As Kunaramog pointed out, people who can draw as well as write are...
well...multi-talented, to say the least.  I just wish I could draw as
well as I could write, although if Satan came along and offered a trade
of talents, I'd keep the writing talent.  Why?  Because I can type a
hell of a lot faster than I could ever draw.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------


Mastermind



Eric stood outside the Epsilon Center, peering inside the glass doors
at the hallways inside.  Somewhere inside was a computer, and in that
computer was the location of the one thing that could prevent a planet-
wide Armageddon.  It seemed like a really simple job in retrospect.
Hell, all he had to do was keep a book from whoever it was who was
trying to bring back a god.  Not exactly a big use of his talents, but
it was certainly an important mission, nonetheless.  Then again, all
things considered, he'd rather be relaxing.  Then he could get some
real action.

***

Michael watched his fellow Agent from the roof of the building.  He
pulled out his cell phone and punched in a number.  "Steph?  Get over
here.  I don't care, just get here now."

She appeared in a mild flash of light a second later, frowning.  "What
the hell is it?"

"Is that the kind of tone to take with your employer?  I need to know
how to get past that guy," he pointed at the near-invisible figure on
the ground.

"You can't," she replied simply, "But you can follow him.  Go into the
ventilation system and go down to the seventh floor.  Don't try to take
any shortcuts, or you'll end up in the heating system."

"Seventh floor?  The man lied to me."

"Not really.  He said to go down the hall from the entrance and make
two rights.  That's the way to the elevator.  From there, the office
where the computer is isn't far."

"Good.  Now go ahead and go back to Mewtwo, if you must."

"Whatever."  She vanished again, and Michael went over to the opening
in the roof.  What he didn't see was the flash of light on the street.

***

"So, where's the computer?"

"Seventh floor.  Don't worry, you'll be able to get past the security
systems."

"Yeah, I know, but I can't get past these doors without setting off the
alarm."  At that moment, there was a clicking sound, and the doors
slowly opened.  "Show-off."

"Thanks!"  She vanished once again, and this time she didn't reappear.

Eric pushed through the doors and entered the building.  Security
cameras littered the walls near the ceiling, watching his every move.
He didn't care about the guards.  The police in the city didn't care
about anyone, but the building was probably crawling with guards, so
he'd definitely have to watch his step.  He pulled his gun and shot out
the cameras closest to him and walked on by.  Heat sensors were next.

***

Down the elevator shaft, through the ventilation system, and through a
series of hallways led Michael to the first floor.  He couldn't find
his way where he wanted from the roof, since Steph had provided him
with only the maps for the first seven floors.  He peered out a vent
and saw Eric walking through the halls like he owned the place.  Fool.
He didn't even know about the heat sensors.

Michael watched closely as Eric came into range of the sensors, then
suddenly, he slowly faded out of view.  "What the hell?" he whispered.
He waited for the flashing lights and sirens, but there was none.  "Now
how did he..."  He didn't wait for someone to answer him, since he was
losing track of his prey.  He couldn't see the Agent, but he could
sense his mind.  Moving west-south-west down corridor A-7, towards the
elevator.  Up two floors, three, four...and he stopped.  Why would he
stop before he reached the...oh.  Of course.  There were machines on
the fourth floor that blocked telepathy.  Oh well, he still knew where
he was going.  Not a problem.

***

Somewhere in the poorer section of Ysalin, people scuttled about on the
third floor of a building in a remote section of the even more poor
section.  Maggie still lay on the table, now unconscious from a lack of
blood.  Kicel sat and watched her, taking in her svelte form.  Very
beautiful, for a human.  Then again, he liked a girl with color around
her eyes.  He stood up, and a black cloud formed next to him, then a
figure formed from that cloud.

"Mistress," Kicel greeted, bowing slightly.

"Kicel, always a pleasure," Spectre responded.  She glanced at Maggie,
noticing the two puncture wounds in her neck.  "And just what have you
done with our guest?"

"Just had a bite to eat, nothing serious.  She's not gonna turn, don't
worry."

"I never worry, my dear boy."  She let her hand run down his cheek,
feeling the cold from his face.  "Because I know you know what would
happen to you if you displease me."  He gulped slowly, knowing exactly
what she was talking about.  "Now, what news about the book?"

"We...still haven't located it."

"Just as I suspected.  Don't worry, I'll have the information for you
in a few minutes.  How about the demi-power?"

"That is also a source of bad news, I'm afraid."

"Hmph.  Of course.  Incompetent undead.  Must I do everything for you?"

"I'm sorry, but we don't get that many demi-powers here.  It's not like
one would fall right into our laps."

"Actually, if my suspicions are correct, it will be exactly like that."

He was about to ask what she meant, but she quickly faded out of view.
His attention went back to Maggie, who was now awake and staring at the
spot where Spectre used to be.  As soon as she saw him looking at her,
she turned her head away.  He was about to go over and drain her
completely when he remembered Spectre's warning.  Just the thought made
him shudder...

***

Fourth floor, section D-4.  Eric was still working his way through the
floor, trying to find a different way up.  He turned a corner and came
across a net of lasers, set up to detect any intruders.  He stepped
through them with ease, completely ignoring them.  Once again, Michael
was stumped as to how he was doing this.  He should've set off at least
five different kinds of alarms by now, considering he had become
visible again, at least to Michael.  But he was seemingly undetectable.

Impossible.  He must've disabled the alarms, but that still wouldn't
account for the sheer number of near-misses that he went through.
Michael crawled through the ventilation system, keeping within eyesight
of Eric.  He had to figure out his secret, then figure out how to do it
himself.

Eric stopped after the lasers, and stood there, not moving, not
breathing.  Something was up.  He was about to crawl out of the vent
and kill him when he threw his arms up to the ceiling, and a beam of
light shot through him and into the air.  Straight through the ceiling,
up five, six, twenty floors.  Michael lost track of it when it went
through the roof and into the night sky.  He was certainly full of
secrets...  He had been tailing him before even this mission, and he
had never seen him do something like this.  His mind snapped back to
the mission when he noticed Eric rise into the air and fly up through
the hole.

Michael quickly crawled through the shaft, frantically trying to get up
to the seventh floor before Eric got the information and got out.  One
way or another, he would end this mission.

***

"You're sure this is the place?"

"Of course.  Her mind is faded, but it certainly stands out here."

Mewtwo and Steph stood outside a very rundown building, looking up at
the third floor windows.  "I know she is here," Mewtwo said, very sure
of himself.

"Well, it's not like we have a whole lot of options," Steph replied.
"You sure you can handle this?"

"Excuse me?"

"I can't fight.  It's against my programming."

"Why?"

"I have the records of just about every single magical spell ever
recorded in the history of Existence, which include a damn lot of
attack spells.  Basically, I could level this planet in about five
seconds.  The Council requested for me to change my programming, and
Eric agreed."

They walked up the short stairway and stood on the porch.  "Exactly
what is your relationship to him?"

"I'm his computer.  He created me.  Simple as that."

Created?  The answer she gave him only gave rise to more questions, but
they would have to wait.  The longer they delayed, the longer Maggie
was in danger.  He pushed open the door and was about to step inside,
but she grabbed his arm.  "Just remember, these kinds of vamps die when
you cut off their heads or hit them with holy water.  Since we don't
have any of that stuff, try knocking off their heads.  Their bodies
aren't that tough, really.  And...be careful."

"Thank you."  Her arm dropped, and he went inside.  The interior was
just as bad as the exterior; the decor was a somewhat sickening shade
of brown, and there was only one piece of furniture, which was a
broken-down couch with a number of springs popped out of the cushions.
Suddenly, the springs jumped out of the couch and shot toward him.
They straightened their coils out, turning the springs into slim spikes
aimed for his head.  He fired a psychic wave at them, knocking them
away from him and to the floor.  A second attack wave came at him in
the form of barbed wire from a noose hanging from the ceiling.  It
dropped down around his neck and tried to garrote him, but he ducked
out of the way, then grabbed it away from the barbs and yanked it down
from the ceiling.

A voice in his mind sounded just then, an evil voice with a hint of
fear and tension in it.  Like he was afraid of...him?

<Well, well, I thought there was someone new here.  I hope you've
enjoyed my toys.  They're just the beginning, you know.  If you want
your precious Agent back, come up here, and you can have her.  But
you'll have to survive that long.>

<I believe you and I will see each other soon.>

<Oh, you're a confident one.>  The voice was the same, still with a
tinge of fear, but it definitely wasn't because of him.  Then who might
it be...  <Go ahead, walk up those stairs.  I dare you.>

He walked across the room, rose into the air and floated up the stairs.
The second floor wasn't that much different from the first.  Similar
decor, different weapons.  The boards in the walls came loose and tried
to knock him out, but he raised a force field and blocked their
attacks.

<Now that wasn't fair.>

The force field was suddenly gone, much to Mewtwo's surprise.  The
boards once again tried to kill him, but he swept around and knocked
them into bits with his tail.

<Fine.  If you insist on rescuing your little friend, my door is open.>

A bright light filled his vision, then before he knew what was
happening, he was in a room filled with some rather disgusting-looking
humans.  Vampires, no doubt.  And one man in dirty red robes.  "So,
you've finally arrived," the man said with a crooked grin.  "I was
hoping to destroy you myself, but my colleagues here are ever-so-bored.
Why don't you entertain them?"

They all moved to attack, but Mewtwo was unconcerned.  He glanced at
Maggie, who was turning her head back and forth to look at him and the
vampires.  "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Nothing a transfusion wouldn't cure," she replied weakly.  "Don't let
'em bite you."

"I should think that would be obvious."  Just then one of the vampires
leaped at him, but he calmly stepped aside, then as the monster skidded
across the floor, stomped on his head, crushing it and creating a hole
in the floor which the body fell through.  Another ran up to him, and
he extended his claws and slashed off his face.  The creature suddenly
turned dark and fell to the ground in a pile of dust.  Another three
charged him, but they were destroyed by a blast of psychic energy.
The rest of them were about to attack, but another vampire stepped in
front of them.

"Forget it," Kicel announced, "Get us out of here, Quinn."

"But sir, we can't let him win!  All I need is a few minutes!"

"And in that time I'll lose all my men.  Forget the girl, we don't need
her.  Our boss said she'd get a demi-power, and I believe her.  Now,
get us out of here immediately."

"Fine..."  He stared at Mewtwo with anger in his eyes.  He didn't like
losing an Agent, as they were the hardest prey to catch.  He mumbled a
few words, then him and all the vampires vanished in a flash of light.
Two seconds later, Steph materialized beside Mewtwo.

"Well, you certainly cleared out the room," she said, surveying the
scene.  "Oh, right, Maggie.  Could you...?"

He nodded and walked over to her, then extended a claw and cut through
the ropes with one swipe, making sure not to hit her skin.  "Are you
all right?"

The Agent sat up slowly, holding her head.  "Yeah, fine.  I got bit,
but not enough for me to turn."  She motioned for Steph to come closer.
"You got some blood or something?  I need a little pick-me-up."

"Yeah, sure, here you go," she replied, inserting a needle into her
neck and pushing a good amount of blood into her body.  "Jeez, I leave
you alone for two hours and you get abducted."

"Hey, it's not my fault!  That mage surprised me, damn it!"

"I think we should focus on finding the book," Mewtwo interjected.
"Did you overhear anything?"

"About the book?  No.  About Spectre?  Hell, yeah!"

"Spectre is here?"

"Yeah, and she's definitely changed."

"Exactly what do you mean by 'she?'"

"Well, believe it or not, Spectre now looks like...well, you."  She
pointed to Steph, who was pleasantly surprised.  "She's definitely in
charge of that group you saw.  They still don't know where the book is,
so no help there, but they said they'll need a demi-power for the
ceremony, and Spectre thinks she knows where one is."

Mewtwo stored all the information away for future reference.  He would
need to know all he could about his foe.  Steph's voice tore him from
his thoughts.

"I'm gonna go get Eric, he should know where the book is by now.  And
even if he doesn't, we're gonna need reinforcements."

***

Seventh floor, near the elevator.  Michael watched from the ventilation
system as Eric sat down at the desk and turned on the computer.  It was
more advanced than anything on the planet, that was for sure.  Programs
were accessed instantly, and data could be found as easily as typing in
a word and running a search.  However, all the information on the Book
of Ressurection was classified.

He waited for at least an hour while Eric tried every single decryption
program he knew, along with a long list of passwords.  Finally he tried
activating a program on a special disk, then a beeping sound indicated
success.  "Now let's see," Eric whispered to no one in particular,
"Where's that book?"

Michael strained to see the screen, but only caught a street address,
one he wasn't familiar with.  "The book is back in Ysalin?" Eric
muttered.  A pad of paper and a pen near him suddenly floated into the
air and came to rest in his hand.  He wrote down the street address and
moved to turn off the computer, but he heard a quick beeping sound...
One that was coming from the desk drawer...  He opened the drawer and
saw a small silverish cube with a small red light blinking on the top
side.  Blinking very quickly.  And beeping.  "Oh, shit!"

He jumped out of the chair and ran down the hall as fast as he could,
then leapt out the window and hit the ground running.  Michael saw the
device, but he couldn't get away so soon.  The shaft was slim and he
couldn't maneuver very well.  The blinking quickened, and the beeping
grew louder, then all he saw was red.

Outside, an explosion lit up the night.  All the windows of the Epsilon
Center glowed brightly, then the entire building exploded at once,
throwing debris everywhere.  Bits of glass and cement littered the
street, along with a body dressed in black.  And one young woman.

"Now what did I say about a smoking crater?" Steph scolded.

"It wasn't my fault," Eric replied sheepishly.  "Listen, the book is
back in Ysalin.  I have to get back there."

"Take the train that's leaving for there tomorrow morning.  You'll get
there in about two hours.  Trains are faster than planes, believe it
or not.

"Why didn't you just put me on the train when I came here?"

"Because there wasn't a train going here then."

"Whatever.  I'm outta here."  He jumped into the air and flew away,
and she left soon after.

***

In the empty space that *was* the Epsilon Center, Michael floated in
midair, curled up into a ball.  The burns covering his body slowly
shrank, then disappeared.  The bones in his body knitted themselves,
and his strength slowly returned.  That certainly wasn't a pleasant
experience.  Oh well, at least now he knew where the book was, and now
he could put an end to this mission.  He flew off for the hotel, eager
to get some rest.

***

Spectre watched Michael fly away, completely unscathed.  He had passed
her little test with flying colors.  He survived a fight with her, and
he had survived an explosion from ten feet from the source of the
blast.  Michael was, indeed, a demi-power.

"Well, Michael, you've just become my new best friend."

One last being left the place formally known as the Epsilon Center,
except this one would be the first one to reach the book.  The event
known as the Ressurection would take place, but with slightly different
results than the vampires expected.  Only one god would be left when
the smoke cleared, and Spectre intended it to be her.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

I predict I'll finish this in five parts, but if it takes longer....
well, I'm pretty sure no one here would mind.


The Master of Eternal Darkness,

Shadow