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"I'm headed down to the market." Gideon called, his words echoing through the gatewatch headquarters. "Anyone want me to pick something up for them?""Get me a couple of smoked lavacakes." Chandra voice answered from somewhere on the upper level."Sure!" Gideon called back."You do know we could send get the Azorious to fetch groceries, don't you?" Lilliana asked archly. She was standing over Jace's shoulder and examining the papers the mind mage was scribbling furiously on. "Just tell them Jace requires it, he's basically their god now.""God of paperwork, certainly." Jace mumbled, shoving away a pile of papers thicker than Gideon's biceps with an exhausted sigh. "Besides, a grocery acquisition request would probably require three separate forms filled out in triplicate." He gave a mournful look at the fresh pile more than twice the size of the last."Don't worry about it, Jace, I like going outside." Gideon said, easily ignoring Lillianna's disgusted look.Gideon stepped away out onto the street and took a deep breath of Ravnica's… well, not exactly fresh air—the plane of cities didn't much go for that—more like… well-used air, air that had had gotten around, air that had seen things. It smelt of smog, of flowers and stone, and a thousand other scents intermingling in the bustling world of life and clamor that was Ravnica.Gideon set off, humming to himself as walked the streets. He wasn't too concerned about pickpockets, most people on the streets either recognized him or at had at least heard about him. His leading the Boros in the battle of the Ninth District and living to tell about it certainly made your everyday thief think twice before slipping a finger in his pocket.His reputation also helped him get through the crowded bustle of the city of cities, the people parting before him like water on a rock. He enjoyed the space, it gave him a chance to observe the people of Ravnica.Gideon had been to dozens of planes, seen countless things that dropped his jaw and left him humbled by the wonder of the multiverse. Ravnica itself might not be the pinnacle of beauty, but the sheer diversity of its citizenry always took his breath away. Humans, goblins, elves, merfolk, even the occasional elemental were walking the streets, and they weren't even the half of it. There were minotaur and ogres, giant horned beasts of burden carrying countless crates and covered in ropes as they were led by giants down the center of the street, and other, far less identifiable, creatures of every shape and size ambled, lurched, or flew through the air in a swirling mass of life.And then there were the colors. Most of Ravnica's denizens belonged to one guild or another and wore their colors proudly. The white and gold trim of an Orzhov cleric, the brilliant reds and blues of an Izzet chemister, the scarlet and black checker pattern of a Rakdos harlequin—all the colors blurred together in glorious mess that assaulted the eyes and confused the mind.It was always a little strange, seeing such differences so close together. On any other plane, Gideon would expect such a mix of races pushed so close together to result in immediate, all-out war. But here they all were, living together more or less in relative harmony.Of course, Gideon had no doubt there were countless acts of violence happening behind closed doors and in the darker side alleys. But out here in the streets, most kept to themselves and tried to get on with their lives. Greater conflicts were almost exclusively limited to inter-guild squabbles; which could get quite vicious, as he knew first-hand—but that wasn't the same as outright war.Was it this diversity of people that seemed to draw planeswalkers to the plane? It made a certain sense. You could step into the streets of Ravnica dressed in the most ludicrous things, robes from far away words and otherworldly material, and you would still blend into the crowd. It was comforting."Gideon Jura."Gideon paused midstep, turning his head at the sound of his name, then had to look up a just a tad to meet the gaze of the angel standing behind him. She was regarding him in that inscrutable way all angels had, as though she was calmly waiting for him to do something that warranted a righteous punishment."Yes?" Gideon asked, turning his body to fully face the winged woman. His departure from Sunhome and Aurelia's service had not been on bad terms and the Boros Archangel had not seemed to resent him for it. But letting one's guard down in this city was a very stupid thing to do, and if this angel was looking for a fight, she would not find him unprepared."I am Plerakor az Vinrenn D'rav," the angel said, inclining her head slightly. "And I would have words with you."Gideon raised an eyebrow and examined the angel. She was tall, with bronzed skin and a set of radiant white wings. She looked much like the other firemane angels of the Boros legion he'd fought alongside. Except… Gideon blinked, and looked again.The angel wasn't wearing armor, instead of shining plate metal she wore a simple green tunic, and she carried no weapon he could see. The sight was bizarre, like watching a fire elemental drinking a glass of water.After a few moments he realized she was waiting for him to speak, as were several people around them, the marketgoers watching him with interest—no doubt to wondering if they were going to see a fight. He was pretty sure he could hear the reedy voice of a goblin somewhere behind him trying to start up a betting pool on who would win."You're not wearing Boros colors." He blurted, then realized in the silence that followed that it was true. The angel's clothes had neither the red nor the white of the legion. That was… strange, and likely telling. He may not have Jace's mind for machinations, but Gideon knew a significant detail when he saw one.The angel didn't blink. "I have a friend who wishes to speak with you." she stated. "Follow me and I will guide you to him.""Does this someone have a name?""Yes.""…is it someone I would want to talk to?""If you have a desire to protect innocent lives, then yes."Gideon frowned, narrowing his eyes at the angel. Should he take that statement at face value? Or was she saying if she would kill people if he didn't meet with this friend? The Boros angels he'd met to date were about as subtle as a hammer."Will you follow me?" the angel asked, when he didn't respond. "We do not mean you any harm." She added, almost as an afterthought.Well, that was convincing…Then again, he couldn't deny he was curious and if It was a trap; a planeswalker always had an escape route, especially one who could turn their skin invulnerable."Lead the way."The angel nodded once and turned on her heel, striding away without another word. The crowds of the market parted even faster for her than they had for him and he followed easily in her wake.To his surprise, the journey was short. There was no ducking into dark side alley's or taking long winding paths. The angel was leading him straight to what appeared to be a large tavern with the word Maz-Ivium's printed above the door—that was the name of an Izzet if he'd ever seen one. If this 'friend' was trying to involve him in something shady, they weren't going to great lengths to keep his movements a secret—even Chandra could have tracked down where they'd taken him without losing her patience.The bouncer at the door, a horned-humanoid taller than even the angel and looking like the misbegotten offspring of an ogre and a minotaur, stepped aside as the angel strode close. A fanged mouth framed by tiny, angry eyes bore into him and the creature started to growl."He is with me." The angel declared, and the creature stopped growling immediately, although it still looked like it would very much like to use his head as chew toy. Gideon smiled calmly back at it, he'd seen things with far bigger teeth.Compared to the Eldrazi, the bouncer was almost cute.He stepped through the doorway into a pleasantly lit barroom. Gideon gave the customers a quick scan, a group of viashino were crowded around the bar, the lizardmen chittering at each other and downing drinks like the world was ending. A group of dwarves were huddled in one corner, pouring over some papers, and a mix of humans and elves were scattered throughout the bar. Gideon noted that plenty of the patrons were wearing signets representing their guild allegiance, but the actual colors they wore were plainer, not as blatant about showing off their guild.Perhaps this bar was neutral ground? Not owned by any of the guilds?Most of the patrons shot him a glance as he entered, but few showed much interest and even those who may have recognized him only gave him a few moments consideration before turning back to their business. Paying no heed as the angel strode across the room to an empty table in the far corner.Wait, no. The table wasn't empty. Gideon he could see a man at the table, his body shimmering blue and silver—a vedelken? But as Gideon drew closer he saw the man had only two arms. Perhaps he was some kind of elemental?Gideon stopped beside the angel and cleared his throat. The man stared at him for a moment, then turned to the angel."You actually convinced him to follow you?" he asked, and Gideon realized the man was slightly translucent, the wall behind him visible through his face. Despite his spectral appearance, the man's voice was a strong and clear as any of flesh and blood."You doubted me?" the angel asked levelly."Not as such," he answered, shaking his head. "It's just that I've seen you negotiate. It lacks a certain…" he waved a hand vaguely. "Delicate touch.""You asked if I could bring him to you, and I did." Gideon raised an eyebrow. Was there just a hint of indignant huff to the angel's voice? "Are you going to speak with him, or waste time criticizing my methods?""Right, sorry." The ghost shook his head, a bemused grin on his face "Good job, Feather."Feather? Hadn't she said her name was Plera-something? What kind of angel accepted a nickname from anyone? Gideon had a brief mental image of someone calling Aurelia Aury to her face and the firestorm of righteous fury that would follow."It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Jura." The man leaned forward, his shaved head shimmering in the lamplight. "Tell me, to get you to follow her, did Feather at any point threaten to break your legs?"The angel's eyebrow twitched, and Gideon couldn't stop himself from snorting. "No, she didn't.""What about your arms?"Her face still as stone, one of the angel's wing stretched out and swatted the man's head. The feather's passed though it like mist, but the man still shuddered and leaned away. "Okay, okay. I'll get to the point." He looked back to Gideon. "My name is Agrus Kos."Gideon examined the man, he muscular and dressed in a mix of cloth and plate mail, and while the colors were all shades of shimmering blue he could still recognize the patterns on them as distinctly Boros."And what are you?" Gideon asked. "A magical projection? If someone wants to talk to me, I prefer to do it face to face.""I am talking to you face to face." Agrus replied. "I'm not some magical cantrip. I'm just dead.""Dead?" Gideon echoed, raising an eyebrow."You know, a ghost? A restless spirit? An undead abomination?""I'm…sorry to hear that?" Gideon blinked. He certainly didn't look like one of the gibbering specters Lilliana could raise when she was angry.The man snorted, "don't be, I got over it. It's not all bad either, I'm not as creaky as I used to be. Although I can't drink anymore," he sighed mournfully then shook his head. "But I didn't ask Feather to bring you here to talk about what it's like in the next life, you'll find out all about it yourself one day anyway." He gestured at the seat across from him. "Have a seat. If you're hungry, feel free to order something and we'll cover the tab. He glanced over at his companion. "You can sit down too, Feather.""I will stand." Feather answered, making no move to sit."I'm shocked." Agrus rolled his eyes.Gideon looked back and forth between the two and he only thing he could think was: an angel, a ghost, and a planeswalker walk into a bar…He grinned to himself and took a seat, but foregoing the offer of food. Despite what Lilliana might think, he wasn't quite so stupid as to accept a meal from someone he'd just met. "So who exactly are you two? I doubt you're actually with the Boros.""Not anymore, certainly." Agrus agreed as Feather gave off a derisive snort. "No, Feather and I are independent from the guilds. As for who we are, I'm just an old ghost. I spent most of my life as a wojek for the Boros legion: walking the streets, upholding both the laws and generally trying to keep everyone from killing each other too much. Then I died in the field of duty." The ghost shrugged. "Retirement never managed to stick to me when I was alive and didn't stick when I was dead either.""That's admirable." Gideon commented.Agrus snorted. "Tell that to the legion's higher-ups. They built statues of me, honoring my memory and all that, so having me still walking around is a bit embarrassing for them. Especially when I go to the statues and loudly point out the details they got wrong.""Do you actually do that?""No, but sometimes I'm tempted.""And what of you?" Gideon asked, turning to Feather who stared back at him neutrally."I served in the Wojek legion," she answered tersely, "I was Agrus's partner for most of his career."Gideon opened his mouth to ask more but was interrupted by a loud shriek from across the bar. The pack of viashino and goblins, now thoroughly drunk, were facing a table of dwarves and screeching, waving tankards and claws in the air as the smaller folk bristled, hands falling to their belts where various dangerous looking implements were hanging."Ah. A famous Ravnica cross-cultural debate," Argus sighed. "Feather, would you mind stepping over there and persuade them see reason?"The angel gave him a look but did not refuse. "If you insist," she said, spreading her wings and taking to the air. She landed between the squabbling groups and gave them a glare that could Gideon could almost feel."You are causing a disturbance in a public area." She said, and the iron in her voice making the dwarves drop their weapons and attempt to look as though they had never been about to draw them in the first place. "This is your only warning, cease this behavior."One of the viashino snarled, jabbing a broken bottle at her.Feather's eyes narrowed."It's always nice to see her having fun." Argus commented, as one of the lizard-man slid to a stop at their feet. "She even gave them a chance to surrender, all that time as a wojek really did do her good."Gideon watched as the angel grabbed a clawed hand swinging toward her face, stopping it dead, then spin, whipping the viashino the hand was attached to around and hurling him into a clump of lizardmen."She's certainly aggressive." Gideon commented as the angel carefully picked up a table and hit one of the drunkards with it."Well, she was a Boros Angel." Argus shrugged. "If that lot were sober enough to be reasoned with, they would have dropped their weapons the moment Feather flapped over there. Sometimes, people just need a good crack on the head to help let the steam out. Besides, Feather won't kill them. It's better that she be the one to lay them out than some wet-behind-the-ears wojek who thinks the shiny red sun on his helmet will stop someone from trying to cave it in."In a few moments, it was over. The angel was surrounded by a carpet of groaning bodies—it seemed Agrus was right, none of them seemed to be dead as far as Gideon could tell."Do you know," Gideon said slowly. "I think I've heard the name Feather before, from Aurelia.""That right?" Argus said levelly."She didn't have anything nice to say.""That might have something to do with how Aurelia usurped her as Guildmaster. Or the way she had Feather locked up until she escaped."Gideon blinked, glancing back over at the angel with new interest. She had been Guildmaster of the Boros? Standing there with crossed arms and scowling as a pair of bouncers dragged the drunkards out of the bar, Gideon couldn't help but feel that she'd gone down in the world."Is it really a good idea for her to be walking around in broad daylight, then?""Oh, well," Agrus answered breezily. "Aurelia isn't actually allowed to lay a finger on her, provided Feather never sets foot on Boros turf. The reason being a very long and needlessly complicated legal agreement I managed to wrangle out of the Azorious and Orzhov." The ghost frowned thoughtfully. "I think she might now officially be a member of the Selesnya Conclave, but I can't be too sure; the paperwork was a true masterpiece of legal minotaur poo—or so I'm told, couldn't make any sense of the thing myself.Gideon's eyebrow climbed even higher. "Aurelia never struck me as the type allow paperwork to slow her down.""No, she's not." Argus agreed. "But I lived a long life and made a lot of friends in my time, some of which are in high places. High enough that they could cause the dear Boros Guildmaster some serious trouble if they were so inclined. As long as Feather keeps her head down and doesn't challenge Aurelia's position, she's not worth the trouble bringing her in would cause." There was a hard glint in the spirit's eyes that belied his ethereal form. "I've made sure of that. Strictly speaking, Feather works for me, and my beat is out of Boros jurisdiction due to complicated reasons that have long since become ancient history""Why did you seek me out?" Gideon asked. "Feather said something about saving lives."The ghost was quiet for a moment, giving Gideon a sidelong look. "You agreed to help Aurelia cleanse the ninth district, but you refused to join the guild. Care to tell me why?""I did it to save the lives that would have been lost, not to help Aurelia win her war.""That'd be why I wanted to get to know you." Argus looked him in the eye. "I gave my life to the Boros, more'n a hundred years of service. I'll be the last to say they're perfect—too much soldier in them for my taste. Still, at the end of the day, I considered it my job to keep the peace to make sure that people can walk the streets safely."The ghost watched Feather lift up two goblins, one in each hand, and slam their heads together before dropping them unceremoniously one the ground. "Course, the current Boros management doesn't want anything to do with an old ghost like me, they'd rather march to war against… I dunno, whoever they feel has it coming. The Rakdos, probably.""You still haven't explained why you have sought me out.""There's something killing people down in the Keyhole Village district. Bodies have been turning up in odd places and strange conditions." Gideon felt the ghost's eyes on him and felt their steel. "I want you to help me stop it."Gideon looked at him, but Agrus' gaze was as steady as his ethereal form would allow and gave nothing away."And that's it? that's all you want from me?" Gideon asked, raising a brow."No." Agrus answered simply. "But at the moment, that's the thing that matters.""Why don't you ask the guilds for help?" Gideon asked."Keyhole Village isn't the richest neighborhood, but it isn't the slums either. So the guilds don't get to look good for doing charitable deeds there. I could go through the official channels and all that, but the problem is…""People would still be dying?" Gideon answered.Argus was silent for a long moment. "There's a lot of people who slip through the cracks in this city, nobody could ever stop that…""I'm not some new recruit." Gideon interrupted, crossing his arms and giving the ghost a flat look. "You don't need to inspire me. If people are dying, and I can stop it, I will help."Agrus eyed him, then nodded. "Fine then." The ghost stood, his body passing through the table as did so. "Meet us outside the town square of Keyhole Village in an hour. Make sure to bring a big weapon." He added over his shoulder as he drifted toward Feather. "Whatever's causing trouble down there, I expect it's going to require a great deal of persuasion."
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"So, let me get this straight," Chandra said, talking around the piece of burnt pastry in her mouth as she followed Gideon down the street to Keyhole Village. She paused to swallow before continuing, "You were approached by an angel who told you to follow her into a bar, and you did. Then you met a ghost who told you he needed help killing something, and you said yes?"Gideon nodded.Chandra gave him a long look, like one might look at a beloved dog that had just torn apart the couch and was looking proud of itself."Well," Gideon said slowly. "When you put it way, I suppose that it does sound somewhat… unwise."The pyromancer punched him in the arm then cursed. Gideon smiled, "Are you alright?""I swear, you're like a brick wall made of meat." Chandra answered, rubbing her knuckles and grimacing."I'll take that as a compliment.""You do that," she huffed. "Now seriously, why are you going to meet with this dead guy? I know your head isn't as thick as Lillianna thinks it is.""I liked the reasons he gave for enlisting my help. If he is truly trying to protect people, then that's something I would gladly lend my aid for.""I mean, sure." Chandra said doubtfully. "But that's exactly the kind of thing I'd expect someone to say if they wanted to trick you. You aren't exactly subtle about what gets your attention.""I suppose you would be the master of subtly," Gideon said thoughtfully.Chandra snorted, raised a hand to hit him again, thought better of it, and flicked a tiny fireball at him instead. Gideon flared up his magic, making the flames rolled harmlessly off his body and laughed."If Agrus lied to me and this is a trap, then I'll gladly face it head on. But if he's telling the truth, then I can't stand by and do nothing." He shrugged. That was all there was to it.He wanted to believe the ghost was what he said he was, the way he'd sought Gideon's help had hardly been cloak and dagger enough to suggest a trap.Chandra groaned, reaching into her bag of smoked lavacakes and pulling out another piece of dough. "You're way too earnest." She complained."You didn't have to agree to come with me.""And let you go meet some undead guy all by yourself?" Chandra snorted. "Come on, Gids, turn down the white knight thing a bit. You're making the rest of us look bad.""I like to think of it as inspiring them to be better people." He grinned. Chandra made a gagging noise. "Thank you, by the way. For accompanying me.""Yeah, well." Chandra huffed, looking away. "Someone needs to make sure you don't get murdered in an ally.""I care about you too." Gideon's lip curled as she spluttered a curse and a second, larger fireball enveloped his head. They traveled on in silence after that, the bubble of space around them larger than ever as the ravnicans on the street, still teeming even as the sun was setting, took one look at Chandra's smoldering hair and deciding that the other side of the street was a much more appealing place to walk.They made good it to Keyhole village in good time. Agrus' description of the place had been accurate: it wasn't the slums; the buildings were in good condition, if a bit crushed together. But they were plain, made of wood and stone foundations without much ornamentation or fanfare typical of upper-end neighborhoods.Gideon scanned the people in the streets. They were going about their business quickly, keeping their heads down and clearly trying to avoid making eye contact. There were remarkably few guild insignias to be seen—a guildless neighborhood then, full of people just wanting to get through life without being embroiled in the intraguild warfare.He spotted Feather first, standing before a fountain shaped like a giant fish. The angel rose above the rest of the crowd like a tree in a prairie. Agrus was harder to spot, more of a patch of shimmering air than anything else but he grew more distinct as they drew close. The patch of mist waved a hand in greeting when it saw him, making Gideon's brow furrowed as he returned the gesture.He wasn't convinced that Agrus was truly what he said he was. He just seemed too… alive, too human, to be a ghost. Agrus was nothing like the Lillianna's specters, or the screaming gheists he'd seen on Innastrad clinging to some desperate grudge or unfinished business. And he was certainly a far cry from the Returned on Theros. Gideon shuddered at the memory of the golden masks on shambling, star-strewn bodies.Agrus—if he actually was a ghost—was like someone who had died, then just kept going on as though nothing changed. It was creepy in a way completely different from the Returned, as though death was truly optional.He could easily be some trick conjured by a mage—Gideon had seen Jace create dozens of similar illusions in half a second, all of them more convincing and realistic than Agrus. But there was something about the shoddiness of Agrus that made Gideon think he might be genuine. Surely if a mage was trying to lure him into a trap, they'd put more effort into the trick? Or did they know that Gideon might think this way and intentional used a lackluster illusion? These circular mind games were hardly his forte, perhaps he should have asked Jace to accompany him instead…Gideon was drawn from his musings when he felt Feather's gaze on him. The Angel's eyes were wary—as though she were running through ideas of the best way to take him down if it proved necessary.Whatever doubts he might hold about the ghost, there was no question in his mind of Feather's authenticity. The angel shone across his senses, as though someone had managed to convert brightness into sound and smell. It reminded him of the gods of his home plane. A partial divinity or, perhaps, pureness that even a magical trickster of Jace's quality couldn't mimic. It made his heart ache for home. For all of his life the people around him had always looked to him as a leader, but something inside him had and always would long to live in service to something greater.Gideon shook his head, divinity was not the same as trustworthy. Aurelia had been the same, but he hadn't been able to devote himself to her lust for war."You brought a friend." Agrus commented as they drew close, looking at Chandra with suspicion."You did say I should bring a big weapon." Gideon answered."Awwww, Gids," Chandra cooed.Gideon watched the ghost's face carefully as Agrus looked Chandra up and down with a sour expression."Is there a problem?" Gideon asked politely."Yeah." Agrus said flatly. "Don't think I don't recognize a pyromancer when I see one. We're trying to protect the neighborhood, you know. Not burn it down." He gave Chandra a pointed look. "Can you handle that, ma'am?"Chandra's nostrils flared, and Gideon winced. If there was one thing he knew his friend hated, it was being talked down to. He put a hand on her shoulder, but she shook him off with an exasperated look."No, why don't you run the concept by me again." she said sweetly, holding up what was left of her bag of pastries and incinerating it in a puff of white-hot fire.Agrus sighed and gave Gideon a look."I vouch for her," he said immediately. "Chandra is more than capable of controlling herself, she's a very talented fire mage.""As someone who has had to arrest more would-be arsonists than you would believe, you'll have to forgive me if that does not give me comfort." Agrus huffed. "But fine. It's not like I can stop her from coming.""I could," Feather said primly, stepping forward to tower over Chandra. "Would you like me to send her on her way, Agrus?"Chandra bristled. "Hey Gids, are angels fireproof?"They weren't. Boros Firemane's were fire-resistant—an important distinction where someone like Chandra was concerned. "Chandra, please don't try to set her on fire. We aren't here to fight." The pyromancer gave him an unimpressed look, but then Agrus spoke."Gideon is correct." The ghost glided between the angel and Chandra. "Feather, stand down." He ordered, before looking the pyromancer in the eye. "I believe Gideon said your name was Chandra?""Yeah." She crossed her arms and Gideon could see heat shimmers in the air around her head. "What of it?""Well, Chandra, allow me to apologize for my remarks." he nodded diplomatically, his body rippling in the light breeze. "I did not mean to insult you, but I've worked with Boros firecasters many times in the past. As a general rule, they seem to think 'collateral damage' means something along the lines of 'bonus points'." He shook his head in disgust. "And if you ask them to put out a fire, they look at you like you're crazy." He gave Chandra a cool look. "The area we'll be investigating isn't an industrial sector, the buildings aren't made of stone and the anti-fire enchantments will be limited. So, I'll ask you straight out: can you control your fire?"Chandra stared at the ghost for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I can. I'm not going to burn down the city." She looked away. "I can put out fires, by the way.""Alright," Agrus nodded. "Then I won't ask again.""Good." she huffed, but Gideon could see her heart wasn't in it and smiled to himself. He was impressed, it had taken him ages to figure out how to handle Chandra's prickly temper like that. If someone had something to say to her, she hated it when they danced around the issue or tried to put it delicately. She'd much rather they use the blunt approach."So, what is it we're hunting?" Gideon asked to change the topic and get things focused. "You said you don't know what it is, but surely you must have some idea? What evidence do you have that there's something strange stalking the area?""The bodies that keep turning up." Argus answered, setting off across, and occasionally through, the street as they followed him. "In this city, the culprit could be literally anything. An elemental gone mad after an Izzet strapped two mana cannons on its back, a ghost the Orzhov raised and forgot about, some kind of slime monster with teeth the Simic flushed down the drain," the ghost shrugged. "There's far too many mages with too much time on their hands in this city.""Do you think it's any of those things?""…No." Agrus admitted. "For several reasons, but mostly because of how the bodies looked.""Well?" Gideon asked. "Tell us about that."Agrus stepped into an empty side alley and waited for them to join him, then he looked up and began to rattle off words like he was reading them off a card. "The victims vary in race, size, and age. There have been several humans, two elves, a goblin, a minotaur, and a bear.""A bear?" Chandra echoed."Yes, a bear." Agrus answered with extreme patience. "The bear in question was named Gutmuncher, officially registered as a…" the ghost let out a long sigh, "Rakdos service animal.""Rakdos service animal?" This time it was Gideon who interrupted. Since when did the Rakdos care for such things?Agrus snorted. "One of the ways Rakdos get rid of their boring guildmates is to feed them to such service animals. I think they only bother to officially register them because they think the concept is hilariously stupid. I'd say they are half right.""And the Azorious allow that?"Agrus shrugged. "The Rakdos would do it anyway, so I suppose the pencil-pushers think they might as well charge a fee for the license and then let them have at it." The ghost shook his head. "But we're getting off topic; if I start listing off every exceptionally idiotic thing the guilds get up to, we'll be here for weeks. The lack of overarching similarities suggests that they are either randomly targeted or are those who just stumble on the culprit. As for condition, they tend to be either sporting injuries to hands and face, as though they were in a fistfight, or have no injuries at all. The only similarity between them all is that they all have a band of blackened flesh around their necks.""Burns?" Gideon asked."Not exactly." The ghost shook his head. "It's not bruising from strangulation either. It's more like someone tattooed black ink around their neck. There is, in fact, no indication that this black ring has hurt them in any way. That said, I'd stake my life on the fact that it is the cause of death.""Aren't you already dead?" Chandra asked, innocently.Agrus shot her a flat look. "I suppose you think that was a very cute thing to say, don't you ma'am?" Chandra flushed, opening her mouth to respond but the ghost had already looked away."As I was about to say: I doubt these killings are being done on the sly by any of the guilds.""Why not?" Gideon asked, "They tend to be involved in almost everything.""Yes." Agrus answered, "But the corpses don't match their style. The bodies aren't hacked apart, eaten or exploded, that rules out the Rakdos, the Gruul, and the Izzet. They don't have extra limbs or other evidence of science experiments gone wrong, so that probably rules out the Simic. They're still there and still have their valuables on them, so that rules out the Golgori and Orzhov. The Azorious and Boros, if they felt the need to get rid of someone, would do it out in the open in a great big public trial or execution. And the Selesnya don't really go in for this kind of thing."Gideon thought for a moment, going down the mental checklist. "What about the Dimir?"Agrus was silent for a moment. "While this is the kind of thing I'd expect from them, I don't think it actually is their doing.""Why not?""Because if it was them, it would look like one of the others were doing it." Agrus answered. He held came to a stop, holding out an arm for them to do the same and scowled when Chandra walked through it by mistake."This is the place where the majority of the bodies have been found." The ghost said, gesturing to a about half a block of rubble. Mounds of broken building and burned wood littered the area and spilled out onto the road. Gideon could see little leaves of green poking out of the debris and frowned. This wreckage must have been several weeks old, but there was no sign of any cleanup."This area was burned about a month ago," Agrus explained. "A pair of idiots thought it would be a good place to breed fire-salamanders in iron pots. One night they didn't secure the lids properly, the animals escaped, and, as you can see, it ended fantastically for everyone." He shook his head. "Anyway, it was only after this happened that the people started dying.""So, the fire and the deaths are related?" Gideon asked."Only, I suspect, by circumstance." Agrus supplied. "There was some thought that it was a restless spirit who died in the fire, and an Orzhov guildmage was called in to look at it. But they said there weren't any spirits in the area. After that they tried some wojek patrols in the hopes they'd catch the killer. They did catch a suspicious man hanging around the area and arrested him, then the man was found dead in his cell in exactly the same way as the rest of the victims. Bit of an embarrassment for the Boros, that. The patrols haven't been back since."The ghost turned to face them."I'll be honest with you, I don't like involving civilians in this kind of thing. But Feather is the only backup I've got, and whatever is doing this has made no move against her when she investigated the area. So, I needed someone else, but I'm not looking to get anyone killed. That's one of the reasons I wanted him," he jerked his head at Gideon. "I watched how you shrugged off spells of all kinds during the assault on the ninth district like they were water. I figure whatever is attacking these people probably won't be able to hurt you, and if it tries, then we'll be able to catch them in the act and hopefully put a stop to them.""So, I'm bait?" Gideon asked."Very sturdy bait." Agrus answered. "More like a trap, really. Like one of those fancy fishing lures with a great big hook underneath the pretty colors. But that's why I'm concerned about you." He turned to Chandra. "Can you resist magical assaults as well as Gideon?""She cannot." Gideon answered, turning to Chandra. "Maybe it would be best if you wait up here."Chandra stared at him in disbelief. "You actually think I'm going to let you go down there alone? Or leave me behind like some kind of delicate damsel or some crap?" She crossed her arms and snorted, sending out a little plume of fire. "Don't make me laugh, Gids. If you're getting yourself into trouble, then I'm going in with you."Gideon considered her for a moment, then nodded. "But I lead the way.""Duh." Chandra snorted. "That's what meat shields are for. Now let's stop wasting time and go already!"Gideon grinned, and set out into the field of rubble.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"So what, specifically, are we looking for?" Gideon asked, glancing around the piles of blackened debris. It was scattered everywhere, and it seemed no effort had been made to clear it away so the wreckage had formed a maze of burnt timbers and blackened stone.He was leading the way through it, keeping the shell of his magic up at all times in case anything leapt out at him. Chandra was behind him, keeping her eyes upward in case anything tried to jump down on them and Agrus was floating back and forth between them, peeking behind bits of rubble and around corners for them. They had left Feather at the street. According to Agrus, whatever was attacking people had shown no interest in the angel, and likely wouldn't show itself if she was with them.Gideon had accepted the explanation, if he were a shadowy murderer, he would think twice about trying his luck with an angel too. Nonetheless, this meant the more dangerous of their new friends was out of their sight doing who knows what. Which was why he had told Chandra to be ready to planeswalk if it looked like this was a setup.He wanted to trust Agrus, but that was no excuse for carelessness. The multiverse was quick to teach an arrogant planeswalker just how fragile they really were."Anything out of the ordinary, or anything that's moving around. Also see if you can spot any hidden basements. If someone was experimenting with something they shouldn't have, that might have been where they kept it—unless they were an Izzet." He admitted."What would they do if they were in an Izzet?""Izzet's tend to prefer roofs—it's closer to the lightning storms—or they create pocket dimensions." Agrus paused, then added, "well, the good ones create them. The incompetent ones open up ones they happen to stumble upon. Hopefully that's not what happened here.""Why's that?""Because if you open up a random pocket dimension, you never know what might come crawling out. There tends to be nasty things with far too many teeth.""Charming." Gideon frowned. Sometimes he really had trouble figuring out how Ravnica wasn't a smoking wasteland. At least half the guilds seemed like accidents waiting to happen."Hey, ghost cop, can't you just stick your head through the debris to search?" Chandra demanded, after turning a corner around a block of burnt masonry to see another dead end that looked virtually identical to the last three, they'd encountered. "It'd save us a lot of time.""I could," Agrus nodded. "And if I was an idiot, I would. But there might be spirit traps around that the fire didn't destroy. I don't want to get sucked into one.""Spirit traps?" Gideon asked, testing a bit a masonry to see if it could be shifted."An Izzet invention, one made after the Orvhoz started using spirits as tax collectors. You leave one hanging in your room or planted in a wall and any intangible ghost or spirit that tries to pass through gets sucked up and trapped." Agrus floated back down to ground level. "Got stuck in one once, for about week before Feather figured out what happened, tracked the owner down, and asked politely for him to let me out.""Asked politely?" Gideon echoed, raising a brow."She only broke one bone, and it was a clean break." Agrus answered. "Point is, I don't phase through anything unless I absolutely have to. I don't even have the sweet release of death to look forward to if I get trapped somewhere.""Is there anything useful you can do?" Chandra asked, crossing her arms."If our perp is some kind of a wraith or spirit, yes." The ghost nodded. "I can hit it. That always throws them for a loop.""And if it's not one of those things?" Chandra asked."That's what Feather's on standby for.""Chandra," Gideon murmured, turning slowly. "over there." he gestured to a tangle of charred timbers. While they'd been bickering, he thought he'd seen something moving in-between the gaps—not quickly, but deliberately, as though it was trying not to be notice. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chandra nod and raise her hands, a faint glow the only warning of violent combustion being readied in case it was needed.He glanced at Agrus, who nodded encouragingly, before Gideon advanced, letting the shell of his magic build up around him. There was no further sign of movement from the rubble as he approached, but he didn't let that dissuade him. He waited until he was within a meter of the rubble before covering the distance in one step, scooping a hand around a bottom rung of timber and tossing the lot away in one smooth movement.He had only a moment's warning before a ball of multi-colored fire enveloped his eyes. He felt the heat of it breaking on his magic and heard a scrabbling as something tried to scramble away from him."Don't let it get away!" Agrus said, and Gideon's hand shot out, his ears guided him as he lashed out with his sural. He felt the blades connect with something alive and twist, entangling it. There was a furious hissing noise, like a giant frog growling and he felt another wave of flame burst against his chest.Through the light he caught a glimpse of the creature's mouth and twisted his wrist, making the flexible blades of his sural to jerk up and turn it aside. The creature struggled briefly, then went still.Blinking the smoke and bright spots out of his eyes, Gideon examined it. His first thought was that it was a miniature dragon. It was clearly reptilian, measuring a full meter from snout to tail with a body as stout as his arms. Beady orange eyes framed with blue and red scales glared balefully at him. But the scales were small and smooth, not the jagged shield plating he'd expect on a dragon and it had no claws that he could see."What is it?" Gideon asked."Salamander," Chandra commented. "Fire lizard, I used to see them all the time back at the monastery. You can usually find them near volcanos.""It's one of the ones that escaped and burned down the block." Agrus answered sourly." "The breeders said they had two, but the Boros only found one of them. I believe they were hoping this one had died in the wreckage." As he spoke Chandra took a step closer, examining the scaled creature. "I wouldn't do that."The creature hissed again and managed to spit out another ball of rainbow fire into Chandra's face. Chandra leaned back as the fire enveloped her head, lighting up the debris around them with brilliant light."Cute." Chandra cooed, raising a hand and drawing it across her face. The fire shimmered and flowed towards her hand. Chandra examined it critically, the iridescent fire twining around her fingers. "You sure this is a regular salamander?" she asked, glancing back at the ghost. "I've never seen one do color like this before.""The breeders were experimenting on them." Agrus answered, drifting closer to give the lizards a critical look. "One of them was an Izzet, the other a was a former Simic biomancer. Based on the frills around the neck, I'd say they were probably trying to splice dragon genes into them." The ghost sighed. "Just goes to show you there is no stupid thing someone in this city won't do.""What should we do with it?" Gideon asked. "I don't believe this is what we came here to find."Agrus crossed his arms. "Well, the best thing to do would be to dispose of it.""What?" Chandra demanded, her head snapping around to glare at the ghost. "Just like that?"Agrus gave her an unimpressed look. "These things have already burned down a block. If we leave it alone, what's to stop it from torching another? Or worse, start laying eggs? Believe me, there's more than enough experiments gone wrong running around the city, we don't need another.""We're not killing it." Chandra declared, stepping in front of the angel. "It's not its fault it burned down this place, that's just how it is. It doesn't deserve to die for it.""Then what do you propose we do with it?" Agrus shot back. ""I'll take care of it." Chandra snapped, she turned and crouched toward the salamander, which tried to scuttle backwards, but Gideon's weapon still entangled it. Chandra held out her hand and made the fire still circling around it brighten. The fiery lizard went still, watching the pyromancer curiously. Chandra held her hand out, and her hair began to smolder as she added her own fire to the ball.The salamander's eyes homed in on her fingers as it started crawling forward, slowly it reached out its head and seemed to sniff at the fire. Chandra reached out slowly with her other hand and scratched it behind the frills on its neck. The creature opened its mouth and inhaled the ball of fire, it seemed to chew it reflectively for a few moments before belching."Nice." Chandra snorted, reaching out and gently untangling the salamander from the sural's blades. She offered her arm and the lizard considered it for a moment, then slowly lumbered forward, reaching out with its legs and climbing up her arm, ultimately settling itself on her shoulders and staring at Gideon with bulging eyes."You're keeping it, aren't you?" Gideon asked, a faint grin slipping across his lips. The scene was kinda cute, at least, to someone who was fireproof."Sure, why not?" Chandra grinned, patting it on the back. "Some of the other monk's kept salamanders as pets. None of them were half as impressive as this one.""An unlicensed magical pet, born from an illegal experiment, that's already caused extensive property damage." Agrus commented. "If the Azorious catch wind of this, they are going to have a field day with all the fines they're gonna slap you with.""I'll send 'em straight to Jace. Him being the Guildpact has got to be good for something, right?""He'll love that." Gideon grinned. "I can just about picture his face at the amount of paperwork that will involve.""I know," Chandra smirked. "It's giving me a warm little glow inside.""Well, whatever." Agrus sighed shaking his head. "As long as you keep it from burning down any more buildings, I suppose I don't actually care.""Don't worry," Chandra answered, patting the salamander's head. "I got this. salamanders tend to be pretty lazy. Give 'em a nice warm spot and they'll sleep the day away.""You're well equipped to deal with it then." Gideon smiled.Chandra gave him an unimpressed look and flicked a ball of sparks at him. The salamander around her neck perked up and spat its own ball of flame at him."Good girl." Chandra smirked patting the creature's head, its bulbous eyes rolled around in its head that might have been the salamander equivalent of pleasure… or maybe confusion—salamanders weren't the most expressive creatures."Adorable." Agrus sighed. "But not what we're here for. We should keep going.""I thought we'd be seeing more squatters or something." Chandra commented, poking around more of the debris. The salamander had settled itself around her shoulder's and seemed to be asleep—it was snorting out an occasional lick of fire into Chandra's hair, but Gideon didn't think the pyromancer had noticed. "There's tons of people living in the streets, and this wreckage would at least provide them some shelter.""Normally you'd be right." Agrus answered. "But then news like the killings gets around. It might take a while for enough bodies to pile up for people to take things seriously, but once they do the people on the streets are quick to listen. Even if the guild officials aren't." he added, the afterthought carrying just a hint of old bitterness.Gideon shifted reached into a pile of debris and moved to shift it out of the way, then he took another look at the wreckage in front of him. "Agrus, I think you should see this."The ghost floated over. "Ah."There was a blackened skull poking out from under the stone, the top of it caved in slightly. The eye sockets were loaded with grim and ash, giving it a since of helpless bewilderment.Agrus shook his head. "Fire this big? You can't expect everyone to get out alive. Or for the Golgori to manage to salvage everything.""I don't suppose we can figure out who they were?" Gideon asked."Maybe if you took it to an Orzhov necromancer, they could ask the ghost." Agrus answered. "But I wouldn't bother.""They may have had family. Wouldn't they want to know?""They probably did." Agrus agreed. "But if I were them, I'd rather you not get the Orzhov involved if you can avoid it. People tend to come to terms with Golgari stealing corpses and raising them as zombies, that's just bones and meat. But they tend to get upset when the spirit gets enslaved too. Take it from me, it's not a lot of fun.""Just leave it, Gids." Chandra said. "S'nothing you can do for em."Gideon nodded and set the skull down gently. He shook his head. "We don't seem to be making a lot of progress.""You're not wrong." Agrus sighed, leaning back in midair as though there was a wall."Did you have no plan beyond wandering around and hoping?" Gideon asked."It has worked in the past." The ghost huffed. "The killings have been indiscriminate, so if whatever's doing it is in the area, then there's no reason it wouldn't go after us.""By us, you mean Gideon and me," Chandra said flatly.Agrus gave her an equally flat look. "I apologize for being dead, next time I'll try harder to stay alive for our convenience.""Alright, alright." Gideon raised his hands before Chandra snapped back. Honestly, why did everyone always have to be so prickly? "Let's just.""Gids, we're not alone." Chandra interrupted, pointing. Gideon spun to look."A dog?" he blinked. It was perching on a mountain of rubble, looking worse for wear; its wiry fur was covered in soot and it was staring at them with teeth half-bared."Something that looks like a dog." Agrus murmured, drifting closer. "It's not the same thing.""Noted." Gideon answered, taking half a step forward. The dog's eyes focused on his, but otherwise it didn't move."Oh, come on," he could hear the eye roll in Chandra's voice. "It's probably just a stray.""It's got a collar on." Agrus commented. Gideon looked closer, he could just make out a silvery band around the dog's neck."Not a stray then." Gideon commented. Even so, the only strange thing about seeing a dog wandering the city, was that it was just dog. Some of the things he'd seen Izzet mages walking on leashes gave new meaning to the term Weird."It looks pretty—" Chandra began, but broke off as the dog exploded into motion, throwing itself forward and leaping at them, it's jaws gapping.Gideon stepped forward and raised his hands and catching the animal midleap, one hand on its throat the other on its chest. The creature snarled, writhing in his grip, but Gideon had once held back a bull minotaur with his bare hands, a dog was hardly going to give him trouble.Then the dog gave another twist and the silver collar brushed against the exposed skin of his hand. What happened next seemed, to Gideon, to be in slow-motion. He watched the metal of the collar bubble and roil, then flow off of the dog and onto his hand.The dog went limp as the quicksilver flowed up Gideon's hand and into the cracks of his armor. He could feel it surging up his arm even through his protective magic and his instincts screamed at him to get it off.Before the metal could reach his shoulder, he made his magic surge. His protective shell built up beneath his armor and flared outward. There was a screech of metal as the armor around his arm exploded off him and, this was the important bit, the liquid metal was thrown awayHe could hear Chandra cursing as bits of shrapnel flew through the air but ignored it. He kept his eyes on a patch of quicksilver that hit the rubble some distance away."Chandra!" He shouted, pointing to the puddle of metal which was sliding across the ground like a snake as it made for crack in the debris. Chandra didn't hesitate, a ball of white fire streaked through the night air, the heat of its wake washing over Gideon as it flew past him.It struck the fleeing metal, melting the stone beneath it on impact. Once the light had died down, there was nothing to be seen of the silvery substance—mostly likely it had been vaporized, Gideon had seen Chandra do that to more than one Eldrazi.Gideon stood still for a moment, eyeing the bubbling pool of rock. When nothing else happened, no creatures leaping out from the shadows or inhuman screams echoing into the night, so he allowed himself to relax. Just a little bit."The hell was that?" Chandra demanded."Our culprit, possibly." Agrus said. "Take a look." The ghost was crouched at Gideon's feet, examining the prone body of the dog. There was a solid black ring around the dog's neck, like an inky stain against the mottled brown fur.There was the sound of wings and Feather crashed down behind them, looking ready to start cracking skulls. "Agrus!" she barked. "I felt a high discharge of mana.""Yo." Chandra raised a hand."Stand down, Feather." He answered, still staring at the dog. "The situation is under control. Keep a lookout while I investigate.""Understood." Feather glanced at Chandra, then took to the air."So," Gideon began, crouching next to the dog. "Is the dog dead?""Yes." Agrus nodded, the ghost turned his eyes on Gideon. "I only caught a glimpse of it, it looked like a bit of quicksilver. What was your impression?"Gideon rubbed his now bare arm thoughtfully, there weren't any black marks on it. "About the same as yours, Although I'm certain it was trying to wrap around my neck.""To kill you, or control you, I'd imagine." Agrus mused. "Possibly both in that order." He turned back to the deceased canine. "I wonder if it was already dead when it attacked you, or if it only died after the thing abandoned it?""What difference does that make?""The difference between whether the dog was being controlled by a necromancy or psionics." Agrus frowned. "Are you at all resistant to mind magic?""So-so." Gideon answered. He'd wondered the same thing and had asked Jace to attempt to dominate his mind once, if to see if he could resist. Jace had managed to make him walk halfway across a room on his hands before the control gave out. The mind mage had something about it feeling like Gideon's mind was made of bricks—he could get in easily enough, but once he was there it was difficult to make him do anything.Being able to resist a mage of Jace's talents at all was a good sign, but all it would take was a few seconds loss of control for him to snap a friend's neck. Still…"If it could have taken control of me through contact, it would have had me immediately."Agrus grunted, then floated over to the cooling puddle of rock, still glowing cherry red in the night air. "Not a trace." He muttered, glancing up at Chandra. "That was a nice shot miss. Very controlled, very strong. I see why Mr. Jura wanted to bring you."Chandra blinked, "Uh, thanks." She leaned back awkwardly. "So… are we done here?" she gestured at the melted slag. "That was the thing killing people, right?""The evidence suggests that, yes." Agrus nodded. "But there's no evidence that was the only thing responsible. The key question here is: was that metal thing a spell? Or was it alive? Then, depending on the answer, the next question is: who cast it? Or are there more of them?""Which option do you think is more likely?" Gideon asked.Agrus shrugged. "Probably a bit of both—a living spell. Or," he frowned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Quite possibly an elemental… Did you notice what it did when it hit the ground?""…uh."Agrus floated back towards him. "I was watching. That's about all I can do these days, so I've gotten good at it." he pointed to a patch of ground. "It hit here and fled in that direction" he pointed to his right, towards the blacked stone."And?""Look around." Agrus pointed to the left. "There's a deep crack and a pile of rubble less than an arm's length away. If it had gone it that direction, it could have slipped away before your lady friend vaporized it.""That wouldn't have stopped me!" Chandra huffed."Not the point." Agrus answered. "The point is that it blatantly fled over open ground. What was it heading towards?""You want to head in that direction?" Gideon asked, catching on. "Do you think it was heading towards whatever cast it? Or created it? Or…""Whichever." Agrus nodded. "And yes, I do. It's possible I'm wrong, but we don't exactly have much more to go on. Now that we have a better idea what we're up against, we'll know what to look for." He floated. Off towards the wall of rubble. "Coming?"Gideon eyed the corpse of the dog, his eyes lingering on the black marks around its neck, and nodded.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"Oh. Great." Chandra groaned, looking at the trapdoor half buried in the burned rubble. "We're going to have to go down there, aren't we?"Gideon frowned, but didn't answer. They'd moved in a straight line since that whatever it was had tried to attack him, and they were nearing the edge of the rubble-field. The trapdoor was the only thing they'd seen that was suspicious. It had been well hidden, perfectly matching the color of the stone floor around it; if it wasn't slightly ajar and blackened, then Argus likely wouldn't have been able to spot it.The planeswalker crouched, covering himself in his invulnerable shell before sticking his finger in the cracks. The metal resisted, the rubble on top of it weighing it down, but only for a moment before giving way with a loud screech. Revealing a stone stairway leading farther down, he could make out a few flickering lights farther down but that was about it."I repeat, we're gonna have to go down there, aren't we?" Chandra huffed, reaching up and patting the salamander coiled around her neck. "Can't I just, like, flood the place with fire and be done with it?""Please don't." Agrus sighed."Yeah, yeah." Chandra grumbled. "That would be fire hazard," she scoffed on the last words. "I just don't like cramped spaces.""I don't care much for them, either." Gideon admitted. "I need plenty of room to really hit someone.""Should have thought of that before you decided to become a literal mountain of muscle." Chandra snorted."I'll take point." Agrus said, floating down into the hole. "If our perps down there, I'll see it first. Gideon, you go behind me. Feather will take up the rear in case something attacks us from behind.""What? You think I can't handle that?" Chandra demanded."No ma'am." The ghostly policeman responded. "Feather and Gideon are relatively fireproof, so if something tries to get the jump on us, they can keep it busy long enough for you to roast it.""I like it." Gideon nodded, smiling and stepping into the hole. "As you said, Chandra, meat shields should go in front." The pyromancer grumbled but followed him down. The stairway was steep and cramped, but they made fast progress. They quickly reached the lights he had seen flickering in the dark, which appeared to be some kind of lamps glowing with magelight.They quickly reached a door, blackened and warped slightly out of its frame. Gideon wasted no time prying it open and stepping through into a larger room. It was well lit by a dozen of the magelight lamps. Metal machines and tubes lined the walls, but Gideon barely noticed them, his eyes immediately drawn to the floor.And the bodies scattered across it.They were a mix of races; a vedelken, some humans, and more than a few goblins, but they all wore a mix of red and blue. Their faces were twisted in a grimace, and their hands were around their necks, like they'd strangled themselves…or had been trying to pull something off. Gideon could see blackened skin beneath a nearby goblin's fingers."Ah." Agrus said sourly. "An Izzet laboratory.""Thought you said this wasn't one of the guild's doing?" Chandra said."I said I thought it wasn't one of the guilds doing the killings on purpose." The ghost snapped back. "Doesn't rule out one of them doing something by accident." He sighed, examining a facedown goblin. "Any idiot can mess with forces beyond their comprehension and make something blow up." Agrus said. "The problem is that the Izzet can comprehend quite a lot, so their accidents tend to take the whole block with them." Agrus shook his head. "I think that about cinches it. We're dealing with some kind of out of control elemental.""An Izzet trademark." Feather stated. The angel stood at the ready, eyeing the corners of the room as though she expected them to attack. Gideon frowned. Elementals weren't really his thing; he wasn't one to summon something else to do his fighting for him."Maybe we should have brought Nissa." Chandra commented, her hand flickering with fire. "Talking to grouchy elementals is really her territory.""I've seen you conjure a few." Gideon pointed out. "Can you sense it?""Not ones like whatever we're dealing with here." Chandra answered. "And no. Whatever it is, it's not any kind of fire elemental.""Well, I'd say it knows we're here." Agrus said, gesturing behind them. They turned. There was a door against the far wall, dented and warped around the edges. Beads of liquid silver were pouring through the cracks and pooling on the ground."Fire time?" Chandra said, holding up a hand."Keep it small." Gideon nodded."Whatever." Chandra thrust out her hands, ten streaks of white-hot fire shot from her fingertips towards the spreading mass of silver. The liquid roiled and attempted to hurl itself out of the way. The bits of liquid that were too slow were vaporized, but more liquid gushed from behind the door and the globs that avoided the blast began to ripple. They swelled, stretching upward into the air like an army rising out of the ground. The liquid took on a menagerie of different shapes vedelkens, humans, goblins, dogs, and a bear. All of which began to advance on them as one silvery horde."It's copying the victims." Gideon called, "Chandra?""Way ahead of you." The pyromancer snarled, conjuring a wall of fire and sending it crashing towards the horde. Most of them slashed backwards, but a few pressed on through the flames. Gideon frowned, and extended the whips of his surrai."I don't believe these are the actual elemental." Agrus called, floating over the heads of the silver mob. A few of them swiped at him, but their limbs passed harmlessly through the specter. "I'm going to search for the source. Feather, assist then until I return." With that, Agrus slipped through the far door and out of sight."Understood." The angel stepped forward. She held no weapon, but her body seemed to ignite, an aura of radiant fire shrouding her body. A silvery dog leapt at her; metal fangs bared. Feather slashed at it contemptuously with her wing, bisecting it. The two halves hit the ground and yowled, trying to rise. Feather knelt and cast a wing over each of them. The dogs yowled, flailing as the burning wings enveloped them.The silver bear leapt at Gideon, he backhanded it with his gauntleted hand. The bear's face splattered into the air, but the rest of it kept coming, slamming into and enveloping him."Gids!" Chandra yelped, looking over at him while she melted two silver goblins into slag. Gideon felt the liquid surging for his neck. He didn't know if these clones could kill or control him through his magic shell like they had the victims around the room, but he wasn't going to wait to find out. He flared his magic through his whole body, blasting the liquid off of him.Several other clones were advancing on him, and he lashed out with his surrai. The whips glowed with hieromancy and slashed through the liquid figures. The white glow of his magic began to envelop them, trapping them in place. But before the magic could cover them entirely, parts of them broke away, hitting the ground and reforming into new figures.Gideon frowned, taking a step back as the horde advanced on him again. These things couldn't hurt him, but he also couldn't hurt them, and trapping all of them in his magic would take forever."Gids," Chandra called. "I'm gonna do a thing. Brace yourself.""Understood." He could feel a wall of heat building up behind him and new what was coming. "Feather!" he called. The angel was in the middle of the horde, scattering them left and right with her burning wings. She turned her ferocious gaze on him, then glanced past him to pyromancer. She clearly understood, because she took to the air, rising above the heads of the silvery horde.Gideon concentrated, and drew his magic shell around himself, making it as thick as he could. "Ready!" he called.FWOOM.His world went white. It wasn't an explosion, but more like a semi-solid wall of heat that fanned out across the room. He felt it crash over him, even though his magic shell. Then the light faded, and silence fell, save for the sound of hissing.Gideon blinked. Then blinked again, trying to clear the white spots from his eyes. There were still glowing spots, so he ground his knuckles into his eyes."Sorry, Gids." Chandra called. "Shoulda told you to close your eyes.""It's fine." He answered, waving a hand back in the direction of her voice. "At least I wasn't facing you. Did you get them?""Did I get them?" she scoffed, sounding offended. He pulled his hand away from his eyes and blinked away the tears as his vision finally returned.The room was glowing. The walls and floor shone cherry red, letting off shimmers of heat. Here and there he could spot hissing black spots of steam that had probably been their attackers. Even the glass tubes and machinery lining the walls were half melted."Yes." He said slowly, nodding. "I think it's safe to say you got them."Chandra smirked. "What about you? feeling alright?""A little toasty," He admitted, feeling sweat running down his back, Chandra's little heatwave had turned the stone room into an oven, but he'd be alright. He looked around, Chandra was standing on the only patch of ground not glowing red. The salamander around her neck was staring around in a sort of wide-eyed befuddlement. Movement overhead made him look up. "How about you, Feather?""I am fine." The angel said, touching down lightly and passively staring at the room. She turned to Chandra. "I believe I understand now why Gideon felt the need to bring you."Chandra snorted. "Gee, thanks.""Feather, I've found—" Agrus's head stuck out through the far door and paused. It tilted left and right as it observed the room, he looked at Chandra."Got something to say?" she smirked, crossing her arms."I suppose not." He answered."Did you find the our quarry?" Gideon asked."Yes, come through here." Agrus withdrew his head and Gideon pried open the door, revealing a labyrinth of glass tubes and machines. The ghostly wojek waved at for them to follow him as he floated over the clutter. The walls were lined with a series of large glass tubes, large enough to hold a man. The tubes were empty, but some were cracked, and others had jagged holes in them. Gideon glanced at floor and saw glass shards scattered in front of those tubes. suggesting whatever the Izzet had been keeping in them had busted out."Back there." Agrus said, pointing. Gideon looked, there was one tube that wasn't empty, instead being filled to the brim with solid silver. The liquid roiled within the tube, bright orange circles roving across the surface like eyes. As they approached, the circles of light jerked around to focus on one point and Gideon had feeling it was staring at him.The liquid began to contract, shrinking in on itself as a pair of arms and legs formed. In seconds, Gideon was staring at a mirror image of himself. Silvery and bulging with muscles from behind the glass prison, with a bright orange glow where the eyes should be. It glared at him with his own face, its chin thrust out in defiance."Well, that's not creepy at all." Chandra muttered, raising her hands. "Should I just roast it?" she sounded a little uncertain. "I mean, it looks trapped.""Well, you three were fighting something." Agrus answered. "Judging by the tubes around the room, I'd say there may have been more than one and people have died because of them.""But if those were different elementals…" Gideon began. Seeing himself, more or less, glaring out from a giant test tube was unsettling.The ghost floated in front of him "Even if those were different elementals, there's no reason to believe this one would be any different if we let it out. Why?" The ghost sighed. "Don't tell me you want to keep this one as a pet as well?" He shook his head. "I understand what you're getting at, believe me. But I've seen what happens when an Izzet experiment goes on a rampage."Gideon's doppelganger raised a fist and slammed it against the glass. The tube shook but didn't crack. It pulled back, its arm for another blow."Well, I won't try to force you to do it." Agrus said, shrugging. "Feather?""Understood." The angel stepped forward, her wings igniting once more as she stepped in front of the tube. The silver Gideon inside sneered back. "Rest in peace." Feather said, thrusting her wings forward and shooting out a column of divine fire. It enveloped the tube, blocking the imprisoned elemental from site.Gideon watched the fire bath the area and frowned, he could have sworn that, just before the fire washed over it, he'd seen his copy's lips curl into a smirk.A silvery arm shot out of the fireball and backhanded Feather, throwing her backwards into him as her flailing wings nearly bowled Chandra over. Gideon stepped backward, pulling Feather with him and squinted against the fading light.The glass tube had been melted, but its former occupant stood tall, it's form flickering with a white glow."Great." Chandra muttered. "It didn't just copy your face, Gids. It got your beefiness too."The silver copy stepped out of the puddle of molten glass and smirked. It's eyes glowing with a fierce light. Gideon met it halfway, slamming his gauntleted fist into his mimic's chest. Rather than splashing through it like before, he hit the solid shell of magic and sent the creature staggering backward. Its glowing eyes turned on him and it lunged, slamming into him and bearing them both to the ground."Gids!" Chandra called, moving back the elemental wrested with his clone. "What do we do? What's your magic's weakness?""I still need to breath." He grunted as a silvery fist slammed into his eye. The creature might be tough now, but at least it wasn't trying to engulf him like before."Okay, but I didn't think it needs to!" Chandra yelled angrily—he didn't really think she had room to complain at the moment, he was the one doing all the work. "Can you tell me something helpful?""No." he answered, picking up the clone and throwing it into a cluster of machinery. Lightning crackled out of the broken mechanisms, but the creature didn't seem to notice through the glowing white shell. Gideon frowned, he'd never had to fight someone who could match his invulnerability—it was rather troublesome. Maybe if he could bind it with his surrai? But if it could copy his magic, perhaps it could counteract it as well… but he wouldn't know until he tried.Then Agrus floated in between them, his body flared blue, making them both pause."You're under arrest." He declared. "I will give you this one chance to surrender."The elemental stared at the ghost for a moment, then stepped forward with a hand raised to swat at the ghost."Noted. Feather?"There was a gust of wingbeats and the angel came in like a missile, slamming the elemental back. In a few deft movements, before it could react, she had rolled it over and slapped something onto its wrists. The air glowed and a second shell of pale red light enveloped the elemental. The Gideon doppelganger went rigid, only its glowing eyes moving beneath the shell."Stasis cuffs." The ghost explained. "For the more… unique strain of delinquent." He glanced at them, then back to his partner. "Good work, Feather.""So… that's it?" Gideon blinked."Not to tempt fate, but it should be." The ghost nodded. "From this one at least." He frowned, glancing at the broken tubes around the walls. "But there might still be others out there. Still, now that we know what we're dealing with, tracking down any stragglers will be much easier. So for now, let's get out of here. You need any help carrying that thing, Feather? I mean, not that I can, but…" the angel shook her head, hoisting the silver figure into the air and over her shoulder. "Alright then." Agrus shrugged."So what's going to happen to that one." Chandra said, gesturing to the frozen figure. "Weren't you just going to dispose of it?""I wanted to." Agrus answered, rubbing a ghostly hand against his face. "Believe me, it would have been much easier. But you don't keep hitting the perp once the cuffs go on. Now it's a prisoner and we need to process it." He sighed. "I had to arrest a lightning elemental once. You would not believe the paperwork…""Aren't you no longer a wojek?" Gideon asked."True." The ghost nodded. "But that just means I have fewer official channels to go through. It's gonna make processing that thing all the harder. It's not like I'm going to sell it on the black market." He sighed, "I'm going to need to find a mage I can trust not to use it as a weapon or something stupid like that." He was silent for a long moment. "Which pretty much rules out any of the guild mages anyway."Gideon eyed his silvery copy for a long moment. "Actually, I think I may have an idea about that…""Well." Said Jace. "This is much more interesting than paperwork." The mind mage was bent over the elemental, which Feather had dumped on the floor of Jace's office. Jace had his fingers pressed to the elemental's temple and his eyes were glowing as he peered into the creature's mind or… whatever it actually had."Anything useful you can tell me?" Agrus asked, arms crossed and leaning against the wall as he stared at Jace suspiciously.Jace nodded. "It appears this was the only elemental the Izzet created in the lab. The bits that attacked you outside were only fragments of it that the mages siphoned off."Can you tell if there are any more of those fragments running around?" Agrus replied. "If so, we have to track them down before they kill anyone else.""Not to worry," Jace answered, standing up and brushing off his hands. "The fragments are still connected to it. Once you put the main body in stasis, the rest were frozen as well. I should be able to craft a spell to summon all the renegade pieces back to it."What were the Izzet trying to do?" Chandra asked, from her perch on Jace's desk. She was burning up bits of paper and attempting to feed them to the salamander curled in her lap."It's kind of garbled." Jace admitted. "They spun this elemental out of raw mana, so it's awareness took a while to catch up. But from what I can tell, they were trying to create something that could copy another's magic." He tapped the elemental with his boot, eyeing the white shell of Gideon's magic still surrounding it. "I'd say they succeeded.""Okay, that wasn't obvious at all," Chandra rolled her eyes. "But why?""If it were any of the other guilds, I'd say for unlawful activity." Agrus said. "But since it's the Izzet we are talking about, I'd give it a 50/50 chance between for unlawful activity, or just to see if they could." He eyed Jace. "You get any clue about who commissioned it?"Jace shrugged. "I'm afraid not."Agrus grunted in a that figures kind of way. "Which only leaves the question of what to do with this one." Agrus muttered, staring at the bond creature."Well," Jace said slowly. "You could leave it with me.""And why, may I ask, should I do that?" Agrus asked.Jace frowned at him and Gideon got the impression he was trying to read the ghost's mind to figure out what to say. Could the fact that Agrus was a ghost keep him from doing that?"Well…" Jace said at last. "If you want to process it through official channels, I am the living embodiment of the Guildpact. I feel you could argue I'm the most official channel there is."The ghost stared at him for a long moment."That's bullshit." he snorted, but Gideon could see the ghost was trying not to grin. "But it's a good kind of bullshit, I'll give you that much." He paused, and gave the mind mage a measuring look. "What would you do with it?""Not sure yet." Jace admitted, he glanced over at his desk where there were still mountains of papers. "I could use an assistant." He mused. "And, If I had it copy me and cast an illusion to fix the colors, I could have it go to meetings for me…"Gideon put a hand on Agrus' shoulder or attempted to—his hand passed through the old wojek's body. "I think that's probably the best solution we're going to get. You can trust Jace, Agrus. He's sneaky, but he's not a bad person.""Hey. Standing right here." Jace said indignantly."And talking out loud about how you might use it to get out of your responsibilities." Chandra answered, flicking a few paper ashes at him."Okay… fair." Jace admitted.Agrus sighed. "…Fine. I've got a lot to do anyway. If you want to take it off my hands, I won't stop you." He said it in a way that made Gideon certain he'd be keeping tabs on what Jace did with the elemental. "I'll have Feather bring you the paperwork for transfer."Jace's smile became a little fixed. "Is more paperwork really necessary?""Yes." Agrus answered, wagging a finger at him. "Take it from me, in this city, paperwork is one of the few certainties in life and the afterlife." The ghost straightened up. "Well," he said with finality. "I suppose that just about wraps this up. I won't take up any more of your time, Mr. Guildpact. Mr. Jura, Ms. Nalaar?" he glanced at them. "If I might have a few more words with you?" he gestured for the door."Well," Gideon said brightly, once they had closed the door behind them. "I think this went well.""You would." Chandra grumbled, yawning. Gideon smiled, glancing out the window. It wasn't quite morning, but he was fairly certain the sun wasn't far off."So." He began, turning to the Agrus. "What's going to happen to the laboratory. Are you going to attempt to bring charges against the Izzet for the deaths?""Ha." Agrus said sourly. "I could try, but it would be a waste of time. I'd be making an Orvzhov lawyer's day if I tried.""I could testify." Gideon said."Against who?" Agrus grunted. "I'd bet my lack of life that this was a private project. We have no way of knowing who is responsible. There may not even have been any other Izzet mages that even knew about it.""So, what?" Chandra demanded. "They just get away with creating a monster?""Well, the mages who created it are dead." Agrus shrugged. "The point is that this threat to populace, at least, has been removed. That's what matters. I spent too much of my life bogged down in the bureaucracy of the legal system. I'll tell you right now, attempting to do anything more to pursue this would be a waste of time.""Well, suppose another Izzet mage commissioned the elemental?" Gideon asked. "What's to stop them from making another one?""Fair point." Agrus nodded, his ghostly lips quirked. "But that'll be hard to do with all their notes destroyed and the equipment sold for parts.""Oh, is that what Feather went off to do?" Gideon asked."I have no idea what you're talking about." Agrus answered blithely. "But enough about this." The ghost floated toward them and bowed his head. "Thank you for your assistance, tonight. Feather and I likely could not have done it alone.""We were glad to be of assistance." Gideon smiled."Sure, whatever." Chandra yawned."Hmmm." The ghost scrutinized them. "Indulge an old man's curiosity, if I asked the two of you where you came from, what would you tell me?""I would ask you why you felt the need to ask something silly like that?" Gideon answered with a smile."I'd tell you to mind your own business." Chandra grunted, propping her head up with one hand."Yeah. I figured." The ghost snorted. "Well, truth be told. I don't really care. You say you want to protect the people of this city?""Oh, we wish to protect far more than that." Gideon smiled."…Fine. I wish you good luck with that. You want to help the people of this city? That's great. Something I can get behind." The ghost glanced at them. "To that end, if you ever need something, and don't want to go through the headaches of dealing with the guilds. Come find me. I have more than a lifetime of experience in how to get things done in this place, I know people. Just ask around for me, I'll hear about it.""I'll keep that in mind." Gideon nodded.Agrus stared at him for a long moment, then nodded. The ghost saluted, then floated away though the doorway into the street and out of sight.