Happy Birthday

So, after Abdalin and I finished getting everything ready to go a few weeks ago, I called up Kyle to let him know I was heading back into town. As soon as I told him the news, my girlfriends, Seraph, snatched the phone from him.
“Daniel!” she said. “I need you to not come back until the day after Valentine's Day!”
“You mean my birthday?” I asked.
“Yeah, we'll see you then!” she said hurriedly, then hung up on me.
“Hey Abby!” I called.
“Yeah?” he said from the other room.
“Change of plans,” I said. “We're going there on the 15th.”
“You mean your birthday?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “We'll see them then.”

So, on my birthday, Abdalin and I teleported back home. After stashing a bunch of our stuff at my hideout in Temecula, We grabbed our backpacks and went to Kyle's place in Murrieta, right on schedule. There was a note on the door saying “Let yourself in, Dan.” I rolled my eyes and turned to Abdalin.
“Brace yourself,” I said.
“I am braced,” he assured me.
I opened the door, and we were greeted by several shouts of “SURPRISE!!!” I looked around.
“Lots of cake and balloons,” I commented casually. “How much did Pinkie Pie charge you guys for all this?”
Seraph walked up to me, sighing, and said “You could at least act surprised.”
“That's hard to do when you're totally expecting something,” I said.
I looked around. Kyle was there, as was JP, Jose, Luke, Alex, and Ariana. A bunch of runners Kyle had met through his drug deals. They've been hanging out with him a lot, and I've been giving them what advice I can to help them with their various Fear related problems.
Kyle walked over to me and gave me a bro-hug.
“Welcome back, man,” he said.
“Thanks,” I said. “Everybody, allow me to introduce the Black Joker, right hand man of the Game Master!”
Everyone except Kyle and Seraph stepped back in alarm. I had told them all about the Game Master, a man who had been responsible for a shitton of human suffering, basically killed one of my friends, and almost destroyed the world.
“FORMER right hand of the Game Master,” Abdalin growled, giving me a dirty look.
“Yeah, he's turned himself around,” I said, laughing. “You guys can relax.”
Everyne calmed down a bit.
“So, has anyone noticed any Fear acti-” I began, but Seraph quickly slapped a hand over my mouth to shut me up.
“Oooooooooh no!” she said. “Not today! It is your birthday and you are going to enjoy yourself!”
I moved her hand out of the way and said “But-”
“Damn it, Daniel!” she snapped. “I demand that you take a day off from your Fear bullshit and enjoy your damn birthday party!”
“Okay, okay,” I said. “I'll take a day off from my Fear bullshit.”
And so we partied until night time, and everyone started getting tired. Everyone ended up going home, except Kyle, Seraph, Abdalin, and me. Kyle went to sleep in his room. Abdalin and I took on the couches, and Seraph had a little futon-thingy set up that she slept on. I waited until Abdalin and Seraph were asleep before I got up. It was 3 a.m. I tiptoed out the front door and started walking. I hadn't even gotten to the end of the driveway when I heard Kyle's voice.
“Visiting it again, huh?” he asked.
I turned around. He was leaning on the garage door, smoking a joint.
“Hope you have your card on you,” I said. “It'd suck if the wrong people saw you smoking without it.”
He flashed his medical card at me before returning it to his pocket. He got that thing because of some knee and hip problems he inherited from his grandpa. He also has insomnia and a chlorine allergy. The guy buys Palomar water, because tap causes his skin to dry out, and he won't touch Splenda or any other chlorinated sweeteners. He's kind of a health nut, but he's still a cool guy.
“Seraph's still asleep, isn't she?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, leaning against the door, next to him. “You aren't gonna rat me out to her, are you?”
“She'll figured it out on her own,” he said, passing me the joint.
I took it from him and hit it. Yes, I smoked some weed. Deal with it.
“No need for me to tell her,” he said. “Besides, I understand why you gotta go.”
I handed him back the joint, which he took a puffs from before speaking again.
“Tell him I said hi,” he said.
“If I can,” I replied.
“Oh yeah, got you a present,” he said. “Not much, but here.”
He handed me a car key, and pointed to a used car at the end of the cul de sac. I'm not sure what kind of car it was. I'm not good at identifying them.
“How much was that?” I asked.
“Oh, it was a steal,” he said.
“Kyle?” I said sternly.
“Relax,” he said. “It was cheap.”
“You know I don't have a license and have little driving experience, right?” I asked.
“Then don't get caught,” he replied.

We said our goodbyes and I went to the card. Before starting it up, I looked around the dashboard and glove compartment a bit. Apparently, the car wasn't my only present, as I also found a pair of binoculars, a set of handcuffs with a key, leather gloves, a hunting knife, some road snacks, and a four-bullet derringer. The derringer was a bit surprising. I tucked it into my sock and covered it with my pant leg, and pocketed the knife. Then I started it up and pulled out into the street.
It wasn't easy at first. I haven't had any practice driving for years. I kind of gave up on trying to get my license. Mostly because it's so much work and I am very lazy. Also, with all the Fear stuff, I haven't had the time. I managed to get the hang of it (more or less) after about five minutes of driving. By that point, my phone had started ringing. I slowed down so I could pull my phone out and slide the answer thingy and then hit speaker so I could keep both hands on the wheel. I recognized the voice on the other end instantly.
“Daniel,” Myrir said. “Don't go there.”
“I'm going there,” I replied, hitting the END button. She called back a second later, and I answered.
“You're walking right into a trap!” she said.
“I know,” I replied, hanging up a second time. She called again, but this time I ignored it.
I arrived at my destination and got out of the car. Before me stood an old church. It had seen battle, having a great deal of its windows shattered and most of the roof broken into pieces that littered the interior and the surrounding grass. From what I could see of the inside through the broken door and windows, it looked like the interior had suffered some damage from the weather. I stood outside the front doors for a long while. This is where it all started. Five years ago, a good friend of mine, Justin Ferin, joined the Timberwolves. He didn't know that they were servants of the Archangel at the time. Neither did I. We thought they were just some gang. I tried to talk him out of it. Told him he was being an idiot. We ended up having a fight. No real winner, we kind of just got pissed at each other after a few punches and went our separate ways. Not long after that, he was shot and killed by a group of unknown men, who I later learned were Slender Proxies. Right here at this church. According to the news, there were three other bodies with him, identified as Terrance McCleary, Ciel Potomac, and Gregory Garland. All four of their bodies had smiles when they were found there. Which sounds odd, thinking about it. Justin told me himself that their deaths had been unpleasant.
So, that obviously wasn't the last I saw of Justin. The Archangel claimed his soul, and used him as a vessel to interact with me. Pissed me the fuck off. I ended up fighting the Archangel here. It was the first time my powers came to the surface. Also the first time my sword burst into flames. Anyway, I pulled a miraculous victory over the Archangel, and unintentionally stole Justin's soul from him. After that, Justin lived in my subconscious. We patched things up, and eventually I took more of the Archangel's souls, so I guess he has company now. Unfortunately, since I lost my powers, I can't talk to him any more. Which sucks...

I knelt down, and started talking to Justin. I don't think he can hear me any more, but I don't care. I always feel like if I'm here, at this church, I can still be near him.
“Hey, man,” I said. “Been a while.”
Silence.
“I hope you're doing well,” I said. “I'm okay, I guess. Still trying to give the Fears hell. It isn't easy, though.”
More silence.
“I wish I could still talk to you,” I whispered. “I mean, you helped me a lot. I think some of this would be easier if-”

I stopped talking and threw my body to the ground. A trio of metal things attached to cords went wizzing over me and hit the ground. I rolled over and rose to my feet, stomping on the cords so they couldn't move. A teenage kid was standing not far off. The metal cord things were attached to a device strapped around his left wrist. He had an identical one on his right arm, but the cords were fully retracted, and three wolverine-like claws extended from it. I turned slightly to look at the metal objects attached to the cords I was standing on. More claws.
“You know, you're less surprising then the party,” I said turning back to him.
Now that I was really paying attention to him, I could see a very large coat laying on the ground behind him, and several pieces of tech were clipped to his person, including a speaker system at the front of his belt. He raised his right arm and fired the rest of his projectile claws at me. I threw myself to the ground and performed a roll, coming back up in front of him. I heard a whirring sound, and the cords retracted, pulling the claws back into their wrist mounted places. Before he could jabbed me with them, I summoned my sword to me and rammed the end of the hilt into his Adam's apple. He stumbled back a bit, and I swung my sheathed sword at his head. One of his armored forearms came up to block it, and he swiped his other claw at me. I drew my sword a few inches from its sheath to block, then I caught him with a surprise kick to the solar plexus, forcing him away from me.
“Wolverine claws “I asked. “Really? You can at least try to be original.”
He glared at me, and then I heard this weird humming noise coming from his claws. I could see the hair on his arms start to become rigid. Electric Wolverine claws. Well okay then...
He charged at me, swinging the claws, I kept my sword sheathed and used it to deflect his attacks. He was an okay fighter, but all that machinery he had one wasn't doing much to improve his speed. I managed to get behind him and slammed the hilt of my sword into the back of his skull. E went down, but not quite out yet.
“So who are you?” I demanded, stepping on his lower back so he wouldn't so anywhere.
A scratchy sound came from his belt, and then a distorted voice spoke from it.
“I am Mute,” it said. Okay, guess this guy speaks through his belt. Weird.
Then he plugged his ears with his fingers. I saw what he was doing and threw my hands over my ears, dropping my sword in the process. I wasn't quite fast enough. His belt emitted a deafening feedback sound, giving me a headache. I stumbled a little bit as I tried to protect my fragile ears. That gave him the chance he needed to roll over, kicking my legs out as he did. I fell down, and he got on top of me quickly. He pulled back his forearms, preparing to drive his electrified claws into my chest. Be fore he could, I wrapped the edge of my coat around my right hand and summoned my sword to it, smacking his left elbow with the sheath as I did. That startled him a bit, and I drew the sword quickly, knowing that my next move was gonna suck. He turned his attention back to me. He swiped one claw at me, and I angled my sword to catch the attack. As I did, a spark ran along my sword. Fortunately, the coat I was holding and the swords wooden hilt stopped me from being electrocuted to death, but I still got some heavy tingles from it. I focused and angled the tip of the sword a bit, so that it touched the exposed flesh of his upper arm. I jumped back, as he was hit with this own voltage. Not enough to do any lasting damage, but it stunned him.
I threw him off of me and got up. I drew my concealed gun from my waistband and aimed at him. Once he stopped convulsing, he saw my gun and froze, obviously smart enough to not attack me again.

“Nice one,” I heard from a few feet behind me. “For a second there I was worried I'd have to intervene.
“I had everything under control, Valerie,” I said.
“Not from where I'm standing,” she said.
I turned around. Valerie, a.k.a. Wildfire, was standing there. She's a woman, bout my age, with ling blue hair and pink irises. She was dressed in a purple hoody and jeans, and I could see that she had her left-handed claw gauntlet on. She's a former Emissary of the Game Master, but she's on our side now. I teamed up with her back in... June of last year, I think I don't remember. But we're friend. I guess.
“So, what brings you here?” I asked.
“Got a tip you were about to get in a fight at the church,” she said.
“Myrir?” I asked.
“Myrir,” she confirmed.
I had a funny feeling. A feeling I get a lot when Myrir comes up in conversation. I'm not sure what it is though.
“Well, you can tell her I can take care of myself,” I said. “I'm a big boy.”
“I know,” she said. “I don't care what she says to be honest. I just came cuz I wanted to tell you something.”
“Oh really?” I asked.
“There's something going on with the High Blood,” she said. “They're planning something. I don't know what it is exactly, but they need some kind of weird book to pull it off.”
“What book?” I asked.
“I don't know what it is exactly,” she said. “They call it Bleeding Crest, and I think that...”
He hesitated.
“What?” I asked.
“I think the Game Master knew about it,” she said.
“So, it'd be where ever he used to keep his books?” I asked.
“Unless the remaining Aces moved them, yeah,” she said.
“Great,” I said. “I'll look into that. Marshall might have some ideas, but contacting that guy is a pain in the ass.”
“What about ParaDan?” she asked.
“If he ever answers any of my calls, I'll ask him,” I said. “But I ain't getting my hopes up.”
Without warning, I kicked Mute in the face, knocking him out.
“What was that for?” Wildfire asked.
“I'm heading back to Kyle's,” I said. “Don't want him tailing me.”
“If you see Kallaway-” she began.
“Tell him you said hi,” I finished for her. “I know. Later.”
Then I went back. Seraph woke up before I got back and chewed me out for leaving, but she understands the whole “Visiting and old friend's grave” thing, so we're still good. I'm gonna wrap this up here.