A flicker in the shadows drew Penn's attention. He motioned for Boone to follow him, and they both crept forward stealthily, under the cover of darkness.

"He's around here somewhere," Penn whispered, "I can feel it."

The red-headed teen darted forward suddenly, and flattened himself against a wall. He motioned for Boone to follow him, and they stood in silence under the overhang.

Larry the magician trotted past them, whistling and munching on a biscuit.

Boone's mouth watered at the sight of food, but he shook it off.

"Does he have the stone?" Boone whispered once Larry had passed. Penn shook his head.

"The stone is Rippen's. It can't leave him. If we just follow Larry, we should be able to find him and steal the stone."

Boone shuddered. "I still can't see us stealing anything."

Penn agreed. It seemed strange that the heroes had to steal a stone… But he'd learned to not doubt the specs. Learned that lesson in Zombie world.

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Larry strolled along, whistling softly. His long beard dragged on the ground behind him, and he petted it lovingly. His own magic stone, much less powerful than Rippen's, sat deep in his pocket. He had a hand over it.

Magic was great. You could do all sorts of things with it, but they had to be good. If the stone so much as senses evil, it will self-destruct, taking its owner out with it.

That part he chose not to mention to Rippen, what with all the "reverse-psychology" these days.

His stone suddenly grew warm, and his eyes narrowed. He started walking just a bit faster, and… There it is! Footsteps! Someone was following him.

Someones.

"Cloak," He murmured under his breath, his fingers curling over the stone. It flashed once, briefly, and Larry was gone.

"ARGH!" Penn shouted, leaping out of the shadows. "Where did he go?"

Silence.

He glanced back. "Boone?"

Silence.

He grew nervous. "Come on, Boone. This isn't funny."

Silence.

He raced back, checking the corner where Boone once was. Nothing. He looked around wildly, fully panicking now.

"BOONE!" He called out. His voice echoed eerily off the walls of the alley, and he thought he heard a sigh, but it might have just been the wind.

He just had to accept it.

Boone was nowhere to be found.

Sorry for the short chapter, but I promise for semi-regular updates from now on. I just really wanted to get back to Sashi.