Pancakes

There was probably a Headquarters of Good somewhere that coordinated all the activity as best it could but like a covert intelligence agency or resistance operations it was a layered, compartmentalized operation with nobody knowing all the members. In this manner if one person was turned or compromised it would not take down the whole operation and made it harder to infiltrate. All Carl knew was that he received irregular deposits into his bank account representing his "self-employed" activity as part of his cover and once a quarter a packet of paperwork to make his tax filings.

Being "self employed" he was subject to more scrutiny from the tax authorities than the average citizen and he been audited more than once. This had lead to some joking among his colleagues as to which side the tax collectors worked for. To maintain his cover and not attract too much attention is paperwork was deliberately not perfect going along the lines of "why are your papers in order?" Perfect paperwork would attract attention. During one audit he was found to owe additional taxes and on another he got extra money back. Over the internet he received information on the enemies' activities or probable activities and messages from higher to coordinate the actions of individuals when needed. However in most cases he was allowed to evaluate threats and chose which ones warranted his attention.

The good half of the community consisted of not only Paladins but also many others including wizards and witches, vampire and werewolf hunters and selected members of the clergy of most faiths. Of the Paladins nobody knew for sure how many there were. Estimates ranged form as low as 50 to as many as 500. Carl's own best guess figured about 100. In modern times it was rare to encounter more than one or two at a time and it was not as if they had reunions. While Paladins where immune to disease, quick healers and long lived they certainly were not indestructible. Were they immortal, if they could avoid fatal injury? Nobody knew because no Paladin had ever died of what could be called old age. If one was severely injured or crippled from battle it was almost like chum in the water for sharks as all the evil beings and their servants would seem to converge from all over to eliminate the relatively helpless Paladin.

Where do Paladin come from? They are human and can be from any race and, despite legends such as Joan of Arc, there have never been any female Paladins. There does not seem to be a genetic commonality among them. One simply recognized those characteristics in another and if they encountered somebody with those characteristics the individual Paladin would attempt to develop him as a knight might develop a squire. The hope was that the person would accept the training because the forces of evil also recognized those characteristics and would attempt to kill him before he could become a threat.

Paladins did not have magical ability on the same level as a Wizard but could master simple things to aid in battle. These skills tended to vary from Paladin to Paladin. Carl, for example had mastered the ability to control (not summon) fire, had some telekinetic ability, and with effort could summon and control lighting though accuracy was problematic. All Paladins were masters of weaponry and close combat. They could handle any weapon from an ancient sword to modern assault rifle. Their personal weaponry varied from swords, battleaxes and spears to bows and javelins. Their choice armor and shields also differed. But their weapons were all enchanted or blessed to some degree. Modern firearms were also used and though not enchanted or blessed were useful at times such as dealing with a zombie outbreak.

Finishing his internet business he went to take a shower checking his injuries as he did so. He had a small knot on the side of his head would be gone in a couple of hours but the bruises on his side along with his probably cracked ribs would take at least a couple of days to heal. Getting dressed he decided he would go get something to eat, wondering as he did so if the usual crowd would be there.

He arrived at the local pancake house just before 2:00am taking a seat in a large round booth toward the rear figuring others would be joining him soon. The waitress had just left him a menu and went off to get him his large orange juice when Satan appeared across from him. Well Carl knew he was Satan, to others he appeared as a long haired, unshaven young 20 something college student. In this guise he had given himself blue eyes and blonde hair. He was about 5' 8 and 150lbs. He had a laptop with him and started to set up taking advantage of the free WiFi.

Without looking up from his menu Carl stated "The quills were different; made things kind of interesting."

"Thank you, professional compliments are always welcome. I would hate for you to become bored or complacent"

"Something else was different; you used more than one soul in the creation of that demon didn't you?"

Satan was typing something into his laptop. "It is nice that you recognize the effort that goes into my work. Yes, three souls actually; a recently deceased Middle Eastern dictator and his two sons. I don't recall seeing that battleaxe before."

"Yup it was new"

"Enchanted?"

"Not telling" Carl replied as he looked up form his menu. The waitress had brought him his O.J. and a menu for Satan. The restaurant was beginning to fill up with the late night crowd; college student s cramming for exams, dancers and patrons from the strips clubs that were just now closing and assorted late partiers and shift workers. On one of the large screen TVs talking heads were debating the sudden unprecedented change in this evening storms intensity. One, a prominent, prize wining politician was claiming it was proof of man-made global warming, the other a less prominent politicized TV evangelical was claiming that it was proof of just the opposite. He noticed Satan looking at the TV screen with a slight frown

"So which one are you getting?"

"Are you kidding? One is a politician and the other is a TV Evangelical, I'll end up with both of them."

"You don't seem particularly happy about it."

"As souls go , for my purposes, they are not very high quality. Give me a tyrant, mass murder or an openly dishonest criminal, even a drug lord. As you know the higher the quality the soul the more powerful minion I can create. With souls like those I can give you a run for your money in this war." Then pointing TV screen "Souls like those are of low quality and not much better than cannon fodder. They are useful only to keep you occupied or distracted while I am doing other things."

"I am guessing you have not done anything with Hitler, Stalin, Mao or Pol Pot?"

"Nope they would be powerful but they are unstable. It would be difficult to keep them fixed on their assignment. I saving them for something special"

"Something special like Rwanda perhaps?"

Satan's reply was cut off as their waitress came up to take their order.

"Steak and eggs, medium rare, eggs over easy" said Carl "also a stack of blueberry pancakes."

"Strawberry pancakes with a side of hash browns and linked sausage also could I get a large O.J.?"

"Sure thing sweetie, separate checks?"

"Put it all on his" replied Satan

Carl merely nodded with a slight frown. Just then a tall dark brooding figure entered. His had a pale complexion with dark eyes and shoulder length hair tied back into a ponytail. His clothing was as dark and severe as his attitude. He was maybe 5'9" and 140 lbs.

Carl spoke lowly to Satan, "your best buddy Vlad just came in."

"Damn it what does that blood sucker want?"

"You mean besides to rule hell in your place "

"In his dreams, well at least the only open tables are across the room."

"Plenty of room here with us"

"He wouldn't sit with us, we cannot stand each other."

"Never stopped him before"

"He won't sit with us regardless. He is particularly mad at me for that Venezuelan thing last week"

"Bet he will, he is looking lonely." Smiled Carl.

"He always looks like that. What would you like to wager, perhaps your soul?"

"And what would you put up in return, a 500 year ceasefire maybe? Besides you tried this before in Italy around 1590. My soul is not on the table."

"Everybody's soul is always on the table. Anyway your terms are not unacceptable"

"How about the check you are sticking me with?"

"Fine if he sits with us I'll buy"

Vlad scanned the room his eyes lingering over the couple of tables the strippers were sitting at before he spotted Carl and Satan. He squared his shoulders and strode purposefully over. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all" Carl quickly replied before Satan could respond as he moved down the booth making room for the vampire.

"Judging by your lowly attire and the way the promising storm died out I say you had a lousy night" stated Vlad.

"And I suppose you did better?" responded Satan.

"A gang fight on the east side was very filling for both my appetite and my recruiting effort . I think some of them used to belong to you. I figured whatever you were brewing would provide opportunities for me."

Satan did not respond , he merely frowned as the waitress brought the vampire a menu and asked what he wanted to drink.

"Order whatever you want" said Carl pointing at Satan "he is buying".

Satan shot him angry look while Vlad limited his display of astonishment to raised eyebrows. "That is great; I will have the ham and cheese omelet, no onions with a side of browns and bacon. Please bring me a cup of decafe coffee with that"

Carl and Satan both stared at the Vampire. Looking back he said "What? Caffeine will keep me awake all day."

Satan resumed pecking away at his laptop keyboard. "If you guys will excuse me for few I want to catch up on my email before the food gets here."

The TV news had switched to sports coverage, Vlad and Carl began debating the merits of a college football playoffs system

"Look, I am not saying a college play off system wouldn't be nice but I think the President of the United States and a US Senator would have more important things to worry about." stated Carl "It is not that big an issue."

"It is a big issue millions of dollars are in play and some schools are being cut out of their opportunity to get a share of the pie even though they have a superior team" responded Vlad.

"I would rather they did something about the cupcake schedule some of these larger schools setup to pad their records. For example compare the 2010 Texas and Air Force schedules. The Big 12 being such a poor conference and Texas's non-conference schedule being so easy I would say that Air Force has the tougher schedule if you look at the ranked non-conference teams they play. They also need to speed up the game"

Satan reached in his pocket and pulled out a cell phone he had set to vibrate: "whoops a text message, no rest for the wicked" He paused then laughed at his own joke. He then typed out a response.

Vlad was about to say something in response when the waitress arrived with their food. Satan put away his laptop to make more room at the table. As they dug into their meal and tall older gentlemen whose short white hair made him look older than his 55 years enter the restaurant and walked over to their table.

Carl greeted him with a "Hello Padre, he is buying tonight" pointing at Satan. While Satan and Vlad merely acknowledged his presence with nods of their heads as they stuffed their mouths. Father Mark slid into the booth next to Satan. "A menu and coffee, black" he said to the waitress as she came up to refill their drinks. "So what did I miss?"

Vlad: "we were talking football......"

Carl: "Oh Oh"

Satan: "Here we go again."

Father Marcus looking at Carl: Don't give me Oh, Oh, you know I am right. All that talent and they have trouble making into the playoffs I am convinced he is evil incarnate" He shifted his gazed to Satan.

Satan holding up his hands: "I told you before he not one of mine, Why would I have anything to do with "God's Team"? You are talking to the wrong guy" Damn another message" he said reaching for his cell phone

Carl: "Besides you have to admit he does a pretty good job of marketing a team that continues to fall short of expectation year after year."

Farther Marcus leaned back and looked at Vlad.

"Hey, he is not one of mine either."

"Will if they don't measure up this season I am through, I will find a new team to support. Life for us mortals is too short to waste on a losing team. There is fan loyalty and then there is stupidity." Looking down at is menu he continued "So I take it that the dying out of the storm means somebody's evening did not go so well?"

Satan shrugged "You win some you lose some."

Vlad: smiling "I did not do so bad at all"

"Not as well as you think, I found two of your more recent converts" said Father Marcus with a smile

"You Van Helsings have been a pain in my side long enough it is time...."

"Vlad, you know the agreement. This is neutral ground , we keep it civil and if you can't handle business discussions talk about something else." Interrupted Carl

Vlad simply responded with "fine" and returned to his eating"

The waitress returned to get Father Marcus's order. "Silver Dollar Pancakes side of browns and bacon, please he replied"

Father Marcus glanced at Carl's Plate. You eat a lot red meat son, maybe you should cut back"

Satan responded with "Cholesterol is the least of his worries, if it even affects him."

Vlad smiled "Don't worry about it Carl, it won't . I know for a fact it does not impact the taste."

Just then a young 20s something couple came through the door and headed toward the booth. The girl was about 5'6" slender blonde hair tied in a pony tail She had green eyes behind wire rimmed glasses. She also had a smile that would not quit

With her was a young man, equally thin, about 5' 9" brown hair brown eyes. He had a goatee on his face and was wearing a ball cap on his head brim backwards. They were both dressed in jeans and sweatshirts, wearing hiking boots. Everybody shifted over has the squeezed into Vlad's side of the semicircular booth.

Satan greeted them with "Hello you two how goes the wizarding and witching biz."

Aradia (Obviously the female of the couple): "Kind of slow we heard about the approaching storm on the radio and headed back to town but it looks like the fun is already over."

She reached across the table and snatched a strawberry off of Satan's plate.

"Some fun" thought Carl still feeling the pain in his ribs. "Where are you coming back from?"

Anton (the male part of the couple): "We were doing a little backpacking. Our weather radio gave a severe storm warning so we thought we should head back."

The waitress returned to the table: We don't need menus" said Aradia . "I'll have a short stack of strawberry pancakes with extra strawberries and some milk"

"And you sir?" asked the waitress. Aradia spoke up for him "He will have the stuffed French toast and a milk also"

Satan started laughing "That is amazing, his lips did not even move when he ordered" Everybody including the waitress smiled at the remark. Well every body except Aradia and Anton.

"Will this all still be one check?" asked the waitress?

"Yes ma'am and we may have one more person showing up" responded Carl

Satan looked at him with a scowl "Spending my money kind of freely aren't you?"

"A bet is a bet."

Just as Carl finished talking then they head the roar of a motorcycle pulling into the parking lot.

Aradia spoke first "It seems the countess has arrived"

A tall thin strikingly beautiful woman entered the restaurant. Her complexion was pale similar to that of Vlad's. Her only make up was bright red lipstick. She had dark eyes and shoulder length straight black hair. She was dressed in black biker leathers and boots. All eyes watched as she crossed the room, even the women.

As she approached the table she spoke "Sorry I am late, but I waited to make sure the weather cleared. It was not exactly ideal for motorcycling."

"So, Liz how do you like the Harley?" asked Father Marcus

Elizabeth Báthory: "I love it, I would never have been able to ride around on one in the old country without attracting a lot of attention. "So tell me what did I miss?" as she squeezed in next to Father Marcus."

"Not much, mostly sports talk" Carl said

Liz rolled her eyes. "Not the Cowboys again, still blaming you." Turning to look at Satan

"Yes and for some reason he does not believe me when I tell him I have nothing to do with them."

Father Marcus smiled and said "I wonder why"

"Well I have nothing to do with it either, besides I'm a WNBA fan."

"So you are the one" Carl joked

"We also discussed Carl's diet."

Liz glanced at his plate: "I thought Sir Galahad was supposed to be watching his cholesterol"

"Why do we keep harping about my cholesterol? When was the last time anybody heard of a Paladin taking a dirt nap because of a clogged artery?"

The waitress returned at the moment with more orders and cleared some of the other plates. Elizabeth Báthory ordered "same thing he is having" pointing at Carl's plate only make the steak rare.

Liz then looked at Vlad who had a frown on his face. He was watching the TV which was no showing movie trailers for upcoming attractions. "What has got all tall dark and gloomy more depressed than usual?"

Vlad turned to her and said "You would be upset to if Hollywood was out to ruin your reputation" On the TV there was a trailer for the latest Teen Vampire romance drama.

Satan was smirking "So twinkles, how does that affect your reputation?"

Anton: interjected with "I thought it was sparkles?"

"Laugh it up, but you don't have somebody portraying you as some glittering, angst ridden, love sick, metrosexual. Vampires used to be feared if not respected. Now, thanks to these female authors, we are seen as dandified, male model types, romantic love interests for menopausal females or overweight teenager girls. Plus we have a bunch of wannabes getting fang implants and actually calling themselves vampire."

"Like you have it so bad, look at how wizards are portrayed. The most popular is a whining EMO teenager while many of the adults around him are bumbling idiots somehow appointed to positions of influence and power." Anton replied

"and somehow being a Wiccan is now a pop culture religion" joined in Aradia

"Don't forget the damn Goths" was Liz's contribution.

Vlad responded with his anger growing: "Nobody is attempting to emasculate you, how could there be any respect in being a vampire? It is almost as if there it is a planned campaign to discredit us." He turned to look at Satan.

Satan sighed "First the Cowboys and now this, You know I have no power to act directly in this plane." He took a bite of his food and leaned back.

Father Marcus responded "We all know that and we also know that your power is exercised through your influence on others."

Carl adding "And at least half Hollywood is at your beck and call by some estimates. How else could a convicted child rapist be given one of their most prestigious awards?"

"I do not deny my influence but I think you give me too much credit. It was not me who told millions to buy the books and see the movies." Seeing his audience unconvinced he continued." I don't attempt mass conversions very often. Time is on my side and I am content with a few souls here and there. As they say patience is a virtue "he ended with a laugh.

Father Marcus shaking his head: "Virtue in Satan?"

Anton: "Certainly more groups are susceptible to your, shall we say charms, than others"

"Without a doubt. Politicians, lawyers, and many of your supposedly most godly such as TV Evangleists. Religious conflicts always supply me with a rich harvest." He looked at Father Marcus as he shoved another bite into his face.