As Mike caught his breath above the body of a self-proclaimed demon, Cassandane moved forward to push him aside. She extended her hand and something grew out from it like steam condensing onto glass. The hazy something extended and thickened in seconds, solidifying into a pitted gray sword that she put to quick work decapitating the corpse of Nallit. When she had separated the head, Cassandane let her sword fall to the ground, where it shattered and vanished into nothingness.

Mike stared at her. "What was that?"

"A pseudo material construct. It's one of the synergies."

"Synergies?"

"Things Marius has yet to master," Cassandane said as she walked off with her bloody trophy.

Marius offered his hand to Mike as he stepped forward. "Forget anything bad I ever said about you, Mike. I am officially president of your fan club now."

"Thanks, Marius. I'll be happy if your positive attitude lasts through the next hour at least. Maybe you can buy me lunch and not call me fat."

"Mike, I think you look great with curves," Marius said.

"So what's the plan now? I choked out the big guy and Cassandane chopped off his head. Are we still preparing for the Chekowan invasion or do we start worrying about the Angmari fleet? Then there is the matter of who our army even reports to. Are we an American force? Or maybe a U.N. force? Because people are going to want to know what our deal is. Maybe today everyone is all kumbaya about us saving a city, but tomorrow every government leader out there is going to be knocking on our door." Mike paused when he noticed the blood coating Cassandane's uniform. "Hey, Cassandane, you better watch out if you don't want to wear any more of that than you already are."

She glanced down at the red flow coating her hands, arms, and formerly gray uniform. A momentary frown troubled her face before she shrugged. "Compared to everything else that happened today, this is a minor issue." After adjusting her hands to hold the head away from herself, neck down to drain onto the street, Cassandane continued. "I can't answer on behalf of Marius, but I think marrying your army to one of the terrestrial nations would be a mistake. You would become embroiled in international conflicts instead of preparing for the Chekowans."

"I wouldn't dream of turning over my army," Marius said. "Speaking of which, Mike, I'm promoting you to Centurion."

"Never heard of it."

"Between sergeant and captain. Typically commands a section of a company."

Mike nodded. "Something like a master sergeant. I can work with that. Though I'm serious about the complaints I mentioned earlier. I want this to become a professional organization."

Marius held up a finger to stop Mike. "Cassandane? How would you like to finally make the rank of Captain?"

They turned to find Cassandane staring at her empty hands. Thinking she had dropped the head, Mike looked to the ground. It wasn't there. His gaze returned to her brown, unblemished hands and his eyes went wide. No blood. No blood on the uniform either. "What?" The only thing he could think to say brought Cassandane out of her daze.

"It just vanished," she said.

"Now that was fucking embarrassing."

Mike turned slowly to face the impossible voice, horror on his face. As he had feared, Nallit stood there, recently detached head back in place and shaking in disapproval. "You fucking choked me to death, Mike. That was unprecedented, to say the least. I don't know if I'm more amused or pissed by your trick."

He had no words to respond with. All his mind could do was deny the possibility of what he saw before him. Nallit had died. His head had been severed from his body. Yet here he stood, casually talking shit as if nothing had happened. Still, evidently, planning to torture Mike to death.

"Cassandane and Marius, you two might want to skedaddle."

Stand proud. The only thing I can do at this point is make sure the last thing my friends see from me is cowardice. Mike put himself to the position of attention, hiding the fear, frustration, anger, and confusion, putting it all behind a mask of disciplined passivity.

"I never made my choice," Cassandane said.

Nallit squinted at her. "You want the demon choker?"

"He might be untrained, but he has greater potential."

Mike maintained his strict pose, not daring to react. To his side, Marius swore softly. "Oh, fuck me. I suppose this is my punishment for the cheating?"

"No," Cassandane said. "I want command of your army."

A hysterical laugh bubbled free of Marius. "Always so practical. Ever an Aoleyen. Nallit? Are you sure . . . ."

"Shut yer yap, Marius." Nallit put a finger in Mike's face. "You. Be aware. I won't go after you either, but I'm putting a price on your head. You can have a month of peace to prepare yourself. After that, my bounty hunters will be out for blood. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Mike said, still hiding behind his military bearing.

"How?" The question came from Cassandane. "Is it a synergy we haven't discovered? You were dead. We removed your head."

Nallit smiled. "You see, chica, I'm not a person like the rest of you. I'm really, truly not."

"So you are a demon in truth?"

"Demon? Bah, made up bullshit category. No such thing as demons or angels. There is just the Creator and the Outsiders. I'm a little piece of the Creator. The only piece left in normal reality. I didn't go away when I was supposed to, so instead of the Creator waking up the Outsiders found their way in. We made a deal. They jigger around with the mechanisms that create worlds to bring a bunch of old templates back to life, then send around people to spread their talents. I get an infinite universe to play with and some fucking amazing abilities. In return, I do what I would do anyway. I keep on living. Because if I ever leave this cosmic shit show, the Creator wakes up. All you normies bite the big one. The Outsiders get crushed by something orders of magnitude more powerful than them. And I can guarantee the Creator ain't gonna do any more creating after my little rebellion. I got a suicide vest the size of the fucking universe. Not that I'll ever use it. If I get grumpy, I can just throw rocks. Great party trick."

Nallit made a shooing motion at them. "Go away now. I'm going to have fun with Marius. One month, Mike."

"Mike," Marius said. "Cassandane is your Imperator now."

"Marius . . . thank you for everything. I won't forget you."

Cassandane's hand on his shoulder pulled him back. Then her corona lifted him into the sky. The rush of the wind drowned out any sounds of torture that might have reached them. Then they were gone.