 
Buster's Legacy

Book Five of the Adventure Chronicles

by

Jeffrey Allen Davis

Published by GCD Publishing at Smashwords

Copyrighted Material

© 2016, Jeffrey Allen Davis

This book is a work of fiction. Places, events and situations in this story are purely fictional. Any similarities to actual persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is available in print at most online retailers.

Cover Art by Nathan Bonner

Cover Layout by Timothy Johnson

Title Set in AnuDaw Font by Nyek Pinoy Komik

(Used With Permission)

Christian Fiction

http://jeffreyallendavis.wordpress.com

http://gcdpublishing.wordpress.com

Unless otherwise noted, all Bible verses are quoted from the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible.

To Sarah Dawn, my Beloved Niece.

In your short life, you touched the hearts of so many.

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12 (KJV)

Prologue

April 9, 1993

Friday, 9:17 PM

A small, Midwestern town like this one usually had very few businesses that remained open after 9:00 PM, but Jameston, Missouri, took that even further. There were not even any bars in the small town, not that alcohol was illegal here. But with the street gang that ruled the little town demanding higher protection charges from businesses that were open after ten, the owners of the bars had closed up shop some time ago.

After Sheriff Goodman had resigned his post to move his family to the equally small town of Sera, about two hours' drive to the northwest, the man who took his place, Sheriff Brad Simmons, was widely known to be on the Renegades' payroll. One would not find a patrol car on any streets where the gang's drug deals were going down. One would not find a police officer coming along to stop a mugging that was instigated by Ben Shalley, the leader of the Renegades, or one of his goons. And very few break-ins of any of the businesses in the town were thoroughly investigated.

In fact, there were very few occurrences in Jameston in which Ben Shalley did not have his hands. But tonight was different. There would have been no way that he could have known about the horrible thing that was about to step into his town.

The air was crisp on this clear, spring evening. With not a cloud in the sky, Craig Browers was surprised to see what he thought was a bolt of lightning strike a couple of blocks away. His mother had begged the senior at Jameston High School to be home early, but he had lost track of time while visiting his girlfriend's house. Now, his curiosity was going to sidetrack him again as he decided to check out the disturbance. He rubbed the back of his neck, looked around to make sure that nobody was near, and then headed in the direction of the lightning bolt.

* * *

He stumbled out of the glowing door. He had known that the coins that he had stolen from the prophetess and her husband were special, but nothing like this. The place where he was now standing was different than anything that he had ever seen. The ground was hard, as if the entire area were made of one large rock. The buildings seemed to be made of a similar substance. Artificial lights, perhaps created by some long-lasting spell, stood at the top of poles that were positioned along the roadway, which also seemed to be made of the rock-like substance.

Hoping to avoid being followed through the glowing, blue doorway, he kicked at one of the coins, knocking it farther away from the other. He watched in dismay as the coins disappeared with the door. But his fear at being stranded on this alien world was short lived. A red glow flared from his right hand as a sharp pain shot up his arm. He opened his fingers to see the other item that he had stolen from the couple who had nursed him back to health—a small ruby. It was now shining with an unholy light as it burrowed itself into the palm of his hand.

He screamed.

Another mind . . . another personality . . . was trying to force itself into his head. He knew that it would seek to completely remove his own consciousness. And it was a fight that he was quickly losing.

Craig walked around the corner just as he heard a man scream in anguish. His eyes were saucers as his heart leaped into his throat. He played football, but would not dare to tackle with the Renegades if they were hurting someone.

Then, he saw the man. He was wearing black leather pants and a white, button-down shirt. He was standing in the deserted parking lot of Vince's grocery and grasping his wrist in pain. And it looked as if his hand was on fire.

As Craig broke into a run toward the man, the pitiful fellow bellowed again in agony, then dropped to the ground. Craig came to stand over the stranger to find him unmoving. He gave the man a cursory examination. He no longer saw any sign of fire. The man's hand did not seem blackened. The man's clothing, which looked like it belonged in a Renaissance Faire, was stretched out as if it were made for someone who was smaller and not having the rippling muscles that this man possessed. In fact, the man's soft, leather shoes had split down the middle.

Craig's eyes focused on the man's hair. It was blonde. That was strange. He could have sworn that it had been dark when he had first seen the man. "Hey, Mister," Craig whispered. "Are you okay?"

A bright, red light flared from the man's right hand as it shot up and clasped Craig by the throat. "I am doing quite well," laughed the stranger.

As the demonic glow began its changes within Craig, he screamed as he had never screamed before . . ..

Chapter One

April 10, 1993

Saturday, 4:00 PM

The meeting hall in this hotel near the riverfront of St. Louis, Missouri, was beautifully decorated. Imitation paintings from the likes of Van Gough, da Vinci and Picasso covered the walls around the room. The tables had been moved to the side by the Japanese men who had rented the room, leaving the center of the room barren. Now, only one table was set to hold guests and seated along it were a line of elderly Japanese men . . . and one man who was in his early twenties.

Around the neck of the younger man, one Tang Shakato, hung the pendant of the jonin, or leader, of the Funakoshi ninja clan. He was the first of his family, or of any family outside of the family from which the ninja clan had taken its name, to possess this symbol. His honor had been sore ever since he had gotten it, however. He had not won it in combat. It had not passed to him upon the death of his predecessor. He had been defeated by the gai-jin who had possessed it before him. Jamie Raleigh, disgusted by his clan's insistence that he take Tang's life, had willingly resigned his membership.

Now, the American had requested a meeting of the jonin and the elders of the clan. Tang did not venture a guess as to why. He only hoped that Raleigh had come to challenge him again so that he could finally defeat the westerner and prove to the rest of his family that he was worthy of the rank of leadership that he now possessed.

The double doors opened and he entered. Tang's eyes narrowed at the teen. Unlike the Japanese members of the clan, who came to these meetings wearing formal suits, young Jamie Raleigh seemed determined to disgrace them in his jeans and T-shirt. The top that he wore now had a red and blue character on it that seemed preoccupied with spiders. The same character had been on the shirt that he had worn when Tang had fought him before.

"Thank you for agreeing to see me," Jamie spoke in English as he ran his fingers through his light brown hair, then bowed.

None of the elders returned the act of respect, nor did Tang. One of the elders, Tatsu Yakamura, replied in cold tones, "We only agreed to meet with you in respect for your late sensei, young nunekin. Your actions at having abandoned the Funakoshi during our last meeting were disgraceful at best."

"Granted," replied the adolescent. "I do regret my withdrawal from the Funakoshi, though I still do not apologize for my refusal to kill Tang." He looked at the current jonin. "But I have come to rectify the situation."

Tang rose from his seat. "Are you challenging me, gai-jin?"

"No, Tang," came a familiar woman's voice from the hallway. Stepping into the open was Yoshika Funakoshi, her clothing similar to that of the gai-jin, save for the lack of a character on her shirt. "I have come to challenge you."

* * *

Jamie was almost amused. The elders, just moments before having used the insulting term, nunekin, for a clan-less ninja, were now at a loss for words. Even Tang, who had never had a problem speaking his mind, was shocked into silence. Of course, he understood their feelings only too well. Yoshi had died the previous summer.

Finally, Tang cleared his throat and demanded, "What is this, Raleigh? How can she be here?"

Yoshi stepped up to stand beside Jamie and said, "Do not presume to speak of me in the third person, Tang. I am Yoshika Funakoshi, the rightful jonin of the Funakoshi clan. And I have come to challenge you for my birthright."

"So Raleigh was lying!" bellowed Shakato. "This proves it! Yoshi was never killed!"

"So now you go from accusing me of lying about how she died to lying about her being dead?" asked Jamie. "Get a grip, Tang."

"Do not speak to me by my first name, gai-jin! You lost that right when you left our clan! And she is most certainly not dead!"

Yoshi folded her arms across her chest. "Oh, but I was dead, Tang."

"Then how is it possible that you are alive now?" asked Tatsu.

"For many years, my uncle and family have worshipped the Christian God," explained Yoshi. "Only He can restore life."

"The same God who prevented Raleigh from taking my life before?" asked Tang venomously.

"Precisely," responded the kunoichi. "And the same God who will prevent me from doing it when I defeat you as Jamie did."

Shakato shook in barely-controlled rage. "So you are challenging me?"

"Unless you wish to step down peacefully," replied the girl.

Tang looked at one of the elders and yelled something in Japanese. The elder rose to his feet and walked out of a door in the back of the room.

Jamie looked curiously at his clan-sister and she whispered with a smile, "Be a sweetheart and bring my ninja-tos for me, will you?"

Jamie turned and walked out of the room, heading to where they had set their suitcases in the hall just minutes before. Jamie grabbed a long, cloth sack from the floor and stepped back into the room.

Tang was already standing in the center of the room, facing Yoshi. He was twirling his sword, feeling the balance of the weapon. Yoshi regarded him without emotion, her arms at her sides. Jamie walked up to her and opened the sack. Reaching inside, she produced her twin ninja-tos. She unsheathed each and handed the scabbards to her clan-brother.

Jamie turned and headed toward one of the tables that had been pushed to the side, seating himself upon it. He then focused on the two ninja who were about to fight.

"This is your last chance, Tang," commented Yoshi in English, obviously for Jamie's benefit. "Step down peacefully."

Shakato growled something in their native tongue and charged her, his sword thrusting straight out. Yoshi calmly crossed her blades and used them to catch his weapon, pulling it from his grasp.

Tang looked at her in stunned silence as she used her ninja-tos to hand his sword back to him. "Maybe you should try that one again," she suggested sweetly.

He took the sword from her, then assumed a defensive stance, the weapon held underhanded behind his back. Then it shot out again, but she again disarmed him in the same way, this time dropping to the red-carpeted floor and sweeping his legs from under him after she had captured his blade.

Yoshi tossed his sword back toward the table of elders, then pointed one of her blades at Tang. "It is over."

Jamie was impressed. He knew that his clan-sister was skilled with the sword . . . more so than any person that he had ever seen. But she had humiliated Tang, where Jamie had barely beaten him.

Tang nodded, so Yoshi stepped back to give him room to climb to his feet.

"You have done well, Yoshika," commented Tatsu Yakamura. "It is good to have you back, my jonin."

She bowed to the elders as Tang walked to stand in front of their table, no longer possessing the rank to sit among them.

"My first official act as jonin . . . the second time . . . is to reinstate Jamie Raleigh as a chunin who represents my family," declared Yoshi. That word, which Jamie had not heard in months, brought him back to the rank that Tang now possessed.

"And the Shakato family?" asked another of the elders. It would have been clan law to punish any family who tried to usurp leadership from the leading family while one of their number still lived, had it ever been done before in the clan's history.

Yoshi regarded Tang for a moment. "As I said before," she said evenly, "I was dead. I am grateful that Tang Shakato has acted in my stead. His family will be remain in their rightful place in our clan."

Tang bowed to her gratefully.

* * *

"I still do not believe that you had such a difficult time defeating him, my brother," commented Yoshi as she and Jamie stood in line at the counter of the large hotel where she had just defeated Tang Shakato.

Jamie, who was actually surprised at how relieved he was to be back in the Funakoshi clan again, shook his head and grumbled, "Don't rub it in."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Me? Never. But I was expecting more of a challenge."

He sighed. "He hated me. He wanted to kill me. That tends to make a person fight harder. He always kind of liked you."

She regarded Jamie coldly. "And how would you know that?"

Jamie shrugged. "It was pretty obvious."

She tilted her head to the side and flashed him a crooked smile. "Jamie Raleigh, you are a wonderful person, but you are a horrible judge of romantic things."

He nodded. "I would agree with you on that. But, in your case, every male in our clan . . . and most males who aren't in it . . . find you attractive. It's hard to miss that."

"Every male?"

"You really are quite striking."

They arrived at the counter and the clerk—Megan judging by her nametag—asked, "Names?"

"Yoshi Funakoshi and Jamie Raleigh," replied Jamie.

Megan nodded and she typed the names. "Keeping your last name to protect your heritage? I really respect that."

"I beg your pardon?" asked Yoshi, her eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Your honeymoon suite is ready."

The two teens stared at her blankly.

"Did I say something wrong?" asked the girl.

"We are not married," explained Yoshi.

Megan's eyes widened. "I'm sorry. With the honeymoon suite, and all . . .."

"We're supposed to have two separate rooms," stated Jamie.

The girl checked the reservations again, then shook her head. "I show that the accommodations were added about ten minutes ago. The suite was paid for by a Tatsu Yakamura." She pronounced the name with some difficulty.

Jamie sighed and rubbed his temple. "Why would they give us a single room? Can you change the reservations? If he wants to pay for our rooms, he can pay for two smaller ones, rather than a large one."

The girl checked the computer. "I'm really sorry, but the last two smaller rooms were just given away." The clerk's hand shook with nervousness. "Science fiction convention."

Yoshi nodded. "It is okay. It is not your fault. And I do not feel like driving all the way back to Sera this evening."

The girl handed a key to each of them and they headed toward the elevator.

* * *

Had the parking lot that sat in front of where the warehouse once stood not been deserted, the six foot high, three foot wide, glowing blue rectangle that shimmered into existence there may have frightened someone. But there had been nobody here since the cleanup after the building had exploded the summer before.

A distortion flowed through the glow, like water rippling after something was dropped in it. Then, a human head with a scraggly, red beard peered out. After the eyes examined the area, the mouth opened and declared, "The coast's clear."

The rest of the body stepped forward, wearing a traditional Scottish kilt and a white T-shirt that stretched with the rippled muscles of his chest and shoulders, as well as the jolly roundness of his belly.

Next, a blonde haired woman stepped forth, a blue robe covering her from neck to ankle. Her blue eyes took in the area as she absently moved her hair behind her right ear, which ended in a startling point.

Then another girl, this one a teenager, stepped out. She wore a gray, button-down shirt and brown leather pants that tied in the front. She ran her fingers through her brown hair as her blue eyes scanned the area in wide wonder. As they settled on the street lamps that illuminated the area, she asked the man, "Deck, are those magic?"

The man shook his head. "Naw. There's not much real magic going around on Earth. That's run on electricity."

The blonde girl looked at him in confusion. "Eeeelectrrr . . . . what did you call it?"

Deck checked his large sword in its scabbard. "Electricity. Pretty much everything here works on it. We use it for light at night, for televisions, radios . . .." He trailed off as he looked at his wife. "Elvara, you're gonna have t'keep yer ears covered. There aren't any elves here."

She nodded and pulled the hair back over the one that she had just uncovered. "I am sorry. I forgot."

"Where are we?" asked the brunette. "I mean, in relation to your cottage here?"

"My house is a couple of miles in that direction," Deck responded, pointing to the south.

"We should try to find the thief immediately," commented Elvara.

The other girl, Bryanna, replied, "We haven't slept in over twenty-four hours. If we don't get some sleep, we'll be in no shape to fight him when we do find him."

Deck nodded his agreement. "We'll head to my house and try'n get some rest."

Elvara sighed, then turned and grabbed the two coins that formed the base corners of the glowing portal. As she picked them up, the rectangle faded from existence.

* * *

Their lips met passionately. Her hands held his head close to hers, while his arms surrounded her waist. Jack and Marti had been dating for over four months, but had never really had much of a chance to be alone, between their classes at the community college in the Bluff and their jobs working at different fast food restaurants. Tonight, her parents had left her to watch her nine year-old brother, but she had allowed him to walk to his friend's house up the street. She wanted to make the most of the time that she had with Jack. The two of them sat alone on the couch in the living room of her parents' home, the dusk light coming in the large picture window behind them.

Then, the window shattered, showering them with glass.

Jack and Marti leaped to their feet and jumped away from the couch as two men climbed in the window. One of the men was almost seven feet tall with muscles that rippled under his shirt, which didn't seem to fit properly. His hair was shaved down to where barely half an inch of it could be seen on his head.

The other man was over six feet in height with muscles that matched those of his companion. His blonde hair looked out of place over his well-tanned face. With supernatural swiftness, his glowing, right hand shot up and grabbed Jack's right wrist. As the glow began to move up Jack's arm, he screamed in agony.

Marti turned with a screech of her own and ran out of the living room, heading down the hall and plunging into her bedroom. She slammed the door and locked it, then turned to scan the room, her blue eyes settling on a window on the other side. She ran to it and slid the glass up. She leaped through it, landing on a flower bed outside and crushing some flowers there. Standing, her heart pounding in her chest, she turned toward the front of her house and saw the two men standing there, regarding her with amusement.

"You shall not escape, Whip," commented the man with the glowing hand. "Like Slash, we will help you to remember yourself."

Her eyes narrowed in confusion, but she was too terrified at the moment to ask any questions. She turned to run, but found her way blocked by a third man. He was shorter than the other two, his 5'10" frame topped with a dark Mohawk. She screamed when she saw his hands. His fingers had been replaced with smooth blades. He opened his mouth and a maniacal laugh escaped, shattering her already weakened nerves. Though filled with absolute insanity, there was something familiar in the sound of his laugh.

"Jack?" she whispered weakly. "What have they done to you?"

Then the man who had spoken was upon her and her screams of terror became wails of agony as the glow spread over her and began to transform her . . ..

Chapter Two

Saturday, 7:03 PM

The suite was huge. They had a living room with a hot plate and microwave, a bathroom that was larger than both of those in Jamie's parents' home, and a bedroom with a king sized bed.

Jamie examined the couch in the living room. "It folds out into a sleeper," he told Yoshi. "I'll sleep here tonight."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "I could sleep here and you could have the bed."

He shook his head. "No, this is fine. Really."

She nodded. "I am a little hungry. Do you want to go to that Cajun restaurant that we passed up the street? We could probably walk there in ten minutes or so."

"I don't think I've ever had Cajun food before," commented Jamie. "Gumbo?"

She smiled at him. "My parents used to eat it frequently. Crawfish are quite good. But they also have chicken, if you would prefer."

He nodded at her. "I think I'd prefer that."

* * *

The sight of his home brought memories flooding back to him. They had walked through the yard unmolested. Apparently, Jamie and the others had removed the booby traps that he had put out to get rid of unwanted guests.

Deck heard his wife clear her throat. "Is it common for dwellings on the Motherworld to look like castles?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Mine's a one of a kind." He stepped forward and checked the smaller door that stood beside the working drawbridge. It was locked. He turned and walked to a large rock that was about the size of a basketball.

"Why do we not use the drawbridge?" asked Bryanna.

"It can only be opened from the inside," grunted the big man as he pushed the rock to the side, revealing his hidden, extra key. He snatched it up and stood to his full height again and headed back toward the door.

Bryanna had walked to the side of the home and looked toward the back of it. "Is that your forge back there?" she asked, gesturing toward the small building in the back.

Deck nodded as he unlocked the door. "It's been cold since I went to Thera."

"Where are your stables?" asked Elvara.

Deck finished unlocking the door and pushed it open. "I don't have one."

Bryanna walked over to the door and peered inside. "Then where did you keep your horse?" she asked.

"I didn't have one," he replied. "I had a motorcycle." At the two women's puzzled expressions, he explained, "It's kind of like a mechanical horse. But they don't need stables." He gestured for the women to enter first. The house was dominated by one large room with a bathroom off the kitchen area. As he followed them in, he reflexively tried the light switch, but realized that his Earth friends must have had the electricity disconnected months ago.

Jamie and the others obviously did not come here very often. They had set sheets over all of the furniture. As Deck looked around, his thoughts went beck to that fateful night eight months earlier when the Renegades had come to his house and kidnapped Shawna Weston, which started the chain of events that led Deck and Adventure to the world of Thera. While there, Deck had met and fallen in love with Elvara. When Jamie and the others had come back to Earth, he had stayed there, marrying the elven prophetess.

He shook his head to clear it. It had been his thought that he would never return to his planet of birth, but the theft of the magical coins and the cursed ruby for which he and Elvara had taken responsibility had prompted this visit.

"You only have one bed," commented Bryanna. "And it is small."

"That couch folds into a bed," he explained, pointing at the long piece of furniture that stood on the opposite side of the living room from the doors. "You can take the bed and Elvara and I will sleep there."

The big man walked to the small eating table that stood in the middle of the large room and pulled the sheet from it. On it was a kerosene lamp. He checked the reservoir to find that there was a small amount of fuel left in it. He turned and headed toward a console upon which his small television sat, opening a drawer and pulling a small box from it. Then he opened the box as he headed back toward the table and pulled out a match, striking it on the lighting patch on the box.

"Incredible!" commented Elvara in awe as a flame leaped to life on the end of the match. "A self-lighting stick!"

"Yeah," responded her husband, "they come in handy sometimes." He lit the lantern and the room was bathed in a soft glow. Then he walked to the door and closed it. "We'd better get some sleep. We'll try to get in touch with Jamie and the others first thing in the morning."

* * *

The Bourbon Chicken was actually quite tasty. Jamie had been expecting the food to be spicy, but the dish that he had ordered was actually rather sweet. He looked across the table at Yoshi, who had cracked open the outer shell of a crawdad and was pulling the contents out to eat. "You actually like that?"

His clan sister nodded. "They are related to shrimp and lobster. Do you remember that creek in Jameston that was up the road from my house?" At his nod, she continued, "My mother used to catch crawdads there and cook them for us." She held out her fork, a bit of the meat on it. "Try it."

Jamie grimaced.

"Uncle Tanemura once said that a wise man embraces as many new experiences as possible."

"That wasn't Master Tanemura," countered her clan brother. "That was that rat who trained those turtles on that cartoon. And he also said that he realized that some experiences were less embraceable than others."

The two of them chuckled.

After a few moments of silence, Yoshi asked, "Why do you think that Mr. Yakamura reserved a single room for us?"

Jamie shrugged. "Maybe all the other rooms were occupied."

The kunoichi shook her head. "She said that the last two had just been given away. But the reservation for our room had been made ten minutes earlier."

"Maybe they had made an assumption about us," commented Jamie.

"The clan?" asked Yoshi. "If so, they did not seem as upset about it as we would have expected."

* * *

Jameston high school was dark and empty, save for the science room on the second floor. Mr. Thomas Merrit, the science teacher, spent more time here than at home. He was busily labeling chemicals that would be used in the chemistry lab when the students returned from Easter Break in a week. He enjoyed the silence of the school when the students were all gone.

"Sulfur," he mumbled to himself as he poured a controlled amount of the smelly, yellow powder into each of the six test tubes with the correct labels.

The sound of glass breaking downstairs shattered his comfortable silence. "Blasted kids," he muttered as he walked out into the hallway and headed for the stairs that would lead to the first floor.

When he got to the bottom step, he noticed that the glass to the window that stood next to the southern door of the school was shattered and that the door stood ajar. There's something not right about this, he realized. This isn't ordinary vandalism.

He ran up the hall to the secretary's office and opened the door, stepping inside. Standing in front of the desk, he grabbed the phone and hurriedly dialed the sheriff's office.

"Police dispatch," came a woman's voice from the other end.

"There's been a break-in at the school," whispered Thomas.

"Where are you calling fr . . .," the phone went dead.

The teacher tapped on the receiver latch, but could not get a dial tone. "What the . . .?"

"We couldn't let you interrupt our reunion, Tee," came a voice from the hall. He whirled around to see two men standing there. One of them was almost seven feet in height, with a buzz cut and a physique that was dominated by muscles that would win a Mr. Universe competition. The other, the one who had spoken, was muscular, as well. He was over six feet in height, with light blonde hair and a scar that ran across his right cheekbone. His right hand glowed a startling red. Both men wore clothes that were too small for them.

Thomas heard maniacal laughter coming from under the secretary's desk and looked back to see another man climbing out from under it. His head was topped with a dark Mohawk and he held the severed phone line in his fingers, which had been replaced by razor-sharp blades.

A whimper of fear escaped the teacher's throat as he turned and bolted into the next room, the principal's office, slamming the door behind him and locking it. He rested his ear to the door, listening to see if they were going to try to get in. He realized that the police dispatcher had heard him say that there had been a break-in at the school. Surely they would send somebody to investigate. All he had to do was hold out long enough for them to arrive.

"Don't fight us, Tee," came a sultry voice from behind him. He turned his head slowly, terrified of what he would see. Laying on the desk and turned on her side so that she was facing him with her head perched on her left hand and her elbow propping it up, was the most provocative woman that he had ever seen. Her flowing, red hair cascaded down her shoulders in torrents of color that could be seen in the moonlight that was streaming in the window. Her green eyes settled on him and her lips parted into a seductive smile that flashed her perfect, white teeth. Her button-down blouse was unfastened to a point as to be barely decent.

"Why . . .," he swallowed, his mouth dry with fear. "Why do you keep calling me that?"

"Because it's your name, silly boy," replied the woman as she climbed from the desk and walked toward him with a seductive sway.

He shook his head, his body trembling in horror . . . or was it desire for this woman? "My name is Thomas Merrit. I teach science here at the school."

She came to stand in front of him and reached up, caressing his cheek with her right hand and sending shivers . . . Fear? Excitement? . . . down his spine. "It's been so long since we were together, Tee. But, you'll see. BM will make you remember again. Just like he made me remember. I'm sorry about this, lover." Her soft palm left his face and balled into a fist, striking him across the jaw and sending him into blackness.

* * *

When the door opened, they saw Whip standing there, the man lying on the floor at her feet.

"Did you kill him?" asked BM, the one with the glowing hand.

Slash cackled insanely as he carved a pentagram into the secretary's desk.

"Of course not," replied Whip. "I merely knocked him out. I didn't want him to get away."

BM nodded. "For our revenge, we're going to need your boyfriend's special talents." He knelt next to the science teacher. "We can pick off our enemies one at a time, but Tee'N'Tee's explosives will help us to slaughter them in quantity." He reached out with his glowing right hand and took hold of Mr. Merrit's wrist . . ..

Chapter Three

Saturday, 9:36 PM

The weight room was empty, save for one teenager. Simon Wilson, member of the street gang that ruled the little town of Jameston, Missouri, lay on his back on the inclined bench, his feet held firmly in place by the cushioned foot rests. He had just finished a few sets of bench presses and was now laying at a forty-five degree angle, doing sit-ups.

" . . . forty-eight . . .," he settled back into a laying position, then went back up with a grunt, " . . . forty-nine . . .," he once again settled back, then came up again for a final time " . . . fifty."

The sound of clapping from the doorway caught his attention. He turned to see a beautiful woman with flowing, red hair watching him. She wore jeans and a button-down, white blouse that only had the bottom three buttons fastened. He tried not to stare.

"I'm sorry," he said, blushing. "I didn't know anybody else was here this late." He glanced over at his workout bag, deciding to put a shirt on.

As he climbed off of the gym bench, the girl said, "I remember you being big for your age, but I don't remember you looking so . . . scrumptious."

Simon had started to grab his backpack, but now looked at the girl in confusion as he ran his fingers through his sweaty, blonde hair. "I'm sorry, have we met?"

"It's been a few years, but you and your friends handed us a humiliating defeat." This was a different voice . . . a man's voice . . . that was coming from the hall.

Simon unzipped his backpack and grabbed a T-shirt from it and put it on. He looked at the woman, who was now pouting.

"Did you have to do that?" she groaned.

"Uh, yeah," replied Simon. "I don't like for anybody—even if they're as hot as you are—to look at me like a piece of meat."

Four men walked into the room and stood around the woman. Two of them wore clothes that would be fitting for most teens these days, though he would confess that the dark Mohawk that one of them sported seemed out of place. One, whose right hand was held behind his back, wore clothing that looked like it was taken from a JRR Tolkien novel and a man in the back with midnight, black hair and eyes with irises that matched, wore a suit and tie that looked totally out of place on him.

The man with the fantasy clothing smiled at him. "We know you well, Simon Wilson."

Simon held his hands up. "You have me at a disadvantage," he replied. "Do you have a problem with the Renegades? If so, take it up with Ben. I don't know anything about their illegal stuff and I don't want to."

One of the men, a giant who stood at least seven feet in height stepped away from the others. Simon, who was tall at 6'3", looked up at the man in awe. Though he could beat Mike Noddingham, his largest friend, at arm-wrestling, Simon would never have the courage to tackle this guy.

"Renegades?" commented the giant. "We are here regarding Adventure."

Simon could not hide his confusion. "Adventure? I haven't been in Jamie Raleigh's club in four years. Who are you guys?"

The giant looked back at the man in the fantasy clothing questioningly and the man with the tie asked, "Why did you quit?"

"Because Ben and my brother quit and started their own group." Simon looked at each of the visitors in turn, then demanded, "Who are you?"

The giant wrapped his arms around Simon, pinning the large teen's arms to his side. Simon tried to pull free, but it was like trying to bend steel. "HEY!"

The man with the tie pulled it from around his neck and balled it up, stepping forward and shoving it into the teen's mouth. Then the giant began to drag Simon toward the bench press . . ..

* * *

The five villains stood outside of the gym.

"So," commented Whip as she brushed her hair out of her face. "Our arch foes have had a civil war within their ranks during our absence."

BM nodded. "And whatever force it was that took our consciousnesses from us also seems to have made them forget us."

Tee'N'Tee unbuttoned his collar, obviously happy to have the tie gone. "He denied knowing us right up 'til the end."

BM's eyes narrowed. "It is of no consequence. Our foes will remember us in time. And then our master will be glorified." He looked at the glow that was now dimly shining from his right hand. "The Dark One has gifted me with this ruby and will communicate with us through it."

"And what are we to do now?" asked Crusher, looking down at his leader questioningly.

BM examined his own clothing, then looked at that of his comrades. "We will find other garments. And weapons. We will need weapons . . ..

* * *

Melissa pushed the mopping cart down the corridor, concerned to find that the light to the weight room was still on. Simon Wilson often stayed later than most of the other patrons, but he was usually gone by 10:30. She examined her watch. It was now almost midnight.

She came to the door of the room and knocked. "Housekeeping," she said aloud.

There was no response, leading her to believe that he might have just forgotten to turn out the light. She reached for the doorknob and pushed the door open, then stepped inside.

Then she screamed.

Simon Wilson's body lay facedown on the bench press. At least, she assumed it was him. She could not be sure, because the weights had taken his head from his shoulders and crushed it.

* * *

Jamie felt a tapping on his shoulder. The darkness of sleep felt so good that he did not want to leave it now, but Yoshi's voice pulled him slowly back to consciousness.

"This is your wake up call, my brother," she said.

He sat up on the fold-out bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Early morning light was streaming in the window to the living room area of the hotel suite. "What time is it?" he asked, noting that Yoshi was already dressed and had a towel wrapped around her head.

"It is a little after seven," she replied. "The front desk's wakeup call was not necessary. I awoke about five minutes before they called." She stood to her full height and turned back toward the bedroom. "You can go ahead and get into the shower. I have already taken one."

"So that's why you have the towel around your head," he replied playfully. "I thought you were just trying to keep your brain from falling out."

She grabbed one of the sofa cushions from the floor and launched it at him, striking him in the face with it.

"I am sorry, Jamie," she said as she rushed back to the couch. "I did not mean to hit you in the face with it. I thought that you would move."

"That's okay," he replied as he set the cushion on the mattress next to him. "It was only a big pillow. If it had been a shuriken, I'd have been worried."

She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "If you tease me like that again, we will see."

* * *

Deck sat straight up on the hide-a-bed. It took him a moment to get his bearings. Then he remembered the previous day. Shaking his head to clear it, he looked down at his wife, still sleeping on the bed next to him. One of her pointed ears, showing her elven heritage, was peeking out from under her disheveled, blonde hair. He smiled at her. She was, as always, a vision of beauty and he was definitely a blessed man.

He looked across the room to see that Bryanna was still sleeping, as well. He had really wanted to leave her at their home on Thera. It would have kept her out of danger and would have kept them from having to leave Ryan, their adopted son, with the tailor in the village of Freestone. But their teenage ward would hear nothing of it. She wanted to learn the fighting arts and, when it was discovered that they would be coming back to Deck's world of birth, she wanted to see the dashing young Fredrick Corbett again. It had been this lad who had been trapped with her on Ladvia Baalstorm's ship a few months earlier. He had made it his priority to keep her safe during the battle to free Fredrick, Bryanna and Jamie from the witch's clutches.

Deck realized that Bryanna probably fancied the boy. He shook his head with a chuckle. Talk about a long distance relationship.

Deck reached out to the table that was next to the couch, grabbing the pair of jeans that he had found in the chest of drawers beside the television. He knew that they had a big day ahead. Pulling the pants on, he realized that they were a bit big on him. Apparently, living on a planet where life was harder and work was necessary had slimmed him up a little bit. He examined his gut but, sadly, it was still there.

* * *

Jamie's 1985 Chevrolet Cavalier drove down highway Sixty-Seven, the cruise control locked in at the speed limit. Jamie sat in the driver's seat, admiring the scenery. Yoshi sat in the passenger's seat in companionable silence.

Finally, Jamie spoke. "I really wish we hadn't missed church this morning."

Yoshi nodded. Since her arrival back on Earth, she had started going to Jamie and Shawna's church. "I miss it, as well. We can go tonight."

"Do you think we're far enough south to be able to pick up the radio station in Doniphan?" asked the boy. "They play Christian music on Sundays."

"We could see," replied his clan sister as she reached out and turned the knob. The end verse of a DC Talk song finished as Yoshi tuned in the station.

"I guess that answers that," smiled Jamie.

The newscaster from Jamie's church now spoke. "A rash of disappearances in the small town of Jameston, Missouri, ended with the mutilated body of one adolescent last night. The body belonged to Simon Wilson, a Junior at Jameston High School."

Jamie and Yoshi glanced at each other in wide-eyed shock.

"Reports say that Melissa Norton, a custodian on staff at the Jameston Gymnasium, found young Wilson's body in the weight room at around midnight. As he was a minor, the local police department is holding further information pending investigation.

"Also missing are Craig Browers—a senior at Jameston High School—Jack Marshall and Marti Stewart—both freshmen at Bluff Community College—and Thomas Merrit, the Jameston High School science teacher. It has been confirmed that Merrit called the police dispatch at roughly 8:30 last night to report a break-in at the school, but was cut off. When the police arrived, there was no trace of the teacher. The only evidence that could be found at the scene were a shattered window on the southern side of the school and an occultic symbol that was carved into the secretary's desk. We'll keep you informed of further developments. This is Del King reporting."

Jamie shook his head. "Ben finally did it," he said. "He's finally gone over the deep end."

"Do you really think that he would have killed Simon?" asked Yoshi.

Jamie sighed. "Simon did help Dave and the others last summer when we were trapped on Thera."

"But this makes no sense," commented Yoshi. "Ben is more intelligent than that. One major occurrence in one night, I could probably understand. But six? He may have the new sheriff in his pocket, but I doubt that he would want that kind of attention being drawn to Jameston."

Yoshi was right and Jamie knew it. Besides, Ben was an avowed atheist. Why would anyone working with him carve an occultic symbol into the secretary's desk?

* * *

Ben Shalley slowly opened his eyes. Was that a knock on his parents' front door? He grabbed the pillow from under his curly, brown-haired head and covered his face with it.

The knock rang through the house again, more insistent this time. Sighing, he climbed out of his bed and walked to the window of his bedroom, peering out at the street. Traci Bundy's early nineties model Ford Tempo was parked out front. He sighed again and grabbed his shirt and pants and started to put them on, yelling, "I'll be right out!"

After he had dressed, he stepped out into the living room and walked to the front door. Opening it, he found his lover standing on the front porch, her worry-filled eyes examining the outside wall of his house.

"What?!" he snapped.

Traci looked at him. "Did the sheriff tell you about the break-in at the school?"

Ben nodded. "He called me last night to make sure that the Renegades didn't have anything to do with it before he sent someone to investigate. Why?"

"Simon's dead," she said.

His eyes were saucers. "Nobody told me about that."

Traci nodded. "Somebody put the bench press weights on the highest weight and dropped'em on his head."

"Don't play games with me," retorted Ben. "It's too early and I'm not in the mood . . .."

"I'm not playing games with you," she interrupted. "It's all over the news!" Then she pointed to the outer wall of his house and said, "And somebody painted graffiti all over the outside wall of your house."

Ben's eyes narrowed as he stepped out on the front porch. All around his bedroom window was painted the phrase, "Adventure's death has arrived!" "How did my parents miss this when they left this morning?"

Traci shrugged. "It's still wet. I don't think it was here then. I think I'm more concerned about the Adventure thing."

He nodded. "I'll call the sheriff. If we can get the newspaper's attention, then Maria Gonzales will be here. She has too much of a loud mouth to not spread this to Jamie and the others up in Sera. I want to know what their angle is on this."

* * *

"I am extremely hot in this," commented Elvara as she examined the black, leather jacket that she now wore. "I cannot believe that you ever wore it."

"I usually didn't wear it in the spring," he replied. "And we needed something to cover your clothes. They aren't exactly in style here. And any'o my clothes'd look like tents on the two of you."

"And these won't bring unwanted attention to us?" asked Bryanna, who was wearing an old, brown trench coat.

The three of them had tried to avoid the main street that ran through Sera, sticking with the back streets. Deck had hoped that nobody had seen them. It did not escape him that he was thought to be dead.

Finally, they reached the town library. Deck headed to the pay phone, fishing a quarter, which he had found hidden in a candy jar back at his Earth house, out of his pocket. Putting it in the slot, he could hear Elvara say in wonder, "These horseless carriages are amazing!"

The big man dialed Jamie's house.

"Hello?" It was his mother. She thought that he was dead, too. At a loss for what to say, he hung up.

"Well?" asked Bryanna. "Did you reach him?"

"No," was Deck's response. "I'll try Max's house. We've gotta get you two out of the open so all'o these cars aren't seeing ya as they drive by."

"That one is coming toward us," commented Elvara.

* * *

Buster sighed. He had been heading to the grocery store to pick up a loaf of bread after church when he had turned on the radio and heard the report about Simon Wilson. Was Ben really capable of doing something that horrible?

He had been so lost in his thoughts that he had almost not noticed the three familiar figures standing at the payphone in front of the library. As he approached, his eyes narrowed and settled on Deck Pendragon, who was looking at the preacher's minivan in concern.

Elvara and Bryanna were with him. He pulled into a parking space, remembering that the library in Sera was closed on Sundays, and rolled down his window. "Deck! What are you doing here? Get in before somebody sees you guys!"

Deck ran to the vehicle, slid open the side door and the two girls climbed in. After he had closed that door, the big man opened the passenger's door and climbed in. "We gotta get ahold of Jamie."

Buster nodded. "He and Yoshi went to St. Louis to meet with the Funakoshi yesterday. They should be back any time. I'll drive us to Max's house. It's far enough off of the main road that nobody will see us." He looked over his shoulder. "Fasten your seatbelts, ladies."

The two girls looked at him in confusion and Elvara asked, "I beg your pardon?"

"I'll help'em do it," grunted Deck as he climbed back out of the van.

Chapter Four

Sunday, 1:54 PM

Jamie and Yoshi walked in the front door. The smell of meatloaf filled the living room. "That smells good, Pam," commented Yoshi.

"Thanks," replied Jamie's mother as she drained the water from a pan of boiled potatoes. "It'll be done in about ten minutes."

"Max wants you to call him, son," commented Jamie's dad, looking up from the western novel that he was reading.

Jamie nodded. "I'll call him in my room."

Jamie walked back toward his bedroom as Yoshi walked toward the kitchen to help his mother with lunch. The young ninja pushed open the door to his room and tossed his backpack onto his bed, sighing when he noticed that the controllers to his Super NES were unwound. I wish the kids would leave my room the way they find it, he declared to himself, remembering that his parents had watched his oldest brother's two children, Elizabeth and Kevin, the night before.

He grabbed his phone and dialed Max's number. After a couple of rings, Max answered. "Hello?"

"I'm returning your call," said Jamie. "What's up?"

"Buster brought some old friends over that he picked up in town this afternoon," explained Max. "I think you and Yoshi need to come out here."

"Who'd he pick up?"

"Deck, Elvara and Bryanna."

"What?!" After their second trip to Thera, when they had brought Yoshi home, Jamie had not expected to see Deck or his large friend's family again. "Why are they here?"

"Well . . . it's probably best if they tell you in person."

* * *

Jamie pulled his car up to the curb in front of the small house in Sera that Max Lee Adams shared with his brother and mother, parking it right behind Buster's minivan. The two ninja climbed from the vehicle. Jamie sighed and shook his head. "I'm not looking forward to this."

Yoshi looked at him in puzzlement. "I am looking forward to seeing Deck and Elvara again."

Jamie nodded. "I agree. But with Elvara's talk of the coins being dangerous and polluting our two worlds with trips back and forth, I've really got to wonder why they're here."

They walked to the front door. Before they had a chance to knock, Max jerked the door open and motioned for them to enter.

Jamie held the screen door for his clan sister, then followed her inside. Seated at the small table in the kitchen to the left were Deck, Elvara and Bryanna, eating canned pasta. Jamie smiled at them as Yoshi immediately embraced Elvara.

"It is good to see you all," commented the kunoichi.

"I'm afraid this ain't a pleasure trip," grunted Deck as he shook Jamie's hand heartily.

Bryanna finished her food. "This was delicious. What did you call it, again?"

Max cleared his throat. "Beef ravioli."

"What's the problem?" asked Jamie, his eyes settling on Deck.

A knock at the front door brought everyone's attention back to the living room. Max opened the door to reveal Fredrick, his tank top and shorts not out of place during Spring Break.

"What's so important that I had to get over here so soon?" asked his friend. "I had to rush to get the lint screens cleaned on the dryers in my mom's Laundromat this morning."

"Fredrick!" snapped Bryanna, leaping from her chair at the table and rushing to the living room.

When the young teen's eyes settled on the girl, he opened the door and stepped inside, embracing her. "Now this is a good reason," he commented with a smile.

"Like I said," muttered Deck. "Not a pleasure trip."

Max closed the front door and everyone found seats around the living room. Yoshi seated herself on the couch, next to Buster. Jamie sat in the floor at her feet. "So, what's going on?" asked the young male ninja.

Elvara, who was sitting on the floor in front of the rocking chair in which Deck now sat, sighed. "About a month ago, we found a man who had been beaten and left for dead between our home and Freestone. Against Deck's judgment, we brought him back to our home and I nursed him back to health. We learned that his name was Lucious Pettlefoot and that he had been a merchant who had been attacked by the guards of his own caravan. At first, when he had gotten his strength back, he had been extremely helpful. He had cut firewood, helped Deck hunt and even assisted Deck in the forge." She shook her head. "But, two nights ago, his true colors came out. While we all slept, he stole the coins and the Ruby of Baalstorm, then fled."

"I thought you guys were going to destroy the ruby," commented Buster.

"We had made plans to travel north to my school after the winter, but that season is not over yet on our world," responded Elvara.

"But, if he had the coins . . .," reasoned Fredrick, who was sitting on the floor next to Bryanna.

"We found them about a day's march south from our home," Elvara explained. "It appeared that he had used the coins to affect an escape."

"So he's got that blasted ruby here?!" demanded Max.

Elvara nodded with a sigh.

"Why didn't he bring the coins with him to Earth?" asked Buster.

"Judging by the tracks that he made, my theory is that he closed the portal by kicking one of the coins away from the other one," said Elvara. "To keep the coins with him, he would have to pick one of them up to close the portal."

"In other words," joined Deck, "he's trapped here."

"So," conversed Jamie, "he's in Sera?"

Deck shook his head. "The coins are set t'go ta either Sera or Jameston. Best as we can tell, he went t'Jameston."

Max's phone rang, causing Jamie to jump. The lad answered it. "Hello?" he furrowed his brow. "'Star? 'Star' who?" Then he sighed and motioned for Jamie, who climbed to his feet and took the offered phone.

"Jamie? It's Maria Gonzales. Your mom told me you'd be there."

"Hi, Maria. Are you calling about Simon?"

"Among other things. There's some weird stuff happening here in Jameston, Jamie."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for starters, three other students and a teacher are missing."

"I'd heard about that."

"Somebody painted graffiti all over Ben Shalley's house."

Jamie was speechless.

"Are you still there?"

"Yeah. Graffiti?"

"That's not the weirdest part. It was 'anti-Adventure' graffiti."

Jamie turned to look at those who were seated in the living room, his eyes locking with those of Elvara. Ladvia Baalstorm had known about Adventure. But did that mean that the ruby would still have that information? "Do you have room for some guests for a few days?" he asked Star.

"For you guys? Always."

"Good. When's Simon's funeral?"

"Tuesday. The visitation is tomorrow night."

Jamie ran his fingers through his brown hair. "Expect some of us tomorrow."

"See ya then." Then she hung up.

Jamie replaced the receiver and walked back over to take his seat at Yoshi's feet. "The pieces are starting to fit together."

Buster's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean? What did Star want?"

"Apparently, somebody wrote anti-Adventure graffiti all over Ben Shalley's house," explained Jamie. "Ladvia Baalstorm knew about us. Maybe the ruby still has that knowledge and is directing somebody."

"But why Ben Shalley's house?" asked Yoshi.

Jamie shrugged. "That, I don't know. That's why I'm going to Jameston for Simon's funeral."

"Not without me," commented his clan sister.

"Ditto," said Buster. "That's not too far from Kennett, so I can pick up a box that my grandma has for me there."

"You're not leavin' me here," piped Max. "Alex won't be home for another couple of months and I'm bored silly without her."

"Deck, Bryanna and I have to go," commented Elvara.

Everyone looked at Fredrick, who held his hands out, palms up, as if he were weighing something. "Let's see, Spring Break spent in Sera working in the Laundromat and Mom's canoe rental or fighting bad guys in Jameston with my friends . . . yeah I think I'll go, too."

"What about Shawna?" asked Elvara.

Jamie's face darkened and he sighed. "She's at a college orientation in Texas, where she'll be going to school in the fall. She'll be gone all week. Plus, those of us who are here right now are the only ones who haven't already left Sera for Spring Break. And Dave's in the Air Force and won't be coming back until the summer."

Bryanna looked questioningly at Fredrick. "Spring Break?"

"It's a Mother World thing," he responded. "I'll explain later."

* * *

"Jameston?" asked Jamie's mother, her eyes filled with concern. "Why would you want to go there?"

"We want to go for Simon Wilson's funeral," responded Jamie. "To pay our respects to his mother, most of all."

"She has lost her only good son," explained Yoshi.

"It's not the good son we're worried about," stated Mr. Raleigh, his oxygen mask muffling his words. "You know the bad son's not going to be happy about you being there."

"Besides," continued Mrs. Raleigh, "how do you know that the rest of those kids didn't have anything to do with it?"

Yoshi shook her head. "Many things happened in Jameston last night. Ben is not foolish enough to do something that will bring so much attention to them. I doubt that he has any clue as to who did it."

"Despite everything," Jamie argued, "Simon was our friend. And we really want to go to his funeral."

Pam sighed and looked at her husband, who shook his head and said, "We want you back here by Friday. And don't let Maria talk you into drinking."

Jamie smiled. "We'll pack after church."

* * *

"Why are we here again?" demanded Deck as he followed Jamie, Max, Buster, Yoshi, Bryanna, Fredrick and Elvara up the sidewalk toward Aurthur Community Church on that warm, spring evening.

His wife turned to look at him. "It has been a few weeks since we attended Mass in New Camelot and I am interested in seeing an Earth worship service."

Jamie looked at the building as they approached it. After the Renegades had torched it last summer, the members of the congregation, as well as other Christian congregations in the area, had put many hours of labor into rebuilding the church. Now the building stood like a beacon, twice as large as before. And the larger sanctuary was already filled as more people sought that beacon.

The young ninja stopped and examined everyone. Buster, Yoshi, Max and Fredrick were dressed as they typically did when coming to church. Buster wore a button-down shirt with a tie and jeans. Yoshi wore a conservative, blue dress that fell past her knees. Max wore jeans and a green, silk shirt that he had pilfered from his brother's drawer. Fredrick wore jeans and a plain, red T-shirt. And Jamie, himself, had worn a white dress shirt and jeans.

Then his eyes settled on the three visitors. Deck, still having his wardrobe on Earth, was dressed comfortably in a respectable, gray button-down shirt and jeans, while Elvara and Bryanna had raided Yoshi's closet, noting luckily that they were reasonably close to the kunoichi in build. Bryanna, who wore her brown hair in a single braid that fell to her waist, wore a white blouse and checkered skirt that fell past her knees. Elvara wore a simple, brown dress with a T-shirt that kept too much skin from being shown by the spaghetti straps. For obvious reasons, she wore her hair down and Jamie looked for any signs that her ears were visible.

Satisfied that nobody in the service would be able to tell that there was an elf in their presence, he smiled and said, "Let's head inside, shall we?"

"What do we do if somebody recognizes Deck's name?" asked Max as Jamie opened the door and held it for his friends.

"We're giving Deck and Elvara's middle names when introducing them," explained Jamie. "Just follow our lead."

The teens and their two adult friends walked up the short entryway and turned into the first door on the right, finding themselves in the sanctuary. Elvara looked the room over curiously. "Why does the cross not have Jesus on it?" she asked Buster as she gestured to the large decoration behind the podium.

Buster shrugged. "Protestant denominations on Earth usually don't have Him there. I always figured that it was because He's not still on the cross . . . He's not still in the grave. He is Risen. Of course, that's just my theory of why He's not depicted on it."

The prophetess smiled at him. "It is a good theory."

The group seated itself. Sister Thomas, the pastor's wife, came forward and patted Jamie on the shoulder. "Who are your friends?"

He smiled at her. "These are our friends Bryanna, James Pendragon and his wife, Abigail."

Sister Thomas's eyes narrowed. "Pendragon? He wouldn't be related to that poor man who was with you all last summer when the warehouse exploded, would he?"

Jamie turned to his left, his eyes meeting those of Yoshi, who said, "You could say that."

* * *

The service had gone well. From time to time during the singing portion, Jamie had glanced over to see Elvara's reaction. At first, she had held back. But she had eventually gotten into the worship and looked as if she had done it this way all of her life. She had held onto every one of Brother Thomas's words during the sermon. During the altar call, she had gone to the front with all of the others, leaving her husband and ward in the pews, and had prayed with Jamie, Yoshi, Fredrick, Max and Buster. Thankfully, her bowed head had not revealed her ears.

Now, the group stood around Buster's minivan. "No wonder you enjoy going to your worship service so much," commented Elvara. "When I go, it is always so somber. Here, the people enjoy worshipping God. It is so filled with energy."

"I like it," was all that Buster could think of to say.

"And you have the Scriptures in the modern tongue?" she asked.

The young preacher cocked an eyebrow. "If you mean English, then yes. I have an extra at home that you can have."

"We only have copies in Latin and Greek," explained Elvara. "I, of course, can read them since Latin and Greek were part of my formal training. But most of the commoners do not read the old tongues. Perhaps I could find a way of making multiple copies and teaching this kind of worship on Thera . . .."

"Why don't you and Buster discuss this on the way back t'Sera?" interrupted Deck. "Every minute we spend standing here is another chance fer somebody to notice your ears."

Yoshi nodded. "I agree. I am sure that Buster will help you in any way that he can. But let us discuss it on the road."

The group filed into the van with Deck sitting in the back so that he could allow his wife to sit in the front and discuss her ideas with Buster.

Jamie glanced at Yoshi. "Are you going to be okay, going back there?"

She looked at him with a sigh of resignation. "I do not know."

Chapter Five

Flashback

July 29, 1988

Monday, 2:27 PM

Yoshi looked into the open coffin of her father. She wanted to turn away . . . she wanted to look at anything but the calm face of her male parent. But she could not. She could not even blink. He was dead, and it was her fault. This was her punishment. She had failed her parents and she must never forget.

She glanced at the coffin of her mother. It was closed. The mortician had commented that the wounds that had been inflicted upon her were too horrendous to be seen. But she had seen them. She had seen the results of the quick, but deadly tortures that had been visited upon her sweet mother by the Warui ninja.

Looking back down at her father's lifeless body, she gently reached out and touched his cheek. It was cold. Her Uncle Tanemura had told her that her parents were with Jesus and would never again suffer. But that did not seem fair. She wanted them with her.

But she had failed them. And now they were gone.

A gentle hand came to rest on her shoulder. She turned her gaze to meet that of Jamie Raleigh, her uncle's pupil. She deserved his disdain. But she found none of it in his eyes.

The dam that she'd been using to hold her emotions in check broke and she buried her face in her friend's chest, tears streaming, as she wailed her anguish for all to hear. She felt his compassionate arms wrap around her and she was numbly aware that her tears were soaking the black jacket that he wore with his suit.

He gently moved her toward the edge of the tarp that formed the ceiling over the two freshly dug graves. She could feel the warm breeze coming in as a slow hum began that signaled the start of the machines that lowered her parents into the ground.

She didn't look up when she recognized the voice of Ben Shalley. "How is she?"

"She's in pain," replied Jamie. "This is the hardest thing that I can imagine anybody having to go through." Yoshi was always amazed at the difference between the two friends' voices. Ben's voice had a cold edge to it that made those who heard him slightly uncomfortable. Jamie's voice, mixed with the gentle arm that he had around her and the warm shoulder upon which she was still crying, helped him to be a compassionate whole . . . a figure of kindness and virtue. How could she have ever treated him as badly as she had in the past?

They walked along the rows of gravestones as they headed toward the road that wound its way through the cemetery. Yoshi looked around herself to see all of her Jameston friends walking in a disarrayed group around Jamie and herself.

Ahead, she could see other members of her clan, all of whom had come for her parents' funeral. Uncle Tanemura, his black suit matching that of his student, was speaking with some of the elders. Some of the younger chunin, who were among the highest ranking of their individual families, stepped forward. Tang Shakato eyed Jamie with contempt and said to Yoshi in their native tongue, "I see you have a new hand-maiden."

Yoshi frowned. In English, she retorted, "He is my clan-brother, Tang . . . as well as yours. And we will speak in English when in his presence. I have nothing to hide from him."

The conversation had caught Tanemura's interest and he had moved to stand behind his pupil and great-niece.

Tang spoke from between clenched teeth. "He is not a member of our clan yet. And the rest of these gai-jin have no place here, at all."

Yoshi could hear her great-uncle's intake of breath, but she beat him to the punch in rebuttal. "They are not barbarians, Tang! These are the people to whom I owe my life!" Yoshi risked a glance around. With few exceptions, her American friends were eyeing Tang with the same contempt with which he was regarding Jamie. Buster was merely shaking his head and Ben's eyes twinkled in amusement.

Young Shakato's voice brought her back to focus on him. "I do not see your champion going after the Warui ninja who killed your parents," he chided.

"Dude," bellowed Dave, Jamie's large cousin, "I'm gonna pound you into hamburger!"

Tang smiled and spread his arms, as if to accept the challenge. Dave stepped forward, but Yoshi shoved herself between the two.

"Leave now, Tang," the girl demanded.

He glared at her. "Your family's devotion to this westerner is going to be the downfall of our clan, Yoshika."

She stood her ground. "Call me Yoshi! And Jamie Raleigh had the Warui party leader terrified, Tang. He had the monster scared! He will not be our downfall!"

"I ask you again," smirked Tang, "why he is not chasing down those men to avenge your parents' deaths?"

Yoshi folded her arms across her chest. "Because that pleasure will be MINE!"

Chapter Six

April 12, 1993

Monday, 3:00 AM

The five of them sat in the old farm house, their various weapons sitting on their laps. BM led them in a ritual during the witching hour, the hour opposite what is accepted as the hour of Christ's death on the Cross. Their goal was to commune with their dark master and to discover why he had led them back after all these years. Pentagrams were painted all over the walls, the only decoration that adorned the room.

Finally, BM's humming stopped and the glow of the ruby that was embedded in his hand faded to a dull light. He opened his eyes and looked at his four followers. The group had broken into the town's Variety Store and stolen various implements. Crusher wore a black trench coat, since they had not found any shirts that would fit his massive frame. He had found a pair of sweatpants that he could wear, but had been forced to wear shoes that looked like sandals—something the box had called Flip-flops. Apparently, the store did not carry any other shoes that were larger than a size sixteen. As far as weapons go, Crusher did not need anything more than his own body. He could crush a steel pipe like cardboard, and he knew it.

Whip had found a pair of leather pants that hugged her tightly. She had cut the sleeves off of the shirt that she had been wearing when she had awakened. She also had found black lipstick and eyeliner, which she had applied liberally, apparently much to Tee'N'Tee's delight. She had been very pleased to find a bullwhip in the store and had stolen her signature weapon.

Tee'N'Tee had grabbed jeans and a plain, black T-shirt. He wore hiking boots now. For his weapons, they had gone back by the school and emptied the chemistry lab. BM knew that he was looking forward to working with his various acids and explosives.

Slash cackled madly as he played with a doll, which was being cut to ribbons as he did so. He had kept the same jeans that he had worn before his awakening, but had taken a pink, woman's shirt from the store. It now hung from him in tatters, leaving BM to wonder if he had destroyed it on purpose or had sliced it up while simply trying to put it on.

BM looked down at his own attire. He was wearing green, military style pants and matching boots. He still wore the strange shirt that he had awakened in, but now wore a boating lifejacket that he had spray painted black with a red pentagram on each side. Across his lap sat two metal baseball bats on which he had welded nails that protruded around the ends, four on each.

Each of his followers were looking at him, awaiting instructions. He smiled at them and said, "The civil war of Adventure does not matter. Our master wants all of them dead, whether they have previously aligned themselves with Jamie Raleigh and my pathetic son, or with Ben Shalley and these new Renegades of his. Those members of Shalley's group who were not members of Adventure will be made into the Mindless. The three who were—Ben Shalley, Mike Noddingham and Sean Wilson—will suffer with their old comrades.

"And, finally, our master wants a true sacrifice. He wants us to send someone to the Lake of Fire for him. We must find a female who is dear to Adventure who has not yet accepted our master's Enemy and kill her three nights hence."

BM's dark smile deepened as Slash tossed the doll aside, his cackling reaching deafening proportions . . ..

* * *

Maria Gonzales opened her eyes. Was that laughter that she had heard in the night? She moved to the side of her bed and parted the curtains slightly. She brushed her dark hair from her face and looked out. The streetlamp illuminated her front yard, but it was devoid of any human life. The night was now quiet.

She shivered in fear. There was nothing here now. But she knew that the night was not empty. She knew that there were things out there . . . dark things. And she knew that she had no protection against those things.

Maria grabbed her blanket and pulled it from the bed, sprinting to the closet. She did not bother to check the locks on her front or back doors. Since the Renegades had come to power, everyone in the town kept their doors locked tight. But Maria, whom her friends had nicknamed Star, knew instinctively that these dark things could not be stopped by mere door locks.

She flung open the closet and stepped inside, closing the door and huddling in the darkness with the blanket covering her from head to foot. Her terror only subsided when she finally drifted back to sleep . . ..

* * *

Jamie tossed his suitcase into the small cargo section of Buster's minivan. The van could hold eight people in relative comfort, so they had decided to leave Jamie's car in Sera to save on gas. Everyone was here and Jamie kept glancing at his parents' mobile home, noting his mother sitting on the porch and watching them in concern.

"She's really worried about you, isn't she?" asked Buster.

He nodded. "She's worried about all of us."

Buster sighed. "Even my parents were worried. They didn't fight me going, though. My dad said that I was old enough to make the decision myself. They did tell me that, when we go to my grandma's in Kennett, we are not to let B.J. go with us back to Jameston."

Jamie smiled at his friend. "Darn the luck," he chuckled.

"I know that I shall miss him," muttered Yoshi sarcastically.

Then Amy Weston's late model Ford Taurus came around a curve up the road from Jamie's parents' home and drove up, pulling into the driveway next to Jamie's Cavalier. "What's Amy doing here?" Jamie asked Buster.

The preacher shrugged. "She and her parents were supposed to be in Hot Springs in Arkansas this week."

Amy leaped from her vehicle and ran up to the minivan, nearly bowling Buster over with her embrace. "I got your message," she said.

"I wasn't expecting you to get it until you got home next weekend," replied her boyfriend.

"I came home early so I could spend the week with you," she smiled at him, brushing a strand of her dark hair from her face.

"But we're going to Jameston for our friend's funeral," returned Buster.

"I have my suitcase in my car."

Buster looked at Jamie. The young ninja looked worriedly at his ex-girlfriend's cousin. It was obvious that she cherished every moment that she spent with Buster. He had won her heart by behaving like a Christian and treating her with respect, rather than a piece of meat. And, when he had spoken with Jamie a couple of weeks earlier, he had expressed regret that he would not get to spend Spring Break with her when he came home from college.

Jamie smiled. "I don't have a problem with her going. You guys don't get to spend enough time together, as it is." He looked at Amy. "But it's not going to be entirely safe. There's a street gang there that would just love to see us in the same funeral service as our friend."

Amy nodded. "I understand. I just couldn't spend any more time away from him."

Jamie's heart was warmed as Buster wrapped his arms around the girl and kissed her locks. "I guess I've lost the front seat, huh?" joked the young ninja.

* * *

The trip from Sera to Jameston was roughly two hours long. The trip had been relatively pleasant, despite the fact that Deck's massive form could easily count for two bodies in the small van. Fredrick had happily sat on the floor between the middle seat and the sliding, side door. The monotony of the trip had been broken by a stop at a fast food restaurant in the Bluff, which was the halfway point.

Now, the van drove into the outskirts of Jameston, Missouri. Jamie's mind was flooded with memories of an earlier and simpler time—a time when his practicing of the martial arts was more about exercise and fun than about self-defense. A time when this town that they were now driving through could let their children stay out late without having to worry about finding them laying, face down, in a dumpster the next day.

As they passed the road that led to the farm of Chad and Christy Haverty, the young ninja noted the empty vegetable stand that was next to the drive. "Did the Havertys stop selling on the roadside?"

Buster shrugged. "I haven't lived here in almost a year. But their vegetables just probably aren't ready."

"Did they not sell eggs most of the year, though?" wondered Yoshi aloud.

"Maybe the murder and disappearances have'em weirded out," suggested Max.

A few moments after they had passed the farm, Jamie asked Buster, "Do you remember how to get to Maria's house?"

Buster nodded. "I'm going to drop you guys off there and Amy and I'll go on to Kennett to pick up that box from my grandma."

Jamie smiled. "How about stopping at that bakery that's up that little road in front of the movie theater there and getting us some doughnuts and those thick chocolate chip cookies that look like they're just cut, raw cookie dough?"

"You mean, Causbie's Bakery?" asked Buster.

The young ninja nodded. "When my grandma used to live in Kennett, we'd go visit her and she'd always take us there."

The van drove up Franklin Street and stopped in front of the old, two story house where Maria "Star" Gonzales lived. Jamie climbed out of the van, followed by his friends, and sighed. He remembered when Maria had called him in Sera to let him know that Falcon Sanders had proposed to her. Though her house was certainly large enough, Falcon was too old-fashioned to move in with her before the wedding and had continued living in a room in his garage until he had been murdered by the Renegades just last summer. He had hoped that Star and Falcon would get married and find God together, but now she refused to even acknowledge God's existence. But Jamie prayed for her everyday. And he knew that at least Buster did, as well.

The front door to the house opened and Star stepped out. She walked up to Jamie and hugged him, then did the same with Yoshi and Buster.

Jamie introduced his other friends. "You remember Max Adams and Buster's girlfriend, Amy?"

Star nodded and shook each of their hands.

Buster continued the introductions. "You probably also remember Deck and Elvara Pendragon?"

She nodded and shook their hands, as well.

Yoshi finished the introductions. "This is Fredrick Corbett, a friend of ours from Sera. And this is Bryanna Summerleaf of Thera. She is a ward of the Pendragons."

"What brings natives of another world here?" asked Star in confusion.

Jamie looked around to make sure that nobody was too close. "We'll explain inside."

Buster nodded. "I'll let you guys do that. Amy and I are going to Kennett. We'll be back in time for the visitation service."

The two of them climbed back into the van. Jamie walked to Amy's rolled down window and said, "You two be careful. We're still not entirely sure what we're dealing with here."

Buster nodded. "God'll be with us." Then he started the vehicle, pulled it away from the curb and drove up the street.

The rest of the group followed Star inside. "So Buster's still about all that blind faith of his?" she asked.

"Blind faith?" asked Elvara in confusion. "Buster has been through enough to ensure that his faith is definitely not blind."

"If you're asking if he's still a Christian, then the answer is yes," answered Jamie. "So are the rest of us here."

Star nodded uncomfortably. "So, where's Dave?" She looked at those who were here. "And everyone else?"

"Well, Dave joined the Air Force," explained Jamie. "I thought he told you that at the wedding."

Star chuckled. "I kind of expected him to back out. He never really took anything seriously."

Yoshi cocked an eyebrow at their friend. "He certainly takes his responsibility to his wife and their unborn daughter seriously. As for the others, they have all gone with their families to various places for Spring Break."

Star led the group into the kitchen, where she opened the oven and Jamie could smell the fragrance of cooking pizza. "When did the doctor tell Dave and Laura that they're gonna have a girl?"

"The doctor didn't," responded Jamie.

Star grabbed an oven mitt and shoved her right hand in it. "Then how do they know?"

Jamie smiled weakly at her. "Shawna told them."

"Oh, right," muttered Star as she pulled the first of the pizzas from the oven. "And I'm sure she'll still believe that she's a prophet when Laura has a boy."

Jamie's eyes met those of Elvara, half expecting her to be angry. But her eyes only held pity at a lost soul. "Oh we both know that Laura will have a girl," said the elf. "Just as I know that you spent the last half of your sleep time in your closet last night."

Maria stared at her in open shock. "How . . . how did you know that?"

Elvara just smiled. "I still know that I am a prophet, as well."

Star cleared her throat uncomfortably and finished pulling the other two pizzas from the oven. After cutting them in silence, she said in mock cheerfulness, "Dig in!"

Everyone grabbed a slice and stood around in the kitchen, talking about this and that. Elvara took her first bite of pizza and her eyes widened. "What do you call this?" she asked Star.

"Pizza," responded Maria. "I make it all the time."

"I must learn from you the technique for making it," spoke the elven prophetess in awe.

Star smiled, then sighed. "Not that I'm not glad to see you guys, but what was so important that you guys had to come to Simon's funeral? You aren't exactly Ben Shalley's favorite people. And I understand that the feeling's mutual."

Jamie sat his slice of pizza on a paper towel that lay on the kitchen table. "A man stole the coins from Deck and Elvara, along with a ruby that was possessed by a witch on Thera who kidnapped Fredrick and me the last time that we were there."

"The woman who made the amulet that brought Yoshi back to life?" asked Star.

Elvara shook her head as she swallowed a bite. "The amulet could not restore life. Only God could do that."

Maria cleared her throat again. "So, since this guy has the coins, you think he's here . . . on Earth?"

Jamie nodded. "And the ruby seems to have an ability, Elvara theorizes, that can change a person's form. That's what it kept doing to the line of women who took over the mantle of Ladvia Baalstorm. It kept changing them so that they all looked the same."

"So, this guy could be anybody?" asked Star.

Elvara nodded darkly. "Indeed."

Chapter Seven

Monday, 1:32 PM

Buster knocked on the front door of his maternal grandmother's house. He heard a familiar voice yell, "I got it grandma!" Then he heard someone running through the house, coming to a stop on the other side of the door.

The door swung open to reveal Buster's nine year-old brother. When his excited eyes settled on his adopted older brother, the light left them and he sighed. "It's only Buster."

Amy glanced at her boyfriend. "I can feel the love in the air."

"Why are you here?" demanded B.J..

Buster chuckled at his brother. "You usually demand to go with me everywhere."

B.J. crossed his skinny arms. "'Cept Grandma's."

Buster's grandmother, Mary Coleman, came into view, carrying a large apple box. "Here it is," she said. Her graying hair was bound into a bun that was starting to fall. She was dressed so that she could go out and it occurred to Buster that B.J. was fully dressed, too.

Buster opened the storm door and took the box from her. It was only marginally heavy. "Thanks grandma. I'll just put it in my van so I can give you a hug . . .."

"I don't have time for a hug, young'un," she interrupted. "B.J. and I are going to the movies. I just wanted to get your old junk out of my attic!"

Buster glanced at Amy in embarrassment. To her credit, his girlfriend was trying to ignore his grandmother's customarily rude attitude. "Ma'am? Your hair is falling out of the bun."

Mrs. Coleman stared daggers at Amy. "Smart aleck. I always knew Buster'd pick a smart aleck to date."

Buster could tell that Amy wanted to say something, but she was politely holding her tongue.

"Thanks for the box, grandma," said the preacher again as the two turned and headed toward the minivan.

* * *

Amy sat in the van, looking at stories that Buster had written when he was thirteen. For someone of that age, the stories were certainly detailed. The driver's door opened and her boyfriend climbed in, setting two white boxes—marked Causbie's Bakery—in the middle seat behind his own seat.

"How could you handle being raised in a family like that?" asked Amy. "At least, without being warped by it, yourself?"

Buster shrugged. "Jesus has given me all the love that I really need. And He blessed me with really good friends." He took her hand in his. "And a very special soul mate."

She smiled at him. "But your grandma's so mean."

"At least she takes care of B.J. when he's there," he returned. "He was always her favorite."

Deciding to change the subject, Amy gestured at the story that sat on her lap. "These are really good. I mean, considering the fact that they were written by a thirteen year-old."

As Buster pulled the minivan out of the parking lot of the bakery, he responded. "I really liked to write back then."

"You made your friends the heroes in one of them," she commented.

Buster chuckled as he stopped at the intersection where the movie theater was right in front of them, signaling for a right turn. "I didn't really have much of an imagination, then. If you think my depiction of us as the heroes is weird, you should read more about the villains."

* * *

Jamie and the others stopped at the entrance to the Jameston Funeral Home. He sighed, examining himself. He'd donned the same clothes that he'd worn to church the previous evening, as had everybody. He glanced at the announcement board, which read, Simon Wilson: 1976-1993- Visitation: Monday, 7:00 PM- Funeral Service: Tuesday, 2:00 PM.

Turning to Maria, the young ninja asked, "Are you sure you're going to be okay in there?"

She nodded at him. "When I was taking pictures of the graffiti on Ben's house, he told me that Mike's out of town until tomorrow. If I don't have to look at his ugly mug, then I'll be fine."

Jamie sighed and motioned for his friends to follow him inside. The building was filled with people and Jamie found himself searching the crowd for anybody that he knew. His eyes settled on Mrs. Wilson, sitting with another woman and weeping. Jamie's heart went out to her. Her husband had died when the twins were a year old, leaving her to raise them by herself. Now she had lost one of them.

He started to make his way in her direction, when his eyes moved to the right and he saw Sean and Ben watching him. Ben was dressed in an impeccable suit shirt with black slacks and a matching tie. His dark hair was also combed impeccably, with not a stray strand. Sean was dressed in a pair of black dress pants and a white button-down shirt with no tie.

The twin's eyes flared in anger and he moved quickly through the crowd, followed by his friend. When they came to a stop in front of Jamie and his friends, the twin said, just loud enough so that Jamie could hear over the crowd, "You've got a lot of nerve showing your face here, Raleigh!"

"We just came to pay our respects," replied Jamie evenly.

"You killed my brother!"

Ben placed his hand on Sean's shoulder. "I don't believe that they did."

Sean turned to his friend. "Isn't it a coincidence that they showed up at the funeral of a Renegade?"

"As Jamie said, we came to pay our respects," stated Yoshi. "Why would we kill the only one of you who was worth anything?"

"I don't care if you are a girl," snapped Sean. "I'll rip your heart out!"

Ben glanced over toward Sean's mother. "Let's take this outside. We don't want to make a scene."

The members of Adventure, Deck, Elvara, Bryanna and Maria followed the two Renegades out of the building. They walked around to the back of the funeral home, where they could not be seen by people who were coming into the parking lot.

As soon as they were out of sight, Sean turned and his right foot shot up toward Yoshi, who caught his ankle with her right hand, then swept his left foot from under him, dumping him to the ground. He stared up at her in open shock.

"See ya," chided Max.

Yoshi glared down at him. "Out of respect for your brother, I will let that pass. If you attempt to strike me or any of the rest of us again, I will forget about Simon."

Ignoring his prone friend, Ben looked at Jamie and said, "I was expecting you."

"I take it you didn't let Sean in on that?" asked Jamie.

"He wouldn't have understood, as you can see."

"What made you think that we'd come?" asked Buster.

"Maria knew about the murder, the disappearances and the graffiti," returned Ben. "It was only a matter of time before she contacted you." He looked around at the people who had come with Jamie. "I don't think that I've had the pleasure of meeting all of your friends."

"This is Max Adams," Jamie said, gesturing to his young friend.

"Ben and I haven't met," replied Max as he stared down at the twin who was sitting on the ground, "but Sean and I have."

Jamie ignored the sarcasm in Max's voice and gestured to Max's friend. "This is Fredrick Corbett. He and Max are in the same class at school. And these are James and Abigail Pendragon and their ward, Bryanna." Remembering that Amy had not gone to Thera, Jamie finished, "And I think that you've already met Amy."

Ben nodded. "Where is Dave? Or the rest of your friends?"

"Dave's married and in the Air Force," replied Jamie. "The rest of our friends had already gone with their families for vacations for Spring Break."

"So I suppose that you're here about the graffiti that was painted on my house yesterday morning?"

Jamie nodded at his former friend. "Could we see it?"

Ben nodded. "Follow me home."

* * *

Elvara was examining the writing curiously. "Are these the same symbols as the one that was carved into the desk at your school?" she asked Ben, pointing out the upside-down stars in circles that surrounded the writing.

Ben nodded, not seeming the least bit uncomfortable at being the only Renegade present. Apparently noting her accent, he asked, "Where are you from, anyway?"

Deck jumped in. "London."

"They are Satanic pentagrams," concluded the elf-maiden.

"Why do you say Satanic?" asked Ben. "Not all pentagrams are Satanic."

She nodded. "True. Some pagan religions use them in their worship, as well. It is Satan's way of deceiving them into worshipping false gods. But Satanists generally tend to turn the star upside-down, like this." Then she went back to studying the graffiti.

Ben leaned toward Jamie and whispered, "Where did you find her?"

"She's very knowledgeable about religion," returned Jamie. "She's studied it all her life."

"It sounds as if she's partial to the Christian faith," commented Ben as quietly as he could.

"I am," said Elvara without a hint of emotion, causing Ben to stare at her in shock. "If one has studied them for as long as I have, then one will inevitably find the Right Path."

Ben looked incredulously at Jamie as the rest of Adventure stared at the leader of the Renegades with varying degrees of amusement.

"She has amazing hearing," explained Jamie.

"I can see that," replied Ben. "I knew that Buster was a Christian, but how many of the rest of you are?"

"Pretty much all of them," voiced Maria. Her voice had a cold edge that made Jamie wonder if she was irritated by having to discuss religion, or by the fact that she was in the presence of the person who had ordered the murder of her fiancé.

Ben looked at Jamie in wide-eyed wonder. "I'd heard that you were going to that church in Aurthur, but it had never really hit home with me how you could look at everything so logically and turn into a man of blind faith."

Jamie ignored the fact that Ben mentioned the church in Aurthur—the same church that the Renegades had torched the previous summer—and answered Ben's other point. "It's not a matter of blind faith. My eyes are wide open."

Elvara interrupted the conversation. "Some of the writing matches that of Lucious."

"Only some of it?" asked Max.

"It was obviously done by more than one person," she replied. "There are at least five different writing styles here. And one of the writers even has some kind of claws." She gestured for the others to come closer. "The person who drew the pentagrams left scratch marks around them.'

"Who is Lucious?" asked Ben. "Do you have some idea as to who did this?"

Elvara glanced at him. "I know who one of the murderers used to be," she replied cryptically.

"What's that supposed to mean?" demanded the leader of the Renegades.

"We'll let you in on it as soon as we can," stated Jamie. "You wouldn't believe us now, anyway."

Ben's eyes narrowed. "Try me."

Fredrick sighed. "It's a cursed guy from another world."

Ben stared at the young teen, unable to say anything in response.

"I told you that you wouldn't believe us," stated Jamie calmly. "We're heading back to Star's house. 'See you at the funeral tomorrow."

They turned and headed toward Buster's van, leaving a speechless Ben Shalley standing on the front lawn.

* * *

"Why did you need this again?" asked Crusher, his massive frame carrying the huge bucket of bat droppings.

"It is an important component in the creation of gunpowder," responded Tee'N'Tee, his voice condescending as if speaking to a child who just would not pay attention.

"Why'd I hafta go to the cave t'get it?"

"Some of us are more suited to certain jobs than others," replied Tee. "You really have as much muscle in your head as the rest of your body."

Crusher's eyes narrowed in confusion, then he grinned and said, "Thanks!"

Tee's eyes raised and met those of Whip as they smiled at Crusher's naivety. "Don't mention it."

Crusher looked around. "Where'd BM and Slash go?"

"They went to get a look at our enemies," replied Whip nonchalantly, as she examined her black-painted nails. "The members of Adventure obviously have changed over the years since we last fought them."

* * *

The group filed out of Buster's minivan. Somehow, they had managed to fit all ten of them in the vehicle. "I'm glad I don't have to ride all the way back to Sera in that thing," commented Star.

"Did you see the look on Ben's face when Fredrick told him of Lucious?" asked Yoshi. "I do not believe that I have ever seen him so bewildered."

"Einstein would have had a bewildered look," commented Buster, "if he hadn't been to Thera."

Jamie sighed, then stopped walking. He had the unmistakable feeling that they were being watched. He glanced around and noticed that Yoshi and Elvara were looking around, as well. That cinches it, he thought. If Elvara feels it, then there's somebody out here. "Let's get inside," he ordered. "We're going to keep somebody up in pairs on watch throughout the night."

Then the group headed in the house.

* * *

BM and his insane companion watched as the heroes walked into the house, closing the door behind them. He had kept his hand covering Slash's mouth the whole time in a successful effort to keep his mad cackling from alerting their enemies to their presence. Still, Raleigh had known. "You're skills at ninjutsu have increased greatly in our absence," he whispered.

How they had known to come to this particular house to spy on the current members of Adventure, he did not know. And why the names Lucious or Thera seemed so familiar to him, he did not know. It did not matter. What his dark master willed him to remember of his time of dormancy, he would remember. Anything else was unimportant.

Chapter Eight

Flashback

September 24, 1988

Saturday, 4:27 PM

Jamie's right foot lashed out, barely stopped by Ben's rising block. Ben retaliated with a punch, but the young ninja-in-training grabbed Ben's wrist and flipped the karateka to the ground. Jamie backed up a step and bowed to his friend.

Ben chuckled. "You could have taken my nose off of my face there, Raleigh."

Jamie smiled and shook his head. "You blocked it well enough."

"And what, pray tell, if I had failed?"

"A broken nose builds character, dude," commented Dave, who had been watching the exchange alongside of the rest of Adventure.

"Well," commented Buster, habitually playing with the cross that hung around his neck, "Jamie's still up. Who's next?"

"I am," commented a feminine voice from several yards away. Jamie looked up to see Yoshi approaching, two wooden ninja-tos in her hands.

"Wha . . . what?!" demanded Mike, Dave's friend who was one of the only two in the group who was as big as Jamie's cousin.

"I wish a turn," replied Yoshi calmly. She handed one of the bokken to her clan-brother.

"Yer kiddin', right?" remarked Simon, the other large teen.

"You can't fight," smirked Sean, Simon's smaller . . . and snottier . . . twin.

"Actually," returned Jamie, "Master Tanemura has been continuing her training. She's doing pretty good."

Sean snorted. "What changed her mind?"

"I am right here, Sean Wilson," declared the young kunoichi-in-training. "Do not presume to speak of me in the third person." She twirled her sword a few times to check the balance. "I cannot avenge my parents' deaths if I cannot fight, now can I?"

Sean rolled his eyes. "Should'a thought about that a little earlier."

Jamie shot a fierce glare at the twin. "That was totally out of line, Wilson!"

"I agree," commented Ben. "If you're going to pick arguments, then choose a different target."

"I think an apology might be in order," stated Buster.

"Look, preacher-boy," returned Sean, "just because your all-knowing God makes you be a total pansy, doesn't mean that I have to be!"

"Dude," mumbled Dave, "he creamed you in yer last sparring match. I'd say the 'pansy' here'd be you."

"Can it, Dave!" snapped the twin.

"Wanna try an' make me?"

Zack now spoke. "Please say yes! I'd really like ta see'im squash ya."

"I came here to practice!" yelled Yoshi, successfully gaining everyone's attention. "I did not come here to watch a chorus of adolescent men work off their testosterone!"

Dave and Sean cleared their throats nervously. The rest of the group quieted.

Jamie held his sword underhanded in a battle-ready stance. "Are you ready for this?"

She assumed the same stance. "I am ready."

Their swords shot out, the rickety sound of wood smacking wood echoing through the town park. Jamie was pleased with his clan-sister's progress. Tanemura had told her that he would not force her to finish her training, but she had insisted. Her unarmed prowess was quickly becoming a match for that of Jamie. Her skill with weapons was catching up with his, as well. But she concentrated more upon the sword than upon any other weapon. And learned it well, she had . . ..

Jamie looked calmly at the point of her sword, barely jabbing him in the gut. He turned his head to glance at his own bokken, now lying ten feet away. Then he looked back at her and smiled.

Her frustration confused him. She threw down her sword and stomped her foot. "You let me win!"

Jamie narrowed his eyes. "I most certainly did not!"

She cocked an eyebrow at him, seemingly unaware of the voices of their friends mumbling all around them. "You did not?"

"No! I fought you with every bit of determination that I use when I spar with anybody." He smiled. "You're just getting good."

She sighed, her smile now matching that of her clan-brother.

Chapter Nine

April 13, 1993

Tuesday, 4:03 AM

The four o'clock watch, which would last until sunrise, found Jamie sitting in Maria's living room, looking out the large picture window at the front yard and street beyond. Maria had volunteered to take the watch with him so that she and he could catch up on old times. She came out of the kitchen and handed him a glass of citrus soda. "There's enough caffeine and sugar in this stuff to keep a horse awake for a week," she joked.

Jamie glanced up at her as he took the offered glass with a smile. He wished that he had not. The nightgown that she wore, which showed quite a bit of skin, was reminiscent of the clothing that she had worn when she was in high school. She had always been flirty, until the night that a senior named Marty Lemonyon had tried to rape her at a party at his house. After that, she had started to dress more conservatively and had stopped going to parties. Maria had met Falcon Sanders the following year. She had devoted herself to him and he had treated her like a queen. They were together until Mike Noddingham, the Renegades' enforcer, had killed Falcon the previous summer. Since then, Jamie knew that Star had gone back to her partying ways.

He blushed and looked away from her.

"I'm sorry," she said hurriedly. "I forgot how embarrassed you get." She turned and ran into her bedroom and, after a moment or two, came out wearing a baby blue robe and carrying the blanket from her bed. "Is that better?"

Jamie smiled at her and nodded.

She sat on the end of the couch opposite him, wrapping herself in the blanket. The two sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, then Star finally asked, "So you and Shawna broke up?"

Jamie nodded. "Our paths are taking us in different directions," he responded, deciding to leave out the part about Shawna's visions of his wedding.

"It must have been pretty rough on you, losing your virginity to a girl, then breaking up with her," commented Maria.

Jamie's eyes shot to the girl. "I didn't lose my virginity to her."

"You lost it before her?"

Jamie shook his head.

Maria's eyes widened in shock. "You're still a virgin?"

Jamie nodded. "I'm pretty old-fashioned. I'm not married and don't intend to lose my virginity until my wedding night."

"You're startin' ta sound like Buster," commented Maria. "An eighteen year-old virgin is pretty rare these days."

"And yet, you have three of them under your roof right now," commented Jamie. "And one seventeen year-old virgin."

"I figured that Buster and his girlfriend probably hadn't done anything, but Yoshi is still one?"

Jamie nodded.

"And you know this for sure?"

Jamie nodded again. "She and George never did anything like that while they were dating."

"Wow," was all that Star could say.

"Have you been with anybody since Falcon?" asked Jamie, hoping that he was not crossing a line by bringing up Star's dead fiancé.

Star nodded. "I've dated several guys since then."

"And you've been intimate with all of them?"

Maria nodded uncomfortably. Jamie could see shame in her eyes.

He sighed and took her hand in his. "Don't you see? Since you had given that part of yourself to Falcon, you will always compare any other lovers to him. And I doubt that any of them will ever stack up to what you felt with him. That's why premarital sex is such a bad idea."

Maria sniffed and wiped her eyes. She smiled at him, but he knew that she was hiding a deep pain in her heart. "You really do know how to bring down a good conversation," she joked.

"I'm sorry," he admitted.

She shook her head. "Don't be. Can you . . . can you do me a favor?"

He nodded.

"I haven't had anyone hold me since Falcon died." She took a ragged breath and released it. "Will you hold me?"

He smiled at her. She was in a lot of pain. It was the least that he could do to try to help her to deaden that pain. She moved closer to him and lay her head on his shoulder and his right arm reflexively wrapped itself around her as she shared the blanket with him. Within moments, she was asleep and Jamie was left to keep watch alone.

* * *

Yoshi opened her eyes. She sat up in the twin bed that was in the room that she was sharing with Bryanna and Amy and looked out the window, noting that the sun was starting to climb over the roofs of the houses across the street. After rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she stretched, then climbed from the bed, shivering as her bare feet touched the cold, wooden floor. The kunoichi got dressed, leaving her shoes off so that walking around would not cause the creaking boards of the old house to awaken her roommates.

She padded out of the room and walked down the hall, coming to a stop at the top of the stairs. She listened and heard steady breathing coming from below, so she walked down the stairs and came to a stop in the hall that separated the kitchen from the living room.

As her eyes settled on the couch, they widened in surprise. Jamie and Maria were cuddled there.

Why did that bother her so much?

She shook her head to clear it and walked into the living room. Star was asleep and it had been her steady breathing that she had heard at the top of the stairs. Jamie was still awake, but he had his eyes closed and his head bowed, praying.

Yoshi waited patiently next to the couch for him to finish his time with God. He eventually stopped praying and said, without opening his eyes, "Hey, sis."

She smiled at him. "Only you would have heard me."

He opened his eyes and looked up at her. "We learned from the same person."

She nodded. "Maria seems to have made herself comfortable."

He looked down at the older girl who still had her head resting on his shoulder. "She and I had a heart-to-heart talk this morning. She really misses Falcon. She misses the comfort that he gave to her."

Yoshi's face darkened. "When I still had the demonic necklace, I promised Dave that the next time that I were to see Mike, I would kill him."

Jamie looked back up at her. "And now?"

"Since we are here," she said as she folded her arms across her chest, "and I will inevitably come into contact with him, it may take every bit of strength that I have to keep me from tearing his black heart from his chest." She smiled at her clan-brother. "Shall I fix breakfast?"

"Don't joke about things like that," suggested Jamie. "I'd love nothing more than to knock Mike's head from his shoulders, but there are bigger things happening here than Adventure and the Renegades."

"Who is joking?" returned Yoshi. "Even Dave wanted to hurt Mike for what he did. And Mike used to be his best friend."

Jamie sighed. "I know. It's part of the reason that I'm glad that he isn't here right now."

"That who isn't here right now?" asked Amy, who was coming down the stairs, her hair disheveled.

"Dave," replied Yoshi. "He wanted to hurt the Renegade who killed Maria's fiancé." She smiled guiltily at Buster's girlfriend. "Did I awaken you?"

Amy shook her head. "I'd been fighting waking up for a while before you got up. Is Buster up yet?"

"I think I heard him praying in his room," said Jamie. "He slept in the room next to Star's. I think Max and Fredrick are in there, too."

"I don't want to interrupt him," commented Amy. "Were there any of those doughnuts left that we bought yesterday?"

"No sweets for breakfast," commented Yoshi. "I am going to fix a nutritious meal. I will make eggs and bacon."

"Much healthier," joked Amy. "Let's switch the sugar for grease and cholesterol."

"Why do you not help me, rather than be a smart aleck?" asked Yoshi with a slight smile.

"Buster's grandmother called me that yesterday," said Amy. "Because I told her that her hair was falling out of its bun."

"I'm not surprised," groaned Jamie. "That woman can't say anything nice about any of Buster's friends. She used to say that I was a bad influence on him."

"You?" Amy's eyes were narrowed in confusion.

"She met me one time. I never spoke to her at all. She did not like me because I am Japanese," stated Yoshi. "We have just learned to ignore her."

Yoshi walked into the kitchen, followed by Amy. "What was it that you got from Buster's grandmother yesterday?" asked the kunoichi.

"You mean, other than nausea?"

Yoshi smirked at her. "Be good."

Amy seated herself at the kitchen table. "We got a box of Buster's old comic books and these notebooks that he used to write short stories in."

Yoshi opened the refrigerator and peered inside. "I remember that he used to write them."

"The villains were weird, though," returned Amy.

Yoshi pulled a carton of eggs from the second shelf. "They were Satanists, I believe."

Amy nodded. "Was Buster's biological father really a Satanist?"

Yoshi opened the freezer. "No." She pulled a pack of bacon out and closed the door, looking at Amy. "I do not think that Buster ever really met his biological father. I believe that he made him a Satanist in those stories because he had this thought that his adoptive parents—his mother in particular—had to be better than the family from whom he had been taken when he was so young. And, as you probably have gathered from knowing his mother and grandmother, a willing worshiper of Satan is about the only thing that could be worse."

Amy could not help but chuckle. "At least his adoptive father isn't so bad."

"Mr. Goodman is a good man. He is an honest policeman and Sera is lucky to have him now, as Jameston is unlucky to have lost him," stated Yoshi, as she grabbed a skillet from the cupboard. "But the fact remains that he never interfered with his wife's abuse of your fiancé."

"How did you know that we were engaged?" asked Amy.

Yoshi looked over her shoulder as she turned the front burner of the stove on, producing a flame. "Buster told me. I fully expect to be in the wedding. At least a bridesmaid."

"We're not getting married until after he graduates from college and seminary," replied Amy. "But you can definitely be a bridesmaid."

* * *

The elf-maiden floats above the sinking ship, watching her friends as they wait for the balcony on which Shawna and she are riding. Finally, the balcony bobs to the surface. As she watches her friends, she sees the red amulet that had once been embedded in Ladvia Baalstorm's hand come floating to the surface. Buster grabs it from the water.

She knows that the amulet probes his mind to try to master it. What it finds is that his walk with the Lord is too strong and it does not have a chance of controlling him. But it does not leave his mind without a parting gift. Something from Buster's past . . . something from his own imagination will someday be used to avenge the amulet. Yes, if it cannot corrupt Buster, the follower of the One True God, then it will corrupt his creations—his stories.

* * *

Elvara bolted upright on the pallet upon which she and Deck had slept. The pleasant aroma of eggs and bacon floated in from the kitchen downstairs but she wasn't interested in that. Climbing to her feet, she grabbed the strange pants that Yoshi had given to her—jeans, she had called them—and put them on. She then removed her nightgown and grabbed one of the shirts that the kunoichi had given to her and put it on, finishing the ensemble with her own sandals. Then, she padded out of the room.

She came to a stop in front of the room that Amy had shared with Bryanna and Yoshi and pushed the door open, stepping inside. Amy's bed was empty, but a single notebook, its pages yellow with age, sat open on the floor next to it. She walked over and picked it up, beginning to read the story within . . ..

* * *

"Does Maria have any orange juice?" asked Yoshi as she plated some bacon.

Amy opened the refrigerator. "The bottle's empty." She closed the door. "Rats!"

Yoshi shrugged. "I can live without it."

Amy looked at the kunoichi. "Are we really going to trust the Renegades?"

Yoshi's gaze met hers. "I hope that we do not have to do so. Ben and his cronies lost the right to our respect a long time ago."

Chapter Ten

Flashback

October 1, 1988

Saturday, 1:52 PM

The teens and adult sat around the table, looking at its contents with concern. Jamie had never felt so uncomfortable in his life. The humid, August afternoon dripped beads of sweat from his bangs and into his eyes, burning them. A single drop landed on the lenses of his glasses and slid to the bottom. He pulled them off and cleaned them with his shirt. After putting them back on, his eyes focused upon the item that had brought them here this evening.

The heat was not the reason for his discomfort.

The zipped, plastic storage bag looked as if it held half a pound of the white powder.

The young ninja, who had completed his training only two months earlier, glanced at his friend and nunchaku student, Buster. The young preacher nervously fingered the silver cross that dangled from the chain around his neck as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his left hand. His dark, curly hair was drenched.

Jamie's gaze moved to meet that of Yoshi, the girl who would one day lead his ninja clan. Her yellow tank-top probably made her the most comfortable in the Missouri heat, though her face still dripped perspiration, as well. She sighed and moved her eyes back down to look at the bag.

The man, Sheriff Goodman—also Buster's father—finally spoke. "And where did you find this, Yoshi?" Sweat had soaked his armpits.

She took a deep breath and released it. Looking up at Jamie apologetically, she said, "Under the back of Jamie's parents' house." She looked up at the sheriff hurriedly and added, "Neither Jamie, nor his parents, have anything to do with this."

The man smiled comfortingly and laid his hand upon her shoulder. "I'm sure you're right, but how did it get there?"

She looked back down at the bag once again. "I saw Ben Shalley, Mike Noddingham and Sean Wilson put it there."

Buster's eyes shot up to meet Jamie's. The young ninja nodded. "I saw them walking away from my house this morning, but Mom had taken Dad to the doctor and they don't like for me to have friends over unless they know about them. So I didn't say anything to them."

Sheriff Goodman sighed. "Well, I'm going to have a talk with their parents." He snatched the bag up from the table and opened the door to the kids' clubhouse. A slight breeze wafted in, causing a quiet sigh of relief to spill from Jamie's mouth.

"Are you gonna arrest'em?" demanded Buster.

The sheriff shook his head. "They're minors. Maybe I can just find out where they got the stuff."

* * *

"What?!" demanded Dave. "You gotta be kiddin' me, dudes!"

Yoshi shook her head. "I am not kidding, Dave. They put it there."

Jamie sighed and looked at his younger, but larger, cousin. "I know how close you and Mike are . . .."

"He's my best friend, dude," returned Dave.

"And you're sure Sean was there?" demanded Simon, Dave's other large friend.

Yoshi nodded sadly.

Zack—Jamie and Dave's smaller cousin—looked at his watch. "When are they supposed t'be here?" He fanned himself with a comic book. "It's burnin' up in here!"

Buster wiped his forehead. "Any minute."

As if to emphasize the young preacher's words, a pounding on the door of the clubhouse alerted them to at least Mike's presence.

He never used the "secret knock."

As he was sitting in a chair near the door, Dave reached up and opened it. Mike walked in, followed by Sean and then Ben.

"What was so important, Raleigh?" asked Ben, as he looked around, with a cocked eyebrow, at those who had already arrived.

Without preamble, Yoshi jumped to her feet and pointed an accusing finger at him. "Why did you put a bag of cocaine under the back of Jamie's house?"

Mike and Sean stared at her in shock, but Ben merely smiled. "Your ability to move without being detected is improving."

The kunoichi-in-training clenched her fists at her side. "Answer the question!"

Ben folded his arms across his chest. "Jamie's house is closer to our dealers than any of ours is."

Jamie's heart fell into his stomach. "Dealers?"

Ben nodded. "Look, this club has been useful for awhile now. We've trained together and learned to really fight. But it's time to put away childish things. This is the path that we should be taking."

Jamie could not believe that he was hearing this. "What are you, crazy?!"

Ben held up his hands for silence as everyone around them started muttering amongst themselves. "Think about it. All of us together could dominate this town. We even have a ninja among us." He looked at Yoshi. "And we'll soon have two."

Buster now stood. "The strong are supposed to protect the weak, Ben. Not prey on them."

"A typically Christian thing to say, Buster," responded Ben. "Considering your chosen vocation and the fact that your father is the police chief, I wouldn't have expected you to join us, anyway." He gestured around at those sitting in the small building. "But we could all take you."

"Then you'll have to take me, too!" snapped Jamie. "This isn't why Master Tanemura trained me!"

"And you will have to fight me, Ben," added Yoshi. "I will not be a part of this!"

"Jamie and Buster are right," said Zack. "You guy's are whacked."

Ben looked down at Dave. "And you?"

The big teen ignored him and settled his gaze upon Mike. "Are you really goin' along with this, dude?"

Mike nodded. "Yeah. I've never had money before. Now I do. It feels great!"

Dave shook his head. "Then I don't want anything t'do with the three'o you."

Ben looked around at the members of the club known as Adventure. Jamie followed his gaze and was reassured from their eyes that they all sided with the young ninja. Finally, Jamie gestured toward the entrance. "Goodbye, Ben. There's the door."

* * *

The next week went by without Jamie hearing from Ben. His initial depression over his former friend's actions had been quickly replaced by anger. How could he sell drugs? How could he have used Jamie's house to store them? How could he have expected Jamie or the others to simply say, "Let's become drug dealers! What a great idea!"

The first Saturday evening after the confrontation found Jamie, Dave and Yoshi riding their bikes along Main Street, heading back to the residential side of town after having just played some video games at the 8-Ball Arcade. The sun had set, but that was doing little to cool the humid air.

Dave, a navy blue headband tied around his head to keep the sweat out of his eyes, was telling the other two about his phone call from Mike earlier in the day. "He said he bought a new motorcycle," the big teen was saying. "And he paid cash for it."

"What he does with drug money should be of no concern to us," commented Yoshi. "They have gotten children addicted to their poison." She shook her head. "I do not see how they have been able to earn such a great amount of money on just the children here in Jameston."

"They aren't," responded Jamie. "Buster's dad says that he thinks that they're working with people in Kennett and Malden, too. Ben's reach is longer than anyone thought and the police in all three towns are having a difficult time dealing with this."

"In order for Ben to have made such progress, he must have been doing this for quite some time," reasoned Yoshi.

"Since last year," said Dave. "At least, that's what Mike said. He also said that drugs aren't the only thing they're doin'."

They passed a street and, looking to his right, Jamie came to a stop, then turned his bike around. "What in the world . . .?"

"What is it, dude?" demanded Dave.

"One of the windows of the Variety Store was broken out." Jamie started to peddle back in the direction of that store, now followed by his two companions.

Sure enough, the store was missing one of its windows. And there were people inside.

Teenagers.

The three young adolescents' bikes left the street for the sidewalk as they peddled forward. Jamie stopped his bike just in front of the store, noting that the only alarm on the building, which was on the set of double-doors, had not been tripped by the entry. The sounds of objects sliding along the floor came from inside. The three youth could also hear whispering, too faint to discern.

"Who is in there?" demanded Yoshi aloud.

The sounds stopped and a familiar teen poked his head out from behind one of the isles. He was carrying a box of clothes and regarded the three members of Adventure in shock. It was Brad Whitman, a teen from Yoshi's class who idolized Ben Shalley. "What are you guys doin' here?" he asked.

"We're 'bout t'call the cops, dude," answered Dave.

Several more kids, all dressed in the same denim jackets with the sleeves cut off, stepped out of various isles. There were seven in all, ranging in age from thirteen to seventeen. Brad glared at the three. "I don't think you guy's'll have the chance t'get to a phone."

Jamie pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. Why had they tipped their hand to these punks?

Dave was actually smiling for the first time in over a week. "Dude, you guy's're still outnumbered!"

The thieves charged the broken window. The first to arrive—a boy that Jamie recognized as a Sophomore at his school—found his wrists grasped by Dave's massive hands and tossed across the sidewalk to land rolling in the street. The shock of the landing knocked him senseless

Brad jumped through the window at Yoshi, who grabbed his arms and dropped to her back, using her right foot to throw him over her. He landed on the street with a thud, groaning in pain.

Another teen climbed into the window and Jamie jumped from the ground to compensate for the other adolescent's height advantage, slamming his foot into the boy's stomach. As he doubled over, the young ninja grabbed him and flipped him to the pavement, then kicked him across the face, knocking him unconscious.

Brad had regained his feet and, now moving warily toward Yoshi, pulled a switchblade. She assumed a defensive stance and the two of them circled one another cautiously.

Finally, he lunged at her and shoved the blade of the knife toward her midsection. She caught his wrist and spun to where her back was facing him. Bringing his elbow down upon her shoulder, she noted with satisfaction that his screech of pain had been accompanied by the dropping of his weapon. Then she flipped him to the sidewalk and knocked him out with a well-placed fist to the jaw.

Dave looked menacingly through the window at the other three. "Anymore takers?"

The three remaining thieves stood back from the window in fear of the trained members of Adventure. Finally, one of them spoke up. "You have to leave to call the cops."

Jamie looked at Yoshi, who kicked the double-doors in center where they met. She controlled her kick enough to do no damage, but the jarring of them activated the alarm, which sounded out loud.

"You were sayin', dude?" called Dave over the noise.

Chapter Eleven

April 13, 1993

Tuesday, 6:43 AM

As Amy opened the front door, Jamie asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to walk up to the convenience store at the end of the street," she replied, running her fingers through her brushed, dark hair. "I can't handle eating bacon and eggs without orange juice."

"I'm sorry," said Maria as she stretched and sat up. "I didn't think to get some yesterday."

Jamie's arm had fallen asleep while Star had been cuddled next to him. Now, he worked the numbness out as he suggested, "Why don't you take somebody with you? We still don't know anything about what's going on here."

"It's just up the street," replied Amy. "Besides, it's broad daylight outside. I'll be fine."

The young ninja sighed. "Do you still have that stun gun?"

She smiled and pulled the small, defensive device from her pocket to show to him. "Can I go now, Mommy?"

He chuckled. "Sure, smart aleck."

"Buster's grandmother's nickname will never leave me," she laughed as she turned and stepped out the door.

Jamie climbed to his feet and walked over to the window that was in the door, looking out and watching her. His eyes followed her all the way to the convenience store until she stepped inside. "I guess she's going to be okay."

"Did she get there safely?" asked Yoshi.

He nodded. "Yeah." He turned to look at his clan-sister. "Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

"Sometimes," commented Star, "a healthy dose of paranoia is a good thing."

"Where'd Amy go?" called Buster from his room.

"She went to get orange juice," replied Yoshi. "Have you finished your morning prayer? I could definitely use your help in the kitchen."

"Yeah," he said. "I'll be right out."

* * *

Elvara finished reading the story. It was about Jamie and his friends defeating a group of five Satanic warriors. The story was quite detailed, especially considering how young Buster must have been when he wrote it. The story detailed the battle, even down to Jamie slicing a gash across the face of the leader of the Satanists.

"Five of them," she whispered to herself. "Four missing teenagers here in this town, plus Lucious. Five. It cannot be."

Then, the prophetess felt a strong compulsion to look out the window. She ran over and stared down at the street, seeing Amy walking toward the house and carrying a large bottle of some kind of orange liquid. Suddenly, a horseless vehicle sped up to her and the largest man that she had ever seen . . . dwarfing even her husband . . . leapt out. Amy pulled a black object from her pocket and tried to hit him with it, but he caught her wrist and shoved her inside of the vehicle.

"JAMIE!!! BUSTER!!!" the elf called out. She then turned and ran out of the room, plunging down the stairs. When she got to the bottom, she saw Jamie, Buster, Yoshi and Maria all sitting in the living room. Maria was still in her bathrobe, but the other three were dressed. "Someone in an earth vehicle just took Amy!"

"What?!" demanded Buster.

Jamie leapt to his feet. "I shouldn't have let her go! I knew it!"

"What kind of vehicle was it?" asked Yoshi.

Elvara shook her head. "I do not know what you mean! It was a vehicle that was not being pulled by a horse!"

Jamie headed toward the door. "Did it look like Buster's or mine?"

"It looked more like Buster's, only larger," was the elf's response.

Jamie opened the door and stepped out onto the porch. "Did you see which direction they went?"

Elvara stepped out behind him, followed by Buster, Yoshi and Maria. The elf-maiden pointed up the street in the opposite direction of the convenience store. "They went that way and turned right."

Jamie looked back and forth between Buster and Yoshi. "Let's go."

Buster's keys were in his hand in a flash as he leaped from the porch and sprinted to his minivan, followed by Yoshi and Elvara.

Jamie looked at Maria. "Tell the others what happened. We don't have time for them to get up and dressed." He then turned and bolted toward the van.

Buster started the vehicle as Jamie climbed in the sliding side door and sat in the middle seat beside Yoshi. As he closed the door, Elvara finally remembered how to open the passenger's side, front door and climbed in.

"Can you remember how to fasten the seatbelt?" Buster asked the prophetess.

She nodded as she did so.

The van's tires squealed as Buster gunned the gas. They shot up the street and turned right onto Lucas Street. They had driven up that street for just a minute or two when Elvara yelped, "That is the vehicle!" She was pointing at a brown and tan, mid-eighties model van that was parked outside of an abandoned, two story house.

"Why would they take her to a house that is so close to where they grabbed her?" wondered Yoshi aloud as Buster pulled up to the rear of the van and cut the engine. "And why would they leave the vehicle that they used right out in the open?"

"They were wanting you to find them," said Elvara.

"I'm so glad they got their wish," muttered Jamie as he opened the sliding side door and climbed out, followed by Yoshi. Elvara and Buster climbed from their places in the front.

"Maybe you should wait here, Elvara," commented Jamie.

"And why would I do that?" she asked.

"Because you made a comment during our first visit to Thera that you were concerned that a prophetess on Earth would be helpless," was the young ninja's reply.

"Why would she be helpless?" demanded Buster.

"I fear that the miracles will not work here like they do on my world," explained the elf.

"That's nonsense," returned the preacher. "The miracles come from God and He doesn't change . . . no matter where you are."

"BUSTER!!!" The teens and their adult friend looked up to see Amy in one of the upstairs windows, which was standing open. Then someone pulled her away from it and slammed it shut.

Buster dashed up the front steps of the house. At his push, the door opened with a pronounced creek.

Jamie stood right behind him. "Maybe it needs some WD-40."

"It needs what?" asked Elvara.

"Never mind."

The four stepped, one at a time, into the house. They were now standing in a large living room. The carpet that had once been here had been torn up, leaving only the multicolored pad underneath. Holes marred the walls on all sides, some as small as fists and others as large as an adult's upper torso. The unpleasing scent of mildew filled the air. At the opposite side of the room was a staircase that led to the second floor.

Without warning, figures began walking out of doorways to the right and left of the four young heroes. They wore a variety of clothing that ranged from Jameston Camels T-shirts to a police uniform. Each head of hair was stark white. Each person's face was frozen in an expression of horror that made Jamie's heart race in his chest. Their pure, white eyes were sunken into their sockets and their mouths were frozen in silent screams. There were ten of them, in all.

"What's wrong with them?" demanded the male ninja.

"What are they?" demanded Yoshi.

"They are more victims of the ruby," explained Elvara. "But Buster would know them as the Mindless."

Buster's eyes darted to meet those of the elf maiden. "What?! Where did you hear that word?"

Before Elvara could answer, one of the Mindless, a teenage boy with a blue and white striped shirt, lunged at her, grasping her by the throat. Buster's foot shot up and kicked this one in the side of the head, forcing it to release its grip.

Elvara immediately grabbed her attacker's wrists and demanded, "In the Name of Jesus of Nazareth, come out of him unclean spirit!"

The boy dropped to the floor, rolling back and forth and holding his head between his hands. Finally, he lay still, the red color having returned to his hair and the horror having left his face.

"Is he dead?" asked Yoshi.

Elvara shook her head. "No."

The police officer lunged at Jamie, who brought his foot up into the attacker's gut. He then grabbed his opponent's wrist and flipped him to the floor.

Yoshi swept the legs from under a Mindless who had once been a girl, who landed on her back with a THUD. As the possessed girl started to rise again, Yoshi's foot struck her across the face, knocking her back to the floor.

"Remember," commented Elvara, who was surrounded by her three friends, "they are not the enemies. They have no control over their actions."

Buster spin-kicked another one as Elvara knelt next to the one that Yoshi had just knocked unconscious, beginning to pray over her. The preacher grabbed his opponent's wrist and flipped him to the floor. He landed next to Elvara who, without missing a beat, placed her free hand over his head and included him in the prayer.

"BUSTER!!!" Amy's voice shot down the stairs.

The preacher looked up the stairs and yelled, "Amy! We're coming!"

"Go on!" ordered Jamie as he kicked another Mindless in the face. "Yoshi and I'll hold these guys off here."

Without a word, Buster plunged up the stairs . . ..

* * *

BM stood at the end of the hall, holding the girl with his left hand clamped firmly over her mouth. He had tried, but failed, to use the ruby to change her into one of the Mindless. She belonged to the God of Heaven.

Slash stood next to the stairs, ready to plunge his knifed fingers into anyone who climbed them. The leader of the group knew that it was taking every ounce of strength that Slash had to keep him from cackling out loud.

The girl's mouth opened and her teeth clamped down on the palm of BM's hand, causing him to yelp in pain and release her as she yelled, "Look out! There's one waiting for you at the top of the stairs!"

* * *

Buster heard Amy's warning just as he reached the top. A horrid hand with blades for fingers lunged at him, but he caught the wrist and used the enemy's momentum to carry him into the wall on the opposite side. As the strange man slammed face-first into the wall, the preacher's foot kicked him in the back of the head, knocking him senseless.

"You have definitely improved since last we battled," called a voice from the other end of the hall. Buster looked in that direction to see a man who was easily as tall as Deck standing there, holding Amy with his left arm. The man had light, blonde hair and a single scar that ran over his right cheekbone. He wore some kind of a lifejacket that had pentagrams painted on each side. What caught the preacher's attention the most was the red glow that flared from his hand. The sunlight that streamed in the window behind him seemed to shrink back from that glow and the man to whom it was attached.

"Who are you?" demanded Buster. "I've never seen you before in my life."

"Now is that any way to talk to your father?" asked the man.

Buster's eyes narrowed. "My father is a police officer who lives in Sera."

The man regarded the kensai thoughtfully. "Yes, it would appear that the force that took us out of this world those years ago really did make you all forget about us."

Buster could hear footsteps coming up the stairs, but was too occupied with trying to figure out what was going on with this man to care about who was coming. "How did you get the ruby?"

"My master gave it to me, son," replied the man. "He could be your master, as well. Just renounce that God of yours."

"Like that would ever happen," retorted the preacher as Jamie and Yoshi took positions on either side of him.

"Ah," grinned the man, "Jamie Raleigh, the boy who didn't realize that he had the world right in front of him. And Yoshi Funakoshi, said world."

"What?!" asked Jamie. "Who are you?"

Buster caught a flash of movement to his left and looked in time to see the man with the bladed fingers lunge at Yoshi, who caught his wrists, kicked him in the gut, then flipped him to the floor in front of the three heroes.

The knife-fingered man cackled madly and started to rise, but halted when the other man ordered, "Come over here, Slash." The maniacal grin was replaced with a look of sheer disappointment as he backed away from the three teens.

The other man shoved Amy forward, almost causing her to lose her balance. "Take your wench, boy. She is not what the master seeks. But know this . . . BM and the Followers of the Dark One have returned to Jameston, Missouri, and Adventure will be sent to meet their Maker soon enough!" He turned and jumped through the window, shattering the glass. The other man plunged out after him, leaving Amy standing at the end of the hall, tears overflowing.

Buster ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "He said he was going to make me one of those things downstairs, but couldn't."

"Your faith in the Lord is too strong," explained Elvara, who stood behind Yoshi. "A demon cannot possess a follower of the One True God. Our Master takes care of His own."

"Thank you, Jesus," whispered Buster as he kissed Amy's dark locks.

Jamie walked past them and looked down over the back yard. There was no sign of the two men. "Did that one guy have knives instead of fingers?"

"Yes," returned Yoshi. "They came too close to me for comfort." She turned to look at Elvara. "If a demon cannot possess a Christian, then how was I possessed on Thera?"

Elvara regarded her warmly. "Do you place more faith in God, or yourself?"

Yoshi's eyes narrowed in thought. Buster knew that Elvara had not expected an answer.

"Do we have any idea what we're dealing with here?" asked Jamie.

"I do," replied Elvara. "And Buster does, as well."

* * *

Jamie rubbed the back of his neck as he looked over the short story that Buster had written when he was thirteen years old. "It . . . it describes them perfectly. At least the two guys at the house."

Elvara, who sat on Maria's couch between Jamie and her husband, nodded. "Counting Lucious, there are five people missing. There are five villains listed."

Yoshi, standing behind the couch with her arms folded across her chest, looked down at her clan brother. "And that would explain the fact that they are going after Renegades, as well as us. Ben and the others were still members of our group then." She sighed and glanced at Buster. "You must have written these shortly after my arrival here. But you show me with the ability to fight. I had not recalled that when you told us about them at that time."

Buster, sitting on the floor next to Amy, cleared his throat. "The heroes in that story—us, in effect—where how I envisioned us if we were as perfect as we could be. That would have included you willingly training."

Yoshi's eyes saddened. "My parents were still alive then. It would have been perfect if I would have trained at that time."

"I'm sorry," said the preacher. "In a way, by writing those stories about you guys, I violated your privacy. And none of this would be happening."

Jamie shook his head. "Actually, I'm flattered. Now I know where the big guy got the scar under his eye, even though I didn't even have a real ninja-to at that time." The young ninja looked at Elvara. "But how did the ruby know about this story?"

The prophetess lay her head on Deck's shoulder. "After the leviathan swallowed Ladvia, the ruby floated to the surface while her ship was still sinking. Buster was the one who fished it out of the water. Granted, he did not touch it for very long. It was also unable to take control of him due to his relationship with the Risen Savior. But it did touch his mind for just an instant. And it apparently did see his memory of this story."

Maria brought a tray of the food that Yoshi had cooked from the kitchen. "It's cold, but still good. Let's dig in."

Max, who was sitting on the floor next to Fredrick, ignored the human girl and asked Elvara, "And you said that they can't turn those of us who are Christians into these Mindless things?"

The prophetess nodded. "We cannot be possessed by demons."

Yoshi took a breath to steady herself. "I have not had the faith in God that my parents had. Being raised in a Christian household does not guarantee that one will have that faith." She knelt on the floor next to Buster. "I am ready to make that decision for real."

The members of Adventure, as well as Bryanna, Deck and Elvara, knelt on the floor in a large circle. Elvara looked up at Maria. "Would you like to join us?"

Maria shook her head uncomfortably. "I'm not much for the religious thing."

Buster regarded her sadly. "It's not about religion. It's about Jesus."

"I'm not much for that, either," returned Star as she turned and headed into her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Buster sighed, then took Yoshi's hand.

The kunoichi began to pray. "Lord, I have always tried to do things my way. I'm ready to stop ignoring You. Forgive me for my trespasses and come into my heart, Lord Jesus. In Your Holy Name, Amen."

The group remained silent, their eyes still closed, for a few moments after she had finished her short prayer. Jamie could hear his clan sister weeping silently. He was glad for her. And he was sad for Maria.

Finally, the young ninja opened his eyes to find Yoshi embracing Buster. Then he looked at Elvara, who was regarding Yoshi intently. "Is something wrong?" he asked the prophetess.

She shook her head. "Not at all. Now that Yoshi is a true follower of the Lord, she will have her heart's true desire. She will have something that she has wanted for a long time."

Yoshi pulled away from Buster and looked at the elf-maiden with a sniffle as she wiped her eyes with her right hand. "And what would that be?"

Elvara shrugged. "I suppose that you would be the best person to tell us that."

* * *

BM knelt in the corner of the back room of the old farmhouse, communing with the ruby. He had faced his son and his son's friends—at least some of the ones who were still allied with his son. His son's faith in the God of Heaven was stronger than ever. His friends, with the possible exception of the Japanese girl, were all Christians, as well. He was particularly disturbed by the blonde woman who had been with them. She had a faith that, perhaps, dwarfed even that of Buster. It was she who, calling upon the Name of her Savior, had cast the demons out of the Mindless.

But things were looking up for the Followers of the Dark One. Though Simon Wilson had been good at heart, he had never accepted Jesus as his Savior, so his death had sent him to be with BM's master. There was a possibility that this Yoshi Funakoshi was not a true follower of Christ. And, finally, the ruby had revealed the face of the one who would be sacrificed the following night. They would take her tomorrow. The remainder of this day would be spent gathering more Mindless.

BM's lips curled into a wicked grin. Yes, things were definitely beginning to fall into place.

Chapter Twelve

Tuesday, 2:53 PM

Jamie and the rest of Adventure stood at the back of the crowd with their friends. Jamie had not wanted to make another scene like the one that had happened at the visitation the previous night. He simply avoided Sean, who sat in a folding chair near the front of the canopy that had been erected to protect those present from the light, spring rain that fell from the overcast sky. Though Jamie and his friends stood under the canopy, a shift in the breeze would often send a slight amount of drizzle in, sending chills down the young ninja's back as the cold water touched his neck. Star had declined to join them at the funeral, as she knew that Mike would be there and she definitely did not want to be in the presence of the person who had killed her fiancé, especially knowing that the police had no intention of doing anything about it.

He glanced at Yoshi, standing next to him. Her eyes were looking off to their left, toward the two familiar grave markers that stood over her parents' final resting places. He instinctively put a comforting arm around her and she lay her head on his shoulder.

After the preacher finished speaking, people started filing out from under the canopy. Jamie opened his black umbrella and shared it with Yoshi as several of his friends opened their own umbrellas. He walked with his clan sister to get a closer look at the graves of Mai and Kuji Funakoshi.

As they stood over the stones in which were carved the names of her parents, Yoshi's eyes began to overflow with tears. "I am so sorry," she whispered. "I completed my training, father. I've gone beyond what Uncle Tanemura taught me." She shivered and Jamie wrapped his free arm around her more tightly. "I will make you both proud."

"They both are proud of you," commented Jamie.

She sniffed and looked up at him with a thankful smile.

"It's been a long time, you two," came a familiar girl's voice from behind them. They turned to look into the face of Traci Bundy. Her blond hair was damp by the rain.

In response, Jamie merely said, "It has." He looked past her at the hulking form of Mike Noddingham, who was walking with Ben toward the road where everyone was parked.

"I see that not everybody came with you," commented Traci.

"Most were already gone for Spring Break when we found out about Simon," returned Jamie.

"Isn't the river in Sera a big Spring Break location?" she asked.

"Not if you already live there," stated Yoshi.

"Did . . . did Dave go somewhere for Spring Break?" asked the Renegade.

Jamie sighed. "Dave's in the Air Force. He's married."

Traci's blue eyes widened. "Married? Oh."

"He will be coming home on leave this summer so that he can be with Laura when their baby is born," explained Yoshi.

"Baby?" asked Traci uneasily. "That girlfriend of his is pregnant?"

"Why do you care, Traci?" wondered Jamie aloud, his irritation moving into his voice. "He was your boyfriend when we were twelve. And you held a gun to his wife's head."

"Her chin," muttered Traci as she turned to walk away.

The two waited until the female Renegade had joined her friends near Ben's car before Yoshi inquired, "What do you suppose that was all about?"

Jamie sighed. "I think Traci's figured out that she lost a good thing with Dave."

The kunoichi shrugged. "Of course. Ben cannot give her the love that Dave had for her. He is not capable of the emotion."

Jamie chuckled. "I always used to think Ben fancied you."

His clan sister glared at him. "That is not even humorous."

"You're right," replied Jamie. "I'm sorry."

They approached Buster's van to find that Ben and Mike Noddingham had joined the rest of Adventure, as well as Deck, Bryanna and Elvara. Mike regarded Jamie and Yoshi darkly and the kunoichi returned the favor.

Ben seemed to find their non-verbal confrontation amusing. "Maybe when we've hunted down the ones who killed Simon, Mike and Yoshi can have a little fight practice, just like we used to do," he chuckled.

Jamie looked at Ben with a humorless smirk. "Things are different now with Yoshi," he explained. "As you saw with Sean last night, she's more than capable of defending herself. I don't think Mike here would stand a chance."

The corner of the large Hispanic boy's mouth turned up into a slight smile. "In her dreams," he said. Jamie noticed the single canine that had a different, orange color than the rest. He remembered that from their childhood, but had never asked the large boy about it.

"Any time you are ready, murderer," commented Yoshi threateningly.

"Please," commented Ben, obviously realizing that he had pushed things too far, "we have more pressing matters concerning us now. Have you given any more thought to what might have happened to Simon?"

"Oh, we know who killed this Simon," commented Elvara, her blonde hair still combed over her ears.

Ben looked back and forth between Jamie and the woman in shock. "Who?"

Without missing a beat, Jamie said, "It's just like Fredrick said last night. It's a cursed guy from another world."

Ben's eyes narrowed threateningly. "This is not the time for foolish games, Raleigh."

Jamie sighed in frustration. "Remember last summer, when all of us were supposed to be dead?"

Ben nodded.

Yoshi continued. "We were on Elvara's home world of Thera."

Ben's eyes showed no trace of the thought that he believed them. "You said that her name was Abigail."

"We also said that his name was James, but it's Deck," returned Max.

"Deck Pendragon?" Mike asked incredulously. "As in the guy who was killed by the ninja who captured you guys?"

"He wasn't killed," explained Jamie. "He just decided to stay there." He nodded at Elvara, who pulled her hair away from her ears, causing Ben and Mike to stare at her in open wonder. "As you can see, she's not from around here.

"The coin that you had—the one that Dave came after you for—was part of a pair that opens a door between these two worlds." Jamie rubbed his eyes, realizing just how ridiculous this story sounded. "That's how he brought us home. Deck and Elvara had kept the coins, but a thief stole them, along with a cursed ruby. That thief is one of the men who killed Simon."

Mike's fists clenched at his sides. "I can't believe that you'd stoop this low, Raleigh." He pointed at Elvara and ordered, "Take those fake ears off or I'll break your neck."

Elvara's eyes narrowed at him as she reached up and moved her right ear around to show him that it was real. "I suppose that you will just have to break it," she commented without concern.

Mike took a threatening step toward her, but Deck's massive arm shot up and blocked him. "Take a step back, punk."

"If we weren't at Simon's funeral, I'd tear you in half!" growled the enforcer.

Deck smiled at him. "Then why don't we leave the cemetery so you can try?"

"ENOUGH!" snapped Yoshi. "We are accomplishing nothing!"

"Agreed," conceded Ben. "Let's say I do believe you, Raleigh. Why would this thief be targeting Adventure? And, more importantly, why would he be targeting Renegades?"

The male ninja sighed. "Well, it has to do with a short story that Buster wrote a few years ago. . .."

* * *

Maria spread her outfit on the bed, looking it over to make sure that it would fit at the college party to which she was going tonight. The black tank top promised to show off her best assets. The jeans always hugged her every curve. Of course, she would need a shirt to wear over the tank top. She would not want Jamie or Buster to comment on her attire.

She had dressed like this in the past, of course. But a near rape at a high school party that she had gone to when she was sixteen had changed that. Then Falcon had come into her life and she had given all of herself to him and had wanted to forge a life with him. That was a plan that Mike Noddingham had shredded when he had murdered Falcon.

So, in a fit of rage or depression—or both—Star had reverted back to her partying ways. Only this time, she did not care if she gave all of herself to someone at one of these parties. After all, what did she have to lose now?

She removed the towel from her head, letting her dyed-red hair fall in damp strands to her shoulders. She started to unfasten the belt of her bathrobe, when she happened to look up and notice a strange, brown and tan van parked on the opposite side of the road. Of course, this could have merely been a visitor at her neighbor's house across the street. But something about the van made her uneasy.

Then, the vehicle pulled away from the curb and drove off. Thankful that she had not disrobed in front of the window with some stranger possibly looking in, she reached up to lower the shades as she noticed Buster's minivan pull up to the curb in front of her house. I'd better get dressed, she realized.

* * *

"Do you get the feeling that he didn't believe us?" asked Fredrick as he helped Bryanna out of the van.

"Gee," groaned Max, "where'd you get an idea like that?"

"Ben knows us well enough to know that we do not lie about such things," commented Yoshi. "Give him enough time to think on it and he will come around. The thing that concerns me most is the fact that we have another three days to stop these Followers of the Dark One, and we really are not much closer now than before."

Jamie glanced at Buster, who was standing hand-in-hand with Amy in front of the van. "Where in the world did you get a group name like that for the bad guys, anyway?"

The preacher shrugged. "I was a kid."

The group headed to the front door and Jamie opened the screen and held it for the others as Yoshi opened the wooden door and everyone filed inside. He followed them in and closed the door behind him.

"Star!" called Yoshi. "We have returned!"

"I'll be right out!" called Maria from her bedroom. "There's some fish sticks on a pan on the stove!"

The group moved into the kitchen and devoured most of the thirty fish sticks without much conversation. Elvara turned down Deck's offer of some for her. She seemed distracted. Finally, Maria came into the room, wearing tight jeans and an un-tucked, white button-up shirt and black sandals. Through the fabric of the shirt, Jamie could see black material—a tank top—underneath.

"Are you going out?" asked the young ninja.

Maria smiled, her lips a dark shade of red. "I'm going to a party at a college girl's house across town. They've been planning it for a month."

"A college girl?" asked Max.

"She's actually a year older than me," returned Star. "She drives down to Arkansas State three days a week."

"That must get old," commented Buster.

Maria shrugged. "You guys are welcome to come."

Jamie glanced at Buster and cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah," commented the preacher. "You know me . . . always loving the keggers."

"Suit yourselves," replied Maria. "I'm going to go finish putting on my makeup." She turned and walked out of the room, calling back, "I have to be there by seven and I'll probably be home late."

"Does she always paint her face like that?" whispered Elvara after Maria's footsteps had faded into her room.

Jamie nodded. "It's a common thing on Earth."

"I will even wear makeup on occasion," commented Yoshi.

Elvara looked uncomfortably toward the doorway through which Maria had just walked. "One of us must go with her tonight."

"What?!" snapped her husband.

"I have a horrible feeling about her," explained the prophetess. "Someone needs to be with her to protect her. She is not a follower of the Lord and our enemies know it."

The common theme among everyone present was that none of them wanted to go to a college beer party. Finally, they decided to draw numbers. Buster took a sheet of paper from a notebook that lay open on the counter and tore four small squares off. Then, he drew an asterisk on one and folded them all. Grabbing a large drinking glass from the cabinet, he deposited the folded papers into it and said, "He-or she-who gets the paper with the asterisk will go with Maria tonight."

Deck, Jamie, Yoshi, and Buster each reached into the glass and grabbed one. Jamie opened his folded paper to see Buster's mark. He groaned.

"Maybe I should go," suggested Deck. "I'm over twenty-one."

Jamie shook his head in resignation. "It's probably better this way. She doesn't know you that well."

Yoshi chuckled at him. "Try not to have too much to drink," she joked.

"Sure," her clan brother grumbled as he turned to leave the kitchen, "just rub it in!"

Chapter Thirteen

Tuesday, 6:52 PM

Maria's late eighties model Chevy Celebrity drove down Main Street, her rock music blaring. Oh yeah, thought Jamie bitterly, this is a good start.

His eyes settled on a sign over a white building next to the post office. The word Iaijutsu caught his attention. Turning down the radio, despite Maria's protests, he demanded, "When did a Japanese swordsmanship school open in Jameston?"

"A little over a year ago," responded Star.

"But how could the guy stay in business?" wondered the young ninja aloud. "This town isn't big enough to support that kind of place."

"The Renegades pay the guy a stipend to keep it open," explained Star. "Ben Shalley's one of his students."

Jamie looked at her in puzzlement. "Ben's learning to use a katana?"

"If you mean the samurai sword, then yes, he is. And word around is that he's pretty good at it, too."

The car turned down a side street after passing the post office. The street ended in a dead end, where Maria made a U-turn to drive back up a couple of houses. Finally, she parked at the curb in front of a large, somewhat worn-down two story house. The front yard was filled with cars where people, apparently in order to leave room for more guests, had pulled right onto the lawn to park. Jamie sighed. "Who owns this place?"

Maria shrugged. "My friend, Heather, and some of her college friends rent it from some old guy who lives in Springfield." She looked at him closely. "Why did you decide to come, of all people?"

"I drew the shortest straw," grumbled Jamie.

"What?"

The young ninja sighed again. "Elvara had a bad feeling about you coming here alone, tonight. We've learned to trust her instincts, so we decided that one of us should go with you."

"I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted," commented Star.

"I won't ruin your fun," returned Jamie. "Just pretend that I'm not there."

The two of them climbed out of the car and headed toward the front door. After climbing the three steps to the porch, Jamie noted that the storm door was missing its glass and screen. Star didn't even bother to open it, knocking on the front door through the missing part.

After a few seconds, the door opened to reveal an attractive Asian girl with long, dark hair. "Hey, Star!" she said enthusiastically without a hint of an accent. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Jamie Raleigh," introduced Maria. "He's my bodyguard tonight." She looked at the young ninja. "This is Heather Chen."

Jamie nodded at the new girl uncomfortably as she opened the door to admit them. "Chinese?" he asked Heather.

"Yep," she replied with a smile. "I'm surprised. Most people can't tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese."

"Yeah, well," said Jamie, "I have a little more experience with the subject than most people."

The living room was packed and almost everyone had some type of alcoholic beverage. Jamie felt even more uncomfortable now than he had figured that he would. He was obviously the youngest person at the party. Fortunately, nobody seemed to give him a second thought.

A long, folding table had been set up in front of the door to the kitchen as a makeshift bar. Two kegs of beer sat on the floor to one side of it, while a bookshelf behind it held various bottles of other types of liquor. Maria took Jamie's wrist and pulled him toward it. "You're my designated driver tonight," she commented to him.

"I am?"

"Since I know you're not going to drink, I'll just have to drink enough for both of us."

"Gee," groaned the young ninja, "what a great idea."

The man who was serving as bartender had dyed green hair and wore a muscle shirt that revealed several tattoos. "Star!" he cried cheerfully. "I'm glad y'made it!"

"Bill," said Maria, "this is Jamie Raleigh, a friend who's in town from Sera. He's my acting bodyguard and designated driver."

Bill gave Jamie a thumbs-up, which he returned half-heartedly. Then the man turned back to Star. "What'll it be?"

"Scotch on the Rocks," she replied with a smile. "Fill it to the brim."

He nodded and poured her a glass of a gold-colored liquid, which she took and downed without a breath. Slamming the glass down on the table, she said, "Again!" He refilled it and she chugged it again.

Jamie sighed and ran his fingers through his light brown hair. What in the world am I doing here?

Maria finished the second drink and slammed it down again. "Another!" With a chuckle, the man poured another glass. She picked it up, but did not drink this time. Looking at Jamie, she smiled. "I'm going to be thoroughly thrashed when we leave tonight!" Then she turned and walked away.

"What are you drinking?" asked Bill to Jamie.

The young ninja cocked an eyebrow at him. "I'm the designated driver, remember?"

Bill shook his head. "Star never leaves here the night of a party. She always stays with one of the guys who comes."

Jamie's eyes moved across the room to settle on Maria, who was already surrounded by a number of college guys who were all vying for her attention. "I don't really drink. How about something without alcohol?"

Bill laughed and Jamie resisted the urge to slug him. "I'm not joking."

The man cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yeah, well . . . how 'bout some tea?"

"Fine," commented Jamie as he grabbed a folding chair from next to the wall and sat it next to the table.

* * *

Ben closed the door behind him. The lab was functioning properly. The Renegades were getting a pretty big chunk of their income from the sale of methamphetamine. The old house that they had acquired on Second Street was serving its purpose well. And with the sheriff on the payroll, they did not even have to put up a cover.

He took the protective breathing mask from his face as he walked down the steps. He had left a few of the lower-ranking members of the gang inside to finish for the evening. But he was exhausted and still perplexed by Jamie's half-baked explanation of who had killed Simon. Had he lost his mind?

He had almost reached the end of the sidewalk that led away from the house when the building exploded in a thunderous boom that sent him flying five feet. He landed face down in the street.

Climbing to his feet, Ben turned to look at his meth house. The structure was completely gone with flames eating all of the debris. "How . . .?"

A mad cackle from several yards up the street tore his attention from the explosion site. He turned to see a man walking toward him, laughing hysterically. In the streetlight, he looked as if he were carrying five knives in each hand.

"Who are you?" demanded the leader of the Renegades as he assumed a defensive stance.

The man only cackled more as he stepped into the light of the same lamp near which Ben stood. The man was wearing a tattered, pink shirt and his head was topped by a black Mohawk. Ben noted, to his horror, that the man was not holding five knives in each hand. Each of his fingers had been replaced by a blade!

The stranger lunged at Ben, who grabbed his wrists and dropped backward, using his right foot to throw the man over him. In an instant, he was back on his feet, ready to continue the fight. The man climbed to his feet, still crowing madly, and slashed at Ben's face with his right hand of blades. Ben caught the man's wrist with his left hand, then kicked him in the stomach, then in the face. Then he turned and flipped the man to the pavement.

Then a blunt object struck him in the back of the head and he fell to the street as blackness overtook him.

* * *

Tee'N'Tee was pleased with himself. The explosive had worked better than he had hoped. The entire building had been leveled. Then Slash had impulsively attacked Ben Shalley. It was obvious that Ben was more than a match for Tee's insane comrade, which was why the explosives expert had used the tire iron to knock Shalley unconscious.

He now followed Slash, who was giggling like a schoolgirl, into the old farmhouse that was serving as their base of operations.

"How'd your explosive work, Tee?" asked Whip, who was playfully using her signature weapon as a jump rope in the living room.

He smiled as he walked up to her and kissed her lips. "It leveled the building."

Crusher walked into the room from one of the bedrooms and looked at Slash, whose nose had crusted, dried crimson around the nostrils. "What happened to you?"

Slash merely laughed hysterically, then turned and began to carve something on the wall.

Crusher turned to Tee. "I thought you weren't supposed to fight anyone."

"I thought so, too," returned Tee, his arms wrapped around Whip's waist. "Try telling that to Slash. He's too impulsive."

"He was impulsive before BM awakened him, as I recall," commented Whip. "I don't know what my pre-awakened mind was thinking in dating him."

Slash turned away from the wall to look at the two lovers. Though his mouth was locked in his permanent laugh, his eyes betrayed a different type of emotion as they overflowed with tears. On the wall behind him, he had carved the name Jack Marshall.

"BM!" called Crusher. "Come and look at this!"

Their leader exited the kitchen. "It is probably a good thing for you to not be in my presence right now," commented their leader. "After your failure to bring me the girl that we are seeking for the ceremony, I am not particularly pleased."

"Jamie Raleigh left her house with her," returned the giant. "You told us not to engage them yet."

"Look at what Slash did to the wall," commented Tee.

BM examined the writing. "From time to time, we'll all get faint memories of the lives that we led before the awakening."

"A cocky teenager?" asked Whip. "What did my pre-self see in him?"

Slash turned away from them. As they watched him, he examined the name that he had carved on the wall. Then he started cackling madly and slashing at the word.

"Then his true self takes back over," commented BM.

Whip glanced at Crusher. "Well, Tee's mission was a success. Why wasn't yours?"

The giant glared at her, his fists clenching at his sides. "She left the house with Raleigh. Like I said."

She cocked an eyebrow and the corner of her mouth curled into a crooked smile. "And your point?"

Crusher looked at BM, obviously refusing to let her hook him. "You told us not to engage any of our enemies yet."

BM nodded, the glow from his hand deepening. "Calm yourselves. We will take her tomorrow. There will be plenty of time for us to destroy Adventure. And we have been promised a patrol of kaibutsu to battle them when they inevitably come to rescue her."

* * *

The song People Are Strange played to the closing credits of the vampire movie as the group of teens and their friends watched the television. "This is incredible!" cooed Bryanna from her place next to Fredrick on the floor. She sat comfortably, cuddled up to him and with his right arm around her. "An entire play performed in this box without real actors!"

"Yeah," commented Max, who was sitting on the couch with Deck and Elvara. "Television comes in handy sometimes."

"I still can't believe that you guys have been here since Saturday night and have just seen your first movie," said Amy from her place on the loveseat next to Buster. It sat in front of the picture window.

Buster rolled his eyes. "I can't believe this was the first movie that they had to see."

Yoshi, who sat on the floor on the verge of sleep, rubbed her eyes with a yawn. Then she glanced up at Elvara, who sat on the couch and looked out the window in concern. "Is something wrong?" asked the kunoichi.

Elvara looked down at her. "Jamie's presence with Star has protected her this evening."

"This is a good thing," suggested Max. "Right?"

"Undoubtedly," returned Elvara. "But I fear that Jamie has a rough night and morning ahead of him." She looked down at Yoshi. "We should not expect them home this evening."

"Why?" the female ninja asked.

"Your clan brother has to live through something important tomorrow morning that will push him a little closer toward an important milestone in his life."

"And what would that be?" Yoshi asked.

"I cannot say," stated Elvara. Without another word, she climbed to her feet and headed toward the stairs, followed by her husband.

* * *

Jamie felt lightheaded. His stomach was doing acrobatics in his abdomen and the thought of standing up terrified him at the moment.

What is wrong with me? He glanced up at Bill, who was talking to a girl who was wearing a Jameston Camels shirt and holding a can of beer. At least, the young ninja thought that it was beer. He found that he could not focus on it very well.

The bartender seemed to notice that Jamie was looking at them. "Can I get you another tea?"

Jamie had lost count of how many glasses that he had imbibed. "No," was all he could say. Did the way that he was feeling now have anything to do with his beverage?

At this point, Maria stumbled into his field of vision, nearly falling over him. She glanced up at him with a smile that was suddenly replaced with a look of bewildered concern. "You don't look so good," she commented.

"It . . .," he found speaking extremely difficult, to say the least, "it only matchesh how I f . . . uh, feel."

Maria straightened up to her full height. Jamie faintly realized that she must be able to handle liquor very well to be able to do that, considering how much she had drank. She reached down and grabbed the young ninja's glass from the bar and sniffed it. "What's in here?" she demanded of Bill.

"Long Island Iced Tea," returned the barkeeper with a chuckle. "He really needed to loosen up."

Star's eyes narrowed dangerously at the man. "How dare you make that decision! Don't you even have the faintest idea what a designated driver is?"

"He didn't seem to mind all the time he was drinking it," retorted Bill.

"He's never drank alcohol before!" raged Maria. "He couldn't tell the difference, you idiot!"

"Get over it!" he snapped. "He looked like he wasn't having a very good time. He'll thank me in the morning!"

Through the fog that was blurring everything in Jamie's head, the young ninja felt a slight pang of anger. He had absolutely no willpower to act upon it, though.

Maria was still arguing with Bill. "He's not having fun, so you spike his drink and make sure he gets so sick that he can't talk? Are you always this stupid?!"

Maria leaned over and helped Jamie to stand. He had barely any control over his legs, so she wrapped his right arm around her neck and started helping him toward the set of stairs that led to the second floor. "Heather!" she called and the hostess looked up from where she was dancing in the midst of a group of college men. "I'm taking my usual room!"

Then Star turned back to Bill. "As for you, Jamie will not thank you in the morning! If I were you, I'd be gone by the time he wakes up."

"What's he gonna do to me?" he asked, looking at Jamie contemptuously.

"Let's just say you're lucky he doesn't have his ninja sword with him," she returned.

Bill's eyes widened. "Wait! You mean he's that ninja friend of yours?!"

Star nodded. "He's also religious. So he's not gonna be happy that you tricked him into getting drunk." Then she turned and the two of them started ascending the stairs.

* * *

Yoshi lay awake in her bed, concerned about Elvara's comments. What would Jamie have to go through that would lead him to this milestone that she had mentioned? Why could she say nothing more about it? Why did she have to bring it up in the first place? And why was Yoshi so worried?

She turned onto her side in frustration, still hearing Bryanna's steady breathing from her own bed across the room. It is just because I do not want my clan brother to get hurt, she told herself.

She just wished that she could believe that.

Chapter Fourteen

Wednesday, 7:03 AM

Jamie slowly opened his eyes. The sunlight that was streaming in the window of the room shot straight into his brain, cutting everything in its path like a knife. He covered his eyes with his right hand, groaning in pain. He had no idea where he was. The last thing that he remembered was Star yelling at Bill for tricking him into drinking alcohol. I'm sorry, Lord, he prayed silently. I didn't mean to get drunk.

He moved his hand away from his face and gently opened his eyes. The light hurt them. So this is what a hangover feels like. Why would anybody keep drinking after having one?

He also noticed an irritating, burning sensation as he looked slowly around the room. Everything looked clear. At least, it looked a little too clear. I still have my contact lenses in, he realized.

Climbing slowly from the bed, he landed on the floor on his hands and knees. The sensation of cool carpet made him realize that he was not wearing his pants. In fact, he realized as he examined himself that he had been stripped down to his underwear. He looked up and his burning eyes settled on two piles of clothes that lay on the floor in front of a dresser. One of them consisted of his T-shirt and jeans. He crawled to it and rummaged through the pockets of the pants, producing his contact lens carrying case and a bottle of solution.

Adjusting himself so that he was sitting cross-legged, he reached up and popped his right lens from its eye and put it in the case. He popped the other lens out with some difficulty, as it had seemed to fuse to his eye. When it finally came out, the fresh air on his eye caused it to tear up for a few seconds as he put the lens in the case. Filling each side of the case with a liberal amount of solution, he screwed the lids on them and stuffed the case into the pants pocket. He replaced the cap for the solution and slid it into the pocket, as well.

Rummaging through the other front pocket, Jamie produced his eyeglass case and pulled out his glasses, placing them on his face. Then he grabbed his shirt and pulled it on. He climbed to his feet and the room spun, threatening to throw him back to the floor. "Whoa," he whispered. "I am never going to drink again."

He finally managed to get his jeans on and to find his socks and shoes and get them on, as well. It was then that he examined the other pile of clothes. It consisted of a pair of jeans, a black tank top and a white, button-up shirt. His heart pounded in his chest as he turned to see that Maria was still sleeping in the bed from which he had just climbed. Though she was bundled in the blanket, she was apparently nude.

Jamie stumbled back in shock as he leaned against the wall next to the door, wracking his brain in an attempt to remember what had happened the previous evening. He remembered Star yelling at Bill. He remembered her telling Heather that they were going to Maria's usual room. But he had no memory of even reaching the top of the stairs, let alone being stripped down to his underwear. And he definitely did not remember Star climbing, naked, into the bed with him.

Moving quietly so that he did not wake Maria, he opened the door and stepped out into the hall. He looked around until he noticed an open door at the end of the hall that led to the bathroom. He stumbled down there and came to a stop in front of the sink. After turning on the cold water, he placed his glasses on the side of the vanity and cupped his hands under the nozzle, using them to splash the cold liquid onto his face. The chill sharpened his senses.

After turning off the water, he grabbed a towel from the rack and dried his hands, leaving his face wet, then returned the towel to its perch. He put his glasses back on, then walked out of the bathroom, down the hall and down the stairs. As he got to the bottom, he found that the living room was a wreck. The table that had served as a bar was still present, but there was no sign of Bill. Jamie shook his head to clear it, deciding that some fresh, spring air would probably do him some good. He hoped that it would clear his head enough to remember what had happened the previous night. So, despite the fact that he was a good three miles from where his friends were staying, Jamie decided to walk back to Star's house.

* * *

Yoshi had been up for a little over an hour. She had already showered and prayed. Now, she was fixing pancakes for everyone for breakfast. As she flipped the one that she had in the pan, she noted faintly that her hair, being still damp, was leaving a wet spot on her shirt.

The phone rang and the kunoichi wondered briefly if she should answer it. After the third ring, she flipped the pancake onto the stack that she was building on a plate on the stovetop, then grabbed the wall phone from the receiver. "Maria Gonzales's residence."

"Yoshi?" It was the annoyingly familiar voice of Ben Shalley.

She sighed. "Yes."

"I need to speak with Jamie and you. Can the two of you meet me at my house in, say, an hour?"

"Why?"

"Let's just say that something happened last night that made what you guys told us seem just a hair more believable."

"An hour should be plenty of time. Buster will be coming along, as he is the only one of us who brought a vehicle. And his girlfriend, as well."

"Fair enough."

She hung up the phone without another word. Turning around, she walked to the refrigerator and found the note with the phone number to Heather Chen's house. That was where Star had taken Jamie for the party. She turned and walked back to the phone and dialed the number.

After two rings, an unfamiliar woman's voice answered. "Hello?"

"Yes, I am looking for Jamie Raleigh? He would have been the boy who came to the party last night with Maria Gonzales?"

"Oh, the guy with Star! Yeah, he came out of their bedroom early this morning and left."

"What do you mean by their bedroom?" demanded Yoshi, though she really hoped that it did not sound like too much of a demand.

"The one he and Star slept in," explained the other girl. "Anyway, I think he walked home, since Star's car's still here and she's still asleep."

Yoshi's mind raced. Would he? With Star? She shook her head. No way! "How would one get to your house from Maria's house? That is where I am and I would like to try to pick him up on his way here."

* * *

Buster's minivan drove along Main Street. "What is Iajutsu?" asked Amy. "It sounds Japanese."

"It is," replied Yoshi. "It is Japanese swordsmanship, mostly using a katana." Yoshi leaned forward so that her head was between the bucket seats in the front of the van. "Why?"

Amy pointed at the sign. "They have a school for it here."

Yoshi looked at the sign in puzzlement. "I have heard of such schools in cities like New York, but I would never expect one in such a small town as Jameston."

"There's Jamie!" said Buster from his place in the driver's seat.

Sure enough, the young ninja was standing in the parking lot of the swordsmanship school, examining the sign with the hours of operation. Buster's van pulled into the parking lot and came to a stop.

* * *

The fresh air had definitely helped. Jamie's head was starting to clear. He had walked to the end of Heather's street, then had come to the Iajutsu school so that he could find the hours for classes. The first class today would not be until eleven o'clock.

The sound of a vehicle pulling into the parking lot caught his attention and he turned to see Buster's van coming to a stop about ten feet away. Thankful for a ride, but dreading the questions, he sighed and walked toward the vehicle.

Yoshi opened the sliding, side door and looked out. "Where is Star?"

At the sound of Maria's nickname, a vision of her clothes piled next to his on the floor of that bedroom came unbidden to his mind. "She was still asleep when I left." He climbed into the middle seat next to his clan sister and closed the door. "What are you guys doing out so early?"

"Ben wants to speak with you and me," explained Yoshi. "Buster is taking us to his house and Amy is coming along for the ride."

"You look horrible," commented Buster. "What happened?"

Jamie pushed his glasses up and rubbed his eyes. "The idiot who was acting bartender spiked my tea. I got so drunk that I couldn't stand. The next thing that I know, I'm waking up this morning, in my underwear, in bed with Maria."

Yoshi's eyes widened in shock. "What?!"

Buster, who had just taken the van out of Park, now shifted it back, then turned around and looked at Jamie. "You didn't? I mean, not with Maria?"

Jamie sighed, wishing that his head would clear just a little more. "I don't know. I don't remember anything past her helping me up the stairs."

Amy turned in her seat. "Did you brain the bartender?"

"I would've loved to, but he was gone before I got up."

"So, Star was naked?" asked Yoshi at barely above a whisper.

"Well," Jamie tried to remember what he really saw, "her clothes were in the floor with mine. I didn't really look at her."

"Man," commented Buster, "I feel for you."

"I've been praying since I left that house," groaned Jamie. "I didn't mean to get drunk. And I certainly didn't mean to sleep with Maria."

"Just as we're so quick to make mistakes," explained the preacher soothingly, "God's quick to forgive those mistakes." He took the minivan out of Park again, backed up, then pulled around to the street and headed toward Ben Shalley's house.

Jamie buckled his seatbelt and leaned back. Glancing over at Yoshi, he found her staring quietly out the window. "What's wrong, sis?"

She shook her head without looking at him. "Nothing, brother."

* * *

The four teens headed up the sidewalk to Ben's house. Jamie noted that somebody had put a fresh coat of paint over the graffiti. The gray color of the new paint was slightly off from the surrounding wall. He wondered briefly if Ben's parents had said anything to him about the defacing.

Jamie raised his fist and knocked. Ben's voice called out from the backyard. "I'm back here!"

They stepped off of the porch and headed around the house.

The backyard was filled with several four-foot poles that stuck out of the ground. Each was topped with a watermelon. Ben Shalley, dressed in a set of white sweats and brandishing the most beautiful katana that Jamie had ever seen, stepped among them, swiping his blade and chopping the fruits in half with one swipe. Jamie remembered his own training, in which his Master Tanemura had asked him to do the same thing. It was much more difficult to cut a watermelon in half with one swipe of a sword than he had originally expected it to be. It was a skill that had taken Jamie long to master.

Maria was right. Ben was good.

"What's up?" asked the male ninja.

Ben took a final swipe of his katana, slicing the final watermelon. Then he sheathed his sword. Looking at Jamie, his eyes narrowed. "Are you okay, Raleigh?"

Jamie ran his fingers through his hair, realizing that he had not combed it. "I had a rough night."

Ben nodded. "You look like it."

"Why did you ask us here, Ben?" demanded Yoshi, her voice sounding even more impatient than Jamie would have expected.

The leader of the Renegades looked back and forth between the two young ninja, then shrugged. "One of my meth houses was blown up last night."

Jamie cocked an eyebrow at him. "Gee," he muttered, "how awful."

"It was arson," retorted Ben.

"What makes you so sure?" asked Yoshi.

"I had just come out of the house when it happened," explained Ben. "I was attacked. And the guy who attacked me had no fingers. Instead, he had blades sticking out where the fingers should be."

"Slash," said Buster. "Did he laugh madly?"

Ben's eyes narrowed. "How did you know?"

The preacher sighed. "I have something in my van that you should read."

Chapter Fifteen

Wednesday, 9:15 AM

Elvara stood before the picture window that looked out over the street in front of Maria's house. Her eyes, narrowed in concern, took in every vehicle that passed by. She had not, over the past ten minutes, seen any sign of the vehicle—Buster had called it a van—that the villains had been driving the day before.

The prophetess heard footsteps coming out of the downstairs guest room as Max stepped out into the living room. "What's up?" he asked her.

She turned to glance at him. "Up? The sun is, I suppose. It has been for a few hours."

"It's a figure of speech," he said. "I was just curious what you're doing."

She sighed, then turned back to the window. "Our time here is coming to a conclusion. For better or worse, we will be dealing with our fictional enemies before the next sunrise."

"Good," yawned Fredrick, who walked out of the room after Max. "I hate all this waiting around stuff."

Another vehicle drove past the house. Again, it was not the van. "There is such a vast number of these horseless vehicles here."

The group could hear large footsteps moving around upstairs. Then they could hear the shower come on. Elvara smiled. "My husband is awake."

* * *

Ben finished the short story, his narrow eyes taking in every detail. He then sighed and closed the notebook, handing it back to Buster. "And you really wrote this when you were thirteen?"

Buster nodded.

"And this ruby that you touched read your mind?"

Buster nodded again.

"Well, I'm not going to try to come up with a rational reason as to why this is happening." Ben turned toward the back door of his house and stepped onto the porch. "There is no logic here."

"I take it you're not convinced?" asked Amy.

Ben turned to look at Buster's girlfriend. "I've fought a guy with knives for fingers. I don't really have the luxury of being skeptical right now."

"Then the question is," said Jamie, "what are you going to do about it?"

The leader of the Renegades grasped the doorknob and turned it, pushing the door open. Without looking back at the male ninja, he responded, "I'll be in touch." Then he stepped inside and closed the door.

* * *

"That went well," commented Amy from her place in the front passenger's seat.

"At least he believes us," seconded Yoshi.

"He doesn't have much of a choice," said Jamie. "He's seen the proof."

The minivan pulled up to the curb in front of Maria's house and came to a stop behind her car. Jamie groaned. "Star's home."

Buster turned and looked at his friend compassionately. "You're going to have to face her sometime."

"I know," replied Jamie with a nod. "But I just can't right now." He opened the sliding door and climbed from the vehicle. "I'm going for a walk."

Yoshi climbed out after him, her face crestfallen. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Do you want to come?"

The kunoichi shook her head. "No. I have something that I need to do inside."

Jamie nodded and headed up the street in the direction opposite the convenience store.

* * *

Traci sat on the floor of her bedroom, her legs stretched straight out to her sides. She was finding it difficult to concentrate on her practice this morning. Dave was married. Although she knew that she and he had broken up for strong reasons, there had always been that part of her that had dreamed that, someday when they each had a new life that was free of Adventure and the Renegades, they might find one another again. But Dave Isaac, the only person to whom Traci had ever truly given her heart, was married to that cheerleader. He was in the Air Force. The two of them would be stationed in some exotic location, like Japan or England. And Traci would have to spend the rest of her life wondering what could have been, if she would have just had the common sense to tell Ben to take his offer to join his street gang and stuff it.

Something shattered in the living room. Traci leaped to her feet and crept to the door of her bedroom. "Mom?" she asked. "Is that you?" She had not expected her mother to return from the Bluff for another couple of hours.

When there was no response, Traci walked over to her bedroom window, which looked out over the street in front of her house. There was no sign of her mother's car. However, a brown and tan van was parked in her field of vision.

Her eyes narrowed as she backed away from the window. Turning around, she headed to the door of her room and opened it, peering out into the living room. Her mother's imitation Ming vase had fallen from the coffee table and now lay in a hundred pieces on the wooden floor. How did that happen? she wondered as she stepped cautiously out of her room. She made her way to the front door and took hold of the knob. But she stifled a squeal of surprise as it came off in her hand. Upon closer examination, she realized that it had been burned apart.

"You really outdid yourself with that batch of acid, Tee," commented a woman's voice behind her. She whirled around to find three people sitting on the couch, which had been vacant just ten seconds ago. The girl who had just spoken sat on the end, her black leather pants hugging her tightly and her white, button-down blouse barely decent. She was staring at the doorknob that was in Traci's hand, her black-covered lips parted into a pleased smile.

A man who was sitting in the center and wore a black T-shirt and jeans responded, "Thanks, love. She wouldn't have known that we were here if the vase hadn't shattered."

The man who was sitting on the other end of the couch shook his head. "I will take responsibility for that." He was wearing a lifejacket that had been painted black and had two upside-down stars in circles painted on each flap. But, what really caught her attention was the red glow that came from his right hand. "But, it matters not."

Traci fought to control her rising fear. Were these the ones who had killed Simon? If they could drop several hundred pounds of weights on his head, then what chance could she possibly have?

She backed slowly toward her bedroom, examining the faces of each of the three. The man with the glowing hand, she did not recognize at all. But the other two seemed so familiar.

Her eyes widened. "Marti Stewart?!" Her hair was red, rather than blonde. And her physique, while not plump before, was now more toned than Traci remembered it. But the face was definitely Marti's. And the man next to her . . .. "Mr. Merrit?"

The girl that Traci had called Marti grimaced. "That is a name that no longer holds any meaning for me. Tee and I have been awakened to our true selves. And we will conquer the heroes known as Adventure."

The sound of someone moving behind Traci caught her attention. Her right foot shot back and connected with someone, who let out a groan and dropped to the floor. She turned and saw that a man with a black Mohawk had fallen behind her. Her breath caught in her throat as she noted the shining blades that had replaced his fingers. Then, her eyes settled on his face. "Jack Marshall?"

His only response was to cackle wildly and start to rise. She quickly swiped her right foot across his face, knocking him unconscious.

The three who had been sitting on the couch leaped to their feet and rushed her. Traci dropped to the floor, using her left foot to sweep the feet from under the man with the glowing hand. She then rolled toward the front door and kicked it open, plunging out onto the porch.

And her heart leapt into her throat. The largest man that she had ever seen stood in front of her mother's porch swing at the far end of the porch. Standing on the front lawn were twenty men and women. Traci recognized them all from around town. But they, like Jack, Marti and Mr. Merrit, had changed. Each head of hair was stark white. Each person's face was frozen in an expression of horror. Their blank, white eyes were sunken into their sockets and their mouths were frozen in silent screams.

The voice of the man with the glowing hand sounded calmly from behind her. "You have been found guilty of conspiring with our enemies. Your sentence is to join the ranks of the men and women that you see before you—to join the ranks of the Mindless."

Traci had never been so terrified in all of her life. Her eyes overflowed with tears as she took in the horrified face of each person. She could not move. She could not think. Then, the man's glowing hand grasped her shoulder and she did the only thing that she was capable of doing. She screamed as she had never screamed before . . ..

* * *

As Buster, Amy and Yoshi walked in the front door of Maria's house, the preacher and his girlfriend headed toward the kitchen, where Buster was going to prepare something to eat. Max and Fredrick were sitting in front of the television, playing a video game. Bryanna was watching them in rapt wonder.

"Where are Elvara, Deck and Maria?" asked the kunoichi.

"Deck's in the shower, Elvara's upstairs praying and Maria's in her bedroom," answered Max without taking his eyes off of the screen.

Yoshi walked between them and the source of their entertainment as she headed toward Star's room.

"Hey, down in front!" snapped Fredrick.

Yoshi ignored him as she opened Maria's door without a knock. Her friend was sitting on her bed in a bathrobe, reading a fantasy novel. She looked up at Yoshi and her eyes narrowed at the stern look on the kunoichi's face.

Yoshi closed the door and, without preamble, asked, "Did you sleep with Jamie?"

Maria's eyes widened. "That's between Jamie and me."

Yoshi's hands balled into fists at her sides as she fought to control the rising emotions that threatened to cause her to break down right there. "He does not remember. He merely remembers awakening next to you and your clothes were next to his on the floor."

Maria folded the corner of her page down to mark her place and set the book down on the bed next to her. "Maybe Jamie needed it. He's always so uptight. Being drunk loosened him up a bit."

"Something of which you took advantage?"

Maria's eyes narrowed angrily. "Why should you care if Jamie and I had sex?"

Yoshi's entire body shook. Whether it was from rage, anguish, or a combination of the two, she could not say. Her eyes overflowed with tears that spilled down her cheeks unchecked.

Then Maria's eyes widened in realization. "Oh . . . oh, Yoshi. Oh . . . I . . . I didn't know. I . . . I thought you two were just . . . I'm so sorry." She shook her head. "Nothing happened between us." She climbed from the bed and embraced her friend. "I just helped him upstairs and got him to bed. I just wanted him to think something happened . . . make him not as uptight. I could never have taken advantage of him like that, even if he would have allowed it. But he wouldn't have. He was still Jamie, even drunk. And I hadn't considered that it might hurt somebody else."

Yoshi was now crying silently into Maria's shoulder. She could not speak. Many emotions were running through her heart at that moment, but the greatest of them was relief.

Finally, the kunoichi pulled away and her bloodshot eyes met those of the young Hispanic woman. "You must tell him the truth," she whispered. "This deception has done nothing but poison him."

Star nodded. "Of course I will. But, why aren't the two of you . . .?"

Yoshi wiped her eyes with her right wrist. "We cannot. Our clan would not approve and he is loyal to them, even if he does not always agree with them." She sniffled. "Please promise me that you will tell no one of what you learned here today."

Star nodded again. "I promise."

Chapter Sixteen

Flashback

October 9, 1988

Sunday, 4:27 PM

"Dude!" snapped Dave. "You cheated!"

Buster dropped the last of Dave's red checkers into his pile. "I don't cheat." He chuckled. "Like I'd need to cheat to beat you."

Pete and Jamie were playing a video game together. "Buster's just good at checkers," commented Jamie's younger cousin. His hair, normally styled with a crew cut, had grown just long enough for the air from the fan to make it dance on his head.

Dave pulled his headband from his pocket and wiped his face with it. "Any idea when yer mom'n'dad are gonna get yer air conditioner fixed?"

Jamie looked down at his Spiderman t-shirt. It, too, was drenched. "The guy's supposed to be out tomorrow."

A knock on the front door caught everyone's attention. Jamie paused the game and looked out his bedroom window. "It's Ben."

"What's he want?" demanded Pete.

"I outta tear'im in half fer comin' here, dudes," muttered Dave.

Jamie turned from the window and headed for the door of his bedroom.

"Yer gonna let'im in?" asked Dave.

Jamie shook his head. "Of course not. But I will talk to him on the front porch."

The other three leaped to their feet and followed him through the hallway and into the living room. Jamie looked out the front door to find a late model Ford Escort parked in the street. Behind the wheel sat the boy who Jamie had knocked out at the Variety Store the night before.

He opened the door and stepped out onto the front porch, followed by his three friends. Without preamble, Jamie gestured toward the car and queried, "Friend of yours?"

Ben shrugged. "Business acquaintance."

"How'd he get out of jail?"

"I posted bail."

Jamie narrowed his eyes. "Where'd you get that kind of money?"

Ben folded his arms with a smirk. "My new business pays well."

Jamie sighed impatiently. "So you've branched out beyond the drugs."

"Nobody leaves all of their investments in the same fund," returned Ben.

"Whattaya want, dude?" demanded Dave.

"I heard about how Jamie, Yoshi and yourself did your civic duty and caught the thieves who were burglarizing the Variety Store last night," said Ben.

Jamie pointedly looked back toward the car. "I would have gathered as much."

"I still want Adventure to join us," stated Ben simply.

"Well, keep wanting," snapped Pete.

"My parents are going to be home any time, Ben," said Jamie.

"And Buster's father has informed them of what we were storing under your house, I take it?" reasoned Ben.

"You'd be correct," returned Buster.

Ben cocked an eyebrow at the four standing before him, then turned back toward the car. After taking a few steps, he called out, "When you declined my invitation before, I must admit that I was disappointed. However, I never expected to find foes in Adventure. Bare in mind that, if you consider us villains, then we can . . . and will . . . play the role to the best of our abilities." He turned to regard Jamie coldly. "Don't get in our way again, Raleigh."

Dave took a step forward, but Jamie put his arm out to stop him. "Let him go. We don't want a scene here."

Ben climbed into the passenger's seat of the car and the car squealed its tires as it shot up the street.

"Oh, like that wasn't makin' a scene?" demanded Dave.

Chapter Seventeen

April 14, 1993

Wednesday, 10:47 AM

Jamie rolled his head around as he walked. The feeling of his neck popping and relieving the tension that he was now feeling was pleasant. Jamie supposed that he should be scared to be walking the streets alone. After all, those guys had kidnapped Amy in broad daylight. But maybe he just lacked the common sense to be scared.

Jamie realized that he was walking up Traci Bundy's street. He remembered riding his bicycle over here during the months that Dave and Traci were going out, as elementary and junior high couples called it. At first, the big teen had been nervous to see her alone. But that changed eventually and Jamie had been free of being a chaperon for the two lovebirds.

The young ninja had not really intended to walk in this direction and certainly would not have expected to reach her street so quickly. However, he knew for a fact that Traci's house could be seen from the roof of Maria's house.

Maria. Jamie sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. How would he ever be able to look at her in the same way again?

Flashing lights ahead tore his thoughts from Star as he realized that the sheriff was parked outside Traci's widowed mother's house. His heart suddenly pounding in fear for his former friend, he broke into a run to get to her house.

Jamie ran into the front yard to see that the sheriff was speaking with Traci's mother. As the young ninja approached, both adults turned to look at him.

"Jamie Raleigh!" said Ms. Bundy, her eyes filled with worry. "Why are you here?"

"I saw the lights," explained the ninja.

"You're trespassing here, kid," commented the sheriff. "And I'm not so convinced that you and your friends from Sera aren't behind this."

"Behind what?"

"Simon Wilson's death and Traci Bundy's disappearance," returned the sheriff.

Jamie stared daggers at the man. "Your boss doesn't seem to think so."

The sheriff's eyes widened and he turned hastily toward Ms. Bundy. "I think I have enough for now, Ma'am. We'll find her." Then, he turned and grabbed Jamie roughly by the arm and half-dragged him toward the squad car.

"You just made a very serious accusation, boy," said the sheriff when they were out of earshot of Traci's mother.

"Oh, please," groaned Jamie. "Like everyone doesn't know it. The only reason Ms. Bundy's trusting you with this is because she knows that her daughter is involved with Ben Shalley and that you're on his payroll."

"I oughta run you in . . .."

"But you won't," interrupted Jamie. "Because Ben knows that I'm here with my friends to help. But we're not doing it for the Renegades or for you. We're doing it to bring the people who are responsible for my old friend's murder to justice."

Without another word, Jamie turned and stormed away.

* * *

Ben and Mike walked through the wreckage of the meth house. The explosion had completely destroyed the structure, leaving piles of rubble all over the foundation.

Mike leaned over and picked up a glass bowl, dusting the soot off of it. "And you're convinced Jamie and his friends had nothing to do with this."

Ben nodded. "Jamie would prefer to come after us inside of the law. He would never have put anybody's life in danger. And, as we know, lives were lost here."

"The law thing didn't bother them the last time," argued the enforcer.

"That was Dave," explained Ben. "He and Jamie are two totally different people. And there was nobody in that house when he blew it up."

Mike sighed and dropped the bowl back into the wreckage. It shattered as it hit the ground. "I guess we can't exactly file an insurance claim," he said.

Ben chuckled. "I didn't know that you had it in you to joke like that." He turned to look at his friend, but found that Mike's attention was caught on something that was coming up the hill that descended behind where the house used to be. "What?"

"Is that Traci coming up the hill?" Mike asked.

Ben walked over to stand next to his friend, looking down the hill to see that Traci Bundy was, indeed, walking up the hill toward them, followed by several other figures. Ben's eyes narrowed. She and they were far enough distant so that their features could not be made out easily. However, he could see that the sun was glinting off of stark white hair on each of them.

"Let's get out of here," said the Renagades' leader.

"Why?" asked Mike.

"There's something . . . not right about them," he commented.

"You would be correct," said a voice from behind the two. They whirled around to see two men standing on the edge of the yard. One of them, Ben realized, was the crazed man who had attacked him after the explosion. The other, Ben did not recognize. He was over six feet in height and his muscular frame made Mike seem frail. A glowing, red light pulsated from his hand.

"I don't know you, friend," said Ben.

"We are not your friends," commented the man. "My name is BM and you have battled us in the past." He gestured to the man standing beside him, who just laughed wildly. "You obviously remember Slash."

Ben nodded. "He attacked me last night. He's not particularly skilled."

The man chuckled. "As you can see from his hands, he does not need to be."

"And if I told you that none of you are real?" suggested Ben. "That you are all fictitious characters from a short story that was written by a thirteen year-old?"

The man's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I would be insulted that you would even think that I would be so dense."

"Very well," sighed Ben. "What does BM stand for?"

The man shook his head with a laugh. "It stands for . . . for . . .," he narrowed his eyes in confusion as the smile vanished from his face, " . . . it . . .."

"You don't know, because it wasn't mentioned in the story," stated Ben bluntly.

BM seemed to regard Ben with horror. The glow of his hand flared and he turned, and plunged down the street, followed by his companion, who was cackling like a hyena.

By now, Traci and her companions had reached the top of the hill. Ben's eyes settled on his lover, whose face was locked into a silent scream of horror, her sunken, milky white eyes widened with constant torture.

Mike swore. "What's wrong with them?"

"Jamie was telling the truth," said Ben. "Let's get out of here!"

The two turned and ran to Ben's late model Oldsmobile Achieva, leaping into it and starting it. Just as the first of the possessed townspeople reached the road, the car shot up the street, its tires squealing.

* * *

Jamie stepped onto the porch, his argument with Sheriff Simmons forgotten. His hand trembled as he wrapped his fingers around the doorknob and turned it, pushing the door open. Stepping inside, he found Max and Fredrick coaching Bryanna on how to play a video game. He opened his mouth to say something, but Max cut him short, "They're in the kitchen."

He stared at the younger teen blankly for a moment, then shook his head with a sigh and followed the smell of the food.

He found everyone else in the large kitchen, sitting and standing around the table. Someone had fried some chicken and Buster smiled when he saw the young ninja. "Hey," said his student. "I saved the livers for you."

Jamie smiled at him and nodded weakly. Now everyone was looking at him. He felt himself flush as Maria turned around.

"I'm glad you're back," said the Hispanic girl. "We need to talk." She climbed from her chair at the table and took his hand, leading him back out of the room. They made their way through the living room and into her bedroom, where she closed the door. She turned and regarded him with an embarrassed smile. "I understand you have some questions about last night."

His eyebrows arched. "You could say that."

She sighed. "Don't worry. You're virginity's still intact."

He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out.

"You weren't being dense," she continued. "I did everything that I could to make you think that we did something. I just wanted you to loosen up a little." She regarded him with sincere eyes. "But you loosening up isn't worth ruining our friendship." She opened her arms, offering him a hug. "We are still friends, aren't we?"

He smiled with a massive amount of relief. Then he nodded and embraced her.

After the two of them had finished with the hug, they walked back into the kitchen to find everyone looking at them with knowing smiles.

"All better?" asked Amy.

Jamie nodded at her. "All better."

The phone rang. Star answered it "Hello?" Her eyes narrowed and she handed the phone to Jamie with a grimace. "It's Ben."

Jamie took the receiver and placed it to his ear. "Hello?"

"I believe you."

"That's nice," commented Jamie. "Why the change of heart?"

"We saw the guy who attacked me after the explosion, as well as that BM guy," explained Ben. "They also had some of those Mindless from the story." He sighed. "Traci's one of them."

Buster must have noticed the shock on Jamie's face. "What?" asked the preacher.

Jamie looked up at this friend and said, "Traci's been turned into one of the Mindless."

Buster's shoulders slumped and he leaned over the table to steady himself. Jamie felt sorry for his friend. He knew that he would hold himself responsible.

"Mike and I want in on helping," Ben was saying.

"Fair enough," responded Jamie. "What about Sean?"

"We haven't talked to him about it yet. But we figure he'll definitely want in."

"The first thing we have to do is figure out where they're basing their operations."

"Agreed. I'll get some Renegades on it."

"Tell them to be careful. Your friends could end up coming back to you as enemies."

Ben hung up and Jamie placed the receiver back on its perch. Buster was now sitting in a chair, trying to steady himself. "This is all my fault," he said weakly.

Amy stood behind him, rubbing his shoulders. "No it isn't."

"If I hadn't written that story, none of this would be happening."

Elvara stood and walked about to face him. "You could argue that, if we had not killed Ladvia Baalstorm, it would not be happening. If Tarent the mage had not kidnapped Shawna, then none of you would have come to Thera in the first place. Or, maybe we should blame Elijah the prophet for killing the prophets of Baal, which resulted in the creation of the ruby to begin with." The prophetess knelt before him, her eyes compassionately meeting his. "Everything that we do that leads to something else is just a link in a chain. For whatever reason, God will be glorified by this. We know that. He will not forsake us. You, of all people, have the faith to realize that. The Holy Ghost is within you, Buster Goodman. Do not let Satan's lies deceive you."

He smiled at her. "Thanks."

* * *

Ben wiped the white cloth along the blade of his katana. He marveled, as he always did, at the craftsmanship of the weapon. He had seen plenty of ninja-tos, the swords of the ninja, in his short lifetime. But they could not compare to this. Those short blades were not crafted with quality in mind. Could they be hidden easily? Could they be made quickly?

But Ben's katana was different. He had made two trips to Japan to get it. The first had been so that he could meet the artisan who made it and be tested so that it could be balanced especially for him. The second, many months later, had been to pick it up. It had cost him almost ten thousand American dollars, but it was worth it to him. Someday, perhaps, he would have the opportunity to test it against Jamie Raleigh. He relished that thought . . . and dreaded it . . . often.

A knock at the front door roused him from his contemplation. He sheathed his weapon and set it on his sword rack, then headed to the living room. Looking through the peephole, he saw Jamie, Yoshi, Buster, Amy and the ones who claimed to be from the other world. He opened the door. "Any news?" he asked.

Jamie shook his head. "No. You?"

Ben shook his head. "Come on in."

Chapter Eighteen

Wednesday, 6:34 PM

Fredrick and Max sat around the floor in the living room, teaching Bryanna how to play Scrabble. She was a quick learner and was quickly beating them both in score.

"What are we playin' to again?" asked Fredrick.

Max looked at the notebook where he was keeping score and, noticing that Bryanna was only twenty points shy of the original three hundred point goal, he cleared his throat and replied, "Four hundred."

Maria walked out of her bedroom, fully dressed and heading toward the front door. "I'll be back in a minute," she said.

"Where are you going?" asked Bryanna as she spelled out zebra, getting a triple score.

"I'm just running up the street to get a lemon," said Star. "I need it for what I'm cooking for supper."

"Whoa," commented Max as he climbed to his feet. "Wait a minute. After Amy getting taken by those creeps just up the street, I don't think we should let you go."

Maria cocked an eyebrow at him. "I was unaware that you had the right to make the decision."

"We'll go for you," suggested Bryanna. "I was getting tired of these two letting me win at the game, anyway."

Fredrick glanced at her in shock, then smiled. "Yeah. We were letting you win."

Maria sighed. "Okay." She dug in her pocket for a dollar bill and handed it to Max. "This should cover one lemon. Just make sure that it is ripe and doesn't have any brown marks on the peel."

The other two teens climbed to their feet as Max stuffed the bill in his jeans pocket. "No brown spots. Got it."

"And you guys be careful," she said.

* * *

Jamie sat uncomfortably on the couch. He and his friends were here in the home of Ben Shalley, a teen whose incarceration in a juvenile detention center nearly four years earlier was partly the young ninja's doing. Also here, were the two other boys that they had put away. Mike sat on the floor next to Ben's chair, staring at his own lap. Sean, sitting next to the enforcer, alternated staring daggers between Jamie and Buster. There was obviously no love lost there.

"We need a plan," said Ben finally. "We have to stay together in groups so that these people cannot pick us off one at a time, as they did to Traci."

"I wasn't looking forward to fighting her," commented Mike. "She broke a kid's leg in her Kung Fu class last month."

Elvara looked questioningly at Jamie. "Kung Fu?"

"It's like the fighting style that Yoshi or Max or I know, where we kick and punch when unarmed," explained the ninja.

She nodded.

"I am not particularly concerned with my safety at her hands," said Yoshi. "We have experienced worse over the past couple of years, I am sure."

"She wouldn't be able to fight like that now, anyway," explained Buster. "If they're really taking this all from my story, then the Mindless are more like zombies. They're not really skilled . . . just strong."

"I think you guys are all nuts!" groaned Sean. He looked at his leader. "Even you! I can't believe you'd buy into this stuff!"

Ben's calm gaze settled on his friend. "Had I not been attacked by them, I would not believe it. But I don't have that luxury now, do I?"

The phone rang. Earlier, Ben had retrieved the cordless from its charger before they had seated themselves to make their plans. He now picked it up from his lap and answered it. "Hello?"

Jamie watched as Ben's normally emotionless eyes widened in surprise. "Really? Are you sure?"

The male ninja's hope was apparently shared by Buster, whose eyes met his with a smile.

"That would explain some things," Ben was saying. "Very well. We'll check it out. Get your group away from there before you're spotted." He then clicked the off button.

"Well?" asked Yoshi.

"Brad Whitman and some of his friends found the brown and tan van that you had mentioned," he explained.

"Where?" asked Deck.

"At the Haverty's farm."

"Of course!" snapped Jamie. "That was why they weren't selling things from their stand when we passed it on our way down the day before yesterday."

Ben stroked his dark goatee. "Let's take a look, shall we?"

* * *

"Jamie's gonna kill us," groaned Fredrick, as he surveyed the wreckage of the living room. The couch was laying on its back. The television lay in the floor, where it had fallen and smashed the video game console. The Scrabble board lay in a corner of the room, the pieces scattered. The front door had been forced open and there was no sign of Maria.

"We'd better call him, quick," commented Max.

Bryanna walked into the kitchen and then called out to them, "How do you use one of these . . . these . . . telephones?"

Max ran his fingers through his blonde hair and sighed, heading toward the kitchen.

* * *

"We'll need to go back to get Max and Fredrick," stated Jamie as he opened the front door. "Yoshi and I'll also need our ninja-tos and Buster'll need his nunchaku."

"An' I'll need Blade," declared Deck, referring to his massive sword.

The phone rang again, so Ben picked it up from the coffee table. "Hello?" His eyes narrowed. "Max? You're Jamie's friend, right?" His eyes now widened. "Okay," he groaned as he handed the receiver to Jamie. "He has quite an attitude."

"We wouldn't have it any other way," responded the young ninja as he took the phone from Ben. Putting it to his ear, he said, "Yes?"

"They got Maria."

Jamie nearly dropped the phone. "What?! How?!"

"She sent us to the store for a lemon for something she was cooking. When we got back, the house had been broken into. I'm sorry. One of us should've stayed here."

Jamie sighed. "Don't beat yourselves up over it. One of you couldn't have taken them all on. Besides, we know where they are. We'll be there to get you guys in a few minutes. We'll get her back."

"We'll be ready."

Jamie clicked the off button, then handed the receiver to Ben, who sat it on its charger. "They have Star."

Buster sighed. "They've probably turned her into one of the Mindless."

Elvara shook her head. "I do not think so. Remember that, in your story, the Followers of the Dark One were required to make a sacrifice at least once a month?"

Buster nodded.

"I believe that she is intended to be their sacrifice."

"I thought they only sacrifice virgins," commented Mike. "And Star's definitely not a virgin."

Elvara shook her head again. "You are failing to see the point of the sacrifice. If a pure soul, one who is a follower of God, is killed, then what happens?"

Mike looked at her as if she were speaking a foreign language.

"They send the person to Heaven," reasoned Amy.

"Exactly," returned Elvara. "But Satan wants as much company in that Lake of Fire as he can get. So their sacrifice is going to be an unsaved person—someone who will be sent to Hell when she dies."

Sean sighed. "I still think you guys are nuts."

* * *

BM opened his eyes. His communion with his dark master had been quite revealing. He still did not know his true name, but he had dismissed Ben Shalley's insulting revelation as insane banter.

Calling out from the room in which he now knelt—the bedroom of the farmer's teenage son—he said, "I trust that you were successful this time, Crusher?"

"I was," came the reply. "Maria Gonzales is our prisoner."

BM's cruel smile widened as he climbed to his feet. He walked into the living room, his army boots hitting the wooden floor with a thud with each step. He found Crusher, the friend of Adventure in his arms, standing there. Standing in lines along the walls were the Mindless that they had collected thus far. Ranging from the first four to be turned—the farm family—to the latest, Traci Bundy, each had one thing in common. They would obey only the leader of the Followers of the Dark One.

"Patrol the grounds," he ordered the possessed servants. Each man and woman stepped away from the wall and headed out the front door. Turning to look at Whip, BM said, "Prepare the altar. We will go ahead with the sacrifice."

She stared at him in confusion. "I thought that we were to wait until the Witching Hour."

He shook his head. "My son and his friends will soon be coming to rescue the girl. We cannot wait."

"But they do not know where we are," reasoned Tee'N'Tee.

"Oh, but they do," returned their leader. "You see, I allowed one of Ben Shalley's followers to see the van in the driveway."

Whip stared at him in shock. "Why?!"

BM's smile only deepened. "Because we will finish this tonight."

* * *

The minivan raced toward the rural side of Jameston, followed by Mike Noddingham's late model Jimmy. Jamie looked out the window next to him, noting that they were driving parallel to the railroad track that ran through the center of town. On that track was a long train, being loaded with crates. Jamie absently wondered what was in them.

He shook his head to clear it. How could he wonder such things at a time like this? He and his friends had fought to save lives before, but it had never occurred to him that he might be keeping souls from dying before having a chance to accept Jesus. He sighed and glanced at Yoshi, seated next to him. Her hair was tied into a bun and her twin ninja-tos were in their scabbards between her knees with the bottoms on the floor and her hands holding the handles. Jamie's own sword was standing in the same way between his own knees.

Yoshi's eyes met his and a number of emotions played out in them, not all of which he could discern. Finally, she forced a smile and said, "We will get her back."

He nodded and turned to look back at the SUV that was following them. It was ironic that the teen who had killed Falcon Sanders was now racing to aid in rescuing the late mechanic's fiancé from being sacrificed to Satan. The male ninja shook his head with a bitter chuckle. What a crazy life he led.

The sun was just starting to fall below the horizon as they came to the drive that led to the farmhouse of the Havertys. "Pull off here," ordered Jamie. "I don't want them to hear us driving up."

Buster nodded and pulled off of the road, stopping next to the roadside produce stand. Jamie turned to see that the Jimmy had stopped behind them.

Max opened the side door and jumped out, followed by Fredrick, Deck, Elvara, Yoshi and, finally, Jamie. Buster and Amy climbed out of the front seat as Jamie watched Yoshi fasten the straps of her swords' scabbards to her back. He did the same with his, also.

Ben climbed out of the SUV, followed by his two friends. "Why'd we stop here?"

"We want to keep at least a slight element of surprise," responded Jamie as he donned his ninja mask.

Yoshi did the same with her own mask and Ben looked back and forth between the two ninja. "It has been ages since I saw you wear your ninja suit," he said to Jamie. Then, he looked at Yoshi and said, "And I never did see you in yours. It suits you."

The kunoichi cocked an eyebrow at him. "Pun intended?"

The leader of the Renegades chuckled and shook his head.

"Yuck," groaned Max, who was standing near the produce stand. Jamie walked in that direction and noticed a peculiar, sour odor. Several crates of rotten eggs were sitting in the area in the back of the base of the stand.

Jamie looked at his young friend and nodded. "Yuck."

Buster was looking up the long driveway toward the house. Jamie now joined him, followed by Yoshi and Ben. Several packs of the Mindless could be seen wandering the yard. "They're expecting us," commented the preacher.

Jamie nodded. "Maybe I was a bit hasty in telling us to park all the way back here." He looked at Elvara. "Do you think that they'll wait until the witching hour to sacrifice Star?"

Elvara shook her head. "I do not think that it is necessary. However, they are not normal Satanists. Perhaps we should ask Buster that."

The preacher looked at Jamie. "I doubt they'll wait. When I wrote those stories, I didn't even know about the three o'clock witching hour." He shrugged. "Of course, Ladvia did, and some of her memories may be in there, too."

"Then let's get back in our vehicles and drive up," reasoned Jamie. Turning to look at Mike, he said, "And try not to hit anybody on the way up. The Mindless can't help what they are right now."

Chapter Nineteen

Wednesday, 9:15 PM

Maria's eyes opened and her surroundings slowly focused into view. She was laying on a wooden table, her hands and feet bound by ropes that were connected to something underneath. The room around her was a sight of wreckage, with chairs overturned, the upholstery of a couch torn to shreds and pentagrams painted all over the walls.

Standing around her were five people. One was a girl who was dressed in a white shirt that was unbuttoned enough to make her barely decent. A leather bullwhip hung loosely around her neck and she wore liberal amounts of black lipstick and mascara. Standing close enough to the strange girl that Maria guessed at a relationship, was a man with midnight, black hair and eyes with irises that matched and wearing jeans and a plain, black T-shirt.

At the foot of the table stood a man with a dark Mohawk who wore a tattered, pink shirt. He stared at her with wild eyes as he scraped the blades that replaced his fingers together, causing sparks to fly from them.

Next to that man was a muscular man who was at least seven feet in height. He wore a pair of sweat pants and flip-flops, the latter of which stole quite a bit from the imposing figure that he had the potential of being.

Finally, a man stood right next to her on her right. The man could have been attractive, had it not been for the devilish glint of evil in his eyes as he stared down at her, caressing the blade of a butcher knife with a glowing, right hand. "Comfy?" he asked.

"Not particularly," she responded with a grimace. There was something familiar about the other four people, but she recognized nothing about this one.

"Too bad," he said, his low voice almost sounding soothing. "This will the last bit of comfort that you will feel in this lifetime . . . and especially in the next."

Star's eyes widened. "What?!"

The man smiled at her. "We are going to send you to Hell tonight. Won't that be fun?"

Icy terror gripped Maria's heart, threatening to crush it. In her mind's eye, she saw herself floating in an ever-burning lake, the flames tormenting her without end. "No," she whimpered.

He nodded with a grin. "Yes," he responded. "As our master will suffer, then so shall you, friend of our enemies."

The sound of an engine outside caught everyone's attention just before an SUV crashed through the wall of the room . . ..

* * *

Buster's van screeched to a halt behind the wreckage that Mike's vehicle had left. The members of Adventure jumped from the vehicle as Mike and Ben did the same from the Jimmy, followed by a staggering Sean, who was yelling, "Are you crazy?!"

Jamie's ninja-to leaped from its scabbard as he and his friends dashed into the opening that had been cleared by the large vehicle. He saw Maria tied to a long, folding table, the ropes secured to the legs of the table underneath. Scattered around the table were the five possessed Followers of the Dark One. Each stared at Jamie and his friends with unbridled hatred.

The one with the glowing, right hand held it up and yelled, "My master! You promised us kaibutsu! Please now fulfill your promise to your servants!"

Jamie's eyes narrowed in confusion. Looking at Yoshi, he said, "That sounds Japanese."

His clan sister nodded, obviously sharing his confusion. "It is. It means monster."

No sooner had the kunoichi finished her statement, the Satanist's glowing hand flared even more brightly and beams of red light shot out of it, touching the ground outside of the house. In several places around the yard, the ground began to churn and blades shoved themselves up from the dirt.

Suddenly, the ground at Sean's feet erupted and a red-skinned, humanoid figure plunged out of it, sending the Renegade falling backward. Humanoid would be pushing the description, realized Jamie. The thing had a torso, two arms, two legs and a head, but the similarities ended there. Each arm ended in two foot, curved blades. Where the face should have been, there was simply nothing.

And, all over the yard, more of the strange creatures were climbing from the earth. When the eruptions of the ground finally ended, the young ninja could count thirty of the blank warriors.

"KILL THEM!!!" bellowed the leader of the Followers. "Tonight, we will please our master with their deaths!"

The one who had toppled Sean plunged toward Yoshi. In the blink of an eye, her swords were in her hands and she was easily blocking its clumsy attacks. After several seconds of this, she retaliated with a swift swipe to the creature's midsection. It exploded in a cloud of sulfuric smoke. "What?"

One of the creatures lunged at Buster, who grabbed its wrists and fell backward, shoving his right foot upward and throwing it over him. "If I remember the story correctly, there was a veritable army of these things . . . but each one could be destroyed pretty easily."

Jamie spin-kicked one, then continued his momentum to spin himself around again and bring the blade of his weapon through the creature's abdomen. Like Yoshi's attacker, this one exploded, as well. "You thought of everything," he called out to his friend.

Buster brought his nunchaku down onto the head of the monster that he had just thrown, causing it to vanish. "They were only cannon-fodder," he explained. "But the Mindless are heading this way."

Jamie turned to look back toward the road to find that, indeed, the possessed townsfolk were heading toward them. "Great," he grumbled.

"Husband," called Elvara as she started walking toward the approaching throng. "Cover me!"

Jamie glanced at Amy and Bryanna. "You two wait in the van," he ordered. Looking at Fredrick and Max, he continued, "Guard them."

The girls did as they were told and the two boys stood outside of the side door, ready for anything.

"JAMIE!!!" Maria's voice screeched out of the house, causing the young ninja to turn his attention from the kaibutsu and back toward her. The five Followers were still in the house and the one called BM was approaching the table, brandishing a butcher knife. Without a thought, Jamie started running toward the building. He knew that he could never reach her in time.

Then he saw Buster. The preacher plunged through the opening in the wall, leaping over the one with bladed hands as that one lunged at him. He ducked an attempt to grab him by the giant. He side-stepped the one with the black irises. In this mere second, the blade of the knife was coming down toward Maria's unprotected stomach.

And then, it had protection. Buster's body had thrown itself over Maria's abdomen. BM seemed to discover this too late to stop the descent of his blade, which plunged deeply into the preacher's back.

There was complete silence, with the exception of Buster's groan of pain as his blood sprayed out of his wound. The fighters, Adventure, Renegade and Follower alike, stared in awe at the sight before them.

Then two women's shrieks filled the night. Amy leaped from the minivan and ran toward the house, her eyes overflowing with tears. Maria looked at Buster, who was pushing himself weakly away from her.

"NOT FOR ME!!!" bellowed Star. "YOU CAN'T DIE FOR ME!!!"

Buster's eyes met hers and he managed a weak smile as he fell backward and into Amy's arms.

His girlfriend gently lowered him to the floor on his side, then dropped next to him. Pulling his head so that she could cradle it in his lap, she whispered, "Please . . . please don't leave me."

BM stared in horror at Buster. "The sacrifice is false," he whispered in terror. Suddenly, the glow in his right hand flared and he screamed in agony, dropping to his knees. Beams of red lightning shot forth, striking each of the Mindless. Within seconds, the demons that had possessed them had abandoned them, leaving a number of confused townspeople. Half of the kaibutsu exploded into nothingness.

But the other half renewed the attack.

Jamie could hear the blade of one of the demonic monsters approaching his head. He ducked the swing, his narrowed eyes never leaving BM, who lay on the ground cradling his wrist in agony. Then the young ninja's own blade shot backward, taking out the one who had attacked him.

All around him, the fight continued, but Jamie focused solely upon the leader of the Followers. He stepped purposely toward BM, as the man climbed unsteadily to his feet and staggered through a doorway that appeared to lead into the kitchen. Glancing to his right, the young ninja's eyes met those of Ben, who nodded at him. Then the two ran around the table that held the weeping Maria on it, giving chase.

Yoshi's right blade destroyed one of the kaibutsu. In the same movement, she twirled back around toward the table that held Maria in time to see Jamie and Ben running through the kitchen. Realizing that the one called BM was not present, she assumed that they were chasing him. She noted the other four followers, each looking around in confusion. The ruby is losing its influence on them, she realized. But they are still not completely free of it.

The kunoichi's left blade shot backward, protecting her back against the attack of one of the kaibutsu. She whirled around and her blades met those of her opponent's again and again, neither getting a strike through to the other. But the creature was forcing her backward . . ..

Maria lay on the table, her tears running down the sides of her face, leaving damp spots in her hair. Why did you do it? she asked Buster in her mind. What did I do to deserve you laying down your life for me?

Then something slammed into the table and she opened her eyes to see Yoshi standing against it, her blades working furiously to defend her against one of the creatures that had come from the ground.

"Yoshi!" she yelled. "Cut me loose!"

Yoshi was pushed back over the table by her opponent as her crossed swords held its blades at bay. "I am a little preoccupied at the moment," she responded through clenched teeth.

"I have to check on Buster and Amy," whimpered Star.

At this, Yoshi brought her right foot up and shoved the creature away from herself, then twirled and—in the blink of an eye—had used her swords to cut the ropes. In another instant, she had gone back to fighting the beast.

Maria rolled off of the table and crawled to Amy's side. She found Amy weeping over her fallen fiancé, but at least he was still breathing, albeit shallowly. The blade that was meant for her still stuck out of the middle of his back, its hilt tilted slightly as if it had glanced off of something within. A puddle of blood gathered around the two teens, ignored by Amy in her anguish.

Star also ignored the blood as she crawled up to the preacher's back and she took his hand in hers. "Don't you die on us, Buster Goodman. Your life is worth a lot more than mine."

Max ducked the swipe of a blade as the kaibutsu lunged at him. The weapon plunged into the side of the SUV, effectively capturing the creature. To his right, Fredrick dropped into the splits to avoid an attack by his own opponent's blade. The weapon completely missed him, but struck Max's opponent, who exploded into a puff of sulfuric smoke.

"Hey, thanks!" piped the young teen as he quickly opened the passenger's door of the SUV, slamming it into Fredrick's opponent and causing him to vaporize, as well.

"What's going on?" asked a confused girl whom Max recognized from the funeral as Traci Bundy. A group of the townsfolk had come forward with her.

"We'll explain later," responded Fredrick. "For now, just get the rest of these people away from here."

"And call an ambulance," added Max. "We've got one down."

Chapter Twenty

Wednesday, 9:22 PM

Jamie and Ben raced along the path that led away from the farm house. They had found the back door in the kitchen standing open and had given chase to the leader of the Followers.

They reached the railroad track, finding BM standing in a clearing between a warehouse and the prepped train. BM was looking down at his hand, from which the red light of the ruby was still dimly issuing. Finally, he tilted his head back and bellowed, "My master! Why did you leave us?!"

"That's an interesting question," called Jamie. "You serve the father of all that's evil and you make a slight failure and wonder why he'd leave you to your fate?"

BM whirled toward Jamie and Ben, his eyes wide with fright. Then, he took a deep breath to calm himself. "All I need to do to get back into his grace is to blot the two of you from existence." He pulled his two weapons—metal baseball bats with nails welded to the ends—from their sheaths on his back.

"Grace is a word that's reserved for my Master," returned Jamie. "Yours has no part in it." Jamie glanced to his side to see Ben remove his tan trench coat and drop it to the ground. He pulled the scabbard of his katana from its loop on his belt, then pulled the weapon from the sheath.

BM's eyes overflowed with bloodlust. "I'll take you both on. My whelp of a son's sacrifice was in vain."

Jamie fought to control his contempt. "Buster Goodman was the best of us. And he was NOT your son!"

* * *

Deck's blade swiped through two of the kaibutsu at one time, causing them both to vanish. The sound of footsteps behind him caused him to whirl around to see the giant, easily half a foot taller than the weapon smith, walking purposefully toward him. Remembering the words of his wife, who was now hovering over Buster's still form with Maria and Amy, he turned his blade so that he would strike with the flat, then swung it at the man.

The one called Crusher caught his sword by the end of the blade. Deck watched in awe as a thin trickle of blood ran down the giant's forearm.

Mike Noddingham ran up behind Crusher and slammed his fist into the back of his head. The giant merely flinched, but Mike groaned in pain and cradled his hand in agony. Crusher smiled cruelly as he viciously twisted his wrist, snapping the end of the blade of Deck's sword off.

The large hero's fear was replaced by boiling rage. "I made that blade in Scotland when I was learning how to be a weapon smith. That sword was a dear friend to me! It's traveled across time and space with me—fought wars with me!" Deck balled his right hand into a massive fist and slammed it into Crusher's face.

The giant was knocked back a few steps. As he reached his hand up to find that crimson was running steadily from his nose, his air of cockiness was replaced by fear.

Deck's fist slammed into his face again, knocking him from his feet and sending him sprawling to land next to Elvara, who turned to look at him for a second before placing her hand upon his forehead and bellowing, "In the Name of the Risen Savior, come out of him, you unclean spirit!"

The giant body convulsed as a beam of bright, red light issued forth from his mouth and shot into the air.

* * *

Jamie was impressed with Ben's skill. The leader of the Renegades was fighting admirably. He was defending himself against BM's attacks just as well as Jamie was. However, this did not relieve Jamie's fear at the realization that BM was holding both of the seasoned fighters at bay.

This was something that had not escaped the leader of the Followers' notice, either. "Where is your God now?" he asked mockingly.

At that moment, a red beam of light shot down from the direction of the farmhouse, striking BM in the chest and sending him flying at least ten feet in the direction of the train. "I'd say He's here," responded Jamie.

BM, who had never lost his grip on his weapons, climbed to his feet and stumbled toward the train, grasping the ladder on one of the boxcars and starting to climb it.

Jamie glanced toward the end of the train in the hopes that somebody up there had noticed the fight. However, he could not see anybody looking out of the engine. "Great," he groaned aloud as he and Ben ran toward the boxcar.

* * *

Sean ducked the attack of one of the kaibutsu, whose blade left a gash in the arm of the Follower called Slash, who had been about to attack the Renegade from behind. The crazed man cackled madly and leaped upon the demon, striking it viciously with his own blades until it exploded, dumping him on the ground next to Elvara, who grabbed his ankle and drove the demon out of him . . ..

* * *

As Jamie was reaching the top rung of the ladder, followed closely by Ben, he found BM waiting for him. The possessed man reared back with his bat and Jamie knew that the only thing that he could do to avoid the strike would be to let go of the ladder and fall to the ground below, possibly taking Ben with him.

Suddenly, another red light from the direction of the house struck BM in the chest and sent him flying backward. He slid along the top of the boxcar, nearly falling off the other side. This gave Jamie and Ben enough time to reach the top.

* * *

Fredrick and Max dodged a stream of acid that exploded from the nozzle of a bug spray can that was wielded by the man with the black irises. They ducked around a corner, the man in hot pursuit, another spray of the foul liquid leaving scorch marks on the wall right behind Max's head. The Follower turned the corner just in time for a frying pan to slam into his face, wielded by Bryanna. The man stumbled backward and fell into an unconscious heap upon the floor.

Max looked at Fredrick. "Let's drag'im over to Elvara."

* * *

Jamie's ninja-to blocked BM's bat, the resulting clang sending sparks from the weapons. Ben attempted a downward slash, but BM blocked this with his other bat. A sudden shifting of the floor nearly wrenched them all from their feet. The train's moving! realized Jamie in horror.

Another beam of red light from the direction of the farmhouse shot down and knocked BM away from them, sending him sliding along the length of the boxcar again. It was only a few seconds, however, before he was back on his feet.

* * *

Yoshi battled the last of the kaibutsu, her blades easily parrying those of the monster. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of movement and heard a crack, then felt a sharp pain in her right wrist. The last of the Followers—the girl—had moved behind her and the end of her whip now held the female ninja's right hand stationary.

The kunoichi quickly adapted to the situation, her left blade now moving faster, alternating to block each of the attacks of the demon. This went on for several seconds before the female ninja put her weight on her right leg and her left foot shot up, catching the kaibutsu in the face and sending it back a few precious steps.

Yoshi glanced behind her to her right to see the girl holding the whip tightly. The young heroine's left ninja-to came down, severing the whip near Yoshi's wrist. As the girl called Whip lost her balance and fell backwards and landed next to Elvara, Yoshi spun a full 360 degrees, both of her blades coming back around to slash across the kaibutsu's abdomen. She held her breath to avoid the acrid smell of sulfur as it exploded in a puff of smoke.

* * *

The train was now moving full speed and headed back in the direction of the farm house. Jamie's ninja-to held one of the spiked bats at bay, while the other bat blocked Ben's katana.

BM's shoulder slammed into Jamie, knocking him from his feet. Then the hilt end of the right baseball bat slammed into Ben's face, causing him to stumble backward and fall.

At that moment, a fourth beam of light shot out of the sky, sending BM sprawling across the boxcar and plummeting off of the side. Jamie did not wait to see if he had completely fallen from the train. The young ninja re-sheated his sword and crawled to the opposite side of the car to find that Ben was hanging on to the top rung of the ladder. "Are you okay?" He had to yell to be heard over the sound of the train's movement.

Ben looked up at him, a cut running below his eye where the bat had hit, and responded, "Well, you know me. I'm just hanging around."

"Nyuk, nyuk," groaned Jamie. "Take my hand."

Ben looked past Jamie and his eyes widened. "LOOK OUT!!!"

The leader of Adventure rolled to the side just as a spiked bat came crashing down where his head had been. Jamie's right foot shot out, knocking both of BM's from under him.

To his relief, Ben had managed to climb back to the roof of the car.

* * *

Yoshi's swords both slid back into their scabbards as she examined the three teenagers and the adult laying unconscious on the floor. She recognized them all from when she had gone to school in Jameston. She sighed and shook her head. They were definitely the missing students and teacher.

"He's stopped breathing!" yelled Amy, tearing the kunoichi's eyes from the former members of the Followers.

Buster still lay on his side, his head cradled on his girlfriend's lap and Maria sitting next to them both. His blood spread in a wide pool around them. Elvara moved over to them and her hand sought out Buster's neck, checking for a pulse. She sighed with a shiver, her head bowed and tears flowing.

Amy let out a cry of anguish and wrapped her arms around Busters head, as if to hold his life within. "PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!!!"

Deck stepped forward and placed his massive hand gently upon the shoulder of his grieving wife. Max stood behind Amy and did the same for her. Even Mike and Sean seemed to understand that the silence of this moment should not be broken.

Yoshi took a ragged breath. In an instant, all of the smiles that she had ever seen Buster give to others flashed through her mind. All of the words of wisdom that had come from the mind of the one who knew the Bible better than anyone else that she had ever met sounded through her memory. His faith had been strong and had made those around him want to be better people.

In the distance, Yoshi could now hear the sirens of an ambulance racing in their direction. It would be too late.

Then, in a voice that dwarfed even Amy's cry of anguish, Elvara called out, "Oh, Father in Heaven! Why did I have to be so useless here? I have driven out demons in Your Name, but could not save the life of a friend! Why should this one, who has dedicated his life to reaching the lost with Your Gospel, give his life here? He has such potential! His faith puts even mine to shame!" She looked skyward with tear-filled eyes. "If I have ever found favor with You, my King, then please spare this one's life, so that he can do his part in building Your Kingdom. I beg of you, O'Lord!" Her head bowed again and she continued weeping.

Yoshi was truly touched by Elvara's lament. She sighed and buried her face in her hands and wept.

Then, Maria yelled, "He's breathing!"

Yoshi's face shot up from her hands. Buster released a ragged breath. Then he took another and released it. Then another. Then another.

The kunoichi lunged forward and fell to her knees next to him. "He is still alive?" she asked in wonder, just as the ambulance turned down the drive and headed in their direction.

Elvara raised her tear-filled eyes to the heavens. "Oh thank You, my King."

And then, as the ambulance pulled up to the gaping hole in the house and parked next to the minivan, Max looked around. "Where's Jamie?"

Fredrick and Bryanna walked hand-in-hand out the hole as the two paramedics—one dark-haired man and one blonde woman—made their way in, pushing a stretcher.

As the man prepared the stretcher to hold Buster, the woman knelt and examined the wound. She looked up at Amy. "He's going to be okay," she said, her eyes betraying her shock. "The wound seems to have clotted around the blade. He's stopped losing blood."

Amy smiled, tears leaving a trail down her dust and blood-smeared cheeks.

* * *

Fredrick did not see any evidence of Jamie . . . or the Renegades' leader. He could hear the sound of a train approaching.

"What is that sound?" asked Bryanna.

"Some railroad tracks run behind the house and along the road," explained Fredrick. "A train must be coming."

Indeed, they watched it come up the tracks toward the farmhouse. "Are those people fighting on it?" asked Bryanna.

Fredrick squinted. She certainly had good eyesight. Three people were definitely fighting on one of the cars of the approaching train.

His eyes widened. "Guys!" he yelled. "I found Jamie!"

They turned and ran into the house in time to see the paramedics strapping Buster—face down—to the stretcher.

"Where'd you find them?" asked Max.

"They are fighting with Lucious on the back of that vehicle that is on those tracks," replied Bryanna. "Fredrick called it a train."

"Maybe we should help," commented Yoshi.

"There's something else," added Fredrick.

Max cocked an eyebrow. "Which is . . .?"

"It's moving." Fredrick took a deep breath, then let it out. "At full speed."

"We can catch'em in my Jimmy," said Mike as he turned and ran toward his vehicle, Sean right behind him.

Yoshi looked at Amy. "You ride with Buster to the hospital. We will be along as soon as we can."

Amy nodded as the rest of Adventure and their friends piled into the SUV with the two Renegades.

* * *

Jamie dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding a downward swipe of BM's bat. The weapon hit the metal top of the car, sending sparks flying into the air.

The young ninja was thankful for the training that his sensei had given him. Balance was not really an issue for him. He could not say that about Ben, however. So far, the Renegade had nearly fallen at least three times. That, coupled with Jamie's unfamiliarity with Ben's style, made the teamwork a little complex. I wish I had Yoshi here instead of Ben, he told himself. I know her style. We compliment each other.

While balance was not an issue, the height at which they were now fighting with the possessed man surely was. They were only about fifteen feet from the ground. But, to the acrophobic young ninja, they might as well have been a hundred feet in the air.

Jamie ducked another swing to the head just as Ben shoved the point of his katana into BM's foot. The Follower growled in pain, but kept his footing. If that didn't hurt him, realized Jamie, what can we do that will?

* * *

The SUV followed the train along the highway, which ran parallel to the tracks. "Is Jamie still scared'o heights?" asked Sean from his place in the front seat.

"Yes," returned Yoshi, trying to see what was happening on top of the train. Unfortunately, the track was on a hill that was elevated above the road several feet. Every once in a while, one of the three combatants would fight their way to the edge of the car, but would then move out of sight again.

The kunoichi noticed that the track was moving away from the road. "We are losing it!"

Mike turned the wheel and the SUV turned sharply, leaving the road and driving across the empty field through which the track ran away from the highway. The kunoichi heard a thud to her left and looked to see that Max had bounced into the floor.

"Hey!" snapped the young adolescent. "Where'd you learn how t'drive?"

"Shut up, small fry!" snapped Mike.

"You shut up, small mind!" returned Max.

"Why don't you both remain silent?" interrupted Elvara. "Arguing will accomplish nothing."

* * *

Jamie's right foot slammed into BM's face and he stumbled back a few steps. Ben's right foot caught him in the back of the head and sent him stumbling forward. The ruby flared and the Follower cried out in agony and dropped to his knees. The leaders of Adventure and the Renegades watched in horror as the other man's face rippled like the surface of a lake, changing form from BM's to that of another, unrecognized man.

"THE PAIN!" bellowed BM. "I CAN'T TAKE THE PAIN!!!" At that, he grabbed Ben's katana by the blade and impaled his right hand on the point. There was an explosion of red light that sent the two protagonists sliding from their feet and that shot BM backwards and off of the train with a howl of torment.

Suddenly, the train's breaks squealed as it started to slow. Jamie grabbed the edge of the car to keep himself from rolling off and hoped that Ben had the sense to do so, as well. After several moments, the vehicle came to a complete stop. After the sound of the train's movement on the track, the silence was almost deafening.

Jamie climbed to his feet and found Ben once again holding on to the ladder that led to the top of the car. The young ninja chuckled. "Hanging around again?"

Ben sighed as Mike's SUV came to a stop next to the train. After the two teens had climbed down from the top of the vehicle, Yoshi rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Jamie, who embraced her back. "What's this for?" he asked.

She merely responded, "Oh, shut up."

A very confused engineer came walking up at this point. "What in the world were you two doing up there?"

Jamie's eyes met those of Ben, which had been watching his embrace of Yoshi curiously. They each cocked an eyebrow at one other.

"It's a long story," said Ben.

Epilogue

Friday, 12:37 PM

Jamie stepped into the hospital room, followed by Yoshi, Maria, Max, Fredrick, Bryanna, Deck and Elvara. Amy sat next to the bed where Buster now lay. The color had returned and he smiled at his friends, gesturing that they remain silent as he used the remote to turn up the volume on the television.

"The murder of one adolescent and the disappearance of three others—as well as one teacher—has now been chocked up to the most sophisticated case of brain-washing in history. The missing persons—Jameston High School Senior Craig Browers, College Freshmen Jack Marshall and Marti Stewart, and Thomas Merrit, the high school science teacher—have been found with no memory of the past few days. The unidentified body of a man in his late thirties was found late Wednesday night near the train tracks outside of the city limits of Jameston and is assumed to have been responsible for the brain-washing. Traces of DNA at the scene of the death of Simon Wilson also match that of the unidentified man. In a statement released by the Jameston Sheriff's Office, we are told that they consider this case closed. "

"No mention of Lucious's blackened right hand where the ruby exploded?" asked Jamie.

Buster shook his head. "Ben probably told the sheriff not to say anything about it."

The young ninja nodded. "I guess having the sheriff on Ben's payroll came in handy." He looked at his friend with a smile. "I hear that you're going to make a full recovery."

Buster nodded. "The blade of the knife glanced off of my backbone and managed to miss all major organs . . . even my lung."

Amy, who was holding his hand, pulled it to her mouth and kissed it. "The doctors said it was a miracle. What should've taken weeks of recovery will have him out in just over a week."

Buster shrugged. "I'll miss a couple of classes, but that's all." His eyes moved to meet those of Elvara. "Amy told me about your prayer."

"I merely begged for your life," she responded. "I had thought that miracles were dead on your world, judging from what Deck had told me. But he was just not in a right relationship with our Creator before he came to Thera. The God of today is the same as the God who raised Jesus from the grave. He is the same God who healed lepers and brought sight to the blind. He is the same God who, through even Paul, raised the dead. Just because Man changes, does not mean that God does."

Amy whispered a thank you to God that was shared by all in the room.

"So," said Amy, "Buster tells me that he's found his calling in a special missions field. He and I will be coming to Thera to help you with your new ministry after he graduates from seminary and we're married."

Jamie looked at Buster in shock. "Are you serious?"

His friend nodded. "Elvara is going to start teaching a more loving approach to the worship of God, spawned—no doubt—from her experience at the church in Aurthur."

"Which will keep us coming back here every few months for a visit to that church," commented Bryanna, who stood next to Fredrick, holding his hand affectionately.

"I think I can handle a long-distance relationship," Fredrick told her with a smile.

Then the door opened and Ben stepped in.

"I would not have expected to see you here," commented Yoshi.

Ben shrugged. "Buster is a man of honor. He had great courage when he took the blade that was intended for Maria. I merely wanted to assure myself that he was recovering."

"It's easy to have courage when you have the hope of Eternal Life," commented Buster.

"Amen," agreed Elvara.

Ben cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Regardless . . . I have now assured myself that you've not died for that faith."

Maria looked at Jamie. "Can I have a minute alone with Buster and Amy?"

Jamie regarded her curiously, then nodded. "Sure." He motioned for the remainder of the group to follow him out of the room.

As they stood in the hall, Ben looked at Jamie. "We made a good team, didn't we?"

Jamie nodded. "Against a common foe."

"You all could still join with us," suggested Ben, though his eyes held no hope.

Jamie shook his head. "Not a chance."

Ben nodded in understanding. "Goodbye then."

"You know," commented Jamie, "Buster's right. It's easy to have courage when you have the hope of Eternal Life."

Ben regarded him without emotion. "Then I suppose that I'll just have to find courage somewhere else." Then he turned and headed up the hall.

"What's wrong with him?" demanded Max. "How could he have been through everything that he's been through this week and still be an atheist?"

Elvara placed her hand upon Max's shoulder. "It is Scriptural that some will simply never believe."

Jamie shook his head. "I don't think that it has anything to do with not believing anymore. I think he just doesn't like the idea of there being something in life that's bigger than him."

* * *

Maria stood next to Buster's bed, opposite Amy. "You almost died for me."

Buster regarded her warmly. "Jesus said that, if one sheep is lost, then the good shepherd will leave the others to find it."

Tears began to well in Maria's eyes. "Why should He care anything about me? I have no respect for myself. Why should He?"

"He made you with loving care, Maria," responded Amy. "He'll have His arms open and waiting for you until the day you die. Will you run toward Him, or away from Him?"

Maria buried her face in her hands and wept. "I'm so sorry, Jesus."

Buster sat up, ignoring the pain of his stitches. "Do you believe now, Star?"

She nodded. "I do." She sniffed. "I want Him to give me a heart like yours."

He smiled at her and shook his head. "Ask Him to give you a heart like His."

THE END

A Note from the Author

I would like to thank you for taking this journey with me. I understand that you have a limitless number of stories to choose from and I am truly honored that you have taken the time to visit with my characters on their journey. If you enjoyed this story, I would truly appreciate it if you would leave a review at your favorite retailer. And please tell your friends.

The ADVENTURE CHRONICLES

Invasion of the Ninja

A group of teenage martial artists defends a southern Missouri school from an invading ninja army.

Klandestine Maneuvers

The members of Adventure, along with some new faces, face an influx of racists who have come to Sera to terrorize the town's only African-American family, the Robertsons.

Gateway to Thera

Half of the members of Adventure are thrown into a fantasy world where they must save Shawna Weston from a cursed wizard and find a way back home.

The Quest for Yoshi

Shawna's nightmares lead Adventure back to Thera, where we are treated to a flipped "damsel in distress" story and our heroes are forced to seek out and battle a witch who may be descended from the Old Testaments' priests of Ba'al.

Buster's Legacy

A cursed object from Thera finds its way to Earth and causes havoc, forcing Adventure to join forces with the Renegades to stop it.

COMING SOON

Full Circle

Did the Yakuza order the murder of one of Adventure's friends? Jamie and the others are forced into an investigation that leads to the solution of a year-old mystery and introduces us to a new hero.

ALSO FROM

JEFFREY ALLEN DAVIS

and

GCD Publishing

Lily's Redemption

Novelist Thomas Bradford has lived with his young daughter, Melissa, in Central Missouri since the death of his wife. He is surprised when feelings begin to stir in his heart for Kassandra, a new attendee of his church. But a man from her past threatens to destroy the peaceful life that Thomas has worked to build.

The Ultimate Failure

Allen Tiernon is a new Christian and wanted to tell his atheist friend about his new faith. Unfortunately, the discussion went tragically wrong and Allen finds himself having to discuss his ultimate failure in a statement to the police. This free short story is available on most e-readers.

A Family Squabble

After the death of Yoshika Funakoshi, Jamie Raleigh must decide what he's willing to do to keep leadership of the Funakoshi ninja clan within the founding family, with himself as its last surviving member. This free short story takes place after Gateway to Thera and is available on most e-readers.

ANTHOLOGIES

from

LION'S SHARE PRESS

Metahumans vs. Robots

The war between good and evil rages on, but new combatants have risen to take up the fight.

The fate of mankind rests on the shoulders of a chosen few.

On the side of good are the metahumans, men and women gifted—or cursed—with extraordinary powers. Now they find themselves pitted against machines intent on destroying the human race.

Metahumans vs. the Ultimate Evil

On the side of good are the metahumans, men and women gifted—or cursed—with extraordinary powers. Now they find themselves pitted against a variety of situations and foes. Witches, demons, monsters, and abominations plague the heroes this time around with magic, mischievousness, murder, and mayhem.

Who will ultimately prevail: the ultimate good or the ultimate evil?

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Jesus, my Blessed Savior.

Thanks to Sam Campbell and L.J. Capehart for all of their input.

Thanks to my wonderful parents, who are with the Lord.

Thanks to my beautiful wife, Vickie, for her support during the long hours of writing. Thanks to my daughter, KK, for the calming effects of her hugs. Thanks to my stepson, Jay, for reading–and enjoying—these books. Thanks to my stepdaughter, Bree, for reminding me that I have to laugh every once in a while.

Thanks to D. Issac, B. Goodman, E. and K. Griffiths, A. Emmons, T. Thompson, D. Middleton, S. Black, J. Don Davis, L. Isaac, K. Corbett, E. Hall, J. Hall, L. Ringstaff, J. King, J. Decker, W. Clardy, D. Goodman. You've all been lifelong influences.

About the Author

Jeffrey Allen Davis is an award-winning novelist, armchair conservative pundit, and travel agent. He lives in St. Charles, MO, with his wife, daughter, and two stepchildren. A licensed minister, Davis's fiction tends to take place within a Christian worldview, even when the story is not overtly religious.

Visit him online.
