cat," I said, quickly changing the topic.
"You have a cat?" she replied, turning her mood around again.
"Not my cat, Myrddin's. I promised him I'd take care of it," I said.
"Oh, right, you're buddies with Myrddin. How'd that happen?"
"Long story short? I live with his girlfriend."
"Myrddin has a girlfriend? I thought he was dating Chevalier!" she said, outraged.
"Why does everyone think that?" I asked.
"Internet? Plus, Chevvy hints it hard. Last month, there was an interview in this magazine about medieval arms, and he spent half the time talking about King Arthur and the sword in the stone, and there was a Myrddin poster in the background of his office, lots of subtle stuff."
"Trust me, he's not dating Chevalier. And if he were, don't you think they would've lived in the same place? I mean, Philly and Chicago? That's more than six hundred miles, and neither of them can teleport."
"I'm not saying they're dating, I'm just saying, you know, friends with benefits? Anyway, doesn't matter, we've got a cat to feed, and clothes to shop for."
Holding the backpack of clothes, we made our way to a quiet part of the airfield, where Victoria held watch while I was changing. I took my costume, armor pieces, and a sleeping Lisa, and put them in the backpack again.
"Meet you at Fugly Bob's in an hour?" I asked. That would give me the time I needed to get to Harry's place, do what I needed to do, and give Mister some much needed attention.
"Sure, I'll go get some clean clothes first. These are all... well, you know," she said, motioning towards her once pristine white costume, now covered in ash, dust, scorch-marks and what might have been blood.
***
I made my way down the stairs leading to Harry's apartment, and carefully went through the wards attached to his threshold, the natural magical barrier around just about every home. I had an amulet that would temporarily deactivate them, letting me through in case I needed to be there to, say, try my hands at making a potion and/or explosion again. Or in this case, feed Mister and ask Bob for help.
Bob was Harry's skull. Not in the sense that he was a body part, but in the sense that it was a skull that Harry owned, that contained an old spirit of intellect. Spirits of intellect were, apparently, some sort of magical version of Lisa's power, and Bob served as Harry's magical assistant when he wasn't leering at pictures of naked women, or failing at flirting with Lisa. He knew almost everything about magic, and had no sense of morality to go with it. That was why Harry had told me not to depend on him too much. Knowledge, magical knowledge, could be dangerous if it wasn't tempered by experience.
Of course, it probably wasn't as dangerous as a Warlock running around eating people's souls or whatever they did.
As I opened the door, I was promptly thrown on my face by a massive cat bowling its way through my legs. I still wasn't sure why Harry found that endearing, maybe it was because he had a more stable stance.
Normally I would've seen it coming through my bugs, but no matter how messy Harry's apartment got, the tiny furry murder machine kept it entirely clean. That and Harry made sure there weren't any cockroaches to break his magic circle and eat his ghost dust.
"Hey Mister," I greeted the cat, which was now patting at my backpack.
Cats had some sort of strange supernatural property that allowed them to, amongst other things, see ghosts. As such, Mister had probably noticed a sleeping Lisa, and wanted to order her around in the way that cats did.
I made my way through the mess that Harry called an apartment, found the bag of cat food, and filled up Mister's food bowl. Mister walked over, dutifully ignoring his servants for the duration of the meal. In the meantime, I made my way downstairs into Harry's laboratory, which was located in a sub-basement, just below the basement that was Harry's apartment.
A small concrete box, it contained a few racks of odds and ends Harry used for magic, an elaborate circle he used for summoning creatures of the Nevernever, a table that Harry told me contained a special project he was working on that I most definitely shouldn't touch. It looked like a toddler's shitty arts and crafts project, but Harry insisted it would be 'really cool' once it was done.
There was also a small cauldron, as well as a tiny desk with some books on it that I'd been using to try and independently create a potion, closely supervised by a Dresden that was too busy playing around with his little whatever it was going to be. I grabbed the one potion that wasn't a failure. Bob had called it an escape potion, but it was actually closer to a potion of teleportation, allowing me to escape into a random direction upon drinking it. The idea being that, in the case that an enemy Brute made his or her way to my real body, I'd drink it, and we'd start all over again.
"Hey Bob, you there?" I asked, and the lights in the eye of the skull lit up.
"Morning Taylor," Bob replied, reminding me that I hadn't slept for an entire night.
"We've got a problem and I need your help."
"What is it? Do you need someone to unhook your bra? Because I think I can help with that."
"Really Bob, really? I thought you were supposed to be based on Harry's personality."
"Well, yeah, when he picked me up. And he was a horny teenager back then. It's not my fault I'm like this, I can't help it!"
"Good excuse. Anyway, I'm talking about a real problem. I think there's a Warlock around and I need to know what to do."
"Well, if it's a guy, you should put on one of this tight tops you see in the movies, more your hips a little, maybe put on some of that black make up like you see on those suicide girls, and last but most certainly not least, put out."
"What?" I asked, my mouth hanging open.
"Well, I mean, he's not going to teach you for no reason, and I'm pretty sure you don't have enough money to pay for that kind of stuff."
"I'm trying to take him down Bob! Not whatever you're fantasizing about!"
"Ohhh, that does make more sense. Sorry, I'm bad at this morality stuff. Anyway, are you sure about that? I'm sure there's lots of stuff he could tell you that Harry wouldn't."
I thought about it for a second. Did I want knowledge about stuff that, when you did it, actually corrupted your soul and made you more evil? Probably not. Then again, that was what I was asking Bob about.
"Look, just give me the basics Bob, what should I be expecting?"
"Dunno, what do you know about him?"
"Shuffle said the Warlock murdered a group of people in some sort of ritualistic fashion, Myrddin's evil twin, he called it. The PRT thinks he might be going after parahumans next, but I don't know why they think that." I explained.
"Sounds like some sort of sacrifice thing. Dark magic, eating people to get stronger, but I don't know why he would be going after parahumans specifically."
"Why?" I asked him.
"Well, on the face of it, it makes sense. Parahumans are stronger than most people, so eating their essence makes you stronger than eating a normal human," Bob said.
"Yeah, makes sense in some twisted fucked up kind of way. Like getting experience in a video game or something."
"Except it doesn't," Bob said. "Think about it."
I pondered what Bob said, wishing Lisa wasn't sleeping. She'd have this entire thing puzzled out in a jiffy.
"This is about the thing isn't it? The way everything doesn't match up because powers aren't magical. From a magical perspective, parahumans and humans are basically interchangeable outside of the little brain connection," I said, my mind quickly figuring out why none of this made sense. "So, if they're interchangeable, why pick a target that can actually fight back? And why does the PRT think that he's going after a parahuman next?"
"Exactly, I mean, from a magical perspective, that little brain pokémon of yours is basically inanimate," Bob said.
"Except we know that's not true," I replied. "Because of Lisa."
"Good point," Bob said. "Lemme think for a second. Lisa's brain-computer thingy got attached to her, then they merged together, and when Lisa died, it was like losing an arm or a leg, instead of wholly dying. And usually, for whatever reason, nothing comes of that, but in the case of Lisa, it reconnected with her ghost, creating some sort of soul-ghost-power amalgamation that's both alive and dead at the same time."
"I think that's about right."
"And that doesn't make sense, because there's not supposed to be any magic outside of Earth Bet and the Nevernever, and we're pretty sure that powers are located outside of Earth Bet," Bob theorized.
"Except we know from Lisa's existence and Harry's power that it is possible for magic and souls and things like that to exist there, although it has to come from this universe," I added. "So, what if there's a parahuman with a good connection, like Lisa used to have, and the Warlock eats them, for lack of better words. Except, instead of just gobbling up the human part, he uses that connection to make sure he eats the power too.
"Except…if it's that easy, why hasn't anyone done that before?" I concluded.
"Because no-one knew what to look for, and those in the magical community who knew about how powers work were also convinced that it wouldn't be possible," Bob explained. "At least until Tattletale appeared."
"So, any idea what will happen if they eat the entire parahuman?" I asked, a doom scenario unfolding in my head.
"Best case scenario? Absolutely nothing. Worst case scenario? They gain access to all the abilities that the parahuman had. Absolutely even worse scenario? Something involving second trigger stuff and even more nonsensical abilities. Honestly, I don't know, and I'd like to figure it out," Bob said.
"Except that that would be wrong, because someone would be dead," I replied.
"Well, yeah, sure. I mean, if you look at it like that. But come on, aren't you the least bit interested?"
"A little… But, not enough to let someone die. In the meantime, do you have any idea who might be behind this?" I asked.
"Not really. We can narrow it down a bit, as there's a limited pool of individuals that have access to the reports Harry sends to the White Council, but even then, most of the factions in the Unseelie Accords are probably aware of Tattletale's status by now. And they wouldn't do this themselves, they'd set up a cat's paw to try it out first. If their guy spontaneously explodes, they know not to try it themselves."
"So all things considered. We've got exactly nada. Any other advice?"
"Leave it to someone else? I mean, it's not like he's coming after you specifically," Bob suggested.
I thought about it for a bit. Leaving it to the professionals. I quickly dismissed the idea. I wanted to be a hero, a real hero. Not someone that plays bait and gets to spend half a week in the hospital while everyone else is fighting, not just some street patrols.
***
"You're lucky, I just opened," Bob said. This Bob, however, wasn't a disembodied skull with glowing lights in his eye-holes. No, instead, this Bob was someone who could only be described as, well, fucking ugly. Which was probably why it was called Fugly Bob's. He was also fat though, so maybe it was meant to stand for Fat and Ugly instead.
"Oh? I thought you opened at eight?" Victoria asked, looking at the extraordinarily fat man.
"Normally, yes, but something came up last night, and I was up all night," he replied, giving her a wink.
"Tay? what do you want? I'm getting a Challenger and a coke," she asked.
"Two Challengers. One of them to go," I replied. I hadn't eaten much since I'd heard Behemoth was going to attack, and I could eat a whole zebra. Or maybe even a Challenger. As for the other burger, I had some plans for that.
"You sure? You're awfully skinny, and they're not for amateurs," Vicky said.
"I thought you were the one always watching her figure?" I replied while we were sitting down in one of the booths at the window. The same booth where I'd first met Harry, coincidentally.
"Common misconception, having a great figure is one of my side-powers."
"I honestly have no idea if you're kidding or not," I said.
"Long story short, It's probably something with my flying and stuff. I mean, I have to actively remember to walk around and stuff, and I don't really burn calories to the same extent normal people do. I don't get tired while flying."
"So, logically speaking, you should be fat," I said.
"Yep, but I've got some sort of side-power that stops that from happening. Just like how I can breathe underwater or touch people trough my forcefield. Lots of little stuff that makes sure I don't fall apart using my powers."
"I've got something similar going on with my brain," I told her. "Extended multitasking so that I can actually keep track of all the thousands of bugs I've got flying around. By the way, the kitchen here? Surprisingly clean for a fast food joint."
We were interrupted by Bob plonking down two ridiculously large burgers in front of our faces, as well as a bag with a third. I looked at mine with apprehension. That thing was way larger than I remembered it, and Harry would have a field day with that thought if he could read my mind.
"Showww" Victoria mumbled through her stuffed mouth, "Whas exphfwha buwghwer fwhor?"
"It's a bribe," I replied, taking care to speak in between bites, rather than during.
"I knew this city was corrupt, but can you actually buy people with burgers here?" she asked, her mouth empty for a second.
"Not talking about people," I clarified, although, given the reach that men like Marcone seemed to have in Chicago, she probably wasn't entirely wrong with her remark.
"Show fwho ar u bwibingh?"
"Promise not to laugh?" I asked. If Vicky reacted the same way I'd done to the upcoming revelation, we would have a problem.
"Pfwhomise," Vicky said, before taking a sip from her drink.
"I'm going to ask a faerie to go scouting for us," I said.
Vicky replied by doing a literal spit-take, Coke and bits of burger flying out of her mouth and nose, and I couldn't help but laugh at it. Eventually, about a minute later, Victoria spoke up again.
"That's a good one, but really, what's the deal with the extra burger?"
"Eat your burger, I'll show you after," I replied.
***
Victoria looked skeptically at the circle of silk I'd had my spiders prepare in the alley behind Fugly Bob's while we had been eating.
"You know, I think you've been hanging out with Myrddin a little bit too much," she said.
"You don't know half of it, just watch," I replied while putting a tiny container of coffee milk in the circle, next to the toast with honey. That was the lure, once he'd had a taste, I'd wow my target with the burger, and he'd do whatever I asked of him, just like my bugs did.
"Toot-Toot, Toot-Toot, Toot-Toot," I spoke.
"So crazy really is contagious… Too bad Amy doesn't do heads, because something is obviously wrong with yours."
"Just hide behind this dumpster with me will you?" I said, pulling her with me to the rather bad hiding spot.
Before she could continue insulting my sanity, a small orb of blue light, sort of reminiscent of Tattletale's new form, dropped from the sky, into the circle. It transformed into a six inch tall man with a skirt made out of a leaf, purple hair, and four butterfly-like wings on his back. He promptly started munching on the prepared food.
The moment he was properly inside of the circle, I put some energy into it, locking the dewdrop fairy inside of it.
"The fuck is that!" Vicky yelled.
"That's Toot-Toot. He's a dewdrop faerie," I replied.
"YOU!" Toot yelled, finally noticing us. He flew forwards, crashing straight into the barrier of my spidersilk circle.
"You tricked me!" he yelled.
"To be fair, you're really easy to trick," I replied.
"I should've known you can't be trusted! You're just like Harry, always wanting something done! I'll tear out your hair and fill your ears with bedbugs!"
"And just like Harry, I'll give you something in return for your help," I stated calmly, walking towards him.
"Pfft, sure, if it was a fair deal, you wouldn't need to bind me in a circle!"
"If I didn't bind you in a circle, you'd run the moment you saw me," I said. Although I had to admit I hadn't actually tried it without a circle.
"So, is he real?" Vicky asked.
"He is standing right over here lady!" Toot-Toot yelled. "I am Toot-Toot the mighty, scourge of Chicago! I am he to whom heroes are beholden! Fear me!"
"What's he talking about?" Vicky asked.
"Wanton and Annex keep feeding him pizza because they think he's funny, it's gotten into his ego," I replied.
"Noodle is an honorable man and I will not have you besmirch his name! Let me out and fight me! I will rip your eyes out of your skull!" Toot yelled.
"Wait, he thinks that Noodle is the real name?" Vicky asked.
"We're getting off track guys," I stated. "Toot, there's a Warlock going around killing people with black magic. Can you help us track down where people have been doing anything like that in the city?"
"I'm not an errand boy Taylor, now let me out or I'll put salt in your tea!" Toot replied, giving me the first threat that actually scared me a little.
"You know, he's so small, he's probably not good enough to do anything like that," Vicky said with a smile on her face.
"Sure I could, wouldn't take me more than an hour!"
"Very well then Toot. Now, if you promise to do that for me, I'll give you this," I said, unveiling the Challenger.
Toot's mouth dropped open as he gazed at the burger. "What's that?" he asked.
"This is the Fugly Bob's Challenger. Containing over three thousand kilo-calories per serving, it used to be the single largest item on the menu in any and all Brockton Bay restaurants, and it only came to Chicago recently," I explained.
"It has pickles, cheese, meat, tomato, more meat, five different sauces, lettuce, bacon, a five-part bun, mushrooms, onions and egg, topped off with another slice of meat. One of these, and you can fly around for a week, I guarantee it," Vicky said, lifting off the ground.
Toot-Toot's jaw dropped again when he saw that. "Where are your wings?" he asked.
"Wings? Don't need them," Vicky replied, fully applying her aura. I wasn't quite sure whether it would have any effect on whatever went through for Toot's brain, but he was impressed anyway.
"So, you need to know where people have been using black magic?" Toot asked. "I don't know… the city is rather big for just me."
"You know what," Vicky said, having fully taken over the conversation, "If you get any of your faerie friends or whatever to help, then I promise I'll buy each and every one of them a Challenger too."
"Vicky, you don't know what you're saying. Faeries are small, but there's a lot o-"
"Deal, now lemme out!" Toot yelled.
"Fine, fine, Tay, how do I break whatever this is?" Vicky asked.
"Just apply some force to break the circle, it's not strong or anything," I replied. "But you just made a promise to him, so you better keep to it. They won't forgive you if you don't."
Vicky let Toot out of the circle, and the little dewdrop faerie started munching on the massive burger, eating it almost as quickly as Vicky had.
"Aww, he can't be that bad. I mean, come on, he loves Challengers!" Vicky replied.
"Supervillains like Challengers too you know," I said.
"Wait really? Damn, didn't think of that. Still, the Undersiders weren't that bad, except for Tattletale I guess. Where is she anyway?"
"Sleeping in my backpack. I think it's some sort of analogue to Thinker headaches for ghosts," I replied.
"So, she's really a ghost isn't she? Not some sort of Glaistig Uaine type deal or anything like that, but an actual, honest-to-god ghost."
"Yeah… It's a bit more complicated, stuff with her power and things like that, but basically yes."
"And that's an actual faerie, not some sort of projection or anything like that," she stated matter of factly.
"Yeah, that's correct."
"You're a projection!" Toot yelled.
"Toot, I'm pretty sure you don't even know what a projection is," I interjected.
"Do know! It's when, well, it's when you're like her!" Toot yelled.
"Careful Toot, you're talking about the woman that promised you more burgers," I said.
"Yep, so you should probably hurry and find the baddies!"
"Going, going!" Toots yelled, flying away and disappearing around the corner.
"So… When Myrddin claims he's a wizard?" Glory Girl asked.
"He's speaking the truth," I replied.
"Sorry Tay-Tay, but I'm not buying it," she said, although her facial expression wasn't as skeptical as her words.
"Why not?" I asked.
"Well, for one thing, he doesn't have a beard. All wizards have beards," she replied.
"Really? That's your problem with this entire thing?"
"Well, I've seen enough crazy shit to buy the rest of the whole magic shit, but a wizard without a beard? I mean, come on… everyone knows wizards have beards."
"They're also supposed to be wise old men, not silly idiots in their twenties."
"I guess you have a point… Still kind of bummed about the beard thing though."
"Ehh, I'll introduce you Ebenezer if he's ever in town. He's old, grumbly and bearded."
"So… given by what I've been seeing today, I have to ask..." Vicky said.
"What now?" I asked, expecting something just as inane as the previous comment about Harry's lack of beard.
"Where's your beard?" she asked, completely confirming my expectations.
I groaned, and slapped my palm against my forehead. "Why would I have a beard?"
"Well, just like a five-o-clock shadow or something? I mean, I obviously don't expect you to have a Dumbledore style monstrosity yet, but you gotta start somewhere right?"
"I don't even know how to respond to that," I replied.
"Well, it's either that, or you get yourself a crazy hat and a broomstick."
"What gave it away?" I asked.
"You mean apart from summoning faeries in magic circles and hanging out with Myrddin? It's kind of obvious T. So give it to me straight, how do I become a witch?"
"You don't, unless you happen to have magical potential. I'm not quite sure how it works, I'll ask Myrddin when he's back."
"Oooh, and now that I know magic's real, do you have to kill me?" she asked, far too happy about the idea of being murdered.
"What do you think?" I asked.
"That you obviously don't, since Myrddin just tells everyone magic is real and nobody believes him anyway?"
"Seems about right yeah. I mean, mostly magical shit stays hidden because they don't want a couple thousand cops on their ass. Needless to say, it's gotten worse since people have gotten superpowers."
"So, that whole vampire gang, are they actual vampires?"
"Mostly yeah. Though I'm not sure if Skiddy got turned, and I'm pretty sure Crimson Blade is just parahuman with blood powers or something."
"And this serial killer guy? He's an evil wizard right?" she asked, more worried now.
"Actual black magic, yeah, though he's not necessarily as good as Myrddin or other wizards. He's probably bulking up though, so I'd rather have a lot of back-up when we find him."
"So, what's next, we wait for Puck to come back?"
"Nope, now it's time for you to meet Susan."
***
I'd been gone for a single night, and the apartment was already a mess. There was a pizza box on the couch, an empty wine bottle on the table, and a whole lot of half-eaten snacks spread around. Our entrance was marked by a long wait, followed by a "Coming" from Susan's bedroom.
Five minutes later, she slogged into the living room where Vicky and I were drinking tea. She was wearing a big bathrobe and spider slippers. The slippers were a gift she'd given me for my birthday, and promptly stolen for herself again. It was the thought that counted though.
"Hi Susan, meet Vicky. Vicky, Susan," I said, sitting down with my tea.
"Morning Vicky," Susan mumbled, while Victoria replied with a "Hi, nice to meet you."
"Bad night?" I asked.
"With you and Harry in India? While I couldn't do anything but watch the news? yeah, you could say I had a bad night. How'd it go?" Susan said, walking to the coffee machine.
"Not bad, not good? A bit of both? Large parts of the city were destroyed, but someone managed to chop its head off and set it fleeing. I couldn't do much more than help people escape though," I replied, wincing as I saw Victoria put three sugar cubes in her tea. Sure, she was immune to getting fat, but that didn't mean she could just go and ruin tea like that...
"Same here, kill-aura and stuff," Victoria said nonchalantly, drinking the tea before realizing it was still hot. I wondered how far her shield extended. Did it stop at her mouth? go down her esophagus into her stomach? How did it define the outside of her body? was there a circular forcefield throughout her intestinal track?
"And Harry's alright? He send me a message that he's alive, but not much more," Susan asked, placing her cup under the machine and setting it all the way to strong.
"Yeah, he's fine. He had to stay a while to chat with some people and he's helping to clean up the radiation. Asked me to feed Mister for him," I explained.
"Ah, good," Susan said, breathing a sigh of relief while smelling at her coffee, letting the vapors nourish her.
"Anyway, we've got a different problem," I said.
"What now? That Annex kid trying to flirt with you again?" Susan said, looking around in pity. It hadn't been that bad, I'd mostly just felt bad for the guy, since it wasn't his fault I was completely uninterested in him.
"I wish… There's a Warlock in town and he's eating people."
"Eating people?" Susan asked, taking a chair and starting to sip on her coffee.
"Taking their power for himself, human sacrifice, that sort of thing," I explained.
"And you decided to come to me because you were going to do the smart thing and stay inside, right?" she said skeptically, already knowing the answer. She had a point, but not a very good one. I knew how far she would go for a scoop, so she was in no place to protest.
"No, we're going to do the heroic thing and track him down, before calling everyone in town and ganging up on him with like twenty people," Vicky said enthusiastically.
"And you are?" Susan asked, finally
"Victori-" Vicky said before being interrupted by a suddenly wide awake Susan
"Holy shit you're Glory Girl can I get an interview!" Susan yelled, hot coffee spurting out of her nose.
"Sure?" Vicky replied. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah… It's just, Glory Girl, wow…" Susan said.
"I don't… You're dating Myrddin and you live with Skitter of all people. How come you're so impressed with me being Glory Girl?" she asked.
"Because, and no offense here Tay, they're just capes. While you? you're an icon! The trendsetter of Brockton Bay High Society and probably one of the most influential internet personalities of the decade! I mean, after Lisa's twitter, but no-one can beat that."
"Who's Lisa?" Vicky asked.
"Tattletale," I answered.
"Ah, makes sense. Do you have any idea when she's going to wake up? I mean, she's kind of going to be useful here," Vicky said.
"Not sure. I was going to put her in the charging station, not that she needs to use it, but it seems to help her sleep at night, so I thought maybe it would help her recover."
"Sounds like it makes sense, in some sort of weird way."
"So, what's this about a dark wizard?" Susan asked, now actually paying attention.
I explained the situation, and our pressing need to find the bad guy before he could eat more people, possibly even parahumans. Then, we started planning in earnest.