Jack checked the map in Elaine’s office before setting out to head north. He wrote down the route he should take. He looked for a landmark inside the circle Josie had drawn. There was a small village to the east of the search area he could use for a base.

He took the time to fix a snack before he left. He really needed to invent the phone so he could talk to the others. He put his worry in the back of his mind. Once he found the Dark Rider, he could look for the princess and settle any other quest that might come up.

He did like the watch and the fact he could fly across the landscape like a hurricane. His mind turned to why he had been given something that made him an agent of some force out beyond the edge of this world. He decided that there was nothing he could do about that, and he wouldn’t get a real answer if he asked.

The Watcher had taught him well about the mysterious figure in the background.

Jack reached the first town on his list. He cut off Makkari to let the watch charge. He walked into town, buying some ale and food from the local inn. He asked for directions, writing them down as the locals talked to him.

He made sure to check his path of movement. Josie’s circle was northwest of the nearest town. He had to move that way to mark an area to search.

He wondered how long it would take to find the crypt. If he could wrap things up, he could head back to Hawk Ridge and try to scrounge something about the lost princess.

Jack reached the last town in his notes. It was the most worn of any he had seen. He supposed they had taken some damage that had never healed. He wondered how many times the Dark Rider had come through gathering up companions before heading south to the forests and the towns inside of them.

How many times had Old Man Warner, or his other watch wearers, driven the

monster back to where it belonged, but not before people had been changed

permanently into monsters.

He didn’t want that to happen while he was trying to get the quests from the Society done. It would be a failure.

He had enough of those to fill his apartment back home.

Jack decided to take a minute before going into town and let his watch recharge. He might have to fly to get a better view of the landscape. Then he could think about what he wanted to do about the crypt of the Dark Rider.

He could use Vision to check around while under cover. He didn’t need to get

involved with the locals unless they got in his way.

He hoped he wasn’t dealing with another fish people god thing where they were willingly throwing themselves in front of the Dark Rider to bolster his numbers. That meant blasting the town out of existence to end the threat. That was the last thing he wanted to do if he didn’t need it.

If putting down the Dark Rider meant putting down his fan club, Jack would do it. He had done similar things for the Army. What was one more village of innocents mixed in with killers?

He just wouldn’t be happy about it.

He thought of that as a failure too.

Josie would understand, even if the Army hadn’t.

The watch dinged to let him know it was ready to go. He smiled. He had to be ready to deal with the future, and looking back wasn’t getting that done. He called on the Vision and got to work.

He surveyed the town and saw nothing out of the way. He turned his attention north, looking for anything out of place. He spotted a trail leading up into the distant mountains. He didn’t see any houses around it.

Was this the path he needed to find?

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He could fly up there, and look at things from the air. Then he could decide what to do with better intel.

Could the Dark Rider turn him, or Josie? He didn’t want to find that out.

He decided that flight might be better than the super fast Makkari. He needed to look things over from the air. If the crypt was out in the open, he should see something.

If it wasn’t, he would come up with some way to find it. Maybe he could hex

something up with the Scarlet Witch. He wasn’t sure that was the best way to do things, but it was the only idea he could think being useful without more information.

The fact that names were just indicators made him wary of using certain names on his watch. He didn’t want to accidentally kill people with the wrong choice. He had been lucky with some of his picks so far. He didn’t want to push that into something that could backfire on him and Josie.

And did he really need something like Galactus while searching around the

countryside when he wasn’t sure the planet eater wouldn’t be hungry. He could save that for some kind of emergency, but he wasn’t sure what kind of emergency would cause him to call one of the greater powers as a persona.

He called on Falcon and took to the air. He enjoyed the wind and height as he moved. He headed north, trusting his bird persona to keep him on track. He saw a caravan headed in the same direction of Josie’s circle. He wondered what it was doing so far north.

Jack realized he didn’t really know enough about the region. He had his memory of the map, but he had no way to know how accurate it was. He had no idea how many other towns, cities, countries were around that he hadn’t seen yet. Were the humans and strange phenomena the only things going on down there?

Where were the elves, dwarves and other demihumans?

What did the Society represent? They had enough juice to yank him and Josie from Earth, that should be enough to boost up someone local. He wondered if they were in what Josie would call a Black Adam situation.

He wondered if they would explain it all if he sat down and asked questions. They seemed forthcoming enough except for the part where they didn’t stick around long to talk to him.

He certainly wasn’t going to risk going home with an argument over motives when he wasn’t sure why he was helping out other than he wanted to go someplace where plumbing was essential.

He wondered what Josie thought of all this. Had she changed her own mind about going home? She might depending on how long she had to stay and work on getting rid of the Montrose.

Maybe they should talk about all this when he got back to the city. He wasn’t sure how to approach it.

He checked for a place he could land and let the bird persona go. He wanted to watch the caravan before he tried to talk to whomever was in charge. He didn’t want to get into a fight in the wilderness if he didn’t need it.

He also didn’t think they would show him their true self if he appeared out of

nowhere and asked to join the exodus. If they were unfriendly, he would get a knife, sword, spear to the back as soon as he wasn’t looking.

He might be a tad paranoid, but he had seen too many of his own friends drop their guard with someone they thought were friendly and it bit them in the neck. He was in a similar situation, and preferred to let the others prove themselves first.

He wondered why he had let his guard down around Elena. He put that thought aside as he checked his watch. The charge number ticked up as he used a tree and bushes for cover. He could examine his reasoning when he was sure he wasn’t going to have to call on a hero to bust some heads.

He already knew why he had let his guard down around Josie’s little sisters. She had vetted them with her own instinct, and that was good enough for him. If they could fool her, then he wouldn’t have stood that much of a chance.

On the other hand, if they crossed her, she would take it a lot harder than he would. He expected walking columns of fire after that.

Hopefully the girls were aware of that option.

Jack squinted at the caravan guards approaching his hiding spot. They had the Makeover. They wore helmets with visors and light armor over shirts, but some of them didn’t wear gloves and he could see the writing he had hexed into being.

He decided to fade back and watch from a distance. He had time to operate. And he had the watch. He had some personas capable of dealing with groups of armed men.

He wondered what was in the wagons. He decided he could find out when they came to a stop. He had a sneaking suspicion that he was watching slaves being transported. He had no way to return them to where they belonged if that was true.

He would come up with something if he was right. The angel should give him some kind of options. Maybe he could transport the wagons back to Hawk Ridge.

Maybe he could drop everything in Guin’s lap and see how he handled things. That would be funny for him, but he doubted the gangster would appreciate more work from their partnership.

Jack decided to wait before he sent the train back to town. Maybe he could think of some other way to handle things.

If he got rid of all the slavers riding with the caravan, Josie would be happy.

Jack moved as quietly as he could through the trees. The wagon train moved at walking speed. He wondered if they were trying to find the Dark Rider’s crypt. The Society did say he was on a timer. This could be the minute hand moving in front of him.

He decided that he needed to talk to someone for intel. Then he could do his worst.

He looked for a target he could break down before anyone realized he was gone.