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| - Stephanie grew exasperated in the pain and suffering she had to deal with. She moans in agony. Someone comes down the stairs. She looks up defensively. She can barely see the person. She’s been awake for hours, and has grown tired. Stephanie: Who… Who are you? ???: Shhh… The man is masked. He holds out his hand. He’s wearing a strange ring. Suddenly, energy comes from his hands. It connects to Emerald’s necklace. She begins to heal from her sickness. She regains enough strength to look closer at the man. He is tall, and wears a dark green cape with a diamond broach. Emerald puts on her mask. She notices something about the man. He’s wearing a similar pattern to hers. Emerald: What… Who are you supposed to be? ???: A friend. An ally. Emerald: Ugh… You sure helped me with that yellow fever. That seemed a bit… Too easy though. ???: Don’t mock what has given you mercy, miss. Emerald: I can’t thank you enough. ???: One shall be plenty. Emerald: Thank you. ???: Your dearest welcome. Now, I need to head off. I shouldn’t be around these parts. Emerald stands up and sees the man’s mask better. It looks almost like hers. She gets suspicious. Emerald: Are you… Posing as me? The mysterious man looks at her outfit. ???: I would have guessed you’re posing as me. Emerald: You. Who are you? I need a name, at least. ???: You don’t need a name. I’m an ally. Nothing more. Emerald: Alright, “ally.” Or whatever you want me to call you. ???: That’s all you need to call me. Good day, miss. The man runs up the stairs, making sure Emerald doesn’t catch too big of a glimpse of him. Emerald: That man. He resembled me. That ring. What is he? ~~ The mayor is at his desk when he is approached by the commissioner. The commissioner plops a folder on his desk. The mayor is bewildered. Mayor: What is this? Commissioner: Detective Hemsworth’s files on the homicide on the health commissioner. Mayor: So that’s what happened to him. Why don’t I get words like these when people miss meetings? Commissioner: I advise that you need to stay away, mayor. Mayor: Hawthorne, I have a job to do here. The festival is coming up in a few weeks and I need to prepare for it. In all my 25 years as mayor nothing like this has scared me. Look, Hawthorne, if you want me to be protected, send protection. I’m not going to abandon mayoral duties for a presumed threat. Hemsworth walks into the room. Hemsworth: It’s NOT a presumed threat. It will happen. Mayor: My gosh, Hemsworth. What happened to you? Hemsworth: I was assaulted by a gang. Someone helped me get out of there alive, though. The killer, I remember him. He was in that gang. The mayor sighs. He nods his head. Commissioner: Naise, you’re going to need to get away from this town. If they’re not afraid to assault Hemsworth, they’re definitely not afraid to hurt you. Mayor Naise nods slowly. Mayor: I see that, then. In that case, we must not show fear. I will stay in this office. Hemsworth: Naise- Mayor: In all my years as mayor, gentlemen, I have not shown fear. Today will NOT be that day. Good day to both of you. I expect some of Salem’s finest guarding this office. The commissioner and Hemsworth leave the office, frustrated. Hemsworth: Mayor Naise… What has hit his head? Commissioner: Nothing. Nothing at all, Hemsworth. He’s like this. Whenever he faces a hard decision he always goes with the most effective and less time-consuming one. He probably thinks this is a waste of time. Hemsworth: Foolish man. Walking into the mayor’s office is Carolina White. She looks around the hallway until she finally makes past Hemsworth and Hawthorne. Hemsworth: Good luck in there, miss. Carolina turns to Hemsworth. She examines his appearance. White: Looks like you had a rough night. I actually have come here by appointment. I wanted to speak to the mayor on how well Carl Backburns is holding up in prison. Hemsworth: Very well. (He grumbles.) Carolina: Thank you. She walks into the office, smiling. Carolina: Rough his night was, indeed. ~~ After the brief meeting, Carolina is met by James, who came for a meeting with the mayor. Carolina: Oh, James! What are you here for? James: The mayor wanted me and my sister to sponsor for the upcoming festival. Carolina: That’s wonderful. Do you know where your sister is? I need to talk with her. James: No idea. She keeps running off. I don’t have any idea what she is doing. It bothers me, really. She recently came home with a nasty bruise on her cheek. Carolina: You act like that’s abnormal. She always used to fight, remember? James: This is different. She’s an adult now. I worry about her. Carolina: Then stop worrying about her. She can handle herself. I’m sure of it. She’s handled herself when assaulted. She survived a gunshot. She’s practically unkillable. It makes me envious sometimes, actually. That she can withstand so much. James puts his hand on Carolina’s shoulder. The contrast in the sizes of the rather muscular and tall James and the small Carolina is really signified here. James: She’s not invincible. That’s what I fear. She’s going to get herself KILLED. Carolina: You don’t have faith in your sister, do you? James remains quiet. His eyes quickly moves to the left. He stares. James: Maybe I don’t. Carolina: Maybe you should. James nods gently. For a “giant” he is gentle. He is also a gentleman. James: I’ll try to make up for it. How about on the day of the festival, me, you and Stefay go out and just enjoy ourselves. Casual clothes. Nothing too fancy. It’ll be a nice warm day, I am sure. Maybe even eat some burgers. Carolina: Burgers? (She smiles and raises an eyebrow.) I want to keep a flat stomach. James: Oh peeshaw. You can have one lazy day. Carolina: I know, I know. James looks down at his watch. James: Welp, I need to get into that meeting. The sponsorship needs to be arranged. Have a lovely day, Carolina. Carolina: And a lovely day to you, James. ~~ The Virus examines the blood on his needles. They came straight from Emerald. He puts it into a petri dish. He slams it onto the Overseer’s desk, who is hiding in the shadow. It looks down with it’s bright eyes onto the table. Overseer: My. You got some of her blood, didn’t you? Virus: I did. Overseer: Yes. The Overseer grabs the dish with gloved hands, which are noticable by a beam of light. The gloves are a blue color and feature a thin arm inside with thin fingers. Virus looks intently at this. The Overseer notices and draws its arm back in. Overseer: You didn’t see anything. Virus: Understood. Overseer: Hmm… We could find out her true identity with this blood. It’s obvious this Emerald is a new threat to the Triad. If only we hadn’t lost the trace of our old foe. Virus: Old foe? Overseer: He’s disappeared, but we need not worry about him. Emerald is the new threat to the Triad. We only focus on her. Virus: I will test the blood right away, then. Overseer: Good. See to it. The Virus leaves the room. The Overseer looks at it’s arm. It lowers its brows. ~~ Carolina enters Barmms Industrial Jewelry the next day and comes upon Stephanie. She’s wearing make-up over her bruise. She is sweating, pretty much exhausted on what she had to deal with. James is off polishing some of the jewelry in the back. Carolina: You don’t look so good, Stephanie. Stephanie: I caught something over night. I should be doing better. (She sniffs.) Carolina: You’re sweating, Stefay. I can see that bruise on your cheek. Stephanie faces the mirror on her desk. The makeup is rubbing off. Stephanie: Oh my. Carolina: So who did you fight this time? James: No need to ask her, Carolina. She’s gonna lie again. Stephanie: You’re no better than me, you red-headed demon. Carolina: “Red-headed demon?” I’ve never heard you call him THAT before. James: She says it all the time. Stephanie: Whatever it is, I don’t want to talk about it. What do you need, Carolina? Carolina: I’m worried about you. Ever since that trial a week ago things haven’t been the same. At all. You’re disappearing more often and now you’re getting bruises on your face. So I wanted you and James to join me and have a fun time on Saturday. Just the three of us! Stephanie: Sounds fun, but I really need to catch up on all this missing work. James: Steph, I’m closing on Saturday because of the festival, remember? Stephanie: Oh yeah. Carolina: So what do you say? Stephanie: I suppose we can go. James smiles in the back, and Carolina’s lips stretch across her face. Carolina: This is wonderful! I’ll get the food prepared and everything! I’ll see you both next Saturday. Carolina leaves the building, excited for their little get-away. James: Well, I hope to see you on Saturday, sis. I look forward to it. Stephanie: I need it. I’m tired and exhausted. Hopefully everything is immaculate. No problems. James: I’m looking forward to you coming. Stephanie: You too. ~~ Seth Dwarn places his slightly-wrinkled hands on a helmet he had finally made. It has a peculiar shape, with large black eyes and a strap around the chin connected with a microphone. He places it on his head, and completes his armor by adding the gloves. The eyes light up, as well as some of the lines in the costume. Seth’s exposed mouth gives a toothy grin. Dwarn: It is finished. He holds his right arm in the air, with a triumphant fist. Dwarn: Oh, after all these years, I have finished this exo-suit. Perfected it. This will be revolutionary! Now I just need to prove how well it works…
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