Bill tapped into Sheila's mind for where he had to go. He'd found out that was her name, Sheila Redman, and found out how she'd gotten into the house, into that room Ralph said he saw through the fourth dimension.

It's your turn now to sit back and watch, he scoffed at her. He was feeling cocky and confident now that he'd bitch-slapped her into submission.

A wave of anger and frustration came to him from her "corner."

Now, none of that, he "laughed" inside his head. We're going home to your apartment. Let's see what we can find there, shall we?

Bill knew Ralph was after "them," knew his best friend and partner was doing everything he possibly could to find him, to help him.

Sheila manifested herself enough to "talk" to him once more.

He isn't either, he doesn't care! Did you see that look on his face! He's scared to death of you, he knows you'll shoot him if he follows you!

Nope.

Bill picked up the phone and dialed his own phone number, confident Ralph would be at the other end.

"Hello?" Bill heard Ralph say on the other end.

NOOOO! Sheila "screamed" in Bill's head.

TOLD you, bitch!

"Ralph?"

"Bill, are you all right? How did you know where to find me?"

"Well, we're partners, aren't we? You were trying to find me, weren't you? Right, Ralph? C'mon, wake up."

Ralph hesitated a moment. "Yeah, yeah, Bill, that's right, I am."

Bill continued. "So, you're at my place, you're wearing my old fishing hat or something or other, and you're trying to holograph in on me. Well, scratch that, because I'm in Century City in her apartment and..."

A wave of sickness and blackness washed over Bill once more, as Sheila realized Bill might actually succeed in getting Ralph to "them." She knew if Ralph came, it might all be overwith.

Ralph heard the gagging sound. "Bill! Bill, are you all right?"

Bill fought back violently, calling on spiritual reserves he didn't realize he had. He needed to do this, it was his only chance to contact Ralph before Sheila made good on her Central America threat.

"Penthouse!" he managed to squeeze out. "You gotta get over here quick, kid, I'm driving around in a dark blue four door..."

STOP IT! he felt Sheila screech at him, as her efforts to push past the black barrier began to make the wall he'd put around her crumble.

Bill could sense there wasn't much more time.

"OH! I don't know what's going on, I don't know what's happening to me! You gotta help me! You gotta..."

Just prior to being shoved away once more, Bill heard Ralph yell, "I will, Bill, I know just what to do. Now, what is the address?"

There was a pause, and Ralph was wondering if they'd somehow been disconnected.

A chill ran up and down his spine when he heard that creepy feminine voice, after hearing Bill's deeper voice moments before.

"It's all right, Ralph, Bill's just fine. He's having a little problem adjusting to me, that's all. Bye bye."

And Bill was gone.

HA! Sheila crowed in Bill's "direction," knowing he was seething because she'd triumphed once more. She sent out her own mental feelers, wanting to gloat in her victory, but she didn't encounter defeat and submission.

What? she wondered, confused.

She barely felt Bill there. He was relaxed, calm, and not fighting her in the least.

Giving up so soon, since your little boyfriend isn't here?

A sense of amusement emanated from Bill.

Oh, no, I'll kick back here and bide my time now. I'm done fighting with you.

Good.

He didn't reply, merely kept that amused "feel" to his mind, his spirit. That only served to annoy Sheila.

Look, asshole, he can't help you! Nobody can! Accept it, we'll take our little jaunt to Central America, and you'll be gone from here for good. Kinda weird being in a man's body, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Laughter was all she got from Bill.

He's already on his way, bitch! Check it out, probe my mind, my memories. You'll see. He said he knows how he can help me, you KNOW he can find me using the suit. It's only a matter of time. WE'VE won, Ralphie and me, NOT you, you rotten skanky hag!

NO! I'll shoot him, like I promised I would!

He'll have the SUIT on, you moron! Hell, woman, he was practically point-blank when a nuke went off, and it didn't even phase him. Do you think a BULLET will? Ha, you're SCREWED!

His cockiness and confidence in his best friend was beginning to erode her grasp on him.

No, you're wrong. Now, shut up and let me get some last-minute things done.

Bill "sat back" once more, as Sheila moved his body around the apartment. She poured herself a small glass of sherry and sipped on it.

That's GROSS! he opined, whittling away at her again, wasting time till he knew Ralph would be there.

And he would be. He knew it, he sensed it.

What? came Sheila's startled thought as she, too, sensed Ralph through Bill. She suddenly felt an urge to peer through the curtain of the window facing some ugly buildings.

And there he was.

TOLD YOU! Bill cried victoriously. Didn't I? DIDN'T I?

And before Sheila could even think, she saw a streak of red coming at her, like an arrow, and Ralph crashed through the window, landing on "her" and holding Bill's arm down. The arm that was holding his gun.

"Bill, Bill, you're going back! I don't like it any more than you do, but you're going back!" Ralph said, holding Bill to him.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Sheila screamed through Bill's mouth, while Bill was laughing his mental "ass" off.

Now that Bill knew Ralph was handling the situation, he could let his guard down more. The effects of the sherry on his exhausted and hungry body did him in, and he fell asleep, as did Sheila.

They both slept until Ralph roughly shook Bill's shoulder.

"Bill! You all right?"

Bill was kicking back, letting Sheila run the show.

He'll know it's not me, bitch.

No he won't. I'm in full control now, it's only a matter of time. Got the eye and voice problems worked out too! Ha!

"Huh? Yeah. How long I been asleep?" Sheila asked in Bill's voice.

"I don't know. C'mon, get up." Ralph got out of the car and went around to help the hand-cuffed body of Bill Maxwell out of the car.

"Ah, oh boy. Listen, these smart, they're a little tight, Ralph."

"Yeah, well, they're your cuffs. I'm sorry I had to use them."

Sheila told Bill to shut up when she felt his laughter.

"Oh, no, that's a good command decision, kid. So, you learned a coupla tricks from the old geezer, huh? No, you were right, we've gotta get rid of this chick."

Ralph took Bill's body by the jacket and yanked him standing.

HA! Bill echoed Sheila's mental laugh. Now you've done it, I wouldn't say that!

"Chick?"

"Yeah, she's a tough customer."

You wish, Bill interjected.

"Bill, you've never used 'chick' in your entire life," Ralph pointed out suspiciously.

Bill could feel Sheila was panicking, trying to recover from her little faux pas.

"Well, chick, or dame, uh whatever. She was the one who killed the old lady."

"Miss Burrows?"

"Yeah, pushed her down a flight of stairs, right in there. Snuffed her, are you ready for that? Just because she was holding out on her on this big real estate deal."

Now you've done it, stupid, Bill said.

"How could you possibly know that, Bill, huh?"

Ralph's suspicious gaze increased as "Bill" fumbled to recover. "How do I know that I know? I just know it, who cares, any way? C'mon, get these off. Ralph, this is me, remember? Maxwell!"

"Yeah? For how long?"

"All right, look, I...I..we went the full fifteen rounds, and I was on the ropes a coupla times, but I won! The TKO, my decision! Come on, now, get real will ya, get these off now."

The two men looked at one another a moment.

"Bill" said, "I want to go home and shave! I can't shave this way!"

I want to go home and SHAVE? Bill asked incredulously, and Sheila felt him "laughing" uproariously in his mind. You've totally blown your cover now, you sound like a damned SISSY!

"I can't, Bill," Ralph said solemnly, now convinced this was not Bill Maxwell he was talking to.

"What do you mean, you can't?"

Ralph turned and pointed to the house. "We're going back into that house."

And with that, despite "Bill's" protests, Ralph flung the body of his best friend over his shoulder and silently walked to the front door, ignoring the pleas to stop from "Bill."

When Sheila was convinced that pretending to be Bill wasn't going to do it, she stopped making the effort to control eyes and voice.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed once more, as she had when Ralph tackled her in her apartment.

Ralph carried Bill's body to the sliding door that led to the fourth dimensional rift and roughly dumped him onto a dusty old easy chair.

Sheila tried another tack, trying to scare Ralph from attempting this. He'd faced the Beast once already, right? Scared him to death! Maybe it'll scare him out of his desire to help his best friend.

NEVER! screamed Bill. He'd go to Hell and back for me, like I would for him!

HA! You wish! Nobody would do that, after all's said and done, and he won't either!

Just because YOU'VE never had a friend like Ralph, doesn't mean others don't. You're too self-centered and obnoxious to ever have a friend like I do!

Sheila mocked Ralph through Bill's mouth. "You can't do it inside, suit's no good! You're going to DIE!"

It irked her that she didn't get any response from Ralph, yea or nay. He simply went to them, flung Bill's body over his shoulder once more, took a deep breath and plunged through the wall.

The terror and blackness swept over Sheila, as she realized she was now completely helpless and at Ralph's mercy, and the two of them blacked out completely. Her last aware thought, while in a body, was the sickening feeling that Bill had been right, that Ralph WAS going to save him. And he was being proved right.

Bill blacked out when Sheila did, so was spared the agony of the thrashing and tearing of the Beast as Ralph ran through as fast as he could with his burden. He was spared seeing Ralph throw himself between Bill and the Beast, as the monster tore and slashed at his best friend.

He was denied the pleasure of seeing Sheila's spirit, in a human woman form, being ejected forcefully once they were on the "other side."

Bill didn't come to consciousness until in another blast of white searing pain, he and Ralph were tumbling away from the solid brick wall. Bill yelped when he felt the bone in his arm snap like a twig, and he careened into the same easy chair Ralph had set him in only moments before.

Soon after Bill exclaimed that he'd TOLD Ralph they couldn't go through a brick wall, and that his arm was broken, he passed out from the pain, blissfully aware as he went out that it was him, and him alone, in his brain. Oh, and Ralph too. Sometimes.

But that was okay.

Fin.