JULY 12, 1987
Boston, Massachusetts
The taxi pulls up to the curb at the vacant lot. Eileen McCoy rolls down the window to lean out. “It’s gone,” she says. Eileen is sure this was the address of Enchanted Suites, Bed and Breakfast the last time she visited Boston, but now it is gone! She tried to book a room but the number had been disconnected. Apparently the address has been too. “Just take me back to my hotel,” she tells the driver. Eileen is glad that she checked into another hotel after she couldn’t contact the Bed and Breakfast. She really had hoped that the three witches that ran the Inn could help her to find the fugitive Rodney brothers.
She is glad she kept an eye on police reports coming out of Boston after returning home. She feared that with all she had seen the Rodney brothers do, keeping them in jail would be a problem. Now using the suit she is sure she can bring them in again and make sure that they stay locked up this time. So much has changed in the past year she thinks as the cab returns to her hotel near the airport. Eileen returns to Boston a widow when last she was here she wasn’t even ready to accept her feelings for Corey. In a way this is where it all began for her, the changes in her life. It has been both a curse and a blessing in many ways.
By the time Eileen pays the cab driver and gets back to the Constitution Inn hotel she is feeling rather depressed over thoughts of the past year. In her room she digs in her purse, she didn’t think it would be wise to where the suit to the Enchanted Suites but she always keeps it with her in her purse. Taking out the alien disc she places it on the table while she undresses. Once stripped down to her pink bra and panties Eileen touches the disc to her bare chest where it adheres. The red and blue alien fabric expands from the edges of the disc to cover her body in the alien powersuit that always makes her feel better when she wears it.
The instant the mask covers her face she is stymied by a vision of events taking place in a park not far from the center of the city. A pale green man dressed in only dark green wrestling shorts stands on a cobblestone path his hands in front of him clawing at the air. Passersby flee as the ground trembles in front of him erupting like the formation of a volcano. Sentry has learned to take some control in these vision over the past few months allowing her to zoom in on the man’s face.
“Shit, it is David Rodney under all that green paint,” she exclaims. “Maybe Shawn or Christian, but it is one of them!” Sentry hurries to the sliding glass doors in her room’s Balcony. As she leaps over the rail, she is relieved that she will not have to strong-arm her way into the Boston police department for information now. She has a feeling that it won’t go as well this time without Steve Roberts sticking up for her. Taking flight she can see a cloud of dust rising from the east showing her the direction to the park in her vision.
Harambee Park
930 Blue Hill Avenue
Boston, MA
The pale green man takes hold of the Earth at his feet by sheer will, forcing it to bubble open like a backed up drain. The grass is pushed aside as the dirt and rocks underneath erupts upward falling in all directions like something is pushing up from deep below. Children in the nearby playground point and shout at the strange man who is oblivious of them. His goal takes all of his attention.
“Rodney, what are you doing?” Sentry shouts as she arrives on the scene. She flies toward him ready to tackle him to the growing mound of dirt that is piling up quickly. Silently, the green skinned man turns to glare at the approaching threat. Sentry never makes contact with her target. She is thrown back by an invisible force. Nearly colliding with a woman pushing a stroller. “Everyone clear the area!” Sentry shouts as she steps back to face her foe.
Sentry takes a swing at the man she blames for her father’s death. Her fist is halted a foot from the green man. She swings out again as she begins to pound on the invisible barrier. The man inside the bubble looks to her speaking in a language she does not understand. “你對我來說就是你湯裡的蒼蠅” (1) Beams of emerald light strike out from his eyes toward Sentry.
Sentry dodges the beams, spinning to see the emerald light strike the ground. From an exposed tree root new growth sprouted reaching out toward Sentry before she even make a move. The rate of growth is far beyond anything Sentry could have ever imagined as she is ensnared in the twisting limbs. She manages to break her arms free of the smaller limb as other quickly thicken and trap her legs lifting her from the ground.
Children scream at the sight of the woman trapped in the growth from a tree root from deep under the Earth. Ensnared Sentry struggles to escape its thickening limbs that are growing at an alarming rate. The branches bind Sentry faster than she can break free of them. Where did Rodney get these new powers? Is the first thought in her head as she feels the air being crushed from her lungs. Energy blast that is the key she thinks as her consciousness wanes. She is feeling the pain now even through the suit, it breaks her concentration.
As the wooden prison closes tighter around her, Sentry’s eyes spot a shape moving toward her over the grass. It sails closer at high speed as she recognizes it as a man dressed in blue and gold welding the largest ax she has ever seen.
“兄弟的另一個方法，比這個更強大，” (2) the strange green man says to himself.
Master Warrior arrives just as Sentry is about to pass out. His over sized battle ax strikes down through the chaotic bramble of tree limbs to splitting it from the trunk, sending the part that binds Sentry to the grass. He continues to chop at the wood to free the trapped heroine. Master Warrior believes he is freeing a park bystander until he sees the red and blue costume she wears with an emblem on her chest.
Sentry is barely conscious as Master Warrior gets her free of the tree. Running he carries her to a blacktopped parking lot to sits her down next to a parked car. The brightly costumed woman safe, Master Warrior turns back to see that the splinters he made of the tree, now take root in the ground where they fell. “Stay here, I’ll handle this,” Master Warrior instructs Sentry as he turns back to Rodney.
Taking to the air, he dare not use his ax again on the thicket that has now sprung up like a wall. He will go around the blockage to attack from the other side. The feeling of deja vu is all to clear in his head as he comes at his foe with his arsenal in the shape of a staff bringing it down hard on the shield that protects him.
The man Eileen McCoy and Steve Roberts knew was David Rodney a year go still remains silent almost ignorant of everyone and thing around him other than his task. The pile of dirt and rocks that have pushed up from below is now nearly as tall as Master Warrior. Thought it may appear that Rodney is unaware of Master Warrior’s attack, he is not. “地球把這個人變成了！” (3) The upturned dirt suddenly reshapes itself to become a tidal wave of Earth and rocks. Master Warrior’s danger sense warns him seconds too late.
Steve Roberts dreamt of this encounter last night. That is what brought him to this Boston park in the first place. In his dream, it was he who was attacked by the tree leaving him completely unprepared for this event. Suddenly as always his cape springs out from around his neck cocooning him in the protective fabric as the wave of dirt collides with him. Master Warrior is sent across the park toward the Baseball field like riding the tide.
Master Warrior’s failure is not a total loss as it provides the distraction that Sentry needs to fire an energy blast at their foe. The blast sends the Earth mover sailing across the park to the blacktop where she hopes he will be stunned long enough for her to rescue Master Warrior.
By the time she reaches the mountain of dirt where the other hero is already digging himself free. “Thanks for the save,” Sentry says reaching out to take Master Warrior’s hand to help him pull free of the mound. The moment they touch, Sentry sees his true face. “Oh my god, Steve Roberts is that you?” Sentry exclaims.
“Excuse me?” Master Warrior says kicking over a large boulder that holds his foot down.
Sentry realizes that her mask hides her own face. “This is so weird meeting you here again like this, it’s me Eileen, Eileen McCoy,” she whispers to him as he steps completely free to the grass. “We met here in Boston last year.”
Master Warrior remembers Eileen McCoy but he is confused by this turn of events as he lets go of her hand. “How do you know who I am?”
“Sorry, it’s the suit,” Sentry explains as Master Warrior’s face again becomes camouflaged to her eyes. “When I took your hand I could see through whatever it is you are doing to hide your face.”
Master Warrior remembers his stay at the Enchanted Suites and the premonition the witches helped him have using a talisman. The woman he fought in the dream was Sentry, Eileen McCoy who was staying only a few rooms away from him at the time. “We really don’t have time to catch up now,” he says as he spots Eartho getting up from the parking lot.
The heroes take flight across the couple hundred feet to the parking lot. At about twenty-five feet Sentry fires another bolt of energy at the green man, putting him back to the blacktop. Master Warrior pulls ahead of her now, swooping down to grab the man by the arm. He flies the foe higher into the sky. Master Warrior knows from his dream that the green one’s powers are connected to the Earth itself. Separating the two will weaken this one. It is then that he sees that Rodney holds something in his hand. Master Warrior has no time to comprehend what the object is before he his struck down by it. “釋放我，渣滓！” (4)
Freed from his captor the pale green man tumbles toward the ground, but so does Master Warrior. The choice is clear for Sentry, save her friend or save the man who murdered her father. Turning up her speed Sentry manages to catch Master Warrior before he hits the ground. The force of the impact is enough to bring her down as well in a not so graceful landing.
The people from the park hurry to gather around the two heroes on the grass as Sentry revives Master Warrior. His senses return to him quickly as he looks around at all of the people standing over them. “I guess we are even then, Ei…. what do you call yourself?”
“Sentry,” she answers. “I think we should go,” “I’m not as much for the spotlight as you Master Warrior,” she smiles showing off that she knows his name. She helps Master Warrior up and the two take to the air again. Making two loops in either direction over the park there is no sign of the green Rodney. Then Sentry vears away and Master Warrior follows. “I’m staying at the Constitution Inn,” she calls to him.
“I’ll meet you there in an hour and a half hour, to compare notes, I have a few things to take care of first.” Master Warrior shouts as he turns to head north.
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church
1545 Tremont St.
Boston, MA
As it turns out Xander Beachum was born in Boston, he moved to New Jersey when he was adopted by the Beachum family. It was at this church that the infant was left. Xander was nearly two when he was adopted, so there is a chance that he may have come back here to Boston for some reason. David thought it was worth checking out so he sent Steve here alone.
Steve is no longer surprised by his dreams. Even before he knew he was coming to Boston he dreamt of Eartho. The name fits even if he couldn’t remember it until he met the man he once knew as David Rodney. He also knows that David’s other two brothers have been changed too, he just doesn’t know how yet.
The thing that does surprise him is Eileen McCoy showing up here in Boston again as Sentry. It makes it a little clearer why the witches’ spell worked the way it did. The spell was influenced by Eileen’s presence at the Bed and Breakfast. He was shown some future conflict between them that he must avoid. That aside, what are the odds that the two of them would choose this same path?
Having changed back to his street clothes Steve Roberts enters the cathedral at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. At the front altar he spots a man dressed in a long black robe preparing flowers for an upcoming service. Hurrying down the aisle Steve calls to the man softly, “Excuse me, Father do you have a few minutes to speak to me?”
The man turns around to reveal to Steve that he isn’t much older than him. “It is not Father yet, I am only an Acolyte or Brother Michael if you prefer,” the young man says stepping down from the altar. “What is it that I can do for you?”
Steve pulls out the photo from his pocket that Mrs. Beachum gave them of her son to show it to the Brother Michael. “Has this man been here recently?” Brother takes the photo looking at it closely, a bit shocked by the near nude man posing in a Speedo.
“I must say I would remember a man dress like this in here,” Brother Michael replies blushing slightly.
“He was mostly wearing more clothing, maybe even hiding his face,” Steve explains. “As a baby he was left here for adoption years ago.”
Brother Michael thinks for a moment and says, “There was a blind man in here a few weeks ago.” “I mean, I don’t know for sure if he was blind, he wore dark glasses and walked with a cane.” “He kept a hoodie pulled down over his face, he wanted to talk to Monsignor Mallory.”
“Is Monsignor Mallory here now, could I speak with him?” Steve asked eagerly, finally getting a lead on Xander Beachum.
“Yes, he is in his office, right this way,” Brother Michael instructs leading Steve out the side door of the cathedral.
Trademark Investigations
Camden, NJ
David Rogers talks on the phone with his cousin Gary who lives in Cleveland, Ohio. “Come on man, what is the big deal?” he inquired. “You bailed on the Fourth this year, I’m not asking you to move home, just take a vacation for a week.”
“No, I can’t,” Gary replies. “Do I really have to tell you why?” “You should have figured it out by now.”
“Yes, I wish you would,” David replies. “I want to hear you say it!”
“It is because of him, I can’t be around him anymore,” Gary says somberly.
“That is ridiculous, you were both best friends,” David suggests. The door to the office opens and a tall muscular man walks in. “Look I have to go, we will continue this later!” David hangs up the phone to address his visitor. “Good afternoon sir, David Rogers how may I help you?”
“My name is Ambrose Russo, I would like to speak with you about your boy Steve Roberts,” the imposing man says.
“He is not here at the moment, I feel that it would not be appropriate to discuss him if he is not here,” David tells the man.
“Even if I would tell you, your boy is a murderer,” Russo claims.
“That is ridiculous, Steve Roberts would not kill anyone,” David protests.
“So little you know, when your boy was still on the police force he invaded the DeScalo Estate to murder my boss and fifteen others.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?” David charges. “Steve Roberts is far too white bread to have killed Giorgio DeScalo.”
“I see now that you are a businessman who needs to find out things for himself.” Russo says reaching into his jacket pocket to retrieve a bundle of bills. “Consider yourself hired to find out the truth about your boy,” he says tossing the money on the desk in front of David.
“Mr. Russo, I don’t want your money,” David replies. “I know all I need to know about Steve Roberts.”
“Do you?” Russo says turning to leave, the money still on the desk in front of David.
The office of Monsignor Mallory
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church
1545 Tremont St.
Boston, MA
“I was the one here when the girl brought the baby in,” Monsignor Mallory explains to Steve Roberts. “He was a tiny little thing, but he grew quickly.” “The Beachums where a lovely couple.”
“What about his birth mother?” Steve asks. “Isn’t that why he came to you?”
“There really wasn’t much to tell him about her,” Monsignor Mallory explains. “The day she brought in the baby was the first time I ever saw her and the last.” “He wanted to know a medical history because of his recent problems.” “I didn’t have any information to give him.” “He was fairly upset when he left.”
Steve is disappointed by the revelations the Monsignor has given him. His trip here to Boston seems to have changed its goals. Beachum is no longer his concern his focus will now be on catching the Rodney brothers again. Reaching into his pocket he retrieves a business card to give to the man of the cloth. “Thank you for your time sir,” Steve says holding out the card. “Be sure to give me a call if he should come back.”
Taking the card Monsignor Mallory replies, “I will do that young man, I hope you find him, he seemed very troubled.”
Steve gets a little turned around heading out of the Monsignor’s office in the maze like corridors of the church. Arriving back in the cathedral he sees a familiar face sitting in a pew talking with Brother Michael. “There’s the Eileen McCoy I remember,” he says approaching the two seated in the pew.
“Steve Roberts, are you following me?” Eileen asks standing up to greet her old acquaintance.
“I was about to say the same thing!” Steve replies. “After all I was here first.”
“Well I figured I had some time until we met up so I would stop in to see my brother Michael,” Eileen explains.
“Yes, I’ve already met Brother Michael,” Steve says nodding to the young man.
Eileen smiles, “No, he is my brother Michael, Michael McCoy.” “Michael this is my friend from Philadelphia, Steve Roberts.”
“Oh, your brother, the Brother,” Steve says realizing the confusion. “What a strange jumble of coincidences this visit to Boston has been.” “I was here investigating a case and here you both are too.”
“Steve why don’t we go grab a late lunch to catch up,” Eileen suggests. “And Michael we are on for dinner at my hotel tonight?”
“Yes, Ei, right before late Mass,” Brother Michael replies. “Around 6 pm.”
The Old Burying Point
Charter Street
Salem, Massachusetts, USA.
The old stone mausoleum appears creepy even in the light of day. It sits alone at the back of the cemetery nearly untouched by the modern world. A three story bell tower stands with no bell to ring. There are many places on Earth that have an affinity for magic, this is one such place. Many accused of witchcraft in the history of this country lay rest in this cemetery not by chance. People of mystic talents are drawn to places like this. Even the witches of the Triad are drawn to build their homes near such places, but not too close to be consumed by this place’s power.
Inside the mausoleum an uninvited visitor waits. His name is Chin Shan and he has made the long journey here from China on a quest. Chin Shan has spent his more than sixty years worshiping old gods that far predate even this two hundred year old structure. At long last the gods have rewarded his dedication to their ideals. These old gods offer him a bride, but first he must free her from her unjust imprisonment. She can only be freed by three powerful artifacts. To find the mystic charms is nearly impossible for a novice such ad Chin Shan. But there is another way to bring the relics to him.
To perform this task the old gods have given him the means to create three slaves to find the items he needs to free his bride. It is now that the first of the three returns with the first of the shards of the relics. “Eartho, come forth,” Chin Shan commands as the floor beneath the slate tiles buckles. From a tunnel dug deep under the Earth the pale green man emerges to meet his master. Glaring down at the slate tiles of the floor the tunnel seals returning the tile to their original placement. He reaches out his hand offering the artifact he retrieved from deep under the Boston park to his master. “Very good, Eartho, very good indeed,” Chin Shan compliments the now seemingly mindless triplet. “I can only hope that your brothers do as well.”
The Sizzler Restaurant
Boston, MA
Eileen McCoy and Steve Robert are seated at a table toward the back of the dinning room like a couple on some secret lunch date. “I just can’t get over the beard trick,” Eileen says as they sit down at the table.” “It looked so real!”
“For all purposes it is real when I’m Mast….,” Steve’s sentence is cut short by the approach the waitress.
“Lunch buffet for you two?” she asks almost rudely.
“Sounds good to me,” Steve says.
“Me too!” Eileen says as she gets up from the table. The two go to the rather large buffet to fill a couple of plates a piece. “I wish I had such a neat way to change clothes,” Eileen comments as she fills a plate with salad greens.
“It certainly is an advantage,” Steve tells her. They return to the table with their plates wanting to eat quickly as to talk some more.
“I have to admit I always wondered about you after I found my emblem drawn on a piece of paper in your room,” Eileen comments stirring the salad dressing around on her plate.
“I knew I sketched that!” “When I got home it wasn’t in my luggage,” Steve tells her as he takes a mouth full of salad. “It must have been like some kind of destiny that you would find it.”
“Destiny is a word I have been dealing with a lot since then,” Eileen replies sipping her diet soda. “What I learned about magic and Zeni-humans at that Bed and Breakfast changed my life.”
“So I see, you said something about the suit?” Steve quires.
“It would seem that I am the product of an alien gift,” Eileen admits for the first time to anyone it almost feels therapeutic. “That really sounds weird doesn’t it,” she smiles at the words. “I’ve never said it out loud before to anyone.”
Steve just looks at her smile and understands how it feels to confess these things for the first time. “I’ve told people my secret before out of necessity.” “However with you it is different for the first time it feels good to have this situation in common with someone else.”
“You’re right, it is like a huge weight being lifted,” Eileen sighs. “Anyway, back in the forties, an alien race called the Argoians came to Earth on a mission to seed people with genetic material to allow them to wear special Powersuit.” “There was an accident and years of confusion, but I ended up with the case containing the Powersuit.” “I had it hidden under my bed at home when I came to Boston last year.” “It had that emblem you drew on the top of it, so I was very shocked by your drawing.”
“The Argoians, I’ve heard of them before,” Steve says as he thinks over the name. “Yeah, a while back a weird naked guy showed up, claimed to an alien that needed my help.” “His name was Benue, from Srann.”
“Sounds like we have something else in common,” Eileen suggests. “Tall guy, blonde hair, weird tan, and the most amazing golden eyes?” “He wasn’t naked when I met him though.”
“That would be him, he had a telepathic power too,” Steve adds finishing his salad. “In the end I don’t know who helped who though.” Eileen can agree that it was a weird experience for her too because it always seemed like Ben knew more than he was telling her. “So all of your powers come from the suit?” Steve asks taking a drink of water.
“Yep, so far it has really been an incredible experience being Sentry,” Eileen confesses. “Of late, my career as a cop has paled in comparison.”
“I know that feeling,” Steve replies as the waitress brings them their drinks. “I quit the force at the beginning of the year.” “Unlike you I always had my ‘gifts’.” “I thought being a cop was the best way to use them.” “After a year and a half I came to terms that it was not.” “If you only knew all the stuff that I was hiding when we were at the Enchanted Suites.”
“So you became a Superhero!” Eileen suggests.
“It wasn’t my plan at first but I had a bit of an adventure in another dimension and won the Master Warrior tournament to get the name and an arsenal of weapons, so it kind of became the plan.” “My mother trained me to be a warrior all through my teens, it was kind of a destiny too in a way.”
“Your mother trained you?” Eileen quizzes not wanting to know what he meant by another dimension. She has enough on her plate now with her own problems.
“When I was fourteen I found out that my Mom was an immortal amazon from legend,” “Not many people know that, at this point I can’t even call her Mom anymore in front of other people,” Steve says still feeling strange admitting it to someone.
“Why not?” Eileen asks have come to the same place in her life wanting to disown her mother. “Did you have a falling out?”
“No, it’s just that I’m twenty-one and she looks to be about thirty so the numbers really don’t jib anymore.” “My parents recently moved to Florida and she thought it best if I got used to not being her son.”
“Wow, that is a harsh,” Eileen says.
“Not really, believe me, she still acts like my mother and not in a good way,” Steve jokes. “There are times when being a hero isn’t easy when you have your mother calling to make sure you didn’t get hurt,” he smirks. “What about you, your family?” “Does the suit work for your brother, the Brother too?”
“Hum, that’s an interesting thought,” Eileen thinks out loud. “No one knows I have the suit, but I guess it would work for Michael too.” “We do have the same parents.” “But right now Michael has too many issues of his own to even tell him what I have been up to the last few months.” “I just wish we could have had this talk when you were in San Diego awhile back.”
“San Diego?” Steve repeats. “I’ve never been to San Diego.”
“What do you mean?” Eileen says putting down her fork. “It was last October when you came to visit Lt. Redmayne, You, Corey, and I went out to dinner together.” “You told me I could put my full trust in Redmayne.”
“Janet Redmayne?” Steve questions. “Trusting her is one thing I would never tell anyone to do.” “I didn’t even know where she transferred to until just now.” “I’m pretty sure she is an alien too and I don’t mean from Mexico.”
“Then who was it I was talking to?” Eileen queries. “He looked and sounded just like you.”
“An even better question is how did she get promoted to Lieutenant?” Steve poses.
“Perhaps it has something to do with her husband working at the Commissioner’s office?” Eileen suggests.
“Husband?” Steve repeats thinking that Redmayne has become an even bigger threat in San Diego than she was in Philly. “The Janet Redmayne I knew had no husband.” “I think it might be time I caught up with my old friend to see what it is she is up to.”
“Don’t be silly, if you say she is not what she has told me she is then surely I can find out what she is up to, now that I have the suit,” Eileen tells him with confidence and a bit of eagerness.
“Okay then, enough of that, let’s discuss our real problem at hand,” Steve says pushing his empty plates aside. “The Rodney brothers are no longer what they were, whoever broke them out of jail gave them new powers.”
“That is clear after our fight at the park.” “How is that even possible?” Eileen questions.
“Frankly, I don’t think they are the Rodney brothers anymore, I think they are something else,” Steve suggests. “One of my powers that I really don’t like to make known is in my dreams I sometimes get a view of future events.” Eileen gives Steve a somewhat skeptical look across the table. “That is how I saw your emblem, in a dream.” “Anyway I had a dream last night about EARTHO, SOLARIS, and POLARIS.” “My dreams aren’t always completely accurate, for example it was me who was caught in the tree growth, you weren’t there, I guess yet in my dream.”
“How is that possible if you are dreaming about the future,” Eileen asks.
“The future events I see in my dreams can always be changed, to prevent what I see from happening,” Steve explains. “The dreams act as a warning not a true script of what is to come.” “In this case I was held up at the airport waiting on a rental car my Boss insisted I get, even though I prefer my own means of transportation, that he doesn’t know about.” “If not for that I would have been the first one on the scene.” “Another thing is I never saw the man’s face in my dream.” “But it does make me wonder how did you get there so fast from San Diego?”
“I must admit it is hard for me to be too skeptical of your dreams,” Eileen admits finishing up her soda. “The suit sometimes lets me see events near me as they happen, kind of like a closed circuit TV feed.” “Sometime I can even control it if I have something personal or strong feelings about the person I’m looking for.” “That is what happened this morning.” “I had flown into Boston late last night on the redeye after learning of the Rodney brother’s escape.” “I had tried to book a room at the Enchanted Suites but the phone was disconnected.” “By the way the whole place is gone, nothing by a vacant lot.”
“It really isn’t surprising that those witches moved on after what happened, my Mom says they treasure their anonymity,” Steve tells Eileen.
“When I got back to my room I put on the suit and it showed me what was happening at the park.”
“So the real question should be how do we find the other two brothers?” Steve suggests. “They are obviously looking for something, Eartho had dug up something that looked like a piece of petrified wood in the park.”
“Eartho, where did you come up with that name?” Eileen asks.
“I can’t take credit for that name, it was one of the few things I heard in my dream, the others are called SOLARIS and POLARIS,” Steve explains. “Perhaps if we work together, your suit, my dreams we can find the other two.”
“Steve are you asking me to sleep with you?” Eileen says in a shocked tone.
“No, no nothing like that, my dreams are an outgrowth of my danger sense,” Steve replies in embarrassment.
“I’m just messing with you,” Eileen giggles, “How would we pair the two up?” Eileen looks to Steve’s hands for the first time. They are large and not at all as rough as one might think for a man in his line of work. She reaches across the table to grab his left hand. Looking at his fingertips she can see the slightest trace of dirt under them. “Is this dirt under your nails from the park?” she asks.
“I’m sorry, I thought I got is all out when I washed my hands,” Steve replies pulling back his hand, feeling as if he is being interrogated by his mother.
“No, it is good I can use this maybe,” Eileen replies going for her purse to find a nail file. Opening a napkin on the table in between them Eileen says, “Give me your hands.” She begins to scrape the dirt from under his fingernails onto the napkin, one after another.
“I wish I had known you were a manicurist in your spare time my toes could use some work too,” Steve jokes.
“Very funny,” Eileen says finishing with his last pinky finger. “Eartho touched this dirt, if only with his power.”
The waitress walks up to the table none too pleased with what Steve and Eileen are up to. “Is there anything else I can get you?” she asks coldly.
“Just the check would be fine,” Steve tells her shooting her his pearly white teeth. “Take your time there is no hurry.” The angry waitress picks up their plates and walks away again. Eileen balls up the napkin with the dirt inside, holding it in both hands. “Are you wearing the suit now?” Steve asks.
“Yes, it is just invisible,” Eileen replies. “I’ve been practicing this to find my Grandfather, with no luck, Ben says he is shielding himself somehow.” “But it should work on Eartho, just be quiet.” Steve sits quietly watching as Eileen closes her eyes, her hands turning red as the gloves of her suit become visible. He can see a faint red strip across her forehead and the outline of a blue mask on her face as well. Eileen’s eyeballs begins to move under her eyelids as if she is in REM sleep.
“Is it working?” Steve whispers.
Then she reaches out her hand to touch his clean shaven face. “You tell me?” she says as Steve feels his eyes go closed on their own.
In his mind’s eye Steve sees the scene that plays out. It is not like his dreams at all. Everything is completely clear and correct to reality to the smallest detail. “What is this place?” he asks.
“I saw a sign in the beginning, it is Bentley University,” Eileen tells him. “So you can see everything I can?”
“Yeah, it’s amazing,” Steve answers. There are many large buildings on the school campus as they both look around seeing the same vision. It is a warm summer day but both of them can see condensation on one of the windows of the third floor of the science building. “No college has that good of air conditioning.” Steve comments.
“Here’s your check,” the waitress says rudely slamming the bill done on the table breaking the vision shared by the two patrons.
“Thanks, thanks a lot,” Eileen says to the rude woman.
“I guess we need to get out of here and get changed for some action,” Steve tells Eileen.
“One last thing before we go,” Eileen says gathering up here purse. “Does it seem like the threats we are facing are getting more powerful?”
“Yes, it does,” Steve agrees. “It almost makes me feel like if I stopped the world might be safer, but then another threat more powerful than the last shows up leaving me no choice.”
Philadelphia Elite Squad
1st Precinct
Philadelphia, Pa
David Rogers has never been to the Elite Squad headquarters before today. There aren’t even signs to identify the top floor of the precinct as such. Steve has mentioned this place several times but never explained what the Elite Squad did. As a P.I. David knows his best route is up the fire stairs to avoid defection. Slipping into the corridor he finds that it is far from the hustle and bustle of the other parts of the police station.
Casually walking down the hall he finds the squad room. There is a glass walled off office at the far side, a plate on the door that reads Commander Olpere. He knows he is in the right place now. Off to one side of the room is a holding cell in which a man sits on the floor next to a cot. Standing at the door to the room he can see that there are six desks, only four of them appear to be in use. David does not recognize the two men sitting at two of the desks in the squad room. He is looking for Paddy Berger, who appears not to be in the office at this time. He wonders if he should dare make his presence known. Then that question is answered for him.
“Hey Buddy, you can’t be in here!” Detective Bower says standing up from his desk.
“I was just…,” David starts to reply.
“This is two intrusions in one week!” Detective Grimes complains. “The security of precinct is truly sub-standard!”
“That’s okay, he’s with me,” Detective Berger tells the other two cops, as he comes up behind David to take him by the arm. “What are you doing, you can’t just walk in here.”
“What exactly does the Elite Squad do?” David asks as he is led to an interview room.
“That is need to know and you don’t need to know,” Berger replies pushing David toward a chair behind the table. “I know Steve didn’t send you, so what do you want?”
“Steve is following up on something in Boston,” David tells the Detective who already knows from seeing the news about the appearance of Master Warrior in Harambee Park. “I got a visit from an Ambrose Russo this morning.” “He claims that Steve murdered his Boss and several other men at the DeScalo Estate some years back.” “I was wondering if you could tell me what you know?”
Detective Berger paces the floor of the small room. What he knows is not all on record and he isn’t sure if he can trust this P.I. or what Steve wants him to know. Putting his thoughts together Paddy sits down at the table across from his roommate’s boss. “Russo did work for the DeScalo family, he is a dangerous man.” “Steve didn’t kill Giorgio, but he was there when it happened.” “It was back when Steve first joined the force, being the good Samaritan he is he was trying to help a woman being held by Giorgio.” “Things got out of hand and Giorgio and some of his men got killed.” “When Giorgio’s son Nicholas took over the family business he came after Steve and indirectly me.”
“So you think this has something to do with the DeScalo family wanting revenge?” David asks intrigued by the story.
“It could or Russo might be striking out on his own,” Paddy suggest. “Nicholas runs things different than his father did, Russo might have a beef with his new boss.” “Our previous Police Commissioner, Stanley was in bed with the DeScalo family.” “Steve and I were instrumental in bringing Stanley down, so Nicholas has good reason for having a bone to pick with us.” “Playing you could be part of their plan.”
“No one is going to play me, crime boss or not,” David replies getting up from the table.
“I suggest you talk this over with Steve when he gets back, make sure he is in the loop of what is going on,” Paddy impresses on David wanting to make sure he doesn’t do anything to make matters worse. “I’ll add it to my list of things to look into here.” “See if I can figure out what angle Russo may be playing.”
Bentley University
175 Forest St
Waltham, MA
Master Warrior and Sentry land just inside property of the campus. “So, if you’ve had your powers for most of your life, when did you learn you could fly?” Sentry asks as they walk toward the Science building.
“Oh, I can’t really fly,” Master Warrior replies. “I use this flight vest that I picked up on another trip away from Earth.”
“You’ve gotten around quite a bit, haven’t you?” Sentry comments as she spots the campus security at the front of the Science building as they round the corner. She takes a deep breath. “I still haven’t completely gotten used to wearing this thing in public,” she confessed softly.
“I kind of enjoy the shocked look on people’s faces when I casually show up,” Master Warrior smiles as they approach the guard speaking on his radio. “What is the situation here, Officer?” he asks.
The rather surprised guard looks the couple up and down, “None of you concern, move along back to your acting class or whatever,” he tells them.
“We really don’t have time for this,” Sentry tells Master Warrior before leaping up to a third floor window several yards from where the activity appears to be.
“I’m afraid she is right, I was hoping you could be more helpful,” Master Warrior tells the campus guard. “Try to do better this time by clearing the area.” “There is no telling what is going to happen inside.” Master Warrior follows suit jumping up to the same window Sentry entered leaving the confused guard on the ground.
As Master Warrior climbs in the window Sentry asks, “I can’t be sure but is it way colder here than it should be?”
Master Warrior can feel his hard nipples rubbing against the arm opening of his vest. As he pulls on the vest trying to get it to stay in place to cover them he replies, “Yes, very cold.”
Sentry giggles slightly, “Is that a usual problem?” she asks.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Master Warrior replies trying to keep his arms at his sides. “I don’t know if it is by design or my shoulders are too broad, but it fits fine otherwise.” “The problem is that the vest doesn’t work unless I wear it on my skin, what I wouldn’t give for a t-shirt!”
“Let’s just get moving.” The heroes step out into the hallway being instantly struck by the sub freezing cold. That sends a chill through Master Warrior’s entire body.
Are you okay?” Sentry asks completely protected by her full body suit.
“In general I am more resistant to the cold than most, but it is really cold here, far too cold for a July day,” Master Warrior says reaching to touch his cape clasps to release the fabric from behind is neck. He wraps himself in the cape hoping to use it as a shield from the cold.
“That is a neat trick too,” Sentry comments.
“I don’t fully understand what this cape is, but it has proven that it wants to protect me more than once.” Master Warrior tells her about the mysterious cape from the Janus temple. Looking down the hallway, they both see it at once. The frozen bare footprints on the floor make an easy to follow trail. “How cold does something have to be to freeze and crack formica tiles like that?” he queries.
“I don’t know but we are tracking the one you called Polaris, I would guess,” Sentry suggests as they follow the footprints toward the end of the hall. Turning the corner they are shocked by the sight of fifteen people frozen in place by the ice and cold that permeates the hallway. The temperature is far below zero now, any normal human being is frozen on contact. “It think they are still alive,” Sentry says stepping closer to one of the victims. “I can still hear a heartbeat.” “It is very faint, I don’t know how much longer they will last.”
“We need to open this place up let some of the cold out,” Master Warrior says looking around. Stepping back into the hallway they just left he spots windows at either end. “We need to break those windows, get a cross draft going.” Sentry takes flight toward the far end of the hallway as Master Warrior sprints to the other. He uses his arsenal in the form of a sledge hammer to shatter the glass and break apart the frame. He climbs up into the open window frame for a moment to let the warm July breeze and sun warm him.
While at the other end Sentry creates a force shield to push out the frame and glass all at once. When she turns back to Master Warrior she can see that the cold is taking its toll on the man. Flying back down the hallway to him suggesting, “I can handle this, my suit has made me immune to the cold.”
“No, I’ll be fine, Master Warrior replies bravely. She can see that he appears to have some frostbite on his nose and ears. “I’ll heal whatever damage my body takes from the cold, no problem.” Master Warrior jumps down from the window sill as Sentry continues to float in mid-air next to him. “Wish I could do that,” he comments as the return to the heart of the cold disturbance.
The plate on the door reads Geological studies. “I’ll go in first, open up some of the windows to let the cold out,” Sentry suggest.
“Good idea,” Master Warrior agrees as he kicks in the door. The frozen wooden door is shattered to splinters by his foot allowing Sentry to fly by him. The inside of the room is like a carved out iceberg. Moving quickly she uses energy blasts from both hands this time to cut through the thick layers of ice that drape the walls of the room.
The windows explode outward raining ice, broken glass and the metal frame down on the campus. Luckily the campus security have cleared all of the people away from the building. Just the same everyone watching on the ground is in shocked by an explosion. Fire trucks pull onto the campus as the glass and mental hit the ground.
There is no sign of Polaris, but by the look of the room is clear he has spent some time here. “兄弟們，我找到了它！” (5) The heroes hear him shout from the next room. Master Warrior and Sentry approach what appears to be a safe door blocked open by a pillar of ice.
Standing at the edge of the door they spy the pale blue twin of Eartho. Remaining silent they listen to him speak in a tongue they can not understand. “What is he saying?” Sentry whispers.
“I pride myself on being good with languages but I have never been good with Asian ones,” Master Warrior responds softly. “I think it is Chinese.”
“Believe it or not that helps,” Sentry responds. Knowing what he is speaking helps her Powersuit to make the proper adjustment to allow her to understand the icy thief. “He is speaking to his brothers,” Sentry translates. “He says he has found the artifact.”
Master Warrior looks to the safe door frozen to the floor. If Polaris has found what he is searching for , he will be leaving without a care to them just as the other did. “This is just too easy,” Master Warrior whispers as he springs around to the back of the safe door. Pushing with most of his strength he breaks the door free of the ice to slam it shut. Polaris turns at the last moment to blast the door with ice to refreeze it to the floor. Master Warrior exerts the rest of his strength to force the door against the tide of ice that tries to block it open. Sentry moves to help as the two force the door closed to trap the pale blue man inside.
“You’re right that was too easy,” Sentry replies as Master Warrior bends the hinges to the door to secure them.
“I don’t know how long that will hold him but we need time to figure out how to stop him.” Master Warrior reasons.
“He is by far the most powerful creature I have come up against,” Sentry reveals. “I think you are right he is no longer one of the Rodney brothers, they have become something else.”
“Well at least we are on the same page with that,” Master Warrior tells her. “I’m afraid there is only one way I know of completely change someone like what we have seen from these two, some kind of possession.”
“What like a demon?” Sentry suggests in sarcastically.
“Maybe,” Master Warrior replies.
“Come on, demons are not real, just something made up by religion to scare children,” Sentry argues.
“Than neither are witches, amazons and superheroes,” Master Warrior reasons.
“Have you ever met a demons?” Sentry asks.
“No, but I’ve come across plenty of other things that have been considered fairy tales,” Master Warrior explains. “When I was in the tournament some of the other men spoke of demon and how hard they are to defeat.” “They can’t be truly killed only banished back to whence they came.” “I hadn’t mentioned it before because I wasn’t sure what it meant, but in my dream I had this strange feeling of evil, like nothing I had felt.” “I have the same feeling now when we are close to one of these guys.”
Sentry stares at her friend wrapped tightly in blue fabric, not sure what to make of his suggestion that they are now demon hunters. Eileen’s relationship with her overly religious mother makes her want to completely disregard the idea, but then she thinks of her brother Michael. “I’m not saying I believe all of this crap, but if there is one person I know who might be able to make sense of demons, it is my brother Michael.” “He has spent years studying religious history.”
“HOLY SHIT!” Master Warrior suddenly shouts as he lunges at Sentry dragging her back across the room and out a broken window. There is a huge explosion behind them that forces them apart outside the window and to the ground. Their bodies crash hard to the Campus courtyard as a crater is left in the upper floor of the Science building. As the two heroes regain their senses a heavy snow of ice, hail, and tiny debris begins to fall from the sky.
Constitution Inn
Boston, MA
Eileen meets her brother for dinner at the restaurant off the lobby of her Hotel. She arrives a few minutes late allowing Michael time to order an appetizer. The siblings sit at the table talking over their lives, each of them pushing the other to make changes to improve their lives that they know will never happen. There are tears, laughter, and talk of old times past.
“So how are your studies going?” Eileen asks finishing up her entire. “Still following up the oddity of religious history?”
“Funny you should ask that, last Christmas I had an experience with a girl who claimed demons were after her.” “It made me think about demons.”
Eileen can’t believe her luck. “Demons, what kind of demons?” Eileen quizzes.
Michael smiles at his sister across the table. “Since when do you care about this stuff?”
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since Corey,” Eileen replies trying not to cry. “He had his demons and I thought I could exorcise them but in the end his autopsy showed he died with those demons.” The two are silent for a moment as Eileen gathers herself.
Then Michael speaks, “I have dealt with those demons for a long time.” “I thought it was time to do some reading about the other kind.” “Turns out there is even a local legend about demon possession.”
“Do you think what you read is true?” she asks.
“You know that publicly the church likes to deny any involvement on exorcisms,” Michael emphasizes. “But one of the reasons I came to Boston was the large historical library.” “I found records in the achieves dating back to the 1770’s.”
“That isn’t what I asked little brother,” Eileen reprimands. “I asked do you believe what you have read?”
Michael knows his sister is a skeptic of most of his religious beliefs. Now knowing about Eileen’s fight with their mother, he is hesitant to draw her ire onto himself. “My faith tells me that it is true but in the modern world like so many things it is hard to believe as fact.”
“So tell me about this local legend,” Eileen says trying to put aside her skepticism now that she too has changed with what she has learned in the past year. She can see that Michael is not comfortable talking about this subject with her, but there is a way to get him to talk. “So have you made any men friends here yet?”
“I thought you wanted to hear about the Element demons?” Michael finally responds knowing where his sister is going with her last question.
“Element demons?” Eileen repeats feeling that this whole dinner has been too coincidental for her taste.
“Somewhere around 1765 a ship carrying immigrants from Austria brought a man named Zimnoch to the New World.” “Not much is written about him accept that he brought with him three young men, triplets.” “These triplets were said to be caretakers of some kind of ancient artifacts.” “A shard of petrified wood, a shard of iron ore, and a shard of gold, all of them shaped alike.” “When Zimnoch vanished around the time of the Boston Massacre the triplets were accused of murdering him.” “When the town officials moved to arrest the young men, they revealed themselves as being possessed by demons.” Michael returns to his dinner waiting for his sister’s usual response. When no response comes he explains, “Ei, this is where you stop me to say what a ridiculous story.”
“I don’t think that at all, I’m curious how Boston was not wiped off the face of the Earth in 1770 if there were powerful Element demons on the loose?”
Michael looks at his sister in confusion for a moment. Then he continues his story. “The town preacher tried to exorcise the demons but discovered that he could not.” “The artifacts they each carried made it impossible.” “Only killing the hosts would release the demons that would be imprisoned by the artifacts.” “The men were sentenced to death and the demons were imprisoned in the artifacts.”
“What became of the Artifacts?” Eileen asks thinking that these artifacts sound like what E.S.P. has been hunting.
“The Governor Thomas Hutchinson ordered each of them to be hidden far apart around the outskirts of Boston or what was known as Boston at the time,” Michael reveals. “By now the locations are most likely within the city limits,” he guesses. “If you believe any of the two hundred year old story.”
Just then Steve Roberts approaches the table, his hair still wet from a shower. “Excuse me, I don’t mean to interrupt your family time but something has come up Eileen,” he says politely. “We need to go.”
Concerned Michael asks, “How exactly do the two of you know each other again?”
“We are both on the police force,” Eileen responds getting up from the table to call the waitress over.
“Is he your new partner?” Michael asks confused by their conflicting stories.
The two look at each other then Steve replies, “At the moment, yes.”
“Michael, I’ll put the bill on my room, you stay as long as you like, I’ll give you a call next week after things calm down,” Eileen says as she signs the check.
“That is fine, I have to get going to Mass anyway,” Michael says standing up to give his sister a hug. Taking the opportunity to whisper in her ear, “At least this one isn’t the surfer boy type you like.” Eileen pulls back giving her brother a glare as she and Steve head for the door.
In the elevator back to her room Eileen asks, “What’s up?”
“When I got to my room I took a shower and then laid down on the bed,” Steve explains. “I must have dozed off because I had a dream, I know where the last brother will attack.” “What did you find out?”
“It would seem that Boston is no stranger to demon attack,” Eileen tells Steve the story Michael told her. “The thing that doesn’t make sense is if the demons were imprisoned in the artifacts why are they searching for them now?” Eileen leads Steve to her room.
“It sounds like the writer of the report got it wrong,” Steve explains. “In my dream the demons are protectors of the artifacts, not prisoners.” “The artifacts must be kept apart because when they are brought together something much worse happens.” Steve is surprised to see Eileen’s mask become visible on her face as she begins to undress. “Do you always wear the suit?” he asks concerned that she appears to have become dependent on it.
“Pretty much,” Eileen replies. “That way I am always ready for action.” “Did you see if we can defeat them without killing the Rodney brothers?”
“In fact I did!” Steve smiles touching the stud in his earlobe to trigger the change to his costume. “The demon’s weakness is the same as the brother, being merged into one.” Sentry opens the balcony door and steps out as Master Warrior stops cautiously. “I can’t do this, I need a running start to activate the flight vest.”
“Then just do it, I’ll get the door,” Sentry says stepping back into the room.
St. Michael’s Episcopal Church
112 Randolph Ave
Milton, MA
A plan in place Master Warrior arrives at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in a suburb of Boston that he saw in his dream. The sun has just set and everything appears calm as he enters to sanctuary, but he knows that will change soon. Inside he recognizes the architecture of the church, this is the place. As he walks up the long aisle he discovers something out of place. There about twenty-five men and women in the pews their heads bowed in prayer.
Master Warrior trots up the red carpet past them to the Reverend that knees at the altar at the front of the sanctuary. “Excuse me, Reverend,” he says politely touching the man on the shoulder. “I’m going to have to ask you to get these people out of here.” “They will be in danger if they stay.”
The old Chinese Pastor opens his eyes turning to give Master Warrior a welcoming smile. “Whatever do you mean, young man?” the Pastor says with a heavy Chinese accent. He reaches out his hand for Master Warrior to help him up. “This a prayer vigil that we have on this night every year.”
“Perhaps we can discuss it after we get these people to safety, Reverend,” Master Warrior suggests. “A very dangerous man is coming here tonight and I’m not sure I can keep this many people safe from him.”
The Pastor’s expression changes now to something less of surprise to pleasure. “Then you are alone?”
“Yes, that is why I need your help to get your prayer group out of here,” Master Warrior insist feeling his danger sense burn at the back of his skull.
The old man steps back from the costumed man, turning to his congregation. “The Master Warrior has come alone, take him now!” the Pastor instructs the people assembled in the pews. As they raise their heads to reveal glowing red eyes. The illusion of the old Pastor’s garb fades away to reveal the red and gold silk robe that he truly wears. He turns to face Master Warrior as his eyes glowing an even brighter white. The people in the pews stand up and approach the alter in formation behind the Pastor. “Did you think your interference with Eartho and Polaris went unnoticed?” the old Chinese Pastor says.
Backing away from the mob Master Warrior knows the danger he began to feel only seconds ago. “Reverend, you need to fight this, whatever has taken hold of you,” Master Warrior pleads not wanting to harm these innocent people. “You are a man of God, you can resist it.”
“Taken hold of me?” the Pastor chuckles. “I am not a man of this false God!” he says dropping the bible from his hand to pulling the drape from around his neck. “I am Chin Shan, it was I who raised E.S.P. by using the power of the old gods.” “You and your friend think you can stop me but you are fools, I will have my bride!” “Now kill him before Solaris arrives!” the unmasked Chin Shan shouts moving out of the path of the possessed mob.
Master Warrior is sure that these people must be innocents somehow corrupted by this evil Pastor. He must find a way to contain them without hurting them. They descend on his with demonically fueled fists. Master Warrior can feel their punches much harder than he thinks he should. He is brought to his knees as fifty fists pummel him and each other in the process. Extending out his arsenal across the floor under his attackers as a long lance, he spins it around him.
The mob attacking Master Warrior is knocked off their feet by the lance, sending all of them to the floor like dominos. There is no time for this! he thinks, Polaris is drawing closer, he will be here any minute. Master Warrior knows what he is looking for, a bust of former Governor Thomas Hutchinson. He was the man who had the artifacts hidden back in 1770.
Standing up he returns his arsenal to his leg as he leaps over the pile of people at his feet to land in the church aisle. Normally Master Warrior would be reluctant to fly inside a building, but this is an emergence, plus the ceiling height gives him plenty of room to maneuver. Heading out of the cathedral there is no sign of the old Pastor. Most likely Chin Shan is in a hurry to return to Salem before midnight.
In his dream Master Warrior had to tail Solaris to find the artifact, now he knows right where to find it. At the edge of Hutchinson’s field there is a plaque and a bust of the British loyal Governor. Master Warrior soars out the front doors of the church and low across the property trying not to draw any more attention to himself in these early evening hours. It is a little over a mile to Hutchinson’s field, at his rate of speed it takes him less than two minutes to get to the monument. His cape extends out behind him as he approaches giving him the seconds of two warnings before the attack that is about to happen as he grabs the bust on the monument.
The intense blast of solidified heat and flame strikes his back. Protected by the cape he is forced onto the monument snapping the bust from its mount. Tumbling on to the grass beyond Master Warrior stumbles to his feet to make a run for it with the bust under his arm, like a linebacker trying to win the big game. He crosses nearly two football fields in length before he is struck by another bolt that takes him down to the ground but not for the count.
A flame covered Solaris glides to the ground near where the hero has fallen. The heat he exudes burns a trail in the dry grass of the field below him. From his hands Solaris rains down fire on Master Warrior, enough to incinerate anyone along with the field surrounding his fallen target.
Again the mysterious cape full protects Master Warrior. He can smell the odor of his own burning hair as he reaches for his slightly exposed head. Master Warrior is not sure he could survive another direct hit from close range of the demon’s power. Shrugging off the cape he gets up to his knees to send the bust of Hutchinson airborne. It is only a diversion to turn Solaris’ attention elsewhere.
Solaris takes flight again zooming over the field in pursuit of the object of his desire. Master Warrior surveys the field around him that still smolders with the demon fire. He is lucky to have survived this one, he thinks as he pulls his cape in front of him to examine it, it is unburnt by the attack. Master Warrior is unsure of the origin of the cape but somehow he knew it could protect him. Beginning to run over the burnt field Master Warrior takes to the air following the path of flame in the field below him.
At the end of the trail he finds the smashed remains to the copper bust. The bust was hollow and Solaris has taken what was inside of it. Master Warrior must waste no more time here, he has to make it to Salem before midnight.
The Old Burying Point
Charter Street
Salem, Massachusetts, USA.
Sentry arrives at the old Mausoleum that she saw in her own vision soon after she and Master Warrior left the Hotel in Boston. She glides over the cemetery to come to a stop floating high over the ground as she looks down thinking, I wish I could see what was going to happen here.
Suddenly everything changes, it is broad daylight, from the position of the sun in the sky it is mid-morning. Looking to the mausoleum in the graveyard below it is crawling with thick, twisting orange vines. The vines do not damage anything on the historical site. The plants grow around obstacles not disturbing everything. The vines spread out fast expanding beyond the old cemetery. People on the street scream and cry out even though the vines seem to avoid them. Sentry can plainly see how the vines have avoided contact with everything and everyone in the area. They have even left an unconscious giant man on the ground at the base of the bell tower untouched. There are other costumed people on the ground, three women and two men. She recognizes none of them.
Sentry remains motionless in the sky as the sun beams down the man dressed in purple with a yellow lightning bolt on his chest. He leaps up flying to join Sentry at her viewpoint. “Bloody hell,” he mutters.
Then just as suddenly Sentry is back in the night sky over the cemetery. What was that? she thinks looking down at the now grim empty cemetery below. Did she just see the future like Steve does in his dreams? Is that what is going to happen here tonight? She rotates in mid-air to spy the horizon. Where did those other people come from, were they here to help? So many questions and no time to answer them.
But there is no time for that now as she sees the flicker of candlelight in the mausoleum. Sentry soars downward toward the two-hundred and fifty year old structure. It is made of fieldstone and mortar looking like something out of a horror movie at the back of the cemetery. Landing at the old wooden door that has been upgrades since its original construction complete with a modern padlock that keeps out intruders.
Sentry easily breaks the lock to swing the creaking door open. The small chapel room is dimly lit by candles as she steps inside. There is no question that someone is here, only where they are now. Sentry walks up the aisle toward the back of the building spying a wooden door on either side of the candlelit altar. From the vision she had earlier she knows that the door on the right leads to the bell tower and that is her destination. Eartho and Polaris wait in the tower for the arrival of their brother.
She thinks about Master Warrior for a moment and the limitations of his flight vest. She on the other hand can easily resist gravity to float up the stairway never setting foot on one of the old creaking steps. Arriving at the door below the bell tower she stops to assess the situation by concentrating on the room above.
In her mind’s eye she can clearly see the room above her, it is just as it was the last time she viewed it. The blue and green men stand motionless at the sides of the bell tower. Sentry calmly floats into the room, her feet touching down on the floor. She stands eyeing both the men unable to identify which of them is the one who murdered her father. Looking to the one called Polaris she is glad he has not spreading his cold in this small space. The other called Eartho stands about ten feet away from his brother. It is clear to Sentry that they stand at this distance for a reason. Her question, why are they just standing here and not reacting to her arrival?
It is Eartho that she stands closest to in the room, he appears catatonic. Perhaps she can just pick him up. Stepping up to him within his reach her objective quickly changes. Without warning his hand moves to grab her by the throat. His strength is incredible, it is like she is being crushed under a mountain. Sentry’s feet dangle above the floor as she reaches for his hand on her throat. Her fingers clawed at his stoney forearm. “I remember you Eileen McCoy,” he says in a deep-echoing voice completely unlike any of the Rodney brothers. “These fleshy host were responsible for your sire’s death.”
His words only anger Sentry more as she struggles to free herself. Then she releases her grip on his arm to lower her hands to his midsection. Sentry fires a full intensity energy blast to Eartho’s gut, blasting him back against the tower wall. The demon possessed man strikes the wall hard shifting the old stones and mortar, shocked by the attack. As he gets up Sentry gives him another blast that has less effect on the creature.
Sentry’s attention focused on Eartho she doesn’t even hear the movement behind her as Polaris steps forward. His touch is far below zero and one touch of his finger encases Sentry in an icy prison.
“It would seem that the other has found her way here,” Chin Shan says entering the tower room through a mystic portal that closes behind him. “Has your third not yet arrived?” he asks of his brood as he steps around the pillar of ice that traps Sentry. It is then that the mass of twisting flame that is Solaris glides through the window. The fire that surrounds him dies down as he settles to the floor of the bell tower. “Do you have it?” Chin Shan asks eagerly.
Solaris holds up the shard of gold that is the final piece in the puzzle that Chin seeks to solve. The three brothers move now to the center of the old tower around where a bell should hang. Solaris holds out the smooth shard of gold retrieved from Hutchinson Field, Polaris holds the gnarled rod of iron that he retrieved from the college vault at Bentley University, lastly Eartho adds the twisted piece of petrified wood that he dug up in Harambee Park. The three artifacts have a strong affinity for each other as the old wizard Chin Shin steps into the center of the ring. Taking a small prayer book from the pocket of his silk robe he begins to speak his spell in Chinese. The old stale air high over them in the bell free begins to swirl crackling with static electricity. When the storm of dust and lightning reaches its peak it splits into three mini cyclones that descend down around each of possessed men.
Nearby Sentry remains imprisoned within a sheath of ice. Unable to move she tries every other means she can think of to break the ice to escape. Nothing seems to work, bringing her to the conclusion that this is no ordinary ice. She peers through the ice to watch as the swirling air around the brothers takes on the hue of each demonic power inside them. The ceremony demands all the attention of its participants. She has seen her share of this type of insanity in the past year. There must be a way she can free herself, she thinks as she tries to rock the glacier. It takes everything Sentry has to free the frozen mass from the old wooden floor that it has become a part. The last of the boards holding her prison in place breaks loose, sending her toppling over into the Eartho.
Caught up in the swirling magic spell that encircle him and his brothers, Eartho is unaware as he is shoved sideways into Polaris. Instantly at the point of contact the two men’s body merge creating a two headed, three legged and armed man. The conjoined pair have skin is of a human hue again. Chin Shan is lost in his spell continuing to chant leaving only Solaris to respond. Solaris’ yellow hand reaches out from within the sparking tornado, his skin and power unchanged by the spell. It is a blast of superheated blue flame that strikes out at the ice imprisoned woman on the floor.
Half of the ice broken away from her body, the heat of Solaris’ attack would be lethal to even Sentry. Freed enough to again use the power of her suit she creates a shield in defense. On the floor Sentry’s legs are still trapped in the ice as the heat grows hotter on her shield. There is nothing she can do to redirect it to melt the rest of the ice.
Right on cue Master Warrior arrives through the tower window striking down Solaris from behind. “Sorry, I’m late for the party!” he says jokingly as Solaris is thrown across the room to be joined with his other two brothers. Now that all of the brothers have been joined together to some extent looking like a mass of disjointed legs, arms, and heads the swirling dust filled air of the spell reconfigures raising back up into the bell free.
“You are too late!” Chin Shan cries out as he finishes his chant. “The calling is complete, their demonic power summons the three most powerful objects of magic ever created!”
Master Warrior pays no mind to the old wizard as he helps to free Sentry’s legs from the ice that still holds her prisoner on the floor. After helping Sentry to her feet they look up at the swirling cloud of blue and green overhead. “Seems to me it is missing something,” Master Warrior comments.
In his haste Chin did not realize what had just transpired. Solaris used his power to strike at Sentry. Chin turns to the partially merged triplets on the floor to see that Solaris still has his yellow skin and white hair, while others have returned to human coloring. “How!” he shouts, “How is this possible?”
Master Warrior steps over to the strange mass of limbs on the floor to take the golden shard from Solaris’ paralyzed hand. “I figured you would need all of the artifacts to make your spell work properly.” the hero says. “I knew there was no way I could escape Solaris so when I fell and the bust of Hutchinson broke, I made the switch.”
“A switch?” Chin Shan stammers in confusion, his eyes focused on the gold shard.
Holding up the golden shard in his hand Master Warrior speaks one word, “Staff”. Of late the staff has become his weapon of choice, much less lethal than a sword. As the shard transforms he takes hold of it with both hands lowering it to a defense position. “My arsenal apparently has enough magic to fool your demon here, but no enough to work your spell!” “Don’t bother asking because I have no intention of telling you were I hid the real gold shard.”
“NO!” Chin Shan shouts, “You’ve ruined everything!” Then the cloud hovering over them strikes out with two bolts of lightning, one green, one blue at the mass of flesh that is E.S.P. on the floor. Polaris and Eartho’s powers are returned to them but they remain motionless in the heap of body parts. Then the cloud turns a dark purple, darkening the tower room as it looms over them.
“YOU HAVE FAILED ME, CHIN SHAN!” an ominous voice bellows from the cloud. Sentry and Master Warrior stand powerless watching in shock as the dark cloud descends on the old Chinese wizard.
“Please forgive me goddess, I will find the other relic, you will be free!” Chin Shan cries out as the cloud engulfs him. Apparently the goddess does not want to hear the old wizard’s promises as the onlookers shock turns to horror as the old man is turned to dust that is carried off by the wind as it blows out the window.
“What the hell was that?” Sentry exclaims when it is all over.
“Dark magic can be a dangerous thing when you screw it up,” Master Warrior replies. “Looks like whoever he was trying to free was not happy.”
“I’ll say, give me alien technology and invaders over this magic crap any day!” Sentry asserts. “But what do we do with these guys?” she asks looking to the partially merge triplets on the floor.
“I’m guessing as long as they stay that way they won’t be a problem,” Master Warrior hypothesis. “Problem is the normal authorities around here aren’t equipped to handle Zeni-humans, let alone demons.” Master Warrior thinks for a moment of somewhere else these men could be held that they could not do any more harm. “I think I have a better idea.” “I have a friend called Mist that might be able to keep them out of harm’s way.”
JULY 14, 1987
The Palace of Mist
Magic Island
Somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle
Several hours later in the east wing of Mist’s Palace that is partially embedded in the mountain, Master Warrior and Mist discuss the future of the strange prisoners he has brought to the island. “There is no way to free these men from the demons, without killing them,” Mist instructs Master Warrior. “Luckily, they will remain immobile like this unless someone who knows the spell to free them uses it.”
The room they are in is the size of a prison cell with no windows, only a small door in one of the walls. “What was this room designed for?” Master Warrior asks curiously.
“Containment for creatures such as this,” Mist answers. “I have many of them in the east wing.”
“Why do you have many of them in the east wing?” Master Warrior asks even more curious about the true purpose of Magic Island.
“I am not the only one imprisoned on this island,” Mist explains. “You are not the first to bring things that do not belong in the outside world here.” “I am surprised your mother never told you that fact.”
Master Warrior is more than a little surprised that his mother didn’t tell him that Mist has a prison here on the island. “Are there prisoners here I should worry about escaping?” he asks realizing that there could be things here worse than E.S.P.
“No, but I do wonder who the old wizard was worked for?” Mist says. “Did you get a name, because if it is someone with enough power to find these men again even here on this island, it could be a problem.”
“I’m afraid not, all he called her was goddess,” Master Warrior answers to Mist’s disappointment. “We didn’t even know he was working with someone else until it was too late to save him.”
“That could pose a problem then, there have been many Zeni-humans who called themselves gods and goddess, but few that cavorted with demons,” Mist explains.
Southeastern Police Division Headquarters
San Diego, Ca
Eileen McCoy returns to work with only one goal, to finally confront Janet Redmayne about who she really is and what she wants. Arriving at the precinct she finds that things have changed in the two days she spent off in Boston. The previously on medical leave Redmayne has transferred out of the city again, just like she did in Philadelphia leaving little trace of where she has gone. Unlike Steve Roberts, Eileen has no thoughts of just letting the woman off that easily.
Footnotes;
(1) “You are to me as a fly in your soup!”
(2) “Brothers another approaches, more powerful than this one,”
(3) “Earth turn this man under!”
(4) “Release me, Scum!”
(5) “Brothers, I have found it!”