ok, its been a long time since I have sent anything up to the net. My
style has changed, I've changed, and I felt a good way to start the year
off was with a story I feel happy with(one of three stories I've been
happy with, I'm picky). So here we go, part one of a series which I'm
still working on, part four is currently done(but needs revising).

Sorry if the format is off, I've forgotten how to do the format
properly. I use Netscape, using normal font, variable width, 12 pitch at
640x480 resolution. Also, one final warning, this story is on the long
side, it tallied up around 10 pages when i wrote it. What can I say? My
muse inspired me, and inspired me, and inspired me.

Standard disclaimers apply.

" " = standard speach
- - = thoughts
Unless otherwise specified all speach is in Japanese.

                                      Bubblegum Crisis - Broken Seal:
Shattered Lives

All over the world it was felt, few could explain what had just
happened, but everyone felt it. Those who did understand were
overwhelmed by it, some lost their minds, others lost their power, but
most adapted to it. Those who did know, knew that the Rending would be
upon them soon, for the Seal of The Ages had been broken. Those who
didn't understand what was happening thought they were alone, but
quickly found out that they weren't. Scholars began researching it,
military forces began preparing, pastors began praying, and some began
believing in magic.

One fifteen year old boy felt none of this, all he felt was a splitting
headache, tons of pain, and a cold steel floor beneath him. He groaned,
wondering what the hell had just happened, one second he's opening the
door to his apartment, the next, he's falling, in pain, agony all over.
Now he was just lying on a cold steel floor, wondering where he was and
if he'd injured himself during the fall. He stood shakily, wondering
what had just happened, he turned and saw something in the room that
told him absolute nothing, but he knew it should mean something to him.

He saw that the seal was cracked all over, and within minutes the cracks
began to spread, and they spread fast. He turned, not wanting to be
around when the thing shattered and almost fell when his body refused to
obey him. Thankfully he was saved from dying with the power that was
building within the seal by some men dragging him out of the room. He
felt the shockwave as they ran, trying to save him and themselves from
the figurative forces of hell that were lapping at their heels.
Thankfully they all survived, they survived the explosion that rocked
the tower itself.

Everyone within ten miles of the tower saw it, the explosion blew a hole
in the side of the tower you could fly a plane into. Few eyes saw the
second hole within, the hole that released something into the world that
would change it forever. Linna saw it and shuddered, not understanding,
but being afraid nonetheless. Sylia saw it, and braced herself, knowing
that the second shockwave was about to hit, she'd felt the first one a
few minutes ago. Other eyes, eyes not human saw it and took their chance
and entered the world of man once more.

The world would never be the same.

    A year later  . . .

He stood there, watching through the boomer's eyes how the battle fared.
The Knight Sabers had indeed updated their gear, it had been enhanced
with some rather impressive magic. That didn't change what he had to do,
not one bit, it just gave him that much longer to try and find a way to
get free of the geas that bound him. He made a signal and the boomers
heard him, they were to withdraw, drawing the Knight Sabers to the place
he would first battle them. He knew that it wouldn't be the last time
either, he just hoped that he wouldn't have to kill any of them before
he got free.

When he received word that the Knight Sabers had been brought to the
place he had chosen he stepped into the shadows and let them carry him
toward his destination. He stepped out of the shadows, and saw the
Knight Sabers turn as they saw him, probably figuring he was another
boomer. He spoke to the boomers, "Return to base, I'll handle them." The
boomers took to the sky, following orders, even if his orders were to
use them once he engaged the Knight Sabers.

He bowed to them, "Greetings, Knight Sabers. I welcome you to this field
of battle I have chosen." They hadn't relaxed their guard at all,
apparently thinking this was something to lull them before the next
attack hit. He smiled, trying to look confident, arrogant, though he was
shaking inside and ready to run and cry. He wasn't a warrior, nor a
mage, he was just a sixteen year old kid thrust into a terrible
situation. He went into a fighting stance, just as he had been taught at
the dojo.

He looked as formal as he could as he continued, "The next move belongs
to the White Knight. The Black King has ordered his Knight to engage in
battle. Despite my desires, I am the Black Knight and you are my enemy."
The White Knight Saber seemed to understand, and apparently she had
already given her orders for the attack began a few seconds later.

He saw the attack from the blue saber coming a mile away and had already
moved to avoid the attack. He saw the green Saber leap in and try to
nail him, as strong as his shields were he knew it would take too many
blasts from the concussive blasts she could deal. He rolled aside,
narrowly avoiding her blast, and returned the favor with a kick to the
chest with the force of a semi behind it. She was sent flying by the
kick and landed on the ground with a solid thud and didn't move for a
few seconds. Somewhere deep inside he began to wonder if he'd killed
her, if he'd put too much force into the blow, he was thankful when he
heard her groan.

She didn't move, but he had to as a spray of weaponfire came flying his
way, he wasn't able to avoid them all. A couple had penetrated and he
was bleeding, it wasn't serious, but he knew it would slow him down in
the battle. He was surprised that he was doing so good, that he hadn't
lost it so far, but he knew that he couldn't carry through with this. He
knew there was no way to get away without them trying to pursue, and if
he just bugged out then Quincy would give the order to Madigan. Shortly
after he gave the order he would find himself dying and dead, he had few
options open to him. He finally settled on an option that while it left
a bad taste in his mouth kept him alive and did very little damage to
any of them.

He let the shadows carry him over toward the pink Saber, the one who
looked the least dangerous. He grabbed her, and let the winds carry him
up, he spoke as he took to the sky, "don't try anything funny, Saber. My
grip is weak as it is, and it can get weaker." She didn't try anything
funny, other than kicking and screaming, but that didn't surprise him at
all. �Let me go! Let me go!" She looked down, "Don't let me go! Don't
let go!"

He knew the white Saber was following, "Tell the white Saber to
disengage or I will let you go." He tried sounding like he meant it, and
he just hoped that she believed him. He didn't hear what she said, but
he sensed the white Saber withdrawing a distance. He found a roof and
landed on it, he let go of her and she dropped to the ground, panting
the whole time.

He turned to the shadows, about ready to leave when she spoke, half
gasping,"Why?" He looked at her, sighed, "Because I have no choice,
Knight Saber. As you have no choice either, you must either kill me or
be killed. I wish it could be otherwise." He then faded into the
shadows, and let them carry him back to the tower, back to a place where
he could tend to the wounds he had received.

She landed on the roof, "Nene, are you all right?" Nene stopped gasping,
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sylia, how's Linna?" She turned away, "Not good I'm
afraid. What did he say before he left?" Nene slowly stood, still
shaking,"He said he had no choice, that we didn't either. It was either
kill or be killed." She looked at Nene, "He's right, he could have
killed any of us with ease. I've never seen that kind of power, never."

She looked up as she heard the door open, the doctor in charge of her
walked out. "How is she? Will she live?" The doctor sighed, "Not too
good I'm afraid. It'll take a miracle to save her, even if she lives
she'll never walk again." She tried to keep from looking  shocked at the
news, but to think that just a kick from him could do so much was hard
to fathom. -I am the Black Knight, despite my desires I must fight.-
Indeed he had, crippling one of theirs and taking minimal damage in the
process.

He sat, having finished tending to his wounds, knowing that elsewhere
doctors were working to save the green Saber. He sighed, knowing that
within minutes that Quincy would be wanting to find out how well he did.
How well he did, like it was nothing more than a typical assignment,
just a typical assignment. -Go kill the Knight Sabers.- -Sure thing!
Want me to pick up some milk on my way home?- He snorted, and stood,
ignoring the pain in his side, the pain was his, he deserved it.

He saw Quincy walk in, like nothing unusual was happening, like he
hadn't just returned from battle. He knew that the Knight Sabers meant
nothing to Quincy, it was just a way for Quincy to find out how much
power he had and a way of proving his loyalty. Quincy looked at him, and
said two words,  "How many?" He meant, how many died, that is what he
meant, like it wasn't people�s lives he was discussing, like it wasn't
important at all. He tried to look like it was nothing to him, probably
failing miserably, "None, though one may not live the night. They've
updated their equipment, some of it has been magically enhanced
already."

Quincy nodded, "Good. I was wondering how long it would take for them to
update. I can now inform GP that its time to release the technomagical
boomers. This should be rather interesting, yes, rather interesting
indeed.� He smiled, but he didn't like the look of Quincy smiling, it
meant someone was about to suffer or die. �I do have another job for
you, don't stop on your work against the Sabers though." He looked at
Quincy, wondering what this 'other job' was, "And that is?" Quincy
looked him straight in the eye, "Find Mason's master. The one who made
Mason what he is. Find him, and bring him to me."

He nodded, a difficult job, assuming Mason's master still lived, but it
would give him a reason to travel farther and more often. "I'll need to
be able to travel farther from the tower for that." Quincy nodded,
understanding his reasons, "I'll talk to Madigan about that, it
shouldn't be a problem though. Remember, we can take control if you
become a problem. Don't forget who owns you." With that sour note Quincy
walked out of the room, leaving him to stew over the memory of his
leash. A leash he would break one day, the fires of hell itself would be
pleasant compared to what he'd inflict upon Genom when that day came.

She looked at Linna in her bed, the cast covered much of her body, but
at least she would live. Not that it meant much, she would never walk
again, forever bound to a wheelchair. Linna would be shattered when she
woke and found out what happened, shattered beyond repair. Priss was
taking it hard, she was talking to everyone she could right now, finding
out everything she could on this guy. Nene had finally cried herself to
sleep after she found out what was going to happen.

That left her with a tough choice, she was going to have to recruit a
new member for the team. She knew this day would come, but she didn't
think it would happen like this. She figured it would be death, not a
permanent disability that would force her to recruit new members. She
already had Mackie looking through a list of potential new members, and
that left her with the hardest job of all, telling Linna.

She sat in the room, waiting for Linna to wake up, knowing that the
worst was yet to come. Several hours passed, and she took the time to
get some bookwork done, making a note of materials she'd need for
upgrades and the like. Finally the day wore on and she fell asleep,
unable to stay awake any longer, she hadn't slept since they brought
Linna in.

She watched as he easily dodged the shots from the railgun, like Priss
was moving in slow motion. She saw him roll to the side as Linna's
knuckle bomber tried to connect with him. She saw his response, knowing
that it was too late, that there was nothing she could do. She saw the
power in his kick and knew that there was no way they could win, not
against a force of nature like him. She saw Linna's body fly, and land
on the ground, again, and again, and again.

Each time she saw the bones break, she saw the feral look on his face,
like a promise that he would do the same to all of them. No dignity in
death, just a permanent crippling, maiming them, and making them watch
as the city fell to his might. She saw the city in flames, with him
walking down the street, everyone begging him for mercy and him showing
none, killing or maiming as he desired. Linna bound to a wheelchair,
Priss unable to talk above a rough whisper, Nene with her hands broken.
She was left untouched so that she could bear witness to it all.

Then the world began to shake, and she heard a voice, "Miss Stingray  .
. .  Miss Stingray, please wake up." She opened her eyes, and almost
threw the man shaking her, but then regained her composure. The doctor
looked at her, "You were having a nightmare, ma'am. You should get some
rest. I'm not supposed to do it, but the other bed isn't occupied."
Sylia nodded to the doctor, walked over and laid down on the bed and
went back to sleep, mainly because she was tired, but partially because
she knew she had to look able and alert when she told Linna what
happened.

>From the window a man looked in, he sighed as he watched them sleep, he
didn't dare do anything yet. He didn't feel strong enough to attempt
anything major yet, he'd almost killed her, and soon he'd pay for it. He
walked over, unseen to Sylia's bed, he touched her head, he let the
magic flow. "Sleep, sleep well, and dream pleasant dreams. For the
nightmare that comes is of my making. My nightmare will be yours until I
can free myself from Genom." He then let the shadows carry him away, the
tears streaming down his face, strong and weak at the same time, that is
what he was.

He sighed as he turned to leave, -Things would have been so much easier
if I let them remain impersonal, just an enemy. I had to know, I had to
know who I was dealing with, to know their weaknesses, and in doing so,
I made myself weak.- Finding out who they were was easy enough, a few
spells, a walk through the shadows, and he knew enough. It was a bit of
irony, he had something that Quincy would appreciate, but his Geas didnt
require him to tell. He snorted, -Weakness and strength bound into the
same body, that is what I am.- He looked at Linna laying there, -That is
all I deserve.- Then he let the shadows carry him away into the night.

She opened her eyes, and looked over, Linna was awake, eating breakfast.
Acting like she didn't know what had happened, and she didn't, the
doctors had respected her wishes. She got up, yawned, and Linna looked
over, "So, sleepy head wakes up. Its not like we haven't been in here
before, so you should get used to it." She almost lost her composure
completely and blabbed what had happened, but she held her composure,
the whole team should be here.

She smiled as she got up and went and called the rest of them, letting
them know that Linna was awake. She talked with Linna for awhile,
pleasantries, trying to avoid coming around to what had happened. After
a few minutes Linna picked up on that fact and her cheer died. By the
time the rest of the team was there both of them were a bit on the glum
side, Linna knowing the news wasn't good, and she afraid to tell her.

While Priss and Nene filled her in on what happened she gathered her
courage, what she was soon to say would take all the courage she could
muster. Linna finally looked at her, "Ok, whats the news? I'm gonna
live, right?" She stood, and looked away, remembering the wall she'd
forged over the years. Emotions were never easy for her, and she had to
be strong for them during this time. Nene was barely holding together,
Priss' rage was almost visible to the naked eye, she had to be strong
for all of them.

She knew that Priss was looking right at her, and seeing that she
couldn't speak Priss spoke for her, "The bastard put you into a
wheelchair Linna. He crippled you for good." She let her shoulders
slump, there, it was out, now the shock and the pain would come.

Linna looked in shock at Priss, at Nene, and finally toward her. "You're
kidding, right? Tell me your kidding, Priss? Nene? Sylia?" They all
looked down, it was too hard to bear, finally she turned around, holding
all the emotions back, "No. He crippled you, you'll never walk again.
The fact you live is a miracle itself, the doctors said you wouldn't."
Nene lost it and began to cry again, and Priss went over to comfort her.

That left her to deal with Linna, a hard task indeed. A man who didn't
want to fight them had done something to not just one member of her
team, but to all of them. She sat next to Linna, "It's true, Linna. The
doctors  . . . " Linna began to cry, "They said I wouldn't live! They
were wrong! Now you tell me  . . . " Linna grabbed her and began to cry.
She let her cry, making a promise to herself that something would be
done, she just didn't know what.

Two long weeks passed for her, the cripple, now permanently bound to a
wheelchair, she was a puppet with all his strings cut. It was hard, too
hard, she couldn't bear it, while it would be easier to not be in the
Knight Sabers she didn't want to leave this way. She had only seen Priss
once since then, and the stormcloud hung over her the whole time. She
knew what Priss was going to do, and nothing she could say would stop
her.

Nene hadn't slept much from what she'd heard, busy hacking into various
Genom areas to find out who this man was. So far she'd had no luck, and
she was worried that Nene would hurt herself in the process. Sylia
mentioned that she suspected Nene was using drugs to keep herself awake
so she could find something on this man. She just hoped that she found
something before she ended up in the hospital also for a drug overdose.

Sylia, she didn't know how Sylia was handling it, but she did know that
she had already started looking for a replacement. She didn't blame her,
but it still hurt, knowing that she was going to be replaced, that her
role in the Knight Sabers was over. She didn't even hear this from
Sylia, Mackie had told her what had happened, about how she'd started
looking even before she had woken up. The logical part of her said that
Sylia was doing what was necessary for the good of the team, but that
other part didn't want to listen to logic.

She began experimenting, seeing if she could do anything at all,
determined to keep them from destroying themselves because of what
happened. She'd only ended up hurting herself and making her physical
pain equal the pain she felt inside. It was just too damn hard to take
it all, the first two days she'd cried for hours on end, cried until no
more tears were left.

The third week started like the previous two, the doctors talking to
her, trying to get her to find something to do instead of just laying
there. She yelled at them and threw them out of the room, not wanting to
hear it, not wanting to feel any more pain. She heard a voice, "So end
it. If you can't take the pain, just end it all." She looked around,
trying to find the source of the voice, it continued speaking, and she
couldn't find out where it was coming from. "Your pain is no less than
my pain. I put you here, and I regret it."

With that she saw a shimmering in the air, and saw him appear, him, the
man who'd put her hear, the man who'd destroyed her. He looked
different, none of the arrogance, none of the power, just a broken man,
as broken as she was. She lost it, crying and yelling at the same time,
"You! You ruined my life! Nothing you can do can correct that! Why are
you here?! Did you come because you wanted to torment me some more?!"

"No, if I wanted to torment you I would have left you alone." She
couldn't continue yelling, she was too drained, "So just leave me alone
then, let this poor cripple have her peace then." He looked at her, and
anger began to fill his voice, "Peace?! You want peace?! Can you imagine
what its like to know you are a puppet, that you exist to serve the
whims of your master?! Until you live a day in my shoes, don't ask me
about peace!" He stood, and turned to leave, she spoke softly, "Then
tell me."

All his resolve crumbled, he couldn't leave, he was too young, too
scared, too sick of what he'd become. He sat, looked at her, "Too weak,
too strong. That is what I am. A force of nature embodied in a human
body. Bound by shackles I cannot break, that is what I am." He held his
head in his hands and began crying, "It's my fault, I should have found
my limits before I engaged in battle. Because of me you�re crippled. I
can shatter, destroy, move in the shadows, but I can't heal. I don't
know how. I can't trust my own power."

Somehow he touched her, he was just a kid in a bad situation, with power
that couldn't even be imagined and forced to obey someone like Genom.
What he did hadn't changed, because of him, because of Genom she was
broken and he was breaking. She didn't want everyone to break, not
because of her, not because of something that was bound to happen. She
finally found her voice, it was hard to forgive him, what he had done
was hard to forgive.

"Can you heal at all?" He looked up at her, "What?" She got a bit
sterner, "Can you heal at all? Can you use that power to heal?" His head
fell again, "Yes. No. Does it matter?" She wished she could keep his
head up so she could look him in the eye, but she couldn't so she had to
use her voice. "Yes, it does. To me." He looked at her, "My god. You
don't know what your asking, I almost killed you last time. You asking
me to make your life worse? No. I won't. I can�t"

She sighed, it was tearing him up, he had done this to her and didn't
trust that if he tried to fix it that he wouldn't make it worse. "Then
sell your soul to Genom. You said you didn't want to fight, but you did.
Now deal with the consequences of your actions." She knew the words
hurt, but it was probably the only way to get through to him. He looked
at her, and then looked away, unable to bear looking at her. She still
hated him for what he'd done, but he'd touched her heart, he wasn't cut
out for this, nobody was cut out for this.

"Please. Help me." She saw the last bit of his reserves crumble, he
stood and looked at her. "You don't give me a choice." She tried to
smile, to look like this would all work out, but she wasn't sure if it
would, he might indeed make it worse than it already was. He pulled up a
chair next to her bed, wiped the tears from his face and looked at her,
almost like he was trying to find something in her body. He appeared
satisfied after a minute or two and held out his hands, apparently he
wanted her to hold them.

She grasped his hands and held them tight, forcing him to go through
with what he was about to do. She could see that he had stopped trying
to hold back the tears and they flowed from his face. She could see the
power now, it began at his heart and spread outward. As it touched her
hands they began to tingle, and the feeling spread down her arms, into
her shoulder and then her back. She could feel something changing, but
she couldn't quite place what was happening, she just hoped it was for
the better.

Finally, she saw the power wane and withdraw from her body and he
collapsed into the chair. If he'd looked tired when he first came in he
looked like he was about to die now. He was completely drained, like in
doing whatever he had done to her that he had given up a part of
himself. Slowly she saw that he began to recover, it was miraculous how
much power he had, how easily he healed. She just hoped that he would
find a way to break free from Genom. Such power if it had to exist
belonged in the hands of those who weren't like Genom. She just hoped
that he did find a way to break free before he was broken.

She could tell he was about to fall asleep and she didn't want him to
fall onto the floor. She tried to sit up, to see if what he had done
worked, it hurt all over, but she could feel strength in her back that
hadn't been there for weeks. She tried getting out of bed, almost
collapsed, but was able to walk, slowly, but she could walk. She managed
to drag him over to the bed, and drop him into it, only a few minutes
before she drug herself back into her own bed. She saw sleep take him
within minutes, and in his sleep he looked to be a different man. A
young man, not one troubled by the power that was his, just a young, and
rather handsome man. Exhaustion took her into the folds of the sandman
soon enough also and she gladly slept.

She opened her eyes, exhausted, wondering if what she remembered was a
dream or just her tortured imagination. She looked over and saw laying
there, playing a game of cards and knew that it wasn't a dream, that he
had come and done what he had to do. When he saw that she was awake he
stopped playing the game of cards and looked visibly uncomfortable. She
knew that it wasn't easy, he'd put her through weeks of hell, as well as
the hell the rest of them had gone through. He got up, "I should leave.
One of the others may be coming soon, those wounds can't be healed by
magic, only time can heal those wounds."

She knew he was right, but didn't want him to leave, he was just a kid
who deserved more than he got. "Drop by again if you can, we can talk
some more." He smiled a bit, it was half hearted, but it was a smile,
"Thanks. I will. When you see the field again  . . .  I can't show
mercy, and neither can you. I'm still a puppet, I'm still Pinochhio."
With that sour note he opened the door and left the room.

She sat up and began stretching, it hurt all over, but it was good to
know she'd at least walk again. For that alone he was a saint, she just
hoped that they could save him. Explaining all this to the rest of them
wasn't going to be easy, none of them were going to take it all that
well, Priss being the worst she expected.

Priss walked down the hall, headed toward Linna's room. What she saw put
a chill down her heart and sent the fire of revenge straight into her
mind. She saw him, the man who'd damn near killed Linna and had put them
through hell. She took out her gun and chased after him, determined to
put a bullet or two through his black heart.

She looked out the door, heard the screams and saw Priss running by with
a gun in hand. She knew what had happened, she'd seen him and was trying
to kill him for what had happened. She staggered out of bed and out into
the hall, as the scene unfolded before her.

Priss yelled, "Stop right there, bastard!" He stopped, turned around and
saw her, saw the gun. Priss saw the tears in his face and didn't care
one bit, he'd damn near killed Linna, and he was going to pay for it.

She saw that Priss was about to fire, she was out of breath and didn't
have time to yell, to tell her not to fire. She did the only thing she
could, she pounced as Priss fired. Priss' gun went off, but didn't hit
what she was aiming for, the sound of gunfire echoed throughout the
halls. She fell on top of Priss with a loud crash and wished that she
hadn't done that. She looked up and saw that he wasn't hurt, at least
not physically, but in his eyes, she could see the pain.

She saw him disappear into a shadow, the pain in his eyes would linger
for a long time. She looked down at Priss, hoping she hadn't hurt her,
let alone herself with that foolish stunt. Priss looked back up at her,
anger in her voice, "What was that for! I had him in my sights! I'd
thought  . . . " Then her voice calmed down, "I'd thought he'd come
back, I thought  . . . " Linna nodded, finally able to talk, finally
having caught enough of her breath, "Could you  . . .  take me  . . .
back to my room. I'm quite  . . .  exhausted." With that something in
Priss snapped and she began laughing, it was a clean solid laugh.

Priss wasn't taking it very well, "So, yer saying that we should help
him?" She nodded, "Yes, he doesn't want to fight us. He just turned
sixteen a couple of weeks ago." Priss snorted, "Age doesn't matter. I've
known younger people who caused as much, if not more havoc than he has."
She sighed, somehow knowing that it would take time before Priss would
forgive, Nene wasn't a serious problem, and Sylia would see it from a
logical standpoint. Sylia walked in, "Priss, you should be glad this is
a private hospital. If it was a public hospital you'd be in jail by now.
As we are understaffed now I can't afford having both of you out of
commission."

Priss nodded, "Fine, see if my opinions matter. The guy is a menace, and
if we try helping him he may do worse next time. I'm gonna go play some
music, maybe I'll calm down a bit. I doubt it though." With that Priss
stormed out of the room, probably going off to trash some Genom
warehouse with her bardic talent.

Sylia sat down, "So why don't you tell me exactly what happened?" She
filled Sylia in on the details, leaving out nothing. Sylia nodded,
"You're right. We don't need Genom controlling power like that." She
looked at Sylia, knew what she felt, but could see that she was once
again 'The Ice Queen, The Leader of the Knight Sabers' "Yeah, you're
right. What he said is true, we can't show mercy if we fight him on the
field. Nor will he show us any."

Sylia turned, "Then its good that I've finished upgrading the suits. It
was hard to do, combining magic and technology isn't what you call easy.
Genom did some of our work for us though, they sent out a few new
boomers. Technomagical boomers if you need a name for them. The ADP just
calls them a new and different threat, that's all."

He stood on top of the tower, looking out at the world, wondering if he
could handle it. This power, unbelievable in its extremes was his and
his alone. He'd learned recently just how strong his power was, he
almost killed a woman with a single kick and then later healed the
damage he'd done. It frightened him, such power belonged to the gods,
and the gods alone, why they given him such power, that he did not know.

He heard Madigan's voice, "Its cold outside, you shouldn't be up here
like this." He snorted, because of the magics worked on him he couldn't
do what he wanted to, he couldn't wreck the tower, he couldn't throttle
her for what she'd done. "You think cold can harm me? I'm a force of
nature, you said so yourself." He didn't see the look she gave him, he
knew her opinions, she hated him because he was capable of replacing
her. If Quincy ever came to trust him, then Madigan's day as someone
important to Genom was over, they both knew that.

She changed the subject, not comfortable with the talk of his power, "So
I heard that Quincy has you hunting down some vampires." He nodded,
"Would you blame him? He's as much of a slave as I am. One thing about
vampires, they know the city better than I ever will." She was silent
for a few minutes, �I would rather deal with the Unseelie Court than
those bloodsuckers. At least the Court only kills you once.� He had to
laugh, he had seen a few of them in battle and knew that as cruel as
they were that they were still more merciful than vampires ever would
be.

He stood there, not acknowledging the fact that she left, not caring
either. It wasn't like she would try anything for his rudeness to her,
she didn't dare. At least not yet anyway, he knew the time would come
when she would find a way to kill him and leave herself looking
spotless. �Am I alone with this power, or are there others like me? If
so, what goes through their heads, are they as troubled by this godlike
power as I am?� The night gave him no answer, he doubted it would, but
he had to know, he had to know.