FOURTH CHAPTER

"Well done Joan, you're really taking to this hero business." Little Girl God says.

"The super strength helps." (Joan removes her hands from the cold water and is surprised that the pain has already stopped. The burn damage is visibly reversing.) "It helps with the healing too, but how is it going to help deal with a ghost?"

"Your Samson-like strength was just to get you into Sky High. It is your ability to speak with ghosts that is key. You must reason with him Joan before it is too late. Before he does something irredeemable."

"I don't know… he doesn't strike me as someone who discusses issues reasonably. Am I suppose to guide him into the light?"

"The light has always been there. He has just chosen to turn his back on it to pursue his quest."

"Then I was right. He is one of the nine who died defending the school in '53. His quest doesn't seem unreasonable to me. All he wants is to be remembered."

"When he was alive, the boy dreamed of a lifetime of heroic deeds, but his only opportunity was that fateful day when he willingly sacrificed himself to save his comrades. When the school chose to cover up the incident, he began a quest for justice. What began with nobility has, with the passage of time, turned into rage and a thirst for revenge. Help him Joan."

"What if I can't change his mind? What then?"

Little Girl God reaches out and touches the fleur-de-lis necklace Joan always wears in honor of the original Joan of Arc. She simply says, "My blessing."

"What was that about?"

"You now have a talisman that can be used to cast him down. Use it only as a last resort."

Gulping nervously, Joan asks, "Cast him down? You mean like into hell?"

But Little Girl God is already walking back towards the steam clouds, giving a small backhand wave as she disappears. A moment later, Coach Boomer, Mr. Medulla and Nurse Spex enter the shower room, and the steam clouds dissipate.

Spex asks, "Joan, are you alright?"

"I'm fine Aunt Olive, but Ramirez needs your help."

The nurse rushes to the blonde girl's side and checks her vitals. After a whispered consultation with Boomer, the coach lifts her in his arms and carries her away while Spex follows. Medulla holds out his hand and the spy sphere resumes floating above Joan's head.

"A curious development, Miss Girardi. Do you have an explanation?"

"Why ask me? You're the science guy. You come up with the proper scenario."

"On the surface, what happened defies immediate scientific explanation."

"Seems to be a lot of that going around. Care to consider a supernatural possibility?"

"Miss Girardi, we are not a group of primitives who attribute ever difficult to explain event to the actions of gods, ghosts or gremlins. Grow up girlie, because with that attitude, you'll never graduate this school."

Muttering to himself, Medulla exits. Joan smiles and looks up at the golden sphere.

"So, did you miss me?"

X X X X X

Later that night, Nurse Spex notices the floating sphere outside her apartment door. Insisting on her privacy, Spex had gotten Medulla to agree that her quarters were off-limits to the device. The older woman enters only to find Joan has already prepared dinner.

"This is a pleasant surprise."

"I may not be up to your standards as a cook, but I've been told my meatloaf is pretty good. So how is Ramirez?"

"Fully recovered and on her way home. It's a strange case. The girl insists she was badly burned, but there's no damage anywheres on her body. On the other hand, scans showed her immune system had revved-up to maximum as if it were fighting off burns and infection."

"Huh, weird. Aunt Olive, I was thinking of that 1953 battle you told me about. Did one of the boys who died have some sort of wind powers?"

"Wind powers? You must mean Vortex, or rather, Fred Jarboe. We were near the end of senior year, and he had already picked his super hero name. How did you know? There are no records from that year—not even a yearbook. All knowledge of the class of '53 is hidden in the secret documents vault."

"I just wanted more details. What was he like?"

"An ordinary looking kid, athletic, very bright and very brave. In the attack, after the initial bombardment, the hit us with concentrated mustard gas, which is very corrosive. It burns the skin and dissolves the lungs, and that gas cloud coming at us would have killed us all. Fred stretched his powers beyond their normal limit and turned his entire body into a giant whirlwind. He went out to deal with that gas, knowing full well what was going happen to him. He sucked up all the mustard gas and carried it to the edge of the mesa. Fred was screaming in agony as he went over the rim. The mercenaries that followed the gas attack were expecting an easy mop-up operation. Our counter attack swung the momentum of the battle to our side."

"There's one more thing I wanted to know. If all of this was suppose to be so top secret, why did you tell me about it?"

Spex sighs, "The school board gave me notice that my contract would not be renewed at the end of the school year. They say I've gotten too old, and maybe they're right. But only members of staff, current students and active duty heroes can bring proposals before the board. Over the years, many of us have pushed for a memorial to the class of '53, but now I'm the last one. Unless someone younger takes up the cause…"

"Then the sacrifices of those brave students will be forgotten. No wonder he's become so angry."

"Who are you talking about?"

Actually, WHAT is the more important matter. I know what we are facing, and I know what I have to do, but I'm going to need help from you and some others if justice is going to be served."

TBC/Please review