Chapter 1: An Uneasy Request "It's nice out today" Another sunny day in the ATL.

e ATL. Every sight outside supports that. That perfect co mbo of sun and wind in the air. Middle aged women enjoying a neighborhood gossip session. Kids in the street enjoying a game of "sideline bust" football( an unf ornate rarity these days). A young brother washing his 2010 Ford Mustang with Gucci Mane blasting from the inside as he rinses off his 24 inch rims. The sight of an older white man in a B rooks Brothers suit walking the streets rattles some, seeing as how this is a la rgely urban neighborhood( Urban being the p.c. term for black). His greying temp les are a clear indicator of his age. "It's nice out today" That's the one clear thought that Dr. Robert Parrish could express right now.He wa s otherwise occupied, struggling with other notions in his mind. His trade is Ne urosurgery. One of the best Attendings Emory University Hospital had to offer. P ossibly one of the best in the country. His profession has him dealing with life and death decisions daily."Cool as a surgeon" is a motto he lives by. He is vis ibly disturbed by something. Perhaps the sight of happy children. A sight he onc e saw regularly. Once. Dr. Parrish finally reaches his destination. 553 West Whitehall Street. What he finds further intrigues him. A decommissioned firehouse. He pulls out a business card with a specially designed logo from his pants pocket. On the front: ATTICUS STONE. PRIVATE INTESTIGATIONS/SECURITY SERVICES. In Italics: "I get things done" On the back: To See Me, Say This: " I'm Looking for a Man Named Stone" . "Who is this guy?" he says to himself. He reaches the front door. He hestitates. "Is this the right decision?" He weigh s his options. He unfornately has none that make for swift action. He relents an d rings. A whirring sound catches attention. Dr. Parrish looks up and seesa small security camera positioning itself to point directly at him. " Can I help you?"say s a slight female voice coming an intercom next to the door. " I'm looking for a

man named Stone", he responds into it. A moment's silence. A buzz goes off. The front door opens. Dr. Parrish enters. He first sees a nondescript lobby area next to a staircase. An office desk toppe d withbrand new Dell Vostro laptop computer. It is joined by the various accoutrem ents of the average secretary( Pen/pencil holders, file folders, etc.). It is al so cluttered with gossip rags ( Us Weekly, Ebony, Jet) and tech mags (PC Magazin e, Computerworld). Footsteps are heard coming from the back. Out walks a young mocha-skinned young lady. Short in stature, her afro hairstyle screams revolutionary to the white ma n who obvioulsy isn't "down with it". So does her pea-green wool sweater and Bam boo earrings. But the bedazzled pink Iphone on her hip lets him know she's as mo dern as they come. She greets her guest "Hello, Mr Parrish. I'm Rosie." "Rosie." "Short for Roselyn." "You know my name." "Yes,we've been expecting you." She pulls out a manila file and reads off the info like it was gospel. " Dr. Rob ert Parrish Sr. Head of Neurosciences at Emory University Hospital. 26 years as a Neurosurgeon. Married to Daisy Barnes-Parrish. Three children, Brittney, Rebec ca and Robert Jr." He can't believe his ears." Well. I don't know whether to be scared or impressed ." " A little of both is the usual reaction. You can go ahead and head up. He's exp ecting you." Robert moves in close to Rosie." Is this guy really as good they say?" "Professionally speaking, he has a 98% percent closure rate. That's beyond any s tandard detective, private or otherwise. Personally. I think he's the best I've ever seen, but he'll tell you that himself" Robert, impressed with the statistic, heads on up. Robert enters a lush loft space, not at all what he expected. Polished Oak floors . Virtualy brand new furniture. A nice kitchen area.Robert is impressed. The sound s of Donny Hathaway: These Songs For You Live! in the background, in particular, "Valdez in the Country". On the walls are posters of various paintings and Hip Hop album cover posters. Works of Ernie Barnes, Charles Bibbs and Lashun Beal ar e met with the covers of ' The Chronic, Stankonia and Fear of a Black Planet." H e walks in a little further into a living /den area. A Large Panasonic plasma sc

reen TV, surrounding by rows and rows of films. The entire James Bond Collection catches Robert's eye. He moves over to the book case and the diverse works ther ein. Greek Mythology. Forensic journals. Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels an d Stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Robert Parker novels. The Ian Fleming n ovels. Robert picks a book out. The Complete Works Of Langston Hughes.He starts to thumb t hrough it.Robert starts to recite one particular poem to himself: "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL. NO MAN IS GOOD ENOUGH TO GOVERN ANOTHER MAN WITHOUT HIS CONSENT. BETTER DIE FREE, THAN TO LIVE SLAVES." Robert is joined mid-sentence by a deep baritone voice from behind. He turns to see a large young African American man coming from the back area, wiping hissweaty bald head off with a small towel. He is wearinga T shirt with cut off sleeves wit h I SUPPORT BLACK SUPERHEROES in big letters on the front. A picture of LUKE CAG E: HERO FOR HIRE #1 is right above them. As he talks, he sounds slightly breathl ess as if he had been working out. "Who said those things? Americans! Who owns those words? America! Who is America? You, me! We are America! To the enemy who would conquer us from without, We say, NO! To the enemy who would divide And conquer us from within, We say, NO! FREEDOM! BROTHERHOOD! DEMOCRACY! To all the enemies of these great words:

We say, NO!" Robert is slightly embarrased. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude. You are...? " The man extends his hand." They call me Atticus Stone." Robert accepts his hand and shakes it, noticing the firm, strong grip. " Nice to meet you, Mr. Stone." "Just Stone is fine, Dr. Parrish." "You know who I am". "It's my job to know things. Let's have a seat, shall we?" Stone gestures toward the den area that Robert was already in. Robert seats in a loveseat and Stone heads to the kitchen . As he walks, Robert notices the size of the black detective in front of him. Height wise, they are not much different . Around 6 foot or so. But the detective's broad shoulders and thick neck indica te that this young man has played football or some other contact sport for a dec ent period of his life. His toned arms also show that he works out on a regular basis. "You want something to drink?" "A Tom Collins would be nice.' "I agree, but this isn't a bar and I'm out of gin. I have Crown Royal. Southern Comfort. Hennessy." "A Hennessey on the rocks sound nice" "Coming right up." Parrish watches as Stone prepares the drink with a ease of a seasoned bartender. "It's funny. You're not at all what I was expecting." "And what were you expecting, Dr. Parrish?" Stone pulls out a liter of Coca cola from his fridge and makes himself a Crown a nd coke. "I don't know. I guess I was expecting all the typical cliche's that come with a private dick."

"Private Investigator. Only my females get call me a private dick." Parrish laughs at the comment. " Right, but no treachcoats? No fedora? No bottle of Scotch?" "1.) I think Scotch is digusting and that anyone born past 1980 who drinks it is a straight up alcoholic. 2.) You've been watching too many "Sam Spade" movies. I'm not Humphrey Bogart 3.)If you even think of callingme" Sam Spade" , I will dislo cate your jaw." "You're funny." "Who's joking?" Stone walks over both drinks. He hands Parrish the Hennessey and he has a seat i n his Lay-Z-Boy with the Crown and Coke. Stone places the drink down on the coff ee table next to him and pick a football. He twirls it around a bit in the chair . " You seem very young to be a detective." " I'm old enough." Parrish notices the football. " So, where did you play?" "Jeff Davis High School. Montgomery, Al.10th grade to senior year." "Is that where you're from?" "In a way." "Did you play college?" "Alabama State.' "Why didn't you...?" "Meniscal tear during my first game. Decided to quit after that. I just play for fun now." "Shame. We hear that a lot. " Parrish points to the movie collection. " I see you're a Bond fan." Dr. Parrish ,would you like to talk about your case? Parrish ignores the comment. " I was always a Sean Connery fan as a kid.Who's your favorite?" " Timothy Dalton."

"Dalton? Why?" "Because, as I'm pretty sure you're seen, I've read the Bond novels. Dalton's th e only one that played the role properly. Vulnerable. Reluctant. Violent." "You know, I consider myself something of a Bond aficionado. I bet I know everyt hing about Bond." "I doubt it." "Would you like to challenge me?" "Bring it." "What was the name of the front company for the Secret Service?" "Universal Exports." "Name the only woman Bond ever married." "Contessa Teresa di Vincenzo. Tracy." "Name the only woman to play a Bond girl in two different movies." "Maud Adams." "Very impressive. Okay, now here's the one nobody gets. Name all the Bond movies ..." Stone interrupts. "Dr. Parrish.." Parrish interrupts back. "Wait, wait, wait!In the order they were released." Stone just looks at Parrish. Parrish seems happy with himself. "Well, I guess yo u cant mess with the old mast.." Stone cuts him off and goes into rapid fire mode." Dr. No. From Russia, With Lov e. Goldfinger. Thunderball. You Only Live Twice. On Her Majesty's Secret Service .Diamonds are Forever. Live and Let Die... Parrish is embarrased."Okay, okay.." Stone continues. "I'm not finished. The Man With The Golden Gun. The Spy Who Lov ed Me. Moonraker. For Your Eyes Only. Octopussy. A View to a Kill. The Living Da ylights. Licence to Kill. Goldeneye. Tomorrow Never Dies. The World is Not Enoug h. Die Another Day. Casino Royale. Quantum of Solace." A big smile comes over Parrish's face. "You missed one." "No I didn't" "Yes you did. You forgot Never Say Never Again." "I left that out on purpose." "What?" "Never Say Never Again, produced in 1983, was made independent of EON Production

s, the company in charge of the Bond films.It is not considered part of the offici al continuity and , therefore, does ....not.....count." Parrish literally has to pick his face up off the floor. Stone leans back into his Lay-Z-Boy. "Now, do you want to tell why you're here?" Parrish has been dreading this moment since he walked the door. "I was hoping you wouldn't ask that." "I kinda have to." Parrish starts to lost his composure. He looks up at Stone with big tear-filled eyes. "I think my daughter is a murderer." The statement causes Stone lean forward. " Are you sure?" "No.... but you know how those gut feelings are.." "Yeah. They're usually right." "My daughter Brittney is 15. She woke up screaming a few weeks ago and starts to rattle off about a dream of her killing someone. My wife and I thought nothing of it and that it was nothing more than a bad dream. That next morning, the nigh tmare became real.I was watching on the local news that an executive was killed. W here he was killed and how he was killed ......was exactly the same way my daugh ter described it.I just thought it was a coincidence but she had another bad dream and another person was killed the next day. I tried the police and they thought I was just being paranoid. I know this seems strange to you..." "Not at all. Strange is sort of my forte'." "I want to find out what's going on, Stone. Brittney refuses to sleep now. She's afraid it will happen again. Quite frankly, so I am." Stone stands up." Okay. My rate is $400 an hour plus expenses." Parrish bulks at the price." You can't be serious." "I'm very serious. Every penny goes into the investigation. Not mention pay-offs of snitches and cops on the take that might butt in. But before I start, I'm go ing to need a few things from you. I need to know Britttney's exact schedule. Wh ere she goes. What time she goes. So on and so forth. I also need a list of her friends. Particularly, the ones with bad reps. I'm also going to ask you to have a CAT Scan performed on your daughter. I need to know if she has any forming ab

normalities and her complete medical history , as well." Parrish relents. "Anything you need. I just want this to end." "I'll do what I can." Parrish stands up and shakes Stone in parting. Parrish starts to leave. " When c an I expect to hear from you?" "When I have something to say." Parrish stops again. " Stone?" "Yes?" "Are you as good as they say you are?" "Im the best". Parrish leaves with a smile on his face, feeling quite reassured. Stone is at his computer desk, smoking a Swisher Sweet king size cigar, looking at the WSBTV2 website. He searches "Killed Executive" and finds the story Parris h described: EXECUTIVE KILLED IN FREAK ACCIDENT Fulton County Ga.--A Psionics Inc. executive died Friday night frommassive electroc ution. Caleb Fort, 39, and his family had just finished their vacation and were on thei r way back to their Collier Heights area home. A street lamp located in front of their home fell down and hit the family's 2009 Chevrolet Tahoe. It hit Caleb directly and knocked him unconscious. His wife, Alicia, put the SUV in park, hoping it would stop. After being confined a little more than five minutes, Alicia, working from the f ront passenger seat, finally managed to get the children and herself free. She ran back to rescue Caleb when a power line made contact with the car, settin

g off the deadly electrocution. Caleb Fort was pronounced dead on arrival at the Atlanta Medical Center. The Forts were traveling with their three boys, ages 5, 10 and 13. The 10-year-old was injured. The other two were not. Fort worked for Psionics Inc. since September 1999, most recently serving as a v ice president in the Corporate Brand Marketing division. He was a member of The Collier Heights Community Associationand served as chairman . Stone sighs in concern. Especially, when he scrolls down on the cursor and see o ther similar stories. Important people killed in "freak accidents" at such a rap id rate is a little deheartening to anyone. Stone hits the intercom on a phone n ext to his computer. "Rosie." "Yeah, Stone?" "What do you think about him?" "Seems a lil' jittery...but other than that.." "Okay. Go ahead and take off. I'll start tomorrow." "Okay.' Night, Stone." "'Night, baby girl." Stone finally makes it to his shower, stinking with the dried sweat from his ear lier workout. He takes off his shirt and looks at his battle torn torso. "Not Hu gh Jackman cut but not Jack Black flabby", that's how he would describe his body . His scars are a virtual road map of his life experiences. Stab wound on his left love handle from a jealous husbandwhose wife was giving Stone "the bidness".Shrapne l scars on his chest from an IED attack just outside Tekrit, Iraq. Gunshot wound through this left deltoid from the raid on the Vasquez Brothers in Tijuana. For

a mere 27 years old, he has lived quite a full life. As the shower steam fills the room, Stone takes the time to reflect. It never fails. When most people think of the words "private intestigator", the usual images come to mind. Sherlock Holmes, looking for clues with his bitch boy Watson in tow. Humphrey Bogart trying to find The Maltese Falcon. Richard Round tree strutting through the streets of Times Square with Isaac Hayes in the backg round. Even Tom Selleck riding around Hawaii in a bright ass Ferrari. That's not the real deal. Most private investigators have the boring gigs. Insurance fraud . Cheating spouses. All that other crap. I offer a different service. Im the guy you go to when you can't go to the cops. People ask me why I do what I do. I gi ve them the same answer: " Because nobody else can." Chapter 2: I was a Teenage Murderer Day 1: The drive to Emory takes all of 16 minutes, depending on the traffic. But someon e who isnt used to getting up before 9 a.m., like Atticus, it feels likes at lea st a half hour. He drags himself up to the sound of James Brown'sGet Up Off That T hang( and Shake It Til It Feels Better). The usual shrieking " eh-eh-eh" of most alarm clocks makes him wanna kill somebody and it's too early for all that. The display reads 6 a.m. Atticus gets up and does all the usual morning routines( t ake a piss, brush his teeth, shave his head and face). He likes to end the shave with thegenerous application of cocoa butter and tea tree oil ( to prevent razor bumps). Not too much but just enough to get the necessary sheen he likes. He throws on a throwback Bo Jackson Raiders jersey, some jeans and his white Ree bok classics. He knows that morning air is no joke, so he puts on his favorite N avy Blue pea coat. The anchors on the front buttons are a reminder of his Navy d ays. Fond memories that feel like another life. A quick stop at the dresser to s coop up his keys, Iphone w/ bluetooth and his wallet. With that, it's time to he ad out.He spots the brass fire pole in the middle of his loft space. A souvenir fr om the building's previous owners. He could just take the stairs to his garage. But really where's the fun in that?He slides down like the lost Ghostbuster!Waiting for him is his trusty 1998 Ford Explorer. Not the typical detective ride but it gets him from A to B.He gets in and pops his Iphone into the radio transmitter. He scrolls to find Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life. The track Another Sta r catches his eye. He hits the garage door opener located on his dash and he is on the road.

Damn! I hate the morning air sometimes. Especially, when it's cool as a witch's nipples like it is right now. However, it's a neccesary evil. To be a Dark tanne d Superman like myself, you have to endure the bad with the good. Plus, I have t o catch Dr. Parrish before his schedule gets too hectic. Looking at pics of his daughter's brain isn't exactly the best way tostart a morning, but it'll help me u nderstand what I'm dealing with. The Emory Neurosciences wing has been ranked in the U.S. News and World Report f or the last 5 years straight for their work in Neurology. Dr. Parrish takes that with a grain of salt. The quality of the work is all that matters. His mind is still elsewhere as he seats at his desk, reviewing SOAP notes. The large man in his doorway might, however, be the answer to his prayers. "Dr. Parrish." Parrish looks up like he's seen an old friend. Stone. "How can I help you?" "I was wondering if you got around to gathering Brittney's medical info for me." "First thing I did this morning." He hands Stone a numbered folder, indicating its placement by the last two digit s of a person's social security number. "Okay. No history of mental illness in the family? Dementia? Bi-polar Disorder? " "None. " "Interesting. Did you get around to the CAT scan?" "Brittney was in last night . I have the results in the next room." Stone follows Parrish into the CT observation room. Young technicians are alread y inside, reviewing other cases. " Campbell, pull up my daughter's CAT, would you?"

"Yes, doctor." With a few keys strokes, images of Brittney Parrish's brain show up in X-ray for m on computer all throughout the room. Stone looks on with peaked interest. "No tumors. No calcifications. Doesn't make sense. Damage to the temporal lobe w ould cause memorylossand the hippocampus would affect her dreams. But there's noth ing." "For all intents and purposes, a textbook CAT scan. You seem to have quite an ex tensive knowledge on this subject." "Just leftovers from my Corpsman days." "You were a Hospital Corpsman? " "Years ago. Even before then, the power of the human brain always fascinated me as a kid. Is your daughter home now? " "Yes. My wife and son are there too. Rebecca attends St. Jude Catholic school." "Could you call them and let them know I'm coming?" "Sure but why?" "I wanna talk your daughter about her dreams." The drive to Sherwood Forest was another 20 minute drive. Pulling up to the humb le abode of The Parrish family is like a trip through time to the days of Leave It to Beaver. 4 bedrooms. 3 baths. The quintessential american upper middle-clas s home. Not that Leave It To Beaver was ever a relatable lifestyle to Stone. Whi le Wally and the Beav were getting into mischief, his relatives were hit with fi re hoses and chased by dogs, fighting for the dream of equality. As Atticus Ston e is concerned, "The Beaver could kiss his ass".He always found white neighborhood s to be....sterile. No soul. No flavor. But a job is a job, despite the fact he wouldn't caught dead here otherwise. Stone rings the doorbell and is greeted by Mrs. Parrish. Daisy to her friends. Y our average soccer mom in appearance, Daisy looked like she headed to a PTA meet ing or bake sale at that very moment. The sight of a large black man at her door isa bit of a shock, though Atticus tends to bring that kind of reaction out of wh ite folks. "Can I help you?" she asks. "Yes. They call me Atticus Stone. Im here to talk to Brittney." "Oh, Mr. Stone! My husband told me you were coming. Please come in."

"Just Stone is fine, ma'am. Thank you." Stone enters to this lovely suburban home. The scent of Lemon Pledge caked in th e air. Stone spots Robert Jr. in the living room. Sitting Indian-style, eating c ereal and watching cartoons. As a kid should be. "You can go ahead and have a seat. I'll see if Brittney is decent." "Sure." Stone seats on the sofa as Rob Jr. watches Justice League Unlimited reruns. The scene in which Batman confronts Superman for refusing to offer aid to his enemy Darkseid.Probably one of the most badass scenes ever. Stone recites the scene word for word: " We know he used you." "Humiliated you.""Brainwashed you." "Wound you up like a tin soldier and turned you loose against Earth." "Cry me a river!" Robert Jr. is almost awestruck. "You know all that?" "JLU is one of my favorite shows." "You mean, as a kid." "I mean, period." "But you're a grown-up.." "You can be a grown-up and love cartoons." "Wow! Batman's my favorite." "I'm a John Stewart fan. He got all the girls. I mean Hawkgirl, Vixen and Katma Tai? Come on!" Robert Jr. laughs.

"You're cool." "Really?" "Really." "Thanks." "What's your name?" "Stone." "Stone?" "Yeah. Stone." Robert Jr. looks up to Stone like he found the messiah. Mrs. Parrish giggles at the scene. "Britney's ready to see you." "Okay. Catch you later, lil man." Stone gives Robert Jr. some "dap." "See ya, Stone." Mrs. Parrish leads the way to the other side of the house. The mood shifts signi fcantly. From optimisic to pessimistic in the sound of thought. Mrs. Parrish ope ns a door to revealBrittney's room. Not the typical 15 year old white girl's room, as if Stone knew what that was. In the place of Justin Bieber and Jonas Brother s posters are replaced with vivid anime and violent video game propaganda. In th e middle of the room sits a little blonde haired girl intensely played asophistica ted first person shooter game on her X-box. Ignoring the world around her. "I'll leave you two alone." "Thank you." Mrs. Parrish walks back to the kitchen. Stone notices a metal thermos next to he r. "I hope that's Decaf, at least." says Stone.

"Nope." "A little young for coffee, sweetie." "It's the only thing that helps." "How long have you been up?" "Almost three days straight." Stone notices the violent game Brittney's so engrossed in. Brittney's character i s the hero , mercilessly killing demons and zombies galore. Blood and guts fly e verywhere with each shot. "Wow! That's pretty harsh." "It's Demon Destroyer 4" "I didn't know that was out." "It's not. It's a demo. I won it at school. You play?" "No. I never got into the multi person shooter revolution. I still play all my N intendo and Sega games on my computer." Brittney pauses the game. Her blood shot eyes cause a feeling fo sadness to come over Stone. The bags under them don't help either. " What's Sega?" "Man, you're young." A smile comes over Brittney's face, probably the first in weeks. Stone kneels do wn to her. "Brittney.....tell me about your dream." Brittney's smile disappears as quick as it came. "I don't want to." "Brittney, I'm here to help you." "How can you help me?"

"I won't know until you tell me." Brittney takes a swig of the thermos. "I see myself....on a dark street. Playing." "Playing what?" "Playing with ......A RC truck...... I see a green truck pulling up to a house.. ........ There's a family in it.......they looked happy. I point the truck towar d their house.........There's a flash.........a boom...........the lamp falls on them.......I see the kids cry.........They beg for my help......I can't move... ...I just stand there......and watch...." Brittney is in tears. She buries her head in Stone's shoulder. Letting out sever al weeks' worth of emotion. "It's okay, Brittney." Stone wipes the tears from her eyes. "Listen. All bad things pass, honey. But I'm gonna need you to sleep." "No. No, I can't ! It'll happen again." "Your folks and I are gonna make sure that doesn't happen." "You sure?" "I'm postive. What you're doing isn't healthy .You need to rest." Brittney relents. "You think so?" "I know so." Stone gets up and turns off her X-box. He picks Brittney up and places her in he r bed. Covering her in blankets. Brittney is exhausted.

Stone walks out of the Parrish home with Mrs. Parrish. "Now, Mrs. Parrish. I want you and your husband to take turns, watching after Br ittney. I'll stand watch at night." "Do you think it will happen again?" "I don't know. But I guess we'll see. Have you notice anything peculiar since Br ittney's episode started?" "No. Nothing....but..." "But what?" "Our car." "What car?" "You see that little Toyota over there? That used to be my work car. Brittney ha s her learner's permit and we've been teaching her to drive it. She's never supp osed to be in that car without myself or my husband. But recently, I've noticed the placement of it......it's different." "Like it's been moved.." "Right." Concern cames over Stone's face. The drive to Downtown Atlanta shows some familiar sights. The CNN Center. The Ge orgia Dome. Centennial Olympic Park, Home of the 1996 Olympics. The tallest buil dling, The Bank Of America Plaza, which, as it turns, is also the tallest buildi ng in any U.S. capital. Neat, huh? However, the building next to that is Stone's next destination. A skyscraper. Its classic steel frame, standard for a buildin g its size. Decuir Innovations. A conglomerate in every sense of the word. Everything from m icrowaves to microchips.Though a relatively young company, it's considered a power house. A Fortune 500 company, virtually overnight. But the top floors tell anoth er story.They house the Decuir Detective Agency. A private investgation firm that specializes in the unusual. Not like "X-Files", "Men In Black" type stuff, but d efinitely outside the norm. Stone makes his way to the top floor. Only the most privileged employees ever se e the top floor. Stone is one of the them. The art deco decor of "The Office" is breathtaking. Stone, of course, lets himself in.A very uptight assistant, preppy in "Farnsworth Bentley" sort of way, takes offense to the intrusion. Blaine Coll ins or , as Stone refers to him, "Suga Drawers"

"Stone!" "Oh. What's up, Suga Drawers?" "That is Mr. Collins to you, thank you." "Please..." "You know, I'm getting a bit tired of you, disrespecting me." "Everything you wear those hot ass pink shirts, you disrespect yourself. You mig ht as well wear a Neon shirt that says " I like Butt Sex"." "I beg your pardon?" "Where's Bossman?" "Why should I tell you?" "Because if you don't......I'll tell everybody what you said you wantedto do to me at the Christmas party." Collins sighs. " He's on the veranda." "See? Was that hard?" "Go to hell, Stone." Collins walks out in a huff. "Security Specialist, my ass!" The view of the A is breathtaking from up here. You can see everything. Definite ly deserving of the older blackman seated at a dinette set over the city. Distingu ished by age and experience, he enjoyed a fine Sam Lord cigar, a brand found onl y in Barbados. Sipping some Cognac brandy, enjoying the fruits of his labors. Sm ooth and seasoned in a "Billy Dee Williams' kind of way. Charles Decuir. My boss. My "M". My "Charlie" ,for you Charlie's Angels buffs. C EO of Decuir Innovations. Owner of The Decuir Detective Agency. This man is sing le handedly responsible for the man I am today. The firehouse? Him. The sweet jo b? Him. The name "Atticus Stone", Him, but that 's another story for another tim e.

"Bossman." The familiar voice stops him in his tracks. " Atticus Stone." Decuir gets up and hugs the young detective. "Good to see you, son." "Likewise, Pops." Decuir laughs. "You know, as a security specialist for Decuir Innovations, you're supposed to a t least check in for appearances' sake." "But, If I did that, how can I do my real job?" "True", Decuir laughs. "So, how's the Parrish case treating you?" "It's treating me, all right. A little girl thinks she killed somebody in a drea m. An software executive dies in the exact same manner as said dream. I'm thinki ng about giving Mrs. Fort a visit." "I figured you would." Decuir pulls out a folder containing Mapquest directions to the Fort Household. "I took the liberty of calling ahead. She'll be home at 6 p.m. "Cool. Im also gonna need the forensic photos of the Kent accident. Send them to Rosie, so I can check them out tonight." "Done." Stone looks at his watch. " It's noon now. That gives me some time to kill."

 Stone gets up andstarts to leave, taking the folder with him. "Where are you headed?" "I'm gonna go get an afternoon snack. At Spelman." "Uh huh. Tell Keshia I said hi". Stone laughs and keeps walking. Decuir laughs and continues enjoying the view. Abby Rockefeller Hall. Named for John Rockfeller's wife. It also houses a person of interest to Stone. LaKeshia Barnett. A first year Sociology major. She is fo cused on analyzing social class. Social mobility. Social structure. Secularizati on. A straight A student, basically her entire life. She only has one weakness: Stone. She knows it. And, unfortunate for her, he knows it. Knock. Knock. Knock. "Who is it?" says the sweet female voice on the opposite side of the door. "Stone." Silence. The door opens partially because a still attached door chain. Lakeshia looks les s than enthused by the smirking face greeting her outside. "What chu want?" "Nice to see you too." "Look, I got a final to study for" "You'll have plenty of time to study." Lakeshia looks like" are you serious?" "Well, aren't you gonna let me in?"

Lakeshia sighs and unlocks the door. Stone gets a full view of his prize. Lightskinned. Dimples. Soft lips. Straight hair. Chubby in some places. Slim in other s. A perfect set of perky D cups (braless at the moment). Short shorts with "HOT TIE" emblazoned on them covering a perfect little onion. Like New New from "ATL" . Stone enters a dorm room obviously lived in by young college girls. Messy. Dishe s dirty. Clothes everywhere. "Nice to see you cleaned up." "You think you funny." "I know Im funny." From the backroom walks Kiana, Keshia's roomie. Hoodrat to the core. Fake hair. Fa ke nails. Fake personality. All of 110 lbs, soaking wet with snow boots on. Her clothes are the heaviest thing on her body . " Heeeeyyyy, Stone. I ain"t know you was here." "Hey Kiana. Where you headed?" "Lenox Square. They got a sale at Macy' s Ima check out. Plus, my girl said Spen cer Adkins from the Falcons 'posed to be there for a signing or something. Ima s ee if I can catch me a balla." Stone knows damn well no self-respecting "balla" would want her scrawny, loud, g old-diggin' ass. "Good luck with that." Kiana leans in and kisses Stone on both cheeks like she's Donatella Versace or s omebody. She does the same to LaKeshia. " Don't wait up, dear" "I never do". Lakeshia responds. With that, Kiana is out the door. Stone and Lakeshia are alone. Stone gives her " the look". She tries to act mad but she already knows what time it is. Lakeshia smacks her lips and gives in. "Come on."She takes Stone's hand leads him to her bedroom.

Stone immediately makes himself at home in a familiar surrounding. Many nights o f passion in this little room. Stone heads right to the CD player as she closes the door behind her. " You couldv'e called." she says as she continues to front. "Where's the surprise in that?" "I worry about you." "You shouldn't." "I do any way." Stone finds what he's looking for.Keith Sweat: Make It Last Forever. He pops it in, moves to Track 2 " A Right and Wrong Way."A Definite " Quality Time" track. "Nuh Uh, Stone. Not today." "Right." Off goes Stone's pea coat. "I really do have to study." "You will." Off goes the Jersey. "Stone...." "I love to hear you say my name." Over walks the object of her affection. Muscles. A wife-beater. Tattoos. The con summate Thug fantasy. But his most attractive attribute is the clever mind that he masks with sarcasm.He is now inches in front of her. "You're in my personal spa ce", she fires off. "I'm sorry. Let me fix that". He grabs her shirt at the waist and pulls her to him, kissing her. The longer th ey embrace, the more she's gets into. She wrabs her arms around his neck. His ha

nds travel south to a little town called Bootyville. Two hands worth of land dow n there. He turns her around, kissing the nape of her neck. Most women know the reaction that action brings and she follows suit. He picks her up in his arms, h ead to the Queen size and the rest, as they say, is history. A few sweat soaked, scream filled hours later, Stone is on the road, again. This time, he headed to Collier Heights. The "It" neighborhood for upwardly mobile A frican American families.Stone remembers the last time he was in this area. 2003. Senior Year. Pool party hosted by Layla Dandridge. High school cheerleader. Stud ent Body president. Whore. The party was awesome. Her folks, who came home early from Boca Raton, were not so awesome. The After Party at Waffle House redeemed the awesomeness. This, however, is not a social visit. As the turn onto Collier Drive confirms. C ity workers are finishing the replacement of the street lamp that killed Caleb F ort. Outside watching the project is Alicia Fort, Caleb's widow. Dark skinned an d a bit big boned, Alicia can hardly fight back the tears. She relives the accid ent every night. Stone drives up just as they finish. "Mrs. Fort?" "Yes?" "They call me Atticus Stone. Charles Decuir called you about me." "Oh. Yes. Come in." He follows Alicia inside. The living room is littered with pictures of Caleb and his family. Portraits. Va cation pics. Childhood pics.Stone sits on the couch. " The wake was last week. ", Mrs. Fort says as she joins him She hands Stone a picture of the family in front ofThe Epcot Center. This woman is obviously living in the past and not wanting to let go. "This was our last picture together. He wanted to do one with Mickey Mouse doing the peace sign but the park wouldnt allow it. " "He seems like a really nice guy." "He was the best." "How's your son?" "Jeremy broke his clavicle in the accident. He's fine. He and the other boys are at their aunt's house for the weekend.

"I'm truly sorry for your loss." "Thank you. Mr. Decuir is.......was a friend of Caleb's. He said you were workin g on an investigation." "Yes. And Ibelieve your husband's accident and my case are connected." "How?" "That I can't really specify right now but when I do, you'll be the first to kno w." "Well...how can I help?" "I need you to tellme about the night of the accident.Was there anything....out of p lace that night? Were you followed? " "Nothing. Everything was on the up and up. Except for .......that little white g irl." The statement smacks Stone in the face. "What little white girl?" "There was this little white girl playing across from the street from our house that night. " "What time did you get home?" "Like 1 in the morning.My husband and I thought it was so weird. She was playing w ith a little remote control truck. The truck hit the lamp post. There was this l ight. A flash. And thena little muffled boom. Then the lamppost fell on us." Stone pulls out his Iphone and finds a pic of Brittney Parrish and shows it to A licia. "Is this her?" Alicia looks harder. "We didnt really see her face. but the hair looks like the right color. The shap e of her face is right. I would say it's her. Why? You think this little girl ha d something to do with our accident?" "I hope not."

One last stop: Home. Stone arrives withRosie already waiting in his loft. The fancy dress ,makeupand piss ed off look on her face show she wasdefinitely interrupted. Stone plays along " Rosie. This is so sudden....." "Save it.How long is this gonna take?" "Why? You gotta be somewhere?" "As a matter of fact , I do. Opening night for the Alvin Ailey Dance Company at the Tabernacle." "Fancy. Who's your date?" "Just a friend. Nobody you know." "You think he'll be mad if you're late?" "It's cool. I'll just let him feel the booty a lil' bit. He'll be straight." Stone looks the aforementioned posterior of Rosie. "Lucky fella." She hits him with her purse. Stone laughs it off. "Here's the files for the Fort accident." A few computer strokes and the Atlanta PD forensic photos are brought on Stone's big screen. "What are you looking for, Stone?" "Something off." Stone notices the base of the street lamp. Scoringmarks.

"Rosie, magnify the base for me." A few key strokes and it's magnified. Stone leans forward to investigate. "Where have I seen these marks before?" Rosie looks on as well." They look like.....burn marks." Stone's eyes go wide. "The U.S.S.Cole." Rosie looks confused." What?" "The attack on the U.S.S. Cole. Terrorists used plastic explosives to knock a ho le in the ship. 17 folks got killed. It's C-4." "Wait. you saying it was....." "...A bomb. Did the forensic team find anything else at the site?"

Rosie looks up the report. "Yeah,......bits of melted plastic." Stone starts to pace back and forth back. It's all coming together. "The toy truck. It was the bomb." "Wait. You telling me somebody put plastic explosive in a toy truck and set it o ff?" "I've heard of slivers of that stuff taking out Redwoods with no problem. Both M rs. Fort and Brittney said they saw " a flash" and heard a muffled 'boom" that n ight. Whoever did this put enough explosive to destroy the toy truck and level t hat street lamp at the same time." "Stone , what are you saying?" "I'm saying what you're already thinking." Stone turns and looks her dead in the eye. "Caleb Fort was murdered"

 Chapter 3 : The Common Denominator Day 2: The sight of a Ford Explorer parked in front of the Parrish home was a welcome c omfort. Stone has been there all night. Keeping his word that he would watch ove r the house and the family therein. The soft sounds of MF Doom coming from the E xplorer. Unusual for the neighborhood but a necessity for the sanity of the man inside. 5 a.m. Two Red Bulls. Three Starbucks DoubleShots. One Monster. That's what it t akes for me stay up. Another thing I hate about white neighborhoods. They're too damn quiet. You can literally hear birds fart in the trees. The Parrish house h as been in serene silence all damn night. Maybe the indirect ID of Brittany at F ort's murder scene caused me to be a little paranoid.Maybe the revelation of foul play with the street lamp kicked the paranoia up to "eleven". I know it all fits . Those gut feelings. They tend to kick your ass 'til you act on them. Stone spots Dr. Parrish getting ready for his workday. Parrish walks over the yo ung detective and raps on his window. Stone hits the button for his window. "Burning the midnight oil, Stone?" "Just like I promised." "Daisy's up now. You can head home if you want." "Thank you. How's Brittany?" "Sound asleep. Thanks to you. Plus, my son won't shut up about you."

Stone laughs. "Rob Jr's a good kid." "Yeah, I know". "I will take you up on the offer to go home. Im on a bit of a caffeine high and I will crash the moment I see my bed. " "Okay, Stone. How's the case coming?" "Curiouser and Curiouser. To quote The Mad Hatter." Robert laughs. "Get some rest, Stone." "Yeah." Stone drives off, dreaming of the comfort of his own bed. Stone snores. He's not aware of it, but the issue has been brought to his attent ion by various ladies. It just amazes him how they get mad over something he has no control over. One chick he messed with had ADD and was constantly rearrangin g his sock drawers. Another was allergic to strawberries, which is Stone's favor ite fruit. Another had a fear of wood. Should he be mad at them for that? Doesn' t seem fair, does it? "Stone",! screams a familiar voice, near but oh so far. "Stone!" There it is again. "Stone!" This time, it's followed with the strike of a pillow that achieves its objective . Stone is now up!

"What, Rosie?" "This". Rosie shows a sight that snaps him out of the la la Land.An issue of The Atlanta D aily News. The headline " EXECUTIVE DEAD IN DOORWAY OF HOME." Stone and Rosie bring up the article up on the computer screen. Stone reads off the info: " Wade Phillips. 40, was killed in his apartment atBrookwood Valley late last nigh t. The body was found by a neighbor. Cause of death is still unknown at this poi nt." "It happened while you were watching the Parrish house." "I see that.Have they done the autopsy yet?" "Yeah. Decuir sent the report a little after you came in." Rosie pulls it up the coroner's report. " Cause of death: Acute asphyxiation. By neurotoxin." ".....Neurotoxin....",Stone says as he thinks. "Brookwood is a gated community, right?So they would have security cameras?" "Yeah ." "Can you patch us into the feed from last night?" "Just give me a sec." Rosie puts in some work on the keyboard. In seconds, the feed pops up. "You are amazing, Rosie." "Remind Decuir of that during raise talks." The feed shows various areas of the complex, in grainy black and white. Nothing.

Nothing......BINGO! It shows Wade Phillips outside his door at 9:24pm the night before. He is talkin g to a young boy outside his door. " That's Phillips", says Rosie. "Who's the kid?" Stone retorts. The boy appears to be holding something up to Wade Phillips. "What's he holding?" "It looks like a....toy". The comment causes Stone to watch the video even closer. A quick action happens with the toy. Phillips holds his arm like he just got hit. The boy starts to wal k away . Wade wobbles about in his doorway. He collapses , holding his throat. L ike he can't breath. "What just happened?", Rosie says. "Slow it down and zoom in on the toy." Rosie complies. The video slows to a crawl. Stone and Rosie watch it second by s econd. It shows the toy making a quick snapping motion towards Phillips. "It looks like a toy....snake". "A toy snake that actually bit Phillips. Look at him. The suddenrespiratoryparalys is. Did the autopsy show any puncture wounds?" Rosie searches for it. Found it. "Two small wounds found on forearm." "Any swelling or discoloration?" "None". ".....coral snake venom."

"What?" "Elapid bites don't show like other snakes. But they're still deadly, nonetheles s." "How did you....?" "I've taken a few survival courses. Here and there." "Right." Who is the guy? A toy truck bomb? A toy snake with actual venom?" "Whoever his is , he's off his rocker!" "Rosie.....see if you can ID the kid. Use the facial recognition software." Rosie complies. A immediate hit. A school ID comes up on the screen. Rosie reads it off: " Javier Juarez. 14 years old. An 8th grader at Inman Middle School." "Oh my god". "What?" "That's the same school Brittney Parrish attends." Stone never thought he would see this stuff again. Lockers. Homecoming banners. Lunch room schedules. Fire drill assignments.The halls of Inman Middle School remi nd him of his old stomping grounds, Brewbaker Jr. High. The smell of fresh paint and old piping. Middle school. The next to last stop before adulthood. He walks pass classrooms. Kids learning aboutU.S. history and algebra. The biggest problem they have is if that certain cute girl or guy likes them. Stone thinks to himse lf ," Youth. It's wasted on the young". The principal's office was a regular haunt for Stone back in the day. Not that h e was a bad kid. Just.... misunderstood at times.Principal Victoria Maddox is more than accomdating. Young for a principal but still she possesses the authority t hat should come with the title.Plus, her ass is looking right in that shirt. He al ways like the "Naughty Teacher" look. But then again, what guy doesn't? "Thank you for seeing me, Mrs. Maddox." "Ms." "Excuse me?" "It's Ms. Maddox."

 The casual brushing of her hair and touching her lips lets Stone know she told hi m that on purpose. Beyond school hours-type purposes. "Noted. Tell me about Javier Juarez and Brittney Parrish.What kinds of students ar e they?" "Good kids. They dont make any trouble. A students. They get all kinds of awards for attendance and their grades. They even won some video games recently. " Stone leans back a bit. "You usually give video games at assemblies?" "No. This was a special promotion, given by one of our school'ssponsors. Psionics Inc." Stone thinks to himself : " And the hits just keep on coming..." "Is Javier here today?" "No. I believe I saw his name on the absentees list. Must have called out sick." "Ms. Maddox, I need a list of all the winners of that assembly". "May I ask for what purpose?" "Call it a hunch." Buford Highway. Recently, it's became "Little Mexico" for most in the ATL. A nei ghborhood housing what is now the majority "minority" in the US. One thing Stone respects about the Latino community: they sure know how to PARTY. With them, th e party starts at 9am and doesnt end til like 9 am the next day. Plus, he loves the women. Especially when they have that "tan skin, wet hair" look . Stone has been called" papi" once or twice and it never gets old. In a "Hacienda"- style apartment complex reside Dulce and Javier Juarez. Stone k nocks and is greeted by a young mother with soft features. "Hola, Senorita Jaurez", Stone greets.

Dulce responds, with a thick accent" Si?" "They call me Atticus Stone. I am a detective. I would like to talk to Javier pl ease." He shows Dulce his badge and ID.She lets him in. "Javier.", she calls. No answer. "Javier!" No answer. "Javier?" Dulce and Stone rush to Javier's room. Dulce tries to open the room. It's locked! Stone moves her out of the way. He breaks in the door. The sight they find puts them both on edge. Little Javier on the floor. Unconscious .Stone rushes to the bo y's side. He feels Javier's skin. Cold, pale and clammy. He notices Javier's lip s. Blue. Javier's pulse? Weak. "Call 911! Now!" Stone screams at Dulce. She runs out to comply. Stone goes into full Med Tech mode. He removes some pillows and a blanket from J avier's bed. He puts the pillows under theboy's knees to elevate his legs. He plac es the blanket around Javier to warm him. Stone inspects the boy's room briefly andnotices a familiar sight. The game menu of DEMON DESTROYER 4 on his paused X-bo x.Javier must have been just playing it. The game that Javier, like Brittney, was given to" congratulate" him from his good work in school. Another trip to Emory for Stone. This time with a little boy's life hanging in t he balance. His scared mother looking to Stone for answersand , unfortunately, Sto

ne had none.Luckily, Stone knew someone there that did. Dr. Parrish. Stone stands a silent vigil for the young boy. The sight of Javier laid up in a hospital bed is enough to bring tears to anyone 's eye. IV tubes. Heart monitors. EKG leads. This little boy is hanging on for d ear life and I was coming over to ask him about a murder. I know I'm a jerk but, still..... This job really can suck sometimes. "The boy's in shock." Dr. Parrish explains. "Must have been brought on by some massive trauma. Touch and go, for a second. I f you hadn't been there, we might've lost himlWe're regulating his oxygen flow a nd keeping him overnight for observation.". "Thanks, doc." "Stone, .....why were you at that boy's house?" "The case." My case? Yeah. Your case. Which turned into Caleb's case. And Wade Phillips's case. And n ow, his case. They're all connected. "By what?" "I'm still working on that. But I will find out. I can promise you that. Keep me posted." "Where you headed?" "I got work to do." Stone heads out after getting one more glance of Javier with his praying mother by his side. Stone broods in the living room of his loft,with a hardly touched Crown and Coke . Looking at the pictures of the recent days' events. The Deaths of Caleb Fort a nd Wade Phillips.His run-ins with Javier and Brittney. Stone broods. A lot. He bro ods when he thinks. He broods when he's mad. Right now, he's a little of both. Rosie comes in on our brooding hero. She knows him enough to know what it means he's like this. "You okay?" She asks.

"Not really." "I wasn't your fault." "I know that. Still sucks." "What are you looking for?" "The common denominator. The link between two dead executives, a scared little g irl and a boy in the hospital." "All from different backgrounds.Different ages." "The kids go to school together....." A thought hits Stone. "Rosie, cross-reference Phillips and Fort." "In terms of what?" "Employment records." A few key strokes later, Rosie pulls it on the computer screen. "Fort worked for Psionics Inc.Phillips worked for Nationwide Insurance. But...." Rosie looks harder. "...he was an employee of Psionics Inc. 'til 6 months ago." Stone gets up, victorious almost. "Rosie, who makes the Demon Destroyer games?" Rosie looks it up and a big smile comes over her face when she sees the answer. "Psionics Inc." Stone snaps his fingers, as if to say " Eureka!"

 "That's it. That's the common denominator. Both execs worked for the company! Bo th kids are basically addicted to a game they produced!When you have eliminated th e impossible, whatever remains,however improbable, must be the truth". "Who said that?" "Sherlock Holmes .The Sign of the Four.It's them, Rosie. Something fowl is going on at Psionics Inc." "And you're just the man for the job?" "You bet your sweet ass I am. Okay, here's what I need you to do. Call Decuir an d have his boys analyze this." Stone pulls out a copy ofDemon Destroyer 4. "Where did you get this?", Rosie asks. "I got it from Javier's room before the EMTs came." "What are you looking for?" "I don't know. All I do know is that those kids were angels before that got a ho ld of this game.Maybe there's some kind of subliminal messaging or something." "The company is run by a guy named Brady Jennings." Rosie punches up his company ID and stats. "He kinda looks like Anderson Cooper a lil', huh?" "Yeah , he does." "Something tells me Mr. Jennings is going to require a more.....professional tou ch.Have them set up an appointment with him for tomorrow morning. " "Professional, huh.......so tell me.... who are you gonna be?" Stone turns and smiles to her. "Moore." "Nice. I like Moore." "Set it up, baby girl."

"Gotcha." Rosie runs out like she's on a mission. Stone readsup on the history of Psionic In c. The games they distribute. Complaints. And their owner, in particular. Stone goes to his closet. He pulls a classic 3 piece vest suit, with a paisley t ie. With it, a West Indain Khufi.Stone goes deeper in the same closet and pulls ou t something else. A box containing different pieces of makeup. Fake moustaches a ndbeards. Fake teeth. Setting the tools for his mission at Psionics Inc. tomorrow. Deductive reasoning. The life blood of my business. It is defined asreasoningwhich constructs or evaluates deductivearguments.Deductive arguments themselves are att empts to show that a conclusionnecessarily followsfrom a set of premises or hypoth eses. A deductive argument isvalidif the conclusion does follow necessarily from t he premises, i.e., if the conclusion must be true provided that the premises are true. A deductive argument issoundif it is valid and its premises are true. Today , using this tool, I found the nexus of my troubles. Psionics Inc. Tomorrow, i'm gonna use another . Undercover ops. Using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret informatio n or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or e vidence. I gotta admit. This is the fun part. You really have to commit the char acter. You have to, literally, be someone else. Tomorrow.......Brady Jennings is going one on one......with Toussaint Moore. Chapter 4 : Know Thy Enemy Day 3: "So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you can win a hu

ndred battles without a single loss. If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose. If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself." -Sun Tzu, The Art of War Psionics Inc. Located in Midtown Atlanta, it's neatly situated in theepicenter of the city's music and artistic scene that includes theFox Theatre,Woodruff Arts Ce nter, theHigh Museum of Art,Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, theCenter for Puppetry Arts , and the 14th Street Playhouse. The building itselfdoesn't scream " Video Game Pu blisher". More "Arthouse" or Museum of Pop Culture". The visitor that just arriv ed in a Decuir Innovations company car says " business"but he is more a man of act ion. The name he gives the receptionist is Toussaint Moore. Just your average We st Indian business rep. Nice beard.Light complexion. Hazel eyes. His thick accent conjures up thoughts of Bob Marley, palm trees and Ganja. He even wearsGuanahani Cologne.Made in and shipped from the Bahamas. "Mista Jennings is expectingme." The receptionist checks and, sure enough, there it is: "Toussaint Moore. 10:30 a m". "Havea seat. I'll let him know you're here". "Thank you". Moore sits, crosses his legs and start to tap his forefinger, feigning impatienc e. It's all an act, however. He said his name is Toussaint Moore. We know him be tter as Atticus Stone. I like to win. Who doesn't? It's the nature of games. There must be a winner. An d there must be a loser. It's as simple as that. But knowledge is power. The mor e you know of your potential enemy, the less of a threat they become. Which brin gs me to my current situation. Dr. Parris had the night off, so my presence outs ide their household was not neccesary. Which gave me plenty of time to study and practice. I get to play make-believe and hopefully get some answers for some na gging questions. Brady Jennings. CEO. His platinum blonde hair and short hair style show a little of his age, but not much. His face is well tanned. His square jaw could cut dia monds. Though he owns this establishment, he earned his money the really old-fas hioned way. He inherited it. Mommy and Daddy were jet-setters and he was an only

child. Hence, his vapid personality. Me, Me ,Me. The three words he lives by. "Mr. Jennings. Mr. Moore is here to see you." "Send him in." In walks Toussaint. He extends his hand. Jennings doesnt accept. "Nothing personal. I have issues with germs." "Bitch ," Toussaint thinks to himself. They both have a seat. "I'm a very busy man, Mr. Moore. I understand your company is willingto make some kind of offer?" "We at Decuir Innovations believe a conglomeration of your company's brands and our distribution capabilities could vault your company to the top of your field. Putting you active contention with likes of Sega, Nintendo, Sony and Capcom." Thats a very tempting offer. But are you suggesting a buy-out? No a simple merging. With you still in control. Our role will simply be as consu ltants. Jennings sees dollar signs. "Sounds like a plan." "My supervisor will be glad to hear it.However.." This is unexpected to Jennings. "We have some.....qualms with the integrity of your company at this time." "I beg your pardon?" "Well, we heard of the recent deaths of two of your executives. In freak acciden ts, we hear." The question obviously hits a nerve with Jennings.

 "Yes, that was a blow to our company." "Was?" "This is big business, Mr. Moore. Accidents happen. We made sure their families were compensated, of course." "Of Course. But given the violent nature of your products.." "Violent nature?" "I have a list of your titles here. Let's see. Sorority Slaughter. Android Apoca lypse. Vehicular Homicide Part 2..." "Your point...?" "Well, dont think these titles are a bit suggestive?Especially since you are givin g them away to children?" "What do you mean, give away?" "The promotion you gave at Inman Middle School for Demon Destroyer 4." Wait a minute. We must have our signals crossed here. There is not DD4. Not even in development. Plus, I've never even heard of Inman Middle School. " A bombshell. If not you, Mr. Jennings. then who? "We're not making anyone buy our product. But there is a market for this type of subject matter. That we can't ignore. Do you see my point? " "Yes. I see.......quite clearly." Moore gets up to leave. He actually drops a small pen. He nor Jennings seem to k now to notice. He shakes Jennings's hand again. "You'll be hearing from me." "I'm sure." Moore leaves.Jennings immediately picks up his phone and calls a number. With grea t deal of certainty. "Get me Greggs!"

"What do you mean. he 's not talking right now?" "Tell him I'm nottaking the fall for this!" "His ass is in the ringer too!" Jennings slams down the phone. He still fails to notice Moore's dropped pin.Which itself is more than it seems. A GSM listening device with a wireless signal that goes to an earpiece. Conviently located in Toussaint Moore's ear, right outside Jennings' office. Toussaint has a name now. Greggs. It's time to turn on the charm with Jennings' secretary. "Excuse me," .he asks "I was wondering if a friend of mine still works here. Well, I should say a frie nd of a friend. I met him at a party once. Greggs, I think his name was." "Damien Greggs?" "That's it." "I'm sorry, but you're actually friends with that piece of trash?" That's why he loves talking to women. Give them a sour subject and it's like rai n in Seattle: It never stops. "I take it you're not a fan of his." "Me and basically every other woman in this office. I dont think there's one of us he hadn't groped or tried to proposition." "So he is a bit... frisky with the women folk." "He was more of a sadist than anything. One girl actually had to quit because of him." "Why?" He tried to bang her. She wasn't having it. So he hacked into her Blackberry and posted some naked pics of her that she sent to her BF. On every screen in the o ffice." "My... I couldn't help but notice you're referring to him in the past tense." "Yeah...he was fired months ago." "Have a good day, Mr. Moore.I think you've heard enough".says the frosty voice of Bra dy Jennings.

He is in his doorway, witha less than happy look on his face. He has Moore's spy p en in his hand. He drops it and steps on it. Crashing it to bits. Moore smiles and leaves. Man, I love disguises. Jennings shoots his secretary a pissed look for spilling her guts to Moore and t hen slams his door. "Moore" washes off in the bathroom sink of the firehouse and Stone returns to th e land of the living.Stone comes out of his bathroom to findRosie compiling some dat a on our new friend, "Greggs". "So is Jennings our guy?" "No. He's a douche and completely irresponsible, but he's not our criminal maste rmind. I think Greggs is a more intriguing find. " His info is all over the computer screen. Rosie reads off: "Damien Jeffrey Greggs. Born 8/19/87. Math whiz and engineering prodigy. College level courses at age 10.Graduated MIT at 13.Parents killed in electrical fire at ag e 14.Discovered by Brady Jennings at 16. Created Demon Destroyer and its subsequen t sequels. " "So he created their biggest money maker. Why'd they let him go?" "Apparently there were several complaints against him for sexual harassment and lewd conduct. " "I can believe it." "But what really kicked him out was " D-Day"." "D-Day?" "There was an incident months ago. Damien was known for havinglil' temper tantrums . One day, he took that to a whole 'nother level. From his laptop, he hacked int o the mainframe of Georgia power and rerouted all the power to one place. Psioni c Inc. The overload caused all the transformers in a 3 mile radius to explode. T he result was an EMP. "An electromagnetic pulse? Let me guess. It knocked out all their systems." "Shipping. Production. Everything. Destroyed. All major orders were canceled. Al l their systems had to be replaced. They lost millions in revenue. It's become a

legend on the web. Bloggers named it " D-Day"." "This guy has the IQ of Einstein and the temperment of a pregnant mountain lion.He certainly has the enginerring chops to make those toys. Great. So Jennings fire d him?" "Not Jennings. Fort and Phillips." More clues fall into place. "Phillips actually left because he recieved "threats" from an anonymous source. " "Greggs. Where is he now?" "He got blacklisted by most major software companies. So he moonlights as a high society deejay. Goes by the name of DJ SkyNet." "Like the "Terminator" SkyNet?" "Yep." "Cool name." "DJ SkyNet usually operates out of the Ritz-Carlton. He has his own penthouse up stairs. Like he's Criss Angel or somebody." "So when is DJ SkyNet having his next party?" "Tomorrow night." Rosie pulls up a flyer of DJ SkyNet Promotions. A video gamethemed party with a " big surprise" planned at the end of the night. "Anybody who's anybody is supposed to be there.""Something tells me he plays crapp y house music and techno. Not my scene." The screen show they having an incoming Skype call. Rosie answers. On the screen is Miles. The resident "Mad Scientist"of the Decuir Detective Agency. "Yo Stone!What's up? " "Hey Miles." "Um...Hi Rosie..." "Hi Miles",as she bats her eyes.

 The cutesy little flirtateuous nature of the greetings has Stone looking at them both like " Get a room already". Did you find anything, Miles? "You bet I did. This disc contains an algorithm that no other video games posses s. The moment it's inserted into a gaming console, like an X-box, the disc becom es a beacon for a rogue broadband signal. The user tracks the signal to its inte nded console. It then sets of a series of photosensitive phenomena. It's possibl e this could be used to increase a person's level of susceptability." "To what?" "Hypnotic suggestion." Stone and Rosie look at each other with "Oh My God" type looks. "Sensory induced hypnosis.Unbeliveable. That makes sense." "It does? ",says Rosie. "I looked at Javier's medical record at the hospital. Javier was at risk for epi lepsy. That's what caused his seizure. This signal came on and he must had some kind of synaptic overload." "I don't know about that. But I do know that game is dangerous."Miles retorts. "Thanks, Miles". "See ya, guys." Miles logs off. Stone immediately gets his phone. "Who are you calling?" "The Parrish house! I gotta tell them to get rid of that game!" Nightfall. All quiet on the Western Front at the Parrish house. The silence is d isturbed by the ringing of the house phone.Ringing that goes unanswered. Mrs. Parr ish. Poor Mrs. ParrishThe combo of Rocky road Ice Cream, a quiet house and Lifetim e( Television For Women)has caused her to slip into a deep coma-like sleep. Brittney is sitting in a familiar position in her room. Sitting in the middle of the floor, playing Demon Destroyer 4. A new user comes online. DJ SKYNET 87. Br

ittney welcomes the new challenge. But she's met him before. She just doesn't re member. DJ SKYNET 87's avatar doesn't point the zombies that run rampant through out the game. Instead, He directly at her! The avatar fires off a shot.At the mome nt, the game disappears into a kaleidoscope of random imagery. The flashing spee ds up with each second. Brittney is entranced. A voice comes from the TV screen. Electronic, in nature. "Brittney. My sweet, sweet Brittney. It's time to play a little game....." An hour passes. Nothing. Still no answer. Stone paces back and forth, while Rosi e laughs at Martin reruns on TV. Stone has had enough.He grabs his blue Navy hoodi e and , because of the nightair, puts a leather jacket over that.He grabs his keys a nd a pair of leather gloves and starts to head out the door. "Where you going?" "They're not answering. Something's wrong. I gotta get over there. " "Uh....Stone?" "What?" "They're not at home." "Why you say that?? Rosie points to the TV screen. Breaking News! The feed is live and shows shots o fa large crowd gathering at the bottom stairs of Atlanta City Hall.Firetrucks. Kleig lights. Police barricades. And everyonepointing UP! The camera follows. Along the edge of the 11 -story tower's roof , playing "trapeze artist" is a young girl.The camera zooms in. Stone and Rosie's hearts sink to the floor. Brittney Parrish. The drive to City Hall is normally 5 minutes. The speed Stone is driving at has him and Rosie there in 2. They have to park a few blocks away because of the pol ice blockade. Stone and Rosie run the rest of the way. Atlanta City Hall is a fine example of a Neo-Gothic government building. a Four story rectangular base.Pointed arches. Uninterrupted piers. But we can star gaze l ater. Right now a little girl has the eyes of the entire city on this building t onight. Possibly the eyes of the entire country, thanks to CNN and Fox News cove rage.Walking right above a huge " Welcome To Atlanta" sign that covers the entire front of the building. Stone and Rosie make it to the front of the crowd. The po lice chief, an obvious desk jockey, and his subordinates are trying to keep peop le from heading in the building.Including Mr. Parrish and Mrs. Parrish. "You have to let me in! That's our daughter, for Christ's sake!"

"Im sorry, sir. I can't let you in. We have a suicide specialist on the way to t alk her down." "She won't need it. ", a voice says. Dr. Parrish and his wife turn and see a very welcome sight, running up to them. "Stone. Thank god. What is going on? " "I think I know. Trust me. Brittney's not acting of her own free will right now. " "What do u mean?"Mrs Parrish asks. "She's been hypnotized !"adds Rosie "Hypnotized?" "As crazy as it sounds, it's the truth." Stone runs up to the police chief. "Chief, you have to let me in there. Im a detective..." "I dont give a damn if you're the President. You're still not getting in!" Stone points away. "Hey! Look! It's Lil' Wayne!" The stupid cop looks. Stone puts a well placed forearm shot on the chief's templ e, knocking him on his well-fed ass. Stone runs in as his lackeys run after him. "Hey!" Stone locks the door from within. Stone looks at the extremely pissed chief outs ide and kinda laughs. "Dumbass."

 Back to the mission at hand. Stone runs to the elevators. Offfor the evening. Grea t. He sees his only alternative. The Stairs. Eleven stories worth of stairs! Dam n. But it doesnt matter. Only Brittany. So....up we go. 1st floor. 2nd floor. 3r d floor. 4th floor. Those are easy enough. 5th floor. 6th floor. 7th floor. 8th floor. Not quite so easy. 9th floor. 10th floor. 11th floor. Shins hurt. Chest t ightens. Out of breath. Adrenaline canceling all that out. Stone breaks open the roof access door. He sees Brittney still paying the edge. The door slams behind him! Stone tries to open the door. IT'S LOCKED FROM THE IN SIDE!"Perfect", Right? "Brittney! " Brittney stops. "Listen, sweetie! Come to me, okay?" Brittney looks at Stone. Nobody' s home.Trust me! Her sullen eyes show that she is definitey a puppet. At the whim of another.She turns back to the edge. "Brittney.......?" She starts to walk follow.Time seems to freeze. If this was a movie, this would de finitely be a slo-mo shot. Stone runs to her.Her foot goes over the edge. So do th e rest of her body.AndStone's hand, which catches Brittney's arm. But......the momen tum forces him over. Stone's other hand catches a storm drain. Now STONE AND BRI TTNEY ARE HANGING OVER THE EDGE , SUPPORTED ONLY BYHIS ARM.Stone looks down at the s ight of hundreds of by-standers , looking up at them. Goddammit !! How did the hell do I get myself in these things? What's worse? Brittney SNAPS OUT of her hypnotic trance. Her first sight is hers elf hanging 11 stories in the air. What' s the natural reaction to that? She, of course, goes APESHIT! Screaming. Flailing about. Panicking. Which is not helpin g Stone's sore arm. "Brittney!"He roars

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" "Brittney! Listen to me! I need to climb up, okay?" "What?!" "Climb up! And Get on My Back! We gotta slide down!!" "What?!! Are You Crazy?!" "Don't look down!! Look at Me!" She complies. "Okay! Now, do you see that banner over there?" "Ye.....Yes....?" "We have to slide down its rope to the ground! But I need both hands to do that, honey! So you need to climb up and get on my back!!" "O...Okay!" Brittney gingerly moves up. She wraps her arms around his neck and her legs arou nd his waist. Like a human sized bookbag. Stone grabs the edge with his other ar m, to get the pressure off the arm that saved them.Stone scoots over one hand at a time to the banner. "Stone.....are we gonna die?" "I hope not. I got Wrestlemania tickets this year....." Stone reaches the rope , grabbing it one hand at a time. Using his feet to suppo rt them, Stone, with Brittney in tow, starts to repel down the building.Swat-team style!Stone spots the Fire fighter parachute bag at the bottom that's used to catc h jumpers.11th floor. 10th floor. 9th floor. 8th floor. ....... SNAP!! The collective "gasp" of the crowd is audible, even 50 feet up .Stone and Brittn ey sling into the building. Hard! What happened? Stone and Brittney look up. The rope is breaking from their weight. Uh oh. Stone has no choice!He stops repelling and they have to slide down. The rapid speed is burning Stone's hands. But he h as to endure just a lil bit longer.....7th floor.......6th floor.......5th floor ......4th.....3rd.....

 SNNNNNAAAAPPPPPPP!!!!!! The rope completely breaks! Stone and Brittney start to fall. 30 feet down.They la nd in the parachute bag, which deflates from the weight. They disappear in the b ag. Luckily, Stone is a wrestler. Part of being a wrestler is knowing how to fal l.In mid-air, Stone positioned himself so that neither of them gets killed. They emerge from the bag. The crowd cheers.Brittney is reunited with her family.Ston e is greeted by reporters and on-lookers that want to congratulate the young her o. Even the police chief shakes Stone's hand. No hard feelings, I guess. This is the kind of heroic scene that you only see in the movies. Or read in a b ook (wink, wink). The scene is being shown news outletsaround the world. However.. ....the inhabitant in the penthouse of the Ritz-Carlton Atlanta is not happy at all.That's because his intended plan was spoiled. By a young black detective calle d Atticus Stone.

Meet Damien Greggs. AKA DJ SkyNet. Mentally brilliant. Emotionally immature.Fair-s kinned.Lanky build.His head is just a little too big for his body.Greggs picksup an u traceable prepaid cell phone. With only one number programmed in it.Greggs hit the one touch dailing option.A deep, bass voice answers. "Yeah." "Who is he?" "They call him Stone." "Ishe a threat?" "Absolutely." "I want you on stand-by, Ghost. Just in case." "You got the number." The line hangs up. Greggs rewinds the footage on his TiVo. He freezes on the ima ge of Stone's face. "Welcome to Level 1 , Mr. Stone."

He smiles. Finally........a challenge. Chapter 5 : "...And One Day......The World...." Day 4: CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage and the fi rst all-news television channel in the United States. While the news channel has numerous affiliates, CNN primarily broadcasts from its headquarters at theCNN Ce nterinAtlanta. Naturally, they have first dibs on the heroic rescue of a young gir l who escaped the jaws with the help of a private detective. A private detective who isn't particular fond of his face being plastered for all to see. Anonymity is essential in his line of work. Too many people have problems. Why do you thi nk Superman has a disguise? Because if a bunch of nagging people had access to h im at all times, he'd probably go nuts.And where is our hero? In bed. Getting a we ll-deserved rest. A comfortable night's sleep. The first I've had since I took the Parrish case. I 'm sure my phone has blown up with requests for interviews and whatnot. I could care less about fame. If I wanted to be famous, I would sleep with a celebrity, tape it and then "accidentally" release it. Or get on a news camera in a sloppy bandanna andtell everybody to"Hide yo kids, hide yo wife". I did the job I was hire d to do. Technically, the Parrish case is closed. I gave the list of theother winn ing kids from Inman Middle School to the police and, by 9 this morning, all the copies of DEMON DESTROYER 4 were accounted for and destroyed. My job is done. Bu t.......(and this is a biggie).....I now have two families that need closure. Ph illips had no family so that won't be a issue. ButMrs. Fort needs to know why her husband was taken from her. And Dulce Juarez needs to know why her son may be ta ken from her. Theres's a killer in my town. Everybody, including me and my peopl e, are still in danger. And I'm not giving that over the po-po. I ain't havin' i t. The relaxing sound of my shower. Everytime Stone hears it, he know the sweet car ess of the water in his face will wipe away whatever transgressions that pollute his life that day.There's only one problem. It's on and he's not in it. So unless his shower can read a sleeping man's thoughts and turn itself on,he has a visitor.

An uninvited visitor. He wakes understandably alerted.A hazard of his job is reta liation for past jobs. A lot of bad people hate his guts. Because of that, he ha s to be cautious. Caution for him comes in the form of aColt .45 Automatic Pistol . Black Rubber Grip. Stainless Finish. Located right next to his bed.He nicknamed it "Sweets" and refers to it as his " bitch". It's time for his "bitch" to greet their new visitor. Stone slinks out of his bed like a snake and makes his way t o the bathroom. He places his lefthand on the door with his pistol cocked in the r ight. Go time.... He slams open the door. Pistol loaded and ready. "Freeze!!", he screams. AhhhHH!!! is the response from the naked form of Lakeshia Barnett. Hands up in d efense, revealing everything. Stone lowers his pistol at the sight of his "boo t hang" in the raw. "Girl, i almost shot you!" "I'm sorry. I wanted to surprise you." "You did that alright." "You can put that away now, you know." Stone places the pistol on the sink. They continue their convo like what just ha ppened didn't happen. "I saw you on TV",She says . "I was so proud." "Thank you." "Were you scared?" "Hell yeah, I was scared." "That's good to hear." "Why you say that?" "I don't know. I guess......you're usually so in control. It's nice to know you get scared too. That you feel....you know?" Stone starts to calmdown and takes in what's in front of him. Soft skin, dripping wet. The sight of the water and soap goingdown the small of her back.She's washing h erself like it feels good to her. Like a 112 video.It is a sight to see. She reach

es out to him. "Well, aren't you gonna join me?" "Does Angelina Jolie like black babies?" Off goes the clothes. In goes Stone. Collecting his hero's reward. 4 p.m.: Stone and Lakeshia kiss each other goodbye. Lakeshia always fears that , e verytime she does this, it will be the last. Relationships and his job don't rea lly go hand and hand.The job is a part of him. She knows that. Doesn't make it any less hard. Being "cut buddies" with this man is not her ideal relationship. But her feelings for him complicate that.She believes he feels the same for her. He k eeps her a distance to protect her from the toxicity of his lifestyle.He's never l ied to her. She knows if she wants to leave, she can leave. With no protest from him. He would never want to cause her any harm. And her future is just as impor tant to him as it is to her.He will not jeopardize that. 6 p.m.: Preparation starts. He cleans himself up.He pulls asophisticated two-button t uxedo. Aclassic choice for black-tie affairs. Traditionally tailored, the jacket features satin-covered buttons, a notched satin lapel, chest welt pocket and fro nt flap pockets with satin besoms. He pulls aChaps Classic-Fit Solid Twill Button -Down Collar Dress Shirt. Royal purple in color.SomeBOSTONIANEspresso shoes. And put s on a black leather shoulder holster, complete with "Sweets". He splashes on so me Sean John Unforgivable cologne and he is out of the door. Literally dressed t o kill. 8 p.m. :The Ritz-Carlton. Downtown's premier business address and a luxurious oasi s in the heart of the city. Special occasions deserve the special attention to d etail The Ritz-Carlton is world-famous for providing. Tonight isDJ SkyNet's coming out party. Red carpet.Media coverage. Security in full force. Wading through the socialites and celebrities posing for the paparazzi is Stone, with all the stren gth and intensity of a jungle cat.Stone rushes pass a very burly security guard. H e doesn't like that. He goes after Stone. He's met with a punch to the solar ple xus that leaves him huffing and puffing like a old walrus.

Inside is an elaborate ballroom gala. With a bit of a twist. The room looks like the biggest nightclub in the city. Neon lighting. Laser effects. Smoke machines . The speaker subwoofers are pumping out"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"byDaft Pun k. The walls are lined with classic arcade games.Asteroids. Tron. The King Of Figh ters.Super Mario Bros. Pac-Man.Double Dragon.Even the hostesses are dressed like arca e characters. Stone catches an old friend of his. A little game calledRoboCop Ver sus The Terminator. Center stage is the guest of honor. On the wheels of steel.DJ Sk yNet himself.Surrounded by go-go dancersand show his skills on the turntables for th e adoring crowd. Ever the showman, he's dressed up in a shiny military jacket wi th sequins. Not unlike the kind Michael Jackson or the Beatles would wear.Combined with his stain gloves and a pair of " Kanye West" shutter shades, Stone gives h is thoughts on the Dj's attire:

 This cat looks like a crackhead drum major. Trumpet music emerges over the techno. This is meant to direct everyone's attent ion to the DJ booth.SkyNet grabs the mic.

"Ladies and gentlemen. I hope you've enjoyed this party as much as I have so far .But now it's time for my little surprise. We all know the impact that video games have affected our lives.In September 1971, theGalaxy Gamewas installed at astudent unionatStanford University.In 1979, Atari releasedAsteroids.1980 saw the arrival ofP Man.In 1985, the North American video game console market was revived with Ninten dos release of its8-bitconsole, the Famicom, known outside Asia asNintendo Entertain ment System(NES). It was bundled withSuper Mario Bros.and instantly became a succes s.The Sega Mega Drive was released in 1988. In recent years, we ve seen the rise of Sony s Playstation, The X-box, and The Nintendo Wii. But I present to you all .....The Future of Gaming." He gesture to a large display of a huge blow-up of himself behind him. The light s go dim.Also Sprach Zarathustra from 2001: A Space Odyssey plays as the blow-up sp lits apart and reveals a sophisticated new gaming console. The crowd claps with the revelation. "I present to you......The SkyNet NeoDome....380 GB......802.11b/gWi-Fi.......2USB 2.0ports......MegaShock controllers.....Bluetooth....and it can plays all major m edia forms, including Blu-Ray. And this is just the beginning. After the prelimi nary trials, we expect the NeoDome to be THE gaming console of the next decade. This is my vision, ladies and gentlemen. The NeoDome in every home in America. A nd one day......The World...." Everyone cheers. Except Stone. The crowd starts to disperse. Stone makes his way to the stage area. VIP access.He is stopped by a very beautiful latina girl in a blonde " Farrah Fawcett" hairst yle, complete with peach colored highlights . Stone loves the bronze skin of lat ina women. It glows almost. She s rocking a very sexy pink dress that hugs every contour of her body, especially her very ample booty.Her accessories are redpumps , whiteopera gloves, a sapphirependant, sapphireearrings, and a goldcrown with sapph ires and rubies. "Can I help you, sir?", she asks. "Im an interested party.I d like to talk to DJ SkyNet about.....investing in fut ure endeavors."

"And you are?" "They call me Atticus Stone." "I m Princess Peach." "Princess Peach from Super Mario?" "One and the same. All the girls are dressed like game characters." "I kinda figured you were a working girl by your ease of movement in these red p umps. Let me guess. Club Onyx? Close. Magic City. "Well, you can give me your number and I ll save you from King Koopa anytime you like." She laughs. "Okay, sexy. Follow me." Princess Peach leads the way into the lounge couch. On it is DJ SkyNet, surround ed by hot girls. Too hot for him, so it s reasonable to assume they re paid ente rtainment. "There s someone to see you", Peach says. DJ Skynet looks up and sees the face of his intended enemy. Stone. The reaction to seeing Stone is subtle, but apparent. "How can I help you, Mr...." "They call me Atticus Stone." "Oh yeah. You re the detective that saved that little girl. Well, we are in the presence of a full blown hero, ladies. So what do I owe the pleasure of the Atla nta P.D.?" "I m not a cop." "The TV said you were a detective." "Private. Cops have too many rules." "Do you , like , search for clues and stuff?",asks one of the girls. "Clues and people. I m good at reading both."

"So any interesting cases that you can tell us?", asks DJ SkyNet. "Well, I am working on this one case. This guy that got fired for being a jerk-o ff. Groping chicks. Causing trouble. He kills two people, puts a lil boy in the hospital and almost makes a lil girl kill herself." "That s horrible",says Peach. I agree. I mean what kind of a.......limp dick ass-hole....would do such a thing ? Do you agree,....Greggs?" DJ SkyNet is not amused. At all. "That s......a very interestingcase, Mr. Stone." "Just Stone is fine." DJ Skynet leans in . "Tell me, Stone. You like to play games?" "It depends." "Follow me." DJ SkyNet gets up and leads Stone a large exhibit. A big LCD screen. At least 60 ". At the bottom of the exhibit are two chairs with MegaShock analog joysticks. They are meant for prospective consumers to check out the capabilities of the ne w NeoDome. But now it s gonna the site of a duel of sorts. The participants? Sto ne and DJ SkyNet.Both men have a seat as the game on the screen loads. "This is the first game of our new line",says SkyNet. "It s called Dominion. The aim of the game is simple. The first man to rule or save the world is the winner.We play as world conquerors. We battle for the countr ies.The controls consisted of five buttons arranged in an "X" pattern: a high punc h, a high kick, a low punch, a low kick, and a block button, as well as an eight -way joystick. If the two fighters were standing next to each other, hitting any of the attack buttons would result in a modified strike: a low punch turned int o a throw, a high punch turned into a heavy elbow, head butt, or backhand, and e ither kick turned into a knee strike. Crouching and hitting a punch button resul ted in an uppercut, which is one of the most damaging attacks in the game. Jump kicking and crouch-kicking are executed in a similar fashion toStreet Fighter, al though leg sweeps and roundhouse kicks were performed by holding away while pres sing the appropriate kick button." "Mortal Kombat meets Risk."

"Exactly. So let s started." The game menu pops up with the avators of different historical figures. Alexande r The Great. Genghis Khan. Napoleon. Julius Caesar. "I ll be.... Genghis Khan", say SkyNet. "I ll take Alexander the Great",Stone responds. The two avatars come on the screen in combat stances. "We ll battle for South America to start",says SkyNet.

The game prompts them to "Begin". The two characters start to fight with both me n controlling their respective joysticks.They fight.Alexander usesPankration,a blend boxingandwrestlingbut without any rules. Khan usesBkh, a form of Mongolian wrestling .The battle is very intense. The analog sticks vibrate with each hit. SkyNet has m ore experience in these games than Stone. As is shown his character s move combo s. Khan delivers a devastating uppercut. Stone feels the loss in the form of a b rief electric shock. "It....shocked me",Stone says. "Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that. Sorry. It s a negative reinforcement thing. The shocks get more intense as the rounds progress. Sort of a " feel the pain of the soldiers" type deal. it s a bit radical but I think kids will go nuts for i t." A video game with electric shocks. This screams " Never Say Never Again". "Do you want to continue?", SkyNet asks. "Sure.. ",says Stone. "This time, we ll play for Asia." SkyNet hits the " Start A New Game"option. The characters start to fight again.The battle isa little more evenly matched this time. Stone is starting to catch on bu t SkyNet still has the upper hand. The vibrations are getting painful for Stone. But he still hangs on. SkyNet ups the ante to prove his superiority. The pain i s almost unbearable for Stone. But he still hangs on. Skynet hit an 8 move combo!

The final hit shocks Stone right of his chair! A crowd starts to form around the scene . SkyNet couldn t be happier. He walks o ver his downed opponent as Stone gathers himself together. "It takes a little getting used to. So I think it might be better if we stop her e and enjoy the rest of the party. Okay?" SkyNet starts to walks away to his bevy of (paid) beauties. The crowd clapping a t his supposed win. "We ve got one more round",says Stone. SkyNet turns back to Stone. "No we re don t",he says. "Yes we do. One.....More....Round..." The crowd looks to SkyNet s response to this open challenge. "And what do you want to play for, Stone?" Stone look hims dead in the eye. "For everything." SkyNet likes this. "The whole world?" "Yeah." This is too good to be true for SkyNet.

"So that means.......either I ll rule the world..." "Or I ll save it...." SkyNet is gotten. Hook, line and sinker. He can t run fast enough to get back to his chair. He hits " Start a New Game" again and the final battle begins. The c haracters fight as they did in the two previous rounds. But this battle is evenl y matched. Stone is used to the controls now. SkyNet is a little worried because he is starting to feel the pain. The battle continues at a standstill. Stone s character gains the upper hand. The pain gets more intense for SkyNet. Stone del ivers a 12-move combo! SkyNet is shocked out of his chair this time. Stone wins! The crowd is shocked and impressed. Stone offers his hand to SkyNet and helps him up. "It seems I underestimated you, Stone." "It happens." "Not to me." Stone smiles and start to walk away. SkyNet grabs him by the arm, stopping him i n his tracks. "It s only a matter of time, Stone. The world will be mine." Stone leans in, face to face with his enemy. "And I ll always be there to stop you." Stone slaps SkyNet s hand off his arm.The scene cause everyone around to mutter. S tone leaves but stopped by Princess Peach.She slips her phone number into his jack et pocket. "Call me. Maybe I ll let you storm my castle sometime. " She pats him on his ass and walks away. Stone spots a familiar face in the crowd , surrounded by women. Brady Jennings. Now we know how Greggs is getting the mon ey for this.

 SkyNet is beyond embarrassed. Shown up at his own party. He pulls out the same p repaid phone from earlier. He dials the same number and the same bass voice answ ers. "Yeah." "Do it." "I got ya." SkyNet hangs up with a smile on his face. 11 p.m.: Stone arrives at the firehouse. He stops in front briefly. He gets out to use his garage door opener. Its running low on juice and he keeps forgetting to change the batteries.Stone suddenly gets....that feeling. The feeling mostpeople ge t when they know they re being watched. That tingling on the back of their neck.St one looks around. The streets are empty. Nothing. Stone turns back to his home. BLACKJACK!! He takes a straight shot to the back of his head. Our hero is out!Stand ing over his body are two husky gentlemen, at least 6 2 in height, in clunky ove rcoats. One of the men picks Stone off the ground. Considering Stone is now 250 lbs of dead weight, the ease in which the henchman picks him up is a bit extraor dinary. The other pulls something out of his coat. A Molotov cocktail.With flick o f a Zippo, the cloth on it is litand its thrown into Stone s SUV.The two break in St one s door and make their way inside. The Molotov takes its effect of Stone s ve hicle, engulfing it in flames. BOOM! The gas tank blows and Stone s A to B vehicl e is gone. 11: 15 p.m.: Things are groggy. Blurry. It s hard to dicipher anything. Splash! A bucket of cold water is as good as any wake up call. That s what brings Stone ba ck to consciousness. Unfortunate, his predictament makes him wish he was still u nconscious. He is on the ground. Both hands bound behind his back with duct tape . Standing over are the two henchmen. They pick him up to his knees. Stone looks over to his living room. The reading lamp is the only thing lighting the area. Sitting in front of it in Stone s beloved Lay-Z-Boy is a man. Dark-skinned with a large healed over scar on his face. Wearing anItalian Style Single Breasted Whi te Linen Suit.His shirt? White. His silk tie? White. HisGIORGIO BACCINI dress shoes ? White. Wearing white gloves , sipping on some Stone s Hennessey. "Good evening, Mr Stone"is said in the same bass voice that talked DJ SkyNet earli er. "Just Stone .....is fine"is the groggy response. The man continues to sip on the Cognac.

 "Hennessy VS. Most black folks don t savor the taste of it. The sweet aromas of hazelnut and oak. You have good taste, Stone." "And who might you be?" "They call me Ghost." "As dark as you are, they call you Ghost?" "You funny. Real funny. I ll tell you why they call me Ghost.When people see me... ...they see death. With my help,.....they come to know death.And then I disappear. That s what I do." Ghost pulls out asyringe from the inner linings of his coat. "What s that?", Stone asks. "Your salvation." He pulls the plunger and in the syringe goes 3ccs of household air. "Let me guess.....you injectthat into an artery......I die of an air embolism..... and the police will think I died of a stroke." Ghost nods in confirmation. "You know the part I love?"Ghost says. "Watching. After I give the injection. Watc hing the life just..ebb away." While the Ghost getsinto his little self orgasmic speech, Stone feels a welcome sh ape in the back of his pants. Apparently the henchmen can t search a person wort h a damn. Because they did not detect Stone s trusty pocket knife in his back po cket. Stone grabs it with his middle and forefinger, opens it up and starts cutt ing. "It s hard to express. The satisfaction. It s unreal." "So you like death, huh?I ll give you death." In one motion, Stone breaks his bonds, sweeps the legs of both henchman and the

backs of both their heads hit Stone s hard Oak floors. A quick stab to the carot id of the first henchman takes care of him. Stones lets him bleed out on the flo or. Stone jumps on the other s back and using the subluxation technique( one han d on the chin, the other on the back of the neck), breaks his neck. While this i s happening, Ghost takes the opportunity and stabs Stone in the shoulder with th e syringe. Stone is heated!! He takes all his frustration on the Ghost. Head sho t. knee to the face.Repeated stomach shots.Ghost topples over on pain.Stone pulls out the syringe from his shoulder. Now he really want to teach Ghost a lesson. Stone figures the Ghost isn t going anywhere. Seeing as how Stone s shots have him co ughing up blood. Stone leaves the room for a bit.Ghost doesnt know what to think a s he writhes in pain. Stone comes back in. In his hand, his trusty Aluminum Louisville Slugger. Ghost is a little concerned now. Stone twirls it around with his wrist for a little bi t. Like he s going to batting practice. And then......CRACK! Stone comes down fu ll force on the Ghost s back. The Ghost screams in agony. But Stone isn t done! He hits him again! And Again! And Again!!Stone discards the bat, seeing the damage is done. But Ghost will not be defeated. He reveals a flick knife hidden in his wrist! With all his strength, He tries for one last stitch attack to Stone. Sto ne, however, blocks it and forces Ghost s arm to back towards him.The struggle bet ween the two men is vicious, but Stone is the stronger of the two. "So you wanna be a ghost, huh? ",Stone says. "Let me help you with that!"

With one swift thrust, Stone plunges the knife into the Ghost s jugular, killing him.Stone raises and assess the damage.Three dead men in his loft.And him still stan ing. Ring- ring- ring A cell phone ringtone goes off but Stone can t see where it s coming from. He li stens for it. It s coming from.......inside the Ghost s jacket. Stone searches i nside and finds a prepaid cell phone. Stone answers. "Congratulations, Stone." The voice of DJ SkyNet is instantly recognizable. High pitched and giggling like an excited child. " I really enjoyed the show." "What are you talking about?" "Look on the flower on the late Mr. Ghost s lapel."

 Stone looks at the white lily on Ghost s jacket. He feels the petals. Plastic. A nd in the middle, a tiny lens. Stone flips the lapel and sees the wiring of a sm all spy camera. "You beat the boss of this level. Now it s time." "For what?" "The final levels of this game of ours.Meet me at275 Riverside Parkway, Austell, GA 30168 in two hours." The address is familiar to Stone. Then it hits him. "Six Flags?" "That s right. I m inviting you to my llittle Carnival of Chaos, Stone." "Listen, I m through with this crap. What , you can t fight me man to man?" "I abhor physical violence. Besides, a game should be a fulfilling quest. Not a single round knockout. " "What if I don t want to play your little game?" "You have no choice." "What make you say that? You re aware of the Calvary Children s Home? " "Yeah?" "Well, if you don t show,that building.....and all the sweet, innocent orphan chil dren inside......goes Bye-Bye! In a very big......and very LOUD way! There won t be enough of them fill even one casket!" Stone thinks about it. "The C-4." "200 pounds worth. Rigged to blow in the event you don t show.That s the differe nce between you and me. You have compassion. I don t. Every villian needs that g reat hero. And you re it, Stone. Do you accept my invitation?" Stone doesn t answer.

 "I ll take your slience as a yes. Welcome to Level 2, Stone." "Click" Chapter 6 : Showdown at Six Flags Day 5: The challenge has been laid. The venue has been set. The participants are ready. Our hero. And a madman.Face to face. Stone s expectation: A night of terror. A ni ght of exhaustion. A night to remember.....

12 am:Deathis defined as the termination of thebiologicalfunctions that sustain alivi gorganism. Some fear it. Some welcome it. To ignore it is just foolish. It s a pa rt of life.It affects us all.Some, however, become instruments of death. Like Stone. He sees death more than most. He doesn t like to kill. It s a messy business. B ut.....when necessary, he can administer it. Like nobody else. It s a clear cut case of him or the other guy. And he s staying for as long as he can.That s eviden ced by the dead men in his home right now. Most people would be beside themselve s. Stone is.....cool.Stone knows people.People like the man who just entered his apa rtment.After SkyNet s challenge, Stone had to make a few calls. Namely, to Charles Decuir.Thank God, Stone works for a man with Decuir s resources . In less than ha lf hour after his run-in with the Ghost, an old friend arrives while Stone tends to his wounds. A large man of 6 6 , tatted up from neck to toe. Wearing a backw ards Atlanta Braves black on black ball cap and a orange sanitation uniform. He brings the supplies of his trade. Household cleansers. Gloves. A mop. And, of co urse, bodybags. His trade is disposal. His real name is Rodney , but Stone calls him Mr. Clean. "Good job here, buddy",says Mr. Clean as he zips up the bodybag of the Ghost. "I h eard of this cat. Supposed to be a bad dude. I guess not as bad as you, huh? "He was bad enough."

"That s a bad little knot you got there, son. Let me guess. Blackjack?" Stone nods yes. "Man, you lucky.I ve seen some dudes get they brains spilled by them thangs. Nasty ." "Well, I ve always be told I was hard headed." "Yeah. Good thang I got here before they bowels evacuated." "Thank you for that thought.What you gonna do with them?" "Take em down to the junkyard.Pulverize they teeth.Burn off fingerprints. Put in the compactor." "Damn." "Yeah. It s whatever to me.Oh, yeah...." Mr. Clean pulls out a black duffel bag. "I got what you asked for.Plus, Bossman left you a surprise out front. He said it s a loaner til you get a new whip. I ll take of these cats. You need to get rea dy ............ Go whoop his ass! " Stone smiles at his friend 12 :15 am:Time to go to war. Stone opens up the duffel bag and starts to getinto uni form. Black doo-rag. Black wife-beater. Black fatigue pants. Black boots.BlackHaw k S.T.R.I.K.E. Cutaway Tactical Armor Vest.PELTOR Maxim 2x2 Tactical Air Seal Ball istic Eyewear.Hatch NS430 Specialist Shooting Gloves.Gerber LHR Combat Knife.And, of ourse, "Sweets"and extra cartridges for her to do her thing. Stone looks at himsel f in full gear and does what he feels is necessary. He kneels andprays, hoping The Lord will be with him in the coming battle.

request

12: 30 am:Stone comes outside and sees the "loaner" Decuir left.A blackSaleen S7.V ne.610 horsepower(558 PS/410 kW) at 6400 rpm.0-60 miles per hour in an estimated 3. 4 seconds. In short, one bad-ass vehicle. Stone gets in the plush interior.Leathe r throughout the cabinwith aluminum accents. Stone puts that baby into gear and do es a classic movie peel-off! 1: 15 am: The drive to Six Flags is only 16 minutes. In the Saleen 7, It takes a

em

mere 8.But they seem so long. Thoughts flood his mind. Will this be his last ride ? Will this childish monster continue to terrorize this city? Not to mention the potential victims of the SkyNet NeoDome. He knows for sure that this new system and its games most likely has the same hidden algorithm as Demon Destroyer 4.Peop le are always looking the new fad.The newest phone. The newest clothes. The newest game. Potentially millions could be under his control. What could this lead to?Ri ots.More death and murder. Thoughts that completely contradict his final destinati on.... Six Flags Over Georgia . The largest regional theme park in the Southeast. For 4 2 years, the park has been the destination for affordable, family fun. Ithosts ch aracters from theWarner Bros.animation library, notably theLooney Tunescharacters an dJustice LeaguefromDC Comics. Stone has himself enjoyed in this fun enviroment as a child during numerous school trips and summer vacations.But this is well after no rmal hours. Tonight will be the first night of what has come to be known as Frig ht Fest. The park s annual Hallowen celebration. The gate is open because Stone is the intended victim tonight. The cameras following his every move let him kno w he s being watched by tonight s host. The usually family friendly scene is cov ered amidthousands of mummies, cornstalks, hay bales, cobwebs and oversized spide rs.In the middle of the park is a big top circus.The dead giveaway of a neon sign th at says " This Way, Stone"is a invitation Stone can t resist. Inside the big top is pitch black. Stone has "Sweets" in the ready position. Not hing. "Stone!,saysabooming scream from the darkness.Stone is startled. "Stone!" Stone sees he is surrounded by big screens with the image of a laughing DJ SkyNe t, still in the same outfit from the party earlier tonight.Given the circumstances , it gives him the air of a true supervillian.A spotlight hits Stone.SkyNet speaks i n a melodramatic, echoing voice: "Double, double toil and trouble,Fire burn and cauldron bubble.Good evening, Stone... ...... Welcome to my world.......... Where all my dreams come true.......... You ve been a thorn in my side, Stone........ I guarantee you a night of ever-lasti ng agony...........if you find me........the game will be over........for one of us......... You will find your first testin the Monster Mansion....Are you ready to face your doom, Stone?....... Then let thegames.......begin!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!!" A doorway is illuminated, basically begging Stone to "come hether".

 The Monster Mansion in the French Section. A typical haunted house.Intense lightin g ( black lights, led mini spot lights etc). Animatronics. Scent dispensers. Fog .Air cannons. Old antiques. Gory body parts.Gravestones. Intense scenes of mischief, crime, torment, and terror. The stereo pumps out the familiar opening chords ofM ichael Jackson s Thriller. Boom! A zombie busts out of a wooden coffin! Stone aims to shoot it. At the mome nt he does, the room goes into strobe light mode.Stone s gun is knocked away by an other zombie from the left. Stone takes him out with a left jab, right hook comb o. Another zombie comes from the right . Stone front kicks him in the chest. One jumpson his back. Stone flips him over and puts him head first into a piledriver. Then it turns into a scene from Night of the Living Dead. Zombies every where. At least a dozen. But like most bad-asses, Stone is kicking ass and taking names . One after one, the zombies fall before Stone s hard fists, tough elbows, stiff knees andswift kicks. The initial zombie shrieks and runs to Stone with a knife i n his hand. Stone spots his gun. He picks it up and puts a bullet dead between t he zombie s eyes. His head jerks and his body goes limp.These guys were either bad actors or good henchmen.Either way, they picked the wrong gig. "Bravo, Stone. Bravo. DJ SkyNet is obviosly enjoying himself."You don t cease to ama ze me." "Enough of this." "No , This game continues unless I say it s over! And I say it s time you head to Skull Island. There s an adventure waiting for you, my boy!" Stone continues. Completely pissed off. Skull Island. A multi-story, interactive water-play area . Eight water slides. A n "erupting" volcano. Three enormous buckets that ll drench you with thousands o f gallons of water. It s the largest interactive water playground in the world. Stone arrives on the facsimile pirate ship that s the mainstay on the attractio n.Stone looks it over. Nothing. Stone turns to leave. Stone is met by the tips of three real swords belonging to the three real pirates.Real rejects from Pirates of the Carribean. "Turn around ", say the middle pirate. Stone complies.

 "Walk the plank!" Stone looks over the edge. A fourty foot drop.Stone turns. He smiles. He drops out of sight. The pirates cant believe he actually did it. The middle one looks ove r the edge, to confirm the body. He s met with a pair of ankles that grabs his n eck. He is pulled by the strength of Stone s legs and drops down into the cascad ing waterslide.Stone flips himself back on the deck . The two other pirates come a fter Stone. Stone retrieves the sword of the first pirate and goes into an Errol Flynn ,"Robin Hood" like sword fight against the two. Surprisingly, even to him , he holds his own. The surprise turns to painful shock when one of the pirates slices Stone s bicep. A deep cut through the muscle. Stone continues to hold on, despite the arm. A kick to the face knocks one off the ship and the other s gut is breached by Stone s sword, killing him.Stone looks around for a clue. He evens listens for SkyNet s voice. ZAP!!! The sudden sting to the neck is minor but effective. He pulls out what hit him. A small dart. The world is blurry again and Stone is out in a few seconds. Stone wakes up. His jaw is lax. The eyes are glassy. He has a slight sense of eu phoria which, given the circumstances, is not a good thing. "Enjoy your nap?" Hearing DJ SkyNet s voice is starts to snap him out of it. The voice is coming f rom an earpiece planted in Stone s ear. Next to his face is another small camera , like the one the Ghost had. "Nembutal. It s a hell of a little drug , isn t it?" Stone looks up to see where he is.He makes out a sign plastered on the wall. "Supe rman: Ultimate Flight."A roller coaster thatsimulates flying Superman does: facing t he ground. In the station, riders board the train sitting down. After the train is locked and checked, the trains are raised into a flying position. After the r ide, the seats are lowered into the sitting position for the next round of rider s.Stone looks down and realizes now that he is duct-taped to the ride. He can t m ove his arms and he is under the influence of the tranq.

"I ve always been a big Superman fan, Stone. The ability to fly has always been one of mankind s greatest wishes. This is my gift to you." Stone is too weak to get out. "Fasten your seat belts, Stone. Get ready of the ride of your life. HAHAHA!" The ride starts. As usual,it lifts up into the prone position. The lift-chain brin gs the train upthe lift hill face down, with nothing but the occasional support b eam below.Perhaps the most terrifying part of this ride. Any particularly macho th rill-seekers who might laugh at Superman s 115 ft. hillquickly see their nuts clim b back into their stomachs .DJ SkyNet does the courtesy of blasting"(Don t Fear) Th e Reaper"into Stone s ear.Of course,most riders have no idea an inversion is coming: hey re traveling in the prone position, at 60 mph. One of the things about all f lying coasters is the complete sense of disorientation they give. Combined with Blue Oyster Cult sarchetypal references to the Grim Reaper in the song, Stone is more than a little worried. The 100-foot first drop banks to the right and practically skims the ground befo re lifting toward the first inversion.For the pretzel loop, the train swoops up, then dives down to the ground head-first. The moveprovides a nice jolt of airtime .At the bottom of the loop, the riders are facing up towards the sky, where theonride camerausually photographs them. The train climbs back to the top of the eleme nt, then enters a 270-degree turn to the left, dropping back through the pretzel loop. The ride usually stops after this point, but Stone notices a few things: 1) The ride is not stopping! 2) It going faster than the proposed max of 60 mph. 3) It feels like his head about to explode. "Oh yeah. I forgot to mention this. You re travelling at close to 90 mph. You ar e also withstanding 10Gs. That s the equivalent of a head on car crash. Let s se e how long you can hang on before the Reaper comes a-calling. HAHAHA! " Stone knows the risks of G-force exposure from his days in the Navy. He could ex perience a few things if he doesn t get out of this: Blackout , a loss of vision while consciousness is maintained, caused by a lack of blood to the head. G-LOC , a loss of consciousness. Or

if g-forces are not quickly reduced ,...... Death!! Stone can already feel the blood rush to his feet. A blackout is coming soon, bu t the tape around hisleft wrist started to go lax. Must be from all the thrashing about Stone has been doing. Stone concentrates all his strength on freeing his h and. Biceps, ......don t fail me now! The strain is terrible. He BREAKS FREE!! Now he concentrates on the other hand. He feels himself started to get lightheaded. But the stubborn mule that he is, h e doesn t give up. The OTHER HAND IS FREE!! Now Stone reaches for theGerber LHR C ombat Knife in his vest. Stone starts to formulate a plan....sort of.Accelerator coasters are noted for their over-the-shoulder restraints.the restraints are also held down by a seatbelt.He fights against the rushing winds to cut away the polye ster seatbelt holding the restraintin place. He place one arm around the restraint while the other free hand cuts. The more he cuts, the more deconstricting the r estraint becomes. If he cuts too fast, the restraint will give way and he will f all to his death.He makes it to the final strands of the seatbelt..... POP!! The restraint pops open. A good thing.....except the ride is STILL GOING! Stone is hanging onto the open restraint while flying at 100 MPH!! The speed waters hi s eyes but he sees enough to spot something as the ride prepare for another swoo p up into the pretzel loop. A sidestall game booth.Most stalls feature games of s kill or strength. Hookingrubber ducks. Basketball-shooting games in which the bas ket looks oval- shaped and the basketball literally cannot fit inside the rim un der any circumstances. Perfect for suckers..... but they always offer a gang of stuffed animals. Just like the one Stone spots. The swoop is coming. Stone times this perfect. HE LETS GO............ CRASH! Stone s flying body comes crashing through the roof of the stall..... For all intents and purposes, Stone should be dead. Should be......but isn t! Ye s, the impact of a man his size hitting a wooden structure at 100mph destroys th e stall. But....Stone is saved by the combo of his vest andthe improvised cushion of the large stuffed toy animals that were inside. Bugs Bunny. Tweety. Sylvester . Big ones! Stone is shaken by the ordeal but alive. He looks at the toys that s aved his life, a Porky Pig toy in particular. "That s not all folks!", He says to himself.

Stone gathers himself together and continues the hunt for DJ SkyNet. He looks across the park for another half hour. Nothing. He wanders into Dodge Ci ty. He looks over by the bumper cars........and guess who he spots. Grinning fro m ear to ear, like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. DJ SkyNet, waving hello with one hand and the other behind his back. Stone is beyond pissed. He ru ns over, ready to tear the little bastard apart. SkyNet stands calm and unafraid . Stone has to enter the closed bumper cars ride to get to Skynet. The moment he enters, SkyNet pulls out what his other hand was hiding. A very sophisticated r emote control. SkyNet pushes a button. The Bumper Cars ride turns on.Stone dead in the middle. Al l the bumper cars are posted along the edge of the ride, creating a "bull in the ring" situation. Stone is completely surrounded. Skynet pushes a button.The stere o blasts"The Freaks Come Out at Night" by Whodini.A random bumper car comes at Stone !At Full Speed! It clips Stone s legs and knocks him on his ass.As Stone gets up, an other one comes out of nowhere and hits him in the back! HARD!!Before he can recov er, another hits him in the chest. "OH!!!! I know that broke a rib!! " says SkyNet. The pain Stone feels tells him the e coughs up confirms it.The pain bumper car coming straight for his rolls out of the way...into the "To Hell with This!" He gets to his feet and jumps out of the ride altogether. He looks up to see DJ SkyNet running like a little bitch to the dance stage. Stone is getting real sic k of this cat and mouse game. Stone finds himself in the stage perfomance area. Usually the sight of the Loone y Tunes Dance Off and the Mr. Six Dance Party. Because it s now Fright Fest time , they ll probably have actors dressed as zombies and ghouls do the Thriller dan ce routine for the crowd. Stone has had enough of that song tonight. CLICK! Stone is in the spotlight, yet again. In the DJ booth above is SkyNet. son of a bitch might be right. The blood Ston blinds Stone momentarily. Stone fails to see the head! Stone catches it at the last minute and path of another oncoming bumper car.Stone screams:

 "And here s a special mix that I wanna dedicate to my boy, Stone! " The stereos release a ultrahigh frequency tone of 1 megahertz boosted to 200 dec ibels. The equivalent of several tons of TNT being set off . The sound waves areac tually resonating inside his brain. The pain he experiencing is like nothing he has ever felt.It stops.DJ SkyNet steps down from the booth, wearing a pair ofSennheis er mm 550Noise CancellingTravelHeadphones. In his hand, a crowbar. Stone s equilibri um is completely shot. But he manages to pull out "Sweets" . With all his concen tration, he fires off two shots, destroying the speakers.If the tone was maintaine d for a longer period, the insides of his eardrums would have exploded.SkyNet, eve r the opportunist, decides to beat on the defenseless Stone.He sings a little nurs ery rhyme as he beats on Stone. "Rock-a-bye baby," WAP!!!! "on the treetop," WAP!!!! "the cradle will rock," WAP!!! "When the bough breaks," WAP!!! "the cradle will fall," WAP!!! "And down will come baby,"

 WAP!!!! "cradle and all." He looks at Stone, beaten and battered. He couldn t be happier! He jumps on Ston e s chest, with the crowbar to Stone s throat, choking him. "I told I would win, Stone. It s too bad Fort and Phillips couldn t share my vis ion. Jennings remained a friend. Even after I had those traitors killed. Just li ke I m gonna do to those little brats I used to kill them. When I m through with you. My system will be all over the world.Hey!!! Imagine if it gets into the Whit e House? Oh, the possibililties!! "If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn t. And contrary wise, what is, i t wouldn t be. And what it wouldn t be, it would. You see? " "The.....Mad ......Hatter....", says Stone. "So you know your Lewis Carroll. Quite commendable. It s too bad. We could have been......friends." "Oh.....you ll make.....plenty of......friends......where you re going...." Stone pulls out another piece of equipment. AnOlympusVN-7000 Digital Voice Recorder . "Perfect for.......inner thoughts.....and.....murder confessions." SkyNet s smile disappears.Another sound scares him even more. The familiar sound o f approaching police cars. "I m sorry......I forgot to mention......I m expecting company......Made a few c alls while you had me.....running around...." SkyNet takes the crowbar off Stone s neck and picks him up by the vest. Complete ly irate!

"You bastard!!! You ll ruined everything!" "What s the matter, little man? You gonna cry?" "This isn t over, Stone!" SkyNet drops Stone and starts to run away. "Yes... it is." Stone takes his Gerber knife and, with all the strength he can muster, throws th e knife ! Into the base of SkyNet s back. The villian falls flat on his face! St one gets himself up. The spirit of this man is off the charts. His body? Bruised . His ribs? Broken. His arm and ears? Bleeding. But still he stands on his two f eet, like the warrior that he is.He walks over to SkyNet s body. Stone sees his sp irit is matched only by SkyNet s hatred. The night s tormentor crawls to the rem ote that he used to control fate the whole night. Perhaps at one last chance to hurt Stone.He s using his arms to pull himself and he s crying frantically. His le gs? He can t feel them. Stone looks at his enemy and almost pities him. Almost. Stone looks at the prize the down villian covets and, with a swift motion, STOMP S on it. Destroying it and SkyNet s hopes with it. SkyNet now balls out of contr ol. Tears coming from his eyes. Snot dripping from his nose. Drool coming from h is mouth. The two share a final look. SkyNet will not rest until Stone is dead. And Stone knows it.....but doesn t care. Bring it on, little man. I ll be waiting. Stone turns and leaves. The police are charging in as Stone limps out . The police chief enters and walk s right up to Stone. The same one that insulted Stone and got a elbow to the hea d for it. The chief now understands the man in front of him. "I talked to your boss. He told me you would be here. Did you leave anything for us?" "A lot of bodies and a really pissed off deejay." The chief extends his hand to Stone. "Name s Niles. You ll be hearing from me." "I m sure I will."

 Stone accepts the hand, the two shake. In Niles hand ,to his surprise, is the r ecorder with SkyNet s confession on it.The two then go about their business.Conside ring the damage he took tonight, he should be dead. But here he is. Walking to h is waiting Saleen 7. Stone gets in and drives offin the direction of the coming su nrise. To the next case. To the next adventure. Damien Greggs was found guilty on two counts of First Degree Murder. Life in Sto neBridge Federal Prison. The bombs he planted at Calvary s Children Home turned out to be fake. Did I also mention that blow to the back made him a paraplegic?Bra dy Jennings was also arrested on conspiracy charges.Brittney Parrish and Javier Ju arez were exonerated of any malfeasance due to the fact they were under a form o f coercion. Little Javier also recovered from his stroke, thanks to Dr. Parrish s treatments. As for me? Well, after a little rest, I ll be back in the trenches . I am smiling a bit because I " technically" saved the world just now.Looks good on the resume.DJ SkyNet is the newest addition to my Rogues Gallery but he won t be the last. I figure that s why I m here. To stop him and others like him from hurting innocent people.I m not a superhero. I m not a cop. I m just a man that ca n get things done. You need my help? Give me a ring. They call me Atticus Stone.