05-06-2005 22:07:15
Contrition: I'll just play with clockworks. They're pretty.
Contrition has defeated Electrode.
[NPC]NeuronLeader: You would do well not to meddle in the affairs of those greater than you!
Krazy Joe has defeated Electrode.
Krazy Joe: Con, got another fire tank comin’. This'll blow by quickly.
Contrition: Sure.
Mr. Horndiggity has joined the team.
Mr. Horndiggity: Hello.
Medika: Hello Mr. Horn.
Krazy Joe: Hey hey, Horn.
Nuons and Mesons go down by the dozens under the heroes’ fire.
[NPC]Electrode: Threat located. Exterminate.
[NPC]Nuon: Neutralize Contrition immediately!
[NPC]Sizzle: Deviation from plan: imperative.
Mr. Horndiggity has defeated Nuon.
Krazy Joe has defeated Sizzle.
…
[NPC]Anti-MatterLeader: You! You will not impede my rise to glory!
Mr. Horndiggity: Con, stay back!
Contrition has defeated Anti-MatterLeader.
Contrition: Thanks MEdik.
Medika: You are quite welcome, Contrition.
[NPC]Radio Active: Code red!
Krazy Joe has defeated Radio Active.
Mr. Horndiggity has defeated Sizzle.
Contrition has defeated Nuon.
Krazy Joe: Awesome! Thank you, Con. That got me the badge..
Contrition: Thanks for clearing the mission
Mr. Horndiggity: You're welcome.
05-06-2005 22:24:54 Team task completed.
Contrition has quit the team.
Contrition: Thanks Medika. Thanks Mr. Horn. Thanks Joe too.
Mr. Horndiggity: So how is everyone today?
Krazy Joe: Doin’ good, Horn. How's about you?
Medika: I've been busy getting warm, chasing Joe chasing baddies.
Mr. Horndiggity: Not bad, not bad. Good to see you again. Medika. Who did you arrange for Horn to see about learning to read?
Medika: <blushes> My roomie Ningal has some teaching experience... b-but I would be happy to try my hand at it, if the Horn is more comfortable with m-me.
Mr. Horndiggity: Yeah, to tell the truth, the Horn would be more comfortable with Medika.
After three more ‘ports, Medika looks a bit sick.
Mr. Horndiggity: Say the word and this is done, if this is making ya feel bad…
Medika: < hoarsely> I’m trying to help, trying to be g-good….
Medika: Recalling Mr. Horndiggity Type something if you don't want a port! But all m-my instincts -- honed thru 49 levels -- are to n-not let my friends go into the red....
Spirit of Pain hugs Med.
Medika: Recalling Mr. Horndiggity Type something if you don't want a port!
Medika: Recalling Mr. Horndiggity Type something if you don't want a port!
The young medic turns to Spirit of Pain.
Medika: I c-can’t d-do this any m-m-m-more.
She hugs Mr. Horndiggity.
Medika: I am so sorry!
Mr. Horndiggity: No, really, it’s okay and it’s kinda funny -- but not at your expense.
Medika: I-I-I c-can’t b-b-bear to stay. I’ve g-g-got to go!
Mr. Horndiggity: Good night to ya, Med; it’s all good and nothing about this is your fault.
Medika races blindly out of the portal chamber.
Entering Portal Court.
Catching up at the doorway, Spirit of Pain hugs Med. Medika breaks away and runs blindly across the courtyard, never stopping until she hits the coastal waters. The shock of cold spray brings her to an abrupt halt amidst the jagged rocks, where the Spirit of Pain finds her.
Spirit of Pain: What's wrong, Med?
Medika: < turning away> I feel very sick, Spirit. That's all.
Spirit of Pain: Why, Med?
Medika: < puts head down on her knees> My head knows what you were d-doing; my guts don't agree.
Spirit of Pain: Ah. I'm doing it to help my standing with the city and so it'll help for my petition to marry Ban.
Medika: < muffled voice> I know. I wish I c-could help. But -- I feel ill.
Spirit of Pain: Let me ask you... What is a tank's job?
Medika: < deep breath> A tank takes damage and holds the opponent's attention... so that the rest of the team can cover the situation.
Spirit of Pain: And?
Medika: And...??
Spirit of Pain: First in, last out? To take a dive for the team, if need be?
Medika: To take a dive for the team -- if necessary. < very reluctantly> Yes. That is true.
Spirit of Pain: Kinda like how Rush and Ban have taught me how to lead a team, except none of us are tanks.
Medika: <a bit desperately> But it's my job to see that he doesn't take a dive.
Spirit of Pain: But Rush says that's just what leaders do.
Medika: I'm sorry. Yes. That's what leaders do. I know that.
Spirit of Pain: But, hon, that's just what this situation calls for...a tank to take a dive for the team.
Medika: No, no. I can't see that, Spirit. There's a longer, slower way -- and I know that interferes with your happiness with Ban. But this.... ?
Spirit of Pain: You don't want my paperwork to go through, me looking like a shining example of a hero and to finally be able to marry Ban?
Medika: Oh, oh, don't say that, Spirit. It's not true. I want you and Ban to be happy. Truly I do.
Spirit of Pain: But that's what I'm trying to do.
Medika: <small voice> I know that.
Spirit of Pain: I thought you would understand.
Medika: I -- do understand. I -- just do not think that this is the only path to your goal.
Spirit of Pain: It's the fastest, though.
Medika: Is your love for Ban and his for you so -- tenuous -- that time is a significant factor? Or -- is there a -- physical reason why time is a factor?
Spirit of Pain: Have you ever asked him why he murdered his parents?
Medika: N-n-no.. no. How could I? I – d-didn't know. And I couldn't ask if I had known.
Spirit of Pain: Yep. It's why he left for Scotland, a few months back. All the other European countries formally dropped all charges against him, due to his hard work in Paragon. Scotland, however, dropped all but the murder of his parents.
Medika: <turns away> Who am I that any of you should tell me such things.
Spirit of Pain: You're a friend, hon.
Medika: And -- is he to be extradited?
Spirit of Pain: He was found guilty.
Medika: Oh, dear heaven.
Spirit of Pain: His sentence was to carry out his days repaying what he thought fitting of his crime.
Medika: <looks down at tightly clenched hands> Then... will he spend his life repaying?
Spirit of Pain: By fighting that which he'd been. Evil.
Medika: <nods> I can -- understand that.
Spirit of Pain: That's why I love him. But... I worry about him. I found a new costume, the other day. It was hidden in some of my things.
Medika: Why -- why do you say he's a scared little b-boy?
Spirit of Pain: Because of why he murdered his parents.
Medika: Yes?
Spirit of Pain: He murdered them because they were abusive and never really loved him. Sarah told me, one night. She and I were taking a shower together and she told me what she "picked up" from his mind.
Medika: Oh <The exclamation is full of quiet pain and comprehension.>
Spirit of Pain: One day, he couldn't take it anymore. He waited for parents to come home, chores done and dinner on the table. He stepped behind his dad and slit his throat. His mother, he butchered her as if she were no more than a sheep to be prepared for dinner. Because he found pleasure in it, he decided that he should become a professional assassin.
Medika's tears trickle silently down her face.
Medika: <whispers> Poor Bansidhe.
Spirit of Pain: Of course, that kind of lifestyle led to other things and he became a major drug lord and weapons dealer.
Medika shudders a little, the tears continuing.
Spirit of Pain: Want to know when that life of his started?
Medika: <whispers>There but for the grace of God ….<a little louder> Yes, please.
Spirit of Pain: He was 13 when he killed his parents. He was 14 when he got his first professional hit.
Medika: <whispers> So young?
Spirit of Pain: Now do you see why he's not the chummy, social butterfly?
Medika: I <choke> -- never expected him to be so.
Spirit of Pain: He never had a real childhood, so he looks at how I mature and loves it. Literally, Med, he's spent hours with me, and we just play with simple little toys.
Medika: I -- am not -- very social myself. I -- I think that Bansidhe is an -- incredible person. And you -- are unique.
Spirit of Pain: Ah, he's just a scared little boy, as I said. The persona that everyone else sees is just his old "tough" guy look.
Medika: <very troubled> Are -- you -- telling me that the -- m-memories of abuse will -- n-never go away for him?
Spirit of Pain: Never. Nor will the things he's done.
Medika: Oh. <Drops her head back down to her knees, face hidden. >
Medika: I -- wish -- m-my powers included the healing of the soul. B-but they d-don't. I -- : I c-can only wish you well.
Spirit of Pain: Let me ask you this... You've helped take down Skulls and Tsoo bosses, right?
Medika: Wh-what? <Tries to wipe the tears away without being obvious. Ha! >
Medika nods.
Spirit of Pain: Imagine one of them with all of the power they desired.
Medika shudders.
Spirit of Pain: That's what Ban had. The drugs, the women, the money, the power...
Medika: That would b-be very b-bad.
Spirit of Pain: Can you imagine how intoxicating that kind of life can be?
Medika: N-no.
Spirit of Pain: Let's put it this way... At one point, Ban silently held the strings...practically owned Chile, Peru and Brazil. They were his chief cocaine farms.
Medika: Th-that's a lot of p-power.
Spirit of Pain: He's still got enough money to take care of he and I, but that kind of money...can you imagine owning countries? <Changes her appearance back to her fair veiled form. > Mmm...this is more comfortable.
Medika glances at Spirit, half smiles and then looks away.
Medika: I - I n-never had money p-problems... b-but, yes, that m-must have given him some sense of importance.
Spirit of Pain: He gave up an empire, hon.
Medika: He -- chose t-to d-do right.
Spirit of Pain: The rest of his money, though... Once Champions accepted him as a member, he funneled it all into the organization. We're talking more than America's national deficit. Billions, Med. Literally in the hundreds.
Medika: <shivers> Drug m-money.
Spirit of Pain: Yes.
Medika: I c-can't...
Spirit of Pain: But it's now money that fights a war on drugs...a war on evil.
Medika: I ... understand.
Spirit of Pain: To my understanding, there's even plans for a Champions space station.
Medika: I -- have always wished the Champions well. Ever since I m-met Mr. Rush.
Spirit of Pain: Ah, Eric! HA!
Medika: I am sure the Champions will d-do well ... with the m-monies.
Spirit of Pain: Oh, they will. Especially with Patriot's promotion and upcoming celebration in NYC.
Medika: If you say so. I -- I'm sure things will be splendid there.
Spirit of Pain: As for Eric, though, there's a guy who needs help. He thinks he's slowly going nuts because of all that he knows about a possible future.
Medika: <pulling herself together> If there's anything a healer can do...? Foreknowledge is a terrible burden; I've studied some of the few cases in the records.
Spirit of Pain: In reality, he does more than most of us. I've seen the hours that he's spent literally fighting crime on the streets. That and a few trips back to Altanta. He literally stops to help little girls get cats out of trees.
Medika smiles a little, at last.
Medika: He was a sad and driven man when I first spoke with him; I understand that his wife has returned. Hopefully she was welcome....
Spirit of Pain: Oh yeah. She was. He was too high strung and desperately needed to get laid.
Spirit of Pain chuckles. Medika looks startled, blushes, and looks out to sea.
Spirit of Pain: Ah, don't blush. Rush lives on the floor above Ban and I. He used to complain about us being noisy. Now, all we hear is quiet from upstairs...unless, of course, Joe and Bubba drop by.
Medika continues blushing.
Spirit of Pain: His pacing the floor used to drive me nuts, though. Can you imagine what a speedster sounds like when he's pacing?
Spirit of Pain laughs.
Medika: <genuine smile> I imagine that it didn't sound much like pacing as the rest of us think of it.
Spirit of Pain: Yeah. It didn't. Sounded more like a really loud typewriter with someone typing about a thousand words per second.
Medika: I have met Mrs. Lawson though her work in the hospital. I was thinking of asking her to help me in my practice. We share a rather unique view of the super community.
Spirit of Pain: That'd be really cool. She's basically our nurse and, of course, you've thrown your services our way.
Medika: Well... if she's like so many others in the Champions, my -- age won't bother her as much as it does most nurses.
Spirit of Pain: Age? Look at me. I'm less than a year old.
Spirit of Pain smiles.
Medika: <nods> Yes, I 'spect you've lots worse "age" problems than I do. <smiles comfortingly> At any rate, if the Champions think Rush could use a doctor's ear, I'm always happy to serve.
Spirit of Pain: It's more like Rush just needed his wife.
Spirit of Pain: But age problems, oh, honey! Lemme tell ya!
Medika: I'm sorry about the legal problems, really I am.
Spirit of Pain: I went to buy a bottle of wine... What a crazy world!
Medika: <smile slightly> You're unique. The law will take some time to adjust to phenomena like you, Spirit.
Spirit of Pain: I can't wait.
Spirit of Pain chuckles.
Medika: <smiles tentatively>> Lots of things require waiting, Spirit.
Spirit of Pain: I know.
Medika: <softly> I should know, I've been waiting most of my life.
Spirit of Pain: On?
Medika: Oh.. um. On -- on -- changes in my life. A wee bit like you -- and <more softly> like Bansidhe, perhaps.
Spirit of Pain: Oh yeah. That reminds me! I hear you've got a crush on my man.
Spirit of Pain smiles.
Medika: Oh, no, no. That wouldn't be proper. Not once I knew that he was taken. <blushes brightly>
Spirit of Pain: What's wrong with having a crush on him, Med? He's a good looking guy.
Medika: Oh, y-yes. He's -- very impressive. I didn't know about you and him -- the first time I m-met him. I'm sorry.
Spirit of Pain: Why are you sorry?
Medika: I'm sorry -- because, because it's not right to -- to covet what belongs to someone else. I d-didn't intend to. Truly. And I've b-been good. I didn't do or say anything.
Spirit of Pain: I know. Shadow told me.
Medika: It was just a school girl thing. M-momentary.
Medika: <looks puzzled> Shadow told you?
Spirit of Pain: Shadow also told me you've still got a crush on him.
Spirit of Pain chuckles. Medika hides her face.
Spirit of Pain: Tell ya what, hon, let me arrange a little date. He'll take you out on the town and show you a good time.
Medika: No. No, I have tried very hard not to admire him -- that way.
]Spirit of Pain: He's the perfect gentleman.
Medika: I th-thank you for the offer. I'm sure he is. B-but, no. No. It wouldn't be right. <Her voice is firm.>
Spirit of Pain: Why wouldn't it?
Medika: I -- um. Ah. <blushing uncontrollably>
Spirit of Pain: Oh, come on, hon! He's not all that.
Medika: I've -- listened -- a little -- to conversations.
Spirit of Pain: About?
Spirit of Pain: OH!!!
Spirit of Pain: THAT! Nah. If you didn't want to, I wouldn't. And Ban doesn't really...well...he just likes it to be me and him.
Medika: About you and Bansiche and... Um. I really ... um, I was b-brought up very d-d-d-differently. <She shudders. >
Spirit of Pain: He's kinda glad that Sarah and Chris got together.
Medika: I m-mean n-no criticism. I wish you all happy howsoever you live your lives. B-but I wouldn't d-d-dare. M-my father would .. would k-kill me if he learned I d-dated a "t-taken" m-man. <desperately> Thankyoubutno.
Spirit of Pain: Hon, listen. Truth is, yeah, it was kind of a phase I was going through. Ban realized it and understood. To be perfectly honest, he didn't actually participate a whole lot.
Medika: N-not a problem. What grown people d-do in private is their own b-business. It's only mine were you to come to me on a professional basis.
Spirit of Pain: As for going out with a "taken" man, it's not like it'd be a romantic thing, hon.
Medika: N-no. <shudders again> I really can't explain. I -- thank you for your t-time, Spirit. B-but I really shouldn't be keeping you like this.
Spirit of Pain: You need to go?
Medika: N-no. But surely you have other -- duties....?
Spirit of Pain: I've actually been taking it easy since my security level hit 50.
Medika: Oh.
Spirit of Pain: But if you need to go do something, I was gonna ask if you'd pass a couple things to Ban. I won't see him until late. He's working on some new cases.
Medika: I'm just sort hanging out k-'cause the rest of my t-team seems to have gone off world to deal with some .. warlike world elsewhere or elsewhen. <cautiously> I'll ha-happily take anything you like to Bansidhe.
Spirit of Pain gives Med a tight hug. Surprised, Medika hugs Spirit back.
Spirit of Pain: I'll arrange that date, hon. You be good.
Medika: P-please don't. I know you m-mean well...
Spirit of Pain: You'll have fun! Don't worry so much!
Spirit flies off.
Medika:
Spirit thinks, “I heard that. Don’t think I didn’t.”
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