This took me longer to write than I thought. School work catches up to you, even in college

Anyway, to answer a few questions I've gotten about this fic, it takes place after Runways 3 issue 6, the most recent when I began writing, so right after Xavin leaves. That also explains why Xavin isn't in this fic. I was planning on updating once a week, but life may prevent me from doing so (as it did this week).

Please review, even if it's negative. In fact, I am looking for constructive criticism, so even if you hate it, tell me why. If you love it, tell me too. Come on people.

The helicopter pilot kept his eyes glued to the radar screen. He had been ordered to follow the jump frog or whatever it was called; as a man of simple thoughts he preferred flying robot thingy. The vehicle has turned invisible, to his surprise, but his radar was still able to pick it up. Though, if the leapfrog had not cloaked, he would not have been watching the radar screen so dedicatedly, and if he were not so focused on the radar screen, he may have seen the radiant Karolina flying outside his right window.

"Excuse me," said a faint voice. He could barely hear it. "Over here." He turned his head to see the alien right outside. "You're going to have to land now. Please hold on to something."

A bright blast filled his eyes. Karolina had fired as his rudder. The pilot lost control as his vehicle began swerving in all directions.

Nico meanwhile flew up right in front of another helicopter, staff in hand. Its pilot cursed as he tried to steer away. Nico aimed her staff and yelled "Run in Place." The helicopter immediately stopped moving forward. Its rotor blades were still turning, but not matter how hard the pilot tried he couldn't move. That should give us a head start, Nico thought. The spell would only last a few minutes.

Karolina meanwhile was holding the gliding helicopter by its underside, gliding it to safety. She flew it towards a clearing on top of a hill. Once near the ground, she left, and Nico whispered "Engine Stall." The copter ceased to work and collapsed a couple yards onto the ground.

The third copter appeared to have chickened out; it was flying in another direction. Karolina rejoined Nico in the air.

"Go team! If we keep this up I may have to call myself Lucy in the Sky again."

"I'll become the Witch of the West before that happens. Do you know which way is home?"

The two looked around the sprawling city beneath them. "Uh… We better find a map."

The next morning, Blaine was resting in his campaign headquarters, sipping black coffee and checking his twitter. The phone rang.

"Jane, could you get that." Riiiiing. "Jane?" Riiiiing. He remembered that he had sent his secretary to get a copy of the LA Times. Lazily, he picked up the phone himself.

"Hallo?"

"Blaine, have you seen the papers?" It was Warren Kerlikowske, the police chief. He sounded anxious. The two only knew each other out of formality (they would have to work together after Blaine won the election after all); he could only be calling due to official business.

"Jane's, eh, it hasn't arrived yet. Why? What's happened?"

"It's about those runaways, the Pride's kids. We had troubled with them last night."

"Tell me about it."

"I'm tempted to let you see the headline. One of my men on patrol was alerted by this loud alarm that woke up a whole neighborhood. He found the Pride's kids raiding one of their family's old homes. Now, everyone from Iron Man to Bill O'Reilly wants these kids caught, so we sent a couple 'copters to follow their ship."

"Hang on, Warren, why are you telling me this? I'm not the mayor yet; election's over a week from now."

"Blaine, I was at your speech. I heard you promise to clean these kids up, and I'm willing to give you my full cooperation. Everyone knows the mayor isn't going to be reelected; you've got too much of a lead in the polls. He's nothing but a lame duck. As far as I'm concerned, you are LA's mayor."

Blaine couldn't help but smile at this news. His brief episode of egomania was interrupted by the return of Jane. She threw the LA Times on his desk. He quickly flipped through the pages.

METAHUMANS TAKE THE SKIES

DAMAGE TWO POLICE CHOPPERS IN MIDNIGHT BATTLE

"I got the paper," he said. "Not very flattering for your department."

"It's an outright embarrassment, that's what it is." Now the police chief's throaty voice was getting angry. "And the last thing my department needs is embarrassments. After the Pride crackdown, people lost faith in the LAPD. 'They were doing it all under your noses,' they said, 'all that corruption and you didn't even notice.' I've spent a lot of time and money trying to get that faith restored, especially in light of the recent crime wave. But we just don't have enough resources; it's just too much to control. And now even our so-called 'heroes' are attacking us."

"It says here the pilots were alright. No one was hurt."

"Blaine, none of that matters. What matters is that the media is going to spin this into another story about police incompetence. That's when I got this idea. Are you listening?"

"Closely."

"I figure the kids are hanging around their 'rents' old homes. We have on file all the locations privately owned by the Pride families: the Steins, the Wilders, and so forth. What I need from you is permission for a full crackdown on these places. We'll confiscate everything unusual we find, including the kids."

"But you need the mayor's permission for that."

"Blaine, I told you, as far as I'm concerned, you are the mayor. The press won't know about this until after you're elected. I've already sent a runner to your office with a warrant for you to sign. Lie about the date. We can solve this whole meta-human problem by tonight. Is it a deal?"

Michael Blaine leaned back in his leather chair. "Deal."

"Nico? Where are you going?"

"Oh, hey Karolina. I thought you were still asleep." Nico stood at the front door of their Malibu hideaway fully dressed in a Goth schoolgirl outfit with a backpack slung over one shoulder. Karolina, still in her pajamas, rubbed her eyes sleepily. "Chase is driving me over to my old home in exchange for last night."

"Why? You have a gothic build-a-bear you want to pick up?"

"Ha, nothing like that." She sighed and rubbed her neck as she tried to find words to say. "To tell you the truth, I've been really worried about my magic lately. I'm running out of spells to cast, and after what happened last night, I began to wonder just how far my powers could go. I got the Staff of One by accident, you know, but maybe my parents left something for me, kind of like they left that note for you and Old Lace for Gert."

"Old Lace!" remembered Karolina. "We left her here last night and no one checked on her when we came back. Did…"

"She's fine. Me and Chase checked on her this morning. I think… I think she's been hunting seagulls. I should buy her some steaks while we're out. Anyway, I thought if I went home I'd find something I could use."

"Like what, a crystal ball?"

"Who knows?" A car horn beeped twice from the driveway. "That's Chase waiting for me. I'll see ya later, K. Keep an eye on Molly and Klara, alright?"

Nico ran to the Steins' minivan and they quickly drove off. They passed by a neighbor's home where there was a policeman asking some questions…

Nico opened the vanity mirror and began messing with her hair. Chase laughed. "Are you expecting a gentleman caller when you get home?"

"Shut up and drive safe; we don't want to be pulled over when neither of us have a license. I just woke up and my hair is sticking out everywhere."

"Maybe you should wear it down, like Karolina," Chase suggested as he made a right off the highway. "'Course it's a bit shorter, but I think it'll look good."

"Nah. To keep the whole goth look I'd have to wear my hair over one eye. I'm fine with my ponytail of doom."

"Yeah, but it makes you so hot that the windows are fogging up."

"Sweet talking me won't make up for last night, so don't bother."

"How about I take you out to lunch then?"

"We're having lunch with the team."

"Dinner?"

She slowly cocked her head towards him and raised an eyebrow. Chase kept his eyes on the road. "Am I imagining things or are you asking me out?"

"Well… yes."

Nico twisted her face in frustration. "Ug, Chase I don't need your jokes."

"It's not a joke! Look, I figured that… dammit, how do I explain? It's been a while since Gert died and I figured… I figured the best way to let her go was to get back into dating."

"And you chose me?"

"I have a list. You moved to the top after last night. I noticed that you've been isolating yourself lately, and you're under a lot of stress. I thought a date might take your mind off things."

"While I'm flattered that you care, I don't think dating you is the solution. No offense."

"Really? Correct me if I'm wrong, but you kissed me once in New York."

"That was different. I… things were happening. God, how long 'til we get there?"

"It's just one date, Nico. If we don't like each other, we can stop."

The two had arrived at the Minoru's home. Like the Hayes', it had a both a realtor's bandit sign and a "Do Not Trespass" message hanging near the mailbox. Nico had debated wasting an unlock spell before Chase revealed that he knew a thing or two about lockpicking. The two had silently walked to the basement, where Nico hoped they would find some entrance to a secret lair, or at least storage. The two were now fumbling around, looking for some sort of switch, button, or crystal ball. So far, they had rummaged through unhinged paintings, dolls from Nico's childhood, a broken pool table, two computers from the 1980s, moth-eaten clothing, and lots and lots of books.

"I live with you, Chase, I know you well enough already. Besides, every time two of us pair up, something bad happens." After searching the lower walls for a bit, she stood up straight and stretched her arms upward. "Maybe we need to be looking for something else. Something magical."

"What about all these books? Maybe one's a spellbook or something."

"I haven't seen any; besides, I can't imagine searching through all these. Atlas Shrugged, The Fall of Rome, Mere Christianity—ugh, I can't believe they had books on religion here. I mean, they took me to church all my life only for me to find out… fricking hypocrites." She threw the book across the room. It was caught by a man dressed in red robes.

"To quote the Greeks, it is the mark of an educated man to study ideas without accepting them."

"Whoa," said Chase, "How did you get here?"

"I'm just glad someone besides me sees him this time," said Nico. "This is the guy from last night."

"I mean you no harm," the headwizard Kenyon said, holding up his hands in a peaceful manner. "I'm afraid that if you're looking for anything of value, you're too late. The Guild Arcana cleaned out every magic item we could find."

"The who?" said Chase. "Nico, who is this guy?" She was almost sure it was the man from last night, but she hadn't gotten a good chance to memorize his features in the dark. He was a rather tall but well-built man whose hair reached to his shoulders. He wore a seamless robe decorated with unfamiliar, oriental symbols. His face was squarish with dark wrinkles and sunken eyes; the kind of face ideal for intimidating looks, which he used to great effect.

"I have no idea." Nico then whispered, "Hand me your switchblade."

"Again, that isn't necessary," Kenyon said. "I… the Guild has a deal to offer you."

"I don't trust this guy, Nic," said Chase. He had given her the blade and now had his fists up.

"The Staff of One is powerful," Kenyon continued. "And much more so is the Witchbreaker's Staff, but there's one spell you couldn't perform. You couldn't bring your boyfriend back to life."

"How do you know that? Who are you?" She cut herself and the staff appeared.

"I know a lot about you," Kenyon continued as he plucked more thoughts from her mind. "I know your dreams, your frustrations; I know what you would give for the power to resurrect one of your dead friends."

"Don't be fooled, Nic," said Chase.

"Don't worry," Nico replied. "Adults are always lying to us. Besides, I've already used up the spell." She rubbed her staff. "One use."

"That too can be fixed," Kenyon continued. He expanded the use of his powers, planting an image in her mind. "Imagine Alex, reformed, holding your hand…"

"You obviously haven't done your research, pal," yelled Chase, pulsing with anger. "Suppose you could give Nico the power of resurrection, there's no way she would bring back that traitor Alex over Gert. So stop your crap. Come on, Nico, if there's no magic then there's no reason for us to be here."

Kenyon laughed. "You are the one who is misinformed Mr. Stein. I can read her surface thoughts, and I can certainly tell you that she wishes Alex back more than your Gertrude."

"That's… that's not true," cried Nico. "Shut up. You know nothing about me. Gert was more of a friend to me than Alex ever was. And just to prove you're lying—Detect Magic!"

A pulse seemed to emanate from Nico's staff to the walls of the room. Kenyon shook his head. "I told you, girl, there's—" He stopped short. A light was shining from under a pile of books. Chase quickly unearthed a glowing tome with a rough, unlabeled binding and old, frayed pages. "Impossible," the wizard continued. "Robert Minoru's spellbook. We took the house apart trying to find it."

"Who's down there?" The three of them looked upwards in surprise. Policemen were searching the floor above them.