A Scripta

"Good night, Daisuke" Masonry said in Japanese.

"Good night, Nathan," Frosty replied with a sigh.

Mase slept, but got up in the middle of the night, suddenly cold. He thought nothing of it, as he searched for a blanket. He pulled it over the two of them and went back to sleep.

Masonry stirred awake in the morning, shivering. He had wrapped the blanket around himself like a cocoon and was still cold. He sat up, wiping the sleep from his eyes turned to look at Frosty.

He was covered in a thick layer of frost.

"Frosty!" he cried, and knelt on the mat beside him. He looked at the frost, then impotently at his hands. He didn't care - he touched Frosty and shook him. It was like shaking a snowball. He took back his hands, now red with frostbite. "Frosty! Daisuke? Daisuke! Not you too!"

He scrambled back off the mat, his hands against his face. Daisuke, dead. Both of them, dead. They're dead and I couldn't do anything about it. He started backing away, getting to his feet, his face still in his hands, his eyes wide in panic. He's dead, he's dead--

Daisuke is not dead.

He stopped.

He's like E. He's breathing. He's moving slowly. Go look at his face.

Mase studied Frosty, noticing that he no longer had the red costume that had become his second skin. The pointy shoulder pads were gone. He wore casual clothes, his white jacket and a pair of white pants with a blue accents. Even his scarf was covered with a thin sheen of frost. Mase walked around to the other side of the mat.

Masonry gasped, seeing Frost's eyes open, and the eyes moving. He slowly, very slowly looked up at Mase. Masetouched Frosty's face, ignoring the frostbite. Through his tears, he summoned up a weak smile. "Hey, Daisuke, let me get you defrosted."

He stood up, and summoned power, and sent it to Frosty to heal him. Nothing. He tried again. Nothing. He went over to him and pulled him into an embrace, willing warmth from his body into Frost's. He sat there, holding Frost, who couldn't speak. Frost infinitely slowly moved a hand to Mase's arm. Still nothing.

Get him to the hospital, Nate.

Masonry nodded, and picked him up, cradling him like he did with E. He started toward the base's entrance. "We're going to the hospital, okay? They'll take care of you. I won't leave you..."

"So how far'd you get?"

Masonry glanced at the dark-haired kid on the side counter, sitting with a friend. School was out, and these 18 year old emo kids were hanging around in the donut shop in Faultline, where he had taken a fancy to resting at. He would fly around Faultline, looking for dead or dying heroes, and bring them back to life.

Before that quote, they had been talking about a girl named Jennifer - he caught the name involuntarily, because it was E's daughter's name. Then the emo kid started telling his friend, in detail, that he made out with her in the movie theater. He tried to ignore it, even resting his arm over his ear.

Finally, he put his arm down and looked at them. The friend caught him glaring at them. He hit his friend and nodded to Masonry.

"There's more to it than grabbing a girl's tits," Masonry said quietly.

The emo snorted and tossed his head up, flicking back the bit of hair that covered his left eye. "How would you know, old man?"

"I've been around the block a few times. What're you looking for with her? A quick fuck or something deeper?"

The two kids chuckled, "Somethin' deeper, heh heh heh."

Masonry gave him a crooked smile. "Figures as much. You're too young to understand what love really is."

"What is it, then?" The two kids put their raised elbows on the counter and folded their hands together, resting their chins on them. They both blinked broadly like doe-eyed girls.

Masonry looked at the speaker steadily as he stated, "It's when you feel that you will willingly do anything for them, but knowing that the other person will never invoke that. It's when you feel comfortable, protected, that whatever you do with them won't be betrayed; that the person accepts you for what you are and wants to understand you, and you want to understand them. It's when you stand within their aura that you feel warm and wanted, that a mere glance will soften you and fill you with bliss. It's when you're holding them that your defenses fall away and you show them everything that you are and they show you what they are - and you know there's nothing wrong with that, that it's perfect and right, and so does he."

The kid's insolent grin had disappeared. He blinked, looked at his friend. Suddenly the two of them stared at each other, one hit the other and they both bolted out the door.

The counter girl was staring at him. He looked up at her and smiled.

She turned away from him quickly and almost ran to the other side of the counter. Nate sighed, got up, and paid for the other kids' breakfasts as he left.

00:11 StarWyng: I come to..
00:26 Red Pulsarion: (gently) It's dangerous, sweetie.
00:51 StarWyng: I know... I care
01:01 StarWyng: we go
01:11 Red Pulsarion: (nods)
01:20 StarWyng: base?
01:22 Masonry Redux: As you wish, Starwing.
06:11 Masonry Redux: Good evening.
06:18 StarWyng: hi
06:23 Red Pulsarion puts his hands in his pockets and nods.
06:34 Masonry Redux smiles and nods to Star.
06:45 Masonry Redux: All right.
06:46 StarWyng nods but watches alertly
06:59 Red Pulsarion: Thanks kindly.
07:22 Masonry Redux: Hey, Red. Hey... Star.
07:28 Masonry Redux: Don't kill me.
07:36 StarWyng tenses
07:44 Red Pulsarion: Nathan, nobody--NOBODY--is gonna kill you. Relax.
08:15 Masonry Redux: Jack wants me dead, an' I don't blame him...he can't control me, he says.
08:30 Masonry Redux: He's right.
08:41 Red Pulsarion: Good. You're not his slave.
08:50 Masonry Redux: Hell no.
09:00 Red Pulsarion nods.
09:05 Red Pulsarion: BUT.
09:13 Masonry Redux looks down.
09:24 Red Pulsarion: What're you thinking, Mase. For cryin' out loud.
09:44 Masonry Redux: Two things.
10:00 Masonry Redux: E's weakness is his kid.
10:08 Red Pulsarion: Stop right there.
10:11 Masonry Redux: He cares too much for her so all his en--
10:22 Red Pulsarion: His weakness?
10:32 StarWyng growls
10:38 Red Pulsarion: Christ, Mase, it's his KID.
10:52 Red Pulsarion: Of course he cares about her.
11:03 StarWyng: Red, what going on?
11:10 Masonry Redux: It's *not* his kid, even though he raised her, he keeps saying it's his kid, it's not his kid by blood.
11:48 Red Pulsarion: Who cares if he was the sperm donor? (shrugs) That's not what matters.
11:57 Masonry Redux: It's Styrm's kid. His ex-boss.
12:03 Red Pulsarion looks at Wyng and shakes his head slightly.
12:04 StarWyng: child matter...
12:20 Red Pulsarion: This is the ex-boss what's trying to kill him?
12:26 Masonry Redux: Yeah.
12:35 Masonry Redux: He wants the kid.
12:45 Red Pulsarion: Mn. I bet he does.
12:47 Masonry Redux: If I give him the kid, he'd leave us alone.
13:14 Red Pulsarion: There's no "us" left if you give him the kid, don't you see it?
13:16 StarWyng shifts to watch both men
13:47 Masonry Redux: Sure there would.
13:52 Red Pulsarion: You think he'd have ANYTHING to do with you if you gave up his DAUGHTER? You're smarter 'n that.
14:07 Masonry Redux: All I have to do is what he says. He'd leave me and Daisuke alone.
14:32 Masonry Redux: I don't care about E anymore. He refused me. He REFUSED my help.
14:44 Masonry Redux: He refused my comfort. Screw him.
14:47 StarWyng: Keen?
14:56 Masonry Redux looks up at Star.
14:59 Red Pulsarion rubs his temples.
15:24 Masonry Redux: Daisuke. Keen Frost. Yes, the same person.
15:56 StarWyng: you ummm bribe to keep Keen to self? With child!?
16:24 Red Pulsarion: Wyng, hold it. (gently) Everybody needs to stay calm here.
16:29 Masonry Redux: Well, I know that sounds stupid...
16:46 Red Pulsarion: Yeah, Nate. It sounds stupid. Why do you suppose that is?
17:05 Masonry Redux: but I want to be left alone. I want to help Daisuke find a cure for his radiation poisoning. And we can't do it watching our backs.
17:36 Masonry Redux: It's just a kid!
17:41 Masonry Redux: One. Kid.
17:57 Red Pulsarion: (sighs, rubbing his neck) No, it's more'n that, Mase.
18:02 StarWyng: child is future, you not know what grow to
18:14 StarWyng: people most important
18:19 Red Pulsarion: It's YOU, too. It's what it would say about YOU.
18:34 Masonry Redux: I don't care about a kid, I care about what I see here and now, what's in front of me, the person who I see is sick and hurting and in pain - and here's this kid...
18:58 Red Pulsarion: (eyes narrow) You're a better person than this. You tell Keen about this swell plan o' yours?
18:59 Masonry Redux: So it shows that I'm a cold heartless bastard when it comes to kids.
19:08 Masonry Redux: I did.
19:14 Masonry Redux: He didn't much care for it.
19:22 Red Pulsarion: Really.
19:40 Masonry Redux: Now, listen. Now that three quarters of the world thinks it's a bad idea, I won't do it, okay?
19:46 Masonry Redux: Hello, Kit.
19:50 StarWyng: We... us... we TAKE risk, our choice if we die, we die trying to live....ummm preserve life...
19:51 EquiIibria: Jack
19:56 StarWyng: not jack
19:57 Masonry Redux: No.
19:59 Red Pulsarion: Nathan, Kit.
((backs into the wall))
20:08 Red Pulsarion: Relax.
20:28 Masonry Redux: Fine. No kid to Styrm. I get it.
20:41 EquiIibria: What the hell are you doing here?
21:10 Masonry Redux: Red asked for me. Jack's got a hand on my neck in case I screw up, don't worry.
21:19 EquiIibria: Right.
21:29 EquiIibria reaches for the quantum gun on her belt
21:37 Red Pulsarion glances back. "Kit, none of that."
21:42 Masonry Redux glances at the gun.
21:46 Red Pulsarion: I won't stand for it.
21:58 Masonry Redux: That'll tickle me.
22:00 StarWyng: no.... he not tell all truth.... Lodestar not got full control
22:05 EquiIibria: Last time I checked, I outranked you, Red.
22:08 Masonry Redux rolls his eyes.
22:16 Masonry Redux at Star
22:18 EquiIibria: Nothing that comes out of his mouth is true.
22:21 Red Pulsarion: Last time I checked, I didn't care, Kit.
22:31 Red Pulsarion looks at Nathan grimly.
23:13 Red Pulsarion: You're a friend, Mase. And I gotta say, I'm a little disappointed with all the people who seem to have forgotten it.
23:30 Masonry Redux: No, Red. I betrayed everyone's trust.
23:32 EquiIibria: He's. Nobody's. Friend.
23:54 Masonry Redux: Though E and Fyre turned Kit against me...
23:54 Red Pulsarion: Mn-hm.
24:05 EquiIibria: I made up my own mind, Nate.
24:17 EquiIibria: E and Fyre? Not even a blip on my radar when it comes to you.
24:25 Masonry Redux: From what they told you. What they TOLD you.
24:32 Red Pulsarion: So explain something to me, Mase. What's your goal, here?
24:40 EquiIibria: No, Nate. It was what based on what YOU told me.
24:58 Red Pulsarion: You're throwing your friends out the window, right 'n left, fighting with your Kheld...
25:08 Red Pulsarion: Where do you think this is gonna go?
25:20 Masonry Redux: I told you what you wanted to hear because I knew I couldn't stand against them. I never could...
25:23 Masonry Redux: Alone, Red.
25:41 Masonry Redux: I will then be alone.
25:57 Masonry Redux looks at the floor.
26:10 Red Pulsarion: (nods) Yeah. Sounds great.
26:19 EquiIibria: That doesn't make any sense. What I wanted to hear and what I heard were two entirely different things.
26:40 Red Pulsarion: Then what?
26:58 Masonry Redux: Because you made up your mind already. I had no proof to show you that I hadn't done or said those things - I did say those things - and I just said them to Red.
27:15 Masonry Redux: And I still believe them to this moment.
27:15 EquiIibria: But have it your way, Nate. Go ahead and lump me into the crowd of people who abandoned poor Nate. Poor Nate who just wants to be adored.
27:20 EquiIibria: And feared.
27:45 Masonry Redux nods to Kit.
27:48 Masonry Redux: She's right.
27:50 StarWyng whispers at Masonry, this true?
27:59 Masonry Redux: They're all right.
28:29 Red Pulsarion: Mase. (firmly) They're only right if you--YOU--choose to prove 'em right.
28:41 Masonry Redux: I've hurt them all intentionally because I'm an evil person, so there.
28:50 Masonry Redux: I've tried!
29:02 EquiIibria: I don't think you're evil, Nate. I think you're sad. Pitiful, even. But not evil.
29:08 Red Pulsarion: You're an evil person? (flatly) Bullshit.
29:22 EquiIibria: And dangerous.
29:27 Masonry Redux: I've done what anyone asks...
29:30 StarWyng: Hope's Fury would know
29:42 EquiIibria glares at Starwyng
29:42 Masonry Redux: Screw her, I don't want any more god damn aliens touching me!
30:03 Red Pulsarion: (nods)
30:15 StarWyng gives Equilibria a puzzled look
30:40 Masonry Redux: I've tried to help. But E and Fyre, say or do something that piss me off, and it all goes out the window.
30:49 Masonry Redux: Kit even tried. We hammered out an agreement.
30:57 Red Pulsarion: Mase, listen. We all try sometimes to be friendly and have it tossed back in our face.
30:59 Masonry Redux: And then I blew it the next night.
31:22 Masonry Redux: Well I'm sick and damn tired of it!
31:23 EquiIibria: And what about the rest of us who reached out to you? You're gonna punish the rest of us because of their arrogance?
31:48 Masonry Redux: All I wanted...all I wanted... was just them to say, "Great job, Nate. Thanks a bunch for your help."
31:48 Red Pulsarion: Happens to everyone. And if you can't work it out, you shrug your shoulders and say "screw 'em", and move on.
32:15 Masonry Redux: I should have a long time ago.
32:26 Masonry Redux: Jack even tried. They do the same thing to him.
32:30 EquiIibria: ::quietly:: So the rest of us don't deserve the loyalty you insist on giving to them.
32:33 Masonry Redux: And Fyre's gone...
32:38 EquiIibria: Shocking.
32:40 Masonry Redux: That's not true, Kit.
32:57 Masonry Redux: Kit, I would... I would have done anything for you. For you guys.
33:08 Masonry Redux: But this kid business...
33:40 Red Pulsarion: Yeah, that's not moving on.
34:02 Masonry Redux: I know, from seeing how they treat Jack, and seeing how they treat Star...
34:19 Masonry Redux: I should have walked away a long time ago.
34:22 StarWyng: that not matter how treat me!
34:26 Red Pulsarion: ... Yeah. Kinda like they just wanna be alone, right?
34:39 Masonry Redux: Yeah.
34:45 Red Pulsarion: Yeah. Sound familiar?
34:47 Masonry Redux: But I only stay for one person...
35:01 Masonry Redux: Well why the hell can't they just tell--
35:06 Masonry Redux: ... me.
35:17 Red Pulsarion waits quietly.
35:30 Masonry Redux: But why still call me? Why still ask me to come help them?
35:42 EquiIibria: They expect you to.
35:55 EquiIibria: As if you owed them something.
35:55 Red Pulsarion: Because they're nuts right now, just like you are.
36:11 Masonry Redux: So I do... what's the benefit of my going over there and pissing them off, pissing me off...
36:23 EquiIibria: ::quietly:: You owe them nothing.
36:33 Red Pulsarion: They're scared, and they're hurt, and they're mad. And that's not a good way to be if'n you're trying to make good decisions.
36:54 EquiIibria: They're selfish and arrogant.
37:01 StarWyng: e.vac give up.... fight to die, not fight to live
37:02 Red Pulsarion: And Kit's right. They've been jerking you around.
37:05 Masonry Redux: I thought I owed them... E tried to help me.
37:25 Red Pulsarion: You've tried.
37:28 EquiIibria: Red, they don't make these decisions because they're scared. They make them because they think they're right.
38:05 Masonry Redux: But Frosty... I can't leave Frosty... and you saw how he decided that night when Jack told E off.
38:19 EquiIibria: And you're right; who can stand up to them when they're this united front of pure arrogance and stubborness.
38:34 EquiIibria: Does Frosty want you around?
38:37 Red Pulsarion waits quietly.
39:03 Masonry Redux: Yes! He... we had a talk.. earlier. He wants me. Not Jack.
39:24 Masonry Redux blushes.
39:25 EquiIibria: And when you tire of him? Who's next?
39:39 EquiIibria: When the next person comes along and innocently devotes himself to you . . . then what of Frosty?
39:57 Masonry Redux: Frosty... may be dead by then.
40:07 EquiIibria: It doesn't matter! My point is that it's not enough for you!
40:15 StarWyng eyes widen in surprise
40:15 EquiIibria: It's never enough for you.
40:32 Masonry Redux bites his lip and looks at the floor.
40:35 Red Pulsarion: Kit.
40:37 StarWyng: keen, dying?
40:47 EquiIibria: A room full of people care about you . . .
40:52 EquiIibria: And you worry about the ones who hate you.
41:00 EquiIibria: You obsess about them.
41:06 Red Pulsarion: You made your point. (quietly) No point in twisting the knife.
41:13 EquiIibria: Because this ::gestures around:: isn't enough for you.
41:29 Masonry Redux is staring at a spot on the floor.
41:42 Red Pulsarion: Mase. (quietly)
41:54 Masonry Redux looks up at Red.
42:16 Red Pulsarion: What E and Fyre do, that's their business. Screw 'em. You tried, they threw it in your face.
42:35 Masonry Redux nods once.
42:38 Red Pulsarion: But WE aren't THEM.
42:53 Masonry Redux closes his eyes and looks away.
42:58 Masonry Redux: I know.
43:16 Red Pulsarion: You don't gotta toss all your friends away because a few of 'em are bein'-- (nods) OK, then why's bein' alone so important here.
43:28 Red Pulsarion doesn't sound particularly puzzled about it.
43:30 Masonry Redux: But maybe what Kit says is right...it's not enough...
43:33 EquiIibria lowers her head
43:51 Red Pulsarion: Well, son, I got bad news for you.
44:00 StarWyng: watches tensely
44:04 Masonry Redux: It'll never be enough.
44:04 Red Pulsarion: This is what there is.
44:25 EquiIibria shuts her eyes
44:29 Masonry Redux: I *want* it to be enough, Red.
44:45 Red Pulsarion: Uh-huh. But it's not. Why?
44:58 Masonry Redux: Frosty does enough. He... he...
45:14 Masonry Redux: ... :: quietly:: worships me.
45:29 Red Pulsarion: ... (eyes narrow)
45:40 EquiIibria chokes back a quiet sob
46:00 StarWyng shortens wings strokes and tenses
46:04 Red Pulsarion kneels next to Mase.
46:08 Masonry Redux: Do you know when I was a kid, I got the shit beat out of me daily?
46:21 Red Pulsarion: Nope, didn't know that.
46:56 Red Pulsarion: You know what they called that when I was a kid, Mase?
47:05 Red Pulsarion: "Good Parenting."
47:18 Masonry Redux: No, I got the shit beat out of me by the kids at school.
47:42 Masonry Redux: Same group of kids. I remembered their names. And then I got big like this, I took an injection...
47:49 Masonry Redux: And I found them. And I killed them.
48:04 Red Pulsarion: And--that made it better, clearly.
48:14 Masonry Redux: For a little while.
48:30 Red Pulsarion: (nods)
48:42 Masonry Redux: Then a couple of people started giving me complements, saying I was really good at my job, and it all went right to my head.
49:01 Masonry Redux: Because I never had those kinds of complements when I was a kid, you know?
49:14 Masonry Redux: And I expected it. Demanded it.
49:38 Masonry Redux: All because I'm still a 15 year old looking for adoration.
50:11 Masonry Redux: And you, too, can find this out after six months of intense psychotherapy.
50:29 Red Pulsarion: Mase. (sighs) Look, I'm lousy at this. Lousy. So listen to the idea, not the words, a'right?
50:36 Masonry Redux nods.
50:52 Red Pulsarion: You're NOT 15.
51:14 Masonry Redux: I'm 42 - but deep in here...
51:20 Masonry Redux points to his chest.
51:37 Red Pulsarion: You're an adult. And you're damn insecure. And you know it.
51:38 Masonry Redux: I'm the moment I made the list.
52:30 StarWyng: relaxes slightly
52:32 Red Pulsarion: You know why I don't need anybody to worship me, Mase?
52:47 Masonry Redux: Because you're not insecure?
53:04 Red Pulsarion: Because I'm not God. And I'm OK with that.
53:21 Masonry Redux: Buh...
53:29 Masonry Redux looks down.
53:32 Masonry Redux: Yeah.
53:33 Red Pulsarion: If you're not OK with not bein' God, you got a problem, son.
53:39 StarWyng: hi
54:08 Masonry Redux: I'm not God, I don't want to control everything, I just...
54:23 Red Pulsarion: No, you just want the respect that comes with it, right?
54:23 Masonry Redux: I just, just what I know. What I can do...
54:45 StarWyng: :watches Masonry
54:55 Red Pulsarion stands up slowly and offers his hand to Nathan.
55:15 Masonry Redux lets him pull him up.
55:31 StarWyng tenses
55:33 Red Pulsarion: Well, you're never gonna get it that good. Not from anyone. But if you want something along them lines, that's fine.
55:39 Red Pulsarion: EARN IT.
55:51 Masonry Redux rocks at the words.
56:01 Red Pulsarion: If you want respect, be worth respectin'.
56:16 Masonry Redux crossarms.
56:40 Masonry Redux: I can't anymore...
56:43 Masonry Redux glances at Kit.
56:50 Masonry Redux: I've ruined too much.
56:59 Masonry Redux: Jack can't fix it.
57:07 Red Pulsarion: Mase, I seen a lot of people struggle with their inner demons. A lot.
57:14 EquiIibria wipes tears from her face angrily.
57:20 Red Pulsarion: You know when it all goes south?
57:33 Masonry Redux: When they give up?
57:39 Red Pulsarion: "I've gone too far to turn back now."
58:03 Red Pulsarion: It is NEVER too late to do the RIGHT DAMN THING.
58:12 Masonry Redux glances at Kit.
58:33 EquiIibria looks away
58:38 Red Pulsarion: Any time you wanna jump in here, Cap'n, you go--
58:55 Red Pulsarion: (exasperated) For christ's sake, Kit.
59:27 StarWyng: Lodestar know you, I believe in him...
59:27 Masonry Redux: Red, I can apologize now, but I'll say or do something stupid tomorrow.
59:53 Masonry Redux: And Jack said stuff...
06-24-2007 01:00:02 Red Pulsarion: Sure. I got news for you. I do stupid things all the time. And you leave Jack to me.
06-24-2007 01:00:03 Masonry Redux: Not being mean or anything.
06-24-2007 01:00:15 Masonry Redux turns to Red.
06-24-2007 01:00:24 Masonry Redux: ::quietly:: Don't hurt him.
06-24-2007 01:00:37 Red Pulsarion: 'course I'm not gonna hurt him.
06-24-2007 01:00:51 StarWyng: he not touch Lodestar
06-24-2007 01:00:53 Red Pulsarion: But you're not his puppet, and he needs to learn it.
06-24-2007 01:00:57 [Arena] No Juice For You: Wendys -Fresh never frozen beef.. o.o Does that mean they keep the raw beef in boxes outside in the back? lol
06-24-2007 01:01:22 Masonry Redux: He's only trying to help... because I was so angry... and I can still be...
06-24-2007 01:01:24 [Help] Pulse.: if i put docotred wounds healing/end/rech into aidself would which SO would it be better to replace..interrupt, heal, or rehc?
06-24-2007 01:01:56 Red Pulsarion: (nods) Yep. Better avoid the things you know are gonna set you off, Mase. I bet you can name both of 'em.
06-24-2007 01:02:27 Masonry Redux closes his eyes.
06-24-2007 01:02:33 Masonry Redux: Yeah.
06-24-2007 01:02:52 Red Pulsarion: So let's try a little role-playing. Imagine I'm Fyre.
06-24-2007 01:03:11 Masonry Redux: Your hair's too short. :: smiles a little::
06-24-2007 01:03:26 Red Pulsarion: Yeah, my chest isn't right either. (smirks) Pay attention.
06-24-2007 01:03:37 Masonry Redux: Okay, okay.
06-24-2007 01:03:51 Red Pulsarion: "Hey, Mase, come help us out. Come on, pal, chop-chop."
06-24-2007 01:04:18 Masonry Redux: "Okay. I'll be right there." but that's wrong, huh.
06-24-2007 01:04:27 Red Pulsarion: Yeah, let's try that again.
06-24-2007 01:04:36 Red Pulsarion: Starts with an N...
06-24-2007 01:04:42 Red Pulsarion: two letters...
06-24-2007 01:04:42 Masonry Redux: "I can't right now..."
06-24-2007 01:04:57 Masonry Redux: "No--"
06-24-2007 01:05:03 Masonry Redux: But Frosty!
06-24-2007 01:05:14 Red Pulsarion nods.
06-24-2007 01:05:21 EquiIibria: Let me try, Red: "Mason, it's E. Meet me in Steel."
06-24-2007 01:05:23 Masonry Redux: He's the *only* reason I go. I don't want to make him choose.
06-24-2007 01:05:54 Masonry Redux: "Ohka--um. I can't right now?"
06-24-2007 01:05:59 EquiIibria: "Mason. Now."
06-24-2007 01:06:13 Red Pulsarion covers a smile at Mase's answer.
06-24-2007 01:06:13 Masonry Redux: Now wait just a cotton-pickin' minute.
06-24-2007 01:06:47 Masonry Redux: ::contemplative:: The son of a bitch actually did that once...
06-24-2007 01:07:00 EquiIibria: ::deadpans:: I'm shocked and amazed.
06-24-2007 01:07:10 Masonry Redux: And I went...
06-24-2007 01:07:22 Red Pulsarion: Listen, Mase, Keen--Daisuke--doesn't need to choose between you and them to not toss all of you into the deathmatch ring.
06-24-2007 01:07:37 Red Pulsarion: He must KNOW you don't get on.
06-24-2007 01:08:04 Masonry Redux sighs.
06-24-2007 01:08:14 Masonry Redux: He does.
06-24-2007 01:08:59 Red Pulsarion: Well, if he likes you as much as you say he does, then ask him--ASK him--not to put you in that place anymore, right?
06-24-2007 01:09:59 Masonry Redux: Red, this might sound stupid... but when we broke the team one night, when E and Fyre went one way and the rest of Futura went the other...
06-24-2007 01:10:25 Masonry Redux: Frosty said they ranted about me.
06-24-2007 01:10:43 Red Pulsarion: Ranted? Who--E and Fyre?
06-24-2007 01:10:53 Masonry Redux: They actually *do* want me around - yes, them.
06-24-2007 01:11:23 StarWyng: someone for bottom of pole
06-24-2007 01:11:36 Red Pulsarion: 'course they do. (shrugs) They snap, you come runnning. That sound right? (nods to Wyng)
06-24-2007 01:11:56 StarWyng: ....... ummm N'shta say private to generals
06-24-2007 01:11:57 Masonry Redux closes his eyes.
06-24-2007 01:12:01 Red Pulsarion: Sounds pretty good. I want one.
06-24-2007 01:12:26 Masonry Redux sighs.
06-24-2007 01:12:29 Red Pulsarion: Mase, listen. (quietly)
06-24-2007 01:12:41 Masonry Redux opens his eyes.
06-24-2007 01:12:48 Red Pulsarion: That's not them adoring you worshipfully. Just the opposite.
06-24-2007 01:13:16 Masonry Redux nods once.
06-24-2007 01:13:20 Red Pulsarion: But you got friends. A lot of 'em. Who like you, and who respect you.
06-24-2007 01:13:37 Red Pulsarion: EVEN when you're bein' a pain in the tuckus, like now.
06-24-2007 01:13:59 Red Pulsarion smiles slightly.
06-24-2007 01:14:00 Masonry Redux smiles while he looks at the floor.
06-24-2007 01:14:20 Masonry Redux: E and Fyre aren't my friends.
06-24-2007 01:14:32 Masonry Redux looks pained as he says it.
06-24-2007 01:14:38 Red Pulsarion: Nope. (quietly) Damn shame, too.
06-24-2007 01:14:54 Masonry Redux: Kit...
06-24-2007 01:15:10 EquiIibria sighs
06-24-2007 01:15:24 Red Pulsarion looks at Kit meaningfully.
06-24-2007 01:15:27 Masonry Redux: Kit is. You all have been.
06-24-2007 01:15:52 Red Pulsarion: Ayep. She's been busting her ass trying to help you.
06-24-2007 01:16:19 Red Pulsarion: And that's a particular crime, because she's got a pretty cute one. Shame to bust it.
06-24-2007 01:16:27 Red Pulsarion coughs. "Not that I noticed."
06-24-2007 01:16:47 EquiIibria looks down
06-24-2007 01:16:59 Masonry Redux: ::blushes::
06-24-2007 01:17:41 Red Pulsarion: So if'n she's in a snit over you, might wanna think about whether she's got a right to be in one.
06-24-2007 01:17:55 Masonry Redux: I'm... I'm really sorry...
06-24-2007 01:18:04 Red Pulsarion: Don't tell me, son. Tell her.
06-24-2007 01:18:07 Masonry Redux: Kit.
06-24-2007 01:18:19 EquiIibria watches Masonry carefully
06-24-2007 01:18:25 Masonry Redux: Kit, I'm really sorry... I'm a coward.
06-24-2007 01:18:29 Red Pulsarion looks at Wyng and exhales slowly.
06-24-2007 01:19:08 Masonry Redux: I'm selfish. Arrogant.
06-24-2007 01:19:12 StarWyng carefully watches Red Pulsarion...
06-24-2007 01:19:21 EquiIibria opens her mouth but closes it quickly.
06-24-2007 01:19:30 Masonry Redux: And I've taken everything you've given me... and I threw it all away.
06-24-2007 01:19:43 EquiIibria: ::softly:: yeah
06-24-2007 01:20:11 Red Pulsarion: Wyng, what do you say we give these two a minute to talk.
06-24-2007 01:20:20 StarWyng returns to watching Masonry alertly
06-24-2007 01:20:28 Masonry Redux: I expected it and demanded it, and I shouldn't have.
06-24-2007 01:20:42 Masonry Redux: Please forgive me.
06-24-2007 01:20:54 Masonry Redux: Maybe not right now, but... someday.
06-24-2007 01:21:15 Masonry Redux: I don't want your adoration, Kit.
06-24-2007 01:21:37 Masonry Redux: :: whispers:: Only your friendship.
06-24-2007 01:21:50 EquiIibria: ::quietly:: It won't be enough.
06-24-2007 01:22:04 Masonry Redux closes his eyes.
06-24-2007 01:22:14 Masonry Redux: I'll have to accept that.
06-24-2007 01:22:15 EquiIibria wipes her eyes
06-24-2007 01:22:36 Red Pulsarion: Kit, if'n you're alright with it, we're gonna give you two some privacy to talk.
06-24-2007 01:22:56 EquiIibria nods at Red and Star
06-24-2007 01:23:12 Red Pulsarion: Won't be going far. (nods) Mase, at some point, Jack and me got some things to discuss.
06-24-2007 01:23:15 StarWyng looks directly at Kit
06-24-2007 01:23:19 Red Pulsarion nods.
06-24-2007 01:23:22 Masonry Redux: Okay...
06-24-2007 01:23:29 StarWyng: you want alone?
06-24-2007 01:23:38 Red Pulsarion: C'mon, Wyng.
06-24-2007 01:23:49 Masonry Redux: Star, for God's sake. I'm not going to hurt her.
06-24-2007 01:24:06 Masonry Redux: ::mutters:: I can't hurt her more than she has been.
06-24-2007 01:24:08 [Broadcast]Red Pulsarion: Wyng.
06-24-2007 01:24:09 EquiIibria: I'll be fine, Star
06-24-2007 01:24:14 StarWyng: okay
06-24-2007 01:24:33 EquiIibria puts the gun away with a sigh
06-24-2007 01:24:34 Masonry Redux: Damn, you can put that thing away.
06-24-2007 01:25:25 Masonry Redux: Kit...
06-24-2007 01:25:34 Masonry Redux: What more can I do? What more can I say?
06-24-2007 01:25:53 EquiIibria: I don't know, Nate.
06-24-2007 01:26:32 Khepri: Bzzzzt
06-24-2007 01:26:37 Masonry Redux: Daisuke has my tears. I have no more left...nothing but an emptiness.
06-24-2007 01:26:43 Masonry Redux: Is there a ...
06-24-2007 01:26:50 EquiIibria watches a bug fly by
06-24-2007 01:26:59 EquiIibria: Did you see that?
06-24-2007 01:27:09 Masonry Redux: Oh. No, no I didn't.
06-24-2007 01:27:17 EquiIibria: Weird.
06-24-2007 01:27:38 Masonry Redux: Maybe one of the new kids.
06-24-2007 01:27:46 EquiIibria: Or bugs.
06-24-2007 01:27:49 Masonry Redux: Got mutated into a bug or something...
06-24-2007 01:28:00 EquiIibria sighs heavily
06-24-2007 01:28:32 Masonry Redux: Kit, all I have are my actions.
06-24-2007 01:28:47 Masonry Redux: Since my words are not believable.
06-24-2007 01:29:05 EquiIibria: Your words hurt.
06-24-2007 01:29:22 Masonry Redux: They were honest.
06-24-2007 01:29:33 EquiIibria: Truth hurts.
06-24-2007 01:29:50 Masonry Redux: Even I didn't know I felt this way until you drew my attention to it!
06-24-2007 01:30:06 Masonry Redux: I've always done this...
06-24-2007 01:30:15 EquiIibria: Done what?
06-24-2007 01:30:42 Masonry Redux: Taken. Taken. Taken. Since I became a hero.
06-24-2007 01:30:59 Masonry Redux: Since the drugs, the pain consumed me.
06-24-2007 01:31:29 EquiIibria: You think I cared about you because of what you took from me?
06-24-2007 01:31:48 EquiIibria: I cared because of what you gave to me.
06-24-2007 01:31:57 Masonry Redux tilts his head.
06-24-2007 01:32:05 Masonry Redux: I did?
06-24-2007 01:32:11 EquiIibria: You were there when Emerald told me I shouldn't exist.
06-24-2007 01:32:40 Masonry Redux nods.
06-24-2007 01:32:58 EquiIibria: You were there after Thad got attacked. You told me that friends take care of each other.
06-24-2007 01:33:24 Masonry Redux 's eyes widen.
06-24-2007 01:33:42 Masonry Redux: Comfort. Comfort brings you joy.
06-24-2007 01:34:06 EquiIibria: You brought me comfort. The least I could do was give you the same.
06-24-2007 01:34:23 EquiIibria: And you threw it away!
06-24-2007 01:34:41 Masonry Redux looks down.
06-24-2007 01:34:49 EquiIibria shoves him with one hand
06-24-2007 01:34:51 Masonry Redux: :: whispers:: I did.
06-24-2007 01:34:55 EquiIibria: I cared about YOU.
06-24-2007 01:35:08 EquiIibria: ::quietly:: I believed in you. Loved you.
06-24-2007 01:35:20 Masonry Redux makes a wounded noise.
06-24-2007 01:35:47 Masonry Redux: My God, Kit...
06-24-2007 01:35:52 EquiIibria: And all you could do was turn around and look for E and Fyre.
06-24-2007 01:36:18 EquiIibria: Thad told you that he thought you were the one of the nicest people he knew. I agreed with him.
06-24-2007 01:36:57 Masonry Redux: But...
06-24-2007 01:37:01 EquiIibria: And it was just a bandage until the people you really wanted summoned you.
06-24-2007 01:37:47 Masonry Redux: Kit ... I thought... I thought they needed me...
06-24-2007 01:37:53 Masonry Redux: But so did you.
06-24-2007 01:37:58 EquiIibria: You WANTED them to need you.
06-24-2007 01:38:19 Masonry Redux nods imperceptively.
06-24-2007 01:38:45 EquiIibria: I thought they wanted help. And who else would they want it from but you?
06-24-2007 01:39:02 EquiIibria: They certainly weren't looking for help from any of us.
06-24-2007 01:39:29 Masonry Redux: But why not?
06-24-2007 01:39:43 Masonry Redux: I asked them all the time to have you guys come and help us.
06-24-2007 01:40:03 EquiIibria: It doesn't matter why. I'm not concerned about that any more.
06-24-2007 01:40:40 EquiIibria: But we weren't as easy to boss around.
06-24-2007 01:41:08 Masonry Redux shrugs a little.
06-24-2007 01:41:26 Masonry Redux: You frightened them, maybe.
06-24-2007 01:41:32 EquiIibria: Doesn't matter.
06-24-2007 01:41:44 Masonry Redux nods.
06-24-2007 01:41:53 Masonry Redux: No. It doesn't matter.
06-24-2007 01:42:05 Masonry Redux sighs.
06-24-2007 01:42:32 Masonry Redux: I liked working with them...until...
06-24-2007 01:42:54 Masonry Redux: Now I need to say, "No."
06-24-2007 01:43:02 Masonry Redux: And Jack does.
06-24-2007 01:43:11 Masonry Redux: This fence is broken beyond repair.
06-24-2007 01:44:48 EquiIibria: They called us fools and dupes for trusting you. Believing in you.
06-24-2007 01:45:03 EquiIibria: The only Nate I knew was the one who hadn't let me down.
06-24-2007 01:45:14 EquiIibria: I miss him.
06-24-2007 01:45:27 Masonry Redux: I abandoned them because part of me couldn't take what they did to me.
06-24-2007 01:45:33 Masonry Redux: What they did to Star.
06-24-2007 01:46:13 Masonry Redux: Yeah, she has some problems, but they didn't have to be mean.
06-24-2007 01:46:32 Masonry Redux: Fyre liked her; E... :: shakes his head::
06-24-2007 01:46:39 Masonry Redux: He's stubborn.
06-24-2007 01:46:41 EquiIibria: E doesn't like to be challenged.
06-24-2007 01:46:48 EquiIibria: Or disagreed with.
06-24-2007 01:46:50 EquiIibria: Or wrong.
06-24-2007 01:47:07 Masonry Redux nods.
06-24-2007 01:47:10 Masonry Redux: I see that now.
06-24-2007 01:47:44 EquiIibria: Fyre was more interested in making sure she got to me before you did. Thinking that I'm so mentally deficient that I can't make up my own mind about something.
06-24-2007 01:48:30 EquiIibria: She didn't want my help. And what Fyre wants, E wants.
06-24-2007 01:48:43 Masonry Redux: Oh, that's damn right!
06-24-2007 01:48:50 EquiIibria: So you know what? ::dusts hands:: This was me walking away from it.
06-24-2007 01:49:23 Masonry Redux: But I did mislead you - I did make myself look better...I didn't tell the whole truth.
06-24-2007 01:49:35 Masonry Redux: A lot of times I didn't realize I was doing it.
06-24-2007 01:49:50 EquiIibria: Nate. There was nothing you could have done to sugar coat what you did that night with Styrm.
06-24-2007 01:50:11 Masonry Redux: No. There isn't.
06-24-2007 01:50:26 Masonry Redux: I would have handed the kid over if I knew where she was.
06-24-2007 01:50:35 EquiIibria: I know.
06-24-2007 01:51:00 Masonry Redux: E would probably have keeled over dead, Fyre hated my guts for the rest of my life, and maybe Frosty too... and I would be a pariah.
06-24-2007 01:51:16 EquiIibria: And you're not one now?
06-24-2007 01:51:23 Masonry Redux snorts.
06-24-2007 01:51:31 Masonry Redux: Yeah. I am.
06-24-2007 01:52:32 Masonry Redux: And there's not much I can do about that.
06-24-2007 01:52:41 EquiIibria: I feel sorry for them. When they need help the most, they're going to have a hard time finding it.
06-24-2007 01:53:43 EquiIibria: But whatever, they get to walk away knowing they were right and the rest of us have to pick up the pieces.
06-24-2007 01:53:49 Masonry Redux winces.
06-24-2007 01:54:24 EquiIibria growls in frustration
06-24-2007 01:54:26 Masonry Redux: This hurts.
06-24-2007 01:54:35 Masonry Redux: You're right. You're right.
06-24-2007 01:54:54 EquiIibria: Does it? Does it hurt? Does it feel like you gave everything you had to someone and they just threw it away because it wasn't good enough?
06-24-2007 01:55:21 Masonry Redux looks her in the eye.
06-24-2007 01:55:24 Masonry Redux: Yes.
06-24-2007 01:55:36 Masonry Redux: I gave so much to E.
06-24-2007 01:55:43 Masonry Redux: Jack gave so much to him.
06-24-2007 01:55:57 Masonry Redux: And he asks Frost and Scarlette to escort him to Crimson.
06-24-2007 01:56:06 EquiIibria: Who the fuck is Scarlette?
06-24-2007 01:56:12 Masonry Redux: He asks Scarlette to bring him back to the hos--
06-24-2007 01:56:32 Masonry Redux: Fyre left. She asked Scarlette Blade, a friend of hers, to keep an eye on E.
06-24-2007 01:56:38 Masonry Redux: And to watch me.
06-24-2007 01:56:39 EquiIibria: Oh.
06-24-2007 01:56:58 Masonry Redux: No one knows where Fyre went.
06-24-2007 01:57:09 EquiIibria: Well, do E a favor then. Leave them! You think you're punishing him by staying? You're punishing yourself!
06-24-2007 01:57:38 Masonry Redux: Jack wanted to try and fix it, but he even realized that it's not working.
06-24-2007 01:57:45 EquiIibria: They don't want it fixed.
06-24-2007 01:57:48 Masonry Redux: But he won't abandon them.
06-24-2007 01:57:57 EquiIibria: They don't want his help.
06-24-2007 01:58:01 Masonry Redux: I know.
06-24-2007 01:58:10 Masonry Redux: They don't want mine, either.
06-24-2007 01:58:12 EquiIibria: You can't abandon something that doesn't want you around.
06-24-2007 01:58:38 Masonry Redux: Jack asked him point blank, and E said he wants me around because he doesn't trust me out here.
06-24-2007 01:58:47 Masonry Redux waves his hand about.
06-24-2007 01:58:58 Masonry Redux: He thinks I'm going to lay waste to this.
06-24-2007 01:59:01 EquiIibria: E wants you around to kick you.
06-24-2007 01:59:11 EquiIibria: He wants you around to punish you.
06-24-2007 01:59:29 Masonry Redux takes in a shuddering breath.
06-24-2007 01:59:29 EquiIibria: And we're here to watch you. But E thinks we're all fools, so he doesn't trust us.
06-24-2007 01:59:48 EquiIibria: He doesn't trust me.
00:01 Masonry Redux looks at the gun.
00:07 EquiIibria puts it away quickly.
00:18 EquiIibria: E is not my master.
00:23 EquiIibria: He is not yours.
00:40 Masonry Redux: He's like... the kids...
00:49 Masonry Redux: ... my God.
01:14 Masonry Redux: I'm so stupid.
01:19 EquiIibria: E knows how to manipulate. He worked for Styrm, didn't he?
01:27 Masonry Redux nods
02:23 Masonry Redux: :: angrily:: He's like the ones I killed.
02:31 Masonry Redux: He's just like them.
02:36 Masonry Redux: Him and Fyre.
02:39 EquiIibria 's eyes widen
02:48 EquiIibria: No! Nate! Don't you even think of it!
03:18 Masonry Redux: Oh. I want to..
03:30 EquiIibria: You're not a child anymore.
03:50 Masonry Redux: So I walk away?
03:53 EquiIibria: You can be better than them. Be stronger.

There's about another hour...

Masonry tore at the ghost attaching himself to his face. He heard a loud boom and the ghost disappeared.

"Sorry, mate."

He blinked away blood. Wombat handed him a towel. He shook his head. Wombat only shrugged and set the towel down. "It will heal."

"Suit yerself. Wha'c'n I do fer ya now?"

"I need you to bind a soul."

He looked at Masonry curiously. "Whose?"

"Nathan Greene's."

"Your host's?"

He nodded grimly.

Womby beckoned to his workshop. "I never bound a human's soul that's boun' to a Kheldian." He showed him to the chair next to his desk. "I 'ave t' do some research."

"I figured you would need to, which is why I am asking now." He gripped the corner of the desk suddenly, squeezing it, his fingers digging hard into the wood. Wombat watched as he struggled with something, listening to the wood crack under the big man's grip. He let go slowly, letting out a breath.

"Why don'cha just let 'im out? Let 'im do what he needs ta do?"

"Because he'll go on a rampage, like he did when he first took the drugs."

"He'll be stopped. You don' give yerself credit."

"Wombat, I have never, ever taken a host over."

"You got th' power t' do it."

He looked at Womby. "He gets past me."

"Cuz you let'im. You have hope."

"I have to. I have to believe that there is something good in him."

"Maybe you were wrong."

He looked wounded. "Do not be like them, Wombat. Please."

Wombat sighed. "Fine 'en, I'll do'it. Ya gotta pay me though."

"How much?"

"Not much." He appraised Jack for a moment. "Few drops o' yer blood."

Jack only smiled. "Somehow, I knew you would ask that. You need to promise me that you will not use it to bind me."

"I promise. I ain' that kinda guy, mate. I jus' wanna study't."

Jack looked him over. "Deal."

Womby merely nodded. Jack winced as he heard Nathan scream.

He lies to me. TO ME.

Some humans are able to push out their Kheldian.

I know that.

Some are able to use their Kheldian powers without their Kheldians knowing.

Yes, I know that.

You trusted him with all that you knew.

I always trust my hosts. It is only fair. They trust me with their lives.

Lodestar, you are a trusted Kheldian because you never have asserted your authority over your host unless it was in danger, and then you always returned control. This is what all Kheldians aspire to, your ways of change and neutrality. Are you saying that this host is different?

This host is familiar with a rogue Peacebringer’s ways. He knows all the ways around my bindings.

Attempt another method.

He sees me try.

Do you have something else in mind?

I do. It may mean the destruction Nathan’s soul.

What if it’s the destruction of your body as well?

So be it.

Even if you’re not finished working with your human friends?

… I must finish my work.

Then put the plan in place, Lodestar, and when the time comes…

Two hours later, Lodestar stood in front of a decrepit building on the far northeast end of Independence Port, and knocked on the door for the second time that week. The door opened on its own volition and he stepped inside –

As a ghost flew forward and tore his eyes out.

"Die."

Jack reeled from the horrific images, and focused on Frosty to see...

Frosty on fire.

More than fire - his whole countenance changed. He had flared out shoulder pads, a tattered red cape, and his whole costume turned red. He stood in the midst of his own fire, rage consuming him.

Frosty slowly raised himself to a standing position, pressing the jewel into his glove. He glowered at Jack with glowing red eyes, and growled, "Die." Then he ran at him and grabbed him by the throat. He began to squeeze and throttle - Jack faded. Nate jostled for position and realized he was going to die, and Jack was initially no where to be found. Nate put his hands on Frost's chest to push him away.

His hands caught fire.

He didn't see it, but felt something burning, smelled hot flesh. He felt Frost let him go growling, "I can't kill you, you bastard."

Nate stumbled and fell, as the fire traveled up his arms. He watched impotently as it moved up his arms, to his shoulders, and in a flash, consumed him. Nate searched for Jack in his mind, demanding him to heal him.

Jack didn't. Jack waited for Frosty's fire to consume the body, and be done. Unfortunately, the hospital teleportation device had a different idea.

When Jack woke up in the hospital, the comm was still on him. He could hear the pitched battle and he struggled up. As he forced himself to heal faster, he dove out the hospital window, heading as fast as he could fly back to Dark Astoria -

While he locked Nathan behind a concrete wall, planning to not let him out again. Nathan would come out when it was safe for him to, or his own death, whichever came first.

So, as he sat in the air above Peregrine Island and put the finishing touches on the part of his consciousness that would keep Nathan locked away, he contemplated his own death by Q-gun.

*thunk*

Silence.

Breathe.

He had forgotten many of the Kheldian methods of calming down, so he now relied on human methods. He sat in a crossed-leg position, focused on a spot about a foot in front of him, and breathed.

Focus.

Nothing. No trace of him. He sat for four hours, floating in the calm serenity of the sky, building the walls, sealing them up. He couldn't crush Nate, although the events last night had sorely tempted him...

They had headed into a Circle of Thorn hide-out, and instead of seeing Thornies, they ran into Malta. He felt himself losing consciousness a couple of times, almost blacking out.

He knew he could take Frost's fire. He had done such a thing before with other humans - take their sickness within himself and either send it out or hold it and convert it to something else within. He always had the cooperation of his host in order to do that. Nate agreed in this.

So when after a battle, when Frost was weakened, he had Frosty put his hand on his and opened himself up wide to him. The fire rushed up, into him - into his blood. The pain...heat from within...he felt it come through him - and it kept coming. He couldn't hold it, so let it out in a burst of flame.

And it still kept coming.

Frosty broke the connection, seeing Jack in pain, but this was what Nathan had wanted all along. Jack was weakened, in pain, feeling like his blood had been boiled and injected back in, now thick and fiery like lava. He saw Frosty jump over the side of the rock and lost consciousness again.

Nathan shrugged himself into the body and followed Frosty. "It was what we wanted," he called after him. Frosty's banging his arm against the wall, trying to get the jewel gone. He wanted to take Frosty's hands, hold them close, hold him close -

He leaned in and whispered to Frosty, "You scared him."

Frosty's eyes widened in recognition. Nathan smiled, but the smile faded at Frosty's words, "Go back."

"What's the problem?" You don't want me? Why don't you want me? I can help you.

"Back off him, Nathan. Or I'll blow your head clean off."

Nathan turned around slowly, to see E ready with his plasma cannon. His eyes narrowed smugly. "Really."

They both yelled at him. Nathan didn't care. Go ahead, do your worst.

And E did.

The world around Nathan faded, and he was back in the altar room, Infernal standing there with his arms crossed and watching; and Strym standing at the head of the altar. Nathan was smiling, holding a frail Jennifer, glancing around to see bodies of his friends, Futura Force, others, all littered around him. He stepped over a prone figure of Thad, kicked aside the body that was Bits. He approached the altar, placed the now almost-crushed body of E's daughter on the altar. He picked up the saw that lay there and began sawing at the child.

The smell of blood assaulted him, but it wasn't the iron/acidic smell, it was old, almost rancid, deeply musky. It got worse as he sawed. The blood that flowed was dark and thick, coagulating at the wounds. Against his will, he touched it - it was almost like jelly. He pinched it and some came up between his fingers, staining them dark crimson.

He poked the jelly, but saw that he had cleanly sawed the ribcage open. Her heart, black and oozing, lay exposed and beating. Strym reached his hand inside the cavity and began stirring the organs around, all the while grinning at Nathan. The demons approached, all wearing faces of what he thought were his friends - Frosty at the head.

Nathan cowered and pulled back. Jack moved in. Jack turned from the sound and smell, but he knew these were illusions. He closed his eyes and let the horror wash over him, even though he could still see these things in his mind's eye, they faded.

Frosty was not finished. Jack smelled something wrong - he tried to focus, looked at Frost holding onto the jewel, and it was on fire. He looked at Frost--

Who had changed.

Nate felt the hands on his throat, saw E's red-visor in his face, and felt him barely shaking him. Nate merely grinned and gave the sick man a hard shove, making him stumble back. "You gotta catch me first," he said, and turned to the altar.

demons a worm hole go through the worm hole he'll never follow

He flew at the wormhole, forcing himself to phase through. He turned around to see E run at him, Scarlette and Frost right behind E. Nate grinned as Infernal took one swipe at him - and he went down. Frost and Scarlette took a little longer, and he watched with almost glee as the demons beat them down. Then a burst of fire hit him.

He was corporeal again and tried to get into the wormhole, but he was coming at it from the wrong side. In his panic he attacked it, but was quickly defeated.

The string of curse words echoed in his mind came from languages of hundreds of species, and Nate felt metal bands surround him, not unlike the metal arms he used to wear. This time he felt the bands tie him horizonally. He could hear what was going on but couldn't see it.

Soon enough the bands began loosening again. He was loose in what seemed like an eternity later, and Nate could see the light which was a symbol of the "driver's seat". He flew toward and slammed into Lodestar's essence. He had done this before with Ben, fighting and pulling Ben back. Lodestar didn't expect the ferocity Nate showed - he knew Frosty was in danger, he needed to save Frosty.

Why are you stepping away from me? I want to help you, comfort you, please... "Please, Frosty. He can't control me."

Nate felt a virtual tap on his shoulder. He turned - and received a virtual punch in the face.

"'ay Mate, how's it --URK!"

The big white-haired man grabbed Wombat by the front of his shirt and lifted him. Wards attacked the man from all around, and even as they stripped the clothes from his back, then the skin from his body, he still held onto the small man, holding him half a foot in the air.

"What have you done," Lodestar growled, suddenly all Kheldian, using the polyphonic voice that commanded the Aerian Starwings and the Sand King's squad. "What magic have you wrought?"

"If ya put me down, we c'n talk like civilized men an' I c'n look at yer face an' not yer skull."

Wards had torn the flesh from his face, making him blink back rivlets of blood. He would have stood there while the wards did their work, even as they dismantled his muscles, then his bones. He set the conjurer down, but the wards didn't cease. He grunted as one stabbed him in between the scapula and clavicle and twisted among the trapesius muscles and cartilage inside.

Wombat whispered something, and the wards left him. He refused to slump in relief, instead focusing his white eyes on Wombat. He willed himself to heal faster.

Wombat asked, "Where's Mase?"

"On a permanent vacation if I have anything to say about it. I want to know how you created Keen Frost's jewel."

"Fire 'n blood."

"Whose blood?"

"His."

"A lot?"

"No' even 'alfa pint."

Lodestar looked at the blood on the floor. "Less than that?"

"Much less." Though Womby tried not to look at it, he had hoped Lodestar wouldn't have noticed it. He could clean it up and use it for...something.

Lodestar summoned three small balls of light. They pooled around his feet, and Womby watched disappointingly as they gathered up the blood from the floor - and Lodestar's body, though he could do nothing about the shredded clothes.

"I need to know how you did it."

"Ya can't do anythin' t' stop it. Magic's as much th' other person's will, doncha know."

Lodestar clenched and unclenched his fists in frustration. "This is why I HATE magic. In all my years I can do nothing against it." He glared at Wombat.

"Ya been burned by magic, eh, Squidly?"

"Yes."

He tilted his head. "Wha'happened?"

"Why should I trust you?"

"Ya shouldn't." He turned his back on Lodestar and headed over to the other side of the room, looking at jars. "I'm killin' yer friend, 'member?"

"No," Lodestar said, "No, you are not, but I thought maybe I could do something. I felt that fire, it's bottomless."

Wombat turned to him. "Ya felt it? How?"

"I touched him, I opened myself up to him to try and take some, and I pulled - and searched -"

"Ya pulled? Oh, that's great, mate. Now it'll be worse."

Lodestar looked down. "I know. It seems no matter what I have done with this life, with Nathan, I have made things worse. I do nothing, and Nathan shows his true colors. I try to help, and make things worse."

Wombat went over to him. He stood there for a moment then tentatively put his hand out. Slowly, he inched his hand forward, and touched a fingertip to Lodestar's wrist. Lodestar stood still, like he did with Star, but that contact was enough, as Womby retreated.

Womby hugged himself, drawing spirits closer around him for comfort. "Did burn you, din't it?"

"Yes." He still looked at Womby, his eyes a little softer. "My essence...was tied to...11 generations of a line of Mexicali, because they bound my blood to theirs."

"Oh?" he looked curious.

"Yes. And you look like all other mages when I say that."

"No, mate, I ain' thinkin' o' doin' such a thing - "

"It would have been 13, for the 13 days of the Aztec calendar."

"Wha' happened t' the other two?"

"I killed them."

Wombat didn't look away, but his eyes widened slightly. "Oh."

He crossed his arms over his bare chest. "Magic and I do not get along."

"I c'n see why, mate. Lis'n," and he came a little closer. "If I coul'do anythin' t' stop it, I would. I made it aft'all."

"His choice, I understand that." He nodded once.

Wombat only smiled. "He's lucky t' 'ave two people who care 'bout 'im so much."

Lodestar returned the smile. "Thank you, Wombat. I am sorry for roughing you up earlier."

"No worries, mate." He nodded to the door. The big man left, closing the door behind him. A couple of the wards appeared, bearing strips of flesh. Wombat smiled, reached his hand out for them -

And they burst into flame.

"Flying a plane is harder than flying a chopper."

Mickey looked across the table at his girlfriend, Swan. He smiled over his smoked salmon. "We've had this argument before, hon."

"How about we prove it?"

"And how do we go about doing that?"

"You take me up. Unofficially."

He gazed at her. "You're crazy."

"I bet I could get Ginny to get you onto a plane. Doesn't take much to switch seats."

"Swan, hon, it'll mean my wings. Our wings."

"Unofficial training exercise."

Swan was relentless. Persistent. Which was how she got to be a pilot in the first place. She flew an F-16. His specialty was Pave Lows, though he had flown many helicopters to and from many Navy vessels, both in calm Atlantic waters and bomb-strewn Middle Rastern bays.

Finally, on July 3, when most of the base was heading out to party, Swan put him in her F-16. After first having sex with him in the front seat, she got clearance to have him take the plane up and out.

The differences he found was that there was both a wingspan and that this machine could not move vertically. Aiming toward the mountains in Colorado, she had to constantly remind him to pull up.

"So what do you think? Easier?"

"I wouldn't necessarily say 'easier'. I don't see anyone come at me so I don't know if I could get into a dogfight."

Swan laughed. "There won't be any dogfights here."

However, he didn't take into account a working terrorist cell, that was just waiting for a single plane to come through a flight path, nor did he take into account that this terrorist cell just may have a Javelin SAM...

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

"Lieutenant?"

"Yeah." It came out as a moan. He hurt everywhere. He opened his eyes to see nothing.

"Lieutenant, can you hear me?"

"Yeah."

"Lieutenant, you were in an accident."

He moaned. The plane. The fire. Screaming. Crash.

"We recovered you and parts of your gunner."

Swan.

"We rebuilt you - most of you - so you'll be all right in a few days."

Then the voice dropped before he faded out of consciousness again. "You work for us now."

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

Who does he work for? Even he's not sure. This was his last lucid moment. He was spoken to without response and thrown out of the lab with the nightgown on his back. He didn't much care for his face because of the burns, so he killed someone for a helmet. His own body is a combination of male and female parts. All of his weapons and clothing come from scrounging, except from now on, when the whole concept of "selling" and "buying" and "auctions" will either blow his mind further or make him hyperfocus and become an auction-house demon.

It remains to be seen.

"Good morning, Nate."

Nate struggled to open his eyes, to lift himself into at least a sitting position. He ended up rolling over, facing the ceiling.

He was tied up, like a Mu Guardian, but in white, not red. The ceiling was white. He lay on a soft, white floor. Everything around him was white. Even the Nova-formed Kheldian hovering beside him was white.

"Jack. Let me go."

The Nova swayed back and forth, a human assumption of shaking its head no. "You have become too dangerous, Nate. I am sorry to have to do this." The Nova floated over and used its tail to hook around the side of straitjacket to pull him up to a sitting position.

Nate yanked himself away, landing face-down on the floor. He rolled over again. "Fuck you. Don't you fuckin' touch me."

"As you wish." The Nova floated back.

"I wish to get the fuck out of this thing!"

"No. Not yet. You have damaged too much. It is time to make amends."

"I don't need to fix anything! It's them! They refused my help, our help!"

"Because of your demands, Nate, your demands to be worshipped." The Nova floated out of his view.

"No, you got it all wrong."

"You can lie to Kit and Daisuke, but not to me." Nate focused again on the ceiling because it was hard for him to turn his head, and saw that it was now a mirror.

"No," he whispered. "No, no."

Reflected in the glass was not the handsome man called Masonry, but the spindly creature who was the pharmacist, the thin nerdy boy with the pimple scars, the one who had to pay for girls to go out with him. He closed his eyes to try and will the image away, but it wouldn't. He wanted to cry, but couldn't.

"Stop it," he cried. "Make it go away!"

"Remember who you were, Nate. Watch and learn."

The Nova form disappeared, and the image on the cieling faded and was replaced. It was as if Nate was looking through his own eyes, watching Frosty, who was trying to look at the very least unconcerned but Nate knew he was uncomfortable.

This is going to be a really long movie night, he thought, though it echoed around him. Even as he spoke, he felt the straps begin to loosen. Nate smiled. It wouldn't take any time at all.

Lodestar felt unbridled rage.

Like a man who saw something race by his field of vision, he turned sharply at the feeling, stunned at its intensity.

He hadn't expected E to constantly snipe at him. He did expect Fyre to back him up and to let loose on him so that did not surprise him. The frustration at trying to deal with E, at holding Nate back, at working to stay harmonious, began building. He half-expected Frost to suddenly drop out of the team and take off.

He didn't expect to feel the anger when he saw Frost leave and someone say, "How rude!" He had the sudden wish to change into a different form and destroy the first thing he focused on - he summoned all his anger and let it out in a furious Dawn Strike.

What is wrong with me? This was why he hated being in control of the host - the host's extreme emotions could easily overwhelm him. He normally buttressed himself against other beings' emotions and stayed neutral, priding himself on making suggestions and allowing the host to choose its direction.

He took many deep breaths focusing on the people before him. He assumed leadership - something he knew he could do. They completed their work. He was reassured at Kit's opinion of Fyre and E. Nate was fine until he said "sniveling brat".

Nate had had plans in place. Not only was he going to the Rogue Isles, but he was going to find Strym and/or his men and help them. His visions of holding down the child himself as they sacrificed her and other visions of revenge upon those who "refused" him - E and Fyre - forced Lodestar to take action.

Once Nate was bound, Lodestar could see the visions of revenge now focused on himself. That he could accept. Whatever revenge Nate could take out on him would happen to the body. However he knew Nate would not go down alone, and this is what stopped him from letting Nate out entirely.

So he attempted to let out the anger slowly, in a controlled constant manner. As he did so, Nates bonds loosened and the vision of the padded chamber faded, because he couldn't keep his attention there anymore.

When E grabbed Jack to begin to pummel him, Jack relaxed to let him do so - and Nate escaped.

NAME USED DURING SERVICE: Bruce David Michaeline
SOCIAL SECURITY NO.:
DATE OF BIRTH: 08/14/1978
PLACE OF BIRTH: Wilmington, NC

SERVICE, PAST AND PRESENT

ACTIVE SERVICE Air Force. Aerial Gunner. 551st Special Operations Squadron, 58th Special Operations Wing, Pave Low III, IV.
1999-2000 Flight Engineer, Pave Low IV, 71st Rescue Squadron, 512th Rescue Squadron.
2000-2004 Helicopter Pilot. 72nd Helicopter Squadron Pave Low IV, MH53 Pave Low, CH46 Sea Knights, CH53E Super Stallion, MH53E Sea Dragon.
RESERVE SERVICE None.
NATIONAL GUARD None.

DISCHARGE DATE: October 11, 2004
DISCHARGE STATUS: Honorable...

"The country is in ruins, and there are still mountains and rivers."

Nathan left them all and headed to the base. Some of the stuff he claimed from his locker was worthless in traveling, but useful to the people in the base. He finished packing. He had chased them all away, time to go to the Isles. Time to go rogue. Get the damn teleport belt off. Work for no one, or someone, or even Arachnos. He smiled, reached down for the bag -

And was gone.

Lodestar took a deep breath of air. It had to be done. Nate had ruined too many plans, too many lives. He wouldn't try to fix it for Nate.

He would try to fix it for everyone else.

He lifted his head, looked back at the room Nate had just left. He let the feelings he himself had felt for Daisuke, combine with the feelings Nate had, and his heart swelled.

The fixing begins now.

Hey, mom. Remember the last time I was here? I don't quite remember that far back, either. A lot of stuff happened since then. I changed. Or maybe I became what I really am. Did you know about any of this, mom? Did I kill puppies in my sleep or something? Where did all this hate come from?

Counselors don't help me. Jack won't either - he won't talk to me, I can't find him. Jack's my Kheldian, my second one. The first one, Ben, he was nuts - they say. ::whispers:: I never thought so. He was strong. He was powerful. He would protect me. Protect me from all of them, mom. All the ones who hurt me when I was a kid.

You must have thought I was crazy before, when I took the drugs. I bet you looked at me and didn't know who I was. I was a good person, then, brought up right by you. I didn't believe much, but I trusted people. Then Ben came. I'm not blaming him for how I felt. I think I was like that because I hated those kids who hurt me so much. I carried that hate for 20 years. I saw them in people who I was with - even though they only wanted to help me.

::kneels:: They were heroes, mom, real heroes. Still are. I was never a hero. I never should have been. All I wanted was revenge. Now all I want is for people to know my name. To know what I've done. Pride, mom. Pride comes before a fall.

I'm fallen, mom. I've betrayed everyone around me because I wanted what I wanted. And then it wasn't what I wanted. I don't think. I don't know. I don't listen to people, not that I won't - I just don't. I have my agenda, what I want. And if people are in the way, I eliminate them, or try to...I think. I don't know. If people don't see what I'm trying to do for them, then I turn against them. I want to kill them, mom, because they refuse me. I couldn't refuse Palley. I couldn't refuse Pitti. No one should refuse me. I'm trying to help, can't they see?

I'm so jealous of Strym, I'll admit it to you. He's got what I could only wish for - worship and fear. People follow him. Heroes are afraid of him, and they want him dead. ::chuckles lowly:: Now I've got that part. Fyre says she's not afraid of him, but she is. I'm not afraid of him, either. ::whispers:: I want to be him.

I'm no where near as smart, no where near as charismatic. Hell, I'm not cunning or crafty - I'm as subtle as a fist to the face. I never was like this, mom. I always did right. What happened, mom? What did I do? Like I told Fyre, I got smart. I opened my eyes and realized that everyone around me was an enemy, that I wasn't a hero.

::closes his eyes and whispers:: I wish I could be stupid again. But E doesn't have time to babysit me and Fyre doesn't have the patience. I think... I need... to leave them. If Futura will take me - depending on what they told Kit, God only knows - I'll remain with them. Or go to Safe Havens with Frosty - if he'll have me.

::rests his forehead on the cold headstone:: Sorry won't work anymore.

Brickstown has little crime, they said. After all, the prison's there, they said.

Guadeloupe DeJesus gathered her books closer to her as she walked by the five Council men, standing on their soap box. "Our numbers will only grow! You, too, will understand our strength. We will soon be willing and able to take control of this city, to bring peace and end the oppression of those so-called heroes."

She bent her head and kept walking. They were silent as she walked by them, but she could feel their eyes on her, assessing her. She hunkered down and picked up her pace, then saw a pair of black and blue boots step before her. She jerked, pulled her head up.

"What is that book?" The Council man in a mask demanded.

She looked at the book in her arms. "It's only...It's about Prenatal Medical P--"

The Council man tore it out of her arms. He turned it over in his hands, opened the cover. He examined a few pages, while Guadeloupe tried to look unconcerned, but wasn't doing a very good job as she wiped sweat from her forehead.

"Where are you from?"

"Arizona," she said quietly, looking at the book and watching his hands page through it.

"No, what country are you from?"

"My... my parents were from El Salvador."

The blue-clad man focused black eyes on her. "Where were you born?"

"El Salvador," she whispered.

The man slammed the book shut. "Are you legal?"

"I'm a student," she protested. "I'm here on a student visa."

"And we're paying for your education, aren't we, wetback?"

She flinched at the slur.

"You come across the border illegally! We welcome you with open arms! We give you an education! All for FREE! We, WE pay for whatever YOU do. What do we get in return? A constantly pregnant hoochie-mama, who milks the system and neglects what five children she already has, so she can sit on the porch of her subsidized housing and smoke crack!"

He threw the book in the air. There was the crackle of gunfire that made her duck and the local people bolt for the nearest cover. She heard herself screech as she hit the sidewalk.

The blue-clad leader laughed, and Guadeloupe risked a peek from the sidewalk. She saw papers falling down like leaves from a tree in autumn, the remnants of her book. He turned and spoke, standing ominously over her, "Know your place, bitch."

"Okay, that's quite enough."

Guadeloupe turned her head to see a tall and broad white-haired man, dressed in a dark green t-shirt and blue jeans. He seemed to be barely holding in his anger as he glared at the Council member.

"Well, well, well, it's Sweetness and Light come to save the day. What a hero!"

He tilted his head. "You know something, I'm really not. But you destroyed a perfectly good book and that I will not abide."

Guadeloupe stared unabashedly at the man. Then he broke out into a grin, looked down at her and winked. A second later, light erupted from his hand and a bolt of energy knocked the blue-clad man away.

Gunfire erupted all around her. She covered her head with her hands and arms and tried not to scream. She felt the earth shake under her and heard the cries of men getting beaten. She stayed that way, even while the sounds of moaning men faded away as their bodies were teleported to the Zig or the hospital.

She felt a touch on her shoulder and jerked up with a cry. "It's okay," the white-haired man said. Guadeloupe turned, latched onto him. She started shaking, and the man gathered her close to him, his huge body covering hers.

"They're gone. It's okay. I took care of them. They won't bother you anymore."

She didn't realize she was crying until she sniffled loudly.

"Thank you!" she cried, burying her head in his chest. The man let out a long sigh.

"You are so welcome." He lifted her head with a finger under her chin. His eyes blazed with white light for a moment and then he blinked, extinguishing the light. He smiled warmly. "Let's see about getting you another book, huh?"

As he helped her up, she saw that he glowed.

The room was covered in blood.

Dried blood was in a starry circle on the floor. Some blood was splashed along the walls. He smelled fresh and old blood, sickeningly sweet herbs and incense, and deep scents of the earth and the grave.

This makes me sick.

This disturbed Jack? Jack of all people was afraid of magic? Masonry put his head up and walked further into the room.

"Oy, mate, don' cross tha' line."

He stopped, turned to where the voice was coming from. A young blond man, in a black robe, jeans, and barefoot walked across the cold stones over to him. "I'm s'prised the wards let ya in. When I set 'em, they turn people inta Swiss cheese."

Masonry parted his jacket to show a series of holes in his shirt.

"Oh. Well'en, how c'n I help ya, since yer so d'termined." Wombat walked across the room and sat on an old wooden desk chair, tilting it back on its springs. He motioned to a chair but Masonry remained standing.

"You made something for a friend of mine. It works too well."

"Whazzat, mate?"

"A fire jewel."

"Keen Frost. Yeah, I r'member. Put it in a box and put it 'way."

"No, he took it out. It's attached to his gloves. He uses it every day. And it's killing him."

Wombat sat forward. "Howcome?"

"He's got radiation poisoning. His ice slows down the degeneration, but when he heats up, it accelerates it."

"Ah, mate, so ev'ry time he put 'em gloves on - oh, I see. Does he know?"

"That the fire jewel does that? Yes."

"Well'en." He sat back again. "He knows what he's doin'."

Masonry looked pained, turned his eyes back out to the room.

"He tol' me he wanted t' touch people an' be normal. He's as normal as he c'n be, but it ll be short."

Masonry took a deep breath and said, "I don't want him to die."

Wombat got up and smiled. "Mate, he ain' ever gonna die. He's ri' there." He pointed to Masonry's head.

"Small comfort."

"Wha's better, mate, t' know he was happy slummin' wi' 'is boys or tha' he spent 'is last days in bed starin' at a ceiling?"

He tried to not look like he was pleading. "Make something... something that... I don't know."

"Mate, I c'n make some'in t' calm ya down."

NO! cried Jack.

"Um, no thanks."

"Suit y'rself." He shrugged, folded his arms across his chest. His countenance said, Leave. Masonry passed his eyes across the room, then focused on Wombat's desk. Masonry nodded toward a deck of tarot cards lying there. "You read cards?"

He looked at the cards. "S'mtimes. T' get ideas f'r charms."

"Do they really tell your future?"

"They tell y'r future fr'm this moment in time. Y' could still go outside an' get hit by a truck an' I'da never seen it."

"How do you do it?"

Wombat reached over and picked up the deck. He shuffled them quickly, and handed them to Masonry. "Shuffle 'em a' leas' three times."

They were bigger than a normal deck of cards, but his hands were large enough to shuffle them easily. "Done," he said, intentionally losing count after three.

Wombat took the deck, held it to his chest and closed his eyes. He mumbled something, then set the deck down, squaring it off. With a flick of his wrist, he spread the deck flat. "Pick three cards, put 'em down. Anywhere."

Masonry took his finger and followed the line of cards, stopping when he felt he could. "Face up?"

"Any way you want."

He turned the first one over and put it down on the desk above the fan of cards. It was upside down.

"Eh eh, don' turn i'right."

He left the card there, picked another. His eyes widened at that one as he placed it next to the first. Then he picked a third, placed it next to the second. He stepped back.

Wombat peered at the cards, then looked at Masonry. "The Hanged Man reversed. It's somebody who sacrifices but isn't really. Who sacrifices but makes a lotta noise doin' it."

Masonry closed his eyes. "Yeah."

Wombat pointed to the middle card. "There's like five dif'rn' cards in th' deck tha' show lovers. Most of 'em are minor'cana - you pick'd the major'cana. Two major'cana so far - 't means it's all b'yond yer control, mate, an' you prob'ly can't do nothin' t' change it."

"What's a majorcana?"

"There's two sets o' cards, Minor Arcana - which 's numbers an' suits, an' Major Arcana, archetypes."

I'll explain later, Jack assured him.

"Okay, sorry. So that major arcana Lovers means..?"

"Whaddya think, big man?"

Masonry blushed.

"More'n sex, mate. Pure love."

"I have that?"

"'pends on how this'n resolves." He pointed to the Hanged Man. "If 'e realizes tha' his sacrifices don' mean nuthin' no matter how much noise he makes, then this'll happen."

If you stop sacrificing, and looking around to make sure people know you're sacrificing, then it'll fall into place.

Masonry nodded. "Okay, I understand that."

"Eight of staves. Change. Lotsa change. Nothin' static. But ya gotta get this other stuff fixed first, rockman. Or th' changes'll hurt."

He touched the card, narrowing his eyes at it. "Why not the death card?"

"Death means y're ready for th' change, it's happenin' or happened." He motioned to the card. "That means stuff happenin' too fast, an' you gotta change wi'it." He gathered up the fanned deck leaving the three cards out. "Ge'y'r foundations solid, mate."

He nodded, chewing on that. "Okay, thanks."

"One more thing, mate."

Masonry focused on Wombat.

"Ain' jus' you ou' there. Time t' be a hero."

Masonry swallowed hard and walked back out to the wards, preferring to have that pepper his body over Wombat's words tearing his soul.

"I don't want them looking at me waiting for me to die any second."

Nate yawned and opened the bathroom door onto the "bar room". He heard the sound of lightly tinkling bells, which meant someone was coming through the teleporter.

It's six a.m. Who the hell..?

A woman's form materialized. She was very short with shoulder-length black hair, dressed in a simple shirt, jeans, and sneakers. A bow and a quiver of arrows was strapped to her back. She looked stunned for a minute, looked around, and swore, even more colorfully than he could.

He raised an eyebrow at her, as she stepped out of the infirmary section. "God damn mother fucking arrow build - he could have given me a fucking TA, but at least I don't have to keep drawing the fucking thing after I get the fucking snowstorm going! Fucking bow!" She started to try and break it over her thigh, but the bow only bent.

"Need help?"

She stopped, looked up at him, and her mouth dropped in shock. "Holy shit, you're cute."

He chuckled gently. "Some have said that saves me from certain death." He put his hand out. "Need help with that?"

She looked at the bow, still sitting across her thigh shere she was trying break it. She looked up at him, standing there with his hand out. She walked over and handed it to him.

He took both ends and brought them together against the curve. It snapped in half, sending shrapnel in all directions.

"Damn," she muttered and looked at her arm. A piece of shrapnel, about three inches long, stuck out of her bicep.

He took her arm gently. "It's a flesh wound." He pulled the piece out; she didn't even flinch. No blood flowed. He narrowed his eyes at her. "You don't bleed."

"Of course I don't bleed, this is a game." She took the pieces of the bow out of his hands. "When I get back up there I'll have a brand new bow and quiver of arrows. Every single time."

"Do you... do you feel?"

"Feel what?"

"Pain."

"No, my HP goes down."

"You don't feel the elements? Heat? Cold?"

"No. Can't smell anything either. I'm a pixel person, just like you."

"Oh..." He nodded knowingly, "Frosty talked about you."

"Probably said I should go to the asylum in Nerva."

"He didn't go that far. But he spoke highly of you. What's your name?"

"Fethshael. And you're Masonry Redux."

"Huh? No. Just Masonry. Or Mase."

She glanced above his head for a moment. "Whatever."

"Are you hungry? I have a couple of hours until I have to to work."

"Hungry? Well, I guess, but I can't go into the restaurants."

"Why not?" he laughed.

She crossed her arms. "You'll see."

He decided to take her to the Happy Duck in Talos. She showed up outside the restraunt in about ten minutes, since she was coming from Skyway.

He held the door open for her. She took two steps and banged against an invisible wall. "There it is, it says in white letters, 'You cannot enter.'"

Masonry looked around the door's front. "Where?"

"Forget it, they're gone now. I can only go into the stores and missions."

"Oh. Well let me get you something. What would you like?"

"Clam roll. With the bellies."

"Gotcha." He placed his order and was surprised when it came out - it wasn't even on the menu. He took his own chicken sandwich and met her outside. She sat forlornly at one of the many pools in the city.

He handed it to her and sat next to her. She took one of the clams out of the roll and popped it in her mouth. She looked down at the roll.

"What's wrong?" He had his chicken sandwich half done already.

"It doesn't taste like anything." She put it down next to her. "I don't feel, I don't smell, now I don't taste. God, this fucking sucks."

"Let me try one."

She handed him the plate and he took a bite. "Tastes fine to me."

"It's yours. Sorry Masonry."

"It's okay." He ate that too. "Wait, what did you say, you don't feel?"

She shook her head. "Nope." She put her hand in the water and swished it around. "Doesn't feel wet."

"So cold, you don't feel it?"

"I feel the effects, like slow effects. And holds. But I don't feel cold. I don't feel heat. My end and HP go down and I can see that but I don't feel it."

He crossed his arms across his chest. "Does Frosty know this?"

She shrugged. "He's a 40. I'm a 25. The sk would be horrible on his xp."

Masonry blinked. "I don't understand a word you just said."

She sighed. "No, you wouldn't. Your player's pretty good."

Raising an eyebrow, he said, "My 'player'?"

"Nevermind."

He growled, "I really hate that word."

She turned and focused on him, and Masonry saw that she looked scared.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that."

She swallowed. "Sure."

"Listen, let me make it up to you. Tool around with me for a little while, can you do that?"

She shrugged. "Not like I have any timed mishes."

He looked at her and thought, She doesn't feel...

I'm getting irritated with Masonry. I started writing this with an entirely different ending in mind, that Mase would understand "Laughter is the best medicine" and ended up with this. Yes, it's in character. But it bothers me that he won't change.

Masonry tore off the bucket helm and threw it, watching it slam into and through a metal box near the warehouse.

Nate -

They laughed at me!

Which was the purpose!

He looked down at his lime green pants with the blue diamonds. "I can't believe you talked me into this!"

Nate -

"Frosty was uncomfortable with it, he probably thinks I'm going to go get myself a mask next - and...they laughed at me!"

Nate.

"And things are still all fucked up, E's still dying, and you made them all laugh at me."

When we first started the night, E was discussing how he was dying. By the end of the evening, he had a smile on his face, which is better than what we began, don't you think? And Fyre probably found it amusing.

"She would." A pedestrian walking past him stopped to look at him when he spoke. He glared. The woman kept walking.

Nate, is there a difference between your being a punching bag for Fyre or E, or being the butt of a joke?

"Of course there is."

What?

"I can take being hit. I want them to hit me until all their anger and frustration is out. I want them to do everything they want to destroy me."

She'll kill you.

"Don't you think I don't know that? Do you think I care?"

And she won't feel the least bit guilty about it.

Masonry jerked up his head. "What?" he whispered.

You'll be a flicker on her memory and then gone. You've made her hate you *that* much. Masonry walked, not paying attention to the direction, listening to the gentle voice in his mind. I know what you're trying to do, Nate, but not everyone handles stress the way you do. She might not be able to "vent" it. She'll let loose on you and walk away. Then we'll both be dead and for what? How can we help Frosty then? How can we help E?

"E doesn't want our help."

You said the same thing but he still helped you. You owe him that much.

"He's dying."

You know that, he knows that. He doesn't need to be reminded. Don't ignore it, but stop it. Stop goading Fyre. Like Kit said, you hurt Fyre, you hurt E.

He stopped. "I know."

Do you remember what you did to make her happy?

What do I care if she's happy or not?

There was silence in his mind for quite some time before Jack said, You are jealous. You want her to beat you not because you want her to feel better, but so you actually have the chance to kill her.

Yes. All emotion emptied from him, and even Jack couldn't find it for a moment.

If you kill her that's not going to change E's mind for you, in fact, he'll turn entirely on you.

Maybe.

Nate! Think! He's not interested!

It's not that anymore. He looked at his reflection in the window. "He refused me."

He has the r--

Masonry put his head through the window. Then he slammed his head against the wall to silence the squid and knock himself unconscious.

He didn't know how long he stood there, watching the power prototype. Rusty had his hands behind his back, looking at the swirling lights, remembering something his first engineering "teacher" told him: "Warp engines do not hum. They do not purr. They sing."

This one hums, but is so, oh so close to singing.

He glanced around for a moment, then pulled out his pocket knife, advanced to the rear of the machine. He got to his knees, then tucked himself beneath to see a panel.

I need a fucking Allen wrench?

Growling, he got up from his position and went over to a drawer, started rummaging through it. An Allen wrench was not the most common tool, which meant he either had to go all the way back to his room or sneak into Kit's workshop.

He took the former, not trusting that when he opened the door to the workshop, some alarm would go off and he would be thrown out by something akin to a cartoon punching arm. Too much Road Runner, Rusty, he thought, shaking his head. He glanced around again when he returned, and climbed back under the machine.

It took him some time to get the panel off, and when he did, his mouth dropped open in shock. All she needs to do is add ekka, inject that into this part of the superconductor, and this magnet over here, move --

His head swam for a moment, converting what he saw before him into mathematics. He searched for pen and paper while he was on the floor, then stopped, realizing that he was fixing the problem.

Why don't you give Kit the solution and let her figure out how to get there? He'd get her to the first step, from changing the perfect energy source before him into one which could create and sustain warp bubbles, step one of the Alcubierre drive...

He hurriedly put the panel back, suddenly excited. We can go home sooner than I thought!

He suddenly hesitated as he hand-twisted the screw.

They can go home. I'm not going.

Providence, dressed in a long white shirt, opened the door. She looked up to see Masonry staring down at her.

"Prov," he said, and pushed his way in. He kicked the door shut, grabbed her and kissed her. "Now."

Afterward, he lay in Providence's bed, looking up at the ceiling, while Prov traced lazy circles across his chest with her fingertip. "Whyso forceful?"

"I needed to be sure." He hugged her.

She raised her head to look at him. "Speak unto me, sure of what?"

He smiled at her. "To be sure I could still love a woman."

"Truly so," she replied, and propped her head up by her elbows, which she rested on his chest. "Thy love for E-VAC weigheth heavy upon thee?"

He gazed at her. "He's dying, Prov. The radiation, it's eating him up from the inside. Him and Frosty."

Providence's face changed from stunned to something softer, as she watched Masonry's reaction.

"Cry, Nathan."

He shook his head and suddenly grew cold. "I'm not going to cry anymore. It doesn't help. I'll ignore it."

"Nay, Nathan, I know thee well. Thou hast a good heart, and a good guide. Thou canst not ignore thy emotions forever."

He snorted. "Star wants to talk to him. Everyone seems to like him better."

"Nay, I like thee well." She smiled and kissed him. He hugged her again.

"I don't know what to do, Prov."

"Be there."

He looked at her.

"If there is nothing thou canst do, merely be there."

"E doesn't want me."

"What of Frosty?"

He suddenly hugged her fiercely. "I don't know," he said, and caressed her head, lifting her face by the chin.

She put her head on his chest and listened to his heart. "Thou hast love for many, there art all kinds of love, not only this."

"I know."

"Thou loveth Frosty well?"

He whispered, "Yes."

"As E?"

"I don't know."

She raised her head. "Honest, at least. Maybe thy relationship shalt grow and then thou shalt know." She poked at his chest as she spoke, "Thou goest too fast!"

"I have to go faster, they're going to die. E seems to have some 'kids' fresh out of school who are helping him. They're doing experiments on him to try and heal him but they're making him worse..." He took a breath and it was like a sheet of ice covered him - his eyes grew cold.

Providence leaned back. "Nathan, feel."

"No." It came out as almost a growl, so flat and determined it was. "No more. I won't ask. Let them figure it out." Then he lightened up, "I'll be there for Frosty because I know he doesn't want his brother involved - and someone should be there. E doesn't need me. He's got what I wanted him to have. She'll throw money at him and take care of him. Besides, she hates me and..."

"Thou hateth her?"

He shook his head. "No. Angry that she can do something and I can't. That she can just buy what she needs and buy whoever she wants, and I can't even get in to see my best friend. That she can do stuff without Frosty or me. That she's ... got E."

"Thou art jealous."

He didn't comment. He pulled Providence close to him, kissed her deeply, and proceeded to deflect.

Kelly jumped almost ten feet in the air when she heard the buzzer. She blinked, stared at the computer screen in front of her for a moment, then up at the clock. Three a.m.? I already brought the records down to ER...

She hoisted herself up from the chair. A heavy set woman with stringy dark brown hair, she had worked at medical records for six years. Many physicians came to MR in the wee hours of the morning - some bore gifts, most ignored her. She knew the on call docs and residents weren't doing any research, which would be the other reason someone would buzz the door.

She approached the door at the end of the hallway. She saw the back of someone's white-haired head. She looked at the doorhandle and opened the door. She looked up at the doctor.

And stared into the most beautiful blue eyes she'd ever seen.

"G'mornin'!"

She found herself letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Good morning, doctor," she said, and let him in. He wore the usual white smock, but wore a t-shirt and jeans, and boots underneath. Unconventional, but maybe he was like House.

"Tough f'r us t' be up this late a'night," he said. She couldn't place his accent. She'd never heard or seen him before. Small klaxons went off in her head - "Check his ID" - as he walked in, heading right toward some research that was pulled for the University.

"Hm, 'sain' wha' I axed f'r," he turned to her. "I been lookin' f'r a sp'cific person."

"I'll need to see your ID, doctor," she said.

He patted himself down. "I done lef' it upstairs."

She folded her arms across her chest. She'd been her long enough to stop other doctors from taking the files out of the office - and she actually followed a physician to his office and watched him read whatever it was he needed.

"I'm sorry, doctor, but I don't know who you are."

"I ain' takin' it." He smiled, and the light reached his eyes. "Jus' lookin' 'sall."

"What's your name?"

"Rogers. Jim Rogers. I'm an intern."

"Your request needs to be countersigned by a physician you've worked directly under."

He put his fingertips to the bridge of his nose. "A'right. Who's th' doc on call?"

She went deeper into the record room to her desk, turning her back on the doctor. When she turned to her desk, facing the doctor, he was looking at the on-call schedule posted. He followed it with his finger, then stopped. He smiled warmly at her again.

"I'll be right back."



"Nate, it'll be my license!"

"No, it won't. I'm assessing this man for a potential Kheldian bonding. That's all you have to tell her."

Marc Young, newly a resident at Steel Canyon, stared at Nathan. He shook his head. "Breaking Federal laws suck, Nate. You go to jail, I go to jail, that poor secretary goes to jail."

"I'll take full responsibilty and say that I coerced you."

"Sure, we'll walk back in there and you're holding a gun to my head."

"Actually," he gripped the metal railing of the stair and squeezed. His fingertips popped into the hollow metal and the metal curled as he squeezed. He pulled his hand out of the hollow and brushed it off.

"Nate, you'll go back to jail."

"Not if we do this right, Marc."

Young glared at Nate. "I'm not doing this for you, you know. I'm doing this for Jack."

He nodded, "And he appreciates it."

"Whatever," he snarled, as they got back into the elevator. A female nurse came in with them. She looked at Nathan and smiled at him. "Are you new here?"

"Yes'm," he said, as Young whirled around in shock. Jack's voice! My God, that's Jack's voice!

Nathan - Jack? - turned to Marc and smiled. "Our floor," he said just moments before the door opened.

The two men walked out of the elevator, and Marc turned to him. "Jack? Is that you?"

"Hey, Mousie."

Marc threw himself at him and hugged him tightly. "Jack! You didn't even say good bye!"

"No time, Mousie. I hadda help 'im immediately." He raised Marc's head. "Y're helpin' a good man, both this'un an' th' man whose records we need."

"Stay here, Jack, please. For a little while."

"After this."

Marc wiped his face and took a deep breath. "Okay." They approached the MR office again.

Kelly opened the door to see the white-haired doctor and Dr. Young, who looked like he'd been crying. She looked from one to the other, wondering if the white-haired doctor had beaten up Dr. Young somehow.

"Hello, Dr. Young. Dr. Rogers."

Marc spoke, "Hi, Kelly. Listen, get whatever chart he wants."

"Will you be taking it anywhere," she asked as she headed toward her desk.

"No ma'am," Jack said, "Jus' lookin'."

"Then you don't have to sign it out. What's the name?" She poised her hands over the keys.

"Pace. Jason Pace."

"Oh, Doctor Pace? I know him," she said, typing his name in. "What do you need it for?"

When the white-haired doctor widened his eyes, Young said, "She has the right to ask the question, N--Roger."

She glanced at him, noticing the wrong name. Young flushed under her gaze.

"It's for a bonding. A Kheldian bonding."

Kelly knew from experience that when super heroes were involved, it was entirely different level. Most other clerks would have been impressed and given in. Kelly had never been one of them.

Until now.

When she looked up into the pure blue eyes of the white-haired doctor, almost with a twinkle in them, she could almost read his pleading, his sorrow. Pace meant something to him.

She nodded, wrote his number down and went to fetch it. As they stood near her desk - the computer was locked so he couldn't look any further - they heard her call from the file room.

She thrust a thick file at them. "You can sit right there."

Young took the folder from Rogers's hands and went to the table. He opened it and glanced up at Kelly. "Got anything recent? This is last year's."

"Not unless he's admitted."

Young handed the folder to Rogers. "Can we check and see?"

Rogers skimmed it and didn't know where to put it. "Just leave it there," Kelly said, "I'll put it away."

The two of them followed her again to her desk. She called up on her computer who was admitted. "Nope, he's not admitted."

"Of course," Rogers said. "'Course he ain't."

"Do we have any John Does?"

She punched that in. "A couple. One's in ICU. The other one's in the Garrahy Wing."

Rogers looked expectantly at Young. "I can get you to ICU. That one's in his 80's." Young said. "But I can't get you into Garrahy."

"Why not?"

"It's a locked unit, government subsidized. Need all kinds of security to even get in the foyer."

"He's there," he said. "They've got him there." When he looked up, his eyes were blazing white.

She jerked back from him. He turned to her, closed his eyes, snuffing the white fire, then opened his eyes to show that pure blue.

"Jack, c'mon," Young was saying. "You can't go barging in there like gangbusters. They have Q guns there."

Jack, she thought, with a raised eyebrow. He introduced himself as Jim.

"I've survived Q guns before," he said, and smiled. "But you're right - no, you are right. They wouldn't let him out for heroing if he was held against his will - possible that he doesn't realize it - "

She listened as the voice had changed from the heavily accented one to something approaching clinical. His whole carriage changed, too, from being slightly bent to standing straight, almost in a military position.

He nodded his head in finality. "We know where he is. Patience, Nate." He turned to Young. "So, Marc, take ya downstairs f'r a grilled chicken?"

Young's voice was cold. "The kitchen's not open, Jack."

"We'll sneak in."

"I'm not hungry," Young said suddenly. "Thanks for your help, Kelly."

"Marc." Rogers put a hand on Young's shoulder.

He shrugged it off and started toward the door. Rogers followed. "Mousie."

He whirled around and yelled, "Don't you call me that!" Then he threw open the door and stormed out.