(Champions) - October 5, 2001

---------------------------------------------------------

No Rest for the Watchman, Act 1

The northern part of Harrisburg Lane is just as bad off, if not worse, than the southern portion. Some of the two-story homes are boarded up, some with homeless squatters inside. Graffiti marks the territory of one gang or another. Drug dealers and other seedy members of society have moved into this section of town, bringing with them crime that follows. Few, if any, trees and shrubs remain. The grassy lawns of yesteryear are now overgrown with weeds and broken glass from bottled beverages sprinkled about. The inhabitants of this part of town are the destitute and are the homeless.

++++++++++++

Watchman

A ghostly figure dressed in tattered grey costume with a ragged dark green cape and cowl. It also has well worn gloves and boots of the same shade of green. A large tarnished brass medallion fastens the cape to the costume. The medallion looks like an old style lantern, except that the lens has been repalced by a human eye. The eye twitches and looks around. A warm wind sweeps around the figure and blood red light pours out of tears and rips in its clothing. It's cowl is dark and seemingly empty.

++++++++++++

Night Watch Thug

A tough looking man in a black jumpsuit with a ski-mask. He something that looks like a badge pinned to his shirt, except that it looks like an old fashioned lantern instead.

++++++++++++

Equinox

The figure before you presents a somewhat imposing image, a tall, nearly two meters, hooded man in silver and black. Soulless eyes regard you from an inky darkness beneath a bright metallic silver hood and mask, covering his head and obscuring his mouth and nose. Comprised of the same silver material are his belt and metallic bands worn on both forearms and on his legs between knees and ankles. He wears a skin-tight bodysuit; the upper half colored black, the lower half rises to an inverted "V", the point being at the middle of his chest.

He moves with a fluid grace and speed which seems matched by his costume, from the bright silver portions which move and shape themselves in a way very unlike metal to the lower part of his suit which displays ever changing patterns of darkness and light, occasionally forming familiar shapes, but often shifting from one thing to another too quickly to be followed.

++++++++++++

Ninja

Wearing a black outfit, reminiscent of a ninja. Her hands and feet are wrapped in thin cloth, but otherwise uncovered. Nothing more of her is showing, not even the color of her eyes in the dark hood covering her face.

++++++++++++

Benny

You see a young boy of about sixteen years old. He appears to be made out of rubber. His hair is black and one peice. He has a cartoonish feel about him. His eyes are big and brown in a puppy dog sort of way. He's dressed in salvation army surplus. He's got his chin held up high and is quite proud about being rubber. Yes, he's got that look about him that says, 'Go ahead, crack a rubber joke.' He's quite proud about being a petrolium product, and has the attitude to match. He smiles and nods when he notices your attension. He is dressed in navy blue sweat pants, brown boots, and an old brown leather jacket

+++++++++

Ire

Rigid black metal forms a statue of a teenage boy with the hard matte of cast iron. His fine-worked ferrous limbs flow and bend powerfully, with the malleability of the wrought form of the dense material. Black hair, black eyes, black skin, black nails move like some heavy amorphous machine, then settle back into the crisp, slim androgynous juvenile form.

His fists are hammers, chest an anvil. Fingers, arms, torso and legs flatten to smooth ribbons of steely strength. Magnetic lines of force trail iron filings as the youth tracks with iron resolve.

His face has the blank, calm look of one old before his time. He is Ire. A massive scar, shaped like a jagged lightning-bolt, stands out brightly over most of his body, centered on his heart.

He is clad in a chainmail tee-shirt and loincloth, unornamented, but freely moving against his limbs and torso. This garb is flexible and magnetically adheres, but the shirt does not stretch to cover the flat iron stomach when the malleable mutant stretches.

***************

A hideous shriek rends the night air, like a soul being ripped out of a person's body. It's hard to tell in the canyon of the city's streets where it comes from exactly, but it seems to be from the Harrisburg neighborhood.

Ire torpedoes through the city like a self-propelled slinky, seventy miles an hour.

Benny sticks to the air, bouncing along in huge arcs, from roof top to roof top.

Ninja just runs. The heroic sneakyperson heads in this direction, a bit of a blur of motion.

Shadows leap and dance from an alleyway, like clutching wraiths or grim apparitions from hell itself. It is horribly warm, like a fevered breath. Within the alley you see that a ghostly figure has a man in a ski mask backed up against the wall. Another man in normal clothing lies at its feet...

Benny stops in mid jump when he sees what is going on and just floats there, "Holy Ghost-Action!" He exclaims!

Ninja takes to the shadows, so she can have a look at things before diving into action like she did the other night and nearly fell over from it.

Ire dives into action, unlike Ninja or Benny. He zooms right into the middle of things, and sticks in the mouth of the alleyway, blocking off egress. A malleable body is capable of such stunts. "Ahem?" he pipes up.

Watchman turns. The eye in it's medallion looks at you, "i HaVe No QuArReL wItH yOu, BuT tHe GuIlTy MuSt DiE. ThEy HaVe BlOoD oN tHeRe HaNds..."

The shadows and warm wind fade away. The Watchman's hands begind to drip an almost fluid blood red light.

Benny goes white as a ghost when he puts two and two together and looks at the guy lying on the ground, "you... WHAT???" He drops out of the sky to land between Watchman and the cornered fellow.

Ire reaches for the Watchman's victim, feet magnetized in place, arm lengthening. "If you kill, you have an argument with me."

Jelani enters from Harrisburg Lane South.

Watchman says, "ThOsE wHo WoUlD sHiElD tHe GuIlTy wIlL sHaRe In ThIeR fAtE."

Ninja is concealed, to her knowledge, behind garbage containers. She has her weapon ready to dive in and stop the evil bad man with the glowing red hands, or to give him a distraction, or something.. her last battle didn't turn out very well.

Ire says, "Demon or ghost, tell me who are you, to judge the innocent or guilty by what you say they do? Release your victim, and stand by. Tonight, no one else is going to die."

Jelani was strolling peacefully through the run-down neighborhood and now pauses at the sight before him, most especially the apparition and its victims.

Jelani thinks . o O (that's.. not possible?)

Watchman intones. "I aM tHe WaTcHmAn. I wAtCh FrOm tHe ShAdOwS. EvIl CaN nOt eScApE mY sIgHt."

Benny stares at the Watchman, "Two wrongs don't make a right, and three SURE don't either..." He turns to face the guy in the mask "Hey buddy! Time to go Bye-Bye!" He laces his fingers together and holds out his oversized hands at about a foot off the ground, "Foot goes here, you go roof, NOW."

Ninja remains in the shadows, ready to leap out and just.. well.. um.. get in the way of something and block it with a mighty sword. That sounds sensible.

Jelani looks around and attempts to slip behind a building unnoticed, seeing that this is going to get nasty.

Benny continues to wait until the guy has a chance to jump away.

Night Watch Thug jumps on the trampouline and leaps up to the roof.

Watchman turns and glares at Benny, "So Be It. YoUr DeAtH fOr HiS..." It reaches out to touch Benny's arm...

Benny twists out of the way, "I can't die yet, I have books I need to return to the library..."

Watchman gropes for Benny, but it is too slow...

Ire reaches toward the other fallen figure, his hand stretching to take up the form with as little distress to it in the paramedic teenager's best fashion. Even the dead deserve better than to be stood over by ranting maniacs.

Ire lays the body aside, his shaman training serving in stead of first aid, as a muttered observance is made. The tracker in the iron boy is not entirely quiessent, but this is not the time for that.

Ninja decides to take action now! She leaps out, to distract the nasty badman with a nice strike! "Ninjapunch!" she yells as she comes in, warning of her presence.

Watchman hisses and flames surround its form. It vanishes, leaving behind only a foetid smokey trace.

Ninja lands the blow, then on the ground, confused looking. "I did not think I had hit him that hard.."

Benny mumbles, "Holy teleport-Action!" And leaps up to the roof looking for the masked dude.

Night Watch Thug is hiding behind the edge of the roof.

Equinox moves into the street. He looks at Ninja, "Did you do that?"

Ire's neck cranes from where he kneels beside the body. He looks about, startled.

Ninja looks at Equinox, "not with conscious effort," she replies. "at least, I have never done that before. It may have been under his power to leave."

Benny looks around, "The Guy went vapor, we need to Boogie!" He reaches out to grab the guy and then jump back down from the roof with him to his buddy lying on the ground.

Equinox nods, then places a hand to his chin.

Night Watch Thug is too shaken to resist at the moment.

Benny sets the thug down and looks at the guy on the ground, "he doin' better?"

Ire looks up from the body. "Desecrated," he pronounces.

Benny blinks, "Huh? Shouldn't one of us call an Ambulance?"

Ninja whips out a small pad of paper, and begins making notes.

Ire shakes his head. "No Earthly aid can save this man." His hand closes the lids of the empty eye sockets.

Equinox looks to those present, "Has this happened before? Do any of you know?" He then peers at the graffiti.

Ninja looks oddly at the wall, "I have not before seen this.."

Ninja puts her notepad away, leaping up to a roof via wall-bouncing.

Burned into the wall of the alleyway is the following:

"I have blood on my hands.

I look at the battered bodies of the two thugs at my feet. Suddenly it's 1944. I'm 17, in France, and terrified. At my feet are the two German soldiers I've just killed. It's been 11 days since I parachuted in, and already I've seen too much."

Equinox mutters, "1944... This doesn't make any sense..."

Benny stares at the body, "We... need to get him to the hospital! maybe they... can... still save... him..." His voice trails off and sounds very hollow.

Ire reads this. "Yes. This... I know these words." He shudders. Does he? "I mean, it sounds... familiar. Someone's wife is dead." Twelve years of hearing random thoughts floating about the astral plane, he might have heard it anywhere.

Equinox looks at the body, then to Benny. "He is correct. Nothing more can be done for him here."

Night Watch Thug pulls off his ski mask and slumps against the wall and holds his head in his hands.

Ninja is having a quick look around up there for the nasty bad thing, before returning.

Ire looks at the thug. "That. What is that?" he demands, pointing at the thug's badge.

Ire says, "Where did you get it?"

Ninja leaps back down from the roof, coming back into view. "Who are you?" she wonders, her tone soft. She checks the thug over for evident injuries.

Night Watch Thug hesitates, "Um... It's the sign of the Night Watch..."

Equinox turns quickly at the sound of that, "Night Watch? What do you know of him?"

Ire looks down at the dead body.

Night Watch Thug shakes his head, "Not much.... the leader says he used to live around here. We're trying to honor his memory by trying to clean up the neighborhood of scum like him." He points at the body.

Ninja stands. "You are the cause of his death?" she asks, her tone growing less soft.

Ire says, "Some think the Totem Hunter killed the Night Watch," he intones, musing. He asks the thug, "Did you take this man's eyes?"

Night Watch Thug shakes his head vigorously, "No! I don't know what that was!"

Equinox chuckles grimly, "Perhaps that... is your leader's role model."

Benny just stares at the body then spins on Ninja, "He's not Dead yet!" He says suddenly, "Where's the nearest Hospital... we just gotta get him to a hospital..." He looks around at everybody with a look of desperation.

Ninja ahs. She nods, "good."

Ire says, "That was grief. That was... pain. That was love driven mad by loss."

Ninja looks to Benny, "you are certain?"

Benny doesn't look certain, he looks like he's in denial, "I..."

Ninja heads to the fallen body, checking it for signs of life. A finger touching the base of the jaw, where a pulse should be.

Benny closes his eyes, "It's not supposed to work like this..."

Ire examines the thug more closely. "You are told to kill people, so you do?"

Equinox glances towards the thug, "Either their leader is very charismatic... or they are simply very stupid."

Night Watch Thug says, "No! We don't kill anyone. Sure, cripple 'em maybe... but not kill."

Ninja glances up, then about. "..come with me, please?" she asks of Benny, looking back at the others to ensure they have the situation well in hand. Deciding they have it good enough, she offers a hand to Benny.

Benny takes the offered hand, "he's... gonna be ok... right?" Boy, does he look hopeful.

Ire boggles. "You are told to cripple people, and you do?

Night Watch Thug says, "They're scum! They sell poison and corrupt the innocent!"

Equinox says, "And you, of course, taking the law into your own hands... you are blameless?"

Ire sighs. "And you know this for sure, of each one you... cripple? You give them a trial? You hear their side of the story?"

Night Watch Thug says, "Somebody has too! What's wrong with you... we're just like you!"

Benny snaps his head around to just STARE at the thug when Benny hears the words, '...just like you...'

Ninja leaps, slowly, up to the roof of an immediately nearby building, Benny in tow. Upon landing, she releases, "he did not survive.. It is a loss that is very tragic, and with any luck, singular. When there are villains who are willing to kill, then there will be deaths. Until we are able to stop them. This one we found tonight, committed a crime he will pay for. We also prevented him from committing it a second time."

Ire's face freezes like a statue in stillness. "Pray you are wrong."

Equinox turns away from the thug, moving to trace the scorched writing with his hand.

Ire moves closer to the thug. A quiet little boy of pure iron, he watches him wide-eyed with a neutral expressionless face.

Night Watch Thug returns Ire's stare with the unwavering determination of a fanatic.

Benny looks up at Ninja, then says, "But... the good guys are supposed to win..." He pauses for a bit then back flips off the roof to land in front of the thug, "You see... we're the good guys. We help people, we don't tear them down... we build them up! Sometimes we gotta fight, but we don't wanna. We're the good guys. We... Heros are about doing the right thing... being the best example we can... ya see... the world is Black and white. You only see grey when you see black... but want to see white." He smiles a bit...

Ire says, "The ghost was ready to kill you. A life for a life, he said. Tell me now, crippler, who does he think you left dead?"

Night Watch Thug stays quiet.

Equinox looks back at the thug, "After tonight, I think it should be clear that your silence will NOT protect you." He then moves to the street and flies off.

Ninja smiles, rather pleasantly. She follows Benny, slowly as before, gracefully landing, without a sound.

Equinox flies up into the sky overhead and disappears.

Sirens can be heard in the distance.

Ire waits for the authorities to arrive, watching the thug. "It doesn't matter, much. If he's powerful enough to come to the world of the living at will, then in the world of the dead, he will have the means to make his wishes real. He has all the time he needs."

Night Watch Thug sweats a little.

Within minutes a police cruiser and an ambulance arrive to collect the thug and the body and take statements.