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Colin and sarah had made plans to try and track down Ted Phillips after school.  The former Oak Park baseball player had transferred to Fenwick, and they had no baseball team, so he had more free time.  He was spending that free time hitting balls at the batting cages and miniature golf place in Oak Park, where he could be found every day after school.

Colin looks at Sarah.

"Did you have a plan? Mine was to do this together. We go there, and face him with the truth. We see how he reacts. He'll probably attack us, then you whack him for good, and I give him a taste of his own medicine."

Sarah shrugs, "Sounds fine to me but I'm betting this wont go that easy.  I wonder how in control these guys were with a demon urging them on?"  She sounds curious and sad but she adds in a more stern tone, "Not that I'm excusing them.  Any of them.  We'll see I guess."

As expected they find Ted in one of the batting cages knocking balls against the backstop with a fierce determination.  He takes a break for some water and that gives the an opportunity to talk to him.

Colin looks to see if anyone else is around, then approaches Ted, making sure he's never too far from Sarah.

"Hi. Ted Phillips, isn't it? Do you mind if I ask you some questions? Did you know Leland Palmer?"

"Yeah, I knew him.  We had some classess together.  What's this about anyway?"

Colin ignores his question.

"How well did you know him? He had interesting secrets."

Sarah loiters within hearing range and keeps an eye out for any friends of Ted's or overly curious bystanders. 

"You have a point chump, get to it.  I have things I'd rather be doing."

Colin narrows his eyes, looking at his aura.

"Oh, really? Like what? Abusing another girl? I'll get to the point then, I'll ask you the same question I asked him. Why?"

Well Colin's not going slow on this guy.  She grins to herself.  My boy is picking a fight! 

A sobering thought comes to mind, Well what if he does?  He brought me along for a reason.  So I'll be there if he needs me.

She moves up next to Colin and is ready to leap into action should things take a suddenly violent turn. 

OOC: Readying Interpose. 

They do.

It's almost surreal, Sarah feels it before it even happens.  Ted tightened his grip, and a fraction of a second later the bat came up in a fast tight arc towards Colin's head.  There was a sound, almost like when you open a soda can, and arah was between Colin and Ted, her staff butted up against the bat, holding it inches from Colin's head.

OOC: Initiatives please.

OOC:  Initiative Roll

1d20+2=22 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=937167)

OOC: Initiative roll (1d20+1=17) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=937175). You go first. :)

Colin notices Ted's attack, but before he can even duck, Sarah has parried the blow meant for him. A slight smile appears on his lips.

[Round 1]

[Initiative 22]

OOC: Sarah's turn.

OOC: Sorry for delay.  I was out last night socializing and drinking... too... much.  Ohhhh.....

IC:  Sarah spins the lower half of her staff in the opposite direction and tries to slide it right up through the middle of Ted. 

OOC: 1d20+4=16 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=938094)

Ted is obviously shaken by the strike and recoils in pain.

[Initiative 17]

Colin's turn.

OOC: Attack roll to touch Ted (1d20=19) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=938547)

"Do you think we can talk now, Ted? I don't want to hurt you again, but we will, if necessary. You see, the pain you're in now is nothing compared to what you did to those girls. Let me show you."

Colin clutches Ted's wrist and blows on his face. He just gives him a taste, a whiff of the hours of agony Darla's suffered. An instant of his gloating face on top of her. A part of him would just like to let it go and give him all of it, but Colin grits his teeth and holds the flow back.

"Do you see now? Is that the face you look at in the mirror? And believe me, there's a lot more of it where that came from. You and your friends did a very good job. Now I want two things. I want to know how many times it happened. How many girls had to go through this. I want you to tell me everything you know about them. Then I'll tell you what you're going to do next."

Ted's eyes roll back for a moment, and he drops the baseball bat.  A second later he collapses to his knees and vomits.  When he speaks his voice shakes, and he's sobbing.  "Three, there were three girls.  I don't know who they are, they were just girls."

Colin grimaces in disgust. He's disgusted by Ted, by his "just girls" comment, and by his own role in all this mess.

"Now that you understand what you've done, I expect you to do the right thing.

You'll turn yourself in, and tell the police the whole truth. They were about to get you anyway, so this way you'll probably be able to get a deal out of it.

You will accept the therapy they'll devise for you, and never miss a session or forget to take a pill.

And if you ever try to do something like this again, nothing will save you from me.

Don't try to run away or shoot yourself or anything stupid like that; just as I found you now I will find you again, be you dead or alive.

Did I make myself clear enough, Ted?"

Sarah watches quietly and stays close to Colin, prepared to step between him and harm.  She feels surprisingly empty inside over this conversation with Ted. 

Ted can't form words through his sobs, not words you can understand anyway.  He's shaking his head in agreement, and Colin's voice carries a dark and commanding tone to it that Sarah barely recognizes as coming from the boy next to her.  As he continues, dark clouds seem to roll in to blot out the sun, and the air takes on a surpising chill.

"Very well. Now go. You can call your family from the police station."

He lets Ted go, turns around and start walking away. He'd just like to be as far from that place as he can be.

What have I become?

Sarah glances up at the sky.  The clouds rolling in look ominous.  This is either really good timing or the coolest thing I've ever seen.  One roll of thunder and I'm going to be seriously turned on.  Wait... that sounds wrong somehow. 

She straightens up and focuses back on a sobbing Ted.

She lets Colin go first and then follows behind him once she's sure Ted is on his merry way.

Colin turns back and sees that Sarah is still glaring over Ted.

He comes back toward the batting cage and takes her arm. "Let's go."

When they're far enough from Ted, he asks her "Was that as awful for you as it was for me?"

Sarah takes Colin's hand and holds on tight.  "You're a hero.  In the non glamorous real world kind of way.  No splash page in the middle of the comic..."  She looks up at the clouds.  "Okay you probably got at least a half page with those clouds.  Did you do that?"

She considers his question.  "It wasn't awful for me.  It was really more... sad.  All these lives ruined.  Hopefully some can be mended.  I thought I'd be furious when I saw him but I wasn't."

"Comic books always makes being a hero and doing the right thing seem easy. I don't know if I did the right thing today. I don't like to use my powers for this. I prefer being the seer and the healer, than the avenger. I hope that when he goes to the police, they'll have what they need to catch the others too, and this story will finally be over."

He thinks about it again. "Well, not really over. It'll be over when Chris finds the third girl, and I help her too."

He looks up at the clouds. "Yeah, I think that's my doing. Not really on purpose. I guess that's the spirits way to give me a hand."

"You saved me again. You are the hero today." he says with a little smile.

"Pshh," Sarah expresses dismissively.  "I just knew Ted would try something.  I think that's why I wasn't furious... or even ticked off at Ted when we got here.  I was just here to help keep you safe.  Thats what I was focused on.  For once in my life I wasn't worrying at the details." 

She smiles a little at that thought.  "I like that.  I'm not agonizing over anything or making up possible scenarios for things to go wrong.  I'm here.  Finally."  She sighs in relief.  "You did a great job as an avenger.  All I could do is club him and that just gives him another reason to be angry at women.  Showing them the pain, the suffering... That might stick in their heads long enough to make a difference.  If it doesn't we'll figure out something else."

A little more shyly she asks, "Can you make it thunder?"

Colin turns back towards they left Ted, to look at what he's doing and to glare at him. Now that there's a distance between them, he lets his anger go, and find its way to the sky. Ted would better not cross his path again.

OOC: Can I have a thunder here to make my girl happy? ;)

"So you think we should do this to the others too, or sending them to prison and therapy will be enough?"

As if answering his anger the sky and the Earth have a momentary connection, and lightning strikes a post a few yards from Ted.  The report of lightning is instantaneious at this distance, and it rolls away, as if heralding a change in the world.

"Wow," whispers Sarah, dazzled by the light show.  She blinks a few times and grins.  "Come on!  Let's get out of here!"  She tugs on his arm and pulls him out of sight of the batting cages and out of the place entirely.  She leads him down a side street before letting him slow up. 

Colin looks around and then at Sarah.

"Why this hurry?"

It's clear from his face that he's trying to push back his anger into the dark corner where he always hides it.

She shrugs and smiles, "I know you said that people will forget about you when you've been around... I don't remember anyone saying that about me." 

"Plus I didn't think it would be appropriate to kiss you in front of the bad guy."

Colin looks at her raising an eyebrow.

"No, I guess it wouldn't. It would have ruined the effect."

He takes her hand.

"You couldn't wait?"

"Well some girls say a guy can make the earth move for them but how many can make the heavens fall?" she asks with a grin.  "That was really amazing."

"It was supposed to be ominous and scary. Not amazing." he says with a fake frown and pulls her close.

"Wednesday. Dinner. My house, my movie. Bring your lips."
He teases her with a kiss too quick.

"Oh very scary.  Yes.  I was very frightened," she says with wide eyes and mock sincerity. 

"Wednesday is cool."

She grabs the front of his shirt in both hands and tugs him close.  "Come here hero and get your reward." 

Her face tilts up a fraction towards Colin's.  She gives him a wicked smile before leaning in for a long kiss.

OOC:  Fade to Black?

OOC: Fade to black is cool. :)