Since Friday evening has started, you have been attacked in the subway tunnel that runs between Queenspointe, Virginia & Empire City, Maryland by Faceless Jack - a demonic creature supposedly not to exist, but "sighted" during the notable train wrecks throughout the history of the Sister Cities of the Chesapeake. You finally managed to make it to the Crown Jewel Lounge, the beatnik hangout of your friend, Ed Johnson (AKA Speedstar) where he had designs to set you up with his literary agent, the closet beatnik poet, Michelle Brooks. Yet, while you were beginning to enjoy yourself and even opening up to any romantic possibilities that might exist between you and Michelle, the power went off at the club and Faceless Jack showed up from out of nowhere, ending the little get together short.

Following a brief battle outside, Faceless Jack decided to speak to you before the creature "melted" into nothingness, literally right through your fingers but not before it foretold it coming back to personally destroy both you and Speedstar since the both of you had been marked for death by "the Thirteen".

Now, you find yourself in the middle of Swashbuckler Park, a park dedicated to the Golden Age hero from Empire City who became a legendary figure, (who was said to be lovers with Wonder Woman of the old Justice Society of America) all because Speedstar has hatched a scheme to get a little help for when Faceless Jack comes back. This was not something you were looking forward to, since you have a sinking suspicion that the creature has been toying with you all along - just waiting to unleash its full fury as its unseen masters demanded.

SPEEDSTAR (leaning against the foundation of the Swashbuckler memorial stature): "Don't worry...she'll be here."

LABRYNTHE: "Ok, think about this Zippy…I watched that thing lift a subway car off the track. What help is she gonna be?" (after fiddling with the leaves of the tree he leaned against) "Can ‘Red Sonja' do anything besides swing her sword?"

SPEEDSTAR (slightly annoyed): "She has other talents than just wielding two cutlasses, you know...and I thought I asked you to stop calling me ‘Zippy'...?"

LABRYNTHE: "Sure theeng, Meester Gonzalez. As for ‘Blade Babe', I'm not talking about those kinds of talents."

SPEEDSTAR (grimly): "That's good, because neither am I. She has a talent of being able to generate certain microwaves through her hands...which is why I think she could be very useful against Faceless Jack." (grimacing for a moment) "Could you not call me that, either…?"

LABRYNTHE (absently nibbling the leaf he was fiddling with): "Lucky for you, I've got a million of ‘em." (frowning and shaking his head at the leaf as he let it go) "Now, ‘Sword Girl' is your stick-shift, right?"

SPEEDSTAR (sighing to himself): "Of all the sidekicks in the world I have to get stuck with..."

LABRYNTHE (taking a heroic pose suddenly): "Wait a second here, we decided that you were the sidekick." (lightly patting his satchel) "I know, because we taped the conversation for posterity."

SPEEDSTAR (annoyed): "Is this at all absolutely necessary...?"

LABRYNTHE (wide-eyed): "When we get the comic book deal, I don't want any misunderstandings. Batman got his. So did that weenie, Superman. Some alien he is, no race, no home planet, no nuthin'."

SPEEDSTAR (amused with the situation): "Who would make a comic book out of a guy who has super speed and his sidekick who can shape himself into nearly anything, and who had an annoying personality when they were marked for death by enemies they couldn't even identify...?"

LABRYNTHE (emphatically): "I am not your sidekick! Remember that, Zippy."

You suddenly hear applause from the trees and a woman dressed much like a pirate emerges from the shadows. You figure this is the woman that Speedstar brought you here to meet - Cutlass.

CUTLASS (with an edge to her voice): "If what Speedstar told me is true, it's a wonder that Faceless Jack hasn't heard you two by now..."

LABRYNTHE (sarcastically, after looking Cutlass over): "Well, I am impressed. Where's Smee, Cap'n?"

SPEEDSTAR: "Can it, Labrynthe. She has connections throughout the city I don't even have. If anyone could find out anything about the Thirteen in a short time, it would have to be Cutlass."

LABRYNTHE (shrugging as he approached Cutlass): "Ok then, what've you got for us?"

CUTLASS: "I did as you asked and I snooped around the mystic circles in Empire City...I learned that the Thirteen is an enclave of alleged mystics that has been repeatedly arrested and brought to justice throughout our city's history...only to pop up again some decades, even centuries, later."

LABRYNTHE (to himself): "Whew, and I thought this would be something weird."

SPEEDSTAR (ignoring Labrynthe): "When was the last time they showed up?"

CUTLASS: "That's the interesting bit. You know how Swashbuckler disappeared without a trace sometime in the late 1950s...? Word in the circle's that the Thirteen did him in for getting too close to their operations."

LABRYNTHE: "So what happened to this ‘Thirteen'?"

CUTLASS: "They dropped out of existence...until recently. It seems that they've been looking for something...or someone. I have it on the best authority that the Thirteen has marked you both for death for getting too close to what they've actually been preparing for. And no one I spoke to knows what that might be..."

SPEEDSTAR (dryly): "Super. Forewarned is forearmed, I guess. Thanks for the good work, Cutlass."

LABRYNTHE: "Man. That kinda sucks! We still don't know much more than we did before. I mean, thanks Cutlass, but we don't anything concrete to work with here."

CUTLASS: "No problem, Labrynthe. It's part of my job description..."

SPEEDSTAR: "I think a little knowledge can go a long way. Cutlass, did your contacts say anything about where Swashbuckler thought the Thirteen might be working from?"

CUTLASS: "Now that you mention it, there are some rumors that he believed the Thirteen to be working from within the Helsbourne Asylum for the Criminally Insane."

SPEEDSTAR: "That I find difficult to believe, Cutlass..."

CUTLASS (shrugging): "I can't say that my sources are all there when it comes to this kind of stuff, Speedstar. I do the best I can."

LABRYNTHE: "So what've you been working on lately, Speedstar?"

SPEEDSTAR (his brow furrowing): "Huh...?"

LABRYNTHE: "What've you been working on lately, Speedstar? That's why these guys are targeting us, supposedly. It's a more logical question than where'd the baker's dozen live 50 years ago."

SPEEDSTAR: "Well, my last case was against Iron Maiden...her origins are unknown. I know only that she's decomposing as a result of some curse that came with her gaining mystic power some decades ago."

LABRYNTHE (nodding to himself): "Ok, now there's a possible and obvious connection. What was she doing?"

SPEEDSTAR: "To gain her magic? How am I supposed to know? I only confront the end product and she's not so stereotypical to be forthcoming with any of her schemes..."

LABRYNTHE: "No, no! I meant, what was she doing when you caught up to her? Or do you have a prejudice against decomposing folks walking around on the street, so you beat them up?"

SPEEDSTAR: "She was busy trying to steal whatever dark magics empower Death Knight...so I was caught in between two of my best enemies...not the best place to be!"

LABRYNTHE: "What'd you do with her?"

SPEEDSTAR: "I turned her over to the authorities, and from my understanding she was put into White Stone."

LABRYNTHE (rubbing his hands together): "Maybe we should have a chat with her…?"

CUTLASS: "Have fun...I'm here if you should need me..."

SPEEDSTAR: "Thanks again..."

LABRYNTHE (nodding enthusiastically): "Thanks, Cutlass."

Cutlass seems to melt into the shadows from whence she came (but not the way Faceless Jack does it).

LABRYNTHE (to himself, licking his lips absently): "She's not as bad as I thought she'd be."

SPEEDSTAR: "People usually aren't, you know...so I suppose I'm going to have to shuttle my faithful sidekick to White Stone...???"

LABRYNTHE (grinning): "You mean you don't want to fly the friendly skies?"

>I shapechange into a huge eagle.<

SPEEDSTAR (grins): "Thanks, but I don't trust anyone without a pilot's license." (With that, he disappeared into a silver streak.)

LABRYNTHE (squawks): "Harumph! Deb never...oh, never mind."

>I launch myself into the night sky.< You get reach the White Stone Maximum Security Prison near Queenspointe, VA in about ten to fifteen minutes. (I assume the Elton John of the East Coast waiting for me…?) (Harumph! If you mean Speedstar, yes. Yes, he is.)

SPEEDSTAR (shaking his head as you land): "You are a sight to be seen to be believed."

LABRYNTHE: "Hi, sorry for taking so long. I spotted a trout that I just couldn't pass up."

>I shapechange back into my familiar, costumed form.<

SPEEDSTAR: "Do you think you should do the talking? You spend more time here than I do..."

LABRYNTHE: "Look, I was only arrested once and the officer even agreed to... Oh, you meant on cases and stuff, didn't you? Yeah, they know me here as an good guy."

SPEEDSTAR: "Yeah...sure...like anyone really fully trusts anyone running around in spandex with the ability to stretch into funny shapes..."

LABRYNTHE: "We need to pass through that checkpoint, unless you want us to be all Batmanish."

SPEEDSTAR: "Lead the way, Stretch..."

>I walk toward the checkpoint.< (The guard is surprised to see you.)

LABRYNTHE (to the guard): "You know, I always wanted to play basketball when I was in high school."

GUARD: "Labrynthe. What can I do for you?"

LABRYNTHE (warmly): "Hello, Jim! We need to get access to Iron Maiden, she may have vital information about a case we're working on."

JIM THE GUARD: "You know the drill, sir. I have to contact the Governor...only he can approve a visit like that..."

(Jim the Guard promptly makes a phone call on the "hot line" while other guards eye you suspiciously.)

LABRYNTHE (with an offhanded wave): "I understand, Jim. Go ahead and make the call." (stretching out his hand to the other guards) "Good evening to you." The other guards shake your hand nervously before returning to their duties.

JIM THE GUARD (handing you the phone): "The Governor wants you to explain the nature of the crisis that requires us to allow you access to one of our most dangerous prisoners..."

LABRYNTHE (taking the phone & changing his voice to be a few octaves lower and more manly): "Greetings, Governor, sir."

VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: "Mister Labrynthe, what is this month's code-word?"

(You know there's no such thing.)

LABRYNTHE (still sounding suspiciously like Dudley Do-Right): "Now, Governor, I could make one up but that wouldn't do us any good, now would it? There isn't one and we both know it."

VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: "When was the last time I saw you?" (You've never seen him, except when you saved his life before he became governor. He didn't even invite to his inauguration ball. How rude!)

LABRYNTHE: "Six years ago, wasn't it. The super-criminal, Quick Claw, had kidnapped you and was holding you for political ransom."

VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: "What does my wife call me?"

LABRYNTHE (blushing): "I believe you said it was ‘None of Your Business Man'."

VIRGIINIA GOVERNOR (after a slight pause): "What's your business with Iron Maiden? She was just brought in two days ago..."

LABRYNTHE: "We believe that she may be involved in a plot to open the floodgates of Helsbourne Asylum on the public."

VIRGINIA GOVERNOR: "How so...?"

LABRYNTHE: "A few minutes of her time should prove pretty helpful in determining exactly that. I have Speedstar with me, he is who brought her in."

VIRGINIA GOVERNOR (after a long pause and a long sigh): "Five minutes, Labrynthe. That's all you and your ‘friend' have. Give me the Chief of the Guard."

LABRYNTHE: "My thanks, Governor."

>I hand the phone back to Jim the guard.<

LABRYNTHE (grinning): "He wants to speak to your Chief."

(A few moments later, you and Speedstar are led through the worst collection of criminals in the expanded Washington D.C. area.)

LABRYNTHE (whispering to Speedstar): "Next time, let's do it the Batman way."

Eventually, you are led to a truly isolated cell lined with heavy coats of iron paint where Iron Maiden was kept. A guard decked out in power armor accompanies you into the cell where your nose is met by the very pungent smell of rotting flesh, and your eyes are met with a living corpse of a woman who seems delighted by your visit.

IRON MAIDEN (her voice sounding more dead than alive with its inflections): "Speedstar! You've finally decided to visit after a whole two days?"

SPEEDSTAR (grimly, trying to ignore the overpowering smell): "What do you know of the Thirteen?"

IRON MAIDEN (bemused, cackling like a harpy): "Who's your friend, Speedstar? Some playmate?"

LABRYNTHE (trying hard to hold down lunch given his super-sniffer): "What were you supposed to do with Death Knight's powers."

IRON MAIDEN: "Do with them...??? Why gain enough power to stop this wretched curse so I could regain my beauty, overcome Speedstar and have his children!!! Although, I could still do that without stopping the curse. That is, if you're up to it, my Silver Avenger..."

SPEEDSTAR: "You'd have to kill me first."

IRON MAIDEN (touching her rotting body provocatively): "You'd seriously turn me down?"

SPEEDSTAR: "Yes, let's get back to the subject. What do you know about the Thirteen. We need to know."

LABRYNTHE: "What about the Thirteen?"

IRON MAIDEN: "A matter of life and death, is it? Yours, perhaps...?" (cackles in laughter) "Why should I help you?"

LABRYNTHE (quickly): "We might just be able to help you regain your beauty."

IRON MAIDEN (spitting at Labrynthe): "You'd take the curse for me? How noble! You have no idea what you offer, Tights-Man!"

LABRYNTHE: "I was thinking more along the line that the Thirteen probably have a pretty big library. I bet they've been holding back on you."

SPEEDSTAR (slowly and deliberately): "Because, as strange as it seems to me, every time we meet, you claim to love me. Don't you care?"

IRON MAIDEN (her laughter stopping abruptly): "You are the only one who seems to give a damn what happens to me, Speedstar. Maybe I really do." (after a long pause) "Perhaps I will help you and your friend, Speedstar. He seems as noble and honest as you, although he mistakenly thinks I am a part of their number."

SPEEDSTAR: "Aren't you?"

IRON MAIDEN (laughs a hollow laugh): "As tragic as I am, I've never been that tragic. No, Speedstar, I'll help you because even when I try to kill you, you only care about my well-being...my getting cured, for nothing more than for myself. I'll tell you want you want to know..."

SPEEDSTAR: "Thank you."

IRON MAIDEN (licking her gangrenous lips): "But only for a small price...a deep kiss from you."

SPEEDSTAR (looking ill, but steeling himself): "A-alright."

>I try to smile through the smell of necrotic flesh, and then hearing the price, I chuckle.<

IRON MAIDEN (looking at Labrynthe): "See why I love the man??? He can see past my flaws." (sighs and her milky-white eyes seem deader than they already were) "The Thirteen is an ancient brotherhood of evil that first formed in the Dark Ages. It was their hope to reshape the Earth for the evil gods they have always...always will...worship."

SPEEDSTAR: "So they're an ancient group that has survived through the ages, then? Always renewing their number when necessary?"

IRON MAIDEN: "Not quite as mundane as that, Speedstar. Their pact with their dark gods granted them immortality at a price, much as mine did. Although they retain their mortal shells, unlike me, they must replenish their souls periodically from a single soul strong enough to sustain them."

SPEEDSTAR: "A single soul?"

LABRYNTHE: "All of them are sustained on just one soul?"

IRON MAIDEN: "Legend has it that this soul has reincarnated through the ages specifically to serve as their replenishment. Apparently, the Thirteen was originally the Fourteen, but the last of them served only as the sacrifice in contacting their masters."

SPEEDSTAR: "That's horrible!"

IRON MAIDEN: "There's a kind of poetic justice to it, I think...but in eternal gratitude, their masters granted the fourteenth a wonderful twisted form of immortality - to forever sustain the Thirteen."

LABRYNTHE: "Does this soul have a name? Faceless Jack, perhaps?"

IRON MAIDEN (cackles): "Faceless Jack…? Oh, no. That is just the demonic servant who harvests the soul for them. Nameless this soul remains until it is incarnate. Only the Thirteen can find the poor soul before anyone else."

SPEEDSTAR (to Labrynthe): "So, presumably, you interrupted one of these harvestings, and the wrecks of the subway in history were previous harvests."

LABRYNTHE: "Must've, I guess. What's the form of the fourteenth then?"

IRON MAIDEN: "You begin to unravel the secret, Speedstar. Beware. I once accepted a curse to prevent the Thirteen from having vengeance over a...transgression…shall we say, that I once made against their number."

IRON MAIDEN: "And you can see the price I had to pay. Beware. You may find yourself against all odds this time."

LABRYNTHE (wide-eyed, to Iron Maiden): "So, you were the fourteenth?"

IRON MAIDEN (cackling): "No. No I wasn't. I wanted to become the fourteenth before I realized there originally was one already cycling their power. They spurned me and cursed my arrogance. They marked me for death, yet I evaded them in the end at no small price to myself, as you can well tell. But there my story ends. I am afraid I can't reveal anymore without compromising my own story. What would ever bring you back to me, Speedstar?"

SPEEDSTAR: "That really didn't give us anything we could use."

LABRYNTHE: "Do you know where they are now?"

IRON MAIDEN: "One piece more, then I demand you kiss me, Speedstar. You will find the Thirteen within the Helsbourne Asylum for the Criminally Insane. You will know when you find them...you will understand I cannot tell you without endangering myself all over again."

SPEEDSTAR (grimacing as he stepped closer to her): "I...understand.."

Iron Maiden clasps her hands around Speedstar's neck and met his mouth in a disgusting, French kiss. You notice a black aura forming around Speedstar that remains after he thankfully is allowed to leave their embrace.

>I can barely watch.<

IRON MAIDEN: "My magic won't last long because of the damned iron paint around my cell you intelligently informed the authorities about...so use it well. You can enter their domain without their noticing...and with your speed, I hope you have all the time you need. Until next time, my sweet Speedstar."

LABRYNTHE (as he leaves the cell with Speedstar, offering a roll of mints to his friend): "Certs?"

SPEEDSTAR (after thanking Iron Maiden, to Labrynthe, under his breath): "Shut the fuck up..."

LABRYNTHE (smirking to himself as the door to the cell was shut behind them): "They have Retsin, you know."

SPEEDSTAR: "As powerful as she is, she's never really been hurtful towards me. Murderous to the rest of the world, but in her condition, for however long she's been like that, I can understand...somewhat."

(Speedstar suddenly stops.)

LABRYNTHE (shrugs to himself): "I guess, but she still makes Catwoman look normal by comparison. What??"

SPEEDSTAR: "What magic? She must have cast a spell on me when she kissed me..."

LABRYNTHE: "Just noticed that, huh? So much for being faster then the normal man. We need to hurry up, my friend."

SPEEDSTAR (after you get outside): "First thing's first...where's that Certs...???"

LABRYNTHE (handing you an unopened roll): "I cheerfully donate the whole roll to you."

SPEEDSTAR (grabs you and speeds off): "We don't have any time to lose..."

>You grab me so fast that my feet are left behind dangling in the wind.<

(You both speed off into the night and you feel the air friction much hotter than you normally do...you worry about your uniform [i.e. your skin].)

>I'm going to experiment with skin types until I find one that isn't so abraded.<

(You race through the doors of the asylum and through the halls until you reach the basement...where you are met by...)

SPEEDSTAR (dropping you suddenly to the floor, in shock): "Faceless Jack!!!"