With a snap of his fingers, the Master beckoned Wilhelm towards him. Moving without hesitation, the disciple promptly produced the suitcase from behind him and opened it. Looking inside casually, Wilhelm saw a series of folders bound by cloth straps that were individually marked with symbols of unknown origin. The folders contained all the information the Whispers had gathered over the course of that decade concerning the matters discussed this evening.

The Master snapped his fingers again, and as a naked figure formed from the dust produced by the rubble. The humanoid was pale and thin man with no discernable features; no eyes, no mouth. At the Master’s behest, the person reached towards the suitcase and dust clouds carried the stack into its palms as it floated towards each of the 12 handing the members their respective folders. When the folders were received, the binding marks glowed as the straps were burned off, opening to reveal their contents. Streams of glowing lines of glyphs hovered in the air, as slivers of energy spelled out letters in sentences in a language far too old to translate. Wilhelm looked at several lines from each individual folder, observing them, but couldn’t decipher their meaning.

This was intentional: each member of the 12 had their role within their organization and the cultural ethics of each’s domain was unique only to them, hence the language of each file reflected such.

“These are the latest reports on the information you all individually requested. Please note that per your desires, all important dossiers recalling the candidates for the Equivocation are as shown. It is up to your discretion with which you fulfill your duties and through you produce your results, and also up to you as to how wish to proceed. Do note, however, that given the current situation, it is wise that your actions are seen as occurrences found only in nature, and that your progress does not hinder nor impede on the actions of your fellows”

“Now”, he inquired, “are there any particular questions?”

Silence.

The Master nodded expectantly, “very well, you have what is need, now return to the Sine, and collect your forces. We shall reconvene in 5 months hence in the Intra. No doubt our little friends shall also be attendance, and I do so hope that you all have prepared an appropriate introduction into our circle to the masses.”

Hmm, Wilhelm thought, 5 months. That’s not a very long time, and by then, things should progress accordingly. The rest of the assembled seemed to echo this sentiment, as the Devourer licked her lips gleefully, and even the Definitive begrudgingly smirked.

Then.

A ray of pale light broke the silence, tickling ever surface it touched. Wilhelm blinked, and turned towards it origin. A full moon had gently peered over the dense coverage of clouds and smog hoping to provide the assembly with peace and solace. He blinked again, and the moon shone a bright blue and a strong wind from the sea washed over him, filling his lungs with salt and the memories of sailing the Aegean and Adriatic Seas, and of the warmth of someone’s hand on his. With a sigh, he softly smiled, felt a rumble in the earth. When he opened them, the 12 were gone, leaving himself and the Master alone in a destroyed neighborhood amidst rubble and fire.riate introduction into our circle to the masses.

*Snore*

*Rustle*

Wilhelm blinked, and turned towards the sound.

“Ugh”, said a slurry voice. The homeless bum had finally woken up. Grunting, he turned back to the assembly expecting to be there, only to find them all gone. It was just him and the Master alone in the smoldering rubble of the York and Figueroa. He looked around hesitantly, even the wall of swirling void vanished—like it was never actually there to begin with. The homeless bum sniffled as he stirred himself awake, unaware of his actions as he spread his hands across a puddle of blood from the smushed carcass of a dog. Yawning, he stretched his arms and proceeded to touch his face with his bloodied hand. It took a minute to register that his hand wet before he reached for a can of beer lying next to him. Still groggy, the bum was rudely awakened when the can sprayed him in the face with an alcoholic golden shower that caused him to fall of his makeshift mattress, pulling himself up with a severed arm from the building next to him.

By now the Master had noticed the bum and watched ever casually, before rubbing the scar along his temple with his left pointer finger and turning away.

Wilhelm sighed knowing what this means.

Well, guess he had to die after all.  

The sentiment was equally shared, because seconds later, the Master noticed Wilhelm’s facial expression and politely said:

“Oh dear, an unbridled solicitor, that most certainly will not do at all.”

“Wilhelm my boy ”, he gently asked, “please take care to dispose of this, unmentionable creature.”

“As you wish, my Master”, Wilhelm replied dutifully, and began walking towards the bum, suitcase closed and still in hand. By this time the bum took into account his surroundings and began to scream at the sight of the blood and destruction surrounding him. It took him a few seconds to notice Wilhelm, who by now was a few feet away from him, with Qualia hidden behind his thigh quietly concealed until the last possible moment.

“Oh-oh god”, the bum sputtered, “oh my god, wh-what happened?”

“Are you alright?”, asked Wilhelm politely, kneeling down to the bum’s level and nodding to him.

“Wha—What happened? Why the fuck are all these people dead”, the bum stammered.

“An earthquake just ran through here. My master and I were nearly caught in it ourselves”, Wilhelm casually stated, as he lied through his teeth. Of course he didn’t have to lie. Actually he didn’t have to address the man at all, and could’ve just simply killed him. He was still going to, but he didn’t have to lie. Then again though, humans were feeble creatures who could and would believe anything you told them. Especially when the use of fear was in play. 

Ah yes, fear.  

The stink of fear on this man, it’s so palpable. 

It caused Wilhelm’s blood to rush and his heart to quicken. 

Fear, it was like a rush that excited him to no end. He’d never admit it openly, but liked the way fear invigorated him, especially in the heat of combat when death was always closer to you than life ever was. 

Sparks from electrical cords spritzed to life a yard from them before touching a puddle of oil that leaked from a crushed car; the sparks ignited the oil, causing a small but ferocious explosion that erupted from the car, traveling up the electric pole and melting the plastic and wood. The bum screamed and cowered from the heat as shards of hot metal and glass rained down on their location. Wilhelm eyed his reactions, watching as the man looked about unable to fully process the sight before him. He blinked a few times, before turning to watch the inferno blaze before them as the old man’s gaze returned to Wilhelm dumbfounded. Crouched in the Spiderman perch, Wilhelm watched the sudden explosion like it was a news reel, completely bored and unimpressed by the sight, humming to himself. Clicking his tongue, he checked his watch, and frowned. It was 2:54, and he was tired. 

He needed to wrap this up quickly. 

Worthless human shit, he thought. 

“Hey”, he started fully focused on the bum, “did you see anything while you were lying down?” 

The bum didn’t reply at first, and then said, “whadya mean? Can’t you see that we’re fucking burning?!” 

“We’re burning, we’re simply—“ 

“The whole city’s goin’ to hell, and you’re not even worried?! This is some wacked out bullsh—“ 

“Just shut up and answer the damn question!”, Wilhelm thundered. His eyebrow twitched, his annoyance at the exchange overflowing in his voice. He hated having to repeat himself, let alone slow down his pace for others. This is exactly why I hate dealing with lessers, he reminded himself. 

Fucking humans. 

 For an uncomfortable silence, neither of them spoke. 

The pause between exacerbated Wilhelm’s already foul mood, until the bum finally spoke up. 

“Y-you’re not gonna kill me are you?”, the bum sheepishly asked. 

Wilhelm scoffed, putting down the suitcase before replying.  

“Depends”, he shrugged, “on whether or not I think you’re lying to me.” 

As he finished, he whipped out Qualia from behind him and casually rested it on his thigh, the barrel facing the homeless bastard. Seeing the terrified expression in the man’s face brought a hidden sense of satisfaction to Wilhelm. Good, he noted, someone’s feeling more cooperative. Makes my job a little but easier. 

“Now”, he said, “did you see anything you drunken piece of shit?” 

The bum eye the gun for a few seconds, swallowing hard, before finally answering. 

“I--I thought I saw some people standing over there”, answered the bum, pointing to where the 12 were previously assembled. “I thought it was dream, because I was drunk off my ass. I don’t know who they were or why they were there.” 

“I--I don’t remember anything after that”, he finished, “my head’s spinning a god awful mess and I’m covered in blood, look please if you let me go, I—I promised I won’t tell nobody nothing ‘bout what happened here tonight. Please believe me.” 

Silence.  

So he saw the 12, and judging by his haggard speech, he’s not lying about being heavily drunk. Huh, and here I thought he was interesting to boot. But in the end, he’s nothing more than a measly human. 

Worthless. 

Then. 

“I see”, Wilhelm said finally. 

Wilhelm had made his decision. 

His answer given, Wilhelm stood upright picking up the suitcase and turned to see where his master was. The Master was waiting at the car, expectedly eyeing Wilhelm with a gaze that politely read please hurry up, I’m waiting. 

“So”, asked the bum, “d-does this means that I can go right?” 

“…” 

“Y-you said you weren’t gonna kill me if I answered your question. So that means that—“ 

Ch-Bang!