The Procession of Dreams(Theatre Only)

[Sinister]

Not much occurred to the city of Noversat. It was a burg in the old sense. Full of shops and streets, tears and transience. How to peel back the steel and asphalt and find humanity, well…only a few knew how. Only a few…

Procession of Dreams

Copperband Subway Station had seen better days. Maybe in the nineteen fifties the red bricks were brighter, maybe the bronze chrome gleamed. Maybe the Copperband Car had actually ran at some point. And any other day the place would smell of dust and atomized spider webs. Now it smelt like scorched garlic, olive oil and marinara. Smoke filled the domed-bricked roof of the station. So that it looked like a smoky mystic dusty palace and smelled like a pizzeria hit by an arsonist.

Inside the Copperband car number 35, there was a black-robed figure with hooding black hair and pale features. His attention was absorbed, with some frustration, on a smoldering skillet that was over a fire pit in the center of the car. The sauce therein was black, when it should’ve been red.

It was possible that Jack Christie’s stomach had conquered his faculties and the anticipation of a homemade pizza overpowered his cooking skills. It was also possible that all of the above made him blind to the cloaked figure approaching him from behind. The one cloaked in scarlet with a red executioner’s hood. The one drawing a Kukri machete. It made a metallic ring as it drew from the scabbard. The same ring that Jack’s spatula made across the skillet.

The machete lifted. It angled and aimed. It pulled back, ready to fall forward.

Jack looked down at the sauce. There was despair as he knew, deep in his heart, it would never make the sauce of a proper pizza. He cussed in sotto voice. Grabbed the skillet and turned to throw it out.

His heart shriveled in cold. His mind burst into speed. He couldn’t retreat. His mask was at the other side of the car. His eyes swelled as the machete fell.

It reflected off the bottom of the skillet, which spilled it’s scalding contents on the floor and Jack‘s leg.

“Shit.”

He said, ducking, cradling his leg and barely missing another blow. The next
blow fell and imbedded into what had been a saddle for a car seat. The figure, now struggled to dislodge it. Having dislodged it, the hooded figure turned to find Jack Christie standing in the middle of the car staring coldly.
The machete rose murderously.

Jack’s eyes tightened and the figure froze. Stepping closer, Jack disarmed the figure and un-hooded it. A blond milky-eyed youth laid underneath, expressionless. Jack looked at the machete fancifully. “Can’t draw one of these without spilling blood, you know.” Jack grinned evilly, cutting his eyes up at the empty-faced person.

“You’re a…”

“Assassin.” The hollow voice finished.

Jack nodded. “Sent by…” There was no answer.

Jack’s brow furrowed. “Sent by…”

Nothing.

Jack swung the kukri knife at the figure and it, and it's habiliments, evaporated as if it had all been built from steam. He looked off in disinterest. “What a shame, I live in an abandoned subway, plenty of space to stow dead bodies.” He mused aloud.

“Whoever they are, if they came after me…”

Jack stalked down to the end of the car and tossed scraps of clothes until he uncovered a gray and white porcelain object. Closer inspection revealed it to be a mask; half the face was twisted in pleasure portrayed in white porcelain and the other, conversely, in an abysmal expression of gray porcelain.

Sparing it a thoughtful look, he cupped it in his hands and lifted it to cover his face.

The car was empty. It no longer held a vicious assassin. It no longer held a black-robed figure named Jack. All it held was a discarded Kukri machete and a puddle of black smelly pizza sauce collected upon the floor...

[Holy Priest]

“Hello, Ariel speaking. Who’s on the line?”

“Ariel! Oh, it’s been a long time since we last talk on the phone. Billie here.”

“Billie! I’m just wondering if you and your sisters have some free time to spend tomorrow? I’m bored to death these days. I’ve finish reading all my letters from my readers from the column in the newspaper. And, I’ll be free over the weekends.”

“Sure thing. My sister and I are dreadful to go shopping since all the sales are on. But, My sister is quite busy these few weeks as she has just being transfer to another session of her office. So, maybe the two of us can go for shopping in the mall tomorrow?”

“Well, if that’s the case, GREAT! I’ll meet you first thing in the morning tomorrow at your house. Then we can go and have our breakfast and finally SHOPPING! So, see you tomorrow, round 10?”

“Ok. See you round 10. Bye…” Then silent in the other end of the phone as Billie has hung up.

Ariel went back to her story book. The book is about a demon who hunts for the witch’s power. It’s written by Ariel’s favourite writer Diana G. Gallagher. Just as the moment she’s reading the climax where the witch’s is fighting with the demon in the forest, a sudden strong wind blew in to her manor breaking all the windows. Ariel was startled by that sudden blow of strong wind. However she still manage to get off from her couch and looked what had just happened in her manor. Before she could walked any further, she was threw by a huge gust into the far end of her living room.

“What the heck and who the heck are you there?! Show yourself and don’t act like kittens!!” Ariel shouted over to the room. There was no answer to her question. When she got up on the feet, a women wearing a ninja suit and had her face cloaked with cloth appeared in front of Ariel. She grabbed Ariel’s neck with her left hand and the other hand is holding a knife. She’s planning on killing Ariel! But for what? The moment her knife swung out, a very huge and tall tree appear in the middle of the two of them. So, separating them apart. Then, the whole scene in the room twisted and changed into an extensive piece of forest. Gorgeous trees popped out from the ground in a glimpse.

“*cough* *cough* *cough*” Ariel gasping for air after released from the strong grabbed from that ninja-women, “Who’s that lady? I never meet her nor saw her before. Why she wants to harm me?”

At the other end, strong gust blowing everywhere and the echo were clearly heard by Ariel.

“This is… kinda familiar…!!! The scene in the story! How come… No time to loss, if I don’t get rid of that ninja, she’ll definite get rid of me.”

So, Ariel walked around the forest. She didn’t know where to go as she had never been in a forest before. She walked all over the places. Sometime even walked around in a circle without even realizing.

“This is no good. The gust is blowing stronger and stronger. I could feel them now. Aww….” Ariel cried out as she stepped on something which cut her feet. It’s just like ordinary grass growing on the ground. But the grass has tiny thorns around which is so fine that we can’t see with our naked eye. But sure can feel those thorns running through your fingers when you touch them.

Ariel plucked a piece of them and examined the thorns on her palm. As she all her concentration was on the piece of grass she plucked, she didn’t realize that the ninja had found her and walking softly and quietly towards her.

“Do this grass grow? Grass grow into long thin vines with sharp thorns around and wrapped on that stupid ninja-women” She said them in a reciting spell maner and all of a sudden, she heard the ninja screamed in front of her and once again she was startled and shocked. The ninja-women was wrapped by long thin vines all over her body and her skin was pierced by the tiny sharp thorns on the vine. Blood flowing out from her wound. That ninja-women form changed and slowly form into creature. She screamed so hard that it hurts so much in Ariel’s ear. She wanted to look at that creature but it disappear leaving the vines lying on the ground. Ariel slowly take a glance around her. Slowly the forest twisted once more and her manor’s view returned.

She was so tired that she could no longer stand on her feet anymore. So, she sank into the couch in front of her just for a few minutes. After she felt better, she get up and reached to her phone on the wall.

“Hello, Billie. Ariel’s here. I’m sorry to say but I don think that I could go shopping with you tomorrow… I’ve got some urgent ‘cleaning’ to do. Enjoy yourself tomorrow. And we can meet some other time. Bye.” Ariel hung up her phone. She went to reach for a broom and start off sweeping the broken glass pane. And she found some sort like a mask lying on the floor where she had just almost killed by that creature.

"Did that thing left this mask behind? Hmmm... the half black face which smile so cruelly sure looks scary to me. But this half white patch of angelic smile looks warm. Maybe i should kept this instead." Ariel put that black and white mask over the coffee table and continue her sweeping work. She actually didn't realise that the mask was actually belongs to her. And her name is carved somewhere on the mask which will glow in time of needs.

[Furore]

‘Arrrrr…..’ the man started, the horrid, damp smell of the sewers hindering his ability to smell. ‘This wall shudn’t be here…’
With that, the man focused, the dark blue tattoo on the back of his left hand glowing through his dark iron ore glove. A large broad sword materialised, which the man took in a two handed grip and spun into the offending wall. As bits of the wall cracked, the man once again called upon the power his tattoo seemed gave him, sending a section of the wall back into his little realm, the Skull Cove. It was certainly an easier way of disposing of the thick concrete…

As Silver stepped through the entryway he’d just created he looked down at his map a second time.
‘Now that be more like it…’
Silver navigated through the sewers, the map as his only guide. Luckily he noticed that very few other alterations had been made since the printing of the map he had in his possession. Silver reached the room marked on his map.

‘It be here I guess’, he spoke to himself yet again. ‘Now where would that ol’ git have stucked it?’
Silver searched the room, looking for anything and everything out of the ordinary. But there were no hollow patches of wall, no hollow spots in the ground, and the room was quite bare…

‘DAMN IT!’ Silver roared, punching the wall with his iron glove. ‘DAMN THAT GIT TO DAVY JONES’ LOCKER…’
Silver managed to compose himself again. His tattoo glowed through his dark metal glove once more. Some explosives appeared…
The real good kind. Silver knew he’d have to watch it with these, one wrong move and he’d lose an arm… Or two.

Silver placed the explosives next to the walls, and walked out of the room, unwinding a fuse as he went. He walked as far away as the fuse would allow, and then lit the fuse with a giant insane grin on his face.

As the fuse traveled towards the branching paths separating the explosives, Silver retreated further. It was then Silver heard the explosion, a sizeable sound which still managed to make him jump just a little. Silver started heading back to the now demolished room, the grin still on his face. He stopped smiling, a faint noise reaching his ears. A smell seemed to accompany it…

The waters seemed to come out of nowhere, a river of pent up force, waves of pure sewage. It seems that there had been something on the other sides of the walls…
A few large pipes…

‘Oh Shi…’ Silver started to exclaim, realising he hadn’t charged his power long enough to retreat to his cove… Just as the water hit, he materialised a wooden support beam which had been previously a part of the wall he’d sent to the Skull Cove not too long before hand.

Silver rode the wave, eventually popping out of an open manhole in the middle of a gray, dull street. As he sniffed his clothing, he swore. It smelt of the sewers, of that wave he’d just rode. Silver started to charge up his tattoo, knowing full well he needed to get rid of the smell he’d accumulated. And his domain was the perfect place…

Silver looked around for a good hiding spot. He didn’t want to be seen (or rather smelt) as he was at this point in time…

[Govinda]

The club was smoky. That, in itself, was not remarkable; it was always that way.

Lady took her seat behind the piano. It was a quiet night in 12 Bar - just the regulars, Broadway stragglers with nowhere better to be and nothing better to do. It had been said that the jazz played in 12 Bar was written just for these people; they came to drown their sorrows in both whiskey and music.

The stage was a slightly raised platform held before a ramshackle collection of battered wooden tables, each with a candle in a red class cup. The bar sat behind them, with its raised wooden sill and rows of glinting bottles, bottomless pits filled with the hopes and dreams of failing actors, musicians, and poets. The roof was low, the floor matte black and scratched and scuffed from a million stumbles and fights. The scars of the room could only be seen when it was properly lit - just now the only light came from the flickering red candles and the sparse, barely covered lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling, each surrounded by its own personal cloud of smoke.

Lady would have a solo first, as always. The manager of the club, whom Lady knew only as Joey, would ask her to sing. Then the trumpet player, a reticent man named Anthony, would join her for the next piece, sometimes accompanied by whichever bass player could be found for that night. More instruments would come and go, leave with cash in hand; Lady was the only permanent feature.

Joey, on cue, stalked his way over from the bar to the stage, dipping through the tables. 'Lady,' he said gruffly, 'Summer In the City. Maybe put some bluesy shit in the middle. Depress them, you know what to do.'

She smiled and nodded her head. Turning to the piano, she placed her feet delicately by the pedals and layed her hands out across the ageing ivory. She pushed down; a glissando in B flat, always a good place to start.

'Summer in the city,' she began, playing gentle chords and stopping them in time with her voice. Make it choked, make it sad. 'And there's people, people, people...'

There was a sound from the stairwell leading up to the street. A scuffle, a shout. The bar's only bouncer rolled gracelessly down the stairs in a ball of black and white. Lady ignored it, and kept playing. 'And they're walking, walking, walking...'

A chill fell over the room. A hooded creature seemingly glided downt the stairs. Lady looked at it for a moment; but nobody else seemed to notice, less care, so she just kept playing her song. Move from C to D.

There was no mistake. The hooded thing was staring at her with its piercing little eyes. She was finding it hard to concentrate; a chord gone wrong, a quiet grumble from the crowd. It was almost at the stage now; it drew from its folds a glinting machete, still moving menacingly towards her. She was playing faster now, she couldn't help it; skipping notes, missing beats and staring around the room desperately for some sign that the others felt as frightened as she did, that they cared.

The hooded creature was beside her now, it's machete raised. There was nothing to be done; Lady jumped up and over the piano just as the machete fell and embedded itself in her trusty mahogany playing stool. She hared up the stairs, hopping over the bouncer, and out into the lights of Broadway. She dared a glance over her shoulder; the creature was moving after her, slowly but with purpose. 'Keep going, keep going...' she whimpered. She darted into the alleyway that held the entrance to her apartment block.

'KEYS!' she yelled. She'd left them in her coat, in 12 Bar. She looked around; fire escape. She pulled the ladder down; it was wet from the previous nights rain, black and shining like the rest of Broadway at that time of year. Lights from streetlights fell in lines across black puddles; Lady jumped into one, the first of two jumps to pull herself up onto the metal ladder. The hooded thing was at the entrance to the alley now, moving with slow contentment, just as before.

Up, up, up! Her feet pounded on the wet metal, echoing and bouncing noises all through the dead alleyway. Up! Go! Two flights left. She came to her bedroom window. 'Why, lock, it, who, the hell, would steal, from this, shithole,' she breathed, trying to force the window open. The creature had made it to the ladder and was ascending with purpose. '**** it,' she muttered, turning to her side and throwing herself through the glass. With a smash and clatter she rolled into her bedroom floor, rolling over, her flesh picking up broken glass. She didn't care.

She ran to her dresser. In the top drawer, hidden beneath a towel, lay a ceramic mask shaped like the theatre masks of old. One half smiling; one half crying. She picked it up and turned to the broken window, shadows falling around her and resting in the broken glass.

[Sinister]

Liquid glow poured into view like there was a goddess who was emptying a calabash of divine light into Jack’s eyeballs. It cooled and rippled. His fingers could feel the fibrous warm liquid. He could smell and what always smelled to him of vanilla and sweet cream. A smell so real he could taste it.

There were the sounds of astral chimes and of the holy eastern Yangqin. The crash of a gong shook Jack’s senses back to focus. A long expanding triple-gabled palace rose before Jack, who appeared to be standing in the expansive courtyard.

The courtyard, so full of pools populated with scarlet and golden nishikigoi. Zen gardens and massive cherry trees made the courtyard shady but bright. The musical tintinnabulations of a suzumushi cricket blessed the poor divine instruments with the Tao’s music. The results were such that Jack felt like sprawling down upon the stone walkway and basking in the sun for an hour or two. Perhaps a reflective thought might occur to him in an hour or two.

Hunger kept him going. His pizza had been a disappointment and he needed to sooth out his disappointment. Picking, with no great sense of urgency, he made his way across a wooden rope bridge over a pool filled of particularly fat Koi sakana.

Up the stone steps into the colonnade of the Temple. Reds and blues, gilded in gold and set in marble and etched in jade filled the temple. Burning Jinko incense that had been peppered with sandalwood which was set upon braziers of fire at the corners of the temple. Centered at the end of the temple, where normally an altar was placed, was located a throne.

It had just occurred to Jack that his burn was healed, that his robe was longer and lighter. He now wore getas and they clacked across the stone floor until he reached his throne and sat.

At his right was a table prepared with selections of yakitori, dim sum, seasoned beef, shrimp and pork all huddled around a miniature hibachi grill accompanied with a cup of Pu-Ehr tea. There was also a bowl of Buddha’s delight.

After having seriously depleted the majority of the victuals. He waved his hand down and a large projection screen fell. By mere default it began showing global news. Jack watched it for any news, but nothing about assassins, while a shotglass full of Huangjiu appeared as a digestif at his elbow.

“Display all known chimeratics, in my area.”

Meaningless dots appeared, littering a downtown map of Noversat. Jack sighed.

The thing that attacked him. That person…was not like him. It jarred Jack’s memory. Ten years ago. Those…things. The experiments. The wires…the electrodes. Jack breathed in. It was all just past bluster and pain.

Memories.

Whatever that thing was, it couldn’t reach him here. And he wouldn’t leave here unless he could find a way around it. He quickly downed the shot of Huangjiu.

[Holy Priest]

“Oh… People now a days really facing hardships everyday. Letters about their husband, family, children coming in every single moment and my reply is going out every single moment with their letters. I wonder if I really helped them.” Ariel mumbled to herself as had her sip of coffee in her living room. She laid back on the couch and her sight fixed on the mask which she had still left it on the coffee table. She picked it up and took a closer look at it.

“Hmm… I wonder if this thing really left by that creature yesterday. But it’s so beautiful and unique that even it’s really belongs to that ‘thing’, I would rather kept it with me” She spoke to herself as she recall the fight which happen yesterday in her manor. Suddenly, someone knocked on her front door.

“Ariel. Are you in there?” a women shouted from outside her manor.

“Billie! Why you’re here? I thought that you’ve went shopping yourself.” Ariel exclaimed when she opened the door and saw Billie standing in front of her. Billie was invited into her manor then.

“Well, shopping alone isn’t a great thing to enjoy. So, I might as well come to visit my dear friend. Have you done your cleaning you told me yesterday?” Billie asked Ariel who was pouring her a cup of coffee.

“Nah… it’s just nothing for me. I could clear them in less then half day. It’s just that my boss Elyse just dropped by and leave me this stake of letters this morning. Otherwise I think I could ring you up and go for shopping instead.” Ariel explained to Billie and held up another letter to read.

“Ariel… This mask is unusual. You bought it?”

“That? Nope. Just happened to find it in my house.”

“But, take a look here, it has you name here. See them?” Billie showed Ariel the mask and her finger is pointing at the name at a not very distinguishable corner of the mask.

“ARIEL… In capital too.” Ariel read out her name on the mask, “so, this mask is mine.”
Ariel whispered softly to herself.

“Of course this is yours… You found it in your house and your name is carved on it. You’ve been working too hard… Get some rest or out for shopping now? Billie suggested to Ariel but Ariel was still studying the mask on her hand.

“Ariel,” Billie nudged her, “Are you sick?”

“Huh? Umm… No. I’m absolutely fine. We can go shopping now. Come, let’s go!” Ariel took Billie’s arm, snatched her back pack, walked out of the manor and locked the door behind her. Ariel didn’t realize that the mask had dropped into her black leather back pack while she had a knock on the corner of the coffee table because of the rushing out to the manor. She just had a very hard expression after studying that mask and silent for a long while during shopping. Billie was crazy snatching those stuff she wants in the sales. So, Ariel was standing outside the shops all the time ,silent, while waiting Billie to complete her shopping ‘task’. Ariel’s cell phone rang and she quick reached to her back pack at her bag to get her phone. As she opened up her back pack, something surprised her. Yes, the mask had surprised her. She held up her phone but it had already stopped ringing. So, she put it back and got the mask.

“Why are you here?” Ariel talked to the mask as if it would reply her. Then she stored the mask back into her back pack. Still very remain silent but had a little mood to do some shopping. The mask glowed dimly behind her but no one ever realized as they’re all busy grabbing their stuff from the sales. Then, the glow slowly faded…

[Govinda]

The rain started again, falling in a sudden sheet outside of the window. Heavy droplets bounced back up off of the windowsill and the fire escape outside. Lady stood staring at the broken window in the milky light of Broadway twilight, mask in hand. Fight, or flight.

The hooded creature drew itself slowly up to the windowframe, a monster in the rain. Its piercing red eyes, like dot lights on a map, shone through the pallid colours of the night and the room. It bent down slightly, lifting one leg carefully over the bottom of the windowsill.

Lady was shaking. It was going to kill her, it was going to kill her. She couldn't think. She could only stare.

It moved slowly across the room, robes dripping water. It stepped on glass and didn't notice. Once again, it withdrew its glinting machete. Lady took one step back for every one it took forward. Halfway across the room, she noticed it staring at the mask lying idle in her hand.

The connection sprang forth like water from a tap. 'You know what I am!' Lady shouted, almost jubilantly. 'You know what this thing is!'

'But then why would you come after me alone, if you know what I can do? And move so slowly. Tell me,' she said. She placed her mask on the floor behind her, finally standing still. Suddenly there was a Magnum .35 pistol in her left hand; she brought her right hand to meet it, and held the gun before her face. She was still shaking.

'Stop!' she shouted, holding the gun before her head, her arms outstretched. 'I said stop, or I will shoot you! There is no way I'm missing at this range. The fact that I'm shaking doesn't matter, listen to me! Stop!'

But the hooded creature just kept moving forwards. It was almost upon her now. Shaking violently, she squeezed her eyes shut and turned her face away for a split second; 'I'm sorry!' she yelled, pulling the trigger.

The force threw her back. Her left arm popped neatly out of its socket, dangling there. But Lady didn't really feel it. The bullet had by some miracle found its way into the head of the creature. It stumbled back; time slowed. Lady dropped her gun to the floor, and it hung there suspended while Lady gazed into the eyes of the stumbling creature. She could swear that its eyes were fading, not to black but to a gentle blue; could she sense a smile somewhere in its hidden face? Was it gratitude, or malice?

Suddenly it hit the floor, time caught up, and the hooded creature evaporated suddenly into a shower of blue sparks. Lady's Magnum pistol followed suit, and she dropped to her knees.

'Ow,' she said, flatly. How to reconnect an arm? That was the question. She rolled onto her back, propping herself up with her right arm. Her mask lay next to her.

'OPEN THIS DOOR! THIS IS THE POLICE! SHOTS FIRED! OPEN UP!'

Lady sat up quickly, grabbing her mask and hiding it back in its drawer. 'WE'RE COMING IN, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?'

'DO NOT BREAK MY DOOR DOWN!' Ladt yelled, running through her modest kitchen to the front door. 'I can't afford to replace it.' She looked through the peep-hole; sure enough, two damp policemen. She opened the door.

'Hello Miss, is your mother home?'

'My mother is not home. This is my apartment.'

'How old are you?'

'I'm 18. This is legal. I can show you ID if you like.'

'Fair enough. I'm officer Salis, and this is my colleague, officer Mitchell. There were report of gunshots in this apartment.' They stood there, both trying to squeeze into view, too big for the doorframe. They had silly little plastic hat-protectors on, and their jackets were dripping water onto the floor.

'I don't think so,' said Lady. She laughed, or at least tried to: 'I'm sure I'd notice that.'

'Mind if we take a look around?' asked the second officer.

Lady let them in, offered them tea or coffee. Both asked for coffee. They look around the apartment; nothing. A modest, plain kitchen and a single bedroom with a new shag carpet and freshly done double-glazed windows with electric locks. They complimented her on her security set-up. The first officer asked a quick question about her arm; Lady grimaced and said that it was a childhood condition which caught up with her sometimes. The officers seemed nice. They weren't very sure of why someone so young was living alone; they asked her where she worked, where her parents were. She said they'd given her $500 to make a start as a pianist on Broadway. She invited them to 12 Bar, won their trust that way. Everybody knew how deep in the Mafia that place was (Lady'd played requests for enough sharp suits) and she pretended not to - they pegged her as just another dreamer, and left, thankful for the coffee.

She didn't mention any of the rest of it. The things she had done by accident. Have a morbid daydream about your neighbours house going on fire? Whoosh, it's on fire, and you have no idea why. Want to see what would happen if a terrorist attacked your local police station? Well, your dreams a reality, Lady's a terrorist from afar. Small-town life was too dangerous. There were people, faces and houses, to concentrate on. In the city she was anonymous; moreover, she'd found that mask, which helped incredibly.

She walked back through to her bedroom. Glass all over the floor, a cruel chill. She wished her dream objects, as she called them, could be permanent features. If she started something which could grow on its own, it would do so, until its death - like the fires, and the kittens.

The cabinet was there, closed and safe. She would sleep under the mask tonight, get round to the window tomorrow. She pulled open the drawer and picked out the ceramic mask, the solid escape.

The forest was as beautiful as ever. Today, there were white ponies running about on a perfect green hill; foxes in burrows; leaves swirling and falling, flying like birds. Red squirrels. A packet of Marlboro Red, a cup of Tetley tea on a saucer.

And from here, she could see Earth spinning, all its dangers and worries abstract from herself. She fell asleep after having a brief chat with a bear.

[Furore]

Silver found his hiding place, a damaged piece of pavement between two alleys which he could use as a small makeshift trench. He ducked down, and used his powers to spirit out some dark gray canvas from his domain, which he put over the top of the damaged section of pavement, to give the illusion of nothingness.

As he waited, Silver noticed that the street seemed a little emptier than one should. He started to tremble with anticipation, of what he couldn’t be sure. He got out of his makeshift hiding place and spirited a rapier into his right hand, and a gauche into his left. As he reached the end of the alleyway, he cautiously peered around the corner…

A pair of sinister eyes peered out at him through a dark crimson full bodied cloak. Silver backed up and then kicked off a wall of the alleyway, somersaulting behind the cloaked man.

‘And to what do I owe this pleasure?’ Asked a suave feeling (yet still reeking) Silver.
The man didn’t answer, but instead pulled a large knife from his cloak, his face and gloved hands betraying no emotion…
As Silver leapt to engage with the rapier, he felt something coming and ducked. A second man had arrived, dressed very similarly to the first. This man welded a shotgun, a weapon that Silver had great distaste for…

Silver kicked the man with the shotgun at full force, knocking the man to the floor and the gun several feet away. He took a swig of rum from the flask at his side, to regain full control of himself, and in the same movement rushed towards the man with the knife gauche first. As the gauche locked with the man’s knife, Silver held the rapier to the man’s throat, hoping that the man would just give up. The man twisted and freed his knife, only to find a prepared Silver had thrusted the point of his rapier through the man’s throat.

Silver looked back to the man with the shotgun, only to find the man was nearing the gun slowly, as if he was a robot…
Silver grinned, grabbed his gauche by the tip of the blade and then spun it towards the man, burying it right in the middle of his head. He turned back to the first man he had dispatched. The man was gone…
Yet his cloak had been left…
Silver turned back to the man who had welded the shotgun. He had disappeared too…
Also leaving his cloak behind…

Silver frowned…
Something was going on he figured. And whatever it was, it wasn’t good…
He sniffed the air and smelt it again, the horrid smell of sewage. He scowled and tipped some of his rum over himself. It was a much more preferable smell…
He felt his long dark hair with his left hand, pausing on a piece of knotted hair. He sighed and started looking for the nearest place he could wash himself…
He didn’t think he’d have the power to go to Skull Cove anytime soon…

[Sinister]

Hot humid air condensed on cold stone slabs making them slippery. Jack carefully stepped across the dark grotto to the hot spring, a five-foot and twenty-four feet in diameter deep well of fresh volcanic-heated spring.

Jack, shedding his robe, sunk himself in pool. A bowl of pomegranate arils appeared at the edge of the spring… He tried to let loose of his thoughts and let the memories slide away. But they had been bothering him increasingly lately, like an old battle wound that misbehaves in bad weather. Bloody frenetic images yawned out of his vaulted recollections. The troubles of memories, the ones you trouble over to discard stay with you the longest.

Ever so suddenly you remember of your baby brother dying, strapped to a chair connected to a machine. You smell the smoke as you throw the machine over on it’s side. See the sparks… Hear the alarms.

But when you command people like a general dispatching marching orders, it is no difficult thing to escape. But when you’re only nine… When you have a bad chest wound…

Jack’s finger ran over the raised mark across his chest.

And you wonder for the rest of your life how much you could’ve changed if you hadn’t had the bravery of an injured nine year old…

Jack reached out, seized a pomegranate aril and popped it into his mouth. With the crunch of the aril he felt a shiver through his body. At first, he didn’t believe it. Then his brow furrowed in rage.

Impossible!!

He scrambled out of the spring, knocking the jade bowl of pomegranate arils over, shattering it to shards that melted into the floor. A robe appeared over him and a Dao sword appeared in his hand. He stalked out of the meditation grotto into the main vein of the temple. To his utter amazement, skulking around like feral dogs, were an army of hooded fiends with machetes.

“You fools!” Jack bellowed. “Are you that bored or desperate!?”

They undulated and hisses in response. Jack walked into the middle of them to where their numbers of fifteen surrounded him.

“I don’t know how you know me; and I can’t even begin to understand how you made it here. But you‘ve entered in far over your head. Anyone who dares enter here without my permission, I will hunt down!”

Three approached him whipping their kukri knives above their heads and hissing vilely. They may have made it a further two paces before Jack flashed passed them. His Dao sword found their cloaks untenanted by any tangible form. Their machetes rattled to the marble floor and there were three less.

Jack dropped his Dao sword and brought his hand to the “third eye” of his forehead. In immediate response, jagged spikes issued from the floor under which the remaining twelve figures stood. They disappeared in puffs of smoke, leaving their cloaks and knives.

“THIS IS IT, DO YOU HEAR ME?!” Jack shouted. “I know there are others. You may harass me, but I bet you can’t do this to us.” His eyes narrowed with wrath. “You‘ve got nothing to bank on…”

[Furore]

As Silver walked along the desolate street towards where an old motel was, the air seemed to grow thicker and even a little foggy…
Silver gripped his rapier tightly, and readied his gauche for his left hand. It was then he saw them, several more of the cloaked people… He wondered if they were after his loot…
Silver sent his rapier and gauche back to the Skull Cove, and once again called upon his broad sword. With a cry on his lips, Silver swung his broadsword like a pendulum with all the momentum he could muster. Nobody was getting his treasure, nobody…

‘RRRAAARRRGGGHHH!!!’ Silver roared under the strain of moving his heavy blade around. Silver cut through several of the men noticing them vanish as his sword met their insides. He kept spinning until he hit a wall, the blade of his sword locking with the insides of the cement and steel building…

‘Damn’ he swore, a curse on his lips. He sent his broadsword back to the Skull Cove, but noticed unhappily that a lot of cement went with it…
He wouldn’t be using it for a while.
He then called up his two most treasured weapons. A pair of long curved cutlasses with a logo of rolling waves engraved in the blades.

Silver grinned almost manically. He advanced towards the remaining men noticing one up above the rest, a man standing on top of a tall building. Silver figured he had to be careful…

‘C’mon and take me, ya LILY LIVERED BASTARDS!’ Silver called in challenge. ‘I’ll slice the lot of you!’ With his challenge, Silver dashed towards the men, running fast with his blades looking almost like wings beside his body. With apparent ease, Silver dispatched a couple of men by bringing his blades into a more aggressive stance, a movement from the sides of his body, to his front and back. He then ducked a knife stroke and slashed at another man with both his blades.

As the man dropped, Silver froze. He was bleeding. For the first time in months, another person had caused him to bleed. He looked at the gash on the left side of his torso, unsure of who had inflicted it…
Silver looked back to the man on top of the building. The man gave a small nod and then vanished from Silver’s sight.

Silver quickly dispatched the few remaining men before cleaning his blades and once again setting off towards the old motel. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it up ahead, the thoughts of other people and a good wash putting him back in high spirits. He wondered about these recent events though, with a small frown slightly evident on his face…

Silver entered the motel and was pleased to see a man at the counter and hear the bustling of activity inside. Silver paid the man with some real gold, noticing the surprised look on the man’s face as he confirmed it was real, and then grabbed his keys, those to room 12 before heading to his room. Silver noticed a large bath to the side of the bathroom and sighed with pleasure. As he filled the tub with nice hot water, he figured things would have to get a little better from here…
And besides, shaking down the low-life who had sold him that fake treasure map would be amusing…

As Silver dozed off in the bath, another pair of eyes gazed at him from the shadow of a cabinet in his room…
A pair of sinister, inhuman eyes…

[Holy Priest]

“What a day…” Ariel laid on her bed after a cooling shower. Then, something caught her attention. She stood up and get to her back pack and reached out for the mask. And started to study it.

“Did you coincidently follow me to where ever I go or you’ve moved along with me?” Ariel spoke to the mask as if expecting some sort of answer from it, “*sigh* How silly I am talking to a mask. It wouldn’t answer me in any circumstances.” Just as she wanted to put the mask on her bed, the mask glowed dimly. In fact it was not really the mask itself, it’s the name on the mask which glow dimly. It did surprised Ariel a little at first but she took it up and examined the mask all over.

“Is there a bulb installed some where?” Ariel spoke softly to herself thinking there was some sort of machine or electric in the mask which made the name to glow. But of course, she found nothing but just a normal mask.

Again, as she wanted to leave the mask on her bed, the name glowed again. Very dim. But it could caught someone’s attention in a not so well lit room. This time, she didn’t have the time to sit down to have any study on the mask anymore. Someone had broke into her house down there in her living room and gust spoiling every single window there. Ariel could hear those noisy glass breaking noises clearly. She didn’t dare to walked down but somehow, something in her heart which urges her so much to get down and have a look. She was very certain that the same creature had return again.

“Breaking a single piece of my glass again and you’ll suffer!” she shouted over to the monster who was standing back facing her at the far end of the manor.

Without turning back facing Ariel, the creature sent gusts to strike at Ariel who was still standing at the staircase. This time she managed to avoid all the gust which came in the same direction but she didn’t noticed that there was another coming from behind and it sure struck her and sent her flying over the room. She was still grabbing that mask on her hand which she didn’t quite felt about that. She stood up quickly to find the location of the creature. It was no longer in the room.

“Where ever you are MONSTER! Come out at once!”

Strong wind blew in the room and that creature appeared. Now, she could see that creature’s face clearly but she had no time to study it. Just then she felt warmth in her palm. She looked down and found that she was actually still holding the mask which she didn’t felt it all the while. The moment she wanted to take s step back to get nearer to the staircase, the room start to shimmer and highways and high raise buildings formed around her. The sudden change of landscape had startled her. Still she managed to took off running on the highway. She clearly knew that the creature wouldn’t let her go if it had a chance to capture her.

“This place is too open and there isn’t any place for me to hide…” Ariel muttered as she was running wildly with no idea where to go next.

“No running away from me anymore!” the creature stood aggressively from a distance from Ariel. She stared at Ariel with her evil gaze and strong wind start to blow. The wind had stopped Ariel from going further or even back away.

“Oh gosh this is no good…,” Ariel muttered, “I can’t even open my eyes… Hope something could stop the strong wind.”

The wind actually didn’t blind her. It was the dust in the wind which blinded her. Slowly, the creature walked towards Ariel. The creature summoned some sort like a knife into her hands and walked with the same pace getting closer and closer to Ariel. Ariel couldn’t open her eyes and the strong wind didn’t even get a little peace. The mask on her hand glowed. The glow is much brighter than it was before. Just then, cement appeared around Ariel which slowly formed into wall. The wall was strong and Ariel was safe in there. She was amused with the fact that she was surrounded by cement walls.

“This is just good to protect me from the strong wind but that creature can catch me when she break the wall down. Wait… yesterday was forest then now, highways and high raise buildings.” Ariel continued to speak to herself and found out that she has some sort of power to shift her surroundings.

“The wall couldn’t stay much longer with all her punching and kicking.” Ariel said as she still couldn’t figure a way to escape. The wall broke and the creature was standing in front of her. Once again the wind had disturbed her view and she couldn’t hold up her head. Somehow the creature didn’t strike her with her knife. She only let out a strong blow at Ariel at her stomach and let her fell to her knees. She released her mask at both her hands pressed hard on her stomach with pain.

“I won’t die, will i?” Ariel started to sob and she saw a small pebble in front, “Raining pebbles start your strike now!” Ariel chanted but nothing happened. The creature send her leg out to kick at Ariel. This had almost send Ariel to the end but Ariel blocked with her hands which hurts her so much.

“Mask… The mask!” She looked around and found the mask lying on the ground beside her. She let out her hands to reach the mask. The moment she touched the mask with the finger, pebbles start to rain from sky. They struck hard on the creature and she creature had no time to protect herself from the raining pebbles. Ariel was surrounded by concrete wall once again which gave her protection from the pebbles. The creature cried out loudly and vanished into the thin air. Everything stopped and disappeared at the same time. The wind had stopped with the raining pebbles, concrete wall faded as well as the highway and high raise building. All left behind was Ariel who was still kneeling on her manor’s carpet and one side grabbing onto the mask tightly.

“Is this the end?” Ariel spoke, breaking the silence in the manor and blackout. The moonlight shone into the manor and the glass which shattered on the ground reflect beautifully under the moonlight.

[Govinda]

Lady lay back in her bed of autumn leaves. With one lazy arm she drew a cigarette to her lips, and with the other she bade the leaves above her head move slightly, to obscure and dapple the sunset sunlight shining in her eyes.

The hill of ponies had become a loch, an inland expanse of water; it was decorated with little glinting paper lanterns floating in the company of lotusflower; the little paperbound candles made their way slowly by an unseen current, swept along with the flowers, weaving their way in and out of trailing lilies and unknown, waterbound nets of white passiflora. The little lanterns each had their own sphere of light, and it reflected off of the water, shimmering and glinting in the twilight. Below, Earth spun still.

Leaves fell slowly in a breeze which didn't touch Lady, sending the dead red fingers spinning up into the simple empty space above the forest, flying like inspired birds. Lady loved to watch them.

There was a rustle behind her. She didn't move: she'd populated this forest by whim of her imagination, and there was nothing to be feared from it. The rustling got closer; it sounded like there were more than just one creature. Strange.

Lady turned around, propping herself up on her elbows, to see what it was. Squirrels, maybe?

She jumped instantly to her feet. An army of hoods! They were advancing slowly through the trees, picking their way through the trunks, stamping almost unintentionally on the undergrowth. They were starin at her; picking her out before this sea of unblinking red dots. Lady turned to run; they were coming from behind too, closing in on her precious little clearing.

'NO!' she yelled, shaking birds from the trees. 'This is MY place! This is where I am safe, what, what are you doing? Step back! You're not here! You can't be here!'

She span round and round in circles as the red dots pressed in. 'No...' she whimpered, falling to her knees. She pointed to the sky, where Earth sat. 'YOU belong THERE! GO! Get out, go! I'm in charge of this place! You can't get me here!'

She could swear she heard one giggle. 'You...****ing...oh bloody hell.'

Lady turned and ran to the loch. She picked her way deftly through the forest, jumping, moving trees out of her way at will. She made it to the water; behind her, emerging from the forest, the red dots and clean hoods. She stood at the water's edge, looking at the lovely lanterns, the hundreds of flowers...'I need help,' she said to the water.

A deep rumble came from the centre of the water. Suddenly a huge creature exploded in a waterfall in reverse; it jumped up, screamed toward the sky, landing back in the water with a dull thud, upsetting the lanterns. Many of the tiny lights went out as the creature slid toward Lady on the bank.

She watched it approach, and couldn't help stifling a laugh. 'You're kidding me!' she said, staring at it. Long and green, like a snake without scales; a single pointy ridge along its back. Four legs with flippers, two front, two back. On its head, a stupid tourist tartan hat with a fluffy ginger wig poking out from beneath it. It drew up to the bank, one huge eye level with Lady; it watched her staring in wonder and with incredulity, and gave her a look that said, 'What? It's your imagination. Don't blame me.' It gave a nod of its gargantuan head, and Lady scrambled up its neck, coming to a rest on its forehead.

If it was possible for red dot eyes to be dumbfounded, it would be now that they could show it. Some of the creatures had stopped moving. Lady sat stop her new friend. 'Come any closer and you will die. You can't get me here, I'm too strong in this place. Do not come back. I mean it.'

By way of explanation, she planted land mines in front of three of the advancing creatures. They stepped on them, and flew to the sky; they fell back in pieces, and vanished. The rest stopped moving.

'You're not stupid. Now go,' said Lady. She was still frightened...she couldn't help it. Her fear always ended badly. 'GO!' she yelled.

And they did.


***

Lady returned to her bedroom, slid the mask into its drawer. She observed her window. This was awful. The creatures...they'd invaded her very self. She was sure they wouldn't win there...but her little world, The Moon, was essential; it made her feel compeltely safe, and she needed that in order to keep her imagination under control; to keep it making kittens and not missiles.

She lifted the phonebook, and quickly dialled a windowfitter. She'd have to call Joey, say some drunk broke her window and she couldn't leave the house. The windowfitter would call in the evening, he said, after getting her to measure the window and relay the information.

'I cannot be the only one,' she muttered. 'They can't take me when I'm there...but I can't always be there. I cannot be the only psycho in this city. But how to find...?'

She decided that all she could do was keep her eyes peeled for the hooded ones. Maybe she'd see them going somewhere, to pick on someone else like her; maybe she'd be too late and find the only one who could help her answer these vital questions lying dead. What were the creatures? Where were they from, what did they want?

There was nothing to be done about it just now. Lady sat down, suddenly remembered how sore her arm was, and waited for the day to pass.

[Sinister]

Inside the copperband car 35, Jack Christie, pulled a black skeleton T-shirt over his head. He grabbed the discarded machete and set it in between his black jeans and his belt. He finished tying on his snapping heavy black boots. He stooped to check his reflection in the chrome side of one of the car seats. He had a visibly troubled look that he couldn’t erase no matter how he postured his face.

He pulled a leather jacket, containing his mask in a large side-pocket, over his shoulders and his right hand immediately hunted down a abused package of Black Kretek cigarettes. A lighter was produced, struck and his clove cigarette popped and hissed like a sparkler. The familiar bitter taste, the sweet smell. He felt ready, somehow.
He was no longer a subway bum living off of dreams. He was a freak hunter, in the real world. It had been a while. Jack didn’t have a lot of experience in the “real world”, he avoided it when possible. Serendipity said he didn’t fit in and he didn’t feel like arguing.

Jack snickered behind his cigarette. It hadn’t occurred to him but his hunt wasn’t going to go very far if he couldn’t remember the way out of the subway. He had picked out a dot on his map to hunt down. If for any other reason to see if that freak was having his kind of trouble. If things came to worse…well he had his powers to fall back on.

He forced the door open to the car. He sighed. Spider-webs made it rather difficult to see farther than six or so feet. He hated the touch of spider-webs on his skin. He pulled the machete out and began to cut a swathe through the forest of webs. After he had cut himself some breathing room, he charged his memory. He could go through the tunnels. What a lovely place for those hooded things to crawl out of some black hole and cut off my head. His eyes narrowed and disgusted look crossed his face.

He started making his way to the old up-tunnel to the streets. It had been bricked over and Jack had forgot. He wanted to curse. He could feel it building up. He closed his eyes, deep breath. He began to whistle. Whistle a cheerful random tune as he made his way to the tunnels.

“Had to go this way anyway…” He said, reassuring the spider-webs.

No lights… To hell with lights. It’s just a short cut. His throat tightened at thinking the word “cut”.

The tunnels were the blackest light-sucking black that a lack of light could achieve. There was a thumping sound from above, just the sound of the city or a car running in a parallel tunnel. Car. That’d be great. Take a wrong turn, end up as a red smear. The tunnel could’ve been anything, a cave, a black hole or even death itself. Though it did have the old power lines that still received power off the city grid but not the rickety florescent bulbs that the station had. It only had more spider-webs and dark.

If I stop feeling spider-webs, I need to turn back. Jack thought, making a mental note.

About a mile and a half until I see a light on my left. Then up and out. And then… Find the freak that’s been haunting the old alehouses, motels and taverns from Copperband St. to Skeltergate Rd.

What a terror. Jack thought, looking at the absence of things to look at, as he fumbled forward a like a movie zombie with his arms out. Spelunking black subway routes that were probably filled with hooded-monsters bearing knives all to find a freak, who, as far as he knew, was going to be completely uncooperative and most likely plastered. But at least it would be a place to start.

Jack, staying between the rails and far from where the third rail stayed. There could be little doubt that it was live. Feeling worse and worse in the pit of his stomache, he began nervously whistling that old tune from behind his cigarette.
...
...
He could hear hissing…

[Furore]

Silver’s mind was troubled. He thought about the very recent events very carefully…
Who were these less than talkative men? What did they want with him? Silver had realised that he’d in no way given up the information concerning the treasure of the Skull Cove, so why were these men after him?

Silver opened his eyes slowly, relaxed by the warmth of the bath’s heated waters. His eyes widened and he jumped out of the bath butt-naked. The man from the top of the building had been watching him, and he knew not how long…

‘Join usssss,’ the man hissed, looking strangely more relaxed than his silent comrades.

‘Who the hell are you lot? AND WHAT IN THE SEVEN BLAZING HELLS DO YOU WANT WITH ME ANYWAY?’ was Silver’s foul tempered reply, as he spirited on a robe.

‘You are not needed to know whyyyy…. Thaaat ssaid it would be more than wwworth it for youuu…’ the man responded.

‘Oh no?’ replied Silver. ‘Than how am I supposed to make an informed decision?’

Silver’s tattoo glowed on bare dripping skin, and his rapier and gauche appeared in his wet hands. As he pointed the tip of his rapier towards the man’s throat, he grinned.

‘I’m afraid I cannae help you out with this one matey, though I will grant ye one boon. Yer life for your cooperation, you savvy?

‘Sooo beee ittt… Butt we willl ggain you one way or anotherrr…’

The man disappeared again. Silver let out a nervous laugh and sat down on the couch in his motel room and waited for his clothes to dry. He considered this new man…
Join him, a strange hissing man, and a bunch of seemingly simpleminded individuals?
He didn’t think it would be something worth pursuing…

Silver decided that once his clothes had finished drying, he would investigate these men, see who they were or who they were working for. If they could catch him off guard, he knew they would have to be seen as a more than slightly major threat…

Silver summoned up some old clothing and a life size doll from his island, relics that had been more than useful on occasion, and used them to make it appear he was sleeping in his bed. He then pulled out a vent, stuffed a pillow through and wedged himself in, before disguising the vent entrance with a not so noticeable looser grill.

As he fell asleep again, Silver hoped on the seven seas, that he would not snore, for snoring would echo throughout the whole of the vent system, alerting everyone to his presence…

[Govinda]

The windowfitter came, left. Night settled, morning rose. Nothing of note happened.

The day rolled around. Lady's shoulder, after its run in with the Magnum, seemed to be healing. She wasn't sure what to do about it, but knew that a nurse or doctor would take one look at it and fix it. It would be easy...but she was fearful of going outside again. The hooded ones. How had they managed to get into her little moon world? Well, for now, there was little to be done, save go to a clinic and get her shoulder seen to.

She thought as she walked, humming a tune from the 1940's. They'd made it into her world, and that meant they were connected somehow to her mask, to what she could do. And there must be others. This could not be a personal vendetta. She'd just have to keep her eyes peeled.

The streets were still damp. Steam rose in filtered pillars from the manholes, wafting off and coming apart in the wind thrown up by the traffic. The rumble of copperband subway cars could be felt below the streets. As Lady walked over their hidden pathways to the clinic, she sometimes thought she could hear something; a hissing. Maybe a leaking gas tap?

No! She'd heard that before, somewhere. That slight, unknown noise; like a weakened, angry cat. But it was too strong for there to only be one...

She walked on. Was it getting louder? It was underground, definately. Was something wrong with the copperband? Was it really a gas leak?

'No!' she muttered to herself. She was not allowed to conjure images of what it might be; her images had an awful habit of coming true. Don't imagine gas. It's nothing. Hey! Look at that taxi! It's pink!

It was definately getting louder. Lady started walking quickly, and then running, trying to get away from it. This was terrifying; the old thing, the panic which set off disasters, it was back, chasing her.

There! The drop-in clinic was just up ahead. Lady kept her face trained on the pavement, avoiding faces, buildings, cars, anything with any kind of indentity. Anything a thought could be trained on.

But the hissing kept getting louder. It was chasing her, or so it seemed. She screwed her face up and walked with one arm wrapped around her head, covering her ears as best she could. The other arm wasn't playing today. She walked, head bowed and covered, walking like a speedy Hunchback.

'Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing...' she whispered. The hissing...it was pressing her head on all sides, pushing her mind into itself, suffocating her. the world was contorting itself, twisting into strange spaces, shaped by strange thoughts.There! The clinical white of the clinic lay just ahead, steps away, like a beacon.

She hurried to the doors. They slid open before her with a mechanical whoosh. As soon as she set foot on the white linoleum floor, the hissing stopped; just stopped; the world became the world again, the people were just living, walking, talking; Lady straightened herself up and breathed deeply. She was still shaky. What had that been? What was going on? It had gotten louder and louder and louder and then...nothing. Quiet smalltalk, a baby gurgling, the sounds of the city outside.

'I am getting a taxi home,' she said to herself decidedly, heading for the reception desk.

[Sinister]

The Kukri knife leapt out into Jack’s shaking hands.

Where?

The sounds were ricocheting around the stone wall so perfectly that no simple human ear could place their origin. The hisses that began as one or two now sounded as a cacophony of venomous sibilation. Jack spun around blindly lashing with the knife, still careful to avoid the third rail. The cadence, the build and rush of the noises flooded his senses until he felt numb. His knife fell to the ground and, landing on it’s tip, skipped finally coming to rest…on the third rail. A shower of sparks fired from the knife as if it were a firecracker. It was only a second of light. There were hundreds of them. They were crowded around him, each with it’s own sharp knife at the ready. And finally the sparks faded, leaving him in a room buzzing with hisses.

His heart was beating out like a Marimba rhythm. He felt hot and sweaty, despite the cool temperature. Jack calmed his mind and reached out blindly. If he could latch on to just one of them… If he could find just one… He found his air being cut off…they were closing in…

Something stiff slapped his right shoulder, at first he thought it was wet…but it wasn’t. The pain and nausea hit him as he heard himself say: “Oh.” Another stiff slap drove the breath from him, causing him to squeak like a mouse. More on reflex, he lashed out and snatched the wrist of one of the things. He coalesced what consciousness and concentration he could manage and stumbled through the ranks of the creatures as the one he had grabbed tried to fight the rest off.

He wasn’t running like a normal person would run, he was galloping. His shoulder beginning to feel cold and wet, but he couldn’t think about that now. Just keep galloping. No thinking. Jack felt rolling tears born from some horrible pain that his conscious mind was trying desperately to ignore.

It no longer seemed he was running. He couldn’t feel his legs moving. And he couldn’t see. It occurred to him to wonder whether he was alive at all, until…he saw light. Dim shafts of light illuminating columns of dust, blasted from his distant left.

Blood began to dribble down into his boots, making them soggy and squish with each footfall. He heard the hissing follow from behind, getting closer and closer. He was only about a hundred feet away from the light. It seemed to him that no matter how hard he ran, he came no closer to the light. No matter how hard he ran, the hissing kept getting closer and closer.

Perhaps he blacked out, but suddenly the light shown on his face. His eyes squinting, he rammed the old wooded door like a charging rhino. It gave way from too many years of dry rot. He ran up and out of the disused stairwell into the dismal gray light of a urban alley. It was the light that showed him his shoulder. His right arm was hanging on by a mere thread. His black skeleton shirt was now brown with blood. The shock was so much that he nearly passed out. He was going to pass out… he could feel it. His left arm snaked around and opened the back pocket to his leather jacket. He began to hear the angry hisses collect in the stairwell and float up.

He felt the cold porcelain mask. With a last grand gesture, he pulled it and smashed it to his face. He could feel the mask start to pull him from reality, but he rejected it. Even in that gray alley he could hear the pluck of a Yangqin. Smell the incense. It was just a flash. A moment he lying on his back on the Koi bridge, then he was back in the alley. His shoulder was whole again. But he was still pale and in shock. He lay there shivering in a wet puddle of blood and dirty rainwater. Waiting. Listening. The hissing was following him now. Fine Let them come.

[Furore]

As Silver groggily raised his head, he gazed up, and was momentarily surprised at his sleeping arrangements. He noticed distastefully, that his throat was now very dry, most likely a direct result of his sleeping in the vent system.

He pressed off from the end of the shaft in an attempt to free himself as quickly as possible, and flew out quite fast as a result. As he picked himself off the floor, Silver noticed with satisfaction that there were no signs of a further intrusion. Either these men were very careful about leaving a trace, or they’d given up on him for now.

Silver quickly took another shower, and gargled some water to aid the feeling of his throat before quickly changing into his gear. He then called upon several swords, belts and sheathes for the swords from the Skull Cove, as well as sending his doll and older clothing back there. He figured it’d be best to let his powers recharge again…

As Silver left the motel, he noticed with grim expectation, the odd looks that were exchanged about him concerning the weaponry he now wore. He grinned at the staring people, and made some odd sarcastic remarks before once again heading for the door. As he stepped through the door, he took a sweeping glance, noting a lack of any of the strange men. Silver breathed a sigh of relief and walked the way he hadn’t come…

Silver kept walking, taking in every detail he could, in the hopes of finding information before the next encounter. He wondered where exactly his answers could lie, as he didn’t really have much information to go by…

Silver eventually stopped, sat down on a bench and sighed, flicking a piece of gold up and catching it as he tried to get a bearing on what his next actions should be. He put the coin back into a fold of clothing, and then took a few swigs of his rum whilst taking in his surroundings. The park around him was quite bare, just a fountain in the centre with a few benches around it and some small shrubs and weeds scattered here and there. It looked fairly grim, and as the fountain itself, the most interesting feature, was in a bad state of disrepair, Silver thought he might as well get going again in an attempt to find a less depressing thinking space…

Silver walked on a little bit more and stopped, smiling. He couldn’t remember a time of greater indecision then now…
He made up his mind right there on the spot. He’d just keep walking. Sooner or later the answers would have to find him after all, wouldn’t they?

Silver started whistling an irregular rhythm he’d heard played in a bar some time ago and set off at a relaxed pace, a grin quite visible on his face.

[Govinda]

The nurse knew what had happened; Lady could see it on her face. But she didn't question, didn't say anything. She went with Lady's story easily, a fall on a slippery flight of concrete steps.

'I won't lie to you,' she said, 'This is going to hurt. Here.' She handed Lady a strip of white material. 'Bite down on this.'

The nurse moved behind Lady, pulling her arm gently with her. She steadied herself on her feet, and started to ask Lady about her life. 'Whaddaya do?'

'I play paino.'

'Lovely! My boy plays that too-'

OW! A sharp pain came from nowhere and flew down Lady's back. She curled up, grabbing her arm, cursing like a docker. The nurse only laughed. 'Not so sweet, huh?'

'I'm sorry, but this hurts like...just, OW. Really ****ing OW. But thank you.' She stood up, the nurse told her nothing else needed done, that the pain would subside in a few hours. Lady nodded, thanked her again, and went to leave the room.

She found her legs disobeying. She could almost hear them saying, 'They're out there! If you want to go, you go on your own.' But what if legs could...no, no, no. Walk out. Leave. Think about the big door once you get there.

The reception was as before. The city lay beyond, obscured and contorted in the windowpanes. It was like watching two huge televisions, only they opened occasionally, revealing reality in its stark, clear lines. Lady made her way through. She was not allowed to panic, or to worry. Get through the doors, hail a cab, get home and work out what to do next. Well, she had work tonight...but she could just do something she hated until this threat passed to get the money she needed for rent and food. She'd had to do it before; conjure money, leave, wait 2 hours to dissipate it.

'Right then,' she said, taking a confident step forward. The television doors slid open and revealed the busy street before her. She stepped out.

Where was it? Nothing had changed. No stark contrast as there had been before; no difference. Still, she was not walking home. Cab drivers were people she didn't feel guilty about conjuring money for, especially the ones which hung around the Broadway. She walked to the kerb and stuck her arm out, her left one nontheless, apparently repaired; the third cab to pass stopped.

The drive was uneventful. The cabbie scowled at her for not tipping; she didn't see the point in giving him a treat which would evaporate in a few hours. They pulled up to the alleyway which led to Lady's apartment block.

Now there was contrast. Shocking contrast. The moment both of her feet were on the pavement the hissing was back; ebbing, flowing, pushing her mind in on all sides. She trained her eyes on the ground and moved down to the alley's entrance. She couldn't help but look up when she came to it.

Lady let out an almighty howl and turned on her heel, hiding around the corner. There was a pack of them there, thronging, hissing...wait, wasn't she meant to be looking for them? They'd just appear in her home if they were chasing her alone...

Taking a deep breath, she poked her head around the corner. There was a person! The hoods were coming out of a door she'd never noticed, and moving towards an immobile figure clad in black, lying on the ground. But...was that...a mask! A mask! A mask like Lady's!

She rushed forwards, bravery sprung from nowhere, and shouted the hoods. 'HEY!' she yelled. 'YOU LOT! WANT A CHALLENGE? GET OVER HERE!' In the back of her mind she had absolutely no idea what she was doing; but for once she was able to let that slide. Someone else had a mask, and they were about to be taken by the things with the hoods.

They turned to face her, but came no closer. They had an easier catch just within their reach. 'HEY!' she yelled. 'I don't know who he is, but I bet you anything I'm more powerful! Come here!'

One moved towards here. Then three, five. Lady picked up a run, heading for them. Time slowed again; the walls around her blurred to grey only, and all she could see before her were the hoods and the immobile figure on the ground. Before she knew it, she had almost met them; suddenly she stopped herself short. Time still wasn't working properly; they had their glinting knives out again. 'What I could really use...' she began.

A flamethrower appeared in her hands. 'Hah!' she shouted. 'Mental! How does it....?'

For lack of anything more reasoned, she pointed the tip at the hoods and pressed a button on the underside of the machine. Flame sprung forth in a whipping arrow, cutting down the hoods directly in front of her. They writhed for a moment, before falling as blue sparks. She moved a bit to her left; the flame did too. To the right, and the same. Hoods falling in sparks as the flame moved slowly, burning Lady's hands, stretching her tired body; time still hadn't caught up. The fire would engulf one, lick its way up slowly; eat them whole. Lady's initial enthusiasm was being quickly overcome by a strange sense of guilt, and a strong feeling of fatigue.

'Hold on, hold on, get enough and they'll go, don't let them see...' her hands felt as is they were on fire, she whole body burned with the strain of trying to keep the gun level and working. She moved forwards. The world was stopping and starting, skipping like a CD caught on repeat. Flashes moved across her vision. She suddently felt as if she were more than human; the pain was becoming a gentle numbness. It didn't matter that the world was slowly falling to bits. Lady was fairly sure that she wasn't on fire, and also fairly sure that the hoods were. This was good. This was the plan.

Her vision became clear of them. She had almost made it to the listless body on the ground, and most of the hoods had retreated. The world was having a seizure in Lady's eyes, twisting and flickering and bending and falling. Strange colours begot strange shapes; and there was still that thing on the floor.

Lady stopped before it. 'HAHA!' she laughed. 'Now...that was cool. Yes.'

The flamethrower disappeared and Lady fell on her face, almost smiling. 'Yes,' she said, enjoying the cooling sensation she was receving from the puddle her face was in. 'Yes.'

[Sinister]

Jack’s eyes, dilated from his lack of blood pressure, beamed exhaustedly on the girl who lay just down the alley from him. Everything was too dim and colorless and his eyes flashed as various rods and cones burned out of his retina. Despite all of these startling phenomenon, Jack breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he had reached out in desperation and someone came, maybe it was luck, maybe it was fate, but he was safe.

He had saw some of the display and as little sense as it made, he didn‘t care... Bursts and jets of intermittent flame followed by a long stream, punctuated by warmth. He could still feel the fading warmth on his cheeks and smell the oily sour tang of kerosene. The result? The hoods were gone. Condemned to nothingness. Nothingness… Perhaps that’s what they always were…

He looked up into the falling placating pitter patter of rain. Remembering that he still had his mask clutched to his chest, he furtively slipped it back into his pocket. Straining himself, he propped up on his arms. His shoulder still tingling with confused pain as the nerves settled. Rocking to the left, he flipped himself over on his stomach. He slid his knees under his stomach and lifted himself to his unsteady feet.

“Hello?!” He called out. It sounded hollow and weak in the alley. “Hello?” He repeated. His vision, still rather diffused, he staggered clumsily towards the girl. The alley seemed to distort and tilt, slanting and leaning off to Jack’s right, making it increasingly hard to walk. “Are you alright?”

After an eternity of wobbly traversing the alley, he made it to her. She had peculiar shade of reddish-chestnut hair. At the sound of his latest question she rose from the ground with a look of uncertain alarm. Jack held his hands up in a disarming gesture, adding a little flourish of his powers to pacify. She seemed to relax a little.

“I’m no threat, swear. Just wanna know what’s going on? What happened?”

[Govinda]

The ground was nice and wet, and cool too. She was lying on her front. Maybe this was just the perfect time to take a little nap...

No. Something stirred in front of her. Lady tried to breath, but her nose was full of...what was that smell? Petrol? Oh, the flamthrower...the world was behaving strangely. There was a black mass moving towards her. She lifted her head up to greet it. It was a person.

Human then, male. Right. It was standing up. Get facts, put them in order. But who...?

He waved his hands, an open gesture. Lady felt a little calmer, somehow. It was strange. He just seemed really, really nice all of a sudden.

Then he started making noises. Lady could do little more than stare. Her hands were aching. Noises.

'Just...what happened?'

Question. Make answer.

Lady pulled herself up until she was leaning on her elbows, her body still on the ground. She squinted. She always felt like this after making something big, especially something she'd had to use, something her body was too small for. She cursed the world for not behaving properly.

Right, Lady, you've still not answered. Go.

'Okay,' she said, looking up at him. She suddenly realised that what she was feeling was in fact delirium. 'Right, well.' The sky was swirling. 'Basically, there were these bunch of guys in hoods and I magicked up a flamethrower and...set them on fire, basically. Which is why this place reeks. All in all.'

She nodded to herself, seemingly satisfied. The floor now seemed more a wet burden than a cool retreat. Time to stand up. She bunched her knees up under herself and put her hands to the ground. 'Ouch! Motherfu...this is just not my bloody day, is it?' Her hands were scorched. She rolled onto her side, and pulled herself up to standing. She looked at her hands; red and black, blistered and scorched.

Lady shut her eyes for a moment. She held her hands, palms up, and wished for some salve to fall on them. Cream, yoghurt. She opened her eyes and stared intently. Nothing...and then, all of a sudden, the tiniest drip of raspberry yoghurt. 'I'm too tired for this,' she said, making fists for the sake of it.

'Oh!' she started, remembering the person she'd done all of this to rescue. Or so she thought. Memories of her Rambo moment were flying back.

'My house is here. We should go there,' she said, turning and heading for the entrance to her apartment. 'Oh,' she added, turning halfway, 'My name's Lady.'

[Holy Priest]

“Hello, Ariel here. Can you please inform Elyse that I’ll have a one day off today. Just say that I’m not feeling quite well. Thanks.” Ariel hung up the phone and walked into the kitchen counter and grabbed her cup of coffee.

“Nothing is as soothing as my cup of coffee...” Ariel took a sip of her coffee and walked out the kitchen.

The incident which happened the night before still bugging her and she couldn’t let her mind rest from that. That’s why she needed to have a day off that day. A day off from not thinking anything which happened so coincidently to her and a mind off her big pile of letters from her readers. However, she couldn’t have any rest. Her mind was playing role and role of movie about what had happened. This was no fun and it will scare most of us who doesn’t believe in miracle.

“Creatures, mask, powers… Anymore stuff which I still need to deal with please come at once.”

“You’re sure you wanted to deal with them now?” a women-like voice appeared somewhere in her living room but she couldn’t see anyone in there. And for sure, she knew that the creature came.

“Yup. I’m very sure that I’ll deal with you today and put and end which I wonder it will end or not. For one thing, this time you wouldn’t break any piece of my glass cause if you do, you’ll know what you’re dealing with later!” Ariel quickly turned around and ran across the room to her kitchen counter to get her mask, “Yes!” Ariel exclaimed the moment she reached the mask. Everything around her started to twist and evolved into an extensive piece of lavender field. The aroma sure filled her nose but that creature was not very pleased with that.

“I assumed that the smell is not so nice to you?” Ariel giggled as she saw the creature sending strong gust blowing every single thing on the field. Ariel sure had the creature’s attention moved but just a moment later, the creature stopped. She locked her gaze on Ariel. Ariel was too terrified to move as she didn’t know what that creature will do next.

“Ok… If I’m still standing here and not moving any sooner or later I wouldn’t have the chance to move anymore. But what should I do…” Ariel spoke in her heart and brainstorming for her next move. It was still silence in both end and suddenly purple in colour rain start falling.

“Hope this would work… Pollen of rottenness please send yourself down from heaven and let the enemy to fall sick!” Ariel exclaimed and the rain stopped for a moment.

Then, colourful pollen started to rain. The creature still hadn’t made her next move but she hadn’t even got the chance to made her next move. Immediately after the pollen started to rain, the creature didn’t move at all but Ariel could hear clearly that the creature was eventually snoring.
“You’re in your sweet dream, aren’t you?” the creature collapsed to her feet and then lay straight on the ground snoring heavily.

“Great! Now something to vanquish you…” Ariel mumbled to herself.

The lavender field once again start to twist and evolve. Gigantic snowy mountain appeared around and freezing breeze could be felt on the white piece of ice field.

“Cold…cold...cold…. I wonder if this would work against you. But it’s worth a try,” Ariel had a grab of snow in her hand and chanted something, “Freezing white snow, fill your pray and petrify it!” Ariel finished her line and looked straight to the creature expecting in her heart that the creature would be frozen. Somehow, the creature was still snoring heavily (which was a good sign still) but the freezing didn’t take place (which was a bad sign)

“Why she’s not freezing? My spell shouldn’t have failed.” Ariel walked slowly getting closer to the creature. She was shocked. She couldn’t believe what she had just seen. A static field had form around that creature and the snow was covering the static field instead of the creature!

“But… How come...” Ariel spoke to herself but still looking blankly and doubting what is in front of her.

“Oh dear… Sorry to disappoint you but this little freezing power wouldn’t work if I’m around. Work hard and try not to use anymore freezing power. At the meantime, I’ll take back my baby. Take for sending her a sweet dream.” Another voice could be heard but no one was around.

“Wait! Who…” Ariel couldn’t continue her sentence as she was startled that she was standing on her manor floor instead of the snowy field, “I didn’t change the…” Ariel didn’t know what to say.

Then, she walked to her couch and sank into her couch. She didn’t know what to do at that moment but she was sure that she will face a new enemy after the gust-blowing one had been vanquished.

[OceanEyes28]

Hands against her back pressed her closer and lifted her from the cool cotton sheets. Lips, arms, legs. Skin for skin, teeth and tongue. In one motion, the world turned and she searched for her new place in the writhing mass. Drenched, searching, heaving love twisted and pulsed beneath the watchful lens. And yet, the connection that should have warmed her from within was a farce. Touched, but pure. Completely independent of one another.

“Good. We have our shot. Now get one of her eyes. Yes, zoom in. Synema, I need you on bottom.” The director reclined in his chair and watched her make his world a reality.

Once he had his moment, she was released and the lovers exchanged a brief nod before Synema was given a robe and dismissed to her dressing room. After receiving a script to study for the next shoot, she left the studio in her blue velvet blazer and khakis. She faced another gray dawn. “Didn’t know it was so late. Early, I suppose.” Hands in pockets, head back, chest forward, she clip clopped her way down the damp sidewalk.

Her key and latch were too noisy for her taste. Ish warmly greeted her with a few jumps and a prancing walk to her bowl. Fair enough. The bowl emptied, Ish was content to squish beside Synema in a recliner for one. Her clothes had been lost at the door and she contently sat exposed to a ceiling dripping with paint, mask resting on the crown of her head. Another full bubble flicked at the ceiling left orange specks across her cheeks. Blue pooled at her belly button. Ish had new spots. The morning was pleasant and that made it all the more disappointing when six hooded figures came crashing through the window.

“There you are.” Synema put the recliner back into an upright position and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. Ish lifted her head and sniffed indignantly.

Oh sure, the first time had been different. She had been frightened, Ish had growled and barked. Goodness, she had nearly swooned in true damsel fashion. Fortunately, she had had a healthy dinner and a stomach still plump with satisfaction. She had remained upright and the single hooded intruder had been dealt with.

They sent one more each time a team went missing. The first fight had been a long chase through the apartment. Synema throwing furnature, the hood swinging his blade, Ish nipping at his heels. At the time, it was more dramatic. The second intrusion was easier. When Synema was able to focus, she could produce fizzing, popping acidic bubbles that did the job properly. However, the first chase had been so panicked that she had nearly forgotten she was even wearing the mask. This time, she was ready.

“…4, 5… 6. And that’ll do it. Bedtime, Ish.”

Synema was on the way to the bedroom when a shattering thud came from within. She opened the door to a taller, broader shouldered hooded figure straightening its posture.

“Odd… seven doesn’t seem right.” He had a large axe instead of the usual blade. Not right at all.

The air split as he swung the large instrument through the air and embedded it in the doorframe. He had barely missed. Synema stumbled back, catching herself on the recliner. The figure lumbered forward. “So you’re slower.” His hand tightened around the handle and his robes brushed her skin in the instant he was before her. They stood, faces nearly touching. If he could, he would have laughed. She screamed and ducked beneath his rising arm. “My recliner!” There would have to be a new one. He turned. Her hand went to her head, grasping for the mask. “Of course it fell off.” But where? The axe came down again, and she went tumbling forward to the ground. The axe fell beside her, leaving a thick black trail of tar in its wake. He had missed on purpose. He was teasing her. How insulting.

She scrambled away and put hands on her mask. Once on her feet again, she squared off with the bulky figure. Mask on, bubbles ready, shots fired. He seemed to vanish and reappear rather than move. He was fast. He dodged everything and every swing was a continuing tax on her strength to avoid. Not only that, but she had to keep an eye on Ish who was valiantly, but vainly, trying to protect her dear provider. Shove Ish, apologize later, avoid the axe, throw acid that wasn’t hitting, curse at him… She was doing all she could, but it was falling miserably short.

A strong thrust with the spiked head of the axe made contact with the meat of her thigh and took some with it on its recoil. Oh. God. Synema dropped like a drunk and Ish was quickly beside her. She loved that damn dog. “Easy, baby.” Okay. So that hurt. Payback would be great and a method to do it would be better. Suddenly, a yellow glop of paint splattered across the floor. Days and days of paint collected on her very ceiling. The answer.

With a flick of her hand and a quick roll across the floor – dog in arms – the heavy, sticky, slab of paint plummeted to the floor. The figure was not crushed, but she had slowed him down just enough. A little blood for drama, extra large acid bubble for performance, jagged icicles just in case, and the throw was executed. Hit! Sparks flew from the puncture wounds and the robe began to sizzle and boil. He collapsed with a sickening splat into the spongy paint.

Synema was finally able to breathe before being accosted with a wet tongue on her neck and hands. Oh Ish. “Hey, come here.” She held her dog in her arms and touched the mask on her face. Now for this leg. “We’ll clean up tomorrow. Ready for domain time? Dino bones?” An ecstatic head toss and skipping paws in response. “Yeeeees dino bones.”

[Sinister]

“I’m Jack.” It came out a little breathlessly and with little or no concern for a proper introduction. To be honest, Jack Christie stood a little worse for wear. His shirt and jacket were torn, hacked, burned and soaked with blood. His face was sickly pale.

An apartment sounded like rest and respite. Whoever this “Lady” was, Jack could feel the swirling and trappings of power and destiny. I.e. the possibility of their chance meeting was out. Jack would do as the Tao dictated and at the moment it was shoving him full force towards her apartment. He was hoping that the Tao wouldn’t force them to pass people, however. They were running at speeds which Jack recalled being less than acceptable for an urbane setting. Not to mention their current appearance.

They sprinted into a building’s backdoor, dodging wandering glances from people inside. Lady ran the stairs like an athlete and Jack tried to keep up. But he literally felt like passing out into the steps, possibly mortally wounding himself in the process. He shook himself back to focus.

She threw open a door and bounded into a hall. Careening down, she stopped and the second door. She made a habitual motion to find her key, but Jack saw the door was unlatched so slightly. He backed up, secretly wishing to be somewhere else suddenly.

“Lady!” He hissed. She stopped and looked up, the alarm on her face yelling out “What now?” Jack pointed at the ajar door. She looked like a deer in headlights and Jack’s hand began to creep towards his mask.

She gave the door a cautionary push. It creaked open, not revealing anything particularly threatening. Jack felt Lady’s thoughts as she began to question whether or not she had left it open. Jack walked in front of her and took hold of the knob. Throwing caution to the winds he opened it. He expected to hear hissing and see a crowd of red-hooded things. But nothing. They poured into the apartment. Jack staying behind Lady.
She ran off, Jack presumed to check her room. Jack wandered beyond the safety of the foyer, into the living room.

“Hello, Jack.” The man sitting on the couch said, pleasantly. Jack spun. On the couch, 6’1 with blonde hair, austere Aryan features and a business suit, sat a man. His voice had a hollow creak to it and had normal inflection, though being of dark timbre. He had a cup of cradled in his left hand and pinched by his right. Jack lashed out, probing the man’s mind. He never made it past the lukewarm smile.

“Lady!”

Lady rushed back in and was taken aback seeing the man sitting so comfortably in her home.

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “You know me.” He stated.

“I do now.” He said, smiling. Jack’s mind whirled. Had he learned all of that so quickly? Jack exhaled, giving his eyes a momentary close. Focusing in, he spoke with all the pitiful power he could muster.

“Tell me now what you want.” The result was instant, the lukewarm smile lifted in slight pleasant surprise.

“Won’t you two need some tea? You both look so, disheveled.”

“How generous you are with my tea.” Lady, growled frigidly.

“No.” He said, lightly. “I brought my own.” Two cups of tea appeared on the table in front of the couch. Lady stooped and picked up her cup. Jack would normally refuse, but he needed something to wet his mouth. Lady and Jack both nursed on their cup of tea. Two soft chairs appeared opposite the sofa and at the man’s gesturing, they sat. “My name is Joseph Devine and you are Jack and Lady.”

“Who are you and why are you in my apartment?” Lady asked, her eyes staring unwelcomingly.

“I represent an interest in both of your respective…gifts. We…I, am here to present the situation. Maal-Viis corporate are in the business of recruiting spare talent like your’s for betterment. The normal procedure is,” he sat his cup down. “To hunt down talent like yours.” Jack recoiled at the manner in which Joseph had colored “Hunt”. “All potentials must pass a test which you both have. Lady, you have a commendable amount of concentration not to mention that colorful imagination you’ve shown.” Joseph winked, mockingly. “And Jack, you’ve got a god-like muscle of extrasensory command. We‘d like you both to join.”

Jack let his cup fall to the table and he stood. “You’re lying.” He said quite plainly. “You’re responsible for these attacks.”

The man sighed with fake frustration. “Very well. I intend either to kill you both or add you to our numbers.” He leaned back and crossed his legs, business-like and cocked his head to the left, expectantly.

[Govinda]

Everything had happened so quickly. Lady sat in her chair, paying less attention to this new man than to trying to set everything in order inside her brain. The man sitting in a chair beside her had indentified himself as Jack. He at least hadn't tried to attack her yet.

Hold on....the businessman had made tea and chairs appear, and he'd done it effortlessly. Lady sipped her tea and started to calm down a little. The man, apparently a Joseph Devine, was quiet.

'Who are you and what are you doing in my apartment?' she asked. Her mind still felt tired from the extertions in the alley, but she was paying enough attention to note that this man probably was not in her house with his tea just for conversation.

Joseph spoke, Lady listened. Jack seemed to be paying a lot more attention than she was. She still didn't know what he could do, why he had a mask, why the hoods wanted him.

Recruiting spare talent...hunting down...god-like muscle of extrasensory command...

'He's a psychic?' she asked herself.

The man had stopped talking. Jack told him he was lying; Lady hadn't been paying enough attention to notice whether or not he was, but she took Jack's word for it. The second the man spoke, she knew for certain that he had been right.

'Very well. I intend either to kill you both or add you to our numbers.'

'Wait a minute,' Lady said, standing up. 'That's a bit of an artbitrary thing to be saying in my house. Moreover, there have to be others besides us, am I right?' All it really was was fear, Lady was always the same. She saw the ease with which he made the chairs and the tea, and all in the right places, too. He was powerful, she barely understood her imagination. He had finesse, she had fear.

'I think you'd better-'

He chuckled and raised his hand. 'Sit down, girl, please. You're embarrasing yourself. We know how scared you get. We know why you left that little town. We know what you did, and why,' he said with a voice like bitter chocolate. He took a sip of tea. 'Now sit down. My intentions remain the same. And yes, there are more like you. Not quite like you by any means, but similar. I intend to visit them post haste.'

'Well mine don't!' she said, remaining on her feet. She stood up, saying nothing. She just stared intently at Joseph's frankly creepy blue eyes. 'What the hell did I say that for? What am I meant to say now? Is he going to attack now, or what? Just sit down. Yes.' She nodded to herself and sat down.

'Good,' Joseph said, placing his cup and saucer on the table. 'As I said, my intentions remain the same. You can join us, or die. Make your choice please, and make time, I am a busy man, you know.'

Lady turned to look at Jack. He seemed to be taking this better than her. She considered trying to drop an anville or a piano on Joseph's head, but she didn't want to start a fight. He would win. But could they outrun him? Wait a minute, that guy's a psychic, or something...he'll know where I stand.

'Well?' Joseph asked.

'I'm fed up of running,' Lady said. 'But I won't join you. You've tried to kill me before, and I think you'll try again- '

'Which means you'll be scared of me until I get you,' Joseph smirked.

Lady stared at Joseph, and lion appeared behind the sofa.

'Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! I didn't mean that! Jack, the door, the door, go to the door, shit, shit, shit-'

Joseph just cackled. 'You know, you really need to get that under control. Come here, little cat.' The lion walked around the sofa, knocked the table over, and placed itself next to Joseph. 'Good cat. That girl's far too weak for you, isn't she?'

Jack's face was doing some funny things. Lady smiled at him, trying to apologise and suggest he get used to things like this at the same time.

'I'm sorry,' she whispered to him. 'I think it's time to go.'

[Sinister]

Jack stretched his pained face at the sight of the cat. He gave Lady an imperceptible wink and then in almost the form of a whisper: “I think you’re right.”

Joseph looked up, a grim smile sprang to his lips. “Are you leaving?” He asked, almost musically. Jack’s finger snuck into his back jacket pocket and unzipped it.

“I’m afraid you leave us no choice.” Jack said, emptily. His focus suddenly drifted off as if he was daydreaming a thousand worlds away. A cruel smile snapped to Jack’s face, and the large lion let out a terrifying thunderous roar. Not sparing a second, the furiated beast leapt into the chair with Joseph, ripping into him like a chew toy.

Jack could feel Lady’s mind build with fear. ‘Oh no we don’t’ Jack thought. A quick spare thought and Lady was back from fear. “Time to take a trip.” Jack said with a laugh. He wrenched his mask from his jacket, taking Lady’s hand he mashed the mask to his face.

Before the apartment melted away into white and then washed out to the Koi bridge, he saw Joseph Devine toss the dead carcass of the large cat aside and glared evily.

Soft echoes of the metalic chirping of suzumushi crickets and the lyrical pluck of the yangqin drifted over the bridge. The smell of smoky sandalwood and a fresh green breeze whipped through the bridge.

Beside Jack was Lady, both of them appearing in comfortable robes and sandals. He bowed took her hand and kissed it lightly upon the knuckle. He looked up, smiling.

“I don’t mean to imprison you here. But I would be honored for you to be my guest for the time being.” He stood and walked up the bridge a space. “At least until we can work out what to do now…”

[Govinda]

Lady just stared.

'My, you're a gentleman!' she said, almost laughing. 'I take it this is where your mask takes you...you know, I never tried taking anyone else to my mask place. It's called The Moon. Lots of things happen there, it's different every day. There's plenty of tea and wildlife. But I don't know if anyone else can see it. And you're not imprisoning me at all. I feel like a happy guest.'

She walked over to the edge of the bridge, looking down to the water below. 'Those are big fish,' she said, dangling her arms. 'Look...' she turned to face Jack. 'I'm sorry about before. Really. It's retarded, absolutely ridiculous, I know it is. I mean, a LION? A ****ing lion? What was that...?' Lady turned back to the water. 'I know you can sense things in minds, or something close...' Jack nodded. 'So you know then. You know that half of the irrational things I do are down to fear. I may as well explain.

'I am scared of myself. And, trust me, when you're scared of what your own mind can do...everything else suddenly becomes absolutely terrifying, especially if you don't want to hurt it, and then do, without control, or meaning. If things are okay what I can do becomes practical, likeable. I can make food, haha, did you know that? But it's not filling. Like everything I make that doesn't have a life of its own, the food diseappears, right from my stomach.

'That's why the lion happened. I should not have been able to do that. It was big, powerful, and I'd just stopped being Rambo, remember? But things like animals, they want to live. Makes it easier. I almost felt angry when that twat killed it.' Lady caught up with herself, throwing her head back a bit and turning to the sky. 'I'm sorry,' she said, again with the self-depricating half-laugh. 'I hope my little soliliquay isn't boring you. Christ, I can't even look at you, for some reason. I didn't know you 15 minutes ago and now I'm in a Far Eastern garden with fish. And I'm dressed too, sandals. This is insane, even by my standards,' she laughed.

'We need to find the others,' she said to the huge fish beneath the bridge. She turned to Jack. 'Do you know to get to them? That twat Devine does.'

The sky here is beautiful, Lady thought. Jack seemed to be thinking. Or maybe he was tracing her mind, or something; she didn't know, nor did she care. She was standing on a bridge inside the very essence of this new person; that implied trust on his part, and she could do nothing other than reciprocate.

Who knew, maybe he could help her. He'd made her feel better before, he might do so again. They were away from Devine, there were others to be found.

She smiled down at the fish. I can definately deal with this.

[OceanEyes28]

The skin on Synema’s thigh trembled in frightened anticipation as the needle approached - long silver thread stretched taut between teeth and hands. The needle’s prick was painful against her sore flesh, but the glittering droplets coating the thread were a potent and welcome balm. Slowly and carefully, she pulled the needle in and out. Ish pressed a cold nose against her neck, whimpering softly.

“There there, you old wuss. We’re fine.”

The thread, once sewn, bound itself to her skin—fizzing and popping. She finished her work and the thread covered the wound in its entirety. She bound it with gauze and let the reaction take place. Now she needed rest. The silver thread was one of her more draining concoctions as the solution it was soaked with had to be drawn from the rest of her body. She needed to become more efficient.

Ish was comforted and fed before Synema was able to find her own relaxation. Spires of white crystal wound their way up the cavern walls and dipped perilously into blue springs. The cave was dim; low burning white flames guided her into an immense glistening chamber and then out into the stone hallway, splattered with paint. Sunlight timidly touched the edges of her canvas before they opened up into an aspen grove. Fresh air. Warm stone against her bare back and limbs. A gentle rustling of golden leaves. A soft head resting on her stomach—cool inhale, damp exhale. She rubbed Ish’s ears and considered her next move. Whatever that meant.

“Ish,” the dog’s ears perked up, “If you were me, what would you do with yourself?” Ish licked Synema’s tummy absentmindedly. “Is that right?”

It was hard to believe that hooded figures would find her little cave, but she wouldn’t count it out completely. They would certainly realize her absence that night. She hoped they didn’t take anything of value. What a hassle.

Clothes would be good. Naked was great and all, but fighting hooded figures in the nude was a thrill she could do without.

Ish’s head jerked up and she was on her feet in an instant. Synema was close behind. A knife missed her chest by a centimeter and embedded itself in the stone that suddenly grew cold beneath her feet. Nice throw.

She looked up. “Holy shit.” They seemed endless. She had no idea that many existed in the whole… place they came from. Synema felt Ish tense and her own muscles start to coil. At least they were in her territory. “Ish, protect the mask.” The dog obeyed and retreated into the cave.

The hissing figures loomed ahead of her. Okay, so there were a lot of them. And yeah, she wasn’t looking forward to any of this. And shit, her leg hurt again. But she did have an idea, and once she had it finalized the ground began to tremble. Another jolt of energy and the earth split; towering geysers shot up from below, scorching the ground and swallowing one cloaked form after another.

It was a start.

[Sinister]

“Yes, you may like it here.” Jack said, looking out over the side of his temple. “But we won’t be completely safe. They’ve attacked here before. You‘re quite right, we do need others.”

Lady started to talk but Jack held his hand up to cut her off. “Yes, I can here your thoughts and I am a psychic.” He turned. “I know they’ve attacked your world as well. In fact…” Jack started to walk up from the bridge towards the temple. “There’s no guarantee that Devine himself won’t pop up with more tea.” Jack bit his bottom lip. “I bet here I can conjure better tea than he can, should that happen. Speaking of which, I imagine you’re hungry. The food here is as good as real. And since I am psychic, you can have anything you want. But I warn you, if I haven’t had it before, the taste may be…” Jack laughed. “Off.”

Lady leaned back from the edge of the bridge and followed Jack into the Temple colonnade. Behind Lady a soft reclining chair appeared. She sat sinking into it. A projection screen fell from a marble slat in the ceiling.

“This is my window to the world. I can keep track of chimeratics with this.” The screen blinked to a map of the city. “Those are people like us.” He said, intercepting her question before it left her lips. “I even knew of you and a few others. Though I didn’t know your name. In fact, I don’t know much about you for a comrade in arms. Care to share, or shall I divulge all your secrets the messy way?” Jack said, wriggling his fingers in a mock-menacingly way.

“By the way, what do you want to eat?”

[Govinda]

'Anything you've got,' Lady said. 'I probably can't make things appear here...besides which, I'm useless at food, it just dissipates. From inside you. Creepy feeling, that.'

Lady looked at the hanging screen and its sparse dots. She felt so relieved to see them there, others like her, waiting...there's nothing quite like being different, yet finding people who are like you, she reflected. Not entirely the same, but similar in comforting ways.

She waited for Jack to make his decision about the food. 'Divulge my secrets the messy way, huh,' she laughed. 'There's not much to tell, really. I found out that I could make things I imagined appear when I was about twelve. I lived in a small town in the middle of nowhere, really, it was nice. Quiet, contained. If things had been different that town itself probably would've driven me mad, if I'd been normal...long story short, I accidentally destroyed most of it. I'd get angry at something or someone, be able to concentrate, and before I knew what had happened...well, my daydreams became real. I blew up the whole police station after I started thinking about terrorism. I almost, almost started a nuclear war. That was the scariest one. All that shite on the news got to me, and I started imagining, which is never a good thing...I managed to stop it though. After that my town became famous for being a UFO-zone, or something, a centre of paranormal activity. The missiles turned into kittens, it rained for three days.

'So I left when I was 17. All I had learned, really, was how to play piano. I liked it, it distracted me from everything. I'd make money appear in my hands for train tickets and real food, and make sure to be long gone before anyone saw it had disappeared. I don't know how many people've been accused of stealing and lost jobs on my part, I don't want to think about it. I always saw it as a means to an end. It was far better I be somewhere where everything was so fast and blurry that I couldn't pick out faces. I came to Broadway, got an apartment, started playing piano for Joey. It was lucky, really, ridiculously lucky...his other piano player had just been arrested for something or other, I don't know. Mafia gossip, most likely. I was given her handbag locker, and my mask was in it. When I first picked it up I fully expected half my weight in cocaine to fall out of it. But it didn't. And now, well, I'm here.'

I can't believe I'm telling him this crap...now that I say it out loud, it seems even more insane...but he's not looking at me like I'm completely mad. Yet.

'Why are you looking at me like that,' she laughed, 'It's not like I can tell what you're thinking...you're meant to be working on lunch anyway, haha.'

She turned her attention back to the dots. We should pick one, she thought. But which one, how to choose...

And what if one goes out?

Jack seemed to be about to say something, so Lady decided to cut in, 'Ahahah, yes, you heard that...it's not the kind of thing we should discuss over food. Instead, you tell me about you, what your mind can do. I don't have any way of forcing the information out of you. But I could drop something on your head, a piano, a sofa. I did that to a policeman once, but it turned into a pile of balloons before it got to his head.

'And then we get to pick a dot...'

[Sinister]

“I suppose it is a little strange.” Jack laughed. “No scratch that, It’s down right bizarre. But lately it makes as much sense as anything else.”

Jack relaxed in a chair of his own, prying his eyes away from Lady. He didn’t want to creep her out, but he couldn‘t help being somewhat fascinated. Meeting someone with powers to her extent was fascinating. With a small tacit, he conjured up a table of eastern food and large gourmet deep dish pizzas with various toppings. Drinks appeared on another table ranging from the alcoholic to every known spectrum of soda with a bowl of ice and a bowl of fresh fruit and nuts.

“Help yourself. These are the dishes that I have mastered to an art. Aside from conjuring, I’m apparently not a good cook.” He said, reminding himself of the blackened pizza. Lady stood and assembled a dish that best suited her with an accompanying drink and then returned to her seat. She then looked at Jack, expectantly.

“I suppose, I would rather tell you my short story rather than being pummeled by a stray piano.” A goblet of bubbling ginger-ale appeared in Jack’s hand. “For the past ten years I’ve been living in an abandoned subway station under the city streets. Well, really that’s not true. I’ve been living here more than anywhere.” He said, giving the inside of the temple a cursory glance. He sipped the ginger-ale letting the tart drink wash down. After another refreshing swallow, he began again.

“I uh, escaped. When certain people found out about my skullduggery and my brother’s gift.”

“Brother?” Lady asked.

Jack nodded. He sipped the ginger-ale again, noticing that it was now alcoholic. He set it down, not liking his subconscious’ decision in spiking his refreshment.

“My baby brother. Let me see, he was five last I saw him. Anyway, they handcuffed us and brought us to a facility like we were criminals guilty of treason or something. I only saw Gabe once a week for two months. They would take readings. They would drug us. Draw blood, do MRIs and we underwent severe mental analysis and conditioning. Gabe could alter objects. He could change them. He never employed it past making toys for himself, but they were interested in it’s potential as a weapon. My gift was less fascinating to them I suppose. As you’ve already seen, I can read minds like highway signs. I can also plant thoughts, if I so wish. It didn’t take me long to develop my gift into a weapon under their tutelage. A weapon like this.”

Jack indicated Lady with his hand. To her ultimate surprise she rose to her feet and began dancing. She danced with the professional grace of a ballerina.

“Stop it.” Lady said, alarmed.

“Sorry.” Jack apologized. She stopped and returned to her chair, a little shaken.

“I can force someone to walk off a cliff, give me all the money they have, praise me with all of their vocabulary or even be my friend.” Giving Lady a spooky-looking glance. “Making a long story short. I tried to use it to rescue my brother and escape…but I only achieved half that. I don‘t even know if he lives.” Trailing off in thought, Jack recalled that they needed a plan. “Which dot should we pick, do you think? I really don’t know any of them. I wish my gift was that far reaching, but they’re just dots on a screen to me. Just like you were.”