Summer followed Ashton into the house, relieved that the eerie atmosphere was somewhat lessened when he pushed the curtains open. The new lighting only served to prove even further that the house was completely empty. Just to be sure, Ashton led her through the whole building to check every room. Most of the doors were already ajar until they reached the final room. The master bedroom’s door was shut tight, and Summer saw Ashton hesitate to reach for the handle.

  “Do you need me to open it?” Summer offered.

  “No, I should do this,” Ashton denied, grasping the handle and giving the door a push.

  As the door slowly opened Summer saw the objects displayed perfectly in the center of the room as if they were waiting for the perfect chance to be revealed. It had been too much to hope for this house to be empty, or at least normal. She would even take a normal level of shady. Instead there was a giant screen fixed to the wall front and center that switched on the moment the door opened. On the floor in front of it was a large metal case. Nothing about any of this could be good. Then the words began to appear on the screen.

  “Surprised? I don’t even need powers for something this simple,” it read, “I hope you like my present. Since you want to die so much I figured I should grant your wish.”

  Ashton jerked back. “Summer, get out of here!” he ordered.

  Summer quickly shuffled back, catching the case open with ominous red letters clearly reading “Time to die”. She had to warn the others, then she could come back and help Ashton with whatever nasty mess MysteriousMaskz had planned this time. He wouldn’t actually kill Ashton, right? Not after everything. She glanced back to see if she had really seen the Shadow Phoenix outfit when that case opened, only to run into something as soon as she turned her head.

  Looking behind you while running was never a good idea. Perhaps that is why it took Summer a moment too long to realize that the something she had run into was a person. It took her another terrifying moment to realize she couldn’t move as this person held up a chess piece where she could see it. A white queen.

  “Summer Aster, the White Queen,” his low voice rumbled, “It is time for Golden Reign to make her return.”

  At his powerful command she closed her eyes for what felt like just a moment. This had to be Checkmate. How had he gotten into the house without anyone noticing? She needed to resist! Summer forced her eyes open again only to realize that it was too late. She was in a large, dark room that definitely wasn’t anywhere near that house. Not only that, she could feel the familiar sensation of a mask on her face and the tight gloves and boots of her costume. At least she could move now.

  First she should light up the place to see where she was. It might not be the smartest idea to give away her position, but she was still exactly where Checkmate had placed her. She could always snuff out the light later when she found a better place to hide. How had she used this power when she was Golden Reign again? It had been so long that she felt rusty.

  For now, she should stick to golden light. After spending way too long overthinking, she released a beam of golden light to get a better look at her surroundings. Even her powerful beam wasn’t enough to light the whole area, but it was enough to tell her what kind of place she was in. A theatre, and not one made for cinema.

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  There was a massive stage, complete with heavy curtains closed tight. Below the stage was a space for a full orchestra and its conductor. Several paces back from that was the first level of seating. Summer was standing on a private balcony that overlooked the entire area. The vast space was completely empty save for the unnerving amount of faceless mannequins.

  Every orchestra seat was filled with a black plastic mannequin holding various instruments. The seating was dotted with white plastic mannequins here and there, but it was impossible to tell what hid behind the tightly shut curtains on the stage. It was a relief that Summer found her particular balcony seating completely devoid of plastic companions, but that didn’t mean it was safe to stay there.

  Summer made her way to the door, but a quick wiggle of the handle showed it was locked. There was no way Checkmate would drag her all the way here and just let her leave. Maybe there was another way down. Summer made her beam of light stronger to get a better look around, and as she did she heard a soft but familiar whirring sound.

  Rotating cameras, perhaps drawn to her light, were now facing her from several places across the theatre. Other balconies, the ceiling, and even the stage were dotted with cameras. To check, Summer extinguished her light, and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness she could see the tiny red pinpricks that showed the cameras were on and recording. MysteriousMaskz had to be involved with whatever was going on.

  An overhead spotlight flickered on, shining down on the stage as the curtains jittered open with a mechanical groan. Standing in the spotlight, in the gap of the newly opened curtains, was Claudia Jones. Summer recognized her immediately, but something felt off. She had seemed so confident and even aggressive when they had met before, but now she seemed haggard with a clear forced smile as the cameras turned to her.

  “This is Claudia Jones, reporting live from a special place in the Old Town where I received a tip that the ever mysterious Shadow Phoenix and Golden Reign are going to appear,” Claudia announced into her microphone, “I would like to thank my informant and sponsor of this program, Checkmate for giving me the opportunity to be here. Would you like to say a few words?”

  A second spotlight flickered on, shining down on a man Summer recognized only from the earlier file hunting. Gilbert Rook. This man really had been Checkmate all along. Had he even been trying to hide it? More than Claudia, Gilbert looked like he had been waiting for this moment to appear on camera.

  “Thank you for the introduction, Ms. Jones,” he spoke in the same deep voice that Summer had heard before she had lost control of her body. He really had been in that house. “It is an honor to have a host as well-known as yourself present this humble showing of mine. My name is Gilbert Rook, but many of you will know me better as Checkmate. Today I have arranged the return of the hero that sparked such great controversy, Golden Reign.”

  A new spotlight shone down right where Summer was standing. She hadn’t managed to find a way to escape the balcony yet, and had even allowed herself to be distracted by the show that was being put on before her.

  “Incredible! You really are keeping to your word,” Claudia exclaimed with clearly fake excitement, “Now that one of our esteemed guests has officially made it, where is the villain partner to match her heroic return to the spotlight?”

  “Shouldn’t you be more concerned about what might happen when I show up?” Ashton’s, no, Shadow Phoenix’s voice rang through the theatre.

  Where was he? How had he gotten ahold of a microphone? Was he brought here against his will just like she was? If so, was the man speaking right now the Ashton she knew, or another puppet like Claudia Jones?

  Claudia let out a fake laugh. “What can you do to us when Golden Reign, your greatest weakness, will surely protect us? After all, that is what heroes do.”