Rich
winced at the sloppy enchantment the goth band wannabe tried (and
failed) to direct over the girl he had been stalking since 11:45PM
while she was bar hopping with her friends. This had been his fourth
attempt to use magic to lure her away, and every time, the girl's
unbending willpower had torn the magic to shreds. Since Rich had been
stalking the stalker since 11:00PM, he was getting tired of evidence
gathering and the rookie who had been sticking to him like melted
chocolate on shag rug all night.
"So,
is he like, a real vampire?" Asked Mitch, the aforementioned tag
along. "Are real vampires even, like, real?"
Rich sighed, tempering his irritation with the bonus this particular
job granted on his paycheck, and gave Mitch a side glance. He was
nothing to really look at; dangerously thin and short with strait
black hair and smart square glasses, the skinny jeans, messenger bag,
and black tee (giant white letters screaming NERD across his chest)
gave the impression he had googled his fashion sense into being after
being a gigantic DnD nerd had been popularized.
There
were a lot of people like him in the Special Circumstances Division,
people who though sheer accident or blundering intent gained enough
magical power to garner the Magi Groups attention. Very few with the
ability to push their gifts passed "It's just this weird thing I
can do." Mitch was one of the very few who seemed like he could
truly become a mage, hence why the Magi had 'requested' Rich to take
him on a low level task, to find a fake vampire that has put three
women in the hospital.
"No, goth-head just thinks he is... Some dick taught him enough
Enchantment, Biothurgy, and Transmutation to make him believe that he
is. A real vampire doesn't use magic like us living folk." Rich
replied, his sentence elongated as his scholarly half took over. "
And yes, vampires are real. But their queen has a hard core screening
process so there aren't that many running about."
"Cool,"
the lore nerd beside him said, soaking up the information like a
sponge. It was one of the few things about this mission that made it
slightly more tolerable for Rich. "So, whats the plan? Do we
have enough evidence to take him down?"
The
seasoned mage snorted. "I suppose so, Mitch. I hope you're ready
to play hero because I have a plan."
=OvO=
Malciour,
(real name Malcolm) had finally found someone to feed upon. She had
appeared almost magically after he had reached the boiling point with
this one woman who stubbornly ignored everything he threw at her. But
this one fell into his hold quickly, his power finding purchase in
her mind like the ergonomic handle of a knife. He had planned on
bringing her back to his place, taking his time before burying his
fangs in and draining her of enough life essence to feed himself and
his Master. It was getting late, and prey would begin to dwindle the
closer it came to sunrise. He thought of the rumor among the ranks of
'Vampire Hunters' attacking those of his brood.
He
knew he would be fine, as he was of the 'first' generation, having
grown into a true vampire where others of his generation had failed
and sunk into mortal obscurity. He had more power than the underlings
of the newer generation; No talent with glamours, and having to use
what mundane tricks they had in their previous life to get them by.
They were unlike him, dragging his prey down the alleyway, stress
from the previous prey melting away as he cornered the giggling
fool...
=OvO=
Mitch
was worried, but then again Mitch had always rode the line between
just being worried and full blown panic attacks for most of his life.
It started with him being worried about how he would be mocked about
his messenger bag, seemingly cheap leather etched with odd symbols
his aunt has gifted him. But when he found out one pocket was
seemingly endless and the other could conjure three items per day
(simple things, like food and figurines) he stopped giving a shit
about the nonexistent bag jokes made in his expense.
He
was now worried about Rich's plan, as it involved him taking out a
crossbow and shooting a man in the heart with it. His attention was
caught between listening to the explanation of this plan and Rich
summoning a being made of clear melted plastic that quickly morphed
into a beautiful stereotypical horror movie-victim woman(A mimic,
Rich would later explain to him).
"Why do I have to do this?" Mitch watched the mimic go
bouncing off, getting ready to run into the 'vampire'.
"Because,
it will notice me gathering enough power to hit him, while you can
just pull a crossbow out." the mage said, watching as the
'vampire's' simple charm stuck to the equivalent of an animated doll.
"Plus his body has been altered, his 'Master' made sure his
minions can regenerate and have a cluster of nerves right above their
hearts in case he needs to assert his dominance."
"How the fuck do you know all that?" the young nerd asked.
"Because
we are but one pair of grunts working toward cleaning the dregs of a
larger problem." Rich motioned him closer. "Now get ready
he's on the move."
The
vampire eagerly led his 'prey away from the busy club and down the
streets, traffic and security cameras growing scarce until he turned
into a darkened ally. With a nod from his supervisor, Mitch reached
into his bag and focused. His hand grabbed hold of something and he
pulled it free, a modern carbon crossbow, a bolt already loaded. It
was a lot heavier than he imagined, and he began to worry as he had
never actually fired one of these outside of the realm of pen and
paper.
He
didn't have that much time to really think it over as a shout echoed
off the grimy walls. "What the fuck?!" Malciour screeched
as his prey melted like cheap ice cream the moment tooth touched
skin.
"
Now!" Rich shouted loudly, making the pale, sharp-toothed human
to turn about with higher than average speed.
Mitch steeled himself and aimed as best he could, praying video games
had at least helped him get this stance half right, and pulled the
trigger. The bolt flew threw the air with a hiss, before lodging
itself directly into the artificial vampires knee. He howled in pain
and dropped like a sack of bricks, clutching the wound as his still
human brain was clouded by shock. Mitch was kept from being shocked
himself by Rich's burst of laughter. "Oh my god, you just
knocked over fake-ula with a Skyrim meme!"
"I
don't know how to fucking aim a crossbow dude!" He shouted back
indigently, watching as the still laughing mage produced a wooden
dagger and a cellphone from his pocket.
"YOU
SHOT ME!" Screamed Malciour, still not registering what was
going down as Rich approached. " WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU
TWO?!"
"A
lot," Was Rich's reply as he stood over the man made monster,
and shoved the dagger into the cluster of nerves just above his
heart.
It
was rather instant, one moment he was screaming and in the next his
whole body was paralyzed, seized up in his current position and
unable to move. Rich took a few photos before texting them and their
location to their handler. Mitch sat down on the curb, crossbow
carelessly tossed to his side.
"That
was...anticlimactic." he said after Rich joined him in sitting.
"Yup."
Was the reply.
"Is
it always like that?" Rich scratched his chin thoughtfully, "
When it comes to magic," he began, "mages new to the game
think that there is some unwritten code of honor among them, that
magic will be the only weapon used to fight one another. Hell even
some seasoned mages believe this. But there are those who are wise
enough to exploit this. Your opponent is prepared for you to throw
magic and monsters at them, not tear gas and stun batons."
"Yeah,
but we used magic to capture him." Said Mitch.
"We used a little bit of magic yes, but in the end an arrow to
the knee and a sharpened wooden prop knife is what got him in the
end." Rich replied, chuckling. "If he wasn't a woefully
under educated grunt then things would of been more interesting."
Mitch
pulled open his bag and produced two cans of soda from a 12 pack he
had put in, the inter-dimensional pocket kept things at just the
right temperature. he handed one off before opening his.
"So, I
dunno if I want to work for the Magi's..." he finally said.
"
Understandable," replied Rich, rolling the can in his hands.
"
I would suggest taking up some of their magic courses. Those bags
only work if you've got a little bit of magic in you."
"Why?
I have my magic bag what more could I need?" he looked over to
the grinning mage.
"Well, I know an Illusion major who runs
some seriously kick ass DnD Games."
