#johnny panzer

Rupert stood in front of his locker, letting out a sigh as he took off his witch hunters uniform hat, placing it in his locker as he tried to collect his thoughts.

When he joined the witch hunters, he did quick work to rise up in the ranks and become a great witch hunter. It was shocking that he did so, considering how passionate he was about it. From taking down witches to hunting down wizards, he was slowly rising to become a top witch hunter, being able to go on special missions soon enough.

He even got praise from Dmitri Petrov, the head administrator of the witch hunters organization in their town. Many of the towns in the surrounding area didn’t have to deal with the terror of witches since than. However, all that changed a few months ago when he was assigned to train a new recruit in the witch hunters, an individual by the name of Dave.

It was predicted that in about a month, Dave would be ready to actually go on his first witch hunts, however that day was suddenly not even within reach. He was skittish, flighty, nervous all the time. He jumped at the slightest of noises and his fight or flight was severely hindered. Not only that but every chance he got, he would talk Rupert’s ear off, like they were friends or something.

Ever since Dave got recruited, it was like he was his full time babysitter, always having to make sure he didn’t get into any trouble. Even the other witch hunters would sometimes give him looks as he had to help Dave escort a particularly feisty witch into the hold for questioning.

At least there was one person who was willing to get along with him…

“Finally done for the day?” Rupert felt a familiar hand pat his head and he turned to see Johnny, all smiles as he motioned for him to follow him. He closed his locker as he did, Johnny talking about some of the more high security stuff he had to go through on a regular basis. Honestly, it was just the same old crap he usually talked about, but for some reason, Rupert didn’t mind letting him talk his ear off either as he followed him to his car so they could have a beer or two for the night.

“I swear, that Davey gets more and more concerning,” Johnny muttered as he started his car.

“He’s only been with us for a few months now. He’s just getting used to things,” Rupert said, wondering why he was even defending him to begin with. After all, he only saw him as a nuisance more than anything.

“You were pretty much a fighter by the time your first month ended. He can barely hold his pitchfork without crying a little. He’s a wimp, I tell ya!” Johnny said with a laugh. Rupert laughed nervously back, but felt a little bad. It didn’t really matter because it’s not like Dave was here to defend himself. So who cared what he had to say.

As they drove off into the town, Rupert saw all the familiar lights of the shops and restaurants, seeing all the people as they walked to their destinations, probably home or late night jobs. Rupert gazed at Johnny as he suddenly realized something.

“Hey… how are we gonna get home? You’re driving,” Rupert asked.

“We’ll just take a cab back to the complex. It’ll be fine!” Johnny said with a bit too much confidence. Rupert smirked.

“Mr. Petrov is gonna kill you,” Rupert muttered.

“I’m one his best hunters. It’s gonna take a lot more than me leaving a company car at the bar to do that,” Johnny said.

“Remember the last time you did it though? It took the rookies forever to scrub all that graffiti off it,” Rupert said, “And I think some of it was charmed too…”

“And that’s whose fault? The witches. I swear, they’re a plague on our society. That’s why we have to get rid of them, Rupert. For our sake and theirs as well. Wizards too. Well, except for Petrov and Grigori. I guess they can stick around since they’re helping us with our weapons and all…” Johnny rambled on as they pulled up to the particular bar, Rupert letting out a half hearted chuckle as he got out of the car.

“Well don’t be shocked if he makes you do it this time,” Rupert said. Johnny rolled his eyes as they walked towards the bar.

- - - - -

Dave was sitting in his dorm room, his eyes red with tears. Once again, his superior officer had gotten onto him about something that he had no control over: his emotions. Well, that wasn’t entirely true, he could control his emotions just fine.

It was just sometimes they tended to flare up at the worst and most inconvenient moments. And than he would end up letting these emotions get the best of him. And as a result he would do poorly.

He groaned as he put his head into his pillow. He couldn’t do anything right.

He couldn’t do magic.

He couldn’t be a police officer.

He couldn’t even work security part time at the museum without the diamond getting stolen by some magic user.

And now he couldn’t even be a witch hunter.

“What even is my purpose…” Dave muttered as he started to shake. He remembered the look of disappointment in his superior’s eyes as he remembered his cold words:

“This kind of thing is exactly why you will never be on a witch hunt.”

What good was a witch hunter who couldn’t hunt? All he did was odd jobs around the facility and such. There was really no reason for him to be here. Even Rupert, his mentor of sorts, had lost all sympathy for him. He didn’t know it, but he could feel it.

At this point, he didn’t know what to do. He had to do something, anything. If he could do something, than he would be able to show everyone that he was just as capable. Not just as a witch hunter, but as somebody.

He would need to get some rest though. He wouldn’t be able to be a decent witch hunter if he was tired. He didn’t even get to eat dinner as was too busy being lectured. He was used to this feeling though. He ended up drifting to sleep, feeling the hole in his stomach grow a little larger.

- - - - -

Rupert felt the ringing in his ears growing louder as he rose up out of bed, wincing at the pain. He could use a few more hours of sleep, but he couldn’t exactly waste any time. There was work to do after all.

He went through his morning routine, adding taking a healthy dosage of pain killers to the list as he waltzed out of his room to get some breakfast.

“Morning Rupert.”

Ah geez…

“Morning Dave,” Rupert muttered, his headache still ringing in his head as Dave matched his pace to walk with him to the cafeteria.

“I’m guessing you went drinking last night? I mean I wouldn’t know I don’t usually get invited to those kinds of things. It would be kind of nice but… I uh… yeah,” Dave trailed off as he saw the look in Rupert’s eyes, a “not today” sort of look. He was pretty quiet as he walked with Rupert in the hall to the elevator, which made things feel a little more awkward.

“So, uh… Have you heard the news? Apparently they’re gonna try to send another group out to Stickburg today.”

“Stickburg?”

“Mhm…” Dave said, “I wish I could go out there… Maybe I could catch a witch or two.”

“You wouldn’t want to,” Rupert said, “Stickburg is a place where only the most decorated witch hunters go. And even than, some don’t even make it back.”

“Huh? How come?”

“It’s dangerous.” Rupert walked into the cafeteria as Dave followed him closely.

Like a lost puppy, huh?

“How dangerous? Like super dangerous?”

“Very dangerous. Very few witch hunters make it out alive. And those that do basically warn everyone not to go out there,” Rupert said as he ordered his food.

“Why?”

Why he asks…

“It’s a witch haven. Basically a bunch of magic users live there. More than any witch hunter can handle. There are several witches, some working overtime to protect the town,” Rupert said.

“Why are we sending people out there to begin with than? If it’s so dangerous we should probably steer clear,” Dave said.

“Apparently there were rumors of disappearances at the edge of Baker Forest. It shouldn’t be too hard to take down one witch that causing all of them, so they’re probably sending a squad out to check things out and take them down.”

As Rupert checked his phone to confirm the rumors, Dave let out a small sigh as he twiddled his fingers, as if he was pondering what to say next. Than his eyes lit up a bit as Johnny approached the duo.

“Than why don’t we just send a bunch of people to Stickburg to you know… take them out? I mean after all, if the witches and wizards are bad guys, than we should take care of them you know?” Dave asked.

“Because the universe exists in a balance little Davey,” Johnny said, suddenly cutting in, “If we were to do that, than there wouldn’t be much of a point to our job. And besides, even if we could, we’d suffer too many casualties.”

“Well, Mr. Petrov and all the big witch hunters, they’re powerful wizards. Maybe they could help,” Dave said.

“They can only do so much,” Rupert said as they sat down.

“The point is there’s no point in sending hundreds of people to a place where they might get hurt. Or worse…” Johnny had a sort of distant look on his face as he said that. Dave had that same look, a strange fire in his eyes as Rupert began to browse his work app to see what duties he had today. There was apparently a witch spotted in the south ward of town, but otherwise things seemed pretty quiet today.

“Are you going out to Stickburg, Johnny?” Dave asked.

“Nah, I don’t have a death wish. It’d take something really drastic to get me out there,” Johnny said.

“Hmm,” Rupert said, “Well I’m going on a hunt. It looks to be solo, but I wouldn’t be shocked if they sent someone with me.”

“Ah, that’s good,” Dave said, “I’m glad you have something to do today. I’m… stuck doing laundry again, haha…” Dave got a thoughtful look on his face as he said this. Rupert tipped his head to the side, wondering what Dave was thinking about.

He felt like he had no reason to really worry.

- - - - -

A quiet settled over the forest outside of Stickburg. Crows started to caw over the distance as the witch hunter group descended deeper into the forest. The group was quiet as they drew their weapons, keeping even their breath quiet as they scanned the trees for any sign of movement.

Meanwhile in the van nearby, Dave was sitting in the back, holding the magic knife he had managed to sneak out of the armory close to his chest. This was going to be his big moment. He was tired of being considered a nobody, not able to do anything. He would sneak out there as soon as the group was far enough and capture a witch all on his own, all by himself.

Than they would finally take him seriously.

He pulled himself out from the back from under the sheets he had hidden himself under and snuck around the other side of the van, glancing as he saw the group heading deeper into the forest. He didn’t have much confidence, but he had to proceed carefully. He could explain himself once he managed to capture a witch.

He started to head into the forest, hearing the distant caws of the crows growing closer and closer. Almost as if they were following him…

He jumped as he heard a noise nearby, a chill going down his spine as he suddenly noticed that the forest was much darker than he had initially realized. He gulped as he kept going, hearing the crows cawing louder and louder as his heart raced.

“Hello… witch hunter…” Dave jumped as he pointed his knife at the voice. He gasped, trying to believe what he was seeing.

Who he saw was… human right? It had to be a witch. The crows were following him. He looked almost like a scarecrow, a jack-o-lantern type head with heterochromatic flaming pupils, fluffy but well kept hair on top of his head covered by a witches hat, an orange headset perched over his ears(?).

Dave, in an attempt to appear threatening, pulled the knife up, trying to grimace as the… scarecrow witch? Giggled at him.

“Oooh, so scary… what are you going to do with that little thing hmm?” he said as he approached him.

“S-stay back! I’m gonna capture you and bring you back to the Wall as a trophy!” Dave shouted. The witch laughed as the crows seemed to laugh with him. He suddenly crept closer and closer as he practically got into Dave’s face. He shook with fear as he whispered.

“You and what army, little guy?” Dave tried to lunge the knife at him but suddenly felt cold all over as he was blasted back.

“You should have stayed home and hid away, witch hunter. Now you’ll feel the chill of the winter scarecrow, Burt Curtis!” Dave pulled himself up and tried to run away as he saw dozens of ice spikes creeping closer to him.

He managed to stop short as a huge ice spike shot up in front of him. He cried out, keeping the grip on his knife as he looked up to see Burt hovering over him, smirking as he snapped his fingers, creating a cage of ice around him.

“I said stay back!” Dave shouted.

“I can get as close as I want, witch hunter. You may have had us fooled with your little friends in the forest, but I can assure you that this will be as far as you go,” Burt said. Dave gripped the knife in his hand as he slashed at the cage, looking shocked as he saw how easily it fell apart against it’s blade. Immediately, Dave saw his opportunity and ran off as Burt growled.

“A charmed weapon. Of course…” He put his fingers in his mouth and whistled sharply as the crows began to caw, flying towards the direction Dave went.

“Get him! Make sure he doesn’t escape!” Burt shouted as a murder of crows started to follow after him. Burt stood back, feeling pretty pleased with himself as suddenly the world around him shifted.

A labyrinth of colors and sound began to form around him as he suddenly whistled for his crow familiars.

“Come back, come back!” Burt shouted as he suddenly saw himself surrounded by a different kind of familiar.

“Seriously!? Now!? Of all times!?” He summoned an ice hammer as he began to hammer away at the human like entities, looking to where Dave ran.

“I’m never one to run away from a hunt, but… unfortunately, I can’t be bothered with the witch hunters. Let the Wicked eat a few,” Burt summoned a door nearby as he ran through it, punting a few familiars along the way.

Meanwhile Dave started to look around as he suddenly realized he was no longer in the forest.

“What… where am I? Where’s the van? What’s going on!?” Dave shouted as he swung his knife at one of the strange entities pursuing him.

He heard a strange voice as he turned around trying to understand what was happening.

“Hello!? Somebody!?” Dave shouted as he burst through a random door. He gasped as he tried to cover his mouth to keep from throwing up. A gory scene of three of the witch hunters from the group torn to shreds, blood dripping from the ceiling, covering the floor as it pooled towards his shoes.

It wasn’t long before he turned around to see a monster of gigantic proportions in front of him, waving it’s limbs at him as he froze in place, suddenly to afraid to run.

You… who… seek… power…

“No…”

I… can… give…

“Please…” Dave felt prickly as his vision became blurry. He was unable to move as his mind began to grow fuzzier and fuzzier.

Someone help me.

- - - - -

Burt finally managed to take a breath as he reached the much less dense outer forest, looking to see the witch hunters van parked outside of it and chuckling slightly. The crows began to perch on it, talking among themselves as Burt opened the car door.

“Hmm… let’s see. A squad of five people hm… that’s strange. I killed one guy and I can assume the others got swallowed by the Wicked… that means that the other one was just a surprise straggler. Interesting, very interesting…” Burt tapped his headset, a dial coming out as he began to adjust it.

Finally after some adjusting he heard a voice in his headset.

“Burt? What the heck do you need?”

“Hey Chuck, are you and your little friends busy right now?”

“I thought I told you not to call me that!”

“Geez, I’m just playing around. We actually have a small situation outside of the north side of Baker Forest here. Do you think you could get your little squad out here to help out?”

“Ah, well, we’re not gonna be done for another few hours or so, but we’ll try to make it.”

“Ah, well that’s just great. Whatever, I’ll keep watch until you guys get here. I’ll use a beacon if I have to.”

Burt looked up and saw the trees growing slightly distorted as he sighed.

“Also be careful. There’s a Wicked in the area…”

- - - - -

“He’s been gone since lunch time?”

Rupert had decided to go looking for Dave, thinking that he could use some company after his (very unsuccessful) hunt. And Johnny was busy at the time, so he didn’t want to bother him at them moment. He was now talking to Roland Cantebury, the supervisor in charge of Dave’s group.

“Yeah. He was supposed to help two other rookies with the laundry earlier. According to them, they said he went to get some more bed sheets and has been gone since than.”

Rupert got a puzzled look on his face, knowing that something was definitely up. Usually people don’t go to pick up extra laundry. Any extra laundry that isn’t taken care of before the rookies start on it is usually taken care of in the next batch.

So something was wrong.

“This doesn’t seem right. I’ll go ask around and see if anyone else saw him while he was going on this little errand…” Rupert said.

“Geez, you don’t have to worry about him. He’s not some baby, I’m pretty sure he just got lost and is now in the closet crying or something,” Roland said, “Just don’t worry about it. I’ll give him a good scolding when he eventually gets out of there.” Rupert raised his eyebrow, but nodded his head as he turned to the group of rookies to give them their afternoon tasks.

Something was bothering him about this.

He decided to go to the laundry room first to investigate this. He tried to think about the conversation that he had with Dave this morning at breakfast.

“I wish I could go out there… Maybe I could catch a witch or two.”

“Don’t tell me…” Rupert muttered as he started down the hall. The laundry center was two floors away from the armory, the place where they kept all the weapons for witch hunts. No one was really allowed in there without special permission, but how did Dave get past them? Even if he managed to find someone who was going on that floor, they would have noticed him long before he even took the first steps on the floor.

He took the elevator up and walked around, questioning a couple of individuals. One individual, by the name of Kev Portly, had said he had seen Dave walking around up there, but didn’t think much of it, thinking he finally grew a spine and was able to join a witch hunt.

He had gone into one of the small arms closets and exited with a knife.

Oh no…

Rupert was suddenly on his phone, texting Johnny to meet up with him in one of the lounges, as he had something very important to tell him.

While he didn’t know how on EARTH he managed to sneak aboard the van undetected, it was very clear that he was now in grave danger.

That van was headed towards Stickburg, the witch haven. And he had to get somebody, anybody to back him up while he went out there. At least to help him get out of there safe.

When he finally got to the lounge, Johnny was there waiting, a grim look on his face as Rupert entered.

“Hey, Rup. What’s going on?” Johnny asked.

“Johnny, we need to get one of the company cars and head to Stickburg NOW!” Johnny was taken aback as he tipped his head to the side.

“Why? I would love to, but Mr. Petrov found out about last night and well… now I’m banned from taking any cars out for the next month. I mean, you could drive, but I don’t think we should-”

“I don’t know how, but Dave managed to sneak out of the complex with a weapon, a very minuscule one at that, and managed to hitch a ride on the outgoing van out to Stickburg. I don’t care if we need to get permission or something we need to get out there and save him or something, because-”

“Why do you care?”

Rupert was suddenly taken aback now, jumping at the coldness in Johnny’s tone as he said this.

“Excuse me?”

“I said why do you care? All you’ve done is complain about him ever since he got here. You said he’s always following you like a lost puppy. And he’s always rambling and rambling, never getting to any points. He’s ultimately useless in everything he does and he acts like a child at any given moment. Why do you care what happens to him?”

Rupert’s eye slightly twitched as he tried to think of a good reason. And for some reason…

Managed to find a lot more.

Maybe it was because he knew how scared he would be facing up against an actual real witch.

Maybe it’s because he knew how Dave acted under pressure and wanted to be there to assure him.

Maybe it’s because he wanted to make sure he was safe, despite everything.

He had his complaints, he sometimes griped at him, but in all honesty, if he had to count all the bad memories against the good ones…

He found that in the past few months he had a truer friend in him than he ever had with anyone in the complex. Even Johnny he hated to admit.

Maybe he liked to hear his voice and talk to him. He may seem annoyed, but a small part of him grew to like him a little… maybe even…

“So you’re not even gonna bother?” Rupert said, tears in his eyes.

Johnny just shrugged, a sly smile on his face. Rupert gritted his teeth, his face burning red hot with rage and sadness.

“Fine, I’ll go alone! Some friend you are!” Rupert shouted as he ran out the door.

“Wait! RUPERT!” Johnny shouted. He ran after him as Rupert pushed the elevator buttons aggressively.

“Rupert think about what you’re doing for a DAMN second!” Johnny shouted, “If you’re going to do this, you might not even come back from it!”

The elevator doors slide open as Rupert stepped in, Johnny following him.

“Are you even prepared for what you’ll face? What you might see, encounter, or even go up against?”

“Why do you even care? I’ll be fine. I’ve got plenty of training and I can do whatever the heck I want!” Rupert said, “I’m pretty sure Mr. Petrov won’t notice I’m gone until dinnertime. I can deal with whatever scolding that he can come up with. I’ll even make sure not to mention you.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about Rupert,” Johnny said, “You need to understand that this is the worst decision you could ever make. If you go out there… there’s no telling if you’ll come back…”

Rupert looked Johnny in the eye as he came out with a pitchfork. He gripped the handle as he grit his teeth.

“That’s just a chance I’ll have to take. If you really REALLY want me to get into trouble, you can tell every damn person in this building what I’m doing. I’m not coming back until I know Dave is safe,” Rupert said in a low voice, before heading back to the elevator. Johnny started to shake with rage before punching the wall, wincing as he looked up to see Rupert leaving.

“Damn it… damn it all…”

Chapter One: Despite Everything, I Can’t Help But Care About Him

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