Sunday, February 7, 1988
The Essex House
160 Central Park S
New York City, NY
Steve Roberts wakes in a pool of his own sweat. He has had a dream that he can not make sense of as he groggily gets up out of the Hotel bed. Dressed only in his underwear, he stumbles to the bathroom. This has happened to him before and he knows the best way to get the images back is a cold shower. Not even closing the door or taking off his underwear he climbs into the stall shower turning on the cold water to let it run down over his sweaty body. The water is a shock to his body as it touches his skin. Instantly the images rush through his mind again. Gold coins, hundreds of them tumble in the air. Faceless people walk like zombies through the street of a small town, a lighthouse in the distance. The coins reappear showering down on a man sticking to his skin as if magnetic as the man shouts orders at his slaves. All around the gold coin covered man bodies lay dead at his feet.
“What the hell are you doing?” David asks as he enters the bathroom to take a leak. Steve’s vision is shattering as he stands soaked in the cold shower. “Are you sleepwalking?” “That girl must have really gotten to you if you are taking a cold shower in your underwear.”
Steve slips out of his soaking wet underwear to toss them out of the shower hitting David in the back with a splat sound. “Shut up!” Steve calls to him. “And get me a towel!”
“That doesn’t seem to be any way to treat your boss,” David says, putting away his dick to turn around and pick up the soaked underwear to throw them back at the man standing in the shower. “Pretty damned disrespectful if you ask me.” “Get your own towel,” he laughs walking out of the bathroom grabbing a towel to dry his own back.
Dee Moore’s Apartment
315 E 57th street
New York City, NY
Diana opens her eyes to look around Dee Moore’s bedroom. It has been weeks since she woke up in her own bed and she misses it. This morning she wakes with another thing on her mind, Steve Roberts! His lips touching hers, her hands on his chest, him holding her in his big arms. It was all so wonderful! She wants to call Tracey and tell her everything but she can’t do that. Everyone she knows and loves believes she is dead. What a horrible place to be. If she hadn’t faked her death she would have never reconnected with Steve and because of that she has no one to tell about it.
Diana’s mind thinks back to Eric and then Wes, but neither of them can compare to her first love. She can hardly wait to see him again. Closing her eyes she thinks of those dreams she had of him as an adult years ago. He is much better in reality than she could have ever dreamt. The dream at the costume party where he was dressed as Superman is much better now that she has seen who he is really built.
He fills out that costume much better in her mind. The sight of her own personal Superman getting down on one knee to propose sends a chill through her body. She dreams of removing his Superman costume to reveal the man she saw at the bathroom door only yesterday. In her mind they kiss passionately as he unzips her Wonder Woman costume that falls to the floor. He guides her back to the bed.
“Ring…….Ring…..Ring.” The phone rings, shattering Diana’s fantasy. She reaches out to pick up the receiver with her free hand. “Hello,” she says, almost angry at the interruption.
“Hey girl how did your weekend turn out?” It is Mary from Open World still believing she is Dee Moore.
“Fine,” Diana replies, pulling her fingers from her panties. This woman has as terrible timing as Tracey she thinks.
“So tell me what happened with that guy Friday night?” Mary asks eagerly.
“Nothing, I came home alone soon after you left us,” Diana tells her, having no intention of making Steve a part of the real Dee Moore’s life when this is over. “He was a macho asshole just like I guessed.” “Kept wanting me to feel his bicep.”
“So, did you?” Mary inquires.
“Gross, no,” she replies trying to play up her disgust. “He was all sweaty and smelled of beer and whiskey.”
“Is it so hard for you to just lie to me and let an old married woman live vicariously through you?” Mary says over the phone sounding very disappointed.
“Okay then, had sex in the alley behind the club,” Diana says irritated by Mary.
“There, now was that so hard?” Mary says, sounding happier. “How big was he?”
This bitch has got to be joking, Diana thinks as she replies, “The biggest, I could barely get my lips around it!”
“I think that was a step too far,” Mary laughs. “I guess I have to hope Sue had a better weekend than you.” “See you at work tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I’ll see ya,” Diana hangs up the phone but now her mood is spoiled as she gets you to head for the shower. She still does have a peach cobbler date with Steve before he heads home. She is looking forward to it, even if it won’t be as intense as her dreams or what she told Mary over the phone.
Gary Rogers’ Apartment
Apt 222
2363 W 14th St
Cleveland, OH
Trudy Patterson lays naked in the bed, her legs wriggling under the sheet as she looks to the nude man standing with his back to her. He appears to be lost in thought as he stands motionless studying his own body in a full length mirror. Glancing over to the chair he sees his New York rented tuxedo draped over it. His luggage is nowhere to be found in the room. How did he get here? he wonders. He turns to the woman in the bed to spy the alarm clock on the nightstand that reads 6:00 am. His plane ticket back to Cleveland was for 10:00 am, he questioned himself again this time out loud, “How did I get here?”
“We flew,” Trudy tells him as she crawls to the edge of the bed revealing that her left forearm and hand are wrapped in a bandage. “These blackout must come to an end!” she demands sitting up nude to put her feet on the floor. She begins to unwrap the bandage on her arm. The skin underneath glows with a strange pink irradiance. “The power I stole from that bitch at the wedding burned me, I am still struggling to contain it, she says as she reveals her glowing appendage. “Perhaps it was not meant for me.” She moves her hand closer to Gary’s bare chest and the blue lightning contained within him crackles on the surface of his skin. “Perhaps it is what you need to realize your true self!”
Trudy Patterson has become something much different than how she began her life. Even so, generous has never been one of the things she was, but now that act seems to be what she needs to get what she wants. Trudy reaches out her glowing pink hand to touch Gary’s bare back and there is a spark of energy as the two opposing charges mingle turning the pink and blue to a dark purple.
The bio-energy charge that Trudy stole from Diana Carter in that Ladies room back in New York was not at all compatible with her own body. It has caused her pain from the moment she took it. She was only able to bring that pain under her control with the help of the pleasure this man brings her. She can feel that pain drain completely from her body now and into his strong physic. To think when she first met this man in that Airport bar she wanted only to steal his power, now she gives him more.
Chippie’s Cafe
17 W 32nd St
New York, NY
Steve and Diana sit at a table at the back of the Cafe feasting on Peach Cobbler. She sits with her back to the door, her hair balled up under a wool cap hoping not to be seen by anyone she knows that might walk in. “You seem nervous,” Steve comments between bites.
“It is just that I am still undercover and I don’t want anyone to see me here,” Diana responds.
“Glad to see you aren’t lying to me anymore,” Steve jokes, taking another bite of the cobbler. “I really wanted to see you again before I went home and I appreciate you taking this risk for me.”
“I really wish things weren’t the way they are right now,” Diana sighs. “When my life is back to normal, we really do have to get together again.”
“I would like that too,” Steve tells her as he finishes up his peach cobbler. “This was the best cobbler I’ve had in a long time,” Steve smiles at Diana across the table licking his lips and she melts. “I guess I know why you suggested coming here Friday night now.” “You remembered I loved Peach Cobbler from camp.”
“I remember a lot of things about you from camp,” Diana giggles to herself thinking about the day at the lake. “Like the mess we made of the soccer field.”
Steve remembers what they did to that wet muddy field. “Wow, that was a day, can you imagine what they would have done if anyone found out it was us?” Steve kind of always thought it was his doing, but thinking back on it his were not the only footprints dug into that field. “I think we need a rematch.”
“I have not played soccer in years, not to mention finding a field that wet in New York might be impossible!” Diana smiles. Then Diana gets a rather odd look on her face almost as if she feels uncomfortable as she returns to her plate of cobbler.
“Are you okay?” Steve asks. “I remember how you can switch moods at the drop of a hat too.” “I would hope we are both adult enough now that we can talk through whatever is on your mind.”
Diana finishes her last bite to look back into his blue eyes. “I know it sounds silly and I don’t want you to make too much of it.” “I don’t know if it is because I’m hiding from my family and friends right now with being undercover.”
“Come on tell me, it’s okay,” Steve urges. “I’ll be leaving in a couple of hours and if you don’t want to see me ever again, then so be it.”
“That isn’t it at all,” Diana says reaching out to touch his hand across the table. “I just realized how much I missed you.” “Maybe you’re right, I’m just being an emotional woman.”
“No, you’re not, I missed you too,” Steve smiles. Then it is him who gets shy. “I had dreams about you too after camp.” “I really never expected to see you again.” “Looking back now it just seems like teenage hormones, but maybe it was more.”
“What like a premonition?” Diana jokes.
“Stranger things have happened,” Steve says realizing that there is no way he can tell her how possible that could be. “At the time I thought it was just because my heart was breaking.” “Now I sound like a pussy, or at least that is what Gary said at the time.”
“No, I think it is sweet,” Diana says squeezing his hand. “It makes me feel good that I wasn’t alone back then even though I thought I was.” “So where do we go from here?”
“I guess we go on with our lives,” Steve suggested. “But now we know the other is still out there, hopeful we will find a way to see each other again.”
Lincoln Medical Center
234 E 149th St
The Bronx, NY
Steve and David step into Cynthia Golden’s hospital room to find her fully awake sitting up in bed. “Miss Golden, my name is David Rogers and this is my associate Steve Roberts, we were hired to find you by your father after you disappeared,” David tells the young woman. “I have contacted him, he will be arriving later today, to take you home if that is what you would like.”
“Oh yes, that is all I want to do,” Cynthia responds eagerly. “I just want to put all of this behind me now!”
“Do you mind if I ask if you remember anything you learned about James DeMarco that would have made him do this to you?” Steve steps forward to ask. David glares at Steve, they have discussed that their job is done here now that they found the girl.
“I have already told the police everything I remember from working for Mr. DeMarco,” Cynthia replies.
“We understand, you get some rest before your father arrives,” David tells the girl as he takes Steve’s arm to lead him out of the room.
“Wait, there was something I just remembered,” Cynthia calls to the men. “He would speak French on the phone, I took French in High School.”
“Could you understand what he was saying?” Steve asks, pulling away from David for a minute.
“He was talking about lost French gold coins,” Cynthia remembers. “Collecting and taking the coins to some place on Block Island.” “I think his family owned it.”
“Did he ever say where on Block Island?” Steve asks, making David wonder what he is playing at.
“I think he said Mohegan Bluffs, one time,” Cynthia goes quiet then for a moment. “I can’t remember anything after I heard him say that.”
If memory serves there is a lighthouse there, Steve thinks putting the pieces of his dream together. David pulls on Steve’s arm again. “Try to get some rest now,” Steve tells her, going with David out of the room into the hall.
“What was that about?” David asks. “We are done here.”
“We may be done with what we were paid to do, but there is more to this, DeMarco is still out there loose.” Steve replies. “You can head home if you want but I have to see this through to the end!”
Detective Sgt. Prussia and Special Agent Lei’s office
New York City Hall
City Hall Park
New York, NY
David Roberts finds his way to Special Agent Lei’s office learning that he shares it with Detective Prussia for the first time. Prussia sits quietly at his desk as if he is uninterested in Lei’s case. “I thought I should let you know what Cynthia Golden told us,” David explains. “She told us that DeMarco was stealing old French gold Francs and was most likely searching for more at a place called Mohegan Bluffs on Block Island.”
“Thank you for coming down here with that information but we already interviewed Miss Golden and she made no mention of that,” Agent Lei replies.
“Then it is worse than I thought,” David says. “My associate, Steve Roberts, that I have been working this case with is intent on bringing DeMarco in.”
“Excuse me,” Prussia interrupts. “Did you say Steve Roberts, a former cop from Philly?”
“Yes, we came here together to find Cynthia Golden,” David tells the previously silent man. “Sometimes he tends to stray from the case, I guess it’s the cop in him.” “I think he might have gone looking for Demarco.”
The Detective sits back in his chair mulling over this situation. Great another renegade looking for trouble, perhaps they are a match, he thinks.
“Block Island is in Rhode Island but I can call the FBI office there, it is a rather small office but they might be able to find your friend before he gets in trouble,” Agent Lei says, reaching for his phone. Then Detective Prussia gets up from his chair to put his coat on. “Where are you going?” Lei asks as he dials the phone.
“I’ve got to visit a friend,” Prussia replies as he leaves the office.
Dee Moore’s Apartment
315 E 57th street
New York City, NY
Coming to the top of the stairs on Dee Moore’s floor, Diana sees that she has a Sunday afternoon visitor knocking on the door of Dee’s apartment. “Can I help you, Detective?” she asks as she walks down the hallway toward him.
“It is what I can help you with.” Prussia replies. “Can we step inside?” Diana nods and uses her key to open the door. When they step inside Detective Prussia comments as he looks around, “Not exactly what you are accustomed to is it?”
“Why are you risking my undercover mission for a second time Detective?” she asks sitting down on the sofa.
“First of all just because you call it an undercover mission does not make it legitimate,” Detective Prussia tells her. “You have no authority to do anything with the information you may find hiding at Open World.” “Which is why I am here.” “My partner Agent Lei just busted a house up in Mt. Vernon with all the documentation to bring down Open World for feeding security codes to thieves.”
“But what about the Owl?” Diana urges. “Was there any proof that Antonia Simpatico is in fact behind all of it and she is the Owl?”
“No, but there is enough to bring before a Federal Grand Jury, the company assets will be frozen and they will not be buying your Uncle’s business, legally or otherwise,” the Detective explains.
“That isn’t enough!” Diana exclaims standing up from the sofa. “She has to go down too or none of it will matter!”
“Your boyfriend from Philly seems to have the same attitude about James DeMarco,” Prussia charges.
“He is not my boyfriend and what are you talking about?” Diana quires.
“He came to New York to find a missing woman, now that she has been found it doesn’t appear to be enough for him.” Prussia replies. “His boss thinks he has gone after the man who kidnapped her.” “It would appear that Roberts has gone after DeMarco to Mohegan Bluffs on Block Island.” “Lei is calling the locals but your guy has a head start.”
“So DeMarco is still at large?” Diana asks. “He could be the one to identify Simpatico as the Owl.” “Take her down once and for all.”
“Not likely, look what happened to men who attacked you in the alley,” Prussia reminds.
Mohegan Bluffs
Block Island
New Shoreham, RI
Master Warrior flies out over Long Island to cross the water into Rhode Island. Block Island is six miles offshore from Montauk Point it is one of the first land masses seen by many 16th century explorers when they came to the New World. He can see the lighthouse up ahead as he approaches New Shoreham. It is the same one from his dream reassuring him that he is on the right track to finding DeMarco. Mohegan Bluffs is on the ocean side of the island making him think the gold DeMarco searches for might be hidden in a cave along the beach.
Master Warrior touches down on the empty beach near what appears to be an opening in the cliffs that overlook the beach. “I guess this must be the place if you’re here, Showboat.” a woman’s voice says from behind him.
He turns to see Miracle Maiden dressed in her usual red and yellow costume. “Where did you come from?” he asks.
“Montauk point, it takes a lot out of me to teleport that many times in an hour.” Miracle Maiden replies. “I guess we are on common ground here.” “I didn’t expect to see you.”
“Then you took a big risk coming here alone,” Master Warrior suggests.
“A source told me that the guy from the robbery last night might be here,” Miracle Maiden tells him as they begin to walk toward the cavern on the cliff. “That guy was using power similar to mine, I can’t let him hurt people with it.”
“Wow, that sounds rather heroic, I thought you didn’t like being a Showboat,” Master Warrior charges.
“I’m just surprised you don’t have a News crew with you,” Miracle Maiden snipes. If he knew that she only came because she was worried about Steve Roberts he would see that there is nothing Showboating about this trip.
“Not everything I do is for Media consumption,” Master Warrior retorts as they reach the opening to the cave on the cliff wall. “Here is what I know, DeMarco is the guy with the ability to steal, what did you call it, Bio-energy?” “He has been searching for gold coins like the one you found at Central Security.” “I suspect that he has learned from his mistake of keeping his victims alive.” “They are all doing well at Lincoln Medical Center by the way,” Master Warrior reveals getting no reaction from her as if she already knew. “I just hope we are not too late to save lives.” “Ready?” he asks, looking at the woman in red.
“Ready!” Miracle Maiden states as she starts into the cave. Master Warrior admires this woman’s confidence. She is unlike Sentry who sometimes questions every move she makes before doing it. It is a cold evening and inside the cave the chill tends to lessen as they walk down underground. Miracle Maiden can feel her bio-energy recharging as the temperature warms to about sixty-five. “How did you find this place?” she asks.
Master Warrior isn’t sure how much he can tell her so he simply says, “I had a dream.” After all she had made it all too clear to him that she has no interest in being his friend.
“Okay MLK, don’t tell me,” she responds as they hear laughter from up ahead in the tunnel.
“This is it,” Master Warrior says as he guides Miracle Maiden back against the wall of the cavern. “We need to be cautious.” Up ahead they can see a light and the smell of kerosene burning.
The two heroes peek around the corner into a larger cavern room lit by a lantern on the floor. They also discover that DeMarco is not alone. Four men work with shovels, clearly at the behest of DeMarco, who stands shirtless over a hole that the men dig deep in the cavern floor.
“Work faster worms!” DeMarco shouts at the men, his attitude much different than Steve Roberts has known him to be. “Or I will leave you here when the tide comes in!” There is a thumping sound as the men hit something below them in the hole. “Hurry up!” DeMarco bellows “Lift it out.” Two of the men climb out of the hole as the other two lift a heavy wooden chest out of the hole.
“Look at this,” Miracle Maiden whispers. On the walls are native American paintings telling a story of white men coming on boats leaving the treasure behind in the cave. The pictogram story continues showing how the natives took the coins from the wooden trunk and used them in rituals to fend off other invaders. The story tells how the power of the coins became more than the natives could control. The magic of the coins consumed their chief, driving him crazy with power. The story ends with the Natives killing their chief and burying the trunk in the cave that would soon fill with water for a season.
The sound of DeMarco’s laughter draws the attention of the heroes back to the scene as DeMarco digs his hands into the trunk of golden French Francs. “I shall rule this world!” he shouts as his voice echoes in the cave. “You four are but the first in my Armey of destruction!” The golden Francs take on a strange glow as he pulls them up and drops them back into the trunk.
“It’s the coins,” Master Warrior whispers to Miracle Maiden. “He is getting his power from the coins!” “Look at his chest.” Miracle Maiden squints in the light cast by a lantern sitting on the ground. In DeMarco’s chest she can see four coin shaped lumps under his skin begin to glow just as the coins in the trunk do.
“Oh my god,” Miracle Maiden whispered. “Did he put those things under his skin?” “I can’t explain it but there is some kind of energy coming off of that trunk of coins that is reacting with the ones under his skin.” “Ever since our trip to Ghaza, my sight has been working on s different level when it comes to unearthly energy.”
“My guess is each coin gives him the power to steal one person’s life force and use it for himself,” Master Warrior surmises. “Those first four are the one he stole in the past months.” “Best way not to lose them was to make them part of his body.” “Imagine what he could do with that full trunk of those coins?”
“No, something else has changed,” Miracle Maiden interrupts. “Those men are not energy clones like before, they are real people somehow enslaved by him.” “He is much more powerful than before.” “He’s become something of a puppet master.”
“Then we need to cut the strings he has on these men, they are innocent victims,” Master Warrior suggests. “But there is no telling what DeMarco might do to stop us from doing that.” “We need to have a safe plan for everyone involved.”
“I’d rather just blast him!” Miracle Maiden responds, moving to aim at the cackling man.
Master Warrior grabs her by the arm pulling her back next to him, “No wait, you told me your power is similar to his, blasting him might make him more powerful.” “Or worse give him a tap into stealing all of your energy.” “We need to separate those coins from his body first.” “And get him away from that trunk.”
They think in silence for a minute examining all their options. “Your bracelet can absorb energy right?” Miracle Maiden questions.
“I call them gauntlets, but yes,” Master Warrior replies.
“Let me charge them and you blast him, while I get rid of the trunk,” Miracle Maiden suggested.
“So that way he can only steal what I have, great idea!” Master Warrior responds holding up his arms in front of himself. “Blast away!”
Miracle Maiden giggles as she reaches out gripping his gauntlets to lower them. “This way will be easier,” she says as her hands begin to glow and the pattern on Master Warrior’s gauntlets begin to grow. “I’ll give you as much as I can while still retaining enough for me to use.” “Use it sparingly because it will take me awhile to recharge.”
Master Warrior steps out into the open of the cavern to address DeMarco, “So is this what all the break-ins were about?” “Why not go on your treasure hunt to begin with?”
“I wish I was surprised to see you, but after recent events, I can’t say that I am.” the shirtless man replies. “These golden Francs are my inheritance from the Niantic people, I am stealing nothing!” “For with them I am at last complete, I am the Niantic!” “Kill him my worms!”
The four men charge at Master Warrior, clearly none of them are in any shape to fight him. The men tackle him all at once, arms and fists are everywhere as he braces for the attack. Two of the men fight to hold Master Warrior’s arms as the other two land punches to his face and torso. One guy has a good right but it is not enough to cause any lasting effect on Master Warrior. One by one he takes the men attacking him down trying not to injure them too badly. Kicks to the chest of the men in front of him are enough to send them sailing back to the cavern floor. While the men holding his arms are easily flipped to the floor beside the others.
Master Warrior has barely worked up a sweat as he stands free again. “So that is the name you are going with?” Master Warrior challenges keeping DeMarco’s attention centered on him. “I guess it is better than Split, like I had been calling you.” “After all splitting yourself isn’t even your power is it?” “It comes from those coins.”
“My power is that of my ancestors, to harness the world around me, make it part of me!” Niantic boasts as he steps around the wooden trunk to approach Master Warrior. “Perhaps I shall consume you to take your rather impressive power as well.”
“Is that what the Platinum ring told you?” Master Warrior asks as he steps back drawing the man farther from the treasure as he looks for a weak spot to strike the man. “So you are a cannibal too?” “I think you will find me hard to swallow.” Master Warrior says flexing his bicep as he thinks back over his disjointed dream. What he has learned about Niantic as he has chosen to call himself still makes little sense.
While Master Warrior taunts Niantic he has lost track of the four men who have recovered and now pile on him from behind. Again one takes each arm while another takes him around the waist and the fourth around the neck. Their new strategy seems to be working as they hold Master Warrior fast in place. Niantic steps closer to the restrained hero. “I have no need to eat you in the physical sense when I can easily drain your soul!”
Learning what Niantic has in mind Master Warrior again takes action dispatching his captors quickly and more thoroughly this time. As the men land at Niantic’s feet it becomes clear to Master Warrior, this is what he saw in his dream. Also he knows that he can not let this man make physical contact with him. In one fluid movement Master Warrior takes his arsenal from his thigh and lashes it out in the shape of a whip to coil around Niantic, yanking him away from the trunk of coins. He slams the surprised and helpless man against the opposite wall. Taking flight in the low cavern isn’t easy but Master Warrior does it to land the final blow with the back of his gauntlet covered wrist to Niantic jaw knocking him unconscious.
Meanwhile, Miracle Maiden makes a sprint for the Treasure chest closing the lid sealing the strange energy she can see coming off of the coins inside. But there is something odd about the wooden trunk that the coins are in. It is clearly centuries old, but why is it buried here? Why did this Niantic character find it now, what was different about his last thief? How did he manage to leave a coin behind? The only thing that could possibly make sense is that he found something better. She looks to Master Warrior, who is hovering over Niantic. “Wait, what are you doing?” she shouts running to his side.
Master Warrior kneels on Niantic’s chest using his arsenal as a knife to cut the coins out of the man’s chest. “We have to get these back into that trunk!” he says, collecting the bloody Francs.
Miracle Maiden’s first instinct is to stop the bleeding from the wounds as she moves in to see what he is doing. Reaching out to touch his arm she holds back only healing him enough to clot the wounds. “I think he stole something else from that vault,” she tells Master Warrior. “Something more important to him than these coins.” Miracle Maiden takes the coins and runs to the trunk adding them in with the others inside.
Master Warrior looks to the ring on Niantic’s finger then he reaches to slide it off. If he didn’t take the silver ring what did this ring tell him was in that vault? He slips the ring on his finger and unlike the Silver ring he has an immediate reaction with him. Master Warrior stumbles back away from Niantic.
“What is it?” Miracle Maiden exclaims turning back to see Master Warrior fall back against the wall. Distracted, she doesn’t notice as Niantic’s wounds are healing quickly on their own as she hurries back. Jumping up to his feet Niantic reaches up to grab Miracle Maiden by the throat.
“Foolish bitch!” Niantic growls at her as he looks her in the eyes. “Your magic wanes now doesn’t it?” “Using it to heal me has only insured your death!” Miracle Maiden struggles to escape his grip but finds that he is right. She has exerted far too much of her bio-energy in the past hour to break his grip.
Not far away Master Warrior regains his senses shouting, “Get out of the way!” “I know what to do!”
Miracle Maiden hears his words, she can not break the Niantic’s grip, but fading away has always been easier. She passes through his fingers gasping for air as she falls to the ground to solidify in seconds.
Master Warrior strikes out with his whip again toward Niantic. This time the man is prepared for the attack catching the elongates whip around his forearm. Niantic possesses a strength greater than Master Warrior expects, but it is not enough to resist his own. Master Warrior gives a yank to the whip bringing Niantic across the cavern to his fist. Slamming the man face down on top of the closed trunk Master Warrior leaps up onto his back pinning him there.
Releasing his arsenal to put it back on his leg he stands on the Niantic’s back as he struggles to get up. Aiming downward, Master Warrior slams his gauntlets together releasing the full intensity of Miracle Maiden’s bio-energy into Niantic with explosive results.
Master Warrior wakes up with Miracle Maiden over him. “What did you do?” she asks. The cave is filled with smoke that crackles with static electricity. “Did you kill him?” “I can’t see anything in this fog!”
“Help me up,” Master Warrior asks. “That energy of yours packs a wallop.” Standing up he forms his arsenal into a bladed staff that he begins to twirl to clear the fog from the cave. As the light of the lantern begins to show the outcome of Master Warrior’s action. Niantic lays facedown hunches over the wooden trunk, the last of the smoke rising from his back.
“Jesus Christ!” Miracle Maiden exclaims. “What did you do?” She runs to the unconscious man on the trunk. She checks the man’s neck for a pulse. “Thank god, he is alive!”
“Don’t heal him!” Master Warrior says walking over putting his arsenal back to his leg. “The ring showed me what it told DeMarco,” he explains holding up his hand to remove the Platinum ring. “The reason this treasure was left here by European explorers was because it imprisoned an evil spirit.” “When the Niantic people found the gold they released that entity.” “It consumed their leader and they imprisoned his soul in a jar that ended up in the vault at Central Security Corp.” “DeMarco was possessed by the Niantic Chief when he opened that jar and it led him here.” “That trunk has the power to imprison such spirits so I used your bio-energy to blast the spirit out of him and into the trunk.”
“Evil Spirits, Lost Treasure, and Ancient Magic,” Miracle Maiden surmises, “Five years ago I would never have believed in any of it.” “Now it is becoming part of my everyday life.”
“Welcome to the world of being a Zeni-human,” Master Warrior chuckles. “In the end DeMarco still has to pay for the crimes he committed with or without a magic ring.” “The power to use the coins was all his, he still is a Zeni-human.”
“Been my experience so far that the police really don’t deal with that well,” Miracle Maiden adds.
“I know, but they are getting better,” Master Warrior replies, “I think Special Agent Lei has a better handle on it than most.” “But this ring needs to go.” “I threw the other one in the ocean.” Reaching out the ring to Miracle Maiden he says. “Do you think you can find a place to lose this one equally hopeless?”
Miracle Maiden takes the cheap looking trinket, “You trust me with a magic ring?”
“You’ve seen the trouble it can cause, I trust you with getting rid of it,” he says smiling behind his disguise. “As for the trunk it is probably best if we bury it back underground here before the tide comes back in.” Master Warrior walks over to lift DeMarco off of the trunk as Miracle Maiden takes the handle of the treasure trunk to drag it back into the hole. It hits the bottom with a thud. Master Warrior lays DeMarco down onto the floor away from the other unconscious men. “Here let me do that,” he says taking the shovel from Miracle Maiden.
“What a gentleman, she comments as she hands him one of the other shovels as they work together to fill in the hole. “What if he remembers about the Treasure when he wakes up?” she asks.
“From what I got from the ring, DeMarco was completely submerged by the Niantic chief’s spirit, he shouldn’t remember anything after he opened that jar,” Master Warrior explains. “If he does it won’t matter because in about three hours this cave will be filled with water for six months.” They work quickly filling in the dirt on top of the treasure chest as the ocean water begins to creep into the cave. The tide washes over the freshly filled hole, erasing all evidence of its existence.
Just then several armed men enter the cave with guns drawn. “Hold it right there, no one move,” one of the men wearing an FBI badge announces. “What is going on here?”
Miracle Maiden and Master Warrior look to each other as they both go through the motion of raising their hands to the authorities. “We just stopped a man from taking over the world,” Master Warrior says sarcastically. “You’ll find that James DeMarco here is wanted in New York City for burglary and kidnapping.” “I suggest you turn him over to Special Agent Michael Lei as soon as possible.”
“Keep him away from any abnormal power sources too,” Miracle Maiden adds as three of the five FBI Agents go to check the unconscious men on the floor.
“We were advised that there would be a civilian here,” the lead agent tells them.
“Nope, just us,” Master Warrior replies. “Could we put our hands down, please.” “If you recognize either of us you should know it is rather pointless.”
“We know who you are, Master Warrior, we are all well aware of what you did in Philadelphia,” the agent tells him. “We don’t need any of that chaos on our little island, so I will thank you to keep your hands where I can see them.”
“At least let us help you get these men out of here before this cave fills with water,” Miracle Maiden suggests as the tide is over their ankles now.
“She is right Chief, this is one of the lost caverns that will disappear soon,” another of the agents tells him.
The man in charge relents and allows the heroes to help get the men out of the cave as the water rises to knee height. Once everyone is safe and DeMarco is in custody the FBI finishes by interviewing Miracle Maiden and Master Warrior separately at a small office they have in a nearby town. As Master Warrior leaves to head back to New York he spots Miracle Maiden from the air outside of the office.
“So how did it go?” he calls out to her as he touches down on the ground again.
“I have to admit, I am still not comfortable with this involvement with the authorities,” she says reluctantly.
“It gets easier the more well known you become,” Master Warrior explains as they walk down the street. “We do what we can but the legal system is the one we need to depend on to finish the job.” “I can tell you really didn’t want to become Miracle Maiden and be out there in the public eye.”
“How could you possibly know that?” Miracle Maiden charges stopping on the sidewalk to address him directly. “You know nothing about me!”
“I might say the same thing to you every time you call me Showboat,” he suggests. “I’ve had these powers most of my life and I really didn’t know what to do with them for a long time.” “Hiding them was not the answer.” “When I learned that there were other people with powers I knew it was my place to act.” “I get the impression that is not something you chose to do as I did.” “It just kind of happened to you.”
“I’ll admit that I really didn’t choose this life, but it is not something I do for fun,” Miracle Maiden says, giving him that look she has given him many times before calling him Showboat. “But what happened in St. Louis really did open my eyes to the bigger threats that are out there.”
“And meeting Olympian proves that there are more of us out there just wanting to help,” Master Warrior encourages as they begin to walk again. “If you are ever in San Diego you should look up a friend of mine, she is going by the name Sentry,” he suggests. “I think you and she might have some things in common.”
“Why because we are both women?” Miracle Maiden accuses looking for a reason to criticize him.
“No, because neither of you chose this life,” he explains. “By the way, are you going to walk back to New York or can I give you a lift?” Master Warrior offers as they stand at the edge of a marina at the farthest point south on the island.
Miracle Maiden looks over at the muscle bound idiot knowing what he is suggesting. There is no way she is letting this Showboat carry her all the way back to New York. “No thank you, I have my own way home,” she replies, vanishing from sight to teleport away from him.
Master Warrior shrugs his shoulders and takes three steps to jump up into the air. He flies out over the water back toward the mainland thinking how she will never give him a chance. He has known people before in his life that tend to prejudge people and there is little hope of ever changing their minds. Although as the air rushes over his face he remembers the dream he had with the help of Dharma at the Enchanted Suites, Bed and Breakfast.
There were several women in that dream, one of them he has already identified as Sentry, perhaps the another was Miracle Maiden. It seemed as if they were all a team of a sort. Perhaps Miracle Maiden will get over her judgment of him because if he is not mistaken she was the one he felt the closest to in the dream. Like they had some kind of unspoken bond.
Meanwhile on the ground about a mile away from the marina where she vanished, Miracle Maiden reappears, exhausted from the exertion of the teleport. She touches the necklace around her neck to return to her Diana Carter clothing. There is no way she will be getting home that way. Most of her bio-energy was used up in the fight with DeMarco, it will probably be days before she can make any long distance trips by teleporting. A boat ride back to Montauk seems to be the best idea, followed by a train ride. As she walks toward the ferry port she is just relieved that there was no sign of Steve at the beach. Prussia must have been wrong about his intentions or he has not yet arrived on the island. At any rate there is no longer any reason to worry about him.