CoH Fan Fiction: The Saga of Ms. Lorelei

Rob · 13-September-05, 08:57 PM

Ioannes (Greek for John, or Jack) Leonidas Monroe was the son of a chemical company janitor and a lunch diner waitress. He grew up in a lower class neighborhood, learning to defend himself the hard way against back ally bullies and never having nearly enough money to buy the latest tennis shoes or the hottest albums. Fortunately, Jack was never really interested in those things to begin with as his interest was primarily in playing around in the labs at his dad’s company after hours while his father was working.

Jack’s father was “old school” in that he instilled in Jack a sense of pride in doing the best that you possibly can. Jack sailed through high school, taking as many advanced science classes as he could. Fate played a hand one day when Jack forgot his Chemistry II book at the company lab where it was discovered the next day. From then on, Jack had a staff of personal tutors as many of the scientists elected to stay a few minutes late to help Jack with his homework. Luck paid off and Jack became the class valedictorian. It was no surprise to anyone in Jack’s family when he received a full tuition scholarship at Stanford University.

While growing up, Jack seen how the toxic chemicals affected his father and his fellow employees and he felt compelled to do anything he could to help. He enrolled into the School of Medicine at Stanford, excelling and surpassing all of his classmates and to the surprise of his professors. As a small bonus to being part of the honors program and a favorite of the teachers, Jack was allowed to work in his spare time at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital as a probationary orderly. It was during one of his weekend shifts that he met Christina.

Christina was beautiful beyond words. She was 5’7” to Jack’s 6’2”, “athletically petite” with light blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, and a smile that would light the darkest of rooms. After graduating high school as the salutatorian (in which Jack and Christina would tease each other endlessly later on), Christina went on to the University of California at Berkeley majoring in Child Psychology and Dramatic Art (she was torn between helping children and being an actress). She was currently volunteering with her sorority helping out with a cancer stricken child in the Make-A-Wish Foundation when she met Jack. It was love at first site.

Jack and Christina lived the fairy tale life. Married within three months of meeting each other (they refused to wait until they graduated and skipped to Las Vegas during spring break), Jack and Christina soon became the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl, which they named Lorelei Adonia Monroe. Although the times were tough in their tiny one room apartment in El Cerrito, they managed to find happiness in everything they did.

Jack graduated with honors and managed to land his internship at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles shortly before Christina was discovered buying, of all things, a cup of coffee at a local Starbuck’s. Her first film, “Imprisoned Spirit”, in which she played the role of Numina and her heroic exploits with the Midnight Squad in defeating the Red Threat, was named as one of the all-time best films ever made by the American Film Institute shortly after its release. Her success led to a follow-up film in which she reprised Numina and her role in the Ritki War.

It was during these early years that Jack began to discover strange symptoms from the children he attended to. Sporadic growth rates in only the limbs, cranium reshaping, regression in language skills, and a slight skin discoloration wasn’t linked to any known disease or ailment. Nothing in the known medical world could explain what was causing these strange symptoms. Jack conducted test after test over the course of a few years and turned up nothing conclusive. Not until Jack published a paper in a medical journal in 1984 did the public know anything strange was afoot.

Within 24 hours of the medical journal’s release, Jack was contacted by Dr. Brian Webb of the Freedom Phalanx. Dr. Webb was working in their medical trauma department when Michael White (a.k.a., Back Alley Brawler) brought in a strange liquid green sample of a new designer drug called Superadine. Dr. Webb had a strong suspicion that the symptoms that Jack was seeing in these new born children were the same side affects that this new drug could possibly produce.

Jack, along with Christina, felt a strong, moral obligation to do everything in their power to help the super heroes that have saved our world over and over again. Jack accepted a research position with the Freedom Phalanx while Christina began work as the new Public Relations Officer for the Regulators. Her popularity in the entertainment industry, combined with her stunning beauty, contributed to many of the reporters being more polite and asking fewer questions when it came to the activities of the Regulators. The only one not happy with the move was little Lorelei.

Lorelei was something of an enigma for Jack and Christina. She was always a healthy baby, resistant to all types of flues and colds. The soon discovered, however, just how different she was from the other children. Late one afternoon during her first year of private school, Christina received a call from the school’s principle saying that her daughter had accidentally cut herself on the outdated steel playground equipment. By the time Christina arrived to her school, teachers and students alike were keeping their distance from Lorelei. It seems that her severe cut had healed itself in the matter of a simple hour.

Jack had began to fear that this may have something to do with the new drug on the street and began test after test on little Lorelei. Fortunately, Lorelei tested clean to the presence of chemicals he was finding in the other children. Although not satisfied with the test results, Jack was relived to find this out. Since he could not reach a valid conclusion, he theorized that the many years that he had spent at his father’s chemical company had led to a “natural mutation” in his genetic makeup and somehow passed that on to his daughter that allowed her to heal at an accelerated rate. Jack’s only concern was just how far the mutation was going to progress in her later years.

Lorelei didn’t want to move from her native California home. Even at the age of five, she enjoyed the carefree life and spending weekends at their private beach house. She was, in essence, becoming the “typical Californian kid”. After her father and mother told her they were moving to Paragon City, she cried, threatened, and threw temper tantrum one right after the other. Her limited and fragile known universe was going to come to a crashing halt. Against her will, she moved with her parents to Paragon City. To mollify her feelings, they enrolled her into a ballet and acrobatics class which she took like a duck to water.

Life was idyllic for the Monroe’s. Jack was working hard with the Freedom Phalynx on trying to solve the puzzle of the new drug on the street (and being paid handsomely, too), Christina (still getting offers for new movie roles) enjoyed the spotlight in front of the news cameras, and little Lorelei was beginning to get comfortable and make some new friends.

Rob · 13-September-05, 08:58 PM

A few months after their arrival to Paragon City, Lorelei celebrated her sixth birthday. Still mildly upset that she had to move, her parents pulled out all the stops on giving her the best birthday a six-year-old ever had. Right before she blew out the candles on her birthday cake, the phone rang and her father answered it in the kitchen. As impatient as any nine-year-old on her birthday, she insisted that they wait until her father could be there to blow out the candles. Within a few minutes, her father returned from the kitchen with an ashen look upon his face. Coughing nervously, he explained that the party was now over and everyone had to go home immediately.

As the neighborhood parents gathered up their children and headed for the door, it suddenly dawned on Lorelei that her birthday party was over. Intending to throw the biggest fit she ever attempted, Lorelei began to follow her parents into the kitchen to unload “both barrels”. She stopped short of entering when she heard the fear in her father’s voice.

“Remember how I told you that Brian and I managed to find the cause of all those symptoms? The Superadine thing? Well, that was the office on the phone. They just learned that several of the crime syndacites are heavily involved in the manufacture and distribution...something's going down...maybe they have called a truce with each other...”

“Oh, honey…is everything o.k.?” Christina replied.

“No, there’s more. They also found out that some Frost kid who heads up The Family syndicate isn’t too happy with my research and he’s hired this hit man called Lazarus to come pay us a visit”, said Jack.

“Lazarus? You’re talking about the same Lazarus that’s wanted by the Regulators and every other super hero group for multiple homicides?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. The office also told me that the Freedom Phalanx is over in Dark Astoria taking on the latest Banishment spawn and can’t get here in time so they are calling the Regulators to see if they have anyone available to help us. We’re leaving, Christina…go pack an overnight bag for you and Lorelei right now.”

Furious at this turn of events, Lorelei determined that she was going to stay right where she was. She had to move once and it was horrible…it wasn’t going to happen again. Silently, she snuck off to hide behind the couch in the living room.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and the house fell silent.

“Who’s there?” her father cried out nervously.

*BLAM*

The door flew back with such a force that it knocked both her father and her mother to the ground. Then, heavy boot steps slowly made its way into the room. Risking discovery, Lorelei shifted slightly to see her bloodied father slowly coming around after being dazed. Their eyes met and time froze. Her father’s eyes said it all. Stay there and stay quiet. Don’t make a move. Your mother and I love you very much. Close your eyes, baby, close your eyes.

Lorelei doesn’t remember much after that. Her father’s screams here, her mother’s sobs there. Only when the heavy boot steps made their way to the front door did she dare open her eyes and look upon her parent’s murderer. He was a tall, bulky man wearing a black duster and a black fedora. His hands were like thick hams and his nose seemed to have been broken several times. The gray skin seemed to accentuate the blackness of his dark eyes and the yellowness of his toothy grin. It is a memory that haunts her dreams to this day.

The next thing Lorelei remembers is being lovingly carried from the house by Blue Steel. He sat her gently on the lawn away from the police officers on the scene and tried to explain to her in a chocked voice that her parent’s were dead.

“You don’t have to explain, sir. I already know. They’re dead”, said Lorelei.

Amazed at her strength, Blue Steel could do nothing but nod slowly and cast his eyes downward. What to do with the child now, Blue Steel thought. Paragon City orphanage would be glad to accept custody of her. No, he resolved. I will take care of her and place her in a special class at the Paragon Superhero University. She qualifies based upon the talks of her healing ability that I had with her father. She'll need a guardian and a sponsor, too, he thought, vowing to fulfill his duty towards one of his few friends. Jack did him a favor when he got here...it's time I try to repay that.

Lorelei took to her new surroundings at the school with a passion unseen before in such a small child. Her ballet lessons had enhanced her fighting ability, allowing her to maintain her balance in the most difficult of training situations. The results of her classroom studies would have made both her parents proud. Best of all was when she had been introduced to the various fighting implements. The second her eyes feel upon the Katana, she knew that was her destiny. At the conclusion of her first lesson, even her master feared to cross blades with her and her natural skill.

It was shortly before it became time to venture out into the world that during one of their daily talks with Blue Steel that he broached a question for which both already knew the answer. Blue Steel had asked her if her purpose was to seek revenge upon the Lazarus, who had grown even more strong and more feared over the years. Lorelei didn’t even have to reply and her silence answered for her.

“It’s as much as I suspected,” said Blue Steel. “You will never truly be at peace with yourself or the world until you have purged yourself of this quest for revenge. I know that you will seek out this Lazarus and confront him and when you do, you will have a choice to make that will affect the rest of your life.”

She replied, “I know.”

Lorelei left immediately upon graduation and set out into the world seeking her parent’s murderer. As a parting gift (and the disapproval of the Back Ally Brawler, another hero she had grown close to), her Iadio master presented her with an infamous Muramasa katana which, as legend tells, that once drawn, cannot be sheathed until the blade has drawn blood. Armed with her parent’s inheritance, Lorelei now roams the streets of Paragon City in search of the deadly Lazarus, tearing through gang after gang from various factions, fighting Trolls, Outcasts, Hellions, and Skulls. Lead after lead brings her closer to more and more dangerous villains, perhaps all the way until she reaches the Ritki themselves. She will stop at nothing to find the man responsible.

Rob · 13-September-05, 09:00 PM

Like I said before, this is eventually going to be an e-novel, perhaps posted on my Insight account. I got bored at work tonite so I thought that I would expand a little on the original story and shove an additional chapter in there. Next week, I'm going to start on her training at the Paragon SuperHero University and maybe her first few years after school.

Anyway, for those of you looking for a cure to insomnia, this is for you...

__________________________________________________ ________________________________

The entire scene could have been described as a typical, run-of-the-mill crime scene. Several police cars blocking thru traffic, illuminating the Eastgate neighborhood in a disco dance of red, blue, and white lights. Neighbors watched from their darkened living rooms as the police officers and detectives performed a well-practiced ballet of crime scene investigation on the front yard of the Monroe household.

The Monroe family was new to the neighborhood. Jack Monroe was working hard with the Freedom Phalanx trying to understand the latest craze to hit streets, Superadine, while his wife, Christina, was somewhat of the celebrity on their street. She had acted in two very successful movies and put her acting career on hold while her husband performed his civic duty to his fellow man. She didn’t mind, though, as she was brought on to the Regulators as their new Public Relations Representative. And then there was little Ms. Lorelei.

Ms. Lorelei was the most beautiful five-year-old child anyone in the neighborhood had ever seen. Her eyes sparkled like the sun shining off the Caribbean ocean’s surface. Her full, dark, sleek hair was the envy of every woman of every age. Her smile…her smile could warm the coldest of winter nights. Even though she had protested the move to Paragon City, she was as polite as any child could possibly be, which is why the Monroe’s had no problem finding a last minute babysitter in the neighborhood when their schedules clashed.

Poor thing, really. It was Lorelei’s birthday today, did you know that honey? I just had little Suzy over at her birthday party a few hours ago when Jack said the party was over. I wonder what could have possibly happened?

Officer Edward (Eddie to his friends) Hicks was the first to arrive on the scene, just having been assigned to the Cherry Hills precinct in Eastgate. He had a few calls before, some domestic but more the cat-in-the-tree variety. This was to be his first homicide call and one that will forever haunt his nightly dreams. As he kissed his wife an daughter goodbye, he just thought it was going to be another slow night….until the call came.

Apparently the call came out from the Regulators that a hit had been called on Dr. Jack Monroe for his assistance in the Superadine research. Dr. Webb had already been taken into safety as he was still at the lab, which was only a block away from the Steel Canyon Police sub-station in Silver Lake. This call came personally from Blue Steel as a Priority One Alert. Two months before, Blue Steel had brought in a new baby child born from a half-Troll, half-human mother that he had recently defeated and arrested. The child was obviously sick from the level of Superadine in his bloodstream and Jack worked non-stop on the child for 19 hours straight. Blue Steel was amazed at the level of dedication shown by Jack and vowed that he would repay his honorable service.

Eddie didn’t need to knock on the door when he arrived because it was already standing slightly open. Even before he knocked, he recognized that smell…the smell of blood. Funny, he thought, how well the human body remembers certain smells. He remembers back to his high school senior prom when he got into a fight with Billy Collins after Billy had hit his girlfriend. Billy had bloodied Eddie’s nose with a lucky shot before Billy was knocked unconscious. From that moment on, Eddie remembered the strong “iron” smell of blood.

Bracing himself for what he knew he would find, Eddie drew his service weapon and slowly opened the door. Wait for backup, his mind screamed! No, he thought, if there is someone still alive in there, he has to find them and find them now. Eddie didn’t have to wait long as one look into the living room was all he needed to see.

The former Jack Monroe lay face down on the blood soaked carpet with his feet towards the door. The former Christina Monroe was twisted in a grisly fashion in the middle of the living room. From here on, Eddie’s mind goes numb with details as the horrid crime scene in front of him defies the reality of the world he lived in. No one dies like this, no one, he thought, no, not even in the movie out of Hollywood.

Rob · 13-September-05, 09:00 PM

With his body starting to experience shock, Eddie stumbles down the front steps of the three-bedroom house without falling down. Sickness overcomes him and as his wife’s famous lasagna finds a new home on the Monroe front lawn, Blue Steel arrives. Seeing the new officer in such a state, Blue Steel already knows what he’s going to find inside the house. Blue Steel is shocked out of his trance of staring at the front door by Officer Hick’s vomiting and springs to action. Scanning the area quickly with a brand new heartbeat monitor, he picks up a faint signal coming from inside the house.

“Officer Hicks, are you alright? Is the house clear?”, yells Blue Steel as he runs toward the house with his service weapon drawn in one hand and his shield in the other. Getting no response, Blue Steel continues on towards the open door at the ready. Thinking back, only his training was able to get him through the door in a coherent state for Blue Steel all to well knows the smell of blood. Diving through the living room, Blue Steel makes his way towards the spot where the heartbeat signal originated.

“Come out with your hands up!”, he screams.

No response.

Slowly, Blue Steel moves forward and suddenly pulls the couch out away from the wall. Unprepared for this shock, he nearly drops his service weapon trying to reholster it. He picked up the little child he saw before him and makes for the door to try and get her to safety. Only then does he realize that Jack and Christina are certainly dead and the child that he holds in his arms must be little Lorelei. Strange, he thought, didn’t she have dark hair? Her hair now is jet white.

Blue Steel carried her from the house and set her gently on the front lawn as more and more police officers and detectives arrive on the scene. For the first few minutes, he can do nothing but tenderly pull her hair out away from her face. She must be in total shock, he thought, because she hasn’t cried a tear from those dry eyes. How brave she must be.

Blue Steel then did something that he had never done in his entire career as a Super Hero. With trembling hands, he reached up and removed his battle helmet, allowing the child to see his face. It was when their eyes met that Blue Steel began to cry for this child and all he could do was to lower his eyes and hang his head.

“You don’t have to explain, sir. I already know. They’re dead”, said Lorelei.

Blue Steel could do nothing but slowly nod his head and look downward again. What to do with this child, he thought. Then resolve came over him as he remembered his debt to the late Dr. Monroe.

“Lorelei, your name is Lorelei, isn’t it sweetie?”, he asked. Lorelei slowly nodded twice in reply.

“Lorelei, your father performed a very special favor for me a while ago, a favor to which I am in debt for. He saved the life of a little, drug addicted child that had done nothing wrong in life to deserve what happened to it. Your daddy is and always will be a hero to me.”

Lorelei looked up at Blue Steel as he continued on.

“Your daddy told me while he was looking after this child that he had been worried that you might have experienced the same side affects. It was then that he found out that you have a natural ability to heal. Remember the last time you had gotten hurt and then all of a sudden it didn’t hurt anymore?”

“Yes”, replied Lorelei.

“Because of this, I can send you to a very special school, one that will help you with your ability to heal quickly. Does that sound like fun?”, he asked.

“That means I’ll have to make new friends again…but that’s o.k.”, she said with a heavy heart.

“Lorelei? You’re going to need someone to look after you until you’re old enough. I thought that I might look after you, if that’s o.k.?”, he asked.

Lorelei looked into his tear-stained eyes for a moment and nodded firmly. It was then that she reached out and put her arms around Blue Steel and finally began to cry as she had on her father’s shoulders a few times before. For the next twenty minutes, he did nothing but hold her while she cried.

“It’s time to go to your new home now, Lorelei.”

13-September-05, 08:57 PM		#1 (permalink)
Rob Advocatus Diaboli	CoH Fan Fiction: The Saga of Ms. Lorelei Ioannes (Greek for John, or Jack) Leonidas Monroe was the son of a chemical company janitor and a lunch diner waitress. He grew up in a lower class neighborhood, learning to defend himself the hard way against back ally bullies and never having nearly enough money to buy the latest tennis shoes or the hottest albums. Fortunately, Jack was never really interested in those things to begin with as his interest was primarily in playing around in the labs at his dad’s company after hours while his father was working. Jack’s father was “old school” in that he instilled in Jack a sense of pride in doing the best that you possibly can. Jack sailed through high school, taking as many advanced science classes as he could. Fate played a hand one day when Jack forgot his Chemistry II book at the company lab where it was discovered the next day. From then on, Jack had a staff of personal tutors as many of the scientists elected to stay a few minutes late to help Jack with his homework. Luck paid off and Jack became the class valedictorian. It was no surprise to anyone in Jack’s family when he received a full tuition scholarship at Stanford University. While growing up, Jack seen how the toxic chemicals affected his father and his fellow employees and he felt compelled to do anything he could to help. He enrolled into the School of Medicine at Stanford, excelling and surpassing all of his classmates and to the surprise of his professors. As a small bonus to being part of the honors program and a favorite of the teachers, Jack was allowed to work in his spare time at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital as a probationary orderly. It was during one of his weekend shifts that he met Christina. Christina was beautiful beyond words. She was 5’7” to Jack’s 6’2”, “athletically petite” with light blonde hair, crystal blue eyes, and a smile that would light the darkest of rooms. After graduating high school as the salutatorian (in which Jack and Christina would tease each other endlessly later on), Christina went on to the University of California at Berkeley majoring in Child Psychology and Dramatic Art (she was torn between helping children and being an actress). She was currently volunteering with her sorority helping out with a cancer stricken child in the Make-A-Wish Foundation when she met Jack. It was love at first site. Jack and Christina lived the fairy tale life. Married within three months of meeting each other (they refused to wait until they graduated and skipped to Las Vegas during spring break), Jack and Christina soon became the proud parents of a beautiful baby girl, which they named Lorelei Adonia Monroe. Although the times were tough in their tiny one room apartment in El Cerrito, they managed to find happiness in everything they did. Jack graduated with honors and managed to land his internship at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles shortly before Christina was discovered buying, of all things, a cup of coffee at a local Starbuck’s. Her first film, “Imprisoned Spirit”, in which she played the role of Numina and her heroic exploits with the Midnight Squad in defeating the Red Threat, was named as one of the all-time best films ever made by the American Film Institute shortly after its release. Her success led to a follow-up film in which she reprised Numina and her role in the Ritki War. It was during these early years that Jack began to discover strange symptoms from the children he attended to. Sporadic growth rates in only the limbs, cranium reshaping, regression in language skills, and a slight skin discoloration wasn’t linked to any known disease or ailment. Nothing in the known medical world could explain what was causing these strange symptoms. Jack conducted test after test over the course of a few years and turned up nothing conclusive. Not until Jack published a paper in a medical journal in 1984 did the public know anything strange was afoot. Within 24 hours of the medical journal’s release, Jack was contacted by Dr. Brian Webb of the Freedom Phalanx. Dr. Webb was working in their medical trauma department when Michael White (a.k.a., Back Alley Brawler) brought in a strange liquid green sample of a new designer drug called Superadine. Dr. Webb had a strong suspicion that the symptoms that Jack was seeing in these new born children were the same side affects that this new drug could possibly produce. Jack, along with Christina, felt a strong, moral obligation to do everything in their power to help the super heroes that have saved our world over and over again. Jack accepted a research position with the Freedom Phalanx while Christina began work as the new Public Relations Officer for the Regulators. Her popularity in the entertainment industry, combined with her stunning beauty, contributed to many of the reporters being more polite and asking fewer questions when it came to the activities of the Regulators. The only one not happy with the move was little Lorelei. Lorelei was something of an enigma for Jack and Christina. She was always a healthy baby, resistant to all types of flues and colds. The soon discovered, however, just how different she was from the other children. Late one afternoon during her first year of private school, Christina received a call from the school’s principle saying that her daughter had accidentally cut herself on the outdated steel playground equipment. By the time Christina arrived to her school, teachers and students alike were keeping their distance from Lorelei. It seems that her severe cut had healed itself in the matter of a simple hour. Jack had began to fear that this may have something to do with the new drug on the street and began test after test on little Lorelei. Fortunately, Lorelei tested clean to the presence of chemicals he was finding in the other children. Although not satisfied with the test results, Jack was relived to find this out. Since he could not reach a valid conclusion, he theorized that the many years that he had spent at his father’s chemical company had led to a “natural mutation” in his genetic makeup and somehow passed that on to his daughter that allowed her to heal at an accelerated rate. Jack’s only concern was just how far the mutation was going to progress in her later years. Lorelei didn’t want to move from her native California home. Even at the age of five, she enjoyed the carefree life and spending weekends at their private beach house. She was, in essence, becoming the “typical Californian kid”. After her father and mother told her they were moving to Paragon City, she cried, threatened, and threw temper tantrum one right after the other. Her limited and fragile known universe was going to come to a crashing halt. Against her will, she moved with her parents to Paragon City. To mollify her feelings, they enrolled her into a ballet and acrobatics class which she took like a duck to water. Life was idyllic for the Monroe’s. Jack was working hard with the Freedom Phalynx on trying to solve the puzzle of the new drug on the street (and being paid handsomely, too), Christina (still getting offers for new movie roles) enjoyed the spotlight in front of the news cameras, and little Lorelei was beginning to get comfortable and make some new friends.

13-September-05, 08:58 PM		#2 (permalink)
Rob Advocatus Diaboli	CoH Fan Fiction: Ms. Lorelei...(Part II) A few months after their arrival to Paragon City, Lorelei celebrated her sixth birthday. Still mildly upset that she had to move, her parents pulled out all the stops on giving her the best birthday a six-year-old ever had. Right before she blew out the candles on her birthday cake, the phone rang and her father answered it in the kitchen. As impatient as any nine-year-old on her birthday, she insisted that they wait until her father could be there to blow out the candles. Within a few minutes, her father returned from the kitchen with an ashen look upon his face. Coughing nervously, he explained that the party was now over and everyone had to go home immediately. As the neighborhood parents gathered up their children and headed for the door, it suddenly dawned on Lorelei that her birthday party was over. Intending to throw the biggest fit she ever attempted, Lorelei began to follow her parents into the kitchen to unload “both barrels”. She stopped short of entering when she heard the fear in her father’s voice. “Remember how I told you that Brian and I managed to find the cause of all those symptoms? The Superadine thing? Well, that was the office on the phone. They just learned that several of the crime syndacites are heavily involved in the manufacture and distribution...something's going down...maybe they have called a truce with each other...” “Oh, honey…is everything o.k.?” Christina replied. “No, there’s more. They also found out that some Frost kid who heads up The Family syndicate isn’t too happy with my research and he’s hired this hit man called Lazarus to come pay us a visit”, said Jack. “Lazarus? You’re talking about the same Lazarus that’s wanted by the Regulators and every other super hero group for multiple homicides?” “Yeah, that’s the one. The office also told me that the Freedom Phalanx is over in Dark Astoria taking on the latest Banishment spawn and can’t get here in time so they are calling the Regulators to see if they have anyone available to help us. We’re leaving, Christina…go pack an overnight bag for you and Lorelei right now.” Furious at this turn of events, Lorelei determined that she was going to stay right where she was. She had to move once and it was horrible…it wasn’t going to happen again. Silently, she snuck off to hide behind the couch in the living room. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and the house fell silent. “Who’s there?” her father cried out nervously. BLAM The door flew back with such a force that it knocked both her father and her mother to the ground. Then, heavy boot steps slowly made its way into the room. Risking discovery, Lorelei shifted slightly to see her bloodied father slowly coming around after being dazed. Their eyes met and time froze. Her father’s eyes said it all. Stay there and stay quiet. Don’t make a move. Your mother and I love you very much. Close your eyes, baby, close your eyes. Lorelei doesn’t remember much after that. Her father’s screams here, her mother’s sobs there. Only when the heavy boot steps made their way to the front door did she dare open her eyes and look upon her parent’s murderer. He was a tall, bulky man wearing a black duster and a black fedora. His hands were like thick hams and his nose seemed to have been broken several times. The gray skin seemed to accentuate the blackness of his dark eyes and the yellowness of his toothy grin. It is a memory that haunts her dreams to this day. The next thing Lorelei remembers is being lovingly carried from the house by Blue Steel. He sat her gently on the lawn away from the police officers on the scene and tried to explain to her in a chocked voice that her parent’s were dead. “You don’t have to explain, sir. I already know. They’re dead”, said Lorelei. Amazed at her strength, Blue Steel could do nothing but nod slowly and cast his eyes downward. What to do with the child now, Blue Steel thought. Paragon City orphanage would be glad to accept custody of her. No, he resolved. I will take care of her and place her in a special class at the Paragon Superhero University. She qualifies based upon the talks of her healing ability that I had with her father. She'll need a guardian and a sponsor, too, he thought, vowing to fulfill his duty towards one of his few friends. Jack did him a favor when he got here...it's time I try to repay that. Lorelei took to her new surroundings at the school with a passion unseen before in such a small child. Her ballet lessons had enhanced her fighting ability, allowing her to maintain her balance in the most difficult of training situations. The results of her classroom studies would have made both her parents proud. Best of all was when she had been introduced to the various fighting implements. The second her eyes feel upon the Katana, she knew that was her destiny. At the conclusion of her first lesson, even her master feared to cross blades with her and her natural skill. It was shortly before it became time to venture out into the world that during one of their daily talks with Blue Steel that he broached a question for which both already knew the answer. Blue Steel had asked her if her purpose was to seek revenge upon the Lazarus, who had grown even more strong and more feared over the years. Lorelei didn’t even have to reply and her silence answered for her. “It’s as much as I suspected,” said Blue Steel. “You will never truly be at peace with yourself or the world until you have purged yourself of this quest for revenge. I know that you will seek out this Lazarus and confront him and when you do, you will have a choice to make that will affect the rest of your life.” She replied, “I know.” Lorelei left immediately upon graduation and set out into the world seeking her parent’s murderer. As a parting gift (and the disapproval of the Back Ally Brawler, another hero she had grown close to), her Iadio master presented her with an infamous Muramasa katana which, as legend tells, that once drawn, cannot be sheathed until the blade has drawn blood. Armed with her parent’s inheritance, Lorelei now roams the streets of Paragon City in search of the deadly Lazarus, tearing through gang after gang from various factions, fighting Trolls, Outcasts, Hellions, and Skulls. Lead after lead brings her closer to more and more dangerous villains, perhaps all the way until she reaches the Ritki themselves. She will stop at nothing to find the man responsible.

13-September-05, 09:00 PM		#3 (permalink)
Rob Advocatus Diaboli	Ms. Lorelei: Chapter II (Part I) Like I said before, this is eventually going to be an e-novel, perhaps posted on my Insight account. I got bored at work tonite so I thought that I would expand a little on the original story and shove an additional chapter in there. Next week, I'm going to start on her training at the Paragon SuperHero University and maybe her first few years after school. Anyway, for those of you looking for a cure to insomnia, this is for you... __________________________________________________ ________________________________ The entire scene could have been described as a typical, run-of-the-mill crime scene. Several police cars blocking thru traffic, illuminating the Eastgate neighborhood in a disco dance of red, blue, and white lights. Neighbors watched from their darkened living rooms as the police officers and detectives performed a well-practiced ballet of crime scene investigation on the front yard of the Monroe household. The Monroe family was new to the neighborhood. Jack Monroe was working hard with the Freedom Phalanx trying to understand the latest craze to hit streets, Superadine, while his wife, Christina, was somewhat of the celebrity on their street. She had acted in two very successful movies and put her acting career on hold while her husband performed his civic duty to his fellow man. She didn’t mind, though, as she was brought on to the Regulators as their new Public Relations Representative. And then there was little Ms. Lorelei. Ms. Lorelei was the most beautiful five-year-old child anyone in the neighborhood had ever seen. Her eyes sparkled like the sun shining off the Caribbean ocean’s surface. Her full, dark, sleek hair was the envy of every woman of every age. Her smile…her smile could warm the coldest of winter nights. Even though she had protested the move to Paragon City, she was as polite as any child could possibly be, which is why the Monroe’s had no problem finding a last minute babysitter in the neighborhood when their schedules clashed. Poor thing, really. It was Lorelei’s birthday today, did you know that honey? I just had little Suzy over at her birthday party a few hours ago when Jack said the party was over. I wonder what could have possibly happened? Officer Edward (Eddie to his friends) Hicks was the first to arrive on the scene, just having been assigned to the Cherry Hills precinct in Eastgate. He had a few calls before, some domestic but more the cat-in-the-tree variety. This was to be his first homicide call and one that will forever haunt his nightly dreams. As he kissed his wife an daughter goodbye, he just thought it was going to be another slow night….until the call came. Apparently the call came out from the Regulators that a hit had been called on Dr. Jack Monroe for his assistance in the Superadine research. Dr. Webb had already been taken into safety as he was still at the lab, which was only a block away from the Steel Canyon Police sub-station in Silver Lake. This call came personally from Blue Steel as a Priority One Alert. Two months before, Blue Steel had brought in a new baby child born from a half-Troll, half-human mother that he had recently defeated and arrested. The child was obviously sick from the level of Superadine in his bloodstream and Jack worked non-stop on the child for 19 hours straight. Blue Steel was amazed at the level of dedication shown by Jack and vowed that he would repay his honorable service. Eddie didn’t need to knock on the door when he arrived because it was already standing slightly open. Even before he knocked, he recognized that smell…the smell of blood. Funny, he thought, how well the human body remembers certain smells. He remembers back to his high school senior prom when he got into a fight with Billy Collins after Billy had hit his girlfriend. Billy had bloodied Eddie’s nose with a lucky shot before Billy was knocked unconscious. From that moment on, Eddie remembered the strong “iron” smell of blood. Bracing himself for what he knew he would find, Eddie drew his service weapon and slowly opened the door. Wait for backup, his mind screamed! No, he thought, if there is someone still alive in there, he has to find them and find them now. Eddie didn’t have to wait long as one look into the living room was all he needed to see. The former Jack Monroe lay face down on the blood soaked carpet with his feet towards the door. The former Christina Monroe was twisted in a grisly fashion in the middle of the living room. From here on, Eddie’s mind goes numb with details as the horrid crime scene in front of him defies the reality of the world he lived in. No one dies like this, no one, he thought, no, not even in the movie out of Hollywood.

13-September-05, 09:00 PM		#4 (permalink)
Rob Advocatus Diaboli	Ms. Lorelei: Chapter II (Part II) With his body starting to experience shock, Eddie stumbles down the front steps of the three-bedroom house without falling down. Sickness overcomes him and as his wife’s famous lasagna finds a new home on the Monroe front lawn, Blue Steel arrives. Seeing the new officer in such a state, Blue Steel already knows what he’s going to find inside the house. Blue Steel is shocked out of his trance of staring at the front door by Officer Hick’s vomiting and springs to action. Scanning the area quickly with a brand new heartbeat monitor, he picks up a faint signal coming from inside the house. “Officer Hicks, are you alright? Is the house clear?”, yells Blue Steel as he runs toward the house with his service weapon drawn in one hand and his shield in the other. Getting no response, Blue Steel continues on towards the open door at the ready. Thinking back, only his training was able to get him through the door in a coherent state for Blue Steel all to well knows the smell of blood. Diving through the living room, Blue Steel makes his way towards the spot where the heartbeat signal originated. “Come out with your hands up!”, he screams. No response. Slowly, Blue Steel moves forward and suddenly pulls the couch out away from the wall. Unprepared for this shock, he nearly drops his service weapon trying to reholster it. He picked up the little child he saw before him and makes for the door to try and get her to safety. Only then does he realize that Jack and Christina are certainly dead and the child that he holds in his arms must be little Lorelei. Strange, he thought, didn’t she have dark hair? Her hair now is jet white. Blue Steel carried her from the house and set her gently on the front lawn as more and more police officers and detectives arrive on the scene. For the first few minutes, he can do nothing but tenderly pull her hair out away from her face. She must be in total shock, he thought, because she hasn’t cried a tear from those dry eyes. How brave she must be. Blue Steel then did something that he had never done in his entire career as a Super Hero. With trembling hands, he reached up and removed his battle helmet, allowing the child to see his face. It was when their eyes met that Blue Steel began to cry for this child and all he could do was to lower his eyes and hang his head. “You don’t have to explain, sir. I already know. They’re dead”, said Lorelei. Blue Steel could do nothing but slowly nod his head and look downward again. What to do with this child, he thought. Then resolve came over him as he remembered his debt to the late Dr. Monroe. “Lorelei, your name is Lorelei, isn’t it sweetie?”, he asked. Lorelei slowly nodded twice in reply. “Lorelei, your father performed a very special favor for me a while ago, a favor to which I am in debt for. He saved the life of a little, drug addicted child that had done nothing wrong in life to deserve what happened to it. Your daddy is and always will be a hero to me.” Lorelei looked up at Blue Steel as he continued on. “Your daddy told me while he was looking after this child that he had been worried that you might have experienced the same side affects. It was then that he found out that you have a natural ability to heal. Remember the last time you had gotten hurt and then all of a sudden it didn’t hurt anymore?” “Yes”, replied Lorelei. “Because of this, I can send you to a very special school, one that will help you with your ability to heal quickly. Does that sound like fun?”, he asked. “That means I’ll have to make new friends again…but that’s o.k.”, she said with a heavy heart. “Lorelei? You’re going to need someone to look after you until you’re old enough. I thought that I might look after you, if that’s o.k.?”, he asked. Lorelei looked into his tear-stained eyes for a moment and nodded firmly. It was then that she reached out and put her arms around Blue Steel and finally began to cry as she had on her father’s shoulders a few times before. For the next twenty minutes, he did nothing but hold her while she cried. “It’s time to go to your new home now, Lorelei.”

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