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Brian had woken up with the strangest headache and boner in his life.

Moaning, rubbing his face with both hands he slowly got up from his bed, moving towards the shower.

The dream had been weird as hell, suddenly he had been in one of the hallways before feeling like a puppet, moving through invisible strings, talking words that weren't his own.

And at some point he had started making out with one of the students, although he knew it was wrong, as soon as the memory came up his manhood twitched with need.

He resisted though, tried to get through his morning routine and after a while he did.

After getting some clothes on he finally made his way towards the cafeteria, his head was beginning to clear up.

"Probably just a bad dream," Brian muttered to himself as he shook his head before getting something to eat.

The big mutt went into line just as everybody else, students waiting for their breakfast, or their dinner as some already had some fieldwork with other heroes to show them one practical application of their powers.

For some reason his gaze wandered, looking at some of them brought a smile to his face.

In a way they were like a big family here, a very comforting thought for Brian, but one that brought up the memory of his nightly excursion again.

'What are you having, Sir?', a voice called out to him as his ears felt hot and probably would be able to illuminate the entire room.

He shook his head, looked up with a bit of a forced smile before ordering the usual.

Even looking at the young man behind the counter, ...

Brian ended the thought before it could cause him any more trouble.

-You... look like you really need some coffee right now.-

"Yeah... the night wasn't as good as it should've been, had some weird dreams."

-Huh? Want to talk about it?-

His eyes had found another target, one of his colleauges at least, maybe that was the reason he didn't shy away from looking...

For some reason Brian had his focus mainly on the polar bears lips, the black skin, surrounded by snow white fur had something so aluring to him...

-Brian?-

"Wha- uh.. What?," he rubbed the bridge of his nose a little before looking up, eyes blinking

a few times.

-Everything okay with you?-

"Yeah, sure... as i said, just not such a great night, i probably just need a little bit to get the old ticker running," a smile spread on the mutts lips.

Although suspicion had risen Noxfire didn't bother asking more questions.

Maybe Brian really just needed a while to get the haze of sleep out of his head...

-Bullshit,- he thought to himself.

The lion had seen this before, back when Abyss...

His fingers almost made the signs, almost summoned the...

He must've growled audibly to himself as a few students in the hallway looked at him, puzzled, some talked.

-Sorry, just thought about some frustrating sodoku,- he lied, smiling, but it was enough.

This wasn't good, not good at all...

Someone... some... thing was using magic, magic very close to... to what Abyss had used in his time.

Frustrated, angry at this tiny little voice in the back of his head, taunting, teasing...

He wouldn't let the last ten years go to waste, if there was someone messing with this school, with his friends, using this kind of magic...

As the lion walked into his private room a crystal cracked...

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A sound as if the world itself was ripping apart made him jump up in his bed.

The young bat looking around confused, groaning... last night was just a blurr, he remembered something on his PC, a weird sound in his ears...

It was then that he realized he could see without his glasses, while his surroundings would normally be just a blur for some reason he could see everything clearly.

Another sound, moaning, groaning made him look at the other half of the bed, eyes growing wide in shock.

Stretching, a content smile on his face his father slowly sat up on Alex' bed, nacked and a twitching tent between his legs.

'Morning Son,' he said before kissing the younger man on his cheek.

His thoughts raced through his mind, he didn't notice his father leaving the room...

What had just happened? Did he and ... It couldn't be.

Thumping, pulsing started somewhere in the back of his neck, rising upwarts as a soft, warm feeling spread through his mind, raising a soft haze.

-Aren't you happy? We had the most wonderful night with him,- a voice rose, familiar, silky as it slowly pushed worried thoughts out of the way.

"You... how did you get in my head?," and yet he resisted, while His voice was like a siren call somehow he resisted the urge to just agree.

-We simply moved our connection to a new level, is this not more comfortable?-

Curious, it was intruiging to see the young man fight off the assault of sensual words.

Did he not touch his neurons in the right order? Did his melody fail to bring the one he had called friend so often to his knees?

He didn't know. This fact however made him grin, almost laugh in a way he never knew could happen.

As He sat on his dark throne, built in Alex' subconsciousness on fragments of lust and pleasure He couldn't help but enjoy it all.

"Comfortable? I have a voice in my head and my dad and i did who knows what last night!,"

as the words crossed his lips Alex had begun to shout in anger.

Another emotion, just as powerful as the intense longing for physical contact He had sensed in the bat just hours before.

Anger, he recalled, was it's name.

Not as pleasurable, but interesting and probably useful in a way.

It seemed, at least, that it would cloud His hosts judgement just as much.

-We,- He said in a way that made it feel as if someone had decided to pour icecubs down Alex' spine.

-We did nothing that we didn't want. And i made sure that he liked it too, he gave his full permission.-

"Liar," Alex spat the word with outmost disgust.

-Ask him then.-

As He watched the input his hosts repaired, improved eyes gave him He grinned.

Unsure, but still trying to believe his own conviction Alex had gotten up, moved towards the shower.

He shuddered as one of his hands moved down his frame, energy tingling over his sensitive skin, even if He was just an abstraction in the brain of his host, this was too good.

"Dad? Can i talk to you?"

Seconds went past before an answer came, seconds in which fragments of the bygone night tried to fight their way through.

Alex shuddered a bit before the bathroom door opened, his father smiled at him.

'Sure, come in, we can talk while you shower.'

Before he could answer the older bat had put a hand around his shoulder, planting a deep kiss onto his sons lips as he pulled him in.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Slow, deep breaths. In and out. His thoughts trying to focus, trying to summon a picture.

He could almost swear that there was a palpable movement in the air as he concentraded.

But as soon as he was sure he had it, as soon as the picture in his head should have been completed it crumbled.

'Can't get it to work?,' there was obvious amusement in O.J.'s voice as he spoke.

-I don't understand it... it worked with Brian.-

'Have you tried it with your tigers-... '

-He's not and no.-

'Oh come one, you have him around your little finger and he's practically begging to be fuc-... '

-Stop it,- Joshua almost growled at his astral twin.

O.J. was right of course, and Joshua, if nothing else, had been tempted to just take Nicholai for a ride.

It was, at the same time, still a weird border to cross.

Watching him do it with his clone? No problem, some of the hottest action he ever saw in a way, but doing it himself?

'Earth to airhead, still there buddy?'

And here he had been thinking that O.J. was getting nicer.

-What?-

'Was just wandering if you were still with me.'

The foo dog took a deep breath, massaged the bridge of his nose a little before looking up again.

-Okay... i can do it with Brian, with Nicholai and with Steven... so why with no one else.-

'Maybe it's your power.'

Another thought about O.J. being shattered, shouldn't he know how his powers worked in the first place? Wasn't the mirror image his link to whatever magical plane of existence his talent came from?

'Hear me out... maybe it's because you hypnotized them.'

Sighing before he looked up again, but his astral twin looked serious, grinned a bit.

-Okay... let's say that's the reason, so, i have to hypnotize more people if i want to call out different clones?-

'Would be my guess, yes.'

-I... don't think i can do that,- slowly he sat down on his bed, took a deep breath.

'Why not? You've done it with the others and that was just fine.'

-Wait... i've never hypnotized Brian.-

'Huh? What do you mean?'

-I've never hypnotized him... at.. at least i don't remember doing it...-

'Well, guess that's the end of my theory then.'

The thought though stuck with him... he couldn't remember it, but could he have done it?

With the other two it worked just fine, and he, after all, did hypnotize them, but Brian?

He seemed to fall out of the pattern. Well pattern in quotes if anything, two people weren't really that much of a pattern to follow.

'You could test it,' O.J. spoke up again

-Yeah, and it's not like that would mean hypnotizing more people, getting closer to actually fucking up,- the foo dog mumbled.

'And here i thought we were getting somewhere, but nooo, Mr. Lawful-Good hast to do his morality routine.'

-I'm fucking with their minds, excuse me for taking that seriously.-

'Oh come on, that tiger is basically your fucktoy, the hare would be soon enough and you could do it with your big childhood hero if you want to, some people would kill for that.'

As they kept on bickering on they both failed to notice a creeping feeling, as if something cold and slimey went up one's spine.

Shadows around them started moving, a mind of their own as deeply primal forces started flowing, a presence forming a bond without knowing, aimless but still hostile ....

'FUCK!,' O.J. suddenly grabbed his head with both hands, pain surging through his very being.

And suddenly the mirror showed Joshua's normal reflection.

No colour swapped version of him, no talking back.

His eyes went wide, anxiety rising... it hadn't been that long, he even was annoyed by O.J., but what had happened there?

Where was he?

There wasn't even a voice in his head at the moment, none of that obnoxiously cheerful and horny energy that seemed to emanate from the other foo dog.

Should he worry about it? Should he not?

It was eery being alone with ones thoughts in this situation...

-What the hell is going on... -

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Energy pulsed through the city...

A mist unseen by most, moving in it's own ways, in a flow that resisted the wind or even people crossing through it.

Here and there it connected people, others were cut off.

Magic, still not more than a haze in this world.

While it had grown stronger over the past years, ever since a white lion had appeared out of nowhere, it still was weak compared to other places in the multiverse.

But as the sun was setting, the day drawing to a close, a new kind of energy seemed to

move through the mist.

Surging like a lightning bolt, crackling with power.

And yet it didn't seem to cause much in the grand design.

While there were a few of those without any talent for this that still could feel goosebumps out of nowhere, not even those that could wield this delicate energy seemed to notice much.

---

Jakob Bauer was what you find in the dictionary as a defintion of normal.

His days were uneventful, his work banal at best, his life bordering on boring, not that he did mind.

It was good as it was, sure, maybe a bit more action wouldn't hurt in his life but as it was?

It was pretty good.

Slowly he walked down the walkway, using the opportunity to look at a few of the store windows.

Just a bit more and he would be at the subway station heading home.

With a content smile the boar stretched, yawned a little ... before he blinked a little...had he heard something?

His ears twitched, slowly Jakob looked around.

There it was again... a voice? He wasn't sure. The boar could swear he heard something, someone.

Slowly he resumed his steps, but this time not heading for the subway station, but a nearby alley.

What was it?

It sounded distorted, like something out of an old sci-fi movie when they tried to make

computers and A.I. intimidating.

Yet nobody else seemed to hear it.

One more reason to be concerned?

But he somehow couldn't quite grasp the feeling, in fact, the longer he listened everything else seemed to drift farther away.

---

The moment He had seen the boar, He knew that He needed him.

A strange connection had been there, as if they were linked by a silken thread.

Slowly a grin spread on His face, energy crackling over his body as he decended the wall of the building He had been on, His blind eyes fixated on His victim.

Since He had first seized this body He had undergone further change, while before He had only been a layer of skin on the bat there now was more mass to Him.

Nobody would mistake Him for scrawny, nerdy Alex, defined muscles, the glowing patterns that let energy penetrate His being, he truly looked like a demon.

Again he sent out the a few waves of ultra sound, the world lighting up in his mind as he took in every bit of information He could collect this way.

As His feet touched the ground He grinned again... another victim, someone more suitable.

That was what the boar was for Him.

Yet there seemed to be more, more about the man who looked so average.

It didn't matter, as soon as He'd had taken care of His more savage instincts, hunger being

the most prominent at the time, there would be more than enough possibilities to

investigate whatever made the boar so special.

He concentrated once more, sending out another few waves of ultra sound.

This time not to see, but rather to be heard.

---

Jakob kept going deeper into the alley, not even noticing the figure at the other end.

He... just wanted to be here for some reason.

Was it important?

The boar couldn't quite tell if he was to be honest with himself.

It just felt good to follow this feeling, this invisible pull, good enough to slowly build a tent in his pants.

Confused he stopped in his tracks, looked down at his own crotch, a hand already moving towards the pulsing bulge.

-This shouldn't happen...,- he muttered to himself, half aware of the situation.

Aware enough at least that he could tell that it wasn't normal to get errect out of nowhere in a dark, dank alley.

Yet here he was. Standing, playing with his trapped manhood, his thoughts moving in circles.

Was it right? Was it not?

He didn't get anywhere.

Before long he moved forward again, a glassy-eyed look on his face, a smile that made him look rather silly.

There wasn't just anything really going on in his head, even the constant back and forth of 'should i play with my boner or not' was gone.

After a while he stopped again, looked around... but he couldn't even tell if he was still on the way home.

When exactly had the... the... it was there, right on the tip of his tongue, but...

He seemed to have entered a weird kinda place, something that looked like it could jump right out of an old sci-fi show.

As if the Twilight Zone had tried to predict the internet.

Energy sparking of jagged lines, warping themselves around him, as they moved away into the distance.

Pulsing balls of light hovered in the air, making soft beeps and boops.

The longer he looked, listened... the harder it got to remember anything.. to think straight.

Could he have described it he probably would tell someone that his thoughts felt like chaotic lines that somehow had the same beginning and end but never met.

It didn't just keep him from seeing his surroundings, didn't just keep him from thinking either.

Most of all it kept him from seeing the predator that was ready to strike.

Climbing down the wall right above him was the creature that sent out the waves scrambling his thoughts.

Long, like a slime covered snake the tongue, of what looked like the nightmare version of a bat, moved about it's lips, another few drops of drool falling down.

---

As He climbed down the wall, using ultra sound not only to entrance his victim but also orient Himself, he could not help but grin.

The boar was impressive in a way, impressive in the sense that nothing about him stood out.

He was moderately chubby, moderately well dressed, a face in the crowd, no one you'd ever take a second glance at.

And yet there was more to him, more that He saw in him.

With his blind eyes He kept examining him, slowly moved a hand over his back right after He had moved closer to him..

A smile crept over His lips, there it was, the tingle of potential, that little spark that could lead to everything.

Before He knew it, He already had leaned forward, the boar still caught in his own little world, His mouth opening as if a snake got ready to swallow a mouse before his fangs dug into the flesh of his shoulder.

Moaning Jakob sunk into his captors arms, yet whatever had gotten a hold of his mind was not willing to let go, the pain didn't even reach his brain, instead the tent in his pants twitched with need, a wet spot appearing at it's tip.

He, though, didn't care for whatever pleasure the boar felt at the moment.

He could feel something new himself, something ecstatic.

The taste of blood penetrated His tongue, sent a shiver down His spine, but more than that he could feel something else, taste something better.

In His mind images started sparking up, voices, experiences flowed through him.

His arms quickly wraped around the boar in front of him, pulled Jakob closer as He moaned, pressing his pulsing length against his captives posterior, hips slowly grinding.

---

He wasn't the only one with a new experience.

While Jakob's mind was still firmly in the grasp of the weirdly abstract world that had unfolded itself before him he too could feel something intense, something his muddled thoughts could only define as ...

-moooooore!,- the boar moaned, shuddered as his length pumped more pre into his shorts.

He didn't notice the blood, the pain, something else had begun to slowly creep into his mind

as soon as the fangs of his captor had dug into his shoulder.

Like fog it spread through his thoughts, clouding every coherent pattern that could form, plunging Jakobs mind deeper into a lusty haze.

As he, unknowingly, ground his hips against the length that pressed against his arse.

Some part of the boar's mind knew what it was, could identify the heat, the smell that slowly crept into his nostrils.

Whatever it was that had begun to penetrate his brain however weaved the sensations into his fantasy, tentacles slowly split from the lines of energy, began to move around him like snakes.

Wherever they touched him his clothes seemed to dissolve, until he was naked, shivering.

This probably was the greatest high he had ever felt.

Slowly the tentacles pressed against his short, stubby fur, on wrapped around his pulsing manhood, massaging it, pumping along his member in a way he hadn't experienced yet.

Jakob lost himself more and more into the sexual embrace when suddenly there was a spark in the back of his head, some sort of contact between him and ... something.

It felt dark, dangerous... exciting and more than anything: powerful.

Slowly the illusionary world that had built itself around him crumbled as his neurons got drowned in an oily, purplish liquid that still poured into his flesh from the fangs of the predator that fed on him.

Still the boar was unable to move, moaned once more, the breaking image that had played tricks on his mind in no way meant that the haze surrounding his thoughts was clearing.

If anything he slowly but surely felt himself fall deeper into it, lost himself further, to the point where he felt that his conciousness was falling apart, dispersing like ink in water.

---

He frowned, slowly releasing his prey's shoulder.

Something was happening, something that He hadn't experienced before.

Oily, purple, alive, something tried to burrow itself into the boar's flesh.

The weird fluid seemed to have a mind of it's own and as He tried to use his otherwordly senses all it resulted in was a moment of shock.

Whatever had invaded the other mans body gave him the impression that He was looking at Himself.

Jakob's muscles, He suddenly knew the boar's name, began to twitch, his eyes rolling up into the skull ...

---

The feeling was intense, as if light pulsed through him.

Viscous, slowly the venom spread through him, bonded with every fibre as it penetrated his every thought.

The person that Jakob was seemed to melt away in a mixture of sexual ecstasy and electrical energy.

Some part of him could tell that he had sunk to his knees, his length was still pulsing, balls drawing closer to his body as it slowly rose.

Every passing second seemed to show him a myriad of new information, overloaded his mind and body with uncountable sensations.

As if lightning had struck him he arched his back, opened his mouth to scream but no sound escaped him as he finally blew his load.

Neurons fired signals of pleasure as they still rewrote themselves under the influence of the strange liquid that now was pumping through his veins.

Intense didn't even seem to come close to whatever he felt right now, orgasmic didn't describe the sensation that spread through his body and ran down his spine with the speed of light.

---

A few minutes had passed.

He was still standing over the passed out boar's body, looking down, confused.

There didn't seem to be a seperate entity on the floor in front of him anymore.

He could feel the cold stone under Jakob, the wet cloth of his pants.

The hunger was gone at least, but satisfaction came with a thousand questions about what had happened to Him and the boar now.

Moaning, a slight pain as Jakob slowly came to.

The body felt sore, for both of them, his head hurt...

Both of them suddenly felt how distant the personality of Jakob was, as if the boar was wearing him like a mask.

-What...?-

'I'm not sure', He admitted.

-We are...-

'Yes.'

Slowly the boar that had been Jakob got up to his feet, looked the other over.

-I can feel myself changing.-

He nodded, he could feel it too, that there still was something else at work in the boars body, slight changes were already noticeable, a rise in temperature, that slight increase in muscle mass.

Still, He couldn't explain it, the whole thing was new to Him as well.

-What do we do now?-

'You should return to the life of your host for now,' the words had been uttered before He quite knew what they meant.

-Of course, but with this change going on i'm not sure how long i can keep the masquerade up.-

'Don't worry, We will surely find others like Us.'

Suddenly they both frowned, but the emphasis felt right, natural, and just as sudden both of them grinned.

-'Yeesss'-

They almost moaned in unison, the connection growing stronger, the line that kept their thoughts apart slowly thinning out.

In time it would be gone completely.

Before the two of them went on with their business they kissed, the quasi-demon pressing His lips on the boars, the elongated tounge exploring the other mans mouth.

A broad grin on both of their faces as they finally broke the moment.

Even now they could feel their thoughts get closer, each still his own entity but part of the other one just as much.

Interesting.

Intense.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Almost an hour had went by.

An hour without the voice in his head.

Just a few weeks ago he would have welcomed this, the silence inbetween thoughts.

Not bantering with himself, even if, and it was still a huge if, O.J. was real, it looked like talking to himself from the outside.

Slowly it crept into his mind how insane this all was.

There had been another person in his head out of nowhere, now he was gone without rhyme or reason.

Maybe, just maybe it was finaly time to talk to someone about this.

Without his astral twin around that strange feeling of paranoia was gone as well.

How harmful had the exposure to the mirror image been so far?

-Maybe i'm just crazy...,- he muttered to himself, looked at the mirror again.

But there was no cheerful, colorswapped version of himself, only the vision of a scared young man sitting on his bed.

Why was this getting so much to him?

He didn't know... and if anything that made things worse than they were already.

Frustration, if ever, now he knew how it felt.

Slowly he got up from his bed, took a deep breath before turning towards the door.

Yeah, it probably was best to finally tell someone.

Noxfire maybe?

He was, more or less, responsible for Joshua after all.

The walk down the hallway was... weird.

He felt removed somehow. Like there was some sort of barrier keeping him out of reality.

Normally O.J. would've made at least twentyfive or so comments already about the other guys that went the same direction.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

If the foo dog hadn't been so self-absorbed in his thoughts he maybe would've noticed.

Mist crawled around his feet, every now and then forming a ghostly hand that tried to grap him.

Only one thought ran through the apparition: Get his attention.

Somehow he had to get his attention.

Fuck, why didn't he see him?

Why was this little shit always so dense?

Look at me!

Fucking look at me!

Again he tried to grab him, pull him down, make him fall if he had to.

He didn't care what had formed this gap.

This one was his responsibility.

He was supposed to guide him and he would if it killed him.

For fucks sake LISTEN!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

-Huh?-

Confused, Joshua looked around.

He could've sworn that he had heard O.J.'s voice just now.

Noxfire's room was right around the corner but there was this feeling again.

As if someone was right behind him, as if O.J. could just pop out of a mirror any second.

Before he knew it the dog was heading in a different direction.

Just to check on it, he told himself, just to check if he could...

Joshua wasn't even sure what he supposedly could do.

Just... something.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Stronger the purple haze swirled around his target.

At least he was heading in a different direction, at least that.

But he couldn't let up, that stupid mutt would only head into trouble if he let up.

No one had told him that it would be like this.

No one.

But here he was, clinging to an existence that, as far as his other half knew, didn't even touch

reality with it's little toe.

There it was.

A cold shiver ran down his spine just as he had fought himself up to Joshua's knees.

Slowly, already knowing what he would see he looked down.

... no... no ... no no no no no.

Not now!

Not ever!

Under him it was, the swirling vortex of nothingness that wanted to claim it's prize.

Hungry, ever so hungry.

Tentacles lashed out, searching for prey, for lost memories.... for him.

Just his luck that it would bite him now to be a thought construct in this plane of existence.

'Don't you dare you freak!'

He screamed, fighting against the current that tried to push him away from his charge.

Fuck it Joshua, just once in your life do something without having to be shoved into the mess with your nose!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Purple flames engulfed him, forming something else around him.

Something stronger, more dangerous.

Like a web parts of it shot out, loosing themselves at the corner of his eye.

What looked at him had the appearance of a demon in the most primal sense of the word.

His eyes went wide.

What he saw in the mirror now just couldn't be right.

He... he probably was still in his bed having a nightmare.

But there it was.

Staring him in the face, a grin on it's muzzle that told him without a doubt of sin and fire.

-What is going on here...,- his voice was only a whisper as the fire in the mirror kept burning.

It still looked like a foo dog, it still had his features in a way just... just off.

Bigger, stronger, authority bleeding from every pore.

The image seemed fluid in a way, here and there things changed as he looked at them.

It was only then that he finally saw.

A hand was clining to his hip, fighting upwards.

The smallest part of a second later there was part of a face... a face he knew to well.

-O.J.!-

Fists slamed against the glass, cracking it slightly.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Finally.

Finally the little fuck had noticed him.

Anger was in his eyes, anger, frustration... fear.

While it hadn't been long since the vortex of teeth and tentacles had appeared beneath him they already had grabbed him.

Tried to pull him down.

And he still couldn't get a grasp on Joshua's essence, still couldn't find the bond that was supposed to keep him close to his other half.

Why?

What exactly had happened to screw this up so much?

Grunting he tried to fight his way up, felt the slimy pull at his legs as more tentacles wrapped themselves around it.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

He could feel tears running down his cheeks, growling in frustration.

What was he supposed to do...

Something had seperated them, that much was clear but it wasn't like he could just reach into the mirror and pull O.J. out.

But suddenly there was an idea, a spark.

He looked around, no one was in the men's room with him.

Although, if there were, they would have asked him what was wrong already.

The late hour was the only thing keeping him safe at this point, else someone in the hallway would have noticed.

He took a deep breath, took a step back from the mirror, trying to look confident.

-Just a second and i'll get you out of there.-

Could he though?

He wasn't sure, but the idea, however desperate it might have been, was all he had at the moment.

No time like the present, if he wanted to do something, and it was apparent that he had to do something, now was the time.

From all he could tell O.J. wasn't just cut off from him, he was in danger.

The feeling had quickly built up the second he saw the look in his eye.

Deep breaths...

Concentration...

Slowly Joshua closed his eyes, tried to picture O.J. in all his annoying glory.

The chestnut brown, almost red fur of his mane, the platinblond hair that covered his body,

his slightly purplish eyes that seemed to hint at playful corruption.

Giving it form... giving it substance...

Deep breaths...

Slowly the energized haze around him seemed to get pulled into a maelstrom,

swirling at the ground before him as the outlines of a body formed, inch after inch.

Details crept into the image after it slowly gained mass, the mist slowly moving towards the

new body's center.

An eternity of seconds later he fell to his knees, almost simultaneously with his astral twin.

O.J., naked as he was formed in the hasty ritual, grinned at Joshua.

'Took you long enough.'

-As if you're one to talk, just vanishing like that.-

Both of them panted, each had his own struggle, fought his own fight in the last hour.

Before he could say something else Joshua felt O.J.'s lips press against his own.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Just a few rooms down the hallway Noxfire sat on the floor, meditating.

Grasping the magic energies was still trying... not impossible, but reading them, taking information out of their flow... it was like reading ancient text that had, in part, vanished over centuries.

Suddenly the lion's eyes opened, his mane moving like fire...

Why hadn't he noticed?

His gaze went from one crystal to the other before he finally found it... cracks.

When had it happened?

What exactly had happened to make these?

Slowly he rose, taking his steps towards the shelf the object in question was on.

As his fingers wrapped around the crystal, bringing it closer for inspection he couldn't help but feel like it already was familiar... he knew what he would see...

It wasn't just that the crytal was cracked, like you'd expect an ice cube when pouring something warm over it, closer inspection revealed teeth, moving, ever so slowly moving, whispering...

Pouring magic into the world... chaotic.. dangerous...

Slowly he moved one of his fingers over it, sealing the crack with a hushed formula.

It was happening again...

Like it had happened back when Flicker...

Was he back? Impossible...

But something... something had happened and the more he thought about it... the more things seemed to form connections...

Hammer's weird behaviour, the sudden increase in Nicholai's power, and now the cracks...

Just like when Abyss had been around...

When he...