Static Sparks (Good Karma)

Day 19...

When morning came, Cole awoke to Twilight's sleeping face. He smiled as he remembered what happened the previous day. He had started a relationship with this kind, beautiful, intelligent, and compassionate woman. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. Noticing that he wasn't in her arms anymore. He began to slowly get off of the couch. He nearly jumped out of his skin when someone spoke to him.

"Have a nice night, man?" Cole whirled around to see Zeke looking at him with a smirk. "The two of you looked very comfortable in each others arms," he teased. "So how was it?"

Blushing, Cole said, "Nothing happened Zeke. Twilight just wanted to be together as we slept. She also probably didn't want me to sleep in the lawn chair and doesn't want me to anymore. Now that we are together we don't have to worry about not having enough places to sleep. Her magic helped with that too if you hadn't noticed."

"I'm just messing with you man. I know you wouldn't do that so soon and Twilight doesn't strike me as that type either. And yeah I saw what she did to the couch, that's the biggest I've ever seen a couch," Zeke said. "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to go to head somewhere there seems to be some trouble," Cole said.

Zeke looked at the still sleeping forms of Twilight and Spike, "What about them? Your not going to take them with you?"

Looking at them, he shook his head, "No, it might not be much. It's not something Moya contacted me about it's just something I heard was going on."

He shrugged, "If you say so. I'll tell them it's nothing big if they wake up before you get back."

Cole headed off the roof onto the tracks and started to grind to his destination.

As he neared the location he jumped from the rails and walked the rest of the way. As he reached a building with some sick and/or injured people around it, Cole saw Trish helping people. When she noticed him, she ran to him.

As she came to a stop, she looked at him accusingly, "This almost as bad as the fountain, if not worse. Why aren't you doing anything about it?"

'Geez, was she always this... ill-tempered?' he thought. "I took out a whole damn truck of the crap that was under the park. I thought that would stop them," he said.

Her eyes narrowed, "Well, the people here aren't just getting themselves sick. That stuff has some source." She turned and walked away, back to the sick.

Staring after her, Cole couldn't help to feel glad he was with Twilight now. 'I know Trish isn't always like this, but damn it she's pretty much blaming me and Twilight for this. I don't care what she thinks of me, I can take it, but Twilight is a pretty sensitive woman. She doesn't deserve this,' he thought, angrily. Taking deep breaths to calm himself, he called Moya to see if she could figure out what's causing the problem. "Moya, that black tar from before has shown up again. There's a bunch of people sick everywhere over here," he told her.

"There are several water tower's on the rooftops in that area. They're the only remaining water sources," she said.

"Right, I'll go see what's going on," he said. He started to climb the nearest building with a water tower. When he reached the roof he saw several Reapers walking around on it. Hanging off of the edge of the building he aimed at the farthest Reaper. Once his aim was steady and had a clear shot, he shot the Reaper in the head. As he went down and the other's attention was on the fallen, Cole jumped onto the roof and sent a shockwave at the nearest Reaper. While that Reaper was sent floating through the air, he rushed toward the remaining Reaper and clothes-lined him. As he went down clutching his throat Cole restrained him. Turning his attention back to the previously airborne Reaper, he ran at him and, before he could aim, hit him with his gigawatt blades.

He walked over to the water tower and started to climb to the top. Once there he saw a strange keg, that had the black tar seeping out of it. Cole contacted Moya, "There are Reapers all over the roof here. They were guarding a keg that has the tar leaking out of it."

"That has to be how they are contaminating the water. Destroy that thing now," she said.

He leaned toward the device and took a closer look at it. He saw a chargeable device attached to it. "I wonder," he said to himself. Placing a hand on the device, Cole funneled his electricity into the device, pouring as much into it as he could. As the keg was being overcharged, it began to shake violently. The shaking soon became to much and it fell off of it's holder, falling to the roof.

"Shit," he swore. Contacting Moya, he told her how he had dealt with the keg. "I accidentally made things worse. I tried overcharging the pump. It sort of worked, but ended up pumping the tar faster into the tower," he said.

"That extra tar is going to get even more people sick and we don't want that, now do we? Blow the next one up. You'll get covered in the tar, but people's lives will be saved," she said.

Cole turned toward the next water tower and headed over. When he reached the roof he saw several people on the ground surrounded by the tar. He walked up to one of them and tried to heal them. At first it seemed to work, the man started to move and eventually get up. Cole turned to go heal the others when he was struck in the back of the head.

Turning he saw the man he healed attacking him. "What the hell!? What are you doing? I was just trying to help," he yelled. The man didn't seem to hear him as he continued to attack. Having had enough, he tackled the man to the ground and restrained him. Looking down at the struggling man, Cole thought, 'Shit, is this what that crap does to you?' Shaking his head, he turned back to the tower and climbed to the top.

Once at the top, he looked at the keg and thought about his choices. 'If I overload this thing I won't have to worry about getting covered in it, but if I do everyone on this water main will get infected.' He mulled over his choices for only a second before deciding, 'No, I won't let people get this stuff in there system. I've seen what this stuff can do. I'm not going to poison more people just so I won't be uncomfortable.' Taking a step back, Cole aimed at the keg and braced himself. He fired a shockwave, when it connected with the keg it exploded knocking him off of the tower and onto the roof. "AH!" he yelled. As soon as the tar covered him his electricity started arcing off him, trying to burn the tar off of him.

"I know that it must be painful Cole, but to keep too many people from getting sick. This has to be how it is," Moya said.

He leaned against a wall, waiting for the effects from the tar to subside. When it did, Cole set off for the next water tower. When he reached the building he started to climb to the roof. Staying on the edge, he saw a turret mounted there. The Reaper hadn't noticed him yet, so he stayed down. He noticed a kerosene can next to the turret. Taking aim at the can he shot a bolt at it causing to explode in a small ball of fire. The blast sent the gunner flying across the roof. Not leaving anything to chance Cole quickly climbed onto the roof and raced to the Reaper. Before he had the chance to stand, he was restrained. After dealing with the Reaper, he climbed the water tower. Reaching the top he shot the tar keg with a shockwave.

Landing back on the roof from the explosion, Cole heard a strange sound near him. Looking toward the noise he saw a man in white standing before him. He was wearing an overcoat with a hood covering part of his face, white pants, and a scarf wrapped around his neck and draped over his shoulders. He also had some strange devices on him. A strange metal vest was on his body and a gauntlet attached to his right arm.

The man looked from the tower back to Cole, "She's going to be really pissed about this."

Narrowing his eyes, Cole asked, "Who the hell are you?"

"Me? I'm just a concerned citizen. Now don't move," he said.

The next second he jumped toward Cole and grabbed his head. Digging his icy fingers into Cole's skull. At first nothing happened, but soon Cole started to be shown things. He was shown terrible things, things so horrible that they couldn't be described. In that split second, Cole understood what he was being shown. He was being shown the future. An immeasurable scale of death and destruction beyond imagination. The man released Cole from his grasp and, as he fell to the ground, in that instance he knew the man before him was responsible for it all. That Pandora's Box was opened by him, and that it wasn't ever going to be closed and that in some way the Ray Sphere they were chasing had something to do with it. When he looked up Cole saw that the man was gone.

As he struggled to get to his feet a Reaper Conduit appeared before him. 'Great, the tar was already messing with me and with that forced vision, my senses are out of whack,' he thought. He then heard a faint shout.

"Coooole!"

The Reaper seemed to hear as well. Turning toward the sound he aimed his gun and prepared to shoot. Before he even had the chance to attack, Twilight barreled at the Reaper faster then Cole had ever seen her go. Ramming her shoulder into the Conduit, she flung him straight ahead, flaring her wings to slow herself down. The Reaper managed to stay on his feet and let loose a shockwave at her. She teleported away and appeared behind him. She raised her fist and gathered a massive charge of magic into it. She threw her arm forward and it connected with the Conduit's back. The Reaper was rammed into a wall. He slumped down the wall and laid on the ground unconscious.

Cole stared slightly slack-jawed at what had just occurred. As Twilight stomped over to him, he closed his mouth and felt a small amount of fear from the woman in front of him. He subconsciously took a step back. When she reached him he could feel himself sweating.

Stopping right in front of him, she glared at Cole, "Why did you leave by yourself?"

"Uh... You were asleep?" he asked. She continued to glare at him. "You were sleeping and this wasn't even something that Moya had contacted us about. It was just something that I heard was happening and decided to check out," he explained. "Why?"

"Why? Why!? The last time you went by yourself you were covered in tar that gave you a splitting headache and, from what you said, it messed with your head," she said, her eyes starting to sting. "The same thing happened this time, except worse. You were nearly killed by a Reaper!" she yelled, tears running down her face. "It seems every time you go by yourself your mind gets screwed with!"

Cole's eyes widened slightly. She hadn't cursed, but for Twilight it was about as close to it she had gotten. He walked forward and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry for worrying you, but you know I can take care of myself, right?" he asked.

Wrapping her arms around him, she nodded, "Of course you can, but a Reaper nearly got you this time." She tightened her grip on Cole, as if afraid he would slip away from her.

"I know, and thank you for saving me, but this has been happening all the time since the blast," he said.

"Yes, but you were able to protect yourself those other times. You were constantly moving and dodging the bullets. This time you couldn't seem to move," she sniffed. "Please just promise me you won't go by yourself. Take me or Spike with you. Please."

Cole felt guilty for making Twilight feel this way. Pulling back, he gave her a tender kiss, putting as much love into it as he could. When they broke apart, he looked straight into her beautiful violet eyes and said, "I promise, Twilight. I hate making you worry. I won't go anywhere without you or Spike."

Twilight smiled and hugged him again. They stayed in each other's embrace until Zeke called them.

"Hey Cole, Twilight find you yet? Because if not, you should look out she seemed rather pissed when I told her about you," he warned.

Cole stayed silent, waiting for either Twilight to say something or Zeke to figure it out.

"I found him just fine, Zeke," she said, with a slight smirk. "Thank you for worrying."

There was silence on the other end. Well, except for the muffled laughter of what they figured was Spike busting a gut.

Clearing his throat, Zeke said, "Well, *ahem* you two should come on back. I have some drinks chillin' for ya."

Chuckling, Cole said, "Sure, we're on our way."

Wrapping her arms under Cole's, Twilight unfurled her wings and lifted him into the air, flying back home.

As they flew back, something occurred to Cole. "Twilight, how did you find me?"

"Oh, I concentrated on our bond and through our connection to each other I could tell where you were," she explained. "I'm sure you can do the same."

"I'll try next time we are away from each other. This will be very useful."

As Twilight landed on the roof, Zeke began talking to them.

"I've been looking into that new BFF of yours, Moya," Zeke said.

Spike groaned, "Not again. Since you two've been gone he's been talking about this nonstop."

Cole looked at Zeke, "You find that magic eight-ball of yours?"

"Cole, she's big time FBI. The kind of FBI that you only send when," he glanced at Spike, "the shiola hits the fan and sprays over everyone."

Everyone had the same thought, 'Gee, thanks for that imagery.'

Zeke continued his rant, "Just about six months ago, her trail goes completely cold when she's transferred to some new division called DEFENDER. According to one of my boys, they think that she's working for DARPA."

Cole raise an eyebrow. "You have boys?" he asked.

"Come on man, I'm being serious here. You gotta listen. DARPA is the at the top of black ops crap. It's a secret Pentagon group that doesn't have to answer to anyone. If she works with those guys, the two of you need to watch your backs," he said.

Rolling his eyes, Cole said, "Sure, Zeke. And Santa Claus shot JFK. Now where are those drinks you were talking about?"

Twilight looked at him curiously, "Who's Santa Claus and JFK?"

"I'll tell you while we relax with a nice cold drink," he said, walking to the fridge. Grabbing four drinks he walked over and handed one to Twilight, Spike, and Zeke. Then walked over to the couch and sat down. When she sat down next to him, he began to explain who they were.