As October wound towards its close, and Astoria’s most popular holiday crept ever closer, the Vanguard found themselves in a bit of a lull. After the brief excitement of the bizarre entity known as Junkpile, crime seemed to take a hiatus in the City of the Future. Or at least super-crime did. E.V.A.L. was quiescent, the Yakuza were still laying low after their bloody jailbreak of the Steel Shogun, and the other criminal factions of the splintered Cabal had apparently put aside their rivalries, at least for the moment.
The presidential election was looming, and the fallout from the shocking revelations of widespread corruption involving Russian money, and the Russian attempts to influence the election, continued to reverberate across the country. Russian shills Trump, McConnell and a score of others in the House and Senate (from both parties) had been arrested, and most were still behind bars, being considered flight risks. The larger investigation continued, with new revelations and arrests almost daily. The NRA was imploding even as it tried to claw its way out of the foreign money pit it had dug for itself, and Ted Cruz had won the short, sharp fight to become the new Republican candidate for President.
The Russian scandal had so dominated the news cycles that the continuing influx of alien refugees from the shattered Confederated Union of Worlds hardly seemed to register. There were signs of that changing, however, as the desperate Republicans looked for something, anything, to divert American’s attention, fear, and anger away from themselves. Those scary aliens “invading” by the thousands on Star Island “just off our home shores,” seemed suddenly a godsend in certain circles.
But at home, the Vanguard did their best to enjoy the down time, and stay out of politics. To that end, Jonny had had a brainstorm.He ambushed Scion and Quanta just as they were returning from installing the last of the sensors around Chekovik’s Salvage Yard, so excited by his idea that he actually met them on the roof as they touched down.
“Hey guys! How’d it go?” he burbled. “Any sign of that walking trash heap? How was the flying, Quanta? Seems like you’re getting better at it.”
“Well, it’s still pretty tiring,” Quanta shrugged, smiling at the younger man’s enthusiasm, and a little touched at his interest. “But I do seem to be–”
“Yeah, that’s great,” Jonny interrupted, unable to contain himself. “Listen, guys, I’ve had a great idea! You’re always talking about team building, right boss? And doing stuff together outside of training and crime-fighting?”
“Yes, that’s true,” Scion began, his helmet melting into his armor. “It helps–”
“Well I’ve got the perfect thing!” Jonny blurted. “See, there’s this film festival happening Halloween night, at the New Camelot Theater, and it’s gonna be epic! See, the dude from that old Ghost Chasers TV show is putting together three of the best-of-the-worst horror movies with a bunch of comedians from–”
“Jonny, slow down,” Scion said as they dropped through the flight hatch and into the Pyramid. “We’re just about to have the daily briefing, why don’t you bring it up there and we can discuss it. But I have to warn you, Halloween night is one of the busiest of the year for the APD, and I suspect it will be for us as well. So don’t get your hopes up.”
To Scion’s surprise, it was Artemis who most strongly endorsed Jonny’s plan and insisted that the entire team should attend the show. The hyper-enthused Blue Flame had made his pitch to the gathered teammates as soon as the few items of real business had been taken care of, to general approval.
“It’s gonna be great, it’ll be sort of like Mystery Science Theater 3000, but live and with real comedians doing the roasting. Miranda Cho’s gonna be there, she’s hilarious! I got an e-mail invite the other day, and when I checked into it I talked to Randall Fox himself, and he offered us front-row seats!”
“Isn’t he that guy who had the ghost hunting show on the CW a decade ago?” Chilz asked. “I thought he was all washed up, after those disgruntled ex-employees proved that most of his “supernatural” stuff was actually just practical special effects.”
“Yes,” Artemis agreed. “I met him seven years ago, when he and his crew were filming an episode of Ghost Chasers in the Undercity. I… was not impressed. He caused a great deal of unnecessary disruption to the denizens of that hidden community. I was not surprised when the scandal that brought him down broke, two years later.”
“Well, yeah,” Jonny hastily went on. “But he did have some real supernatural encounters, even the guys who ratted him out admitted that. And he’s trying to make a comeback, I think, as a comedian this time. And anyway, this is a benefit for the theater, raising money for its renovation fund. He set it up, it’s called Laugh at the Reaper.” He rolled out a poster on the table. “It’s gonna be webcast live around the world!”
“Ah, is it that time again?” Artemis asked, with one of her slight smiles. “Every thirty years, like clockwork, they refurbish and remodel the “New” Camelot. Which is a little more expensive these days, I suppose, since it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places back in the ’90s.” She got a distant look in her eyes for a moment. “It was originally a vaudeville house when it first opened in 1897, did you know? They converted it to a movie house in 1927… the first of its many renovations over the years, and how it acquired its Art Deco look.”
“Well, it sounds intriguing,” Prometheus offered. “As long as they are not presenting another of those ridiculous interpretations of my father’s life story. I’m still figuring out your concepts of modern humor… this might be good research, if nothing else.”
“You know, I’ve seen Blood Like Wine before,” Chilz put in. “It really is hilariously cheesy. This sounds like fun. But didn’t the star, Lauren Hammond, turn into some sort of super villain?”
“Not a super villain, exactly,” Artemis sighed. “She died in obscurity, after a disappointing career of typecasting, bitter and resentful. Her spirit, however, lived on.” At Quanta’s uncomfortable stirring across the table she raised a deprecating hand. “Whether it was supernatural, some sort of psychic resonance, or something else altogether, the fact is Lauren Hammond’s “ghost” caused several real deaths amongst those whom she felt had wronged her in life.
“She became known as the Silver Scream, and the original Red Racer, of the Liberty League, was the one who brought her first reign of terror to an end. But the… phenomena… returned more than once over the years, always seeking vengeance for perceived wrongs or slights… and causing real deaths.”
“Oh, that’s all ancient history Artemis… C’mon, I bought tickets for us all, its my treat. What do say, guys?” Jonny looked around the table hopefully.
“That’s very generous of you Jonny,” Scion said. “And I appreciate your stepping forward like this, being proactive and all. But you know that Halloween is this city’s Mardi Gras, and it’s likely to be a busy night for us as well as the police. I don’t think the entire team can take the night off and be unavailable for six hours… not with the new meta presence in the city.”
“Actually,” Artemis said before Jonny could react. “I think it is an excellent idea. And I think the entire team should attend… I believe it will prove to be an excellent team-building event. I’m sure that Paragon and a few of the other Changlings will be willing to take up the slack for a few hours.”
“Sure, if we can get him away from all those Incident groupies,” sniggered Chuck, elbowing Jonny in the ribs. Blue Flame grinned back, shaking his head ruefully. Why wasn’t he that lucky?
“The what, now?” Scion queried, looking puzzled.
“It is what the press have dubbed the young women (and men, to be fair) who have shown a predilection for pursuing sexual encounters with the new meta-humans created in the Astoria Incident,” Totem explained. “Actually, I believe it was Meg who first coined the term.”
“Yeah,” Jonny sighed. “And that bastard Paragon has more than his fair share falling all over him, that’s for sure! I can’t even get a date. It’s not fair!”
“Well, he is a very well-looking young man,” Artemis said primly. “But I’m sure he can manage to escape his amorous pursuers long enough to deal with any trouble that may come up on Halloween night.”
She gave JJ an inscrutable look, and he shrugged. “Well, I guess it’s settled then. The Vanguard is going to Laugh at the Reaper!“
“Yee-haw!” Jonny shouted, pumping his fist. “Now, about costumes…”
♦ ♦ ♦
Quanta, Scion and Artemis remained after the meeting, and as soon as the door had slid shut behind the last of their teammates, JJ and Kyle both turned to look at their friend.
“What gives, Jane?” JJ asked bemusedly.
“Whatever do you mean, John?” Artemis countered innocently. “You know I love the old classic horror movies… the cheesier, the better.”
“Mmm-hmm,” he eyed her suspiciously. “And I know you hate the modern slasher shit that passes for horror these days. But I doubt you’ve taken a Halloween night off in… rather a long time. So why now?”
“I’d guess that she expects Lauren Hammond’s “ghost” to make an appearance,” Kyle suggested, rolling his eyes. “What hogwash.”
“Kyle, whatever it is, the Silver Scream is very real,” Artemis replied, turning serious. “You can look up the past incident reports in the SHADE files yourself.”
“I know,” Kyle sighed, tapping his keypad irritably. “And I did. I just refuse to believe that she’s an “unquiet spirit from Beyond.”
“Whatever she may be, she’s dangerous and deadly, and this whole ill-conceived affair seems almost designed to attract her attention.” Artemis frowned. “I don’t know what that idiot Fox is thinking… is he trying to draw her out? Why? Or is he really just too stupid to realize what he might be provoking?”
“From what you’ve said of him, I’d guess the latter,” Scion said, scanning through the files on his own screen. “But it has been over a decade since the last incident with the Silver Scream. Maybe that last fight with the Liberty Alliance really did banish her, or destroy her, or whatever…”
“Perhaps,” Artemis agreed. “That’s the one thing that makes me doubt my concerns in the matter. But if anything is likely to revive her “vengeful spirit,” it will certainly be a crowd of people publicly mocking Lauren Hammond and her work before a live, world-wide audience. So better to be safe, and prepared, than not.”
“Should we alert the others to this possibility,” Quanta asked, frowning at the blurry image of a translucent gray woman floating in the air in Grauman’s Chinese Theater in 1973. God, he hated the so-called supernatural.
“I’ll speak to each one separately, to give them a warning,” Artemis said. “But if my fears are unfounded, it would be best if the outing remained a simple social event for the team, rather than a formal mission.”
“Agreed,” Scion said, and the meeting was adjourned.