The Night-Hawk - Series 1: 105: Loss – Act 2
by Timan
Dr. Wright re-entered the room. She was holding two mugs of hot coffee and handed one to Penny. Penny smiled briefly as she took one and laid it on the table next to her. Dr. Write returned to her seat and picked up her notepad. She studied the slayer closely.
“Tell me about your friends,” Dr Wright said softly, “They must have noticed the change in your attitude.”
Penny took a sip of her drink.
“The Wanderer was first. He warned me pretty much straight after Megan got hurt. Then Brett noticed Megan was the last to find out . . .”
~ The abandon mansion, Phoenix Arizona – 12 days ago ~
Brett slowly packed up his equipment. He was still seething over what Penny had done to him and how she used him. He used to think Penny had her head on straight now it’s all changed. The door opened behind him and Megan stepped in. Brett turned and smiled at her warmly. Megan walked up and hugged him tightly.
“Hey you.” she said in a cheerful tone
The both of them separated. Brett looked at Megan’s cast and felt a twinge of guilt that he wasn’t on that roof top.
“Up and about I see,” he replied, “guess you can’t keep a good Techno-Pagan down.”
Megan smirked at him. She was still in some minor pain and her arm was in a sling but that didn’t break her spirit or her determination.
“Listen I’ve been thinking about why the chamber wanted those businesses so bad but I need you to . . . what are you doing?”
Megan looked around the near empty room confused. Brett sighed and continued to pack up his stuff.
“Leaving.” He replied bluntly
Megan shot him a look of shock.
“Why?”
“Ask Psycho-Pen she’ll explain.”
Brett picked up two of his cases and left the room just as The Wanderer entered.
“What’s going on around here?” she asked
The Wanderer looked at her sadly.
“Penny’s . . . working through some issues.” The Wanderer replied
“What do you mean?”
“Depends on how much you know about the Battle of Trinity.”
Megan didn’t understand fully what was happening but The Wanderer tried to explain as best as he could. I didn’t know about this until later because I had major problems of my own . . .
~ WNHK studios, Phoenix Arizona – 30 minutes later ~
Penny sat at her desk. She had her eyes closed and was trying to focus herself but the rage kept boiling back up to the surface. Maybe The Wanderer was right maybe she needed to talk to somebody. Taking a couple off deep breaths she managed to make the anger subside for the moment. Jarrod walked into the office tentatively he looked at Penny with a look of caution as he cleared his throat. Penny looked up to him.
“Jarrod.” She said with a feeling of guilt
“Hi Pen . . . you’re not gonna hurt me are you?” he asked
“No, no,” Penny replied quickly, “I’m sorry about that I was out of line.”
“I’d say you punched a hole through the wall. Maintenance guys still have no idea how you did it.”
Penny scratched her forehead lightly.
“Yeah . . . about that.”
“We’ll talk about it later okay?” Jarrod replied, “Boss want’s me to cover an opening across town.”
Penny nodded and grabbed her jacket from the back of her chair. As they started to head down the hall Jarrod and snapped his fingers.
“Damn it,” he said, “Pen can you go to the studio I left some notes on the desk.”
Penny turned and headed down the hallway. She entered the main news studio a few minutes later and made her way onto the set. She sighed to herself heavily as Penny started to gather the paper that Jarrod had draped over table. She owed everybody an apology for her behavior it was uncalled for. As she was thinking about what happened there was a rattling sound coming from the light rigging. A tall slender demon crawled across the bars as he made his way towards the red head. Penny had almost finished neatening up the paper pile when the demon dropped silently onto the floor. Penny looked up slowly as the demon drew his sword and held read.
Suddenly the demon struck. Penny rolled over the desk and hit the other side just before the demons sword sliced through the anchor desk. She flipped back up onto her feet and readied herself. The demon continued its onslaught but Penny dodged every swing. Moving quickly she leaped over the demon and picked up a nearby microphone stand. She slammed the legs into the demons face then, swinging the stand around, swept across the floor sweeping the demons legs.
But he didn’t stay down for long. The demon leaped back onto his feet and swing down with his sword. Penny raised the mic stand over her head for defense but the sword sliced straight through it. Penny stumbled slightly but quickly regained her footing. She held both halves of the mike stand confidently and waited for the demon to make his move. As the demon charged in for his next attack Penny spun around sharply hitting the demon in the side of the head. She pounded into him with the mic stand halves until the demon collapsed onto the floor. Wasting no time penny speared him through the heart.
She took a couple of steps back and breathed heavily. Where the hell did it come from? Before she could think of any possible locations Penny heard a scuttling sound coming from the hallway similar to the one she heard before the demon dropped in. she moved over to the door way and peered out traveling down the passage was a group of about a dozen demons. When they noticed her they all began to sneer at her. This was not good. Penny moved back into news room and leaned against the wall. She knew immediately who was behind it the question was how they found out who she really was. Penny started to think priorities. The first priority was the clear the station. She spied a fire alarm on the side of the wall and used it.
the fire alarm was the easiest way to get everybody out. I had a long fight ahead of me and I didn’t need anybody else to get hurt. While this was happening The Wanderer explained everything to Megan . . .
Megan sat back in the chair a look of shock on her face.
“Oh my god,” she said softly, “Everybody?”
The Wanderer nodded.
“There was nobody left after the battle Penny was alone. I tried to get her to talk to somebody back then but she said she was fine. I was never really that convinced.”
“That’s why she was acting that way.”
“You hold back pain too long and it will creep back up on you.”
Megan looked over to the old man who seems that little bit older after the story.
“What are we going to do?” Megan asked, “I mean, somebody’s gotta talk to her right?”
“She’s not listening to any of us Megan. I don’t think it’s going to do much good.”
“What if I did it? I haven’t seen her yet.”
The Wanderer smiled at Megan.
“That’s a noble thought but I think it’s better to wait until she’s willing to talk.”
“What if waiting makes her worse?”
The Wanderer saw the fear in Megan’s eyes he sighed in a defeated manner.
“I don’t have all the answers kid.”
Just then Hope flew in through the window. She landed on the table between Megan and The Wanderer and started to chirp wildly at the old man. The Wanderer frowned seriously which made which made Megan worry.
“What is it?” she asked
“There’s a problem at the station.”
Penny swung out with her makeshift weapons smacking one demon in the temple while tripping another. The fight was going from bad to worse as it made its way through the station. It ended up in the maintenance room where the demons doubled their effort. Two of the demons rushed penny slamming her hard against the power transformer. It sparked setting various piles of paper alight. Penny punched one across the jaw but was crash tackled by another . . .
There were too many of them I couldn’t fight them all. The harder I fought the harder they fought back. I knew I was going to die and all I could do was to try and stop that happening . . . and that’s when it happened . . . that’s when I lost control. Everything became blurred I felt the anger just, I don’t know, flood through me like a tidal wave. All I could think of was stopping these
. . . Suddenly the demons on top of her thrown off. They slammed hard against the wall as Penny got to her feet. She lifted her head slowly revealing the hell fire look of anger on her face. Like lightning she snapped the neck of the closes demon, pulling the sword out of his hand before he hit the ground. Penny snarled at the demons before she charged in slicing demons left and right. The angrier she became faster and stronger.
Outside The Wanderer and Megan rushed up to the studio. All the staff was out side and there was thick smoke piling out one of the window. Megan looked at the scene horrified.
“Oh god!” she exclaimed, “You don’t think she’s . . .”
A demon was thrown violently out a window. It died the instant it hit the ground.
“No I think she’s alive.” The wanderer replied
They both rushed in to see what they could do to help. What awaited them was the sight of Penny standing in the middle of a large pile of dead demons. She breathed heavily as she held out the sword in a readied position. Most of her clothes were shredded and barely staying together. Her body was covered in a number of scratches and she was completely drenched in demon blood. The Wanderer noticed that Penny’s knuckles had turned white from how hard she was gripping the blade. All Megan saw was the glazed look in her eyes as if she wasn’t there. She walked up to her slowly.
“Penny?” she asked tentatively
Penny looked over to Megan her expression not changing. Her bottom lip quivered slightly as she tried to speak.
“I-I had to stop them,” she said with a great effort, “S-Stop them all.”
“What happened?” The Wanderer asked
“The chamber they sent these demons after me . . .”
Then I suddenly became clear what had to be done. Penny looked at the both of them.
“ . . . I have to stop them.”
Penny stepped out of the pile and moved forward. Megan stepped in front of her.
“Wait Pen I think we need to talk first.”
“Out of my way.” Penny said insistently.
“You’re not yourself,” Megan replied in a panic, “The Wanderer told me about the battle he . . .”
Penny shot out her arm and grabbed Megan by the throat. She twisted her face up in a look of sever anger
“OUT OF MY WAY!” she yelled
Penny threw Megan backwards. Thinking quickly The Wanderer rushed forward and caught her. Penny walked past them.
“I’m gonna stop them.” she said before exiting the building
Megan tried to get up but The Wanderer stopped her. Megan glared at him.
“We have to help her!”
“It’s to late Megan,” he replied sadly, “Only person who can help her now is herself.”
I didn’t know who I was anymore and I didn’t care. Only one thing mattered to me and that was stopping the chamber by any means and there was only one way of doing it . . .
. . . By taking down every demon in this city!
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