LES MUSICIENS DU MONDE ARC III 2011 TO 2016

by DanteVirgil09

This is the final arc of this particular saga where it is reaching closer and closer to its climax. When transcending choice for others and making them for some, where every emotion and motive for all characters will have to face and handle to the best of their abilities. Will everyone rise and pave their destinies or fall from grace? But all roads lead to the stars in the end.

9. JULY 2012 PART DEUX

LES MUSICIENS DU MONDE

A CROSSOVER STORY

2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016

On a personal note, I deeply apologize for this long delay in updating my story. A lot of planning had to go into it as well as mapping the rest of this particular arc. Plus characters mentioned before in previous arcs may return, as well as new faces coming soon. Developing storylines for the main and side characters with the help of friends along the way also took time. I know I have hardly excuses to explain this tardiness on my behalf, but I hope this chapter as well as chapter eight will make up for my many months of absence. So sit back, read, and enjoy.

This begins part two of the New York chapter I somehow got away on a loose leash. Funny I know but yeah, when reaching the climax for this portion of Arc III, I somehow let it become super long in narrative I feared it may be too overwhelming to read all at once. So for this occasion, a two-part special chapter (more or less); so sit back and enjoy the conclusion of the 'Battle of New York City'.

CHAPTER 7, PART TWO

JULY 2012, WEEK FOUR

NEW YORK CITY, NY, USA

[Waldorf Astoria, Midtown, Manhattan, Wednesday, 7:23AM]

In Eda's room, hair lied on the tiled floor around the sink. The sound of the hair trimmer ceased and she checked herself in the mirror. She brushed her hand back across her buzz cut, reminding herself a look she once adopted back when she was 15, emulating a rock star from Berlin. Now with things coming on the horizon, she's completing preparations she since learned back in Poland, in Alastair's tent. She looked at herself, shrugged her shoulders and exited the bathroom. She turned off the light, was wearing a simple shirt with jeans and sneakers, grabbed her violin case, bag with things for the day and her hotel key. Once she had everything, she left her room and walked down the hallway. To her lack of surprise, Alastair was waiting for her at the elevators. He glanced at her, "Why did you cut your hair," he asked.

She glanced up at him and faced the doors again as she pressed the downward button, "Thinking ahead," she stated simply and after a few moments the doors opened and the two stepped inside and she pressed the button for the lobby. The doors closed and felt the elevator heading down with Alastair walking beside her, "And you putting up this front of seriousness in the face of adversity? Try a new game plan for the future," he verbally sparred but she remained silent.

She hailed a cab to go to the concert venue for the orchestra, "Carnegie Hall please," she asked the driver and he nodded and they merged into the traffic. Alastair shifted slightly next to her, "May we talk please," he asked but she glanced at him, "We did, back in Poland. We covered enough of what to do after this is over. And you agreed to those terms."

"I know that much girl! But giving me the silent treatment or even pure professionalism is proving to me and my allies that you're a bitch," he exclaimed but only just, but she looked out at the window, "I know…we all do. We're just working together and after the trial, after you pulling strings, after all of this," she sighed, recollecting how her car got totaled in Brooklyn last night, her still feeling pain on her body…she's just tired now.

She clutched her violin case with both hands and looked at him, "How much we have to apologize for you to forgive us," she asked and Alastair looked at her, not daring to respond as they too discussed this a few months ago and in Israel in private. A few more minutes passed and they arrived to their destination, across the street. She paid the driver with a tip and shut the doors before the cab drove off.

As she looked both ways, she crossed the street but also felt an arm under her left one. Alastair was escorting her across the street. She allowed it, but still felt closed to what she is feeling. He knew this fully but said nothing. As they entered the concert hall and walked to the doors that led to the hall itself, passing the seats, he stopped her and had her look at him, "When this is over, you would have paid the prize in full. And we all move on. But I will make sure you and your colleagues are compensated for your troubles."

She blinked and nodded, "Sure…even if you have a poor opinion of LMM, at least respect them," she said and he nodded, silently acknowledging her statement. With that, he sat down while she walked to the stage. He took out his palantir from his robes that draped over his three-piece suit and spoke into it, "Friends, we meet in four hours for lunch to discuss what's to come."

Once done he put it back in his robes and walked off for his destination.

MEANWHILE

[Hayden Planetarium, Upper West Side, Manhattan, 7:45AM]

Outside of the closed astronomy museum, Dante was waiting for Yuri who said he wanted to meet him in person alone. For today he dressed in a light blue dress shirt with a sweater vest over it, with khaki cargo pants and sneakers. He was pacing about, a bit of a detour since he was to meet others back at Carnegie Hall very soon. He then hears a car pulling up, a black Nissan sedan with Yuri getting out. Yuri dressed in a white polo shirt that hugged his torso snugly with black trousers that accentuated his legs and dress shoes. Fashionable and potent, in case he had to take care of business quickly. The driver putting on the emergency lights as it parked. Yuri walked up to him with a portfolio in hand, "I was told to give you this," he stated and handed the manila folder to Dante.

The Italian/Argentine looked at it and took it. He flipped through the pages of collected intelligence from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, and Germany. The text was in English, but the news contained was favorable at best, "So our efforts weren't in vain then. Magi and mystics are forming a united front against the sectarianism of the WWAEI."

"It is slow rumblings. But at least many of them are creating security forces so they won't move further east. Luckily the groups influence only reaches as far as Poland and Spain," Yuri said as he took out a cigarette and lit it, "But we're waiting and seeing how the rest of you fair here in New York. Last night all of you held your own against them but will you repeat such a performance tomorrow night?"

Dante looked up at him after reading the documents and closing the manila folder, "Meaning the increase of police around Manhattan," he asked and Yuri nodded, which had Dante sigh and looked away for a bit before returning his gaze to the Russian contact, "…I don't know. We have the routes plotted on how the rogues will leave. The tunnels and bridges are the most obvious to focus on, the boats…Alastair can handle that. The air? The magi and Danny's crew can handle that part."

"Signal jamming could render your communications grid useless though," Yuri pointed out as he puffed his cigarette, "Radio, cellular, or online communications will take a hit tomorrow night since this was announced by the police department and underground hacker channels. Even Scarlett and Tucker's teams can't contain the online traffic on this matter."

Dante cursed, nearly forgetting this dilemma and looked around him at the plants and the planetarium and then out to the city itself and hoped it was the time of day and year for the 'Manhattan-henge' popularized by social media. Adjusting the tie around his collar he then turned to the Russian intelligence officer for esoterics and spoke, "With your department in a joint task operation with the FSB, you can only provide so much on the record. So what's off the record?"

Yuri smiled and leaned in, "You're really ballsy. But to humor you, Alastair has particular forces in his trireme that will change the overall plans for both your group and the WWAEI. And in addition, perhaps, the certain magi in his company now here in New York will have certain allies coming they and you did not expect."

Dante said nothing and merely glanced at him perplexed. Not sure how to make of this input of information and nodded to silently acknowledge this. Yuri nodded and leaned back to his position, "I'll see the lot of you soon, once this mess is rectified," he said and calmly walked back to his Nissan sedan.

"You're leaving New York," Dante called out to which Yuri stopped.

Yuri turned around and responded back, "To prepare for the aftermath. You'll see me soon," he got in his car and started it up.

Dante watched the car pull out and drive away. He was left alone in the open area and shook his body to relieve cobwebs after a fitful night of sleep. He walked to the street and as he hailed a cab he told the driver to head for Carnegie Hall. Rehearsals were about to start for tonight's surprise concert for Oskana Yurlova.

[Dumbo Neighborhood, Brooklyn, 8:03AM]

As LMM were rehearsing for tonight's bonus concert, the Bellwood and Philadelphia teams were getting ready for the day and the windows open to let in the morning air. Valerie made coffee for everyone while Danny got breakfast for everyone, bagels and a veggie omelet for Sam. As they all started eating, Kevin dropped a bombshell, "We almost got reprimanded."

"When did you decide to load a turd over breakfast," Tucker dryly asked as he drank his coffee, "Since now numb nuts," Kevin retorted but Gwen chastised him but only to a point.

"He's right. When we got home after Israel, we got our ass handed to us. For two weeks, we were on standby and punished for our involvement in local activity."

Sam arched an eyebrow, "But isn't your department like a police force? And shouldn't it be your job to intervene when called for," she pressed but Kevin nodded a no, "Only when it directly connects with official alien business. Otherwise, we stay away from it."

"A security measure to avoid liability with local communities," Valerie said and Gwen nodded along with Kevin, "Dad's a cop, I sort of know protocol," she added as she bit into her lox with cream cheese. Kevin nodded respectfully nodded, inwardly noting the irony.

Gwen then spoke, "And now with the magi here, Alastair somewhere in the city, we need to scope the city one more time to box the WWAEI in Manhattan and make it impossible for them to leave," she pointed it out, but then Tucker said another problem can arise.

"Even if we can, our biggest focus is escape by air. Danny and Valerie can fly over Manhattan easily to make sure they won't escape that way," he relayed the information and the two Plumber deputy officers nodded and then Valerie along with Danny spoke.

"If the magi can help with their brooms and magic conjuring, we can handle it no problem," Danny said and then Valerie spoke, "Our only danger now is if the NYPD will run us all down at some point. After last night, they're more on guard to look out for those who ran around the city causing some property damage."

Gwen nodded, "Right! We need to centralize this somehow and not draw attention to ourselves," but Kevin was more realistic in this regard, "Easier said than done. Remember, I was here as a street punk nine years ago before meeting Ben and Gwen here. The cops are no joke and as corrupt as anywhere else, so we have to stay in the shadows. And I gotta find a substitute car for Eda to use to help us two out," Gwen blinked and nodded, noting that as well.

As the five continued with their breakfast and discussing plans, the magi in question are in their arranged housing getting ready for the day. As with magi, they can arrange things and living quarters many would not expect them to, even in New York for the first time…

[Chelsea, Midtown, 8:16AM]

In Cushman Row with townhouses dotting the historic street, the magi were up and about in their safe house. Prior to arriving to New York, Alastair and Angelina arranged habitation for their friends and allies with a detective consultant for the NYPD. The man of the house was serving coffee for the magi his name was Rodrigo Salieri. A half Italian and half Latvian man who came to the US at the age of six with his mother and father. A member of the old money elite, but outside of that social sphere by taking on the world of crime; insurance fraud, homicide, and larceny. His build and overall appearance reflects this, a muscular appearance with a slight belly, a baldness caused by stress and age, blue eyes that reflect softness as well as firmness pending circumstances.

His home as well did not reflect opulence as someone would in his station. It was classically decorated in the Federalist style, with pictures of his family over the years. His wife's picture hung in the hallway that led to the sitting room, a reminder of her passing nearly 23 years ago today. He finally sat down to join breakfast and looked at each one, "Hope all of you had a good night's sleep," he asked, "Police sirens rang out all night."

They nodded, "We all did thank you," Henriette spoke as she ate her oatmeal with dried fruit and Rodrigo nodded.

William ate his breakfast in big bites and the homeowner arched an eyebrow, "Big boy aren't you," he casually observed and the Yorkshire-man grinned sheepishly as he wolfed down his pancakes and swallowed before speaking, "A long flight and an observing the action at night really took it out of me."

Rodrigo nodded and then as he took a sip of his coffee before he got down to business, "According to intelligence from Angelina here as well as Sir Alastair Rathbone, LMM have successfully hidden the chest from the WWAEI. The new hiding place is simple enough to allow a 24 hour window to regroup and put forward the plan to handle the rogue group a second time."

Angelina then spoke, "It's to box in the rogue group and make sure they do not leave the island using boats, bridges, or tunnels. Air is a problem, but with the local hero, Danny Fenton and his associates that shouldn't be a problem. As some of us here can provide air assistance," she relayed and Rodrigo nodded.

James was quiet though then he asked Rodrigo something, "Excuse me. Alastair sent us a message to meet him around 11:30 or so at this location," he handed a piece of paper to Rodrigo who then unfolded it to have a look, "Do you know where this is?"

Rodrigo looked at the address and the symbol next to it, "Ah yes. I am a regular in that location weekly, or when I have the time. Did Sir Rathbone arrange this location as a meet up for you all," he said as he looked on the eleven magi.

He then took a pen from his robe pocket and wrote own the numbers and words for James to use once at the location in the Lower East Side's Little Italy. Rodrigo handed back the piece of paper and puts his pen away, "I'm sure it's the same for you all in London," he added with a knowing look as he sipped his coffee.

"Victorian London still exists. Mahogany Row for example is a part of it. Something LMM did not see, yet," William spoke and Jane nodded, "I don't think even the rogues know," she added but William nodded a no, "They know…and we were lucky they didn't bring chaos there," he said with seriousness in his voice.

Rodrigo listened on and internally wondered if indeed the second battle will end this? Or will these young magi will continue their fight with them well after New York. He didn't know; only he had errands to run once the magi get ready to leave for the day.

BROOKLYN, NYC, NY, USA

[Canarsie, 10:12AM]

Wilfredo was resting in his room while his parents headed for work. He was near back to health after last night's job handing that demon-possessed apartment due to Vinnie's mistake. His window was open to allow in fresh air. A hot sticky night did little to alleviate his physical stress. His mind was refreshed however, and stared up at his ceiling. He took off the covers and sat down on the edge of his bed, sleeping naked does wonders he thought. He stood up and puts on a fresh pair of underwear and donned his lounge robe made of blue satin before heading downstairs. The home's silence was relaxing and no fear of a spectral threat was indeed a plus.

He headed for the kitchen to heat up some coffee in the metal coffee maker. Then he heard a knock on the door, "Coming," he called out and walked for the door and looked through the peephole. He sees a young woman at the door and was perplexed.

He opened the door slightly ajar, "Yes? May I help you," he asked as he sees a young woman of about 19 with black hair that flowed freely down past her shoulders, fair skin, dark brown eyes with a slight haughty expression. Her way of dress was preppy somewhat with a flannel skirt that was for the day mid thigh, high socks, low heel loafers, a white buttoned up shirt with a bag on her left shoulder.

"Yes. I'm here to thank you for last night," she said and he was more confused, "Regarding an apartment you helped exorcise," she relayed and it dawned on him, "Oh you were there? I'm sorry, I'm a bit in a haze," he admitted, "Would you like to come in," he offered politely.

She nodded, "Very kind of you," she accepted and she entered the home. She casually looked around while he made his way to the kitchen. She sees the sitting room to her right and sat on the plush sofa. She clutched her bag and looked inside for the wrapped gift in maroon with a violet ribbon.

He returned with two cups of coffee, "Here you go," he offered her a cup and she accepted, "Thank you," she said. He asked if she wanted cream or sugar, she declined, preferring to take it black. He nodded and sat across from her in the leather armchair. He took a sip and placed on the coffee to his right. He adjusted his satin robe so it looked somewhat presentable.

He folded his hands, "I'm sorry I didn't catch your name," he spoke and she eyed him carefully, "Pardon me. My name is Tiffany Anne Hopkins. I was brought up in Burlington, Vermont of the Hopkins Family," she introduced herself.

Wilfredo listened, "Hopkins family huh," he said and then it dawned on him, "The famed entrepreneurial family of New England. With ties in medical research, manufacturing, politics, and philanthropy," he spoke and was somewhat impressed to be in front of someone from said family, "To what do I owe the honor?"

Tiffany smiled, "No need to suddenly be formal with me. As I have said, I wish to grant my gratitude for helping a friend's situation last night. Vincent, or Vinnie from the Union gave me your address after you were escorted home by carriage," she spoke and explained how she found his home address.

He nodded and eyed her to see if she was telling the truth. She was and to his surprise, she had a knowing look as if she knew what he was doing, "How insulting for you to examine me for any lies," she said in a smooth nonchalant tone and blushed a bit but threw in a chuckle, "Guilty, my apologies."

She waved it off, "No problem," she then rummaged through her bag to find her gift, "For you," she presented a wrapped gift for him and this was the last he expected for his contribution last night. He accepted it, "Thank you," he said and slowly unwrapped it.

He opened the lid and to his surprise, it was a lapel pin shaped like a scorpion with the claws holding the full moon. The full moon also had a face very akin to tarot and it brought a smile to Wilfredo, "That's very kind of you. Thank you."

Tiffany sipped her coffee and nodded acknowledging his gratitude. She then heard her bag rustling and her doll was slightly out with its arms out and its face as always passive. Wilfredo noted it, "Cute Victorian doll. What's her name?"

She eyed her doll and puts it back in her bag in a sitting position, "Monique. She is a medium, or so what I picked up from its previous owner," she responded in her clipped soft tone but inwardly, tried to relax. Thankfully Wilfredo accepted it, "Well your doll is a cute one," he complimented.

Tiffany felt her face heat up a bit and heard the doll's voice in her head. But she dismissed it and sipped her coffee, thankful that Wilfredo didn't see her shade of slight embarrassment. Wilfredo puts the lapel pin box on the coffee table and sipped his coffee some more. The two just took in the silence between them as Wilfredo noted Tiffany was probably not the talkative type, or least when it came to small talk. Tiffany was thankful that Wilfredo didn't push for small talk, which she finds insincere at times. She looked around Wilfredo's home and in her eyes the décor was charming.

The interior was Portuguese in layout with a tapestry done in the traditional style with ties to the sea; as they still have ties to the Azores and the mainland. She then shifted her eyes to fine china in a glass door shelf also decorated by hand with motifs of the sea and the land. The kitchen was the only place with modern appliances due to how they got the house back in 2010. She was curious on what the rest of the home is, but then the house phone rang. Wilfredo excused himself to answer it and while he talked, presumably to Mohammad, Tiffany finished her coffee and stood up to stretch. The doll then told her to explore the house, so she told Wilfredo she needed to use the restroom, which prompted him to say it was upstairs. This provided the opportunity.

She made her way upstairs via a staircase that hugged the wall and turned right before landing on the second floor. She found the restroom, all white tile on the floor, vintage iron bathtub with a porcelain coating a showerhead and bath curtains surrounding it and near the window with the tree outside, the vanity mirror oval shape and the sink also vintage as the tub itself, made of porcelain. She washed her hands and rinsed her face before checking her appearance. She checked her nude lipstick color, eyebrows and hair. Once that was done she decided to explore the house, but then her doll spoke, "Check the basement."

She then saw a door at the end of the hall. She walked towards it and jiggled the doorknob to her luck it was unlocked. She opened the door and sees stairs winding downward in a spiral pattern. Even from the second floor she felt an energy emanating, pulsing like a heart beat, "Such power…but not foreboding…let us proceed."

Tiffany walked calmly and slowly downward, darkness around her now. She used her cellphone's light feature to illuminate her way. After a few moments she made her way down to the bottom, the basement lowly lit by the outside light. As she was about to step on the concrete floor, her doll then spoke, "Careful where you tread."

Tiffany nodded mutely and then as she noticed a ray of light coming in from outside, she looked below her and sees an outline of a giant scorpion pattern. She knelt down and touched it gingerly and something stuck to her finger, "Blood…dried blood," she muttered and a shiver came from her subconscious resonated with her.

This was a foreboding symbol and she's seen some in her line of work. But to see one this size, done with animal blood, chicken or pig, it felt a bit chilling. She then felt a presence coming and she turned to her right and it was Wilfredo, silhouetted by light up the stairs in contrast to the dark basement. She took in his gaze, serious but more curious than anything else. It reminded her of her recurring dream when her doll told her of what will take place in this city, "May I escort you out," he asked calmly.

She nodded and she walked up the stairs to now be entering a hallway adjacent to the kitchen. He closed the door and locked it. He turned around to face her, "Are you all right," he asked politely, but his gaze had a hardness that was not because of her; curiosity wasn't a sin. But the events of last night made it so.

"Yes. I apologize if I had trespassed on something," she spoke but he held his hand, "No need," he told her and he walked past her for the kitchen.

"Need water or some more coffee," he offered but she replied, "A shot of brandy to be honest," she said and he arched an eyebrow to her as he opened the top cupboard for the Portuguese brandy, or port in this case to then take two glasses and poured some for himself and her.

The two then clinked their glasses and sipped the liquor, letting the silence fill the awkward silence. He looked at her and she at him, trying to read each other's intentions. So Wilfredo asked, "I take it the apartment is safe for your friend now," he felt himself asking about last night.

"She's fine. No more malice in there as she said, but she did say the smell of lavender and jasmine was paramount after what you did. Are you a holy man," she said and asked, which got her a bit of a laugh, "I'm sorry but no," Wilfredo calmed himself, "I just…did a old acquaintance a favor."

She nodded and then strolled past him and walked down the hall and sees a study, "Your father's," she asked as she entered and took in the warm wood and the paintings of the sea and the shore, "No, it's a place for my parents and I to come in and unwind. Read a book or a take a nap. I come in to do both," he told her.

Tiffany nodded and finds all the books impressive; texts in Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, English, French for the literary tastes but texts dealing in esoteric arts were written in Latin, Hebrew, and a few in Greek and surprisingly Arabic, "Well read your family," she lightly grinned, admiring the collect that stretched from the doorframe to the window at the rear of the room.

"You're too kind, but thank you," he took in the compliment, slightly bashful, feeling a bit exposed. She turned around to see his slight blush and finished her brandy, "Well, I believe it is my time to leave. I came to thank you and I did," she walked closer and took to smooth out a wrinkle on his satin robe and lightly felt the muscle of his chest in the process, unintentionally of course.

"Take care, Mr. Pereira," she said and bowed her head lightly and walked past him to get her bag and headed out the door and gently closed the door. Wilfredo now alone again, finished his brandy, mentally noting how cute the girl was, and headed upstairs to take a shower, a cold one to wake up and prepare for tonight's concert.

[Upper East Side, 12:23PM]

The American fixer for the rogues was back in his luxury apartment as he was unwrapping a shipment he ordered from Japan. Then his valet came who looked 20 years old with a bit of a swagger to him, "Sir, several representatives from the WWAEI are in the sitting room waiting for you. Should I set a time limit," he said.

The fixer was unwrapping the cloth covering, "Tell them I will be there shortly. Serve them scotch please," he ordered his valet who nodded and left the fixer's study.

Several minutes later he appeared from his study, dressed in a crème colored waistcoat over his white shirt with blue vertical stripes over white trousers with brown loafers. His glasses placed nicely while his hair was slightly disheveled, "How may I help you gentlemen?"

The six representatives were looking at him with frustrated expressions even with glasses with Irish Scotch served, "You said you would ensure our success here in New York! Where were you," a British rep asked as he stood up, but his compatriot had him sit down to calm himself.

The valet stood silently to the side of this impromptu meeting in his three-pieced suit, colored white as well with his hair coiffed to the right. The fixer poured himself a glass of scotch and took out a cigar from its case. Cut the tip and lit the opposite end until it was ready to puff. He then felt ready to start this conversation, "Hey I was there to ensure you guys have a start. You guys just fell short here," he quipped.

"My arse! You better make sure tomorrow night is a success for us," an Irish mick said as he held his glass but the American fixer smiled a bit and took a sip from his glass. Then he adjusted his glasses before responding, "I don't have to do anything for you. All of you are just guests in my city and again, not my fault your leaders are late or in hiding here. But rest assured, I have made proper arrangement to make sure your game here reaches its inevitable conclusion."

The rogue supporters then hear knocks on the door. The valet went to open it and up came in were the dark lord himself, Slawomir and his second in command, Cornelius Renocilius. Up behind the two feared dark mages of their time, Roland Hernan Jorvaskarn. The rogue supporters eyed him briefly and silently acknowledged the three men entering. The valet then closed the door behind them, "May I have your wands and or other weapons please," he requested of them.

Cornelius felt insulted and was about to lash out, but was put down with a look by Slawomir who handed over his wand and knives. Roland followed suit as he too handed over his weapons. So reluctantly he handed over his weapons, holding back a snide remark towards the muggle valet. He nodded and thanked them as he walked over to the nearby closet to put away their weapons while in his master's home. The three men were then served some scotch whisky and sat down amongst the rogue supporters. Cornelius sat next to his leader silently listening to the increasing friendship between his leader and the outsider interloper over the past month, discussing LMM's involvement as well as Alastair Rathbone leading the two groups against them.

The rogue supporters were relaxing a bit as the news of their allies from Spain, Belgium, Sweden, and Belarus are coming to their cause; to strike a blow to a system of co-existence between magi and mystics that have not really solved problems aside from re-population since the world wars. It's all like putting on a Band-Aid on a wound that won't heal. Rather the first step, completely burn the old system to the ground and starting anew to what the hardcore revolutionaries did in France in 1789.

The American fixer puffed on his cigar while his glass of scotch was sitting on its coaster, "Ready to go and be out in the field after so long," his valet came to whisper to him, "Playing dandy dulls the instincts and makes one soft," he added.

The fixer still looked out the window to the cityscape below, "Nah, but it never hurts to be prepared now does it," he whispered, "Any word on my family," he asked as he puffed his cigar again.

The valet nodded, "Yes. Your wife and kids are up at Philipstown far enough from here to be safe and be content. She just wants you to not have too much fun," he added which caused the fixer to chuckle a bit, "Oh she's just worried. It's all good fun, like a paintball match."

The valet nodded, "People are often divided into three categories sir; those who are billed to death, worried to death, or bored to death," he quipped and the fixer looked at him with a curious look, from which the valet winked and bowed slightly, "Excuse me, I have to make a call."

The fixer watched him leave his side to use the phone in the next room, causing him to chuckle to himself and picked up his glass of scotch. He sipped as he continued to look out at the city before him, wondering what tomorrow would bring. Tonight? Tonight he has some inventory to catch up on, 'My business can't run itself after all.'

MEANWHILE,

---

+Pocket Dimension, 1922 New York City, NY, USA+

[Canal Street, 1:23PM]

With the hustle and bustle of the streets below of 1920s New York, street markets and hawkers calling out to potential buyers on good deals, above it all and going through a five story window, a luncheon was underway. Angelina was showing Alastair a catalogue of hairstyles, clothing, and hats from the western US in the frontier pocket dimension dating from 1810 to 1870. The clanking of utensils and plates and glassware provided background ambience as she asked him, "What do you think of these styles? These are from Mr. Beazley's Tonsorial Parlor and the clothes are from yours truly, the Assendorp Heritage Clothing Co.," she said as two catalogues were laid out before him.

Alastair looked them over at the hairstyles, the beards, as well as the clothes. The hats were enjoyable to look at, in particular, the bowler hat he now sported for lunch, "How does it feel? Being able to reinvent your image," she asked and he smiled.

"Oh very good indeed," he replied as he adjusted his hat a bit, "Liberating after succumbing to this mess regarding the rogues and the sodding orchestra with Eda involved," he said and sighed at the mentioning of her, "It is all for her. I don't give a damn about the rest of them."

Angelina smiled and clasped his hand a bit on the table, "You're just upset and stressed, pulling strings as you have for their cause. Yes they've done wrong, but in the name for our survival. Mystics on their side know this and have subtly influenced how the rest of them carry out their actions, including Eda."

As Alastair and Angelina discussed the rest of them were having a mixture of French and Italian cuisine, continental in other words; pot au feu for Jane along with her brother William and Henriette to share, cassoulet for Angelina and Alastair individually, Rachel was having Schweinshaxe which was a roasted ham hock with fried potatoes and sauerkraut, Anthony had the roasted hare with the sauce with the animal's own blood and potatoes with steamed greens, Basilio had the bottarga pasta, Vincente and Michael had the seafood paella and lamb stew respectfully, and finally James had the Sunday roast with all the trimmings as he felt a bit homesick for family. To be quite honest everyone at the table felt homesick even as they have traveled to some foreign but exciting locations across Europe and the old Caliphate region once ruled by the Moors; save for Angelina and Alastair who at times come across as world weary.

James who sat next to Jane whispered, "Are you still thinking over my offer to spend the summer," he asked her and she smiled in return, "I have but can this wait 'til after the trial? Two weeks and that's all, I'm all yours to spoil," she flirted and he blushed but felt excited nonetheless.

William overheard this, "If you do intend to spoil my sis', then by all means, don't let me hear it from wherever you are," he ribbed the two in question, but then he got a smack from Henriette who sat next to him.

"Hey what was that for," he implored the southern French girl who glowered at him, "Can you at least have some tact? Honestly," she scolded him for his bluntness. For William hearing Henriette speaking English with a French accent, in her period pre-flapper outfit was alluring.

"I would if you would do me the honor," he whispered in his deep northern accent and she had to push back her interest, knowing now is not the time, "I would, in due time," she said, "Will you come to Provence in the next month on business? I would like to show you my hometown personally," she offered, from whom he nodded a yes.

Rachel as she carved into the crispy but tender pork flesh looked to Basilio across from her, "What do you still think of last month's revelation," she asked him, in particular about Israel and what happened afterward.

The dark skinned Italian looked at her and sets down his utensils before responding, "Well…it was unusual to say the least. But with all of that transpired in front of us, the dark lord and his allies will come full force against us, never mind LMM who showed their true potential for violence and surprises," he then took a sip of his Sangiovese wine before responding, "It is safe to say we are not neck deep in cold water."

She arched an eyebrow, "Don't you mean horseshit," she asked, from whom he shrugged his shoulders in false disinterest. Rachel continued with her meal, as did Basilio, meanwhile the others at the table had their own conversation.

"I'm not ready to go to battle," Anthony said to Vincente and Michael who took in the Welshman's nervousness, "I've only done London and after that told you guys I would take time to finish classes. And back there, some were saying I was a coward as well!"

Michael then spoke, "Look, no one here is hanging this over your head. In fact, it's impressive you wanted to fulfill your schooling," but Vincente spoke, "Our only concern is if you had done some sort of dueling practice or self-defense spells?"

Anthony nodded, "I did whatever I could to prepare and I always knew whatever started in London would conclude at whatever home base the muggle orchestra have chosen," he revealed, from which Michael replied, "Yeah that orchestra really have set themselves in a corner, Israel proved that," and Vincente nodded.

"I heard about that. Or rather, Alastair's parents told my family about it," Vincente said and Michael agreed, "I heard it that way as well," Anthony was about to ask before Alastair stood up and everyone stopped their conversations and waited for him to speak.

Alastair raised his glass of wine and spoke, "Everyone, friends of old and new. I am sure many of you know why we are here. The first battle has concluded and LMM proving triumphant. Now comes phase two, the second battle and it is here we hold the line and not let the WWAEI get away with their coveted prize. Encircling the island at various points to prevent their escape via bridges, tunnels, and the ferries. As for escape by air or portkies that may aid their escape, there are five probable locations for them to find them. So one team will find them and dispose of them, easy to do," he relayed the plan and as he went on, James let it drone in the background of his mind.

For James, he came to recall the stories of how his parents' generation was able to defeat the dark lord Slawomir back in the late-90s. Here he was, in a similar position to tackle him and his cronies with a group he was still unsure about, even after the events over the past few months showed him proved their true nature. Then slowly he heard Alastair call his name, "James? James?"

He blinked and looked up at him, and to the rest of the company, "Are we being judged," he asked in a neutral tone, with heavy emotion layering it.

"What," Jane asked, surprised by the question and the others listened in, "Perhaps we're being judged along with them, and we don't realize it. Purgatory…purgatory, this world is isn't it," he asked looked around the dining room and his friends.

James looked down, "When those pilots died from that curse, I thought in the darkest pit of my mind that our troubles were over," then he felt tears coming, "Whisperings of how if they died, so would LMM, fall apart and disperse. But no…they stuck together…their loyalty to each other convinced me of their inner innocence and deep pain."

The more he spoke, his tears forming, "How could I ever wish death on people who sounded the alarm so we can respond," he asked as he then leaned forward and tears flowed down his face, body shaking, "Sodding Aurors! I'd rather chuck them in the drink than those people!"

Jane cooed him as she clasped his hand, "Come on Parker. Pull it together; we're almost there. Then we can go home," she told him as James broke down as he nodded in agreement and asked in a shaky voice, "H-How did they come back to life?"

The table was silent, "That was wrong…had me from the off," William said and everyone nodded at his statement but then Basilio spoke, "It's not unheard of. I mean, it's been documented before but from muggles it's unheard of."

James, William, Jane, and now Alastair looked at him and Angelina spoke, "No matter how or what their true nature is, justice is to be served. We will chuck the Auror arrogance in the bin, and know this everyone," she spoke now with reserved seriousness, "The WWAEI will be punished and ripped apart for what they've done. Alastair's uncle, the priest murdered in Poland, for the double homicide in Sweden, London, propaganda over the past year…we'll finish them."

The magi nodded, more determined now to see it through, aid LMM, see that justice is delivered and from there…go home to their normal lives. But for some, returning to normalcy is more complex than just thinking it…

---

LATER THAT EVENING

[Carnegie Hall, Midtown, 7:30PM]

A holdover from the old days, Peter Wright and Catherine were coming in from the backstage to greet Mohammad and Dania as the rest of the orchestra were tuning their instruments behind the curtain. Oskana smoothed out the wrinkle in her concert dress, "Looks like an impromptu concert you're delivering," Peter said with a smile, even as his Lebanese colleague delivered a dry look.

"Well not part of the overall plan, but we make due," he said as he checked his black dress shirt with a grey tie, similar to the rest of the male musicians, while the girls were in black or grey concert dresses, and Peter nodded, "But still, to have Oskana Yurlova on for this long…has Armand forgiven you?"

Mohammad laughed a bit, "He hasn't talked to me since December," he was satisfied with his own appearance and turned to Peter and his wife, "Wish us luck," he said as he hugged Peter who returned it.

"Come, I'll escort you two to your seats. Front row of course," Dania said as Catherine nodded as did her husband, "That's kind of you Ms. Moradi," Catherine commented, "And your husband looks like a nervous wreck if you don't mind me saying," she whispered the last part.

Dania looked at her, "You have no idea dear," she said as she, Catherine, and Peter found their seats in the front row and prepared to see his unplanned but anticipated concert. Meanwhile, the magi found their seats earlier across the auditorium, in the middle of the seating area to see their Russian ally performing music. They held the small program for the evening either rolled or folded as they sat relaxed or upright to see and hear as much as they can.

Rodrigo Salieri was given an invitation to come from the magi staying with him so he dressed up as well to come. Truth be told, he's not a fan of classical events even if he does like classical music well enough as is. To his surprise when he took his seat, his two daughters were seated several seats down to his left. They waved at him and he did in return as well. Coincidence he chalked it up to be. But it was a pleasant coincidence nonetheless. As the minute hand counted down to zero hour, the lights dimmed, the curtains pulled away to reveal the musicians ready to go, Mohammad bowed slightly to the audience, and then, Oskana made her way across the stage and the audience' cheers became louder.

She took her bow and stood upright as she readied herself to perform the first piece of the evening, "Fra quest' ombre" by Johann Adolph Hasse, which would be followed up with Salve Regina in F Major by Nicola Porpora. Both arias were chosen to show off her vocal range a bit before Saturday evening's two hour long concert. To conclude the concert, a piece LMM will perform a piece for strings and basso continuo. The strings began to play and those not performing were helping Zach and Mike handle the broadcast of their concert on their site so the picture and sound was of top quality. As the mood was then set, Oskana then began to sing…

+ Note: The music mentioned here was performed in the following order of ensembles: the first aria sung by Vivica Genaux with Armonia Atenea with its director George Petrou, the second aria by Accademia Bizantina sung by Sonia Prina, and the violin sonata I included performed by Fabrizio Cipriani on violin and Antonio Fantinuonli on cello. +

[7:57PM]

Strings began to play by Fatma on violin and Christine on cello for their final piece for the evening; Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Major, Op. 2 by Michele Mascitti. This was a duet between the two musicians and enhanced by the acoustics of the hall to give their period instruments the resonance to be heard and felt at the back of the hall. It was a rare thing for them to perform a duet together, since many of their past experience doing so was either in rehearsal or to help each other out on timing when to perform during a concert. As they performed the orchestra sat in their seats holding their instruments respectfully and Dante was looking at her in admiration. He then caught the gaze of Alastair in the seat who exchanged a look of respect and seriousness, the two knowing what will come with only the inference of clues from Poland where this will lead. Dante knew his fate after what Eda shared what she discussed with the British mage from Sairgothian kingdom of Tourant trained under his aunt, Florianne de Michon who then served for five years in the kingdom of Capernaum with its duchess Syanna. It was stress inducing and he lost sleep on some nights and wondered if he will survive what's to come.

[8:21PM]

A reception was going on after Oskana debuted for the first time and despite it being a last minute change to LMM's program for the week it was a success. To Mohammad's moment of smugness, Armand looked so pleased with the concert as well as upset to know Oskana is in the services of LMM. Professional rivalry at this point, but being upset in private letters, emails, and photos on social media between them just proved this whole thing in front of Peter, Catherine, and Dania; funny as hell. The reception was modest but intimate with some of the concertgoers enjoying the drinks and snacks arranged on tables and some volunteer staff helping out LMM. Emily and Francesca approached Bernhard and gave a friendly greeting as they held their champagne glasses. Meanwhile, Christine was talking with Jang, Zane, and Gilberto regarding what to expect Saturday night as well as tomorrow night. Wilfredo, Delilah, Cecilia, Fatma however stood around the perimeter of the reception, in case there was a surprise ambush. Dante, Asuka, and Shinji stood at he opposite end doing the same thing. The magi were around just taking in the atmosphere and their time here will not be long, dinner will be served at Rodrigo Salieri's home in half an hour.

Eda was standing with four colonels, all of whom brought their wives and she was at ease discussing news events as well as politics between the EU and the United States. They were in their formal military attire; double-breasted suits showing the badges of honor and their ranks: Admiral, Lieutenant Colonel, and General. She was having a good time with them and enjoying her glass of brandy then seeing Alastair coming, "Ms. Kramer, may I have a word?"

She nodded, "Excuse me gentlemen," she told the three military men and walked beside Alastair as they move through the crowd, "Enemy forces are coming in. WWAEI will meet with their allies tomorrow and will come armed to the teeth and they have an American aiding them."

She listened to him and asked, "And do we know the name of this man," she asked, "No. He's a local as far as I know from Mr. Salieri and Lydia. However…oh bugger, he's here," he whispered to her.

She looked and indeed, the man Alastair insinuated as a fixer for the rogues was in the crowd with his navy blue peacoat, gold buttons adorned it, khaki breeches with black boots and a US issued cavalry sword from the Spanish-American War (reputedly used by the 'Rough Riders') and he walked with swagger as he then caught the gaze of Alastair and Eda. He walked up to them, "Hello there. Nice shindig huh?"

He took Eda's hand and kissed the top of it, "Charmed I'm sure," he smiled and she pulled away politely while Alastair's expression was unreadable as the American fixer stood up in his three-piece suit, pulling off the appearance of a dandy quite well.

"Mr. Rathbone and Ms. Kramer. Your actions have followed you from the Old Europe to the good old USA. I'm wondering how you guys will entertain the masses tomorrow night," he asked with a smile but Alastair was not amused.

So he decided to end the small talk and get down to business, "And is this your way of opening the flood gates of chaos to benefit your own agenda? Or to make money in the midst of chaos," and as he said this, Eda noticed the expression on the American's face change slightly and that glimmer in his eye unnerved her for its calmness.

"No sir. My only agenda is to my craft as a magician. I serve the arts and those who protect it," he stated and continued on, "Plus the people we are chasing and serving will have their allies coming in tomorrow morning. With your ship and allies Mr. Rathbone, you can easily shell the perimeter of the island and your magi friends alongside LMM can block key exit points."

"But that won't prove fruitful if we don't have the financiers of the rogues be arrested prosecuted or weed out moles that have passed on information from us to them," she said and Alastair looked at her before returning his gaze to the American fixer.

Alastair took a sip of his champagne, "Who are you really," and the American fixer looked at him, "Not important. And as for your paranoia miss," he looked at Alastair briefly before returning his gaze to Eda spoke, "I'm more on that little problem."

He reached into his pocket slowly and took out a silver flash drive and held it up for the two to see, "All of the information you need miss is in here. Upload the information from here or deliver it to any law enforcement you know, best you have it since you guys handled that party four years ago."

Eda knew he referenced the GBCC and the Forever Knights fiascos and Alastair then interjected by asking, "And what is your gain in this? Or rather, how do you know of," but was interrupted by the fixer who took out a flask of Scotch whisky from his coat's inner pocket and took a sip before returning the flask back inside.

He sighed and spoke, "A lot of people were watching back then and wonder what will happen next for you guys," he spoke to Eda, "Now? We sort of expected this to happen, but also are excited what is gonna happen next. I'm doing my part in limiting damage to property and people's homes. So what I'm doing is incredibly simple. A planned out strategy in designated battlegrounds."

Alastair nodded, although not trusting this stranger can sense some logic to his posturing. The American then bowed to the two, "Now I must make my exit. Remember, watching is not the same as seeing," he said cryptically and walked through the crowd of people and in a second, he was gone.

Eda blinked and looked around as did Alastair who walked a bit and realized the American fixer was indeed gone, "Well we can determine one thing, and the man is indeed a danger if he does participate tomorrow Ms. Kramer," he told her as she stood to his right side.

Eda looked worried as she nodded, "We can despise our enemies but tactfully must take them all very seriously. Mao Zedong said that," she explained to him who nodded in return, "Wise words in time of war. That man was a fool, but," he took a look at the flash drive in her hand, "A dangerous one nonetheless."

She nodded, "Like the card in poker," she commented and finished her champagne, "Too wild to trust, but too wild to not use. So I'm guessing, he's on no one's side but himself. If he serves his own personal agenda, his stance is similar to our own."

"And that would be?"

She looked at him, "Protecting the people and the city by designating certain areas as prime battlegrounds. And with the police on our tails, it's going to be like Carnival around the island."

He nodded, "It's best if it is like that. Nothing better than the sound of cannon fire for distracting the enemy. And song," he said, and added the slightly random bit of information, but she paid it no mind.

She then added to end their brief talk, "Let's make tomorrow night count. Now if you excuse me, I will say goodnight to those gentlemen and head back to the hotel to clean up and meet with Kevin in a little while. He said he found me a car," she then curtsied to him, "Mr. Rathbone."

He bowed his head, "Ms. Kramer," and with that she left and he saw her bidding a good evening to the three gentlemen she was talking with for a bit and then as she left the reception hall, he felt someone behind him, "Been listening for the whole time," he asked and sure enough, Ellie was there in her ranger outfit.

Her getup got some whispers from some people, but they thought she was coming from some performance on Broadway and paid her no mind. She spoke, "The American you met is a fool through and through, but not an idiot. Eda was right, we have to take him seriously when things start tomorrow."

He nodded, "Indeed. The effort will pay off considerably in short time. Meanwhile, let's head back to the trireme and gets things in order," he sets down his glass of champagne and walked out with Ellie and disappeared into the crowd.

LATER THAT NIGHT

[Canarsie, Brooklyn, 11:30PM]

Wilfredo was in front of his crucifix in his room now naked after his shower, chanting a Latin prayer several times over. In this case, the prayer to St. Michael:

Sancte Michael Archangele,

Defende nos in proelio;

Contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli

Esto praesidium.

Imperet illi Deus, supplices

deprecamur:

tuque, Princeps militiae Caelestis,

satanam aliosque spiritus

malignos

qui ad perditionem animarum

pervagantur in mundo,

divina virtute in infernum detrude.

Amen.

He said the prayer over and over while clutching his rosary beads, a gift from his grandmother, blessed by a nun in the Convento do Carmo in Lisbon. He felt his aura rise and fall calmly, dark as it was in its quality, purified after last night's escapade in the city. Still, he knew all he did was banish the demon from the location, it will return to haunt him. But at least now, he was on the right path; however, even with this in mind, he was mindful of any small amount of noise in his home. Whether down the hallway, downstairs, or even outside, he had to keep praying to make sure the scorpion downstairs was still providing protection.

Each chant of the prayer he did, his aura would rise and fall to fuel the scorpion below to provide protection and increase his power. His father would be able to access it as well, in sleep or when awoken from slumber. He closed his eyes and kept chanting in Latin, concentrating even as the demon he banished was levitating above him, close but unable to penetrate the aural field around him and or the rest of the home. She breathed in and out, with her gaze with the intensity of a predator, admiring his fit form, hunger for his exposed cock, and angry that he bested her at her own game last night. She levitated downward as he chanted; close but still unable to penetrate. When he stopped his chant he opened his eyes and stared right at the demon that was just looking at him. He said nothing and returned to close his eyes and chanted again. She let a low growl resonate and she levitated around him and then went about the house and phased through the floors and sees the scorpion emblem below her feet.

She too felt the power emanating from it; dark and potent but protective. She attempted to blast it apart but not a hint of damage done to it. She tried again and then something in the scorpion seal was activated; dark maroon energy was emanating from the seal and it enveloped the demon in a tight hold, causing pain. She struggled to get free and then in one pulse of energy she was literally flown out at terrific speed, phasing through the wood, stone and plaster. Once above the house she then fell down upon her ass on the pavement, shocking her that she felt pain. Unbeknownst to her, Danny was in his ghost form and his hero uniform, levitating upright with his feet inches above the ground, "Here I thought demons would be different from ghostly specters. Guess not, both are idiots," he quipped in his glib comment.

She sat up and glared up at him, "Smart boy you are," she lowly asked as she then stood up, "And you reek of the same stench of Wilfredo, self-righteousness. Except he knows the game, you barely gotten to know the bloody rules," she nearly barked back and he picked his right ear to take care of an itch.

"Yeah, yeah. So I've been told. It's the same old song," he told her off in a calm, but snarky tone. She didn't appreciate this but said nothing as she got on her feet. She stretched her limbs and shake off the power she got blasted with, "Good night then, hybrid," she said and then melted into the shadows of night, heading back into the ether.

Danny looked on at he disappearing demon and then turned his attention to the lone dim glow of light to his left. He levitated and hovered outside Wilfredo's bedroom window, still praying in Latin, and hissed to get his attention. Wilfredo stopped his chanting and got up to see who it was, Danny averted his gaze and Wilfredo noticed this, "Come on! It's no different than the locker room," he jested and Danny sighed, "I guess but at least be polite."

The Portuguese American nodded and puts on his robe from earlier in the day and once covered up Danny now can look at him in the eyes, "Right…so did you push that demon out of your house," he asked and Wilfredo nodded, "Yeah, she can be a bit of a clingy bitch, but it's all a game to her."

"A game?"

"Yeah, she uh…took my V-card when I was 13 after I got expelled here and before moving to Philly. And to her, she wanted to see if I got on the wrong path as she expected. I did, before and around the time you and I had our falling out," he said this and Danny realized what he meant, "Right," he commented simply.

And this prompted Wilfredo to continue, "You and I had our fun with girls on our downtime, but then she got annoyed when I grew up. And I feel she got annoyed when she looked at you," he stated and Danny nodded nonchalantly, "But that's not weird for us huh?"

Wilfredo shrugged his shoulders in a similar manner as well and then the two boys laughed at the absurdity of it all, "Good old days huh," Wilfredo asked with a smile, and Danny smiled back as well, "Yep, you said it. But I'm glad we grew up."

Wilfredo then said, "We're not done though are we?"

Both of them gave a curt nod to each other. Danny then bid Wilfredo a good night and flew off, heading back to the Dumbo portion of the borough near the bridge and while there, Eda was taking care of something else…

[Dumbo, Brooklyn, 11:37PM]

Eda arrived to this portion of Brooklyn near the George Washington Bridge and sees Kevin waiting for her at the corner across the street. She thanked the driver and paid him, and as she got out and the sound of the taxi leaving for new passengers, she hurried across to avoid the cars for those ready for a night out in the middle of the week. She approached him, "So you said you got something great for me?"

He smiled, "Follow me," and he took her inside the warehouse-converted apartment buildings and down the side of the building, a makeshift garage he arranged through a 'friend'. Inside was a car like her trashed Mitsubishi EVO 8, but its archrival was in its place instead, the Subaru Impreza. But she had to admit; it was tricked out to handle the abuse that's to come tomorrow night.

She had one question, "This…this…Thank you! I gotta ask you though; where did you find this one? This is not even out yet," she pointed out and he smirked in a very mischievous manner, "A friend of mine here, a drug dealer, managed to move things around to get me this beauty. Of course as good as it is off the shelf, I had to put in modifications. It's armor plated so not as quick as your beauty, but it can take a lot of abuse from magic and mystical attacks, thanks to Gwen," he pointed to Gwen who was sitting in midair meditating.

Eda glanced at her and then listened to Kevin who gave her a rundown of the specs he added to this acquired vehicle, "Better suspension to handle the sharp turns and drifts you do, windows able to handle semi-automatic and automatic rounds, a more powerful engine enforced by a Tetramand made engine block I had in stock; took a bit of wrangling, and finally," he tossed her the keys.

She caught it and looked at them before meeting his gaze, "Start her up," he said with a smirk and she smiled. So she got in the car, inserted the keys and the engine roared to life. She was more than pleased, she was ecstatic, "Thank you so much Kevin! I owe you for this," she looked up at him.

He waved it off, "Nah don't bother. It's on the house. From what I've seen, we're going to use everything we got to put the fuckers down," he told her and she nodded. She turned off the engine and got out, closing the car door.

She held out her right hand and he clasped it with his left and shook on it, "I'll come pick it up tomorrow afternoon. I'll take a cab back to Manhattan," she told him but was stopped by him, "Gwen and I will take you back. You took a risk to come here alone, at least we can drive you back."

Gwen stopped levitating and got on her feet to approach them as well, "He's right. As much as you like, you can't go alone. Cause you never know," and with that, Eda relented and in moments, Kevin got to his car started it up, and the girls got it to then head out for Manhattan.

NEW YORK CITY, NY, USA

[JFK International Airport, Queens, Wednesday, 9:11AM]

Planes were landing on the tarmac outside and taking off at different moments. Inside Terminal 4 for international flights, people were going through customs with no hassle. Some of the groups in question was wearing aviator sunglasses while others were wearing standard black sunglasses. The men and women were fit, wore form-fitting clothes, but had an air of competence and intimidation for the people around them while the security guards were looking at them warily. As the group walked out of customs, they then met two more groups, who also left customs and were walking for the doors. As they passed the people with newspaper articles like 'Car chase left damage across the city' or 'Police presence will increase tonight due to last night's events', or people reading similar articles on their smartphones. The groups were internally smiling as they knew well enough, the first battle was done and tonight, no one will be prepared for what's to come tonight.

The groups then exited to the light of day, already warm and humid and see several black vans waiting for them. The drivers wore black t-shirts that hugged their muscles as well as high-waist khaki trousers had other men who wore similar outfits to load the luggage and equipment to the back the van while the groups entered and sat down. Once everything was put away the doors closed, the engines roared to life and off they went. As they went off, an anonymous man in his taxi with the New York Post lowered it and took out a walkie-talkie, "They've arrived and on the move. Heading to Manhattan," the driver spoke to someone.

Then a response came, "Roger. Surveillance will be carried as they take the Grand Central Parkway," the voice rang out and the taxi driver responded, "Copy that," and then he puts his radio away as he then sees a random visitor requesting a ride into the city.

Meanwhile the caravan transporting the three groups of people into Manhattan on the 678 S, and after some change in lanes use the 678 N, and then go on the Grand Central Parkway that will then cross the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. The groups then took out his cellphone with the logo of the WWAEI on the man's briefcase and read the incoming text message:

{LMM and allies are prepared. So are we. No hesitation tonight}

The man took a look at it, made a serious expression on his face and then saw the Manhattan skyline in the looming distance and smiled, "Philadelphia, London, Krakow, Marseille, Jerusalem, and now here…A great game, but it will all end."

The vans zoomed past by, passing cars and heading for their base of operations set up by the main group of the WWAEI in Manhattan and make final preparations for tonight. One way or another, the game for them will end in New York.

[Flushing, Queens, 11:34AM]

Zane was in the Golden Shopping Mall and deep inside, with various mysterious and enticing specialties across China, he was with his aunt and uncle to get an early lunch. Joe and Sandra were with their nephew to get an idea, what the fuck happened last night and if tonight were going to have a repeat performance. So for the sake of Mohammad, he said he was running morning errands and in a way, this was; but dealing more with family than helping his parents to mail bill payments along the way to Manhattan. And since they all knew Mandarin alongside their native dialects of Taiwanese and Cantonese, communicating was easy. So they picked a spot to have a lamb noodle dish, three bowls of the same thing and like traditionally to compliment the climate as where it came from has the same climate as New York's.

Hand pulled noodles, lamb meat; a milky broth composes of vegetables and herbs like cilantro, lily buds, wolfberries and black tree fungus. It looked like a heavy soup to have, but in actuality, a light dish while filling; a good combination in any meal. Plus it was a way to get away from the familiar crowd for Zane's aunt and uncle out in Brooklyn. As they enjoyed their meals, Joe spoke as he rolled up his sleeves to show his tattooed muscular forearms, "現在...溢出或者我要打敗你。(Now…spill or I'm gonna beat it out of you.)," he spoke in Cantonese

"是不是自慰一個親戚皺眉？(Isn't masturbating a relative frowned upon," Zane quipped, "贊恩！ 現在來！ 請向我們解釋一下，昨晚發生的事情會在今晚繼續嗎？ (Zane! Come now! Just explain to us, is this going to continue tonight after what happened last night?)"

Sandra asked to basically tone down her brother's rough delivery, and Zane responded, "昨晚完全是分心，而今晚它基本上是將它們運到地面。 換一種說法... (Last night was all a distraction while tonight it's basically to run them to the ground. In other words…)" he looked at his aunt and uncle before responding, "快速和激情與曼哈頓環繞的Bourne Ultimatum混合，確保他們不乘坐渡輪，過橋，使用隧道，甚至飛過。 (Fast and Furious mixed with Bourne Ultimatum all around the ring of Manhattan and make sure they don't take a ferry, cross the bridge, use the tunnels, or even fly over.")

"基本上你在他媽的之前舔著島上的屁股。(Basically you're rimming the island's ass before fucking it.)," Joe said as he drank his sarsaparilla and Sandra elbowed him, "你知道我還在上班！ 我只是在午休時間和Zane ...出於問題！ (You know I am still on the clock! I am just on my lunch break and Zane…out of the question!")

"但! (But!)"

"沒有！ 你媽媽和爸爸永遠不會允許你這樣做！(No! No way your mom and dad will never, ever allow you to do this!)," Sandra raised her voice and Zane stopped her, "他们已经知道了！ 自从这场狗屎风暴开始以来一直都有！ (They already know! Always have since this shit storm started!)"

Joe uncharacteristically stopped his nephew with a raised hand to get him to calm down. Zane stopped and breathed in and out before responding, "看起来...当瑞典发生双重杀人案的消息时，我们真的遇到了这些人。 然后...费城发生了，如果我们没有介入，他们几乎把它烧到了地上。我们把它们带走了，然后它们逃脱了。 我们现在，将在纽约这里面对他们...这个城市将帮助我们操他们，我们不会允许他们重复表演。 (Look…we really came across these people when the news of a double homicide dropped in Sweden. Then…Philly happened and they nearly burnt it to the ground if we hadn't stepped in. We took them on and they escaped. We now, will face them here in New York…the city will help us fuck them over and no way we will allow them to do a repeat performance.)"

Sandra and Joe looked at each other and shared a familial concern rare between them. Normally the two would not dare to work each other, each other's profession is a liability for workable partnerships. But this was different, as clichéd and real as it was, family does indeed come first. They then finished lunch and Sandra and Joe took him back to Manhattan and dropped him off (with double bass and camera equipment in tow) in front of Carnegie Hall.

~Music bit: "Mother of Dragons" Game of Thrones Season 2 OST~

[Dumbo, Brooklyn, 12:00PM]

In their safe house near the waterfront, Kevin and Gwen were checking his car to make sure it can take a beating tonight; between magical and mystical attacks and explosive rounds. Tucker was checking his network link to Dante and to see if they are able to peek inside the rogues' network as well as the NYPD radio on their plans for tonight while Sam, and Valerie were checking their equipment and calibrate it to then make successful strikes against esoteric fighters and ectoplasmic shields to block said attacks. Danny was on the roof shirtless with only his black sweats and sneakers on was shadow boxing and kickboxing while also opening and closing his hands to mimic firing ectoplasmic blasts and shields to protect himself and his friends if need be. He stopped to wipe the sweat from his brow and picked up his water bottle to take a swig before continuing.

[Carnegie Hall, Midtown, Manhattan, 1:30PM]

LMM were in the famed music hall rehearsing as usual and not let what will come tonight to distract as best as they can. His hands were going through the motions to conduct the strings, woodwinds, and Oskana getting ready to sing once more and waiting for the cue. She then began while everyone else was matching her singing with their playing. Those involved for tonight are keeping in mind their roles, their locations, plans, alliance with the magi, as well as knowing Mohammad will support them to the end as cued by his intense yet focused gaze upon them.

[Upper East Side, Manhattan, 2:01PM]

The American fixer was supervising the rogues and their allies inside, checking their equipment, radios, weapons, maps of the city with possible routes to escape the blockade that's a certainty, as well how to deal with local law enforcement while he puffed his cigar to savor the flavor and the smoke wafting gently in the air like thin cloth. He adjusted his glasses and glanced to his left to see his valet standing upright who was also observing the lot as well. He also glanced back at his employer/friend and nodded silently, as if communicating an agreement made in private about this whole matter. One nod was needed, and then returned to observing the rogues and their allies in silence, with the noise of multiple conversations filling the smoky air.

[Chelsea, Midtown, 2:30PM]

The magi were preparing their wands, staffs, robes, leather armor to wear underneath their robes, boots, gloves, goggles for flight, knives, short swords, but for William in general was less of it. For him he only concentrated on what to unleash upon the rogues. A beast he only let out in a tiny fraction of its power where it collided in London with Wilfredo's burgeoning power as well. Henriette observed him from time to time as she got ready herself with her leather armor, wand, and winged shoes (the same type used in the game back in January and a gift from James). Outside of the sitting room where the doors separating it from the family room, Rodrigo glanced inside through the slightly closed doors while he was reading.

[Queens Village, Eastern Queens, 4:05PM]

The warrior monk Tong who has resided in the gym for roughly three months was sheathing his dadao sword, adjusted the leather arm guards, chest plate with iron and leather, leg guards, and strapped on around his back a weapon from his collection when he was in Japan, a kanabo. He then left his makeshift room upstairs and came downstairs to then walk past gym members doing their exercises and or martial arts classes. Many looked bewildered and slightly intimidated, did not help with his tall imposing form. As he reached for the doors he passed the owner of the gym and his son, he gave them a nod and headed out the door into the light of the afternoon.

[Hudson Bay, 5:20PM]

Alastair was on the deck of his trireme and passed the pirates and uruks who prepared themselves with weapons such as cutlasses, broadswords, metal armor, leather armor (like the magi and engraved with magical runes), cannons alongside the ship were readied for battle, and new faces onboard. Some were friends from his travels across the Door who built him up in making last friendships and alliances since leaving Earth. In his life, many have died before him or betrayed him and these experiences have hardened him and wary of new people coming with conflicting interests. But in the light of what LMM have done, reuniting with Eda under these circumstances, he knows he's seen what has transpired before but knew he can help them…once their debt was paid.

[Philadelphia, 7:03PM]

Back in Danny's city, a group of young magi aged 16 to 18 was preparing to head north for New York. The same magi who helped out Danny, Ben, and LMM to fight their first encounter with the WWAEI and thwart their firestorm across the city. The leader now a young man was on her broomstick, adjusting his goggles, as did the rest of them. His lance, the bruiser now towering over him on his heavy-duty broom adjusted his posture on it. He nodded to his friend, who then nodded back and the group of four then took off for New York, leaving Philadelphia in good hands to their allies standing by, in case the battle should go this south. Now above the city, they really kicked it in gear and sped off.

[Bellwood, TX, 6:05PM]

Max was standing in HQ's command center with the human and alien techs monitoring Plumber activity across the world and the quadrant of space. Max on a separate monitor overhead had the map of New York City with all of the boroughs, routes for transportation, civilians and police, as well as where the main players are located. Profiles on LMM, Kevin, Gwen, Danny, Sam, Tucker, Valerie are on separate windows next to the map and to the right of the screen, police traffic radio are heard and recorded. He crossed his arms and felt powerless to intervene due to protocol. But if Gwen and Kevin were to fall, he would go there with his forces to aid them. All he can do now is pray to whatever god or goddess that exists with his arms crossed and eyes closed now in contemplation.

~End music bit~

LATER THAT EVENING

NEW YORK CITY, NY, USA

[Upper East Side, Manhattan, 8:30PM]

The rogues were just leaving the upscale apartment with their American fixer watching them in a red waistcoat, white shirt, a red tie, and Levi jeans with brown yacht shoes. His third cigar of the day now evening puffing away while he talked to a woman now from the rogue's side, "We appreciate you assuring our battle will be planned out in advance."

"Just make sure you do not include my shop in the battle zones. I know how you guys are over exuberant in your activities so…just one it down a bit, okay," he stressed his and she motioned her hands to him, "We will not touch your shop sir."

The American fixer eyed her a bit and shook hands with her, "Well all right I will hold you to that," he said to her who nodded in return and as the last rogue member left the apartment, she turned to him one last time and said this, "Best you have insurance though, just in case."

With that she left and he looked at the doorway with the click of the oak door. He turned to his valet, "Call in the pontificator," and his valet was surprised, "Are you sure?"

The American fixer puffed his cigar, "Absolutely…but to help the kids in the boroughs when they're on the island. And get Tartar on as well," and the valet looked at him as if he went mad, but then went to the rotary phone and opened the phone book, "And I'll get the vehicle for good measure."

"Good," the fixer said and went to the window and looked at the lit up city before him and sighed, "I better go and call the wife before I suit up myself," he then puts out his cigar in the glass dish and walked past his valet to his bedroom.

He picked up the phone's receiver and speed-dialed the number for his wife while in his room it showed his equipment laid out for tonight; the same outfit he wore when he approached Eda and Alastair back in Carnegie Hall. His cavalry sword was sharpened and sheathed, and his wand, just waiting to be used was on his dresser. As he talked to his wife, reassuring her that tonight will not be harmful to his business and home, he also warned her to not come into the city under any circumstance. Her safety was paramount to him as well as his two children.

[Chelsea, West Side, Manhattan, 8:57PM]

Rodrigo Salieri was watching the news for any possible development for those involved tonight. He held his glass of scotch and just finished talking to his daughters. He was glad to hear from them since last night's concert. They promised to visit him in the coming month after finishing some work obligations and then they all can go to a sleepy town they used to frequent in Long Island. He drank the remaining liquid in his glass and as the newscaster said police presence has increased in order to hunt and take down those who ran the police ragged last night, he heard something outside. He sets the glass down on the coaster and headed for the front door and as he walked on the hardwood floors of the hallway, he opened it and immediately met with the sounds of police sirens and people outside coming out to what was heard, "A bomb!" "Shit, what's going on?" "Is this all connected?"

Rodrigo knew it full well; the second battle for the future of esoterics has just begun…

[Hell's Kitchen, Midtown, 9:00PM]

An explosion happened and cars were wrecked with glass shards and twisted metal from nearby trucks and cars caught in the blast. The black uniformed rogues committed this to keep NYPD at bay as well as SWAT. They then walked calmly to the route that led to the docks along the Hudson River, but in their way to the waterfront, they confront their enemies; the two mystic allies of LMM; Prince Mahbeeb with his uncle/guardian and Priest Hakeem. The two Arabs clutched the hilts of their scimitars as the priest took off his robes to reveal his chiseled form while holding a thick, heavy iron staff with his right hand, "Eyi jẹ bi o ṣe fẹ lọ. (This is as far as you'll go.)," he said in Yoruba.

"Quod est vestri sententia. Circa hanc insulam, quae copiae nostros Deus deserti pectore vultus tuus unus est occultatum est nobis invenire misericordiam. Non obstante optimum conatus, non perdet hac nocte. (That is your opinion. Our forces are around this god-forsaken island looking for the chest one of your own has kindly hidden for us to find. Despite your best efforts, you will lose tonight.)," one said in Latin as the rogue held a wand gingerly but ready to strike.

Mahbeeb looked ready for a fight and held his sword's handle, "سواء فقداننا أو الفوز هو غير ذي صلة. نحن نعرف الآن كيف تعمل ولماذا تريد أن تبدأ هذه الحرب الجديدة. (Whether we lose or win is irrelevant. We know now how you operate and why you wanted to start this new war.)," he said and one rogue eyed him, "O vere. (Oh really.)," the rogue sneered.

"نعم فعلا. الانتهازية ، وتأمل في الخروج في نهاية هذا الصراع الهزلي. والصدر ليس له معنى. إنها زخرفة الأناركية. (Yes. Opportunism, hoping to come out on top in the end of this farcical struggle, and the chest has no meaning. It's decoration for anarchism.)," he added and his uncle briefly stopped him before speaking.

The prince's guardian/uncle stepped forward, "سننتهي هذه الليلة وأنت ... (We will finish this tonight and you…)," he looked at this group's leader, a woman with a pixie cut and unsheathed his sword, "هل أنت شجاع بما يكفي لمواجهة زوجك؟ (Are you brave enough to face your betters?)"

She was unfazed as she too unsheathed her sword, a rapier. The woman in question was itching for a rematch against the one who nearly stopped her two years ago in Philadelphia. But the older man would do, "Paratus es? (Are you ready?)"

Hakeem was wearing a serious expression as he spun his iron staff with an iron mace at the top designed to show his rank in Islam as a imam or priest, as well as to ward off dark forces. But also it can do one more thing, "Nipa ore-ọfẹ Allah, ati awọn oriṣa oriṣa awọn baba mi ti sin ... jẹ ki a bẹrẹ. (By the grace of Allah, and the old gods my ancestors worshipped…let's begin.)," he swung the iron staff over his head and swiftly struck the earth beneath them.

The reverberation caused the ground to shake violently and affect the balance of the rogues. This got the two Arabs to charge, and their scimitars unsheathed, glimmering in an yellow-orange glow under the street lamps. Then the prince's uncle/guardian clashed his blade with the rogue group's leader and fighting commenced with steel and power.

[Gramercy Park, Midtown, 9:15PM]

Another group of rogues were on E. 20th St. looking for what was hidden last night. If LMM had only planned this far, they feel they are lacking at this point. These five were in Belarus and had no altercation directly with the group or their magi allies. They walked across the street and two mystics in the group confirmed the chest's location, "Ёнзнаходзіццаўнутрыгэтагабудынка, сэр. Наадзінаццатымпаверсе. (It's inside that building, sir. On the eleventh floor.)," one rogue said in Belarusian.

The leader who was big, tall, broad-shouldered, crew cut with mask on as the rest of the rogues were nodded and ushered him to go and retrieve the chest. The mystic then ran inside so quickly he appeared as a mist, due to the specific runes he was using tattooed on his legs. He ran up the floors in just a few seconds and got to the floor. He entered the room by breaking down the door with an energy blast and walked inside. He turned and felt the presence of the chest inside a safe and turned the dial in several revolutions and opened it. Inside was the chest in question and held it, then he ran back downstairs and now outside again. He thought it was all clear now, but he noticed his group and leader looking to their right, they weren't alone.

Anan, Sam, Oskana, and then two magi Apparated there, Jane and Rachel with their wands ready for combat. Oskana approached first and spoke in Russian, "Прекратитеэтобезумиесейчас, сэр. Вынепереживетеночь. Япозабочусьобэтом. (End this madness now, sir. You will not survive the night. I will make sure of it.)," she threatened in a low voice.

The leader sternly looked at her and returned it also in Russian, "Ночьмолода, г-жаЮрлова. Сэтимсказал(The night is young, Ms. Yurlova. With that said)," he puts on a glove with a rune seal painted on it where it sparkled with esoteric energy, "Игразаканчиваетсяздесь. (The game ends here.)"

Sam looked to Anan who nodded, the two preparing to fight and got in a stance. Jane and Rachel looked at each other and readied themselves to defend and attack. Oskana felt her own power rise up in her and her eyes changed from its usual blue eyes to a wolf gold and her blonde hair became darker in tone. She hunched over and started growl lowly in tone. The others looked at her with wariness but knowing she was on their side, their suspicions were settled for the moment. A curse was launched by one of the rogues, Jane conjured a protective shield charm, fighting commenced with spells and claws.

[Sixth Avenue, Midtown, 9:30PM]

Across town, Dante and Fatma were waiting for Tucker to come and lend a hand as they headed for a non-descript building on Lexington Ave across from Bloomberg L.P. The two headed for the service entrance around back and Dante unlocked it quickly with his abilities and ushered Fatma inside first. He closed the door and the two went downstairs to the basement and to their left Fatma sensed something not shown in the detailed plans Dante got from public records. An outline was in the wall unnoticed by regular people, but for esoterics and familiars, "Looks like we found a more suitable room for our purposes."

"What do you mean," he asked her.

She raised her right hand, using two fingers now glowing in an orange-red and touched the engraved pattern on the wall and the concrete began to fall apart. As the dust settled, there was a door with a keypad and a USB slot. Dante set to work to access the code to open it. After a moment or so thanks to him loaning his old PDA for one last job, he accessed the code, punched it on the keypad and the door opened. He unplugged it from the USB slot and ahead of the two was a tunnel with the lights on that led to across the street's to that building's own basement, "Let's go."

The two ran down the hall and opened the door on the other side. Once there they see another door and Fatma wanted to use her abilities again, but Dante broke out the black light to see what keys were used and when he did see, he punched in the code and inside was jackpot for him. A massive mainframe set up and due to it, it was air-conditioned inside so much he took out two jackets for himself and Fatma, "Stand by at the door and keep a look out for Tucker. He should be coming soon."

She nodded and went to stand at the door to cover his back while he took out his laptop and cables to attach it to the mainframe. Once connected and accessing the network, he set out to find the WWAEI network in the city, thinking they are linked up to another mainframe somewhere since the usual methods up until last night stopped working. So he was not minding his lack of tact in trying to find the network and digging through the clutter and finding a digital footprint. This will take some time and hopefully when Tucker comes, the work can pick up. Remote access is not an option right now.

Tucker was indeed coming and was tracking Fatma's cellphone's GPS and once he did he headed down the same alleyway and found the door. He headed downstairs and found Fatma there down the hallway. He rushed to them and as he also started to work with Dante, there was someone who tracks him here and will cause some trouble for them tonight.

[The Bronx, 9:50PM]

William, Wilfredo, James, and Anthony were waiting in their location to block off the exit from Manhattan and into the borough. William was stretching his limbs just waiting for a battle, James was psyching himself to defend the line, Anthony wanted to pull his weight and make up for his absence, and Wilfredo held two war axes from his home (old and passed down the family for generations). The guys decided to main the bridges that led to The Bronx: William was standing guard on the Macombs Dam Bridge, Wilfredo was on the 145th Street Bridge, James on the Madison Avenue Bridge, and Anthony on the Third Avenue Bridge. The reason for this was the Washington Bridge was being guarded by a local group in that zone, while other also had the same set up thanks to The Union as Wilfredo got intelligence from Vinnie earlier in the afternoon. Plus the selected bridges were in close proximity to one another for the guys so if one is in trouble, the others can provide assistance before returning to his post.

Then on Wilfredo's radio he heard a transmission, "Four to six rogues coming your way! One has the chest! I repeat, one has the chest," which he responded, "Copy that."

He then relayed the message to the guys at their positions, "Four to six bogies coming in and fast with the chest! If one of them has it, take him out quickly and retrieve it," and the other three responded with a clear, "Roger!"

From Wilfredo's point of view, he can see one coming and had no chest with him and held his twin war axes in both hands. The rogue supporter looked shell-shocked and wanted to leave the city with his life. But then sees Wilfredo ahead of him and materialized his staff to fight his way to escape. As the staff made contact with the steel blades of the axes, the others were now dealing with their share of rogue supporters. William felt power surging through him as he was blasted with the Cruciatus Curse by one rogue supporter (who did not hold the chest) and tried to withstand it as he then blasted the curse away with his own wand. The two then exchanged blows via spells and curses, with bursts of magical energy exchanged between the two, displaying raw power that cracked the street road around them. With James he was fighting with another rogue supporter in more a fencing style with bursts of magical energy deflecting and thrusting as if with swords. Anthony who exercised more with technique was showing the fruits of his labors. With each strike he was exercising misdirection in making the dead on shots miss and using the shadows around to absorb the magical attacks and then attack from a safe distance.

The four men in question were holding the line as best as they can and William at one point discarded his wand and then felt his power surge more, from inside out. In a flash he grabbed the rogue's arm, snatched the wand, snapped it in two between his fingers, lifted the man up and threw him over the bridge and into the water below. Then his muscles burned and ripped below his skin and felt himself grow a foot in height and his muscles grow bigger, more powerful, his hair grow longer and more course, his teeth sharpen, and his eye color changing from a warm blue to now a feral yellow. He growled, not akin to Oskana's own transformation of a werewolf, but more closer to, the beast.

He ran down the road to reach the 145th Street Bridge and Wilfredo was holding his own against a rogue. Wilfredo was parrying blows and struck several times, dodged and attacked the rogue supporter. For a bit of time it's been sport for him and as he blocked a staff blow William shouted in low but loud declaration towards him, "Stop dicking around and finish him off!"

This got Wilfredo to snap into focus and in three moves, knocked the staff to the ground, used the pommel of one war axe to strike a blow to the rogue's jaw, and then used the head of the other axe to strike another blow but to the stomach. This knocked out the air from the rogue and he fell to the ground in pain and slipped into unconsciousness.

Wilfredo looked at William who towered him by a head, "You grew taller."

"I know. And your speed is coming through," William commented and looked down at the rogue supporter, taken out in three seconds.

Wilfredo nodded, "Since last night, things are becoming easier to do," he said and then the two stood beside each other, "No chest from these two. Damn," he cursed this bad luck.

William in his 'Beast' form looked at him and around, and then sniffed the air, "We're not done yet! Maintain your line and I'll do the same for mine," he then ran back to his position leaving Wilfredo.

He wondered what was the case and then sees two more rogue supporters coming for him. So he radioed James and Anthony, "More grunts coming in! Not sure what's going on though," he then changed the radio channel, "Danny! Come in! What's going on up there?"

"Crazy shit, that's what! Over!"

MEANWHILE,

Above the cityscape with the lights of the city glimmering below Danny and Valerie were fighting rogue magi on brooms and mystics flying with seals for flight under them. The exchange of ectoplasmic blasts and energy blasts of magic and mystical attacks to counter Valerie's energy weapons. On her hover-board and in her tactical outfit, she sped after one mage on broom and then heard, "Reducto!"

Valerie puts up her shield to block it and the spell exploded on impact. Valerie hunkered behind it and still on her hover-board and the mage looked at her with murderous intent. She de-activated her shield and readied herself and then Danny then struck from above the mage and the mage plummeted towards the earth and she sped after the rogue. She grabbed the rogue by the scruff of the collar, just above the roof of an apartment building and then she was struck in the back by a spell and the two then fell down and landed hard on the roof. Above the two fallen was another story…

Danny was fighting hard and fast with the rogue mystic who specialized in handling of all things, spectral threats. The mystic's attacks were penetrating his ectoplasmic shields and deflected his own attacks in return. His only ace was his ice powers he acquired back in high school and he used it to compensate for his ectoplasmic attacks. He then made a naginata out of ice and attacked the mystic who then brought out his own staff from his robes. Sparks flew when his ghost powers conflicted with the mystic's energy and their aerial battle was laced with danger. Danny knew his was at a disadvantage due to past school fights with Wilfredo, but also knew a weakness they all had, but he had to time it just right.

The mystic rogue spun his staff and struck Danny's ice naginata. Sparks flew again as she then flew toward Danny and made another attempt. Danny dodged; knowing turning invisible against a mystic's assault would do more harm than good. But he was patient, willing to do this dance a bit longer. Meanwhile below him, Valerie was stirring on the building's roof.

Valerie slowly blinked her eyes to get back into focus. She slowly got up, blessed her luck that the suit can handle an impact from that height, perversely thanking Vlad Plasmius when he offered her that suit years ago. Of course since then its been upgraded twice over to handle more threats to her city. She got up and on one knee can see the mage unconscious. She shakily got back on her feet and took her ectoplasmic pistol off her holster and primed it to fire at the mage if he dared to stir. She inched closer and then she was side kicked off balance by the mage who got back up on his feet and kicked the pistol out of the way. Valerie then protected her torso and head as best she could.

The mage then took out his wand to strike her with a curse. But he too was put down once more but using her own judo training to submit him and while pinning him to the roof, she grabbed the wand and threw it aside, "Now…why are you doing this? Aren't mystics and magi supposed to be on the same team?"

He growled, "Easy for a normal person to think and say. It's not all Harry Potter and all that shite. This segregation is best for us. If rounded up in one group, it's easy for your society to persecute and limit our mobility. And makes it easier for organizations to subdue us when they study us, like animals."

She tightened her grip, "I know the US for example fucks up on a lot of things. Hell I'm Black, but that doesn't mean I have to stoop down to the level many in power seem to see us as. You're doing the same thing for those who abuse their power and expect this sort of conflict. It's not too late to stop this."

The mage looked at her, "I sympathize with your overall situation in the wider society and you speak logic. But," he outstretched his fingers, "Accio wand!"

The wand flew back to his fingers and twirled it to point it at her but she then adjusted her grip to divert the wand's direction, "It's too late to stop this war. The chest we seek has the truth about it. Once destroyed and we pin the blame on either side in the fog of war, then like a forest fire we cleanse the inept government of our kind and start over."

She realized it now, "This is all bullshit. From the way you explained yourself…" she struggled against the waves of his magical aura pushing against her, "It's to promote anarchy for its own thing. Causing havoc because you can't get your way," she called him out on his group's bogus agenda.

The mage's aura then proved too powerful to pin and she was thrown back. She groaned from the impact and saw her pistol still primed to fire. Without delay or thought she grabbed it, aimed it at the mage who was about to fire a curse pulled the trigger and a blast of ectoplasmic energy struck him in the chest and it threw him back towards the ledge and in the split second he fell screaming. She got up and rushed to the ledge and sees him on the fire escape, seemingly unconscious. She climbed down the ladder to see if he was all right, but upon checking the mage's pulse, she pulled back. The man in question died when he hit the back of his head near the base of the neck and damaged the spinal chord.

She then radioed her friends, "Danny, Sam, half a mile north of the Empire State Building a mage is down and out on my end. I repeat, a mage is down and out. For good and it was due to him hitting the back of his head on the fire escape when I fired on him."

[Gramercy Park, Midtown, 10:03PM]

"Valerie! Come in! If the mage is dead, then all you can do is take him to the pavement and let the coroners handle it! Continue to help Danny with air support! Over!"

Sam radioed her friend as she took on two rogue supporters and dodged several close strikes. She flipped backward and land on the hood of the car. Then she got a response from Valerie over her headset radio, "Copy that!"

With that response she then leapt from the hood of the car and landed kicks on one to the chest and the other to the head, knocking them out. Anan used the shadows around them to reappear and disappear with her hands folded with a look of serenity on her face before striking several rogues at pressure points. Since this started, more of them appeared out of alleyways, "The group got themselves allies from across the ocean. Damn," she said under her breath.

Indeed, with them as with others, these new allies for the rogue group proved to be tougher than they originally suspected. As soon as they were knocked down or out, they would come back up to continue. Simple close-quarters combat wasn't helping or even using energy attack to dissuade them. Even Oskana along with Jane and Rachel were out of options to stay their hand, to see if simply overpowering them without killing them would suffice.

Then the moment came for the group where Anan appeared after knocking down several of rogue supporters. She stepped out of the shadows but then struck in the shoulder and then struck by the Cruciatus Curse and was now on her knees in pain. She groaned in pain and looked up at her attacker with fierce eyes. The rogue supporter then raised his wand to deliver the final blow, but then Oskana picked him up in her werewolf form; tall, foreboding, teeth threatening to eat the man. But she brought him down to her kneed, broke his back, tossed to the ground and raised her right-clawed hand to maul his neck. Blood flowed with a chunk missing. Anan got up straining against the effects of the curse. She then stepped on the wand, rendering it useless. She looked up at Oskana and nodded in thanks, Oskana returned it and the two proceeded to fight on.

Sam, fighting alongside Rachel and Jane saw this and felt horrified. The two magi women however knew this marked a definite change, holding back was no longer an option. They turned around to see the tall and strong looking leader of this rogue group clenching his fists. The two struck at him, but the hexes and curses did little to faze him. Instead he struck the two magi women across the faces, which had them on the ground, Sam intervened but was then pinned to the wall with his right forearm across her chest. He used his left hand to unsheathe a bowie knife to slice across her throat, "Шкада, тыпрыгажуня. (Pity, you are a beauty.)"

Sam was filled with horror with Danny nowhere in sight, but then Oskana pulled the man off her. He flew backward but landed on his feet. He cracked his neck to prepare for a fight, "Samantha. Leave here with Rachel and Jane. Anan and I will hold the line from here on out," she said in a deep feral voice.

"What! Screw that Yurlova! We can't leave you alone," Sam objected, but then was stopped by Rachel who spoke to Oskana, "When you're done here, meet us along the East River. No doubt everyone will arrive in short time there."

"Thank you. Now go," Oskana said as she charged towards the rogue group's leader, who surprisingly was meeting her with equal physical strength. Anan then used the shadows to disappear then flip out of a window three stories up and landed a kick to the man's head. But he grabbed her leg and threw her to the wall across from them.

She used the shadows to disappear, avoiding physical harm. Oskana slashed at the man with her claws but he blocked it with a mystic rune shield. The energy shield dissipated and then he charged to then grapple and wrestle her. She folded her two hands to strike downward on his back but he then got her off balance to pin her to the ground. As he reached for his knife away, he was struck through the neck with a shard of glass. He gurgled blood as Anan pulled it out and he slumped to the right side, dead. Oskana then reached for his neck and took a big chunk of flesh to eat. Anan covered her mouth a bit before Oskana stood up and looked down at the British Indian woman.

"Thank you. Now, let's leave this area and head for the East River," Oskana said and Anan nodded, the two following the trail by the now werewolf Russian woman using the sides of the buildings to leap from one to the other while Anan took leaps buildings ahead using her shadow teleportation.

[Hell's Kitchen, Midtown, 10:20PM]

With the collective dilemma coming to mind for LMM and their allies against the WWAEI, the prince, his guardian uncle and the priest decided to not use kid gloves anymore. As soon the prince blocked a strike from his opponent's blade, he pushed him back, quickly unsheathed his dagger, and sliced the man's neck. As soon as the man fell to the ground to his knees, he raised his sword and beheaded the man quickly as to not prolong the suffering. The priest and his uncle noticed this and knew it was time to unleash their collective fury. So in a whirlwind of steel and esoteric blasts, the mystic allies cut down the rogue supporters in quick succession after holding back.

This prompted the prince's guardian to approach his nephew and stood beside him, "ما هو شعورك في هذه اللحظة؟ (What do you feel at the moment?)," he asked and the prince looked at him face to face and said, "أشعر ... أشعر إذا أردنا أن نجعل من هذه الليلة ضربة وإجبار هؤلاء الأوغاد مرة أخرى عبر المحيط الأطلسي ، فليكن. (I feel…I feel if we are to make dent tonight and force these bastards back across the Atlantic, then so be it.)"

The uncle didn't blink and simply looked at his charge. He wanted to see if there was a bloodlust that was formed, but nothing of the sort. Instead he saw a boy learning one of the hard truths of the world and slowly becoming a man. The sheathed his sword and then pressed his radio headset, "Come in LMM affiliates and allies. First kills made in Hell's Kitchen. I repeat, first kills made here in Hell's Kitchen," he then breathed, "For those who cannot do this, no judgment upon you, but if you feel you can handle the responsibility, then the green light is on."

The then ceased his communication and looked at his nephew and the priest, "السادة الأفاضل. هل باستطاعتنا المتابعة؟ (Gentlemen. Shall we continue?)," and the priest who held his staff spoke in his accented Arabic, "يجب أن نتجه على طول الواجهة البحرية لهذه الجزيرة للعثور على المزيد. لا أعتقد أنه سيأتي بعد الآن بهذه الطريقة إذا كان طريقهم للهروب صعبًا. (We should head along the waterfront of this island to find more. I don't think anymore will come this way if their route of escape is this difficult.)"

"في الواقع. (Indeed.)," the uncle said and amidst the destruction, he sees on car in the distance not destroyed, "تأتي. (Come.)," he said and walked a block down to a black sedan.

He used a small tipped hammer from his pocket and used it to strike the car window and it shattered. He unlocked the door and disabled the alarm quickly, "أدخل. (Get in.)," he told his nephew and the priest.

Both of them got in the back of the car and closed the doors. The prince's uncle in question hotwired the car and once it revved to life he closed the driver's door and drove away in the dark city ahead of them. Along the Hudson River going south he can see lights of SWAT teams and other police officers doing battle with a Greek trireme and hearing cannon fire. He swerved to the left and headed east.

"إلى أين تذهب؟ المعركة هي الطريقة الأخرى! (Where are we going? The battle is the other way!)," his nephew called out while his uncle sped up the car and dodged traffic, "أعلم ، ولكننا بحاجة إلى معرفة ما إذا كان الآخرون بحاجة إلى مساعدتنا. بالقرب من The Bronx ، تم التعامل مع الأولاد ، يتولى السيد Fenton والسيدة Grey الدعم الجوي. (I know, but we need to know if others need our assistance. Near The Bronx the boys got that handled, Mr. Fenton and Ms. Grey are handling air support.)," and booms of energy are heard above them.

"لاحظ على النحو الواجب. ونحن بحاجة إلى العثور على بقية حلفائنا. (Duly noted. And we need to find the rest of our allies.)," he said and the priest spoke, "حسناً ، السيد لاسكانو ، والسيدة أسغاري ، والسيد فولي موجودان في وسط المدينة بالقرب من مقر "بلومبرغ" لمحاولة العثور على المارقين من أجلنا. نظرًا لأنها سكتت ، فإما أنها تخلت عن وظيفتها أو تستخدم إشارة تشويش لإخفاء أنشطتها. (Well Mr. Lascano, Ms. Asgari, and Mr. Foley are in Midtown near Bloomberg Headquarters to try and locate the rogues for us. Since they have gone silent, its either they've abandoned their post or using a jamming signal to mask their activities.)"

"لكن هذا لا يفسر لماذا لا يزالون يستخدمون أجهزة الراديو والسماعات؟ (But that doesn't explain why they are still using radios and headsets?)," the prince said and then his uncle said, "المجوس التكنولوجيا. استخدام السحر والتقنية لتظل تعمل حتى مع وجود إشارة تشويش في مكانها. ومع ذلك... (Magi-tech. Utilizing magic and technology to still operate even with a jamming signal in place. However…)," he swerved to the left again and now heading north, "دع الثلاثة في التعامل مع ذلك. نحن بحاجة للعثور على الآخرين في هذه المدينة الفئران الموبوءة. (Let the three in question handle that. We need to find the others in this rat infested city.)"

"Ti gba. (Agreed.)," the priest responded as he held his staff and looked out to the city and up at the high-rises. He then sensed something incoming. He tapped his staff once and the car glowed a royal purple color and a blast of magical energy pummeled the car from behind, but the shield the priest conjured for the car protected them.

The prince's guardian looked at him via the rearview mirror before looking where he was driving, "شكرا لك سيدي. (Thank you, sir.)," he said and the priest nodded as they continued on their path.

MEANWHILE

[Sixth Avenue, Midtown, 10:25PM]

Dante was using every algorithm he knew to try and find the rogue network in the city. The current state of law enforcement has also made Internet traffic show or at least the security for the mainframe tripled since last night, as far as he can make out in the lines of code. Tucker was working with his back to Dante's and Fatma was at the doorway ready to take down anyone who would come there. Secretly she has a dagger tucked under her light denim jacket over her tank top and jeans with sneakers. She and the guys know the protocol had changed after several rogue deaths have been confirmed. As she stood guard, the guys were making steady progress in finding the digital footprints of the WWAEI, "Okay by triangulating the signals on these locations, we can pinpoint where their base is," Tucker said.

"Remember we are out of time, but that's not an excuse for sloppy work. We gotta sign out of here and not leave a trace," Dante reminded him as he typed away code.

Tucker nodded and then an alarm was beeping on his screen, "Someone spotted us," he exclaimed, "Check who it is," Dante ordered and Tucker was typing code to find the source but the third party was faster in computer coding than Tucker was.

"Too fast! The guy's too fast," Tucker exclaimed, so Dante came into his own in isolating the code used by the third party and by dissecting it bit by bit, he figured who it wasn't. This wasn't from the WWAEI, but rather someone else disabling their work as well as the rogues'.

Then, he gave his orders, "We finish up here and leave immediately," Dante said as furiously typed away on his laptop, "Whoever these people are…they are hired, paid a lot of money, and can out program a lot of hackers…except me."

With the execution of keystrokes, he sent a programmed worm to the third party hackers and waited for their connection to sever. With luck on their side, it did and this prompted to him to find the trail quickly and he found them, "Upper East Side!"

He exited the mainframe as did Tucker and got their cables and laptops and rushed out of the mainframe room. Once out, Fatma closed the door and the three rushed out of the place, headed back to the building across the street, shut the other door and headed back outside. Once on the street Dante called their base in the Waldorf, "What's our status?"

"Best if you avoid the waterfront from LES to the Brooklyn Bridge. Police teams are swarming along it to make sure Alastair and his crew doesn't torch the neighborhoods down. Over," Christine's voice was heard, painting a not so pretty picture.

He sighed, "Well we may have found a lead. I want you to find whatever you can that pinpoints to radio traffic not on the police frequency in UES. Over," he ordered calmly which got a, "Roger that," from her and hung up. He then texted the location for the group to her and waited for a response

MEANWHILE,

[Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, Midtown, 10:41AM]

Jang was wrapping his training wraps around his ankles and lower calves as he did for his wrists and fists. He stretched himself while Christine was scouring the police radio with a lot of traffic on the waterfront, which is great for them to try to keep the rogues from escaping the island. But right now with a possible area of the city where the rogues are basing their operations in, she then can look for higher than normal communications in the Upper East Side. Lionel, Juliette, Edmond, and Ahmed were there as well to hold down the fort while also prepare for who may enter who's not a friend. As she dialed in on the frequency and found them, "Gotcha!"

She then texted the location to Dante:

{Christine to Dante: Central Park area}

She waited for a response and of course she got:

{Dante to Christine: Be more specific}

She listened carefully on the frequency used by the rogues and trying to hear some background conversations, she thinks she's got something:

{Christine to Dante: Correction. MoMA area on Fifth and 81st St.}

At this moment a knock was on the door. Jang and others were on high alert. He approached the door slowly and looked through the peephole and sees an unfamiliar face in a black turtleneck, black trousers, a mask, and…a wand. Jang turned to them as he lowered himself and moved to the side. He motioned them to quietly move and hide. He then heard the lock on the door being undone. The door opened and Jang quickly moved into action side kicked the mage off balance, held the right hand up, forcing the wand to point upward, then swiftly brought it down to strike the arm force the wand out of the hand. Jang got it and threw it aside. He then got in stance and quickly launched punches and kicks, and one chest kick was enough to launch the mage to the wall opposite of Jang, going over the computer and radio equipment. As the mage was getting up, Christine had a briefcase in hand to then strike him in the head, and this knocked the guy out.

"How did they find us," Lionel exclaimed and Ahmed rushed for the door, remembering to be out of sight and looked out and down the hallway at both ends. He rushed to everyone else, "Grab what you can carry and let's get the hell out of here," he said as he hurriedly grabbed his bag and packed the essentials.

There was no room to argue and everyone there did just as he said. Within a minute they all grabbed their bags and lined in single file and walked out in quiet but in a hurried pace. They headed for the end of the hallway and heard the arching of lights behind them. As they moved, Zane looked back as he gripped his sword's hilt as he saw the lights at the other end going out one by one, "Move guys!"

They then ran for the end of the hall for the emergency stairway. They opened the door and ran down the stairs. Then one rogue came from above and landed in front of Zane. He dodged at the knick of time as he quickly unsheathed his sword and gutted the rogue supporter. The CCTV was still filmed on a loop due to Tucker's programming he set up prior to joining Dante and Fatma, but they had to get out of there. So they donned their balaclavas and rushed down. Zane cleaned his blade and sheathed his weapon once more. They made their way to the lower level that then led to a pathway used by the staff. They rushed by some who then see one seemingly normal man come with long knives. Zane unsheathed his sword and parried away. The rogue used his two long knives, with the length of short swords to battle Zane and it was quick as the two parried away, Zane saw an opening and gutted the man in question. He let the man fall and as some screamed he cleaned the blade and joined the others to head out of the hotel.

As they made their way to the garage they saw a black van. They rushed to it, Gilberto took off the license plate and replaced it with a fake one, Alberto opened the driver's door with a hanger attached to a rod, the alarm sounded and he disabled it. Jang, Christine, Lionel and Zane got inside in a hurry as Gilberto finished attaching the license plate and Alberto hotwired the van. They closed the doors and rushed out of the Waldorf Astoria. NYPD would come to investigate the dead men inside and call in the CSI Unit to bring in the coroners. But at the moment, many if not most of the force are along the waterfront.

MEANWHILE

[New York Harbor, 10:55PM]

Cannon fire was being launched from the frigate on Alastair's orders, who was on his trireme towards the harbor towards SWAT and the police. Their shots were to disperse the local law enforcement; casualties were of course, par for the course. However their main targets were the rogues and their supporters amongst the officers on the ground and in the helicopters above. For those above shooting down rounds and launched grenades, the pirates and uruks fired buckshot from cannons and that was able to disperse most helicopters and scare the officers.

One uruk came to Alastair as one grenade was detonated against the hull of the ship but thankfully above the waterline, "Looks like the lawmen here have toys of their own," he said as Alastair took down one rogue who found his way onto his ship with his saber, "No shit they do," he gritted his teeth as he pulled out the blade from the dead man.

As the dead body slumped to the ground, "What is the status on our land based allies in the city? Any word," he asked the uruk who shook his head, "Once those kids have gotten the lead to begin, they're all over the place. But strategically placed to take on these bastards and keep them from leaving the island."

Alastair nodded and looked along the port side of his ship as they were sailing right to the East River area, "All right. We're approaching the bridges and we need to know if our friends will meet us there to end this party of sorts. Damn the wind. It's dead tonight," he looked up at the sails and the rowers below can only get so fast at full power while following the frigate.

Paszhar his chief necromancer approached him, "Sir! We got word! LMM and allies have made their kills. It's official, these rogues are playing for keeps," he told him and Alastair nodded, "And so will we. Men! Uruks! Once we reach the bridges, let the real party begin!"

He grinned as he heard cheers and hollers of primal joy as the noise of sirens and helicopters were still around them. They stayed on course and continued to defend against law enforcement and battling the rogues and their supporters simultaneously. In the captain's cabin however, George was looking plans to take a cargo ship located along the docks of Brooklyn; the second stage of the battle was about to begin.

MEANWHILE BACK IN THE CITY

[The Bronx, 11:09PM]

What started as a brief annoyance for the guys, now turned into a mess of fighting rogue forces and police who have split up to target areas where activity has risen. Wilfredo and William were handing at the moment twenty homegrown supporters for the WWAEI as well as fighting off people who came in from Europe to help. To their continual lack of shock but no less surprising was that the police were more aggressive in their tactics and those holding the line were continuing to fend off their shots while also fighting off the rogues. William in his Beast form was able to run down many by sheer brute force and also in the process intimidated the police who found their bullets did nothing to him, or their tazors. With a mighty roar he scared off the remaining officers. The rogue supporters' shook in fear and with that, it was done. He took them all down with ease, many unconscious or dead. In fact, two dozen lie dead around him. He sniffed the air and ran south.

On Wilfredo's end he was now fighting off only one as he struck down and killed nine men, he was then struck in the arm by a blade. He growled and the stuck the blade of one of his hatchets into the man's chest. As the man fell to his knees, Wilfredo struck the man's neck and the head was chopped clean off. He grimaced at the wound he suffered but then tore a piece of his shirt to wrap the wound. He then saw William running for him but he waved reassuringly.

"We should head for the others. I'll watch Anthony's back and you watch James's," Wilfredo said and William in his Beast form nodded a no, "Nay! If you feel this trouble, then we will lose ground! Let us think of this as sport so the other two can hold their line!"

Wilfredo looked up at him to discern if William was serious. With a short intense stare, he nodded, "Sport?"

William grinned, showing his sharp white teeth, "Aye! Sport! Who can kill the most here before moving on to the next venue?"

Wilfredo nodded with a competitive glint in his eye, "You're on, fur ball," he said with a grin and got into his position.

"I take offense, Sir Jockstrap," William shouted but also grinned as he readied himself.

The two fable descendants stayed at Wilfredo's post to then hold the line until the rogues' forces died down. Thus in this the four formed two teams of two to fight off the remaining forces and keep the line as best they can. Then as the four prepared, twelve are coming for both teams out of the woodworks. James was heading north to aid Anthony and once there, Anthony was panting and feeling drained, "I should be wary of using too many spells and hexes," he said to James.

James nodded as he twirled his wand, "Conserve your energy and use other tactics," he said as he sheathed his wand back along his belt, "And do what," Anthony asked.

Then James as he wore a light jacket then sprung forth two mini clubs, dodged a hex and got in close to bash a rogue supporter's head, causing the man to fall to the ground. Anthony widened his eyes at this, and then hollered, "Protego!"

The shield charm was able to protect himself and James but knowing his own reserves were diminishing. He did have one weapon on hand in case this happened. As the shield charm shattered, he unsheathed a dagger that he used alongside short bursts of hexes to target the rogue supporters to then inflict wounds. With focus he struck at vulnerable spots on the bodies; the neck, under the arms, under the ribs, and the back. The order to no longer hold back against them, the magi now can fully utilize their skills while also be wary of law enforcement officers and only inflict non-lethal injuries upon them.

Minutes pass by between the two teams, William and Wilfredo finished off the rest of the rogue supporters, as did James and Anthony. Between knocking some out, and killing the more aggressive ones, sans masks or with them while fighting. The CCTV cameras around are deactivated but won't last long, and the four would have to leave the area soon. Elsewhere, Tucker was monitoring the timestamps on the different locations where his program was effective in.

[Upper East Side, 11:17PM]

Tucker monitored the program he implemented on his aging PDA and puts it away in his bag. He knew time was winding down and they have to move faster from here on out. Dante, Fatma, and Tucker left their carriage and arrived to the area of the Museum of Metropolitan Art and 81st Street. Fatma tipped the driver who tipped his hat and ushered the horse to gallop away and disappeared around the corner. Tucker saw this and was mildly amazed, "Magic, what a thing."

"Yes. But we need to focus," Dante told him and then walked up to Fatma and asked her, "Senti qualcosa di sbagliato nella zona? (Do you sense anything wrong with the area?)"

Fatma looked around, with the museum two blocks away, and breathed in a bit, "Non sono sicuro ... qualcuno si nasconde e cerca di assicurarsi che nessuno si avvicini per una ragione. (Not sure…someone is hiding and looking to make sure no one comes close for a reason.)," she replied as Tucker then came up next to her and held up a device that measures aura fields around.

He scanned the area, "Some families here and there but nothing too out of the ordinary. But," he was about to finish and then it beeped an alarm, "Watch out!"

Then a bolt of magical energy blasted towards Dante and Fatma and the two dodged in the knick of time while Tucker ducked and stuck close to the shadows along the wall. Dante and Fatma looked around frantically and Dante found discarded metal pipe. He used his AT Field ability to mold it into a rapier like weapon; "This will have to do," muttering to the two.

Fatma got in a fighting stance, "Show yourself coward!"

As she hollered to the street Tucker was ducking behind a car, "What a way to be covert huh?"

Dante shushed him and the two LMM members were now standing side by side. He was listening for any sort of sound that stood apart from the traffic around them and Fatma was sensing for any aural change in the air. She then stepped away from Dante to put up a barrier while he parried suddenly against a man who appeared in dandy clothing. As he swiped the man disappeared and then Fatma blocked further attacks but couldn't land a blow on the mystery man.

"Damn it," Dante hissed as he missed the man again and Fatma said the same while she failed to make contact as well. Meanwhile Tucker was to the side and found his device was acting up, unable to calculate where the mystery man was. He turned it off and then looked up and about to see what would be out of place.

However, as Tucker raised his head to look over the hood of the sedan, a blade was felt on his neck, "Don't move much."

Dante and Fatma heard this and spun around and prepared to attack but see Tucker, "Let him go!"

"Relax," the said but did not turn around, "Just having my bit of fun," he then sheathed his pointed dagger, "And wondering if you three will bring chaos here to my neighborhood."

The man turned around and the two still on guard see a man immaculately dressed for a soiree or a get together in a gentleman's lodge for cigars and Scotch. Fatma and Dante lowered their guard a bit, but Dante still held his makeshift rapier though just in case. After dangling with that dark lord back in Poland, he knew luck wouldn't help him or others this time.

The dandy man in question grinned as he turned around with his hands up, "Like I said, relax. I'm just here to protect my business and home down the block. Also," in a flash he brandished his pistol and fired a shot.

Fatma and Dante heard the bang and before they can attack, a man fell down dead behind them. The two LMM members looked on in surprise and then a deep laugh resonated around then and Dante knew whom it was. He turned around in a flash with his makeshift rapier and dagger ready and the mystery American also unsheathed his saber to see who it was. The voice then spoke, "Looks like my suspicions about you were correct."

The mystery American grinned, "Or I was never pretending to be anyone but me," he said and then a man appeared, grinning and dressed in an imperial military uniform. However the badges and symbols adorning it did not match with other world powers of Earth.

Fatma knew immediately, "You're from across the door aren't you? But not of Ledger Domain," she said and the man bowed, "Very astute. I hail from Sairgoth, the same region Alastair served for seven years. Roland Hernan Jorvaskarn," the man spoke with a grin.

His face had a handsome mustache, trimmed but also curved upward at the corners of his mouth. His eyes were fair but intense, and his build suggested he could take them all on with little difficulty. Dante did not like this at all, "Fatma. Take Tucker out of here and escort him to Brooklyn."

She wanted to object but Tucker spoke in her stead, "Don't worry about me," he took out a weapon from his backpack and primed it, "I learned some things since Philadelphia," referencing the incident two years ago.

Roland arched an eyebrow, "Makes little difference to me. My only challenge here is the American, followed by Rathbone in the river," he stated as he too unsheathed his saber, made of Damascus steel.

The American sighed, "To put things in order, my name is Robert van der Berg," he then disappeared in the blink of an eye before Roland just blocked a strike in a split second. From this moment, everyone knew this man was no grunt or minion but a battle-hardened warrior who won't fall easily.

For the next few minutes the three were fighting Roland and he proved to be very skilled and dangerous. Fatma was at close-range with her abilities and skill, but the man's sword proved to be effective at keeping her at a distance. The blade was enchanted enough to break through her defenses, but to compensate her Dante defended her and parried Roland. Dante had not forgotten the short duel he had with Roland in Poland and nearly got killed in the process. This was not the moment to be sloppy in movement, but the Sairgothian warrior had graceful movements that cut sharply as water. He was more on the defensive and can't find an opening to strike against the man. Dante himself got slashed and cut across his body and as Roland was about to pierce the throat, then Robert stepped in by deflecting the blade.

"Don't think you'll win this so easily," Robert and Roland fought fiercely as their blades clashed and slashes made towards each other as they returned to fighting stances a few paces apart.

Robert and Roland looked at each other in the eye before the sound of sirens were coming, "Well," Roland sheathed his saber, "I have to find my main target for the evening."

The Sairgothian warrior levitated upward and Apparated away. Robert then saw the lights of two cars coming in. The four expected to see cops, but in fact it was Rodrigo driving one car while in the other was driving by Vincente with Michael as his passenger. With Rodrigo was Hanford, "Do you all need a lift," Rodrigo hollered out.

Robert and Tucker got in the car with Vincente and Michael while Dante and Fatma got in with Rodrigo and Hanford. As the cars screeched their tires and sped off, "Looks like facing against one of Alastair's foes here means one thing; none of the WWAEI are here in UES," Hanford told Dante and Fatma.

"But Christine tracked them to this location," Dante was upset upon hearing this information, but Hanford explained further, "False positive as doctors would say. They left some radio equipment attached to some explosives before Mr. Salieri here disarmed them."

Fatma and Dante looked at the driver who was driving quickly west towards Central Park, "The rest are in the green patch. At least according to some boys and girls in the force," the gruff man said as he shifted gears.

Meanwhile, Robert was checking his sword's blade while Tucker was clutching his bag nervously. The Spanish and Irish young men looked at the African American in question and smiled a bit, "Nervous?"

Tucker was brought out of his train of thought, and before answering the Irishman spoke, "It's okay. You're more the type to be behind a computer screen than to fight, but you fight anyway. That's courage for your ass there."

Vincente turned left and then right following Rodrigo's car in front, "Courage or not, we'll all meet up together with the others in the East River in due time. But first, let's handle the upcoming mess in the park," and with that, the park was across the intersection.

MEANWHIILE

[Upper West Side, 11:25PM]

Shinji, Emiko, and Koji were together within the two-block radius of the Juilliard. They just recently rescued Emily and a friend who were rehearsing late from a sneak attack from rogue supporters. Emily was next to Emiko as was Francesca Moliere, while Shinji and Koji were at the front. Koji in his traditional priest robes held his staff while Shinji held his 1911 Colt downward but alert. Koji silently motioned for him and he to move forward while Shinji nodded to Emiko the same motion. They headed for the corner of a block that took them further west of the school, down W. 66th Street. Now on Riverside Boulevard and across the street from Riverside Park South, to their right were the 160 Riverside Boulevard Apartments; they're still overly exposed.

"どういうわけかここから出なければなりません。 私たちはこのように野外で戦うことはできません。(We have to get out of here somehow. We can't fight in the open like this.)," Shinji said as he puts his pistol in its holster again, located on his left hip, "同意した。 しかし、間違いなく他の誰もがここの南にいます。 待ってください…私たちのうちの4人はブロンクスとマンハッタンの間の線を守っています。(Agreed. But no doubt everyone else is south of here. No wait…four of ours are defending the line between The Bronx and Manhattan.)," Koji confirmed as he surveyed the area with Shinji.

Emiko looked around and asked Emily in her accented English, "What other neighborhood is south of here?"

Emily answered, "Hell's Kitchen is just south of here in a straight line. If we go there, it would be easier to hide," she told her and Emiko looked at her and then at her old school mate in Francesca, "I'm sure this is odd for you to experience."

Francesca looked at her and then at the two Japanese guys she briefly met two years ago in Aulamerta. She then spoke, "If we get out of this alive, you better tell me everything, Takashiro. But first we need a safe spot to get away from here."

Emiko nodded, "Okay, we'll take you two Hell's Kitchen to safety. The three of us," Emiko referred to herself, Koji, and Shinji, "Then we'll head east to join the others."

Shinji spoke, "That's not a good idea. We should return to our original position and hold the line. Or better, head to the underground to make sure they don't leave the island," he proposed an alteration to their original plan.

Koji considered this, "That would be the wise decision. What do you say, Emiko," the priest in training looked to Emiko who considered it for a moment and nodded. Then they heard the screeching of tires from a fast incoming Toyota Corolla silver sedan, driving up from the south. The three Japanese readied themselves and the driver's window rolled down, "入れ！ (Get in!)"

To Shinji's surprise it was his older brother Haruki, "あなたは安全で生きています！ (You're safe and alive!)," he exclaimed and Haruki smiled and winked, "うん！ 今すぐあなたの中に入る！ (Yep! Now get in you guys!)"

Shinji ran for the car and spoke to his brother while Koji, Emiko, Emily, and Francesca got in, "I'm gonna hot wire a car and drive behind you! Give me a moment," he ran for an available black sedan, in this case a Nissan Altima from 2009.

He took out a small glass hammer to shatter the driver's window. He unlocked the door, turned off the alarm by going through the fuse box on the driver's side, then he hotwired it to start it up. Once started, quickly puts on a Bluetooth device in his right ear, swerved to the right and followed his brother one car behind. They made their way south as he called Emiko's phone and she answered, "エミコ、聞きなさい。 間違いなく、最後の対決はブルックリン橋に近いイーストリバーで起こります。 二人の女の子を降りると、地下を経由して東に向かいます。 (Emiko, listen. No doubt the final confrontation will take place in the East River close to the Brooklyn Bridge. Once we drop off the two girls, we head east, via the underground.)"

Emiko was unsure of his plan, but she was able to see the logic in his plan. So she responded after a moment of silence, "これは大きなリスクですが、他に何ができるでしょうか。 大丈夫、あなたの電話。 (It's a huge risk, but what else we can do? All right, your call.)"

Shinji nodded, "Thank you," he then hung up as he stayed close to the car in front of him. It only took a few minutes for them get to the neighborhood and they dropped off the girls outside of Stage 48 on W. 48th Street. The two drivers headed east for 8th Avenue and then parked the cars. The Japanese in question headed up 8th Avenue one block and went downstairs of the 50th Street Subway Station. They swiped their cards and once at the terminal, they just caught the train, the A Train to take them, but of course not knowing the route and for Shinji is a bit rusty took them north to Central Park.

[Upper East Side, 11:30PM]

The van left the Waldorf-Astoria area and now was trying to radio everyone else while also monitoring police traffic in the now makeshift hub. Heading north along Madison Avenue and swerving through traffic, they noticed Central Park to their left. Christine was monitoring several signals on the monitors as did the others and with her knowledge on where the police are, it's relatively open in this part of the city and noticed the signals heading for the same location, "Guys! Dante, Fatma, Tucker, Vincente, Michael, and the magi fixer in Rodrigo are heading for Central Park!"

"You're serious," Gilberto said as he drove.

"Positive! Not to mention, the Japanese crew are heading for the same place in the A Train…81st Street Station! And it looks like the WWAEI is also there and both groups will fight them near The Ramble," she stressed the possible location.

Gilberto swerved to the left and while dodging the cars and vans; they made it to the park via the 79th Street Transverse and parked. The group got out the van and carried their belongings with them and rushed into the park, jumping over the barriers from the paths and crossed Cedar Hill and headed for wooded area. All of who are ignorant on what's ahead.

MEANWHILE,

Shinji, Haruki, Emiko, and Koji exited the A Train at 81st Street and rushed out of the station and headed into the park. Due to this miscalculation, rogue supporters, scaring the evening passersby, immediately attacked them and the foursome headed for the wooded area fired them upon.

"木に向かってみよう！ (Let's head for the trees!)"

Shinji ordered and the group headed for the area. They stopped in a small opening surrounded by foliage, "今すぐ私たちはあなたの要素麹にいます！ 準備が整ったら、あなたのことをしてください。 (Now we're in your element Koji! Do your thing when we're in position.)," Shinji told him as he nodded and leapt upward toward the branches and moved quickly from tree to tree.

He then looked to his brother and Emiko; "私たち3人は、コージーが悪党の聴覚分野を混乱させることができるように転換をつくります。 彼らの力が落ちたとき、私たちは激しくそして速く攻撃します。 Rathbone氏が彼の勢力と一緒にいることを考慮して、私たちはEast Riverに向かいました。(We three will create a diversion so Koji can disrupt the aural fields of the rogues. When their powers are down, we strike hard and fast. Once done we head for the East River, considering Mr. Rathbone is there with his forces.)," he told them his plan.

Haruki nodded, "同意した。 (Agreed.)"

Emiko also nodded in return, "こっちも一緒。 (Same here.)"

"Okay. Let's move," Shinji ordered and the three went deeper into the trees and decided to position themselves twelve meters apart in a triangular formation. Shinji unsheathed his Colt while Emiko held the hilt of her short sword, and Haruki puts on brass knuckles and hunkered down to one of the trees roots.

Then the moment dropped and the four Japanese heard noises and were about to attack and stopped midway. In the split second, face-to-face with Fatma, Dante, Tucker, Robert, Michael, and Vincente; and second later the rest joined. Now with Christine, Jang, Alberto, Gilberto, Juliette, Edmond, Zach, and Zane. Shinji was visibly upset and looked at Dante, "Non-combat members can't be in this, you understand right?"

Dante nodded, "Edmond, Zach, Christine, Tucker, leave and seek cover. If you are ambushed, no heroics just keep running and if you have to defend yourself," he checked his Colt for the remaining rounds and knew he had two more magazines, "Improvise."

"That's all? Merde," Juliette cursed at this plan, "Shush," Zane told her and with that everyone quieted down and tried to hear what else was going on. They can hear a battle happening to the south of their position.

Tucker spoke, "Something is going down! Let's go," he rushed, "Tucker wait! Damn bastard," Alberto chased after him, then followed Gilberto and Zane, then everyone else.

They ran and jumped over the foliage at break-neck pace and once at the lake's edge they see a battle and the rogues didn't seem to notice LMM or cared. Only Robert smiled, "Looks like my calls came through," he muttered.

Dante listened, "Who are they," he asked and Robert looked at him briefly, "My cavalry," the American magician/businessman/duelist spoke of and they looked on.

The rogue supporters were firing their rounds of bullets, curses, and hexes, all of which proved fruitless against two strangers. One was in a brown robe holding a staff, wore a wreath of branches and leaves around his head, waved his staff around to deflect blasts and gunfire, while also unleashing waves of energy that repelled many back from him. Those attempting to get closer were then killed with the shots fired by another man, who wore a light blue dress shirt, dark trousers with cowboy boots and sunglasses on his forehead. His haircut was reminiscent of the late 1990s side parting, and stubble dotting his face. The two formed a unique formation between mystical blasts and gunfire. The rogue supporters felt this was over their heads to not even take down the duo, they issued a retreat when several were dropping like flies. They all Apparated away and the duo stood down from attacking and defending.

The man with the robe and staff noticed Robert as both levitated above the water, "Dude! How are ya?"

Robert smiled, "I'm pretty well Gary, thanks. Looks like my favor came through after all," he smiled as the monkish looking type laughed a bit while the other with the AR-15 held it downward and walked calmly across the water to then step lightly on the wet earth where Robert and the monk stood.

"Looks like you had fun dueling somebody," the other man said and Robert nodded his head, "Yeah I know Raymond but what can I do? That bastard was about to wreck my business if he had caught a whiff of what I was planning?"

"Which was," Raymond asked.

Dante interjected, "A pre-arranged battle plan where tonight's skirmishes are taking place at various locations that the WWAEI can use to escape while having us, the other players, take them out first," and the three unusual men looked at him.

"Smart one ain't he," Gary said as he held his staff and walked up to Dante and took a look at him and with piercing brown eyes he then smiled, "Good guy, but a bit stiff. As for the rest of you," he looked at the rest of the young magi, Fatma, and Tucker and nodded.

"Your plan is working out fine Rob, just relax," Gary said as he took out a wooden pipe and lit the pipe weed inside. After a few puffs he looked around and looked up, "Most of the action now will move east and will perhaps finish near one of the bridges."

Tucker looked around at the powered up people and felt out of place. Then he heard the booming voice from a megaphone. It was Rodrigo Salieri who left the car and looking serious, "If you children are done with things here, then we should focus on containing the battle along the East River. And not everyone will know of it until it's too late."

Everyone looked at him and then at each other. Shinji spoke with him scratching his right cheek, "Danny and Valerie are still able to handle the air routes for escape. But we have no one to handle the tunnels in case the rogues feel pressured. And we still don't know who has the wooden box that was stolen in Gramercy Park."

Emiko looked at him and then at Christine who spoke, "Just before we arrived, I have to say most of police traffic is now making their way to the East River. And radio traffic from the rogues has also shown they're heading east as well. And if there is another group with the box, then it's being masked as well."

Dante spoke, "Perhaps, or they are taking the box to the pit of battle. Right to the obvious location," but Tucker interjected, "Why would that group or person do that? That's too risky!"

Then the monk Gary spoke as he smoked his pipe, exhaling circles of smoke that floated in the air, "Risky but also brazen enough to present to the group's dark wizard master. But the Japanese dude is right," he looked to Shinji, "Some of us will have to head to the subway tunnels to find the hidden group who would then head for the East River, or take it outside the city."

The gunman mystic then added, "This leaves us with no option; we will track down these rogue bastards. As a favor to Robert here of course," he said as he took out a cigarette and lit it with his zippo lighter.

Robert nodded, "If you and Gary are going down into the tunnels, we need to know which route they will most lightly take, or have taken already," he stated and as soon as he said this, Gary was already doing this.

He tapped his staff on the grassy earth four times and his eyes rolled back, revealing only white. He found himself delving into the earth; down and down. He then was heading north, and stopped in one of the tunnels and sees a group of principal rogues, numbering ten and their leader was carrying a wooden box. They were walking calmly in the abandoned tunnel with their flashlights blazing, and the contrast of light and shadow enhanced the smirk of victory on the leader's face. As he felt himself float back into his body he felt another presence heading in the tunnels in proximity to the rogues, a group of four following the rogues.

He then opened his eyes, "Raymond, Robert, we better head north. The group with the box will head for the Hudson River and they're being followed by a group of four from The Bronx. They're getting tired, but can hold their own for now. However, if a surprise attack comes to the four, then they're gonna need cover fire."

Robert nodded, "Kids," he turned to the crowd of magi, mystic, and musicians, "It's been fun, but we have to leave to help your friends. You guys head east for the river and help the captain and his ship. Got it?"

The crowd nodded and they see the three in question jumping upward, levitating, and Apparated with three separate cracks of energy. The young crowd below then rushed back for their cars and van. Then they drove off for their next destination for the night.

[Tudor City, East River, 11:45PM]

Eda cursed as she felt another onslaught of curses impacting her windshield while driving down 2nd Ave. Asuka was firing off rounds from her M-16 she got supplied by Kevin towards the rogues on brooms above them. Her rounds were missing her targets and stopped firing rounds from the first magazine, "Okay regular ammo isn't going to cut it here," she unclipped the magazine and stashed it in her military-grade vest.

She took the radio and contacted Kevin, "Levin, how are you and Gwen holding up," she relayed, "Behind you, it's the same thing."

And accordingly with Kevin, it was indeed the same situation. Kevin's car was equipped with a mini-machine gun at the back of the car that was firing rounds upward. However like Asuka, little to no effect. So he like Eda are having to plan on the fly to avoid getting killed. Then a brainwave, "Say we gotta head to either the Manhattan Bridge or Brooklyn Bridge right?"

Eda then replied incredulously, "Yeah? Point being?"

"We turn right on W. 34th St and make a hard right around the Empire State Building and head back to 2nd Ave via W. 30th St. Wanna take a chance?"

Eda now felt Kevin lost it, that would mean risking a few blocks just to get shot at more effectively or put more civilians in danger, "You're out of your mind Levin," but after a moment of thought, "But at the same, it's worth a shot. Okay let's do it!"

"I'm ready now princess! 3, 2, 1, Now! Now"

Eda and Kevin make a hard right on W. 34th, which then disoriented two magi to crash into the windows of a nearby building. As they made their way west they see the famed skyscraper in sight and then made a ring around the building further disorientating those after them. With only left pursuing them, Gwen lowered her window and leaned out, readying her orb of mana forming around her left hand. She whipped her hand in the flowing air and the streams of mana followed the air current before whipping around to grab the two remaining magi on their broomsticks and whipped her mana streams once more. The violent motions swerved the two to impact with the surrounding buildings. Although the magic shields from the two magi helped in minimizing lethal bodily harm, the two remaining fell upon parked cars and were knocked out. Eda and Kevin then shifted gears to drift around the Empire State Building and heading down W. 30th St. to then make their way back to 2nd Ave.

"Side job accomplished. Over." Kevin radioed to Eda who then responded, "Sure is. Now let's go down to the two probable locations of the final confrontation," she radioed as Asuka checked her remaining magazines and ammunition rounds.

Gwen sitting in her seat as Kevin talked to Eda, she closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them with a glow. Her 'third eye' vision made her consciousness travel from the speeding car southward to a height where she can see both the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge. She also saw the battle happening below with a trireme firing arrows and spears, with magical shields protecting them from New York's police and SWAT, but also sees two teams of rogue supporters coming in from the west. Then she blinked.

She took the radio from Kevin and spoke to Eda, which she heard in her car, "Listen Eda, we have to radio the others to get to the East River side of the island immediately. Alastair is fighting off the rogue supporters, the city's SWAT, and Roland is heading there as we speak. Get the others to go there."

Eda listened and radioed back, "No problem! The plan was to reconvene there anyway! Let's just get there in one piece and give them hell as best we can. Over and out," she shifted and she sped along the road with Kevin keeping up.

MEANWHILE IN THE BRONX

[The Hub, South Bronx, 11:52PM]

William, Wilfredo, James, and Anthony were chasing the remaining rogues who are leaving the city with the box in hand. William was still in his beast form and scaring some of the locals while they ran across the building rooftops. Wilfredo then saw one rogue and fired an energy bolt when his runic seal formed around his right hand. James conjured spells to deflect an incoming curse, Anthony put up a shield charm for the rest. William led at front of the group charging towards the roof of one building and overlooking the cross-section of The Hub. He waited for the three to catch up and take care of oppressive fire. Once done the three stood along the edge of the roof with William.

"They're coming," Wilfredo spoke as he looked towards the station on Third Avenue and 149th Street, "They used the underground used by the Number 2 and 5 lines back where we were to sneak out of the fighting and hoping to use this place as their last rendezvous to get out of the city."

"How do you know," Anthony asked as he readied his wand.

Wilfredo pointed to his radio attached to his belt, "I've been listening in while we were chasing them," he replied simply.

James looked at Wilfredo, "Why so driven? Why continue when we are more than able to track them," he asked a question that's been at his side for a while now.

Wilfredo was about to answer then shushed him, "Later…get low," he laid down to the roof's surface, as did William and Anthony. James was the last to do so and then waited for a few moments.

The rogues walked up the stairs of the train station fatigued and one still carrying the box. They encountered five more supporters to assist them and hoping once on the surface they can head west and leave the city. Then as they reached street level William leapt from the roof of the building and then charged for the seven in question. The rogues fired curses at him but it seemed to reflect off of his tough hide of flesh and fur. Wilfredo cursed as he leapt down and joined William in the fray. James and Anthony Apparated down and in the blink of an eye targeted the others. The one with the box was looking around for opening to slip away, but then as he made a run for it, Anthony uttered the Confundus Charm and the man found himself swerving to the left and fell on himself. Anthony kicked the box to the side and held his wand downward atop the man.

"Rhewi! A pheidiwch â symud! (Freeze! And don't move!)"

Anthony yelled in Welsh and called out James to come just as his friend took out the rogue with the Sectumsempra Curse. James ran over and also held his wand, also speaking Welsh to his friend, "Gadewch i ni ei atal! (Let's restrain him!)"

Then the rogue got up and revealed two daggers from his belt. The man smiling with a crazed expression and to their surprise and horror spoke Welsh, "Gwell i ladd fi na fy atal! (Better to kill me than restrain me!)"

James and Anthony jumped backward to get away from the man's strikes. They put up the shield charm but discovered the man's daggers. Anthony then felt pain on his right forearm; he was slashed and ducked as the man tried to aim for his neck. Then James put his arms around the man to stop him, but then was put to the ground in a suplex move. As James put his wand in front of his neck to stop the knife from coming closer, the man then moved to the right in pain. James and Anthony looked and it was Wilfredo with his hand outstretched. He walked closer and held his axe in one hand.

He kicked the man to lie on his back, "Bem. Morrer. Seu monstro. (Fine. Die. You monster.)," and in one swipe of the axe, the man's head was cut clean off.

William in his beast form slashed at the fallen rogue's chest, spilling blood and walked to the other three. Panting but still feeling the rush of the fight, "We need to leave this spot and join the others."

Anthony walked over to the box and picked it up. He held it, "It's light. What's in it?"

"I think we need to deliver this to Alastair for safe keeping," James said, but then William interjected, "Nay! We need to deliver this to the local magical officers who know a much better spot to hide this until the fighting is over. Then they'll deliver this back home."

"He's right," Wilfredo said, "James. Anthony. You two take this to Brooklyn with William. Then use the bridge there to join the final fray. I'll head to Midtown to hunt down those responsible."

"The hell you are," William rejected, "Let me join you on the hunt. The two can handle the task on their own. Can you," he looked to his friends and the two nodded.

"We'll take care of this. You two head to Midtown and hunt the suits down," Anthony said and James held Anthony's arm, "Ready?"

Anthony nodded, as did James and in the crack of a second, the two Apparated away from the area. Leaving William and Wilfredo alone. William can't Apparate in his beast form so Wilfredo looked around and found a car, a 1987 Chevrolet Grand Royale, "That will have to do."

He ran over to the black beauty and broke the window with his hammer from his pocket, designed to break glass. He opened the door and hotwired it. The engine roared to life and William was struggling to get into the backseat. Once inside, a tight fight for his broad form, Wilfredo put it in drive and pulled out of the parking spot.

He pressed on the accelerator and headed south via 3rd Avenue and then made a left for Willis Avenue. It will take them time to get to Midtown but while they're on the hunt, as fast as they can travel with the car and running red lights, everyone was making their way to the main battleground. Meanwhile as the four went in two different directions, Robert with Gary and Raymond looked on from their vantage point atop of one of the surrounding buildings. Robert gripped his saber handle, while Raymond gripped his guns and Gary held his staff.

Raymond jumped to attack some of the rogues preparing to follow the young men and landed on the ground. Robert then followed him and Gary, signaling their party had truly begun…

[Lower East Side, Manhattan, Friday, 12:01 AM]

A SWAT tank was barreling down the deserted Cherry Street near the Manhattan Bridge and can see some fires along the waterfront, "Jesus Christ. Looks like a goddamn warzone here," one cop muttered as he looked out the window of the passenger's seat.

The driver nodded as he too observed the mess. Cars blown up, and occupants either evacuated or stubbornly staying put, convinced this shit storm would blow over before the sun comes up. But the magical and mystical burns outlying attacks along building faces, cars, the asphalt, and bullet shells dotting the area, the battle would be its fiercest towards the Brooklyn Bridge south of their current position. Then they see a magenta colored barricade springing up on Cherry Street and Market Street, marking the battle-line along the edges of Martin F. Tanahey Playground. The SWAT team got out of the tank and armed to the teeth. The captain of the team stepped forward, "Let us pass! Lay down any and all weapons!"

He hollered out seeing two individuals with masks on, one female and the other a male, "I repeat! Lay down your weapons!"

The masked woman then moved her hand in a graceful manner that then created a line of magenta fire to bolster the mana shield to protect the SWAT team. But the officers didn't see it like that, so they opened fire on the shield hoping to shatter it. None of their bullets made any impact, and the magenta fire melted the remaining bullets on contact.

Kevin went to his car to use the radio, "Eda! Asuka! We got the last police line here covered! Where are you two?"

"Barreling along," Eda shouted as she was driving on Madison Street bypassing the apartment projects and turning left on St. James Pl. and then stopped just a block from the Brooklyn Bridge, "And…I wish I had a better idea than this!"

"What the hell are you going on about," Kevin asked but the radio cut off.

Asuka in the car turned off the radio, and assured Eda, "Look, take a deep breath and just imagine what all of this is for," she told her friend.

The two turned their heads to the sounds of explosions and police sirens from both nearby bridges and realizing what box they were in. So Eda was looking on the satellite navigation in her car and trying to figure out what to do. After a few seconds, she figured it out and took in a deep breath, "Ready your guns. We're going in."

She revved her engine, "Shit…Shit…Shit," she gripped the steering wheel and puts her right hand on the gear-shift.

"Fuck it," she declared and Eda drove on.

She sped along St. James Pl. then went under the bridge's ramp, continued onward on Pearl St., and with the place evacuated, no one to run over. Then she across a police barrier a block ahead of Futon St. So she turned right on Futon and headed up the street and then took a hard right corner on Nassau St. She then got on the ramp that took her on the Brooklyn Bridge. Helicopters and cops were now chasing her. Reminiscent of "Thelma and Louise" but the two aren't about to drive off the bridge to their deaths. The cops were giving orders to shoot them down.

"Stop," Asuka ordered and Eda halted her progress, just below the first bridge tower. On the deserted bridge she conjured her AT Field a block's distance from them. The cars see the outside of an orange-transparent field and collided with something that is invisible.

Asuka ran to her rendezvous point on the railing of the bridge. She looked down towards the water and the trireme in question. She nodded to Eda, "Go forward and make a U-turn to come back on the other side. Give me five minutes! Now go!"

Eda hesitated for a second but then revved and shifted gears to speed along. Asuka at the second Eda passed her, she jumped from the railing and aimed herself to the deck of the trireme. Armed with her M-16, three more magazines, two grenades, a 1911 Colt 9mm, two combat knives, and Kevlar, she was ready. She landed with a loud thud. The remaining pirates, uruks, and rogues on board with several lucky cops and SWAT, noticed her. She made her way to cut her way to the out numbering rogue supporters.

She clipped a fresh magazine, aimed her M-16 assault rifle, and opened fire. The mana shields were up, so she huddled down to get behind some crates, the main mast, and unsheathed a knife to slash at the enemy's leg. She signaled the SWAT and cops to provide cover fire. On instinct they did so, that way she can get closer.

As she huddled down to aim at the rogue supporters who looked normal or dressed to look like cops, aimed and unleashed lead. Her chance caught them off guard, a weak spot in the mana shield. Alastair from the captain's deck looked down, "And the Red Baroness has successfully made aboard to provide assistance! She isn't all talk!"

Fynn the Viking warrior from Israel heard this and looked down as he cut a man's head off with his axe, "Oh she's here," he sounded mildly excited.

Asuka groaned as she finished her magazine and clipped on her second magazine, "Less announcing! More fighting," she hollered out.

She charged forward and hoisted her assault rifle across her back. She unsheathed her two combat knives and started to stab and slash across the men around her. Then as she ducked and stabbed one in the groin and abdomen, she didn't see one about to kill her. But then a thud was heard and a blood-curdling scream was heard. She was hoisted up by her Kevlar's vest strap, "Eyes open and ears open."

Fynn told her as the two now fought back to back. The cops and SWAT officers inspired by Asuka's bravery charged in to aid the two. Alastair climbed the mast, "And the two warriors stand side by side as their love for battle is matched by the potential for romance!"

Asuka on the deck with Fynn asked as she stabbed and cocked her pistol, "Is he like that all the time?"

She heard him chuckle as he slashed with his axe and pummeled men with his strong fists, "You have no idea you right you are! Now come on!"

Then a boom was heard and the fading of a flash of light. Tong arrived to lend a land and with his staff, used his aura to sweep the rogue supporters off the deck and into the East River, "Need a hand?"

The two and Alastair were pleased to see him. Alastair then whistled loudly to the frigate in the distance and waved his hands. Then he saw two fireworks launched and detonating in the air. He waved to his crew below to head for their last lifeboat. That leaves himself, Asuka, Fynn, and Tong to fight off the rogues coming from ashore, the police, and SWAT. Meanwhile, in the distance between the buildings and on the roads, her allies are coming to lend a hand, while planning to get past the heavy police barricade.

[Midtown, Manhattan, 12:03PM]

After a harrowing time driving south of their previous location, mixed with some levitating driving on part of their shared auras, William and Wilfredo were now in the heart of the lion's den. However, as opposed to the hot spots of conflict to prevent most of the rogues from leaving, no sign of any rogues, mystic, mage or otherwise; just scared pedestrians and drivers avoiding them. Wilfredo looked around at the buildings and used his aura to find a sudden spike or dip in the aural field. Then, he felt a huge dip of aural activity, "Here!"

Stopping the car on the curb, Wilfredo and Wilfredo quickly ran for the building in question on 100 Park Ave. They ran inside the building, William's beast form scaring some, brushing past the security guards and took the emergency stairs, triggering the alarm. Wilfredo texted Tucker to turn off the alarm via his hacking skills. Within seconds the alarms turned off and in the stairs, the CCTV cameras turned off as well. Due to their stamina they ran to the back to use the service elevator to get to the 22nd floor, but the guard prevented the doors closing to get in and pointed his gun at them. But the elevator doors soon closed and went up. Once on the floor, the doors opened and the sight before them really put them in a stand still. The lone security guard from the ground floor chased them to apprehend the two also sees the carnage before them.

"Fuck…" Wilfredo cursed as he covered his nose. But it was William who had a harder time in his beast form.

"Fuck indeed," he wrinkled his sensitive nose and tried his hardest to ignore the smell of blood. The security guard lowered his 9mm Glock and covered his mouth to prevent a gag reflex.

"What happened here," the lone security guard asked the million-dollar question as Wilfredo and William looked around at the blood splatter everywhere. The floor of workers and staff were killed, and in quick succession no less. But no bullet rounds on the floor; some bladed weapon did all the kills.

The security guard was alone and with two young men who exuded power and can overpower him in seconds. Wilfredo approached him, "Touch nothing, back up slowly, and head to the elevator. Whoever did this is in the building."

William clasped his shoulder and put his finger to his lips and pointed to the cameras. Wilfredo looked closely and it seemed it was recording still. Somehow, Tucker's skills didn't translate here, "Oh shit."

Moments later, William and Wilfredo along with the security guard headed back to the elevator. The guard wanted his questions answered, but then Wilfredo's phone sounded off with an incoming text. He read it, and was beyond confused and horrified. He looked to William and whispered to him, which caused the two to look at the guard and made a silent agreement. In a quick move, Wilfredo grabbed a pressure point on the man's neck, causing him to slump down and lie there unconscious. With that done, the elevator took them to the lobby again and they ran for the car as quickly as possible. With the unknown horror on what Tucker's text meant, they headed for the Brooklyn Bridge as fast as their car is able, while dodging cops and pedestrians. Out of all the possible outcomes, most if not all are already there.

MEANWHILE

Eda just crossed the bridge and seeing the end of the line in Brooklyn. Seeing her opportunity she sees chance to U-turn around on Brooklyn Bridge Blvd and Tillary Street. She noticed the barricade of officers there but she drifted in front of them and got back on her trek towards Manhattan. Shifting gears she accelerated down the path and heading back to the bridge. Then two cracks and lights appeared in front of her car and she slammed down the breaks and the car came to an abrupt stop. It was James and Anthony, "What the fuck?"

She shouted but then sees the police behind her and in a hurry, "Allow me, ma'am," James said and waved his wand to point at the incoming group of cop cars and in seconds their engines stalled and they all stopped one hundred yards behind Eda's car.

The cops came out quickly and pointed their pistols at the three, but then Anthony stepped up and waved his wand to then he sees all of their guns disassembling. He and James got into her car and sat in the backseats, "Let's charge forward!"

James exclaimed and Eda in a split second slammed the accelerator and off they went for the bridge. Meanwhile in the East River on the increasingly damaged and bloodied Greek trireme, the lone fighters were holding the line as best they can. Alastair as he sliced another rogue supporter in half he sees the last of the crew heading for the frigate south of their location. The trireme was now on the other side of the bridge, drifting north and Asuka was on her last magazine. Making every shot count, she aimed and fired with precision. With five shots left, she then moved to her combat knives and got to fight next to Fynn. Tong meanwhile was fighting with several rogue supports on the railing of the ship with his heavy staff, lacking any awkward movements and sent them overboard. Asuka then sheathed her knives and readied her pistol on its last bullets. But then she was disarmed and then got kneed in the abdomen and got a right hook to the face.

She stumbled onto the deck. Unsheathed her knife, pointed at the charging rogue, and pressed the secret button on it and the blade launched, impaling itself in the man's face. The man fell backward, dead and she got up and pulled out the knife, and snapping it onto the knife's hilt again. She noticed then running below deck and felt something was going to happen. Something big. She ran to Fynn, "Is Alastair going to do something crazy?"

He sliced a man's head off with his axe, "Alastair and craziness are synonymous lass. Be more specific."

"Is he planning to do something drastic with this ship?"

"Oh he's going to blow it up with five hogshead worth of black powder," he said it in the most normal tone, she was shocked, "What!"

Then she heard her phone rang, "Hello?"

"Asuka! I'm above you! Time to get up here so we can get out of here! The boys inside explained a big boom is planned for the trireme!"

Asuka looked around, "Huh. Fynn said the same thing," feeling numb on whether or not she'll burn or propel herself to the bridge above to her right that is now slowly receding from view, "Hold on."

She hung up and looked around. But saw no sign of a grappling hook that's long enough for her attempt. She could propel herself upward with her AT Field, but that might send Fynn and Tong overboard. Then she had an idea, "Fynn, how high can you throw me?"

He looked downward to meet her gaze, "You mean from here to the bridge there?"

She nodded and he looked at the bridge and at the ship. Then an idea came to him as well, "Better idea," so he held her in his arms, "Hang on."

As he told her this, he ran towards the bow of the ship and jumped from the bow and upward towards the bridge. He grabbed onto one of the cables as he held Asuka with his left arm. She was impressed and beyond words in how he did that. He noticed her expression and explained briefly, "I utilize my physical strength with my aura reserves to propel us from the ship to the railing here."

She nodded as the two then set foot and he got her to stand. They see Eda waiting there and the two ran for the car. Asuka got in the passenger seat and to her and everyone's surprise, Fynn got on top of the car and sat there in lotus position, "Move forward, Miss Kramer!"

Eda looked at Asuka confused and she responded, "You heard him! Let's go!"

Eda shook her nerves and put it in gear and accelerated forward. Below where the ship was, Alastair got to Tong, "Come on! Let's jump into the water and move away as quickly as we can!"

Tong nodded and both got on the wooden railing and jumped into the river. They splashed and used their auras to then magical propel themselves on top of the water to get to the lifeboat in the distance using runic seals. Once close enough, they jumped and landed in the lifeboat. Back on the trireme several rogue supporters jumped and did the same to get back to shore or go after them. But the fuse below deck ran out and the five barrels of gunpowder went off. The sight of the explosive fire was seen and the shockwave was felt before the percussive boom was heard. The sound and carnage of the destroyed trireme was immense. Those too close got killed by the incoming splintered wood, unable to conjure protective spells in time, or for those in the water were killed by the shockwave. The rest were lucky with temporary hearing loss or unconsciousness.

Eda sped along the road away from the bridge and now back in Manhattan, heading for Pearl Street again. Then she caught the sight of a grenade fired from an RPG. The runes on her car protected her from the blast, but Asuka's AT Field stopped the molten core from penetrating the body of the car. But the blast was still strong enough to propel them to the wall of one of the apartment buildings. All of them dazed, James and Anthony were the first to shake it off and fired off spells and hexes at the rogue supporters. Fynn got off the car and readied his axe, Asuka checked her magazine of her M-16 and with five rounds remaining she got out of the car and ducked near the hood the car, "Boys! Do they have shield charms up?"

"Yes," Anthony confirmed as his hex reflected off.

"How many?"

"Five," James replied.

Asuka breathed in and out, "Disable their charms temporarily! Do it!"

Anthony nodded and stopped firing, then in one swift motion, uttered a Welsh charm to get rid of their shield charms. In quick succession got up and aimed at the five men atop an apartment's roof, aimed and fired each round one at a time. All five were now down and dead. She took off the empty magazine and put it in the remaining pocket of her Kevlar vest. She ushered the two guys to get back into the car and Fynn got back on top. Eda was still groggy and after regaining focus, she started the engine and reversed from the impacted wall. Once back on the road she drove for St. James Place and now can see other action-taking place in the air and rooftops. She turned left and headed for Columbus Park and then realized she was boxed in with the police to the south and east of her location, as well as her friends the rogue supporters coming for their spot. No way out now.

Then she sees Kevin's muscle car coming in her rearview mirror and he parked beside her car, "I got an idea to take care of the last bastards! The others are in our perimeter. You in?"

Asuka called out, "I'm out of rounds! You got any extra," she asked and Kevin tossed onto Eda's lap, two loaded magazines for her M-16. Asuka was glad to be unarmed and Fynn on top of the car stood up and held his axe.

"Whatever your plan is boy, it better be good," he called out to Kevin as he readied for another battle.

As he looked on at the incoming group of LMM members in their van barreling down Park Row, the rogues trailing them on their brooms, Kevin was explaining his plan to Eda. The plan was nigh suicidal but knew it could be done, "So you in?"

Eda revved the car he gave her, "Show me what you got," she smirked not itching for a race with him that is disguised to take down the rest of the magi.

They then drove their cars around Columbus Park and once again on Worth Street at the red light, waited and both can see the LMM van, the sedan with the Japanese members, and now a car with Wilfredo and William tailing them, the rogues coming in fast and preparing to attack them all. The light turned green and Kevin and Eda had their race. They zipped past the incoming cops down Chatham Square and onto Division Street. They then made a hard right around the block onto E. Broadway and this had some rogues crashing into buildings. Those who flew over the buildings to target Kevin and Eda in a frontal assault found their spells and curses deflecting off the cars. Gwen and Asuka fired back which scared them off. Then they made a hard left around the block and now on Henry Street. The plan was coming into fruition, racing in a zigzag pattern all they way to the East River. Turning right onto Madison Street, then left onto Monroe Street, right again onto Cherry Street.

The SWAT team on Market Street now spotted those who stopped them. The captain ordered his officers to line up their guns, "Now! Open fire!"

Then a barrage of bullets peppered the two cars, the van, but it was the rogues who were now in the firing range and a dozen fell down like flies while the rest continued their chase of the good guys. Now turning right on Cherry Street they barreled down the block before turning left again on Catherine Street for Water Street. Then finally right again on Market Street and it's a block straight into the East River. Kevin and Eda looked at each other and stomped on the breaks. They halted, but the LMM van hit Eda's rear end and she went forward to the edge of the river and went through the fencing. The rogues stopped and began to rain fire, literally.

One of the rogues unleashed the Fiendfyre, a deadly torrent of magical fire. The wave of fire surrounded them at the intersection of South Street and Market Slip. Fatma in the van waved her hands around and in an ancient Persian prayer, the dreaded magical fire then suddenly reacted and fired in all directions. Dante sees Fatma's eyes glowing in an orange-red; he then looked out the window and saw the magi catching fire from her diverted attack in this defensive manner. Eda meanwhile reversed from the fence and was now facing south towards the Brooklyn Bridge. He then turned around so she was now facing north. She floored it as did Kevin. Fynn was on the hood of her car, unfazed as he then fought off a mage with his axe. He grabbed the broom, sliced it in half and threw the rider to the street, seeing him tumble.

The two cars and van were now north of the Manhattan Bridge and to their right was Pier 35. They got on it and drove in and around the structures as now only a few remained of the overall assault team. Kevin and Eda stopped their cars and then, the fight began. Asuka shot the incoming rogues but then got picked up and dumped into the water and Fynn going after her. Gwen puts up a mana shield while James and Anthony protected Eda. The LMM van rushed into the fray and they all fought in the parking lot of Pier 36. It soon became a free for all. Alberto, Gilberto, Zane, and Jang held on as best they could, but soon overpowered by the magical attacks and were on the ground. In the shadows came Anan who protected them and warded off the rogues' attacks. Then came the wind as Prince Mahbeeb with his uncle and Priest Hakeem came in to do battle. The last to join the fray were Wilfredo and William who then joined the other magi to do battle. Between Wilfredo's speed and mobility and William's power and strength, few of the rogues stood against them.

Rachel fell, as did Basilio, Hanford, Jane held on but then was attacked in a blind spot and fell. This got her brother William to rage and ripped two bodies in half with the swipe of his claws. Oskana in her wolf form along with Sam and others, went to William to pull him back a bit or his blood lust will fuck them over further. Angelina approached the water and held her wand. Then in a light her wand changed to reveal something new, a trident type of weapon. She spun it around and struck down several more rogues and stabbed two in their midsections. Cecilia and Delilah both moved forward to distract and subdue several more mixing Cecilia's mobile capoeira and Delilah's frontal style of martial arts. Everyone else who can't fight like Christine and Ahmed were in the van looking over police traffic, and they are coming in fast.

"Come on! Wrap this shit up," Christine yelled on a megaphone.

Gwen growled and used her mana to create solid constructs to grab the remaining rogue forces, lift them up and threw them to the wall of the warehouse. Then as that happened, Danny and Valerie are flying to them, "Let's get moving on guys! Otherwise we're all in the slammer," Valerie shouted.

"You heard the woman! Move it," Danny shouted as he flew by and flew off with Valerie.

By this announcement, those in the LMM van along with Dante, Fatma, and Tucker, Wilfredo and William got back into their car; as did Eda along with James, Anthony, Asuka, and Fynn, the magi who came in Apparated away, and the Japanese in their car with Shinji's brother Haruki. All of them drove away from Pier 36 and bolted north. Two minutes later the NYPD and the SWAT teams came in to arrest the rogue supporters and called the coroner's office to send in their guys to collect the bodies. Meanwhile, the rest of the rogue supporters and the dark wizard who came all this way to see the campaign knew the battle was lost and Apparated away to a secluded spot in Long Island and used a portkey to head back to Europe, hoping to continue the campaign of anarchic violence once he's built up his forces.

Roland however was standing on one of the towers of the Brooklyn Bridge, seeing the frigate sailing out of the East River for the harbor. He sighed in disappointment and held the hilt of his sword. The brief sword fight with the LMM members was a warm up as was his match with the local American fixer who basically set up Manhattan as a stage for fighting in centralized points. Then he felt a wind past his next, "Looks like you're done here."

Roland turned to face the American, Robert who just finished defeating rogue supporters in The Bronx, "Indeed I am."

"Where will you go now?"

Roland looked across the water to the disappearing frigate, "Across the sea. My vendetta with Sir Rathbone is not done yet. But prior planning is required. Plus, I had several defectors of the WWAEI on my side. Start small and we build."

Robert nodded, "And with that, I bid you good luck," he held his hand out for Roland to shake.

The two shook hands and noticed the bullet shells in the American's blazer pocket, "For your son?"

Robert nodded, "Going to use them to make a necklace for my eldest son," and Roland understood the father-son sentiment. He bowed and Apparated away. Robert did the same for his Upper East Side apartment for some few hours of sleep.

The scene below was chaos personified and across the island of Manhattan, news helicopters were around certain areas to find those responsible and for the most part, the good guys disappeared, as did most of the bad guys. However, with this city with its own history of tension and conflict, this case won't go away anytime soon and very soon, esoterics all across the city will be exposed to the light of the city's media.

[Carnegie Hall, Midtown Manhattan, Saturday, 8:00PM]

The musicians came on stage one by one and the applause erupted from the audience. The musicians smiled and bowed before taking their seats. Their instruments were being tune and had also cases for modern instruments for Emily's debut night. But first, a trip before that with period instruments and a Classical piece of music by Ludwig van Beethoven, the Overture Coriolan, Op. 62. Of course, it is standard to perform his work on modern instruments, but with period tuning, it reveals surprising musical colors and ornamentation that is lost at times with modern renditions. In addition, with a small ensemble of about 20 or so musicians, the woodwinds don't overshadow the strings. Dante and Bernhard were on standby on their harpsichords, enjoying the music being played.

[8:07PM]

Going further back in time musically, it's a suite from an opera done by a relatively obscure composer; one whom they performed one work a few years ago in Paris, Agostino Steffani, Suite from 'Il trionfi del fato'. The sound of the timpani by Cecilia, the horns played by students from the Julliard, the strings and basso continuo gave off a distinctly gallant sound. In the audience, Alastair was there with the rest of the magi. Lydia from the offices for magical affairs was there to see LMM perform as described by Alastair in making a case for LMM to be given a lighter sentence. Everything was done in advance prior to this and as told by one of her staff, "Payments were made, accords struck, all that matters is they are safe". As far as Lydia was concerned, the orchestra can play music and perform it well.

[8:16PM]

Oskana came on stage and dressed in an elegant gown she bowed and waved to her now new friends. She waved and the magi and mystics were there, itching for her first of two arias being sung tonight. The first is a fiery aria by the great Italian master, Antonio Vivaldi with the aria called 'Armatae face et anguibus'. The ensemble began and the quick tempo fired her up and the coloratura needed was a challenge she savored to test her vocal skills. It's no wonder, as this was written originally for as a castrato, the phrasing and dips in vocal range is a challenge for any female singer.

Armatae face et anguibus

A caeco regno squallido

Furoris sociae barbari

Furiae venite ad nos.

Morte, flagello, stragibus

Vindictam tanti funeris

Irata nostra pectora

Duces docete vos.

Brief Segway back to the beginning with a repeat of the first half of the aria, many were astounded by the facial expressions Oskana was making. She wasn't just singing, she was actually embodying the anger exuded in the music. She was willing to bring the wrath of God on any enemy that may appear in the concert hall. Even Danny and his friends, Gwen and Kevin in the audience were now scared.

Armatae face et anguibus

A caeco regno squallido

Furoris sociae barbari

Furiae venite ad nos!

As the music ended and she was calming down from her musical ecstasy, thanking Mohammad for this opportunity. The audience roared in applause for her and the musicians. She bowed and left the stage.

[8:20PM]

Then came another violent aria, now sung by a baritone from the Julliard. The aria sung by the character of Rodelina by Georg Friedrich Händel named Garibaldo. The aria, 'Tirannia gli diede il regno' was a conspiratorial aria regarding how the usurper must be ruthless in order to rule, be a tyrant to ensure a just rule. Alastair knew his cousin/aunt Duchess Florianne was in the audience somewhere and was just gushing over the lyrics, knowing how even centuries later for Earth anyway, the words sung.

Così d'usurpatore il nome adempie.

Tirannia gli diede il regno,

gliel conservi crudeltà.

Del regnar base a sostegno

è il rigor, non la pieta.

Così d'usurpatore il nome adempie.

Tirannia gli diede il regno,

gliel conservi crudeltà.

The audience clapped and Florianne was the loudest to clap for the young baritone. He bowed and left the stage.

[8:23PM]

Oskana returned to the stage for her second aria, not in the least winded from her previous aria. Compared to her first aria, this one was more somber and for her, a treat, an aria sung in her native Russian. This was by the composer H.F. Raupach from his opera 'Altsesta' with the aria called "Idu na smert". Her singing here showed she can pull off the fiery coloratura as well as the melodic and the dramatic.

Idu na smert i ne strashusya.

ya zhizni za tebya lishusya.

Smotri, kak ty lyubim mnoi byl;

dostoino'l ty menya lyubil?

V posiednii raz pered soboyu

lyubeznu vidish ty svoyu;

v sei chas rasstanusya s toboyu,

vospominai lyubov moyu.

Yuri Ivanovich was in the audience covertly watching the concert and sat behind Tucker. He smiled lightly as Oskana sang in Russian. He had to hand it to LMM; they really knew what pieces to select for a particular concert. When he listened to how Oskana repeated the first passage, he can see the emotion on her face and believed what she acted in the opera of her mind.

Idu na smert i ne strashusya.

ya zhizni za tebya lishusya.

Smotri, kak ty lyubim mnoi byl;

dostoino'l ty menya lyubil?

The somber aria was winding down with the instrumentalists showcasing that they too felt what she felt in the singing. The applause came and the musicians left the stage for a brief intermission.

Intermission

[8:45PM]

Bernhard was on the box organ with this new piece to be a nice return to the repertoire. Juliette was the star here on her oboe in Concerto for Oboe No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 9 by Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni. For many in the audience, period performance has come a long way since the 1980s and no longer a novelty but ranks on par with the standard repertoire. Many like to be educated on music from the past and how it may have actually sounded. But overall, they just want to be pleasured by good music and music performed well. While young, LMM for many exhibit talent and perseverance that is beyond their years. And nothing exemplified that better than the next piece, a very familiar one to boot.

[8:56PM]

Le Quattro Stagioni "summer" by Antonio Vivaldi is among the most common pieces of the Baroque repertoire that many have heard all possible renditions to date. But it is no less thrilling to hear. This one in particular since it was the 'appropriate' season for it in July. Instead of all the instrumentalists, stripped back to only fifteen of the orchestra and no woodwinds, and Dante back on harpsichord. Gilberto was now leading violinist and he played left-handed with showcased his ambidextrous nature of playing that fascinated many concertgoers of his age. This rendition LMM loved to do was well 'Ba-Rock' by many of their fans online. Not a traditional rendition, but thrilling to showcase the feelings felt when a heat wave is coming and the sounds of insects and birds all round them.

[9:09PM]

The orchestra increased in size now for their final piece of the evening, and switched their instruments for their modern ones. Emily came out in her wheelchair and bowed her head to the crowd. Dante and Bernhard resumed to make sure this concert was streaming online via the computer setup. The cameras held by Mike and Zach, were all on and to make sure Emily's debut in the famed concert hall went off perfectly. Of course this wasn't in a professional capacity to jumpstart her career, but this was her chance to perform in a famous concert hall and Carnegie is a great start. She wheeled herself to the Steinway grand piano and prepared herself for what was ahead. She raised her hands over the keyboard, nodded to Mohammad that all gears were set. The music then began.

Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and for Emily, this was a monumental moment to display her skills. What she was good at in performing is projecting emotions in a restrained manner, where the music displayed the emotional colors in line with musical dynamics and technique. She once thought to be like those of Lang Lang's caliber where his facial and body expressions would project it, but she felt that wasn't her style so since attending the Julliard she's studied more on musicology and history to give insights into keyboard performances. Her professors and tutors were Russian, Polish, American, and French extraction to teach her what she wanted to learn and she's applying it for tonight. In addition, she's studied jazz style improvisation to give some room to perform in a structured setting.

The music continued for what was thirty-three minutes, going on thirty-four. During the extent of the performance, the magi, mystics, the head of Russian esoteric intelligence, the head of American magical affairs, and the duchess of Sairgoth herself let themselves get carried away by the music. The subtleties and power exuded by LMM with the dexterity and skill of Emily's playing. The strings, the horns, the woodwinds, the drums, it all flowed together to show their talent level at this point. But was more important, were the audiences not present, those online. Dante, Zane, Zach, and Mike are ensuring this piece sounds beautiful and looks clear with good streaming quality as if they were in the audience watching and listening. Even if the city was in the midst of police investigations and repairing the damage caused by them in pursuit of the rogues.

When the concert finished with rounds of applause for everyone. LMM went back to the Waldorf Astoria as a collective and in a half hour, British Aurors and those from across the door came into one of the conference rooms to arrest them. They were carried away, but in secret from the eyes of the normal human population. Put into carriages, the orchestra with their confiscated belongings, instruments, the Moradi family also put into a carriage but not in shackles, the magi were seeing them escorted away felt a mixture of pity, guilt, but also vindication that this crime was answered and justice is to be served. The mystic allies too felt all of these conflicting emotions, but this must be done or tempt harsher fates for them.

KINGDOM OF SAIRGOTH

AUGUST 2012, WEEK ONE

[High Tribunal Court for Terra Crimes, Friday, 12:23PM]

LMM were in their cells on one end of the hall while the founding family was in the other. Their conditions were humane at least so the stench wasn't paramount, but the cramped cells were getting to them. Eda was sitting on the floor with her knees to her chest and like everyone, with shackles on their hands and ankles. Funny how for the past week, they were prisoners still in their concert performance wardrobe, the days past when they all gave their testimonies to the judge, with now their hair messy, clothing dirty and wrinkled, and feeling despair despite the good they've done. As Eda told them, "We've broken esoteric law and must answer for our crimes."

Eda for the longest time now was the go to between LMM and the magi under Alastair's direction across Europe that then concluded in New York. She knew what was to come due to private conversations had with the man, but the feeling of dejection was still paramount. Then a guard came and like the rest of the place had a late Medieval and early Renaissance quality, but this wasn't Italy or the rest of Western Europe, this was across the door into the realm of magic as Gwen adequately put it. The guard unlocked the iron bar door, "Lady Kramer! Stand!"

She did just so and he grabbed her right arm, "Walk. Lord Rathbone, captain, bard, and servant of House Michon requested your presence."

She looked up at the guard and nodded. She was escorted away leaving her friends and professor's family behind. She walked up the winding stairs and then led to a more elegant stairway up the Palace of Justice to then walked along the gilded hall to another door. It was a Spartan but elegant sitting room with Alastair waiting for her in his military uniform, standing at attention. He motioned for her to sit and so she did, and he did so as well, right across from her.

He poured some tea in a cup accompanied with an elegant saucer. Luckily her hands were able to grasp them despite being shackled. He picked up his as well. The two were silent as they sipped their tea. After a few moments of silence, he spoke, "Jury will return in two hours and your verdict will be reached as well."

She nodded silently. He looked at her carefully before speaking again, "I have arranged what will occur. When the verdict is reached, you all will be stripped of your finery, cleaned up, your hair shorn, and await your walk of atonement."

She shuddered a bit when that was brought up, "Stripped naked before the public, walk for whatever distance, and then pelted by the crowds with produce, garbage, and shit," Eda said quietly, from which Alastair just nodded, "Yes. How do you know?"

"European history is great to look back on to explain our predicament. Or at the very least, post-modern fantasy fiction as is in A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, but that is beside the point," she sets down her teacup with saucer down on the table, "Are we forgiven once it's over?"

Alastair also down his teacup with saucer on the table and folded his hands over his abdomen, "I will be honest with you," he breathed in and then explained what will happen, "There will be those on Earth who will harass you for your crime and aim to make sure you won't forget it. On the other hand, there will be those who will thank you for your service to the esoteric community at large. Essentially, you take the good with the bad and soldier on."

Eda nodded as Alastair explained and sighed, "Will the walk be long," she ultimately asked him.

He looked at her and responded, "A mile from the Palace of Justice to the home of my cousin, Duchess Florianne of House Michon," he told her and she closed her eyes, feeling that knot in her chest down to the pit of her stomach. He looked at her as she puts her chin to her chest and as soon as he was about to ask, she raised her head to meet his eyes with her own. He blinked in surprise and saw something in her eyes that didn't show she wanted to beg, just acceptance of the situation and wanted it done quickly.

Meanwhile back in the dungeons, Dante was separated from his friends and in another cell with other prisoners numbering three, shackled to the brick wall by his left wrist with also a ball and chain attached to his right ankle. He had his eyes closed and pondering over his fate when one of the other men, spoke up, "Hey!"

Dante opened his eyes and looked up at him as the man spoke, "Why you here?"

"Prevented a war from starting, but committed theft to do it," Dante spoke and the man nodded and the other two listened, "So it is true. What you and your lot had done. Why?"

Dante knew that particular question would be asked. He dodged it from the magi, knew where he stood alongside his friends. But here in jail, surrendered that he among the others will be punished, answered to the best he can:

"I did it because after Stockholm and Philadelphia, I knew if this wasn't taken care of soon, my friends would suffer first. A few of them are mystic and after what I saw of them visibly upset, I knew I and others couldn't allow them to be targeted; indirectly or otherwise. From this, drastic actions were called for; stealing a valuable piece of technology from the Aurors in London, force the presence of the WWAEI to be known to esoteric law enforcement, and hopefully, prevent a war that would have decimated esoteric numbers from what they are to the point of near extinction."

He stopped his rant and looked at the three men calming down, "If I had the chance to do it all over again, I would. No remorse because…I'll lay my life down for my friends. Human, mystic, or even magi if they wished it."

Another of the prisoners looked at him, "Then by what you've admitted, your fate will be kinder than many. Bless your good fortune."

"It would be best if I was let go."

"Don't be smart like that," the third man spoke and continued, "Your actions were noble, your intentions were sound, but you still committed a crime upon the magi and for that, your sin must be punished. It is only by luck that Sir Rathbone of Sairgoth had arranged this to benefit you and your orchestra."

Dante looked at him and the other prisoners, "You know your fate, and you've accepted it. And no doubt won't plead innocence."

"I won't."

"Then as I've said," the third prisoner continued speaking, "Your fate will be kinder than most," and with that, Dante nodded and accepted what the prisoners have told him.

[2:30PM]

LMM were in their seats across from the judge while Mohammad and Dania were seated to the left of them near the jurors. The judge wore his robes to showcase his position as well as a white powdered wig with the symbol of the country behind him. The judge with the gavel at the ready and he signaled the bailiff to come forward and whispered something to him in the native language of the region. The musicians caught the patterns of speech, a mixture of French and German in syntax. The bailiff went to the jurors and asked, "Have you reached a verdict?"

"We have sir," and the jurors looked towards the judge who also asked, "And can you say your verdict is without bias or influence from the outside?"

"Yes, your honor," they said in as near unison as possible. Then, the head juror spoke for them all as was selected the twelve involved, "We jurors have examined the case and evidence the orchestra here have presented and listened to what they all said about their reasons for this incident and war prevention."

LMM waited to hear what was decided and listened, "Their noble actions and deeds in preventing a war that would have decimated barely recovered numbers of our brothers and sisters on Earth. Saving countless millions across the European continent, the Middle East, the Mediterranean region, and stopped it in its tracks in the New World (the Americas). They did not have to risk their lives for us, but they did. With that, we can say we are grateful to them."

The moment of praise was then followed by the reality of the situation, "However, with the good word provided by her excellence, Duchess Florianne of House Michon, Lord Alastair Rathbone who serves her house, the Aurors of Europe, the young magi who have supported them and allied with Lord Rathbone, and the mystic allies from India/Punjab, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and China, as well as the Moradi family who have steered their more destructive ways to be less so," he looked up to the courtroom and sees the allies LMM have made over the course of six months there.

He took a breath and gave the final verdict, "LMM has committed theft and caused disorder, must hereby declared, guilty. Their lead instigator, Dante Lascano will be shipped to do a month of hard labor in her excellence's bath houses to learn the true worth of his crime and repent."

LMM as a whole closed their eyes as their allies and the Moradi family exclaimed their disagreements. The others however did not. The other members sitting voiced their contradictory statements on whether letting LMM go or have them punished. The judge banged his mallet on the podium, "Order! I will have Order!"

Several loud bangs later the court was still and he turned to LMM, "Any plea bargain or final words before conducting your walk?"

LMM as a whole was silent and Eda replied, "None, your honor."

"Bailiff! Take the orchestra back to their cells. Then have them prepared for their walk."

Soon the orchestra was moved back to their cells. Their battered clothes shed off, bathed roughly, their hair shorn (Eda was excluded as her own hair was shaved off). Then they donned simple beige white robes to signify what was to occur in an hour's time. Dante will however be shipped to hard labor instead after going through the process as everyone else. But he will be forced to watch his friends endure the walk of shame and not interfere. Dante was placed back in a cell, alone this time to see his friends across the aisle. No words were exchanged, and he felt no way of expressing his shame to them. But then, Shinji spoke, "Dante."

He lifted his head to face his friend, and heard Shinji speak, "死なないでください。 あなたの努力をしなさい。 あなたの心を保ってください。 そして…家に帰りなさい。(Don't die. Do your labor. Keep your mind. And…come home.)"

Dante listened and can tell Shinji struggled to not let his emotions get the better of him. Dante smiled a bit and uttered, "Grazie (Thank you)."

With that, the group was silent. All knowing what to say, but Shinji did in an economy of words, saving their nerves for what was ahead. Public shaming.

~Music Bit: "Forgive Me" from Game of Thrones Season Four OST~

Amidst the crowds of jeering peasants and residents of the kingdom, was a road that stretched one mile from the court to the palace of Duchess Florianne of House Michon. But that one-mile winded from the wide boulevard to several winding streets where the paths between rough and some of the stoned streets cut their feet. The musicians who took part were all striped naked, felt the refuse, rotten produce, spit, and shit thrown their way. A mad man rushed to the front of the women, "Hey cunts! Suck me off!"

But he was pushed to the side roughly by the guards. In fact, the guards did protect the musicians from the rage of the commoners. One woman ran for the men of LMM and intimated them but was too brushed aside by the guards. The musicians all had stoic expressions on. Not reacting as they bore the brunt of the commoners and their jeers. Dogs barked and cats hissed. The children who jeered were the worst of all for them, seeing children as vitriolic as the adults and the elderly was nigh too much to handle. The palace was coming closer and near the gates which was guarded by the duchess's personal guard, but the jeering behind them, the blood on their feet, their bodies soiled from the walk ate away at their dignity and pride. By the end, tears streamed and for the women in question, they cried as soon as they entered the palace.

Inside the palace in one of the sitting rooms, Mohammad was sitting along as his own family was in their rooms. He looked out at the walled city before him. He can't shake the fact that while across a door in another dimension filled with magic and a seemingly feudal society, that he feels transported back to Europe on the cusp of the Renaissance. Then the doors opened, but he didn't turn around and the woman who sat beside him was the duchess herself, Florianne.

"The walk is done I presume," he asked."

"Indeed. And with your children safe, not by my hand but through my nephew, Alastair, I have a proposition for you and your orchestra."

He eyed her a bit, "I think we are in no position to perform anything."

"I understand, sir. One month of recovery you and your lot will have. After a month, you will have rehearsals for a piece I've selected," she handed him sheet music and he looked it over.

"Your orchestra is talented and skilled for certain. But it seems your children are hard to take orders from others. Even news of Armand Laurent of Aulamerta Academy in France found that to be the case. He has succeeded in working with them, but make no mistake, they will listen to me."

He looked at the music and at her, "I know this piece and composer. Right, I can squeeze this into our schedule," he said, knowing debating the subject was pointless.

He looked through his paper notebook and flipped through the pages. He read his notes, "Right, the fortnight in Costa Rica and Panama. That can work for us to perform this music for you," he spoke and showed her his schedule.

She nodded approvingly, "Very well. I'll see you then and if any question, contact Lord Alastair Rathbone via Marseilles. Take care," she bowed and left the room, leaving him in silence and cursed quietly on the past year's mess and the road to recovery was going to be hard.

~End music bit~

KYOTO, JAPAN

[Sakyo-Ku Ward, Monday,6:28PM]

Shinji was in his room sitting in a chair, playing his cello. When times get stressful, difficult, or just needing to recollect on something new in his life, he plays his go to piece of music, Suite No. 1 in G Major, Prelude by Johann Sebastian Bach. As he played the arpeggios, he tried to not mind the itching of his shaved head and kept playing. His music filled his home with his parents downstairs entertaining guests from the university. His two minutes and forty-six seconds of music were allowing him to piece together the past seven months as if each bar and passage were being replayed as footage. In doing so, he adds color to the cadence, anticipating in holding a discordant chord right up to the ending with an agogic accent. As he finished he had the cello lean against his desk with the bow on top of it. He stretched up his arms and cracked his neck. He was physically relaxed, but something in his mind was still amiss. He got up and went to the restroom.

After he finished he washed his hands and exited it. He was about to head to his room before seeing his mother there, "ああ…すみません、お母さん。 あなたに会いませんでした。 (Oh…I'm sorry mom. Didn't see you there.)"

She offered a gentle smile, "大丈夫です。 ここで、夕食を持ってきました。(Quite all right. Here, I've brought you dinner.)," she was holding a tray of food for him. Miso soup, grilled fish, steamed rice, a small mixed salad, and hot oolong tea.

He smiled, "ありがとうございました。 気分が悪くて階下のみんなに参加できなくてごめんなさい。(Thank you. I'm sorry in not feeling well enough to join the rest of you guys downstairs.)," he accepted the tray and apologized but she held up her hand in understanding.

"謝る必要はありません。 あなたの父と私はあなたの兄と話をし、あなたと彼とあなたのオーケストラが通過したことを彼から突き出しました。 (No need to apologize. Your father and I talked with your brother and coaxed out of him what you, he, and your orchestra had went through…as long as you're safe and sound now, that's all the comfort I need.)," she said reassuringly.

He looked at her with the look of gratitude on his face. She bowed slightly and headed back downstairs. He returned to his room and closed the door behind him with his right leg. As he held his tray of food, he started to cry softly and leaned against the door. He breathed sharply and felt his hot tears flow down his cheeks, as if all of the months of chasing bad men and women across a continent and a battle in a city he grown to know just unleashed and couldn't stop it.

HAMBURG, GERMANY

[Einsbüttel, Tuesday, 1:32AM]

Eda stirred in bed and awoken from a dream then blinked her sight into focus. She then turned on her lamp beside her bed and slowly sat upright. She leaned to her right side of the bed and next to the lamp was her notebook with a pen. She began to write in Hungarian:

Álmodtam, hogy egy tájban sétálok. A hegyek körülvettek, az eső és a szél heves volt… nem tudott egyenesen járni. A távolban láttam csatát, az egyik oldalon több katona volt, mint a másik, de a kisebb hadsereg nem vette fel a negyedet ... aztán a napot elnyomta a nap, és a vihar teljes erővel jött… És láttam a levegőben nagy sas és egy sárkány?

I dreamt of walking in a landscape. Mountains surrounded me, rain and wind were fierce…could not walk straight. A battle I saw in the distance, one side had more soldiers than the other, but the smaller army fought with no quarter…then the sun was blotted by the sun and the storm came in full force…And I saw up in the air a great eagle and…a dragon?

She stopped writing and wondered if she should cross it out. The imagery of the dream was odd but to her surprise, not fragmented. It felt like a cohesive dream that consisted of things that unnerved her. She should feel relieved about her and the orchestra's fate. They did the walk of atonement, Dante doing hard labor and now they're home. She should also feel that Dante would return home in the next month or so, but her dreams for the past few nights aren't helping.

LATER THAT MORNING

[5:13AM]

Asuka couldn't sleep and decided to do an early morning jog around the neighborhood and on her route, she was joined by Bernhard. The two silently nodded and resumed their jog to just clear their heads. Once reaching their local park, and when they arrived they did some exercises. Their workout consisted of push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and chin-ups on the children's jungle gym, and a sparring session in wrestling and hand-to-hand practicing in grappling, along with striking with elbows, hands, and feet.

[6:15AM]

The light of morning was already illuminating the sky and birds began chirping with the two sweating, Bernhard with his shirt around his neck and Asuka stretching out her arms. They got water bottles from a gas station and chugged the water down. Now they headed home to get breakfast, walking just to unwind from their workout, and silently nodded to each other; thanking the other for a good session. Before she walked away, Bernhard called her out, "Asuka!"

She turned to face him, "Ja? (Yeah?)"

He shifted his feet before speaking, "Ich fühle mich komisch seit dieser beschissenen Schande ... willst du später zur Bar, um mit Eda etwas zu trinken? (I've been feeling weird since that shitty walk of shame…wanna head to the bar later to grab some drinks with Eda?)"

She looked at him and smiled, "Sicher. Ich rufe sie an, wenn ich nach Hause komme. (Sure. I'll call her when I get home.)," and he smiled in returned, "Bis später dann. (See you two later then.)," he waved at her and walked home himself.

MEANWHILE

In Eda's house, she wakes up and her parents were already having breakfast. She joins them, asking for a cup of coffee. Then the phone rings, "Ich heb' ab. (I'll get it.)," Eda's mother said as she got up to get it.

Then after a moment she turned to her daughter, "Es ist für dich. (It's for you.)"

Eda's stomach tied up in a small knot. She got up and received the phone from her mom, "Hallo? (Hello?)"

Then a voice was on; it was Rachel in her Bavarian accented German and somewhat cheerful, "Eda. Glückwünsche. Es scheint, unsere Sicht auf euch alle verändert haben. (Eda. Congratulations. It seems our view of you all have changed.)"

She was now confused and pressed the question, "Welches ist, was genau? (Which is what, exactly?)," she tightened her grip on the phone as Rachel explained.

"Es scheint, dass Dante seinem Wort treu blieb, als der gestohlene Algorithmus tatsächlich an das DNT in London zurückgegeben wurde. Dante akzeptierte nicht nur seine Bestrafung für harte Arbeit, sondern auch Ihre Bemühungen, die Schurken zu stoppen und uns alle auf ihre Existenz aufmerksam zu machen, um einen Weltkrieg auszulösen, um unsere Zahlen zu dezimieren. Ich muss sagen, ich bin beeindruckt. (It seems Dante was true to his word as the stolen algorithm was indeed returned to the DNT in London. As well as Dante accepting his punishment for hard labor, your efforts in stopping the rogues, alerting us all regarding their existence in starting a world war to decimate our numbers…I have to say I'm impressed.)"

Eda didn't react or answer, she felt as if this was a wind up. She let Rachel continue, "Möchtest du jetzt, da alles unter der Brücke ist, abhängen? (Now that everything is under the bridge, would you like to hang out?)"

Eda blinked, now feeling the oddness of magi. They're quick to forgive once LMM had paid for their crime and taken their punishment. But right now, she felt numb; unable to approach them on friendly terms, feeling unclean since the walk of shame in Sairgoth. She didn't want to talk to magi for a while, "Ich muss Ihre Einladung respektvoll ablehnen. (I have to respectfully decline your invitation.)"

"Was? (What?)," Rachel's asked and Eda just said, "Es tut mir leid, Ihre Einladung zu einem öffentlichen oder privaten Gespräch anzunehmen. Rufen Sie mich nicht über Ihre palantir. Ich rufe Sie an, wenn es besser geht. Keine Beleidigung, ich fühle mich trotz eines Sieges, den andere in LMM erbittert und ich habe verloren. Unsere Würde, unser Verstand, unser Herz und offen gesagt unser Drang, solche Dinge zu wiederholen, sind erschöpft. Sie und der Rest ist richtig. Wir hatten überhaupt kein Recht. (I don't feel good in accepting your invitation to converse in public or in private. Don't call me via your palantir. I'll call you when things are better. No offense, I'm feeling bitter in despite a victory others in LMM and I have lost. Our dignity, our minds, our hearts, and quite frankly, our drive to repeat such things are exhausted. You and the rest are right. We had no right at all.)"

"Aber Eda… (But Eda…)" Rachel wanted to continue, but Eda ended the call with the push of a button. She handed the phone back to her mother and sat back down at the table to finish her light breakfast. She'll talk to magi soon, but right now, she would rather kick their asses than constantly feeling reminded of her shame.

PARIS, FRANCE

[Belleville, 6:30AM]

Juliette was with Edmond in bed with his arms around her as she looked out her window. She thought she saw a red balloon floating passed the window but it was just a red rag blowing in the light breeze. She heard someone chasing after it and relaxed in his hold, "Nous sommes vivants. (We're alive.)," he whispered.

"Je sais ... Je suis content que nous sommes. (I know…I'm glad we are.)," she replied back and clasped his forearms, "Quand reviens-tu à Marseille? (When are you going back to Marseille?)," she asked.

"En deux semaines. Je veux passer du temps avec toi, mon amour. (In two weeks. I want to spend time with you, my love.)," he said soothingly and she felt the formation of tears in her eyes, and let them flow gently down her face, "Je sens qu'une partie de nous s'est ruinée pendant cette promenade. (I feel a part of us got ruined during that walk.)," she said under her breath.

But Edmond heard her, "Eh bien, nous avons commis un crime aux yeux ésotériques. Et de manière réaliste, nous devrions en payer le prix. (Well, we did commit a crime in esoteric eyes. And realistically we ought to pay the price.)," he told her and then continued, "Nous avons payé pour cela et je pense que cela suffit. (We paid for it and I think that is enough.)"

She turned to face him, "Comment savez-vous? (How do you know?)," she asked and he responded with, "Intuition. Nous avons peut-être sauvé des millions de vies, mais nous ne pouvons pas partir indemnes. Ce ne serait pas juste. (Intuition. We may have saved millions of lives, but we can't go away scot-free. It wouldn't be right.)," he told her and this sort of satisfied her and returned to her position.

The two stayed in bed for another half hour before getting up to head for the kitchen for breakfast. A new day, they were there, time to move on.

TANGIER, MOROCCO

[Medina, 5:30AM]

Priest Hakeem was looking over the port from the Medina of the city while holding his staff and wore his traditional Nigerian robes, towards Europe. Beside him were Prince Mahbeeb and his uncle in more traditional Arab robes. Not to mention Anan who was donned in her sari over her tank-top and jeans, "This is where we part ways, friends."

The prince looked at him, "LMM will be all right," he felt bad for them, even if justice was served, "Won't they?"

Anan answered, "They will. They're new to this world of ours. The mystics in their ranks know this in their bones. On the other hand, something is coming for us."

Her cryptic words rang for the men, "What do you mean," the prince asked, but his uncle spoke instead to convey the meaning.

"What she means is that in prophetic circles in our society are finding disturbing imagery in dreams, scrolls, books, and simply signs in day-to-day life that are indicating something to come."

The prince looked at him uneasily and the priest spoke as well, "He's right. Whatever what had started with the rogues and LMM are signs that our society is weak. Our numbers have barely improved since the Second World War. Not to mention the African continent has its share of civil wars that have made things worse. We need a procedure to pass if and when this new threat on the horizon, we're prepared to handle it."

Anan nodded to this, "And when that happens, we'll be ready…and LMM will return to the front," she said and added the last part with trepidation.

"I'm heading to the airport gentlemen. See you around," she bid them farewell and made her sari was on correctly and walked down the stone steps towards one of the winding streets below.

The priest then heard the call to prayer indicating the moment of dawn, "I'll see you two around soon," Hakeem bowed and walked down the stairs with his staff. As he left, the remaining two stood there overlooking the harbor.

"Uncle," the prince spoke after a moment of silence, "The central government of Saudi Arabia current ruling family have sent word of sending an emissary to our kingdom. They want us to 'build bridges'. I don't trust that family."

"No one does in our kingdom or others in the country. But the emissary is a guest. We shall treat him as such. Make no mistake, we will not bow or bend our laws and ways to these people," his uncle reassured him and reminded of their centuries old stance on maintaining traditions.

Prince Mahbeeb was comforted but his uncle's words and stance. But he was unsure. As a young prince, the rogues and the chase to defeat them over a seven month period was a welcoming distraction from his obligations back home. Not to mention of whisperings of other anomalies in the hidden mountains of Saudi Arabia. But for now, they're just rumors.

Instead he nodded, "Right. Let's pray to the morning call and then get breakfast," he said and his uncle nodded in agreement. So right there, they got on their knees and bowed down, in reverence to the morning call to prayer in the name of Allah.

ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

[Nevsky Prospect, 9:30AM]

---

+Pocket dimension timeline: 1898

Tucker was in his private apartment in the city's more affluent neighborhood. Thanks to a last minute deal, and a leg of ham thrown in as a gift, Oskana was able to fly him out of the US for the short term. Thanks to what William and Wilfredo have been victims of, and Tucker's network collapsing in mere minutes, he was then targeted by the NYPD and the FBI. Now, here he was, across the sea and a continent from home, friends, and family. Now he was safe for the most part, with rules to follow in the meantime: Limiting his access to the Internet until further notice, communication with friends and family must be done by letter, he must wear clothing of the period with the story of him as an American who is visiting the country for a while, and must communicate in Russian with the surrounding citizens of the city. The last rule was not a problem due to learning it from his hacker friend Vladimir from Moscow. As for his accommodations, he is situated a block's distance from the famed Literaturnoye Kafe, where the likes of Tchaikovsky and Dostoyevsky congregated often.

As he dressed up in his period clothes, he donned a bowl hat with his late Victorian three-piece suit, exchanged his glasses with the wire-frames of the time, and donned a timepiece as well. He left his apartment and locked the door. He made his way downstairs two floors. Then he exited the building and looking around, this pocket dimension was indeed a trip back in time. He tipped his hat in greeting a man who waved a hello. He made his way to the famed café one block down. Once there he made his way to a table. Then a dashing waiter approached him, "Удовольствиеилибизнес? (Pleasure or business?)"

Tucker looked up, "Нучтож… делаивнадеждевыжатькакое-тоудовольствие. (Well…business and hoping to squeeze in some pleasure.)," he replied and the waiter nodded, "Хочешьсначалагазетуиличерныйчай? (Would you like a newspaper or black tea first?)"

"Черныйчай. Ядолженпроснутьсяпервым. (Black tea. I need to wake up first.)," Tucker said with an embarrassed smile, and the waiter nodded and left to get him some tea, and a piece of bread to go with it. Tucker looked around the city before him, with day-to-day life seemingly going on as it had been. Even if it was all a time capsule of sorts under esoteric understanding of not allowing any sort of modern technology or clothing here, he was adapting for the time being.

The waiter came back with the tea and bread. Tucker thanked and sipped it. Black, strong and bold flavor, just as he liked it to stay alert and focused. He was going need it if he's going to be in a pocket dimension for a month or so. He also wondered what Wilfredo was going to do, while also on the run.

---

NEW YORK, USA

[Adirondack Park, 12:45AM]

Wilfredo was awake as he failed to fall asleep. He got up and opened his tent. The moon was a pale crescent nestled among the glittering stars. The river was to the west of his makeshift campsite, on impulse he rubbed his shaved head and got up. He stepped out of his tent in the nude and stretched. He grabbed his water filter to head down hill through the trees and shrubbery and once on the river he knelt down to allow water into his pitcher. Once the pitcher was filled he carried it back to his tent. As he yawned sporadically on the way back, he listened to the sounds of nature in the night. The nocturnal animals such as owls and foxes, wild bobcats and the occasional group of bats in the summer night were relaxing. But since the trial he felt a bit stretched. Not sure what to do or how long he wanted to be out in the woods until he returned home, but he had a compulsion to head north and reach the Canadian border. Once he reached the tent he puts the pitcher inside his tent he yawned. He looked down on himself and realized he was walking around with a boner, "Damn, talk about inconvenient."

He looked up at the stars and wondered about the aftermath. Someone put his face and Tucker's on the wanted list and now he's basically on the run for a while until the heat dies down. William as well, which is why he headed for southern France to hide for a while with Henriette. Not to mention saying he will contact Cecilia when he has the chance, which frustrated him further. His parents' look of fear and concern cut the deepest.

"It's true, fear does cut deeper than swords," he muttered.

He then heard a rustling of leaves and turned sharply. He looked above and it only was an owl that flew overhead. He looked around in the darkness, his sight allowing him to look further into the lit blackness of night, faintly so by the moon. The sound of night insects was the only thing present, but he was prepared to take an enemy down. Be it a nightly poacher, or nightly specter. But he saw nothing. He heard nothing. With that he calmed down, so did his erection.

He yawned, too tired to think, he went in his tent, closed it, and fell on his sleeping bag. Sleep overtook him and out he went like a light. Tomorrow was a new day and he aimed to enjoy himself this summer away from the city. Meanwhile, looking down the hill from atop the hill, a mysterious woman was observing the lone tent for miles and wrote down some notes and disappeared into the darkness of the woods.

TO BE CONTINUED

The more obvious reason for this delay in story update is life got in the way (open university credits to raise GPA, work, and celebrating the holidays) and the other reason was more personal. That reason is doing something I have never done before, writing two chapters simultaneously. This is a way for me to make penance for longer than usual delays in chapter updates, considering how I used to update once a month. But now, I'm taking a bit of time to really make the writing more solid in narrative as well as to evolve the story properly with elements from my friends who are now helping me in the writing process (story ideas, etc.).

The music I selected for the concert before the orchestra's arrest served two purposes: (a) To show LMM's determination in doing their job regardless of circumstances. (b) To show what direction LMM will take musically in the future. Below are the renditions I've selected regarding to the pieces of music:

1. Ludwig van Beethoven: Overture Coriolan, Op. 62 (Academy of Ancient Music w/ conductor Christopher Hogwood)

2. Agostino Steffani: Suite from 'Il trionfi del fato' (Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca)

3. Antonio Vivaldi: Armatae face et anguibus from Juditha Triumphaus (Il Giardino Armonico w/ Giovanni Antonini as conductor and mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli)

4. Georg Friedrich Handel: Tirannia gli diede il regno from Rodelinda (1998 Glyndebourne Festival) (Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment w/ William Christie as guest conductor and baritone Umberto Chiummo)

5. H.F. Raupach: Idu na smert (I Barocchisti w/ conductor Diego Fasolis and mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli)

6. Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni: Concerto for Oboe No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 9 (Academy of Ancient Music w/ Christopher Hogwood)

7. Antonio Vivaldi: Le Quattro Staigioni "Summer" RV 315 (Europa Galante w/ conductor and violinist Fabio Biondi)

8. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23 (Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie w/ conductor Yves Abel with pianist Anna Fedorova)

Read, review, critique, and I'll see you all next time. (edited)