Sooner

I was just gonna go with a simple "oooooookay."

What server will this be on?











j/k

Hulkers, darlin, I got no clue what that is...

But I just posted part XXIX.

Part XXIX

The Ghosts Reborn Base
Cerise hadn’t really slept. After her lecture from Ahren and her unsettling conversation with Six-Four, she’d spent the night in thought. The only thing she was REALLY sure about was that she never wanted to disappoint Ahren again. In fact, once she was up and dressed, with her hair fixed and her make-up applied, she decided to seek out her mentor and talk to him.

The Ghost’s base was enormous, and there were any number of places he could be, but she was right with her first guess - the library. However, she hadn’t expected him to already have company. Ahren was standing, arms crossed and a look of concentration on his face, as Rastafari Man spoke.

The green-clad hero leaned casually against a heavy wooden table laden with books and computers, but the expression on his face was urgent. ““Something called 'the Web'... frickin spiders. Anyway, he said I should gather up a crew and try to slow it down, or destroy it. I dunno, He talks, I wander. The point being, you think you can get some Ghosts together to help out? Its gotta be people you know you can count on, we’re going right into Grandville.”

Ahren’s eyes flicked to Cerise, and she could see the question in them.. It made her heart hurt to see the doubt in his face, but she lifted her chin high, met his gaze, and nodded once. An entire conversation flickered between them in just lifted brows and cocked heads, but after just a moment, Ahren nodded. “Sooner Red and I can come along. How many more do you need?”

Now it was Rasta who glanced at Cerise, full of doubt, and Cerise knew he blamed her for his friend getting hurt. “I could buzz Sooner Spirit,” Rasta offered,” Rasta offered.

“Sooner Spirit is busy elsewhere,” Ahren said firmly. “Sooner Red can do the job.”

Cerise nodded, full of determination never to let Ahren down again.

Rasta looked at Ahren, the over to Cerise, and then back Ahren. He took a long draw on his cigar before replying. "Too busy to save the world? Fine, whatever.." Rasta agreed, with perhaps just a hint of reluctance still coloring his voice. “I got four already to go. You two makes six. Oh that's right, he won't let us go unless we have eight, so think you can find another two? ”

Ahren nodded. “I can.”

“Ok, meet us in IP, there's a sub waiting to take us into Grandville. And NO, It's NOT Yellow.”

Grandville
Cerise fought along with some of the most respected heroes in Paragon City as they entered the black, man-made city of Grandville and sought to stop Recluse. Ahren had gone uncharacteristically silent at first, and Cerise wondered if that had to do the results of his previous visits to the Rogue Isles. But then he came back to himself as the assembled heroes put a serious crimp in Recluse’s plans and then captured Arbiter Sands.

They ran roughshod over Aion’s lab, through the heart of Nerva Archipelago, and Aion’s home in Cap Au Diable. Then, it was back to the heart of Lord Recluse’s power. Cerise was nervous and excited as the Longbow ship fought its way to the dock in Grandville. She stood on deck, leaning on the rail with Trickshooter and Major T. Ahren came to stand with them, staring into the city where nature had been banished and black metal decorated with red banners was the world.

He inhaled, then spoke thoughtfully. "A true hero fights not because he hates what's in front of him, but because he loves what's behind him." He stared into Grandville for another moment, then turned. “Everyone set?” he asked, but his eyes were on Cerise.

“Yep,” Trickshooter answered, and Major T followed up with “Good to go.”

“Red?” Ahren asked, “what about you?”

“I’m ready,” she answered with more confidence than she really felt.

“Good. We’ll have to work together, be strong, have each other’s backs. This isn’t JUST Recluse, but his nutjob lieutenants as well. And most of his Arachnos troops, from the look of it. We all need to be at our best here.”

Cerise nodded and looked up at him. “I’m ready.” she said again.

As Ahren walked away, Trickshooter leaned over, “What was THAT about?”

“Don’t ask,” Major T said with a shake of his head. “We don’t want to know.”

Rastafari Man had succeeding in recruiting a team of very experienced and powerful heroes. The massed Arachnos troops proved to be no barrier to them at all and Grandville stood exposed and vulnerable until the team found themselves perched on a vantage point above Ghost Widow, Sirocco, Captain Mako and Black Scorpion.

While Rasta outlined his strategy for dealing with Recluse’s powerful advisors, Cerise leaned in over Ahren’s shoulder. “Are we sure about this?”she whispered.

He nodded. “We’ll be fine. Just follow the plan.” he advised.

“Follow the plan,” she whispered to herself, and glanced down to the goose bumps on her arms and bare legs. She nodded and glanced down at her empty palms, where soon her glowing red blades would appear. “I can do this,” she muttered even more quietly.

The battle against the four powerful villains went by surprisingly quickly. They'd had a real scare against Ghost Widow, but then she fell, and rest after her. It felt completely unreal to Cerise to be standing in the heart of the Arachnos threat, with no one yet able to stop them. She pushed the broken shaft of one of Trickshooter's arrows with a red booted toe, and looked up at the statue of Recluse looming over the city. "Yet..." she thought.

The heroes barely had time to celebrate their hard fought victory over Ghost Widow, Sirocco, Captain Mako, and Black Scorpion before a giant wasp of an Arachnos flyer bore down on them, rockets blazing. Several of the heroes were tossed aside by impact of the initial attack, then they swarmed up and over the black flyer, seeking weak spots in the armor. Rastarari Man let loose with a tremendous electromagnetic pulse, and the flyer shuddered as its electronics shut down. A swarm of Arachnos Banes ejected from its belly, and the team divided its attention between the old threat and the new before Major T managed to hack through an armor panel on the flyer and caused a deadly wound to the fuel system. The team scattered as the flyer twitched, swerved, and then plummeted to the ground to break apart.

"Hustle up people!” Rasta shouted. “According to my brother, there's another Flyer en route and it's ETA is 20 minutes!

The team charged forward, ready to barge into Recluse’s home, when the leader of Arachnos himself came out to meet them. From the black panels at his feet, towers rose into the air, and burst into life. Recluse spoke, “I see that my minions have fallen. Unfortunate, but meaningless. They have served their purpose and delayed you long enough for the Web to become fully active! Now, even the mighty Statesman will bow down before me! Bow down before my POWER! You heroes will not save the world this day. You shall merely be the first sacrifices on this, the altar of my victory!” Each of the towers erupted with light, and Recluse was surrounded by a swirling glow of bright colors.

Rasta and Ahren both held up their hands. “Wait a moment, please,” Ahren requested softly. “Rasta, the towers... that must be ‘the Web.’ It’s empowering him some way.”

Rasta took a moment to light a cigar before nodding in agreement with Ahren. “I just love it when they basically tell us how to defeat them. Let's waste those towers.”

Cerise leaned forward. “He’s not going to stand around while we do that, though.”

“I’ll take care of him,” Major T offered with his normal bravado.

“No, T, that’s my job,” Ahren said firmly. “I’ll keep him busy, you guys concentrate on taking down the towers.”

“But, Ahren... he’ll kill you!” Cerise objected.

“He’ll try. But I’ll have you guys backing me up. And I bet I’ve got a couple moves he hasn’t seen before.

Her months spent partnering with Ahren had taught her not to waste her time arguing with him. She just redoubled her determination to be there, watching his back. Besides, Cyd and Caryn would kill her themselves if she let something happen to him.

A few last minute strategies swirled around the group and then Ahren stood up, tall, strong, confident. He strode into the central square of Grandville on an angle away the team's first target. “Hey! Freak! Let’s dance!” he yelled.

Recluse roared out a challenge and charged towards Ahren. He moved faster than anyone had anticipated, and before anyone could react, one of his spidery legs had slashed savagely across Ahren’s body in a wound that cut deadly deep into his chest and belly. Blood gushed out and flowed over the blue and white of his Ghost Reborn uniform. The fight was nearly over before it started, but Ahren flinched back, concentrated, and the microscopic nanites that gave him his powers closed the gaping wound. Ahren threw a punch that whizzed past Recluse’s helmet, and the battle was underway.

The tower was well protected by thick metal plates of armor. Cerise concentrated on trying to slice through connections and looking for weak spots. The team took turns watching Ahren’s back, which was fortunate because , Recluse was terrifying enough even without the added power from the towers. Ahren was constantly forced back, maneuvering, dodging, and still he was taking a beating. Cerise could see that his powers were barely keeping up under the onslaught and Ahren had given up even trying to attack, he was just trying to stay alive and keep Recluse’s attention. And if Ahren was struggling that hard under Recluse’s attack, the rest of them would be like newborn kittens against him.

She ripped her attention away from Ahren and back to her task when Arachnos repairmen swooped in and started repairing the damage. “Stop them!” Major T shouted, and Cerise redoubled her efforts while the team chased off the repairmen.

Cerise glanced up at Ahren again, and that’s when she saw... something. Just a change in the light, it appeared nothing more than a wisp of smoke, or a shadow, but that shadow was closing in on Ahren. Time slowed to a near stop. It was a Bane, it had to be. She could just barely make out its shape as it lifted its wickedly barbed mace overhead. It was going to hurt Ahren. Ahren was concentrating everything he had on staying alive against Recluse. He was fighting for his life, and all of theirs, and had no room at all to divide his attention. If she even called out a warning to him, that could tip the balance and allow Recluse to kill Ahren. Then the terrifying villian would turn on the rest of the team. No one else saw the Bane. No one else had that split second to act.

She bolted away from the tower, her legs powering her into the air. She saw Ahren’s eyes flick towards her, and even that distraction allowed Recluse to slice Ahren’s face with a wicked claw. She didn’t speak, didn’t cry out a warning, she just flew on the wind of her magic to close on the enemy attempting a coward’s attack on her friend.

There was no time to attempt to disable her enemy, no time at all. She either stopped him, right then, or Ahren and all of them were doomed. Her body twisted to the right as she flew. She slashed, backhand, with her left blade, a shallow cut that sliced through the straps holding the bane’s armor in place. And then a second slash, powering in with her right hand as her body twisted back to the left. Her glowing red blade pierced the bane’s body directly under the sternum, cutting skin and muscle like they were soft butter and then plunging through the diaphragm and into the chest. Her blade sliced through the great vessels of the heart before exiting his body between two ribs. She pulled back, deliberately and ruthlessly twisting her wrist just to make sure as the dead man fell and his blood ran over her hands.

Behind her, the team at the tower erupted into cheers. For just a moment, the timing made Cerise think the cheers were for her, but then the red beam vanished and she realized they had taken out the first tower. Recluse cursed, and Ahren spoke, “You’re goin down, Richter,” he taunted.

Cerise indulged herself in one shuddery breath, then turned and darted back to her team. There were still three more towers. One enemy was dead, but Ahren was alive and fighting and her team was safe. She decided she could live with that bargain.

It is teh awesomz

For her Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Birthday Sis!

EDIT: Well... I was gonna delete this since T beat me to it, but... it won't give me the delete option. So.. two licks for Kultie.

Happy birthday, guys!

Ah.....

Go Robbie!

Part XXVIII is up

---good lord... 28... and I'm not NEAR done.

Part XXVIII

The Ghosts Reborn Base
Ahren’s eyes widened with surprise. He’d expected tears from her. He’d anticipated a young woman’s emotional display, maybe even a child’s tantrum, but this was so much deeper and raw. He had planned to roughly dismiss the tears when they came, but this.... this was not the shallow display he'd expected. His young partner was revealing a wound that went to her soul and he made the switch in roles instantly. He was known as The Teacher to the Ghosts, for many reasons. He had the ability to be a patient mentor, a stern taskmaster, or a trustworthy counselor.

He shifted position from crouching in front of her to leaning forward, resting on one knee. He reached out one hand, not to touch her, but to rest it on the chair next to her, to let her know it was there if she needed it. His expression was calm and attentive, and he cocked his head slightly to let her know he was listening. He didn't speak - nothing he said would be heard at that moment anyway - he just waited. Quiet, still, and listening, he waited.

She lifted her eyes to him, shiny green eyes, rimmed in red, still choking on sobs. For a moment she just gasped for air, then the story poured out of her like a torrent, a swirling storm with images of ancient pacts, demons, sisters, and the ghost of a long dead ancestor appearing with glowing red magical blades. And at the end, a prophecy of death for her, doom for her entire family, and too many questions still unanswered. And he realized in a sudden flash of insight that it wasn’t that she lacked the heart to do what she had to do in a fight, it was that she was fighting every step of the way the destiny that lead to tragedy for three women he cared about, and their entire family line. Ahren took it all in, nodding and murmuring encouragement as she spoke.

When she was done, Ahren stood, and offered her his hands to help her up. "You're not alone in this, Cerise," he said. "You're not, and your sisters aren't. You're one of the Ghosts Reborn, you are not alone."


Later that night, Ahren settled into his quiet workspace. He’d escorted Sooner Red back to her room in the base and left her with instructions to sleep. Then he’d stopped by the Ghosts’ library and selected a stack of thick, dusty books. He slid the books onto the corner of his desk where they joined a computer, a legal pad, pens, pencils, and highlighters in a cup, and a pad of sticky notes. Before spending three lifetimes as a hero in Paragon City, Ahren had been a teacher of history. And before that, he’d started on a path he still walked today - a student of history. While his own preference was American Military History, the basic principles for any area of historical study were the same: research and read between the lines.

He selected the first heavy book and, with reverence due to it’s age, opened the cover. Before delving into the book, he checked the list written in his neat, efficient hand on the first page of the legal pad:

1 Family Flynn / ó Floinn

- follow maternal line?

2 Binding magic / breaking of

3 sisters / three sisters / daughters

4 Beast? = demon?

--Conall Cian?

5 Demons, killing of

Then he began to read.




Cerise lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. She was emotionally drained and mortified by the way she’d behaved with Ahren. Both her sisters adored him, and, honestly, she felt the same. She hated the idea of letting him down, but the look in his eyes earlier that day had been even worse than disappointment.

With a resigned sigh, she swung out of bed and pulled a long cardigan on over her pajama pants and skimpy tank top. She padded in her socks down the long, industrial grey hall to the Ghosts’ kitchen. Milk and cookies, she thought. She needed milk and cookies.

The enormous kitchen could have been at home in a large hotel, all shiny stainless steel and gleaming white tile. After a brief search, she found a stash of chocolate chip cookies, and indulged herself by placing three of them on a saucer, then filling a tall glass with milk and settling down at the nearby table. She never bothered turning on the lights, she just sat in the dim light cast in through the doorway as she bit into the first crispy bite. She closed her eyes to fully enjoy the chocolate, but she was interrupted by the sound of someone moving toward the kitchen.

She blinked in the sudden light when Six-Four swung into the room and flicked on the overheads. He glanced at her, nodded, and muttered a perfunctory, “How’s it goin, kid?” He tossed a folder onto the table and strode to the refrigerator. He dug around in the freezer before grabbing a bag of frozen peas and applying it to his face.

The tall, rough man flustered and intimidated the normally irrepressible Cerise. She drew in on herself, though her attention was caught by the papers that had scattered out of the folder - drawings and photographs of that Hellions symbol that seemed to interest both Six and Ahren so much - the black hand over-writing the goat's head normally there.

On this night, Six-Four's blue on white Ghosts Reborn uniform was torn and bloody and his face was marred by swelling and spectacular black, blue, purple, and red sunbursts of bruising. Through the damage to his uniform she could see cuts, bruises and burns. Knowing how remarkably fast the man could heal, for him to still have that much damage showing, he must have taken quite a beating.

“Oh... wow! Are you ok?” she burst out.

He pulled the bag of peas away from his face, poked experimentally at his cheekbone, winced, and replaced the frozen bag. “I will be. One of those damn Titan robots got frisky with me. I ****** hate robots.” His gaze flicked her plate. “Where’d you score the cookies?”

Cerise pointed to the incongruously cheerful bear cookie jar on the counter, and was a bit dismayed when Six-Four piled cookies onto a saucer of his own and sat down at the table with her, roughly shoving his scattered papers back into the folder. She’d heard many stories about Six-Four. Not all of them good stories. In fact, if someone did say something good about him, it was usually referring to his determination or his skill with blades. Despite everything, she still found him fascinating - like a deadly snake.

“I’m not gonna bite you, kid,” Six announced suddenly, and she realized she’d been staring.

“I know, I’m sorry, I... ah...” she stumbled over her words, then realized her cardigan had fallen open. She blushed and pulled it closed over her tank.

Six’s face darkened for just a second, then he pushed his chair back. “It’s ok. I’ll just go.”

“No, no... I’m sorry.” Cerise said, then met his eyes, “Really, I’m sorry. Please stay. Can I ask you a question?”

Six pulled the bag away from his face again. The swelling was gone, and the bruising had faded to dull yellow and green. He set the bag aside and pulled his chair back to the table. “Sure,” he said. “Shoot.”

She swallowed nervously, then blurted out, “Have you ever killed a person?”

Several expressions crossed Six’s face all at once, then his face cleared to an blank mask. “You know I used to be a soldier, right?”

“Well, ya, I guess. But I mean... as a Hero?”

Six picked up a cookie, looked it over as if trying to find just the perfect spot. He bit into it, chewed, swallowed, then looked back up at Cerise. “As far as I’m concerned, as soon as some ******* decides to start hurting others, stealing from them, experimenting on them... they have given up their fundamental right to freedom and deserve to rot in prison.” He took another bite of cookie. “But when they start taking lives, when they come into my home, my city, and make life cheap, they have given up their right to continue breathing. And if the only way to stop them is to kill them, damn right I will.”

Cerise almost let the conversation end there, but... “Ya, but HAVE you?”

Six cocked his head at her, “What do you think, kid?”

She nodded, “And you’re ok with that?”

He grabbed the remaining cookies in one big hand and shoved away from the table. He picked up the bag of peas in his other hand, pulled open the freezer with the pinky of that hand, and tossed the bag back in. He moved like a hunting cat back across the tile and leaned onto the table, ducking his head to look into her face. She froze, staring into his fiery blue eyes so close to hers. “Cerise.... I sleep like a baby. I wouldn’t loose a minute of sleep over the lives of some of the denizens of this city.” He straightened up, tucking the folder under his arm. “And you shouldn’t either.”

Without a backward glance, Six-Four strode out of the kitchen and out of her sight.

She thoughtfully finished her cookie, drained the last of her milk, and made her way back to bed.

I'll be there with Ici. Or Ferrett, or whatever.

Part XXVIII

Part XXVII

Peregrine Island
Ahren stood at the rail of The Melody as she lumbered her way to the Bayside docks in Peregrine Island. It was a lovely day in Peregrine Island, with a deep blue sky, fluffy white clouds, and a bright warm sun shining down on his shoulders. Sooner Red stood at his side, leaning out over the railing to get her first glimpse of the island, her ponytails fluttering in the breeze. She was excited and nervous, and she wore it all right there on her face as she glanced eagerly about. Exciting, yes, but terribly dangerous for an inexperienced hero as well. Of course, she'd learn that soon enough.

"Ahren! It is good to see you again, my friend! You are looking very well." Ghost Falcon called as they exited the ferry.

Ahren resisted the urge to touch the place on his face where his scars had been. Ghost Falcon hadn't seen him since the nanites had healed his injuries. He waved a greeting, and led the way deeper into Peregrine Island to the man they'd come to see.

"Harvey, meet my partner Sooner Red," he said, then turned to Cerise. "Red, this is Harvey Mayler. He's been working tirelessly on exposing Chi Omicron Sigma, based on information you supplied. So far, his work has done a lot to get houses dechartered and removed from dozens of university campuses.

"Very nice to meet you, Mr. Maylor," she said, extending a hand. "And thank you. When I think of how things could have turned out for me if I'd been initiated... well. Thanks.

"Call me Harvey," he answered. "And, no... thank YOU. Carnival of Shadows recruiting on college campuses? Those stories have circulation up almost to where we were during the first Rikti invasion. And, I wanted to be the one to tell you, Sooner Red, that the Chi-O-S house is gone from the OU campus."

Cerise smiled at him. "That's wonderful. I was so worried about the people I left behind, my roommate, and Rory, that something would happen to them."

"So, Harvey...." Ahren said with a smile. "You have any work for a couple of bored Heroes?"

---
Ahren concentrated the majority of his attention on his brightly colored opponents, but he still took the time to check on the heroes who had followed him into this warehouse decorated like a circus. Sooner Red stuck close at his back, along with fellow Ghost Overpass. Rastafari Man had sent his young friend RastafariGirl as well, and they had picked up a few Heroes on the way who promised to be helpful. He kept his eye especially on Sooner Red, since he was concerned how she would do versus Carnies, given her history with them.

An interesting trio, the Nation girls. They were so similar in appearance and in their drive to succeed, but their differences were especially telling. Cydney and Caryn were both complete tomboys, but Cydney still kept that mane of long hair; Ahren had never been sure if it was vanity or stubbornness. Caryn kept her hair cut short, and despite her otherwise neat appearance it always looked like she’d just climbed out of a convertible. Cerise, though, never left her room without makeup, and showed a lot more skin than either of her sisters. Cydney had had few romantic entanglements until recently she’d been spending a lot of time with Rastafari Man - a relationship of which Ahren did not entirely approve, but it wasn’t his business, so he kept his opinion to himself. Cerise played with flirtations with the younger men of the Ghosts, but she still carried that torch for Six-four. Then there was Caryn, who had not had a single romantic encounter since she’d arrived in Paragon City. He supposed it had something to do with the tragedy that had brought her here, but they’d never talked about it. And all three sisters were hoarding some secret like a trio of squirrels with a stash of nuts. He knew all three of them trusted him and considered him a good friend, and he was sure that if he didn’t know that secret… no one did. So, for the time being he was content to wait. None of them would willingly endanger their friends, so at the point that secret became important to the Ghosts, he was confident they’d share.

He fought forward, leading his team deeper into the warehouse. He’d deliberately sought out a mission from Harvey, since Harvey could always be counted on to have some lead on the Carnival of Shadows and he wanted to observe Cerise’s reaction. He’d been pleased from the start, when Harvey told them what he wanted them to do. Her face had paled for just a moment, then she'd set her jaw and nodded. Ok,” she said.

Now, here she was. She’d said very little about her encounter with the Carnival before she’d come to Paragon City, but her sisters had told him what they knew about it. He was pleased with the way Cerise determinedly threw herself into her task. She was an amazing student, and the teacher at his core was glad for the opportunity to help train a mind so willing to learn and so determined to master each new lesson. Whatever force put magical blades in her hands was cruel, however. She held deadly weapons, but didn‘t have the heart to use them. If she didn’t learn to resolve that conflict within herself, each battle was going to put a new wound on her soul - not to mention the wounds it might leave on her teammates..

His team rounded a last turn. Ahead was a switchback flight of stairs leading to an open second story. And there, surrounded by dancing and laughing carnies and strongmen, was a beautiful, blonde woman, her face hidden behind a painted porcelain mask, her hips casually draped with a bright yellow checkered scarf, her legs covered with high boots and stockings, her chest confined within a scant laced brocade top.

Cerise crowded behind him and whispered, “Ring Mistress…” in a low growl. If the assembled partiers saw the heroes below, they gave no sign. Ahren glanced at his team. Most of them could fly.

In a hoarse whisper, he instructed, "I’m going straight up the stairs. Overpass, you’re with me. The rest of you, follow Sooner Red. You’ll fly straight up the wall and attack them from behind after they turn to Over’ and myself.”

A chorus of “Roger that,” “Got it,” and “Ready!” answered him. Cerise gave him a nod. His team paused just long enough to make their final preparations, and then Ahren and Overpass charged up the stairs, yelling out their challenges. The Strongmen stepped up to meet them, and the first excruciatingly painful psychic attacks began flying. Few of the Carnies even noticed the remaining heroes darting across the open space until they landed behind the fight. Cerise charged into the thick of it, her magical red blades flashing as she forced her slender frame through the crowd. She had eyes only for the Ring Mistress, even though that particular woman was concentrating entirely on Ahren.

Ahren watched his partner slash and strike at her target, nimbly dodging fire and hammers. And, as happened so often, he watched her hesitation and reluctance hold her back. The heat of a seneschal’s fiery breath drew his attention forward again, and he landed a few blows of his own before checking on his team again. A second group of Carnies was charging them from the opening ahead and to the left. The team was shifting position to defend against the new threat, and Ahren and Overpass were both scrambling to try draw attention to themselves.

Ahren fought his way forward through the battle, one of those Strongmen was charging forward, and even though the man’s head was completely encased in a steel helmet, Ahren could tell that his attention was focused on young RastafariGirl and that enormous hammer was drawn back ready to strike. And ahead, another Ring Mistress slinked around the corner and met his eyes. He had to make a quick decision on which threat to address. In a moment, he noticed Sooner Red closing in on the Strongman. Trusting that she’d do what it took to protect her teammate, he turned to the Ring Mistress. He cast one glance back at the Strongman and cried out when he watched Sooner Red pull back a moment before her blades would have sunk into the strongman. And since she did, the strongman swung that giant hammer and landed a solid blow squarely on the side of RastafariGirl's face. The moist thud reverberated through the open space, and ‘Girl’s head snapped back. The force of the blow lifted her from her feet and she flew back to slam into the railing. She was completely limp as her body folded over the railing and then tumbled down. She fell, unresisting, to crash to the floor below.

Only his years of experience as a hero kept him moving past the surprise. Shock and anger wanted to freeze him in place, but he continued to carry the fight forward, even as RastafariGirl teleported out to the hospital.

It seemed like hours later, though it was truly just minutes, and the battle was won. The seven remaining members of the team stood catching their breath while Overpass held a glowing crystal that had been hidden inside a packing crate full of coffee makers.

“Red, you get back to the base. Now.” he said firmly. “I’ll want to talk to you when I get there. Overpass, please bring the crystal to Harvey Maylor. He’ll be interested, I think, and should be able to tell us where to look next.”

“Ahren, I-” Cerise started to speak, but he held up a hand, and reminded himself of just how young she was.

“Go back to the base. We’ll talk there.” He locked his eyes on hers. For a moment she met his gaze boldly as if she might try to defy him, then blinked, dropped her eyes, and nodded.

“Thank you all for the assist,” he said to the rest of the team. “I think I’m calling it a day.”

---
Ahren stopped by the hospital to check on young RastafariGirl. She was pale and shaken, but would recover. He waited with her until Rastafari Man arrived, exchanged a handshake and nod with his fellow hero, and then took himself back to the base.

He took his anger and frustration under control with a rigid hand. He wanted to show just enough heat to get through to her without crushing her,. But when he arrived and found her waiting for him, huddled in a cushy chair, pale, demoralized, and alone, it was all he could do to stop himself from hurrying to reassure her. Instead, he strode into the room, his face dark and his eyes flashing.

“Dammit, girl! I have tried and tried to let you work this out for yourself. Your failure to embrace reality is starting to cost others, and I’ll not stand by any longer and let that happen!”

“Yeah,” she started, “but-”

“No! This is where I talk and you listen! What do you think would happen to you if the Vahz got their hands on you? They would chop you up and use you for parts! The Circle of Thorns? Take your soul and use your body as a vessel for one of their own! The Crey have no end of painful experiments they’d love to perform on a hero. Council? Malta? Rikti? And I think you have an idea what Carnies might do to you, but have you thought about what they might do to ME if they captured me because you failed to have my back?”

Cerise just gaped at him. He knew she had a serious case of hero worship, and he’d never spoken to her at all like this before. Her eyes were wide and shiny, her color pale, her mouth a shocked “o.”

“Because of you, a girl got hurt today. Because you didn’t act to protect her, she’s lying in the hospital right now. Your sister's friend, Rastafari Man, trusted us with someone he cared about. And we let her and him down. No... not “we,” you. You let her and him down because you just stood there and let her get hurt.”

He crouched, putting himself at eye level with her. “Heroes don’t take life casually. But if you hesitate for fear of hurting a bad guy, one of the good guys could end up hurt instead. And you may find yourself in a situation where it is their life or yours, their life or mine… their life or a hostage, a civilian, one of your sisters, or teammates. You better decide now what your choice is going to be, and stick with it. And… if your choice would be to let the bad guy live rather than someone you should be protecting…. You should pack it up and go home now.”

He stood, holding her eyes. Her chin began to quiver. Her eyes filled. She tried to speak past a throat closed tight by tears, then finally whispered, “I- I- I can’t!” and erupted suddenly into deep, soul wrenching sobs.

Where did that pic come from? It's not from Buffy.

So.. just in case someone else is so unlucky... how DO you get rid of it?

Well... crap.

Ok. I guess my current vidiotmaps pack will just be good enough for now, then.

Thanks for the heads up, Ice.

Oh no!

Wow.. that really sucks.

Wait... did you have Avast installed yet? And it didnt' catch it?

Part XXVI is up

Part XXVI

The Ghosts Reborn base
There were really only a few places one should look when trying to find Sooner Spirit, and Ahren got it right on the first try. He stepped out onto the roof of the Ghost’s Reborn base to find her standing at the rail staring out at the view. She was rarely out of uniform, but on this night she was dressed in some sort of soft yoga type gear, though that long reddish gold hair tumbling down over her shoulders and fluttering in the faint breeze identified her to anyone who knew her. She gazed out at the waterfall splashing down into the waterways of Founders Falls. Ahren had to admit that it remained a stirring sight no matter how many times he saw it. And lit up by the fading rays of sunset, it was even more spectacular.

He knew she liked to come up here and lose herself in the view. Was she thinking about her day? Making plans? Worrying? Brooding? Whichever it was, he hated to pull her from her reverie, but he needed to talk with her.

He stepped up beside her and leaned onto his hands. “Evening, Sooner.”

She turned to him and her face lit up with a welcoming smile. “Ahren!" Her eyes flitted over him, as they always did, and he felt that familiar mix of irritation and affection at her worry for him.

“I’m fine, Sooner. But... you look tired.”

“If that’s your polite way off telling me I look like ****...” she smiled.

He shook his head. “That’s my way of saying you look tired. But... I was wondering if there are any more of you back home. I’m not sure I can take another Sooner.” He smiled.

“Just the three... three sisters.” He was an astute and observant man, and he took note of the expression that flitted over her face at that moment. He also noted how quickly she tried to hide it. He knew there was something she hadn’t shared with any of the Ghosts... but he supposed they all had secrets. And he was confident if it was something the Ghosts needed to know, she’d have shared it already.

"So, ah..." Ahren cocked a smile and turned toward his old friend. "Where did you stash your baggage before we teamed up?"

Her expression was utterly baffled. “What do you mean, Ahren?”

“Well... Caryn... we knew she had what we’d call ‘issues.’” He shook his head. “And we’ll get back to Cerise.... but what about you, Cydney? That’s an awful lot of baggage for one family. I never noticed you hauling any around, so I'm just wondering what you did with yours."

Her brow wrinkled and she cocker her head to the side. “Ahren? What...” It wasn’t really as hard to fluster Sooner Spirit as she’d like everyone to think, and he’d just hit her with two surprises. He rarely called her by her given name and then he’d hit her with a more personal question than she was used to from him as well. “What’s going on, Ahren? Is something wrong with Cerise?”

“Answer my question, and then we’ll talk about Cerise.”

She gazed back at him, her green eyes serious beneath the worried crease in her brow. He could almost hear her consider pretending she didn't know what he meant, but in the end she sighed and turned back out to the view. “No...” she answered with a slow shake of her head. “I didn’t really bring much ‘baggage’. I was a little freaked out and a lot scared. And maybe a little overwhelmed to be here. But I was lucky enough to find some good people, like you, and Ice9, and Cowboy Dream and Zemuron.. You guys helped me find my way. But I also didn’t have the kind of... ah... trauma that Caryn and Cerise did before they got here.”

“What were you freaked out about?”

She shook her head. “Not today, Ahren. I’m sure I’m going to have to explain that to you someday. But not today, and hopefully not soon. Now... what’s going on with Cerise?”

There was a long pause while he held her gaze, but finally he accepted that she wasn’t going to say more on that subject. “She doesn’t want to hurt anyone.”

“She’s a hero. I’d say that’s a good thing.”

“She is a hero. Sometimes we have to hurt people in order to do that job.”

“Ah... it’s not that she doesn’t want to hurt them,” Cydney said. “She doesn’t want to kill them. That’s still not a bad thing.”

“Sooner... she fights with magic knives. She’s going to hurt people. The only question is whether it’s the bad guys... or if the good guys get hurt because she won’t fight the bad guys.”

Sooner sighed. “It’s easy for us to criticize her, Ahren. Caryn and I fight with our fists. You fight with your fists. When we finish with a bad guy he might need a few days of medical care. When she finishes with him...”

“But she doesn’t finish with him is the problem. Unless someone she cares about - like me - is in trouble... she doesn’t really want to fight at all. And that’s going to end up causing someone she cares about - possibly me - to get hurt.”

“You gotta understand.. She never really wanted more than to be a cheerleader and an honor student. It’s hard for her. She didn’t pick those weapons, you know. No more than Caryn and I picked how the magic manifested in us. Caryn and I can just incapacitate our enemies. She doesn’t have that choice.”

He raised his brows. “I have to understand? Cyd... I never wanted to be more than a teacher. And until I got these nanites and a new set of powers... I was fighting with a highly customized rifle. I think I understand very well what it feels like to have very little choice other than lethal force.”

He watched her face, a study in emotions, as she considered what he said. Finally she nodded. "I understand, Ahren. I'll think about what you've said."

He considered a moment before continuing. "And you know she's got a serious schoolgirl crush on Six, right?"

He could have laughed at the series of emotions that flew across Sooner's face before she settled on irritation and shook her head. "Ya, I know. She pretends she's just interested in him because he fights in a similar style, but she's not fooling anyone. Except maybe herself." She sighed. "Why him? Of all the guys in the Ghosts why him?"

"Because he's the worst possible choice she could find?"

Sooner laughed, "He is that. I’ll talk to her, Ahren.”

“No... I just wanted you to know what was going on with her. You paired us up for a reason, just like you paired me up with Caryn for a reason. And you were right that time. Caryn and I worked well together and helped each other out. In fact, you and I worked well together and helped each other out. Cerise and I will be fine. Hopefully, I can teach her some things. And who knows... maybe I can learn something from her. Besides how to paint my toenails without smudging, I mean.”

She laughed, and he laughed with her.

"Besides, Six is busy hunting down some new sect in the Hellions, and I've got Cerise chasing Crey all over Brickstown."

"What is Six doing worrying about Hellions? Isn't he a bit above their league?"

"He's got a special interest there," Ahren answered without adding that he was interested in that particular investigation as well. "It keeps him busy and away from Cerise, and the Crey are keeping Cerise plenty busy"

"Thanks, Ahren. You're a good friend."

He nodded and stood with her watching the last rays of the sunset gild the falling water. And he continued to wonder what that secret was that she was keeping. Because while he hadn’t said it, he knew that all three sisters were keeping that same secret.

[I promise.... more action is coming soon. - Sooner]

happy birthday!