What Would Victor Lazlo Do?

[Cybermancer]

We managed to get a warning to Jinx that she was compromised. She was to get to a safe house and wait for us to come get her. If things got too hot, she was to get out of the city. By various means we determined that she had made it to the safe house and was waiting there.

“It's a trap.” Maddie supplied. “It's got to be.”

“Of course it is.” Fanus agreed. “But we are not cowards.” He wasn't including Maddie in his statement.

Including Hannah of course meant that Maddie and Fanus would be coming along. Maybe it was foolish to include three of the most powerful assets of the resistance in this mission, but this was important to me. Hannah still bore the scars of my failure to get to her in time. Whatever it took I wasn't going to allow it to happen again.

“I can get us all there.” Maddie said, resigned to what she considered a foolhardy course of action. “But then we'll all be trapped. Unless you want to come back by means much less pleasant.”

“Why not just send this one?” Fanus indicated Maddie with an offhanded gesture.

That was a good question. “Actually, that's what I want to do. But first I want to have the rest of us in place in case things go wrong for Maddie.”

“Aw, you do care!” Maddie said in her best vamp voice but then quieted immediately when Hannah shot her a look.

“If they're waiting for us to spring their trap, we have some time but I don't plan to bank on the patience of the enemy. We have an alternate safe house in an nearby apartment building. It is possible to get eyes on Jinx from the roof of that building. So we'll use a chopper to get us there and then reassess the situation from there.”

For me, the journey by chopper was nerve wracking. It wasn't that we were walking into what was probably a trap with unknown quantities. No, I felt like a mouse looking at a trap where another mouse was the bait and trying to figure out how to get us both out without snapping our necks.

Or at least the other mouses neck.

I glanced at Hannah and she smiled at me reassuringly. I figured she might be a problem if it came to that. Fanus and Maddie would gladly leave me to my fate, but only if Hannah let them. I somehow doubted that she would.

Not that I was actually planning on not coming back from this mission. I was just prepared to make that sacrifice if that was what it took to get Jinx out of there.

My nervousness did not dissipate when we were dropped off on the desired rooftop without incident.

Hannah had to forcefully order Maddie to port to the small home that housing Jinx. It was the first time ever that I saw Maddie put up any resistance to one of Hannah's commands but in the end, she obeyed. In a blink of the eye, she was gone.

A minute later and she had yet to return.

“If she hasn't returned by now...” I started.

“...its because she can't.” Hannah finished. She nodded to Fanus and both stepped off the edge of the roof and began to fly to their destination.

I had my own means to glide the distance. It seemed wise to accelerate past my comrades. If there was anyone sensitive to magic, they would be detected where I wouldn't be. On the approach, I could pick up two heat signatures. One appeared to be a human and was huddled on the floor. The other looked rather like Maddie in her natural form. It seemed as though she was being held up off the ground by an unseen force. She was struggling. There were no other detectable signatures in the entire building.

Before I arrived, I fired my first shot at where I guessed Maddie's opponent was. A baseball sized hole was burned into the wall. I had to switch my heat sensors off for the attack. When I switched them back on, Maddie was on the ground but rushing to get back up again.

I adjusted my vector and circled around the house. Behind me, Hannah and Fanus were planning a more direct entry. No doubt they had been casting defensive magics on their persons during their approach. Whatever was inside that house was about to be hammered by the fist of the resistance.

Fanus blew in the front plate glass window with a mighty gust of wind. Then he plunged in as the shards were still falling to the ground. There was a ball of lightning in each hand and he was presenting these electric gifts to the target inside.

Hannah followed close behind. I would expect that the enemy within would now be finding their feet adhering to the floor beneath them.

Then I smashed in through the french doors to the rear of the house. Some of my suspicions were immediately confirmed. Diana was on the floor, hurt but alive. Maddie had picked herself up and was attempting to add her own arcane might to that of the others. She was keeping her distance though, not wanting to get into reach again. Nor was she wasting time with the pretence of her usual human form.

The one surprise in the room was all the explanation I needed as to why.

Standing there was none other than Cain himself.

[Cybermancer]

I have avoided talking about Cain too much up to this point. Cain was well known to those of us in the resistance to be the Earthly vessel of the enemies core evil. He was the leader of the invading forces and orchestrator of Armageddon.

In order to accomplish this task, he assumed the role of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The president, senate and congress were all puppets to this man. Elected officials could come and go but he would be secure in his position no matter what. To quote the movie Gladiator, “One can be very political when one has an army at ones back.”

He existed prior to Nemesis Day. We had uncovered evidence that he was working towards the goals of the enemy before then. The man we knew as Cain (a name we had learned from the enemy) had another name and life. He had family as well, though all of them were either dead or were solidly on the side of the enemy.

There was a great deal we did not know about Cain. We did not know if he was some sort of doppelganger (a popular theory amongst many of us). We did not know if he was some other construct of the enemy made for the purpose of housing a great evil. We did not know if he was a willing dupe before Nemesis day who had since been possessed and now entirely displaced by the entity that was calling the shots.

I had a private theory that chilled me to the very bone when I was alone at night. One I had only ever shared with Hannah. My theory was that he was a willing accomplice before and after Nemesis. What price could be offered that would warrant such a collaboration?

The offer of power, I imagine. I'm not talking about wealth here. Or the sort of political or social power that allows you to order others about. No, I'm talking about real, primal power. Not just the ability to imagine the world as being different but the capacity to make what you imagine the new reality.

Imagine it for a moment. Anything you want, could be real. You could reshape the world in your image with such power. And why stop at the world? There is an entire universe... an entire mega-verse out there, waiting for your guiding hand. Whatever dread symmetry you could conceive would be carved out of creation.

Is a soul as black as pitch such a high price to pay for such true, genuine power?

Perhaps this one person, in this one time and place did not think so.

There was one thing we did know about Cain. From TV news programs, papers and similar media we knew what he looked like. He wore a face some of you might recognize. If you've met me, you've seen it. If you've met Mr. Blue, you've seen it although you might have to re-imagine the hair and eye color.

It is not an easy thing to stare into the abyss and see your own face staring back at you.

Given that this was the first time Cain and I had come face to face, if you'll pardon the pun, I believe I can be forgiven for my sudden hesitation. Despite the pictures I had seen, it was still a shock to see this twisted mirror in the flesh. This person was the antithesis to all that I stood for.

With one hand, Cain seemed to be absorbing lightning from Fanus, a flurry of crystal shards from Hannah and a hail of gunfire from both Maddie and Jinx.

Yet he still had focus left over to turn his head to me and smile. His free hand seemed to beckon me closer. “Ah, Matthew. Welcome.” He looked me over from head to toe, “even with your magical deceptions in place I can see you for who and what you really are. I've long suspected of course but I just couldn't be sure without seeing you in person first.”

I glanced around the room. There were tears in Jinx's eyes as she angrily pumped round after round into the enemy. Had he come here wearing the mask I had been using for a face? Had he promised her that she was about to be saved? Or had he immediately made her think that final betrayal was at hand?

Then I blinked and fired my experimental cannon at Cain. It hit him solidly and burned a mark into the side of his cheek.

He seemed none the worse for the wear. Indeed he laughed, “not the welcome I would expect from one who was 'a gift from god'. Shall I turn the other cheek now?”

I didn't give him the satisfaction of a reply, firing again and landing another solid hit.

“You wound me!” He laughed. The energy that his right hand had been gathering from my allies assaults reformed as ichor like blackness that he applied to his face, removing any sign of damage having been inflicted. Then a barrier went up between us and him. While Fanus tried to brute force his way past it, Hannah was concentrating on dispelling it. Neither was having the success they were praying for.

He kept talking in a casual tone, “did you know that Matthew can mean divine... or sulfur? Fitting, don't you think?”

Again I shot the bastard, although the blast now had to contend with the shield between us and was no more effective in penetrating it than my allies attacks.

The lecture continued in a patronizing tone, “of course, after I killed my brothers, it seemed more appropriate to use my current... nom de guerre, if you will.” He held his steady gaze on me. “Would you like to know how they died?”

“Pull back!” I shouted, knowing we had no chance in this conflict, unprepared as we were. “Grab Jinx and retreat!”

Maddie was closest to her so she made a dash to the wounded spy. She was blocked by a sudden wall of darkness.

Fanus had a clever inspiration and brought up earth, mud and clay from below which he smeared over the whole of our enemies shield. It obscured his sight long enough for Hannah to move unimpeded to Jinx. Fanus went further with his magic solidifying the earth encasing the enemy in stone. Then each of us was fleeing for the nearest exit with all due haste.

Even airborne, a shock wave overtook as as the house we just exited exploded. In the crater was Cain, untouched.

Soon, we would be outside his reach.

Not soon enough.

He pointed and a lance of darkness shot out, piercing Jinx. She let out a scream and then was silent in Hannah's arms. Then he waved at me, winked and turned, walking into a portal away from there that only he could see.

We landed many, many miles away. As I came running up to Hannah, I could already see the answer in her face. How her lashes seemed heavy over her eyes—eyes that were themselves glassy orbs not quite wet with tears. How she cradled and seemed to try to comfort a body long past such concerns. Yet her tone wasn't filled so much with grief over a fallen comrade she had barely known but rather an apology that she could not have done more to keep her alive. An apology, I suspect that was for me alone.“Matthew... she's dead.”

I had failed in my promise to keep her from the harm I had put her in.

[Gotham Witch]

Well, that was a sad story to wake up to.

My mother always told me never to make promises you have no control in keeping. Although you may have gotten the idea to put her where she was, she was the one who made the choice to do it. For what it's worth, the work she did likely made that choice all the more important.

Still, losing her like that probably really hurt. The worst part is you probably didn't have a lot of time to grieve, did you? The other side didn't seem to have been giving you the breathing space for that.

[Tms3]

I have noticed you brought up the question of age. And many of you know that I belong to what is mostly a headatry Druidic order. Not surprisingly we have or ways of training or children in the use of there gifts. And to also build the bonds between family's. In most cases when a child reaches 14 or when his/ her gifts start to manifest the child is sent to another member of the order to be fostered, to continue there education and to learn the uses of there gifts. This usually happens at about 12 or 13... but could happen any time between 11 and 14. And let me tell you the faster parents literally become a 2nd mother and father. It can be a bet traumatic at first kind of like sending you to military school. Except with the hard training there is what bill Cosby called tough loves. I don't regret my childhood it made me stronger and more independent, more time with my father would have been nice but we had no idea he was going to be taken from us early.

And that brings me to my foster my first foster, I always thought I would be a father in my own right first to learn something about being a parent first. And my foster is difficult to say the least. For starters his father was killed battling the darkness. His gifts started to manifest at about 12, and so I started making visits to the family to get ready to take the boy into my charge. In fact I was there when news of his father came. I thought it would be better to give him and his mother time to come to terms with what had happened.

Then things started changing he got quit with drown I did not really think it strange as losing ones father is hard. But there was a darkness settling on the house. The flow of magic was... off vary off. Then the family the mother the boy and his little sister dissapred. When we caught up to them things where much worse then I feared. The boy’s mother was lost in madness. She was abusing the boy using him as a power source. And he was doing all he could to protect his baby sister. For those of you whom know about magic you know there are many ways to raise the power you need. Death is one. Chanting and building up a ritual is anther, sex can also be used to raise nearly as much power as a death.

It sickened me when I saw it, we death with her. Though in the past we would have killed her. We forced her into her mind trapped with the pain and fear that she inflected on her son. And then we trued her and the evidence over to the police. She is now in a home for the criminally insane. She will recover only of she accepts her wrong and when that happens she will face trial for what she has done.

The problems I face with him are a few; I can’t send him to school. I tried but the teachers put her hand on his shoulder and throw him into a panic. In his panic he lost what control he has and set his desk on fire. It’s like that with any woman older then him. And it is nearly as bad with girls his age. He is a hansom boy so when I take him to gatherings he catches the eye of many young ladies. Moms foster included. Thankfully he doesn’t go into full panic with them. But at least mom is guardian of his sister. If she was not I would have done so I don’t think now is the time to separate them. But I have to home school him. And since this is my first foster I don’t have the network of contacts that could take him for a few days if I have to travel.
On a good note he is not hateful and does not try to hurt people, even in a blind panic he tries not to hurt any one just scare them off

So that makes me wonder at what age can I take him into the field with me? What are your thoughts? And how do I help him with his demons if he is to be a druid he has to be free of that which binds other men. That means he must some how take back the power his mother, and by extion other women have over him...

[Cybermancer]

Hello Tms3,

That's quite the conundrum that you've brought up here. I'm not certain that I'm qualified to answer it but you did ask so I will try, using broad strokes and generalities.

Age is a factor in human relationships and abilities. I left Jinx alone as much as I could for as long as I could because she wasn't mature enough or capable enough right away. It would take another few years before she could actively work as our mole.

In a similar vane, I didn't go looking to recruit Hannah after I recognized her at the compound. Given the timeline I was expecting to work with, I didn't expect her to be old enough to be dragged into these things before Dec 22, 2010. Yes, I know our Hannah has and had proven herself capable by that date but I do not wish to rob the young of their youth. In any case, things worked out (un?)fortunately so that Hannah could join us as an adult.

I think that this is becoming a rather long winded way of saying that the answer of when a person is ready to start doing what we do is highly subjective. On one hand there is the youth who is liable to beleive their ready, perhaps even before they are. The youth is going to strive to be an independent and equal participant in whatever culture they are immersed in.

On the other hand, the adults around the youth are going to be protective of that youth, wanting them to enjoy their innocence for as long as possible. Not only that, they are going to have genuine concerns about the youth's ability to manage in situations where they may be on their own and without the support of their adult guardians.

In times of old, cultures satisified both by setting tests for the youth to pass to prove that they were ready to be considered equal and independent. Different cultural values would determine what those tests would be and what the transition would entail. Often it included a coming of age ceremony.

In the case of someone following a Druidic tradition (of which my knowledge is limited), I can only guess at what criteria would have to be met for a youth to be considered an equal, and therefore ready for the full trials and tribulations of adulthood and the life of dealing with the supernatural.

Since, as I said, such things are subjective, I would recommend that you set forth a series of trials for the youth in your care to overcome. Make them as difficult as you can, harder than the real trials might be if possible, without risking undue harm or injury of course. When they have passed these trials, then it will be up to you to accept that this youth is now ready.

I hope this helps you, Tms3. As I said, I don't really feel qualified to answer these difficult questions but these are my thoughts and feelings on the subject.

Good luck.

[Tms3]

the biggest hurderl in hem growing into his full power. Will be his demons. right now I am trying to teach him control. to keep the ability think clearly even when every thing in him tells him to panic that. and to teach him how to shield and protect him self. and he is also some what fearful of his gifts and that he may some how abuse the power he has been gifted with.

like I said there is little of anger or hate in him. but there is fear. a lot of fear and that fear has power over him. for him to ever rise to his full power he will have to face his fear some how and take back that power. I am tron I dont know if that means I should take him to confront his mother some time or if it should be some form of vision quest.

as for what you said about tests. there are many. he has past the rights of manhood one of the last things his father saw. where he chose to fallow the old religion and fallow the path of knowledge and of magic. So on one had as far as the religion is consorted he is a man able to choose hes own path now he is learning to fallow hat path. and in some areas his training goes will, in others.... not so well. it is porbly just as well I did not put him in school he would be bored. when he can read Shakespere I see no reasion why he should be reading whats in the reading book for his grade level...
when he can read and speak latin better then the school teacher what can the teacher teach him

[Hannah]

The presence of Cain in that world definitely leads credence to the reflection idea. This world had 2 Cybermancers for a while, so it stands to reason that the other would as well.

The other me was pretty concerned with the way you reacted to Jinx's death. Losing someone you care about is always rough. More so when you blame yourself. I hope you were able to accept that it was her choices that put her in that spot.

Hannah

PS: Is this world's version of Jinx alive and well?

[Cybermancer]

Tms3,

He may only have fear in him now, but fear can lead to anger. Anger can lead to hatred.

Pragmatically, I would suggest you take him to see a properly trained therapist in order to deal with his issues. I study primarily bio-chemistry and a variety of engineering disciplines. So my advice on dealing with inner demons is of amatuer quality at best. The best you can do for this young person is to seek profesional assistance.

Hannah,

In time, I was able to come to terms with the loss. The other you was very much responsible for my recovery. Which was a good thing as Cain intended to use my guilt and weakness against me directly. I'll have to get to that later.

And yes Jinx in this world is alive and well. I was very happy to see her again when things were fixed. In fact we had a very lovely reunion.

[Hannah]

Tms3,

I suggest you get in contact with Rain here on the forums. She's a therapist and used to dealing with the more unusual situations that folks like us get into.

Hannah

PS: Cybermancer. I'm glad that the other me was able to give you the comfort you needed. It's also good that you were able to reconnect with Jinx over here.

[Cybermancer]

PS: Cybermancer. I'm glad that the other me was able to give you the comfort you needed. It's also good that you were able to reconnect with Jinx over here.

I was very thankful for her presence at that time and place.

As for Jinx, from her perspective we never really disconnected. Or I suppose it would be more accurate to say that despite our busy careers, it's not unusual for us to reconnect from time to time. As nice as it was for me at the time, some of the excess emotion caused her some concern that I might be attempting to rekindle things on a deeper level.

It's fair to say that after discussing what occurred to me, she understood and things have moved back to normal for us.

[Hannah]

It's good that it didn't cause any issues for anyone.

Hannah

[Cybermancer]

Yes, I quite agree.

[Tms3]

Just renumber Cybermancer you are not an island onto your self. We in or line of work seem to have a hard time finding happiness and those of us that do often have to hide what we know form those dear to use else we be thought mad. I am perhaps lucky in that regard in that I belong to an order that helps with that.

and we do have connections with other orders. now If I can just find one for me... I just wonder how my foster would react.

[Cybermancer]

Don't worry Tms3, I am well aware that no man stands alone for long. It may be hard to tell from interactions on this board but I do have a wide network of friends and family helping me and supporting me. And this board is a way for me to meet and connect with yet more people who I share interests and common goals with.

Things were just different there. For a lot of reasons that I'm slowly revealing.

[Clarity]

Things were just different there. For a lot of reasons that I'm slowly revealing.

_____Maybe that’s why this is so confusing for me? Maybe I should wait until Hannah comes home and helps me read this. It’s very sad and alarming and scary and strange and vulgar, all at the same time. It helps my heart jump very fast.
_____P.S. I can’t tell if Miss Maddie is a good guy or a bad guy. Is she the same as Miss Maddy?

[Cybermancer]

Things were just different there. For a lot of reasons that I'm slowly revealing.

_____Maybe that’s why this is so confusing for me? Maybe I should wait until Hannah comes home and helps me read this. It’s very sad and alarming and scary and strange and vulgar, all at the same time. It helps my heart jump very fast.
_____P.S. I can’t tell if Miss Maddie is a good guy or a bad guy. Is she the same as Miss Maddy?

This is a very confusing tale, Miss Grace. Even for me at times. Some of it I remember very well and some of it not so much.

Things were very different there, Miss Grace. So I can understand if it is confusing to you (or anyone else for that matter). It is certainly sad and alarming and scary and vulgar. Most especially vulgar.

There are also moments of happiness, of peace and of hope. There were triumphs, victories and celebrations. Occasionally, there was even love.

All that was sad, alarming, scary and vulgar has been left behind except as words to a story.

The victory and love remain.

As for Madelyn...

She was a complicated... person.

She was a bad person helping us do good things because bad people often don't get along with each other. Yet despite being a bad person, she often did good things that she didn't have to do.

She didn't have to help Doctor Boggs raise and teach Mel but she did. Her parenting style was somewhat unorthodox but she really didn't have good role models.

When Darcy's father died, Madelyn showed her a surprising amount of compassion and did a lot to help her until Hannah joined us. She didn't have to, but she did anyway.

Certainly she didn't shy away from doing bad things. Maybe even horrible things that we weren't aware of... or turned a blind eye to 'for the greater good'. Darcy was correct in bringing us back from the brink of compromising overly much with creatures such as Madelyn.

But if we were effected by her, she was also effected by us. I haven't gotten to the ending of the tale yet but towards the end, she was given a chance to leave. She didn't. Her stake in our war was at an end as was her service to Hannah. Yet she remained to the bitter end.

She was a bad person but she showed the capacity to be more than that.

If you're asking me if the Madelyn running around in the world today is the same person, than I have to say no, she is not. She should be considered dangerous, evil, conniving and interested only in her own self-preservation. Have no doubt that she is capable of doing horrible things to people and will do them. Whatever good she might be capable of, has in no way been realized.

She is a very bad, powerful person and should be treated as such.

[Ron Caliburn]

Clarity, I'm not sure I understand this all that much myself.

I'm just glad things didn't go down that path over here.

[Grace]

Things were just different there. For a lot of reasons that I'm slowly revealing.

_____Maybe that’s why this is so confusing for me? Maybe I should wait until Hannah comes home and helps me read this. It’s very sad and alarming and scary and strange and vulgar, all at the same time. It helps my heart jump very fast.
_____P.S. I can’t tell if Miss Maddie is a good guy or a bad guy. Is she the same as Miss Maddy?

Hello Clarity,

This isn't Miss Darcy talking. I'm Cynthia and Momma has been letting me use her account to talk to people.

She has told me a lot about you and I've read about you here too. A long time ago, you helped rescue my Momma.

That was a good thing you did back then and makes me happy.

I hope that we can be friends and play games together.

P.S. Isn't it neat that both our names start with C? I wonder what else we have in common.

[Clarity]

_____ Why did you remove Maddie’s real name, Mr. Just Too? Did it change? Was the first book written?
_____P.S. Me too, Mr. Ron.
_____P.S. Again. Thanks, Miss Cynthia.

[Grace]

Hello Clarity!

I'd be happier to talk to you right now but it's very sad right now.

I think what happened is that the first Cybermancer broke Rule #8. And then the new Cybermancer kept it up, perpetrating the insult. Which I think is very odd since he taught Rule #8 to me.

I think it's very rude to post a person's true name on the internet because of all the bad things people can do with it. For example did you know that a spell caster can make it harder to resist their spells?

Also, if someone knows your truename, they can summon you and compel you to obey if they know how.

And Also, some creatures can be more easily controlled if their true name is known.

So it's a very bad thing to post peoples real names and it is likely to make them angry.

But that doesn't matter because I'm still very cross about all of this. So very cross indeed.

-Cynthia

P.S. Not my true name, so it's okay to use and post it.

[Cybermancer]

Miss Grace,

I didn't remove her true name, she did using my account. It hasn't changed... yet.

The book will still be written.

Cynthia,

You are quite correct. I broke rule 8.

Hopefully you no longer feel the need to be cross.

And if your mother brings you by this weekend, you can still play with some of my robots.

[Cybermancer]

I've been reviewing this thread and I've realized that I haven't posted Mel's account of how she and Darcy finally escaped from Quebec and got back to Ontario.

Having just reread it, I almost don't want to post it. It doesn't have the happiest of endings.

Three days went by damn quick.

I’ll give the loopgarous credit – they weren’t such a bad lot, though hunger as the best spice only staves off how bland caribou gets for so long.

Of course, there was a lot of caribou. Since the big nasties had taken over, the Feds had put bounties on wolves, coyotes and bears, officially to control numbers, unofficially to prevent the loopgarous who had given them so many problems from blending in. It goes without saying that at 300 Canadian dollars a carcus, the woods become pretty sparse with predators pretty quick.

I didn’t hear a single howl the entire three nights I was with them. Not going to lie – it freaked me out.

Thankfully, they honored their promise. After wandering northwest for three days, a small group of them agreed to escort us to the Hudson. As it turned out, there were a series of power lines that connected towards villages near the Hudson from where we were, and as land is generally cleared around those, it was a simple task of just following them west towards our destination – barring run ins with rangers or stray fed patrols.

It was generally assumed this would be easy – at least until it started sleeting halfway through the first day away from the others. I really should have taken that as a bad sign right there and then. As it stands, my conscience wouldn’t let me – she kept her typical positive ‘everything would work out’ vibe.

Sometimes I wish I could be that positive.

It was about two freezing nights in before things went to hell. The sleet from the past couple days left the snowy Quebecois backwoods slick, though the full moon made the slopes nice and shiny. Our furry friends – three plus Will – were following along each side of us on snowmobiles, all of going awful slow due to the sleet They had been kind enough to give Dar and I long arms for the trip.

Will’s scout had taken point as he had crested the hill ahead of the rest of us. As he went out of sight, I saw something dart in my peripheral vision. I glanced around, not seeing anything. Probably a bat or an owl, I figured.
God, I wished it had been a fucking owl.

Our two other escorts suddenly stopped near the top suddenly, though Darcy paid it little mind as we continued up the slope, figuring they were braking for safety - of course, that was until the scout’s snowmobile slammed into a tree at the bottom of the hill with an audible crunch, burning fuel beginning to spill everywhere.

“Shit.” I muttered, reaching for my rifle. The loopgarous did the same as they glanced around atop the ridge. Along the sideslope I could make out the corpse of the scout, his back perforated with a series of what appeared to be knife wounds. Strangely, I didn’t see a single drop of blood in the snow, despite the blatant injuries.

Suddenly, there was a giggle. It was child-like, almost innocent – except there was an unexplainable creeeeepy undertone to it. It wasn’t like stereotypical little girl things at awkward times that make you spooked – this was actually creepy.

“Spread out and stay low.” I heard Will murmur as he began to shift, his voice taking on a growling tone, “I smell something nearby.”

The other two lycanthropes in his group likewise shifted, their clothes tearing with a growl as their forms shifted in the light of the moon, the sound of muscles expanding and bones popping rather sickening. For my part, I laid up some magical warding in the event someone was trying to try and take a bullet to me.

There was a rustle in the branches that drew all of our attentions as that giggling continued. All guns pointed that way, somewhat predictably as we tried to find our attacker. It wasn’t until I heard a distinct sound of steel piercing flesh, followed by a gurgling from behind me that I realized we were being had.

We glanced over to see the other scout staggering, a shadowy figure sitting on his shoulders driving a very sharp blade through his back and out his furry chest several times. As we gawked, the blood that should have been spilling out immediately evaporated with the faint whiff of copper.

“Good puppy.” The murderer taunted with a girlish voice, the moon catching the glint off of her clean knife, not a smudge of blood on it.

Everyone else was too stunned at the scene or afraid of hitting their friend, clearly beyond help. I apparently didn’t have that corundum.

I opened fire with my rifle, three shots tearing straight through the very dead werewolf as the shadowy figure melted into a nearby shadow, still giggling.

Everyone snapped back to attention as the corpse fell bloodlessly into the snow, the lithe murderer still playfully giggling from the shadows as she vanished.

“Here puppies puppies.” She chided, arising a nervous growl from the loopgarous.

“Gloom?” My conscience whispered to me, “Do you sense what’s going on?”

“I’m trying.” I muttered, taking a deep breath as I glanced about, relying on more arcane senses.

The magic here was elusive and fleeting, almost as effervescent as the blood that boiled away from those corpses. I admit there was a certain familiarity to the taint of fleeting life energy…

I felt the presence jump behind me, just in time for me to spin around. I wasn’t quick enough as a leg swung through the air, striking the side of my head with the force of a baseball bat and knocking the rifle out of my hand as I went flying down the hill.

To top it off, somewhere in that whole mess I had felt my warding shatter. How the hell she did that, I haven’t the faintest.

I landed at the bottom, my head spinning as I heard some – okay, a lot of shooting - and more of that damn giggling. I got to my feet quickly, reorienting myself as I drew a pistol. Just as I did, I felt a sudden gathering of magic, followed by a bright fireball at the top of the hill.

“Fuck fuck fuck.” I cursed, looking up the way to see a smoldering werewolf tumbling down, large patches of fur singed off. As I watched, the shadow attacking us jumped upon him, stabbing him in the chest with a long Bowie knife several times, the poor fellow whimpering in agony.

She was a little girl – I say was in the strictest physical sense. She looked like she was 12, with a dress that looked like something Wednesday Addams would wear, but she moved like nothing human I’d ever seen. Her eyes were dark – almost light absorbing as she turned to look at me and the pistol I was pointing at her.

“Play ball with the puppy.” she said with a… delighted giggle as she spun about, dodging my gunfire with ease. As she moved, she grabbed the still twitching body of the werewolf she had just murdered, flinging it at me with inhuman strength.

I narrowly managed to dive out of the way as the corpse struck a tree with a sickening thud. Reaching into my coat before I hit the ground, I flung a couple knives at the little rat as she took to the air, slicing a bit of fabric off of her sleeve but otherwise missing.

I didn’t even get the chance to get to my feet as I saw the glint of steel heading straight for my throat, catching the edge with the trigger guard on my pistol. A hard punch to the gut felt like I was punching a steel girder, and without even flinching she reversed her knife and caught me in the cheek with the pommel, sending me tumbling again.

I was in a life or death fight with a 12 year old death machine, and I didn’t like it.

The little death witch proceeded to try and pincushion me with her long knife, going for a gravity assist as she jumped higher than she needed to, her short skirt fluttering. That was a mistake, since it gave me just enough time to push both arms in front of me, drawing up the energy to summon up small gouts of fire, engulfing her and knocking her back the other way as I scrambled to my feet.

“That wasn’t nice.” She said in a tsk tsk manner, the fire having barely affected her as I heard something shift in the snow.

As I looked, my bloody pistol had ended up in her hand. Not even bothering to aim, she opened fire, catching me square in the ribs as I felt spiraling back into the snow. Fortunately for me, my coat spread the force of impacts across my entire coat. Unfortunately for me, a bullet at that range has a lot of power, and I was probably lucky to still have ribs, much less be able to recover in time.

I’m pretty sure she was just about to execute me before a loud gunshot rang through the air. The brat cried out as the shot caused her to spin about, a bit of smoke from where the impact struck. Somehow, she was still standing = armor perhaps? - as she glared up at the top of the hill, my conscience loading another round.

Not f****** around, the little murder sprite vanished into the shadows.

“Are you okay?” Darcy shouted. I noticed there was a bit of blood along her brow, but she seemed otherwise fine.

“I’ve felt better.” I wheezed, “How’re the others?”

“Dead except Will.” She said sadly, “I knocked him out of the way before it could land a killing blow but he’s wounded.”

I glanced about with both eyes and other, trying to find the twerp. I couldn’t make out the little twerp, even magically – but there was an odd lingering trail in the air leading up a nearby bluff. They almost looked like ethereal puppet strings...

“There’s something magically guiding d to her up there.” I said, pointing.

“Maybe a spo-AGH!” Darcy shouted as she nearly doubled over, writhing in apparent agony.

I recognized the signs of a pain curse when I saw it, I didn’t even take the time to panic as I waved my hands and focused some energy, snapping the strings of the spell to dissipate it.

As the spell faded, the little witch jumped from the shadows, attempting to put a couple holes through her. Grace, being about as fast as any human I’ve ever seen, caught the knife with the stock of her rifle, before giving her a sharp kick to the chest and knocking her back, knife still in place. She attempted to open fire, only for the wiry little murderess to open fire on her with the pistol, forcing her to move – quickly.

I staggered as I picked up one of the wolf’s hunting rifles, using my senses to follow the strings to their source. Glancing over, I could see my conscience was in a heated knife fight with the pint sized killer, both of them pretty much blurs. Grace was holding on, though I could tell this was getting rough even by her standards.

Looking through the scope of the Remington 700 back towards the bluff, I didn’t see anything along the trees. Quickly I scanned, trying to ignore Darcy’s gasps, the clash of steel and slicing of fabric and that bloody annoying giggling. It sounded like the little death witch was starting to get the edge.

That’s when I saw a brief glint of light off of something – binoculars, perhaps?

Not wasting the chance, I took the shot, hoping I didn’t need Grace-level accuracy for this.

The metaphysical strings snapped instantly as I watched a pair of shattered binoculars tumbling down the bluff. I quickly glanced over towards the other two as I worked the bolt action – Darcy was in the snow, her blade raised up icepick as her spare pistol was pointed at her, for some reason not firing. The murder witch was above her, her knife raised and pistol pointed at her likewise as if deciding which way to deliver a killing blow – but there was no laughter.

As I looked closer, I realized there was a stunned look on her face, and… tears? It almost looked like she was about to cry – she had just murdered 3 lycanthropes and nearly killed a fourth, and after me shooting her partner decides to do the wetworks?

Weird.

My conscience and she stared at each other for several long seconds before I watched the murderess’ knife arm fall forwards.

I felt weird about pulling the trigger; I’m not going to lie. But I wasn’t going to mess around with Grace on the line; not with what it had done to the others. I took aim at the bitch’s head and fired.

Grace stared at me as the pale, limp form fell into the snow, blood emanating from a neck wound along her spine. That look of innocent surprise was still on her pale, lifeless face.

“Mel…” Darcy looked up at me as I staggered up the bluff. There was a gash along her chin where the witch had nicked her, and her jacket had a few cuts in the cloth but little blood.

“You didn’t want to shoot a kid in the head.” I said flatly. I offered her a hand as I dropped the rifle. She sprang up and gave me a hug.

“My Gloom Cookie saved me.” She said, nomming my ear affectionately.

I sighed and smiled at that, before we went off to find Will.

After bandaging the fellow up, he was able to get us towards the Hudson in two days. Despite everything that happened, the charismatic blowhard was still cheerful – though a bit rattled. When he got us to Chisasibi, he gave us both a kiss on the hand getting us on the fishing boat and wishing us well.

I suppose the loopgarous weren’t that bad.

I guess I hadn’t been in a good mood since that whole thing though. My conscience spent most of the boat trip trying to cheer me up, but she only had limited success – I forced a few smiles to humor her.

There had been something about that whole thing – besides a 12 year old who was stronger than three grown men skilled in guns and knifeplay and magic – that had me unsettled.

It was going to be a few sleepless nights before I figured out the hell it was.

[Nemesis]

I'm glad Gloom was able to save Grace. That makes me happy.

[Hannah]

And another connection.

I wonder where their version of Dad was when that happened?

Hannah

[Gotham Witch]

That was... wow, depressing.

I wish I could say more, but...

[Nemesis]

I don't know why everyone seems to think it's so sad. The good guys won.

And the important thing to remember is that none of this ever happened. This girl never almost killed Grace and Gloom never had to kill the girl.

I see this as a cautionary tale with many sad endings. But like all cautionary tales, if we listen, we can avoid the sad ending.

[Gotham Witch]

That is a good way to look at it Cynthia. It's just sometimes hard to keep that in mind.

[Clarity]

_____Using Miss Wie’s font color is a nice way to remember her, too.

[Hannah]

That world is very dark and depressing.

It reminds me why I consider myself to be so lucky to have such good family and friends around me. Yeah there are down moments, but overall, this life is much better than the one that occurred there.

Hannah

[Gotham Witch]

Yeah, I hate to say it, but... Gloom was a big inspiration for me to be less like her... err, me.