"YESSSSSSSS!"

Izumi flipped on her CD player and threw herself onto the bed of her Buenos Aires hotel suite, holding her newly won Aftershock title belt into the light.

"YES! I DID IT! I WON A TITLE! I AM A CHAMPION! I WON THE GOLD! WOOHOO!"

Grabbing some exploding party favors, she shot them off into the air, bursting streamers all over her hotel room.
She happily gave the faceplate a kiss, and held it against her as if it were her newborn baby.

"I finally did it...I won championship gold...I finally accomplished something that no one will take away from me...even if they take the belt, this will forever be a title reign in this history books."

Izumi sighed happily. Life was g-

BRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING~!

"GAH!" Izumi jumped up, pulling her cellphone out of her pocket. "That's annoying. I've -got- to decide on a damn ringtone."

She looked at the display...

'Boss'.

"Aw, just when things were getting good..."

She paused the CD Player and flipped the phone open.

"Hello, Mr. Cain."

"Congratulations on your championship victory. Did you like the show?"

"It wasn't...why do you ask?"

"I hated it. If he wins...I think there won't be any more of that kind of negativity allowed...maybe that's a good thing."

"Not funny. Let me confront - "

"No. Do not interact with Darkness. The Vindicators are still deciding what to do."

"The Vindicators?"

"They're a secretive group, they are...they haven't told us anything yet. But we're not to attempt an assassination until they've formed a plan. You are free to do 'whatever' you think will help us from here until we are ready, but do NOT interact with Darkness. Seduction. Assassinations. Whatever. I'll be watching you like I am now. That is all."

*beep*

What's her next move, then?

She had the NHFC to deal with...Darkness...Dante...Freya...

Wait, that was it!

"I'd better get going before they leave!"

-------------------------

"That felt good," Freya said. "It's like we've come full circle again. Hey, Buffy, maybe we can do this next Endgame. Haha, at this rate you'll surpass Bruno what's-his-name for that 7 year world title run."

"It's not my fault nobody's been able to beat me," Darkness shrugged. "My career...literally...depends on me fighting my hardest each and every time I step into that ring. We both had close calls last night, though."

"I'm starting to wonder if that's even going to matter anymore," Freya said. "With 'Ronald MacDonald' running the show, I have a feeling things are going to go bad. Normally I wouldn't worry too much but if he goes after TCW, and TCW goes under..."

"...then it won't mean a damn thing how many times we defend these titles, we'll lose our jobs no matter what..." Darkness finished, shooting a look of worry at Freya.

"Sometimes, I really wonder if the world WANTS to be saved..." she replied.

"Well, in any case, TCW goes on. Before we leave here, I'd better at least go and find out what the fixtures are for the next show real quick."

Darkness nodded and turned the door knob to the room.

"Hello-"

Izumi froze, standing right outside the door, into Darkness' eyes. Her already fairly pale face turned white, and an expression of pure terror fixed itself on her face.

"How long were you waiting out there?" asked the Antichrist.

"N...not long enough to hear anything." Damn. That was the wrong answer.

He seemed to study her then, his eyes sharp as a knife, or so she imagined, feeling the cold sweep of his eyes cutting flesh.

...

...

...

...

"Down boy," Freya said.

Darkness stopped studying her, but she kept staring.

"What? Is there something stuck on my face?"

"Uh...ah...uh...uhm..."

"You're Izumi, right? Congrats on your title victory." Darkness patted her on the shoulder.

"T-thanks..."

"Did you need something?"

"I...I w-w-was just looking for F-Freya..."

"She's in here."

With that, Darkness walked off, looking back at the pale faced girl and shrugged, muttering to himself, "What's her problem?"

Izumi stepped into the room with Freya, slowly shutting the door behind her, and taking a seat. She breathed heavily a few times, catching her breath.

"Hey, violet eyes. You alright? Did Buffy scare you?" Freya said.

"Y-yeah I'm alright..." A few beads of sweat were visible on her forehead, wiped off hastily. "What's with the nickname?"

"Just a habit of mine." Freya looked the new arrival over. She was just wearing casual clothes, looked short, not particularly muscular...but of note was a silver crucifix around her neck. Also, garlic. Even more, there were plenty of Japanese scroll tags. At least a dozen on her, in fact! They translated to: 'Begone, evil spirit.'

"What's all that for?"

"I'm...superstitious..." she lied, grinning sheepishly. "It's almost the full moon. Bad things come out when it's the full moon. I'm prepared."

Freya shrugged. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Izumi calmed down completely now, taking a deep breath before smiling at Freya. They were alone now. Or were they? Her neck constantly prickled, but maybe that was just paranoia, after that scary little experience.

In any case, If ever there was an opportunity, it was now.

"I.. I wanted to..." Izumi struggled with what she wanted to ask. She was saved however by two men entering from another room. The were very large, with very prominent cheek bones. Both had long black hair and seemed to pay no attention to the girls as they raided the mini bar.

"Hey, you can't do that!" Freya chastised them. "It's only..." she checked her watch. It was later than she thought. "You're not old enough anyway."

The slightly larger of the two men looked up. "This isn't your suite." His gaze was switched to Izumi. "Hey, you're that girl..." He nudged his companion who also looked at Izumi. Their eyes were extraordinarily bright. They grinned at each other. "Cai!" they called in unison.

Freya groaned as another impressively built boy, this one with flame red hair, put his head around the door. He squeaked before retreating.

"Quick, out the door." Freya tried to usher Izumi out but wasn't quick enough. The boy with red hair was back, autograph book in hand. With him were others. All the same build with angular features. They descended on Izumi, talking at once, Freya was pushed to one side.

"Can I have your autograph?"

"No, I want one."

Izumi was transfixed. She thought there was something animalistic about Freya, but that was nothing compared to these guys. Another layer of the onion that was the New Hellfire Club. She went on auto mode and took the nearest book and pen. "Name?"

Freya watched as the younger werewolves hassled her work colleagues.

"You all right?" Gwen had sidled up beside her.

"Yeah. It's just so embarrassing though. Remind me to kill Huon and Hruod later."

"You can't take them both on."

"I dunno."

"Who is she anyway?"

"Izumi. New Aftershock Champion. Didn't you watch the show?"

Gwen raised an eyebrow making Freya laugh.

"What?" Gwen asked.

"You looked just like Darkness just then."

"What is she doing here?"

"She wanted to talk to me about something."

"What?"

"I don't know, this happened." Freya waved her hand at the crowd.

"Why is she wearing those scrolls?"

"She's superstitious." Freya shrugged.

"So she needs scrolls that say 'begone evil spirit'?"

"You can read that? They're squiggles!"

"I've been learning Japanese."

"Right, of course you have."

"She stinks of garlic too." Revenant appeared on Freya's other side.

"You all right?" Gwen and Freya asked.

"Yeah." Rev wrinkled her nose. "I just don't like the smell."

"I've got to get her out of here." Freya pushed through the group of werewolves. "Get out of the way, shift your arse, Galadd." She reached Izumi and steered the girl to the door. "Right, got to go." She got them out into the corridor and slammed the door behind them.

"They were quite..." Izumi wasn't sure what to say.

"I know. I'm sorry. They're a menace."

"I still want to talk."

"I know. I'll buy you coffee." Freya tapped her trousers. "After I grab some money. Hold on." Freya opened the door and returned to the chaos within.

Izumi couldn't believe what had just happened. She knew there was more to Freya, but who were these people she was with? The Vindicators hadn't told her everything.

**

"So you wanted to talk about something?"

Freya and Izumi were sat in a small café near the hotel, both had mugs of steaming coffee.

"Yeah." She sipped her coffee and tried to organise her thoughts. "I wanted to ask about the Hellfire Club."

"New or Original. I can't help with the Original. You'd be better off talking to Jason."

"New. Sorry. How long have you guys been planning the reunion?"

"It was a bit of a spur of the moment thing, to be honest with you. It's been brewing for a while, we just had some... difficulties."

"Like what?"

Freya gave a slight smile. "Private."

There was a pause as the two drunk their coffee.

"So are any of the rumours about you guys true?"

"Which rumours? I think there are quite a few."

Izumi giggled nervously. "Um.. are you Satanists?"

"Do you actually mean Satanist or Devil worshipper?"

"Is there a difference?"

"Yeah. We're neither but I think people should be accurate in their accusations."

"Is Dante really from Dis?"

"Is your friend really from 'Parts Unknown'? It's part of the... the... fuck, what's the word?" Freya's brow creased trying to remember what she'd forgotten.

"Kayfabe?"

"That's it! It's just part of the image. He's no more demonic than I am."

"Right..." Another sip of coffee. "What's with the Darklings anyway?"

Freya shrugged. "Overenthusiastic fans."

"I've heard it was a cult."

"I've no idea." Freya sipped her drink.

"Have you ever met Bleeder? I heard he was a demon."

"I had a match with him. As for demon? I think you're a bit fixated."

"I just heard a lot of stories about the groups."

"That's all they are, stories." Freya stood up, "when you learn that then I'll talk to you again." She pulled her jacket on, her t-shirt riding up, revealing the Vindicator mark. Izumi stared at the mark on her stomach. She'd seen them carved into the flesh of the Vidicators, but the little one that was carefully placed on the werewolf's stomach was so very delicate, it was hard to see how the masked men could do something like that. Freya looked down and saw her staring.

"Do you mind?"

"Sorry," Izumi looked down at her coffee.

"Who are you?" Freya asked, eyes narrowed.

"No one."

"Liar. Do you know what the mark means?"

"No."

"Izumi, I know you're lying. I'm keeping an eye on you."

Freya stood up and started to head out of the cafe.

"Keeping your eye on me? I've always wanted to be watched," Izumi said, chuckling. "This isn't over, you know."

Freya didn't reply, leaving quickly.

"Thanks for the coff-damn..."

She sighed and shook her head. This was going to be harder than she originally thought. Freya was an engimatic one. And now, she'd given herself away with her reaction to that Vindicator mark. How could she be so stupid?

Worst of all, she forgot to pay the cafe bill.

After a while, she stepped out of the cafe, paranoid. She'd fucked up, and now expected those big guys with the weird faces to jump her any second...for all she knew, they could have been Freya's secret body guards or something.

A large, muscular arm grabbed her from behind!

"MMMMPH!"

"In here," mumbled a metallic sounding voice. The girl kicked a little as she was pulled behind the cafe.

"LEMMGOH!" she screamed, her voice muffled, before she was released and spun around.

"Relax, Izumi," the voice said. It was Vindicator.

"Don't you scare me like that!" She punched his shoulder angrily. "I'm nervous as hell now, and then you grab me from behind..."

"Shhh," Vindicator said. "There's always one of us nearby. We are under strict orders to ensure your complete safety."

"...Good. I'm only a normal girl, I'm not some Infernal, or werewolf, or psychic...my IQ won't save me if Freya decides to go wolf and tear me to pieces."

"Don't be foolish," he snarled, "this is a public place. She wouldn't dare expose herself. You, on the other hand, have done a good job of that..."

He tore off the scrolls. "These only work on ghosts. Garlic only annoys vampires, it doesn't drive them off. About the only thing that might work is the silver cross...werewolves are allergic to silver."

"I know..." Izumi said.

"She knows you are suspicious now, at least. Werewolves can smell deception. What were you trying to do?"

"Get some more information out of her. Learn anything I can. I don't really know what. But you guys need to know as much as you can before we plan an attack, right? I'm helping. Dammit, I need a snack.Oh!" She snapped her fingers. "That mark on her stomach. It was shaped oddly. You know something about it, don't you?"

"Yes. It's our mark."

"What does it mean?"

"It means nothing. It is what it is."

"...You're not telling me something."

"It has no translation in the common tongue. I cannot explain."

"Baloney! You put it there for a reason. If you're not going to help me, then I guess I'm going to find it out myself, and I'm not going to bullshit around this time."

"Don't approach her again. We can't protect you if we don't know where you stand in this."

"What, I'm not going to go run off with the AntiChrist and talk about plans for blowing up the Earth over dinner!"


"Course not. You just hang out, talk, maybe sign a few autographs..."

"Infiltration, Vindy. I'm not going to get anywhere saying "I hate you demons, you suck!" I'm smarter than that. It's easier to extract information if they trust me...I never thought I'd say something like that. You know, sometimes I feel kind of sneaky doing this. Both in a kinda-evil way and a kinda-cool secret agent way."


"Fuck. You ARE just a kid. Go away. Before someone hears you talking to me. And...just watch out. All I'm saying. Sometimes innocent people get hurt, especially in war..."

"I'm just a kid, you say? Then it looks like my strategies are working after all. I'm off to find out where Freya's headed."

At that, she left the alley, leaving the Vindicator alone, who only offered a single line as she departed...

"...I don't want to hurt you."

----------------

"So, who is she, really?" Gwen asked.

"No idea!" Freya said, shrugging. "There's more than meets the eye, that's for sure. She seemed to recognize my Vindicator mark. And all those wards on her or something...She seems interested in the supernatural...perhaps she's just really paranoid, hell, I don't know." Freya sat down next to Gwen. "It's not the first time she's acted strange. She noticed my cut heal up quick a few months back after that triple threat, and she kept prying. It's worth keeping an eye on her."

"Think she's a spy for the enemy?"

"Not likely," Freya said. "The they knows everything they need to know about us, and even if they wanted to know more, they wouldn't send a Japanese girl to spy on us."

"What if..." Gwen said, leaning in, "...she's an investigator for that MacDonald guy?"

"The President-Elect? He hasn't even taken office yet. Plus, she's been in the fed way before he was elected."

"Unless he planned ahead," Gwen commented.

"Whatever the case, I'll be watching her."

"So, where we going to?" Gwen stretched out. "A few weeks off the road is just what I need."

"Ever been to New York?"

"Nope."

"I already got the tickets," she said, waving them in front of her. "Flight leaves tomorrow morning at 10...ow..."

"What?"

"Sharp headache there for a second," she said, rubbing her head. "It's gone now."

-----------------------

Izumi removed the white mask, smiling.

"Start spreading the news, I'm leaving today
I want to be a part of it - New York, New York..."

Freya hurried down the hotel corridor towards the room of stable mate Stephen Hawthorne. She knocked several times in quick succession and waited for the door to open, foot tapping.

"Hey, toots," Hawthorne said when he finally opened the door.

"Hey." Freya pushed past him. "Oh good, you're packed," she said, looking around the sparse room. "I've got plane tickets for us all to go to New York. Plane is at ten; I've got a taxi or two picking us up about eight." She held out a plane ticket for him.

"Actually...I've kind dealt with things myself..." he said, pulling his own ticket slowly out of his jacket pocket.

"Oh. How did you know where we were going?"

"I'm going to Atlanta."

"On your own?"

"No....actually Matt and DeSean are going that way too..." He put his plane ticket away again slowly, waiting for the tirade that was sure to come.

"Oh."

"I'm going to see family."

"Oh."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sure, fine, why wouldn't I be?" There was a brightness in her voice that didn't ring true.

"You just seem a bit..."

"No, I'm fine." She forced herself to smile. "I just thought you'd want to hang out with me, The Children, Darkness. Especially as you've got a match with him, I thought it would be good for you guys to spend time together. And we've not really spent that much time together since you got back."

"I just want to see my family."

"That's cool. We'll hang out another time." Freya backed towards the door and opened it. "Have a nice time with your family. I guess once we move on you won't get much chance to see them." She left and shut the door behind her. Hawthorne hung his head and sighed. "Oh, Stephen?"

He snapped his head up. "Yes?" He was sure he'd heard the door click shut.

"Just because Matt and DeSean are prettier than us NHFCers, it doesn't mean they're better or nicer than us." There was a tremor in her voice, but he wasn't sure why it would be there.

"I know," he nodded. Freya nodded back before leaving again.

**

"Hey, we've been thinking."

Freya had just entered the hotel suit The Children shared and Gwen was standing in front of her.

"What?"

"Well, we haven't seen Darkness and don't know if he's coming to New York with us, so some of us are going to stay here and go with him."

"Right." Freya's voice was flat and she sat into a chair nearby.

"You all right?"

"It's nothing. So who's staying and who's coming? I assume you'll be staying with Darkness?"

"We hadn't quite decided." Gwen looked down at Freya. As werewolves went, Freya was an awful lot smaller, and sitting like she was, it tugged at something in Gwen. "I'll come with you though. As will Lir I expect."

"Okay. Well, I should probably go pack. I'll see you in the morning." Freya got up to leave.

"Are you sure you're all right? You're not happy." Gwen put a hand on the smaller woman's shoulder.

"Gwen, I'll be fine. Just...a couple of things on my mind."

**

Izumi walked through the large hotel lobby. She went straight to the receptionist.

"Hi," she started before the woman behind the desk could welcome her, "is Freya Green booked in here? I'm a work colleague and just wanted to see her." This was the third hotel she'd tried and it was starting to get a bit tiring.

"Hold on.... yes she is. Although Ms. Green and her group haven't checked in yet."

Izumi sighed in relief. "Can I book a room here too?"

"Yes.... actually there are a few rooms on the same floor as Ms. Green, she had to cancel some."

Izumi thought for a second. It would be easier to spy on her close by... "Yes, that would be great."

The receptionist gave her the key and directed Izumi to the elevators. When she made it to the right floor she walked slowly down the corridor. She'd managed to see which rooms Freya had booked, and was now standing outside one of them. She dropped her bag, and after a quick rummage, she pulled out some tools. She wasn't a proper spy or burglar, but she could get into a room if she needed. The door clicked open. After another quick rummage a small camera appeared.

"It's easier to spy when you can see what's going on."

One long plane ride later and Freya, Gwen, Lir, and a few other Children were finally at The City that Never Sleeps.

Rather than spending time to sightsee, though, Freya and the gang had simply checked into their hotel suite. The entire cab ride there, and the elevator ride up to her floor had an uncomfortable silence, except for the characteristically generic music that is.

The furnishings of the hotel suite did little to calm the tense atmosphere as the Children entered the room. They flopped down on the furniture.

"Damn nice place! Has an oddly familiar smell to it, somehow..." Hruod broke the silence. "Where's the drinks?"

"Don't even think about it," Gwen chastised. Then sat down next to Freya. The luxury of the suite did little to lighten her mood. "Freya. Are you really satisfied with keeping silent? If something's bothering you, best to say it now."

"I'm dealing with it fine," she muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

"We both know that isn't true. Now stop being stubborn."

"I said..." Freya sighed, and finally looked up at Gwen. "It's just...you know..." A long arkward pause, before she finally spat it out, "...Hawthorne."

"You're worried about him?"

"Worried that he's been listening to Strikmore's rants too much. Just before Endgame, he wasn't acting like himself. I mean, it's not really my business to decide who he can and cannot talk to...but..."

"Why does it matter if Strikmore rants to Hawthorne? It's just ranting."

"It matters if Hawthorne believes him."

"Why would he?"

"I don't know. But I just...kind of get the feeling...he does. I know what he's thinking. Matt said at Endgame that 'TCW isn't about wrestling anymore' and I know he was referring to us. Well, maybe Buffy isn't in it for the wrestling, but I sure as hell am! I care about this federation, and to even think that I don't give a damn about my co-workers..."

Lir sighed, sitting on Freya's other side. "He's fine. I don't think he believes that. I bet he knows just fine who is real friends and enemies are. Right, Gwen?"

"Right."

"I sure hope you're right," Freya said.

"Man..." Hruod said, sniffing the air. "I can't shake off that familiar scent..."

"Well, other people use this room," Gwen said.

"I know, but it smells like...that chick. The cute Japanese girl. Where's she at?" Huon said.

Gwen's head turned. "What?!" She stood up off the couch, sniffing the air. "Yeah, you're right..." She moved around, eyes searching the room...til she caught sight of something, small, black, stuck right in the upper corner of the room. She snatched it from the wall.

"What is it?" Freya asked.

"Camera. This is definitely hers. She's spying on us."

------------

"SHIT!"

Izumi bellowed. She wasn't normally one for swear words, but this was an appropriate one for the occasion. Her heart began pounding, eyes looking left and right, paranoid.

"Oh my God. They found my camera. How did they find it?! They're on to me for sure now!"

Izumi shuddered, looking at the door nervously, staring at it for a full minute before taking a deep breath.

"Okay...gotta calm down...think my next move..."

Izumi quickly scribbed something down into a notebook before tossing it in her bag.

"I've got to..."

She eyed the mask in her bag. She winced at the idea of putting it on again. It was only supposed to be used when absolutely necessary, or else she risked getting stuck...

But she had to find out their next move. And plan hers. Talking to her hadn't worked out, Freya told her everything but the truth of course. Trying to spy on them only made things worse.

"I can't afford any more mistakes..."

She grabbed the white, featureless mask, and slipped it on over her face.

"Just ten seconds..."

------------

"Izumi...that fucking bitch!" Freya screamed. She snatched the camera out of Gwen's hands and screamed at it.

"How fucking DARE you listen in on my personal conversations! Do you not think I have a right to privacy, you interloping little shit?! I knew you were hiding something all along. I don't know what possessed you to spy on me but you crossed a line that should never be crossed. I am going to KILL you!"

With an angry yell she hurled the camera against the wall, shattering it into pieces.

------------

Izumi speed dialed her boss at light speed.

"Mr. Cain, help me! I'm gonna die!"

"I told you not to approach Darkness. Where are you? We'll get you out."

"I'm in a hotel in New York City...and I approached Freya, not Darkness, but I pissed her off by trying to spy on her and now she's going to kill me!"

"Calm down and duck low."

"What?!"

"Just wait a second..."

Half a minute passed before the window shattered, glass shards barely missing her. A Vindicator appeared in it's place. The Vindicator grabbed her, and jumped out just as quickly as he appeared.

------------

"Literally kill?" Gwen said.

"No, of course not. But the way I'm feeling right now, I'd love to wring her neck." Freya shot a glance at the others. "Don't bother unpacking," Freya grunted, grabbing her bags.

"Aww, why?" Hruon said.

"We're leaving. Right now. I don't know how but she followed us here. I don't know what she hopes to accomplish but if she wants to screw around with me, I'm not leaving anything to chance. If she follows me again, she does so at her own risk."

"Where are we going to go?" Huon said.

"Oxfordshire. We're going back home."

"Home?"

"Home."

"We're not going home."

"What?" Freya stopped mid-rant.

"We're not going home." Gwen folded her arms across her chest. "We came with you to see New York, so we're going to see New York."

"Well I'm going to go home alone then." Freya folded her arms too.

"No you're not. You don't like going home, you're not going to go home without us, and you don't really want to leave a bunch of werewolves on their own in a big city."

Freya drew in a deep breath, ready to argue. "Fine," she said instead, letting it all out again, "but we are switching hotels. I'm not staying here when we don't know what that little cow has bugged."

"All right." Gwen cracked a smile. "Can we go to the Statue of Liberty first?"

**

Izumi sat in the room the Vindicator had given her. It was Spartan: there was just a bed. She guessed this was his own room; these guys didn't seem to need much else. Despite being very basic, it felt very safe. She drew her knees up and rested her chin on them, thinking over what had happened. Freya hadn't reacted well to finding the camera. She'd felt her anger: it had been brilliant in its intensity, vicious and animalistic. It wasn't something she wanted to cross again.

There was a knock at the door and the Vindicator returned, Izumi's bag in hand.

"The werewolves have moved on, but I have organised a room for you in another hotel."

"Thanks..."

"You were warned about interacting with the werewolf. How are we to protect you if you do not heed our advice?"

"I can't do my job without interacting with them. Anyway, it was just a camera. She overreacted."

"Werewolves are unpredictable. It is an aspect of their dual nature. Now, there is a car waiting downstairs."

Izumi followed the Vindicator out of the small room. The Boss wasn't going to be happy when he next rang her, which was bound to be sooner rather than later. Maybe if she had some more information for him he wouldn't be so upset...

**

"All right, I'll admit it, this is kind of cool." Freya stood by one of the windows. The view from Lady Liberty's crown was amazing, even if it did mainly look out to sea.

Lir was standing next to her. "Better than home?"

"Don't you start." She turned and leant against the side of the window, watching Gwen lecture Hruod and Huon about the history of the statue.

"What are you going to do about this Izumi girl?"

"I don't know. I'd like to talk to Darkness, but I know what he'd say."

"What?"

"To ignore it until it becomes a problem."

"So what do you want to do?"

"Wait and see what happens."

"How is that different?"

"Oh, it's different." She gave the sea another look. "You know what? I miss trees. Let's go to Central Park."

Izumi sighed as she walked downstairs slowly, following the Vindicator (who, strangely, the hotel personell didn't seem to notice).

This was twice now things had fucked up. She couldn't believe how utterly bad things were going. She had a plan, and it fell apart. Freya caught her. It was humiliating.

She tried to salvage it, but that only made things worse. Why wasn't it working?

"It's because..." she mused outloud, stepping out into the cool air, outside of the hotel, and stopping.

"We are going," the Vindicator said, urging Izumi into the car. Izumi stopped on the sidewalk, obstructing pedestrian traffic as her train of thought continued.

Is it me? Are my plans just no good? Maybe...

It would help if I actually felt like I had some freedom here...Maybe I do look like I could be easily underestimated sometimes...but...

I'm sick of Vindicators and Mr. Cain hovering over my shoulder all the time...and I cried to them when I got a little scared...

"Dammit, what was I thinking?!" she cried outloud. "I'm not a scared little girl!"

The Vindicator's gaze didn't shift. "Enough, Izumi. Let's go."

I haven't been confident enough in myself, that's all...I've been treating the enemy as better than me.

That's it.

Fuck the Vindicators.

Fuck the werewolves.

Fuck Freya.

I've been pulling my punches, and getting myself embarrassed.

"And I'm not going to take it ANY MORE!"

She pushed the Vindicator aside, and hopped in the car. Grabbing the keys, she jammed them into the ignition and turned so hard the motor made a horrible grinding noise before starting.

"Izumi! What are you doing?!"

"Setting things right. I'm not a little girl that needs babysitting from either you, or the Vindicators! I'm going after Freya, and I'm going to squeeze everything that hell-spawn knows out of her, even if it kills me!"

"You are being foolish! Your orders are to go to the new hotel and regroup!" the Vindicator bellowed.

"FUCK ORDERS!" A fire was lit behind her eyes, never previously seen before. At this moment, she felt like she could take on the entire army of Hell.

"You will be killed! Do you know that? We can't protect you if you go out on your own like this! You will die!"

"There's more than one way to skin a werewolf," Izumi said. She unzipped her bag. Reaching into it, she showed the Vindicator some kind of glove. No, gauntlets.

Silver gauntlets.

"They won't dare get near me with these."

"Do you really think that's going to be enough, you foolish girl?!"

"I'll have everything we need to know by the top of the hour, or die trying." With that, she pulled out the white, featureless mask. "Ciao."

She sped off before the Vindicator could protest, driving probably over the speed limit, carelessly weaving through traffic. A red light was no barrier for the girl, as she narrowly shot through an intersection, avoiding an accident by a hair.

When she finally felt she was far away enough, she parked into a random parking lot, and slapped on the mask.

"It's time I made full use of this thing, no matter what the consequences..."

-----------------------

"This place is beautiful," Gwen said.

Beautiful didn't do the place justice. They were surrounded by the most beautiful trees, stretching as far as their eyes could see. The colors of the place seemed to be radiating. It was like the ultimate eye candy for nature lovers.

"I know, right? Can you imagine how hard it has to be to take care of it all?" Freya said.

"Well, whoever takes care of it gets props from me," Lir said. "I'm glad I got to come here. I'd rather not go h-"

Freya elbowed him. "Okay, okay, enough! I overreacted earlier. Forget that I said anything...hey...what the hell is..."

She dropped to a knee and clutched at her head.

"Freya! What's wrong!" Gwen said.

"Ugh...just another damn headache..."

...found you this time...

"What...the hell?" Freya said, eyes widening. Then the headache began to increase in pain, building, building...

-----------------------

"...wait...I can't get out. I can't get out!"

Izumi's muffled screams echoed only on the inside of her mask. She pulled at her mask...

It wouldn't budge. It was becoming red hot to the touch, she felt her skin starting to sear. Desperation began to sat in as she began to think...she might be stuck inside Freya's head forever. That desperation led her to tug once more with everything she had...

RRRIIIIIIIIP!

"OWWWW!"

She felt a liquid warmth on several spots all over her face. Blood.

Her heart pounded as she looked at the demonic thing that had almost trapped her for good.

"I...can't use this again, unless it's life or death..." she decided. Izumi rested against her seat, trying to catch her breath.

"No. I can't be weak like this. I have to go after her now, I know where she is!"

She shoved it inside her bag, and started the car once more, before once again speeding out of the parking lot.

"I'm not going to let you get away from me this time, Freya! I'll have you talk, I swear!"

-----------------------

"It's gone now," Freya said.

"What was that?" Gwen said. "You've been having headaches a bit lately."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. Let's just say I think something's become a lot clearer. I think we'll hang out in this park a little bit longer..."

"Oh? What happened?"

"Remember when I said to wait and see what happens? My guess is that's going to pay off very soon..."

As the group walked through the park, little did they know someone else not named Izumi was watching them...

-----------------------

"Who are you?"

Izumi had just arrived in Central Park, not long after, being approached by a tall man...

"Are you looking for someone? I'm here to help you."

"I said, who are you?"

"Don't worry, I'm one of the good guys..." He licked his lips and continued to approach her. "I'll take good care of you, I promise..."

The Vindicator watched Izumi walk away with the werewolf. He moved to follow but... there was another one somewhere. His mask whirred as the filters changed, trying to detect in which direction the second creature was. Suddenly, hands grabbed him from behind, one firmly clamped across his mask.

"I don't want any interference," a deep voice growled by his ear. In one swift motion, the mask was ripped from his face. The Vindicator crumpled to the ground, gasping like a fish on land. The mask landed inches from his face. He moved one tattooed arm towards it, hoping to replace it so he could survive in the hostile air, but that hope was dashed as a large foot stood on his wrist.

"I really don't think so."

There was a flash of light on metal, an instant of pain and then the night took him.

**

"So what are we waiting for?" Huon asked, sitting on the floor.

"I don't know. We'll see when she gets here," Freya replied grumpily. This was not the first time the question had been asked. She'd really expected something more immediate.

"Someone's coming," Gwen said, looking up in the direction of the path.

They waited, almost holding their breath. They all stared down the path. A small dog hurtled around the corner chasing a brightly coloured ball, but it stopped in its tracks when it saw the werewolves and started barking.

"Is that it?" Hruod asked.

**

"So how do I know you're one of the good guys?" Izumi looked up at her companion. He was taller than her and apart from looking a bit thin and pale, was good looking. There was something very familiar about him too.

"I want to bring down the Antichrist. Isn't that enough?"

"I guess." The accent too. She wanted to ask...

"She's my sister."

"Who?" She didn't like that he'd pre-empted her question.

The stranger raised an eyebrow. "Freya. She's been swayed by the Antichrist. I've come to help her."

"That's very nice of you."

"I know," he replied, giving her a very toothy grin.

**

"This is her." Hruod shot Gwen a look, reminding her of her false alarm earlier. Izumi stepped into view, her new friend by her side.

"Bronson!" Freya looked from Izumi to her brother and back again. "You're working with him? Is that it?"

"Don't be stupid," Bronson snarled, stepped away from Izumi, "Lord Abortion doesn't need silly girls to do his bidding." He grinned at her. "Although she was quite handy for finding you."

"What, your pet couldn't sniff us out?"

"Now that's no way to talk about your big brother." Fenris stepped out of the trees behind the group, making them jump. His grisly trophies hung from his belt as usual, but one was obviously fresh and covered in distinctive tattoos.

"Vindicator..." Izumi breathed.

"Your comic timing is as awful as always," Freya told her eldest brother, "I wasn't even talking about you."

"Is there a reason I can't smell either of them?" Gwen asked Freya in a whisper.

"Amulets. I've got a couple in my room. We could be surrounded or it could just be these buffoons."

"What are we going to do?"

"Retreat. Get Izumi and run the fuck away."

"But there's more of us..."

"We don't know that, and they're armed anyway."

"Now, girls, I'm sure what you're talking about is all very important but we're here for a reason." Bronson stalked towards Gwen and Freya.

"And what would that be."

"Lord Abortion has decided, since Lilith couldn't hold onto it without screwing everything up, he'd better have that Ring of yours after all," Fenris grinned.

"Hey," Izumi said.

Eyes turned on her for a moment.

"What the hell are you talking about, anyway? Who's Lord Abortion and what's this Ring you're talking about? Who is he, Sauron?"

"He wants to save the world," Bronson said softly, "...save it from the Antichrist..."

"Stop feeding her LIES!" Freya growled.

"Lies? But am I really lying?" Bronson snarled. "Lord Abortion is the true savior, after all. He will cleanse this world..."

"Only you would have such twisted beliefs..."

"It is you whose beliefs are twisted...but you can make this a lot easier for both of us."

The wolves stepped closer together, eyes shifting from Fenris, to Bronson, to the shadows around them...it felt like there were a legion of eyes, bearing down upon them. One wrong move, and the darkness would rip them apart...

Gwen looked around. A faint noise...did she hear footsteps? Without the power of scent to aid her, she felt naked...

Bronson extended his hand. "Give me the Ring, sister, and you will walk away unharmed. Otherwise..." he chuckled. "Otherwise, I'll show this girl the truth...about you, about me..."

"...about us." His bright smile widened, showing a feral grin large enough to fall into...

"What truth?" Izumi piped. The adults seemed to miss her. Confusion was spiraling throughout her head. Her skin prickled and perspirated. This was all wrong. Something was off. She looked from Freya, to Bronson, and back again. Just what the hell was going on?

"You know I can't, and won't do that," Freya said. "The Ring stays with me. You have to be bloody stupid to think I'd give it up without a fight."

"I thought you might say that," Bronson said, cracking his knuckles. "To be honest, I prefer it this way anyway."

Gwen whispered to Freya. "How shall we get her away from him?"

"I'll find a way to distract him, you grab her and then we run to safety. And don't stop for anything. They won't follow us into the public view, though."

"What do we do about Fenris?"

"Like I said...we just pick a direction...and...run. We can't take a stand if we're surrounded."

"Nice plan," Bronson chuckled. "Too bad it won't work."

The werewolves began to prepare to enact what could very well be the beginning of their last hurrah...

Gwen stopped, her eyes went wide at Bronson.

"Are you terrified?" Bronson chuckled to himself. "I wouldn't blame you. You should be shaking in your-GRRAAAAGH!"

Bronson dropped to one knee as he yelled in agonizing pain. Behind him, was Izumi, pressing the silver crucifix she wore to the back of his head.

"I knew it!" She kicked him, hard in the shin. "Take that, fuck face!"

"Izumi! Get the hell away from him, now!" Gwen bellowed.

A hard shove answered Izumi, throwing her back against the soil. Bronson stood up, growling, moving on Izumi as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Grragh...you sneaky little bitch...I am going to gut you like a fish!"

Gwen came from behind, delivering a hard punch to the back of Bronson's head.

"Now! Go!"

She slung Izumi over her shoulder and ran at top speed, Freya and the others following suit.

"Hey! I can run just fine myself!" she protested.

Fenris growled and began to give chase. "You won't escape from us! We will have that Ring, Freya, I swear it-"

Midway through his pursuit, something came out of nowhere, right in front of him.

A Vindicator.

"I fucking killed you!" he growled.

"Just one of us. But we don't take too kindly to Hellspawn like yourself killing our own..."

---------------

The walls of the hotel room stood as a flimsy barrier against the Abyssal forces. It was a temporary safe haven...if they really wanted the Ring, they would be ready to strike again, at any time...

"We were lucky," Gwen said. "I don't know how they found us."

"I do," Freya said.

Izumi panted, sitting against the bed, catching her breath as Freya approached her.

"You guys...I can't believe you saved my-"

SLAP.

The world blurred for a split second as a stinging, burning pain spread throughout the side of her face, before being replaced by a numb, tingling sensation. Izumi slumped over from the impact.

"And you're lucky we didn't LET them kill you! You almost cost us our lives!" Freya bellowed. "I want to know what could have possibly possessed you to stalk us all the way to New York! And tell no lies, Izumi, I'll know if you do."

"Nnngh..." Izumi groaned, sitting up, hand caressing her burning cheek. "No lies? Alright, Freya..." she said, returning Freya's gaze with a dead serious, piercing stare. "But only if you tell me the truth too...I don't appreciate being patronized..." Every hint of playfulness or girlishness was suddenly gone from her voice. "The time for games is over."

"Well, out with it, then!" Freya said.

"I know that you work for the Antichrist, Darkness. I know that you are a werewolf, and I expect the others with you are werewolves, as well. I want to know everything. Do not treat me as a little girl, I know the supernatural is very real."

"Work? I work for Darkness? What in the blazes are you talking about?" Freya said. "I don't work for him, I stand by his side. I think the real question is, who are you working for?"

"The Balance," Izumi replied.

"Who are they?"

"I won't say."

"If you want answers, you give answers," Freya said, tapping her foot.

"Fair enough," Izumi said. "They are a secret society dedicated to the Balance between good and evil. There are thousands of members worldwide. Anybody you know may be one of them...our job is to monitor the supernatural underground and keep the world a stable place. We cannot let one side get too strong, not even good, or it will break the entire system. The evil side, Hell, is becoming too strong. The Antichrist has emerged, and will engineer the apocaly-"

"Oh, fucking hell..." Freya slapped her forehead. "And you believe all of that?"

"Dear Lord, they've really fed her some crap..." Gwen muttered.

"It's the truth! If we don't stop him, he'll rain destruction upon us all! It'll be 1984 come to life, only ten times worse! We'll be killed for even thinking against him..."

"Who told you this tripe?" Freya demanded.

"My superiors. It's all written in the texts..."

"You ever think the texts might be, y'know, wrong?"

Izumi stood up. "That's impossible. They've predicted everything so far..."

"Did they predict the Abyss?" Freya said sarcastically.

"What's the Abyss?"

"My point exactly. Look, Izumi, you don't know the half of it. Darkness isn't going to rain fire and brimstone from the heavens. He's the one trying to stop the Apocalypse, not instigate it!"

"But, he's the Antichrist...!"

"News flash: There's a lot more going on than you think, or that your superiors even noticed. There's an entire battle going on behind the scenes. You're actually helping the real bad guys without even knowing it! The Antichrist is on our side..."

"LIES!" Izumi screamed. "Lies and deceit! You beasts will say anything to get me to believe your sick, twisted way of..."

But we're at war...

They didn't tell you anything, did they?

There are worse things than the AntiChrist. You're in over your head, and it's a long way to swim before you'll see the light again...Bleeder's voice echoed in her mind.

"No...it can't be true..." Izumi said. "They told me...they told me...he was...you're evil! You're evil!"

"If we were really the bad guys, then who did we just save you from? The ones who used you to get to us?"

"...if you were the good guys, you only had to come out and say it! Why? Why didn't you tell everyone then? Answer that!"

"We just told you. How's it working out?"

"...not well." Izumi had to admit.

"Do you see my point? Don't you think we'd like to tell?!" Freya said. "It isn't so easy. We rise up now, and warn the world of the Abyss...the public would declare us insane. People just like you would naively label us the bad guys. No, instead, we have to build an army, behind the scenes, and continue our fight, behind the scenes. It is a sad thing to have to hide like this, but it is the only way. We are, in a sense, unspoken heroes."

"...But..."

"Quit this foolish idea of saving the world. It isn't as cut and dried as you think. Everything you've been told isn't really the way things are," Freya said. "Go home, Izumi. There's nothing you can do."

Izumi stared at her, long and hard. Her fists shook, clenched so tight her knuckles turned white. She wanted to lift a fist, and punch Freya square in the jaw, and declare everything she just said a lie. But the more her mind pieced things together, the harder and harder that became. Her eyes began to swell up with tears...

BANG!

The door swung open, slamming into the wall with a tremendous noise. In the doorway stood the Vindicator.

"Freya Green, it is time. We will need you to come with us. There are many questions only you can answer..." No choice was offered in his statement. The Vindicator advanced on her...

"STOP!"

Izumi stood in front of Freya.

"You're not doing anything until you answer MY questions!" she screamed, shaking a fist at Vindicator. "I won't let you!"

"...Izumi..."

"Tell me. What haven't you told me? What did you guys leave out? Who's the Abyss? Who's Lord Abortion? What's the Ring!? Tell me right now!"

The Vindicator let out a long, metallic sigh. "...Izumi...not this..."

"You answer my questions or you're not taking her!"

"...so, they got to you after all. We were afraid of this...we even warned you..." The Vindcator stepped forward. "This is a sad day, indeed. Izumi, we can no longer trust you. You've exposed yourself to them too much."

He stepped closer to her. "I am afraid this is where we part ways." He lifted a fist into the air, over her, hand nearly the size of her head...

"Farewell, Izumi..."

She shut her eyes, waiting for the blow to come down. So this was it, after all. It was a fun trip, trying to save the world. But now it was the end...

...her end. Only Death and Hell awaited her now for her foolish mistakes.

The fist swung down to crush her skull.

But the blow never came.

"No."

Now Freya had stepped in front of Izumi. She held the fist in her grasp, pushing it back, giving a predatory glare to the Vindicator.

"You aren't laying a finger on her without going through me." Freya declared.

"And me." Gwen said.

"And me!" Lir said, stepping forward.

"Us too!" Hruod and Huon chimed in.

They all stood in battle stance, prepared to strike down the Vindicator.

He stood there for a long moment, raising his fist back into the air, pausing to survey the group before him. Another metallic sigh escaped from his mask.

"This is not over, Izumi."

And then he vanished, as quicky as he appeared.

---------------

"Izumi Matsushita is a traitor."

That was the official word, going about the circles of the Balance.

From the halls of college campuses, to the pulpits and the pews, her name was spoken. It was written in prison cells, and added to police files. She was the entire topic of discussion during the December 20th meeting of the Allentown 4H club. The alt rock band Balance to the Force devoted a song to her. Even people who weren't part of the Balance soon knew...whoever Izumi Matsushita was, something really bad was going to happen to her really soon.

But the first one that learned was her boss.

Mr. Cain.

"Izumi Matsushita has turned her back on the Balance. The forces of the Antchrist have swayed her. She is gone from us."

The messenger's cold tone offered no comfort. He quickly vanished, disappearing from the room.

The man was alone, sitting in the darkness of his office, the only light offered from the moon. He took a full minute to fully understand what he had just been told.

"Izumi..."

And then, without warning, he broke down, sobbing alone, as if he had lost his own child...