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The orange-faced freak laughed maniacally. The knife in his hand dripped blood down to the hard concrete. The blood belonged to the black clad figure at his feet. Vengeance clutched at his side, just below his rib cage. Blood flowed freely from the cut, but no vital organs seemed to be affected.

The man with the orange face ran the blade down one of the long vertical scars that ran down his hairless face. “You made it too easy, Vengie! I never thought I could just gut you in the middle of the street!”

Vengeance struggled up on to one knee. “It’s not over yet, Jack O’Lantern. Not over by a long shot.”

With his free hand, Jack O’Lantern reached in to the long, ragged overcoat he wore over a faded black suit. His hand came out of the jacket with a long-nosed pistol in hand.

“It ends tonight, Vengie. I’d like to say it has been fun… but the crime spree will be oh so much more delightful without you getting in the way!”

Vengeance struggled to his feet, tried to lunge for the gun. It wasn’t enough. There wasn’t enough time.

Until a stack of newspapers, bound together by twine, slammed in the side of Jack’s face. His hand flew up, the gun fired harmlessly in to the air.

The newspapers swung around and struck Jack again. Jack stumbled back and landed hard on his rear. The boy swinging those papers brought them down hard on his noggin.

I’m sure my grin was dopey at best as I turned to help Vengeance to his feet. I knew I was strong and fast, but up until that day, I never had the chance to see just how far I could push myself. But my smile quickly faded when I saw the blood again.

“Mister Vengeance, we need to get you to the doctor!”

You shook your head, Vengeance. You said, “No! I need to get back to my Citadel. Help me to my feet.”

I was still in awe at best. I don’t think I could have disagreed at that point. So I threw myself under one of your arms, helped you back to the Vengi-Car, and from there I guess it was history….

*****

“That day changed my life, Rob. But—” He shook his head seemingly at a loss for words. He ran one hand over his brow. The deep wrinkles straightened slightly with each knead of his skin. “This isn’t what I expected to come across at this point in my life.”

“I don’t understand any of this, Terry. I remember you; I remember everything you just said. But I don’t remember any of the in-between. I don’t know why I’m in my early nineties but look like I did when I was twenty-five. But I do remember—”

Terry rose from his seat. He hobbled as he stepped forward. His right knee sought to betray him. For a moment, Benton though that his old friend might tumble to the floor. But Terry pushed away the pain and forced the knee to take him where he wanted to go. He stopped just a step away from Robert.

“You remember me dying, don’t you?”

Robert nodded. “I was already retired, wasn’t I? You wore the costume, the modified one with a full face mask. Your son, Gerald, he was Rancor by that time. Even though we argued again and again over whether or not the country was ready for a black hero and his sidekick.” He could feel the pain rising against his temples. The debilitating pain slowly encroached on his memories. He ignored it, tried to push through to the hidden thoughts.

“After that, I remember the boy coming back from the Cambodian jungles. Not a boy really, but that’s how I thought of him He wore your costume. He told me you were dead. I remember crying for the first time in decades.”

“It’s a long story, Rob. And it’s one I don’t much like to remember. Give me time. I’ll share it with you when I up to the retelling again. For now, I think we have other things to discuss. Like for example, how you got here.”

Benton shook his head. “I would tell you if I knew. I get flickers of memories, but none of them stretch much past my early sixties. It’s like I disappeared off the face of the earth. When I started to follow the boy…” he turned back to Terry. “The boy! Who the heck is the boy! He acts and moves—I thought maybe the same thing that happened to me had come over you!”

Terry shook his head. “I wouldn’t mind to be a little younger, but I don’t think I could ever stand being fifteen again. I never quite figured why everyone looks back at their teenage years so fondly. Perhaps I’m a product of my age and race. Teenaged Negro boys in the white neighborhoods of Kentucky’s biggest city generally don’t have the best time.”

“I understood. It’s just—”

“You hoped to learn something from a young me. Perhaps I could tell you why you went through this transformation. I may be old, Robert, but I’m still as sharp as a tack. No, I’m not Vengeance, he is.”

Terry threw out one gnarled finger. A hidden panel opened at the wall he pointed towards. Inside, Robert could see what looked like another crime lab. A young man sat in the computer terminal, his back towards them. His hair was dark. His skin was mocha colored; his hair was close to his head in beaded rows. He turned to look at them as they entered the room.

“So the old man is awake.”

“Show some respect, Andre!” Terry’s words were stern, but Robert could detect the love in his voice. “You may not recognize him out of costume, but you’re already met Andre Lincoln-Hernandez. And despite the age discrepancy, he’s my son.”

Robert looked at his eighty-plus-year-old friend. He shook his head. “I guess you still have that charm.”

Andre laughed. “Or Mom just took pity on the old loser. It depends on which parent you ask.”

“Mom? You’re married again, Terry?”

“For nearly fifteen years now. I’m an old man and didn’t really ever expect much of a love life. But somehow Marisol and I hit it off. And when she wanted a baby, I let myself be talked in to it. Andre’s the result.”

“And now you’ve passed the mantle on. He’s Rancor now?”

Terry nodded. “But I only planned to make him where the costume for a few years. I hoped he would take the Vengeance name when he got older.”

“Until I came back at least.”

“I don’t understand it, Rob. We ran genetic tests on you when you were out. We needed to be sure. You’re who you say you are, right down to the last strand of DNA. How can that even be possible?”

“We’ve seen a lot in this business. We’ve fought everything from talking animals to laser-wielding aliens. Do you think finding a way to defy age is all that strange?”

Terry’s face went grim. He shambled over to a computer terminal to his son’s right. A few key strokes later, the large monitor in the center of the console came alive. A schematic of some kind of pit showed in a rotating three dimensional image.

“The only way I’ve heard of such thing is the so-called Phoenix Fire. But the Flames of Rebirth burn out a human’s genetic structure. Each use causes more and more degeneration even as it makes one younger. That’s why all its users go insane.”

“But I didn’t. So are you saying I am somehow different or that I didn’t use the Phoenix Fire?”

“I’m not sure, but I think it may hold answers to the mystery of your current situation. Or at least it’s a start.”

Robert scratched his chin. “You want me to go looking for them. You know what he’s done to me. To us! And you want me to go out and look for him?”

“St. Germain knows the answers. And you know as well as I do that once she finds out you’re alive, Kimiko won’t take long making her presence known.”

Benton thought back to the false Amy and to his suspicions at the time. He realized the relative quiet of the last few weeks forced him to drop his guard. Whoever attacked Amy disappeared as fast as she appeared. He wondered if it had been just wishful thinking that kept him from the search.

“I may have already run in to Kimiko. On my very first day back.”

Terry sighed. “All the more reason to be on watch, old friend. I think it’s time for you to really take a long, hard look at what happened to you.”

“It hurts, Terry.” Robert felt his legs buckle. His head throbbed as he collapsed against the wall. Terry and Robert doubled before his eyes and tripled. “The memories hurt.”

Robert’s vision faded as the past once again overtook him.

*****

I stood in a snowy field. I could still feel a dull throb of pain from where the darts struck and forced me in to unconsciousness. Now I stood somewhere in the north of Japan. Mountains filled my vision from every angle.

My cowl remained, but my chest-plate, gloves, and cape were gone. I could feel the gnawing cold whip around my bare chest, but I ignored it.

I focused on the massive figure loping towards me. I recognized it as a polar bear, but I could not even begin to question how it got here.

I set my feet, took a deep breath, and waited for it to come. I knew I had more than enough strength to match the beast. The formic ethers still coursed through my blood, long before I ever became aware of its addictive, debilitating characteristics.

I took a step forward just as it reached me. I could feel the beast’s hot breath as it rose up on its hind legs to strike. I shoved my whole body in to its gut. The bear roared out in pain and confusion as I lifted it up and over my head. I brought the creature down off my shoulders and straight on to its massive skull.

The polar bear struggled to its feet. It moved away and kept its distance. I kept my eye on it, but it seemed smart enough not to pick a fight.

It slinked away after a few moments. I breathed deeply and felt the clean mountain air enter my lungs.

I felt nails run up my back. This was no attack; just a gentle caress. One hand rested on my shoulder as the other came up and ran across my cheek. She leaned in close and I felt her breath against my ear.

“Very impressive, Robert.” She pronounced my name with a long o and a dropped t. Even her English sounded more like it was filtered through French than any Asian tongue.

“What do you want, Kimiko? Why haven’t you just killed me?”

“The war is over.” I felt her lips gently move across my earlobe. “Perhaps it’s time we kiss and make up.”

“You’re a killer, a saboteur. I have no interest in anything but bringing you to justice.”

Her hands traveled down on to my chest. My words rang hollow. She knew it as well as I did.

“We have peddled so many lies for too long. Let us be honest with one another.” Her right hand traveled lower. I felt it travel across the edge of my breeches.

I should have moved away. I should have started a battle. I should have fought her to my last breath, even knowing that her men were surely nearby. If I would die that day, so be it, but at least one of the deadliest assassins the world ever knew would go with me. I did none of that.

I turned around to face her. Kimiko was already unclothed. She stood proudly before me in all her natural beauty. A moment later, she was in my arms. Our lips met and years of tension between us flowed out. It took only seconds for my breeches to fall away. We fell in to the snow.

The cold vanished, replaced by the heat of our bodies intertwined. Even with so much time past, I remember every touch, every caress. Every exact movement we made remains tattooed to my brain. Even now, I can still get lost in the passion we shared.

When I awoke, I was alone in the snowy field, wrapped in long coat. My body was once again costumed. Of Kimiko I saw no sign. I suppose it was for the best. I was a crimefighter, an adventurer. She was an assassin, a saboteur, a criminal. That one day, perhaps that was all that we could ever share.

It took me the better part of the day to reach the nearest village, a small Ainu community nestled between two mountains. From there it would be another week before I was back on my way to the United States.

Kimiko disappeared from my life that day. I would not see her for decade, Not only did she reenter my life, but so would a young man named Ando, the third person to wear the cloak of Vengeance.

Our son.

*****

Robert stumbled forward, but Andre reached him before he could strike the floor. In a matter of seconds, his eyes reopened and Robert once again saw his old friend’s face.

“You’re right,” Robert said. “I need to find Kimiko. She may not have all the answers, but I suspect she has a few. But I need your help. I can’t find her alone.”

Terry patted his friend on the shoulder. “Would you ever doubt I would help? I’ve been doing this for years now. I will help you track her down in any way I can.”

“Thank you, friend. I have a few leads, but I will need to get in touch with the police. I have an old friend in their custody I may need to speak with.”

“Slow your roll there,” Terry said. “I saw what just happened to you a moment ago. These attacks of memory, they could put you in danger at the wrong time. You know as well as I that you can’t lose concentration for a single second, not in battle.”

“I’ll be all right, Terry. I’ve survived this long haven’t I?”

Terry shook his head. “No, if you want my help it will be on my terms. I’ll help you, but you will take Andre with you.”

“Come on, Ter. I’m long past the age when I need a sidekick.”

Andre rose from his seat and shoved two hands in to Robert’s chest. “Fuck you, old man. I’ll be your partner, but I ain’t no damn sidekick!”

“Andre!” Terry’s face flashed with anger. “You’re not helping anything right now.” He turned back to Robert. “But you’re wrong. You need Andre, just like he needs you out there. If you’re going to survive, especially if it comes to a fight with Kimiko, you need him. Deep down you know it as well as I do.”

Robert said nothing, but they both knew Terry was right.

“You’re stubborn as ever, Terry.”

“The same to you.”

“All right, the kid can come along. But I still need to find away in to central holding. I need a contact in the force.”

“That shouldn’t be hard, Rob. All you need to do is speak to the new commissioner. She already knows Andre, and I’m sure she’ll remember you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You knew her grandfather and her father. Her name’s Amanda Flannery.”

“Willie Flannery’s little girl?”

“She’s so much more than that, but I will let her tell that story. You’d best head over to the precinct. I’ll get on the horn and let her know you’re coming. It looks like for the first time in years, Vengeance will be making a rooftop rendezvous with the police.”

Robert smirked. Terry always could bring out the joy in him. “It’s good to be back.”