#589 QG 11-30-17

STANPATOS MANSION
*Andre is sitting down in the living room, when Gretta strolls in. “Good evening, Andre! What’s for dinner?” Gretta asks. “Whatever they are serving at The Ancient Jewel.” Andre tells her. “The chef isn’t cooking anything tonight?” Gretta asks. “Not for you. Unless of course you’d like him to whip up a nice loaf of bread for you. That way, you can make a nice peanut butter and jelly sandwich.” Andre says. “Excuse me if I come off a bit rude, but as the lady of the manor, I believe I am entitled to the same amount of respect that you are.” Gretta says. “Oh please! The only reason you are even allowed in this home is because of blackmail! If it weren’t for that, you’d probably be living under a bridge somewhere! Hopefully, somewhere far, far away!” Andre says. “Is that any way to speak to your wife?” Gretta asks. Andre stands up, and grabs a letter opener off of the coffee table. “Go ahead, do it! Just you try and stab me!” Gretta yells. “Don’t tempt me. Get out of my sight.” Andre orders. “Your not my boss, dear, you’re my husband. I suppose that means I’m YOUR boss, doesn’t it?” Gretta asks. Andre grins. “No one is the boss of Andre Stanpatos, dear. Not even you.” Andre says. “Unfortunately for you, that is no longer the case. Thanks to the evidence I have collected against you, I basically own you. So, it would be in your best interest to play the part of the devoted husband who does whatever his lovely wife asks, or else.” Gretta warns.

GOO CASTLE
*Ciara comes into the living room, and finds Lysandros standing by the patio doors! “I’ve been waiting for you.” Lysandros says. “Lysandros! You scared me. How did you get in?” Ciara asks. “I picked the lock to the front door, and I let myself in.” Lysandros says. “You could’ve just rang the doorbell.” Ciara notes. “I had it under good authority that you were the only person home.” Lysandros says. “And you didn’t think I would answer?” Ciara asks. “I just wanted to surprise you, friend.” Lysandros says. “Well, you do realize that your little surprise is “illegal”, right?” Ciara asks. “Last I checked, so isn’t planting a listening device in an unsuspecting individual’s fireplace, too.” Lysandros says. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ciara says. “Oh come on, Ciara, I realize that you might not be the best spy, but even I thought you were better than to take the predictable route of denial. But then again, spies ARE trained to lie, aren’t they?” Lysandros says. “I still have no clue what you are talking about.” Ciara says. Lysandros pulls the bug out of his jacket pocket. “Ring any bells?” Lysandros asks. Ciara’s face goes white upon seeing the bug. “I figured it would. Its a nice piece of equipment, I have to say. I checked it out, and the technology inside of it seems to be pretty flawless. Shame that your plan to conceal it wasn’t so flawless.” Lysandros says. Lysandros drops the bug on the floor, and stomps it. “You didn’t want that back, did you?” Lysandros asks. “How did you find it?” Ciara asks. “Coincidentally, I had a chimney repairman come to take a look at it, since it looks like Lydia hasn’t used the fireplace in years. While he was inspecting the fireplace, he found your little gift. So, who’s idea was the bug? Yours, or your pals over at the WPA?” Lysandros asks. “What makes you think the WPA are involved?” Ciara asks. “Because I don’t think you would be pursuing a crusade against me on your own. I’ve been back in Fantastic for almost a year, and you had plenty of time to decide you wanted to take me down, but you didn’t. It took convincing from the WPA to finally decide to come after me.” Lysandros says. “Just curious, but do you expect me to burst into tears and confess everything to you?” Ciara asks. “I expect you to give me some clarity, here. If I’m under investigation by the World Protective Agency, I’d like to know why. I haven’t done anything to catch their attention.” Lysandros says. “No, not recently. But your colorful past does indicate that you should be on the agency’s radar.” Ciara notes. “And which part of my past are we discussing?” Lysandros asks. Ciara chuckles. “Its pretty sad that you even have to ask. That you have committed SO many crimes in your life time, you have no idea which one you are being investigated for this time.” Ciara says. “Just a quick reminder, but those so called “crimes” I committed? I was never convicted for a single one of them.” Lysandros says. “Well, you do know how to work the system, I’ll give you that. Its actually quite impressive, how you manage to maneuver your way around being convicted for your laundry list of crimes.” Ciara says. “Once again, in the eyes of the law, I am as pure as the driven snow. So unless you have some evidence that contradicts that, I really don’t see the point of your investigation.” Lysandros says. “You’re worried, aren’t you? What, Lysandros? Are you afraid I dug something up from your past?” Ciara asks. “If you had, you wouldn’t have planted a listening device in my home, which, by the way, I could have you hauled away in handcuffs for.” Lysandros says. “Good luck connecting the bug back to me, seeing as you smashed it into tiny little pieces.” Ciara says. “Fortunately for you, I don’t have a history of working with law enforcement, so if I decide you need to answer for trying to spy on me, I’ll just take matters into my own hands.” Lysandros says. “If I didn’t know any better, Mr. Masters, I’d say you just threatened a WPA agent.” Ciara says. “And I’d say you have no way to back that claim up, unless you planted a listening device in your own living room.” Lysandros says. “Did you come here to kill me or to talk my ear off?” Ciara asks. “I came here looking for answers. What deep, dark secret from my past could be SO earth shattering, that you would come after me with the intention of destroying everything that I built?!” Lysandros asks. “What you built?! Everything you have built has been based on lies and deception!” Ciara yells. “And you’re different? You are a former con artist, and a current spy! I wouldn’t say you are a pillar of the community.” Lysandros says. “I admit, I’ve done some terrible things in my past, but I’ve never murdered anyone in cold blood. Can you say the same? You tried to murder me and my brothers, you are a MONSTER.” Ciara says. “I knew from the get go you were playing me. I never bought your act, I was merely playing along until you would eventually screw up, which you did!” Lysandros says. “At least now I don’t have to pretend to like you.” Ciara says. “The feeling is mutual. However, just because you don’t like me doesn’t mean you cant respect the fact that I am trying to build a new life for myself. Clara and I are engaged, I’m living in a beautiful home, and I have a wonderful, legitimate job, why would you want to disrupt that?” Lysandros asks. “Because, Lysandros, just because you’ve moved on, doesn’t mean you can outrun the past. When you do bad things in the past, it always finds a way to sneak up and bite you, and now your dirty laundry is doing just that.” Ciara says. “And what dirty laundry would that be, Agent Goo?” Lysandros asks. “LIBERTY’s most infamous project, the Ultimate Life Form.” Ciara says!

ALEXIOS AND SERENA'S BEDROOM, STANPATOS ISLE
*Brody enters the room with a guard, and notices the open panel in the wall. “Is that it?” Brody asks. “Its the only secret door in the wall I can see.” The guard says. “Don’t get funny. Search the compound to see if the tunnel somehow looped back into the villa. I’m going into the tunnel to find out where it goes.” Brody says. “You need backup?” The guard asks. “You? No thanks. I’d be better off alone.” Brody says, before raising his gun, and cautiously entering the tunnel.

ABANDONED HOUSE, STANPATOS ISLE
*Alexios and Serena let themselves in to the abandoned house that Ethan mentioned. “This must be the place.” Alexios says. “Lets see, it looks abandoned, my guess is that it is abandoned. Sorry, I get sarcastic when I’m nervous.” Serena says. “Don’t worry about it. I don’t suppose this place has an old phone lying around?” Alexios asks. “Probably not. We don’t need one, anyway. If your “brother” is who he says he is, he is gonna call for help.” Serena says. “I don’t want to call for help, I want to call Bethany and let her know that I didn’t just abandon her. She probably thinks the worst of me, right now.” Alexios says. “I’m sure she doesn’t think that.” Serena says. “You don’t know Bethany like I do. She is an amazing person, but...she has her fair share of insecurities.” Alexios says. “They don’t bother you?” Serena asks. “Why would they? We all have our own insecurities, its just that some have them worse than others.” Alexios says. “Yeah...insecurities didn’t really play a role in V.J and I’s relationship, except early on.” Serena says. “What happened?” Alexios asks. “It was when I thought that I had killed Angelo. I convinced myself that I wasn’t good enough for V.J because I was a killer, which is when I started dating Dylan and V.J started dating Lydia.” Serena says. “Right, you mentioned that before.” Alexios says. “Thankfully, I got over my insecurities, and V.J and I were able to be happy for a little while. Do...do you think Bethany will ever get over hers?” Serena asks. “I honestly don’t know.” Alexios says.

VILLA LIVING ROOM, STANPATOS ISLE
*”Put the gun down, Bob.” Rebecca says. “And if I don’t?” Bob asks. “You’re not gonna shoot me. You’ve made it pretty clear that you don’t want me dead.” Rebecca says. “That was before you smashed a vase over my head. Its pretty sad when your own kid would be willing to attack her old man like that. You should feel ashamed of yourself.” Bob says. “Lets go. Talking to this guy is a waste of time.” Andy says. Andy and Rebecca walk towards the door, but Bob fires a shot in their direction! Andy and Rebecca stop in their tracks, and turn towards Bob. “I told you I ain’t playing no more. If you think you’re safe just cause your my daughter, you’re wrong, DEAD wrong.” Bob says. “Don’t forget, I’m armed, too.” Rebecca tells him, as she aims her gun towards him. “Your right, but your hubby ain’t.” Bob says, as he points his gun towards Andy. “You can shoot at me if you wanna, but by that time, I’d already put a cap in Andy. So I guess in a way, you get a two in one package. You lose a husband, and a daddy.” Bob says. “Shoot him. He already said that he is gonna kill me, anyway. Might as well take him down, too!” Andy tells Rebecca. “You sure you wanna listen to him? He ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed, I reckon.” Bob says. “Just...shoot...him. I’ll be fine, Rebecca.” Andy says. “What you gonna be is dead, son, if my little girl pulls that trigger.” Bob says. “Don’t listen to him, Rebecca. Now is your chance to take down Bob! Take it!” Andy says. “I don’t think she will, cause she ain’t gonna do anything that’ll put your life in danger.” Bob says. “I’m sorry, Andy. I cant kill him. I cant let him hurt you.” Rebecca tearfully says, as she lowers her gun. “That’s a good girl. Now put your gun on the ground, and kick it over to Daddy.” Bob says. Rebecca drops her gun on the floor, and kicks it over to Bob. “I HATE YOU!” Rebecca screams. “Hate is a strong word. Your just a tad upset cause I ruined your little getaway plan, which was stupid to begin with.” Bob says. “It seemed to be working until you showed up.” Andy notes. “Well now that I’m here, I ain’t falling for anymore of your tricks. I’m gonna do what I should’ve done when we were upstairs. I’m gonna kill you, Andy, and I’m gonna take my daughter far, FAR away. She may be angry at me now, but she’ll learn to forgive, especially when I bring her daughter to her.” Bob says. “What?” Rebecca asks. “That little girl cant grow up on her own! She’s gonna come live with you and me!” Bob says. “No...no...no...NO! I won’t let you do to her what you did to me! I WONT!” Rebecca screams. “Calm down, I ain’t gonna do anything to that little girl except help you take care of her.” Bob says. “You touch my daughter, and I will KILL YOU!” Rebecca screams. Andy notices the change in Rebecca’s behavior. “Hey, don’t worry, it won’t get that far.” Andy assures Rebecca. “You ain’t gonna be around to decide that, boy. See ya later.” Bob says, as he aims his gun at Andy. But, before Bob can pull the trigger, someone taps on his shoulder. Bob turns around, and Ethan punches him! Bob falls to the floor, as does his gun. When Bob goes to reach for his gun, Ethan punches him again, knocking him out!

STANPATOS MANSION
*”You don’t need to keep reminding me which of us is holding all of the cards, lovely wife. I know it is you.” Andre says. “Then stop treating me like garbage and start treating me like a human being.” Gretta says. “I have treated you like a human being! Need I remind you that it was I who helped you when Don Reynolds was starting to close in on you! I did everything in my power to help keep you from going to prison, and I did all of that for absolutely NO reason! I didn’t owe you anything, we weren’t even friends, but I still helped you.” Andre says. “You helped me because you wanted me to be in your debt, and you planned on collecting in the near future. My, how the tides have changed. You thought you would be the one with all of the power, but instead, I am.” Gretta says. “Keep in mind that power is a delicate possession. If you grow too obsessed with it, it will only lead to your own downfall, much like it has several other individuals in our planet’s past.” Andre says. “I’m quite confident I can handle the power, but thank you for your “touching” concern.” Gretta says. “You said you wanted me to treat you as more of a human being. I lent you some very valuable advice, and I suggest you not take it for granted.” Andre says. “I appreciate your so called advice, but I know just how much power I am able to obtain, and quite honestly, you haven’t seen nothing yet. This is only the beginning. From this point on, things are going to get a lot worse for you, Andre, and a lot better for me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to go order the chef to cook up his finest steak, and remember, as the woman of this manor, I do have the power to do that, and I’d just love to see you try and stop me.” Gretta dares, before walking out of the room. Andre sighs out of anger and annoyance…

GOO CASTLE
*”Just because I was a LIBERTY operative, doesn’t mean I was privy to all of their projects. Whatever this Ultimate Life Form is that you are referring to, I’ve never heard of it.” Lysandros says. “Actually, to be quite honest, I don’t know what it is. I was hoping you could tell me.” Ciara says. “Sorry to disappoint you. But, I don’t have any info that you don’t.” Lysandros says. “You’re lying.” Ciara says. “Prove it.” Lysandros challenges. “I don’t have to. You see, after Joe Fish was killed, the WPA managed to gain access to several LIBERTY documents, and one of them was on the Ultimate Life Form project. The file didn’t give any details on what the project was, but, it did mention that prior to leaving LIBERTY, you stole the project, and they were never able to reclaim it.” Ciara says. “Joe Fish was a liar, Ciara, just because a document claims that I stole one of his little toys, doesn’t mean I did.” Lysandros says. “Normally, I would agree with you, but Joe didn’t have any reason to believe that that file would end up in WPA hands. He thought that both he and his organization were untouchable, so why would he create a document for the sole purpose of making you look guilty, when he knew that it was very unlikely anyone would ever get a hold of it?” Ciara asks. “Beats me. I’d tell you to ask him, but unfortunately, you cant do that.” Lysandros says. “Right, because he is dead. Since Joe is dead, you are the only other person on this planet that might be able to provide some insight on this particular matter.” Ciara says. “And why should I help you, huh? You’ve been trying to manipulate me for months, you planted a listening device in my living room, I don’t owe you anything!” Lysandros growls. “Believe it or not, Lysandros, you are NOT the target of this investigation! The WPA just wants to know what the Ultimate Life Form is, and whatever became of it!” Ciara says. “What kind of idiot do you think I am? Do you think I don’t see what this is? When I made that immunity deal with the WPA years ago, it was with the condition that I give them every bit of info that I had on LIBERTY, so if it comes out that I didn’t tell them everything I knew, the deal is null and void, and I go to jail for murder! Maybe years ago, that wouldn’t phase me because I could just disappear before they could catch me, but I have a life now, one that is worth holding onto! I’m not about to jeopardize that by implicating myself in a crime!” Lysandros yells. “This doesn’t have to lead to you being convicted! All you need to do is just give me the Ultimate Life Form, I don’t even have to testify that you were the one who gave it to me! All I need to do is just present it to my boss at the agency, that’s all!” Ciara says. “Let me ask you something, have you ever asked yourself why the WPA might be after the Ultimate Life Form? Maybe they want to use it for themselves. Maybe that is why they are SO hellbent on using you to get it from me!” Lysandros says. “They don’t even know what it does. All they know is that it had just finished being developed when it was stolen from LIBERTY. Look, you claim you want redemption? That you want to build a better life for yourself? Prove it! Point me in the right direction! Tell me where you have it stashed!” Ciara yells. “I don’t have it stashed ANYWHERE!” Lysandros yells. “You’re lying!” Ciara accuses him. “No, I’m not. You want the truth, Ciara? Here it is. I did steal the Ultimate Life Form right before I left LIBERTY, but I no longer have it. In fact, I haven’t had it in at least a decade.” Lysandros says. “Well, if you don’t have it, then who does?” Ciara asks.

VILLA LIVING ROOM, STANPATOS ISLE
*”Are the two of you okay?” Ethan asks. “Yeah, we’re fine. Thanks to you.” Andy says. “Who-who are you?” Rebecca asks. “My name is Ethan Stanpatos.” Ethan reveals. “I don’t think its a coincidence that you have the same last name as the family who owns this island.” Andy notes. “No, it isn’t. Michael Stanpatos is my father. The two of you must be Andy and Rebecca, right?” Ethan asks. “Yeah, how did you know?” Andy asks. “Alexios and his friend told me.” Ethan says. “Alexios and Serena got out?” Rebecca asks. “Yes, I ran into them outside. I directed them towards an abandoned house. I’d imagine they took refuge their. By the way, I contacted the WPA and let them know what was going on. They are sending a team of agents to the island.” Ethan says. “Thank god.” Andy says. “So...you are my brother?” Rebecca asks. “It would appear that way.” Ethan says. “I...I don’t understand. How long have you known that you are a Stanpatos?” Rebecca asks. “Since birth, actually. Our father was always aware of my existence, but he kept me at a distance, in order not to provoke Claudia.” Ethan says. “I imagine Claudia isn’t your mother, then.” Rebecca notes. “No, she isn’t, thank god. Anyway, prior to his death, our father signed over this island to me, which is why I’m here. I got a call about intruders being on the island, so I came to check it out.” Ethan says. “Thank you for the assistance. I appreciate it.” Andy says. “No problem. I’m just happy to be of help.” Ethan says. “Can you do us a favor? Can you just stay here and guard Bob until that team of agents get here? We already knocked him out once, and got right back up. I don’t want that to happen again.” Rebecca says. Ethan picks up Bob’s gun. “Of course I will. This thing should help keep me out of harms way. What are you going to do in the meantime? Meet up with Alexios?” Ethan asks. “I’m pretty sure Alexios and Serena will be fine as long as they stay out of sight. What I’m going to do is go and find Vivian, and make her pay for everything she has done.” Rebecca says.

ABANDONED HOUSE, STANPATOS ISLE
*Alexios joins Serena from the other room. “Well, there isn’t any heat in this place, but there are plenty of blankets, if you get cold.” Alexios says. “Good to know.” Serena says. “We shouldn’t be here long, anyway. If Ethan was telling the truth, which I think he was, he probably called the WPA, and they are sending a team over here as we speak to drag Brody, Bob, and Vivian off to the slammer, where they belong.” Alexios says. At that moment, the door swings open, and Brody walks in! “Hello you two, miss me?” Brody asks, as he aims his gun at Alexios and Serena!