---

The mask slid then the markings started glowing brighter. ”Yeah, I can find him. Mercury, and the rest of us masks share a special connection. It’s why he NEVER goes anywhere without us. He left me here with you on purpose you stupid putah. Get the fuck up dry your eyes, and put me on. I may not work as well when I’m with Mercury. But, a good strength boost, and knowing exactly where Mercy boy is. That should be good enough to pull off a rescue.” The mask let out a sighing sound like a normal human would. But, he wasn’t human just a soul inhabiting a mask. “Look just be glad your still able to move. Now please dry your eyes, Merc isn’t dead yet. There’s still a chance to rescue him. But, that window will if you don’t get up right now, and believe in yourself. Merc believes in you, otherwise he wouldn’t have bothered leaving a mask with you. Seeing as all together we’re powerful, but separated we’re weakened… As the saying goes divide, and conquer. C’mon Lucy I promise I smell sweet. That idiot likes putting chocolate scented lotion on us… Fucking weirdo.”

---

---

Eddie stared at the mask. To be honest with herself, the idea had already occurred to her. But in every film she ever saw, putting on the mask was an awful idea.

Won't my powers ruin you?" Eddie asked, picking the mask up tentatively.

Staring at it, Eddie could smell the nauseating scent of far too much candy.

Slowly, she put the mask on her face. It seemed to grab at her skin, and she nearly screamed, already desperate to get rid of it.

"If this kills me, I want a Viking funeral" Eddie muttered, before getting to her feet.

---

”Nah, I’m none too worried. Us masks aren’t affected by the light like Mercy boy is. We’re bone, human bone. So unless you got a bone cutting laser on you I’m fine.”

The mask clung to Edwina’s mask fitting around it snugly so she didn’t have to worry about it falling off. Inside her mind a map formed in red, and she could see a dot moving that took the form of Mercury with a helpless kicked puppy look. As the mask promised she could see exactly where they were taking Mercury.

”Oh don’t be such a baby. You’ll be fine so long as you get me to Mercury in forty four hours… Otherwise, I could end up devouring your soul. Or better yet switching with you, buuut I love our resident shadow idiot. He’s an okay dude. Now let’s go babe.”

---

---

”Nah, I’m none too worried. Us masks aren’t affected by the light like Mercy boy is. We’re bone, human bone. So unless you got a bone cutting laser on you I’m fine.”

"Hu-human....bone?" Eddie gulped. Instantly, all of her regained resolve vanished. Desperately trying to take off the mask, Eddie wasn't able to pry it off. Instead, she fell to her knees, and began to retch. A mixture of gummy worms, half digested tacos, and lemonade littered the ground in front of her. Panting a bit, she started to dry heave.

"Why can't you be plastic?" Eddie practically whimpered, slowly rising to her feet. As long as she didn't think about some dead person's bones being stuck to her face, it was fine. It was good.

She dry heaved once more, clutching her stomach. Shit. Not good...

Finally, it seemed her stomach had emptied everything it could. Her hands were shaking, and her mind was distracted as a map, a grid in red, appeared. ”Oh don’t be such a baby. You’ll be fine so long as you get me to Mercury in forty four hours… Otherwise, I could end up devouring your soul. Or better yet switching with you, buuut I love our resident shadow idiot. He’s an okay dude. Now let’s go babe.”

"You're only mentioning this....now?!" Eddie hissed. "Dear Lord, do not let me be one of his fucking masks. Kill me. Whatever. I don't want to be stuck to his face for eternity."

This mask is a bit of an asshole... Eddie thought to herself. Trying once again to not think about the bone pressed on her place, Eddie took off on a sprint.... an actual sprint. There was no constriction in her chest. She wasn't getting tired and begging for death just a few seconds in. Glancing at a passerby on a motorcycle, Eddie ran over and shoved him off, grabbing the bike and beginning to race after Mercury, weaving in and out of traffic.

"Tell me if I'm fucking things up!" Edwina hissed at the mask. "I'm new to this shit!"

---

The bone quickly moved around Eddie’s mouth to avoid getting puked on, and drowning the girl in her own vomit. ”Girl you need to learn to take a serious chill pill. Fuck, that was nasty.” He let out an annoyed sigh in her head, and calmed down. He didn’t really care for this chick in the slightest. Why couldn’t Merc have left Magi with this idiot instead of him. After filling her in on why she needed to hurry she reacted so poorly.
"You're only mentioning this....now?!" Eddie hissed. "Dear Lord, do not let me be one of his fucking masks. Kill me. Whatever. I don't want to be stuck to his face for eternity."”Well get the fuck moving, and you won’t need to worry about that. Plus Murk would take good care of you. Occasionally he lets us do what we want when wearing us masks… But, you’d probably end up killing him. So yeah, I’d probably just eat your soul like a snickers bar.”
Warlord was boosting her strength not as much as he could for Merc, but enough to help her run to a Motorcyclist, and steal their bike. You’re doing fine kid. Especially now that you’re actually moving. Also my name is Warlord, and I’m in your head. How else do you think I’m talking to you? Once you touched me we formed a psychic connection. Sooo…. If you’re gonna think I’m an asshole at least confront me on it.

Mercury felt the van stop, and the sounds of a garage door closing. They opened the back, and the Tia’s men dragged him out roughly. In doing so they opened some of his still healing wounds, and he groaned in pain. They threw a hood over his head, and started to guide him. After a bit he could smell formaldehyde, and other hospital scents. ”I swear doc I ain’t crazy! I’m telling you I saw a purple scaled yellow polkadotted Dragon by the name Antonio he was handing out flyers to Pizza Castle. The pizza was meh, but that waitress was muy caliente.“ One of the guards snickered, and another zapped Mercury making him groan in pain. ”So I’m guessing we’re starting on shock therapy?“ He then chuckled as he cringed, and was soon thrown onto a hard surface that was cold to the touch. He tapped his fingers against it, and could tell it was metal. ” Oh, oh! Is this the part where you start doing naughty things to my body?“ He felt himself get strapped down, and his cringed as the bindings were tight.

”Good it looks like they’ve finally stopped… Oh fuck looks like they’ve finally stopped.” Warlord was now very worried about Merc.

Tia walked up to Mercury, and tore his hood off. She wanted him to see himself get torn apart, and experimented on. She started by taking blood samples at first, and then started injecting particles into his stomach. Then taking sophisticated scans of him. “My my… You’re just like a black hole in their aren’t you? Anything that goes in there vanishes, and you get stronger. But, if you take things out?” She started taking samples from there, and his body felt like it was boiling, and he screamed in agony. Tia looked at the sample, and smiled in pleasure. Soon forgoing what she'd originally planned for Mercury. “Interesting… I can do a lot with this. Take vast strides in me research, and at the same time end you. So thanks for this.” She then took a device, and hooked it up to his body. To start slowly draining his body of the black substance he called blood. Tia smiled as her ears were filled with the sound of Mercury’s screams. “Like music to my ears. Boys make sure that he dies.” Tia took three medium sized vials of the stuff, and then left it was more than enough for her research.

---

---

You’re doing fine kid. Especially now that you’re actually moving. Also my name is Warlord, and I’m in your head. How else do you think I’m talking to you? Once you touched me we formed a psychic connection. Sooo…. If you’re gonna think I’m an asshole at least confront me on it.

Get the fuck OUT. OF. MY. HEAD. Eddie swerved through the crowded street, watching as the van turned off the road. With strength she didn't know she had, she slowed the bike down, stashing it in the bushes, and kept on walking. It was all one smooth transition, though she suspected that the instant she took the mask off, her legs would break and her heart would give out from all of the running.

The map view zoomed back into her head, and she paused. Mercury was rather close by. "Hope this doesn't make you call me an idiot again," Eddie grumbled, making herself disappear from sight.

She didn't need anyone to see the ginger in the clown mask. Delicately, she made her way over to the building, glancing around for a way to get in. There was a skylight, and she shuddered, before scaling the side of the building. Making her way to the roof, she peaked down through the skylight, and slowly let herself in, dangling. Once Tia left, Eddie dropped to the ground, landing with bent knees.

Fuck. Please tell me you have a plan. Please. Please. Please.

---

Sorry kid I can’t get out of your head just yet. Warlord scoffed at Edwina’s objections. It’s not like he had a choice in the matter, he needed to save Mercury.

Warlord observed the situation her Edwina’s eyesight was filled with shapes outlined in red. It traveled down to a floor below, and Mercury was there writhing, and screaming in pain. Tubes kept draining him of his life. Fuck, that’s not good. They already started hurting him. Warlord looked around at the guards. Can you focus the light to blind just the guards? If you can do that then you can attack with your new strength to either knock them out, or kill them. From there we can rescue Merc.

---

---

Eddie nodded a bit. She tried not to focus on Mercury too much, instead trying to figure out if she had the strength to remain invisible and blind the guards. Eventually, even with the steroids of the mask in play, she knew it'd be incredibly hard for her to maintain both.

It'd kill me if I did both. Guess people will see your ugly mug on me. Eddie took a deep breath, and became visible in an instant. The next, her hands went up, and an intense blinding light hitting them each directly in the eyes. The light was powerful enough to destroy retinas, to give blindness -- perhaps even permanent. She continued to direct it at them until they collapsed, the blinding light too intense for them to remain conscious.

"Did that." Eddie muttered. Rushing over to Mercury, she glanced at the tubes. Figuring that she should probably be careful with them all, she yanked them out, trying to look at him sympathetically.

"Please don't be dead. I don't want to be stuck with this on my face forever. It smells like vomit...though that is my fault."

---

Great job kid! You sure showed them… Dear god, that was just terrible.

Mercury felt relief soon wash over him as the tubes were removed. He looked up at Eddwina seeing the Warlord mask on her he chuckled. ”God you look silly, c’mere I’ll get him off. Thanks, for saving my ass before it became grass.“ He slowly sat up groaning in agony as his insides still burned a great deal. Underneath that pain he felt a tiny bit of an empty void inside him. He set a hand to his gut, and then moved his other hand to Edwina’s face. Then gently pulled it back, and with it his Warlord. ”I sure hope he wasn’t an ass to you. He’s got serious anger management issues. I’ll have to clean the mask off before I try wearing him again.“ He put the mask back with the others on his sash. He sighed deeply then tried to stand up. ”I’m gonna go find someplace quiet to rest… I really don’t feel very good.“ He began to get up slowly his insides rumbling, and he tried taking a step only to stumble over onto the ground.

---

---

"Oh sweet Jesus...Thank you," Eddie muttered. "I'm an atheist, you don't understand how awful it was...."

She rubbed her face, taking in deep breaths. Of course, now that the mask was removed, her entire body was shaking. She didn't have the physical stamina to do any of the tricks she just pulled. And she doubted she'd be able to redirect any light for a while. Any more, she suspected, and her hair would start to stand up, and she'd go into a faint.

"Can we leave before Tia Whatever comes back and tries to kill you?" Eddie asked. "We could... We could go somewhere people speak fucking English!"

She grinned, before her face fell. Mercury, she realized, probably wouldn't want to go with her somewhere else. She hardly knew him. They'd just met hours ago, and here she was, proposing he run with her back to America. It was silly. It was stupid. He probably wanted to kill Tia, anyways.

She chuckled slightly, though. Without the mask on, things in her head seemed almost...quiet.

"He was kind of like the dick of an older brother I never had," Eddie pondered, glancing at the mask. "Wasn't too bad...Just...Human bone....Really?!"

---

”No I sorta don’t understand how horrible it was. Sorta is a part of my everyday life.“Mercury shakily stood up again, and looked at Edwina. To be honest running away sounded really great right about then. He was scared out of his wits as nothing like this had never ever happened to him before. There was so much pain, and he figured by now Tia was long gone to wherever to study what she’d stolen from him. ”That actually sounds like a good idea. Brazil is a dangerous place right now what with the destabilization going on, and some of the riots. I’ve never been to America before, but I hear their candy is amazing.“ He chuckled, and groaned in pain. ”We should leave this place first though. Before anymore goons come by to make sure I’m dead. Plus I don’t doubt once Tia finds out I’m still alive she’ll send even more goons after me. The way I am now… I’d be toast in an instant. I may act the fool, but I’m not an idiot. Just gotta go to my hotel room, and get my passport… I hope by the time we get to the airport I’ll have enough energy to change forms to match my I.D“

He was slowly trying to make his way to the door. Then looked over at Eddie as she talked about her experience, "He was kind of like the dick of an older brother I never had. wasn't too bad...Just...Human bone....Really?!" Mercury nodded as he gently patted one of his masks. ”They were there on the day I was born. I guess you could say they’re sorta like family. So it sorta makes sense Warlord would be like the “dick older brother”. Now let’s get outta here“

Mercury noticed on the way out how shitty he looked, not to mention frightening. ”How did you get here by the way?“ There was a brief moment of silence as Warlord pulsed out a glow. Mercury walked behind the bushes, and pulled out the bike. ”NICE! I love these things. God I wish I had the denero to actually own a motorcycle.“ He sorta hugged the machine nuzzling it with a weird sort of affection. It was certain, Mercury was in fact a dude. ”Hop on, I’ll drive us to my place.“ He revved the engine, and giggled a little with glee.

After some insane driving later Mercury had reached an incredibly seedy as hell looking hotel in a rough part of town. He parked the bike, and took the keys. ”You can either A come with me or B stay put till I get back. Which could take a while as I get my shit together.“

---

---

”That actually sounds like a good idea. Brazil is a dangerous place right now what with the destabilization going on, and some of the riots. I’ve never been to America before, but I hear their candy is amazing.“

Eddie rolled her eyes. "You're like this girl I dated once. Completely obsessed with sugar. Moved to California, though, haven't seen her in a while."

She couldn't help but see the irony in it. As far as Eddie was aware, Mercury was some sort of shadow shape shifting thing obsessed with human bones and sweets. It had the perfect mixture of the fun and the morbid to sell decently at Hot Topics across the nation, and even potentially, to become a cartoon series for angsty teens.

”We should leave this place first though. Before anymore goons come by to make sure I’m dead. Plus I don’t doubt once Tia finds out I’m still alive she’ll send even more goons after me. The way I am now… I’d be toast in an instant. I may act the fool, but I’m not an idiot. Just gotta go to my hotel room, and get my passport… I hope by the time we get to the airport I’ll have enough energy to change forms to match my I.D“

Eddie nodded. Getting away was exactly how she wanted to spend her time. She had had enough of Brazil for a lifetime. And of course, as much as she wanted to punch Tia in the face and shake her until she recognized that Eddie wasn't an assistant, it would most likely end in death for both Mercury and herself.

Once they got outside, Eddie grimaced, looking at the motorcycle. She could still hardly believe that she had been on that thing, piloting it, even. She still wasn't able to properly ride a normal bike, let alone a motorcycle! Though, to be fair, she hadn't tried to ride one since she was seven years old.

”Hop on, I’ll drive us to my place.“

"Very manly," Eddie snorted, getting on quickly. Her instincts were telling her to make them vanish from sight, but she was too drained to do much of anything. She didn't protest as they went to the dirty, rundown old hotel. Mercury parked the bike, and quickly got off it.

”You can either A come with me or B stay put till I get back. Which could take a while as I get my shit together.“

Eddie frowned. "I don't like ultimatums... But with the day I've had, it's probably safer with the weird candy crow spirit thing."

---

"I don't like ultimatums... But with the day I've had, it's probably safer with the weird candy crow spirit thing." Mercury chuckled, ”That wasn’t much of an ultimatum just a display of options.“ He then offered a hand to help Edwina off the bike. Then went up the outside stairs, and to room 66 which some guy then wrote in pen another 6. Mercury found it a little charming, and fitting that he was staying in this room. He grabbed a small duffle bag, and put a change of clothes in it along with some liquid cash he’d liberated from a drug cartel a few weeks ago, it was about 20k. He grabbed another set of clean clothes, and went into the bathroom to change. As he seriously didn’t want to be in blood stained clothes anymore.

When he came out he was with just a pair of jeans, and boots. Along with his mask the dark figure was actually surprisingly chiseled. Like an inhumanly dark skinned black man with wisps of black smoke coming off him. But, it wasn’t smoke it was just his body. He’d decided to wash himself up a little bit from the grim of the day. Especially his masks which were now all sitting on his belt and sash hanging from his hand. ”Hey mind throwing me that jacket over there? I forgot it.“ He pointed to a black, and blue coat draped on the chair beside Eddie.

---

---

”That wasn’t much of an ultimatum just a display of options.“

Eddie accepted his hand, dismounting from the bike. She laughed a bit, rolling her eyes at him. "Sure it wasn't. Because an either or statement clearly isn't an ultimatum."

The pair of them then went up the stairs, until they reached room 66. Seeing the graffiti, Eddie hit Mercury playfully on the shoulder. "Stealing my gimmick, then? We can't have two Lucifers running around, our arch enemies might get confused."

She followed him inside, and letting him do what he wished, she sat down in a chair. Closing her eyes for a moment, she pulled out her phone, catching up on what she'd missed from Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and so forth since she last had a moment to check. By the time Mercury decided to wash off, she was happily reblogging pictures of cats dressed up as Star Wars characters.

”Hey mind throwing me that jacket over there? I forgot it.“

Glancing over at the coat, she contemplated stealing it. Instead, she grabbed it and tossed it valiantly at Mercury, but with her poor aim and lack of general arm strength, it hit his head, before falling onto the floor behind him.

"If you haven't noticed, anything involving athletic capability is...well, it's not my thing," Eddie joked awkwardly. Except for fencing. She was decent at that, somehow.

---

"Stealing my gimmick, then? We can't have two Lucifers running around, our arch enemies might get confused." Mercury laughed as he cringed a bit in pain. As his whole body hurt so the punch even though playfull did really hurt. ”Nah, I think they’d be able to tell the difference between us. I’m the prince of darkness you’re the angel of light.“ He then winked at Eddie.

When the coat hit Mercury in the face he was a bit surprised. Then tried to hold in a laugh"If you haven't noticed, anything involving athletic capability is...well, it's not my thing." ”You don’t say?“ He choked down the laugh, and just gave a soft chuckle instead of the full blown laugh he wanted to give. He put his coat on after grabbing it up off the floor. Then put his sash, and belt over it which was stupidly fast. He then zipped up his bag, and then emptied the fridge of food. Which was handmade pork tamales, chocolate cake, and a six pack of coke. ”Hey you hungry? Because I seriously need to eat something before my stomach starts eating itself… Which I seriously hope it doesn’t actually do as that’d suck…. Heh, suck.“ He popped the tamales into the small microwave, and sat on the bed with the cake and sodas. He’d grabbed two white plastic forks, and offered one to Eddie. ”Don’t worry these aren’t made of bone, plastic I promise.“ He then laughed softly.

---

---

"Are you...Are you flirting?" Eddie asked, tilting her head a bit. She had a rather hard time telling whenever someone was flirting with her. In most cases, she just had to ask. She never knew what to do next though--once, she had just nodded and walked off.

After the coat incident, Eddie returned to her cat blogging. ”Hey you hungry? Because I seriously need to eat something before my stomach starts eating itself… Which I seriously hope it doesn’t actually do as that’d suck…. Heh, suck. Don’t worry these aren’t made of bone, plastic I promise.“

She raised an eyebrow at him, watching the mini-avalanche of food hitting the ground. There was an entire cake, a thing of coke, and what looked like...tamales? Her stomach grumbled slightly, reminding her of the fact that any food she had eaten was currently on the pavement, and a bit on Warlord.

"Yeah, bit hungry," she paused. "What exactly are you, Mercury? I don't think you told me... And candy loving crow thing doesn't sound like a real term."

---

"Are you...Are you flirting?"”uuuuuhh, I’ve seriously no idea.“

Mercury turned on the TV to the local news, and raised his mask up to start eating the cake. Partway through a bite he heard a question he really wasn’t ready for nor knew how to really answer. "What exactly are you, Mercury? I don't think you told me... And candy loving crow thing doesn't sound like a real term." He set his fork down, and swallowed the cake. He chuckled, but it rang with a pained sadness. ”Well, I honestly don’t truly know. But, I’ve heard people in my home country call me a wraith. A spirit or ghost… But, all I really know for certain was that I was born in the shadows, and to sounds of pain, and death. That my body became much like flesh, and blood after obtaining my first mask. Then more so as I gathered the others.“ He then took another forkful of cake leaning on an elbow as he cracked open a soda, and started drinking. With a deep sigh he looked at Eddie again. ”So to be honest it’s what I yearn to know. What exactly am I? The answer is, for right now anyways. I am Mercury.“

---

---

Eddie nodded, taking a slow sip of the coke. She preferred sweeter sodas -- especially cherry ones -- but it was good to get something back in her. And as long as Mercury didn't have one of his masks on her again, she wouldn't have to worry about losing it as well.

"Huh. Wraith is pretty cool," Eddie shrugged. "If it helps you, I have no idea why I can... you know, play with light...I used to think a demon marked me."

She chuckled, smiling at what she now knew to be an Irish death spirit. Glancing over her shoulder, she was relieved to see that it looked like no one was there. Even Warlord wasn't insulting her for impractical choices. Everything was safe, and calm... Nothing to jump out at them.

"Are you ready to go to the airport?" Eddie asked, watching as Mercury practically inhaled a cake. She had a few possessions of hers here, but nothing far too important. She had her phone, and the data she collected had been put into an online journal. Her passport was tucked away with her wallet and cash, easy to access, and hard to forget.

---

After finishing off the tamales, cake, and sodas Mercury was set to go. ”Yeah, alright let’s head out. I just hope they still have tickets available.“ He got up, and soon changed forms to match his passport photo. Even his clothes changed with him, all a part of the magic that was Mercury. He was now a 5’10” white man with a clean haircut, and wearing class geek clothing. (one on the left)

”Age of the geek baby, age of the geek.“ He then grabbed his bag, and helped Eddie to stand up. ”We should take a cab there. I’ll pay for it. Seeing as I’d rather not get pulled over with a stolen vehicle. Especially in this area, as cops are fucking dirty as hell. Convenient when you’re murdering people, not so much when trying to flee.“

He got them down to street level, and walked a while before being able to hail a cab. They got to the airport a while later, and Mercury paid for it. Then looked to Eddie to get the tickets. As he didn’t really know where they were going to in America. So in the meanwhile bought some more snacks as he wanted to be able to maintain this form of his without losing himself in it. That’d happened once, and he’d woken up three months later as a drug runner for the mafia. God that took a long time to clean up.

---

---

”Yeah, alright let’s head out. I just hope they still have tickets available.“

Eddie reblogged one last cat photo, and put her phone in her pocket. "Should be fine. We'll likely be stand-by, see if we can get on the same plane. If not, no big deal."

She watched as his forms seemed to melt into one another, and Mercury became what appeared to be the opposite of himself. A geeky white boy stood in front of her, not unlike the type she used to find attractive. ”Age of the geek baby, age of the geek.“

Laughing a bit, Eddie shook her head. "That's more of a nerd get up, Merc."

He held out a hand, and Eddie raised an eyebrow. She was just sitting on the couch. It didn't take a lot of effort. But, figuring that he was just overprotective like Jackson, Eddie accepted the aid. Maybe he thinks I'm bad at standing up too, though... ”We should take a cab there. I’ll pay for it. Seeing as I’d rather not get pulled over with a stolen vehicle. Especially in this area, as cops are fucking dirty as hell. Convenient when you’re murdering people, not so much when trying to flee.“

"As long as you order everything, I'm good. No speaky porto...I give up," Eddie sighed.

Following him out, she was on auto-pilot until they reached the airport. Mercury wandered off to get snacks, leaving her to go and figure out tickets. Approaching the counter, Eddie was thankful with the little sign that indicated that they spoke English. She glanced up at the departures list, looking for any city that she recognized.

"Two tickets to New York, please," Eddie asked, handing over a wad of cash to the agent.

A few stunned faces and two printed tickets later, Eddie and Mercury (underneath his fake name) were booked for the next flight leaving for New York. They had about an hour to get through security and board the plane, but Eddie knew that Mercury probably would spend the entire time eating sweets.

"C'mon, loser, we're going to New York!" Eddie said, rejoining him.