Paragon City Stories: Meanwhile at the Superbase
Hosted by UNINVENTIVEHEART
Chapter II, Scene 5
All Hallows Eve
NARRATOR: Nyghtshade
Place: The Brownstone
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NARRATOR
Paige has received a text from Monique, inviting her, and Tim too if he wishes, to come in costume and join Monique in giving out candy to the local neighborhood Trick-or-Treaters on the 31st – assuming of course they don’t already have Halloween Party plans.
The text adds, If you do come, and wish to stay a while after the Trick-or-Treating tapers off, we could talk about what happened when Devereaux and I went mind-walking to try and stop Shiara. But only if you want to talk about it.
Upon arriving, you find that the front stoop of Nyght’s apartment building has been transformed with corn-shocks and carved pumpkins, paper bats hung from the canopy, and a table set out on the sidewalk, covered in an orange tablecloth, tea-light candles, another carved and flickering pumpkin, and a huge bowl of mixed candies.
Moniqiue is standing beside the table, dressed in a “Wicked Witch of the West” costume. Although her face and hands are the correct shade of green, she’s opted to eschew the prosthetic chin and nose. Her metal belt with the huge red garnet, the only element not in keeping with the costume theme, shows prominently from beneath the black puff-sleeved bodice.
A shorter, slender Asian-American girl in a full ninja outfit is arranging another pumpkin at the other end of the table, and a woman in a blue Victorian gown, complete with white lace and cameo, is pouring a sack of chocolate treats into a companion bowl to the first. They are laughing and chatting but pause, looking up with welcoming smiles as you approach.
Paige Pirillo
Paige and Tahq approach Nyghtshade’s building. She’s dressed in an orange jumpsuit with a straight blonde wig with a lifejacket on. This was her attempt at Sealab 2021’s Debbie.
Tahquitz is in a bright yellow mask and a three-piece suit with his wings out. His suitcase could only mean one thing: Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law.
“Hello!” Paige calls out, “I love your outfit, Nyght! Immaculate and beautiful!”
Tahquitz
“Yeah, uh, damn. Nyght, you’re really stunning.” Tahquitz said out loud, “If I was 10 years older… uh…”
He turns to the ninja, “And we haven’t met… I’m Tim Verne. And you are?”
Nyghtshade
Monique shakes her head with a smile. “Layin’ it on a little too thick, you two. It’s a nice costume, but… unless you all are just into green women.” Her smile broadens to a grin.
“Terry Li,” the ninja replies with a surreptious wink as she extends a hand to shake with Tim. “Nice to meet you.”
“And this,” Monique adds, waving a green hand toward the woman in blue, “is Mrs. Olivia Layton. She and Terry live in mah buildin’.”
“Monique’s our landlady, more like,” Terry laughs. “And trust me, you can’t beat the rent here, it’s crazy-reasonable. Practically free.”
Tahquitz
Tahquitz laughs. “I thought it would be funny… I told Paige to complement you as a witch, and ignore the Southern Belle. My sarcasm is fail… Nice to meet you Olivia!”
Paige Pirillo
“Yeah, it wasn’t funny. And that is such a lazy costume. You destroyed a perfectly good suit.” Paige shakes her head.
“Terry, I’m Paige, I didn’t know someone close to our age lived in here! Are you in school or working?”
Tahquitz
“It was already destroyed. Found it at the Goodwill with a rip in the back of the coat, thought I’d finish the job…” Tahq said, wriggling his wing joints to lift the coat by the shoulders… “Man, that feels weird.”
Nyghtshade
Olivia looks to be in her mid-30’s. She smiles at Tim, and extends a hand, palm down. “Very nice to meet you, Tim.” A faint spark leaps as their hands touch, like a slight discharge of static electricity.
“Oh dear, I’m so sorry. Usually that doesn’t happen, but on these dry cool Autumn nights…” She smiles apologetically.
“Not in school right now, unless you count giving Dance classes, and continuing to study martial arts,” Terry replies cheerfully. “You guys look me up, if you want a class in either… Or Parkour.” She laughs, as if at a private joke.
“This candy bowl is full, if you want to sit here.” Olivia nods to the chair behind the bowl she’s just finished filling. “Monique, if that’s all you needed, I think Terry and I should go. She’s promised to take me to a ‘bitching’ Halloween Party.”
“Oh, wow, that’s right,” Terry exclaims, glancing at her non-ninja watch. “We’d better go. Nice meeting you guys!”
Paige Pirillo
“Nice to meet you too, Olivia and Terry! See you later!” Paige smiled back.
“I made it here safely, Tahq. You wanted to patrol tonight?” she asked the avian attorney.
Tahquitz
“Jade doesn’t even have to try and she’s funnier than I am tonight. I gotta step it up…” he thinks to himself.
“I’ll take the case!” Tahquitz said, quoting Harvey as he lifted his suitcase up in the air over his head. Unfortunately, the hard brass and leather handle is on a swivel, so the case smacks him in the forehead. “Ack! Damn it, these things are deadly.”
“But seriously, yeah… after last year’s news reports, I want to make sure these kids don’t get any ‘surprises’ with actual weapons behind the doors. Sometimes, I can’t believe this city.”
Tahq shakes his head as he spreads his wings and takes off, “Birrrrrrrrrdman!”
Nyghtshade
Nyght chuckles at Tim’s antics. “How good of him to protect the children tonight. Always a good idea to make shoah they don’t get dangerous surprises goin’ door to door. One of the reasons Ah usually set up outside heah, wheah it’s really just ‘treats’.”
She waves farewell to Terry and Olivia as they trot off. “Have fun, you all!”
Turning back to Paige, she gestures at the chair behind the table. “Feel free to sample the candies,” she adds, smiling. “If this year is like most, the kids will come in spurts, with a lot of down-time between.”
“Nice costume,” she adds, although it might be she isn’t quite sure who it’s supposed to be. With a tug to straighten her metal belt, she settles into a chair as well.
Paige Pirillo
“Yeah, Tim isn’t happy until everyone he sees is smiling at him. Sometimes it can be annoying, but I get why he does it.” Paige said.
“It wouldn’t kill me to have one or two chocolates, I think…” She rifles through the bowl to pick a small handful of dark chocolate candies in foil wrap and sets them next to her on the chair.
“Olivia and Terry… Did you make an ad for Rooms for Rent, or did you find them in your work?”
Nyghtshade
Monique leans back in her chair, crossing her black button-up boots. “Oh, when Long and Ah bought the buildin’, we had an idea to fix up the apartments and rent them out for just a pittance to heroes who weah startin’ out. Because the pay for protectin’ people isn’t all that great, and we wanted a way to help out.”
She straightens again with a smile as a little group of costumed children approach the table, watchful parents hovering in the background. “Oh, look, Paige! A Ms. Liberty and a Synapse, and two Arachnos soldiehs.” She doles out generous helpings of candy into plastic pumpkins and paper bags, then waves as they’re all shepherded down the street.
Paige Pirillo
“I liked the boy who was playing Synapse… kept running circles around his sister trying to get more candy.” Paige giggles.
Nyghtshade
“Ah know. It’s a little scary to think he’s just got that much energy naturally. Must drive his Motheh crazy.”
Paige Pirillo
“Oh, I could imagine. They’re so cute to us, but 24 hours a day with them… yeah.” Paige said.
She looks at Nyghtshade who is sitting back down after setting the candy back on the table, “Interesting outfit choice… what’s the significance of that belt? It’s a part of your uniform, isn’t it?”
Nyghtshade
Nyght fingers the belt, an almost unconscious gesture. “It’s moah than that. M.A.G.I. made if foah me. This big gemstone heah, it’s a garnet. Garnets have always been talismans of magical protection - against harm, against evil. And the belt, you probably can’t see in the dark, but theah’s little magical symbols engraved all oveh the metal parts, too. The garnet and the belt, both, the’ah heavily warded.”
She smooths a hand over the metal. “In part, it’s meant to protect me from bein’ ovehwhelmed by mah Curse, to keep the Hungeh from drivin’ me to do somethin’ terrible. From becomin’ somethin’ terrible. And, so, it’s also to protect eveh’one around me. From me, or what the Curse wants me to become…”
Monique toys with a tiny chocolate bar, turning it over between her fingers, then sets it down and looks at Paige. “That’s why Ah’m always wearin’ it. Because the Curse is always theah. Always somethin’ to fight off. So, Ah neveh take the belt off save foah a moment or two, when Ah’m changin’ clothes. It’s that important.”
Paige Pirillo
“I had no idea, Monique… If something were to damage the belt, then…” Paige thinks for a second.
“Oh, God, Monique! If we let you come to harm like that! If–”
Nyghtshade
Monique turns swiftly in the chair and lays a cool hand over Paige’s. “Shugah, Shugah, Ah didn’t mean to scare you. It’s OK, really. Ah’ve been wearin’ the belt foah moah than 10 yeahs now, and it’s fine. Really durable, Ah promise you. So long as Ah keep it on, eveh’thin’s manageable, truly.”
Paige Pirillo
“Oh.” Paige calmed herself… “Does Devereaux or Linuial know about it? Especially when we were on that last mission in Brickstown or Crey’s Folly?”
Nyghtshade
Monique pauses, thinking back. “Now you mention it, Ah don’t think that’s eveh come up. But yo’ah right, they should know. Ah’ll be shoah to mention if if we work togetheh again. Or you can, if you see them befoah Ah do.”
Paige Pirillo
“I see why you didn’t tell us. An achilles’ heel isn’t something you share with just anybody. Although in your case, it’s not a weakness, but closer to Tahquitz’s problem. He also keeps his ‘inner demon’ in check, but if he gets weakened to a certain point and he’s close to death. I haven’t seen it myself, but he told me he stops being human and nothing’s safe.”
She shakes her head. “Magic powers are truly amazing, but wow… the prince.”
“I mean, we’re being visited by the prince! Your majesty!” Paige rises up and curtseys with her bowl in hand offered as a Rennaisance Faire ready 8 year old boy shows up in purple and black. His older sister, close to Paige’s age is chewing on gum and tapping on her phone uninterested.
Nyghtshade
Monique rises and drops a deep curtsey to the boy as well. “We’ah honored, yoah Majesty.” The boy tries a regal handwave, but is clearly more interested in the candy.”
As another group approaches, Nyght lets Paige hand out the next round of candy. A 1st-grade girl dressed as Minnie Mouse accepts her candy from Paige, but stares intently at Monique for a moment, before solemnly asking, “Are you a real witch?”
“Why no, Shugah,” Monique smiles. “This is just a costume. Ah’m actually a vampire.”
The little girl continues to stare at her, frowning a little, then demands. “If you’re a vampire, where’s your pointy teeth?”
By now, her Mom is making embarrassed “ssshhh” noises from the rearguard, but Monique laughs heartily. “You’ve got me theah, Shugah,” she admits, handing the precocious child another chocolate. “Ah don’t have pointy teeth.”
“Told you,” the girl crows to her friend, as they are herded off down the street.
Paige Pirillo
Paige laughs, “The funny thing is you were telling the truth!”
After a minute, she continues, “Someday, will you tell me about what happened that cursed you? I know it’s nothing to share on a night like this, we can talk about it another time.”
Nyghtshade
“Someday, if you like, shoah. Halloween’s a time foah scary stories, but Ah suspect you’ve had yoah shock foah the evenin’.”
Seeing that the trick-or-treaters seem to have tapered off, Monique rises and starts gathering the table decorations. “Guess it’s time to cleah up heah. Want to help me carry things upstairs, and then - if you want - we can talk about what happened when Mr. Devereaux and Ah went into yoah mind to stop Shiara? But only if you want to talk about it.”
Paige Pirillo
“I do. I haven’t talked to anybody about it since it happened. I’ll help clean up,” Paige said, then started folding the table cloth after Monique cleared the table.
Nyghtshade
With Paige’s help, it doesn’t take long to clear the table and fold it up. Monique turns off the battery-powered tealights in the porch pumpkins, tosses the tealights into the bowl of remaining candy, and hands it off to Paige. Hoisting the table by its handle, Nyght lets them into the building and starts up the stairs.
Despite being loaded down, she shows no fatigue at hauling the table up multiple flights of stairs, with Paige following behind with the tablecloth and candy-bowl.
Monique keys combinations into the triple-keypads beside the door and lets them into the apartment. A fat Siamese cat is curled on the sofa, looking up sleepily as they come in.
“Just dump those in the kitchen, Paige,” she suggests, as she goes off to put the table in a closet, wash off the green makeup, and ditch the hat.
Returning, she turns on the gas fireplace and curls in a big stuffed chair beside the sofa, waving an inviting hand toward the sofa. “Hope you don’t mind cats. Wu Shu’s a sweetheart.”
Paige Pirillo
Paige deposits the bowl and unpacks the lights separate of the bowl, then replies, “Not at all, I love cats.”
She sits carefully next to the siamese and gently pets the purring animal. “That’s the major downside of my apartment… hardline zero pets policy. Non-negotiable.” She places her finger under Wu Shu’s chin as she lifts her head to allow her to scratch under her jaw.
Nyghtshade
“Not a restriction with mah apartments,” Monique murmurs, smiling as Wu Shu shamelessly rubs his face all over Paige’s hand. “In case you eveh feel the need to look foah a new apartment.”
As Paige shifts position, a rangy tabby with a broadly notched ear shoots out from under the couch and retreats to beneath the nearby computer desk, where she crouches, noticeably kinked tail switching, to watch Paige warily.
“That’s Mei Mei. She takes a lot longer to warm up to people,” Monique laughs good naturedly, and settles more comfortably in her chair.
“Now, wheah to begin? Do you have questions, or should Ah just start at the beginnin’?”
Paige Pirillo
Paige is watching Nyghtshade and her reactions intently. “I guess start at the beginning, because my question was ‘What happened?’ I remember being hit… just barely, then waking up naked with you pulling tendrils off of me. Everything between then is… black.”
Nyghtshade
Monique nods, expression sympathetic. “Well then… If you have questions, stop me at any point. And remembeh, what Ah’m goin’ to be describin’ to you is oveh and done. But if you get upset by any of what Ah’m tellin’ you…” Monique gestures toward the living room window behind them, facing out toward the cliffs and the sea beyond, “…just yell in that direction, OK?” She smiles encouragingly.
Paige Pirillo
“I promise not to yell… I’ll go outside before I do that.” Paige said… “You too, if anything doesn’t make sense, by all means, ask me.”
Nyghtshade
Monique starts to nod, but is interrupted as the tabby slinks across to her, giving Paige a wide berth, and leaps up to Monique’s lap.
Monique shakes her head at that, but strokes Mei Mei’s back as the cat settles. “You’d think cats would shy away from somethin’ that doesn’t breathe and has no natural body heat, but Ah guess ‘She who Feeds’ trumps pretty much eveh’thin’ else.”
“Now, let’s see… “In the Crey facility, when Andehson suckeh-punched you and you went down, you started showin’ signs of distress, REM-sleep distress. Linuial thought you weah fightin’ Shiara, and when she told Mr. Devereaux, he came rocketin’ oveh, all ready to save you. When Ah saw he was preparin’ to go into yoah mind, Ah went in too. Not the first time Ah’ve had to mindwalk, so Ah was hopin’ to be able to help.”
Paige Pirillo
“Devereaux was there? I didn’t see him at all. Really?” Paige asked, but mostly rhetorically. She isn’t surprised he came to her aid, but to not remember any of it… unusual.
Nyghtshade
“Oh, he was definitely theah, and pretty upset that we’d let you get blindsided by Shiara again.”
Paige Pirillo
“Wow… go on.” Paige said.
Nyghtshade
“So, anyway, when we entered yoah mind, we found ouhselves in the middle of what looked like a fancy party full of Carnival of Vengeance people. Mr. Devereaux was dressed as an acolyte, and Ah was dressed like the attendant costume Ah’d worn a few days ago. Apparently the outfits weah Shiara’s ideah. The, um, Masteh of Ceremonies introduced us to the otheh guests as a couple of theah most recent ‘recruits’.”
“Then they pulled this boy from the wait-staff. He said his name was Carteh Drake, said he was a student at the University. He claimed to be one of yoah classmates theah. And she - Shiara - killed him, or killed the image of him. Not shoah what the point of that was, since you weren’t theah and none of this was actually ‘real’. Unless maybe she was tryin’ to kill… Ah don’t know, memories of him? Does that make any sense to you?”
Nyghtshade
Nyght watches Paige carefully, suspecting this might be a delicate point.
Paige Pirillo
“Wait… what?” Paige is a little crestfallen, “What did you say?”
She remembers that guy… he kept weirding her out at class, insisting that they knew each other. She even went as far to go to the dean to report harassment.
“Did he put you up to this?” Paige asked Nyghtshade, not sure if he’s working her friends over or not.
Nyghtshade
“Did who put me up to what?” Monique replies, looking puzzled.
Paige Pirillo
“That Carter kid. You two know each other?” Paige asks. She doesn’t know what to think.
Nyghtshade
“That boy Ah was just tellin’ you about? No, Ah’d neveh heard of him befoah the mindwalk, and frankly, Ah wasn’t altogetheh shoah he was anyone real, or just somethin’ Shiara was makin’ up.”
“Shiara was tauntin’ him, but none of it made sense to me… Ah don’t know, do you want details? Ah was kind of glossin’ over all but the high points.”
Paige Pirillo
“I doubt you’d know any of my classmates… so I trust you… But yeah, he ran into me after the mission we did in Founder’s Falls, I had no idea who he was and he didn’t let up. I think I got him in trouble with the Dean.”
“Shiara killed him in my mind? That… doesn’t make sense. Why would she kill someone I’ve never met?” Paige asks.
Nyghtshade
Monique chews her lip, frowning, as she chooses her next words carefully. “He said… in yoah mind, his image said he was yoah classmate. And Shiara seemed to think you had a crush on him, but he said he was engaged, and you all weah just friends…”
“And now… you don’t know him, but he actually exists and apparently thinks you all knew each otheh….” She pauses, then delicately adds, “Is is possible… is it possible Shiara buried, or hid… or tampered somehow with… yoah memory of him?”
Paige Pirillo
Paige is white as a ghost.
“I don’t remember him at all, Monique. Nothing. So, he… he was right? We DID know each other?!”
Nyghtshade
Monique leans forward, unceremoniously dumping Mei Mei on the floor, (to the cat’s obvious annoyance). “Oh, Shugah,” she soothes, reaching for Paige’s hand, “It may be so. Ah’m sorry. Do you want to take a moment, take a break? Ah can make us… well, you… some tea if you like?”
Paige Pirillo
“Tea. Yeah, sure.” Her eyes have never been wider.
“So this ‘master of ceremonies’ was killing my memories… was Carter it? Is there anyone else I lost?” Paige asked Nyghtshade, afraid that she knows what the answer is already… yes.
Nyghtshade
Monique has risen to her feet, already turning toward the kitchen, but pauses, looking uncomfortable. “Well… they didn’t say anythin’ like that specifically, but…”
She sighs, meeting Paige’s gaze. “They did say somethin’ about this Carteh being the ‘fourth’ tribute. But Paige… even if Shiara has mucked around with some of yoah memories, it doesn’t mean the’ah gone. Maybe it’s moah like… like when a file directory corrupts in yoah computeh, and the file’s still in theah, but the computeh just can’t locate it? Maybe we just need to find someone, a mentalist maybe, or a therapist, or… or a mentalist therapist… who can help you look foah the ‘missin’ memory?”
Paige Pirillo
“Maybe. Does such a person exist? I guess I do.” Paige is deep in thought… I had feelings for this guy? Well, he was cute. Deep eyes, firm jaw, an amazing smile. Thick hai–
Now Paige is excited… Excited and scared at the same time. Excited because her initial instincts on Carter before he spoke to her were correct. And scared, but not because he might like her. Scared because she has no idea what the extent of her friendship with him was, and whether her reporting him to the Dean drove him away to someone else.
“So, when Carter was killed, you guys came to find me? Did Devereaux get lost in my head or something? He never found me.”
Nyghtshade
“We – Mr. Devereaux and Ah – weah already in yoah head tryin’ to find you, but Ah think… Ah think, based on what Ah saw at the end, that Shiara had you kind of, hmmm… distracted. Very distracted, so you weren’t aware of what was goin’ in with Mr. Devereaux and Ah.”
Given how shaken Paige is about the whole thing with Carter, Monique decides it might not be prudent to mention the next bit with Tahquitz. Instead, she beckons Paige into the kitchen, fills a mug with steaming water from the hot-spigot on the sink, and pulls out a teabag and drops it into the mug and passes it to Paige… as much to keep her busy/distracted as for any other reason.
“Sugah and creamer’s on the counteh,” she says, fishing a spoon out of a drawer and passing that over as well. Then she leads Paige back to the sofa, and gives her a chance to settle and tinker with the tea, before considering how next to continue.
Paige Pirillo
“My god. If my memories are that easy to screw with…” she goes for the two sugar packets she nabbed and shakes them to settle the sugar away from the top, then rips them and pours in the sugar.
“I’m beside myself. If I can’t trust my memories… what am I really?” Paige isn’t sad or crying, but trying to fathom what really happened to her. It’s not easy for her to work out.
Nyghtshade
Monique considers that, then softly suggests, “If you weah in a car accident, or had a brain tumor removed, that wouldn’t make you less of a person, Paige. It wouldn’t make you ‘not-you’. It would be a setback, Ah’m not denyin’ that, it’d be something to work through, to recoveh from, shoah. But you’d still be Paige.”
Paige Pirillo
She drinks from her tea mug… Lemon Pomegranate. Tart and fragrant.
“This is really good. Thanks…” She sips slowly then sets the mug on the end table. “So, what happened? Was there more between the Masquerade Ball and you finding me?” Again, she knows the answer to this, but has to press on as “Nope, we stopped the ball and found you” wouldn’t make sense.
Nyghtshade
Monique nods, curling up in the stuffed chair again. “Yes, theah’s moah. Shiara attacked us, and all her illusionary attendants, and we had to fight them. Mr. Deveraux was pretty amazin’ at it, and Ah held mah own. We started beatin’ them back, and as we beat them, Shiara’s illusionary world started crumblin’, and then she vanished.
“Ah thought we’d won, but suddenly Mr. Devereaux & Ah found ourselves in a courtroom setting, dressed as lawyers.”
Monique pauses, to let Paige process all that.
Paige Pirillo
Paige stands up after she said lawyers.
“I knew it! When I remember when Mom was taken away, I saw you! Was that Dev next to you at the table?”
Nyghtshade
Startled, Monique straightens. “You remembeh that? Maybe you really weah theah, then. Yes, Mr. Devereaux and Ah weah both theah.”
She draws a breath she doesn’t need, perhaps to collect her thoughts, before continuing, “Shiara was apparently ‘recreatin’ the trial wheah Kathy lost custody of you and got sent to jail. Ah guess Shiara’s plan was to have Mr. Devereaux and me totally fail at defendin’ Kathy, which presumably was supposed to emotionally wreck you all over again, but in fact Ah think Ah swayed the jury toward leniency toward Kathy, and Devereaux successfully petitioned the judge to place you temporarily in his custody until things straightened out foah Kathy and you and she could be reunited.”
Paige Pirillo
“And then Shiara killed my mom, which I KNOW didn’t happen…” Paige is pacing the room in thought now between the sofa and kitchen.
“But in either version, with Mom being drug out in cuffs, or Shiara killing her… the memory just stops. I don’t remember leaving the bench seats or the courthouse… anything.”
Nyghtshade
“So… you really weah theah…” Monique exclaims. “Ah thought… Ah though you bein’ theah was just anotheh of Shiara’s illusions.”
“Paige, Ah’m sorry you had to see Shiara pretend to shoot Kathy, but she was losin’ her tempeh because we weah beating her, and she went off on a rant about how nothin’ could be changed, and you started gettin’ enraged and tearin’ up the mental walls and yellin’ at Shiara to get out of yoah head… but Mr. Devereaux and Ah reasoned with you, and you realized you weah not alone, that you had friends to back you up.”
Paige Pirillo
“That, I don’t remember. Just a lot of crying, then black again.” Paige returns to the sofa and sinks her forehead into both of her hands.
“But the weird part? That memory isn’t in line with what happened with the mission. I remember getting punched, then waking up with you in my mind. The memory of my Mom feels like I was watching it a couple of years ago. And it feels like you guys were there before I met you in person… Jamais Vu they call it in Psychology.”
Nyghtshade
Nodding sympathetically, Monique asks, “Do you need to take a break? Do you want me to stop heah, or go on?”
Paige Pirillo
“There’s more?” Paige whimpers, then lifts her head up out of her hands. “Yes, I gotta hear it all… I won’t interrupt any more.”
Nyghtshade
Monique stands, scooping up Wu Shu and setting him in the chair she’d just left, and then sits down next to Paige and puts an arm around her shoulders.
‘Just remembeh, yo’ah not alone, Paige, OK? And if you need me to stop at any time, you just say so.”
“Shiara was tryin’ to break you, but Ah reminded you that we weah theah, Mr. Devereaux and Ah, and that you… that you weah loved, and you weah strong, and we weah theah foah you.”
“And Mr. Devereaux reminded you that Shiara couldn’t beat you fair, so all she had left was this…” Her mouth quirks in a crooked smile, “…this ‘trash theater’.”
“And you faced Shiara down, and told her that with yoah friends you had moah poweh than she eveh could, and you ripped up the ground right undeh her feet, and she fell away into a void.”
“And then you took mah hand, and thanked us, and Mr. Devereaux, thinkin’ eveh’thin’ was oveh, withdrew from yoah mind….”
Monique trails off and is silent for a moment.
Paige Pirillo
Paige is staring at Monique, rapt in attention. Her face is still and she nods at the end, “and…?”
Nyghtshade
Monique sighs, but continues, “…and you weah still holdin’ mah hand, and then, you changed into Shiara, and Ah thought it had neveh been you, just her, and she wouldn’t let go, and she….”
She pauses, gathers herself, and shakes it off. “Shiara attacked and Ah was fightin’ back, but out in the real world, somethin’ happened that broke Shiara’s concentration, and then Ah could see what was really happenin’ in yoah mind. Ah saw you, and what Shiara was usin’ to drain you away, and Ah went to you and tried to revive you, and you started comin’ around. Do you remembeh afteh that?”
Paige Pirillo
“I remember that when you woke me up… but before you arrived, you’re telling me that Shiara posed as ME?” Paige covers her mouth. “Monique, I’m so sorry… you must have thought I was her all along when we left for Crey’s Folly?”
“And I wouldn’t blame you… I’m not even sure I’m myself anymore.” Paige reaches over to hug Monique. Now, she starts crying.
Nyghtshade
“No, no no no, Paige, that’s not what Ah meant,” Monique protests, gathering the girl into a chilly hug. “Ah only thought the Paige we weah seein’ when we went inside yoah mind was you, when it was just one of Shiara’s illusions. Ah neveh meant Ah thought you weah really her, out in the real world. Not at all!”
Paige Pirillo
Paige releases Monique and dries her eyes. She sniffs to clear her nose. “But from what we saw, I could have been. I mean, I know I’m not, but if her intent was building a body in my mind… if she succeeded…”
“And that confrontation, when I pulled the body apart and asked you to drain the core of it… something about that felt… off. You know?” Paige said, thinking, “Did it feel the same way for you?”
Nyghtshade
“Oh, Shugah…..” Monique closes her eyes, and nods slowly. Opening them again, she looks at Paige. “It felt… easy. Far easieh than Ah expected. But… you don’t feel her now, do you? And you said, the man who was testin’ you, you said he thought you weah OK?”
Paige Pirillo
“Fannour. He said two of my tests came back false positive and he ran them again. They came back with the same result.” She took a deep breath.
“The tests were both for memory.”
“One magic-based, one psionically induced. Both have the same outcome – proof that my memories have been tampered with. Fannour said they might be false positives since I didn’t give him a baseline reading before going into the mission. Now I know they’re not false positives at all.”
Nyghtshade
Nyght drops one arm, but keeps the other around Paige’s shoulder. “Then tomorrow, we’ll call Azuria and see what M.A.G.I. can do to help you. Unless you want me to call her tonight?”
“And do you want to stay with friends tonight? Tim, perhaps, or… Ah don’t know any of yoah otheh friends. Do you want to stay heah?”
Paige Pirillo
“I’d like to stay here, if you’ll have me,” Paige leans her head on Nyght’s shoulder, “Because tomorrow I have a trip to make to Steel Canyon.”
Paige hands Nyght her phone. A visual voicemail from two days ago is on the screen:
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“This is Detective Martins. We would appreciate it if you came to the station. That Praetorian you helped capture, Mirelle McClune, is finished with medical treatment and is being processed from arraignment; she refuses to accept her representation or to cooperate until she talks to you. Can you please call me back so we can arrange a time for you to come down and meet with her if you can? If not, I understand, we’ll proceed with chain of custody and take her to trial with a public defender.”
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“I was going to tell him I wasn’t coming… but now? I have to find out for sure what happened to me. She’s my best chance.” Paige said, her composure starting to fall apart again as her eyes well up once more.
Nyghtshade
“Then you’ll stay heah with me tonight, Paige. And tomorrow, we’ll make some calls, and we’ll gatheh the troops, and go with you to speak to That Woman.”
Monique nods decisively, and takes Paige off to raid the walk-in closet for some sleepware, and then order pizza… because, not having expected guests, the fridge is definitely bare.
Paige Pirillo
“Thank you, Monique… for all of this. I can’t repay you for helping me, just know I’m grateful.” Paige said.
Nyghtshade
“It’s what friends are foah,” Monique says simply. “Takin’ care of each otheh. Always.”
Paige Pirillo
| |
Across the street…
In a black, tinted luxury cruiser, a pair of infrared binoculars cover a pair of old male eyes watching over Nyghtshade’s apartment. He cannot hear anything being said in the apartment, but the few moments Paige has walked in the living room pacing from her thought process while Nyght talked to her, he could occasionally lip read what she’s saying.
He writes on a notepad carefully on the seat next to him context clues mapped out with lines, circles and boxes, with Paige’s life mapped out on the sheet. The circle he’s updating says “Shiara”, with two or three bullet points beneath it, with the last one underlined: “Possible– Shiara = Orion?” Another says “Nyghtshade/Fen Long” and has a single bullet point: “Heavily Alarmed - Stay Out!”
The last part of the page he’s written on from tonight is a “To Do:” List. On the list the words Taygete and Merope are untouched, with Celaeno circled over and over again.
Gregg drops the binoculars and lowers his glasses when he sees the lights go off after a delivery boy took off 30 minutes ago. “Perfect. I’ve got an apartment to bug.” The cruiser is turned over and does a U-Turn to head to Steel Canyon, across from PCU to an apartment building that Paige would have been at tonight …if it wasn’t for an intense revelation.
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NARRATOR
Across Town next to the Arena…
Tahquitz takes off from the street to his final escort home of a child looking to get home for dinner, when he notices a building with a party on the rooftop.
Low and behold, a woman in a sapphire blue dress and a black ninja are leaning against the ledge, looking bored. The bitchin’ party appears to be winding down.
Tahquitz
Tahquitz flies up behind Jade after Olivia walks away for a refill, then taps her shoulder before dropping below the roofline to hide from her.
Jade Dancer
Jade glances around at the touch to her shoulder, and sees no one. Suspiciously, she leans out over the rooftop ledge, and spots Tahquitz.
“Hey, Tahquitz, here to liven up the party?” she asks curiously. “It could use it.”
Tahquitz
A quick flare of Afterburner, and Tahquitz lands next to her leaning on the wall. “Depends. Got a lampshade, a karaoke machine, and a tray of pasta you don’t mind if I step in?”
Nyghtshade
“Oh, well, if you’re going for the tried and true Crazy Party Tricks, I think there’s a pasta-salad over there on the table that everyone’s avoiding like the plague. Something about it being colored blood-red, with olives & pimentos for eyeballs…. “ She shudders dramatically.
“But seriously… You do karaoke?”
Tahquitz
“Oh, yeah… my favorite is ‘One Week’ from Barenaked Ladies. Especially the freestyle.” Tahq said. “The pasta salad though sounds too creepy to step in… thanks for the heads up.”
Nyghtshade
“We should go rock out some karaoke sometime,” Jade grins. “You’d be surprised how many people turn that down cold.”
She looks over to where Olivia is apparently deep in animated conversation with an older gentlemen in a Steampunk costume. “Hmmm, looks like Olivia’s found somebody to talk to, nice.” Sighing, she adds, “Don’t suppose you’re sticking around for a bit? Or, have someplace more interesting to be?”
Tahquitz
“My duty is done for the night. And last I saw at Nyghtshade’s place the lights are off, so her and Paige are done.” Tahquitz said, looking up at the starry night.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Two years? Done any interesting jobs since we last met?”
Nyghtshade
Terry shrugs, with a crooked grin. “Oh, you know, same old same old, every night in Paragon City’s a party.” She looks around at this party, adding “Maybe not as exciting as this fun-fest… no, no, I’m kidding, it’s an OK party, just… not exciting, you know?”
She shifts position and settles into a different lean against the wall. “So, yeah, I work steady, keep the Tsoo in line as much as I can, take jobs as they come, and the rest of the time it’s training training training, and dance classes. You don’t happen to dance, do you?”
Tahquitz
“My girlfriend is trying to teach me. I’m alright on the rhythm, but my timing isn’t great. Lots of bruised toes. And egos.”
“I don’t know if she’s your style …she tends more toward classical and ballet. And guns. Lots of guns.” Tahquitz said, “The guns are the scariest part of her, though.”
Jade Dancer
“I’ve got nothing against shooters,” Jade laughs, “as long as they’re not shooting at me. So… here it is, Halloween, and you’re crashing a party to chat with me, huh. Should I be watching over my shoulder for your gun-toting girlfriend?” She grins.
Tahquitz
“We’re good. I fight in Paragon City… mostly supporting teams with women as it turns out as most ‘macho’ types hate a mouthy ‘beta’ who isn’t much of a leader. And she’s the stage manager of The Nutcracker at Paragon City Concert Hall… mostly surrounded by men in leotards. Most of them straight. We trust each other.” Tahquitz said.
“Should I worry about you? Got a jealous ninja boyfriend waiting in the bushes? Tell me, will I feel it when he assassinates me?”
Jade Dancer
“Trust me, if I had a ninja boyfriend, he’d better be good enough to kill you without you noticing,” Jade laughs. “But nope, no boyfriend. You know what they say, ‘a woman without a boyfriend is like a fish without a bicycle’. Which is to say, I’m not Desperately Seeking Boyfriend, but if the right guy comes along someday - and can keep up with me - who knows?”
Tahquitz
“Is that your student name? Like Grasshopper on Kung-Fu? Fish Without Wheels?” Tahquitz asked her, “I guess mine would be Prince of Idiots. But I wear that proudly, I am an idiot!”
He then proceeds to walk to the center of the roof and spot the Tiki Torches smoldering out, as he throws a cinder to all 6 of them in sequence lighting them back up. “Turn the music back up! We’re not done yet!”
The DJ, hoping to go home early, is irritated and puts on a hard to enjoy song for a bunch of millennials at a party: Marty Robbins, “El Paso”. Tahquitz is a little stunned, then goes back to his prior mode and goes full-bore on being a ham again.
“Alright! This is my jam here! ‘Out in the west Texas town of El Paso, I fell in love..’“ Tahquitz belts out as he dances an invisible shuffle alone, before raising an arm to Jade.
Jade Dancer
“…with a Mexican girl. Nighttime would find me in Rosa’s cantina!” Jade sings along loudly, and a little off-key, slip-stepping across the rooftop to join him. Together, they twirl around the wooden dance-floor, nearly toppling the snacks table in their enthusiasm.
“OK, I may have had a little to drink,” Jade confesses, although she’s still quick on her feet.
Tahquitz
“I may have had too much sugar from the kids earlier… we’ll compensate.” Tahquitz says as he catches her hand after a wobble.
“I saddled up and away I did go, Riding alone in the dark, Maybe tomorrow, a bullet may find me, Tonight nothing’s worse than this pain in my heart…“ He continued to sing.
“My Dad and I used to belt this out in his truck when I rode to school… here’s the best part!” He spins Jade away from him breaking contact with her hand as she solos on the floor, with Tahq on one knee with hands outstretched waiting to meet her return.
Jade Dancer
Jade completes the spin and launches into a quick staccato flamenco flourish, heels drumming as she approaches him and circles, hands high and clapping out a beat before retreating again and turning away, as if daring him to follow.
Tahquitz
“Oh, that’s how she’s playing it…” Tahq raises up from the kneel and struts toward her, then looks away and back, taking her hand and bringing her into a spin wrapping his arm around her midsection.
“Toes okay so far?” Tahq asks, then undoes the spin and rounds off to the corner of the stage to egg her back on as he nabs a folded table cloth off the side to ‘tempt’ the bull, pasodoble style. One of the people cleaning up the party shakes his head in disgust as he’ll have to fold that back up when he’s done.
He spins in a move to flare the table cloth, then raises his hands into an “Ole!” gesture, when a crossbreeze takes the cloth out of his hands… and off the roof.
“Aw, crap.” Tahq then dives off of the edge to get it back, ruining the dance for about 15 seconds until he lands and hands it to the custodian… “Sorry!”
Jade Dancer
Jade is half-doubled over laughing as he returns with the table-cloth! “Nothing like a big finish! Showmanship for the win.”
From the other side of the rooftop, Olivia is clapping for them, and trying to avoid the attentions of a Mummy who’s probably also had a bit to drink.
Tahquitz
“Cradled by two loving arms that I’ll die for… One little kiss and Felina, gooooodbyeeeee.“ Tahquitz finishes the song with a prat fall as Jade kneels to his location in a flourish of her arms.
The good news? There wasn’t anyone in the crowd that wasn’t on their feet cheering. The bad news, the song repelled most of the crowd in the first 30 seconds, so there’s 10 people left. Half of them working the event.
“I like to make my audience raving fans of me.” Tahquitz said to Jade, “All 6 of them.”
Jade Dancer
“Hmmm, ‘raving’, that can be taken so many ways,” Jade grins, patting his shoulder. “But nicely done. Not everyone can dance to El Paso. And I think you’ve saved the party for me, something fun to remember after all.”
Tahquitz
“See? It’s all in the company you keep.” Tahquitz said, then lit his right hand on fire, “I’m parched… who’s leg to I have to cauterize to get a Shirley Temple around here?”
Jade looks at him weird, then he finished while extinguishing his right hand with a single thought, “Have I told you I’m 16? Yeah, I can’t drink. Not legally anyway… but don’t tell that huge guy in the black shirt. He looks like he’d be happier throwing me like a model airplane off of this roof.”
Jade Dancer
“Huh, I thought you were street-legal. But it’s OK, I don’t think the roof has a liquor license. There’s sodas in the cooler over there.” She points to one tucked under the table serving as the bar.
Tahquitz
“Sweet! So, how about an exchange: you give me dance lessons to impress my girl… and hmmm… what can I do for you…. Karaoke would be fun, but not really a decent payment. How about Ice sculpture? Skydiving? Glass blowing without a kiln?”
“Or money? Naaah, you couldn’t possibly want that.” Tahquitz said, smiling at her, “Real artists don’t get paid after all,” truncating the “paid what they’re worth” of the actual catchphrase.
Jade Dancer
“How about this, dance lessons for a couple of months, and I’ll give you the friends and co-workers’ discount?” She chuckles, but adds, “Seriously, I will give you a discount if you want. And I’m happy to teach you some moves.”
Tahquitz
“Great! For the first dance move you could teach me, show me the one that tells me where the hell you put the Malleus Mundi?” Tahquitz asked with all kidding leaving his face.
Jade Dancer
“Whatnow?” she replies, but her tone is no longer light.
Tahquitz
It takes 5 seconds for Tahquitz to hold his composure. Then he starts laughing again.
“The look on your face… Did you think I was upset?” He’s almost giggling.
Jade Dancer
Jade just stares at him. “W.T.F?? Seriously, what the fuck, Tahquitz?”
Tahquitz
“Do you know how many times that book gets stolen? I retrieved it three more times after we went after it. I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it.” Tahq slows and stops the laughter. “I… Jade? Are you OK? Come back!”
Jade Dancer
Jade had begun to turn away, but as he calls, she spins back angrily. “You come here, actin’ all like we’re friends, and then pull that? Imply I stole it or something?” she demands, fists clenching dangerously.
She glares at him, expression cold, for a couple of seconds, and then can’t hold the charade and starts to laugh as well.
“OK, tag, you’re it now. And you should have seen your face!”
Tahquitz
“Well played, young lady… well played.” Tahquitz applauded, then surveyed the rooftop. After grabbing a citrus soda, a worker pulled the cooler he got it from away. The DJ is breaking down his speakers and lights, and brooms are being pushed.
“Alright, it’s 11pm, this place is dead, and I’ve got plenty more left. Ever visit Marvin’s Place? It’s got everything… Pool Tables and alcohol for you, Karaoke and a wristband keeping me away from the booze for me.”
“I think Frost-Kid is too emo to join us, and Req isn’t able to sing, let alone see the TV. I’ll see if Paige wants to come with us…” Tahquitz pulls out his phone, and tried to call her, but it goes straight to voicemail. “Hmm. Cricket must be sleeping. And Lisa is busy with rehearsals until 2am. Guess it’s just us… Want to go?”
Jade Dancer
Mrs. Layton crosses the rooftop, dodging around staff who are breaking the party equipment down, and joins them. “I’m not certain I fully understand this term ‘bitching’ as well as I thought,” she admits to Jade. “I have spent a fair part of the evening listening to an elderly ‘Steam-punker’ explain to me what life in the latter half of the 19th century was like, and let me tell you, the man is woefully misinformed… and the Mummy gentleman kept trying to convince me to come back to his place and… unwrap him.” She shudders. “More than a century has passed, and men still use the most unenlightened approaches to win a lady.” She rolls her eyes.
“Sorry, Livvy, I thought this party would pan out a little better than it did. Tahquitz here was probably the highlight of the evening” Jade consoles her. “I’ll find a better one next time, promise.”
“I’m thinking I will head home now, back to the apartment. Are you coming, Jade?”
Jade glances at Tahquitz, and then to Olivia. “Um, well… there might be a better one Tahq here knows about, if you’re interested?”
Olivia shakes out her lace cuffs, and shakes her head as well. “No, I think I’ll retire. I’ve had enough excitement for one evening. But you go ahead, I can see myself home.”
A nimbus of sparks gather around her, and with a faint crackle of energy, she lifts daintily from the rooftop and drifts over the edge. “See you tomorrow, Terry.”
NARRATOR
As the party host shut their doors, Terry and Tim walk down the street and hail a cab to head to Marvin’s Place in New Sparta, just a couple of blocks south. The night is still young, and the golden rule of the night is still being honored: nothing good happens past 2am, so on with the party!
Paige awakens at 2am from a shallow night of sleep briefly, disoriented from a bad dream. She gets her bearings sleeping on the sofa of Monique’s apartment, as Wu Shu jumps up and nestles herself in Paige’s belly as she purrs gently, soothing the worried girl back to sleep, while Monique watches quietly from a nearby chair where she’d been reading. Paige has a long night ahead of her, and the cat is appreciated comfort for what’s ahead.
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