Readers may recall the disappearance last year of Interpol's junior commander and token magic hero, Ki Rin. An angry Circle of Thorns coven ambushed her on her way out of Pocket D and, in the ensuing battle, she was knocked through a freak space-time rift into a dark matter dimension from which it was believed she would never return. This weekend, however, she popped up in King's Row with new powers and a particular taste for throwing heavy objects at robed mystics. The only explanation she offered was, "I just had to figure some things out."After rescuing younger sister Mazzy Stardusk from the Hellions and taking down warehouses full of Council and Arachnos soldiers, Ki Rin followed some Circle of Thorns mystics from their Tuesday night LARP on the rooftop back to their headquarters. There, she learned of a plan to conduct a secret ritual in that most sacred of locations, the vault of the neighborhood bank.
"Yeah, those Circle of Thorns guys are a real piece of work," Ki Rin told reporters. "I mean, who conducts a sinister ritual in a bank? I guess they were just hard up for cash and wanted to try and make it look good. To think, I used to use some of their grimoires! No wonder I was always getting pushed around by Skulls in the old days."
Circle of Thorns High Priest of Greater King's Row, Zarkod Torkmoz said, "Ki Rin is a liar and knows nothing of the true lines of mystic power that cross Paragon City! She's not even a member of a real coven! She's unattractively thin! Soon the Darkness will come for her! I shall have my revenge!" After listening to a whispered comment from his lawyer, Torkmoz added, "I have a trial to attend to! This interview is over!"
Having wrapped up the mystical bank threat and dismantled the altar, Ki Rin left to go and rescue her sister again. "Seems Mazzy just can't resist a guy in a bandanna."
