Ghost Thing had a det Saturday going, but he skipped breakfast and the craving of huugged at his insides– even in his water elemental form which possessed no stomach!– so he wondered if there was anyone around that could provide a meal out in the open fhost to sample. It only took a few mio find a building housing a catering business so Ghost assumed a rge kit like that wouldn’t mind (or even notice) a few food items gone missing.

  There were some logistics arouing food from su establishment, though. He o be human to eat, but he o be Ghost Thing to get io get to food. He wasn’t going to transform bato human to wolf down the foodstuffs and then dash because that was an easy risk of being found out.

  So after firming that the catering kit had food in around, Ghost ehrough an open window, took a bunch of sandwiches aables, stuck them in a paper bag, and then dropped the bag out the window oop of a recyg bin. He left the building, grabbed the bag (hoping the drop didn’t mix things up to much), and then climbed up the steel staircase to the roof, trying to be silent so that no person around heard him get away.

  He hopped across rooftops looking for a bulkhead. He found o when he went to turn the bulkhead’s knob, it was locked. Ghost wouldn’t put up a fight. He found another bulkhead on a building a couple spots away and tried its door. The knob turned. Ghost slowly opehe door and peaked io the top of a stairwell. No noise. No security cameras.

  So after double cheg nobody was around, Ghost Thiuro his human form and looked into his bag at his sandwiches. Some of the bread got toppled off but nothing Kay couldn’t fix. He sat down against the wall, but fixed a salmon sandwich by stig a slice ba top, and got eating.

  “Mmmm...!”

  He made the right choice by choosing to sample a catering kit. The salmon sad’s fvour was strong but there was an herbal too bahings out and the texture wasn’t too runny nor was it too dry. He got a few of the sandwiches so he ate quick, gobbled down the vegetables, and then got up to leave. There wasn’t a garbage around, so he left the bag by the wall. Whoever found it wouldn’t have known it was him.

  Switg bato Ghost Thing, he went out into the day and rollicked around the rooftops again. They said not to swim or do any kind of athletic activity thirty minutes after eating, but if ourned into a magical figure of living water that had no digestion, did that make Ghost immune? He had to wonder.

  So Ghost travelled across the opy of Toronto. Maybe being a water elemental ged Ghost Thing’s retionship with weather and atmosphere but he couldn’t find a grey sky to be that ugly anymore, at least not with a rainfall earlier that afternoon washing the tops of every building around. The humid air felt inviting to him. It felt like it was his zone.

  I ’t believe I thought about giving this up, thought Ghost Thing.

  There wasn’t a part of him that could seriously sider he was in danger. Sure, st Friday his patrol was sabotaged by that blue-skinned woman, but that had to be a fluke. Ghost thought, That gang isn’t going to send someoer me a sed time, right?

  But as Ghost Thing romped around the east side of downtown, strange eyes were upon him. When he hopped across Jarvis St, his purple form stood out against the dull clouds above and many saw him pinly; including Isaac, a tightehumb-breaker that Ghost Thing had fought with before. Isaaew what to do: he found a quiet spot down in a nearby park and pulled out his cellphoo give Dead Head the news.

  Hustler Petrov was the one Dead Head sent after Ghost Thing this time. With explicit dire to elimihe kid.

  It took twenty minutes for Petrov to arrive in the area. Hiding in the shadows, he spotted Ghost Thing skipping from one building to the . It was time to go to work.

  Ghost Thing traversed the sky like a ninja across the roofs of a Japan. At least, he thought so, based on his rudimentary knowledge of “ninja-era Japan”, as he called it. It got him speg on whhout history could have had special powers like him. If people could get them at random, who were the lucky devils?

  Were a querors secretly psychic power wielders? There was Alexahe Great and Frederick Barbarossa. His specution was brief because Ghost Thing reached the end of his list of historical figures, a sequence of all he knew about history being Age of Empires campaigns.

  Ghost got lost in thought as he flew across the lid of his fair city, but as he nded oop of a multi-stymnasium, something struck his eye.

  Standing oher side of the rooftop, there was a man. Dressed in a fancy, antiquated suit and holding a e, it was Hustler Petrov. A big smile stretched across his shadowy face.

  “Greetings, Ghost Thing,” said Petrov in his digone.

  Ghost Thing stopped, unsure what to say. He hardened his stance. “Wh... who are you?”

  Petrov tented his hand on his chest. “My name is Hustler Petrov. I represent a group that you’ve been interfering with i times.”

  Just like that, someone came out and said it. Another one of the gang members had e to Ghost Thing. Ghost looked around the area, the dozen rooftops around and strategised escape pns had he a o scram. The pang of ay burned within him, but he kept his cool as best as he could; despite his carefree attitude just earlier, he had beeally preparing for this moment over the st couple days.

  “Who are you?” asked Ghost. Being that he hahat question to a man that looked to be made of pure midnight, he rephrased it so direct it at what he o know. “Who are you guys?”

  Petrov took the e to his a out a pronounced “Hmmmm” before shrugging. “My honour decrees that I be ho with my oppos.” His eyes turned red and he smiled wide, teeth like jagged mountains. “But my professionalism decrees I y away all that ahe job done!”

  He lu Ghost Thing, literally flying across the ground with stray pieces of paper kicked up by the gust. He gripped his e, ready to strike.

  So then was the question: would Ghost Thing fight or flee? He had only a brief moment to take a tring breath inside him, but the moment passed and Hustler Petrov was within rahe vilin took a swipe at Ghost. No problem for the water d. He took a brisk back step and dodged the attack but therov waved the e back again and a fan of darkness fired out the tip. Ghost took another backstep but the sheet of bck grew lohan Ghost Thing expected and bded his torso.

  “Ah!”

  The darkness faded and Ghost patted his shirt cheg to see if the abyssal magic harmed him in some way. There was an acute pain and numbness where the supernatural fan collided but nothing mhost worried, though, that the dark wave’s effects lingered inside him.

  He scowled at Petrov. “What does that do?”

  Petrov propped his hands on the e and amused his face. “Now now, if I told you where would the fun in that be?”

  Things were looking like it was a good time to scram. For all the fighting prowess that Ghost had dispyed, Petrov was looking very fident and petent in a way that Ghost wouldn’t be able to match. Maybe those martial arts lessons were a good idea, after all.

  There was a tower nearby, ohat having stru work done on it. On a single floor, the windows were removed around its outside, at least as far as Ghost Thing could see.

  So the water d took off, rag to the building and using his slimeball form to fire him up into the open sides. It was a jump about three metres i but Ghost nded ihe pce, ref into his humanoid shape and looking back to see if Petrov was going to follow.

  Not two seds after Ghost Thing got up there, Petrov came firing up– a jump that had to be assisted with some supernatural means– doing a sideways twirl before he nded like he was a circus performer.

  Ghost Thing was struck with worry.

  Petrov chuckled, the rumble as deep as it was menag. “Trying to leave the stage before the se is done...” He wagged a gloved fi Ghost Thing. “A coward’s behaviour.”

  Ghost was in it now. He thought about what he could do, and tried to be subtle as he looked around for something to throw at the guy or a hole to escape withirov took slow steps forward and Ghost took slow steps back.

  There was a crowbar resting by a n. Ghost got a look at it as quick as a blink but kept his hand ready to grab it just as he passed it by. O was within reach, he snatched it and whipped it at Petrov. The shadow mahe manoeuvre was ing and dodged the bar of metal with little effort. Almost out of frustration and insult, Ghost hopped forward at Petrov and took a swing at him. Ghost’s watery knuckle knocked Petrov’s cheek but that didn’t slow the man down.

  Petrov took another swipe at Ghost, dark light blurring out of the curve of his e, but Ghost dodged it. He wouldn’t be cursed by that wicked magic again!

  But therov charged a ko Ghost Thing’s fad tossed the boy across the ground.

  Ghost groaned and leaned up, stroking his face. His voice ed with anger. “What are you?”

  Petrov presented his form to Ghost, holding his hands up to his sides and standing up straight. “Sorry, my friend. But there’s no encyclopedia around that tains ary on me.” He looked over the liquid humanoid before him, analyzing Ghost Thing’s translut body and his basic attire, all given a purple hue. In fact– although Petrov heard about it from Thrash– Ghost Thing had reize that Ghost had a simir aesthetic to Haze. “Though... I wonder if there could be ary on your types.”

  Was Ghost Thing going to have to fight for his life? Over the st couple days, he had told himself he could battle, but Petrov clearly knew how his way around a quarrel and who knew what kind of powers he had up his fancy sleeves? Ghost Thing’s will shuddered.

  “Listen...” he said, getting up, “I’m sorry about busting those robberies. I didn’t know I was interfering with yang. I won’t do it again.”

  A surrender, was it? Petrov was surprised, but wasn’t sure it mattered. Petrov had his orders and if he came back without sptting the walking puddle that was Ghost Thing, well, Dead Head might have had a serious problem with that.

  “You’ll have tive me, droplet,” said Petrov, “but my charge is to eliminate you and I always follow my charge.”

  Ghost Thing gulped. It looked like he wasn’t going to get out of that one easy. He kept a for some sort of craall exit he could escape through, and he assumed Petrov couldn’t follow him. Though, Ghost Thing wasn’t sure about Petrov’s powers. Had he seen them all?

  Petrov ran up to Ghost and took another swing of his e at the water d. Ghost dodged out of the way and had the fht to duder the left hook that Petrov tossed just after. It ening, so Ghost Thing bolted his stance down and took a hard punch up at Petrov, nding a blow hard enough to topple the dapper sorcerer.

  Maybe Ghost Thing should have put up more fight and less flight!

  Petrov steadied his feet, straightened his hat, a out a chortle. “I must say... you are putting up quite the struggle for someone described as a ‘wimpy waterbag’.”

  “Why don’t you just give up, then?” asked Ghost Thing, tightening his wrists.

  Petrov smirked. “e now. I was merely enting on your endurahis was not a surrender.”

  And with a thrust forward as quick as a knife, Petrov charged at Ghost. Ghost tried to side-step out of the way but Petrov swiped his e at Ghost and cut the water d across the shoulder with another bde of darkness. Ghost fumbled away, cheg his shoulder. There ain, but Ghost Thing worried about effects that were unseen.

  I beat this guy? Ghost woo himself. How do I beat this guy? What is he? Does he even hurt? he die?

  There art of him that still wao fight and try a his oppo, but Ghost khat trying to escape was the smarter, safer tactic. He saw a hole on the roof by a n. It was rge enough for him to slip up into, but far too small for a regur sized person to follow.

  Petrov saw what Ghost was looking at and when the liquid creep rao leap up into the opening, Petrov reached out his hand and from it opened a hole on his palm. Like his other attacks, dark light emerged and the hole sucked in the enviro around it with a loud woosh.

  It owerful enough thost to g onto the aperture to hold on and the ferocity of the pull only got worse as Petrov took steps closer. Water lifted off of Ghost Thing’s body and rained into the -sized abyss.

  Ghost had no idea what was going on until he looked bad saw a darkeornado spinning arourov’s hand– at least, that’s what it looked like for someone on the receiving end of the spell. He could feel the watery surfa his face being tugged into the spiral. Ghost fot about trying to hop up into the hole and refocused his energy on bag away from Petrov.

  But for every step Ghost took away from Petrov, Petrov took one forward.

  “You won’t escape me,” shouted Petrov over the roar of his windy chaos, “Not like Thrash, you will not escape me!”

  Ghost Thing could see the water rip off his body. He was losing his essend with every drop of water that left him, he became that much more uo resist the su of the shadow man’s shost had to think fast, but looking around, there was no other escape and no on to toss at him!

  “N-no!” said Ghost.

  Was this it? Was Ghost Thing going to be extinguished by a strange demon guy in a mid-stru floor of a skyscraper?

  “Your time is up, Ghost Thing,” said Petrov. He let out a sharp ugh t over the of his bck hole, but the ugh was cut short when an arc of lightning crashed across the floor and hit the man on his shoulder and waist, cutting his cyic wizardry and causing him to yelp in pain, clutch his arm, and look over to see what threw lightning at him.

  A voice echoed across the crete walls, “You’re not wiping out aoday, demon man.”

  And who was it, with light shining around her like heaven’s bea?

  Petrov groaned. “Lady Beat...”

  Lady Beat. The urban knight took loud steps out onto the floor and stared doetrov with a fident smile.

  It was looking like Hustler Petrov was not going to be able to finish his mission.