Chrysalis *HF* - Epilogue
By Gomurr
EPILOGUE:
Police and rescue vehicles blanketed the area that had once been
one of the world's most famous landmarks. The sirens and lights
had attracted local media and they swarmed over the secluded
British country side like ants from an overturned hill.
Stonehenge lay in ruins. The proud and mysterious stones lay
toppled into a crater that had mysteriously opened up beneath
them. Some of the giant stone formations lay cracked and
broken while others stood mostly whole inside the 500 foot deep
fissure that had formed only an hour before. But if the scene
above was a state of emergency, the scene below was even more
catastrophic.
Psi-Shot awoke to darkness and fear. He felt bodies pressed
against him on all sides and wondered if he was dead.. When he
tried to move however, he felt cold hands on his body that held
him in place. The panic that filled him was proof positive that he
was alive, but in a very dangerous situation. The event of the
last few hours came back to him as he recalled the mission that
the Hellfire Club had gone on to find the mysterious Illuminati.
In their battle with that evil organization, they had discovered
that not only was Malia Trent the mastermind behind their
group, but that Gomurr's oldest friend Archiemedes was a
traitor in their midst. The ensuing battle had collapsed the
ceiling of the cathedral-like cave directly beneath Stonehenge
and brought the room crashing down on them all. Almost a mile of
rubble separated them from the rescue workers above and the
wailing sirens from above reached Psi-Shot's ears as tiny
screaming voices in the darkness below. The blonde haired Asian
youth tried to move again with no success and then settled back
to listen trying to hold down his panic. Was he the only that
survived?
"Hello?" He said tentatively. "Is anyone there?"
"We're here, child. Don't despair," came Gomurr's voice through
the blackness and Psi-Shot let out a small cry of alarm and
relief.
A red glow flickered fitfully before finally lighting the space in
what appeared to be bloodsoaked dimness. Psi-Shot was almost
glad that Gomurr's energy signature had changed from green to
red after his becoming the Proctor of the Crimson Dawn. The
red light coming from the end of Gomurr's staff better hid the
injuries that even in the dimness were apparent on the figures
around him. The dimness was also a relief to Psi-Shot because it
better hid the nakedness of their bodies.
Psi-Shot's eyes followed the light to it's source and he saw
Gomurr's staff leaning against a wall of cold grey stone. Gomurr
appeared to be pinned by and under the stone and only his staff
and arm were free. Others in their party lay scattered about in
the rubble. Metallic walls glinted dimly nearby, and Psi-Shot
realized that in the final moments of the collapse, Jack Silver
had used his metallaforming abilities to make a sort of shelter
around them. The Black King himself lay only a few feet from
Psi-Shot, apparently unconscious. A young black girl seemed to
be holding him in her arms rocking slowly back and forth. The
roof of the shelter groaned loudly and a large boulder fell
through with a shower of grit and smaller stones. Psi-Shot
pushed more frantically and dislodged himself from the bodies
he was entangled with. With a sickening lurch of his stomach he
realized that some of the bodies were long dead corpses, as
their limbs cracked and splintered beneath him.
"The shelter's not holding, Gomurrsan," said Psi-Shot. "You've
got to get us out of here."
"I've been trying," came Gomurr's muffled voice. "But as you
can see, I'm having difficulty working any sort of spell in
this.....position. Something about the composition of the
surrounding stones or this "cold iron" shelter is inhibiting a lot
of my ability."
"I'm coming for you, sir," said Psi-Shot still wondering why the
black girl wasn't saying anything as she rocked the
unconscious....or dead.... Jack Silver.
"OUCH, Watch where you're groping kid!" Came a gravelly
voice as Psi-Shot crawled hands and knees over another body.
"If you move your hand one more inch to the right, I'd say we'd
be going steady."
"HAVOK!!" Psi-Shot cried. "You're alive."
"It looks that way doesn't it," said the Black Warlord as he
righted himself. "What are we looking at here?"
"You, me, Gomurr and that girl over there seem to be the only
ones moving, and Gomurr's trapped under that wall," reported
the astonished Psi-Shot."
"That's not a wall, boy," said Havok as he morphed his hand into
a claw.
"Not a wall? What are you talking abou...." Began Psi-Shot as
Havok brought his claw down on the grey stone covering Gomurr.
Blood and muscle poured out of the opening. The remainder of
Psi-Shot's lunch poured out of his mouth as he watched Gomurr
struggle free of the corpse of the Illuminati member, Gargoyle,
that he had taken shelter under..
"Like it didn't smell bad enough in here already," grumbled
Havok.
The ancient mage walked over to the boy patting him lightly
checking him for further injuries. The low ceilings didn't hinder
the shorter man's progress as it did the others. "Check the
others," Gomurr said quickly after ascertaining that the boy was
unharmed. "We need to see who's still alive."
"They're all alive," said the mysterious black girl holding Silver.
"Even Jack here, but they won't be for much longer if we don't
get out of here."
"What," said Gomurr going over to her. "How do you know this?
Who are you?"
"Who am I," laughed the girl. "Well that's the question of the
day, isn't it?"
Psi-Shot's acute mental awareness followed the girl's words all
the way to her mind and his mouth dropped open. "Nemesis?"
Was all the boy could stammer. "I....we...thought you were dead."
"I was," beautiful young Violet Priestley said.
Gomurr merely shook his head and continued to try and free the
rest of their party. After a frantic fifteen minute excavation
of rotting corpses and debris, they discovered that the new
Nemesis was indeed right. All of their party survived but some
were severely injured. Silver's head wound was obvious. He lay
beside the also unconscious Nytshade. She bore only minor
physical injuries, but Gomurr said she was suffering some sort
of mystic shock. The White Rook, Mufasa's arm lay bent at an
awkward angle as he held it to his chest silently gritting his
teeth. The vampire hybrid, Maul was in good shape due to his
healing factor, but his bitter growlings were enough to make
Psi-Shot even more uneasy. SuperGrover sat hunched over with
his arm around Blackfire. A gash down the White Queen's side
bled freely because there were no clothes to make bandages
with. The apprentice mage, Rune knelt beside his diminutive
master and they whispered quietly. The new Dark Lord, Avalon
crawled around touching at the metal shelter gingerly. His hands
glowed as he examined the walls of the structure. Suddenly, at
his touch the section gave way and more rocks and rubble came
crashing through. A large boulder fell through and landed on
Avalon's leg. The loud snap it made as both bones broke echoed
in the death trap that now held them all. His scream echoed even
longer.
"You IDIOT," spat the now undisputed Nemesis. "Jack made
this shelter from whatever that ring was and it's all that's
saving us now. Stop fucking around with it."
"Silence yourself, woman," groaned Avalon as Havok and Grover
attempted to free him from the boulder that pinned him. "I'm
not even sure you are who you say you are, and even if I were, I
don't need you giving me commands."
"Ever the foolish boy," said the cold voice from the beautiful
young face of Violet Priestley. "Gomurr, can't you shadowslide
us out?"
"I could try," said the ancient mage in a tired voice, " but it's
not a sure thing. Like I said earlier, the mystical elements in this
rubble as well as the shelter's very make-up are inhibiting my
powers. I could lose you in transit, and the Crimson Dawn realm
makes this look like a cake walk."
"What about hop-along here?" Grunted Havok as he rolled the
boulder from Av's leg. "Why can't he just float us all out
straight through the rubble in this tin can?"
"The structure's too fragile," grimaced Avalon through his pain.
"Whatever metal Silver turned this thing into is incredibly
dense, but the walls are dangerously thin. It's barely
ferrous...like it's some sort of plasteel. I can barely get a grip
on it. Undeniably, it's strong but if I tried to lift it through
anything it would collapse in an instant. Besides, there's a couple
of tons of earth on top of us. I can't push us through all that
even under the best of circumstances."
The shelter's fragile form groaned again as excavation crews
continued to work on cleaning up the disaster above ground
heedless of the unknown people trapped beneath them. Maul
began to take his mist form and spoke. "I can float up through
all this mess and get us some help. I can hear the big rigs up
there right now."
"Not to burst your bubble," said the frantic Psi-Shot, "but
you're not the most reputable looking person to begin with...but
naked and covered in blood, you're really gonna be a tough sell."
Maul bared his fangs and only a hand on his shoulder from the
White King kept him from pouncing on the brash youth.
"We can get out of this," said Nemesis quietly. "It's just a
matter of.......teamwork." The Black Queen closed her eyes and
Avalon let out another scream of pain as she grasped his mind
with her own. Silver's own body bucked a bit in her arms as she
slid into his mind as well. A trickle of blood once again began to
flow from her nose, as the earth began to shake again. Brilliant
blue light exploded out of Avalon and the structure began to
rise. Digging deep into Silver's mind, she found the means to
change the structure once again into a more ferrous metal that
Avalon could manipulate. The young Dark Lord cried out again as
she amped his powers to incredible levels forcing him to push the
fragile shelter through the rubble above and around them.
On the surface, rescue workers scrambled to get themselves and
their vehicles out of the pit. Barely instants after the last man
was out of danger, the shining blue orb burst forth from the
ground and flew rapidly into the air. Camera's whirred and
clicked as they followed the explosive exit of the metal and
energy construct. The babble of voices following the initial
stunned silence began and the blue sphere flew out of sight.
With a final gasp of exhaustion, Nemesis released her mental
hold on Silver and Avalon and the bubble roughly crashed to the
ground beside the BHC's transport jet. Blood flowed freely
from the noses of Nemesis, Avalon and the still unconscious
Silver as they all collapsed to the ground. The members of the
party that were able quickly carried them into the sleek jet
desperately trying to get them to the limited medical facilities
within. Distastefully, Maul carried the corpse of Gargoyle in as
well to leave no evidence of their passing save the remains of the
unknown corpses from the barrow. Without a word, the still
naked White King and Queen took the controls of the craft and
it lifted off carrying them towards the help they so desperately
needed.
ONE MONTH LATER:
Claudia Sandubal lay back on the green suede couch in her
private office. She straightened her loose fitting white cotton
dress over her now mocha colored skin. Noted pyscho-therapist
Leonard Samson tapped his chin thoughtfully with his pen as he
listened. The changes in his patient were obvious. Before she
would have called demanding a series of house calls which he only
relented to do on very select clients. But Claudia Sandubal had
changed in much more than appearance. Now she called (for
herself not her secretary) and made her own appointment just
like anyone else. The overbearing tyrant wasn't completely gone,
but it was tempered now by something else. The intense young
doctor pulled an errant strand of green hair from his face and
put it behind his ear as he asked his patient a question. "So how
do YOU think it happened, Claudia? I know you've heard several
opinions on the matter now from scientific and mystical circles,
but it's important to know what YOU think."
"I've gone over this with you before, Leonard," said Claudia but
not unkindly. "It was like in those last moments when Violet was
trying to get me out of the car....not only was her body trying to
save me but her mind and spirit were reaching out to me as well.
When the explosion happened. We were both killed. I mean it,
Loenard. We were dead."
"So what happened," questioned the handsome green-haired
doctor further.
"I told you about the lights, right," continued Claudia. "I think
that beautiful light...or at least part of them were Violet.
Thinking back I can almost feel her in them. Her strength. Her
sense of loss at having no family to call her own, but also her
sense of pride in knowing that she took life on her own terms
and didn't live it for anyone else......and I think she could see
those things in me too. I think she saw that maybe.......maybe I
was living my life for all the wrong reasons. From the very
beginning I did things to keep people on edge. Obviously I was
acting out.... trying to distract people with my decadence to
keep them from getting close.
"Obviously," laughed Samson heartily. "I remember our first
session years ago when you drug one of your model buddies in
with you and wanted to discuss the...... what was it again?
'psychological implications of bisexuality and multiple partners
on an in depth level".
Claudia stirred uncomfortably. "Yes......that was a long time ago
it seems. But you see what I mean. I think....at least I hope....
that it was her that pushed me back down into this body as she
flew up into that great.......i dunno....that great...something. I
can't help but feel that she was giving me a second chance to be
the person I always wanted to be....the person I always knew I
could be.....because SHE was ALWAYS the person she wanted to
be in spite of a world that fought so hard to keep her down."
"Wow," said Samson. "The great and powerful Claudia Sandubal
has found religion. So when do you join the nunnery?"
Claudia laughed. "I don't think that'll be anytime soon, Dr.
Samson...but things are different now.
"I can tell, Claudia," the handsome doctor said. "And I'm glad.
This new perspective you've got has really impressed me. It's
like you've come out of that shell you always used to put up with
people...even me. It's like you've finally decided that being
SOMEONE isn't as important as being yourself....and on that
note, our times about up. Next time though we need to talk about
the new manifestations of your abilities. You pushed much too
hard, much too early with this body. Your telepathy is stronger
and more focused than ever before, but your telekinesis is at
very low levels. You may never recover that aspect of your
power.
"One day at a time, Doctor Samson....One day at a time."
Claudia got up smoothing her simple white dress down over her
hips, and she shook the doctor's hand. As she bent to get her
purse a plain but beautiful butterfly-shaped pendant on a
delicate gold chain fell from the scoop of her neck and caught
the light. Claudia had taken it from Violet's room when they had
cleared it out after her funeral. She wore it always as a token
of the girl that had given her very life to save a woman that was
nothing more than an employer to her.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Samson opened it up to
admit Jack Silver. He held his arm out to Nemesis and she took
it in her own.
"Everyone's going for a new look these days, I see," said Samson
as his eyes locked with Silver's.
"Oh this?" said Jack Silver laughing softly and running his
hands through the two front locks of his hair that were now jet
black, rather than his trade mark silver. The stress of his even
limited exposure to Scarab's life draining energies had left him
with the dark streaks. "I thought it was time for a change."
"Maybe we should have a talk some time," laughed Samson as he
closed the doors behind them.
"I'll be fine, thank you," said the very private Silver already
speeding Claudia into an elevator. As it went down they began to
speak.
"The Morlock Healer's abilities, though not what they once
were, managed to speed up the healing process on our people.
The White Rook's cast will be off next week, and Avalon's
already hobbling around the Darkfire Castle. It's amazing that
he can cause bones to knit and muscle to heal, but he can't get
this damn dark streak out of my hair."
"You've had silver hair since you were 16, Jack. Didn't you
think it was time for a change," Claudia laughed. "Besides.....I
like it. VERY new millineum."
"We've all changed, Claudia. Especially you," said Silver
spinning Claudia toward him and looking into her now dark brown
eyes. "Are you going to be okay with that."
"Of course," said Claudia. "Well once my stockholders get it
through their heads that "Violet Priestley" is now in charge of
Sandubal Industries. It's like I'm free for the first time, Jack.
Somehow being this other person has freed me from all that was
wrong with my old life, besides...I've got a much better ass
now."
Jack gave Claudia a quick friendly hug. "Same old
Claudia...despite the remodeling job on the exterior."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Claudia laughed and the doors
of the elevator slid open to the lobby of the building. The
doorman opened the lobby doors for them and Jack Silver
hurried to open up the door of the waiting limousine, with a
friendly nod at their driver.
"Why thank you kind, sir," Claudia teased....but with a simple
smile to herself she whispered. "And thank you,
Violet.....wherever you are."
THE END.