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Mindy "'Conjured energy beings'," Vince said, as he typed onto a computer. "That will find me someone who can summon stuff. 'Non-aligned'. That makes sure I don't just find some guy who can summon angels or shadows or demons or something. Besides, Brian did say he wanted non-aligned stuff." It was the day after Vince had retrieved the Veiliij Artifact from Omicron, and now he was back to work. Vince entered the search criteria and activated the scanners. He stood up and stretched, then walked over to the water machine he had recently added to his room. The scans usually took a while, and they never found anything anyway. Depending on their complexity, it could take as long as an hour. Vince poured himself a cup of ice-cold water and had drunk half of it when the computer beeped. "What the--" The computer had never done that before. He left his paper cup on the nightstand and rushed to the computer. It had found something. "Command 'Pinpoint'," Vince said aloud as he used this feature for the first time. "Hmm... The best it can give me is a zone with a five-mile radius. I guess it could be worse. I'll need a printout of the analysis." After the printer spat out a few pieces of paper, Vince snatched them up, grabbed the keys to his hovercraft, and set off. The target was in the Saareth Forest, somewhere in Eastern Europe. Vince had landed the hovercraft in the trees and now wandered around, the scanalysis in his hands. "Hmm... It looks like whatever it is would stay by the water," Vince said as he read the paper and walked alongside a river. "So my best bet is to search the riverbanks." After about an hour's walk, Vince came to a clearing. He was tired, so he sat down and took a break. Thirsty, he then drank from the river. Suddenly, his intuition rang like a bell. There was something nearby. Immediately, he sprang up, and he let the magma come. The armor formed, and the Dark Fiend of the Inferno stared into the trees. "Who's there?" the Inferno Fiend called out. "Show yourself." Getting no reply, Vince walked to the edge of the clearing. Suddenly, an enormous beast burst forth, knocking Vince down and trampling over him. Vince quickly climbed to his feet. The beast now stood by the river and roared loudly. It was unlike any beast he had ever seen. It was nearly fifteen feet tall, by Vince's estimate, and it had four thick legs, two clawed arms, and a thick coat of green fur all over its body. Its shape resembled that of a centaur, the extra torso sticking out from a four-legged body. The most unique part was its head. It had five eyes and three horns that bent backwards. "'Non-aligned conjured energy being?'" Vince asked. "This must be it." The beast roared again and charged at Vince, who threw a few fireballs at it. However, the fireballs left only small burns on the beast's fur. Hastily, Vince pulled fire energies from the air and focused them into a large fireball in his hands. Finally, when the beast was right in front of him, he threw the massive fireball. It exploded with much smoke and flame across the beast's chest. The beast stopped in its tracks and roared loudly in pain. Vince used this moment to run to the beast's side and jump on its back. Then, leaping into the air, he smashed a flaming fist against the beast's shoulders. "How do you like that?" Vince shouted. The beast twisted around and caught Vince with its claws. The claws didn't dig very deep into his armor, but the force of the attack sent Vince to the river, where he landed with a splash. The beast followed him and began trying to stomp on him. Quickly, Vince swam down the river while avoiding the thick legs and the splashing water. As he came out from beneath the belly of the beast, it swung its claws at him. Vince barely dodged the claws this time. Unfortunately for him, the beast ran down the river so that Vince would be directly under him, and it tried to stomp on him again. "The belly might be a weak point," Vince realized. Vince leapt into the air and slammed the beast's belly with a flaming, spiral uppercut. The beast roared in pain and reared up on its hind legs. Then, it came back down, slamming its front legs into the water. This sent tremendous waves flowing down the river, which picked Vince up and slammed him into the beast's leg. "The leg!" Vince thought. "Of course, if I take out the beast's leg, he won't be able to move, and he'll be a sitting duck." Avoiding the stomps, Vince held his hands above the water and gathered particles of heat until he formed a large mass of flame. Then, he slammed it onto one of the beast's rear legs and tore right through it. Vince ran back onto the shore, covered in the beast's blood. Behind him, the beast, standing on only three legs now, lost its balance and fell. Vince ran to the beast's front, gathering flames in his hands. The beast lashed out with its claws, but the Inferno Fiend was too swift. He easily dodged the beast's wild swings. Then, Vince leapt up and blew off one of the beast's arms with a large fireball. The beast retaliated with its other arm, but Vince punched its arm with his flaming gauntlet, snapping off the claws. After charging up for another large fireball, he destroyed the other arm. Now, the beast had no way of defending itself. Vince leapt into the air, charging up another large fireball in his hands. However, just as he was about to slam it onto the beast's head, someone ran out from the forest and into the clearing, shouting. "Please stop!" she yelled. Vince, still holding the fireball, landed on the ground. "Please, don't hurt it any more," the woman said with a slight accent. She ran over to the beast and touched it. Slowly, its body dissolved into energy and entered the woman's body. The woman wore a green cloak, but Vince could see she had bright green eyes and long blonde hair. She looked no older than he was. "What do you want?" she said, her voice revealing both confidence and fear. "I'm from the Quantum Saviors," Vince explained as he returned to his human form. "We've been looking for sorcerers to help us, because we think magic would make a strong ally. Our sensors found you and we decided that you would make a good addition to the Quantum Saviors team. What do you think?" "I don't know," the woman replied. "What would I have to do?" "Not much," Vince answered, "and we'll treat you well. I'll show you to the boss, and he'll give you all the details. If you don't like it, I'll bring you back." "Well, I'll try it, I guess," the woman said. "My name's Vincent Zeng," Vince said. He hand out his hand. "Come with me. I'll take you back to the hovercraft." The woman took Vince's hand and said, "I am Aea of Saareth." Thus, Vince led Aea to the hovercraft and brought her back to the Quantum Saviors as his first recruit. Vince had made friends with some of the sorcerers in the Quantum Saviors. After conversing with Aea during the long flight home, he concluded that Aea would fit right in. He was right. As soon as Aea arrived at the Quantum Saviors, she was taken in by the other sorcerers and treated like family. However, the sorcerers had it easy compared to Vince. Brian Mandragon didn't ask too much from them, nor did he send them on missions often. In contrast, Vince's job at the scanners was very tiring. A few days after he recruited Aea, he decided to take a day off. He was wandering the halls in the afternoon and was headed back to his room for water. As he approached his door, the next door opened, and a young girl came out. "Tina?" Vince asked, surprised. No, it wasn't Tina, but the girl certainly resembled Tina. She had dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, and her face looked almost like Tina's. However, she was much younger and smaller. She looked to be about ten years old. "She looks like a hybrid," Vince commented. "Half-Asian, and half-white. Still, she looks a lot like Tina." Curious, Vince followed her down the hall. However, after about half a minute, she stopped walking. "Are you following me?" she shouted at him without even turning to look at him. "I... uh..." Vince stammered. "What do you want?" The girl turned around. "Y-you remind me of someone I once knew, an old friend of mine," Vince stammered. "You look kind of like her, only she was much older." "A friend of yours?" the girl asked. "Yeah," Vince said. "Her name was Tina. She was my girlfriend's little sister, but she died in an accident." He closed his eyes and saw Tina falling off the roof, falling to her death. "It was my fault. I was careless, and she died when she shouldn't have." "That's interesting," the little girl said nonchalantly. As she was about to turn to leave, Vince called out, "Who are you, anyway?" "My name's Mindy," she said. "Mindy Ming. I'm Stacie's niece, but her big sister--my mom--and my dad died in a car accident when I was three, so Stacie takes care of me now. She's more like a mom and a sister combined than an aunt." "That's... interesting," Vince replied, since he could think of nothing else to say. "Well, see you around, Vince," the girl said. "Wait, where are you going?" Vince asked. "Back to my room," Mindy replied, reaching for the door. "Wait, how do you know my name?" Vince asked. "I know everybody's name," the girl replied. "Bye!" She walked into her room, shut the door, and locked it. For a moment, Vince stood there, thinking, "Didn't Stacie say Mindy was also using the scanners to look for sorcerers? But she's so young..." A few days later, it was Valentine's Day. Out of friendliness, Stacie sent an e-mail to everyone in the Quantum Saviors wishing them a happy Valentine's Day. Going against Alice's suggestion, Vince sent a Valentine's e-mail to Stephanie, hoping she would read it. However, there was little hope she would. Vince hadn't found any sorcerers since Aea, and he was getting tired of researching and entering useless search criteria. He lay on his bed and was soon lost in thought. "Stephanie's really isolating herself from everyone," Vince said. He was worried about her. "It's been like this ever since Tina died. She blames me and doesn't want to face me, so she gets herself lost in those books. Damn it! I could have saved her. She didn't have to die. She didn't have to die!" In anger, Vince kicked a bookshelf, knocking a few books to the ground. "Well, at least she isn't yelling at me like she did when she found out about Chrissy," he continued his stream of thought. "Hmm... Chrissy... I wonder..." Vince got up and entered "Dark-aligned ice magic" into the computer as search criteria. He sat there, watching the monitor. Then, it beeped. It had found something. "Rheasville, of course!" Vince thought. "Chrissy must be there." Vince grabbed his keys off the nightstand, ran over to his hovercraft, and took off, heading for the City in the Snow. It was midnight when he arrived in Rheasville. Vince was certain Chrissy was here, and somehow, he knew where to go. It only took him a few minutes to find the place. He had been there before. It was where he and Chrissy had first met. When he entered the Rheasville High School dance hall, he saw that it was covered with decorations, mostly red and mostly hearts. A girl with brown hair sat against a wall. "Chrissy!" Vince shouted, running up to her. Chrissy turned her head. Seeing Vince, she stood up and ran to him, calling his name. They caught each other in their arms and held each other, each one happy to see the other. Before they could stop themselves, they began to kiss. "I knew you'd come," Chrissy said. "I knew if I waited long enough, you'd come." It was then that Vince realized that it was true. He had been denying it for the last few months, but now, he could deny it no longer. Vince loved Chrissy. He had loved her since the day he first met her. "I'm here for you, Chrissy," Vince whispered to her. Suddenly, he felt something sharp jab into his front. He let go of Chrissy and staggered back. There was an icicle stabbed into his torso. "Damn you," Vince grunt as he removed the icicle. "The Soulphage." "That's right, Vince," Chrissy said, her voice sharp and biting now. For a moment, it looked as if Vince's body was dripping magma instead of blood. This magma soon covered his entire body, then became armor for him, revealing the Dark Fiend of the Inferno. The air froze around Chrissy, encasing her in a crystal of ice. The frozen crystal fogged up, masking Chrissy's image. Then, without warning, the ice shattered. In place of Chrissy Wolfreid stood a gray-haired female Dark Fiend. She wore a long, white fur coat that extended down to her knees. It looked as if it were made from the hide of a polar bear. It even had a polar bear's head as a hood, which Chrissy left hanging on her back. "Chrissy, I don't want to attack you," Vince said, holding his chest with his left arm. "But if force me, I'll fight back." "Then fight back," Chrissy said. "Although, I know you won't." Chrissy shot several freezing blasts at Vince, but the Inferno Fiend simply formed a shield of flame. As the blasts plunged into his shield, they melted. "Chrissy, I don't want to fight," Vince said. "You know I'd cream you." Chrissy pressed her hands to the floor. Suddenly, starting from her hands, a layer of ice formed and spread rapidly, engulfing everything. Vince tried to run, but the ice overtook him and covered him. Soon, the entire room had been frozen over. Vince managed to defrost himself with the power of fire, but Chrissy threw ice shards through the ceiling. Cracks formed in the ice above him. Then, the ceiling collapsed, piece by piece, unable to support itself any longer. Vince was buried by the frozen pieces. "Cream me, huh?" Chrissy asked. "It certainly doesn't look that way." With a burst of flame, Vince tore through the frozen chunks of the ceiling. "Chrissy, please stop," Vince begged her. "Still not taking me seriously?" Chrissy asked as a white snowflake fell into her black cheek. "You really should." She raised her arms, and it began to snow. However, within a few seconds, it became a snowstorm, then a raging blizzard. There was so much snow that Vince could barely see. Suddenly, something hit him from the side, and he staggered. Then, he was hit again and again, each time from a different direction by something he couldn't see. He was being knocked around like a pinball. "Lydia would be proud of me," Chrissy said. Vince looked in the direction of her voice and was able to make out a faint outline of her. "Of all the Dark Fiends, who would have guessed that I'd be the one to kill you?" Chrissy's outline disappeared from sight. A few seconds later, he gave a loud grunt as something long and sharp dug into his right side, tearing through his armor. As quickly as it went in, Vince pulled it out. It was a long icicle. "You're not going to kill me, Chrissy!" Vince shouted. Shouting a great battlecry, Vince let off a shockwave of flame, which expanded all around him, in front and behind, to the left and to the right, and above him. It melted through the blizzard. Vince could see again only for a brief instant, but that was enough. Immediately, Vince fired a bright orange blaze in one direction. Someone screamed, and the blizzard stopped. The Dark Fiend of the Arctic lay on the floor, badly burned. As she reverted to human form and sat up, Vince ran to her. "Vince, I'm terribly sorry," Chrissy said as Vince lifted her to her feet. "Chrissy," Vince said, holding her weak body. "The Soulphage!" "I'm free," Chrissy said. "The Soulphage is gone." She wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry for trying to kill you. I never hated you. I always loved you, and I'll never stop loving you. I'll love you until the day I die." "Chrissy, I love you, too," Vince confessed. Chrissy smiled. "Chrissy, I'm taking you back to the Quantum Saviors. They'll treat you, make you well again. You'll be all right. Chrissy, I'll take care of you. I'm here for you." Chrissy, still smiling, said, "I knew if I waited long enough, you'd come." Suddenly, something tore into Vince's torso again. He staggered back, expecting another attack from Chrissy. However, this time, Chrissy was a victim, too. There was a hole in her chest, near her heart. The Dark Fiend of Doom stood behind her, about twenty feet away. His left hand was held forward, as if he had just fired something off. |