CHAPTER 26: RHONDA LIVES AGAIN, PART 1
Rhonda Wellington Lloyd was born to the wealthy Lloyd family, to parents Buckley and Brooke. Most of her life was spent doing nothing more than fulfilling whatever desire her heart craved at any moment in time, with a pair of rich parents there to supply her with anything she wished; spoiling this child rotten with no inherent sense of responsibility or achievement. There was no chance of her becoming a respectable person.
Despite this, Rhonda still ended up going to public schools all the same, and even making a list of friends along the way. Her best friend turned out to be a girl named Nadine; a young woman interested in studying bugs, and made others along the way like 'Big' Patty; an ill-tempered but overall gentle giant of the school. For a while, life seemed easy enough, with no real sense of trouble her way, and she was never one to make things a problem.
Despite this, a problem eventually came her way in the form of a boy named Thaddeus Gammelthorpe, known by the school as 'Curly' for reasons unknown. After rejecting one too many of his advances, he eventually became an infamous mass killer known as 'The Freak'; raping Rhonda and leaving her comatose from her abuse. There was no chance for her to come back.
Despite this, she still forced herself through pain and misery to return her very consciousness to the realm of the living, and set on her mission to gain revenge on her rapist, donning the name 'Elite'. Her mission soon turned to a quest for justice upon meeting the Green Eye, but this came at a price. To save the life of Helga Pataki, Rhonda voluntarily donated her heart to save her, ending her own life. She was gone forever now; only living in the memory of others.
Despite this, Rhonda lives again.
Now, dressed in but a simple and thin blanket, she rises from her resting place on a metal slab; laid there not a few minutes ago as but a slab of meat. Now, this body has life in it once again, and a mind with it. Now, there exists nothing in the mind of Rhonda Lloyd but pain.
Being forced into this unholy and unnatural rebirth, Rhonda Lloyd screams in agony, shaking about her head and squeezing her hands over it in an attempt to make this pain stop. The terrible feeling of rebirth overwhelms her; she has nothing to do but scream to try to vent out this pain.
She is not alone in the feeling of this pain of birth. Ever-connected to the mind of this new Spirit Master is the original himself: The Green Eye. The terrible feeling of pain that comes with this rebirth overwhelms the mind of Rhonda Lloyd and seeps into the mind of the Green Eye; two souls damned in Hell as one.
Together, they share the thoughts and memories of Rhonda Lloyd as they come to her reanimated body. There are endless thoughts of the worst experience someone like her could feel, something that a young woman of her age should not have to bear: The moment in which she was raped by the Freak.
The feeling of having him thrust in and out of her and polluting her womb return to her again, sending her into a fit of rage. All the emotions return to her at once; pain, pleasure, lust, disgust, anger, arousal, orgasm, and cataclasm. This fury of emotions continue to swarm her mind, without any sign of stopping.
Suddenly, Rhonda ceased her screaming; kneeling down in her place to catch her breath. The Green Eye could still sense the thoughts flood her mind, but no longer felt any sort of pain behind them; all remaining in some kind of status of impartiality within her mind, but the emotions behind them seeming to balance themselves as 'normal'.
What remained even stranger, however, was her stare straight towards the Green Eye. The two still shared their connection as Spirit Masters, but there seemed to be a different kind of connection taking place between the two; one that the Green Eye himself would never even hope to expect.
Through her mind, the Green Eye felt a sudden rush of arousal; his entire body growing warm and tense. Likewise, he could feel much of the same coming from Rhonda as well, but with no understanding of why he felt this emotion. For now, there is no room in his mind for a reason. There is only room for this one emotion.
Valiance, out of the loop on this particular connection, paid no mind to the connection taking place between Rhonda and the Green Eye. All he cares about is one simple fact: His daughter is alive once again, and he has finally succeeded in his goal of bringing her back to life.
Hoping to at last hold her in his arms once again as his living daughter, Valiance began to approach Rhonda, reaching for her.
"Rhonda? Baby, it's me. It's daddy." Valiance said.
Rhonda seemed to pay no mind to her father; continuing her focused stare onto the Green Eye with the Green Eye himself staring right back at her. Still, Valiance continued to make his approach.
"Rhonda, honey, I've worked very hard to try to bring you back. I couldn't stand not having you here with me. Please, say something to me. Let me know you're okay." Valiance said.
Coming right up to Rhonda, Valiance began to reach his hand towards his daughter, aiming to put his hand on her shoulder.
"Rhonda? Baby? Please talk to me." Valiance said.
The approach of the hand finally came notice to Rhonda; her eyes snapping towards it and breaking her stare on the Green Eye at last. With this one break of concentration, the Green Eye fully realized the next action to be taken by Rhonda as it crossed her own mind, and rushed him to try to warn Valiance of it.
"No, Buckley, don't touch her!" Green Eye shouted.
With the speed of thought far outperforming the speed of speech, the Green Eye's warning came too late to reach the white knight. At a speed near lightning, Rhonda grabbed Valiance's sword from its sheath on his belt, following up with a kick to his chest; sending him back and causing her to make a spinning backflip into the air.
As Rhonda flew into the air, the slashes of the sword in her hand made their way to the necks of the various scientists, decapitating all the team within a few swift strikes. Just as Rhonda made her graceful landing back on her feet, the heads of the scientists hit the floor, their bodies following suit.
Decapitating those who brought her life once again, Rhonda returned her look back to the Green Eye, staring deep into his very consciousness with her third eye of the Spirit Master. She reads within his mind fear and terror; not expecting her to be so quick to kill.
In her own mind, there are continued flashes of the Freak violating her body; giving her unwanted feelings of both pain and pleasure. The pain she easily contributes to the perpetrator; recognizing the Freak as the enemy. To decide where to place her feelings of pleasure, however, she places them in the one person she shares any connection with at the moment.
Slowly standing up from her crouching position, Rhonda continued to look upon Arnold with her intense stare, and, finally, spoke her first word as a new, living creature, her voice gravelly and deathly as her body once was:
"Arnold." Rhonda said.
Gaining yet another assault of the mind with these intense emotions, Rhonda fell to her knees and leaned back, screaming in pain once again while shaking her head violently back and forth. It seemed as if she were trying to hold back the emotions in her mind, trying to gain control of herself again, but had little strength in that department.
[Soundtrack Cue: Lords of Acid - Voodoo-U]
Finally, taking the sword in her hand, Rhonda dashed into the air; her body covered by the simple garb of a blanket flapping in the air as she flew. Making a move of her sword towards a table, Rhonda slashed off the legs on one of its sides, subsequently kicking it towards the Green Eye next.
Jumping out of the way to avoid the collision with the table and its contents, the Green Eye watched as its contents of various chemicals hit the wall, exploding on contact. Realizing that Rhonda was not in the clearest of minds, he pulled out his staff and prepared himself for combat, needing to subdue Rhonda before any further casualites could ensue.
Running towards Rhonda, the Green Eye swung his staff towards her, colliding the wood with every swing of her sword. With the two being creatures more than humanity had to offer, the two moved with the speeds of pure lightning; the human eye just barely able to take in the speed that the two operated at.
For the Green Eye, this fight was a deadly case of mortal combat; needing to fight with everything in his body to stay alive.
For Rhonda, this is merely a dance, and they are but lovers engaging in it for fun.
Needing to stop his daughter from continuing her rampage, Valiance pulled a handgun to her head, causing the two to stop their fight within an instant. Keeping with the Green Eye's 'no-kill' rules, the gun was loaded with only rubber bullets, but more than enough to put Rhonda down for a moment.
"Rhonda, stop this right now! Listen to your father! Don't make me do this!" Valiance said.
Moving her head to the side, Rhonda prepared an attack towards her father, causing him to fire the bullet. Swinging her body to the side, she dodged the bullet completely, letting it fly past her and the rest of her swing over a kick to his head. Reacting to the sudden kick, Valiance blocked the kick with his wrist, only to have Rhonda send her other leg towards his chest, pushing him back once again.
Jumping up into the air, Rhonda began slicing away at the ceiling, cutting through thick concrete with her metal blade. Within less than seconds, the concrete began to crumble, sending a huge block of it falling straight down towards her. Slicing the mass right down the middle, Rhonda delivered a split-kick between the two halves; sending one towards Valiance and the other towards the Green Eye.
The task of evading this strike was a simple one for someone as athletic as the Green Eye; all he did to avoid the object was to simply leap into the air and spin over it, which he pulled off well. For someone in a bulky suit of armor like Valiance, however, this task was not so easily pulled off. Instead of managing to leap over the concrete mass, he instead found himself buried underneath it.
[Soundtrack Cue End]
Having removed the factor of Valiance out of her way, Rhonda focused her attention back onto the Green Eye, with nothing else between the two to come in the way of their warriors' dance. Once again, the two continued on their combat; their weapons being used as extensions of their bodies to touch one another.
Rhonda enjoys this feeling of having the Green Eye close to her, relishing in this battle greatly. To bask in it further, she blocked his next strike, pushing herself right up next to him. Forcing herself forward, Rhonda gave the Green Eye a kiss on his lips, holding him tightly and refusing to let go.
Wrapping a leg and her arms around him, Rhonda released her grip, allowing herself a chance to speak.
"Hey Arnold... Do you like me?" Rhonda asked.
"Huh?!" Green Eye asked.
"Do you like me?! Hold me, Arnold, make love to me!"
With his concentration for battle turned to confusion and disgust, the Green Eye kicked off Rhonda, letting him a moment to fully realize the situation at hand. His moment in search for some semblance of peace of mind did not last long, however, as Rhonda began to continue her advances.
Taking a finger to the blanket wrapped around her body, Rhonda tugged at its fold, letting it untie and fall to the floor. Dropping Valiance's sword along with it, she then began to fondle herself before the Green Eye, trying to control her raging lust. Sensing the muddled mind of Rhonda Lloyd, however, the Green Eye knew it was clear that there was no sign that this strange behavior would end from Rhonda anytime soon.
"Arnold... Use me... Abuse me... Love me... Rape me... My body hungers... My body is a temple... It desires worship... Now, FEED MY HUNGRY SOUL! I WANT YOU... FOREVER!" Rhonda shouted.
Before anything could come of her own demands, Rhonda fell to her knees, grasping her head once again in pain. Just as the pain and thoughts came to her, the mental assault came to the Green Eye as well; both minds sharing the same thoughts. However, while the Green Eye managed to only read these thoughts from Rhonda, it was her who had to suffer them firsthand.
Flooded inside her mind were thoughts of violation and torture, backed with them all the emotional baggage that accompanied such thoughts. Feeling her extreme case of arousal mixed with the thoughts of an act that pollute and tarnish the sanctity of sexuality and its complex nature.
In an attempt to remove the thoughts from out of her head, Rhonda fell to the floor, bashing her head against the cold marble to make the pain come to an end. With every bash she made, drawing blood from her head, and her newfound powers healing the wounds as quickly as they came, none were enough to rid herself of the agony of the memories in her mind.
"I'm... losing... myself..." Rhonda groaned.
Once again, Rhonda rose up from her place, leaning back while still on her knees. Clenching her fists and throwing them to her sides, she let out yet another agonized scream; her yell piercing the eardrums of all those in the vicinity. Trying to block out this horrid noise, the Green Eye and the downed Valiance grapsed their ears, just barely able to offer themselves some protection.
The scream seemed to blow past the effects of any normal yell; electronic equipment and any technological devices about the room began short-circuiting and exploding, sending sparks, shrapnel, and flame about the room. Miraculously, none of these hazards came close to harming Rhonda, all seeming to fly right past her.
Though no one else could notice this, the Green Eye saw the reason as to why this was. While Rhonda appeared to be kneeling in place, specters of her form were seen slicing and punching away at the various exploding objects; rampantly destroying anything she could get her hands on.
Finally, her screaming came to a sudden end; Rhonda at last catching her breath again. The instant that she managed to catch her breath again, however, she spent the opportunity to escape the premises. Making good use of this moment, Rhonda took one last leap into the air, disappearing into thin air as her lightning-fast speed brought her somewhere else far from here.
On her way out, however, her dash sent her towards a collection of the blood samples of the Green Eye, swiping away one in a syringe as she ran.
Now, with Rhonda gone and no trace of her left to be found, the Green Eye was left to process the catastrophe that had unfolded, and what should be done next. Taking a look towards the downed Valiance behind a cluster of concrete, the most obvious first move was to dig him out of it.
Following a few minutes of digging through the rubble, the Green Eye managed to unearth Valiance, offering him up from his buried place.
"Thanks. I guess, all things considered, you could have treated me a lot differently than-" Valiance began to say.
Before Valiance could finish his sentence, the Green Eye threw a punch to his face, knocking him back against the wall. Wiping a rush of blood from his nose following the hit, Valiance also spit some of it out of his mouth, sending with it some concrete dust with a cough as well.
"...and there's what I thought you would've done right away." Valiance said.
"Save me the jokes, Buckley. Do you have any idea, any sliver of a goddamn idea, as to what you've just done?!" Green Eye asked.
"I brought my daughter back to life! It's all I wanted out of all this, and, now I've got it!"
"That wasn't your daughter! It was a mindless killing machine! She just killed all those people without a second thought, and would've done the same to you! You can't just toy with the powers of a Spirit Master like that! I was given these powers and trusted with them, I had to earn them!"
"You were given them because you thought about jumping off a building when your grandparents died! Your powers were a damn pity gift! Why can't I use them to bring my own daughter back, but you get to use them to give your pathetic life a purpose?!"
"Rhonda made her own decision! You chose not to let her rest in peace! You decided to play god! You didn't even care about Rhonda before the Freak came along, what gives you the right?!"
"I'm a Lloyd! I take rights for myself! I decided to bring my daughter back so I could have my second chance!"
"You don't always get a second chance! You take what you have in life, and you make the best of it!"
"I tried!"
A small moment of silence fell before the two in the middle of their argument; caused mainly from the Green Eye trying to think of what he could say next. Before he could come up with an answer to Valiance's last statement, however, the two caught ear of the sound of breathing coming from another end of the room.
Turning to see who was left breathing following this event, the Green Eye and Valiance saw Dr. Combs cowering in the corner of the room, grasping at and covering up his head with his hands to shield himself from any more attacks that would come from the battling superheroes.
Offering the doctor shelter following the battle, the Green Eye rested a friendly hand on his arm, calming him down from the trauma he witnessed.
"N-No, don't hurt me! I only did this because he forced me to!" Dr. Combs pleaded.
"Easy, easy. I'm not going to hurt you. Just calm down." Green Eye said.
Soon, Dr. Combs calmed himself down from the state of panic he was in, able once again to communicate clearly.
"B-Buckley... He forced me to do this... I didn't want-" Dr. Combs began to say.
"I know. I can read it from you. I just want to know two things: Why is Rhonda like this, and how do we stop her?"
As the information was shared with the Green Eye at Membrane Labs, the remainder of the Hillwood Heroes remained trapped at the base; the underground building still on lockdown as Valiance had left it. With no way out and having already used their one way of contacting the Green Eye, there is not much for them to do now but sit and wait for help to arrive.
One of these members is Harold Berman, known now as the Star of David. Taking a secluded area to himself, he pulled out a pencil and some sheets of paper, going back to work on his letter to 'Big' Patty again. Just like before, however, he finds trouble once again in trying to send his message.
Hey, Patty. Really miss you, hope you've been missing me, too. I mean, I don't want you to really feel bad or anything, I just want to see you again, and I really wish that you want to see me, too. That way I know that I wouldn't be wasting your time or anything like- Star of David began to write.
Dissatisfied with his letter, the Star of David crumpled it up and tossed it aside, groaning in frustration at his poor attempts at communication. Not wanting to move on to writing another letter just yet, he decided to instead sulk for a moment, perhaps finding the answer to his problem in his mind following some time to think.
However, he does not gain much time to think alone. Attached to his hips at all times were his faithful friends Sid and Stinky, known also as Bad Boy and Dirt Man, both coming to provide their friend with some company. Trying to cover his intentions from the others, the Star of David tossed aside his stationery items, pretending to be up to nothing.
"Oh, uh, hey, guys, what's up?" Star of David asked.
"You tell me, dude. Looks like you just had a heart attack from us coming over." Bad Boy said.
"Yeah, what was that ya just tossed?" Dirt Man asked.
"It's nothing, it was nothing important, guys, really. Let's just forget about it." Star of David said.
Reaching down to the crumpled paper, Dirt Man opened it up, reading its contents while showing it to Bad Boy. Upon realizing their friend's true activities, both gave him a smirk.
"Ah... So that's what the whole fuss between you and Mr. Green was. He caught you writin' some o' these letters, didn't he?" Dirt Man asked.
"C'mon, guys, this isn't the time to think about that. We're stuck down here without any help." Star of David said.
"Coming from the dude writing love letters while we're stuck down here. Who even writes letters anymore, what are you, 50? Just call her or something, why don't you?" Bad Boy asked.
"N-No, guys, I can't do that. I was wanting to just do a letter so I could say everything I wanted to say right up front. I'd probably just stammer a lot on the phone or not know what to say."
"Aw, shucks, Harold. You shouldn't beat yourself up like that. You love this girl, don't cha?" Dirt Man asked.
"Well... I guess so."
"Then that's all ya need. Just phone 'er up, say whatever comes to yer head, and let it all work out from there."
"Yeah, dude. Just say whatever comes to your head. That's how this always works." Bad Boy said.
"Oh, yeah? Then why don't you do that?" Star of David asked.
"Cause I got nobody I care enough to do that with. Mary Jane's the only girl for me. But you got a girl."
"Yeah, partner. What's stoppin' ya?" Dirt Man asked.
"Look, guys, I really don't wanna go into this right now, okay? Can we just, like, hang out quietly or something for awhile? I think Arnold should be back any minute now, anyway." Star of David said.
"Fine, dude, Just trying to help." Bad Boy said.
"Yeah, whatever you say, pal." Dirt Man said.
And, so, the three continued on some light conversation with one another, biding their time until the Green Eye would come and claim victory, freeing them from their temporary prison. Likewise, there are 3 others who share some conversation as well, but their attempts to speak to one another are finding many roadblocks.
These three are Eugene, Sheena, and Nadine; also known as the Mauve Avenger, Flower Child, and Insect Girl. While the Mauve Avenger and Insect Girl find some light talking points to work over, Flower Child began secluding herself from the others, appearing very ashamed of herself for reasons well known to her and the Mauve Avenger, but not Insect Girl.
"Hey, uh, Eugene, I've noticed Sheena's been pretty quiet this whole time. Usually, you two are talkin' each others' ears off. What gives?" Insect Girl asked.
"Oh, well, uh... It's kind of a long story... and it's probably best left unsaid." Mauve Avenger said.
"C'mon, dude, we talk about our problems all the time and work it out. What's the deal with you two?"
"I... uh... I really don't wanna say it. It's something that we should put behind us more than anything."
"Well, then, why don't you just go up to her and put it behind yourselves?"
"What?"
"You say you've got a problem you need to work out, and you won't talk to me about it, so, why don't you just go work it out among yourselves?"
"But... I really don't think now's a good time."
"We're stuck down here 6 feet underground with no way out. You got something better to do?"
"...No."
"Then go work it out."
Unable to formulate any sort of way to get out of this situation, the Mauve Avenger hung his head in frustration, knowing that he would have to confront Flower Child one way or another regarding their past date. He can count it all up to his bad luck to have to deal with this scenario sooner than later.
Making his approach to Flower Child, the Mauve Avenger cleared his throat to speak his piece.
"Hey, uh... Sheena? Can I say something?" Mauve Avenger asked.
Flower Child shyly covered her face, keeping it looking away from him, but still keeping eye contact with him.
"Oh, uh... Yes, Eugene?" Flower Child asked.
"I, uh, wanted to say I was sorry for earlier today. You know, when you were at my house, and... Well, you know." Mauve Avenger said.
Not willing to let the Mauve Avenger apologize for her own wrongdoing, Flower Child fully faced her friend, appearing distressful in her appearance.
"Oh, no, no, no, Eugene, I'm sorry. That was my fault. Don't blame yourself for that." Flower Child said.
"But I threw you out and everything, I-" Mauve Avenger began to say.
"No, I was in the wrong. I was forcing myself onto you, and I knew you wouldn't have me. It was stupid of me; I shouldn't have done that."
"You were just trying to do something to make me happy. I understand where you were going; that wasn't a bad intention. I know I've had a lot of bad relationships, but you've always been there for me. Even if I don't have a partner, it's great to still have a great friend like you."
Hearing this confirmation come from her best friend's lips, Flower Child gave a smile at last; her appearance of anxiety and shame seeming to fade away at last.
"Thanks. If anything else, I don't want to lose a friend like you. You're my best friend." Flower Child said.
"And you're my best friend. Hugs?" Mauve Avenger asked.
At his request, the two shared a friendly hug; the two friends reconciling after their miscommunication and their friendship restored back to normal. Though there is peace for the moment, there are still the desires lying low within the heart of Flower Child; desires far too human for her to simply ignore or forget, even she tries to now.
The emotions between this man and woman are too complex to be worked out in a mere fortnight in isolation to be fixed, but there are another man and woman with complex issues that have found some manner of resolution on the horizon. These two are Gerald Johannsen and Phoebe Heyerdahl, known now as G-Funk and Lady Tetsu.
Stuck in this temporary prison, the two try to make the best of their situation; holding each other to make their wait for rescue more comfortable.
"Man, looks like we started to plan leaving this city just too damn late, didn't we?" G-Funk asked.
"Oh, don't beat yourself up, Gerald; nobody could've guessed something like this would happen." Lady Tetsu said.
"I know, but that doesn't make this crap any easier to deal with. Well, with this on our hands, I hope you don't mind us having to put our 'moving-out' plans on hold, do you?"
"It might not be that long a hold. I'm sure Arnold'll come walking through that door any moment now, and we'll have some good news regarding this whole ordeal."
"Yeah, right. If there's one thing I learned about all this superhero stuff, it's that nothing gets solved that easy. Believe me."
Right as G-Funk finished his sentence, the emergency lights went out in the base, with the regular lighting activating in its place. It seemed that all systems of the Hillwood Heroes base was now fully back online, and the notion was all but confirmed with the front entrance opening.
Stepping out from the front entrance was, as expected, the Green Eye. What was not quite so expected was that he was joined by Valiance, but in no way appearing to apprehend or restrain him; both walking into the base as if nothing were wrong whatsoever, save for their facial expressions.
Most recognized the oddity of this, given the present situation, and G-Funk chose to voice his concern regarding it.
"Hey Arnold, what the hell happened, man? How come we ain't lockin' V up right this second?" G-Funk asked.
"We have a bigger problem than what Buckley right now. Right now, it looks like we need all the people we can use, whether we like it or not." Green Eye said.
"What, man? What happened?"
"I did it. Rhonda's alive." Valiance said.
Elsewhere, the subject of conversation for the Hillwood Heroes, the resurrected Rhonda Lloyd, made her way down the streets of Hillwood, seeking shelter away from wherever she was; her only concern to be away from any source of pain as quickly as possible. Her reborn mind is still a muddled mess, and she wants no more distractions so that she may clear her head.
Stepping in front of a window of an empty shop, Rhonda takes a look at herself to contemplate her thoughts.
She knows nothing about who she is, or where she is. She does not recognize the city, or the thoughts and minds of its inhabitants that swarm her mind. Most importantly, she does not seem to even recognize the reflection in the mirror, or what sort of history this body of hers has had.
There are only two faces in her mind: The Green Eye, and the Freak.
In the Green Eye, she feels a sense of warmth and security, with an unbridled lust taking over her body.
In the Freak, there is an intense hatred and feeling of pity, coupled with the desire to see him suffer.
While Rhonda is caught up in her thoughts trying to recollect her mind, there is another being that begins to share these thoughts and feelings; but this being is one so far removed from the known reality of man, leaving her to feel these emotions alone and not have a soul to help her.
The human race has thought of many answers to answer the larger questions of the universe; some have looked to science for the most practical and reliable answers, while others have created their own mythologies and led others to follow them on for an easier answer. What neither party has truly found, however, is what really lies beyond known human life, let alone even touched it.
In one timeline, this place was well-known and exploited, simply known to many as the 'Ghost Zone'; a state of limbo for lost souls who have found neither paradise nor damnation. One of these souls is a being named Rhonda Lloyd, once a young woman who gave her life to save another.
In her state of limbo, she has sensed feelings of warmth and security, coupled with its opposition of hatred and pity. These feelings should have no connection to her as she does in her state of death, but there are still these feelings that linger here and now, and she knows something is wrong.
Though she does not truly want to return to the real world, she makes her way back now, needing to find advice for what to do now.
Unable to take the thoughts that cloud her mind, Rhonda threw a punch to the glass, shattering it against her hand. The broken glass left cuts all across her hand, but soon healed in an instant under the powers of the Spirit Master. With no more wounds to worry about, she stepped within the store, seeking out something to cover her denuded body with.
Taking a red leotard from off a mannequin, Rhonda placed it on, letting its soft cloth offer her an undergarment. Placing on next a pair of knee-high boots and elbow-high gloves, each a matching shade of red, she added to these a long red strap across her neck, tying it around as a choker.
With one last addition to her outfit, Rhonda threw on a black leather jacket, completing the last portion of her clothing. Taking a collection of white makeup, she then applied the cosmetic cream to her face, applying the blank white color to one half of her face, leaving the other half uncovered.
Now, with her new outfit expressing her as she sees fit, Rhonda is ready for the next portion of her own mission.
Trying to reach the one person who would offer her some help in her time of need, Rhonda rushed her way through the limitless space of the Ghost Zone, hoping that she could find the way to find this important person and the way still be functional. Flying past numerous other ghosts pointlessly roaming about this realm, she found no true interruptions in her path; most too focused on themselves or each other to care about her.
Making her way to ghost portal of Vlad Masters, Rhonda made her way through the rift; entering the basement of the aforementioned millionaire's mansion. In seconds, an alarm set within the room, warning whoever might be listening of her presence, and warning the intruder to leave.
She paid no mind to the warnings to leave, instead continuing to wait for the owner of the portal to arrive. Phasing down through the ceiling within his ghost form, Vlad Plasmius flew down to the room; his hands charged with ectoplasmic energy, ready to fight whatever might be in wait for him.
Upon seeing Rhonda Lloyd, however, his fists charged down; recognizing her not as a threat.
"I thought we had settled our little affair. What are you doing back here?" Vlad asked.
"Please, I don't know how, but someone's done something to my body. I can feel things that I felt when I was alive; things that... Well, happened to me when Curly got to me." Rhonda said.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure, I also felt some kind of... power. I don't know what it was, but it felt like I was... in tune with people, like I knew what they were thinking."
Recognizing the problem in an instant, Vlad's facial expression turned to one of concern and fear; a facial expression that remained upon changing back to human form.
"Lloyd... You really went and did it. You idiot." Vlad said.
Hillwood Gardens Cemetery is the final resting place for many of the citizens of the city; one's visit to this eerie but peaceful place being their last visits to make, save for the occasional relative or loved one paying their final respects. It is also home to one of the city's famous folk tales: The tale of the Ghost Bride; a story about a bride-to-be who murdered her groom-to-be after she had found him in bed with her sister.
Tonight, it is home for another tale; a tale far too close to home to be considered tall. It is the beginning of the tale of Rhonda Lloyd; the woman who had died and come back to life, granted with the vast and great powers of an ancient people called Spirit Masters.
Stepping to a grave marked in her name, Rhonda took a pair of shortswords off from a gargoyle in the cemetery, approaching the headstone of her final resting place. Looking upon the date of her death, a smile came to her face with a laugh coming out of it; the fist show of any sign of positive emotion from this living body. Of course, this sign was anything but positive for the moment.
"Arnold..." Rhonda said.
With a show of lightning-fast strikes, Rhonda sliced away at the death date, leaving it blank.
"Lover..." Rhonda said.