(Disclaimer: A warning to those who continue.  This is a sequel to a previous story.  Both of these were written in the mid-1990’s.  While the first one was slightly edited and vanity press published, this one has not been touched in over 20 years.  I figure I should do something with it and people may get a laugh or fright from how I used to be.  Every author comes from somewhere, so this is part of my origin.  To that end, I am deeply sorry for whatever nightmares I will inflict on the literary world and the American English language.  Enjoy?)

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A small, still used, orphanage outside New York City is where the other two evil immortals have been since they left Fate’s hometown.  Their illegal entrance was unknown until an elderly janitor found them sneaking through the dark hallways.  Tegam left him alive, but they both know that the police can arrive at any moment.  So they are very nervous when it takes Adriana two hours of looking through old, handwritten files to find what she wants.

“I don’t believe it.  It’s him.  Now, I know where I’ve heard Edward Slane’s name before,” whispers Adriana while trying very hard to keep her voice down.

“Care to enlighten me?  But first, I suggest you tell me what will happen when the cops show up,” says Tegam, who is keeping a watch out the window.  He can barely make out the sound of distant sirens.

“Absolutely nothing.  There are sleeping children in this building that can get in the way.  That is why I left the window open and why we’re sitting in plain sight of the street.  We’ll just play dead once we get shot a couple times and walk out of the morgue later.  After scaring that old man and nearly killing him, those cops are definitely going to come in shooting.  Especially, if Draveon and Cybro have made an appearance.  Those two are not the most subtle.”

“Good point.  Nobody has to get hurt.”

“I didn’t say that.  No children should get hurt in the crossfire, but the cops are a different story.  Are you getting soft, Tegam?”

“Soft?  No.  I, um.  I just assumed that was what you meant.  Now, about Mr. Slane.  What did you find in those files?”

Adriana sits on the desk and faces the open window before answering, “I’ll give you the details when we’re in the morgue.  Let’s just say that I was watching him for a few years since he was born.  Something about the baby told me that he would become extremely important in my life.  Actually, Startrix told me he would.  But when his parents died, I sort of lost track of the kid.  Let’s leave it at that because some of the needed parts are still a little . . . fuzzy in my head.”

“You’re not telling me everything you remember, Adriana.  Spill it or I’ll leave you here by yourself.”

“Not now.  I’ll tell you the rest of what I know later.  I promise.”

“I’m looking forward to it.  Right now, we have that annoying problem of several cops around the building.  Take a look down there.  You might find it on the verge of interesting.”

Adriana looks outside the window in time to feel a hot bullet slam into her forehead.  After two slow seconds, she realizes what has just happened and topples backwards.  When she looks up, the blond immortal sees Tegam’s chest get riddled with bullets.  She lets out a few, small laughs while blood keeps flowing out of her head wound.  It takes a lot of effort for her to prevent the wound from healing.

“Is this pain really necessary?  We could easily sneak out through the vents.  I’ll even settle for the sewers.  It might be a very dirty and smelly place, but at least it’s painless,” whispers Tegam through gritted teeth.  Bullets are still flying through the window and pelt the wall.

“We could, but we won’t.  Anyway, it’s too late now.  So, shut up and play dead.  Got any aspirin?  This really hurts,” Adriana replies as she watches blood continue to drip down her face.  Her smile is surprisingly pleasant considering the piece of metal lodged in her brain.  As an after thought, Adriana clutches her healing staff as hard as she can, so it can’t easily be taken away from her.

“Pain killers?  You should have thought of that before you made this plan.  That is if anyone can call this act of utter stupidity a plan.  Those cops are still shooting at us even though they can’t see us.”

“They might have run across Hydrana, Draveon, or Cybro.  Since they probably showed that they could take more damage than one bullet, the police probably think the same thing of us.”

“How can they make any connection between the five of us?  We haven’t been seen together in public yet.”

“Gee, I don’t know.  Five powerful entities of destruction running around in comic book-like costumes at the exact same time is never a coincidence.  Hold on.  I just thought of something.  Do you have any idea how to make them believe that we’re really dead?  They are definitely going to check us for a pulse or breathing.”

“For myself, I can make those particular functions invisible to them.  But I don’t think I would have to do that for you.  It looks like you really are dying since you won’t let your body heal itself,” whispers the prankster with a deep, concerned voice.

“Nonsense,” she replies while the bullets finally stop coming through the open window.

“Look, Adriana.  This is going to sound stupid.  But isn’t it dangerous for us to take this amount of damage and not let our bodies heal it.  Even if the damage is from mortals?”

“Nah.  We can’t be killed or even be scarred by these uniformed geeks.  I doubt that we’ll even . . .pass. . .out. . .  Damn.  I. . . hate. . .being. . .wrong.”  Tegam watches in mild amusement as Adriana’s glassy eyes roll back and she passes out from severe blood lose.