Z20
The Ghost Walks Again
By Marzena
Chapter 1: Heroes Don't Die
Silence greeted her announcement, and uncomfortable glances were shared. Amy had tears in her eyes, Mandrake took off his topper, and even the scarcely audible noises Dynak usually made seemed a lot less noisy right now. The Phantom – dead? No, it couldn't be …
Then, Sheila rushed forward, taking Jedda into her arms, holding her close. And for a moment, Jedda allowed herself to rest, to give up control, to let herself go.
"Are you ..." Flash slowly cleared his throat, obviously not wanting to say it. " ... I mean, did you make sure he's ..."
"Did I make sure he's really dead?" With swollen eyes, Jedda looked over Sheila's shoulder in his direction, her gaze fixated on him. "Of course I made sure my father is really dead, Flash. I went down to that rocky gorge where he fell down into. I saw those deadly white water rapids with my very own eyes. I flew the Skull Copter all along the gorge, as deep down as I was able to. I couldn't see anything expect deadly rocks and deadly currents. If the fall from that height didn't kill him, the rapids sure did. Anything else you want to know, Flash?"
He sure looked uncomfortable now. "No, Jedda, I don't. I just ... I guess I just had to make sure ..."
"I know." She swallowed hard, still holding on to Sheila. She didn't cry anymore, but her red and swollen eyes told them that she'd done her share of crying on her way back to Monitor. "I don't blame you for asking, Flash, because I kept asking myself the same question over and over again. I flew along the gorge time and time again, hoping to see anything besides the occasional log or rock to pop up between the waves, but ..."
"I'm so sorry, Jedda," Amy interrupted, walking up to her and giving her a hug. "If there's anything I can do for you, please just say so."
"You can't bring my father back, can you?" Jedda sadly asked back, sighing.
Amy just shook her head, and Jedda looked down for a moment. Then she took a deep breath and stepped away from Sheila and Amy, holding up something she'd been clutching in her shaking hands. It was dark, heavy and apparently not in a good condition.
"I found this, down at the riverbank," she quietly said. "I landed there, hoping that the currents might … you know, usually pieces of wood, garbage and rock end up being washed up there, so I thought, maybe ..."
"You didn't find the Phantom," Lothar quickly interjected, carefully avoiding saying anything about a body, or worse, body parts, torn apart by the deadly rocks down in the gorge.
"That's good!" April said, looking up from her seat in front of Dynak X, where she sat next to a very pale-looking Rick. "That means, officially, Phantom's still missing, and not, you know ..."
"Dead," Jedda slowly said, clutching the messy-looking thing in her hand even tighter.
"What have you got there?" Sheila asked, obviously trying to steer away the conversation from words like 'dead'.
"Father's belt," Jedda whispered, holding up the black thing, now torn and messy, and the skull-emblem that had always decorated the front was missing.
In a way, finding the belt, and in this condition, was worse than finding Phantom's dead body. So obviously he had been caught up in the deadly currents down in the gorge. His clothes had probably been torn apart, and as for his body ... it hadn't washed up on the riverbank, so it had probably been drowned all the way, maybe ended up stuck between two rocks underwater, with no way out …
"Jedda, I'm so ..."
"Don't!" Sharply, Jedda interrupted before Sheila could say anything more. Still holding the belt, she took a few steps toward the door. "I ... I have to be alone for a while. I have to think. I have to ..."
"Of course you do, honey," Sheila immediately said. "You take your time, okay? And we'll all be here for you if you need us."
"Thank you," Jedda answered, now barely holding back the tears again.
Rick stood up, obviously wanting to comfort Jedda, but Sheila shook her head. She waited until the automatic doors had closed behind the poor girl, then she went over to her step-son.
"I think we should leave her alone for now," she said. "She needs time to sort this out, to come to terms with it, to fully comprehend what has happened."
Silence again, but then Mandrake nodded in agreement, and slowly, so did the others. They barely spoke. The Phantom, dead, just like that. They were barely able to comprehend that themselves, let alone accept it.
"He can't just be dead," Kshin finally whispered, clinging to Mandrake. "He's a hero. He can't be dead. Heroes don't die. Not just like that."
Mandrake put his hands on Kshin's shoulders in comfort, and nobody really knew what to say to Kshin's words. Yes, Phantom had been a true hero, although he would have denied that. And yes, heroes weren't supposed to die like that. Let alone die at all.
And then April started to hammer away at Dynak's keyboard, and very slowly, each of them tried to focus on doing something. Sheila turned around for Flash, but instead, she caught side of her sister, standing all the way in the back, her head held up high as usual, a stony expression on her face.
"Are you okay?" Sheila quietly asked, walking over to her.
"Now why wouldn't I be?" Hadea calmly replied.
"Because no one of us is," Sheila curtly replied, but Hadea just ignored her and walked out of the room.
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Chapters
The Defenders and those closest to them mourn the apparent loss of the Phantom.
Concerns over Jedda's intentions arise.
An emotional Jedda chooses to continue her father's mission.
Sheila suggests that Hadea speak to Jedda.
Hadea tries reasoning with Jedda, and ends up accompanying her.
Jedda and Hadea reach the Falou village, where a mystery arises.
As the battle against Madden's machines intensifies, Jedda learns an unsettling secret.
The battle reaches its conclusion amid a jarring surprise.
The conclusion of the mission in the Falou village.
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