The Beast.

I yawned as I walked through the campus at Brakebills looking around for someone I knew.

I needed to find out if Quentin and Alice had already performed the ritual to summon the Beast or not.

In the show, they did it a couple of days into the school year, hoping to summon the spirit of Alice's dead brother, Charlie in a mirror to help her get closure but ended up summoning the Beast.

The Beast didn't immediately kill them of course. The ritual was precise and had to be done at 12 pm or 12 am. It only had a one minute interval.

A one minute opening of a door between worlds, be they the underworld or otherwise.

By the time the Beast connected to the mirror, it was too late and he couldn't come through until the noon of the next day.

And when he does this time, I need to be there.

It was my only chance to destroy the future key in his possession and maybe even kill him if the situation demands.

The only one I found was Lipson and she was not happy to see me through the infirmary window.

Avoiding her glare of suspicion, I made my way back to my room, putting the labcoat back on the charger before I sat down before the computer, checking the surveillance footage in the the University through micro-cameras I had planted all over the campus.

Yesterday's footage was certainly interesting.

Four students in the lecture room, sitting by a mirror. Performing a ritual from a red book.

Yup. I got back in time.

Where are the idiots now?

Searching for Quentin, I found him in class. Professor Van der Weghe's lecture on.... Alloys.

It was the class the Beast was supposed to invade!

Immediately, I checked the time.

3 minutes to 12.

Shit!

Grabbing my half charged coat, I dashed out of the room, stopping only to reinstate my wards as I stormed through the campus to the academic wing.

1 minute and a half.

I was almost halfway across the campus when I saw Henry.

The Dean looked at me and our eyes met as he recognised the look in my eye.

His eyes went wide and I nodded.

A silent conversation but we understood.

"Where have you been? You missed half of the first week of class." He asked as we dashed up the stairs.

"Risking my life trying to keep my end of our agreement." I snarked.

"And how does that bring the Beast to us?"

"It doesn't. This isn't my handiwork. It's Jane's." I clarified, turning a corner off the stairs and onto the floor where the class was.

31 seconds. I checked.

"Are you sure about this?" Dean Fogg panted, leaning against a wall as I gave him a deadpan look.

"And Marina told me you aged gracefully." I scoffed.

"Don't judge me. I'm 74, 933 if you count all the loops." He defended, " I have aged damn well for a man my ... age." Just then his watch flickered, the minute hand stopped ticking and strained against it's mechanism as it tried turning back.

Henry frowned and looked at the classroom in the distance.

"Go on ahead. Now!" He ordered, but I was already off, my hand clasped around my laser pistol.

I slid to stop before classrrom door just as I heard something fall with a thud inside.

Oh boy!

Van der Weghe's already dead.

No time to waste then!

Woth my free hand I blew the door off its hinges, sending it flying at the Beast.

Of vourse it didn't do shit.

Before the door even reached him it blew up into splinters, then turning to dust as insects swarmed it, grinding it down to the grain in an instant, leaving not even a crease on his suit.

The Beast left out a hearty chuckle, as he eyed me.

Or I think he eyed me. His face was covered in moths, obscured.

"You're new!" He said, looking me over curiously, as he waved his hands, sending his moths at me.

"Are you supposed to be outside help? I didn't take tough little Jane to be one to ask for help! What are you? A scientist? For a magical problem?"

I payed him no heed though, slamming my hands together, making an L with my fingers as I twisted them to face up and down, a fiery mandala forming between my free hand's fingers.

I pinched them, forming a ring with my fingers and leaned in towards the swarm flying at me.

"Flames of the Faltine!"

A twisting, blood red inferno shot out from my mouth, snaking into the room, burning through the moths, turning them to ash, revealing his face.

"So you do know magic!"

He noted with amusement and raised his hand to cast again, but before he could, I swung out my pistol and let loose a volley, all concentrating into one place.

His chest. Where the key was.

He hastily put up a defence but he was too slow. Not faster than my lasers.

They tore through his suit, slamming right into the future key, heating it up to a melting point.

"No!" He cried and pinched his fingers at me, trying to use his signature paralysis spell that could incapacitate even gods.

Instantly, I could feel the world twist around me as if the very fabric of reality was trying to hold me down, and I stopped, stuck in place.

Even the Emerson's Alloy couldn't reflect it back.

Shit!

Instantly I used my technokinesis to put my glasses' speaker on full throttle.

"Lab coat! Rip off Dr. Strange!" I ordered via the speakers and the lab coat ripped off my body, flying towards The Beast, weakening his grip over me, giving me enough time to pull on the magic of Narya.

As the elven enchantment flared on my hand, I could feel a new fire burning within me, spreading out to everyone else in the room, as their eyes burned with alert.

His face twisted as if he had swallowed a thousand bugs, or is that expression wrong?

Maybe he likes bugs, given his whole moth theme.

Either way, he wasn't happy. The coat wrapping itself around his hands, disrupting the paralysis spell, and with the boost from Narya, we were free.

Everyone who could move was moving, immediately.

It was a stampede as everyone tried to make a run for the door, just as Fogg came through.

"You!" The Beast cried out in rage as he finally managed to tear off the coat, his spells, tearing it to shreds almost with a vengeance.

He sent a spell at me witha slicing motion from his knife hand.

But the spell fell flat against my forcefield, causing the Beast's frown to furrow deeper.

He extended his hands forward and made a grabbing motion at me.

I felt a grip form around me, like the clasp of a chain only for it to be dispersed immediately by the Emerson's Alloy.

"Are you done?" I smirked, raising my pistol and letting loose another volley at him, "My turn then!"

With a flick of his wrist, a round spectral shield formed before him as he retreated, sending battle spell after battle spell at me, to no avail.

He even tried the paralysis spell one more time, only to have his fingers shot off as soon as his shield broke.

"Who are you?" He fumed, trying to trap me again, "Where did you come from? Tell me everythi-"

"Go fuck yourself." I cut him off, shooting through his exposed arm, and almost on cue, Henry arrived and blasted him with a force push, throwing him against the teacher's desk, sending the instruments tumbling to the floor as the desk turned over, glass shattering onto the floor.

I raised my pistol one more time and rounded the corner of the desk over to him.

"Any last words?" I asked, as he came into view, "Actually, don't answer that!"

But before I could shoot him he just began to laugh, cackling madly, his voice ringing out from every corner of the room, as I braced for something big on instinct.

A moment's distraction.

Then, nothing.

"Ooh very creepy." I mocked, "What's that supposed to do?"

"This." His voice replied, and when I turned back to look at him, he was gone.

"Dammit!" I stomped my foot, cracking the floor.

"Why didn't you shoot him?!" Henry asked, angry.

"He distracted me! It's a human response dammit! Cut me some slack." I sighed, rubbing my temples.

Of course, it had all gone according to plan.

Inside, I gloated on my acting, as I watched Fogg turn his attention to the fleeing students and the crowds gathered outside.

I never intended to kill him.

That's why I only blew off his arm when I could have blown off his head on the first try.

I want him alive for later so I can extract his memories to get that insanely overpowered paralysis spell

Shit even worked on me. It bends reality itself to trap the target. Seriously, how the fuck did he even come up with that, what with the hapshod magical education he received?

Maybe it was those friends from the Darkling Woods he talked about in the books?

Maybe I'll need to find out who these friends are?

The questing creatures perhaps?

Seeing as how they didn't give out a quest to save Fillory from the Beast?

Yeah.

Probably them.

But which ones exactly and why did they help him out?

Hmmm.... Questions, questions.... All for later.

For now, let's get Wanda here first. Before Reynard is summoned.

I turned to Henry, watching him herd the students outside and smiled.

I have my work cut out for me here.

Let's get closer to the four idiots who summoned the beast.

Then, I'll put the timeline back on track.

Starting with .... Quentin.

_________________

Extra chapter for 800 words as promised!

Another one will come out tomorrow cuz I have written three chapters today and I'm outta creative juice.

Till then, tell me what you think?

Thanks for reading!

And and even bigger thanks to all of you for making history with me today!

810 powerstones!

Highest we have ever hotten baby!

You all, and I mean ALL of Yous are amazing, super awesome people!

You've made me the happiest little bastard on webnovel, subjectively.

Thank you all!

Here's the moment!

Till tomorrow!

Bye~