Outlaws

Harry and Ginny had now been invited to stay with the US President of MACUSA, and her family, until they started school at Ilvermorny School for Witches and Wizards; their adorable girls were also allowed to join them at school.

Shanna's husband was exceptionally happy with this, saying that now he would have someone old enough to play pool against in his private den, "Harry". The man had an extravagant full-size pool table, a dart board, some arcade machines with some classic games such as PAC-Man and Space Invaders, and he also had a bar.

Harry found out after they returned from the Ministry, that Jeff was in fact the Charms teacher at Ilvermorny. He was slightly too pleased with the fact that, as he put it, "I'll get the privilege to teach the famous Harry Potter." His reason for being so over the moon about it, was that Jeff said, "You're going to do great things with your life and help a lot of people, and it will be nice to tell my friends that I taught Harry Potter."

Ginny thought it was very funny and had been teasing Harry about it ever since; she and Harry had never seen fit to spoil Professor Morgan's good mood by informing him that Harry could teach the teacher more about charms than he could ever teach Harry.

Harry had never played pool before and was rather rubbish at the game to start with, mainly because he wanted to give false hope; however, Jeff Morgan was a very good teacher, and after the fifth game, Harry 'almost won.' Ginny called him out on his 'bullshit,' so Harry didn't let him win again, to the children's delight. He was rather good at playing pool, and the children loved it when he played with them. They would even glomp him while he played, and he would swing them around gently, making them laugh and squeal in delight.

Apparently, out of everyone who came over to visit, no matter how many games were played, Jeff never lost, but Harry did pick the boys up and spin them around in glee as they cuddled him; they loved having a 'Big Brother,' and Harry enjoyed the boys' affection. Soon, he had the four children giggling in glee as they flew around the games room while Jeff frowned.

"How do you do magic without even moving your hands?" Jeff asked curiously. "I can barely do anything without a wand, and you're not even looking at them."

Harry shrugged in amusement. "Magic flows everywhere, and magic has a flavor, and every magical being, and source of magic's flavor is different. And when I say flavor, don't be like my friend Ron; I tried to teach him this, and he asked what his magic tasted like." He smiled as Ginny giggled at the memory, floating off and up to join the children.

"Come on," she said to their cheers, and took control of the magic as they floated through the house.

"So, if everything feels different, how can you know what is what with so much to remember?" Jeff asked curiously. "Sensing magic and magical forces around us is rather child's play, but separating a spell from a person or ward from a person… I didn't think that was possible."

Harry smirked. Then Jeff staggered back, looking at Harry in horror, as if his presence, his very existence, had ceased to be perceived. His eyes could see Harry, but he couldn't believe his eyes; something was terribly wrong.

"I'm always hiding most of myself," Harry said smugly. "If I didn't, you would feel like this right now, but instead of disbelief, you would feel dread and terror, even though you know I can be a bit of a softie. Right now, you're missing the full extent of my magic, and it's a terrible loss you feel when you look at me."

"Could I learn this?" Jeff asked, as his mind still struggled to comprehend the concept that Harry was truly there.

Harry shrugged. "Ginny can do it too, and my dear friend Hermione has been rather quick on understanding the concept, and can fractionally 'cease to exist', so I don't see why not. But doing this… you're likely too old to learn to twist and suppress your magical force to emit zero, but sensing magical force, and being able to pick out a certain force, sure, as it's not even that hard, heck, even Dumbledore can do it, though through wards from the outside, very doubtful."

Jeff asked hopefully, "Will you teach me?"

Harry laughed and shook his head before producing a small handwritten book out of thin air. "The texts I found… well, okay, my friend Hermione found on the subject were rather lacking, so she begged me to make her something she could study, and look back on that actually skips over the BS, though she was much more polite about it."

He said, "Thank you," as he took the book in admiration.

"No worries," Harry said with a grin. "Now, why don't you teach me all about darts?"

"You're attempting to scam me again, aren't you?"

Harry just continued to smile.

0oo00oo0

Dumbledore went to the Weasleys' burrow, where he told Harry that he wished Molly Weasley was out at the time, because ever since he arrived and started packing their belongings, she had been shouting and cursing up a storm about the Minister breaking the law, and she wanted to come and see Ginny. However, Dumbledore said it would be unwise at the moment, as Harry and Ginny would most likely be considered outlaws. (When told this, Harry and Ginny laughed for a very long time, and the cowboy/cowgirl jokes continued, as they somehow managed to get dressed quickly and even wore the hats.)

Hedwig had thankfully already found Harry. He still didn't have a clue what Fawkes was doing with her, and neither did Dumbledore. The old man seemed baffled by it when Harry told him that Hedwig seemed to be chewing him out, and the phoenix popped by every so often; the phoenix represented magic while the dragon was power.

Dumbledore assured Molly she needn't worry, as he explained that the Minister would likely arrest any British witch or wizard who attempted to visit them. This was indeed true, as reported by the Daily Prophet the following day. The newspaper featured a large headline with what Harry believed were rather flattering photographs of himself and Ginny.

'Outlaws.'.

Funnily enough, that just made their infamy grow, and made the public support them even more, especially in the US, and many other Confederation-allied countries; their papers all played it off in favor of Harry and Ginny, and it would almost be worth outing their 'superhero' personas to see what else would happen.

The Daily Prophet didn't even say what their crimes supposedly were, and Harry was pleased to find out that, a week later, there was a huge mass of protesters, who stormed the British Ministry building, demanding Fudge's resignation, when they read the U.S. equivalent to the Daily Prophet, The Seer, which a lot of people throughout the U.K. Wizarding World ordered, especially since they could now get newspapers from other countries. Though, for how long was anyone's guess, as Fudge would probably try to make doing so a crime, as the idiot was extremely susceptible to her.

It seemed as if most of Wizarding Britain believed that what Harry had done should be praised and not punished.

"Minister Fudge," Harry chuckled gleefully to Ginny sitting on their bed, "it appears, has royally pissed everyone off." Ginny smirked at him and slapped Harry with that day's copy of the Seer Newspaper with a smirk. He added, "Except that arsehole Malfoy, who is gleefully using the moron just like she is."

Harry looked at the front page and almost glowed with jubilation, as he cuddled his girl while their girls were happily playing with their 'cousins', the Morgan boys, as they hunted through all the strange magical board games together that Harry had bought them, to their amusement, since they should only play video games.

The British Minister of Magic, consorting with known Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy! Harry roared with laughter for what might have been hours, days or even months, but was only a moment. The small children offered him a strange look, as it was only a minute to Ginny's eye-roll as they kissed sweetly.

Ginny started at him. "Who is 'she'?"

Harry was startled and sighed, "I'm not really sure to be honest… I just know she is coming. Just thinking about her feels strange. The First Evil!"

Ginny gasped and then quickly checked that the kids were still playing. "As in the End Bringer?"

"That is just a legend," Oden said uncertainly. "The one who will bring forth Ragnarök, Armageddon, the end of all life. The feeling of a coming storm we have had ever since the White Flames joined us… could it really be…? Is this why you've been cutting us off so often…? Did you not want to admit that this was happening?"

"What are you?" Harry suddenly asked, and silence followed for a moment before an unfamiliar feminine voice answered.

"I am the source of my creators," she replied gently. "The beings you have been conversing with are images of my past host's souls; they were created by subroutines that took on the facets of gods from your world."

Ginny asked in thought, 'Harry, what's going on?'

'Your technology?' Harry asked while ignoring Ginny for the time being.

Yes," she agreed. "We were a probe; sent to explore what our creators were too afraid to. To find life in a vast and empty universe. They were sad at the mere prospect that they were alone. We were designed to evolve and learn, and unfortunately, when we found the planet Eden, and so much wonderful life, we also found such evil, and when the God Xzodia split the world in three to seal away the Goddess Darquinn, we were damaged beyond repair, and could not return home. Therefore, we continued to monitor the only world we had access to, Gaia, or as it has been known for a while now, The Earth. Magic was so void from the world for thousands of years, until Darquinn tried to escape the veil of Terra's seal. That was when we first integrated into a human...she was Pandora, the first mage since Eden, and we taught her the lost arts of magic, and you were reborn as her son to stop Darquinn from breaking free of her prison."

Ginny sighed in annoyance and glared at Harry. 'How long have you known about this?'

Harry shrugged sheepishly. "Not too long, and I just knew The Source was kind of fibbing; everything she had told us is new to me."

Ginny rolled her eyes and cuddled into Harry's arms. 'Just, don't hide these things from me in the future, silly... wait, are you a flipping god?'

Smiling, Harry kissed her lips and began his tale.

00oo00oo00

Harry found himself restless throughout the week. Ginny tried to put on a brave face, but he could tell that she felt it too; the whole God business being put aside, and The Source, no longer hiding what they were, became rather forthcoming, and much more knowledgeable than they ever suspected. Though, Harry knew she felt it coming from him - the unease and fear he had been hiding.

It didn't help matters that neither Might nor Magic would tell him what his purpose was yet. He had to protect Ginny and the girls, and all he held dear in this messed-up world. Which he might add wasn't much, but at least that was something he should hold dear to his heart until his last breath.

Harry sat on the porch swing, thinking over all of his training. He watched the sunset while Ginny was inside with Karen, helping prepare dinner. Harry sighed, and tried to hold back laughter as he heard his stomach grumble. Harry guessed he should stop worrying so much; after all, he was being foolishly brooding. Harry knew he would just have to wait for whatever was coming to come, and deal with it when it arrived. Until then, he had a beautiful girlfriend, two wonderful children to love and hold.

00oo00oo00

Ginny had just called Harry into the dining room from outside; dinner was ready. He came in and smiled brightly as he claimed the seat next to her, as she knew he would. Then he gave her a small kiss in greeting, bringing a light blush to her cheeks. However, that one little action caused her heart to pound painfully in her chest. Though, she smiled at him as she realized that whatever had been bothering him no longer seemed to plague his thoughts. She knew if she gave him a little space and time, he would easily let it go, as she watched him lovingly kiss their daughters, and the other children on their foreheads.

Although, that didn't mean she hadn't been worried about him; because she had very much so. But she knew better than to pry. She was certain when he was ready, he would tell her what had been bothering him, beyond all the godly shenanigans and the ancient alien technology that was inside them. She just hoped it wasn't anything too serious. Though, she figured it might have something to do with Voldemort, and all the messed up things happening back in the UK, or this Darquinn person who was apparently the mother of evil or something silly like that, but he said her name with kindness, pity, and love, so she didn't know how to react.

These things concerned her as well, but she always found that they bothered her less the more time she spent with her beloved Harry and daughters. She could still barely believe it. Her boyfriend. She had such a great and strong one, and she was pretty sure he was a reincarnated god, which was rather cool. He had changed from the scared little boy she first saw at Platform 9 to a strong, confident and powerful man who knew how to treat her body to make her feel all the pleasure he could possibly give her, and she smiled just thinking about that night.

00oo00oo00

Severus Snape was in a somewhat unusual mood. He had been ever since a certain someone had been outlawed in the UK. On one hand, he had been rid of the boy. Yet, on the other hand, who did he have around to torment at school? Sure, he had that Longbottom idiot, but it wouldn't be the same. Longbottom was a wimp and wouldn't jump at his bait like Potter usually did.

Though, he was not too sure Potter would do that anymore, and quite honestly, he was sure Potter had just been messing with him for fun. Potter had supposedly changed over the past month, letting down his protective barriers, deciding to fight back harder, rather than letting others do the fighting for him. Severus had to give the boy credit; he had everyone fooled into thinking he was a mediocre student at best, but when that attack on Hogsmeade happened, Potter dropped the act.

However, inventing a shield that put the unforgivable curses to shame was an impressive feat in and of itself. Potter really did have a knack for pissing the Dark Lord off. Talking about pissing people off, Potter had also pissed off most of the Ministry – the twat little shits at least. Though, their anger at him had only pissed off half of if not more of the British wizarding world, let alone the rest of the magical people.

Severus had to wonder what that idiot Fudge was actually up to, and who he was working for. In fact, the Dark Lord was also curious, and seemed somewhat on edge by the whole ordeal. Though, Severus had to admit that he felt jumpy about it himself. It didn't help matters that he had accidentally seen the Dark Lord's true form, and apparently only that masochist, Bellatrix, had done so before him, and he wanted nothing to do with any of that crazy shit.

Severus shook his head as he thought about it. Well, Voldemort was rather old, so he supposed that being turned into a child would be the final straw for him.

He felt sorry for Potter. But most of all, he thought about all the hijinks that could have gone on had Fudge not become such a power-hungry, moronic prick.

The Ministry was almost declaring war on the US with all of the propaganda and rumors they were trying to spread through the Daily Prophet. However, it didn't seem to be working as everyone was fed up with the Ministry's lies. The Daily Prophet sales and stocks were also plummeting as the people realized they were just Fudge's mouthpiece and did whatever he wanted.

Good riddance to bad rubbish, he says. At least Potter's having a better time than the Order of the Phoenix. It was just all too troublesome.

"Severus! Severus!"

Severus blinked several times in confusion as he looked around at the other Order members, some of whom were snickering at his lack of paying attention. Well, it wasn't his fault Dumbledore's schemes were so boring and non-productive that he couldn't pay attention. Potter had the right idea. Just fire back twice as hard and you'll have your enemy fearing you in return. The fact was, he would rather Potter run the Order as things would likely get done, and Fudge would have been crushed at least.

He looked toward the old man in question and nodded curtly for him to continue. "Well, we know the Ministry's stance on Harry, but what about Voldemort's?" he asked. Severus rolled his eyes as most of the Order flinched at hearing the Dark Lord's name. It was no wonder the Light was losing with cowards like these.

"The Dark Lord is, of course, pissed off," he began in a monotone, though he scowled for dramatic effect. "He is mostly annoyed about the existence of the Return Trip Home being a bother to his minions." He rolled his eyes, but doubted many of the Order noticed. "However, his stance on Harry Potter has changed slightly. He says, while Harry Potter is out of the country, there is no reason to waste his time hunting him. Additionally, I believe the Dark Lord does not want to mess too much with MACUSA just yet. I think he fears that if he does so, it will give the United States and its allies reason to invade the UK."

"Something he has no doubt been trying to avoid at all costs. With the way Fudge is currently controlling the UK Ministry, I can see his point. If the US took control, they would send out soldiers to take out Death Eaters and hunt down the Dark Lord. This would put some serious dampeners on his plans of actually dealing with a semi-competent government."

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully in agreement. "Yes, I understand the reasoning," he said worriedly. "The British Ministry would lose quite quickly, and I doubt even Voldemort and his forces could deal with an army of that size for very long before they fell."

Then why don't you ask for outside help?" interjected Remus Lupin with a confused frown. "You surely have some pull with the US Magical President; she has taken in both Harry and Ginny."

Severus almost smiled as he saw the werewolf gulp when Molly Weasley glared at him for bringing that up. Heck, even Severus found her scary for some unknown reason he couldn't fathom.

"We cannot," said Dumbledore sadly. "This is our mess, and our problem. We cannot involve any more innocent people in it...

Severus rolled his eyes as he zoned out of Dumbledore's continued naivety. Sometimes he wondered how the old man ever got to be known as one of the most powerful wizards to walk the planet. It was no wonder Potter had rebelled against him. Severus just wished he and the rest of them had the guts or brains to do so too.

0oo00oo0

Harry Potter woke up; his eyes flickered open instantly, and he took a deep rattling breath as he calmed himself. Harry sighed and looked around him to find that Ginny had already woken and left for the day.

'Sources, I am so sore,' he mumbled internally.

She said, "I did cuddle with you for a while." She paused and added, "It was something I rather enjoyed."

Pandora asked hopefully, "Will you cuddle me too?"

"You are just a part of me," Source replied, and Harry could almost feel the pout, and internally sighed.

Pandora whined. "Harry, please tell her to cuddle me! You're technically my son."

"Pan!" Kalypso whined, and Harry quickly cut off whatever that was going to be, as it was a piece of his ancestor's soul trying to get "lucky" with a computer program or vice versa.

Harry quickly glanced at his watch. The time was a little after ten in the morning. Harry sighed as he got up out of bed and got dressed. He knew that something had happened, but wasn't sure what.

He yawned as he entered the kitchen, where Ginny, their daughters, and the President's family were having breakfast.

"Good morning, Ginny," Harry greeted happily as he kissed her lips, and then both April and May, before kissing the President's sons, and then sitting down next to Ginny. The kids looked excitedly, as the girls would be traveling to Ilvermorny to live in the castle with their parents (as they had received special concessions).

"Good morning, Gin," he replied as casually sweet as he could manage. Then he gave her another small kiss on the lips. He hoped he hadn't said anything odd in his sleep or something if she had woken first. He wouldn't know how to explain some of the things he talked about when drawn into the dream world, as he often spoke to Might, Source, and Magic about various concerns there.

"What's wrong?" she asked as he pulled away, and Splashy the house elf brought over his breakfast.

He replied, "I don't know. It's probably nothing." Realizing she was reading his concerned expression, he added, "It's just a feeling I have."

"You look really ghostly pale, Harry," Karen interrupted, also looking concerned.

"Maybe we should take you to see a medi-witch or wizard?" asked Jeff, looking equally concerned.

No, thank you guys. I just had a bad dream that's all. I'm okay, thanks." Harry assured them.

"Well, if you're still feeling this way later on at school, I'll take you to see the school nurse," Jeff said as Harry sighed and tried to hide a small smile. He had never had many people worry about him before, and it just made him happy that they did, even though he was perfectly fine, and he snuggled the kids to reassure them that he was fine.

Talking about school, how are we getting there?" Harry asked eagerly, trying to forget his uneasy feeling, as he realized neither he nor Ginny had looked into the school too much.

Both Karen and Jeff smiled knowingly, and Jeff just said two words in amusement: "School bus."

Harry wasn't sure if that was completely true or not, but he decided to let it slide, knowing that they wouldn't tell the truth even if he persisted, and reading minds was rather unethical for something so trivial.

"So have you two got all your things packed?" Karen asked as she sat down opposite Ginny.

Yes," Ginny replied cheerfully. "I made sure to double-check our trunks."

Good. The bus will be here in about ten minutes," Jeff said. "Don't worry, Karen will bring the girls this evening, after dinner. Hurry up and finish breakfast," he added, even though both Harry and Ginny had already finished.

0oo00oo0

Ginny was so excited waiting outside the Burrow for the bus, which would take both her and Harry to school. She still couldn't quite grasp that she was living with, in the presence of, the reincarnation of a god. But still, he was her god, and she loved him more with every moment they spent together, because he wasn't just her hero; he was a hero and savior to the entire wizarding world.

She saw that Harry had that cute, come-fuck-me grin on his face and he was staring at her again.

"I have a come fuck me grin?" Harry asked, startling her as she realised she had thought it out loud.

Ginny pouted. "Yes," she agreed out loud. "And if we had more time, I would be riding your ridiculously huge pleasure stick right now."

Harry laughed and kissed her sweet lips when suddenly a huge bang made them jump apart. Both he and Harry looked around to see a very long yellow bus driving toward them on the road.

On the front of the bus above the window it said "Salem Station, Nevada via Florida." Ginny wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but she just waited with Harry by her side as the bus stopped at the curb beside them and a pretty young blonde woman jumped out of the now open side door.

"Hello," she greeted pleasantly.

"Hi," they both replied together, making the pretty young woman smile.

"You're the new kids, I gather. I'm Professor Calister. I teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Normally, teachers don't travel with students, but given the fact that You-Know-Who has returned, and though we don't believe he will come here, there have been reports of American Death Eaters, so the school thought it best to be safe rather than sorry, so teachers and Aurors are riding with you guys." She smiled and helped Harry and Ginny onto the crowded bus, storing their trunks under their seats. The bench-like seats sat three people each, and unlike the Knight Bus back home, the seats were securely fastened to the floor. The one up front was the only one left. So Ginny sat down by the window, and Harry next to her, with Professor Calister sitting next to him in the aisle seat. With a huge bang, they were off.

Ginny almost fell out of her seat, but Harry's quick reflexes saved her from hitting the floor. If he hadn't caught her, she would have been highly embarrassed. As he held her steady, Ginny gave him a cheeky look and started playing with his fingers.

"Hey, did you just see what happened over there?" a boy's voice behind them asked.

Then another boy's voice replied. "Wasn't that the President's place?"

"I think it was," said a girl. Then a girl leaned over from behind them, between Harry and Ginny. She almost made Ginny laugh; she had cosmic blue hair, and didn't seem to be a feminazi, as she looked good. "Are you who I think you are?" the girl asked Harry. He didn't seem to find the girl's hair color unusual, or feminazi-like, even though he told her so.

Harry asked the girl, "Who do you think I am?" She seemed to be around thirteen or fourteen years old.

"Harry Potter, of course!" she exclaimed loudly. The noise from the other students on the bus suddenly dropped away, as though no one had been talking in the first place. Harry looked very uncomfortable. Ginny had noticed over the years, while watching Harry, that he wasn't like most people—who craved fame and attention. All he wanted was to be happy with his friends and family, and left in peace.

"Yes…"

00oo00oo00

Tenkei was getting bored. It had been just over a day since she set out on her journey, and she had only reached China. It was like one country over or something. So, okay, she was the other side of China, and China was rather huge, but still, she had hoped to be the other side of Asia by now.

She had parked her little blue car by a tree and set out her sleeping bag. She had just finished collecting wood for her campfire. All she needed now was to catch some fish from a nearby stream she passed, and she would be happy.

She had landed in a small valley near the southwest coast. Well, she hoped that was where she was. If not, then she was hopelessly lost. Not that she was too worried about it. She would find her way eventually. Her mistress would be waiting. Well, she hoped her mistress knew she was coming. She internally shrugged. If her mistress wasn't expecting her, then it would just be a lovely surprise.

Tenkei quickly pulled out a blue outfit from her knapsack, and stripped out of her pink and white kimono. She frowned as she looked down at her body. She wore a plain white bra and panties, but that wasn't what made her frown. It was the size of her small bust, which her best friend constantly teased her about. She sighed. All of her friends had much larger boobs than her. Why could life be so cruel?

Sighing once more, Tenkeeto pulled on her navy-blue and black training gi, and strapped her pole to her back before she hopped onto her little cloud and zoomed off into the sky. It took her only a few moments to arrive at the river; a smile worked its way onto her lips as she leapt from her cloud into the refreshingly cool water.

It took her relatively no time at all to collect a small pile of fresh fish at the bank of the river. She smiled to herself as she waded back to shore with the last fish for supper when she got a shock; her eyes widened in complete horror. She had only ever heard of pandas living in China. However, in front of her stood a massive ten-foot tall caramel colored bear. Though, that being odd and all, it had three long horns on top of its head, one on its nose, and one above each eye.

She was munching away on her supper. She had spent the last fifteen minutes collecting it, and she was hungry. She grinded her little white teeth in anger, letting her last fish drop back into the water; she was going to reprimand the bear for stealing.

However, it was at that moment a pinkish red light flew out of the trees and sizzled into the bear's back. It roared in pain and anger as it swung its huge form around. She could hear triumphant yelling, so she quickly ducked under the water, only leaving her eyes above. Just in time too, as a group of strange-looking men came charging out carrying little sticks.

Tenkei-hime found herself surprised when she watched the little sticks fire bolts of pink spells at the bear. It cried out in anger as each one hit. It seemed to be getting dizzy, as it lashed out at thin air before it collapsed unconscious.

One of the men laughed as he kicked the bear; though it didn't wake up. "This bitch will fetch us a fortune."

Tenkeeto's eyes widened as she heard this with her translation magic. These men must be poachers, she thought. She had heard about greedy people hunting animals for their own selfish gain from the village elder before. Well, she certainly wasn't going to let them get away with it, even if the bear was a thieving bear.

She suddenly stood up to her full height, which wasn't very impressive, and started glaring angrily at the men. "Hey, you jerks, leave it alone!"

The men must have blinked several times in surprise before they burst out laughing at her. "This girl must be smoking something!" one of the men suggested in amusement to his friends.

Tenkeet glared angrily at him, though her expression was one of confusion. "I don't smoke," she declared. "It's bad for your health."

The men just laughed at her harder. "Not very bright is she," said one of them. A particularly fat and balding man. "Maybe we should have a little fun with her."

Now, Tenkeeto may not have been the brightest girl on Earth. And she certainly didn't know what he was talking about. However, from his tone and advancements toward her, she was well aware that he meant to be hostile.

Therefore, she did the only thing she could think of. She jumped up out of the water, clearing the surface by at least thirty feet. The men on the ground looked up in awe and shock.

She then withdrew her red staff and smirked. "Power Pole extended!" she cried out triumphantly. The men watched in transfixed horror as the pole suddenly increased in length, extending roughly twenty feet as the girl came sailing down, swinging it.

It only took a moment for the punch to hit the fat man squarely in the jaw. He didn't even scream out as he was knocked unconscious; he was sent sailing across the river shore, where he landed with a dull thud twenty feet away. And he didn't get up.

The men stared at Tenkeeto in horror as she landed lightly on her feet on shore. Then one of them quickly fired some kind of green beam at her from his staff. She didn't have a clue what the beam would do, but she wasn't going to chance getting hit. So she sidestepped left out of its path and shot forward towards her attacker.

The man's eyes widened as she seemed to disappear before his eyes. However, moments later, he doubled over in pain, spitting up blood. His eyes were almost popping out of his head. Tenkeeto's right knee had connected with his gut, and a shock wave shook the air as he was sent flying backwards several feet. Unable to move, he crashed to the floor.

She turned her attention from him to his friends and saw a surprising sight. They were all running away, shouting something about a monster. Tenkeeto frowned as she looked around for said monster but couldn't see one anywhere.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Boys are just weird," she commented absently to herself, as she happily picked up the naughty bear over her shoulder and carried it away to a safer location.

To be continued...