(Champions)

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No Rest For the Watchman, Act 2

Ralph looked over his shoulder nervously and fingered the roll of bills in his pocket, ill-earned money from his nightly Bliss sales. No one there. Can't be too sure though, with those Night Watch crazies and that ...thing out there. He stopped in front of an alleyway to light up. He took a deep drag and started to walk on, but his foot seemed to be stuck. He looked down and saw a shadowy wraith-like figure clutching at him. He turned in horror to find himself face to face with an empty cowl. The figure raised a blood red hand and reached for him...

High above the city, a scream of absolute terror rends the night...

Sigma flies past Benny en route to the scene, hair flaring out behind her.. Yes, quite eager to prove 'ghosts' don't exist.

Benny blinks when he hears the scream and pours it on double time to bounce as fast as he can to catch up with the scream before... well... the unthinkable happens.

A street punk is struggling in the clutches of some shadowy wisps as the apparition reaches for him with hands that practically drip a reddish light...

Benny bounces off a lamp post and barrels into the apparition with an oversized rubbery fist, "NO!"

Sigma frowns.. "Hey!" she cries, to get the 'ghost's' attention. "Let the punk go!" her words are backed up with a blast of energy.

Sigma opens her hands in front of her.. Keeping the distance for now, and lets a blast of energy leave her hands. "I /said/ let the slime go."

Watchman 's form fades and the glow vanishes from its hands. It becomes more like a shadow itself as the blast passes harmlessly through it.

Sigma frowns to herself.. "What...?" she asks in dismay as her blast goes right through it.

Benny exclaims, "Holy insubstantial-Action!" Then desides that now would be a good time to reach out, grab the Punk, yank him to safety.

The punk is wrenched free from his spectral captor and deposited safely behind the heroes.

Benny glances at Sigma, "Ok... now what?"

Watchman gazes at Benny with its empty eyes, "AgAiN yOu InTeRfErE. wHy dO yOu PrOtEcT tHiS cReAtUre?"

Sigma asks hopefully, though she sure she already knows the answer.. ".. Have anything that works against phasing?" Then yells back at the ghost. "What do you want!"

Watchman says, "JuStIcE. tHe DeAtH oF aLl EvIl. To FiNaLlY rEsT."

Benny balls up his fists, "look, I know how ya feel... ya look at a world and say, 'Look at everything that's wrong' And ya just wanna fix it by takin' a big knife and just cutting through all the mess, and I'm sure that it looks easier to just cut up this guy too. But it's a world of black and white, Mister Watchman, sir. Ya only see grey when you see black, but want to see white." He looks back at the punk, "Killin' this guy is very, very grey. That's why I'm gonna stop ya... every chance I get."

Sigma frowns to herself, then yells back.. "Killing people's pretty evil too, ya know!"

Watchman stares at its hands, "I hAvE bLoOd On My HaNds. I hAvE tO kEeP wAtCh. ThEy HaVe DeSeCrAtEd mY lEgAcY."

Sigma reaches for Benny.. "that thing isn't killing anyone right now.. keep it talking..." Then her voice raises, to be heard by the 'ghost' .. revenant? again "What legacy!"

Watchman writhes, "I wAs... I wAs. No.. I hAvE aLwAyS bEeN tHe WaTcHmAn. NeVeR AnYtHiNg ElSe... I cAn NeVeR rEsT..."

Benny thinks for a bit, "Sucks when someone takes yer innocence, huh?" He thinks a bit more, "You wanna rest, huh? Wanna make sure the job gets done, right? Ya earned the right to rest, ya done yer job, time to move on, Sir. The Night Watch, they're doing what they can, but they're kinda like you, confused on how it's done. They need someone to show them the way back to the light, but it's not gonna happen in blood, sir." He walks forward hands out in front and open, "I'll make ya a deal... so ya can rest... if yer interested."

Sigma watches Benny go.. Heh, to think /she/ was going to help /him/

Sigma stands a bit, and finds another patch of light to rest in.. close to the other two.

Benny stops in front of The Watchman, "Ya didn't have any kids, did ya? Nobody to carry on... take the torch as it were?"

The eye in the Watchman's medallion glows red, "ThE nIgHt WaTcH!?" It howls. "fRaUdS! iMpOsTeRs! No ReSt! AlL mUsT dIe!"

Benny holds up a hand to sheild his eyes from the red glare, "There is another way!"

Sigma frowns.. Fighting, again. Well, the energy blast didn't work. Taking a breath of air, Sigma tries something different. A shimmering field all but bursts around Sigma, drawing a scowl of concentration from the wild haired girl as she overcharges it.. fueling the bright flash that spears from her hands to the ghosts eyes.

Watchman's form is illuminated by the burst of light, but it seems to have no effect...

Sigma . o O(Stupid ghosts x.x)

Benny winces a bit as the flash goes shooting past.

Watchman becomes more solid and its hands glow red again as it glides toward Benny...

Benny desides the time for talking is past, and the time for action has arrived. He tries to rip the Medallion off the Watchman's neck.

Watchman reaches for Benny, "FoOl. My PoWeR iS nOt In TrInKeTs. OnLy My CuRsE."...

Fortunately, the apparition is very slow and Benny quickly steps back.

Sigma shakes her head.. This, is idiocy.. At least, maybe, she can help Benny get out of their. Standing to her feet, she races over to the ghost, trying to wrap her arms around it. Not like she has anything .else. to try."

Watchman writhes and howls. It vanishes in a burst of flame and smoke.

Benny blinks, "Holy Bearhug-action!"

Sigma says, "..."

Sigma smirks a bit after the appiration disappears. "See, ghost's don't exist..."

Benny looks around, then at Sigma, then at the punk on the ground. He turns his head to the sky and shouts, "Your curse is self-inflicted! Your power is a mockery of what you stand for! Ya know WHY the Night Watch is doing what they do? Huh??? DO YOU??? Because of YOU! They. Look. Up. To. You!" He puts his hands next to his mouth to really shout this one, "YOU Made THEM!!!" He lowers his hands slowly, "Darn it."

Benny looks over and checks out the punk to make sure he's ok.

You see in still flickering embers, a message has been burnt into the wall of an abandoned building.

"I have blood on my hands.

It's 1945. I'm at Auschwitz. Too much. It's 1946. I'm home. In Missouri. A Black man is being beaten by a bunch of young punks. I wade in. One tries to stab me. With my soldier's reflexes I easily take his knife away. I keep myself from killing him, pinning him to the wall through the shoulder instead. The rest scatter. I pick up their victim and run as sirens wail in the night."

The punk has run off while you were busy with the Watchman.

Benny sighs and looks at the ground for a bit, then looks up, "Wanna job?"

Sigma sighs, shaking her head a little.. "If it was a ghost, it wouldn't get squeezed to death. They're ghosts.. they don't get squeezed."

Sigma walks over ot take a look at the sign. "... Guess whatever it was, made peace with itself..." A sigh. "Who were the Night Watch?"

Benny shakes his head, "He just left, like last time... And the night watch is a gang. They... are a bunch of vigilanties."

Sigma nods, her brows furrowing.. "What do they have to do with a world war 2 vet?

Benny says, "They follow him. He's their idol. They all wear his symbol... as they go around breaking people's legs."

Benny scratches his head, "The watchman... he's confused I think. He doesn't wanna win. but he can't see the way out." he gestures to the burnt message, "He's askin' for help."