A short time later Arc arrives at the run down house outside of town. Hurrying inside he finds Wolf and Jackal at Frank’s closed door, their ears pressed against the wood.
“What’s going on?!”
Wolf frowns but does not look over. “I don’t know! The boss just… freaked out!”
Arc shrugs. “So he got mad What’s the big deal?”
Jackal shakes his head. “Not mad! But… it was strange! Stuff just started happening!”
Arc sighs and steps forward. “I’ll see what this is all about.”
Wolf grimaces. “That might be dangerous.”
“Oh? What’s he going to do? Throw a lamp at me?”
Jackal shrugs. “Maybe.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
Wolf rolls his eyes. “Do whatever you want. But just a bit of friendly advice. Be ready to duck.”
“Fine.”
Putting his hand on the doorknob Arc slowly turns it and opens the door. He peers inside the room to see a rather strange sight. Before his eyes several pieces of broken down furniture float aimlessly around as do the rest of the room’s contents. Several books pass the doorway as they drift along. The bed itself hovers a foot or so off the floor. Frowning, Arc closes the door wordlessly as he turns to Wolf.
“Uh… how long has this been going on?”
“About an hour.”
Jackal points to the door. “See?! I told you something was up!”
Wolf sighs. “Yeah, I guess you were right big guy.”
Arc raises an eyebrow. “What’s he talking about?”
Jackal frowns. “The last couple nights I heard weird sounds from the boss’ room. When I went to look I saw things floating around!”
Arc frowns. “And you two are just now saying something?!”
Wolf shrugs. “Not exactly. At the time I thought Jackal had dreamed it.”
“See?! Not a dream!”
“Yeah, yeah… but we gotta help the boss!”
Arc nods. “That we do.”
Jackal scratches his head. “But how?! And what going on in there?!”
Wolf looks around nervously. “No clue! This place must be haunted though!”
“Haunted?”
Wolf nods feverishly. “Yeah! I mean, what else could be causing all this?!”
Jackal sighs. “Me sure glad the boss asleep right now.”
“I’m sure the stress would be bad, and all. But we need to get him out of there and away from those spooks!”
Jackal grimaces. “But how?!”
Wolf and Jackal turns to look at Arc.
“I don’t know anything about ghosts. But I’ll go in first.”
“We’re right behind you.”
“Yeah!”
Sighing, Arc turns the doorknob and walks into the room. He carefully maneuvers past the floating objects and over to the bedside as Wolf and Jackal watch nervously from the doorway. Reaching his friend Arc puts a hand on his shoulder.
“Hey, Frank?”
The young man slowly opens his eyes. As he does so the objects around them fall to the floor, as does the bed.
“A-Arc? Is that you?”
“Yeah. Um… you okay?”
Frank sits up slowly. “I think so. Other than being exhausted, that is.”
He looks over to the pair at the doorway before turning back to Arc.
“What’s wrong with them?”
“They… think the house is haunted.”
Frank chuckles. “Do they now?”
Wolf steps up to the bed. “Yeah boss! Weird thing were happening in here!”
Jackal follows him. “We both saw it!”
“Arc, what are they talking about?”
Arc gestures to the items strewn around the room. “All this stuff was floating around when I walked in.”
Frank narrows his eyes. “Arc. If anyone else had told me that, I’d have thought they were certifiably insane.”
“Um… thank you?”
“Tell me. What do you think of what you saw?”
“I doubt it’s ghosts. But something a bit… supernatural was indeed going on.”
Wolf and Jackal cautiously look around the room together.
“Right. But what?”
“I still think it ghosts!”
Arc shakes his head. “No clue. But that’s not why I came out here.”
Frank chuckles. “Yes, I assumed you had found a piece of the puzzle.”
Arc sits down on the edge of the bed. “I, uh… got a report from the doctor regarding your treatment.”
Frank raises an eyebrow. “That was fast.”
“Yeah. Um… it wasn’t encouraging.”
“What do you mean?”
“The chart wasn’t like anything he’d ever seen before.”
Wolf rolls his eyes. “What are you talking about?! If a doctor’s seen one chart, he’s seen them all!”
Jackal shushes Wolf. “I wanna hear!”
Frank looks at the pair. “Hospital papers always follow a system. It’s so if someone else has to take over, they have all the information at their fingertips.”
Arc frowns. “Apparently you weren’t well cared for over there.”
Wolf clenches a fist. “How so?”
Arc relays the information from Doctor Whooves. Wolf grits his teeth.
“Are you saying our boss was TORTURED?!”
“Maybe not the word I’d have used. But he certainly didn’t receive the best care available.”
Frank grimaces. “This is monstrous! What else did they do to me?! Mind-altering drugs?!”
“The chart just referred to your drugs as ‘treatments’.”
Jackal frowns. “No idea at all?”
Arc shakes his head. “None. Someone went to a lot of trouble to hide what they were doing to you though. I literally had to break into the Records Room to get the file.”
“And I appreciate you going to all this trouble, my friend. But the question now is, where do we go from here?”
“Before I learned this, part of me wanted to suggest you go back to the hospital. But now I know that’s not really an option.”
Wolf nods vehemently. “You got that right!”
Jackal frowns. “Yeah! They’d just hurt the boss again!”
Frank nods. “Agreed. But did your doctor have any suggestions on what I should do?”
“Not really, no. All you CAN do is just rest and try to recover your strength naturally.”
Frank yawns. “I think I’ll do that. No idea why I’m so tired though.”
“Probably just your body trying to fix what was done to it.”
Wolf turns to leave. “We should let you rest, boss.”
Frank nods and lies back down. Arc heads for the door.
“Oh, Arc?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
Arc nods and leaves the room. Wolf and Jackal escort him outside.
“Hey. I… uh…”
Arc looks to Wolf. “Yes?”
“I just wanted to thank you for not telling the boss we called you. I’m sure he wouldn’t be happy knowing we were freaking out earlier.”
Jackal grins. “Yeah! He really thinks highly of you!”
“I guess. But you two were right to call.”
Wolf appears surprised. “We were?
Arc nods. “Yeah. Something is going on here. And it doesn’t feel natural.”
Jackal appears frightened. “Ghosts?!”
Arc shakes his head. “I don’t think so. But let’s table that talk for another day.”
Wolf sighs. “Sure. But where do we go from here?”
“I’m going to call in a favor to a friend of mine. See if they can come up with some information about the doctor whom treated Frank.”
Jackal looks to Arc soberly. “You need help with that?”
Wolf clenches a fist. “Yeah! You find them, and Jackal and I will pay them a visit they won’t EVER forget!”
“Thanks, but I’ll handle this.”
Arc gets into the Jeep and drives away. Jackal looks to Wolf.
“So… what we do now?”
Wolf sighs as he turns back to the house. “Watch over the boss until he comes back.”
“That not much of a plan.”
“It’s all we can do.”
Meanwhile, Arc drives back toward town. Cherry calls out to him.
“I think we both know what was going on back there, Arc.”
Arc nods soberly. “Yeah. Magic.”
Cherry groans. “Yes. But how?!
“I can only guess those so-called ‘treatments’ had something to do with it.”
“Agreed. But how would something like that be scientifically possible?! Human’s don’t have horns!”
Arc nods. “Right. But neither do I, and I use magic all the time.”
“I suppose so.”
“Either way we need to figure this out, and fast.”
They drive on for a time in silence.
“So who’s the friend who owes you a favor?”
Arc frowns. “Perhaps the term ‘friend’ was a bit too much.”
As they drive through downtown Angel Grove, Arc suddenly pulls into a public parking lot. Cherry gasps.
“Something wrong?”
“There’s a pay phone over there. I need to make a call.”
Getting out of the Jeep, Arc walks over to the phone and pulls a card from his ring. Sighing, he dials. In a few moments a voice on the other end answers.
“Minerva Moore speaking.”
“Miss Moore, this is the Hero.”
“Hello again. Is everything alright?”
“Kinda have a bit of a problem actually. Cherry and I can explain it better in person. Can we come see you after work?”
“I was actually just about to get off. Care to stop by my place?”
“Sounds good. I’ll head over there now.”
“Feel free to wait inside and I’ll see you as soon as I can.”
“Thanks. See you soon.”
Arc hangs up the phone and sighs. Cherry calls out to him.
“I’m surprised you called Minerva. You and her certainly aren’t what I would consider friends.”
Arc grunts. “Does that tell you how desperate I am right now?”
“She’s not a bad human. Well… not really. Just a bit… um… grandiose.”
“Yeah. But I’m still not too thrilled about what she pulled last time.”
“I thought you might drag her back to Equestria in chains for that.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
Arc heads for a secluded alley nearby. Looking around to make sure no one is around he calls forth Eidolon’s Ward and opens a portal. Stepping through, Arc finds himself on top of a very tall building. Cherry giggles.
“I told you putting a sigil up here was a good idea.”
“Looks like you were right, Cherry. Now let’s get inside.”
Blinking, straight down Arc reappears in Minerva’s Living Room.
“I always liked this room. But at the same time, it’s missing something.”
“Oh? What’s that, Cherry?”
“Friends to fill this space with laughter.”
“That’s up to her.”
Cherry sighs. “I know.”
“Think you could let me out?”
“Sure!”
The armor melts away and Arc steps out. He turns back to Eidolon’s Ward as it reforms
“Cherry, I’m sorry Minerva and I don’t get along. But what she did… separating us like that… it isn’t something I can just easily forgive.”
Eidolon’s Ward puts a gauntlet on Arc’s shoulder. “I understand. But you can’t live in the past forever.”
“I know. But I still don’t trust her.”
“Well, maybe Minerva and I can help change your mind.”
“How?”
“By proving she isn’t the same human whom separated us anymore.”
“That has yet to be seen.”
“In any case, you’d better get under wraps if you don’t want her seeing your face.”
“Alright.”
A short time later the sound of a key sliding into the front door lock can be heard. The door opens and Minerva walks into the room.
“H-hello?”
Eidolon’s Ward walks toward her from the Living Room.
“Welcome home, Minerva!”
Minerva smiles. “Thanks. It’s good to see you again, Cherry.”
The pair embrace before Eidolon’s Ward gestures toward the Living Room with a gauntlet.
“The Hero’s waiting for you.”
Minerva nods and gulps as Eidolon’s Ward leads the way. Arc sits in the center of the couch. He is wearing one of his magic cloaks and mask. Minerva and Eidolon’s Ward sit across from him.
“Hello again.”
Minerva nods nervously. “I… um… hi.”
Eidolon’s Ward pats Minerva’s shoulder. “No need to be scared. We’re all friends here.”
“I have a question for you, Miss Moore.”
“Yes?”
“When last we spoke, you told me you’d be willing to help in my… investigations. Are you still up for that?”
Minerva nods. “Y-yes, I am. Anything to help make up for what I did to you and Cherry!”
“Very well. I have a rather… delicate matter I need investigated. You see…”
Minerva’s stomach makes a strange rumbling sound. She blushes.
“Sorry about that. I woke up late and had to skip breakfast.”
Eidolon’s Ward turns to her friend. “Why don’t we cook something for you? It won’t take long if we all work together.”
Minerva smiles nervously. “That might be a bit tricky. You see, I don’t have much other than cold cereal right now. After work I was supposed to go shopping.”
“Oh dear! Um… Hero?”
“Yes, Cherry?”
“Why don’t you take Minerva out to dinner?”
“Huh?”
“Both of you are hungry. It would also give you two a chance to talk and maybe smooth things over.”
Minerva wrings her hands nervously. “Oh, I don’t know about…”
“Please, Hero?!”
Arc sighs. “Very well.”
He turns to Minerva.
“Can I use your phone?”
“S-sure.”
Arc stands and heads for the phone. Minerva looks to Eidolon’s Ward and lowers her voice.
“What are you doing?!”
“Trust me.”
Minerva sighs. “I’m not so sure this is the way…”
Eidolon’s Ward interrupts her. “You have a better idea?”
Minerva shakes her head. “No.”
Eidolon’s Ward giggles. “Don’t worry. I’ll be there the whole time.”
Minerva forces a small smile. “Alright then.”
Arc returns a few minutes later and walks over to the pair.
“They’ll have everything ready for us, Cherry.”
“That restaurant from last time?”
Arc nods. “Yes.”
Minerva appears confused. “Restaurant?”
“That one where I fought The Riders.”
Minerva puts a finger to her cheek. “I remember that place. It was really busy after the battle.”
Eidolon’s Ward giggles. “That was a lucky break for the owner. His business was hurting due to the gang’s antics.”
Arc turns to Minerva. “We should get going. Roberto is pretty good about accommodating last minute reservations. That and now isn’t exactly his peak business hours.”
“Do you want me to drive?”
“Unless you want me to Blink us there.”
Minerva appears confused. “Blink?”
“Teleport.”
“Oh… um… if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather just get there using the more conventional methods.”
“Very well. Shall we be off?”
Minerva stands up nervously. “O-okay. Just let me freshen up a bit and we’ll be off.”
Arc nods as Minerva heads to her Bedroom. He turns to his armor.
“Cherry?”
“Yes?”
“You’re up to something, aren’t you?”
Cherry giggles. “I just want you two to bury the hatchet. One of the best ways to do that is over a nice meal.”
Arc sighs. “Well, I suppose that’s true. But I want to go on record as saying I still don’t trust Minerva.”
“I understand. But she earned my trust when we were together. Hopefully she can do the same for you.”
“Time will tell.”
Eidolon’s Ward stands and looks toward the bedroom.
“I think I’ll see if Minerva needs any help.”
“Um… okay.”
The armor heads for the bedroom as Arc sits on the couch and waits.
“I have a bad feeling about this…”