Disclaimer: Don't own, and I don't have the energy to argue about it. Karl, I own his ass, but thats about it.
:}
Karl was making breakfast when Jade managed to stagger out of bed the next day. "Missy, I know I'm not your dad, but honestly, what have you been doing that even after a nights sleep, you're..." His voice died as she glared at him. "This something you're mother doesn't want to know about?"
"I was doing a friend a favor, and things got kinda real." Jade told the man. His face scrunched as he contemplated his response. Jade continued. "As in, messing with the primal forces of the universe, and there's always a cost kind of favor."
"So not something we wanna tell your mother." The man smiled, as if he somehow was making a joke.
"Mom suspects." Jade said, eyeing her mothers bedroom, where she was now sure Karl had spent the night. "Um, just how long were you two dating, anyways?"
"Not long enough that she should have trusted me with her nearly unconscious daughter." The man said. "But, I'm not the kind of man to take advantage. Besides..."
"You have a daughter of your own." Jade finished for him.
"Yea, and she lives with her mother, in Kansas." Karls face screamed displeasure at that fact. "They moved to Kansas, to live with her family, and I can only see her when I visit, or when she comes to visit me. I understand, it's expensive living around here, but..." He waited, eyes watching Jade for any reaction.
"Sorry, I had no idea it was that bad." The pale girl felt for the men, but she had answers she needed to get. "Just, how'd you see..." She pointed towards where Koval was sitting, now in lion cub form.
"I'm a practicing mystic." Karl explained. "I took it up a while ago, with big dreams of maybe breaking into the heroing game. Never could figure out why, except that I wanted to somehow help, make a difference. Not like I was gonna do much otherwise. So, I studied, joined a circle, then another, and I focused on gaining power. Only, turns out it's not that easy. One would have to be way talented, do something stupid, or both, to acquire that kind of power. Magic, in all it's mystery, is something developed over time, and of the most use in slowly cast rituals."
"Oh..." Jade smiled, as once again she was reminded just how stupid she'd been.
"Now, if you had been maybe patient enough, worked with the flow, and took some time, through rituals, to make whatever change you'd wanted to make, given your obvious abilities, cause of Leo there, then you'd probably not be feeling so burnt out." The man finished.
"Ever do any enchanting?" Jade asked.
"That's just about all my coven ever does." Karl noted.
"Police are trying to put together their own circle, and could probably use someone with some knowledge." It felt weird, recruiting like that.
Karl, for his part, stopped. His eyes were wide as saucers, taking in something new about the blue eyed girl. "No..." He breathed out. "You didn't…."
"I just said the police were..." Jade tried.
"Not the police, or probably, but you just said are, as in you have first hand knowledge." Karl said. "You're young, and on a special form of probation that has you living at home, but going to a program every day after school, so that means you're not normal. You're a mystic, and I know about that mystic that tore up the streets a while back. Same mystic that's been seen working with the police a couple of times, during training."
"Those weren't public." Jade breathed.
"How.. I mean, that level of power, it takes years… Decades..." He stepped back, but it was more out of shock then anything else.
"I got my hands on a copy of the Codex Infinitous." Jade said. "Burned a favor from some luck spirits, without knowing it, just to survive the reading, but the book worked. Been training with Mister Abra, former disciple of Mister Cadabra, ever since the police decided to let me work off my destructive impulses. Besides, it helped my grandfather."
"You'd be garbage at enchanting." Karl said, and for a moment, he seemed to hold onto that statement before returning to his cooking. "I get why you'd want me though. Mister Cadabra was a potent mage, even if more of a street mystic. Man knew his limits. However, he wasn't an enchanter, cause he had the power to make things happen through his spells and actions alone. Those types almost never figure out the subtle necessities of binding magic to an object. And you, you probably went brute force, instead of going with the easiest methods, forcing the world to change when nudging may well have been enough. That would explain the lethargic morning. Want me to talk to your mother, maybe let you stay home from school?"
"Could you help?" Jade asked. "Sorry, no, I need to get to school, see my girlfriend." She exhaled, thinking about something. "It's a new, complicated relationship, and I don't want to miss out on any of our couples time. Besides, I need to see my physical trainer, continue learning martial arts. I see him every school day in the AM, before school, with just enough time to clean up before class. Guys teaching me to fight. Who doesn't wanna learn to fight from a master police fighting instructor?"
"You're probably already a bit late for that." Karl said, checking his watch. "But I can give you a ride to school, just as soon as we eat breakfast. From there, I can maybe talk to your handler, cause I know the police would never let anything as potent as you go anywhere without someone to watch them, and we'll see what I can do. Just, I never was able to achieve that much on my own, and I doubt I could add much to what the police already have. Just a little patience."
"Then maybe we could help you with your daughter?" Jade said. "Only, what could we do?"
"Nancy moved her out because she had family in Kansas, and I'm from a small town here in Cali, so naturally, she went home to where she could get help, and I'd be having to uproot everything to follow." Karl told the girl. "But I do like to visit. Too bad Nancy is already seeing someone. I just hope he's good to Kat." He sighed. "That's my daughter, short for Kaitlin."
"Yea, I have a friend, goes by Cat." Jade said. "Short for Catarina."
"Lets get you to school, so I can talk with your handler, see if I can help out." Karl said. "Man, you have some luck, don't you?"
"Yea, sometimes I do." Jade agreed, snagging her breakfast to go. "Lets get me to school."
Jade was late for her physical training class, but was able to talk to Reggie, and found he'd already been briefed on what to expect. "You do realize that kind of help, while deeply appreciated, doesn't reduce your sentence any."
"I just regret that I'm missing some training." Jade told him. "Don't know why, but I've come to enjoy our time together…. Er, I have a couple of things to take care of, and one IS with you. You know Meredith, right?"
"Connors?" Reggie asked. "Yea, her mother was a minor hero, back in the day. Long enough ago that we don't even know that much about the Velvet Phantom. Not sure why she retired, but hay, with Meri as her daughter, I know the girl picked up a lot of hand to hand training."
"Her mother ages at about one forth rate, and heals about ten times faster then normal." Jade told the man. "Made her a high endurance fighter who could hang with the boys. Only, years went by, and I guess her lack of combat power wazzed her off, cause she pushed her dreams on Meri."
"You two talked, right?" Reggie said. "Never was cleared to know anything more then she was briefly a part of The Blue Generation Initiative. I take it her powers weren't helpful in being a hero."
"Long story." Jade said. "Look, I left a guest upstairs, and I need to get him to mister Alexander before first period, so..."
"Just take it easy today." Reggie told her. "In fact, this week, we're gonna focus on meditation, relaxation, and stretching. Help you recover. THEN, we can get back to fighting."
"Thanks." Jade called out, and then she raced out to meet up with Karl. 'Some days, I'm thankful for the elevator. Why the hell did they hide it though...'
"Jade, Wait up." Tori called as she ran to catch up with the pale girl.
"Tori." Jade nodded in greeting. "I kinda have the dividends of your power hanging out upstairs, so..."
"Someone told you, right?" Tori asked. "Um, was it me?'
"Maybe, but I had very vivid visions while recovering from my attempts at enchantment, so maybe that's how I learned." Jade shrugged. "Either way, I found us an enchanter. Not gonna be a powerhouse, but just having a few fetishes, or knickknacks, he's gonna help us out a bunch."
"Glad I was able to help." Tori said. "So, walk you to the office?"
"Fine, but I'm still weak, so no taking advantage." Jade warned, and Tori had to fight the urge to protect her girlfriend. "You okay with me knowing?"
"Kinda surprised it took you this long." The Latina smiled. "Dad told me about your divination tricks. Visions while recovering from extreme exertion, huh? God, keep your mind clean, Vega."
"You said that out loud."
"I meant to." That million dollar smile radiated as they rod up together.
They met up with Meredith as they headed to Lanes office. "Morning. Um, Jade, I hardly slept. Gonna take a while for me to get used to it, but Sikowitz said I may be able to get by now with only a handful of hours of sleep. Like maybe four a night..."
Jade smiled. "I found us a new potential recruit." Meri just fell in line and allowed herself to trail along as they made it to the front office, and from there, led some middle age man to Lanes office.
"Mister Alexander, this is Karl..." Her blue eyes tracked to the man.
"Lebowski." Karl filled in. "So you're the handler?' His eyes flashed to the girls behind him. "Um, not seeing that much special about those two, so is it safe?"
"Seeing?" Lane asked.
"He's a mystic, and a truck driver." Jade told the counselor. "And oh yea, a short order cook. But he's here because yesterday, after my ritual, I picked up a spirit familiar, and Karl here can see him. I figured, given that we're desperately in need of mystics, maybe we could put him in contact with Dante, see if he could be of use to the various projects."
"You have a spirit familiar?" Lane wondered. "Does Abra know this yet?"
"I think I filled him in." Jade said. "Down side of dream teaching, I have no idea what we discussed."
"I filled him in." Koval informed the goth.
"Koval filled him in." Jade echoed. "Oh, yea, none of you can see him, except maybe Karl here, and I don't know if he heard him or not."
"Okaaaay." Lane said. "Like this wasn't gonna get any weirder working with mystics." He sighed. "Karl, mister Lebowsky, give me your contact information, and I'll have my people run a few background checks. Make sure you're safe to be working with us. Then, we'll be in contact..."
"Sure." Karl said. "Then I'm gonna head down to the Teamsters hall, see if I can get me some work for today. A man's gotta work, and I so need to provide for my little Kaitlin."
"His daughter." Jade filled in. "His soon to be ex is living in Kansas, where she's seeing someone new, so he's kinda seeing my mom." Jade filled in for the other girls. "I suspect he wants more, but for mom, it's just sex. Kinda hard for mom to trust, after the kinds of guys she usually fell for. I mean, dad's a distant creep, but he's gold compared to just about everyone else mom dated. That is, up until Karl here."
"Hope it works out." Meredith said. Then, to Karl, she whispered. "I'm belted in four forms of martial arts. You know, just a friendly FYI."
"What happened to sweet little girls?" The man asked, but seemed to understand. "Let me work this out with Mister Alexander here, and you girls go to class. I'd hate to make you late or anything."
They all headed off, with Meri filling Tori in on the newest developments in her life. "So, anyways, I can kinda turn the enhancement to my physical abilities off, which is actually good, cause it lets me train at a more normal level, and have the extra when I need it, on the street."
"Assuming you can activate 'em." Tori agreed.
"That's just it." The agreeable girl chirped. "My powers, their default setting is on, so I have to will it to turn them off, and all it takes is a moment, a kinda relaxation of sorts, to turn them back on. Plus, if I get injured or knocked out, they pop back on, just in time for my healing to bring me back so I can fight again. I'm gonna be awesome out there on the streets."
Sikowitz smiled. 'Jade fond an enchanter. Tori's luck is working overtime, drawing people in, forming a core around Jade to protect their budding relationship. Things will move quickly for a while now, but it seems that things will also work out for Tori, her mother, her father, just about everyone. So, lets see what kind of man this mister Lebowski is...'
The mystic senses reached out, finding the spirits he often used when he needed this kind of information quickly. "You know, there's little we can tell you that's not readily available." The Meerkat told him.
"But you can tell me the kind of man he is." Sikowitz said, lost in his trance. Students might see, but were used to him being quirky. No one would suspect his true activities. "Tell me what you can. Is Jade safe?"
"I see her calling that man Karl withing a few months." The Meerkat said. "She'll never call him dad. Just not that type. But Karl, he's been single longer then his lack of divorce shows, with his wife having left him over a year ago. Woman's not a bad person, just using her marriage to keep her new man at bay until she's ready to make a commitment again. But this Karl, he's a good man who will protect Dahlia's interests like his own daughters. He'll also use Ginger's home, and her families money, to win half custody of his Kat. A sister will not make Jade's life any easier, but that girl will find life here in Los Angeles good for her, as well as reminding Jade just how little power other mystics have."
"So this is a good thing, huh?" The drama teacher asked.
"There will be plenty of minor fetishes and foci for our girl, and her mystic allies, to use in the war on crime." The spirit guide noted.
"I'll talk to V, or Misses V now, cause the kids, they use that as her code name, and it kinda stuck." Sikowitz chuckled. "But I'll ask her to hire the guy as a part of the Blue Coven Project, gotta change that name, and while he can be a truck driver on paper, he'll train and lead the enchanters for the department."
Up in Lanes office, Karl was explaining something to the councilor. "….so anyways, those with the power to do more then the little chiz, and that's all I've ever been able to do on my own, but those with that kind of power, they just don't have the patience to enchant. See, putting the magic in something, it's done over time, layer after layer of subtle manipulation. The greatest artifacts were either enchanted by circles with loads of members, over years, or both. And those with the potential, the power to cast spells, anything beyond the most basic cantrips, it's hard for them to learn the subtle manipulations, cause as I said, it's time put in just to make the smallest enchantments. I can knock out something minor in a week, if by myself, but anything more then a minor fetish, that'll take time. Course, I have the desire, just not the time, cause you gotta make a living, right? But I don't have any choice in how to affect the magics, other then my second sight, cause spirit guides, they speed up the process, even if it's painfully slow to the powerful. Anyways, that's why the stories have it wrong, and the great wizards are not the one's churning out enchanted objects. No, it's circles like mine, who put in the time, the concentration over days, to make the layered enchantments last, so that the item can be used later on. Besides, most of the time, the mystics who want the enchantments, the potent one's, they can achieve much the same effects through their spells. And making something permanent without putting in the time, it burns. Just ask Jade."
"I have never wanted someone to pass a background check more." Mister Alexander said. "So, we have your info, and we'll be putting you through an exhaustive background check, probably take a week or more. But if this goes through, then we'll push the recommendations up the chain to V, who's in charge of Project Redemption, and for various reasons has a lot of say in the other projects and the like that the department runs. If V approves, then you're gonna get hired, and we'll have us an expert on enchantments, something we'd need even if we weren't planing on putting together a circle and making a few charms for the police to use. You know, if they need the magics."
"I just hope this works out, cause right now, I'm doing day labor out of the teamsters union." Karl told the man. "Mostly driving, up until someone hires me permanent like, but I've had problems, on account of my divorce, my need to see my daughter occasionally, and lets be honest, my duties to my circle. Um, I'll get info on them, with their permission, to see if any of them would make good fits for the police department."
"Well, you go see about getting paid, and keep working up until we contact you." Lane informed him. "Shouldn't take more then a week or two, all things considered, but I don't want to get your hopes up. If it takes longer, we'll understand if we have us a missed opportunity."
"Just one more question." Karl said. "Given what I've been able to piece together about Jade, and her running into me, having a friend who can join her training, that kind of chiz, I'm guessing that someone is manipulating things. Is it her, that lion near her, or what?"
"First, Jade went through a few weeks of bad before things started getting better, cause of reasons I'm not allowed to get into, so her luck isn't that great." Lane admitted. "But yea, we have a probability manipulator attached with one of the police projects, and recently, they've included Jade in their plans. Thinking that's why she's been getting so much good luck lately."
Karl left to get some work done, and Lane immediately sent in the paperwork, including the fingerprints he was able to get, as well as other pertinent information. 'God, I want this one. We need more people like him, guys who are just guys, nice guys who wanna help, cause they'll remind the police just who it is we're trying to protect. That, and I feel for him. Mister Lebowski, this will help you get your child back, at least part time. I swear it.'
:}
Okay, we got to know a bit more about Karl. Funny thing is, I got the idea from a tabletop RPG, where the enchanters all worked in circles, and weren't powerful at all. The sorceress, they had power, but didn't enchant anything. I just added some logic, I hope, and made it a part of my world. Of course, that ignored the whole "Doctor Strange now forges his own items" story line Marvel comics ran. Still, I like my bit of consistency. Plus, feel the burn.
Thoughts?