Chapter 12

To say that Ivan was relieved to be out of the Doctor's office would be an understatement. Doctor Chung had been even more persistent than normal, and when he got persistent he seemed to get even better at reading Ivan, as if he were a huge billboard rather than a person. It was just unnerving to have someone know so much in so little time. After the appointment, Chloe decided to have a little Mother-Son bonding and drove to the Holograph Theater where an old movie had been converted to holograph form, Rocky Balboa. Ivan remembered hearing about it, it was about some washed up old boxer who decided to do one last fight with the Heavyweight Boxing Champion, or something.

"Are you serious, Mom?" Ivan asked his Mother. "Trust me, it's a lot better than it sounds," Chloe assured him as they got their tickets. "It can only end in 2 ways," Ivan argued, "1) an old guy gets beat up or 2) an old guy beats up the Champ. There's no real drama to that." "Oh really?" Chloe said, sounding very confident in her choice, "Care to wager on that?" "Yes," Ivan said, "If I don't like it, then I get to choose another movie." "And if you do like it, then you need to talk to me, you know what I'm talking about," Chloe told him. That's…not so bad. Ivan had a feeling that he knew what she wanted to talk about, his powers being gone. His parents had not brought it up out of respect for how hard he had been taking it. "Okay," Ivan said, and they went into the Theater.

Two hours later they were walking out and Ivan was amazed. Damn it, Mom, you were right. It had been better than he thought, but there was one scene that had stuck with him. Rocky's son, Robert, and Rocky weren't on the best of terms, hadn't been for years, and Robert told Rocky that it was all his fault because whenever people saw him, they didn't see him, they only saw the son of Rocky Balboa. What Rocky told Robert was stuck in Ivan's head like glue, "Let me tell you something you already know. The world isn't all sunshine and rainbows, it's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care who you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, nobody is gonna hit you as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you can hit; it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take, and keep moving forward! That's how winning's done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out there and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willing to take the hits and not pointing fingers saying 'I'm not who I wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody'! Cowards do that, and that ain't you! You're better than that!"

Know what you're worth… Ivan was thinking about that speech on the drive to a place to eat, The Big House Eatery, a kind of buffet with a prison theme. While they were getting their food, Chloe's Ghost Sense went off. She put her plate down quickly and told Ivan, "This won't take long." White rings flew up and down her body, turning black hair white and blue eyes green and replacing her clothes with a red and black long sleeved tank top with a red right glove and black left glove and red and black pants with red boots. As soon as she passed through the roof a brunette woman a little shorter than average turned to Ivan and said to his face, "So, you're one of those freaks are you?" Ivan ignored her and went about getting his food, only for her to speak louder.

"I heard that she and that animal…thing she screws do it with chains and handcuffs." Whatever, so my parents are into S&M, each to their own. "But of course what else can you expect from a slut that screws some beast from another dimension," the brunette woman said, practically yelling. Ivan tried to go to his table only for the woman to get in his face and say, "She even had five of you little bastards, what kind of slut has five kids in this day and age anyway?" "Look lady, my Mom and I just came here to eat, okay? And if you're so tough, why don't you say all that to my Mom's face?" Ivan told her, in a tone implying she was right behind the woman. The woman turned and saw nothing, and looked embarrassed, then angry as she turned around and slapped Ivan's plate full of food down on the floor.

Ivan was about to yell when a gunshot blasted through the air. Everyone ducked and screamed; everyone except the brunette woman. Ivan saw that the shooter was a woman in black with a mask on, and she was packing a huge shotgun. The woman with the shotgun yelled at the brunette woman, "On the floor!" Shit! Where are you Mom! The brunette woman sobbed and whimpered but didn't move. Shitfuck! She's too scared to move, WHERE ARE YOU MOM! The woman with the shotgun shot into the ceiling again, "I said ON THE FLOOR!" OH MAN! COME ON GHOST POWERS, JUST ONE MORE TIME!

"Leave her alone!" a copy of Ivan yelled at the robber. She turned just as the copy tried a punch, only for the copy to disappear just as it struck her. "Damn it!" Ivan yelled as green rings flew up and down his body, turning his skin green and eyes red, teeth into fangs and right hand into a claw, then he noticed that his clothes were unchanged. Ivan pushed the brunette woman out of the way and raised an ecto shield just in time to block the robber's shot, only for it to shatter right after that. Ivan blasted an ice ray at the robber, only for her to dodge it and fire again. Ivan barely dodged the gunfire and ducked behind a display and tried to fire another ice ray, only for nothing to happen.

Ivan quickly turned invisible and ran behind the robber, only to turn visible at the exact wrong time, "Got ya!" BOOM!

Ivan felt the steel pellets tear through his midsection in excruciating detail. He felt his intestines shred, along with part of his liver and a kidney, like a thousand points of pain hitting him at once. No. Ivan stayed on his feet and saw his red blood spreading on the floor. Why me? His green rings flew around his body. This ain't fair. Ivan grabbed the shotgun and pulled it past his shredded stomach. I don't want to die. Ivan threw his head forward, smashing it into the woman's head with the last of his strength as he collapsed on top of her. I don't want to die. Please God, I don't want to die.