KISS and the Battle of GOOD vs EVIL
Part 36-D



Raven followed the mice through the space between 
walls.  "But where are we going?"

*Somewhere you will be safe,* the whisper promised.  
*Somewhere magic and machine cannot find you.*

"Is it safe to contact Peter?"

*They can detect such activity even if they cannot 
block it or intercept it.*

She sighed.  "Can I contact him now?  Before we 
reach this safe haven?"

*Yes.*

//Peter.//

Peter's answer was immediate and so full of his 
emotions she closed her eyes and could swear she 
could feel him standing beside her.  //Raven! Are 
you okay?//

//I escaped the lab but I'm still in the building.  
I have to hide for a while.  Don't try to contact me 
because they'll be able to sense that and find me.//

//Please be careful,// he asked, his concern shaking 
them both.  //I couldn't handle it if anything 
happened to you.//  Pause.  //Have you seen Gena?//

//Not since I got here.  They are probably holding 
her somewhere else.//

//Can you give us any idea where you are?//

"Can you tell me anything that helps them find me?" 
she asked.

*No, we do not know this place nor can we leave it.  
We came in with you and they sealed us in with you.*

She looked at the mice.  "Can the mice get out?"

One mouse paused and turned.  In a high squeaky 
voice it said, "We blocked.  No get out."

She blinked.  "You talk."

"Yes."

//Raven?// Peter asked, concerned at the long pause.

//We're all trapped inside.  E.V.I.L. has something 
that seals us in the building.  I'll try to get an 
address or landmark.  I'll contact you when I get 
any clue.//

//Hold on,// he begged.  //I'll rescue you.  Just 
hold on.  I love you.//

//I love you.//

She followed the mice through the walls and finally 
came out in a room.  They led her across the floor 
and behind a large trunk.  A small hole had been 
gnawed in the back and they squeezed through it into 
an interior strong with scents.

For a few seconds it was pitch black.  Then a faint 
glow formed over the various items, letting them see 
the interior.  Raven flinched back as she realized 
she was standing next to a mummified hand.  "What is 
this?"

*A trunk in the room the dark mage uses for his 
magic,* the whisper explained.  *His protections 
will also protect you from detection.  You are safe 
here.*

Raven shivered.  "That's a relative term."

The mice were scurrying around, sometimes on four 
legs and sometimes two, sorting through the items in 
the trunk.  A tray formed a roof over them, dividing 
the trunk vertically.  Boxes and bundles took up 
room in the bottom of the trunk with them.  The mice 
found bundles of cloth, small stone blades, darts 
that became spears in their hand-like paws.

Raven blinked and looked closer.  The mice DID have 
forepaws that looked almost like hands.  She glanced 
around, wishing she knew where the helpful voice 
was.

*A question?*

Raven nodded.  "Did I change the mice?"

*Yes.*

"But that's beyond probability.  I mean, isn't it?"

There was a soft chuckle in her ear.  *You are 
beginning to understand.  They called you Fate Wind 
Caller, but they should have called you Conjurer.*

"Conjurer?"  Raven shook her head and spoke her 
emotion.  "I'm confused."

*You will understand in time.  Help the mice make a 
safe camp for you all.  Rest.  We only have a few 
hours we can protect you.  Then we will only be able 
to advise and not act.*

Raven looked around.  "You're a ghost, aren't you?"

*We are here,* the whisper answered.  *We have 
always been here.  We will always be here for you.  
For now, rest.  We will find food for you.  And we 
will attempt to find the address.*

*	*	*	*	*

"Ghosts," Herr Dokter muttered as he checked his 
portable equipment.  "Fool Drow.  Trying to convince 
us ghosts were causing this.  Spirits?  Bah!  Only 
spirits are what he's been drinking."

The panel on one device he had just checked and set 
aside slowly opened on its own.  The battery unit 
floated out of its space and across the room, 
disappearing behind a stack of shelves.  Inside the 
unit, delicate wiring wiggled into new shapes, 
pulling free of connections and tying themselves 
into miniature hangman's nooses.

In empty rooms, drawers quietly opened.  Papers were 
shuffled.  Some disappeared into mouse holes.  
Others were shredded.  None were left untouched.

Someone went through the building and drew 
moustaches and beards on all the portraits.

*	*	*	*	*

Lily checked her guns and glanced at the team of 
henchmen under her command.  "Okay, we're going to 
go watch the hotel while the others handle the 
escaped prisoner.  Keep your eyes open for any 
activity.  If we can catch any girltalk members away 
from the place, capture them."

A hand shot into the air.  "M'am, why are we going 
to the hotel in the middle of the night?"

"Because Buttercup did not include us in the list of 
searchers," Lily explained.  "So I'm getting my ass 
out of here before he does.  That way, no matter 
what happens here, I won't get the blame.  And all 
of you have an excellent work record with us so I'm 
getting you out too."

"Thank you," was the enthusiastic answers from many.

*	*	*	*	*

"Shannon."  Elizabeth walked a little faster, 
quickly catching up to the other woman in the empty 
hallway.  "You know your way around the KISS floors.  
I need to talk to someone, preferably KISS 
themselves."

"What about?"

Elizabeth flushed slightly.  "To admit something 
terrible.  I was doing things for Buttercup.  I 
couldn't help myself.  He had me doing his dirty 
work and I couldn't even fight him.  But after Cyn 
did her healing it was like this weight lifted off 
me."

Shannon nodded.  "My powers are back now."

"That's great!"  Elizabeth said happily.

Shannon frowned.  "I'd like to talk to Cyn too.  
This sounds like E.V.I.L. might have gotten a lot 
closer to some of us than we thought."

Elizabeth nodded.

Shannon turned.  "Come on.  I think this information 
needs to be delivered personally."

*	*	*	*	*

"Here."  Buttercup dropped a White Castle bag on the 
table in front of the Drow.  "It'll be a long 
night."  He sat down and opened his own bag.

The Drow picked up the bag and opened it, peering 
inside suspiciously.

"Floaters," Buttercup announced.  "I know you don't 
like Sliders."

"White Castle hamburgers give me indigestion."  The 
Drow pulled out a fish sandwich.  "KISS destroyed my 
constructs."

Buttercup paused in mid-bite.

"I no longer have any means to know what is 
occurring in the hotel," the Drow reported.  "We no 
longer have partial or total control of certain 
girltalk members.  And I have no idea what has 
happened to Andrew.  He was almost killed by Gena.  
I still don't know what set her off to that extreme.  
The push was the same as others, a slight 
undetectable nudge to get her closer to accepting 
evil as her true calling.  She should have perhaps 
beaten him as she did in the hall the previous time, 
but I did not expect her to almost kill him and 
kidnap Raven to bring to us as an entrance payment."

"Pity she didn't kill him," Buttercup said.  "That 
would have sealed it.  If we can get her to ignore 
her other side she will be a formidable ally.  She's 
well on her way, what with her destroying that golem 
you sent to her and the way she so nicely killed 
Thyme, Dastardly, and Daffodil.  All we need is for 
her to kill a true innocent and she will be forever 
evil.  Could she have already surrendered to her 
evil nature?"

The Drow took a small bite from his sandwich and 
chewed thoughtfully.  He swallowed.  "I cannot be 
certain.  The darkness inside her is definitely much 
stronger.  But there is still a stubborn core of 
light.  I need to smother it completely and then 
she'll be ours totally."  He lifted the top of the 
bun, inspected the sandwich, shrugged, put the bun 
back together, and took another bite.

"Corrupt her," Buttercup ordered.  "No one can do it 
better than you, Petunia."

The Drow flinched slightly at the name.

"Succeed and maybe I'll rename you," Buttercup 
offered slyly.  "Pine?  Poplar?"

"Why not just use my name?" the Drow asked.  "You 
know it."

"Company policy."  Buttercup was not about to admit 
he could not pronounce the complex Drow name.  They 
ate in silence for several moments.  "What destroyed 
the constructs?"  Buttercup finally asked.  "Do you 
know?"

"I felt a strong healing energy," the Drow said.  "I 
don't know if they suspected I had implanted members 
of the matrix with the constructs or if they were 
healing something else."

Buttercup put his second hamburger down on the desk.  
"Did it reach Raven?"

The Drow nodded.  "I almost located her by it but 
the effects were too brief.  She contacted her 
master once afterward and I briefly located her for 
a few seconds, but she moved before I could reach 
her.  She was in a wall."

"IN a wall?"  Buttercup considered the answer.  
"Could there be another girltalk member here, one 
that rescued her?  One that could either take them 
through solid objects or change their size?"

"Perhaps," the Drow agreed.  "Although I suspect the 
ghosts have something to do with it."

"Ghosts."

The Drow sighed.  "Yes, ghosts.  We have become 
infested.  I think Raven has been picking up ghosts 
over time and she has a cloud of departed spirits 
around her."

"That could be useful," Buttercup noted as he 
resumed eating.

"If they are inside they cannot escape through my 
wards," the Drow announced proudly.

"Which means we have a bunch of penned-up pissed-off 
ghosts," Buttercup announced with his mouth full.

The Drow sighed and nodded.

"So you better get Raven and get her under control," 
Buttercup said, finishing his second hamburger and 
rising to his feet.  "If you need me, I will be next 
door at the White Castle."

"You're leaving?" the Drow asked in surprise.

"We have a probability manipulator that is most 
likely in her right mind again loose in this 
building," Buttercup pointed out.  "Maybe another 
girltalk member of unknown powers.  Gena, who we are 
still unsure of her true motives.  And now you tell 
me we have ghosts.  I am leaving the premises until 
you and Herr Dokter get things under control.  
Remember, you have until morning to get this 
building and everything in it under our complete 
control or E.V.I.L. will be advertising an open 
position for a dark mage."  He picked up the rest of 
his food, his laptop, and departed.

*	*	*	*	*

Paul and Gene frowned as first Shannon and then 
Elizabeth explained about the unexpected effects of 
the healing.

"...and I still can't believe I actually helped 
him," Elizabeth finished.

"Buttercup has ways to make you do what you don't 
want to," Shannon assured her.  "It wasn't your 
fault."

"We've got to get Raven away from him," Peter said, 
pacing like a caged lion.  "If he gets his hands on 
her there's no telling what he'll do to her!  I've 
been in E.V.I.L.'s G.R.I.P. and I know what they're 
capable of."

"We know that, Peter," Paul said patiently.

"We need to DO something," Peter said.

"We're trying," Paul told him, feeling a spike of 
irritation and then one of guilt.  He glanced at 
Stephanie and thought about how he would be feeling 
if their roles were reversed and it was Stephanie 
trapped in E.V.I.L.'s secret base.

Stephanie smiled at Paul and then turned to touch 
Peter's arm as he paced past her.  "Let's go see if 
the coffee is still hot.  We need something to stay 
awake and alert."  She led the hyper drummer to the 
side table.

"Great, one wired kitty," Gene noted, a hint of his 
old humor briefly surfacing.  He contacted Shandi.  
//Is Cyn asleep?//

Pause.  //Settling for the night.  Eric Carr is 
going to be pissed if you drag her back in there.  
She's really exhausted.//

//I just want to ask her a few questions,// Gene 
said.  //Let Paul listen in.  Hell, let everyone in 
this room and yourself listen in.  And anyone who 
thinks of something useful, speak up.//

Cyn's mental voice was weak with exhaustion but 
bright with hope.  //Did you find them?//

Gene regretfully said, //No.  But Shannon and 
Elizabeth told us something interesting.//  He 
repeated their stories, with them adding a few 
comments as he did so.  //Did you notice anything 
odd when you healed everyone?//

//Yes,// Cyn said immediately.  //I thought it might 
be a cancer or parasite.  Organic but not part of 
their bodies.  I didn't look close at it.  I just 
destroyed it since I knew it wasn't supposed to be 
there.  I remember noticing it was very well 
developed in Elizabeth and Shannon.  And also in 
that young man you had me heal.//

//Andrew?//  Paul asked in surprise.  //Our innocent 
little wannabe Paul?//

//Maybe he wasn't so innocent,// Gene noted.  
//Maybe Mark had a good reason to jump him.  We may 
owe Mark an apology.  We need to talk to Andrew.//

//He's asleep,// Cyn said.

//He's healed though, right?  Just tired?// Gene 
asked.

Cyn sighed.  //Yes, just tired.  But he's likely to 
be cranky.//

//I want him cranky,// Gene said.  //I want him 
annoyed, tired, and talking without thinking.  And I 
want Lorie here the whole time.  It's time we start 
getting some answers.//

//But we don't need you,// Paul said gently.  //Go 
to sleep.  We'll let you know as soon as we know 
anything more.//

//Call me,// Eric Carr suggested firmly.  //Let her 
sleep.  I'll wake her if she's needed.//

Paul smiled.  //No argument.  Take care of her.  
Good night.//

Gene turned to Spiro.  "Go drag Andrew in here.  
Don't bruise him but you don't have to be real nice 
either."

West and Gordon looked at each other and then at the 
KISS members.  "You think this Andrew may have 
information concerning the kidnappings?"

"I think Andrew is going to get to know KISS real 
well," Gene said.  "We're going to have a nice 
private talk.  And if he doesn't give me the answers 
I want, I'm going to show him my fire breathing.  Up 
close and personal."

"Shannon."  Peter approached her, coffee in hand.  
"If you've got your powers back, can you jump back 
and change things?  Make it so Raven wasn't 
captured?"

Shannon sighed.  "You know it isn't that easy, 
Peter."

"We changed things in the Past," Peter insisted.

"No we didn't," Shannon corrected.  "We just did 
what we were supposed to.  But we are in the Now.  
If we go back to Then and change something, Now will 
no longer exist.  And I don't know enough to be able 
to say that the Now a change will make is an 
improvement over the Now we are in now."  She 
paused.  "That didn't make much sense, did it?"

"It made perfect sense," Paul assured her.  "If we 
change what has happened, we alter the Future and we 
might undo something we have to have happen if we're 
to win.  Take this whatever you were healed of.  Cyn 
would have never done the mass healing if Raven 
hadn't been drugged and we'd have never known 
E.V.I.L. had control of Elizabeth and others."

"We could write a note," Peter said, determined to 
find a way to rescue Raven.  "Leave a note in the 
past telling us to heal everyone."

"And what about other things that happen that we 
don't know about?" Shannon pointed out.  "Peter, 
it'd take me months, maybe years, to determine 
everything that has happened in the last twelve 
hours and how it affects everything else.  There's 
times I wish I had a nice sane power like 
Elizabeth's mimicry or Cyn's healing or even Gena's 
fire magic.  Instead I have one that about requires 
me to get a PhD in physic before I can safely use 
it!  When I think of how carelessly we were hopping 
around in the past..."  She shivered.  "It makes me 
wonder about just how expert our teachers really 
were.  They couldn't help Raven master her power.  
They never really warned me about anything much.  We 
practically taught ourselves a lot of the stuff."

Peter sighed.  "I was hoping you could keep Raven 
from getting captured."

Shannon hugged Peter.  "I know it's rough on you, 
but maybe Raven's getting captured is something that 
had to be.  It might be that she learns something 
while there that will help us defeat Buttercup.  Her 
or Gena."

Peter gazed down at the floor, and then gave Gene an 
apologetic look.  "Sorry, Gene.  I've been so 
wrapped up in my own problems, I forgot we've got 
two missing."

Gene nodded.  "Don't sweat it.  There for a while I 
wouldn't have noticed if Buttercup came waltzing 
through in top hat and tap shoes."

Peter grinned.  "Only if Raven's drunk again.  Man, 
you guys should have been on that ride with me."

Paul shook his head.  "No way."

"Here he is," Spiro announced, pushing Andrew in the 
room.

Andrew rubbed at his eyes.  He was wearing a hotel 
bathrobe and was barefoot.  "What's up?  You needed 
to see me?"

Paul turned a chair around.  "Come over here and sit 
down," he said gently.  "We just want to find out 
what happened to you."

Andrew tensed slightly and quickly looked around the 
room.  The crazy woman was not with them, but Gene 
Simmons was.  Gene was not going to like him saying 
things about his woman.  He opened his mouth to say 
he did not remember anything but instead he said, "I 
remember what happened."

Paul pulled up another chair and sat down, patting 
the seat of the first.  "Tell me about it."

Andrew looked around as he carefully sat down.  
Three of the Originals.  Bruce.  Spiro.  Various 
ladies.  A few other guys.  But no crazy Gena.  He 
licked his lips.  "I may be mistaken in what I think 
happened," he said nervously.

"Just tell us what you know," Paul requested.

Andrew glanced at Gene.

"I found you in Gena's room," Gene said gruffly.  
"How'd you get there?"

Andrew jumped and automatically answered, "She asked 
me in."

"Why?"  Gene demanded, eyes glowing.

Andrew found he could not stop the words.  "Maybe to 
apologize for beating me up in the hall earlier."

"She what?"  Paul asked in surprise.

Andrew slid down in his chair.  "She beat me up 
because I said she was beautiful.  And hit me with 
this fireball.  And then she turned into a bat and 
flew away.  She threatened to kill me slowly if I 
told anyone."

"You're lying," Gene said angrily, taking a step 
towards Andrew, fist clenched and drawn back.

Andrew gave a cry and threw himself at Paul's feet, 
babbling, "I'm telling the truth, honest, I didn't 
make it up!  She asked me in the room and apologized 
and said it was all just PMS and would I like to 
listen to some music with her and a friend.  I was 
feeling pretty left out because all the women were 
all over you guys at the Meet and Greet and it 
sounded great, alone with two chicks and maybe I'd 
even be able to score, and she mentioned that Gene 
had his stuff in her room because his was being 
repaired and then suddenly she was attacking me 
again and I NEVER DID ANYTHING!"

"You lying little piece of..."

Lorie stepped in front of Gene.  "He's telling the 
truth."

Gene stopped.  "No way."

"He's telling the truth," Lorie said, looking 
straight in Gene's eyes.

"Gena would never hurt an innocent!"  Gene roared.  
"Paul!  Bruce!  You know her!  There is no way in 
Hell she would do it!"

"Maybe Gena wouldn't," Peter said quietly.  "Not 
normally.  But E.V.I.L. can make you do a lot of 
things you wouldn't normally do.  And maybe it 
wasn't Gena."

"The imposter!"  Paul said, eagerly grabbing onto 
the idea.  "We never did find him!  He could have 
come up here, disguised as me or Gene, gotten the 
drop on Gena, and then gone and kidnapped Raven 
masquerading as Gena!"

Bruce cleared his throat.  "Sorry guys.  I hate to 
do this but that was Gena's scent I tracked into 
Raven's room.  The last one in that room before 
Raven was kidnapped was Gena."

"But that doesn't mean the imposter couldn't have 
gotten to Gena," Gene said.  "It could have been the 
imposter that beat up Andrew.  The imposter could 
have done something to Gena and made her take Raven.  
They shut off Shannon's power and were forcing 
Elizabeth to do things.  Because Gena would never 
hurt anyone!  And she sure would never do anything 
to put Raven in danger."

Paul nodded.  "I agree.  Gena might have done it, 
but she wasn't the one calling the shots."

"But that raises another problem then, Guys," 
Shannon pointed out.  "If E.V.I.L. now controls 
Gena, how do we get her out of their control?  She's 
going to be fighting on the OTHER side.  Even if she 
doesn't want to be E.V.I.L.  she'll be one hundred 
percent E.V.I.L."

"Oh shit."  Gene grabbed a chair and sat down.

*	*	*	*	*

Herr Dokter cursed fluently in every language he 
knew and made up a few new ones.  Every portable 
scanning device he possessed was missing its battery 
pack and the wiring was knotted together.  It would 
take days to fix it.

His mainframe computer was in similar state.  He had 
taken the side panel off and found the inside 
rearranged to form an aesthetically pleasing pattern 
of concentric squares with various boards and chips 
dangling on the wires:  Nice except that it made a 
multi-million dollar computing device into an 
abstract sculpture only a computer geek would 
appreciate.

And now this.  His private workshop.

He looked around the room.  At tools embedded in the 
walls.  Fixtures ripped loose. Everything broken and 
piled in the middle of the floor.

"Someone will pay for this!"  Herr Dokter vowed 
loudly.  Hearing a growl from the corner of the 
room, he turned.

A pale Chihuahua sat looking at him.

A Chihuahua?!  Herr Dokter grabbed a broken sensor 
box and hurled it at the animal.

The Chihuahua suddenly became a huge red-eyed 
monster with dripping fangs that caught the box in 
its jaws and crunched it up.  And then it came for 
him.

Herr Dokter gave a loud cry and ran out the door.  
He ran down the hall, hearing the beast hot on his 
trail.  He slapped his palm against the security 
reader, dove through the emergency exit, and saw it 
close just as the beast reached the door.  He gave a 
sigh of relief as he slid down the tube and landed 
in the parking lot.  He ran to his vehicle and 
jumped in.

He would retreat to his alternate lab and find some 
means to create a field to negate the chaos energies 
of a probability manipulator.  And if he did not 
succeed by morning, he could at least prove that he 
was working hard on the project.  Buttercup would 
not terminate him as long as he showed some degree 
of progress.

E.V.I.L. could not hire a replacement mad scientist 
for the lousy salary they paid him.

Herr Dokter sped into the night, giving a wave back 
at the building.  Petunia would have his hands full.

*	*	*	*	*

Buttercup watched Herr Dokter drive away and sighed.  
He typed a message on his laptop and sent it.  "Odds 
at present time?"

A short pause, and Magnolia sent back, "Future 
timelines are balanced evenly at victory and failure 
for E.V.I.L."

Gena stood in the basement.  Here it was.  Exactly 
what she was looking for.  This should even things 
up nicely.  She grabbed the box and yanked.

Buttercup watched as the lights went out in the 
three-story building next to the White Castle.  He 
shook his head and re-typed his previous query.

Magnolia answered.  "KISS now has .6 probability of 
success."

Buttercup sighed.  He had the feeling this was going 
to be one of those days he wished he had stayed in 
bed.