The Other World.

Goldenrod Heights: rustic city of yesteryear and neighbor to the world. Ever the bustling, tranquil metropolis, people carry on about their busy boom time lives as if the world outside of the city limits doesn't exist. Yet inside Kent-Rogers High, there is one more aware of the world outside. And she quietly taps the eraser of her pencil against her desk as she stares through the window into the sunny sky. "Scarlet!"

"Huh? Uh... y-yes, Ms. Yvonne?"

"Perhaps you can tell us the answer to the question I just asked?"

Scarlet blinks as the eyes in the room all fall upon her. "Uh...I'd like to buy a vowel," she says.

Snickers bounce around the room as Ms. Yvonne stares flatly at Scarlet. "In geometry, Ms. Day?" the aging teacher retorts.

"Is it x=5?" Scarlet says, beginning to drift away again.

Ms. Yvonne sighs. "Yes, Scarlet. It is x=5. I would appreciate it if you would have actually known the answer instead of guessing. It'd be nice if you'd join us back here on planet Earth."

"W-what? Earth. Third planet from the sun. 70 percent-"

"That's enough, Ms. Day."

When the bell rings, Scarlet springs up from her seat and nearly knocks everyone over on her way out, but she stops when Ms. Yvonne calls out to her. "Scarlet."

"Y-yes?"

"A word." Scarlet approaches the desk and Ms. Yvonne removes her glasses. "Scarlet, honestly, I don't understand, at all, what your problem is. You're clearly not focused. You're head's in the clouds. You never pay attention to a word I say and I've spoken with your other teachers. They all say the same things. The only time any teacher's seen you fully engaged in years was when you had some conversation with Mr. Wright about those silly little magazines."

"Comic books. They're called comic books. And they're not silly. Listen, I kinda have stuff I need to do, so-"

"Scarlet, hush. Now, you're teetering on a C-. I'm going to give you a chance to boost yourself a letter grade by bumping up the value of the next test for everyone. But you need to pay attention. It's fine to dream, but there's a time and place. All right?"

"Y-yes ma'am."

"Thank you. You may go."

Scarlet takes off like a bolt. Once she's outside, she finds herself in the alley near the school. "Let's go see if anyone needs some superhero help, today. SHA- wait. Wrong word. KRAKOW!" Suddenly young Scarlet is engulfed by a small explosion of bright light. She emerges a split second later, clad in a red and gold, hooded ensemble with a cape. Her feet hover inches above the ground. Then she blasts off into the city skyline.

As she soars through the city on this sunny afternoon, pedestrians look on. Some point and she waves, twirling in the air and doing a few flips. "Mommy, it's Vic'try Girl!" a child says, pointing and tugging on his mother's blouse.

"Yes, Billy, I see," the mother says, bending down to pick the child up.

Victory-Girl: a name that meant there'd be no need to fear... unless you were the bad guy. Then you might be lucky if punching was all she did. Many were wary that she might summon up any of her world-saving friends... namely the 300 foot robot.

As she races along, she sees someone speeding and police chasing after them. In a flash she levels out against the street, flying alongside the car. "Um... hi? Wanna pull over?"

"The brakes! I can't pull over! The breaks are shot!"

"Oh. Okay," V says. She flies ahead of the car and lands in the street in front of it before taking a deep breath and exhaling a gust that slows the car to an eventual halt.

Shaken, the driver gets out of the car. "Th-thank you. Thank you so much."

"Ayup. S'what I'm here for. Want me to drop off your car at the nearest shop?"

"No. You don't have to do that. I can take this from here."

"All right. Drive safe," V says with a mock salute. Then she turns and runs off down the street, kicking up dust behind her as she accelerate until she takes a leap and rockets off into the city like a plane.

As V soars through the city, she takes note of a silhouette standing on a nearby rooftop in a black trench coat, fedora, and white mask. She yields to an eventual stop in mid flight and drifts to the man, stopping before the man and hovering just opposite him, as if standing on air. "Stranger! Long time no see! Gi'me five!"

Stranger reaches into his pocket and removes a tape recorder. "Something bad is on the horizon. I believe you might be able to do something about it."

V-Girl stares at Stranger for a moment then lowers her hand and crosses her arms. "Me? Not Jet Jockette or Cap or Titano?"

"You weren't my first choice, no. Jet is off in the middle of retrieving a powerful relic from a cult. The Captain and Juniper are off world. And I decided calling on the help of a 300 foot robot might incite panic. You were the next logical choice: a walking atomic bomb with a filter, an unthreatening appearance, and no life beyond your school walls."

"Ya really know how to flatter a girl, Stranger," V-Girl says.

Stranger hands Victory-Girl the charm from around his neck. "This should allow you to see earthbound spirits. I've been investigating a problem arising in a town not far from here: Emberville."

"Oh, I know that place. We played 'em a while ago. Totally won."

"Scarlet, focus," Stranger says.

V ponder to herself for a moment. "Oh, but wait! If I'm gone, who'll look out for Goldenrod?" Suddenly she grabs Stranger by the arms. "Hey, can you do it? Pleeeaase!"

"All right!" Stranger says, dusting himself off as V lets him go. "Head to Emberville. I have another charm. As long as you have that one, you can contact me. Fill me in, ask questions-"

"On my way!" V says, turning and racing off towards Emberville.

Stranger watches her disappear.

Under an hour after the atomic teen's departure, a sonic boom sounds off high up over Emberville as Victory-Girl arcs in the air and descends upon the town. She yields on a dime, hovering just over an empty street. "No muss, no fuss," she says. She holds the charm that Stranger had given her and throws it around her neck. "Convenient. It lets you see ghosts and accessorize like no one's business! Hm... now who're the ghosts? I guess I could go around trying to pinch everyone. Oh! Maybe if I listen real hard, I can tell who has a heartbeat and who doesn't."

V floats off over the town, scanning for every ghost she can single out. "Okay, it's working... now what?"

"Scarlet."

"Huh? Who said that? Who's 'ere?"

V looks down at the charm lighting up in sync with the disembodied voice. "It's Stranger. You need to pay attention. You left before I could tell you what you were supposed to be looking for."

"Whoops."

"Nevermind that right now. You need to change back into Scarlet Day. If people see you, they might panic."

"But you said Titano-"

"Is a 300 foot robot and there's nothing he can do about it. You're a walking bomb who attracts aliens and things have a tendency of exploding around you. But you can at least exercise stealth by-"

"All right, all right," V says.

Victory-Girl lands behind a mini-mart and looks around to be certain no one's in the area, taking a quick scan with her super senses. Then she sighs. "Krakow!" Suddenly she explodes, violently throwing anything not bolted down. When it clears, Scarlet Day emerges, touching down on the ground beneath where she'd once been floating. She runs off and just as she disappears around a corner, the clerk of the mini-mart steps outside to figure out what on earth the sound was.

Scarlet strolls around in the city, now completely uncertain as to who the ghosts were and who the real ones were, save for occasionally walking through someone but opting not to acknowledge it.

"You're looking for any clues you can find pertaining to an outbreak of missing children. I've been investigating this for a while, but everything points to conflicts between otherworldly powers that I can't compete with."

Scarlet rounds a corner, getting a few sideways looks, probably regarding her 50s-ish style of dress. "And I can?" she says, ignoring passersby.

"Your powers are supernatural. You stand a better chance than myself."

Scarlet stops and looks into a store window at a few TVs looking back at her. "So where'd ya get the charm?"

"I have my sources."

Scarlet stands upright a moment when she turns and notes a man walking with the boy who'd just strolled by. He hadn't appeared on any of the television screens in the window. "Hm..." She turns and follows, casually strolling down the street not far behind them but off at an angle. The man's reflection isn't showing up in any of the windows, but he's walking and talking with the boy. "Aha." Scarlet dips into the candy store that comes up on her left. "I've seen enough old vampire films to know that ain't normal."

She heads for the back entrance and sneaks out that way. Moments later the sound of a small blast, like a lightning strike, ripples through the air. "Stranger, I think I'm about to crack the case," Victory-Girl says as the blast and smoke clears away.

"Now I'm worried."

Victory-Girl begins to hover in the alley. "Big tickle. Relax, will ya? You'll be on cloud nine when I'm through."

"Really worried."

V-Girl watches from high up overhead, then glances from the warehouse to the hotel but disconnecting from everything they say after it's brought up. "That place, huh?" She floats towards the building and peers through one of the upper floor windows. "Le'see, here."

"Okay. That is definitely tipping the scale on my Weird Stuff-o-Meter. Stranger, I, uh... I think I found what you were looking for," V-Girl says.

"That doesn't sound like a celebration."

V-Girl peers back through the window and winces. "No. No it doesn't, does it? On a scale of one to ten, how bad does 'possessed' rate?"

"I hope that's a rhetorical question."

"They're all holed up in this ritzy looking hotel. But they all just up and went somewhere else deeper in the place. Hang on. I'm gonna see if I can get inside without any problems."

"Scarlet, hold-"

V-Girl tries to simply float through the window but something pushes her back. "Huh?"

"What is it?"

"Some sort of invisible wall. Hang on." The atomic teen winds back and punches at the barrier but it refuses the budge. "Hm... maybe I can call in Tita-"

"No, Scarlet."

"I'm kidding, hard case," V-Girl says. She looks down and sees the boy from before entering the building through the front door. "I guess it's the front door, then."

"Be careful, Scarlet."

"Yes, mom," Scarlet says, floating down to the front of the building and hiding behind a bush out front.

One thunderous explosion later, Scarlet trots out from her hiding place and walks, casually, into the building through the front door. She looks around and crosses her arms. "Hm."

Scarlet looks around. The place, though mundane in appearance, has an ominous air to it. There don't appear to be any ghosts in this room, per the amulet. Even the one that'd been with the boy before is now gone. She perks up when she hears the thump and the following voice. Speaking of that boy--.

"Me? You're the one behind the desk," Scarlet says, tilting her head and folding her hands behind her back.

Scarlet shrugs as he disappears back beneath the counter and rummages through for something. When he rises back up, she crosses her arms. "Yeah, so do you work here?" She looks around. "Alone?" She holds her hand to her chin and stares off for a moment. Then she shrugs. "Hm. That's weird."

"I don't recall asking more than one question," Scarlet says. She swings her arms a bit before folding her hands behind her back. "I don't. I'm looking for my little sister. She ran in here. Did you see her?"

"He really wants you to leave."

"Hm?"

"First he assumed you'd be gone, now he's try to get you to go look somewhere else for your nonexistent sister."

Scarlet stares into space for a moment. "No, I definitely saw her come in here and there's only one way in or out." She pokes around a bit. "I think I'll just check and make sure she isn't hiding or something. Unless there's some reason I shouldn't be in here. Looks pretty... spooky."