Torg Eternity – Dead Legion

The Serial Gambit

Nile Empire – Cairo

It turned out, The Cypriot was a well-paced but unremarkable espionage tale.

Not that any film would've been able to hold the three Storm Knights' attention after what they'd seen during the serials before the main feature.

Somehow, someone had filmed a serial chapter about the battle they'd had with the Neuron Master aboard his fortress before it fell apart and rained debris all over the expanse of Cairo. The only thing they hadn't see was what happened to their cinematic counterparts when the villains floating fortress exploded, to end on a cliffhanger as these serial adventures always did. Ghost fully expected the next chapter to show them smashing Overgovernor Wu Han's statue, and the bit Kristina told them about where she landed right in the middle of a lavish wedding and unintentionally clobbered an irate uncle protesting the union when she landed on top of him.

Something strange hadn't escaped his notice, though. In the film, himself, Sophia and Kristina had done the heavy-lifting of defeating the actor portraying the Neuron Master. As the evil mastermind's control capsule erupted in flames, though, it suddenly cut to a shocktrooper who threw a switch somewhere and blew up the fortress. As he did, yelling, "Glory to Mobius!" As if ultimately handing the victory to the ruler of the Nile Empire out of nowhere.

However, he also noticed the serial hadn't actually done anything to suggest that he, Sophia and Kristina were working for the pharaoh. Instead, Ghost had noticed his screen counterpart whispering to the others about their "mission for the council."

When the film was over and they were leaving the theater, Sophia was looking as grim as ever, while Kristina Rouge was bouncing on her feet and trying to hold in an excited squeal. "We're in a movie!" she whispered to Ghost. "Isn't that the coolest thing ever?"

Ghost, more than used to surprise twists after growing up in that same extremely dramatic reality, smiled and gently waved her off. Instead, he turned to Salma Fayoud, their new liason with the Delphi Council. "What do you have to go on, as far as who could have done something like this, and why?" he whispered.

Immediately she whipped out a small photograph that Ghost took. It showed a middle-aged man he would've said was of Asian extraction. There were a few streaks of gray in the hair around his temples, and a distinctive blue rose was tucked into the boutonniere of his white suit. "His name's Janus Challenge. He's the producer and director of that film we saw. Apparently he's smitten with a torch singer who performs every Friday and Saturday at the Anubis Club in the ritzy part of town."

"I know about it," Ghost replied.

Salma smiled faintly. "That saves a little time," she said, and slipped something into his vest pocket. "Put that microtransmitter into that flower somehow, and listen in. Find out how and why he's making a film serial about you."

"And then what?" Ghost asked.

"Decide if you should stop him," Salma replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to headquarters."

"We have a headquarters?"

Salma nodded. She stepped away and went down the other direction.

Ghost stopped, and Sophia and Kristina stopped just before they bumped into his back. "What's going on, Ghost?"

"What did Salma tell you?" Sophia asked, ignoring Kristina's question.

"She gave us a lead on who made that movie," Ghost answered. "We better hurry if we're gonna find a place to scare up some monkey suits and get to the Anubis Club before the show starts."

An hour later, three people stepped onto the curb outside the doors to Club Anubis, a black stone likeness of the god of death overlooking any who approached the polished white stone building.

Ghost straightened the bowtie on the front of his tux and took a confident step onto the red carpet leading up to the front doors. "Look like you belong here," he'd told the others before they arrived. Kristina Rouge followed, wearing a trim white dress, shoulderless and cut to flash a little leg on the left side. She'd taken the decorations out of her hair with some prodding from Ghost, and had it bunned up on top of her head. Sophia had refused to even consider a gown without shoulders and sleeves, but to Ghost's eyes, at least, the black lace number whose skirt she had to lift to move around in was fittingly regal for such a proper lady.

Kristina leaned over and whispered to Ghost with a smile, "Bet you feel really out of place in a suit, huh?" she asked. "Rather be in your khakis and boots and kicking butt."

"Oh, I don't know," he answered. "I had to wear a suit to the Policeman's Ball every year like anybody else. Charity galas where I was helping with security. Some kook in a mask always showed up and tried to steal the proceeds."

Suddenly, Kristina almost tripped on the edge of her skirt. "…wait, you're a cop?" she whispered in a dry voice.

He shrugged. "Well, yeah, back on Terra. Since Dr. Frest brought us all here, I haven't thought about it much." Kristina followed him a little less closely then.

At the doors, the ape-like bouncers in their ill-fitting suits stood to attention and each pulled one of the black double doors open for them to enter. Inside, a brass band was playing as high-brow couples danced energetically on the open floor in front of them. Close to one edge of the dance floor was a drinking area laid out with wooden tables and chairs, the bar where patrons were being served polished until Ghost could see the bartender's reflection even from the door. Tables and balconies where Cairo's affluent partook in a sophisticated evening's entertainment were all over the room.

At the moment the Storm Knights didn't have a chance to take it all in, as three men who looked enough like the apes outside to be brothers, stepped up to them. "Good evening, folks," said the one in the middle with a slightly menacing smile. Entirely deliberate, Ghost was sure, based on what he said next. "Please hold still. We run a classy establishment here, and we can't have ruffians bringing their ruffian business in here with 'em."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kristina Rouge demanded.

"Just let them search us," Ghost answered. "Then they'll let us through."

"Have you been here before, sir? I don't recognize your face," said the bouncer in the middle as the other two started patting down Ghost and Kristina.

Ghost shrugged. "Just someone who finds it understandable an upscale place like this wouldn't want people bringing things like guns in. Cairo's a lawless place, people come here to get away from all that."

"I like you already, mister," the head bouncer smirked, flashing a gold tooth.

Kristina frowned, but let them do their search. She wasn't afraid; Ghost had obviously been expecting this and they'd hidden their weapons before coming. As the goon patted her down, though, suddenly she felt him grab something besides a concealed firearm.

And before she knew what she was doing, Kristina Rouge backfisted him as hard as she could in the face.

He opened his mouth as if to scream, but the head bouncer lunged forward and clenched a hand around his throat. "One sound outta you, and you'll wake up in the basement with the biggest headache of your life," he warned his injured coworker. "Yeah, I saw what you did, you mug. Consider yourself warned. Next time the boss's gonna give you a permanent reminder to keep those hands to yerself!" He turned to Kristina Rouge, and said, "I apologize for my colleague's action. Please, accept this for a free cocktail on the house." He pressed a blue poker chip into her hand and waved them through.

Kristina stepped into the club, feeling a little uncertain. Sophia was giving her a sharp glare, probably for calling attention to them, but that was nothing new. Ghost, on the other hand, looked over at her, then turned away and chuckled quietly.

"So what do we do now?" Kristina asked. "Get some drinks and come up with a plan?"

"Hardly," Sophia replied. "It would be suspicious for a man to be seen entertaining two women in a high-class establishment such as this. The two of you would be the most skilled at diverting the attention of this Challenge fellow and surreptitiously implanting that device. I will keep watch for danger, that is where my skill lies. If you'll excuse me…" So saying, Sophia Black slipped away to the bar, ordered a drink, then with a confident walk made her way into the crowd.

When she was out of earshot a second later, Kristina muttered, "So she's the boss now?"

"She's got a point," Ghost admitted. "Place like this, it would look like we were up to something if I was sitting there for a while having drinks with two ladies. Instead, let's mingle a little and see if we can find this Janus Challenge. Give me a little wave if you see him, okay?"

"…okay."

From out of his jacket Ghost took a pack of cigarettes, lipped one, then put the packet away and headed into the crowd to make some discreet inquiries. A few tables in, he seemed to ask the man sitting there for a light, eyeballed him while it was being done, nodded and kept weaving his way into the club, looking for their target.

Left alone for the moment, Kristina Rouge had to admit she was impressed by how easily Ghost took to this kind of thing. She was used to thinking of stealthy masked heroes as angsty figures who were always liable to lash out in anger if provoked, but as she watched him going back and forth inspecting the face of every man he passed as if he was just another member of the club, that image didn't come to mind at all. The man was a true professional.

Although that sent another chill up her spine. The same kind as when he'd told her he was a policeman back in his home dimension.

But being reminded of that got Kristina thinking that she was standing still waiting for things to happen, and that wasn't who she was. No matter how much the cops liked it. Time to get involved in this investigation.

The chip for a free drink she'd been given was as good a place to start as any.

In the darkness behind the bar, the leer that quickly morphed into a slightly professional smile was the first thing Kristina Rouge could make out about the bartender. "Welcome to the Anubis Club, mademoiselle," he sang. "What will your pleasure be this evening?"

"Gin," she replied, and laid down the chip on the bar. "On the rocks. I came in here to get out of the heat." She didn't miss how his smile dimmed slightly as he spotted the chip, obviously knowing what it represented, and his eyes studied her intently the whole time he was sliding the chip back across the bar and dropping it somewhere out of sight.

"One has to be strong to survive in a place as hot as Cairo," the bartender replied, still not looking away from her as he scooped ice and then poured her drink. At least his smile had recovered enough to look passably genuine again. "You look stronger than most women, I must say."

Kristina glanced over her shoulder at him for a second, before facing forward again to scan the expanse of the club for anyone who looked like Janus Challenge. "I'd have thought a classy place like this would have a problem with the employees flirting with the customers."

The bartender chuckled and put the glass next to her elbow. "Not flirting, miss. Just making you aware there are certain opportunities in this city for the strong, and the smart."

She picked up the glass. "I'd have thought a classy place like this would have a problem with the employees insulting the customers' intelligence," Kristina said, then walked away, trying nonchalantly to spot Janus Challenge again.

While she looked, she noticed the band finishing up their number and the lights dimming out on the dance floor. "Ladies and gentlemen," said a shadowed master of ceremonies from the edge of the orchestra stand. "For your entertainment, the beautiful and melodious Amanda Sorrento."

A spotlight shone on a curtained partition, and an ivory-skinned woman, her long hair almost as pale as her skin, stepped out through the curtains. She had on a shoulderless red dress and black elbow gloves. Miss Sorrento stepped up to the microphone and started to croon a slow, soulful tune. Kristina Rouge didn't hear a word of it.

Because, sitting at a table with an obstructed view of the performer, flanked by a pair of bodyguards even more enormous than the gorillas at the front of the club, was a man in a white suit with a blue rose through his boutonniere.

It was Janus Challenge.

Ignoring the song on purpose now, Kristina Rouge looked around the club for the others. Sophia was walking her way, but passed without saying a word. Evidently she was still only on lookout. Kristina looked the other way, scanning the crowd for Ghost, wondering if he'd already turned himself invisible. Suddenly she spotted him on the far side of the club's dance floor. She gave a slight wave, and glanced at Janus Challenge's table.

Ghost put his almost finished cigarette out in the ashtray of a table as he passed, paying no attention to the people actually sitting there. He looked in the direction of Janus Challenge's table, but then looked up, met Kristina's eyes and nodded, then wandered the other way.

At first Kristina felt annoyed, that even Ghost was leaving her to handle Janus Challenge by herself. Slowly it dawned on her that Ghost was moving away from Challenge's table so he wouldn't be spotted. If Challenge was distracted, then an invisible Ghost would have an easy time planting the miniature microphone on him.

That a cop was putting that much faith in Kristina to distract the target felt like a lead weight around her neck.

But the thought faded from her mind as she made her way over to Janus Challenge's table, a strange plan forming instead. All thanks to the limited entertainment options in the Nile Empire.

"Mr. Challenge?"

Not to her surprise, the bodyguards reacted first. One immediately thrust a hand inside his coat and was withdrawing a shiny black gun. The other quickly sized Kristina Rouge up, as he was paid to do, but smiled a sleazy smile at her instead. Janus Challenge himself raised a hand and waved off the bodyguard drawing a gun.

"Yes, miss?" he asked, in a perfectly flat tone.

"I'm Jeannette Jacobson from 710 AM, Akhenaten Radio," Kristina said. "You may have heard of our program, Clear Night in Cairo. All about the city's most influential people."

Janus Challenge looked at her in disbelief, and a lump of ice seemed to form in Kristina's gut as she wondered if she'd picked the wrong cover. It wasn't helped any when he laughed. "You're Jeannette Jacobson?" he asked. "You sound a lot frumpier on the radio! Please Miss Jacobson, join my table."

Kristina did, under the watchful eyes of Challenge's redwood-like bodyguards. His attention was focused on the beautiful songstress, and after scoring a golden opportunity like this, Kristina just sat and sipped her drink while she waited for the song to end. She glanced around, up at the bodyguards again. The one who'd been about to pull a gun on her kept facing forward, but the other smirked and sent a little wave her way.

She shivered.

After a bit the singer finished her number, and the lights went back up as she blew a few kisses to clapping patrons before turning and hurrying back behind the curtain. Janus Challenge watched her go with a smile, then abruptly turned toward Kristina Rouge. "Miss Jacobson, please tell me what brings a humble soul like myself to the attention of such an illustrious personality."

His smile was confident. A little too much, as if he could tell she was lying and giving her the chance to give herself away. Sucking in a quiet breath, Kristina replied, "Well, I've heard quite a bit about your newest production, Mr. Challenge. In fact…I heard it might've been based on a true story."

Janus Challenge raised one eyebrow. "Oh, did you now?"

"Well, I heard about a few houses being flattened a while ago by things falling from the sky. That's not so unusual in this town," Kristina answered him. "But I heard from a friend who was at the dedication of that statue to Wu Han himself…it got crushed by this big piece of junk that two people climbed out of, who looked just like the stars of your film."

"Is that so?"

Kristina looked him straight in the eye, and did her best to smile coyly. "You don't need to pretend, Mr. Challenge. Making movies is exciting, but real life can be even more exciting than movies."

For a tense second, he said nothing, and Kristina was afraid her bluff her failed. All of a sudden, Janus Challenge leaned back in his chair and laughed, both of his bodyguards reaching out a beefy hand to catch the chair before he had a chance to fall over. His laughing fit ended, and Janus Challenge leaned over the table again. "You think you know something about the movie business, little miss?"

"I think I know this is an exciting city you live in, Mr. Challenge," Kristina answered. Quietly, she added, "And I think I know another rebel when I meet one."

All three people's eyes were on her. Only Kristina Rouge's eyes saw the tiny disc that seemed to appear out of thin air and drop into the petals of Janus Challenge's blue rose. Another chill went up Kristina's spine, and a thought raced through her mind asking herself if she was more worried about Challenge's reaction, or Ghost being right next to her, unseen.

All of a sudden, Janus Challenge stood up. "It's been stimulating talking to you, Miss Jacobson, but as you've said, I'm a busy man. Tell your station to contact my organization, and we'll see if we can't talk further. Have a refreshing evening, Miss Jacobson."

"I'll look forward to your next movie."

He left, flanked by the bodyguards. Kristina Rouge finished her free drink, then left the Anubis Club as well.

"Mr. Challenge. I trust you have an important reason for calling me out here at this hour."

"Of course, of course. It's about the big action blowout for the next chapter."

"Aah…so you're still planning to go ahead with your plans for the iron croc?"

"The budget's already gone into it. Besides, if I wait, I might lose the chance to get the dynamite scene it's for. I'm sure the studio heads would love to hear that."

"Well, if you're sure, we can probably have it ready to Monday at the earliest—"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!"

"Yes, tomorrow. They're onto me, I'm sure of it. It has to be ready by tomorrow or we'll be at their mercy when they show up."

"Well, if they're onto you, maybe they'll expect you to skip town instead of set a trap."

"Ha! How do you think my family got a name like Challenge? Not by running away, that's how! Besides, if I wait until Monday, something else might come along and seize their attention, so we act now! If you have to wake up the crew right now to have the iron croc ready by tomorrow, then wake them up!"

"All right, all right! If you're so bent on seeing this idiocy to the end…I have to warn you, though, Challenge. I'm not so sure the pharaoh's court may think so highly of making Stormers the heroes of this serial of yours."

"Nonsense. It shows how clever the pharaoh is. How he can manipulate Stormers into defeating his enemies for him. Now hurry, we have a climax to prepare for!"

All that night, Kristina Rouge's thoughts were spinning in her head, trying to find something concrete she could grab onto. Nothing came to her, so she decided to go to it. She went downstairs, to the garage where the jeep the Delphi Council kept at the safehouse was stored, and drove off into the night with it.

When Sophia and Ghost came down just as the relentless Egyptian sun was casting its first harsh rays over the city, they found a manilla envelope sitting on the kitchen table with a plain wax seal. Sophia casually drew her dagger and cut open the envelope.

Someone opened the door hours later, as the relentless Egyptian sun was well into the downward half of its daily journey. Kristina Rouge came in, finding Sophia and Ghost sitting on the floor on a big white sheet, cleaning their guns.

"Uh, hey guys."

"Hello," Ghost replied. "Been busy?"

"Yeah. You? That got something to do with why you're working on your guns?"

Ghost nodded. "Got the report back from headquarters. Janus Challenge has something big in mind. Some kind of 'iron croc'. We're planning to be ready when we run into it."

"Well, that's probably got something to do with this," Kristina answered, holding up an envelope marked 'J. Challenge' with an address for Dreamland. "A guy in a robe gave it to me when I was driving around. I thought he was from the Council."

"Doubt it," Ghost muttered as he took the envelope and tore it open. From the letter inside, he read, "Esteemed colleagues, I wish to congratulate you on your subterfuge at the club last night. I also wish to extend to you the chance to show the entire Nile Empire the potency of your skills. Come to Stage Four at Dreamland tonight. Security has been instructed to allow you in."

Sophia fixed her steely gaze on Ghost. "Are you suggesting we walk into such an obvious trap?"

"Of course it's a trap," Ghost replied. "But you can't turn your back on a mystery after you're already in it, right? Besides, if we can handle this 'iron croc' of his, we can probably turn the tables on him, and show them we've got some power of our own."

Slowly, Kristina Rouge realized she was starting to smile. "Yeah!" she exclaimed. "Let's show these pigs who they're screwing with!" Both of them stared at her, and realizing what she'd said, Kristina smiled sheepishly.

A few hours later, a disparate trio of heavily-armed warriors approached the security booth at the entrance of Dreamland movie studios. In front, a woman with a light streak through her dark hair, her oversized carbine rifle hanging from the shoulders of her leather duster. Behind her another woman with a ponytail, wearing a vest and shorts so bright she seemed to glow in the Cairo night. Bringing up the rear, a masked man in sand-stained shirt and khaki pants.

The gray-uniformed guard leaned outside his head outside the booth where he sat, looked them up and down, and pressed a button that raised the barricade blocking the road with a noisy buzz.

"I must advise against this, again," Sophia murmured, unshouldering her slayer's gun before they entered. "Facing one's opponent on their chosen battleground is folly."

Ghost nodded. "Agreed, but ignoring your opponent to let them keep hunting others, that's just as bad, isn't it?"

"That may be, but I'll never understand this world you come from," she whispered back.

Silently, Kristina Rouge wondered if she would either, now. The Nile Empire had seemed so much simpler, but even more exciting, than the world she'd come from. Now, things didn't seem so simple…

When they found the building for Stage 4, the massive doors that took up most of the wall slid open, inviting them into darkness. They approached, but just before they went in, Ghost got a flare off his belt and lit it. Its red glow outlined the silhouettes of lighting rigs, folded chairs and a set showing the faux stone slabs of an ancient temple. Sophia and Ghost looked right past it, seemingly keeping their eyes open for an ambush. Bringing up the rear, Kristina felt a little thrill rise in her instead, wondering instead if she'd get the chance to see the inside of a real trap-filled tomb sometime during her stay in the Nile Empire.

Then, just when she was expecting it most, lights flicked on all over the stage. Sophia and Ghost flinched a little too dramatically from the suddenly brilliance but quickly recovered. Revealed surrounding the three Storm Knights were a full film crew: aiming cameras at them, manning the controls to cables running to stationary microphones on the rigging, and sitting in a director's chair holding an old-timey megaphone was Janus Challenge himself.

With an extremely proud smile on his face.

"Welcome to Dreamland, my friends! Thank you so much for accepting my invitation! Please pardon my theatrics, perhaps I've been working in the movies a bit too long."

"Spare us your false pleasantries," Sophia snapped. "Why have you brought us here? Obviously you've more in mind than the death of a few of the pharaoh's enemies."

"Indeed you are right, my dear!" Challenge crowed. "As you know, I'm in charge of the serial The Mighty Fists of Mobius, and I need a spectacular battle sequence to close the next chapter. I'm just dying to see how our heroes overcome the menace of the Iron Crocodile."

"We defeated the Iron Crocodile. He was no great obstacle," Sophia retorted.

But Janus Challenge snickered. "Yes, I know. I believe you'll find my Iron Crocodile more formidable, my dear."

As soon as he'd said it, the wall of the far side of the set exploded inward. Pieces of were sent flying, and Kristina gasped as one lodged in her arm. She looked down at it in horror, seeing blood already dripping out from around it, and realized it was real stone.

Of course, much more attention-grabbing was what had just crashed through the wall. It did indeed appear to be an Iron Crocodile, just like Janus Challenge had labeled it. It had the head, the long jaws, the green coloration, the tail. Except it was almost ten feet tall, standing on its hind legs and made of metal.

Then it took an echoing stomp that sent the crew half an inch off the floor from the impact. Its photoelectric eyes were focused right on the three Storm Knights.

"You guys have robots?" Kristina asked in shock. "I thought the technology around here was way less advanced than that!"

She didn't get a reply. Next to her, she saw Ghost go for his guns, but a strange look came over Ghost's face as he stared up at the robot. His eyes went wide, his mouth gaped. Kristina knew that look, she'd seen it on her spectators or opponents racing for the first time more than once.

Ghost was afraid.

But then he drew both guns, clenched his teeth and whispered, "Not this time."

"And…ACTION!" Janus Challenge yelled with a smile.

The robot took another step that shook the floor. Sophia and Ghost both fired their weapons on the Iron Crocodile. A hole bored through the robot's armor where Sophia's shot had hit it, but only tiny dents from Ghost's shots.

Instead of firing on the robot too, Kristina Rouge took a step back. It was covered from head to toe in heavy armor, obviously, but there was one piece that looked out of place. A plate on the upper chest, shaped like an inverted trapezoid.

Next thing she noticed was the crocodile robot diving at her with its jaws wide open.

Then after that the next thing she knew was being knocked to the floor, and then the crocodile robot closing its jaws around her leg.

She heard someone scream.

There was no time to focus on that. As hard as it was, Kristina forced herself to focus on fighting back. She grabbed for something on her belt, but almost dropped it when the robot stood up, pulling her off the ground by her foot. Ghost circled the Iron Crocodile, his bullets bouncing off its face, but the thing refusing to drop her.

A louder bang got Kristina Rouge's attention and a hole was punched in the side of the robot's head. Sophia ran by, her weird rifle still smoking from the armor-piercing round it'd just fired. Kristina slapped the item in her hand onto the Iron Crocodile's chest, just before she heard a quieter BANG from one of Ghost's pistols. It streaked into the hole in the robot's head, sending sparks flying from the opening.

Just before its jaw went slack and dropped her on the floor.

Somehow seeming to sense the others were more of a threat, the robot crocodile stepped over Kristina and chased after Sophia. Her rifle roared again, but Kristina Rouge was focusing on that power to slightly shift reality she'd been told she had. From the one she was in, where her leg had been savaged by the Iron Crocodile's jaws, to one where the wound wasn't as severe. Her bleeding flesh started to close up, leaving only a few stripes of blood. With an effort she managed to get to her feet and limp over to a wall.

Meanwhile, the Iron Crocodile swung its tail and hit Ghost in the midriff. He skidded across the floor and stopped just a few feet away from her. He gasped, "I saw you put that stuff on the crocodile. Think your idea's going to work?"

"Not if it doesn't have the receiver too," Kristina said. She tried to take a step, but winced when she put her weight down on her sore leg. "And I don't think I can move fast enough to plant it on the robot."

Ghost snatched the device out of her hand. "You don't have to. This is a team, right?" he asked.

She looked at him in confusion, then nodded. More slowly than she meant to let him see. "Yeah."

Both of them looked up at the sound of a metallic creaking to see the Iron Crocodile swinging from an overhead lighting rig right at Sophia. She dove to the ground while the robot let go and went soaring over her, several studio lights smashing into the ground well within shot, but Janus Challenge only kept grinning as the battle played out. His robot landed with a powerful crash just beyond where Sophia had hit the dirt to avoid it, but before she could get back to her feet it lunged and grabbed by the arms, lifting her up to its own eye level.

And then, it started pulling her in opposite directions. Sophia screamed.

Ghost disappeared.

Again, Sophia threw back her head and screamed in pain as the robot pulled at her arms. Her eyes were wide, her mouth open as another scream came. It was a look Kristina had never seen on the huntress's hard face before.

Before she even realized what she was doing, Kristina raised her gun and fired a stead burst of bullets across the robot's back. She knew it couldn't possibly bring the thing down. She knew bullets were barely an annoyance to its armored hide. But she had to do something before Sophia was torn apart.

Suddenly a small metal disc appeared out of nowhere in the blob of white putty on the Iron Crocodile's chest. A faint light of recognition seemed to form in it eyes, and without warning a blast of powder or sand or something escaped from its mouth and clouded around it, showing the unmistakable outline of an invisible intruder. Who the robot easily slapped aside with only one hand.

But Ghost had done his job, and while the Iron Crocodile was focusing on him, Sophia had managed to squirm her way free of its grip. After Sophia crawled far enough away, Kristina stabbed a button inside her belt.

An explosion ripped into the Iron Crocodile's chest. The plate that'd protected it spun through the air, shearing through some rigging before embedding itself in the roof of the studio. A few members of the film crew screamed in panic and abandoned their stations, and some of the cameramen looked about to break and run, but a furious glare from Janus Challenge in their direction froze them in place.

Where the armor plate had been, they could now see a niche where a small stone statue was sitting, hooked up to the Iron Crocodile's innards by a cluster of wires. Was that how robots worked? Using some kind of magic? Kristina had so much left to understand about all the different realities invading her planet…

Almost as one, Ghost raised his gun from where he lay on the floor, and Sophia rolled, grabbed hers and came to a stop ready to fire. Again as one they squeezed the triggers of their weapons, and the statue lodged in the robot's chest shattered into dust. Immediately the lights in the Iron Crocodile's eyes went out, then it collapsed with a spectacular crash.

"And CUT!" Janus Challenge yelled through his megaphone. When he lowered it, he was beaming. "That's a wrap, folks! Thank you for helping us put together such a fine action setpiece! Please collect the film, everyone's excused for the day. Except," he said, turning to the three Storm Knights, "the three of you. I suspect you'll want to hear my reasons."

"So you can put us in another trap?" Kristina grunted.

"If fame is your idea of a trap, miss," Challenge replied with a knowing smile.

Janus Challenge's office wasn't exactly richly appointed, but the plush carpeting and personal icebox full of chilled wine suggested someone with a fair bit of clout in his industry all the same. One of his bodyguards from the club got a bottle of champagne out and popped the cork with one thumb, while Challenge himself set out glasses for himself and the trio.

"Let me start off," Challenge said, and lit a cigar, "by assuring you that we are not enemies."

The three started him down from across the desk without a word as the champagne was poured. Challenged picked up a glass and took a sip, but it was another minute of silence before Ghost picked one up and took an obliging sip. His scowl at Challenge didn't fade.

"You said you'd start off saying that," Ghost said. "So continue."

"I will be brief," Challenge stated. "As you may be aware, when one of the High Lords expands their territory in a new area and converts it to their laws of reality, the people within that new territory have the energies connecting them to their previous reality drained. This process empowers the High Lord, but transforms the ordinary people in the occupied territory into an equivalent appropriate to the reality now occupying that area. People of a rare willpower, such as yourselves, being the exception.

"The worst part for your Delphi Council is, as I understand, that if the territory were to be changed back to its previous reality, all the people inside it would be killed instantly, since their energies would be gone. Unless those energies were restored, by something such as being witness to a deed of incredible heroism. That's where my process comes in, my friends," Challenge said, looking quite pleased with himself.

Sophia fixed her icy gaze on him, and the others didn't miss him flinch for a second under it. "These films of yours?" she supplied.

"Yes! Isn't it ingenious?" Challenge cackled and rubbed his hands together. He stopped when the Storm Knights' hands slipped to their weapons out of instinct. Coughing into his hand, Challenge went on in a more subdued fashion, "I represent an agency that opposes the High Lord' conquest of Core Earth. By creating films of the exploits of a group of Storm Knights like yourselves, we can restore the necessary energies an audience so that they can safely be returned to their original selves. As well as gently encourage resistance to the occupying forces.

"The fact that the special cameras the process requires need to be secreted where a battle's going to take place limits the scope of our operation for now, of course. But in a conflict of this scope, any advantage needs to be seized, don't you agree?"

"Are you saying you're interested in working for the Delphi Council?" Kristina Rouge asked.

But Challenge waved his hand. "Perhaps when I can be assured their interests coincide well enough with the concern I represent. For now, it would serve well enough for me to continue dramatizing the exploits of a group of heroes…with their consent, of course."

Sophia stood up. "I would agree to this. It seems our goals are alike enough."

Kristina. "You're always so uptight, now you're just going along with this guy's story?"

"It is a strange story, that much is true. But this is a strange world, and the nature of good and evil is quite stark here," she replied, but then locked eyes with Janus Challenge. "We will know where to find you if your intentions differ from what you've told us."

"You think I invited you here not knowing that?" Challenge chuckled. "Have a good night, folks."

The trio got up and headed for the door. Suddenly, Challenge called out.

"What?" Kristina asked.

"You know what'd really help your little group get people's attention? A group name. Something with some flash. Think it over."

The Storm Knights took extra time driving back and forth through the streets of Cairo, making sure they weren't followed. Once they arrived back at the safehouse, Sophia removed her duster, hung up it in the hall closet and went upstairs carrying her rifle. Ghost, on the other hand, headed into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. Likely, Kristina Rouge guessed, to wake him up before he left to spend the night patrolling the streets for criminals.

"Wait a minute," she said.

"Hmmm?"

"Ghost, can you, um…can you talk to me, for a little bit?"

He looked at her with knitted brow, looking slightly confused, but nodded. "What would you like to talk about?"

Kristina gestured toward the table and chairs. "Let's sit down, okay?"

He nodded, took of his weapon belt and draped it over the back of a chair, and sat down on it with his mask still on. Kristina sat down opposite him, looked at him for a few seconds in silence, then smiled slightly. "You don't seem much like a cop," she said.

Ghost scratched the stubble on his chin for a minute before he answered, as if considering something he hadn't before. Eventually he said, "Suppose I don't. I started serving another kind of justice when I started calling myself the Ghost. Or I guess, when they started calling me the Ghost." He looked up and realized Kristina had started leaning across the table.

"Can you tell me your secret origin?" she asked, eyes dancing slightly.

"My 'secret origin'?"

She leaned closer, starting to smile. "It means…like, how you decided to become a hero. Wear a mask and use a cool name. That kind of stuff."

"Well, I suppose it was back when I found out where Jack Clanton and his gang were hiding out. I called it in to the precinct, but after a little while I couldn't sit still waiting for backup to get there. Somehow I got it into my fool head that if I was sneaky and could catch them unaware one by one, I could get the whole gang by myself. Well, that worked for a little while, but then one of them got the drop on me, and Jack Clanton himself watched the whole time they roughed me up, then tied cinderblocks to my feet and threw me off the pier.

"Still don't know how I stayed conscious long enough to get out of the ropes. Not after the beating they gave me. But I did, and got back out when they were packing up their loot to skip town. That time I got the drop on them, and one started screaming I must be a ghost, because nobody could've lived through what they gave me. Anyway, there was a shootout, the building caught fire and burned down with the whole Clanton gang inside.

"After that, when I was recovering, I started thinking about other heroes we had. Back on Terra, where all this happened, I mean. Thought about how maybe I could do more good if I didn't have always worry about technicalities or what the captain said. So I started wearing a mask and going after crooks the regular police couldn't catch. And I started calling myself what the Clanton gang called me. The Ghost."

Kristina was looking at him so intently sparks almost seemed to pop from her eyes. "Cooooooool…so when did you get your powers?"

But Ghost shook his head. "That story…maybe I'll tell you that one later on."

"Does it have anything to do with how you reacted when you saw the robot tonight?"

He eyed her, but nodded. "A little," was all he said.

A mild pout formed on Kristina Rouge's face as he said that, but she nodded. "Sorry, I just…thought we trusted each other after that fight, you know?"

"Oh? Didn't you start wondering if you could trust me when you heard I used to be a policeman?"

"…you noticed that, huh?"

He smiled a little and shrugged. "Habits that keep you alive tend to be ones you never stop practicing." Looking away, he got out his cigarettes, lipped one from the pack and lit it. "What about you? What made you have an issue with trusting policemen?"
She looked down at the table for a minute while Ghost just puffed on his cigarette, waiting for to decide to answer or not. It ashamed her how long it took Kristina to find her voice, with how she prided on herself on not being afraid of anything. Especially not the police. But Ghost wasn't exactly a cop, and they'd made it through a few deadly experiences by depending on each other…

"Okay, see, it's kind of like this. I come from this family, they're really rich, but they're uptight. Traditional. Boring. For a long time I was a good kid, but by the time I got into college, I was tired of having my parents and their brothers and sisters planning every single part of my life for me.

"I started doing other things when I was supposed to be doing stupid rich girl stuff. Like learning how to shoot, and stunt drive. I bribed the rich boys my parents tried to set me up with to say they didn't like me. Hell, that wasn't hard, most of them didn't want to get tied down anyway. So soon I was driving in drag races and boat rallies and things like that. That's why I don't really trust the cops. They were always showing up at the races and trying to arrest everyone there…if they caught me, they'd take me back to my parents and everything I was doing to be me would just be over.

"Then I was right in the middle of one of those boat races when the lizard people appeared and the whole east coast turned into a jungle. Got so surprised I crashed the boat. Don't think my parents sent anybody to look, but I haven't tried to get in touch with them since then. I just let everyone who knew me think I died in the jungle. I don't want to get dragged out to the summer house in the middle of the country while they try to wait this whole war out like it's somebody else's problem.

"When those Delphi Council guys found out I could go into the jungle over there and stay the way I was, they promised to classify my name if I joined up." She looked out the door of the kitchen, at nothing in particular. "I guess that was the day I died, in a way," Kristina mumbled.

Ghost nodded, but cracked a faint smile. "Were you already thinking that, or did you think of it just now?"

She shrugged, but managed a sheepish smile of her own. "It's kind of appropriate though, isn't it? Both of us decided to use what we have to fight evil because of something that totally changed who we were. I mean…," she waved her cupped hands in circles for a second, trying to find the right thing to add to that. "We both kind of died, in a way, right? I might not ever use my real name again. Do you still even use yours?"

"If I tell you my real name, I'll lose my powers."

That seemed to catch Kristina off-guard, then she snorted, and laughed for almost a minute. When she recovered, she asked, "That's not really true, is it?"

He shrugged, but smiled below around his cigarette. "Who knows? Believe me, miss, there's plenty about this whole war that doesn't make sense even to somebody like me, or even those Delphi Council people. Hell, tonight we found out movies can help save lives, didn't we?"

"Movies…you know, I bet I could've been in movies, if I stuck around and did what my parents wanted. Instead, wherever I go now, it feels like I'm living in one."

Ghost puffed on his cigarette, gave a slow shrug. "Any world needs brave people willing to defend it. I may not know everything, but I can tell you that for a fact."

"And now people are gonna see us doing it in screens all over the Nile Empire, huh?" Kristina smiled.

Ghost nodded and smiled back.