Sooner

So... the continuation was delayed while I was distrated, but now we're back up and running.

Book II, part II is posted.

Part II

The Ghosts Reborn Base
Jagged Fortune watched everything. like a spider in his web. He savored the excitement of working within the Ghosts Reborn base, of living amongst them, eating with them, chatting with them, enjoying a relaxed evening in their company. And every moment, if he slipped, if he dropped even the slightest clue of who he really was, his freedom, and possibly his life, would end in a flash.

He was born for this job, to be the rotten apple in their bunch, the snake in the grass, the fly in the ointment. He was a natural at the subterfuge, the acting, and the memory to recall what lies he'd told. He was intelligent and observant, and Razor 6 had made his worth obvious time and again. If he survived this job, he could retire a very wealthy man.

He was nearby, watching as Six-Four was unceremoniously booted from the Ghosts. He wasn't especially surprised. That hero had been walking on the edge for too long. He made no effort to hide that he was watching with interest as the Ghosts' bad boy was tossed out on his ***, but his true interest lay in watching Sooner Spirit's little sister. That particular little red head wore her heart on her sleeve, and it was breaking painfully in two right in front of him. She'd been carrying that torch for months, and never had the nerve to do anything about it, and now, he saw, she thought she'd lost her chance.

Some would think it was foolish to even attempt to make a move on a girl so obviously interested in someone else, but Jagged Fortune was nothing if not confident in himself. He was a good looking man with chameleon-like ability to change who he was at need. The one thing he'd failed at in all the time he'd been lurking among the Ghosts was to find a way into their inner circle. And, for some reason, the leadership had been playing their cards a lot closer to the chest lately. He'd thought of taking a shot at catching Sooner Spirit's interest, but she was becoming more and more involved with that Rastafari Man. The middle sister might as well be a nun for all the action she saw. But the youngest one.... she was still naive enough that he might be able to win her over. And the guy dating the sister of one of the leaders of the Ghosts? That guy was on the inside. He'd have access to the inner workings. He nodded to himself, ran a hand through his hair to muss it, and made his way closer. He arranged his features into a distracted mask and walked slowly towards the center of the room.

He was close enough to hear Ahren say, "I'll talk to you later, Red," before walking away.

Red stood nearby, still looking like someone had just clocked her in the back of the head with a 2x4. Jagged Fortune waited until he was sure he was in her field of view before he took his mobile phone from his pocket, tapped the screen a few times, then shook his head with feigned disbelief and put the phone away. He put a hand to his face, hiding his eyes, and then collapsed onto a bench by Red. When she didn't respond to him, he put up his other hand and buried his face in his palms. He summoned up just enough emotion to make his eyes shiny.

C'mon little fishie... take a bite... he thought. He wondered if he were going to have to manufacture a sob when he heard her hesitant voice. "Are you... ah... are you ok?"

He sniffed once and stood abruptly. "Sorry, I didn't see you there," he said in a rush, carefully turning at an angle to hide his eyes.

"It's ok," she reassured. "Do you need something?"

"I..." he swallowed. "My girl just dumped me. By a text."

"Oh!" she gasped. "Oh... gosh... I'm sorry!"

"I guess the idea of dating a hero was a lot more exciting than the reality." He shook his head sadly and shot a quick glance at her. "I'm sorry... but thanks for letting me tell you that. I think... I think I'm going to go see if my contacts have any work for me."

"Will you be ok?" she asked.

He hid his smile. Oh, he was in. It would take some time to widen that crack, but a girl like her... you get her feeling anything for you, and you can make her feel whatever you want. "I'll be fine. I just need to.... lose myself in some work." he smiled. "Thanks again, Red."

"I'll talk to you later?" she asked, visibly concerned.

"I think I'd like that." He smiled a tentative smile at her, and quickly exited the base, as if embarrassed by his display. Inside, he was celebrating. She didn't know it yet, but little Sooner Red was going to his.

---

Six indulged himself in a stop at Up n Away burger, and then settled down atop City Hall to think while he ate. With the flag flapping in the gentle breeze over his head, the warm sun shining down on his shoulders, a beautiful view of Atlas Park, it was hard to imagine that anything bad could happen. He felt cast adrift. He hadn’t realized that he valued the Ghosts as anything more than a means to an end... but now that that door was closed, he felt as if he didn’t know who he was or what his purpose was anymore.

He watched all the idealistic new heroes, the ones who still thought that goodness and purity of heart was all that was needed in the world. Some people might get through their lives still able to tell themselves that, but few of them were heroes. After seeing the sort of evil that existed in the world, seeing it close up, as heroes did, well... Six just didn’t see how that sort of idealism could last.

He watched a trio bravely plow their way into a group of hellions. A man and a women both with shiny, slender swords lead the assault while a blonde hung back to offer support. The man had the hard look of someone trained to inflict damage. The dark haired woman didn’t appear to have the same training, but possessed copious amounts of natural talent. And the blonde... whew... she was the kind of woman you expected to see at a spa or expensive restaurant, or the kind you HOPED to see dancing on a table, not patrolling the streets of Paragon City. Sweet face, lush curvy body, long pale golden hair. But something about the way the man kept his eye on her suggested maybe she wasn’t available. They were so young... they made Six feel really old.

He still believed that there was no cost too high to pay if it would allow him to end Ebony Rose and her demon friend Conall Cian. He still believed that, though he understood that people he respected didn’t agree. He just couldn’t quite understand how they could think those monsters deserved any consideration. Rose and the demon were responsible for so much pain and misery... how could there be any cost too high to pay to stop them? How many people could have been saved in the future if his plan to ambush Ebony Rose had worked out? Her parents would have been ok in the end. He sighed. Perhaps Paragon City wasn’t really the place for him after all?

As his mind drifted down a dark path of dark possibilities, he noticed that trio of young heroes headed for trouble. They’d found themselves a larger group of hellions, a group they would have eventually beaten after a fight, but they were backing their way straight into a group of Circle of Thorns mages. That hot blonde was about one step from attracting their attention.. And then she took that step.

Six-Four had been around plenty long enough to know those young heroes were about to get their ***** handed to them. Since he knew what the Circle liked to do to their captives, there was no way he was going to stand by and risk the CoT wanting to do more to that trio than just kick them around. He lifted into flight and zoomed down, drawing his swords as he went.

He zipped between the mages and the heroes, drawing the attention of the CoT. “You guys need a hand?” he called out.

“Help her!” the man answered. He was trying to fight his way past the hellions to get to the blonde, but they had him blocked off, and the blonde was in serious trouble with the mages. Six made quick work of the CoT, and within moments the remaining hellions and CoT were scattering.

“Thanks, man,” the tall man said, extending a hand.

Six nodded and accepted the hand, “I’m Six-Four,” he offered. “Just glad I was nearby.”

The dark haired woman put her katana away and stepped forward. “I’m Rosemarie,” she said, “and this is my sister, Moon Dancer.” Now that Six was looking, there was a clear resemblance between her and the blond, though the darker haired woman did have a leaner, more muscular build. Attractive enough, but he suspected she was used to taking a back seat to her sister's looks.

“I’m Pipe Hitter,” the man said. “Thanks for the help.”

“Pipe Hitter, eh?” Six said with a smile. Yep, hard military service would account for that edge he’d sensed in the younger man. Of course, since Six had named himself after an old call sign, he could hardly criticize.

“Well... Welcome to Paragon City.” he smiled. “And always watch your back. There’s always another group of Paragon City ******** out there ready to take you down.”

He started to walk away, then a light, feminine voice called after him, “Ah... Six-Four? Join us for some lunch? Please?”

He thought about the burger and fries he’d just wolfed down, but turned around, saw the pretty and welcoming smile on the blonde's face and shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”

---

Conall observed as a tall, slender woman with long red hair made her way through the streets of Kings Row. She was dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, with her hair pulled back into a tail under a baseball cap and sneakers on her feet. She was burdened with several shopping bags. However, he recognized her. He was more used to seeing Sooner Spirit in red leather with a red and white cape flashing behind her, but he recognized her there in her street clothes. And he followed.

He'd been observing all three sisters. He needed to obey Ciara's orders, to bring her the sisters, and he fully intended to obey that order. But on his terms. And so he watched, waiting for a way in, his hook to start manipulating them and guiding them to be ready for that fight they had to win.

He arched a brow as his quarry opened the back door of the Campbell Family Trust Shelter and let herself in. Did the mighty Sooner Spirit spend her off time volunteering to help the homeless? He bared his teeth in a smile. It seemed that Rory Flynn would be making another appearance, and the Campbell Family Shelter would gain a new refugee.

Editorial Comment -

So.. after much checking and confirming, the events of Book II do indeed occur after the events of Homecoming.

So, for those of you who have really been following the saga:

• The Ghosts are aware of that they have a spy in their midst, but they don't yet have a clue who it is.
• The Neely/Keely storyline wrapped up with Keely gone and her warshade half - Anjali - the only consciousness in Keely's body. This WAS going to be a subplot in this story but the story was just getting too out of hand. I'll get back to it later, I promise. For the moment I'll say this: Neely has gone all dark and vengeancy, and Anjali is confused.
• Conall Cian is still maneuvering for position within the Shades, but his attempts to advance are continuing to be thwarted by Ebony Rose and Razor 6, therefor, he is attempting to develop a power base of his own.
• Sooner Spirit and Glacius9 are the leaders of the Ghosts, but many of the senior members have a voice in that leadership.
• And, of course, UPS 2.2, who has been a major character in most of my stories, recently changed his name to Vir.

So... I mentioned in a previous post that there were some timeline issues and I decided to just go ahead and write it and go with it. I justify that decision based on the facts that comic books are constantly revising history to suit themselves*. I am now going to confess to the two major timeline conflicts, because one of them is about to matter.

1. The first relatively minor conflict is the presence of Excruciatrix. As written, Conall bound her at the end of Homecoming. I really wanted to establish her presence and her character much earlier, so she's been flitting around a lot earlier than she should. Easy enough to claim that the scene where he summoned her was actually a flashback scene to something that happened earlier.
2. And this is the problem one. Vir has a little brother, named Seamus. He popped in as a very very minor character in Homecoming, mostly just to establish his presence, since I knew he was going to become important later on. It will quickly become obvious that he could not have been there. So... whatever works for you - whether you edit him out completely (which is what I'm going to do), or assume this is an alternate reality where things happen a little differently... in THIS story, in THIS world... Seamus is NOT a member of the Ghosts. In fact.. you've never heard of him. Before.... now.

And, since I'm here, now... let me take the time to thank Major T and Ice9 for all the hours they patiently spend talking about this stuff with me, reading poorly edited rough drafts, and keeping me from running off on yet another tangent. Thanks to everyone who has allowed me to use their characters, and I do hope you appreciate the care I've tried to take of them.

*Jean Grey? Oh.. she didn't die. She was actually in a protective cocoon at the bottom of the ocean recovering from her injuries. *nodnod*

Every now and then, I'll come across something I've not seen before.

I was following along with the ghost ship, when I saw what I thought was a weird shadow/reflection. But, no.. it's ANOTHER ghost ship, and they're running parallel.

I thought it was neat - or maybe it's just the insomnia.

We DO love you, T. Anyone who knows you at all knows you are a man of integrity.

Tomorrow, any character I bring in will go to the tailor and change into a black tee shirt with a white "T" emblem on it, as a show of support for our Major T.

Who's with me?

Book II, part I is posted.

Thank you for that, Kyo.

Thank you very much.

It certainly could have been handled differently and better, by everyone. But, since you brought it up, I'm going to assume you missed the earlier discussion where it was initially thrown out on JS and several inaccurate accusations and personal attacks were launched against a well respected member of this community.

It should have stayed private. FROM THE BEGINNING. Since it didn't, a public DEFENSE was launched in response.

I absolutely wish the whole thing had stayed quiet from the beginning. But I firmly stand behind the idea of defending someone who was falsely and publicly accused when he wasn't even present to attempt to defend himself.

Start by condemning the initial and very public attack, then get back to those of us defending the one attacked.

T is one of the best this server has. Unfailingly kind and helpful, a good player, a great leader on this server.

I am truly proud to have Major T as one of my best friends.

My Hero!

Thanks, that fixed it.

Is anyone out there a windows 7 guru?

I <3 my new puter, it's gorgeous and wonderful and awesome...

but the next time it pops up and asks me if I want to allow CoH to change the way my computer works... I may drop kick it out the window.

How do I make it stop that!?!?!?!

She dinged 50 on Recluse.

Part XXX is posted.

This ends Book I. Book II.... is coming soon.

Part XXX

Grandville
High above the battle, in the spires of Grandville, Conall Cian lurked with Excruciatrix at his heels, watching and observing, taking it all in. Recluse would recover from the setback the heroes were about to deal him. Besides, Conall still needed Sooner Red and her sisters. His ***** mistress Ciara was growing more powerful by the day, and affecting his own life and his plans more and more as she did. He needed Ciara dead. And he needed the Nation sisters for that. So, he watched.

Little Cerise had grown since he’d pulled her *** out of that Carnie house. The raw skill and potential he'd seen months ago was now polished and strong. She'd become every bit as powerful as he'd hoped. He'd had his doubts when he learned she was mentoring under Ahren, but it seemed Ahren had become a battle hardened veteran and Cerise had grown under his tutelage. He watched her smoothly and surgically kill one of Recluse’s banes just before it struck Ahren. Conall smiled. That was exactly what Ciara needed - some of THAT treatment.

As the battle below continued, he moved down for a better view, waving Trix back. Recluse’s grand plan depended far too much on the fragile towers, and once they started falling, his plan collapsed with them. He did enjoy watching his little "friend" Cerise fight, though he could see that she was bothered by the blood stains on her gloves. The white of the Ghosts Reborn colors was stained dark red, and he had a suspicion she might just discard that uniform rather than try to clean it. Nonetheless, she kept fighting.

The towers fell, as was predictable, and then Recluse was up against eight of Paragon City’s heroes. He fought hard and well, as he should given his power and experience, but Conall knew from personal and painful lessons of his own, these heroes were determined, powerful, and skilled. They pushed Recluse back and back until he was trapped in one of the myriad dead end passages of his own city. And despite putting up an impressive fight, it was inevitable he would fall.

Then something changed. As a creature of magic himself, he was sensitive to the way it flowed and moved. As a magically bound creature of Ciara Banenighe, he was especially sensitive to the way her magical energies moved. So, at the moment Recluse fell, Conall became aware of a tremendous change in the flow of magical energy. Cerise Nation was suddenly filled with magic. It smashed into her and erupted around her in a glowing corona. She shone brightly with it. But when it faded, Conall noticed that while magic was flowing into her, there was a trickle flowing out as well. And that trickle... went straight to Ciara Banenighe’s magical prison.

Conall's laugh began as a quiet chuckle. Suddenly, he understood. He understood why Ciara wanted the girls, and he could clearly see how his long servitude could end. Her greed would be her undoing. Ciara wanted the Nation sisters? Oh... he would see to it that she had them. He faded into the shadows and let his laugh roar out. His ***** mistress would die and his enemies would set him free. The daughters ó Floinn would set him free.

The Ghost Reborn Base - Library
Ahren settled back in his chair, letting his eyes adjust and his mind roam free. Why had he never thought to investigate Conall Cian? He hadn't found much, but it was there. First he found the clan ó Floinn, and then he traced it back. It had once been a large and powerful clan but then something split it up. Then he'd found a reference that puzzled him until he realized some translator had been too literal. He battled through a horribly written account of one branch of ó Floinn had been plagued nearly to death by the black death, except sometimes it was referred to as a "black washerwoman." After struggling laboriously through the awkward phrases of the thick book, he'd finally found reference to a "bean nighe," also known as a washer woman, who was a Celtic omen of death. And THAT finally led him to realize he'd been reading a poorly translated name: Ciara Banenighe. Once he had that name, he'd been able to quickly determine that the being known as Ciara Banenighe was almost certainly the beast. And then he'd checked deeper.

It was really just a hunch, but he'd learned over the long and challenging path of his life as a hero in Paragon City that there were very few true coincidences in the life of a hero. Ahren had a large and seriously overdue score to settle with Conall Cian. And now, he learned that the three women that he'd partnered along that path had a problem with a demon of their own. What were the chances those two demons were somehow connected? And he'd found it. References extending back centuries to Ciara Banenighe and her wolf. Sometimes he was called by name, sometimes he was called her attack dog, or her red wolf, and there were some ancient references simply to "the red haired one" that might still be Conall. Ahren wondered how the demon he'd known liked belonging to another.. and suspected Conall liked it not at all.

Ahren left his hand on the book, marking a spot, as he thought. Cerise would be fine. He suspected she'd never feel easy about taking any life - as no hero should. But she seemed to have found that place where she could accept that sometimes there was no choice. She'd discarded her bloodstained uniform as soon as they'd returned home, but otherwise, she'd bounced back nicely. And a few kind words from him, recognizing how important her actions had been to the safety and success of the team made her light up with joy. Yes, she'd be just fine.

And that was important, because he'd found an answer. Or at least part of one. It seemed that Ciara Banenighe, the black washerwoman, could only be killed by the three sisters ó Floinn. The Nation girls would have to go to their own personal demon and then, somehow, the three of them working together could kill Ciara. Of course, it had to happen. From what he'd read, she simply could not be allowed to go free. But still, part of him wondered what it would mean to Ciara's red wolf, Conall Cian, if his mistress died. When they ended one problem, would they make another problem worse? In destroying their own Beast would the three daughters ó Floinn release a worse one?

Ciara Banenighe's Prison
Ciara sat quiet and still on her throne. In the palm of her left hand she held the two red spheres that had gone dark first. Both of them glowed with a sluggish and dim red light. She balanced the third on the tips of the claws of her right hand and stared at it. Her full lips quirked in a smile, her eyes sparkled, but otherwise there was no indication that the final paving stone had been placed on the path that led to her freedom. The third sphere had flared brightly just a day earlier. It had glowed enough to illuminate the entire room, then Ciara had heard an audible snap and it had gone dark. The third sister had finally embraced her full power. The walls of her prison were flimsy like damp tissue paper, and she could travel all the way to the threshold before the barriers stopped her.

But she sat so quietly because she debated within herself. She could sit back and wait. The daughters ó Floinn would die after a natural human lifespan, and when the last of the three died, the pact would die as well. Less than a century more and she would be free. That was a certainty and only required her patience. Or, she could send Conall to kill them. That would be quick. She could be free tomorrow. At worst, she was putting Conall in danger. She wasn't certain she was willing to risk her prized wolf that way. She'd wanted the three girls to embrace their power, and they had. But they were now powerful indeed, and if he happened to come across the three of them together, he was unlikely to win. Conall was a rare prize, and she was reluctant to risk losing him.

Or, there was the third choice. She still wanted the magic of clan ó Floinn. It was a ripe, juicy prize and while the pact was intact, the power was concentrated in the three sisters. If she could bring them to her, she still had the chance to steal that magical source for her own. If she waited until the pact ended naturally, the chance to easily take their family's power would be lost to her. Clan ó Floinn had scattered across the globe since she'd been imprisoned. Could she really be certain of finding all of them? And if she didn't, she would not have that energy. And giving up without that wonderful source of power was a loss she was not willing to accept.

She held up the first sphere and spoke aloud, "The safe path, slow but certain." She held up the second, "The quick path, by which I may lose a valuable asset." She held up the third, turning it so the light swirled around it and fragmented off the flaws within. "The dangerous path, with the greatest risk. If I succeed I can have it all." She studied the cabochon sphere, and nodded. She stood in one quick and smooth motion and stalked to where her captive human waited in his cage.

The young man opened his eyes at her approach. His eyes narrowed a fraction, but then he deliberately looked away and his eyes closed. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She smiled and her head tipped to the side as she studied him. A very handsome specimen of human male, by their standards. And the relationship between him and the middle daughter ó Floinn meant that he remained of value.

"Take it away," she said abruptly, "I grow bored with it. But," she cautioned her imps. " keep it alive and well. I may yet be able to use it against the daughters ó Floinn"

The young man's eyes opened again, slowly, deep brown eyes over wide, high cheekbones. Those eyes found hers and she smiled. If he'd been a demon, his eyes would have blazed with the anger and defiance held under tight control. Instead, he stared at her, then closed his eyes slowly and deliberately once again, and went still. The only sign of his agitation was a muscle in his jaw bunching under the skin, then relaxing.

Ciara laughed and turned away from her captive human and held the three spheres up to eye level. "You will come to me, and I will take your power, and I WILL be free. Yes... you will come to me, daughters ó Floinn"

Colleen Nation's Home
Colleen turned the small package over and over in her hands. It had traveled all the way from Ireland to arrive at her home on that sunny afternoon. Normally she'd be delighted to get a card or package from her overseas family, but this one... made her nervous. She lifted her gaze to the window and allowed herself a moment to long for the days when her late husband Daniel was alive and with her, and her daughters were little. When things seemed so simple, and so much less frightening.

She carefully cut through the tape on the heavy cardboard box. A folded square of stationary lay on top. Colleen recognized her Gran's writing, and her tension ratcheted up another notch as she read.

Dear Colleen,
I looked back into the family history as you asked, and there may be hope for us all yet, if your daughters are strong enough. There is more to the legend, as you suspected. It seems that the beast cannot be killed while the pact remains. But if I understand what I read, it may be that if this item is brought into the presence of the beast by your daughters - the three daughters ó Floinn, the beast may somehow be made vulnerable. I wish I knew more. All our lives depend on your girls.
Love,
Gran

Collen set the note aside and removed a carved wooden box from the package. The small cube of wood felt heavy with age. It was covered with intricate knotwork in an astonishingly tiny pattern. It may well have been some craftsman's masterwork, the detail was so exquisite. She ran her fingers over the smooth dark wood, strangely afraid to open it. With a resolute sigh, she lifted the lid and cocked her head with surprise. Inside was a narrow gold ring set with three red stones. The knotwork on the box had obviously been inspired by the even more delicate design covering the band. She studied the ring without touching it. There was strength there in that narrow band. Her nerves let go as soon as she saw it. She began to believe - for the first time since she felt her oldest daughter start drawing magic - that things would be okay.

Unconsciously and under her breath, she began to sing the chorus of the legend, "Celach the strong, Cahan the swift, Carra the fair, the magical daughters ó Floinn," over and over again.

She lifted the ring out of the box between her thumb and index fingers, not at all surprised by the spark of magic that flared at her touch. "I know you're not for me," she spoke aloud, "but for now, you can stay with me." She slid the ring onto the ring finger of her right hand, and felt the magic that lived in that ancient piece of metal reach out to her, take her measure, and then accept her. It settled onto the base of her finger, and Colleen could have sworn she felt it fit itself to her. She lifted her hand and studied the three red stones. "Cydney, Caryn, and Cerise," she said aloud, "the magical daughters ó Floinn"

Welcome to Protector!

If you want PvP, however, you might wanna consider making a PvP toon on another server, like Freedom. PvP is pretty much nonexistent on this server.

I forgot to say:

THANK YOU!!!

I love you guys.