POLTERACE

Explosions rocked the base as Aggie, Hooty, and Peewee were watching Ace trying to escape from his "death sentence" that was place on him by Galactor. He stood in a chamber that was filling up quickly with gas, choking Ace slowly. They watched in horror as Ace fell over from asphyxiation. They turned and saw that Dirk, who was there just a second ago, was gone. Then their vision went white, not seeing anything.

Aggie, Hooty and Peewee woke up all at the same time, in different parts of Utoland in a cold sweat. It had been about 1 year since the war with Galactor had finally been won. They had completely annihilated Galactor and all of the small terrorist groups that remained after their leader's death. However, both sides lost something. For Galactor, they lost everything that they had, including any men that remained loyal after their leader's death. For G-Force, they had lost their commander and his second. Ace had perished in the last battle, and no one ever knew where Dirk went. Hooty walked over to his phone and dialed up Aggie's place.

"Hello, this is Aggie speaking." Her voice was a little trembly at the moment, and Hooty was not much better.

"Aggie? It's me, Hooty. Can I come over to your place to stay? I can't seem to sleep over here." He was busy putting on his clothes, not his civvies like he wore in G-Force, but more casual.

Aggie paused for a second as if she was thinking about it, then spoke a little more calmly. "Yeah Hooty. I'll be waiting. Peewee too. I think we all need to talk." Hooty and Aggie hung up at the same time. Hooty was about ready to head out of the door when he heard something behind him.

"Hooty, hooty" It was a voice, but it sounded more like the wind, but it was unmistakable that it was saying his name. He turned around and saw a faint glow coming from the other room. He walked into his living room. The fireplace was in the corner, and everything was as it should have been, but there was still a faint glow over the whole room.

"Who, who are you?" Hooty managed to stutter out. He had been face to face with death before, but he was scared down to his core at the moment.

"Hooty, I owe you old friend." He felt the voice coming from behind him, over by the fire place. He turned to it and saw nothing at first. Then he saw a faint outline, but he couldn't make it out, then the fire place exploded into life, sending an explosion toward him that set the house on fire and rocketed him out of the front of the house. He hit the pavement in front of his house and slid on his back for about fifty feet, feeling his flesh being ripped by the rough ground. He looked up through blurred eyes and saw his house burning to the ground and he saw a faint outline of something running away. He couldn't hold it anymore and passed out from the pain.

"Sis, I'm worried about Hooty. He said he was gonna be here over an hour ago. At the slowest traffic, it is only a fifteen minute ride. I don't have a good feeling about this." Peewee looked over to his sister, half expecting her to be telling him that there was nothing to be worried about, but instead, he saw a face of genuine worry in her face.

"Listen Peewee, I'm gonna go on my bike over to Hooty's house. Why don't you stay here in case he comes while I'm away?" Peewee nodded his agreement, not giving his normal argument, but he still felt compelled to follow her. She headed out of the door and Peewee heard her bike roar to life and speed out of the driveway, way faster than she normally drove.

Aggie's heart raced as she approached and saw lights and fire. She kicked up the speed and skidded to a stop in front of his house where she saw fire fighters putting out the fire.

"What happened here?" She questioned the man in charge, a utoland police officer. He turned to her.

"According to neighbors, it was an explosion. Nothing that we can't handle." He was about to turn back to some people who were interviewing him, but Aggie grabbed him and swung him around.

"Where is the owner of the house?" The man looked a little upset.

"Why do you want to worry about it young lady?" Aggie was already having an adrenaline rush of worry for her comrade and this man in blue wasn't making it any easier. She lost it and grabbed the man by his collar and lifted him off of the ground.

"Because he is my brother in arms and I would die for him, as he would for me. I want to know where he is and I want to know RIGHT NOW!" The man had a genuine look of fear on his face as Aggie let loose on him.

"H...He..He's at the utoland General hospital." The man was shaking and visibly pale. Aggie dropped him and was standing there for a second, regaining her composure. She heard the officer turn back to the reporters.

"We are going to do everything that we can to find the one who did this." Aggie turned around and glared at the officer. She had a genuine distaste for officers, especially that one at the moment. An older lady approached the officer.

"You will never find him by conventional means." She stood straight up and walked slowly, but with a purpose in her stride.

"We will find him, lady, or do you not have faith in your police force's ability to do their work?" He had a slight grin on his face while he was talking to her. She put her arm on his shoulder and spoke slowly.

"The forces your are dealing with are beyond your comprehension. I would like to offer my services to you." The officer started mocking her with his face.

"I wouldn't ask your help, if you were my last hope. I have enough resources that I will not need yours. Now if you will excuse me, I have reporters waiting for an interview." He turned and walked away abruptly. The lady was turning away, but Aggie managed to snap herself out of her frozen stance long enough to hail her.

"Ma'am?" Aggie had jogged up beside the woman. The older lady turned and looked over to Aggie.

"Yes, young lady. I will help you." Aggie looked puzzled and the lady continued. "That is what you wanted isn't it? Or am I maybe slipping in my old age?" Aggie nodded.

"Yes, I would like your help. But I need to call my brother and go see Hooty." The lady nodded. Aggie turned around. "How do I contact you when we are ready for your help?" The old lady looked at her, and their gazes locked.

"I will know when you are ready to contact me. I have ways of knowing." She turned and walked away and Aggie did the same. She reached a phone and dialed her number.

"Peewee speaking." Peewee picked up the phone almost before the first ring was done.

"Peewee, this is Aggie." Peewee started to say something but she cut him off. "I have news of Hooty. Meet me at Utoland General Hospital. We'll discuss things in private and in person." Before her younger brother could protest, she had hung the phone up and was running for her bike. She zipped by the officer who was busy answering reporter's questions.

Peewee had managed to get to the hospital before Aggie had and he was waiting for her in the E.R. She burst in and he ran over to her side.

"He's in the I.C.U. right now, but they said that we can get in to see him, because he is stable at the moment." Peewee was visibly nervous and his adrenaline was over-reacting. They walked at a swift pace to his room, avoiding the urge to break into an all out run. Aggie was the first one into the room. She burst into tears at the sight of Hooty. Peewee did almost the exact same thing. They both made their way over to his bedside and looked him over.

Hooty's face had bandages over most of it, and his arms and the rest of his body weren't in such great shape either. There were multiple I.V.s dripping into him.

"A..A..Aggie?" Hooty had managed to turn his head just slightly and struggle the words out.

Aggie nodded. "Yes Hooty, I'm here, and so is Peewee. Just rest. We'll talk later. Save your strength." The doctor came into the room. He motioned to them. Peewee sat down, refusing to move and Aggie went slowly over to the doctor. The doctor was about ready to motion to Peewee too.

"He's not hurting anything Doctor, and it would just make trouble to try to get him to move. Now what is it you want to tell me." The doctor looked hesitant, but Aggie persisted. "I'm his sister. Tell me everything." The doctor opened up the charts.

"First off, he suffered from burns, but not as bad as we thought he was going to have suffered, but he slid about fifty feet on the pavement outside of his house. Not to mention the possible fractured ribs and other bones from the impact on the ground." Aggie stopped him.

"Impact on the ground? What the?" The doctor looked at her and then back to his charts.

"Well, it seems, according the the police reports, that he was blasted out of his house by an explosion from his fireplace and he landed on the pavement and kept going another fifty feet." Aggie was in shock. But she was still thinking it over in her mind. The doctor continued on a little and then stopped. He looked up at Aggie. "Are you okay miss? Do you need some assistance?" Aggie snapped out of it and shook her head.

"Do you think that my brother and I could stay with Hooty until he is better?" The doctor nodded and she headed back into his room. She sat down next to Peewee and turned to see the doctor poke his head into the room.

"You have a very strong brother. If it was anyone else, they would be dead, but he is a strong one." The doctor headed down the hall to make his rounds. Aggie and Peewee fell asleep, not aware of the faint glow in the corner.

Ace was watching them with intense anger and hatred for reasons he knew, but he didn't know. He knew that one of them had betrayed him during the last battle and led him into the trap, but he didn't know who. It only made sense to him that he was still alive because the betrayer was still alive. He knew from his own knowledge that Dirk was dead, so that only left Hooty, Aggie, and Peewee. He refused to touch either Aggie or Peewee, so that only left Hooty. Part of him wanted to kill Hooty right there, but the greater part of him refused to let him hurt anyone who was that badly injured. He stood up and walked out of the room, leaving a slight cold breeze behind him as he walked.

Aggie thought she felt a cold breeze and cuddled up closer to Peewee and fell asleep, not ever giving it a second thought.

The next day, Hooty was already visibly better, he was concious finally and could speak if he labored to do so. Aggie was next to Hooty when he awoke. Peewee had gone to the lobby to get some new magazines and fresh air.

"Aggie...." His breathing and speaking were labored. "The fireplace.....it...." He was already straining to get any words out, but he kept trying to say the words. "ex...ex....." He collapsed back into a deep sleep, but Aggie got the picture. Peewee walked into the room.

"I brought you some coffee sis." She grabbed it from him and swallowed the contents of the cup down in a couple of swallows.

"I have to go check something out Peewee. I'll be back but until then, don't leave this bedside and let me know if he says anything." She was out the door before her little brother could protest. She got on her bike and went to Hooty's house.

When she arrived, the firemen were just leaving and police arsen crews were checking out the wreckage. Aggie went into the wreckage. Policemen were shouting at her, telling to go back. She headed to where his living room was.

She kicked away some burnt wood and got closer. Slowly, she reached for the untouched fireplace. It was extremely cold to her touch. She opened it slowly. She saw what she wanted to see. The head of the arsen team was behind her.

"Miss, can I help you?" Aggie stood up and turned face to face with him.

"Yes, you can. I read the report last night and it said that the explosion came from the fireplace, but I find that very suspicious." The man's gaze was stone cold.

"How so?" He was intrigued that this young woman was telling him how to do his job.

"Well, for one, fireplace is untouched. It is in the same place, with no distortion or warping from heat. That I find suspicious if the explosion came from it." The police man was about to interrupt, but she put up her hand. "I also find it hard to believe that it can be empty, and extremely cold to the touch. It's 75 degrees out right now, and I don't think that it got that cold last night to freeze the metal and I know that the water that you use in the firetrucks isn't that cold either. You make the call." She turned and walked away. She heard the man call for one of his men to check it all out. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"It was cold because it was touched extensively by a ghost. Empty because it was energy, not any explosive used in there, and it is untouched because it was the point from which the ghostly energy came from." Aggie turned and saw the older woman there again. She began to question this older woman who was conveniently there.

"Who are you? And how do you know so much about what is going on, when no one else does?" Aggie was very suspicious of the older woman.

"I am a paranormal expert. I make it my business to know about these kind of happenings. I don't know a whole lot of what has happened, except that your friend was attacked by an angry spirit, but I don't know who, or why. That is why I have offered to help you. I want to help save your friend, and possibly others." Aggie was puzzled by the woman's comments.

"What do you mean possibly others?" Aggie was interested now, not so much suspicious.

"Well, sometimes spirits might get their revenge, but they might still have to stay on earth to get other affairs settled, and in the mean time, hurting others who get in their way. I can kill the spirit before it can cause harm though, sending it out of the earth plane." The lady continued but Aggie had lost interest, she had become aware of another presence watching them, listening intent on something. She turned abruptly from the woman and saw a figure dart into the alleyway.

"What is it?" The older woman didn't notice it, obviously.

"I saw something, or someone go into that alleyway." She pointed to the alley and the woman went charging into it without a hint of precaution. Aggie knew that it was a bad sign for the older lady.

In the alleyway, Ace had heard enough. "A paranormal expert indeed. She didn't even sense my presence." He turned and saw the lady standing behind him with some sort of medallion out in front of her.

"Go away O damned spirit." She was moaning in a desperate, artificial voice. "Go away and hurt no one." She was a loser in Ace's opinion. The lady took a step closer, and pulled out a knife that was glowing. Ace reacted instantly and had her disarmed. His instincts from his life time experiences kicked into his spirit and he snapped her neck, but didn't realize that she had made some sort of incantation over him to make him visible. His head snapped up and he saw Aggie standing in the alleyway in horror as the old lady died. She turned and ran to her bike to get back to Hooty.

Ace was faster than her and she knew it, but she had to get back to warn them, and maybe, just maybe be able to save Hooty. She sprinted into the room, and saw Hooty out of his bandages, choking by an invisible hand. Peewee was passed out on the floor.

"STOP IT ACE! STOP KILLING HIM!" Aggie was by Hooty. His breathing returned, and Hooty sat up, obviously doing better than he was in the morning. Suddenly cold aura that was around Hooty moved into the corner of the room. A chair moved and suddenly Ace appeared in his Eagle Birdstyle. Aggie broke the silence. "Why are you trying to kill Hooty? He's your brother in arms and he has done nothing to hurt you." Ace's face was hard and stone cold, but it softened just for a moment as Aggie mentioned them being brothers in arms. Ace's lips moved, but no sound came out, instead, he was heard as a voice in their heads.

"I was betrayed in the last battle, when I died. My soul cannot rest until I have found and punished the one who betrayed me. My spirit is still strong enough and my love for you and Peewee great enough that even if you were the ones who betrayed me, I wouldn't be able to punish you, but I know it wasn't you. Dirk was killed in the base somewhere, and that leaves only Hooty. For my soul to rest, I need to punish him." Aggie was in tears. She was angry, fearful, and hurt. She didn't care anymore of what happened, so she let it all out against Ace's spirit.

"YOU DON'T THINK THAT YOU HURT ME? YOU HURT ME BY NEVER TURNING YOUR ATTENTION TO ME! YOU HURT ME BY LEAVING ME WHEN YOU DIED. I CAN FORGIVE THAT, BUT NOW YOU WANT TO HURT ME BY TAKING HOOTY, ONE OF MY ONLY LIVING MEMORIES OF THOSE DAYS AWAY FROM ME TOO?" She was standing, her face red, tears and sweat pouring down her face, her breathing was heavy. She clenched her fists, but in their yelling, they didn't notice a black figure slide into the room. She felt a hand on her shoulder, a familiar hand and she sat down, unaware that it was Dirk's hand that had sat her down. Suddenly he stepped forward. Ace shot up out of his chair. He started to speak but Dirk made a cut motion and stopped him.

"Yes Ace, I am here, and better than ever now. You see, I was the one that betrayed you, not Hooty. I bet you figured that out now, didn't you?" He waited and Ace spoke slowly.

"Why did you betray me, Dirk? How much did Galactor pay you to do it?" Ace was staring at him with a cold expression.

"Ace, I would have saved you had it been an option. It was an option, but not a good one. I had talked to the doctor the night before about a dream but he laughed at me and told me that it was nothing but a nightmare. Do you want to know what that dream was?" Ace nodded, his face full of hatred for his once brother, now betrayer. "I dreamt that we were in battle. It came down to a choice. If you died, we would escape, if you didn't we would all die together and we would not be able to fight on. In the dream, you lived, and when we died, Galactor took over. I took it as an omen, and when the time came for us to make that choice, I didn't want to make it the wrong one. I led you into the death chamber because I knew that if I didn't, Galactor would have escaped and the battle would have raged on for more time than it needed to. Galactor had nothing to do with my betrayal. When you died, Galactor died with you, and the other members of the team were able to destroy them completely. I left when I saw you die, Ace. I went off on my own into an abandoned monastery, where I lived and prayed for forgiveness, but I never got it from you or anyone else for that matter. I did it for you Ace. I did it for you, the team and the world. I feel like Judas. I want your forgiveness Ace and then both of us can rest in peace." Dirk held out his gloved hand toward Ace. Ace stood up after what seemed like an eternity, and reached his hand out. They embraced each other warmly.

For a moment, nothing was said and then Ace spoke. "I forgive you." He paused a bit and then added on. "Brother". Ace backed away from him and started to fade. He turned to face Hooty, Peewee, and Aggie, and spoke to them all.

"I'll see you in the after life when we can all be together once again." His spirit finally faded completely from view, but the cold aura never left the room. They saw Dirk starting to fade out. A crazy grin came over his face. He handed them his bracelet, but didn't transform back into civvies, but instead, he remained in birdstyle. He walked slowly over to the window and opened it.

"See you in the after life G-Force." He jumped out of the window and disappeared, forever. The remainder of the team fell asleep together in each others arms knowing that G-Force's affairs had been settled once and for all.

-END