The Dead Fights Back

\\ prologue \\

His hand went through the wall, and he cursed. He had lost his power, and based on the forms beside him, he wasn't the only one.

"Empyr." The voice makes him turn. The banshee stares at him, her golden eyes intense. She cannot regain a simpler form, stuck in the one that radiates a purple aura around a thin shadowy figure. "We cannot stay here."

"It is not as if The Crimson Pact comes here. Dolls are made for the possession of ghosts, so The Crimson Pact is blind."

"Possession of ghosts. Not of phantoms." Another voice makes Empyr look over with annoyance. "It is unheard of, phantoms possessing dolls. Plus, the magic that binds a ghost into the shell is hard to bypass to escape it."

"Yes, but did anyone think to use Dove's ability? Her scream controls minds dammit." Empyr snaps, his voice rising. Dove winced, still afraid of their leader. He was a Tempus, a level 9 phantom that would usually be placed on high alert if it were believed he wasn't dead. The Crimson Pact was stupid, especially their Tankers Divison.

"I'm done treading carefully." Empyr snarled, "Let them know we're alive. I want my name out there, I want phantoms to be running in fear or running to us."

"The Phantom Brotherhood has returned." Dove's smile grew into a grin, then she screeched.

***

"God.." She looked at her finger, "Dammit."

"Did you.." He trailed off, his face full of disbelief and disappointment, "...all you had to do was take a damn picture."

"Yet, I still injured myself. I enjoy the pain." The girl responded, her tone edged with clear sarcasm, "We're just Janitors--"

"Do not say that name." He snarled, pivoting on his heel to stare at her. He had begun to walk past her, stopped by her words, "We clean up the mess when they mess up. Got it?"

"Whatever captain."

"Knock it off Viliana." Another girl walked up, bumping her shoulder against Viliana's, "After-Hunters is an honorable job, since we technically do more work. We catalog the phantoms caught by the Tankers' magic, and if the phantoms get out or the Tankers fail to capture phantoms, then we come in. We're the reinforcements, we're not the janitors."

"Thank you Banca." The male that had been victim to Viliana's sarcasm nodded to Banca.

"Of course Emeryx." Banca nodded, as another male walked out. "Are we all ready to go Claye?"

"Yes ma'am." The male speaks, and Emeryx can't help but feel envious. Though he was squad leader, Banca got most of the respect from the three other people in his squad, and she was only second-in-command.

Their fifth person was Emberson, who was out sick for the week due to a Level 4 Mutation's touch. The squad had just gotten done with training, and Emeryx felt as if there had been no improvement.

"Emeryx, get rid of that negative look." Banca sighed, the squad leader glancing over.

He simply turned, remembering his own past in training. "Come on." He shook his head, "Let's go see if we have any jobs we can take."

***

Empyr slammed the Specter against the wall, his hand wrapped around his throat. He had grown in power, given to him by his followers, whether he forced them or not.