Episode 22: "The Human Wildcard"
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**EXT. OLD TRAIN YARD – NIGHT**
Kael's team stumbles through shadows, nursing wounds and silent trauma after barely surviving their last confrontation. Kael leans heavily on Lana. Rhea, hands trembling, weaves a spell to cloak their presence.
**TUNDE**
Note to self: next time we fight lava demons, wear flame-retardant underwear.
**LANA**
Or just don't fight them.
**RHEA**
Yeah. Let's go back to school. Take up chess.
A flashlight snaps on.
**???**
Whoa! Easy there, gang. Y'all look like you got run over by a magical freight train.
The group shields their eyes. A human figure steps forward.
**KAEL (gritting teeth)**
Who are you?
**FELIX**
Name's Felix. Felix Banks. Local misfit, amateur demonologist, full-time human. Also, I've got band-aids and Cheetos.
**TUNDE**
Wait—you're human? In *this* neighborhood? Dude, that's either brave or suicidal.
**FELIX (grinning)**
Why not both?
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**INT. FELIX'S UNDERGROUND HIDEOUT – LATER**
The place is a mess of tech, ancient books, posters of horror movies, and magical artifacts. Felix offers sodas and protein bars while running diagnostics on Kael with something that looks like a blender and a Gameboy.
**FELIX**
Bitten by a werewolf alpha? That's spicy. And you're glowing. Never a dull day, huh?
**RHEA**
You're oddly... not shocked by any of this.
**FELIX**
You grow up next to a cult-run diner and see a demon serve pancakes at age nine, you stop asking questions.
**LANA**
So why help us?
**FELIX**
I've seen the omens. Something huge is coming. You lot are smack in the middle of it. Besides, I like being the guy who survives the horror movie because he reads the manual.
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**INT. DEMON LAIR – SAME TIME**
The Devourer glares at a shifting map. Kael's mark glows red.
**DEVOURER**
They've taken in a human.
**SHADOW CLERIC**
Should we strike him down?
**DEVOURER**
Let him stay. Humans scream the loudest when they break.
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**EXT. TRAIN YARD – NEXT DAY**
Felix teaches the team how to scramble demon trackers using old tech and chewed gum.
**FELIX**
Stick this on your neck. It'll disrupt the tracking glyph. Also, might tingle a little. Or explode. 60/40.
**TUNDE**
I love this guy.
A BOOM shakes the yard—portals rip open. **Demonic soldiers** charge through, weapons drawn.
**RHEA**
Here we go again!
**KAEL**
Positions!
Kael speeds through demons, tearing them down with brutal claws. Rhea casts a gravity well, dragging two into a collapsing portal. Lana uses mirror portals to redirect a demon's fire attack back at them.
Felix presses a button—his small gadget unfolds into a **compressed arc launcher**. He zaps two demons straight into a derailed train.
**FELIX**
Eat voltage, hellboys!
A massive creature stomps through—**Kralk-Gorr**, a general of the Infernal Legion.
**KRALK-GORR**
WHERE IS THE ONE MARKED BY THE VORTEX?!
Kael steps forward, eyes burning.
**KAEL**
Come find out.
They clash—Kael's claws versus Kralk's molten axe. Kael knocks him back, but his mark flares out of control. Energy blasts out, **injuring Tunde and Rhea.**
**LANA**
Kael, STOP!
**KAEL (pained)**
I... can't hold it—
Felix hurls an orb. It bursts mid-air, forming an anti-magic net that absorbs the flare.
**FELIX**
Someone owes me a pizza. And a new hand, maybe.
Kralk retreats, laughing.
**KRALK-GORR**
THE TRUE BEAST AWAKENS... HAHAHAH—
Gone in smoke.
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**EXT. SUNSET – TRAIN YARD**
Kael sits alone, staring at his hands. Felix joins him, holding two sodas.
**FELIX**
Here. One to drink, one to cry into.
**KAEL**
I hurt them. Again.
**FELIX**
You didn't mean to. You're changing. But you've got people. And now, apparently, a charming human sidekick with a knack for explosives.
Kael manages a chuckle.
**KAEL**
You're insane.
**FELIX**
You're welcome.
The rest of the group limps over, bruised, but alive.
**TUNDE**
Okay, next time *I* get to explode with power and injure people.
**RHEA**
You explode with snacks.
**LANA**
You okay, Kael?
**KAEL**
I will be. We all will. Because we're not stopping now.
**FELIX**
Cool. But next time we fight a demon general, can I wear pants that *aren't* flammable?
**ALL**
NO!