Chapter Two

INDENT A good distance away, Merdemus was trudging along, trying to concentrate on levitating, which was a bad thing, since Mages of his stature usually didn't have to think about little things like that at all.

INDENT Unfortunately, his mind was full of other, more annoying thoughts.

INDENT His encounter with the strange man had left him confused, and the world he had come to from the mountaintop was a far, far different one than the world he had left 1000 years ago.

INDENT Mages were no longer respected. It used to be that if you were a Mage of the standing Merdemus enjoyed, people would fling themselves down at your feet, begging that they be spared from death, even if they had just met you. They would ask your advice, pay for spells, even send their inept, bungling children to you in the hopes that you could turn them into model citizens. Now, no one even cast a second glance at you, except to criticize the robes.

INDENT Merdemus stopped for a moment to touch the Cosmic. Some knew it as the Tao, or the Zen- the force that connects and binds everything to all else. Mages learned not only to "read" the Cosmic- to "feel" or to be led by it to something... they learned how to affect it, to manipulate the connections affecting an object so it became transmuted, lifted, disintegrated, or generally made to do something completely unintended by the manufacturers.

INDENT Once Mages reached a high enough level, they themselves would be a displacement in the Cosmic. It was this Merdemus was looking for. He could detect a strong Mage a mile away...weak ones, cunning ones, a few yards away if at all.

INDENT He needed to find a Mage who had not sequestered himself for a millennia to bring him "up to date" quite literally on what exactly Earth had become- but touching the Cosmic, he felt nothing but weak tugs.

INDENT It was as if either there were a lot of apprentices hiding in the bushes, or that there were only a few great Mages separated by thousands and thousands of miles. That disturbed him greatly.

INDENT Following the strongest of those tugs, Merdemus got enough thought power together to lift off the ground and smack himself flat against a tree.

INDENT He tried incinerating the tree for spite, but only its leaves would burn.

INDENT Growling and shaking off the dust on his robes, Merdemus levitated above the trees, cursing as the birds found him again and practiced their obligatory dive- bombing maneuvers.

INDENT Following the tugs of the Cosmic, Merdemus moved closer and closer to points of light in the now darkening sky. Below him, devices like the bus were speeding along faster than any horse he had ever seen. He decided to see if he could outrace them. Pushing his levitation to the maximum limit he could horizontally, he found he had to throw up a personal screen to keep the wind and bugs out of his face, but he was outdistancing the vast majority of those things.

INDENT As it got darker, Merdemus invoked the First Discipline, which let him see where he was going even in pitch darkness. This led him to the shocking revelation that he was about to become one with a rather large rectangular object.

INDENT Merdemus gasped as he pulled himself off of what he realized was a modern-day version of a house. It stretched far down to the ground, and farther still up into the air. There were light-holes covered by glass which covered most of the exterior. It was one of these light-holes that he had nearly crashed into.

INDENT He stood calmly on a ledge, looking down at the pinpoints of light below.

INDENT Suddenly, a large beam of light, far more powerful than any a torch could produce, shone on him from the ground below.

INDENT Some men, who had arrived in small buses with flashing colored lights on top, now spoke to him through strangely-shaped horns they held up to their mouths.

INDENT "Attention! You, up there, the monk! Do not jump! Let's talk about this!"

INDENT Merdemus snorted and replied in his best I-am-a-magus- of-incredible-power-you-sniveling-peon voice.

INDENT "I am NOT a monk! Wouldst thou kindly move that light away from my person?! It is giving me pains in my head!"

INDENT Sgt. Webb looked at the monk on the 42nd floor of the Adams Hotel and sighed.

INDENT His partner, Lt. O'Hara, took the bullhorn and flipped open his "Dealing with Strange and Unusual Behavior in Public Relations Situations while Remaining Politically Correct" handbook, raising his arm.

INDENT "Calm down my sanity-impaired friend. I am here to assist you. I can see that you are insert action here because of the fact that society has treated you and all others who share your unique state of being wrongly..."

INDENT Merdemus could not believe the drivel coming out of the man's mouth. It was not that he could not understand the words- the Second Discipline took care of that- it was that the words were so incredibly genericized it was a wonder that the man could express himself at all. Death had been reduced to a "Metabolical challenge".

INDENT Merdemus laughed. "Thine words are moronic, thy reasoning clouded. I have no time for your childlike babblings."

INDENT Lt. O'Hara blinked and looked at Sgt. Webb. "What did the mentally challenged nonconformist individual say?"

INDENT Sgt. Webb snatched the handbook out of Webb's hand and ripped it up, not without some glee.

INDENT "The loon on the ledge said to make sense or shut up. And I agree with him!"

INDENT O'Hara growled. "It is not PC to class an individual like that. We have to cherish the individual's quirks and maladaptions, if any, and smooth them away through excessive verbiage that they can flow into society, becoming acceptable through mass misinterpretation."

INDENT Webb snarled. "Calling a loon 'mentally challenged' doesn't make him sane again- it just lets you make him into a cuddly puppy you can shove under the rug!" He lunged for O'Hara.

INDENT Merdemus watched as the two men began to scuffle. As soon as all the attention was on them, he walked on the ledge to the other side of the building and jumped off, levitating himself down to street level.

INDENT The two men had amused him greatly, but he felt a darkness looming somewhere in the distance, as if the place he had come to was somehow forcing him in a path he could not understand.

INDENT Shaking his head, Merdemus attributed it to airsickness- however when he resumed his traveling, it was with more than a hint of urgency.

INDENT The watcher with the crystal ball snorted, and rapped his fist on his table. Another voice spoke- one that was younger, sure of itself.

INDENT "Ay, my lord?"

INDENT "You know what to do." The watcher observed his young associate disappear into the darkness, and contemplated how messy assassinations usually tended to be. He was just glad the boy was wearing gloves.

INDENT The Bumblyland shuttle swung slowly onto the highway. It had been had been two hours since Miranda had left the hotel, and the traffic had sped up considerably, topping out at a whopping 25 miles an hour on the highway.

INDENT Miranda turned on the radio to see if there was any news worth listening to. She then clicked it back off indignantly, her mind demanding some thinking time.

INDENT Contemplating her actions in the lobby of the hotel earlier that morning, Miranda was a little upset with herself. She wasn't usually so rough on people, or so easy to throw around the collective weight of the IRS, an organization she didn't even belong to and usually delighted in thwarting by misplacing several key decimal points in their annual budgets to the left.

INDENT It must be the vacation, she reasoned, but her instinct continued to disagree. To stop the annoying little voice in the back of her mind, Miranda tuned in to the worst radio station in San Francisco, KRAP.

INDENT "This is Wolf Matthews with the nightly news report. People have reported a fast-moving UFO over the central district just minutes ago. NASA, the FAA and the UFP all deny any craft were in the area at the time. Birds seem to have a strange affinity for this craft- we will keep you informed.

INDENT "In a breaking story, a monk's attempted suicide off the 42nd floor of the Adams Hotel in downtown leads to a full scale brawl in the ranks of the SFPD. More on this as it becomes available.

INDENT "In national news, Elvis was sighted eating Lamb Chop-"

INDENT Miranda shut off the radio a bit anxiously- after all, the Adams Hotel was the one she had just left.

INDENT Noting some people trying to flag down the van, Miranda pulled over to the shoulder as two men, one in long white robes and a headband and the other in what looked like a red valet's suit waved to her, looking rather confused.

INDENT As she was about to explain that the van was not the "real" Bumblyland shuttle, the man in the white robes asked her for some "exact change". She dug into her pocket, getting out some bus fare and handing it to him.

INDENT The man in white looked at the man in red and nodded. "So that's what the hell 'exact change' is, sir."

INDENT The man in red nodded. "Good work, My! Friend. Just don't! Remove THAT headband!"

INDENT The robed figure inclined slightly. "No, sir."

INDENT They thanked Miranda, and she drove off, wondering where that man in red had picked up such horrible elocution skills.

INDENT A few miles down the road, Miranda was contemplating the best way to get a new hotel room without the involvement of the Federal Government when she was forced to slam on the brakes as two strange white mice scooted across the road.

INDENT The car behind her chose this moment to smash in the rear of the van, and in less than a minute, she was in the middle of an argument with the driver behind her.

INDENT He was a strange man, wearing a beige trenchcoat and mirrored sunglasses, and he kept trying to insist the accident was her fault, all the while hovering hear a leather attach‚' case, casting sidelong glances at it as he spoke.

INDENT Miranda was actually more interested in getting back on the road than with arguing with the man, but her instinct told her to keep arguing with him until she could place his face- it seemed familiar, somehow, even with the sunglasses.

INDENT She gasped as she finally realized who he was.

INDENT "Otto Kranz!" Pulling out her Glock pistol, Miranda held the man at bay. "You're under arrest for high treason."

INDENT Kranz removed his sunglasses and smiled. "So, Ajhunt Rite, shu remembah. Dat es goot. Shu FBI Ajhunts are alvays so schlow on ze uptake."

INDENT "That's CID." She waved Kranz over to the side of his car, and he had trained a pistol on her before she could blink. His smile widened as he took her gun.

INDENT "Dat's nice, but I haf to go. My attach‚' and I haf an appointment at ze Jherman Embassy." He picked up the case and snickered.

INDENT "Dis automatic guidance shystem I schtole frum your research labs in Palo Alto vill efen drive me zere, vile shu vatch helplessly." Corny laughter followed his magnificent oration.

INDENT Kranz took her Glock and tossed it in the bushes on the side of the road, shoving her there with it as he got into his car, snickering.

INDENT Miranda scowled as Kranz stuck his head out of the window, yelling "Schend my regards to ze United Schtates Gofernment!" The agent swerved his car into the Bumblyland shuttle, knocking it off the road just as the police showed up to investigate the accident.

INDENT Miranda walked over to the patrol car window, and flashed her ID. "Got a computer in this thing?"

INDENT The driver nodded, and pointed to a terminal mounted under the CB unit.

INDENT "It have a cellular modem?"

INDENT The driver nodded again. Miranda got inside the car and accessed the computer, tapping in a Federal access code while muttering under her breath. The policeman watched her absently for a few moments and then wandered off, taking his radar gun with him. Might as well harass some hapless motorists while the Fed was messing with his car, he reasoned. Some good bribes might come of it.

INDENT "You're not getting away from the US Government this time, Kranz. If you hook up our computer to your car, you'd be prepared for all the ramifications of that action," Miranda muttered. "Get ready for the ride of your life."

INDENT On the screen of the police car's computer, she saw the schematics for the device Kranz had stolen. Tapping in some control codes, she leaned back and smiled.

INDENT In his car, Kranz was merrily ducking and weaving through traffic, aiming for any small animals that happened to wander on the road, when suddenly, the interior light clicked on in the car. He switched it off, and it clicked on again.

INDENT The windshield wipers engaged, and Miranda's voice could be heard through the car radio. "Tsk tsk... someone's been a naughty boy."

INDENT Kranz felt the air conditioner engage, set to heat. The automatic windows rolled up, and the door locks engaged as the accelerator moved down on its own.

INDENT Miranda tapped some more keys on the police car's computer, and brought in a five year old kid she had seen playing in traffic. She pointed to a blip on the computer screen.

INDENT "Okay kid, this is a video game. You control the path of this car here, and your object is to steer it to the Federal Building in downtown without hitting anything."

INDENT The kid shook his head. "I'm not good at video games. Mommy says I have bad eye-hand coordination."

INDENT "Excellent." Miranda sat the child in front of the computer.

INDENT Several minutes later, Kranz's battered car rolled into the impound lot at the Federal building with doors dented, windows broken, and manure heaped all over the chassis.

INDENT The German agent stumbled out of his car, and handed his attache' case to the waiting Feds before muttering "Nevuh mess mit ze Hackah" and fainting.

INDENT Miranda looked at the report on the computer screen and nodded. Assigning bonus points to side trips through farms had been a particularly sadistic twist.

INDENT Getting out of the car, she retrieved her gun from the bushes and decided to complete her drive- except Kranz had completely destroyed the van when he had sideswiped it.

INDENT As the cop whose computer she had used had returned with a hefty pile of speeding tickets and driven off, Miranda walked over to the nearest rest stop and decided to plan her next move.

INDENT "This vacation is gonna kill me" she muttered as she looked over the prices of other San Francisco hotels.

INDENT Her annoying instinct told her not to make those kinds of jokes any longer.

INDENT "Damn you, Kranz." The watcher observed the German spy rotting in jail. He had hoped that the spy would have dealt with Wright, making his task simpler.

INDENT Clicking the remote on his crystal ball, he noted that another of his enemies was walking into something rather interesting. Pulling out some popcorn, he watched intently as Merdemus walked through dark alleyways, occasionally stopping to try and light a twig.

INDENT Nothing would come of it, so the Mage stood in the center of a particularly dark alley and invoked the First Discipline.

INDENT This was when he noticed some boys cringing in the dark, knives at the ready, waiting for him to step forward. He smiled the smile of a god and spoke imperiously. "Such cowardice. And here I thought serfs had evolved."

INDENT One of the boys, still hiding, yelled "Hey big maan! Chu tink you can insult US and leeeve? We is the Purple Death, maan. Nobuddy messes wit us, chu know? All da other gangs, maan... dey just laffed at us- until we threw rocks at dem, chu know?"

INDENT Another gangster snickered. "Yaa... den dey stopped laffin' an' just shot at us, maan... until we ran away.-"

INDENT The leader slapped him. "Shut UP! Can't chu see we gots us a victeem here?"

INDENT Merdemus choked back his laughter. "Tell me, rodents. What dost thee know of purple death?"

INDENT The same kid spat on the ground. "Hey, maan... we knows dat we is gonna keeel chu and use chure bones to feed my dog- why don't chu come a leetle closer, eh? Or are you a chiken? Eh? Gobble gobble?"

INDENT Merdemus narrowed his eyes. "I am a Lord of the Seven Disciplines. Master of the Forces Elemental."

INDENT "Heheheh". The boy raised his head. "Am I supposed to be scared, man? Lookit me- I'm shakin! HAHAHAHAHA!"

INDENT Merdemus closed his eyes. "I shall brook no further imprudence, insect!"

INDENT Now all the gang members clambered out of their hiding spots. They clicked open their switchblades, loaded their guns, primed the rocket launchers, and got ready for some serious blood sport.

INDENT The head man, who had been doing all the talking, stepped to the rear of the group and said, "Get all 'is money! Kill 'im!"

INDENT They charged forward.

INDENT Merdemus snapped his fingers. "Now, learn of the TRUE purple death!"

INDENT His spell was simple. It took whatever was most feared by the attacker and brought it to life, tinting it purple for ironic effect- unfortunately, this spell seemed to have backfired. A large purple thing which looked like a child's drawing of a Dragon appeared and began to sing songs of love and family.

INDENT The gang members stepped back, screamed, then rushed the creature, flaying it, screaming something about PBS.

INDENT Merdemus quickly materialized a sword with an adamantium blade.

INDENT The head gangster looked at this and snickered. "Hey maan, chu gonna stick us with dat toy?"

INDENT Merdemus swung at a telephone pole. "I'll have you know this sword was forged by Mentat, greatest sword smith of the last millennium!"

INDENT The pole began to fall- slowly at first, but then it crashed into the middle of the group, which scattered like rats.

INDENT Some electrical wires that had been secured to the pole also snapped, electrocuting the head honcho.

INDENT Another intrepid gangbanger pulled out an Uzi and aimed it right at Merdemus' stomach, chuckling madly.

INDENT Merdemus cast a small spell, smirking all the while.

INDENT As the gangster opened fire, the bullets that flew from the rifle began to circle the Mage.

INDENT "Little peon, what thou art seeing here is a combination of the Fourth Discipline- the art of Levitation, and the Fifth Discipline- the art of Transmutation, as well as a bit of Elemental manipulation."

INDENT The bullets were struck by a bolt of lightning, and they fused together in a large ring, which Merdemus caught.

INDENT "The Seven Disciplines and the Forces Elemental form the basis for all sorcery." Merdemus flung the ring at the gangster, who was hit squarely in the stomach and knocked against a wall.

INDENT As others approached him, Merdemus levitated some trash cans and promptly slammed them onto the gangsters, who were now running about like chickens with their heads cut off, screaming and trying to escape.

INDENT Merdemus was still unsatisfied with the result of his counterattack and so introduced some tarantulas into the trash cans- this had the desired effect of driving the people inside mad with fear.

INDENT He turned to the few remaining hoodlums. "Wouldst thee like a lesson as well?"

INDENT The rest of the Purple Death dropped their weapons and ran for the dark recesses of the alleyway.

INDENT Merdemus smiled and removed the electrical wire from their head man just before it completely finished off his last remaining brain cell.

INDENT "Go from this place... NOW!"

INDENT The dazed fellow staggered to his feet and moved away.

INDENT Casting a small spell, the Mage restored the telephone pole to its former position and reattached the electrical wires to it.

INDENT After this had been done, Merdemus realized that in all likelihood, he was the only practicing Mage left in the entire area. If there had been more, urchins like the Purple Death would have not even had a chance to form a group, much less assault people. He realized he would need to reintroduce these people to the Seven Disciplines. He knew he had to find an apprentice.

INDENT The watcher nodded as he switched the crystal ball to a football game.

INDENT The unexpected distraction from the humans with the brain capacity of lint had delayed Merdemus long enough for his agent to move into place undetected.

INDENT It was amazing, he reflected, how the fate of an entire planet could be decided by the actions of a few insignificants... and the intervention of truly massive evil.

INDENT Miranda hit the phone. She had been talking to her boss when the line suddenly went dead. As she hit it, the phone clicked back to life, with just a hiss of static.

INDENT The operator broke in and apologized, apparently a squirrel or something had fried itself in the line, she couldn't tell and no she hadn't been eavesdropping on that last bit about the secret agent.

INDENT Miranda finished her conversation and put the phone down. She had just been told to make for the Adams Hotel, as the inept desk clerk had cleared her room for her, since the strange man with the parrot cage on his shoulder had mysteriously disappeared without paying his bill. Ahh, the wonderful life of a CID agent.

INDENT Getting out of the phone booth, Miranda saw an ad for Bumblyworld, perhaps the most feared amusement park on the planet.

INDENT In fine print, Miranda read:

INDENT * Plus $29.95 surcharge for the room key.

INDENT (Locks changed Daily.)+

INDENT And in even finer print, she read:

INDENT + Lock surcharge is another $95.00

INDENT She shook her head and headed for the bus stop. In the dark she couldn't be entirely sure, but the bus that pulled up seemed different in some way. It wasn't until she saw the gouges the bus had left in the road behind it that she realized it was a bus made out of solid gold. Typical waste of taxpayer money.

INDENT Looking at the driver, she cracked, "Gets horrible mileage, eh?"

INDENT The driver stared out the windshield. "Exact change please."

INDENT Miranda put her money in the receptacle and took a seat. At first it seemed as if the bus was not moving, but then she realized it was trudging along at an inch every 30 seconds.

INDENT Sitting back and sighing, she figured at least she was making some progress.

INDENT Looking to her left, she saw a guy wearing black leather and carrying a clearly illegal switchblade, palpitating in his seat. He was singing under his breath "Man Wizard singing stab sword shock" over and over.

INDENT She figured he was on a drug trip and sat back, lulled into a light sleep by the singing.

INDENT Miranda found herself in a disjointed dream. A black wall was separating her from the Adams Hotel, and there were strange people trying to bring down the wall, all standing in line in front of her.

INDENT Each of these people failed, and they were rather rudely incinerated by a man in black robes as they did so.

INDENT Suddenly she found herself at the wall, and before the man in black could attack her, she outstretched her hand- and the wall fell, accompanied by a thunderclap.

INDENT That thunderclap jolted Miranda back to consciousness, but the dream was already forgotten.

INDENT Merdemus, meanwhile, had kept following the tugs of the Cosmic, feeling relieved as they grew stronger. Eventually, the Mage found himself standing outside of McDrekky's- a fast food establishment.

INDENT Merdemus needed only to see the word "Drek" in the name to know who he would find within those walls... his best friend and arch rival Drek, Lord of the Seven Disciplines, Master of the Forces Elemental, and Burner of Small Twigs.

INDENT Trepidatiously, Merdemus entered the establishment after being brushed aside by someone in a black suit running out- someone who had entered just before he had gotten to the door, but had panicked upon seeing the Mage in brown robes.

INDENT Merdemus dismissed it as fear of the priesthood, but his instincts said it was something more. Not feeling like investigating this, Merdemus approached one of the food carriers.

INDENT "Hold, slave. I wish to speak the ruler of this establishment, Drek."

INDENT The food carrier looked around nervously and avoided the Mage's gaze. Whispering to another across the room, he said, "Hey, Jessie... this looney wants to see some 'Drek' guy!"

INDENT The other slave, a girl, shrugged in a I-don't-know-why- are-you-asking-me-I'm-busy-LEAVE-ME- ALONE type of gesture.

INDENT The boy mumbled "I'm sorry, sir...thresnofreshere."

INDENT Merdemus blinked. "What didst thou say?"

INDENT "Thresnofreshmum." The mumbling was worse.

INDENT "What?!" Merdemus deduced, not incorrectly, that the pressures of service in this institution had destroyed the boy's mind.

INDENT "Thresnofreshmemesere."

INDENT Merdemus snorted, then spoke very, very loudly.

INDENT "I HAVE COME FOR DREK. THOU SHALT TAKE ME TO DREK. NOW, IF THY PLEASETH."

INDENT Suddenly, from behind one of the counters, a man wearing a green and gold striped McDrekky's shirt jumped out, shoved the food server away and then pushed Merdemus into a back room.

INDENT The reddish-black hair, long smiling face and beady eyes instantly told Merdemus he was dealing with his old friend Drek.

INDENT Pausing to lock the door and switch on a light, Drek looked at Merdemus appraisingly.

INDENT "Merde, Merde, Merde!" Drek sat his friend down.

INDENT "What've you been up to for the past millennium, eh? You ever figure out how to burn that lowly twig?"

INDENT He smiled ingratiatingly as Merdemus growled. "I see you've finally decided to come on down off that mountaintop. Well, you're gonna have to lose those robes. You're going to HAVE to lose them. And these 'thee's and 'thous' and such-. Merde... they went out with the 1580's. Nobody wants to be a Mage these days. Profit and greed... now that's what's in."

INDENT Merdemus groaned. All the years of the millennium had not dulled Drek's ability to slave himself to the going trends. He had to admit though, it usually served Drek very well. Even before Merdemus had gone up the mountain, Drek had amassed a sizeable fortune, though he had never reveled in his wealth. He wondered how wealthy Drek was now.

INDENT Utilizing the Third Discipline, Merdemus read Drek's mind and in a flash became aware of, if not in agreement with, the developments of the past 1000 years.

INDENT He rubbed his temples. Exercising the Third Discipline was dangerous even for a seasoned Mage, and it could have resulted in insanity, hemorrhaging of the brain, death, or an annoying headache, as it was in this case.

INDENT Drek frowned, his brain feeling like it had been sucked out of his left nostril through a very small straw.

INDENT "It's not nice to read people, Merde... really."

INDENT "My name is Merdemus, NOT Merde. If this were France-"

INDENT "You'd be laughed outta town."

INDENT "No... I would cast your bones upon a rotting heap of leaves and let the vultures pick at your liver until your pleas for mercy burst your throat." He grinned, partly to show it was a joke, and partly because the imagery was priceless.

INDENT "Still Mr. Sunny Disposition, eh?"

INDENT "Still a fool, eh?"

INDENT "Don't forget... I am still the only 'Burner of Small Twigs' in this room."

INDENT The conversation stopped abruptly. Merdemus looked daggers at Drek.

INDENT "Drek-"

INDENT "Oh yeah. Don't call me Drek in public. I go by Fred. Fred Barn-"

INDENT "Fred? A Mage named Fred?" Merdemus scowled.

INDENT "No. A fast food operator named Fred. Face it. Mages, and by association, their names are obsolete."

INDENT "Why?"

INDENT "Who needs magic? Yeah, I can call forth lightning. It screws up my TV reception. Why do I need it?" He let a spark flow from his finger.

INDENT "I can burn twigs-" he paused meaningfully as Merdemus grimaced.

INDENT "-but that'd cause a forest fire and I'd get jailed."

INDENT "I can pull swords from the ether... then the cops bust me for illegally carrying a concealed weapon.

INDENT "I can transmute lead to gold... then people wanna know where I got it from. What the hell am I supposed to tell them?"

INDENT Merdemus frowned and watched two strange mice scale the far wall of Drek's office before replying.

INDENT "The truth, perhaps? Or are you afraid?"

INDENT "Ahh... you dropped the thou- good, and NO, I'm NOT afraid... you just don't get it. You skipped the middle ages. The Inquisition. Mages were hunted down, killed for gold. Alchemists were stoned."

INDENT Drek paused. "Well, they were always stoned. Bad example. Anyway, wizards were burned at the stake when they were too tired to fight.

INDENT "Some fled into the Cosmic, becoming consumed in the raw energy- others fled to remote parts of the planet, and are VERY hard to find... and others simply assimilated, like me. And if you're smart, so will you."

INDENT "But surely you could have banded together to fight all of this?"

INDENT Drek laughed. He walked around the table and sat on it, right next to Merdemus. All pretense of humor was gone.

INDENT "They burned all texts of science and magic. The council of 12 dissolved, and its members fled when they saw the end coming.

INDENT "The rest of the Mages were either caught off guard or killed when they sold each other out in a foolish attempt to try and save their own lives. Even if we had tried to band together, by then it was too late. I've often wondered how they were beaten so easily by regular people."

INDENT He paused, and he looked meaningfully at Merdemus' robes.

INDENT "Today, even if you wanted to start reteaching the Seven Disciplines, there would be no texts to guide you. You'd have to make your own texts. And the press... they'll shut you down and have you vilified before you can say VAS CORPUM. Hide, Merde... become an average Joe loser, and forget about magic. It's over with, man."

INDENT Merdemus shook his head. "I do not believe so. You see, FRED- some of us still practice our craft. I am currently in search of an apprentice, to whom I will impart the secrets of the Cosmic, and the Seven Disciplines."

INDENT Drek laughed. "Yeah. Uh-huh. Merde, these people have the intelligence of mice compared to us! Math and Science, they ignore. It's too boring to them. They like to watch lots of TV and eat lots of crap.

INDENT "I make the crap, they eat it. My life is complete. You could be doing this too!" He gestured at the ratty walls of his office.

INDENT Merdemus rose and looked Drek in the eye. "I must thank you for the information about this millennium. It will be quite helpful."

INDENT Drek got off the table, maintaining eye contact with Merdemus all the time.

INDENT "Watch it, Merde. If you aren't careful, you're gonna be front page on the DAILY CRACKPOT!"

INDENT He watched his friend leave, and paused. With a flick of the wrist, Drek created a twig in his hand, and incinerated it.

INDENT "Heheheh... I still got the spark." He lifted an eyebrow, and a bolt of lightning hit a roach on his wall. It felt good practicing magic again. He'd truly forgotten how much power he had at his disposal- after all, Merdemus was only one order above him in strength.

INDENT Merdemus noted the surge in the Cosmic as he walked out, leaving a gold florin to the waitress on the way out, stepping over the tray she had just dropped.

INDENT "Looks like you got a tip, Jessie." The waiter-boy laughed.

INDENT "It's probably some dumb Bumblyworld token" she retorted, and pitched it into the trash, where it startled two strange white mice into a rapid exit.

INDENT After Merdemus had left, Drek walked out of his office to observe the interior of his McDrekky's. It was a wonderful place. Dirt had formed a patina on the tabletops, roaches were unionizing and holding rallies in the deep fry vats, his cashiers were all mindlessly pondering the ceiling, and Sid the thief was robbing register #7 while munching on a Big Drek with one free hand.

INDENT Drek let a tiny spark flow from his finger, and decided to try his hand at magic again.

INDENT "Yo, Sid!" He grinned demonically.

INDENT Sid turned from his position at the counter nonchalantly and waved at Drek.

INDENT "What, Fred?" Sid was busily stuffing cash in his pocket and trying to chew the leathery meat in the sandwich at the same time.

INDENT "I'm gonna have to kick you out now."

INDENT "Aww, come on, Fred. I gotta eat, you know." He adjusted the black ski mask that covered his face and continued to stuff cash in his pocket.

INDENT "Later. I'll show you an easy way to pick locks with a toothpick and dental floss to make up for your time."

INDENT Drek was an accomplished con artist and thief on the side, though he never used his talent to steal- he didn't need to. Sid knew this, and nodded in agreement.

INDENT The Mage fired a bolt of energy at Sid, who was turned into a moth.

INDENT Looking at his watch, Drek waited for the spell to break- the transmutation of sentient life was never permanent, unlike that of inanimate matter- and it usually worked on a tight schedule based on the Mage's power level.

INDENT When Sid did pop back to normal, Drek frowned. The spell had lasted a whole minute longer than it should have.

INDENT "Oh well." Drek let Sid go back to work and watched as some three year old kids were fighting to the death for a Lion Dictator from Jungle X Snappy Meal toy clearly marked for ages five and up.

INDENT Patting them on the head, he went back to work, Merdemus' words repeating themselves in his mind.

INDENT The watcher frowned. Drek was still active, and re- exerting his muscle. Merdemus was moving too quickly this time around. Wright was still alive... and the others- well, that remained to be seen.

INDENT "No matter, the game will just be a little more complicated- but no less lethal."