The man punched. Lightning flashed. Thunder boomed. A bolt of electricity crackled from the fist to the spot August had just departed. If he had not taunted the guy then dove for cover, He would have died!

The mockery was new. It was fun. A bit of illusion, a bit of compulsion, Ashe’s you had the makings of an illusory headache you felt compelled to feel. Complicated, yeah. He was really good at invocation though. The compulsion even made the insult hurt more, made it have weight. No damage, though. How was He going to stop this evil wizard again?!

He’d confronted him a few streets over, when the man had looked up from a spell book to cast lightning and blow out a store front window. It was 10 at night, most places were closed. The street was mostly dark. The attack had made it seem day for a moment. Really hard to miss.

August had been coming home from a bar. He had been in a foul mood. No dates had left with him. No luck, just whisky. This putz seemed the perfect outlet for his frustrations. One suggestion to go on home, and He would be a a hero with a story for the mystics back home. Only… superior will had made his spell fail. Multiple times. He was going to nickname this man superior Will. Damn it.

The robbery had been interrupted. Will had been seen. Duty required he kill the spotter, then finish the task before police arrived. Orrrr … opposite order. He moved to break in and take the joint. Go inside. Rob it. A brick hit his Assz

“Magic Missile,” August quietly said. He had a second brick in his hand. He was getting it ready for the next shot. Hefting it. Not a whole brick. It was more a half brick, or rubble. First one, too.

Will turned.

August threw.

The rubble became shrapnel with a will-placed thunder punch.

“Well…”

August ran.

Will followed.

The next ten minutes were a hot game of cat and mouse. During the chase, August dodged and cursed and thought back to a day not too long ago, when he had been practicing a spell…

A spell involving a portal…

This had been almost a month prior. He had not been able to figure out how to create a portal that would open up in front of a target, and give them a sweet invite to a location. Such a spell would be very expensive, and it would probably involve several linked mystics, and knowing the target… maybe even the target’s location? Then there were other types of teleportation that could go long distance, but would have a chance of failure unless you had something or knew the final destination very well, but—

Kracka BOOM

A wall exploded behind him, about ten feet behind him to be exact. He was still fleeing a mad man. Right.

August fumbled for his cellphone, and pressed the shortcut to dial Generator Rex.

Waiting. Waiting. Deadly waiting. He slipped into an alleyway, and pressed his back against the wall for a moment. Sighed.

Someone answered.

“Hey, um. Rex.” August spoke fast. “Where are you right now because I am at the corner of—“ He shot out of the alley way, past the street sign, and down another street, just as lightning blew up the sign post. He spoke into the phone, stating The Next street’s address. “Hope you aren’t too far away because it’s not like I can open a portal to you and pull you through to me, dog.”

It was far later to be walking the streets than Rex was used to, but he couldn't help it. He was restless and unable to sleep. At least, he couldn't sleep any more. He'd woken in a cold sweat after a nightmare, flashing back to a horrible atrocity he'd encountered in Malaysia just a few months before. He'd been on a mission from the Veil to locate and extract a young mystic who was in deadly peril.

Rex had arrived too late to save him, but not too late to witness the kid's brutal, agonizing death.

The cooler night air helped Rex think. Walking the familiar streets helped ground him. A flickering ball of fire hovering perpetually a couple of feet in front of his knees, lighting his way during the sections of broken streetlamps, kept him covering in its soft heat. It was also a warning to anybody who sought a victim. A night like this, with his own demons in his mind, but ones his magic could not stop, Rex would always welcome someone trying to attack him.

It was uncharitable, but true.

Then his phone rang. It was August.

"This is Rex," he said automatically upon accepting the call. Then he listened. Then he almost smiled.

"I'm only a few minutes away," he said, recognizing the street name and giving his own location. He knew a few shortcuts, even. He hung up and began running.

“Great!” August replied.

… Great… August thought.

A few minutes away was great, yeah totally. But right on top of his location would have been closer, better. One street over, even. But beggars and choosers. He would take the thing that he got. It just meant he had to run strong the block without dying, and play evade. If only he had more damage spells, He could stand his ground. Spells like a rock dog, or… God. A rock hand? A hand made out of something else, anything else?! He just needed a helping hand!!

He saved that idea for later.

August turned, and puffed himself up. He rolled up his sleeves and prepared himself for battle.

If he couldn’t hurt the guy through damage, the best he could do was last. Will resisted most of his spells, though. At least, the suggestion one. He had hit with the vicious mockery. He had not tried the cutting words. Maybe the person just hated suggestions. Would a command work? Like, with a dog? Hmmm….

Footsteps caused him to turn his head in the direction of the sound. Carefully, he pulled out a glyph card and made direct eye contact, just as Will stopped to glower at him.

“Finally found you. Coward.” Will spat.

“It took no work to find you. You use a lot of thunder in your magic. Seems your thighs are also pretty thunderous.”

He burned part of the card away as he cast the spell. 1/4, to be exact. With pure focus and concentration, he slammed the insult compulsion and the illusory migraine home. No need for wild magic.

“Ack!” Will staggered back, with a curse. A couple curses, actually. Flavorful ones.

August rushed past him, feet going tmp tmp tmp as he ran. The man was clutching the sides of his head in pain. Okay. So that one had worked.

He turned, and burned another 1/4 the card to throw another insult. “I nicknamed you Will, because I thought you had some. But I think I was wrong.”

“Huh?”

Oh. Guess he had to be smart to understand some insults.

“Ow.” He heard, from behind him.

Well, at least the pain part of the spell had worked… he ran some more.

Have to stay within the area I told him, have to stick close, and— the scent of ozone caused him to turn and hurl out another insult. Just in time.

“How are you even casting, You're so dumb you couldn't even spell book!” August spat out the cutting words. Another 1/4 of the spell card down.

The thunderous punch missed him by inches. His hair drifted in the air, disturbed by the force of the blow. Pavement cracked as the attack connected with street.

“You are a background character in your own life.” August muttered. That wasn’t a vicious mockery, it was just mean. And just for August. He smiled a little. Poor timing for it, though.

WHAM!

A punch connected with his stomach, and sent August staggering backwards clutching at his gut.

“Owwwwwweew.” He mourned. “My intestines…. I need those.”

That had been mostly mundane, but maybe there had been some magic in the punch? He felt a little tingly. Like static electricity in the area of the punch. Or a foot that fell asleep. Pinpricks of sensation, and— he glanced up from his doubled-over position to look at the mystic. Will was punching the air in a sort of whooping dance.

“What are you…?” He started. He didn’t get to finish. The punch-dance shifted into a rapid series of hand signs. Will was muttering stuff like boar and rooster and pig. What the hell? When he finished, he pointed at August and shouted—

“Silence!!!!”

August opened his mouth, and— no sound came from his lips. Wait. Had he actually been silenced?!

Shit. Most of his spells were verbal. In fact, like… basically all of them. This was not good. He would have to address that at a later date. Maybe the helping hand, or a cool hamster ball or something… or a big shocking zap like this jerk did. He had some ideas.

He burned the last bit of card, and formed the minor illusion of a big dog in front of him. Made of rocks. Rock dog, yeah! As Will stopped to examine the rock dog, August turned and ran past him down the alley, back where he had just been.

“H-hey!” Will shouted. “Stop running away!!!”

But he had to… he needed to burn ten minutes. So August started tromp tromp tromping up the metal fire escape. Hopefully Will didn’t bzap it with lighting and send a shock up the stairs. His goal was the roof, ain’t that the troof.

What had he killed? One minute? Two? Three? By the time he was done climbing, Will rattling the metal frame as he followed him up the escape, it had to be at least five.

How close was Rex again? What had he said? A couple minutes? Hmmm… could he speak yet? He tried. Nope.

He got to the top of the building, and threw a minor illusion 20 feet in the air. It was a big bright red arrow pointing down. Maybe that would help Rex find him. He hoped. Then, he turned to stare at Will.

He couldn’t even make any funny quips.

Rex burst out of an alley and only took the briefest of moments to take in his surroundings before charging across the street and down another alley. Cutting through streets was much quicker than going around. He leaped onto a trashcan and ricocheted off until he could grab the top of the brick wall blocking the alley off and he pulled himself up and over, dropping to the other side with a thud.

He could hear the tail end of a burst of thunder, much like the sounds he'd head over the brief phone call, and then he could hear yelling.

The firefighter ran out of the new alley, a fireball still proceeding him, and then he skidded to a halt as he took in the scene.

The smell of ozone was in the air and Rex felt his short-cropped hair rising a bit due to the staticky air. His customary flannel shirt kept his arm hair under control. Then he noticed something else. He looked up and stared at a rooftop, where a big arrow in the air was pointing down

August was on the roof, facing off against another man and Rex's burgeoning gut feeling for danger was beginning to sound alarms.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" Rex shouted at the unknown man, a hand held out as he approached the building, but not too closely that he didn't have August and the other man in sight at all times. His other hand was held a bit away from his waist, in case he needed fast fire. He didn't look away from the man as he yelled up to August. "August, are you okay?"

STOP RIGHT THERE

The man did not stop.

He clambered the rest of the way up the fire escape. Did not give the newcomer attention.

>>> “August, are you okay?"

The minor illusion of the arrow vanished. A moment later, illusory words spelled in pretend flame said: no. help.

A moment later, there was a meaty thump. The illusion vanished, replaced by more meaty thumps. Someone was using their fists.

—

Of all the— Will slammed a fist into his gut. August tumbled back across the rooftop, in a spin that landed him on his ass. He tasted blood. Bit lip? Cheek? Tongue?

He had lost his focus on the words.

A boot caught his leg. Ow.

The guy was not speaking, with words. Fists, yes. Feet. Body language. August reached to try and snag that foot as it came in for another hit, hurt his hand. Blocked the brunt of the blow. Bit his cheek again. Bah.

The urge to do something violent and wild with magic hit him. He hit him, in the foot. The leg. Weak hits, slaps really. Clawing at pants, clutching material in a fist. As guy reeled back punch, and

Breath left

No create water spell conjuring in lungs. No summoned Flame or hell fires. No dog portal splinching him into a wall. No Rock dog (hell yeah rock dog.) No magic. Not even Magic He could not do, without risking wills Magic. Desperation moves. No, he scratched the man’s hand as he withdrew it, then took in a big gasp of air and surged forward in an attempt to tackle legs from beneath man. By miracle, it actually worked. Man fell. Feeble blows rained down. Silent scream. August did not think on why the other mystic was playing muscle mage. He just finished his weakling combo with a heafbutt to the man’s crunchy nose.

Crunch.

The man laughed.

August punched him in his apple berries. The Laughter stopped.

Rex thanked God August wasn't using texting slang. If there had been a floating emoji in response, Rex would've been half-tempted to just walk away. As it was, there was an important period between those words and Rex didn't need any more information.

It had already taken him long enough to get here. One look at the fire escape and Rex grimaced. The situation was already collapsing. The unknown man was crawling over the rooftop in the moments Rex was processing the plea for assistance.

Magic it was, then.

Not the kind of magic he was used too, either, but after too many times when he had to chase someone or something, he'd realized he needed a faster way to catch up with people. The inspiration for the exact method had come from a couple of unusual sources though. The Cataclysm, the man that had nearly wiped out the mutants at the mansion, had flitted all around the battlefield on personal whirlwinds. From what Rex had been told by other members of the Veil, Rex's primary magical aptitude was in the same domain: energy manipulation, albeit not on the level the Cataclysm had possessed.

So Rex had come up with a variation, less strenuous, and inspired by his friend, Hercules. Except instead of relying on muscle power to propel him into the air and survive the corresponding landings, Rex would warp the temperature around him in order to control the air just long enough for his spell to finish. He still had bruises from the experiments.

This was not the time to worry about any spell though. He was needed now, so now he summoned magic.

The power from another realm coursed through Rex and he channeled it into the air around him as he spoke from Scripture, "Thou liftest me up to the wind..."

Then he jumped.

As soon as his feet left the ground, a sudden blast of wind rocketed him up into the air in a pel-mel tunnel of turbulence that lasted just for a couple of seconds, long enough for Rex to clear the top of the roof by about eight feet before he cut off the magic. The wind died immediately, and gravity reasserted itself.

Rex covered his face with his arms and started rolling in mid-air as he slammed into the rooftop halfway across it and began rolling to disperse the shock. Pain lashed through him, but he just gritted his teeth. He'd heal later if he needed it. After skidding several feet, Rex came to a stop and eventually pulled himself to his feet.

He was banged up and in disarray, but he was here.

Muscle wizard remembered he was a mage just a second after August hit him in the ground. He reached out, grabbed hold of the man with a bulky hand, said a few words, and hit him with a shocking grasp. Then he extracted himself from the melee as August lay on the ground, stunned.

“Ughhhhhhh.” August said.

Hrm. The man will realized silence had finally dropped. Maybe he had lost concentration with the attack to his— but whatever, he would have to cast it again. Easy, except someone new came onto the scene with a dynamic entry. He turned to glower at them. Then he did a hula type dance, and at the end of it, shouted OY and threw a ball of electricity at Rex.

The ball split and crackled until it formed a ring. It sailed at the newcomer, dangerously.

August looked up just in time to see it nearly at Rex’s space. Kind of a slow moving projectile. Maybe if… he channeled magic. Maybe if he distracted the Will guy.

“Your mother sucks *^%* in hell,” August shouted. An attempt at cutting words. The electric attack went wide as Will turned to blink at him.

“Does what?”

“Sorry, Rex.” August said. “Only thing I could think of.” He’d just been presented with a young priest.

Rex was immediately confronted with dancing. It was even harder for him to deal with than normal because the roof was spinning a bit from the windblast that had carried him up there. He held up a forearm and turned his face, but the wicked-looking ring of lightning missed.

Elemental energy. Rex focused up and frowned. This type of magic he knew how to deal with.

He began speaking from the Bible and focused on his own magic. "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” Invisible energy coalesced into a kite-shaped heater shield on his left forearm and he held the shield in front of him as he started moving sideways, aiming to get between August and the man. The shield of faith was designed to ground out and nullify energy attacks that came his way. It was highly effective against other practitioners of Rex's primary type of magic usage.

"Cease your attack!" Rex barked. "What happened here?" He didn't care who answered, as long as he got answers.

Explanations, on HIS rooftop? Ridiculous.

The magic shield was good. Sure. Okay. It was great. Could he take it?

He had targeted the rude kid because he’d been witnessed doing crime. A crime of opportunity, to remove witnesses. A bullying move. Now there were two people. This was getting out of hand.

A true bully would flee.

He could take the shield. He could take it. He—

Will bolted towards the edge of the roof, away from the man with the shield.

August stared weakly at a fleeing back.

“Breaking and entering. Or vandalism…” August said. His whole body hurt. He couldn’t even remember the sequence of events now. Had He thrown a brick? Really? “Chicken wanted to kill a witness I guess.” He finished.

The fleeing man froze. Tensed, then turned.

“No one calls me a chicken…” he said quietly.

August strained his ears. “What was that?”

The man chose to run. Good. That was an even better outcome. Rex wasn't law enforcement - he was under no need or compulsion to bring whomever it was to justice - he was just there to keep his...friend?...safe.

He relaxed a single iota as the man reached the edge of the rooftop. Good good good. Now he just needed to--

August started talking. He answered Rex's question. That was good. The added commentary, however...

The man ceased his flight.

"August," Rex growled warningly. "Shut. Up." He finished maneuvering in front of his fellow mystic in order to provide cover with the invisible shield. With his free hand, he motioned August to back up, toward the fire escape or...somewhere.

"Let's just go our separate ways," Rex barked. "No harm, no foul. Okay?"

Rex told him to shut his pie hole.

“Shutting~” He said whimsically. Blame it on having been attacked. Maybe head trauma, some? Who knew. Rex was definitely (not) holding up seventeen fingers.

The mystic man was in front of him now, motioning him to back up. Leave, maybe? Fire escape. Leave his…. Friend? No one calls him chicken…. To parrot someone.

“B’kawwwwww!!”

Something slapped down of the edge of the roof. Away.

“Did He just…” turn into a chicken by breaking a tablet shaped like an obelisk? “Decide discretion is the better part of… well that was convenient. You should teach me offensive spells. Rex.” August would offer up trade. Rex teaches him offensive spells and He teaches Rex offensive phrases and words. Fair trade.

—

Chicken man clucked as he landed on the street below. Anticlimactic, yeah… But He would have gotten caught, or worse. And He could be a chicken. He’d just have to find Bonnie, then she would undo the enchantment from the artifice He had utilized. He percked once at something on the ground, then started the chicken walk of shame home.

—

August chuckled to himself, late on the joke. Rex had said ‘no harm, no foul’. Fowl….

What.

What was...

What?

Rex froze, his mouth hanging open. In the last couple of years, he had see a lot of strange and unusual things. Wonders and nightmares and everything in between. He'd come to have a fairly high tolerance for weird things.

Nothing really came close to preparing him for a potential assailant to just...partially morph into a chicken and flutter off the building.

The shield dissipated as Rex completely forget to keep it running. He stood up straight and his arm dropped to his side. Well. They did say God had a sense of humor.

"....sure," Rex said to August as he eyed the rooftop edge in wariness. There was still a chance chicken-man would return. In which case Rex would be ready to respond appropriately. Fire tended to work very well on chicken.

On the subject of fire though, his mind then caught up to what August had said. Rex's lips twitched - his version of a huge grin. "Happy to teach you," he said enthusiastically, which is to say, with a vague amount of inflection that he usually lacked. "I'll buy you a Bible if you don't have one. I personally like using Exodus, but we'll start with Genesis and work from there."

He would buy him a Bible. Why would he but him a Bible. There was disconnect, somewhere, between what August had said, and what Rex had heard. Had He even cracked a Bible ever?

People liked to quote the Bible a lot. At him. At people in the community. People who hated their pride. Wanted to take them down a peg. Misquote things, to insult who people were and their way of life. Hatred, from what was arguably a book about love.

He had read one, He realized. His family was awful, and full of vices. Of course they went to church. Political contacts, business dealings, the ability to advertise their faith as social standing without putting in any real work that would show you understood core concepts. Donations could be written off for tax purposes. Charity looked good on paper. He had gone in his youth. Sunday school, etc. August had read it some, to learn what it was about. And what it meant to him. It was part of why He did not presently attend church. The disconnect between what was said and heard.

Rex offering up a Bible. Either he had thought the request was for teaching on faith, or else… Faith was personal to Rex, and it connected to his magic. On the level.

“Thank you.” August said, politely. He patted one ear, to sort of treat his hearing. Had He gotten damaged? Concussed? No? “The Bible has to do with your magic, right? I asked about spells. Magic. I mean, if you’re offering to teach me faith and give me an extended hand and an offer to come to your church, I absolutely accept, because I respect you, Rex.” August was being sincere. He would try anything once.

Rex was a … friend? If not fully, then… He had shown up when called. August respected that. He could do more on his side to foster a friendship, build up that trust. Even if He was not a truly good person. Catty manipulator that He was: Rex could take him to church, yeah. He would not combust. Not at first.

He needed to foster relationships with other mystics as well. Build up the bond of trust. The group needed to be more than a loose web of contacts if they wanted to survive, and thrive.

He could figure out how to bring in any teachings Zerex gave him, into his world view. If he tried. Maybe. He’s could try. Maybe the mystics could start a Bible study group? He’d make flyers for the library!

Rex was still a little slow to respond as he kept his guard up in case this was a feint. If he needed to recreate the shield, he wanted as much time as possible in order to get the words out.

He did indulge himself in just a bit more of a smile though. "The Bible has everything to do with my magic," Rex said as he started walking toward the edge of the roof the man had jumped off. "My faith defines everything about me, even the energy I draw from an extradimensional plane."

He glanced over his shoulder. "It is good to hear that," he said. He hadn't pegged August as a man who would so easily attend a church. "I will certainly take you up on that," he said, peering over the edge. He didn't see the chicken-man. "But to put it simply, my power comes from the Word of God and my relationship with Him."

"Thy word is a lamp until my feet and a light unto my path," Rex quoted, turning back to face the other man. A fist-sized ball of fire appeared a couple feet in front of Rex and hovered about a foot off the rooftop. As he walked forward, it hovered at a fixed point in from of him, lighting the rooftop with warm firelight. "If you want to learn magic from me, you'll need to spend time in the Word."

Rex arched an eyebrow in invitation. "Are you up for that?"

Everything to do with his magic, Rex confirmed. The Bible had everything to do with his magic. Just like August had thought.

Magic is personal to each and every mystic. Some use focuses, some make items, some use hand gestures or verbal. He made hand gestures, but he also made cards imbued with runes and magic. Gold had value, so gold was a sacrifice. He painted them in gold and runes. It was quicker than waving his hands like a dancer.

Rex used verbal stuff. Bible verses. His faith was his magic. Defined everything about him and how he drew magic from the other plane… which August thought was very interesting, and was something he very much respected, even if it did not wind up being for him. Seeing as, for faith, he had none. Other than in himself and some people. But this always could change.

August nodded at him, like “yeah; I get it.”

Rex was pleased to hear his offer. Which was good. He did not usually make such offers lightly. Again, faith in people.

Because it was highly personal, maybe Rex was not entirely sure it could work for August.

>>> "But to put it simply, my power comes from the Word of God and my relationship with Him." He said.

Then he did a little poem, and summoned a baby fireball in the space in front of him. He strutted his stuff, moved the fire, and showed off a little. Then he told him if he wanted to learn from him, he’d need to spend time with the Word.

Was he up for that, Rex asked him. Arching that eyebrow.

“Yeah.” August said simply. “I trust you won’t steer me wrong.”

He could give it a shot. The worst that could happen was it not working for him. Maybe he could figure out something about the school from training with Rex, and personalize something. And he was absolutely going to church with the man as well, because that was simply interesting. And again, respect.

What he had learned was Christianity. At home, with his family. And it had not worked out well for him. Maybe Rex was less Christian, more Catholic or something? It’s good to learn about other peoples’ faiths.

August followed the man’s attentions over the edge of the roof, where the guy had fled. Then he clapped his hands together. “Oh yeah! We should probably leave. Before the police arrive. He did break into a shop and all of that. Gosh, he really clobbered me good…”

He was starting to get the bruises and the little cuts and scratches that came with close quarters combat. It was a shame neither of them could do anything about that.