SPEEDSTAR (quickly helping Labrynthe up from where he had dropped him when he had been surprised by Faceless Jack): "Sorry about that..."

LABRYNTHE (brushing himself off): "Yeah, no problem, here. But I think we've got a bigger problem over there."

SPEEDSTAR (grimly): "I think I can buy us some time while you find some trace of the Thirteen..."

You see a silver blur where your friend had once been as he rushes Faceless Jack...and you expect to see him deliver an endless barrage of punches to the creature as he had done several times before tonight. However, before he gets a chance to act, Faceless Jack delivers a series of crushing blows to your friend at super-speed and sends him flying into the boiler with a sickening thud and clang of metal.) Faceless Jack turns to you, its maw salivating as it clicked its sharp, jagged teeth in anticipation.

>I shape change into a person sized porcupine.<

(You watch as Faceless Jack suddenly grows larger and towers above you while taking shape of some kind of tsunami of muscle. It moves faster than you expect, but not nearly as fast as when he attacked Speedstar, and engulfs you in a mass of elastic muscle. You feel its maw suck onto your back and its teeth begin to gnaw on your rubbery skin...the resulting pain is excruciating.)

As you scream out loud, you feel a thud near your body and slowly realize that Faceless Jack was screaming, too. The gnawing suddenly ceases and you feel yourself lifted away with a rush of wind to the other side of the room where you become aware that Speedstar had come to your rescue by piercing the creature with the end of a nearby crowbar.

>So Jack is down?<

(Yes...and bleeding a black, oily substance that spurts from its body like a gusher. Crumpled in a fetal position, back in its regular shape of an overly muscular humanoid creature-thing)

>I shapechange into a person sized porcupine and extend my right arm out to hit him.<

(You slam your spiked arm onto Faceless Jack. It roars in more pain and suddenly melts into the floor as if it were never there...leaving you and Speedstar both dazed, hurting and confused.)

SPEEDSTAR (gasping for breath): "I really hate it when it does that..."

LABRYNTHE (still reeling from the exchange): "Yeah, but it's gone. That's something, isn't it…?"

Suddenly, the boiler stops working and you hear an unnerving scratching on the dirty brick walls.

SPEEDSTAR (playfully slapping you behind the head): "You should know better than to speak too soon!"

LABRYNTHE (speaking in monotone): "Oh, yipppeee…"

The room around you begins to shift and the doorway you came in from at the top of the stairs seems to disappear behind a wall that manifests itself. You experience something not unlike a bad trip on acid as the world around you subtly changes and you are somewhere beyond where you once were.

LABRYNTHE (to himself) "Damn, I really hate flashbacks! Hey wait, I never did drugs as a kid…I don't know what I'm talking about!"

Around you it's misty and you can't see the ground - the apparent source of the foggy mist. However, there is an unearthly glow from the ground you cannot see allowing you to realize that you were in a room with a huge cauldron with thirteen hooded figures hovered around it.

SPEEDSTAR (after clearing his throat nervously): "We won't let you succeed in claiming the soul of your fourteenth member condemned to reincarnate for your sick purposes, you know!"

(There are no reactions from any of the hooded figures)

SPEEDSTAR (to Labrynthe): "You think that should show them we're not to be trifled with...???"

>I simply turn and look at Speedstar as though we might be the punchline at the end of a Charlie Brown strip.<

There is suddenly a booming, collective voice throughout this strange environment in which you find yourself...presumably, it was the voice of the Thirteen, although the figures make no move and continue to peer into the cauldron.

BOOMING VOICE: "Fools! We have already lured the fourteenth soul to us so we could carry out the sacrifice as necessary...!"

(Speedstar seems horrified and he disappears in a silver blur for a second and suddenly reappears, looking confused.)

SPEEDSTAR: "Unless you've hidden the poor soul from us, I think you're mistaken - we're the only ones here."

LABRYNTHE (suddenly realizing): "Er Zippy, I think he's talking about one of us."

SPEEDSTAR (perplexed): "Huh...???"

LABRYNTHE (annoyed, motioning between them): "You or me. Understand?"

BOOMING VOICE: "You both shall serve as the sacrifice we require."

SPEEDSTAR: "Both...?"

LABRYNTHE (hiding his face in his hand and shaking his head): "Both, huh?" (suddenly) "Say Zipper, why don't we see what's under those sheets those guys're wearing?"

SPEEDSTAR (grinning as he disappeared in a blur): "I'll probably be sued for saying this…but I'll be back in a flash..."

To your horror, the hoods hid very ghostlike, very demonic-looking men who seemed very ticked off that their hoods were taken from them. Their eyes begin to glow red in unison as all Thirteen move towards you.

BOOMING VOICE (as the figures apparently don't speak for themselves): "Insolence!"

SPEEDSTAR (flopping the robes at your feet, and looking worried): "I don't think that might have been such a great idea..."

>I grow as large as I can.<

LABRYNTHE: "What? They want to kill us anyway!"

As the spectral men advance, the environment around you slowly changes into that of a cavernous precipice with flames everywhere.

SPEEDSTAR (steeling himself as he took in the environment): "I guess we've gone from the frying pan into the fire..."

>I lash out with my spiny limbs.<

SPEEDSTAR (to Labrynthe, and gesturing to the hellish scene around them): "I really wish this was just something in Empire City's water...it would explain quite a bit!"

LABRYNTHE: "Hmm, and here I had visions of Bernard Shaw's room…the playwright, not the dude on CNN…"

SPEEDSTAR (looking around for any sign of the Thirteen): "Our hosts couldn't be more corporeal, could they? I bet your rogues gallery is filled with a bit more tangible enemies, Stretch...?"

LABRYNTHE: "Yeah! These guys are like discussing metaphysics with you."

SPEEDSTAR (with a raised eyebrow as the cavern began to rumble and shake): "Since when is threatening to kill someone talking metaphysics with them?"

>I merely grin in response.<

The cavern seems to suffer from an earthquake and the flames seemed to be getting more intense. The foul stench of sulfur permeates every corner of this god-forsaken place.

SPEEDSTAR (losing his footing and suddenly falling as his legs become a blur of activity): "Fuck!"

LABRYNTHE (wrapping an arm around Speedstar): "Not right now. Thanks, anyway."

You can swear you hear agonized screams and cries accompanied by demonic laughter.

SPEEDSTAR (relieved as you pull him to your side): "Thanks - couldn't get my footing..."

But you suddenly become aware of a disturbing heavy-breathing seemingly coming from all around you - and it was such that Speedstar heard it, too, judging by his worried expression.

LABRYNTHE: "No problem. I think you should know that I think we're being watched."

SPEEDSTAR (his brow furrowed): "You'll think I'm nuts, but the sound reminds me of an incident when I was a kid and heard this same breathing noise."

You see something in the flames take shape on the far side of the cavern. It appeared to be a number of humanoid figures that were spectral and wearing hoods.

LABRYNTHE (pointing to the spectral figures): "Come on, let's head in this direction."

SPEEDSTAR (noticing you were focused on something): "What is it that you're...oh, doesn't that look rather ominous...?" (steeling himself as he became a blur): "I'll go on ahead - back in a jiff!"

You see a black blur and figure that whatever spell Iron Maiden cast was working twice as much now than it had been before. You catch sight of one of the spectral Thirteen come hovering towards you, still comprised of the flames around you. The figure reaches out to you...

You find yourself immobile for a moment as you are suddenly deposited into the body of a young woman who was running for her life through the connecting subway tunnel between Queenspointe and Empire City...

LABRYNTHE: "AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

You see nothing around you but darkness and are filled with so much terror that you can't figure out which way you're actually headed through the tunnel. Feeling an arm wrap around your waist, you scream in horror before you realize that this was your lover, the man who had become a costumed vigilante brandishing a cutlass and a flintlock-type pistol initially to save your life from thugs who had kidnapped you to extort money from your wealthy father... LABRYNTHE (stunned & confused): "Ahh…! What…?! Oh!"

…Douglas Willoughby - the Swashbuckler.

LABRYNTHE (not quite himself in a woman's body): "Doug, such a bizarre nightmare!"

SWASHBUCKLER (tenderly setting you safely behind him): "I understand this is difficult for you to accept, Charity. Now that I'm here, maybe I can stop this monster from getting its meat hooks in you. Let's hope so, anyway..." You suddenly hear a familiar voice in your head - Speedstar's!

SPEEDSTAR'S VOICE: "What's going on...? Where am I...?"

LABRYNTHE (to Swashbuckler): "What…? Did you hear that?"

SWASHBUCKLER (concerned): "Hear what...? Are the voices back? What are they saying this time? Maybe they can give us some clue to stop Jackie-Boy?"

LABRYNTHE (shaking her head): "It was a man, this time."

SPEEDSTAR'S VOICE (confused): "Hey, that's Doug Willoughby...Swashbuckler...! What's he doing here...?"

SWASHBUCKLER: "What was he saying?"

LABRYNTHE (wide-eyed): "He can see you!"

LABRYNTHE (thinking to himself out loud): ~Speedstar, what's going on?~

Swashbuckler unsheaths his cutlass in one hand and his seemingly-flintlock pistol in his other hand in one gesture as he thrusts you behind him.

SPEEDSTAR'S VOICE: ~I have some nasty suspicions...and all of them point back to the previous time that Cutlass said the Thirteen was reported as being active...which doesn't bode well for where we might be..."

>I try to be stretchy, can I?<

(The woman we seem to be sharing - literally - suddenly thrusts her arm out rigidly to her side, but nothing happens.)

SPEEDSTAR'S VOICE: ~Hey -- that's a woman's arm!~

SWASHBUCKLER: "Can you hear anything else, Charity...? Does it say anything about Faceless Jack...?"

LABRYNTHE (to Speedstar in the void): ~Uh, that's my arm.~ (suddenly) "Tell me everything you know about Jack!"

(To your dismay, what you say is exactly what erupts from the woman's lips. It is a loud and sudden sentence that startles Swashbuckler.)

SPEEDSTAR'S VOICE: ~Your arm...??? Where the hell am I, then...???~

LABRYNTHE: ~I dunno. I figured you knew. The question I want to know is where am I…?~

The tunnel is suddenly filled with a familiar, roaring sound - Faceless Jack. Without warning, the creature appears before you, its maw open widely with its jagged teeth glistening in the dim light of the electric lamps set in the sides of the tunnel wall. SPEEDSTAR: ~I dunno, but I know where I'd rather be right now...~ SWASHBUCKLER (shoving you behind him as he valiantly tries to fight the creature single-handedly): "Get out of here, Charity!"

As you turn to run as blindly as you had before, you hear the sound of Swashbuckler's pistol firing several times and Faceless Jack screaming in agony prior to a sickening thud. You then become aware of Faceless jack bearing down upon you. AS the creature attaches its maw to your torso, you become aware of thirteen, hooded figures standing around you and your demonic killer.

>I try to get away, beating it, whatever I can do, screaming!<

THE THIRTEEN: "You put up a good chase this time, but we caught up with you in the end. Without you, we lose our corporeal existence and our power. Whenever you become incarnate, we must find you...and sacrifice you as the first time...and in the same place..."

The world grows black and the last thing you see is the hero known as the Spectre appearing and offering you his hand.

SPECTRE: "I am here to help you ultimately defeat the Thirteen. Will you trust me...?"

>I scream again, thinking him to be on of them as he kind of looks like them.<

The Spectre frowns and reaches into the body to pluck the woman's soul out of her body. He tears it in two pieces before letting it go into the void...a sly grin twisting his lips. The world suddenly returns to the cavern where you face one of the Thirteen.

>I grin and stretch my arms out to smack the creature with spiny arms.<

(Although your hand goes through the specter, you notice that your arms are surrounded by the same, black aura as was around Iron Maiden. The ghostly attacker screams and releases you as it begins to retreat.)

THE THIRTEEN: "You have been given help against us! This will only serve to prolong your agony...but you will be sacrificed...YOU MUST BE!!!"

>I stretch out my body and wrap around the ghost as a ball.<

SPEEDSTAR (his voice coming from a black blur that was simply racing through the fiery figures): "At this rate, I could kiss Iron Maiden again!!!"

LABRYNTHE (to Speedstar): "Herd them over here!"

(The figures that Speedstar races through all scream and begin to retreat.)

SPEEDSTAR (as the blur he was was doing just as Labrynthe requested): "We've got to hurry...I don't know how long we'll be able to affect them!"

>I get closer to Speedstar with my spectral package and begin to wrap the others into my body-ball shape<

The cavern begins to fall apart as you begin to trap the Thirteen in your body-ball (that's just sick).

>I want to close in on them, so they can't escape while I crush them with the spell.<

SPEEDSTAR (as he prevented debris from falling on either of you by redirecting its direction piece by piece): "Hang on!"

The world falls out from underneath you and you fall into a void as the collective voice of the Thirteen scream...and the blackness around you begins to move as if alive. Another collective voice enteres your head...

OTHER VOICE: "We are the Elder Gods. We own the souls you have finally delivered to us for devouring."

SPEEDSTAR: "Eeep!"

LABRYNTHE (in a small voice): "Elder Gods?"

You almost catch sight of tentacle-like shadows emerging from the blackness, but you are aware of several...things...watching you.

LABRYNTHE (to himself): "That's heavy duty!"

SPEEDSTAR (terrified): "Eeep!"

LABRYNTHE (to the black void around him): "You do realize, this doesn't alter my primarily agnostic position."

ELDER GODS: "Release your tormentors and we shall release you from your bond...but beware! We shall release the demon who had served the Thirteen so faithfully from service so they can serve US in your world. Avoid interfering and you we will allow you to live...NOW GO!!!"

SPEEDSTAR: "Eeep!"

>I unbind from the Thirteen.<

The world drops out from under us yet again and we fall rather hard and indignantly on the cold, hard stones of the Asylum's boiler room.

SPEEDSTAR (breaking the silence abruptly): "I'm going to have to change my tights after this one, buddy..."

LABRYNTHE (wiping the cold sweat off his forehead): "Well, that was genuinely fucked up."

SPEEDSTAR: "Any clue as to what just really happened tonight? Better yet - are you sure that it's over?"

LABRYNTHE: "No, and I doubt it strongly. In that order."

SPEEDSTAR (slowly getting to his feet, sloshing sickeningly as he did so): "So what do you say that we get out of here now that the crisis is over for now? That is - if you can stand the smell...?"

LABRYNTHE: "I was just about to suggest it."

The next day. After being dropped off to your home, you wake up and are relieved that the weekend was far from over. Saturday morning and so much to enjoy before Monday. You notice a message on your answering machine the next morning.

>I check my messages.<

(Your first message was a surprise - it was from Michelle [Ed's literary agent])

MICHELLE: "Hello, Rob...? This is Michelle Brooks. We met briefly last night at the Crown Jewel Lounge before...well, you know. I was wondering if you were busy tonight? Maybe we could have dinner alone somewhere and continue our conversation, hopefully without having weird things interrupt? Let me know. My number is 301-356-9031."

>I'll program her number on my cell phone.<

(The message was Ed.)

ED: "Good morning, Rob. I trust you're well after everything that went on last night. I managed to clean up after I got home, but as you can expect - it took awhile. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you...well...hadn't seen anything unusual? I haven't. I hope I don't in awhile. Anyway, I should really get to thanking Iron Maiden...maybe if you look out your window, you can see my silver streak in the morning light...? Anyway, you take care and I'll talk to you soon...but hopefully about more down-to-earth things...no calls from the subway, huh...? Talk to you later. I've got to catch up to my wits sooner or later, right…?"

>I can't help but look out the window.<

(You glance out the window and just catch sight of a silver streak headed north, towards White Stone. There was something about the sight that made you strangely complete, although you hardly knew what that meant. But it was good to feel relieved that, despite the fact that you would probably be facing the supernatural sometime in the future, that things were back to normal. For a time, at least.)