[Zoe Chandler's Personal Armory, November 2022]
Chief Chandler's personal armory was easily one of the most interesting places in the world, in Valerie's humble opinion. Not only was the place filled from wall to wall with all manner of guns, knives, axes, and other equipment, but it was also jam-packed with a slew of weapons that most people would probably never see in a single lifetime. Inside the small warehouse that sat only a few blocks away from their house, there were numerous items that could honestly be considered rare artifacts by certain collectors across the globe. Collectors who would surely pay top dollar to get their hands on some of the merchandise inside the moment they became available.
From what Valerie remembered, the brunette woman had started her collection shortly after her mana core was damaged while she was serving in Iraq. And judging by the large amount of non-American weapons that were strewn all over the place, it was easy to tell that Chief Chandler made sure to take back as many souvenirs as possible while she was over there. A few million dollars worth, if her current estimate was to be believed.
"So, what's up?" Valerie asked her aunt as the two walked through the tightly packed lanes of the woman's personal weapons gallery. "You usually never allow anyone in here."
"Well, times have changed." Chief Chandler replied while stepping over a Russian rocket launcher that had fallen onto the ground at some point.
"Is there something that you need to tell me?"
"There is." The elder sorcerer nodded before getting right down to business. "To keep things simple, I'm planning an operation to take down those assholes who kidnapped Agent Moore. And you're going to be a part of it."
"I am?"
"Yes. And you're going to need some new gear to help you out."
Valerie's face practically lit up after hearing that. "Does this mean that you're finally going to let me have one of your guns?!"
"Depends on how well you shoot it. Don't take this the wrong way, but I still don't trust you to handle one of them after the last time I took you to the range."
"Ugh…you're still mad about that?!" The tall blonde rolled her eyes. "I mean, come on! It's not my fault that bird just so happened to fly by me at the worst time possible."
"The bird was ten feet away from the target…."
Valerie had no response to that. The tall blonde would be the first to admit that her skills when it came to handling guns left much to be desired. But in her defense, she hadn't had that much experience with them. After all, the young woman had grown up in California, a state with gun laws that were much more restrictive than most. She had only had the chance to handle one a handful of times, if that.
"Anyway, here you go!" Chief Chandler then said as she tossed Valerie a large, metal box that was still covered in a layer of dust.
"What's this?!" The tall blonde questioned her aunt.
"Just look inside."
Valerie did as she was told and opened up the container. Once she did so, she found herself looking at a pair of tactical tomahawks. The kind that all of those doomsday preppers on YouTube always showed off. Both of them were black in color with red and brown handles. They even had a small knife attachment on the ends of them.
"Tomahawks? Seriously?"
"Mhmmm." Chief Chandler nodded with a grin. "Special ones, too."
"What's so special about them?"
"Those tomahawks have a specially crafted diamond blade on them. One so sharp that it can cut through steel like butter. They used to belong to Cassian Murphy. Well…up until a few years ago, when he decided to challenge Mubele to a fight and got them taken from him as payment for wasting his time. Mubele didn't have much use for them, so he gave them to me instead."
"Seriously?" Valerie couldn't help but gawk at her newest pair of toys. She didn't even know that one of the Murphy family's golden boys was dumb enough to try to fight their Deputy Chief at some point. Something like that surely would've made the rounds within sorcerer society, but apparently, it didn't. "Thanks! I'll make good use of them!"
"There's also another thing."
"What?"
"I'm going to be personally overseeing your training up until the day of the operation. I'm not going to lie to you, this operation is probably going to be a tough one, and I want to make sure that you're ready when it happens."
"Sounds good to me!" The blonde smirked.
It had been a while since Chief Chandler had personally trained the young woman. Thanks to her position as a station Chief, she never really had the time for it. But considering the circumstances, it did make a lot of sense.
To be honest, Valerie was still shocked to learned that those three sorcerers they hung out with back at the beach were more than likely the Iznana thugs who kidnapped her friend. It was hard to believe that people like them were involved with such an illustrious group of criminals.
"Don't get too excited, kiddo." The brunette then laughed. "I plan on working you to the bone. Since you can't use your 'fire magic', we're going to be working on perfecting your body reinforcement technique. You're still not ready for me to teach you overdrive yet, but everything else is still on the table. With any luck, you might be able to do total armament by the end of the month."
"You mean that thing that Aunt Lilian can do where she completely reinforces her skin with mana?" Valerie then asked.
"Yes. You're going to need it for when you run into this secret relative of ours. I still haven't found out who exactly he is yet, but with my help, you should be able to deal with getting hit by his fire. Honestly, it's pretty much the only spell that will keep you alive long enough to beat him."
"Gotcha."
Needless to say, but Valerie was certainly looking forward to this. A big operation like this was going to be her next big opportunity to distinguish herself. It was already a foregone conclusion that the members of the APS were going to be involved in it, and she couldn't miss a chance like this. If everything played out the way that she hoped, she would finally be able to join their ranks if she had a good enough performance.
'Man, I'm so ready for this!' The tall blonde thought to herself as the two McKenna family sorcerers continued looking through the armory for some new toys for Valerie to test out.
-(o)-
[The Next Morning]
"It's good to see you up so bright and early, Tree Boy!" Reyna said to Cyrus with an uncomfortably cheery smile on her face the moment he walked into the room. How the woman could be so chipper at a time like this was completely beyond him.
For some unknown reason, Cyrus was ordered to come to what he was told was Nick's personal office at the ungodly hour of five o'clock in the morning to begin his first treatment session of the day. And to say that the young 'tree magic' user was not happy about it would be putting it mildly. Not only was he up well before the sun even had the chance to peek over the horizon, but he was also hungry as all hell. The fact that he wasn't allowed to eat anything until this treatment session was over and done with certainly didn't help his mood in the slightest.
"Are you people just going to keep calling me that the whole time I'm here?" Cyrus asked the tattooed woman with a slight frown on his face.
"Yeah, probably…."
"Whatever."
Cyrus took a moment to sit down on the large sofa next to the door while looking at the two sorcerers standing before him. It was still weird to him how normal everyone in Elaine's group was. Like seriously, these people were all members of a global crime syndicate. But you wouldn't be able to tell based on how they all acted. They were nothing like what he imagined them to be.
"So, how are we going to do this?" Cyrus then asked as he got comfortable in his seat.
"It's actually really a simple process." Nick began after sitting down in the ornate leather chair behind his desk. "Me and Reyna are going to use our powers to beef up your body."
"How exactly?"
"With this!" The woman interjected with a smile while holding up what Cyrus recognized to be a large blood transfusion bag that was filled all the way to the top. He had never seen one that big before, even back when he was still in the hospital. It was probably one that was custom-made.
"Is that-"
"An entire liter of blood? Why yes, yes it is!"
"Okay…. And how's that going to help me?"
"Basically…." Nick began with a cool tone while looking at Cyrus directly in the eye. "Reyna here is going to use her 'blood magic' to put this enhanced oxygenated blood inside your body before I use my 'healing magic' on you. Once this new blood is in your system, she's going to keep it circulating while I use it to rapidly accelerate your healing. And once I'm done, she's going to take all of the bad blood out of your system and leave you with only the good stuff. Of course, this is all going to be happening while I repair your muscles piece by piece."
"That's it?" Cyrus couldn't help but question after hearing that explanation. "That sounds way too simple."
Nick couldn't help but laugh at the comment. "I assure you, it's way more complicated than that. But I'm sparing you the little details regarding mana-enriched red blood cells, polycythemia, accelerated muscle growth, and circulatory overload. What you really need to know, at least for now, is that when working in tandem, our magics can dramatically repair your body a lot faster than what I can do alone."
"How exactly does your magic work anyway?" Cyrus looked to Reyna while the woman took a moment to adjust herself on the corner of the desk. "I've never heard of it before Elaine told me about it."
"Well, to keep it simple, I'm able to control any and all blood that has my mana in it."
"What els-"
Before Cyrus could finish his next question, Reyna held up her hand with her index finger pointed toward the ceiling. The 'tree magic' user then watched as the woman's blood quite literally emerged out of her skin and began floating in the air above her finger.
What happened next was truly something to behold. Without so much as a word, Reyna began reshaping and manipulating the small ball of blood into numerous shapes and sizes. At first, she made a simple arrow. But as the seconds passed, the 'blood magic' user began to make more and more complex and elaborate shapes. It was obvious to Cyrus that something like this took an amazing amount of mana control to do. Even Ayako, who was a skilled 'water magic' user in her own right, had a hard time making complex shapes out of the water that she used when out on missions. It was the reason why she usually stuck to balls and simple streams.
"I can use the blood that I can control in any way that I see fit. I can harden it, make weapons with it, and a few other things too."
"That's actually pretty cool."
"Thanks!" The tattooed woman gave him a smile. "Oh, and you want to know what else? I can even control other people with it. It depends on a few factors, but so long as a person consumes some of my blood, I can use that blood to infiltrate their circulatory system and take over the rest."
"That's…terrifying." Cyrus said. "And not at all reassuring."
That comment alone made it very clear to Cyrus about the situation he was about to put himself in. If what he gathered so far was correct, the moment Reyna's blood entered his system, she would have full control over his body. If she wanted to, the woman could turn him into a living puppet, and he would be unable to stop it.
'I'm starting to have second thoughts about this.' Cyrus mentally groaned while wondering if it was too late to back out of this. But not even a second later, the image of Freddy's body flashed across his mind.
No, he couldn't back out now. He was already committed to it. The entire point of his even coming all the way out here in the first place was to train himself to the point where he would be able to avenge his friend's death. He had come too far to all of a sudden get cold feet. He needed to get stronger so that he could take down Hannah; that's all that mattered. Anything else was trivial in the grand scheme of things.
Reyna couldn't help but chuckle at the look on Cyrus's face. "Don't worry, you have nothing to fear, Tree Boy. I'm not going to turn you into a living puppet, or anything like that. That particular pleasure is reserved only for my enemies."
"Well, since we're already here, I guess that I should explain my magic to you as well." Nick suddenly added with a smile. "As I'm sure that you already know, I'm a type-3 'healing magic' user."
Cyrus took a second to mentally recall all of the information that he knew regarding the different categories of 'healing magic' users Freddy had told him about. From what he remembered, there were three different types in total. Type-1 'healing magic' users were the kind that could only use their magic to heal themselves. Type-2 were the kind that could only heal other people. And type-3, the rarest of them all, were the ones who could use their magic to heal both themselves and others.
"I heard that people with that kind of magic are few and far between." Cyrus said to Nick after coming out of his thoughts.
Nick simply nodded his head in response. "That's right. There are only three in my family right now. And as far as I'm aware, there are fewer than a hundred of us in the whole country. I would even go so far as to say that there's fewer than a thousand of us across the planet."
That certainly made sense in Cyrus's opinion. After all, 'healing magic' was the rarest arcane magical attribute out there. It was the reason why they were so in demand across the planet. And just like when it came to 'plant magic', it was impossible to predict what specific type of 'healing magic' an individual user would have.
"Some people would say that Nick is probably one of the most valuable sorcerers in the country. You wouldn't believe how many people try to contact him every month to try and get him to come work for them." Reyna then added while patting her husband on the shoulder. "Or the number of people who keep trying to buy his sperm just to have a chance at getting it for themselves."
Cyrus didn't know how to feel about that last comment. Thanks to recent events, the whole idea of going after sorcerers just for the DNA left a sour taste in his mouth. But he did have the sense to see the logic behind such a pursuit. Most people would no doubt love to have a skilled 'healing magic' user in their family. Just like how people would love to have his 'tree magic's' mana absorption capabilities.
"Evan said that the Chapman family is under the protection of the MacNamaras." The young man then said, after remembering something his friend told him about not too long ago. "I'm guessing that's why you work directly for Elaine."
"That, plus our families are really close. My great-grandfather and Elaine's grandfather are practically best friends. And my father worked with her mother before she and the Commissioner moved to DPA headquarters."
"I see…."
Nick then decided that it was time to switch gears a bit. They only had a limited amount of time before Cyrus was scheduled to get with Quintin for his morning training session. So, the clean-cut 'healing magic' user wanted to get this conversation over with as soon as possible.
"That being said, even with my magic, there's only so much that I can do. 'Healing magic' only works for physical injuries, and barely a few illnesses, depending on how early we catch it. But, it's more than good enough for what we're about to do."
"You still won't be able to get rid of these scars for me, though, right?" Cyrus couldn't help but ask.
"Sadly, I can't." Nick frowned and shook his head. "The result would be the same either way. My magic basically uses mana to create new cells and tissue where the originals were. So, even if I was able to get to you right after that dumbass, Hannah, cut your face up, you'd still have them."
Cyrus absentmindedly placed his hand over his forehead while silently lamenting over what he had just heard. He already suspected as much, but hearing it said out loud did hurt a bit. He really was going to be stuck with these scars for the rest of his life. An eternal reminder that was Hannah's property and one of her toys.
"Gotcha."
"So, do you have further questions?" Nick then asked the young man.
"How long is this going to take?"
"Thirty minutes at the most. Since it's your first time, we're going to need to take it slow. But once I've figured out how your body works, it'll go much quicker over the next month or so."
"Alright." Cyrus nodded in understanding. That didn't sound as bad as he thought. With any luck, he might even be able to get some food in his stomach before the sun came up. "So, how do we start this whole thing?"
"With you drinking this!" Reyna then said as she tossed Cyrus a bottle of Gatorade that somehow appeared out of nowhere.
Cyrus looked down at the bottle for a second before looking back up and giving the woman a perplexed look. "Um…I'm confused…."
"I already mixed some of my blood into that before we came in here. All you need to do is chug that bottle, and I'll be able to take control of your circulatory system."
"God, this is so weird…." The young man couldn't help but say. Was he really going to have to drink a contaminated sports drink for this? Didn't this technically count as a biological weapon or something?
"You get used to it."
"Are your teeth also a result of your magic?"
"Man, you're just full of questions, huh?" The tattooed woman said with another laugh. "But no, they're not. I had these bad boys put in to help me out when I want to drink some of Nick's blood. They were actually a wedding present from the Boss!"
"You…what?" Cyrus raised an eyebrow.
Reyna gave the 'tree magic' user a casual shrug before continuing.
"Thanks to my magic, I can consume other people's blood without any issues. It's one of the ways that I can store extra blood in my body when I need some more. And before you get started with the vampire jokes, no, I don't need to drink blood to survive. It's more like a snack if anything. But for the record, I only drink my husband's. That's it!"
"And since I can heal myself right after, it's not that big of a deal for me." The 'healing magic' added a bit too calmly for Cyrus's liking.
"Isn't that like…really dangerous?"
"It would be, but Reyna's completely immune to any blood-borne pathogens that she might consume. It's one of he benefits of her magic. Kinda like how my 'healing magic' automatically keeps my face clear of any acne or other blemishes."
That certainly did make sense, or at least it did in Cyrus's opinion. Every magical attribute came with its own unique benefits that its users could take advantage of. It was kind of like how 'beast magic' users had their senses enhanced through their companions. Or how 'fire magic' users were naturally resistant to high temperatures and could never feel the cold. The fact that he could manipulate trees that he himself didn't create was also one of those native benefits.
"Man, the more I learn about magic, the crazier it sounds. We really do live in a comic book universe, don't we?"
"I guess so." Nick replied with a smile. Unknown to Cyrus, the clean-cut 'healing magic' user appreciated the fact that he shared his thoughts on how crazy the world they lived in was. "Anyways, are you ready to get started?"
"Yeah, sure, whatever." Cyrus replied with a nod. "Let's do it."
The next thirty minutes or so was truly one of the most bizarre things Cyrus had ever experienced.
The combined feelings of having your blood pulled out of your body while your muscles were repaired bit by bit was a sensation that the young man would never be able to properly describe. It was like being dunked in a warm bath while his entire body was being rebuilt from the ground up. Not only could he feel every single one of his muscle fibers, but he could also feel every last drop of blood that was flowing through his veins. The new mana-enriched blood that Reyna was pumping into Cyrus made it feel as though new life was being breathed into him. And Nick's use of his 'healing magic' made it seem as though new muscles had replaced his old ones.
Once the treatment session was finally over and done with, Cyrus was amazed at how good he now felt. It was no wonder that Evan was such a fan of this whole thing; he felt like an entirely new man. Actually, he felt even better than that. Cyrus would go so far as to say that he never felt this good in his entire life. All of his lingering aches and pains were now completely gone. Not only that, he felt completely reenergized and refreshed. He still had the scars all over his body, but aside from that, everything felt much better than it had before.
"Alright, go get yourself some breakfast." Nick said to the 'tree magic' user. "You still have another two hours before it's time for you to go see Quintin. Take it from me, you don't want to deal with the training he's about to put you through on an empty stomach."
"Thanks." Cyrus said to the couple with a grin. "I really appreciate the help."
"Don't mention it."
With that, Cyrus left the office and made his way to the kitchen to grab his pre-prepared meal out of the fridge, leaving Nick and Reyna behind to discuss a couple of things that were on their minds.
"It's hard to believe that he's the one who's going to help us open up the gate." The tattooed woman said to the man with a smirk. "You wouldn't think that he's capable of making a world tree just by looking at him."
"I agree." Nick replied. "But hey, looks can be deceiving. He's still not ready yet, but once he has his overdrive skill, he should be able to do it no problem."
"Not that he has much choice now that my blood's in him. Hopefully, we'll be able to convince him without too much of a hassle. I'd hate to have to turn him into another puppet. Plus, we have Elaine's little backup plan to work with just in case."
"It should be fine. He'll come to our side soon enough, just like everyone else will. We're going to need him to make sure that these damn mongrels learn their place."
"True, true…."
That was the last thing that the sorcerer couple said before leaving the office to go handle some business of their own. They wouldn't need to be back here until later that day. So, for now, it was time for them to take care of a few odds and ends that Elaine needed to get done by the end of the day. After all, there was no rest for the wicked, as they say.
-(o)-
Character Profile: Reyna
Name: Reyna Pearl Chapman (née [redacted])
Alias:[redacted]
Gender: Female
Age: 27
Birthday:[redacted]
Birthplace:[redacted]
Height: 68 in.
Weight: 157 lbs.
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Hazel
Race: Hispanic
Magic: Blood
Occupation: Bodyguard, DPA Agent, Iznana Operative, Iznana Assassin
Stat Chart: B (+)
-Physical Strength - 3
-Intelligence - 3
-Magic Amount - 4
-Magical Control - 5
-Magic Sensing - 4.5
-Special - 5
Fun Fact:
-Favorite food is steak.
-Thinks that B-type blood tastes the best.
-Elaine is her favorite musical artist.
-Knows that Nick's mother secretly hates her.
-All of her tattoos are made with her own blood.
-Firmly believes that aliens are real, but she can't prove it yet.