Whatever in the Hell it was, it hit her hard and fast above the temple, and she was down on the rooftop before knowing what was going on. She lay stunned, clutching her throbbing head as Crowley hollered in surprise.

Mysteria #3
"Headgames" (Part Three)
by Robert Flynn

"Neat trick bitch...," Crowley murmured rubbing his jaw. "Care to let me get in a few of mine?"

The voice seemed to come from nowhere. "Forget it, old man."

"Heh, don't try tough with me, little girl. I've faced down Elder Gods."

"Stop muttering and die easy,” came the retort.

"Ain't gonna happen, girlie," Crowley said scanning the rooftop.

"Tough talk from someone a decade short of fossil hood," the voice said; he couldn't quite get a reading on it. It seemed to almost be coming from nowhere.

Crowley chuckled. "Come out in the open and say that. You'll be the world's mouthiest skid mark."

"Dunnock!" Another voice now... sharper, bossier. "Stop playing with him. He isn't the target! Just finish him quick and messy."

"Yes, ma'am," the first voice said, slightly chided. Crowley could still find no source for it.

He muttered quietly and quickly, his lips moving effortlessly over the strange words, and, then, he projected. He could see her now. Her trick wasn't much different than Victoria's... his attackers simply a bending of light that effectively camouflaged her.

Whoever she was, she was clad in dusty brown leather with a cowl that covered most of her head and a cape that hung from her back like a pair of wings. She was small and apparently frail, a lightweight in the truest sense of the word.

Crowley's astral form grinned, his real body mimicked. Reaching downward, he plunged his hand into her body, disrupting a small bit of the natural universe in her upper chest. She shrieked and crumpled on the ground, a sobbing heap.

Crowley had had that trick pulled on him once just outside of New Orleans. It was painful. Mind numbingly painful. She would get over it in a day or so, but it still served the little bitch right, thinking she could get the drop on Jackson Fredrick Crowley... hah. Not even on her best day, or his worst.

"Dunnock!?!" A much deeper voice from somewhere behind and to the right.

Someone fell on top of his body from the air, tackling him. Although his astral form could feel no pain, he winced at the thought of the broken ribs he had just suffered. His assailant was huge...easily seven feet tall, and, on each hand, she wore five pointed claws...no not claws... talons were the appropriate word here he had no doubt. She was big, at least two heads taller than Crowley, and a whole hell of a lot wider. This woman was a tank, and the helmet she wore with its sharp curved beak and beady reflective eye pieces just served to make her seem more intimidating.

The talons were pieces of work just as nasty as their wielder. He had no doubt about that, if he didn't return to and extricate his body then he wouldn't have one to come home to.

* * *

"Angela? Angela, honey?"Neil let the door close quietly behind him.

"Neil? I'm in the kitchen... What are you doing back so early?"

"What so many young expectant fathers do: I'm cutting work to take you out. Your husband is finally growing a backbone."

She smiled and set down the dishtowel she had been holding. "I'm glad to hear it."

* * *

Mysteria's head swam. Somewhere nearby, someone was screaming in agony...Slowly she tried to pull herself to her feet, fell, tried again, and stood on rubbery legs. Somewhere nearby, she heard a man's voice...it must be Crowley. Whatever he had hit her with, the bastard was going to pay!

* * *

As Dunnock lay nearby screaming her head off, Sparrowhawk was readying herself to crush the old man's head. Crowley jumped back into his body just as her fist was drawn back. A few words later, he was standing three feet in front of her as she stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Sorry, it just isn't that damned easy,” he muttered.

"You tricky son of a bitch," Sparrowhawk cursed under her breath.

"That's right, love, and I've a lot more up my sleeves. Why don't your friends come on out? There's more than enough for everybody. Or don't you gals like to play?" Crowley stopped, pulled a cigarette from a pack in his pocket, and lit it with a flick of his fingers. If the big woman had noticed the trick, she played it cool. Too bad for her. If she had just let that intimidate her, it would have saved her one hell of an ass whooping. "What happened to your little chameleon friend is just the beginning. I haven't even called out the big guns yet...haven't had my fun."

"You talk way too much, old man."

"Really? Maybe I should become as charming a conversationalist as you...I hear monosyllabic phrases are all the rage in Paris and New York these days... Then again, I was never an 'Upper-crust' kinda guy." Crowley smiled around his cigarette. "I much prefer being the... hmm how has it been put? 'Scum of the Earth'."

"Would you just finish this already, Sparrowhawk?"

That bossy voice again, somewhere behind him... over his right shoulder. Perhaps two meters and a bit above him. Crowley readied himself for the perceived attack.

"We still need to deal with Mysteria," the bossy voice said agitated. "SHE is the target here."

"Keep your shirt on, Nightingale; this guy's tougher then he looks," Sparrowhawk retorted. "Why don't you deal with him?”

"Because you're the muscle!" the other responded, finally coming into view; she flew over Crowley's shoulder and landed beside the Sparrowhawk. This one wore a sleek black suit with red wings dangling from her arms...they looked like fashion accessories, but, apparently, they worked. She had stark raven hair, and the red goggles she wore over her eyes did nothing to obscure the natural beauty of her face. "This is the sort of eventuality you are supposed to cover."

"Ah, Hell. Just get Snow Owl to do it. I want another dance with Mysteria." The big one flexed her neck and cracked her knuckles; she was only payinghalf attention to Crowley now.

"No,” said Nightingale evenly, her face going stern. "Finish him now; then, you can deal with her. The quicker you kill him, the slower you can kill her. Understand?"

'These two are so caught up in themselves they might just K.O. each other,' Crowley thought. Then, he saw movement over Nightingale's shoulder and began to smile. Looked like Vicky wasn't out for the count after all.

* * *

Mysteria groaned inwardly as she took in what was before her. The Flock. Wonderful. Now she had to deal with them and Crowley... At least Dunnock was down, and it looked like Snow Owl was a no show. Only three on one odds. She could live with that. Best to take down the two mercenaries first, so that she could devote her all to Crowley.

She leapt into the air in a martial arts kick, cleanly catching Sparrowhawk in the small of the back. The Amazon grunted and fell forward, cursing loudly. She turned, kicking for Nightingale who blocked. Mysteria dropped down into a sweep kick. Nightingale deftly jumped over and responded with a kick to the face that Mysteria barely avoided.

She let loose a flurry of punches; all of them were blocked. For every move she made, Nightingale had a counter. The two seemed evenly matched, as nothing but a few light blows were landed. This was getting them nowhere. Mysteria was sure that both of them could go all night. She had to end this as soon as she possibly could.

Crowley took a drag from his cig and then called out, "Uhh... Mysti, darling, you forget... the one is a telepath. She knows every damn move you make. Watch out. Here comes a left... Hell, why don't you just tell her what you're going to do? You're practically telegraphing."

Mysteria turned her head slightly towards him, scowling, and blocked the incoming punch without looking. "Well, if you can do something better than this, then, by all means, do it! I'm doing the best I can!"

"All right, no need to get all worked about it... Let's see now. No, too messy... takes too long... hmmm that would vaporize the block..."

"Crowley!" Mysteria shouted, panicked.

He turned, nodded at her, smiled, and, then, said something Victoria couldn't hear. There was a rumbling, and the building shook. Nightingale lost her balance, and Mysteria knocked her out with an upper cut and a swift club to the neck. Then, she grabbed the back of Sparrow hawk's head and slammed it hard on the rooftop.

"We make a pretty good team." Crowley laughed. "Crowley and Mysteria...it has a nice ring to it."

"Sure. Whatever. I'm still not through with you. Once these three are trussed for the cops, you'll get what's coming to you, Crowley," Mysteria promised, pulling Dunnock up by her hair and throwing her over with the others. Dunnock groaned weakly and sobbed. Mysteria knelt down and began removing the smaller woman's headpiece.

"I'm not running, am I?" He smiled a lopsided smile. "Hell, I'm looking forward to it. You going to give me a spanking?"

"Don't push me. I'm still having trouble believing you helped me out." Ah, there was what she was looking for. She yanked the headset off of Dunnock's head and, then, gave the mercenary a swift kick to the gut as she examined it.

"What's that?" Crowley asked, looking over her shoulder at the device.

"Whatever it is, they were using them to track me when I was invisible. It might be infrared... or some kind of sonar. I'll have to examine this later." She stuck the device in one of the large pockets that lined her cape. "Now, then, more directly, why in the Hell did you help me?"

"Only in self defense, love; that big one was going to splatter me," he said, almost as if she had accused him of a crime. He shrugged innocently, and Mysteria almost felt herself beginning to like the old man.

"And Nightingale?" she asked, a smile playing at her lips.

"What can I say? I didn't like the arrogant priss. And, besides, if you weren't around, we couldn't discuss my payment, could we?" he responded, back to the cold confident bastard that filled her with distaste. "I mean I COULD discuss it with you after you passed on, but there wouldn't be much that you could do for me."

"You're a bastard, Crowley," Mysteria snarled. "A scum sucking, lower than dirt, son of a bitch, you know that?"

"Just for that, you'll have to wait longer to find out my terms," he said, as he drew deeply off his cigarette. "Couple a' weeks maybe. Or even a month. I think it depends on how nice you start being." That cold, cocky smile again.

"A real bastard...Wait. Shut up." Mysteria put her finger to her lips. She heard something, almost a dull roar. "Do you hear that?"

The wind began to pick up, the temperature on the roof rapidly falling. She wrenched her head this way and that, but something was falling, obstructing her view. Snow? What was going on?

"What the hell?" Crowley muttered, mimicking her own thoughts, as he lifted up a palm and caught a handful of the white powder. He clenched it and crunched it, letting the snow seep between his fingers. "Freak snow storms happen often here? Or maybe it's just El Nino, taking a bit of a down under holiday?"

"Snow Owl!" Mysteria shouted over the rising winds. "Do you see her? She must be nearby! Her powers have a small fixed range..."

"Not hide nor hair!" Crowley shouted back, as the two were encompassed by the vast blanketing white. "...Course, it might be helpful if I knew what I was looking for. A bird? Another freaky avian fetish chick?"

Crowley put a hand up, shading his brow; this was getting sort of fun. Vicky's friends just got more and more interesting the more of them you met.

* * *

"Dammit." Mysteria flew up, trying to get over the rapidly worsening storm, but she just couldn't get far enough. "Where the Hell are you, you bitch?"

She pulled her cloak tight around, enjoying the little bit of protection it gave her from the cold. She really needed to think about redesigning her costume a bit; it just wouldn't do to be found frozen on a rooftop, wearing something as thin as this. She honestly hadn't counted on the more embarrassing effects of cold when she had first drawn it up.

She was just glad that Crowley wasn't up here to ogle her chest.

* * *

This was a bit better; the flames surrounding his hand were evaporating the snow as soon as it approached him and giving him a cone of vision. Not much, but enough to know that he wouldn't be falling off the edge anytime soon.

"C'mon, Vicky, find the bitch and K.O. her. I can't stand these kinds of temperatures forever."

* * *

There. She finally spotted Snow Owl on the seventh story balcony of a hotel two blocks away. Unfortunately, Snow Owl knew that Mysteria was coming. The white-clad woman leapt into the air, her gray trimmed cape spreading out behind her, imitating wings, as she rushed skyward.

"Oh, no," Mysteria grunted through grit teeth. "You aren't getting away today. Your ass is mine."

She increased her speed, rushing at the fleeing mercenary with as much velocity as she could muster. She was closing the gap considerably and would hopefully be in hand to hand range within a matter of seconds.

Snow Owl dropped down into a dive her voice reaching back to Mysteria's ears as an elated whooping cry. "Come on, Mysteria, it's time to play!"

Mysteria clutched the edges of her cloak in each hand and dove after, the windows and fire escapes of the buildings surrounding them rushing by in a blur.

Just before she hit street level, Snow Owl pulled up, bowling over a pair of startled pedestrians as she whipped around and came, full throttle, at Mysteria in a barrel roll.

'Yeah just keep showing off, bitch.' Mysteria thought, as the blonde charged her. 'It'll make it that much more fun to knock you out.'

Snow Owl was close enough now to make out the details of her face, and, as she noted, the gleam in the blonde's eyes one thing occurred to Mysteria: Snow Owl was insane. The white-clad woman was enjoying this.

"Having fun yet?" Snow Owl asked, coming to a stop almost a full meter away.

"I'll show you fun," Mysteria answered, tackling the woman. They tumbled down onto the street and wrestled in the foot high snow, rolling and punching, as each tried to gain the upper hand.

Mysteria grabbed hold of Snow Owl's hair and slammed the woman's head hard onto the asphalt. Snow Owl howled in pain and pulled away, leaving Mysteria with a handful of hair. Before Mysteria could stop her, she was back in the air and fleeing as fast as she could.

Mysteria took to the air and began to follow as closely as possible. The snow was falling thicker than ever, making it damn near impossible to see.

She got as close to Snow Owl as she could and grabbed the woman's retreating ankle. Mysteria spun hard and let go, throwing Snow Owl into the side of a building, then grabbed her back into a choke hold and yanked the white feather trimmed mask from her face. Quickly, before Snow Owl could pull away, Mysteria yanked the headset off of her.

"Bitch!" Snow Owl cursed flailing every direction. "Let me go!"

"No way. That would be making it way too easy for you. You know, for someone as professional as you Flock people are supposed to be, you just don't understand how this works, do you?" Mysteria asked, mockingly.

"I'll kill you!"

"You should have done it the other night," Mysteria said, thinking back to her first encounter with the Flock. "But, oh well... Now, I've got questions for you, and you're going to answer them."

"Like Hell I will!" Snow Owl shouted.

"Who hired you?" Mysteria asked, tightening the choke hold.

"Screw you." Snow Owl coughed.

"No thanks," Mysteria tightened the hold again and watched Snow Owl's eyes bug out. "Who hired you?"

Snow Owl started to say something smart, but Mysteria tightened again and said, "I will kill you."

"I don't know. Nightingale did all the dealing," Snow Owl admitted slowly.

"Bull."

"It's true!" Snow Owl squealed.

"You're full of it, and we both know it." Mysteria said.

"No seriously... please," Snow Owl gasped. "I can't breathe... please let go."

Mysteria released the hold but grabbed Snow Owl's wrists and wrenched them behind her. "Have fun in prison."

Snow Owl began laughing. "Prison? You honestly think we don't have our ways out? We have lawyers, and, if they fail, it's not like anyone can stop us from just walking out."

Snow Owl struggled and managed to free herself. She turned quickly, kicking Mysteria in the gut and clubbing her over the head. Mysteria caught her by the arm, but Snow Owl whipped her hard against a wall.

Perhaps it was left over dizziness from that head shot earlier, but Mysteria was having trouble keeping up with Snow Owl, and, if she didn't end this soon, the blonde was sure too escape.

Snow Owl shot through the whiteness, trying to make a break for the open sky, but Mysteria pounced on her and wrapped herself around Snow Owl's back. Snow Owl bucked and twisted, trying to knock her loose but to no avail. Seeing her opportunity, Mysteria wrenched the woman's head back, and Snow Owl plowed face first into an apartment building. She grunted in pain, and, then, she and Mysteria plummeted to the ground and the waiting arms of Jack Crowley.