We last read Chapter 24, in which Imperator Barrows checks on his sidekick Rogue while she's on her mission to apprehend Specter for the spectral superheroine's continued hits on the Shattered Circle and its affiliates. After trading words with Rogue---revealing that he's about to go on a mission of his own to retrieve the final part the Circle needs to finish their ultimate supercomputer---he and her hang up, with Rogue returning to her business.
Meanwhile, T.J. sits on the front steps of his house alongside his new friend Dashie, whom he and Specter met during their second visit to the Rusted Citadel harbor earlier that day. The two of them discuss the Rusted Citadel rebellion and the Iron Kingpin's dethronement further---as well as the massive ramifications of it---with Dashie going on to say that her cousin was once a fierce opponent of the Kingpin before finally being arrested and shunted away to an isolated colony for the rest of his days.....and eventually dying there, much to her heartbreak. Still, she lets T.J. know that he would've loved to have seen the Iron Kingpin overthrown with his own eyes, and that if she had known about Specter's rebellion from the start, she would've jumped at the chance to join it alongside T.J. T.J. jokingly points out that she can just join the next time there's a rebellion, to which Dashie voices her hope that there won't be one.
The chapter ended with Specter returning to the Obsidian Sanctum in her sleek silver convertible after having dropped both T.J. and Dashie off at the former's house, pulling into the driveway before turning off the engine and getting out. However, she soon finds herself accosted by a voice seemingly coming out of nowhere.....a distinctively English-accented one that sounds nothing like the one confronting her in her dream sequences. Before she has a chance to learn more about who the "newcomer" supposedly is, she's promptly subdued when an assailant wraps a plastic bag around her face, forces her to the ground back-first, and asphyxiates her into unconsciousness despite her struggling.
This time, Specter has another run-in with the bloodthirsty voice from her dreams, and soon awakens to find herself in a rather unfortunate predicament indeed.....
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-Obsidian Sanctum Throne Room, Dream Pocket-
Specter groaned as she picked herself off the floor, pulled herself back up to a standing position, and shook her head to get rid of her dizziness, with her "soaked" red hair moving smoothly---and almost fluidly---in accordance. She was still in her suit, of course; her white, hooded, full-body suit with off-white attachments and highlights. Looking around, she realized that she had returned to the exact same dream pocket which she had effectively been forced to visit several times by now, and that it was no different from before; it was still the Obsidian Sanctum's throne room, but as it was under the Iron Kingpin's rule instead of King Ryker's.
The spectral super heroine let out a deep sigh and rolled her eyes.
"Let me guess....." she suggested. "All of the goons that were killed on the battleship didn't count towards freeing you because T.J. technically killed them and not me?"
"Correct," the mysterious voice who had always conversed with her during her recent dreams replied, with a hint of tiredness and disappointment in his tone. "I needed you to spill blood, not to set someone else to do it for you."
Specter shrugged, having no explanation or excuse. "Whatever. I'm sorry, okay?"
"You're no closer to freeing me than you were before."
"Okay, I get that! I guess I fail to see why you can't just tell me. You know.....with that voice you clearly have."
"If you already knew who I was.....you would abandon me in an instant," the voice claimed. "It is imperative that you allow me to regain a corporeal form first, so we can communicate with no obstacles. And you can't do that if you don't start showing your violent side again." It then paused momentarily before continuing. "You're somewhat like me, in that regard."
YOU ARE READING
Specter
Ficção Adolescente~PARAGON CINEMATIC UNIVERSE: PHASE 3, BOOK 2~ *This novel serves as the 2nd novel of Phase 3 and a sequel to "Spark of the Rebellion".* "War is part of nature, and it's time that you accept that. When we return this Citadel to its warring state...
