BlueBattler

Now that I14 is in Open Beta, I'll also post the two current Published Arcs that I have:

Synapse's Island (very short) Id 1446

The Terra Cure (Very long) ID 1888


Check them out, please!

... you're not sure you want to go?


Everyone gets their ideas in different ways, I'm sure.

I've been writing since I was 14 years old. Often I would sit down and begin writing (by hand!) without the slightest idea of what I was going to write about. More than once I have written stories that turned out much differently than I expected.

And sometimes ... sometimes I know exactly what I'm going to write before I start it. I have the final scene mapped out in my head before I type the first letter of the first sentence...

What popped into my head tonight? Why am I bringing this up rather than listening to my muse ...?

Because it's about Dominatrix. And Tyrant. And that thing that is hinted-- rather strongly-- about in Domi's bio.

I'm not talking something overt here. I'm talking about how each of them view their relationship ...

I'm not sure I should actually write this piece, let alone post it.

This isn't the first idea I've had about doing a Praetorian piece. When I wrote about Mynx and Synapse, I found myself thinking exactly how Bobcat and Neuron relate to each other ... and even as I've been writing this post I've found myself thinking about Chimera, Mother Mayhem, and Malaise ...

There's some fairly dark stuff there, folks.

But of them all, I think that the Dominatrix and Tyrant is the one that daunts me ...

I guess I'm wondering two things here.

1) Has this happened to anyone else here? Either in regards to COH or some other form of writing?

2) Are there people willing to read it if I do write my Dominatrix and Tyrant piece?

I'm thinking of one shot character pieces about the Praetorians as opposed to writing prolonged stories ...

Of course that's how my Clockwork King started ... ;-)

“How are you, Blue?”

Cold, I want to say, but don’t. I haven’t been warm since I woke up without my powers. All my life I burnt with an inner fire, but the Rikti put it out.

No, it’s worse than that. The Rikti stole it from me and someone else is using it now—someone is using it to kill.

“Blue?” Her name is Blue Battlette. At least, that’s the code name she took when she decided to become a Cape. She says that I rescued her from Perez Park one night after all her friends had been killed or worse. She took that name to honor me.

I don’t remember that night.

There have been so many nights. So many people that I saved. At first, you remember all of them—every person you save, every one that you fail to save. You remember their faces, their names. How they look at you when you arrive in the nick of time—the way the survivors look at you when you’re just a moment too late to save someone else …

But then you start to forget.

It shames me that I don’t remember the night that meant so much to Bluette. She’s not a Hero of the City yet, but she’s done more than her fair share of rescues and arrests. She shouldn’t still look at me like that—shouldn’t look at me like I was still a Hero of the City, still the man who had been capable of saving her life.

I can’t save anyone, anymore. Not even myself.

“Blue?” Bluette takes her helmet off and looks at me. “Are you all right?”

No, I want to say. I’m an Ex-Hero whose amputated right arm is being used to commit murder and mayhem. I just found out that the technology that my Kheldian cousin Drake Griffin used to save my life is potent enough to heal me from a near-fatal magic-based injury. I don’t have time for self-pity or angst, but it's almost impossible to think about anything other than what I've lost.

I want to say that, but I don’t. She won’t understand. She can’t. I pray that she never has to.

So I kiss her instead.

She’s warm and she’s beautiful and she wants me. It’s almost enough to rekindle the fire that’s been dead in me since I woke up after I lost my arm.

Almost.

After a moment, she stiffens against me and we part. Her eyes are wide and dark and she says nothing for a moment. “You’re not going to let me help you do this, are you?”

“No. I’m sorry, Bluette. I can’t. This is my responsibility. It’s my power. It’s my arm. I have to take care of this.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed, Blue.” She puts her helmet back on, the helmet that totally hides her face. “You’re going to go after whoever it is with nothing but a metal arm and some extra healing and you’re going to die. You’re going to die, and he’s going to go on killing because you’re too proud to accept my help.”

I don’t say anything. She’s not a Hero of the City. If he’s as powerful as I think he may be, she won’t stand a chance. He’ll kill her.

I won’t let that happen. I’ve lost friends … and lovers. I won’t lose anyone else if I can help it.

“To hell with you then, Blue! Get yourself killed! I don’t care! I don’t!”

She rockets into the sky, activating her cloak of invisibility as she does so.

“Painstake, I know you’re up there. Come on down, please.”

The ground shakes as the big tank jumps down from the rooftop he’d been hiding on. He looks at me, his face hidden beneath his own helmet. “She’s right, Blue. Ya can’t do this alone, bro. You’re going to need backup.”

“Maybe.” In fact, I have a plan, but I’m not ready to talk about it yet. “I could use your help right now, old friend.”

“Sure thing, Blue. Whatcha need?”

“That Fortune Teller. The one who told you that I was in danger. Where can I find her?”

The only hero that I have that murdered someone before becoming a super hero is a serial killer possessed by the spirit of one of his victims who forces him to do good.

Which he hates.

In my head, Azuria keeps a close eye on him in case he should manage to free himself. That's how I justify it.

Something else to consider about the Cabal ...

There are times when they display signs of compassion and regret.

In one of the early missions where they are torturing ghosts you hear some of them expressing regret for what they're doing.

Also, I think the bio information of one of the bosses say something to the effect that they do feel compassion for humanity ...

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Oh, and the thing about the younger ones looking for men... well, you can often find a spawn of two Cabal Minions cornering a man in Salamanca proper...

[/ QUOTE ]

Considering the fact that the younger Cabalists are actually pretty damn hot, I always feel a little jealous of those guys...

[/ QUOTE ]

What always amuses me is how the guys thank you for saving them from those dangerous, beautiful women ...

Just so everyone knows, I have been pondering how to adapt this story to Mission Architect. Hopefully I'll come up with something that everyone will enjoy as much as they have this story.

When I14 is in Open Beta I'll be posting a request to have some volunteers run through it for me. Hopefully, some of you would be willing to help me out.

Journal Entry 019


Pop lost his job today.

I knew it was coming. He’d started drinking again. I was just glad that I had managed to use the money I got from ‘Slide to pay the rent for the next three months. Pop was too drunk to care where I got the money …

It’s not fair!

Every time we start to get ahead … every time I think that Pop is finally going to straighten up he falls off the wagon and we wind up right back where we started. Hell, if I hadn’t had that money, we‘d be out on the streets right now!

Why do I have to pay the rent on our dump of an apartment? Why do I have to look out for him? He’s my father! He’s supposed to take care of me!

No wonder Mom left …

Dad used his last pay check to buy a couple bottles of booze and locked himself in his bedroom. I heard him saying that he should just clear out … that things would be better for him if he didn’t have a freak[ to look out for …

He says that every time he gets drunk.

I knew better than to stick around when he starts talking like that. He starts breaking things when he gets that drunk. Breaking things … like me.

I wanted to hang out with Char … I mean, the Outcasts … but I stopped by Mighty Mart first to see if I could pick up that Miss Liberty Poster that Mr. Lee had promised me.

Mr. Lee’s a great guy. He’s let me buy sandwiches and soda on credit so I’d have something to eat when Pop drinks up the grocery money. He’s given me after school jobs so I could buy Freedom Phalanx merchandise and magazines from him. He’s even given me stuff. For free!

As soon as I walked into Mighty Mart, I knew there was trouble.

“Get out! Out! Out of my store before I call the Policeman on you!”

For answer, I heard a shelf being knocked over.

If it had been anyone else, I would have turned around and walked out. It’s not my job to get my nose into other people’s problems. Sure, I wanted to be a hero like Statesman, but I wasn’t exactly up to fighting for truth and justice just yet …

But it was Mr. Lee--!

“Get out of my store!” Mr. Lee said, and I could hear the fear in his voice. I’d never heard him scared before. I didn’t like.

“Shut up, you old nat!”

I froze. I knew that voice.

“We just want some beer, old man. No reason to get all crazy on us. We’ll even pay for it.”

I knew that voice too.

“Shut up, ‘Slide. We don’t owe this nat anything! We’re the Outcasts! We’ll take what we want!”

I felt an icy anger take fire within me. I walked into sight. “Landslide. Deep Freeze. Fancy meeting you here.”

“Frost!” Landslide was carrying a six pack. Deep Freeze had grabbed Mr. Lee by the collar of his shirt. He’s not a particularly tall kid for his age, but Mr. Lee is a very small man.

“Leonard!” Mr. Lee said. “Get out of here! Call the police! Run!”

“Let him go, Freeze.” I did not recognize my own voice. It was a cold, hard thing.

“’Leonard?’” Freeze snickered. “What are you going to do if I don’t, ‘Leonard?’” He raised his hand and summoned his howling sword of ice.

“Freeze, that’s enough.” Landslide set the six pack down. “It’s Frostfire! He’s an Outcast! We don’t fight Outcasts!”

“He’s no Outcast! He’s not one of us!”

“Char doesn’t think so.” I said it knowing that it would make Freeze mad.

Freeze dropped Mr. Lee and charged me with his ice sword.

I caught it with a blazing right hand and seized his wrist with my left. “Think you’re cold, Freeze? This is cold!”

Freeze howled in pain as his arm began to be covered in a thick layer of ice.

“Frost! Let him go!” ‘Slide ripped a massive hammer out of the floor. “Don’t make me hurt you, man!”

I stared into Landslide’s eyes for a long time. “Get him out of here, ‘Slide. If he ever comes back into this store I’ll freeze him solid!”

I let go of Freeze’s wrist.

Moaning, he let Landslide take his shoulder and lead him out of the store. He glared back at me, and I saw both hatred and fear in his eyes.

And somehow … that pleased me.

“Leonard?” Mr. Lee gasped.

“Mr. Lee? Are you all right?”

“I am fine, Leonard. You—you’re –“

“I’m a mutant. I can control fire and ice. I call myself Frostfire.”

“Leonard …”

The fear in Mr. Lee’s eyes I didn’t like at all.

“Mr. Lee?”

“Get out, Leonard. Get out of my store and don’t come back.”

I flinched. “Because I’m a mutant?”

“No, Leonard.” Mr. Lee rose up to his full height, and I realized for the first time that he had to look up to look me in the eyes. “Because you’re one of them. One of the bad boys.”

“I’m not! I helped you! I saved you! I’m a hero! A hero!”

“I saw what you did, Leonard. I saw the look in your eyes. You like it. You liked his fear. His pain. You liked making him afraid. You like hurting.” He shook his head. “You are going to bring much pain and suffering into the world.”

I stared into his eyes … his fearful eyes … and I turned to go. “I saved you, Mr. Lee. If I hadn’t been here, he might have killed you! This isn’t fair! It’s not right!”

“Go, Leonard. Go before I call the police.”

I walked to the door. “I saved you. I’m a hero. I’m going to be a real hero. You’ll see, Mr. Lee. You’ll all see!”

I tossed an ice bolt at the six pack that ‘Slide had left behind. “That could have been you, Mr. Lee.”

“And who would have done that to me, Leonard? The boy or you?”

I left without answering.

This is not how I wanted to die.

Through the green mists I can see the Circle of Thorns chanting in their harsh, cruel voices. I can see their demonic cohorts and spectral allies watching me—watching us as we writhe helplessly in the grip of their eldritch might. I also see my fellow prisoners, each struggling in their own way to free themselves from the power that holds him.

Green Justice—well, Justin Greene—exchanges desperate glances with Officer Hicks from the Outbreak Zone. Together, the two of them run a Support Program for other Heroes who have lost their powers. Rumor has it that they’re more than just friends, and perhaps that’s why they seem to have eyes only for each other in this madness.

Or perhaps it’s because they’re the reason we’re in this mess in the first place.

“Desmond, don’t do this! We’re your friends! Don’t do this! Let us go!” Greene should have known that the Death Mage leading the chant wasn’t Desmond anymore. Desmond’s quest to restore his powers had led him to make a bargain with the COT—he hadn’t known until it was too late that he wasn’t just selling his friends—he was selling his soul.

“Fool! Desmond Steele no longer exists!” the Death Mage laughs harshly. “His body is ours now! His soul writhes in torment, feeding the Infernal Prince who gives us our power! You will join him, and then your bodies will be used to lure in heroes who have not lost their powers! Their might will become ours, and the world will belong to Oranbega once more!”

Phillipa Meraux eyes blaze with hatred. Clandestine had lost her powers as a result of a battle between the Rikti and the COT. Somehow, it seemed cosmically unjust that she should lose her life—and more—to them.

As for me, I’m afraid. I don’t show it. I can’t. I’m just Jake Montoya now, but I didn’t show fear in front of the Clockwork King when he cost me my leg in my Red Tiger days. I’m not about to let these Robe Wearing punks have the satisfaction of seeing me sweat now.

“Let the others go. I’m sure your Prince would be more than happy to just have me.” He’s writhing in the air like the rest of us, but Drake Wagner—the Blue Battler—hasn’t said a word until now.

“We’ll have you and the others as well, Wagner!” the Death Mage laughs. “Your bargaining position is highly dubious to say the least!”

“I’ll fight you. We’ll all fight you. You may be able to steal our bodies, but you won’t be able to hold our souls. We’re not like Steele. We didn’t make a bargain. You can kill us—you can even take our bodies—but our souls—you won’t be able to send those to your Master. Once we’re dead, our souls will go elsewhere.” He pauses. “Let the others go and I’ll submit.”

“Damn it, Blue!” I roar. “Don’t you dare play the hero here!”

“We’re all heroes here!” Hicks cries. “Take me! Release Justin and the others and I’ll submit!”

“No! Take me!” Greene gasps.

“Me!” Phillipa screams. “Take me!”

“I stopped the Envoy of Shadows!” Blue shouts. “The others—they’re heroes, but I’m the one your Prince has a beef with! Imagine how much power he’d grant you for delivering him my soul!”

The Death Mage pauses—and he’s struck in the chest by a blast of blue energy!

“Blue!” A woman appears out of nowhere, a Targeting Drone hovering around her head. She’s wearing blue armor—armor that strongly resembles the kind that Blue Battler once wore.

“Bluette!” Blue’s surprise is unmistakable. “Get out of here! You’re no match for a Temple full of COT!”

We all fall to the floor, the binding magic shattered.

For the first time, I see fear on his face—not for himself, but rather for the heroine who calls herself Blue Battlette.

“You’re right!” Bluette tosses some caltrops on the floor and blasts another one of the COT. “But I brought some backup!”

“It won’t be enough!” the Death Mage cries. “Destroy her!”

Greene tackles one of the Thorn Casters. Hicks karate chops the wrist of one of the Soul Mages, knocking the staff out of his hand. Phillipa sweeps the feet out from a started Behemoth Lord.

I grab a rock and throw it at the Death Mage, cursing the Clockwork King again for the loss of the leg that would have given me a fighting chance at taking one of these punks down.

Blue climbs to his feet, his blue metallic arm glinting in the torch light. “Be careful, Bluette! Where’s that backup of yours?!”

“Right here, Blue!”

At first I think it’s a Behemoth Overlord talking as the sound comes from the general direction of two of the giant winged monstrosities. Then the Overlord doubles over as though someone’s punched him in the stomach and is literally knocked into mid-air.

“Painstake!” Blue shouts in relief. “You’re here!”

“Yeah, you know me, Blue. Can’t let you have all this fun to yourself!” The big ax-wielding Tank slams his weapon into the other Overlord.

Even with the Tank and Blaster, we’re still sorely outnumbered and outgunned. We’re a bunch of ex-heroes. By rights, we should have done what the typical hostage does in this situation and run for our lives.

But we don’t. We can’t.

Inside, we’re still heroes.

“You! You’re the cause of this!” the Death Mage wearing Steele’s body shrieks, glaring at Blue. “You’ll pay for this interruption! I’ll rip the soul from your body myself!”

Tenebrous Tentacles of living darkness wrap themselves around Blue Battler, immobilizing him.

With a strength born of madness, the Death Mage shoves Blue Battlette to one side and leaps on the struggling Blue Battler. “And thus I dispatch you!”

The sword is short, curved, and black as night. It stabs through Blue’s chest, piercing through to the other side.

“Blue!” With a roar of anger, the big Tank wades through Demons and Robed Mages as though they’re not there. “You son of a—you killed Blue!”

The Death Mage cackles. “Do what you will; Blue Battler will battle no more!”

Painstake’s reply is a massive sweep of his ax that sends the Death Mage flying.

“Blue! Blue!” Bluette removes her helmet and rushes to the side of the fallen man. “You can’t be dead! You can’t be!”

I curse the lost leg that leaves me limping my way to the fallen man. I know before I get there its too late. Mortal flesh can’t withstand the power of the dark blade of a hate-maddened Death Mage.

Phillipa and Hicks stand guard over the rest of us. Greene bends down and begins to whisper what words of comfort he can offer to the crying Bluette.

“Thanks for the save,” I tell the big Tank.

“Wish we coulda been here sooner,” Painstake says, taking his own helmet off. “I was helping a lowbie hero save a Fortuneteller from the COT when I found out about this thing going down. Bluette was the only backup I could find. We got here as soon as we could—“ He sighs. “But it looks like it wasn’t soon enough.”

“It’s not your fault. If it’s any consolation, I think that he probably preferred going out like this.” I kneel down by the fallen hero. “At least he wound up better off than my old buddy the Invisible Falcon.”

There’s a gaping wound on Blue’s chest. There’s no blood, but its stained and bubbling with black energy.

Bluette gasps “Look!”

The black energy fades, devoured by a green light. The green light glows brightly for a second, then fades away, leaving not even a scar to show that Blue had ever been injured.

Blue groans and opens his eyes. “Oh, man. What the hell just happened to me?!”

Since I don't have the room to post links to all my stories in my signature, I'm creating a post that links to all the stories that I have written so far. You may even find something that you haven't read before:




Like a Phoenix (Blue's Story)


Ashes and Ice (Frostfire's Story)


At Home With the Dead (Old Toby's Story)


A Future Without Heroes (A Future Paragon Story)


Sympathy for a Spider Lord (Lord Recluse's Story)


A Clockwork Princess (Hope's Story)


The Conscious of a King (A Clockwork Tale)


Survivors: (A Statesman/Sister Psyche Story)


Kat Scratched Fever (Mynx's Story)


Kidd Koldd's Konquest of Croatoa


Dark Genesis (Simon's Tale)


Girlbot 3000 vs. the Rogue Robots (An E Comic)



Wow. That's a lot if I say so myself ...

[ QUOTE ]
Why don't you have the Lord Recluse story in your sig?

SO MAD

[/ QUOTE ]

Because I need more room than I have.

[ QUOTE ]
Tinyurl, Blue. It'll help you fit more threads into your signature.

[/ QUOTE ]

I did use tinyurl. That's how I was able to get three in. Can't seem to get a fourth.

Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.

It wasn't in the signature because I have more stories than I have space.

Thanks for the write up on "Ashes and Ice" , Mr. G.

Journal Entry 017


“Frost? Frostfire, wake up. C’mon. Don’t scare us like this.”

“Him okay. Me save him.”

“You’re the one who put him in danger, you big jerk!” It was Char’s voice. Blazing with anger, I could feel the heat from her without opening my eyes. “He could have left you to burn and you brought the building down on top of him!”

Grendel growled. “Grendel not like fire girl. Grendel will smash her if she doesn’t shut her mouth.”

“Try it, you big—“

I decided at that point that I had better open my eyes. “I’m okay!”

“Told you,” Grendel rumbled. “Frostfire Grendel’s friend. Grendel not hurt his friends.” He looked at me. “Grendel go now. Grendel have things to do.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked him, curious.

“Grendel have big plans. Grendel is going to make Family pay. And Robe Men. Grendel is going to be big man. Grendel remember Frostfire. Grendel owe Frostfire. Grendel go now.”

“Goodbye,” I said.

“Goodbye.” Char had slipped an arm around my waist. I didn’t know if she thought I needed the support or not, but it felt awfully nice …

Landslide and Deep Freeze didn’t say anything to Grendel as the big guy left. They were both looking at me. Landslide looked sad, but Deep Freeze … Deep Freeze was scowling.

“We’d better get out of here before the cops and firemen get here,” Landslide said. “You coming, Frost?”

Char slipped her hand into mine. “Come on. You can see our place.”

“All right.” I had time. Pop wouldn’t be home from work yet. I could check out the Outcasts’ place and be home before he got back … ‘specially if he took time to stop at the bar after.

Char reached into her pocket with her free hand and gave the cash to Landslide. She looked at him expectantly.

‘Slide counted the bills and handed me a wad of cash. “Your share, Frost.”

Char coughed.

“You earned it,” he added.

Deep Freeze scowled again.

“Let’s go,” Landslide took off running.

Freeze glared at me.

“Go on, Freeze,” Char said. “We’ll be right behind you.”

He scowled, but turned and ran.

I moved to follow, but Char stopped me.

I looked at her.

“You saved my life, Frost. If not for you, I’m sure that thing would have killed me!”

“I wouldn’t have let him hurt you,” I promised her.

“I know.” She slipped her arms around my neck. “I just wanted to say thanks.” She pulled my mouth down to hers and kissed me. “Thanks.”

It was a good kiss. It was the best kiss ever.

And then we heard the sirens.

“We’d better go,” Char said reluctantly.

“Right.” I did my best not to look like that was the first kiss I’d ever had. “Let’s go.”

I took her hand, and we ran.

He doesn’t look like a killer.

Drake Wagner aka Blue Battler aka “Blue”. A former Hero of the City deactivated when he lost his armor, his weapon, and his powers. His days in King’s Row were before my time, but judging by the cheers he got as he was led into the Station he’s not been forgotten.

“Do you think he did it?” I ask Freitag as Blue’s statement is taken by a uniform.

“DNA doesn’t lie, Becktrees.” Freitag states. “His was found at the crime scene. You know the kind of work that Crey does. Many depowered Capes have been known to go rogue when trying to regain their abilities.”

“He just doesn’t seem the type. My gut tells me he’s not our man.”

“’Guts’ are no replacement for proven forensics science.”

The uniform finishes up with Blue, hands him a cup of coffee, and walks over to us. “He’s not our guy.”

“What makes you say that?”

“He’s got an ironclad alibi. The night it all went down he was in therapy with Hicks and Greene’s support group.”

“Kind of hard to commit murder when you’ve got both a cop and a former Cape as your alibi.” I glance over at Freitag. He’s a good cop—a little too by the book for my tastes, but he’s not the kind of guy who’ll stay married to a theory once it’s proven false.

“Let’s lay our cards on the table with Mr. Wagner. Perhaps he can offer some suggestions.” If he’s disappointed he doesn’t show it.

We walk over to Blue. He finishes his coffee and looks at us. “So what’s the verdict? Do I need to lawyer up?”

Freitag doesn’t rise to the bait. He walks over to his computer and pulls up the case file. “Ordinarily I wouldn’t be showing this information to a civilian, but given your … background….”

“No offense, but I hope you’re not leading up to a job offer. It seems like everyone I’ve met recently has wanted me to go to work for them.” Blue’s grinning as he says that. It’s the first time I’ve seen him smile since I met him.

“Orpheus Industries. A biotech firm … in King’s Row?” He looks at us. “That’s new. Most of that stuff winds up in Bricks or Talos.”

“It’s a startup company,” I tell him. “And the rent here’s a lot cheaper than it is in Bricks.” That’s an understatement. With the garment trade gone, there’s not much business to speak of in the Row at all. Crey’s got a few offices, but bars and gun shops tend to be our most flourishing enterprises. Orpheus had gotten their building for a song.

“So … any unusual stories about them? Odd deliveries the dead of night? Suspicious characters working for them? Mystic ceremonies? Walking vegetables?”

“Not that I know of. Freitag?”

“They hadn’t been in business long. They had some of the usual run ins with the Skulls, but nothing serious. Skulls will kill, but they don’t do anything like this. It was a slaughter, Blue.”

“How many?”

“Six.”

“Six people?” Blue’s eyes get hard. I can see the Hero in his eyes. You can take the costume and the ID away, but you can’t take away what made you do it in the first place. “How did they die?”

“Burnt to death. Scorch marks were on the floor. The bodies showed signs of severe burns consistent with the use of a Blaster’s Fire Sword.”

“Six people.” His robotic fist clenches tightly. “Six people killed in a way made it to look that I was the culprit.”

“The hazards of being a Hero, Blue. You know that.”

“Gungnir. I was wondering if I had wasted my only telephone call.” Blue reaches out and clasps the hand of the tall man that walks toward him. “Good to see you again, buddy.”

“Gungnir.” Freitag’s eyes narrow as he looks up at the tall Blaster with the long hair and beard. He’s tolerant of Capes that work with the system, but even I know that Gung has mostly dropped off the official radar years ago. He’s still around, but he doesn’t work with official channels. He’s about as close to rogue as you can get without being arrested for it. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Someone has to keep an eye on you. It’s not like I can trust the PPD to find the right guy.”

I feel my own hackles rise at that. I can see why Gungnir’s not popular with my fellow cops.

“You know anything about Orpheus, Gung?”

“I know more than the PPD … which isn’t saying much.” He tosses a DVD to Freitag. “Video surveillance the night of the crime scene.”

“We got the video too. It didn’t show much of anything. Given that Blue’s armor had Phase and Stealth, we assumed he just snuck in that way.”

“Um, you guys did know that I lost my powers and my armor?” Blue points out. “If I had the power to do that, why would I have gone rogue?”

Freitag has the sense to look sheepish. Me, I just keep m y head down and hope no one notices me blushing.

“Gung, why didn’t the tapes show an intruder?”

“The first thing I suspected was the real tapes had been replaced. Given that Orpheus is a Crey front—“

“Orpheus is independent,” I interrupt. “There’s no paper trail connecting them at all to Crey.”

Gung rolls his eyes. “And you know this how?”

“We ran a check—“

“Using Crey software on Crey built computers.”

“Everything’s a Crey plot to you, Gungnir,” Freitag retorts. “If there’s not enough cream in your coffee you think the Countess is behind it.”

“Guys, you’re not going to win this argument. Trust me.” Blue raises his hands. “Besides, he’s probably right. A biotech firm in King’s Row that comes out of nowhere? With my DNA being found on the scene? The likelihood of Crey not being involved in Orpheus is about the same as the possibility that I’m not going to wear blue tomorrow.”

“So you’re thinking that the Countess set up this corporation for the sole purpose of implicating Blue in a crime?”

“Even I’m not that paranoid,” Gungnir shrugs. “Orpheus was set up a few years ago, long before Blue lost his powers. Strange as it seems, this is one of those rare cases when I don’t think the Crey have anything to do with the crime.”

“You said at first you thought the tapes had been replaced,” Blue said. “That implies they weren’t.”

“No. They weren’t.” Gungnir turns to Freitag. “Put the DVD in. The quality isn’t what I’d like, but you should see what happened.”

Grumbling, my partner does what he’s told.

The exterior cameras are what’s shown first. There’s a moment of static, but otherwise nothing. At least I don’t see anything …

“What the--?” Blue turns to Gungnir.

“You saw it then.” The tall Blaster looks oddly proud of him.

“Yeah. The time stamp. There’s a jump.” Blue replays the scene. “A fifteen second jump.”

“How did you spot that?” Freitag asks the former Hero with a trace of respect in his eyes.

“If you’d ever had to hunt for hostages or clues in Orange Bagel you’d get pretty good at spotting the little details.”

“Orange Bagel?” I blink.

“The COT city. Underground.”

“Oranbega,” Gungnir says in an exasperated tone of voice. “As often as you’ve been there, Blue, you’d learn how to pronounce it.”

“Isn’t that what I said?” Blue asks with a smile. “So the time jump …” He rubs his chin thoughtfully. “EMP?”

“EMP,” Gungnir confirms. “Small, not enough to fry the camera, but enough to take it offline for a few seconds to give the intruder a chance to get inside the facility.”

“What about the internal cameras?” Blue asks.

“We checked on that, but they’d been fried,” I told him. “No recoverable data at all.”

“That right, Gung?”

“Almost.” For the first time since he walked in, Gungnir looks uncomfortable. “I got a single image.”

“Let’s see it. Maybe I’ll recognize this guy.”

“Blue … maybe you shouldn’t watch this.”

“What?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Whoever this is, they killed six people in a way to make it look like I was the one behind it. It may be someone I put away. Someone who’s carrying a grudge. You may not know who it is. The cops may not know him. But if there’s a chance I know him, then I have to watch. I’m a Hero—was a Hero, Gung. I’ve seen death before. Let me see it.”

Gungnir says nothing more. He just leans over and presses the play button on Freitag’s computer.

The image isn’t very clear. It a man wearing a trench coat and hat, but all we have is a rear shot . He’s raising his arm to bring a flaming sword down on a cowering scientist …

Blue gasps like he’s been shot.

The arm is covered in blue armor!

Gungnir lays a hand on Blue’s shoulder.

“My—my arm.” Blue glances down at the metallic right limb attached to his shoulder and back at the screen. “That’s my arm! He has my arm! My real arm!”

Nothing to add to what I've already said, but this is such an excellent story I want to bring it to the front so more people can discover it.

(Oh, and I hope you someday show the spirit of Oranabega ...)

I like this.

“Thank you for stopping by, Mr. Wagner. I appreciate your willingness to discuss a position with Portal Corporation.”

“It’s no problem, Dr. MacIntyre. And call me Blue. Or Drake.”

“Only if you call me Tina.” Blue smiles at me and I find myself wishing I were at least ten years younger. He’s a fine looking young man … calm down, Tina. No reason to get all starry eyed. It’s not like I hadn’t worked with him before.

“Tina.” He nods and self consciously rubs his prosthetic right arm. “It seems like I have more job offers as an ex-Hero than I ever did before.” He looks at me again. “But I have to admit that I was kind of curious as to why you wanted to offer me a job. Believe me, I’m no scientist.”

“Perhaps not, but you are an explorer.” He’s not the way I remember him. He always used to be so full of life … “You have fine survival skills. And you’re a leader. The heroes of Paragon have done a fine job, and they’re always here for us when we need them, but Portal Corporation needs to learn to stand on its own two feet. My team … my first team …” Brian. More than twenty years later, and I still feel the loss as though it happened yesterday. I still have my work … but I don’t have Brian …

“Are you all right, Tina?”

“I’m fine, Blue.” No sense in tell him of my heartache. Even when he was a Hero of the City Blue Battler couldn’t change the past. “So what do you think?”

Blue shrugged his shoulders. “Ms. Liberty has offered me a position in Longbow, but I’m not sure that I’d be right for that. I was my own boss for too long to be a soldier in someone else’s army … even if it’s a cause I believe in.”

“I see.” There’s a light in his eyes when he says her name, and a certain wistfulness in his voice. I’m almost jealous. It’s been a long time since a man reacted like that to me. The ones that I had met after … they had been good men, but they hadn’t been Brian. And now … now I’m fast heading into what my grandmother would call full-on spinsterhood. “So you might be willing to work for Portal? Even if you would prefer not to be a full time employee, we could use a special consultant.”

“I’m thinking about it. It does feel like a good fit. Something … something that I could do and not feel like a charity case or a cog in someone else’s machine. Maybe … I don’t want to commit to anything just yet, but I’m definitely going to think about it.”

“That’s all I can hope for then.” I smile at him. “Would you like a tour of the facilities before you go? I can even show you the places that we didn’t normally allow Heroes.”

Before Blue can reply, two men come walking up towards us. I recognize one of them as being Detective Selnum, one of the Peregrine Island PPD Hero Contacts. He’s a nice man … and rather handsome. Periodically, he asks me out for coffee. One of these days I may even work up the nerve to accept.

But the look in his eyes tells me he’s not here for a social visit. “Dr. MacIntyre.”

“Detective. How may I help you?”

“We’re not here to talk with you, ma’am.” The other man with Detective Selnum flashes a PPD badge at us. He’s much younger than Selnum, perhaps even younger than Blue. He’s thin, and looks like he smiles a lot, but he’s not smiling now. “I’m Detective Becktrees. King’s Row PPD. We’re here to talk with Mr. Wagner here.”

I see Blue wince as his civilian name is used, but he doesn’t otherwise react. “What can I do for you, Detective?”

“We’re going to ask you to come along quietly, Mr. Wagner. You’re under arrest.”

“Arrest?” I blurt out. “What’s the charge?”

Becktrees looks at me, and then at Blue. “Murder.”

Cole Richter awoke screaming.

“Cole! Cole, baby! Wake up! It’s Justine! You’re safe! You’re safe! It’s just a dream! You’re having the dream again!”

Cole gasped and took a long shuddering breath. “Justine?”

“I’m here, baby. I’m here. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Cole opened his eyes and stared at the beautiful redhead. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” He held up his hands that blazed with electrical energy—not the blood red lightning of his Mu teachers, but rather an azure hue that was almost white. “You really shouldn’t stay here when I fall asleep. Who knows what might happen?”

“Night Widows like to live dangerously, love.” Justine gave him that same slow sensual smile that he had fallen in love with last summer. “You should know that by now.”

Cole laughed and turned his head away as she got out of bed and headed to her uniform.

“My, what a gentleman.”

“Chivalry has nothing to do with it, baby.” Cole got out of his side of the bed and reached for his own clothing. “I’m supposed to meet with Scirocco right after breakfast, and I can’t afford to be late again. Father has a certain tolerance for my … appetites, but he hates it when I fail to live up to my responsibilities.”

“And I suppose that I should be going as well. I may be the best Night Widow around—”

“You certainly aren’t the most modest one.”

“How many other Widows do you know who have attained my rank at nineteen?”

“Strength is rewarded in Arachnos, not seniority,” Cole said in a mock serious tone.

“As I was saying,” and Cole could tell she was glaring at him even though he hadn’t yet turned around. “I may be the best Night Widow around, but I can’t afford to shirk my responsibilities either. I have patrol duty tonight. The Arbiters are concerned that the Paragon Rebels may yet try to disrupt the bicentennial of your father’s ascension to power.”

“I’ll never understand them,” Cole said. He checked himself out in the mirror. He wasn’t particularly tall, but his lean body was trim and muscular. He wore the black and red colors of Arachnos, but his clothing was made of the finest silk rather than the black armor of a Soldier of Arachnos. With his strength and resistance to harm, he didn’t need the protection. “Father has brought peace and prosperity to a war ravaged world. This would be a dead planet if not for the tireless work of Lord Recluse. Why on Earth would anyone have a problem with what he has done?”

“There are some things that are more important than prosperity, Cole,” Justine said in an odd tone of voice.

He glanced at her curiously. “Justine?”

The redhead smiled at him gently. “You wouldn’t understand, love.” She walked over and kissed him gently on the lips. “Will I be able to see you tonight?”

“I think so. Father wants to have dinner with me, but I should be able to meet with you afterwards.”

“I’ll be counting the minutes.” She slipped her helmet on and headed for the door. “Cole?”

“Yes?”

“Even after all this time, you’ve never told me. Just what do you dream about that causes you to wake up screaming?”

“It’s the strangest thing.” Cole turned and looked at her with strangely haunted eyes. “I see the face of my father—and he’s laughing.”

I like this!

Journal Entry 016

Landslide gasped. “Kill that thing!”

Deep Freeze formed another ice sword. Char raised her fiery hands again.

“No!” I shouted, shoving Char’s hands aside so that the blast missed the thing that called itself Grendel. “We can’t!”

“Why not?” Landslide was retching, but he managed to climb back to his feet. “He’s a monster!”

“And to the nats so are we!”

I don’t know why I said that. We were in danger every second we stayed near that thing. The smart thing to do would be to get out of dodge—or kill it where it stood.

But I couldn’t do that. Heroes don’t kill.

The Grendel-thing stared at me with eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. “You no hurt Grendel? You Grendel’s friend?”

“I don’t want to be your enemy. We didn’t come here to hurt you, Grendel. We came …” I paused. “We came to save you!”

“What?” Freeze gasped.

Char elbowed him in the stomach.

“We heard you cry out! We came in to help! We were just … surprised by you.”

Grendel stared at me for a long moment. “Free me and Grendel be your friend forever.”

“How can we free you?” I studied the chain. It was thick, but as strong as it looked I couldn’t see how it could hold something as powerful as Grendel.

And then I saw them: glowing symbols on the chains.

“Magic,” Grendel grunted. “Family talk to Robe Men. They give chain to hold Grendel. Grendel make the Robe Men pay someday. Grendel will dig them out and rip their throats out.”

“Is there a key, Grendel?”

“A key?” Grendel blinked.

“Something to unlock the chains. You know, a key?”

“A key? Grendel knows what a key is! Grendel not stupid!” He blinked again. “Grendel smart … used to be smarter. Grendel told them he would make new drug … make Family a lot of money … Grendel made himself strong! Grendel made himself …” He growled. “Grendel not like to think! It hurt!”

“The key, Grendel. Where is the key? Do they keep it here or did the guy who ran have it?”

“Safe,” Grendel answered after another blink. “Key in safe with money.”

“Money?” Landslide gasped. “How much money?”

“Lot of money,” Grendel grunted. “Grendel made Family big money. They wouldn’t give it to him. So he took ‘Dyne … they found out and made him take more ‘Dyne … Grendel told them it was too much but they wouldn’t stop … they made Grendel … they made me … they made …”

He roared and shook his chains. “Grendel will make them all pay!”

“The safe, Grendel. Where’s the safe?” I didn’t know if it was a good idea or not to free him, but I didn’t want to leave him chained up like a dog. He was a person … or at least had used to be. He wasn’t a mutant, but he was more like us than the nats were.

And besides, a hero would never leave someone chained up who didn’t deserve it.

“Safe there,” Grendel pointed to a darkened office.

“All right then. We’ll go get the key for you,” Landslide said, heading to the safe.

“Grendel wait. And so will girl.”

With unbelievable speed for something so huge, Grendel lashed out and grabbed Char. One of his massive hands gripped her neck. “Grendel get key. You get girl.”

“Char!” Landslide formed a stone hammer. “Give her back!”

Grendel grunted.

“Grendel, let her go.” I didn’t shout. I was as calm as ice.

Grendel looked at me again. “Grendel no fool. You take money and leave Grendel chained. Grendel give you girl back safe if you free Grendel.”

“Grendel, I promise that I’ll free you, but I won’t do that while you hold Char like that. You said you would be my friend. Friends don’t hurt friends. Let her go.”

Grendel stared at me.

“Let’s go get the money—I mean, the key!” Freeze muttered.

Landslide paused.

“Grendel, please. She’s my friend. Let her go.”

Grendel said nothing for a moment. “You promise to free Grendel?”

“I promise. Frostfire promises.”

“Then Grendel let girl go.” He did.

Char ran into my arms and hugged me tightly. She was sobbing.

I turned to Landslide and Deep Freeze. “All right. To the office, then.”

We walked into the office. It wasn’t hard at all to find the safe. It was big and clunky, and looked like something out of an old movie.

“I got this.” Landslide swung his mighty hammer … it dented the safe, but shattered with the impact.

“My turn,” Freeze boasted. He swung his ice sword again … and again it broke into pieces.

“You’re batting a thousand tonight, Freeze.” I couldn’t resist laughing at him. Maybe I shouldn’t have, but that guy had been giving me the cold shoulder since I met him.

I’ll try.” Char broke free from me, and began throwing bolts of fire at the safe, but it didn’t so much as get warm.

“You wanna give it a try, Frostfire?” Landslide asked me.

“He can’t do anything that Char or I can’t,” Freeze said with a frosty gaze at me. “He’s probably weaker than both of us.”

“I am not weak!” I grabbed the front of the safe.

Cold.

Hot.

Cold.

Hot.

Cold …

Hot!

The front of the safe literally melted in my grasp …

And promptly set the floor on fire.

“You idiot!” Freeze said.

“Char, get the money! We’ve got to get out of here!” Landslide ordered.

“The key! We can’t go without the key!”

“Forget the key! You want to be burned alive?!” Landslide and Deep Freeze began running for the door.

Immune to the flames, Char managed to grab a double handful of cash. “Come on, Frostfire! We have to go!”

“No! Grendel’ll be burned alive! We have to get the key!”

Char gave me a look, and then turned and ran for the door.

The fire couldn’t burn me, but I could feel the heat. My clothes caught on fire. The air began to scorch my lungs.

But I had to save Grendel! It was my fault!

My hands closed around something metallic and cold. Even in the middle of that roaring fire, it was cool to the touch.

Magic. It had to be magic. It had to be the key!

I grabbed it and turned and ran back to Grendel.

Grendel was roaring and frantically tugging on the chains, trying to free himself as the flames came ever closer to him.

“Hang on! I’ve got the key! The lock! Where’s the lock?!”

Grendel stopped struggling. “You came to help Grendel?”

“I promised! The lock! Where’s the lock?”

Grendel pointed.

I shoved the key into the lock and turned it.

The glowing symbols on the chains dimmed and they fell off Grendel’s wrists.

“Free! Grendel free!”

“We have to get out!”I was coughing now. The smoke was so thick. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see.

“Grendel free!” he bellowed, smashing his fist into the wall.

And that’s when the ceiling came crashing down around us …

Hello. My name is—Well, we’re not going to go there.

Call me Kidd Koldd. Or Kidd, for short. I wear a cape and a costume, and they call me a hero.

They also call me human. I’m not, though. Not fully. What I really am you probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you. At least not yet. We’ll see if that changes by the time I’m finished.

It starts out with me standing in Croatoa, trying to find out where that devious Redcap called Snaptooth is holding the Baby New Year. If the ugly little brat isn’t rescued then Time itself is going to come to a halt. In case you don’t know it, that’d be a bad thing.

Most of my cousins wouldn’t realize that, though. They don’t feel the passing of Time the way that I do—my half-mortal heritage, you see. Immortality can make one underestimate the importance of Time and Change.

Maybe I should have gotten some help before I agreed to help out Old Father Time, but I really didn’t want company. Given who I’m going to be facing, I’d really rather not have witnesses.

Paragon City thinks I’m human, and I’d just as soon keep it that way.

So I’m standing here all alone in the middle of a frozen semi-mystical land, listening to the howls of the Tuatha and the whispering of the wind. The cold and snow remind me of Home … it’s been so very long …

Stop it.

I can never go Home again. I knew that when I left. Missing it won’t change anything. That’s not my life anymore. My family, my friends—they’ve all forgotten me—

No, not all my friends.

The wind. The wind still speaks to me. It bears me up through the sky when I need to travel. It chills and slows my enemies when I raise my arms.

And it whispers to me.

This way! This way!

The wind knows the way. I just have to follow it.

Scratch that.

I have to follow the wind, and fight my way through all the obstacles in my path.

The first impediment is a pair of Tuatha. The shaggy beast-things paw the ground and toss their antlered heads, the chill frosting their breath (though not like mine, fortunately).

Fleetingly, they remind me of the Big Guy’s steeds.

I don’t want to hurt them. I’m not really big on hurting things. The Tuatha didn’t choose to be what they were. They were twisted into their shape and enslaved by the Redcaps.

If I were fully human I might have a chance of convincing them to step aside. They don’t like humans, but they don’t really hate them, either. They don’t serve the Redcaps out of love; the magicks of the twisted little monsters enslaves them. Sometimes … sometimes they can be persuaded to stand down.

I know I’m not going to get that lucky. As soon as I get close enough, they’re going to smell me. Once they do that, they’ll know what I am, and their hatred of the Redcaps will cause them to attack.

Why is that, you ask?

“Redcap!” One of them snarls as the wind lowers me to the ground.

“No, brother,” the other corrects. “He is not a Redcap … but he is their kin!”

“Distant cousins, I assure you!” I yell back at the beast-men. “I am not their friend. I am here to hinder them if I may. Stand aside that I may bring their plans to ruin! You treasure them not; stand aside that they may be dismayed!”

Yeah. I can talk like that when I need to. What’s it to you?

“Death to the Redcap and all their blood!” The first Tuatha bellows and rips a tree stump out of the ground and hurls it at me.

Well, I’d tried.

I may have immortal blood flowing through my veins, but I’m not invincible. I dive into the snow, roll to my feet, and freeze the charging beast-man. His companion lumbers towards me, ducking my attempt to ice him down. “Die!”

“I would prefer not to, thank you!” I raise my arms and a burst of arctic air smashes into the Tuatha like a sledgehammer. He slows down, but he keeps on coming.

I throw my arms up and an ice storm pelts both of them. The frozen one shatters his ice prison and the two of them try desperately to get out of the zone of destruction.

I take careful aim and buildup my power and breathe purest frost at them.

The Tuatha groan and slip into the snow.

“So much for reasoned discussion,” I sigh.

Like I said, I don’t like hurting things. Doesn’t mean I won’t do it if I have to.

This way! Baby New Year is this way!

“Show me.”

With a frigid wind at my back, I fly towards destiny.

Destiny, in this case, being a honking big walking snowmonster that calls itself the Winter Lord.

“Scion of the Toymaker, come to me!” The Winter Lord bellows in a voice that’s like cracking ice. “Come and die!”

Why can’t they ever be nice instead of naughty?

“So, Doc? What’s the verdict? Can I go home now?”

“I think that you’ve probably had enough of hospital food, Blue. I’ll sign the discharge papers today.”

The young man called Blue Battler smiles at me in relief. “Great. My cousin Drake said he’d pick me up. I’ll call him as soon as I get back into my room.”

“Your cousin Drake?” I raise my eyebrows. “I thought your first name was Drake, Blue …”

“It is. Drake and I were born on the same day. We were both named after our grandfather.” Blue grins again. “For a while, I was DW and he was DG—until Grandfather took to calling me Blue.” He rises to his feet and flexes his prosthetic arm. “You know, I think I’m starting to get used to this thing …”

“I’m glad to hear it. All things considered, Blue, you’ve made a remarkable recovery.” The speed of his recovery was the reason that I was called in on the case, as a matter of fact. “Your cousin—he’s the
Peacebringer?”

“Yes. He’s a Hero of the City in his own right. They say that the only reason I’m alive is because Drake used some kind of Kheldian technology to keep me alive. Lucky me.”

I’m not happy with the way Blue sounds when he says that. He doesn’t know it yet, but he could have been released more than a week ago. I had personally insisted that he remain in care for some covert psychological analysis. I wasn’t going to let him go until I was sure that he wasn’t suicidal. I’ve seen too many depowered heroes take that option when they realize their powers are never going to return.

Paragon City owed Blue too much to give him less than the best possible care. And on a personal level, the only reason I’m not rotting in a jail cell as a convicted Rikti spy is because Blue managed to root out the hidden Rikti who had implicated me. Steven Sheridan always pays his debts.

And because of that debt, I’m about to risk my career. “Blue, could you ask your cousin to stop by my office before he picks you up?”

“Sure, Doc. Mind if I ask why?”

“Scientific curiosity, you might say.” It’s not wholly a lie, but it’s not the full truth either. Perhaps I should tell Blue my suspicions, but I don’t want this young man to volunteer to spend the rest of his life in government custody just because of my unspoken fears. He deserves better. “And Blue, take this card.”

He takes it from me with his prosthesis, stunning me again with how naturally he moves with it. I make a mental note that I’m going to have to speak to this Gungnir fellow that Blue says made him the arm. I’d like to have him working with me. He glances at the card. “A support group? You want me to join a support group?”

“Sergeant Hicks and Justin Greene both have been through what you have, Blue. They’ve established a support group to give former heroes a place to go to talk about what they’re going through. I want you to at least think about it.”

“All right, Doc. I’ll think about it.”

“Now go along with you. Nurse Meg is going to walk you through your final round of therapy. You can go home after lunch.”

“Thanks, Doc. What do I owe you?”

“You don’t owe us a damn thing, Blue. We owe you.” Of course it had taken Ms. Liberty herself to convince Billing of that … more specifically she had gone to the hospital board and told them she’d be only too delighted to let her grandfather Statesman know that a former Hero of the City—one who had personally helped save him from the Praetorians—was being asked to pay for his treatment after being maimed in defense of Paragon City and that she was relatively sure he’d like to have words with them as well … “Now off with you!”

I go back to my office and pull up Drake Griffin’s file as I wait for him. Griffin didn’t come to Paragon to be a hero like his cousin; he had come to study the advanced medical technology and become a doctor. His career plans had gotten sidetracked when he had been forced to bind with a Kheldian in order to save its life. In its infinite wisdom—note the sarcasm here please—Paragon City University had decided that the First Rikti Invasion was still too recent to allow a Peacebringer to go to medical school. Griffin had gone on to become an EMT as well as a Hero of the City. A shame; from what I’m able to tell from his file Griffin would make a fine doctor.

By the time I finish reviewing his file, Griffin is standing at my door. “Blue said you wanted to see me, Dr. Sheridan? Is there something wrong with him?”

“Blue’s fine, Mr. Griffin. Have a seat.”

Griffin sits down, and I can tell that he’s nervous though he does his best to hide it. “So why did you want to see me? Not that it’s not an honor to meet one of the greatest scientists in Paragon …”

“Blue’s fine, Mr. Griffin. As a matter of fact, he’s almost too well. Given the nature of his injuries, he should be nowhere near this far along in his recovery.”

“Didn’t they tell you I injected him with some Kheldian nanobots--?”

“Mr. Griffin, please. You know me—by reputation, at least. I’m not a fool. Do you really think I wouldn’t recognize Kheldian technology when I see it—or don’t see it as the case may be?”

Griffin shifts uncomfortably in his seat, but says nothing.

“My most advanced equipment can detect the presence of some kind of micro technology at work in Blue, but it’s not Kheldian. It’s not Rikti, either.” I pause. “I also know it’s not terrestrial.”

“Dr. Sheridian—“

“I’m not interested in an explanation, Mr. Griffin. The less I now the better—for Blue’s sake as well as my own. I suspect.” I stare hard at him. “But do you really think it was wise to inject your cousin with alien technology obtained from one of the most powerful Masterminds in the Rogue Islands?”

Drake Griffin gapes at me in surprise.

“No one else knows about this, Griffin. As far as the official record goes, Blue Battler’s life was saved through the use of Kheldian science. The authorities don’t need to know the truth.”

“I had to,” Drake Griffin says without looking at me. “It was the only way—“

“Again, I don’t want to know.” I stare hard at him. “But I do know. And I’m going to be keeping an eye on both you and Blue. If something happens to him—if this miracle cure of yours backfires—then I’m going to hold you personally responsible, young man! You have to live with what you’ve done, Drake Griffin—and so does Blue Battler. I just hope that none of us have cause to regret your actions.”

“Does he know? Did you tell him?”

“No. And I’m not going to. He doesn’t need to be burdened with this in addition to everything else. But when the time comes, you will tell him.” It’s an order, not a request.

Griffin takes it as such. “Thank you, Doctor Sheridan. I won’t forget this.”

“Neither will I, Griffin. Neither will I.”

[ QUOTE ]
*sigh*

I have to ask this every time. What is your source for Ms. Liberty's name? The novels? The comics?

In-game, they still call her Megan.

It's like flesh-eating bacteria in my mind...

[/ QUOTE ]

My source is the novels.

Thematically, Megan would be a more appropriate name given her grandparents' connection to the Furies ... but I had already used Jessica and I'm not violating my internal continuity.

Maybe her full name is Megan Jessica Cole or something.