May 29, 1987
19th Police Precinct
153 E 67th St
New York City, NY
Detective Prussia returns to the precinct after a bust to find a reporter for the New York Bulletin, Martin Harper waiting downstairs in reception. “Detective do you have any comment on the case you just wrapped up?” the reporter shouts at Detective Prussia. “Was the vigilante involved in the case?”
Detective Prussia is visibly irritated by the reporter’s line of questioning as he approaches him. Nathan Prussia stands nearly a foot taller than Harper, an imposing man as he takes the reporter by the arm to pull him down the hallway. Opening a door Prussia shoves the reporter into an interview room. “What is your game, Harper?” the Detective demands.
“The truth,” the reporter answers simply. “I want to know everything there is to know about this Vigilante.”
“Who I suppose you think is doing my job for me!” Detective Prussia charges.
“I never said that, I’ve never even mentioned your name in my stories,” Harper replies feeling intimidated by the cop. “I moved to New York with one goal, it was to uncover this mystery woman.”
“Woman?” Prussia exclaims. “Who said anything about the vigilante being a woman?” Detective Prussia has been haunted by his suspicious about Diana Carter for months but he has never spoke a word about her outside the precinct.
“I have my sources,” Harper replies standing firm against the Detective’s stare down.
Prussia has spent years of reading suspects and can see in Harper’s eyes that he is not going to buckle. That can mean only one thing, there is a leak in the precinct. Someone trying to make him look bad to the public. He will need to keep his cards close to his vest when it comes to Diana Carter.
Diana Carter’s Condo
The Simpson Building
303 7th Avenue
New York City, NY
It has been a week since Diana went back to school, NYC Law school to be exact. It was a struggle to get her school records from Stanford, she even had to resort to Shana for help. Diana doesn’t feel at all guilty about what Shana did to get her history at Stanford cleared up after all it was Robin who did those things and it was Shana’s fault it all happened.
Diana’s first four days of night Law School have been challenging with still working at Carter Industries during the day, but her real challenge is going to be tonight. Tracey has been on her for months now about a girls night out, after the week she has had Diana has finally given in to her old friend’s demands.
Going through her closet Diana finally has a use for one of these overly sexy outfits that Aunt Jean picked out for her when they were shopping. Diana kinda has come to the conclusion that pregnancy does not agree with Aunt Jean and that she has made Diana her fashion surrogate. Aunt Jean really wanted to come out with them too, but the friends kept their outing a secret from her because of Jean’s lateness of pregnancy. A maroon low cut back and front mini-dress is the one Diana finally decides on knowing that if Tracey was here it is the only dress she would let her wear.
The bell rings and Diana grabs her shoes to hurry to the door to meet Tracey. “Hey girl,” Tracey smile when Diana opens the door. “Look at you all slutty.”
“I figured you would like it,” Diana says giving a spin.
“I love it!” Tracey tells her friend “Do you have a long coat you can put over it?”
“Why?” Diana quizzes in confusion.
“We are kind of going to a gallery show first before hitting the club,” Tracey explains.
“A gallery show, look at you, all cultured” Diana says going to her hall closet to pull out a long coat. “How’s this, flasher enough for you?” Diana giggles opening and closing the coat.
“It’s a friend’s exhibit from Art School, I told her I would drop by before you gave into our girl’s night out,” Tracey explains. “We just have to hang out for an hour or so,”
“That is fine, I would much rather go to an art show than a scuzzy night club anyway,” Diana replies.
“Don’t be so hard on skuzzy night clubs, that is where my husband proposed,” Tracey grins as they head out the door.
“No, he didn’t!” Diana insists as she locks up. “You are such a little liar!”
Hudson Veterans Clinic
28 Hudson St
New York, NY
Abe Woodlawn has been running this clinic for over a year now. He puts in long days and late nights something he is all too used to doing. Previously he was a Navy Seal turned Doctor after that he returned to Iran where he spent five years. He feels bad for losing that time with his family. That is why he intends to make up for that time by spending all the time he can with his son Frank.
“Hey Dad,” Fox, the nickname his friends have called him for years that his father refuses to use, calls into the small office at the back of the clinic. “I’ve been going over some of the inventory and found a discrepancy.”
“What is it son?” Dr. Woodlawn asks looking up from his paperwork that he slips into his desk drawer.
“We have a shortage of blood specimen vials for the amounts of test we have run,” Fox explains. “I’ve noticed that all of the techs have been taking an extra vial of blood for each patient who comes for a second visit here.” “Thus the shortage.” “But after the blood was taken, it disappears from test records.”
Dr. Woodlawn appears undisturbed by the news. He is silent for a moment clearly choosing his words carefully. “That is fine, I’ve been using the specimens to create profiles for the Veterans Administration.”
The idea of creating secret profiles doesn’t seem right to Fox. Although, he thinks it is best not to question his father any farther. “Okay then, I guess I’ll just over look it,” Fox replies trying not to appear too suspicious. “Is there anything else I should know about while doing inventory?”
“Not to my knowledge,” Dr. Woodlawn answers coolly. Fox leaves the office appearing happy with his father’s answers.
Frameworks Gallery
Greenwich Village
New York, NY
Diana admires the paintings in the gallery as Tracey spends some time with her college friend, Jane. The oil painting she stands in front of now inspires something inside of her heart. Diana can’t explain it but the abstract paint with swirls of red, gold, and blue make her feel content. “Quite an interesting painting?” a man says stepping up beside her.
Diana turns to recognize the middle-aged man. “Professor Dudley?” Diana says surprised by the man’s presence at the art gallery. “I didn’t take you as an art lover,” Diana replies of the Professor whose Civil Law class she is in at NYC.
“It has only been a week, Miss Carter, how could you know anything about me?” Professor Dudley replies. “And please call me Roland.”
“Okay, Roland what do you see in this painting?” Diana quizzes.
“I see two lovers, the man in blue and the woman in red, the gold is what joins them together as one,” the Professor explains.
“Wow, that is very provocative,” Diana says looking at the Professor from a different angle. “All I saw was primary colors swirled on a canvas.”
“Abstract art is in the eye of the beholder, you have to look closely to feel it.” Roland instructs her. “See the inner meaning of it.” “Look at the way the blue dominates the red yet caressing it gently, almost lovingly,” he says putting his arm on her shoulder moving her closer to the canvas hanging on the wall.
Normally Diana would react to his touch in a negative way, pushing him away, but there is something gentle and respectful about Professor Dudley. She felt it the moment she sat down in his class. He takes his hand from her shoulder as she looks closer at the painting still only seeing swirls of paint.
“Look over here at this one,” Roland gestures to her stepping down the wall three paintings. “This is a war, a war between parent and child.”
Diana approaches the canvas to see a large jagged green line that separates three quarters of the upper right side of the canvas that is a darker green from a small red and yellow triangle on the bottom left corner. To Diana simply looks like a Christmas tree with a small red ornament hanging from it. “I guess Abstract art is just not my thing, because I can’t see that at all.” Diana tells her Law turned Art instructor.
“Perhaps you are more of a classic art person,” Roland says leading Diana toward the next room. The first painting he shows her is rather benign. A woman dressed in pink 19th century clothing sits at a white cast iron garden table and chairs as a toddler dressed in a red jumper plays with dolls on the ground at her feet. The background is rather cheerful except for a storm cloud that hangs in the distance over a man dressed in a dark green suit, standing alone. “What does this piece say to you?” the Professor asks.
Diana studies the piece for a moment then glances back at Professor Dudley trying to figure out what he would want her to say. “The man in the green suit is bringing a storm to the woman and her child,” Diana says at last.
“Yes, exactly, now you are getting it,” Roland compliments bringing a smile to Diana’s face.
“Oh, there you are Di,” Tracey says walking up to them. “I’ve been looking all over for you.” “Who is this handsome gentleman?” Tracey asks with a big smile.
“This is Professor Dudley,” Diana introduces, “and this is my friend Tracey who brought me to the exhibit.” “The Professor is my Civil Law teacher at NYC.”
“Nice to meet you sir,” Tracey says shaking his hand, “Di was always a straight ‘A’ student in High School, I’m sure she will do great in your class.”
“I’m sure she will do just fine,” Professor Dudley says winking at Diana. “I should be getting along now, let your girls have your night out,” he says making a quick departure.
“Wow, Di he is really hot for a stuffy law Professor,” Tracey comments as the older man walks away across the room.”
“Great, now you want me to date my Professor?” Diana replies.
“You wouldn’t be the first college girl to do it,” Tracey quips. “Besides, your over twenty-one now, it is no big deal.”
“If you are done, why don’t we head to the club you keep going on about,” Diana insists. “I could use a drink.”
Bull’s-eye Rifle Range
Hempstead, NY
Martin Harper is not one to be scared off a story. The hour drive out of the city is worth it if he can find a clue at the last place the vigilante was seen. Bull’s-eye Rifle Range has been closed down for years, the stock market crash a few years ago did it in. Martin parks his rental car out of sight from the road to sneak up to the back of the building. Before getting out of his car Martin slips on a pair of latex gloves. Then ducking under police tape it is fairly easy for him to pick the lock to get inside.
Inside he takes out a flashlight to shine it around. Martin is not clear on everything that went on here a month back but he knows it is something that only a teenage girl in Hempstead was willing to talk to him. The action mostly took place in a storage room that is behind the showroom. Martin makes his way through the showroom that is mostly empty now, just a few broken display cases and shelving fixtures. Behind the counter there is a door to the storeroom that has more “Do Not Cross This Police Line” tape on it. Martin takes out a box cutter to slice the tape open.
The moment Martin enters the storeroom his nose is overcome with the stench of urine and something much worse. Shining his light around it is clear that either squatters have been living here or people have been held captive for a long period of time like the girl described. The girl from Hempstead told Martin that she was taken by two men and brought here. There were five other girls around her age when she arrived, but one by one they were taken away over the days she was held here.
Martin’s heart sinks as he finds evidence around the room to support the girl’s story. Surely the police must have missed something. The girl described her final day as much stranger than the rest. The two men who had been holding were coming to take her away when the mystery woman showed up. She was dressed all in black. Although the woman’s face was not covered the girl could not describe it at all, only to say she had long black hair tied in a ponytail.
It is clear to Martin that there was a struggle in the small room, even gun fire from the looks of the walls. The girl said that the mystery woman shielded her from the bullets. Sounds
like she wore a bulletproof vest, Martin is sure that is what the police assumed. A vest would take the bullets with it, embedded in the fabric. Martin wonders if the mystery woman could have done something else.
He shines the light around the edges of the room, under a table and two chairs, Then the several old cots in the room. He sees it sparkle in the beam of light. Lifting up one of the old cots he finds an iron slug on the floor reflecting in the light. Picking it up he is surprised by its condition. It is flattened on one side. Shining his light back around the room, there is nothing hard enough to cause such damage. Leaving him to surmise only one thing, the mystery woman is bulletproof!
The Rooftop Club
45 W 38th St
New York, NY
Tracey and Diana arrive at the Rooftop Club in downtown Manhattan. It is a stylish place with a DJ and rather high end clientele. “Trace, how did you ever get us into this place?” Diana asks as she hands her coat to the attendant.
“I know the owner, I did a photo shoot for him a few months back,” Tracey replies as she gives her coat to the attendant. Under her coat she wears a rather conservative blouse and skirt.
Diana turns to get her first look at what Tracey is wearing. “You’ve got to be kidding!” Diana exclaims. “What are you wearing?” “You look like a school teacher!”
“Unlike you Di, I am a happily married woman who no longer needs to put the merchandise in the window,” Tracey replies. “Besides, how good of a wing girl would I be if I looked hotter than you?”
“That is not why I am here!” Diana reaffirms.
“I wonder why he is here?” Tracey asks pointing to Professor Dudley who sits at the bar. “He looks right at home.” “You should go talk to him.”
Diana glares at her friend before crossing the room to where Professor Dudley sits at the bar. “Well hello again, Roland,” Diana says. “I hope you don’t think I’m following you.”
“I have to admit I am surprised to see you here,” Roland replies looking her up and down.
“My friend knows the owner, so she got us in,” Diana explains. “I just wanted to say Hi and get us some drinks.”
“What are you having?” “Let me get it for you,” Roland offers.
“NO, no, that’s not necessary,” Diana says embarrassed.
“Sure it is, what are you having?” Roland asks.
“What do you have there?” Diana quizzes knowing it really doesn’t matter what she drinks.
“Scotch on the rocks,” Roland tells her.
“I’ll give that a try,” Diana smiles.
“And your friend?” Roland questions.
“She’ll have a Blood Mary,” Diana grins. The Professor orders the drinks and Diana thanks him before carrying them to the table by the wall that Tracey has found.
“Blood Mary, very funny, Di,” Tracey says as the drink is sat in front of her on the table. “How’s the handsome Professor doing?”
“Just fine, he bought our drinks,” Diana says smiling as she sits down to cross her legs.
“We have been here two minutes and you already got a guy buying us drinks?” Tracey exclaims. “You were made for this life!” “Next time get me something top shelf!”
The two girls sit listening to the music it is like Diana’s dream play list. At first the Scotch doesn’t taste that good to Diana but after a few sips, she begins to enjoy it. The DJ doesn’t play one song that the girls don’t like as they begin to sway to the music. As the music begins to pound in her head Diana begins to feel strange. Is this what being drunk feels like she wonders.
“I think he likes your legs,” Tracey says out of the blue.
“What are you talking about?” Diana quizzes.
“The Professor, he hasn’t taken his eyes off of you since you sat down,” Tracey tells her best friend.
“Don’t be silly,” Diana says turning to look back at the bar to smile at the Professor. He is rather good looking she thinks. “It’s my curse all men want me,” Diana says as they laugh together over it.
Wham’s “Jitterbug” begins to play and Tracey exclaims, “Holy shit he is coming over!”
“What?” Diana says turning to have her face meet Roland’s belt buckle. “Oh, hello again,” Diana says looking up at his face a little embarrassed.
“Diana would you like to dance?” Roland asks.
She is dumbfounded, not sure what to say. “Well the song is almost over but if the DJ plays, a Whitney Houston song, I might take you up on that,” Diana says as the Wham song ends.
“I’ll be over at the bar then,” Roland tells her as “I Want To Dance,” starts to play. “Sounds like you got your wish.” Diana looks to Tracey as Roland puts out his hand to take her to the dance floor. Tracey’s eyes say go for it, even if her lips only smile.
Roland leads Diana to the floor to find an open space. Diana is surprised at how good of a dancer he is to a modern song. In fact they dance to three more songs before returning to the table.
There are two fresh drinks waiting for them and Diana barely notices that Tracey has left as the couple begin to talk. “You’ve got some good moves,” Diana complements.
“For an old man you mean,” Roland grins.
“That is not what I meant,” Diana defends. “But since you brought it up, 40?”
“I’m 38,” Roland replies trying not to look offended. The couple is silent for a moment sipping the Scotch before he leans in to kiss her on the lips.
May 30, 1987
Diana Carter’s Condo
The Simpson Building
303 7th Avenue
New York City, NY
Saturday morning and Diana wakes up with her head pounding. Is this what a hangover feels like, she wonders pulling the pillow over her head. She lays in her bed trying to remember how many of those Scotches she had. Diana can feel the sheet touching her bare nipple. Sliding her hand down under the blanket she confirms that she is indeed naked. Her nudity triggers flashes of memories she can’t believe are her own.
Sliding the pillow to the side she peers out with one eye. “Oh shit!” she whispers to herself at the sight of the man in the bed next to her. Diana ever so gingerly slips out of the bed to find her robe. Stealthy she tiptoes around to the side of the bed to where the man still lays sleeping. Oh my god it is Professor Dudley in my bed! How did this happen? she thinks in a panic. She gently lifts the blanket to see that he is naked a well, in really good shape too! Most disturbing is that is definitely the penis she remembers, still wearing a clearly used condom!
Laying the blanket back down on him he stirs slightly then struggle to open his eyes. “Good Morning, beautiful,” Roland Dudley says coming awake.
“Good Morning to you,” Diana replies timidly. “I just want you to know, I don’t do this!” “It was the first time I drank Scotch and it must have really gone to my head.”
“That is okay, but I want you to know this doesn’t have to be a one night stand,” Professor Dudley says sitting up to reach under the sheet. It is clear what he is doing and Diana retrieves the waste basket from the corner of the room.
She holds it out asking, “What do you mean?”
“I thought I could make you some breakfast and we could spend the day together if you are free.”
There is just something so attractive about this man that she didn’t see when he was standing at the front of the lecture hall for the past week. “Sure, yeah, that would be nice,” Diana replies coming to terms with the events of the past night.
Tracey and Fox Woodlawn’s apartment
Clinton Avenue
New York, NY
The newlyweds lay together in bed on a lazy Saturday morning. Tracey runs her fingers through the soft hair on her husband’s chest as he lets out a sigh. “What’s wrong sweetie, you weren’t your normal vigorous self last night?” Tracey questions. “After I’ve had a night out, you’re usually an animal.”
“It’s just something strange happened at the Clinic yesterday that is on my mind,” Fox reveals. “My Dad is compiling medical profiles on patients off the books.”
“You don’t think your dad is doing something illegal, do you?” Tracey asks.
“Not illegal, but maybe immoral,” Fox replies. “I worry that I might lose him again.”
Central Park Zoo
New York, NY
Diana and Roland Dudley stroll along the cobblestone path of the Zoo. “I’ve really enjoyed today,” Diana tells the man she walks with. “I thought what happened last night might have been a mistake.” “After today I’m not so sure.”
“I’m glad to hear you say that,” Professor Dudley replies. “I have enjoyed our time together too, but I would hope that you understand we have to keep this between just you and I.”
“I understand completely, we wouldn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea,” Diana replies.
“My thoughts exactly, now how about some lunch?” Roland suggest directing her to the sidewalk cafe.
Mist’s Palace
Magic Island
This island is a powerful source of magic on Earth for many reasons. One of the reasons is why Mist has been imprisoned here for a millennia. The master of his domain strolls through the corridor of the Palace.
He is alone once more like so many centuries he has spent banished to this island. His power is mighty yet limited in so many ways. Little has made an impression on his life in all of the pass centuries he has spent on Earth. Not even the birth of his daughter impacted him like it would any other person.
In recent years he has not been as alone on the island, something that in many ways has been by his design more than any know. As the Zeni-humans emerge in the outside world Mist patiently waits for each event to fall into place. Time is one thing of which Mist has plenty. His prime focus for years has been on two extraordinary humans that live in the United States. Although he can only watch them and not affect the events around them, his influence on them has been strong.
As he watches the world beyond the island he sees other Zeni-human emerging that not even Mist could have anticipated. Not just would-be heroes but others that would do harm have also made their presence known.
Still there is more hidden from the eyes of mortal men. An extraterrestrial influence has come to Earth. It is spreading quickly, but Mist does not truly comprehend its motives. He will let that for two others that have been labeled heroes by mortal men.
There is little Mist can does not watch as he waits for his daughter to return. He has sent Shanna into the outside world again as he did years ago to find Diana Carter. Now he has given her a new task. A task that will nudge the world onto the right course.
May 31, 1987
Diana Carter’s Condo
The Simpson Building
303 7th Avenue
New York City, NY
Sunday morning Diana wakes up alone and exhausted. She feels as if she has been running in her sleep for days. She sits up on the edge of her bed thinking back over the past couple of days. As wonderful as the time she spent with Professor Dudley, something is still out of place. Perhaps the fact that she still thinks of him as Professor Dudley.
Diana decides to go for a jog to clear her head after the events of the past two days. It is a cloudy day so unlike the warm sun of yesterday. She runs for about a block or two from her building until she feels like her heart will explode. Sitting down on a bench Diana tries to catch her breathe. Something is wrong with her but she has no idea what.
“Hello,” a middle-aged man asks sitting down next to her on the bench. “Are you alright?”
Diana looks to the man sitting next to her, he has dark hair and eyes that seem to peer into her soul.
Diana is confused by what is happening but she replies anyway, “I’m fine, just over tired, rough weekend I guess.”
“I remember what that was like,” the man says. “Trevor Main,” the man says reaching out his hand. “I haven’t seen you at this bus stop before.” Diana takes notice of the large topaz signet ring on the man’s left pinky.
Moving to touch the man’s hand Diana feels nauseous for a moment before pulling her hand back. “Bus stop?” Diana repeats looking around to see the sign. “Oh, no, I was just having a rest, I only live a few blocks from here.”
“You don’t look well, do you need help getting home?” the man asks.
“Thanks, I’ll be fine,” Diana says getting up from the bench. Feeling better as she walks away back to her building. She glanced back over her shoulder as she hears the bus arrive. Diana watches as Trevor Main boards the bus and it pulls away from the curb.
Returning home to her building she rides the elevator, her shoulder against the wall as it moves up floor by floor taking on and letting off several other people. Making her way back to her condo, Diana heads back to the bedroom to crawl into bed.
JUNE 1, 1987
Carter Industries
The Simpson Building
303 7th Avenue
New York City, NY
Diana settles in behind her desk, feeling better after a good night’s sleep. “Is there anything I can get you?” her assistant Jan asks from the office door.
“No, I’ll be fine,” Diana replies. “I just need to get my bearings, Monday morning and all.”
“Just give a holler then,” Jan says closing the door to return to her desk in the outer office.
Diana looks over the papers on her desk not sure where to begin. There is something missing. Diana isn’t sure what it is, but she knows where to look. When she took this job she had the best safe that money can buy hidden in her office. Going to the washroom Diana pulls out and twists the wall mounted shower faucet. A panel on the other side of the shower slides open to reveal the safe underneath. Opening the safe with the combination and retina scanner, Diana takes the most recent files from the stack of folders inside.
Going back to her desk Diana flips through the files surprised by what she has found. It has been months since Diana first went over the files from her father’s safe. It would appear that she had found her next target, a Professor at NYU. Who appears to have some problems with young female students. She reads through the papers twice trying to figure out why she can’t remember anything on them or even a plan she might have had to find this man.
Then her mind drifts back to the weekend she has just spent with Roland Dudley. Something is wrong with her! She needs some time to process it all to heal. Almost instinctively at first Diana’s Bio-energy surges. Then she takes control of it, guiding it to wash over her mind. One by one, like flipping switches in her brain, she begins to remember everything. Her plan to trap the Professor has led her to be the prey. Now with her memory restored she again has the upper hand.
There is something else she remembers a reporter, Martin Harper. He approached her three days into her new mission as a law student. He had been assigned a story that he didn’t think held water until he started investigating it. Harper suspected Dudley was the Professor in question after interviewing one of his students. The girl would not name the Professor that assaulted her, but research showed that other girls had made complaints against him. When Diana asked about the other girls, Harper told her they were all dead and Dudley had an alibi for all of the times the girls claimed he assaulted them. Professor Dudley is a part of a sleep study on campus every weekend.
Harper’s information narrowed Diana’s suspect list to one. In class she had played up to Dudley trying to trap him but it is now clear to her that she fell into his trap instead. How could she have been so fooled? She slept with this fiend, lost her virginity to him! Or did she?
Diana reaches for her phone dialing Tracey’s number at her photography studio. “Trace, where did you run off to so quick Friday night?” Diana asks her best friend when she answers the phone.
“Friday night?” Tracey questions. “I told you last week I had that friend from Art School invited me to her exhibit.” “I just did that and headed home.” “It was an early night, I told you to give me a call if you wanted to go out after.”
“Thanks girl, that is a weight off my mind,” Diana replies.
“Di, what’s going on?” Tracey asks with concern.
“Let’s just say, class tonight should be a very interesting experience.” “I’ll give you a call later, thanks,” Diana tells her friend as she hangs up the phone. It was all a dream, Diana realizes. Professor invades people’s dreams somehow. It must have something to go with that sleep study he is in.
Diana spends the rest of her day researching the University Sleep Lab. She finds every article she can on the NYC Sleep Study. The study Dudley participates in sounds to be very advanced. The head of the department, Professor Williamson claims that it could change the way everyone looks at dreams and have ongoing therapeutic results. After reading several articles Diana still has no idea what the Study is doing. It is all doublespeak and subterfuge that Professor Williamson use in his interviews.
NYC Law School
Manhattan
New York, NY
Diana takes her seat in class noticing another student glaring at her. She has seen the young woman before in class but has never been given so much as a second glance. Diana can feel the other student’s glare through the hour long session. Professor Dudley seems perfectly unaffected by Diana’s own attention on him. He acts as if everything they shared over the weekend never happened. Something the reporter told her the Professor did to the other girls. Her attention is drawn away from the lecture as she thinks over the situation at hand.
Why would this Professor be of any use to her father? Clearly his talent for seducing students could have been of use to her father on the blackmail angle. Diana begins to wonder, what if the Professor’s talent has other uses? Only one way to find out and that means playing it cool. Diana knows she can’t come off like one of the other confused college girls he has used.
As Professor Dudley draws to a close on the evening’s lecture Diana prepares her approach to him. She takes her time gathering up her things as the other students file out of the lecture hall. When only a few co-eds remain Diana heads down the steps to the front of the hall. She approaches the Professor. He appears completely unconcerned by her attention.
“Professor Dudley, I understand you knew my father, William Carter,” Diana says to him stopping at his podium. The Professor looks up showing a slight expression of shock at the mention of her father’s name.
“I’m afraid you are mistaken, Miss Carter,” Professor Dudley replies regaining his composure. “I’ve never met your father.”
“Oh, my dad was a big supporter of the Central Park Zoo like you,” Diana prys. Dudley’s arrogant tests Diana’s self control as she smiles at him. “I hope you didn’t think I was going to be another one of your playthings.”
“What do you mean by that?” Dudley demands. Diana only looks at him with a raised eyebrow. “Miss Carter, if you are accusing me of something please just come out with it!” “I have been down this road before with you love-sick girls!”
“That was your plan wasn’t it?” Diana replies. “You will find me to be a much more formative opponent than those others.” Diana turns to strut out of the lecture hall her trap set.
JUNE 2, 1987
Carter Industries
The Simpson Building
303 7th Avenue
New York City, NY
Diana has spent the morning going over everything she can find on Professor Dudley. Everything has pointed to Dudley having something more than just a sparkling personality to seduce young college girls. Her plans for the afternoon will be to find some basis that will reveal that Dudley is more than he seems.
Just as Diana is about to leave for lunch here office door opens and Detective Prussia steps inside. “Ahhh, Detective Prussia what do I owe this unexpected visit?” Diana frowns sitting back down at her desk.
“I thought I might do you a service, Ms, Carter,” Detective Prussia says approaching her desk. “I understand you have returned to school.”
“Yes, I have,” Diana replies. “Law School.”
“You have a class with a Professor Dudley?” Detective Prussia interrogates. Diana simply nods hoping he is about to say what she thinks he is. “Professor Dudley was into the precinct this morning to file a harassment complaint against you.”
“Was he now,” Diana comments, happy that all is going as planned. “What exactly have I done?”
“More that he is worried about what you might do,” Detective Prussia answers.
“Sounds like he would make a good drinking buddy for you,” Diana jokes.
“This is no joking matter,” Prussia warns. “I investigated the good Professor’s history to learn he has had problems with some of his students in the past.” “Most of them filling unsubstantiated complaints about him.”
“Odd that he would be worried about me killing myself then isn’t it?” Diana replies.
“Who said anything about suicide?” Prussia quizzes. “Whatever you are playing at you better watch your step.”
“I can’t believe you are worried about me!” she charges. “I thought being rid of me would make your life easier,” she tells him.
Detective Prussia glares at Diana, “Just where have you been for the past three years?”
“I was going to school at Stanford in California,” Diana replies.
“That is odd because your Uncle had no idea about it,” Prussia reveals. “He hired several Private eyes to find you and none could.” “Except the last one, Alexander Stormstrum.” “Up until he took the case there was no evidence of you attending any school in California, then magically it all appeared out of nowhere.”
“I guess he was better than the rest,” she smiles.
“I personally searched for you for almost a year and found nothing,” the detective reveals for the first time. “Now that I have been looking into the case again, I found evidence of your plane flight home but nothing on how you got there three years ago.”
“I drove obviously,” she retorts.
“In what car?” Prussia charges. “Like I told you at the Midnight Bar, you are not a good liar, you should stop.”
Brooklyn Bagel Company
New York City, NY
Diana enters the shop for her lunch date. She hasn’t been here before making it awkward as she scanned the crowd looking for the man she is here to meet. She spots Martin Harper sitting at a booth in the back corner of the coffee shop. It is clear that he is trying to go unnoticed in the lunch crowd. She crosses the small shop to take a seat across the table from the reporter.
“Where you followed?” Harper asks softly.
“Really?” Diana questions. “What is this a meeting of spies?”
“My source is in the hospital in a coma,” Harper replies. “She was the only thing that gave my story any credibility.” “Without her, my story is dead in the water.”
“How did she end up in a coma?” Diana asks. “Did Dudley do it?”
“My source at the hospital tells me she did it to herself,” Harper answers. “Possible suicide attempt.”
“How?” Diana asks fearing there could be after effects of the Professor’s mental invasion.
“Poison,” Harper explains. “The doctors are still trying to figure out what poison.” The answer is a relief to Diana, poison is not something that will harm her, not even in her dreams. “The look on your face says to me that you know something new about the Professor since the last time we met.”
Diana looks away around the bagel shop for a moment not sure what she can tell the reporter. “Strictly off the record!” Diana insists. Harper nods in agreement.
NYC Law School
Manhattan
New York, NY
Diana arrives at Professor Dudley’s lecture hall early. She takes a seat in the very front row, one of only four students willing to be at his center of attention in the room. When Dudley arrives to set up for his class she doesn’t take her eyes off of him and makes sure he takes notice. He begins his lecture cool as a cucumber, completely undisturbed by Diana’s focus on him.
Twenty minutes into class the door at the top of the auditorium opens and ten young women enter the room. They stand along the back wall looking down to the front of the room. Professor Dudley turns to looks at Diana who smile slightly before glancing over her shoulder up to the top of the room. Dudley follows his student’s line of sight to see the women. He stops his speech in mid-sentence. Lifting his glasses he rubs his eyes as he recognizes everyone of the women standing in the back of his class. Each one of them is a face he knows from his past. They stand in sequence from first to last.
“Professor are you okay?” Diana speaks up breaking the silence as she stands. Her question works as a signal to the young women to begin to exit the room. Diana spent the better part of the afternoon with Martin Harper’s help to find the look-a-likes of the last ten women Dudley drove to their graves. “Professor?” Diana questions again a blank look on her face.
Dudley is speechless as he charges up the stairs to the door at the back of the room. The other students turn, some stand to see what has disturbed their teacher to such a degree. Dudley throws open the door to charge out of the lecture hall where he finds no sign of the ten young women. He returns to the classroom announcing, “Class dismissed!” The Professor storms down the steps to his desk as the students begin to pack up to leave.
When nearly all of the other students are gone Diana stands up to ask, “Is there something wrong Roland?”
Professor Dudley looks up from his briefcase, “I know it is you who is doing this!” “I just don’t know how!”
“Are you sure you aren’t just dreaming?” Diana smirks as she walks to leave the hall. Dudley will be in a panic now, making him vulnerable.
JUNE 3, 1987
Diana Carter’s Condo
The Simpson Building
303 7th Avenue
New York City, NY
Diana sits alone in her living room waiting. It is after midnight and she knows that she has provoked Professor Dudley enough to force his hand. He will come for her again, but this time she will be prepared. Diana scans the room, she has brought so little of herself to her new home in the past months that she lived here. It reminds her how much of herself she still keeps hidden. What kind of life will she have still hiding what she can do.
Diana’s anxiety grows to anger and she releases a blast of Bio-energy at the family photo on the end table in the corner. The blast strikes the frame sending it against the wall to the floor. She is startled by the event, her blast have no physical force, no effect on solid objects. Diana gets up to retrieve the picture frame. The photo behind the broken glass is of Diana and her mother, but Diana is an adult in the photo, something that could never be.
She realizes instantly, “I’m asleep!” He has drawn her in again without her even knowing it. But this time she does know it! Something else comes to mind, he kept her around people before, so she could not act out with her powers. But where is he? “Roland, my love, come out, come out wherever you are!” Diana shouts from the center of her living room.
“So you fancy yourself a superhero, do you?” Professor Dudley’s voice says as he still remains unseen to her. The dreamscape changes in an instant as does Diana’s clothing. She is again in the suit that she wore to Zeeza as Spirit. She stands in some kind of strange warehouse. There are crates in the center of the room with tables and stacked chairs covered with sheets pushed up against the walls. The light is dim, making it appear to be some kind of rundown nightclub. “I guess that would make me your nemesis.”
“Why are you still hiding from me?” Diana call out to the echo of the open room.
“You puzzle me, Miss Carter,” Dudley’s voice says. “How is it you are aware of any of this?”
“Miss Carter is it?” Diana comments. “That isn’t what you were calling me last weekend.” “I thought we had something special.” There is no reply. “I have to admit it wasn’t easy, I woke up Sunday morning believing it all really happened.”
“As they all did,” the phantom Professor replies. “I could feel that there was something different about you.” “The others could only sleep for a day at a time.” “It was too much for their minds to take to be under much longer than that.”
Then something horrible comes to Diana’s mind. “Where you feeding off of them somehow?” “Is that what drove them over the edge?” “Is that what made me so weak?” Dudley is silent again. She needs to know more if she is ever going to stop him. The key must be in the sleep study. He is only active on the weekends, but tonight is different. “I guess I should feel honored that you have come for me on a weeknight.” “Did you have to break into the sleep lab?” “Is the sleep study what unlocked your power?”
Suddenly, Diana hears music begin to play and the abandon club around her comes to life. She realizes now that this is the Rooftop Club where they met last Friday. Diana’s clothes have changed again back to the maroon mini-dress she wore that night. The music and crowd are loud as people push by her to reach the bar.
Turning she sees him sitting there at the rail just as he was last weekend. Diana feels a sense of joy at the sight of him as she moves closer. Diana throws her arms around Roland’s neck to kiss him on the cheek. “Oh, I’ve missed you so much,” she whispers in his ear.
“I’ve ordered your favorite,” Roland replies to Diana gesturing to the glass of scotch sitting on the bar. She looks back to Roland who sips his own glass of scotch. “Is something wrong lover?” he questions.
An expression of confusion comes to Diana’s face as she looks back to her glass. Diana feels a surge of Bio-energy through her body that heals her mind again. Then with but a thought the short glass of scotch is transformed into a tall flute of champagne. Diana reaches out to pick up the stem of the glass. Stepping back taking her arm for Roland’s shoulder, “Up until now I wasn’t sure if you had entered my mind or pulled me into yours for this dreamscape.” “Now it is clear to me that we are in neither, this dreamscape somehow exists inside the machine you are using.” “Which makes defeating you that much easier.” “Get rid of the machine end your power.”
“Not if you never wake up!” Professor Dudley shouts lunging forward at Diana. His persona of the dream lover is gone now as he takes hold of her head forcing her lips to his own. Diana can feel his draw on her mental strength making her sleepy even in this dreamscape. Dudley’s ability to drain her mental strength gives Diana the route to feed him something he is not expecting.
As Diana’s Bio-energy begins to flow into him, he tries to pull away. Now it is Diana who holds his head. She isn’t sure how her Bio-energy works in this dream realm but it is clearly having some kind of effect him. If he can steal mental energy from those girls through the machine, hopefully the machine will work as a buffer.
All around them the dreamscape of the Nightclub begins to fade. First the music stops, then the patrons vanish, followed by the room itself. Dudley finally breaks away from her grasp, staggering back his height and broad shoulders shrink back to dimensions closer to reality. “What, what’s happening?” he stammers. “What have you done?” The Professor falls backward stiff as a board, never hitting the floor before he vanishes too.
Diana Carter’s Condo
The Simpson Building
303 7th Avenue
New York City, NY
Diana awakes suddenly in her living room. She sits in the same chair she did from the beginning of the dream. She springs up from the chair, there is no time. With a thought she teleports.
NYC University
Sleep Study Laboratory
Manhattan
New York, NY
Diana appears in the early morning hours outside the Medical Studies Building. It has taken several teleports to reach the campus. Normally she would be exhausted by now, but she feels energized. Going intangible she charges forward up the concrete steps through the front doors of the building. Running down the corridor she follows the signs to the sleep study laboratory.
Diana has not been in this building before so she has no idea what to expect. When she enters the room it is nothing like she could have imagined. Dudley lays on a bed a helmet on his head with many lights on is that now shine a bright red. Wires from the helmet fall to the floor and into the next room. Diana runs to the door harmlessly passing through it. The wires connect to something that she can only describe as pure science fiction. Walking around the large machine it has no lights, dials or buttons.
“Arrrghhh!” there is a cry of pain from the other room. Diana knows she has to do something. It appears that her plan worked. Her Bio-energy has had an effect on the machine, but there is no way to tell what. She has to disconnect Dudley. Increasing her density Diana grabs hold of the cables connecting Professor Dudley to the machine. She focused all of her strength on breaking the connection.
Suddenly just as the cables break free campus security guards charge into the room. “Hold it right there!” the guards shout with guns drawn. Diana drops the cables to the floor raising her hands. “What are you doing here?”
“What the hell is this machine?” Diana shouts at the men. “Where did it come from?” Before anyone can make another move the machine begins to vibrate. The men hulster their guns as they grab for their ears as the sound grows louder. Diana is immune to the sound for a time then it begins to hurt her ears as well. The guards are down, racked with pain, giving Diana the chance to act. Bio-energy beams shoot from her eyes striking the machine. Her power should not affect it but somehow it does as the vibrations stop.
Something is definitely not right here, Diana thinks as the men begin to recover. This machine defies the natural laws of physics. Diana’s sensitivity to temperature alerts her to the increase heat in the room. She looks to the strange machine at the center of the room that begins to glow. “Everyone out!” she shouts. As the heat in the room grows the student and three guards flee. Arriving in the room with Professor Dudley there is a blinding flash of light from the other room behind them.
Students and the lead Professor on the sleep study have arrived to attend the uninvited volunteer. “What is he doing here?” Professor Williamson demands.
“We have no idea!” one of the students replies. “No one was scheduled for tonight!”
“Isn’t that Professor Dudley?” the other student asks.
“Yes, it is,” Diana tells them. “How is he?”
“Call 9-1-1,” Professor Williamson shouts. “I think he is in a coma.”