* * * * Author's Note: YoungBlood belongs to their respective creators and I AM NOT CLAIMING ANY COPYRIGHTS TO THEIR CHARACTERS THAT THEY HAVE! THE ONLY ONES I CLAIM RIGHTS TO ARE THE CHARACTERS THAT ARE KYRANA, ANASTASIUS, THE SARTEKS, MERTICATS, AND ALL MEMBERS OF SILVERFORCE AND THE ENTIRE PLANET OF BIRVANNIA AND OF GWANSTARN. Please read and review. Thank you. * * * *
YoungBlood; The Mystery of Kira.
Written by
Beth Brownell
Prelude.
In the last issue after defeating The Four, Shaft, the leader of the YoungBlood saw a mysterious form with wings on the top of a nearby building. He asked the others if they had seen the angel on the building.
Chapter One.
"You what?! Shaft, you must be going nuts! Seeing an angel...yeah, rrriiigghhttt," uttered Vogue, looking at him not believing that he had seen an angel on the roof top of a nearby building after they had chased away The Four.
"But I saw!" replied Shaft, looking at them as he gazed towards the building where he had saw the angel to find that it was no longer there.
"Maybe what Shaft saw was his guardian angel watching over him and that is why we can't see her or him," suggested Badrock, as they went towards YoungBlood's Headquarters to start the debriefing process.
"Yeah, that's what he saw! His guardian angel! Ha! Ha! Ha!" laughed Chapel, as he slapped the back of Badrock, who was laughing with him.
"I'll see you all later," spoke Shaft, as he walked past his girlfriend, Shelly, who was stunned that he didn't say hi or give her a peck on the cheek.
"But what about the debriefing?!" yelled Vogue, as they watched their leader push open the door leading to the rooftop.
"What's wrong with Jeff?" asked Shelly, as they walked to the debriefing room.
"Jeff said that he saw his guardian angel today on the roof top of a nearby building, Shelly. But we don't believe it...after all it is a very hot day." vocalized Vogue, looking at her gently.
On the rooftop of the YoungBlood's HeadQuarters, Shaft, was putting up his targets next to the edge of the building's air conditioning unit.
"Why didn't they at least say that they believe what I saw? Mumble, mumble. Maybe I should just give up on seeing this angel....my guardian angel," spoke Shaft, looking at the street below.
He turned to his target and removed one of his arrows. Just as he was about to fire it, his beeper went off. He was so shocked by the sudden beeps of his beeper even though he been used to hearing them that he accidentally fired his arrow into the air and not towards his target. He tried to catch it before it went off the rooftop and hurt someone below. Right before his eyes, he saw the tip of the arrow disappear as bright red blood flew from the invisible hit.
He heard the inhuman scream of a bird and a human interwoven. He saw the form of an angel fall from the sky to land near to where he was standing. In her right shoulder was the arrow that he shot off accidentally.
"The angel? I hit the angel that I saw earlier!" screamed Shaft, shocked that he was looking at the angel that everyone was laughing about. Down in the control room, everyone was there but Shaft. He wasn't showing up.
"Didn't Shaft hear the call?" asked Chapel, looking at them, as they were waiting for Shaft to come into the room.
"He should have. But I'm going to look for him! I'll meet you with Shaft at the site! Now go!" yelled Vogue, racing out of the room towards the roof's door.
"Please angel...be alive. Good, your heart is beating. I must get you down to the medi-center so the docs can take care of that wound that you have due of my stupidity," whispered Shaft, as he checked the pulse on the neck of the winged woman. He started to pick her up when he heard the door open up. It was Vogue. She stood there watching him before she spoke out to him.
"Shaft, come on! You had enough anger therapy! The team has been seeeennnnttt! Sweet mother Russia! The angel you spoke of! How did you...?" asked Vogue, looking at him holding the angel in his arms.
"Don't ask me about how she got one of my arrows in her shoulder, Vogue! We need to get her down to the medi-center...fast! One thing, Vogue, do you know a good vet?" asked Shaft, looking at her calmly.
Chapter Two.
"Where is your red-haired leader, Shaft? He's a loser! He can't even bear to face us!" laughed StrongArm, looking at the members of YoungBlood to see that their leader Shaft was not even there.
"He may not be here, but we can still beat the tar out of you four, without him!" yelled Chapel, as he fired off four bullets at StrongArm, who went down with wounds to his legs.
StarBright lunged at StrongArm and fled with him as the others followed after her. The fight was as brief as it was bloody. The YoungBlood members looked at each other to see if Vogue or Shaft had appeared to make them flee.
"Why did they flee? Shaft or Vogue hasn't even shown up yet," wondered Badrock, looking at them as they started to walk away from the battlesite.
"It is a strange time, my friend. Strange time indeed," replied Combat, looking at him as they drove towards HeadQuarters.
Chapter Three.
"Shelly! Do you know where Shaft or Vogue is?" asked Diehard, looking at her gently as she came out of the medi-center shocked.
"You can find both of them in there, Diehard. But I must warn you...don't mention how the arrow got in her shoulder...alright?" asked Shelly, as they nodded their heads in agreement. They were all wondering what she meant by that until they walked into the room to see Shaft standing next to the bed in which was a beautiful pair of white wings attached to the body of a red-haired woman. The doctors in the medi-center had called in a veterinarian to help them handle the winged woman better.
Vogue saw the others and ushered them quickly out of the room. She pointed to the debriefing room and spoke, "I will tell you all about the angel that we all laughed at Shaft for seeing earlier...in the debriefing room."
They headed towards the debriefing room while Shaft remained with the winged woman, who at that moment was getting the arrow removed from her shoulder. The doctors had barely started to cut the arrow off the from the arrowhead when her eyes started to flutter open.
"Get the tranqs! We must keep her sleeping or we will have a fight on our hands with this one," spoke the veterinarian, as Shaft handed him the tranquilizer to knock her out once more.
The debriefing room, Vogue walked into the room to see that the others were there. She turned back to the door and locked the door to make sure that Shaft wouldn't walk in on her explaining how the angel was to be in the medi-center room with one of his arrows in her shoulder.
"When Shaft went up to the roof. He went up there to get rid of his anger and to sort out his feelings about this angel he had seen earlier this day. His beeper went off spooking him so much that he fired off his arrow that was in his bow which was ready to fly. The arrow went into the right shoulder of the winged woman. I saw her in his arms when I got up to the roof to get him to the battle site. I got him and the winged woman down to the medi-center. I tried to get him to go to the battle site but he wouldn't leave the angel," spoke Vogue, looking at them all. They couldn't believe that they had laughed at Shaft for seeing his guardian angel when it was alive and breathing in the medi-center at that moment.
"I hope that Shaft will forgive us for laughing at what he had seen earlier today. I didn't think that the angel was real," spoke Badrock, looking at Vogue as they walked out of the room.
"Oh, I'm sure that he will forgive you, Badrock," replied Vogue, as they stood at the door watching what was happening inside the room.
The vet had finally removed the arrowhead from her shoulder and placed it in the dish that was sitting nearby, he reached for the gauze to bandage the wound. He saw the worried look on the young man's face.
"She's going to be fine, young man. They injury was not as bad as you first though. Just keep her arm immobile until next week. She doesn't need to have stitches at all. I'm letting her body seal the wound close on their own. There will be a slight scar on her shoulder. I'll be coming back on Wednesday to examine her arm. If there is any pus coming out of the wound or that the wound has not sealed itself...let me know at once," spoke the vet, as he looked at the angel and then to Shaft as his worried look vanished.
Soon, the vet left their headquarters, leaving a small group of men and women to figure out how to handle a woman with wings on her back.
"So Shaft, how are we going to handle an angel?" asked Chapel, looking at him as Shaft looked towards the sleeping angel.
"I don't know, Chapel. I really don't know," whispered Shaft, not turning away from the sleeping angel.
"I think what we need to do is locate someone who has known a woman with wings on her back so we can figure out what to do," spoke Vogue, looking at them as they walked out of the room towards the command center.
"Like who...are we going to call upon, Vogue?" asked Badrock, wondering who she was going to get a hold of.
"Go through the files. Look for anyone who has knowledge of winged humans," spoke Vogue, looking at the computerist. He started to type on his keyboard. Soon, a short list of names of people who has knowledge of winged humans. The computerist quickly printed out the names for Vogue before she even asked for them. He handed the list to her and watched her read them, then she crumbled the paper up and tossed it into the trash can.
"What was wrong with those names, Vogue?" asked Shaft, as he picked up the list from the trash can.
"Those names were of Priests. They wouldn't know diddly-squat about a real winged woman. They know only about God's angels and that's it. They would have no idea on how to handle a mortal angel, Shaft," replied Vogue, looking at him with a hint of anger in her eyes.
"I guess what we can do is learn as we go with our very own angel," suggested Shaft, looking at everyone.
"Yeah, that would be the best idea, Shaft. But who is going to take the credit for writing the book when we figure out how to handle a winged human?" asked Badrock, looking towards their leader.
"How about everyone take some credit for writing the book, Badrock?" requested Chapel, turning towards Badrock and then to Shaft, who nodded in agreement.
"That is a good idea, Chapel. We have gone way off the main reason why we need to know about how to handle an angel, Jeff," spoke Vogue, looking at them gently.
"We will just have to take this situation one day at a time," spoke Shaft, looking at them as they entered the medi-center's room. They were shocked to see the young red-haired woman sitting up in bed removing the now bloody bandages around her right shoulder.
Chapter Four.
"You could have waited for the nurse to come," spoke Shaft, looking at her gently as he walked up to her and took hold of the bandages from her and finished removing them so she could look at her arm. The young woman just looked at him like she couldn't understand what he had said. Shaft saw how she looked at him reminded him of a bird of prey looked at his meal before he attacked.
"Maybe she doesn't speak English, Shaft? Try one of the other languages...Shaft," suggested Vogue, looking at him gently.
"Well, let's see if she speaks Germen," verbalized Shaft, as he asked her her name in German, when she just looked at him more puzzled than before. He switched to Japanese then to Chinese, then to Russian with no luck in any of those languages.
"I don't understand why she doesn't understand what I am speaking to her. It's like she's deaf or mute," replied Shaft, not to happy with himself with the attempt at communicating with the young winged woman.
"Shaft! Look, she's pointing at you. I think she wants you to speak with her again," declared Badrock, he had been watching the young woman since Shaft started to speak with her. He had seen her pointing towards Shaft but he never seen her clawed hand move.
"Tell me your name...please?" asked Shaft, looking at her.
"Talk. No ask," replied the young woman, looking at him square in the face. Her brown eagle like eyes looked at him fully. Her voice was different like she didn't understand their language at all and was learning it from hearing them speak it.
"I think she is assimilating our language. I don't think she can even speak our language, Shaft," Diehard communicated to him as the young woman looked at him as he spoke to Shaft.
"I don't even know how to begin. I know! I'll introduce you to everyone here and see if you can at least speak a little, angel. I am called Shaft. That is Vogue, Combat, Badrock, Chapel, and Diehard. Can you tell us...your name?" posed Shaft, looking at her after he introduced her to the team.
"Kyra," verbalized the angel, looking at them gently as she pointed to herself and then spoke one single word.
"Her name is Kira," replied Shaft, as the young woman shook her head no.
"No. Not...Kira, Kyra!" snapped Kyra, looking at him with anger in her eyes.
"Kira...right?" queried Shaft, once again mispronouncing her name.
"No! K...y...r..a. Kyra!" Kyra informed him, looking at him seriously.
"I believe her name is pronouced Kyra, Shaft. It sounds like Kira but it isn't the right way to speak her real name," whispered Vogue, getting close to his ear so he was the only one who could hear what she had to say.
"You must forgive the way we speak Kyra. It would be easier for us if you would allow us to call you Kira...your name is unusual as you are," responded Shaft, as she looked up at him from checking her injury with the tips of her fingers.
"I guess that would not be so bad, Shaft. Would you hand me the fresh gauze?" asked Kira, looking at him gently as she looked at her fingers to see clear red blood on them.
"Uh...sure," responded Shaft, going to the table and picking up the gauze and handed it to her. Kira removed some of the gauze from the roll with a slash of her talons. Then, she pushed the gauze that she had cut, into the wound as she cleaned it out of the blood so she could work on her injury better. They watched her as she stuck two of her fingers into the small wound and poked them around. They saw the hint of a glow inside the wound itself. Kira pulled her fingers out of the wound that sealed up the moment her fingers left. She then started move her arm in circles to the shock of the others for they saw no blood seep out of what was left of the wound. Shaft watched her in complete amazement as she tended to her injury that he had caused her. Then, it hit him, she had spoke to him in full sentences.
"How do you know our language, Kira? A moment ago, you couldn't even speak no more that two words?" inquired Shaft, looking at her seriously.
"I couldn't speak your language, Jeff. I didn't know or understand your language for I never heard your language before. The one you call Diehard...was right about me assimilating your language was true. I didn't speak your tongue for I knew nothing of how to speak it until you spoke to me. Then, I could speak your tongue but I am still learning much of your tongue...Jeff. Those other languages you spoke to me earlier. What languages are those?" queried Kira, looking to Shaft and then to Diehard.
"How do you know my real name? I don't even think that I told you my real name!?" declared Shaft, looking at her astonished.
"Shaft, are you sure you didn't inform her of your real name?" asked Vogue, looking at her thunderstruck leader.
"Surely, you must have told her," replied Badrock, looking at him.
"But I didn't!" exclaimed Shaft.
"He's right," conversed Kira, looking at them.
"What?" raised Badrock, looking at the young winged woman carefully.
"He didn't tell me his name. I have read the...written words of what you call a newspaper and saw the...photo of him and figured that the person in the photo and the name may belong to the same man but...I wasn't even sure if it was his real name," spoke Kira, looking at Vogue, then to the others. Kira sat on the edge of the bed before she stood up.
"Shaft, I believe it's time we move her into her own room. She doesn't need the medi-center's room now that she's up and walking," conveyed Vogue, looking at Shaft.
"I think you are right on this one, Vogue. Kira, if you would follow me. I'll show you to a better room then this," spoke Shaft, as he walked out of the room with Kira following closely behind him down the hallway towards the member's rooms were.
Chapter Five.
"This will be your room until you leave us, Kira. You could also join our team...too if you wanted," spoke Shaft, looking at her as she gazed out the window to see the streets below.
"You want me to join your team, Shaft?" inquired Kira, turning away from the window to look at him.
"Yes, you could be a very valuable asset to our team....since we have only three flyers. It could be four if..you'll join our team, Kira?" asked Shaft, looking at her gently. There was something coming from her that was very strange. Could she be psychic? Could she have another power that she is not enlightening us? Shaft wondered as he looked at her.
"I was hoping that you would ask me to join your team, Shaft. I been alone for too long here on this planet. Yes, I will join your team," replied Kira, looking at him as she unfolded her white wings from behind her.
"I can bypass the rules for the time. I can tell them that we trained you in secret. Now to find a suitable code-name for you, Kira. How about Angel? No, that belongs to that winged man in that other comic book. How about...Talon? No, that name is used by that flying lady in that Saturday morning cartoon," spoke Shaft, as he tried to find a good code-name for her but there was no luck at all in finding one that would suit her.
"Let me show you one of my other powers, Shaft. Then, think of a code-name for me," responded Kira. She turned towards the window. Suddenly, a cry escaped her lips as the window shattered into many little pieces. The window was shattered but the glass remained in the frame.
"How about Siren? For that cry you did to the window," replied Shaft, after he removed his hands from his ears. He walked up to the window to find that there was no shard of loose glass either on the floor or the street below.
"I like the code-name, Shaft," spoke Kira, looking at him as she saw Vogue entering the room but didn't look like she saw her enter.
"Now all we need to do is get you the proper oufit to suit the code-name and you'd be set, Kira," said Shaft, looking at her gently.
"I will take care of that, Shaft. You get with the others and I'll be in the command center with Siren in twenty minutes," expressed Vogue, looking at him as she walked up next to him.
Shaft looked at her then nodded his head as he left the room. Vogue wandered over to the broken window and placed her hand on the window expecting when she removed her hand it would be cut by the glass. But it wasn't. How is it possible for the window to be broken but the glass still there? She wondered.
"You...did this, Siren?" queried Vogue, looking at the window and then to her.
"Yes, I did. If you would step away from the window...I can fix what I did to the window?" asked Kira, as her right hand flamed as the flames erupted from her hand towards the window. The window began to melt but it was not going away from the window frame it was mending itself. Within a few seconds, the window that was once broken was now fixed and fully repaired. Kira was smiling as Vogue looked at the window to find it was indeed repaired.
"Come on, I have to get you an outfit to suit your code-name, Siren," vocalized Vogue, walking out of the room with Kira following behind her as the men from the other rooms peeked their heads out to look at the winged woman walking down the hall with Vogue in front of her.
Chapter Six.
"Siren, this is Magnus. He's our costume designer for the group. Magnus...can you make her a costume to suit her code-name of Siren?" asked Vogue, looking at the black haired man as he worked at his computer. On the screen was a new costume for Shaft that he was working on.
"Hello...Siren," expressed Magnus, as he turned away from his computer screen to look at her. He was shocked for she stood like one of the many Goddesses from ancient Greece. "You look like one of the many Goddesses of ancient Greece. I am a mythologist as well as being a costume designer for YoungBlood," spoke Magnus, looking at her gently.
"You think I look like one of the Goddesses of ancient Greece," said Krya, stunned.
"Yes, I do. If you care to look through my books of costumes and find the one you like. I must get this one done right now so I can start working on yours," recommenced Magnus, as he picked up his two books of designs to her and quickly returned to his computer screen. Vogue watch as Siren flipped though the two books shaking her head at each designs. She looked at the clock and saw that it was past nine o'clock in the morning. In another ten minutes she would have to walk to the command room and inform Shaft that she will be at least another ten minutes before she's ready to be seen by them. Vogue saw movement out of her left eye and looked towards Siren as she walked to the empty seat to the computer screen as she started to type the costume that she wanted into the computer. Magnus turned to watch her type her costume into the computer. Soon, the completed costume was on the screen of the computer as the computer had begun to make her costume.
"How do you know how to work a computer, Siren? I thought you knew nothing of how to work one of them?" asked an astonished Vogue, looking at her as Siren was watching the costume being made at that moment.
Siren turned to look at her but said nothing to her. She turned back to the computer whose loud beeps alerted her that her costume was finished. She quickly saved the costume for when she needed to make a new costume if this one got torn during battle. She walked up the costume and removed it. She went behind the screen that Vogue pointed out to her so she could get dressed.
"Wow...Siren. It looks stunning. Why do you not have a helmet to go with it? A helmet will keep your identity secret," asked Vogue, looking at her accepting the choice of costume that she had made.
"I already made one Vogue. The computer just finished making it," replied Siren, as she removed her feathery helmet from the computer.
"Now that you are done with your costume. We can meet up with the others in the command center right after we get you some weapons. Shaft is probably pacing the floor by now. Come on, Siren," vocalized Vogue, as she looked at Siren. She started to walk out of the costume room.
"I don't need any weapons...Vogue. I have them already. They are inborn weapons," replied Siren, as she lunged at Vogue. Her talons appeared from her fingernails. They were growing to the size of five inches long. Vogue went defensive against the attack of Siren. But Siren pulled away before she planted her talons into her skin. They walked towards the command center giggling about Siren's inborn weapons.
"I must look her up in the books. I swear I saw her form before," whispered Magnus, running to his books of Mythology and started to flip though it.
"Shaft...," spoke Badrock, looking at him as he saw Siren and Vogue enter the room.
"What?" demanded Shaft, turning to look at him.
"Look, she's here," continued Badrock, looking towards Siren as she entered the room to the surprise of everyone. Shaft turned towards Siren standing there in the room in her new costume. She was indeed gorgeous. Her costume was made from the same that their's were from. But her outfit looked like she was covered in feathers even her boots looked like they were covered in feathers as well as her helmet. Her helmet had been made to look like a falcon's head was there. It covered her forehead stopping before her brown eyes right where the beak was. Shaft was about to speak to her when the alarms went off.
"Where is the trouble?" queried Shaft, racing to the computerist's side.
"The Capital Bank on Independence Avenue. Armed robbery. About twenty people inside. Five super-powered villains...unknowns at this time, sir," recited the computerist, looking at the screen.
"Let's go...team!" yelled Shaft, as they raced or flew out of the room towards the hangar bay where their transports are located at.
Chapter Seven.
"Come on! Fill those bags! Hurry, before this town's super-hero team decides to show up! SilverMoon, any sign of YoungBlood...yet?" yelled SilverLightning. He was a silver-haired man and he was very young too. He looked towards a silver-haired woman who was cloaked in a dark cloak as she floated on a batch of darkness.
"I don't think they are going to come boss," replied SilverMoon. She turned back to the window to keep an eye out for YoungBlood. On the roof of the Bank was YoungBlood. They were waiting for them to leave the Bank to get them. But Siren informed them that they were not going to leave the Bank without killing a few of the hostages first, who were in the back of the building.
"How do you know that, Siren?" asked Combat, looking at her puzzled.
"I am a telepath, Combat. I can hide us all from their sight to get inside of the Bank without having them know," replied Siren.
"Do it! Get us in there, Siren," spoke Shaft, as Siren used her powers to hide them.
SilverMoon had turned her back to the window just as a foot came from nowhere and took her out. Vogue appeared out of the invisibility done by Siren. The others were right behind her as they too came from the invisibility from Siren.
"They're here! SilverForce, attack!" screamed SilverLightning, as he lashed out at YoungBlood who dodged his lightning bolts.
"Siren, seek out the civilians and get them out of here! YoungBlood...cover her!" yelled Shaft, as they launched their attack on SilverForce who quickly attacked them. Siren disappeared from sight as she searched for the civilians who were still in the bank somewhere. She searched the location of the civilians out by their frightened thoughts. Siren used her great voice to shatter the bank vault's locks. She pulled the bank vault away from the path so they could get away easier. She stepped inside of the vault. Just as a deposit box came crashing down on her arm, which she put up to prevent it from hitting her.
"Wait! I'm with the good guys! YoungBlood is outside fighting SilverForce. Please if you want to get out of here hold the person's hand who is next to you. I will not let anything injurious happen to you," spoke Siren, as she looked at the scared men and women.
"Who are you?" asked one of the men, looking at her scared.
"My name is Siren and that is all you need to know. Please we must hurry," replied Siren, as they held hands. With a burst of yellow and orange flames they disappeared from the bank vault. As soon as she got them to safety, she returned to the battle that was raging inside the bank itself.
She saw that they were all fighting each member or two at a time. Badrock was fighting SilverStrength, Combat and Diehard were fighting SilverWarrior. Vogue was fighting with the now awakened SilverMoon, SilverSpear was fighting with Shaft as Silver Lightning was preparing to let fly his lightningbolt to ambush the leader of YoungBlood from behind. But what he never expected was a flaming wing grabbing hold of him before he was able to fire off his lightningbolt at Shaft. He turned to see the helmeted face of Siren, the newest member of YoungBlood. He let loose his lightningbolts at her hoping that she would drop him which she did to block the lightningbolts. He swiftly kicked her in the abdomen so hard that it sent her down to the ground in a ball.
"Diehard, take care of SilverSpear!" ordered Shaft, as he let loose a high-pitch arrow at SilverSpear which sent her down to her knees with her hands covering her ears. Shaft used his bow to strike down SilverLightning to get to Siren, who was on her knees trying to stand up. Shaft quickly helped her to her feet but he saw the look of anger burning deep inside of them. He knew she was angry at SilverLightning.
"Shaft, it's alright. You are needed with Vogue. She needs help to defeat SilverMoon. I'll handle this villain. He's mine!" hissed Siren. Shaft looked at her from the corner of his eye. He knew she wanted to fight him one on one.
"Alright...Siren. Good luck," whispered Shaft, as he leapt towards Vogue and SilverMoon leaving Siren and SilverLightning to do battle alone. SilverLightning flashed his lightningbolts at her but they missed each time to only hit the walls of the bank. Siren leaped high into the air and dove straight for SilverLightning to draw blood from the wounds from the strikes of her talons. Then, he tried to do some hand to talon combat with her which she didn't allow him to punch her.
"Why does he call you Siren? That is not a good name for an angel like yourself. I have a better name for you...angel, then, Siren," uttered SilverLightning, looking at her as she flew back up towards the ceiling.
"You want to know why he calls me Siren? So be it!" hissed Siren, as she looked straight at him and shrieked a sonic cry so loud that he went down to his feet with his hands covering his ears in pain. The rest of SilverForce went down to their knees as well.
Out of the shadows of the room, a bank guard that YoungBlood or SilverForce didn't noticed was still inside the bank walked over to a pillar and pulled out his gun and then placed a silencer on his gun. He then took aim at one of the members of YoungBlood's head. Just as Shaft leaped into the air, the false bank guard fired his gun at Shaft's back, just at that moment Chapel fired off his guns at SilverWarrior. Shaft went down bleeding but no one saw him as YoungBlood defeated the members of SilverForce. That was when Siren turned to look for Shaft to find him face down on the ground.
"Shaft!!" screamed Siren, as she raced to his side and rolled him over onto his back to see his lips moving -- he was trying to speak.
"Don't try to speak, Shaft. You must conserve your strength," vocalized Siren, as she looked for the wound.
"As...sass...in," mumbled Shaft, as Siren lifted him up into her arms. Her ear was close to his face. Vogue raced to Siren and told her that they had to get out of the bank now for there was a bomb inside the bank. They raced outside of the bank.
"Badrock, take care of Shaft! He's been shot. Lower back. I'll be back!" yelled Siren, as Badrock took hold of Shaft from her. Siren raced into the building. A few minutes later, she came out of the building in her hands was what was left of the bomb. She gave the bomb pieces to Chapel, who then handed them over to the Police.
Siren raced to Shaft's side and gently placed her finger in where the bullet was. She then looked up to the crowd for she heard the thoughts of the assassin in the crowd. Nowhere to hide no one to protect him from her. He turned and started to run away from the scene. She flew after him with blood on her mind.
"Help me! She's gone mad! Stop her someone!" screamed the bank guard, as he tried to outrace the flying member of YoungBlood. Siren lunged at him and took him down with a whack of her talons drawing blood from him. It looked like Siren had indeed gone mad. Badrock grabbed hold of Siren as a civilian helped the guard up his feet before she killed the man.
"Let me go, Badrock! He was the one who tried to kill Shaft! Hear his thoughts and then tell me if I was right!" hissed Siren, as her eyes flamed as Badrock heard the bank guard's thoughts. He released Siren as she raced to Shaft's side. With a push of her powers, she was able to get the medics away from Shaft. She glanced at the wound before looking up at the medics.
"The bullet is near his lungs," replied Siren. The medics had just diagnosed his condition and she did it within seconds of glancing at the wound. She then plunged her mouth around the wound and started to inhale. When her mouth was full of his blood and no bullet. She spit it out on the street and took another long inhale on his wound to finally get the bullet in her mouth with some of his blood too. She motioned to the police officer who was standing nearby to place his gloved hand under her mouth to catch the bullet as it dropped from her mouth. She quickly moved it away as she spit out Shaft's blood onto the streets. She healed his wound as she placed her hand over the wound. The medics gave her water to rinse her mouth out with.
The news crew who was there to video the hostage situation was taping everything including Siren's sucking Shaft's blood from the wound. Who was she? Where did she come from? That was on all the minds of the people of Washington D.C. including the President of the United States himself.
Chapter Eight.
"I am being called what!?" exclaimed Siren, looking at him seriously.
"They are calling you the Vampire YoungBlood, Siren. I think it is time to formally introduce you to the public," declared Shaft, looking at her from his chair in the debriefing room.
"I think it would be wise now after all that bad publicity about me, Shaft. I don't want people to accuse me of being something I am not," verbalized Siren, turning away from the window to look at them.
"I think we should introduce you to the President...himself first before we introduce you to the public, Siren. I better head to the computer room to call him," spoke Shaft, as he walked towards the door. When the door opened and Tymer was standing there.
"Shaft, the President is on the phone. He wants to speak with you right now about the Vampire YoungBlood," spoke Tymer, looking at him.
Shaft raced towards the computer room where he spoke with the President. A few minutes later, he walked back into the debriefing room.
"So...are we going to see him?" asked Vogue, looking at him as he sat down in his chair.
He turned to look at her and then spoke, "Yes, he wants us all there when he meets Siren...today. I don't want anyone to know that we are visiting the President. Siren, can you make us all invisible like you did at the bank today."
"Yes, I can. I'll do it before we leave here...so no one will be the wiser of where we are off to, Shaft," replied Siren, as they headed to the transport.
Chapter Nine.
"Fine, sir. Sir...this is our new member Siren," spoke Shaft, looking at Mr. Clinton and then to Siren.
"The vampire YoungBlood," responded Bill Clinton, looking at the new member of YoungBlood.
"Sir...Siren is no vampire. The press got that all wrong," retorted Shaft.
"If I was a vampire as the press is stating....I would be dead right now," added Siren, turning away from the window to look at him with her brown eagle eyes.
"If they got that all wrong, Siren. Then tell me the real reason why you sucked the blood from Shaft's wound?" asked Bill, looking at her seriously.
"I had to remove the bullet from Shaft's back without creating another wound for his body to heal. Had the bullet...if it went in any further then it did. It would have costed Shaft his career that he cares for and....I am afraid...his life as well. The bullet was very close to his lungs. I had to get the bullet out anyway I could and if I grossed some people out with how I removed the bullet from Shaft...that's their problem not mine. The press was on Shaft when I was getting my mouth rinsed out," spoke Siren, as she walked towards the window to gaze out to the White House lawn where their transport was at that moment.
"Now, I understand the reason why you did that. But what about the possibility of you or her getting....AIDS, Shaft?" asked Bill Clinton, looking at her and then to him.
"None, sir. I do not have AIDS and neither does she, sir," replied Shaft.
"Shaft, we better go. I can barely hold the invisibility for long," declared Siren, looking at him. Her eyes glinted her power and the intense concentration that she was doing just to keep it up.
"Alright, Siren. Good-bye Mr. Clinton," spoke Shaft, as they left the Oval Office for their transport unit and homebase.
Chapter Ten.
"Earlier today the public saw our newest member, Siren, in action. She's no vampire as you are accusing her to be. She did what she had to do to save my life," spoke Shaft, as flash bulbs went off near Siren, who didn't like the bright flashing lights.
"Next question...please?" asked Tymer, who was standing nearby.
"This one is for Siren. Where did you live before you joined YoungBlood?" asked a reporter, looking at her.
"I lived everywhere and nowhere that I call home. The whole planet Earth is my home. I live where I want to," replied Siren, looking at the reporter who had asked the question.
"No more questions! Headquarters will have Siren's bio out tomorrow morning. Thank you for coming," spoke Shaft, looking at them as they headed into their headquarters without answering another question from the crowd of reporters.
Once they got inside, they quickly went to the debriefing room so Kira could tell them more about her past. But it was going to be rough for Kira to reveal her past for she knew not who she is or where she came from.
"I'm sorry, Kyra. But we do need to know where you came from so the reporters will drop that subject alone," spoke Shaft, looking at her as he sat down. She walked to the window and gazed out.
"I..I don't remember anything of my past. I just don't...I wish I knew my own past," whispered Siren, turning away from the window to look at them gently.
"You mean you are an amnesiac, Siren?" asked Chapel, looking at her shocked.
"I don't know who I am. Or where I came from either. All I know is my name and that is all I know," replied Siren, turning back to the window once again. She really knew who she was but she couldn't let them know the secret that she has inside of her. The secret of near immortality.
"Then, we should just have to make one up for you, Siren. Until you remember your past," conversed Shaft, as he started to write something down on the piece of paper that he had in front of him. He stood up and walked out of the room to the young secretary. He handed her the paper, who immediately started to type the information into the computer. He started to walk back into the room when he heard a loud bird screech coming from the lips of Siren. The sonic waves from her bird scream shattered the glasses on the table and the windows. Her taloned hands were covered her ears as she looked down at the streets below. She was seeking out the sound that was making the loud noise that she was hearing.
Shaft raced to her side and gently removed her hands from around her ears. She turned to look at him wild eyed. She had the look of pain in her eyes. He had seen that look before.
"Please...help...me, Jeff. The...the sound...that I...am...hearing...is painful. It...is...deafening," whispered Siren, looking at him in pain.
"I will, Siren. I promise you," spoke Shaft, as his fingers pinched the nerves on the back of her neck knocking her unconscious. She slumped into his arms. Her white wings went limp as did the rest of her body. Shaft lifted her up into his arms and started to walk out of the room.
"Shaft, what happened to her?" asked Vogue, as the others followed Shaft, who was not heading towards the medi-center but to Kira's room.
"Your ears like mine couldn't hear the sound that Kira was hearing, Vogue. The sound is high frequency. That is the only sound that we can not hear but Kira and the all the animals in this city can hear the sound," vocalized Shaft, looking at her as he laid Kira down on her bed.
"I think there is a way to keep her from hearing the sound so we don't have to clean up the mess that would result from her screams again," conveyed Combat, as he and Diehard walked out of Kira's room towards the storage area and fixed something for Kira's ears. Chapter Eleven.
Siren was awake when Combat and Diehard returned to Kira's room with the hearing aids that they made for her for she was hearing the sound again. Combat quickly placed the aids in her ears and prayed to his Gods that it would work.
"Wha! The sound...it's gone! Combat...what did you do to make me not hear the sound?" asked Siren, looking up at him as she tilted her head this way and that way but she could not hear the sounds at all.
"The two aids I placed in your ears is what is stopping the sound from entering your ears to make you go wild on us. They will stop the sound until we are able to find the location of the sound and put it out of commission," spoke Combat, looking at her as she sat on the edge of her bed.
"But how will we find it...the source of the sound, Combat? If Siren's ears are closed off to the sound?" asked Badrock, looking at him seriously.
"We will locate it by this," spoke Diehard, as Combat held up the cellular phone-like device that was beeping every few seconds.
"Siren's going to remain here for this mission," stated Shaft, looking at them and to Siren, who was shocked that she wasn't going to be on the mission.
"What! Shaft, I want to go! It's my ears that whoever is trying to destroy!" screamed Siren, her voice was almost hitting her bird scream.
"Yes, I know, Siren. But it would best if you remain here for your own good. Whoever is doing this to you...they could catch you and find the aids in your ears and remove them. I don't want that to happen to you, Siren," spoke Shaft, his voice went to a whisper as he spoke with Siren.
"I...understand now Shaft. I'll stay here and watch your progress on the computer. If you need my help...just yell and I'll come flying," replied Siren, looking at the team.
Chapter Twelve.
"Do you think it will work on her, the YoungBlood's humanoid bird, Siren, SilverSpear?" asked SilverLightning, looking at the silver-haired woman as she turned off the machine that was creating the sound that Siren was hearing.
"Yes. She will go mad upon hearing the sound that no human can hear but the animals of the city. I can make the entire city's pets go mad against their owners and YoungBlood would be chasing their winged member all over the city as she destroys the city," replied SilverSpear, looking at him with a wicked smile on her face, she turned off the machine.
"Can anyone join this party, SilverLightning?" asked a voice, as they turned to the door to see who it was.
"It's gone! The sound has vanished!" Combat informed them, as he looked at his device when the beeps had suddenly stopped.
"Where was the last location of where the sound was coming from, Diehard?" asked Chapel, turning to look at him.
"It was right near the W. Wilson Memorial Bridge, Chapel. Then, it vanished at a warehouse. The records state that it should be very much deserted. It was ordered to be destroyed by the city," spoke Diehard, looking at them when the beeps started up once again coming from the so-called empty warehouse.
"Let's investigate the warehouse. Let's hope that whoever is doing the noise that is making Siren scream so loudly isn't there...but the machine is," spoke Shaft, as they climbed out of their transport unit. They raced towards the warehouse and leaped over the fence that blocked their way. They sneaked into the building by the backdoor with Badrock watching out for the night watchman to make his nightly rounds. As they entered the building deeper, Diehard's internal sensors were detecting heat sources. He held his hand up making the others stop and look around their area.
"What is it, Diehard?" whispered Shaft, looking at him carefully.
"My sensors are detecting six to seven heat sources. In that direction, Shaft," whispered Diehard, as they sneaked closer towards the heat sources that Diehard had detected.
"Look, there is the source of the sound, Shaft," whispered Combat, as he looked at his device and then pointed it at the machine. They walked right up to the machine without any trouble at all. Diehard started to look for the six heat sources that he had detected. When a bright strobe lights shone directly at their eyes blinding them from seeing their attackers.
"Get them, SilverForce!" screamed their leader SilverLightning, as lightning crackled in the warehouse. YoungBlood didn't even see the attack coming for they were trying to get rid of the spots that was dancing in front of their eyes, all but for Diehard, who lashed out at SilverLightning, who went down never realizing that Diehard was an android so he couldn't be blinded like the others were. Diehard quickly sent word to HeadQuarters that they need Siren there immediately. He hoped that she would get there in time to help them get out of this mess.
Chapter Thirteen.
Inside the HeadQuarters of the YoungBlood's training room. Siren was dancing to the beat of her own heart as several men watching her move gracefully with her wings outstretched around the room. Shelly was watching how the men just stared at her like she was the last woman on Earth. She started to feel jealous at her for no reason at all. A thought came to her mind could Jeff fall in love with her and dump her for Siren.
"Hi, Magnus," spoke Shelly, turning to look at him as he entered the room.
"You know that I am a mythologist part time...Shelly. I looked in my many books of Myths. I found only two myths that speaks of a winged woman like Siren is. One is about the Harpies of Greek Mythology and the other is the Sirens of Greek Mythology. She looks like both a Siren and a Harpy doesn't she, Shelly?" asked Magnus, looking at her gently.
"Yeah, she does," replied Shelly. She turned to leave when she saw one of the computerists come racing into the room out of breath.
"Siren!! They need you! Ambushed! A warehouse south of this building near the W. Wilson Memorial Bridge!" yelled the young man, looking at her still out of breath.
Once the man told her everything, Siren flew out of the building straight towards the building where her team was trapped within. SilverForce tied the members of YoungBlood up and then wait for the arrival of Siren, their winged teammate to save them and the day. They had an ace up their sleeve never knowing that Siren couldn't hear their machine's noise. Badrock tried to break free of his ropes but he couldn't for they were steel bars instead of plain rope like they did with the others. SilverStrobe looked around the building and then went to SilverLightning who turned on the machine once more.
"Shaft, that machine must be the cause of Siren's pain," spoke Combat, as his device started to beep once again.
"Combat, can you break your ropes?" asked Vogue, looking at him as she struggled to break hers.
"No. Mine are too tight on my wrists. I could break both my wrists if I tried to break them," replied Combat, turning his head towards her. SilverWarrior walked over to Combat and smacked his face hard. He went to Vogue and untied her and dragged her to where Combat was and retied both their ropes around each others ropes. If one of them tried to break their ropes -- they will dislocate their teammate's arms. SilverWarrior walked away from them just as Siren emerged from her invisiblity behind Combat and Vogue. She used her powers to free them from their bonds. She went to the others and did the same to them but told them to remain where they were until she gives the word. Siren turned invisible once more and slipped out of the warehouse undetected by the members of SilverForce.
SilverForce was totally unaware of Siren's appearance until the warehouse's door came down by a very powerful kick done by Siren herself.
"Release my team or prepare to meet your makers!!" demanded Siren, looking at them. She stood there like she meant serious business.
"Attack her! Kill her!" screamed SilverLightning, as he raced over to his precious machine and turned it to full power in hopes that it would take her down. But to his disbelief -- the sound was not affecting her like they had thought she would be. Siren was still standing with the machine's high frequency that the machine was producing.
"Now, YoungBlood!" screamed Siren, as she let loose a cry of destructive force against the machine that was causing the animals of this city and herself so much pain. The others leapt from their bonds free, thanks to what Siren did earlier. They fought the members of SilverForce to defeat. But this time they made sure that they didn't get away like they did last time.
"How did...? How could you handle the high frequency that our machine was putting out, Siren...if I can ask such a question?" asked SilverLightning, looking at her inquired on how she could handle the sound now.
"Can I show him?" questioned Siren, looking towards Shaft for guidance on how to answer his question.
"Go ahead, Siren. It's your decision, now," replied Shaft, looking at her and then to SilverLightning.
"I can't hear your machine's sound for I have these in my ears. They block out your machine's high frequencies totally," uttered Siren, looking at him as she removed the aids from her ears and then placed them in her hand to show them to SilverLightning. Then, without warning, she gave him a high kick to the jaw knocking him backwards before he could speak again. Shaft pulled her away before she gave him another kick to the jaw. Shaft pushed her towards Combat, who held her as her anger left her. Shaft was shocked that Siren attacked him with so much anger. He checked Silverlightning's pulse to find that he was unconscious but still alive.
"Is he alive?" hissed Siren, looking at him with fire coming from her eyes.
"Yes, he is, Siren. You'll not harm him again while he is in custody," declared Shaft, looking at her very sternly.
Badrock spoke, "We should get these six into a jail cell that can hold them and get our butts out of here."
"Diehard, get the power dampeners for these six," Shaft communicated, as Diehard flew out of the building to their transport unit to get power dampeners for SilverForce.
Soon, the members of SilverForce was loaded into their cells for the ride back to YoungBlood's HeadQuarters. Siren stared at the warehouse that held such dangerous equipment. She turned away from the building. It was only when she reached the fence did she turn around and let loose a sonic scream towards the building destroying the building instantly into rubble.
"You are one mysterious young lady, Kira. I bet it will be fun finding out more of your history," spoke Shaft, looking at her gently as she looked towards the setting sun. He walked past the fence and walked up the plank of their transport unit.
"Oh, you have no idea how dangerous it is going to be, Shaft," whispered Siren, as her eyes flamed into that of a bird of fire.
"Come on, Siren!" yelled Shaft, looking at her from the transport.
"I'm coming, Shaft," replied Siren, as she flew towards the transport.
Chapter Fourteen.
"Goodnight, Magnus," spoke Shelly, as she walked out the door. Magnus was about to leave for the evening when he met up with Shelly which reminded him that he had not finished a design for Vogue yet.
"Night, Shelly," replied Magnus, as he walked back inside the building.
"Shelly...wait. You forgot this on your desk. I didn't want you to lose your gift from Jeff," replied Holden, handing her the small box that had her name on it.
"Oh, I must have overlooked it in my rush to get out of here. Thanks...Holden," replied Shelly, as she walked to her car and placed the box on the passenger seat. She climbed into her car and started to drive away never noticing the evil look on Holden's face.
Boom!
"What was that!?" screamed Shaft, as the transport was rocked by the explosion that happened in front of their HeadQuarters.
"It's a car bomb! But I can't believe it! It was inside Shelly's car!" exclaimed Vogue, turning towards Shaft.
"No!!" screamed Shaft, as he leapt out of the transport unit and raced towards the burning car. Siren flew after him and stopped him before he could reach the car.
"Shaft, it's too late! Even if we were able to pull her out of the car. She would not have survived the explosion and the burns for long, Shaft," spoke Siren, holding him in her arms.
"But your healing powers! You can bring her back...can you?" asked Shaft, looking at her in the eyes.
"I can only heal the wounded, Shaft. I can not bring the dead back to life. Shelly is one of the dead. I'm sorry...but she is one of the dead," replied Siren, as she put out the fire and ripped open the driver's side of the car and used her telekinetic powers to lift Shelly out of the car and onto the bodybag that Badrock had placed on the ground for her.
Siren placed her clawed hands on Shelly's face and hands and used her healing powers to heal the burns and to make her once more beautiful.
"That's all...I can do for her, Shaft. She is one of the dead. But she did call out your name the second that she died," replied Siren, as she nodded to Badrock to carry Shelly to the morgue of YoungBlood's HeadQuarters.
The others hauled SilverForce out of the cells as Shaft and Siren walked next to each other as they got SilverForce into their jail cells for the night for tomorrow morning they will be sent to the Court House for their hearings and then their trial will begin.
"Thank you, Kira. For being here for me," whispered Jeff, as he looked at her gently through blurry eyes.
"You're welcome, Jeff. I'll always will be here for you," whispered Kira, looking at him with caring eyes. Jeff went towards his room and looked at the others before entering. The others went to either their rooms or to the training room to get their sadness out or their anger for not being able to help Shelly.
"Poor Jeff. I feel your pain in my mind. I know your loss. For I too...have lost someone very dear to me. No one can ever get over that kind of loss. One day...you'll be able to love again and I hope it could be...one day...be me," whispered Kira, as she entered her room.
