Shawn clutched his seared stump, which oozed with a gentle stream of black blood. He could feel the arm beginning to slowly reform, but it was sure taking its sweet time. His eye had already grown back, albeit in a horrendous sinew form similar to his arm.

Shawn gritted his teeth and slammed his human arm into a tree. That bitch! Something about whatever she fired out of her gun was interfering with his new powers. Powers that were given to him by a little green stone.

He smiled as he inched his way back to Dawnbell. If a little stone had given him the power to reform missing body parts and control groups of monsters, imagine what a larger stone would do. It was a good thing he knew where to find a large quantity of the strange crystal.  He had just finished a job involving the drop off of the substance

He made his way into Dawnbell around midnight, and tried to avoid as many people as he could. He didn’t want a repeat of last time. He made his way to the clocktower in the center of town, and slipped into a door labeled “employees only”.

Upon entering the dusty interior of the clocktower, Shawn kneeled gently on the floor and pressed a series of loose stones. As he did, a section of the floor slid down and away, revealing a set of stairs spiraling down into the darkness. He began to descend as the floor slid back into place above him.

When he finally reached the bottom of the stairs, faint torchlight lit a long hallway lined with doors, and ending in a large mahogany door carved with symbols and encrusted with jewels. 

Shawn took a deep breath and blended into the shadows, making his was slowly down the hall. He stopped as one of the doors opened.

Two figures stepped out of the doorway. They were dressed in immaculate suits, which were pure white. White coats were slung over their shoulders like capes, and white caps perched on their heads. They both wore porcelain masks that covered everything but their eyes. They did not seem to notice Shawn.

“How has the Master decided to act?”

“About the monster attack? I believe he said in his own words that it would ‘sort itself out’ and that he was ‘expecting a meeting’.”

“Well I suppose he knows best.”

“That he does.”

The figures stepped into another doorway and the hallway was silent again. Shawn grimaced. Agents of The Powers That Be. The contact he had worked for was high enough to be in good standing with one of the most powerful authorities in the world. He would have to be extra careful not to get caught.

Shawn made his way to the large door. He gently pulled on the handle, and was surprised to find that it was unlocked. He slipped into the dark room and silently shut the door behind him.

He was going to wait for his eyes to adjust, then search for the crystal, but this plan was interrupted by a collection of lanterns suddenly flaring to life. The room was a large study, with bookshelves lining the walls. Comfortable leather couches sat in the center of the room, and at the far end was a large desk.  Papers littered the desk, along with a picture frame.  Behind the desk was a large, intimidating chair, its back to the room, facing a large map on the wall.

Shawn began to sweat nervously as a faint laugh could be heard coming from the chair, and wisps of grey smoke began to emerge from behind it. Shawn reached for the door, but was shocked to find that the door opened into a brick wall instead of the hallway he came in through.

“Don’t bother. We aren’t anywhere near Dawnbell by now.”

The voice that came from the chair was sickly sweet, and slithered through the air like the smoke that continued to emerge from the same place. The smoke was thicker now, and pooled across the floor and curled through the air in tendrils.

“I know why you’re here Shawn. You have seen some of the power of these crystals, and you want more.”

Shawn gingerly shut the door, and began to approach the desk warily.

“Yeah. What if I do?”

“Heh. I think that we can come to an agreement you and me. We aren’t so different, after all. We are both men who see the world as broken, tainted, something to be fixed. And I want to help you.”

“What are you *cough* going on about?”

The smoke was thick in the air now. It choked Shawn, but something about it was familiar. It was nothing like the smoke that came from monsters, which was made of magic. This felt like the opposite, like the absence of something.

“You are not the only one who has been empowered by the crystals, but you are the only one who has embraced it like you have. Because of this, it makes you perfect for what I have in mind.”

Shawn tried to speak, but the smoke choked his lungs.

“I want you join me Shawn. I want you to sit next to me, to be one of my assets. You may normally be opposed to such an arrangement, but this is different. I can promise you one thing. Power. The power to kill. Does that sound good to you?”

Shawn could barely breath, but he was able to nod his head.

“Excellent…”

The smoke pulled back, sliding back behind the chair that it came from. Shawn rubbed his throat, which felt like he had swallowed an ashtray, but he was smiling all the same.

“I think that I can go along with this. But I do have one concern.”

“The ones who bested you? They are no trouble. I have leverage over each and every one of them.”

As he spoke, wisps of smoke rose into the air, forming into different images. A one-armed man kneeling as a brand is pressed into his neck, a young girl crying over two fallen bodies, and a lone child running off into the night.

“I have leverage over everyone. Even you, Shawn Gryffin.”

Shawn grimaced. “I don’t use that name anymore.”

“And I don’t use my real name either. I think that we will get along just fine Shawn the Slicer.”

Shawn smiled. This was his chance. His chance to live the dream. He would be able to kill at his leisure, and have the protection of one of the most powerful people in the world. Not to mention the power, the power that was being promised. This was the beginning of something grand. The beginning of something that would shake to world down to its core.