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After I bade Max farewell, I straddled my bike with the intention to head for my next destination. I was about to leave when my phone rang. I pulling the buzzing thing out of my pocket and put it to my ear. It was Connie and she sounded panicky.

"D-Daniel?"

"Con? What's wrong?"

"Listen. I can't talk long, but there's some very bad men outside the library. They're looking for me, I can feel it."

"Wait, what-"

"No time to explain, Daniel. Just get here sharpish. I don't have very long to talk."

"Now wait a minute, Con-"

I heard the sound of a door being broken coming from somewhere below her.

"Shite they're here, I need to hide, please hurry."

She hung up without another word, leaving me confused and extremely worried. I revved my bike and sped off, another number already on speed dial. I didn't even bother to strap on my helmet, would've been a tight fit with my bluetooth headset already on. The man on the other line picked up rather quickly, considering he was also on vacation.

"Hey Daniel, what's going on? I thought you're on vacation."

"Yeah well something's cropped up Brandon. It's urgent."

I held off explaining as I screeched round a tight corner, cutting between a car and a bus, much to both drivers' disdain.

"What's going on?"

"Connie's in trouble."

I heard his chair scrape. He must've been on his feet.

"Shit, where?"

"Her library. I need you to get here ASAP. No time to explain, she didn't do that either."

I reached up and clicked off the call, rounding another corner as I got onto the street she was on. Down where I knew her library was, I saw two unmarked black vans. The windows were covered in a black tarp, and I saw one man standing outside, obviously on guard. He had a shotgun. With my left I drew my hand cannon from within my jacket and sped towards him. Just before I reached the street corner however, I saw a group of armed men burst out of the library. In their arms I saw a struggling figure.

Connie.

I gunned it but they were too fast. They bundled her into one of the vans and took off, but not before one of them tossed something into her library. As I stopped, I heard the shattering of glass and a familiar 'fwumph' sound. Then I saw a lick of flame out the door.

Crap.

The second van was about to leave when I pulled up beside it and gave the driver a new earhole. I also shot out the tyres of the van, and as I left I dialled nine-one-one.

"911 what's your emergency?"

"Dispatch, this is detective Daniel Anderson, ID tag Lima Whiskey Four Five Niner!"

"One second, confirming."

That one second lasted what seemed like five minutes as I sped away after the first van.

"Confirmed, detective, what's the situation?"

"I have a kidnapping on 53rd and Fremantle, pursuing suspects north towards the marina. They are in a black goods van, unmarked, license plate unclear. I also need fire services to a library on the corner of 53rd and Fremantle, ASAP, situation extremely urgent."

"Roger that detective, rerouting available cars to assist you."

I clicked off the call, then speed dialled Brandon. He picked up immediately.

"Daniel, please tell me something good."

"Nothing doing, Brandon. They set fire to her library."

"WHAT?!"

"I'm chasing them down now, they're heading north towards the marina, tell Max to trace my location, he'll know what to do! Then get here as fast as you can!"

I clicked my headset to end the call and revved my bike's engine to try and catch up to them when a bullet pinged off the handlebar. I chanced a glance behind me to see the guys of the second van chasing me in their vehicle, sparks flying from the two front tyres I'd shot out earlier. Apparently they didn't care that they'd left their dead driver back there, cause one of them was right behind the wheel, while someone else was leaned out the window with an assault rifle in his hands, firing straight at me. I swerved and weaved through the early morning traffic, grateful that at least I had some cover, though that was in the form of the other innocent drivers. I couldn't risk taking my eyes off the road to shoot back, so I concentrated on driving straight ahead. When the chase reached a clear road, I chanced another glance behind me. The van was still there, like a hound on a trail.

That's when a blue-white car slammed into the side of the van, almost from out of nowhere. I barely caught a glimpse of blue-red lights on its top before I returned my eyes to the road ahead. The cop car behind me flashed its lights twice and blared its siren.

Shit my back was taken care of. Thank you NYPD.

---

When I reached the marina, the van was already parked and empty. I screeched to a stop and was about to hop off when I had a call. I hit my headset to answer it.

"Yo."

"Dan it's Max, listen, do not go in there."

I paused.

"Why?"

"They've got her in a chair, tied up and covered in gas."

I paled.

"Shit! Why did you not tell me this sooner?!"

"I only just found out! Listen, they're all holed up in one of the empty warehouses. I managed to patch into the security system there and I'm watching via cameras. I'll pinpoint the location to you but be quiet. One noise that signals you approaching and they'll set her on fire."

Shit. Instead of gunning it, I silently rolled my way into the marina, Max guiding me along. I stopped outside an inconspicuous warehouse, like all the others that littered the area. This one had a big glass window above its entrance, and a catwalk going all around the outside. This must've been where guys coordinated those big machines that carried containers about. No big deal. The doors were closed, obviously, but this was the place, judging from the amount of swearing I could hear inside, mostly female and laced with a lot of colourful words that I guessed were British slang.

"Max I need a plan."

"Right, um."

He was silent for a while and I could hear him tapping away at his keyboard. A minute later he answered me.

"Okay, I have view of the whole warehouse floor. She's bound in the center, with guys all around her. There's also three men up in catwalks in the upper reccesses of the place, one right above the main entrance aiming inside, and one man on the each of the sides, left and right. The window you're looking at opens beneath those catwalks. At the door are two guys, also armed. One of the guys is up behind her chair with a lighter. The rest of his goons are spread out around the floor."

"Got it."

Hm. This would normally be a job for a well-placed sniper, but I didn't have that luxury. All I had was me, my cannons and my bike.

My bike.

Hmm.

There was a whole lot of empty space in front of the warehouse doors.

"Max, are those doors automated?"

"Nope, simple lock and key doors, swing inward. Employee access, most likely, since I know the main, big entrance is on the other side."

Alright. Easy plan. I rolled my bike to the doors, pulling back a distance away before aligning myself straight on with the doors. I restarted the engine and seated myself on it.

"Max, I need you to distract them."

"How?"

"Are there any automated systems in there?"

"Yeah, the big doors. Those are controlled from a booth up in the-"

"Doesn't matter. On my signal, I need you to open those doors."

"R-right."

"Once you do that, watch me and I'll show you what all our power can do."

I drew a breath and calmed myself. Mentally I went through my little plan and braced myself.

"Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Open the doors now."

From inside I heard an alarm go out as engines and servos started up, and the huge metal doors started creaking open, sliding along their hinges as it spread apart. Using the noise as cover, I revved my engine and gunned it, straight for the door. Without letting go of the accelerator, I got my feet off the bike and stood on the seat.

Time slowed.

Before the door greeted me, I took a leap off the bike, using the handlebars as a step and the forward momentum of the engine to carry me up and forward onto the catwalk. My foot met the handrail and I used it as a second step to propel myself upward and through the window. Glass shattered as I fell inside, while below me I heard the crash of my bike plowing through the doors and into the two guards below. I twisted in midair, guns in my hands, as I aimed upward and blew out the chest of the guy stationed there. Still twisting, my hands shot to my sides, guns now trained on the two guys up on the sides, and I pulled the triggers, shooting them down too. While my bike careened into the group of men, my momentum carried me into a forward flip, and as I straightened out again I fired wildly into the sparse group. I saw the main main flick his thumb on the lighter's wheel and a flame arose from it. With barely a second to spare, and still falling in slow motion, I aimed for him and pulled the trigger. My bullet flew across the expanse and blew his hand open, his fingers flying away as he screamed. The lighter flew away, a gaping hole in its body. My flip finished and I landed in a roll on the warehouse floor.

Time returned to normal.

I dove to the side to avoid the hail of gunfire from one of the goons who'd avoided my bike and returned fire, my guns going dry right after. With no place to stop and reload I simply kept running until I hit the side of the warehouse and hid behind one of its supports, bullets pinging off the steel beam as the remaining guys advanced on me. Then I heard sirens in the distance and peeked out from my cover. The goons were momentarily distracted by the sounds, so I reloaded and went out again, firing madly into the compact group. They fell and I ran towards Connie, but she was no longer in the chair. I looked around for her and found her.

Aw crap.

She was in the grip of the lead man, who was holding onto her in his injured arm while he held a gun to her head with the other. As I stepped forward he yelled at me.

"Don't you dare take a step forward! Or else I'm putting a bullet through this witch's head!"

She struggled and he pressed the barrel into her temple, making her wince and draw breath. I leveled my guns at him.

"Let her go, now! You're under arrest for kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon!"

"Like hell I am! There's no one even here, asswipe, so you better listen to me!"

He was right. With his gun he motioned at the floor.

"You put those things down now! And get on the floor!"

Reluctantly, I complied. I set the guns down first, then with my hands above my head, I laid on my belly on the cold concrete, still craning my head up to watch him. He advanced forward, dragging Connie along as he kicked my guns out of my reach. Then he backed up again and grinned.

"Good. Now I want you to lie there, boy, and watch as I blow your friend's brains out!"

But I wasn't watching him. Connie's eyes had just met mine, and they carried a message.

She wanted me to watch her.

Her hands were by her sides since the guy's arm was encircling her, preventing her from moving, but as I watched, I saw sparks emanate from her fingers. Electricity coursed over her hand and leapt between her fingertips, and I saw her grit her teeth and clench her jaw. Then I saw her jam her hand against his thigh. He clenched up and screeched inhumanly, his back arched backward into almost a 'C' shape. His grip loosened and she wriggled free, running away as he fell to his knees and struggled to regain his senses. I could see smoke rising from his back, which made me wonder how much energy had she put through him.

Then it struck me. How did she do that in the first place?

My eyes and thoughts were drawn back to the scene in front of me, where the man struggled back onto his feet, glaring at her with an inhuman gaze, one that made me think that he wasn't even human. She was a few feet away from him, shaken but brave, her hair all messy and her glasses off kilter. He was hunched over, his injured hand cradled gently against his chest, and as I looked closer I could see why. Past the flesh, I could very faintly see the silhouette of claws. The man wasn't even human to begin with. He spat blood from his mouth and growled.

"You...you bitch! Look what you've done to me!"

"And I'll do a whole lot more, foul hellspawn!"

With a screech he made to charge her, but suddenly her arms were coated with flame. She extended her hands and a fireball shot from her palms and arced towards him, setting him alight. He screamed and writhed, flames licking at his clothes and flesh, falling backward into the puddle of gasoline from when they'd doused her in it. The whole thing went up in flames and I heard the most inhuman scream I'd ever heard in my life. I made my way over to Connie slowly and was about to ask if she were okay when suddenly the...thing charged out from the fire, barely human any more from how charred it was. It screeched at me as it bared claws as long as my arm that extended from its fingers.

"You're a fool, witch! I was born from flames, fire cannot kill me!"

I drew my cannon and aimed at its face.

"Yeah, but what about a bullet?"

I fired and the thing's brains exited through the back of its head. Finally dead, the thing fell forward, its momentum carrying its limp body right past us and into a heap on the floor. As we watched it burst into flames, seemingly from inside itself, and the body collapsed into ash. I was barely aware of Connie coming towards me and gently leaning against my chest in exhaustion.

What just happened? I was so confused.

The sirens grew closer and my arms instinctively went up and around her, holding her against my chest as she began to cry. I heard Brandon in the distance, yelling as he approached us, officers spreading out around the scene. It didn't matter though, she was safe.

And that was all that mattered.

---

A long while later, we sat in Brandon's bar, me, Connie, Max and obviously Brandon himself. She was still shaking from the whole thing, but she was safe, and a lot calmer than earlier. After some brief hysterics, we'd agreed to keep the matter under wraps from the police, and I'd kept my mouth shut on what I, and probably Max, both saw go down. Brandon was by her side, offering her the comfort of his shoulder, while I stood to the side, absorbed in my own thoughts now that I actually had an opportunity to think. What did happen back there? Did I really witness her shocking that...thing with her bare hand, then setting it on fire by throwing a fireball in its direction? And what was that thing anyway? All I saw earlier was a man, long stringy brown hair and beady eyes, but that had fallen away to the twisted, demonic thing that had burst from the fire at us. Was that thing really...a demon? I shuddered at the thought. Then there was the matter of Connie being labeled as a witch by it, and I briefly wondered if she really was a witch.

Max interrupted my thoughts by pulling me out of earshot of the other two. He pulled me into one of the halls.

"Daniel, we need to talk."

"Yeah no shit. Did you see everything?"

He nodded. Between the both of us, we could see past each other's disguise charms, and I could see the frown that creased his face, almost turning into a feral snarl.

"Is she...one of them?"

"What?"

"One of the people on your list!"

I hesitated a moment, then nodded grudgingly.

"Yeah, she is. And actually...they both are."

"What?"

Now it was his turn to look confused. His frown went away as an ear of his twitched.

"You heard me right, Max. They're both Guardians."

He looked absolutely stunned. I know he didn't know who Connie was, but he sure as hell knew Brandon, so he was just as stunned as I'd originally been when I saw his name on my list. The fact that one of my closest friends, if not the closest friend I ever had, was indeed a Guardian, only confirmed my suspicions about the legends I'd read. The legends spoke of Protectors' closest companions being Guardians after their powers manifested, in a way similar to me and my story, and how it paralled wasn't a mere coincidence. These people around me weren't just the Guardians I'd found randomly in my area, they were destined to be found, and only certain people too, because neither Eddie nor Michael Fimberley had shown up in the list. Only these certain people. I briefly wondered how all this was coming together when Brandon interrupted my thoughts.

"Hey."

"Hey. You okay?"

He nodded.

"I'm alright. She's shaken, but apart from a few scratches and bruises, she's alright."

I nodded back, but something worried me.

"What about..."

"She's still reeling, but I know she'll be okay."

Earlier, before I'd set off on my chase, I'd witnessed one of the random goons throwing something into her library that'd set the whole place ablaze. When we'd gotten back to it, it was devastated. The fire hadn't reached her second floor apartment, but most of her books were torched. She'd broken down immediately when she saw the scene, but something drew her to the smouldering remains. I'd barely been able to restrain her when she unearthed an iron lockbox, charred but otherwise alright. Her mood had been instantly lifted when she'd gotten the box back, although she was still absolutely saddened by the loss of so many books. After that, we'd retired back here, to the bar, to clean up and rest. The box sat on the bar counter right now, still covered in ash but in one piece. I went back outside with Brandon and sat down next to Connie, who still shivered in her blanket. It'd taken a lot of washing to get all the gas off of her, and even then she still faintly smelled of it. She smiled as I sat.

"Thank you ever so much, Daniel. Now that's twice you've saved my life."

She still remembered, eh. I thought she would've forgotten that first kidnap back in London, put it out of her mind so she wouldn't have it torture her. I simply smiled back and smoothed hair from her face.

"It's alright, Con. I would've done whatever it took. You're a very dear friend of mine, y'know that."

She gently rested her head against my shoulder and sighed.

"I'm just glad I still have a place to call home, even if I have to rebuild the library."

"We can help with that."

Brandon piped up from behind the counter. He was getting back to maintaining the place, since he was on vacation, and keeping the bar running was relaxing for him. Max was seated at the other end of the counter, absorbed in fiddling with his laptop, though I knew he was listening. One of his ears was gently cocked towards us, though the others couldn't see it. Connie smiled and placed a hand on top of Brandon's

"That's alright, love. I'd appreciate the help."

From behind her, Max motioned to me, rolling his finger at me while he typed. He wanted me to get things rolling. I gently nodded and stood.

"Right, well, as much as I'd like to help, other things take priority, which is why I was originally heading to see you, Connie. Also I was actually going to visit you too, Brandon, but since we're all in the same place now, it's more convenient for what I'm about to share."

The two of them perked right up as Max closed his laptop. Their attention was turned to me and I went a bit wobbly at the knees.

I never did do well with presentations.

"I'm sure what happened today was startling and shocking, especially for you, Con, but what I'm about to share is even more so. I'm going to tell you two a story, and the more I talk, the more rational it's going to sound, until you are going to have to believe me no matter what, alright? This is going to sound extremely far-fetched at first, but as I go into it, it'll start making more sense."

And just like I did with Max, I went into my spiel, now a practiced thing that I could deliver without hesitating, like I'd been with Max. I told them about the Protectors, about life on Earth and how the universe was made, I told them about the Guardians and the Demigod gene, about magic, about the sights I've seen and the things I've done, without going into much detail, and at the end, I made my revelation.

"Connie, Brandon, you two are Guardians."

It didn't seem to affect Connie all that much, knowing her and what she'd done in the warehouse, but Brandon was stunned, just like Max had been. I let them process all that information for a while, standing there like an idiot while I waited. Then Brandon broke the silence.

"So...you're telling me that you're not human?"

I shook my head.

"You've seen what I can do, Brandon. Your eyes never miss any details."

"Yeah..."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Then he looked at me again, with recognition in his eyes.

"So...back here, all those years ago...that wasn't me imagining things?"

"Yup."

"And Brazil? And Russia too?"

"Yes and yes, Brandon."

He nodded to himself, almost as if it confirmed something. Then he came out from behind the bar and stood in front of me.

Then his fist flew into my face.

I fell onto the floor, blood streaming from my nose as Connie rushed to my side. I could see his face, which I assumed was filled with anger at my deception, and when I heard him speak, it was rightly so.

"Why didn't you tell me man?! Almost a full bloody decade we've known each other and this is how you treat me? By keeping a bloody honking big secret from me while we go gallivanting about and doing all sorts of crazy shit that I knew was absolutely insane?! Jesus christ man!"

"I-I assumed you would've left-"

"And what, fucked off somewhere else?! That's bullshit man, and you know it!"

"Calm down, Brandon!"

Connie stood and gently placed her hands on his chest. That calmed him down some, but as I struggled to my feet I saw his glare.

"All these years I thought I knew you. All these years I trusted you. And here you are, with a great big stinking lie in your face. What now, Daniel? What now? I don't even know if I should trust you any more."

"But you have to, Brandon."

"Why should I?!"

"Because he wants it, stupid."

Connie glared at him back.

"He kept it from you because he didn't know what your reaction would be, and I'm guessing he didn't want you to stop being friends with him. He cared about you, that's why he kept it from you, understand? Now stop being so mad and just calm down, Brandon. It's alright. He never meant it to end up this way."

He sighed and shook his head, taking a seat on one of the bar stools. Connie stayed with him as he sat, but her focus shifted to me.

"He's still taking it all in, Daniel, I'm sorry. But whatever it is you want to do, you can do it now."

I nodded and wiped the blood from my nose. I approached them and gently placed my hand on his shoulder.

"Brandon...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for lying to you all these years and not telling you, but it was because I didn't want you to freak out or anything. You understand, right?"

He sighed and nodded, waving a hand in my face like he were waving away my concern.

"Yeah yeah I understand. Don't have to shower me with concern, I'm not a kid no more."

He looked up at me, the way you would when you were disappointed in someone you love, but still had faith in them anyway.

"I know you more than anyone else here, Daniel, and I trust you. I still do, though you still deserved that."

"Yeah, I did."

We stood there in awkward silence for a while, then he spoke up again.

"So...what now? Didn't you have something more for us?"

"Yeah Daniel. You said we were Guardians, right? Well, how do we...become one?"

"Oh yeah, right. Well, who wants to be the first candidate?"

Connie and Brandon both looked at each other. With a sigh, the latter raised his hand.

"I'll go. Might make sense for the stronger of us to start anyway. Connie might still be out of it."

She nodded in agreement as he stood. I directed him to the center of the bar, where I cleared some space. He stood right in the center and I took my place in front of him.

"Alright Brandon, you ready? You can back out right now if you don't want to."

"Nah I'd rather not think about it. Just get it over with. The less time I think, the less I'll regret it."

I merely nodded.

"Alright then. Just relax. You'll feel yourself go limp right after this."

He nodded as I reached up and gently placed both hands on the sides of his head. Then, unbeknownst to him because of the disguise charm, I channeled my energy into my palms and then released it like a faucet into him. Immediately his back arched and body tensed as he grunted and went into the transformation, eyes rolling into the back of his head as his body glowed bright, just like Max had. Beneath my hands I felt his flesh change and shift, while a slippery, almost impenetrable barrier formed and flickered over his entire body, growing stronger and stronger under my fingers until it grew too powerful for me to contain. I let go and the energy violently dissipated, knocking me on my ass as he fell over, limp as a doll. Connie rushed over and helped me back onto my feet, although her focus was on Brandon's unmoving body, and as I followed her gaze to him, I could see why. He'd grown by a few inches and gained substantial bulk in his arms and torso, and he was also the most handsome stag I'd ever seen, crisp brown fur and twin antlers that rose from his head of light brown hair. He looked just like the painting of a stag that hung over his bar counter, I realised as I looked back at Max. He was staring at us, again in a state of shock, though minor as he knew what was coming. I helped Connie move Brandon's unconscious form to one of the easy chairs and cast a disguise charm over him to conceal his real form. Connie looked him over and drew a nervous breath.

"I-is that what really happened?"

"Yep. Same thing happened to Max over there too."

She nodded, tight lipped. I placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, Con."

"Oh but I have to, Danny. See, I've been hiding something too."

"I can tell, from the stuff you pulled at the marina."

"Yeah, you saw. Well Daniel, truth be told, I'm a witch."

I folded my arms and shook my head.

"Why am I not surprised."

"It seemed that way?"

"Well, not until you started throwing fire around. I just assumed you were a little weird, which you are, but in a good way, don't worry."

She nodded.

"Well, I come from a very long line of witches, Daniel, and the original coven I came from knew about the Protectors. In fact, legend has it that the founder of our coven was once a Guardian that traveled with an early Protector. I'm the descendant of that witch, and the last of my kind in Britain."

"Damn. I'm sorry Con."

"It's okay. Nothing we could do about it. Just like you Americans hated witches in Salem, so too did the people here."

She shrugged and sighed. This topic wasn't a great one. We stood there in silence for a few seconds, then she took Brandon's place in the center of the room.

"Well, shall we get this over with then, Daniel?"

I nodded and gathered my energy again, approaching her slowly.

"Alright then. Just relax."

I placed my hands on her head and let rip. Her body tensed and gave off a brilliant light that blinded me. I'd never done it twice in one day, let alone...ever, really, and the strain was too much. The last thing I remember was the light finally fading before I passed out alongside her.