Full Story:

The Los Angeles Federal Courthouse. Trial of the Shadow Thief, day three. "Am I setting off any alarms for you, Officer?" Phobia says as she walks through the metal detector. "No, Ma'am. Not today." The Security Officer states. "Too bad for me." Phobia replies. "Dolt. Phobia is not a "Ma"am". I hate people." Phobia thinks as she walks further into the Courthouse. Kate accidentally bumps into Phobia and apologizes. "Yes you should be... you stupid cow." Phobia thinks as she looks at Kate. Kate suddenly sees Ramsey in a coffin asking, "Mommy... Why did you kill me? Why?" causing Kate to recoil in shock and fear. "Watch where you're walking next time." Phobia thinks as she walks toward the Courtroom. "Kate? You OK? You look a little green around the gills." Damon says as he walks up to Kate as she recovers. "Uhh... No, I'm fine... Must've been all that coffee on an empty stomach." Kate replies. Damon then tells Kate that she needs to get it together quick, because they are a little ahead with the testimony from the Raymond family and don't want to lose momentum. Kate tells Damon that it will be a few minutes and she will head inside.

Arbor View Park. Brentwood. Peter is reading a paper while Ramsey is playing soccer with some friends. "Look at him. Damn, kids are resilient aren't they? Don't you know what you're missing, Kate?" Peter thinks as he sees a picture of Kate in the paper. "Hey, Dad." Ramsey says to get Peter's attention. "Tired?" Peter asks, and Ramsey replies, "No way! But I"m real thirsty. Did you bring any juiceboxes?" Peter tells him that he left them at home and said that he will go and get him an orange juice at the drink stand. "Remember to stay where I can see you!" Peter says as he walks toward the stand. One of the kids kicks the soccer ball over another kid's head and Ramsey goes and gets it. "Here you go... Ramsey, right?" an old man says. "Um, yeah. Do I know you?" Ramsey asks. "Not as well as you should." the man states. Peter looks over his shoulder and asks himself, "Where the hell is he?" then pays the clerk at the stand for the juices. As he walks back, Peter thinks to himself, "Dammit, Ramsey. How many times do I have to tell you to stay in my sight?" Peter asks one of the other kids where's Ramsey, and Ramsey returns with the soccer ball and tells his dad to chill. "No, you chill! What did I tell you about staying where I can see you?" "I know... But I had to get the ball! Besides, I was with Grandpa. Y'know, Mom's Dad?" Ramsey tells Peter. "What? Is he still here, Ramsey? Show me." Peter tells him and Ramsey states that he left, but he'd see us soon.

"Merlyn? I'm in." Phobia states. "Dang! These psychic implants Psycho designed really work! They'll probably give us brain tumors and scoliosis, but we all gotta die of something, right? ... Phobia? You there?" Merlyn replies. "I'm here. And so is Senator Reilly's daughter. So we may have to kill some Secret Service. Are you two ready? They're wheeling in Sands right now..." Phobia tells Merlyn.

Parked in an SUV on top of a parking garage across the street of the Courthouse, Merlyn and Monocle sit inside waiting. "Whaddaya say, Monocle? We ready?" Merlyn asks. "Since there's no talking you out of this, let's just get it over with." Monocle states. Merlyn then revs up the vehicle and launches it off of the roof. Merlyn fires an arrow to get rid of the windshield and tells Monocle, "Do your thing, and do it -- NOW!!" as Monocle fires an energy blast into the wall of the Courthouse causing a huge hole to appear allowing the SUV into the Courtroom. "I"ll take care of the Thief! Cover me!" Monocle tells Merlyn as they get out of the vehicle. Merlyn and Monocle shoot a few of the guards and Monocle kills one of them. "OH! Dear lord! I didn't mean to-- I had the power level too high--" as his blast sets fire to two of the guards.

"Ms. Reilly, get behind us!" states one of the Secret Service Agents. "Trust me, Agent Hansbrough--I've got this covered!" Lorraine tells him as she starts to turn into the Superhero known as Firehawk. "Hello! What"s this? The Senator"s daughter a closet Superhero? Scandalous! Over here, Firehawk, dear!" Phobia says as she turns her power onto her. Lorraine sees herself killing people with her fire powers and collapses onto the floor. "Yum. A whole room of minds to bend..." Phobia says.

"Damn, what happened to me out there? Pull yourself together, Kate. It's just the nicotine withdrawal..." Kate thinks to herself as she splashes water onto her face. Just then she hears the sound of Monocle's blast and she looks into the hallway and hears from a Security Officer yelling to get back up and turns back into the bathroom. Kate then thinks, "Now what? Is there a Supervillain left who hasn't shown up yet? Good thing I have my "work clothes". And even better that Dylan stole this nifty briefcase from his three days with Toyman..."

Chicago, Illinois. The Crypt. A deliveryman asks the man behind the bar where to put his delivery. A lone man is sitting at the bar drinking. A man in a baseball cap walks in and asks, "This seat taken?" The man sitting at the bar answers that it's all yours. "So, why're you drinking in the middle of the day, Mr...?" the man asks. "Name's Lawler. Chase Lawler. I dunno, a musical career going nowhere, a pension that goes to pay for the victims of a club fire from my old band's pyrotechnics, a girlfriend on meth, I'm out of smokes... How's that for an answer?" Chase replies. "Sounds like you could use another. Can I buy you a round?" the man asks. "Uh, sure, but, just so you know... I'm straight... OK?" Chase tells the man. "Yeah, me too. Just being friendly. So, how does a young guy like you have a pension?" he asks. Chase tells him that it's a secret, then softly says that he used to be a Superhero, and then gets up to go to the bathroom. The man tells him to take his time as he drugs his beer. "So, you gonna elaborate on that last little tidbit you dropped?" the guy asks. "Heh, sure. You bought the beer! I usedta be called "Manhunter" You may've heard of me. It was a few years back... I was cool. All claws and straps and spikes and a cape that went on for days, man! I rocked! Not like that new psycho "Manhunter" broad in L.A." Chase goes on saying, then almost spills his beer and states that he feelin' a little drunk. The man gives the barkeeper some money and tells him to keep the change. "C'mon, Hero. I'll give you a ride." the man states. "...You... sure... y'r... straight?..." Chase barely gets out, and the man says, "Hahaha! Oh, you'll be safe. Trust me."

"All right, boys. Let's hurry this along. We've had our fun!" Phobia tells the others. "Says you, Babe!" Merlyn replies. Just then the doors blow open and Manhunter steps into the room. "OK, I see Merlyn, the Monocle..." Kate thinks. "And you must be the infamous new Manhunter! Love that name!" Phobia states. "Of course, that's who I bumped into. Phobia. You used my kid to get to me. Not smart, Lady" Kate thinks before saying, "That "Basic Instinct" act is soooo tired." "Oh, but girl-on-girl action can be fun!" Phobia says while activating her power onto Kate. "Tell me... What does your worst fear look like?" Phobia asks. "A b-big... me-metal... fist!" Kate says as she comes up and hits Phobia in the jaw. Phobia asks how she was able to resist her and Kate tells her, "Psy-shields in the costume. It was either that, or satellite radio. Good choice, huh?" right before she hits Phobia with her staff knocking her out. One of the remaining Security Officers in the room gets up and tells Merlyn to "hold it right there!" Kate yells at him to get down, when Merlyn turns and fires an arrow at him and kills the man, while thanking Kate for the head's up. "Monocle! Firehawk's coming to! Take care of it!" Merlyn yells, and Monocle gets ready to fire a shot, when Kate yells "Hey, one-eye! Over here!" and throws an arrow at Monocle that goes into his monocle eye, causing his head to explode. "Some know-it-all Calculator is! He didn't tell us crap about this chick Manhunter! OK, Carl. Gotta do this quick..." Merlyn states as he fires an arrow at the container that Carl Sands occupies and shatters it. "Come to me!" Carl states. "Oh, It's comin' all right!" Merlyn says as he fires another arrow at Carl. Kate yells no and tries to grab the arrow. "That's it, old friend. Welcome back." Carl says as his shadow costume comes up out of the floor.





Then Carl states...




"This ends...




...NOW."




To be continued

Characters:

Kate Spencer/Manhunter (LA District Attorney)
Damon Matthews (Assistant LA District Attorney)
Ramsey Robinson
Peter Robinson

Lorraine Reilly (Firehawk)
Secret Service Agent Hansbrough
Chase Lawler

Phobia
Merlyn
Monocle
Carl Sands (Shadow Thief)

Unnamed Man (named in issue 16 - Walter Pratt)
Unnamed Man at bar (identified in issue 10 - Dumas)
Unnamed Security staff
Escort Guards


Note:

(SS Agent) Hansbrough is the name of a poster at Comicbloc.com

Issue summary written by: glguardian (Tad Dupre)