To those wondering about the battle... ;)

| Twister (also known as Darren Steffler ;)
| 	e-mail at twister@tendo-dojo.ranma.net
| 		Home Page at http://www.winnipeg.freenet.mb.ca/~fmw675/
| Big Heapum Fan of: Ranma 1/2, Bubblegum Crisis, Dirty Pair, Gundam, and
| 		     the rest of the known anime universe.

File Two - Puck.

SECTION ONE - Sticks and Stones

     The man passed by the powerfully built guard who checked ID's
and... other abilities. He didn't see the point, but he supposed
that given the name of the new club it was almost a requirement.
They'd still let you in if you hadn't been affected at New Years,
but those people were either brave, curious, or stupid.
     The man wore shades despite the low light level. His hair was
black and short with a slight sheen to it. The face was lean, as
was his frame. His striped shirt and blue jeans weren't out of
place here. He glanced at the dance floor and shook his head,
amused. Not a few seconds were dancing in mid-air.
     Or is that Avatars? he thought, resigned at the new labels
that had arose after a third's takeover of the airwaves around a
month ago on April the sixteenth. Instead of firsts, seconds,
thirds, and the extremely rare fourths; he had dubbed them Slights,
Avatars, Demi-gods, and Gods.
     Then died from overextending his power.
     It was probably that fatal mistake that made the names stick,
but the man doubted it.
     Eventually, he came to the bar and picked a stool to sit on.
The bartender saw, walked opposite to him, and smiled. She was a
nice-looking, brown haired young woman who happened to be a second,
sorry, Avatar, he thought.
     "Can I get you a drink?" she asked him cheerfully.
     "Sure," the man said with a smile. "Pardon me if I'm slow but
I'm just getting used to the name of this place." He shook his head
with a grin. "Puck's Palace?" he said with some disbelief.
     She laughed. "It is kinda silly, isn't it?"
     "Too bad the owner never asked Puck about it," he replied.
     "How would you know?" She frowned curiously at me.
     The man smiled and threw off the illusion he had around
himself. The young bartender gaped at his true appearance; long
blonde hair, intense blue eyes, pointy ears, a handsome and
slightly beautiful face, and clothes belonging to a character from
a fantasy novel. Erik Clay, also known as Puck, grinned
mischievously at the wide-eyed woman's shock.
     "Oh, just a guess," he chuckled.

ERIK(1st person)...

     I sighed mentally as I sipped the rum and Coke I had paid for.
Keeping low had been great but the opening of this place had been
too tempting to resist. 
     He'd been doing so because of Valerie Decelles' destruction of
a good section of city in Edmonton. Her trial had been surprisingly
swift, as it had started a week after the incident, and the verdict
a week after that. As I had thought, the court ruled not guilty
because of temporary insanity, but Val had insisted on doing
community work, and got it. The news vultures had swarmed her after
but she faced up to them well, better than I would've. I saw her
picture in the paper and saw that she still regretted her actions,
but not even the author of the corresponding article really blamed
her. After her story came out, most people didn't blame her much as
it wasn't her fault she had been changed so.
     Her problems brought me to remember the other, more recent and
personal, problem which had prompted my coming to the club. I shook
my head as I remembered the conversation of a few days ago.

     "WHAT did you say??" I had said, dumbfounded, as Jason looked
at me with a slightly panicked expression on his face.
     "Cathy's pregnant," he repeated nervously.
     "How..." I was quite surprised, as a third the red-haired
Cathy was far stronger than Jason and to manage this without
getting injured must've been a feat. "Never mind, I'm not sure I
want to know," I sighed, then looked at him wryly. "You didn't have
to prove that a third COULD get pregnant, you know. You're sure?"
     "Yes," he confirmed, sinking onto one of the basement chairs.
     "You do realize that no doctor would want to do an abortion as
she's a third and operating on one would be near impossible at best
right now."
     "Abortion?" Jason blinked. "God, no! Cathy was shocked but
decided to keep the baby, even without the difficulties of trying
that. And... I really do love her, Erik."
     "You damn well better," I retorted with a growl. "You're
eighteen and she's sixteen for all her power. Christ," I swore,
running a hand through my hair. "I suppose her parents know?" Jason
nodded miserably.
     "As of last night," Jason confirmed. "So do mine."
     "When will the wedding be?" I asked with a sigh.
     Jason threw his hands up. "I don't know! I'm just so CONFUSED
over this, Erik! It's like I'm dreaming it all."
     "Well, you'd better wake up, buddy. From everything I hear,
raising a baby is not easy." I walked over and clapped a hand on
his shoulder. "I'll help if you need it, despite the stupidity of
the whole thing. The both of you have lousy timing, Jason."
     My friend looked up at me, some of the strain leaving him.
"Thanks, Erik. This is came as a shock to both of us."
     "Hey, you stuck with me when I changed, I'll help you with
this. It's what friends are for."

     It hadn't taken long for the newshounds to find out about
Cathy and Jason. Today we had been swarmed with people wielding
mikes, cameras, and video equipment. The shy Cathy hid behind a
somewhat pale Jason and when they wouldn't leave, I got angry. It
was damned lucky I figured out how to affect equipment with my
illusions or else I would've been found out. These reporters had to
go though.
     "LEAVE, for crying out loud!" I shouted at the mob. "If you
don't, we'll file harassment suits on you."
     "Come on, kid, this is our job," one I didn't recognize said,
and I didn't like the tone he used at all.
     "Cathy," I called out loudly so everyone could hear me, not
taking my eyes off the reporter and his camera man behind him, "you
told me about that rough encounter you and Puck had with those
other two thirds. Do you think your horns could break glass at a
distance?" I cocked my head at the suddenly nervous cameramen.
"High frequencies CAN break glass, can't they?"
     At my words, Cathy came around and stood by Jason, looking
rather angry as she had a right to be. The horned red-head must've
been practicing for her horns began to hum ominously, and the pitch
was rising quickly. 
     "You wouldn't dare," the man said, but uncertainly.
     "I think that people who stick their noses into private
matters, without the invitation of those involved, are on shaky
ground. And if you keep this up perhaps Puck will come too, and I
doubt he'd like what your doing even less than we do." I stared at
the frowning man, and said flatly, "Leave. Request an interview,
sure, but don't do this crap. I... Whoa!" I cried as I blinked at
a camera that had become mud and was now oozing down an astonished
cameraman's shoulder, the reporter's man. My doing, but they
couldn't know that. 
     The reporter had turned pale and fled.

     The rest left too, but Cathy and Jason still got a million
calls at home. I came to this club to take my mind off things. I
was getting stares from a lot of people but I was wrapped up in my
own thoughts. At least until someone sat by my seat and tapped my
shoulder, startling me.
     "Penny for your thoughts, Puck?"
     I looked and saw who had sat beside me. She was beautiful,
willowy thin with long chestnut hair, wearing a tight black outfit
that showed off her model-thin body. I raised an eyebrow for this
was one of Winnipeg's female thirds, Wendy Morgan. She was to air
as Valerie was to fire but to a lesser degree. This woman could
leave you breathless, literally. She had been a thirty year old,
overweight secretary before the change and was one of the ones who
apparently loved the results. Last I heard, she was getting offers
from a local modelling firm.
     "I was thinking about that girl, Cathy, who got pregnant," I
replied honestly. Wendy nodded knowingly as she sipped her own
drink.
     "I heard, but in a way I'm glad," she said and went on at my
questioning look. "It means we're still human and can have kids if
we want."
     "Thirds can at least," I pointed out. "I'm not sure about
myself. Who knows what my body had to do to adapt to another power
increase? I wasn't disoriented on the first two but the third time
was unsettling." Morgan leaned forward, interested.
     "How so?" she asked.
     "Well, my senses were... off kilter somehow. Keener. It took
some time to adjust. As for my powers... You can sense wind
currents and air, can't you?" She nodded. "And Valerie can do the
same with fire but she's much more sensitive. But I can feel the
energy of things around me; you, the chair, those people dancing on
and off the floor. Everything. I can't feel air the way you do, but
I can feel your power when you use it as I can my own." She looked
impressed.
     "That's quite the sense. So you know who is changed?"
     "Unless they can hide it, yes." I hesitated, but went on. "I
also feel some other things but I haven't a clue what they are.
It's like... they are there, yet not." I rubbed my chin as a sudden
thought occurred to me. "Perhaps they are dimensions. I've heard of
other people teleporting; maybe that's what they're using. I've
been too busy expanding what I already know to test those, and
doesn't this sound weird to you?" I asked her, breaking off my
voiced contemplation. She laughed.
     "It was interesting," she said with a crooked smile. "Would
you like to join our little group?" My curiously raised eyebrow
asked my question for me so she elaborated. "I came to meet the
other two female adult thirds of Winnipeg tonight and this place
seemed appropriate. We spotted you when you revealed yourself so I
decided to come over and invite you."
     I stood and gracefully bowed, my getup and looks making it an
appropriate gesture. "I would be honoured, Lady."
     She smiled and guided me over to one of the tables in another
part of the club. There we found Wendy Morgan's fellow female
thirds.
     One was Rebecca Ford, sixty-seven year old retiree. She used
to have grey hair which had now returned to the vibrant black of
her twenties. Listless after her husband died, the change had given
her a second youth. But not just her hair had turned black, so had
the rest of her. Black skin, black nails, black eyes, etc.
Everything about her was now a slightly different ebony hue, save
her teeth which gleamed white when she smiled at us. Her power was
naturally over shadows and could apparently make herself immaterial
at will. Just as naturally, her nickname had become Shadow.
     Yvette Ranchard was the other; a thirty-two year old French
immigrant working in Winnipeg as an interior decorator for the past
few years. She had got caught up in the events of the current year.
Amazingly, her powers were opposite Mrs. Ford's for she could
generate light in remarkable ways, from lasers to light shows. Her
hair was divided into lines of the visible, and not so visible,
spectrum. The irises of her eyes swirled with color but otherwise
everything else on the attractive woman was the same as before.
     It was no surprise to me the women were all good looking, most
thirds, Demis, became so as a result of their changes.
     "Ah, it appears mademoiselle Morgan caught our wandering God,"
Yvette said with a french accent, but the 'God' part made me wince.
     "Looks like he doesn't appreciate that term, Yvette," Rebecca
chuckled as she noted my reaction with approval. "Good for him;
shouldn't let it go to our heads."
     "I am but a simple elf," I said suavely as Wendy and I sat
down. It and my bland expression got them laughing. "I just wish
that poor guy hadn't broadcast that message," I sighed in my normal
voice. 
     The ladies nodded.

DONALD STONE...

     "Blast that idiot for broadcasting that so-called bulletin all
over North America!" I fumed in the large meeting room for my new
department. I sat at the head of the table as Everett had given me
full authority in his name. There were eleven other people seated
in front of me, all still getting used to working together as they
had all been in different, and sometimes opposing, agencies. "It's
too bad he died; I'd have enjoyed locking him up."
     "That happened weeks ago, Stone," a brown-haired man sitting
beside him said. "What happened?"
     "It's caused some new religious cult to spring up," I growled,
disgusted at the idiocy of such people. "They say that New Years
proclaimed the return of mankind's deities and that all should
worship them."
     "That's not new," an asian woman, Umeko Takahashi, commented.
The short information analyst had no pupils or irises in her pure
blue orbs, but she could still see just fine, and even better than
those WITH normal sight. "China's government encountered resistance
when they tried rounding up people with powers. Apparently, a
golden dragon appeared and lunched on a few tanks, helping some
people escape. Some Chinese have started to worship it. It's been
dubbed the Dragon Emperor and likely one of the fourth group to
display that much power." She cocked her head and grinned. "On a
lighter note, one was revealed in my ancestral homeland Japan. He
looks exactly like Bruce Lee." That got some groans. "We've gotten
a few other reports elsewhere," she went on, "but we can go into
those later."
     "The Canadian government has agreed to let us operate in
Winnipeg so we can find Puck and arrest him for them, or at least
find out who he is," the man beside Stone began. "They can't, or
won't, try it themselves as they're a little shy dealing with a
fourth after the incident in Edmonton."
     "I suppose I can understand that," I sighed, not expecting
much more than that. "If anything it will help our department get
used to each other, as well as get some experience in dealing with
a fourth."
     "Why Puck, anyhow?" a younger man said who was further down
the table and someone whose name I couldn't remember offhand.
     "I think he's the most dangerous to leave alone," I told
everyone, conviction in my voice. "We can determine the limits of
the others but Puck seems to have the ability to create 'spells.'
That flexibility makes him too dangerous to remain a free agent."
I tapped the folder that held all current info on the vigilante.
"And we better do it as soon as possible or else he'll have too
much time to prepare himself. Micheals," I focused my attention on
my new second-in-command, "I want you to go over all the powers of
every person in our new department and determine with Umeko the
best people to send to Winnipeg."
     Micheals nodded. "I've already sent one to Winnipeg to check
the situation there."
     "What's his power?"
     "Speed."

WINNIPEG.... MAY 18.

     The figure floating above the meeting going down between two
men on the dark street below looked on with interest. He'd caught
on to this while flying and the suspicious nature of the first
meeting had caught his interest. With an invisibility spell that
even a Demi couldn't normally see through, Erik found out a few
interesting things, and when you can fly, people can't hear your
footsteps.
     Let's see now...
     The guy who looked like an Anglish-Asian mix carefully tasted
the white powder the other guy had given him. Then nodded, and re-
sealed the plastic bag it had come in. In return, the young man
quickly handed a wad of bills to the messenger, who placed it in an
internal pocket of his coat. Very neat.
     Not.
     After having done what he wanted to do with the white powder,
Erik followed the man with the money. The coat-wearing man slogged
through slushy puddles as unpredictable Winnipeg weather had
produced a quick melt this year. Puck wondered what the other man
would say to his fellows when the cocaine, after Erik's
intervention, turned out to be powdered sugar. As for the other
slime...
     A huge sinkhole that hadn't been there before suddenly
appeared underneath the man's foot, not a difficult feat as the
roads did this somewhat naturally. The man shouted in shocked
surprise as ice cold water drenched him up to his armpits with the
frigid liquid. He struggled out quite quickly, and chattered his
teeth when he did. His thick coat did nothing but freeze him now so
he quickly removed it and his shoes, cursing the city's work crews.
The money, he discovered as he checked on it, was soaked. So he
cursed again and placed it on a nearby pile of garbage while he
tried wringing out the water in his clothing, dumping the water
from his shoes.
     Suddenly, a masked man burst out of the garbage pile,
surprising the shivering man, grabbed the dripping money, and ran
away like the devil was after him. Horrified, furious, and afraid
to lose the payment, the messenger, in socks only, ran after the
thief, who had ducked around the corner ahead.
     He would find nobody around the corner when he reached it.
     Puck levitated the undisturbed wad into a plastic bag and flew
away, chuckling. He had no love or sympathy for people dealing in
drugs. Too many kids got hooked by drug dealers, and while he knew
this was only a drop in the bucket, he felt it a good deed for the
day.
     The drug dealer would think he was tricked and the messenger
could only say he was robbed. Nothing would point to the Puck.
     The money Erik could dry out easily, and if it was marked he
was sure he could find out. He didn't covet it, but it might come
in handy. Perhaps a small anonymous donation to a drug
rehabilitation clinic, using only a fraction of the amount he had
for the full amount would be too suspicious. He'd have to wait in
any case.

     Unfortunately, Erik missed an observer to his little prank. If
he had been expecting trouble he would have looked around and
discovered a person with the power level of an Avatar watching the
exchange and subsequent 'theft.'
     That was slick, the Winnipeg dispatched agent whose code name
was Runner thought. He gotten a vague clue from a one of the thirds
in his newly created department on where to observe the Puck's
activities. He'd observed the exchange from behind the same corner
Puck had sent the illusion of the 'thief' around. Runner could move
faster than the human eye could see for short periods of time and
had moved to the opposite corner before the messenger saw him. The
agent had witnessed the illusion vanish. The agent had seen enough
and left before the Puck could discover him.
     The next day he heard from the police department that the
powder had actually been sugar and that the drug dealers called it
a double cross on the part of the messenger, who had skipped town
with no money to appease his own bosses.
     In the apartment he was waiting in, Runner reported the event
to his immediate superior, Umeko.
     "He wasn't visible, but the illusion and method would fit his
profile. The buyer was convinced what he was buying was real so
Puck must've transformed it then stole the money from the
messenger. In essence: He screwed both parties and they don't
suspect him at all. And the guy he took the money from skipped town
so they won't have a clue." He chuckled. "Even if they knew about
it, AND knew who really did it, what could they do anyway?"
     "That's the reason we're going after him," Umeko replied
seriously over the phone. "Besides, it's hard to prove it WAS him
at all. I only got a vague impression that he would be in that area
at that time, and that's the best luck I've had. There's something
about fourths that make them near impossible to focus on."
     "So you don't have any more leads?"
     "No. Just check out anything that might get you more
information."  
     "You mean like Puck's Palace?" Runner asked, and got
disbelieving silence in reply. "It's a new club that opened up, but
wasn't related to our man until he showed up there a few times in
the last week."
     "'Puck's Palace.' Why me?" Umeko groaned.
     "Perhaps the gods smiled on you."
     "That's. Not. Funny. Runner."
     He sighed. "It was just a joke. Can't you say Roger, Ume-
chan?"
     "Not on company time," she said frostily. *click!*
     "That could've gone better," agent Runner said ruefully,
looking at the humming receiver.

STONE...

     I looked up, surprised, to see Umeko on the other side of the
room slam down her phone. Hanging around the current set of large
rooms that was the core of our growing information network kept me
informed. From what I'd seen of Umeko she was an unusually cheerful
and alert person, seeing her even slightly angry was a revelation.
I walked over to my fellow third with raised eyebrows.
     "Problem?" I asked, and she immediately composed herself with
remarkable haste.
     "No, sir. Agent Runner was just reporting in," she said calmly
and then proceeded to relay to me the report she had been given.
     I momentarily forgot her remarkable behaviour as I frowned
angrily over what I had just heard. "Blast it! Interfering with the
local drug trade will make things harder to move covertly now, even
if they don't know the real reason for the trouble." This Puck
character was starting trouble sooner than I had predicted, and I
was more determined than ever to bring him down before he became a
full-bore threat.

     Micheals had finished his report and Stone was pleased with
the amount of people his second-in-command thought could handle
this fourth if they banded together. Of the 9 thirds, 97 seconds
and 329 firsts they had rounded up so far from every agency and
government position, 5 thirds and 42 seconds would have a use in
the Winnipeg operation, including Stone. There was also the
possibility of recruiting two more thirds who were part of the
local police force in Winnipeg.
     Micheals had also gotten those selected started on a quick,
crash course training exercise. They were beginning to learn to
work as a team, complementing and protecting each other; Stone had
gone in as often as possible to help those who didn't have combat
or field experience. It helped that all were relatively
inexperienced with their powers and were mostly on even footing.
Remembering the extermely tough time quite a few of the seconds had
with him only made him realize that Puck would be in an equivalent
position to Stone. Fortunately, Puck hadn't displayed any martial
or combat skills as yet so they had the advantage there.
     It also comforted him that his cold and ice didn't bother some
seconds as their powers let them combat him with better results.
That meant his thirds had a very good chance.

     Then I remembered Umeko's anger and looked at her levelly.
"That doesn't explain the look you had." She flushed and her
totally blue eyes looked away, embarrassed.
     "Agent Runner had a relationship with me a while back, sir,"
she confessed and I nodded. "I still like him but he's also the
only one who seems to be able to make me mad."
     "As long as it doesn't effect your work, I don't care," I said
dismissively. "And call me Stone, not sir. Save that for Everett."
She nodded slowly, and then looked at me with arch amusement.
     "You know that won't help your growing nickname."
     "Nickname?"
     "Stone Cold."
     I considered that information, then shrugged. "I've been
called worse, and it's fitting." She snorted before turning back to
her computer.
     "Just make sure no one adds 'Dead' to that 'fitting' title...
Stone."
     I gave her back a chilly smile before leaving for another
training run.  

     I met with Everett the next morning and told him of my plans
to begin in Winnipeg within the next week. He nodded and leaned
forwards, pressing his fingers together.
     "You won't have much time for this, Stone," he informed me,
and went on to explain why. "In the meetings I've had with the
other agencies there have been a few proposals on what roles we
should play and how our fledgling agency should grow. One is for
the pursuit and containment of criminals with powers. I've stressed
the need for as little bureaucracy as possible for that, even a
small delay could be fatal." I nodded approvingly. "The second is
terrorism; some groups may already have people with exploitable
capabilities and are planning to use them. That is why you may have
little time."
     "I hadn't thought of that," I said, frowning at the notion.
     "You've been busy. Another problem is the already existing
crime network. A few have gained useful talents, but I've heard at
least one third is operating in the mafia."  
     I scowled at that; yet more problems.
     "As a result, our department is going to have both free reign
and a tight leash, though the leash is rather thin at the moment."
He leaned back in his chair. "We can't learn how to fight the new
opportunities of corruption these powers will bring unless we try
our wings freely. Granted some agencies tried to pull strings so
they would have an advantage, but the president put his foot down
on that. I agree with him; we CAN'T play favourites. I've contacted
other governments via the United Nations and the idea of making of
an international organization like the one we have begun here is
being hashed around.
     "The benefits of that are obvious; more agents with power
under one group means greater flexibility for disasters and less
hassle. We will of necessity be flexible for the diversity of
powers will make us so. Anything from fixing damage from natural to
human disasters, or even preventing them from even occurring, will
be our goal. We will be both covert and very public."
     I took a moment to digest all this, then said, "That's quite
a job for a new department, almost impossible."
     "But one only we can handle," Everett pointed out. "Our people
can do much more than ordinary agents, and with skill and training
we WILL be ready." He tapped a finger on his desk absently. "Also,
if there are any people NASA could use that you will not be taking
with you, send them to Cape Kennedy. Some civilians with powers are
gathering there at NASA's request."
     "Why?"
     "So that our group will become familiar with people not
willing to become a part of a government agency, and besides," he
said with a grin, "like a lot of people I wouldn't mind seeing
Americans on the moon." I raised my eyebrows in surprise; Everett
didn't seem like the dreamer type. Perhaps the changes that had
occurred to some people recently had made him think about childhood
memories. "They've already made some progress in improving
structural materials and engineering designs. If our department
helps we would have a positive foothold there too." 
     At last he finished with, "So now you know the plans I have.
You have two, maybe three weeks at best for your operation before
I have to pull you back to work on expanding everything here."
     I hid my scowl; I had hoped for more time than that. But then,
superiors never do give you the time you need when you have an
important project. Instead, I merely nodded and left the room,
leaving Everett to handle the petty bureaucrats while I refined our
new environment as much as I could before flying the needed
personnel to my target's area of operation.
     Soon, Puck, I thought grimly, very soon.

WINNIPEG.... MAY 21...

     From his room, Erik heard the door close harder than usual and
his mother's surprised greeting. Then his father raised his voice.
     "Erik! Come down to the kitchen," he said, and it was an
order, not his usual polite request.
     Uh oh, Erik thought with a sinking feeling as he left his
room, I think I DID go a little too far this time. When he entered
the kitchen, his dad pointed to the remaining chair as his mother
watched silently, wondering what her husband was so angry about.
     "Just WHAT did you think you were doing?" Donald Clay demanded
of his sheepish-looking son. "Do you KNOW how stupid it was?!"
     "What did he do, Don?" Amanda Clay asked him as Erik ducked
his head.
     "I just found out that last night in one of the downtown
police stations SOMEONE," he focused a steely eye on Erik,
"happened to dump a garbage bag full of cocaine sacks in one of the
offices." Amanda inhaled sharply and turned her head to glare at
her son in mixed anger and fear, Erik bowed his head more. "Just
WHERE did you get all that from, Erik?" he said in a dangerously
low tone.
     "Ah... Hahaha... I... er... sort of collected it from around
the city," Erik replied weakly.
     "'Collected'?" his father rumbled ominously. Erik sighed and
gave up trying to stall.
     "I overheard that some new shipments had arrived in Winnipeg.
I had already devised a spell to locate similar objects, like to
like, so I used it. I disguised myself as a kid and a pusher gladly
gave me what I needed to screw himself up." Amanda or his father
couldn't disapprove of the slight anger that crept into Erik's
voice when he told them that. "It wasn't just cocaine I got, but it
was mostly that I collected. Invisible, I flew around town, now
knowing where the major stashes were and used some minor flim-flam
tricks to switch packets."
     "With sugar again?" his father sighed, rubbing his forehead
tiredly.
     "Not... quite." Erik paused. "Marshmallows."
     "Marshmallows?!" Amanda declared incredulously. "Erik, what on
earth for?!"
     "White powder, white puffs of sugar; they're two types of
sweets, what's the diff?" he replied blandly, lips twitching
despite his current situation.
     Quite a bit apparently, as his father lectured him for the
next half hour.
     "...and to make things worse," he concluded, "the gangs and
drug dealers are going to have some big suspicions that it was you.
Hell, the police already do! For God's sake, Erik, do you realize
how much cocaine you took??"
     "Several million dollars worth I imagine, but I doubt they'll
be laying a lawsuit on me," Erik replied.
     "If it were possible, they'd be laying you under the ground,"
his father replied grimly.

MAY 22...

     "You really need to get your head examined," Jason said
disgustedly as they ate lunch in school with Cathy and Rob, who was
looking around nervously. The newspapers had shown the story of the
cocaine and marshmallows this morning and it didn't take long for
them to realize who had done it.
     Cathy looked at Erik worriedly but it couldn't hide the glow
she had about her that all pregnant women who want their baby seem
to have. They'd tried ultrasound on her to see if it was possible
later to determine if it would be a boy or girl, but the soundwaves
just couldn't penetrate Cathy. Probably because of the sound-
oriented nature of her powers. Eventually, they had decided it
could wait until she gave birth and find out the hard way. Erik
ignored Jason and focused on Cathy's aura. Surprisingly, he found
what he wanted.
     "Boy," Erik announced.
     "What?" Jason said confusedly, not understanding at first
because he had been thinking about what his friend had done.
     "Boy," the blonde-haired teenager repeated, nodding casually
at a wide-eyed Cathy, whose hand had flown to rest on her abdomen.
"That's what I sense from her aura."
     Cathy gave Jason such a happy smile that it tore away all of
his frustration at Erik's dangerous prank and the couple held hands
tenderly as they looked in each other's eyes. Erik felt a momentary
pang at the sight of their obvious love but irritably shook off the
feeling.
     He just wished everyone would understand it wasn't in his
nature to stand by and do nothing, especially where he lived! The
corruption had it coming to his way of thinking. Oh, he knew he
wasn't some saintly super-hero person, but those who hooked kids on
drugs really ticked him off.
     It had also been disturbingly easy, even for himself.
Everything he needed to do had seemed so clear to Erik, like his
mind was becoming more efficient. His brain had to have adapted to
his final boost, his normally excellent memory was now perfect and
problems on his tests simpler to solve.
     And people had no idea how much more power he was getting from
the supposed ninety-day period after March the sixteenth. It was
proportional to the other increments, just longer. The first three
periods increased a person's powers randomly, from a half of what
they had at their boost, to three times that amount. This stretch
was coming close to an end as it was May twenty-eighth, but Erik
was about twice as powerful now as he was when the third boost
first hit, and even then he had been formidable. He was actually
scared to try anything major so he had been using as little as
possible. 
     It wasn't a wise thing to not attempt something at all,
however, thus he wasn't wearing an illusion to school anymore;
transformation spells were coming easier to him. He actually looked
like his old self again, but if he didn't reenforce the admittedly
weak spell with another every so often it would fall apart and he
would revert back: his powers didn't like him looking other than
his elven self. Perhaps with more normal people the spell would be
permanent but he didn't want to experiment on other people. Things
were calm around Winnipeg so he didn't have anything to test his
powers on.
     Why did he feel so apprehensive though?

STONE...

MAY 24...TWO DAYS LATER...

     "Y'know," one of my agents said, scratching his head at the
huge pile of illegal drugs on the table, "this guy must have
bloodhounds beat to find all this in a relatively small city like
this one."
     The brown-haired, lean man who'd shown himself to be Umeko's
Runner nodded his agreement, adding, "And if he couldn't take it,
he could just turn it into something useless, like he's done once
already."
     "Anything?" I said, ignoring the comments and speaking to the
few seconds I had brought who had search capabilities and were
going over the pile.
     A man with constantly swirling hair in his second form sighed
and stood up. "He's too damn strong, sir. It's like staring at the
sun with your bare eyes."
     The woman beside him nodded, she wore a low-cut, black gown
and held a crystal ball with swirling colors. "Not only that, he's
generating some kind of interference that must be instinctive, or
a side-effect because all the other fourths do the same. Any subtle
probe I try, or even a non-subtle one, just falls apart and
distance doesn't seem to matter."
     The man nodded. "I figure a third MIGHT have a better chance,
definitely if they're a fourth. Seconds are useless for tracking
him."
     I grit my teeth; Umeko was a third and had tried and failed
herself. It was the physical presence of the bags the Puck had
brought that I had hoped would help, but apparently they didn't.
There were no fingerprints, or anything else either, that hadn't
been identified as a drug dealer's.
     My ruminations were interrupted when one of the local seconds
in the police force ran into the room and he seemed desperate as he
panted out his news. "Some people have taken a bank hostage! Two
have revealed themselves as thirds and at least two more are
seconds." He paused to catch his breath. "And they're asking for
the Puck to show himself!"
     "Damn!" I swore. "NOW what else is going on?!"

     I contacted agent Carla and she said she'd meet me at the
scene as soon as possible. Most of us were scattered around the
city intentionally so as to have a better chance of being on the
scene if the Puck did show. Unfortunately, the second drug incident
must have prompted this quick response because I had received
information that all involved in this had ties to drug-related
crimes.
     We didn't have much info on the thirds; not everyone had
revealed themselves to the public when the changes had happened
after all. But they had already driven back Chain and Oscar, the
thirds who had joined the police force. Chain was in shock and had
to be taken to the hospital because one of his arms had apparently
been disintegrated.
     When I arrived at the scene, I saw the two thirds brazenly
standing outside the bank. The police were well away from the pair
and to be honest I didn't blame them.
     The one who had destroyed Chain's arm was vibrating so much
that his features were indistinct. All I could tell from him was
that he wore blue jeans and nothing else other than shoulder length
black hair.
     The other had features belonging to a funhouse mirror. His
face was twisted, horrible to look on as he leered at those in
front of him. The rest of his body wasn't much better and his
clothing ill-fitted him. Some kind of aura flickered around him
that wrenched at my eyes.
     For these two to defeat two other thirds proved a private
point of mine: all thirds were not equal. One's power may defeat
one third easily while impossible or very difficult to take down
another. Survival skill had a lot to do with it too and I suspected
these criminals were experienced at surviving with little power,
but now had a lot which made them deadly.
     I spied an ashen Oscar and stepped up to him. He looked up,
guessed from my features that I was a third, and almost slumped
with relief.
     "My name's Donald Stone, DOC. What happened?" I asked the
shaken man. Oscar blinked.
     "DOC?"
     "Department of Changed. A new organization in the United
States forming to deal with changed problems," I explained. "What
happened with Chain?"
     "We-we had just stepped out to talk to them," he stammered,
"when the blurry one just attacked Chain for no reason! He moved so
quickly we couldn't react in time and he grabbed one of Jonny's
arms. The next thing I knew, Jonny's arm just seemed to explode and
he screamed as he collapsed to the ground. I immediately
disoriented the bastard but the other one wasn't effected and
sent... something at me that turned my stomach, even though my
field defected it. He warned me to back off or he'd do the same to
the regular police so I did and dragged Jonny back behind the
line." His head drooped, remembering his friend's loss.
     I mentally sighed. Scum against more normal people didn't have
as many morals to hinder them, and from the sound of things Oscar
and Chain's powers sounded ill-equipped to have handed this in the
first place. I wasn't sure mine were either, the vibrating bastard
might avoid my cold or go right through my ice and the odd one was
an unknown. Carla should have an easier time with these two, I
thought.
     "Looking for me?" a voice called out, grabbing my attention
immediately as I looked for the source.
     And swore, seeing the figure floating two feet above the
ground.
     It was Puck!
     I was my first time seeing him live and I wondered at the
childhood impression that had caused a man to be changed into the
image of one of man's myths, the elf. The costume he wore would
have looked flashy on anyone else but suited his inhumanly handsome
features, which displayed his anger at the two miscreants. I also
noticed a faintly noticeable tenseness, an indication he was ready
to react. Not odd considering he'd fought empowered people before.
     The one with the twisted face laughed, horrible with that
face. "You shouldn't have messed with the dope, faggot!" he shouted
and the blurred man moved for the elf.
     Who calmly opened a hand and a greenish blob shot out towards
the surprised third as it hit him on the chest. It splattered as it
hit his vibrating chest but surrounded him as it grew in size. I
took note of it with an interested gaze as it became massive enough
to absorb the vibrations the man was generating and finally encased
him chin to feet, quivering madly as he struggled to get out.
     "And what 'dope' may that be?" the Puck calmly asked the first
man as his companion struggled madly in the green ooze. The elf
threw another green blob at the man to reenforce the quaking blob
as he awaited a response. However, the twisted man was still
grinning.
     "Shouldn't play dumb with me, elfy-boy," he giggled. "We know
you're the one who stole the local boys' property and dumped it on
the cops." Then he raised an uneven arm to hurl... two somethings
nauseating to look at at the Puck and at his imprisoned friend. 
     It played havoc with the shield I knew the elf had surrounded
himself with. The look of shock was nice to see as it collapsed on
him and the remaining portion of the bolt slammed him enough to
jolt his concentration and send him crashing to the ground. In the
meantime, the lime stuff around the other third splattered like hot
batter and the vibrating man leapt gleefully for the kneeling
figure.
     Only to backpedal frantically away when a swipe of a suddenly
materialized created longsword of light in the angry elf's hands
nearly cut him in two. Obviously the son of a bitch didn't think he
could vibrate his way through energy and stood a cautious distance
away from the elf, who seemed to be as quick as himself.
     Someone stepped beside me and I saw the dark brown face of
Carla when I turned.
     "I miss the first half?" she said with a small smile as she
took in the scene. Largely unchanged save for a slimmer body and
now-golden, straight hair, Carla was an easygoing person who had
been a minor criminal behaviour analyst in the FBI until DOC was
formed and recruited. She didn't mind the greater responsibilities
I had given her as a third in our department and was fortunately
capable of doing them. Her determination to training and mastering
her powers was also impressive.
     "The Puck had imprisoned the blurry one when the other with
the twisted face somehow blasted through his shield and released
the blurry one."
     Carla made a face when she saw them clearly. "Lord almighty,
that's one funhouse mirror goon all right." She had a point there. 
     "One destroys with vibrations, the other disrupts things
somehow so be careful if..." I stopped as the paused confrontation
started up anew.
     "In case you've forgotten," the blurred one finally said in a
buzzing tone, "we've got hostages so lose the sword and shield or
we start knocking them off."
     Puck narrowed his eyes but was obviously at a loss this time.
The sword vanished and likely his shield too.
     The next thing I know, I heard two whooshing sounds that
sounded too damn familiar for my liking and the area where Puck
stood became a fireball. I instinctively dived to the ground, but
it was unnecessary as Carla quickly used her power to create a
force field of her own, protecting us and the police from the
explosion.
     "What was THAT??" she gasped as black smoke replaced flames.
     "Portable surface-to-surface missiles," I replied angrily as
I stood up. "Small but powerful and easily aimed." Carla stared at
me, her normally dark face pale.
     "Dear Lord!" she whispered as she turned back to the
devastation. The two thirds who had been fighting Puck had been
thrown back a ways but were unhurt and grinning as they looked at
the smoking area where Puck had been.
     They stopped laughing when the smoke cleared.
     Eyes closed on a soot-blackened face, the Puck silently stood.
Clothes burnt terribly, and in some cases still burning, the elf
was in the middle of a small crater. His hair was in wild disarray
and partially burnt off. I was amazed that he had survived that
until I recalled a report that he had encountered something greater
in destructive firepower in Valerie Decelles, and survived with
only minor burns. 
     "If you wanted to piss me off..." Puck said neutrally in a
quiet voice.
     His clothes reformed around him as his transformation power
remade his outfit. The soot drifted away and his hair regrew to its
former length. Then his eyes snapped open and I from what I could
see of them they were glowing slightly, making the two who had set
him up step back nervously. Puck's next words were a roar of
rolling thunder.
     "CONGRATULATIONS!"
     The two bank robbers felt first hand the power Puck wielded as
two huge spheres of intense blue-green light suddenly flashed
towards them. It must've been some kind of binding spell because
when those spheres hit, both men were suddenly entrapped in neon-
colored energy bonds. They instantly immobilized the criminals,
even the one with the twisted face. 
     "TRY AVOIDING LIGHTNING NOW!!" Puck yelled furiously. They
never had a chance to struggle as he unleashed two massively
powerful energy bolts at each man. The thundercracks doubly echoed
the explosion that had failed to kill the elf moments before and
near-blinded me with the light. His warning, and the Winnipeg
police's experience with these bolts, had made everyone turn so as
to not get blinded. When the spots in my eyes faded, I saw the two
victims of Puck's anger lying flat on their backs, looking slightly
charred where they had been thrown. Alive, but unconscious.
Whatever protections they had had, it hadn't been enough. Still
obviously furious, Puck whirled to face the bank, hands glowing
brightly.
     "I'd ADVISE surrendering NOW!!" he shouted to those inside.
"Before I decide NOT to tone down my lightning!" 
     "That was toned DOWN?" Carla muttered incredulously.
     "Probably," I quietly replied. "Miss Decelles of Edmonton
destroyed a few blocks in one blast and she is his power level."
     "And you want to bring this guy in??"
     "Yes," I said. The female third gulped.
     "Ohhhhh damn. Can I transfer?" she said hopefully.
     "No," I said flatly. 
     "I didn't think so," Carla sighed.
     "These idiots didn't know what they were dealing with," I
replied confidently as I watched those inside timidly walking out
of the bank under the elf's baleful gaze. I didn't blame them; they
had seen Puck survive a missile attack and just get angrier before
knocking out their two most powerful people in the space of a few
seconds. That probably struck a chord of fear in their grubby
little minds.
     I decided it was time to stop being a spectator and, after
motioning to Carla and three others of my personnel to follow me,
started moving towards Puck through the mass of police personnel.
We were slightly delayed by the locals but fortunately Puck was
trying to calm himself down while cautiously watching the police
round up the bank robbers. The still-bound thirds were left alone
for now, I'd likely request them to be transferred to our temporary
headquarters here then back to the states where they would be
surrounded by people with powers.
     Puck seemed to sense our approach and whirled to meet us,
ready for an attack but immediately relaxed when he saw our
professional manner of dress, or so I guessed. Carla and the others
stayed behind me as I flipped up my newly-made identification so
the elf could see it.
     "Donald Stone, Department of Changed," I said, "and my
associates. I'd like you to come with us, please."
     Puck blinked at my ID, then looked us over before curiously
replying with, "What do two United States thirds and three seconds
want with me?" 
     I was a little taken aback that he'd identified both Carla and
I as third-level changed so confidently. Me, I could understand,
but Carla's hair was her only obvious third-level characteristic
and it could have been dyed. When he ID'd the others as seconds I
was positive he COULD tell other peoples' power levels, which
scrapped a few of my alternate plans.
     "I'd like to say why in private," I told him, waving my arm in
a direction where I wanted to go. Puck didn't budge.
     "I'D rather you say it here, please," he stated firmly, "not
that I plan on going anywhere unless you give me a very good reason
to." I frowned at his refusal; this confirmed my suspicions that I
wouldn't like this man.
     "Look, PUCK," I replied evenly, "you are a known vigilante and
we have the full backing of your government. You are hardly in a
position to refuse my request. If you do not come with us, then I
have the authority to bring you in by force if necessary, and I
wouldn't bet that we can't!" I finished with a louder voice than I
had planned, something about this guy just didn't rub well with me
and his response didn't help matters. After wearing a neutral
expression during my little speech, Puck spoke up and I discovered
the dislike was mutual.
     "And you, Mr. Stone," he began offhandedly, "are a known
jackass with the full backing of a horse's rear end. I am certainly
in a position to refuse your request, I will NOT come with you, and
you probably couldn't force your face into a smile." Puck grinned
insolently as he crossed his arms over his chest. "And I bet you
can't either."
     "Containment!" I barked furiously as I moved to the side,
letting the others full freedom to attack Puck. We'd rehearsed this
many times so it went off perfectly. My freezing cold ice suddenly
held Puck to the ground as it encased his legs. A steely web from
one of my seconds covered the startled elf's arms while another,
Runner, punched him a hundred times in the jaw, stunning the elf
before Carla stepped forward and encased him with a tight force
field that visually shimmered, showing how strong it was. I grinned
fiercely as the Puck appeared to be dazed.
     "You think this'll hold him?" Carla asked me while keeping an
eye on our prisoner, like or unlike Puck she had to concentrate on
keeping her fields in place. I nodded.
     "Until the rest of the team get here, then he won't get away,"
I said and brought out my cellular from my pocket.
     ZOT! KA-BOOM!
     Everyone except Carla jumped when my portable phone exploded
in my hand because of a small flash of lightning. I quickly turned
to Puck who was grinning instead of looking dazed and was about to
freeze him again when my three seconds were hit by that same green
ooze that had held the third before, trapping them as they cried
out. How could he have....? Then horror struck me as awful
realization hit me. DAMN!!
     "Carla! Release your field!" I yelled, looking around myself
warily. She looked at me briefly in confusion.
     "What?! But..."
     "THAT'S NOT HIM!!" I shouted. His deception revealed made the
double irrelevant and Carla jumped when the illusionary image of
Puck vanished.
     "You win the grand prize!!" Puck's voice cried out from
nowhere.
     I jumped away from my current location but I was too late as
three of those damned green balls came out of nowhere and hit me
squarely in the chest. My cold slowed the ooze down but I soon
found myself landing facedown on the ground and encased in a thick
layer of the gelatinous stuff, swearing as I struggled to get out.
     Carla almost had a heart attack when the Puck reappeared right
beside her. She almost used her power again but hesitated,
uncertain if it was another illusion. Puck grinned, knowing her
plight. 
     "Tell Mr. Stonehead to go back home and get his jollies
there," he told her, jutting a thumb in my direction. "I've got
better things to do than tripping over Donnie the Winter Wonderboy
all the time. Chow." And he vanished again, this time for good,
leaving the others trapped and me glaring with a burning gaze at
where I had last seen the bastard before he left, thinking the
encounter over.
     I swore furiously.
     The HELL this was over! 
     
ERIK... MAY 27...

     Erik was sitting alone at a table in Puck's Palace; his dark
expression told everyone he was not in a good mood. Not that the
reason was a surprise as the television and papers had reported his
little 'dispute' with Stone, the arrogant twit. There was such a
thing as love at first sight, Erik knew, but so was there hate at
first sight and he had felt it intensely with the government man.
     In fact, he had discovered to no surprise, the whole purpose
of Stone's presence was to bring the Puck in. The Canadian
parliament had even given the man permission to do so. Erik
grimaced.
     If the bastard tries to find out who I really am I'm going to
HAVE to stop him, he thought angrily. I don't want my friends and
family endangered because of that stupid stunt I did. Erik sighed
mentally, wishing he hadn't done it now. 
     Two bodies walked over and pulled out two seats to sit on. One
was the shadowy form of Rebecca, the other the hooker Gail, who was
dressing better these days as her ability to become a desire-
inflaming nymph had made her raise her prices, as well as being
more selective. Puck sighed as they sat down. "I'm not much company
tonight, ladies."
     "We know, kid," Rebecca told me. "I just thought you'd like to
know that Stone character and his crew have been talking to most of
the more powerful people around town, especially the thirds. I told
his flunkies to shove it when they asked me." She snorted. "Can you
believe they tried to pressure me? That's why I'm telling you this;
I don't like their methods."
     "They're American government agents, what do you expect?" Erik
had to chuckle, but this new info was worrisome; how many people
did Stone have now? It didn't help that most people didn't
comprehend the amount of power Puck had now, most thought he was
just a little more powerful third, and that was dead wrong. There
would be a few yahoos eager to try out their stuff in a
'legitimate' cause to take me down, and Erik would hindered by the
fact that he didn't want to kill anyone doing so. 
     "Yvette joined them for this bit," Rebecca said to his dismay,
but hastened to reassure the worried elf. "She doesn't like this
either and is going to find out what she can. Don't worry," she
said tartly at Erik's alarmed look, "she can handle herself quite
well. But I'm afraid she had to reveal your little aversion to
hurting women to gain their trust," she added.
     Erik sighed and shook his head; it had been one of the topics
they had chatted over when the fight with Valerie entered the
conversation. Call me archaic, he thought, but I just normally
didn't like to strike out at a girl, my bout of insanity being the
only odd case out. "They probably would have found that out on
their own eventually. Not that I'm above embarrassing the other
sex," he murmured. Gail smiled temptingly, he'd had a few more
encounters with her, free, and she enjoyed those times a lot. She
said she got tingles whenever the two did, probably a result of his
greater power strumming her own power.
     "Y'know, let's talk about something else," Gail purred,
rubbing one of his hands with her own, which made Rebecca roll her
eyes, "Why don't you go into business for yourself? If my power
helps me in mine, why can't yours?"
     Erik blinked at her, then looked over at Rebecca, whose
eyebrows were raised in surprise. 
     "I hadn't considered that," he admitted. "A few others have
started doing that but I never thought of it for myself, mostly
because I don't reveal my real name."
     "You could get an agent," Rebecca offered.
     "Agent?" Erik truly thought about it. "That's a good idea. But
who...?" Suddenly, the Puck grinned as it hit him and he snapped
his fingers. "I know! Cathy! She's pregnant and she and her
boyfriend could use all the money they can get. And if they don't
feel fully up to it, then maybe some of their friends could help."
The two women nodded in encouragement, not knowing that I was one
of Cathy's friends. Even if it was unintentional, Erik thought to
himself, Cathy and Jason had just given me an excuse to connect
Puck to them without compromising my real identity.
     However, Erik's mood soured when he happened to glance into
one of the club's mirrors and recognized one of the three male
agents Stone had had with him when they had fought. It was the
quick one who had punched his illusion over a hundred times and the
man didn't realize he had been spotted.
     Erik pushed his chair back and rose, smiling at the two women
gratefully. "Thanks for the morale boost, Rebecca, Gail, but as
much as I'd like to stay I have to go," he said.
     Then Puck whirled and smiled wolfishly at the agent, who
realized he had been made just before the elf vanished. 
     People suddenly stopped dead and stared at Runner, making the
puzzled agent wonder what was up. When they started laughing at him
he turned to a nearby mirror to see what the Puck had done and his
eyes bugged out at what he saw. 
     Runner didn't see his own face, instead he saw a halfway
cartoonish, halfway real image of a big purple bird with a really
long neck. A split second was all it took to realize what illusion
the Puck had placed on him. He suppressed a moan at the hopefully
unintentional pun on his code name and decided to get out of the
club as quick as possible. 
     The bartender unsuccessfully stifled her giggles on seeing the
big, but skinny, bird lifting his glass with a wing and downing it
with his orange beak. Then he slid off the seat and, after slapping
his feet together two times, left with a "Beep beep!" before
zooming away.
     Gail convulsed with laughter while the dark Rebecca amusedly
shook her head, wondering at her new friend's sense of humour.

     There were stares and one startled oath when Runner reported
in. The gawky bird stomped over to a surprised, but slowly grinning
Carla, pointed a purple wingtip at her, and forcefully said, "It's
me, Runner. DON'T say a WORD, Carla. Just... don't." Muffled
chuckles and giggles followed behind him as he walked into Stone's
temporary office and slammed the door shut.
     Carla shook her head with a smile as outright laughter finally
broke out.
     "This world's getting stranger every day," she chuckled.

STONE... MAY 31...

     I frowned at the papers in front of me without seeing them. I
had just finished a lengthy discussion with Everett and didn't like
what he had told me. 
     My time was shorter than I had thought. My superior had told
me I had to return, with or without Puck, on the fourth of June.
Everett had started getting pressure to return all the agents I had
brought with me back and start them onto separate duties related to
their powers.
     I grimaced. My hopes to find Puck's real identity had been
slim as too much probing would likely attract unwanted attention.
His power of illusion and reasonably high amount of cunning made it
even harder.
     Therefore, I had to take the bastard down by force before my
time was up.
     Local recruitment had been fruitful; there were more seconds
and thirds for the percentage of people north of the devastated
town of Hardpoint than anywhere else in the world. In addition to
the 5 thirds and 42 seconds that were DOC personnel, 3 thirds and
30 seconds had been recruited to capture Puck. Oscar was one of
those thirds, his buddy Chain was recovering in the hospital but
his arm wasn't coming back miraculously even if his body had healed
over the wound swiftly. I told him I'd send a messenger to the
fourth, Betty Forestt, for help regenerating the arm. For if she as
a fourth-level healer couldn't, no one probably could.
     The other two thirds and the seconds I was less sure about.
Yvette Ranchard had met with Puck several times in that club named
after him, but she seemed willing to cooperate and had even offered
advice on taking advantage of Puck's so-called gallantry. I had to
admit it felt in character for my adversary, and even if I was
unsure about her Ranchard's light powers would come in handy.
     The third Demi-God, THIRD I rebuked myself mentally, was
Edmond Yellow, a twenty-one year old university student who had
jumped at the chance to participate. He loved his powers and styled
himself a master of telekinesis. The thin, brown-haired, young man
with constantly shifting, wavy hair was eager to prove how useful
his powers would be. That eagerness was like an annoying itch but
I could tolerate it for the boy WAS good with his power.
     The seconds were of the younger generation in Winnipeg. Some
were thrill-seekers, others wanted to bring down the more famous
Puck and become famous themselves. They weren't worried as the Puck
had always seemed to avoid the use of lethal force. I reserved
judgement on that but it felt right.
     Even now, groups were hurriedly training together for the
second of June. I loathed a rushed job but I had no choice; if I
ever tried again the Puck would be too experienced to handle. I
wasn't concerned about what to do with him after we caught him, I
believed the mere FACT that a fourth COULD be captured would be the
most important success of the mission. Maybe others could convince
him to join the agency, or maybe something else, I didn't care.
     All I wanted to do now was to take the son of a bitch down.
     And down HARD.

ERIK... JUNE 1...

     "You sure about all this, Erik?" Rob said nervously to his
blonde friend. Jason and Cathy were with them as well but they
looked more confident than their skittish friend. "I know she's
mellowed but..."
     "Well, who better to do deals face-to-face?" Erik replied
patiently. "Look. We'll be starting sometime after university
begins. You can handle whatever computer stuff we need done, Jason
the advertising work, Cathy can work in the office and handle phone
calls with that truly pleasant voice of hers since she'll be less
than mobile soon," I added, making the red-head blush. "Myself,
well, that's obvious. We can all double for everybody else so as
not to skip university classes. But I REALLY," I stressed, "don't
want to get gipped. From what I've heard business can be vicious
sometimes so I want to be sure we know clients are telling the
truth. And so..."   Erik stopped when he spotted the new arrival to
the cafeteria and waved her to come join the quartet. The raven-
haired girl came over, curious. "What's up, Erik?" she said.
     "Ah, Jennifer," Erik said with a charming smile, "I'm so glad
you asked me that question. Have a seat and let's talk."

     "All right, I'll do it," Jennifer agreed after they had
explained and she thought about it, "but I have one request." Erik
raised his eyebrows.
     "And that is...?"
     "Ask the Puck if he can discover how to extend the length I
can stay in my second form," she said, looking at Erik directly.
Needless to say, he was surprised. Not at talking like he wasn't
the Puck, they were at school after all, but at the odd request.
     "Why??" Rob blurted, voicing aloud everyone's bafflement.
     Jennifer leaned forward, eyes nervously looking from side-to-
side. "Did you hear scientists believe people don't age when they
are in their second body? It's like your body returns to the exact
same state it was in when you change back, even after ten hours. So
if you can lengthen that time..."
     "...you live longer," Erik finished, comprehension dawning. He
considered her hopeful face and sighed. "Sounds risky, but I can
ask him. Don't expect miracles though," he warned. Jennifer stood
up, smiling saucily at him.
     "It's that a God's specialty?" she said, and walked away,
ignoring Erik's sour look and the other three's mirthful
expressions.
     
     Later that day, Erik went to Puck's Palace to make sure
everything was all right and found a surprise waiting for him.
Instead of just scoping him out, another of Stone's agents walked
right up to him, and said, "Tomorrow at 6 p.m. There are several
empty fields six miles north of the city limits. Stone will be
waiting for you there." 
     He left the club after giving the young man slightly more
detailed information. It didn't ease Erik's mind. I shouldn't go,
he thought, but what would that idiot Stone do if I don't? Frowning
angrily, he left as well, no longer in the mood to stay.
     Why did this asshole have to pick me to be his chew toy? Erik
growled to myself as he flew away, invisible. And if I get HIM off
my case, will there just be another? What should I do? Erik debated
with himself this dilemma all the way home.
     He didn't come up with an answer.

STONE... JUNE 2...

     I watched the skies as I stood amidst weeds and dried-out
dirt. It was almost time and everyone was ready.
     Against my better judgement, all the people I had gathered
were standing in a loose semi-circle. Mostly because attacking the
Puck one-by-one would be tactical suicide with the power of
illusion he had, especially as I had no idea how practiced he was
at it. Our powers as a group stood the best chance, but the
destruction such a conflict would result in was why we stood out
here in the middle of nowhere.
     Yellow, who was looking at the sky almost as intently, jerked
suddenly. "He's HERE!!" he cried, the crowd of people shifted, some
with excitement, some with unease..
     I didn't see anything, but then, neither did I have a sense of
solid objects which the Puck hadn't known or thought about. "Bring
him down where we want him," I ordered. "And take down that
illusion, Fletcher!"
     "Sure, boss," was the amused sneer I got as a reply. I ignored
the tone and watched what happened next. 
     Yellow was concentrating, and sweat popped out on his forehead
when his fish started fighting back. Nobody saw the results until
Fletcher unleashed what I could only call a ripple towards the area
his target should be.
     And there the Puck was.
     The elf seemed surprised at his illusion's disappearance but
not at Yellow forcing his landing fifteen feet away and
approximately where everyone could get a good shot at the bastard.
There was a murmur from those who had never seen him before; he was
a sight, I'll reluctantly give him that.
     Puck whistled, obviously impressed as he surveyed the mass of
people facing him. "This the Power Hour or something?" he remarked
bemusedly, scratching the back of his head. His gaze locked on one
person in particular and he frowned. "I THOUGHT that felt familiar.
Who let YOU out, wax face?"
     Fletcher, the third with the face twisted disturbingly who had
fought Puck at the bank robbery, grinned venomously. "I got cut a
deal, ELF, and helping bring in your sorry ass cuts my time. Didn't
have to twist MY arm much."
     "Why bother?" Puck responded dryly. "Who's the lady?" He
referred to the woman who was keeping a neutral expression as she
held one of Fletcher's hands. 
     "I am an agent of the DOC, codename Amp," she replied coolly.
I knew her full profile; Ellen Rosenholt, age thirty-six and former
FBI investigator for criminal fraud. I couldn't remember what she
used to look like, but her appearance was remarkable under her
casual clothes, worn for free moment. At five foot seven, she was
a woman one could certainly call voluptuous, but her skin
coloration tended to distract one's attention from that. Semi-
straight, glowing lines of variable color constantly travelled
across her pink skin from right to left. Her shoulder-length brown
hair wasn't affected. 
     We had found out that she could increase other people's powers
somehow if she maintained skin contact with them, which was why she
had been reluctantly been paired with Fletcher, or rather Distort
as he called himself now. It also rendered her immune to his power
as long as she did so, but it was his leering examination of her
body she truly disliked.
     Puck winced at her codename. "I guess names belonging to the
funny books are becoming popular," he sighed before turning to face
me. "All right, Stone, I came. What did you want to say? Not that
I can't guess with all the power you've collected here," he added
sourly, kicking the dirt he stood on peevishly as he crossed his
arms.
     "I want you to hand yourself over to our custody," I told him
levelly, "if you don't, we will drag you in as a vigilante." Those
seconds that hadn't changed before now did so at my warning.
     Puck visually looked over the force arrayed against him, then
paused. He looked down at his feet, expression speculative. "You
really think you can do that?" he mused.
     Suddenly, there was a thirty-foot tall Puck glaring down at us
all. I knew it had to be an illusion but it still jolted me and
scared the hell out of others in the group from the gasps I heard.
Distort wasn't impressed, however, and his bolt of chaotic energies
hit the Puck-giant in the middle and made it vanish. The real Puck
reappeared and he was smiling amusedly, damn him!
     One of the seconds didn't take it well. He looked like some
kind of space ranger in his second form, ray gun and all. He jumped
up about seven feet and hung there somehow as he pulled out his
gun. "Fuck you, asshole!" he shouted and shot at the Puck with a
neon green energy beam.
     Puck rolled his eyes, held up an arm, and just TOOK the beam
on the back of his hand. There was a little explosion of emerald
discharge into the air but other than that it did nothing to the
elf. "I'm two levels higher than you," he rebuked the stunned
attacker, "A Demi... Damn. Okay, a Demi could've taken that without
much trouble, much less a fourth level like myself. Dance,
numbskull." He placed his hand's fingers into a gun position and
zapped two minor lightning bolts at the second's feet, who howled
in pain as he dropped to the ground. The elf turned to me,
collected himself, and said, "Mind if I explain something to you
too?"
     I frowned, wondering what he was up to. "And that is?"
     "I noticed that you have nine thirds and the seconds to make
up for a tenth, so you likely assume ten thirds are necessary to
take me down. Am I right?"
     "Possibly," I admitted, as people readied themselves to
attack. Puck sadly shook his head.
     "I don't think you have the right numbers, much less the right
powers. I suspect Val could wipe the floor with you if she let
loose. Myself, I'm hindered by the fact that I need to create
'spells' to use my powers," he admitted, "and that it will take
time to forge an array to have an effective defense against
attacks. BUT," he smiled, "I DO have two specialties where my power
is most effective at the moment. One is illusion, the other," he
raised his hands and they crackled with energy; we readied
ourselves to attack just before he did, "is transformation!"
     And he instantly disappeared into the ground!
     "What?!?!" I demanded. He hadn't done anything! Puck appeared
to broken through a thin crust of earth and fallen into mud.
"Fire!" I yelled, but I knew that most couldn't penetrate the earth
that much.
     Then from his safe place the Puck did something so devilish,
yet simple, I cursed myself. An energy wave visibly rushed through
the ground we stood on and the next thing I knew I, and most
others, were falling into three and half feet worth of sucking mud.
Most people, including myself, couldn't fly so we would be unable
to get out easily. A few could and they hovered, looking
disbelievingly over the huge patch of mud that had come into
existance below our feet. I didn't know how to use my power to get
out without freezing the muck around and imprisoning myself. 
     I cursed a blue streak at the Puck as I waded for the 'shore.'

OVER THE MUD PIT...

     It was all Yvette could do to not giggle as she hovered over
the hilarious scene. Edmond Yellow floated nearby, using his
telekinesis to hover as he gaped. One of the male DOC agents who
could also fly was shaking his head at the mess. He was a heavily-
built person with flaming red hair called Graviner. The forces of
gravity and inertia were things he could manipulate at will, to a
degree.
     "I knew this seemed too easy," he muttered. Floating over to
Ed he said, "Use your power to lift the thirds out first."
     "I can't touch that wacko guy and the woman with him unless he
drops his aura," Edmond complained.
     "Just get the others first then," Graviner sighed. "I'll talk
to Distort to drop it unless he likes mud."
     Yvette looked down at the twisted man and her eyes widened.
"You don't need to!" she gasped. The other two turned to see what
she was talking about.
     Distort had increased his disturbing aura, repelling the mud,
and was quickly walking for dry ground with a slightly muddy Amp
behind him.
     "That guy is bad news," Graviner muttered.
     Yvette privately agreed.

IN THE MUD PIT...

     "It'd be so COOL, Janice. It'll be exciting, Janice!" a
feline-bodied young woman was muttering as she headed for the far
away dry ground, walking behind a group of like-minded people. The
blasted mud was making her fur uncomfortable. Her companion, a new
friend by the name of Tami looked glum as she waded beside the
angry cat woman.
     "I'm sorry, Janice..." blonde Tami mourned, her numerous and
muddy bracelets weighed heavily on her arms.
     "Just SHUT UP! I HATE this MUD!" Janice roared at her.
     "Now, now. No cat fighting in the pool," someone chuckled
behind them. Furious, the werecat whirled, claws raised.
     "LOOK YOU ass... hole..." Her shout trailed to stunned silence
as a muddy Puck, eyebrows raised, looked at her.
     "Sorry about this," he chuckled, "but I need the odds to be
more even." Before they could shout, a wave shot out from him and
the two women, along with all the others in the wave's way, were
stuck in the rock the mud had become. A powerful laser beam from
Yvette just missed him as he ducked back under the mud, leaving
them stuck along with about thirty other yelling seconds.
     "Perfect. Just perfect," Janice muttered disgustedly as she
rested her elbows on the unyielding stone, feeling she was indeed
firmly stuck. 
     Tami looked ready to cry.

     Dum dum dum dum dum dum, Erik 'Jaws' Clay chuckled to himself
as he 'flew' in the deep muck. He didn't know how long he could
hold his breath, but he wasn't needing air yet.
     The idea for the mud had come from a roleplaying game he had
played once, and it had worked beautifully. It hadn't taken much
effort for dirt to become mud or rock, there was little difference
between the three. And he was effectively removing most of the
seconds from the conflict as he trapped them in the mud pit. Erik
even got Oscar, who, while stronger than the seconds, would have a
hard time getting out with little leverage.
     WHOOM!!
     What the HECK was that?! Erik thought frantically as a shock
wave from a nearby explosion buffeted him. 
     WHOOM!!
     Time to go topside, I suspect, he thought grimly.

STONE...

     I watched agent Force's block-like shoulders heave as he
tossed another silvery sphere into a part of the huge mud pit that
bastard Puck hadn't turned into rock to trap most of the seconds.
Yellow was telling him where Puck was moving but the elf moved like
an eel through that muck.
     WHOOM!! 
     Mud flew everywhere as it splattered protesting seconds. Not
that it mattered, almost all were covered with mud, including
myself to my growing irritation. Ranchard and Graviner hovered
behind us, the criminal Distort and agent Amp positioned a little
further down the rim of the muck pit, and Carla on the other side
of myself.
     A mud-covered object burst out of the muck at an impressive
velocity, arced over our heads, and touched down a good seven feet
away. I clenched my hands at the jovially smiling elf who was
covered with wet soil.
     "Are we having fun yet?" Puck inquired courteously, wiping off
some of the sludge on his face with a flick of a finger. Then he
dipped a bit in his posture with a look of surprise, but
straightened with a little effort and focused his attention on
Graviner. 
     By the strained look on my agent's face, he must be increasing
Puck's weight as much as he could, I could even see the ground
compressing under the elf's weight! But the muddy fourth still
stood, albeit with some effort. How tough WAS this bastard?? I'd
felt Graviner's power personally to see how it felt and I was
almost immediately knocked down. Then Yellow added his own power to
force Puck to the ground and now Puck started showing strain on his
face as he sank deeper.
     Why isn't he doing anything? I wondered uneasily. And for an
answer, I got a blinding flash of light and a cry of pain from
Graviner. When my eyes cleared, I saw Yvette had moved to float
beside the Puck as he rose from the depression the interrupted
stunt had placed him in. I heard a moan and glanced to the side to
see the gravity-manipulating agent moaning on the ground as he
clutched a smoking shoulder.
     "Thank you, Yvette," Puck thanked the glowing woman with a
smile, and I realized with a burning fury that they had tricked me.
     "Is no problem, my friend," Yvette smiled back but cautiously
watching us. "This whole thing stupid. You expected me to stop
them," she accused the elf, who shrugged innocently.
     "Son of a bitch!" I growled, but she only smiled sweetly at
me.
     "Should not have attempted to force me to fight a friend,
monsieur. Agent Graviner not hurt bad, and we all heal quick, n'est
pas?"
     "I knew that was a mistake," Carla muttered from behind me but
I didn't waste time glaring at her. I should've listened to my
initial misgivings about Ranchard, THAT was a mistake. Yellow and
Force moved up beside me while Carla checked up on Graviner.
     Unfortunately, I had made a much bigger error.

BY THE MUD POOL...

     Distort had watched this all from the side, having an
unobstructed view. The bitch he had holding his hand made his power
much stronger and he decided he had had enough following orders.
Now it was time to cut loose, and the power inside him began
roiling in anticipation.
     Agent Amp couldn't help but notice this, linked as they were.
"What are you doing?" she demanded. Amplifying his power drained
her own and the amount he was taking away was making her nervous.
Her eyes widened in fear when his hand clamped onto hers with
insane strength and he grinned at her.
     "Solving your problem," he whispered in a sinister hiss, then
turned to where Puck and Yvette stood. He howled triumphantly as he
released the power that the Puck had found so hard to counteract,
and it roared towards the defenders.
     A shocked Puck had time to give a startled shout before it hit
him and Yvette, who screamed. The shield he instinctively erected
lasted a half-second before it crumbled and let the shimmering wave
of destruction take them.
     Distort laughed in glee.

STONE...
     
     "WHAT THE HELL?!?!" I shouted as my enemy vanished behind an
avalanche of Distort's wrenching energies. I whirled to see Distort
smiling horribly and Amp looking pale. The madman stopped when
Force, Carla, and a painfully moving Graviner ran over to make him
cease.
     "Let her go, asshole," Carla said evenly, the two male agents
backing her up. 
     "Or what?" he sneered back. "Do anything and I'll blow you
away like I did them, draining her further!"
     I started walking over to this slime when Yellow gasped, and
I whirled to look.
     Puck was painfully getting up, as I knew Distort's energies
could hurt him badly for some reason, and it showed. His costume
was badly torn, and his seriously cut and bleeding skin was very
visible. But that wasn't the reason Yellow had gasped, and even I
had to swallow.
     Yvette Ranchard hadn't been so lucky as Puck.
     The instant Puck saw what was left of her body, he froze.
Standing quickly up, he numbly hurried over to see what he couldn't
believe at first. At first he stood over her, stunned, then with
robot-like movements he repaired his cape and covered her body with
it. I saw tears flowing down his cheeks and even I had to
sympathize with him, he'd obviously never lost or seen killed
someone like that before and appeared to be in shock. Distort's
insane cackle broke the grieving silence.
     "Awwww... Guess the bitch wasn't lucky, huh, elf boy?" he
chortled.
     Puck's face contorted with utter rage. He didn't bother fixing
that damn costume of his and ran straight for Distort at an
appalling rate of movement, teeth bared in a snarl of fury; I never
thought he could move that fast!
     Distort managed only a weak counter-attack but Puck slid
smoothly out of the way of it and created a fiercely glowing sword
of light. One swing he made and Amp was freed from the madman's
grip. The hard way. Amp shrieked as she let go of the severed hand.
     The disarmed criminal never had a chance to howl in pain as
Puck grabbed him by the neck and slammed the slime into the ground
so hard I felt the goddamn shockwave from where I stood.
     "Lucky?? LUCKY?!?!" Puck roared furiously as Distort's panic
and pain-filled gaze looked into the elf's whitely glowing eyes as
he was held down by the elf's grip of unyielding force. "That's
something YOU. ARE. NOT!!!" 
     We were so stunned by the chain of events that we didn't react
when Puck leaped up and, to our horror, with his sword CUT OFF
DISTORT'S LEGS AT THE KNEES!!! Blood flowed before the Demi's
healing started clotting but the pain made Distort howl. Like a
rabid dog, he lashed out with that terrible power of his at his
tormentor and hit the elf's chest with his bolt. But Puck merely
took the pain the energy caused in him and turned it into more
anger. The sword speared down into and through Distort's stomach
and he screeched terribly as the sword burned his vitals under
Puck's equally burning glare.
     Carla had had enough. "Puck! Stop it!" she yelled at the
enraged elf as I disbelievingly watched events at a greater
distance than she. "Force! Yellow! Anyone! Get him off before he
kills the bastard!"
     So engrossed was Puck in his vengeance that the quick-to-react
Yellow yanked at him without initial resistance and the elf was
tossed off the moaning and badly wounded man. He landed in the
dirt, but immediately got up again and headed for Distort again,
hands crooked like claws. He almost didn't stop when Carla
interposed herself.
     "STOP! You are NOT the law!" she shouted. Puck glared
balefully down at the agent.
     "He. Killed. Yvette!" he grated out, and those tears began
flowing again.
     "Yes! He did! And will you be any better than HIM?" she spat.
Behind her, I saw Force shaking his head at the sight of the pain
filled Distort's near-vivisected body. Yellow vomited off to the
side, some of the seconds in the air who had hung back landed to do
the same.
     That gave Puck pause, and with a growl he turned away angrily,
much to Carla's relief. "DAMN IT!" he screamed at the uncaring sky.
"What was the POINT!?" Suddenly, I saw he remembered something and
whirled in my direction. "YOU!!" he shouted, pointing at me as he
stomped my way. I retreated backwards cautiously. "You HAD to come
and 'put down the vigilante,' you son of a bitch! DAMN YOU! You
KNEW that asshole HAD to be unstable, yet you thought he was LESS
of a danger than ME? Maybe I have more power, brainiac, but at
least I have goddamn morals! And that murdering bastard DOES NOT!"
Puck threw his hands up in the air. "Well I have news for you, you
stupid moron! I am NOT going to put up with you fucking government
agents anymore!" His blood streaked face glared dangerously at me. 
     "You don't have a choice in the matter," I warned.
     Puck stared at me, disbelieving. "I just don't bloody well
BELIEVE you; you've finally reached the edge of my patience here,
and you still spout GARBAGE at me!"
     "It is NOT garbage! If need be, I will see to it that you are
put down, especially after what you did to Distort, admittedly
deserving of it, but that was WAY out of line." Puck glared at me,
and I glared back at him for a half-minute.
     "I see I have to make a point here," he said finally as he
stared at me.
     The hand that grabbed my neck surprised me, but Puck's true
self appeared as the hand's owner as the illusion he had left
behind vanished. I didn't resist knowing it would give him an
excuse to attack me and I was in a poor position TO resist. My
agents shouted, fearing Puck repeating his massacre of Distort's
limbs on me, but the elf stopped them with a raised hand as he
coldly stared into my eyes.
     "I do blame you for starting this mess," he began frigidly,
"but the lady is right and killing isn't the answer. However," he
grimly went on, "I see that nothing I say will make an impression
on you, agent Stone. So let my actions speak louder than words."
     "What?!" I demanded hoarsely, and I felt fear rise in me as it
hadn't in a long time when I saw Puck's eyes start to glow. His
hand at my neck began to glow too and the bright energy flowed onto
and into my body, reaching every portion, every fibre of myself.
The light built and I was glowing now as well as the light became
a consuming fire throughout my body. I heard someone scream.
     Funny, I realized in a detached way as my awareness fell into
darkness and away from the burning light, I'M the one screaming.
     Night fell.    

OUTSIDE THE PIT...

     When the intense light finally died, Carla turned around
cautiously and saw Puck release Stone, who fell limply to the
ground. The elf in turn staggered a little from whatever he had
done. Carla ran over, ignoring her companions' startled warnings
and quickly knelt by her superior and turned him over. She gasped.
     "Oh my Lord," she whispered.
     Erik, emotionally numb from everything, commented to no one in
particular, "If he wouldn't listen before, maybe this will change
things. Don't bother telling me it wasn't right either, right now
I just don't care," he said bleakly. "And if you'll pardon me, I
have people to release." Erik turned and walked towards the mud
pit.
     Amp ran up when he left. "What did he mean, Carla?" She gasped
when she had a clear view of Stone. Carla agreed with her.
     Stone was a woman now.
     Everything that had been male about their leader was altered
into female lines. It was as if Stone had been born female instead
and this was his... HER natural form now.  Formerly short white
hair now stretched beyond her shoulders and the strong, lean body
of the male Stone was now a supple, slender and womanly one. The
men's clothing she wore ill-fit her now-shorter body and smaller
frame. 
     Graviner stayed to keep watch on Distort but Yellow and Force
came over and gaped at what the Puck had done, as did more and more
of the freed second-level DOC agents who gasped or gawked in their
turn.
     "Puck left," one reported eventually. Carla shook her head.
     "What a mess," she sighed. Sadly, she looked over at the cape-
covered lump that had been Yvette Ranchard and closed her eyes
painfully. Puck was right in some respects, and one was Yvette's
death being their fault. "Have someone take the... body, and get
that BASTARD," she spat the word, "Distort to a hospital so we can
try what's left of his sorry ass. Force, you carry Stone to the
cars, the change must've wiped her out. Everyone else, return the
non-DOC personel to their homes." Carla brushed some of Stone's
longer hair away from the new woman's face before standing
resolutely.
     "Let's get back to base."

     "Damn him!!" Erik yelled furiously into the night sky.
     He stood on the roof of one of the taller buildings in
Winnipeg, but the spectacular view was the last thing on his mind.
Standing by the edge, he stared at the city skyline, fists clenched
at his side. In his current state, he didn't want to go home; Erik
was still far too mad and grief-stricken to do that.
     Stone may not think what the elf had done to be acceptable,
but it had been the only thing Erik could do to stop himself from
killing the arrogant government man. Mad as he had been, he hadn't
wanted blood on his hands. Like Yvette's was; no matter how much he
knew it was mostly Stone's fault, part of the blame was his.
     "Damn him..." Erik whispered as the anger fled, closing his
eyes as the tears slid down his angular face as the sorrow hit him
full-force. He stepped off the building's edge, normally a suicidal
move for most others.
     No body hit the pavement below.

SECTION TWO - Wrath of Elves