"The Phoenix: One Vision" by Greywolf Lupous Disclaimer: The Magician characters, names, situations and the Magician universe are the property of Gaumont Entertainment. I nor this script are connected with Gaumont in any way, shape or form. Highlander character, names, situations, and the Highlander universe are the property of Rysher Entertainment, but I really don't see why, since they mistreat the series so often. This document may not be publicized or reproduced in any way, shape or form. It must remain fully intact and may not be altered in anyway. It is strictly used for not-for-profit entertainment purposes and is not intended to infringe on any Copyrights. Timeline notes: This happens in an alternate universe (tee hee, maybe I might make it real, who knows) of my stories. The main action takes place shortly after Cosmo turns 19. Oh yeah, the Highlander part takes off right at the end of "Not to Be", which I haven't seen, thank the stars, it was part of that non-existent season, but it seemed a good place to start off things. Oh yeah, my version of Archangel is the real one, don't believe what Rysher tells you, Richie lives on. ^^ From the ashes emerges another, a new hope, a new chance. Like the sun it dies at night and is reborn in the morning. With no memory of its past life, boldly the phoenix begins its life anew. "Never again," the four hundred year old Scot murmured as he walked off towards the sunset like the end of some crappy western, leaving behind an extremely confused Joe Dawson, Amanda Darieux, and one oldest man in the world. "Well," Amanda said slowly, "I guess that would be that..." "What the hell did he mean by that?!" Joe wasn't the most patient mortal in the world, even if he was a Watcher. Methos simply shrugged as he began to walk in the opposite direction of MacLeod, only Joe's voice stopped him, "And where are YOU going?" Offering a gentle smile, the ancient immortal replied, "I have prior engagements." "With who? You just got back to Paris." "An old friend of ours," he continued walking off towards his car, which was parked a few streets down. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Joe waving his cane and he let a small chuckle escape. As he continued to walk, he felt Amanda's buzz fade away, and the buzz of a much younger immortal fade in. Growling to himself he marched up to the rusty haired immortal. "I TOLD you to stay back at the hotel!" "Hey, Mac is my friend too!" Richie Ryan replied hotly. "WAS your friend. He tried to take your head, three times might I remind you." "And he wasn't in his right mind in any of those cases!" "Bah, he still isn't. I heard him say something about taking my head and the ghost of Fitzcairn, whatever nonsense that is." The younger immortal glared up at his new teacher, knowing he was right. Over a year and a half ago, Duncan MacLeod had started `seeing' demons, old enemies, and red fog like out of some cheesy B-rated horror movie. He had been skeptical at first, but when Joe and Methos had started talking about his sanity, Richie stuck up for his former teacher. Then he had seen something himself, but he wasn't sure anymore what it was. He thought he had seen Horton, a former watcher and hunter, who had been dead for years, killed by the Highlander himself, kidnap Joe in front of his eyes. Being the hot-tempered person he was, he had charged after them, to a deserted horsetrack. He didn't even know that they had any horsetracks in Paris, not to mention deserted ones. Despite all better judgment, he wandered around the place in search of Joe and his captor. And then his good senses finally kicked in, and he had started to leave, when he heard the tell-tale signs of a quickening. A few minutes later he saw a sobbing and unarmed Duncan MacLeod stumble out of the track. Frozen in the shadows, he wondered who's head Mac could have taken would have set him off like that. Then Methos had come out, screaming Mac's name, and he could hear Joe following behind him at a much slower pace, also crying. That's when Methos had sent Joe off, and stalked up to Richie, his own sword drawn. Before anything really drastic happened, he stepped out of the shadows. Methos's face went white, looking like he'd seen a ghost. Richie, still utterly confused, tried to ask him what had happened. The ancient immortal regained his composure, and ordered Richie back to his Parisian apartment. Dumbfounded, the younger immortal complied. Later that night Methos came over and explained in detail what had happened. Mac had once again been confronted by the `demon', and was slashing around wildly, one of the evil entities being of Richie. Then supposedly Richie had walked in, his sword down, against all of his teachings from MacLeod, and the Highlander had taken his head. Methos had to stop Richie from marching over to the barge to show Mac he was still in one piece. And instead, he ordered Richie to pack up, THEY were leaving back for Seacouver tomorrow. Arriving back in America, Methos laid out the ground rules, before offering a very confused Richie a chance to train under the ancient immortal. "I really did think that MacLeod would have been the one," the ancient said, bringing Richie out of his memories. With a sigh he started heading back for his car, "Come on, we did what we came here for, let's get back." Glancing back at where MacLeod had marched off to, Richie gathered his coat around himself, hoping one day he'd be able to talk to him again, without fear of having his head chopped off. "Cosmo! Get down!" Quickly the Magician's assistant adhered as a rain of blasts soared over their heads. They were trapped from all sides. Spade and Diamond were firing from the front at Sonnyboy's men, who were returning fire from behind them. "Whatever happens, stay here until I tell you it's safe to come out," Ace told him sternly. "What are you going to do?" Ace shook his head and quickly spun into his gray costume. Cosmo shrunk down further, his question already having been answered. The Magician leapt from the safety between the sandwiched crates into the fray of blasts. Within half a minute the fire ceased from both sides. "It's okay Cosmo, you can come out now." Breathing a sigh of relief, he used the crates to push himself up. The two fighting fronts had disappeared, before he could ask what happened, Ace had jumped in front of him, and began deflecting blasts from Sonnyboy's men. "I'm going to draw their fire, you get back between those crates." Cosmo sighed and nodded, he knew there wasn't any way he could help. Ace darted off to the side, the fire of guns trailing behind him. Cosmo was about to take safety again when a movement from behind them caught his eye. He shouted out a warning to Ace, at the same time trying to tackle him from behind. The moment hung in the air for a second, before Cosmo's strangled cry silenced everything. Ace turned around as the nineteen year old collapsed into his arms. His mind went numb and for a few seconds, all he could do was stare at his dying friend. Diamond couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene. He'd never felt remorse before for killing anyone before, but he had never killed a kid. Sonnyboy's henchmen took it as a very opportune time to make their quiet retreat, and Spade tugged at Diamond, trying to do the same. The Magician was oblivious to all of this, his attention was focused on his assistant. "I'm... sorry Ace..." was all he could manage before his entire body went limp. Sirens sounded, growing louder by the second. Ace sank to his knees, the blood from Cosmo's back soaking his hands. Like nearly fifty years before, Ace felt sobs shake his body, like Duncan MacLeod, of the Clan MacLeod, over their fallen friend. Their surrogate brother and son. He bolted up, as though he had just waken from a nightmare, and looked around the room. His eyes were quickly adjusting to the dark, but he could only make out shapes at the moment. Whatever he was laying on was cold and hard, like... metal. He shook his head and timidly stepped down onto the cold tile, feeling the breeze of an air conditioner waft over his entire body. Quickly he picked the sheet that was covering him and wrapped it around himself. He remembered him and Ace going into that warehouse to confront Sonnyboy on a scam he had just tried to pull over many other casino owners, when the crossfire between his men and the two stooges had opened up. Ace had ceased it for a second, when he suddenly became the target. He had come between the blast that was heading for the Magician's back. He winced and looked over his shoulder at his back, but was surprised to find no wound. The darkness becoming more familiar, he continued to try and figure out his whereabouts. It definitely wasn't his room or the Magic Express. The air was thickly coated in Lysol, as if to cover up some kind of horrid stench. He began to make out the shapes of tables covered in cloth, and his stomach almost lurched when he saw human forms underneath the sheets. Continuing to glance around, he confirmed his location. The metal drawers, also containing more bodies, the surgical instruments lying down on a table, were all a common sight in the Electro City Morgue. It was a crappy night, it had always been for so many years straight. He had decided that no amount of alcohol in his blood stream was going to tune out the memories tonight. All of the people he had cared about, the ones he had actually let into his heart, had all left him. Tonight marked the third year after Joe's death, and remorse welled up in the ancient immortal. Why did he keep opening himself up to these mortals, why did he even bother caring about anyone else, it always caused him more pain. Always made him more of a target. He had tried several times to shut out the rest of the world, but someone always managed to wriggle under his skin. Make a way to his heart, no matter how hard he tried to shove them away. All of the women he had loved, all of the students he had taken on, all of the friends he had made had one thing in common, they had all died on him. He cursed his entire being, wondering why he was meant to outlive everyone else. He made the vow again to himself this night, as he had done every year before, no one was going to get under his skin, wriggle their way into his heart. He WOULD be a cold impassive immortal. And as many times before, fate decided to have a sense of humor and toss an obstacle in his way. This one took on the form of a young man, no older than nineteen, naked save a white sheet wrapped around his body, and the ever present buzz of a new immortal. Cosmo leaned against the wall, grasping his head, where had this headache come from... it was as if some part of him was trying to warn him of something... No, the ancient immortal silently berated the gods, he was NOT going to help this young immortal. Ever since he had moved to Electro City, he had encountered no immortals, young or old, and meant to keep it that way. He stalked on, sending another glance at the young man, who's face was now lit up by the lone streetlight above him, and felt his feet turn into lead. His mind went numb as he stared into the face of the new immortal in front of him, the wind of the cold night softly blowing against his rusty hair. Cosmo looked up at the man in front of him, who was staring at him like he'd seen a ghost. He hardened his gaze to a glare and was about to ask the man what he was staring at, but got his answer before he could speak. "...Richie?"