Ghostbusters Doom Patrol: Till the Clouds Roll By, Part 3 and Conclusion
Chapter 4: Midnight Blue
"Are you sure it's all right to bring CJ along on this one?" Andrew asked Rob, nodding towards the scientist's direction. CJ was busy prepping the proton packs, checking to make sure the power cells were at maximum charge (which wasn't necessary, as the packs have a half-life of 5,000 years).
Rob shrugged it off. "I trust him", he said. "He knows when there's a job to be done and how to do it."
"Right, but what if he lets his emotions get the best of him?"
"You won't have to worry about that." Rob and Andrew were surprised to hear that CJ had heard them. He tossed them their packs. Looking at Andrew, he said:
"I may be addled a little bit, maybe off-kilter, but that won't interfere with my job. I intend to see the guilty party swing and to help deliver that justice."
With that last comment, he went over to his desk and pulled out a pair of Ecto-goggles. Andrew shook his head.
"And people say I'm the scary one."
"Only in battle my friend", Rob added. "Only in battle."
He walked over to an oak door that led conveniently to the garage of the Doom Patrol. Turning on a light overhead, Rob looked at a car hidden underneath a tattered smock. Removing the smock, he was greeted by the sight of the Ecto-M.
"How're we for gas?" Brian asked.
"We should be pretty good", Rob replied. "Enough for a trip there and back." Pulling out a small remote from his pocket, he pressed a red button in the center. The garage door rolled open lazily, as a brisk night wind blew in. "Hell of a night to be causing trouble", Brian said, wrapping his cloak around his head.
"Okay, is everybody ready?" Rob shouted inside the Highrise to everyone.
"Yeah." The replies of three voices were heard as CJ, Andrew, and Salina walked out towards the Ecto-M.
"Great, let's move em out!"
The Doom Patrol was not more than a few ways down the road a bit, when Andrew (who was sitting in the passenger seat beside Rob the driver), turned on the radio. "How about some tunes?" he asked everybody.
"Put it on 97.3", Rob said. "They should be doing some kind of radio broadcast of the festivities down in Central Park."
"I wonder why they changed it at the last minute from the Hippodrome?" Salina asked. Brian shrugged.
"I don't try to figure out the media", he said. "They put so much pressure on these stars nowadays that they don't even get anything looking like a life anymore."
"Fame'll do that", Rob replied.
A look of disgust crossed over Andrew's face as station came in tune.
. . .
"Hello New York!" Jane Robards of WUPN said, waving to her cameraman. "In case you didn't know it, I'm standing right in front of the gates to Central Park, where in just a few moments Miss Sheena Lyndon will be performing. Here's hoping that the events two days ago on the Conan O'Brien Show haven't altered her performance one bit! And I'm just as glad to be here tonight too! Celebs ranging from Sir Paul McCartney to Shania Twain, to, rumor has it, Prince himself have all showed up for what will most likely be a landmark performance in the already growing career of Sheena Lyndon. Wait, do I see Sheena herself? Yes, that is Sheena! Miss Lyndon, care to answer some questions really quickly?"
Wearing a ten gallon cowboy hat to cover her identity, Sheena stopped helplessly as Robards waved a microphone in her face, but put on a smile.
"What do you want?" she asked pleasantly.
"Well, rumors have been circulating that your manager, Paul McNeely has personally hired the Ghostbusters Doom Patrol to provide protection in case you get attacked again by a spirit. Is that correct?"
"Paul's only taking the proper precautions necessary to insure that nothing happens to me", she said, slightly annoyed at the question. In her purse, her hands fiddled around a carton of cigarettes
"Really?" Robards said, her eyebrow beginning to rise. "Even though you know how badly they did protecting you on Conan O'Brien?"
"Hey, people make mistakes", Sheena said raising her hands. "It happens, it's a human nature. Besides, Paul was insistent that they protect me last night and they did a very good job of it."
"We've also heard via the Internet that Sheena knows who the ghost that attacked her was?" The color drained from Sheena's face. "Is that true?"
"No," Sheena said breaking out into a sweat. "In fact, I haven't heard a thing about that one. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be getting ready for my set."
With that, Sheena walked off in a huff, her hand practically crushing the box. Jane Robards suppressed a laugh as she faced the cameras once again. "We'll be back ladies and gentleman with more interviews from SHEENA LYNDON—LIVE IN CENTRAL PARK!"
. . .
"Screw her", Andrew said simply turning off the radio. "I'm really beginning to hate her, you know that?"
Brian shrugged. "She's just doing her duty as a journalist", he said.
"I'd agree", Salina replied, "if I can only figure out what that duty was."
"Okay, so does everybody have an idea as to how we're going to play this?" Rob asked.
"Yeah", Brian said. "We go in and make sure that Bea's ghost doesn't cause hell again. That's what we got hired for."
"And if her ghost does show up...?" Salina asked.
"Let's not think about that part yet", Rob said. "All we've got to go on is guesses. It's up to Madison and the Philly P.D. to make that judgment call, if it should come to that."
"If it should come to that", CJ said, almost from out of nowhere, "We need to do our jobs the way it's meant to be done."
"What do you mean by that?" Brian asked, but CJ said nothing else.
. . .
"A big crowd has turned up tonight for what may be the biggest American concert of Sheena Lyndon's career", Jane Robards said rehearsing her lines for the after the break. "Watch out Britney, move over Christina, there just may be a new pop diva on the horizon! We'll be back after these messages. Okay, did you get all that Mike?"
"Every word Jane", her cameraman replied. "You know, it's great that you got us all tickets to see this."
"Yeah, yeah," Robards said drinking from her water bottle. "If the studio wasn't willing to shell out the big bucks for tickets, I would've been filming the thing by myself, which ain't gonna happen any time soon!"
"Right", said Mike. No sooner had the words escaped his lips when two uniformed police officers walked up to Robards and her cameraman.
"Excuse me, but can I help you?" Robards asked, a tone of indignity in her voice.
"Yeah, you can clear your crew and leave the premises", one of the officers asked. Robards' eyes nearly popped out of her head.
"By whose authority?"
"Mine." Stepping between the two officers was Detective Madison, brandishing his badge. "We got a report that the possibility of another ghost attack is imminent and the last thing we need on our consciences is a dead reporter and her crew."
"YOU CAN'T ORDER ME AROUND LIKE A DOG!" Robards screamed. "I have the freedom of the press on my side! It's in the Declaration of Independence for god's sake!"
"True", Madison said, "but what good will it do you if you end up like Conan on his show? Besides, you're not the only one. We've already had to remove several CBS, NBC, and FOX news crews."
"And why's that?"
"Capacity", Madison replied. "Too many people here as it is now and we need to make room. But don't worry; I'm sure you've got enough footage to show on the 11:00 p.m. news."
"He's got a point Jane", said Robards' cameraman, already beginning to pack away his equipment.
"Shut up! Okay, who gave the report? Was it that Ghostbusters Doom Patrol?"
"That's none of your concern", Madison replied and turned his back on Jane Robards, his hands in his pockets.
"Gee Jane, you handled that quite well." Mike was about to put a hand on her shoulder when Jane turned around. Her face had gone red with anger. She said quietly, yet with a guttural tone in her voice:
"Let's go."
Watching Robards walk away in a huff, Madison turned to one of the officers at his side. "Are the Doom Patrol here yet?" he asked.
"No word yet sir, though odds are they'll be here before the concert starts."
"What about Sheena Lyndon?"
"She arrived just a few minutes ago."
"And her manager?"
"Is running late sir."
"Last question: Is Captain Jarrett here?"
"The Mobile Vehicles Division 2 just pulled up sir", the officer said, pointing to a large gray mobile suit walking up a path being cleared by a small vehicle bearing the Philadelphia P.D. coat of arms. Behind the mobile suit was an armored vehicle, from which a taller man with thin dark hair stepped out to face Madison.
"Glad you could make it Jarrett", Madison said shaking his hand. "Is everything all set for the opening act?"
"Should be", Jarrett said. "I've got Baltimore posted in our Number 1 Forward mobile suit on the west end, and me and Riley will post guard on the eastern sector of the park."
"Good, we can't have anything go wrong here tonight."
"It's too bad that you had to get rid of the press. If all goes well, we would've had some great exposure."
"Just do your duty, Jarrett, and worry about exposure later."
. . .
"You don't need to worry about the audience if something should happen", Madison said to Rob. "I've got officers posted on all sectors of the land. I even got the Mobile Vehicles Unit 2 out there in their mobile suits should something happen."
"It won't amount to a hell o' beans", Rob said, "but at least we can that the audience was well protected."
"Yeah", Madison said looking over at the throng of audience members. "Before I forget, no reporters are in the area. Any and all cameras were confiscated and the paparazzi escorted out of the area."
"I wish I'd been there when you found Jane Robards", Andrew said.
The Doom Patrol and Madison were standing below the stage, where, in a mere ten minutes, Sheena Lyndon would descend towards it and begin her show. The stage itself was a reminder of the one used at Woodstock '99, except, in size, it was slightly smaller in scale, and not as flashy.
"What about guards at her trailer?" Brian asked.
"Already covered", Madison replied. "Nothings happened." He then added:
"Yet." There was an almost finality in his tone of voice, as if he expected something big to happen before the night was over.
Salina noticed CJ standing near a post, staring out at the moon instead of the concert. She startled him as she put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump slightly.
"Sorry", she said. "Didn't mean to scare ya."
"It's all right", he said, and continued to stare up at the lunar scene.
"You know, you've been weird since we left the Highrise", she said. "If there's something bothering you, don't let it eat you from the inside out!"
"Sounds like something I'd say", CJ replied dryly.
"That's why I said it."
"Well, if you want to know, yeah, I am kind of bothered, but by the fact that there are at least a quarter of a million people out there who bought tickets to this thing and they have no idea that their idol is a murderer."
"That's not what's bugging you", Salina said. "People buy tickets to rap concerts, knowing that the star could have killed someone at one time or other, but that doesn't stop them from going."
"Yeah, but doesn't it bother you in the fact that there's no justice? They get away with these crimes for years without getting caught, and, if Sheena did do what we think she did, she'll find some way to squirm out of it."
"A-HA!" Salina said. "That's what's the matter with you."
"What?"
"You can't accept the fact that Sheena did do it, and you don't know if they'll be fairness if it does turn out she is the murderer."
"I thought you were into studying monsters, not getting inside my head, Mrs. Freud."
Salina laughed. "Alright, have it your way. Concert's about to begin, so we need you to be in the right state of mind if Bea does decide to make another unscheduled guest appearance."
"Don't worry about me", CJ said, finally beginning to cheer up. "I'll be all right."
At Sheena's trailer, the door swung as the popstar walked out of it. Wearing high-heeled boots with a pink short-sleeved shirt, she held in her hand a Rickenbacker 12 string guitar. Before making her way to the stage, she stopped to talk with the Doom Patrol.
"I...I just wanted to thank you all for what you've done for me", she said. Her face gleamed, indicating that she had just been crying.
"You don't need to say that", Salina said. "It's what we do."
"Yeah, but..."
"Look, just go up there on the stage and do your stuff", Rob said pushing her up the stairs.
Chapter 5: Do You Remember Love?
"GOOD EVENING NEW YORK CITYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!" Sheena's voice resounded all around the area, pumped out by the loudspeakers that were placed on both sides of the stage. She looked the way a rock star should.
"Are you ready to rock?" The audience replied with an all around YES!
"I can't hear you, New York. I say, are you ready to rock?" An even louder agreement from the audience was heard.
"Great, let's kick this party into high gear with a bang! This one's from my first album, some of you might know the words better than I do. Here's 'Do You Remember Love?'!"
"That one was in Bea's notebook", Salina said, not taking her eyes off Sheena.
The Mobile Vehicles Unit 2 had placed a guardrail around the crowd, not to keep Sheena protected, but rather keep the audience safe in case something should go wrong.
"That thing looks like a Gundam", Brian said, staring up at the mobile suit (they were actually 8 meters tall), which was piloted by a young woman with brown hair. She was looking out at the concertgoers from the mobile suit's cockpit. Looking down and noticing Brian, she waved at him, and shot him a thumbs up. Brian responded with a peace sign.
"Part of a new shift in police technology", Rob said. "I'd read the report on them while in Dalton. Man, kind of makes me wish I had me one of those." Rob's thoughts were interrupted when a black Volvo pulled up behind the stage. Stepping out of the vehicle was Sheena's manager, Paul McNeely, wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap. In his hand he held a brown paper bag.
"I almost missed the show", he said running up to Rob and Detective Madison. "Did anything happen yet?"
"The show just started Mr. McNeely", Rob said pleasantly. He eyed the short man carefully, and began to understand why Andrew and the others thought of him as a slimeball. His eyes quickly diverted to McNeely's bag.
"Great", McNeely replied, somewhat out of breath, placing the bag in his coat pocket. He took a quick look around and began scratching his head. "There's something wrong here", he said.
"What is it now, Paulie?" Andrew asked. But McNeely didn't hear him.
"No reporters!" McNeely said pointing towards the audience. "The biggest concert of Sheena's U.S. tour and not one news van!"
"Blame me for that", Madison said stepping up to McNeely. "I ordered most of the journalists out of the area before the concert began. But there are some local ones out there if you look closely enough."
"For who's safety? Sheena's?"
"For their safety", Madison replied, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes, taking one out and lighting it in his mouth. "Too many people here already to risk any major injuries should something break out. And besides, were you not the one worrying about bad publicity for your meal ticket?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" McNeely said. But Madison just patted him on the shoulder.
"Enjoy the concert", he told Rob and the Doom Patrol.
Chapter 6: The Flower of Carnage
Sheena went through five songs on the stage. There had been no ectoplasmic activity for one hour. Brian kept looking back at his watch and at Rob.
"We've only got 56 minutes left before this whole thing ends", he said. "Are you sure that she was going to show up tonight?" CJ rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged, saying:
"I don't know. Maybe there was something more that we missed in all of this?"
"All right everyone!" Sheena shouted from the stage, finishing up a cover of the Beatles 'Helter Skelter', "this next one is from my new album. You all know it was the one that I performed that night on Conan..." There was an unearthly silence in the air, as everyone paid attention now.
"And some of you might have heard that there might be a connection between me and the ghost. Well, there is. The ghost was a very dear friend of mine when she was living. Her name was Beatrix DeWitt. She was my friend and mate through thick and thin, but she...lost her way. This next song is dedicated to you Bea! Here's 'Somewhere and Nowhere'!" The crowd's cheering reached a near-deafening tone as they cheered resoundingly.
Sheena began the first few chords with a solo guitar strum, reminiscent of David Gilmour for "Wish You Were Here", before a heavy drum program followed.
"I hope you're doin' well Selling art and everything I like ya stuff, good for you I'll buy a piece maybe two.
Do you ever think of me? D'ya remember all our stupid dreams? Rainbows and pots o' gold So much to prove before we got old... "
"Corny lyrics", Brian said stifling a laugh, "but I love that drum downbeat." He looked over at Rob, who had a ruminating look upon his face as he scratched his goatee. "Something up?"
"This was the song that Sheena played on Conan, right?" Rob said, beginning to unsheathe his neutrona wand.
"Yeah", Brian replied.
"And didn't Bea make her reappearance in the middle of this song?"
Now Brian began to catch on to what Rob was saying. "We only have a few bars left before it hits that part, if there is a connection."
"Hey Sal, do you remember if 'Somewhere and Nowhere' was in that notebook of Bea's?"
"Yeah", Salina replied. "Bea wrote it."
"That's what I was afraid of", Rob said mournfully as he charged his neutrona wand. "Guys, get ready because Beatrix DeWitt is about to make another surprise appearance."
The lights that surrounded the stage and park had suddenly gone out, killing all of the juice going to the amplifiers and guitars. Sheena stood there on the darkened stage, looking bewildered as she tried to find McNeely.
"What the blue hell is going on in there?" McNeely screamed at the main engineer. "Are you stooges asleep or something out there?"
"Sir, all lights are registered as functional", the engineer replied. "There must be some sort of signal jamming the circuitry."
"Let me see that", Rob interjected, bending down to see the power battery cells. "Yep, he's right. These cells are running right."
"Then...how...who?"
"Only a specter of certain power and emotion can cause signal interference like that", Brian explained.
"What's that mean?" McNeely asked, in much the same tone of voice that he had given Madison. Before Brian could get the words out of his mouth, CJ explained for him.
"It means she's back", he said eerily as he began charging his pack. He took quick look at Salina and smiled.
"Fair play", he muttered to himself. He didn't want to give Salina the satisfaction in knowing that she had been right. If he did, he knew he'd never be able to hear the end of it.
A fog bank began to roll into the park, engulfing most of the audience as they shared Sheena's look of confusion and fear. The MV2's mobile suit stood out of the ominous fog like trees.
"Captain Jarrett", the female pilot Brian had waved to said into his headset microphone. "What are the orders?"
"Keep on the lookout for any panic, Baltimore", Jarrett said. "That's the first and foremost thing we have to prevent. The Ghostbusters can handle the rest."
"All yours now kids", Madison said nodding towards the group.
"Thanks", CJ said wryly as the five Patrollers walked up towards the stage.
The fog began creeping its way towards the stage, surrounding the spot where Sheena stood. The misty black cloud wrapped itself around Sheena, but not before cutting off her guitar. Her backup band had already dispersed off the stage.
"You think that you have the audience in the palm of your hand, don't you Sheena?" the fog said, the smoke beginning to materialize into hands as it wrapped itself around Sheena's throat. "It could have been me and you, but someone had to be left out, didn't they?"
"Believe me Bea", Sheena struggled to say, trying to remove the hands from her throat. "I'm...sorry."
"Not good enough!" Bea said, as her face began to show through the fog. It was not the pretty, young face that the Doom Patrol had seen that night on Conan; no, this was truly Bea's soul showing, one that had been corrupted by outside influences.
The audience watched keenly as the drama began to play itself out, most of who tried to get away. Baltimore in the Number 1 mobile suit followed her orders and kept her area from disintegrating into chaos, reaching down with her mobile suit's hand and putting audience members back behind the guardrail. At the entrance, the rest of the MV2 were policing the area.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IS GOING IN THERE?!" Jane Robards screamed at the officer. "IT'S NEWS! LET ME BACK IN THERE!"
"Sorry ma'am", the officer said meekly. "We've been given strict orders not to let anybody in or out."
. . . .
"Okay", Rob said to Brian. "Do it." Brian nodded as his eyes took on the familiar misty blue of his powers.
Suddenly, an ethereal wall formed itself around the stage, cutting off all sight from the audience. They could not see a thing. McNeely looked around, frightened as he tried to retain his bodily functions.
"Sir", Scott said to Madison in his Number 2 mobile suit. "Should we be worried about that?"
"No", Madison said. "Just do your duty and let them take care of theirs." He looked at the wall, and hoped that at least they knew what they were doing.
Chapter 7: The Flower of Carnage
"Nice color you choose", Andrew said looking around. "Makes this scene even less scary than it seems."
"Ms. Beatrix DeWitt", CJ said yelling towards the ghost. She turned towards him, as her eyes flashed, causing an invisible wind to knock the Doom Patrol back some.
"This is going to be harder than we thought", Brian said, blocking the wind from his friends with a shield. "She's not going to listen to reason."
"So we have to make her", CJ said, climbing from behind the shield.
"What are you about to do?" Salina asked.
"About to prove that you were right." CJ stepped towards the ghost of Bea and pointed his neutrona wand at her, firing without any hesitation. He shut the pack off, but Bea was still in a containment field. Nodding towards Brian and the others, the shield disappeared.
"What the hell is this?" she demanded.
"A new containment strategy, just for you that is", he said. "Just long enough for you to listen to what we have to say."
Sheena got up from the ground and gasped for breath, smiling at CJ. "Thank you so much CJ for helping me", she said. But CJ shook his head at her.
"I'm sorry", he replied somberly. "But your thanks are a bit premature." His attention looked towards McNeely
"What do you mean by that?" Sheena asked.
CJ took a deep breath and sighed. "By that, I means that only one truth must prevail. And you, Paul, would do well to listen to this as well."
"Two years ago, you were pushed into a career by McNeely because you were the only one who knew both yours and Bea's vocal parts. Why? Because Bea suffered a mental breakdown that makes Brian Wilson look sane."
"Yeah, that's what I told you", Sheena said. "What's the need to repeat this?"
"Because I wanted Bea...excuse me, Miss DeWitt, to know that you did not kill her."
Bea's ghost stopped thrashing in the containment field and her eyes looked towards CJ. "What are you talking about?" she said, her voice hollow and booming around Brian's aura. "Sheena always wanted more credit than she actually deserved! She knew I was the better of both of us and wanted me out of the way. That's why she didn't even lift a finger to help me when I needed her most."
"And that's the truth", CJ continued. "You see, if there's one thing that Sheena can be guilty of, it's not helping you at a point in both your lives when you needed her. That's a common guilt of anybody."
"So you're saying that Sheena is totally innocent", McNeely said regaining his senses. "Then who did it, Bea's grandma?"
"Oh no, she's innocent as well. She was telling the truth all along. But there is one person who had the most to gain from Bea's disappearance and death and that was you Paul."
Paul backed away, his eyes staring coldly at CJ. "That's utterly ridiculous", he said.
"You tightened the noose around your own neck when you openly admitted that you would do anything for Sheena's career, indicating that you would beg, borrow, steal, or even murder to get it there. You recognized early on that Sheena was clearly the star, but the main obstacle to getting her there was to eliminate Bea."
"You knew that Bea had a mental condition that she had to take special medicine for. Trusting you, she most likely took some kind of substance that you conveniently slipped into her medication. Not enough to get her hooked on in the beginning, but enough to start. Slowly but surely you started to get the required results. Then it all came down to the wire at Pat O'Reilly, and that's where you knew that she would be out of the way for the time being."
"However, you kept paying Bea for songwriting credit, thereby in the eyes of the law turning over most of the material she wrote for Sheena as property of Columbia, Sheena, or yourself. Bea may have been out of the way professionally but she was still dogging Sheena's career with whatever antic she got herself into, as her grandmother told us. So you hired someone to keep track of her whereabouts, not an easy task, but it paid off big when you did manage to find her."
"I'm not admitting anything", McNeely said coldly. "What other proof do you have that I would have committed such a heinous act against my client?"
"Detective Madison sent us the bank records, which we analyzed ourselves. Not much to put you behind bars, but enough to give the courts something to drool over. You knew when all of this broke out that if the regular police got wind of it, their own investigation would have unearthed all of this, but you took a gamble on a third rate outfit like ours to not foul things up for you or your meal ticket."
There was a silence all around as CJ finished up. The containment field disappeared as Bea floated down towards Sheena.
"Is this true", she asked her, looking straight into her eyes.
"Bea, believe me, if I could I would turn back the clock to help you", Sheena said tearfully. "I would throw it all away just to have you back." But McNeely interrupted the teary reunion.
"But who's going to believe a word you lot say?" he asked looking at CJ. "There're no cops here to back it all up."
"True", Rob interjected and pointed towards Brian. His eyes flashed once as a small portion of the blue aura that surrounded the stage disappeared, just enough for Madison and a small unit of police officers to walk in but not enough for the audience to see.
"Paul McNeely!" Madison said forcefully. "You are under arrest for conspiring in the murder of Beatrix DeWitt!"
McNeely's eyes looked as though they were about to pop out of his head, as CJ pulled out a small communicator from his pocket.
"Nifty things they invent these days?" he said tossing it McNeely. "While you and I were chatting, Madison and the Philly P.D. were busy listening on the other end." He grinned at McNeely. "Hope Riker's Island suits your tastes."
"You son of a bitch!" McNeely shouted throwing down the communicator, shattering into pieces when it hit the ground. He reached into his coat pocket and snatched the brown paper bag out. His hand was inside when the bottom exploded in fire and smoke. CJ grunted as he felt something like a bee graze past his arm and hit one of the steel railings of the stage. Feeling woozy, he looked up at McNeely and realized that he had a gun in his hand.
"It's not going to end this way!" he shouted at CJ. "Not when she needs me more than anything else in the world!" He aimed the barrel at CJ (who was on the ground now clutching his near-lifeless arm) and cocked the barrel. Closing his eyes, CJ knew that it would be all over pretty quick. Behind him, Rob and Andrew tried to make a run at McNeely.
"Stop him!" Madison shouted towards the officers.
Then all of a sudden, the air was pierced by a loud BANG. The noise deafened CJ but to his surprise, he did not feel the hot steel enter his body. A bead of sweat ran down his nose as he looked at McNeely, the smoking gun still in his hand. His face had gone completely white. CJ closed his eyes again and turned his head in the direction McNeely was looking at, and then slowly opened them.
Lying on her back, with her life-blood pouring out from the wound in the middle of her stomach, was Sheena Lyndon. Nobody moved for those few seconds that passed, but suddenly Madison came to his senses and ordered for the nearest officers to jump McNeely.
"You're under arrest", Madison said, but did not state the charge yet as he placed the handcuffs upon McNeely's wrists.
CJ went over towards Sheena and looked at her eye to eye. He could see it very plainly now: even if the paramedics were to make here on time, it was obvious that she was going to die. Staring at her now, he could not find any words to comfort her.
Suddenly, he felt a presence drift beside him. It was Bea; but it was not the angry, vengeful spirit that the Doom Patrol had been fighting for the past few days. Her entire demeanor had changed. From her pocket, Salina pulled out the picture that Bea's grandmother had had of her granddaughter, and realized that she had taken on a more physical form. She now resembled her old self.
"Sorry Bea", Sheena said weakly, making the attempt to grin up at her old friend. "I—I didn't mean for any of this to happen this way." She coughed once and then shivered. Bea took Sheena's hand and squeezed it hard.
"Hey, are you seeing this?" Rob whispered over to Brian.
"What?"
"That light, above Sheena."
"I can't see a damn thing."
A bright, almost ethereal light had begun to shine down upon Sheena's face. She shivered once again before she closed her eyes for good. Although nobody could quite see it, an aura drifted slowly from Sheena's body and towards the light.
"Race you to the top Bea!" Sheena said brightly towards her friend. Bea smiled back and nodded.
"You just wait; you'll be eating my dust soon!" Bea retorted.
Sheena grinned again, and then looked back towards CJ. "Thank you, Dr. London, for all your help", she said. Drifting dreamily towards him, she kissed him on the cheek. With that, she started towards the light as it disappeared behind her.
"Are you crying?" Brian asked, looking in Andrew's direction.
"Of course not", the hunter replied. "Windy out here. I got something in my eye." Brian rolled his eyes and elbowed him as Andrew continued to protest.
The light gone, Bea turned her attention towards McNeely, and her form changed again as her eyes flamed red. Gritting her teeth, she held up her hands as she pushed the Philadelphia Police Department out of her way, knocking them down off the stage. She grabbed McNeely by his collars.
"So, you like fucking with other people's lives like pawns, eh?" She lifted him high above the stage, as an unknown wind swept through.
McNeely pleaded with Bea as he held up his hands in defense. "Listen, I never meant for it to go this far. I---I---I only wanted what was best for Sheena and she...."
"...Was a better artist than me? A better market product than me? Tell me the answer before I kill you!!"
"Bea, wait!" CJ shouted, trying to get his voice to rise above the wind. "It doesn't have to be like this!"
"He destroyed too many lives Dr. London", she said, not looking at him. "He has to be punished."
"Then let the law take its course. He'll go to Riker's Island for twenty years. That's hell in itself!"
"No." There was finality in her voice as cold as the bitterest winds. Grabbing McNeely's head, she stared at him deep into his eyes, not diverting her attention towards anything.
"What's going on up there?" Madison said over to CJ. The scientist could only shrug his good arm and watch, with the others, in morbid fascination at the scene unfolding before them.
Suddenly, the air was pierced by McNeely's high shrieks, the sound that shivers down the audience present on the outside and the MV2. Baltimore held her hands over her ears to drown out the sound.
With that, Bea let McNeely go, dropping him towards the stage. Then she disappeared.
Nobody said anything. If they did, it was the sounds of someone shouting "QUICK! Get this man to a hospital!" and "He doesn't look good!" Brian's aura disappeared around the stage as the EMT's flanked it and surrounded Sheena. The Doom Patrol watched as one of them shook their heads and covered her body.
Epilogue I:
"I just wanted to come here and thank you all for helping my Beatrix find her peace." Mrs. Veronica DeWitt stood in front of Salina's desk, as the latter was sitting down finishing filing the case report. "Tell me, how did she look?"
Salina smiled. "The expression on her face was something like relief. She looked really happy." The old woman smiled meekly, and then she said:
"Sheena was not a bad person. I'm sorry about what happened to her."
Salina sat back and thought for a second. "The important thing is that the two made peace between each other", she said and continued writing. Mrs. DeWitt put her hand into her purse and pulled out a small envelope.
"What's this?" Salina asked.
"It's a small fee", she said handing her the envelope.
"But we didn't really do anything for you to deserve it."
"Please", Mrs. DeWitt insisted. "Just take it. If it weren't for your detective work in uncovering that scoundrel McNeely, I would have gone on thinking that it was Sheena's fault about what happened to her."
"Ma'am, as generous as the offer is, I---and I speak for the whole---don't think we can really accept this. All the thanks we need to have is in knowing that we helped you know more about your granddaughter's fate. And I think that's enough for all of us."
Mrs. DeWitt stared at Salina for a moment before replacing the envelope back inside her purse. Then, she hugged her neck.
"Thank you", she said and walked out of the Highrise.
Epilogue II
"So, who is this guy we got here?"
The elder guardsman at Riker's Island puffed on his cigar as he and his young partner walked the halls lined with the cells of many prisoners.
"Used to be a famous big shot manager", the older guard said as his nightstick rapped against the cell. "You know, for that singer chick Sheena Lyndon."
The young guard stopped in his tracks. "You mean the one that was killed at her concert?"
Spitting out a piece of tobacco from the cigar, the older guard nodded.
"They say he went crazy when one of them Ghostbusters blew the lid off his plan. You know he had that popstar's friend killed just to further her career?"
"I've heard the rumors, but I never believed them."
"You should."
Penetrating the uneasy calmness of the conversation the two were having was a loud scream that echoed through the halls.
"Je-sus..." the younger guard said. But the elder one just smirked as he extinguished his cigar and pulled out another.
"Do you believe in divine punishment?" he asked.
"I'm...not too big into religion", the young guard said.
"Wicked is as wicked does. When they brought that poor bastard to us he was completely and utterly out of his mind: drug induced paranoia, his brain was fried from the inside. There was no way he'd be able to think rationally again."
"Are the screams a part of that paranoia?"
"If you believe in divine punishment, then you'd know that that poor girl's soul that he corrupted won't rest until he's dead and six feet under."
The two stopped in front of the cell and looked in on what remained of Paul McNeely: strapped in a strait jacket, he looked at them with madness in his eyes and ran to the bars, ramming his head into it, saliva flowing from his mouth. The younger guard backed away as his hand went to his pistol by his side.
"Simmer down, it's alright", the older one calmed. "He gets like that."
THE END...
Chapter 4: Midnight Blue
"Are you sure it's all right to bring CJ along on this one?" Andrew asked Rob, nodding towards the scientist's direction. CJ was busy prepping the proton packs, checking to make sure the power cells were at maximum charge (which wasn't necessary, as the packs have a half-life of 5,000 years).
Rob shrugged it off. "I trust him", he said. "He knows when there's a job to be done and how to do it."
"Right, but what if he lets his emotions get the best of him?"
"You won't have to worry about that." Rob and Andrew were surprised to hear that CJ had heard them. He tossed them their packs. Looking at Andrew, he said:
"I may be addled a little bit, maybe off-kilter, but that won't interfere with my job. I intend to see the guilty party swing and to help deliver that justice."
With that last comment, he went over to his desk and pulled out a pair of Ecto-goggles. Andrew shook his head.
"And people say I'm the scary one."
"Only in battle my friend", Rob added. "Only in battle."
He walked over to an oak door that led conveniently to the garage of the Doom Patrol. Turning on a light overhead, Rob looked at a car hidden underneath a tattered smock. Removing the smock, he was greeted by the sight of the Ecto-M.
"How're we for gas?" Brian asked.
"We should be pretty good", Rob replied. "Enough for a trip there and back." Pulling out a small remote from his pocket, he pressed a red button in the center. The garage door rolled open lazily, as a brisk night wind blew in. "Hell of a night to be causing trouble", Brian said, wrapping his cloak around his head.
"Okay, is everybody ready?" Rob shouted inside the Highrise to everyone.
"Yeah." The replies of three voices were heard as CJ, Andrew, and Salina walked out towards the Ecto-M.
"Great, let's move em out!"
The Doom Patrol was not more than a few ways down the road a bit, when Andrew (who was sitting in the passenger seat beside Rob the driver), turned on the radio. "How about some tunes?" he asked everybody.
"Put it on 97.3", Rob said. "They should be doing some kind of radio broadcast of the festivities down in Central Park."
"I wonder why they changed it at the last minute from the Hippodrome?" Salina asked. Brian shrugged.
"I don't try to figure out the media", he said. "They put so much pressure on these stars nowadays that they don't even get anything looking like a life anymore."
"Fame'll do that", Rob replied.
A look of disgust crossed over Andrew's face as station came in tune.
. . .
"Hello New York!" Jane Robards of WUPN said, waving to her cameraman. "In case you didn't know it, I'm standing right in front of the gates to Central Park, where in just a few moments Miss Sheena Lyndon will be performing. Here's hoping that the events two days ago on the Conan O'Brien Show haven't altered her performance one bit! And I'm just as glad to be here tonight too! Celebs ranging from Sir Paul McCartney to Shania Twain, to, rumor has it, Prince himself have all showed up for what will most likely be a landmark performance in the already growing career of Sheena Lyndon. Wait, do I see Sheena herself? Yes, that is Sheena! Miss Lyndon, care to answer some questions really quickly?"
Wearing a ten gallon cowboy hat to cover her identity, Sheena stopped helplessly as Robards waved a microphone in her face, but put on a smile.
"What do you want?" she asked pleasantly.
"Well, rumors have been circulating that your manager, Paul McNeely has personally hired the Ghostbusters Doom Patrol to provide protection in case you get attacked again by a spirit. Is that correct?"
"Paul's only taking the proper precautions necessary to insure that nothing happens to me", she said, slightly annoyed at the question. In her purse, her hands fiddled around a carton of cigarettes
"Really?" Robards said, her eyebrow beginning to rise. "Even though you know how badly they did protecting you on Conan O'Brien?"
"Hey, people make mistakes", Sheena said raising her hands. "It happens, it's a human nature. Besides, Paul was insistent that they protect me last night and they did a very good job of it."
"We've also heard via the Internet that Sheena knows who the ghost that attacked her was?" The color drained from Sheena's face. "Is that true?"
"No," Sheena said breaking out into a sweat. "In fact, I haven't heard a thing about that one. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be getting ready for my set."
With that, Sheena walked off in a huff, her hand practically crushing the box. Jane Robards suppressed a laugh as she faced the cameras once again. "We'll be back ladies and gentleman with more interviews from SHEENA LYNDON—LIVE IN CENTRAL PARK!"
. . .
"Screw her", Andrew said simply turning off the radio. "I'm really beginning to hate her, you know that?"
Brian shrugged. "She's just doing her duty as a journalist", he said.
"I'd agree", Salina replied, "if I can only figure out what that duty was."
"Okay, so does everybody have an idea as to how we're going to play this?" Rob asked.
"Yeah", Brian said. "We go in and make sure that Bea's ghost doesn't cause hell again. That's what we got hired for."
"And if her ghost does show up...?" Salina asked.
"Let's not think about that part yet", Rob said. "All we've got to go on is guesses. It's up to Madison and the Philly P.D. to make that judgment call, if it should come to that."
"If it should come to that", CJ said, almost from out of nowhere, "We need to do our jobs the way it's meant to be done."
"What do you mean by that?" Brian asked, but CJ said nothing else.
. . .
"A big crowd has turned up tonight for what may be the biggest American concert of Sheena Lyndon's career", Jane Robards said rehearsing her lines for the after the break. "Watch out Britney, move over Christina, there just may be a new pop diva on the horizon! We'll be back after these messages. Okay, did you get all that Mike?"
"Every word Jane", her cameraman replied. "You know, it's great that you got us all tickets to see this."
"Yeah, yeah," Robards said drinking from her water bottle. "If the studio wasn't willing to shell out the big bucks for tickets, I would've been filming the thing by myself, which ain't gonna happen any time soon!"
"Right", said Mike. No sooner had the words escaped his lips when two uniformed police officers walked up to Robards and her cameraman.
"Excuse me, but can I help you?" Robards asked, a tone of indignity in her voice.
"Yeah, you can clear your crew and leave the premises", one of the officers asked. Robards' eyes nearly popped out of her head.
"By whose authority?"
"Mine." Stepping between the two officers was Detective Madison, brandishing his badge. "We got a report that the possibility of another ghost attack is imminent and the last thing we need on our consciences is a dead reporter and her crew."
"YOU CAN'T ORDER ME AROUND LIKE A DOG!" Robards screamed. "I have the freedom of the press on my side! It's in the Declaration of Independence for god's sake!"
"True", Madison said, "but what good will it do you if you end up like Conan on his show? Besides, you're not the only one. We've already had to remove several CBS, NBC, and FOX news crews."
"And why's that?"
"Capacity", Madison replied. "Too many people here as it is now and we need to make room. But don't worry; I'm sure you've got enough footage to show on the 11:00 p.m. news."
"He's got a point Jane", said Robards' cameraman, already beginning to pack away his equipment.
"Shut up! Okay, who gave the report? Was it that Ghostbusters Doom Patrol?"
"That's none of your concern", Madison replied and turned his back on Jane Robards, his hands in his pockets.
"Gee Jane, you handled that quite well." Mike was about to put a hand on her shoulder when Jane turned around. Her face had gone red with anger. She said quietly, yet with a guttural tone in her voice:
"Let's go."
Watching Robards walk away in a huff, Madison turned to one of the officers at his side. "Are the Doom Patrol here yet?" he asked.
"No word yet sir, though odds are they'll be here before the concert starts."
"What about Sheena Lyndon?"
"She arrived just a few minutes ago."
"And her manager?"
"Is running late sir."
"Last question: Is Captain Jarrett here?"
"The Mobile Vehicles Division 2 just pulled up sir", the officer said, pointing to a large gray mobile suit walking up a path being cleared by a small vehicle bearing the Philadelphia P.D. coat of arms. Behind the mobile suit was an armored vehicle, from which a taller man with thin dark hair stepped out to face Madison.
"Glad you could make it Jarrett", Madison said shaking his hand. "Is everything all set for the opening act?"
"Should be", Jarrett said. "I've got Baltimore posted in our Number 1 Forward mobile suit on the west end, and me and Riley will post guard on the eastern sector of the park."
"Good, we can't have anything go wrong here tonight."
"It's too bad that you had to get rid of the press. If all goes well, we would've had some great exposure."
"Just do your duty, Jarrett, and worry about exposure later."
. . .
"You don't need to worry about the audience if something should happen", Madison said to Rob. "I've got officers posted on all sectors of the land. I even got the Mobile Vehicles Unit 2 out there in their mobile suits should something happen."
"It won't amount to a hell o' beans", Rob said, "but at least we can that the audience was well protected."
"Yeah", Madison said looking over at the throng of audience members. "Before I forget, no reporters are in the area. Any and all cameras were confiscated and the paparazzi escorted out of the area."
"I wish I'd been there when you found Jane Robards", Andrew said.
The Doom Patrol and Madison were standing below the stage, where, in a mere ten minutes, Sheena Lyndon would descend towards it and begin her show. The stage itself was a reminder of the one used at Woodstock '99, except, in size, it was slightly smaller in scale, and not as flashy.
"What about guards at her trailer?" Brian asked.
"Already covered", Madison replied. "Nothings happened." He then added:
"Yet." There was an almost finality in his tone of voice, as if he expected something big to happen before the night was over.
Salina noticed CJ standing near a post, staring out at the moon instead of the concert. She startled him as she put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump slightly.
"Sorry", she said. "Didn't mean to scare ya."
"It's all right", he said, and continued to stare up at the lunar scene.
"You know, you've been weird since we left the Highrise", she said. "If there's something bothering you, don't let it eat you from the inside out!"
"Sounds like something I'd say", CJ replied dryly.
"That's why I said it."
"Well, if you want to know, yeah, I am kind of bothered, but by the fact that there are at least a quarter of a million people out there who bought tickets to this thing and they have no idea that their idol is a murderer."
"That's not what's bugging you", Salina said. "People buy tickets to rap concerts, knowing that the star could have killed someone at one time or other, but that doesn't stop them from going."
"Yeah, but doesn't it bother you in the fact that there's no justice? They get away with these crimes for years without getting caught, and, if Sheena did do what we think she did, she'll find some way to squirm out of it."
"A-HA!" Salina said. "That's what's the matter with you."
"What?"
"You can't accept the fact that Sheena did do it, and you don't know if they'll be fairness if it does turn out she is the murderer."
"I thought you were into studying monsters, not getting inside my head, Mrs. Freud."
Salina laughed. "Alright, have it your way. Concert's about to begin, so we need you to be in the right state of mind if Bea does decide to make another unscheduled guest appearance."
"Don't worry about me", CJ said, finally beginning to cheer up. "I'll be all right."
At Sheena's trailer, the door swung as the popstar walked out of it. Wearing high-heeled boots with a pink short-sleeved shirt, she held in her hand a Rickenbacker 12 string guitar. Before making her way to the stage, she stopped to talk with the Doom Patrol.
"I...I just wanted to thank you all for what you've done for me", she said. Her face gleamed, indicating that she had just been crying.
"You don't need to say that", Salina said. "It's what we do."
"Yeah, but..."
"Look, just go up there on the stage and do your stuff", Rob said pushing her up the stairs.
Chapter 5: Do You Remember Love?
"GOOD EVENING NEW YORK CITYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!" Sheena's voice resounded all around the area, pumped out by the loudspeakers that were placed on both sides of the stage. She looked the way a rock star should.
"Are you ready to rock?" The audience replied with an all around YES!
"I can't hear you, New York. I say, are you ready to rock?" An even louder agreement from the audience was heard.
"Great, let's kick this party into high gear with a bang! This one's from my first album, some of you might know the words better than I do. Here's 'Do You Remember Love?'!"
"That one was in Bea's notebook", Salina said, not taking her eyes off Sheena.
The Mobile Vehicles Unit 2 had placed a guardrail around the crowd, not to keep Sheena protected, but rather keep the audience safe in case something should go wrong.
"That thing looks like a Gundam", Brian said, staring up at the mobile suit (they were actually 8 meters tall), which was piloted by a young woman with brown hair. She was looking out at the concertgoers from the mobile suit's cockpit. Looking down and noticing Brian, she waved at him, and shot him a thumbs up. Brian responded with a peace sign.
"Part of a new shift in police technology", Rob said. "I'd read the report on them while in Dalton. Man, kind of makes me wish I had me one of those." Rob's thoughts were interrupted when a black Volvo pulled up behind the stage. Stepping out of the vehicle was Sheena's manager, Paul McNeely, wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap. In his hand he held a brown paper bag.
"I almost missed the show", he said running up to Rob and Detective Madison. "Did anything happen yet?"
"The show just started Mr. McNeely", Rob said pleasantly. He eyed the short man carefully, and began to understand why Andrew and the others thought of him as a slimeball. His eyes quickly diverted to McNeely's bag.
"Great", McNeely replied, somewhat out of breath, placing the bag in his coat pocket. He took a quick look around and began scratching his head. "There's something wrong here", he said.
"What is it now, Paulie?" Andrew asked. But McNeely didn't hear him.
"No reporters!" McNeely said pointing towards the audience. "The biggest concert of Sheena's U.S. tour and not one news van!"
"Blame me for that", Madison said stepping up to McNeely. "I ordered most of the journalists out of the area before the concert began. But there are some local ones out there if you look closely enough."
"For who's safety? Sheena's?"
"For their safety", Madison replied, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes, taking one out and lighting it in his mouth. "Too many people here already to risk any major injuries should something break out. And besides, were you not the one worrying about bad publicity for your meal ticket?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" McNeely said. But Madison just patted him on the shoulder.
"Enjoy the concert", he told Rob and the Doom Patrol.
Chapter 6: The Flower of Carnage
Sheena went through five songs on the stage. There had been no ectoplasmic activity for one hour. Brian kept looking back at his watch and at Rob.
"We've only got 56 minutes left before this whole thing ends", he said. "Are you sure that she was going to show up tonight?" CJ rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged, saying:
"I don't know. Maybe there was something more that we missed in all of this?"
"All right everyone!" Sheena shouted from the stage, finishing up a cover of the Beatles 'Helter Skelter', "this next one is from my new album. You all know it was the one that I performed that night on Conan..." There was an unearthly silence in the air, as everyone paid attention now.
"And some of you might have heard that there might be a connection between me and the ghost. Well, there is. The ghost was a very dear friend of mine when she was living. Her name was Beatrix DeWitt. She was my friend and mate through thick and thin, but she...lost her way. This next song is dedicated to you Bea! Here's 'Somewhere and Nowhere'!" The crowd's cheering reached a near-deafening tone as they cheered resoundingly.
Sheena began the first few chords with a solo guitar strum, reminiscent of David Gilmour for "Wish You Were Here", before a heavy drum program followed.
"I hope you're doin' well Selling art and everything I like ya stuff, good for you I'll buy a piece maybe two.
Do you ever think of me? D'ya remember all our stupid dreams? Rainbows and pots o' gold So much to prove before we got old... "
"Corny lyrics", Brian said stifling a laugh, "but I love that drum downbeat." He looked over at Rob, who had a ruminating look upon his face as he scratched his goatee. "Something up?"
"This was the song that Sheena played on Conan, right?" Rob said, beginning to unsheathe his neutrona wand.
"Yeah", Brian replied.
"And didn't Bea make her reappearance in the middle of this song?"
Now Brian began to catch on to what Rob was saying. "We only have a few bars left before it hits that part, if there is a connection."
"Hey Sal, do you remember if 'Somewhere and Nowhere' was in that notebook of Bea's?"
"Yeah", Salina replied. "Bea wrote it."
"That's what I was afraid of", Rob said mournfully as he charged his neutrona wand. "Guys, get ready because Beatrix DeWitt is about to make another surprise appearance."
The lights that surrounded the stage and park had suddenly gone out, killing all of the juice going to the amplifiers and guitars. Sheena stood there on the darkened stage, looking bewildered as she tried to find McNeely.
"What the blue hell is going on in there?" McNeely screamed at the main engineer. "Are you stooges asleep or something out there?"
"Sir, all lights are registered as functional", the engineer replied. "There must be some sort of signal jamming the circuitry."
"Let me see that", Rob interjected, bending down to see the power battery cells. "Yep, he's right. These cells are running right."
"Then...how...who?"
"Only a specter of certain power and emotion can cause signal interference like that", Brian explained.
"What's that mean?" McNeely asked, in much the same tone of voice that he had given Madison. Before Brian could get the words out of his mouth, CJ explained for him.
"It means she's back", he said eerily as he began charging his pack. He took quick look at Salina and smiled.
"Fair play", he muttered to himself. He didn't want to give Salina the satisfaction in knowing that she had been right. If he did, he knew he'd never be able to hear the end of it.
A fog bank began to roll into the park, engulfing most of the audience as they shared Sheena's look of confusion and fear. The MV2's mobile suit stood out of the ominous fog like trees.
"Captain Jarrett", the female pilot Brian had waved to said into his headset microphone. "What are the orders?"
"Keep on the lookout for any panic, Baltimore", Jarrett said. "That's the first and foremost thing we have to prevent. The Ghostbusters can handle the rest."
"All yours now kids", Madison said nodding towards the group.
"Thanks", CJ said wryly as the five Patrollers walked up towards the stage.
The fog began creeping its way towards the stage, surrounding the spot where Sheena stood. The misty black cloud wrapped itself around Sheena, but not before cutting off her guitar. Her backup band had already dispersed off the stage.
"You think that you have the audience in the palm of your hand, don't you Sheena?" the fog said, the smoke beginning to materialize into hands as it wrapped itself around Sheena's throat. "It could have been me and you, but someone had to be left out, didn't they?"
"Believe me Bea", Sheena struggled to say, trying to remove the hands from her throat. "I'm...sorry."
"Not good enough!" Bea said, as her face began to show through the fog. It was not the pretty, young face that the Doom Patrol had seen that night on Conan; no, this was truly Bea's soul showing, one that had been corrupted by outside influences.
The audience watched keenly as the drama began to play itself out, most of who tried to get away. Baltimore in the Number 1 mobile suit followed her orders and kept her area from disintegrating into chaos, reaching down with her mobile suit's hand and putting audience members back behind the guardrail. At the entrance, the rest of the MV2 were policing the area.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IS GOING IN THERE?!" Jane Robards screamed at the officer. "IT'S NEWS! LET ME BACK IN THERE!"
"Sorry ma'am", the officer said meekly. "We've been given strict orders not to let anybody in or out."
. . . .
"Okay", Rob said to Brian. "Do it." Brian nodded as his eyes took on the familiar misty blue of his powers.
Suddenly, an ethereal wall formed itself around the stage, cutting off all sight from the audience. They could not see a thing. McNeely looked around, frightened as he tried to retain his bodily functions.
"Sir", Scott said to Madison in his Number 2 mobile suit. "Should we be worried about that?"
"No", Madison said. "Just do your duty and let them take care of theirs." He looked at the wall, and hoped that at least they knew what they were doing.
Chapter 7: The Flower of Carnage
"Nice color you choose", Andrew said looking around. "Makes this scene even less scary than it seems."
"Ms. Beatrix DeWitt", CJ said yelling towards the ghost. She turned towards him, as her eyes flashed, causing an invisible wind to knock the Doom Patrol back some.
"This is going to be harder than we thought", Brian said, blocking the wind from his friends with a shield. "She's not going to listen to reason."
"So we have to make her", CJ said, climbing from behind the shield.
"What are you about to do?" Salina asked.
"About to prove that you were right." CJ stepped towards the ghost of Bea and pointed his neutrona wand at her, firing without any hesitation. He shut the pack off, but Bea was still in a containment field. Nodding towards Brian and the others, the shield disappeared.
"What the hell is this?" she demanded.
"A new containment strategy, just for you that is", he said. "Just long enough for you to listen to what we have to say."
Sheena got up from the ground and gasped for breath, smiling at CJ. "Thank you so much CJ for helping me", she said. But CJ shook his head at her.
"I'm sorry", he replied somberly. "But your thanks are a bit premature." His attention looked towards McNeely
"What do you mean by that?" Sheena asked.
CJ took a deep breath and sighed. "By that, I means that only one truth must prevail. And you, Paul, would do well to listen to this as well."
"Two years ago, you were pushed into a career by McNeely because you were the only one who knew both yours and Bea's vocal parts. Why? Because Bea suffered a mental breakdown that makes Brian Wilson look sane."
"Yeah, that's what I told you", Sheena said. "What's the need to repeat this?"
"Because I wanted Bea...excuse me, Miss DeWitt, to know that you did not kill her."
Bea's ghost stopped thrashing in the containment field and her eyes looked towards CJ. "What are you talking about?" she said, her voice hollow and booming around Brian's aura. "Sheena always wanted more credit than she actually deserved! She knew I was the better of both of us and wanted me out of the way. That's why she didn't even lift a finger to help me when I needed her most."
"And that's the truth", CJ continued. "You see, if there's one thing that Sheena can be guilty of, it's not helping you at a point in both your lives when you needed her. That's a common guilt of anybody."
"So you're saying that Sheena is totally innocent", McNeely said regaining his senses. "Then who did it, Bea's grandma?"
"Oh no, she's innocent as well. She was telling the truth all along. But there is one person who had the most to gain from Bea's disappearance and death and that was you Paul."
Paul backed away, his eyes staring coldly at CJ. "That's utterly ridiculous", he said.
"You tightened the noose around your own neck when you openly admitted that you would do anything for Sheena's career, indicating that you would beg, borrow, steal, or even murder to get it there. You recognized early on that Sheena was clearly the star, but the main obstacle to getting her there was to eliminate Bea."
"You knew that Bea had a mental condition that she had to take special medicine for. Trusting you, she most likely took some kind of substance that you conveniently slipped into her medication. Not enough to get her hooked on in the beginning, but enough to start. Slowly but surely you started to get the required results. Then it all came down to the wire at Pat O'Reilly, and that's where you knew that she would be out of the way for the time being."
"However, you kept paying Bea for songwriting credit, thereby in the eyes of the law turning over most of the material she wrote for Sheena as property of Columbia, Sheena, or yourself. Bea may have been out of the way professionally but she was still dogging Sheena's career with whatever antic she got herself into, as her grandmother told us. So you hired someone to keep track of her whereabouts, not an easy task, but it paid off big when you did manage to find her."
"I'm not admitting anything", McNeely said coldly. "What other proof do you have that I would have committed such a heinous act against my client?"
"Detective Madison sent us the bank records, which we analyzed ourselves. Not much to put you behind bars, but enough to give the courts something to drool over. You knew when all of this broke out that if the regular police got wind of it, their own investigation would have unearthed all of this, but you took a gamble on a third rate outfit like ours to not foul things up for you or your meal ticket."
There was a silence all around as CJ finished up. The containment field disappeared as Bea floated down towards Sheena.
"Is this true", she asked her, looking straight into her eyes.
"Bea, believe me, if I could I would turn back the clock to help you", Sheena said tearfully. "I would throw it all away just to have you back." But McNeely interrupted the teary reunion.
"But who's going to believe a word you lot say?" he asked looking at CJ. "There're no cops here to back it all up."
"True", Rob interjected and pointed towards Brian. His eyes flashed once as a small portion of the blue aura that surrounded the stage disappeared, just enough for Madison and a small unit of police officers to walk in but not enough for the audience to see.
"Paul McNeely!" Madison said forcefully. "You are under arrest for conspiring in the murder of Beatrix DeWitt!"
McNeely's eyes looked as though they were about to pop out of his head, as CJ pulled out a small communicator from his pocket.
"Nifty things they invent these days?" he said tossing it McNeely. "While you and I were chatting, Madison and the Philly P.D. were busy listening on the other end." He grinned at McNeely. "Hope Riker's Island suits your tastes."
"You son of a bitch!" McNeely shouted throwing down the communicator, shattering into pieces when it hit the ground. He reached into his coat pocket and snatched the brown paper bag out. His hand was inside when the bottom exploded in fire and smoke. CJ grunted as he felt something like a bee graze past his arm and hit one of the steel railings of the stage. Feeling woozy, he looked up at McNeely and realized that he had a gun in his hand.
"It's not going to end this way!" he shouted at CJ. "Not when she needs me more than anything else in the world!" He aimed the barrel at CJ (who was on the ground now clutching his near-lifeless arm) and cocked the barrel. Closing his eyes, CJ knew that it would be all over pretty quick. Behind him, Rob and Andrew tried to make a run at McNeely.
"Stop him!" Madison shouted towards the officers.
Then all of a sudden, the air was pierced by a loud BANG. The noise deafened CJ but to his surprise, he did not feel the hot steel enter his body. A bead of sweat ran down his nose as he looked at McNeely, the smoking gun still in his hand. His face had gone completely white. CJ closed his eyes again and turned his head in the direction McNeely was looking at, and then slowly opened them.
Lying on her back, with her life-blood pouring out from the wound in the middle of her stomach, was Sheena Lyndon. Nobody moved for those few seconds that passed, but suddenly Madison came to his senses and ordered for the nearest officers to jump McNeely.
"You're under arrest", Madison said, but did not state the charge yet as he placed the handcuffs upon McNeely's wrists.
CJ went over towards Sheena and looked at her eye to eye. He could see it very plainly now: even if the paramedics were to make here on time, it was obvious that she was going to die. Staring at her now, he could not find any words to comfort her.
Suddenly, he felt a presence drift beside him. It was Bea; but it was not the angry, vengeful spirit that the Doom Patrol had been fighting for the past few days. Her entire demeanor had changed. From her pocket, Salina pulled out the picture that Bea's grandmother had had of her granddaughter, and realized that she had taken on a more physical form. She now resembled her old self.
"Sorry Bea", Sheena said weakly, making the attempt to grin up at her old friend. "I—I didn't mean for any of this to happen this way." She coughed once and then shivered. Bea took Sheena's hand and squeezed it hard.
"Hey, are you seeing this?" Rob whispered over to Brian.
"What?"
"That light, above Sheena."
"I can't see a damn thing."
A bright, almost ethereal light had begun to shine down upon Sheena's face. She shivered once again before she closed her eyes for good. Although nobody could quite see it, an aura drifted slowly from Sheena's body and towards the light.
"Race you to the top Bea!" Sheena said brightly towards her friend. Bea smiled back and nodded.
"You just wait; you'll be eating my dust soon!" Bea retorted.
Sheena grinned again, and then looked back towards CJ. "Thank you, Dr. London, for all your help", she said. Drifting dreamily towards him, she kissed him on the cheek. With that, she started towards the light as it disappeared behind her.
"Are you crying?" Brian asked, looking in Andrew's direction.
"Of course not", the hunter replied. "Windy out here. I got something in my eye." Brian rolled his eyes and elbowed him as Andrew continued to protest.
The light gone, Bea turned her attention towards McNeely, and her form changed again as her eyes flamed red. Gritting her teeth, she held up her hands as she pushed the Philadelphia Police Department out of her way, knocking them down off the stage. She grabbed McNeely by his collars.
"So, you like fucking with other people's lives like pawns, eh?" She lifted him high above the stage, as an unknown wind swept through.
McNeely pleaded with Bea as he held up his hands in defense. "Listen, I never meant for it to go this far. I---I---I only wanted what was best for Sheena and she...."
"...Was a better artist than me? A better market product than me? Tell me the answer before I kill you!!"
"Bea, wait!" CJ shouted, trying to get his voice to rise above the wind. "It doesn't have to be like this!"
"He destroyed too many lives Dr. London", she said, not looking at him. "He has to be punished."
"Then let the law take its course. He'll go to Riker's Island for twenty years. That's hell in itself!"
"No." There was finality in her voice as cold as the bitterest winds. Grabbing McNeely's head, she stared at him deep into his eyes, not diverting her attention towards anything.
"What's going on up there?" Madison said over to CJ. The scientist could only shrug his good arm and watch, with the others, in morbid fascination at the scene unfolding before them.
Suddenly, the air was pierced by McNeely's high shrieks, the sound that shivers down the audience present on the outside and the MV2. Baltimore held her hands over her ears to drown out the sound.
With that, Bea let McNeely go, dropping him towards the stage. Then she disappeared.
Nobody said anything. If they did, it was the sounds of someone shouting "QUICK! Get this man to a hospital!" and "He doesn't look good!" Brian's aura disappeared around the stage as the EMT's flanked it and surrounded Sheena. The Doom Patrol watched as one of them shook their heads and covered her body.
Epilogue I:
"I just wanted to come here and thank you all for helping my Beatrix find her peace." Mrs. Veronica DeWitt stood in front of Salina's desk, as the latter was sitting down finishing filing the case report. "Tell me, how did she look?"
Salina smiled. "The expression on her face was something like relief. She looked really happy." The old woman smiled meekly, and then she said:
"Sheena was not a bad person. I'm sorry about what happened to her."
Salina sat back and thought for a second. "The important thing is that the two made peace between each other", she said and continued writing. Mrs. DeWitt put her hand into her purse and pulled out a small envelope.
"What's this?" Salina asked.
"It's a small fee", she said handing her the envelope.
"But we didn't really do anything for you to deserve it."
"Please", Mrs. DeWitt insisted. "Just take it. If it weren't for your detective work in uncovering that scoundrel McNeely, I would have gone on thinking that it was Sheena's fault about what happened to her."
"Ma'am, as generous as the offer is, I---and I speak for the whole---don't think we can really accept this. All the thanks we need to have is in knowing that we helped you know more about your granddaughter's fate. And I think that's enough for all of us."
Mrs. DeWitt stared at Salina for a moment before replacing the envelope back inside her purse. Then, she hugged her neck.
"Thank you", she said and walked out of the Highrise.
Epilogue II
"So, who is this guy we got here?"
The elder guardsman at Riker's Island puffed on his cigar as he and his young partner walked the halls lined with the cells of many prisoners.
"Used to be a famous big shot manager", the older guard said as his nightstick rapped against the cell. "You know, for that singer chick Sheena Lyndon."
The young guard stopped in his tracks. "You mean the one that was killed at her concert?"
Spitting out a piece of tobacco from the cigar, the older guard nodded.
"They say he went crazy when one of them Ghostbusters blew the lid off his plan. You know he had that popstar's friend killed just to further her career?"
"I've heard the rumors, but I never believed them."
"You should."
Penetrating the uneasy calmness of the conversation the two were having was a loud scream that echoed through the halls.
"Je-sus..." the younger guard said. But the elder one just smirked as he extinguished his cigar and pulled out another.
"Do you believe in divine punishment?" he asked.
"I'm...not too big into religion", the young guard said.
"Wicked is as wicked does. When they brought that poor bastard to us he was completely and utterly out of his mind: drug induced paranoia, his brain was fried from the inside. There was no way he'd be able to think rationally again."
"Are the screams a part of that paranoia?"
"If you believe in divine punishment, then you'd know that that poor girl's soul that he corrupted won't rest until he's dead and six feet under."
The two stopped in front of the cell and looked in on what remained of Paul McNeely: strapped in a strait jacket, he looked at them with madness in his eyes and ran to the bars, ramming his head into it, saliva flowing from his mouth. The younger guard backed away as his hand went to his pistol by his side.
"Simmer down, it's alright", the older one calmed. "He gets like that."
THE END...