Evil Task Force of Doom

 There were some preparations I needed to make before meeting with the Biker. Specifically, I needed to have something constructed for me by an Oathbreaker. I'm certainly not proud about doing business with him, but there are plenty of necessary evils in this world. And if I wanted to get the biker on my side, this was one of them.

I was able to get in touch with the Biker and arrange a meeting with him. Justin and I arrived outside Ozzy's, where the meeting would take place, and waited. The item I had commissioned from that Oathbreaker was lain out on the ground, covered with a sheet.

"Is it weird that you've had that thing for 3 days, and I'm still creeped out by it?" Justin asked.

"I'd find it concerning if you weren't," I replied.

We waited in silence for about a quarter hour, before a solid steel bike pulled up before us. The Bloody Biker dismounted it and approached me.

"So, you wanted my help?" he asked.

"That's right," I said. "I'm building a team to do something about the forest."

"How much are you offering?" he asked.

"I'm afraid I can't offer you any money," I informed him.

"Then why the hell are you wasting my time?" he asked.

"I have something more valuable to offer you," I said, gesturing to the covered object next to me. The Biker raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?" he asked, flicking out his tongue for a moment. "Let's see it then."

I nodded, and tore the sheet away, revealing the figure beneath it.

Before us lay the lifeless figure of a young girl, around 10 years old. She was dressed in a plain white gown, had eerily pale skin, and shoulder length white hair. Justin was visibly disturbed.

The Biker flicked his tongue out briefly, and took a moment to process what was before him. Slowly, a look of recognition crossed over his features.

"Sylvia?" he muttered to himself.

A second later, his blade was at my throat, and he snarled at me.

"What is this!?" he demanded.

"I commissioned it to look as similar to her as possible," I said.

"You think you can buy my loyalty with some cheap doll made in my sister's image!?" he snarled. I could feel his sword pressing closer against my skin.

"It's not a doll, and it sure as hell wasn't cheap," I informed him. "It's a homunculus."

I felt his rip on the sword loosen a bit, and he gave me a confused look.

"A homunculus?" he asked.

"An artificial body," I explained. "There's only one man in the world, Dr. Luigi Helthead, who has any skill in their construction. Partially mechanical, but mostly organic. It will age naturally once activated. Right now, all it's missing..."

I raised hand, as black mist began swirling around my fingers.

"Is a soul," I finished.

I teleported to the other side of him while he processed that, and knelt down over the homunculus, and hovered my hand over its face.

"It's time to wake up, Sylvia," I said, and the black mist flowed into the lifeless body. "It's time to meet your brother."

The homunculus shuddered suddenly, as its eyes snapped open. Color slowly came to its skin, and its white hair turned a a light brunette. its eyes, initially pale, shifted to a bright blue.

Sylvia Monroe blinks slowly a few times, adjusting to her new body. She sat up, and looked around a bit, before her eyes fell on the Biker.

"Damien?" she asked. "Is it really you?"

He hesitated for a while, before slowly removing his blindfold, getting a look at her with his real eyes.

"Syl...," he said, before his expression turned serious. "Favorite color?"

"Magenta," she replied.

"Favorite animal?"

"Turtles."

"Favorite food?"

"Waffles!" she replied ecstatically. "With extra syrup, and-"

"Strawberries," the Biker finished for her. "It really is you.."

He dropped to his knees, at a loss for words, it seemed. Sylvia stepped forward and ruffled his hair, smiling.

"You've changed a lot," she said. "I remember you being the little sibling."

He smiled a little, for just a second, before his expression turned dark.

"I'm not who I used to be," he said. "I'm not the little kid you used to know. Everything started changing after you died. I..."

He looked her in the eyes, looking serious. The pentagrams burned into his eyes glowed fiercely.

"I hurt people," he said. "I kill them. And I enjoy every moment of it."

"I know," she said.

He gazed back at her, confusion spreading over his face.

"You do?" he asked.

"Doctor Ferris told me everything," she said.

"Yeah, she's been living inside my head for a while," I said. "HELLFIRE's found it really awkward, seeing as he was partially responsible for her death."

"The Dying Man shard?" the Biker asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep," I said.

The Biker considered that for a moment.

"That explains a lot," he said. "I'll have to have words with Ben..."

Sylvia ruffled his hair again.

"You're still my baby brother," she told him. "But you need to stop hurting people."

"That's gonna be difficult," I said. "We've got a war on our hands. In war, people get hurt. People hurt each other. He's particularly good at that. Which is why I need his help."

The Biker straightened up.

"Right," he said. "That."

He thought for a minute, before turning to me.

"You've named your price," he said. "And quite frankly..."

He waved a hand dramatically.

"It beats out Kraken," he said. "Fuck those guys, the cheap bastards."

He offered me a hand.

"I want in," he said.

I shook his hand.

"Glad to have you on board," I replied.

"So," came another, familiar voice. The newcomer sounded a lot like Karl from Law of Talos, only older, and a bit more sinister, if you can imagine that.

A man was standing on the roof of Ozzy's shop, looking down at us. He was dressed in a heavy looking hooded longcoat, hood up and concealing his face. He was armed with a long glaive, and what appeared to be a steel pipe attached to a sword hilt sheathed at his side.

The Demi God hunter.

I'll be honest, I don't actually know this guy's name, so let's call him... Lance.

"I've got you selling an experimental virus to a known Oathbreaker in exchange for a custom made homunculus," Lance said. "Collaborating with a violent mercenary with an ever growing list of kills, and..."

He glanced at Sylvia.

"Literal necromancy," he finished. "You just keep giving me reasons to kill you."

Okay, I didn't want everyone there knowing what I had to give Helthead in exchange for the creepy little robot girl, but I guess it's out there now...

In my defense, I also gave a sample to the SMSC and Trias (got to see the moose again, that was fun) so a vaccine/cure should be out there before Helthead can actually do any harm with it.

Anyway, putting aside the aforementioned necessary evil, let's get back to the encounter...

Lance jumped down from the roof. He seemed to be wearing some kind of specially designed shoes, because not only did they absorb the impact of the fall, but they seemed to redistribute the energy from it, propelling him forwards. He attacked me with his glaive.

Now, I'm really not joking about him being a professional Demi God hunter. He goes up against super powered people regularly. And that takes a great deal of skill, equipment, and training. This guy's good.

The best I could do was evade his attacks, occasionally steeping into the God's Way to gain some distance. I tried throwing a fireball at him, only for it to glance uselessly off of his evidently fireproof coat. I tried to hit him with an ice attack, only for him to counter with a miniature wrist mounted flame thrower. Where did he even get one of those?

Then  he tossed a handful of what appeared to be marbles at me. A few of them missed me, but most of them hit my labcoat and clung to it. Then they all started flashing red and beeping loudly.

Sticky bombs.

Shit.

I could see him smirking beneath his hood as he muttered "Checkmate."

I sighed.

"And I really liked this labcoat..." I said.

And then I did something I rarely do. I stepped into the God's Way...

And left my labcoat behind...

You see, I don't have to bring my clothing with me when I teleport. I only bring what I want to bring. Usually bringing my clothes along is a subconscious effort. But I can still leave things behind if I want to.

I reappeared behind Lance as my coat fell to the ground. Several small explosions tore the thing to shreds. Such a sad sight...

I drew my brand new sword cane, made partially of Newborn steel, and held it up to Lance's neck.

"That was my favorite coat," I growled.

"It was mustard stained," Lance pointed out.

"It was ONE stain!" I said. "Why do people keep drawing attention to it?"

Lance lowered his glaive.

"Do you really want to stop the forest?"he asked me.

"Yes," I said.

He considered things for a minute before speaking again.

"Fine then," he said. "Temporary truce."

I lowered my blade, and returned it to it's cane-sheath. He turned to me.

"Until the forest is dealt with, you have my assistance," he said. "But not my allegiance."

"Fair enough," I said.

He then turned from me, closed the distance between himself and the Biker in a couple seconds, and cleaved through both of the Biker's legs with a single swing of his glaive, causing the Biker to fall to the ground, yelping in pain.

"As for you," Lance said. "You've had that coming since our last meeting, you cunt."

"Whoa!" Justin snapped, gesturing to Sylvia. "There's a fucking kid present! Watch your shitty mouth!"

Lance let out a grunt, and turned his back to us all. The Biker begrudgingly began reattaching his legs, because apparently that's a thing he can do.

"Geez," Justin said, approaching me. "What's his deal?"

"A Demi God killed his little brother," I aid. "Or so I've heard. He's had it out for us ever since."

"Damn...," Justin said.

So yeah. That's how that all played out. We've got some new, sort of allies. Time to regroup with the others, and get a good look at this Phantasm character.

Phantasm

 Kai decided to go through with the training. It hasn't been very long, but he's doing all right. We've been doing unarmed sparring daily, and he's shown noticeable improvement. I don't know how well he's gonna handle himself in a real fight, but I think he's getting there. Tony was there with us today, watching. We decided to take a break, and went over to talk to him.

"How's he looking?" I asked.

"His footwork could use some improvement," he noted. "You oughta teach him how to half-moon properly. He should also do more warm up exercises. Strengthen his rotator muscles. As for you, your unarmed fighting style relies a bit too heavily on elbow strikes and jamming tactics. You should incorporate more reach into it."

I rolled my eyes. Of course he's overly critical.

"You got any other advice for the kid?" I asked.

Tony raised three fingers, and addressed Kai directly.

"There's three things you should always do if you wanna stay alive," he said. "Think rationally. Speak softly. And most importantly..."

He tossed his bokken into Kais arms, surprising him.

"Carry a big stick," Tony finished.

"What about you?" I asked. "Don't you need a big stick too?"

"I got a better one," Tony replied.

He produced, from the table beside him, an actual set of sheathed kodachis. He held one of them up and drew it out a few inches, exposing its bright, silver blade.

"Wow," Kai muttered.

"A real sword, huh?" I asked. "I thought your whole schtick was sparing your opponents or something."

"I prefer non-lethal options, yes," he said. "Mostly legal, and easier for getting information afterwards. However, if war is on the horizon, it might pay to have a lethal option on hand. Besides..."

He returned the blade to its sheath, gripped the hilt with both hands, and demonstrated a proper kendo stance.

"I don't have to draw the blade out," he finished.

I was about to mention that he had a point, but something caught my attention before I could say anything. During my last phone call with Daniel, he said that I should try training my senses, so that I could notice Eldritch energy before getting slapped in the face with it. I've been practicing with Spider Wolfie, which is difficult, because her energy is pretty weak. I have been able to sense it, though, so I seem to have improved somewhat.

I turned my attention to the corner of the room, where I had sensed a presence appear suddenly. Abdalin was standing there, watching us.

Tony followed my gaze, and grabbed his other kodachi, preparing himself.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm here at my bosses request," Abdalin said. "He has elected to remain personally out of the coming conflict. However, he is allowing, and in some cases, encouraging, his Emissaries in this world to confront the forest as they see fit."

I felt another presence manifest besides Abdalin before it became visible. What I saw was a little weird to describe. It was a literal fucking ghost. He was about my size, dressed in long robes that became more transparent towards the ends, and he wore a mask, bearing an eye bound in chains, and the letter A. His hair was down to his waste, and completely lacked color. And I don't mean it was black, or white, or whatever you associate with lacking color. I mean the very concept of color ended where his hair began. It was really weird to look at.

"They're doing a bang up job of that, ain't they?" the ghost said to Abdalin. He sounded a lot like Daniel only less matter-of-fact and sciency and more... goofy and eccentric.

"Even in death, you remain irritating," Abdalin sighed.

"Oh please," the ghost said coyly. "We both know your boss would get lonely without me."

The ghost turned his attention to me.

"Hya, kiddo," he said. "Heard you broke my old sword."

It suddenly clicked with me who this guy was. If the Proto-Godslayer was his sword, then that would make him...

"You're-" I managed to get out, before Tony spoke up.

"Marshal Wayne Smith," Tony said. "Better known as the Ace of Chaos. Time traveler, discoverer of Chaos Mana, and the Game Master's arch-rival. The man who cheated death enough times to win the Goddess of Destiny's heart. Blew yourself up trying to kill a Dying Man shard. Silvermit survived that incident, by the way."

The ghost remained silent for a moment, before turning back to Abdalin and saying "I like this weirdo."

Holy shit, I was talking to the ghost of my ancestor.

"Um... wow," I muttered. "Hi. Um... sorry about... the sword..."

"S'all good," Marshall replied. "I have a better one somewhere. I just have know idea about its current location."

"Why are you two here?" Tony demanded.

"Oh, I like spying on people with my ghost powers," Marshall said. "'Specially my Descendants."

"Wait, so how long have you been watching me?" I asked.

"Long enough to know you've got chemistry with that cute Japanese girl you're always hanging out with," he said. "Fun fact; her dad was borderline immortal before he died."

"Um... okay...," I said, feeling somewhat violated.

"As for me," Abdalin said. "I've come to talk business. As I mentioned earlier, my boss is encouraging certain Emissaries to counteract the forest. He has also learned that your acquaintance, Dr. Ferris, is aspiring to build a small army of Demi-Gods to combat the forest directly."

Tony shot me a look that I think was some kind of warning, while Marshall cocked his head to the side.

"Yeah, he is," I said. "What about it?"

"My boss is offering the service of one Emissary in particular to contribute to your cause," Abdalin said.

"So you're offering our army an additional soldier?" I asked.

"Precisely," Abdalin said.

"Which one?" Marshall asked, sounding a lot less silly all of a sudden.

Abdalin remained slent for a few seconds, seemingly preparing himself for what was about to unfold. Then he spoke a single name.

"Phantasm."

Marshall immediately flipped from cooky magical goofball to absolutely terrifying. The lights flickered, and Kai took cover behind me as the ghost raised his now distorted-by-Eldritch-power voice.

"HELL NO!" he bellowed directly in Abdalin's face. "How much of my Descendant's blood is on that monster's hands!?"

Abdalin, remaining stone faced and calm, shot back "How much of our Emissaries' blood is on yours?"

"Not nearly enough," Marshall retorted, in a menacing hiss.

Abdalin scofffed.

"Like it or not, you don't get a say in the matter," he said. "You aren't even alive to stop any of this. Phantasm is already on his way."

With that, I noticed yet another source of power approaching us. I turned towards the door, and everybody followed my gaze. In walked a man clad in loose fitting black clothing, along with a hooded robe obscuring most of his features.

"You!" Marshall hissed angrily.

"Hello, Chaos," the cloaked man said. "How are the wife and kids?"

I couldn't see his face, but I could hear, and even feel the smirk in his voice.

Silverlight flaired from Marshall's body, as if his anger was physically flaring up.

"If I had a physical body-!" Marshal growled.

"I would strike it down," the cloaked man interrupted.

Marshall remained silent for a while, but everyone in the room could still feel the rage he was giving off. Then he relaxed his ghost body a bit, placed one arm behind his back, and raised the other hand to move his mask slightly, enough to expose one eye, which was glowing a bright, pinkish-purple.

"I've got my eye on you," he muttered, as his body slowly faded away. "You miserable cunt..."

Marshall vanished completely, but I could still feel his power, and even more, his wrath. He really hated this guy...

"Pleasant as always," the cloaked man said, approaching me. "David Kallaway. My name is Phantasm. I will be working together with you an the Doctor."

"Fine then," I replied. "But don't go trying anything funny."

"Very well," the man said, turning to Tony. "You there. Get me some whiskey. Something strong."

"You're not in charge-," Tony began to retort, but something shifted in the atmosphere of the room.

A shiver of fear ran down my spine, Kai fell to his knees, terrified, Tony almost fell over as well, and even Abdalin seemed to flinch a bit. Phantasm had done something, and I'm not sure what, but everyone there was suddenly shaking in fear.

"Now," Phantasm said.

The sense of fear lifted, and Tony hesitatingly left the room to fulfill this guys request.

"You are truly a sadist," Abdalin said.

"Naturally," Phantasm said, taking a seat.

"I'll leave you to it," Abdalin said, before vanishing.

So, Phantasm's with us now. I don't know quite what to make of this guy. What I do know, is that judging by Marshall's reaction to him, this man is responsible for the deaths of several Descendant's. Several of my family members.

Every instinct I have is telling me not to trust this guy. And, like Tony advised, I think I should follow those instincts.

The Florida Story

 The story I'm about to tell took place several year ago. My Extractor wasn't complete yet, I still had two functional legs, and Justin still had two functional arms. Tony was still getting his detective business off the ground, and making contacts in the Runner community who he could exchange information with, and help get the word out about his services.

He had picked up a rumor about an instance of the Manufactured Newborn in a small town in Florida. He asked me for a favor, in exchange for a Convocation feather he had manage to procure for me. So, I went to speak to the newly appointed Professor Malkator. I knew right off the bat that he was an oddball, and the staff pretty much just left him to his own devices. I didn't learn about him being the Descendant of a Goddess and a sorcerer until later.

But, I trusted the guy, so I asked him about methods of sealing a dangerous sample of Eldritch power. To my surprise, he knew I'd ask, and had one prepared. He handed me a mason jar engraved with a large number of symbols. He explained that the symbols drew in power from nearby Fears, and used that power to fuel their intended purpose. In this case, the symbols were meant to contain Eldritch forces.

He handed me the jar, along with a wakizashi. The weapon's sheath had been cut through at some point, and crudely gorilla glued back together. He told me its name was burner, it would listen to me if I commanded it to burn, and before handing it to me, he whispered to it to go along with me for now, and said he'd need it back when I was done.

He told me I would need them both.

As I couldn't teleport yet, Justin drove his bike up to the AMU, and we took a road trip to Florida from there. Took a hot minute, and my teachers weren't too happy about me taking time off from my classes without giving them an explanation, but I was doing pretty good in class, so they let it slide.

So, we got to the place we needed to be before the Newborn could grow too much. Unfortunately for us, we weren't the only ones after it. A group of sword wielding men, who I'm now realizing were probably Kraken, attacked us over it. A fight broke out.

Justin wielding an actual fucking scythe back then. And he was good with it. He used a reverse grip (for some reason) and train frequently with it, to the point he was referred to as the Reaper. I drew the wakizashi Malkator had giving me, and to my surprise, it really did burst into flames when I told it to burn.

This was before I got into the habit of describing all the details of the absurd fights I get into, so I'll give you all the cliff notes. We managed to drive/scare them off, but not before one of them sliced clean through Justin's forearm. We got him to the hospital, and he was taken care of. While he was recovering, I managed to track down the Newborn and contain it, before returning to visit him in the hospital.

He stayed silent for a few day, seemingly processing what had just happened, and how it would affect the rest of his life. I honestly felt really bad. I felt I was somewhat responsible for this. Eventually we actually spoke about it. He said he'd be fine. Eventually. He had spent a brief period of time with a death cult, who tried to teach him that his life belonged to their god, and that dying for it was the highest honor.

He obviously doesn't feel that way him self, but he's willing to make small sacrifices if it's for the people he cares about. He was sure he'd be able to get over his arm. In the end, we had succeeded, and secured the Newborn before it could become a problem.

But, as he told me, the biggest thing that was bugging him was that he wouldn't be able to use a scythe anymore, as it required both hands. Which caused me to remember that we had passed a local blacksmith/weapon maker. So, I paid him a visit, and requested a special commission.

A kusarigama is a Japanese weapon consisting of a Kama, a type of miniature scythe, attached to a chain with a weight on the other end. I asked the weapon maker if he could make something like that, but with some kind of clip in place of the weight.

He threw exactly that together in the space of five minutes using items he already had on hand. He gave me a discount, for giving him such a unique request, and told me to come see him again if I had any other ideas he could try out.

I brought the weapon to Justin once he was released, clipped one end of it to his pant's belt loop, and handed him the handle of the Kama. He was ecstatic to receive it, and immediately gave it a test throw at some nearby garbage.

Turns out, he had terrible aim. He missed completely and got the blade lodged in a tree trunk. But that didn't stop him. He had a cool new scythe he could use one handed, and he was determined to get good at using it. And, after a shit ton of practice, he's gotten pretty good and handling it at both melee and long-range. Still uses a reverse grip up close, though.

I told you this story for a few reasons. Explaining how I got the Baby, how Justin lost his arm and got his trademark weapon, and revealing how I became acquainted with Harry Osbourne. No, not that Harry Osbourne, though I do suspect his parent's were comic junkies. No, this Harry Osbourne, who I affectionately call Ozzy, is the weapon maker from this story.

I've done a lot of business with him over the years since, as has Solar Progeny. He made my old sword cane, he carved Tony's signature bokken from the sturdiest wood he could get his hands on, and, most recently, he made Justin's prosthetic scythe hand. The guy's a damn good smith, and loves making unique weapons, even giving me discounts when I come with him with interesting requests.

He also knows all about the Fears. Servant's and runners alike often come to him, asking for tools to hunt and/or defend themselves with. He doesn't pick sides in the struggle, but he does have a few favorite customers. And guess who that list includes.

Justin gave me some support as we walked into his shop, and he greeted us enthusiastically.

"Danny! Justin!" he said. "How you dude's doing?"

"Still missing a couple limbs between us," Just said, chuckling. "You?"

"Still got all mine," Ozzy replied. "What are you boys needing today?"

"A few things, actually," I said. "First off, I'm in need of a new cane."

"I'll hook you up," he said. "Any special requests?"

I produced the Baby from my coat and placed in on the counter between us. He raised an eyebrow.

"The Baby?" he asked. "You want me to work that into it?"

"If you can," I said.

"Don't you go underestimating me," he warned, examine the Baby up close. "Yeah, I should be able to do something with this. Just give me some time."

"There's another matter I need to discuss," I said. "Sera informed me that the situation regarding the forest is likely to escalate into all out war."

"I've heard," he replied.

"This forest is a serious threat," I said. "Not only that, but a supernatural threat. And there's no telling how many Fears are going to take part in the conflict."

"So how can I help?" he asked.

"A supernatural threat requires supernatural countermeasures," I said. "I need an army of Demi-Gods."

"Sorry," he replied. "I do business with literally two other Demi-God's, and I don't have their contact info."

"But you do do business with a Demi-God hunter," I reminded him.

He raised a brow.

"That guy?" he asked. "How many times has he tried you kill you?"

"Thrice," I said. "He gets closer every time, but I keep enough of my powers secret that I can catch him off guard in the end. I admire his skill. He's clever. researches all his targets and arms himself accordingly. Apparently the SMSC recruited him to bring HELLFIRE in. HELLFIRE says he wields a crazy fire proof spear. Sounds like something you would make."

"It's a glave composed of a heat resistant tungsten alloy," Ozzy growled in annoyance. IF there's one thing he can't stand, it's weapon illiteracy.

"If he respects me as well, he might be willing to hear me out," I said. "I've provided him plenty of challenges in the past."

"I'll send him a text, see if he'll be down to meet up," Ozzy said. "Anyone else in mind?"

"A mercenary," I said. "He's currently employed by Kraken, but I think I have a way of beating whatever price their paying him."

"You aren't seriously think of recruiting the Bloody fucking Biker, are you?" Justin asked. "After what happened with Kallaway, do you really think that's a good idea?"

"He considers Kallaway a rival now," I said. "If there's a chance for a potential rematch, he might be willing. We just need to work out payment. And for that, I need to meet with the Archangel. Know anyone who can help with that?"

Ozzy looked over my shoulder, as the doors behind me opened.

"You know that one phrase?" Ozzy asked. "Speak of the Devil..."

"And he shall appear," came Rillek's voice from behind me.

I turned, to see him there, carrying a damaged machete/ Justin tensed up at his presence.

"Justin," he said. "Daniel. I'm assuming I fit into the conversation you've been having somehow."

"Rillek," I said. "I didn't know you did business here."

"Machetes are a rather satisfying weapon," he said. "But they can only take so much."

"Because you always get the cheap shit," Ozzy said. "I could make you a much more durable one, you know."

"I'm on a budget, Osbourne," Rillek replied, going to browse some of the weapons Ozzy had on display. "So, why is my sudden presence so convenient?"

"I need to see you boss," I said. "The big man."

"Unlikely," Rillek said. "He won't come at might call. I've only ever met him a couple times."

He turned to face me.

"Why don't you kill me where I stand?" he asked. "That may draw his attention."

"Yeah, not doing that," I said. "You must know some way to set up a meeting."

"I'm afraid not," Rillek said. "I guess you could cross your fingers and hope he magically shows-"

"ENOUGH!"

The lights flickered, and black mist began curling over the floor. Ozzy let out a soft "Not again" and Rillek hurriedly picked a weapon and went to check out, realizing what was about to happen.

A second later, I was face to face with my Grandfather. Fucking Archangel, pulling that shit...

The Archangel is the afterlife. A walking version of it. He/it claims the souls of anyone who dies, and it's not pleasant. Additionally, it can take the form of anyone it's claimed. And it was choosing to face me in the form of my grandfather. Jackass.

"Archie," I said, shoving down all the emotions. IT was time to talk business.

"Doctor," the Angel replied. "You've attained my power, by tearing the clothes I gave to Malkator. Dick move on your part."

"Says the guy wearing my grandfather as a Halloween costume," I replied. "I need to asked something of you."

"Cutting to the chase?" it asked. "Good. I have little time to waste."

I gave them my demands.

"I see," it said. "And what do you offer in return?"

I raised a hand, and a sphere of black mist formed in my palm.

"I offer the soul of Dobroslav Abreu," I said.

The Angel cocked its head to the side.

"Oh?" I asked. "Didn't realize I was missing that one. Very well then. A soul for a soul."

He raised a hand, and dark mist gathered around it.

"So we have a deal?" it asked.

"As long as you're giving me the soul I asked for," I said.

It nodded, and we clasped out misty hands together, exchanging the souls we held.

Now, the power I gained from the Archangel allows me to absorb dead people's souls, much like the Archangel does. I had secretly picked up Abreu's soul when I arrived on the scene of the Tyler incident. Can explain my thought process. I just showed up, felt a soul that hadn't been claimed yet, and snatched it up, then turned my attention to the event unfolding. No one seemed to notice at the time, but I figured I could use his soul as a bargaining chip if I ever had to do business with the Archangel. In hindsight, it might have turned out better if I had given the situation my immediate attention...

Anyway, I completed my business with the Angel, who silently departed. Rillek left afterwards, mumbling about how overwhelming his bosses presence is. Justin came out of hiding behind a weapon rack, and Ozzy took a few seconds to relax himself.

"Hate when those thing's show up," he said. "Their just so... screwy and weirs and wrong."

"Yeah," Justin said. "You got that right."

"Sorry about that," I said. "I was hoping to arrange a meeting elsewhere. I wasn't expecting the Angel himself to just... show up, in the middle of your store."

"It's fine," Ozzy said, picking up the Baby. "You guys just mke yourselves at home for now. I've got work to do..."

"Sure thing," I said. "So, how much will-"

"Ah-ah-ah!" He snapped, wagging a finger at me. "None of that!"

He examined the Baby, with a look of excitement in his eyes.

"I have a chance to work with Newborn steel," he said. "That's payment enough!"

Okay, he gives discounts often, but free? I'll fucking take it.

So, we're working on getting a bunch of Demi-Gods and people who can hold their own against them. Hopefully, that'll be enough to deal with whatever's on the horizon.

Cliff

 Kallaway here.

So, a few days ago, Kai and I went with the rest of Solar Progeny and Seraph to see off Daniel and Justin, who were leaving on Justin's motorcycle. He has another prosthetic he exclusively uses to grip the handlebar. They were departing from a nearby parking garage, which was about a third or fourth of the way full of empty vehicles spaced out around the place. Ciel, for some unknown reason, had brought along what appeared to be a very large, covered portrait.

"What exactly is that?" I asked

"The Mona Lisa, Fuck off," She replied, leaning it against Tony's parked VW van.

"Yeah, I'll just pretend that's normal," Daniel said, stretching. He was dressed in a biker jacket to match Justin, which was a weird look to see him in, given his usual labcoat getup. He tossed his crutch over to me and slipped on a helmet.

"You gonna be okay without this?" I asked.

"I can still limp." he replied. "Besides, I got Justin with me for support."

"Daniel and I go way back," Justin said, resting his hand on the edge of his prosthetic. "He was there for me when I lost this. I won't let him down."

"Okay," I said. "If your sure."

"I am," he nodded.

Seraph let out a yawn and glanced at her watch.

"Oh, hey, I gotta bail for a minute," she said. "Tony?"

He handed Tony a small compact mirror, which he opened up and turned toward her. She touched the glass with one of her fingers, then turned to give us one last wink, mouthing good luck. Then the mirror started glowing and she was sucked into it like some kind of portal.

"What in the-" I started.

"Oh, she does that sometimes," Daniel said. "Not for long distance, though. Mama doesn't like her visiting for too long. Not on the best of terms right now..."

"You should probably be heading off now," Tony said, snapping the mirror closed. "Ozzy's expecting you."

"Right," Daniel said, taking his seat behind Justin. "I'll see you all later. Oh, and Kai?"

"Y-yes?" Kai asked.

Daniel hesitated for a bit, seeming to be unsure how to put whatever was on his mind into words, before saying "Actually, it can wait. See ya."

Justin revved up his bike, and they set off. Tony started muttering something I couldn't quite make out under his breath. Kai turned to me.

"Are we gonna be alright with them gone?" he asked.

"Of course!" I said. "You still got me, right?"

"Yeah," Ciel said, in what I'm assuming is own of her lower snark settings. "You only suffered two humiliating defeats since you two met."

"I'm gonna stop this bickering before it begins," Terrence said, putting a hand on my shoulder before I could retort (though, to be honest, I did have anything good ready). "We need to focus."

Focus? On what...

I turned to Tony, who was still muttering to himself. I tried listening in, and I realized he wasn't just muttering. He was counting.

Counting down.

"Four... three... two... one."

And... nothing happened. Tony seemed confused for a couple second, but then some guy with a golf club jumped out from behind a card, swinging it down at Tony's head. Tony just calmly raised his bokken, which I hadn't even noticed him holding, and blocked the attack.

"Oh, I was off a bit," he said with a smirk, producing a pistol in his free hand and shooting what seemed to be a tranquilizer dart into the guy's chest. The man collapsed, and then several more people, armed with various weapons, from knives to guns to tennis rackets. I think onw guy had a rolled up newspaper... for... some reason... They came through the main entrances, dropped down from the floor above us, or came out of hiding from behind the various cars. About thirty total. I think.

"You knew there would be an ambush!" I snapped, turning to Tony.

He kept his smirk up, rested his bokken on his shoulder, and fired his tranq pistol twice, bringing down a couple more of the men.

"I was counting on it," he confirmed, before getting serious and looking over his shoulder at the others. "You know your roles! Get to it!"

"Um, I don't know mine!" I pointed out. "You didn't run any of this by me!"

"Didn't need to," he replied. "You're instinctive. Wait for Sera, then act."

As if on cue, Seraph jumped out of a rearview mirror on one of the cars, surprising two of the men, who she quickly disarmed. She then darted around them, hitting some of their joints hard, before retreating into another rearview mirror.

Tony and I both rushed toward them, quickly knocking them out. I didn't bother drawing my sword. Being blindsided, disarmed, and disabled so suddenly, these guys weren't a threat. No need to break out the big guns.

As we did that, Terrence retreated a few feet with Kai, and snapped his fingers, somehow causing  ring of fire to pop up around the two of them, wide enough that the flames weren't a risk to them but would be for anyone trying to get close. I lost sight of Ciel, but she must have been doing something useful on the sidelines.

Tony had planned this. He knew we'd be ambushed once Daniel was out of the picture. And he had damn near pinpointed it to the exact second. He had picked this place and rigged it specifically to protect Kai and have plenty of mirrors for Seraph to teleport through. He knew the enemy well enough to stay two steps ahead of them and plan accordingly, to counter their ambush.

I realized something very important in that moment.

This man terrifies me.

The fight continued in the same way. Seraph jumped in and out of mirrors, disarming our opponent's, and hitting them fast and fluidly, crippling them enough for Tony and I to land the finishing blows. Her movements were swift, fluid, and precise. The closest this any of those guys came to landing a blow was a couple scrapes on her arms, and a single tear on her jeans, exposing a bit of skin that had a weird green glint to it. I'm pretty damn sure I witnessed her bite a guy at some point, leaving him nauseas. I have some many questions about this woman, but I can confirm that Daniel was speaking the truth.

She is unapologetically badass.

Terrence provided some cover during the fight, throwing smoke bombs and flash bangs to throw our opponent's off. Some of those assholes seemed to have some kind of illusion based abilities, as I my vision began blurring slightly, and I started seeing doubles of them. Tony didn't seem too effected by this. He knew the enemy, and he was observant. He could tell what was real. I, on the other hand, had to tap into my vision to see through the illusions.

It took a while, but we managed to KO all of those pricks. I relaxed a little, letting out a sigh.

"Is it over?" I asked.

"Don't count on it," Tony said, remaining tense.

I heard a sudden smashing sound, and turned to look at one of the nearby cars. I wasn't sure what had made the noise at first, but I heard it again a second later from another car, at which point I noticed a bunch of shattered glass on the floor below it. The sound popped up again and again, each time leaving more glass lying around.

Someone was somehow systematically destroying all of the mirrors on the cars. Limiting Seraph's ability to move around. After a great deal of mirror smashing later, I heard Kai cry out. We turned to the rind of fire, which was beginning to die down. Terrence was sprawled out on the ground, clutching his shoulder, and a large man was standing behind Kai, holding him in a hammerlock.

Tony quickly reloaded his tranq pistol, and took aim at the man's face. The man responded by lifting Kai up, as a human shield.

"Do you really think you can aim tha- AGH!"

He was cut off by a dart embedding itself directly into his exposed eye, and he stumbled back a bit, dropping Kai. Terrence scrambled back up, pulling Kai behind him and pulling out a switchblade in a reverse grip.

"Yes," Tony said calmly. "I do. Cliff, I presume?"

The man tugged the dart out, turned to Terrence, and said "I'll deal with you in a moment."

He then calmly stepped through the dying flames, standing a few feet from us.

"Correct," he said, drawing a club from his belt.

"Thought so," Tony mused. "I'm curious how you resisted my tranquilizer, but I have some other questions to ask first."

"It's possible, although difficult, to produce a vaccine for the tranquilizer you use the most," Cliff replied. "We were able to produce enough for myself. Also, from the information I've gathered, you tranquilizer weakens under heat. Firing it through a ring of fire was a bad idea."

"Well, I guess this is useless then," Tony aid, tossing his pistol aside.

But he didn't seem intimidated at all. He kept that air of smugness that I'm all too familiar with. Daniel has that same look on his face whenever he sees something as an actual challenge.

"I'm going to put this simply," Cliff said. "I'm taking the boy. Any of you who try to stop me will will die."

"You promise?" Tony asked.

"I guarantee," Cliff stated. "I've been playing this game a lot longer than you, kid."

"Maybe so," Tony said. "But I drew a better hand."

"Don't get cocky, brat!" Cliff hissed, glaring darkly at Tony.

Tony chuckled.

"Kallaway," Tony said, shooting me a glance.

"Yeah?" I replied, returning his look.

He took a battle stance, gripping his bokken with both hands.

"Act!" he commanded.

I drew my sword and we both charged.

"You've chosen death, then," Cliff growled, raising his club.

The fight began. With Cliff guy is big, strong, and has clearly had military training. He knows his shit when it comes to combat.

So do we. I don't know if Tony's had any real training, but he's smart enough to land his blows carefully, and avoid getting hit. And I've train in martial arts, have practiced swordplay quite a bit (Arigatou, Ren-sensei), and as Tony felt the need to point out, I'm instinctive. I adapt pretty quickly. Can't explain it, but it seems to help out sometimes.

So we fought. It wasn't easy, but we managed to wear him down a bit, and get between him and the now completely dead ring of fire. He wasn't down for the count yet, but he was hurt. Some cuts on his leg, bruises on own arm, which was sagging slightly, and his damaged eye was beginning to swell up.

He suddenly closed his eyes, and whispered something. Immediately afterwards, he collapsed, crying out in agony. I stpped back, alarmed, but Tony didn't react with shock, but rather concern.

"Oh dear," he muttered.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"You're not gonna like it," Tony said.

Cliff began transforming. It was... nightmarish. He was clearly in pain the whole time, as his bones, muscles and skin stretched and shifted. He grew to.. I wanna say ten feet tall? Around that size. Bones formed in his back and stretched out to form wings, and feathers and fur began sprouting from his flesh. His face stretched forward, into a canine jaw, as his teeth rearranged themselves, becoming more wolf-like. When his eyes finally opened, they looked... like a weird cross between canine and avian.

"Well, that's disturbing," Tony said, gazing upon the bird/wolf/man thing rising up before us.

"Were you planning for this too?" I asked.

"I wasn't hoping for it, but I did expect it," Tony said. "On guard."

The thing went straight for Tony, apparently acknowledging him as the bigger threat. I charged forward and swung my sword at it's throat, but it swiped at my first. My sword was knocked out of my hand, and, do to the damage it had suffered already, snapped in half, clattering to the floor.

My sword. My ancestor' sword... The Proto-Godslayer was not only damaged, but was now completely broken.

While that thought ran through my head, Tony produced another pistol from his coat, and fired three darts into the beast's chest. It took me a couple seconds to pull myself together enough to question him on that.

"He said he's vaccinated, didn't he?" I asked.

"This is a different batch," Tony replied. "Stronger."

Sure enough, the beast was backing up, seeming to be pretty dizzy from whatever Tony had just hit him with.

"Ciel, you're up," Tony said. "David, Terrence, drive him back."

Ciel suddenly dropped from the floor above, carrying the covered up portrait, taking care not to let it get damaged., while Terrence rushed forward, picking up the hilt end of my broken sword. Ciel swiftly ripped the cover off the portrait, and stood it upright, yelling "Let's do this, Sera!"

I then became aware that it wasn't a portrait at all, but rather a very large standing mirror. I was wrong before. Tony didn't think two steps ahead. It was at least a dozen.

Tony and Terrence charged forward, Tony with his bokken, and Terrence with my broken sword, and I took a second to bring out by wings and gauntlet before following suit. We all landed a couple blows, but the beast managed to force us all back a couple feet with a swipe of it's arm. It then inhaled deeply, and I suddenly felt something wrong building up in his throat. I've been around Eldritch power before, but I think this is the first time I've actually felt it.

I charged forward, putting myself between Tony, Terrence, and the beast. as it let out a howl charged with Eldritch power that would have likely knocked them off their feet. I braced myself, and lifted my gauntlet, catching all of that power and restraining it. As I did, Tony and Terrence both rushed forward, Tony hitting it in the temple, and Terrence slashing at one of its calves.

I concentrated hard, and sent all that power I was holding right back at it, sending it flying toward the mirror. As it did, Seraph emerged from the mirror, spreading her arms and opening her mouth wide. Her canines extended into fangs, and she caught the beast in a full-Nelson, sinking her fangs into its throat. The beast became even more daze, and she pulled it with her into the mirror. However, she only pulled it in halfway, so the beasts back, wings, and elbows were trap in whatever mirror realm she had been making use of.

Tony opened up the compact mirror from earlier, and Seraph emerged from it, panting. Slowly, and gruesomely, Cliff returned to normal, still partially trapped in the mirror.

"I'm afraid we're on the clock here," Tony spoke confidently "It' only a matter of time before Mama notices you're stepping on her garden.". 

Cliff blearily looked up at us.

"First question," Tony said. "Perhaps the most important. Where the fuck if Kareena."

Cliff let out a chuckle.

"You'll see her soon," he said. "If you keep involved in this conflict, your paths are bound to cross, should you both live long enough."

"About as helpful as I was expecting you to be in this state," Tony said. "Take a deep breathe, and confirm that see's okay."

Cliff took a deep breath, then said "She's growing stronger. Her strength hasn't killed her. Yet."

"I see," Tony said. "How can we reach her?"

"Fuck you," Cliff said, seeming to slump a bit.

"Damn," Tony said. "Tranqs might get you before Mama does."

Tony looked aside for a moment.

"He said if I get involved in the conflict, we'll find her. I'm already involved, so that's a guarantee. We'll find her, but it won't be pretty when we do. So, the best questions t ask before he completely passes out would be about his boss."

Tony turned back to Cliff and smacked him across his face.

"Focus!" Tony said. "Tell me about Valravn! What's her deal!? Why is she just now cropping up!? What's her plan!?"

Cliff, seeming to be a bit more awake after the slap, looked up at Tony and smirked.

"The Doctor thinks he's so fuckin' smart, huh?" He said. "He compares her power to the birds and the angel, but she's better than them both. All the good shit, none of the bad."

He broke out into a laughing fit, clearly messed up from whatever Tony and Seraph hit him with.

"Focus!" Tony demanded, slapping him again. "What is she planning, and where the hell is Kareena!?"

At this point, Cliff seemed to sober up. He looked Tony directly in the eye.

"Her plan is spontaneous," he said. "She makes decisions as she goes, and her loyalties shift as she wills. As for Kareena... She's been ordered to-"

Suddenly, a long, serpentine tail emerged from the mirror, entangling Cliff.

"What is this!?" Cliff demanded.

"Uh oh," Seraph said. "Mama's pissed..."

Cliff was suddenly dragged screaming into the mirror world.

"Is he...?" I started.

"I wouldn't get my hopes up," Tony replied. "We just confirmed that we don't know what side Valravn's on, and I've been unable to dig up data on what side Mama's on, so their's a chance she might end up sparing him."

"Seriously, who the fuck is Mama?" I asked.

"A total bitch you don't wanna get involved with," Seraph replied.

"More importantly, his allusions to an upcoming conflict enforce a suspicion that's been on my mind for a while now," Tony said. "I've been keeping up with several other blogs, and I think... or rather, I fear... there's a war on the horizon."

"Wha!?" I asked. "Are you for real?"

"Yeas," He replied. "Seraph, inform Daniel. Terrence, craft the worst shit you can think of. Holding back may not be a option. Ciel, concoct what evet you think might be useful. And you."

He turned his attention to Kai.

"You carry a dangerous item the enemies want," he said. "If you wanna say safe, you'll either need to continue to rely on others for defense, or learn to defend yourself. Which is why KAllaway here will gladly volunteer as your sensei."

"What, what?" I asked.

"Up to you kid," Tony said. "I have to go. I have a lot of research and plans to deal with."

So... um... yeah. That whole mes just happened.

I'm not ready to train someone right now, and I'm not sure if Kai is ready, or even wants to be trained for combat. Either way, I'm going to keep him safe.

Either way... we've got a potential war on our hands.

And I hope I'm ready for it...