The next morning Sarkas and company were ready to start the day long drive back home. Katie and Sarkas loaded up the van and everyone started the long goodbyes.
"Don't get into too much trouble now." Katie told Maddie as she hugged the girl.
"Don't worry, I'm working on my stealth." Maddie told her.
"Any last words of wisdom?" Sarkas asked Brad.
"Just one thing that's been bugging me since you guys got here." he said, "You two act like you're twins."
"Really?" they said together.
"Exactly what I mean! That's like the tenth time you've done that in the last few days. Or like an old married couple! You're like inside each others head. It's kinda’ freaky, I mean you've only known each other for a few months right? You seem like you've been together your whole lives."
"If we had been together our whole lives I'd actually be able to beat her in a fight once in a while." Sarkas said.
"I'd still kick your butt." Katie smiled and shook her head.
"Meeh." Sarkas brought his hand up playfully and Katie caught his wrist.
"See?!" Brad cried, "Her hand came up practically before Sarkas even moved!"
"Come on kids!" Lili called from the van. They yelled out their final partings and they headed back home.

"Welcome back." Mr. Yami greeted the two as they walked into the gym two days after they got back from up North, "Did you have fun?"
"It was great!" Sarkas said as he set his empty cup of Star Bucks near the wall. Katie set hers down next to his. The one she had conned him into buying for her.
"I hope you have not gotten rusty on your vacation." he said with his usual voice that seemed way too strong for one his age.
"I think the random cat fights cleared off any rust that had gotten us." Katie told him.
"Good. Then lets do some warm ups then I am going to teach you the last use of your power. So up you go." he pointed to the track. They jumped up in one leap. It was almost weird to feel the strange flight again. They had been almost normal for a few days and now they were back into the old routine.
They ran laps with forty pound weights on, then did a hundred thrusts on the wooden sword to get them going. Sarkas realized they really had gotten stronger. He was dead by the end of the workout but he had been at the same state at half that work a few months before. He and Katie took a good drink of water then leaned against the wall and caught their breath back while Mr. Yami talked.
"Congratulations. I am about to teach you the last technique you can use with your power. After this it will all be refining, sharpening and toning your skills to perfection. We will be working harder, longer, details will become the main focus. Attacks are your strong point but now I must teach you the defense. As I mentioned a while ago you can use your power to make a temporary shield around yourself or others if you like. It will help you greatly when the demons start to learn how to separate their power as well and throw bullets at you. As you will notice when we get into it that I must stress that it will only last a few seconds. If you put it up too early it will collapse before the attack gets to you and it will hit. If you put it up too late, half of it will break through or you will miss it all together and it will still get you."
"Almost sounds like we'd be better off just sticking to jumping and dodging as our defense." Katie said.
"You will need this in time, mark me on that." Mr. Yami gave them his famous it's pointless to argue with me, cold stare, "So get up and start on it." The two pulled themselves up and awaited instructions.
"Gather your energy in your right hand. Extend it as if to make a sword for yourself, but when you get it to the end give it a little boost and make it expand out to the sides." Mr. Yami said as he slowly walked behind them.
Sarkas had done the sword thing tons of times. The black light came out of his hand and when he had about two feet out he gave it a push with some extra energy. Instead of going out it went forward! In seconds the sword became a line that almost went all the way down to the end of the big gym. Sarkas cried out in surprise and let go of it, making it disappear right before it hit the wall. Katie tried to hold in a laugh but didn't try too hard.
"You try it!" Sarkas snapped at her.
Katie smiled at the challenge and extended the black light in her hand. Instead of just keeping it going like Sarkas did, she stopped it for a moment when it reached two feet. Then she took time to get some extra energy in her. When she let it go, the whole pole in her hand exploded every which way and made them both jump back. Sarkas grinned and she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Good." Mr. Yami said anyway, "You have the idea down you just need to perfect it. Ms. Walker had the right idea. Stop it first then let it go, but when you do you still have to control it. Do not let it go wild, spread it out. Again."
They separated a little more this time incase another shot went wild. Sarkas extended the energy and paused. He imagined a wall right in front of the end of his power sword.
"HA!" he shot out the remaining energy and guided it, forcing it to hit the non existent wall then curl back around him. To his surprise it actually worked! The power went up, down and to the sides but stayed in a thin layer like a shield. He kept feeding it until it had reached the floor and well above and around him, but after a few seconds it stopped on its own. Sarkas felt the energy draining out of him and stopped it.
"Now you know why you can only do it for a few seconds." Mr. Yami said as Sarkas bent over and rested his hands on his knees while he tried to get his breath back, "The more power you release into that, the weaker you get. For the time. Ms. Walker?"
"Imagine a wall right in front of it." Sarkas suggested to her.
Katie nodded and tried it. Her shield wasn't as smooth as Sarkas's had been but they were both feeling pretty proud to have gotten it after only two tries. They practiced that until they got it as wide and smooth as they could using the least amount of energy that they could manage.
They got off about one in the afternoon. They were still on Christmas break schedule so Mr. Yami was letting them have the afternoons off. "Ms. Walker may I speak to you a moment before you leave?" he said gently while Sarkas was drowning himself in the drinking fountain.

"What's up?" Katie asked stretching as she walked over.

"The demons are getting stronger. I fear they may soon find a way to overcome the light."

"How would they?" this was freaking her out.

"I do not know." Mr. Yami shook his head then sighed and turned to Sarkas, "Mr. Carson!"

"Yes sir?" Sarkas got to his feet and stood at attention.

"Listen up! The effects of power on people, lesson three! A small amount will heal them, as you have seen. But a larger amount, around the size of an attack will render the victim unconscious for days and is likely to paralyze them for up to several years. Lesson four! Should the person all ready have some other darkness in them an attack will counter the other power. They will both disappear from the victim BUT, should you hit them with more than what is inside of them the other side affects can and will occur. Class is now over!" he turned and walked away.

"I hope we don't have a test on that tomorrow." Sarkas muttered as they soaked it all in and headed out.

"No kidding. What are you doing this afternoon?" Katie asked as they walked home.
"Nothing, why?" Sarkas said.
"Feel up to going to the mall about six?" Katie asked.
"Why? Is there some potential demon threat there?"
"No." Katie paused, "I was gonna invite Briana to come along."
"Really?!" Sarkas perked up, "I haven't seen her around for a while, I'm there!" he grinned.
Katie smiled back and nodded.
They all met later that night at the mall. Sarkas and Briana hit if off just like Katie knew they would. She tried to stay in the shadows and let them talk. That night when she got home she called Maya to tell her what she had done. The two had swapped numbers the night of the party. They talked for a long time. Maya assured her she had done the right thing and everything would turn out all right. Katie hung up feeling a lot better.

School started again. Towards the end of January second quarter ended along with Biology. Sarkas was bummed he wasn't going to have that class anymore with his friends, but he found out the beginning of third quarter he had English with Katie again. That was the only thing they had together though. Sarkas got switched to Geometry third hour so he had a different lunch than she did. The most stressful part of the first day of third quarter was figuring out where he was going to sit for lunch. Thankfully he spotted some guys he had known in his gym class and they welcomed him to their table.
Katie was accepted back into the social life as well. She sat with her old friends at lunch and they got to talking like nothing had ever happened. Every thing was back as it should be, every one was happy, life was good. Katie got Sarkas and Briana together once again. They all went bowling and had a good time. February started and Valentines day stuff started popping up every where.
"So are you gonna do something with Briana on Valentines day?" Katie asked Sarkas on their way to training about a week before the appointed date.
"I don't think so." Sarkas answered, "She's really nice and a good friend but I honestly can't see myself going out with her." he smiled and shrugged.
"Really?" Katie was surprised, "Then what are you going to do that night?"
"Stay home and watch T.V like I do every valentines while my parents go out dancing." he said.
"Your parents dance?" this was new to her.
"Oh yeah, that’s how they met. That's why every Valentines day or anniversary they go out dancing," Sarkas grinned, "Gives me an excuse not to make them dinner or something. I think they're doing some kind of tournament thing that day."
"Fun! Do you think they'll win?"
"I'm not sure. They won a bunch of tournaments back home so I'd have to think they have a good chance."
"Cool! You must be a really good dancer too with your parents having all those trophies and everything!" Katie grinned.
"I don't dance." Sarkas smirked.
"Oh come on! Teach me how to do the tango or something!" she started hopping and twirling around on the sidewalk in front of him.
Sarkas laughed, "No, that's okay!"
She wanted to tease him more but they reached the gym at that point.

"So how do I look?!" Lili waltzed into the living room in between Sarkas and the television. She had on her famous navy blue dress that went over one shoulder and had strings on the bottom, "Do I look like a babe?"
Sarkas raised an eyebrow, "I really wouldn't know mom."
"Oh come on!" Lili pleaded.
"Just tell your mother what she wants to hear." Chris said walking in with his snazzy suit on and kissed Lili, "You look beautiful dear."
"Good boy." she patted her husband’s head, "See, I have him trained well." she told Sarkas, "We'll be out late. I have my cell if you need anything. Have a good night!"
"Yeah, have fun!" Sarkas waved as they headed towards the door.
"Don't wait up for us!" Chris called back as they went out.
Sarkas spent the next two hours flipping endlessly through channels filled with marathons and specials of lovey-dovey, romance movies and shows. He was actually a little relived when he heard his cell phone ring. He dashed up the stairs and picked it up.
"Carson, Walker, here. Now." Click.
Sarkas paused as the four word message processed then dug out his glasses and headed out to the driveway. Katie was coming out of her house at the same time. The black car was in the middle of the road, they went up to it and got in the back on opposite sides.
"That was such a deep conversation we all had." Sarkas said as they shut the doors.
"I was touched." Katie agreed. It only took them about five minutes to get to the gym by car. They ran in and as soon as they got passed the door black clothes were thrown into their arms.
"Change. The demons have appeared out by Nissawa." Mr. Yami said.
"Nissawa? That's like a half hour away." Katie said while she slipped on the black sweatshirt, "Why are they all the way out there?"
"If I knew I would tell you. That is why you must hurry. Mr. Carson I fixed your cape, hopefully it is to your liking."
"Lovely." Sarkas approved as he ushered them back out the door and into the car again.
"Nissawa? Isn't that were all the rich people around here live?" Sarkas asked as they crawled back into the car.
"Yeah, the city is huge too." Katie told him.
"All right lets go protect those little rich butts from black fiery descendents of hell!" Sarkas cheered.
"Woo! Bring on the pain!" she gave him a high five.
"We need some music or something to get pumped! Daemon, could ya hook us up with some tunes?" Sarkas asked the mysterious driver.
He reached over and turned on the radio. Opera music blasted through the car. Sarkas cried out in surprise and disgust, and Katie cracked up.
"Turn it off! Turn it off!" he pleaded until the driver reached over again and the vehicle became silent except for Katie's laughter.
She calmed down and wiped away a tear, "That was great. Sad, I always imagined valentines day as a romantic day with dinner and movie. Instead I'm on my way to beat up some demons."
"Tic tac?" Sarkas handed her a small box.
"Thanks!" she took one and popped it in.
"That takes care of the dinner, is there some drive in we can pop into quick?" Sarkas asked looking around.
Katie lost it again, "But there's no romance in the air!" she laughed.
Suddenly Daemon turned on the radio again to a station playing a sappy love song.
It was Sarkas's turn to laugh, "You're all right buddy."
Katie grinned and shook her head, "Okay okay but its not like a real date."
"We've got one boy and one girl off to have a good time doing what they do best, what more do you need for a date?" Sarkas asked.
"Anyone but you!" Katie pleaded.
"Oh that hurts!" Sarkas joked, putting a hand on his chest and leaning back like he had gotten hit.
Suddenly the car slowed down and stopped, "We're here." Daemon announced.
"All ready? It's only been like less than ten minutes." Katie said.
"We're here." he repeated. The doors opened on either side of them opened by themselves so the two crawled out.
"Maybe they came closer while we were driving." Sarkas suggested.
"No, this is definitely Nissawa, the mall is right over there." Katie pointed to the large building a few streets down. She watched as a car coming from that direction turned left down a side street when their lights suddenly went out. The street light above it was dark too, "They must be over there!" she said and started walking off.
Sarkas was looking the other way. A block down was another decent sized building with the words "Dance Partay" shining brightly on the roof. Why was that name so familiar?
"Kat?!" he called loudly, his voice shaking slightly.
"Yeah?" She turned around.
"They're not going down there." he told her.
"How do you know?" she jogged back to him and followed his eyes.
"This is why they came all the way out here. They're going after my parents. My parents are in there!" he pointed to the building.
"Oh my god. Lets go!" they took off running down the street.
"We have to get everyone out of there!" Sarkas said as they got closer.
"How?!"
"The electricity isn't out yet we can...get on a speaker or something and say there’s a bomb threat!"
"Sounds good to me." they stopped in front of the place, "I guess we just use the front door." Katie shrugged and they walked up the stairs and into the two story building.
They could hear faint, upbeat salsa music as they went in. Sarkas led the way, walking quickly towards the sound. Finally they came to a set of fancy doors. Peaking inside they saw a big dance floor with a low platform going all around it with tables and chairs. Everyone sitting around them was dressed up and looking nice. On the end was a longer table where a variety of men and women sat watching the two in the middle, and occasionally looking down to write something.
"Oh wow they're good." Katie whispered as she watched the couple spin around in the middle.
Sarkas could care less, his eyes were darting back and forth around the room. He didn't relax until he spotted his parents sitting at a table on the right.
"Should we just yell fire and wait for everyone to leave?" Katie whispered.
"No, we stand out like a sore thumb, my parents will recognize me in a heartbeat." Sarkas said back, "If we could get to the microphone over by the judges you could disguise your voice and get everyone out..." he said slowly.
Katie had half a mind to argue but she knew if it had been her parents and she ran into a building yelling fire because she needed to get everyone out so she could fight some demons no one could see, she would never leave the house again.
"Okay so how do we get over there?" they were running out of time.
"There." Sarkas pointed up to the high ceiling. Low lights were hanging down from the it. There was a central square above the dance floor and various pipes and thin beams going off to the different walls of the room. Sarkas looked up and saw one right above them with dim red lights to illuminate the doorway. He pointed it out to Katie then slowly crawled inside the room, "Jump on my signal." he whispered to her.
They didn't have to wait more than a few seconds when the music faded out and the dancers finished their performance. Everyone clapped and the judges all bent their heads to finish up their evaluations.
"Now!" that's when Sarkas sprung up and landed silently on the thin pipe a good twenty feet from the floor. He had been a little worried, but it had been a little easier landing on the six inch beam than the rope Mr. Yami had used to train them with. Katie landed next to him a split second later and the two scaled the pipe across the room until they were sitting on the main light system. The structure was nice and sturdy so the two could walk around without fear of it shaking.
The next song started and the next couple took the floor. Katie bent over to watch them through the small holes in the beams. Sarkas didn't care about that stuff, he had seen enough of it when he was younger. He walked to the edge and watched the judges. There was a pipe going right above them. Perfect.
"Come on." he whispered, but Katie purposely ignored him for a moment to continue watching the dancers.
"Kat, hurry up!" he hissed a little louder, "You gotta-" he stopped.
Katie's head snapped up. They both heard it. It was faint but it was there. A car alarm was going off in the parking lot. The demons were coming. Katie scrambled up and took off ahead of Sarkas along the pipe that lead to the judges table. She jumped down behind them causing a few people on the opposite of the room to gasp. She stood and grabbed the microphone, making sure to face away from the parental threat.
"Everyone get out now!" she said in a high squeaky voice, almost screaming, "There's a fi-" the microphone got cut off. The lights went out, the music stopped. Everything became black and silent. Then everyone started talking and moving around, trying to figure out what had happened. Katie jumped over the table of people and ran to the middle of the dance floor, "Everyone LEAVE NOW!!" she yelled as loud as she could. A few made a move towards the door but most just changed their tone from curious to worried. She slipped on her sun glasses so she could watch the people in detail as they walked around the room, slowly and casually making their way to the exit.
Sarkas ran back along the pipe so he was in the middle again. Putting on his glasses, he watched as his parents looked around cluelessly like everyone else. He sighed and was about to yell himself when something moved in the corner of his eye. He looked over and saw a demon crouching in the corner. As soon as he spotted it, it jumped out towards him. He ducked and rolled to the side as it flew past him. It landed and jumped again before Sarkas hardly had time to even get up. He landed in a crouched position and quickly summoned the power to his hand. A long line of it came out of his hand and he swung it at the oncoming black cloud. It dodged to the side and jumped off the light fixture.
Katie jumped slightly as the first demon landed on the edge of the dance floor, well away from her. She looked around as another came down on the other side. Then another to the left and to the right and two more until she was surrounded. Sarkas came down right next to her the next moment. The demons all stared at them, and thankfully they weren't making a move to the other people still milling around.
"So how long is it gonna take us to beat these guys?." Katie asked, her eyes darting around waiting for a sign of movement.
"I donno, let me get the situation straight." Sarkas said, "We're surrounded by a crowd of people and half a dozen demons."
"Yep."
"And if we start attacking thin air people are going to throw us in the nut house."
"More than likely."
"So we have to kick these guys butts while making it look natural."
"That about does it."
Sarkas bent one arm in front of him and put the other straight on top of it like a gun, pointed right at one of the demons, "Bring it on." he aimed down and a pin size black bead came out of his hand at the speed of a bullet. It hit the ground at the foot of the demon, causing it to jump up just as he had predicted. Sarkas followed it and shot two more bigger energy balls at it. Both hit their mark and the demon disappeared before it even hit the ground.
That set off the chain. The remaining five all launched themselves at the two in the middle. Sarkas formed the three foot sword in his hand. Unlike the first few times he had done this, this weapon had structure, almost even a texture to it. If someone looked at it in the light it looked like a black polished sword. The last few months Mr. Yami had been pressing them for form and density. This new weapon was harder to keep going but it was ten times stronger than the light saber wanna be that he had been producing the first few weeks.
Two of the demons came at him, one from each side. He turned to the first one and swung the sword from the floor up to the demon's chest, but it was still too far away and easily jumped back from the attack. He spun immediately to the other side and brought the sword from the side. The thing blocked with its own arm sword, but it was weaker than his new refined power. Sarkas added some pressure and he broke right through the demon. It paused long enough for him to swing it back and get it right where its neck would have been.
"Help!" Katie pleaded. She was in battle with three of them. Her whip came out and wrapped around one of them, sending it down then she kicked out at another. The last aimed an arm right at her face and she didn't have time to block. Sarkas reached over and blasted the demon with a power ball when it was only inches from her face.
"Thanks!" she breathed.
"Three down." Sarkas grinned and turned around, kicking the demon that had dodged him before across the floor.
"What are they doing?" a voice came from the crowd.
"What's going on it there?" another spoke up.
"They're eyes are starting to adjust to the dark." Katie warned.
"Grab my hand!" Sarkas ordered, putting one out towards her.
"Why?!" she put her free hand in his any way.
"It'll look more like we're dancing." he said and pulled her forward while stepping to the side so she went past him and was able to get the whip around the feet of the demon behind him. The demon fell and Sarkas reached over to grab her hand and together they pulled the demon and jumped to the side, so it slid across the floor into the other two. One of them jumped out of the way but the other didn't see it coming and went tumbling with its partner.
"Woo!"
The one that had jumped landed on the other side of them so Sarkas spun Katie around. She came around with her leg up and kicked the demon down onto the floor.
"Oh yeah, who's good? Who's good?!" Sarkas chanted.
"Behind you!" Katie warned.
"Down!" Sarkas told her, taking both her hands. She fell and he swung her under his legs. She kicked with both her legs at the demon's feet. It fell flat as Sarkas pulled her back under, and pushed her the other way then jumped up as the demon tried to cut his ankles off. He landed next to Katie who was still sitting on the ground but she had trapped one of the demons in her whip again. Sarkas jumped in and cut it right down with his sword.
"Booyah!"
Katie got up and they watched as the last two ran at them. One of them jumped up and the other continued to charge. Katie aimed at the one in the air. She sent two energy darts at it, but it spun around and one smashed into the ceiling while the other hit the corner of the light system. There was a few sparks and two seconds later the sprinkler system came on. Voices cried out and the last of the people in the room cleared out.
Sarkas ran at the other one. It attacked first, swinging an arm out at him. He ducked and swung out at its feet but it jumped high. he watched it and saw the other one was up there too. They had planned this to come down at the same time and get them both.
"Kat!" The two joined back up in the middle and watched as the two demons seemed suspended in time in the air. Sarkas reached over and took Katie's hand again. When they came down, the two ducked. Sarkas swung her around, so when the demons touched they had to instantly jump back again a few feet to avoid her swinging legs. He pulled her up close and both of them made the sword in their hands. As the demons took a few strides forward to meet the two in battle, Sarkas and Katie spun around and brought the swords down over each others shoulder so the demons poised to jump again where cut right down the shoulder.
The demons disappeared and every thing stood still. The room was quiet except for the sound of the rain against the floor and the warrior's breathing. Katie rested her arm on Sarkas's shoulder and leaned against him slightly so she didn't collapse then started laughing. That caused him to chuckle a little too.
"Who's good?" he asked.
"We are!" she smiled as the lights suddenly came back on. The two quickly reached to pull off their sun glasses before they were blinded. The music filled the room again and Katie leaned close to Sarkas, "Dance with me." she grinned, still full of adrenaline from the fight.
"You have to ask twice?" he took her hand, pulled it above her head and spun her around.
She laughed, "I thought you said you didn't dance!" she accused but slid across the slippery floor which ever way he led her.
"That's right. This night isn't really happening." he joked, grinning and taking her other hand too. Then went around and soon Sarkas started getting more into the music, "Man you suck!" he laughed at Katie's dancing skills.
"Shut up, you're doing all this fancy stuff!" she smiled and tried to keep up.
"Stop moving your legs all jerky like that!" he advised, "It's all smooth, it all flows, spiny!" he spun them around and the two laughed at the fun of it, "Stop!" he stopped suddenly but Katie leaned over like they were still going and floated back up close to him so their faces were only an inch or two away.
Sarkas grinned. He turned sharply, pulling her with. He did it again but this time she stepped with him, "Good!"
"HA!" she grinned and was soon stepping in time with him. They laughed and danced for a while. Both lost track of time but it didn't seem very long before they were too tired to go on.
"Come on, one mooore." Katie pleaded as they both sat back to back on the dance floor. The sprinklers had shut off at one point but they were still soaking wet.
"Naaaw, some other time." Sarkas told her.
"You owe me one, promise?" Katie smiled and looked back.
"Promise!" Sarkas reached back to pat her head lazily.
She grinned, "We should get back before your parents find out your were missing."
"Ah jeeze!" he darted up and the two went home.

"Brriiaaannaaaa!" Katie jumped up behind her friend, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders and jumping up and down.
"Whoa! Hey Katie!" Briana turned around to face her friend, "What's up?"
"Ahh I had the best time ever last night!" Katie fell in step beside her and they went down the crowded school halls.
"Really? What'd you do?"
"I went to downtown Nissawa and went dancing and danced all night long." she said dreamily, spinning around lazily.
"Fun! Who'd you go with?" Briana asked, a hint of envy in her voice.
"Mmm he was tall, dark and handsome. Dressed in black with a mask covering his eyes." she let it trail off.
"A mystery man? Didn't your mother ever tell you not to talk to strangers?"
"Ahh Bri you know I can take care of myself!" she smiled and started to turn down a different hall to go to class, "See ya laatteerr!" she skipped off.
"Bye!"

A good two months went by. The two continued to tune their skills down to an art. As they went they slowly noticed their senses getting better. They could hear a conversation being whispered across the room. Things felt hotter or colder than they should have. Katie had a fit when the fire alarm went off and had felt like her ear drums were going to burst. Sarkas downed four little cartons of milk when the medium salsa they served in the cafeteria might as well have been a spicy pepper.
"I am surprised it did not happen sooner." Mr. Yami confessed to them one afternoon in April, "Your power is connected to everything in you. Head, heart, muscles. It is you. So while you work to make that stronger and sharper, your senses will naturally follow suit."
"Yeah but it sure makes it harder to tune Mrs. Webster's lectures out." Sarkas whined.
Mrs. Webster was the English teacher and the most boring person on Earth. All she did was talk for the entire class. Sarkas swore she was the universal answer to insomnia. Most of the lecturing was caused by the big independent study project all the sophomores had to do. When it was over it was the happiest time of the year. But then they had to spend three whole days just listening to presentations. After the first speech on the first day everyone was all ready sick of it.
Katie fought the urge to put her head down and go to sleep. She glanced over at Sarkas in the next desk. He was staring at the wall with his eyes half closed. He didn't move for like a minute and Katie started to think he had fallen asleep in his chair, but then his foot shifted and she knew he was awake. As quietly as she could she fished out a sheet of paper and a pencil.
You're thinking again, cut it out. she scribbled and looked over to make sure Mrs. Webster wasn't looking then passed it to Sarkas.
He didn't even notice it first. Katie finally had to kick his foot lightly before he snapped out of his trance and looked down at the paper. He smiled and fished out his own pencil.
Only about the important stuff. he wrote back.
She took the paper, Like what, if your speech is gonna be too long? dang over achiever. she added a little face with a tongue sticking out next to the line.
Sarkas looked at it and shook his head, More like how long Karoku is going to keep up his fun.
Katie let out a deep breath when she saw that, Oh you meant the REALLY important stuff. she wrote back.
He nodded, I want to know where he's hiding his trump card. he told her, The other hand is getting stronger. I'd rather end this now while we still have the advantage.
Katie read over it a few times and wrote her reply carefully, I know what you mean. We have to be patient though. It's not like we can just go looking for it. We'd have to follow one there which doesn't exactly work when we kill every one we see. I hate to say it but I don't think we'll be able to find it unless he wants us to find it. she passed the paper to him.
Sarkas shifted in his seat. Katie could tell he was getting upset about it, But how long will that take???
For all we know it could take the rest of our lives.
Meh. was all he wrote back.
It'll be all right Sarkas. As long as you stay alive and keep fighting, every thing will turn out all right. she smiled and nodded as he read it. He seemed to soften a little and nodded back.

One Saturday night in May the call came again. Sarkas had luckily been in his room and was able to pick up the cell phone on the first time. He was feeling proud until no sound came from the other line.
"Hello?" he said timidly and immediately heard another ring. It wasn't his phone, it sounded like it was calling someone else. Then right after it he heard a loud sigh which he recognized as Mr. Yami's impatient sound. After the third right they finally heard the click and Katie's voice.
"Yeah?" she asked quickly.
"I am disappointed Ms. Walker." Mr. Yami snapped.
"I know I know I'm sorry!" she rattled, "I was on the other line."
"What did I say about this phone?" Mr. Yami asked.
"It's not for personal use." Katie repeated, "But the call was long distance and my parents would murder me if they have more than one long distance call on the bill a month." she told him.
"Then keep the calls to the day light hours." the old guy ordered, "Now get over here both of you, we may have something."
Sarkas heard two clicks and pocketed the phone feeling somewhat left out. He dug around and found his sun glasses then hopped down the stairs and started pulling on his shoes.
"Mom! Dad! I'm going over to Mike's house to play basketball, be back later!" he yelled. It was only about seven in the evening, the earliest call they had ever gotten, which made it easy to make up a liable excuse.
"Have fun!" Chris yelled from the kitchen.
"Call us if you're gonna be out later than eleven!" Lili told him.
"I will!" Sarkas called and went outside. It wasn't even that dark out. It would have been pretty dark for anyone else, but he was used to going on missions in the dead of night. To him one hour after sunset might as well still have been twilight. Sarkas walked to the end of the driveway and onto the sidewalk. There was no black car in sight. Katie wasn't out there either. She seemed to be the one that was waiting outside for him. For the second time that night he felt proud of himself being the first one ready. It was less than a minute before Katie came bounding out of her humble abode but he had still been first. He crossed over to her side of the street and the two headed down the block.
"Who were you talking to long distance?" Sarkas asked, still smiling slightly.
"Maya." Katie answered simply.
The smile disappeared, "Why were you talking to her?" it came out a little more harshly than he had meant it. Maya was part of his old life. The idea of her and Katie being friends hit a small nerve.
Katie gave him a small glare, "Why should it matter if I was talking to her or not? Not your decision who I'm friends with." she snapped.
"Okay okay." the initial shock was over and he was fine, "So what were you talking about?"
"Again, non of your business but it was just general stuff. Maya's thinking of taking a fencing class and she's been real worried about Shannon lately."
"What's wrong with her?" Sarkas asked a little too quickly.
"She's been quiet and moody, more so than usual. She gets upset about the littlest thing and won't talk to anyone about it. Brad even tried but she won't say a word-"
"Why would she talk to Brad about anything?" again a little to quickly so it was obvious this all bothered him.
"You don't know?" Katie raised an eyebrow, "When's the last time you've talked to him?"
"Three weeks?"
She thought for moment, "Yeah I guess that would be about the time. You didn't hear it from me but him and Shannon have gone out on a few dates. Sounds like since you've left he's been advancing little by little."
His head cracked, "Whydabadaba?!" he couldn't even get a sentence out.
"Well you moved out, it's only natural. He's really nice though, sounds like he's going to talk to you before he asks her out officially. He would have done it a while ago but then Shannon went into this depression spell."
"Why is she depressed?" he asked quietly.
"That's just it, no one can figure it out. Her home life is fine and we know its not about you."
"Why couldn't it be about me?" he asked in a whiny voice.
"She's been zoning out a lot too and one time when she did Brad asked her if it was about you and she was like, Sarkas who? So they don't know what's up with her."
Neither of them felt like bringing up the night when the demon had walked through her, and Katie tried to push what Mr. Yami had said out of her mind. The demons had marked Shannon and may come back for her. And if they did, her life could be in danger as well.
They reached the gym where they found Mr. Yami pacing back and forth expressing an emotion the two teenagers had never seen on his face before. Confusion. They glanced at each other then back at the old man who seemed to not have noticed them.
"Who died?" Sarkas asked, half joking.
"No one." Mr. Yami answered quickly and just as firmly as ever. He stopped pacing but kept his eyes on the ground, "Here is the situation. I have gotten a lead on some demons downtown, but it is a weak lead. Chances are it is just a false alarm but I figured it is better to be safe than sorry. The report came from the Anagon tower in the middle of the city. There are still a lot of people walking around there this time of night so you will have to be careful. I have altered your outfits once again to look more natural." he gestured to two chairs with black clothing neatly folded on top of them. They sat in front of two curtains. Funny, Sarkas hadn't noticed that when they had come in.
"Again, nothing may even happen tonight." Mr. Yami told them.
"Doesn't sound like a bad deal to me." Katie said walking over to one of the chairs and grabbing her set of clothes, "A free night down town where we might not even have to fight."
Sarkas nodded and took his own then went behind one of the curtains.
"Do we get a spending allowance too?!" Katie called out.
"How about you just keep an eye out and behave?" Mr. Yami said. Sarkas could just imagine him rolling his eyes.
"Hehe yes sir." Katie came out. The black pants had gone from a sweatpants baggy feeling to a silky tighter look. They were cropped below the knee and actually made it easier to move in. The shirt had done the same thing. The sleeves clung to her arms, which bugged her a little but they were light and soft which made up for it, "I'm likin' the new style." she complimented, taking a few kicks and swings to see how easily she could move.
"Yeah, not bad." Sarkas agreed, coming out in what looked like black jeans and a thinner sweatshirt than before, "But what happened to the cape?" he pouted.
"You still want that, even though you will be walking around in public most of the night?" Mr. Yami asked.
"Chya! The cape is the best part! It gives you that, super-hero feeling ya know?" Sarkas grinned.
"All right then if you say so." Mr. Yami walked off and through a door on the side of the gym. He came back a moment later with the black cape in his arms, "Ms. Walker would you like yours as well?"
"No thanks, I'd like to keep part of my dignity if you don't mind." Katie replied.
Sarkas happily put on the cape and twirled around, "Enemy beware." he said in a low, menacing voice.
Katie just gave him the 'you big dork' look and turned to go out the door, "Call us if the demon threat goes down!" she called to Mr. Yami.
"I most certainly will." the old man nodded and Sarkas bounded after the girl. He caught the door just as it was closing behind her and they got into the black car that was conveniently parked outside.
Similar to the last time when they had traveled to Nissawa, the trip downtown should have taken at least a half an hour, but they arrived in about ten minutes. Neither of them had been paying attention to the outside as they had been traveling but Katie was sure there was another conspiracy going. Daemon dropped them off right in front of the tallest building in a hundred mile radius. Katie jumped out first and took a fast pace in front of Sarkas who made an entrance by leaping out of the car and hissing at a little boy, then ran after Katie, his cape whipping behind him.
"Be nice." Katie scolded at the chuckling vampire wanna be behind her.
"Gotta live a little once in a while Kat!" Sarkas grinned and darted back and forth while they walked around. The first two floors where shops and restaurants. After that it was all offices and business stuff. Sixty one floors that reached a total of a little less than seven hundred and fifty feet. They made their way around the first floor then second floor then back down to first. Katie had given up trying to ditch her partner who didn't seem to be growing the least bit tired of his childish act.
"I am Cyprus, demon lord of the dark!" he crackled as they headed towards the elevators again.
"Wasn't Cyprus a three headed dog?" Katie said lazily.
"Yeeesss. Fear the three headed dog in disguise as the human demon lord of the dark!" Sarkas let out a loud evil laugh as they stopped in front of the variety of doors with a small group of old ladies.
"I don't know him." Katie assured them.
"Do not deny the truth fellow follower of the darkness!" Sarkas said going behind her and draping part of the cape over her face. Katie jumped a little and grabbed his arm then swung him over her shoulder. He cried out and managed to stop himself with his feet, "Heeeey." he tilted his head back and looked at her.
She still had a grip on his arm and looked over at the three ladies who were staring at them in shock, "It's okay, I know him." she assured them.
"Yeah." Sarkas wrenched his arm out of her grasp and picked himself up, "No broken bones no harm done." he cracked his back. An elevator door opened and the old women piled in it quickly. Sarkas started to follow but Katie grabbed his cape and pulled him back.
"Don't torture them further by making them ride in small space with you." she said and held onto him until the door closed. When she let go Sarkas made a show of straightening the cape back out so it looked nice. He looked over at a door on the end that was marked Stairs. He stared at it and suddenly realized he couldn't take his eyes off. It was if it were trying to draw him to it.
"Hey...do you wanna-"
"Yeah!" Katie's quick response told him she had been thinking the same thing. It was the weirdest thing. No kid these days would voluntarily take the stairs for no reason, but the two threw open the door and looked up at the endless spiral of metal. Without so much as a groan or a comment they started up the stairs. Their steps seemed to echo all the way up to the top, and after about eight flights the weird feeling was gone. Sarkas opened his mouth to suggest that they got off at a floor and use the elevator instead but Katie spoke up before him.
"A demon! That's what it had felt like!" she said suddenly. The feeling she had felt behind the stairs had felt so familiar but she couldn't put her finger on it.
That hit home for Sarkas too but after another moment of thought he shook his head, "If a demon were here the power would have gone out." he said.
"But I know that's what it was!" she said more to herself.
Sarkas nodded, "How about if we take the elevator up a few more floors and check around there?" he suggested.
Katie nodded, "What if the power goes out while we're in the elevator?"
Sarkas shrugged, "We'll climb out through the top like they do in the movies!"
Katie was in no mood to argue so she followed him out the closest door into an empty hall way with office doors on every side. They rounded the corner and stood in front of four elevators. They took the next one all the way up to the thirty fifth floor. At one point Katie started banging her head playfully at the soft elevator music like it was a hard rock group. For the first time that night it was Sarkas's turn to shake his head while Katie laughed.
They got off in a dark hallway. The only light came from the red EXIT sign above the door leading to the stairs. The place was completely empty, but that was understandable for late on a Saturday night. They made a sweep of the whole floor and after ten minutes they were both convinced they had imagined the feeling. They had been expecting an attack all night and the rush made them over react.
"Let's go back down." Sarkas said. Katie nodded and while they were waiting for the elevator she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She looked over and saw a shadow growing on the back of the wall. Something was coming towards them. She tensed and pointed it out to Sarkas. They both took a fighting stance and waited for attack they had been waiting for.
The figure came around the corner and a light suddenly shown in their eyes, blinding them, "What are you kids doing up here?!" a firm voice commanded. It hadn't been a demon, it had been a regular security guard patrolling the area.
"Run." Sarkas hissed and the two darted to the stairs. Katie threw open the door and ran right to the rail on the edge of the stairs. She put one leg over and looked up at the endless gap in the middle that went up to the ceiling. She swung her other leg up and jumped off. Not hard, just enough to sail about fifteen stories high then caught another rail. Climbing over she crouched down against the wall and was followed closely by Sarkas. Against the wall there was no way the security guard would be able to see them. A second after Sarkas had gotten up there they heard the door being pushed open again and two sets of footsteps enter.
"Where'd they go?" the security guard asked.
"They can't have gone far, check the level above, I'll go below." another said. So there had been two of them.
"Right." they heard as the two guards went their separate ways then went into different levels. The doors opened and closed with a bang that echoed through out the stairway.
The two kids sighed and relaxed. That was just more proof of how paranoid they were. If they had been thinking they would have known it wasn't any demon because the power was still on.
Sarkas sat down and looked at his watch, "We should call Mr. Yami to see if anything is going to show up." he mumbled, "Or else I'm gonna have to call my parents soon and tell them I'm gonna be out later."
"Yeah. Let's go back down." Katie agreed. They had landed on the stairs in between floors so they slowly walked down to the nearest door.
Suddenly the door they were heading towards opened the security guard appeared again, "There they are!" he yelled back.
Oh shiz! Sarkas thought. He and Katie instantly turned and bolted the other way. They couldn't well jump ten floors right in front of the two men, but they could still run faster than them. Hadn't they gone to different floors? How had they gotten up that far so fast? How the heck were they keeping up with them? The two teenagers had been training with weights for the past eight months, they should have been able to dart up the stairs ten times faster than any other human, but no matter how fast they moved the security was never no more than one stair case behind them.
These guys are freaks!! Sarkas's head screamed. They were getting close to the very top now. They'd have to turn off soon.
Suddenly Katie turned around and shot two power blasts at the stairs in front of the two men. The black energy sounded like cannons going off when it hit the metal and caused the two guards to stumble back and pause long enough for them to get away. They ran for the last door with the number sixty one on it. The last floor of the building. There was one more set of stairs that they assumed led up to the ceiling. There was a chain blocking the set of stairs so Sarkas reached for the door.
A big black disk whizzed past his head and cut through the door, a moment later he felt something smack him hard in the back like a basketball. He was thrown against the door and gasped as he bounced back.
"Sarkas!" Katie cried and ran to him. Sarkas looked down to see one of the guards standing at the bottom of the stair level with his arm outstretched. Then he realized his back felt lighter. He put his hand back, the cape was gone! His hand went up to his neck where the strings where. His fingers touched them just as they disappeared into thin air.
"Oh hell no." Sarkas whispered. It dawned on him. The reason Mr. Yami gave them special clothes and capes. They were like a layer of armor against attacks. But it only worked once. They were supposed to be the only ones able to create the energy weapons. How had that low life security guard learned something like that?! "He did not just disintegrate my cape!" he didn't care how impossible it was, that was just not cool.
The second security guard then came up behind him. Undoubtedly able to do the same attack. Sarkas was ready to bust them both right there but Katie grabbed his arm and pulled him past the chain and up the last flight of stairs. She blasted the handle and lock off the door to the roof and the two rushed out of the quiet stair case into the open air of the roof. Katie quickly shut the door behind them then focused a small amount of her power on the rim of the door. It melted the metal around the edge and sealed the door in place so even a barricade couldn't knock down the big gate.
"Nice." Sarkas complimented on the improv.
"Thanks. Are you okay?" Katie had seen a huge power ball hit him square in the back.
"I'm fine." he told her, and he did feel okay for being pounded like that but he had the instinct that if a feather were to poke him in the back he'd collapse to the floor, "But how are we gonna get out of here?" he looked around. It was a big roof, a lot of vents and things but other than that no other trap doors they could use to get out.
"I don't know. We could ju...or not." Katie backed away from the edge of the roof. Sarkas walked over looked down. His eyes got small. They were pretty high up.
"How far did Mr. Yami say we could fall without hurting ourselves?" he asked quietly. Suddenly a loud bang came from the door leading to the stairs. They looked over but it was still closed. The security guards were trying to get out.
"About three hundred feet I think." Katie answered.
"I think we're a little bit higher than three hundred feet." Sarkas whimpered as another bang came from the metal door.
"Just a little." Katie nodded and ran around to the other side of the roof, behind the door entrance. Sarkas followed. Neither were really sure how to handle the situation. They could face demons with a smile on their face but these guys were human. They had flesh and blood and the street lights seven hundred feet below were still burning as bright as ever. Any normal human they could decapitate in less than a second, but their little show on the stairs had shown that these guys were no ordinary humans.
Then it sounded like there was an explosion in front of them. The metal door that separated the inside from the outside fell down with a crash and two security guards walked out into the open air. For the first time since his first official fight with the demons Sarkas felt a shiver down his back that he never wanted to feel again. Fear.
The two tall men, both well built walked around and slowly made their way over to the two.
"Just stay calm." Katie whispered more to herself as she put her arms up in defense. She was the one that had the cool head under pressure and Sarkas was grateful she was giving herself the little pep talk, "They're big but we can take them. They can give the show but they haven't had the training. We're faster, smarter, more experienced and they're going down." it had worked, they were ready for whatever they could throw at them.
Both men put out a hand and sent a big energy ball straight for the kid's hearts. Katie dodged to the side and Sarkas jumped up in the air. One of the guards aimed for Sarkas again. He panicked for a moment but then put up a shield just in time for the attack to bounce off. He grinned and landed behind the man who turned. Both created the swords in their hands and locked in battle.
The other ran at Katie who swung her leg out at his head, but his hand came out and grabbed her ankle. His grip was tight, too tight and he wouldn't let go. Katie struggled for a moment but stopped cold when she looked into his face. He was smiling. An unearthly smile.
"The tides have turned." he hissed then attempted to twist Katie's ankle. She dropped to the ground, moving with the twist so her foot didn't get sprained. She kicked her other leg at him. He let go of her other foot and ducked from the other. She jumped back up to her feet.
"It hasn't even started moving yet." she responded and came at him with her hands.
"Oh it's been moving for a long time now." the man sounded so cool and calm despite the hard attacks coming at him. Probably because he could block and counter for each one, "The game will soon be over."
"This is anything but a game!" Katie cried out and landed a kick hard to his side. He yelled and clutched his waist but didn't go back at her right away. Instead he smirked and straightened up.
"So Seisakusha has not told you the whole story yet then. Interesting."
Seisakusha? Mr. Yami. That's right, that was his first name. That's when the guard struck out, hitting Katie across the face and sending her down. As soon as she hit the ground he kicked her hard, rolling her over. He kicked again and again, slowly moving towards the edge of the roof.
"All this is a game!" the man yelled angrily as he rolled the girl, "You think there is a purpose to us being locked in battle for eternity?! The winners keep their lives, nothing more! All for the entertainment of a few higher powers!"
"SHUT UP!" Tears were blinding her but she managed to get positioned so she was facing the man. As his foot came at her again she reached out and grabbed it. She kept pushing it up past her face so he tripped backwards. She didn't want to believe what he was saying. If that was true her whole life had been leading up to this. This and nothing more. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Sarkas still dueling with the other security guard, their arms moving like a blur. His life was a lie too. She only knew one thing for certain at that moment. The man laying on the ground in front of her was no man. It was a demon in a man's clothing. And she wanted him dead.
Her hand went up and her whip of black fire came out. It swung towards the man who sat up suddenly and grabbed it! That wasn't right, it was supposed to cut through him! He yanked it towards himself and Katie followed before she had a chance to cut off the flow to the whip and let it disappear. The man grabbed her throat and swung her around. Suddenly she found herself leaning on the edge of the roof. Seven hundred feet above the noisy street below. Her mind was paralyzed. She couldn't move.
The man grinned and leaned close to her ear, "When you get to the after life tell Seisakusha that the game is over." then he pushed her down. Katie hit her head on the concrete as she was thrown back. She lost consciousness instantly and started plummeting towards the sidewalk below.
Sarkas watched it all in slow motion. He saw the other guard pin Katie against the low wall, but was too busy to go help her. She always kept her head in situations, she'd get out in seconds easy. But that didn't happen, she didn't move. Why was she just standing there?! Then she was thrown over. Suddenly nothing else mattered. His mind froze.
"KATIE!!" that was the last thing his mind processed. After that he was a spectator in his own body. He watched as if he were watching a movie while his arm seemed to throw a bomb at each of the guards. They dropped to the floor and something dark evaporated out of them. Sarkas moved to the side of the roof and looked down. Katie was already one fourth of the way to the ground. His hand went out and a black rope shot down towards the girl. For less than a moment his head came back long enough to realize that his power would just go right through her like it did to the guards and nothing he could would save her. Then he was gone again and the rope was gaining on the girl. As it got closer, the energy in him got weaker, it was all being stretched out, and he was not sure if it was his mind or his eyes going out or what. The black power became gray then silver as it wrapped around Katie once, twice, four times and stopped her not thirty feet from the ground.
Sarkas was jerked forward when the rope finally stopped her fall, but he immediately started pulling the power back into his hand as if he were doing a healing. The rope came back up with the body attached to it, and as the energy came back, so did his working mind. What was happening finally registered as he grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her over the wall. She was still out of it and sunk to the ground. Sarkas sat down, supporting her head and tried to revive her.
"Kat! Katie wake up! Say something!" she was a mess. It looked like there was hardly a spot on her that wasn't bruised, cut or bleeding. Mr. Yami's warning on the dangers of healing others came into his head but Sarkas didn't care at that moment, he had to help her. The worst cuts were on her face and side. He placed one hand over each and was just about to start when she groaned and tilted her head slightly.
"Katie!" he cried happily and held her down when she tried to sit up, "Don't move, you'll just hurt yourself more." he said softly.
"Huh?" her eyes couldn't decide if they wanted to be open or closed but she seemed to get the message because she relaxed. Sarkas was quiet for a moment while he let the memory return to her. Suddenly her eyes closed together tight and tears leaked out the sides. She put one hand up to her cheek and gasped slightly. She kept it there for a few seconds and when she pulled it away the cut on her cheek was gone. Then she sniffed and wiped the tears away.
"What happened to them?" she asked in a weak voice.
"They're unconscious, I took care of it." Sarkas assured her.
"We should get out of here." but she didn't make any move to get up.
"We should wait a few minutes to get some energy back. How could you let him do that?" he said more firmly, "You could have easily gotten out of that hold and kicked his butt, what happened?"
Katie's eyes closed again. With effort she rolled away from Sarkas and sat up on her knees, "We should go." she said again.
Now Sarkas was worried, "Kat are you okay? What happened?" he slowly got to his feet.
"Nothing. I'm fine. I just blanked out for a moment and he pushed me off." Her hand went to her side and healed the gash in it. Her hands and clothes were stained with blood but her mind was too worried about other things to care about it.
"No, I know you Kat, you don't just blank out. Something happened. Come on, you can tell me." he said a little more firmly.
"Nothing happened Sarkas!" she snapped, "I just...need to go home and think a few things over." she started walking towards the stair door that was still laying on the ground.
"Hey, thinking is my job remember?" he said going after her and trying to lighten up the situation a little, "You can trust me with whatever it is, you know you can."
"I know." she replied looking at the ground, "But I really just need to think it over for myself first. I'll tell you later." she started down the stairs, her arm slowly moving around her body and healing whatever injury there was with the little energy she had left. Sarkas had little choice but to shut up and follow her down.

Not a word was said on the ride home or the next day on their way to practice. They were still kind of beat from the night before but Mr. Yami was usually easier on them the day after a fight. Katie didn't seem to look up once from the ground as they walked. It was obvious her mind was off on its own and the way her eye lids dropped, he could tell she hadn't gotten any sleep. Sarkas didn't even try to start a conversation even though the silence killed him. He had never been happier to see the big gym as they walked up.
"I must apologize for last night." Mr. Yami said as soon as they walked in the door, "I realize now why I was so blind. The demons somehow were able to take over the human's body's and attack you that way. Very efficient I must admit. But that just means we will have to be on guard more than ever. They can attack any where any time. Not good, not good at all." he mumbled, "So I thought today we would work more on stealth and speed. Up to the track you two!" he turned and Sarkas started walking up there, but Katie stayed standing where she was, eyes on the ground.
"Mr. Yami...before we start.... I need to ask you something." she said softly.
"Shoot." the old man said with his usual loud commanding tone.
Katie took a deep breath, "Is this all just a game? Not just for Karoku but for you too?"
Sarkas's eyes grew wide. Now he knew what had been bugging Katie all night. He looked over at Mr. Yami whose face gave out nothing less than a look of pure horror.
"Are we just pawns for you to play with?!" Katie went on, "That's what the demon told me last night. That our lives mean nothing. That we were created to fight and be destroyed. If we die the demon's aren't going to weak havoc on anyone, the winners keep their lives that's it. The training, the fighting, it's all pointless because the fighting is pointless. It serves no purpose except to entertain you." she looked down at the ground again.
"What is your point Ms. Walker?" his voice was quiet but firm with anger weaved into it.
"My point is I want the truth!" Katie snapped, "You can tell me everything I just said was a lie and I would believe you and go on like I never heard anything! But if that's all true then I will walk out the door right now and I will not come ba-" she turned around and stopped.
Sarkas looked over and realized why she stopped. There were no doors to walk out of. Where the glass double doors had always been there was now brick wall. He looked around and saw there were no doors anywhere in the entire gym!
"All right then. If you want the truth then I have no choice but to give you the truth." Mr. Yami told them, "Sorry to disappoint you Ms. Walker but everything you just said was the truth. The fight between yourselves and the demons was prearranged by Karoku and myself for a bit of excitement on a rainy day."
Sarkas couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was too much information at one time. Two minutes ago everything had been peachy and now it was everything but, and there were about ten other equations being thrown out at the same time, "Who are you?" was the only thing he could think of.
"I, Mr. Carson, do not have a name you could put into physical words. I am one of the infinite powers of the known universe. Both Karoku and myself. Our jobs are some of the lesser in the space so every once in a great while on a slow day we will occupy ourselves with a small game-"
"Small?!" Katie interrupted, "You're making us fight for our lives, this is no small game!" she yelled. But Sarkas could understand it as much as he didn't want to. For powers that worked with the entire universe, two small lives on one small planet did equal out to be a small game in their mind.
"What kind of game is it?" Sarkas tried to ask as calmly as he could. He was determined not to loose his temper over this.
"The rules are simple." Mr. Yami sighed like telling them this was a work out, "Karoku and I are allowed two players each. We can make one variation on one of the players then after that who ever kills both opponents first wins. The only catch is that our game cannot influence any major event in the time space continuum. In conclusion I found young two middle class couples who were never going to have any children and you could say I planted you two in. Remember when I used to tell you, you were special? Different from every other human? It was because I designed you. Do not get the wrong idea, you are still ninety five percent full blood human, but the other five percent is the power that runs in your blood. My power."
"Your power?" Katie whispered.
"The power of darkness." Mr. Yami relied softly, "You are tied within me."
"That's our variation?" Sarkas said more to himself, making small daggers out of his power just to tell himself it was still real, "The power of darkness?"
"No." Mr. Yami shook his head. "The variation is allowed to only one of the players. Karoku gave one of his the power to multiply. That way he could send a hundred warriors out and hide other for safe keeping. Because the only way to win is to kill both players. If one is always hidden that makes it very difficult. Mine was.... Humans have the natural variation of emotion. Depending on how they feel the battle can either go for them or against them. Both of which were demonstrated last night. Ms. Walker's shock caused her guard to fall where she was sent to her death. Mr. Carson's determination defeated the enemy and saved her life. Which brings me to another thing I wanted to discuss with you today." he suddenly switched topics like he had forgotten something.
"Some day one of you could be mortally wounded in battle. I know I stressed not to share your power with anyone, but if that situation should arise and they are likely to pass on in less than ten minutes then the other should use their power to heal them. I know that is the kind of thing you do not need telling, but if they are able to stay conscious for more than that time bring them back to me. I will heal them with no risk of the other being involved." Mr. Yami cleared his throat. He no longer sounded angry or small, his voice was back to it's usual lecturing tone, "That type of event brings us to power and people lesson five: Mouth to mouth."
Even in the seriousness of the moment Sarkas couldn't stop the grin that appeared on his face.
"This is no laughing matter Mr. Carson." the old man scolded.
"Yes sir." Sarkas tried to hide the smile but that just made his face all twisted and stressed.
"In a life threatening situation the wound will more than likely hit a vital organ. The heart, lungs, stomach, excreta. The fastest way for the energy to reach those areas is through the blood and direct air ways, and those can only be accessed by natural openings in the body. The ears, nose and mouth. The nose and ear openings are too small which leave you with one last option. The mouth. Through there your power can disperse through out the entire body within seconds. End of lesson, can we continue with your training now?"
"Well it's not like we have much choice-" Sarkas looked back again to find the glass doors stuck in the wall like they had always been there, "How'd you do that?!"
Mr. Yami raised an eye brow, "I have powers that can move entire galaxies and you question me about making a few atoms shift around?"
"Okay okay," he gave in, “That actually explains a lot.” he mumbled to himself. Katie looked a little better but she was still quiet during practice.

Katie went into a mini depression for the next week. All day her mind kept telling her, her life was worthless. Most people grew up thinking their purpose in life was to act or dance or draw. Her purpose was to fight. And when that was over there was nothing left. She would never make a lasting impression on the world. That was one of the "rules". She would die useless, nameless, unremembered. If she didn't die of a demon attack first. More than once she made up her mind never to go back to the gym and give up the game. On Wednesday she really did lock her bedroom door five minutes before she was supposed to go and blasted some music to take her mind off everything.

Sarkas came out of the house and waited for her. After two minutes there was no sign of movement from the house so he went over and rang the bell. No one answered and he thought maybe she had gone early again like the one time, but then his ears picked up music coming from the house. He knew her parents weren't home from work yet. So he followed the sound around the house. Thankfully her room was on the first floor. He looked in the window and found her on her bed facing away from him. He yelled and knocked on the window but she acted like she didn't hear anything.

Sarkas was about to give up and blast a hole through the window when the song changed and he banged hard enough where she would have had to been deaf not to hear. He watched as she reluctantly turned around, turned off the music and went to the window. He had a sudden feeling of desavue, but that time he had been on the other side of the window. He knew what had been upsetting her all week and he knew that he had to snap her out of it now before she gave up completely.

"What's the point of it all?" Katie asked as soon as the window was opened.

"There is none." Sarkas answered honestly, "But there will be even less if you don't snap out it!"

"How can there be less than none?" she pointed out.

Sarkas ignored that, "The point is you once told me you refused to do this alone, well now I'm telling you the same thing. Yeah, there's no point in fighting the demons, but if we don't, we'll die and I'd rather live out my worthless life than give it up now. It's too much fun." Sarkas smiled, "We may never do anything great or important but we can sure have fun doing whatever else we come up with. The way I look at it, I'm going to win this game for myself, not for any god of the universe. So I can continue living and go on adventures and be a real superhero! And you have to be there with me because I've never had as much fun as when we're fighting together." he admitted.

Katie thought about that for a minute, "We do have fun, don't we?" she said softly.

Sarkas grinned and nodded, "Come on Black Kat, let's win this thing for ourselves and the goal of having more fun in one lifetime than everyone else has in ten!" he put his hand against the screen.

"All right. You pulled my arm." Katie smiled and put her hand against his in a silent promise, "You really are the smart one Carkass." she got up and started to make her way towards the door.

"Can't deny the facts." Sarkas said modestly, then registered what she had called him, "Heeeeey."

When they got to the gym that day there was nothing set up and no equipment laying out.
"I realize you are feeling a little down and unsure of everything lately." the old man said to them as they walked in, "So I thought today I would give you a day off and we would do something a little more entertaining." his voice had a bounce to it and Sarkas could almost make out a smile on his face. Something you just did not see on that man. He instantly got excited and anxious to see whatever it was. If Mr. Yami was looking forward to it, it must be really big.
"Today boys and girls we are going to make a prophecy!" he announced.
"You make that sound like a school project." Katie responded.
Sarkas caught on quicker, "We're gonna see the future?!" he cried with a big grin.
"Close!" Mr. Yami pointed to Sarkas, "Getting into higher dimensions you will realize there is no past, present or future so what we will be doing today is reaching into one of those dimensions and pulling out an interpretation of your near future. It will not give you exact details but hopefully it will help you subconsciously prepare for the events about to come."
"But I thought you said you didn't know the outcome of the game." Katie pointed out.
"Five points for Ms. Walker! That is why this will be a treat for me as well!" the old man nodded happily, "Let us get started shall we?"
"What do we do?" Sarkas asked looking around.
"Just relax and close your eyes." Mr. Yami closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Katie looked over at Sarkas who smiled back and winked. The two nodded and closed their eyes.
Mr. Yami raised his arms out in front of him, concentrating hard. Above their heads a black smoke began to form. It thickened and became a solid void as his arms got higher and higher. When he was reaching all the way up the void circled over all three of their heads. Then slowly Mr. Yami lowered his arms, bringing the black blanket over them all.
Katie opened her eyes, then she closed them and opened them again. If she couldn't feel it she would have never known the difference. Everything was dark. She turned around, trying to see anything. There! A person was standing a ways over. She tried to walk over but couldn't move. She found she didn't have to because the figure started turning towards her. It was herself! Katie just stared for a moment in shock then slowly lifted a hand. Her copy didn't move and she knew it wasn't a mirror. Then another figure came into view. Sarkas. He walked over to her double who smiled casually. He put his hands on her shoulders, leaned in and kissed her! It only lasted a moment and when he pulled away and opened his eyes, they were glowing red and an evil grin spread across his face. Katie saw herself freak out and try to pull away but he dug his fingers into her shoulders and held on tight. She struggled but got weaker and weaker. Her hands and feet began to loose their color. Her face went pale and she started to fade. Sarkas let go and she dropped to her knees. The only thing that still glowed was a small flicker of light centered in her heart.
Sarkas opened his eyes into the darkness. He reached out in front of him to see if he could find a wall or something, but stopped and held out his hand in front of him.
Weird, he thought, How can I see my hand in perfect detail if there's no light shining on it?
He didn't have time to go into more detail on the thought. He heard a noise and looked up. A ways off he saw two people fighting with the wooden sticks Mr. Yami often gave them. They got closer and he saw himself and Katie in the duel. They were smiling and laughing as they fought, having fun like they often did. Then another bow came out of nowhere and joined the fight. There was no one holding it but it moved like an expert. Sarkas watched as it shoved him out of the fight. Katie went on laughing and fighting like nothing had happened. He tried to get back in but the stick wouldn't let him. His own stick gradually got bigger and heavier until he could hardly even lift it up. Then both Katie and the extra stick started attacking him. Going at him hard. This was no game anymore. Sarkas was beaten to the ground then the bow disappeared and Katie plunger her own right through his back and into his heart. Everything went away and Sarkas watched as his image slowly picked itself up. Even though he had just been struck his heart looked as full as ever. The figure started walking over. Then his walk turned into a run and his heart began to glow. He ran faster, almost desperate for something. He saw Katie again but she was hunched over, her transparent hands covering her dim heart. They both watched as Sarkas kneeled down and put his arms around her then the glow in both of them erupted, blinding the spectators so they were forced to close their eyes again.
When they opened their eyes again they were back in the gym. They had to blink a few times to get used to the light. Mr. Yami still had his eyes closed, he seemed to be in deep concentration.
"Very interesting." he said without moving.
There was an uncomfortable pause.
"Was that really the future?" Katie asked quietly.
Mr. Yami's eyes snapped open, "Not the exact future obviously. As I said it is merely an interpretation of the future. If prophecies gave you the exact future everyone would be going around trying to change their fate and we can not have that going on everywhere can we? The point being now that you have seen it, forget about it. Do not try to go home and make any sense about it because whatever you come up with will just get you into trouble. Even if people do not like what they see, when they find a meaning in it they will try to make it come true and when they get it wrong it leads to all sorts of chaos. That is enough for today, you may go." he turned and walked off.
Sarkas and Katie headed home. Both could see the other was not in a mood to talk about their vision. They had each seen their own thing and neither of them were fame or fortune.
A few days later Mr. Yami instated his new “buddy system”. The rule said that Katie and Sarkas could never be more than five minutes away from each other at any time. This wasn’t a problem during school. If they were anywhere in the building they could meet up in less than two minutes. School was coming to an end and both had started becoming more involved in their social life. Katie thought of it as a retaliation against the drama in the gym. The guys loved it when Sarkas brought Katie along for basket ball or an afternoon of football or even video games. The girl was more athletic than any of them. But it also meant a lot of boring nights at the mall with the girls for Sarkas. He spent a lot of time in the Sam Goody playing the Play Station games they always had set up, but the more he got to know all Katie’s friends, the more they bugged him to come with him into the stores with them. And he didn’t mind hanging with them most of the time if they were having dinner or sitting in the movie theater waiting for a show to start, he just couldn’t stand there while they argued about what looked cute on who and all that.

Sarkas was fine the day they all went to see the new comedy movie out. He sat on the end of their small group next to Briana while Katie and Hannah complained about Lindsay's latest boy problems.
"Wouldn't it make more sense just to go out with the guy that actually likes her and would treat her good?" Katie asked.
"No, that would be too easy." Hannah rolled her eyes, "She messed it up herself, he doesn't even like her any more."
"Well if my boyfriend ignored me all the time I'd call it quits with him too!" Katie exclaimed.
"I know! She used to complain about not having a boyfriend and now that she has one she doesn't want all the drama, its like make up your mind, deal with it or don't!"
"Really." Briana agreed, "So Katie have you and Sarkas made it official yet?" she asked softly but no matter how low she had whispered it the comment wouldn't have escaped the ears of the guy sitting next to her.
"What?!" he and Katie said at the same time.
"You two have been hanging out a lot more lately." she said with a sly smile.
Hannah grinned, "Yeah you two are perfect for each other!"
Sarkas and Katie looked at each other then shook their heads, "It'd be too weird." Sarkas said.
"It'd be like going out with my brother!" Katie told them, half laughing.
Sarkas wouldn't go that far, "Our lives are too complicated all ready with out all the drama of commitments!" he went with. The only way you could really consider them brother and sister was the fact that they were both modified by Mr. Yami for the game.
"Give it time!" Hannah threw up her hands in defeat, "Give it time!" the lights dimmed and the pre movie commercials came on the screen.

School ended and summer vacation started. Both birthdays came and went. Not surprising they had been born on the same day at the same time. June sixth at six in the morning. Mr. Yami assured them it was just coincidence but Sarkas was convinced he had done it on purpose for kicks. That's when the new buddy system really got in the way with the two teenagers. They had to work all their plans around each other. Katie had wanted to start Drivers ed but with everything going on and Mr. Yami's new training schedule she was going to have to wait until the game was over. They started at nine and went until two in the afternoon every day with no break for lunch. This proved to not be too big of a problem. While they were in the zone of the power and strength hunger never really had a chance to set it, but as soon as the two stepped out of the gym they ran right home to a big meal of anything they could find.
Both were still advancing in their skills. The walls would shake when their swords collided. Their movements were so fast sometimes it seemed like they had five arms going in five different directions at once. Mr. Yami had them running for an hour straight with hundred pound weights on both arms and legs. Now that his secret was out there was nothing they couldn't do in that sacred gym. They were free to use their power because it wouldn't go through the walls like it would with any other normal building. Fake demons would attack them and obstacles would appear out of thin air to help them work on their reflexes.
Once in a while Katie would still be bothered by the fact that the old man was nothing more than a dirty old poker player, but Sarkas found the whole thing more fun than ever in some sense. The supernatural thing had always fascinated him and ever since he found out his teacher could do anything anytime anywhere he just wanted to see what other cool things he would come up with next. It answered a lot of questions as well. Like the one they often asked, "why us"? He didn't just pick them at random, he made them specially. They knew the demons were attacking them because they were being ordered too. The only thing that still bothered them was when it was going to be over. Sarkas had a sixth sense that it was going to be soon and it was going to be big.
But through it all the two developed an even deeper bond. Being around each other became like second nature. Like being around their parents all the time. They always knew what the other was going to do next, could practically read their mind. Mr. Yami told them this bond was essential for the fights that would be coming up in the future. The demons were getting serious and humans needed to be able to communicate without words. Other people noticed the bond even before those two did. It was like they were connected at the hip. You didn't invite one without the other anymore. It wasn't just Katie or Sarkas it was Katie and Sarkas. Like an old married couple. And there were plenty of friendly jokes on the subject behind their backs. Even their parents had noticed. It became almost a daily question at the Carson household if him and Katie were going out yet. Sarkas would always reply in the same monotone voice, “Not yet mom.”

One early day in July Katie and Sarkas ended up at the local fair with a fairly large group. It had started with them and Briana and had accelerated into a group with a total of eight occupants. Four girls and four guys including Hannah, Lindsay, Mike, Pat and Mike. They had to take two cars and meet at the front gates at three in the afternoon. Thankfully they were all tolerant of high and fast rides so the day was filled with a lot of running from one roller coaster to the next. They stopped for an hour to eat and walk around the arcade. The whole time was filled with nonstop talking and laughing. It was times like these that Katie lived for and Sarkas loved to remind her.
"We don't live to fight Kat." he would whisper, "We live to laugh." He turned toward the group, “So how much wood would a wood chuck, chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?”

“Two trees!” Briana called out.

“What?”

“If a wood chuck could chuck trees he would chuck two trees!” she explained slowly, trying not to laugh.

“Ah yes, but what kind of trees?” Sarkas countered.

“Pine?”

“Apple!”

“Redwood.”

“No! Maple! Jeeze, you guys can’t even get my own made up quiz right!” Sarkas scolded.

“I knew that.” Katie challenged.

“Oh really? Then what number am I holding behind my back?” Sarkas put his hand behind and held up three fingers so everyone else could see except her.

“Three!” she said instantly.

“Lucky guess!” everyone grinned.

“How about one through ten?” he put his other hand behind and tucked his thumb under.

“Seven!”

“One through twenty five….Got it!”

“Twenty two!”

Sarkas smiled and shook his head, “That’s just creepy.”

“Why, did she get it right?” Briana asked.

“Twenty two was the exact number I was thinking of.”

“Our girl is a psychic!” Lindsay grinned and patted Katie on the shoulder.

Katie shook her head, “It only works with Sarkas.”

“So you two have the psychic connection thing going on with each other.” Briana said told them like no one could argue against it.