“Rome,” Daria considered as she examined another frame of the ghost
abducting Jamie.
“Huh?” Rhea asked.
“More specifically, the Colosseum.”
“What would gladiators have to do with this?” Rhea asked.
“More to do with the design of the Colosseum. It had lower levels from
where gladiators or animals could appear from elevators,” Daria explained.
“So, you think this is a similar system?”
“Yes.”
“That the teams could appear from below?” Rhea asked.
“With what I have found out about Lawndale’s past so far, I wouldn’t put
it past the local Minor League to experiment.”
“With the actual gameplay, that doesn’t make sense.”
Daria thought about it. “Maybe it would allow for quick substitution of
players.”
“Right, now it makes more sense.”
“And now it’s giving someone the perfect means to disrupt a game and
attract Lawndale’s heroine vigilantes.”
Meanwhile, Ninja Talon received the message from SpiderGIrl.
Talon: I’ll head there now.
Spidey: Thanks. Be aware, that Daria has called in the Enigma too.
Talon: Be careful.
Spidey: I will 😊
Quinn put the phone back in her pocket as she heard something. ‘The
Enigma and Jamie, around a corner ahead,’ she thought. She then walked
carefully away from the opening.
Trent looked around, the stadium was almost empty. He looked to where
Daria was in the broadcast booth with the journalist. ‘She’s sure to have found
something.’
Daria played through Jamie vanishing again, as she tried not to think of
Quinn going to rescue Jamie by herself. ‘I’d be more of use as Dafoanairi down
there. I’m not really getting anywhere here.’
“What else are you thinking?” Rhea asked.
“That I’m going to need to talk to others as well, which you also should
probably be doing.”
“You’re right. This has been a red herring.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Daria responded. “I will be back to look at more
footage.”
“You’re going to follow your sister, aren’t you?”
“Maybe.”
Jamie saw the Enigma pause. “Someone’s there,” she said.
“The ghost?” he asked.
“No, someone else.”
They turned the corner and ran into Quinn.
“Oh, you!” the Enigma said.
“Yes, it’s me,” Quinn said.
“You’ve met before?” Jamie asked.
“Yes,” Quinn said.
“During the first week of Tempest,” the Enigma commented.
“Oh, when Jane got abducted,” Jamie realized.
“Yes,” Quinn said. “This way, back to the field.”
“Got it,” the Enigma said. “Are you sure you can find the way back?”
“I have an excellent sense of direction,” Quinn responded.
‘What is it with her?’ Quinn wondered as she lead the Enigma and Jamie
back towards the lift she came down on. It was exactly like the situation in
the theater. ‘Someone at Lawndale High who doesn’t like me,’ she considered
again. But that didn’t really narrow it down. But she heard something nearby.
“Someone’s here.”
“I sense it,” the Enigma said.
“Is it the ghost?” Jamie asked.
“It could be,” the Enigma said.
“Let’s keep going,” Quinn said.
“Are you sure?” Jamie asked.
Quinn wasn’t sure, but she wanted to get him out of there quickly.
Daria met Trent close to the spot. “You’re following Quinn?” the latter
asked.
“Of course.”
“I’ll stay up here, in case he appears again.”
“Good idea.”
Daria then examined the mechanism. ‘Quinn did something’ she thought as
she pressed against the trap door. It quickly slid aside, much as she saw on
the video. She then climbed down.
“Daria?” Quinn asked when her sister appeared.
“What’s happening up there?” the Enigma asked.
“Not much,” Daria answered. “Trent is keeping an eye on things.”
“Right,” Jamie said.
They then heard something.
“Sounds like the ghost,” Daria said. She looked at the Enigma.
The Enigma raised a forcefield between them and the source of the sound.
“Quick.”
“Just don’t shoot at him. Warn first,” Quinn said.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” the Enigma shot back.
“Enigma…” Daria said. She turned to Quinn. “She knows what she’s doing.”
“Sorry. She did say that she would do anything to protect
Lawndale,” Quinn said.
“But she won’t put herself in too much danger,” Daria said.
Trent saw Daria, Quinn and Jamie emerge from the trap door. “Cool, you
didn’t take too long.”
“But the fourth vigilante is facing off with it,” Jamie said.
“She can handle herself,” Quinn said sharply.
Trent noticed Quinn’s change in tone. “Woah, Quinn. What’s up?”
“She doesn’t like me for some reason.”
“Probably your past,” Trent said.
“That’s what I’ve been thinking,” Quinn said.
The Enigma moved forwards after the others had gone back up to the
modern field. “Why are you disrupting these games?”
“History demands it,” the ghost said as he threw another flaming ball.
It just bounced off of the Enigma’s forcefield. The Enigma then fired a
projection through the forcefield.
The ghost jumped to the side and into another corridor.
The Enigma followed slowly.
The Shadow climbed down into a corridor and then emerged into the stands
high above the home plate. She saw Trent with Daria, Quinn and Jamie in the
distance. ‘Look’s like he was rescued, but the ghost is still here somewhere.
She then used her mask to look closer and saw the trap door. ‘So that’s where
he may be appearing from.’ However, something then happened, as the stadium
lights started flickering.
“Of course,” Daria said.
“We’ll probably need to find the station’s substation,” Quinn groused.
“That might be a distraction,” Daria said.
“I know that,” Quinn said. “But trying to trap the ghost would be
risky.”
“Haven’t you been taking risks already?” Trent asked.
“That’s true, but actually trying to draw him out…” Quinn considered. ‘I
might need to be SpiderGirl. But Talon will be here shortly. She’ll have some
ideas.”
“I’ll talk to the fourth vigilante,” Daria said. “In the meantime, we
better get off of the field.”
The Enigma took out her phone.
Dafoanairi: Quinn suggested trying to trap the ghost.
Enigma: It’s a good suggestion
Dafoanairi: I wasn’t arguing with that. It’s more how we could pull it
off.
Enigma: I’ll get up there.
Dafoanairi: You don’t have to.
The Shadow got a message from Trent about Quinn’s suggestion.
Janie-Shadow: I’ll keep going downwards. Maybe I can use my equipment to
catch him without putting anyone else in jeopardy.
Trent: Be careful.
Janie-Shadow: When am I not?
Trent considered Jane’s response.
“Trent?” Daria asked.
“Um, I also know one of the vigilantes,” he responded carefully. “I’m
not saying which one. You understand.”
“I do understand, Trent,” Daria responded with a sigh.
As she lead the others up to the broadcast booth, Daria thought about
what Trent had said. ‘It’s not myself or Sandi. It’s probably not Mrs. Griffin.
It would have to be one of the first three.’
Quinn was also thinking. ‘Obviously, Brit would have said if she was
talking to Trent, other than when Mystik Spiral helped when Jane was abducted.
So, it might be the Shadow, Dafoanairi, the Enigma or the Violet Force. But if
Daria’s Dafoanairi, it just narrows it down to the others.’ Then she got a text
from Brittany.
Talon: I’m on the roof.
Spidey: We’re going to try to trap the ghost.
Talon: I can come down.
Spidey: We’re headed to the broadcast booth.
Talon: I’ll meet you there.
Rhea hadn’t been idle while Daria was off. She had been filling in the
editor about the situation and her temporary alliance with Daria.
“…Wait, I heard that both Morgendorffers are involved in the Lowdown,”
Daniels said.
“But we have the scoop, as the Lowdown won’t come out until
Tuesday at the earliest.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“She’s coming back now.”
“These are my sister Quinn, and Trent and Jamie,” Daria said.
“We have decided to try to catch the ghost,” Quinn said.
“That’s quite risky. But are you sure he’s staying around?” Rhea asked.
“Best to call the police.”
“I have already called the officer whom I have gained a rapport with,”
Daria said. “Officer Xanthe Peterson.”
“And at least two of the vigilantes are already here,” Trent added.
“Daria already said about the fourth,” Rhea said. “Who is the other
one?”
“I’m not saying,” Trent answered.
“But how are we going to pull this off?” Rhea asked. “And with what?”
“It is difficult. But we have a stadium full of supplies,” Daria
answered.
“That’s a good point.”
Then there was a knock at the door.
Quinn opened the door and allowed Brittany-as-Talon in.
“Ninja Talon?” Daria asked. “I suppose, you responded to the reports of
the ghost?”
“Yes, and SpiderGirl also knows,” Talon said, with a glance at her.
“So, she may also be here?” Daria asked. “That makes three.”
“Who are the others?” Ninja Talon asked.
“The fourth and another,” Daria answered.
“Right.”
Down in the old stadium, the Enigma sensed a familiar presence and
turned around. “The Shadow. I, like, knew the others would show up sooner or
later.”
“Of course,” the Shadow said. “This is a situation that needs to be
dealt with.”
“And the Morgendorffers and two guys are planning to catch him.”
“I’m aware. We need to help them.”
“Sure,” the Enigma said. “He’s still down here, somewhere, for now.”
“Then he needs to be drawn up.”
“I’m sure Daria is already thinking of something.”
Indeed, Daria was thinking of something. “He said. ‘No more games.’
There’s history there.”
“There is,” Quinn said. “You have an idea, don’t you?”
“We stage our own game, or at least go out on the field as a team,”
Daria said.
“That’s it?” Rhea asked.
“Of course not,” Daria said. “We still need materials for a trap. We
can’t just rely on Ninja Talon’s zip lines and the fourth vigilante’s
telekinesis.”
“That’s a good point,” Ninja Talon said.
“But those would be a good start,” Quinn said, with a quick glance at
Ninja Talon.
The Shadow, and then the Enigma emerged from the trap door near the
pitcher’s mound to see Daria and the others, except Ninja Talon as an ad hock
team at home base. “I see you’re doing this,” the latter said.
“We just need to set the trap,” Daria said.
“You need my powers, right?” the Enigma asked.
“Yes,” Daria answered. “But also Ninja Talon and the Shadow’s
equipment.”
Rhea looked at the time as both of the Morgendorffers directed the
others in setting the trap. It was just twenty minutes after the ghost had
interrupted the game. ‘They trust each
other, and know how the other thinks. It’s obvious that Daria’s a playwright
and Quinn’s the social one.’ She watched as Quinn moved about quickly giving
encouragement to both Jamie and Trent.
