Mercy floated around. Helpless to observe what transpired around her. Just below her, she saw paramedics rush to her own body. It looked so fragile from up there. Wherever that was. She didn't feel anything about her own body. Not the hard ground below her or the paramedics checking her out.

"Still alive," one said and relief swept through Mercy. "Unconcious as intended."

"Put her on a drip and place her with the others."

The harsh voice reminded Mercy of Gideon, who came closer. He was the evil mastermind who was behind all this. A trickster mage who bound himself against the wishes of the magic aspect. Mercy and her friends had thought he was still in prison. Clearly, they had been wrong. And Victoria and Mercy paid now the price for their mistake.

Victoria was still close by. Struggling against policemen twice her size. Never giving up her fight. Victoria knew better than Mercy what Gideon was capable of. She had been his prisoner before. Knew the perverse twist of trickster magic Gideon wielded. Making people obsessed with ideas. He used it to bend peoples minds to his own goals.

Below Mercy, her body was put on a stretcher. When it was rolled away Gideon took the space. Looking down at Victoria with a sneer.

"I hate charmed up people. Search her for the talisman that protects her from my influence."

Mercy had to watch helplessly as the police officers practically stripped her on the sidewalk. But sure enough, the fight never left Victoria's eyes.

"I don't need a protective charm to resist your foul mind games," she shouted out loud. "I swore I'll never fall under your influence ever again."

"How refreshing and rare," Gideon remarked. "And annoying. But now I see. You were the girl from the last time I made a stroll in the wild. A challenge for me. I am looking forward to playing more with you." While Victoria wildly cursed him out he ordered his minions. "Gag her and bring her with us."

Then they all left. Victoria was heaved into a police cruiser. Gideon walked away and slowly the crowd of uniformed person around the self-help center dispersed. Leaving Mercy floating around alone and without a body.

Even the crane and big-rig drove off after the last containment vessel had been loaded. Mercy wondered what to do. She couldn't even move her ethereal self. It took some time until another person walked by. Mercy tried to shout out, but without voice it was impossible. She raked her brain and then had an idea. She could change clothes. All she had to do was write warnings on the shirt of the person below. Warning every one of Gideon and his sinister plans.

But her try only left Mercy with more disappointment. Her spells eluded her as much as the control of her own body. She tried each of them and none worked. However, Mercy noticed something else. Each time she tried the person below her flashed up in lights the color of rainbows. The person didn't even notice it. Mercy knew she did something, but not what. With nothing to lose she tried again and again. Each time the glow lasted a little longer until it stayed. Marking the person with a soft glow of changing colors.

When the person walked away Mercy could still see the glow for a while. To her surprise, the next person who walked by had already the same glow. Clearly, it was something they all possessed before Mercy met them. Maybe she just developed the ability to see it. But what was it? Was it magic? That struck Mercy as wrong. Mages stored mana, be it neutral ones or as an aspect, inside their bodies. The glow surrounded them, so she concluded that both pedestrians couldn't be magicians. The chance that two practicing magicians walked past her was rather slim. And why was the glow only around the people. Not the world around them. Magic was everywhere. That she knew.

Her mind searched for a reason and soon it stumbled on a theory. She was a trickster mage and maybe that is what she saw. Trickster magic in its raw free form. But if she was right why did it cling to people. Shouldn't it be everywhere? Again she concentrated. This time on the glow itself. It brightened and now she saw. The world was tinted in it. Like a fine fog, it was everywhere, but so faint that it was outshined by the auras that people carried around.

Abandoning the thought, for now, she concentrated on something else. If it really was trickster magic then she, as a bond mage of it, should be able to manipulate it. With the will of her mind, she stretched out to grab the aura of the nearest person. Hoping to twist it into something useful. Instead, she snapped. Like a rubber band, she flung through space until she was practically glued the aura of the person. Being dragged around as the man moved along. When she let go of the aura she stopped moving. She finally had found a means of moving herself.

Again she grabbed the aura of the man. Hoping to ride him further. Closer to her own body. Wherever it was. But she had no such luck. The man stopped at a mailbox close-by. Opening it he grabbed the mail.

"A letter from the city?" he sneered. "I bet to inform me how they squander my taxpayer's money this time."

And at this moment Mercy saw it. A small tickle nurtured the rainbow aura of the man. What stunned her was that this small tickle didn't come from the world around them. It came from within the aura. From inside of the man. Most of it radiated off into the surrounding area, but some stuck to the man. Nurturing the aura. If Mercy had been right and she saw trickster magic then she knew now it's origin. People were the catalyst. Changing neutral mana to those of trickery. But why?

Mercy couldn't dwell on the question. She needed to move on. To find her own body and somehow gain control of it again. To rescue Victoria and foil the plans of Gideon. The man walked into his home and Mercy knew he wouldn't carry her further. Instead, she concentrated and searched for other auras. The houses were ripe with them. Grabbing an aura further away was harder and her rapid acceleration was nauseating as she snapped to the person the aura belonged to.

Each person was a stepping stone that brought Mercy closer to the inner city. The direction she had seen the police cruisers had driven off to. It was her seventh move that made herself snap to a little girl.

"I don't wanna wear a skirt," the girl protested.

"Honey. All the girls in your class wear skirts," the mother tried to soothe her.

"What does that have to do with anything?" the girl demanded.

And again a little tickle of newly made trickster energy strengthened the aura surrounding the girl. Mercy saw it but couldn't stop. She had to move on.

For a while, she clung to someone driving down the road. A sudden curse made Mercy look at the man.

"Damn potholes! Why isn't the city fixing them already?"

Again more trickster magic made it into the world. It shouldn't surprise Mercy anymore, but it did. Enough to let go of the aura and strand herself on the road. Close to downtown. She needed to orient herself. Find out where her body was.

Then Mercy would have facepalmed herself if she had been inside her body. She could see trickster magic and she knew at least one body brimming with trickster magic: her own. Moreso she had reasons to believe all the stolen containment vessels would be close to her body. All she had to do was to concentrate on the trickster magic and look for the brightest spot.

Her mind was nearly blinded by the intensity and she had to dial it down a few times before she could comprehend. Something shined like a beacon from the 'silver speer'. A skyscraper that was currently constructed in the heard of the city. While only twenty of the planned forty floors were finished the bright glow from the top reminded Mercy of a lighthouse. She had no doubt about it. This was where Gideon had made his lair.

As she moved closer she saw a spectacle hard to miss. Police surrounded the tower. One inner ring - people brainwashed by Gideon - and an outer ring of policemen free of mind control. Mercy even saw SWAT cars and Feds milling around. She soon noticed that both sides were at an impasse. Those free of control hesitant to storm against friends and co-workers.

Mercy didn't remain and explored the upper levels of the skyscraper. On the highest floor, she saw the containment vessels standing on the raw concrete floor. Brimming with trickster magic and positioned in a ring. Providing cover for those behind them. There she saw Gideon. He was busy carving runes into the concrete. Filling each with parts of a blood pack. Human blood to fuel whatever he was up to. It made Mercy shudder. She could already see dozens of discarded empty packs and a pile of others yet to be used.

Mercy now saw Gideon in a new light. He had stripped everything above his pants and she saw scars the shape of runes. The very same one he carved into the concrete. But that was not what drew Mercy's gaze. It was the trickster magic within him. Like a reverse aura, it clung to the inside of his skin. It was a lot less than she had expected and somehow she just knew that the trickster magic left in him wanted out.

Loud cracking noises drew her attention and she looked around. Flashes of light streaked through the air. Not a few feet away from Gideon. They impacted on something Mercy couldn't see.

"Sniper fire!" One policeman yelled. He was sweating and staring out into the city. Mercy reasoned he must be a mage who projected some kind of shield.

Maybe the forces outside had spotted Gideon and tried to take him out. Mercy couldn't be sure. She looked around again. She already saw dozens of bloody runes drawn as lines into concrete. They all lead to a circle of runes in the middle.

Close by Mercy saw something that confused her even more. A woman dressed in a dark orange overall. Smiling into a camera. Mercy knew her well enough. After all; Mercy had been once her. For about fifteen minutes. It was May O'Connel. From Channel Six news. Now curious Mercy pulled herself closer.

"And it is here we will witness his ascension of the master to be the avatar of trickster magic," May told the camera. "Isn't this exciting? Finally, we will have the avatar we deserve. One who will bring chaos and tear down our society!"

Mercy turned away. What hubris of Gideon. To brainwash even a reporter team just to stand in the limelight once more. Mercy could hardly believe that the studio of channel six would air this as a live event. Then again she wouldn't put it past Gideon to have brainwashed them all too.

Mercy needed to do something and do it quick. Again she concentrated on the trickster magic around her. The containment vessels flared up around her in a blinding light, but it was nothing compared to a source a few floors down. Mercy shook the blinding sight and made her way down. Snapping from one patrolling guard to the next. She found herself in what looked like to be a makeshift hospital. Stretchers filled the unfinished room.

She didn't even have to rely on her new sight to know that each one of the patients was a trickster mage. Within them, trickster magic pulsed. Evenly spread out through their body. She found Al and Mavis. Alongside Davis and Carissa and a dozen others. Here Mercy finally found her body and it was a sight to behold. Were others glowed she shone in blinding light. If she hadn't known before then she knew it now. Her level of trickster magic was beyond compare to others.

Eager to put an end to all this Mercy pulled herself to her body. Trying to get back into herself. But something pushed her back. Denying her soul entry to her own host. The answer came as a person dressed in white checked an IV drip on her arm. They pumped her full with something. It must be the source of what kept her out. Frustration set in. She needed to remove that drip, but how. Mercy knew she needed help and her mind knew where to look for help. Victoria. She must be close-by.

Mercy found her a floor below. Handcuffed to a chair that Victoria already managed to topple over. Fighting with intensity to file the handcuffs of against a rusty pipe. A fruitless endeavor, but Mercy knew that Victoria must be desperate. Mercy knew that she could help. All she had to do was to go to a place her mind had refused to wander before. But now the evidence was overwhelming. Mercy's destiny was clear and she had to accept it. With it came the knowledge what to do.

Mercy grabbed Victoria's aura of trickster magic. Not to pull it away, but to push. To pierce Victoria's skin and tie it to her heart. Below her Victoria stopped her struggle. Her eyes grew wide. Clearly feeling what Mercy was doing. The handcuffs on Victoria vanished. With shaking hands, she stood up. Looked at herself. Her torn clothes swirled with change. A moment later Mercy saw her dressed in a strange mix of leather and protective hard patches. Dressed like a badass heroine from some action movie. But Victoria didn't look as confident. Her eyes spoke of panic.

"Oh no! He succeeded," she whimpered. "I am a trickster mage now. I can't. Shouldn't be. It's beyond my control." Mercy couldn't correct her. Waiting for the first pang of panic to ebb away. "Mercy!" Victoria exclaimed. "She will know what to do. Need to find her."

Victoria rushed out of the room. Nearly running into a guard. Before he could react Victoria did. Going down in a heap as he suddenly was dressed in the fursuit of a sports mascot. Victoria jumped over him. The next guard found himself imprisoned in a hard shell of a female mannequin. One who toppled over as it had giant breasts. The third one found himself in a costume of bowling pin moments before Victoria barreled into him and pushing him over.

Victoria's run of panic turned into one of a rampage. Guards fell left an right as they found themselves trapped in unwieldy costumes. One rolled around as a giant breast - with his head as nipple - while the next floated to the ceiling as his clothes turned to a myriad of helium-filled balloons. At last, she jumped over a guard caught in the unyielding prison of a giant dildo costume. Barreling into the makeshift infirmary. The doctor and nurses did go down as they found themselves in pink latex straight-jackets and the highest of heels.

"Mercy!" Victoria cried out. She rushed towards her friend. Thankfully she deducted fast that the drip in her arm was wrong. She pulled it out and then fitfully waited until Mercy woke up.

It took Mercy ten minutes before she finally was able to slip into her body. By then Victoria had managed to bring down two more guards. Now sitting in the corner dressed in a diaper, white bondage mittens and pacifier gags.

Mercy groaned as she opened her eyes. Not that she minded the slight pain. At least she could feel her body again.

"Mercy!" At once Victoria was at her side. "I need help. It's horrible. I am a trickster mage, Mercy. That's wrong. I can't control it."

"Really?" Mercy asked with a strained smirk as she sat up. "Show me."

Victoria pointed to the guards in the corner, but nothing happened. "I swear. I was. Changed them all. I was out of control."

"Sure," Mercy said with a grin and patted her baffled friend on the shoulder. "I believe you."

"It really happened," Victoria insisted.

"I know," Mercy said in a softer tone. "I explain everything later, but time is running out."

"Where are you going?" Victoria asked as Mercy walked towards the exit.

"To stop Gideon," Mercy said over her shoulder. "I have to remind him that he already lost."

"What? I am coming with you."

Mercy turned around and looked at her friend. "If you do then you have to follow my lead. You have to trust me."

"Always!"

"Then let's go."

*****

Holding hands, Mercy and Victoria climbed the last steps to the highest floor. There they were greeted by a sight to behold. Policemen stared at them but didn't act. They all waited for word of the man in the middle. Gideon, who stood in the circle of bloody runes. Now complete with tendrils that spread out to each containment vessel. There Mercy spotted new additions. Explosive devices to blow the vessels up.

"I knew someone escaped downstairs," Gideon boasted. "I could say a little bird told me, but it was one of my men dressed up as a female pony. Not that it matters now. It is too late to stop me."

"Who says I am here to stop you?" Mercy asked. Earning a gasp from Victoria.

"Then why come here instead of fleeing?" Gideon boomed.

"For one to give advise," Mercy said with a knowing smile. "And on the other hand, I think it is time that the world get's to know what it feels like. To have an avatar of trickster magic walk among them."

"No!" Victoria shouted. Now fighting to slip out of Mercy's hand. "I can't believe you. He is a monster. You can't let him win."

"I am sorry Victoria," a calm Mercy said. "This is for the best. One day you will understand."

"Mercy, don't-" Victoria begged, but was cut off. Her clothes fell to the ground as Mercy freed a golden circlet from them.

For a moment Mercy looked down at her friend. "You should have followed my lead," she murmured. Then she lifted the circlet up and placed it on her head like a crown. "Shall we proceed?" she asked Gideon out loud.

"Curious. Most Curious," Gideon remarked. "Finally someone else who sees the truth. That this is the time of reckoning. It is time for this society to fall and make a place for something new."

Mercy just gave him a mysterious smile. Waiting patiently for his ego to simmer down.

"Now then," Gideon continued. "What precious advise do you have?"

"I get it," Mercy piped up. "Blow up the vessels and release all the trickster magic at once. Those runes pipe it all to you. What you don't catch will flood the area. Create dozens if not hundreds of new trickster mages. And those mages you captured downstairs. They will be driven into a rampage by having to much trickster magic. A clever plan, but it has one ... flaw."

"And that would be?" Gideon asked while narrowing his eyes.

"The main goal is to make you the avatar, right?" Mercy asked. "Surely you must have a technician under your control. Wouldn't it be better to activate every vessel's emergency venting protocol at the same time? A higher concentration of magic for you to scoop up and there won't be a chance the detonation of those bombs would damage your runes."

Silence settled over the crowd as Gideon was thinking. Finally, he smirked and waved over a guy. Who then grabbed cables to connect all the vessels to a central terminal.

"If you try to play for time, then you made a big mistake," Gideon shouted to Mercy, who just smiled.

"I am not here to stop you," Mercy repeated with an enigmatic smile.

Not five minutes later everything was set up. Gideon once again stood in his circle while Mercy leaned against a concrete pillar.

"It is time for the world to know unlimited power," Gideon shouted. Posing for the camera. "To feel-"

"Flip the switch already," Mercy interrupted him with a shout.

For a moment Gideon lost his footing. He growled in annoyance at her and then turned around. "Whatever! Active the venting protocols," he commanded.

For a moment nothing visible happened. Then everyone around them felt a presence pressing on them. Trickster magic. Invisible to everyone, but Mercy. Then, with a hiss, the bloody runes turned black. Burning up in black smoke and it raced towards Gideon who cried out in agony. The following silence was pierced by laughter. Not the one in triumph by Gideon, but by Mercy.

"What did you do," Gideon shouted and coughed out spit and blood while doing it.

"I told you," Mercy said with a smirk. "I am not here to stop you. Because I am here to remind you that you lost. Not today, but over seventeen years ago. I said the truth. It is the time the world knows that there is an avatar of trickster magic walking this earth. But it is not you. It is me!"

"Impossible!" Gideon boomed while dragging himself to his feet. "The prophecy. They would have killed you if it had been true."

"The prophecy was real," Mercy said with a grin. "'Shrouded in mischief'. What did you think what it meant? I was born a girl and as an avatar, but I wasn't alone. A trickster mage was there who hid me from the world who wasn't ready yet."

"And you think you have won?" Gideon challenged her. "There can be only one avatar? Then all I have to do is kill you and then I will ascend."

Hughe fireballs form in his hands. With a mighty roar, he threw them at Mercy, who didn't even flinch. Flames engulfed an invisible wall between Mercy and Gideon. Thrown shards of ice and chunks of rock were thrown next. Mercy only grinned.

"You ask me what I did," Mercy reminded him. "What I did was to gather every trace amount of trickster magic in the area. Not just those from the containment units. Everything. Even those shreds of it you used to control people. These men you gathered to defend you are now free to choose on their own. And they chose to defy you."

Gideon looked around and saw only hostile looks around him. Furious he ripped at the air with his hands as if they were claws.
Scraping the ground beneath him with his feet. Spit dropped from his mouth as hey drew in air for a shout. "I command you to kill her!"

But no one moved. They all kept staring at him in hatred.

"Told you," Mercy mocked him. "Every sliver of trickster magic. I collected it all. Except those hidden in trickster mages. Then again you never have been a trickster mage, right? I stuck me as odd. Trickster mages need to use their magic. Yet all these years in prison and you didn't use yours. Not because the guards wore protection. No. It was because you stole only so much. You managed to catch trickster magic and bend it to your will. But we both know the magic itself rejected you. You will never be a trickster mage. Avatar or otherwise."

"No!" Gideon howled. "I will prove you wrong. I will teach you all. Trickster magic will be mine to wield. I may have underestimated you. But don't think you are my equal." Elemental magic burst forth from him. Slamming into the shield before Mercy. Now she had to step back as heat and small sparks found cracks in it. "I've lived for centuries. I help build empires. Slain thousands of enemies. You. Are. Nothing!"

"Kill him!"

Mercy didn't know who shouted it, but the police officers around them took initiative. The air filled with fire and lightning. Cracks of bullets could be heard. Gideon was forced on the defense but held his own. Gradually the fronts shifted. Gideon was forced against a containment vessel by the police forces that drew in as a half circle between him and Mercy.

A big explosion shook them all as two vessels fell over the edge. Stray magic or bullets must have hit the explosive devices attached to them. Everyone but Mercy and Gideon was down to their knees. She stared him down. The enemy who wouldn't surrender.

"Is that all?" Gideon challenged them. "You are just maggots beneath me!"

A loud bang rang out and Gideon stumbled as a white trace hit him from behind. It streaked his magical shield before ricocheting off and drawing a deep furrow into the concrete floor. Not a heartbeat later a second streak appeared and forced Gideon to his knees. For a moment his eyes found Mercy's. Full of hatred. Then a third shot rang out and Gideon collapsed as his head burst open. The once proud mage falling down in a puddle of growing blood.

"That ... was kind of an underwhelming end for someone like him," Mercy remarked dryly.

Her comment drew the eyes around her. Now with the big bad mage defeated they remembered what she was. The avatar of trickster magic. They had grown up stories and speculations about how bad it would be if ever one would walk this earth.

In this weary moment, Mercy stepped forward to speak again. "Right now I am filled with trickster magic. More than just that of these vessels and more than you could imagine. But even I, as Avatar, can't hold so much forever. I didn't persuade Gideon to use the emergency evacuation protocols for no reason. I suggest you reset them so I can let go of some."

"What will you do now?" one of the officers asked.

"The age of ignorance will end as what was promised will blossom. So the seed will reveal the harbinger to be. Mankind will know its own as it's mirror is revealed," Mercy cited oud loud. "This is the last prophecy the oracle of Delphi made. And I intend to fulfill it. With the help of Miss O'Connel over there."

Eyes wandered to the small tv-crew that had witnessed everything. For a moment Mercy showed a wry lopsided grin. The whole fight had been seen by an audience at home. Probably not just of this city, but countrywide. And Mercy was sure after what she said it would be viewed in the whole world. As she walked over, the men around her moved aside.

"Miss O'Connel," Mercy greeted the reporter.

"A-avatar," May O'Connel replied. Mercy never had her seen like this. May had reported on company conspiracies and mobster dealings. Even once on mutated turtles. Always professional and calm. Not now. She looked frightened.

"Please," Mercy said. "Call me Mercy."

"You want to address the nation?" the reporter asked.

"If you don't mind," Mercy said with a nod. When the cameraman moved into a position of advantage, May gave her a thumbs up.

"I know you all must be scared," Mercy started. "I know because I was. While I had suspected that I was the avatar of trickster magic I hadn't known for sure until just now. I grew up the same as you. Fearing trickster magic. Even as I awakened as trickster magic I never could shake this fear completely. But now I can, because now I know what it really is. And it is time you know too."

Mercy took a short break. Just the span of two breath in and out so the audience could stomach what she said.

"Today I witnessed how this magic is created. Something no one could explain to me before. It is you. Every one of you. Each time one of you feels caged in by our society - our civilization - you create a little what we know as trickster magic. But the very name is misleading. It is not an aspect trickery and mischief. It is the aspect of mankind itself. As a mirror to our own ambition and strife. It is the incarnation of our will to evolve further. To prevent stagnation. To fight the unjust and move us all into a brighter future. This is what Gideon never understood. Trickster magic isn't meant to bring down our civilization as it is the very manifestation of it."

"But why did we mistake it as an aspect of trickery and mischief?" Mercy asked her audience. "Because in the grand scheme of things mankind is still young. Our society is not quite in its infancy, but we are far from maturity."

"Yes, the aspect that represents us all is a juvenile rascal," Mercy stated with a smirk. "Just like humanity is. A few of us are chosen to represent you. To fulfill your wishes. But those are chaotic and hard to read. I myself made some mistakes. At least I thought so. They always worked out. Not just for me, but for those, I thought had been my victims. Their lives turned out for the better. I hope now you understand as I do."

May took her cue to jump in. By now she had shaken off what had ailed her. "So we have nothing to fear from you?"

"Let me say it like this," Mercy said with a wry smile." If you have a good heart and work at making the world a better place for us all then you have nothing to fear. But those who work to bring us all down, bad man like Gideon, then yes. Be afraid. Not just I, but all trickster mages are champions of the people. We will fight for you as best as we can."

"Is this what you see as your duty as an Avatar?" May asked.

"The world doesn't need an avatar," Mercy explained. "Humanity isn't so broken that one is needed. I was born for one reason and that was as a placeholder. It was your collective fear of Gideon or someone like him to become the avatar that made me necessary. But even then, I was hidden away. Because there wasn't a need for me. Until now when Gideon made his insane plans. With him defeated I have no purpose, but to keep this spot occupied. I cannot choose not to be the avatar anymore. It will be part of me until the day I die. All I have left is to educate those who are willing to listen. I will tell you all more soon. Everything I know, but for now I have to tend to my friends."

Mercy turned around as May took over and addressed the audience. She looked for a quiet spot, which wasn't hard to do. Most people avoided her. In some eyes, she still saw a hint of fear, but in many, she saw also hope.

Once alone she lifted up her golden circlet. Victoria, who after a moment was flesh and blood again. She jumped into Mercy's arms and squeezed her in a heartfelt hug.

"I am sorry I doubted you," Victoria sobbed into Mercy's shoulder.

"It was a lot to ask for," Mercy admitted.

"So me, running rampage downstairs. That was you?" Victoria asked. "You gave me your spells with your power as the avatar?"

"Only my first spell," Mercy admitted. "I trust you, but not enough to give you my other two."

That lured out a laugh from Victoria. "Neither would I."

"I guess I should make you something to wear," Mercy said to point out that Victoria was naked. "I don't know where your fetish garb had been blown away to. Any wishes?"

"I could be your circlet again," Victoria mused out loud.

"Seriously?" Mercy asked in surprise.

"What?" Victoria replied. "Everyone looked up at me as I throned on your head. Which, by the way, is a really comfy throne."

"You are incorrigible," Mercy laughed.

In the end, Victoria ended up in a very figure-hugging dress. Just in time too as someone in military fatigues stepped close.

"Mam. There is a phone call for you."

Mercy looked bemused for a moment. No one had called her 'Mam' yet.

"Who is it?" she inquired.

"The president, Mam."

Her eyes grew wide. "I think I better take this call," she told Victoria.