C-05

Dusk Woods was a dark piece of forest, large treees putting a whole mountainside in nightlike shadow. Julie looked at it. It's got to be in there, somewhere, she said, and clutched her flashlight.

She turned it on, and ventured into the dark part of the forest, Soon, she found herself by a cliff wall. There was an opening in the wall, hidden behind a piece of grey cloth, partially overgrown with moss and small plants.

Julie entered, but didn't dare take more than a few steps. There she remained, nervously waiting. Then she heard glass breaking, and went a few more steps in. There was a faint light coming from deeper within the cave.

she called.

I found you father, he said, appearing in the doorway of the only room with light. She hurried to it, and saw him, having been thrown througha row of glass tubes, his mostly decomposite body lying brow and dry on the floor. His labcoat still carried the familiar tag: 'Jacobs, George - genetics dept.'

Then there was a spooky silence, before they heard the deafening sounds of the inside of a cave during a cave-in. What's happening? Julie asked, scared. Ghost was sensing something. Someone. Someone familiar. Another gladiator.

Suddenly, a broken glass tube was sent straight for Ghost's head. He ducked just in time.

Forced Encounter, you've got a suitable name, Ghost called out.

You found my birthplace, Ghost, a voice called. Strangely familiar.

Where are you? Let's settle this in a fair way. You know where I am.

Fine by me, Encounter said, and the old lights started glowing, illuminating the hallway. The gladiator stood in the middle of it, the collapsed entrance right outside. We have a battle tomorrow, he said. Let's settle it now, without an audience, without rules... Oh I forgot you brought company. But that won't be a problem.

Encounter instantly found himself smash against the stones of the caved in entrance. Leave her out of this, Ghost said,

We'll see about that, Encounter said. Things started shaking. Ghost had to move away, as Forced Encounter, clad in his metallic armor, ripped down a cable with magnetic force, and tried to tie the other gladiator with it. He failed, and Ghost threw a rock at his head.

That's for having my quarters messed up!

I didn't tell him to mess it up, I told him to burn it! Encounter replied, gathering screws, spare parts, and even some magnetic ore out of the rock walls, soon enough sending them towards Ghost in a cloud of metal. Ghost had no time to fight it, so he threw a brick from the wall into one of the light bulbs, then dudged flat on the ground. The cloud missed him.

Encounter brought down an entire wall by magnetically pulling the steel bar grid behind it. Then he sent the other grid of metal bars at Ghost, so he flew into the newly opened storage cave.

Julie, in the hallway, couldn't get past the by Forced Encounter's caved in entrance. She had to help Ghost, somehow. Othervise, she wouldn't get out alive.

Ghost now sent stuff flying at Encounter, who countered them, by slamming a large metal crate into Ghost's head. More metallic struff started flying around, gas containers, machinery, tools...

Julie threw a brick at Encounter, but he noticed it, without losing his grip of all the thingsa swirling around in the cave. Nice try, girl, he said, but was struck by another brick, one of many that Ghost sent at him.

Encounter lost his grip on the stuff, and one of the gas containers exploded on impact with the ground. It was only a matter of time before the others would.

We 've gotta get out of here, Ghost said.

I saw another door in the room with dad, Julie said.

Let's go, Ghost said, but as he tried to get out, he was sent against the wall next to the door instead. Encounter was back on his feet, his mask badly torn.

This is the final battle, you're not skipping out of here, until one of us is dead! he said.

Why do you have to be so damn dramatic!? Ghost replied, and tried to kick him. He kicked his helmet of, and it revealed a bruised, scarclad, tzord face, apart from the color identical to his own. Tzord was the white relative of the elethrrei, this particular one very keen on getting his personal mission over with: kill Ghost or die trying.

Ghost was shocked. Got your answer yet? Encounter asked. Then Julie hit him in the head with a pipe. He turned around, but Ghost kicked him into a crate, and then threw himself around the corner, pulling Julie along.

Those chemicals can catch fire any time now, he told her. We've got to get out of here, now!

I totally agree with you, she said. She grabbed what seemed to be her father's notebook, a thick one that he held in his hand. Ghsot opened the door. They heard something exploding, and hurried through the door, before shutting it.

Having seconds left, they found themselves in a room with a huge concrete tube. Huge. Knowing it was probably their only chance, Ghost opened the hatch George Jacobs so conveniently had built into it. Water exploded out of it. At the same moment, the flames blew asunder the upper half of the door.

After a mess of red and yellow flames through water and steam, Ghost looked around, panicing. He hated water, this gave him a flashback of his awakening. It was horrible. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, he couldn't do anything. He was also bleeding, and had scorchmarks a little everywhere.

Julie, a far more experienced swimmer, grabbed him, found that he was running low on air, and kissed him, blowing some air into his lungs. Then she pulled him in, into the tube, and along the stream, up.

They broke the surface in a water tower. It was an emergency supply, so it wasn't in use. They crawled up, Julie went to the phone that was on the wall, next to the hatch down and out. There were ladders below it.

Julie called the fire rescue in Railbreak, rescuing injnured peopole from water towers seemed like something they could do.

They soon came, too, and as soon as she came down, she explained that they couldn't take Ghost, or Stanley, to a regular hospital. They understood.

Soon enough, Ghost awoke in a hospital, in a nice bed with white sheets, a nice view, even though it rained outside. Julie sat next to him.

she said, softly. How are you?

I'm... Fine, really, Ghost replied. When is this?

It's early morning. The sun isn't up yet. You were asleep for a day and a half.

So I missed championship finals.

True. But your friend Lenny arranged for you to win anyway. Your opponent was nowhere to be found. At least they know you were alive and around.

How hooray I feel, he muttered. I'm sorry I pulled you into this all.

Hey, we found out what happened to my father, and we saved the world from a crazy hybrid, didn't we?

Yeah, we did. And I scared the crap out of your sister, and risked your life.

I risked my life, she said, emphasis that she did so by her own will. And when it comes to my sister, I think she needed it.

How nice to know.

So, Stanley... Or Ghost... What do we do now?

I was thinking of checking up all the hybrids, to make sure they won't go nuts and wreck the country or anything. And they need some legal help, most of them don't even exist, officially. And Julie... I found my name. I'm Stanley Ross.