Written & Created By: Eddie Yagami

*Readers Discretion is Advised*

Mr. Lou sat on the edge of his desk, frozen... his hand gripping the edge so tightly that his knuckles turned white. For a moment, Alpha swore the room itself held its breath, even though he's usually quick to comment, Alpha remained unusually silent. The weight of the revelation hung between them like a thick fog.

Mr. Lou finally broke the silence, his voice low, "What brought this on all of a sudden, Alpha? You and I both know that he died shortly after Kassandra found us in America," stated Mr. Lou, but Alpha quickly responded. "No, Luis. We didn't see him die for certain. He had you take me and run away while he stayed behind to fight Kassandra and her Order," said Alpha.

"When I doubled back a few weeks later and found the burned remains with his clothing, it proved that he did die...," Mr. Lou began to say, but was interrupted by Alpha. "Luis, you can't be serious?! Bartolo is a master in all things mystical, so have you ever considered that he could've faked his death to hide from Kassandra and The Order?", Alpha asked, his tone firm and strict.

Alpha was right, Mr. Lou thought to himself, wondering why he never considered that possibility. Although Bartolo taught Mr. Lou everything that he knows about alchemy and the mystical world, he never taught anything about how to use magic to fake one's death. "Either way Alpha, why bring up Bartolo now?", Mr. Lou asked. His mind was still curious and reeling with the possibilities.

"Because earlier today, Chandler had a conversation with a shadowy figure who sounded just like Bartolo," Alpha replied. That confused Mr. Lou, "Wait, how do know it wasn't an imposter?", asked Mr. Lou. The next thing Alpha said solidified any doubts. "Luis, he called me by name and knew that I was inside of Chandler," Alpha stated. Mr. Lou stood there in disbelief.

Mr. Lou couldn't believe what he was hearing, and as he was processing this information, he walked around his desk, sat down in his chair, and turned to look at the insignia. With his mind racing, Mr. Lou needed to be clear with Alpha, "You better be sure about this, Alpha. Because if Bartolo is alive, everything changes."

Alpha was never surer of his existence. It was not that easy to forget his own creator's voice, "I'd know that voice anywhere, Luis. I've doubted many things, but this... I'm certain. Bartolo is alive," said Alpha with confidence in his tone.

With this revelation, Mr. Lou now had a new task to work on. He needed to familiarize himself with a way to get in contact with Bartolo through the shadows, but this was something out of his area of expertise.

But, Mr. Lou knew of the one place where he could find someone to show him how he could communicate in the shadows... The Underworld.

The Underworld... an area hidden to the outside world that can only be accessed by those attuned to the mystical world. But, it can be a very dangerous area to be in. Of course, Mr. Lou knew how to get into The Underworld, but first he had to prepare a few things... he needed to gather things to trade because in The Underworld, nothing is free.

But, before Mr. Lou could begin to prepare, Alpha had one more thing to say, "By the way Luis, The Darkness may know about myself and Chandler. After encountering Bartolo, a group of Creatures swarmed us, but luckily Chandler's new bodyguard, Danielle, was close by. She managed to defeat a few, but the rest of them got away, so it's safe to say that they're reporting it to The Order," explained Alpha. Hearing that did not make Mr. Lou very happy... at all.

After Mr. Lou and Alpha finished talking about Bartolo and what had happened, it was time for Mac to wake up and take back control of his body. "Excito!", Mr. Lou whispered into Alpha's ear.

Mac's consciousness woke up and shortly after, Alpha released control and Mac was back in his body and in full control once again. "Oh man, what a gnarly trip that was. At least I was having a happy dream until you woke me up," Mac stated as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"So, did you and Alpha finish your secret meeting?", Mac questioned Mr. Lou. Mac got up off the chair and walked around Mr. Lou's office for a bit, "Yes, we did. I'm sorry to have to keep you in the dark, but I'll tell you my side of things soon... I promise," said Mr. Lou with an apologetic tone. Mac understood, "I'm going to hold you to that, alright?", said Mac.

"Can I ask you something Mr. Lou," said Mac, Mr. Lou was a bit hesitant, but he nodded, "Okay..." said Mr. Lou.

"Did Alpha tell you about my visit to my father's office from yesterday?", asked Mac. Mr. Lou let out a concerned sigh, "Yes, he did. Where are you going with this?", Mr. Lou asked in return.

Mac replied, "I saw the photo from Mt. Everest that was taken back in 2004," Mac paused for a moment to see how Mr. Lou would react.

As expected, Mac noticed how wide-eyed Mr. Lou became, so he continued, "It doesn't take a genius to notice, especially after learning about the mystical side of the world," said Mac.

Mr. Lou accepted his fate as he prepared himself for the next question that Mac was about to ask, "Are you... Immortal?", asked Mac.

Mr. Lou turned around in his chair and faced the wall, he couldn't face Mac to explain his biggest secret to him, but surprisingly he wasn't mad or disappointed.

Mr. Lou let out a heavy sigh, "I was born in 1457. That's all I'm saying," said Mr. Lou which Mac reacted as any normal person would upon meeting an immortal person.

"1457!!!", Mac exclaimed, then he did some quick math, "You're 567 years old?!?!" Mac was shocked, "Well, 568... my birthday was last month," Mr. Lou said jokingly.

Mac stared, slack-jawed. "You're telling me you're 568 years old? Can you even remember what it was like before electricity?", Mr. Lou laughed, shaking his head.

"Electricity, phones, cars... I've seen it all come and go," said Mr. Lou. Mac rubbed his temples, muttering, "Just when I thought my life couldn't get weirder!", Mac said in disbelief.

After that conversation with Mr. Lou, Mac decided to cancel his training for the day and headed home early which Mr. Lou understood. It's not everyday that you find out that someone close to you is an immortal being. Mac had a lot to think about on his walk home.

Elsewhere, the scene shifts to Lorenzo sitting at his desk in his home office doing some kind of work, when he gets an unexpected visitor. It was one of The Creatures of The Darkness that escaped from their encounter with Danielle, Mac and the others.

Lorenzo quickly got up and closed the door to his office, "Report! Why are showing yourself to me here of all places?!", Lorenzo demanded. He wasn't pleased in the slightest.

The Creature spoke, "Apologies, my lord. This news couldn't wait as it relates to The Alchemist's power," Lorenzo's expression changed and he grabbed The Creature by its neck and lifted it in the air.

"How dare you assume what is important or not, I've already told you not to show yourself when I'm in disguise!", yelled Lorenzo, then he heard the front door to his house open.

"Hey Dad, I'm home!", shouted a familiar voice as Lucky is seen walking into the house that Lorenzo was in.

Lorenzo quickly brought The Creature close to his face and whispered, "You will wait until I call for you. Do not go to the other generals or Kassandra unless you want me to erase your entire being."

The Creature struggled to speak, but managed to say, "Ye- Yes, my lord." With seamless effort, Lorenzo crushed The Creature's neck with his bare hand, killing it instantly.

Its body quickly dissolved into nothing.

Lorenzo then stepped out of his office and his demeanor changed as we see a completely different side of him. He can be cold and emotionless in his true form, but when he's with his "fake" family, his demeanor is something no one expected.

"Lucille! How's my precious little daughter? How was school today?", asked Lorenzo, his expression was cheerful and happy, which Lucky found a bit disturbing.

"C'mon dad, I'm not a little kid anymore, it's embarrassing still seeing you act like that," Lucky said as she gave Lorenzo a hug.

"No matter how old you are, you'll still be my precious little daughter. Plus, it's my job as your father to be embarrassing, so get used to that," said Lorenzo as he chuckled, Lucky rolled her eyes and let out a sigh, "Whatever," she said.

Later that evening, Mac was just getting back home after coming from Mr. Lou's studio and learned that Mr. Lou is an immortal. Mac's mind was distracted, but as soon as he opened the door to his apartment, he was met with an unexpected surprise, which made him completely forget all about Mr. Lou and his immortality.

Danielle had just gotten out of the shower and wasn't expecting Mac to be home so soon since he normally took longer with his training. So, naturally... Danielle wasn't expecting him to be home this early. So, when she locked eyes with Mac when he walked in, she decided to tease him with a devilish smile on her face.

As for Mac, when he saw Danielle, all she was wearing was short shorts so tight that it literally formed to her toned ass, with the only thing covering her rather large "assets" was a towel hanging around her neck.

Mac was frozen, stunned by what he was looking at. As a normal teenaged boy, of course, he started to feel aroused by what he was looking at. "Hey there, champ... wasn't expecting you home so soon," Danielle commented as she approached Mac and gave him a hug.

She then whispered in Mac's ear, "You like what you see?", Danielle teased. Unfortunately for her, Mac saw this as a challenge. One thing that she wasn't aware of about Mac was that he wasn't afraid to take on any kind of challenge.

"Danielle," Mac began to whisper in her ear. "Yeah?", she simply replied. "Just remember, you opened the door to what comes next," Mac said.

Danielle looked slightly confused, then the next thing she knew, Mac quickly raised his hand and proceeded to smack and grab a handful of her ass. Danielle let out a small yelp, then looked at Mac with a flirtish smile.

"Naughty boy," Danielle purred. "I wonder what Stephanie would say if she saw you grabbing my tight, firm ass."

Danielle was right though, her ass was tight and firm as Mac continued to be playful with her, and she wasn't against it. But all good things must come to an end, Danielle released Mac from her hug which caused Mac to let go of her ass, then she took a step back.

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"It's going to be fun living with you. But, don't worry, I'll keep things interesting for you," Danielle said as she took off the towel that was around her neck, exposing her full bare chest to Mac.

He stared at her chest for a moment and then let out a satisfied sigh, "You're going to get me in trouble Danielle," said Mac.

Danielle turned to walk back to her room, but she stopped by the door and looked back at Mac, "Just so you know, you have my full permission to be playful with me, but only when we're alone," she said, then she walked into her room and closed the door behind her.

Mac just simply smiled and chuckled a bit, then Alpha chimed in, "Chandler... what just happened?" Alpha asked because he was confused by what took place between Mac and Danielle.

Mac chuckled, "Some things just aren't worth explaining, Alpha. Get some rest if it's too much to process." Alpha took Mac's advice and just left it at that.

After what Mac went through over the last couple of days, it was a welcome experience to have someone like Danielle around in his life. The exhaustion finally caught up to him and he went to his room and went to sleep with happy dreams.

A few days had passed by with nothing eventful happening, Lucky had heard gossip around the school about Mac and Stephanie being together, but she didn't believe at first.

Then she talked to JR and learned the truth from him and her heart sank. She wasn't able to face Mac for a while, which didn't go unnoticed by Mac.

He tried many times to talk to Lucky, but she either ignored him or simply walked away, which started to annoy him, so he asked JR for his help to get them together so that they could talk.

One day after school, JR had asked Lucky to come along with him because he wanted to show her something. Lucky unwittingly accepted and followed JR outside the school to a secluded area where Mac was waiting for them.

Once Lucky saw what was going on, she immediately tried to run away. JR stopped her, "I'm sorry, Lucille... but the two of you need to talk. You can't avoid him forever, so you might as well get it over with now."

Lucky wasn't happy, but she knew that JR was right, she couldn't keep running away from this, so it was now or never. JR gave them some privacy as Lucky walked over to Mac, she let out a heavy sigh, "So, you and Stephanie, huh?", Lucky said with disappointment in her tone.

Mac walked up to Lucky and gave her a hug, she was taken by surprise, "I'm sorry Lucille, I know that you have feelings for me, but I can't say the same about you," said Mac. Lucky didn't react.

"Let me guess, James told you?", Lucky asked, but Mac quickly replied, "No, he didn't. I already had my suspicions and they were confirmed when you stayed the night at my place a couple months ago."

Lucky then hugged Mac back and began to cry, Mac just held her tight and let Lucky cry her heart out, it felt like forever.

After a few minutes, Lucky finally calmed down and asked Mac, "So, why is it that you don't love me?" Mac was confused by that question.

"Lucille, I do love you, but as a sister. We've known each other for a very long time and I consider you more as a sister that I need to protect rather than a romantic partner," Mac confessed.

Lucky looked at Mac, tears were still falling from her eyes, "Thank you, Chandler. I'm glad to hear that you still love me, even though it's not how I'd hoped, but it's still something," said Lucky.

Mac felt a bit guilty, but was glad to hear that Lucky accepted the way things needed to be and hoped that she will get along with Stephanie.

Later that evening, Mac returned to his apartment, feeling exhausted from the conversation with Lucky. To his surprise, Stephanie and Danielle were sitting in his living room, exchanging wary glances like two tigers sizing each other up. "Oh no," Mac muttered under his breath. "What did I walk into?"

Stephanie shot him a look, folding her arms. "Your bodyguard here thinks it's okay to just... move in without notice." Danielle grinned lazily from the couch, looking perfectly at ease. "I told you—it's part of the job. Don't get your panties in a twist, princess."

Stephanie's eyes narrowed, "I don't wear panties." Mac was thrown for a loop, "Hold on, we're not just going to ignore that. Please tell me that you're joking Steph?", Mac asked as his curiosity peaked.

"Babe, I'm not usually walking around commando, if that's what you're wondering. But I do wear thongs," said Stephanie. Pictures started quickly flashing through Mac's imagination.

"You actually thought I always walk around without underwear on?", Stephanie said.

Mac quickly responded, "No! It's just the way you said it sounded suspicious without context."

Stephanie just laughed and proceeded to hug Mac, "You're too cute when you are flustered."

Mac scoffed, "I don't get flustered," he stated. "Oh yeah, prove it," Stephanie challenged. Mac quickly responded, "Oh? Are you giving me permission to 'prove' that I don't get flustered?"

Stephanie nodded, "I am. I mean, you are my boyfriend after all," she said, Mac simply just grinned, "Well, as much as I want to 'prove it', I'm not doing it with an audience," Mac said as he looked over at Danielle.

"Oh, don't mind me. Just pretend that I'm not even here right now," Danielle said jokingly, Mac groaned, rubbing his face.

"I don't need this attitude from you right now, Danielle," said Mac as he sounded annoyed.

Alpha's voice hummed with amusement. "I don't know, Chandler. It's kind of entertaining." Mac wasn't amused at all. "Quiet," Mac whispered under his breath, "You're not helping."

Danielle sat up and gave Mac a playful smirk. "Relax, Romeo. I was just joking. I've got better things to do anyways."

Stephanie's voice was sharp. "Like what? Babysitting?"

"Exactly." Danielle shot her a wink. "Babysitting your boyfriend." Stephanie looked like she was ready to explode, but Mac quickly stepped between them, holding up his hands.

"Alright! Enough! Both of you—cool it," said Mac. Danielle chuckled, leaning back into the couch. "This is gonna be fun."

Mac gave her a tired glare, "You have a very weird definition of fun." But the fun came to an end and Danielle got up and went to her room. Before she closed the door, she looked at both Stephanie and Mac, "You two lovebirds better keep it down, I don't want to be hearing any weird noises coming from out here."

Mac shot her a blank annoyed stare, "Nothing like that is going to happen Danielle. Right, Steph?", Mac looks over at Stephanie and all he sees is her guilty expression.

"I mean, if one thing leads to another, then I'm not against it," Stephanie said, Mac noticed how much she was blushing.

Mac just gave up and walked to his room, Stephanie followed right behind him and closed the door. Danielle looked in their direction with a raised eyebrow, "Teenagers..."

During the weekend, Lorenzo had gone to an unknown secluded area, dressed in his true form. He extends out his hand and shouts, "Come to me, Creature of The Darkness!", no time was wasted as a Creature spawned in front of Lorenzo, kneeling.

"You called for us, My Lord," said The Creature. Lorenzo began to walk in circles around The Creature, "Now, tell me what was so important that you almost ruined my disguise," demanded Lorenzo.

"Yes, My Lord, we may have found a clue to The Alchemist's power," The Creature said, this stopped Lorenzo in his place, "Where?!", he demanded. "Santera Private High School! We sensed a unique presence and followed it there, it didn't notice us. Then we observed it talk with a possible student. It was strange that they were not affected by time being frozen around them," explained The Creature.

Lorenzo's expression changed, he turned away from The Creature and stood in silence, but he was actually thinking to himself, "Santera Private High?! That's the school that Lucille goes to... how can this be?" Lorenzo, who has full control of The Hivemind of The Darkness, turned back to The Creature, "Show me!", he demanded, then he placed his hand on The Creatures head and his eyes flashed brightly.

Lorenzo had the ability to use The Hivemind of The Darkness and see everything that has been recorded through the eyes of all The Creatures of The Darkness, However, if The Creature is destroyed by special means, then it loses its most recent memory.

Lorenzo rewound back to the evening that The Creature mentioned and watched it in its entirety. Much to his surprise, he recognized the student that was talking to the shadowy figure, "Isn't that Lucille's friend?!", he whispered.

Armed with this new information, Lorenzo wanted to investigate on his own first before reporting to Kassandra. He needed to make sure that The Alchemist's power was associated with Lucky's friend, one way or another.

But, before Lorenzo began making any plans, he didn't want to risk the other generals or Kassandra finding out too early, so he took the precaution and forcefully erased that memory from The Hivemind and made it so that he would be the only one to know anything about Mac and his possible connection to The Alchemist's power.

Back in Mac's apartment, Mac is relaxing in the living room watching some TV when his phone goes off. He looks at it and recognized the number. It's the same one that sent the cryptic message from a few days ago. Mac opened the message and is shocked by what he was reading,

"Be wary Chandler, someone from The Order's upper ranks may know about you and Alpha. Stay Vigilant!"

Then Danielle walks in. In the short time that she's been living there, Danielle has gotten so comfortable being around Mac that she just walks around his apartment topless, either in her short shorts or just in her underwear, whether it's revealing or not.

Danielle notices Mac just looking at his phone, hardly moving and not even noticing her, so she decides to "cheer him up". Danielle quickly grabs Mac's phone and then straddles him and begins to smother him with her massive mounds as she starts to look at his phone.

Mac, on the other hand, is caught completely off guard and struggles to get Danielle off of him. Mac flails his arms around for a moment as he tries to catch a breath, then he starts slapping Danielle on her ass a few times, but she doesn't move and starts to enjoy it.

Mac then tries something else, he feels around Danielle's body until he grabs on to her tits, she reacts for a quick moment, "Oh! Easy there tiger, my nipples can be very sensitive," Danielle said, which gives Mac an idea as he's about to pass out.

Mac then pinched both of Danielle's nipples and she let out a very sexual moan which forces her to release Mac from the clutches of her large orbs. This gives Mac the opportunity to lift Danielle up off of him and toss her over to the other end of the couch on her back and return the favor by climbing on top her, Mac takes a moment to catch his breathe.

"I should've kept my mouth shut," Danielle said with a flirtatious smile on her face, "But now you're in control, so what are you going to do to me now?", she asked, her intentions were anything but pure as she slightly chuckled.

Mac took one final deep breath and looked Danielle in her eyes, then he looked down at her tits and flicked one of her nipples. She let out a short yelp, then Mac got up off of her and sat back down on the couch, "You're such a tease Chandler, I'm surprised that you didn't do more," said Danielle, slightly disappointed.

"If it were any other time, then I would've been more 'playful', but something serious came up before you tried to kill me with your tits," said Mac, then he showed Danielle the cryptic message that he received.

Danielle read it and became concerned, "Do you know who sent it?", she asked, Mac had an idea, "I think it's from that shadowy figure that Alpha and I spoke with from the other day at school. It looks like he's keeping tabs on me and The Order," Mac said, he let out a heavy sigh.

His mind was racing, wondering who this 'Upper Ranked' person was and what the message meant by 'knowing about him and Alpha'. Mac needed to learn more about The Order, but unfortunately no one knew anything about them.

Then Mac remembered the insignia from Mr. Lou's office and the logo from when he first encountered the men back in the alleyway. They were both similar in design.

His best guess would be to go and ask Mr. Lou if he knew anything, but after learning about his immortality, Mr. Lou would probably not even bother to tell Mac anything more about his past or if he knew anything about The Order.

Then Mac's phone starts to ring, Lucky was calling him. "Hey Lucille, what's up?", Mac said as he answered the phone, "Hey Chandler, are you free later today?", Lucky asked.

Mac didn't have anything planned and Stephanie was busy with student council stuff, "I've got nothing planned. You wanna hang out or something?"

"Well, this might be a bit weird to ask, but my dad wanted me to invite you over for dinner at our place," said Lucky which confused Mac.

Her dad always hated him, so to be invited out of the blue was very weird. "Uh, sure, I can come over. Around what time?", Mac asked, his eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Any time after seven, just let me know when you're on the way," replied Lucky. "Alright, I'll be there," said Mac then he hung up the phone and gave a confused look towards Danielle, "I just got invited to a family dinner by Lucille's dad," Mac said.

Danielle, with her tits still out and about, asked, "Isn't that something close friends do--- dinners with family?" Mac shook his head, "No, cause he hates both myself and JR, so this is very weird," Mac explained.

Danielle crossed her arms, "Hmm, that is weird then."

Alpha chimed in after overhearing Mac, "Chandler, I have a strange feeling about this. If you don't mind, I would like to watch when you're with Lucille and her family. I need to make sure that there's nothing suspicious going on," asked Alpha, Mac chuckled a bit.

"Funny that you ask, I was about to ask you to do the same thing," replied Mac, then he turned to Danielle. "Get dressed, sexy tits. I'm going to need you to stay outside and be on the lookout for anything suspicious. Be prepared for a possible encounter with The Darkness," Mac told Danielle, but she needed to address something first.

"You think my tits are sexy?", Danielle asked as she stuck out her chest to further tease Mac, but the fun times were over for now.

Mac got up from the couch, quickly pinched one of her nipples and told her, "That's enough, we can play some more later, please go get ready," Mac pulled Danielle up from the couch, turned her towards her room and smacked her ass for encouragement.

Danielle jumped with excitement and then went to her room, Mac went to his room to get ready as well.

What was in store for our hero and will he begin to learn more about The Order, or does Lorenzo have a trap planned for Mac. One thing is for certain... dangers await Mac and Alpha.

To Be Continued….