"So...that's it, then?"

"Yeah..." Freya sighed, "that's it."

The morning after Friction was a rather depressing one.

She'd won her match, but she'd lost an important prize.

"So just like that, you have to give up your title without ever being beaten for it. What's the whole point of this?" Gwen says.

"I have to wonder, too. Buffy and I were practically the only ones behaving on the entire roster, and yet, we're punished the most. I would have rather lost the title in a fair fight than simply just hand it over," Freya said.

"It just seems like things are getting worse on all fronts."

"It's not all lost, though, if I can win the tournament."

"Or Darkness. It might come down to you two." Gwen noted.

"There are more important things than championships."

Neither of them had said that. They looked towards the door...

"Oh, it's you. Learn to knock, you know?"

Izumi just stared into her eyes. Freya noticed that for once her cheerful or smug expression was gone, instead replaced with a rather despondant look.

"You're not the only one who's lost something, Freya. I lost more than just my titles." She walked in, quickly sitting down on the couch as Gwen gave her a disapproving look.

"And what do you want? Who says you can just barge in like you own the place?"

"I know. I know. No lectures, please." Izumi sighed, leaning back in the chair. "I'd rather not start an argument. I'm not here to make enemies, even though I'm probably already on your shit list. I needed someone to talk to."

Freya raised an eyebrow. "About?"

"I don't know what justice or sense is left in the world," she began. "I'm supposed to believe that Darkness is on the side of humans. And yet..."

She gave a pause, and looked Freya straight in the eye. Izumi's violet eyes had a serious, pained look in them.

"He did something unforgiveable. He's a murderer, Freya."

Freya stared at Izumi in disbelief. "What did you say?"

"He killed a man. Not a vampire, a man."

"Darkness doesn't just kill people," Freya said, disbelieving. But she could sense genuine despair coming from her. There was more to this than she was letting on, though...

"Do you really believe that?" Izumi said. "Because I saw it! Not only did he kill someone, he killed someone who I was once close with! In cold blood!"

"I'm aware something occured before Friction, he hasn't filled me in."

"You have no idea..." Izumi said.

"What's your point here? You're just randomly coming in here and telling me this, what do you want me to do? I don't even know the circumstances, but what I do know is this looks a lot like you trying to poison me against Darkness for your own advantage. Darkness is specifically sworn not to kill humans. You're completely off your nut..."

"You have to believe me," Izumi said.

"It wouldn't be the first time you've lied to me. What do you really want, Izumi?" Freya said, dismissively.

"I swear to God I am not joking with you. I had to tell you. I'm not just lying to create a rift between you two, or anything like that. I'm telling you the truth, because you seem like you might be a nice, reasonable person...and you need to know exactly who you're associating yourself with. He can't..he can't be trusted!"

"You know what, I think the person I'm more likely to trust isn't the one barging into my room uninvited and accusing my friend of being a murderer,but the person who's saved my life, whose whole reason for existing is to defend the world and the people on it from those who seek to end it." Freya stood up. "Now get out before I make you leave."

"Gwen, tell her I'm not lying," Izumi begged. The white haired werewolf said nothing though. Izumi's violet eyes flashed with anger before leaving the room.

Freya crossed to the door and slammed it shut. She leant against it, her head resting against the frame. "He killed someone?" She eventually said in a low voice.

"Yes. The head of The Balance."

"And he was just a man?"

"Apparently, but..."

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" Freya turned around.

"It wasn't that simple."

"You mean 'hey, Freya, Darkness, you know him, the guy with one hand, the one who makes a big deal about not killing humans? Well, he killed someone.' Not so difficult, is it?"

"Freya, you're being ridiculous. It wasn't unprovoked. The man Darkness killed wasn't an innocent. He was the one that threw Darkness to the beast that...that made Darkness become what he is now."

Freya sat down and rested her head on her hands. "I can't believe I missed all this. What happened?"

"There was an Abyssal Spawn; we found the remains. There were other remains, lots of other remains. The Balance had been using it was a waste disposal, for getting rid of anyone they didn't want around any more. I don't think it kills though, not straight away anyway, it breaks your mind first. Darkness survived, I don't know how, but he didn't come away unscathed. He did what he could to stop it happening to others, that man was just as much a monster as any vampire, if not more so because a vampire has no choice about what it does."

"Why doesn't Izumi know this? She can't be so stupid to be ignorant of what happened."

"She's not stupid, just blind."

Freya jumped as she realised there was another person in the room. "Now who the fuck are you?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you jump, I thought werewolves had a better sense of smell. You should really keep you're door locked if you don't want people wandering in." The stranger held out a hand, gloved except for the fingers, which were an unnatural colour. "I'm Adam, we've not met."

"You're dead," Freya said bluntly, not taking the hand.

"And it's nice to meet you too." Adam dropped his hand. "How come you don't look like the other werewolves?"

"Other werewolves?" She turned to Gwen, "You know this guy?"

"Yes. This is Izumi's friend." She nodded at Adam.

"So part of The Balance?"

"No, well, not any more. Membership doesn't extend beyond death," Adam said.

"Why are you here?" Freya asked, crossing her arms. "Your little friend just left. Or are you here to accuse Darkness of being a murderer too?"

"I'm not here to accuse Darkness. I understand why he did what he did, only I wanted to be the one that did it."

"Oh. So why can't you tell Izumi that?"

"Because the man Darkness killed, Marcus Cain, essentially bought her up. He moulded her into a tool, and she doesn't know it. She can't see that he could do wrong, let alone that he actually did it."

"So why are you here?"

"Well, you said she came here. I think she's reaching out. Marcus is gone, she won't listen to me and she's confused about Darkness. She's looking to you as a colleague, another woman, someone who knows what's going on. She's been left in a world that's changing and there's no one to left to help her, to help her understand what's going on. She was trained to find the Antichrist and eventually kill him, then she finds he's not what she thought, and then he kills the man she considered a father. Wouldn't you be a little confused? All I'm asking is that you be a friend to her."

Freya rolled her eyes. "I can see your point. I'll go and try and talk some sense into her."

**

Izumi stormed back to her apartment in the building she shared with the other wrestlers. She flung open the door and slammed it shut behind her. She yanked open the fridge in the tiny kitchen area and pulled out a can of soda. She took a long draught before realising the room wasn't as she'd left it earlier.

"Hi." There was a figure lounging on her sofa, flicking through a magazine.

"Bronson?" Izumi asked.

"Hey, look at that, you remember me." The werewolf got up slowly. Izumi glanced at him and then the door before deciding to make a dash for it. He was quicker though. "Hey, where are you going to fast? I thought we were friends."

"You bastard, you nearly killed me." She kicked out towards his stomach but Bronson caught her foot.

"Haha, you're mistaken. That was a little thing between me and my baby sister, I'm sorry you got caught up in that. But this time I've come to talk to you."

"What for?"

"I've been sent by someone, someone special, who sees your potential, who sees that you see the evil of the Antichrist, and wants you to help."

"I can't trust you!"

"They only want to talk, you don't have to do anything. They'd like you to see their point of view."

"And if I don't like it I can just leave?"

"Yes. Promise." Bronson grinned and traced a cross over his heart with a long black nail.

"What about you? What's your part in this, anyway?" Freya said.

"I suppose I took it upon myself to help fix what Marcus did to her, and point her in the right direction. Truth is, I'm still learning myself as I go along. We're both in this pretty deep, and she wants to go all the way," Adam said.

"Well..." Freya stopped as she noticed Izumi's apartment room unlocked. She stepped inside and sniffed the air.

"Unmistakable...my brother's been here," she declared.

"Your brother?"

"Bronson. We don't get along, to say the least. He's with the enemy."

"Shit."

It didn't take long before Freya's eyes found a single sheet of parchment, a note scribbled over it:

Dear sister,

Since you seem to have failed to properly help our little friend, I've taken it upon myself to show her the real way. The truth you'll never tell her. Like always, I'm one step ahead of you, and this is no exception. And don't bother going on one of your silly heroic rescue attempts...by the time you find her, she won't want to be rescued.
With love,
Bronson

"We need to track him," Freya said, giving Adam a grave look. "Right now."

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

"Where are you taking me?"

"Where I've been told to bring you. That is all."

Bronson didn't answer as he led Izumi through the narrow path of an ornate, dimly lit house. Every once in a while, he would take various turns, to the point of where it seemed to resemble a maze than any proper house. Izumi swore they went in a circle at least once or twice...

They finally came to rest in front of a large, decorated door. Bronson reached forward, and opened it.

"I've brought her here."

Bronson urged Izumi to step inside, before leaving the area. She could see two chairs, one of which was occupied and facing away, the other on the opposite.

"Sit down, Izumi. Don't be shy...no harm can come to you."

"Whatever you say..." she said, and cautiously walked over to her seat, turning around to face the other person.

The first thing that caught her gaze were the eyes. Pupils black as a void, complimenting a face shaped in such a way it was captivating...only a picture, not words could ever do it justice. The tall man was smiling warmly at Izumi, and extended his hand.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Izumi. My name is Seth Drake."

"Are you the leader?"

"You could say that. I have many duties...but right now, my only one is to help you, Izumi."

"So then, help me," she said, giving him a skeptical look.

"I don't believe in beating around the bush or lying, Izumi. You're better than that. I'm going to be direct with you: I serve the Abyss, and I want to tell you the truth. It's a truth you've been seeking for many, many years. You're confused, Izumi, hell, you don't even trust me. But I can tell you decisively that this is the end of your journey. I promise to enlighten you better than Darkness or Freya ever could."

"You know about them?"

"Of course," he said, nodding. "We know them very well. They're amongst our greatest enemies. In fact, Darkness is indeed the greatest threat alive to our goals. He is the Antichrist, as you know, and an enemy to every creature alive. I know how you felt, Izumi..."

"How I felt?"

"He treated you like a child, Izumi. Then he murdered your mentor...and he was proud of it."

"How did you know?"

"Eyes and ears everywhere, Izumi. We've been watching you with great interest for a long time. Ever since the mere thought of serving humanity's future entered your brain, you've been on our map. Every man or woman we can get is valuable, Izumi. Especially you. You're among the most gifted we've met."

"R-really?!"

"You're far smarter than Darkness or Freya, I can tell you that. Your only flaw is that you aren't informed enough...I'm going to help inform you."

Izumi scratched her head. "Alright, question. What's the deal behind this war going on, and who is the Abyss actually supposed to be?"

"It's...hard to put the latter question into words. The Abyss...Abysmal Ones...are 'beings' that, in short, are older than the universe itself. Gods, if you will. You've noticed how horrible the world is becoming, haven't you? Humanity is racing towards it's own destruction. But these beings want to restore everything. A new, clean slate. The problem is, they're trapped outside of the material world, Izumi."

Izumi listened intently. "You mean kill everybody and start over?"

Seth sighed. "Izumi...if all I wanted to was to kill your kind, I would have started already."

She nodded hesitantly.

"However, Darkness wants to preserve this rotting, dying world until the very day of humanity's final death. When it's all said and done, what will it all have amounted to? Nothing! Me, kill your kind? They're already doing a good job of it themselves. The world could burn any day in nuclear fire from a mere accident, a mistake in human judgment, and Earth will be a lifeless husk of a planet. But he believes it so blindly that he's saving this planet...he's infecting everyone he knows with his lies. No amount of coercing or convincing will break his resolve. It is tragic...he ultimately has the power to save this world, but he would rather lead it to it's ultimate doom."

Izumi's never took her eyes off Seth the entire time. Every single thing he said seemed like it made perfect sense...it was like a multitude of revelations opened up before her.

"Only Death can stop him, Izumi. And he has an army backing him...the Shadow Slayers. He wages war against us to stop our goals. It's the hidden war for the future of the human race. A war we need to win, Izumi."

"I have one question."

"Ask anything, Izumi. I'm an open book."

"The goal is the same as before: Stop the Antichrist, save the world. It can't really be that easy, can it? I've heard this from Mr. Cain."

"Mr. Cain, while having the right idea, knew very little, unfortunately. His beliefs were based off of old Christian and Vindicator scriptures."

"I want to believe you, but how do I know this isn't all bullshit again? I've been jerked around for so long..."

"I know..." Seth said, standing up and stepping closer. "I know, Izumi. I know you have trust issues...the difference this time is that I care. I value you as a person, Izumi. You see, unlike the others..."

He stepped closer to her, leaning over, his face inches from hers..

"We treat our own as family. Every bit you can help us will be returned with love that you will not find in the arms of one as cold as Darkness. This is the end of your long journey for the truth, Izumi. I have more to tell you...and when it is all said and done, I'm willing to welcome you with open arms into our family. Nobody will ever lie to you or treat you like a child again."

He smiled warmly.

God only knew what he was thinking...

"What are you doing? We need to go and get Izumi." Adam stood in the middle of Freya's apartment watching her rummage for something.

"I know, but I'm not going unprepared." She gave a sigh of relief as she found what she was looking for. She held up two necklaces from a small bag in a kitchen drawer.

"What are those?" Adam asked, looking closely at the pinkish stones on the necklaces.

"They hide the wearer from being detected, I can't smell them and Darkness can't Sense them. I don't know what else but the bad guys have them and so do we."

"But you've only got two."

"And they were difficult enough to get." she held one out to Adam and looped the other over her head.

"What about Gwen?"

"She's not coming. I'm not putting her or any of the other Children in the reach of The Abyss, and I really think that seeing as Izumi just wandered off with Bronson willingly she should have to live with that decision." She picked up her long blades and put them through her belt loops. "Oh, don't look at me like that," she said when she saw Adams shocked expression. "We'll get her back. I know what Bronson's like, he would have told her whatever she wanted to hear to get her to leave with him."

"I didn't think werewolves lied." Adam said as they left the apartment.

"You know a lot about werewolves?" Freya asked with a raised eyebrow. "Werewolves can be great liars, we can tell if the lie is being bought, but we generally live with people who can tell when we're lying too. Realising you can not tell the truth when you're on the outside is quite a revelation." They were standing in the stairwell now.

"Which way?"

"Well, Bronson seems to have disappeared, but Izumi went down."

**

The sound of a door opening and closing caught Izumi's attention. She turned away from Seth to find a woman in the room. She was Chinese, smartly dressed in a suit and pretty, but there was something wrong she couldn't put her finger on.

"This is Wei, Izumi, one of our family. She will show you to her room. I know you had a hard match and there's been a lot to take in with recent...developments. We will talk again later."

"But I have questions!"

Seth smiled warmly at her. "I know. We will talk more later." He watched her leave the room with Wei and his smile lasted until the door shut behind them.

"Does she trust me?" He asked the room.

"She's unsure but I think you're winning her over." Bronson replied slinking out of the shadows.

"Were you followed?"

"I don't know, but if my sister is involved I expect she'll be appearing."

"And Darkness too, no doubt. Go keep watch and make sure. I'm going to make sure our new friend gets a good night's sleep."

**

Izumi sat on the edge of the bed on the room Wei had shown her to. She was a little worried she wouldn't be able to find her way out of the building but her room had large windows giving her stunning views of mountains. If this was a prison cell than she could live with it.

The room was getting dark and Izumi found herself suddenly feeling very tired.

"I'll just lie down for a minute," she said aloud to herself as she laid down on the bed. Her eyes closed and she drifted off faster than ever before.

She suddenly jolted awake, but found herself standing next to the bed she'd been sleeping on. On the bed was a body. She leant over it and pulled back quickly when she found that the body was hers.

A movement from one corner of the room caught her attention. Darkness stepped out of the shadows and over next to the sleeping body, ignoring the fully awake and standing version on the opposite side to the bed to him. He wasn't Darkness exactly though, he was bigger, more menacing. He reached out a hand and stroked the cheek of the sleeping Izumi.

"What are you doing!?" Izumi demanded, but Darkness carried on ignoring her, moving his hand from her cheek to her throat.

The door handle turned and Darkness seemed to tense, removing his hand. Freya walked in and Darkness seemed to relax.

"What are you doing here?" Freya asked. She gave the body on the bed a quick glance but didn't see the other Izumi standing beside it.

"The girl has to be removed, she's standing in my way."

"I know, let me sort it." she stood between the prone form and Darkness. She looked different too, it was either the light or she'd done something to her hair, but Freya's ears looked very pointy, her face looked a bit more like Gwen's than normal, and when she raised her hand, the nails looked like long black claws. Izumi could feel those claws on her throat as Freya grasped the sleeping bodies neck. Izumi staggered around the bed and tried to pull Freya away but she ignored her. Izumi started to feel faint, she could see drops of blood forming under Freya's claws as they dug in.

"Please, stop," she pleaded. She dropped the her knees, clutching at her throat and gasping.

There was a hand on her shoulder, and she could hear her name being called from somewhere behind her. As she turned to see who it was, she found herself waking up in bed.

Seth was sitting on the edge of the bed, his black eyes staring at her intently.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Fine, just a bad dream," she mumbled. She sat herself up in bed and found herself covered in a cold sweat.

"Well, just relax, no one can hurt you here."

"Are you ready to hear more, Izumi?" Seth said. They were once again in the central room where they had first met, opposite each other.

"Yes."

"There is much to tell you. I want you to know everything..."

"I do have a question to start out with," Izumi said, shuffling in her chair a little.

"Go ahead Izumi. Ask me anything."

"I've been jerked around a lot in my life. 'This is the way it is.' 'No, that's wrong! THIS is the way it is!' I've spent a long time searching for the truth, and I finally have it handed to me on a silver platter. But there's a catch."

Seth had a smile on his face as he listened. "Go on, Izumi..."

Izumi began to smirk, "You're telling me all of this because you must be so confident that I'm not going to leave at all, that I'm going to join your side no matter what I decide. I'm a prisoner. I'm bait for Freya or something. I know you're just using colorful language to influence my feelings and sway me, so why don't we cut the bullshit about being a family, and get down to business?"

She had a triumphant look on her face, as if she'd had it all figured out.

But it soon faded.

For one reason...

Seth was still smiling. That ever confident look on his face hadn't vanished. Perhaps it had even grown stronger.

"Oh, Izumi," Seth said, chuckling. "The truth is you're overthinking this. You're not bait for Freya, though if she does come, rest assured I have that taken care of. We won't be interrupted."

"...what?"

"There is no big catch, no imprisonment, nothing. Do you see any bars? Any cells? You've had free will the moment you agreed to come here. There's never been anything preventing you from simply walking away. Go ahead. Walk out if you feel imprisoned."

Izumi looked towards the door behind her.

She began to slowly lift herself from her seat...

But then promptly sat back down, looking at Seth.

"You have a rather disturbing taste in dreams, by the way," Izumi suddenly said. "But I don't need a nightmare to poison me against Darkness. I hate him enough already."

"As I said, you are free to leave any time," he offered, ignoring her statement.

Izumi frowned, and sighed. After a long pause, she continued:

"I can't. Not yet, anyway. I have more questions for you..."

"Feel free, Izumi," Seth said, his unbroken smile growing wider.

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

"I've tracked her here."

The werewolf and Adam were standing in front of an old house. Windows broken and boarded up, paint peeling, shingles falling off the roof...the most unusual thing was that it was a Western style house, and conspicuously out of place...a bit of a distance away from the rest of the city.

"This is where her trail leads..."

"So what's wrong?" Adam asked.

"It's too easy.Too simple. I think we're walking into a trap."

"I don't know why they'd use Izumi as bait. Not that she's unimportant, but one of the Children or someone like Darkness would be better bait."

Freya frowned. "If things look bad, I'm pulling out. I'm not going to become a second hostage."

She pushed open the door and walked inside.

Immediately, she was faced with an unusual configuration. There was a long hallway...in a dark, barely lit room. She walked slowly to the door at the other end...

THUNK.

Something gray dropped in front of them from the ceiling...medium sized, and rather muscular looking. It's head lifted....

It's face consisted of nothing but a large, black maw, somewhat anaconda-like in the way it stretched...a long, lance-like tongue lashing out!

Freya's instincts led her to dodge carefully to the side, the tongue having been inches from perhaps driving into her chest. She ducked and dodged as it curved around, almost wrapping itself around her before withdrawing...all in the span of a few seconds.

"That would be our catch..." Adam said.

Freya backflipped away from it, looking back at Adam. "No kidding. You know what that thing is?"

"Devourer. An Abyssal creature. Whatever it consumes is removed from existance completely, hence the name."

"Right. How do you kill it?"

"No idea. Just another of many creatures Marcus dealt with," Adam said. "That's how I know about it in the first place."

"Then I'll just deal with it my way," she said. The creature was tasting the air, and lashed out at her again.

This time, she dove to the side, and in a flash, she was a blur of fur...dashing with inhuman speed around it. It tracked her movements, the muscular creature lumbering after her down the hallway, and striking at her with it's tongue, missing by inches each time.

The now feral Freya pivoted in place as she reached the end of the long corridor, and pounced straight for the creature.

A direct hit! She struck at it with a flurry of teeth and claws. The creature let out pained hisses, before it stuck it's tongue directly onto her underside.

It had incredible adhesive ability. It was already pulling open it's jaw as it prepared to swallow her whole. She struck at the tongue with claws and pulled back as hard as she could. She growled, pulling back with all her might, the Void itself awaiting her just beyond the creature's jaws.

She finally pulled loose after a difficult fight. The creature seemed unhappy about it's meal being denied, and lashed out again quickly. This time, it's tongue coiled around it's prey, creating a much tighter vice.

In an instant, Adam was on it's back, arms wrapped around what seemed to be the creature's neck. Despite his grip on it he could only delay it. It was pulling harder and harder, drawing Freya in closer as she struggled to remove herself from it's adhesive tongue-

The door opened.

The creature released it's tongue and disappeared.

"What the-" Freya shifted back, whirling around to face the new arrivals.

Izumi and Bronson.

"Naughty sister," Bronson said, waggling her finger. "Trying to throw a wrench in the proceedings, are you? Izumi doesn't need any help from the likes of you."

"Bronson...let her go."

"Of course. She was never meant as our prisoner in the first place."

Izumi stepped out calmly, looking back. Without a word, Bronson departed, shutting the door.

"What did you do in there?" Freya said, stepping up to Izumi.

"Freya...what are you doing here?" Izumi said, raising an eyebrow.

Freya pinned Izumi against the wall firmly, not enough to cause pain but enough to know she meant business.

"I risked my neck coming here, so I want to know what went on in there. Right now. They wouldn't just let you go without a good reason..."

"You really want to know?" Izumi said, staring right into Freya's vibrant green eyes.

"Did I stutter?"

"I met with a strange man named Seth Drake who claimed to serve the Abyss, informed me about their goal, and in general cleared a lot of things up," Izumi said matter-of-factly. "They did their best to try and sway me to their side, of course. Then they let me leave after I was finished asking questions."

No lies...yet. Freya continued, "You weren't kept prisoner?"

"It was never an imprisonment," Izumi said.

"I still find it unusual they would simply let you go. I think there's something else you're not telling me."

"Is there?"

"You weren't exactly detailed about what you discussed."

Izumi smiled. "That's private."

"Don't push me," Freya said, narrowing her eyes.

"Scary. In any event...still not going to say a word. What was said was for me, and me alone. If I were to have joined the Abyss that would be completely none of your business," Izumi said.

"That would make you an enemy," Freya said. "I never wished harm on you to begin with, but if you actually joined-"

"Would be your fault," Izumi said. "You and Darkness haven't exactly been the best recruiters. You seem to have it in your idea that the war for the fate of the fucking planet is something that should be kept private and hidden from the public eye...I've been learning more from your enemies than you have told me yourself."

"And how much truth do you think they would actually let you in on?"

"Some. If they want to recruit me, they couldn't lie about everything. Still more than I know from you."

"You...look, like I've said before, does information about the supernatural look like something I'd like to sit down and chat about over a cup of tea?"

"To someone who's asking? Yes. You should be straight with me. I've already ran into more than you know, there's no point in keeping the conspiracy," Izumi calmly replied. "And now you'll just have to wonder if I'm your enemy or not. You think about that, Freya."

Freya kept staring at her. Izumi didn't blink.

"Are you going to let me go?"

"Let her go, Freya," Adam said. Both looked at him. He had been watching silently the whole time.

Freya finally let Izumi off the wall, and she quickly stepped away from her. "I'll see you in the ring, Freya," she said as she walked out.

Adam didn't follow.

"I share your concerns," Adam told her. "I don't blame any of this on you. She's...I wouldn't have put it past her to have actually joined them. Marcus manipulated her at an early age. Who knows what the Abyss did to her in there?"

"I don't hate her. But I can't trust her."

"Don't worry," Adam said. "I'll be keeping a close eye on her."

"I don't know if I can trust you either. You're..."

"Dead? I know. But you're going to need all the help you can get. I want to let you know...I admire your courage. You, the Children, Darkness...you have a lot to face. Perhaps someday, we'll be the edge you need...if you only ask."