Whoot, we're three-fourths of the way done. This part is mostly dialogue... well, a lot of what I write is mostly dialogue but the remaining parts should have more action in them. Have fun?

Oh, and did anyone else read the online preview of issue 13? The one with the kiss?

Kerlikowske grunted in anger as he read the headlines for that morning. Police Station Attacked. Kerlikowske Cannot Enforce Promises. Ill-Prepared Officers Allow Superhumans to Escape. Citizens Call for Reorganization of Police Force.

Kenyon, he thought. Kenyon tricked me. I wasn't meant to be put into the spotlight.

"Where is he? Don't tell me where I can and can't go; I'm practically mayor."

Michael Blaine slammed the door open. Although much smaller than the police chief, he scared the men much better: beat red in the face and bouncing with energy. Kerlikowske rolled his eyes; he was in no mood for this.

"Well at least I don't have to show you the news," said Blaine as he noticed the newspapers spread across the desk. "Warren, this is a disaster. You said you'd take care of those kids. You were worried about police incompetence, eh? Well now the whole city and I are worried about police incompetence. Not to mention we've still got the warrant I've illegally signed on our hands."

"That's hardly our biggest concern," replied the police chief.

"You're right Warren. My biggest concern is getting elected after my speech where I said the LAPD could handle metacrime. Right now, the only logical thing to do is to promise the voters to throw you out of office the minute I'm elected, assuming the current mayor doesn't do so first."

Actually the current mayor had woken up Kerlikowske early that morning to scream at him, but he realized that replacing an experienced police chief with a rookie one was hardly the solution to this problem. Blaine on the other hand was a loose cannon; Kerlikowske took the threat of losing his job very seriously.

"Unless of course," continued Blaine, "You find a way to solve this problem before voting day."

Kerlikowske was lost for words. How could he fix this problem? The kids could be anywhere, maybe even outside LA, and a demoralized police force could not be expected to stop them. If only that blasted wizard Kenyon hadn't… the gears in the chief's head turned.

"Don't worry Blaine," said Kerlikowske, "I have a perfect target for us to go after to show the public that we're tough on metacrime."

"What? A mutant three-year-old?"

"Nope. What if I told you there was a convent of witches in LA."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. High. "Witches? You can't be serious. We're not going after some Dungeons and Dragons fanatics."

"I mean real witches, Michael," said the chief. "If you were living in New York you wouldn't be surprised. One of the girls we fought was a witch."

"Right. Okay. Witches," replied Blaine evenly. "And where do we find these witches, and on what charge are we filing against them."

"I have a certain informant who has told me much about the Guild Arcana." Kerlikowske gave a self-indulging smile. "We're going to charge them with trying to set up a new Pride, and I may have just the evidence to prove it."

Blaine threw up his hands. "Do what you want, Warren. You have my blessing and all that. Just remember, it's the public you're proving yourself to, not me."

Blaine left as quickly as he came, although in less of a rage. Kerlikowske meanwhile slowly opened his lower right drawer and pulled out a slightly yellowed, handwritten list. It was a list of the Pride's old contacts and "partners," compiled by Kenyon in his attempt to help Kerlikowske start a new Pride. That ship had sailed, thought the police chief, but now with the proper spin this list would make the perfect justification for going after this Guild.

The whole team, sans Nico, sat around the dining room table as Chase dealt out a pack of playing cards. He then tried to explain the game Capitalism to them, but this was difficult due to distractions, not the least of which was that Old Lace kept trying to bite off Molly's hat.

"You're getting drool on it," Molly said as she pushed the dinosaur away. "This is expensive."

"We got it half-off at a clearance sale," pointed out Karolina.

"She probably hasn't been fed yet," suggested Victor. "Chase, shouldn't you take care of that?"

"I just fed her an hour ago," Chase replied. "I'm not as good at the whole mind-link thing as Gert was, but if I had to make a guess, she's anxious about something."

"About what?" Karolina asked.

"She's worried about Nico," said Klara as looked through her cards. The girl had turned out to be the best card player in the group. "Same as all of us."

"That wizard dude tries anything," said Chase, "he's going to meet the hard points of my fists. The metal ones."

"Do you guys think it's true?" asked Molly. "Can he really help Nico bring Gert back?"

Everyone was silent for a while, "I don't know, Molly," Karolina finally said. "Playing around with the dead… I don't know much about magic, but it just doesn't feel right to me. I'm afraid to tell her, though."

"I still think something's fishy," said Chase. "If magic could bring back the dead, shouldn't people be popping out of graves left and right? Isn't there a wizard out there who's an Elvis fan or who wants to save dead children?"

"I'm no expert in magic either. On the contrary, being Catholic I'm not supposed to practice that stuff," chimed in Victor, "but I've never read a fantasy book where resurrection didn't involve some kind of sacrifice. You know, blood for blood or some kind of pact."

"But before we get into that, we haven't even discussed if we want Gert back yet," said Karolina. "I mean, I loved the girl… don't give me that look, I meant platonically," Chase forced himself out of his dreamy expression, "but I'm not comfortable with reversing what happened. Shouldn't dead people stay dead? What if she comes back different? What if she doesn't want to come back? Does anyone understand what I'm saying?"

"Well I want her back," spoke up Molly. "Her conviction surprised everyone else. "I'm sick of being sad every time someone dies or something bad happens. I want something good to happen for once. I can't see why Gert wouldn't want to come back to us because we are awesome, and when Chase snogs her he'll be happier and he'll make jokes and we'll be happier and we'll finally feel like a team again. So I want her back." Molly gulped and sulked back into her seat. "That's just… how I feel."

"I know," said Victor, "Let's just take this one issue at a time. I've spoken to Nico, and I'm worried about her safety."

"Very good," shouted Kenyon above the pounding of the rain around the two. He pulled up his cloak tighter around his neck to avoid getting wet. "Now concentrate on the spell. Change it to…" a strong gust flew by and within a second the pounding splatters had stopped and all the rain had changed into "…snow."

"And now I'm wet and cold," said Nico as she shivered. She stroked the Staff of One and whispered, "Dry," which removed what was left of the rain from the both of them. "When do we get to the next set?"

"I'm as anxious as you are," said Kenyon, "And I'm pleased that you are progressing so quickly. With the combined powers of our magic, that spellbook and your staff, I'm sure the resurrection should be a success."

" 'Tions. Ressurections. I'd like to do two, remember?"

"Yes, but we'll have to find a way to get around the staff's primary limitation. Luckily, there may be a way."

"Really?"

"It's called the iteria magica, a recharge to your staff that will make it as if no spells were cast. It's like hitting the reset button. Of course, the process is different for every magical object, but the spellbook should contain the necessary information."

"So you're suggesting I cast a resurrection, then hit reset on the staff, then cast resurrection again."

"Correct, although this will require a great amount of arcane resources."

"But you can get those, right?" Kenyon dropped his head, looking very pensive. Nico plucked up her courage and said, "I've thought about your offer, the one we talked about, and in exchange for all you're doing for me, I'm going to give it all to you. The spellbook, the staff, all my magic."

"I can't deny that I'm happy to hear that," he answered, "but I still urge you to think this through. If you give up your magic, all this training will be for waste."

"I'm only doing the training so I can resurrect my friends," Nico stated evenly. "After that, I'm done. I've read the spellbook, and I refuse to follow my family history. After we bring Alex and Gert back, then I'm going to cease to be a Minoru."

Kenyon smiled to himself. He could read the emotions going through this child. He knew this was the decision she would make, the decision she could not help but make. "So be it then. But staff or no staff, you will never truly be free from your heritage as long as magic flows through your veins."

"I'll live with it. That's what our little team is about, besides running from the authorities. We're a support group for kids with an evil heritage."

"Let me finish." Kenyon put his hands on Nico's shoulders. "You said you'd give me all of your magic. When I'm through, you won't have a drop of it left in you."

"I need you guys to help me."

"Nico," Karolina carefully choose her words, as she was speaking for the whole team, "We've talked about this, and we all need to be on the same page: do you really want to bring back Gert?"

It was approaching dusk outside so the light coming into the apartment was taking a dimmer hue each minute. Nico bowed her head and continued, "It's been about a year since our parents died. Ever since then we've run through all kinds of problems. Mythological giants, time travel, hostile aliens… it's been quite a year. But I don't know how much longer I can take all that, how much longer we can take all that. I want us to be safe, so that no one will have to die again. And what's more, I want to bring Gert back, so she can experience that safety which we all would have had if our parents were what we thought they were. "

"What exactly are you saying, Nico?" asked Victor. "That we should start living normal lives?"

"I don't know if that's possible for us," said Nico. "But at the very least we can stop picking fights with vampires and monsters. If the LAPD wants to protect the city, let them. I just want to promise Gert that she'll never be in danger again."

"And you think Kenyon can bring your friend back?" asked Klara.

"Yes," said Nico. "I trust him to help me."

Klara stood up, walked over to Nico and took her hand. "I don't know anything about magic," she said, "But my mother used to tell me that the devil is in the details. You guys have all treated me like family, so I'll be glad to meet this friend of yours you love so much. But please, be careful. Think about everything this man tells you."

"I will. Thank you, Klara." Then Nico smiled, turned to everyone and said in a triumphant voice, "And if Kenyon tries anything funny, you guys will be there to kick the crap out of him, right? We're not suckers for any adult."

"Yeah!" cheered Molly, "Screw adults. I can beat up half of them."

"Hey now," said Chase, "I'm an adult now."

"Anyway, I need your guys' help," continued Nico. "Here's what I need…"

It took a week to get all the supplies. Karolina carried Klara to the mountains to find special herbs and fungi. Chase and Molly "borrowed" some artifacts from antique shops. Victor had the honorable duty of ordering things off the internet. Nico, meanwhile, was being instructed by Kenyon on magical stuffs he had obtained from the Guild.

Besides collecting materials, the group had to pick a suitable place for the ritual. Nico suggested the desert where they had practiced, but Kenyon shook his head. "It has to be in a high place. Part of the ritual I'm afraid. Either on top of a mountain or a rooftop. The latter would be easier to get to, especially with my resources in the city."

At the end of the week, the team presented the materials to Kenyon. "Hercules ferns, charmed pots from the Orient, alchemic stones, cat's hair, toad's blood… this does quite nicely. It'll take a day to put things together."

"We'll wait," said Chase, "Then we'll watch the ritual together."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," said Kenyon.