Chapter 11: Ghost

"That's Ramona's 3rd Evil Ex." Scott said. "I killed him almost a year ago."

"SCOTT PILGRIM!" Todd shouted.

Todd Ingram

Ramona's 3rd Evil Ex-Boyfriend

Age Unknown

Status: Uh... Not Dead?

"He doesn't look very dead to me." Jack said. "He looks pissed."

Todd started towards them at a sprinting pace. Jack ran forward to intercept him, raising his cane up. Todd waved his hand and tossed Jack aside with his psychic powers, and continued towards Scott.

"Shit." Scott ran forward to confront Todd. As they drew nearer to each other, Scott jumped into the air and prepared a divekick. Todd reeled his fist back and punched the air in front of him. All of a sudden, Scott was hit with a powerful force of psychic energy and sent flying backwards. He hit the ground and bounced off, skipping across the ground like a stone across water, and crashed through the glass door leading into the tower.

"Shit." Scott moaned as he picked himself up. "I thought that would work this time." He looked up to see Todd approaching him.

"This time…" He said. "I'm gonna end you, Pilgrim."

"Oi!" Jack said. Todd turned around to see Jack right behind him. Jack swung his cane and smacked Todd in the face, sending him to the ground. As Todd began to stand, Jack pulled out one of his pistols and held it to Todd's head. Todd vanished as Jack pulled the trigger.

"Fuck!" Jack turned around. Todd sent him flying with a blast of psychic energy. Jack flew into the gift shop, knocking over several displays. By now, many people noticed the disturbance and began to flee. Todd turned his attention to Scott and lifted him up with his psychic power.

"Did you do something with your hair?" Scott asked. Todd lifted his hand and Scott went flying upwards and slammed into the ceiling. Todd brought his hand down and slammed him into the floor.

"Shit." Scott choked as Todd lifted him back into the air. "This is so not fair."

"Hey!" Jack shouted. Todd looked over to see that Jack standing a few feet from the entrance to the gift shop, now with both pistols out. "Put down the Scott, and step away with your hands where I can see 'em."

Todd raised his middle finger and Jack fired off several rounds in return. Todd held his hand up and the bullets all came to a stop inches away from his face.

"I'm getting sick of all this cross-promotion." Scott said.

Todd thrust his hand at Jack and the bullets went flying back in their original trajectory. Jack jumped out of the way as the bullets whizzed past and bolted into the walls behind him.

"That's not gonna work." Jack lamented as he put the guns back into his coat and his cane reappeared in turn. Todd raised his hand and thrust it at Jack. Jack braced himself as a psychic force pushed him back several feet. Jack pushed back and Todd broke his focus, dropping Scott.

"I've had enough of you, you make-up wearing queer." Todd said, stepping towards Jack.

"Your hair looks stupid." Jack said. He spun his cane in a circle and pointed it at Todd. All of a sudden, Todd was sent flying into the wall, right above the doors. Todd fell off the wall and landed on his feet. Jack teleported over to Todd and swung the cane, smacking Todd in the face. Todd fell to the ground and rolled over, grabbing his face in pain.

"I'm going to enjoy wiping your blood off this thing later." Jack said as Todd stood back up.

"I'm gonna tear your head off and make a Halloween mask out of your face." Todd said, raising both his hands at Jack. Jack gripped his cane with both hands and held it lengthways at him. Suddenly, a large web of cracks appeared on the ground, in between Jack and Todd. The windows on the bottom 3 floors of the tower near them exploded and showered the floor with glass fragments. Todd reached over and grabbed the shaft of the cane. The walls by them cracked and the ground began to shake.

At that moment, Scott remembered a conversation he had with Wallace and Mobile.

There is a great foundation of psychic potential lying in that staff he carries. It could upsurge basic psychic influence a hundredfold.

Uh-oh. Scott thought. This can't be good.

The lights in the tower began to flicker, and some of them exploded. A bright light appeared around the cane's top and a flood of electrical energy discharged from it as Jack struggled to keep his grip. Suddenly, he was blown back by the recoil of psychic vigor and sent flying back by a powerful force. He flew through the doorway, hit a wall and bounced off, landing on the ground with a thud.

Shit. This definitely isn't good. Scott turned and looked over at Todd, who now held Jack's cane. The air suddenly turned heavy as the thunder shook the tower and the lightning gave an ominous glow to the battlefield. Todd's expression turned into a sick, twisted smile as the air around him intensified. The ground beneath him shattered and the pieces of concrete began to float around him. He gripped the staff tightly and held it close to him—he crouched and held his limbs close, almost turtling himself.

"HHHUUUUUAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

A beam of light dropped down from the clouds, enveloping Todd as he stretched out his legs, holding his arms away from his body and his face towards the sky. Suddenly, he began to change. His hair grew long and thick, almost like a lion's mane, and changed into a bright blonde color. His muscles expanded, ripping through his shirt, and his feet broke through his shoes. Todd continued shouting as the transformation went on for almost a whole minute. After a while, the light disappeared, and Todd relaxed his arms. He looked towards the ground for a moment before lifting his head. His eyes burned with the same piercing white glow. The chrome skull at the top of the cane had been replaced by a golden pumpkin with a crooked smile carved into its face.

Super Todd Ingram

Unstoppable?

Strength x100

Speed x100

Resistance x100

Hair Length x100

"Jack?" Scott said, turning around. Jack laid face-down on the floor, immobile. "Jack! Wake up, now! We have a problem!"

"Let me take care of that for you." Todd said, sounding much closer than he should. Scott turned to see Todd right in his face.

"Shit-!"

Todd cut him off with a swift punch to the face, sending Scott flying back. Scott went through the gift shop, slamming into the wall and traveling through it, crashing through the wall leading out of the tower, clearing the Needle's property line, and slamming into a building across the street.

Ramona recovered from the shock of the situation and reached into her bag, pulling out her Subspace hammer, and ran up to Todd. She took a swing—the head of the hammer connected with the back of Todd's head. There was a crunching sound, like the sound of a coconut being crushed under a large rock. Todd slowly turned around, completely unfazed by the attack.

"Shit." Ramona said. Todd waved his hand and knocked Ramona back with a powerful wave of energy.

"Take a rest, little girl." Todd said, his voice deepened by the effect of the massive energy. "The men are busy right now."

Todd turned back and walked through the building. He stopped by Jack's body and looked over it. He raised his hand and lifted Jack into the air. Jack's eyes snapped open as he felt the immense power over him. He glared at Todd and clenched his teeth. Todd grabbed him by the neck with prodigious strength.

"Too tight to talk?" He asked. "Good. I'm tired of talking to you, anyway."

Ugh… ow. Scott picked himself out of the hole in the wall. This isn't good. Scott could see from across the street, through the other hole in the base of the Space Needle; Todd had picked Jack up by the throat.

"Jack!" Scott called. He tried to rush forward, but then collapsed to the ground. It was as if his legs had just suddenly given out. Scott then realized that his breathing had become shallow, and it felt like his heart was working twice as hard just to keep things moving. It felt like, if it weren't for the adrenaline, he would have passed out by now.

Shit! Scott thought. Why?

Remember… Dr. Addy's words echoed. Your physical therapy is a vital process to recovery. After you're discharged, you're going to have to spend a few minutes every day completing a few simple exercises to build yourself back up. If you don't, there will be consequences. You'll spend some moments wishing you hadn't neglected your health.

Moments like right now. Scott amended the thought. Damn it all… wait. What about…

Scott reached into his coat pocket and produced a small glass vile filled with a sickly-green liquid inside, that ran like milk. There was a tag wrapped around the thin neck, which read 'DRINK ME.' He pulled the lid off and brought the tip to his mouth.

This shit is pretty potent. Scott remembered Jack's words. Don't take it unless you need to… and make sure that when-you-need-to isn't very often. It's addictive, and you do NOT want to go through the comedowns.

It smells pretty foul, but… I don't have a choice. Scott tilted his head back and emptied the bottle down his throat. He had a powerful urge to gag, but he fought to suppress it, and swallowed hard to force it down. He could feel whatever he just drank crawling into his stomach, and he instantly turned cold.

"God! Damn it…!" Scott gasped and coughed as his whole body began to shake. "What… in the hell… is this? *Gargh! Urk!*"

The cold feeling quickly turned to hot, as a burning sensation surged throughout Scott's veins. Scott's heart started beating a bit slower; he could feel it palpitating. It was beating so hard it felt like it would burst right out of his chest. The cold thing had now left his stomach, and the exhaustion that once controlled him had subsided.

For now… Scott thought. "Let's make it count."

Scott picked himself up and called forth the Power of Understanding. Gripping the sword in both hands, Scott charged forward, leaping through the hole in the wall. He raised the sword above his head and swung down with all of his strength.

Todd raised his hand, stopping the sword as it came within an inch of his body. He tore the blade out of Scott's hands and tossed him aside with his mind. Scott looked on in dismay as the Power of Understanding was crushed by psychic energy and the blade shattered into pieces.

"Fuck killing you." Todd laughed. "With this kind of power…" He looked at his hand and flexed it. "I'm a god. I'm gonna rip this whole city apart." And with that, he disappeared in a flash of light.

"Scott!" Ramona called. She crouched at the ground by Jack's body. Scott ran over towards them and knelt down.

"Is he alright?" Scott asked.

"I don't think so."

"Great." Scott stood up and looked around in uneasiness at the destruction around him. Todd, an already powerful psychic vegan, had become a hundred times stronger; and the only person who possibly knew how to stop him was dead.

"Wait!" Ramona said. Scott turned around to see Jack sitting up.

"Oh, great." Scott sighed in relief.

"Where's Todd?" Jack asked. There was an audible pop as he rolled his neck.

"He teleported away. He said he was going to destroy the city."

"We need to get my cane back." Jack stood up.

"How do we do that?" Ramona asked. "We just got our asses handed to us."

"Tell me, quickly—what kind of powers did he display before?"

"Um… flying, telekinesis, teleportation mind-reading, super strength, being a douche… that's all I remember."

"All of those factors will be upsurged by the power of the staff, and may lead to branching abilities."

"You mean he'll be an even bigger douche?"

"Exactly."

"Damn… He was strong enough the last time I fought him. I can't even imagine that he could be stronger. Is there any way to even stop him?"

"Well, without the cane, I'm a little less than useless against him—as much as I hate to say it. But if we can get it away from him, he should revert back to his prior state. Then, I can kill him. Until that happens though, he'll be essentially unstoppable."

"You're really not good at being encouraging." Scott said.

Several Minutes Later…

Jack's House, Cherry Hill

"What are we doing here?" Scott asked as they walked up the driveway to a decrepit, 2-story house. It was bigger than Ramona's house, and had a garage. The grass on the lawn was dead, and the mailbox had a red pentagram in place of any numbers. The windows were boarded up, and the door looked as though it just had a fresh coat of red paint applied. "Your priorities are really screwed up."

"I need to get something." Jack said, taking out his keys as they walked up the steps to the porch. He unlocked the door and the three of them stepped inside to an interior that wasn't much more pleasant than the outside of the house. There was a loud, deep barking, followed by the sound of rapid clicking and heavy thudding on the floor, like the sound a dog's nails make. A beastly shape turned into view from an archway behind the stairs, approached them and snarled at Scott.

"Nein!" Jack spoke at the large Rottweiler. "Sitzen."

The dog sat down on its back legs and wagged its stumpy tail, staring at Scott. Jack pet the dog and muttered another comment in German. The dog walked into the living room and jumped onto the couch. Jack walked past the stairs into the kitchen, and opened the door leading to the garage. Scott and Ramona followed him in. Inside were 2 high-tech desktop computers sitting atop 2 different desks. Along with other machines, there were also a black 2011 Bravado Buffalo and a red 1994 BMW 325i, kept in pristine condition.

"Your garage is huge." Scott said.

Jack walked over to a desk and took out his phone and plugged it into some strange device, and then dialed a number and put it to his ear. After a few seconds, someone on the other line answered.

"Kinzie." Jack said, dryly. "I need a favor."

Ramona turned and left the room. Scott followed her. She went into the kitchen and opened the fridge, and took out a can of Orangina.

"Uh… shouldn't you ask, first?" Scott said. Ramona ignored him and pulled the tab on the drink. She walked into the living room and sat down on the couch next to the dog. The dog looked up as Scott entered the room and growled at him.

"Halt den Mund!" Ramona snapped at the dog, which in turn, put his head down on the cushion. "Come on. It's okay."

Scott sat down in the recliner on the other side of the room. "So… how long have you been speaking… Spanish?"

"German. And the dog's name is Doge. If I would've had a say in naming him, he would've been Biz Markie."

"Heh. Has this place always looked like a homeless shelter?"

"Well, it's not that messy. He always made a point of keeping the place organized. If I left something out, he wouldn't let me hear the end of it. I don't think he cares about dirt, though."

Scott paused for a moment, trying to listen to Jack in the other room.

"What's he going on about?"

"Who knows?"

Scott said nothing in response. He laid his head back against the couch and sighed. "This is all Joel's doing, isn't it?"

"Who else would've done it?"

"But how? That crazy bastard and that blue-haired girl… they're dangerous… and talented. They're bringing people back from the dead, now…"

Suddenly, a dark-colored cat came in the room and jumped up on the couch by Ramona.

"Aww!" Ramona cooed as she pet the cat. "Hey there, Madonna."

"Madonna?"

"I named her."

"Oh."

"Did you miss me, baby?" Ramona hugged the cat as it began to purr.

*Bee-beep! Bee-beep! Bee-beep!* There was a rapid beeping sound in the other room. Jack walked into the living room.

"Come on." He said. "It's time to go."

Doge looked up and whined at them as they got up.

"Halten." Jack said.

Doge immediately laid back down. He whined again, though. Jack walked over to the couch and kneeled down in front of the dog.

"There's a good girl." Jack said as he pet Doge. He spoke with a tone that one would use when talking to a small child. "Jack'll be back later, don't worry."

Doge barked loudly in response.

"Don't bark at me, motherfucker." Jack used his normal tone, and placed his hand directly on top of Doge's head, leaving it there. "Your breath stinks." Jack chuckled as he stood back up. "Don't destroy the house, you crazy fucking animals. Alright, let's go."

Scott and Ramona followed Jack into the kitchen and out the door, into the backyard.

"Where's Todd?" Scott asked.

"He's somewhere downtown. He's heading towards Queen Anne Hill. We gotta get moving if we're gonna catch him."

"What are we doing?"

"We're taking a shortcut." Jack walked over to a shed at the far left end of the yard. He opened the door and they all walked in.

"Is this a magic shed?"

"No, and this is not a pipe." Jack picked up a large piece of white chalk.

What? Scott thought. Obviously it's not a pipe. He watched as Jack drew a long square on the wall, with it going down all the way to the floor. He drew a circle near the left side and a star in the middle.

"Oh." Scott said. "Of course."

Jack put the chalk down and knocked on the 'door.' A bright light flashed from the area of the drawing and suddenly the door opened into the void of Subspace.

"Why don't you lead us, Ramona?" Jack stepped aside for her. Ramona stepped through the door and Jack and Scott followed her. "Which way do we go?"

"Uh… that way?" Ramona pointed to her right.

"Are you sure?" Jack asked. "Because Queen Anne's the other way."

"Okay then."

"You act like you've never been to Seattle."

Suddenly, a dramatic piano sting played, making Scott and Ramona jump.

"Oh, that's my phone." Jack took out his phone and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Let's just go." Ramona said. Scott and Jack followed her.

"Okay." Jack said into the phone. "Meet me at Queen Anne Hill. See you, then." Jack hung up the phone and put it back into his pocket.

"Was that 'Kinzie'?" Ramona asked.

"No. That was another girl."

"Because one's not enough for you, right?"

"I don't need special moves to knock you out." Jack snapped.

"There's a door up there." Scott said, hoping to shift the tension away from the group.

Jack suddenly took off ahead of them, towards the door. Scott and Ramona quickly ran after him. Jack reached the door and shoved it open. The three of them stepped outside into the cool, spring air of the Queen Anne Hill neighborhood.

"Are you sure he's here?" Ramona asked, closing the door behind them. "This place looks completely untouched."

"He's here." Jack said. "I can feel it."

"Are there any vegan restaurants in the area?" Scott asked.

"No. Why?"

"What happened to the one that Nancy owned?" Ramona asked.

"They shut her down. Turns out she wasn't washing her hands before preparing meals."

"Eww. Ohh, I'm getting sick now, just thinking of all the meals she made for me."

"Right. Come on—he's moving." Jack took off down the street. Scott and Ramona ran after him again.

"Wait!" Scott said. "What's our plan? We're not just gonna charge at him, are we? That didn't work very well last time."

"No, of course not." Jack said as they all stopped running.

"Do you even have a plan?" Ramona asked.

"Yeah. We stall him until Mallorie arrives."

"Do you have a way to do that?" Scott asked.

"Who's Mallorie?" Ramona asked.

"I have better questions to answer than that." Jack retorted. "If you have anything better to ask, do it now, because Todd's almost right on top of us."

"What do we do?" Scott asked.

"What we do best—fight! He can see me, so I'll take him from the front while you go around and attack from behind. Wait for my signal. And if you can, try to grab him and hold on. Go! He's getting closer."

Scott and Ramona went down the alley and around the building.

"Wait, look!" Scott pointed at the emergency stairway. "Let's have a little elevation to our surprise. I'll attack from above and you attack from behind."

"Okay." Ramona continued down the alley and around the building.

Scott jumped up and grabbed the ladder to bring it down, and started up to the roof of the moderately tall building. He reached the top and ran to the front of the building. There, he saw Todd walking down the street, knocking several parked cars off of the road with telekinesis as he slowly made his way towards Jack. They stopped about 30 ft. away from each other

"Is that really necessary?" Jack called out to him. "I don't think those people have insurance for psychic douchebags."

"I'm a rockstar." Todd said. "I'll do whatever I want."

"People like you are so annoying." Jack said, crossing his arms. "You think the sun shines out of your ass, because you did some shit that some people liked. You think you own the world, that the world owes you. Here's a newsflash: you're pretentious, and you're not a gift to anyone."

Todd lost his patience and flung a tipped-over car at Jack. Jack quickly jumped to the side, weaving past the car as it hit the road and skipped across it like a stone.

I guess that's the signal. Scott jumped off the roof and dived straight at Todd. Suddenly, Jack took off running towards him. Ramona came out of the alley with her hammer raised. All three of them headed for Todd.

Todd didn't blink. He swung the cane, creating a shockwave of psychic energy, knocking all three of them back. Jack and Ramona fell back about a hundred feet away and Scott was blown into the building threw a broken window, and landed onto a pile of empty boxes. As he picked himself back up, he noticed an assortment of musical instruments lying on the ground and hanging from the wall. The building must have been a music store at some point. Suddenly, the wall caved in under Todd's powers, letting light into the dark building. Scott reached over and picked up a red Ibanez GSR200 bass.

"Please." Todd scoffed. He held up the cane, transforming it into a white B.C. Warlock. "I'll show you what real music sounds like."

Jack suddenly appeared next to Scott, holding a black custom Gibson Les Paul.

"Let's settle the score." He said.

BASS BATTLE!

FIGHT!

"Wait!" Scott said. "Mine isn't tuned."

Jack and Todd rolled their eyes.

One Tuning Later…

"Alright, I'm ready." Scott slung the bass around his shoulders. "Let's do it!"

FIGHT!

Scott pulled a pick out from his wristband and began strumming a heavy riff on his bass. Todd smirked and began to play a complex, fast-paced, high-pitched riff—the sound amplified by his psychic powers. Scott struggled to keep up with the prowess of Todd's bass.

I don't know why I did this. Scott thought. I don't stand any more of a chance than last time.

Suddenly, a sharp, piercing chord cut through the combined riffs of both Scott and Todd's basses. They both looked over at Jack as he slid his fingers down the fretboard, distorting the sound of the chord. He began moving his fingers up and down, playing a complicated riff reminiscent of the solo from 'Sweet Child O' Mine'. Todd clenched his teeth, struggling to keep up with Jack. But no matter how fast or how hard he played, he couldn't best Jack.

What's going on? Todd thought. This can't be possible.

"No matter how good you are at bass," Jack said. "You'll never beat the sound of a real guitar."

Todd growled in frustration and strummed a heavy chord, sending a shockwave at them. Jack fell backwards, ending the riff.

"Shit." Jack stood back up and flipped a switch on the guitar, pointing the neck at Todd. "Let's see how you like the sound of death metal."

Scott noticed a long, metal tube attached to the neck of Jack's guitar.

That looks like…

Jack began strumming, sending a swarm of bullets at Todd. Todd put his hand up, creating a forcefield around him. The bullets ricocheted off the invisible shield. The sound of machine gun fire and Jack's music filled the air. As Scott listened, he recognized the riff. It sounded like a song that he heard in his dream from the previous night. Soon, the gunfire ceased and Jack stopped playing.

"What happened?" Scott asked. "Is it broken?"

"No, it's OUTTA FUCKIN' AMMO."

"Oh. What's the point of this, anyway? We're not making any progress."

Suddenly, a great ball of fire exploded into Todd's back, setting his upper body ablaze. He panicked frantically to extinguish the flames as several more fireballs hurtled towards him from behind, hitting him in the back and exploding, spreading across his body. Todd hunched inwards and quickly stretched his limbs outwards. The flames across his body dissipated, and the blackened portions of his skin rapidly began to heal, along with the burnt portions of his hair.

"It's about time you arrived." Jack called out to a mysterious figure standing on the other side of the road. Scott turned to look at the figure. It was a girl, with short, black, pixie-styled hair with red highlights. She stood at about 5' 6" and looked to be rather skinny. She wore low-rising black shorts with a red vest that exposed her stomach, with matching fishnets and a pair of black combat boots.

Mallorie Mason

17 Years Old

Pyromancer

Mallorie didn't say anything and instead pressed her hands together. A red spark about the size of a tennis ball appeared between them, bursting into a flame that nearly tripled in size almost immediately.

Todd's guitar returned to the form of a cane, and he sent a wave of psychic energy towards her. Jack phased over in front of Mallorie and raised his arms up in front of him. Scott could see the energy wave being blocked and tossed back towards Todd. Apparently Jack still retained a portion of his own powers. At that moment, he dropped to his knees and Mallorie launched the fireball over his head towards Todd. Todd simply waved the cane again, sending another wave of psychic power towards them; it collided with the approaching wave which Jack had deflected, combining into an even more powerful one along the way. The super-powered energy scattered Mallorie's fireball and slammed into both her and Jack, knocking them back about 30 feet.

This isn't going any better now than before. Scott slung the bass off of his shoulders and ran towards Todd; with the guitar raised high, slammed it straight into Todd's head. Todd grabbed Scott by the throat as the instrument shattered uselessly against his head. At that moment, Scott noticed Ramona standing behind Todd with the Power of Love in hand. She stepped forward, and the length of the blade penetrated Todd's body, sticking out from the right side of his chest. Todd gasped, dropping Scott, and Ramona pulled the blade back out and took a swing, drawing a line across Todd's back. Ramona spun in a circle and slammed the sword into Todd's side.

There was a high-pitched whine as a ray of light appeared from the area of impact on Todd's body, stopping Ramona's sword from cutting into him. The open wound on his chest quickly healed. He clenched his fist and raised it. Ramona dropped the Power of Love and began frantically grabbing at her neck as she was lifted into the air.

"Let her go!" Scott shouted.

Todd waved his arm, as if he were swatting away a fly, and opened his hand; Ramona was thrown through the air towards Jack and Mallorie. Jack was quick to grab Ramona to stop her fall. Scott quickly ran over to Jack and Ramona. Jack set Ramona on the ground and Scott kneeled down beside her.

"You should probably take it easy." Jack said.

Meanwhile, Mallorie stepped forward and waved her left hand, cloaking it in flames. She reeled her fist back and then swung it forward. A line of fire shot out, straight for Todd. He was caught off-guard as the spear-like tip of the fire line hit him straight in the chest. Mallorie tugged on the line and snapped it, sending a wave of fire straight at Todd and setting him ablaze. Todd shouted and writhed in pain as his skin charred and blackened. He grabbed the line and swiftly yanked the spear out of his chest, and again waved his hand and brushed away the flames.

"That's it." Todd said, as the new burns immediately began to heal. "Keep it all coming." He raised the cane and pointed it straight at Mallorie.

A sphere of white light appeared at the top of the cane. Four smaller ones began forming around it, moving in circles around each other, almost like big bright fireflies. It seemed to generate some kind of low whirring sound.

"That's my move." Jack said, contemptuously. He pulled out a straight-edged knife out of his coat and held it by the tip of the blade. A dark aura enveloped it as he reeled his arm back, and tossed it at Todd.

Todd gracefully stepped to the side, and as the knife sailed past him, quickly turned around, aiming the cane right at Jack. Before he could unleash the shot from the cane, Jack vanished and reappeared right behind Todd. Catching the knife in his hand, Jack plunged it into Todd's shoulder. Jack quickly moved his hand and grabbed the cane as Todd swung it at him. The shot was still charging up, and the humming had become even louder, like the roar of a jet engine. As Jack touched the cane, though, dark aura rushed out of it and quickly surrounded the shot. Jack's dark aura enveloped Todd's white aura and stifled it out.

Todd turned and faced Jack as the two of them grabbed the cane with both hands.

"NO!" Todd shouted. "YOU'RE NOT TAKING THIS FROM ME!"

Jack kicked Todd in the groin, causing him to keel over, and shunted the shaft of the cane into his face before tearing it out of his grasp.

"NOOOO!" Todd screamed as he fell to the ground. He shrunk back to his normal size and his hair fell down, lifelessly. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" He made a jump for the cane. Jack punted him in the face with the base of it and knocked him onto the ground.

"I already did." Jack held the cane in both hands and swung it, slamming it into Todd's face. Todd screamed in pain as Jack repeatedly beat him with the cane. Soon, his face was covered in blood and he stopped moving. Jack raised the cane and drove the tip directly into Todd's skull, breaking through the bone and brain matter and hitting the ground beneath him. "Yahtzee."

"Shit." Scott said. "So brutal."

"Unless being arrested is part of your plan…" Mallorie spoke. "We should probably get out of here."

"Let's make it so." Jack said to Scott. "Pick up your poison pill and get a move on."

"I'm not gonna accept that as her nickname." Scott frowned.

"You know where to find me." Mallorie said to Jack before turning around and running off.

"Right. Back to the house." Jack said.

A Few Minutes Later…

Jack's House, Cherry Hill

"We're not gonna get in trouble for this, are we?" Ramona asked. "I mean, we are accessories to a very brutal homicide, destruction of public property..."

"Kinzie will keep our noses clean. If not, I'll just email the FBI those pictures I took of her and they'll kick her out."

"Oh. That's cool, I guess."

*DUNH!* Jack's phone rang, making Scott and Ramona jump.

"You really need to change your ringtone." Ramona said as Jack took out his phone and answered it.

"Hello?" Jack said.

"That's not very nice." Joel's voice came from the other line. "I let you play with my toys and you just break them like that."

Jack rolled his eyes. Scott and Ramona perked up, hearing Joel's voice.

"I didn't break it." Jack said. "It was defective. And so are you."

"You're so mean." Joel whined.

"Why did you bring back a dead guy, anyway? Are you afraid to face us yourself?"

"I just thought that Todd deserved another chance with Ramona. And you ruined it."

"His motives seemed a little vague. You could've made it more obvious."

"I suppose."

"I don't suppose you want to tell us where you are, now?"

"Maybe. How about we play the Guessing Game?"

"Sure." Jack frowned. "Are you in Seattle?"

"No."

"Where are you?"

"You have to give me a question that can be answered with 'yes' or 'no.'"

"Are you in Toronto?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"You're not very good at this."

Jack sighed. "Are you at Scott's apartment?"

"No."

"Are you at the Park Hyatt?"

"No."

"Are you at a hotel?"

"No."

"Give me a hint. I'm entitled to one."

"Okay, then. It's a very hot spot."

"A club?"

"No."

"A sauna."

"No."

"A volcano?"

"You're not even trying."

"Are you on Mars?"

"That's not funny, anymore."

"Your hint sucks."

"Alright, alright. It's a small place. There's a lot of things here."

"Are you drunk?"

"Ha, ha! Funny."

"I'm not in the mood for games."

"Well, I am. This will be a lot easier if you just play. Every second it takes for you to find me, the less time you'll have to catch me. So… what's it gonna be?"

Jack paused for a moment, closing his eyes, and exhaling sharply. "Are you at a store?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Is it a conventional store?"

"No."

"Is it an entertainment store?"

"I guess you could say that."

"What are you looking at right now?"

"Two young ladies and a copy of 21 Jump Street."

"You motherfucker."

"Oops, I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Gave myself away, didn't I? Oh, well. So… Where am I, Jack?" Joel asked, mockingly. Jack hung up the phone and ran towards the backyard.

"Where is he?" Scott shouted as he and Ramona ran after Jack.

"The video store!"

"Oh, shit. Kim!"

A Few Minutes Later…

Downtown Toronto

Jack, Scott and Ramona stepped out of the Subspace door into the downtown district of Toronto. In the far-off right, there was a thick cloud of black smoke coming from the ground, blanketing the sky in darkness. There was a sound of overlapping sirens in the distance.

"Kim!" Scott shouted as the three of them ran towards the smoke.

End Chapter 11