ã€ŠMike Chen: Demonhunterã€‹


 Chapter Zero

    The intersection at the east end of Brock St. swarms with angry people and cars, all fixated on the seemingly empty zebra crossing. Some curse, others throw objects, and a few threaten to ram through¡ªdifferent reactions with varying extremes, yet all focused on a single point.

    At the center of this chaos lies a young man, sprawled casually across the zebra crossing, holding a rapidly melting ice cream cone. His face is hidden behind a mask and he sports an oversized red hoodie, a horizontally striped black-and-white inner shirt, brown khakis, and bright red shoes. His overgrown jet-black hair spreads beneath his head like a pool of blood against his tanned skin.

    Unbothered by the hostility, a ring pierces through one of his many short pockets. He retrieves his phone, only to face an immediate verbal assault from the caller.

    "Fuck it, Mikael, I''ve been trying to reach you for thirty minutes! Where are you? The meet''s been going for almost an hour!"

    He releases a heavy sigh. "I''m on my way, Chica."

    Before she can finish her tirade, he ends the call and rises. The crowd collectively exhales as he approaches the first man¡ªwho had been ready to strike him¡ªand hands over his melting ice cream. The man stares in confusion, ready to curse, but Mikael has already vanished, leaping into the horizon.

    This is Mikael Chen, a 19-year-old Winnower, member of the Society of Winnowers, and notorious troublemaker in the small town of Anomin¨¦.

    A short while later, he arrives at a hillside. He slips one arm through the seemingly solid mass of stone before walking through entirely. Instead of rock formations, a grandiose hallway greets him, overlooking a large ballroom with a round table surrounded by various figures.

    While surveying the scene with obvious boredom, Mikael startles as Chica Kent materializes behind him.

    "What kept you for an hour? And why make me wait ninety minutes to talk?" Chica''s voice drips with exasperation. She cups his cheek, turning his face toward hers for inspection. Satisfied, she nods. "You''re okay now, right? Weren''t dwelling on it again, were you?"

    Mikael sighs. "Let''s get this over with. Where is she?"

    A much older woman, bearing a strong resemblance to him, appears behind Chica. "How nice of you to finally join us, Mikael. I didn''t think you''d show at all, not when everything''s settled already."

    "I know, Mother. I wasn''t planning to. Rami isn''t here either," Mikael retorts.

    "The whole family attended today. Including Rami." His mother cuts him off. "And I just heard about a young man holding up traffic minutes ago, all by himself. I hope you weren''t trying what I think you were..."

    Mikael answers with a smug look. Chica, caught in this heated exchange, forces a nervous laugh. "Okay, Chens. The function''s ending..."

    Mikael descends the stairs while his mother takes the opposite side. He retreats to a hidden corner of the main room, watching the society conclude their meeting. His eyes narrow on the group of four leading the debate: his mother, brother, older sister, and father. Though he stares them down, only his older sister seems to notice.

    As the function ends, attendees vanish one by one. Mikael leaves early, promising Chica he''ll see her later. He heads to the woods to vent, sending birds scattering as he arrives. Settling on a freshly cut tree stump, he contemplates his situation until his elder sister, Rami, appears.

    Rami stands slightly taller than him at twenty-three years of age. Her slick, shoulder-length brown hair frames fair skin adorned with tattoos. She wears a black leather jacket over a white crop top, revealing ink on her lower abdomen and above her waistline. More tattoos decorate her arms and hands. Her leather cargo pants complete the look as she holds a cigarette.

    "Still at this after all this time," she observes. "Still trying to be cool and mysterious?"This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    "You got to the meeting before me," Mikael says.

    "Is that what the death stare was for?"

    "You NEVER show up for these things, Rami! Even when I was just starting as a kid. Now Mom thinks I''m just some wasteful bum waiting for the spotlight."

    "Still worried about the ban? About what they think?" Rami asks rhetorically. "What does it matter if they banned you? Do your thing if you can." She takes another drag. "And one appearance doesn''t make you the family bum. No one''s taking my position." She laughs, offering him her cigarette. "It''s not like I won''t get another shot at this job."

    Mikael smiles, appreciating her loyalty and comfort. "That''s sweet of you. Why''d you come tonight anyway?"

    Rami exhales smoke casually. "Chica asked me to. And... I wanted to check it out. Besides, everyone else is gone, Gabriel''s back in Central. Just Mom and Dad at home."

    Mikael takes a drag and releases it heavily. "I still feel like I can do something though."

    Rami reclaims her cigarette. "Tell you what..." She pauses for another drag. "I know a guy on the East End. Young, like you. Always investigating Fallen-related cases and paranormal stuff."

    "So, a paranormal investigator?" Mikael asks.

    "Not exactly. He investigates, thanks to raw intuition and intelligence, but he isn''t a Preter like us."

    "Then how can he¡ª" Rami cuts him off. "Shh... I''ll set up a meeting. Just get to him, baby boy. You''ll find it easier."

    Mikael nods and rises, extinguishing his cigarette on the platform''s edge. "Thanks, Rami." He embraces her suddenly¡ªa rare display of emotion from his sister.

    They break apart as Rami grins playfully. "No problem. Now go find your mystery partner," she says, turning away.

    Half an hour later, Mikael arrives at the meeting venue¡ªa series of massive limestone statues erected by Stonehill Studios. He circles the open plaza inconspicuously, scanning the area. Something feels off. Following his instincts, he leaps to a neighboring rooftop for a better view. Suddenly, everyone below vanishes and the sky turns black.

    "A veil?" he mutters. "Rami wouldn''t set me up."

    "An unruly young man who disrupted Friday''s traffic," a voice emerges from below as a figure exits the building Mikael stands upon. "A Winnower seems unlikely... but a Chen? Now that''s the universe being *incredibly* generous."

    Mikael''s grin turns nervous, almost grimacing. "The Enclave... fuck."

    "Fuck is right, Winnower. Not for long, at least. I hope you fetch a good price." The man¡ªtall, brown-haired, and tanned, wearing a black suit and wielding large daggers¡ªsmiles coldly.

    Two more men in identical suits materialize above Mikael, hurling fireballs that he narrowly dodges. A third slams him through the roof onto the top floor. Barely avoiding decapitation by a thrown dagger, Mikael springs up from his prone position and launches a spinning roundhouse kick. His attacker blocks it, forcing Mikael to backpedal and create distance as his opponents regroup, turning the fight into a three-on-one in the cramped hallway.

    Mikael shrugs off his signature red hoodie, draping it over a locker. His white undershirt reveals tattooed arms as he beckons his attackers forward. They charge together. He dodges two fire attacks, kicks one assailant into a locker, breaks another''s nose with a precise punch, and sends the third flying through the window to the plaza below. Reading the room, he evades an incoming dagger but misses the lightning beam that follows. It strikes him hard, leaving him gasping.

    I suppose this is expected of the Chen family''s failure, he thinks. Struggling against fodder... Shameful.

    Rising with hysterical laughter, Mikael faces his opponent. "Better hope that''s not all you''ve got. This is the most fun I''ve had in months."

    The assailant''s fear shows. "Is something wrong with you?"

    "An Enclave assassin concerned for my wellbeing?" Mikael smirks.

    "You looked genuinely hurt... I just thought¡ª" His explanation ends as Mikael slams his face into the ground.

    "Wrong answer."

    "Tsk tsk... fucking labor these days... can''t get anything done." The man from downstairs approaches.

    Mikael narrows his eyes, ready to fight.

    "Relax... the veil should drop right about..." he points to the darkening sky as it splits apart, revealing a woman in red, wearing a mask like Mikael''s, hovering above the building.

    "...Now." The woman removes her mask¡ªit''s Rami.

    "Peter Tremolo. Why am I not surprised?" she calls down.

    "Ramiel Chen. The feeling''s mutual," he replies, unfazed.

    "Rami? What are you doing here?" Mikael asks, confused.

    "Haven''t figured it out? Your sister used you as bait to get to me," Tremolo explains. "Not very smart. You let him do the grunt work because if you came yourself, it''d be over instantly."

    Mikael''s confusion turns to anger. "I know you enjoy being a dick, sis, but this goes too far."

    "Mikey baby, can we discuss this later?" Her eyes glow white as she readies an energy blast at Tremolo.

    "Too much drama for me. Ciao." A flash of white light, and he vanishes.

    Mikael retrieves his hoodie through the rubble, turning his back on Rami as she approaches. "You need to calm down, Mikey. This wasn''t a setup."

    Pulling on his hoodie, he responds, "You''ll need better proof than that, Ramiel."

    "How about me?" A voice calls from the hallway''s end. A young man Mikael''s age appears¡ªshorter, with trim black hair to his neck, green eyes, and a deep pale complexion.

    "Who are you?" Mikael asks.

    "Your scheduled meet-up. Marvin Kaine."

 Pilot

    Evening, almost two days later.

    Mikael and Marvin walk up to an abandoned building. "Sense that?" Marvin asks.

    "Yeah. What''s even more surprising is that you can do it." Mikael replies.

    "Unfortunately. let''s go, then." Marvin says.

    "Woah," Mikael says, blocking him with a hand. "I know right now you should be used to playing misfit, but we can''t just waltz in here."

    "Why not? What''s the problem?"

    "I don''t know if my sister told you or you''re playing dumb, but I can''t just go around doing Winnower stuff while I''m still not a Winnower."

    "Okay, so what does that mean?"

    Mikael makes a few hand signs before the sky around the building changes into black, the same move used against him just a few days ago.

    "So what does this do?" Marvin asks.

    "Preserves my life a bit longer." Mikael jokes, and walks forward into the building, with Marvin following behind.

    38 hours earlier; a few minutes after Marvin''s arrival post-fight.

    A bar in downtown Bayside Central.

    Ramiel is sitting next to her younger brother, facing Marvin, who is sitting directly against the two, at the far end of the bar.

    "Do you believe me now, Mikey?" she asks him, nervously smiling.

    "I don''t know..."Mikael sighs deeply. "That''s a lot of coincidences to happen at once."

    "Funny, I think so too," Marvin says. "Just come clean, Ramiel."

    she sighs. "Fine. I tracked down an Enclave member a few days ago and I set up the meeting with the purpose of being overheard. Once overheard, it''d draw out whoever is responsible for the recent string of Winnower deaths."

    "Wow," Mikael says. "I don''t know if I should be offended or impressed."

    "I feel a little of both," Marvin says.

    "Come on, you two..." She teases. "I was just trying to get my job done...which is what we all want to do at the end of the day, right?"

    Mikael sighs deeply.

    "So what does this partnership entail?" Mikael asks.

    "Well, I''m glad you asked. Marvin has a backlog of Fallen and Fallen-related incidents, some unresolved for years, some alien to even me." She says.

    "Which reminds me...what exactly are you?" Mikael asks. "You can''t use Soul Energy, but you can interact and see the Preternatural? That''s unheard of."

    Marvin stares at him. "Let''s just say, I''m just a human who can see ghosts."

    "You can help each other." She says. "Marvin has a list of cases you can help him resolve, and you get the kind of action that keeps you out of the Society''s reach."

    Back at the building.

    The two young men walk down the empty hallways. "Why do you do this anyway? Looking into the Preternatural cases, I mean." Mikael asks.

    "Expecting some tragic backstory?" Marvin says to him.

    "Hey, man...no offense, but this job is not open to just anyone. People get hurt, and a lot of them die if they aren''t strong enough to overcome."

    "I''m fully aware of that. You''ll see soon enough." Marvin says as they both walk into a large and dark hall.

    Suddenly a heavy growling is heard at the other end.

    "Did you hear that?" Marvin asks Mikael. He can barely see anything in the darkness and so turns to Mikael, whose right eye is glowing in the dark.

    "What the?" Marvin is surprised, but Mikael pushes him away just in time to avoid a fatal blow from the beast growling in the dark.

    "What are you doing?!" Mikael yells at Marvin. "Your life is at stake here! You can''t just stand around idly while there''s a monster in the same room with you."

    "I got it, don''t yell at me," Marvin says and reaches into his pocket. He takes out a cigar and a lighter and lights the cigar before throwing it on the floor, as they both watch a pillar of flames rise from the burnt-up cigar.

    The beast is revealed to be a bipedal humanoid creature, about six feet tall, with Lovecraftian features on its face and body. However, Mikael doesn''t focus on the Fallen in front of him, but on the trick Marvin just pulled.

    "That''s Vincent Mallory''s trick! How''d you do that?"

    "Your sister gave it to me, said it''d come in handy...What do we do to that thing?" Marvin replies, bringing him back on track.

    The Fallen in front of them is on the other side of the flame pillar, waiting for the light from the fire to go out.

    "Well..." Mikael starts "This is the weakest type of Fallen...a Shadow. It likely isn''t here on its own."

    "So what does that mean?" Marvin says, as the fire diminishes in size and the light starts to fade. There are now more growls in the background.

    "Well, what it means, is once that light goes out, we''ll be in for a long night," Mikael says and lifts the sleeves of his hoodie. "You came here with weapons, right?"

    Marvin takes out a pistol. "Of course."

    "Well, it''s best that you know that those things don''t work on Fallen," Mikael says and takes out a small ring from his pocket, putting it on his ring finger.

    "Come out, Crow...Give me Wolfe and Styx," he says, and a blueish aura projects out of the ring and into his arms, manifesting as pistols. Mikael turns to Marvin and grins widely. "These work on Fallen."

    The light goes significantly dim enough for the Fallen to resume their attack, to which Mikael jumps into action, shooting directly at the first one''s head, killing it instantly, before quickly turning to the other ones coming out of the darkness, hitting with efficient shots, killing most of them with one or two shots.

    The onslaught is stopped temporarily. Mikael turns to him. "I can''t keep doing all the work. This is a partnership." He smiles, knowing that it is getting on Marvin''s nerves.

    Mikael throws one of the pistols to him, which he catches. "Let''s see how good you are with Soul Tools," he says. "That''s Styx. A form of Crow, a part of my soul. You''re up, next round."

    Mikael turns around walking further down the empty and dark hall. He zips his shirt up and makes a hand sign. "Give me, Masamune," he whispers, and a spectral katana, one resembling the blueish aura of the guns, appears in his hand. Marvin is following closely behind, clutching Styx tightly.

    A new surge of aura reverberates through Mikael and Marvin. "That''s not good," Mikael says. "A Marauder as well?"

    "There''s another Fallen class here too?" Marvin asks.

    "Yes...now I see why this building is abandoned." Mikael says as the growling noises of the Shadows begin to sound out.

    "Brace yourself, detective," Mikael says.

    The dim moonlight shines through the windows as the Shadows jump out in full force against the two boys. With a few rapid-fire shots, Marvin hits every one of the Shadows he targets, however not as efficiently or accurately as Mikael. At the same time, Mikael is cleaving through the Shadows and shooting at those yet to get to him.

    "Don''t try to be accurate," Mikael says to Marvin. "Your body isn''t conditioned to do so, the recoil will hurt your aim."

    Marvin, remaining rigid, double clutches Styx and moves forward, this time with Mikael following behind.

    "How often do you fight Fallen?" Mikael asks Marvin.

    "There''s a first for everything," Marvin says, catching Mikael off-guard and causing him to stop, while he continues moving.

    The two leave the hall and emerge at a flight of stairs. "What do you mean there''s a first for everything?" Mikael complains. "You said you could fight!"

    "Yes. In theory. I haven''t done so in practice. Not to this extent, anyway," Marvin iterates. "That aura seems to be coming from the roof." He says, looking up the stairs.

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it."Yes, genius. The aura came from above us, we are already on the second floor, and the only way is up." Mikael replies sarcastically.

    Marvin rolls his eyes and begins his climb up the stairs, once more with Mikael following behind.

    They arrive at the roof, with Mikael still pestering Marvin who has come to a halt.

    "I hope you know you can''t fight a Marauder like that-" Mikael says, before looking forward. "Well, this is just perfect."

    The Marauder has a copy of itself, standing side by side. It has the features of the Shadows except for a more defined head shape resembling a helmet.

    "Two of you? That''s exceptional!" Mikael says. "Fighting shadows wasn''t going to be fun anyway."

    "Why are you egging them on?" Marvin asks.

    Mikael takes Styx back from him. "I suggest you try not moving."

    The Marauders appear offended and riled up.

    "Yeah!" Mikael says. "Let''s rumble, dip wads." He says, pointing both Wolf and Styx at the original and the clone.

    The two lunge at him, but with a single motion, he blows off their heads with Wolfe and Styx. They are stopped in their tracks, but quickly, their heads amorphously regenerate.

    "Oh, shit, I forgot they could do that! Move!" Mikael says.

    "I thought you said not to?!" Marvin questions, still panicking.

    "Not the time, bro!" Mikael says, swinging the door to the roof wide open and ushering Marvin down the stairs. In a panic, Marvin rushes down, believing Mikael is covering his bases. By the time he arrives at the first floor, he checks to see how Mikael is doing only to discover he''s not there.

    Mikael shuts down the roof door behind him and takes off his hoodie. His pistols dissolve in his hands and he takes out a necklace he''d been wearing the entire time.

    "Legion, give me Mahogany." He says, and his right arm is covered by a spectral gauntlet.

    The beasts recover and jump at him. Mikael strikes the first attacker right in the recently-regenerated face, before jumping into a roundhouse side-footed kick to the next one. Before it can fly away, Mikael makes a hand gesture and pulls it back to him, seemingly with some sort of telekinetic force. He lands a powerful palm strike on the chest of the Marauder that seems to crack open its chest. The first one returns with a tail swipe, followed by two right and left arm strikes, all of which he dodges, somewhat seamlessly, before retaliating with a mean backhand to its face, to which it slides away several meters. The other one returns, but Mikael delivers another punch-kick combo that sends it reeling back.

    Mikael continues to enjoy his fight against the two beasts, but he knows it has to end. Growling with resentment, the marauders prepare to lunge at him once again. Mikael laughs.

    "I think it''s time we wrapped this up, don''t you think?" He says, as the gauntlet fades away and his guns re-materialize.

    "Crow, Maximum output - Expunge." He says as two large balls of lightning form right in front of the guns. He pulls the trigger and the beasts, already lunging at him, are caught in the blast.

    There is a loud boom on the roof, and Marvin rushes up to check if Mikael is okay.

    Mikael sighs. "If only that was more challenging-" he is cut off in his monologue by some sharp pain in his chest. The pain is heavy and seems unbearable as he drops to his knees, coughing up blood.

    "Fuck! Not now!" he curses. His left arm quickly changes to a pale white color, and the tips of his fingers turn blood-red. The cornea of his amber eye starts to produce blood and sharp spines begin protruding from his back.

    Marvin arrives on the roof. "what happened? Are you good?" he says, before seeing Mikael''s horrendous state and the fallen nowhere to be found.

    "What the hell happened here?" he says, rushing to him. "What''s going on with you?" he tries touching his body, but the amount of heat on his skin is enough to nearly burn his hand off.

    "What the?" Marvin is confused, and all the while Mikael yelling and grunting in pain.

    "Call...Chica." Mikael says, still grunting.

    "Chica? Who is Chica? How do I get to her?" Marvin''s confusion persists.

    "Her card... is in my hoodie," Mikael says and collapses to the ground, more spines erupting from his back.

    Marvin acts quickly, taking the contact card from his hoodie and calling her. She answers immediately.

    "Mikael? What''s the matter?" Chica asks.

    "Um...This isn''t Mikael. Mikael''s in trouble right now."

    "Who is this? Where is Mikael?"

    "He''s currently in the middle of a painful transformation...doesn''t seem like he triggered-"

    The call ends.

    "Fuck." He says. "How on earth will I explain this to Ramiel?"

    The veil is shattered from the outside with two people jumping in and onto the roof. Both are dressed in the same red uniform as Rami was two days prior, and one of them is Chica. The other one appears more similar in resemblance to Ramiel.

    "That was quick," Marvin says.

    Mikael looks up, his mouth bubbling with blood. "Chica...help." He says to Chica. She rushes over to him and hits him with an inhaler-like syringe.

    "It''ll be okay now." She says, hugging him, as the spines begin to retract and his arm gradually returns to its regular complexion.

    The other one who arrived with her, a man, walks over to Mikael, while still looking up, then at Marvin, then Mikael again. His posture is immaculate, and he gives off an air of superiority.

    "The fuck are you doing here?" Mikael says, turning to look up at him.

    "Language, brother. besides, that''s no way to talk to someone who helped save your life." He says.

    "You? Save my life?" Mikael says.

    "You''re right, I have better things to do. But, I did help your girlfriend here to get to you as fast as she could," He replies.

    "Cool it, Gabriel," Chica says.

    He turns his attention to Marvin. "What''s a regular human being doing inside a Veil?"

    "I''m a paranormal investigator," Marvin replies.

    "That''s not what I asked," Gabriel states, taking a single step and appearing before Marvin. "I asked how you got inside a Veil. Also..." Gabriel turns to Mikael.

    "Why exactly are you here? I shouldn''t be the one to tell you that you aren''t allowed to do these things anymore."

    Chica turns to Mikael, who looks away.

    "I''m not a heartless bastard, dear brother, but this...this is beginning to get out of hand," Gabriel says and takes out his mask to wear.

    "Put that down, Gabe." A feminine voice goes.

    All eyes on the roof turn to the voice above them. It''s Ramiel, hovering above in street clothes.

    "I could''ve guessed this was your doing," Gabriel says.

    "Aww...what gave that away?" She smiles and says, sarcastically.

    "Sometimes I wonder what makes the Society tolerate you..." Gabriel starts but is cut off. "Is it because you can''t, my dearest big brother?" She quickly retorts.

    Gabriel''s stoic and composed exterior is beginning to crack.

    "Kent...we''re leaving," Gabriel says and opens the roof door, storming down the stairs.

    "Of course you are..." Ramiel says.

    Chica gets up and gives Mikael a forehead kiss before running after Gabriel.

    Ramiel lands next to Mikael, sitting down next to him.

    "I''d already sent her your hypo when Gabriel caught up with her," she says in a whisper, smiling.

    "Your brother''s kind of a dick," Marvin says.

    "Which one?" She asks.

    "Both of them," he says and stares down Mikael.

    "Runs in the family." She laughs. "How was your first day of partnering?"

    "It was something, I guess," Marvin replies.

    "And you, Mikey?" she asks.

    "I think you mean the last day of partnering. There''s no way Gabriel is letting this slide."

    "Giving up so soon? Have a little faith, Mikey baby." She says and grins maniacally. "It''s me we''re talking about here."

 The Easy Days of Mikael Chen

    A slightly younger Mikael runs. He is afraid and scared for his life. He''d never encountered a danger quite like this before. He knows one thing for sure right now - if he stops moving, he might as well be dead.

    He trips and falls into a patch of snow. Exhausted, he tries to catch his breath. Fully realizing that he has stopped moving, he turns around. There are eerie shadows behind him emanating purely evil auras.

    "Leaving so soon?" One of the shadowy-like beings says.

    "That''s no fun, young man." Another says. "We want to have some more fun. After all, you seem rather strong for a child."

    Another reaches in to grab him by the face and he yells out in horror.

    Mikael wakes up in a cold sweat, shirtless and patched up, sitting on someone''s bed.

    A couple of hours have passed since the confrontation with his older brother.

    He gets up off the bed, doing some light stretching before walking out into the bathroom. A mark on the left side of his neck is visible, appearing like a burn mark or branding. He quickly takes a shower and walks out into the kitchen, where he sees Chica, sitting down and eating her breakfast while reading something. She is wearing a black turtleneck vest, a pair of dark red suit pants, with a red coat, hanging over the chair she is sitting on.

    This...is her apartment.

    He walks over to her and pecks her on the cheek. "Good morning". He says to her, walking over to a cooler to grab a snack.

    "Good morning. Leave the snacks, there''s breakfast in the living room." She says to him, only lifting her eyes from her book for a second to warn him, before sinking her eyes back into her book.

    "Thank you." He says and walks a few paces into the living room, where he takes a seat on the sofa facing the television. his breakfast is on the center table in front of him. its an omelet. He promptly digs in.

    "What happened with Gabriel last night?" Mikael asks.

    "Nothing at all." She says. "I walked him down the stairs, then he quickly took off on his own. He did tell me how you and your sister gang up on him all the time."

    "That''s rich, from someone who used to beat us both when we were younger. Besides, it''s not like me or Ramiel can take him on in a fight. I mean, Ramiel...maybe..."

    "Mikael...I know," she says, interrupting him. "I don''t know the problems you have with your family members...your Mom, your Brother, hell, your father won''t even talk to or about you." She gets up from her seat, putting down her book.

    "But...?" Mikael extends her sentence.

    "But, I''m meant to meet with Gabriel today. Maybe I''ll get some information from him, maybe I''ll be stuck listening to him complain all day again, but I''ll keep you posted." She says, picking up her red coat and walking over to him.

    She takes a seat next to him. "No working today. Are we clear?" she wags her finger in his face.

    Mikael rolls his eyes. "Yes, ma''am. I won''t be doing that, today."

    "That''s good. Now..." she reaches into her pocket and picks out a hypo, before placing it on his lap.

    "Ramiel gave me an extra pack. Just in case." She says.

    "How thoughtful of her...I can''t imagine she had any ulterior motives in doing that." Mikael says sarcastically.

    "Well, I choose to believe she didn''t. And you won''t be doing any work today anyway. You have my Card, call me if you need anything." She says, getting up and kissing his cheek, before walking out of the apartment.

    Mikael watches her leave, before taking out a Card from his shorts'' pocket. He places the card on the table and commands "Call Marvin."

    The call commences and elsewhere, Marvin is brushing his teeth when he gets the call.

    "Hello?" He says.

    "You''re still alive. bummer." Mikael says. "Thought my brother managed to ice you overnight."

    "How''d you get my Card, Chen?"

    "How do you think?" Mikael replies and Marvin takes a second to realize.

    "I should stop telling your sister things." He says. Mikael agrees.

    "So, what do you want?" Marvin asks and washes his face.

    "I''m bored. fix that." Mikael says.

    "I believe you should take that up with someone who cares. Besides, aren''t you in trouble for yesterday?"

    "I don''t believe so. Plus, Gabriel is my brother. He won''t try to kill me."

    "Didn''t look like that yesterday...If it wasn''t for Ramiel, we probably would''ve been finished."

    Mikael shrugs. "Chica was there, though. He probably was just kidding or something."

    "Again...didn''t seem like it." Marvin puts on a T-shirt and a pair of joggers. "Speaking of, This girlfriend of yours, Chica..."

    "She''s my girlfriend, that''s all you need to know." Mikael cuts him off. "I''m bored. *fix* that."

    Marvin sighs. "I''m heading to a coffee shop over in Rhine Valley. Meet me there and we can review some case files."

    "Give me a few minutes," Mikael says.

    The Society of Winnowers, Bayside HQ.

    A Few Minutes Later.

    Chica arrives at Gabriel''s office. He is sitting quietly at his table, staring at the ceiling.

    "Good Morning, Gabriel..." She says, glancing at him before taking off her coat. "Sorry for the delay, I stopped to get groceries."

    He doesn''t reply.

    "...Okay? What''s the agenda for today?" She says.

    "It isn''t wrong if I kill my brother, right?" He starts by saying. "Or I could report him to the High Council..."

    She shakes her head. "What are you talking about? Are you still mad about yesterday?"

    "Who wouldn''t be?" He replies.

    "Any functioning adult...What do you hope to achieve by doing that anyway?"

    "Oh, you''re just defending him because he''s your boyfriend," Gabriel says and falls back into his chair. "Besides...Mikael is a stain on the Chen legacy. A pretty bad one."

    "Can''t you say the same for Ramiel?" She asks.

    "My sister is indeed a problem, but she is *competent* as well. Mikael, however, isn''t." He sits up again, gesturing with his hands.

    "Right...and you just hate incompetence, don''t ya?"

    "Exactly." He answers.

    "Then why exactly did you advocate for me being your partner after he was suspended? After all, I was the partner of someone incompetent, so that would make me one as well." She says. "You''re strong enough to be seen as one of the heralds of the next generation...why would you need a partner?"

    Gabriel doesn''t answer, realizing that he''s made a mistake. He sinks back into his chair before he remembers something.

    "What about that human with him? Do you know who that is?"

    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!Chica looks indifferent. "Nope. Never seen him before."

    "From what I saw last night, It seemed he could enter the Veil, and judging from the lack of wounds on him, he probably was capable of defending himself against Fallen," Gabriel says.

    "And if it turns out he was just a regular human taken hostage by the fallen there?" Chica says.

    "Hostage, maybe. though he would have at least some bruises and injuries. If he was a regular person caught in the crossfire, the Fallen would''ve killed him, because we all know how Mikael handles collateral damage."

    She sighs. "Whoever it is... as long as he isn''t caught helping our enemies or aiding the fallen, then it shouldn''t matter to us."

    "Even the location was weird, too." He continues. "I didn''t expect any Fallen activity around that area, and if there was reported supernatural activity, we would''ve known about it first."

    "Maybe, it probably was a coincidence," she says.

    "Not in this city. Something about this stinks...maybe I should pass this information to my father..."

    Chica''s calm eyes become frenzied. "What?"

    "I want to talk about this incident with my parents." He says.

    "Think clearly. if you talk about this with them, they won''t even listen to your concerns. They''ll just take matters into their own hands against Mikael."

    "I know...killing two birds with one stone." he smiles. "literally."

    "No, you''re killing one bird with one stone. Your parents don''t give a fuck about regular humans, and your father is actively seeking a reason to erase Mikael from your family history." She clarifies.

    "I know, but I''ll still do it anyway. They can do whatever they want with my brother, but I want to investigate the events of last night a bit closer. And I need their clearance to be able to do that."

    He gets up from his seat and walks out of the room.

    Chica looks worried and disturbed.

    Rhine Valley, Southeast Bayside.

    Mikael is standing outside a small coffee shop called "Rhine City Brews". He is there in an unusual outfit, not wearing his red hoodie, but a black sweater over a white shirt, and grey sweatpants. Marvin arrives at the shop and is surprised to see him outside.

    "There is no way," Marvin says. "You live in Anomin¨¦! You live halfway across the state!" he protests. "How did you get here before me?! I live a few blocks away!"

    "Are you surprised at this point?" Mikael points out.

    "Yes. I refuse to believe that you got here before me while commuting from Anomin¨¦! The public train isn''t even thirty minutes open yet!"

    "What? You think I woke up earlier and came here only to spite you?!" Mikael says. "Come on now, I won''t get out of bed for my mother, what makes you so special?"

    Mikael takes the time to look at his outfit. Marvin is wearing a V-neck black sweater over a white shirt, and grey trousers, as well as white shoes, the same kind as Mikael.

    "Seems like we also chose to dress up alike, too." He says, to which Marvin replies "Let''s just go inside."

    Mikael and Marvin take a seat at the far end of the shop far from the west curtain wall. He takes out a binder and hands Mikael three papers. The papers are organized notes and conclusions on various Fallen appearances in the city and the surrounding area outside the city.

    Mikael looks closer at the second paper. Attached to it is an infrared scan of what appears to be a footprint the size of a small crater. He checks the location and the time this happened.

    "This second one...Grayville, February 12." He says. "This was a month ago?"

    "Yeah." Marvin starts. "I was out of town then, but on my way back to Bayside, I stopped at a motel in Grayville for the night. Then there was this big boom in the middle of the night, and it continued and all of a sudden, it stopped."

    "No one else there could see the craters, I assume, and you couldn''t capture it with an actual camera, which is why you resorted to infrared sensors."

    "Astute." Marvin congratulates him.

    "This is interesting though...If a fallen could make a crater of this size, then it most likely either is a Devourer or a World-Eater." Mikael says. "I''m glad none of you in that motel were hurt, because these types aren''t only some of the most powerful Fallen out there, but they are also intelligent."

    "What does intelligence have to do with anything?" Marvin asks.

    "Well, that''s because they can shapeshift too. Which is probably why the sound vanished after some time too." Mikael says.

    "You''re kidding, right?" Marvin says.

    "The Fallen you are looking for, dear Marvin, was in that Motel with you."

    "That can''t be, right? It''s too early to say for sure."

    "Well..." Mikael gets up. "Only one way to know for sure. We''re going on a road trip, Partner."

    Evening, The Chen Family Residence.

    Gabriel waltzes in confidently through the front door. He seems to have a somewhat-favorable disposition and Ramiel, on stepping outside her room, notices immediately.

    "Someone''s in a happy mood today." She says, smiling. "Who''s the unlucky rulebreaker that''s paying a visit to the afterlife?"

    "I''m not happy, Ramiel. Just hopeful." He replies and walks past her down the hall, where a maid runs into him, falling on the floor.

    She quickly gets up on her knees. "I''m so sorry, Master Gabriel. I had no idea you''d be back this early. I didn''t see you-" She is shushed by Gabriel and he walks past calmly.

    Ramiel stares at him with curious eyes, and the maid is surprised as well.

    Gabriel continues his quiet march up two flights of stairs and comes to a halt in front of his parents'' room. He knocks and says "Father, Mother, I wish to speak with you."

    "Come in." His mother says and an attendant opens the door for him.

    He walks in calmly, his eyes up to meet his parents, who are seated, wearing robes.

    "What is it, Gabriel?" His mother, Marie, speaks.

    "It has come to my attention that my brother Mikael is still conducting-" Gabriel starts but is cut off by Marie.

    "We don''t care about that outcast anymore. Leave if you have nothing better to discuss." She states.

    "What?" Gabriel is rocked.

    "Do I need to repeat myself?" She asks, and her aura booms through him, making him afraid.

    "But...We are the Chen Family...isn''t that our job? To punish those who break the rules of the Society of Winnowers?" He asks while bowing his head in fear.

    "We have no time for that at the moment..." His father, Solander, says. "Mikael can do whatever he pleases in the meantime. He can even get himself excommunicated and it wouldn''t matter right now."

    "Then, if I may ask, what exactly is more important right now?" Gabriel asks, raising his head ever so slightly.

    "I''m afraid to tell you, my son, but that is none of your business. Stick to the roles you''ve been given, and you can have all the respect in the world. But we do not owe you anything, Gabriel." Marie chimes in. "If that is all, you may leave."

    The despondence, anger, and shock hit Gabriel like a truck.

 Grayville Motel

    Mikael is sticking his head outside Marvin''s car window while singing the lyrics of the song playing on the radio. Marvin appears tired--after all, they''ve been on the road for almost three hours, and the time is only now just nearing 9 am.

    "How are you this mobile and active already? We left at 6 am." Marvin asks.

    "What? This is nothing." Mikael says, his head still outside. "Besides, we should be in Grayville soon, right?"

    "Nope, we''re still about an hour and a half away," Marvin replies.

    "Huh?" Mikael looks puzzled and he brings his head back in, taking his seat. "An hour?"

    "And a half, yes. a rough estimate." He says.

    Mikael promptly zips up his red hoodie and covers up to his face, before shutting his eyes and going off to sleep.

    Marvin looks at him. "Lucky. You get to sleep."

    Meanwhile, Chica is cleaning up her kitchen when she sees a note on the cooler.

    I''ll be out of town for a few days and my Card won''t be reachable in that time. Take care of yourself and I''ll see you when I get back. I''ll also bring some souvenirs with me if I can.

    Love ya,

    Mikey.

    She smiles and puts the note away.

    Almost two hours later, Marvin and Mikael arrive at the Southbound Motel in Grayville. Energetically springing out of the car, Mikael laughs out. "Finally! That took forever!" He says.

    "Keep quiet. It''s bad enough I had to drive you here, but I''ll lose it if I can''t get some peace while we''re here." Marvin quickly reminds him.

    Mikael and Marvin enter the small Motel. Arriving at the counter, they meet a pale, middle-aged man with deep brown hair and green eyes. He has a brown chin stubble and a pair of rough hands. He greets them, and Marvin returns the favor, with Mikael still keeping mute.

    "We''ll need a room for a few days." He says.

    "Would you like the upstairs room or the one downstairs?" The man at the counter asks.

    "The upstairs room," Marvin says, before taking out a couple of bills and paying for the room, after which, he and Mikael turn to leave.

    "Excuse me..." The man says, prompting Marvin and Mikael to turn back. "You''ve been here before, right?"

    "Just the one time, last month," Marvin says politely.

    "Right. I thought I''d recognized you. It was nothing. I just wanted a confirmation." The receptionist says.

    "It''s fine," Marvin says, turning back and walking away, with Mikael following behind.

    Arriving at the room, Marvin falls onto the bed.

    "When do we get this investigation started?" Mikael asks, taking a seat on the sofa facing the bed.

    "I don''t know, dude. You got to sleep through most of the ride. Give me at least an hour or two, then we can get something started."

    "Aw, come on!" Mikael complains. "Aren''t you supposed to be used to these kinds of things by now, being a detective and all?"

    "Complain when I have the energy to tolerate it," Marvin says and stuffs his face in the pillow.

    Mikael sighs heavily and leaves the room. He paces around the walkway outside the room. "I''m so bored..." he says to himself.

    He decides to start the investigation himself, walking back down to the reception.

    There, he sees a different man at the front desk. This one is a blonde man, very young-looking, likely in his late or mid-20s, with only a light mustache to accentuate his facial features. He is visibly taller than the last one, and his features are capped off with his grey eyes.

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.A bit surprised, he walks up to him and asks where the previous man was.

    "Oh, he''s busy at the moment. Is there anything I can assist you with?" The man asks politely.

    Mikael stares at him with narrow eyes. He feels something off, but he lets go of the feeling in the meantime. "Oh, I was wondering where you can get some food around here?" He says, trying to make small talk.

    "We don''t exactly have a stable food service, but we do have complimentary meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if that''s fine with you?" The man says, with a charming smile on his face.

    "Well, it''s fine. My roommate has been driving for some time, I just wanted to get something for him to eat." Mikael says.

    "Well, why didn''t you say so?" The man says. "We''ll have a meal in your room in no time. Can I get your room number?"

    "25," Mikael says.

    "Okay, room 25." The man says, and pens it down somewhere behind the counter.

    Mikael leans in over the counter. "I''d like to ask you some questions." He says.

    "Are you a cop?" The man asks defensively.

    "No, nothing like that," Mikael says. "I''m just an observer."

    "Okay, ask away."

    "approximately a month ago, on a certain night, there was an incident that went down here in this area. do you know anything about it?" Mikael asks, in a calm, somber voice.

    "These are the badlands. incidents go down all the time, you''re going to have to be specific." The man states plainly.

    "The night of the invisible booms. Everyone for miles could hear it..." Mikael says bluntly.

    "Oh, that? yeah. I think someone was just playing a prank or something."

    "Why do you say that?" Mikael questions.

    "I wasn''t in town at the time, but everyone seemed to have different views on it. I think it''s all a hoax." The man answers.

    Mikael sighs and steps back from the counter. "Thanks for your time." He says and walks away.

    He returns to his room and sits on the sofa, watching Marvin sleep.

    "Something''s up; something doesn''t feel right, " he says, looking up at the ceiling.

    He quickly falls into a short nap.

    A short while later, Mikael''s nap is interrupted by a knock on his room door. He goes to check it out and finds out that it is just the man at the counter, bringing up his food.

    "You couldn''t have sent someone from your kitchen to do it?" Mikael queries.

    "Haha, I guess I just wanted to deliver this in person, " the receptionist''s calm and lilted voice says.

    "Well...thanks, I guess," Mikael says, and turns around. He closes the door as the man starts waving.

    Mikael drops the plate of food on the bedside drawer and walks to the window facing the fields at the back of the motel. Bored, he stares into the distance for a couple of minutes. He is about to leave when he catches sight of the blond man walking alone into the fields. Mikael looks closer to see what the man plans on doing out there, but he suddenly stops walking and turns around to make direct eye contact with Mikael.

    He motions for Mikael to meet him outside so they can talk. Mikael obliges and quickly heads downstairs, before walking carefully into the fields, where he can see the blond man.

    "Seemed too ominous to be a regular guy," Mikael says. "What''s all this for? To keep me on my toes? You have something to say?"

    "Both are pretty spot-on." He replies.

    "You''re quite the dramatic guy. So, are you going to tell me why I''m here?"

    The man''s voice warps from a light, calm lilt, into a sinister bass. "I see you''re still as prideful as the last time..." An extremely evil aura booms throughout the area, waking Marvin from sleep.

    "...And here I thought you''d changed."

 Mikael meets the Man

    The man continues. "Glad to see you take it so well."

    A deep-seated, boiling rage has Mikael seething. He knows this person.

    what in the world is he doing here? He thinks to himself.

    "Oh, I can feel it all. The anger, the humiliation, the fear, the sadness. It brings me so much joy that you can feel this much after everything!" The man exclaims.

    "You sick fuck!" Mikael says, his aura exploding to counteract his opponent''s.

    "I hope you can put up more of a fight this time around." The man says, and lunges at Mikael so quickly that Mikael can barely react. The man throws a fist at him and he manages to block it, only for the punch to launch him into the air, hovering above the motel''s roof.

    "Mahogany!" Mikael screams and his spectral gauntlet quickly materializes on his arm, and he telekinetically repels the man''s incoming right fist, but the force of impact sends Mikael flying to the ground - the motel''s parking lot.

    Mikael quickly swaps between Mahogany and his twin pistols, Wolfe and Styx. "Expunge!" he yells out, as he fires off two balls of lightning.

    "Oh, please." The man says as he swats the attack away, causing an explosion on either side of the hotel''s parking lot.

    As the small amount of residents hear the commotion outside, they rush to the front to see the chaos. They only see the fires in the fields caused by the explosion and Mikael, but cannot perceive either the cause of the fires or the person Mikael is fighting. Marvin has seen this as well, but he can see that Mikael is struggling to keep up. He tries to emulate the hand signs Mikael used to put up the veil earlier, but can''t seem to do that. The people are beginning to feel Mikael is some sort of mime or a crazy person.

    Meanwhile, Mikael is still getting tossed around by the blond man, who appears to be getting bored.

    "Are you still this weak? We gave you enough time, too." The man complains.

    "What are you doing here?! What business does The Hand have here?" Mikael yells out, catching his breath after.

    "Well, I doubt it''ll be fun if you don''t have even a *little* clue." He starts. "We''re here to celebrate the birth of a new kind of Fallen. One that would easily be above a World-Eater. Who knows, they might have even more potential than *you* did."

    "What are you talking about? A new fallen?" Mikael asks, confused.

    He sighs. "You needn''t worry about the details. You''ll learn all about it first-hand, anyways." He turns his back to Mikael. "If that''s all you have, then I''m afraid you have disappointed me, and I''ll be taking my establishment with me." He points a finger at the building and a red particle of light materializes.

    "Ignition - Legion!" Mikael yells out, causing him to turn back and look at him.

    "This is interesting. I don''t recall you being capable of doing that as of the last time we met." The man says, discarding the attack he had in mind and turning to focus on him.

    Mikael still maintains a somewhat human appearance, though now appearing more like a fall. His eyes are substituted by hollowed-out black circles, he doesn''t appear to have a mouth or nose, and he has horns growing on either side of his head, resembling tree branches. There is a swirling darkness around him.

    The humans in the area have lost the ability to see him, and some return inside thinking it was an act, others thinking he''s crazy. Marvin, however, can see Mikael''s new form and remains outside to see how he can help.

    Mikael''s ring has seemingly vanished, but his necklace still hanging on his neck.

    Dark tendrils of energy from the shadow-like presence around him shoot out at the man, who sends them away with ease, before blocking Mikael''s sneak attack, pushing him away with relative ease. "You don''t seem all that strong, but at least you look like one of us, now." He says.

    "I''ll fucking end you!" Mikael yells and springs back up, throwing a dark ball of energy at him, he dodges easily and proceeds to land an attack of his own, by taking a leap and hammer-fisting him into the ground, opening a small crater in the tarred ground.

    Getting back up almost immediately, a beam of energy hits Mikael squarely in the chest, sending him flying into the distant bushes.

    Trying to stand up again, another beam rains down on him, pinning him to the ground.

    "It is not funny anymore, you know." The man says, holding up his finger and pointing the beam at him. "You haven''t learned anything since the last time. You haven''t grown in any way."

    Mikael, still refusing to say anything other than grunting in pain, slowly gets back up on his feet, shielding his face and head with both arms, before the beam''s intensity is raised, and he falls back on one knee, still holding up his blocking arms.

    "I''ll still kill you." Mikael yells through the pain. His right horn is broken in half.

    "I think I should just end this-" He says, but is cut short by something.

    The beam''s intense heat and bombardment have stopped for some reason. Mikael looks up at the man, whose attention has shifted to the fist on his face.

    The man looks at the person whose fist is still on his face. It''s Marvin.

    He seems to be offended, as the punch not only was ineffective, it also distracted him. "Who are you?" He questions, menacingly.

    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author."I could ask you the same question," Marvin says.

    Mikael is in disbelief. "What are you doing here, you idiot?!!"

    "Saving your sorry ass," Marvin says.

    "Saving?" Mikael and the man chorus.

    "A human, huh? I couldn''t sense you." the man says. "No matter," he says, taking Marvin''s hand and flinging him away so hard that he flies a significant distance away from them.

    "Now, where was I?" He turns to Mikael, right before a large black spike impales him from behind.

    "Huh?" The man is surprised. Mikael seizes the opportunity and proceeds to hit him with a variety of strikes, sending him reeling back a bit.

    To keep up the momentum, Mikael quickly closes the distance between the two of them and hits him with a palm strike infused with telekinetic force, pushing the man away.

    "Ignition - Crow!" Mikael says, and another transformation occurs. His horns and eyes are reduced drastically in size and the eyes look slanted as opposed to the previous one''s round nature.

    Mikael lunges again at the man coats his arms in red lightning, and hits him with a double palm strike, hitting the man squarely in the chest, sending him into a nearby car, erupting in a sea of flames.

    Mikael''s transformation quickly wears off, the featureless face cracking, revealing his heavy eyes and heavily injured face. He coughs up a little blood, staining his already injured body and clothes.

    A maniacal cackle is heard from the rubble. The laugh echoes so loudly that the aura in the laugh is enough to knock Mikael off his feet. Marvin returns to the scene of the battle and rushes to pick Mikael up before they both witness a large silhouetted creature emerge out of the rubble.

    Mikael senses that the people in the building are in danger, but before he can get himself to his feet, the shadowy creature blasts a beam at the motel, blowing it to bits, killing everyone inside, destroying the surrounding facilities, cars, and the like. Mikael and Marvin can only stare in shock at the sheer destruction caused.

    The man emerges from the rubble as if nothing happened. His clothes are burnt entirely, but he seems refreshed, walking around, stark naked. "That''s what I expected of you, dear child." he congratulates Mikael. "You have gotten a bit stronger. Sadly, I must take my leave now...I look forward to our next interaction."

    He turns around and walks towards the burning rubble of the motel.

    "Wait!" Mikael yells out. The man stops.

    "Why are you doing this? Why did you have to kill all those people?!" He asks, coughing up, afterward.

    "Oh, dear child..."He speaks. "If you don''t understand that much by now, then the person you should be questioning is yourself." He concludes and disappears into the raging flames of the burning building.

    Mikael and Marvin are left outside the building, with Mikael still heavily injured.

    The nightmares flash in Mikael''s mind. Tears start to flow from Mikael''s eyes as he screams out in anger.

    Marvin helps him get back to his feet and walks him over to the road. There, they sit and wait, using torn pieces of cloth to cover their noses from the smoke of the fire. Mikael eventually loses consciousness, leaving Marvin awake.

    Determined to get out of the situation as safely as possible, Marvin searches Mikael''s pockets for Contact Cards. He can''t seem to find Chica or Ramiel''s card and assumes he either forgot them in his apartment or they were lost in the fire. However, he finds one with a location assigned to it. The location, Thome, is not far from Grayville, and so he quickly calls the card.

    "Hello again, troublemaker." The card owner responds. "What makes you think you can just call me anytime you feel like it?"

    "Hello, I''m sorry, this is Mikael''s partner, and he requires serious medical attention," Marvin says.

    "Where are you?" She asks. "How bad are his injuries?"

    "Southbound Motel in Grayville." He answers.

    "I''ll be there in fifteen." She says, and the call ends.

    Marvin lies down on the grassy fields, next to his unconscious partner.

    "I seriously need to reevaluate my career choices."

    About fifteen minutes later, a mysterious woman in black, wearing an eyepatch on one eye as well as a long reddish-black trench coat, arrives in a small car. "Get in. Extra careful with him!" she commands. Marvin responds quickly, carefully lifting Mikael by the arms placing him in the passenger seat, and sitting right next to him. The car starts immediately and zooms off in the direction it came, even further away from Bayside.

    Inside the car, there is a man in the front passenger seat, wearing a jack'' o-lantern as a mask. The woman with the eyepatch begins questioning Marvin. "What happened to him?"

    "He was attacked by a man," Marvin replies promptly.

    "Bullshit. Try again." She says, taking out her pistol.

    "I''m serious. It was a man, but other people couldn''t see him." Marvin tries explaining.

    "A devourer? A world-eater?" She asks, frenzied.

    "Calm down, Bea." The man with the Jack-o-lantern says calmly. "As long as he isn''t dead. None of this matters. When he comes to, then he can explain it to us."

    "yeah, maybe you''re right." She says, putting the pistol down.

    The car picks up speed and drives away from the scene of the burning hotel.

 Southbound

    *About sixteen hours later...*

    Mikael awakens on a bed in a somewhat small room, with the evening sun piercing through the windows. He makes to move, but his arms feel like jelly and his lower body refuses to cooperate. He takes the time to look around the room. Willing himself to his feet, Mikael gets up and off the bed. He is patched up with bandages from the top of his head, a few around his face and upper torso, and one on his right arm.

    He overhears a conversation in a neighboring room and sluggishly moves himself in position to eavesdrop, but the voices get closer to him than he is to them, and he stops moving as the door opens and Marvin, along with the two people from earlier, walk into the room.

    "You shouldn''t be moving, you know..." Marvin says, picking up Mikael''s arm and supporting him.

    "Aunty Beatrice?" Mikael says in confusion. "Mallory? What are you two doing here?" He asks.

    The woman with the eyepatch, Beatrice, answers. "We live here. That''s the wrong question."

    The man in the jack-o-lantern, Mallory, points him to the bed. "Have a seat, your sister will be here soon."

    Marvin, Beatrice and Mallory sit around Mikael on the bed.

    "The Hand is here?" Beatrice says in shock. "Why? Who is this assailant anyway?"

    "That person is Milton Alderman." Mikael says. "He''s known amongst the Fallen as The Archangel."

    "What''s the Hand?" Marvin asks, with the others stopping to look at him.

    "The Hand, Mr. Kaine..." Beatrice starts with a sigh. "Well, not much is known to us as Winnowers, but our working theory, according to the only one of us who''s been to the Preternatural before..." she looks at Mikael before returning her gaze to Marvin. "...is that they are the top of the food chain of all Fallen."

    "So, what you''re saying is they aren''t officially recognized by the Society?" Marvin asks again.

    "Unfortunately not..." Beatrice says. "Mostly due in part because there was no one else to witness it, Mikael was suspended for even bringing up the notion that the World-Eaters are not the most dangerous of the Fallen, along with multiple counts of heresy against the Society''s beliefs, misuse of power and taking a mission that didn''t belong to him..."

    "You don''t have to bring up my whole rap sheet, aunty Bea." Mikael complains.

    "Right, I''m sorry."

    "It''s only a matter of time..." Ramiel''s voice goes from behind Marvin, as everyone turns to her.

    "Ramiel...you''re finally here." Marvin says.

    She walks up to Beatrice and Mallory and embraces them both with a big smile on her face, before walking up to Marvin and slapping him.

    "You let my brother get hurt, and you didn''t call me." She says, her smile from earlier vanishing entirely, leaving a purely sour expression. "I can tolerate weakness, and I paired you up with him because I trust your intuition but it appears I was wrong..."

    "Now, now, calm down, Rami." Mikael cuts her off. "It was an investigation, we didn''t know beforehand..." He is cut off by Ramiel''s slap washing across his face, leaving him dumbfounded. She follows it up by hugging him tightly.

    "Stop scaring me, Mikey, You don''t have to go through that again," she says.

    "Before what?" Beatrice backtracks. "It''s only a matter of time...before what?"

    Ramiel turns to her. "Before the Society takes action against The Hand," she says.

    "What makes you say that?" Mallory asks.

    "A councilman of the society was killed a few days ago. *We* didn''t find out until yesterday." Ramiel explains further. "The Council, including our parents..." She glances at Mikael, then turns back to Mallory. "They threw the information under the bus and buried it. Gabriel and I went looking, and we found out that a Fallen killed the Councilman."

    "But only you and everyone here know of the hand, so how does Gabriel...?" Mikael makes to ask, but is interrupted by Ramiel.

    "He doesn''t. But he will find evidence of something greater than the dreaded World-Eaters soon, particularly because this man''s death was all so silent...It''s inevitable."Stolen story; please report.

    There is a light buzz coming from Beatrice''s pocket. She picks out her contact card and answers the call. "Hello?"

    "Mercer Darling! How''ve you been?" A feminine voice goes off.

    "Marie? How''d you get my card?" Beatrice says in shock. Mikael and Rafael stare at each other, and Marvin is still confused.

    "Oh, don''t worry about that, dearest," Marie says with an aloof expression. "I believe you have something of mine."

    "I don''t remember borrowing anything from you." Beatrice says sarcastically, as her shock transforms quickly into disgust.

    "Well, I don''t remember leasing him to you." She says.

    "This is pointless," Beatrice says and ends the call, throwing her card on the floor across from her.

    "Mother''s here?" Mikael panics. "Were you tailed here, Rami?"

    "If she were, there wouldn''t be any way for her to know." Mallory sighs. "What did she want, Bea?"

    "Mikael, apparently." Beatrice bluntly states.

    Marvin sits there, watching. "Could they want Mikael back to press him for information?" He quietly mutters, but as everyone in the room has senses enhanced beyond the human level, they hear him loud and clearly.

    "What?" Mikael and Ramiel chorus as Mallory sits back, stroking his lantern where his jaw is meant to be. "That doesn''t seem too far fetched."

    "You''re correct, Vincent." Marie''s voice echoes from behind him. Everyone''s focus shifts to her, and the man next to her, her husband.

    "I figured you were here already." Mallory says, not nearly as surprised as the siblings adjacent to him. "I guess Solander was your way off getting here as quickly as possible." He says, directing his eyes to the fading glow of a white hot circle on the ground around the two.

    "Makes sense. Solander''s Kill Radius is the only one capable of teleportation." Beatrice says.

    "That was rude, by the way." Marie points to her.

    Marie and Solander are both tall in their own rights. Solander has curly, dark chestnut hair, and Marie has light-brown, straight hair. Both are fair-skinned and are dressed in corporate outfits that give them an air of superiority.

    Marvin is met by a combination of fierce auras that make him feel like passing out just by staring at Mikael''s parents. Mikael himself notices Marvin''s sudden weariness and addresses it.

    "You can stop with the intimidation thing, there''s a regular person in the room."

    Suddenly, the intimidating aura ceases immediately. "Ah," Marie starts, walking over to Marvin. So, Gabriel was telling the truth, " she says, touching his face. "Tell me, young man..."

    "Don''t tell her anything, Marvin. Don''t look in her eyes." Mikael says, as Solander stares on, stoic and quiet.

    Unfortunately for Marvin, her gaze has trapped him already. "Who are you? What is it about you? How can you see the things we do? The Fallen?"

    Marvin opens his mouth, but before he can speak, Beatrice takes out her pistol and fires a small beam of energy right in between his eyes, knocking him out entirely.

    "You''re such a spoilsport, Mercer," Marie says, sighing in disappointment.

    Solander walks to Mikael and examines the bandages on his head, face, and torso. "You''re still fighting and losing?"

    "How do you know I''m losing?" Mikael slowly distances himself from him. "I''m no longer your disciple, father. I have no interest in your lectures."

    "Well, you feel that way, at least." Marie turns to him and walks across from him. "You''ll be coming with us and spending the night with your family."

    Mikael eyes widen in disbelief. "Wait, what?" He says before he is dragged by the arm of his father, who takes him over to his mother''s position. Mikael fights out of his father''s grip, but all to no avail. Marie looks at Ramiel, who has her hands ready, with a beam of energy prepared to blast her.

    Her hands are shaky as she stares down her father. Beatrice and Mallory watch on, knowing they are both incapable of doing anything. Solander looks at her and whispers to her "I''ll see you at home."

    Marie, unapologetically taunts. "Dinner is by eight. Don''t be late."

    The circle around them from before opens up again and surrounds the three of them, before instantly teleporting them.

 Atonement

    The Chen Family Residence, Bayside Central.

    The family''s punishment room. A few hours later.

    Solander sighs. "For the last time, Mikael..." He starts. "What do you know about the Fallen that we don''t?"

    He is sitting on a foldable metal chair, facing his son, who is chained to a wall. Mikael''s bandages are still on, though, for the most part, they are bloody and covered in sweat.

    "Eat shit," Mikael says.

    Solander strikes him again across the face, followed by a left-handed jab to his midsection.

    Mikael coughs up a bit of blood.

    "I''m so tired of this, Marie," Solander says to his wife, who is still seated, looking unbothered. "I knew this was a dead end. I told you to at least try and use your abilities on him."

    Marie turns to look at him coldly. "You and I know that won''t work. It''ll just draw out whatever demons he''s got lurking inside him."

    "Those demons have names, Mother. Crow, and Legion." Mikael says, grinning with blood running down his lips.

    "Tragically, I care not for the nature of such things," Marie replies. "How do you suppose we go about this investigation, then?" She turns to Solander.

    "Anywhere but him." He points to Mikael.

    Marie sighs. She takes out a pocket watch and stares at it for a brief second, before putting it back in. "It''s dinner time, and I am weary of this already." She gets up, looks at Solander, before walking out of the room and shutting the door behind her.

    "Fuck," Solander says, sitting down.

    "It''s got to be rough, dude." Mikael says, smiling.

    "You''re enjoying this, aren''t you?" Solander stares at him.

    "You''ve spent the last three hours beating the shit out of me, and all you have to show for it is an argument with your wife. Why wouldn''t I be enjoying it?"

    Mikael starts laughing as Solander gets up and walks away, slamming the door after him.

    A few minutes later, a housemaid comes into the room, with a plate of food, water, and a first aid kit. The housemaid is short and has bright blond hair with her bangs covering her right eye. Her skin is pale, and she has fairly blue eyes.

    "Master Mikael, your food is here." she says.

    "You don''t have to address me that way, Aurora." Mikael says, spitting out some blood.

    "I apologize...Mast- Mikael." She says, helping him out of his chains.

    She starts tending to his wounds while Mikael engages her in a conversation. After she is done patching him up, Mikael gets to his feet, leaving his food.

    "What about your dinner?" She asks.

    "I''m not hungry."

    "Shall I prepare your bedroom for you tonight?" She asks again.

    "No need. I''m out." Mikael says, turning to her.

    She pauses, as Mikael takes his father''s shirt from a coat rack next to the door.

    "Master Mikael..." She starts.

    "Just Mikael..." He corrects her again.

    "Mikael...The house has been empty these past two years. It''s always so bleak and dreary. Even Mistress Ramiel isn''t living here anymore, and when she does spend the night, she''s all by herself."

    "Aurora..." Mikael turns to her. "You always have a friend in me. If you want to speak to anyone or you need someone to pass time with, I''ll be here for you. And ONLY you. All you need to do is to reach out to me."

    He walks over to her and taps her head. "Till next time, baby ''rora."

    He leaves her in the room and walks towards the entrance of the house, where he meets Gabriel, who is just returning from Headquarters. Mikael pays him no mind and makes to walk by him, but Gabriel refuses to give him the same courtesy. He pulls him back by the collar.

    "Where the fuck are you going by this time and why are you even here in the first place?" He asks.

    Mikael stares at him. "Surely you don''t expect a straight answer from *me* of all people."

    "You''re injured." Gabriel says, pointing to the various visible bandages on his body.

    "No shit." Mikael says. "Maybe you should ask Father why that is..." he pushes Gabriel''s hands off his collar and walks past him.

    "You plan on spending tonight at Chica''s place instead of here?" Gabriel says, stopping Mikael.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon."Is that supposed to be an insult?" Mikael adds. "I don''t think Chica has ever tried killing me before."

    Gabriel looks away. "Suit yourself. Not like anyone here still bothers themselves with you."

    Mikael steps outside the house and takes a powerful leap in the air, distancing himself from the Manor as quickly as possible.

    About an hour later. Anomin¨¦, Bayside.

    Mikael arrives at Chica''s apartment, sitting outside her door with arms crossed and carrying a look of worry on her face. She rushes to embrace him at her first sight of him.

    "You haven''t called me in days. What happened to you?" She asks, feeling his injuries.

    "I''ll tell you in the morning. I''m tired." Mikael says and kisses her forehead before walking inside, heading straight for the bedroom.

    Outside of Bayside. Rift Valley, Leadville.

    At the same time...

    The moonlight shines through the roof of an abandoned warehouse as a man walks in. This man is the same one who appeared during Mikael''s first meeting with Marvin, Peter Tremolo.

    "Whoever you are, you''ve got some nerve." He says into the dark corners of the open lobby. "I don''t know how you got my card, but you''ve got another thing coming if you think I''m letting myself get jumped."

    Suddenly, two bright amber eyes pop out in the darkness behind him. He notices and immediately flings a penknife at it. It does hit something, but shortly after a young man, somewhere in his early 20s, walks into the moonlight, raising both hands, one of which the penknife has impaled.

    He is average height, has black hair, and very tanned skin that looks pale under the moonlight. He is wearing a long, hooded cloak, with the hood down.

    "Who are you?" Tremolo stares him down. "What do you want with the Enclave?"

    "Relax, I have no ill intent towards you..." The young man says, ripping out the penknife from his palm, leaving a tear in the middle of his palm, which heals up nearly instantly.

    "Really, now. What was all that evil aura you were giving off when I walked in here?" Tremolo queries.

    "I was just making sure." He says. "I was sent here. I hear the Enclave are sympathizers of Fallen."

    "You''d be correct. Though not entirely." Tremolo replies.

    "I want to join in."

    "Request Denied." Tremolo says and walks past him. "We''re done here."

    "What? Why?" The man asks, dumbfounded by his lackluster response.

    "Fucking hell, dude. What do you think we are kidnappers? You think we just take anybody?"

    "Well, what do I have to do?"

    "You''re awfully interested in putting your life at risk." Tremolo starts. "You do know that the Winnowers are stronger than most of the Enclave, and they don''t do a lot of forgiving to us."

    "I''m well aware, but I have one guy in my sights. And I''ll have to get to him myself." He says.

    Tremolo looks at him with curious eyes. "Pray tell, who is this *one guy*...?"

    "Mikael Chen." He replies, menacingly.

    Kaine Residence, Rhine Valley.

    At the same time.

    Marvin arrives at the front of his family Manor, with Beatrice Mercer and Vincent Mallory. He steps out of the car, turning to them.

    "Thanks for the ride." Marvin says.

    "Don''t mention it. It''s the least we can do for knocking you out cold for seven hours." Mallory says, The Jack-o-lantern still firmly on his head, turning to Beatrice.

    "It''s a pretty big house you''ve got there." Beatrice adds.

    "Thanks." Marvin says. "Your nephew sure knows how to bring trouble with him wherever he goes."

    "Mikael isn''t our nephew, Marvin." Mallory says. "We aren''t even married-"

    Beatrice punches him in the arm. "Take care of yourself, Kaine. Find a way to make yourself useful to Mikael and Ramiel, because Mikael won''t leave you alone anytime soon."

    "Will do, ma''am." He says, and she rolls up Mallory''s window and drives away speedily.

    Marvin walks into the house, with the lights coming on as he walks into the grand living room.

    He walks over to what seems to be a family portrait. His father seems to bear most of his features, his older brother and mother sharing the same features - a rounder face, brown eyes, and lighter black hair.

    Marvin stares at the portrait for a while.

    "I will find a way to get stronger. For us all."

 Library Run

    12 years ago, Bayside Central.

    Marvin is sitting in a puddle of his parents'' blood. He is scared, angry and generally hopeless.

    He is sitting in the middle of a plaza, wondering why people around him aren''t reacting to his dead parents lying in front of him, his brother next to him, and their killer, who is standing across from him, eating at the skin of his father. To Marvin, the people around him aren''t concerned with his existence, they can''t seem to see his problems or the cause of them.

    "You''re s-s-s-special..." The Fallen hisses. "I like it when my meals are special."

    "Who are you?" Marvin asks, afraid to look up, staring at the blood and guts in front of him.

    "You''ll know...you''ll find out s-s-soon enough." The Fallen says, and walks closer to him, as he finally raises his head, and screams out loud.

    Present Day, The Kaine Family Manor.

    A couple of days later.

    Marvin snaps out of the daydream to see that his toast is burning. He curses under his breath and takes out the toast. He begins to prepare a meal for himself, before taking his food, a plate of toast and eggs, over into the family library, alongside a cup of coffee.

    Marvin takes out a book from a certain catalog, titled ''The Wonders of the Supernatural''. He quickly picks out a bookmark and resumes his reading.

    A couple of hours later, he leaves the library for a training area downstairs. There he spends a couple of hours repeating a few training routines, before he takes a shower and takes a short jog to a nearby grocery store. He is wearing a hoodie with the hood up, as well as a pair of black sweats, as well as some expensive sneaker brand.

    Marvin quickly heads over to the fruits and vegetables aisle and bumps into a stranger on his way there. He quickly apologizes and continues on his way.

    Marvin gets out of the grocery store and heads back home.

    Morning comes the very next day, and Marvin has already taken care of his basic needs. He walks a mile or so to the train station at Rhine Valley. He buys a ticket at the ticketing area and heads down south to Bayside Central. He arrives at the train station there, gets off at his stop, and heads to the Town Library.

    "Fancy meeting you here." Mikael says, at the door to the library. Next to him is Chica, and both are wearing sweatshirts and sweatpants.

    "These coincidences have got to stop, Chen." Marvin says.

    "Don''t blame me, this was her idea." Mikael points to Chica, who introduces herself. "Hi, I''m Chica. You''re Marvin, right?"

    "Hello." Marvin awkwardly replies. "I saw you on the roof that one time..."

    "What brings you to Central?" She asks.

    "Don''t you two live, like *two* trains away from here?" Marvin asks, confused. She hushes him.

    "I asked you first." She says.

    "I came here to do some research." Marvin explains. "I''m an investigator." He tells Chica.

    "Oh, that''s great, we came here for that too." She says.

    "What are you talking about?" Marvin asks, looking tired and confused.

    "Just follow us, already," Mikael says and opens the doors to the library that have yet to open for the day. He walks down the main hall of the library, passing the librarian, whom Mikael greets.

    "Morning, Miss Blake." He says, and Chica follows suit. She simply smiles and waves back.

    Mikael walks behind the Head Librarian''s desk at the farthest Northern end of the library, which there appears to be a solid wall. Mikael and Chica walk through it, where Marvin stops and looks even more confused.

    Mikael''s head pops back outside the wall, with only half his body peering through the wall. "Just get in here." He says.

    "How? How do I walk through a solid wall?" Marvin asks.

    "it''s the same thing as a veil. You can walk through those, so you should be able to walk through this." Mikael says and takes him by the arm, pulling him inside.

    Once inside, Marvin looks up to see a wide underground library and sees some people in Winnower uniforms walking around the place.

    "Welcome to the Winnowers'' Hold." Mikael says.

    The walls are raised very high, meaning it is deep underground. Banners and posters are hanging on each wall, with shelves containing different books, records and memoirs. Marvin walks around the Hold, trying to hold in a sort of juvenile excitement that he feels, staying close to Mikael and Chica.

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings."So, what exactly are you looking for here?" Marvin asks.

    "A couple of things...Let''s stop by the armory first." Mikael says, and they walk through the library, with the Winnowers present all passing menacing glances at Mikael.

    "Are you sure you''re meant to be here, Mikael?" Marvin asks, feeling somewhat nervous.

    "What? don''t be silly, of course I''m still allowed here. it''s just that no one else likes that fact." Mikael says, while Chica waves and greets at the passing Winnowers.

    Arriving at the armory, Mikael and Chica greet the old man sitting at the front of the gallery.

    "Mikael...It''s been quite some time." The old man says, as Mikael reaches out to shake his hand. The old man has very bright white hair and very pale blue eyes. His wrinkles are few but exaggerated to show how aged he is. His beards are trimmed, and he has a deep fair skin tone.

    "What can I say, Old man?" Mikael starts. "I can''t say anyone around these parts wants me."

    "Nonsense." he says and turns to Chica. "Why don''t you talk to your partner into coming here more often?" He asks. "I still miss our days sparring." Chica shrugs and takes a short walk around the armory.

    Mikael turns to Marvin, which directs the old man''s attention to him as well. "A regular human? I wonder how you were able to get in here."

    "I''m kind of a half-breed." Marvin says, shrugging.

    "Oh, I see." The old man says and turns to Mikael again. "I assume you want me to teach him our ways and arm him with a Soul Tool?"

    "Nothing gets past you, Pops." Mikael says.

    The old man sighs. "I''m doing this for you." He turns to Marvin. "Come along, boy. Let''s get ourselves a quick start."

    Marvin turns to Mikael. "Wait, what are the other things?" He asks.

    "Don''t need to worry about that now." Mikael says, waving him away.

    "Oh, and Mikael?" The old man calls out. Mikael turns to him.

    "We''ve got company. There''s a veil on the outside library right now." The man says. "For whatever reason, one of you was followed, and now we have a bunch of Enclave assassins about to burst through the front door, and Miss Blake will not be able to take on that many."

    Mikael looks at Chica, who is walking back to him. Marvin stares at the two of them in confusion.

    "What would you have me do?" The old man asks Mikael.

    "Pick out a tool for my friend here," Mikael says. "When you do, you can join us above ground for some good, old-fashioned roughhousing."

    The man smiles. "That''s what I like to hear."

    Mikael and Chica both walk out of the armory and move quickly to the entrance of the underground hold.

    Marvin watches them leave. He turns to the old man. "What about the guys down here?"

    "They can take care of themselves...I cannot say the same for you." The old man says.

    "I can fight. I''m a capable fighter, even."

    "I didn''t argue that." The old man says, and a blue aura surrounds him, before he materializes a sword out of thin air. "But, you cannot fight *our* kind of battles."

    The man walks to one of the displays and turns to Marvin. "What do you feel comfortable with?"

    "I don''t know, guns maybe. I prefer to fight with a melee weapon though, a staff could work."

    At the same time, above ground.

    A small group of The Enclave''s assassins burst through the library doors and storm the interior, all wearing masks. They are stopped in their tracks when a couple of them are shot down by the Librarian standing atop a spiral staircase on the upper floor. Some of them shoot at her, but a mass of water seemingly materializes out of nowhere and prevents the bullets from reaching her.

    Chica walks into the main hall, her face covered in a custom mask, holding up her finger, before releasing it, as the water shield vanishes and the bullets drop to the ground.

    "Thank you, Chica darling." The librarian says.

    "Don''t mention it, Miss Blake," she says, materializing a shortsword out of the blue aura surrounding her. The assassins rush at her, and she manages to fend off the lot of them, before Mikael drops onto the ground in front of them, cratering the ground beneath him, before swiftly cutting through Chica''s attackers.

    The ones behind them notice Mikael. "Hey, what''s he doing here?" One of them asks.

    "I didn''t sign up for him to be here. I''m out." Another says and turns his back to leave when his head is sliced clean off by an unseen figure.

    The other assassins look around for the assailant and find them sitting on a table, holding the head of the recently fallen assassin.

    This figure is cloaked. Head to toe, covered in a black, full-body cloak, with only the arms out, holding the man''s head. There are weird tattoos on their hand.

    "This is a raid. We aren''t leaving until we get what we came for." The cloaked figure says.

 Library Run - 2

    About ten minutes earlier.

    Tremolo stands atop a high-rise building, next to the cloaked figure he met a couple of days ago.

    "And you''re sure the half-human is in there?" He asks, staring at them skeptically.

    "Yes. My prize is also there as well." The figure replies.

    Tremolo sighs. "I don''t know what you''ve got against the guy, but sure. Run wild, make sure you get the job done." He says, turning and walking away.

    He stops at the door leading to the roof ladder. "Try not to die, or get my people killed." He says as he shuts the door behind him, walking away.

    Present day.

    The cloaked figure throws her victim''s head on the floor. Mikael''s eyes narrow as he turns his focus to her. Chica is still staring down the assassins, waiting for them to retreat instead of trying to eliminate them. The remaining assassins, unwilling to fight Mikael but afraid of getting killed by this mystery person, put them in a corner. A bunch of them turn tail and run, even out of the veil surrounding the building.

    The cloaked figure sighs. "I hate cowards like those. But at least I don''t have to hold back now..."

    They take off the cloak to reveal a young lady wearing street clothes, a choker, and black nail paint. She has spiky black hair and bright amber eyes, similar to Mikael''s right eye. The girl has deep tanned skin and a mean-looking mug.

    "I''ve been wanting to kill you for a long time, Mikael Chen." She says.

    "I''m sorry, do I know you from somewhere?" Mikael asks, his eyes still trained on her and keeping watch for her weapon.

    "Mikey, something is off." Chica says, drawing him back from his confrontational stance.

    "Leave him alone!" The woman yells, before blowing a whistle very loudly.

    The Librarian at this time is already on the ground floor, rifle drawn and at the ready.

    Mikael notices something coming. Suddenly, dozens of Shadows burst in through the library''s windows and front door, forcing Mikael, Chica, and the Librarian to all jump further backward. The woman immediately jumps at Mikael and lifts him through the first floor, destroying the patch of ceiling beneath them, before throwing him down on a bookshelf.

    Mikael takes a second to recollect himself, only to react just in time to prevent his head from being lopped off by a scythe blade from the girl, which he catches, with his bare hands. His hands are quickly dripping blood and he asks her "What exactly did I do to you? Who are you?"

    Meanwhile, Chica and the Librarian are fending off the shadows.

    "Chica..." The Librarian says. "Aren''t you going to open your Kill Radius?"

    "Will you cover me once it goes down?" She replies, still taking down the shadows coming at her.

    "I don''t have a choice."

    "Great," Chica says, making a hand sign and a large circle appears beneath her and dilates at a rapid pace, covering a large portion of the ravaged ground floor. The Librarian is providing cover for her, blasting away at the shadows coming her way, as she has to remain perfectly still.

    A large vortex of water encircles Chica and the Librarian and turns into a large circular water blade that blows through the Shadows within the range of Chica''s Kill Radius.

    The circle shrinks until it vanishes entirely, and Chica is left gasping. The Librarian laughs and takes Chica by the arm, walking through the wall at the back of the north end, retreating into the hold.

    Mikael and the girl are still dueling. She cuts through a couple of shelves as Mikael dodges. The blood dripping down his arms is making his aura fluctuate, as he tries to draw out his soul tool.

    "Kurogumi." Mikael says, focusing the aura. A black dagger manifests but disappears before Mikael can grab hold of it.

    "Shouldn''t have caught that blade." She says. "You won''t be able to draw out your power in the meantime."

    "And this is supposed to be a fair fight?" Mikael jokes as she takes another heavy swing at him, which he nimbly leaps out of the way. Mid-air, he focuses the fluctuating aura in his index finger, and a black beam appears, which he fires at her. Quickly reacting to it, she blocks the beam with her weapon, but it sends her back a bit. Before she can make her next attack, Mikael throws a punch at her, which she is forced to block with the scythe blade again, but the punch sends her through the wall and to the outside of the library.

    Walking to the broken wall, Mikael looks down at her, taunting her by showing her his palms, rapidly healing from the cuts she inflicted.

    "Kurogumi," Mikael says again, and the black dagger manifests again, this time completely, as Mikael takes it in his hand and waves it around. "That''s more like it."

    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.She gets up and realizes she is very close to the border of the Veil. She picks up her weapon and jumps back up to Mikael, waving a powerful gust of wind in his face, to which Mikael blocks, but is surprised at the sheer weight behind the attack.

    Leaping back into the building, she swings her blade at him, which he artfully evades, leading her to lodge her blade within the Library''s second floor. He attempts a counterattack, but notices a circular pattern rapidly extending from where the lady''s blade is, and leaps back to evade the onslaught, but is slightly too late. Balls of flame are automatically aimed at Mikael, and he deflects them with his blade, to which the lady, leaving her blade to anchor the Kill Radius, launches a barrage of hand-to-hand attacks at him.

    Mikael, simultaneously trying to avoid her automatic attacks, risks the body blows, to gain separation from the lady. His gamble pays off, and she lands a hit enough to send him a few meters, but he is still within the Radius. He quickly evades the next few attacks and activates his own Kill Radius, and a swarm of darkness appears around the two of them, before both Radiuses vanish entirely.

    "Touch¨¦." The lady says. "You''re quite the strategist, I''ll give you that."

    "Thanks, you aren''t too slow on your feet either." Mikael replies, smiling. His black dagger vanishes as he takes out his ring and puts it on.

    "Come on out, Crow." He says, and manifests his katana, Masamune. He looks at her "It''s been nice, but this is taking too long, and I have other things to actually focus on."

    "What makes you think I''m not worth that?" She asks, picking up her weapon. "You''re a *Soulpact*, just like me."

    She prepares a beam of fire at the tip of her blade. "I might be a better Soulpact than you..."

    He points his sword at her, readying a lightning blast at the edge of his sword. "Test that theory."

    Suddenly, Mikael''s illness starts acting up again, the blood-red spines protruding out from his body, putting him in immense pain. The lady drops her guard and looks surprised. Mikael''s two arms are quickly transforming and he is starting to lose blood and exude tremendous amounts of body heat.

    "Care...to reschedule?" Mikael jokingly asks as he grunts in pain afterward, falling to his knees.

    "You''re infected too..." She says.

    "Too? You know someone?" Mikael asks, a glimmer of hope appearing in his eyes.

    Before she can talk, she has to make an instinctive block with her blade from an unseen attacker. The strike is so strong it knocks her to the ground, several meters away from Mikael, even while she blocks it. She opens her eyes to see an old man, with a long Katana pointed at her neck.

    "Old man." Mikael says.

    "At least you saved me one big fish, Mikael." The man says, throwing Mikael''s medicine at him, before turning to face the lady.

    "Young lady," He starts "My name is Igor Tomas Danke, former head of the Bayside branch of the Society of Winnowers, and current head of the armory. May I know yours, before I cross blades with you?"

    "No. No you may not." She says, wiping the sweat off her forehead and picking up her sword. "2 in one day. I''m pretty lucky."

    "I couldn''t disagree more..." a familiar voice goes from behind her. She turns to see Gabriel levitating outside the hole in the wall. The Veil is still standing, but he is inside, looking at her from inside his mask.

    Mikael, having already started his recovery process, thinks about the consequences of the current situation. It doesn''t seem like Gabriel will leave her alive, but the old man has put down his sword and sheathed it. "Wait, Gabriel, don''t-"

    Not willing to listen to him, Gabriel points a beam of light and fires it at her. She only manages to block, seeing as she is just a few meters away, by transforming her arm, and her sword, into a black, spiked crystal-like substance, successfully mitigating the damage, but it still sends her reeling a bit. Gabriel floats into the building and calmly approaches her. Out of fear, she activates her kill radius there, but before a single attack can be made, Gabriel cancels it out with his. He walks up to her and points the beam at her.

    "How lucky are you again?" He asks, sarcastically.

    Mikael holds back the hand pointing the beam at her. "No eviscerating other people. I thought we all knew that."

    Gabriel hits him with enough force to send Mikael back to the ground.

    He turns back to see the lady isn''t where she was a second ago. Quickly pinpointing her location, he spots her on the window sill, as she transforms into a bird and flies away.

    Angry, Gabriel turns to Mikael.

    "You prick! Why''d you stop me?!"

    "Prick? Is that projection I hear?" Mikael argues. "Why were you trying to off someone with possible information on the Enclave?"

    "Who''s to say she was with the Enclave to begin with?" Gabriel defends.

    "She came here with a bunch of Fallen, and Enclave men." The old man speaks up.

    Gabriel keeps quiet for a minute.

    Mikael smiles. "That''s what I thought." He says and walks down the stairs.

    The old man follows and the three enter into the Hold together.

 Library Run - 3

    Mikael, Igor and Gabriel walk into the Hold at the same time, confusing the available people there, including Chica. Mikael and Gabriel walk up to her, whilst the old man strolls past into the armory.

    "Habiting the same space and not trying to eat at each other''s necks..." Chica says. "Is this some sort of dream?"

    Standing next to each other, Mikael is visibly shorter than his brother. Gabriel stands at about 193cm and he is barely over 180.

    Mikael and Gabriel laugh at each other in very sarcastic tones, while bearing obviously fake smiles. Chica looks at them awkwardly. "Did you find out who that girl was?" She turns to Mikael.

    "I didn''t get to, thanks to Mr. Crash The Party, here." Mikael uses both his hands to gesture to his older brother.

    Chica gives him a disappointed stare.

    "How is that my fault?" Gabriel protests to her. "I was on patrol, I saw a Veil, chose to breach it, and saved the people inside-"

    "Except the people inside were not in need of saving." Mikael cuts him off.

    "Right. You didn''t." Gabriel says sarcastically.

    Mikael returns his attention to his girlfriend. "Where''s the old man?"

    "Don''t you mean, where''s Marvin?" she asks.

    "Ah, right. He''s here too." He says. "Is he still in the armory?"

    "Yeah. Practicing with his new weapon, apparently." she says.

    "Oh, fun." he says and dashes past her into the armory. She is left with Gabriel.

    "What are you actually doing here, Kent?" Gabriel queries.

    "Hey, now." She starts. "There''s nothing wrong with taking a short walk to the library with my boyfriend."

    "I know that-" He is cut off by Chica.

    "You didn''t come here to try to prevent your brother from working again, did you?" She accuses.

    "He''s not allowed to fight Fallen, I thought we all knew that." Gabriel says.

    "I wish he would too." Chica says "But he''s my boyfriend. And he only ever engages them in self-defense. You wouldn''t know."

    Chica turns and walks away. "I''ll see you tomorrow."

    Mikael arrives at the training room, just past the armory. He walks into the large hall, and he sees Marvin sparring with multiple people, with the old man watching from a safe distance. Mikael walks over to him and takes a seat next to him.

    "So that''s the one he got?" Mikael asks Igor, referring to the Bo staff Marvin is using.

    "He seems to have prior knowledge of the weapon and he seems good with it." He says.

    Surprisingly, Marvin is taking on three individuals and is still single-handedly holding them off. His acrobatic movements match his techniques with the staff and are in sync with the attacks he''s facing, allowing him to block, dodge and parry their attacks with relative ease. He quickly transitions from dodging a strike from a wooden katana, to blocking another attack from a wooden longsword, before countering an attack from a wooden bat.

    "That will be all." Igor tells the three people sparring with Marvin. The battle stops and they all drop the wooden weapons and take a bow to him, before leaving.

    Marvin, who is shirtless and wearing only his sweatpants, turns to Mikael, who returns a thumbs up and a coy smile, pointing at his now-exposed toned abs and chest. "Awww..."

    Feeling somewhat violated, Marvin immediately covers his body with his arms.

    Mikael turns to Igor. "What do you think? Can he fight fallen now?"

    "I think he could always do that, he just lacked the means to do so." The old man replies.

    Marvin walks up to them. "So now, I access my Preternatural ability through my soul tool, right?"

    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings."Wrong." Mikael and Igor chorus.

    "Huh? Wasn''t how this worked? Get a soul tool, you get an ability." Marvin inquires.

    "Actually, its the other way around." Mikael says.

    "The Soul tool is a Physical form of your innate ability." Igor says. "However, you don''t have one, so even if you get a Soul Tool, you can only manipulate the Preternatural aura around yourself to harm fallen."

    "What? That''s not fair." Marvin says. "I don''t get to blast flames at people?"

    "Unfortunately not." Mikael says. "Well, I''m done for today. I''m going back with Chica, y''all stay frosty." He says and gets up from his seat.

    "What about our investigation thing?" Marvin asks.

    "Reschedule. I know you can." Mikael says, and walks away quickly.

    An abandoned building, somewhere in Uptown Bayside Central.

    The girl from earlier crashes in through the window as she transforms into her human form once more. She quickly hacks up blood. A buzzing sound leaves her shorts'' pockets. SHe takes out her Card and answers the call. "What?!" She yells into the card.

    "Relax." Tremolo says, through the Card. "I was checking in to see if you got the job done."

    "Didn''t get a chance. The big bad of the Chen family showed up." She says.

    "Gabriel Chen? There''s no way. How''d you manage to escape then?" Tremolo says in disbelief.

    "His brother bought me a few precious seconds." She answers, cleaning the blood from her face, and getting shards of glass out of her skin.

    "Mike Chen? The guy you''re trying to kill...saved your life?" Tremolo says and laughs.

    "Ironic, I know." She says dryly. "I''m still going to kill him."

    "Right. Call me when you get back to the base, The Enclave is meeting up soon." Tremolo says and ends the call.

    She throws her card. "Fuck."

    suddenly she gets a chill up her spine. *Someone''s here*. She thinks to herself.

    "Look at the big balls on this lady." A feminine voice goes in the darkness of the building.

    "Who''s there?" She asks, materializing her blade.

    "I don''t know if I heard you correctly..." The voice continues. "But you said you want to kill Mikael Chen?"

    A dent is made in the wall next to her and the wall begins to crack around that point, before forming a large hole in it. The girl looks at it and moves away as quickly as possible.

    The person talking from the shadows walks into the daylight and reveals themselves to be Ramiel Chen.

    "It''s you?!" the girl exclaims. "Ramiel Chen?"

    "In the flesh." She smiles.

    "How''d you know I''d be here?" The girl asks, trying to distance herself as much as possible.

    "I was on patrol with my elder brother when he found the Veil. He went in, I didn''t." Ramiel explains. "I wasn''t interested. But then, I watched you escape in the form of a bird. I know you didn''t escape my brother by your own hands, so I followed you."

    Ramiel thinks to herself. *Those eyes. Mikael has one of them too. Could it be...?*

    "Have you ever heard of the Hand?" Ramiel asks.

    "I-I...I can''t tell you that." She wavers.

    "So you have, then." Ramiel says. "Here''s the deal..."

    The girl listens.

    "You work for me, now." Ramiel finishes.

    "What?" She says. "I joined the Enclave, not to take the side of the Winnowers later on."

    "I don''t care if you still pledge allegiance to them or not, I don''t care what your motives are..." Ramiel says and leans in closer to her face. "You work when I tell you too, because if you don''t...I''ll finish what my elder brother started."

    "You can''t make me..." The girl says, as her eyes radiate fear.

    Ramiel makes a ball of red energy and fires it at a neighboring wall. It not only leaves a hole in it, but the wall start crumbling to pieces afterwards.

    "Trust me, I can. I can do that in so many, many ways." Ramiel says.

 Colt Country

    The room is wide. Expansive, definitely. The tiles are of a dark color and the walls are painted dark blue with some decals on them.

    At one end of this room is Mikael, dressed only in a pair of Gi pants. On his back reveals a large, crest-like tattoo. His hair is tied up in a ponytail and he is barefoot, assuming a martial stance.

    At the other end is his elder sister, Ramiel. She as well is dressed in a pair of Gi pants, but is wearing a sports bra on her chest to cover her breasts. Her usually hidden tattoos are visible.

    Both take a deep breath.

    Rapidly, they lunge at each other, exchanging punches and kicks, which both parties block equally. They try again to hit each other, but both of them dodge on each occasion. Mikael, making a move to try and outsmart his sister, activates his ability and turns his body into a floating mass of darkness for a short period of time - a couple of seconds - but it doesn''t work, as Ramiel simply uses a high knee raise to target the mass exactly where his face is. She is accurate, and the mass disappears, leaving Mikael up in the air, as she kicks him to the ground across from her.

    "I win, again." Ramiel says, taking a breath.

    "I can''t even contest this one." Mikael says, sitting up on the ground and wiping the blood from his nose.

    Ramiel walks up to him and sits down next to him. "What''s happening to ya? You lasted longer the last time we sparred."

    "I''ve..."Mikael stutters. "I''ve got things on my mind."

    "Chica''s giving you a hard time..." Ramiel says. "Why didn''t you say so?"

    "Yes-Wait, No!" Mikael protests. "No, it''s not Chica."

    Ramiel gives him a coy smile. "Then what is it?"

    "There''s this person who attacked us while we were at the Hold..." Mikael starts explaining. "She had these amber eyes and she seemed to know about the Alpha Virus."

    "Isn''t that good news? You''ve found someone else with your problem." Ramiel says.

    "It would be...If Gabriel had waited for me to get a name out of her..." He retorts.

    "Ah, so you''re worried you might not be able to find out anything if this girl goes into hiding?"

    "Isn''t that what the Enclave does best? Hide? How do I get any useful information from her if I can''t find her?" Mikael complains.

    Ramiel sighs. "What makes you think she''ll give you the information you need anyway?"

    Mikael pauses and stops to think.

    "The Enclave are our enemy." Ramiel starts. "They know this and they don''t bother to toe the line. Why do you think you''ll be worth her abandoning her own allies? Because you are suffering the same fate? Losing your humanity every time you choose to fight? News flash, Mikael, The Enclave don''t care about humanity. Chances are, she even enjoys her predicament more than she hates it. It''s all the same with them..."

    Mikael looks away from her. "Well, what can I do to solve my problem?"

    "You have three options..." She says. "One - You can cross the Border Ethereal and get your answers from the Preternatural itself, though you''d have to be way stronger than me to survive without getting captured like the *last* time."

    "That one''s out for now, any other options?" Mikael says.

    "Two - You can find a World-Eater class Fallen and press it for information on the Hand or Three - Find a higher-up amongst the Enclave and press *them* for info on the Hand or the Alpha Virus."

    Mikael stares at her blankly.

    "None of those options are even remotely readily available." He complains. "Where would I find a World-Eater and why would I go looking to press them for information?"

    "You complain a lot, you know that, right?" Ramiel adds. "How do you intend on getting back at them if you don''t get stronger to do so?"

    "I will get stronger...I am a lot stronger than two years ago when this all started..." Mikael claims.

    "Mikey-baby, all those options bleed into one another...if you get through the third, there''s nothing preventing you from getting the second, and if you can go through the second option, you can definitely get through the first."

    Mikael''s doubts continue to press on. "What are the odds that I survive if I get through the border right now? I can use my Ignition now, I''ve tricked out my Kill Radius and I''ve got two Soul pacts."

    "That you were allegedly born with, Mikey." She complains. "You had them the last time you were there, remember? You''re not getting far if you enter the Preternatural the way you are now."

    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.Mikael gets up and picks up a towel. "Well, I don''t have any ideas, Rami."

    "Well, you''ve got to pick a path and stick to it...your humanity depends on-" Ramiel says but is cut short by Mikael.

    "I''m not risking death to protect my humanity, Rami." Mikael says and walks away, leaving his elder sister sitting down and staring at the wall.

    I was a bit too blunt there... She thinks to herself. Fuck, Ramiel. This is your brother we''re talking about...you have to be more sensitive.

    Mikael returns to his girlfriend''s apartment, and as he unlocks the door, Chica is walking right past the entrance into the kitchen. He walks into the living room, and takes a seat on the sofa.

    "Anything the matter?" She asks.

    "I''m just a bit frustrated is all." He replies.

    She starts washing the dishes. "Things didn''t go over well with Rami?"

    "No, it isn''t her. I just feel kind of...stuck, I guess." He starts. "I''m not making any progress to actually getting any information on this virus thing, and I really don''t know how much time I have left."

    Chica leaves the dishes and walks over to him to give him a hug. "We''ll find something. There''s a big break coming for you, I know it."

    Mikael embraces her as well.

    The Next Morning

    Colt Country, Southwest Bayside.

    Mikael and Marvin walk down the streets under the bright skies of Colt Country. Mikael is wearing only a striped red T-shirt and a pair of jeans along with a pair of dark red shoes, whereas Marvin is wearing a black leather jacket, with a white shirt, and black trousers with a pair of black boots.

    "Remind me again why it took you three days to contact me? And why we are in Colt Country?" Marvin asks.

    "Well...Marvin..." Mikael starts in a taunting voice. "You''ll find out soon enough."

    They enter a junkyard and Mikael leads Marvin to a dilapidated building at the north end of the yard.

    "This is getting weird, Chen." Marvin remarks.

    "Calm your tits, Marvin. There''s nothing weird here." Mikael replies.

    They arrive at an elevator within the dilapidated building. Mikael clicks on the elevator and specifies the floor, and they both get in the elevator.

    "Does this thing even work?" Marvin asks.

    "Only one way to find out." Mikael says, as the elevator rapidly drops down multiple levels underground, before arriving at the floor Mikael had set. Mikael walks out of the elevator regularly, but Marvin walks out, holding his mouth.

    The floor resembles that of a basement parking lot with its ample space, but it is poorly lit, and only the elevator and the door in front of Mikael have lights hovering above them.

    "Better swallow it" Mikael says. "Cassy doesn''t like it when the house is dirty."

    Marvin throws up anyway. He turns to Mikael, after cleaning his lips and taking a second to catch his breath. "Who''s Cassy?"

    "Why don''t you ask her yourself?" Mikael replies, clicking on a digital tablet integrated into the wall. The phone makes a beeping sound, before a voice escapes from the device.

    "Who''s there?" the voice is that of a young woman.

    "Howdy do, Cassy?" Mikael replies immediately. "Mind letting me in?"

    "Ugh, what is he doing here?" Another voice, a male one this time, comes from inside.

    "Give me a sec, Mikey." She says.

    A few seconds later, the door opens to reveal a young woman, somewhere around his age. She is short, with bright orange hair and freckles. She is wearing a crop-top vest with a pair of denim shorts. She is not wearing shoes.

    "You need another refill?" She asks.

    "There''s that, but I also want to talk to you and Matty about something too. Also..." He stops and motions to Marvin.

    "Who''s the regular human, and how''d he get past the veil we set up outside?" She asks.

    "There''s a veil outside?" Marvin asks.

    "He''s a half-breed. He can see *and* move through veils." Mikael explains. "He''s also my new investigation partner."

    She looks at Marvin and walks over to him. "I''m Cassandra. I''m an auto body engineer, I''ve also known Mikael for a pretty long time. You are?"

    "Marvin. Paranormal investigator." He replies and stretches out his hand to shake her.

    She shakes his hand and pulls him closer. "Clean that up. There''s a closet not too far from here. When you''re done, join us inside." She whispers, referring to the puddle of vomit next to him.

    She turns around and waltzes indoors, Mikael following behind. He turns around to face Marvin. "Told ya."

 Mediation

    Mikael and Cassy walk through an open area, filled with machine parts, car batteries, a small generator, and a bunch of other pieces of scrap metal and junk - all organized into different parts of the open room, before arriving at another door. She opens the door to reveal an apartment with a kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom, where a young man is sitting down typing away at a computer.

    The man is tall, somewhere around Mikael''s height, maybe taller. He''s fair skinned and has a lean, unathletic physique.

    "You didn''t send your sister this time." The young man says to Mikael. It''s the same voice from the intercom.

    "I don''t send Ramiel here, she just happens to know the residence of Chica''s *ex-boyfriend*." Mikael replies.

    Both stare each other down for an extended period of time before Cassy intervenes. "It''s too early for this, you two."

    She walks to a desk across from her and picks out two *hypogenerators*, before tossing them over to Mikael, which he catches easily.

    "There. Your refills." The man says. "They''ve each got three charges this time. Try not to hit your head on the way out...Be a shame if you had to waste a charge on yourself here."

    "Nice try, Matty." Mikael says. "Actually, I''m here for more than just refills this time."

    "What else is there?" Matty asks.

    "I''ll get to that in a second, but my partner''s still outside."

    *A few minutes later, after Marvin is brought into the room.*

    Cassy and Matty are sitting down on the bed, whilst Marvin walks in and Mikael shuts the door behind him.

    "Woah, a regular human? How''d he get down here?" Matty complains and makes to get up before Cassy stops him. "He''s a half-breed. He can see and interact with these things."

    "Mikey, you better start explaining what''s going on." Matty says.

    "Alright, alright." Mikael starts. "First of all, Marvin..." He turns to Marvin and points at Matty. "This is Matthew Malek...Matty, this is Marvin Kaine."

    "Nice meeting you." Marvin says, politely.

    "It must be." Matty replies sarcastically before returning his eyes to Mikael. "The suspense is killing me, you know?"

    "Well, remember..." Mikael continues. "...my encounter with the Hand?"

    "You mean the only reason I''m helping a Winnower? yes, I do remember." Matty responds.

    "Well, About a week ago, I met a member of the Hand again." Mikael says.

    "You''re kidding. *The* Hand? The one you said make the World Eaters look like fodder?" Cassy asks.

    "Actually, I''m not. What''s more..." Mikael continues further. "A few days ago, A bunch of Enclave people stormed the Hold and I found a woman who''s also infected with this...Alpha Virus."

    Matty''s eyes open wide in shock. "Wait, what? Another *victim*?"

    "Yeah. Makes sense too, because the member I met also said something about the birth of a *new* Fallen." Mikael says.

    "That can''t be good." Cassy says. "Won''t that spell problems for you?"

    "Already has." He replies "The Society has declared its intent to find and defeat the Hand. I don''t think it''s possible though."

    "Any other major info you''re yet to reveal?" Matty says with a grimace.

    Mikael narrows his eyes on Matty. His casual expression changes into a serious one. "I want you two to leave Bayside."

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.Cassy is shocked by this request and Matty isn''t convinced Mikael is serious. "What''s the reasoning behind that outlandish request?"

    "You''re already ex-communicated for being with a human being and turning her into a Preter-Sensitive person." Mikael starts. "If the Society finds out you''ve been aiding me in any way, they could be coming for your head if they don''t find me-"

    "You aren''t a criminal, Mikael. We''ve done nothing wrong by associating with you." Cassy says, barely containing the frustration in her voice.

    "Fair. But all you''ve just heard is information that the Society currently doesn''t have and they will be looking for me to get this information. Chances are, they''ll force my hand. I can''t have either of you dying."

    "You can''t just say that like we''ll just roll over and die." Matty says.

    "I know *you* won''t. " Mikael retorts. "Cassy...she''s a regular human being. She can''t fight for shit. Do this for her."

    Matty stares at Cassy, as she returns a worried gaze.

    "She makes money here. She practically works enough for the two of us." He says, with a defeated sigh. "Where would we go?"

    "That''s where my partner comes in." Mikael says and turns to Marvin. Marvin returns a shocked face to Mikael''s serious look.

    "Huh?" Marvin blurts out. Matt and Cassy both stare at him.

    "My family has a small two-bedroom apartment in Luluville Beach." He says. "It''s pretty spacey and also old...I haven''t been there in about five years."

    "You both could get jobs there. Start over." Mikael says.

    "Don''t start with this selfless shit, Mikael." Matty replies angrily. "What about you? Do you have a plan to get rid of the Alpha Virus? Do you have a plan to escape the Winnowers?"

    "One thing at a time, Matt." He replies. "Your life is a priority. If you die, I don''t have a lifeline against this virus. I might as well be on the side of the Fallen."

    Suddenly, a sharp sensation hits through the four of them.

    "Someone got through the Veil." Cassy says.

    "Yes. And it''s not just one person..." Matty says.

    "Marvin." Mikael says. "I need you to do something for me. You''re about to test out your new Soul Tool."

    *Above ground. Inside the Dilapidated building.*

    Marvin arrives above ground in the elevator and steps out cautiously. He slowly walks over to a broken pillar and hides behind it. He overhears a couple of voices a few meters out. He listens in closely.

    "...They''re here? This place is a dump." a voice goes.

    "Quit your whining. The intel says the half-breed is here. And apparently people live here." another one says.

    Marvin takes a peek outside the pillar and spots four people in red uniforms. They are all masked and have their Soul Tools out, ready for combat.

    Wondering what to do here, Marvin makes to reenter the elevator, but kicks a stone in the process, alerting one of the assailants. They in turn, inform the others and following a brief moment of silence, Marvin is missed by a hair''s breath as a beam of red flames destroys the pillar he is hiding behind.

    Marvin quickly draws out his Soul Tool, his bo staff, covered in a blueish-green aura.

    "Seems like we don''t have to look any further." One of the assailants says.

 Grit

    Marvin stares down his opponents. His mind racing.

    *I really should stop listening to that guy. What am I going to do?*

    *Minutes Earlier. Before Marvin came up the elevator.*

    Mikael pulls Marvin aside. "How''s your training with your Soul Tool coming along?"

    "Good enough, I guess." He says.

    "Great. You''re going to help me test out a theory." Mikael says.

    "Theory? I don''t like where this is-"

    "Relax, it''ll be fine." Mikael says. "All you have to do is take the elevator and return to ground level. Once you''re there, find the intruders. Try not to give away your position, and if you can, return here via the elevator. If you can''t, then, you''ll have to keep the people there occupied for about two minutes."

    "That''s the plan? What if the people there are skilled fighters?"

    "Of course they are. They likely came here trying to capture me." Mikael says. "Run along now. I''ll be right with you."

    *The Present.*

    One of the masked assailants steps forward. "Almost eviscerated you back there." The voice comes off as feminine, and their physical appearance seems somewhat androgynous. "I apologize for that..." They continue.

    "That was you?" Marvin asks, trying to stall for time.

    Another one steps forward. "What are you doing?" A deep, brash voice comes out. The person''s body, well-built and toned, obviously belongs to a man.

    "I''m trying to be polite here." The first one replies. "We''re capturing him, not scaring him."

    "Don''t be so naive. You think he''s not going to put up a fight?" The man retorts.

    "Um..." Marvin interjects. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"

    "Oh? You don''t know who we are?" The first person feigns surprise. "Surprised your *partner* didn''t tell you how we all dress..." They push the other man away and walk forward, coming closer to Marvin. "We are Winnowers."

    "Ah..." Marvin says. "Winnowers? My partner?" He asks.

    "Don''t try to play dumb. Mikael Chen." The person says.

    "Stop this pointless chatter, Otto." Another one of the four says. "We came here to get you. You are needed by the **Sibet** family of Winnowers, under the Council of Winnowers." He says to Marvin.

    "I don''t know what any of that means, but I''m not going anywhere." Marvin replies.

    "That''s what I like to hear!" the final person says and leaps from their position, flying ahead of the first person, and landing in right in front of Marvin, who quickly steps back. They have long flowing hair and a nice feminine body.

    "You''re coming with us, and that''s not your choice." She says, and pivots her right foot into the ground, before turning to strike him with a hip kick. Marvin is thrown back several feet, and in a flash, she appears behind him to strike him with an elbow, planting him firmly in the concrete.

    Marvin coughs up some spit, followed by blood. He crawls to his feet and picks up his staff.

    "You can''t be that stupid." The woman says. "You actually plan on fighting?"

    "Might as well *try*, even if it doesn''t amount to much." Marvin says, and flips his staff, readying himself in a fighting stance.

    The woman sighs. "Otto, Bismarck..." She calls out to the androgyne and the big, burly man. "I''m going to be sparring with him, I hope you don''t mind?"

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    "Fucking hell, Elena." The man says, as the androgyne shrugs.

    She readies her stance, and throws a kick at Marvin''s head. He blocks it and immediately drops to the ground.

    *The weight of the kick is **THAT** much?* He thinks to himself and immediately gets out of the way as she stomps the floor where his head should''ve been.

    Marvin spins around and swings his staff at her, which she parries easily. Marvin goes on the offensive, moving into different attack styles and techniques with the staff.

    "He''s quite good at this..." Otto says.

    "Skilled." Bismarck corrects. "He''s skilled with the staff, but he doesn''t stand a chance otherwise."

    Marvin continues to skillfully use his staff to attack, as the woman keeps parrying and dodging his strikes. Suddenly, she stomps her foot into the ground and kicks Marvin in the side of the face, which he manages to block with his staff by a stroke of luck. She quickly transitions into an uppercut and lands a hit squarely on his jaw, knocking him out cold.

    Bismarck walks over and picks up Marvin''s unconscious body as his soul tool dissipates. The woman, Elena, turns to him whilst holding her fist. "That took long enough. Let''s get out of here already."

    The four of them join up at the entrance to the building and walk forward into the junkyard. Before they can progress further, a slimy substance drops right in front of them, burning through the sand. The four of them look up to see the source, and right above them are Mikael and Matty.

    "Going somewhere with my friend, Otto?" Mikael says in a taunting tone.

    "You''re not going to rile me up, Mikey. Not today." Otto responds.

    "How nice, we''ve got two ex-communicated people on the roof together." Elena says.

    "At least I''ve got a reason to keep living outside of the society..." Matty retorts. "But you wouldn''t know that, slaving away for the best paying Preter family has always been a skill of yours."

    "You-" Elena is upset by the response.

    "Anyway, can I have my friend back? It''s a 2v4, it hardly seems fair." Mikael says.

    "You think we''re just going to hand him over-" Bismarck says, but is cut off as Mikael''s hand suddenly appears in front of his face. Mikael pins him into the ground with one arm, leaving the other members in shock.

    "I know you won''t, so I''ll fight you anyway." Mikael says, and manifests his black dagger.

    The other man manifests a katana and rushes him. Mikael dodges his plunge, kicking the sword into the ground and stabs him in the back, taking care not to bury the dagger too deep in his body. Elena makes to attack Mikael from behind, but her path is cut off by a blood red jellyfish suddenly appearing behind him.

    "Never thought I''d see this thing again. You sure know how to bring up bad memories, Matty."

    "Still haven''t gotten over that whole thing with *Dawn*?" Matty teases. "You sure know how to keep a grudge."

    "I think it''s pretty weird that you refer to your tool as a person." She says and draws out her own Soul Tool, a bright green whip.

    Bismarck gets up again and stares down Mikael.

    "Otto..." He says. "Take the kid and go on ahead. We''ll handle these guys."

    Otto laughs at Bismarck. "I think that was a bit too cocky, but sure. I''ll give you a head start." He picks up Marvin by the arm and leaps into the air. "We aren''t through, Chen." Otto says to Mikael as he takes another leap.

    Mikael focuses his gaze on Bismarck. "So...how do you want to do this?"