Thanks for the kind reviews! I'll admit, I'm not even sure where I'm going to go with this story...bits and pieces keep floating around my imagination (characters, situations, etc), and I'm sure I can eventually weave together a coherent tale. As for OC's...well, I don't know if I'll need any or not, but I'd be more than happy to consider any that are submitted. I love seeing other people's creativity, and sometimes I won't get an idea until something sparks my muse, so to speak. Any characters included will be given full credit to the creators, of course. I have at least two or three over-plots lurking in the back of my mind...one (or maybe more) will eventually win out!

Hope you like this chapter...it's short, but I think it's sufficiently dramatic. I'll admit, I'm a very lazy writer. I'm good with characters and ideas, but seeing it through to the end isn't my strong point. I'll probably have quite a few short chapters, but I guess that's probably better than to just keep putting it off because I'm too lazy! XD

Maury Glick huffed and puffed and sweated as he scurried up the sharp incline, catching his sweater on twigs and thorns as he blindly hurried forward into the darkness. His breath billowed out in a thin vapor, as the autumn night was quite chilly. Even so, sweat beaded on his balding head. The new track shoes he had bought so he could go 'runnin' round with that weird kid' (as his wife, Sarah, put it) were soaking wet and caked in mud. A tan-colored book was clutched in his arms. Occasionally, he'd glance around with a panicked look on his face.

'Where the hell did that kid get to?' he thought feverishly, "did we lose that psychopath in the mask? Oy! What in God's name is going ON here?"

"Yoji!" Maury hissed loudly into the gloom, "Yoji, it's me...Maury! Where'd ya' get to, ya' crazy kid!"

A snap of a branch made Maury turn around, and what he saw nearly made him plotz. "Oh, no!" he gasped, backing away and losing his footing, falling backwards onto his back and knocking the rest of the wind out of him.

A tall man, dressed all in black, like one of them Special Forces guys...except he had what looked almost like a priest's collar. He pulled off a full face mask to show a hard, angular face. Behind him, a young woman, similarly dressed, but with a nun's habit on her head. Both held high powered rifles, pointed at him.

"Hey! What did you psychopaths do to Yoji! If you hurt him, so help me..."

At that moment, Maury heard a familiar voice angrily shouting. He couldn't help but give a momentary grin of relief. A few seconds later, a third goon in black appeared, holding young Yoji by the back of his shirt. The mamodo boy had a kind of cowboy outfit on, with a cow-print vest, denim shorts, a kerchief around his neck, shiny white cowboy boots, and a white cowboy hat. A toy pop-gun hung at his hip.

"You darn pole cat! Turn me loose! Turn me loose! Maury! Are you okay? They didn't hurt you none, did they?" Yoji's chubby legs kicked frantically, with his boots dangling several feet above the ground. Unceremoniously, the large man holding him dropped him to the ground, prone a few yards away from his friend.

"What's going on here!" the mamodo shouted, "You ain't mamodo...this ain't part of the game!"

"Silence, demon!" thundered the leader, as a fourth arrival handed him a long, golden staff. "By the decree of the Elders of the Holy Order of St. Bryce the Pure, I, Paladin Sacre, render judgement on the condemned Satanist and Summoner, Maurice Glick"

"Satanist? I'm not a Satanist! I'm a grocer! This boy isn't somedevil or bogeyman, you putz...he's...ah...well, he's not evil! Now, knock off all this Dragon's and Dungeon's stuff and help an old man up, eh? I'm tired, and I wanna get to bed."

"Save your words, Infernalist!" Sacre spat, "your guilt is right before us! You hold the Tome! You claim the demon as your familiar! You work magic to bring destruction to our world! The Order has known about your kind for centuries...every hundred years dark magicians start a massive cycle of demonic summonings, and every time the number of summonings increases. We have reason to believe over 330 demons were summoned this cycle. You seek to collapse the very gates of Hell itself! But we shall oppose you...and purge your demonic taint from this world!"

"Demonic taint! Kid, I have a bad back and chronic heartburn...that's it! Hey...what are you doing! Now, now..."

Maury looked up in shock as the man raised the staff over his head. Yoji screamed and crawled over, grabbed the man's boot, and made to reach for his pop-gun. He received a powerful kick under the jaw for his trouble, and tumbled head-over-heels backward, his cowboy hat flying off. One of the others grabbed his gun, just in case it proved more than a mere toy. With a look of determination, Paladin Sacre slammed the end of the staff onto Maury's chest.

Pale blue lightning seemed to race up and down his body. He screamed in pain and his body arched upward. Yoji screamed as well, reaching out to his friend. After a few moments, Sacre removed the staff. Smoke rose slowly from Maury's still body. Yoji wailed pitiously and crawled over to his partner.

"NO! Oh, no! You didn't have to do that! It wasn't his fault! He didn't even know anything about this 'til I found him! You could have just done it to me! You could have just destroyed the book! He was a nice man! He was my...my friend!" tears streamed down his freckled face as the Paladin stepped forward.

"Be gone, demon!"

Once again blue light flashed through the forest, as an unearthly scream echoed through the night. The tan-colored tome, lying forgotten, began to glow and fade, tattering at the edges in a heatless, noiseless flame. With a snear of disgust, Sacre slammed the staff once again, this time onto the book, causing it to explode outward and vaporize.

"Call Reverend Mother," Sacre growled back to his subordinates. "Tell her the exorcism was a success, and inquire if she has our next mission ready."

*317*