"Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay the price."

Sun Tzu.

Igor made the portal open in his bedroom, where the probability of someone being there was almost nil and he was right, but his sensitivity to the flows of magic was enough to feel that Samuel had walked around there many times, perhaps having taken over the house by means of the ability to imitate his appearance. Just in case, he kept his personal barrier up and searched the residence. In the kitchen, he noticed that everything was very tidy and, by the dust on the table, the most likely thing is that no one appeared in the house for about a month.

He checked the time and concluded that there was a strong probability of being at college— maybe even with her, which came in handy. He decided to go there using the fastest way, that is, he disappeared from the kitchen of his house and reappeared at the university. However, when materializing in one of the toilets, he changed to another appearance that was that of a complete stranger, hoping to gain time, in case he came across the opponent. Behaving with the naturalness of any regular student, he went to the academic directory looking for her, but the place was empty and the campus was too big to do a review in rule. Thoughtful, he began to walk at random through the corridors, trying to imagine a way to find what he wanted. He turned a corner to go to the Living Center and bumped into someone, starting to apologize when he recognized Valdo.

"Valdinho!" he exclaimed, forgetting that he was in another appearance. "Dude, good to see you!"

The friend turned around, finding the voice familiar, but he had never seen the guy who had collided with him, a short man, almost emaciated, with hunched shoulders, a very wrinkled face and hidden by a huge pair of glasses with very thick lenses. Behind them, it was possible to see two small black eyes. Supporting the glasses, there was a hooked nose and very disproportionate to the size of the bony face, right on top of a mouth with fleshy lips and teeth full of gaps. He evaluated him from top to bottom and concluded that he was not in danger of being victimized by anything.

"Do I know you, man?" he asked, frowning.

"Wow, brother, but how do you not know me!" Igor was surprised by the comment, worried if the friend was under the influence of Samuel. "You were even going to be the godfather of my wedding—"

"Listen, citizen," said Valdo, somewhat irritated, "I don't know you from Adam, so there is no way to be your wedding godfather, if any girl will—"

"It's me, Valdinho, Igor," interrupted the friend. "I'm disguised, damn it. I had forgotten that."

"My God, Igor!" he exclaimed, hugging him, happy. "Dude, after you entered that weird hole, you never came back and Samuel, or whatever he is, returned and said he killed you. Heavens, man, how I cried, but I couldn't do anything because he threatened me badly."

"Where can we talk more comfortably?" asked the friend, increasingly worried. "I need information and help."

"Let's go to the parking lot," Valdo suggested. "Your car is there. I took care of it for you, but I used it all this time."

"No problem." Igor smiled. "Let's go there. At this time there should be no one."

The vehicle was parked under a small tree, but that provided a reasonable shade. Igor sat on the hood and looked at his friend.

"You want to know about her, I suppose," Valdo began, serious and apprehensive. "I fear that the news is not the best, Igor."

"What happened?" asked the wizard, feeling the blood freeze in his veins. "For God's sake, man, speak up. Is she okay?"

"Look, in my view he has a sick fixation on you and that reflected on Dudinha. Samuel became super possessive and the thing went bad for one or two colleagues. On the other hand, he also had a frustrated air and she became more and more sad."

"He can't take my place entirely, Valdinho. He is not human and, as such, he lacks certain gadgets of the male anatomy," explained the friend. After a short pause, he continued. "But what about her, where is she? I want to see her, because I can't stand the longing."

"He married her last month, Igor, but that was not the same Eduarda you met— the one that we know. She was thin, with dark circles, depressed—"

"I need to kill that thing." Igor was very nervous and angry. "Where are they?"

"This is the worst part, dude," the friend replied. "He lived in your house, but two weeks ago he disappeared without a trace and took Eduarda with him. In addition, there is evidence that he was involved with organized crime and the worst of all is that he is increasingly looking like you, besides having drawn the attention of the police. They came to look for me and interrogate me. The last time I saw him, you looked like twins."

"I'm sorry for that." Igor felt downcast and forlorn, thinking about his fiancee.

He remained silent for a long time, thinking while the friend waited. Suddenly, he asked:

"Listen, how did you know that it was me, since he looked like me?"

"Wow, dude, I don't know. I confess that I didn't think about it at the time. Look, maybe you go back to your original form that now I got suspicious, besides, you chose a very ugly image."

"Ugly people are more difficult to memorize because no one is interested in them," Igor explained, returning to his normal form. "They go unnoticed much more easily."

Valdo looked at the image of his friend changing appearance, like a miracle, gaining height and his traditional athletic build. The curly and red hair became the straight and well-groomed blonde, and the muscular body ceased to be crooked and with hunched shoulders. He widened his eyes and commented:

"For the God sake!" He looked at him from top to bottom. "By the pen of a Balzac, Igor. You were already attractive, but now you are irresistible. Is that sword real?"

"Stop it, this is very serious. We need a code for you to know that it's really me and not him, pretending to be me."

"It's not nonsense, man." Valdo laughed. "I'm gay, did you forget?"

"Okay, but now my concern is another and I have a lady, remember?" Igor also laughed.

"This is the biggest proof that you are my friend, Igor." Valdo winked, happy. "Samuel was never kind."

"Okay. We need to create a plan to find these two. Then I kill the bastard and that's it."

"I know... and can you kill him or is it just talk of momentary anger?"

"So far I have always been defeated, despite being the most powerful wizard in the world." Igor shrugged. "But, as long as I don't free Eduarda from this plague and have a breath of life, I don't rest. Let's have something to eat that I'm hungry. I didn't have breakfast."

"Then let's go." Valdo handed him the keys. "But it's better to stop with this He-Man thing—"

"What the hell is that?"

"An old cartoon that I saw on the internet and, with these clothes, you look too much like him," the friend replied, laughing. "You just need to raise the sword in the air and shout: 'by the power of grey—'"

"Stop it, for the love of the Goddess," Igor interrupted, transforming his clothes into jeans and a t-shirt, disappearing with the sword. He handed back the key. "You drive, the car is yours."

"Mine?!"

"Sure. I have others, so keep this one," he opened the glove box, took the document, looked and handed it over. "There, I passed it to your name."

"I'm starting to like this magic thing," the friend replied with a laugh.

"It's cool if life goes well. Come on, touch the record that I need to have lunch. I'm starving to death!"

The traffic at that time did not favor the two much and only improved when they entered Ipiranga Avenue. Igor looked at the stream that divided the road in half and commented:

"Wow, has it been raining here?" he pointed to the river. "The Dilúvio stream is almost overflowing!"

"It rained like hell. Last week it gave half a meter of water on the street. We had to go by Antônio de Carvalho Avenue or Bento Gonçalves. Not even the buses passed."

Passing by PUC, Igor suggested a perpendicular street to escape the movement and in a short time they arrived at their destination, a steakhouse that was partly outdoors and very pleasant in the Petrópolis neighborhood. The outside tables were in a courtyard full of trees that provided a lot of shade and peace. To the taste of a gentle breeze and enjoying the barbecue, the two chatted quietly, debating the problems.

"I was at my house and I didn't find any sign that he had opened a portal, but in two weeks his traces would be hard to track, although I'm sure I could. Let's assume that he didn't use portals, because they demand energy and, to cross with a normal person like Eduarda, they require even more. He is not very skilled with portals and I noticed that."

"Even so, in two weeks he could have evaporated to anywhere in the world."

"By normal means, he needs a passport. Otherwise, he's around here. Just go to the federal police and check the computers. After lunch we'll do that," Igor said, determined.

"Right, we get there and ask very kindly if Eduarda Vargas Whatever More requested a passport to leave the country. Are you nuts?

"In the absence of a better option, I'll remember that. And if he didn't?"

"I've been thinking that, if he got involved with organized crime, then he might be somewhere where there was a sudden increase in crime."

"Good." Igor clapped his hands. "Brilliant idea. After the federal, we'll see that in the civil police."

"Wow, you're really crazy, dude! I want to see us get out of there without being arrested," Valdo commented, not optimistic. "Either they catch us in one, or in the other."

Two hours later, inside the car, Igor said:

"Let's go to the federal police, let's solve this quickly."

"I have no idea where it is, dude," Valdo commented, picking up his phone. "Let's look on the internet."

"No need. It's on Paraná Avenue," Igor said. "Just take Lucas de Oliveira Avenue. Go ahead and I'll teach you the way."

― ☼ ―

They parked in front of the federal police station and Igor decided to wait for the right opportunity in the car. Half an hour later, a undercover car pulled up and stood still for a few minutes. Igor signaled to his friend, opened the door and approached the black car, typical of federal vehicles. Somewhat worried, Valdo followed behind him, keeping a certain distance and looking suspicious.

Inside the car there were two agents who filled out some papers and the young wizard thought they were reports. Delicate, he smiled and knocked on the glass. The first thing the policeman said, when he opened the window and looked at him, was:

"Dude, are you wearing a t-shirt in this cold?" he shivered all over. "The radio said it's six degrees!"

"Strange, isn't it?" the wizard commented, smiling. "You will sleep while I borrow your personality, okay?"

If the federal agent did not agree, no one would know because they turned off at once. Igor raised his face and Valdo screamed in fright when he looked at him, because the friend had the face of the policeman in the car.

"For God's sake—" he began to say. Igor just signaled for him to look at himself in the rearview mirror and the young man laughed. He noticed the new clothes, which were very different. "Even the guns are with us!"

"Let's go, but be careful that the guns are real."

They entered the station and no one cared about them, although Valdo was scared to death. The entrance hall was medium-sized and had some people there who waited seated on the left side, mostly foreigners. On the right side there were some service counters and, at the back of the room, a door that gave access to the restricted area of the police. Keeping calm, Igor put his hand on the doorknob and opened the door, signaling for his friend to enter. They walked along a narrow corridor full of doors to various offices until they found a toilet and entered to wait for any "colleague" to appear. The idea was not to draw attention because his mind control powers were weak and he didn't like to use them. It didn't take long and someone showed up. When the policeman finished washing his hands, Igor touched his shoulder and asked:

"Dude, where is the passport division?" he smiled and shrugged. "I forgot the way and I need to check some things on the computer."

"Are you kidding, right, Tião?" he asked, laughing. The laughter stopped and he said. "I issue the passports, dude, have you gone crazy?"

Igor cursed himself for not having noticed that, in such a small place, they all had to know each other. So he had no alternative but to dominate his will. While radiating the mental order, he said:

"Great, let's go to your desk." Igor signaled to the door.

The policeman, followed by then, walked naturally and sat down. When he logged into the computer, Igor said:

"Check there if a Eduarda Vargas, maiden name, twenty years old, got a passport. Search up to six months in the past."

"Negative, nothing appears," he replied after a few minutes of research.

"And Eduarda Montenegro?" the wizard asked again.

"It also does not appear." said the federal agent.

"Thank you," said the wizard. "When I leave and say goodbye, you will forget that you saw me and everything that happened now, understood?"

"Yes," he replied, with a monotonous voice, as if hypnotized. Igor opened the door and pulled his friend. Before closing it, a simple word sprouted from his lips:

"Goodbye."

On the street, they returned to the car with their own appearances. Valdo started the vehicle and tried to get out of there as soon as possible, as he felt nothing safe.

"Now ride to the police palace," commanded Igor. "Let's go in from behind. On Ipiranga Avenue you take João Pessoa Avenue who must have a parking lot."

"Ok, but there is a lot of ground ahead until we get there, so relax." Valdo laughed. "With these your powers it is very easy to do these things."

"Don't delude yourself that I'm not All Powerful and much less indestructible," warned Igor.

Almost an hour later they got out of the car and, when they left the parking lot, Igor made them look like the policemen who visited him at college. Astonished, he realized that it seemed like it was an eternity ago, but that happened just under three years. They entered and looked for a room with a computer terminal. Igor did the desired searches without difficulty, because he obtained the access of a young investigator by the same method used in the federal agent. They didn't take long to find a clue.

"Look here, Valdinho. This little countryside town, on the border of Santa Catarina. A four hundred percent increase in crime statistics in the last month. And be amazed, but it has a small airport that is a perfect thing for clandestine flights of arms and drug trafficking from Paraguay or surroundings."

"And now?"

"Now?" Igor laughed. "Now I'm going to Santa Sofia to see this up close. Let's go to my house."

"Don't you think it would be better to look for other locations, in case this one doesn't turn out positive?" asked the friend. "After all, it doesn't make sense to come back here, if something goes wrong."

"You are absolutely right." Igor smiled and picked up a block on the table, making notes. When he finished, he approached a map of the state that was on the wall and located the cities. He turned to his friend and said, whistling. "I gathered the four main cities. And guess what: Santa Sofia is in the middle, surrounded by the others on this side of the country. Let's go."

On the way out, they took another corridor and got lost because the police palace was a large and old building where its interior looked like a real labyrinth for those who did not belong to the corporation. Under the command of the wizard, they did not attract attention because they acted as if they were policemen and had the badges hanging around their necks, but they walked a good bit until they found an elevator.

Igor smiled and entered with Valdo. Against all odds, since the policemen they pretended to be belonged to another station that was on Bento Gonçalves Avenue, they came face to face with them shortly after entering. Except for Igor, everyone widened their eyes and frightened. The true cup, whom Igor imitated, had more presence of mind and pulled the gun, but to his horror the barrel began to melt as if it were a popsicle in the scorching heat of summer.

With the elevator in motion they could not escape without revealing part of the truth and the use of hypnosis was limited, besides having a short effect. So, Igor appealed to the most practical, atavistic and efficient method: brute force. Without worrying, he knocked out the two policemen with two well-applied punches so as not to hurt them. Having done that and with a Valdo still too scared to react, he took his friend's hand and dematerialized from there to the car.

At home, they made the final adjustments and Igor left a copy of the house key for his friend to look after. When they said goodbye, Valdo said:

"Take care, brother," he hugged him. "Don't rush that he is stronger, but I know he is not smarter. Take care of Dudinha."

"Thank you, Valdinho." Igor returned the hug. "Cheer for us that this fight will be very complicated. And always remember: if the creature appears to you, try to avoid at all costs that it touches you."

― ☼ ―

Fictitious name. A. N.