It happens to the best of us. The end moment comes, and even though you're steeled for it, you close your eyes and somewhere in the back of your mind, you're screaming "Shit." It wasn't any different for me. Somehow, I'd managed to avoid soiling my calvins, but that seemed like little consolation as I waited for things to happen. A boiling hot blast of air. A wretched peeling of my skin from my body. Somehow, it shoulda felt something like that, but it didn't. Instead, it was kinda relaxing.

Opening my eyes, I watched as he reached down to me and offered me his hand. His grip was strong -- stronger than I remember -- and wrapped in a technicolor red that I hadn't seen in what seemed like forever. He smiled that half-assed grin that ran in the family and asked me, "So, surprised to see me, Jackie?"

"I guess I shouldn't be," I replied, climbing to my feet with his help and pulling him into a hug that got tighter everytime I saw him. I couldn't believe it had been a year already, and actually, I suppose it hadn't been. Maybe I was losing sense of time, but in that instant, none of it mattered. I got to be with him one more time. "Heck, pluck me out of a win-lose-or-die situation anytime, David. Course, I know better than to think I'm not going straight back to that moment once our time is up."

"That's the ticket, Jack," he replied, cutting his words shorter than usual. David had never been one for a sense of humor, but I had always thought a lot of that was because he was trying to hard to kiss my father's ass twenty-four-seven. "Our time's short tonight, so we need to make this fast. How have you been?"

"You know. Same old, same old. Forced to protect a world that fears and hates antiques. It's a sad, strange life I lead, but someone's got to do it," I responded, trying to keep my good humor, but I guess I was pretty transparent. "Yeah. Guess not. I just got back from space, but I guess you knew that since I saw you out there not too long ago. Anyway, life in Opal hasn't changed much. I can't win for trying with the women, and Dad's old enemies keep resurfacing to make life Hell. This time, quite literally."

"The Ragdoll, eh? I guess we should have seen that coming," David answered and it strikes me back-to-business he is. He so wanted to be in this role, to be Starman and make Dad proud. God, he was so much different from me, and I missed having that there.

"Yeah, hindsight is always twenty-twenty, but who's bitching?" I asked, jokingly. Somewhere in the background, I could hear a few errant strings cutting through the silence, playing some piece by Bach. Perhaps, it was Air on a G String. "Dad told me about him once, right after you got shot. I guess it was Dad's way of trying to help me cope with killing the Mist's son. It sorta helped at the time, but then again, you don't notice the little things til they bite you in the ass."

"Funny you should mention him," David said, stepping away from me and walking non-chalantly across the black tile floor. It was amusing watching him walk around in the old Starman costume, especially given the surroundings. Polished stone banisters and shiny black tile covered this foyer from front to back, but I shouldn't have been surprised. Our meetings usually carried us to strange place draped in black-and-white like some 1930's piece of celluloid.

"Who? Dad or the Ragdoll?" I asked, staring at the high-arched windows that lines the wall and the sunlight that poured through them. It was definitely too Hollywood a setting for our normal talks, but it was kinda cozy. Almost made me wish I was wearing my Fred Astaire taps. "I guess Dad's been waiting for this guy to come back for some time. He just has crap for timing, let me tell you."

"Not Dad or the Ragdoll. I'm talking about Kyle," he said, stopping at a doorway that was split by velvet curtains and guilded cords. The look on his face was enough to tell me that he wasn't joshing me. It was the same look he used to give me when I'd bring home some girl for the first (and inevitably last) time, the one that read all sorts of 'time to get serious, Jack'. And trust me, he wore it just as well Dad."

"You're acting rather 'I Spy' today, Davie. Spill the beans, already. What are you talking about?"

"Our time isn't between you and I today, Jack," he said flat-out. "I wish it was that simple, but the message you're supposed to get today isn't coming from me. Its..."

"Don't say it, Davie..."

"I gotta, kiddo. The message for today is between you and Kyle. You and I will have -- No, Jack hear me out," David said, extending his hand in a stop sign and keeping me from interrupting him again. It was then that I realized how painful this was for him, even moreso than it would be for me. "You and I will have our time soon enough. Once a year, remember? I just need you to be open to this one. I wouldn't have brought you here if it wasn't important."

I hung my head for what seemed like an eternity, but even I knew better than to give credence to that cliche. After a couple seconds, I looked up at David, saw the hurt in his eyes and the resolve on his face, and I ascented, saying, "You got it, guy. Hell, this might be good for me in the long run. Work out some ghosts -- no pun intended -- and whatnot. I trust you enough to know that you're not just yanking my chain."

"Cool," he replied and pulled me back into a hug. I didn't want to let go, and I'm pretty sure he didn't want to either, but we both knew it was only a few short moments. "I'll be seeing you, Jack. Keep up your end of things."

Nodding, I turned and went through the parted curtains, passing from the main foyer into a small library. The walls were lined from floor to ceiling with books, arranged almost perfectly on their shelves. In contrast to the entryway, the library was covered in layer-after-layer of dust, like the storage units I used to buy through auctions. A fire burned in the brick fireplace, leaping and crackling in shades of grey, and I made my way to the pair of highback chairs placed in front of it. Speaking for the first time since I entered the room, I asked, "We had an appointment?"

Kyle didn't answer me at first, nor did he turn to look at me. I guess I was a little insulted, but what did I expect from my the son of my father's worst enemy, a man I had sent to his grave. Instead, he pointed to the chair across the table and motioned insistently for me to sit down, saying, "I've waited for this moment for a long time, Jack Knight."

"Wow, I guess Heinz 57 had it right then," I said, keeping a flip attitude and taking my seat. I didn't want to be here, not with him, and I was pretty sure that he had similar feelings. My meetings with David usually had a purpose, and I figured this one did as well, but I wasn't going to waste any time shooting the breeze with this jack-ass. "What's on your mind?"

His hand moved down to the table between us, pinching the head of a pawn between his fingers and sliding it two spaces forward. It was strange looking into his eyes, having seen them mostly from behind his sunglasses and the one wide-eyed time as I took his life. Turning his attentions to the board, he said, "She's not like you and me, Jack. She's special, and my father never really saw that in her. It was a shame."

"I assume we're talking about Nash," I replied, not quite following the conversation but hopefully getting the gist of what he was alluding to. I looked down at the board. Personally, I hated chess, but if it was something to pass the time while dealing with him, so be it. I moved my matching pawn forward, blocking his advance. "I haven't heard from her since the last time she tried to kick Opal in the balls. What about her?"

A small chuckle escaped his lips as he moved his bishop forward almost to the far right side of the board and said, "You really don't know do you? Still living in that little world of your own?"

"I thought that was pretty obvious myself. Course, the optimal term there is 'living', isn't it?" I asked teasingly. Considering for a moment, I jumped my knight over a barricade of pawns and moved it into position to seize his bishop. No use pansying around on the nutball. "Have you even played this game before?"

He ignored the question, not that I was expecting an answer. It was more a jab than an inquiry anyway. Concentrating on the board, he pushed his queen to the opposite extreme of his bishop, adding, "Sometimes, you just have to go with brute force, something you heroes could never understand. Even Nash saw that truth in the end. She went for what she wanted and took it."

"Okay, consider me the Laurel to your Hardy and tell me what the hell you're talking about," I spat back, seizing the knight once more and taking the lone bishop from the board. The black bishop tumbled over the edge of the table as I rested my knight in the now vacated square. "And dude, it's all about the finesse."

"Last time she was in Opal, didn't you wonder why you woke up naked in the home of your enemy? It's funny how much can happen when you're drugged and unable to say 'no'. You see, there is more than one way to disable an enemy, and cutting him to the emotional quick is one of them," Kyle scowled slightly at the removal of his bishop, but reconsidered the board, sliding a second pawn to the front, one space away from the knight.

"You think your sister short-changed me because she knocked me out with a mickie and got down and prayed to Sparky? I don't think so," I responded. A slight smile curled into my lips as he maneuvered the knight into its previous space, away from the harm of the pawn. I couldn't help it. It's not everyday I get to talk about my tender parts with a dead guy. "Now, unless your sister was carrying something in the nasty end of the spectrum, I don't think I have a whole lot to worry about."

"You underestimate her, Knight. Not everything is as cut-and-dry as you like to think it is. The world's moved on from the black-and-whites days, even if you'd rather keep living in the past. The rest of us will consider the future," came Kyle's biting reply as his wiry hand moved his rook forward on the board. Clearly, he had an offensive strategem in mind.

"Funny, I wasn't under the impression that you had much of a future for yourself," I said, getting tired of being led around in circles and trying to be cordial to this prick. It still shocked me that David wanted me to talk to Kyle, but who was I to question the way that things worked after death. Hell, I had a hard enough time grasping life. Waiting on my move, I asked, "So you and I didn't come here to shoot the shit. We're not friends, not even close. What's the deal?"

"You did my family a favor, even if you didn't have to. The affair with Wesley Dodds and my father's medallion. You didn't have to go after it, didn't have to return it to him. Even after Nash tore apart Opal City looking for it. Then you gave him a gift that went beyond that, and this is sort of a repayment for that favor," Kyle replied, and I was shocked. He was thanking me for pretending to be him with his dad. For a moment, it seemed like we were on the same wavelength, and that was just giving me the heebie-jeebies.

"So spill the beans. What's the big message that you're supposed to impart upon me?" I replied. Sliding my far pawn forward one space, I began setting myself up to take his queen. He needed a shot in the pants, and hopefully this would be a wake-up call against challenging me to dead-man's chess in the future.

"Dark days ahead, Knight. You thought you saw it all the last time my sister brought Hell to your precious city. It's going to look like child's play. She's learned her craft well, and this time it won't be all about the robberies and the fires. It won't be about razing the city in a public display. No, she's learned how to make it a game of subtle destruction, and she's taking her time putting the wheels into motion," he said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. I shouldn't have been surprised. He had no reason to care, and it was quite an act that he was here in the first place. Smugly, he slid his queen forward and took my pawn.

My mind flew to memories of the Mist's last assault on Opal, and I cringed. Everything was coming too quickly, and somewhere out there, my dad was still in the clutches of some insane wackjob in a burlap sack costume. I took his queen with my rook and responded, "So how am I supposed to stop all this? Have people wait for her at the city limits and yank her license to wreak havoc?"

The flash of anger that followed was sudden, but not really surprising. With a violent sweep of his hand, Kyle thrust the chess board from the table and into the fireplace, where the pawns and kings melted beneath the dancing flames. I eyed him suspiciously, waiting for some kind of retaliation against me, but he just looked at me with a hateful glare and proclaimed, "There is nothing you can do to stop her, Knight. She's already got you in her back pocket, with one big bargaining chip to keep you out of her way. Nash will come to Opal, and she will bring it begging to its knees before she's done. That much I assure you."

"And just what does she have that has me in dire straits?"

"It's all about blood. Yours and hers to be exact," he said, turning away and heading out the door toward the veranda. Turning back for a second, he waited between two sheathes of sheer curtains, tossed me a brown-paper parcel, and added, "Tell him that his uncle says hi when you see him."

Frantically, I tore open the package, letting the brown paper float to the ground in small chunks. Reaching into the tissue paper, I found a small rattle, and knew that nothing good was going to come of this.

Then, the greys started to wipe away, and I knew that my time with David was over, and a return to my regular problems was on its way.

Next Issue: Sins Revisited really concludes and Jack must make a fateful decision surrounding his role in Opal City. The final truths come to light, and a bargain is fulfilled! Will everyone survive the final stroke of the Ragdoll?

Just to give some explanation, I decided to stall the end of the current arc in order to do some setting up for future stories, and to tie some stuff into the subplots I had already set. Hopefully, no one will shoot me for leaving you in a cliffhanger. :)

Michael