KISS and the Battle of G.O.O.D. vs E.V.I.L.
Part 38
By $hannon


Shannon left the others in the Expo room, sighing 
with relief as the noise got farther and farther 
away.  Gene had barely left Gena's side the whole 
afternoon.  She knew that Gene had been worried 
about her...devastatingly worried.  She had been 
able to feel his emotions through the Link.  Even if 
she wasn't Claimed by him anymore, she could still 
feel strong emotions, and the fear Gene had felt 
when Gena was missing was definitely a strong 
emotion.  She went back to her hotel room and closed 
the door, sighing as she sat down on the bed.

It was quite obvious to her now whom Gene loved.  He 
had known Gena for a long time, so it wasn't a 
surprise that he loved her.  She was beautiful, 
sexy, fun...everything Gene looked for in a long-
time partner...everything Shannon wasn't.  His Claim 
on her had simply been a mistake brought on by an 
uncontrollable libido and he had been stuck with her 
for two years when they had gone into the past with 
Peter and Raven.  He had been unable to be away from 
her, distance or time wise for any length of time 
and she had felt bad, knowing he would have rather 
been with someone else.  She was surprised out of 
her thoughts by a soft knock on her door.  She 
opened it to see Paul standing there.

"Paul...is something wrong?" she asked, wondering 
why he would be standing at her door and not down at 
the Expo waiting for the next band to perform.

"Are you okay?" he asked coming into the room.  
Shannon shut the door behind him.

"Of course I'm okay.  Why wouldn't I be?" she asked 
sitting back down on the bed.

"You forget...with my powers I can sense 
emotions...not to mention the fact that you're my 
Acolyte.  Besides, I know how much you love to watch 
tribute bands...I know something's bothering you," 
he said.

"It's nothing...I'm tired, that's all," she said, 
quickly dismissing his concern.  Paul paused for a 
moment.

"Gene does care about you," he said meeting her 
eyes.

"HA!  He cares about me when there's no one else 
around to scratch the itch that he has," she 
exploded, angrily leaping to her feet.

"That's not true," Paul argued.

"Isn't it?  As soon as the Claim was broken, he was 
quick to find other women to busy himself with.  Do 
you know he's hardly said two words to me since the 
Claim was broken?  He's only spoken to me in 
anger...he doesn't even open the Link between us," 
she said with a sigh.  "I wasn't expecting a 
committed relationship.  I guess spending two years 
with me and only me was enough for him...or any man 
for that matter," she said sadly.

"Shannon, he cares about you.  I know he does...I 
can tell.  He was just worried about Gena," he said.

"Yeah, I know.  And god forbid I say anything bad 
about her.  I still don't trust her," she said.

"Why not?" asked Paul.

"Because...Buttercup's programming isn't that easy 
to beat," she said pacing the room.  "Sure, Lorie 
was there to prove that she was telling the truth, 
but part of the programming does that.  She was 
telling the truth...as it was programmed into her by 
Buttercup.  She may honestly mean it...but there is 
a word or phrase that will activate the programming 
and she won't even realize it...until it's too 
late," she said.

"Have you told Gene this?" he asked, feeling her 
frustration through the Link as well as through her 
words.  She let out a derisive snort.

"I've tried.  He doesn't seem to want to listen to 
me.  Paul, I've been there!  I've been through the 
programming!  I know what it's like and I know what 
Buttercup is capable of!!" she yelled.

"Then you need to tell him.  Help him to 
understand," said Paul taking her hand.

"He's not going to believe me without proof and what 
can I show him?  He has Lorie saying Gena is telling 
the truth.  There's nothing I can point to and say 
'This is the trigger phrase.  This is what she'll do 
when Buttercup tells her to.'  Because I don't know 
what he programmed in.  And I sure don't know what 
that Drow did to and with her!  You all act like 
Raven hallucinated and that Gena never helped 
Buttercup.  The ghosts attacked her!  The ghosts 
only attack someone who is a danger to Raven.  Or 
are you all going to tell me that the ghosts were 
programmed by Buttercup but dear Gena is pure as new 
fallen snow?" she snarled.  Paul sighed.  She had 
made many good points but he knew she was upset and 
he also knew he was going to get no rational 
response from her until she calmed down.  "I should 
leave...that would make everything easier," she said 
sadly.

"I don't know what else to tell you Shannon, but 
leaving is NOT the answer.  Gene DOES care about 
you...but there's a lot going on right now.  I know 
you're upset.  Why don't you get cleaned up and get 
some sleep," he suggested.  "We're all tired from 
this.  Things will look different in the morning," 
he said getting up to leave.

"I'm sorry Paul.  I'm just tired of being 
used...used by Buttercup...used by Gene.   I'm sick 
of it..." she said without looking at him.  He put 
his hand on her shoulder.

"I know.  Just give him some time...give yourself 
some time too," he said.  She nodded and he left, 
shutting the door behind him and leaving her alone 
again.  Time...time was what she seemed to have 
plenty of.

Shannon cleaned up and lay down, staring at the 
ceiling like she had so many times since this whole 
mess had started.  She had just started to drift off 
to sleep when she heard a noise in her room.  She 
didn't have time to switch on the light before she 
was knocked unconscious.

*****

Paul was talking with Barb when he remembered he 
needed to ask Shannon about a show her band had 
booked for his charity.  He opened the Link between 
them and was surprised to get no answer from 
Shannon.  He excused himself and went back to 
Shannon's room.  He knocked but no one answered.  He 
saw one of the cleaning staff down the hall cleaning 
another room so he asked her to open the door to 
Shannon's room.  He was surprised to find her gone.  
Her bed was mussed, like she had lay down but her 
shoes and purse were still there, along with the key 
to her room.  He thanked the woman and hurried back 
down to the Expo.

Gene stood next to Gena, watching her talk to her 
friends.  He had been so scared when she was 
missing.  He didn't want to lose her, not after he 
had finally admitted the feelings he had for her.  
Things seemed good right now.  They had Buttercup on 
the run and all of Girltalk safe.  Gene was startled 
out of his thoughts by Paul.

"Shannon is gone," Paul said in his ear and Gene 
rolled his eyes.

"So?  She probably went out for a walk.  She used to 
do that all the time when we went through our 
training," he said dismissively.

"Gene...she's gone!  Check your Link.  She's not 
there," said Paul.

Gene sighed but complied so Paul would shut up.  He 
opened the Link between him and Shannon which, 
admittedly hadn't been open very much recently.  
There was no sign of Shannon.  Even if she were 
asleep he should be able to sense her but he got 
nothing.

"Where could she be?" he asked with a touch of fear.  
"I can't sense her at all...it's like she just... 
disappeared."

"We have to find her!" said Paul.  "We need to go 
talk to Shandi," he said.

"I can't leave Gena," he said, glancing at where she 
stood in the middle of the Expo.  "If Buttercup is 
still active he'll be after her."

"Gene...Shannon put her neck on the line for you 
more than one time.  Unless you really don't care 
about her anymore now that the Claim is broken," 
said Paul, glaring at Gene.

"It's not that," he snapped.

"Then what is it Gene?  She's a friend, she's an 
Acolyte and she loves you.  You can't just write her 
off because you love someone else," he said.

"I'm not dammit!!!  You think this is easy for me?" 
he demanded, ignoring the strange looks he received 
from those around them.

"I don't know Gene...and right now I don't care.  
I'm gonna go talk to Shandi and see if she can help 
me find her," said Paul.  "So you just go back to 
whatever you were doing Gene," he said walking away.

*****

Paul entered Shandi's room and wasn't surprised to 
find her awake and sitting in the middle of her bed, 
eyes closed.  //Hello Paul,// she greeted him 
without stirring.

"Shannon's gone," he said.

//I know.  I felt her panic and then nothing.  I've 
been searching.  I don't know what's happening but I 
can't find her in the Matrix,// she said.

"I can't feel her at all and neither can Gene," he 
said.

"Where is Gene?" she asked, opening her eyes and 
speaking, surprised the Demon wasn't right there 
with Paul.

"He didn't want to leave Gena alone," said Paul with 
anger coloring his tone.  Shandi sighed.

"Her feelings for Gene and the fact that he's 
treating her the way he is will make her a prime 
target for Buttercup," she said.

"You think he has her?" asked Paul.

"Most likely, yes.  She's vulnerable right now.  She 
was once in E.V.I.L's G.R.I.P. which will make her 
easier to reprogram," she said sadly.

"How can we find her?" asked Paul.

"I don't know.  Let me talk to people and see if 
they have anything on her.  Someone may have noticed 
something.  They had to get her out of the building 
somehow," she said and closed her eyes as she sent a 
message out through the Matrix.

*****

Shannon opened her eyes but was unable to see 
anything.  She touched her eyes but there was no 
blindfold on her.  She reached out and found a solid 
wall.  Following it with her hand she found that she 
was in a small room with no windows and only one 
door.  She sat back down on the floor and sighed.  
She tried to open her Link to Gene, knowing that 
most likely his end would be closed and was 
surprised to find nothing, not even the "closed 
door" she encountered when Gene's feelings were shut 
off to her.  How could their Link have been broken?  
She tried opening her Link to Paul and then to the 
Matrix and found that there was no response from 
anyone.  She was alone.  Totally alone.

The door opened and the light flooding into the room 
blinded her for a moment until she saw Buttercup 
standing in the door, a smug smile on his face.

"Don't bother with the Link.  The blocks I have up 
around you will keep them from finding you," he said 
with a grin.  "Gene has made this so easy for me," 
he said.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Not only do I have their Time Traveler, but I have 
an Acolyte who is a member of the Matrix.  You're 
not only connected to Gene through your Link, but 
you're connected to Paul as his Acolyte and 
connected to them all through the Matrix.  Whether I 
have Raven or not...I can still control KISS.  Gene 
will do anything to get you back," he said and 
Shannon laughed.

"I wouldn't count on it," she said.  The smile on 
Buttercup's face faded.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"Gene doesn't care whether I live or die now that he 
has his precious Gena back," she said angrily.  
Buttercup studied the woman sitting on the floor 
before him.  He could certainly hear the bitterness 
in her voice and had no doubt as to its sincerity.

"I see.  So you have been replaced by Gena.  How 
sad," he said trying to fuel her anger.  If she was 
angry at Gene, reprogramming would be so much 
easier.  Who knew, maybe she'd willingly turn to 
E.V.I.L.'s side.

"If you think I'm going to join your side against 
him, you're wrong," she said and he sighed, mentally 
tossing that theory out the window.

"But he's turned away from you, taken another woman 
into his bed.  Surely that has insulted you," he 
said.

"Yes, it has...but he was never mine to begin with.  
He Claimed me by accident.  He's known her for a 
long time.  I was just a distraction," she said 
bitterly.  Buttercup sighed.

"I had so hoped you would agree to join me...but now 
I see you still love that idiot Simmons.  I guess 
we'll have to use the standard form of programming," 
he said.  "I'll even let you take out Gena when I'm 
done with you," he said with a laugh.  "There are 
more than enough mages within Girltalk.  She has 
some...unique traits, but I have cause to question 
who would hold her loyalty should she again give in 
to E.V.I.L. so my safest route is deny Petunia an 
easy tool."  He turned and shut the door, plunging 
her into darkness again.  Shannon hugged her knees 
to her chest and cried.  She missed Gene.  She 
missed the comforting presence of Paul's mind in her 
own.  She was truly alone and she was scared to 
death.

*****

"Gene, you have to go find her," Gena said angrily, 
sitting up in bed.

"I can't leave you alone," he said as he gazed out 
the window.  "I did that once and look what 
happened."

"Don't give me that bullshit!  You go and find her!" 
said Gena.  "You can't leave her out there by 
herself."

"We don't even know where to start looking," 
protested Gene.  The door to their room flew open 
and Peter and Raven came in, followed by Paul and 
Ace.  "Doesn't anyone knock around here?" he 
demanded.

"At least we used the door," Ace said.  He dropped 
into a chair.

"We have to do something," Peter insisted.  "We have 
to find Shannon."

Gene sighed.  "You think I don't know that?  As long 
as Buttercup has her we're in danger."

"WE are in danger?!" Peter asked in astonishment.  
"And what about SHANNON?!"

"What do you expect me to do, Peter?" Gene demanded.  
"Wave my hands, shout Abracadabra, and make her 
appear? We...do...not...know...where...she...is."

"The fact that we can sense no trace of her makes me 
think he has blocks on her to keep her from using 
her powers and to keep her from being able to 
communicate," said Paul.  "Maybe we can track the 
blocks."

"There are blocks throughout the city," Raven said.  
"Some are natural.  Some artificial.  And we don't 
even know if she's being held in the city.  But 
Buttercup probably won't move her too far.  And we 
have to start somewhere."

"He took her to AUSTRALIA last time," Gene pointed 
out.

"In an attempt to separate the Anchors before the 
Matrix was formed and Ace knew his full powers," 
Raven said, facing the Demon without flinching.  
"There's no advantage to taking her any distance 
now."

"None that we know of," Gene argued.  "But do you 
know what Buttercup plans?   No.  None of us do."  
He sat down on the bed with a sigh.  "I'm tired of 
this whole Matrix mess."

"Poor baby!  Just remember that every minute YOU 
delay is another minute Shannon is being 
reprogrammed...or worse," said Ace.

"For all we know she's dead," said Gene.

"You sound really broken up about that possibility," 
snarled Peter, ignoring the glare he received from 
Gene.

"That may be Gene, but we have to keep looking until 
we find her.  You owe her that," said Ace.

"I KNOW THAT!!!  Everyone keeps telling me things I 
already know!  Don't you guys think I feel awful 
about this whole thing?" he demanded, finally losing 
his cool.

"I don't think you're as worried about it as you 
would be if it were Gena," said Peter.

"Peter!" said Raven.

"Well it's true!" said Peter turning to Raven.   "He 
couldn't sleep until they found Gena.  But with 
Shannon it's different."  He faced Gene.  "You're 
the reason she was captured and programmed in the 
first place!  Why aren't you worried about her now 
Gene?  You went through so much with Shannon in the 
past.  Why isn't she that important to you now?  
Why?" demanded Peter getting right in Gene's face.

"Because...I can't return the love that she feels 
for me!" he said angrily.  Peter's eyes widened.

"Better to let her die to save yourself the trouble 
of having to explain that to her?  Gene, in all the 
years I've known you I never thought you were a 
callous bastard until now.  Better to let her die so 
you don't have to do something you don't want to 
do..." said Peter stalking away from Gene.

"Now listen here," yelled Gene.

Peter turned and pointed.  "No, you listen HERE!  
Shannon loves you!  She has risked her life for you 
and you can't get off your fat ass to go and look 
for her!  Yes, you love Gena...I understand that.  
Believe me, I understand better than you realize!  
And I'm sure Shannon understands it too...but you 
can't discount her feelings for you so easily!!" 
said Peter.

"I never meant to Claim her," he protested.

"But you did!  And she had to put up with a lot of 
shit through you while Claimed.  She experienced 
everything you did.  How do you think that made her 
feel, knowing you were with other women...knowing 
you were thinking of other women when you were with 
her?" demanded Peter, giving Raven a quick, 
apologetic glance.

"I never..." he started to say and then stopped.  He 
HAD thought of other women while with Shannon.

"I'm right, aren't I?  You didn't care how much you 
mentally hurt her," Peter said.

"I didn't know!!" said Gene.

"How could you NOT know!!!  You saw her crying all 
the time...you could feel her emotions through the 
Claim.  You can't tell me you didn't know.  You just 
didn't CARE!" yelled Peter.  There was a pause.

"Do you think she'll turn against me?" asked Gene.

"I wouldn't blame her if she did," Peter snapped.

"And neither would I," chimed Ace.  "You knew how 
she felt about you.  You knew how much she loved you 
and yet you ignored it.  You made her feel 
unwanted...like a nuisance.  You were with other 
women even though you knew it would hurt her because 
she loved you and had to experience everything with 
you, but you didn't care.  You didn't want to 
interrupt your life for her.  Didn't matter that her 
life had been interrupted, turned up-side down and 
almost ended because of YOU," said Ace.  "The only 
reason Buttercup captured her and programmed her 
originally was because of YOU!"

"What was I supposed to do?" he asked.

"Be honest with her!!!" said Peter, placing his hand 
on Raven's shoulder and feeling her place her hand 
over it.

"She loves you...enough to know that she has to let 
you go.  But you owe her honesty," said Paul trying 
to calm everyone.  "We need to find her 
Gene...BEFORE Buttercup reprograms her.  Then you 
need to be honest with her and tell her the truth," 
said Paul.

"You're right," said Gene sadly.

"Let's go find her," Peter said.

"Even if it means checking out every blocked area on 
the planet," Paul said with determination.

*****

Shannon knew that Buttercup was going to reprogram 
her and she knew he would make her do horrible 
things to Gene and the rest of KISS.  She couldn't 
allow it to happen.  She loved Gene more than 
anything in the world and she couldn't let anything 
happen to him.  She also knew that she had to let 
him go.  She knew he loved Gena and she wouldn't 
stand in the way of their relationship.  The door 
opened and Buttercup walked in.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"What happens if I say I'm not ready?" she asked as 
she was pulled to her feet by two guards.

"Too bad.  You're still going to be reprogrammed," 
he said.

"Then I guess I'm ready," she replied.

Shannon was lead out of the room and down a long 
white corridor.  She wished she could send one more 
message to Gene telling him that she loved him, but 
she couldn't.  She knew what she had to do and she 
promised herself that she would follow through with 
it.

*****

"I thought you liked rodents," Ace joked.

"I like my mice," Raven said, holding tight to 
Peter's arm.  "Rats.  Rats are another matter."

Gene, Paul, and Peter all suddenly turned and looked 
in the same direction.

"The Link is back," said Paul.  His mental 
connection to Shannon was reopened and he 
immediately pinpointed her location.  "She's back in 
her room," he said.

"Get us back there Ace!" Gene ordered.

They appeared in Gene's empty room.  Gene turned to 
yell at Ace for not going directly to Shannon's 
room.

"I'll go get Lorie and meet you there," Ace said and 
teleported away.

The others ran for the door.

*****

The door opened and Shannon was surprised to see 
Gene, Paul, Peter, and Raven come into her room.  
Ace suddenly appeared with Lorie.  She had been 
sleeping and she didn't know what had woken her, but 
now she sat up in bed facing the six people.  
"What's going on?  What happened?" she asked, 
figuring something had gone wrong.

"Are you okay?" asked Gene coming to her.

"I'm fine," she said, wondering why all of the 
sudden Gene was interested in her well-being.

Gene looked at Lorie.  Paul had filled him in a 
little on what Shannon had told him earlier about a 
person who had been programmed believing what they 
were saying to be the truth.

"She's telling the truth," said Lorie.

"Or the truth as it was programmed into her," he 
said with regret.

"What are you talking about?" asked Shannon angrily.  
They were accusing HER of being under Buttercup's 
control?

"Shannon, do you remember anything from the last 
several hours?" asked Paul.

"Yeah, I had a really nice dream about you Paul.  If 
you're anything in bed in real life like you were in 
my dream..." she said letting her sentence trail 
off.

"I think we should probably leave and let her get 
some rest," suggested Lorie.  Paul nodded and got up 
to leave.

"I'm going to stay here for a bit," said Gene.  The 
others left and he was about to turn back to Shannon 
when he was hit from behind and knocked to the 
floor.  He looked up to see Shannon standing there 
holding her guitar like a bat.

"All of the sudden I'm good enough for you," she 
snarled.  "What's the matter?  Did Gena turn you 
down so you came here looking for a cheap 
substitute?" she demanded.

Gene couldn't speak.  The pain between his shoulder 
blades was excruciating and he was finding it hard 
to catch his breath.  She had been reprogrammed and 
was now turning against him.

"Shannon, please don't do this," he said, finding 
his voice.

"Why not?  I'm just making you feel a little of the 
pain you've made me feel since I met you Gene 
Simmons!" she said angrily raising the guitar again, 
this time to hit him in the face.

Gene knew she had every intention of killing him.  
She could easily snap his neck or break his jaw with 
the guitar and he knew how angry she was and how 
strong she could be when angry.  She lifted the 
guitar again, ready to swing and Gene prepared 
himself for the worst.

Shannon saw the fear in Gene's eyes and stopped.  
What was she doing?  She was going to kill Gene.  
She was going to KILL Gene!  Shannon dropped the 
guitar and sank to her knees, tears streaming down 
her face.

Gene opened his eyes to see Shannon sitting on the 
floor crying.  Gene went to her and pulled her to 
him and held her while she cried.

"It's okay," he said softly, stroking her hair.

"No it's not!" she said between sobs.  "I've been 
reprogrammed.  You need to get away from me," she 
said.

"How do you know you've been reprogrammed?" he 
asked.

"I just know.  You need to get away from me...before 
I go through with whatever Buttercup has planned for 
you," she said getting to her feet.  A moment later 
she was gone, leaving a very startled, aching Gene 
sitting on the floor of her hotel room.  He could 
barely feel the Link between them, knowing she had 
gone back in time...way back and they had no way of 
going to get her.  Question was, SHOULD they go and 
get her?  Perhaps Shannon had at last found a place 
where she was safe.  Safe from Buttercup.  Safe from 
Gene.

Gene cursed Buttercup and vowed that they WOULD 
catch him and make him pay for everything he had 
done to Shannon...and everyone involved with KISS 
and Girltalk.

*****

"She's gone," Raven said quietly, not quite 
believing it.

Peter nodded.  "Neither me nor Paul can even sense 
her.  Gene can tell she's still alive and that's 
about it.  And unless you can pull a time travel 
spell out of thin air..."  He waited expectantly.

Raven turned her head and listened.  She shook her 
head.  "The ghosts don't know that spell."

Peter sighed.  "And Vinnie's still trying to figure 
his magic out, Val is recovering, we don't know 
where Mennehotep is right now, and I'm not sure I 
trust Gena's magic or Gena.  It's all so convenient: 
Gene kept busy and Shannon kidnapped from inside the 
hotel.  There has to be someone on the inside."

Raven sighed and leaned on Peter's shoulder.  "You 
have to go to sound check."

Peter shook his head.  "It's being handled for us.  
We don't have to go until the actual show tonight."

Raven smiled.  "So what are you going to do the rest 
of the afternoon?"

Peter sighed.  "I know what I'd LIKE to do but I 
think we better address a certain problem that got 
dumped in our laps."  He glared up at the top of the 
curtains.

Meatball gazed down at Peter and Raven.  A small 
clothed mouse sat astride Meatball, tiny bow in 
hand.

"First you give me ghosts.  Then dancing mice," 
Peter complained.  "Now I've got to deal with a 
miniature dragon too."

Meatball hissed.

Peter pointed at the dragon.  "You touch my dinner 
and I'm turning you into a pair of boots!"