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Mitsuko simply sat there for a while after the ghost girl had gone. Thinking more clearly than she had been able to for some time.

She was afraid, but that was nothing new, she'd been afraid since all this had started happening to her back when she was someone else who's being was denied to her now.

Afraid for the baby growing within her that she should find abhorrent but couldn't. The unborn, still forming child couldn't be held to blame for what had happened to her and after all, he or she was nestled right under her heart. Something that is difficult to ignore and most especially hate.

That one deserved its chance at life, and one without the constraints his or her mother had to endure.

She resolved to do whatever she could to give her baby that chance and felt something that was nearly alien to her it had been so long, with so much pain and loss that she couldn't recall the last time she'd felt that emotion.

Mitsuko finally had hope again.

And she decided that she would fight in whatever way she could, to keep that, and maybe, just maybe, make something of it besides the travesty of a life she was now forced to endure.

“Spectre,” She whispered, “I die happy if you make bad men pay. You promise to take care of my baby. I know you do that. What you need? I do.

“You be free, my child. That I promise you.” She said louder while gently stroking her belly.

“Who are you talking to, Mitsuko?” A male voice intruded on her thoughts and she looked up to see the man who had become her 'husband' and the father of her child. She hated him with enough force to make the definition pale, but gave him a happy distracted smile.

“Just talk to baby. They like that.”

Then she smiled as the conditioning kicked in and kissed the man she hated more than anything else she had ever known.

I had to pull out of watching Mitsuko then. What that man had her do is nothing I'm going to even try to describe. Let's just say that I really wanted to make that one suffer, for a long, long time. And give Mitsuko the chance to confront him when the time came and she actually had her mind back as her own.

How I was going to manage to give her that, I didn't know, but I'd find a way.

Given what she had agreed to with me, she deserved at least than much.

And yes, I was hovering over the arch again, just thinking, stewing, and longing for revenge against people who had done things to others who would never have the chance to get that for themselves.

“Might as well make yourself visible.” A familiar voice intruded on my thoughts.

I'd known she was coming, spotted her a long way off and gave a mental shrug as I let her see me and looked at her. “Hi Jade. Been awhile.

“Oh, I like the new look.”

“Been kind of busy lately.” She answered without answering.

“So I noticed.” I let out a long sigh and nodded. “I saw it all.”

“Yeah, so now I'm branded as a dangerous killer, too.” She answered shortly, and with evident pain in her answer.

“We all do what we do, Jade.” I shrugged. “You defended a whole planet when you did what you did, though most people don't know that. Me? I just defend the individuals.”

“Does that make it right?” She questioned.

“Better to ask if that makes it wrong, I think.” I looked at her and felt the pain she was fighting. “You know you saved the world from a lot grief, even if how you did that hurts. I can't find anything wrong with that. Can you?”

She hesitated, then shook her head in the negative.

“Jade, no matter who or what we are,” I told her, “we are what we are and have to act accordingly. I don't necessarily like a lot of what I do, I can tell you don't, but we do it to keep People safe and unaware of the true dangers out here. It's hard, but it's what we do.”

“Trying to justify what you do?” She shot back but it was without real heat or outrage.

“No,” I gave her a sad smile, “not at all. I just do what I am compelled to do. Justice isn't a nice thing most of the time and neither is defending something you consider precious.

“If we have to kill to keep people safe, we'll do it.” I moved forward and gave her a hug that she didn't try to get away from. “Even if we hate ourselves because we did it.”

“I wouldn't have understood that a while ago, you know.” She said and actually sat on the top of the arch.

I joined her and patted her shoulder gently. “But now you do.”

“Yeah.”

I took her into a hug to stop the quivering of her shoulders and all I could say was, “Go ahead and cry, it's all right. Gods knows I've done enough of that myself.”

She did, I did. I won't go into details here.

“You've been busy, too.” Jade told me, once that was over with, then gave me a concerned look. “What you're doing is dangerous, you know part of you is mortal. What if these people find that part and chip you?”

“Let them try.” I actually chuckled at that thought. “My human form isn't defenseless, and if the bad guys took Deena, they would have a very unpleasant surprise. I am not ruled by my physical, human body. And Deena would be capable of hurting anyone trying to take her.”

“But if they ruled your human form, wouldn't that rule you?”

“Let them think so if they even make the connection.” I gave a little shrug. “And I can beat that chip. For myself at least and in some cases for others in a limited sense.”

“What?” She looked at me like I was insane. “You can free all the chip slaves?”

“No, I can't.” I told her seriously. “I can give them some freedom of choice, though. I've done that already, but no, I can't change a lot of things that were done to them. Just mitigate the worst of it if things work right.”

“Where does that leave you, then?”

“I honestly don't know, Jade.” I told her. “I'm not a goddess and neither is my patron. All we can do is do what we can and hope for the best.”

“What about the mortals that are helping you?” She questioned and I had to grin a little. At least Jade recognized that she wasn't a mortal human, or even human, any longer.

“I'm watching over them, Jade.” I told her, or promised her. “No worries there.”

“Given your abilities, I won't argue that point.” She nodded. “But you aren't always watching, you can't do that. It just isn't possible.”

“No.” I agreed. “But Tisiphone can and does.”

“Guess I'll just have to take that as truth.” She nodded then gave me a grin. “I also hear that you've been teasing a Green Lantern?”

“Kyle.” I think I looked a bit embarrassed when she brought that one up. “He isn't all that much of a jerk, you know, and he's going to help me with all this chip thing.”

“Given how you look, right now,” she actually giggled, “that makes sense. He'd do anything in his power to get you into the sack.”

“Welll,” I gave a little self conscious shrug, “I tease him, he chases me, we both have fun.”

“Good for you, dear.” Jade actually gave me a real smile. “Are you going to let him catch you?”

“Eventually, I suppose.” I would have blushed if I'd had real blood in my system just then. “It isn't quite cheating on the other Kyle since they are basically the same person, right?”

“The other Kyle?” She asked with a lift of one eybrow.

“Never mind.”

She just laughed, gave my cheek a gentle pat and said. “Well, got to go, but it's been an informative conversation. You are all too human, Diana, no matter how much you might deny that.

“See you around, and if you need help with this chip thing, holler.” She hugged me before shooting off to who knows where.

Wow.

I would have liked to think about that conversation for a while, like maybe a year, but I had things to do and couldn't afford to take much time to wonder about things that didn't directly impact what I was presently doing.

I was beginning to get an inkling of why the ancient furies had been so fearsome. If my attitude was any indication, once one of them latched onto something they wouldn't let it go until it was finished one way or the other. I knew that's where I was with this ugly mess I'd uncovered. I'd stamp out what was going on presently with those chips if it took me eternity to do so.

And trust me, a fury with a mission, a real mission, is a really scary thing.

By now I suppose I have the right to say that with some authority. I wasn't a fully blown fury, or didn't think I was, but I was certainly one's avatar in the world these days. And I had a mission that I wasn't about to let go of until it was finished no matter what mayhem I had to cause or endure to get it done.

Justice was going to get done. People were going to pay, dearly, for the things they were doing.

The fact that what I was planning for most of them was worse than any death imaginable didn't even cause me to flinch by then. These people had pronounced their own sentences by what they were doing. I wasn't blind, like the classic Justice of mythology or the one shown in statues at court houses, but I was implacable. And I would not stop until my own brand of justice had been served.

Even determined as I was, that thought made part of me more than a little sick.

“Hello, Charlie, or should I call you Charlotte now?” I asked once I'd appeared to the the shell of a man who had been Helena's husband and chief tormentor. “Feeling all nice and girly inside yet?”

He almost hit the ceiling and nearly puked when he came down to see me seated comfortably in a chair in the Den he was sitting in while he fretted about things that I'd engineered.

“Are you here to torment me?” He asked in a shaky voice and I could see the held in rage, and fear in his eyes while tasting it in his soul.

“I told you what you had to look forward to, Charlotte.” I gave him a cruel little grin. “So, are you having problems at work already? Trouble making decisions, maybe? Doing little things, showing mannerisms that aren't considered all that manly?”

“You could stop this.” He told me then actually looked as if he was going to fall to his knees and beg. “Please stop this. If I don't change they're going to take my job away, chip me and transform me.”

“Nothing more than you deserve.” I shot back without expression. “I told you what was going to happen. I won't change that.”

“Please!”

“And how many people have begged you to do just that?” I asked without sympathy. “How many times have you relished the pain someone else was going through without making a move to do anything about it except add to it?”

“I — I've learned my lesson.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You haven't. You haven't even come close to learning about what you and your associates have put innocent people through, are putting them through. But you're going to learn all of it. First hand.”

To his credit, he didn't plead any longer. Just lowered his head and sobbed.

“At least you aren't begging any longer.” I told him. “How many times did your 'loving wife' Helena beg you for release, or did you even give her that much leeway? How many others have begged you to stop what you're doing to them, or overseeing as they descend into a kind of slavery the human race has never seen before?

“How many, Charlotte?” I pressed. “How many people have you done this to?”

“About twenty.” He whispered. “The process is expensive, and time consuming with the genetic alterations and the conditioning we do.”

“Genetic alterations?” I asked. “Tell me more.”

“The — subjects are given an injection that attacks their DNA, changes it from XY to XX first. Then adds the racial and individual characteristics we want them to have.” He tiredly told me and I could tell from his expression that he'd already had that injection himself. “Then we use nanites to alter their physical selves to match the new gene mapping in their bodies.

“Given the trauma from the genetic alterations, their physical bodies succumb easily to the changes that make them real females. The process is slow, and painful, which reinforces the need to obey. If they fight we not only use the chip to give them pain, we withhold the pain meds during their physical transformations.”

“And you wonder why I seem merciless right now.” I quietly told him while trying to hold my gorge down. Not that I'd mind messing up his carpet, but that would have given him the wrong impression. I'd go somewhere and throw up later. “So have you given yourself one of those injections?”

“Yes.”

“And just which genetic heritage did you give yourself?” I asked.

“Mixed Arabic and Black.” He miserably told me. “The type we sell to Middle Eastern Shieks.”

“Serves you right.” I didn't chuckle or even gloat all that much. “So you'll be looking at a life that sees things through veils, and other restrictive clothing.”

“Yes, damn you.” He shot back.

“I've been there for awhile, actually.” I told him with a thin smile. “You however, are going into it fresh. How do you like it?”

I grabbed his chin and looked inside his body, to the changing genetics he'd already inflicted on himself. “Oh, you're going to be a beauty, too. Long slim Nubian neck, Ghetto butt, face like an Egyptian sculpture of Nefertiri.

“I'm sure you're associates will make a LOT of money off you, dear, though I can see that Charlotte isn't a proper name for you any longer. I think I'll start calling you Samira. In the ancient Persian that name literally means 'entertainer'. I'm sure you can figure out the rest for yourself.”

“Stop this, please.”

“You're begging again.” I told him and shook a finger in his face. “That doesn't work with me, Samira. Mercy and compassion aren't things I'm well known for, after all.”

“Then kill me now and get it over with.”

“Kill you?” I shook my head. “Oh no, Samira. You're going to live a long time, and you'll spend that life looking young and fresh. The worst thing I can do to someone is deny them death, and that's what I'm doing with you. No matter how much you might want it, no matter how many times you try to get it, you'll fail. You are going to live in your new life until I release you.”

“Damn you to Hell.” He grated out even though he looked a little green around the edges as he said it.

“Oh, I'm there already, dear.” I assured him. “You however, are just walking up the gates and reading the inscription. You do know what that says, don't you?”

“Abandon all Hope...”

“Exactly.” I managed to smirk and nodded. “I'll be watching, and riding, as you go through those gates, too. Don't think I'm going to leave you alone.”

Damn, I hate myself at times.

But vengeance is my nature, and most of the time, vengeance is cruel. Very cruel.

Did the guy deserve the future he was looking at? I thought so, even if it did make me a little sick thinking about it. No natural born woman would deal well with or should have to endure what Charlie/Samira was going to go through.

But that one would, and I would be watching through his/her eyes and feeling with his/her nerves through the whole thing. I wasn't looking forward to it, but I had to know how the whole process worked. The best way I could think of for learning that was to go through it, even if it was — happily — vicariously.

That, in case you haven't got it yet, is my own particular curse. I have to know what my victims go through. Another little quirk that Tisiphone put into me. Damn her.

At least I know she did that so I wouldn't lose touch with what humanity I still had.

But it doesn't make things any easier to handle.

And yes, I puked my guts out once I'd left Helena's former husband.

Feel better now?

I know I don't.

There was one other piece to the puzzle of allies I was gathering that I couldn't ignore or put off any longer.

Megan. Miss Mars.

She had lost more than a lot of us even wanted to contemplate when what happened to Dolores was done. She deserved to be in on the kill when it happened.

But she was busy with another crises, and in trouble at the moment.

I knew she and her companions could handle the trouble, but didn't wish to appear to her physically because if I did I might be compelled to do something. Given the hard knocks Megan had endured recently, she didn't need someone swooping in to the rescue. Not when she was more than capable of taking care of the situation herself.

So I did something I'd never tried before. I entered her dreams.

“Megan.” I softly called to her.

“What? Who? Where am I?” She asked in a rush that showed her confusion and fear.

“You're in a safe place.” I assured her. “I just wanted to talk with you for a few minutes and this was the best way to do that given your present circumstances.”

“I'm — we're in deep trouble.”

She looked around as if searching for something to attack and a I let out a light chuckle. “No need to worry, those troubles haven't followed you here. And you and your friends are more than capable of handling the problem even if things might look bleak at the moment.”

She looked and me and pulled back a pace. “You're The Spectre!”

“Yeah.” I shrugged, and you're Miss Mars. I'm not here to cause trouble just to talk for a bit.”

“What do you want?” She was suspicious and given my general reputation, I couldn't blame her for that at all.

“Lena is going to contact you soon.” I answered quietly. “She'll give you the information about what I'm doing just now.

“But I think you'll be interested.”

“Why would I be interested in pure vengeance?” She questioned.

“Because I've found others doing what was done to Dolores.” I told her bluntly. “And they have it down to a fine art that goes well beyond what your lover had to endure. If you want in on the end game with these people, I'm giving you the chance to do that. But don't make up your mind until you hear from Lena. She has all the information and my bona fides in this.”

“Chips?” She asked weakly then began to look outraged. “More people are using those damned things?”

“Yes.” I answered. “I'm investigating, so I can root out the whole disease right now, but yes, and what these people are doing is worse than what was done to Dolores, believe me. I've been riding one of their victims and am riding one that will undergo the process, but that one deserves it. He was in on doing it to others not so long ago.

“When I have more information, you'll have it. But take care of your present difficulties first. This isn't going to be a quick fix kind of thing, it's going to take time and care. You do what you need to do here, then get in touch. Lena can give you the means to do that once you're ready.”

“I want those bastards.” Megan grated out.

“So do I.” I told her. “So does Phoenix, a Green Lantern, Lena and Doris. “We'll get them, Megan, but we have to do this carefully. If we slam the facility I've found into the ground, they'll just set up business somewhere else that we aren't aware of. Can you be patient for awhile with this?”

“It'll be hard.” She told me then nodded. “But if we can get all of it, root, branch and bloom, I'll wait.”

“Good enough.” I nodded. “I'll let you get back to what you need to do now. But do contact Lena, then me once this thing is finished.”

“Oh you can bet the house on that.” Megan told me.

“I have to go now.” I told her. “You're close to waking up and if I see what I think you will, I'll have no choice but to intervene, and this is your fight, and Courtney's. Not mine.”

“I'll be in touch.” She promised.

“I know you will.” I sighed. “You take care of business first, then we'll talk at length.”

“You got it.”

“We'll get them, Megan.” I promised her. “I have other people working with me on this and it will still be ongoing when you're done here. But what you're doing here is important, too. Maybe more so than you currently realize. Finish this, then come find me.”

“I said I would.”

“Good bye, for now, then.” I told her, then added. “You do know that that expression used to be God be with you?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Same to you.”

“Oh, that one lost his hold on me when I died.” I shrugged. “Another one has suzerain over me now, but I appreciate the sentiment. Talk with you later, Megan.”

And I left that dream.