Sooner

Sisters part XVI is up in RP.

Sorry for the delay, I've been out of town.

Sisters
Part XVI
now...

Shattered Ice9 pursued his fleeing target high over the tangled forests of Nerva. Impossibly, she was increasing her lead. She couldn’t be faster than he, but somehow, she was pulling away. All he could see of her now was a flash of pure white energy ahead of him.

Every moment that she evaded him, his fury grew. His fragmented memories of being a hero, of being Ice9, included all the times he and Neely had fought side by side. Up until the time that counted, of course, the time he needed her, and she’d left him to die. She, and all her so-heroic friends, turning their backs on him, leaving him to die, leaving him to the non-existent mercy of Crey. He dug deep to put on even more speed. He had to catch her. It was not possible that she would escape him now.

His radio flared to life, and Rose’s voice, uncharacteristically anxious, called to him. “"Shattered! We are under attack. The Ghosts Reborn are approaching from the shoreline.”
And suddenly it all made sense. Heroes? Faithless is what they were. It was a trap. To present him with a target too tempting to ignore, then attack his home when his forces were scattered out chasing it. Betrayal and treachery. With a roar of fury, he fired one futile attack after the fleeing spark of light and turned back. He couldn’t leave his Shades undefended against those who would imprison them and try to take away what he’d built."Sound the alarm and activate all base defenses." ” he ordered. He switched to the channel that would reach all the Shades. "Shades, report to your assault stations and prepare for battle. The Ghosts Reborn have come to kill us, defend yourselves and our home to the death!"

a few years ago...

Keely hovered in nova form behind her team. She’d switched forms after the confrontation because she knew none of them, with the possible exception of that know-it-all Ahren, would be able to read her expression in her alien form. She was a roiling ball of emotions and if her nova had tear ducts, she’d be crying hot, angry tears.

Didn’t they understand that Neely was all she had? No family, no one who cared for her, no one to be there for her, except Neely. Ya, she was upset! Who wouldn’t be?!? A horrible, evil thing had put its murderous hands on her sister and she was just supposed to stand there and nod thoughtfully? The only person in the whole world who loved her was in danger. The only person who stood by her, cared what happened to her and these people expected her to be calm about it? These people who kept Neely from her, filled her head with the idea that it was Neely’s job to save the world, thought she should be some sort of quiet polite little follower about it?

There was little council resistance left, and the Ghosts made good time through the base, following Keely’s monosyllabic directions. Keely had always been able to feel her sister, at least when they were near each other. That ability had grown stronger since they bonded, but now it was like she could feel her sister’s emotions, and Neely was just getting angrier and angrier. She supposed that was a better sign than if she was frightened, but Keely was becoming frantic with worry over what could be making her calm and sweet natured sister that angry.

Under Keely’s guidance, the team found their way to a cramped control room manned by a handful of council. They put up a token resistance, but in the end, the seven Ghosts crowded into the room. It was filled with monitors, levers, and buttons and dominated by a large open window looking down into a cavernous room lined with heavy reinforced doors.

“She’s here...” Keely breathed.

“This is the... what... prison? Barracks?” Sooner asked. “Where they keep their ‘candidates?’”

“So it appears, Sooner,” Ice answered.

Keely abruptly dropped back into human form. “That’s Moretti!” she snarled, pointing at the tall man in an Archon’s uniform standing in front of one of the cells. She felt her teeth clench and her stomach knot. She could remember so clearly lying strapped to a table as that man stood over her. She’d never told Neely that it was Moretti in charge of the lab, she’d known it would upset her sister more. As if it had just happened, she remembered everything he’d done to her in that lab. She crouched, in preparation to switch to dwarf form, when Ahren reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

“Wait just a minute, Keely!” he cautioned.

She cast one furious glance at his hand, before straightening and glaring straight into his eyes. She spoke, her voice low and her words slow, “You don’t need to touch me.”

It was such a contrast to her earlier tantrum that Ahren just nodded once and removed his hand. “Alright. But let’s not rush in there. He’s already tried more than once to trap us.”

Keely stood, her fury now plain on her human face. She inhaled, and exhaled hard, still glaring at Ahren. She knew what a contrast they made as they stood, eye to her, her small, slender frame surrounded by dark tendrils of energy while he was tall, powerful, and glowing with brilliant white energy. With her next heavy breath she turned her attention to the control panel. With her third, she blew out a heavy sigh. “Ah, [censored] this!” she hissed. She grabbed a lever and moved it to the “All” position and then slapped another labeled “Open.” Her team crouched in alarm as a loud siren began blaring. Keely took that opportunity to make her change to dwarf form. And as a glowing White Dwarf roared out of one of the cells, Keely teleported to join her.


Neely roared with satisfaction as she swiped at Erich with one huge clawed hand and he stumbled back into the railing behind him. She raised the other hand to attack again, and a Black Dwarf appeared beside her, surrounding them all with dark swirling energies that made Erich cry out painfully before it coalesced and was absorbed into Keely. Their angry, alien cries of challenge mingled as Erich got his feet under him and stepped into a defensive stance.

As one, the sisters changed back to human form. Neely leapt into the air to bring both fists crashing down in a flare of bright white light as that dark energy swirled again. Keely then changed forms yet again to her tentacled Nova and backed away, firing blast after blast at Moretti. Neely stayed close, hammering him with punches and point-blank energy attacks.

Erich, however, had gotten his feet back under him and was proving considerably tougher than Neely had expected. “I don’t want to hurt either of you!” he protested.

Keely let out a loud alien screech, too furious to force human sounds out of her nova form, but Neely just stepped in and punched him again, her fist sinking into his belly as he tried to dodge back and was just a little too slow. “Unfortunately, Archon, we can’t say the same!”

Erich cursed, then called out, “I need backup in the candidate dormitory!” He turned an angry scowl to Neely, then leapt into the air and kicked her hard. His booted foot connected solidly with her ear. She reeled back, struggling to stay on her feet as Keely’s angry squeal cut through the ringing in her ears. Then her feet gave out and she tumbled back, with an angry cry, into one of the cells. As she landed, prone, her shields dropped.

“Ah, I thought you were an angel,” said a rich male voice with a strong Italian accent, “but now I see you are merely angelic.”

She reached for the offered hand and then looked past to the face behind it. Male, handsome, dark haired, big, gorgeous dark eyes. At any other time, he would have been more than worth a second look. Just then, however, she rather distractedly responded, “Thanks. Please stay in here, you’ll be safe until the fighting’s done.”

Neely shook her head, still trying to clear it as she stepped back out and Keely swooped between her and Erich, still blasting away.

“Dormitory?!?” Neely finally got out. “You arrogant bastards call this dungeon a dormitory?!” She flung her arms into the air, forming three powerful balls of explosive energy. “You really are insane, aren’t you!”

“What’s insane is you and your sister risking yourselves in a fight you can’t win,” Erich answered at his most reasonable. At the same time, he drew out a massive assault rifle and leveled it at the dark nova still firing at him and screeching angrily. Neely felt a smile fleet across her face as some of those squeals were translated by her Kheldian half into some of the most foul profanity known to the inhabitants of that long ago planet that was home to the nova form.

Neely stepped back into the fight, striving to draw his attention - and fire - off the fragile form of her sister.

She heard UPS’s warning shout of “Incoming!” and risked a glace to see Council soldiers pouring into the room as the Ghosts spilled out of that control room to meet them.

now...

The sun was just starting to set over Nerva. It had been a beautiful day, sunny, but with cool breeze that was developing a bit more bite as afternoon turned into evening. The normal evening quiet was ripped apart by the furious arrival of the Ghosts Reborn and the even more furious determination of the Shades to expel them.

The very best of the Ghosts had made that trip, battle tested and experienced, but they were met by the full roster of the Shades swarming out to defend their home. As the Ghosts won their way to dry land, the skirmish turned into a war as Arachnos forces arrived on the heels of Longbow and flung themselves into battle.

And in the midst of it all, Ahren’s voice cut through the noise and chaos, “Neely’s on the move. She’s headed north.” There was a pause, as Ahren had just realized how poorly timed that information truly was. “She’s no longer at your location, Ghosts.”

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Good job again, Mr. G.

Wouldn't have thought of Ms. L as having quite the same mindset you do, but you sold me on it ... and I can actually see her not asking for help in learning how to shield her mind ...


Wouldn't have minded if you had mentioned how one of those guys she kept thinking about had a thing for the color blue ...

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Ms. Lib tends to be closer to the gutter in Grey's universe. I personally LIKE the interpretation. Her massive flaws make all her other behaviors seem more realistic in the context of a world filled with super heroes and villains.

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Ms. L actually is better than Malaise is seeing her here in my world. He just pressed a personal button on her (indeed, it would be a personal button on ANYONE), so she's very, VERY ticked off at the moment.

As for Malaise being ticked off at being cooped up in the Vindicators base, well...

Where the HELL is he after the Calvin Scott TF!? You see him ONCE on Redside, and that's only if you choose Scirocco as your patron! You also might get his help in the Blueside Mender Silos TF, or fight him once in the Redside Silos SF, but his role there was already covered in the comics. He's still in the Vindicators, but he's not doing anything!

Of course, as far from Statesman as I see Ms. Liberty, I still see her as not being one to waste resources, so... A paperwork shuffling he'll go... And how many people can do that, day-in, day-out, for, oh, three and a half, four, going on five years?

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You do fight him in the LRSF, I believe. And I think you can encounter him in a specific safeguard, but I'm not too sure about that.

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Third mission, with Swan and Valkyrie et al. There he is, with his dark phantom army. So, apparently, he's still spending some time with the vindicators

And part XV of Sisters is up in RP

Sisters
Part XV
a few years ago...

Neely cursed and threw her radio at the door. It made no more impression on the stubborn door than anything else she’d tried. The useless hunk of plastic and metal hit with a “thunk” and then slid across the floor to come to a stop against the nearest wall.

She had pounded on that door with every ounce of energy she could muster, and it hadn’t even been scratched. Once she conceded she was well and truly trapped, she’d clicked on her radio, only to find that it was thoroughly jammed. She refused to let her mind travel down the path that would lead to panic, and turned her attention to the hinges. Then the door frame. Then the air vents.

Nothing. Someone, most likely her ex-boyfriend, had known what might be trying to break out of these cells, and had planned well. Everything in here was resistant to her Kheldian energy. She punched the door again, and then stalked over to the tiny cot. She sat on it, then jumped up again, as if sitting on it acknowledged that she was going to be staying.

She paced, then pounced on the radio, checked to make sure it wasn’t broken, then turned it on again. “C’mon... UPS... Sooner? Keely? Anyone?” There wasn’t even a hiss of static to answer her and she cursed long and loud.

A tiny metal window in the door slid open suddenly. A pair of bright blue eyes that she’d never forgotten peered in at her.

“Hello, Neely,” Erich said with a low, throaty chuckle. “I knew if I played hard to get long enough, you’d come to me.”

She screamed, “YOU [censored]!” and flung the radio at the window where it shattered as he flinched back.
---

UPS cast a grim glance at the red battery indicators on his armor. He figured he had just minutes left before his shields dropped. And once that happened... he was done. He refused to acknowledge the ball of tension swirling in his gut. Neely was counting on him. The rest of the Ghosts were counting on him. He was not a man used to failure, and he hated that he was going to fail, in a matter of a few short breathes. He never faltered, though, never slowed down. If they knew how close he was, they would swarm him. He’d taken enough of them out of the fight to make them cautious, and he liked it that way.

They began to crowd him again, and he leapt into the air, His fists blazed with energy as he spun, and his attackers stumbled back again. As his feet touched the floor, however, the battery indicators all began to flash frantically. A faint warning buzz sounded, and the words “Multiple system failure” began to flash across his monitors.

He let out a wordless battle cry and struck out at his enemies, deliberately discharging the very last of his energy into his foes. The feedback struck him a moment later and all his monitors turned black. His armor shut down, and he went to one knee as abruptly he was exposed to the full force of the council attack. A bullet hit his shoulder like a Clydesdale’s double hoofed kick, and he fell back into the blast door behind him, then flat to the floor as that door slid open and six very angry Ghosts Reborn stepped through the opening.
---

UPS crouched in the corner of the hallway, while the Ghosts gathered round and Keely paced around behind them all like a caged tiger. UPS had replaced the spent batteries in his armor, and was carefully examining the cracked faceplate on his helmet as he explained what had happened. “The must have been waiting for us right around the corner. They waited until we were inside that room before attacking us. The void hunter went straight for Neely, I couldn’t stop him.”

“But then what happened? Why didn’t she go to the hospital like she said?” Ice9 asked.

UPS stared into space, carefully considering his answer. “The void touched her, turned her over. I thought he was just checking to make sure she was down, but he might have put some sort of teleport interrupt on her. I don’t know.. She teleported away and that was the last-”

Keely strode forward, shoving her way through the assembled Ghosts. “You stood there while one of those things put his hands on her!?” Her blue eyes flashed fire at UPS. “You [censored]! My sister trusted you! She counted on you and you just walked off and LEFT her there! She was always there for you, and when she needed you, you just-” She cut off with an “oof” as Strif stepped forward, put his hand on her chest, and shoved her back from UPS.

UPS looked up at Neely’s sister. His face was calm, but there was a storm of emotion behind his eyes. “You are young and impulsive,” he said speaking very slowly, “so I’ll cut you some slack. But do not ever question my devotion to these heroes.”

Keely face twisted with anger and she spat out, “You [censored] coward!” She cut off again as UPS stood in one smooth, fast motion. Strif’s other hand shot out so that he stood with one hand on each chest, but before either of the combatants could say another word, the rest of the team jumped in.

“Who the hell do you think you are talking to ANYONE like that!” Cowboy Dream demanded.

Ice9, with a furious glower on his face, growled, “Keely, I understand your passion and fury but you are WAY out of line questioning UPS' honor or courage!”

Sooner jumped in at the same time, “Whoa! That is totally uncalled for! You had just better shut that mouth before someone shuts it for you!”

While Ahren, his soft laugh lost in the shouts of teammates added, “You're too narrow sighted for your own good little girl. You'd be wise to shut up now and just apologize to UPS while he might still forgive you.”

“Enough!” UPS didn’t yell it, but the firm, no-nonsense tone of voice cut through the babble of angry voices. “I don’t know why, but Keely and I just don’t see eye to eye, we never have. She’s worried about her sister. I’m worried about her sister. This is not the time for us to be arguing, this is the time for us to be working together. Keely, let’s put this behind us until we’re ALL safe. Then, if you feel the need, we can discuss this again. Agreed?”

Keely’s mouth opened again. She glanced at the angry faces surrounding her, a few, like UPS’s still showing the marks of their recent battles, then closed her mouth with an audible snap. She was still for a long moment then she gave one sharp, angry nod, and shoved at Strif’s wrist as she stepped back.

UPS pulled his still cracked helmet back over his face. “I suggest we continue forward. At the very least, we should be able to find someone to tell us where she is.”

Keely shook her head. “She’s not far. I can feel it.”

Sooner cast a glance at Ahren, “Is that a Kheld thing?”

Ahren shook his head. “No... Maybe a twin thing, though.”

Keely looked up at her team, her emotions still quite plain on her face. “She’s here. And she’s pissed.”
---

“It’s just a matter of time before we have Keely in here, too.” Erich explained.

Neely had given up yelling at him, and was prowling her tiny cell, looking for any weakness at all.

“And who is that other one that came in with you? Well, neither you nor he will provide as much useful data as Keely will, since we have her human baseline data. We’ve just got the preliminary data on you, but being able to test you both now that you’ve bonded... It’ll be a gold mine of information. And... the other one will likely provide some useful information... Arakhn will be very pleased with my final report.”

She cast a furious glare at him and dropped to the floor by the cot, to see if she could manage to remove one of the legs. One of the screws holding it in place was loose... maybe she could get it out.

“And, I can compare the findings from the three of you with the five host candidates and see if we can refine our selection criteria. I wonder if you and your sister bonded because you were in danger? Perhaps if we imperil the host candidates, we can provoke bonding for them as well...” He paused thoughtfully, “Drowning? Fire? Torture?”

Neely put all her anger into trying to get that screw to loosen, but it wouldn’t budge. Her fingers slipped and she let out a curse, then leapt to her feet and whirled towards him. “Why are you HERE!? You have an entire BASE to run! And you don’t have anything better to do than stand there talking at me?!”

He smiled, and she would have gladly killed him at that moment. “I’m happy to see you. I missed you. I was looking forward to getting to know you better before you bonded and escaped. Besides, after your companions are captured, they’ll be brought here, and I want to see my two new Khelds first thing. It shouldn’t be long, now. UPS is alone and cornered, the other four are wearing down. Once Keely gets in the base, the trap will be fully closed, and I will be expecting another big promotion.”

He leaned closer with a broader smile, “And I’m still interested in getting to know you better.”

Neely erupted furiously into dwarf form at his words and roared a challenge at him. They were both interrupted by a loud warning claxon. She saw Erich’s face turn the color of spoiled cottage cheese, and then every door in the cell block slid open.

She spoke in her rough, dwarf-form voice. “Oh, you’re going to get to know me better, alright,” and took one huge, ground-shaking step out of her cell.

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So, what happened to stories being posted here??

Did I miss a meeting on something while I was out??

>.<

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Saint, darlin... I'm still posting anything new over here.

I'm just REPOSTING my old stuff over there so it doesn't go away.

I'm working hard on getting back to Sooner Nation. It promises to be epic (in the sense of "huge," I'm not trying to blow my own horn, there.)

Part XIV of Sisters in posted in RP

Sisters
Part XIV
a few years ago...


“This is giving me the creeps,” Sooner complained. “There’s nobody guarding anything! When have you ever seen a council base that wasn’t just crawlin’ with the bastards?”

Cowboy Dream nodded as she gathered up stacks of hardcopy files and back-up media.

“ Especially if he was worried about an attack from inside,” Ahren added, “from a newly bonded Kheld.”

“Exactly!” Sooner agreed. “Our info told us he would be more heavily guarded than normal, not less!” She sighed, then blurted out, “And you DON’T break up the TEAM!”

“I’m not happy about it either, Sooner,” Ice9 agreed, “But-”

Just then they all stopped with a chill as a voice too full of pain to be identified spoke over the radio, “hos...pi..tal...”

Before any of them could react, UPS spoke, his voice was flat and emotionless, the careful calm of a pilot who’s just lost an engine, “It’s a trap, team. Neely’s down, and headed to the hospital. I’m going to try to make my way back to you, but my dance card is pretty full. You guys, watch your backs.”

“I KNEW it!” Sooner yelled as all four of them broke into a run, trying to get to their teammate in trouble. They turned into the corridor and came face to face with dozens of council soldiers.

“Void,” Ahren warned.

There was one endless moment of silence and then the deafening clatter of chain guns began to reverberate off the walls. The void hunter fired and Ahren dropped. Sooner and Cowboy Dream charged and Ice9 dodged and ducked as he flung attack after attack into the mob.

Most of the bullets lost their way in Sooner’s shadowy armor, but a few made it through. Most of those just stung, like angry wasps, having expended their velocity and energy just trying to get to her. However, there were those few that still had the power to hurt her, and when that many bullets, and flames, and coherent sound, were coming at her, the injuries began to mount up. No time to worry about her companions, no time to stop and see how badly she was hurt. As long as her limbs were functioning, she kept going.

The void hunter was the first to fall, and she was delighted to see Ahren’s pure blue-white energy lancing past her. She was so relieved that she refrained from making her usual complaints when the soldiers went flying around and she was forced to chase them. Cowboy Dream’s katana flashed as she leapt and whirled, and council soldiers dropped. And all around them, soldiers were slowing and shivering in the cold as Ice9 turned that corridor into a winter storm.


But, despite their best efforts, they were being overwhelmed. Sooner was pulling energy from her attackers as often as she could to keep herself going, and Cowboy Dream had already fallen, only to drag herself back up and rejoin the fight with twice as much determination. Ahren’s attacks had slowed, and Ice9 had been forced to retreat completely for a few moments to recover. Sooner flinched and stumbled back as a booted foot connected solidly with her jaw. She tasted blood where her teeth had snapped shut on her tongue. Her armor faltered and she was forced to concentrate for a moment to bring it back to full strength. She straightened, and her eyes met CD’s for a moment, just long enough for their gazes to share the knowledge that they were going to lose that fight.
---

UPS 2.2 was retreating step by step, but he was making them pay for every inch. And while he was at it, he was making them pay for taking out his teammate. The shell casings were coating the floor, making the footing treacherous. His shields held firm, the bullets did little more than sting, the flamethrowers were just a warm breeze, and the punches and kicks were barely noticeable.

Keeping the wall at his back, he slowly gave ground. He paused in his efforts to key on his radio again, to the supergroup channel. “Neely! Check in!” He flinched back from a punch and responded with a vicious uppercut that knocked his opponent into the air. “Neely! If you’re headed back here, you better bring help.”

“What’s going on in there!?” It sounded like Neely, but, of course, it was her sister. Her sister who didn’t know they had walked into a trap.

“Neely was down.” UPS started to explain, but another half-dozen soldiers rounded the corner and the intensity ratcheted up another notch. “She’s at the hospital.” he finished.

“She is NOT at the hospital!” Keely yelled. “What the hell happened?!”

UPS muttered a particularly vehement curse, and answered, “When you locate her, let her know we need help in here.”

“You [censored]! What did you-” Keely started, at which point UPS turned off that channel.

He inched back around a corner. Behind him was a narrow doorway, a place where he could make a stand until the rest of the Ghosts arrived. He let them drive him back to where he wanted to be, then glanced over his shoulder. His teeth clenched and he murmured a curse. The doorway was closed with a heavy reinforced blast door. He was backing himself into a dead end.

He took his stand, back and flanks protected as well as possible in the corner. “Ok, [censored]! You may take me down, but it’s gonna cost you.” He threw a punch into the jaw of the nearest soldier, dropping him to the floor. “Let’s see how many of your sorry [censored] are goin down first!”
---

The pace of the fight was taking its toll. Sooner was fighting her own exhaustion at least as hard as the council. She and Cowboy Dream found themselves back to back in the middle of a swirling knot of soldiers. The never-ending clatter of the guns was deafening. She couldn’t even think past the next punch, and yet, they kept going because there was no other choice. She reached out through the darkness to strengthen herself again, at the expense of her enemies, but she know it was just a temporary fix. It was just a matter of time before she and her friends were beaten.

Cowboy Dream was humming something under her breath, it might have been “Another One Bites the Dust!” Her normal grace and economy of movement were starting to wear down under the constant onslaught, but her sword never stopped flashing. Sooner envied CD’s ability to heal almost any wound, but even that admirable ability was being taxed under the continual assault.

Then Ice9 yelled out, “Heads up!”

Cowboy Dream, facing her husband, gasped and murmured “Oh [censored]!”

Sooner glanced over her shoulder and said, “Is that a.. rocket launcher?” And then her question was answered as the Vortex Cor Leonis Archon fired and the explosion flung Sooner into the nearest wall where she slumped to the floor, barely conscious.

She could see CD, dripping blood from a dozen wounds, being driven back. She couldn’t even locate Ahren, and was afraid he was down as well, but the blasts of ice and cold continued, supporting CD, as a clear sign that Ice9 was still in the fight.

The darkness inside Sooner reached out to the nearby council, tasting their energy, tasting their souls. She could take their energy, use it to get back up, but she wanted it to count. She waited, the darkness pushing her to act, for the right moment.

Statesmen himself, at the head of the Freedom Phalanx would not have been more welcome than Strif’s voice at that moment. “Hey! I’ve got a pizza here for Seymour Buttz! Which one of you [censored] is it?” he called out.

The council turned to the new threat, and the giant of a man waded in, a Dark Nova that had to be Keely hovering over his shoulder. CD let out a whoop and pressed the attack as Sooner let darkness reach out to the council around her. As their energy flowed into her, she lifted into the air and landed lightly on her feet, pulling her shadowy armor around herself again. She laughed aloud as the soldiers staggered away from her, confused and disoriented by the drain.

Behind her, she heard Ice’s voice, “Get up, my friend. We’re not done with this fight just yet.” Moments later, Ahren was back on the attack as well. Ice called out, “Hell just froze over, [censored]!” and a blizzard as cold as February erupted in the hallway. Ice dropped to his knees with exhaustion after, but the council were dropping even faster.

The last soldier fell under the onslaught of the exhausted heroes, and Keely transitioned back to human form abruptly. “Where the [censored] is my sister!?!” she demanded.

“She went to the hospital, Keely,” Ahren answered.

“Like hell! She’s nowhere! She’s not at the hospital, she’s not at the base! Where is she!?!”

“She’s not with us, Keely,” Sooner answered. “I don’t know where she is.”

“Then where is the [censored] [censored] who walked off and left her?!”

Part XIII of Sisters is posted in RP.

Sisters
Part XIII
a few years ago...

The council base was hidden in a far corner of Boomtown, where heroes were not at all likely to stumble over it. Neely blazed a path across the Boomtown sky like an avenging angel. Nobody else was going to be made captive to further the council’s war on Kheldians. Nobody. And if along the way, she got to punch her ex-boyfriend in the face, so much the better.

Following behind her were some of her own heroes, people she had never imagined she’d be privileged to fight alongside: Ice9, Cowboy Dream, and Sooner Spirit were names she’d known even before she became a hero herself. Ahren was her trusted mentor and friend, but they’d never fought together. And, of course, her old friend UPS 2.2.

She had tried several times to reach Keely, she knew her sister would want to be here for this as well, but hadn’t gotten an answer. She tried one more time, and finally, Keely answered.

“Keely! Where are you?”

“I’m in Striga. This place is messed up! Friggin Council [censored] EVERYWHERE!”

“You’re going to want to come to Boomtown, Keely. Something big.”

“What’s UPS got you chasing after now?” Keely asked.

“Keely! Don’t start that. It’s Erich Moretti! We’re going after him!”

Keely didn’t answer for a long moment, and Neely could just hear her breathing. “Moretti? He’s in Boomtown? I’ll be right there.”

“Ok. Strif is on his way too, you can meet up with him on the way.”

Neely could almost hear her sister’s eyes rolling. “Ya, whatever. I’ll be there in a minute.”

Neely landed on a nearby rooftop for her team to assemble. “Ok, We have to take out Moretti,” she instructed. “We also need to find and destroy the research so they can’t just start it up again. Sunstorm says the backups are kept onsite, so we should be able to put a final stop to this today. If there are any captives - which there likely are - we need find them and get them out as well. Since Moretti got this promotion because his predecessor screwed up by not planning for his captives to bond, we should expect there to be plenty of Void Hunters and Quantum weapons.” UPS cocked a brow at her, and she smiled back. He hated it when she tried to go toe to toe with Voids, but she just kept doing it. “Keely and Strif should be along soon, but we’ll get started and they can catch up on the way.” She looked at each member of her team, and knew that her excitement showed in her eyes. She smiled as she saw that eagerness reflected back from each of them. “I expect heavy resistance right from the door. So we’ll go in hard and fast, and keep moving.” She met each of their eyes one more time. “And thank you.”

At Neely’s signal, they charged the entrance. UPS, his defenses glowing brilliantly, kicked in the door while CD and Sooner stood ready at either shoulder. The rest of the team pressed back into the wall to avoid the anticipated counter-fire, but there was only one very young soldier staring at them with his jaw slack and his eyes opened as wide as they would go. Before he even thought to grab his weapon, Neely, Ahren, and Ice9 had blasted him back into the wall where he slumped, unconscious.

“That wasn’t quite the welcome we expected.” Ice commented.

“Let’s go,” Neely said. “I’m not going to complain if he’s making it easy for us.”

Once inside, the base was a clean and austere technological facility. Instead of the heavy resistance they anticipated, they found just a few soldiers going about their duties, and each seemed genuinely surprised as the heroes overpowered them and moved on.

“Something is not right here,” Ice said with a frown, and CD nodded over his shoulder.

“Neely, did Sunstorm say where he got this information?” UPS asked.

“He didn’t say,” she answered. “But Erich obviously doesn’t know the information is out, so we should move before he’s alerted and possibly gets away! In fact... UPS, why don’t you and I go see if we can find any captives, and you guys find the research. We’ll get back together and take out Moretti after.”

Dead silence met this suggestion, as five pairs of concerned eyes stared back at Neely. Finally Sooner spoke up. “I don’t like the idea of splitting up. You two could get overwhelmed-”

“By file clerks?” Neely was practically bouncing on her toes with her agitation. “Come on! If he learns we’re here, he’ll run for it, and then just start over somewhere else!”

“Neely-” Ahren started, then shook his head.

Ice9 took one step forward. “It’s your call. Your mission. Is this what you want us to do?”

“Yes, it is,” she answered. “I can’t let him do to anyone else what he tried to do to me and did do to my sister.”

“Alright,” Ice answer. “We’ll go north, then. And we’ll meet back up here in... 30 minutes?”

Neely nodded, and didn’t wait to watch them go. She turned to the east corridor and lifted into flight.

“Hey, Crazy!” UPS called, “How about you let me take point?”

“Fine! Just get moving!” she answered, only half joking.

UPS jogged ahead, and she dogged his shoulder. “This doesn’t feel right, Neely,” he said.

“We’re so close!” she said, “We’ve almost got him. Would you let a vague hunch stop you if you were me?”

Before he could answer, they found a trio of Council, typing data into computers. “Hey!” UPS called out as he stepped into the room. “You guys playin’ cards?”

Neely didn’t waste time with the snappy patter, she just stepped in, drew energy into her body and expelled it in a blinding flash at the nearest soldier. He went flying to smash into the wall behind him, and she watched him just long enough to make sure he wasn’t getting up again. These soldiers were a little more quick on the draw then the ones they’d fought previously, and the thought came to Neely to wonder why data entry techs were armed.

When time allowed, Neely loved to watch UPS fight. Even the way his feet moved was like a talented dancer. He dodged, punched, and chatted away as if carrying on a friendly conversation over a cold beer. She never had time to be worried in the thick of it, even when she saw him flinch when a bullet managed to penetrate his shields and crease his skin. Afterward, she worried. In the thick of it, she just grit her teeth and kept moving.

She was so focused on finishing off the two they were fighting, she wasn’t aware of her danger until UPS called out to her, “Neely, behind you!”

She only turned far enough to see the evil red-black glow of a quantum weapon and then it fired. The pain was unbearable and she crashed to the floor in a trembling heap, completely helpless while the attack danced along her nervous system. She dragged herself to hands and knees to see UPS nearly hidden behind the Council soldiers. There must have been 20 of them all attacking him. Except for the Void Slayer who was watching her. The arrogant body language made it clear he knew she was beat. He held his rifle casually and ignored all of UPS’s attempts to gain his attention.

“Neely!” UPS yelled.

She didn’t answer. She knew she had one shot. If she could hit him hard enough to knock him from his feet, she might be able to beat him. Her body was still quivering from the attack and all her defenses were down. If he hit her again, she was done. She had to knock him down. She had to. Time slowed to a crawl. She blinked, then surged to her feet like an Olympic sprinter. She refused to allow her body to sway, stagger, or stumble. She charged her target as she gathered energy to herself. She watched him raise that rifle and sight on her. She thrust the energy toward him as her fist sank into his belly. She threw herself to the side, her eyes glued to him. She inhaled for a victory shout as she saw him knocked off balance and take one step back. But then he lined up the rifle again, at point blank range, and all she felt was the pain.

She was barely clinging to consciousness. She heard UPS call her name again and it sounded like he was calling to her through a long metal pipe, slow, deep, and reverberating. She shuddered as the Void went to one knee beside her and put his hands on her, rolling her onto her back. She couldn’t stand the touch of the assassin, but couldn’t move to stop him. She managed to activate her radio to whisper, “hos...pi..tal...”

UPS spoke as well, “It’s a trap, team. Neely’s down, and headed to the hospital. I’m going to try to make my way back to you, but my dance card is pretty full. You guys, watch your backs.”

She waited until she saw UPS starting to back out of the room, then keyed her emergency transport. She felt the familiar, but still somewhat sickening, rush of energy envelop her. When she could open her eyes, she let out a horrified cry. She wasn’t in a clean, modern hospital. She was in a tiny, dirty cell.

Wow

I'll volunteer.

I published my first arc: Better Sooner than Later. I like it, but then you fight three of my characters, rescue another, and the contact is another.

Ya.. it's a little egocentric.

Part XII of Sisters if posted in RP.

Sisters
Part XII

A few years ago...

Neely sat with UPS at her side, across a table from Ice9. Ahren sat with him, and Cowboy Dream and Sooner Spirit were also present as Ice9 explained why Neely should merge her super group with his.

“Ahren speaks highly of you, Neely, and your group,” he said.

“They are a fine group of young heroes,” Ahren said with a nod.

“Sooner and CD have agreed to join us, along with several of their friends,” Ice9 continued, “and I am hopeful your entire group will as well.”

Neely glanced at the map displaying the so called Rogue Isles, and the pins indicating super-powered villain build-up.

“The choice is ultimately Neely’s,” UPS said, “but I do agree, a strong unified force will be better than several smaller scattered groups trying to battle alone.”

Ice9 nodded at UPS as Neely sadly asked, “Do you really think it will come to that?”

“Yes, I do, Neely.” Ice9 said. “I think a dark time is coming when we will need friends and allies we can trust at our backs. And as your friend says, Neely, we will be stronger together.

Neely nodded, her face still sad, “Then I agree, but my people join as equals to yours, with the ranks they hold in my group transferring over with them.”

Ice9 seemed a bit surprised that the seemingly innocent young woman would think to make such a request, but Ahren smiled and nodded. After a moment, Ice9 leaned across to shake Neely’s hand. “Agreed,” he said. “Welcome to the Ghosts Reborn.”

Neely stood, shaking his hand, as her phone suddenly buzzed at her hip. She considered ignoring it, in the spirit of the moment, but she did glance to see who it was. “It’s Sunstorm,” she said, surprised, and answered.

The pleasantly deep voice of the representative for Peacebringers on earth greeted her. “Neely, do you have a moment? I think I have something that will interest you.”

She glanced around the room. As if her agreement had signaled the end of the meeting, UPS was chatting with Ahren and Sooner Spirit, Ice9 was talking with his wife, Cowboy Dream. It seemed festive, but Neely was filled with foreboding. Not a sense that she’d made the wrong decision, but perhaps just a feeling that Ice9 was right.. That dark times were coming and she’d made the only choice she could.

“Neely?” Sunstorm asked.

“Sorry. Actually.. This isn’t a great time,” she answered reluctantly.

“Oh. Well, I can call you again.” Sunstorm started, then said instead, “Actually, Neely, let me say two things. And if you still want me to call later, I will.”

“Ok, go ahead.” Neely said, mystified.

“The Kheldian Host Candidate Project, and Archon Erich Moretti.”

The conversation in the room came to a stop as Neely’s body came to full alert and her glowing shields flared involuntarily.

“Archon?”was all she could manage to say, “He’s an Archon?”

“The project has been reactivated under Archon Moretti’s leadership. Apparently, the original leader of the project failed to consider the possibility that, if he gathered together a group of ideal Kheldian hosts, some of them might bond, which would result in kheldians inside the base. As it happened, Moretti was on record as having expressed concerns about the lack of planning for that eventuality, and, in the end, he advanced because of it. So... Interested? Or should I call someone else?”

“Of COURSE I’m interested. Let me see if I can find some help, and I’ll be right there!” She turned to UPS, “See if you can find Strif. And.. See if you can find anyone else. Oh... I can’t believe this.. I have to... I have to stop him. I have to find help!”

As UPS turned to try to locate their friend Strif, Ice9 stepped up. “No need, UPS. You’re Ghosts now, and you have a team ready to help right here.”

Neely was stunned, as Sooner Spirit and Cowboy Dream both stood with Ice9, and Ahren stepped up as well. “I- I-” she stammered. Four Heroes of the City, well known, well respected, offering to help her?

UPS stepped forward. “She accepts. Gratefully.”

now...

Neely brushed away her tears. She was still in enemy territory.. She would have time to cry when she was home. She wasn’t even sure why she was so upset. She’d already grieved her sister’s death. Was it just that having her hopes raised and then crushed made it that much worse? It didn’t matter just then, however. She just needed to concentrate on getting home.

She would make her way south, on foot, back to the fishing docks. Hopefully, she could find the same boat that had brought her here, but if not, she had plenty of cash. She could hire another boat. And really, it only had to get her away from the Rogue Isles and she could fly home faster than it could sail. Or get her just a little closer to home, and she could safely use her base teleporter.

She never noticed her danger until the enormous man known as Death Shrowd had already knocked her to the ground. Ears still ringing from the tremendous force of the blow, she scrambled away from him and felt a chill run through her as she glanced behind her. There were four Shades the Ghosts wanted more than any others: Shattered Ice9, Ebony Rose, Cowboy Nightmare, and Death Shrowd. And all four were coming after her. The Rogue Isles citizens were scattering as the four villains closed on her.

Death Shrowd was advancing on her as she tried to get enough room to get to her feet. Shattered Ice9 was zooming towards her, and she believed Cowboy Nightmare waited deliberately to be noticed before vanishing. And charging toward her was a small army of clanking robots, with Ebony Rose following close behind.

Neely wasted no more time trying to hide who she was, since it was obviously too late for that. Her powers flared around her and she lifted into flight to get away from Death Shrowd’s fists. She knew she couldn’t fight them. Alone, she was no match for the four of them. But before she could gain more altitude and zoom away, her feet were encased in ice and she was dragged from the sky.

Death Shrowd was charging her and she was frantically trying to spot Cowboy Nightmare. She fired blast after blast at Death Shrowd as he came towards her, but didn’t appear to be hurting him at all. It had all happened too fast for her to be afraid, yet. Shattered stopped a short distance away and called out, just as Death Shrowd was winding up for another punch, “Don’t kill her, CN, my dear. Death Shrowd, stand down.”

Shattered was advancing on her, she was stuck where she was, and fear was finally starting to set in. She fought to be free as he gloated. “Neely, my old friend. You made a grave mistake coming here. You will regret it. I, however, will benefit from it.”

She turned her full power on him, “YOU are NOT my friend!” she bellowed. He fired back at her, bolts of ice, and each blast anchored her more firmly to the ground. She was so cold, she could feel her strength sapping out of her. She thought of Ahren, of his scarred face and changed personality, and felt panic trying to set in. Rose’s robots made a circle around her, but didn’t attack. Death Shrowd stood nearby with a gloating smile, ready to attack again, and she heard a quiet laugh at her back, so eerily like Cowboy Dream’s, yet not. They weren’t worried... they knew Shattered was just playing with her. She blasted again at Shattered, shouting, “YOU were NEVER my friend!” It was futile defiance - they would take her when they were ready, but it was all she had. Energy blazed from her eyes, “You are NOT Ice9!” She flung pure power from her palms, “You are a LIE!” and this time the force of her attack knocked him down. And that disrupted the flow of his attacks enough to give her a chance.

She concentrated on her Kheldian’s past, summoning forth a form it used to wear. Shattered scrambled to his feet, already screaming, “No! Stop her! Stop her!” She heard the robots cycling up to attack, she saw Death Shrowd step towards her fist cocked, and felt more than heard Cowboy Nightmare crouch behind her. Then Neely erupted into her enormous dwarf form. She paused just long enough to stomp one enormous foot into the earth, sending shockwaves around her and knocking Shattered to the ground for a second time. She focused on the air high above her head and teleported straight up into the sky. She wasted no time looking down at her attackers, she merely thought again, and reappeared even higher up into the air. As gravity started to pull her down, she switched back to human and flew as fast as she could.

She took a moment to orient herself, and realized she was flying north, rather than south. She started to turn, but looked behind and could just make out Shattered Ice9 behind her. Making that turn would give him the opportunity to cut across her arc and close with her. The fire in her wanted to close and continue the fight with the man who’d killed her sister, but deep in the heart of the Rogue Isles was not the place to make her stand. She couldn’t afford to give him the chance to pull her out of the sky again, not if she ever wanted to make it home. She fled north into Nerva, hoping to lose her pursuers on the way.

Part XI of Sisters is posted in RP.

Sisters
Part XI
now...

The Ghosts base boiled like an angry hornet’s nest. Heroes ran in their brightly colored costumes as transport units were warmed up and prepped. Ahren would reluctantly stay behind, but he was already on the phone to the Freedom Phalanx, alerting them that the Ghosts Reborn were moving on a location in the Nerva Archipelago, and to Longbow, informing them that there might soon be some action near their bases in Nerva.

Less than one hour after Ahren discovered Neely’s true location, two large transports thundered out of the Ghosts base and headed out to sea. Sooner Spirit sat, side by side with her sister, Sooner Magic, and thought again and again, “I am NOT losing another Ghost to that [censored]. Not one more.”
---

Bounty-Killer exited the Shades’ base lost in own thoughts. His mind was occupied by three sets of blue eyes: Ici’s asking him for help, Neely’s full of worry, and Keely’s lost in madness. How did it come to this? he wondered. One of the most notorious villains in the Rogue Isles, worried about not just three women, but three Heroes.

He patted the fat envelope filled with the deposit that he’d collected from Ebony Rose to remind himself of the job. He had told Ici he would try to help, but he had a job, and that was most important.

He made his way back to the little coffee shop, and his heart skipped a beat when he didn’t see Neely there. Was she trying to break into that fortress of a base? But then he saw her sitting inside with her eyes fixed on him. He knew she was powerful, he’d read her file. But no one was powerful enough to get in there, not and have any hope of getting back out.

He pushed his way inside and approached her table. Those wide blue eyes looked up at him. She sat down her drink. “So, are you going to kill me?” she asked.

“No, not today.” he shook his head. She gazed up at him, and he shook his head again as an image of Keely’s mad, staring eyes flashed into his mind. He didn’t know Keely, but he couldn’t imagine she would want her sister suffering the same fate. He had to say something.... “Your sister is gone,” he said abruptly. He watched Neely’s face fall, “She’s gone, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Go home, Neely. Go home.”

Neely put her head in her palms. Her body shook, and she didn’t look up when she said, “Thank you for telling me.” He paused for one awkward moment, and then she reached out and took his hand. She looked back up at him, her eyes already filling with grief. “I mean it. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he answered. “Please, go home.”

She nodded and lowered her head again. “I’ll go,” she answered.

Satisfied that he’d done all he could, he turned and walked away from the devastated hero.


Shattered Ice9 stepped out onto the roof of his base. His memories of being Ice9, before he was betrayed by his supposed friends and left - broken and helpless - to die alone on a cold, rocky beach, were sometimes clear and sharp, and other times blurry and jumbled. On that day, as he approached the railing and leaned out to face back toward Nerva, he vaguely remembered standing on a roof with people who claimed to be his friends and teammates. It was a habit that stuck with him, and he liked to watch the people of Nerva wandering about, living their lives, never understanding how close they were to a force that could snuff them out with little more than a thought.

He was so close to victory with the warshade... so close he could feel it. It was Rose who had identified that the power source was the problem. When used on Ahren, it had run out of energy after extracting the Kheldian, but before containing it. So once they had the improved power source, he knew he would able to successfully extract and hold the energy being from within the bonded pair. At that point, he could not care less what happened to the former vessel as long as he maintained control of the Kheldian. His fists clenched with anticipation of the way his power would increase once he was successful. And if his preference would have been for a Peacebringer, it hardly mattered now, now that success was so very close.

His nails bit into his palms, drawing blood, when his scattered thoughts returned to the moment he realized that thing was laughing at him. Didn’t she know she belonged to him? That her very existence was in his hands? How dare she? He entertained himself with plans for how he would crush the life from her once he was finished with her. Something to make her truly regret each laugh she’d uttered.

At that moment his attention was drawn by a woman stumbling out onto the sidewalk. He didn’t know why... she seemed completely ordinary. She might have been attractive if she dressed in clothes that fit, but... for some reason... there was something very familiar about her. As if he knew her... or.... as if he’d known her... in a previous life. He scowled, watching her. Her emotional distress was obvious, even at this distance. She paused, put her hands to her face, then raked her fingers back into her hair. Her stocking cap was pushed back, back, then it fell to the ground, revealing her shoulder length blonde hair.

Shattered straightened. Oh, yes.. He knew her. He’d fought beside her, trusted her with his back, believed her to be a friend. But, of course, she was as faithless as all the rest of the Ghosts. His head buzzed with a heady combination of fury at the NERVE of them to send someone in so very close to his base, and jubilation that he would very soon have another powerful Peacebringer in his grasp. He turned and ran for the stairs down into the base, and began bellowing orders before the door had even closed fully behind him.

Part X of Sisters is up in RP.

Sisters
Part X
a few years ago....

Keely flew high above Steel Canyon. She loved her nova form, loved flying through the clouds. She wished Neely was with her, but Neely was off with UPS 2.2 and Strif, again, doing Sunstorm’s bidding. Shadowstar had a few jobs for Keely, but Keely had her own project she was working on. Besides, she didn’t like UPS with his creepy armor** that covered his whole body.
**originally, UPS 2.2 wore body armor. He eventually discovered a way to incorporate nanite technology into his body and no longer wears armor.

She had thought, once she and Neely found each other again, they’d be inseparable, but Neely had embraced this whole Hero thing. She always asked Keely to come along, but Keely just couldn’t forget that merely her potential for gaining powers had put her in that Council cell. It was a lot harder to lie to herself since she’d bonded with the warshade, and so she had to admit that she was frightened. It was so much danger, being a hero. Heroes got hurt all the time, killed sometimes, and sometimes they were captured. She knew both her halves had things to make up for, bad things, but she just wasn’t ready to throw herself into it like Neely had.

She swooped lower as she approached the south end of Steel Canyon. She really wasn’t nearly ready for the challenges that Steel presented to a younger hero, but she had some business here. She was looking for someone.

She spied his car first, that big, old powerful car. Painted a deep, metallic charcoal grey, it gleamed with the care he gave it. Care she had thought he had for her. Then she saw him. Avalanche, holding court over his followers, was waving his arms and telling a story. She wondered if it was the story of how he tricked some stupid girl into trusting him before he sold her to the council for experiments.

She felt her tentacles thrashing with agitation like a cat’s tail as she swooped down, past one of those diners that seem to gather up old folks like fly paper gathers up bugs, and positioned herself behind a corner. She could feel the uncertainty of her warshade half, but there was no WAY she was going to pass up a chance to kick Avalanche’s [censored]. Not now that she had powers.

She drifted back and forth, back and forth, trying to plan. She knew how powerful Avalanche was, and she was abruptly unsure if her new powers were enough to allow her to take him. Her Kheldian half was very reluctant to proceed.

Finally she sighed, switched quickly back to human, and flipped open the supergroup radio that Neely had presented her with. “Neely.. I found him!” she said excitedly. “We can take him right now!” There was no response for a long moment. Keely frowned, and spoke again, “Neely? Are you there?”

After another very long pause, UPS’s voice came over the radio, “We’re just a touch busy tryin not to die at the moment.”

Keely scowled at the radio and muttered, “No one was talking to you!”

Neely spoke then, breathless with exertion, “You found him? Who? Avalanche? Oh, Keely... be careful!”

“C’mon Neely, I’m in Steel. We can take him right now!”

“Keely....”

“Keely,” UPS broke in, “we’ll be available to help you when we’re not armpit deep in pumpkins and jackalopes.”

Keely scowled furiously at the radio and flung it away. It hit a nearby building and shattered. Why did Neely have to hang around with him? He was SUCH a jerk. And thought he could order everyone around. And thought he knew EVERYTHING. And thought he was so tough. And she HATED the way Neely let him push her around and order her around. Big bully! And WHY did Neely always run around with him? Like right now, when Keely NEEDED her!

Keely cursed, vigorously, under her breath, and then switched back to nova. She peered around the corner at Avalanche, took three deep breaths, and bolted forward. Only to run smack into a very broad, very hard chest. That old man hadn’t been there a moment ago... She flicked her tentacles angrily, and started around him, only to realized he had grabbed her tail!

“Are you nuts?” he demanded in a deep, gruff voice.

She flipped back to human form, and glared at him, “Get your hands off me, you old pervert!” He obligingly removed his hand from where it had ended up after she shifted.

“Pervert, eh?” he laughed. “I don't think so. My apologies for where my hand ended up, but I simply can't let you run in there and get yourself hurt. You charge into that bunch, and you’ll be wrapped up in seaweed with rice in no time.”

“Just get out of my way! That one owes me,” she said, nodding towards Avalanche. “He owes me big.”

“Ok.” he shrugged, “None of you kids ever listen, do ya? But listen to this, little squid, you better make sure the batteries are fully charged and installed properly on your emergency teleport, because you’re gonna be taking a trip straight to the hospital.”

“Whatever, Pops,” she answered, rolling her eyes. She shape-changed again as he obligingly stepped out of her way.

She let out a shrill, alien battle cry as she charged towards the group. She flung energy at them, and trilled a victory shout as most of them went flying. And.. Oh.. She recognized some of them from that last trip in his car.

The outcasts started climbing to their feet. Several of them drew guns, but some of the more powerful members began using powers of their own. Keely dodged, laughing at their efforts, and then Avalanche stood up and covered his body with layers of rock. He paused long enough to point at Keely, then crouched to rip up a piece of pavement.

Just then, that crazy old man stepped around the corner. “Look at that, The Hellions are all grown up!!” he shouted. Almost as one, the Outcasts turned to the old man, yelling angry protests, and began firing at him instead.

“Oh! Hey, no!” Keely shouted. That old man was going to get killed! She started to swoop down, to get their attention back, and then that chunk of pavement hit her square on and she tumbled back through the sky.

Once she reoriented herself, the old man was gone, but there was a man-shaped granite mountain standing in the middle of the crowd of Outcasts. He was shouting insults and making surprisingly rude gestures. He looked up at her and yelled, “C’mon, kid, I’m just keeping ‘em riled up for you!” When she hesitated, he yelled again, “C’mon! My soup’s getting cold already!”

With a bowl of lukewarm soup on the line, Keely charged in and attacked the outcasts enthusiastically. She remembered every pinch and prod, every kick. She remembered how they’d laughed at her fear. She remembered how Avalanche had tricked her and lied to her. She poured her anger into every blast until they began to fall. Every time they started to turn toward their attacker, the old man would yell out something so horribly offensive that they’d turn back towards him again.

When Avalanche began to falter, she swooped in even closer, waiting for just the right moment. He collapsed, finally, the rock armor falling off his body. He lay on the pavement, heaving for breath, trying to get up. Keely hovered over him and switched to human form.

“Keely?” he said, “What?”

She smiled, the big, warm smile that used to be just for him. “End of the line, babe,” she said, and kicked him right in the crotch.

When the last of the Outcasts were teleported away, the rock giant abruptly turned back into the old man. “Good job, kid. That last kick may have been a little much, but I got the feelin you two have some history there,” he said gruffly. “You woulda got your [censored] handed to ya if ya’d been alone, though. Ya know that, right?”

“I would’ve done alright,” she answered.

“Hah! Ya think so?” he scoffed. “I gotta go see if I can get my soup reheated.”
---

Neely was so worried she was blazing like a shooting star across the sky of Steel Canyon. UPS and Strif were following, but neither of them had that edge of worry spurring them on. She spoke into the SG radio again, “Keely! Keely! Are you ok?” She waited, then called to her team, “She still won’t answer!”

“She’s probably just off peeing, or whatever you squid things do after you drink too much coke” Strif said, trying for a joke and falling short.

“Strif could be right, Neely, there could be a simple explanation.” UPS offered. “In fact-”

In her worry, Neely had flown too low. She saw the evil beam of red, black, and purple just a fraction of a second before it hit her. Her Kheldian half let out a squeal of alarm and then she was engulfed in a fiery pain so intense she couldn’t even think. It was as if every nerve in her body were being electrocuted and burned and frozen and crushed all at the same time. It knocked her out of the air and she plummeted to the pavement, stunned and unable to even breath. None of her muscles seemed to be working right and she couldn’t push herself up. She rolled over to see the void slayer lining up for another shot, the shot that would kill her. She managed to raise one hand in a feeble warding off gesture, knowing that this time, her friends weren’t going to be in time to save her from a thing whose purpose was to assassinate her kind.

Then, like an angel, a man glowing with blue-white light of his own swooped down, putting himself between Neely and the void. Before the assassin could reorient himself, the stranger had knocked him flying. The Peacebringer followed and leapt into the air, bringing his fists down together on the void and engulfing him in pure energy. The void fell, and the Peacebringer stomped his foot on the still glowing rifle, shattering it.

He flew back to Neely, landed, and helped her to her feet. “Are you alright, cousin?” he asked.

“I think so,” she answered, a bit dazzled by her close call and by her rescuer’s sheer power.

“I’m Ahren,” he said. “You really have to watch out for them.”

“Neely,” she stammered. “I’m Neely.”

UPS and Strif arrived at that point, and UPS bestowed his typical glower on Neely, the one reserved for those times she ran off and found trouble. After introductions all around, Ahren offered Neely his contact information with stern instructions to call if she needed any help, advice, or guidance. “I know Sunstorm can be a little intimidating,” he said, “So call me anytime you have any question.”

“I will,” Neely answered with a smile, instantly liking the handsome, outgoing man. She watched as he lifted into flight, and then turned back to the south again. “I have to find her,” she said, and lifted into the air herself.

Neely flew, with her nerves still tingling, to Keely’s last known location. She found the shattered radio and picked up the pieces, “Her radio!” she called to her companions. “It’s broken! What happened to her?”

“She didn’t wait for us,” UPS said, taking the pieces of the broken radio and examining them. “She may be at the hospital.”

Neely looked up at him, “Or, she could be hurt and needing help! We have to find her.”

UPS didn’t bother to argue, he just nodded. There wasn’t much in Steel Canyon to bother that particular trio, so they spread out to look. Neely was frantic with worry, and she knew her friends were just humoring her, but Keely had always had such talent for finding trouble.

Then Strif called out, “Over here, Neely!” She flew as fast as she could and found the giant man standing in front of an old diner. He pointed in the window, and there was Keely.

Neely ran in and found her sister sitting with an old man, both of them enjoying bowls of soup. “Keely! You’re alright!”

“Of course I’m alright.” the warshade answered. “And I kicked Avalanche’s [censored]!”

“Afternoon, Keely,” UPS said. “Glad to hear that.”

Keely muttered something under her breath, and turned her attention back to her soup.

“Introduce me to your friends, young lady.” the old man said suddenly.

“Oh! Sorry, Gramps! Neely, UPS, Strif, this is Grampafari-Man!”



now...

UPS and Ahren had made a point of telling no one their business when they left the base. So when they returned, the Ghosts were stunned to find Ahren’s scars vanished. His face was as clear and unmarked as it had been before he made his unfortunate trip to the Rogue Isles. And, as if his inner scars had healed somewhat as well, he seemed to stand taller, like the man he had been before he earned those scars. Sooner Spirit seemed moved nearly to tears by the sight, and all of his oldest friends were curious about the nanites that UPS had helped create for Ahren. And if the pair skimmed over the details of how the procedure had nearly killed Ahren, it was just because they saw no reason to worry their friends.

“I’m going to go find Crimson Blaydes and check on our errant Peacebringer,” Ahren announced after the greetings were over. He found the young hero, with the monitor duly sitting at his side, in the lounge, watching a rerun of M*A*S*H*. “What’s she up to today?” he asked.

“She’s in St. Thomas,” Blaydes answered. “I’m a little jealous. The weather is beautiful there today!”

Ahren picked up the monitor. “Thanks for looking out for her,” he said. He pushed the button that switched to the skin tag, frowned, pushed the button to switch back, and then again. “UPS!” He bellowed. “She’s in the Rogue Isles! She’s in NERVA! Ah, dammit! She’s right on top of them!”

I understand EXACTLY what you mean.

The story I'm working on currently has some very dark stuff - relationships that are really pretty twisted. And, no, I didn't really intend to go there, especially as one of the characters involved isn't mine.

I just try to remember that this is a "T" rated forum, and stay within that.

And, sure... I'd be interested in seeing where you went with it. Especially with that lead in.

Part IX of Sisters is up in RP

Sisters
Part IX

now...

Bounty-killer approached the heavily reinforced metal door of the base of the Shades of Vengeance. The two men stationed outside the door were obviously there because of their impressive muscles and intimidating stature more than any other reason. As he approached, they both straightened up from their comfortable slouches and glowered at him.

The larger of the two, a bleached blond trying hard to look like Billy Idol with a severe anabolic steroid habit, stepped forward while the other, his black hair cropped into short, spiky mohawk, crossed his arms. Mohawk’s exaggerated muscles strained alarmingly at the sleeve hems of his tight black t-shirt.

“You got business here, friend?” the bleach job rumbled at him.

“I’m here to meet Ebony Rose,” Bounty-Killer answered calmly, though the way the two exchanged glances increased his tension by a couple of notches. He tried to brush it aside, as was his habit, but his mind refused to rest easy.

“Name?”

“Bounty-Killer.” Now he hid a smile at the second, significantly more respectful glances the two exchanged.

“Come on in,” Mohawk said, and pushed the heavy door open.

Bounty-Killer was duly impressed by the high-tech, efficient base revealed inside. The entrance was guarded by automatic weaponry, some obvious, some a little more subtle. The lighting was dim and the air was cool. The entrance was surrounded by banners in deep red and black each bearing the black skull emblem of the Shades. It was the same emblem as the white skull that the Ghosts Reborn wore. He thought of Neely trying to get inside and shook his head. This base was a fortress... or a trap.


“Come with me.”

Bounty-Killer followed his guide through an impressive trophy room, past a picture window that looked out onto a beautiful rose garden. The plants that lived there thrived under the care of small gardening robots making their rounds as he watched.

They continued down a long corridor, then his guide stopped, and gestured at a staircase going down. “He’s here!” the man bellowed.

There was a long silence, then a light soprano voice rose up the staircase. “Thank you.” The tone spoke of careful patience. “Send him down, please.”

“She’s down there.” the man announced, then turned and strode back toward the entrance.

Bounty-Killer watched his guide march away, then made his way down the metal stairs into the basement workroom. He felt his unaccustomed level of unease ratcheting up with each step. The very air seemed to reek of fear and despair. The lighting down here was even more dim, and as more of the room came into view, he could see a metal table on which some sort of complicated device had been taken apart. Along one wall was an array of equipment obviously intended to cause human suffering; he had to force his gaze away from it. The far wall was lined with reinforced metal doors. He realized quickly he was looking at cells. Most of the cells were dark, but he did notice one had a sickly red light emanating from the tiny window.

He stepped down into the large basement room and his stomach lurched when he saw who was waiting for him. Ebony Rose was not alone. Shattered Ice9 was with her.
---

Keely pushed herself up off the cold floor, trying to remember what had happened, but she couldn’t think past the gibbering in her head. Another beating? From the pain and the coppery taste in her mouth, she suspected so. She thought she remembered the demon standing in the doorway instructing a pair of villains as they stood over her. Or that might have been days ago.. It was so hard to remember, and the noise in her head was so loud. Images of alien worlds, starscapes, and strange people filled her mind, images of bad deaths, pain, suffering, like some sort of bad dream, chaotic images from a particularly pretentious music video. She couldn’t think, couldn’t remember. It was so loud.

She glanced up at the evil red light and abruptly started laughing. Her Kheldian half had been made helpless by the light. It had been under constant stimulation from void-slayer technology for... how long? Weeks? Days? Months?... Years? And now.. It had gone mad. She laughed even harder, until the laughing itself hurt. She had no idea what he wanted with her... but knew it was about her being kheldian. She wandered if he would still want her now that her Warshade half was raving insanities. A reformed nictus, now insane, lived in her in her head. And so she laughed.

But still, she knew it would all be ok. Neely would get her out of here. Neely would get her help, and her kheldian would be sane again. Neely would come for her.
---

As Bounty-Killer’s foot hit the floor, he took a moment to sternly take control of his rushing thoughts. He put Ici Cold away, he put Ici’s friend Neely away, he firmly put aside his concern that his guests knew he had talked recently to either, the fact that he was alone inside the base of another villain group, and reminded himself that he was here for a job. The job was the thing that mattered. With that familiar mantra firmly in mind, he took his booted foot off the last step as well, and strode over to meet his hosts.

He had never met either before, so he studied them carefully. Rose was a tall, slender woman with a high-tech prosthetic arm and dressed in sleek black leather. Her dark hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail and her eyes were hidden by simple wire-frame glasses. Her face was serious, with that air of unconscious superiority common among the very intelligent. Shattered Ice9 was a tall, powerfully built man with white hair and goatee. Everything about him spoke clearly that this was a dangerous man, and the look in his eyes warned that he was not entirely sane.

Shattered stepped forward, a welcoming smile on his face, and offered his hand. “Bounty-Killer! Welcome to our base!” He was every bit the warm, congenial host, as he shook hands and brought his other hand up to clasp Bounty-Killer’s shoulder. He used that hand to guide Bounty-Killer the last few steps. “And this is Ebony Rose, who invited you here today.”

Bounty-Killer offered his hand, “Miss Rose,” he greeted her.

“Call me Rose, please,” she answered with a quick efficient shake. She turned away and took three quick steps to the parts strewn along the length of the table. She lifted a rectangular object, copper with plastic strips and two metal prongs on one end. “This is a power source. It has proven to be ineffective for the intended use; the stored power is expended too soon causing the experiment to fail.”

Equipment failure was not even on the list of topics Bounty-Killer had anticipated. He really didn’t know where this conversation was headed, but he maintained a politely interested expression. “I see. Go on.”

“This is based on Council technology. I have information that they have developed a new power source for their void slayer rifles. I need you to acquire the prototype for me. I need you to do this quietly, quickly, and with a minimum of... um... bloodshed.”

“Sounds simple enough,” he responded. “But now I have to ask.. Why me?

“You are wondering why I don’t have one of my over-abundant minions do this simple task for me? There are many answers, but the simplest is that it will be easier, quicker, and a better use of my assets to simply hire you to do it than to take a resource off another project.” She paused, quirked an eye at his expression, and went on. “Ah.. You’re suspicious? Do I have a reason to want you dead?”

“Do you?” he asked in return.

“If I did, you would have been killed as soon as the front door closed behind you.” She shrugged and took a fat envelope off the table. “Well... never mind then. You were my first choice, but there are others.”

“If that is your choice,” Bounty-Killer shrugged, “but I didn’t say no.”

The temperature in the room suddenly became cold as Shattered Ice9 cocked his head and raised his hand. Several expressions ran across his face - anger and disbelief chief among them - and he turned and stalked to the cell door with the red light emanating weakly from the window. He rapidly punched a number into a keypad and yanked the door open. A woman’s laughter drifted out of the tiny cell.

Bounty-Killer noted, and filed away, the uncomfortable expression on Rose’s face at that moment. He was more interested in what was behind that door.


“What do you have to laugh about!?” Shattered demanded in a furious growl. “Answer me!”

Shattered stepped forward, and Bounty-Killer could clearly see into the cell. What he saw there was barely recognizable as human. Dirty, emaciated, bruised and bloodied from a very recent beating, she crouched in a far corner. But when she looked up, he knew those eyes. They were identical to the eyes that had looked at him over a cup of coffee just a few minutes ago. Except this pair was gleaming with pure insanity - a mind that had been pushed too far for too long looked out of those blue eyes.

The woman in the cell, Keely, looked directly at Shattered, raised her hand to point at him, and said, “You,” as she laughed all the harder.

Shattered strode into the cell and his foot slammed into her body, hard, three times before Rose called out, “Shattered! You will waste all your work if you let her provoke you that way.”

He paused, foot poised for another kick. Perhaps fortunately for Keely, he had knocked away her breath, and that had stopped the laughing. She curled up in a tight ball and let out a single, gasping moan. With a curse, he turned, stomped out of the cell, and slammed it behind him.

Some instinct told Bounty-Killer to look away from the cell, and he turned to study to parts arrayed on the table as the air in the room became even colder. Shattered stalked back over stand beside Rose. Bounty-Killer watched as he shook his head and drew the a tattered illusion of sanity back over himself. Bounty-Killer actually felt a chill run up his spine at the moment Shattered looked up and smiled that friendly, congenial smile again.

“You have doubts about our Rose’s offer?” He shrugged, “It seems simple enough to me.”

“I’m merely making sure I understand what I’m being asked to do.”

“Ah, then, I’ll leave Rose to fill you in on the details. Pleasure to meet you.” With that, Shattered turned and climbed out of the basement, and the temperature rose 10 degrees as he left.

An uncomfortable silence fell. Bounty-Killer cleared his throat and spoke, “I’ll need to know where I’m going, what the object looks like, where it’s likely to be kept, and if there is a particular deadline.”

Rose nodded, glanced over at Keely’s cell door, and said, “Certainly. Let’s go talk in my lab. It’s warmer there.”

Thanks!

It ain't near done, though, Magnolia.

Part VIII of Sisters is up on RP.

Sisters
Part VIII
a few years ago...

Neely stepped out onto the rusty fire escape and looked up into the starry night sky. Part of her remembered the exhilaration of flying, but part of her was terrified she was about to fall to her death. She fixed an image of her twin firmly in her mind, focused on it, then jumped into the cool night air. Gravity grabbed her body and yanked her down. She gasped in a lungful of air, and then expelled it in a surprised shout when energy rushed through her skin and suddenly she was rocketing into the sky surrounded in a bright glow of purest white light. It was the most incredible feeling. She was a bright spark of energy shooting across the sky of Kings Row. She laughed aloud, for that moment forgetting the crazy afternoon and night of fear as she flew joyously into the pre-dawn morning. It was a cold night, but the energy that suffused her body kept her warm.

She banked into the train station, more out of habit than necessity, for a quick ride to Steel Canyon, then shot back out into the dark sky over the tall, gleaming offices and apartments of Steel Canyon where her kheldian half told her she would find Keely. She flew high into the night sky, relishing the sensation of the cool night air rushing past her skin and ruffling through her hair. It was odd... Experiencing something for the first time she remembered doing all her life. She knew that soon their two minds would meld firmly into one, but for now there was still an interesting duality as they ‘learned’ things from one another that they already knew.

She landed with a bit of a stumble on a rooftop overlooking a run-down warehouse. This is it? She thought to herself, and then realized that she knew there were 11 captives in there, each an excellent candidate to be a kheldian host, and that she would be the twelfth if she failed. She remembered sensing them, and being drawn to them, but knowing that there was a more perfect host waiting.

She shook her head as the dual-thinking became confusing, and crouched to study the door that appeared to lead into what would be the ‘office’ part of the warehouse. Part of her was terrified at the idea of just running into a group of armed soldiers, but part was quite confident that she could manage it. With a last, shaky, inhaled breath, she lifted into flight again, and landed lighted at the door.

What happened next remained a blur of frenetic activity. Her Kheldian half flared within her and she was surrounded by a bubble of shimmering energy. Encouraged by the alien thoughts within, she leaned back and kicked in the door in front of her. It shattered inwards, and the two uniformed soldiers inside reacted instantly, their guns blazing. She watched as several bullets bounced off her glowing shield. She felt the rush of battle overwhelm her for the first time, and the thousandth time and she let out a shout of challenge. A beam of pure energy fired from her eyes, and she followed up by a bolt from her palms. The first soldier fell and the second turned to run; to raise an alarm. She leapt towards him and finished him off with solid punch. She felt her face break into a smile. She had never felt powerful before. She liked it.

Driven by will and instinct, she blazed a path through the council. She did have to retreat a few times when they began to outnumber her, but she was stunned at how fast her injuries healed and she was back on the attack after just a few moments to catch her breath.

Then, abruptly the last gun stopped firing and it was silent in the huge warehouse. Neely looked all around, but there was no activity, no noise, no men shouting, no weapons firing.

“What? Where?” she said aloud, confused, but then the answer was there, in her head. Below. They are below.

She flew through the now empty warehouse, seeking a clue for how to proceed. She became more and more frantic with worry before she finally spotted a carefully concealed door behind a paletted stack of boxes. She pushed the nearby button, and the door slid open. We must be careful, she thought, and stepped into the elevator.

She entered a scene of chaos. The base no longer bore any resemblance to an old warehouse, this was a sleek, modern base. There were Council soldiers running everywhere with no apparent leadership. Some men were fleeing, some were fighting, none were working together. And over it all was an odd, percussive humming sound, and a young woman roaring challenge.

Neely’s two halves spoke together. As the human half yelled aloud, “KEELY!” the kheldian half thought, with a twinge of uncertainty, Warshade.

Neely flew towards the sound, picking off Council targets as she went. She found her way to an elaborate lab, with three examination tables, each with ominous restraints. Numerous pieces of scientific or medical equipment were stored along the walls. The room was neat, efficient, and organized, except for the brown haired young woman, surrounded by a nimbus of blue and purple tendrils and wearing only a hospital gown, who was systematically destroying everything she touched.

Neely skidded to a halt, landed, and screamed out, “Keely! Keely!” The warshade turned and their identical blue eyes met. For a split second, an identical expression of distrust flared over each face, then the human halves of the newly bonded pairs pushed the ancient feelings aside and ran to embrace each other. They hugged and babbled joyously at each other, but their reunion was cut short by a trio of soldiers. In near unison the sisters turned and fired energy from their eyes, a beam of pure blue-white speared one soldier, while a blue-purple beam struck another. As their first targets fell, they turned and fired together on the third.

Neely was jubilant. To have finally found her twin again, and now to be fighting with her, they were both safe, and now they would both be Heroes. First we must safely escape, she thought, but she had no doubt. Finally together with her sister, after so long, she knew nothing would ever separate them again.

The pair held off a small but concerted attack on the lab, and then there was quiet again. Neely turned back to her sister, but then her attention was captured by a file that had fallen on the floor. Poking out of it was a photograph of Neely’s face. She crouched and picked up the file which was labeled “Kheldian Host Candidate Identification Project.” A chill rocketed through both her halves. Inside, she found several more photos of herself, page after page of indecipherable scientific jargon, and a heavy wristband which had been imprinted with “KHC98%.”’

“98%?” she mumbled aloud. You are nearly perfect, the alien voice answered.

She frowned down at the file until Keely suddenly snatched it from her hands. “Help me!” she insisted. “Don’t let them do this to anyone else!” Keely ripped the file in half, threw it down, and stomped on it.

Neely just stared, stunned, for a few moments. Her eyes were drawn to the dark, purpling bands of bruises on Keely’s wrists and ankles, the bruising and swelling on her face, and the dark shadows at the bends of her elbows. Her gaze was drawn back to the restrains on the exam tables, and her face darkened as she realized at least some of what had happened to her sister. With a yell of her own, she kicked over one of the tables, and began enthusiastically aiding her sister in the utter destruction of that lab.

When there was not a single working piece of equipment left in the lab, the two finally rested. There hadn’t been a sign of council activity for several minutes, and the lab was as destroyed as it could get with the building still standing.

“Can we go home now?” Neely asked with a smile.

Keely shook her head, “No.. There are others.”

“Others?” Neely asked aloud, even as her inner voice reminded her, there were eleven captives. “Where are they?”

“This way,” Keely answered, and led the way.

The hall was lined with heavy doors, six on a side. The nearest room stood with the door open, another had the door blasted open. The very atmosphere was one of hopelessness and despair. From within the cells, she could faint sounds of people pounding on their doors and crying out. Neely peered into the open door, at the room she presumed at been set aside for her, and shuddered at the tiny, dim space that would slowly crush the soul held within. She looked up at her twin. “You take left, I’ll take right.”

One by one, the sisters pounded down the heavy doors, releasing the captives within. And then, halfway down, across from the room Keely had blasted her way out of, Neely was nearly blinded by as bright white light flared inside the room. Ah.. Even we so rarely get to see the bonding of another. Neely peered in to see the red-haired young man - the young man she’d seen Erich kidnap - on his knees, reaching his hands up to the bright light. The light flared suddenly, and rushed into the young man. He collapsed then, after a long moment, he rose to his feet. He met Neely’s eyes and smiled. Then he and Neely together destroyed his cell door.

The newest kheldian introduced himself as “Firesong... er.. Zach... er... Fire-”

Neely smiled and told him, “You’ll get used to it.”

With the third Kheldian along to help, they made short work of the remaining doors, rescuing 9 frightened humans, guarded by 3 determined Kheldians. Neely went from captive to captive quickly, checking the wristbands of each. She found the humans ranged from 85% to 92%, while Keely had been judged 96%, the red-head 95%, and her own rating of 98%.

She held the young man’s hand while reading his wrist band and commented, “They were onto something, weren’t they?”




The three kheldians led the way out of the base. Neely noticed that every one of the captives seemed quite satisfied with the current condition of the destroyed lab as they passed it. As they neared the elevator, however, Neely stopped. The elevator was running.

“Back.. Everyone back.” she instructed. The group scurried back around a corner, and the three kheldians stood, waiting.

The door slid open, and a heavily armed group of Council soldiers stepped out. Neely didn’t know the man in front, the man obviously in command, but over his shoulder, she could see Erich. His blue eyes met hers, and then widened at the flare of white kheldian energy surrounding her.

“That is quite enough,” the commander announced. He was a fit, middle aged man, obviously used to command. “All of you, back to your rooms. Immediately, and there will be no reprisals. You three.. You will come with us.”

“Like hell!” Keely yelled back.

Neely shook her head, “No. We’re leaving this place. ALL of us are leaving. And you won’t be stopping us.”

The commander sighed, as if bored by the whole thing, gestured, and said. “Take them. Try not to kill the Kheldians.”

“Sir?” Erich attempted to interrupt, but he was brushed aside, and the soldiers began to attack.

At first, Neely was distracted by the cries of fear from the rescued captives behind her, but then the need to keep moving, keep attacking, keep advancing overrode any other concerns. Neely’s eyes were fixed on Erich as she fought her way across the room. He was engaged in some sort of argument with his commander. The commander was paying no attention to the conflict around him, and Neely realized suddenly that he must not understand that he might lose this fight. Erich, on the other hand seemed all too aware. As he argued, he kept watching everything. And then he noticed Neely, fighting her way towards him.

As Neely approached, the commander’s voice rose even louder, and she could clearly hear him for the first time. “Your objections have been heard, they have been noted, and they have been DISREGARDED! You think trained Council can’t handle three brand new kheldians? Moretti, get your cowardly [censored] out of my base!”

Erich met Neely’s eyes, and then frowned back at the commander. “Gladly, sir!”

Neely let out a cry of rage as Erich disappeared onto the elevator and vanished. “Zach! Keely! Over here!”

“I think I’m going with Firesong,” the red-head answered and began to fight his way to her.

The over-confident commander didn’t seem to realize his danger until over half his men were down. The three kheldians were making short work of the Council, and only after he realized that all three were angling towards him did he even draw a weapon. By then, it was much too late for him. He fell, hard, under the blows of two angry peacebringers, and one enraged warshade.


Twelve people emerged from a nondescript, run down warehouse as the sun began to peek over the horizon. Neely led the way, while Keely and Firesong brought up the rear.

“What happens now?” Firesong asked.

Neely smiled, hugged her sister again, and said, “Now.. The three of us go register to be Heroes.”