A Scripta

He won't kill you, he's a hero. Heroes don't kill heroes.

Masonry closed his eyes at the voice, the one that invaded his consciousness constantly, on its own volition. He could never initiate the conversation, but he could continue talking with it until it got bored and left.

He was in the Skyway City Freedom Force barracks, where he had surrendered himself a few short days ago.

"Good morning, Mr. Greene - or is it Masonry."

The woman who stepped into the room looked about 20ish, with almond-shaped blue eyes. She did not smile. "I am Doctor Marian Donovan. I am a specialist in erroneous bondings."

"Oh, that's nice."

"Mr. Greene, please. The less emotion the better. Emotion is what sets Benakasar off."

"No kidding."

She opened her pad. "I wish to speak with Benakasar."

Masonry felt the cramp start in his head, when it meant that he would change form. He constantly tried to fight it, but he couldn't most times; Ben surged forward so quickly that he almost didn't feel the pain of the cramp.

Glowing white eyes in a huge armored beast with tiny legs appeared before her. It exuded tendrils of white smoke around it and smelled of wet dog that had rolled in a compost pile. It looked down at its arms, still bound. "Release me," it growled.

"I don't have the authority to do that. I wish to ask you some questions."

"Go ahead."

"Who are you?"

"Benakasar. I am an artist."

"Were you injured trying to save another Kheldian?"

"No. I made the hero think so. I was trying to run away from the Void Hunter that was going after my patron, Whitesonic. The hero thought I was trying to save him, but Whitesonic died anyway. The Longbow hero informed Sunstorm. Sunstorm found Masonry. When Masonry came to see me, I saw that he was almost perfect, but he was tainted. I healed him. Now he's beautiful." He opened his hands, but they were bound. "Don't you think so, Doctor?"

She looked at the White Dwarf with no emotion whatsoever in her eyes. "So you wish to remain with that host?"

"Of course. He is so malleable. I can use him for whatever I wish and he never knows. I put him to sleep. Whatever I do is a cloudy dream to him." The Dwarf chuckled which sounded like a low growl. "He is so strong. He can do anything."

She finished scribbling. "And what do you plan on accomplishing?"

"I will bring beauty into this world. I will destroy evil and darkness."

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

The Dwarf tilted its head. "What does that mean?"

"It's an old Earth saying and is not important. Allow Masonry to return."

"Must I? I happen to like seeing beauty such as yours, although cold."

She folded her arms across her chest.

The beast exhaled sharply and changed its form back into a human's. The doctor got up as Masonry opened his eyes and focused on her. "What happened?"

"The Kheldian that has bonded with you is insane."

He felt like he did when Hope's Fury had told him he was dying. I knew it but I didn't think it would be true... "So what do I do?"

She started to leave. "Control it or it must be extracted."

"Go ahead and extract it."

She opened the door. "I'll have you know, Masonry, that the average success rate for an extraction - both for human and Kheldian - is less than one percent."

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"Mase. Mase! MASE!"

Nathan struggled up through the dark cloud of dreams at Scott Raynes' call. I have the form, I have control of it...

Obsydian Fyre put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "That's not Mase. That's Benakasar, aka Sewer-Breath." With a toss of the Dwarf's head, Benakasar fled, taking the form with him.

Futura looked at Masonry with a mixture of confusion and concern. The bodies of vampyri and Council soldiers littered the area - they weren't moving. The sight of the blood pooling at his feet made him sick.

"Dammit!" he snapped, as a battle raged above his head.

They both ran up the ramp, and he saw Notion heading into the fray. No, Thad, no!

I can protect him.

Shut the hell up.

I can save him.

Shut up! Masonry ran into the battle, trying to intercede between Thad and a Council warwolf, but Notion got cold-cocked and stunned. With a roar, Masonry dove in, his white fire exploding in fury - and then Benakasar took over.

Watch, he said, and proceeded to stomp on the floor, shaking it and sending Council flying. Masonry couldn't pull himself forward, but merely watched impotently, as Benakasar waded through the groups, hardly getting touched.

This is what you were - Masonry, indestructible, strong, able to take down anything, anyone, even these wolves - and what are you now?

I have white fire and energy -

Worthless. Wouldn't you rather do this? He swung a claw and tore off the head of a Council soldier. Feel their blood at your feet?

No! I don't need to do that!

I know you, Nathan. I have all your memories. I know how you felt when you crushed the life out of those two little girls a year ago. You felt satisfaction.

That wasn't me, that was the drugs.

Keep saying that, maybe you will believe it. I know how you felt when you beat those who harmed you into the ground. I know how you feel about Kit and Thad, and how you'd like to tear his --

Stop it! I would never hurt them!

--head off because of the way he treats Kit - but then do you not believe that she is what she wishes? Look at them, look at how they are around each other, both perfect for each other, both perfect, and you do not like perfection, do you? You do not like or understand such beauty. You do not understand that Darcy is imperfect -

You attacked him! You tried to kill him!

He is imperfect and should have been left for the vermin that attacked the Longbow that guarded him. Now, the Longbow... His voice grew wistful. The Longbow are perfect in their ac--

Masonry took the opportunity to yank Benakasar out of the driver's seat. He returned his attention to the people around him. They were outside the office now. Thad was grinning, E and Fyre were glaring at him angrily like they usually did, Kit and Futura stared at him, concerned. Masonry hung his head down. I can't control him...

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The office was full of people running by in a panic. E-VAC helped to guide them out as Obsydian Fyre glared at Masonry. "I'm so angry at you, if you weren't... weren't..."

"What, so stupid to listen to a voice that makes promises?"

E-VAC had returned at the tail end of that conversation and told him, "It's not a promise if he doesn't have any intentions of keeping it."

Masonry advanced. "I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS GOING TO KILL YOU!" he screamed. "I believed him, BELIEVED HIM!"

"Back up, Mason, Nathan, Ben, whoever you are." Fyre's voice was the coldest he had ever heard.

Masonry responded in the same tone. "No, and let E blast me into Kingdom Come."

"E's not going to do it this time. I am. It's going to be more permanent."

Masonry stepped back. "You...you..." He studied her glare, utterly cold, unfeeling, like that doctor who had studied him.

She wouldn't. She likes you too much.

"Ben, she would." He stepped away and tried to control himself, clenching his fists at his sides and closing his eyes, I won't let him out, I won't--

He felt his consciousness snap back as the Dwarf form appeared. I will protect you, Nathan. Then he turned his attention to Fyre. "Nictus!"

She retorted, with no emotion behind her voice, "Psycho."

He went to reach for her again, but Masonry yanked him back. "Bastard!" he yelled at himself.

"Let him out. We'll see what he does. If he kills me, E can bring me back, and then you'll have to believe that Ben's not 'good', he's not 'misunderstood.'"

"All right." Masonry stepped aside.

Ben surged forward in the wake of emotion that could be only described as glee. Kill the Nictus!

No!

Fyre stared at him in horror. "Mase, you idiot!"

"Finally," Ben growled. A citizen came running by them, and he reached out and grabbed him. The man - more like a young adult - stared up at him in terror. The Dwarf began to squeeze, and if it could grin maniacally, it would. "Stop me," he taunted.

Masonry tried to claw through - he could see everything going on and was helpless. I can't control him, kill him, Fyre, kill him!

"All right," she stated, and attacked him with Nictus energy, then yanked the energy back into herself. Ben dropped the man and fell to his knees while the form fled, stunned more that she actually did it. She would kill you?

Masonry tore his way forward with the thought, And I would let her if it meant to stop you!

He focused on Fyre, who glowed with the energy taken from Ben. Then E walked up to him. "Get up," he snapped.

Masonry got up, looked over at E. E hauled off and slapped him with the arm encased in metal, so it stunned him and actually hurt.

"You deserved that. You attacked a civilian. This will be on your permanent record."

He looked from E to Fyre and Keen Frost who had just arrived and had no idea what was going on but was smart enough to stay out of the way. Masonry stood straight and squared his shoulders. He had made his decision. "Let's finish this."

Less than one percent success rate, Nathan. You'll die.

So will you, you fucking bastard.

Ben knocked at the edge of his consciousness. Never again, Ben. Never, ever again.

Nathan heard distant laughter in his mind. Even he knew that promise wouldn't last. So he had to do it.

They finished the assignment, releasing some hostages, and Masonry stood outside of the office. E glared at Masonry. "I need to go to King's Row to make my report. Don't leave town, Mason."

"If you want me I'll be in the hospital."

Fyre said, "Better call him in, E. In case Ben has other ideas."

You can't extract me. You'll die.

Masonry ignored Ben's repeated warnings as he flew to Skyway City hospital and arrived at the registration counter. "Hi, I'm checking in. Doctor Marian Donovan will be performing a Kheldian extraction tomorrow..."

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The steel table Nathan Green was strapped down to tilted slowly into a vertical position. He had been bound and transported by helicopter to the S.E.R.A.P.H. office in Galaxy City, then brought to the hospital. All night, it was hell. He would change to Ben and demand to be released, and then return to human form to tell them not to. People would come by the secure room to check on him, check his vitals. Once he changed to Ben and tried to pull himself off the stretcher, but the nurse zapped him with electricity from her hands.

Now he lay naked in a cold, brightly lit room. Dr. Donovan walked around the different consoles, checking screens and watching her assistants. A machine started to whir and Masonry looked up. Some huge wired helmet that looked like it should have come out of a B-grade movie slid slowly down from the ceiling.

"Nathan, listen to me," said Donovan, as he struggled to stop Ben from changing him or from even coming out. "Nathan, you must push him out. You must want him out more badly than he wishes to stay. Can you do that?"

He nodded as best he could with his head strapped down.

Something grabbed his bicep and he felt thick spikes enter his arm. "What the--"

"That will stop you from changing form."

No one noticed Moonfire come into the room.

The helmet came down and covered his face to his chin. Then it clamped down tightly. Nathan began to panic as he felt something else come up from below his feet and snake its way up. It's a coffin, they're putting me in a coffin! He began to struggle against the bonds but the metal case was coming up to his hips, his abdomen, now his chest. It crawled up and covered up to his neck.

He heard a voice in the headset, "Breathe, Nathan."

He took in a deep breath, it was like cold mountain air. "We will begin the extraction process. We will guide you with imagery to assist you."

Meanwhile, outside of the helmet, on a huge screen before them images flashed and interwove. Darcy lying on the ground while the point of view lurched violently to the right and focused on fallen Longbow. Blood in a puddle as he knelt in it. Blond hair from a small child spread out behind her head which is twisted at an awkward angle from the body lying on blanket. Artemis in his arms, smiling at a response to a kiss. His face in the hair of Serena Star as they look out at the ocean at Peregrine Island. Fyre laughing at a joke, E-VAC raising his hands to raise him from another failed attack, Kit's tears...

I can save you!

Nathan shoved the voice back, and kept on shoving. As he shoved, he felt something enter his skull - like the thick needles in his arm. Then he felt something else pull as he pushed. Ben screamed in his mind and Nathan echoed it verbally.

You wanted me to help you!

Not like this!

You wanted them to die!

Nathan stopped stopped pushing, but the machine didn't stop pulling. "Nathan!" came a voice in his headset, "Remember what he did to your friends!"

While Moonfire watched, Nathan gathered his anger and rage and shoved at Ben again, screaming in agony and fury. She winced in sympathy.

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Jeff Davis felt the migraine come on like a Mack truck. He hadn't had one of these since college, and even then, it was probably more of a hangover than a migraine.

He was sitting in the cafeteria, reading a magazine and nursing his coffee. He had five minutes left for break. He closed his eyes and could see nothing for a moment, was sick to his stomach.

He waited for the moment to pass, and then he opened his eyes. The coffee seemed to waver in his vision. I better tell Mike I'm sick - if I can get up. He looked up, and everything around him seemed to turn into a carnival mirror - fat in places they shouldn't be, skinny in others. He closed his eyes again and got hit with another wave of nausea.

He got up and headed toward the bathroom, ignoring how everything looked as he did. He ran into it, heading right for a stall and skidding to his knees before the toilet bowl.

Relax.

Suddenly, a wave of peace came over him, something that he had never felt before, and he let out a sigh of pure contentment. Then something tore his consciousness out of his body.

The man that was called Jeff Davis opened his eyes, and they glowed purple.

-------------------------------------------

"He's awake."

Nathan felt something zap him in the arm. His eyes snapped open and he saw a peeling lime-green ceiling above his head. He turned to the direction of where the zap came, and saw a man in a suit and a metal hand - encased in a bubble - standing over him. "You are one tough son of a bitch," he said. "Sit up."

"Okay, okay," Nathan responded, sitting up. He was in only a pair of briefs.

The man in the suit motioned to a rickety chair behind him. "Suit up," he ordered.

Nathan got up shakily and focused on the chair. Folded on its seat were orange clothes. Then he noticed the guards with submachine guns at the door. He stared at the chair, recognition hitting him.

"The Zig," he whispered.

"Smart, too. C'mon, get dressed or you'll miss dinner."

"Dinner? How long have I been out?"

"All day. You hearin' voices?"

He closed his eyes for a moment. "No..."

"Good. Cuz otherwise I would have to kill you." He walked out of the room. "My job's done for now, boys. Call me when he does hear voices."

The guards waved the guns at Nathan. "C'mon prisoner 7281835, move your ass."

Nathan stepped out of the cell with them flanking him. Four guards escorted him along a catwalk. Nathan looked down - it was a very long way down. He heard people yelling, all the words were incoherent. He followed the ramp down, and then he heard someone say, "Masonry!"

He turned to look at a man in a gated cell. "Don't remember me, do you?"

"Should I?"

"Well, I don't have my raptor pack or my uniform on, but you put me in here you son of a bitch! Now you're here!" He started laughing. "Wait until Lt. Carson hears about this! You don't have long to live in here, pal, you'll be dead in a week!"

The guards shoved Nathan past him. The man kept yelling, "You're gonna die, Masonry!"

"Ma...son...ry!"

A chant started, so by the time he got to the bottom floor, the entire huge room rang with his name. He hung his head down, his fists clenched at his sides, struggling to hold back...but one tear snuck out to stain the collar of his orange jumpsuit.

-----------------------------------------------

He noticed the young man standing by the water cooler, looking like he was taking a breather from work. "Oh, hey, E. How are you?"

"Fine, Notion. Is Soldier around?"

"Sure. Scottie! Somebody here to see you! Let me take that box."

E-VAC handed the box over. Heavy and awkward, Thad almost wasn't able to hold it. "Wow, what's in here?"

The side office opened and Scott Raynes, dressed in casual clothes, came out to the main office. "Hey, E. How's it going?"

"Good." He glanced at the box and then studied Scott. "I guess you heard Mase is in jail."

"Yeah, they said either you or me could sign him out, though. He worked with Song of Reason and Cimbala just yesterday - "

"Not anymore." He put his hands behind his back and stood in formal at ease. "He's in solitary confinement."

Thad asked, "What did he do?"

"Not what he did, but what he can do. He's a danger to society."

Said Scott, "But that evil Peacebringer's gone--"

"Yes, but he wouldn't have let that Peacebringer in if he hadn't told Nathan what he wanted to hear." E looked into Scott's blue eyes. "Nathan's got a lot of psychological problems. He's undergoing a series of evaluations to see if he's competent."

The room was silent for half a second as that statement sunk in. Then Thad thundered, "To stand trial? For murder?"

E turned to Thad. Thad only returned the glare to E, daring him to accuse him of reading his mind. E knew Thad read surface thoughts, and it was hard to hide his own feelings over the matter. Thad tore his gaze away from him. "Yes," E stated. "Murder and attempted murder."

"But the drugs controlled him," Scott offered. "And then the Kheldian."

E smiled gently. "Why did he take the drugs in the first place, do you know?"

"He was beaten up when he was a kid," said Thad.

"Revenge isn't a reason to be a hero."

"But he didn't want anyone else to have to go through what he did."

"Neither is martyrdom."

Thad waved his hand at E. "Forget it. You wouldn't understand what he went through."

"I understand perfectly."

The two studied each other, and Thad turned away again, leaving the room. There was no doubt in E's mind what Thad saw.

E returned his attention to Scott. "Futura, I'll do everything I can to help him, but he needs to help himself first."

"Maybe I can talk to him."

He shook his head. "He's in solitary. No outside contact, meals teleported to him. The only person who sees him is the psychologist. I'm sorry, Futura."

Scott only nodded. "Can you get a message to him?"

"I'll try."

"Tell him we're rooting for him, and we'll do whatever needs to be done to get him out."

E smiled. "I think he already knows that, but I'll try and remind him." As Scott opened the box to see the spiked shoulder boards that Masonry used to wear as part of his costume, E started to the door. "Oh, Futura, there is one thing you can do to help him."

"What's that?"

"Get him a good lawyer."