Chapter 2
The next couple of days were quiet, no rampaging spirits from another dimension out to haunt, kill, or steal life energy. Gwen took the chance to sleep in; she never got much sleep thanks to fighting evil spirits and Chris's damn wake up calls almost to the point where she think she might be an insomniac. Apparently even demons and other types of evil spirits take a break on Christmas.
Gwen's sleep was interrupted when she heard banging on her door.
"Gwen! Come on, lazy bones! You can't sleep in there all day, we have stuff to do!" Alex's voice came from behind the door as he continued to bang on it and interrupt her sleeping in.
She pulled the pillow over her head to block out the annoying noise, thankful that she locked the door after her mom left for Christmas shopping. Hopefully Alex would get the hint and go away and if not she had no problem tossing him out into the cold and let him freeze for a moment to teach him a lesson. However someone else decided to pull her out of bed. Her pillow was pulled away from her, slipping through her grip and left on the floor.
She opened her eyes and glared at the hand made of smoke that had pulled her pillow away. Gwen wished it felt physical blows in this world as she tried to bat it away but it pulled the covers away making her shiver from the lack of warmth.
"He won't stop until you answer, you know." Andromeda whispered, sounding very smug.
Gwen softly growled as she sat up. "All right! All right! I'm up! You happy now?"
"I will be when you come out and help me wrap mom's present." Alex replied making her grunt in annoyance.
"You're a big boy now you can handle it." Gwen tried to lie back down but Andromeda in her spectre form lifted her bed slightly making her fall onto the floor.
She grunted as she sat up and glared as the spectre form of her partner reseeded back into the Star necklace.
"Don't make me bust in there. I know how to jimmy locks." Alex warned her.
Gwen grabbed her pillow and threw it at the door even though it wouldn't hit him. "All right. Give me a few minutes."
"I'll be checking in a few minutes." Alex called with a cheeky tone before Gwen heard the steps of him walking away.
"Now what was that for?" She glared at the necklace.
"If you hadn't answered he wouldn't have stopped and the banging was annoying." Andromeda replied. "Spirits need some sleep too you know."
Gwen rolled her eyes at the necklace. Most of the time Andromeda behaved like a stern mother while teaching her but she also liked to play small jokes on her knowing she can't do anything to retaliate since her real form is in another dimension and the necklace only allowed her to manifest a small spectre form in the living world. If she tried to manifest her true form it would affect the living world by causing erupt changes in the weather, spirits in hiding would react to the high power by panicking and revealing themselves to everyone in the city causing them to go on a rampage to get away and cause a lot of damage. It's happened before as spirits near Andromeda's level try to sneak into our world and when they are revealed their powers are so great it could cause storms, hurricanes, droughts, and one time a high ranking spirit was so powerful that the Grand Canyon was formed.
"Well don't avatars need it to?" Gwen asked, sorting through her closet for something to wear.
"If I let you sleep in you'll get lazy." Andromeda replied with what Gwen guessed was a shrug of the shoulders. "Oh and the good news, you didn't get any emergency calls for once."
Gwen got into her usual casual outfit and then went to her lap top. She checked her cell phone anyways and looked over some message. They were from a few friends on Total Drama, LeShawna, Trent, Cody, and Bridgette.
Hey, Gwen-girl. LeShawna here wishing you a happy Christmas and hope you like the gift I sent you. Sorry I bailed on that web show of yours. Hope to hear from you soon.
Hi, Gwen, it's me, Trent, I know we didn't keep in contact since TDA but I just want you to know I hope you're doing good and want to hear from you soon. Merry Christmas.
Hey, Gwen, Codester here with hoping you'll call back. You see our band, me, Trent, Harold, and Justin are big! Don't be shy to call and check up on us.
Hi, Gwen, Bridgette here, hope you're having a good Christmas. Me and Geoff keep trying to find a nice place to relax for Christmas but we keep being stalked by girls who won't leave Geoff alone. I'm afraid he might let the attention go to his head again. Anyways Merry Christmas and hope to hear from you soon.
Gwen shook her head, imagining Bridgette fighting off hordes of women...and then remembered that she had in fact hit Geoff with her surfboard on the head once when she thought that he was checking another girl out. The video had ended up on Youtube thanks to some weenie who made a habit of stalking celebrities-then again what person with a camera and a celebrity in the same room didn't take a chance for some embarrassing footage? The answer: none.
Aside from them the only other people Gwen kept in contact with were Katie and Sadie who agreed to be part of her web show. She hadn't heard from Duncan since TDA ended no doubt because Courtney is making sure there's no contact between them. Aside from them she hadn't heard much from the others aside from a from a few news articles. She looked over to the internet explorer window and found that it was finally done loading the page she was looking for.
Other spirit avatars did not often keep in contact like Kurt and Gwen did, though they did have a single blog that would open once a week for ten minutes to give a list of locations and threats from spirits and demons. Ten minutes and then it shut down for seven days.
It was just about 7:30, which is around the time when it opens in her time zone. She found that she was right on time with 8 minutes left on the clock. There were over thirty people logged in and there was a list with over three hundred locations in several countries.
Gwen took a quick look over and copied a few of the stated locations and possible spirits located in them. Then with five minutes on the clock she printed myself a copy and shut her computer off. "Okay...got one up in Alaska, might be an ice spirit."
"Those things run at the sight of a flash light," Andromeda drawled.
"Well there's probably something down in Mexico, low-medium threat." Gwen read off the next location.
"I'm talking to the spirit whose avatar is already chasing that one, and it's nothing but a poltergeist of some 8 year old."
"Ooookay then..." Gwen trailed off. "Oh, a possession in London?"
"If it's Jack The Ripper again I'm not sending you there. We still haven't found a Method to permanently put him at peace," Andromeda replied.
"What about a...wait a second," Gwen looked at the word that was in the spot where the spirit or threat's name or classification went. "A...morph threat?"
"That means that a spirit may have entirely transformed a human or a group of humans into something new," Andromeda explained. "It's not common and usually when it happens you'll find a dozen Spirit Avatars getting together to put it down. They are shape shifter capable of staying in human form but when they change they become a chimera."
"So somebody might be making monsters in..." Gwen read the location and stood up when she saw it. "Toronto?"
"Oh my," Andromeda whispered. "Gwen, if this is true you should know something. A Morphed human is almost assured to be a complete blood thirsty monster bordering on a demon. They do what they were designed for whether it is to kill a specific person or to kill anyone within a specific area. If they kill somebody, that corpse will be mutated by the leftover magic left by the bite and claws or however they kill. It could turn them into something, it could destroy the corpse, revive it, anything. It's like rolling a die with about...ten trillion sides."
"So it's bad news then," Gwen summed up what Andromeda had explained to her.
"Yes! But that also gives you a small advantage," Andromeda continued. "A Morph Human can be killed with ordinary tools or weapons. Unlike a spirit which you need a spirit powered weapon or a Method to kill you can just run a Morph Human over. The only problem is that they are usually given an Unauthorized Method when they are sent out hunting. It's not so much invisibility as much as...making the humans forget they saw it as soon as they lay eyes upon it. One could walk into the middle of a rock concert and kill the lead singer and it would just look like he just randomly started to bleed and die. As vulnerable as they are they are as dangerous as any spirit. If they are here you must kill them before they can acquire too many numbers."
"How do I find out if there are any in Toronto at all?"
"How do you think? Call Kurt."
Xxx
One hour later however...
"Why the hell isn't your phone on?" Gwen demanded as she stormed into Kurt's shop via a Hexagon Gate.
"Hey-a Gwen!" Kurt waved, turning in his chair away from his work table. "Nice to see you got some lovely sleep last night, considering your optimistic attitude! That Onryo didn't slow you down at all."
"Kurt, seriously, we have a problem right in our home town,"
"I know, Morph Threat," Kurt nodded. "And don't worry, I've been working. If you'll calm down I can show you." He got up and led her through the maze of junk and shelves of weapons. "It just so happens that I have a way of knowing what happens in this city and tracking it," He led her into a clearing and patted a large flat screen TV mounted on the wall. "What did you think this was for outside picking up my favourite shows and letting me get Pay Per View without actually paying...forget that last part."
He turned it on, showing a map of the city. "Behold, the first ever Digital Spirit Tracking Map of Toronto! It's not complete yet but once done I will be able to track high level threat like this Morph Threat in the city! There are some bugs to work out and only works when Spirits drop their camouflage, release the human they possess, or reveal their true forms in any way."
"Alright, but can it track the Morph Humans?" Gwen asked.
"You bet! I just have to adjust this a bit." Kurt went over to a lap top connected to the TV. "Bear in mind, if they're in human form they still may be hard to track. And if you attack them in public you'll look like a psycho with a sword. A Morph Human will revert to its original human form when killed, and can even be buried like a normal body. You'd never know the difference."
"So do you know where I should start looking?"
"Well they prefer to remain in one area together until night fall when they go out to hunt. Their makers usually uh...it's like magically programming their brains to follow orders. They order them to hunt at night so it's harder for humans to see something weird like spontaneous claw wounds. These things don't leave a mess behind once they're done. I once met one with a seal on it that expanded its power over its prey and made people forget about their prey also. That way they could munch on them in the middle of public without trouble."
"Nice picture," Gwen placed one hand on her stomach.
"A couple other Avatars passed by earlier asking about the same thing. They're usual customers like you," Kurt stood up as the map showed several red blotches. "Merlin's keeping in contact with them."
Merlin is Kurt's spirit. And he is literally the Merlin, from Arthurian Fantasy. He stuck around as a good spirit and usually trains people like Kurt. He is known as the 'Architect' to other spirits, because of the new Methods he is always creating in their world. Gwen never spoke to him before, but Kurt tells her that he's quite the smart ass for a guy who died about 900 years ago.
"And there they are..." Kurt said. "These red blotches represent places with Spirit Scents. The largest concentration will be where you're bound to either find the Scene of the Crime, or you'll find your Morph Humans waiting for you. In this case it's...the CN Tower?"
"Why would they stick around there?"
"There are places there they could hide when there aren't tourists swarming around," Kurt shrugged. "Or maybe they like the view. All I know is that the source of the scent is greatest at the top of the tower. I like the restaurants there, I should visit some time."
"Save it for later," Gwen rolled her eyes. "I'll head over there and check it out."
"Your family won't wonder where you are?"
"Alex went over to his friend's place and mom went out to meet with some other moms...don't ask me what they do," Gwen shuddered at the thought of so many preppy copies of her mom in one place.
"Well if you're going you'll want a few things," Kurt flipped open a case sitting on the coffee table. "Looks like Pepper Spray, but squeeze it in the middle..." He did so and sprayed himself. "Wait for it..."
He literally vanished!
"Huh?" Suddenly Gwen felt a wave of nausea fall over her before she straightened up...
What was she doing here again?
Suddenly Kurt popped up in front of her. "Surprise!"
"AH!" She yelped. "Kurt?"
Slowly it came back to her...
"This mimics the memory erasure method that the Morph Humans use," Kurt explained as he gave her the pepper spray. "You can use it to sneak in if you have to. If you break anything people won't wonder how it was broken. You gotta give Merlin credit for this one, it works."
"Take credit where credit is due Kurt," An older voice said from...
"Did your sun glasses just talk?" Gwen asked.
"Is it weirder than that necklace of yours talking?" The sun glasses asked her.
"Merlin!" Andromeda said. "Nice to see you're actually talking to somebody now."
"Oh you know me Andromeda I can't help but like the mysterious act," Merlin chuckled. "But seeing as we have Morph Humans of all things toting my spells around I felt it was time to speak up."
Gwen could not help but agree with Kurt for once. For a very old guy Merlin really was a smart ass.
"Well, Gwen, seeing as how we might have trouble I guess you should be on your way." Kurt said as he drew a Hexagon on his wall. Gwen walked over to it and placed her Omni Glove on it. She imagined where she wanted to be and the Hexagon glowed and she was gone from Kurt's shop.
Xxx
When Gwen opened her eyes again she found herself in an alley very close to where the CN Tower was. Pulling her hood over her face so no one would recognize her from Total Drama she slipped out of the alley and onto the side walk. Walking quietly towards the CN Tower she eyes kept on anything strange, looking over everything not once, not twice, but more than five times. She even looked over her shoulder to make sure nothing weird was happening behind her.
She looked up at the CN Tower, remembering that she came here a long time ago with her parents and when her brother was only four. It was still a very impressive building and she could not help but remember how excited she was when they got to the top. Shaking her head of these thoughts and getting back to the task at hand she continued walking forward until she was at the base of the tower. Looking around she saw nothing out of the ordinary so she pulled out my cell phone and opened, looking through the camera to see if there was someone with a spirit scent.
Most of the people walking by looked completely normal but something caught her eye. A girl about six years old, holding hands with her mother and on her shoulder, a spirit scent. She had to suppress the urge to curse, if there was one thing she hated almost more than anything it's when children's lives were in danger, spirit or human. Anyone who hurts a child, physically or mentally deserves a very painful death.
Putting her cell phone away she started to tail the girl and her mother, keeping a safe distance away but keeping an eye on them. Scene like this brings back uncomfortable memories of what had happened to her a long time ago. She pushed those thoughts aside as they made a turn towards a parking lot. Increasing her pace slightly she watched as they headed for their car. When it looked like they were going to be fine, a dark coated man came from behind a car nearby.
Just when she thought there was nothing wrong. She had to wait before jumping out otherwise they'd think she was...well Kurt mentioned it earlier.
The man would seem to fade into the background to the casual eye; just another guy out on a walk. Sure he looks a little creepy but so do a good deal of people in their own way. He has greasy hair and hasn't seen a razor for maybe a month or more. The mother barely gave him a second glance as she and her daughter reached their car.
The mother searched through her purse for a key or maybe one of those fancy controllers that had to be within several feet of a car for it to turn on. The man was getting closer, angling so that it seemed he was either going to pass by or head for the SUV next to them. The girl took this chance to open a book that she had been carrying under one arm-some sort of fantasy book no doubt. The man then began to turn abruptly and started towards them.
The girl heard his rushed footsteps and saw him sprinting right towards them. She glanced back at her mother, looking nervous. "Mommy-"
She immediately grabbed a pebble off of the ground and whispered. "Guide me to my prey."
Her Omni-Glove glowed under the second glove she wore over it as she threw the pebble, which shot out of her palm like a bullet and struck the man in the side of the head. Now a small projectile like that couldn't kill a man, but it made him lose balance and focus and probably hurt too. He stumbled to his left and slammed into the black SUV, collapsing to the ground as the mother spun. Her daughter hid herself behind her mother's legs as the man began to scramble to his feet.
For a moment the mother looked between him and Gwen...but the next time she looked Gwen was gone and Merlin's memory erasure method caused her to forget there had ever been a trench coat wearing girl there. Gwen pocketed the pepper spray and rushed right for the man as he began to change.
Suddenly he was gone from the sight of the mother too as his method took hold. She and her daughter forgot why they were waiting to get into the car and calmly opened the doors. As the mother lifted her daughter into the seat with a smile the Morph Human loomed over them both. It looked like it had the bulk of a bear but the scales of a lizard...and the tail of a scorpion. It hissed, its two large red bug like eyes casting countless reflections of the woman as it leaned down.
But then Gwen drew her katana and sliced down through its stinger tipped tail. Liquid splattered the pavement, only to become spectral and vanish as the beast shrieked. It spun and knocked Gwen away. She slammed into a Cadillac, setting off its car alarm and catching odd looks from people who thought the car's alarm had started on its own-as again, they forgot that Gwen even existed as soon as they saw her.
She snatched her katana up as she climbed to her feet. As an avatar Gwen was not so easy to break with a single impact. "Okay ugly; bring those pretty widdle eyes over here!"
It got down on all fours and began to leap across the parking lot, clearing the equivalent of five steps with each move and then lunging through the air. It overshot Gwen intentionally, causing her to slice through nothing. It landed on top of the Cadillac, crushing the roof-people would fortunately forget how that little accident happened and just wonder how they didn't notice sooner. It swiped at her head with one claw, but she ducked and spun, swinging her katana up with both hands and slicing one of its fingers off.
Suddenly its tail was back, in perfect condition and swinging at her. Gwen rolled to her left as it swung from her right, and barely avoided getting a dose of Morph Human poison. She batted the stinger aside with the flat of her blade as it jabbed at her again, and leaped up to avoid the third jab. She jammed her katana down into the torso of the Morph Human, which writhed and kicked.
One limb struck her on the side and made her stumble off of the SUV and hit her head on a jeep parked next to it. She groaned, placing one hand on her head. "Crap...that hurt."
Then she remembered exactly where she was and saw the Morph Human turning to look down at me. She rolled to the side as it leaped down and made a hole in the ground where her head had been a moment before. Getting up, she grabbed my katana again and sliced right through its arm at the elbow as it tried to pull itself cleared. Then without breaking pace she swung vertically at the other arm that it had placed against the van she had hit her head on. A fountain of liquid squirted from both stumps, and the Morph Human howled in agony.
Not willing to leave it in pain-as it had once been human like her Gwen quickly jammed her sword through its heart. It stiffened as her blade passed under its rib cage and up through its heart. The Morph Human then fell back and slowly shrunk back into its human form. Thankfully the mother and daughter had left the parking lot during the fight, but within seconds the corpse was spotted without its illusion to hide it.
She ducked behind a truck, hiding her katana under her coat in the event that her own camouflage method wore off soon. People gathered around the corpse, some of them calling for the police.
'Definitely my cue to step out,' Gwen thought. 'And scope out some more Spirit Scents. I have to track one this time, not kill it.'
Gwen returned to the area outside of the CN Tower and scanned the crowd. She found a few weak scents that could have happened from being within the same room as that little girl. When she went into the lobby she found that she was in for quite a ride, since nearly the whole room was glowing red through her cell phone's camera.
"Well that's just lovely..." Gwen muttered.
"One good idea is to isolate the larger concentrations of Spirit Scent," Andromeda advised. "I'm certain Kurt could do that for you."
"Good idea," Gwen dialled Kurt's number and spoke before he could make a smart ass comment. "Kurt I need you to tell me how to isolate larger concentrations of spirit scent. I'm in the CN tower and I've got a whole room that's red."
"Hm...ok, I think I added that program to your phone," He instructed her on how to find the hidden program in the myriad of falsely named programs he had placed in the phone to make it look normal. To anybody without a scent or wasn't an avatar they would get the camera, maybe a game. But for Gwen it modified the settings of her phone camera. When she opened it again she saw only bright red trails of Spirit scent through the crowd. "Thanks Kurt."
"No problem," Kurt hung up on me without saying goodbye-possibly dealing with a client at the moment.
"Ok...where are you..." Gwen whispered as she followed the trail. Seeing as nobody gave her odd looks for holding her phone ahead of her as she walked Gwen assumed that the Pepper spray was still in effect.
Her trail took her through an elevator and all the way up to the top of the CN Tower's Main Pod area. There were people standing on glass floors posing for pictures, others standing out on the decks protected by netting to stop some idiot from falling, or others even just sitting inside enjoying the company. Her trail led her out onto the deck where the wind was blowing in her face and threatened to numb her fingers and tear the phone from her hands.
"Come on...this is going in one big circle," Gwen whispered.
"I know, I arranged that myself!"
Gwen spun so fast she almost sent herself off balance. However the shove that sent her backwards made her trip and drop her phone, which slid away from her-good thing the last pair of people had gone back inside. Gwen looked up and saw a man in his late twenties to early thirties. He had brown hair that was being whipped around by the wind, and dark eyes. He wore a grey suit and had his hands folded in front of him.
"Welcome to the CN Tower, tallest tower in the western hemisphere!" He chuckled. "Me and my boys like it for the view. Makes it real easy to spot somebody with a scent! And it let me see you off my pal Hank!"
Gwen climbed to her feet. "Oh gee, you saw that?" She had to shout over the wind. "I'm flattered!"
"You should be!" He nodded. "If I didn't like you I'd have just torn the net open and sent you tumbling out! You're not as sneaky as you think, Avatar of Andromeda!"
"Gee I'm just a celebrity today!...well I already am but you know what I mean!"
"Well not too many of your kind take on an Onryo at such an early stage," He shrugged.
"Keeping tabs on me?"
"I make a habit of it," He nodded, leaning on the safety railing. "Now I know what you're thinking here Gwen Rivers; there's a pack of nasty Morphers running around murdering people for kicks! Right?"
"Well seeing as Hank was about to nab a little kid, yeah!" Gwen drew her katana. "So let me guess, if Hank was your friend then you're one too! You're making small talk so that one of your friends can-" She twisted and cleaved right through the throat of the woman who had been reaching out to grab her. She gurgled, collapsing and laying on the floor, twitching...but her blood didn't vanish.
"Close, I had a familiar sneaking up on you," He chuckled as what Gwen did slowly sank in.
"People want to become like you?" Gwen demanded, feeling nausea rise in her stomach.
"Oh no Gwen I'm normal like her!" The man replied. "I'm no Morpher, I'm as human as human can be. That woman would have become a Morpher within a few hours. She was infected by a claw scratch while alive so it takes time to set in that way. Don't worry she'll vanish in a-" The woman's body became spectral, cutting him off within seconds as it faded out. "Oh there she goes!" He nodded. "Good riddance says I, she was way too cocky."
"Okay so what's the big deal?" Gwen demanded.
"Well you could call the Morphers in this area...mercenaries," The man said.
"Morphers gathering in one place? A human guiding them? This is new," Gwen muttered, keeping her katana between herself and him and the tip aimed at his throat.
"Oh Ms Rivers you need some imagination!" The man chuckled. "That spirit's old enough to say she was young during the dinosaurs! You gotta learn to adapt and be careful about what she teaches you, or you'll fall behind!"
"Tell me why you brought these Morphers here," Gwen said. "And don't get fancy with me!"
"I could go through the trouble but why bother with the villain rant?" He shrugged. "Besides ,you kinda have...other issues to look after."
"Like what?"
"Well for one the Morphers I sent after some of your friends," He said, smiling warmly. "Those two girls from that web show, your brother...your mother?"
"You son of a-" Gwen swung her katana, but he moved back smoothly before she could cut him to pieces.
"Language! Such a lovely lady shouldn't have such rude language," He wagged one finger. "The second thing...is the fire that just started inside."
The wind settled enough for her to hear it...scream. Gwen turned and saw smoke coming from the glass doors separating the interior and the deck. A glow came from within and she managed to see the shapes of several people fleeing towards the stairs to escape the embers that had somehow consumed the area in front of the doors!
"Oh my god..." Gwen looked to the man, only to see that he was leaning over the safety railing and cutting the safety net.
"It's horrible!" He said in a faux concerned tone. "So scary! Somebody help!...bye bye Gwendolyn." He then leaped out into open air...and something caught him. That something had wings that were about thirty feet wide and lifted the guy away from the tower as he laughed like a kid on a roller coaster. "I look forward to seeing how you handle this one!"
"Me to," Gwen whispered, swallowing.
She was in one hell of a mess now. The inside of the CN tower was on fire, she was stranded high enough that if she fell she'd be a splatter on the side walk. And it seemed that for once she had been outfoxed...and by a regular guy who was packing mercenary Morphers.
So she did the only thing she could think of:
She called Kurt.
Xxx
Kurt picked up his phone and sighed as he watched the news. "Let me guess, you set the CN Tower on fire?"
"Close, it was set on fire while I'm on it!" Gwen replied. "And I'm still on it! I need a way to get out of here, now!"
Kurt was on his feet. "I'm on it!" He paused. "Just...stay still for me. You're on the deck right? Otherwise you'd be screaming...in agony...and on fire."
"Yes I'm on the outer deck now help me!"
"Right!" Kurt then picked up a book and flipped through it. "Ok...teleportation...translocation...portal forming...what do you think boss man?"
"I think that you should choose and hurry up," Merlin said urgently. "Gwen won't have a lot of time."
"Don't worry, she's been trained to be calm in these situations," Kurt replied...forgetting he left his phone on speaker.
"KURT HURRY UP!"
"I'm on it!" Kurt sighed. "Looks like I'll have to do this the old fashioned way. One interdimensional portal method coming up!" He held up his own Omni Glove, which had red lines instead of blue like Gwen's. "Okay Gwen when you feel something grab you...try not to fight and be careful not to hit me in the balls."
"What are you-"
"Open the path!" Kurt thrust his hand forward and traced a red circle of light in the air...and stuck his hand through, grabbing something. Suddenly the portal was gone and he held Gwen by the collar of her trench coat as she yelped and kicked out.
"Watch out for the-"
CRASH! A whole shelf was knocked over...starting a domino's effect that essentially tipped over every shelf in the shop.
"...I'm going to block out my thoughts of anger by being glad that you're alive," Kurt said calmly.
"Sorry," Gwen said meekly.
"Ok...so what the hell happened?" Kurt spun to face her.
"There was a guy there, and he was packing a group of Morphers who he said were mercenaries," Gwen explained as Kurt let her sit on his couch. "He set it all up, and set the CN Tower on fire and...oh god!" She stood up. "He said he sent some Morphers after my family! And Katie and Sadie! I'm sorry I gotta go!" She ran out.
"Oh sure! Leave me to clean this mess up!" He called after her... and sighed as he looked at the sorry state of his shop. "Merlin would it have killed you to make a cleaning method to teach me?"
"I already died once, besides making cleaning methods would just make you lazy." Merlin scoffed. "Now get to work."
Xxx
"MOM! ALEX!" Gwen burst into her house.
"Yes honey?" Gwen's mom-Elizabeth said as she leaned out of the kitchen...with a morpher reaching out for her from the kitchen window!
"I uh..." Gwen pulled her mom into a tight hug and moved her away from the grasping arm of the morpher. "I feel so happy just being home! I heard something was up and thought I should come back!"
"Well there's something happening at the CN Tower," Elizabeth said, confused at her daughter's attitude. "But I think I'm fine here Gwen."
DING!
"Oh, the batch I made for the neighbours is ready!" Elizabeth squealed.
She rushed back into the kitchen where the morpher grinned, reaching for her-
SLAM! It squealed silently as Gwen slammed the window shut on its arm. It went intangible and pulled its arm out, glaring at Gwen.
"Gwen?"
"It's uh...minus seven degrees and snow was blowing in here," Gwen explained.
"Oh, well thanks darling," Elizabeth said as she took a batch of cookies out of the oven.
'I have to get mom out of here and find Alex!' Gwen though. 'But first...'
She slipped out of the kitchen and rushed outside. She swung the door open and saw the morpher shrinking down to its human form. It opened its now human eyes just in time to see Gwen before she snapped her right leg up with a 'Hai!' and kicked it in the nose! It flew out into the snowy yard, and Gwen took a moment to use the Pepper spray on herself so that her mom wouldn't notice. Then she proceeded to pound on the morpher until it fled over the yard's fence.
"And don't come back!" She snapped.
"No time to spew threats, find your brother!" Andromeda instructed.
"Right!" Gwen rushed out around the front of the house and then went for the house three houses down across the street. It belonged to Alex's friend Jamie, a gamer.
She burst through the front door.
"Oh my what a breeze!" Jamie's mother shut the door behind her.
"Sorry!" Gwen whispered, knowing that the woman wouldn't hear anyways.
She rushed up the stairs to Jamie's room, knowing that would be where Alex and Jamie were. She swung the door open and saw them with their faces all but glued to a TV as they played a first person shooter game.
"Of course they don't even hear the door," She shook her head and went to the window. "ah ha!"
The Morpher that had been climbing up the back of the house looked up and swallowed as it realized how much trouble it was in.
CRASH! Gwen smashed out through the window and whipped her katana out.
SHING! She sliced down through its middle, and its remains vanished before it even hit the ground.
"...Turn up the heat," Gwen heard Alex say through the now permanently open window.
"Shut the door," Jamie replied.
Gwen shook her head. "Boys."
Now she had to find Katie and Sadie.
Xxx
After Total Drama Action Katie and Sadie eventually forgave Gwen for what happened with Trent and even agreed to be part of her web show when they found they weren't far from each other. Gwen knew where they lived and it wasn't hard to find their houses at all since everyone in the neighbourhood knew Katie and Sadie, not that they were easy to forget.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
"Comiiiing!" Katie said in a sing song voice as she opened the door and-
"Hey Katie," Gwen said, sounding winded. "Did any weird guy come by just now?"
"No, why?" Katie asked.
"No reason, pardon me," Gwen promptly sprayed herself with the magic Pepper Spray. Katie promptly forgot that Gwen was there at all.
"Hm...why's the door open?" Katie shut the door and walked off with a shrug.
"Ok...no crazy monster in Katie's place yet...so what about Sadie?" Gwen muttered. "What if one comes here while I'm gone?"
Thud!
"Well that answers that question!" Gwen rushed into the living room-which was like the rest of the house interior: PINK AND WHITE! Choking down her nausea she looked around. "You know when you get style there's something called variety!"
Then it leaped in through the window and tried to latch onto my head-would have if I hadn't ducked. It was a small morpher, looked like some sort of squirrel.
"...that is just sad," She said as it stood up on two feet and hissed at her, spreading its arms. "What are you gonna do? Nibble on my hand?"
Suddenly it grew a foot.
"Uh...what the?"
Suddenly it was taller than Gwen and its fur fell off to reveal grey flesh and large red eyes. Each breath sounded like it was being echoed over and over. Its limbs were long and bony, and its teeth were bigger than her head!
"So reckless sometimes," Andromeda whispered.
The Morpher lunged forward at the same time that Gwen whipped out her sword and cleaved right through the top of its head. The body tumbled off to the side as the head rolled off somewhere.
"Ok...dead Morpher? Check." Gwen nodded.
The body vanished.
"Vanished morpher corpse? Check." She sighed in relief. "Ok...what am I missing?...other girl...oh crap!"
Xxx
"..." Kurt picked up his phone as it rang. "I'm a little busy cleaning up you know."
"I need to use that digital map to find Sadie! She's not home!"
"Don't worry I'll look at it right now," Kurt mumbled. "It's the only thing that still works in this thing."
"Well where is she?"
"Says here she's at a mall near her house."
"Of course! How could I be so stupid!" Gwen then hung up on Kurt.
"...that's what my sister said about her last boy friend," Kurt mumbled before he got back to work.
Xxx
Gwen rushed through the mall nearest to Sadie's home. It was not the final rush to buy Christmas gifts and people were crowding every square inch of ground in every store! "Alright if I was Sadie where would I be..." she heard a familiar squeal. "Of course, dumb question!"
She rushed into the nearest clothing store and found Sadie trying on a pink coat that matched the rest of her colour scheme. Gwen shuddered again, glad that the pepper spray kept her hidden-
"GWEN!" Sadie was suddenly looking at her. "Oh where did you come from? It's so good to see you!" She pulled her into a spine snapping hug.
"Ow..." Gwen whispered. 'I guess the spray wore off.'
"Nice to see you too Sadie," She patted Sadie on the back.
"Are you here for Christmas shopping?" Sadie asked, setting Gwen on her feet.
"Kinda," Gwen nodded, rubbing her stomach as she regained oxygen. "Listen, Sadie, has anybody weird been popping up around here?"
"Weird how?" Sadie asked as a man peeked out of the dressing stall at the back.
"Looks weird, acts weird, funny look in his eye like Owen looking for seconds," Gwen stopped when she noticed the man. He grinned at her, and his features distorted a bit before he stepped back into the stall.
"Well I don't know about that but I found a jacket you will just love!" Sadie said, looking through a shelf as Gwen rushed to the back of the store.
Quickly spraying herself again-only for the pepper spray to run out after a quick squirt Gwen stepped into the stall. There was the sound of crashing, yowling, grunting, cursing, metal clashing with metal, and a squeal of pain...and everybody resumed their task as normal.
"Do you have this in red?" A customer held up a green t shirt to an employee.
CRASH! The stall fell over, and Gwen tumbled out and came up on her feet where she had been standing seconds ago. The brief shot of invisible pepper spray wore off as Sadie turned around and held up a long coat.
"What happened?" She looked at the stall.
"Don't know...disgruntled customer?" Gwen offered, hoping the Morpher corpse vanished by now.
"Hm...oh well, some people," Sadie rolled her eyes. "Try this!" She held out a long coat similar to her own. It had its own hood and was shaded a dark blue similar to her high lights and lip stick.
"Wow..." Gwen felt the fabric. "Nice...this is great! Thanks Sadie!"
"Just doing my job!" Sadie grinned. "I'll see you for the concert then?"
"The what?"
"The Drama Brothers are having a Christmas Eve concert!" Sadie said, squealing. "Cody, Justin, Harold and...Trent." Sadie sighed in awe at the mention of Trent. "Will be performing there! Katie and I got tickets before anyone else did!"
"Really?" Gwen asked, sounding interested. "I hadn't heard anything about it yet."
"Yeah, but I think it'll still be fun! I'm going there, will you?"
Gwen pondered the idea. "I'll see what I can do; I have a special job that kind of...takes time out of personal time."
"I hope you do, it's gonna be a blast!" Sadie squealed again. "I'll see you around, I have to get these home." She hefted several large bags and left.
Xxx
"So, we got an ordinary human who somehow knows how to change humans into morphers." Kurt sat down on his couch as Gwen told him everything. "This is an interesting turn of events. Usually morphers act on their own, they don't plan anything, and they don't take orders from a human. Maybe this guy is possessed."
"I would have noticed if he was. And if he was possessed he wouldn't have said he was a human. When do spirits or demons possessing humans actually decide to lie and say their human? They love to brag about how we're just toys or cattle for them." Gwen crossed her arms. "This guy was one hundred percent human. Any idea how he was able to change those people into morphers and control them?"
"Well, if I remember my history and of course I do," Kurt couldn't resist pointing that out making Gwen roll her eyes. "There are a few items left in this world that could have ability to just that."
He flipped open his laptop and opened a web page.
"Here's one that's used for controlling weak minded spirits." Kurt pointed to a set of cards on the screen. "The Deck of Beasts, it's able to transform any human into the morpher based on the picture of the morpher on the card, hasn't been seen in over three hundred years since they were stolen by a renegade spirit and fled. Anyone cut or bitten by these morphers and the curse transfers to them like an infection."
Another web picture came up.
"And here is how to control a morpher." Gwen saw a small green crystal on the page after Kurt brought it up.
"This Beast Tamer, it was created centuries years ago by a demon working with a corrupt human to control morphers and have them cause suffering anywhere they could and shift back into their human forms leading humans prosecuting other humans as people consorting with the devil." Andromeda spoke up from Gwen's necklace. "It could calm a demon's rage and make almost anyone fall under a trance when they stared at when its power activated. When morphers first came they were seen as demons and this led to the hangings of anyone who was suspected of being a morpher based on how different they seemed."
"And a lot of innocent people were hung because of that." Gwen frowned.
"Unfortunately true." Kurt nodded. "And they missed a lot of morphers, some were even part of the church and had a hand in the executions."
"And this guy now has both." Gwen brought out her cell phone and showed Kurt a picture of the man as she emailed it to him.
"I'll run this through and see what I can find." Kurt turned to his laptop.
"I guess I'm stuck waiting." Gwen sighed.
"You could help finish cleaning." Kurt pointed to the stuff stilling lying on the floor.
"That reminds me, I've got to check something about the Drama Brothers performing, bye Kurt!" Gwen ran out.
"I am charging extra for the next item you buy here!" Kurt yelled as she ran out the door.
Xxx
Gwen sat down on the chair at her desk and opened her laptop. Typing 'Drama Brothers Concert' into Google and found that they were indeed having a concert in Toronto. Last she heard from them they were doing a tour which to her was a really bad idea.
"Looks like I might be going to that concert after all." She muttered when she saw where it was being played at.
The CN Tower, or at least outside the CN Tower. The interior was still off limits, but the band's agent managed to get permission to hold the concert within the vicinity of the tower.
"This cannot be a coincidence. If he is aware of your time on that reality show he is aware of anyone who might be your friends." Andromeda whispered.
"Cody, Trent, and Harold maybe, Justin I could almost care less about." Gwen frowned as she remembered the Adonis wannabee.
"Grudges are not healthy to have." Andromeda reprimanded.
"I know and I'm not holding a grudge against him or anyone I dislike. I just care a lot less about him than most other people. He tried flirting his way to the top and put me in a lot of trouble. I just wish I was able to join in on the beating he got on TDA," Gwen flipped through paragraphs explaining things about the concert she couldn't care less about. "Now...what time does it play...10pm tonight, these guys really know how to have bad timing."
"You might see some of your friends again," Andromeda added.
"And I might see a few pains in my ass I'd rather never see again," Gwen retorted. "But I'm heading there either way."
"You have eleven hours to get ready Gwen, you don't have to rush," Andromeda pointed out.
"I'm going to stake out the area the concert will be playing in ahead of time," Gwen explained. "I might have to check with Kurt about refilling that Pepper Spray."
"Merlin told me a handy little detail about it," Andromeda interjected. "It will refill of its own accord over time. Just try not to overuse it, the maximum refill time takes three hours and you used it five or six times within one and a half."
"Point taken," Gwen nodded. "Better see if Kurt's got anything useful."
Xxx
Kurt picked up his cell phone as he finished cleaning his shop. "You caught me at a good time, Gwenny, I cleaned up the entire shop, no thanks to you."
"I said I was sorry. But that's not the reason I'm calling. You know anything about that guy yet?"
"It just so happens I do." Kurt sat down at his laptop. "I ran his picture through the Internet and got Merlin digging through some information on his side. Damien Strauss, a former explorer, archaeologist, and professor who claimed he had discovered mystic arts. When they discovered what he was doing he was shunned and fired. He's hasn't had a job since but it's shown that he's traveled all over the world for the last several years, most likely trying to pick up any items that would help him pursue his goals."
"Like the Deck of Beasts and the Beast Tamer?" Gwen asked, frowning.
"If he's got more tools like those with him than even as a human he could be dangerous." Kurt replied. "Use caution when dealing with him."
"I have no interest in letting him get to me."
"His last trip was three years ago and he's stayed in Toronto ever since. Something big must be coming if he's starting now." Kurt looked at the map. "Might have something to do with the increase of morphers and spirits these last few months."
"You think he's setting up something big?"
"I wouldn't doubt it. Watch yourself."
"Got it." Gwen hung up.
Xxx
Gwen knew Andromeda was right about the concert not happening until ten at night but that didn't mean she couldn't take the time to scope things out early. She preferred to do things like this as early as possible so she could guess the layout of the concert and places she might end up fighting in. Dressed in the blue coat Sadie suggested she'd buy with the hood over her face she walked slowly around the CN Tower as she saw where the concert was being set up, the stage, the audience, and the back where the band would be getting ready. She wanted to be finished before the band showed up along with anyone she knew.
Taking pictures with her phone along looking for any spirit scents just in case anyone was in danger from a spirit or morpher. To her surprise nothing seemed off this time, no one had a spirit scent meaning they wouldn't end up in trouble when she left...hopefully. She took the last picture and pocketed her cell phone as she turned to walk away.
"Not a single thing out of the ordinary around here, you'd think that after what happened to the top of the tower Damien would triple the amount of bad guys around here." Gwen whispered.
"The first one was most likely a message to you. He knew who you were and if he's been here as long as Kurt claims he's most likely setting a way to ensure whatever plan he has succeeds." Andromeda replied from her necklace.
"Yeah well, we'll see about that." Gwen replied as she sat on a bench and stared at the CN Tower. "I can't risk infiltrating the tower and if there's nothing out here I guess I'm stuck waiting."
"It is sometimes good to be patient. You'll find something." Andromeda said reassuringly. "Are you hoping to see some of the other former contestants from that show?"
Gwen let out a small smile at that question. "Some, a bit, others, I would never care to hear from again."
"Anyone special?"
There it was. Andromeda sometimes played the role of a nosy mother, about as much as her mother.
"I'd prefer not to think about that. I haven't had time to think that since I took this job."
"You do have time you just prefer not to think about it." Andromeda shot back accusingly.
"Maybe I should call Kurt and see what he's got." Gwen pulled out her cell phone.
She heard something that sounded like snort from her necklace and smirked. She may not be able to get back at Andromeda for most of her jokes but she knows how to annoy her a bit.
"Kurt's Assassination Services, you're today's big-oh, Gwen!" Kurt must have looked at the caller I.D.
"Cut it out with the jokes Kurt," Gwen said sternly.
"Alright, what's up?"
"Do you have any new info that could come in handy?"
"Well let's see...ah ha, here we are," Kurt took a moment as the tapping of keys could be heard in the background. "The Deck of Beasts has one little critical weakness. Every time a card is used, it vanishes for a bit, like a few hours. There's one card in the deck that must never be used, a 'master card'. The upside is that when used the other cards cannot reappear either. They are built around that master card, so without the master card it's a matter of time until the deck is used up."
"And you know that...how?"
"Merlin made it."
"...dare I ask?"
"He said it seemed like a good idea at the time...oh, and whatever is on the Master Card...Once it's used, it turns the person into the strongest Morpher in the deck: kind of like an Alpha Morpher. So be careful, something that big will be harder to hide with camouflage spells, and if it uses up too much power it could accidently reveal itself."
"So I need to kill it while it's at its strongest?"
"Bingo!"
"I just love your plans, you know that, right?"
"Merlin loves them too, that's why he made me take a sideline job making methods and weapons for other avatars like you."
"I don't suppose you'd actually be able to help me in a more direct way anyways though...right?"
"Sorry Gwen, I stick to my strengths and right now I'm busy getting a ticket for that concert." Kurt said smugly. "See you there! If you have another ticket that'll be great. It would be awkward if they catch you while you're sneaking in. Especially since the band is made of the people from that show you were on."
"Don't remind me," Gwen shut her phone off and stuffed it in her pocket. "Jerk."
Xxx
Gwen returned home to prepare for the concert, only to run into her mom as soon as she was in. Her mother held out an envelope to her. "Surprise dear! Your friend LeShawna sent this in the mail!"
Well that was a surprise. What would LeShawna go to the trouble of sending her?
She quickly opened the envelope and pulled out...
"A ticket to the Drama Bros. Concert?" Gwen looked at it intently.
"Ooh! That will be so much fun! I hear a lot of the other cast members will be there!" Elizabeth squealed. "Are you going?"
"Well I don't have anything else to do...so yeah!" Gwen nodded. "It's at ten though, you don't mind, right?"
"Oh of course not Gwen, as long as you get home after it's all done," Elizabeth said. "And no drinking, period."
"Gotcha," Gwen smiled and gave her mom a hug before rushing upstairs.
Well this sure was convenient.
Xxx
"It seems Lady Luck has smiled down on you." Andromeda said as Gwen closed the door behind her and sat on her bed.
"Looks like it. This must be what she was referring to on her message." Gwen nodded with a small smile. "Beats trying to sneak in even if I can pull it off without a problem."
"Never take gifts for granted." Andromeda replied.
"Okay, so we have a way into a concert taking place a big building where there's a guy with a bunch of people that shape shift into monsters to go out and kill people. You have any idea on what this guy wants?" Gwen looked down at the star on her necklace.
"I'm afraid I'm in the dark like you. We would need to learn more about him to know what it is he wants." Gwen got the impression that Andromeda was shrugging in her world.
"I hate that part. It's even more exhausting than beating the bad guys up." Gwen got up and walked over to her closet.
"Try to dress in something besides your hunting outfit,"
"Is it because I need to blend in?"
"That and it smells, you really need to wash it," Andromeda muttered.
"Gee, thanks Andromeda," Gwen got up and looked through her closet. "Ok...maybe I can wear this," She held up the coat Sadie had suggested she buy. "Better wear something appropriate for a concert."
She put on a purple T-shirt, a black jacket, a purple fingerless glove on her left hand with her Omni-Glove on the right hand, black stockings, a skirt with a belt, and her usual black boots under the blue coat Sadie found for her. She made checked the summoning mark on her glove for her sword and checked to make sure she had everything.
Looking at the clock she was it was 9:50 pm.
"I'm not waiting for a bus this time." She said as she drew a hexagon on her wall with chalk and pressed her Omni Glove to it, tracing a line to each corner. Then she was gone and was across the city.