Sooner

Mr. Roboto in my pants - Styx

I take that $42.37 and take myself out for dinner and a drink at outback.

That leaves me with $4.

I pass that on....

I agree that there needs to be some sort of way to sort out all the different styles.

Dark, funny, dramatic... something.

I also agree, the stars are just broken, mostly because there's too many different ways/reasons to rate and arc up or down: The author is my friend? 5 stars! There are typos? 1 star! I want clickies so I can work on my badge? 5 stars for tons of clickies! I want a mission I can stealth? 1 star because it's defeat all!

All which means the stars convey nothing useful at all.

Part VIII of Choices is up in RP.

Part VIII

Ebony Rose delved ever deeper into the labyrinth of collapsed hallways and clogged stairwells. After just one level, there was no light at all besides her flashlight. Rats, raccoons, and other wildlife had wasted no time making themselves at home, and she could hear tiny movements all around her. Their musky odors permeated the entire place.

It was ever colder as she descended. Outside, it was a pleasant day, warm and sunny. Inside the ruined complex it was uncomfortably cold and the dampness was seeping itself into her clothing.

Rose thoroughly searched each room for any clue about her missing friends, but though it was obvious the lab had been abandoned in haste, it had been efficiently cleaned of any thing useful. The smashed computers had their hard drives removed, filing cabinets were empty of anything more significant than a lunch receipt, even medical supplies had been stripped of everything more useful than band-aids and antibiotic cream.

She spent hours in cold darkness, wading through standing pools of water. She climbed over collapsed rubble and crawled through narrow openings. Her engineer’s mind recognized the basic instability of the structure, but she pushed on anyway. The Shades’ needed Shattered Ice9 and Cowboy Nightmare, and Rose needed her friends.

Rose checked the posted maps and directories, and knew she had only one more level left to search. She made her way down the stairs, kicking irritably at an overly confident rat, and then opened the door to the bottom floor to find a lab completely coated with a fine sheath of ice.

---

Conall Cian drove his powerful unmarked police car through the streets of St. Martial. His silence had finally rubbed off on the Roses. They were excited and happy and frightened, a combination that encouraged chatter. When the car boarded a ferry headed for the Rogue Isles, however, they fell quiet. It was interesting that they didn’t ask. He glanced at them occasionally. Ebony Rose’s intelligent blue eyes flicked around constantly in Daniel’s face, and Elizabeth had fallen into an exhausted sleep with her head on her husband’s shoulder.

It was obvious from the panic in Rose’s voice over the phone that she cared considerably more about her parents than she’d let on to him. Most likely, she feared letting him know that he could use them against her. If so, it was a foolish fear from a weak and foolish woman. When he choose to move against her, it would be direct and final.

Shattered Ice9 had earned Conall’s trust with his ability and power. Shattered was a man that even a demon could respect. His wife, Cowboy Nightmare, was a terrifying power in her own right, death in a shapely woman’s form. Shattered’s friend Death Shrowd was another worthy man, filled with power and a hatred that the demon admired. He was willing to follow them loyally for as long as it was convenient for them all.

Rose however... He saw nothing in her to respect. Intelligent? Surely. But her brain would not stop him from removing her head from her skinny shoulders. Shattered had given her his trust, and, as far as Conall was concerned, her only real power came from Shattered. She was human, she was a woman, and lacked the guts and strength of will to be as ruthless as leadership in the Rogue Isles required. And her long imprisonment by Nemesis just bore up his estimation. Only a weakling would allowed themselves to be held captive and forced to work, as she had been.

The day that Conall was convinced that Shattered Ice9 would not return would be Rose’s last day to make demands of him, to give orders to him. Out of respect for Shattered’s regard for the woman, he’d make it quick, but Rose lived only as long as Conall believed that Shattered might return.

He pulled into his destination and parked. Daniel looked up, confused. “This is a safe house?”

“It has only been attacked once, and that attack failed,” Conall answered. “You’ll be safe, and under guard here.” Conall glanced up at the towering, gleaming pyramid of the Golden Giza and decided that there was no need to explain that it was The Ghosts Reborn who’d attacked it.*** “Let’s go in, your room should be ready.”
***The attack took place in The Rise and Fall of a Hero., during the assault on the Rogue Isle that cost Ice9 his life.

---

Rose could feel Shattered’s power as soon as she stepped onto the lowest floor. The painful cold bit into her and she shivered. She kept quiet, though she wanted to call out. She tread carefully on the slick floor as temperature dropped with every step she took. There were four doors in this long, dark corridor. Shivering, teeth chattering, and with tension knotting her belly she advanced. She glanced into the first room on her left - it was a neat hospital room, all ready for a patient, if not for the smooth layer of ice covering everything in the room. The thick restraints on the bed were a sinister touch, however. The room on her left, was also a patient’s room, but this one was a ruined mess. The bed lay on its side, the IV stand propped against it. The restraints had been shattered.

Rose’s tension grew as she stepped ever deeper into the complex. She glanced into the last room to the left and found the remains of some sort of biological lab. Most of the equipment was missing, the rest destroyed and scattered over the floor.

Her heart rate and respiration picked up as she turned to last room. She was a scientist, she didn’t believe in superstition. But somehow she knew there was something in that last room, something that she didn’t want to see. She forced herself to take those steps, to cross that hallway, to push open that door.

This hospital room was covered in the thickest layer of ice. A few flakes of snow drifted down and blew about in the draft from the door. Thick icicles hung from the ceiling. In the center of the room was a hospital bed. Her heart dropped to see a body under a white sheet. She walked hesitantly closer and reached out one shaky hand. She pulled the sheet back slowly, revealing first a head of pure white hair, then a face she almost couldn’t recognize from the bruising and broken bones. But then she was able to see the shape of his face under the marks of a savage beating and stumbled back.

He was dead. Shattered Ice9 was dead. She collapsed to the floor in a defeated heap and shivered in the power still emanating from his lifeless body.

[ QUOTE ]

I would also like the option of setting it so that it will Automatically pay my SG rent if the SG has the prestige available.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, pls

Part VII of Choices is posted

Part VII

Six-Four lay on his side. Blood poured into his abdomen from multiple internal injuries, his mouth was a blaze of pain from his broken teeth, and his breathing was severely compromised due to injuries to his nose, lungs, and ribs. A normal man would be dying. He was healing.

Internally, his lacerated liver closed itself neatly and smoothly. That, unfortunately, was not his major source of blood loss. His spleen was nearly torn in half, and blood was gushing out of it. The tough splenic capsule was busily reknitting itself, however, and when it finally closed, his blood stayed confined in his vasculature where it belonged. The lake of blood already flooding his abdomen obediently osmosed its way back into his veins, and he once again had enough circulating red cells to adequately oxygenate his tissues. One by one his ribs became whole, the last few moved in a nauseating fashion to complete their healing. His contused lungs repaired themselves as his breathing became easier.

His vision and full consciousness returned, which meant, unfortunately, that he was fully aware of his pain as well. He forced himself to remain still and quiet. He had to be fully healthy before he attracted the demon’s attention again. That monster had turned away, restored his illusion of humanity, and pulled out a cell phone. The brief conversation echoed down to him as if he were far away and hearing it through a tunnel.

He hadn’t even realized his jaw had been dislocated until it wrenched itself back into place. His nose restored itself and finally he could breath normally again. The last thing to heal was his teeth. That hurt worst of all as first the inner pulp cavity restored itself and every breath felt like a branding iron on the raw, exposed tissue. Then the teeth began rebuilding the dentin and enamel. He lay still for just a moment longer, making sure that all his parts were in working order and then quietly climbed to his feet.

Six reached down inside himself, to the level where his mutant genes worked, and his body began glowing with a pale, strobing green. He pulled a pair of thin blades from his belt and crept quietly up on the now human-seeming monster.

“Never turn your back on a Ghost, freak!” Six-Four called out. The big man whirled with startling speed. Six-Four relished the surprise on that hard face, but cursed as his opponent flinched back and the blow was that supposed to disembowel just skated along the skin.

The cell phone the monster been using dropped to the ground and activated a speaker phone function. As the demon roared in fury, a light soprano - a voice he still heard in his dreams - echoed out of the phone. “What’s going on?!”

That voice worked on him like an electric shock directly to his nervous system. Six’s hesitation gave the villain time to react, and he began to glow with a thick, black, negative light, as if instead of emanating light, he was sucking it in.

That soprano voice spoke again, her agitation evident. “Co-- Detective! What’s happening?” She paused, “Detective! Report!” The demon growled, took his eyes off Six for just a moment, and kicked the cell phone into the wall, where it fell silent.

“Just you and me, now, hero,” he said. He squared his shoulders, balled his fists, and bared his teeth in what could almost be called a smile. Six crouched, ready and waiting. When the demon stepped in... the fight was on.

---

Rose pounded her fist into the wall behind her in pure frustration. The possibilities were endless, and on any other mission she wouldn’t be at all sorry about the possibility that Conall might be arrested or even killed. But this was her parents, and even if they had parted on poor terms, she still loved them. She couldn’t even blame them for believing she was guilty, the rest of the world had as well.

She pushed away from the wall and reminded herself that all the reasons that she was here and Conall was there were still valid. She very deliberately pushed her worry to the back of her mind and continued into the battered complex of Crey Lab 1138.

---

The battle raged furiously in the once beautifully manicured yard. They were well matched. Conall Cian had size and strength, Six-Four was faster and more agile. Six could rarely penetrate Conall’s defenses, but what damage Conall managed to inflict healed before Six even felt the injuries. And both were ruthless.

Six had settled into a state of grim determination. The monster had retained his human form, but that made him no less deadly. Any one of the relentless blows that rained upon him were potentially fatal, and Six knew from bitter experience that his healing could be overcome. He slashed and stabbed and dodged and struck again, striving to get just one blade to strike home.

He acted fast when the opportunity arose. The big man stepped back onto a decorative rock and lost his footing for just a moment. Six darted in, blades flashing, and scored a strike to his opponent’s neck. The demon growled like a wild beast and his hand slapped up against the torn flesh there where red blood gushed out. He held that hand out, as if showing Six-Four the blood then he was enveloped with a dark glow and Six cried out furiously as the wound healed.

“I’m going to make you hurt for that one, Ghost,” the demon growled. His eyes glowed with angry red sparks, and he stepped in, his blows coming harder and faster.

Six was forced to retreat away from the hail of blows. He stumbled over a small depression in the earth, landed badly on his right leg, and couldn’t stop himself from crying out as the knee twisted. The demon’s sharp eyes noticed and he smiled that teeth-baring smile again.

The villain began to drive Six back, ever back, and always retreating to his right side. The demon landed a kick, and then another on that leg, and Six’s limp was becoming more pronounced with each attack. He struggled to hide it, he fought to push back, but the villain had found his rhythm and was attacking like a man who knew he’d already won.

Six lashed out with the strength of desperation and slashed furiously at the big demon. His blades struck at the demon’s belly, chest, neck and face, forcing the monster to flinch and dodge back. Then one blow landed, the blade biting into the brow above the left eye and skating diagonally across his opponents hard face. The dark glasses were knocked to the ground, and blood poured down into the demon’s left eye, covered his nose, and down his cheek, staining his white shirt.

The demon struck back, his huge fist still hidden in shadows, a solid blow straight to Six’s jaw. Six felt something crunch, probably a cheek-bone, and light flared in his left eye just before the entire left field of his vision went grey. He stumbled back and with a blast of fiery pain his right knee finally gave out. He landed hard, his right leg folded painfully underneath him. He could already feel the bones in his cheek reforming, but he knew the vision would be slow to return. He shook his head. He needed to get up, and fast, but his leg seemed to have forgotten how to work.

The demon reached down and picked up the sunglasses, holding them out as if showing the twisted frames and the broken lens to Six. “These were my favorites,” he said quietly. “And since I guess you won’t be buying me another pair, I’ll just have to take it out of you in pain.”

Before Six could even flinch, the big man stomped down on the folded right leg. Something crunched and popped in his knee, and he was pretty sure the blow shattered either the tibia or the fibula. He turned, trying to put some distance between him and his attacker, but that just gave his opponent a new target. A huge, booted foot slammed into his kidney and Six collapsed forward, helpless before the agony. Before he could even begin to push himself back up, both feet landed square on his back. Pure electric pain shot throughout his body as his spine shattered, bone fragments ripping into his spinal cord. He couldn’t stop himself from screaming out his rage, pain, and fear. He didn’t know if his body could regenerate a nerve injury as severe as the one he’d just taken. He could feel that sick weakness that came with profound blood loss, so he suspected he was bleeding into his abdomen yet again.

The demon dropped to one knee beside Six. He reached for a handful of hair and yanked Six’s head back. “Leave the nice parents alone, hero.” He smashed Six’s head down into the garden rocks. Six cried out again as his nose broke. “That’s not playing fair.” He smashed the head down again, and Six’s vision blurred out entirely. “Nice heroes don’t play dirty.” The demon laughed, long and low, the sound chilling to nearly dead man laying helpless and broken. “Of course, it doesn’t really matter, you’re going to be an example of what happens to heroes who try to play games with the Shades.”

Six felt the big man shift. He didn’t know if were even possible for him to be killed. But he knew the demon was about to try. Through the haze of pain and blood, he grit his teeth , cursed the demon, and activated his emergency transport.


Conall rose from the ground and put his hand to his injured face. The wound would heal. It would frighten the Roses’ though. Unfortunate. He cast one glance back at the spot where the broken hero had been just a few moments earlier and sighed regretfully. Perhaps another day he’d be able to finish that fight.

He put his hand back to his face, and deliberately played up his injuries by stumbling into the house. “Mr. and Mrs. Rose? We have to get out of here. You’re not safe!”

The couple ran into the living room. Elizabeth showed more good sense than he’d credited her with by immediately dampening a wash cloth and offering it to him. “What’s going on here?” Daniel asked.

“I was attacked. You were the target. Quickly, both of you, pack a bag. We’re going to a safe house. A safe place where your enemy would never dare to come for you.”

Part VI of Choices is up in RP.

Part VI

Rose crouched in the rubble where Lab 1138 once stood. The exterior building had been thoroughly demolished, but her hand-held scanner told her there was open air below her. The dark earth and fresh scrapes on the cement chunks showed that it had very recently been moved. She stood, her ankle twisting awkwardly in her high-heeled boot and she smiled a sad smile, remembering how many times Shattered had told her not to wear such impractical shoes in the field.

She activated her flight field so she could move safely around the rubble and scanned the entire grounds. And finally found an opening. It was just barely covered by a thin layer of debris, and she called in Crimson Queen to help her lift it away. The opening she revealed was a jagged hole where the ceiling had collapsed into a hallway. She crouched, peering into the darkness, then took a heavy flashlight - one large and heavy enough to be used as a club - and then hovered through the opening into the darkness. The temperature dropped 10 degrees as she descended.
---

Six-four was becoming jittery. Too much caffeine, not enough food, too much waiting, not enough action. He paced in the small room in front of the monitors. He could watch over the Roses’ in their cells, but all there was to see was Daniel with his arm flung over his face, trying to lose himself in sleep, and Elizabeth sobbing when she wasn’t curled up on her bunk staring into the wall. Their lawyer had been in earlier, but nothing of any interest had happened since then.

He checked his watch again. Where was she? He’d expected her to charge in here as soon as she got the news, and that should have been nearly twenty-four hours ago. If she took the time to think and plan he knew this could get a lot more difficult.

He checked the machine he kept with him always and then plopped himself down in front of the monitors again.

“Hey, Jon! Let’s order pizza, huh?” he called out to the guard patrolling the cell block.

“I just had breakfast,” the guard answered as he prowled by.

Six propped his head on his folded hands and stared irritably at the monitors. Elizabeth rolled over and her body shook with sobs again. He’d feel more sorry for her if she hadn’t been responsible for bringing that monster of a daughter into the world. How many other people cried themselves to sleep over the actions of Ebony Rose?

Six-four jerked upright at the sound of a deep, authoritative male voice entering the block. He checked the monitors and frowned as a tall muscular man dressed in slacks, a shirt and a tie, covered by a dark leather trenchcoat strode onto the block. A detective’s badge was fastened to his lapel and it flashed as he passed under the lights. His face was hard and his eyes covered with dark glasses. The heavy leather flowed around his ankles like molten chocolate.

Six-four frowned as the detective was shown into an interview room, and then jumped to his feet in angry protest when Elizabeth was ushered into the room with him. She was passive and defeated, and didn’t even look up at her visitor.

Six turned the volume up on the monitor to hear the man’s deep voice speaking, “...is very sorry, Mrs. Rose. The matter is still being investigated, but as soon as your-”

The door opened again, and Six-Four cursed hard and loud as Daniel Rose was escorted in as well. “Beth!” he called, and Elizabeth showed her first sign of life as she turned and ran to her husband. They embraced, and the detective waited politely. After a long moment, Daniel turned to face the detective. “What is this?” he asked warily.

“Mr Rose, I am Detective Ian Lacnol, and I was explaining to your wife that a mistake has been made. I am here to escort you home, and to stay with you until the matter has been sorted out. You may be in further danger, but I will keep you safe.”

“Thank God...” Daniel murmured. “When can we get out of here?”

“Right now, Mr. Rose. We’re just waiting for your belongings to be returned to you.”

Six stared in complete fury at the monitors. How could this have happened? If his manufactured evidence had been discovered, why hadn’t anyone spoken to him about it? He let out one long exasperated sigh and ran his fingers through his short cropped hair. This was going to ruin everything!

Six left the block and moved to a high vantage point outside the Zig where he’d be able to see the Roses being escorted out. And sure enough, the big detective and the freed couple, now back in their wilted party clothes, walked out the front door just a few minutes later. They followed the detective to an unmarked car, and Six-four waited until he heard the powerful engine start up and the dark car pulled out before he lifted into flight and followed, high overhead.

True to the detective’s word, the car took the Roses back to their upscale neighborhood. Six remained high until the trio entered the house, and then descended rapidly into the backyard. The party decorations, much the worse for wear, still fluttered in the breeze, and the manicured lawn was littered with paper plates and napkins. Apparently the party had ended abruptly after the host and hostess were carted off.

Six crept closer, and peered in a large bay window. He was able to see the big man seated on a sofa, but the Roses were out of sight. He assumed they were changing clothes. He stepped down to move to another window when his right foot slipped and he landed hard on an aluminum soda can, crushing it and jarring that bad knee.

“Mr. and Mrs Rose?” The detective called, rising quickly to his feet.

“Yes?” answered Elizabeth’s light soprano.

“I heard a noise. Stay out of sight while I check it out.”

Six considered hiding, but this was as good a time as any to confront the detective about what was going on, and as a Hero he had nothing to worry about from a regular human, no matter how big he might be. He stood waiting in the backyard until the big cop stepped out onto the patio. A brief chill when up Six-Four’s spine when the detective saw him and smiled a broad, confident, teeth-baring smile.

“You must be Six-Four,” he said in a congenial tone as he strolled closer. “What can I do for one of the Ghosts Reborn today?”

“What are you doing with my prisoners?” Six-Four demanded.

“The Roses aren’t anyone’s prisoners just now,” the detective answered. “I have orders to see that they are released. And to keep them safe from... any further danger.”

“I didn’t hear about any such orders!” Six-Four yelled furiously. “I should have been informed-”

“Perhaps you aren’t as important as you imagine, little man,” the detective said in a deceptively mild voice, and then Six-Four stumbled back - too late to defend himself - as the cop disappeared and a monster straight from hell stepped towards him instead. The leather coat rolled upwards to become an enormous pair of flapping wings. The dark glasses appeared to climb his forehead and spout into a pair of curving horns reaching for the sky. His eyes glowed with red sparks, and his shoes split away to reveal broad toes with arching talons digging into the landscape. A barbed tailed lashed around his ankles like an angry cat, and a his voice dropped an octave as he chuckled. “Not nearly as important as you thought...” it growled at him, and then a wave of nausea nearly dropped him to his knees as pure evil rolled through him and it felt as if something vital was being pulled out of him and into the demon-monster.

Before Six-Four could even begin to react, the demon’s clawed hands were lost in shadows and his fists began smashing into Six-four too fast to see. The thing’s strength was terrifying and Six felt the blows smash into his ribs, his belly, his jaw, his face. He felt his teeth explode back into his mouth, and nearly aspirated them when a flying fist smashed his nose and he gasped for breath. He fell to one knee, too stunned to be either frightened or angry just then. He spat out the fragments of his teeth, tasting that burnt taste that only a damage tooth can generate, flavored with his own blood. He pushed back to his feet just as one fist slammed into his gut and he felt something give... from the fresh wave of nausea, it was something important. And then a knee smashed into his ribs and he fell again, unable to breath. He looked up at his attacker and finally felt fear as one of those enormous clawed feet smashed into his belly. He tried to get back up... but something was very wrong deep inside, and instead he collapsed. His vision greyed out, and he had just enough consciousness left to feel grateful as the monster turned away from him.

---

Ebony Rose fought the sense of urgency that filled her. She would not help Shattered Ice9 or Cowboy Nightmare in the slightest if she just ended up trapped in a cave-in in this dark labyrinth. She cast one last longing look up at the sun before stepping away from the entrance she’d found and making her way into the complex.

She was rather surprised when her cell phone rang, she’d have thought she was too far underground for reception. She answered it, and was greeted by Conall’s deep, gravelly voice. “They’re out. They’re unharmed. He is here.”

She paused to let her sense of relief wash through her so her voice could be casual when she responded. “They are unharmed? Excellent. Have them each pack some essentials and bring them here for safe-” She paused as she heard a strangled cry, and then a clatter as the phone hit the ground. She heard Conall roar furiously. “What’s going on?” she demanded, but heard no answer.

Part V of Choices is posted.

Part V

Six-Four had taken up permanent residence in the Zig, waiting for his target. He finally had a perfect opportunity to take out Ebony Rose, after all this time and planning. She would be angry and worried and distracted and carelessly march right into the Zig for him. He kept a very special little machine nearby just to make sure things happened as he intended. The only thing he wasn’t sure about was if she’d give him the opportunity to end her the way she deserved.

And so he waited... watching over his prisoners and preparing for a long overdue battle.
---

Rose moved in her lab like the calm, organized center of a storm. Every available surface was covered with an eclectic assortment of supplies waiting for her to judge whether they would be needed on her trip. Her six robots waited patiently nearby as they would aid in carrying some of this material. She loaded up duct tape, spare ammo, power supplies, medical supplies, and 2 gallons of fresh water into Crimson Queen’s storage compartment. Glowing Amber carried rappelling and rock climbing equipment, while Bleu Magenta was loaded with a trio of gas masks and a compact Draeger rebreather.

The intel she’d uncovered on Lab 1138 was scant. The facility was listed as abandoned, but it would be far from the first “abandoned” Crey property to still have an active presence. She had to be ready for anything, and so she was packing with extra care. She turned to the remaining items, less than a quarter of which would fit in the space she had available, and began sorting through it carefully and discriminately.

She had no warning at all when Conall Cian arrived. The big man could move with startling silence when he chose, and she had to acknowledge that he scored a point when she gasped and jumped as he swung into her lab. His anger oozed off him in a nearly palpable aura, but there was a tension underneath. She calculated that she scored her own point when she realized he was uncertain and at least a little nervous.

“Her highness summoned me?” he asked with careful casualness as he pulled off his sunglasses and tucked them in his shirt pocket.. He closed on her, as he was prone to do, and stood, looming, hands on his hips, pushing the rich leather of his dark trenchcoat back.

She tipped her head back to look up into his dark eyes. Pure evil roiled behind those eyes, confined in a human seeming, and, fortunately, some vestige of human sensibilities. “This is not the time to quarrel, Conall. I need you for a sensitive job. I need your skills and abilities. And I think you might enjoy it.” She kept her voice calm and low, and waited.

After a long, breathless moment, he took one step back away from her and nodded. “Tell me,” he said. “What do you need?”

She reached to the table behind her and grabbed the file folders stacked there. She knew his sharp eyes noted the colored labels, including the one that read “Crey - Lab 1138.” She set them aside and opened the slim red folder. “I need you to remove a pair of prisoners, a man and a woman, from the Zig. They have been accused of murder and embezzlement. Their lives have value, and I believe those lives may be in danger. I want a minimum of bloodshed, I want this done quietly, but I need these people out of the Zig, as soon as possible.”

She slid aside a copy of their arrest report to reveal a portrait photo of her parents and siblings. “You are retrieving the older couple.” She felt his eyes moving from the photograph to her face and back. There was a marked family resemblance among the Rose children, and she was certain he was noticing it.

“Their names?” he asked.

She paused for just a moment, wishing there was any way to do this without him knowing who they were. But... there wasn’t. She could only hope to pull a bluff. “Daniel and Elizabeth Rose,” she answered. “They are my parents” She saw his shoulders twitch with pure surprise. “They are being used against me, in what I assume is an attempt to trap me. There is obviously a mistaken assumption that I care if they are hurt. I do not. However, it is a matter of pride that this attempt to attack me through family is answered. It cannot be ignored. The perpetrator must know that he will not be allowed to make such attempts on me, and, by extension, the Shades. And - even though I truly could not care less about their fate - for the reputation of the Shades, and myself , it is important that everyone see they will not be allowed to attack us in such a cowardly fashion.”

She turned to look up at him, and his dark eyes searched her face. She maintained an expressionless mask as she gazed back at him. The moment stretched on.. Then he turned his attention back to the file. “They are in the Zig?” She nodded and watched as he flipped through the pages in the too thin file. Then he smiled. “There won’t be any bloodshed needed at the prison.”

Rose felt her brows arch up at his very surprising answer, but she nodded, then reached to the back of the file and removed a photo. “Watch out for this one, Conall. I don’t know much about him besides the name Six-Four, but he seems to be behind this.” Conall pushed the pages back in the folder, and tucked it under his shoulder.

“He won’t be a problem, either, Rose.” Conall smiled, a smile of pure evil that boded no good at all for Six-Four. He turned and called over his shoulder as he strode out, “I’ll have them out by morning.”

Part IV of Choices are up.

Part IV

Six-Four set bolt upright in his narrow bed, clutching his aching leg. He could still feel the motion of the sea, smell the salt, and hear the gulls as his dream faded away too slowly. He shook off the lingering emotions and the echos of a light soprano voice and forced himself to lie back. He made himself feel that the bed was still - he had not set foot on any sort of sea craft in nearly two years but his body had never forgotten what it felt like to sleep aboard a boat.

The wound from the previous day, the long deep cut down his body was completely healed, even the thin white line of scar tissue had vanished without a trace, leaving smooth, unmarked skin. But his ruined leg never fully healed, never really stopped hurting.

He lay back again, rolling to his side, stretching the leg out, then bending it, shifting, trying to find a comfortable position. Sleep finally reclaimed him as dawn began coloring the sky outside his window a faint pink. Then his cell phone rang and he sat upright again.


There were a few breakfast invitations one just didn’t turn down. UPS 2.2’s deep drawling request that he stop by the base was one. Six-Four filled his plate with a stack of pancakes, a generous scoop of eggs, 6 strips of bacon and 4 sausage patties, a double helping of home fries, 4 slices of toasted white bread, and copious amounts of butter, salt, syrup, and cheese as appropriate all over. One of many advantages of a mutant healing ability - you could pretty much eat what you wanted. Gone were the days of scrambled egg whites and half of a whole grain muffin to try to stay within weight regs. Sooner Spirit eyed his plate with equal parts envy and skepticism as she finished off her dry toast.

Six-Four sat down at the chair UPS had indicated, forked up a mouthful of eggs, and looked up as UPS spoke, “Nice work uncovering that Daniel Rose case, Six-Four. How’s that goin?”

Six-Four recognized a request for a status report even when it was phrased conversationally. He chewed, swallowed, sat his fork down, and made his report, omitting a few details UPS and Sooner Spirit really didn’t need to know anyway.
---

Rose was not a woman often paralyzed by indecision. She prided herself on her ability to make quick, accurate decisions and workable plans. She was distracted from her need to seek out Shattered Ice9 and Cowboy Nightmare by her new enemy and his remarkably adept frame of her parents. However, she couldn’t concentrate on her parent’s situation due to her worry over Shattered and CN. Every moment that passed the trail that might lead to her friends grew just a little more cold. And with each breath the regular denizens of the Ziggurat might just decide to introduce the Roses’s to prison life.

She had not left her lab since opening the envelope and now she dragged herself up and out into her garden. The morning air was cold and crisp, but she found it invigorating. She deliberately lost herself in pulling weeds, pruning, and watering until her mind was at rest. And the answer came to her. She couldn’t take care of both problems. They both needed her immediate attention, and she couldn’t be in two places at the same time.

However, the imprisonment of her parents was an obvious trap. And what was the best way to avoid a trap? Stay away from it. She wouldn’t go. But she commanded a base full of powerful villains. She would task one of them with the job while she went after Shattered and CN. And her new enemy would get an unexpected surprise.

But that, of course, opened a new question. She needed Death Shrowd at the base. He couldn’t take lead. Brygid was too busy turning into a demon and trying to figure out how to get out of her contract - you should never sign anything in your own blood. Ivy Pendragon was too prone to run off on her own like a magpie distracted by a shiny piece of foil. She worked her way down the list of possible candidates and then back up it. The obvious choice was unthinkable. But it was also the only choice that had a real chance of success. Breaking into the Zig, recovering prisoners, and breaking back out was no easy job and would require skill, intelligence, and determination.

Rose was blessed with an unusually intelligent and analytical mind. No matter how she applied that mind to the problem at hand, she could find no other solution. There was no other real choice. The risks inherent in that choice were enormous. But she saw no other way.

She cut a particularly beautiful white bloom before rising gracefully to her feet, brushing the dirt from her knees, and reentering her lab. She called for Scorpio Son as she straightened up. She collected the handwritten note and set it atop the folded newsprint for analysis later. She was pulling her hair back into a neat ponytail as Scorpio Son arrived and tapped politely at the door.

Rose smiled at him as she opened the door. He was a smart young man and knew he had thrown himself firmly into her camp the night he chose to obey her orders over Conall Cian’s during their contest of wills. With that understanding, he seemed to be making a move to make himself valuable to her. It was working.

“Scorpio,” she called to him. “I need you to contact Conall Cian and tell him to come home. I have a very important job for him.”

Arc Name: Gary Gora and the amazing Spam Factory!
Arc ID: 109351
Morality:neutral
Faction:Custom group.
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Sooner too/Sooner
Difficulty Level: should be pretty easy, really.
Synopsis:Find clues to the mastermind behind Gary Gora inc.

Choices part III is up.

Part III

Ebony Rose knelt in her lab, adjusting the spring tension in Crimson Queen’s left knee. Her mind was not on the simple task, she was reviewing, again, what little she knew about what had happened to Shattered Ice9 and Cowboy Nightmare. First had been that strange attack by the Ghosts Reborn, landing on the nearby beach, fighting furiously, then retreating.*** It seemed obvious that their disappearance was related to the strange attack, but it just didn’t feel right to her. Their enemies in the Ghosts were not foolish people, and nothing about that reckless attack made sense.
***this attack occured in Sisters, and was the Ghosts attempt to save Neely before she could be captured by the Shades. They “retreated” because they learned Neely was no longer at that location.

Nobody knew anything. She’d questioned every contact she had, multiple times, and had learned nothing. She sighed with frustration, closed the knee access panel on her assault bot, and stood. For a moment, she just leaned her hands on her work table, her mind racing, trying to think of anything she hadn’t already tried.

She was startled out of her revery by a tap at her door. Scorpio Son waited in the doorway for her attention. “Rose, there’s a messenger from Arachnos here. He says he needs to speak to you directly.”

Rose grit her teeth for a moment. She could not care less about Lord Recluse’s power trips or Black Scorpion’s rather pathetic attempt at politicking... but her relationship with them and Recluse’s other lieutenants was a resource she carefully managed. However, if Recluse or Scorpion thought she would go haring off on some pointless project for them while she was still trying to find Shattered and CN...

“Send him to me, then,” she said, and took advantage of the time to compose her face into a pleasant expression.

The man that entered wore the insignia of a special messenger, one who only works for Recluse or his lieutenants. He carried a messenger bag, and he withdrew a thin envelope as he came through the door.

“This arrived in Grandville this morning,” he said. “We examined it, of course.”

Rose took the envelope from him. It was oversized and sturdy. A precise hand, in dark permanent marker, had written, “EBONY ROSE, c/o Black Scorpion, Grandville.” She frowned as she looked back up at the messenger. “What is it?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. They didn’t tell me.” He turned to leave, and at that moment, Rose recognized him. She’d seen him huddled with Shattered Ice9 just hours before Shattered and CN vanished.

“You!” she yelled, “Stop!”

He turned back towards her. “What?” he asked, annoyance clear on his face.

“You were here just a few days ago, and talked to Shattered. What message did you deliver to him?”

The messenger actually laughed. “You know I can’t tell you that.”

“You will, though,” she responded. “I need that information.”

“Too bad,” the messenger laughed again, “you can’t have it.” He turned again to leave, even as the giant assault bot Crimson Queen took three enormous steps to bar his way.

“You are not leaving,” Rose said, “until I get that message.”

“You wouldn’t dare interfere with a special messenger. When Lord Recluse hears-” The messenger stopped talking as Crimson Queen abruptly backhanded him into the wall.

Rose darted around her table, knelt, and quickly applied flex cuffs to his wrists and ankles while he was still trying to remember how to use his body. “Turns out, I would dare,” she muttered.

She ran to close the door to her lab, and then darkened the huge picture window that looked out into the garden. She briefly considered taking him into the basement, where there was a good stock of equipment for her intended purpose, but decided there was less chance of being observed here. No sense giving any of her fellow Shades reason to question whether they were more loyal to her or Arachnos. She wasted no time cutting him out of the uniform with a pair of shears so that if anyone DID see, they wouldn’t feel the need to investigate further. Then she crouched before him, waiting for him to rouse.

He struggled briefly, cursed, then glared at her. “This is going to cost you your life! You know that, don’t you?”

“I’d spend this time worrying more about your own life, were I you,” she answered calmly. “Now. Tell me. What was the message you delivered to Shattered Ice9?”

“[censored] off, you crazy [censored]!” He yelled back.

She stared at him for a moment, sighed sadly, then reached behind him and, with a vicious twist, broke one of his fingers. He bellowed and fought like a wild thing caught in a trap. She waited patiently until his cursing subsided. “What was the message you delivered to Shattered Ice9?”

He stared at her, going very still. “I can’t tell you that,” he said. “Please.... I can’t.”

“You can.” She answered him. “And you will.”

She reached behind him again. Then he screamed.
---

Rose straightened, walked shakily across her lab, and washed her hands. Her head buzzed with excitement, her stomach roiled with nausea. She was filled with anger at Shattered for not telling her where they were going. She leaned over the sink and took three deep, bracing breaths. Time was short. It had been days already. She had to get to that lab, and start trying to find Shattered and CN. But first, she had to deal with what she had done.

The messenger lay curled on his side on the floor, trembling and pale. She made one quick stop at her chemical hood before dropping to one knee near his head. He flinched away from her, and her stomach tightened again. She reached out with her prosthetic hand and stroked his hair.

“Let me go?” he whispered.

“Of course,” she answered. Not that he would get far in his condition. “Let’s just get you cleaned up...” Then she jerked his head forward and swiftly placed a dissolvable capsule in his mouth. She held his head tightly, preventing him from spitting it out. He fought madly, but she could tell the moment that the capsule dissolved by the panic in his eyes. Moments later his body spasmed, he arched back with a wordless exhalation of air, and then went limp. She stroked his hair once again and stood. His would not be the first body disposed of in the basement incinerator, and his ashes would rest easily in her rose garden. She bundled up his uniform into a garbage bag, wrapped his body in two more, and swiftly programed Crimson Queen to carry the bundle downstairs into the incinerator while she sat at her computer and quickly modified her base surveillance tapes to show the messenger leaving safe and happy. As a final touch, she was able to hack into nearby surveillance systems and add his image strolling down the street to several nearby businesses. She knew that any serious investigation would reveal them as forgeries, but she also knew the messenger had overestimated his worth in Arachnos, at least in comparison to her own worth to Black Scorpion and Lord Recluse.

She was already making plans for her exploration of the lab where Shattered Ice9 and Cowboy Nightmare had disappeared when her eye fell on the stiff, cardboard envelope. Since it was the last thing the messenger had done of his own free will, she supposed it deserved her full attention.

She pulled a thin piece of newsprint from the envelope. A hand lettered note fell to the floor, but she could read the heavy black letters written in a neat and precise hand:
I’M SORRY, BUT IT WAS NECESSARY.
COME AND GET THEM, [censored].

With a frown, she unfolded the newspaper. The headline screamed “Alleged murder/embezzlement couple arraigned” The attached photo was grainy, but her attention was drawn to a man in a Ghosts Reborn uniform standing to one side. Her brow wrinkled, but she didn’t recognize the face. Her eyes skipped to the caption on the photo “Daniel and Elizabeth Rose are escorted to their arraignment while Ghosts Reborn Six-Four watches.” Her feet gave out and she dropped to her knees, the delicate newsprint ripped in half as she tried to catch herself.

Arc Name: Gary Gora and the amazing Spam Factory!
Arc ID: 109351
Morality:neutral
Faction:Custom group.
Creator Global/Forum Name: @Sooner too/Sooner
Difficulty Level: there is an EB/AV. otherwise... not too bad.
Synopsis:Find clues to the mastermind behind Gary Gora inc.

EDIT: 4/24/09: I've updated this one a bit. Try it again.

I didn't read all of this... but I'll say this:

I really want a dev's choice. I know, I know.. everyone does, but I put genuine thought and effort into my arcs, and it frustrates me that my arc may never even get SEEN by a dev because it gets lost in a see of ticket farms and PL farms and farm farms...

So... ya... the ratings matter to me. I know that I have a better chance of getting my arc seen by a dev if it has a higher rating.

/rambling continues...

The other night I was playing and I saw "You have been awarded 15 tickets" which means, of course, that someone just rated one of my arcs 3 stars.

Not long after, I saw "someone has voted on "arcname"" which means someone rated it 1 or 2 stars.

This frustrated me because just earlier that night, my arc had moved up onto the list of 5 star arcs. I was really excited about it... then, of course, that knocked it back to 4.

I suspect the 1-star was a malicious thing (bc neither of mine ARE 1-star arcs), but the three star... I would really like to have known why that person rated it a 3. It would have meant a lot to me to read "I gave you 3 stars because while I enjoyed the arc, I thought you could have done more with your NPC chatters" or "I liked your custom group, but the plot wasn't logical"

So, I sorta agree with OP here. I would have liked to heard constructive feedback.

Choices part II is up.

Part II

He could have done it at any time, but Six-Four deliberately arrived at the beautiful Rose home while the celebratory party was well underway. The “u” shaped driveway was filled, and cars spilled out into the street. The music was loud enough to be heard outside the door, and the conversation and laughter was louder still. It was a nice evening, and it was obvious that several guests had stepped out into the backyard to enjoy the cool evening air.

Six-four led three longbow agents and six PPD officers to the door. He had suggested that it was entirely possible that their infamous daughter may have provided security for the home, and that therefor Heroic help would be called for. He did politely step back to allow Officer Hannigan to step up to the door and knock briskly. There was a long wait and the door opened, spilling bright light, music, delicious aromas of rich food, and generous good cheer out into the night. The bright, welcoming smile on the woman’s face faded into puzzlement as she took in her surprise guests. She resembled her daughter in the tall, slender build and rich dark hair that fell around her face. She wore a pretty party dress and carelessly held a wineglass in her left hand.

“Yes?” she asked. “Are we being too noisy?”

Officer Hannigan cleared his throat before speaking, “Elizabeth Rose?”

“Yes?” she answered.

“Mrs. Rose, I have warrant for your arrest,” Hannigan said, displaying a stack of legal papers. “Please step out of the house, face the wall, and put your hands behind your head.”

The woman’s pale face drained of color completely. She stared motionlessly for a long moment, before saying, “I don’t understand...”

Hannigan repeated, “I have a warrant for your arrest. Please step out of the house.”

Six-Four smiled as Ebony Rose’s mother stepped forward. A female officer took her by the shoulder and turned her to face the wall, before taking the wineglass and pulling her hands behind her head and efficiently patting her down.

Elizabeth was still obviously confused as she asked, “Please.. What is this about?” She didn’t resist as the officer, quietly reciting her Miranda rights, pulled her hands one at a time behind her back and handcuffed her.

Six-Four stepped forward at that point, his voice harsh as he answered her, “Embezzlement, fraud, aiding and abetting, and, of course, murder.”

She turned wide, shocked eyes toward him. “You’re insane! What are you talking about?” She held his gaze for a minute, and something she saw there terrified her. “DANIEL!” she screamed. “DANIEL!!!”

The man that raced down the hall in response to his wife’s cry was a fit middle-aged, with stylish greying hair, wearing a nicely tailored jacket over a dark shirt open at the collar. He skidded to a halt at the unexpected sight of his wife in handcuffs.

“What the hell is the meaning of this!?” he demanded. If Ebony Rose had taken her build and her hair from her mother, it was her father who had given her the thin, finely featured face and blue eyes. Even if, just then, that older and more masculine face was outraged, the resemblance was clear.

Hannigan stepped forward again. “Are you Daniel Rose?” he asked.
---

Six-Four was eminently satisfied with how the arrests had played out. He supposed it was too much to ask for the two of them to resist arrest, but the shock, horror, and embarrassment on both their faces, the disruption of the celebration, the arrival of news cameras to capture the event, and finally Elizabeth’s breakdown into tears as she and her husband were driven away in separate vehicles had made every moment of the previous 24 hours painstaking work well worth it.

The cherry on top of his efforts had been when he’d discovered that the man Daniel Rose was replacing had died. Despite the fact that he’d died innocently of a heart attack, Six-Four had been able to place enough doubt in the DA’s mind to convince him to file for murder as well. And that had given Six-Four the argument he needed to suggest that the Roses were dangerous and should be held in the Ziggurat until their trial. Any good trial lawyer could get them sprung in a few days, but he suspected he only needed a few days to achieve his goal.

I have started posting Choices in the RP section.

Also, I posted a compilation thread so there is a single index of all my stories, as well as Ice's.

Part I


It was a beautiful afternoon in Nerva Archipelago. Seagulls circled overhead, their raucous cries muted by the eternal rhythm of the surf and accented by the distant clangs of the buoys. Ebony Rose knelt in her meticulously maintained garden, attempting to sooth her mind by concentrating on her roses. It wasn’t working.

She glanced into the base through the enormous picture window. She’d sent Conall Cian away on a task that should keep him busy for days. She’d asked Death Shrowd to stay close for the near future. But there was still no sign of Shattered Ice9 or Cowboy Nightmare. She had never realized just how much she depended on her three closest friends until two of them were gone. It felt every bit like someone had just taken two legs of the tripod that supported her stability.

It had never been more apparent to her that she was not seen as one of the strongest of the leaders of the Shades. It was vitally important that she hold control of the group until Shattered and Cowboy Nightmare returned. And she had to do it without relying on Death Shrowd’s strength, or she would be forced to keep the enormous man around constantly. No... she had to lead on her own, and that might well mean she would have to spend less time in her lab - and her garden - and more time strengthening her grip on the Shades.

She spent one brief moment remembering the girl she used to be, a girl who never dreamed she’d have to worry about life or death politics, then stood, brushing the dirt from her faded jeans. That door was closed. This was her life. She used her pruning shears to cut three fresh roses, wrapped their cut ends in a damp cloth, and returned to her lab.
---

Six-Four peeled off his Ghosts Reborn uniform and chucked it into his laundry bin. He was alone in his small, painfully neat bachelor’s apartment, but if anyone had been there, they would have noted a network of scars marring his otherwise fit and healthy body. The worst, a shiny, twisted burn scar started just below his shoulder blades, spiraled down under his left arm, and then narrowed and ended in a point just before reaching his navel. If anyone had known to watch for it, they might have noticed that it slightly restricted his movement when he twisted or reached to the right. A puckered circle - the diameter of a quarter - marred his upper chest just left of the sternum, an unassuming reminder of a wound that had missed his heart by the margin of an exhaled breath. That one impeded his ability to lift his left arm overhead, ever so slightly. But, again, if you didn’t know it, you’d likely never notice. His right thigh and calf bore a number of surgical scars, reminders of a complicated external fixator he’ d worn for nearly 6 months. He was fabulously lucky not just to still have use of that leg, but to still have it at all. The limp was almost imperceptible, except on cold, damp days. Those scars, and the dozens of others, spoke of a painful, long rehabilitation following a horrible trauma. And from the shiny pink of some of those scars, that trauma was not so terribly long ago. Those scars were overlaid by fresh bruises and cuts, including a glorious sunset of a bruise that covered his right shoulder and most of his chest and a long, narrow cut that extended from his belly down to his knee. That one broke open and bled every so slightly as he crouched to open a dresser drawer.

He slipped into a pair of comfortable flannel pants, poured a double shot of Johnny Walker Blue, and settled himself on a padded barstool. By the time he took the first sip of the fine whiskey and began skimming the newspaper, the bruise had vanished and there was only a thin line showing where the deep cut had been. The burn scar, the puckered circle over his heart, and the surgical scars on his leg remained. Ugly reminders of an ugly day long ago.

He read the paper nightly. Every page. Even the weddings and baby announcements. There was usually something of note to be found. Something to give him a direction for the next day.

The newest rising star among the Ghosts had found a home there, but had remained aloof from the warm family that most of the Ghosts had melded into. He kept them at a distance. He didn’t know much about them outside of their work as heroes, and they didn’t know much about him. And he preferred it that way. There were details about his past he would prefer never came to light, especially to the Ghosts. It might make them ask questions.

He read the world, national, and state news, and then flipped to the local section. He scoured the stories about sightings of Nemesis, an in-depth report about the ever-changing politics of the Council, the PPDs new anti-superadine campaign. Nothing caught his interest. The sports section was mildly interesting, then he found his way to section D - society.

He took a bracing sip of whiskey, and stubbornly continued reading. There were still articles about the Manticore-Sister Psyche wedding, and today’s discussed whether knee length would become the new trend in bridal gowns. The wedding and engagement announcements section was getting longer as the weather turned more springlike. Interestingly, so was the baby announcement section. The next page featured a half-page write up on a local man receiving a promotion. Daniel Rose, husband to Elizabeth, and father of three adult children, was taking over the information technologies section of a local chain of banks. The article discussed his family and how excited they all were about the promotion. Wife Elizabeth was head of the accounting department for that same chain of banks and had always had every confidence in Daniel’s leadership. Daughter Cathy and son David were both pleased with their parents success and -

Six-four paused and reread the opening paragraph - Daniel Rose, married to Elizabeth, and father of three adult children, and then skipped back down. There were quotes from Cathy and David, but not a word about the third child. He reread that first paragraph one more time, then slid off the barstool. He stalked to a bank of file cabinets against one wall and opened the first drawer. The label on that drawer was neatly lettered in black permanent marker “EBONY ROSE.” The label on the folder he withdrew read “ER - PERSONAL.” He flipped the folder open, and there it was, right on the front page: Ebony Rose, aka Bonnie Rose, aka Raven Aumentato. Born: Long Island, NY, Father: Daniel Rose, Mother: Elizabeth Rose. Siblings: Catherine, David.

He closed the folder and carefully placed it back inside the drawer. He poured himself a second shot of the blue label and smiled. He’d never imagined how close he was. He had a long night of careful work to do, but he allowed himself to savor his drink and his anticipation before he began.

Introduction: This story takes place immediately following the events of You Can Call me Glacius9 and Sisters. The Stories of the Ghosts Reborn and The Shades of Vengeance are told by Ice9 and myself and are rather interwoven and dependant on each other.

If you have some time and would like to get all caught up, here is the compilation of all the previous stories.

If you don’t have time, here is the brief overview to get you caught up:
Ebony Rose is one of the leaders and founders of The Shades of Vengeance, a powerful villain group in the Rogue Isles. Along with Shattered Ice9, Cowboy Nightmare, and Death Shrowd, Rose led the Shades into a prominent position. Recently, however, Shattered Ice9 and Cowboy Nightmare vanished. On the heels of their disappearance, Rose and the ambitious demon Conall Cian had a fierce contest of wills. Conall very reluctantly backed down, but Rose is in a precarious position and is struggling to maintain control of the Shades until she can find her friends.

The Shades are in direct opposition to the hero group The Ghosts Reborn, lead by Sooner Spirit and Glacius9. The animosity between the two groups escalates with each meeting and with each drop of blood shed.

As a warning, this story has parts that are very brutal and bloody.

Here are the stories written by myself, and by Ice9. Since our stories are told in the same universe and feature the same characters, I am including both here.

I will update as we go. These are listed in chronological order, though they were posted in a slightly different order.

Links updated for new forums

• The Rise and Fall of a Hero - by Ice9, tells the story of Ahren, a peacebringer, and his encounter with the the villain group The Shades of Vengeance, founded by Shattered Ice9 and Ebony Rose. Shattered claims to be Ice9, the fallen leader of the hero group The Ghosts Reborn.
• Rose Black - by Sooner. Rose Black tells the story of Ebony Rose, a young woman forced into villainy. She is offered the opportunity for redemption, but in order to take advantage of it, she must betray her new family in the Shades.
• The Broken Thorn - by Sooner. This is the story of young Ghost Ici Cold. Ici is trapped and powerless in Oranbega and aided by a Rogue Isles villain.
• Sisters - by Sooner. Sisters is the story of peacebringer Neely and her attempt to find and rescue her sister Keely, a warshade who was captured by the Shades of Vengeance months ago.
• You can call me Glacius9! - by Ice9. Glacius9 also claims to be the return of Ice9. In this story, Glacius hunts down Shattered for a brutal confrontation.
• Choices - by Sooner, is the story of Ebony Rose as she tries to maintain control of the Shades in the absence of Shattered Ice9 and Cowboy Nightmare, while under attack from a new and ruthless member of the Ghosts Reborn.
• A Shattered Soul - by Sooner, is a short story that helps explain why Razor 6 never developed Shattered's powers.
• Homecoming - by Sooner. This tells the story of Neely's return to her home dimension upon discovering that her sister Keely was still alive.