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                              RADIAN & SHADEBEAM
                                  Episode 49
                           (Brutal Light, part nine)
                                 "Confessions"
                                      by
                                 Gary W. Olson

                                    -<=*=>-

     "Eleven p.m, and all's hell," Akane said, as she gazed down at the city
light, clinging like humid air to the streets below.  Below, somewhere, she
knew that Criticalman and Willwarp were waiting, keeping an eye out in case
Ian decided to stop in early.  The dim sounds of a helicopters blades could
be heard from a distance, through the open window.  She imagined she could
hear a siren, calling from the heart of the city.
     Rad had loved the city, and he had represented the best aspects of it --
the joy, the freedom, the light.  A deep tan and a relentlessly blinding grin,
good-hearted, hedonistic, and fun.  She had watched him, eventually following
him into the field of superheroing, only to betray what he represented.  She
was darkness, betrayal, and corrosion, with a deepening pallor and razor-sharp
fangs.
     In a way, she represented the city as much as he once did.
     -But not nearly as much as Tommy Lasorda,- Kyoko opined.
     Akane scowled at Kyoko, who simply shrugged and smiled back at her.
     "Come now," a voice suggested, "what's that corner ever done to you?"
     The owner of the voice chuckled slightly as Akane turned quickly, almost
unconsciously adopting a defensive stance that relaxed, grudgingly, when she
saw who she faced.
     "Sorry," Akane said.  "I'm not used to anyone being able to sneak up on
me."
     "I'm not the person I used to be," Eivandt replied.  "My old body didn't
have the coordination that this one has, or the reflexes."
     "You've been working out?" Akane asked, raising an eyebrow.
     "Body by Ubermachine," Eivandt said, a smile breaking on his face.
     "Why were you watching me?" Akane asked.
     "Well, someone's got to, don't they?" he asked.  Akane nodded, partially
turning away, to look at her reflection in the glass.  Andro, who had been a
few feet away, eating some tuna, looked up and padded over.  He leapt up onto
the sill and ran his neck under Akane's fingers, which absently began to
scratch.
     "Actually," Eivandt said, "that wasn't the only reason.  I mean...I look
at you, and you seem so..."
     "Different?" Akane asked.
     "Yeah," Eivandt replied.  "But not that different, really.  I can remember,
back just a couple years ago, when you arrived here to join the team, and you
thought I was Manny at first..."
     "I was dizzy," Akane said, smiling a bit despite herself.  "I thought I
was seeing double."
     "Guess you can't say that now," Eivandt said.  Akane nodded, and turned
away again.
     *Look at him,* China said.  *He's trying to say something, but can't
find the words.*
     -Where's that Encyclopedia Britannia dweeb when you need him?- Andro
asked.
     "What are you trying to say?" Akane asked, as she looked back at
Eivandt.
     "Me?" Eivandt asked.  "Nothing!  Just making a general observation,
that's all."  He paused.  "Nope, nothing," he added, to drive the point home.
     Akane nodded.
     "Okay, something," Eivandt said.  "It's...it's...why did you do it?"
     "Do what?" Akane asked.
     "Try to destroy the world," Eivandt added.
     "Oh, that," Akane said, shrugging.  "I absorbed some dark magic to save
you, the rest of CalForce, and Faith, and it ate away at the good in me until
there was nothing left.  I took China's blood, gained a shitload of power, and
tried to pop up to the higher dimensions, using the Earth as a stepping stone.
Needless to say, it didn't pan out."
     -You know,- Kyoko said, -when you put it like that, it almost makes sense.-
     -Still doesn't explain all that Egyptian stuff from last episode,- Andro
told her.
     *I understood it,* China interjected.  Kyoko stuck her tongue out at her.
     "I know you're not the Radian we once knew," Eivandt told her, as his eyes
widened, slightly.  "But you're not that...other Radian, either.  Right after
we captured you, if we had been able to hand you over to the feds then, I think
we could have, with no regrets.  But now, Manny, Yury, Key, Kent, Templar and
I look at you, and...it's difficult, y'know?  You're so similar to the way
you used to be..."
     "...and yet, I'm so different," Akane finished.  "When this is over,
you're still going to hand me over to the law.  You just want me to say, 'It's
okay, Eivandt, I understand.'"
     "I don't know what to expect from you anymore," Eivandt told her.  "It's
like you're on a line, half-good, half-evil, and you have no compunctions about
going back and forth between the two when it suits you."
     "The way you put it sounds so..." Akane started.
     -Hackeneyed?- Andro asked.
     *Cliched?* China inquired.
     -Trite?- Kyoko asked.
     "...quaint," Akane finished.  "But I suppose the description works.
There's only two other people that I imagine it could fit.  One wanted to love
me, but denied himself, out of a sense of duty to his position.  The other
wanted to shoot me in the head, and did."
     Eivandt blinked.
     "I got better, obviously," Akane added.
     "You're talking about Ramrod," Eivandt deduced.
     "For the latter, yes," Akane said.  "I'd rather not name the former, to
protect his identity."
     "What would you do if you met him again?" Eivandt asked.
     "I'd give him a second chance," Akane said.  "If he were willing to take
it."
     "And if you encountered Ramrod again?"
     Akane thought about that a while.
     "I'd give him a second chance, too," she said.  "But I'd make sure the
outcome was different."  She smiled, showing the tips of her fangs, which
seemed to unnerve Eivandt.
     "Fourty-five minutes to go," Eivandt said, looking at his watch.  "I'd
better check on the preparations."
     "Don't you have to watch me?" Akane asked.
     "Well, HAL can do that," Eivandt told her, quickly.
     "If you're leaving, could you send Shadebeam and Kaoru here?" Akane
asked.  "I haven't had much of a chance to talk to either of them since I was
captured, and what with imminent death looming..."
     "Sure," Eivandt said, as he left, closing the door behind him.  Akane
smiled, and turned back to the window.

                                    -<=*=>-

     "What's this about?" Chalandra asked, as she closed the door of the
conference room.
     "It's about Agent Selanova," Manny said.  "Remember I told you about
the conference Eivandt, Glum, and I had with her and her agents.  I didn't
mention everything."
     "I thought something was missing," Chalandra said, smirking.
     "I wanted to wait until after you'd slept to discuss it with you,"
Manny said.  "She thinks that someone in CalForce is a traitor whose been
in contact with Radian ever since her escape last year."
     Chalandra said nothing, though she knew that Manny could see the
expression on her face.  Fortunately, he misinterpreted it.
     "I know, I know," he said.  "I must have looked just like that when
she told me.  I can't believe it myself...I don't even know where to start
investigating."
     "Investigating?" Chalandra asked.  "She doesn't know who it's supposed
to be?"
     "No," Manny said, shaking his head.  "Though she had a pretty thick file
of evidence.  Tom and HAL are going over it now."
     "Maybe it's fake," Chalandra suggested.
     "Tom doesn't think so," Manny said.  "Which puts me in a very difficult
position.  That's why I wanted to talk to you first, before breaking it to
the others -- you're a better detective than I am, and I'd like to have
something to go on."
     "Well, the first step is to determine who's had the means to do so,"
Chalandra started, slowly.  "Which would be everyone currently in CalForce,
except for Eivandt, who's been away most of the time."
     "I think we can strike Mighty Guy from the list," Eivandt said.  "Both
for the fact that his sense of duty is so Mighty that it wouldn't permit it,
and because he'd probably cause a big mess in the process.  Whoever made the
calls would have had to have done so without HAL monitoring them, an option
we all have."
     "They'd also have to have some technical skill," Chalandra said.  "Else
the agents would have detected it right away."
     "Agreed," Manny said.  "Tom would seem a likely candidate, except for the
fact he joined the team after the Songs of Darkness, and he doesn't really
have the attachment that the rest of us had to her.  Same for Laura.  That
just leaves Key, Yury, and Templar."
     "And me," Chalandra said.
     "Be serious, Chal," Manny admonished.  "I'm trying to think of a reason,
any reason, why they'd want to help her..."
     "I am being serious, Manny," Chalandra told him.  "Is there any reason
I couldn't have done it?"
     He looked at her, and started laughing.  Chalandra started laughing, too.
     "Oh, that's rich," Manny said.  "You, betray the team?"
     "I could have done it," Chalandra told him, in between chuckles.
     "So could I," Manny replied, as he tried to pull himself together.
     "No you couldn't have," Chalandra said.  "I know you."
     "Oh yeah?" Manny asked, his laughter dying away.  "I don't think you know
me as well as you think."
     "And you don't know me as well, either!"
     "Maybe not, but I *do* know you couldn't have done it," Manny told her.
     "And I know *you* couldn't have done it!" Chalandra exclaimed.
     "How do you know?!"
     "Because I did it!!" Chalandra shouted.
     The conference room seemed to echo the words.  Manny looked at her, for
a long time, before starting to chuckle again.
     "That's good, Chalandra," he said.  "That's really good.  Now back to
the subject.  I...I..."
     He looked at her again, focusing on her eyes.
     He stopped laughing.
     Silence.
     "You're serious, aren't you?" Manny asked, finally.
     Chalandra nodded.
     "Hoo," Manny commented.

                                    -<=*=>-

     The door opened, and Shadebeam and Kaoru entered.  Akane saw a flash of
Eivandt's multi-colored hair before the door closed, as she embraced Shadebeam
and Kaoru.  Akane and Shadebeam said the same thing simultaneously.
     "Ouch!" they yelped, pushing away and glaring at Kaoru.  "Watch it with
those things!"
     "Oops," Kaoru said, lifting his talons so that he could look at them.
"These seem to cause problems when I attempt any form of physical affection."
     -Next time send a Hallmark card,- Kyoko suggested.
     "How've you been, K?" Akane asked.  "They've been treating you well?"
     "Yes, surprisingly enough," Kaoru said.  "They seem to have accepted the
notion that I've turned over a new leaf, that I'm no longer the villain they
once fought.  In fact, Yury suggested that I might stay, after you're sent
away."
     "That's not a bad idea," Akane said.  "If you want to be a superguy,
you'll need some training, and this is as good a place to get it as any."
     "But I can't leave you!" Kaoru exclaimed.  "I can help you, in the battles
that are to come..."
     "Not to butt in," Shadebeam butted in, "but can we discuss this later?"
     *She's right,* Symon admonished.  *One impossible task at a time.*
     -Ooh, I love it when you talk like that,- Kyoko said to him.
     -You never talk like that to me,- Andro complained.  -And I'm a far more
sympathetic audience.-
     HAL, or the image of HAL that Akane saw in her mind's eye, materialized
in the room and shushed them all with a look.
     <<We have thirty minutes to go until midnight,>> he told them.  <<All
the preparations are in place for the battle.>>
     "Guess that means we have to go, huh?" Shadebeam asked.
     <<Almost,>> HAL answered.  <<Dave is talking to Chalandra in the
conference room.  They are discussing who has been in contact with you these
past months.>>
     "Then they know...?" Shadebeam asked.  "But..."
     <<They know a part of it,>> HAL told them.  <<I cannot explain more now.>>
     "Understood, HAL," Akane told him.  HAL nodded and dematerialized.
     *Our house of cards would seem to be falling apart,* Symon commented.
     -And again,- Kyoko sighed.  -You form your consonants so well.-
     *Stop that,* Symon told her.  He looked at Akane.  *Make her stop.*
     "Like I could control her," Akane said, giggling a bit.
     -Don't know why you're bothering, Ky,- Andro said.  His physical form,
that of a white-furred cat, froze in place, as his dreamform, a catlike
humanoid with red hair and a cheshire grin, materialized.  -He's more
interested in China, anyway.-  China looked at Symon, startled.
     *I'm not liiiisteniiiing!* Symon sang.
     -You're one to talk, you little slut,- Kyoko told Andro.  -You've
wanted me ever since day one.-
     -Your point?- Andro asked, his grin growing broader.  Kyoko flipped him
off.
     "Will all of you just SHUT UP?!?" Akane asked, rather loudly.
     *I wasn't saying anything,* China said.
     -Sorry,- Kyoko apologized.  -It's just that imminent death and destruction
makes me horny.-  Akane sighed, and looked at Shadebeam.
     "Don't look at me," Shadebeam told her.  "They're your delusions."
     "My head hurts," Kaoru complained.
     *We are not delusions!* China and Kyoko protested.
     <<Twenty minutes,>> HAL said.  <<Dave is requesting that everyone join
him at the elevators.>>
     "I don't suppose any of you wants him?" Shadebeam asked, indicating HAL.
     -*Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmno,*- Kyoko, China, Andro, and Symon responded.
     -He's free,- Kyoko told Shadebeam.  -You're in luck.-  Shadebeam flipped
Kyoko off.
     "Someday I'll understand it when you talk to the air like that," Kaoru
sighed, as they filed from the room.

                                    -<=*=>-

     It was a while before either of them could speak.
     "How...how did you do it?" Manny asked.  Chalandra could hear him trying
to keep his voice level, almost succeeding.
     "Like you said," Chalandra said.  "I would tell HAL not to monitor, then
I'd talk to her.  She'd have to initiate the contact, of course, since I'd
have no way of knowing where she'd be.  Then I'd program a route through a
cluster of satellites, using an encryption algorithm of my own devising, so
we could talk securely."
     "And that's all you did," Manny said.  "Just...talk."
     "Yes," Chalandra said.
     "Well..."
     "And I helped her escape."
     Manny blinked.
     "Care to run that by me again?"
     "I helped her to escape," Chalandra said.  "What word didn't you
understand?"
     "You *helped* her to escape?!" Manny asked in disbelief.  "But...why?"
     <<Dave...>> HAL interrupted.
     "Not now, HAL," Chalandra said.
     <<I have something important to tell you...>> HAL went on.
     "Cease monitoring this room immediately, HAL," Manny said.  "That's an
order."
     There was a pause.
     <<Yes, Dave,>> HAL said, finally.
     Manny looked at Chalandra, and she heard the pounding of his heart, heard
the pain that he felt with every beat.
     "I was monitoring her and Shadebeam, in her room," Chalandra said.  "When
I heard them talking about escaping, I deleted HAL's records of the
conversation, and told the rest of the team I'd looked in on them when I
hadn't, so they would have a night's head start."
     "That doesn't answer the question of why," Manny said.  "She *murdered*
four people directly, one of them a small girl!"
     "Do you think I haven't killed any small girls, in my time?" Chalandra
asked.  "I've got a news flash for you, hon.  I'm a vampire.  You name it,
I've killed it, for survival or pleasure.  It's only been in, say, the last
two hundred years that I've looked for alternatives."
     "I...I guess I don't know you all that well," Manny admitted.
     "My point is that I knew what it was like for her," Chalandra said.
"I've been there.  I also know it's possible to change, that nothing is
irreversable.  A long time ago, someone gave me a second chance, when I faced
the penalty of death.  And when I saw Little Fang, I knew I had to give her
one, too."
     Manny blinked.  "Waitaminute.  Back up.  She was Little Fang?"
     "Yes," Chalandra said.  "Weren't you paying attention to the story I
told you?" [Blood Season, for those wondering -- auth.]
     "Well, you were naked and within arm's reach," Manny said.  "I got
somewhat distracted."
     "So I remember," Chalandra said, smiling a bit.
     "You know what this means," Manny said.
     "Manny, I..."
     "Don't," Manny said.  "We've got ten minutes 'till midnight.  Let's
get out there and do what we have to do.  And when that's over...I'll do what
I have to do."
     Chalandra watched him stand, and walk out of the conference room without
another word.  She tasted blood on her lip, and licked it, realizing it had
trickled from her eye.
     She wiped it with a tissue, before following him out of the room.

                                    -<=*=>-

     "Okay," Karina said, as she stepped into the van.  "What's the scoop?"
     "They're assembling on the lawn in front of the C Building, sir,"
Atkinson told her.  "They have the woman Chelsa with her, it looks like.  She
seems groggy, but awake.  Dar is there, as well."
     "Do you see Radian, or Shadebeam?" Karina asked.
     "Not yet--wait," Atkinson said.  "There they are.  They're emerging from
the building."
     "We've got full color and sound," Sutherland told her.  "Looks like the
Schmooze was right after all.  Who'da thunk it?"
     "Keep recording," Karina instructed.
     "Aren't we going to go in and nab them?" Atkinson asked.  "We'd nail
them both, *and* we'd bring down that lot of do-good busybodies."
     "That's not in our mission profile," Karina reminded him.  "Super teams
are very useful things, when a crisis is at hand.  It would be wasteful to
have them arrested.  But with this footage, and Confusion's earlier denial..."
     "...we have leverage for future dealings with them," Atkinson said.  "I
follow the logic now, sir."
     "Five minutes to midnight," Sutherland reported.  "Do you think something's
going to happen soon?"
     "Definitely," Karina said.  "Keep watching."

                                    -<=*=>-

     Finally, they were all in position.  Confusion, Willwarp, Radian, HotFlash,
Mighty Guy, MeltDown, Kaoru, Criticalman, Glum, Chalandra, and Microvax were
arrayed in a circle around Chelsa, who was glaring at them but was making no
move to escape, mostly due to the presence of Dar at her left hand side and
Shadebeam at her right.  Shadebeam was holding a waffle, and occasionally
waggled it at her.  Marian, Michael, and Laura were, of course, in CalForce
headquarters, out of harm's way (they hoped).  Tommy Anderson was nowhere in
the vicinity, happily.
     Four minutes.
     Three minutes.
     Two minutes.
     "He did say in *front* of the building, right?" Mighty Guy asked.
     "Ssh!" Glum told him.
     One minute.
     Something began to happen.  Directly in front of Confusion, and in the
direction that Chelsa was looking, the air was beginning to warp.  Gradually,
three bodies began to take shape within it, bodies that Confusion recognized
as belonging to Ian, Hecate, and Rad.
     Rad looked dazed, but seemed otherwise unharmed.  Manny let out a small
sigh of relief.  He hoped the exchange would go smoothly, and that Ian wouldn't
try anything.
     If he did try something, Manny hoped that the surprises his team had laid
in preparation would stop him.  Otherwise...
     "It's time," Ian said.  "My sister, are you unharmed?"
     "Yes," Chelsa answered.  "You came for me."
     "As you would have for me," Ian said.  The members of CalForce were now
turned, so that all were facing Ian, though they stayed in their circular
formation around Chelsa.  "Are you ready for the exchange?"
     "We are," Confusion said.  "You first."
     "As you wish," Ian said.  "Start walking, father."
     Rad nodded, and started walking forward.

WILL THE EXCHANGE GO SMOOTHLY, OR WILL COMPLICATIONS DEVELOP?
IF COMPLICATIONS DON'T DEVELOP, HOW THE HELL WILL THE AUTHOR MAKE THE NEXT
     EPISODE EXCITING?
HOW THE HELL WILL HE MAKE *THIS* EPISODE EXCITING?
WILL MANNY TURN CHALANDRA IN?
WILL CHALANDRA ALLOW HERSELF TO BE TURNED IN?
WILL RADIAN AND SHADEBEAM HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT IT?
WILL WHIPPED CREAM BE EXTRA?

Find out the shocking and enigmatic conclusion of this epic storyline in
Radian & Shadebeam #50/CalForce #118, only on SUPERGUY!, the stock market
for the next hundred years.
--
Gary W. Olson         swede@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu         swede@drycas.bitnet

       "Mine brain has meditated on the spinning of The Chao
        It is hovering o'er the table where the Chiefs of Staff are now
        Gathered in discussion of the dropping of The Bomb
        Her Apple Corps is strong!"
                     - The Battle Hymn of the Eristocracy (first verse)