Savage Dragon: Just Another Tuesday

Malcolm Dragon had been up to his fin in Vicious Circle goons since the criminal cadre had migrated to Canada, and today was no different. A group of them were robbing a local bank, and the police had called Malcolm to lend a hand against the superfreaks. He didn't see any option besides just charging in. He crashed through a lobby window, landed in a dive forward roll, and stood right up into a punch that sent him crashing into the granite wall next to the window he'd just leapt through. He shook his head, and looked up to see two large men in cutoff jean shorts and white tank tops advancing on him.

"That explains it," Dragon said groggily. "There were two of you."

"Nah," laughed the men. "That's just your vision. Ain't but one Redneck!"

"'Redneck?' Was 'Wife Beater' taken?"

Grabbing Malcolm up by the throat, he pointed a thumb over his shoulder, and said, "Funny. But if yer seein' two of me, you're gonna hate dealing with Seven-N-Seven."

Malcolm grabbed Redneck's thumb in one hand, and fingers in the other, and pulled back quickly, bringing pain that brought Redneck to his knees. "One, two, or seven, it doesn't matter. You should have brought more guys." He punched Redneck in the jaw, laying him out flat on his back.

"'More guys?'" asked Seven. "Aw, I got ya, dawg! Seven-N-Seven!" With that, Seven became two of himself. "Seven-N-Seven!" the two said, and they became fourteen. "Seven-N-Seven!" and they became twenty-eight. "Seve--" they started, but were cut short by Malcolm grabbing the one closest to him.

"I take it back," he said as he used his taser touch on the Seven in his hands. "You brought enough guys."

As he dropped the stunned villain to the floor, Seven-N-Seven's duplicates dissipated like steam, and a small girl stepped out of the open vault with it's dented and charred door. She had black hair with dark blue highlights, wore white saddleshoes, and what looked like a white confirmation dress. "Let me guess," said Malcolm. "Dollface?"

Her mouth moved as if she were animatronic, and she said, "Wow. Never heard that one before. These idiots call me Baby Boss."

Malcolm laughed. "Like the movie?"

"Yes," said the girl, slightly annoyed. She rolled her eyes, and that somehow seemed animatronic too. "My name is China."

"Hm," said Malcolm. "That doesn't explain why they'd call you Baby Boss."

"Let me show you," the doll-like woman said. "Bomb Diggety?"

A tall, slim woman in dark blue pants, and a bright green Bulbasaur hoodie strolled out of the vault. "Yeah, Baby Boss?"

China closed her eyes halfway, opened them again, and said almost robotically, "Take care of him."

"You got it," said Bomb Diggety. Walking up to Dragon with her hands in her pockets, she told him, "I like your electric hands. Wait until you see mine." She took her right hand out of her pocket, and calmly reached for Malcolm.

Just then, Malcolm noticed that China was making the same motion. "I knew it!" he said, and he flicked a piece of rubble at the child-like villain from the wall he'd crashed into. It knocked her down, stunning her.

Bomb Diggety stopped short of Dragon's face, then drew back her hand, looking at it in horror. "Oh, God! Did I...?" She looked around the room, and seeing the charred vault door, she screamed at China, "What did you make me do?!" She reached out for the small woman, and Malcolm backhanded the side of her head, knocking her out.

China groaned as she sat up. "How did you know it was me?" she asked Malcolm.

"I didn't know which one of you it was until you controlled Bomb Diggety, but I knew there was a telepath here when I was seeing double. My healing ability keeps that from happening, so if I'm seeing double, then someone's telling my mind to see double."

China looked as angry as her little girl features could muster, and then reached a hand towards Malcolm.

"That won't work a second time," Malcolm said. "You should surrender now, and tell your Vicious Circle lawyer to let Dart know that I'm going to catch up to her."

China laughed, and the staccato rhythm of it sent a slight chill across Malcolm's back. "Dart? Someone already caught up to her. Put an arrow right through her hea--"

China was cut off by a shaft piercing her skull.

Malcolm looked shocked. "An arrow! Who--?"

"It's not an arrow," said a voice from the shadows. "It's a crossbow bolt." A woman with tattered clothes and a hole clear through her torso came shambling out into the open. "As for who, I'm the new leader of the Vicious Circle."

"You killed her just for almost speaking your name?" asked Malcolm.

"No, I killed her because she's more dangerous than I'm willing to deal with."

"Who are you?" demanded Dragon.

"You can call me Maya. The Vicious Circle knows me as The Patron Saint of Crime. We need to talk."

To be continued?

***

Notes- Not necessary for voting, but I've decided to start putting disclaimers and copyright on everything.

Disclaimer: Savage Dragon, Dart and the Vicious Circle belong to Erik Larsen.

Bulbasaur is a Pokemon Go reference, and belongs to Niantic.

Redneck, Seven-N-Seven, China/Baby Boss, Bomb Diggety, and Maya/The Patron Saint of Crime belong to Chris Bishop. With the exception of the Niantic and Larsen elements, story copyright 2020, Chris Bishop.

The Maze of Death

The man and woman had been at a costume party in a Hollywood mansion when they sensed each other across the room. They had made their way to the center of a garden maze at the far side of the mansion's back yard, had revealed their swords, stayed at a cautious distance, and began to talk.

The woman, dressed as an aviator, said, "I do not wish to fight tonight." She held a slim sword with a dragon's head for a pommel, pointed low to the ground, and added, "But I will if I have to."

The man, dressed as a Viking warrior, had a bit heftier sword that he held out to the side like a cane; the point resting on the ground, and his hand resting on the studded mace pommel. "And I have no wish to fight one as beautiful as you. Tell me though- have we met? You seem familiar, but the years have been many. I am Manuel Jaro."

"For me as well," she answered. "I am Amelia Earhart."

Manuel chuckled. "That explains the costume, but what is your real name?"

She shrugged. "That is my real name... this decade, anyway. You should see the looks people give me when I tell them that."

They both smiled.

"Fair enough," conceded Manuel. "But I have definitely not met 'Amelia Earhart' before. Perhaps in a past life?" He thought for a few seconds, and said, "In World War Two, I was ace reporter Chic Carter, A.K.A. The Sword."

Amelia winced. "A bit on the nose, isn't it?"

Manuel shrugged. "You?"

"At that time, I was Ritta Farrar, alias Senorita Rio." She curtsied as she spoke her alias.

Manuel wagged a finger at that. "Ahh, that name I know, but still, I never met her. Hm," he said as he picked up his sword, and began to walk a wide circle around Amelia. He considered her as she watched him circle, and then he said, "There was a time when I was Jeffrey Scott- The Black Buccaneer!"

She nodded in appreciation. "I heard tales of him, to be sure. During that time, I was a nurse in a maternity ward."

"Noble," said Jaro, nodding his own appreciation.

"Selfish," she said, shaking her head. "We immortals are cursed to not have children of our own. I sought to share the joy of others as they brought newborns into the world."

Looking the slightest bit sad, he offered, "Still understandable, and you were helping."

She smiled at that.

"Well then. In the late 1800's, I was Don Diego de la Vega, known to the people of Alta California as El Zorro!" Manuel proclaimed, standing tall and throwing his arms in the air.

Amelia now circled him, considering. She shook her head. "Before my time in California."

"In 1792, I was Sir Percy Blakeny."

Amelia gave him a confused look.

"The Scarlet Pimpernel?" Manuel prodded.

"Ooooh," said Earhart. "Saving French aristocrats from the guillotine? And I'm the noble one?"

"Ah, a bit selfish of me as well," he confessed. "Beheading? It hit a little close to home." He shrugged, and then with a flourish of his sword, he declared, "But in the 1620's, I was a Musketeer!"

"Ha!" laughed Amelia. "In 1692, I lived in Salem, Massachusetts."

"No!" gasped Manuel. "They tried you as a witch?!" His voice said he was horrified, but his face showed his amusement.

"Easy for you to laugh," said Amelia, stepping in and taking a swing at the man in the Viking garb.

He stopped her sword with his, and caught her wrist, stepping in close. "It's funny now, certainly? Those tests could only have revealed you as a witch?"

Amelia swung a foot around and buckled Manuel's leg, using his moment of unbalance to shove him backwards, and back away herself. "That damned ducking stool," she shuddered. "Just a ludicrous excuse for killing women, if you ask me," she said angrily. "If you drown, you're innocent. If you don't, you're a witch?"

Manuel couldn't help laughing again. "They must have been quite surprised when you didn't die."

"Oh, yeah," confirmed Amelia. "So, they burned me at the stake!"

Jaro winced at the thought. "Oh, my dear woman. I'm truly sorry- there's no humor in that."

"Especially since they buried me after that," she said, trembling involuntarily.

"A fear for us all," was the only thing Manuel could say.

"I was buried near a river, and there I stayed until a flood loosened the soil enough for me to escape my grave. I can't tell you how many times I died for lack of oxygen, revived due to my immortality, and died all over again before that flood. It was maddening."

"Were the witch trials how you found out you were immortal?"

Amelia sighed, then smiled, shaking off the memory of her time in Salem. "No. My time as an immortal goes back much further than that. B.C., even."

"Oh?" prodded Manuel, now truly intrigued.

"I was an 'Amazon' enslaved to the Roman Empire--"

"--And condemned to the gladiatorial arena!" finished Manuel. "Your name? What was your name?"

"Long forgotten," she said uneasily, the light of recognition flickering in her eyes. "But in the arena, they called me simply Amazona. You? You were--"

"--Yes!" shouted Manuel. "I was there too! That is how I know you! I was part of a Viking invasion force," he said, sweeping his hands over his costume as he said it, "but we were conquered and enslaved by the Romans! I was taken to the arena, where I showed all of Rome to fear the name--"

"--Manjaro the Manslayer!" gasped Amelia, full recognition flooding her face.

"YES! MANJARO THE MANSLAYER!" he yelled. "We faced each other in the arena, and I killed you!"

"My first death," recalled Earhart. "When I discovered my immortality."

"And mine," said Jaro, pointing his sword at her. "When you revived, they said I spared you against the Emperor's verdict, and they condemned me to death, forcing me to fight in the arena, unarmed, against twenty men. I held my own for a couple of minutes, but they were too many, and I succumbed to a sword in the back. They allowed me a Viking burial- setting me adrift on a boat full of oil, and setting it on fire with a flaming arrow. I revived as the boat was engulfed, and managed to haul myself overboard to extinguish the flames."

It was Amelia's turn to chuckle. "So. You burned just as I did."

"And you were rescued by water, just as I was," countered Jaro.

They thought about that momentarily, then both took fighting stances, shouting in unison, "It's your fault I'm immortal!" Then they charged each other.

"Now, Amazona Amelia! You find out why men fear Manjaro the Manslayer!" he screamed as he swung his sword over his head and down at the woman in the pilot gear.

Stopping his blade with hers, and grabbing his wrist as he had done her a few minutes before, she gritted her teeth, and said, "You might have noticed- I'm not a man!" With that, she kneed him in the groin, used her sword to throw his to one side, and then landed a left cross that surprised them both, knocking him to the ground. She swung for his head as he laid on his back.

Manjaro brought up his sword to block, and said, "A dragon said that to me once." He kicked Amelia's legs out from under her, and she fell towards him. Their sword arms stretched above their heads, the swords still crossed, and he wrapped his arm around her waist as she fell on top of him, holding her fast. "Are you a dragon, Ms. Earhart?" Manjaro asked with a playful grin.

Breathing hard, she smiled at his audacity. "No, but I do have a secret you have yet to learn."

"Oh? And what is that?" he asked, clearly pleased at this turn from their fight.

"I was the original Amelia Earhart too."

Manjaro was clearly surprised at that, but then realization came. "Being immortal, fame wasn't good for you. So, you faked your death during your final flight."

"Fame wasn't the only reason," she said with a smile.

"What else was there then," he asked, slackening his hold around her waist just a bit.

"I was chosen to be part of an elite group of women warriors," she said with pride.

"Back to being an Amazon then?" he asked.

"No," she said, dropping her sword to caress his face, making him smile. "A Valkyrie."

"A chooser of the slain?!" Manjaro's face fell and went ashen, but before he could move, Amelia kissed him hard. He died then and there.

"Yes, Manjaro," she said to his corpse as she stood up. "We immortals cannot help but to cross the paths of other immortal groups. Like international marriages, we are bound to intermingle eventually. And I did," she said as she lifted her sword, "But when it comes to our type of immortal, well... there can be only one!" she cried as she swung the sword.

Immediately, lightning began to crackle around Manjaro's body, and then jumping to hers. It swirled around them, then flashed through the maze. It grabbed Amelia, and her body went taut as she screamed with the power that came from the fallen immortal. Lightning arced from her body to the sky and back again, and she sank to her knees as the Quickening washed over and through her. The lightning subsided as she fell, and only wisps of smoke were left, trailing away from her in all directions.

The guests of the party had come out into the backyard to see the spectacle flashing from the garden maze. They assumed this was just some Hollywood special effects trick cooked up for the party, and cheered as the lightning crashed, and the thunder boomed. The cheers turned to gasps of amazement as a winged stallion descended to the maze just after the lightning. They clapped in appreciation of the show their host had set up for them, and their host was shrewd enough to take the credit, raising his champagne glass to his guests.

Inside the maze, Amelia declared, "Rise, Manjaro the Manslayer! Rise, and ride to the halls of Valhalla!" She leapt lightly onto the back of the winged horse.

His body restored, Manjaro looked on his killer with new appreciation. Invigorated anew, he picked up his sword, and mounted up behind her with a fierce smile. At last, the eternal reward he had so long thought denied to him was within his grasp. They arose from the maze, and flew away. Behind them, the guests cheered at the sight. It reminded them both of the cheers of the crowd in the gladiatorial arena.

***

Notes:

Story and original characters owned by Chris Bishop, copyright 2021.

The Scarlet Pimpernel, Zorro, Chic Carter, Black Buccaneer, Musketeers, and Senorita Rio are all public domain.

Amelia Earhart originally appeared in my story Death Gets Recruited, but her being a Valkyrie was only hinted at.

Manjaro the Manslayer orignally appeared in The Day the Vikings Landed, later in Heironymous vs. Leviathan, and another minor appearance that I'm not really fond of, and probably isn't canon.

This story probably isn't canon for Amelia or Manjaro either, but dang, it is a grand way for Manjaro to die! I had fun. :)

The Death of Judge Dust

Year: 2082, Location: Luna City 1

The dance floor was a mess of bodies. Most of the patrons had fled when the shooting started- a group of rill hoppers had opened fire as soon as the two Judges walked in. Those who didn't run were pressed up against the walls, giving the men in the center of the room as much space as possible. Judge De Spyre walked the perimiter, looking each patron over as he did so, his scowl making none of them feel comfortable. In the center of the room, another Judge was looking at the proprietor's club license. The Judge inspected the permit, and handed it back. "Citizen Nash," stated Judge Dredd. "You manage 'Club Pluto.' Is that right?"

"No, Judge," answered Nash. "I own Club Pluto. My former bodyguard, Bruno, runs it. I just sit back, and enjoy the money coming in."

"Bozzss," came the electronic voice of Bruno, "We're loszing money here, bozzss."

"Bruno!" snapped Nash. "Let the Judges do their job! Go check on the kitchen."

"Robot! Stay where you are!" ordered Dredd. Bruno complied. Looking him over for a moment, Dredd demanded, "What's your model, robot?"

"Sizzxty-three. Deluxzze," Bruno offered.

Dredd looked at Nash through his helmet, and sounded suspicious when he asked, "Kind of an old model for a bodyguard, isn't it?"

Holding up a finger in correction, Nash said, "Former bodyguard. My new bodyguard is a Seventy-Eight, fully loaded," he said, pointing to the club's upper tier. The robot stood at the rail with its gun out, and was watching the crowd.

"Robot!" barked Dredd, drawing his Lawgiver. "Drop your weapon!"

The bodyguard complied literally, and the gun fell over the railing. Nash reached out and caught it instinctively, prompting Dredd to train his Lawgiver on the club owner.

Nash threw his hands in the air, and yelled, "Whoa! Whoa!" Spinning the gun in his hand so that the muzzle was in his grip, he bent his hand forward, offering the gun to the Judge. "Replacemnts are expensive. I'm sorry," he said with a nervous chuckle.

Dredd holstered his weapon as he took Nash's. Just then, a woman came out of the kitchen, knocking the door into Judge De Spyre as he was passing. "Oh, my-- Pluto! Baby! Judges!"

"I know, ma!" answered Pluto.

De Spyre recovered immediately, and drew his weapon. "What's your name, citizen?"

Pluto's mother sounded confused, but answered, "Flura Nash."

"Citizen Nash, you have been found guilty of assaulting a Judge--"

"--What?!" both Flura and Pluto blurted out.

"The sentence is five years cryo," finished De Spyre.

"Now wait a minute!" protested Pluto, his hands still in the air. Looking to Dredd, he said, "That was obviously an accident."

"The Law is clear," Dredd answered without sympathy. "Judge De Spyre, cuff her."

"C'mon," pleaded the club owner as De Spyre cuffed his mother, "can't we work something out?"

"Are you trying to bribe a Judge, Citizen Nash?" barked Dredd. "That also carries a sentence of five years!"

"No! No!" Nash assured him. "I'm just saying... maybe there's something you need more than my ma? Information you might need?"

Dredd looked around the room at the other patrons. "Judge De Spyre! Get those citizens out of here!"

Judge De Spyre didn't have to say anything. He merely jerked his thumb over his shoulder towards the door. The citizens headed for it immediately, but followed the curve of the room, rather than daring to cross the dance floor.

Once the room was clear, Judge De Spyre grabbed Flura's elbow, and brought her to the center of the dance floor with Dredd and Pluto, stepping over bodies as they went. De Spyre looked at Dredd momentarily, their helmets making their communication unclear to the Nashes. Dredd looked to Pluto, and said, "What information do you think you have, Citizen Nash?"

"Little America--"

"--Luna City One," corrected Judge De Spyre.

Pluto nodded, and continued, "--hasn't seen a Judge in over a year," said Nash. "It's been practically citizen-ruled since Judge Dust was killed in The Vac."

"You mean Judge Dustov," corrected Judge De Spyre, stepping in close.

Nash's mouth went tight as he braced for a punch that never came. Once he realized that, he said, "Sorry. I'm sorry. In my line of work, you learn to go with the flow. Most patrons refer to him as Judge Dust, so I just picked it up. 'The customer is always right,' and all. No disrespect was meant." De Spyre didn't step back.

"Judges never left," added Dredd. "They were ordered to stay clear until we could be sent to investigate."

"A year later?" asked Flura.

"It took awhile," was all the explanation Dredd offered, looking to Pluto to continue.

Pluto untensed slightly, and said, "Point is: if you're here now, you must be after his killer. 'Ghoszt,' right?"

"He is wanted by the Law," answered Dredd.

"Right," Nash answered quietly. "I have it on good authority that he's in Farside."

"Luna City Two?" asked De Spyre.

"Yeah, Luna Two," Nash confirmed.

"And who is your 'good authority?'" asked Dredd.

"Old buddy of mine, Felix Laranga."

Dredd frowned as his helmet display gave him information on the new name. "Laranga, Felix. Convicted of using loaded dice at the Lunar Grande Hotel, and sentenced to one year cryo."

"That was two years ago," answered Nash. "He's out now, and he manages the Lunar Grande for me."

Dredd's jaw tightened as he read his helmet display. "You own the Lunar Grande?"

Flura chuckled. "It was owned by Rex Crater. He turned out to be a clone of Pluto, set up by Mike Marucci to run the Grande, and push out the business owners of Little Amer-- I mean, Luna City One, to make way for a new resort. Rex doublecrossed Marucci, shooting him into orbit. When he died too, it turned out that they had tied up their holdings as Pluto's, in an attempt to frame him. The paperwork was legal though, so now," shrugged Flura, "he owns it all."

Dredd decided to test their story. "I'm showing that a Mister Belcher owns the Lunar Grande."

Without hesitation, Pluto answered, "Belcher was Crater's flunky. He was convicted of conspiracy to commit fraud, and conspiracy to commit murder -my murder- and is currently enjoying a sixty year stretch in cryo. Personally, I think you guys should have left him thawed out, and let him age in a good old-fashioned six-by-eight cell."

Dredd looked at De Spyre only momentarily, then nodded at Nash. "So where is Ghoszt now?"

"Farside is all I know," said Pluto.

Dredd's frown was inscrutable for a minute. Then he said, "Thank you, Citizen Nash." Looking to the other Judge, he said, "Judge De Spyre, call for pickup on the prisoner, and let's go."

"What?" Flura blurted in distress.

"Hey, wait a minute!" protested Pluto. "We just gave you information! We had a deal!"

"You assisted a Judge as is your duty as a citizen. The Law does not 'deal.'" Looking to Flura Nash, who was clearly in terror, he then looked back to Pluto, and said, "But we will note your cooperation in this matter. Perhaps a lesser sentence has been earned."

Nash looked at his mother helplessly. "Ma... I--"

"That is all!" barked Dredd, and he turned to leave, De Spyre and their prisoner close behind.

"Pluto!" cried Flura. "Pluto!"

"Ma!" he called back, but they were already out the door, and a Judge hovercarrier landed just outside to meet them.

Year: 2082, Location: Luna City 2

Judge Dredd and Judge De Spyre stepped off the moon shuttle, and the other passengers gave them a wide berth as they disembarked. Dredd looked around and said, "Never thought I'd see Farside."

De Spyre's perpetual scowl etched deeper into his face. "That's Luna City Two, rookie."

Dredd shrugged. "Citizens call it Farside. Just trying to think like a resident, sir."

The senior Judge thudded the back of his gloved hand against the rookie's chest, making him stop. Although it was a slight move, it felt like a solid blow. "You're not here to 'blend in,' rook. You are a Judge. You are the Law. You call everything by its legal name, so citizens remember who they are dealing with." De Spyre started walking again, and Dredd fell in beside him.

"Sir, don't you think the uniform reminds them of that?" asked Dredd, as he motioned to the pedestrians swerving from their routes to let them pass.

De Spyre grunted lightly. "Knowing how a citizen thinks is one thing. Adopting that thinking for yourself is another. You are to be the Law at all times, Judge Dredd. You start talking and reacting like a citizen, you open yourself up to compromise. The Law does not compromise. The Law judges."

"Understood, sir," was Dredd's only reply.

"You did well in Luna City One," offered De Spyre. "Let's see how you do with Luna City Two," he challenged, pointing to the Lunar Grande in the distance. As they walked, he asked, "Judge Dustov was in your academy class, wasn't he?"

Dredd nodded. "Finished his turn in the Cursed Earth just ahead of me, sir. Apprehended the Winchester Sisters."

"Then let's make sure we get him some justice," growled De Spyre.

"Yes, sir," answered Dredd.

Year: 2082, Location: Luna City 2 - The Lunar Grande Hotel

Buzzing an intercom, the secretary announced, "Mister Laranga, there are two Judges here to see you."

"Oh, yeahyeahyeahyeahyeah!" the intercom answered back. "Buzz them in, Miss Fuente. Buzz them in!"

The door buzzed, and the Judges entered, scanning the room as they did so. Felix Laranga, whose facial scan matched his mugshot, sat behind a large wooden desk at the far end of the room. Seated on a couch to the right was a woman with short, bobbed hair.

"Come in, Judges, come in!" offered Felix as he stood up. "How can I help you?"

"Citizen Laranga," Dredd greeted him, "Do you have a permit to operate a business, as required by the terms of your release from cryo?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah!" Felix answered, reaching for his desk. He stopped half-bent over, and pointed to his desk. "It's in a drawer."

Dredd nodded, and Felix reached into the top drawer, and came out with a piece of paper. Dredd looked it over, and handed it back. "You should keep that in your pocket, citizen."

"I'm always at my desk," answered Felix with a nervous chuckle. Then, soberly, he stuck the paper in the breast pocket of his suit, and said, "But, yeah." He smiled. "How can I help you," he asked again as he glanced at their badges, and added, "Judges Dredd, and... De Spyre?"

"We're looking for a killer known as Ghoszt. Pluto Nash tells us you know where he is," answered Dredd.

"I know he's in Farside," answered Felix. "I saw him when he first got here." When Dredd didn't reply, he added, "From a distance."

De Spyre had been looking at the woman on the couch. Glancing past Felix, at the window, he looked back to the desk, and said, "Wood is hard to get on the moon." His tone was openly suspicious.

"It's not smuggled, if that's what you're thinkin'," answered Felix. "I'm legit now. Nash loves the stuff. He had it brought up. Says it's classier than metal and plastic. I think he's right."

"You know what I think?" asked Judge De Spyre. Looking to Judge Dredd, he said, "Do you see it?"

Dredd nodded in the affirmative, but added, "I don't know what to make of it, sir."

De Spyre drew his attention to the window, and looked back at Felix. "The former owner was Rex Crater," he answered. "A clone of Pluto Nash, commissioned by Michael Marucci from Doctor Runa Pendankin. She also gave Marucci a new face."

"Yes, sir," confirmed Dredd. "Crater shot both her and Marucci into orbit when he took over."

"Yes, but Pendankin had a protoge," answered De Spyre. Looking at the woman on the couch, he said, "Doctor Mona Zimmer, you are under arrest for illegal body alteration. Sentence is fifteen years cryo."

Laughing nervously, the woman fluffed her hair with one hand, and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Dredd said, "Citizen Laranga here is two inches taller than he's supposed to be. Our scans couldn't tell until he stood up."

"I-I-I have lifts in my shoes!" protested Laranga.

"You know what else you have," asked Dredd. Looking again at the window, he said, "A scar, right in the middle of the back of your neck, consistent with body alteration. You are not Felix Laranga."

Laranga smiled.

"I take it you're Ghoszt," said De Spyre.

Laranga bowed slightly, "So you guessed."

"He's not Ghoszt," corrected Dredd. De Spyre, Laranga, and Zimmer- still on the couch- looked at the rookie Judge. "He's Dustov."

Judge De Spyre balked. "What? Dustov died in The Vac."

Dredd nodded slowly. "Yes. But this is Dustov. Height matches Dustov's records, and--" he quickly backhanded Laranga, drawing blood. Looking at the back of his glove, he waited for sensors to scan the blood, and added, "--DNA confirms it. This is Judge Dustov. Or his clone. Isn't that right, Doctor Zimmer?"

"He made me do it!" protested Zimmer. "He heard how I cloned Nash to make Rex Crater, and he--"

"--Shut up!" snapped Laranga.

Dredd spoke for her. "And he had you do the same, so he could fake his death, and take over the Lunar Grande. It probably wouldn't have been long before he tried to take out Pluto Nash, so he could take over completely." When neither of them answered, Dredd looked at Zimmer. "You're still guilty of illegal body alteration. And now illegal cloning too. Sentence is forty years cryo."

Zimmer whimpered.

Laranga laughed. "Ha! 'Illegal cloning!' You would know, wouldn't you, Dredd?"

"What's that supposed to mean," growled Dredd.

Laranga just laughed again. Looking at Zimmer, he said, "I had her make more 'alterations' than just my own, you know."

The Judges, not knowing what he meant, just scowled at him.

Looking again at Doctor Zimmer, Laranga said, "See the scratches on her upper arm?"

Zimmer rolled up her sleeve to reveal scars from claws that had raked across her arm.

"You know what's practically indestructible on the moon?" sneered Felix. "Mona? 'Cujo.'"

With that, Zimmer reacted like something painful had shot right through her. She doubled over with the pain, and started to growl.

"What did you do?" Dredd demanded.

Zimmer contorted slightly, and screamed as her arms bulged, and started to grow long, brown fur.

"Werewolves, rook" said De Spyre as he kicked Mona over backwards, putting space between them. "Werewolves are practically indestructible on the moon."

Dredd shoved Laranga backwards, and he toppled over his desk and to the floor behind it.

Dredd and De Spyre watched Zimmer as she continued to change. Her legs bulged, and grew fur. She grew a tail. Sharp talons grew from her hands and feet. She smiled momentarily before her face extended, becoming more wolven, sharp fangs replacing her teeth. She howled.

Just before she leapt, Dredd drew his Lawgiver, and shouted, "Hi-ho!"

The gun charged and chambered a specific round, confirming, "Hi-ho."

Dredd fired at the werewolf which had now fallen upon De Spyre, and dropped her instantly.

De Spyre kicked her body off of him, his Lawgiver drawn, and scrambled to his feet. He knelt down to feel her neck, now human again as she reverted from her lupine form. "Dead." He just looked at Dredd, scowl revealing nothing.

"The Winchester Sisters, sir," was Dredd's reply. "When Judge Dustov captured them in the Cursed Earth, Samantha and Dina Winchester gave up everything they knew, and that their ancestors knew, about hunting the supernatural. We adapted it for Lawgivers, but hadn't had occasion to test it yet. 'Hi-ho' is a pure silver round, sir. Kills werewolves."

Laughter came from behind the desk, and Laranga stood up, holding the Lawgiver that belonged to his original Dustov body. "Clever, Dredd! You might have made a fine Judge!" With that, he fired.

Dredd and De Spyre dove in opposite directions, both firing their weapons at Laranga. The rounds connected, and Laranga's body fell backwards. In his place stood the phantom-like form of Judge Dustov. He laughed, and the Judges fired again. The rounds passed right through, obliterating the windows behind him. Laughing again, Dustov yelled, "There's a reason I'm called Ghoszt, gentlemen, and it's not just my ability to disappear so my enemies can't find me! Something about this place- maybe it's the Oxygen Desert- keeps me from moving on! I died in The Vac, and I animated my cloned body as Laranga, but this is the true me! GHOSZT!" he declared triumphantly.

"Good to know," said Dredd, aiming his Lawgiver. Dustov just laughed, but his laughter turned to terror when Dredd uttered, "Ghostpepper."

The gun charged, chambered, and confirmed, "Ghostpepper."

"NO!" shouted Dustov.

Dredd fired.

Dustov's ghostly head snapped backwards, having clearly felt the shot. He stumbled backwards, and tried to catch onto the window frame, but his hand just passed through. As he started to fall over the ledge, his form dissipated into smoky tendrils that drifted away on the night wind.

Judge De Spyre looked at the rookie. "The Winchester Sisters again?"

Dredd holstered his Lawgiver. "Silver nitrate and rock salt. He's gone. Call headquarters, have them burn his bones, and he'll stay gone."

De Spyre nodded. "Good job, rook. And you served Judge Dustov justice."

"No, sir," said Dredd. "I served Dustov justice. He stopped being a Judge when he came up with this insane plan." Saying nothing else, Dredd turned and headed for the door.

Judge De Spyre watched him go, and grunted lightly. He radioed headquarters, and instructed them to burn the bones of Judge Dustov. He also instructed them to investigate reports of werewolf attacks in Luna City Two. Looking around the room, he said aloud, "Dustov was wrong about you, rook. You do make a fine Judge." As he started towards the door, he flexed his right hand, and scratched at his wrist. Looking at the wound there, he hissed, and muttered, "Damn. She got me."

Year: 2141, Location: Justice Department, Mega-City One:

Chief Judge Logan and Judge Dredd emerged from the Proteus time machine, having observed all of the events of 2082 in Luna City One and Luna City Two. "Judge Dredd, you think this is where the werewolf army started?" asked Logan.

"Yes, sir, Chief Judge," answered Dredd. "Judge De Spyre was clearly wounded by Doctor Zimmer. I didn't notice it at the time. He continued to hide it from me until his disappearance in 2085. From there, werewolf sightings increased, attacks increased, and we've been fighting the werewolf army since 2090."

"You have a solution?"

"Use Proteus," Dredd said plainly. "Go back, and either kill Doctor Zimmer, or De Spyre himself. I think it would be wise to get De Spyre after he was attacked. That way, Dustov remains out of the picture."

"You wish to do this yourself?" asked Logan. "You've been in service to the Law for over sixty years."

Dredd's voice was stern. "Cloning and bionics have kept me in my prime, Chief Judge. De Spyre was my responsibility, sir. I should have seen it. I want to correct it."

Chief Judge Logan sighed heavily. "I despair of manipulating the past. There's simply no telling what we could be disrupting. But... very well. You have your mission, Judge Dredd."

"Chief Judge," responded Dredd, and he went straightaway to Proteus. There was a hum as it charged, and then he was gone.

*******

Cbishop's Notes:

The Adventures of Pluto Nash took place in the year 2080. The first Judge Dredd stories took place in 2099, and the Justice Department took over as government in 2070. Altho' the Judges go through 15-20 years of training before becoming Judges, I theorized for this crossover that as a clone, Dredd's training may have been accelerated enough to make it possible for him to be a rookie Judge in 2082.

I initially had Dredd being the senior, and De Spyre being the OC rookie, until I hit the idea of Dust being the badguy, and also a Judge. So, I flipped it, making Dust the OC rookie, same class as Dredd, and making De Spyre the senior. I threw a little bit of a red herring into the Luna City 1 scene, making it seem that Dredd was in the lead. In reality, De Spyre was observing him as a rookie, seeing how he handled things. I don't know if you like that, but I sure enjoyed the way it came together. :)

Rill hoppers, Club Pluto, Pluto Nash, Flura Nash, Felix Laranga, Rex Crater, Belcher, Mike Marucci, The Lunar Grande Hotel, Dr. Runa Pendankin, Dr. Mona Zimmer, Little America, Farside, The Vac, Bruno, and the model '78 bodyguard are all from The Adventures of Pluto Nash (one of my favorite movies), and presumably belong to Castle Rock Entertainment. You pretty much got an overview of the entire movie in their conversation.

Judge Dredd, Judges, Lunar City 1, Lunar City 2, the Lawgiver, the Oxygen Desert, the Cursed Earth, Chief Judge Logan, and the Proteus time machine are from the Judge Dredd stories, and belong to whomever they belong to- I guess that's 2000 AD.

Judge De Spyre (bastardization of "despair") is OC.

Judge Dustov/Dust (aka Ghoszt) is OC, and the rookie Judge OC required by the contest. "Dust/Dustov" was actually random, but I quickly warmed to the idea that a "vac" takes care of "dust." So, voila, Dust died in The Vac. lol

Miss Fuente (Laranga's secretary) is OC- name randomly picked from a friend's last name.

Samantha and Dina Winchester - the Winchester Sisters- are OC, but derivative of and descended from Sam and Dean Winchester of Supernatural which belongs to CW, I'm guessing.

"Cujo" as a codeword was just a nod to the movie. Cujo belongs to Stephen King.

Werewolves and ghosts are of course public domain.

"Hi-ho" (from "Hi-ho, Silver! Away!") and "Ghostpepper" (from the pepper, but also meant to imply "ghost pepper spray") are OC names for Lawgiver ammo.

Aside from the elements mentioned above that are copyrighted to others, this story and its OC elements are copyright 2021 Chris Bishop.

Edit: Oops! I forgot that Batkevin's OP set the stories in 2141. So, yeah, um, time travel scene at the end. I think it ties up nicely though.

Many Mornings After

Crystal had wandered through the strange city, her senses reeling at all the things she had never seen before. Needing to get off the street, she stumbled as she entered the Italian restaurant, and fell into the arms of a taller woman on her way out.

"Whoa! I've got you," the woman assured her. "Are you o--" Bending down to get a better look, the woman sounded very confused when she said, "Agent Salt?"

Hearing her name snapped her nearly back to normal, and the woman now merely holding her elbow to keep her steady, Crystal finally made eye contact as she stood on her own, "Pan... Pandora Jones?"

"Yes. It's been a long time, Salt," said Jones, letting go of Crystal's elbow.

Crystal put her hand to her head momentarily, frowned, then composed herself. "Crab man's corpse, right?"

"Good memory," chuckled Pandora.

"Oh, it was only a couple of weeks ago. I don't think I'll be forgetting that one anytime soon."

Jones looked shocked. Again grabbing Crystal by the elbow, she whispered, "Come with me," and started steering her towards a circular booth in a quiet corner of the restaurant. Catching a waitress's eye as they passed, Pandora said, "We're going to be a little bit, Roxy. Bring us a couple of coffees, please?" Looking at Crystal, she said, "Are you hungry?"

Crystal nodded. "Actually, yeah. Really hungry. Maybe that's why I stumbled like that?"

Looking back to the waitress, Jones added, "And a couple of menus? Thanks."

They reached the booth and slid inside, Roxy just behind them with menus and coffees. She set them down and walked away, and Pandora turned very seriously to Salt and asked, "Crystal, this is going to sound strange, but do you know what year it is?"

"'What year?'" she repeated back, then moaned. "Oh, man, the strange buildings. The 'Star Force' posters everywhere. Makes so much more sense now. I've assumed it's still 2019, same as last night." A little taken aback by Jones' surprise, she asked, "How far off am I?"

Pandora sighed. "About four hundred years, Crystal."

Crystal fell back against the booth, her head reeling. "Fo... four... four hundred years? H-how?"

Pandora put a reassuring hand over Crystal's hand, and closed her eyes for a few moments. "What's the last thing you remember? Where were you 'last night?'"

Eyes closed and brows raised, Salt took a deep breath as she assessed her situation. "I... I was out dancing all night."

"Dancing?" asked Pandora. "Were you with someone?"

"Yeah," Crystal said thoughtfully. "Well, I met him at the club, but we were together all night."

"You met him at the club?" Pandora sounded concerned. "Do you think...? Did he...?"

"What...? Oh! No! It wasn't like that. We never even left the club until this morning. We just danced all night. Not that I wouldn't have, mind you. He was freaking gorgeous. Hell, now that I think about it, we didn't even take a break for drinks. No wonder I'm hungry."

Just then, the waitress came back to take their orders. Crystal ordered a steak dinner, and Pandora, having already eaten, just ordered a slice of pecan pie. When Roxy walked away, Jones continued, "What was his name?"

Crystal chuckled to herself, and said, "Fynn. Can you believe that? 'Fynn.' You just don't hear that very often." Laughing again, she said, "I kept calling him 'Sharky' all night. You know? 'Shark fin?'" She shrugged. "I thought it was hilarious." Then, scowling a little, she said, "Now that I think about it, I was kind of silly all night- laughing, carrying on, dancing... kind of like I was drunk, but Pandora, I swear, we never left the dance floor. I had nothing to drink."

Jones pursed her lips for a moment, then said, "Fynn has Irish roots... it means 'fair.' In this case, and judging by the vibes I'm getting off of you, I'd say it means fairy."

Crystal looked doubtful. "Fairy? What?"

"This club. What was it like?" asked Jones.

"You know, not normally my thing. Music was almost orchestral, but... more? It was actually kind of fancy... almost like a ballroom. It just... well, it kind of caught my eye as I went by, you know? I went in, just intending to look around for a few minutes; gawk at the layout. Fynn introduced himself immediately, and asked me to dance, and... and I just went." Crystal looked at Pandora, very confused. "What the hell? He was a perfect gentleman. We just danced. How does that turn into four hundred years gone by?"

"Do you remember the name of the club?"

"I... I'm not sure," she said, looking at the table, searching her memory. "I kept thinking 'Gatsby' throughout the night, because it was... yeah, yeah," she said, grabbing hold of a memory. "The Great Hall."

The name confirming what she was thinking, Pandora nodded with realization. "Crystal, that was a fairy hall."

"A fa-- are you cra-- no, nevermind, seen too much for that. But fairies?" she complained, her eyes pleading with Pandora to tell her it wasn't true.

Jones just shook her head. "The lore is full of stories like this. A fairy leads a human to their hall, dances with them for what seems like a very long night, and when they return- if they return- hundreds of years have gone by."

Crystal was quiet for a few minutes, just staring back at Pandora as she thought about what she'd just been told. Roxy came with their food, breaking her thoughts. When she left again, Crystal cut into her steak, and moaned pleasurably at the taste. "God, this is so good. I am starving." Swallowing the first bite and taking in another, she put her hand in front of her mouth as she said, "So, is that how you got here?"

Swallowing her bite of pie, Pandora looked slightly surprised. "Hm? Oh, no. I'm bound to Hope's box." Taking the small, wooden, dark-stained box from her pocket, and placing it on the table, she smiled. Tapping it with her fingernail, she said, "I'm just long-lived."

Crystal chuckled quietly. "Sure. Why not?" she said, pushing her fork into her potato. "So, can I get back home if I go back to the hall?"

Pandora bit her lip for a moment, but didn't hold Crystal in suspense. She shook her head, and said, "It won't be there. It's a fairy hall. It's gone, and you're stuck here."

Crystal chewed slowly as she thought about that. Then she laid down her fork, took a sip of her coffee, and said, "What the hell am I supposed to do four hundred years in the future?"

Jones took a deep breath, and shrugged. "Earth's at war with a bunch of alien babboons called the Mandrillus right now." Crystal didn't even flinch at that. "Your law enforcement experience would probably make you ideal Star Force material. You could help the war effort?"

Crystal was quiet for a minute, then laughed. "Sure," she said, losing her composure to laughter. "Let's fight some space monkeys! If I ever see Sharky again, I'm going to kill him. Oh, God, if Hei... Hey, Heironymous- is that old dragon still around?"

Pandora shrugged. "Don't know, don't care. I don't like dragons."

"Yeah. You'll have to tell me about that sometime. In the meantime, maybe you can be my guide for a bit? Help me get situated?"'

"Sure," said Jones. "First things first. You have to try this pie."

Notes: Crystal Salt and Pandora Jones are reunited from an earlier contest entry. Roxy and Fynn are the OC's, and this is also the first appearance of the Great Hall, and first mention of the Star Force. Star Force does appear in an earlier story, but wasn't named. The Mandrillus appeared in the same story. Heironymous has been in several stories. All of this story, its characters and its elements, are copyright 2021 Chris Bishop. :)

Night Near Manhat

"Ariel! Ookla! We ride!" shouted Thundarr, and the three of them gallopped away, following the strange craft that blazed through the sky, clearly about to crash. Moments before, there had been a loud thunderclap, a bright flash in the sky, and out of that had come the flaming ship.

The ship descended faster and faster on its diaganol course, and as it got closer to the ground, it passed over a village of straw huts. The heat from its burning hull caused a few of the huts to spontaneously combust as it passed over. Without even slowing down, Ariel raised her hands above her head, they glowed, and water from a nearby river leapt into the air and fell on the huts, extinguishing the flames.

As they gallopped through the village in their pursuit of the craft, the villagers waved and cheered them on, thankful that their homes had been saved. Ookla smiled and waved back, roaring happily. Ariel smirked at her lion-like friend, and they poured on the speed to keep up with Thundarr.

"The strange ship is going to crash near Manhat! Do you think this has anything to do with the Stone Wizard we've been looking for?" Thundarr called back to Ariel.

Ariel shook her head as she caught up. "Whoever he is, he's been using warps like that to bring technology to him. That ship seems to qualify!"

Ookla growled and pointed ahead.

"Yes, Ookla! I see it! The ship has crashed into the river!" shouted Thundarr.

Part of the ship stuck out of the water at an odd angle, it's hull steaming as the plunge into the river had put out the flames. As Thundarr, Ariel, and Ookla got to the river bank, a hatch still showing above water hissed open, and out of it levitated a man, a woman, and a strange creature somewhat like Ookla, but it wasn't a Mok.

"Wizards," Thundarr said in surprise. "but none of them are made of stone!"

"No," said Ariel. "This is something... different."

The barbarian jumped down off of his horse, and ran for the strange trio. "Well, if they're good, we will call them friends. But if they're not..." he growled. He grabbed the hilt of the Sunsword from his wrist, and it blazed to life.

Seeing this, the three strangers pulled strange, stick-like objects from their belts, and with a hum, glowing shafts of light extended from them.

"Demon dogs!" cried Thundarr. "They have sunswords too!"

"Who are you?" called the woman from the ship. "And where did you get such a strange lightsaber?"

"'Light...saber?'" Thundarr said, confused.

"Thundarr, wait!" called Ariel as she jumped off of her horse, and ran up to him. "These people are not our enemies." Gesturing towards a wrecked car, her hand glowed, and images began to take shape in the front passenger window. As they did so, she told them what they were seeing. "Our friends come from another universe. They are siblings- Drom and 'Tar Solo- and their fur covered friend, Tubacca. The ship they crashed in the river is The Copper Eagle. They were fleeing a bounty hunter when they hid their ship behind an asteroid. Faking an explosion on the asteroid's surface to make the hunter think they were gone, they were too close, and were thrown away from the asteroid, and through the warp that brought them here."

"Lords of Light! You come from the stars!" exclaimed Thundarr as he extinguished his Sunsword.

"Yes," said 'Tar as she and her companions extinguished their lightsabers as well. "We were fleeing for our lives, but we don't know where that warp came from."

"It came from me!" came a voice from a distance. They heard thunderous footsteps, and were astonished to see a group of men made of stone emerge from the trees.

"It's the Stone Wizard!" said Thundarr.

"Worse," said Ariel. "It's Gemini, and he's leading the rock soldiers!"

"You are the Stone Wizard?" called Thundarr, once again igniting his Sunsword.

"Yes! When you left me in the rock soldiers' pool, you thought I would be a stone statue forever! It just took time to be able to move, and now I share the strength and stony hide that they have! But moving in this form is slow. So, I've been building machines that are able to carry us faster, using whatever machinery we have been able to take! And we shall have that ship!"

"The Eagle?" said Drom. "No way," and he and his two friends reignited their lightsabers.

Gemini's eyes grew wide at that sight, and he commanded his rock soldiers, "Get them! And bring me their weapons! I will have that ship!"

Using his magic, Gemini raised the ship from the river and brought it ashore while the rock soldiers charged. Thundarr, Drom, 'Tar, and Tubacca stood ready with their swords. Ariel raised her hands above her head, and they began glowing with magic. Ookla uprooted a tree to use as a club, he and Tubacca both roaring.

Just before the rock soldiers would have reached them, a warp of bright blue light opened up between the two groups, and a man stepped through. Firing a laser blast from a handgun in the open space, he yelled, "STOP!"

All did so, looking at him with confusion.

"Nexus Ranger Roderick Nim! There's been an unregulated space-time warp in this area!"

"You!" gasped 'Tar.

Nim looked at the girl and her friends somewhat frustrated. "You again? You can't be here."

"Tell him that," Drom said, pointing at Gemini.

"You opened the warp?" Nim asked Gemini.

"You dare to question me?" the wizard said, his head rotating to his evil face.

Nim nodded. "Right." Pulling a couple of glowing cubes from his pocket, he tossed one at The Copper Eagle, and it was seemingly sucked into the cube.

"My ship!" shouted both Drom and Gemini.

The ranger threw the other cube at Gemini, who was captured in like fashion, and said, "You're under arrest for cross-reality tampering." He picked up the cubes and put them in his pocket. Looking at Drom, 'Tar, and Tubacca, he said, "I can get you home, and give you back your ship once we get there."

"Let's go," Drom said, just accepting the situation.

"Great," said 'Tar with relief.

Tubacca growled happily.

Nim pressed a button on the hilt of his gun, and fired it next to the river bank, opening a return warp. Looking to the assembled group, he said, "Sorry for the disturbance," nodded for Drom and company to follow, and walked through the nexus. They entered the warp behind him, and the nexus closed.

All was quiet for a few seconds, and then one of the rock soldiers said, "We are free of the wizard!"

Thundarr said, "I think we are all free of the wizard."

"At long last," agreed Ariel.

Ookla dropped the uprooted tree and growled triumphantly.

The rock soldiers cheered along with him.

On the other side of the nexus, the warp opened, and Nim and company stepped through to a clearing near the ranger's apartment. Pulling a cube from his pocket, he tossed it on the ground, and The Copper Eagle reappeared. Opening another warp in front of the ship big enough for it to pass through, he smiled at the other three, and said, "All aboard."

"Thank you," said 'Tar.

"Yeah, thanks," said Drom, reaching out to shake the ranger's hand.

"It's what I do," said Nim, shaking his hand. "Just try to stay in your own universe from here on, okay?"

Drom chuckled. "Sure. Come on, you two," he said to his sister and friend.

Tubacca stopped at Nim, tilted his head back, and snuffed happily. He slapped Nim on the shoulder, making the ranger stumble a couple of steps to the side. The wookiee laughed at that, and followed onto the ship. The hatch closed, the thrusters fired up a few moments later, the ship leapt through the nexus, and the portal winked out behind them.

Nim stood there in the clear night air for a minute, then pulled the other cube from his pocket. "Hmph. Wizards." Pocketing the cube, he headed for his grav-cycle, so he could deliver his prisoner. "Well, now you get to be cellmates with a Sableye."

****

Notes: Lightsabers and wookiee belong to Disney. Thundarr, Ariel, Ookla the Mok, Gemini, rock soldiers, and the Sunsword belong to Ruby-Spears Production (makers of Thundarr the Barbarian). Gemini having turned to stone comes from the episode "Last Train to Doomsday." Sableye belongs to Pokemon (Niantic). Nexus Ranger(s), Roderick Nim, his cubes and gun, Drom Solo, 'Tar Solo, Tubacca, The Copper Eagle, and the name Stone Wizard are mine. Story and original characters copyright 2021 Chris Bishop.

I AM... AFTERLIFE

1987

William Shatner hosted a televised Halloween sceance attempting to herald the return of Harry Houdini from the hereafter, just as the master escape artist had promised he would do. Despite an unexplained warping of the plexiglass table the sceance participants sat at, no return of Houdini was recorded.

2007

However, Harry Houdini is not the only escape artist to boast that they would return from death. There was another. Alberto "Albie" Bach, while an accomplished escape artist, was forever in the shadow of the master, Houdini. In an attempt to stand out from other showmen, and differentiate himself from other acts, Albie often wore costumes for added effect. He'd never admit it to others, but he was inspired to do this by one of his favorite comic book heroes- also an escape artist.

Today was no different. Having prepared a yellow and green costume with a cape to emulate his comic hero (although not imitate, as his lawyer assured him this would get him sued) Albie prepared to undertake one of said hero's deadly escapes. Standing on a small barge in the middle of the river, he used a bullhorn to talk to the small crowd standing on the bridge.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" announced the showman, "This is a trick my comic book hero is known for! For the first time, I will be attempting this escape in real life! My assistants will shackle me, place me upside down in this clear barrel to my right which is filled with water, seal it, and then push it overboard into shark infested waters! Not only will I escape, but I will better the record of Harry Houdini, and stay underwater for a full one hundred minutes before surfacing!"

There was a light smattering of applause, barely audible from the bridge, and a few cheers from drunken frat boys who didn't care whether he succeeded or not. It only reminded Albie that Houdini had spent ninety-one minutes underwater. He was promising nine additional minutes? He shuddered involuntarily.

"And remember, folks! There is a reason I'm doing this on Halloween! Even if this escape is unsuccessful, it will succeed in putting me in the position to finally do what Harry Houdini has never accomplished! That is: to escape from death!"

The frat boys whooped.

Handing the bullhorn to his assistants, they set it aside, and restrained him just as the comic book character had been. First, they cuffed him wrist-to-wrist behind his back. Then ankle-to-ankle, both of those chained to his waist. They chained his upper arms to his waist, and his neck to his ankles. They lifted him, and dumped him uncerimoniously into the barrel. Sealing it quickly with clamp rings, they pushed it over into the water, trailed only by a crane cable, and waited. A portion of the river around them had been fenced with underwater steel netting so they could include the sharks that Albie had wanted for the escape. Fins could be seen converging on the drop zone and then submerging after it.

The sharks did not get Albie. Unfortunately, neither did he escape. When he did not emerge after the alotted one hundred minutes, the crane winched the barrel to the surface, and with it the drowned body of Alberto Bach. His shackles lay at the bottom of the barrel, but he had not been able to get out. The tragic death received a brief mention on the Channel 7 nightly news just before the weather, and really that was just used to segue into a comparison and overview of the career of the better known Harry Houdini. The fact they both died on Halloween and both vowed to return from the grave was mentioned.

2017

While Albie had been an inferior showman to Houdini, he better prepared for this final trick. Indeed, Alberto "Albie" Bach had an advantage that Houdini did not- one he surely would not have approved.

Albie's wife, Helen, was an accomplished black sorceress who gained her powers in her own descent to and return from Hell... a journey she undertook while still bound to this mortal coil. A journey which was successful. So then, when she determined to help her departed husband fulfill his final fantastic escape, she did so with a flare that would have done him proud.

Gathering four of the world's most accomplished, Helen Bach used Albie's former agent, Dotty Viper, to organize a live, televised Halloween event where they would perform a ritual to bring her husband back from the dead. With the help of the sorceress Melinda the First Lady of Magic, the wizard known as the Masked Magician, occult expert Jason Blaze - the Demon Rider, and the renowned medium Myra Manes, they stood at the five points of a large pentagram, and bade the underworld to once again allow Albie Bach to walk the Earth.

In dramatic fashion, and accompanied by music added from the studio, the pentagram burst into bright white flame, cooled to yellow, and then to orange, and in a flash of green smoke, the soul of Alberto Bach hovered in the center, still clad in the costume in which he had drowned. As all attending gasped, he declard, "I AM... AFTERLIFE!" Thunder rumbled in the distance as he said it.

At the studio, Dotty told the producer, "Are you getting this? Tell me that you're getting this."

"We're getting it. We're getting it!" he answered.

The camera crew continued to film, honestly afraid to move, lest they draw the ghost's attention.

"I AM... AFTERLIFE!" repeated the specter.

Helen, despite her mystical prowess, was still shocked to see her husband. "Albie? Albie... is it you?"

"I AM... AFTERLIFE!" the spirit answered, louder than before.

"Albie! Albie! It's me! Your wife!" she called out, stepping forward.

"No!" Jason Blaze cried. "Don't enter the circle!"

Thunder crashed above them as the ghost roared, "I AM... AFTERLIFE!" A powerful orange blast emanated fom his body, engulfed the five participants and the pentagram, and consumed them in a bright flash. Finally, the spirit dropped to a crouch in the center of the charred circle of grass, orange energy and green smoke trailing off of his body. Standing, he said quietly, but in a deep, echoing voice, "I AM... AFTERLIFE."

The camera crew ran in every direction, but mounted on tripods and cranes, the cameras continued to record. Looking around, then hovering once again, his eyes glowed yellow, the orange energy flashed once more, and he was gone.

The special had been aired at Ten PM, and was caught by bored Halloween celebrants who had settled in for the night, and were waiting on the news. The news picked up the exciting footage for the Eleven PM reports, and Heroes Tonight did the same for the next day's broadcast, announcing the arrival of the mysterious new superpower, Afterlife. Streaming rebroadcast viewing was through the roof.

Dotty could not have been happier, although she was disappointed that Albie didn't contact her to get on the interview circuit while he was hot with the public. While she didn't hear from him, she did hear from interested Hollywood parties, and she parlayed that attention into the Planet of Wrestling Back From the Dead Boneyard Battle.

Afterlife appeared several times over the next few years. Every time, with the same introduction.

2018

"I AM... AFTERLIFE." When the Paper Tiger was contracted to kill them, he appeared to warn The Fraternity of Heroes. Despite this warning, all of them were killed except the Yeti and Indra. For some reason he did not understand, his power did not succeed against the Paper Tiger. Almost as if it was not allowed.

"I AM... AFTERLIFE." He appeared to High Hat and The Woman in White to aid them in defeating the long-lived Phansigar. When he showed up, High Hat disappeared without explanation, but the two spirits were more than enough to disrupt the plans of Phansigar.

"I AM... AFTERLIFE." The spirit attempted to free Flaming Angel from the influence of Toucan the Terrible, but failed. The battle cut a swath through the Yuccatan that drew the attention of Idol. The Dragon Man attacked, further strengthened by the toucan god, and again Afterlife felt as if something prevented him from defeating the villain.

2019

"I AM... AFTERLIFE." Appearing to Nightfire, he warned of an attack by the Doom Rider, and an impending invasion of the surface world led by Magnamor, the Atlantean Monarch of Magnetism. Afterlife utterly destroyed the Doom Rider in a flash of power like that which had obliterated the "Afterlifers" that had recalled his spirit from the great beyond. Magnamor was swallowed by his own kraken as he retreated.

"I AM... AFTERLIFE." Afterlife appeared in Atlanta, obliterating a zombie outbreak, but he was unable to find the source that created them. To the joy of a greatful city, the Atsan Association pledged to step up and help the displaced victims of the outbreak.

"I AM... AFTERLIFE." Appearing in New York, Afterlife helped a group of Teenage Mutant Ninja Topiaries put down a vampire uprising. Unfortunately, when Afterlife unleashed his power to obliterate the creatures of darkness, the blast destroyed the Topiaries as well.

2020

"I AM... AFTERLIFE." With the aid of a Nexus Ranger, Afterlife returned the long thought lost William Dunn to our plane of existence, and closed forever the tear in reality between our world and the one he had been transported to during World War II.

"I AM... AFTERLIFE." Afterlife intervened in a U.S. space mission, saving Captain Peter Salt and the crew of the space shuttle Clayton from disaster. They landed safely in Houston.

"I AM... AFTERLIFE." In the conflict known as the Disaster of Epic Proportions, when Shahara-Zod teamed with the Sorceress of Longwood to transform the planet Inquell into a living planet like the one of her birth, Afterlife appeared to stop them. His supernatural power overwhelmed and consumed them both. Unfortunately, Inquell could not take the strain of being alive, and exploded just as Shahara-Zod's home planet had done.

2021

"I AM... AFTERLIFE." Alarms in secret government facilities all over the world were tripped when the ghost appeared without warning in the Eighth Circle. He stood over the prone body of Doctor Michael Boom, awaiting a response to his greeting.

When Michael finally opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Afterlife standing over him. "We... we didn't sense your thoughts. How...?"

"I AM... AFTERLIFE," he said again.

The hero closed his eyes, smiled, nodded, and said, "Of course. What else could there be?"

The ghost was silent as he stared at this isolated hero. "AT LAST. SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS." Reaching an ethereal hand out to Boom, he said, "LET THE CONFLICT THAT IS WITHIN YOU CEASE. BE WHOLE, AND AT PEACE, DOCTOR MICHAEL BOOM."

The Doctor opened his eyes, blinked, and sat up. "Yes. Yes, at last, the battle between myself and Cray Zeta Eight ends. We are at peace. We are whole. We are now... Doctor Eight. And it is time we returned to the world." Looking at the spirit, Doctor Eight smiled, and said, "Thank you."

The spirit began to fade away. Just before he disappeared completely, he smiled.

****

Note: I combined this contest with CCC 82: Monkeys & Dragons. I disqualified myself on 82, because I wrote about the story, but didn't write the actual story. I'd wanted to come back to it though, because it was a fun idea. Finally got to here. Heironymous, Swingy-Dingy, fairies and stuff fit nicely on the Red Brick Road. I think I'd like to expand this story in the repost.

Swingy-Dingy of Oz

The denizens of Munchkinland watched in awe as a large, luminescent ball descended towards them as gentle as a soap bubble on a still day. Touching the ground just before Princess Ozma, the glow faded until the ball was gone completely, and in its place stood a tall, bald man with a mustache, and a woman with beautiful blond hair.

"Heironymous," Princess Ozma said with a sweet smile. "And you must be Crystal? Thank you so much for coming."

"Thank you for getting us here, Princess," said Crystal.

"That was the power of the Magic Belt," she said, her finger brushing the belt around her waist. "It's one of the easier ways to cross the Deadly Desert."

"It was quite a ride," said Heironymous. "How can we help the ruler of Oz?"

"Always so direct," Ozma said with a smile. "Very well. Heironymous, Crystal, this is Princess Emma," she said, pointing to a young girl standing next to her, "and the monkey holding her hand is named Swingy-Dingy."

"Swingy-Dingy?" asked Crystal. "Ooookay."

"I like my name," said the orange-haired monkey. "It makes Princess Emma laugh."

Crystal was quite surprised to hear the monkey talk. "Uh, sure, it's great. Good to meet you, Swingy-Dingy."

The spider monkey curtsied.

"Swingy-Dingy is why you're here," Ozma said sweetly. "She is a Fire Monkey."

Crystal was surprised. "Fire Monkey? Like the ones in the Yucatan?"

Ozma smiled big, and said, "The very same!"

Crystal felt oddly reassured by her smile.

"We have a new Wicked Witch in the West," said Ozma, "and she brought the Fire Monkeys with her."

One of the Munchkins stepped in, and shaking a fist, declared, "They've burned half of the Fighting Trees!"

"Yeah!" agreed the rest of the gathered Munchkins.

"What can you tell us about this witch?" asked Heironymous.

"She is named Cali, and she has taken over the Volcanic Flats. But there's someone with her who is worse, and seems to be controlling her somehow. He calls Cali his 'Flaming Angel.' A very mean red bird with four yellow eyes named--"

"--Toucan the Terrible?" Crystal interrupted. "Ah, mannn."

"Problem?" asked Heironymous.

"What? No, no. It's just another giant animal," Crystal sighed. "Could be worse. We could be here for the Laughing Dragon of Oz."

"If we could find the Laughing Dragon," said Ozma, "we would not have had to ask for your help. For it is a dragon that we need."

"Go on?" said Heironymous.

"Toucan has threatened to flood the Volcanic Flats with the Dark Waters of Wy," answered Ozma.

Heironymous suddenly looked very pale. "No."

"Yes, it's true," said Princess Emma.

Holding up a finger, Crystal said, "Uh, fill me in?"

"Flooding the Volcanic Flats would put an end to the Phoenixes," said Heironymous, "and it would bring whatever lives in the Dark Waters of Wy that much closer to Oz."

Crystal hesitated, but decided to go ahead and ask, "What lives in--"

"--No one knows," says Heironymous. "So, you can see the problem."

Crystal looked perplexed. "Um, actually... Well, nevermind. Why does this problem need a dragon?"

"The only way to stop Toucan is to defeat him. But he is very powerful. He has offered us another option though," she said.

"He wants the Princess of the Flats to marry a dragon," said Emma.

Heironymous was taken aback. "You want me to get married?"

"To a princess?" added Crystal. "Who's the Princess of the Flats? Cali?"

Ozma's normal smile was gone, and she sounded a little nervous when she said, "No. It's not Cali. It's... it's..." she looked towards the young princess Emma.

A little embarrassed with everybody looking at her, Emma hunched her shoulders slightly, and chuckled nervously.

"A girl?" asked Heironymous, partly indignant, and partly horrified.

Emma laughed, "Ha! No, not me!" She swung her body side-to-side for a moment, and then looked at the monkey still holding her hand.

Swingy-Dingy stood with one hand in Emma's, and a finger of her other hand hanging on her lip as she looked at all the people looking at her. She finally just smiled, and gave a small wave. "I was the first Fire Monkey to talk when we arrived in the Volcanic Flats," she said. "So, they made me their princess."

Crystal busted up laughing. "Oh, that's rich! The Service is going to go ape over this one, partner! Bwah-ha-ha-hahahaaaa!"

Heironymous' mustache twitched, followed by his eye. "No."

"Wh-what?" asked Ozma.

"No. I'm sorry, Your Highness, but I am not marrying a monkey."

Ozma started, "But--"

"--Why not?" asked Swingy-Dingy. "I'd marry you."

Crystal laughed louder, and all turned to look at her. She stood bent over, hands on her knees, and weakly, she said, "Stop!" She laughed some more, and managed, "I can't..."

Heironymous looked back at Ozma and said, "It's not happening. You said the other option was to defeat Toucan the Terrible? Then that's what we're going to do. How do I get to the Volcanic Flats from here?"

Ozma was a little shocked, but finally said, "You have to follow the red brick road."

"Follow the red brick road!" said the Munchkins.

"Of course," said Heironymous. "Who can you send with us?"

"I can send the Royal Army of Oz with you," Ozma said, having regained her sweet smile.

"That'll be fine," said Heironymous.

A tall man stepped forward. He wore robes of green and gold, and had a long green beard. Ozma waved a hand at him, and then smiled back to Heironymous.

Heironymous stared blankly.

"This is Wantowin Battles- the Royal Army of Oz," Ozma said with pride. "He will be of great help to you."

Heironymous continued to stare blankly.

From behind him, Crystal laughed some more. "Heironymous! Marry the monkey, and let's go home!" Then she giggled, realizing how silly what she said sounded.

Heironymous breathed deeply, puffs of smoke coming from his nostrils as he exhaled. "I am not marrying the monkey."

"Either way," said Ozma, "I'm sending Swingy-Dingy with you as well. She lives in the Volcanic Flats, so she can show you how to get there, and you can escort her home." Waving her hand back-and-forth lightly, a belt like the one she wore appeared in her hand, and she handed it to Crystal. "This belt will help keep you from harm, and when you're ready to go home, you have but to say it, and it will take you back across the Deadly Desert to where you came from."

"Thank you," said Crystal as she strapped the belt around her waist.

"A word of advice, dear Crystal," warned the Princess. "Be careful what you wish for while wearing this belt, for it has the power to grant one wish per day."

"O-okay," said Crystal, thinking that it would have been nice if she'd been told that before she put it on.

"Now, off you go," said Ozma.

"Follow the red brick road!" said the Munchkins. "Follow the red brick road!"

Heironymous, Crystal, Wantowin, and Swing-Dingy started down the red brick road. Slowly at first, and then at a brisk walk. Then, Swingy-Dingy started skipping. As she got ahead of them a little, Wantowin said, "Ah, very good!" and started skipping after her.

Heironymous and Crystal stared blankly for a few seconds, then looked at each other. Crystal shrugged, and said, "Hey, when in Oz," and laughing, she skipped after them.

Heironymous stared. "Oh, for the luvva... I am not skipping!" Then, unbidden, his foot shuffled forward a bit. "Wh-what?"

Just then, Emma skipped by, and grabbed his hand as she went. "Come on, Heironymous! I'm going too!"

Heironymous stumbled behind her, and then found himself skipping against his will. The five of them skipped for a few minutes, until they were well clear of the Munchkin village. As they finally slowed to a walk, they all had the vague feeling that if they hadn't been putting so much energy into skipping, they would have been singing as well.

***

The red brick road turned out to be a strange thing. Swingy-Dingy had been this way before, and Princess Emma and Wantowin had always lived in Oz. To Crystal's surprise, Heironymous also seemed to know what to expect. "I am very old," he told her.

The road was not one continuous path. As long as they stayed on the path, they were fine, but around them, things faded in and out of view. "Isn't that the Palacio de Peligro?" asked Crystal. "Doesn't Danger Man live there?"

"Yes," answered Emma. "He duels dragons daily."

"Dude sounds demented," said Crystal.

"Decidedly," deadpanned Heironymous. "Let's keep moving."

***

As the scenery around them shifted, a fog would roll across the landscape, then clear to reveal the new location the road had brought them to. This time, as it did so, little pops of light flitted to-and-fro just off the road. The biggest mass of them were gathered around a building that had "Great Hall" carved in stone over the doors.

Emma was ecstatic, pointing first here, then there at the flitting lights.

Crystal too was delighted, and made the mistake of stepping off of the red brick road to follow them. "I haven't seen fireflies in ages," she said with glee. "I just want to get a closer look. I'll be right back," she said as she followed a mass of the flitting lights.

As she went, the doors of the Great Hall opened, and the lights started to swarm inside. Crystal followed them in, and Heironymous suddenly said, "Crystal, no! They're not fireflies! They're--"

"--No, my friend," said Wantowin, putting a hand on Heironymous' shoulder to keep him from stepping off of the road. The fog had already started to roll in again, and Wantowin just shook his head slowly, and told Heironymous, "She belongs to the fairies now."

Then the fog swallowed everything.

***

The fog cleared, and the red brick road was now going through a jungle. Behind them there were massive roots the size of tree trunks along the ground. In the distance, somewhat ahead, there was a tremendous stone wall and gate. It had a series of waterfalls cascading over its sides into the deep gorge between them and the wall. They could see a grand white castle beyond the wall, and Emma said, "Ooo, what's that?"

"The Alabaster Castle," said Heironymous. "Home of the King of the Dragons."

"Really," she said?

"I'm pretty certain," Heironymous said with a smile, as the fog rolled in.

***

Clearing again, they found themselves finally at the Volcanic Flats. They also found themselves attacked by an army of Fire Monkeys. Heironymous was a dragon in human form, and almost nothing could harm him, so the monkeys weren't really bothering him as he fought. Wantowin too was faring well. He had an axe with a long handle that he'd captured from one of the monkeys, and he was fighting well. The one that surprised Heironymous was the Princess Emma. It appeared she knew karate. As she did a flip and kicked a monkey away from her, he wondered where she had learned it.

Finally, Cali, the Flaming Angel, dropped into the fight, and let off a fiery blast in all directions that laid everyone out for a few moments, including her own Fire Monkeys. "What is the meaning of this?" she demanded. "If you are really here to invade my lands, Toucan the Terrible will destroy it all with the Dark Waters of Wy! Is that what you want?"

Off behind the Flaming Angel, there was a great black castle made of obsidian, volcanic glass. A great, black mountain stood behind the castle, and a lavafall poured off of it, pooling around the castle in a moat. Flying towards them from the castle were even more Fire Monkeys.

As brave as he was, Wantowin Battles looked at Heironymous sadly, and said, "Heironymous, my friend, we will not beat all of them."

The dragon in human form sighed heavily, blowing smoke as he did so. Looking at the Princess Emma for a couple of seconds, he finally said, "I know." Then, looking at Cali, he said, "No, we didn't come to invade." Shaking his head, he said quietly, "We're here to accept Toucan's offer."

"What?" she said.

"I..." he started, then growled in frustration. "I'll marry the monkey." The fog rolled in as he said it.

***

As the fog rolled out, they were now in a green meadow, and Heironymous and Swingy-Dingy were married.

"What now?" asked Heironymous.

"Now, we have an alliance with the Dragons, and they have an alliance with Oz. So, we will live in peace with them."

"Yes," said Ozma, coming forward, "and that means you can go home."

"Home? Just like that?" he asked.

"Just like that," she said with a smile and the wave of her wand.

And in a ball of luminescent light, Heironymous was gone again, back across the Deadly Desert, and once again in Washington, D.C.

Solomon Seal: Summer Bries & Bubba Gum

"You're sure this is your new client?" Jeanine shoved her cellphone in my face as soon as I walked in. So close I jerked back reflexively, and stepped off to the side.

"Yes, Jeanine. I sent it to you, remember? I took the pic myself for her contact photo."

She gave me a dubious look.

"Give me a break, will ya? She's almost young enough to be my daughter."

All she said was, "Hold on a minute," and she walked back to her office. She came back a minute later, and shoved a couple of pages torn from a notebook at me. "Read this."

I'd been with Jeanine Fairchild long enough to know when and when not to argue with her. I took the pages, sat down at my desk, propped my feet up on the corner of it, and leaned back, settling in to read.

I looked up at Jeanine who was just standing on the other side of my desk with her arms crossed, waiting.

"Okay? So, she's got the same name," I say with a shrug.

"Come on, Solomon! You don't think that's weird?" she demanded.

"It's danged sure a heck of a coincidence, but this can't be about the same girl. It's from what? The late Seventies? Early Eighties? I mean, late Eighties, earrrrrly Nineties at the very most. She couldn't have been born before the mid-Nineties," I said, handing the pages back to her.

You'd have to know her like I do to tell, but she was upset that I didn't think it was as weird as she did. "How did you know that?" she asked. "I didn't tell you where I got this. Narrow it down."

I chuckled. She knew very well how I got that. She just liked hearing it. "He was sitting on a plastic park bench, so I assume the water bottle was plastic too, and those started in the Late Sixties. Not really much help since they're still around today, but plastic recycling didn't start until 1972, and recycled plastic in park benches wasn't a regular thing until they started using it more in playground equipment. That was what? Late Eighties?"

Jeanine shook her head. "That's shaky."

I laced my fingers behind my head, and said, "He wrote this out on paper. Even I stopped doing that when I finally got a computer. And by 'finally' I mean the early Nineties. This guy likes to get his thoughts down, and tell the whole story, so surely he had one by then."

She shrugged. "Maybe writing things out helps him focus on the problem."

I scoffed. "Okay. Personal tape recorders died out for the most part when voice recording came to cell phones. Late... Nineties? Early Two-Thousands? So, again, those pages had to be from earlier than that."

Jeanine scrunched her nose up and wagged a finger at me, "Ehhhh. She got the recorder from a thug. He wasn't going to send her a voice recording that could be traced back to his phone."

I threw my hands up and sighed, mildly frustrated. "Fine. 'Ten nickels' for a phone call? Calls jumped up from a dime to twenty cents, and then twenty-five cents around the late Seventies, early Eighties, up to fifty cents by the late Eighties, and today they could be upwards of three dollars just for the first few minutes with additional charges after that. So, the call had to be late Eighties which fits with the plastic park benches."

Holding the pages in front of her, she looked at them, and then to me, nose scrunched into a stink face. "That the best you can do?"

I thought for a second, and said, "No. He said 'instant message on a bullet.' People call them 'private messages- PM's,' or 'direct messages- DM's' today. 'Instant message' is definitely early cell phone, very early Internet. So, okay, has to be early Nineties."

Jeanine swiped the pages in my direction, and crossed her arms in a huff. "That's just showing off." For her, that's giving in, but I had the feeling she was holding something back on me.

I smiled. "If I didn't catch those things, I would have guessed the Forties rather than later! It reads like a pulp detective story." I kicked my feet off the desk, and sat up straight. "Since you brought it up, where did you get that? Where's Larsen? And who is Bubba Gum? And who does that to their kid? 'Bubba Gum.' For crying out loud."

"Hey!" she laughed. "Bubba was sweet. See that dollar on the wall," she said, pointing to a small frame. "He was my first client."

"He paid you a buck? So, you did pro bono?" Now I was giving her the dubious look.

She smirked. "It was a formality. He 'hired' me so I would be bound by attorney client privilege."

"And gave you this?" I asked with a little confusion.

Jeanine reached in her pocket and brought out a dollar, handing it to me. "Now, I'm hiring you."

I shook my head. "I'm your investigator. I'm bound by your attorney-client privilege anyway."

"Aw. You've been paying attention," she said with a smile, "but you didn't investigate this for me. Now, you are." She held out the dollar again.

I took it, and said, "I feel like I should charge more."

Her head jerked back, a look on her face daring me to go on.

Naturally, I did. "At least ten, I'd think."

"You can take my parking spot for the week," she said dryly.

"You don't have a personal parking spot," I said, intentionally making my eye twitch.

She shrugged and said, "That's why I don't mind you taking it. Now, shut up and listen."

Now, I jerked my head back, looked at her for a few seconds, and leaned back in my chair. I gave her a look telling her to spill, and said, "Okay, Jeanine, why do you think my Summer Bries is connected to your Summer Bries ...and Bubba?"

She gave me a tight shake of her head. "Uh-uh," she said, holding her hand out palm up.

I looked at her seriously, and then handed her back the dollar. "Hey, Jeanine, you wanna be my lawyer?"

"Yes, Mister Seal. I will be happy to take you on as a client." Pocketing the dollar, she clasped her hands in front of her, and said, "So, tell me about your case."

"Summer Bries. No more than mid-twenties, but I didn't ask. Someone has a photo of her, and she wants it back."

"Did she have a copy of the photo? Did she show it to you?"

"Yeah," I said as I pulled out my cellphone again, "and I don't get it. It's just this."

She took the phone, and looked at it for a few seconds before saying, "A picture of her flying." She didn't sound surprised.

"Right? I mean, we have umpteen-hundred fliers on this planet. Dragon Men? People with wings? The Accord Refugees? Gods? Superheroes? Aliens? Who cares that she can fly?"

Fairchild just stood there, fists bumping against her hips, eyes searching the corner of the room, her mouth drawn tight, and clearly at war with herself over something.

"Jeanine?" I almost sang. "Didn't Gum's pages say his Summer handed him a photo with the tape recorder?"

She slid my phone across the desk, and hustled back to her office. She came back moments later with the photo, and handed it to me without saying a word. If you knew Jeanine, that was cause for alarm right there. I took the photo, took one look at it, and looked at Jeanine. She still didn't say anything. I looked at it again, looked back to her, and said, "What the heck?"

"I know," she said.

"This looks like the same girl," I said, incredulous.

"I know."

"But she's only a few years younger," I argued.

"I know," she agreed.

"This photo is in black-and-white! It looks older than those pages!" I balked, trying to make sense of it.

"I know," said Jeanine.

"She's flyi--"

"I know!"

"Would you please say something else?!" I snapped.

"It's from the Fifties."

"Shut up!" I said in disbelief.

"You just told me to say something else," she said seriously.

I huffed with irritation, followed by a low growl. "She can't be twenty-something today, and in her teens in the Fifties."

Jeanine just threw her hands out to her sides. "Why not? We can."

I laughed, but not because I thought it was funny. "So, what? You're saying she's a vampire?"

She looked at me like I was stupid. "Come on. Look at those pictures. We can't fly during the day."

"What then?"

"I've wondered that for a long time," she said sadly. "Ghost?"

"Why would a ghost care who had her picture, and be worried about blackmail? What are they gonna do? Kill her?"

She shrugged. "Shapechanger?" she said weakly. With doubt, she added, "Alien?"

I shook my head. "Mighty slow aging." I perked up, and snapped my finger, pointing at Jeanine. "Goddess! She wants to keep it a secret, because she's afraid of being hounded for the secrets to her immortality!"

Jeanine blew it off with a shake of her head. "No. Cupid? Most of the staff at Holiday, Inc.? That guy from the Secret Service? Nobody bothers them. For that matter: us?"

I looked at her like that was preposterous. "We don't tell people how old we are. And we're not immortal."

She looked a little petulant. "We're longer lived than the average mortal."

I nodded. "Ideally, yes- I'll give you that. Then... what?" I looked back-and-forth across my desk for a few seconds like the answer was going to be in the wood grain. Then I looked back up at Jeanine, and said, "What about Bubba Gum? Why did he bring this to you?"

She rocked a little more, clearly not wanting to say, but she did. "He was on the run."

"Fr--"

"--Don't ask me that!" she snapped. "Solomon Seal, you do not ask me that!"

"But you came to m--"

"--They can make us disappear, Solomon! Us! For real," she said, and she sounded scared. That scared me.

Very calmly, I said, "Jeanine. We're working for each other here, and we did that so we couldn't tell anybody anything. Time to lay it all out- what are we talking about, here? Who is Summer Bries? Who is Bubba Gum? And who was he running from?"

She looked unsure.

"Fairchild! What the heck? You've gone from 'Wow, what a coincidence' to 'They're out to get us!' I'm a vampire that's been around for a bit, and you're a vampire that's survived for centuries. What are you afraid of? Where is Larsen, and why was Bubba Gum running from it? Why did he come to you?"

She rolled her lips between her teeth for a few seconds while she thought of how to tell me. "Bubba was in Witness Protection."

I just looked at her, confused by this new information. "He worked for WITSEC? The pages read like he was a P.I."

Giving me a tight shake of her head, she said, "He was a P.I. He didn't work for WITSEC. He was in Witness Protection."

"And he was placed in Larsen?"

She nodded.

"And Larsen is where?"

She shook her head.

"Come on now."

She shook her head, and shrugged. She wasn't telling.

"Fine, but we're coming back to that. Then what's this got to do with Summer Bries, and a picture of h... Wait a minute. Was she in Witness Protection too?"

Jeanine nodded.

"And she was also in Larsen?"

She nodded again.

I sat there a few seconds, index finger pressed to the black-and-white photo, moving it back-and-forth slightly as I thought. "So, she wasn't worried about this photo, because it shows she can fly. She was worried about it, because it shows her face."

She nodded again.

"Braggodocio tells her he knows who she is, and what she can do," I mused, tapping the photo. "Again, she's not worried about the flying, so... he was telling her that he knew what her testimony could do, and he was threatening to give her up to whoever was looking for her."

Another nod.

"So she went to Bubba Gum- private investigator, friend of the family, who also happens to be in Witness Protection?"

"She knew he was in Witness Protection, and he knew she was too." Jeanine answered.

"She speaks!" I said with surprise.

She just scowled, biting on the tip of a fingernail. Then she winced like she thought she may have said too much.

I threw my hands up in the air, and threw myself against the back of my chair. "Ah, dammit, Fairchild! Help me out here! We're both protected by privilege! Why are we still playing this damned guessing game?!"

Jeanine clasped her hands together at waist level, looked at me wide eyed, and just said, "Guessing game?" Then she looked off to a corner of the ceiling and back to me.

I closed my eyes in frustration for a few seconds, pinched the end of my nose between two fingers, and then rubbed the bottom of it with a knuckle. Sighing, I looked back to Jeanine, who just stood there waiting. She was starting to freak me out, but I tried to keep that to myself. As I looked at her, staring back at me, but stubbornly not sharing any useful information, it hit me. "There's a third issue of privilege here, isn't there?"

Jeanine raised her eyebrows, and tilted her head sideways. The slight smile told me I was on to something.

"Okay. Braggadocio somehow finds out who Summer Bries is, and threatens to out her location to whoever she was going to testify against if she doesn't have a meeting with him. She goes to Bubba Gum for help, because they know each other are in Witness Protection, and he advises her to take the meeting, but says they'll figure out the next step. Then he came to you."

Fairchild nodded.

"Why did he come to you?" I mused, lost in the thought. Then, looking back to her, I said, "Were you a lawyer then?"

She pointed over her shoulder at the framed dollar.

"First client. Right. So, you're a newly minted lawyer, and Bubba Gum comes to you." I squinted at her with confusion. "Why does a seasoned private eye think he can trust a rookie lawyer to help him and a girl in..."

Jeanine just cocked her head and leaned in a bit, waiting for me to finish my sentence.

I wracked my brain for a few seconds, and then raised my eyebrows with the realization. "Were you in Witness Protection too? Bubba knew they could trust you, because you all three had something to lose!"

She huffed, slightly irritated, and shook her head.

I just looked at her, a little exasperated. "Well, then why... the guy's in Witness Protection, and needs for not that many people to know about that. He comes to you for help- a nobody lawyer with no rep yet- and you're not in Witn-- oh my God!"

Jeanine leaned a little closer, anticipating my conclusion.

"Oh my God! You were with WITSEC?!"

She let out a huge huff like she'd been holding her breath, and threw her hands up in the air. She hustled off to her office for the third time, and came back with a clipboard, paper, and pen that she slapped onto my desk. Before I could even look at it, she put her hands on her waist, and said, "Why, Mister Seal, I don't know how you came to such a deduction all on your own," she said with a meaningful nod, "without anyone telling you anything, but that represents a serious security risk to persons who may be under the protection of the federal government."

I found myself nodding along with her nods, and looking at her without blinking. I'd have laughed if she wasn't freaking me out so bad just then.

"I'm afraid you have left with me with no choice but to have you sign this non-disclosure agreement, agreeing to be read in on the particulars, and effectively becoming a temporarily deputized federal marshal of the United States of America until such time as I can alert the proper people about the change in situation, and resolve the present matter," she said very businesslike. Then she added, "For the safety of those under the protection of WITSEC."

I just looked at her, wide eyed, and without saying a word.

She matched my look for a couple of seconds, and then made a writing motion in the air, whispering, "Sign the NDA, Solomon."

"Oh! Right!" I said back, fumbling the pen into the floor. I started to reach for it, and she plucked mine from the breast pocket of my jacket. I took it, signed the NDA, and handed it back to her.

Looking at the form briefly, she plopped it back on the desk.

"Is that even legal?" I asked, pointing at the NDA.

"I've been with WITSEC since shortly after it started in 1970. I have the authority," she assured me. "Now, we have to talk about Summer Bries."

I just chuckled, almost noiselessly. "Yeah. Yeah, we definitely need to talk. I have so many questions right now."

Sitting on the corner of my desk, Jeanine said, "Fire away."

To be continued.

*******

Story and original characters owned and copyright Chris Bishop 2021.

Notes: OC's for this one are Summer Bries, Bubba Gum (Gumshoe), Cole Bries, June Rayne, Braggadocio, and The Cask.

Reappearing are Solomon Seal, Jeanine Fairchild, Amantillado, the Paper Umbrella ("Flowers' joint"), Songbirds ("Canary's place"), Dragon Men, Accord Refugees, "that guy from the Secret Service" (Heironymous), Cupid, Larsen, and Holiday, Inc.

The Witness Protection symbol was found via Google. The rest of the pics are all by Lois van Baarle. The first one is "Summer," reduced in MS Paint to fit the cellphone frame (cellphone frame found via Google). The second one is "Sky," reduced in MSP to fit the cellphone frame. The black-and-white is "Rise." The girl with the flowing hair on the black background is "Ghost."

And I'm just going to tell y'all this, because I like the way it worked out: the pages from Bubba Gum's notebook are something I actually wrote back in the mid-1990's, just practicing developing characters off of wordplay. I tweaked it a bit to fit this story. Solomon getting all the clues out of it was me Googling stuff to see how outdated or correct the info was lol.

The Origin of Wantowin Battles- The Royal Army of Oz

The slap resounded solidly, and the samurai who were sure their master was not looking at them winced at the sound of it. "Fool!" yelled the daimyo. "How dare you not follow my order on the field of battle?"

The slapped samurai lowered his eyes before his daimyo, and said, "Forgive me, master, but would mercy not be preferable to killing? To forge alliance with those who were once enemies over littering the land with their corpses?"

"If I tell you to kill the enemy, you do not ask 'When!' It is when I have said it! You do not ask 'Why!' It is because I have said it!"

The samurai bowed further. "Daimyo. I merely wanted to win the battle with as little bloodshed for our men as possib--"

"That is your problem, Ombi! You want to win battles! I want to win wars!" raged the master.

The samurai finally looked up, and stood straight. "At what cost, daimyo?"

"Raarrrgghh!" the daimyo yelled as he struck the samurai again. "You dare? I will no longer tolerate your insolence! You are samurai no longer, and you are no longer welcome on my lands! From this day forth, the name of Ombi Ambi will not be spoken by anyone!"

Ombi bowed to his former master, simply saying, "As you wish, daimyo. I will leave at once." With that he went to his quarters, shed his samurai gear, put on a green and gold robe, his swords, and left the land of his daimyo.

***

Some months later, Ambi was wandering the countryside. He had taken to the life of a ronin, but rather than hire himself to another daimyo, he hired himself to those who needed help against obake, yokai, and other creatures. He had grown wise to many of their tricks, but had not had to face any of them for several days. He was growing weary of this new life.

No sooner had he thought that than a puff of smoke exploded before him, revealing a warrior in strange grey armor with a blue do and kabuto, as well as a blue mask. "Greetings, ronin," he said.

Ombi knew he was not a man- he had been dealing with such creatures for too long. He considered that it was best not to show what he knew just yet, and simply said, "Warrior. What can I help you with?"

"You defied your daimyo to save my head," said the warrior with a slight bow. "The question is how can I help you?" The mask's features did not move, but as the light played across them, the painted smile almost seemed to turn sinister.

"I need nothing," Ambi assured him, "but thank you."

"Nothing?" asked the warrior who was not a warrior. "What if I said I could grant you wishes?"

"I would say why would you waste such power on one such as I?" said the ronin, starting to walk around the warrior.

The creature moved very fast, and was once again standing in front of Ombi. "I told you: you saved my head. Allow me to repay you. Three wishes," he offered, holding up three fingers for emphasis.

"I do not want your wishes," insisted Ombi. "Let me pass."

"Alas, ronin, I cannot. Allow me to repay you, or I will be forced to stay with you until I have had the chance to do so."

Ombi Ambi sighed with frustration as he looked down into the mask of the creature pretending to be a warrior. To play their game was dangerous, but he wished to be done with this creature. He narrowed his eyes as he stared into the inscrutable mask, and then his face ligtened as he thought of his first wish. "I wish to have a long green beard that goes down to my knees--"

"Intriguing," said the creature suspiciously.

"--that turns red when I am in the presence of evil magic."

Immediately, Ombi's beard grew to the specified length, turned green, and then immediately to red. He smirked at the wish-granting "warrior." He said, "To be honest, I doubted that you really had the power to do this."

A deep growl came from behind the creature's mask. "Fine, you have uncovered my intent. But you have made your first wish. You must make the other two, or you will never be rid of me!"

Ombi stroked his new beard as he thought, and as he did so, it turned green again wherever he stroked. He pulled the full length of his beard through his hand, wondering at this marvel, and then let it drop again to his knees. Looking at the creature, he said, "I wish to keep my soul as my own."

The warrior-clad creature stood bolt upright, and said nothing for a long few seconds. Then it shook with rage, and he stomped his foot, and he raged aloud, and shook his fists in the air. "Raaaarrrrr! Very clever, mortal! My bait no longer comes with a snare! Make your third wish that we may be done with each other! And then hope that you never meet The Wishing Demon again!"

The ronin stroked his long new beard, looking at the masked warrior thoughtfully. The creature stared back with its arms crossed. At least, Ombi assumed that he stared back. The mask was at least facing in his direction. He thought for a few minutes. Then he paced. Then he sat down on a large rock, and rested his chin in his hand, that armed propped on his knee. The creature sat across from him on another rock, waiting. Ambi was silent for a long while, then sat up with a finger in the air, apparently having had an idea. Then his face fell, and then the finger as well, and he rested his cheek on his fist, and that arm once again on his knee. The creature growled in frustration, but continued to wait.

Finally, wanting to wait no more, The Wishing Demon groused, "It is a wish, ronin! There is nothing that you want?"

Ombi scowled. Then his face softened. Then he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, and he said, "In truth, the only thing I really wish for is a place where I can be a samurai, but death is not involved; where peace rules, but I may still serve in the army of a good master."

The Wishing Demon rocked back on his rock a bit as if to get a better look at the ronin. Then he chuckled. Then laughed. Then laughed long and loud. Then he threw his arms in the air, hands spread wide and palms to the sky as he cried, "I know of just such a place, Ombi Ambi, although there may come a time when you regret your choice!" Twisting his hands outward, then sweeping them down into a thundering clap towards the roning, he growled, "Wish... granted."

Ombi tumbled backwards off of his rock, was enveloped by a thick fog, and felt like he was falling for a long few moments. The fog parted suddenly, and he found himself standing in a field full of poppies. He heard someone shouting a warning, and turned to see very short people running towards him. He went to bow, but instead fell into the poppies, fast asleep.

***

Ombi woke in a small bed. So small, that his knees bent over the end of it, and his feet rested on the floor. Sitting up, he was greeted by some of the short people he had seen earlier, and they were dressed all in green. "Hello, tall one! We are the Battles family! We're Munchkins! I am Ottowin. This is my wife, Gonawin, and our daughter, Borntawin. And you are surely not from around here, because everybody here knows to stay out of the poppy fields! Who are you?"

Thinking of his daimyo's command that no one ever speak his name again, and not knowing how far or how close he might be to his home, Ombi did not wish to endanger others by giving them his name. So, he simply said, "I am... a ronin. I have no name to give."

"Ah, I see," said Ottowin. "We have sent for Glinda the Good Witch. She likes to meet anyone new to our lands." He waved for Ombi to follow him, and they went outside of the small house. Everything was in bright and varied shades of green.

Ombi looked at them strangely. "Did you say a... good... witch? I have never met one before."

Gonawin and Borntawin let out a high pitched giggle, and Gonawin said, "You are definitely not from around here then."

Pointing the the sky, and a bright pink bubble that floated down towards them, Borntawin said, "Look! Here she comes now!" Her declaration brought other Munchkins running to greet the Good Witch.

The bubble descended lightly, touched down, and although Ombi thought it would pop as he had seen soap bubbles do, it instead shimmered like a steady candle, then simply faded until it was gone, leaving a beautiful woman in pink standing in its place. "Hello, Ombi Ambi, and welcome," she said sweetly. "I am Glinda the Good."

The ronin looked horrified on hearing his name, and Glinda said, "Don't worry, Ombi Ambi, we are far from the land of your master now."

Ombi bowed. "All the same, dear lady, I feel honor bound to his last command to me that no one speak my name."

"You have come to stay, yes?" she asked.

He bowed. "If permitted. I was sent here by a Wishing Demon that granted my wish."

"Oh, him," Glinda said dryly. "Well, if you are going to stay here, you will need a name."

"If I may," said Ambi, turning to the Battles. "Ottowin, your family has shown me great kindness, rescuing me from the poppy fields when I arrived. Would you do me another, and allow me to take your family name here?"

Ottowin stood up straight and smiled proudly. "Of course!" Looking to Glinda, he said, "We'd be glad to adopt one so tall into our family!"

"You're a Battles now," Gonawin said with a smile.

"A family name is very good," said Glinda, "but what shall we call you? What will your name be?"

Ombi tilted his head thoughtfully, then looked towards the ground. It was then that he noticed that his beard was still green, and not red as when he dealt with the Wishing Demon. Delighted at this realization, he thought again of his daimyo's words to him, and then of his new family's names. Smiling, he bowed, and said, "Good witch, you may call me Wantowin Battles."

Borntawin smiled broadly at Wantowin's choice in name, and beamed at her parents. They were smiling proudly as well, and nodded their heads at each other happily.

"Well, welcome to Oz, Wantowin Battles," said Glinda. "I see you wear swords. Are you a soldier?"

Wantowin bowed slightly. "I was a samurai, and am now a ronin, but I suppose yes, a soldier either way."

"A soldier with green whiskers," wondered Glinda. "How would you like a position as army?"

Wantowin bowed deeper. "I'd be honored to serve, lady."

"Then I name you The Royal Army of Oz," she said sweetly. "You shall have a room in the Emerald Palace, and shall protect the Munchkinlands from danger." She smiled as if she'd just told a joke, and added, "In truth, there is never much danger here, but it is still good to have someone for the job. Does that suit you?"

Smiling himself, Wantowin said, "I think that suits me very well, thank you."

"Then come along. We shall go to the Emerald City." She waved her wand, and a pink bubble formed around her and Wantowin, and they floated into the sky.

Below, the assembled Munchkins waved goodbye, and cheered for their Good Witch and the Royal Army of Oz. Ottowin and Gonawin smiled proudly after their adopted family. And they giggled that one so tall would be known as a Munchkin.

***

Many years later, Wantowin Battles stood before the Princess Ozma and Glinda, and bowed deeply. "My princess, not long after our ally Heironymous went back to his world, my beard turned red. I fear that it was not just fairies, but a terrible magic that has been wrought against him, and his missing friend, Crystal Salt."

"Your red beard does suggest the presence of evil power," acknowleged Ozma. "What would you have me do?"

"I would like to journey to Heironymous' world, your majesty. To warn him of the danger, and help him if I may."

"You have been in Oz a long time, Wantowin. The dragon's world will be much different from when you left it."

Nodding his head, Wantowin answered, "All the same, Princess, I need to try."

"Very well," she said. "Heironymous came to us in our time of need, and proved himself our ally. And so we will send our Army to help him as well." Looking to Glinda, she nodded, and the Good Witch waved her wand. A pink bubble formed around him, and he immediately floated away, headed towards the Deadly Desert and the lands beyond.

United States v. The Kings: Day 2 - The Fate of The Kings

Federal Building, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Tuesday, 10:00AM:

"All rise!" called the bailiff. "This court is now in session! United States v. The Kings. The Honorable Judge Dean Ship presiding!"

Judge Ship entered quickly, said, "Thank you, Bailey," and took his chair behind the bench. "Be seated. Rebecca Hendrix, please take the stand, and I remind you that you are still under oath." When Hendrix nodded, the judge looked to the prosecuting attorney, and said, "Mister Shun, you may proceed."

"Thank you, Your Honor," said the lawyer as he stood. Holding up a list, he said, "Investigator Hendrix, good morning. I remind you and the court that when we adjourned yesterday, we were about to discuss the members of the The Guardians, starting with the ones that became The Kings. As I directed yesterday, I'm going to read each name, and you please tell the court about them. As there are nineteen names to discuss, I'll ask you to please be brief with your answers."

"Yes, sir," Rebecca confirmed.

Shun snapped the paper once so it was stiff, and he read the first name:

"Dragon Guardian"

"He had super strength, was mostly impervious, had the power to breathe fire, and could fly," she answered.

"So, the same powers as yourself," said Shun. "Another of the Dragon Men?"

"He always said he was a dragon in human form," Rebecca said with a smile.

"Ah, well, that's not the first time we've heard that story," the prosecutor said with a nod. Then he prompted, "And as one of The Kings, he was?"

"Dragon King," Rebecca said, sounding fond of him, "but it was a ruse. He suspected things were going to go from bad to worse when they became The Kings, and he was right- they soon after murdered American Guardian. He immediately turned against them, and helped us fight them."

"You and the remaining Guardians?"

"That's correct."

"What happened to him after the fight?"

"I'm not positive," Hendrix said, her brow furrowed. "He continued to claim that he was king of the dragons, and said he was going back to his kingdom."

"You didn't try to stop him?" asked Shun.

"We didn't have any reason to, and probably couldn't have if we'd tried." She smiled briefly, and added, "I knew I was leaving the team at that point, so I gave him The Dragon Mask." She shrugged. "Kind of a joke."

"So, you parted as friends."

"We did."

"So, do you know where he is, in this supposed Kingdom of Dragons?" asked Shun.

Rebecca shook her head. "Haven't seen him since that day."

"Earth Guardian."

"He had power over plants, and even trees," she answered. "Could make them grow, and move at his commands. He could make trees uproot themselves and walk. He claimed he got his abilities from something called The Power Flower."

Shun nodded. "And he became?"

"Green King. He was defeated and arrested with The Kings."

"Grey Guardian."

"He became Moon King. He was a large, grey werewolf."

"What's his status?" asked Shun.

"Arrested."

"Mind Guardian."

"He was a powerful telepath. He found The Mad Mask, and it turned him into Dream King. It was his power that turned half The Guardians into The Kings."

"What happened to him?"

"He was killed in the fight," answered Rebecca.

"By the Ruby Guardian?"

"Yes, but at that point, he was calling himself Ring King."

"What were his powers?"

"He had a magic ring with a large ruby called The Red Eye. It held a powerful jinn."

"A jinn," said Shun, like he didn't know what it was.

"A genie," Rebecca clarified. "It was actually the jinn that killed Dream King."

"How's that?"

"When Ring King released the jinn, it screamed like it was in pain. Then he roared that he couldn't be slave to two masters, and killed Dream King. When he went back into The Red Eye, he took The Mad Mask with him."

"And where's Ring King now?" asked Shun.

"We're honestly not sure," she said. "In the chaos after the fight, he disappeared, and hasn't been seen since."

"Night Guardian."

"His powers were weird," said Hendrix. "Something mystical, but it gave him the power to summon weird monsters. Mostly that giant tarantula; it's why he was known as Spider Rider. When he turned, he became Spider King."

"And what happened to him?"

"Iron Guardian wound up smashing his spider, and he went insane; just kind of collapsed in on himself. He's in an asylum now. Could have been worse: if he'd released his monsters into the world instead, there's no telling what would have happened."

"Sea Guardian."

"He became Sea King. It was him that killed American Guardian with his Sea Spear, which was actually Neptune's Trident."

"He said that?" Shun asked in disbelief.

"Atlantis said that," she answered. "He was already a wanted felon there for stealing the trident. When he declared himself Sea King, they called him a seditionist, and put a price on his head."

"What's his status?"

"He's going by White Shark now, and is at large somewhere in the oceans."

"Wind Guardian."

"He had wings that allowed him to fly, and he had control over winds. Became the Hawk King. Claimed he was one of The Flying Africans."

"You didn't believe him?" Shun asked.

"We've never known any of The Flying Africans to have wings." She shrugged, and added, "I suppose it's possible that he was mutated somehow."

"Silver Guardian."

"He's one of the few good Cyborgorillas, but he became Silver King," said Rebecca.

Vic held up a finger, and said, "So, 'Silver' from 'Silverbacks' then?"

"Yes."

"What's his status?"

"He was already hated by the Cyborgorillas, but when he called himself Silver King, Mechanape felt threatened, and hunted him down." She shook her head tightly, and said, "He's dead."

"Star Guardian."

"He's tremendously powerful, claiming his energy powers came from the heart of a star. He became Sun King."

"His status?"

"Arrested," she said.

"Time Guardian."

"Time powers, of course. He could time travel, and control the flow of time- speeding it up, or slowing it down. He became Time King."

"What happened to him?" asked the prosecutor.

"We're not sure. As far as we can tell, he disappeared into the timestream. We've contacted Time Phantom to try to find him."

"Anything?"

Rebecca shook her head. "Nothing yet. Some people think he is Time Phantom." She shrugged. "I think Wartime is more obvious, but then why would he have been on The Guardians?" Shaking her head again, she said, "Time Phantom has said publicly that he caused a lot of divergent timelines when he was using drugs, and his wife caused even more. So, maybe Time King is an alternate timeline version of Time Phantom... or of Wartime... or maybe someone else altogether."

"Iron Guardian."

Rebecca's mouth went tight, and she took a deep breath. Then she said, "He has a tech-filled armor that gives him great strength, and has a variety of weapons. He actually fought against The Kings with us, and then joined The Fraternity of Heroes, changing his name to Iron Eagle. Looking back, he didn't do much to help defeat them."

"What happened?"

"Dream King played us. Just like Dragon Guardian planted himself on The Kings, Dream King planted Iron Guardian with us in case things went south. He used the fight to get in good with The Fraternity, but later revealed himself as Iron King, and betrayed them to a killer Dream King had contracted from the start. A guy called The Paper Tiger."

"And what happened to Iron King?"

Rebecca scoffed. "The Paper Tiger only used him to get to The Fraternity. Then he killed him. Security footage from their headquarters showed his sword slicing through Iron King's armor like it wasn't even there."

"Did he kill all of The Fraternity of Heroes?" asked Vic.

"Mister Shun," said Judge Ship. "We're going to take a recess, and we'll get into The Fraternity when we come back." Rapping his gavel one time, he declared, "We are adjourned for a short recess, and we will resume in twenty minutes' time."

Recess:

A Marshall Seal from WITSEC met Vic and Rebecca as they were filing out with everyone else, and whisked her away despite both of their protests. He took her through an empty office deeper in the federal building, and into a glass-walled conference room completely shuttered by dark bamboo blinds with four inch slats. Waiting for them with his hands behind his back was a tall, imposing man with a bald head and thick mustache, wearing an impeccable suit.

Hendrix tried to hide it, but Solomon did not miss her surprise. She recognizes him, he thought. The man nodded at the marshal, and Seal said, "I'll be just outside," before stepping out, and closing the door behind him.

With the marshal gone, Rebecca let her surprise show. "Heironymous?"

Bringing his hands around in front of him, he held up a dark green mask that somewhat resembled a Chinese dragon's head. Smiling, he asked, "You want this back?"

She moved up to him quickly, and shoved his hand towards his chest. "Put that away!" she scolded. "They're still looking for you! You want to get arrested?"

"Hm," he chuckled as he slid the mask inside his suit jacket. "I'd like to see them try." Becoming serious, he said, "I just wanted to thank you for keeping my secret."

She shrugged. "I told you I would."

"You're done as a deputy?" he asked.

"Very likely," she said simply.

Handing her a business card, he said, "I might have something else for you if you're interested."

She glanced at the card, then held it up in disbelief. "Who uses business cards anymore? You're showing your age, Heironymous."

He smirked. "Smartalec. Solomon will take you back. See me after the trial."

Flipping the card against her other hand a couple of times, she smiled, stuck it in her pocket, and said, "Will do." She gave him a brief hug, and a kiss on the cheek. "It's good to see you, you old dragon."

"Likewise," he said with a smile.

Exiting the conference room, she looked at Marshal Seal, who was standing just outside the door. She looked at him very curiously, and said, "You know who he is, don't you?"

Solomon just raised his eyebrows for a moment, then headed for the door. "If you're interesed, we've got enough time to get something from a vending machine," he said without looking back.

The Return of The Orphan

It had been a year since The Orphan and Crybaby had killed Benny Factor. You don't kill one of the East Coast's biggest gangsters without fallout though, and they had been on the run until yesterday. Yesterday, they were caught, and now Annie and Sandy Crabb were out by the docks, tied to wood chairs in a rundown warehouse called The Spatterworks. It was the home and workspace of a wannabe abstract artist named Doc Spatter. Really, he was the brutish fist of The Velvet Glove, also known as Elvis Velvet- a gang boss and ally of Benny Factor's. He had the atmosphere down though. The place was dark, the immediate area lit by a single lamp hanging above, and it smelled like seawater and bad meat.

Currently, the girls were alternating between taking bare knuckle beatings and electric shocks through a wet sponge pinched in a jumper cable. Annie would scream when she got shocked; she was human, not a movie hero. Sandy was angry at the man beating on her, and as always, she was crying through her anger. Doc hit her hard enough to knock her unconscious. It was a good bet that Velvet was watching by video, enjoying their torture with a sick glee. He wasn't going to actually be here. Not with this stink.

Annie had known for a few weeks that the net was closing on them, and she had made what plans she could. She reached out to the only person she felt she might be able to trust, and despite their present situation, she still held out hope that they'd show. Despite her swollen face, she grinned slightly when she saw the brief movement in the darkness behind Doc.

"Wot's so funny, den?" demanded Doc.

The movement began to coalesce from the shadows, and the eyes and forehead of a raven haired woman appeared- the bottom half of her face covered by a black mask that came up from the neck of her shirt- almost like she had pulled a turtleneck up too far. She had a silenced nine millimeter in one hand, and held one stiff index finger from the other up to her face, winking at Annie. Silently, she slid up behind their torturer, and tapped him on the shoulder. When he spun around in surprise, she slammed the gunbutt across his face.

Doc just stood there. He reached up to his face, wiped a little blood away with his fingers, and looked at it. Wiping at it with his thumb, he looked at the girl in black, and almost calm, he said, "You shouldn'ta oughtta done that. Wot you gotta say fer yerself, girlie?"

"She can't say anything," Annie managed through her swollen lips. "She... she's The Mute."

Spatter grunted. "I hearda you. Some deaf an' dumb little piece that likes to dress in black and play with guns. I ain't impressed, is I?"

He swung at The Mute, but she ducked him effortlessly. As she stood up straight again, she put a bullet just above his knee. The gun being silenced, there was just the wet impact, and Doc's deep bellow of a scream, but he didn't go down.

The torturer's face contorted with anger. He was about to lunge when another slim form in black dropped from somewhere above the warehouse lamp, and a thin sword suddenly tipped at his chin. "Do you want to die?" asked an elegant voice. She walked around him until she was in the light, the sword still at his chin. The Mute made room, stepping off to Doc's side, still holding him at gunpoint. The lady with the sword was Japanese, covered in black similar to The Mute, with a black silk blindfold tied over her eyes, its ends hanging between her shoulder blades.

"Well?" asked Doc. "Who're you s'posed t'be den?"

She pushed the sword upwards a bit, forcing him to raise his chin. "Purr."

Too stupid to show fear for the blade at his neck, Spatter laughed. "Wot kinda name is dat?"

"If I didn't think it would be wasted, I might explain it," she said.

"Wotta you wont den?" he sneered.

"We want these women," Purr said as if explaining it to an unruly child. Stepping back a bit, she added, "And I'd like you to be quick about it. The smell here offends me almost as much as your stupidity."

"Y'know wot's really stupid?" asked Doc.

Purr didn't answer. She merely inclined her head to show curiosity.

"You moved," he said flatly. As he did so, he clamped his ham-fist over the barrel of The Mute's gun. Despite her firing it into his palm, he spun her sideways, smacked her in the side of the head with his other hand, and then used that hand to grab the gun, and shoot Sandy through the head. Annie screamed as much as her swollen face would allow, and then Purr's sword thrust through Spatter's chest. He winced, and looked down at the bloody blade in surprise. Finally, he went down to his knees.

Purr stepped up close behind him. Putting a hand on his shoulder as she leaned down next to his ear, she twisted the blade, and said, "My sword is too good for you."

Doc looked shocked as he stiffened at that final pain. Then he slumped, and fell over on his side.

The swordswoman reached towards The Mute who was having a hard time picking herself up off the floor. Helping her stand, Purr gently took her gun, and then shot Spatter twice in the head. Handing the weapon back to The Mute, she asked, "Are you okay?"

The Mute made the "okay" sign.

"Can you stand now?"

She gave a thumbs up.

Walking around behind Annie, she used her sword to cut through the ropes that held her to the chair. "I'm truly sorry about your sister," she offered.

"I'm not," came a voice over a P.A. system, making the three women start.

"V... Velvet?" Annie managed.

"If it makes you feel any better," came the voice over the tinny speaker, "Crybaby actually pulled the trigger on Factor. Her death, and you having to watch it, satisfies the contract. You can walk out now, and this can be the end of it."

Annie shook her head, knowing he'd see it on whatever camera was watching them. "No," she called back, her voice strengthened by her anger. "We just gave Benny the same he gave our parents." She coughed behind the effort of talking, and might have doubled over if Purr and The Mute hadn't taken her by the elbows, and stood her back up. "We were trying to go," she said, shaking with anger. "That could have been the end of it. Now though, you all have finally made me... well and truly... The Orphan." With effort, she seethed, "I have no one... and nothing... left to lose." Standing up straight, and pulling free of the other two women's grip, she pointed in the direction of the voice, and said, "And you're going to find out what that means."

"Please," droned the speaker. "Do I sound scared to y--" He was cut off by a bullet taking out the speaker.

Annie loooked at The Mute through heavy, swollen eyes. The Mute winked back.

Purr asked, "Do you think you'd like help with this?"

The Orphan was silent for several long seconds, and then nodded. "Yeah, I think I might." After a minute, she finally looked behind her, and said, "First though, help me get my sister out of here."

Note: This is a Choose Your Own Adventure. Only the first "page" was posted to the contest thread. The rest is individual posts. The wordcount only applies to this first "page." -cb

Wild Western: Abandon Hope - All Ye Who Enter.

The stagecoach pulled out of El Paso early in the evening. If the little man in the blue cowboy hat had not paid for the entire coach, they would have jammed up to eight people inside. As it was, the three full-grown adults that rode with him seemed like more than enough to fill it. Beside him sat a very tall African man, skin particularly dark. Across from them sat an older white gentleman with a bald head, and thick mustache. Beside him sat a woman who was unbelievably even darker than the African. She looked very serious, but a light of mischief seemed to dance in her eyes, and it made her strangely attractive. She wore a long coat that seemed to be a little too big for her.

"Sir," said the white man to the little man, "I'd like to thank you for letting us ride with you. Without your kindness, we'd have been another two days getting to Abandon Hope."

"Nonsense," said the little man. "We are going that way, and my companion and I enjoy company. Name's Thomas Knox. You can call me Tommy."

"Well, thank you, Tommy," he said with a slight grin. Then, he looked at the African man, and said, "Companion?"

"Yes. This is Odongo Odango. I saved him from hanging, and he's traveled with me ever since."

"You saved him from hanging?" the man repeated, not quite incredulous, but clearly surprised. "How?" Looking to Odongo, more than a little curious, he said, "Why was someone trying to hang you?"

Odongo and Thomas exchanged looks, and the African smiled hesitantly. "It ain't what y'think. Some men- they think that I was a runaway, and wanted to know where I ran from. I ain't no runaway though, so I couldn't answer 'em like they's want. They's wouldn't b'lieve that I's free though. So, they was gonna hang me. Missuh Knox though, he come along, and..." he smiled bashfully for what he was about to say, "he mades 'em b'lieve that he had magic, and they ran off."

The man made a face like he was most impressed, and said, "Oh, I see." Looking to Mister Knox, he said, "I suppose if people aren't too used to seeing midgets, they'll believe almost anything."

Tommy laughed lightly. "You could say that." Holding out his hand palm up, a small blue flame danced over it, and he added, "Or... maybe I just have magic."

"Oh?" said the Marshal. The silent woman looked most curious as well.

Knox smiled. "Maybe we can stop pretending with each other, eh? I sensed there was something special about you when I saw you. What is it?"

The man pursed his lips for a few seconds, and he said, "I'll tell you what. I'll tell you about me if we can all stop pretending."

The little man turned his head slightly, giving the man a sideways glance. "What do you mean?"

"I mean your friend. He's pretending too. His speech isn't consistent. He's only trying to sound uneducated."

The tall man smiled broadly, and looked to Thomas, who nodded. Looking back to the man, he said, "My height draws enough attention. It comes in handy sometimes to be as dumb as people expect. I was a slave, but the man that owned me allowed me to be educated so he could keep me in the house, and show me off to his friends. He gave me my freedom before he died. Mister Knox did save me from hanging though, like I told you."

The white man had tilted his head while listening to the story. When Odongo finished, he held it up straight again, and nodded. "My name's Heironymous. I'm a dragon."

"Why's a dragon in human form, taking a stage coach?" asked Knox.

"Flying dragons draw attention as well," he said with a grin. "Being among people allows me to learn more about them."

Tommy nodded. "And what do you do while among them?"

"I'm a bounty hunter," said Heironymous.

The little man chuckled, "Why?"

Heironymous smiled again. "Because it pays in gold and silver."

"Ha!" laughed Tommy "That sounds more like a dragon! What's your business in Abandon Hope?"

"A bounty, of course. Yours?"

"I'm from that area."

"And you, miss?" Odongo said to the woman. "I have not seen many darker than I am, and almost none of them since I was taken from Africa. But you- you are blacker than anything I have ever seen! It is most intriguing."

The woman gave a slight nod. "You are not the first to say this about me."

"Gentlemen," said Heironymous. "This is Sara La Kali. In the past, she has been known as Sara the Black, and Saint Sarah, among others. Lately though, men have been calling her Pistolence."

Odongo looked surprised. "Ah! We have heard of you!" he said with awe.

"Indeed," agreed Tommy. "I hear you are quite the terror with a gun, miss."

Sara crossed her arms, reaching inside her coat for the pistols hidden at her waist. When she withdrew them, eight more arms emerged from the darkness of the coat, all holding pistols. "Or maybe just a terror," she said, leaning forward with a hungry smile.

Knox giggled his appreciation of her show, and Odongo stared in awe, saying, "Amazing."

Sara grinned as she sat back, and her extra arms vanished one and two at a time. "At times."

"And are you a bounty hunter too?" asked Tommy.

"I am looking for someone, but not as a bounty," she answered.

"She's doing me a favor. Helping with my bounty, since we were going the same way."

Sounding doubtful, Thomas asked, "What kind of man does a dragon need help with?"

"A woman, and she's quite powerful," was Heironymous' only answer.

"Well," Tommy said happily, "it seems as if this trip will be a most interesting one." With that, he kicked his feet up on the seat towards Odongo, leaning against the stage's side. He pulled his hat down over his eyes, folded his hands over his stomach, and closed his eyes. "We should be there by tomorrow evening. Good night."

Sleep seemed like a good idea to the rest of them as well, so they all settled back to rest.

***

The next day, they talked some more. A few times, when the horses were only walking, they got out and walked alongside to stretch their legs. Tommy rode on his companion's shoulders, either straddling his neck, or held on one shoulder by Odongo's hand.

They reached Abandon Hope about an hour before nightfall. The stage pulled up in front of the High Hope, and its passengers disembarked.

Who do you wish to follow? Heironymous & Pistolence, or Tommy & Odongo?