'I see my technique worked,' she said half grinning. She was in her usual funeral clothes and she did not look a day older.
'What technique?' he asked in surprise, still viewing her domain in puzzlement.
'Telepathy of course. And they said Phantoms are the only ones who can do it, but theirs is more pathetic and terrifying.'
He put the tip of his finger in his ear, 'Tell me about it.'
She turned her gaze at him. 'You've experienced it?'
'Yeah, before I fought him.'
'You fought a Phantom and walked out of the fight alive?' She seemed more than intrigued.
'I'm sure you're familiar with him. He's one of your pets…Jack Price.'
'A Demon Phantom too?' Her expression changed to perpetual astonishment.
'I thought we were superior?'
'Of course we are; you just have to know how to be superior.'
'What do you mean?' he asked her, drawing closer.
'From the beginning of the emergence of the first Supremes, each Supreme has always been trying to develop an advantage over the other. The reason why a Canine can devour a Phantom in five minutes is because of the first fight between a Demon Phantom and a Canine. The Phantom taunted the Canine, claiming that he could not be touched, but that was before the Canine reached his Rabies stage; the second, last and most powerful of their stages.' She paused and reached down beside her feet for some more of her green herbs and she sprinkled them into her cauldron. She continued, 'The Phantom was dazed by the sight. It had never ever seen anything so large, gruesome, petrifying and emotionless in the eyes besides itself. He then tried his deadliest technique; The Body Closure. This is the technique whereby they seize another's insides using their hands. This technique however was unrewarding. His hands could not go through.'
'Why?'
'Fear.'
'Fear?'
'Yes, fear. Fear is what makes the Phantoms touchable, and vulnerable.'
'So what you're trying to say is; I have to get him scared in order to be able to beat him up?'
'For a Versatile it's too easy. Versatiles and Girols have the power to beat Phantoms without getting them scared. Canines on the other hand created an eternal curse on the Phantoms by getting them scared in the very beginning. Now every Phantom, whether it likes it or not, is always scared of a Canine. Talk about a bite having to go with your bark,' she sneered. 'You're not a Versatile yet are you, my love?'
He turned his face aside in response.
'You should have taken the chance when you had it.'
'But how did he know that I hadn't accepted it yet?' he asked her.
'Maybe he studied your fight with the Troll. You might have taken too long in defeating him. A Versatile can take out a Troll in one move. How long did you take?'
'About ten minutes.'
She shook her head, 'That must have been why.' She moved from her cauldron and closer to him. 'Can I tell you a few secrets?'
He kept silent, waiting to hear what these secrets could be.
'I have children.'
'What?!' He exclaimed in surprise. If he had had a heart condition, he would have had a heart attack.
'I thought that it might surprise you. I have two, a boy and a girl. My son, whose twenty-four years old now, is also a Versatile. He not only accepted the Versatile gene but he mastered it too.'
'What do you mean, "mastered"?'
'The Versatile gene is like basic math…you're familiar with math, right? Master the secrets of the Versatile gene and you will know all its advantages and secrets.' She coughed a laugh, 'He did it when he was only four. To tell you the truth, I wanted the gene to pick my eighteen year old daughter so she could continue my work in magic. But the Versatile gene often picks the strongest sex and in this case, my son. But what I'm working on now, ooh!' She moved round the cauldron, studying its contents as if it was a bull at an auction. 'I'm at the brink of accomplishing what no witch, wizard, sorcerer, sorceress, scientist or even magician scientist ever could.'
'And what's that?' He folded his arms.
'There's a possibility that I can combine two Supremes of the same race.'
'But…you can create Supremes, so what's the point of combining them?'
'I can create most Supremes except two; the Versatile and the Girol. The Versatiles are too complicated. I know the plants and flowers to create the other Supremes though: Cratum and sassafras for Destroyers. Trillium and poison ivy for Phantoms. Blackjack and toadstool for Canines, but the Versatile..,' she shook her head, 'the Versatile is way too complicated, my love. It's too unique and it is basically impossible to create a perfect species like that.'
'But that potion…'
'The one you drank..? That was just a nudge. That potion's gift could never reach a tenth of the Versatile's true power.' She stirred in her cauldron some more. 'But..,' she continued, 'that potion gave you a bonus.'