He barely registered the person that came flying to him and had stood there like an idiot. Lucklily, Thane was there, forcing Wyatt into the splits for the second time that week. Wyatt made a sound in between and wince and a growl, muttering, "I hate you, Thane."

"I can't help it if you stand there like a target for the firing squad. Didn't I explain to you already?" Thane sounded a tiny bit angry.

Wyatt shook his head and struggled back up. He gawked at the attacker, not because of his looks, but because of what the teen was doing.

The boy, who looked around eighteen or so, was walking up the trunk of one of the dead trees. Not in the sweating, nerve-wracking workout way, but in the Superman-defies-gravity-once-more way. He walked up the thick tree the way normal people walked on a sidewalk, his hands swinging leisurely at his sides.

Thane had quieted once more, before saying, "Gravity Magic. This boy has to be altering the gravity around him. Not everyone can do that as easily."

Wyatt ignored Thane's useful comment. "Who are you?"

"Damien Rogue," the boy brushed his perfect, eight-hours-spent-on brown hair out of his eyes. His eyes were menacingly hazel. "I was sent here to kill you."

Wyatt's stomach flip-flopped. "Royce knows I'm not dead?" he asked weakly.

Damien shook his head. "I'm with the Purgatory Brothers. Our job is to find the Magis and kill them. We didn't know of a Death Magi's existence until that little incident with the pedestrian. Now that we know you are the strongest and most dangerous Magi of all," he drew out a knife, the reflection glinting wickedly off his eyes, "We're going to kill you. That's my job. "

"Hypocrite," Wyatt retorted.

Damien raised his eyebrows.

Wyatt suddenly felt an immense amount of pressure press against him. He felt his body hit against a tree, gritting his teeth when the bark dug into his skin as he tried to stand up.

Damien didn't give him the chance. As soon as Wyatt had even tried to move, the weight against him shifted again and he tumbled another direction, into another tree.

"Ugh, why did this fight have to happen in a forest?" Thane groaned. "You're at a disadvantage here, Wyatt."

The gravity kept Wyatt from moving as he argued, "I can't move at the moment, Thane!"

Wyatt glanced at Damien, who stood upside down on a branch, his arms folded and hair in place. "This is boring. You suck for someone who's supposed to be a hundred times stronger than me."

Thane snarled. "That little piece of..." he let out a string of expletives that made Wyatt wince. "Send that kid down to hell!"

He groaned. "This guy is strong," he muttered.

"So!? Royce is stronger than you! You gonna give up now just because someone you have to defeat has a higher leve of magic? Kill him! He started it! Go avenge Chase!"

Wyatt grit his teeth. "Fine, fine, fine! I'll kill him. At least....I'll defeat him."

Thane chuckled. Wyatt let out a breath. "Help me fight, Thane."

"Wish granted, Wyatt." 

Wyatt prepared himself in a fighting stance and rolled his eyes.

"Listen, Wyatt. You may have thought you only had one type of magic, but it's not true. When I was alive, I had two types of magic that helped me conquer the world. I was Death. Yet, I was also something else. I could control the very thing that controlled the world. Time. I was a master of Death and Time. I think Time would do well to fight Gravity better than Death."

"What other secrets are you hiding from me, Thane?"

"You'll find out soon enough, my dear Host. Soon enough."

Wyatt stood up. He raised his arms. In sync with Thane, he commanded, "Fast Forward."

Damien looked shocked as the gravity he had been controlling suddenly disappeared. He fell, his arms flailing as he fell. With a grunt, he fell onto the forest floor. Immediately, Damien stood up.

"Slow."

He could see Damien's mouth slowly open in a curse as he could hear Thane order, "Take advantage of this. Attack while he is vulnerable."

Wyatt charged forward, grabbing a switchblade from his pocket(he never went without one). Wyatt slashed upward, cutting Damien's right eye. At the same time, his spell broke. Damien came to life, crying out and holding his hand over his eye. Blood seeped between his fingers and ran down his arm.

"Hmm, looks like we took out his eye," Thane murmured.

"No shoot, Sherlock," Wyatt grumbled.

Damien looked shocked. "How...?" he whispered, stumbling forward, before falling to his knees and passing out.

Wyatt walked over to Damien's unconcious body and bent down. He noticed the blood pooling around his eye. It was gruesome.

"Now's your chance, Wyatt. Kill him. Kill Damien Rogue and end his life."

Wyatt shook his head. "He lost. I'm done."

"Mistake number one," someone behind him said.

Wyatt spun around, in time to hear a gunshot and feel a bullet ripping through his shoulder. He fell. As Wyatt tried his best to ignore the screaming pain in his shoulder, a shock went through him when he heard Damien groan and get up next to him. Two voices began to talk.

"Thank God you came, Drake," Damien said with a relieved tone, "The bastard just about killed me."

A voice grunted, this time a little deeper, "I thought you said you could take him on yourself, Rogue."

Damien stuttered, "It...er...turned out to be harder than I thought."

"Ah, well," Drake paused for a minute, "What happened to your right eye?"

"It was a knife. He slowed me down and then attacked with a switchblade. I'm blind in it now."

Drake laughed. "We'll get you cleaned up as soon as we're done."

"Thank you."

"We are two of the Elite Three. No need to respect me, Rogue."

"You are Two. I am Three. Saxon is One. I am the lowest."

"Higher than the other ten."

Wyatt noticed Damien's slight smile. "Guess so."

"Let's get rid of the Death Magi."

Wyatt tried to stand up. Someone's boot came cracking down on his head. He hunched down, blood trickling from his mouth. He half-conciously felt the duo drag him to the nearest tree trunk and tie him up, the rope cutting into his wrists. He opened his eyes and groggily witnessed the two grin at each other as Damien lit a match and tossed it onto the floor.

The last thing Wyatt saw was the forest floor light on fire. It spread quickly until he was surrounded by heat.

Then everything went black once more.

*****

Mystery Person 2: Star Lite

Star Lite sat on the roof of her house, the wind blowing her hair around her face. Her mind wondered about her father, if he wanted her back. She quickly shut the idea and silently laughed at the irony of Duke Lighting pleading for her to come back.

"Star!" somebody yelled.

She turned around, just in time to find her companion Torch running up to her. As usual, the boy held a pack of matches in his hand. His headphones were wrapped around his neck. Hence his nickname, Brandon Mac had a forever obsession with fire and anything flammable.

The wind blew at Torch's black hair.

Star sniffed. "Something's burning."

Torch went up to her. "That's what I'm telling you. The Purgatory Brothers set fire to the forest. I think it was Two and Three, if I remember correctly."

"Damn it," Star cursed. "Get Isabell. We have to leave ASAP."

Torch nodded and ran back into the attic, downstairs to where Isabell was. Soon, the fourteen year old was on the roof with Star.

"What's the case this time?" Isabell asked. "Angry hornets escaping from Royce's place? Children trying to get your autograph? More babysitting?"

"Purgatory Brothers setting fire to the forest," Star replied. "We should hurry before this incident gets out of hand."

The trio left and began to run towards the inferno waiting for them. Star saw her highlights glinting in the sunlight. She drew her favorite dagger out. It had a blood red grip, with a purple gem embedded in the hilt. Though she hated her father, this dagger was a precious piece of jewel to her.

They broke through the trees and Star found herself in the middle of a heated storm. Flames rose thirty feet in the air, causing even Torch's eyes to water.

"My God, it's worse than I thought!" Isabell yelled.

Star scanned her surroundings to make sure no one was there except for Torch and Isabell to withness her magic. If anyone found out...she shuddered, remembering the result of the last person who'd tattled on her to Duke. Her sharp eyes caught a small, slight shape in the fire.

"Torch, Isabell, there's someone with us," Star stated, "Get the person out of here."

They nodded and dashed into the fire. A moment later, Star heard a startled scream. She tensed and ran into a wall of flames, the heat blinding her until she passed to the other side and witnessed the reason why Isabell had been so shocked. Her hand flew to her mouth in horror.

There, tied up to a tree, was a person, his body limp and covered in sweat while ropes bounded him tightly to a tree. She saw blood and looked away, walking to his body.

Star pushed past Torch and knelt down to look at his face. Through her teared vision, she could make out...blue hair...a bandage on one cheek...and...wait. Was that the Mark of Royce on his other cheek?

She fell back and moved backwards. "No..." she whispered. It couldn't be him, yet this person looked so similar to the person who'd convinced her to run away, the person who'd showed her the true, ugly face of reality.

Was he Wyatt Clark?

Star shook with grief and began to tear up more than the small blurry amounts before. He made her leave...yet he still bore the symbol of her godfather?

"Torch...Isabell...get him out of here. I don't want to see him."

They mutely nodded and began to untie Wyatt's hands. He groaned and his eyes fluttered open slightly. Star looked away and walked to the middle.

"Look out!" Isabell shrieked. She looked up and froze at the tree falling towards her, the two ton tree coming to her rapidly.

Everything after seemed to be in slow motion. She watched in horror as Torch and Isabell screamed, the tree falling towards her, and then someone slammed into her from behind as she fell away, the tree crashing to the forest floor.

She looked over and saw Wyatt fall towards her and crash onto the floor next to her. His skin was pale and clammy, and his blood soaked the ground.

Without a word, Isabell and Torch walked over. "Are you okay?"

"Get him out of here," she murmured.

They obeyed quietly, taking Wyatt by the arms and leaping away.

When Star was sure that everyone was gone, she raised her arms. "Rain!"

The clouds thundered ominously and they poured rain, sheets after sheets drowning out the fire in the forest. The air steamed with heated mist.

Star let out a breath, realizing that she hadn't breathed normally since she'd seen Wyatt again. As Star began to walk back to their house, she began to recall the incident that had driven her to run away.

*****

Star's Past, 2130

It's two years from now. She wore a dark blue dress with expensive diamond jewelry. She waited patiently for the guests to arrive, her nails digging into the wood of the windowsill as she sat next to the window.

She heard the doorbell ring and looked through the thinly crafted glass and saw two figures. Her father came out from his room and walked briskly down the stairs and opened the double doors, welcoming the guests.

One had silver hair, his face still looking the same since the last time she saw him. Royce Hunter looked as timeless as always, his clothes messy, eyes still as slanted as before. The other person was shorter, his hair was an odd shade of blue, his eyes silver as a full moon.

Duke smiled. "Welcome, Royce."

Royce smiled back. Star noticed the tight, forced lines of happiness on his face.

"Well, then, you two kids have fun," Duke said, walking out of the room with Royce.

Wyatt sighed and slumped down on a chair. He pulled back his sleeve to reveal a bloody bandage.

She was shocked at the severity of it. "What happened?"

"Royce did this," Wyatt said. "It's fine. We get this once a day at least," he stood up and brushed the dirt off his pants, "I'm going out."

She was shocked. "Royce did it? But he's my godfather!"

"So?"

"He couldn't have! He and my father are harmless!"

"Tell that to Duke Lighting. I'll prove it to you." He looked towards the room. They tiptoed to the room where Duke and Royce were.

She made out Duke's low voice. "The operations are almost complete. I just need to hand Star over to Satan and he'll be all powerful."

She clapped her hands over her mouth. He couldn't...

Royce stood up. "Plans made. I'm going to leave, Lighting." Royce walked out of the room. "Let's leave, Wyatt."

Wyatt followed him out of the door.

Duke walked over. "What's wrong, Star?"

She wiped her tears. "Nothing, Father. Absolutely nothing."

That night, Star left. She cut her hair, put on her missing brother's old clothes, and took her knife out before slipping out the window.

The wind blew as she ran, far, far away.

*****

Star snapped out of her memory. As she neared the house, there was a bitter taste in her mouth.

She opened the door and went into the kitchen, where Torch was busy trying to bandage him up. "For God's sake, stay still!" he shouted. "That bullet wound needs to be covered even after the bullet is removed!"

Star finallly cleared her throat. "I'm back."

"Great," Isabell said, twirling a knife like a baton. "Help us, he's so stubborn it's like trying to pin a worm down. She shook her head, "It's hard."

Star walked over and punched Wyatt. He fell down, his eyes fluttering shut.

"Stitch him up. I need him to be fully alive when we use him for Operation: Killer Mode."