Sorry this is coming out so late in the day. My uncle came over early today and stayed for three hours and then I needed to work out and then there was dinner and several other distractions. Anyway, I'm here to work now. Also, I'm thinking about launching my career as a poet. What does that mean? Well, if you need a poem written, think about hitting me up. Just leave a comment on this post for now. Eventually, I'll start taking inquiries through my email. I just need to iron out the details. Anyway...
Wheel of Genres, turn, turn, turn! Tell me the genre I will discern!
Today's genre is... Crossover!
What's a crossover? Well, "crossover" is typically a word used in the fan-fiction scene to denote a piece of work that crosses over two or more fandoms. Here, I mean to use it as a method of writing something that had two different genres in it. For instance, Star Wars is actually a sci-fi fantasy crossover and Stephen King's The Gunslinger is a western fantasy crossover.
Problem is, I don't know which two genres to use. So, I'll spin the wheel of genres two more times to get my crossover. First genre is Mystery, and the second is Fantasy. So, a detective story with magic and junk. Alright, let's see what I can come up with.
Thirty minutes on the clock: 30:00. And... go!
Detective Jykk kneeled over the body. He touched the victim's face and said a small incantation. The immediate aura of the spell turned a light blue; the victim had only been dead for a few hours, but it was already stone cold. He lifted the victim's arm to see if he could determine the cause of death, and there stuck in the body's chest was a knife. Jykk moved his hand near the knife and it crackled with purple electricity--he wouldn't be touching that knife until CSI arrived and used the proper disarming charm on it. But there was a bit of luck. Jykk thought that if the murderer had slipped up and used their bare hands to drive in the knife, there might be traces of DNA, or better yet, a magical trace.
Jykk wiggled his fingers and spoke a slow enchantment. Yellow sparkles materialized in the air and shot down to the ground to form a set of footprints. One foot was slightly ahead of the other and had its heel lifted. The attacker had stepped forward to violently drive the knife through the vic's chest, or maybe the attacker had been of a smaller stature. Jykk wiggled his fingers more and blew on the footprints. A trail of gold footprints manifested on the ground. Before following them, the detective cast a quick sealing spell on the body and area to cordon it off.
Jykk trotted after the trail out of the alley. Every so many yards he had to wiggle his fingers and blow again, but the bigger problem was that the footprints were fading fast. Whoever the attacker was, they must have known they might leave a magic trace and did their best to disrupt it.
The trail eventually went cold down another alley. Jykk quickly cast a reveal charm, but no one other than rats were in the alleyway. Before the footprints could disappear, Jykk turned and traced their outline with a bit of chalk. Maybe they could analyze the tracks and get a rough idea on the height and gender of the suspect from the size of the feet and the size of their gait. The detective then started inspecting the alley. He looked for anything suspicious: trap doors, stalls or dumpsters that looked out of place, and even scraps of clothing that might have been torn off the suspect's clothing. None of these were found, but the detective did do a quick scan and found some fingerprints. In order to take a proper sample, he'd have to wait for CSI with a kit, but Jykk went ahead and made a crystalline imprint of the fingerprints. He dropped them into his hand and examined them.
The fingers weren't very long, but they were slender. A slight mark beyond the finger pad seemed to suggest long, well-manicured nails. Jykk went back tot he footprints he traced and found the step of the perpetrator to be shorter and narrower than his own. It seemed likely he was after a woman. Jykk wrapped the crystalline prints a in cloth and pocketed them. He then waved his hand through the air and inhaled deeply. A subtle, violet mist filled the air. The scent of a perfume and pheromones were both magnetized dozens of times. Jykk almost got high off the smell and almost forgot that he was looking for a crook; the more primitive parts of his brain and body had responded immediately.
Jykk covered his nose with a handkerchief and walked back down through the alley. He watched the violet mist to see how it congregated in the air and followed the thickest part of its trail. It led him to a spot next to a dumpster inhabited by a box that looked to be about three feet. Trying to seem disinterested, he went to pass it up, but a fierce scream and an explosion of pheromones wouldn't let him. Within a split second, the suspect, a nimble, slender woman, hooded and cloaked, jumped from the box and attack him, a dagger forming in her hand.
Jykk quick-stepped out of the way and drew his piece. One snap of the trigger and the dagger popped out of the woman's hand, but she kept coming at him, now with fingernails that were magically enhanced. Jykk juked and jived out of the way. The woman took too enthusiastic of a step toward him and ended up passing him. Jykk danced behind her and delivered a forceful blow to the back of her skull with his piece. The woman fell unconscious immediately and hit the ground with a thud and a flutter.
"Now, then," said Jykk. "Let's see who you are." He bound her hands with a spell, and then pulled back her hood. He gasped.
***
Alright, stop the clock! Yes, I know I ended at the good part. That was sort of the point so you can complete the story yourselves. That, and it would've forced me to come up with another name, but I've got a headache right now. I'm really tired. I've gotten used to taking naps in the evening because my sleep schedule is so messed up. But anyway, I have 4:20 left (blaze it!), but that was fun. I actually really enjoyed writing the detective parts. It responded to my very technical side and my need to over explain everything. Maybe I should write a real detective story.
Keep writing, my friends.
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