fleets: Defcon really exists. It's one of the coolest conventions in existence, and they used to run it in Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas before they went bankrupt, so now the venue is at Rio Hotel. Btw this is one of my longer chapters, so prepare yourselves!

Chapter 15: The Wild Card

Kestrel gave a heavy sigh as the soft glow of Maple, his trusty computer, lit up his face. It was night again, and everyone else except Bates had fallen asleep. He worked best at night, so it didn't bother him too much when he was tapping away on his keyboard long past midnight. Although the work he was doing now was no less difficult than some of the other jobs he'd had to do in the past, it had a new element of having to work together with Bates: it involved lots of trial and error, and was kind of like having to learn a new computer language.

What was the hardest part for him right now was that he didn't really know what he was looking for. What kind of information was he looking for? Everything? What kind of code could he untangle from the seemingly random insertions of magic? It wasn't like one of those jobs where he'd be given a specific task to, say, introduce a Trojan on a certain target's computer to spy their screens or log keystrokes. The only lead he had at the moment was to chase after the mysterious individual with knowledge of the arcane in the hopes that they might know something about the whereabouts of the Engst boy and Dugal.

And honestly, that was on the assumption that this mystery man even knew where Vaati and Dugal were. That was their main objective, with the other being to take Condor down. The objective was not to go running after some elusive magic hacker who may or may not have anything to do with Vaati, Dugal, or Condor. They couldn't lose sight of their main objective…

Haha… magic in computers huh? Kestrel sighed, plopping his head back against the backrest of the sofa. Just what had he gotten himself into? This had all started as fun and games for him, really, and now he was stuck in this bizarre world of secret organizations and sorcery and… well, sometimes even murder, he supposed. It came with the job, is what he always told himself whenever Talon Whatever had encountered a situation where Dugal needed him or Hawk to silence someone that Condor or Harrier couldn't do it, but killing someone for business hadn't been on the list of things he'd wanted to do as a hacker. All he'd wanted to do was to beat the system, any system, and revel in the fact that he could have access to all the information in the world with a few keystrokes.

Kestrel leaned back against the sofa, staring at the ceiling and reminiscing about the day he had first been contacted to work for Talon Four, as it had been called back then. He'd been at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in the city of sin, Las Vegas, attending the biggest hacker convention in the nation. He was still an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying computer science, and it had been his fourth summer appearance at Defcon. He remembered stepping inside the hotel, escaping the scorching, early summer heat of August, and into the cool breeze of the air conditioned hotel lobby.

He'd stepped over the lighted words "Defcon" as he walked towards the reception desk to sign in with the handle meRlin. He wasn't completely out of place with sunglasses indoors, as several other attendees wore them as well – perhaps as a precaution against any nosey press who might take pictures of them. As soon as he'd received his badge and the first convention riddle to solve from the pamphlets and paraphernalia, a man about his age had approached him with a friendly greeting. The man had the most innocent face meRlin had ever seen, practically angelic, and he appeared to have already made fast friends with a good number of the convention attendees from the way others waved to him amiably as he passed by.

"Hello there, I take it this isn't your first time here?" the man, smiled as he walked over with a slightly dorky gait that matched the typical convention wear of a geeky t-shirt and shorts.

meRlin's eyes wandered over to the man's nametag. It read "Scout." "How did you know? And you're not a fed by any chance?" he joked. Although it was a hacker convention, the feds were invited yearly to promote white hat hacker activities and recruit for security jobs. In fact, many of the hackers here were dismayed by the stereotype of malicious, black hat hackers who ruined the reputation of many hackers simply wanted to help security systems find weaknesses they could fix.

Scout laughed. "Haha, naw, I'm no fed. Although, I do happen to be scouting for a job opening, hence my name. Oh, it's just the way you carry yourself that gave you away. Little nuances, like the width of your step and how you hold your shoulders. It's my first time, so I'm trying to hear some opinions and tips from old-timers."

"Tips huh?" meRlin peered over his sunglasses with a smirk. "Are you scouting for team members for the Capture the Flag competition later, by any chance? Because I'm already on a team."

Scout shuffled his feet, scratching his head somewhat embarrassedly. "Oh, no, I'm not recruiting for that! I was just interested in tips for hacking because I don't know anything about it, really, besides what you see in movies."

At this, meRlin scoffed. "Pff, the movies always exaggerate things." He made a move to go elsewhere. He'd come to the convention to meet other hackers, not give a lesson to novices. There was a stage set up in the large convention hall, and many people had gathered in front of it. Four people were lined up behind an MC and they made an announcement that they were going to start a round of "Spot the Fed." "Anyways, it was nice meeting you. Hope you have fun."

"Thanks! I might not do any hacking today, but I'm going to try a shot at the lock picking contest." Scout grinned. "Good luck with your competitions as well!" the man turned to go ahead and greet a different convention attendant, but before he left he gave one brief look-back. "And by the way, the fed is the woman second from the left."

And that had basically been Kestrel's first encounter with Hawk. He'd learned later that the dorky gait and the socially awkward air had been part of a brilliant acting routine, but back then he hadn't known. They'd run into each other again later, and this although Kestrel hadn't been too impressed with the other man earlier, he'd learned that the blond had won third place at the lock picking contest. He himself had won first place in both the 'Crack me if you Can' contest (although technically he had been disqualified when he didn't want to reveal his tricks) and the social engineering 'Capture the Flag' contest where contestants were required to collect data points, or flags, from corporate giants in front of a live audience. Hawk had somehow managed to find him in the crowd, just before the famous team "Capture the Flag" contest began, and this time with a huge grin on his face.

"Congratulations on your two wins! I saw you tackle the social engineering challenge: absolutely fantastic! Not many people can get all of the flags in that game, I hear. The way you interrogated the store manager from Kmart to get them to spill everything about the computer systems and security software – I would call you more of an investigator than a hacker."

meRlin looked up from where he was setting up for his next challenge in his team-based challenge. "Oh, thanks. You didn't do half-bad yourself with the lock picking."

"Ah, yeah, the government issued electronic access locks slowed me down… they really made it challenging this year." 'Scout' flipped a business card towards 'meRlin,' who caught it and squinted to read it. "I'm sure you'll receive a lot more of these with great offers considering your performance today, but I'll tell you what: my boss wants you so badly that we're willing to top any offer that you might receive. If you're interested, I'll meet you for lunch tomorrow at Picasso, Bellagio's outdoor dining. Don't worry, we'll pay for that too."

Although meRlin's head raced from the possibilities of the proposition, he managed to keep his cool. "One thing I learned is that if someone's offering a shitton of money, there's always a catch and it involves the illegal."

Scout raised his hands defensively. "Hey, all we're offering is unlimited freedom to test the limits of technology. The only limit is your moral boundaries," Scout took a step closer and casually took meRlin aside, speaking in a low voice, "and I didn't peg you as someone with strict moral limits after your stunt at the social engineering contest. Where some contestants dropped out from feeling guilty, you were actually having fun." Then, Scout gave a friendly, disarming smile and tapped meRlin on the shoulder encouragingly. "Anyway, if you're already leaning towards 'not interested,' let me know before the convention ends so I can find someone else will work better. If you are, just meet me at Picasso, six o'clock tomorrow. Ask for a reservation by 'McPherson.' Good luck!"

And with that, Scout had disappeared back into the crowd with his innocent smile. And later in the week, meRlin, renamed Kestrel, had decided to join the Talon group as its newest and youngest member. In retrospect, he could have done equally well being picked up by government for security related jobs, getting great pay and being able to tackle difficult hacking problems. In fact, he could have gotten those jobs even earlier when he'd ranked high in the competitions at previous Defcons.

So why had he accepted Hawk's, or rather Dugal's, offer? Well… Hawk had been right: he wasn't exactly a white hat hacker, working to fight against the bad hackers of the world. The only way to achieve true, unlimited freedom, was to be the 'bad guy.' He didn't really like to think he was the bad guy though. He was a black hat hacker, and although that automatically gave him a reputation for being a hacker "with malicious intent," he always thought that it wasn't his fault that people made their security too easy for him to mess with. Talon just gave him more opportunities to "test the limits of technology," as Hawk had put it earlier.

Dugal had introduced him to a fascinating account of possible new technology; perhaps something the government kept in secret. He'd told him about the story of a sinister shard, and how the Air Force Academy had kicked him and Hawk out when they had become too bothersome for knowing too much about the incident surrounding it. Their overarching task had been to learn more about it, while taking up jobs from organizations that might have known more about something like the shard. It was information that was sensitive and confidential, and so most of their jobs involved the underground and the black market. Their team gradually earned the reputation for being efficient, as well as completing jobs no one else was willing to do, and eventually their team increased to include a member specialized to 'clean up the mess.' In other words, kill people efficiently as well. With Harrier, Talon Four was complete, and with the help of Hawk they gained the favor of the company Avilux I, who just so happened to be interested in research about objects with properties similar to that dark shard…

Kestrel blinked, his thoughts of the past being interrupted as something slowly dawned on him. With everything going on and his life constantly busy with tasks and chaotic with caffeine, he'd nearly forgotten why Talon had existed in the first place. It had been to spill the dirt from the Air Force, the US military, the government… about some mysterious, perhaps magical, shard.

Weren't they dealing with a government problem right now, and with something magic related?

Kestrel suddenly sat up, his eyes wide behind his shades. He'd never considered how the events that had brought Talon together and the events now might actually be connected. Could they actually be related?

"Bates," he snapped, calling the sentry eye to attention. He cracked his knuckles and took a swig of Red Bull even though he felt plenty awake from the excited energy of inspiration. "We're doing a new search. We'll be looking for any magical index that leads to something involving the Air Force Academy."

XXXXXXXXXX

Vaati was at a complete loss of words. Ever since he'd regained his memories for being a sorcerer, he'd automatically assumed, and foolishly so, that he was ahead of everyone because he knew magic and probably no one else did. It was foolish because one, in retrospect he didn't know what he really meant by 'ahead' (what was the race? Who was he racing?) and two, he'd had no grounds for assuming he was the only one with extensive knowledge in magic. Once again he'd worked on assumptions, and assumptions that he was better than everyone else. Clearly assumptions that were not true.

I'd never made THAT mistake before… Vaati thought sarcastically.

To think that the world was the same now as it had been thousands of years ago was a ridiculous conclusion. Of course Vaati had understood the concept, but he realized now just how little it had really sunk in to his head. A part of him was still treating the world of 2012 as full of the same idiots who had been easily taken over with a few demonstrations of his power. That wasn't the case anymore… technology could now connect entire regions of people quickly and efficiently, and therefore the scope and range of whatever opponent he'd have to face was much larger than the standing army of the relatively small region of Hyrule. Modern weapons were insanely effective, and even if his enemies couldn't match him in individual strength, that was quickly negated with special tactics.

Basically, there were vastly more ways to subdue 'the most powerful sorcerer in the world' today than eight thousand years ago. And today, he was rendered powerless with a simple finger-lock that kept him from casting spells.

Vaati turned towards Dugal, wondering if they still had a chance. He wasn't sure what had transpired between Thistle and Dugal before he'd arrived, but Thistle had somehow managed to disarm Dugal. The man wasn't however, restrained like he was.

Maybe this was Thistle's mistake.

Vaati watched hopefully as the ex-Talon leader's head snapped up with a ferocious expression, and his left hand swiftly moved towards the joint of his right arm.

Dugal's got this. If he can get us out of here with that artifact of his, we'll have the upper hand again, Vaati thought with a small grin forming triumphantly.

In a split second, Thistle whipped around, noticing the movement. There was a bright flash and a ghostly scythe instantly appeared in his hands, and without a second of hesitation the man swung the scythe through Dugal in a horrifying instant. The gleaming blade cleanly cut the man in two.

Er… or it would have, except it simply went through him instead, without leaving a single scratch. That wasn't to say that it had accomplished absolutely nothing, however. Dugal's knees shook and the man had a corpse-like expression, the blood leaving his face. Then, he fell to the ground on his hands and knees, gasping for air, while Thistle casually tapped his scythe on the ground to shake away some sand-like substance along the edge of its blade.

"That should have stolen a bit of your life away, but instead this scythe stole something else. Can you see these fine yellow grains that float around my scythe, Vaati? This is what Dugal has been keeping secret from you." Thistle ran his finger along the scythe, letting the yellow sand fall away. The scythe itself appeared to have almost a living quality to it, as blue, snake-like eyes were embedded near the head and stared at Vaati and Dugal with a hungry gaze. It was ghostly transparent, and had sharp fang-like designs lining the actual blade.

Thistle walked over to Dugal and tapped the other man's right arm with his foot. Dugal, still completely pale, barely resisted and continued to shiver as though the temperature had dropped below freezing. "The Phantom Hourglass, I believe. It collects a bit of life force from the environment, and if you happen to kill something, then you can steal quite a bit of life force at once. It's quite an insidious little thing, kehahaha!"

Vaati tensed. That did sound insidious. That pretty much meant that if someone with a basic understanding of magic killed enough things or, god forbid, people, then with time they could have access to the same kind of power as the Light Force itself.

Thistle turned away from Dugal and walked back to where he had been standing earlier. He swung the scythe like a baton in a wide circle. "It uses the energy from the life force to stop time itself, or if you're attacked by a weapon of a magical nature such as my scythe, your life will be spared at the expense of the sand within the hourglass. The sand is, in the simplest terms, stolen life and stolen time after all."

So that's how Dugal managed to do all of his disappearing tricks! He was stopping time! A light went off in Vaati's head. Vaati had never really been that interested in artifacts other than the Light Force, but he was starting to learn just how useful even minor artifacts might be. Maybe after he got out of this somehow, he'll make another run through the Palace of Winds to see if he could find anything else that had useful properties…

Thistle turned to Condor who had been standing obediently like a statue all this time. "Condor, if you can please confiscate that from his arm, I will appreciate it greatly."

Condor gave a short nod with his unblinking head. "Yes Mr. Secretary."

By this time, Dugal had recovered from having the scythe cut through him, and his breathing had returned to normal. He slowly turned his eyes upward towards the masked fortune teller with a glare. "Mr. Secretary, you said?" he whispered.

Thistle laughed loudly. "Kehahaha! Didn't you know? I run the whole show! I am the Secretary of Everything. But really, I don't pay much attention to the job of Secretary of the Interior. The most fun I have is Secretary of Defense. I send all the tax dollars to improve our weaponry! Or should I say, mine specifically. It's not the President who has all the power if you have every single department in the palm of your hand. All the hubbub over electing Corbama or Fromney was all for naught, but at least it provides the country with a sense of choice and a good deal of comedy."

Dugal lashed out against Condor who had approached him to take away the Phantom Hourglass. A black tendril shot out from Condor's shadow, wrapped itself around Dugal's prosthetic arm and snapped it backwards. Dugal grimaced in pain, and before he could stop him, Condor had ripped the Phantom Hourglass from the modification in the prosthetic that had kept it in place.

"That's a fairly intricate modification you've added to your arm there," Thistle observed with mild curiosity. "I heard your technician is rather talented! I was upset with you first since your little group stole our prototype from the military, but I'm less grumpy since you went and took it a step further, turning it into a magical weapon of sorts. I might have to steal that idea." Then, he sighed and gave a small shrug. "Anyways, what I'm doing isn't as evil as it sounds, though? Of course it involves systematic brainwashing here and there where needed, and the occasional memory wiping spell I've perfected over the many years I've been in the business, but I usually let the people do their thing. They know what they're doing for the most part, and sure they mess up here and there, but running a powerful country isn't easy, you know?" He waved his arms widely. "Do you think I actually want to be bothered with most of the things politicians deal with? Of course not! It's kind of like flying to Europe: I'll buy my ticket and board the plane, but I'm not going to fly it myself or take care of the plane maintenance. I just guide them in the general direction I want them to go. So don't look at me like I want the world to end, because I quite like it here, kehahaha!" Thistle nodded towards Condor once the Cyclops had confiscated the Phantom Hourglass. "Oh and, Condor, can you hand me that gem Vaati has in his pocket as well? Thank you."

Vaati stiffened when Condor's lone red eye swiveled over to him, and his polished black shoes began to step towards him. Thistle really knew everything, didn't he? He clenched his fists, trying hopelessly to break free from the binds. He tensed his fingers, wondering if he could summon even a small spark to damage the binds, but as soon as he did so he felt a sharp crackle nip at his fingertips.

Great. So the binds probably have a charm as well to REALLY make sure I can't cast spells. Vaati scowled. He didn't bother struggling against Condor as the man reached for his pockets and pulled out the red gem of the Wishing Cap.

Thistle took both the hourglass and the gem from Condor, turning them over in his hands. However, he took the most interest in the gleaming red gem as he held it up to the light.

Irritated that he was placed in a completely helpless position and had one of his most prized findings taken away from him, Vaati snarled angrily. "So what are you going to do with us, exactly?"

Thistle didn't skip a beat. "Kill you." Then, with a cackle he added, "but I see you want an explanation, and I suppose I can risk indulging you since I'll have Condor kill you right after. Of course I don't owe you an explanation and I'll have less to worry about if I don't, but Vaati I think you'll agree with me, but there's something satisfying about sharing why your plan is so brilliant. Everyone always wonders why the villain makes the mistake almost every single time by telling the heroes – "

"Don't call me that," Vaati interrupted with a growl.

"- what their plans are." Thistle gave the sorcerer a long look. "I'm sorry, Vaati, but I'm going to take the title of 'evil mastermind' because 'hero' is so lame. I came up with this skit first, so you have no say in what role you get to play," the fortune teller explained indignantly. "At any rate, it's difficult and boring if I don't get to share! Who else can I boast about my wonderful plans but the heroes who were so intimately involved as well? We just want everyone to notice how awesome we are, and that's why you'll see that many of us are chatterboxes."

"Oh my god you're so annoying."

"That's what Thyme tells me," Thistle agreed sadly, "and she usually just leaves the room when I talk too much about how great I am, so it's not as fun explaining my fantastic plans."

"Then tell me this," Dugal played along, and he moved his head towards Condor, "why is he working with you and what have you done to him?"

"Kehaha! Condor! Yes, he's changed quite a bit since you last saw him, I believe?" Thistle laughed, tapping the android-like man on the shoulder. "He was our first human test subject for a new technology I invented: Shadow Shard technology. They allow creatures modified with it to traverse through shadows, and also turns them extremely resilient to the point they are near invincible. You've encountered the shadow hounds, no doubt. They're unwanted police dogs who would have been put to sleep had we not picked them up to be test subjects. I think they're adorable, even though Thyme thinks they're grotesque," Thistle sniffed. "It's a minor side-effect of the treatment. Your former employee, Condor, was given a deal to work with us or answer for all of his crimes committed while working with your ragtag Talon gang. He was most helpful and decided to be a test subject while we promised to clear all criminal records, and give him clearance for future transgressions of the law of the common citizen." Thistle chuckled, and shot a chilling and challenging look towards the ex-Talon leader – the complete antithesis to his apparently carefree demeanor, "It was a lot more than you could ever offer."

Thistle turned his heel and began to pace in front of the sorcerer next. "It was over the course of many, many years where the technology was perfected to the point it could be used safely on living creatures. And speaking of perfecting, I even perfected that curse of yours, Vaati, into a complete reincarnation spell." He gloated, enjoying the look of shock on Vaati's face. It was a look as though someone had played the biggest prank of his life. Well, that wasn't too far from the truth: Thistle was one for pranks. "I've been around for a while," he added with a snicker.

"H-how long?" Vaati stammered. He hadn't expected this at all. Normally he would have been upset if another magic practitioner had beaten him to figure out a spell he'd been struggling with, but in this situation he was just completely and utterly shocked for words. Was this lunatic really what he thought he was…?

"We've met before," Thistle supplied.

"When?" Vaati demanded.

"Thousands and thousands of years ago, I dare say." Thistle's voice was just barely above a whisper. He watched Vaati sink in his knees, the energy leaving him and his face one of defeat. The ridiculous, cheerfully colorful bird mask and goofy clothes actually managed to appear sinister. "I doubt you'd remember me, Vaati. It was so long ago and your memory is… a little broken I believe? Kehaha, what a troublesome curse you've cast on yourself, what with severe memory loss and all." Thistle tossed his ghostly scythe into the air where it disappeared from existence. "In all honesty I looked up to you. The Guild enforced all of these idiotic rules, restricting us from practicing sorcery to our full potential."

Vaati interjected, as the identity of the fortune teller suddenly dawned on him. "You… you're a wizzrobe!" He'd heard of The Guild before, back when he was still terrorizing Hyrule as the Sorcerer of Winds. They were a secretive bunch of minor sorcerers, all belonging to the wizzrobe monster caste, but from the little snippets of conversation and rumors he'd heard, he knew that The Guild had a set of laws that they were extremely strict in enforcing. Some of the rules involved taking on a nameless identity, never casting spells from more than one element (i.e. if you were a Fire Wizzrobe, then you had damn well better be casting Fire spells, even if making icicle swords seemed fun), and never inviting unitiated members to Guild meetings. He wasn't really sure about the specifics that were involved with "initiation," but he knew that wizzrobes hadn't always been wizzrobes, and often times, if not ALL times, they had once been normal Light dwellers (Hylians, humans, etc.) who had become 'monsters' known as wizzrobes. Many of these Light dwellers also usually turned up as 'missing people,' and many had been described by relatives as having experimented with dark rites and worship of malevolent gods. Putting two and two together, Vaati had always had a hunch that "initiation" might have involved some demons and a bad deal. The laws, then, were what kept the initiates under control.

"The Guild and its old fashioned thinking trapped us, while you... you showed the world what sorcery was supposed to accomplish," Thistle continued. "I wanted to learn the spells you knew, so I studied your movements carefully. Then one day, you invented a spell that was derived from the magic that reincarnates the Chosen Three. You, with your reckless nature, didn't notice that the spell you had devised was incomplete. If only you'd taken a look carefully you might have noticed, kehahaha!"

"You're just a copycat. A fraud," Vaati snarled irritably, extremely annoyed that someone had succeeded where he had failed.

Thistle tutted. "Tsk tsk. It is not a bad thing to observe the mistakes of others and using their discovery to come up with something better. The world needs people like you, Vaati, who will heroically be the victim the rest of us can learn from. You see!" he clapped his hands together, "I told you you're the hero here."

"The Guild will get you for this," the sorcerer's eyes narrowed to two thin slits, "you broke their laws for dabbling in more than one area of sorcery."

"And lots of other laws too," Thistle agreed. "But how will the Guild punish me if they're already dead? I'm the last wizzrobe alive as far as I know, and none of those idiots ever figured out I could be reincarnated if I died. My humble beginnings were that of a Fire Wizzrobe, then after I died I became an Ice wizzrobe, and then when I died again I became a Summoner Wizzrobe. Reaper Wizzrobes appeared in later times, so I learned a few things from them when I tired of being a Summoner. My scythe is a specialty weapon of Reaper Wizzrobes. Thanks to your perfected reincarnation spell," Thistle stressed the word, rubbing it in Vaati's face that he wasn't cursed, "I've been able to amass lots of knowledge about the different aspects of sorcery over the years thanks to retained memory. I'd hate to think what it must be like for you, coming back to the world as a complete ignoramus every time you died," the wizzrobe sighed in mock pity.

"Almost all of the wizzrobes I've had experience with were stubborn with following Guild laws, and not because they feared punishment," Vaati muttered, ignoring Thistle's jabs at his ego. "They genuinely wanted to follow the laws because that's what they thought was right."

"The key words there are 'almost' all," Thistle pointed out.

"I remember a couple who defected, and The Guild treated them like they were mentally ill before they killed them," the sorcerer recounted slowly. "You're one of them, aren't you. A renegade."

Thistle tilted his head a little, and if voice could convey a smile, Thistle's would have been a broad clownish grin of someone who was the boss of life instead of life bossing him. "I prefer revolutionary."

"What are you planning?" Dugal jumped in on the conversation. He didn't really care about all this nonsense about wizzrobe wizards and reincarnation – he just wanted to know what he was dealing with now.

"Simple! I just want to run the world in a way that's convenient for me, and inconvenient for everyone else who's not me. With my Shadow Shard technology I'll have the powerful army I need to use for countries that only listen to brute force, and I'll confiscate and monopolize all magical artifacts so no one else will be able to go against me. It'll take time to prepare, but that's okay," he smirked beneath his mask and gave a tiny wink directed at Vaati, "because I have forever."

An eerie quiet settled in the room as the captives took a moment to digest everything they had heard. And it had been quite a lot to take in at once, especially for Vaati. In the span of an hour or so, he'd learned that there was an ancient artifact capable of stealing and collecting life force, that a wizzrobe was still alive in this modern age, that the wizzrobe was also a renegade wizzrobe, that the renegade wizzrobe had figured out how to turn his curse into a complete reincarnation spell without drawbacks, and that this immortal renegade wizzrobe was also running the United States government. He was also incapable of casting spells because of the restraints, and the wizzrobe knew a lot more than he did about combining technological advances with magic. In short, he was horribly outmatched.

Noticing a lull in the conversation, Thistle had meanwhile given a single nod towards Condor who had been waiting obediently all this time.

As Condor moved towards Vaati in slow, very businesslike steps, determined to remove them from the world with the precise, detached methodology of removing a dirt stain on a windowpane, the wind mage stood up from his knees and stared at Thistle determinedly for a few seconds as though he were evaluating his opponent. There was no way for Vaati to be able to put up a reasonable fight right now, so the only options remaining were to sit still and accept his fate, or to hopelessly fight back anyway just for the hell of it. Thistle had half-expected Vaati to charge recklessly as a final effort to fight back, but instead was surprised when the sorcerer straightened up calmly and gave him a small, knowing smirk. "Alright. So," Vaati addressed him smoothly, still with that smirk on his lips, "I get it. You've obviously planned this out a lot more than I'd ever done for any of my plans."

"Thank you!" Thistle responded cheerfully.

"Do you know what that red gem is that you hold in your hands?" Vaati asked, indicating with his chin the polished stone that was still between Thistle's fingers.

"I know that it's mine," Thistle replied simply. Then, he added, "I also know that it's part of the wondrous Wishing Cap. I do my research thoroughly, Vaati. There's little I don't know."

It was Vaati's turn to laugh this time. It was the chilling laugh that had once filled his servants with terror, sending shudders up their spines even in the heat of summer. "Ahahaha! I know something you don't know. A wild card you never considered in your card reading."

If Thistle was phased, he didn't show it. "I'm not jealous. And besides if you die, you'll know nothing I don't know."

Vaati's sneer widened. "I have a proposition," he began deviously. A part of him wondered if he should have given this more thought, but another part of him didn't care. It was a crazy idea. It was also probably a bad idea, but plenty of good ideas started from bad ideas, didn't they?

"Release me, and I'll recreate the Wishing Cap."

fleets: I've finally covered all of the Talon guys' past stories (minus Condor, but he's a traitor so he doesn't count pfff)! I was excited when I started working on them because I realized their pasts actually fit ideally to the big plot for the story, and it was something I hadn't even considered when I was writing Avilux! I guess I was lucky there. And yes Defcon. I hope I didn't misrepresent it too much but I'll throw it out there that it's a unique and really cool convention just on the border of legal and illegal :P

Next - I really wanted to emphasize Vaati's recklessness and minimal planning. I see him as the kind of villain who plans things halfway through and then just wings the rest because of impatience (he was really, REALLY dumb in MC and FS and FSA... you'd think he'd learn but NOPE). He still hasn't learned btw.

Thistle and Rend? - Chronologically, where does Thistle and Rend fit with all this? Okay, so it was glossed over here and I didn't spend too much time on it because it's not too important for this story, but if you couldn't catch it from the dialogue, basically it's:
Vaati reigns, Rend occurs (Thistle summoned from post-FSA), Rend ENDS (when they go back, Thistle is technically alive here because he was summoned post-FSA. There's a span of time where he's in the same timeline as Vaati post-Rend, but Thistle is pre-summon by Opal from TP-Rend time, if that makes any sense... this stretch of time is when he steals Vaati's reincarnation spell), Vaati=cursed, Thistle=successful reincarnation, OA occurs. This actually suggests that Thistle already knew post-Rend Vaati before he actually met Vaati in the TP-verse in the beginning of Rend (which also explains why he could care less if he died at this point - he knew he'd come back to life anyway). ANWAYS I have this all worked out in my head and although temporal shenanigans are always confusing, this works. The Thistle you read about in OA knows everything about Rend and beyond, however, even though Vaati might not remember all the little details ;)

Thistle's scythe: I said in the very beginning that this was a real weapon that showed up in the Zelda series. It's the Phantom Hourglass sand stealing scythe that the wizzrobes carry in Phantom Hourglass! Being a wizzrobe who's lived through it all, he knows how to use the scythes now, too.

Phantom Hourglass - Okay, so I was playing the game and this item really struck me as super creepy. It sucks up all the sand from the monsters you kill, and the bigger the monster is (i.e. boss), the more sand you suck up. Turns out, also, that the 'sand' is in the shape of gold triangles and the description of these force gems are "physical manifestations of life force." I interpreted that basically as "kill things and steal their life lololol." If that doesn't sound evil/creepy I don't know what is.

Lastly, the Wishing Caaaap! Will make any and all your wishes come true. Who will be the lucky person who gets to wear it first? :D

Iris Martinez: Thistle's probably freaking you out because he's the evil mastermind of this story. XD Pokemon for Condor? Hmmm, that is tough, yep. Maybe something like porygon (and its evolutions) because he's so robotic both in character and appearance now... or I was also thinking a lot of the steel types, like magneton, bisharp, or registeel. I like the idea of having the Talon guys all have bird-like pokemon so I'm leaning towards porygon-2 (it looks like a duck?)

As for the deviation, ahhh I'm already swamped with requests I haven't finished, so I can't take on any more :( It is a cute idea though :)

Reily96: You have serious competition with Thyme! I rarely make pairings, but if I do make one there's an ocxoc pair I'm leaning towards that you can probably guess who and who. I used to go crazy at the thought of readers guessing right on the review page, but now I don't care anymore :) I guess this story is crazy enough that I'm just impressed if people guess right, so guess away! XD

dark digidestined: That is what's implied, yes! :)

DarkSakura: Ummm, I don't know. I don't think they explained how the hat worked in the game very much. I made up a lot of stuff here though :P
I'd say the gem isn't a known stone at all, but a crystalline form of magic what have you (i.e. if magic had a physical form, what would it be). Basically I have no idea hahaha

Anonymous: "This is a fleets story after all." How depressing! My fault, though, hahaha. I don't think I've written any story that had a truly happy ending (although Avilux was on the happier side, I thought), and I have quite a few stories that are bitter-sweet, or just simply bitter (or utter tragedy). Your analysis is really interesting, and it gives me the fuzzies as an author to see that people are picking things up from both Avilux and OA! (can i hug you - i hug you anyway). Anyhoo, just as food for thought, if I throw in the Wishing Cap here Vaati would have a lot more options for his choices because with it, he can wish for anything he wants on his conditions (or anyone else who wears it, for that matter). The cap is the wild card in this story, because I'm also playing under the assumptions that multiple wishes are allowed (multiple wishes were allowed in MC before Zelda's wish destroyed it). Anything and everything can happen!

Sybdoodles: It's heavily implied that Thistle used to be Corbin Robespierre. Corbin's the human Thistle used to be before he turned into a wizzrobe. More on Corbin later ;)

Sapphiet: Yup! It's implied that Thistle used to be Corbin Robespierre. Not much is revealed about Corbin's role yet, but I'll definitely go into that before the story ends :)