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Bloody Mary staggered back into the hall, "Well that was rude!" Blood poured from her body, but the wounds quickly healed. Steel jumped over his desk, ran up to her, and pressed his forearm against her, "Oh! My word!"

"Reality's a bitch, ain't it?" She detonated a fiery explosion inside of Bloody Mary's wound and sent her flying into the brick wall. At that moment, both the Grim Reaper and the Angel of Sorrow appeared with weapons drawn, falling onto Bloody Mary. The scythe and sword pierced her and Steel ran in again with a fiery fist, "Stay down!"

"S-S-Steel..." Sabrina pointed with a shaky ghost finger, "You're a girl..."

"Not my problem!" Steel gathered dark energy and thrust it into the torso of Bloody Mary, "Now, who released you!" The female Steel was much more aggressive than the male form, and the rage and magic kept increasing, becoming more intense by the second, "Who?!" Steel gathered a dark storm into his hands.

Cleopatra was familiar with that spell, "Steel! Stop!" It was the same magic the lich used to nearly destroy a house and Steel himself, "You two! Stop him!" The Grim Reaper and angel didn't avert their gazes from Bloody Mary.

The intensity quickly turned to insanity and Steel gathered unseen forces from the air, the entire building shook from the power, "Tell me now!"

Bloody Mary smiled, even with her disfigured body, "A lady never reveals all of her secrets." With that, she disappeared into thin air.

Before Steel could unleash whatever spell she had conjured, the Grim Reaper tapped him on the head with her scythe, "She's gone, stop."

"Yeah yeah." Steel rubbed the top of her head, "It has been a while, remember?" Steel rolled her shoulders and looked around, "Not too much damage. How is everyone?"

"Gurgle."

"...uh..."

"I think I'm a bit jealous, but unhurt." Liliy was the most calm about the situation. After all, her world was nothing but demons and magic.

Cleopatra was fuming, and although her lips moved no words came out, "Good, but now we have Bloody Mary on the loose. Plus the people who let her out are somewhere too." Steel played with her immaculate pony tail, "Angel, you go out and see if you can figure out how she got out, Grim Reaper, I'm still waiting on your end of the contract."

"Are you joking?! You just fired off several hundred rounds at a person we just met, turned female, and started using magic! You owe me an explanation!"

"Paranormal shit, right? Can't predict it." Steel re-entered her office and sat at her desk, "Hmm..." She felt her chest, "These could prove difficult for running..."

The Grim Reaper placed an old, leather bound book onto Steel's desk, "He can explain things, I have to prepare many things. Steel, I will see you shortly." She vanished.

"Would... everyone stop vanishing? I think it's getting to my head." Aqua appeared dizzy.

Sabrina nodded, "Yeah, that's... well it's certainly not helping whatever is happening."

"Liliy, can you make a pot of tea? Peppermint if we have it." The four women in the room stared at her, "Peppermint tea is good, what?" Liliy set off on her task.

Cleopatra on the other hand was not pleased, "You. Explain. Now."

Steel leaned back in her chair, "These clothes also don't fit the body well. Then again, I don't remember too much... oh crap!" She flung forward and looked at Cleopatra, "How much are the car repairs?! And did anyone see you?!"

An air of awkward silence filled the room.

"I meant... the female thing."

"Oh, that makes more sense. I think I wrote a bit down, let me look." She opened the old book and scanned the pages, "Alrighty. Magic. Let's see if I remember... every mortal has access to magic. When you reach age 200 you can start to tap into spells and such. Notice how you don't see much magic? Yeah. People tried harder back in the day. Females tend to have a stronger connection to magical energies. Why I'm a female now I don't know. My memory is hazy... perhaps I was a female to start, or just learned to transform with magic to use stronger magic. Mystery." Steel waved his hands in front of her face.

"Take this seriously!" Cleopatra's eyes narrowed, "I have magic too and I'll use it if I have to."

"You have weak curse magic, common of mummies that survived. You get it earlier, but it never really gets stronger or more advanced. As mortals age more, the magic they can use gets stronger and they can call on more energies. Hell, a good magic user could take out a continent if they wanted, but they may become what is known as Consumed." Steel cleared her throat, "Consumed magic users are very dangerous and attack without regards to friend or foe. Cleopatra, the black mage was like that, although limited. You know, dead and all that."

Liliy brought over a pot of tea, "Using too much magic for any species or creature can cause them to become Consumed. It's as powerful as it is addictive." She poured in into five cups, "Some users are willing to cross the threshhold, and if they are killed they become a lich. Calming someone that is Consumed is nearly impossible."

"What she said. I still remember my limits, but some people just like to nag, nag, nag."

Cleopatra huffed, "And when will you turn back into a man?"

"Good question. I don't know." Steel looked aloof as she sipped the tea, "Soon?"

"That wasn't an answer!"

Aqua bubbled over, "At least you're cute now!"

Steel set down her cup and looked at the bullet-riddled wall and door, "I need a vacation."

"Steel, let me get this through your thick head. Okay? You have boobs now."

"Yes. So do you. What's your point? Oh right, bra... bra..." She opened the first aid box under her desk and took out some bandages. Then Steel removed her coat and shirt and begun wrapping up her chest, "Yep, this'll hold for a bit." Steel finished and looked around, "What?"

"You have no semblance of common decency do you?" Cleopatra was not amused.

Liliy, on the other hand, was positively delighted, "So sexy! I wish mine were that big!"'

Steel whistled, "You know, I hate to say it but things are going to get messy real soon. At least I have my magic back, so nobody can sneak up on me unless I let them." She stretched her arms towards the ceiling, "Whenever I find the person that let Bloody Mary out, it's murder time."

"Who is Bloody Mary? I mean, I know the whole mirror and saying the name thing, but who is she?"

"Bloody Mary, the most sadistic person in the world. Rumor was that she gained immortality and special powers after bathing in the blood of a hundred virgins, drinking the blood of more virgins... lots of blood from virgins is the point. Rumors are usually false, but in this case, well, they don't call her Bloody Mary for no reason. She likes blood, and unfortunately I'm not sure how to destroy her. Our last meeting I sealed her away along with my magic abilities, but someone screwed that up recently, so yeah."

"Steel, that seems rather uninspired coming from you. You usually have an answer." Aqua bounced a little, seemingly checking her "limbs" for damage.

Steel shrugged, "Yeah, well, hard to think like this. No, I'm not saying females are dumb, but I am saying that intelligence only hurts magic. The key is raw emotion. So for whatever reason, I have difficulty thinking as a woman. Let me see some things." Steel flipped through the pages of her book.

Cleopatra was fuming, "So what? Now we have an immortal psychopath on the loose and nobody will pay us to get rid of her? How does that help things?! And why are you getting married?!"

"I need to... alrighty." A 'pop' broke the tension and Steel was back to being a man, "Now I have to remove the bandages. Damn." His eyes stared blankly at a wall, "Bloody Mary is technically a myth that most pass off as a childhood fantasy. Unfortunately, she had collected a great many souls in her time and can use them at her discretion, meaning she won't directly cause chaos, but rather will make her captives do it for her. She is immortal for the most part, but something I wrote here is troubling me, I can't quite wrap my head around it. Who knows, I may have figured out how to kill her. Or just incapacitate her and remove her powers. Possibly a recipe for a wine made of virgin blood though..."

Cleopatra cleared her throat while Liliy was fixated on Steel's transformations, "Can you do that again? What kind of magic can you use? Who taught you?"

"Well, simple fire is easy, as is lightning. Curse magics and hex magics are a specialty, I was a in-your-face type of caster anyway. Oh. Right. Well, I made a promise to the Grim Reaper a few years after I cursed her and the angel. Yep. I cursed them. One earned a physical form, the other gained freedom. Anywho, the marriage contract will let me travel more freely between worlds, but as a result each time I do takes ten years off of my life. I can't die, so that doesn't affect me. Oh! I can also banish souls now. Well... I have options when banishing souls now."

Sabrina hung up the phone, "We have a LOT of calls about ghosts."

Steel whistled again, "No vacation then. Alright, game plan time, gather 'round ladies."

Cleopatra hesitated, but joined the circle, "So what are we going to do Steel?" Liliy was twitchy. Steel had remembered that a succubi became hyper around magic, one of the few reasons they hunted down magic users as prey.

"Cleopatra, Liliy, and myself will go around and start getting rid of the spirits. We're the only ones that can really go around without much notice. They will be insane, so don't be afraid to simply banish them. Sabrina and Aqua will monitor the phone lines and map out routes so we can get this done fast. Remember: we do need to go fast. The less souls Bloody Mary has in her army, the weaker she becomes. The Angel of Sorrow will take notice, so if any of us makes contact, recruit her and let her in on the plan."

Cleopatra was getting serious, "What if we run into Bloody Mary?"

"Doubtful, but in that case run as fast as you can. She has a tendency to pick at your emotions and take control of your mind. She doesn't like to give chase though, so just run and report it. Worst case scenario I'll hold her off for as long as I can. Any questions?"

Liliy raised her hand, "Do we get an extra reward for removing the most souls?"

The fairy finally returned from the vampire's house, "Hello! I'm back!"

"Not right now. You go and keep an eye on the little vampire, report anything to us, got it?"

"Aww... you suck!" She fluttered off.

Steel sighed in relief, "Good. One less thorn in my side. I'll take the east side, you two divide the west side. Your reward will be avoiding oblivion and being one of Bloody Mary's slaves. Chop chop!" He jumped up and ran out of the door, followed by a disguised Liliy and Cleopatra, who was attempting to cover up and move at the same time.

"Uh..."

"Well shit." Steel extended his arm and the Grim Reaper's scythe appeared, "Stick to the game plan. Move it!"

Bloody Mary chuckled, "Sending out women to do a man's work? How far you've fallen, in ages past you let these sort of things pass by and waited for the powerful spirits to fade of their own volition."

Steel couldn't sense any souls around, "Reaper, help the other two, I've got this." Steel nodded, "So, I forgot your favorite kind of dance. Something about... blood perhaps?"

"That was a poor attempt at-"

"No, it was bloody wine! Bloody cheese? Rare steaks?"

"Steel, you're acting-"

Steel jumped, "Oh I got it! Bloody underwear! I knew I'd get it you dirty girl. Dem skidmarks, am I right?"

Bloody Mary tossed a balled up piece of paper to Steel, "Fight me all you want, as much as we are enemies, I was released by a man I truly hate. If you kill him, I will return to exile without a fight."

A cricket chirped, "See? Even the bugs know that you're a liar."

"On that paper is the contract. I will sign in my own blood if that is what it takes. I hate you as much as you hate me, but this monster is truly evil. He does these things not for pleasure or riches, but for the sake of evil."

Steel examined the contract. She would return for eternity in exchange for a single person's death, and if his soul was retained for Bloody Mary she would also give all of her treasures, "Sign it and I might take up the job."

"She walked over and bit into her finger before signing her name, "A magical contract cannot be voided, you know that."

"Can't let you roam about and kill people."

"Then I shall stay in my temporary home, I will send the address to your secretaries by tomorrow. Farewell."

Steel looked at the contract again and sent the scythe back, "Dammit... I better get a kick-ass vacation after this!"