The journey of a few inches began as the drop of blood slid from the wound. It worked its way out of the gash, surrounded by exposed flesh. The skin around the wound had swollen and taken on a dark purple color. The color of a ripe plum, ready to be picked. The gash itself looked like exposed raw hamburger, slightly pink and lined with blood. It was through this portal to the body that the drop formed, growing ever larger as more and more blood welled to the surface. Finally, the blood had surpassed its ability to keep itself together. Gravity took over and the blood began to work its way out of the wound. Finally, it slipped free of the last of the wound and made its way onto the bruised skin...

Closer...

Steepled fingers rested underneath a well-defined jaw. He looked out of a window that was high above an unidentified city. Shadows covered his face as his alert eyes stared out over the bustling populace below. The door slid open and he turned in his chair. The leather crunched softly as he shifted, turning his full attention to the rotund figure moving towards him. There were no lights on in the room, save for the ambient lights from the city below and the night sky above, but the figure was in no danger of colliding with anything. Aside from the chair, the figure and the dark, mahogany desk in front of him, there room was completely empty.

"Sir, he's back. Just like you said he would be." The figure paused, waiting to see the reaction of the seated figure.

He leaned forward in his chair. The shadows followed him, still keeping his face perfectly concealed. "Perfect. Send in the call and deliver the letter."

"And the other one? Naberus?"

The seated figure paused, his fingers drumming thoughtfully on the desk. An ornate ring flashed in the moonlight for a moment before being swallowed by the shadows. A single large ruby surrounded by black diamonds. "Do the same with him. They'll be the first."

The rotund figure nodded and hastily turned to leave...

The blood continued on its way, getting caught up in an old scar. For the briefest of moments, it travelled sideways, caught in the scar's grip. Once again, gravity won the day and it slipped out of the scar, continuing on its way down...

Closer...

"What is it?" Nabe asked. He peered over his partner's shoulder as Rus opened the letter. The stationery was rather beautiful, crisp, white paper bordered by an ornate black strip that wound around itself before meeting at the top in an unusual crest. The crest formed a circle that surrounded a black symbol of unknown origin.

"I don't know," Rus answered, confused. He held the paper out for a moment, turning it over to see if there was more, but it simply said two words: I KNOW.

"He knows?"

"Apparently."

"Knows what?"

Rus shrugged, "No idea."

The phone rang, seeming considerably louder in the quiet room than it should have been. Rus looked at the note and then at Nabe. Together, they looked at the phone...

The blood worked its way down, sliding over the rough skin. Skin that had weathered many years more than its actual age. It collided with with a bead of sweat. Salty clear mixed with salty crimson. They swirled around each other, tendrils of color seeping and twining around until the blood, slightly more pink than before, continued on its way...

Closer...

The rich always had buildings. Dante was no exception. His tower jutted out over the city like some obscene phallic symbol. Perhaps it was. Perhaps it was some exaggerated symbol of dominance that had all been the culmination of a hard life of struggle. Anthony Lupelli didn't care about that. He didn't care about anything other than the task at hand. The electronic security system was top notch, but so were his skills. Quinn had given him the edge with a gadget that he had procured from the United States military. It was used by special forces to infiltrate heavily guarded compounds and it instantly disabled all electronics within a small area. Not enough to alert the whole building, but enough to allow a single man to slip in unnoticed. Lupelli looked down at the device and waited until the red light turned green before grasping the handle of the door and turning it.

Lupelli slid silently into the building. His form-fitting black clothing concealed him perfectly in the dark, shadow-dominated lobby. He worked his way toward the stairwell, hugging the wall and keeping a steady watch out for security. With the silent grace of a trained assassin, Lupelli entered the stairwell...

In the blackness, a single red dot cut through the shadows. It flashed as the camera moved, focusing in on the form entering the stairwell. The cameras were new and worked by targeting body heat. Lupelli's information was too old. He didn't wear his stealth gear...

Another drop of blood rested just below the downward turn of the cheek. The drop of blood slid down and joined with it peacefully, forming an even larger drop. Together, unified in their cause and trapped by gravity's hold, the blood continued to work its way down the skin. A tiny trail rested in its wake, providing a perfect map of its progress...

Closer...

"Yeah, it's right here," Freya said, handing the driver a crisp bill. "Keep the change," she said absently as she exited the taxi. She craned her neck back and stared up at the dark tower before her. In her pocket, carefully folded, rested the match listings for Friction. She shivered as the damp air struck her face. She brought a hand up and traced it lightly over the marks before returning it to her pocket. With a sigh, she moved over to the phone built into the entryway. She dialed the numbers that she had received only a short time ago: the direct line to Dante's office.

"Yes?"

Freya paused a moment, still unsure of the wisdom of the move. The crowd had seemed to settle behind Dante at Endgame. He and Darkness had won them both over with their tenacity and will. To his credit, Dante had actually handled everything on the up and up, no cheating, no questionable calls. Simple will. Freya finally spoke, "It's Freya."

"Come on up. Take the elevator to the top floor. The door should be unlocked."

There was a buzz as the door was electronically disabled from Dante's office. Freya grasped the handle and walked into the building...

The blood finally reached the jaw. Once there, its will began to fight gravity once again. Several more droplets of blood began to collect together. The drop began to swell, hovering on the edge of his jaw...

Closer...

It hadn't been the first wave of security guards that had done it. They had surprised Lupelli outside of the stairwell when he exited, but he was good enough to handle them. Even without his guns, he made short work of them. It was the tiny barb, hooked via wire to the taser. Volts of electricity arced through his body. His muscles spasmed for a moment before relaxing and dropping him to the ground. Those security guards that weren't unconscious hefted the large Sicilian's body to an adjoining room. The chief of security placed the stun gun on the table and lifted the smelling salts. A moment later, Lupelli's eyes fluttered open. They focused on the portly figure in front of him. Some rent-a-cop with a receding hairline and three chins.

"My name is Walker, I'm the chief of security in this building."

Lupelli turned his head, disgusted at himself for allowing a person this pathetic to get the drop on him.

Walker stepped forward and gripped Lupelli's head in his hands. "You'd do best to answer me when I talk."

To help validate this point, Walker let fly with a backhand. His chubby knuckles collided with Lupelli's rock-hard jaw. A tiny bead of blood formed on his lip.

"Now," Walker began, "Would you care to tell me what you were doing entering this building? Its owner is not fond of break-ins."

Lupelli turned away again. His resistance was met with a fist to the side of his head. He said nothing and received two more. Walker smiled, shaking his pudgy hand slightly. "I can do this all night, tough guy."

To prove his point, Walker began punching with reckless abandon. Several punches later, bruises had cropped up all over Lupelli's face. Blood flowed freely from his mouth and his left eye had swollen nearly shut.

"Feel like talking tough guy?"

The former hitman leaned his head down, as far as the restraints and the chair that he was tied to would permit him. Thinking that his will had been broken, Walker moved in slightly. Anthony opened his mouth and inhaled.

"Yes?"

Walker stopped talking as the bloody wad of phlegm sailed from Lupelli's mouth and splattered across his fancy security guard uniform. The Sicilian chuckled, a gurgling laugh as blood churned in his mouth. "Pig."

Walker delivered several more punches to the battered Sicilian for a moment before turning to a nearby intercom.

"Yes? I'm expecting someone..." Dante's voice echoed through the room.

"Sir, we've got an intruder here. No idea who he is, he isn't talking. We tried to get him to-"

Dante's voice cut him off, sounding more concerned than Walker was accustomed to. "What did you do?"

Walker gathered himself a moment. "Sir, we began interrogation procedures as is customary. This guy's not talking though. All we know is that he's big and bald and-"

"YOU IDIOT!" The intercom went dead.

The blood finally lost its battle with gravity and fell from Lupelli's face. It began its journey to the floor to join the multiple other patches of blood collected there. It splashed down just as...

Dante burst into the interrogation room, looking at Lupelli battered body hunched over in the chair. He moved forward quickly, shoving Walker violently backwards.

"Do you have any idea who this guy is!?" Dante cursed to himself as he pondered the consequences of Walker's actions. Lupelli, however long it might take him, would not forget this.

"But sir, it's procedure to-"

"Take a walk."

"Sir? You want me to leave the room?"

"No," Dante said, looking down at the blood on the floor, "The building. Two weeks severence pay. Leave. Now."

Walker stared at the enigmatic figure before him a moment, dumfounded. He had handled business like he always had. Dante hadn't been to this particular office for some time, but things couldn't have changed that much. Without another word, Walker turned to leave.

"Walker," Lupelli gurgled. Walker paused in the doorway as Lupelli lifted his mangled face to look at him, "I'll be seeing you soon."

Walker swallowed and exited quickly.

"Hello Tony," Dante began slowly. He looked the Sicilian over, taking note of the many bruises and gashes. "I want you to know that I'll take care of all medical expenses, no matter the cost. I didn't know that he had you."

"Save it Dante. No games," Lupelli gurgled, swallowing a mouthful of coppery saliva.

"Why are you here, Lupelli?"

There was a pause. For a second, the only sound in the room was the sporadic pitter patter of blood falling to the floor. Finally Lupelli broke the silence.

"Because I had to."

"Why?"

"I can't say."

Dante caught a hint of something in Lupelli's voice, something that he didn't think he would ever hear: fear. Not for himself though, Lupelli wasn't afraid of dying. Who else could it-

"Valentina?" Dante ventured a guess.

Lupelli's head rocked back to look at him. His one good eye sparkled for a moment before closing. "I can't tell you. They'll know."

"Who will?"

"Them."

Dante grimaced and shook his head. Things couldn't have been worse if he had tried. All because some idiot guard had decided to play vigilante instead of notifying him. Dante knew Lupelli well. He had worked with him briefly and had done his homework. No, things couldn't have been any worse. He had no idea what Lupelli was talking about. Perhaps it was a lack of blood, but he had the impression that strings were being pulled. With a sigh, he bent over Lupelli's body to untie his hands.

"Dante?"

Dante straightened up and turned, seeing Freya in the doorway. Her eyes widened as she stared at Lupelli's battered body that Dante had, moments ago, been leaning over.

"Dammit, it's not what it looks like," Dante began...

Earlier...

Lupelli frowned down at the slip of paper. His eyes wandered over the ornate border and the strange symbol gracing the top of the page. I KNOW. it read. He turned the paper over, looking for more.

"Know what?" he muttered to himself. A second later, the telephone rang.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Lupelli. I trust you have received the letter?"

Lupelli's eyes narrowed. The voice scrambler that the caller used worked perfectly. He couldn't identify anything about it, not even the gender. "Who is this?"

"This is someone with information. I gather information and then use it as I see fit. It is my function. We all must have a function, don't you agree?"

"This conversation is over," Lupelli said, beginning to lower the phone.

"Indeed? Even without the information that you seek?"

"What information? Either make sense or start buying life insurance."

"Valentina."

Lupelli's grip tightened on the phone. The plastic cracked ominously under the onslaught of his grip. "What about her?"

"...I know."

Lupelli gritted his teeth. "What do you want from me?"

"Simple, I have arranged for you to partner with someone of my choosing. You will do this with no complaints and you will not harm them in any way. This is not negotiable."

"And?"

"And you have another task. Your opponents will be Dante and Freya. Freya is new to you, but Dante is not."

"What do you want me to do? I'm not a hitman anymore."

"Oh I know. In fact, for this task, you will not be carrying any guns at all. You are to infiltrate Dante's office unarmed..."

Lupelli listened carefully as the mechanical voice on the other end laid out the plan...

Fin

Dante's eyes narrowed as he looked at Anthony Lupelli, the Lupelli he had worked with prior to his disappearance was a man with the kind or morals Dante could relate to at that point. Those morals could be summed up in the Latin sentence "Exitus acta probat" or "the end justifies the means". Dante had to his cost learned what morals based on that idea led to, and from the look of things, so had Lupelli. Dante swirled the scotch around in the glass as he tried to figure out what the next step was. He knew he had to get hold of Freya somehow, that, he reasoned was his overriding priority, Lupelli was his opponent, Freya was his tag team partner...He took out his cell phone to make a call to alert the garage that he needed his car prepared when as if by chance he caught a glimpse of the photo he nowadays kept on his desk, he turned his head to look at the photo. Selenia's smiling face both made his heart feel warm and stabbed a needle into it.

He has almost lost Selenia, and with her his mind and life.

Lupelli had as it seemed lost Valentina, and it had shaken the former hitman in his foundations.

Dante thought the situation over, and scratched his head. He downed the last of the scotch and got up. He went over his "plan" as he paused for a second or two.

"Tony, I know what you're going through..."

Lupelli smiled a sarcastic smile.

"I doubt it." He shot back.

"Trust me, Lupelli...I do. More then you can imagine. I can help you."

Lupelli smiled again and this time his smile began to grate on Dante's patience.

"Not as long as I'm unable to tell you who did this you can't."

Dante had had enough, it was all very nice to try to behave and be a good guy to give the fed a bit of good press. But enough was enough. Lupelli looked at Dante as his eyes more or less latterly darkened as he spoke.

"Trust me Tony, I have ways to extract information from you...ways the bonehead Walker had no idea even existed, you should consider the options, either you help me help you and I take care of you and Valentina...or I ignore that part and just pull the reason you broke into my building from your head."

Lupelli stared at Dante, and as he did the hitman's mind wandered back to the night in the old warehouse where Dante had brought Darkness and injected something into his veins, some drug. Lupelli remembered the feeling of unease at the whole situation, then his rational mind made a comeback and he arrived at a conclusion.

"Won't do you any good Dante, pump me full of Scopolamine or Ethanol if you want. I can't talk because I have nothing to talk about."

Dante smiled the most horrifying smile Anthony Lupelli had seen in his whole life and with a voice completely devoid of emotion Dante informed him that "My way has nothing to do with chemicals, I have ways to extract things you don't even know you know...The thing is that I don't want to be forced to do it, and to be perfectly honest. You DO NOT want me to do it to you."

"Dante, you forget that in my "line of work" pain is something of a way of life."

Dante laughed a hollow, joyless laugh.

"Physical pain, psychological pain maybe...but what I will do to you will inflict pain on your soul...no one can stand that, nobody can withstand that kind of pain."

Lupelli stared at Dante aghast.

Lupelli made an attempt to weather the albino's cold stare but to his surprise and alarm it only resulted in his head filling up with strange visions of a city in flames, and of shadows walking the streets of this nightmare city. Lupelli looked away and stared at his still untouched glass of Scotch without a word.

"For fuck's sake Lupelli! Don't make me do this to you, you don't want it to happen, and I don't want to do it...but unless you can tell me why the fuck you broke into my building and what the hell you were looking for, you leave me no choice."

Dante sat down in his chair again, and suddenly the air in the room went cold. Lupelli could feel the warmth being sucked out of the room and despite trying to avoid it he actually shuddered at this strange chill.

Lupelli looked at Dante, the albino sat perfectly still with his eyes closed. Lupelli felt as if a chill wind blew in the room, it felt as if all heat was being sucked in by the pale man in the leather armchair. Lupelli's eye grew wide as he felt something slowly dive into his mind.

***

Freya walked on through the rain soaked streets. The torrential rain beat the pavements and the concrete buildings in what people called the sunshine state. Freya was for the lack of a better word wet. Her jacket had only protected her from the rain until it had become saturated by the water and now it felt as cold as the rain itself.

She had no idea what she had expected when she went to Dante's office. She knew as much about the albino who had managed to beat Darkness for the title at End Game as any one else, and any one else knew only about the rumours that surrounded the strange man. She jammed her hands into her pockets and walked on, ignoring the cold rain. She had heard all the rumours and probably had at least a small part in spreading some of them too. Dante was undoubtedly rich, he had a reputation for being quick to anger and had a morbid sense of humour that more often then not shocked people. He had been involved in some stable early on in his career, the Hellfire Club she recalled it's name to have been. The club had a reputation even stranger and worse then Dante's own. The Club had somehow turned Lance Canada from a nice, if somewhat drinking prone guy to a brooding man who seemed possessed. Dante had, just like the man he had defeated at end game gone missing the week before end game. Rumour had it that the board of directors and the commissioner...well Shabbado had questioned both Dante and Darkness about their whereabouts.

Both men had according to the rumour told Shabbado to "go fuck himself" each in their own way.

Freya shook her head again. She didn't know why she had expected Dante to really have changed his ways, or why she was this angered by the fact that he hadn't. She stopped and looked up to the sky, ignoring the burning sensation the yet unhealed wounds on her face caused as rain water seeped into them. Right now, she only knew that she had been stuck with a tag team partner that had kidnapped one of their opponents and tortured him. She began to walk again, after about half a block, she noticed a car pulling up beside her, the window opened and someone spoke to her.

***

Lupelli felt his mind being breached and panic raising as he couldn't keep the intruder out. The room got colder and colder until suddenly it all stopped.

Dante's eyes flew open and the albino almost flew out of his chair. The mental feedback caused by the interruption was powerful enough to have a physical effect on Dante. The albino shook his head as a very familiar voice rang through his mind.

"Jason! Don't do it!"

"I'm not doing it any more, you pulled the plug Selenia."

"Sorry." She replied. "Please Jason, don't do that. You have seen the effect it can have if you're unprepared for what lies in wait."

"Selenia, we're talking about Anthony Lupelli here...you know, he was there when you got "re-injected" into me. He isn't the kind of guy who walks around with bogymen or demons in his skull."

Selenia ignored Dante's dismissal of the dangers of diving into a mind and "said".

"Jason, I'm coming to Florida."

Dante got out of his seat and almost screamed his thought out loud.

"No, you are not!"

"Jason, you can't stop me..."

"Selenia..." Dante "said" in a pleading "tone".

"I don't want to risk losing you again Selenia, it almost tore me apart last time."

"Jason..."

Dante sat back down, took a deep breath and relented.
"Fine, you're right...I'll call Fredericks and get the jet ready to pick you up."

Selenia said nothing, but her loving mind brought warmth to Dante's mind. Dante got up from his seat as Lupelli felt the warmth returning to the room. Dante walked up to him, handed him a business card.

"Tony, I want to help you, I really do. If you change your mind or...something. Just give me a call."

Lupelli stared at Dante and nodded.

"Now if you excuse me, I have some matters to attend to."

Lupelli, got up, downed the Scotch without thinking about it and feeling drained in some way, he left.

As soon as the door closed behind Anthony Lupelli, Dante cursed.

"Fuck"

"What's the matter? Having a hard time adjusting to your new reality?"

Dante spun around and found Bleeder sitting in the same seat Lupelli had occupied not even a minute ago. Dante's eyes narrowed as he stared at his former mentor.

"I didn't ask for this."

"Oh but you did." Bleeder retorted in a very annoying tone. "You wanted all the glory you could get, remember? That's why you accepted my and Bruce-666's invitation to the Hellfire club...and at the same time the reason we invited you. Glory is your goal, and now you have it, represented by the two golden belts on your desk."

Dante looked over at the desk, yeah they were there. One belt with the title "ECF world champion" on it and one with the title "411fed world champion" on it in golden letters. Both belts had a freshly added name plate with his name on it. The two golden pieces of metal that proclaimed that Jason Dante had reached the pinnacle of wrestling, that he was the unified world champion. The albino turned his gaze back towards Bleeder.

"You of all people should know that the Jason Dante who was prepared to walk over corpses to get to the top died in the god forsaken desert. He is off haunting that damned mesa together with the ghosts of the wargs that were killed there. You know the prize I paid, you know the truth...and why I had to change."

"Of course I do. I wouldn't be here if I didn't. Believe it or not but it doesn't matter if you are Lucifer's son or not, the world doesn't actually revolve around you. If you lose the instinct and refuse to recognise who you were and who you have become and why...the coming storm will devour you."

"Coming storm?" Dante asked, but bleeder was already gone.

Again a profanity left Dante's lips. He picked up his coat that was hanging on a rack nearby and left the office. Bleeder's presence tended to make him feel uneasy about the place where his former ally turned up, and to be honest, Dante was slowly running out of places where Bleeder's unwanted presence hadn't been felt. Dante entered the elevator and headed down to the entrance floor. As the elevator reached its destination, he walked out and left the building.

He stepped into the pouring rain, his skills were not lacking in power, but they had their limitations. At least if he wanted them to do their dark magic without too much hassle. Dante turned his face to the sky and let the rain pour on his face. He needed some kind of physical connection to make this easy for him, and water worked very well as a conductor for his purposes. If Freya was still out in the rain, he could find her this way. He followed the trail across town, streets flashing by in his mind's eye. He felt every raindrop as if it fell on his own body.

Then...he found her.

A phone call and five minutes later, Dante was in one of his cars driving in the pouring rain towards the place he had found Freya. He drove cross town until he saw a figure that looked like it was his involuntary tag team partner. He followed her for about half a block and then he pulled up to the curb, rolled down the window and asked.

"So, is pneumonia a hobby of yours?"

Freya stared at the alabaster coloured face that looked at her from inside the black car. She stopped, but said nothing. Dante waited for a few seconds and then said.

"Get in, we have business to discuss."

Freya shrugged, had she not been walking around in this damned rainstorm the last hour, she would have just walked away, but just like beggars can't be choosers, soaking wet people are less picky about the rides they accept. She walked around to the passenger side of the car and got in.

To her surprise, Dante didn't start the car again, he just sat there...silent. After what seemed an eternity, he spoke.

"We have a lot of ground to cover...for this to work, and not be as short lived as the Slaughterhouse 5 was there are a few things you need to know."

Freya didn't reply, she just waited for the follow up that as sure to come.

"First of all, I know Anthony Lupelli from before. He and I did business together."

"Business?" Freya asked, knowing what line of business Lupelli had been involved in during his time in the federation.

"Yes, Business. We had a deal and he walked out on it. It involved the guy I won the title from last night."

Freya had heard of this, Darkness had gone both AWOL and on a rampage across Louisiana a while ago after a confrontation with Dante.

"What the business was and what it lead to isn't important. What is important is that Lupelli was caught breaking into my compound, he was looking for something or someone, who or what I don't know and he was caught by my security force. Now, that was all according to plan and exactly what was supposed to happen, but what the idiot who used to be my head of security did was not."

Dante expected this to lead to some sort of comment from Freya, but to his disappointment, it didn't.

"Walker, my former chief of security was the one who left Lupelli in that state, not me."

"So it was all a case of bad timing then?" Freya said in a tone that told Dante that she didn't buy it for a second, no matter how true it was.

"Yes" Dante replied in a way that didn't even begin to eliminate her doubt.

"Listen" Dante said as he started the car. What I went through the week before End Game and during the match against Darkness is something I can't explain. I assume you heard all the comments and opinions about me. Jason Dante, the world's biggest egoist, Jason Dante the man with no heart, Jason Dante, the definition of selfish, Jason Da..."

"I get the point!" Freya interrupted him. "No please get to the other point you seem to be trying to make."

Dante sighed.

"What I'm saying is that, the Jason Dante who fit those descriptions is dead. He died in a desert in Nevada."

Freya seemed both perplexed and taken back by this. It was an easy thing to say "Hey, I'm a changed man; I'm a nice guy now." But that wasn't what Dante had said, or rather not the way he had said it. Either Dante was a terrific actor, or he was telling her the truth.

"Why, are you telling me this?"

"Because, Dante replied by being put in this match with me, you have been dragged into my world...and you need to understand it if you are to survive it."

Freya nodded, but she knew that she understood more then Dante could ever imagine. She decided to at least play it cool and leaded back into her seat.

"So, what is next?" she asked trying to sound casual.

"You need some place safe, and besides you won't be much help at Friction if you get pneumonia. After all we have our work cut out for us."

"I'd say." She replied.

"Let's start with what we both know little or nothing about."

"Naberus" Freya said.

"Yep." Dante replied. "No one seems to no anything about him, there are no records of what his name is, there are no photos on file with out that "get up" her wears to the ring, nothing. It's like he begins and ceases to exist at the entrance of the arena. First we find you a good and safe place to stay, then we try to dig some into who the hell Naberus is."

"And in the meantime?"

"In the meantime, I have to go to the airport; I have to pick up someone."

Freya didn't ask who, partially because she knew who Dante was going to pick up, partially because she felt it was none of her business. She looked at the ring Dante wore on his right hand. Engraved among strange symbols she didn't recognise were two names, one she knew was the man she was going to be tagging with at friction; the other name was the one Dante was going to pick up. She looked at the simple but elegant ring before she turned her attention to the rain that beat the world outside of the car, she read the engraving again.

"Jason & Selenia"

"Answer it already would ya?"

"Fine."

***Nabe reluctantly picks up the phone from the receiver and waits for a response after he gives the traditional "Hello" that sounds more like "yellow"***

"Nabe and Rus I assume you got the letter?"

"You could of emailed it."

***As the cold voice laughs the two beings look at each other and wonder who is on the other end of the phone. It can't be one of their friends, well because they don't have any really. Except the crap-filled mouths of politicians of course. Yet even if the two were able to narrow down as to who is the mysterious voice it would be impossible due to the healthiness of the voice scrambler.***

"And may I ask who this is?"

"This is a being with items. I collect items and then use them whenever I want. It is my job and duty. We all should have some sort of a duty, don't you think so?"

"Kay, Mr. Spooky Cookie I'm hanging up now," Nabe replied, about to press the hang up button.

"Really? Even without the items that you desire?"

"What items? Either tell me what items or I'm going shove one up your.... ."

"You're not going to use any of my items you nasty boy." Interrupted Rus

"Lives."

This time the usually expressionless faces of Nabe and Rus turn to a slight confusedness. "Lives, what about them?"

"...I have them."

Nabe shrugs his shoulders "What do you want from us?"

"Oh that's easy, I have scheduled for you to team up with someone of my choosing. You will do this with no whining and you will not harm him in any way. This is non-debatable."

"So?"

"And you have another job. Your opponents will be Dante and Freya. Both are new to you." "

What do you want us to do about it? We don't work for Don Corleone here."

"Oh no duh, see I don't want you to do anything, I just want you to save something for me..."

"What?"

"Every Meaning of Life thesis written for Harvard, if you cooperate in your partnership with Anthony Lupelli, I will give one paper for every day that I am pleased. Every day that I am not pleased I will burn two, one in front of you and one secretly."

***Before Nabe could respond he hears the wonderfully irritating sound of a dial tone.***

"So uh, what do we do?" asks Rus

"We'll turn on the TV to the news station for inspiration." Explains Nabe

***These two were never really the type of guys to be in a tag team, of course this is not proven being that they've never been in a tag situation, so we'll see.***

(On the TV) "Gay marriage is an abomination to this world....No if they want the right to be married it's their choice."

"Woohoo, pointless debate number five twenty two has begun." Says Rus with half-assed excitement.

"I just say let them get wed make them suffer like the rest of the human race, have them have to deal with divorces that take up to five years to complete, have them pay their child support and alimony. They're not special." Says Nabe with matter-of-factness

"Well this topic is interesting and all, but it's just a hot button for conservatives to distract people from oh you know that thing we've been doing in Afghanistan and Iraq for the last couple of years?"

"War. Which I think is ok sometimes, that way people protesting it don't get the attention they want."

(The station cuts to commercial. We see people doing small tasks and then proclaiming what they have just done to Times Square, then one of the young people explain what they're doing.) "The Tobacco company donated to charity one time, then spent nearly half a million dollars telling everyone what generous thing that they had done..........I guess you need all the good publicity you can get when you sell a product that kills your customers."

"No duh!!!"

"These commercials are really starting to grind my non-existing gears. These hippie college students should be called the 'captain obvious sqaud'. But one thing they forget explain is that their customers knowingly pay for this stuff, it's not like the Tobacco Company goes around saying, 'Hey this will cure your cancer', they have a warning that it's harmful to your health on the label! And the people that buy these don't even need that warning, they just want them, too much soda is harmful to your health if you drink too much of it, I don't see anyone complaining about that. How bout these kids get real jobs and stop living off of their MySpace?"

"Damn hippies."



He walked the streets of Florida, clearing his head.

What did that freak do to him?

He didn't really care at this point; he just wanted to get back to some safe shelter.

But he did wonder how did Dante catch him so easily?

Was he losing some of his edge?

No of course not, it's not his fault that he was given expired security information.

Besides all the things that Dante put in his mind, the Floridian accent of Walker kept ringing; the annoyingness of the voice was more painful than his less than friendly punches.

Any other being would have a major concussion from the blows received from the fat ass security guard. Not Anthony, no not one bit.

The only healing Lupelli really needed was a cigarette, it was difficult to smoke one of these babies in the rain but the intelligent former hitman found a way.

The smoke helped clear his mind of all the cursing that had gone on in that building, that was a major thing. Cursing was never pleasant to him, except from Quinn, his cursing held a special place in his black heart.




She sat in one of Dante's spare suites, one of which was all white.

The TV was turned off, like there was anything to watch at this hour, mostly just the annoying paid programming advertisements, including that ever exciting "Girl Gone Wild" one that gets played twenty times an hour on a single station.

But Miss Green did have something else turned on in the suite and that was the bright white laptop that sat on the dining room table solemnly next to the basket of imported fruit from Europe and other such exotic locations.

She was surfing the internet. This notebook had net access like no other, no pop ups whatsoever and every page loaded as quick as 'Google'. Speaking of which that happened to be the site that she was on. But the UK version, felt more comfortable to her I guess.

Freya was taking the advice from Dante and was looking up the man, well more like figure, that niether of them had any information on whatsoever.

Naberus.

The first result she got was a profile for someone's blog that went by the username "Naberus", no way that was him.

After scrolling through several pages for results she was ready to give up, but then an article caught her eye.

http://www.harvardlawschoolschoolstories.edu
"Philisophy Prof. Naberus mysteriously disappears after big exam is completed....."

Bingo

Freya bit her lower lip as she read the article. Her brow continued to dip further and further as her eyes flashed across the screen.

Not far away, Nabe and Rus continued their diatribe about the anti-tobacco campaign rampaging across the airwaves.

A bit further away, yet still close, a dark car waited near an airport. Dante tapped his fingers on the wheel as he watched a plane taxi onto the runway.

Further still, a man named Walker walked from his car to his front door, muttering curses to himself. What was he going to do now? The fireball enveloped the home the moment his hand touched the doorknob. At least he wouldn't have to file for unemployment.

Lupelli put down his binoculars and turned from the burning home. His car was nearby and he had other things to take care of.

Later...

"Your information was outdated," Lupelli said into the phone simply. He rubbed his swollen eye gingerly. The swelling had gone down some, thanks to the anti-inflammatory medication that he had taken. Usually he would settle for simply laying low and letting his wounds heal the old-fashioned way. That wasn't a prudent course of action in this case. Not with a mysterious person pulling his strings and Dante as his opponent.

"I am not here to listen to excuses for failure. If it happens again, the information that you seek will be forever lost to you."

Lupelli gripped the phone firmly in one hand as he lit a cigarette with the other. He let the acrid smoke fill his lungs for a moment before exhaling loudly. "Fine. What now?"

On the other end of the line, a shadowed figure leaned forward. "Now you meet your partner. He has been informed of your impending arrival."

There was a knock on the door. Lupelli snapped up his silver pistol from the table beside him and rushed to the door. He peered discreetly through the spyhole, but saw no one in the hallway. He opened the door and looked into the hall. A manilla folder rested on the floor outside of his door. He picked it up and proceeded back into his room, securing the door behind him. He placed the phone back to his ear as he opened the envelope.

"You received the item that I sent?"

"Yes," Lupelli began, dumping several papers from the folder onto the table. "What is it?"

"Information on your competition. Make no mistake Mr. Lupelli. I do not care what happens to you in this match. Win or lose, it means nothing to me. What I care about is protecting my investments and I have invested heavily in your services. This information is extensive and some of it might very well surprise you. Use it as you will."

"What about Dante? I didn't finish what you wanted me to."

"I will contact Mr. Dante myself. A new couse of action must be implemented."

A dialtone was the next sound that Lupelli heard. He looked grimly at the clock and the stuffed the papers back into the folder. With a grunt, he stood up, wincing for a moment as the blood rushed back up to his head and causing his wounds to throb again.

At the airport...

Dante watched the lights of the plane flash as it began its slow movement to the hangar. He could already feel her near and he felt conflicting emotions arising within him. The need to see her again won the night and Dante felt lighter with each passing second that the plane drew nearer. It was a feeling that he was still getting used to, but it was becoming more and more comfortable by the day. Dante briefly mused about his progression to this point. He had seen and endured things that would drive most sane men mad and he had come out of it a better man. The telephone in his car rang. Absently, Dante lifted the receiver, still focusing on the plane.

"Yes?"

"Jason Dante, son of Christina and George Mann. Albino, although only recently have you willingly accepted that fact. You are waiting for Selenia, who is aboard the plane."

Dante lifted the phone from his ear a moment and stared at the receiver like it had suddenly grown a head. "Who the hell is this?"

"Who I am is not important, Mr. Dante."

"I beg to differ," Dante began. His eyes flashed to the plane still completing its taxi before looking away. "I have ways of finding out."

"I am well aware of your unique- abilities?- Would that be an acceptable term for your demonic powers?"

Dante felt a momentary surge of rage, followed by a combination of concern and panic. There were few that knew about what he had seen and done. Fewer still that were around to talk about it. "Tell me who you are."

"I do not answer to demands Mr. Dante. I gather information. In your case, I have extensive files on all of your activities, including your recent adventures with Darkness. I know everything about you, probably more than you know yourself."

Dante fought back that anger for a moment and relaxed his mind. He reached through the phone and into the mind of the person on the other end. For the briefest moment, he caught a glimpse of a red ruby, surrounded by black diamonds. Then, as if a door had been slammed closed, the image was gone. Dante blinked back into himself.

"I am safe from your attempts at mental extraction. You might be able to threaten Mr. Lupelli with such, but not me."

Dante finally allowed recent events to click into place. "You're the one who sent Lupelli in. What did you do with Valentina?"

"That is not your concern. What should be your concern is that I know."

"Know what?"

There was only the briefest of pauses before the mechanically masked voice answered. "Everything. Where you are, who your are, what you are, where you've been, who you love. I can get to you anytime, anywhere. I can get to her also."

"ARE YOU THREATENING ME!?" Dante felt a white-hot anger flaring into his head, masking his logical side and bringing out the darker half. He had threatened him. He had threatened her.

"I am simply informing you. I will not act now. I will watch as I always do. Just remember that your secrets are not hidden from me, Mr. Dante."

There was a click as the telephone was hung up. Dante smashed the phone back into its cradle hard enough to crack the plastic casing. His knuckles cracked violently as he clenched his fists. He glanced back up and saw that the plane had stopped. A figure was moving towards his car. His conflicting emotions flew back into his brain. I can get to you anytime, anywhere. I can get to her also. Dante sighed heavily and opened the car door, stepping out into the rain.

Later...

"You answer it."

"No, you answer it."

Nabe and Rus shoved each other toward the door. There was another heavy knock.

"I answered the phone," Nabe said.

"So did I," Rus replied.

"You get it."

"It's your turn."

"SOMEBODY OPEN THE DOOR!" a voice bellowed from the hallway.

Nabe and Rus glanced at each other and approached the door cautiously. Rus reached out, grasping the handle. With a jerk, the door was yanked open. Nabe and Rus fell back into some bad-ass martial arts stances. They looked at the massive figure of Lupelli standing outside of the door.

Rus slipped behind Nabe. "You can take him. I'll be right behind you."

"No one is going to attack anyone," Lupelli cut in. He stepped into the room, tossing his wet coat onto the nearby bed and then tossing a manilla folder onto a nearby table. He went over to their small refrigerator and pulled out a beer, cracking the can and gulping half of the can in one breath.

"Make yourself at home," Nabe said, throwing his hands in the air.

"Either you're our tag partner, Anthony Lupelli, or a gorilla escaped from the zoo," Rus observed.

Lupelli stared daggers at him and an uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"Soooo," Nabe began, shifting nervously, "what can we do for you?"

Two silver pistols were levelled at them both. Lupelli jerked his head at the table. "Sit," he ordered.

"Can I change my shorts first?" Rus asked, staring at the gun pointed at his face.

"Tell me who you work for," Lupelli asked, cocking the pistols. "Tell me now."

"Woah there! We don't know who that is, all we've gotten is phone calls." Nabe stared at Lupelli a moment, his head cocked to the side. "I'm guessing that's all you've gotten from him, too."

Lupelli stared at them an extra second before slipping his guns into their holsters. He was good enough at reading most people, even two as odd as these. "I believe you."

Rus let out a sigh. "Great. You've got a nice way of introducing yourself."

Lupelli shrugged and lifted his beer, drinking the rest of it. He pulled a cigarette from the pack in his pocket and lit it.

"So what are your feelings about those Truth commercials?"

Lupelli exhaled and pulled the cigarette from his mouth. "The what commercials?"

"Not important. What's in the folder?" Nabe pointed at the manilla folder sitting on the table.

Lupelli motioned for him to open it, waving his hand. Smoke swirled from the cigarette and rose to the ceiling. "Information on our opponents."

Nabe lifted a picture of Dante and whistled. "What a freak."

There was another pause as Lupelli stared at him with a 'what do you think you are?' look on his face. Rus lifted the picture of Freya. "She looks less crazy."

Lupelli nodded thoughtfully before taking another drag on his cigarette. "I've already visited Dante. I say we focus on Freya now."

Rus elbowed Nabe and winked. "Is she single?"

Lupelli shook his head and crushed the cigarette out on the table. "If I even think you're going to disrespect a woman, I will shoot you in the face."

Rus laughed for a second before seeing the lack of humor on Lupelli's face. "--Were you serious?"

"Let's go," Lupelli said, standing up and grabbing his coat.

"Now?" Nabe asked.

"Now," Lupelli answered.

Reluctantly, Nabe and Rus followed Lupelli to the door. Lupelli ventured out into the hallway and Rus whispered in Nabe's ear, "Was he serious?"

Later...

Freya turned off the television and threw the remote onto the bed. She wasn't sure why she even bothered. There was never anything good on. She kicked her feet over the edge of the bed and stepped down onto the shag carpet. For a moment, she revelled in the feeling of her toes in the material. She slipped on a pair of shoes and stood up. "A walk would be nice," she muttered to herself. It would at least allow for her to clear her head. She pulled the door open and stepped back.

"The walk's going to have to wait," Lupelli said, stepping into the room, followed by Nabe and Rus. "Sit down. We need to talk."

It is said that when you need to get to the top, the best place to start is the bottom. For as long as that credo has existed, its use has been as varied as those living by it. Politicians, criminals, clergy and Joe Regular all adhere to that basic philosophy. So it was with most people-- save one. This particular person lived by the credo "The more beer, the better." Quinn ordered another pint for himself and checked his watch.

"Where th' fuck is he?" he muttered to himself, gulping down another mouthful of bitter. He had gotten a phone call from Lupelli over an hour ago. It was not like the Sicilian to be late. On the contrary, it was Lupelli's custom to shoot people who were tardy. The scruffy Irishman looked at his watch again, lines of worry spreading over his face. This was definitely not like Lupelli.

For what it was worth, Lupelli was not ignoring his only friend. Recent events had caused any commitments that he made to slip entirely from his mind. He was also not in trouble. Well, not in the physical sense. He had opened up a whole new can of worms and had possibly, in the process, sold his soul. Lupelli glanced in the back seat as he drove hurriedly through the rainy night. Streetlights flashed by overhead like blurred strobe lights. He heard a moan from the seat and grimaced, pressing down on the accelerator even more. Buildings flew by like blurred pictures in a book. They might as well have been for all of the attention he paid to them. His eyes flashed from the rearview mirror to the digital clock glaring at him with accusing red eyes: 4:36. It was late, or early if that‘s the way that you choose to look at it. Dante would be back to his penthouse soon. Lupelli hoped it all worked like he had planned. He hoped it wouldn't cost him.

Up ahead, Lupelli finally saw the building, blurred slightly from the pouring rain and the car's speed. He waited until the last moment to hit the button on his dashboard. A metallic door slid up smoothly, allowing him entry. As soon as his car was clear, the door slid down again.

Earlier that night...

Lupelli pressed the remote's power button, killing the Truth add mid-way. The remote was then tossed onto the table next to the television. The Sicilian stood up, stretching his arms toward the ceiling. A second later, his two silver berettas joined the remote on the table, glinting in the light from a parking light in the lot outside. With a sigh, he turned toward his bed, relishing the brief sleep he would get before starting another day. Unfortunately, his plans went awry before they could even start. The phone beside his bed lit up like the 4th of July. He knew right away who it was. Well, he didn't know who it was, but he knew who it was. I'm sure you understand. Part of him wanted to ignore it, to simply lay down on the soft mattress, close his eyes, and let the oblivion of sleep take him away for a few hours. Then there was the part that feared what would happen to her if he didn't answer. She was more important than sleep. Haggard and tired, Lupelli made his choice and lifted the receiver.

"Yes?"

"Dante's methods proved most effective in convincing Freya to join him. He is proving to be a nuisance."

Lupelli shut his eyes and opened his mouth. His voice cracked slightly as he spoke, "Let me talk with her." Lupelli paused, adding a word that he had seldom used before, "Please."

"No."

Lupelli could feel part of him falling apart, the sane part, the only part that had kept him from becoming a madman after he had lost her. The fact that he could feel his mind falling away like a skydiver whose parachute was malfunctioning scared him more than anything.

"Mr. Lupelli, I need you to do something for me."

The mechanical voice paused a moment. Lupelli held the phone to his ear, waiting.

"Dante is going to reach his penthouse in under twenty minutes. I have arranged for the traffic control system to give him every red light from Freya's to his place, but it will only buy you a short time to complete your objective."

"Which is?"

"Dante's-- associate, Selenia."

Lupelli clenched his teeth and shook his head. The movement was superfluous to anyone on the other end, but it helped him connect his mind with his body again. "No women, no children. You know my past then you know that as well."

"Mr. Lupelli, you seem to have me confused with someone who asked your opinion. I do not care about your morals. You are mine to do with as I please. You will kill Selenia, Mr. Lupelli."

"What if I won't?" Lupelli barked into the receiver. His mind flashed over a thousand ways that he could kill this person with his bare hands.

There was a pause, followed by the sound of the phone being lifted on the other end, "Tony?" a voice said, soft and beautiful.

The Sicilian's eyes grew wide. It had been the first time he had heard her voice in ages. It sounded like an angel to his ears. It had been so long since he had seen her and even longer since he had held her. A tear slid down his cheek as he heard the phone being lifted again.

"Selenia will die-- and Dante will see it."

"Don't make me do this. Please," Lupelli felt his legs swaying and he placed a hand on the wall to brace himself.

"You now have fifteen minutes. Your choice. Selenia or Valentina."

There was a click as the line went dead. Lupelli let the phone drop from his hand, where it hit the end table and fell to the floor with a crash. Fifteen minutes to choose. One woman's life for another. Lupelli closed his eyes and felt Valentina's breath on his face, her hands running gently down his cheek. He could almost see her. He would die for her and he would kill for her. Lupelli moved quickly over to the table and lifted the silver berettas. Another piece of his soul fell away...

Dante pulled his car to a stop and pulled his keys from the ignition. For a moment, he sat in the parking bay beneath his building, his hands resting idly on the wheel. He let the darkness wash over him like a comforting blanket. Balancing the two had not been easy. It still wasn't, but he was managing. Selenia helped. Just thinking of her calmed down his racing mind. Thoughts of his conversation with Freya, and the events leading up to that, sped through his brain, one after another. Selenia. Dante smiled for a moment and shut his eyes, letting her image overtake all of the other thoughts.

"Selenia..." he thought.

From out of the darkness, her voice flew into his mind.

"Dante--" it began.

His eyes flew open and he immediately knew something was wrong.

"--Help!"

The voice suddenly went silent. The quiet was louder than the thoughts that had preceded it. Dante was out of his car in a moment and raced to the elevator. Angrily, he smashed his fist on the buttons. The elevator began to rise at an agonizingly slow pace. Much too slow. Dante paced impatiently in the rising cube, his fists clenching tighter and tighter. His lips drew back from his teeth as he thought of a thousand ways that he would kill whoever had hurt her with his bare hands. Finally, the elevator lurched to a halt and the doors slid open. Dante raced down the hallway, cursing himself for having such a large building. Money can buy a lot of things, but time was not one of them.

Dante slammed into the door of his penthouse, his fists hammering on the thick wood. "Selenia!" No answer. Feverishly, his hands jammed down into his pockets, searching for his keys. His fingers grasped them and wrenched them free. He heard the tiny tear of fabric as his pocket tore slightly from his wild grasping. With shaking hands, he found the right key and slid it into the lock. He heard the click and opened the door. The explosion sent him flying backwards into the wall. The door flew overhead and smashed into the wall above his head, carving out a huge chunk of plaster. Orange flames licked the doorway as the fire alarm shrieked out. Red lights began flashing overhead as the sprinkler system sprang to life. Dante stumbled to his feet, his ears ringing. He had only one thought in his mind: Selenia was in there.

"NO! Selenia!!" Dante stumbled forward, but the heat acted like a force field, keeping him back. He felt his skin start to blister and he fell to his knees, the water from the sprinklers pouring down over him, drenching him.

A tiny bit before that...

As tired as he was, his movements were fluid. This time, he had been sure to grab the appropriate gear, concealing him from even the most advanced cameras. Lupelli slid stealthily along the hallway toward the penthouse door. Behind it, he could hear her moving around.; doing what, he did not know. Finally, he heard the sound he had waited for. Her footsteps retreated and he heard a sink turn on. She had moved into the bathroom. The few seconds it took her to wash her face was all it took for him to pick the lock. She turned around and saw the massive man, dressed in black stealth gear, standing in the doorway. He raised a pistol. She didn't have time to do anything, not even to tell Dante with her mind.

A whistle screamed out and was followed closely by her body slumping to the carpet. Lupelli moved forward and lifted Selenia up, pausing to pull the dart from her neck. The sedative was strong enough to keep the average person out for hours. "I'm sorry. I have no choice," he said. He pulled a roll of duct tape from one of his many pockets and bound her hands and feet. Once she was secure, Lupelli proceeded to remove a chunk of C-4 from his pocket, wiring it to the door. As soon as the knob was turned, it would go off. He placed his hand on the door and gave a soft push. The door was strong. It would take the brunt of the blast. Satisfied, Lupelli threw Selenia over his shoulder and raced for the stairwell.

As he neared the exit for the carport, he saw Dante's sedan roll in. He pulled his pistol from its holster and waited, his face expressionless. He saw Dante sitting in the driver's seat, his hands resting on the wheel. A look of calm came over his face. An instant later, the calm was replaced with a fierce panic. Lupelli stared, transfixed at the sudden change. A thought dawned on him. He knew. Lupelli's eyes turned away from the albino in the black sedan and rested on the open and fully aware eyes of Selenia. She was awake. With lightning-fast quickness, the former hitman reached into his pocket and removed another syringe of sedative. He plunged it into Selenia's neck and watched her eyes flutter closed. A moment later, just to be sure, he jammed another dose in, just to be sure. He turned back in time to see Dante run at full speed toward the elevators...

Lupelli immediately shoved the door open and raced through the carport to his car, waiting near the exit and hidden by shadow. Carefully, he placed Selenia in the back seat and shut the door. He hurried to the driver's door and got in...

And now we're back where we started...

The metal door to the safe house slid down behind him and Lupelli stopped the car, breathing a temporary sigh of relief. Another moan from the back seat of the car drew his attention. He looked back and saw Selenia's eyes beginning to flutter open, groggy and confused. He reached into his pocket and pulled the remaining three syringes. Clutching all three in his fist, he jammed them all into her thigh and watched as the clear chemical seeped from the vials into her bloodstream. A moment later, she fell silent again. Lupelli pulled her from the back seat and lifted her, carrying her through the garage and into the adjoining room. He placed her carefully on the couch, pausing to brush her hair from her face. She was beautiful. He could make out some faint Italian features. He grimaced and turned away.

The call that he was expecting echoed through the building. He hesitated for a second before removing the cell phone from his pocket.

"Lupelli."

"I have been made aware of a large explosion at Dante's penthouse. I trust he lost his loved one?"

Lupelli's eyes turned to gaze for a moment at the dark-haired beauty sedated on the couch. He closed his them for a moment. "Yes. She's dead. The explosion killed her."

He waited for it. For the accusations of being a liar. For the sound of Valentina's screams, or the sound of a gunshot.

"Good. Dante will know the price of doubting me. I will contact you again later. Have a good night, Mr. Lupelli."

The line went dead and Lupelli felt his knees start to give way. He needed some fresh air. Moving like a zombie, he lurched out of the building and stood in the rain. Valentina. He would die for her. He would kill for her... well, he would kill any man for her. Fear struck his heart and his legs finally gave out. The Sicilian fell to his knees. The water poured down, drenching him to the bone. Across town, another man was doing the same thing. Both men afraid of what was left were they to lose the love that made them whole...

Tomorrow would be a new day. Tomorrow, Nabe and Rus would wake up and decide to find Lupelli. It would be a good idea for them to spend some more time with their tentative partner. If they were to work together in the match, they would need to get along first. Tomorrow, Freya would open her green eyes and look out of her window. Thoughts of monsters would come and go, but in the end, she would persevere. She always had. Tomorrow, Dante would pick through the charred remains of a lavish penthouse, searching desperately for the only thing in the world that really mattered to him. The fires would have died down enough by then. Tomorrow, Quinn would stumble from a bar, intent on finding his friend, but finding someone else instead. Tomorrow, the man named Lupelli would look at himself in the mirror and be able to smile, if only briefly. He would know that he was able to enact some tiny bit of revenge against a faceless monster who had taken his one reason for living away. That would all happen tomorrow. Tonight... but tonight, they grieved.

Damn hotel rooms, always so cold when it's cold, or hot when the weather dictates so.

Like if they're solar powered or something.

Well the past two sentences don't mean diddley squat to Nabe and Rus. Not like they could feel it.

The time: An obscure time when no human should be awake and aware.

Rus was sitting on one of the small sized-single-person hotel beds, sitting Indian criss-cross style with his finger being pressed against one of the 36 gray buttons on the remote control, the one that reads- "Up"- he was scanning through all the shows (that he's interested in) that are available on Indemand.

Law Order: SVU

South Park (especially the politically charged ones)

Presidential Debate ‘04

On the other side of the room Nabe had brought their laptop and had found a very convenient plug in.

Rus notices that his bud by blood is on Wiki Pedia.

"What are you looking up?"

"Not sure think of something I should look up."

"Ego-search"

"I get a picture of some asshole who claims he's a bodybuilder when I type that in."

"No Ego meaning ‘Our name'."

"Some demon with legions."

"Hey do you think that people in the federation think that we're demons?"

"Of course not, demons and wrestling those two don't go together at all."

"Yeah no joke there at all."

***Rus then scans through the free scary movies. This pair had always enjoyed a good scare your pants off fest once in a while.***

The only program that was showing that they had not seen before was "Werewolf in Paris".

"Looks cool."

***As the movie progresses the duo discover that the movie's script wasn't the greatest piece of paper written on, as the movie isn't exciting or suspenseful, to them anyway. This causes them to be distracted and think of other thoughts.***

"You think Werewolves are real?" Starts up Nabe

"Yeah sure, I think anything can be real, it's not the progandanized version we get in theaters and on TV though."

"Oh I'm not sure those blood-sucking garlic fearing vampires seem pretty accurate."

"Yeah and the silver bullet thing, pfft big deal a silver bullet should be able to kill anything."

"Should be."



Jason and Freya were nearly to the point where Dante was getting the feeling of Selenia's essence.

***There was no small talk conversing going on between the two, just an understood silence.***

The feeling grew so strong it was as if it was his beloved was sitting in the passenger's seat, not the Bleeder champ.

~Abrupt Fade~