A New Captain Scarlet Halloween Story

By Intensity Angel

Weston Park, 20:00 Monday 28^th October 2069,

The Weston Park Halloween Festival was an incredible place to visit in October. Rhapsody Angel had visited it on several occasions in her youth and had longed to go again. When she had been granted shore leave at the end of October, she had jumped at the opportunity. Destiny Angel also had time off and it didn’t take Rhapsody much time to convince her to tag along. Destiny had never been into witchcraft much, but she had longed to have some time with Rhapsody, after the hectic antics of The Mysterons during the month. Rhapsody and Destiny had rarely spoken because of their shift times and being constantly called on duty.

Rhapsody hadn’t been wrong when she spoke of the richness of the festival. It was huge, and cram-packed with people and things to do. There were so many stands selling various Halloween relating merchandise. There were even some live animals for the children to look at.

After you paid for your entrance tickets, parked up and walked towards the festival, you could see shoppers everywhere, looking at what the stands had to sell, trying to find the best bargains. All over the place there was the sound of spooky music and children laughing and screaming, the light of pumpkin lanterns and the smells of a thousand biscuits.

“Incredible!” gasped Destiny as she and Rhapsody pointed in the direction of a large white tent. As they approached, an actor dressed as a vampire tried to scare them. Both of them laughed as he disappeared into the darkness. Destiny looked at the leaflet one of the people on the main gates had given her.

“Right, there is a ghost tour in an hour’s time, up for it?”

“Certainly, darling, it would be interesting. Is there any mention of the ghost train ride? Now that was something worth going on, if I remember correctly,” replied Rhapsody as she and Destiny entered the tent to be confronted with a mass of stalls. The one to their immediate right was selling various Halloween sweets and delights. Some children were trying to decide on which they should have.

Rhapsody looked around. It was just as she remembered it. Excited children of all ages (including dads!) dragged their parents (or unlucky wives) to the Halloween themed stalls to look at the goodies and chat with the stall owners who were dressed as a mixture of witches, vampires, Frankenstein’s monsters and black cats. Everyone was also able to sample the tasty sweets of various types, from chewy skulls to gooey snakes, and as Rhapsody turned to look at Destiny, she saw that the stall owner had offered Destiny some chewy skulls to try.

Rhapsody knew that this was the sweets tent and she and Destiny would have probably gained a pound or two once they’d left it.

Outside the tent, the stalls sold a variety of things, including black wigs, wooden broomsticks, the usual array of costumes, pale makeup, red-blood fangs, cauldrons, devil horns, fake black cats, squeaky bats, giant spiders and voodoo dolls.

The Gypsy and Witchcraft stalls sold many potions and spells, bracelets and charms, spell books and ingredients, in contrast to the array of ‘fakes’ you could find.

“Ready to move on?” asked Destiny as she walked past Rhapsody, a large bag of sweets clasped in her hand. Rhapsody rolled her eyes, and then checked the time. There was something she had learned about that wasn’t mentioned on the leaflet.

The Angels had spent a good deal of time in The Sweet Tent, before Rhapsody said she needed the toilet and they left, planning to return later on.

“Okay, now let’s find…whoa! Lancaster!”

The World War Two bomber flew overhead.

“You knew that would happen,” realised Destiny.

Rhapsody smiled and nodded. “Well you can’t have a Halloween festival without a ghost plane, can you?”

Destiny laughed. “I suppose a Lancaster does fit the bill.”

The two women walked towards a row of stalls and started having a look at everything. Soon time was ticking by. During that, they had both brought several bags full, had to make an impromptu visit to their hire car to make sure they’d locked it and had watched a Halloween show. They were starting to get hungry and felt in need for a proper meal, but Rhapsody spied a stall she just had to visit. It was set in the awning of an old caravan. The awning was coloured dark purple and little light emerged from the small entrances. She nudged Destiny who followed suit.

Upon entering, their noses were subjected to an array of smells coming from several small bubbling cauldrons on the tables. An old gypsy woman sat in a wooden chair, a black cat sat on her lap.

Rhapsody’s attention was captured by a small ornament of a dragon while Destiny had a nosey at the various stones in a bowl next to one of the cauldrons. One stone caught her attention.

“Hey look at this,” she said out loud, getting the attention of Rhapsody Angel.

Destiny showed her the crimson coloured stone. As she turned the stone over, she saw a small drawing on it. Destiny could safely say she had never seen a marking quite like the one before her eyes now. She found the stone fascinating. She felt like it represented part of her somehow. The texture was smooth yet the bright colour suggested that the stone should in fact feel rough. Curious. Very curious.

“I wonder what it is? There’s nothing to explain it’s background or to state its name,” pondered Rhapsody as Destiny gave the stone to her to look at.

“I’ll ask the gypsy lady, but first I want to have a further look around,” replied Destiny as Rhapsody gave her the stone back. Rhapsody returned to the small dark yellow dragon ornament and decided to buy it. Destiny found nothing else which caught her eye and went to buy the crimson coloured stone.

The gypsy woman sold her the stone for less than a pound. Destiny noticed how she was giving her a strange look.

“Something wrong?” she asked

“Red will drip off your arm when you don’t realise it,” the gypsy told her. She then gave her the stone that she’d wrapped in a traditional piece of cloth, and then gave her the rest of her warning. “You will need help, a dark cloud is on your horizon, but you will fight it with the strength of the dragon.”

Destiny looked puzzled.

“What will happen? Why did you look at the stone when you mentioned the dragon?”

Rhapsody looked up from the book on mythical sea creatures she’d found.

The gypsy woman gestured Destiny to lean over the table and listen carefully.

“The stone chooses the person, young lady, and the stone of the red dragon has chosen you, why you ask, I do not know, but believe this, the red dragon makes his decisions wisely.”

Destiny backed off, somewhat confused. The gypsy woman turned her head to look at her cat, and acted as if nothing ever happened. Destiny felt a little uneasy, but that was slightly lifted when Rhapsody went to pay for her book and ornament. To Destiny, it was just empty words. All this talk of dragons and dark clouds… She felt a little annoyed at herself for allowing words to affect her so.

“Hungry?” Destiny asked her fellow Angel.

“I could eat a horse,” replied Rhapsody as they headed out of the stall and up the aisle to find the nearest food wagon. Neither of them noticed the anxious glance the gypsy lady gave Destiny as she left. She looked at the cat.

“Nicademus, that woman is in grave danger, very grave danger.”

The cat meowed at her.

The two Angels, their hands laden with bags, headed back to their car before finding food. Rhapsody was positive she’d seen a fish and chips van. Destiny wasn’t at all fussed what she ate. As long as it filled her up, that was all that mattered. Rhapsody was a little fussier.

“Why can’t we just settle for a fat-filled cheese burger?” Destiny asked her as they headed towards where a majority of the burger vans were.

“Because you don’t know what’s in them,” Rhapsody replied.

Someone went past collecting for charity, and both Angels threw a couple of coins in. An actor made up like a zombie lurched past looking gormless.

“Oh, come on Caroline, I thought you didn’t mind eating junk food?”

“That’s my twin sister,” corrected Rhapsody.

“It must’ve been hard for your parents to differentiate between the two of you,” Destiny said, sweeping a hand through her loose blonde hair to get it out of her face.

“Oh, they managed,” replied Rhapsody. She caught sight of the fish and chips van and pointed it out to Destiny, who merely shrugged. It sounded like a good idea and the queue wasn’t that long either.

Caroline Foster-Finch was well known within Spectrum as Rhapsody Angel, one of the five Angels who worked on Skybase. However, her twin sister, Cassidy Foster-Finch, was lesser known. She was one of Dr Gold’s top nurses on Skybase and as a result, tended to be the nurse who looked after Captain Scarlet when he was in Sickbay. Like her sister, Cassidy Foster-Finch had gone into the Royal Navy, but went into the medical side of things, unlike her twin who became a fighter pilot. Being twins they were extremely close. But where there were similarities, there were also differences, and one of them was that Nurse Cassidy Foster-Finch hated Halloween; hence why Cassidy had gone to London instead of joining her sister at the Halloween festival.

Rhapsody and Destiny soon had their meals and walked about as they ate. Destiny’s mind soon started wandering on its own and she unknowingly starting stabbing her piece of cod instead of eating it.

Rhapsody noticed this and smirked. “Are you actually going to eat that, darling, or are you just going to mutilate it?” she asked. “I’m pretty sure that it’s dead.”

“Just tinkering, darling,” mimicked Destiny, winking at her fellow Angel teammate who rolled her eyes and giggled. Destiny chuckled and started finishing off the mutilated fish.

“A penny for your thoughts?”

“Nothing’s up.“

“Classic example of hiding the truth, do remember I spent a couple of years in MI6, darling,” reminded Rhapsody.

This time Destiny smiled. Rhapsody was absolutely right. No one could lie around Rhapsody and get away with it. If someone did lie, Rhapsody would get the truth out of him or her in the end. If anything, she was insistent as a fox and fearless as a lioness. This was one thing Destiny liked about her, along with the fact that Rhapsody was one excellent fighter pilot. She was consistent and always raring to go. She was also an excellent mechanic, a skill Destiny used to her advantage. If anyone could find a way to improve the Falcon Interceptors, Rhapsody would find it. As a result of her ‘tinkering’ as she called it, Rhapsody became a test pilot of sorts, flying in all sorts of weather conditions, all in order to fully test the modifications. On several occasions she had flown in terrible artic storms that the Angels would normally have steered well clear of.

Some of her modifications she had trialled had proved successful; others were more disastrous.

On one of these occasions, she’d been incredibly unlucky. She’d been incredibly unlucky; during a lightning storm her plane had been struck. The safety system meant to change the aircraft’s course to prevent that from happening failed and overloaded the Falcon’s systems, meaning she couldn’t punch out of the escape pod. With extremely scratchy communication with Skybase, she had been forced to eject, which went against everything she’d been taught as a cadet, many years before. She spent a couple of nights in the mountains of Scotland before a rescue team could be dispatched to her location. Yet, despite the failure of the trial flight, she took everything in good spirits.

Destiny admired her for this, and had always wondered why fate picked on Rhapsody more so than the others but knew that the Angels would be lost without her and so would she. Rhapsody wasn’t just her teammate; she was her best friend. The girls found they got on extremely well and liked the same things. Fresh air was just one of many.

The girls had shared many secrets and knew a fair bit about each other but Destiny would never admit to anyone that it was Rhapsody’s coaxing that had brought her and Captain Scarlet closer together.

However times were changing. Captain Scarlet was starting to withdraw from Destiny. He hadn’t spoken to anyone about what was on his mind but it was clear something was bugging him. He hadn’t even told Captain Blue, his closest friend, what was wrong. He had left everyone in the dark. Those closest to him had tried and failed to talk to him about it, any questions asked were left ignored.

Rhapsody knew Destiny was determined to find out what was wrong, and this Halloween she had made it a priority to catch Scarlet’s eye and to learn the cause to his backing off. Rhapsody, like the others, had tried to speak to him, but he just turned to the subject around and started questioning her relationship with Captain Grey. Needless to say, she was surprised by his actions. It only made her more worried. Would Scarlet break it off with Destiny? When Rhapsody had informed Destiny of her conversation with him, Destiny realised that the probable reason he was distancing himself was because he didn’t feel human enough to love her. But she needed to talk to him, and this Halloween she would do just that. She set her on heart on it.

“What are we going to do next, after we’ve finished eating, go on that ghost tour? Continue looking around at the stalls? Go for a carriage ride?” asked Rhapsody.

Destiny pondered. “Let’s go for an old carriage ride, it’s something different,” she replied, hurriedly finishing off her meal.

“Agreed, and then we can go on that ghost tour, we might as well make the most of our time away from Skybase, when we get back, it’ll be work, work, and more work,” Rhapsody said, turning to look at a trio of mummies walk past. She smiled then turned back to her teammate. “A-ha! It’s what that gypsy woman said to you, that’s what’s on your mind.”

“It’s nothing, just a load of rubbish she was saying, I’m not worried, but it sure made my night,” Destiny grumbled. Much to her own surprise, she burst out in laughter. Rhapsody gave her a weary look.

“Maybe you did need this break after all, and since when did you like behaving like an idiot? You always said Halloween was for children?” pondered Rhapsody, causing Destiny to break out into a large grin.

“I’ve changed my mind,” replied Destiny as she threw a couple of pigeons some chips.

“I can tell,” sighed Rhapsody, as she finished off her fish and chips and disposed of the rubbish in a black bin. Destiny did likewise after wolfing down the remainder of her fish.

“Well, what’s the nearest carriage stop?” asked Destiny Angel.

“Over the other side of the arena, c’mon let’s get going.”

The two Angels made their way over. An actor dressed as a vampire spooked them a little and Rhapsody got sidetracked by a stand selling toffee apples, and ended up buying a couple. Destiny turned down the offer of one.

“Reckon everything we’ve brought will fit into fit into the suitcases, Simone?” asked Rhapsody amusingly.

“Should do, we haven’t brought that much,” she replied with a smirk. “But what bothers me is why you had to buy that book on dragons or whatever, it’s a load of rubbish if you ask me.”

“No, it’s not, besides it bothers me why you decided to buy that red devil statue, what a waste of your wages!” said Rhapsody, as Destiny broke into a wide smile. “And that t-shirt,” she added slyly.

“I brought it for Paul,” explained Destiny as she unlinked her arm, put her bags down and dug out the t-shirt.

Rhapsody looked at it and tutted giving Destiny her “Whatever rocks your boat’ look. Destiny looked rather chuffed with herself. The t-shirt was red with a devil and angel on it, with the slogan, “Angels coming, look lively,” on the back. Destiny put it away.

“He’s earned it,” Destiny told Rhapsody, who had crossed her arms. “And if it helps stop him from continuing to back away from me, then that’s something. I just wish I understood what is going on in his head.”

Rhapsody smiled sympathetically and hugged Destiny. “I’m sure he’ll come out of this, you’ve just got to put him straight. If you mean that much to him, then he won’t let you go. He loves you for crying out loud.”

“Thanks Caroline,” Destiny said with a smile. Rhapsody nodded and returned the smile. They continued walking.

The duo reached the stand where the carriages would pick up and drop off visitors. The sweet smell of chocolate wafted over to them from a stall near by.

“We could get some chocolate later,” suggested Destiny.

“What? MORE chocolate?” mocked Rhapsody. Destiny punched her lightly on the arm.

“No harm in a having sweet tooth.”

Rhapsody rolled her eyes, “I’ll remember that the next time we’re in battle.”

A horse draw carriage pulled up and a couple of loved up teenagers got off after paying the driver. The Angels stepped up to get on.

“Where to, ladies?” asked the carriage driver.

“By the small shop,” Rhapsody told the driver as Destiny went to pet the horse. Rhapsody noticed the horse, a black stallion. She too went to pet the horse.

“What’s the horse called?” asked Rhapsody, as the giant beast neighed softly.

“Robert,” replied the driver, as Rhapsody left the horse’s side and joined Destiny in the back on the black carriage.

The driver urged Robert forward and off they went, clopping their way down the large field. The Angels smiled at each other and waved and smiled at the children as the carriage went past them.

“I thought black stallions were unlucky,” pondered Destiny, daring Rhapsody to counter her.

“No they’re not, Simone, they’re just really amazing,” Rhapsody told her, looking up at the skyline, hunting for signs that the Lancaster would be returning.

“Beautiful aren’t they? You should’ve seen them on the moon Caroline; they looked as every bit as breathtaking as they do here.”

Rhapsody just nodded, wishing she could go to Tranquillity, the moon vacation spot, one day. Rhapsody was careful with her money and in truth was on a lower wage than Destiny, but her parents were always willing to give her the money, so she could afford the same luxuries as her leader.

Robert’s driver urged him to turn left and across a cattle grid, then over a bridge, and down towards the small shop that Weston Park had.

“We’re approaching the stop, ladies,” the horse driver told the Angels.

The Angels looked to the right and could see the small group of people waiting to go on the ghost tour.

“I’ll pay the man,” Destiny told her teammate, digging out her wallet. Rhapsody nodded.

“Whoa, Robert,” the driver told the stallion. Robert obediently came to a halt.

Rhapsody got down from the carriage and went to pet Robert one last time as Destiny paid the driver. She jumped down from the carriage and a family of four jumped on.

“Forward, Robert!” the man told the horse. The beautiful stallion surged forward.

The two Angels walled over to where the ghost tour began and noticed that it wasn’t due to begin for another twenty minutes. They decided to go to the small lake nearby.

They passed through a small courtyard, where the small shop was. It was cram-packed with people. Outside, some people sat on wooden benches, eating or just chatting. A woman, dressed as a witch was telling ghost stories to a small group of children while others were playing with a giant chess set.

The Angels walked through the courtyard and towards the lake. Scarecrows had been set up around the lake. As they walked it, Destiny kept thinking about what the gypsy woman had said:

“Red will drip off your arm when you don’t realise it.”

It disturbed in her in a way she didn’t understand. Had the words awoken a repressed memory or something? Why did she feel like she was crawling in her skin? Her thoughts then turned to the stone she’d bought. It was in her pocket. Her gloved hand reached for it. Why did she become interested in that stone? Had it really chosen her? There were so many questions buzzing through her head.

“Hey Simone, tour begins in five minutes.”

Destiny snapped out of her thoughts. “Pardon, Rhapsody?”

Rhapsody cast her a worried glance. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just wondering about what the tour’s going to be like,” she lied. The look Rhapsody gave her told the Angel Leader she hadn’t pulled the wool over her eyes. Rhapsody knew she was thinking about something different, but she didn’t chase up on it.

“I’m sure the tour is going to be interesting,” Rhapsody said in a bothered voice.

Hanger One, Skybase, 22:00 Wednesday 30^th October 2069

Rhapsody Angel sighed as she unzipped her flight suit a little, rotating her neck to try and relieve the tension her shift had caused, as she started walking down the steps, away from her interceptor. The routine patrols tended to be lifeless, and this one, was just that.

“Well, well, it looks like someone will be sleeping soundly tonight, eh Caroline?”

Rhapsody looked down and saw Captain Grey standing at the bottom of the stairs. If any face could make her feel happy and loved, it was his. She let out a small chuckle and smiled at her boyfriend.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been waiting for me to get back?” she said tiredly.

“Well, seeing as I missed you when you got back from your break, and then proceeded to miss you again before you went on duty, it’s understandable why I’m here to collect you and whisk you off to bed. Remember, I’m your Knight in grey body armour,” Grey told her, as she fell into his arms. He held his Angel tightly.

“I love you, Ian, you’re so kind-hearted,” she whispered, as they looked at each other adoringly.

“Aye, if only me and Paul had been a little more careful, we wouldn’t have landed ourselves in Sickbay. Don’t worry, we just left an exit a little too late, just some knocks and bumps,” he quickly assured her.

“Well if Dr Gold has released you, then I’ll consider everything is fine,” she replied, as they started walking to the exit out of the hanger, hand in hand.

“Fear not, my dear Caroline, despite the damm building falling on top of us, the Mysterons failed. The Duchess of Montgomery is still alive. Injured, ay, but still very much alive.” Grey snorted. “Those bastards; I swear, next time they try to kill a Duchess, it won’t just be Paul firing the shots at them,” Grey went on to curse. Rhapsody shot him a look before grabbing his hands and stopping dead.

“Stop beating yourself up over it. I won’t tolerate you doing this, Ian, not tonight,” stated Rhapsody.

“Well it’s not exactly child play, I could’ve got her out sooner,” Grey fired back. Rhapsody fixed him with a stare.

“Look, Hurricane,” That got his attention. ‘Hurricane’ was the nickname that Rhapsody had given Grey during their days in the Royal Navy and Marines. They had been on the same ship during the p Pacific Ocean Conflicts a few years before. “We’ve seen very little of each other, I’ve just finished my shift and Halloween begins in a few hours…”

“Two hours to be exact, lassie,” Grey told her, glancing at his watch. His eyes dropped to lose contact with hers. “I love you too much, Caroline, and you know me too well. I’ll stop beating myself up, but this war, it can get really frustrating!”

“I know the feeling,” she replied with a smile. “Now come on, I think we could do with a bedtime snack,” Rhapsody said quietly, tugging him lightly.

“Good idea. Now come on, let rip about what you and Destiny got up to, I heard a rumour about a t-shirt, what’s that all about?” Grey queried.

“Oh that!” Rhapsody said, her eyes lighting up. “You really want to know?” Her eyebrows raised and a look of delight spread across her face.

“This better be a good bedtime story,” Grey joked, as he placed a kiss on Rhapsody’s lips.

“Oh, it will be, after I’ve had my bedtime snack and changed into something more comfortable, I’m in dire need of a little tummy filling,” replied Rhapsody playfully.

“Well I’d better get my lioness fed then, or I’ll probably become the main course,” he joked, gazing into her green eyes.

Rhapsody growled in return.

Spectrum Headquarters London, 23:49, Wednesday 30^th October 2069

Poppy Dempster quietly emptied her locker. She adjusted her earphones and continued to hum the latest pop song to hit the charts. She was in a content mood. She felt someone touch her arm. It made her jump in surprise. She yanked her headphones out.

“Mom!”

“Oh pack it in, I’ve only come to see if you’re all right,” replied her mother, Betty Dempster.

“If you’re referring to the transfer, it’s what I want,” reminded Poppy.

Even though Betty Dempster wasn’t her biological mother, she was the closest thing that Poppy had to family. Her real parents had been killed when she was five. Other than that, she knew nothing of them. Her adoptive parents were both cleaners at Spectrum Headquarters London. Betty herself was the cleaner for the Medical Centre, so saw Poppy regularly, but not for much longer. The next day, she would be leaving for Skybase.

“If you’re sure?” queried Betty.

“Yes, I’m sure,” replied Poppy, closing the door to the empty locker.

Betty shrugged her shoulders. “Very well. Good luck then Poppy,” she said, holding her adopted daughter’s hands. Poppy smiled and Betty let go. “Just get in touch with me or your father if you ever need us. Take care Poppy.”

“Bye, mom,” replied Poppy, rolling her eyes as Betty left. Poppy waited a good minute before she picked up her bag by the shoulder strap and left the locker room.

As much as she looked forward to working on Skybase, she knew she’d miss working at Spectrum Headquarters London, under the command on Spectrum’s second medical officer, Dr Ivory. Dr Ivory was sad to loose a talented nurse, but she knew there was a point in everyone’s life when they had to move on. It was that time for Nurse Poppy Dempster.

The move to Skybase wasn’t the one she’d initially hoped for. She was hoping a place at Crocodile Base, Spectrum’s Australian base, would open up, but when a placement on board Skybase became available, she knew it was her calling card.

The lights in the Spectrum London’s Medical Centre were mostly off, save for a few lights in the wards and the lamp in Dr Ivory’s office. As she walked down one of the corridors, Poppy’s mind looked over every single memory. She remembered when she first started training at Spectrum. She was based at the Spectrum Medical Training Base in Montana. That was going back a couple of years. She was flown through the training, highly recommended by all her tutors.

After completing her training, Dr Ivory of Spectrum Headquarters London had taken her on, not because of the friendly words of her adoptive mother, but because of her abilities. Nurse Dempster hadn’t let her down. She had risen to become a senior nurse.

Following her assignment to the Medical centre, she had made strong friendships quickly and became a member of the team. She also became particularly close to Dr Ivory who treated her like an equal, despite the fact that the doctor was Spectrum’s second medical officer.

So when it came to the placement on Skybase, Dr Ivory had put a very good word in for her. This was enough to convince Dr Gold to accept the nurse.

Now here she was. Walking down a corridor she knew so well. Lots of happy memories flooded into her head, including those of the leaving party the other nurses had thrown her. They had given all sorts of advice, presents, and nibbles, and a couple of them had made a giant chocolate cake for her. It had tasted nice, but nothing they did would tempt her to stay, she had a new place to go, and a new team to get to know and fit into.

Her stuff was packed away in the hold of a Swift, due to leave the next day. A couple of other officers were also leaving Spectrum headquarters: London for pastures anew on Skybase.

Ahead of her, Poppy noticed a door open. She removed her headphones and smiled.

“Hello, Doctor Ivory,” she said warmly.

Dr Ivory, a blond haired woman in her early thirties, looked up from the folder in her hands.

“Hello Poppy, looking forward to tomorrow?” Ivory asked, her Welsh/Telford accent shining through as per usual. Poppy knew she’d miss it.

“Yes, Doctor, though I will miss this place, so many happy memories,” said Poppy with a hint of sadness.

Dr Ivory smiled, “Like that once you bumped into Captain Blue?”

Ivory watched with amusement as Nurse Dempster’s face turned bright red. Like she wanted reminding of that accident!

“Don’t worry, happens to everyone,” assured Ivory, moving to stand beside the nurse.

“I hope he doesn’t remember me,” Poppy muttered.

“Oh, he will, with the amount of time he spends in Sickbay, watching over Captain Scarlet like a guard dog when he’s is in there. That’s something you’ll have to get used to,” Ivory informed her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Poppy nodded.

“That’s what Dr Gold told me when he spoke to me earlier in the week,” Poppy told her, tucking her dark brown hair back behind her ears.

“Reckon you can cope with life on Skybase?” Ivory asked, looking into the nurse’s eyes. “It’s a different kettle of fish from life here.”

Poppy nodded and smiled. “I believe I have what it takes to be part of Skybase’s medical team.”

Ivory smiled too. “I believe you have what its takes too, and so does Dr Gold, that’s why he chose you, now don’t let us down.”

“No worries Doctor,” replied the Yorkshire-born nurse. Poppy then frowned.

“You served with one of the Skybase nurses didn’t you Doctor?”

Poppy was well aware of Dr Ivory’s past. Prior to Spectrum, she was Royal Navy Medical Officer, the best in her field.

Poppy’s adoptive mother, Betty, had often joked about Ivory because of who she was and where she came from. The doctor came from a strict Naval background, hence her career decision. Poppy admired this. Coming from a line of Navy Officers was surely something.

For Poppy, all the decisions she made with her life came from being influenced by the outside world. Dr Ivory came from a family where honour was high placed. With Poppy, it was common sense that was placed highest.

Dr Ivory’s naval career had been spent moving from one assignment to the next, sometimes alone, sometimes with someone else.

“Yes I did Poppy, while I was based on land, at Camp Dolphin. Her name’s Cassidy Foster-Finch, and I’m positive you and her will get on well.”

“She’s the sister of one of the Angels, isn’t she?”

Ivory smiled again. Poppy was such a young yet mature nurse. “Yes, she’s Rhapsody Angel’s twin,” she replied. Poppy nodded her head to indicate she understood; Twins, Captain Scarlet, Dr Gold, and a whole new place to get her bearings in, she HAD been thrown into the deep end.

“I’ll manage, I got here after all.”

“I’m sure you will, you’re not a recommended nurse for nothing,” Ivory told her. “I’ll see you off tomorrow, I have some work that needs completing.”

“Goodnight Doctor,” said Poppy, as Dr Ivory walked off down the corridor. Poppy headed for the Nurses’ Restroom.

A few minutes later Poppy busied herself making a strong cup of tea. Most of the nurses were sleeping in the Accommodation Block, while a couple were on duty in the wards. At this time of night, she was able to hog the Nurses’ Restroom for herself. After making her cup of tea, Poppy carefully selected a magazine and then removed the biscuit tin from its cupboard. She nestled down in her usual armchair, the nice squashy one nearest the radiator, and sat down for a nice long read. She replaced her earphones and found herself lost in one particular story. A famous singer had done a kiss-and-tell on a champion boxer. She failed to notice the green glow pass over her cup of tea.

As she finished reading the article, Poppy went onto the next page and reached for the mug of tea. Finding it, she tutted and searched again for the biscuit tin. She got her hand on a chocolate bourbon and dunked it in the tea.

“Absolutely terrible,” she tutted, talking a bit of the biscuit.

She couldn’t breathe. Her airway tightened. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. She tried to get up but found she didn’t have the strength. She tried calling out but the only sound to come out was a very high-pitched squeak, not enough to attract attention. Her body then flopped down in the armchair.

Moments later, two green circles traced over the dead body of Poppy Dempster. Quickly a second body began to form in a mass of green light as her body started to vanish. Then there was one. The Mysteron agent opened her eyes; they flashed green.

Poppy Dempster emptied the mug, washed it up then made another cup of tea. She settled back down to continue reading the article she had been reading. If anyone entered, they would just see a young nurse killing time. Who would honestly suspect she was a Mysteron?

Officers’ Lounge, Skybase, 06:00, Thursday 31^st October 2069

Captain Scarlet sat reading a magazine, listening to the friendly debate going on between Captains Blue, Grey and Magenta. Captain Ochre had been with them but left to get some breakfast.

“Nope, you are completely wrong!” Magenta returned fire. Scarlet rolled his eyes.

“You’re as wrong as Christmas pudding on a summer day, Mario,” Grey replied, sounding a little bored.

“I still reckon he cheated, it was obvious he cut the corner on lap twenty-three,” Blue contributed.

“What about your American driver, Adam? That Nicolas Speed is a right wee asshole for disobeying the rules, he cut up David Hamilton, that’s why Hamilton didn’t get the penalty,” Grey added.

Scarlet looked up to see Rhapsody and Destiny enter the lounge. Upon catching Blue’s return argument, Rhapsody burst into a wide grin.

“They’re still arguing about the Formula One American Grand Prix?” she asked Scarlet. He in return, smiled and nodded.

“That happened last week! Isn’t there anything else to debate about?” added Destiny.

“Until the Canadian Grand Prix, we’ll just have to put up with debate about the American one,” Scarlet told them, with a smirk.

“Well, I just hope Serena doesn’t mind coming second to motor sport, she’s just come off duty,” Destiny said loudly, so Blue heard her.

“I’m going to get breakfast, anyone coming?” Blue asked. The other senior officers shook their head to decline. Grey spoke up.

“Sure Adam, like we’re going to believe that cock and bull story on top of your defence of a cheating driver?” Scarlet and Magenta agreed readily with Grey’s question.

“Later guys,” Blue said, as he left the Observation Lounge.

“Don’t forget tonight’s party, Adam,” Scarlet reminded, but his partner was already gone.

Destiny rolled her eyes. “Boys, eh, Rhapsody?” she said to her teammate. Rhapsody just smiled at her.

“So,” said Magenta, interrupting the brief silence as Scarlet and Grey looked at each other in worry. “What’s this about a t-shirt, Paul?”

“Oh that,” Scarlet started, “just something Destiny brought me.”

“Amongst other things,” Rhapsody pointed out.

“Rhapsody!”

“You know what I’m like Destiny, don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Rhapsody told her leader, with a smirk.

“Hey girls, don’t start any cat fights, eh?” Scarlet said, half pleading. But he could already see that Destiny found the situation humorous. He himself had started to blush. He hoped that the others didn’t it see it.

“Why the sudden blush, Paul?” asked Magenta.

“Shut it!”

Outskirts of London, 03:03, Thursday 31^st October 2069

Poppy Dempster stood waiting just inside the entrance of a derelict barn. She had ditched the Spectrum uniform in favour of jeans, knee-high leather boots and a plain blue t-shirt. Her dark brown hair was hanging loose around her shoulders. The Mysterons had told her to wait for Captain Black to appear. They said three o’clock. He was three minutes late.

She looked at her watch just as a car pulled up beside the road. The driver got out, picking up a bag that had been on the passenger seat. Poppy stayed where she was; Black would come to her.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said roughly, dumping the bag on the ground as Poppy stood to attention. “I met resistance.”

“What do our masters have planned?” asked the replicant of Poppy Dempster.

“A little idea, to get Captain Scarlet,” he informed her. “The original Nurse Poppy Dempster was due to go to Skybase today. She’s got a new posting. The Mysterons killed her on time. The delay was me getting what you need to kill Scarlet with.” Black dug out a dagger and presented it to Poppy. He swiftly explained the next part before she could question the hassle over a dagger. “Tonight, there is a Halloween party aboard Skybase, Scarlet will be attending it. Your job is to draw him away from the party, and attack him with the dagger, but don’t kill him. No, that is too easy. The Mysterons want Scarlet to suffer for his actions against them, and us. That’s when the second weapon comes into play. The one that WILL kill him.” Black re-entered the bag and took out a small instrument case. He opened it and took out a hypodermic needle. “This is what I went to acquire,” he said, holding the needle out to Poppy. She took it, having a good look at the clear contents.

“What is it?” she asked, handing it back to him. He placed it back in its travel container.

“A little godsend for the Mysterons. It’s a virus, but not like any known outside of the Cardiff Immunology Medical Centre,” explained Black. “It’s a virus so fine-tuned, it’s unstoppable. This is CVV-700S. It’s supposed to be a curing virus, but in the hands of the Mysterons and one certain mad scientist who created the killer version, it is lethal. The killer version, that needle full, is one of several samples. Now, the main thing is that you don ’t inject yourself with this. CVV-700S has horrific side effects. You know how to administer an injection from your host’s former occupation but don’t break the cover off the tip unless you are absolutely sure that Scarlet is incapacitated. You have only one chance to get this right. If you succeed, Scarlet will be dead on Halloween night. Ironic, I agree.” He placed the instrument case back into the bag. He then handed it to Poppy. Her green eyes lit up.

“Right, if I remember correctly from my previous life, the party should begin at eighteen hundred hours. You will head back to Spectrum London and go about the dead Earthwoman’s task, the transfer to Skybase. Ideally try and kill Scarlet before midnight. The virus works best when it is injected either straight to the heart or to the neck, don’t worry about making a mess, just get the job done, use the dagger to silence him, we can’t afford Captain Blue or Destiny Angel finding you out,” Black told her, as final minute advice. Poppy nodded and Black went back to his car and headed away from the derelict barn, in the direction of London.

Deck Eight, Skybase, 16:56, Thursday 31^st October 2069

“Thank you for showing me about Cassidy, I hope I will get my bearings soon, for everyone’s sake,” thanked Nurse Poppy Dempster.

“Don’t worry about it, Poppy. It’s only your first day, no one expects you to have familiarised yourself, and everyone will be willing to point you in the correct direction,” assured Nurse Cassidy Foster-Finch. The two nurses headed towards Dempster’s quarters. Cassidy wanted to make sure the new nurse knew where she was in proximity to Sickbay, and that she knew the quickest route. Not that it mattered for the first few days. Cassidy has assured Poppy she would collect her for her duties starts and show her around for the first few days.

“So how’s Dr Ivory these days?” asked Cassidy.

“Oh, she’s fine,” replied Poppy, pretending to peer around and make mental notes on her way to ‘her’ quarters.

“Does she still have that old Teddy bear?”

“Is it patchy and looks in need of some serious cleaning?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“I recall seeing him on her desk.”

Cassidy laughed. “I should’ve known she’d keep him.” Poppy gave her a questioning look that Cassidy saw. “A Royal Marine gave it her, as a birthday present,” Cassidy explained.

“Oh, I always wondered why she kept it on her desk, it must mean a lot to her.” An Angel pilot walked past them, nodding her head in acknowledgment. The two nurses acknowledged her in return.

“Who was that?” asked Poppy.

“Melody Angel. Don’t worry, you’ll get to know the Angels pretty easily, they get on well with us nurses,” Cassidy told her.

“I would think so considering your twin sister is one of them.”

Cassidy nodded before breaking into a wide smile. “I suppose it helps. Oh yeah, there’s a volleyball match next week, my side is down a player, you up for it?”

“Maybe, if I’ve settled in,” replied Poppy with a smile. Cassidy smiled too. She’d grown fond of the new nurse already. She was very kind person and a hard worker.

After Dr Gold had finished going over the rules and regulations, he’d shown her around Sickbay, and then she started working immediately. By the time she’d stopped, Dr Gold was more than happy that Nurse Poppy Dempster had lived up to what Dr Ivory had said. She truly was a someone to have on the team. She worked wonders, helped wherever she could and always found a reason to smile. Maybe she could help him improve his bedside manner.

“Whoa! Sorry!”

Lieutenant Cerise had accidentally collided with both nurses and sent all three of them flying.

“What’s the hurry for, Lieutenant?” asked Nurse Foster-Finch as she helped the young lieutenant get up off the floor. Nurse Dempster picked herself up and dusted her white uniform down.

“On my way to Central Control, I’m taking over from Serena,” she said between breaths. “I’m running slightly behind time.”

“Well running and colliding with something isn’t going to get you there any quicker,” replied Cassidy. “Are you okay, Belinda?”

“Sure, I’m good,” stated the dark-skinned Brit.

“Oh, Lieutenant Cerise, this is our new nurse, Poppy Dempster. Poppy Dempster, this is Belinda Hunt, aka runaway Lieutenant Cerise,” joked Cassidy.

The two greeted each other with a handshake before Cerise headed on her way.

When they reached Poppy’s quarters, Cassidy gave her a run down on what the next day held along with her shift times. She promised to guide her there in the morning and would get one of the others to show her to the canteen.

“By the way, there is a Halloween party tonight at six on Deck Four. If you fancy going, I’m sure my sister wouldn’t mind sorting out an outfit for you,” Cassidy informed her.

“Thank you, but no. I don’t celebrate Halloween, it’s doesn’t have any importance in my life,” Poppy told her fellow nurse. They smiled before Cassidy left her to settle in. The Mysteron agent had no intention of settling in.

She got her flight bag and rummaged through it. She found what she was looking for; the dagger and the hypodermic needle.

Deck Four, Skybase, 19:00, Thursday 31^st October 2069

Out of view from everyone else, the Mysteron agent examined the small dagger she had kept hidden from her person. She pondered how she was going to get Scarlet by himself. The service tunnel she was currently in was about a hundred yards away from where the Halloween party was being held. The Mysterons had to succeed with the plan. Scarlet had been a nuisance for far too long.

A noise alerted Poppy to put away the dagger. She watched as Captain Blue and Lieutenant Green walked past the service tunnel, both in Halloween costume. Green was dressed as Cleopatra while Blue was dressed as mummy. They didn’t see her; they were too engrossed in their conversation. Poppy smiled as she heard their chatter dissipate.

Blue and Green entered the party in the Observation Lounge. They separated as Green went to join Rhapsody and Harmony who were casting spells. Blue joined Scarlet and Magenta who were standing around chatting. He accidentally bumped into Symphony Angel, clad in a tight black dress.

“You should never bump into a vampire, Captain,” she gleefully warned him.

“Well, it’s a shame I have garlic in my possession, somewhere in these bandages,” he joked.

Symphony smiled at him just as laughter burst out from the direction of Harmony and Rhapsody. The latter Angel, dressed up as Lara Croft, had played a trick on Captain Brown. Harmony (dressed as a tiger) had assisted her in pulling the wool over his eyes.

“Have you had a go at any spell casting yet, Symphony?” Blue asked the petite Angel in front of him.

“No, I’m sticking to eating toffee apples, I’ll let Harmony and Rhapsody make fools of themselves any day!”

Blue laughed softly. “I bet I can get Elaine to cast a spell on Mario.”

“She has already had a go, she cast a spell against Paul, remember?” she said, prodding her with a slim finger.

“How could I forget? Now if you’ll excuse me, Countess Symphony, I have a knight to defeat in battle,” he joked.

Symphony bared fake fangs before heading towards an unsuspecting Captain Orange.

“Hey, Adam!”

Blue turned to see his best friend making his way towards him. Scarlet had decided on dressing up as The Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz, not Indiana Jones like Destiny had suggested. That made Blue think.

“Paul, good to see you. Symphony was on the verge of turning me into a mummy vampire,” he joked to Scarlet.

“I see you lost your brains while I went to the bathroom, and Destiny, by the looks of it.”

“She’s behind you,” Scarlet warned.

Blue laughed. “Like I’m going to believe…”

“Believe what, Adam?” asked Destiny, as she wrapped her arms around Blue’s chest. Blue gave Scarlet a glance that his teammate just couldn’t not laugh at.

“Hello, Batgirl, given up the Angel status, then?” he asked as Destiny released her grip and stood in front of him.

“For tonight, yes,” Destiny replied. She adjusted the gloves to her costume. It had cost her a fair bit, but as she’d told Rhapsody the day she’d bought it, she wanted to impress Captain Scarlet.

“Then me and the other girls will have our leader back,” Rhapsody added to the conversation. She held an apple in one hand and the other was wrapped around her waist. Grey was standing beside her, holding the Angel’s ascot. Scarlet and Blue looked at him but he shrugged dismissively.

“She was on the verge of using it as a blindfold, I think Josh has suffered enough already,” he explained. Destiny burst into a smirk; the perfect time for Scarlet to snatch her from behind and wrap her up.

“Hush it,” he told her gleefully.

“Paul! Not now, let me go,” she pretended to plead.

“Never let her go, Paul, she’ll be gone into the darkness if you do,” Blue warned.

“She’ll be back if I let her go, she always comes running back,” Scarlet assured his friend, as he let Destiny go. She and Rhapsody disappeared to see if Harmony was having any success casting a real spell on Captain Brown. Scarlet failed to see the silent exchange between the two close Angels, but needless to say, he was happy that he had spoken to Captain Grey when he did; he would’ve distanced himself even further from Destiny if he hadn’t.

It was when Captain Scarlet woke up in Sickbay that he decided to tell someone what was going on in his head. He wanted to tell Captain Blue, but he wasn’t there when he’d awoken. It was Captain Grey who was there. There and then, he told Grey what was wrong with him, why he was distancing himself from Destiny; he felt she deserved better. He’d called himself a thousand and one things, during which Grey had remained silent. After Scarlet had gotten everything off his chest, Grey had given the assurance he needed. He might’ve been an outsider but he was the perfect one to put Scarlet back on track. Something Scarlet was grateful for.

“Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m a wee bit famished,” said Grey, nodding in the direction of the buffet table. He could see Magenta attempting to chat up Melody Angel. She had dressed up as Wonder Woman and at that moment, wasn’t wearing her black wig.

“Okay, catch you later, Ian,” Blue said to his fellow captain, as he disappeared.

“I wonder when Destiny will latch on how far Ian’s relationship is with Caroline?” pondered Scarlet. He, Blue and Magenta knew the depth of love that Grey held for the English Angel. It was pretty obvious considering that Rhapsody would always try to be with him. They were both quite open around Scarlet, Blue, and Magenta about their relationship, but despite the openness around the guys, Rhapsody Angel kept tight-lipped when in the company of her fellow Angels, or even Captain Ochre. All they knew was that she and Grey were just trying to make things work out.

Deep down, Scarlet felt for Rhapsody. Before he and Destiny had got together, and before Rhapsody and Grey gave their relationship a second go, Scarlet had courted her. When he’d first met Rhapsody, he’d felt his heart flutter a beat. It was certainly better than secretly liking his best friend’s girlfriend.

If it hadn’t have been for his mixed up feelings for Destiny, and Rhapsody’s strong bond to Captain Grey, they would’ve got together for a longer duration. They had kissed, danced on a lonely night in the Observation Lounge, cuddled up in his quarters watching old romantic movies, but events in the past and then present insured that their relationship would not last. Now the pair were good friends, considering their closeness as a sibling bond.

“I hope no one overhears us,” muttered Blue. He noticed Scarlet was in deep thought. “Paul?”

“Sorry, Adam,” said Scarlet quickly, bolting out of his thoughts.

“What’s up? The costume itching again?” asked Blue, noticing Scarlet looked uncomfortable.

“Yeah and on top of that, it’s starting to act like a boiler,” Scarlet replied, trying to shift the straw that was making him itch. He had heated up a fair bit too. “I’ll go to my quarters, if Destiny asks, I’m there.”

“Okay, see you later on. I need to find Serena anyway.”

Scarlet nodded in agreement as a smirk spread across his face. He left the party and headed for a lift.

“I guess I should’ve chose that Indiana Jones costume,” he whispered. He made a mental note to change into it.

Poppy Dempster was still waiting in the service tunnel when she heard Scarlet’s voice. It was faint, but she recognised him. She drew out the dagger and placed the hypodermic needle into a pocket.

Scarlet started to remove the straw filled hat that was making his scalp itch. He then started removing various pieces of straw that were stuffed in the costume, punching them into his hat.

Gosh, he was uncomfortable in the rough clothes.

He rotated his shoulders and his neck before rubbing his eyes. He didn’t care about the makeup on his face, used to create fake dust patches; he was going to wash it all off anyway.

His head started spinning and he felt light-headed. He stopped walking and leaned against a wall, shaking his head, trying to shift the dizziness.

“It can’t be the Mysterons,” he whispered.

He felt someone grab his arm and quickly slam him to the floor. His head cleared and he snapped back, looking up at the neon-green eyes of his attacker. He tried to make a move but the Mysteron agent was on to him, drawing a small dagger and slashing his face before ramming the metallic blade deep into his abdomen. He cried out, but it was stifled.

“Watch your tongue, Captain Scarlet, or I might just cut it out of your mouth,” warned the Mysteron agent. Her eyes continuing to glow green.

Scarlet clasped his hands to his stomach. He could feel blood flowing between his fingers. He looked up at the agent, a woman, a Spectrum nurse. And more shockingly, it was the new one that Rhapsody had told him about. Scarlet knew all the medical staff, and he could safely say that this nurse was the new girl. He tried to recall when he’d first seen her. Spectrum London; she looked after him on one occasion and on another she’d accidentally collided with Captain Blue. Nurse Poppy Dempster.

“Happy Halloween, Scarlet. As a present, the Mysterons have something for you,” she told him cheerfully.

The dagger slashed Scarlet twice across his face. He yelped then tried to scream out for help, but the agent, who now was standing over him, had other plans. She slashed him across his forehead and then stabbed the dagger into his chest, not caring about the mess. She dug out a hypodermic needle and removed the cap. Scarlet, woozy from the blood loss, tried to stop her but she only smacked him in the side of his head with the dagger’s handle. Now everything slowed right down. Sound slipped out of equilibrium with what was happening. He could hear his laboured breathing, gradually getting slower, the blood slinking from the various slashes.

“Leave me alone,” he slurred.

“I will, once I’ve vaccinated you against living, Scarlet,” she told him, preparing to inject him.

“No,” he moaned weakly.

A gunshot rang out.

“Leave him alone, you sick bitch!”

The Mysteron agent looked up and hissed. Rhapsody Angel stood there with a gun trained on her.

“Rhapsody, please, stop her,” Scarlet whispered, before passing out.

“I said leave him alone! Now back off!” Rhapsody continued to snap at Poppy who merely smirked. She went to stab Scarlet with the hypodermic, aiming straight for his heart.

Rhapsody fired again. The shot hit its mark, sending the hypodermic out of the agent’s hand and out of reach. It landed a few feet beyond Scarlet. The sound of hurried footsteps made the Mysteron agent look around. She cursed when she saw who was coming. Destiny Angel.

“Rhapsody!”

“Destiny! Quick, alert Sickbay, we’ve got a medical emergency down here!”

Poppy took advantage of Rhapsody’s distraction and lunged at her with the dagger. Rhapsody only turned round just in time to avoid being stabbed by the sharp object. Poppy lunged again but Rhapsody had her covered. She punched the agent in the face sending her spinning to the ground. She got ready to open fire but the agent recovered quickly and succeeded in disarming the Angel of her weapon, nicking her with the dagger. Rhapsody remained unfazed, landing three karate kicks to her opponent’s stomach. Poppy then threw the dagger at Rhapsody. It missed its intended victim by millimetres, but succeeded in hitting Destiny Angel in her right arm as she came running down the corridor.

“Simone!” Rhapsody shouted.

“It’s nothing,” assured Destiny as she removed the dagger in a moment of foolishness. Poppy tried lunging for Rhapsody but the Angel was able to dodge the attack.

“Where the hell is that medical team?” snapped Rhapsody.

Destiny noticed Captain Scarlet unconscious, lying in a pool of blood behind the agent. She gasped in shock.

“Paul, no! No! You’ve killed him, you sick bitch!”

“No Simone, he’s just unconscious, he’ll be all right!” Rhapsody tried to assure her, as she returned a punch.

Poppy used Rhapsody’s momentarily lapse of concentration to smack the Angel against a wall and out of her way.

Destiny pounced at her but only got punched and sent flying onto Rhapsody.

A small red stone came flying out of one of Destiny’s pockets. She grabbed for it and remembered something. “The stone chooses the person, young lady, and the stone of the red dragon has chosen you. Why you ask, I do not know, but believe this, the red dragon makes his decisions wisely.”

Why had the red dragon chosen her? It dawned on her; it was because she was strong, that she would fight when a friend went down.

Poppy picked up the hypodermic needle and proceeded to bring it down towards Scarlet’s chest. But she wasn’t able to inject him. In desperation to save Scarlet, Destiny Angel tackled the agent, forcing her to drop the needle on the floor. A shot rang out and the agent slumped onto Destiny, she quickly threw the dead agent off her. Rhapsody and Destiny looked at each other with blank faces. Destiny dropped beside Scarlet, elevating him slightly. Rhapsody picked herself up and turned to see Captain Blue approach.

“I heard a commotion, I came as fast I could, are you girls okay?” Blue asked her, getting up from his crouching position. Rhapsody nodded for herself and Destiny before both she and Blue went to Scarlet’s aid. “Help’s on the way, shouldn’t be long now.”

Rhapsody and Blue both kneeled down and tended to their fallen friend. During her struggle with the Mysteron agent, she hadn’t realised the full extent of Scarlet’s predicament. Blood was swamping the area surrounding Scarlet, his costume slashed and stabbed to shreds. Destiny, now silently crying had wrapped him up in her arms. Blue went the other side of him and checked his stab wounds. The Mysteron agent hadn’t exactly been clean. Blue may have seen Scarlet in bad states on many occasions, but it still gave him the creeps.

Rhapsody picked up the needle. She looked at it carefully. “Dr Gold will want to have a look this,” she told the others. They nodded before returning their attention to Scarlet.

“Paul,” Blue whispered to his friend. “Wake up, buddy, wake up.” He gently shook Scarlet. He didn’t stir. “Don’t do this, Paul.” Blue checked for a pulse and found one, weak and slow. Destiny’s tears started to drip off her face, smudging her make up. She looked at Blue who nodded her head to answer her silent question. She smiled slightly as he tried again to reach out to Scarlet. “Paul, you’re scaring the crap out of Simone, please wake up.”

Rhapsody Angel, who had remained silent the whole time, carefully moved Scarlet’s legs to straighten them out, ignoring the fact that her costume was drenched in blood; all their costumes were bloodied up.

“Paul, God Dammit! Wake up!” Rhapsody snapped. Destiny and Blue looked at her in surprise. And more to their surprise, Scarlet actually responded, he stirred slowly, looking directly at Destiny, seeing her sad blue eyes.

“Destiny,” he murmured, before passing out again.

Before any of them could move a muscle, a medical team led by Dr Gold burst onto the scene. Gold took one look before barking orders at his medics. As stretcher was pulled up, Blue and Rhapsody made their moves to get Destiny out of the way.

“C’mon Destiny, let Dr Gold help him, he’s in safe hands now,” assured Blue, as he moved out of the Doctor’s way.

Rhapsody handed the needle to her sister who was attending the scene. The twin sisters shared a smile before hugging each other. Cassidy was grateful her twin was alive.

“Get these three officers to Sickbay, quickly!” Gold ordered, as he took Scarlet off Destiny and lay him down on the bloodied floor. “What the blazes happened to him?”

“Your former nurse, that’s what happened,” Rhapsody stated, as her sister had a look at her injured wrist that the Mysteron agent had slashed. Nurse Foster-Finch quickly showed him the needle while a small pack of security officers showed up and helped a couple of the medics get the dead Mysteron agent into a body bag.

Destiny put a hand on Scarlet’s forehead as Blue held her by the shoulders and picked her up off the floor.

“Destiny, we have to go to sickbay,” he whispered, urging her to tear her eyes off Scarlet and ahead to un-bloodied corridor.

A couple of medics walked with the trio. Blue had an arm wrapped around Destiny while she and Rhapsody held hands. They were all freaked out with what they had seen. Blue looked at Rhapsody. How had the Angel managed to do what she did? She fought a Mysteron agent single-handed, protecting Scarlet while she did. Blue knew that Rhapsody had fought in the Pacific Ocean Conflicts. Even though she’d never told him the details, Blue could guess what she had seen. He’d been on battlefields and seen the results in the middle of battle. But there was something he wanted to say to Scarlet once he’d recovered. That was that Rhapsody had saved his life. He felt grateful that Rhapsody had fought the agent to saved his best friend, and Spectrum’s finest officer.

“Simone, you’re bleeding,” Rhapsody commented, her green eyes full of concern as she looked at Destiny’s right arm. Blood was dripping down it. That’s when it struck Destiny and Rhapsody as they gazed at the injury.

“Red will drip off your arm when you don’t realise it,”

They said it together.

“You will need help, a dark cloud is on your horizon,”

“Oh no, that warning, that warning, Caroline, she was right, that Gypsy lady was right! I was bleeding and didn’t realise it, no wonder I…” Destiny Angel slipped unconscious and fell to the floor.

“Destiny!” Blue quickly checked her pulse. It was fast and racing. One of the medics quickly checked her over.

“Blood loss and shock, we need to get her to Sickbay fast,” he reported to the other medic.

Blue scooped Destiny up and started running.

“What gypsy woman?” he snapped at Rhapsody unintentionally.

“Later Adam, it’s going to be one interesting report, that I can assure you of,” replied Rhapsody Angel. In her head, she was cursing. Fate had picked on Destiny once more. Now what had been said, became the present. She held back her fears as they ran to Sickbay. She had a gut feeling that Destiny would never again disbelieve the words spoken by a Gypsy. But Rhapsody questioned something, what was the dark cloud? And what form would it manifest itself as?

The End?

The Writer Writes Once More

I would like to thank Chris Bishop and Marion Woods for Beta Reading for me again. Any mistakes that are present are purely my own errors. (I should’ve gone to Specsavers)

I figured I’d try and write two Halloween stories for my first attempt at the challenge, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading Words Of Warning. It’s sure being a hassle to write. I thought seven was supposed to be lucky anyway? It’s sure been a jinx of story!

My thanks go to my best friend Rachael, for checking this through and for giving me encouragement to keep on writing this tale. As I’ve said before, Halloween isn’t my favourite time of the year, but seeing as On this Night Of Nights is a sad Halloween story, I figured I’d try to make a happy story where Halloween is celebrated for the right reasons. But yes I know, bloody ending.

Seeing as we know little about the likes of Captain Grey and Rhapsody Angel; imagination could lead us anywhere. I figured they would make a nice couple, hence the pair up. Lieutenant Cerise (Belinda Hunt) and Dr Ivory are my characters and I hope to develop them further in coming stories. The Mysteron Agent, Poppy Dempster is another of my creation but she’s ‘dead’ now. There are two characters from the series I’ve used but didn’t have names. The one is Captain Brown (I named him Josh), and the other is the nurse who looks like Rhapsody Angel. I’ve named her Cassidy Foster-Finch but this isn’t her name in the series, I made it up, along with the background character Betty Dempster, who I wrote as the initial bad girl but later switched characters, however I couldn’t just leave Betty out. The Virus CVV-700S is just the registration plate of the last Rover P6 off the production line, slightly altered.

Feel free to curse for me for creating yet another rubbish story and wasting your time (Literally or humoursly), don’t worry, I’ve been cursed that often for bad jokes, I’m immune to curses, unlike a certain Captain Brown.

Happy Halloween

Intensity Angel

20^th September

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