Dark Reckonings *HF*
By Gomurr
DARK RECKONINGS CHAPTER ONE: Things Forgotten
"Trust me, you said!!!! How could I have ever trusted you," the voice hissed.
"You know it was for your own good," said Nemesis. "What you were doing was wrong......I couldn't let you do that to them."
"They never cared about us," the voice spat. "We had each other....we didn't need anyone else."
"I did," cried Nem weakly. "I did."
Nemesis awoke in the middle of the night as a tear rolled down her cheek. The final words from her dream still echoed in her ears. She tried to shake off the fear and pain of the dream. It was only a nightmare after all....it had to be. It had been so long since she had even heard the voice, her mind had almost completely discarded its existence. She slid from the bed, carefully replacing the bed covers so as not to wake the sleeping figure that lay beside her. Her alabaster skin seemed to glow in the moonlight, but she shivered in her nakedness. She grabbed her robe hurriedly and fastened it around her waist in an attempt to ward off the cold she felt. She didn't understand how she could be cold. Outside the gigantic viewing windows of her bedroom, balmy breezes blew across the beach below.
Her beach house, located on Key Trofeo off the coast of Florida, was built only a short distance from the shore. It had been constructed as a getaway estate for her when the pressures of business and inner court life became too much for her. It's warm nights and sometimes tempestuous weather served as the perfect backdrop for her oftentimes stormy encounters with Gregor...but Gregor was no longer in the Black Court. A new king had taken his place...one that was unapproachable to her for now. She looked down at the shadowed form in the bed. Harbinger had surprised her by suggesting they spend a few days at her beach house in order to "familiarize him with club protocols and duties". Nemesis hadn't realized that Harbinger had even known about the existence of the beach house....nevertheless the location. She smiled to herself. This one was a constant surprise. She had known Harbinger longer than any of the BHC members realized. His sudden acceptance into the inner circle as Black Mage had surprised many, but Nem had strategically placed him in line for the position, knowing his knowledge of future events could be explained away as magical. Gomurr had at first balked at the idea, but her assurances convinced the other members beyond Gomurr's doubts.
Nemesis' mind returned to her disturbing dream. As the owner of the entire island, Nem knew her surroundings intimately and her mind searched outward to the edges of the property.....searching for the slightest hint of danger in the darkness, but there was no one to be found. The only other human mind, she touched was that of Robert Maxwell, a.k.a. The Harbinger, and as usual his thoughts were carefully screened from her even in sleep. Maxwell rolled over, his arm searching for Nemesis in his half dazed sleep. He let out a soft moan, and then continued the steady rhythm of his breathing. Could he somehow be responsible for the disturbing imagery of "the other" that had plagued her dreams. Impossible...she finally dismissed it out of hand. His telepathy was nowhere near strong enough to invade her mind......but still she wondered at the cause of these visions. Finally she pushed it into the back of her mind and opened the balcony door to watch the sunrise. The warm breeze brushed her skin and she disrobed allowing its gentle touch to carry her away on a perfumed wave of sensation.
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Ryan suppressed a yawn as he continued to pretend to listen to Nytshade's pedantic speech.
"I want him out, Ryan," she raved. "You only asked him to join as an insult. You never dreamt he would accept your offer of the Red Rook title."
"Perhaps," said The Red King, "but Hazard is a great asset to the club. I can see that now. He serves his position with honor and without question. He is a good man, Jon. Don't be petty."
"PETTY!!!!" she raved. "Petty? He ruined my life Ryan. He abandoned me and never thought twice."
"Don't be ridiculous, Jon," said Ryan finally growing annoyed with this game. "He had nothing to do with Paramount. He was fooled just like the rest of us."
"I won't have it Ryan....I'll dispose of him myself." Nytshade threatened.
"I wouldn't advise it, Jon," said Ryan as he sneered down at Jon from his elevated platform. "or it will be I that abandons you."
Ryan's eyes suddenly glowed an electric yellow, and he disappeared in a blast of smoke, only to reappear behind Jon. Maddrox had given him a Nightcrawler dupe which Ryan had possessed and skin shifted to make his appearance that of the one he adopted everytime he changed bodies. He greatly enjoyed this teleporting power. He pressed up against Jon from behind and whispered into her ear seductively.
"Besides, my darling," he said. "Since when have you been a bottom feeder.....poor Gregor is only a rook now......you should show interest only in Kings. He's beneath you now."
Jon spun around and twisted Ryan's arm behind him. She reached into her thigh high white leather boot and pulled a dagger. The knife glistened in her hand as she held it to Ryan's throat.
"Don't presume to tell me what I can and cannot do, Ryan," she hissed into his ear. "You are not the King of the White Branch, and I assure you we will not be trifled with."
Jon released the pressure on Ryan's neck as she felt him relax. Suddenly she felt a searing pain in her throat and the knife she was holding clattered to the floor. She reached frantically for her neck, and through her fingers she could feel a scar grow and slide across her throat.
"It is you who are presumptuous, my White Queen." said Ryan in a deadly calm voice. "Just because I now have teleportation powers, doesn't mean I have lost my mastery over the human flesh. I don't need a knife to cut your beautiful skin, Jon."
Jon's throat began to tingle and when she put her hand back up to her throat the skin was as soft and beautiful as ever.
"It would be a shame to destroy such loveliness," said Ryan. "but sacrifices must be made by us all, Jon, in order to maintain balance.....and never believe that I am afraid to make those sacrifices."
Nytshade, the White Queen, turned to leave, still nervously rubbing her throat. Her mind raced. This wasn't the end of this issue...she promised herself that. She would accept Gregor's position for now, but when the situation was right, Ryan would see just what sort of sacrifices she was ready to make.
CHAPTER TWO: SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES
Jack Silver, the new Black King, carefully looked over each item on his desk. Expense reports, profit and loss statements, long term projections....these were items he was accustomed to and comfortable with. He quickly scanned the information and made the decisions that had to be made concerning them. He then turned to the other console on his desk. His touch activated the work pad and it whirred into electric life. He carefully reviewed the computer files on petitions, and motions, and secret intrigues that the former Black King's ring of spies brought to him. He couldn't help but wonder if they were still loyal to Gregor, who was now a member of the Reds, or if their fealty remained with the Black Court. Perhaps he should recruit new spies....but what did he know of spies?...he was a business man ...plain and simple. This day was definitely not starting off well, and now with the sudden departure of Havok, their Black Knight and Glittergirl, the new Page, the BHC appeared more and more unsteady. This was new territory to him. He thumbed through the petitions for the vacant positions and gave out a sigh. He was more than happy in his position as Black Bishop, but with the departure of Gregor, he had been forced into a more dominant role. Suddenly there was a buzz at the console and Avalon's face appeared on the screen.
"Excuse me sir, the latest Cerebro reports are in. Would you like to see them now?" the Black Scribe said in his usual calm voice.
Silver closed his eyes and ran his hands through his silvery grey hair. He had completely forgotten about the Cerebro reports. The BHC's habit of constantly scanning the globe for manifestations of mutant power had become normal operating procedure again when Gomurr had taken the reigns as headmaster. The diminutive mage's search for what he called "the ascended one" seemed all consuming, and as King now, Silver was also responsible for looking over the reports and deciding on what recruiting action if any should be taken. Avalon entered from his office to the left of Silver's and handed the Black King an electronic note pad. Silver looked at the reports. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, a few bestial regressors, a limited psionic, an aquatic capable, and a sonic wave generator. Silver punched in a few commands on the smart pad to send out operatives to investigate and approach the latest finds. Then after a pause, Avalon spoke again.
"My lord," he began.
"Avalon, please," Silver interrupted. "There's no need for titles. I know Gregor bought into this whole royalty riff, but I find it troublesome most of the time and down-right foolish the rest. So please call me Mr. Silver, or Jack even.....You are our Black Scribe after all."
"Yes, my lor.....I mean, Mr. Silver," Avalon finished. "ummmm.....in addition to the readings I've shown you, there were two anomalous findings in this week's sensor sweep."
"And what do these readings indicate," sighed Silver tiring already of this puzzle that Avalon had presented him. "A computer glitch perhaps?" said Silver hopefully.
"No, I'm afraid not," said Avalon quietly taking the pad, and punching in a few strokes on the touch screen. "Here.............off the coast of Florida, Key Trofeo to be exact, there is an alpha level presence, only it's not centered in one location like a normal mutant would indicate. It's as if there is nothing anchoring the power readings to a host. Also the readings are fluctuating wildly as if they are there one moment and gone the next."
"Key Trofeo?" asked Silver quickly, "Doesn't Nemesis have some property there?"
"Actually ALL the property there is hers. She owns the entire key. I can pull up the bills of sale and deeding transactions if you want." said Avalon.
"No, that won't be necessary, son," said Silver in a weary voice. "Do your records indicate what sort of holdings Nemesis has there.
"She has a beach house on the coast of the key," said Avalon quietly. "The rest of the island is completely unsettled, but these readings don't match any bio-patterns that the Black Queen has ever registered."
"I know," said Silver, "but Nem's presence anywhere near something "anomalous" occurring is always a red flag in my book. Have the jet prepared....We are about to take a trip to The Keys my young friend."
"Cool!!!.......a beach.........and Nem........in a bikini. That will be awesome." thought Avalon allowing his youth to shine through despite the weight of his responsibilities.
"Avalon....earth to Avalon," said Silver. "You seemed distracted for a moment, are you alright?"
The blonde haired youth brushed his hair back from his face to cover his blushing cheeks. "I'm fine my lor..I mean Mr. Silver, I'll make the preparations."
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Meanwhile, above Cuban airspace and quickly approaching the Florida Keys, the second anomalous reading flew blissfully through the balmy air. Morph's physiology allowed him to shapeshift at will, and this registered on Cerebro's sensitive scanners, but technically he was not a mutant. As a member of the solemn and somber alien race known only as the Changelings, Morph was what would best describe as atypical to say the least. His oftentimes inappropriate sense of humor and zany behavior shocked the people of his homeworld, leading them to encourage him to "take a vacation....see the cosmos......and find himself." Morph, with his normal cavalier attitude had set off to do just that, and ever since his terrelian drive had failed and he had crash landed on this planet, he had been greatly enjoying the beauty and the strange inhabitants of the giant blue marble we like to call home. He looked down on the crystal blue water as he flew. A smile crossed his face and suddenly he was a giant sea gull soaring in the breeze. He flexed his wings and nose-dived towards the water.
"LOOOK OUUUT BELLOOOWWWW!!!!" he screamed as he once again concentrated his abilities and where white feathers once ruffled in the breeze, there were now sleek blue/grey fins and a streamlined torso. Morph, a beautiful bottle nosed dolphin now, entered the water making almost no splash and immediately leapt from it again, somersaulting through the air. He began swimming towards the mainland of what he had learned was called "the United States". He liked the sound of that....UNITED.....he felt the need to unite with someone, he had been alone too long. Only one problem lay in the way of this joyful alien man-child....Key Trofeo...and on it the source of the first anomalous reading.
CHAPTER THREE: ARRIVALS
The whisper-quiet rotors of the stealth-copter cut the balmy Florida air like a hot knife through butter. Avalon piloted the ship with an ease and confidence that belied youth. Having designed a great number of the systems incorporated into this state-of-the-art flying machine, Avalon knew well what it was capable of. As The Black King sat in the somewhat lavishly appointed passenger's cabin, the young scribe watched the instruments on the console searching for any other hints of the two anomalous presences that had brought them to this space above Florida's keys.
"Mr. Silver, the second reading has gone from being airborne to being aquatic. I can't explain it." said Avalon.
"And the first," questioned Silver.
"No longer present," returned Avalon. "We are however approaching our landing site."
Silver looked out the viewing window of the cabin. Below them lay Key Trofeo and hopefully the answers to the mysterious readings. He motioned for the lad to bring them down on the beach. The helicopter came to a gentle rest several yards away from the placid blue waters of the ocean. Silver and Avalon waited for the spinning blades to stop, then made their way out of the sleek craft. Just as Avalon's eyes began to become accustomed to the bright glaring light of Key Trofeo, he saw two four wheeled ATV's approaching. The lead vehicle was being driven by Nem, and the other by Harbinger, the latest Black Mage.
The Black Queen came to a stop in front of the two newest arrivals to her island. She swung her gracefully arched leg over the side of the ATV and dismounted. The Harbinger remained seated on his vehicle and scowled openly at Avalon.
"Your skills are growing everyday, Avalon," said the Black Queen as she placed her hand on the young lad's shoulder. "I didn't detect the presence of visitors until you left the helicopter. New psi-baffles?"
"Yes, my queen," said Avalon as he felt his face blush. "Just something I've been toying with."
Avalon's eyes seemed to refuse to move from the Black Queen's body. Her bathing suit wasn't a bikini, but revealed more flesh than even the most french cut two piece could. It seemed to be composed of two strips of lycra fabric strategically placed over the shoulder and V'ing down to cover only the barest of essentials. The suit was obviously custom designed and what areas it did cover could well have been mistaken for a second skin if the jet black of the fabric had not stood out so plainly against the Black Queen's alabaster skin.
"My dear scribe," said the Black Queen as she moved her hand from Avalon's shoulder to his cheek. "Has something disturbed you? You look positively stricken."
Silver, noticing the boy's discomfort under the Black Queen's lascivious gaze, spoke up.
"My Black Queen, readings taken from the BHC compound indicate that two power signatures of unrecognizable origin are approaching this island. We came to investigate and insure your safety." said Silver in a businesslike manner trying not to stare, and be as entranced as the boy.
"As you can see, Silver. There's nothing here but sun, fun and now three of my favorite men," cooed Nemesis. "Now let's get back up to the beach-house and get you out of those stuffy uniforms........and into something more comfortable."
With that, the Black Queen took Avalon's hand and pulled him on the back of her ATV. She then motioned for Silver to mount up behind Harbinger. Silver did so uncomfortably and they were off.
"Now hold on tight," said the Black Queen placing Avalon's hands around her creamy waist. "I wouldn't want you to fall if the ride gets bumpy."
Avalon smiled to himself and hoped the Black Queen couldn't feel "how pleased he was" with his position behind her.
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The White Queen, Nytshade, sat deep in thought in her sunlit atrium. The light filtered in through the glass of the dome and sparkled off the glimmering white and crystal surfaces of the futuristic looking furniture and surfaces. The readings picked up by Avalon and Silver had also been intercepted by her own mutant tracking devices. She listened carefully to her spy's report.
"Data indicates that not only are both the Black King and Queen present at the site of the readings, but two other key members of the BHC's inner circle as well. Shall I send more operatives to try and discover the source of the power signature that you didn't recognize," the spy droned.
"No......I think not," said Jon as she thoughtlessly ran her fingers up and down the white leather riding crop in her hand. "This matter must be handled delicately, and with a more personal touch."
She dismissed her spy and reclined in her deeply padded white leather chair.
"And with any luck if this new mutant is as powerful as the readings indicate, I'll gain control of a resource that will give me the ability to not only get Ryan out of my affairs, but perhaps to set myself up as supreme ruler of all the Hellfire Clubs.......if only I could accomplish this task without the help of HIM" Jon thought.
She grimaced at the thought of asking Gregor for help. She still felt betrayed by him over his inability to save her from Paramount those many years ago. The recently surfaced memories still brought a sickness to her stomach, and since Paramount was now dead, Gregor made a convenient target for her anger. She knew this wasn't right to blame him, but she had trusted him with the most precious thing of all....her heart.........and now she must put aside this anger to enlist his aid, because only he among all her HFC counterparts, could provide her with the necessary stealth and muscle to complete the task in the secret manner she had planned.
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Morph splashed along through the waves until he saw the approaching land. He then leaped from the water and once again took the form of a sea gull. He sailed through the blue skies until he reached the shore of Key Trofeo. He looked down and saw four "Earthers" riding vehicles back towards an expansive structure set just off the beach. He was going to follow them, when his entire body was riddled with excruciating pain. He tried to cry out, but his voice was only the wail of a mournful gull. Morph plummeted to the earth and landed in a clump of beach scrub still writhing in pain as his body once again took it's default shape. Only one thought rolled through his mind, and as he lost consciousness.
"SOON, NEMESIS.....SOON...YOU'LL PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE"
The young alien shape shifter struggled to understand these foreign thoughts as his mind faded to black.
CHAPTER FOUR: Rise of the Dark Side
Nemesis' hands slid across the sweat of his chest, her sharply manicured nails raking carelessly along the muscles of his stomach. She lowered her face to follow the trail that her hands had traveled only moments before. His body tensed and he released a small gasp. As if this was her cue, Nem pushed the youth to his back and gained a position of power atop him. Avalon's hands came up to caress the Black Queen's heaving chest, but she pushed them back down and above him. Before he could object, his wrists were bound and tied to the bedposts with silken handkerchiefs. He grimaced at first, but then gave into the swirling heat of emotion that their joining had caused. He watched Nemesis' dark eyes as the tension mounted within her, and at the last moment his hand broke free with a strange metallic whir that he couldn't recognize. He cried out, rising to grasp his dark lover……..but found himself alone in his room.
Nemesis rolled languidly from her position atop Robert Maxwell, A.K.A. the Harbinger. The cold metal of his cybernetic hand still lightly holding her heated flesh. Something about the cold of that metal drove her wild and the latest Black Mage knew it. That's why he never bothered to use his telekinetics to alter the appearance or feel of it. She let out a small grin. It had been a simple matter for her to "share" the experience with her two new guests by simply psionically placing them in the position of Maxwell in their dream state. She knew there might be repercussions if Silver questioned Avalon about this, but she suspected the "oh so proper new Black King" would keep his mouth closed concerning his own nocturnal visitation. She rolled over again and willed her body to relax. There would be much to discuss tomorrow, and she must be in top form to match wits with Silver and his ridiculous allegations of aberrant cerebro readings. What was his real reason for coming to her island home? She could feel Harbinger's penetrating gaze on her back. Could he know the game she had just played? Were his psionics well enough developed to have followed her own and discover what she had done? "Ofcourse not," she thought to herself as sleep claimed her.
Avalon rose from his bed, and pulled the sweat soaked sheet from his body. He padded quietly across the room to the adjoining bath area. Quickly running some cool water in the sink, he splashed it onto his face and rose up looking into the mirror. The shadowed bathroom was well enough lit by the moonlight to see clearly and Avalon studied his reflection in the mirrors located everywhere in the room. His eyes searched methodically across his face. The whisp of hair that never would stay out of his face now stuck damply to his proud forehead. His strong jaw line tensed slightly as he began to remember the dream. He turned and caught his reflection again on the floor length mirrored wall of the opposite wall. He continued to study his body. His hands traveled down his well-chiseled chest and arms. He remembered the drugs that Sinister had given them to drive their bodies into a state of near physical perfection. The price of that gift had been high indeed, so what would the price of this new gift be? He shook his head trying to clear them of the erotic visions of he and the Black Queen entwined in a lover's embrace. Had it been a gift from the Dark Queen indeed or only an extremely real-seeming and sensual dream conjured up by his own subconscious. His eyes again returned to the reflections and his hands followed his eyes gaze….the dark seductress had wanted him…..wanted his arms….his legs…...his chest……..
Suddenly there was a sound at the door, and the youth quickly grabbed a towel from the rack beside the tub, and wrapped it around his naked waist. The Black King entered suddenly from the other side of the bathroom. They had been placed in a suite with shared bathroom facilities, and Avalon cursed his own carelessness for not locking the door.
"I'm sorry Avalon," the Black King said somewhat embarassedly. "I wasn't aware that you were awake. I ummm…couldn't sleep. Climate control system must be malfunctioning. It's extremely…ummm..warm in my room."
"M- mine too," the young scribe stammered. "Must be we aren't ummmm used to the tropic heat. Different latitudes and all that."
"Probably so," said Silver as he turned to leave. "You go ahead and take a shower or ummm…whatever you were going to do. I'll go to the bathroom down the hall."
Avalon breathed a sigh of relief after the Silver had gone. What had the Black King been talking about…climate control? Avalon thought back and remembered his room had been fine, in fact a bit on the cool side. How could Silver's room that was just adjacent to his be having cooling problems, although the Black King had looked pretty hot and disheveled in his wrinkled silk pajama bottoms. The young scribe shrugged as he made his way back to his bed, eager to once again fall asleep and see what dark gift if any Nemesis had prepared for him.
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Morph sat bolt upright on the beach. He stood unsteadily, and began to dust the sand from himself. What his hands found, however, was enough to stun even a shapeshifter. As he dusted the sand away, he realized his body had morphed into that of an "earther" female, of extremely sensual proportions. Curiously he tried to transform to his normal state, but was rewarded for his efforts by a sharp pain in the back of his skull.
"Don't even try it, changeling," a voice hissed in his head. "I'm controlling this body now."
Morph reeled and fell to his knees. What was happening? His body now involuntarily picked its way up and began to walk slowly towards the water just up the beach. He fought against it with all his will, but he seemed to be blocked from his own senses.
"Don't struggle, you're only making it worse," the voice hissed again.
Morph looked down into the water at his reflection in the moonlight and saw a stunningly beautiful raven haired woman. This other he was living with now, let out a soft velvety laugh as his hands slowly caressed this unfamiliar face.
"I'm back," the voice said, "and I'll finally take back what's rightfully mine."
Morph looked through alien eyes once again, and felt his body respond to commands not his own, as the mirror image of Nemesis the Black Queen laughed softly into the water. The he felt his body turn and began toward the jungle of trees surrounding the compound of Black Queen.
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Nytshade's hand hesitated at Gregor's door. As Hazzard, the Red Rook, Gregor was afforded similar privileges as she was, but her status as Queen allowed her to by-pass all guards to reach his bed chamber. She pondered her plan. Could she stir sufficient emotion in Gregor to make him want to help her on her quest to gain control of this unidentified mutant power source? Would he harbor enough negative emotion towards the Blacks to make him a trusting ally or a willing pawn? The White Queen knew her own powers were formidable, but when going to face unknown danger, a back up was always a good idea. She finally knocked and Gregor's sleepy yet forceful voice came from the door.
"Who is it?" Hazzard bellowed. "By gods, it's only 3:30 in the morning."
Jon, the White Queen, winced. What would she have to do to calm down this mountain of a man and win him to her side? Was this new mutant worth opening emotional wounds for both of them that had just recently begun to heal? Would this adventure force the issue of what still burned between them just under the surface?
"It's me, Gregor," Jon said breathily. "Can I come in?"
The change in the Red Rook's voice was immediate. "Yes, Jon, by all means come in," he said.
Nytshade turned the latch and pushed the heavy mahogany door inwards. She saw the thickly haired, well muscled upper torso of Gregor as he sat up in his huge poster bed.
"What can I do for you, Jon?" he said. "Or better yet….What can we do for each other?"
The White Queen slowly pushed the door closed behind her.
CHAPTER FIVE: THINGS REMEMBERED
She awoke to the sound of her mother's screams. The beautiful young daughter was up and standing naked in the center of her room before she realized she had left her bed. She quickly slipped on the beautiful silken robe that the mysterious Harbinger had given her, belted it, and was out the door before the scream that had awakened her ended. Brilliant light poured out of the suite of rooms that served as her mother and father's sleeping quarters. The screams were louder now. Her father's mingled with her mother's, but underneath the screams she could hear the clear sound of laughter. The young woman leaped through the door way. Her eyes were completely blinded by the light, but her mutant mind scanned for the presence of her parents or for the cause of their distress.
"So glad you could join us, Claudia," a voice said in her mind.
"Nicole?" her mind said back. "What's going on? What's wrong with Mother and Father?"
"Everything's wrong with them," Nicole spat. "You have no idea what they did to us do you. You and I are the same person for all intents and purposes, yet you blindly accept our similarities as just being twins. Why are we so dependent on each other, Claudia? Why do I have the power to teleport, but only you can guide my jumps. Why do you have the telepathic abilities while I have the physical manifestation of that ability in my telekinesis? Why do our light abilities work best when we are together? Why Claudia...WHY? TELL HER FATHER...TELL HER WHAT YOU DID TO US!!!!"
Claudia for the first time since her arrival took note of the scene. Her eyes had begin to adjust to the horrible glare. She looked toward the bed, and there handcuffed to the huge wrought iron frame was her mother. Her father lay atop her and between her legs....their position of pleasure turned to one of utter pain and anguish. His body glowed with an intensity she had never seen before. As Nemesis, the Black Bishop, her father could transform his body into living light. She and her sister had inherited some of this ability, but what was going on now?
"PLEASE NICOLE......STOP WHATEVER IT IS YOU'RE DOING. IT'S KILLING THEM!" Claudia screamed. "What's going on?"
"Dear Sister," Nicole spat. "The handcuffs were dear mom and pop's idea. Apparently you and I didn't just develop our kinky streak. Mom and dear old Pops are very very naughty. There was a servant girl with them earlier, but poor dear dad's photovaltics were a bit much for her now that I've telekinetically boosted his energy output and froze him in place. I'm sure there's a few pieces of the little whore lying around here somewhere. Mom on the other hand seems to be a bit more tolerant......Must be years of exposure."
Claudia looked at her prone naked parents. Her mind recreated the scene. The click of the hand cuffs over her mother's delicate wrists. The look of intensity in her father's eyes as he called in the serving girl......but what had happened to turn this night from an erotic adventure into a scene of horror. She looked again at her parents, now trapped in their lovers embrace.
There was a look of unholy terror in the eyes of her mother as the man she had known and loved for years became a time bomb laying atop her, and in her father's eyes, there lay a look of heart wrenching sorrow.
"Nicole, please," Claudia broke down. "There must be some mistake."
"There's no mistake, it's all in the files Robert has been getting from the BHC computers," Nicole continued. "Don't you think there's a reason why Dear Old Dad built this hideaway at Key Trofeo.....far from the eyes of the other members? He wanted a place to hide what he was doing, because he was building a secret weapon. That weapon is us, you idiot, or more appropriately me. You're nothing more than a useless shell that Daddy created to siphon off some of my power. Even Robert knows which one of us is the real thing and who's the cheap copy, otherwise why would he have shown me the truth about us."
"Robert?....oh...you mean the Harbinger," Claudia questioned stalling for time, hoping she could find a way to diffuse the situation. "A tolerable enjoyance at best.....he meant nothing to me," she lied.
Nicole appeared taken aback by this. She had looked forward to her sister's tears of rage and jealousy that she too had been sleeping with Maxwell. This wouldn't do at all. Nicole turned back to her father and gave his powers a final telekinetic push as he literally exploded, engulfing himself and his wife in a concussive blast of light.
Claudia reached out to her father's mind at the last instant, begging him for answers that would provide reason for Nicole's insane acts. She made contact just as he exploded, and then felt Nicole trigger her teleportation ability to escape the blast. Claudia quickly used her control over Nicole's jump-field to include herself as well, and then did something she knew had to be done, but that she would regret for the rest of her life. Claudia concentrated her control factor over Nicole's field in a way she had never done before. Usually when they girls teleported they arrived at the same destination, but, by using her psionics and her guidance ability in unison, Claudia managed to transport herself to the far side of the island to safety, but sent Nicole back into the blast field. When Claudia materialized alone on the beach, she fell to her knees and let out a wail of anguish and grief. In that one instant of utter confusion, she had lost her parents and murdered her sister. It was at this moment that Claudia made a vow to herself. She would never again use or allow others to use her family given name. From this day forward she would be known only as Nemesis.
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Nemesis awoke screaming in her bed. She hadn't thought about her past like that in years. Her father, mother and sister were all dead....destroyed by Nicole's insanity.
Robert Maxwell approached her from the side of the room, placing a calming hand on her sweat covered skin.
"It's all right Nemesis....just a bad dream," he said in a whisper.
"But...but Nicole," she wheezed.
"Nicole is dead, my love. She died in that accident in your family's compound years ago," he soothed.
"You're right, Robert. You found me on the island alone that next morning when you arrived. It was you who took me away and kept me safe...showed me that somehow I had gained all the abilities of my sister as well as my own," said Nemesis breathing a bit easier.
"Always, my love, always safe with me," said Harbinger grinning in the darkness.
Nemesis slowly eased back down into her bed. She closed her eyes as Robert Maxwell rubbed her brow and whispered soft words into her ears. One final thought crossed her mind as sleep took her. What was Maxwell doing up at this hour, and dressed as well?
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Morph remembered little of his trip through the jungle...only that whatever force was controlling him, had changed his body to suit its need and knew exactly where they were going. He had transformed from a jungle cat, to a gorilla, and now back to the form of the beautiful raven haired woman. He now stood in front of what looked to be the entrance to a deserted bomb shelter or bunker. The power controlling him morphed his hand into a machetti and began chopping at the vines covering the door until they fell away revealing a touch pad. His hand morphed back into that of the woman, and her mind commanded him to put his palm on the lock. The door slid open, and they entered the darkened structure. The smell of dust and mildew greeted Morph's nose, but in his mind that he now shared with the force controlling him, he sensed only one emotion.........anticipation.
Her voice came crystal clear and sweet from his throat.
"Mom.....Dad.....I'm home," she giggled. "Oops...you can't hear me....You're dead. I imagine your ears rotted off quite some time ago."
Morph realized for the first time in that instant that whatever force was controlling him was not only insane, but almost completely evil as well.
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Jon closed the doors to Gregor's room slowly. The guards stared straight ahead, not saying a word as she left the quarters of the Red Rook. They were quite accustomed to beautiful women leaving his rooms in a disheveled condition. She quickly traveled down the hall to the guest room she usually stayed in at the Red Hellfire Clubs Mansion. She would have to grab a quick nap, shower and be prepared to leave for Key Trofeo the next morning. The night's activities had brought Gregor to her side, and she felt sure that together they could bring this new force under control.
Supergrover's eyes glittered in the darkness. His position in the shadows and his blue velvety skin and cloak almost completely hid him from view. He had followed the White Queen on her late night errands upon a request from his ancient friend and mentor, Gomurr....and it appeared there was something to be said for his diminutive friend's "uneasy feeling". What could Jon be up to and how would it affect already strained relations between the IFHC and BHC?
CHAPTER SIX: THE RACE IS ON
Jack Silver stretched and yawned as the island sun shone into his room. Last night's dreams of Nemesis had been unsettling to say the least, and despite the fact he knew her to be a tenuous ally at best, his attraction to her was now unmistakable. He rose from his bed and began to walk toward the bathroom which joined his room to Avalon's. He then remembered the somewhat awkward scene from the night before and placed a careful knock on the door. He was greeted with Avalon's youthful voice from inside.
"Just a minute...I'm almost finished," the young scribe said. "Sorry to have taken so long, but the shower felt so good this morning."
"No problem," voiced Jack Silver through the door. "No hurry, it's early yet."
Inside, Avalon wrapped a towel around his nakedness and continued looking into the mirror. He raised one arm up and flexed it slightly watching the muscles beneath his skin tense. He once again was almost thankful for the treatments that had given him this body. He was strong, both physically and mentally and thus more worthy of his dark queen. The youth knew in certainty know that his dream had not been just an adolescent fantasy, but a portent of things to come. He quickly cleared his mind of all these thoughts, as he felt his body began to react to his mental wonderings. He really didn't have time for another shower.
Outside, Jack Silver also looked at himself in the mirror. He ran his fingers through the thick silver hair on his head. Did he look old because of it? He had gone entirely gray by the time he was 16, and had never thought twice about it, but now he wondered. Would she find it unappealing. She couldn't, he comforted himself. The Harbinger was much older than he, and she seemed to appreciate his company immensely. Then he thought of the youth Avalon, and he began to doubt again. Flashbacks of the awkward incident the previous night filled his mind. The boy was extremely well muscled and proportioned. This was a fact that he had never noticed before due to the robes that he wore in the scribe position. Would she find that youthful musculature appealing? He turned toward the mirror and looked at his own well chiseled chest and stomach. He touched the muscles there and let his fingers enjoy their firmness. He flexed slightly and then let out a small laugh. What was he doing......preening like a peacock in front of a mirror. They would be calling him Gregor soon at this rate. Nevertheless, he laid out one of his best suits for the breakfast he knew he would share with Nemesis.
"I'm done, Mr. Silver," called Avalon from behind the door. "It's all yours."
"Thanks, son," said Jack as he entered the bathroom.
Avalon went to his wardrobe, being more cautious than ever before about his selection. Sliding one Smashing Pumpkins t-shirt after another to the side, he finally decided on a well tailored pair of khakis and a polo shirt that fit his athletic build to a tee.
"Never hurts to dress the part," he thought, and without even realizing it, Avalon shut the door and started downstairs to breakfast whistling "I just can't wait to be king" from the Disney classic "The Lion King."
When Nemesis appeared on the steps leading down into the dining room, both Silver and Avalon stood. The Harbinger followed Nemesis down the steps looking more sour than usual. How could she look so fresh and alive and him look like he hadn't slept all nite? Hadn't they been together?
"Good morning, my fine gentlemen...don't you two look good enough to eat," teased the Black Queen. "Let's just hope breakfast is just as tasty..hhmmmm?"
Both men blushed profusely and both wondered why the other was so embarrassed.
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Jon sat beside Gregor in the skimmer craft as it rocketed across the water in hover mode. The waves splashed noisily against the windows as Gregor looked out.
"Avalon would have sound buffered this thing by now," Gregor said to himself in an almost fatherly tone.
"We have our own mechanical geniuses at the IFHC, Gregor...and I'll have you know this is a prototype not even known about by most yet, so if it's a bit rough still it's understandable," returned the sharp-eared White Queen.
"No offense meant," said Gregor stoically.
"None taken, of course," said Jon as she patted his leg.
Suddenly a bolt of blue obscured the window, and then was gone.
"What was that?" said Gregor trying to catch sight of the flash.
"Probably a dolphin breaking water," said Jon a touch acidly. "The roar that this loud beast is making is probably causing them to surface to see what's going on."
Gomurr clung to Grover's back like a jockey on a speeding thoroughbred, although Grover was going faster than any horse in history.
"Do we have to go so fast," the old man bellowed into his blue friend's ear.
"You wanted to get there quickly didn't you?" returned Grover as he adjusted his course towards Key Trofeo.
"Well I can fly on my own, young man, and this isn't flying....this is just......hotdogging. Why did you buzz that skimmer. It clearly had IFHC markings." continued the wizened mage.
"I know you can fly, old one, but it takes magic...and you know the White Queen would be able to detect it on the mystic plane." countered Grover. "This was your plan after all. Let me see if I remember it correctly. You said 1: Neither one of us can check out a club transport without suspicion.....2: We have to fly low and fast as to avoid radar......and 3: We have to be non-psi or mystic readable coming in. So you came up with this exact scenario."
"And a good plan it was, I just didn't think it would be quite so rough." grimaced the old man. "If I thought for one minute, you were making this extra bumpy on my poor old bones I'd port you to the crimson dawn and let you spar with some shadow ninjas as an object lesson." "Sure you would, master Gomurr," said Grover trying hard not to laugh. "but then who would you have to share your sparkling conversation with."
And with that Grover again increased his speed and pushed ever closer to Key Trofeo.
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The smell of dampness and decay grew worse as Morph moved further into the complex, guided by the powerful force that had taken possession of him. He realized that only the entrance to the structure was above ground, and this fact unsettled him more than it should have. He couldn't help being reminded of the curious earth notion that hell and eternal damnation lay beneath the surface of the planet. In what part of his mind that he could still call his own, he knew that the idea was simply metaphorical for an altered state of being, but in the situation he was in, it seemed very fitting.
"Yes, my malleable young friend," he felt himself saying in the voice of the woman. "Hell is an appropriate term for the place where we are going. A hell disguised as a home, where an arrogant bastard strove to create a child, and then shackled her to weaker and imperfect twin."
Morph's mind sent out a shudder he knew would never reach his body. Was he doomed to spend the rest of his existence trapped like this in connection with a mad woman? The woman journeyed onward completely unaware of the pitch blackness that surrounded them. How could she know where they were going? She finally stopped and Morph wondered what was coming next. He heard faint clicking as he felt his fingers operating a computer terminal. Then suddenly there came a high pitched whining, as systems throughout the complex buzzed back into life after a long period of slumber. The lights quickly came up and Morph found himself in the middle of a large chamber surrounded by very high tech computer equipment.......in fact too high tech for this species at this juncture on the timeline thought Morph.
Morph's alien eyes took in the strange futuristic consoles and glistening surfaces as he tried once again to find out a way to rid himself of his psionic parasite.
"YES....finally!", Morph heard his voice say as he looked down to the scrolling text on one of the monitors.
He felt his hand deftly run over the console and through his mind link with the other, he finally understood what they were doing. They were searching for a body......a body maintained in some sort of stasis.....a body that he was now replicating. After a few more keystrokes, a sudden jet of steam erupted from one of the shiny metal walls...and an opening slowly appeared in what had at first appeared to have been a seamless siding plate. Slowly but surely a large cylinder slid from the opening and Morph felt the excitement within "the other" build to incredible levels. He went to the cylindrical case and looked in it's glass cover. The other kept his hands moving furiously to clear the steam from the glass of the object, and when it was cleared he saw an exact replica of the body he was morphed into. There seemingly in a peaceful slumber lay the beautiful form of Nemesis. A gale of laughter erupted from the mind of his parasitic counterpart and was thus followed by a high pitched cackle from his own throat.
"Home at last, dear sister." he heard himself say in the woman's voice. "And soon I'll be taking back what's mine."
He felt himself reach out to the locking mechanism on the case, but was greeted with a powerful electric shock. For a moment he thought the blast had knocked out the controlling force in his mind, and that he was free of the leash that "the other" held on him, but as he struggled to escape a psionic hammer blow brought him to his knees.
"Oh no you don't," a voice hissed into his mind. "I refuse to let my pony go before I've won the race."
Suddenly, a computerized voice filled the room with it's icy presence.
"UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS. CEASE IMMEDIATELY. ANY FURTHER ACTION WILL RESULT IN TERMINATION OF STASIS ENVIRONMENT AND SELF DESTRUCT ENGAGEMENT," the robotic voice droned.
"Damnit," Morph screamed in the voice of the woman. "Harbinger and his paranoia.....I need that body. As delightful as your shape-shifting can be my friend, I need to go back home...and that body's it."
"Well," said the voice stilling it's own rage. "Harbinger put me in this cage, and it looks like it's gonna take the Harbinger to get me out. Come along my friend, we've got a date to keep with an old.....acquaintance."
And with that, Morph felt his body willed back out of the complex and into the thick lush jungle of Key Trofeo. In what little part of his mind that he still controlled he cringed at the thought of this Harbinger person. What kind of person could be friends with such a vile creature like the one that was now in possession of him...and did he really want to find out?
CHAPTER SEVEN: GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER
Grover came in for his landing on the beach of Key Trofeo. Gomurr lept spryly from his place on his friend and former student's back and immediately began to mutter to himself.
"I can't believe I taught you how to fly myself......rassum frassum.....divebombing...loop de loop....grumble...hotdogging.......gripe....enough to kill an old man," the old man mumbled.
Grover watched his old friend amusedly. He knew the old man really wasn't upset...he was just grumbling to keep the mood light as he contemplated their next step. Grover found this even funnier, however, that his mentor felt the need to continuously hide the possible danger of this mission. After all these years the old one was still trying to look out for him.
"Well, boy......are you deaf from all that sand you got in your ears from that sloppy landing...I said let's get moving. No more flying from here on in, or we'll get picked up on Nem's radar. We've got to figure out what's going on in a completely clandestine manner. Neither of our organizations would appreciate our cooperation in this venture," Gomurr snipped.
"Sir, yes Sir," Grover mocked as he took the lead position, and began to head towards the thick jungle.
This was going to be hardcore jungle infiltration with no magic on the part of the diminutive mage lest they tip off their presence to the soon to be arriving White Queen. Grover's aura would protect them from Harbinger's or Nem's psi-probes but it would mean having to stay in relatively close physical proximity to each other. These two facts meant Gomurr would have to scramble and trample his way though the underbrush on his own two feet, and although Grover knew him to be an expert martial artist and extraordinarily agile, he was 803 after all. Grover considered for a split second offering to carry his former teacher, but thought better of it. He knew Gomurr's pride would never allow that.
Grover watched as Gomurr stripped off his robe, and underneath he had on what looked to be standard khaki safari gear, only custom tailored to fit the small man. Gomurr reached to his belt and handed Grover one of the machettis that hung there. "What in the world?" Grover almost laughed. "Who do you think we are.....Robinson Carusoe and Friday. Where did you get this stuff."
Gomurr ignored the blue man, and began to hack away at the vines at the entrance to the jungle.
"Some of us plan ahead and are prepared for our work, Grover," Gomurr said, and then under his breath mumbled, "besides there was a sail at Banana Republic."
Grover smiled and followed the ancient mage in. After all these years he was still full of surprises.
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Jon and Gregor stepped out of the skimmer onto the beach. The White Queen fussed with her slightly tussled hair as she adjusted the psi-baffles she had brought with her to hide them from Nemesis' scans. Gregor looked at her with a small smile on his face.
"Don't worry, Jon," he said. "You are as lovely as ever. Your slightly tussled appearance can be blamed on the humidity here, though if we are spotted I think the last thing they'll ask about is your disheveled visage."
Jon smiled at Gregor slyly, but inside she swallowed the urge to dig her nails into his face. How much would she have to give up in order to take control of the IFHC.
"I guess I'm a member of the mile high club now," she cooed as she secretly swallowed her rage. "even though the skimmer was only inches above the water, it's still an aircraft."
"Well, we had to test out the autopilot feature of that prototype you were so proud of didn't we?" Gregor returned.
Jon smiled again at Gregor and then turned away as her face turned into a mask of anger.
"Let him enjoy the moment," she thought. "I will not allow myself to love him again, after the way he failed me. I simply can't."
Gregor adjusted the portable scanner he had brought with him and examined it's readings.
"Both anomalous signatures are moving toward the main house we scanned earlier, but since all BHC members are accounted for within, these new readings are definitely new players in the game." Gregor commented. "Now the two readings are almost on top of one another. They must be traveling together. We've got to hurry, Jon, if we are gonna make contact before the BHC does."
And with that, the latest members of the IFHC mile high club plunged into the jungle toward the beach-house of the Black Queen.
______________________________________________________________________________
The Black Queen, Nemesis, lounged poolside on a deck chair. Her eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses. Robert Maxwell, the Harbinger, sat at table beside the pool pretending to work at a lap top computer, but really just scowling under his eyebrows at Avalon and Silver. His robe hung open and Nemesis observed his well muscled chest. Her gaze traveled down his upper torso to his V-shaped waist and then to the somewhat ridiculous bathing suit he wore. Despite being a time traveler, Harbinger often had a difficult time remembering what sort of clothes matched what era in time. His "Jam" shorts, with their extremely loud Hawaiian print, were painfully eighties, but then again, Nem really didn't pay much attention to the wrapping, when what was inside was what she was really interested in. The suit was funny, however.
Nem's eyes shifted slightly and she saw Avalon doing a swan dive off the high dive of her olympic size pool. His well muscled body seemed to ripple as he leaped from the platform and sliced into the water. She watched the water droplets slide down his skin as he pulled himself back up and returned to the board. His cut off denim shorts hugged his young frame perfectly, and she let her mind wander. Perhaps she'd look into the secret security feeds that were in every room....just to see how this one time student had grown to fulfill his position as a court member. He was becoming quite a handsome lad after all....maybe he did deserve a bit of special attention.
Finally, her eyes found her Black King. His simple blue swim shorts were almost knee length, but they fit him perfectly. She knew they were probably custom designed for him, yet she marveled at the careless attitude he had about presenting himself. Gregor had always flaunted his physique, and she was used to this. This new Black King's quiet shyness, yet strong sense of nobility intrigued her. She would have to look into trying to get this one into a something a bit more revealing....perhaps a speedo?
The Black Queen moved slightly, arching her back and stretching. She had her eyes closed, but was psionically aware that all of the men's eyes turned to watch her movement. She had once again donned a bathing suit that left precious little to the imagination. She stretched again in the poolside lounge chair she perched in. Psionically, she registered, the increased levels of endorphins in the brain centers of the brains. They were definitely enjoying the view.
"Oh, what a delightful buffet of choices," she said under her breath.
She leaned back and rested again, allowing the warm sun to soak into her body. All the thoughts of the last few days nightmares slipped from her mind, as she enjoyed the lude thoughts that occasionally drifted her way from her guests.
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Morph saw the beach house just through the treeline, and wondered what would happen next. Instead of heading toward the structure though, his controlling force guided him toward the beach and the changing tent that was set up there. Once inside, he looked into the mirrors that lined the wall of the structure.
"You've let me get all ratted out, changeling," the voice in his head hissed. "I've got to look my best at all times. Fix it."
Morph concentrated and the tangled mess of raven colored hair was perfect once again and even the smudges of dirt that had decorated the skin of the form he had taken were gone.
"Better," the voice thought, "but my sister would never be caught dead in this research gear we got from the complex. Time for a change."
Morph grimaced as he was mind-led over to the wardrobes against the tent wall. He opened the cabinet and looked inside. He was glad for an instant, because he thought that whatever had been in the bureau had all been removed but belts, but when he felt a thrill of delight rush through his parasitic companion, he knew he had been wrong. He found himself reaching in and pulling out one of the "belts" and found it wasn't a belt after all, but scraps of fabric held together by what seemed to be only lycra strings.
"Now this is more like it," the voice thought as he shed the research gear and pulled on the string bikini.
Two words went through what was left of Morph's mind, "How humiliating!!!!!!!..........although, I do look pretty hot.....D'oh, what am I saying."
"Silence your prattling," the voice commanded. "Do what I need and this will all be over for you soon enough."
Morph allowed the voice to win out again. It was becoming easier to resist mentally, but he was still physically unable to control his own body. He turned, left the tent and began to walk towards the beach house. He noticed however, the presence was walking differently now than before.....he thought swaying was the right word for it.
When they reached the door to the beach house, he felt the presence in his mind reach out with some sort of telepathy and search the grounds. For Morph, this was the first time he had ever experienced a journey onto the astral plane, and he found it quite overwhelming.
"So they're playing at the pool," the voice said venomously. "Well let them enjoy themselves now....soon they'll share in the torment that's been my life for the past 7 years."
Morph mind swirled as he was drug along the astral plane by the entity. He was lost....adrift in a sea of consciousness not his own. As the focus of this vision began to narrow, he was plunged headlong into the extremely amorous thoughts of an unsure but physically powerful lad, and he saw that the lad had definite feelings for the bodyform he now mimicked. He then saw the thoughts of a troubled, slightly older man, with thoughts of the same woman in his head, only he fought them where the youth gave them full reign. Then along the same area in the physical plane, two more minds, but these were like ghost images to him, giving off no real thoughts at all, only the slightest hint of their presence. Suddenly he was back in his own corner of his mind, and the voice was speaking again.
"Well, well," the voice thought, "It appears little Claudia has stepped up her mental defenses quite a bit over the years, and Robert is as hard to read as ever. No matter, though. Sister dear seems to have built herself quite a little harem, and I can use that to my advantage, but right now I've got to separate Maxwell from the group and get him to the jungle compound, so I can get my own body back before it's too late."
Morph struggled again against the mental circuit breakers that gave the entity control over him. He could see in her thoughts just how this parasitic companion planned on "winning" these others to her side, and he was definitely not interested.
"Stop struggling, you idiot shapeshifter," the voice hissed. "You might even enjoy it. Work with me, here, and you'll be free by sundown."
Morph's fear continued to mount, and he began to wonder if he'd ever be free again.
CHAPTER EIGHT: Lions and Tigers and Bears oh my......And a Queen and a Gorilla too
"I've got to get Robert away from that bitch sister of mine," though Nicole in Morph's brain. "But, how?"
Just then a large jet black male panther crossed the path to the house at the jungle's edge. Morph felt slick fear slide through him. He knew the large cats of this planet to be ferocious at times, and with his body being controlled it would be difficult to fight against it.
"Of course," the voice in his head said suddenly. "She still has an affinity for those stupid beasts."
Morph felt his body began to change again. His muscles and bones contorted into that of another panther, and his skin became covered in soft black velvetty fur. Nicole was definitely becoming too adept at controlling his transformations...he had to find a way to escape. Morph in his new panther form darted into the jungle hot on the trail of the large male. When they grew close enough, Morph felt a thrill of sensual electricity slide through his body. Nicole was planning on luring the male closer with sexual appeal of this new body. Morph was always amazed at how each body he morphed into reacted differently and the sensations were sometimes intoxicating, but he was definitely not too excited about the prospect he was facing. The male approached slowly, circling Morph. He felt all his nerves and muscles tense in readiness. What was Nicole planning...surely this wasn't some sort of perverse thrill for her. The large male sniffed the air and moved ever closer. Morph felt his now animal heart begin to beat faster. The male made it's move pouncing out at Morph. Nicole swung Morph's body around as the male descended on her, held up one clawed paw and sliced the throat of the male open cleanly killing him almost instantly. She then caused Morph to reshape himself back into the Nicole bodyform. The hot blood of the panther still slid from Nicole's fingers.
"That ought to do it," though Nicole in Morph's head as she watched the thick warm redness slide down her fingers.
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Back at the huge indoor pool in Nemesis' beach house, the Black Queen let out a sharp short scream.
"OBSYDIAN!" she cried.
Before her cry even ended all three of her companions were at her side. Each vying for the position of her rescuer.
"What's wrong, Nemesis?" said Robert Maxwell.
"Give her some air," ordered Silver.
"My Black Queen, are you alright?" questioned Avalon.
The Black Queen straightened in her chair, placed a hand on her forehead and wiped her jet black hair away.
"I'm fine," she said coldly. "I just need some air. I think I must have fallen asleep and startled myself awake."
Robert Maxwell looked doubtful. Avalon and Silver helped Nemesis to her feet.
"Can I accompany you?" Avalon offered hopefully?
"No...thank you...." said Nem. "I'll return shortly. Please go back to what you were doing."
All three men watched her leave suspiciously. All of them noticing, however, once again how her custom designed swim-wear hugged her every curve. Avalon finally shrugged and dived back in. Silver went back to the hot tub where he had retired to earlier, and the Harbinger looked on.
"She said Obsydian," thought Robert Maxwell. "That's the name of one of those damn panthers."
Nemesis hurried up the stairs to her closet and pulled on a pair of khaki cargo pants and a white t-shirt without bothering to remove her bathing suit. The t-shirt hung damply to her curves, but she was too distraught to notice how seductive she looked. She knew what she had heard in her mind had been the death scream of one of her most beloved pets, but what could have killed the big male. She would get to the bottom of this. She hurried back downstairs and out the door. Before she could even begin to search the treeline, there was a powerful blow to the back of her neck and her world went black.
"I ought to kill you now, sister," spat Nicole through Morph's mouth, "but I want you to suffer as I have."
Nicole commandeered Morph's body once more. Changed his shape into that of a huge mountain gorilla, scooped up her sister and took back into the jungle so quickly that they soon became lost in the green of the jungle foliage.
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SuperGrover held a hand up silently and Gomurr froze in place. The ancient mage knew the blue mutant's senses were extremely acute and when he motioned for stillness it was for good reason. Suddenly, the sound of an animal crashing through the forest could be heard. It grew closer and closer until they saw a huge gorilla burst through the trees and charge toward them. In it's arm's it was carrying Nemesis the Black Queen.
"What the!!!" was all Grover could get out before the huge beast slammed against his protective aura. Gomurr who had been standing close by cartwheeled away just in time to miss the rampaging animal.
"That's Nemesis," cried Gomurr as he prepared a mystic bolt to stun the animal.
"I know it is," said Grover, "but her date doesn't look happy."
Grover flew into the air and charged towards the beast, shaping his gauntlets into a staff.
"No," Gomurr cried. "Get back. I can take him out with a hex bolt."
"Don't worry yourself master. I can take care of this," Grover said confidently as he swung at the gorilla with his staff.
The huge beast held up on arm and suddenly it rippled and seemed to turn to metal. Grover's staff struck it and bounced away sharply. What was going on? Only adamantium could make his staff bounce away like that. The force of the ricochet sent Grover reeling backwards, but he landed with a soft thump. He was going to charge back in, when he realized what had caused him to have so soft a landing. He looked beneath him and there lay Gomurr, the old mage. The wizard had been behind him when he bounced away, and now he lay unconscious with a large bloody gash on his head. The gorilla, seeing it's chance at escape, darted into the jungle and was gone with Nemesis in tow. Grover cursed loudly.
"Sensei," he said. "Wake up Gomurr....c'mon little guy. I really don't need this on my conscience."
Gomurr stirred briefly and then nothing more. The head wound looked severe. Grover realized his bullheaded attack may have caused injury to entirely the wrong person. It was difficult to imagine the old man actually being harmed by such a simple thing. He had faced threats on the cosmic scale before, and now here he was lying injured from a small scrap with a crazed animal. Grover reminded himself, however, that not everyone had a protective aura and for once the ancient mage's luck hadn't held.
"I'm sorry, old one. I know this was supposed to be a secret mission," said Grover in a whisper. "But I gotta get you to some medical attention now."
Picking up his injured friend, he took to the air flying frantically towards Nem's beach house hoping against hope someone who could help would be there.
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Jon and Gregor stopped before exiting the treeline and getting within sight of the beach house.
"These reading indicate that our quarry has left the area and headed back into the deep jungle, and the Black Queen was with them. The Black King, Mage and Scribe are all still within the structure," said Gregor.
"Damn," Jon cursed. "That cow thinks she can keep me from my prize.....and how positively unscrupulous of her to try and keep it from her fellow members. I'll show her nobody takes what is mine."
"Don't you mean ours?" said Gregor dubiously.
"Ofcourse my love," said Jon caressing Gregor's cheek. "Ours."
"So we follow Nemesis?" Gregor asked somewhat coldly.
"Yes," said Jon even more icily. "The witch is gonna lead us right to what we want, and if she's not interested in giving it up. Well then.....I'll just have to convince her."
CHAPTER NINE: WHEN HUNTERS BECOME PREY
The Harbinger sat bolt upright when a low pitched buzzing filled his ear. Avalon and Silver continued talking never hearing the insistent electronic call.
"If you'll excuse me, gentlemen," Maxwell said rising from his seat by the pool. "I have some business to attend to."
"Of course," said Silver as he and Avalon watched Maxwell leave. They exchanged glances with each other. What was The Harbinger up to now?
Maxwell, left the poolhouse and quickly scaled the stairs into the main house. He placed a finger to the back of his ear and tiny telescoping metal slides covered it and then a almost invisible filament sprang out toward his mouth. Being a cyborg had it's advantages after all.
"This is Maxwell," The Harbinger said in a business like voice into his personal communications relay.
"Robert?" a voice on the other end said. "Is that you?"
"Nem?" Harbinger said back. "Why didn't you just psi-link me, we have become very close lately. Even my limited telepathy can find you as long as there's no psi-baffles....why all the secrecy of the comm relay?"
"That's just it Robert. I'm heavily shielded here." the voice of Nem said. "I'm at my father's old compound...come quickly."
"The compound!?!?!" Harbinger said with a start. "What do you mean? That place has been abandoned for years."
"I don't have time for your lies, Robert," said the voice near panic. "I know you've been keeping up the place and using it as a hideaway for yourself....and now I know what else you've done. We have to talk...NOW!!!"
The Harbinger swallowed hard. How did she find out? He had kept his psi-baffles on almost constantly, and his natural mental defenses were so adept at hiding his schemes that she shouldn't have been able to pick it up. Could she really know the secret he'd been hiding for years? He had to know what damage had been done by this discovery and if he could prevent it from destroying his plans. Harbinger cursed as he quickly slipped on his battle gear, hopped aboard an ATV and went roaring toward the jungle compound.
"Oh Claudia," thought Maxwell venomously. "You have gotten into things far over your pretty little head. Let's hope you can swim to shore before you drown in the ocean of my plans."
Back at the compound, Morph watched as his own hand threw the ring that had secreted the comm badge at Claudia's still unconscious frame. He heard the voice in his mind began to speak again.
"Oh Robert," Nicole cackled in Morph's brain. "How sad for you. You must be worried that poor little Claudia found out your nasty secret. She will know soon though, and I can't wait to see her face when she discovers that it's you that will be the cause of all the pain that's awaiting her."
Nicole then commanded Morph's body once more and they dragged the unconscious Nemesis off to a secret chamber by the hair of her head.
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One of the huge glass walls of the pool house shattered inwards and Avalon and Silver dived for cover and came up in defensive positions by instinct. Avalon's blue electromagnetic aura surrounded him and he was in the air within seconds. Silver stood ready for battle as his own aspect searched out the surrounding metals of the pool house, looking for the best way to defend himself. When he saw the source of the break in, however, his attitude changed from one of confrontation to concern.
"GROVER....What is the meaning of this? Why are you here? ....and Why have you destroyed Nem's atrium?" the Black King said in rapid fire sequence.
"Yeah G," piped in Avalon as he came in for a landing. "What's up?"
And then they saw it. There within the protecting arms of SuperGrover lay the Headmaster of the BHC Academy, Gomurr. His diminutive frame was still, and an angry red gash still leaked blood on to Grover's clothing and skin.
Grover's eyes ,although glowing yellow as always, somehow looked frightened.
"You've got to help me....he's not moving," Grover choked out.
Silver quickly scooped Gomurr from Grover's arms. The old mage was still breathing but it was shallow and labored.
"This isn't the mansion, Grover. There is no med-lab here," said Silver in a worried voice.
"There's no med-lab, but there is a smaller infirmary....I designed some stuff for Nem to put in there, so I know," interjected Avalon. "Let's go!"
The boy concentrated his electromagnetic aura around Gomurr and lifted the ancient sorcerer up and they flew in tandem toward the infirmary. They reached the small infirmary and Avalon used his field and set Gomurr down gently on a stasis bed. The lad's hands were like mercury as he made the connections to Gomurr's small frame that would monitor his condition. Silver once again marveled at the intellect of this youth. Perhaps it was time he took a more active role in the organization.
The monitors began to give off a series of beeps as they showed Gomurr's life functions to be close to normal. Why wasn't he waking up?
"It looks as though there have been changes made to a lot of this equipment," said Avalon. "That means either Nem or Harbinger, and judging by the advanced look of this technology, my vote is Harbinger. We need him down here now."
"Oh shit," said Grover. "NEM. I almost forgot. That's what happened. We saw Nem. She was being carried off by this huge gorilla."
Silver and Avalon looked at SG dubiously. Could their friend have been injured as well? A gorilla sounded very far fetched and like the product of an injured mind.
"Slow down, Grover," said the Black King. "Are you sure it was a gorilla...and Nem only left a few hours ago. What happened exactly?"
Grover revealed the whole story including their reason for coming. Silver and Avalon listened carefully and their looks of concern became more and more intense. The two anamolous readings and Jon's interest in them were of special concern. After Grover finished Silver began to speak.
"If Harbinger and Nemesis were trying to hide something from us, and you saw Nemesis being carried off, then whatever it is that we are all looking for, must have been too powerful for them," deduced the Black King. "Now the question is, where is Harbinger?"
"I don't know, but I think I can find out," said Avalon a little shyly.
"What do you mean?" asked Silver.
"Well, I ummm..... I tagged him with a little device I had been working on...ummm...to know if he and Nem were together or not," said the lad with a blush on his face.
"And would I also be wearing one of these tags?" questioned Silver with a frown.
"Yeah," said Avalon quietly.
Silver looked angry for a bit, then smiled down at the lad. He realized now what game Nemesis had been playing with all of them, and he understood how the lad could have felt jealous of his rivals for Nem's attention. Nemesis was one to watch even when she was your ally.
"It's ok, son. We've got to find the Harbinger and Nem now, and figure this mess out," said Silver finally.
"Yes sir," said Avalon as he pulled out a laptop that he almost constantly had with him.
The lad hit a few key strokes. A geographical display of the island popped up.
"This is Harbinger....looks like he's on the move." said Avalon. "This is Nem, her tag sig is stationary....and there you are. So what's the plan?"
"We follow Harbinger and hope he can lead us to Nem.....and hope that Nem's in one piece." said Silver.
"What about Gomurr," asked Grover looking at his aged friend.
"You stay with him. Just make sure the monitors keep listing him as stable. We'll be back as soon as we can." said Silver. "C'mon Av, let's go."
And with that the Black King and Scribe went in search of the Harbinger.
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Jon and Gregor stopped outside the entrance to the underground compound. Gregor checked his monitoring device.
"The readings show that we are right on top of them," said Gregor nervously.
"Then where are they," spat Jon. "I want those two new meta-humans and I want them now!...and where the hell is that witch, Nemesis?"
Suddenly a tree beside the duo seemingly came to life, and its limb came crashing down on the heads of Jon and Gregor knocking them to the ground. As Jon faded into unconsciousness she watched the tree transform into the figure of Nemesis. Her last thought was "since when has the cow been a shapeshifter?"
Morph listened to Nicole's sweet voice ring from his lips as she triggered his transformation back into her preferred form.
"Look Mom and Dad," she cackled. "More company for the party....and won't they make lovely companions for my dear sister....Oh this is getting more fun by the moment."
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Gomurr sat bolt upright in bed and let in a huge gasp. Grover almost fell from the chair he had been keeping his vigil in.
"Made it," Gomurr wheezed. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find your corporeal form again when you astrally project yourself and someone moves your body."
Gomurr's eyes fell on Grover. Grover looked down sheepishly.
"I thought I had injured you, master," Grover said a bit defensively. "You're lucky I didn't leave you to the jungle scavengers and go after Nem. She's a much more appealing damsel in distress."
"You forget your training with me boy," Gomurr said. "You should have recognized my astral trance. I was trying to reach out to Nem to awaken her, but was struck by a huge evil on the psionic plane. She's in horrible danger, and that was no ape. We've got to stop Nicole before she gets back into her own body."
Grover looked dazed by the last lines......Nicole? Who was that? ..and her own body? Had the old one been knocked senseless? What was all this rambling about?
"Well C'mon boy," said the old mage as he leapt spryly from the bed. "Times wasting!! I'll explain on the way."
And with that Gomurr and Grover slipped into the shadows aided by the Crimson Dawn energies of Gomurr, and they were gone.
CHAPTER TEN: Masquerade's End
Harbinger switched off the idling motor of the ATV. He saw the entrance to the underground complex. The path to the doorway had been cleared.......by machetti it appeared. He knew that someone other than himself, had been inside because of this fact. Before he had always used his bodysliding technology to enter the complex without using the door. Now here was the proof of Claudia's claims....that she had discovered his horrible secret.
He approached cautiously. He had been in enough ambushes in his life that he knew to be watchful of any situation. He walked carefully to the door and touched his hand to the i.d. pad. The door slid open with a whisper and there standing in front of him was Claudia. She was dressed in a pair of cargo pants and a white t-shirt. It was blatantly obvious that she had neglected to put on undergarments......and that it was slightly chilly in the interior of the compound. She lounged seductively against an interior panel and looked at Maxwell as he entered.
"It's about time," she purred. "I was getting lonely with only the ghosts of the past to keep me company. Let's take a walk, shall we?"
Claudia's arm reached out and pulled Maxwell to her. She embraced him, and looked up into his eyes. Her scent was intoxicating, but Maxwell, with his years of battle experience, felt something wrong.
"Claudia," he asked pulling her away from him. "How long have you known about......all of this?"
"I've suspected for awhile," said Claudia, "but I just recently found out for sure."
She approached him again, trying to pull him close. He sidestepped her.
"Why did you call me here, Claudia?" the Harbinger questioned. "Surely, you could have told me that you knew back at the beach house. What's going on?"
"Oh, very well, Harbi," said Claudia. "If I can't entice you into having a little bit of fun before business, I may as well tell you. I've discovered where you've kept Nicole's body, and I want you to bring her out of stasis."
Harbinger caught his breath.
"Just like that," he said quickly. "No anger.....no shocked outrage."
"Robert, my dear Robert," she cooed as softly caressed his cheek. "I've quite outgrown temper tantrums, and I need to know whether Nicole is a viable candidate for the inner circle."
Maxwell looked doubtful, then shrugged. Nemesis was always unfathomable. Her reasonings were her own. He placed his hand on the console and the cylinder containing the body slid from the wall. His hand reached the locking mechanism and it accepted his fingerprint I.D. After a few more keystrokes, a hiss of steam erupted from the cylinder and it slowly opened, revealing the still form of Nicole Beaudreaux.
At first there was no movement, the steady rhythm of her breathing was accented by the machine that pushed air in and out of her lungs. Suddenly there was a scream. Harbinger spun towards it's source and Claudia had collapsed onto the floor. The scream seemed to change octaves dropping down to a deeper tone, and then suddenly it was no longer Claudia on the floor. Her beautiful features seem to melt into a blur, her eyes spread apart and became larger and darker, her hair melted away revealing a smooth bald head. The scream finally ended, and the revealed form of Morph lay passed out on the floor. Then a voice rang out clear and true. Harbinger spun around back to the creche' where Nicole had slept for so many years, and he watched as she slowly climbed out, blissfully aware of her own nakedness.
"Thank you Robert," Nicole said rubbing her hands over her creamy pale skin. "It's so nice to be home again."
The Harbinger stared dumbfounded and Nicole approached him with laughter in her eyes.
"You remember this, don't you Robert?" she cooed as she rubbed her breasts and stretched languidly. "Come on, you can't say you haven't looked in at me, wishing you could have me instead of that cheap imitation you've been keeping company with."
"Claudia," Maxwell mumbled. "What have you done with her?"
"Nothing," Nicole spat. "YET!!!!"
Nicole then spun around and caught Harbinger in the face with an open palm. She dug her nails in as she pulled away leaving a bleeding gash on his face.
"That's for making the wrong choice, Robert," Nicole screamed. "Now let's reunite you with my pretty sister."
Suddenly Harbinger was struck by a foot to his back in the kidney region. He buckled to the floor, spinning around trying to block his attacker's next move. When his eyes went up to meet his opponent, he saw Claudia's face. Her expression was one utter blankness, there was nothing of even recognizable humanity in it. She wore the bikini that she had previously worn at the pool, but all of her elegant beauty had been replaced with animal ferocity and the perfectly controlled movements of a soldier.
"You're doing this Nicole," Harbinger screamed. "You're controlling her. How did you get this powerful? Claudia was always the one with the telepathy. You were the telekinetic."
"You don't live trapped on the astral plane for years and not learn a few things, Robert," she screamed as Harbinger was struck again by Nicole's perfectly aimed judo kicks. "Now let's finish this."
Harbinger spun again to try and dodge Claudia's kick, but she caught him under the chin spinning him backwards. A second attacker came from the darkness. Her exquisite beauty only marred by that same blank stare. Nytshade also attacked with ferocity. Her fist pounding Maxwell's right jaw. Just as Maxwell was about to use his own psi-powers to try and fight back against his real enemy, Nicole, he was struck by a light blast of incredible intensity. She had regained her light powers now that she was reunited with her corporeal form. She blasted him backwards with another focused light blast. Harbinger tried to raise himself again, but felt his lungs being crushed by an unseen force.....telekinesis. He tried to resist but he was unable. Nicole's powers had been increased 100 fold over the time she had spent trapped on the astral plane. Finally his world faded to black.
Nicole looked toward her sister and the White Queen, who stood over Harbinger watching him closely. Gregor approached slowly from an adjoining room, also trapped in the psionic web of Nicole. He approached her slowly. Nicole smiled and he began to unbutton his shirt, revealing his thickly haired chest. Gregor's hands encircled her waist and his lips met her neck, nibbling softly. The mind shorn Jon and Claudia watched from a few feet away.
Nicole moaned. She had been cut off from physical sensation for so long that it threatened to overwhelm her. Enjoying sensation through the body of another just wasn't the same. She looked at Jon and Claudia as Gregor's controlled moves became bolder and travelled further down her body.
"Come my pets," Nicole cooed. "There's still a little time to play before you die. We may as well, make it a party for four. I see in this Gregor's mind it's not the first time he's done something like this."
Claudia and Jon approached the couple slowly. Thier every movement keyed to enhance Nicole's pleasure. She choreographed their every touch with her mind. Her eyes glowed and she felt herself swept away on the sensations of all four of their minds and bodies under her control.
Morph moved cautiously watching the strange "earther" behavior before him. His captor had reclaimed her own body and now appeared to be somehow trying to merge with three others. He was frightened to move, but his need for escape was so fierce he tried anyway. Taking control of his own mind for the first time in days, he prompted his body to shrink smaller and smaller until he was in the form of a small white rat.
"Like a mouse in a maze," he thought bitterly "I've got to warn someone about her power, but who? I don't know anyone on this planet, and who would believe me?"
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At that moment at the entrance to the compound, Gomurr and Grover melted out of the shadows.
"Yuck, Gomurr," said Grover as he rubbed his arms briskly as if trying to shake off a chill. "Does it always make you feel this.....this tainted when you go through the shadows like that."
"I'm afraid so, lad," said Gomurr shaking his head. "and it frightens me that not only am I getting used to it, but I'm coming to like it.......but there's no time to worry about that now."
"You're right," said Grover. "Let's get in there."
Just then a mouse scampered out of the forest canopy surrounding the entrance to the underground complex. Grover let out a high pitched almost girlish scream and took to the air hovering in horror.
Gomurr swallowed a laugh. "Still the unnatural fear of mice, I see?" the old mage said as he picked up shivering creature and held it in the palm of his hand.
Grover came back down to earth in as stately a manner as possible.
"Of course not," he sputtered. "It just startled me. That's all."
Gomurr smiled and then a puzzled look crossed his face. He opened his palm and examined the mouse carefully, being careful to hold the creature steady by it's tail. Something was odd about this little rodent, but Gomurr couldn't quite place it.
Suddenly a shout came from the mouse in the palm of Gomurr's hand.
"Hey oldie....anyone ever tell you that you have cold hands." squeaked the little animal.
This time both Gomurr and Grover let out a yelp and hopped away.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Mistakes of the Past
Avalon and the Black King, Silver heard the high pitched scream that Grover let out upon seeing the mouse. Reacting instinctively Avalon took flight off the seat of his ATV and grabbed Silver with his magnetic aura. Silver, realizing, what the lad was doing changed the relatively thin and malleable metal of his gauntlets and breastplate into a more dense and magnetically charged form. Avalon, noticing the change, looked down at the King surrounded by his blue aura. They made a good team if you thought about it....would his newly discovered brother, Gregor, had trusted his judgment as much?
"Can you locate the source of the scream?" Silver said in an urgent tone.
"As far as I can tell, we're on the right track, sir," the youth said. "THERE!!!! It's Grover AND Gomurr, but what was all the screaming about?"
The two figures in the air came to rest on the ground beside Grover and Gomurr. They seemed to be standing far away from a small rodent that looked up at them with quizzical eyes. Avalon smothered a laugh. What was wrong with these two? He had seen scarier looking mice on a wheel in a pet store. Suddenly, the two new arrivals discovered the reason for their comrades shocked appearance. The mouse began to blur and change form, and wings and feathers soon replaced soft fur and whiskers. The newly formed bird leapt into the air and began to take flight, but Avalon was too quick for it. Reaching out with his magnetic powers, he encased the bird in a glowing blue orb. It struggled and then came to rest on the ground as Avalon slowly lowered the bubble to the ground.
"Just what's going on here?" Silver finally managed. "Don't tell me the incredibly powerful energy signature we followed here is some sort of mutated animal shapeshifter."
"I AM NOT AN ANIMMAALLLL," the voice of the bird rang out in an exact voice match of the Elephant Man from the movie.
Although, Morph was relatively new to the planet, he had spent a lot of time doing "research" in what he considered to be the libraries of this world....places that were called "cinemas" or "theatres". Now all of the people present were shocked into silence. Morph, realizing, he was caught decided to give it up and take his default form. It was a credit to Avalon that he managed to keep up the field even as Morph grew and took his humanoid shape. All others present, were still completely stunned as the pale, dark eyed alien stared out at them in his true form. "Well ya got me coppahs," said Morph in his best gangster movie voice, "You could at least give a joe some clothes."
The stunned onlookers began to grin one by one as they noticed the alien was standing before them naked. They were all thankful for the blue haze that was protecting his modesty. Avalon began to take off his shirt to offer the alien, but Gomurr held out his hand.
"That won't be necessary, son," said Gomurr. "I'll take care of this."
The old man seemed to leap head first into the gigantic back pack he was wearing. It appeared to be almost as large as he was. Only SuperGrover suspected that he was using tiny currents of air magics to hold it aloft as he walked. Momentarily Gomurr pulled his head out of the huge pack and produced yet another set of safari togs, and handed them to the alien. SuperGrover noticed they were about his size, only a slightly different style.
"What were those for?" asked Grover. "You knew only you and I would be on this trip."
"I know that, boy," quipped Gomurr, "but you were always picky about your attire and one never knows what you want.....I mean how many times have you made costume changes in the last year......besides it was a buy two get one free sale."
This last part he mumbled and said almost silently.
Morph pulled on the clothing and Gomurr immediately began with the questioning.
"First of all," the old mage began. "Who are you and what are you doing sneaking out of the old Nemesis Compound."
"My name is Morfapculuentiancsaynar," the alien answered, "and to what I was doing?...I was escaping, and you all are completely snarked in the head if you don't run as well."
"We'll call you Morph for now," Gomurr said, "and I thought my name was unusual."
Again he mumbled the last part.
"Escaping from what?" Avalon questioned his concern for the seductive Black Queen becoming more evident.
"An earther female.....or what was once an earther female took control of my body," Morph hurriedly explained. "Her original body was trapped inside the bunker.. I only escaped when she took control of others like yourselves. We must hurry!!!"
"Why would Nemesis take control of a shapeshifter?" Silver questioned. " and what's it got to do with her father's old compound and a body in stasis."
"Nicole!!" Gomurr violently whispered. "It's the only answer."
Silver, who had heard the comment, spoke up.
"Nicole's dead, old one." Silver said in a respectful yet slightly doubting voice, as if he were humoring a child. "She's been dead for years. I remember Nemesis' return after the death of her entire family. It took her years to recover and she still holds bitter memories of their death."
"Think about it," said the old mage snappishly. "If Nicole wasn't dead...and her body was in stasis, then it stands to reason that she'd want it back. Why else go through all the subterfuge. Nem herself wouldn't want anything to do with the lifeless form of a sister she hated."
"But why now?" Silver continued. "Why wait so long before making the attempt?"
"That I don't know," said Gomurr. "but we don't have time to worry about it now. What others did she gain control of ummmm, Morph?"
The alien, wanting to be gone as quickly as possible, fully cooperated. His malleable form shifted first into Jon's....then into Gregor's....and finally into Harbinger's.
"There was also a chromatomate of the body I was forced to assume," the alien finished.
"Chromatomate? You mean twin." Grover chimed in. "That means Nicole has taken control of Nem as well. If she can take out a psi-talent as powerful as Nem, what can we do to stop her."
"I don't know yet," began Gomurr, but he was interrupted by the scream of their alien companion.
During the discussion, the youthful alien had left his close proximity to the gathered group of heroes, and his screams were merely and outward appearance to an unseen battle that waged within him. Morph's malleable body seemed to be changing without rhyme or reason. His entire body had the appearance of plastic as it melted and reformed. His appendages flailed about and transformed from human to animal and then to what appeared to be plant. His face was a twisted mass of features, never stopping for an instant. They all knew instantly what had happened. Nicole was aware.....and she wanted her pawn back.
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Just as Morph had found the final turn out of the underground compound, events of a much more sensual nature were coming to a close inside. Nicole finally extricated herself from the mass of limbs and sweaty bodies that she had lain in. She had purposefully boosted the pleasure receptors as well as the sensory awareness in her three companions. They all still lay panting heavily. Jon and Claudia lay curled up on the thickly haired chest of Gregor. Their legs still stroking his almost spasmodically. Nicole had pushed them to the point of near physical exhaustion before allowing the release they were working so hard for. She almost regretted having to dispose of them. They were quite enjoyable pets. She looked over to the Harbinger. She had left him unconscious throughout her pleasure. She would revive him and take control of him as well, as soon as she could find a way to completely defeat his psionic dampeners. After all, she could control him now, but why put up with any resistance.
Nicole went to the prone form of Robert Maxwell, blissfully unaware of her own nakedness. She stroked his forehead as he lay in his forced slumber. Her hands slowly unbuttoned the double breasted front of his uniform jacket. She slipped it off with ease. She let her hands travel down the strongly muscled chest as she found the point where his cybernetics began. Her own body gave an involuntary shiver as her fingers once again brushed against the cold metal of his arm. In his waking hours he tried so hard to hide his cybernetics from others, but with her he had never bothered. He knew she enjoyed the sharp bite of cold metal on hot flesh.
"Oh Robert," she exhaled. "We could have been magic, together.....but you chose the cheap copy over the original. How sad for you.......and speaking of cheap."
Nicole glanced over at the still panting group of people in the corner. She allowed Claudia to become aware of her surroundings without giving her the ability to move. Nicole cuddled in next to Harbinger, her fingers running over his chest and down his stomach. She woke him, but held him rigid under her touch.
"Wake up sweetie, it's truth time," she hissed at Claudia.
The Harbinger's eyes went wide as he tried to move. He then cried out in pain as Nicole ignited every pain sensor in his body both technologic and biologic. Claudia cried out as well.
"Nicole, what are you doing?" Nemesis cried. "Why are you hurting him?"
"And why are you protecting him?" Nicole hissed back. "He's been lying to you all along! He's kept your own flesh and blood here in stasis and told you I was dead."
"I don't believe you!" Claudia spat. "You always were a liar."
"And you always were a slutty little tag-a-long," roared Nicole as she ignited Claudia's pain sensors once more. "but if you won't believe me. Let's get it straight from the horse's mouth, shall we?"
Nicole looked at Harbinger and he stood up jerkily. Claudia could tell his technological psi-dampeners were short circuiting causing him to almost convulse with their electric bursts. She could see the tears forming in his eyes.
"I've telepathically prevented him from lying," Nicole said in a dagger sharp whisper. "Ask him...ask him how I came to be imprisoned like this."
Claudia stared silently at Maxwell, who was in obvious pain both emotional and physical. She remained silent and averted her eyes. She knew in her heart she didn't want to know the truth.
"ASK HIM!!!" Nicole roared as she snapped Claudia's head up telekinetically.
"What happened?" Claudia said on the verge of tears.
At first Maxwell said nothing, then like a flood breaking through a dam of lies, the truth was revealed. Harbinger's tears flowed freely as he told his tale, and Nicole watched him with the eyes of a predator.
"When the .....accident happened, Claudia...I was orbiting the island in my......ummm base. I registered the power build up within your father.....but I didn't know its source...i swear it. I had no way of telling if it was you or Nicole manipulating his energy powers like that....Your psi-signatures are almost identical." Maxwell explained dejectedly. "When I saw the teleport signature, I knew Nicole had triggered her "sliding" effect, and I knew too that you would be the one guiding it, but when I saw two different points of destination....I ....I....transported the one in the heart of the blast to my ship. I had no way of knowing which one of you it was. I sealed the body in a psi-proofed cylinder and then travelled to the island where I found you and returned you to the city. I kept Nicole sealed in the chamber, but she never awoke.........I had meant to use her as a pawn.......to replace you....... should you ever become .....uncooperative....but I swear after returning her to the compound owned by your father...repairing some of the damage...and setting her up on life support I never looked back. It was you I loved, Claudia."
Claudia looked completely stunned. Nicole just continued to smile. The Harbinger hung his head in shame....staring at the two sisters who he had set up to be the ultimate in mutant kind, but who he had ultimately betrayed. Finally Nicole spoke.
"Your plan backfired, Robert," she almost laughed. "While you were sealing me away, I attached portions of my psionic presence to both you and Claudia. It was only when, you and she were reunited with the place of the imprisonment of my corporeal form that I was able to reincorporate any semblance of self again....but the longer you were here...the stronger I became...and Now YOU ARE MINE."
"You could have saved Father and Mother, Robert," Claudia cried out suddenly. "You could have saved us all.
"But he didn't want to," hissed Nicole finally. "He knew he could more easily manipulate us without their intereference.....only he made the wrong decision ....and chose the CLONE over the real thing."
"Clone?!?!?!" Claudia said in a rush.
Harbinger looked at Nicole with a wicked smile on his face...once more a bit of his old self-confidence returned.
"That's where you are wrong, Nicole," he said venomously. "I only told you there was a clone...you always insisted it was Claudia...but it's been you all along. No natural human body could contain the energies Claudia was born with..so your father made you from your sister's cells and empowered you with the most destructive of her abilities....yet always giving Claudia the control factor......so you see, you little bitch..it's you that's second rate goods."
Nicole screamed and with a gesture of her hand Maxwell went flying across the room, landing on his arm with a sickening snap of metal. Claudia dropped like a puppet with its strings cut.
"Impossible!!!!!" Nicole raged. "It's Claudia who is false. I am the true daughter and heir to the name of Nemesis."
The Harbinger laughed weakly as his lungs filled with blood from his broken ribs, and sparks and red hot pain shot up from his cybernetic arm.
"I'm sorry, Nicole. You were preventing me from lying...it's the truth...NOW YOU DEAL WITH IT...I have for far too long."
Nicole gestured again and Harbinger was slammed again into the opposite wall. This time he made no noise. Nicole's eyes came to rest on her "sister".
"If you are the true Nemesis....then I shall be Dark Nemesis, because the dark always devours the light," she raged in a voice that was tinged with insanity. "Now you shall know my torment, only not in the peaceful embrace of sleep, like me. You shall be aware as I destroy everything that you have built ...and you shall watch as I tear it apart bit by bit.....beginning with.........this Black Hellfire Club...sounds fascinating."
Claudia tried to cry out, but was enveloped in a telekinetic cocoon...she was powerless. Somehow Nicole had mutated farther with her time on the astral plane and had now taken the ability to control all of the powers they both once contained all on her own. Claudia felt herself being lifted into the air...and then with a sickening realization she knew her destination.....the crèche'. Before she could have another thought, the cylinder was sealing itself above her and her cries became only muffled squeaks from within. She beat against the glass in an almost mindless rage, but it was no use. She was trapped...and what of those she held the closest. They were now at the mercy of Dark Nemesis.
Nicole turned once again to Harbinger.
"I think I'll let you suffer a bit longer, Robert, before I take your oh so twisted mind back." she said. "Now I must gather my other pawns, and prepare to take control of this BHC that is so prominent in my sister's mind.........WAIT...where is the shape shifter?!??!?!?!!?!?!?"
Nicole's mind lashed out like a searching claw, looking for Morph's psyche. Like a cobra's strike, she tried to sink her psionic claws into his brain but something was partially blocking her. What force could stop her probes? She could hear his screams in her mind as he tried to resist her. She scratched at the edge of his brain trying to gain a foothold. Nicole screamed her rage and her two mind shorn puppets Jon and Gregor screamed with her.
"To me, my soldiers," she wailed as she telekinetically took flight grasping Jon and Gregor as she went. "We shall once again reclaim our alien companion, and he shall pay dearly for his insolence."
And the chase was on.
CHAPTER TWELVE: RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE
"She's coooooomminnnggg!!!" Morph wailed as he thrashed along the ground.
The assembled group ran to him quickly and Grover bowed to pick him up. Suddenly his thrashing subsided and he was coherent and in a stable form once more. He looked up at them, his dark wide-set eyes blinking behind pale lids.
"Thank you," he said simply.
"For what," Avalon asked. "We didn't do anything.
"It's Grover's aura," said Gomurr quietly. "Somehow, it's shielding us all from Nicole's power, but we've got to get out of here quickly before she has a chance to get within physical striking distance, and we must stay close to Grover.
"Then let's go," said Grover allowing his aura to lift him slightly into the air.
Gomurr grabbed him by the boot jerking him roughly back to earth.
"Not all of us can fly," said Gomurr trying hard not to eye Silver. "Besides aerial manuevers would take us too far from your aura of protection and Nicole could gain control of even more of us."
"So we fight!" said Av, his anger still fresh at whoever was endangering his sultry Black Queen.
"No boy," put in Gomurr, "She'd only separate us and pick us off one by one. I've got a better idea. Everyone join hands."
Confused looks passed between the group, but they did as the ancient mage asked. The wailing of Jon, Gregor and Nicole was growing closer and the sound of their screams was being joined by dull explosions, obviously the sound of the three lashing out with their powers as they went. Gomurr concentrated and the shadows surrounding them seemed to come to life and begin to envelop them. Avalon closed his eyes as his body became numbingly cold. So this was what it was like to travel in the Crimson Dawn. Avalon wouldn't recommend it. Suddenly there was a bright light, and they were once again where they had begun, at the entrance to the compound, but the screams of Nicole and her minions were getting ever closer.
"What the hell happened," said Grover. "We're still here."
Gomurr sat crouched on the ground panting.
"It's that witch, Jon," he said quickly. "She's weaving some sort of jamming spell. I could get maybe 2 or 3 of us out of here...but not all. I can't risk losing any of you in the Dawn. For all it's power... it can be a place of great evil, and one not chosen by the Dawn itself would not survive long there, so it looks like we do this the old fashioned way."
"We fight!?!?" Avalon said once again.
"No Av," said Gomurr. "WE RUN....STAY CLOSE TO GROVER...GO!!!"
The company above ground had just made it to the forest canopy when the outer door to the compound exploded outward with explosive force. Gregor's blast field could now be heard and its roar was deafening.
"Come out, come out wherever you are," crowed Dark Nemesis insanely, her two thralls repeating her phrase in a sing song trance after her. "It's time to take your medicine."
Morph tried hard to suppress a shudder as he made his way as quickly and as quietly as possible through the underbrush. The going was slow, as they were trying to be stealthy, and avoid detection in their escape.
"To the air!" Nicole screamed. "Find the body shaper and bring him to me!"
Jon slowly lifted herself into the air in a mystical bubble. Gregor soon followed on the wave of his blast field. Nicole's hair ruffled slightly in the breeze as she used her telekinetics to lift herself from earth's confines and follow her two mind-shorn slaves. Grover looked up through the forest canopy at the three hunters. They had assumed a standard triangular spotting pattern and were slowly circling above the trees.
Gregor's eyes scanned the canopy from above. Predator like, his gaze swept back and forth over the trees. Suddenly there was glint of light as the sun struck something shiny below. Gregor formed an energy spear from the pollutants in the air and let it fly. It struck Silver in the shoulder, in the exact spot that his armor had glinted in the sun.
The Black King fell to his knees, writhing in pain. His armor sizzled white hot, but he didn't cry out for fear of revealing their position. Gomurr went quickly to him, preparing a healing spell to repair the damage. With a look from Grover, however, he stopped. Grover knew his White Queen well, and he knew she would detect even the slightest hint of magic being used, so Gomurr backed away.
"What are we gonna do?" asked Avalon.
"We wait," said Grover. "It's our only choice."
Silver writhed on the ground, his shoulder was not broken but very badly burned. Although the breast plate armor had deflected most of the spear's concussive force, the heat from the plasma weapon had enflamed the skin to at least second degree levels and possibly third. Gomurr almost hoped for the latter, because the nerve damage would keep Silver from feeling the pain. They had to get him some help...and quickly.
From above, Dark Nemesis continued to circle.
"What were you firing on, Gregor?" she barked.
"I saw a flash of light....there, my mistress," he said pointing.
"I don't sense anything," Dark Nemesis said to herself. "How could Morph be blocking me?"
"There is one that I know that can hide from psi's such as yourself," the White Queen droned in her trance like state. "He is the White King, and he still holds some loyalty to your sister's club. Perhaps he is shielding the shape-shifter you seek."
The eyes of Dark Nemesis widened for an instant and then narrowed to slits.
"FIND THEM. BURN THIS PLACE TO THE GROUND IF YOU HAVE TO. I WANT MORPHING BUFOON AND WHATEVER PATHETIC FORCES HE'S MANAGED TO GATHER AGAINST ME!!" the insane Nicole screamed.
Gregor and Jon both smiled wickedly. Dark Nemesis had released them both to their darkest urges when she took over their minds, and they were actually enjoying the destruction that they were about to create. In unison, they screamed pure animal wails of rage and began firing blasts of energy into the jungle at random. Jon's magical spells caused trees to burst into flame wherever her bolts hit. Gregor's energy weapons caused ground shaking explosions wherever they landed.
Grover and his companions were trapped in a warzone with no means of escape. As soon as his party left the safety of the jungle, they would be spotted, but if they didn't leave their hiding place, they would be blown to pieces or slowly burned alive......and now there was Silver's worsening condition to worry about. What were they gonna do now?
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Robert Maxwell turned himself over on the floor slowly. He could taste the blood in the back of his throat from the broken ribs that had punctured his lungs. His left wrist refused to move and hung limply on his forearm. He knew that it was broken. The pain was intense, but it meant one thing.....he was alive, at least for the moment.
He tried to push himself into a sitting position, but even his cybernetic right arm was refusing to work properly. It sparked and sizzled as it's microcircuitry fused and burnt out. Was this how he was going to die?......alone......trapped and destroyed by a scheme of his own making. He knew the end would always come like this. When one spun as many webs of deceit as he did, one had to expect to be snared in them eventually.....but not this time....not yet. Maxwell rolled slowly onto his side. Ignoring the pain, he lifted his broken left arm with it's dangling wrist to the side of his face. Pressing softly against his ear, he prayed that his communicator hadn't been damaged by his beating at the hands of Nicole. There was a crackle of static, and the telescoping metal plates slid down over and around his right ear. The tiny speaking filament engaged itself, and Maxwell panted his orders into the device.
"D.A.N.T.E., body slide by one," Harbinger wheezed. "directly into Med-Lab 1. Emergency bio and techno attention needed."
"Body slide technology unable to compensate for localized dampening field," Maxwell's computerized lifeline replied.
"Damn that old Bishop Nemesis," spat Harbinger as he coughed up a bloody mass. "He knew about my technology and guarded his compound against it."
The Harbinger thought for a moment.
"Physical retrieval, D.A.N.T.E." Harbinger wheezed as he coughed up even more blood.
"Introduction of retrieval team constitutes temporal exposure beyond adviseable limits set by chief commanding officer Robert Maxwell," the mechanical voice said. "Suggestions?"
"Get me a Class D Med-droid and a Paladin Class defense droid down here stat....override Defcon Omega Four authorization Harbinger 616," Harbinger wheezed on the edge of consciousness.
"Compliance," said the digitized voice. "Retrieval unit on it's way. Come home safely to us Robert." v As Maxwell's world faded into blackness...a final thought crossed his mind.
"Come HOME to us Robert." Was his orbiting space station really his home? Were the seventy some droids really the closest thing he had to a family? He prayed that he was still more human than machine as he looked down at his slagged cybertronic arm....and then he knew no more.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: THE VULTURES ARE CIRCLING
The warmth that spread through his body was like a mother's touch....gentle....caressing
The warmth that spread through his body was like a branding iron.....destroying flesh...tearing nerves.
Robert Maxwell smiled to himself....was he dead.....this wonderous sensation of safety and warmth. Did he deserve such peace?
Jack Silver groaned through gritted teeth.....was he dead....the gutwrenching pain was unbearable.....What had he done to bring him this hellish afterlife?
The Harbinger opened his eyes. At first the light was so bright he couldn't see.
Silver opened his eyes. The thick smoke and smell of burning flesh sickened him, making him even more disoriented.
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Maxwell finally sat up quickly. He was aboard his space station. The Med-Droid was putting the final touches on his cybernetic arm. The healing light came from the dermal regenerators that the silent droid carefully slid over his body.
"Query...click...Is it wise that the patient move so soon after such traumatic injuries...click," the med-droid said in a cold robotic voice, completely unlike D.A.N.T.E.'s comfortable conversational tone.
"Away from me robot," said Harbinger pushing the droid away. "I've got to get back down to the surface, before it's too late.....D.A.N.T.E.......D.A.N.T.E.?...are you there?"
"I'm here, as always," chimed in the sentient computer that ran the station.
"Prepare a shuttle...now. I'm going back." said Maxwell as he hurriedly dressed trying to shake off the effects of the healing drugs. Was he already too late?
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Silver finally awoke. He watched the landscape go bouncing by from an unfamiliar perspective. Grover was carrying him over his shoulders as they raced through the inferno that had once been lush jungle. Avalon, Gomurr and Morph ran beside them.
"He's awake," said Avalon.
"I'll take him," Morph quickly chimed in.
"I can make it on my own," said Silver with much more confidence than he felt...how long had they been carrying him.
He made his way down and ran a bit unsteadily beside Avalon. Why hadn't the boy been using his power to carry him. Avalon looked up into the Black King's eyes as a tree beside them exploded into flames.
"I know what you're thinking, sir," said Avalon as he ran, "but I tried lifting you magnetically when you passed out, but they saw the glow of my power signature from above and zoned in on us. It took us almost an hour to get away again, and by that time, the entire jungle was an inferno. So I carried you at first....then Morph....and then Grover. Even Gomurr tried to help but your feet kept dragging."
Silver jogged on in silence. He was the King of the Black Hellfire Club and he had been carried like a child for God knows how long. His shame was deep and he made himself a promise that if they managed to survive this, this group of people would be well rewarded for their efforts to save him. His shoulder still ached and he could feel the popping of the blisters as he ran stretching the badly burned skin. The foul juices from the blisters flowed freely soaking his uniform. Suddenly he saw light ahead. It was the end of the jungle as it gave way to the beach. The ground was still rocked by explosions, some near some far away. Fire was everywhere behind them, and a no doubt telekinetically raised breeze spread it rapidly. What now?
"Wait a minute," cried Avalon. "Is that a skimmer on the beach there? That can carry us all and keep us in contact with Grover's aura. If we could just get to it."
Grover looked at the lad. "That's the skimmer Gregor and Jon brought to the island. How did you know about it?"
Avalon looked down. "I hacked...i mean I discovered the plans while I was surfing on-line. It's a good ship, but in major need of some modifications."
Silver smiled despite his pain and thier predicament, and Grover was about to speak again, when Gomurr chimed in.
"It doesn't matter how he knows about it, you dolts," Gomurr snapped. "There's no time for Hellfire Club posturing. We've got to get on board without them seeing us and get out of here before we're toast....LITERALLY."
Another explosion rocked the ground beside them and a flaming tree came crashing down just inches away from where they stood.
"Okay, here's the plan," said Avalon taking the initiative. "I can put a force bubble around us and we can make a break for it. Maybe with all the smoke they won't notice my power signature."
Another explosion a bit further away struck the ground, and the screams of the vultures circling them could be heard.
"That's no good, son," said Gomurr. "Your electric blue energy would stand out like a sore thumb against the white sand. We need a way to camaflouge ourselves."
"Camaflouge?" Morph asked quickly. "I can do that no problem."
Suddenly Morph's entire body began to change. His clothing slid away and his body took on the exact coloring of the white sand beach. Then he began to stretch and morph his body until he was literally sprawled over the assembled group like a tent. His arms and legs were now poles, and his body was a flat sand colored canopy above their heads. His face appeared briefly on the underside of the canopy, and he winked. The group looked doubtfully around.
"It'll have to do," said Gomurr picking up the front left pole, which consisted of Morph's left arm. "We've got to hurry!!!"
Just then another of Gregor's energy weapons exploded directly behind them. All of them grabbed a pole and they ran on towards the skimmer. The explosions continued to rock the jungle and Gomurr peeked from under the canopy and saw the three figures of Nytshade, Hazzard, and Dark Nemesis in the sky, using their powers to destroy the jungle and scare out their prey. There was a whisper of air as Avalon opened the cabin door and Gomurr was pushed inside.
The old mage turned to see what had happened but saw only Avalon's face as the lad used his magnetic powers to hurl all the other members of their team inside.
"We've been made," Grover screamed as he slid into the Ops chair "No time for pre-systems check, Gomurr get in the seat and hit the gas."
The ground was suddenly shaken violently as Gregor's energy weapon came into contact with the force bubble of magnetic energy Avalon had thrown over the ship at the last minute.
"Go now!!!!" he screamed as he climbed inside. "I don't know how much longer I can hold Gregor off....our energies seem to be pretty similarly charged."
Gomurr looked down at the consoles and pushed the steering column forward. All in the cabin were thrown violently back. Avalon barely made it into the vehicle in time. Gregor, Jon and Nicole were all fast on their tail as they rocketed forward along the sandy beach.
"Pull up Gomurr, Pull UP!!!" screamed Grover from the mass of tangled limbs and bodies at the very back of the skimmer. "What's wrong with you. This thing almost flies itself. It's practically like driving a car."
The old mage pulled hard up on the control column's wheel and the nose of the skimmer rocketed upward, throwing his crew again against the back wall.
"OK...confession time folks," the old man said. "I never learned to drive. Why do you think I always take a limo or ride my bike."
"What!?!?!?!?!" the others said in unison.
"803 years and you never bothered to learn to DRIVE!" said Grover as he tried to right himself.
An explosion hit just outside the sleek aircraft wing sending them in a spinning downward spiral.
"Pull UPPPPP!!!!" everyone screamed at Gomurr who was the only one strapped in.
The ancient mage pulled back on the controls with all his might and they once again rocketed upwards. Gomurr's eyes looked out the front view window and he tried to stamp down the fear in his heart. There, directly in the path of this out of control aircraft was Nytshade, the White Queen. Gomurr knew he could easily teleport out, but what of the others? The ancient mage began hitting panel switches wildly.
"Weapons....Weapons.....Where are the damn weapons on this infernal contraption?" he said to nobody in particular.
His wild dash across the console with his fingers unwittingly activated the fuel dump...and still he rocketed toward the mystic sphere housing Jon. The White Queen's eyes narrowed as they met Gomurr's thruogh the glass of the craft, yet she still didn't move. Suddenly Gomurr recognized the mystical substance of her force bubble. She was using cytorrak magic. That was nearly unbreakable. At the last instant Gomurr jerked the control column to the right, narrowly avoiding the head-on collision that Nytshade was expecting. The wing of the plane sheared off sending them into another headlong dive downward, and sending Jon spinning like a top through the air inside her force bubble.
At that instant, the shuttle of the Harbinger appeared on the scene. His hands never moved from his sides. The shuttle was in direct telepathic communication with him due to his own natural psionics and the cybernetic enhancements he had acquired over the years. His mind whirled. What was an IFHC skimmer doing over this area of ocean AND what why was it doing battle with the possessed White Queen. Maxwell had always prided himself on being a quick thinker. He was also a firm believer in the old saying, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend". So he quickly decided to join the fight on the side of the badly damaged skimmer. He had just finished formulating his plan when Gregor again appeaered on the scene. The Harbinger fired several volleys from the wing mounted guns of his shuttle, but they bounced harmlessly off of Gregor's blast field. The enraged Hazzard bellowed his rage and formed a gigantic spear of energy, hurling it at the crippled skimmer housing Grover and company. It struck the skimmer inches below the spraying fuel port and without warning the doomed craft exploded in a flash of fire and metal. The Harbinger swerved out of the way of the debris and rocketed upward towards his orbital station. Who had been on that craft he had tried to save? Only time would tell.
Gregor, seeing that his mistresses' enemy's craft was destroyed, headed back towards the island. Jon, having regained control of her magics, did the same. Dark Nemesis stood on the beach cackling quietly to herself as they landed.
"Mess with fire, and you're bound to get burned," Nicole said quietly and then turned back towards her father's former compound. "Now back to sweet Claudia and Robert....and the destruction of their pretty little world."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: GATHERING OF STORM CLOUDS
"WHHHEERREEE IISSS HEEEEEE!?!?!?!?!?!" the enraged Dark Nemesis screamed. "How could he have escaped as well? He was barely breathing when we left him."
Jon and Gregor looked at her with blank stares. The right hand that slapped them both was lightning quick and left a tiny trail of blood dripping from Jon's lip. They both continued to stare forward as if nothing had happened.
"Stupid stupid weak-minded puppets," she raged. "No matter, I still have my lovely sister, and soon all she has and more will be mine....no matter what pitiful attempts to stop me Robert can muster."
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Harbinger braced himself as the shuttle bucked through earth's atmosphere. His cold calculating mind whirred with the events of the day. After so many years of combat, his control of the ship was little more than a stray thought as he piloted it back towards his orbiting ship he called The Inferno. His mind turned over the puzzle of the Hellfire Club skimmer. Jon and Gregor had probably brought it to the island, but why would they be attacking it now? If it was someone else from the International branch, how would they know already about the horrible effects of Nicole's escape from the astral plane? He had to handle this carefully. Harbinger's cybernetic hand squeezed the arm of his pilot's chair almost thoughtlessly. The metal twisted and buckled. His mind continued to work, not even noticing the damage he had caused. Could he contain the threat of Nicole and gain the upperhand without the IFHC's or the BHC's knowledge? Was it already too late? Did they already know? Who had been on that shuttle? He had to know, and he had to neutralize any possible links that might be drawn between him and the re-awakening of Dark Nemesis. He touched his head lightly activating his communicator. He was about to contact BHC headquarters and call in some support, but at the last instant an image of Claudia and Nicole from the past popped into his mind. He allowed his thoughts to drift back to the time when they were both exotically beautiful teen girls and more than receptive to both his sexual advances and his plans for the future of the Hellfire Club. Could it be like that again? If he could only manage to regain control of them both, he would be nearly invincible. He deactivated the communicator and continued on toward the orbiting Inferno.
"D.A.N.T.E., I need status on the latest cargo acquisition," Harbinger said into the air knowing the sentient computer aboard The Inferno was always listening.
"Acquisition of cargo elevated into critical situation. Several security droids were damaged or destroyed. Current situation is stable. Inhibitor fields and restraints in position." the warm almost melodic computer voice intoned. "Robert? Database records indicate current operational parameters are not congruent with catalogued cargo's statistical data. Would it not perhaps be better to...."
"Enough, D.A.N.T.E.," said Robert. "I'm almost there. I'll attend to it when I arrive. Just maintain the current situation until you see me."
Maxwell released a disgusted breath. His best and most trusted friend was the sentient computer aboard The Inferno, but D.A.N.T.E.'s penchant for second guessing his commands was becoming tiresome. Perhaps some reprogramming was in order.
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The Iceman laid across his bed in the dormitory of the BHC academy. He had just been narrowly beaten in a hand-to-hand no powers match by DarkWolf in the danger room.
"It wasn't fair," the Iceman mused. "How can you tell if DarkWolf's using his powers or not. I mean super strength, super dense skin and muscles, and deeply buried nerves aren't exactly the showiest powers. He did beat me though. Even all the moves the Mossad taught me, weren't enough to get through his thick hide......All I needed was one good ice blast though and he would have been a Wolfcicle......"
The Iceman's thoughts were interrupted a sudden hole appearing in the air itself. The dark opening widened and out stepped one of the most beautiful women he knew. Nicole stepped out slowly, and The Iceman bowed his head slightly but continued to stare at the vision before him dressed scandalously in an slightly old fashioned but dangerously revealing gown.
"Like my mother's dress, darling" the woman from the portal purred. "I know it's a tad dated, but it's all I could find to wear that befitted my new position."
"New position?" the Iceman fumbled as his eyes travelled up and down the curvacious body of Nemesis. "You mean you aren't our Queen anymore?"
"No, my dear," cooed the vision from the portal as she swayed over to the Iceman. "I don't want to be your queen. I want to be your master and then if I choose your executioner."
The Iceman looked confused for a minute and then a blank expression came over his face as he stared into the seemingly bottomless violet eyes of Nicole. He was now hers....hers to control and manipulate....... and hers to destroy if she chose. Nicole cackled insanely.
"Teleportation, Telekinesis, Telepathy," she laughed. "This is what I was always meant to be...without the hindrance of that power draining little leech Claudia. I've got this striking young man now...and he is just the beginning."
Dark Nemesis motioned toward The Iceman and he walked slowly toward her his red eyes locked securely with her violet ones. As he reached her, she pulled him close to her, enjoying the feel of his young body against hers. She took one more step back and dragged them both through the portal and back onto the island.
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Silver moaned in the dark as he awoke. There was a slight humming in the air. His burned shoulder felt raw and sticky. He tried to speak through a busted lip to the others he prayed were close by.
"Gomurr.....Grover.....Avalon......anyone?" the Black King whispered.
"I'm here," said Avalon, "but where the hell is here?"
"I don't know," came Gomurr's aged voice. "But it looks like we've gone from the frying pan into the fire. One minute we're in an aerial battle for our lives and the next we're surrounding by confounded machines that beat us to a pulp and somehow neutralize our powers."
"Well, this is hell," came Grover's voice finally. "if bad flying of a skimmer is a sin."
Despite their predicament Silver and Avalon stifled a laugh. Morph's voice was the last to be heard.
"I think we were 'foojka'd' from the shuttle and deposited here. My people use it as a common means of travel." said the alien.
"If that means teleported, I think you're right although it's nothing like Gomurr's or Sabre's trips," put in Grover. "but the question remains where are we?"
"I think I can answer that." a voice said as a side door hissed open and bright light spilled into the darkened hoding cell."
"HARBINGER!!!" Grover, Gomurr and Silver all seemed to say at once.
Robert Maxwell stepped into the room.
"So it was you, who was in that shuttle. Well then, I'm glad I had D.A.N.T.E. body slide you out before it exploded. Who was piloting that thing anyway. A crazed monkey from the island or something?" Harbinger said.
All eyes turned to Gomurr and he quickly began the coversation again.
"Exploded?" the old man asked suddenly. "What do you mean exploded?"
"Gregor blew it to a million pieces, I'm afraid," said the Harbinger "some fool was venting fuel as they were flying."
Once again everyone looked at Gomurr. The old man was speechless for a bit and then continued on unabashed with his questioning.
"Not a very pleasent greeting, I must say, Robert." Gomurr said. "Your infernal robots about pulled me in two...and how are you preventing us from using our powers...i mean mystic, mutant and from what I can tell alien. There's no technology that can dampen all those energy signatures.......and could you please tell us where we are?"
Harbinger suppressed a grin and began to speak.
"In no particular order. Where you are is my home away from home. Why the rough greeting is I was unsure of the crew of the skimmer and was only protecting my interests.
"I tried to tell you that the acquisitions from the shuttle were....." D.A.N.T.E.'s voice said from the darkness.
"ENOUGH D.A.N.T.E. Once again, you are right, now but out." said the Harbinger as the continued with his explanation. "and as for the power dampening, we need to take care of that immediately before it's too late."
"Too late?!?!?!?!?!," Grover said.
"Ummm, yes," said Harbinger quickly as he quickly typed commands into a panel beside the door. "You see, you are all inside what's called a 'pacifist field' in my ti...errr...ummm....where I come from. You aren't so much cut off from your powers as cut off from the parts of your mind that allows you to access them and other more violent urges. I'm afraid, however, that the prolonged exposure to the field can lead to severe addiction and sometimes brain damage. For instance, Gomurr, hit me with a hex bolt."
All eyes calmly turned to Gomurr and the old man raised his arm and concentrated, but his mind was suddenly filled with images of a sunny day....an open meadow.......and a certain flaming haired college professor of his acquaintance. His arm dropped and he was carried off in the memory of last week's picnic lunch with the lovely Delia Maverick, and the mage began to forget all about his attempt to access his power.
Suddenly the humming stopped as the field was shut down and a flash of light erupted from Gomurr's hand, along with a stream of obsceneties from his mouth that would make a sailor blush. The field had held him in check and had been shut down a bit too soon. Harbinger dodged quickly to the side, and the bolt bounced around the room sending mystic sparks into the air until finally it faded into the air with a fizzle. Everyone in the room was silent. Finally Avalon spoke.
"Geesh Gomurr," the lad said. "How in the world could you send me to detention for calling Puma a bitch when you have a mouth like that?"
The old man grimaced noticeably.
"There is no time for trivialities, boy," Gomurr said with just a hint of a blush. "What are we to do about Nicole's return and her incredible new range of powers."
"I've got the beginnings of a plan," Maxwell said. "But first we need to get you all down to the sick bay for some medical treatment.
"Oh great," Gomurr mumbled under his breath. "I've got a feeling there's no 'nurse goodbody' aboard this vessel....probably more *&@$ing robots."
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Back at the BHC Academy dorms, DarkWolf banged noisily on the Iceman's door.
"Yo....Ice......we gonna go at it again," yelled the large young man through the door. "I could really use the work out. You're the only one that's given me a real challenge lately. Tell ya what. We'll use powers this time......ICE???? C'mon man, wake up. If we don't schedule the danger room soon, Puma will be in there again running one of her Brad Pitt and Leonard DiCaprio simulations.......and I DON"T EVEN WANNA WALK IN ON THAT AGAIN, that girl has even more twisted fantasies than me."
A dark portal opened up behind the bellowing teen and he was pulled back into it by a pair of pale white arms. Violet eyes glowed back from the darkness and then the portal was gone along with DarkWolf.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: FRIENDLY FIRE
Harbinger's plan was simple, but the tech that he dragged out of storage compartments on The Inferno was fantastically complicated. Even Avalon, the BHC's resident electronics whiz was a bit dumbfounded.
"In conclusion," the Harbinger said. "these psio-skeletons should be sufficient to hide us from Nicole much like Grover's aura did before. They won't protect us from her telekinetics, however. If you are spotted she can still crush you like a bug."
"We need to call in some of the heavy hitters from the BHC and the IFHC," said Avalon simply. "This involves all of us, and we could really use the help, if this Dark Nemesis is as powerful as you say."
"Oh, she's that powerful and more, and the longer she has a corporeal the stronger she gets. She's lived on the astral plane for so long, that the only limits she has are the one's her mind set," said Maxwell, "but by alerting others to the situation we only give her more puppets to control and use against us. I've cobbled together everything I have on board just to make this much psi-armor. Besides, all of D.A.N.T.E.'s attempts to contact the BHC Academy, as well as anyone in the mansion fell on deaf ears."
The youth known as Avalon sighed. Why wasn't anyone on monitor duty at the BHC? He hoped everything was all right back at the academy. Surely whatever student had the responsobility of running the comm suite would at least have noticed the logged message even if they had been away when the call came in. Avalon laughed silently to himself after these thoughts. Some of the students were older than he was, yet here he was thinking of them as irresponsible youngsters. The duties of being part of the inner circle had aged the lad beyond his years.
"Avalon are you listening?" said Gomurr suddenly.
"Yes, sir" said the embarassed youth. "Harbinger was explaining the use of the psio-skeletons."
"No, son," said Gomurr. "He finished droning on about his techno-toys minutes ago. We're discussing our infiltration plans.....and you are a key part to them. I really wish you'd try to pay attention. You can throw your life away if you want, but I'd really like to be alive next week for that Tori Amos concert that you peers are dragging me to."
"Yes, sir," said Avalon aloud and then finished the thought in his head....."we don't have to drag you anywhere to see a beautiful red-head. You bought the tickets before we even heard about the show, you old fart."
Gomurr shook his head. He hadn't meant to snap at the lad, but the upcoming mission and the trials they had already been through had worn his nerves to a frazzle. Was it even right to place Avalon in a battle situation? Was it right to place any of his young charges there? The ancient mage gave a silent prayer of hope for the children under his care.
"I won't allow them to be hurt ever again." he swore in his mind. "I allowed that creature Entropy to fool me and it cost me the life of Grover then and if not for his noble actions my students as well. NEVER AGAIN."
"Are you all ready," said Harbinger breaking Gomurr's thoughts.
They all nodded agreement and Harbinger activated his body sliding technology taking them back to the jungles of Key Trofeo.
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Shockwave lay slumped over the computer console in the Comm Suite. She had ran to that area after getting an urgent message from Monet and then no futher word. Monet, who had been on monitor duty, was always a very level-headed girl and wouldn't have signaled using the emergency code if the situation wasn't dire. She had known something was wrong when she had entered and seen DarkWolf with Monet slumped over his shoulder. The lad was strong and his deeply buried nerves and thick muscles and skin made him really tough, but Monet was nearly invulnerable. How had he managed to knock her unconscious....and more importantly ...WHY? She hadn't had time to think about this long before Nicole had attacked her as well. Nicole's first telekinetic blast slammed her to the wall. Shockwave's ability to harness and use almost any type of energy allowed her to redirect part Nicole's own blast against her. Dark Nemesis was slammed against the opposite wall, but was quickly back to her feet wiping a trickle of blood from her lip.....AND SHE WAS SMILING. Shockwave pressed her comm badge on her wrist, meaning to call in help, when suddenly the delicately linked bracelet that held it in place snapped apart and the unit was crushed in mid-air.
"No no no, my dear" hissed Nicole as she telekinetically hurled shards of broken glass from the ruined comm system. "This is a private party for now."
Shockwave leaped into the air, narrowly missing the speeding shards of glass. She landed on her feet and leaped again, this time back flipping to a position behind the attacking Nicole. So that's how they took out Monet....with a psi-blast....but why? Shockwave's energy manipulation powers were impressive indeed and could easily level the entire comm suite, but this required a much more subtle approach. Shockwave brought her arm around and under the attacking Nicole's neck and held her in place from behind. Her hand glowed as she harnessed the energy from the sparking and short circuiting computers.
"Black Queen?" Shockwave said as she held Nicole. "What is the meaning of this. Why attack us here. Answer quickly or I send a bolt of electricity straight through your brain."
The Black Queen smiled and stood perfectly still not saying a word. Shockwave was about to ask her again with a little more force when she let out a small yelp and fell to the floor. Darkwolf had manueverd behind her in the shadow. His dark costume blended almost perfectly with the blackness and Shockwave was completely unaware of his presence until she felt his finger give her a heavy thump at the base of her skull, knocking her unconscious. Dark Nemesis exhaled heavily.
"About time, boy" she wheezed. "That red-haired little harlot almost blasted me. Now pick them both up and let's get them back to the compound."
"And as for you," said Nicole spinning to the corner of the room where Nytshade stood cloaked in a spell of invisibility. "Your silencing spell had better have kept any of the others from hearing this commotion. Another slip up like allowing that little cow to signal for help and your life will be forfeit. I'm going to take Claudia's little army apart piece by piece, and I mean to enjoy it. It's priceless how they all assume I'm her. They seem almost hurt that I'd be attacking them. Apparently they don't know my bitch of a sister, the way I do. She simply can't be trusted."
And with a final throaty laugh, Nicole enveloped all of them in her teleportation field and returned to Key Trofeo.
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Gregor and Iceman paced back and forth in front of the compound door like mechanical sentries. Gomurr crept cautiosly closer. Not detecting the mystical presence of Jon, he was free to use his own cloaking spell of invisibility. He was almost to the door of the compound when he heard the sound of air quickly rushing into the vacumous opening of Dark Nemesis' teleportal. He tried to scramble back to the underbrush but it was too late. Jon was the first one to step from the portal and she recognized his mystic signature instantly.
"Mistress" Jon cried. "An intruder invades your home."
Jon wove a counter spell revealing Gomurr as he fled towards the underbrush. Iceman was on him instantly. Gomurr managed to avoid the first few ice blasts by forming shields of fire but the boy was lightning fast and soon snared Gomurr's ankles in patch of ice that formed from nowhere. The ancient mage fell forward mere feet from the jungle cover he was seeking.
Gomurr's friends watched from under the jungle canopy unsure of what to do. They all stared in horror as Gomurr crashed to the ground. The idea of capture had already been discussed, and agreed upon. If anyone was taken they were written off. There weren't enough of them to waste on futile rescue attempts. Harbinger grimaced and Avalon stared at the ground. The alien Morph began to move to help the old one, but Grover held up a silent hand to stop him. Grover, more than any of them, cared about the ancient mage, but there was nothing they could do against Nemesis if she managed to grab their minds.
Gomurr in a panic, reached for the Crimson Dawn. He felt the shadows stretch out to embrace him, but Jon sensed it instantly and countered with a scrambling spell. Gomurr's powers were greater, but Jon's spell was just enough to throw off any sort of directional control Gomurr had over the port. He couldn't risk trying to navigate the Dawn blind. It was much too dangerous and he could be lost or worse trapped there forever. He looked at Nytshade. The strain of holding off his mystic abilities was too much for her. Her nose was now pouring forth a steady stream of blood and her face was a ghastly white. Gomurr released his hold on the Dawn and Jon stumbled forward. As much as he wanted to escape, he wouldn't destroy Jon's mind for it. The Iceman kicked Gomurr in the ribs, robbing of his breath and concentration. Then again kicked him in the head. Gomurr felt concsiousness slipping from him. Gregor moved over the diminutive mage on the ground and formed an energy spear. He raised it and was about to skewer the struggling mystic when help came from the unlikeliest source of all.
Jack Silver, refusing to let his friend die, reached out with just a fraction of his mutant ability and made contact with the buckle on Gregor's belt. The gawdy platinum of the buckle instantly took on a liquid quality and Silver concentrated giving it a razor sharp lifted edge. As Gregor moved to bring the energy weapon down on the now defenseless Gomurr, the edge sliced deeply into his stomach and he cried out, releasing his hold on the pollutants that formed the weapon. Gomurr with the last of his fading power risked all to port away. Jon was now too weak to stop him and didn't even try. The shadows reached out to swallow the mage like a predator snatching its prey, and he was gone. The party hidden in the bushes breathed a collective sigh of relief as the ancient mage appeared back beside them, bruised and battered, but still alive. Dark Nemesis approached Gregor.
"What's wrong with you," she hissed as she slapped him soundly across the face. "First you almost kill a valuable asset like this mystic, and then you scream for no reason, and then you allow him to escape. Have you outlived your usefulness?"
Gregor tried to explain away the bleeding gash across his stomach, but Nicole raged on.
"Serves you right for wearing such a ridiculous buckle," she raged slapping him again and again. "When I was with the Hellfire Club our Kings had style......and were not preening and strutting idiots like yourself. It's no wonder you no longer hold the title."
Gregor stepped back examining the buckle, but Silver had already shaped it back to it's former appearance. Dark Nemesis spoke again.
"Enough of this." she cried seemingly to the heavens. "This has been an amusement up until now. The ancient fool may think he can get help from his friends in Claudia's ridiculous school....but I will make them mine first."
Lifting her arms, Nicole activated her powers and pockets of darkness opened in front of her thralls. The mind controlled puppets stepped through and were gone. Moments later they reappeared stepping from their portals and leading others with them.
Gregor stepped out first leading the beautifully exotic Puma and Catana. They had followed this handsome man almost without question, Puma's lascivious nature getting the better of them. After all, if he looked that good, what harm could it be...besides he used to be Black King. Hav1 stepped out following Jon, who had gotten his attention through similar methods as Gregor. The Iceman stepped out with Siryn and Deadpool behind him. They were charged and ready for battle because the youth had given them the truth about the island, only not his part in it. Meltdown and Shifter stepped out willingly following their head mistress Shockwave. DarkWolf stepped out carrying the newly joined Byron in his arms, and finally Monet flew from her portal followed closely by Rogue.
The new comers to the scene looked around, battle instincts already beginning to kick in, but it was too late. With a flash of light from violet eyes, they all become the property of Dark Nemesis. Nicole lifted her arms once again and they were all lifted into the air telekinetically. As Dark Nemesis, she was using the powers of both herself and Claudia, but never before had either of them, even combined, had this much telekinetic might. Nicole smiled. She was getting stronger, and soon......very soon she would take her quickly forming army off this island and into the world at large.
Gomurr's group watched from the jungle. It was now 16 of their closest friends under the control of an insane Nicole, against the 6 of them.......and inside the compound Claudia moaned softly in her forced slumber.....images of darkness blotting out the light running through her mind.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Queen of Darkness...Queen of Light
Her eyes fluttered open slowly and her vision refused to focus. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she was once again aware of her surroundings. She blinked her matted eyes and tried once again to focus and clear the fog from her head.
"Where am I?" she thought...and then the events of the last few days came back to her. "NICOLE!!!!.....SHE'S ALIVE!!!!!"
Claudia tried to rise to a sitting position but she was held in place. She willed herself to scream and kick, but her body remained in a position of absolute relaxation. She attempted to access her psionic abilities, but for the first time for as long as she could remember, she was mind-blind. Once again she tried to focus. In the back of her head a tiny part of her remembered her sister placing her in the chamber. Finally her eyes began to focus and the first thing she noticed was an exquisitely beautiful female body draped over and pressed against her glass coffin. The body was swathed in a scarlet gown of a vintage design. The supple breasts of the figure were pressed against the glass threatening to spill out of the low cut bodice.
"Rae??" Claudia thought. "Blink is that you?"
Suddenly a voice like a psionic bullhorn exploded in her head.
"No dear sister," the voice laughed. "It's me...Nicole, but what a naughty little girl you've been. Your memories of this Rachel Ferguson person are quite ...shall we say vivid. A pity she wasn't among the captured. I'd love to see you watch her die."
Claudia winced. Everything was coming back to her now........The trip to the island with the Harbinger..........The arrival of Avalon and Silver searching for a mysterious reading on the cerebro unit.....the death of one of her pets.......her capture at the hands of her sister.....the revelation of Robert Maxwell's involvement in the death of her family and return of Nicole. Claudia's vision was now completely clear. She looked up as Nicole sensually leaned against the glass tomb she was imprisoned in. Why couldn't she access her powers.? What was going on?
"So many questions sister dear," Nicole laughed. "What say I show you just exactly what's becoming of the life you led."
With that Nicole telekinetically popped the seals on Claudia's glass and metal prison and the Black Queen quickly sat up. Through the steam that the containment unit was slowly spewing, Claudia saw figures moving and heard shouts and shrill screams. Nicole smiled at her sister's confusion and telekinetically lifted her from the confinement chamber to the floor. Claudia struggled in Nicole's grasp, sputtering and straining to get free, but her powers were seemingly gone.
"That's right, sis" Nicole hissed. "I've got everything I should have now....and you have nothing. You're actually nothing more than the flat scan slut, you deserve to be now."
She spat these last words and Claudia raised her hand to strike her sister, but just as quickly, she slapped herself. She cried out at the sharp pain in her cheek as her hand left an angry red welt across her porcelain skin.
"Uh uh uh, Clauds," Nicole chuckled. "Not only can I read your thoughts, but I can direct your body to do anything I want, so let's try to calm down and enjoy the show I've prepared for you. I decided before I took your little club into the world at large that I needed to test them and see what sort of unit you had forged them into....and what better test than against each other?"
Claudia stared angrily at her sister and then slightly over her shoulder. her mouth dropped open and only a strangled gasp escaped. The sight that greeted her eyes was one that she thought she would never see. Two girls....best friends....roomates in fact.... fighting tooth and nail to destroy each other. What was going on? Nicole had somehow gathered almost all of the BHC, and they were doing things that only Nicole could be responsible for.
Monet and Rogue floated soundlessly in the air, but the impact of their punches was deafening. Rogue's fist came into contact with Monet's face splitting her lip wide open. Monet countered with a roundhouse to Rogue's ribs that caused the southern lass to cry out in pain. Both young women were what can only be described as "nigh invulnerable" but against each other the damage was real.....and getting bloodier by the second.
"Stop this Nicole." Claudia cried. "I'll do anything you want, just stop it before they kill each other."
"Of course you'll do anything I want," laughed Nicole. "I can take your mind as easily as I can theirs now, but there's still much more for you to see."
Claudia followed Nicole's gaze and saw two more members of her BHC. Deadpool sat soundlessly as Siryn approached carrying a jagged and dangerous looking dagger. He said nothing as she cut away the fabric of his costume bit by bit. When his shirt was removed, she jerked him to his feet and slid the knife down the seam of his uniform pants. They split and she ripped the fabric away. When he was completely naked, she pushed him to the ground and he lay prone looking up at the woman he loved with only a blank stare in his eyes. Claudia's gaze traveled down the smooth pink flesh that now covered Deadpool's body. The blood transfusion that Belasco had given him had supercharged his healing factor giving him a handsome human appearance once more, but what was Siryn going to do now. Dumbfounded, Claudia watched Siryn undress and climb atop her lover. A smile crossed Nicole's face as the lover's joined in a passionate embrace. Their love making, slow and methodic at first, began to get more wild and almost animilistic. Monet and Rogue continued to pound each other furiously above and the sounds of the lover's grunts mingled with the screams and groans of the two ladies flying overhead. Claudia choked back tears.
"Stop it now, Nicole," she begged. "This isn't them......they aren't like this. They would never do these things."
"Oh, but they are," Nicole laughed as she continued to watch their frenzied action. "I've simply released the darkness within them. Isn't it exquisite."
Siryn threw her head back and let out a long slow moan. In her hand, she still held the knife and as she once again brought her arms around her lover, she sliced it across his chest. Blood sprayed outward from the wound and Deadpool screamed in pain...or was it exstacy? She brought the knife down again and again as they continued their primal love making. Deadpool's healing factor stitched wounds back together almost as quickly as Siryn could make them, but could even his now enhanced powers keep up with the damage for long. Claudia had to turn away.
"Oh the show's not over dear sister," said Nicole as she motioned again and other figures came into play in her grotesque puppet show.
Gregor steeped forward with a long black wicked looking whip in his hand. His chest was bare and he was panting and sweating heavily. Claudia didn't want to know what had been going on previous to her release.
"Recognize the whip, darling?" Nicole said as she wrapped her arm around her sister's waist and hugged her close. "Mother and Father really were quite the naughty pair."
Claudia choked back a sob as she finally ceased her struggle in Nicole's telekinetic embrace. She was helpless as her insane sister tortured what had been her only family for so long. She watched on in horror as Puma, Catana, and the newly joined Byron approached Gregor. Puma and Catana had taken their transitional forms and Byron had shape-shifted into the form of sleek bengal tiger. Puma and Catana's tails whipped in the slight breeze behind still almost human bodies. Claws shined viciously on the end of sensuous young arms. The two girls wore nothing. The slight fur that covered their bodies only partially hid their nakedness and young nubile curves. Byron in her tiger-form approached Gregor cautiously. His hand reached out and he caressed her soft fur. A deep throaty purr came up from her throat.
The other two girls began to move toward Gregor. They mumbled and cooed soft velvetty whispers. Clawed fingers reached out menacingly yearning. Gregor raised his arm and the whip cracked down on Puma's back and across her shoulder. He pulled it back with a sharp crack and she let loose an animal wail of pleasure and pain combined. Gregor smiled wickedly and gave Catana a similar gift. Both young girls slowly moved closer still reaching for Gregor and hissing and purring. The dance of pain and pleasure was as exotic as it was dangerous....a cruel ballet of mixed sensations.
"They're human girls," Claudia sobbed uncontrollably. "not animals......how can you do this to them. They're children for god's sakes."
Nicole grinned wickedly. She listened in triumph and mounting excitement as the sounds of the aerial combat of Rogue and Monet blended with the sadistic games played by Gregor, Puma, Catana, Byron, Siryn and Deadpool.
"Oh there's much more, my pathetic little sister...MUCH MUCH more," she hissed.
Nicole motioned again and Shockwave stepped forward. Claudia had never seen the young head mistress so charged up with power. Her skin shown in the darkness as if she were a burning furnace of energy. Claudia looked closer and saw the reason why. Trailing behind her on leashes of what appeared to be pure energy were Havoc1, Iceman, Shifter and Meltdown. Shockwave was using her powers in ways she never had before. Rather than channeling and absorbing the energy from outside sources such as electricity or energy directed at her, she had tapped into the actual source of the energy itself. In this case unfortunately this source happened to be four of her students. Iceman could barely stand. His body, covered only in patches of ice, shivered violently as he struggled forward, jerked on his leash by the grinning Shockwave. Shifter lay unconscious at Shockwave's feet, or at least Claudia prayed he was only unconscious. Had Shockwave drained so much of his energy that he had finally died? Meltdown and Havoc1 weren't much better off. They both clung weakly to the legs of Shockwave. They stroked her thighs and hips mumbling nonsense like animals fearful of their master. Claudia thought she could take no more, and she knew eventually one of the people she knew and loved would die of the torment Nicole had created for them. She turned once again to beg her sister to stop when Nicole pulled out one final surprise.
Floating from the ceiling in a mystic bubble came Nytshade, the White Queen. She was dressed in another beautiful and vintage gown that Claudia remembered from her mother's wardrobe. It fit her beautiful curves almost perfectly and she looked radiant. As her energy bubble touched down, Nytshade stepped toward the two sisters. Kneeling before Nicole, she placed a small silvery dagger in the hands of Claudia. Claudia's eyes widened. What was going on now?
"Now is your final chance, Claudia," Nicole whispered into her ear. "If you can slay this witch in your current powerless state, then you will prove that you are worthy to serve by my side. If not, then all of the others you hold dear shall die."
Claudia gripped the handle of the dagger. Jon simply smiled prettily as she pulled a similar dagger from the bodice of her gown. The cries of the others could be plainly heard......some of them moaning with pleasure and glee...others in pain and agony.
At times, Claudie hated Jon Ellen Tolliver. The witch should be a withered ancient crone because of her advanced age, but her magics kept her youthful and beautiful....and Claudia hated her for this. When Gregor had served as Black King, his dalliances with the witch weren't even remotely disguised.......and Claudia hated her for this. Jon's constant intereference in her schemes often led to disaster....and Claudia hated her for this.........The question was how much hate did it take to kill someone in cold blood.
Claudia's thoughts were broken by a kick to the back of her ankles. She fell awkwardly to the ground and before she could regain her balance, Jon was upon her and her arms were pinned to her sides. Claudia could see by the faraway look in Jon's eyes that she was still under Nicole's influence, but Nicole was obviously allowing her to use her own fighting techniques. Jon's fingernails raked savagely across Claudia's face as she drew her knife high with the other hand. Claudia rolled her head quickly away as Jon's knife sunk into the floor inches from her head.
With a supreme effort Claudia thrust forward with her hips, unseating Jon from her position of power, and then the fight began in earnest. As Claudia scambled to her feet, Jon charged like a rampaging animal, knife held in front of her like a lance of death. Claudia dodged easily as Jon charged by, but realized the frontal attack had been a trick as Jon turned at the last minute and sliced savagely down her ribs. Claudia screamed in pain and Jon, now standing across the room, panted and licked the bloody red tip of her dagger.
"First blood to the White Queen," announced Nicole to her army of mind shorn puppets.
Claudia wondered why Jon hadn't used her powers. Could Nicole really be giving her and her students a chance to rule by her side? Was she making sure this fight was fair by inhibiting Jon's powers as well? There was no time for further thought, however, as Jon once again charged at Claudia. The Black Queen shot out her right leg lightning quick tripping Jon and bringing her to the ground. Before Jon could regain her footing Claudia was on top of her trying to pin her and end this match. Jon bucked and rolled struggling agains Claudia's powerful hips. Now rolling around on the compound floor, the two queens fought with all their might. One moment Claudia was on top...the next Jon. Their struggle intensified and Nicole watched amusedly. She had ceased controlling the actions of the others and the ones that could still stand stood silently and looked on. Their minds still belonged to Nicole, but without her concentration the brutality of their actions finally ceased.
Claudia finally managed to pin Jon's arms with her knees and had wrestled the knife from her grasp. The Black Queen raised her knife and brought it to the soft white flesh of Jon's throats as she looked up at her sister. Jon struggled with her lower body trying to rid herself of Claudia's presence. The White Queen's mind was now reduced to that of an animal. It was all Claudia could do to keep her under control. Claudia closed her eyes as she pushed the knife closer into Jon's throat. A thin trail of blood leaked from the knife point.
"Do it," Nicole ordered gleefully. "Finish her....and you and I can rule this world together. I'll give you your power back. It can be like old times. Take this cow's life and let our covenant be sealed in blood. All the others can go free and you and I can use them to control the destiny of this entire planet."
Claudia closed her eyes and took the knife from Jon's throat. She raised it high into the air and prepared to plunge it into the struggling White Queen's heart. Jon's voice was now reduced to snarls and curses. Nicole had released the primal animal in Jon's soul, the same animal that lies within everyone's heart, and it had taken everything Claudia had to defeat her.
"I'm sorry Jon," said Claudia with tears of frustration and rage in her eyes. "I never have liked you, but I have to do this in order to save everyone else."
Nicole simply smiled and continued to watch. Claudia, forcing herself to return to the task at hand, brought the knife plunging down toward's Jon's prone body. There was no other choice. In order for her and her students to live, the White Queen had to die.
And then the lights went out.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: SHOCKWAVES
The darkness was absolute. Claudia's hand came rushing down holding the dagger that would end Jon's life. As it buried itself in the chamber floor, Claudia grimaced. Something wasn't right. By the feel of the dagger in her hand vibrating against the floor, Claudia could tell Jon had escaped. Where there should have been a wet sticky mass of bloody flesh, there was only cold flooring. Mere feet away, Nicole smiled in the blackness her arm cradling the White Queen's curvacious waist, as Jon leaned against her, exhausted from the stress of the teleport.
"This can be finished later, Claudia," she said her voice sounding even more frightening in the dark. "For now, it seems we have univited guests.
Dark Nemesis reached out with her mind intent on taking the minds of whoever had dared to intrude on her inner sanctum. As she searched with her mind, she sent her possessed minions out in a net-like pattern fumbling through the darkness. She scanned in all directions but found no trace of any minds other than those she already possessed. Focusing the light powers she had inherited from her father, she fired a blast of radiance towards the chamber ceiling, but before it completely left her hand it fizzled and was swallowed by the darkness.
"Now," whispered Gomurr to the others, "before they have time to adjust. The enchantment of the obsydian veil has limits."
Grover, Morph, Avalon, Gomurr, Silver and Harbinger moved forward as one. The psi-baffling helmets Harbinger and Avalon had cobbled together held night vision eye pieces, and with them the rescue team saw their friends highlighted in green. With each step they took, they came menacingly closer to the net of Nicole's mind-shorn puppets.
"It's the spell of the obsydian veil," whispered Nytshade breathily into Nicole's ear as she continued to lean against her.
"If you know what it is, then stop it, witch," said Nicole as she pushed Jon roughly away.
Jon concentrated her magics and a sparkling ball of light exploded from her hands and sparked brilliantly on the chamber ceiling. The darkness suddenly evaporated, and the attackers were revealed. Nicole, now seeing her opposition, reached out with her mind again, but again found no trace of the intruders.
"Kill them, my army. Tear them limb from limb." Nicole screamed.
In the seconds that the darkness had afforded them Silver, Grover and Avalon had already further disabled the already injured Shifter and Catana. They lie securely bound in energy dampening cuffs, but now that the lights were restored, their element of surprise was gone. Harbinger had taken his opportunity to rescue Nemeis and now held Claudia securely in his arms. Together the rescue party moved forward as the puppets of Nicole moved in to surround them.
Gregor, as always, was the first to act. His energy spear came hurtling directly towards the head of his half-brother Avalon. With a quick extension of his staff, SuperGrover deflected the blow, as Avalon ducked for cover. Harbinger took the initiative and fired an energy dampening net from his cybernetic arm. It spread and landed on Iceman, Siryn and Hav1, trapping them and negating their powers for the moment. Siryn's fire and Iceman's ice combined with Hav's telekinetics now simply fizzled and sparked under the nets field.
Looking around, the rescue party could see that they were still outnumbered, however. It was then that Gomurr, reached within himself and released the guardians of the Crimson Dawn. The ancient mage was loathe to open himself this fully to the dark energies that dwelt there, but there was no alternative. Grover grimaced as he watched his mentor's face go pale in concentration and seeming revulsion. Suddenly Shadow Ninja's appeared wherever there was a hint of darkness remaining. They began to attack Nicole's minions with all the savage fury that was the Dawn.
Jon's reaction was almost instinctual. She quickly cast a binding spell and prevented Gommur from releasing any more of the shadow guardians. The twenty or so he did manage to release though began to attack in earnest. Puma stood back to back with Byron as a ring of ninja's circled them. With each slash of the girl's claws the ninja's faded screaming only to reappear again. Gomurr motioned and 10 of the ninja's sprouted bat like wings from their shadowed bodies and took flight to battle Monet, Rogue and Gregor in the air. With each powerful blow that the mutants gave, the ninjas would only dissipate and reappear. The future of the battle began to look brighter for Gomurr's group. Deadpool, however, seeing the source of the ninja's, backflipped directly in the midst of Grover's rescue party, his knife barreling toward the ancient mage's back. Avalon spun and quickly zapped the mercenary into unconsciousness with an electromagnetic pulse.
"Fool!!!" Harbinger said. "He was in the aura now...he would have been back under his own control."
"Forgive me for trying to save Gomurr's life, Maxwell," Avalon snapped. "but 'Pool's got like lightning reflexes. He would have taken the old man out before he realized what he was doing."
Despite the arguing of Harbinger and Avalon, the group continued moving steadily forward towards Nicole who stood calmly by the cylinder that she herself had been imprisoned in and her more recently held her sister. DarkWolf appeared from nowhere and attacked. The lad leaped from a perch in the shadows and came barreling down on the band of heroes. Silver, seeing the lad falling toward them, concentrated and his gauntlet and breastplate liquified and travelled up his arms. Seconds before Darkwolf struck, Silver solidified the metal in his uniform into a ultra slick dome, and Darkwolf ricocheted off into the far wall. Before he could rise Avalon hit him with an EM pulse, taking him out of the fight.
Shockwave suddenly stood from where she had been kneeling beside Nicole, and then from behind Shockwave came Meltdown. Meltdown quickly approached Shockwave, laying her hands on the headmistress' shoulders. Shockwave raised her arms and used her own energy manipulation powers to attune herself with Meltdown. Then she let fly the largest plasma bomb Gomurr had ever seen. It struck mere feet from their group and rocked them all to the floor with it's tremendous explosion. Silver concentrated and stabilized the area around him using his control over metal, but the damage had already been done. The entire structure was shaking as if in the spasms of an earthquake. Nicole stood by simply smiling as the compound that had held her for years crumbled to the ground. The ceiling began to give and Silver concentrated again, twisting and warping support beams making them adamantium strong once more. Shockwave let loose another plasma bomb and this time it had even more disastrous results. This one struck nearer the group and sent them reeling in all directions. All but Morph and Gomurr were outside Grover's aura of protection now and the tide of the battle was about to turn once again.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: AND THEN THERE WERE THREE
Gomurr continued to drive the shadow ninjas he had control over towards their foes, but each blow sustained by his obsydian charges was a strike against Gomurr, and even his ancient magics had limits. Avalon and Silver stood at once. Their cruel grins and glazed looks gave testament to the fact that they were now the tool of Dark Nemesis. Gomurr knew that Jon's scrambling spell still prevented him from bringing more creatures of the Crimson Dawn into the fray, but now that they had lost their allies in the battle, the shadow creatures were needed more than ever.
Harbinger also rose and strode robot-like toward Nicole. He walked past the battling shadow ninjas and mutants as if they weren't there. His only goal seemed to be reaching Dark Nemesis. When he reached Nicole, he dropped to his knees before her, prostrate in her power.
"It seems Robert," said Dark Nemesis, "that after all this time, your fate lies in my hands and not the other way around. Let's see.....should I imprison you for almost a decade like you did to me, with only your own thoughts as company? Could your puny psionics cope with life on the astral plane? Could you stand living in a world where the nightmares of your youth can be brought to horrifying life and relived over and over again? No, I think not."
Robert Maxwell seemed to convulse as Dark Nemesis concentrated more of her telepathic power onto him. Sparks flew from his cybernetic headgear and he cried out in pain. Claudia cried out as well.
"Stop it, Nicole," Claudia begged again. "He ruined our lives. I see that now, but killing him won't bring Father and Mother back."
"You think I want those pathetic idiots back, Claudia," Nicole hissed sarcastically. "I killed them for a reason. They were simply holding us.....i mean me, back, but he knew of my plans. I never directly told him, but he knew. The mysterious Harbinger was well aware that I planned our parents elimination. He simply thought he could use it to his advantage. I thought he loved me once, Claudia. I thought he loved me above all others, but it seems you were his true concern. Why else would he imprison me while saving you from the blast that should have rightfully killed you."
"It wasn't like that Nicole," Maxwell heaved as Dark Nemesis' telepathy continued to shatter every psionic baffle in his mind. "I only put you in the creche' in hopes that you would one day recover. I needed you both, in order for my plans to work."
"Plans....NEEDED," Nicole raged as Maxwell's body continued to convulse. "I didn't hear the word love mentioned once, Robert. You never really loved either of us, did you?"
Claudia sobbed into her hands. She knew the Harbinger had always had a hidden agenda, but could he have been using them from the beginning?.....even when he had first arrived on the scene as the mysterious stranger, claiming knowledge of the future.....even when he had awakened her desire for him and brought her into the world of womanhood.
"AHA!" Nicole exclaimed as she continued her psionic torture of the Harbinger. "I've found the perfect memory. It's when your psi-talent first manifested, I believe. What was her name. June Freeson...ooh..and she died...horribly...and what's this....during World War 3. Oh, Robert. What a delicious memory to live in for oh let's say......FOREVER!"
The Harbinger cried out and began to roll around on the ground holding his head crying out the name of the girl that was his first love in his war torn future. Nicole laughed insanely and Claudia continued to sob. The mind controlled puppets of Dark Nemesis continued to do battle against the shadow ninjas, but Shockwave, Meltdown, Avalon and Silver stood motionless amid the battle.
"Now I want that little wizard, the shape changing fool that thought he could defy me, and their blue skinned companion," Nicole screamed and the four not directly engaged in battle began to surround Gomurr and his companions.
Avalon was the first to attack. His blue magnetic flare came hurtling at the trio of heroes, but was deflected by a sudden eruption of metal bursting from the floor in front of them.
"Not all metal holds a magnetic charge, Avalon," Silver sneered and I am the master of all metals. "This kill belongs to me."
Gomurr grimaced. What had Nicole done to awaken the darkness in the bright soul of Jack Silver Jr. The ancient mage was reminded of the Black King's ruthless father, but had little time to think about it, as the metal floor of the chamber literally began to attack them. Huge spikes of the flooring erupted upward threatening to skewer the trio. Grover shattered and broke off the spikes as they formed with the staff he formed from his gauntlets, but they were seemingly endless and incredibly hard to dodge as he tried to remain relatively close to his friends. Gomurr deflected the energy blasts of Avalon, Shockwave and Meltdown the best he could, but the effect was beginning to wear on him as was the strain of maintaining the shadow ninjas. Morph stood between the two men, fear growing like a cancer inside of him with each passing second. He had no long distance powers and any shape-changing he did would possibly take him out of Grover's aura of protection.
Suddenly a spike erupted directly under Gomurr's foot, and he fell. Morph quickly stretched his malleable arm out and picked up the ancient headmaster. Gomurr cursed loudly as an angry red pool of blood began to seep through the leather of his hiking boot., but the old one continued to try and block the energy attacks. With each blast more and more of the other's powers were making it through the mage's mystic shields, and the spikes continued to issue forth. Finally with a look of resignation, Gomurr beckoned the alien to bring his face close to his. He whispered something that SuperGrover couldn't hear. The alien shook his head and turned away, but Gomurr raised his voice and repeated his previous words. Grover still couldn't hear them over the roar of the battle.
Morph suddenly dropped the ancient mage and the wizened old man hit the floor quite ungracefully on his injured foot and rolled out of the aura of protection. After dropping Gomurr, Morph bolted for the sky and began to shrink at an alarming rate until he he finally disappeared into darkness.
"Where are you going.....you coward," Grover yelled as he watched Morph desert them.
Grover watched in horror as Nicole took over Gomurr's mind and the shadow ninjas disappeared in whisps of obsydian smoke. Now he stood alone against the might of his closest friends.
The silence was deafening. Where once the sounds of battle were a cacophonous explosion of attack cries and screams of agony, now there was only silence. Grover looked around. All participants in the battle stood silently as Nicole slowly made her way down from the raised platform near the top of the cavernous chamber.
Regally, like the queen of the world, she knew she would soon be, Dark Nemesis made her way down to the floor of the chamber, her thigh high black boots clicking on the cool metal of the steps as she came. She swayed, almost sensually, as she approached Grover. Her mind controlled minions stood motionless. Expressions ranged from a look of barely controlled rage to complete lack of emotion. The only people free of her influence were Claudia who was trapped by telekinetically twisted metal and the now insane Harbinger that rolled and howled on the floor like a madman. The dauntless hero stood his ground although a cold fear clutched his heart. How could he possibly defeat a force this large....and even if he could, did he want to.......... if it meant killing his friends.
"You don't beg for you life, blue-skin, are you not afraid?" Nicole cooed as she brushed his face with her hand. "MMMM....feels almost like an velvet."
Grover had heard this before. His protective aura was constantly surrounding him. It gave off a small almost electric charge when touched, and he had been told it felt delicious when touched by skin. This was not yet another fanatical admirer, however. This was a force of evil that had completely decimated the ranks of the BHC and turned them into mindless slaves. What was he going to do?
"I see in Claudia's memories, that you are a king to a club that serves as a rival to hers," said Nicole as she circled Grover, examining him like a horseman views a prize stallion. "You might make a fitting consort to the queen in my new world order.......if you can....fulfill the duties I require."
With the last statement, Nicole's hand slowly slid down Grover's body. From his cheek....to his chest....his stomach...to more ...sensitive areas. Grover continued staring straight ahead. What was this insane witch doing? What sort of game was this? He knew that his aura up until know had protected him from all psionic probes....even those of Darque Feonix although when his former friend KaneX had used his awesome abilities to try to scan Grover it had knocked the blue skinned mutant unconscious for almost two days.. How much power did Nicole now wield? Could she possibly be reading his thoughts?
"What say you.....Grover is it?" Nicole continued. "Pledge yourself to me now and rule by my side....or die beneath my feet. All minds here seem to count you as a noble man...full of reason and intellect. What choice do you have? Either you join me now or your friends tear you limb from limb. This old one especially...he seems to think of you almost as a son......what say we have him destroy you. Would it drive him mad....would he take his own life in shame? The choice is yours, White King. What say you?"
Grover's mind reeled. He knew he had no real choice in the matter, but he also knew that he, of all the Hellfire Club members would have full knowledge of what he was doing.. He wasn't sure how deeply Nicole had buried the psyches of his friends beneath her mind control. Did they know what they were doing? Were they fighting against it? Who among them was enjoying the thrill of having no conscience to hinder their dark side? Grover thought of all the people he called friend that were already under the thrall of Dark Nemesis. Then a vision of Jen Larue popped into his head. How could he just march along like a good soldier as she released the darkness in everyone...but what could he do to stop it? The young mutant made his decision in that moment.
"The offer is .....attractive...to say the least," said Grover stepping close in behind Dark Nemesis, his stomach pressing close into her back.
She leaned against him and he felt her body relax and seemingly melt into his.
"But I must regretably decline," Grover said quickly as he morphed his guantlet into a blade and brought it across Dark Nemesis' throat.
The White King spun away attempting to dodge the blood he knew would spray forth....but there was none. Standing in the exact same position stood Dark Nemesis, her eyes filled with hate.
"You really think you could slay me with your puny remnant of Excalibur," she hissed. "and yes I know what those gauntlets were made from. The dwarf's mind is an open book to me now. Kill him my pets.....have your fun before we leave, but make sure he dies slowly. I want it to be excruciating. I want him to bemoan his bad choice until the very end."
Silver, surprisingly enough was the first to attack.
"These people think that I am not worthy of kingship, because I have neither the cruelty of Ryan, nor the showmanship of you, freak," he spat, "but, I'll destroy you both."
With that the Black King gestured outward and closed his fist. The metal flooring beneath Grover buckled and the plates that burst free took the shape of fingers on a hand with him in the palm. Ever so quickly the fingers closed and trapped him within a sphere of metal. Grover slammed against the metal of what now formed a wall of his prison, but found it changed to adamantium. Even with his enhanced strength he couldn't break through. The sphere began to close and Grover, dove for the floor. Then an idea struck him.
He concentrated and aimed his flight directly into the floor of the chamber. Silver had changed the walls to adamantium, but had neglected to change the floor. Like a spinning drill, Grover burrowed through the ground and burst back through the flooring in another position. He couldnt go much deeper into the earth because he risked being trapped. He had never tried that stunt before, but found it had worked for the moment.
Before he had a chance to plan his next move, however, he was set upon again. Havoc1 and Avalon were on top of him at once. Magnetic flares and plasma bursts drove him to the ground. His aura protected him from the brunt of the blasts of energy, but he was still driven to his knees. Before he could escape, both Puma and Catana were upon him clawing at his protective field with claws and fangs, both driven hopelessly feral by Nicole's manipulations. Grover felt each impact against his field and the pain was excruciating. He rolled quickly away tangling Puma and Catana together in their madness. Then DarkWolf was upon him with a power house punch to his head that he felt even through his protective field. Grover was once again forced to his knees.
The blue skinned hero took flight attempting to escape his attackers, but was set upon by Gregor almost immediately. The first kinetic energy harpoon struck him directly in the chest driving him back against the wall. Monet and Rogue attacked as one, both delivering jack hammer like blows to his face and chest. Grover was slowly being driven back to the floor. The cheering and hissing of his one times friends was maddening as he was forced back down into their midst. With a final blow from Rogue, Grover was slammed into the corner of the huge chamber. All his former friends began to close in for the kill. Gomurr led the pack. The ancient one's snarling smile was so much of a departure from his usual good natured smirk that Grover would have found it amusing had the situation not been so dire.
"Son of my heart," the old man cackled insanely. "It appears I raised you to be a failure. Much better to slay you know than to let you continue to embarrass me."
Grover watched as his mentor gathered mystic energy in his glowing fist. Of all the substances in the world, magic was one of the few that could penetrate his aura. He silently said a prayer for the old one, wishing that he never remember being forced to kill the man he thought of as his son. Just as Gomurr was about to release the hex bolt that would send Grover to his final oblivion, a flash of light so bright that it blinded everyone present filled the room.
"STOP THIS MADNESS THIS INSTANT, NICOLE," a voice rang out from the platform where Dark Nemesis had once stood.
Nicole whirled around to face whatever intruder had dared enter her inner sanctum. She stared up at the glowing figure above her and a look of terror crossed her face.
"FATHER?!?!?!?!" Dark Nemesis screamed, her voice finally losing the hint of sanity it still held. "IT CAN'T BE................ I KILLED YOU!!!!!. WHY WON'T YOU STAY DEAD!!!!"
CHAPTER NINETEEN: WAIT UNTIL YOUR FATHER GETS HOME
The barbed chain of Dark Nemesis' mind sprang forth to ensnare her father, but there was no psionic presence to this apparition. It wasn't like the blue skinned warrior who she had beaten so savagely. This new threat didn't block her psionics, so much as the fact that he seemed not to have an astral presence at all.
"Destroy him!!!" she screamed and Catana and Puma sprang toward Nicole's father claws and fangs bared menacingly.
Catana's first blow was easily dodged by the nimble man who originally bore the name Nemesis. He simply smiled. Puma lept through the air meaning to hit the man mid chest, force him to the ground and then tear out his throat. The young were-puma only passed through his body, however, and landed on the other side.
"You were right about one thing, daughter," said the apparition. "You did murder your mother and I on that day long ago, but I swore then and there that i'd have my revenge.
Nicole's face blanched as the man spoke. Tears slid down Claudia's face as she rocked back and forth in her crouched position beside Nicole. The word father was repeated over and over from her ruby lips. Nicole's mental attacks on her friends had driven Claudia's psi-sensitive mind to the brink of insanity and the sudden appearance of her father was threatening to push her over the edge.
Grover stirred. With Nicole's attention focused on her father. Her puppets had ceased their attack on him. Most stood statue-like, watching the drama unfold. He tried to rise and felt each bruise and injury. He tasted blood and heard the distinct sound of broken ribs snapping within him. He grimaced and struggled to his feet, trying desperately to think of a plan. He searched the room for an exit....a way to at least free him to fight another day. Then he saw it.
There in the shadows stood another version of Claudia and Nicole's father exactly mimicking the movements of the one that Nicole was confronting.....or was Nicole's enemy mimicking this Nemesis. The two men continued thier strange mirror dance and the level of the argument continued to rise. Dark Nemesis screamed raggedly as her would-be father stood calmly before her.
"REVENGE ON ME!!!" she raged. "You have no right to even claim that. You raised this cheap copy of me as my sister. Held me back from my true potential by siphoning off some of the power that was my birthright and giving it to her. I'll see you die a hundred times before I forgive you for that."
Dark Nemesis fired a lightbolt at the apparition of her father and again it passed harmlessly though.
"Die..DIE DIIIEEEE," she screamed firing bolt after bolt of light energy and telekinetics.
Claudia continued to cry and Grover continued to watch the two strange men that were mirror images of each other. Suddenly the men began to shimmer and their features began to blur until the true form of Morph appeared. Suddenly the version of Morph standing before Nicole disappeared and Morph cried out.
"Now, Grover," Morph screamed. "Destroy the stasis creche'. It's your only hope."
After saying these words, Morph screamed in agony as Claudia once again forced her psionic presence into the young Mirapphian's mind. He morphed uncontrollably and obviously painfully as his body changed size, shape and even texture. Grover took to the air, his aura glowing faintly around him. He flew directly at the stasis chamber, morphing his guantlets into a staff. Nicole spun, following his path with her gaze.
"Stop him!!" she screamed as all her puppets rushed forward to do her bidding.
They were all too late however. With all his strength Grover brought his unbreakable staff down on the chamber sending electric bolts and metal and glass fragments flying into the air. Nicole screamed in agony and rage and all present screamed with her. Even through his psionic aura, Grover felt the hammer blow to his mind as all the psionic energy of both Nicole and Claudia ran unchecked through all of them....and then there was only blackness.
Darkness reigned supreme in the minds of the assemblage.....that is except for all but two. Nicole crawled to her feet, picking herself up from the backlash of energy. Claudia did the same. Nicole actually laughed. All around her lay her slaves. Some moaning softly as they bled from the nose and ears.
"I guess their fragile little bodies couldn't cope with the power I possess." Nicole laughed her voice tinged with the insanity that had claimed her.
"Nobody can, Nicole," cried Claudia. "Don't you understand that now. That's why father created me......He did it for YOU, to save YOU from this fate."
"Liar!!!!" screamed Nicole as she made a swatting motion in the air.
Claudia flew backwards as she was struck by an invisible wall of telekinetic force. Nicole laughed again insanely as she ran to the place she had thrown her sister. Claudia lay still as the tomb and Nicole raised the dagger she had given Claudia to battle Jon.
"Now it ends FOREVER," Nicole screamed as she brought the knife down for the killing blow.
The sharp loud sound of flesh slapping together seemed to echo in the cavernous chamber as the lighting faded in and out with the electric sizzle of the destroyed stasis chamber. Claudia had caught Nicole's forearm with her hand and was holding her at bay with the knife inches from her heart. Nicole smiled viciously as she bore down on her sister. They were too evenly matched physically, so Nicole sent out her telepathic probes to reach into the mind of Claudia and shut her down. Then a look of bewilderment crossed the face of she who called herself Dark Nemesis.
"My telepathy," she hissed. "It's gone."
"No it's not," Claudia said, "It's just come home."
and with that Claudia pulled herself and her "sister" onto the astral plane.
CHAPTER TWENTY: IN MEMORY OF
THE BHC ACADEMY
The stately gate swung shut behind him as automatic camera's whirred from their expertly camoflauged places in the gardens surrounding the estate. The sleek Harley Davidson chugged it's way up the long winding track leading to the main buildings and the mansion itself. The man's eyes swept back and forth like those of a predator as he rode. His mind noticed subtle changes since he had last seen this place. Beautiful metal sculptures seemed to have grown from the very ground itself and taken abstract shape. Their reflective mirrored surfaces shone in the setting sun.
"Silver's doing I bet," thought the lone rider, "It's a lot better than that I, SPARTACUS Roman soldier crap that Gregor always favored, and I see Nem still has a hand in it as well, with all the Greek inspired fountains and waterfalls.
The rider finally stopped in front of the main house and dismounted, the leather of his pants and jacket creaking as he moved. It was evident from the road dust on his jacket and helmet that he had made a hard ride to get to this place, but anyone seeing him would have no real idea just what a long hard trip it was both physically and mentally. As Michael Breslin, the former Black Knight, took off his helmet and looked around, only one thought came to him.
"HOME"
KEY TROFEO AT THE NEMESIS COMPOUND:
At first there was nothingness. Then there was light and sound so intense that both sisters cried out in agony. The astral plane, consisting of the mental ethers of all beings on the planet, was an everchanging landscape that was at the whim of whomever travelled it. As Claudia and Nicole struggled with each other, red lightning seemed to crash all around the dim and lifeless landscape they had created. They knew in their minds that this was only the physical manifestation of their psionic struggle, but neither had time to think of astro-physical matters. This battle was too important....and to the victor went undisputed control of the Black Hellfire Club.
Nicole was the first to manifest her psionic armor. It's obsydian darkness stood out even against the dim backdrop that the astral plane provided. Her weapon of choice was a spiked whip which crackled to electric life in her hand. As she brought it through the air and down towards Claudia, she looked completely the part of Dark Nemesis.
Claudia rolled away narrowly avoiding the spike-balled end of the whip as it dug into the ground beside her head. The Black Queen was experienced enough with the astral plane that she knew any damage she suffered here would be translated to damage on her physical body back in the corporeal world, so Claudia concentrated and created psionic armor of her own. Her armor seemed to be composed entirely of light. It's luminescense reminded her of her father and his light producing powers. Was this just a coincidence or was it a sub-conscious effort to try and give her one more layer of protection against the woman she was now forced to face.
Nicole's whip came whizzing through the air again. Claudia felt the gush of hot air as it swept dangerously close to her face. Instinctively she gathered her telepathic power and the gauntlet type armor on her forearm created a shield of pure light. When the dark weapon struck the shield, both women cried out and the red lightning arced and popped between the two psionic beings. Nicole yanked on the whip savagely and forced it free of the shield.
"A SHIELD?!?!?" Dark Nemesis laughed. "Is that the best you can do. What sort of weapon is that. Oh Claudia......poor sweet Claudia. Don't you know what this means? In your mind, you don't want to hurt me.....Too bad I have no such qualms about destroying YOU!!!!"
With that Nicole grinned viciously and began swinging the whip around her head at ever increasing speeds. The feedback lightning now rained down all around Dark Nemesis as the whirling weapon began to produce a low humming noise and the wind on the astral plane began to whip violently. Nicole held her other arm out in front of her and a sword so dark and menacingly sharp appeared in her hand, that Claudia gasped at its appearance.
"Come sweet sister," Nicole raged. "Now is the time to die."
Claudia shivered as the wind picked up even more and she began to be dragged toward the vortex Nicole was creating. The sword's razor sharp tip glistened darkly, inviting her to taste it's demon steel. The wind picked up yet again and this time Claudia lost all footing and was sent flying through the air, her body aimed directly at the out-stretched sword. A scream erupted unbidden from her stomach, but her mind tried to focus on her survival. Claudia flipped in mid air and positionied the shield in front of her as she flew. This was a last ditch attempt to protect herself from the coming razor sharp blow. When the shield impacted violently with the dark sword, it shattered into a million shards of light and Claudia fell at the feet of her sister, a deep gash on her side. Nicole slowly calmed the vortex as the swirling whip slowed it's travel. She looked cruelly down at the woman at her feet.
"Pitiful," she mocked. "You should be my equal, Claudia.....or at the very least only a bit less powerful than me....but look at you bleeding to death at my feet....PATHETIC. Now I'll take what has always been mine......your life.....your money....your friends...and YOUR WORLD."
The woman who had become Dark Nemesis raised the sword, and brought it's wicked point down toward her defeated sister. Claudia's mind was a fog, the impact had almost killed her and she could feel her wounds even through the psionic armor. In the instants before the sword found its way to her neck she thought of only one thing.....her parents. This woman who was about to slay her, had destroyed them as well. This women had taken her childhood and her innocence and chained her in a prison of bitterness, where she was afraid to love anything or anyone too much ever again. Claudia's hand twitched slightly as she awaited the death blow, and the broken remnants of the shield glowed softly. In Claudia's other hand a spark appeared.........a new weapon was taking shape...and suddenly it was there. It was a simple chain....but a chain of the purest light. Its ornately woven links glistened brightly. It's golden glow was blinding and as Claudia used the last of her strength to dodge her death once more, the chain came to surprising life on its own.
The strobing length of light whirled through the air encircling Nicole's sword arm causing her to drop the deadly weapon. The obsydian armor of Dark Nemesis hissed and sparked as the Black Queen's new weapon of light bound her tighter.
Claudia carefully made her way to her feet, praying she would have the strength. The chain continued to bind Dark Nemesis until only patches of her black-as-night armor could be seen through it's golden coils. She struggled but the chain of Claudia's mind held.
A tear rolled down the Black Queen's face as she began to speak.
"You are wrong, Nicole" Claudia began. "You always were wrong. Yes you were stronger. You had telekinesis and I was only a telepath. You could teleport while I was only your guide....but that never made you better. You were always the shine while I was the substance. You were the darkness while I was the light. You might have been POWER!!!!......BUT I WAS CONTROL!!!!!!"
Claudia clenched her fist and the chain began to slowly envelop Nicole. Its coils twisted and shone as they writhed to join and form a lattice work that completely obscured the struggling Dark Nemesis from view. Nicole's scream shook the very foundation of the astral plane. It was a wail of insanity and of desperation.
Dark Nemesis concentrated a final time and from the hilt of her whip a dark spike sprang. With the last of her strength she drove the spike into her own stomach and fell, her dark psionic armor disappearing as she did. The chain of light fell away of its own accord and Clauda rushed to her sister's side.
Claudia reached down softly and held her sister's head between her hands as the life blood poured from her even on the astral plane.
"I'll always hate you," said Dark Nemesis, her eyes seeming to lose some of their glow as she spoke.
"And I'll never understand that," said Claudia as she shunted herself back to the corporeal world, "but I'll never stop trying to. Goodbye....my sister...may you finally rest in peace."
EPILOGUE: THE GIFT
Claudia looked around as her astral self remerged with her physical body in the corporeal world. She was kneeling with the still figure of Nicole in her arms. Soft groans came from the others around her. Grover was soon on his feet due to the aura that protected him. He righted himself and began to walk toward her?
"Claudia?" he asked softly. "Are you alright?"
"Of course I am," she spat, her eyes glowing fiercely . "Don't I look all right? We won, didn't we? Why wouldn't I be alright?"
Grover looked toward the ground where Claudia knelt. Nicole's blood poured openly from her ears and nose. Her chest was still. She was dead.
"What happened?" said Grover trying to understand what had transpired.
"Isn't it obvious?" said Claudia. "She committed psychic suicide and it destroyed her physical body as well. She killed herself rather than facing the truth. Aren't I a hero? Driving someone to commit suicide.......not only someone...someone who was like a sister to me."
Claudia began to cry and Grover held her clumsily not knowing what to say.
"If she took her own life, Claudia, it wasn't your fault," he began.
"Of course not," she said weakly. "but that doesn't bring her back does it. The worst part is, Grover, is that I'm not sorry. For as long as I can remember, Nicole was always evil......not just the normal behavior of the hopelessly spoiled and powerful, but truly evil. Her only pleasure was in causing others pain. We were so alike though growing up though....both delighting in the intrigue and power plays that our positions in life provided us...am I really that different now?"
"You moved past the selfishness of youth to try to reach something better." Grover said hugging her tightly. "You helped found the school that helps these children learn about their powers. Your companies pour millions of dollars into children's charities so nobody will grow up as alone as you felt. Your ice queen act, may have fooled a lot of people, but not me. YOU LEARNED TO CARE, CLAUDIA...and THAT makes the difference between you and Nicole.....all the difference in the world."
Grover stiffened as he felt a hand on his shoulder. Behind him stood Gomurr. The old man's eyes, as always, looked as though he were looking through you rather than at you, yet he said nothing.....merely stood and looked down at the three people before him. Grover held the crying Claudia as she cradled her dead sister.
"So much waste," thought the old man, as he shook his head and continued patting the blue-skinned warrior's soldier. Finally he spoke.
"He speaks true, Claudia," the wizard said softly. "You saved us all, but there is still more to do. Grover's aura protected him from a lot of the psionic backlash, and I guess this old head of mine was too hard for it to do any permanent damage, but the others are in need of you now more than ever."
Claudia looked around. Her students and the rest of the assemblage lay sprawled in various positions throughout the room. Most were still. Some moaned softly and rolled slightly from side to side holding their heads. She understood now. The battle her and Nicole had raged on the astral plane was the equivalent of psychic napalm on the unsheilded minds of those present. Immediately she sat to work on trying to undo some of the damage they had caused.
Concentrating, she stood. Nicole's body slipped softly to the ground as she did. The old man checked the dead clone's pulse..just to make certain there was no hope. Claudia walked slowly to the center of the room. Looking around she lifted her arms to shoulder level and closed her eyes. A soft halo of light surrounded her head, and grew steadily brighter. Suddenly searching fingers of light began to shoot from the halo, like mini-lightning, and Nemesis began to rise into the air. The light filled her now and each flare of energy strobed and seemed to hum as it made connection with the brains of the gathered party.
Her body became almost transparent as if it was only a vessel for the psionic light that poured forth. Gomurr grimaced and turned toward Grover, and the blue skinned warrior wondered what the old one was concerned about. Finally, the lights began to fade and Nemesis dropped to the ground seemingly exhausted.
"I've done all I can, Gomurr." Claudia said. "They'll be all right I think.
The old man went to her and helped her to her feet.
"Are you all right, Claudia?" he asked.
"Actually," she answered smiling. "I feel invigorated. I never realized how much power my sister and I shared. Now that she is gone, I think I have it all.....telekinetic, telepathic, photovaltic, teleportational......all of it."
The old man frowned again. He realized Claudia now held all the power, but could she handle it? Hadn't her father created Nicole for a reason? The answer to this question would soon become apparent, however.
Puma was the first to awaken, probably due to her healing factor.
"OWW my head," the young were-woman thought, "I haven't felt this bad since Catana and I broke into Nem's wine cellar and had a wine sampling party with the stable boys."
"YOU WHAT!!!" said Nem as she spun towards Puma.
Gomurr looked suddenly at the Black Queen.
"What's wrong, Nemesis," he asked. "Why did you say that?"
"Didn't you hear her, Gomurr," Claudia said. "As headmaster it's your duty to keep them out of trouble, and I dont think drinking and frolicking with the hired help is part of their curriculum."
"What are you talking about, Claudia," said Grover. "She didn't say anything."
Claudia grew silent. She was sure she had heard the girl speak. Then it hit her. She had heard the girl think....without even trying. Her powers had been boosted, but it would be to her unfortunate surprise to what levels.
One by one, the other students began to awaken.
"Did anyone get the license of that truck?" thought the still dazed Meltdown.
"Rogue,....where's Rogue, what did I do?" thought Monet
"My uniforms torn, my skin's uncovered.....nobody come near me...don't touch me." thought Rogue.
"In my dream......a woman of light....beautiful," thought Avalon.
"Nicole, I never meant it to be like this," from Harbinger
"What's Grover doing standing so close to that witch Claudia," erupted from Nytshade's mind.
"Puma....and Catana......will they remember," thought Gregor lasciviously.
Thought after that poured into Claudia's brain uncontrollably. Each one ricocheting off another until her mind was filled to busting with conflicting images and thoughts. She dropped to her knees screaming loudly in pain. Gomurr reacted almost instantly. Chanting under his breath he laid his hand on Nem's shoulder and she fell to the ground in a deep sleep.
"What happened?" said Grover as Nemesis scream still echoed in the chamber.
"It's worse than I feared," said the old man. "With Nicole's death, she's become the super-psi her father feared. She can't deal with the amount of information she's processing nor the energy she's now metabolizing.
"What do we do?" asked Av, picking the Black Queen's head off of the floor and cradling it in his arms.
"We bury the dead and hope it's evil stays here in this god-forsaken place." said the old man looking at Nicole's body still on the floor.
Everyone became silent at this. Death was always a threat in the lives of this group, but even then, it made them appreciate life all the more. Nicole was truly evil, but how much of that evil was created by the actions of others and how much was her own? Did they all risk becoming like her simply by having these incredible powers? They would never know, but they set about their tasks, all eager to leave this place and return home.
Nicole was buried near the entrance to her father's former compound. Silver erected a monument from the trace metals in the ground and Gomurr tamed the jungle into a small garden surrounding the site. None present cared for Nicole in the slightest, but all was done in honor of their Black Queen. There was silence throughout the group. All eyes were on their Black Queen as Grover held her in his arms still unconcious. What was to become of her...the survivor of this dark legacy? What would her final reckoning be?
"I've just got one question, Morph," said Grover as much to break the silence as anything else. "How did you project your image in two places at once."
Morph grew quiet, and looked solemn, then finally began to speak. "My people are an ancient and respected race of shape-shifters. Our civilization was old before earth held sentient life." the alien said quietly. "In that time, they've grown solemn and wise, but my 'exuberance' isn't the only thing that caused them to ask me to leave. It is also a stigma that I bear. I am 'ranuska'. The closest thing to it in your language I think is the word tainted. When my primary units discovered my image casting ability, they hid it, and told me never to use it again, but I was young and foolish and enjoyed using this power. When I was discovered, I became an outcast even among my own family. So I chose voluntary exile rather than living to disgrace my family with my curse.
"You mean you're a mutie," chimed in Meltdown with her typical nonchalant attitude.
Morph turned away suddenly.
"If that is what it is called here, then yes I am," the alien said his voice choking. "Now you know my terrible secret."
"Secret," Meltdown laughed. "Look around alien-boy, do we look like your run of the mill group of humans. Most of us are mutants too....it's nothing to be ashamed of. Sure....some people hate what they don't understand, but that doesn't make us go away. So say it loud, say it proud. I'm a mutie....GET USED TO IT."
Morph at first look confused, but then as he registered the smiles on the face of this group of humans, he realized that the young terran female had spoken truly. In an uncharacteristically solemn moment, he hugged meltdown and lifted her into the air.
"Easy tiger," she laughed. "We're both mutants, but that doesn't mean I wanna settle down and pick out curtains with ya."
Then everyone laughed.
"Now to get us home," said Gomurr finally. "There's no way the transports we have can carry us all, and any teleportation might be too dangerous on Nemesis in her condition."
"If we can get back to the beachhouse, we can call for a transport from there," suggested Avalon.
"No need," said Harbinger. "Of all my systems that were fried by Nicole's attack, my communicator is still working."
Touching his implant, he radioed the Inferno and within the hour, two sleek futuristic shuttles landed at their exact coordinates. Droids sprang to life as soon as the ship touched ground and began helping people on board. For once, Gomurr was so tired, not even he questioned the Harbinger about the nature of this technology. As soon as they had Nemesis settle into a medical stasis unit, they took off and began the journey towards home. As they took off the ancient mage looked out the window of the shuttle and watched the sun reflect suddenly off the polished gravestone of Dark Nemesis.
BACK AT THE BHC MANSION
Havok entered the Mansion using his key card. The air was quiet....too quiet. Avalon's house keeping droids scurried this way and that, performing routine maintenance functions. No other sound was heard but the steady sweeping and purring noises from the robotic housekeepers. His first stop was his old suite of rooms. He knocked once and then entered. His room was exactly as he had left it. He went to the bar and opened the refrigerator. He found it stocked to the brim with his one time favorite beer. He smiled to himself.
"Havoc1," thought Havok. "He knew I would come back and he left this waiting for me."
The former Black Knight closed the door and went to the kitchen, hoping to find someone there. It too was deserted. All around the kitchen area sat half finished salads, sandwiches and sodas, as if someone had left in a hurry. He began to feel a little uneasy.
Havok's hands automatically morphed into claws as he continued to search the house. Something wasn't right. He made his way to the comm suite. There he saw the damage that Dark Nemesis had caused with her attack on Shockwave and Monet. Michael Breslin bristled, and became even more wary and concerned. Just what had happened here? He had fought against all odds to return home to the only family he really knew, and he'd see someone pay if any of them were injured....or worse. Suddenly there was a cacophonous whirring from outside. He raced to the main computer bay and saw the tracking systems registering shuttle craft of unknown origin......and they were using high level BHC codes to gain entrance through automated security. He grimaced. Whatever force had taken his friend prisoner was now returning to further despoil their home.
He made his way stealthily to the air field behind the mansion. He hid behind some shrubbery and waited as the two ships landed. As the first door opened, steam hissed out and Havok saw figures moving inside. He poised himself ready to act. The first person to leave the vessel was still in shadow when Havok released his first bio-blast. A second figure lept suddenly from the ship knocking the first to the ground, thus removing him from the line of fire, but before Havok could get another shot in, he was blasted from his hiding position by a shot from the first person to exit.
Havok was knocked back and stunned by the ferocity of the shot of combined cosmic force and telekinetics. He was up on his feet, ignoring his pain before the figure that had nailed him could get another shot.
"WHO ARE YOU?" the figure from the craft yelled, and suddenly Havok began to laugh.
"WHO DO YOU THINK, CHOWDER HEAD. YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN TO LEAP HAPHAZARDLY OFF A TRANSPORT WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S WAITING FOR YOU. I TAUGHT YOU BETTER THAN THAT!!!!"
"HAAAVOK!!!!!!!" cried Havoc1. "YOURE BACK."
With that the youth that was seemingly exhausted ran from the transport until he stood right in front of his mentor. Suddenly he stopped and held out his hand stiffly.
"Good to have you back, sir." the lad said stiffly.
"It's good to be back, son,"said Havok as he pulled the boy to him and hugged him. "It's really good to be home again. Home...that has a great ring to it."
The remaining passengers on the craft departed and last came a medical droid with Nemesis on a stretcher. The jubilance that had threatened to take over the group with Havok's return, came back to despair. A heavy silence settled over the group.
"What happened?" said Havok as everyone filed into the mansion.
"Now is not the time to discuss it," said Gomurr quietly.
ONE WEEK LATER.
Nemesis, the Black queen still lay sedated in the medical unit. Her fair complexion appeared even pale, almost ghostly, under the harsh flourescent lights of the medical unit. Her usually ruby lips were thin and drawn as the computerized monitors beeped and wheezed providing her with and watching over her forced slumber. If she dreamed, she gave no indication. There was only silence.
The Harbinger sat at her bedside, her cold hand clasped in his. He had thought of morphing the bionics of his arm to flesh form, but thought better of it. Nemesis had always enjoyed the feel of the sleek metallic fingers. He watched her intently, gently scanning with his mutant telepathy. His telepathy was only Beta class, and he knew other stronger telepaths had tried to reach her, but each attempt brought about disaster. As they had slowly brought her out of sedation, her now incredibly enhanced psychic abilities would flare before she even was fully conscious, she would wail uncontrollably and her telekinetics would throw things violently around the room. Psi-Shot, the BHC's most promising young telepath, had narrowly escaped lobotomizing himself by trying to screen of some of the psychic power that Nem now held. It was simply too much for any one person to bear.
Harbinger continued to stare at her, while reaching over to brush a fallen strand of her raven hair out of her face. He had been debating on a course of action in his mind, and finally he came to a decision. Getting up, he walked to the door of the medlab and carefully locked it. Slowly, quietly he returned to her side. He looked down at her once again and then put his plan into practice.
Robert Maxwell, slowly slid his bionic hand up the side of his face....at his hair line, he stopped. Suddenly, at the touch of his own hand, the flesh on the right temple of his head shifted and blurred revealing that a small portion of his cranium was also cybernetic. A tiny instrument sprang from the index finger of his hand and went into a groove on the metal plate. Turning his finger like a lock in a key, the Harbinger opened a tiny door that swung ajar as he pulled his fingers away. Relays and circuitry let out a small glow from the head of the Harbinger, and with a tiny click and a small grunt, he pulled a small rectangular object from his own brain casing. It glimmered in the bright lighting of the room.
Quickly closing his own brain casing, he shifted his skin back to fleshtone, and sat the object before himself on a tray. Carrying the small object to a microscope, he began studying it and probing it with instruments he drew from his belt bouch. Finally, after almost an hour of minute adjustments to the object, he leaned back and examined it once more.
Maxwell looked from the object to Nemesis and then back again, then slowly began to approach the slumbering Black Queen. He carefully placed the object against Nemesis' head, on the same place it had once been on his own. Minuscule tendrils sprang forth from it and it attached itself to her delicate skin.
Instantly medical alarms began to sound, and before Harbinger could draw away from her, Gomurr teleported into the room through the shadows.
"WHAT DID YOU DO, MAXWELL?" the old mage roared.
Maxwell only frowned and went to turn away. Gomurr was on him in an instant. The ancient mage was incredibly fast and agile for one so old, and without warning his hand shot out grabbing Robert Maxwell's still human left hand. Twisting suddenly, Gomurr bent the Harbinger's hand back into a hammerlock bringing the Black Mage to his knees. Harbinger's reaction was also lightning fast. His bionic hand gripped the old man's throat and he slowly began to squeeze.
"I can break your wrist right now," Gomurr wheezed.
"and I can snap your neck like a twig, old one," returned Harbinger.
The stand off lasted seconds longer, and then a soft tired voice was heard.
"Gomurr, Maxwell,.....what has happened to me?" said the Black Queen as she lifted herself weakly from the bed.
Both men released their holds immediately and hurried to her bedside, Gomurr patting her father-like and coaxing her back under the sheets. The Harbinger simply watched her intently. The old man's soothing words were not enough for the Black Queen however, and she concentrated her psychic powers towards the old man, attempting to pry the secrets of the why's and wherefore's of her condition from his mind. Suddenly a look of horror crossed the Black Queen's face. "WHAT?...HELP ME," she cried. "Gomurr, what happened, I can't feel your mind.....I'm psi-blind."
Gomurr spun to face the Harbinger again.
"What did you do, Robert?" he asked. "You must tell me, It's her life you're playing with....not some robot."
The Harbinger looked at the mage, with a small sigh, and began to speak.
"There's a device attached to her cranium now known as a psi-phase inhibitor," he explained. "It's the same device that blocks my own thoughts from telepathic intrusion, only modified with my body's nano-probes so that it blocks her own abilities.
"What!?!?!?!" Nemesis began, outraged. "Remove it at once. This is a violation of the highest order. You've crippled me."
Gomurr continued to pat the woman's hand and began to explain to her the situation in which she was faced. She could either continue wearing the device or allow her own abilities to drive her mad and perhaps kill her or others. After his brief explanation, Nemesis slumped back down onto her hospitable bed.
"So my options are live as a vegetable....or a psychic cripple." she raged. "Is that what you're saying? Harbinger.....by all I hold dear, I'll see you pay for this!!! First you hide Nicole's existence for years....letting me believe she was dead........and now i'm cursed by her death once again. I'll see you dead for this!!!!"
Gomurr's face looked grim, and the silence between he and the Black Queen was heavy and deep. Then finally he spoke, and not in his normal even voice.
"Listen to me child...that's right I SAID CHILD, because that is how you are behaving!!!!" he said. "To have you live at all is a blessing that should not be taken for granted. Take Harbinger's gift and be thankful for it. He gave of himself.....literally.......which is highly unusual of him.....and in my opinion that is at least the beginning of penance. Would you rather not have this chance? Would you rather sleep the rest of your life away in this hospital bed.........wasting away slowly. Perhaps you'd rather be overcome by your powers and spend your existence in an asylum...or even allow them to kill you just to shut out the thoughts of others. Would that be BETTER!!!!"
"The unit was merely a fail safe, in case my primary psi-phase inhibitor were to be damag....," started Harbinger, but Gomurr shut him off with a hard glance.
Nemesis looked ready to explode, but suddenly her expression changed and she said nothing....simply sat back down on her bed and closed her eyes as if in meditation. When she opened her eyes, they shone with tears.
"It's gone," she said in a weak voice. "really gone........it's like being blinded. I don't know if I can take this."
"You can and you will, Claudia," said the old man once more returning to her bedside and speaking softly. "You are an extraordinarily gifted young women with or without your mutant abilities...and you will prevail."
Nemesis reached out and hugged the old mage, like a child would hug a favored stuffed toy when surrounded by nightmares. The old man hugged her back and then pulled away patting her like she were a toddler.
Suddenly a ceiling panel fell loudly to the floor and Puma, Catana, and Havoc1 fell to the floor.
"What is the meaning of this?" said Gomurr gravely.
Puma punched Havoc1 in the arm.
"I told you the ceiling wouldn't support all of us, you nimrod," she said quickly.
"We just wanted to see if Nemesis was o.k. and the door was locked and we heard voices and..." blurted out Havoc1.
"That is enough," said Nemesis in a much stronger voice than before. "Two weeks detention for all of you for not knowing when to respect the privacy of your elders."
"But....," Catana began.
"No "buts" or it's three weeks," countered Nem swiftly. "Now leave us."
When the students had filed out grumbling to themselves, Nemesis wheeled on Gomurr.
"I guess even without my psi-abilities, I am quite formidable," she said. "You wouldn't happen to need any help around the school would you?"
"It would be an honor and a privilege to have you my Black Queen," said Gomurr with a stately bow that made him look both regal and gallant.
And suddenly they both began to laugh..softly at first with tears still in the eyes of the Black Queen...the whole heartedly as if they were trying to erase the pain of the last week with joy. The Harbinger silently left the room, mumbling under his breath.
Mystikal
Grey Pawn
Official XMBB Scribe
"I hate redundacy and reptition"
"I try to hide my intellectual inadequencies with a bad attitude and big words like intellectual inadequencies."
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