Hell's Belles *HF*
By Gomurr
Hell's Belles
Written by: Gomurr
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CHAPTER ONE: THE CALLING
Gomurr sat in his office at the Hellfire Academy, mumbling under his breath. He was in a terrible mood that day. Something not so magical was ailing him today. To put it simply, he was feeling his age. While being 803 would make anybody feel badly, the complete disinterest of Bux, one of the newest upstarts, in his lecture on tantric centering and its healing capabilities, only made it worse. The child had such power within her, but was content to simply chant and meditate over her crystals.
"What a waste," Gomurr thought. "If this girl only knew her true potential, she would be more than happy to study the arcane arts."
Suddenly and without warning, Gomurr was thrown across the room and was almost deafened by the sound of what seemed like millions of glass windows shattering at once. He covered his ears and made a warding symbol in the air. He felt the presence of evil pushing at dimensional boundaries, but was powerless to stop it. Then as quickly as it came, it was gone. Gomurr picked himself up, looked around, and noticed nothing in the room was out of place. No windows were broken, no explosions of any kind. Then, he saw it, there, lying on the floor was a single framed photograph of Bux, Jam, and Marita, his three newest students, and across the glass covering of the photo there was a small triangular crack.
Gomurr picked up the picture, placing it back on his desk with the other Black Upstart's photos and thought to himself, "Calm yourself, old mage, it is probably one of the countless dimensional tricks of fate that occur everyday. It probably has nothing to do with you. You just picked up on the psychic echo of it."
He said all these things to himself, yet he felt a strange sensation creep up his ancient spine...the sensation of approaching danger on the wind.
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Bux, Jam, and Rita lay in the floor of their room at the girls dormitory. Jam strummed along on her guitar and sang to herself, Bux meditated...chanting softly and tracing small three sided patterns in the plush carpeting, and Rita, as usual, was moaning about being so bored. These three young women, each blessed with a beauty beyond measure shared a bond deeper than sisterhood. Jam, the hard rocking blonde, whose guitar licks were as hot as her voice was soulful.......Marita, the dark mysterious brunette whose quick temper and biting sarcasm was only a mask for her need for love, and Bux, the pale young red head, whose search for deeper meaning in life led her to the ways of the occult and tantric magics. These three young woman were inseparable, which is why they flagrantly violated the "no more than two to a room" rule at the Hellfire Academy
"C'mon chicas," Rita said, "let's go find something to do.....break a few hearts........bust a few heads.......something."
Jam looked over at her, and said simply, "Can't..... Gomurr's got us scheduled for training in the workout room with the rest of the students, and you know how peeved the little guy gets when we pull a no show......remember last time when we went on a Taco Bell run without permission.....He put some kind of spell on our food.......making it like, inferno hot."
"Oh no, not that again, Jam!" Rita said. "Don't you know that was probably some punk at the restaurant's idea of a joke. The little old guy probably had nothing to do with it. Just because he asked us if we enjoyed our unscheduled lunch break, doesn't mean he fire bombed our burritos. Besides, we don't even have any mutant powers. Those training sessions are really for the mutant students. I mean we wouldn't even be here if Nate Grey hadn't left us, when that whole Zero Tolerance thing went down. I mean, yeah, he's a hunk and all, but who said he could tell us to go and stay anywhere. What do you think, Bux?........Bux?.....Bux?.....Earth to Bux!!!!!"
Bux jumped, let out a little yelp, and covered her ears. Rita and Jam looked at her strangely, and then noticed she the pained expression on her face. They then hurried over to her to see what was wrong.
She looked at them with confusion in her eyes and said, "Didn't you hear that, I thought someone had shot out our window."
Jam and Rita stared some more and then started to laugh.
"You gotta stop meditating for so long Bux, you are gonna conjure up more than just an auditory hallucination one of these days", joked Jam.
Bux looked at them, a little hurt, and smiled halfheartedly. Jam and Rita stopped laughing when they realized Bux was actually upset about the whole incident.
Rita chimed in, "Sorry Bux, I know I can get loud sometimes, but geesh..not enough to shatter glass."
Then they all three laughed together, but Bux seemed to laugh just a little too loudly, almost as if she was trying to shake off some bad memory.
CHAPTER TWO: THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS
Night fell on the Hellfire academy, but Gomurr could not sleep. Something was terribly wrong. He could feel it in his magic filled bones. He concentrated and his astral self left his body and floated over the campus, checking each student's room. All were actually soundly asleep, which was strange for this rag tag bunch of teens. Johnny Blaze's drunken snores echoed throughout his room. Puma11, the mysterious young were-mutant dreamed peacefully. Even the panthers owned by their Black Queen, Nemesis, were sleeping the sleep of the untroubled. Then as he checked the last room, he noticed that Bux was not in her bed. Only Rita and Jam were present across the room in the bunk beds, that were so obviously a violation of the rules of the academy. He looked again at the small wicker bed in the corner...Bux was nowhere to be found. His mind searched further, and he finally found the missing Bux, sitting in the garden with a twig in her hand, tracing patterns in the fertile soil. Not knowing whether to disturb her musings or not, he watched from above as she continuously traced the same pattern over and over in the dirt. Gomurr looked down and watched the twig follow well worn lines in dirt, wondering where he had seen the symbol she was tracing before. He watched as she traced the triangle with a triangle in each corner. He pondered speaking to her via telepathy and telling her to go inside and get to sleep. He didn't want to frighten her, however, and why should he? Bux was the most level headed of the three new students he jokingly had dubbed Hell's Belles (only to himself, of course). She was always the soft spoken and (most of the time) respectful voice of reason that calmed her two stormy tempered friends. Her only character flaw was her refusal to take the abilities she might one day possess seriously. But one can't teach a pupil who refuses to learn, so Gomurr floated back to his waiting body and remerged the astral with the physical.
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Bux's arm continued to guide the twig along the ground, her body moved without thinking. The triangle pattern twisted and pulsed in her mind....three sides...then three more lines to close off the corners...locking a small triangle in each corner of the first. Her eyes were glassy and she mouthed words she did not understand, yet somehow, it felt right and good to her. She felt as if she were helping someone or something fulfill their fondest wish. She didn't know how she knew this.......she just did. After all, wasn't it good karma to help others?
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The next morning, classes rolled around and the three girls rolled in slightly late, as usual, and took their seats. Gomurr watched from the back of the room cloaked in invisibility as the English professor spoke about Victorian poetry to the class. He noticed that Bux had taken a piece of triangular folded paper out of her pocket. He watched as she opened it and took a smaller triangular piece out and passed it to Jam. Jam read it , unfolded it and then passed an even smaller piece to Rita, who also read it. What could those three girls be planning now? He pondered revealing himself and reprimanding the girls for not paying attention. Again noticing the intricate folds of the notes, Gomurr rethought his options. The delicate work it took to make such paper designs required steady hands and concentration as well as good planning skills. Maybe these girls were learning a useful skill after all. Origami could be a useful technique in centering the mind, and Gomurr reluctantly admitted to himself that Mr. Cronopolis's lectures WERE boring.
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After the day's classes were over, the three ladies were walking out, when Bux told them she had something to show them in the garden. Jam and Rita followed her, good naturedly accepting their somewhat more innocent friend's infatuation with natural beauty. Bux lead them to a quiet spot beside the bench where she had been sitting the night before. She asked them to form a meditation circle with her, and though they had never been interested in Bux's dabblings with magic before, they felt bad for laughing at her previously, so they complied. When they were seated, Bux traced the triangle again, with each of them sitting at a point. Jam began to giggle and Rita gave her a quick elbow to the ribs to shut her up. If this would make Bux feel better, then they would do it.
Rita looked at Bux, who was again mumbling to herself silently. "Now what," Rita said.
Bux's mumblings grew louder and the wind started to pick up. Jam's eyebrows raised as she looked over at Rita. There was an electricity in the air that was almost palpable. Rita looked down, and the hair on her arms was standing up. She was about to make Bux stop all this foolishness...when the triangle on the ground seemed to open up and a bright white light burst forth and begin to swirl and encircle the girls in its brilliance. Bux was the first to respond. She seemingly woke up from the trance and started to yell, but it was already too late. They were being pulled into the light and were helpless to prevent it. Bux thought to herself as she screamed. "this might be fulfilling someone's wish, but I'm sure it's not mine."
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Gomurr, sitting at his desk across campus, felt the magical flare as soon as the vortex began to open. He leaped from his chair, and stepped out the window. Teleportation through the shadows would be much quicker, but Gomurr still wasn't comfortable with his new powers as Proctor of the Crimson Dawn. Air walking, which was also extremely taxing on his mystical abilities, was his only other option to get there quickly, so off he flew towards the flare. He reached the spot where the light was spilling out of the ground just as Bux began to scream. He tried a spell of closure to stop the vortex from opening wider, but somehow he was being blocked by another. As he watched the girls begin to disappear in the light, he dropped his hold on the air and plummeted toward the vortex opening, following the girls in as the vortex resealed itself with the icy tinkling sound of broken glass.
CHAPTER THREE: KEEP THE HOME FIRES BURNING
The air rushed by so quickly that all Gomurr could see was the closing vortex. His small frame slid into the light just as the passage resealed. He suddenly landed with a thump on top of a lumpy, moaning, groaning mass, which he soon discovered was the three young students that had unwittingly opened the portal. Gomurr, who was much more used to dimensional jaunts such as this, was nowhere near as disoriented as his pupils, so he was the first to notice that they were no longer on the school grounds. For that matter, it appeared they were no longer on any earthly realm that Gomurr recognized. As he surveyed the area around them, he saw huge jagged mountains of rock, spilling dark black waterfalls into obsidian pools all underneath a blood red sky. The wind, or what passed for it in this realm, seemed to scream as it whipped and beat by the four travelers, carrying enough grit to sting the eyes and skin.
"Where in the name of the seven rings are we?" Gomurr thought.
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Rahsas sat in his room, window shades open, trying to build up his defenses against the sunlight. He sat with his 6'10" frame somehow curled up on a chair next to the open window, allowing the cruel sun to bathe his body in its glow. As far as he could tell, the wicked sun drained him of almost half of his mutant powers. His dark hair and skin blended into the shadows that constantly surrounded him, even in contact with the warm sunlight from outside. Every moment of spare time that the academy allowed to Rahsas, he used in honing his dark-spawned abilities. It wasn't like he had many other options for his time anyway. He always found himself out of place. Even among these other young people that might understand his differences, he always felt distant and showed it in his bitter sarcasm when he spoke to others. His inborn ability to harness the power of the dark dimension, as he called it, allowed him to teleport as well as fire globes of this dark energy with varying degrees of intensity. It took a great deal to break this solemn young man's concentration, but seeing his teacher, Gomurr, fall from the sky, and rocket by his window was more than enough. Rahsas leaped to his window, and stretched his malleable arms out to try and snare his plummeting mentor, but was too late. As he fruitlessly closed his hand on air, he watched Gomurr disappear into the glowing hole.
Rahsas concentrated, opened a shadow door, and tried to step through, but was immediately wracked with pain. It felt as if his entire body was being showered with tiny needles, or shards of glass. Rahsas allowed the portal to close and collapsed onto the floor. Even his well disciplined body was not ready for the intensity of that sensation. When the shock of the experience had worn off, Rahsas picked himself up and ran toward the stairs of the men's dormitory. His calls of alarm drew the attention of some of the other Black Upstarts. Puma11, Janista15 and Johnny Blaze met him, as he bolted from the doors of the dormitory at a mad run. All the students were questioning him frantically about what had happened to so excite their usually solemn, and often downright cold, teammate. Rahsas explained the situation as best he could to the others, and they immediately began searching the area. They gathered around the site where their headmaster and their three fellow students had disappeared. Rahsas examined the ground and noticed the faint remains of the pattern that Bux had traced to form the gateway. He looked closer and a strange feeling of deja' vu came over him. He had seen this symbol before.....but where?......and why weren't his powers working? He slowly traced his fingers along the lines of the triangle, and just then felt the slightest touch of the dark dimension from which he drew his power, yet somehow, there was also a new sensation here. It felt almost as if someone had somehow attempted to block his inborn awareness of this dark place....almost like a blanket of cold, sharp and dangerous barbs had been placed around it. He tried once again to form one of his shadowgates, and was rewarded by the same pain as before, yet this time he realized there was less resistance being put up. It then came to him in a sudden jarring flash of memory...the triangular symbol.....the flying razor sharp crystal shards......these all were part and parcel to the dark dimension in which he teleported through....he just never stayed in the dimension long enough to recognize them consciously. His mind whirled with images of cruel landscapes......of sharp jagged hills erupting from barren ground.......the dry burning heat of winds carrying enough grit to cut skin from bone.....these were all memories of a place, that Rahsas thought he would never find.......these were all images of HOME.
CHAPTER FOUR: HELLFIRE COURT TO THE RESCUE?
Gomurr struggled to revive his stunned pupils. Each girl in turn stared at him, seemingly mindless of the predicament they were in. All around them a burning wind whipped, stinging particles of sands pelted against their skin. Rita, Bux and Jam huddled together, and if they heard Gomurr's words to them, they gave no sign. Gomurr, for his part, had recovered sufficiently to try and analyze the situation. They didn't know where they were, only that it seemed a very inhospitable place. They didn't know how they had gotten here, never mind how to get home. They didn't even know if there was anyone else within miles of them. The flying sand kept them from seeing far, so they didn't know where the closest shelter was, and to top it all off, from the looks of the girls, these three might not even know who they were. The situation had looked better, but Gomurr had learned one thing in his 803 years.....If you give up, you are sure to fail.
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Rahsas continued to study the markings on the ground....his mind reeled as flashes of long forgotten things came unbidden to his thoughts. FLASH......an ancient sorcerer, looking down at him with kind twinkling eyes......FLASH......a cruelly beautiful young girl playing children's games with him.......FLASH.......the ancient mage teaching his young charges the wonders of the beautiful land where they live.......FLASH......the ancient one teaching the two young ones how to focus the dark energy through one of the staffs he always carried........FLASH........yet another staff coming down again and again on the old man's head, the triangular emblem on the end covered in blood.......FLASH......the young girl standing over a much younger Rahsas, a look of hate and venom on her face, his own hands covered in blood.......FLASH......then the dark that he had grown so accustomed to, enveloping him........and then nothingness, until his first memory of the Siloam Springs Orphanage where he had lived until the time of his discovery by Gregor, and his subsequent enrollment in the academy.
It was at this exact moment that the afore mentioned Gregor decided to make the scene. It seems frantic calls placed to him by Puma11 had disturbed the Black King from his morning routine, and sent him flying, literally, to the grounds of the Academy. His presence as well as the rumbling sonic boom of his blast field fading away snapped all the present Upstarts to immediate attention. Silver, the Black Bishop also rolled in behind the wheel of his trademark Silver Lotus. Of all the Black Hellfire Court, Silver was the most involved with the Upstarts, so he had a penthouse apartment close by. Even the normally slack-jawed Johnny Blaze seemed to begrudgingly respect these two men, who held such power, mutant as well as financial. Gregor stared from one to the other awaiting explanation, for the disturbance of his morning exercise ritual. (if you can call wrestling with a gorgeous young heiress that was half his age, exercise) When no explanations were forthcoming, Gregor demanded to know what was going on. Silver comforted the crying Janista15, but also demanded answers. Meekly and obediently Janista15, who finally found her voice , explained the situation.
Rahsas jerked back to reality, a tear slowly sliding down his cheek just at this moment. The booming voice of Gregor and the sounds of Silver calmly speaking to Janista brought him out of his morbid thinking. What was going on? What were these images? Could they be actual memories, or something else? He had to find out. He opened himself once more to the dark dimension. This time, instead of trying to control the shadowgate, he surrendered himself to it. This was something that he'd always been afraid to do, although he'd never admit it. In controlling the gates, he held the power. He chose how large and powerful they were, and where they would lead. When he surrendered to them, it was as if he were just along for the ride. As the darkness washed over his mind......he was no longer master of the portals...he was the portal......he was the darkness.....he was the shadowgate...and then he was no more.
Anyone watching the tall lanky youth, would have been extremely confused as he vanished, but Janista15 and Johnny Blaze were used to the formation of shadowgates, and Gregor and Silver had read the reports of the young mutants growing teleportational powers. This however, was a bit different than even what these jaded individuals were accustomed to. Instead of creating the gate and stepping through, as he had always done, the gate seemed to have formed within Rahsas and swallowed him whole. It seemed as if the shadows had just enveloped and swallowed Rahsas, and from the look of fear and pain on his face as he disappeared, it appeared the shadows had very sharp teeth.
It was then that Silver began to make preparation for the transportation of all the remaining students off the grounds of the academy. He didn't plan on loosing anymore of them to dimensional rifts or whatever had happened here. It can be noted that after the last car with the students and Silver left, Gregor made arrangements for the staff to leave also. For although they were just human academians, they would be troublesome to replace, and explaining their disappearances would take more time than it was worth. It can also be noted that Gregor, who although reformed to a point, also weighed the option of not bothering with the retrieval of the missing Upstarts at all. After all, what's the loss of three human girls and an ancient, smart-mouthed mystic compared to the safety of his mutant charges. If not for the almost simultaneous disappearance of Rahsas, whose abilities could someday be a great asset to the Inner Court's long range plans, Gregor would not have been nearly as concerned. Finally, in an orderly and commanding fashion Gregor called an immediate meeting of the Black Hellfire Court in order to discuss strategies on how to regain ownership...ummm..errr...safety of the missing Upstarts and their worrisome headmaster, Gomurr.
CHAPTER FIVE: WE'RE OFF TO SEE THE WIZARD
Rahsas could feel himself falling..........or was he flying? It was impossible to tell. He looked around and wondered if his eyes were even open. He could see nothing. This was darkness, completely devoid of light. This was darkness so complete that the sense of sight was rendered useless. This was a realm of pure night, unbroken by the interruption of day. This was the darkness from which he gained his power. This darkness, that was so deep it confounded the eyes and stilled the heart was the source of his teleportation abilities. How easy it would be to just give in to it....to let it take him......to let its velvet arms surround him...and then to sleep....but his journey was not yet complete. Just as he was about to give up, he saw the way out. At first it was a pinpoint.....then a distant beacon. Closer and closer he came to it. It's shining brightness calling him into it's warmth. Rahsas began to fight against the darkness. It's touch, that had once been velvet, became shards of glass tearing at his clothes and skin.....trying to keep him from the light. Rahsas fought with all his strength to reach the light. He was within a few hundred yards now. He could see the source of the light. It seemed to be coming from a mirrored pyramid floating in the stygian blackness. The light begin to take on a rhythmic thrumming noise.....as he neared its source....almost like a heartbeat. With the last of his will, Rahsas stretched his malleable form toward the pyramid and touched the edge with his fingertip...suddenly there was a bright flash...and Rahsas found himself in the unlikeliest place of all.
He looked around at his new surrounding. Low intimate lighting glittered against jeweled stone work floors. Every wall was a huge mirror, with freestanding mirrors placed between the walls to make a veritable maze of glass. Huge velvet cushions littered the room and there at the center on a stone pedestal sat the girl from his memory flashes, and in her hand, the staff from his visions.
The woman looked at him with a coy smile on her beautiful face and said, "Welcome home........BROTHER," and then he felt rough hands grab him from behind and the world once again went black.
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Gomurr had managed to revive the girls by this time and had erected a mystical dome-shield to protect them from the blowing sand. Bux was unable to explain how and why they had traveled here, and more importantly could give no explanation on where "here" was. This left Gomurr little choice. He had to find help somewhere or they would all die here in this howling wilderness. The ancient mage concentrated, and once again his astral self left its physical housing and rose up through the ethers of the astral plane.
The first thing Gomurr noticed was the extreme amount of mystical energy being bandied around on this plane. In this form he could see the environment for what it should be, and not what it was. Whatever the source of this mystical presence was, Gomurr realized that it had somehow shaped the realm's ecology to fit its own needs. This fetid burning land was only supposed to be a small portion of this place, but that was a worry for another time. He had to find help for his students and he had to find it quickly. His ancient eyes scanned the horizon, and in the distance he saw what seemed to be a huge black monolith jutting into the sky. An old cliché' ran though Gomurr's mind.........Any port in a storm......and thus Gomurr returned to his body and informed the girls of what he had seen.
"Although I am loathe to do this thing," Gomurr stated, "there is only one way for us to reach that structure quickly. I must transport us through the shadows by utilizing the Crimson Dawn."
Gomurr reached out with his aspect, but found no trace of the pulsing vein of light and darkness that was the Crimson Dawn. How could this be possible? The Crimson Dawn existed in all realms and dimensions. Why couldn't he find it here? Then he realized, whatever force that was changing the weather, was also controlling every magical source of energy in this realm, from the Crimson Dawn to the Earth Energies of Gaia. What sort of being could gather and control all these types of magics, and did he really want to know?
"So what's the holdup, Gomster," quipped Rita. "The sooner we find out where we are the sooner we can get home."
Gomurr looked at girls and explained the situation to them. They could hear the hint of fear in his voice, and this scared them more than the dangerous situation the storm caused. Although, they sometimes made light of Gomurr's abilities, they knew that within his tiny ancient frame dwelled tremendous mystical power. They wondered in stunned silence about the force that could block him from those powers.
Rita turned toward the rest of the group and finally said, "Well chicos y chicas, it's not gonna be easy going, but if you people think I'm gonna let a little sand keep me from getting home to watch Melrose Place, you think wrong. Gotta have my Rob Estes fix..........YUUUMMMY!"
All parties concerned could hear the ring of false bravado in her voice, but it served to get them moving, so off they trudged with Gomurr providing what protection he could with a magical shield placed before them like an umbrella.
CHAPTER SIX: ORDER IN THE COURT
Gomurr and the girls trudged along for hours until what passed for nightfall in this place began to descend. He looked into their tired eyes and gauged the distance between themselves and their goal. They weren't going to make it tonight anyway, and driving these children too hard would only make them lose hope faster. He had formulated a plan as they walked. Although airwalking taxed his system, he must get help for these children. Flying the distance between here and the monolith would leave him too tired to put up much of a fight if danger lurked there......and what if nothing was there...after flying that distance, he would be too drained to return here....and what of leaving these three headstrong and desperate girl to their own devices....All these questions were mad pointless by the sudden arrival of even more trouble.
As these thoughts raced through Gomurr's mind, the sand began to shift and stir beneath their feet....forming a row of small dunes in front of them. Then the dunes began to take on features......arms.....then legs.....and then incredibly faces. Lightning crashed down from the sky hitting each dune-man in turn transforming them into creatures of glass. The shattering sounds as they moved toward Gomurr and the students was enough to drive them mad. Gomurr let loose a bolt of fire from his staff, but it served no purpose. The same could be said for all his efforts. These crystal soldiers seemed immune to any magic bolt he could muster. Then in desperation, he struck at one with his staff. A huge chunk of its arm fell away and turned to sand the instant it struck the ground, but just as quickly the crystal creature drew more sand into itself and the arm reformed.
"RUN," shouted Gomurr, but when he looked behind him he realized it was already too late.
The soldiers had formed in a circle around them and were already closing in. Jam was the first to be reached by a soldier. She tried to fight against it, but the jagged glass arms held her close. The more she struggled the more pain she inflicted on herself. Soon all of the party was held in the jagged grip of a soldier. The other soldiers formed a circle around the ones with hostages and reached out their hands to one another. They began to shift into sand form and the sand began to form walls and a floor underneath their captives. Finally a ceiling was formed of the shifting sand and then it regained it's glass like state. Gomurr, Jam, Bux and Rita were effectively caged within a glass prison. The cage begin to sink and the desert floor opened up to accept its latest catch
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As the liveried servants closed the huge mahogany doors, Gregor called the meeting to order. The gathered members of the Black Hellfire Court found their places and sat down staring across the ancient marble table at one another. To the outside world, they presented a unified front of international wealth and power, but within the court several power struggles and secret intrigues were often found. Nemesis, the Black Queen, watched the others as she lounged seductively in her chair, her fingers sliding up and down the leash of one of the panthers that were hers to control. It was wondered whether her mind control ability also worked in controlling animal brains, or if the cats, like most of the men in the room, found her beauty so seductive that they had no choice but to do her bidding. Her Pawn in the Black Court, Clarice Ferguson A.K.A Blink, stood behind Nemesis. Blink's high collared black military style jacket and white riding pants were in sharp contrast to Nemesis' extremely low cut black evening dress and generous sprinklings of priceless and ancient jewels, but both women held the same air of quiet power and stunning beauty. Jack Silver, known as only as Silver in the super hero set, sat to the right of Nemesis in the Black Bishop's seat. His abilities lay in the transmutation of metals and other earth born compounds. His chemical engineering empire made him one of the wealthiest men in the room, yet he felt little use for the decadent and often times cruel life styles practiced by others in this group, and thus refused to dress in the manner of the shamelessly wealthy. His simple yet elegant suit seemed in sharp contrast to the outlandish leather, spandex or Victorian garb worn by the others. Immediately to the right of Silver, sat Havok, the black Knight, who was helping himself to another snifter of brandy. Then came Supergrover, his hooded cloak covering his blue countenance. Two advocates to the inner circle were also in attendance sitting at the other end of the table beside Gregor. Deadpool sat toying with a rather wicked looking knife and at his side, as always, was Siryn. All eyes were finally turned to Gregor McMendl, their Black King. As he had called this meeting, he thus had the floor.
"You've all been briefed on the situation.", Gregor boomed, "Now I'm ready to hear some solutions."
The seated members looked around from one to another, carefully avoiding Gregor's eyes. Silver twisted in his chair, his mind in a desperate worry over the missing students and his hands absent mindedly changing his salad fork from silver to gold. Nemesis pretended to consult with Blink, and Deadpool for once said nothing. Finally Supergrover spoke out.
"It appears," said Grover suddenly, "there are three views to take on this issue. Let's look at the facts. The first portal that swallowed Gomurr and the three young ladies was assumed to be mystical in nature. The one that spirited Rahsas away was one of his own mutant powered shadowgates, only altered somehow. This leads me to one of three conclusions. One........Rahsas somehow managed to follow the original travellers...and this is our best hope. Two.......Rahsas attempted to follow them, but something went wrong with his shadowgate and now he is lost or dead......and Three, the disappearances are not related at all. My suggestion is locating another being of mystical energy that is familiar with Rahsas shadowgates and convincing him or her to help us."
All present looked stunned by Supergrover's well conceived and logical statements. It was easy to underestimate this one....easy to look at the blue velvet-like fur and ridiculous costume and think that he was a buffoon, but Supergrover's statement had drawn them all from their own musings and centered their thoughts, so they thus began to formulate a plan.
Gregor quickly called in Avalon, the Black Scribe and gave orders for all data on Rahsas to be cross referenced with any mystical beings he had come into contact with. Avalon's hands flew deftly over the keyboard. His blonde hair hung almost down to his eyes that stared unblinking at the huge computer monitor that covered the wall of the information center. A more mundane computer system would have almost immediately crashed at the touch of Avalon, but this marvel of technology actually was enhanced by the youth's ability to manipulate the electromagnetic field. Finally with his voice as cold and as emotionless as the machines with which he was so adept, he reported to Gregor.
"The only reported incident of Rahsas coming into contact with any type of mystical energy other than that of Gomurr's occurred before he was enrolled at the academy. Apparently he is acquainted with a member of the White Hellfire Club known as Nytshade, If I'm not mistaken she is their White Queen. All reports indicate that she can utilize mystical energies to some extent, and that she tried to enroll Rahsas before you did, sir. It is unclear why he did not take her offer."
This brought mumblings of disapproval from almost all seated at the table. Asking the White Hellfire Club for support would mean making an alliance of some sort between themselves and the white branch of the Inernational Hellfire Clubs. Since the Blacks were a renegade house, this was almost unheard of. As the voices begin to grow louder, Silver began to speak. His normally calm voice, strained with worry over his students, came out almost as loudly as Gregor's normal rantings.
"There is no time to argue, it may already be too late to save them!!...........Gregor, make the call," he commanded, his voice like cold stone.
All concerned knew why it was up to Gregor to call. The history between himself and the White Queen was common knowledge in this circle. Gregor looked angry for an instant, but just an instant. It would not look good to show dissension in the ranks in front of the two advocates. He then slowly picked up the phone.
"Calm yourself, my good Bishop, all we be well," he spat, but nobody seemed to notice.
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Nytshade answered her extension at the White Hellfire HQ. She was a bit unsettled concerning the man at the other end of this call. Why would Gregor call her? She hadn't spoken to Gregor since.......hmmmmmmmm, well there was no time to think about that now. The Blacks were a renegade house. This would have to handled very delicately. She touched at her pale delicate throat where a beautiful golden band encircled her neck. At her touch the band seemed to come alive...and what had once been links of purest gold became a writhing 3 foot rattle snake as it slid down her shoulder and onto the floor.
"There you go my pet, go amuse yourself among the servants. I have some business to attend to," she mumbled.
"Helloooo, Gregor, what can I do for you?" she cooed in a husky taunting voice.
"I've called concerning a student of mine, White Queen, a young lad by the name of Rahsas.", I believe you are familiar with him," Gregor returned.
"No Gregor, I'm sorry, I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting this lad. Maybe you can be a bit more specific."
So that was it! He wanted information concerning that ungrateful whelp that had refused her generous offer of sponsorship. She smiled grimly. Well whatever had happened to the lad, he deserved it. After attacking her like that when she offered a hand of friendship to a hapless homeless cur.
It can be noted at this point that Nightshade's offer for sponsorship involved using Rahsas mystical abilities to augment her own. Although this process could have also augmented Rahsas' energies, it could have just as well destroyed him, but the White Queen had little time for second thoughts. Her abilities lay in the mystical realm, yes, but as a succubus. She had no real power of her own. She simply surrounded herself with others that had this power and siphoned it off like a psionic leech. Although this ability oftentimes also increased or boosted the host's powers. It was known to have caused permanent damage and even death, but weren't a few sacrifices necessary for the good of the whole (the whole meaning herself). She reasoned in a life as long as hers, (some would say at least 100 years, although she looked as young, and radiant, and beautiful as any of her teenage students), a few sacrifices had to be made.
"Jon, there is no time for your foolish games," Gregor roared, "The lad is in danger, and you may be our only hope of saving him."
"Games...oh GREAT AND MIGHTY BLACK KING," she said sarcastically. "Why, whatever do you mean. You must understand there can be no further.......fraternization......between our students.....or us.......or the Black and White Houses for that matter. I could be dethroned if it leaked out?"
"I'm sorry as well, but I won't let foolish House politics interfere with the safety of my charges."
"Oh please, Gregor, you are only interested in people as long as they serve your purposes. Our relationship painfully proved that point. I'm sorry I can't help you"
"How DARE you accuse ME of using people.....YOU!!!, who feed on the energy of others like a common parasite. You have no choice, you must help me," Gregor roared.
****CLICK****
The White Queen set the phone down on the reciever, and looked calmly off into space.
Gregor slammed the phone down hard enough to shatter the plastic casing. His face was a mask of rage. He must not look foolish in front of the other members of the council......What was he going to do?
"Nobody speaks to me in that manner!", he roared, "The Whites will pay, and pay dearly."
CHAPTER SEVEN: BITTER SWEET REUNIONS
Gomurr and the girls watched the last bit of late fade away as their crystal prison sank beneath the sand. Rita and Jam sat in stunned silence. Bux tended their cut and bleeding arms and legs as best she could. The glass that the soldiers were composed of would have sliced them to ribbons if they would have struggled more vigorously. As it was, they all had some pretty serious gashes on their arms and legs. Gomurr sat in utter silence, trying once more to reach through to the Crimson Dawn, but once again was met with rejection. Even what magics he could muster from other sources were nowhere near as powerful as they should have been. Some incredibly strong presence was absorbing and controlling almost all of the mystical energy in the area......But how can one being contain so much power without being utterly destroyed?
The cage began to move forward with a lurch....the sand making high pitched scratching noises as the cage slid through it. The noise was like tearing silk, only at so loud a volume that it caused them to cover their ears. The crystalline cube moved faster and faster. There was no way to tell how far they had traveled or in which direction when suddenly their speed began to slow. When the motion finally stopped they realized they could see light at one end of the cage. As they got up and began to walk toward it, the other end began to change back into sand and collapse onto them. They pressed against the glass at the other end, and just as the section right behind them gave way, so did the glass wall before them, and they tumbled into a dimly lit chamber of some sort.
As they fell, Gomurr saw the sandstone wall of the large room shift and become solid again. Whatever force had animated the glass soldiers and cage, had now transported them through the ground and into this room. What was going on? Where were they now? Who held the power here? All these questions ran through Gomurr's mind as he lit a mystic flare at the end of his staff and held it aloft. The pale blue light shone outward around the room. The walls, as stated previously, were rough hewn sandstone dotted here and there with chains and manacles embedded in the stone. As Gomurr scanned the room further, he saw a huddled mass on the floor. Cautiously he approached it. He saw the hooded cloak covering dark wide set eyes and dark skin, and for the first time since this experience had began, felt a ray of hope. Rahsas.......here.....This must mean that the Black Hellfire Court and the Upstarts were here to rescue them. From the look of Rahsas, however, that plan seemed to not be going so well.
Gomurr knelt before the lad, trying to revive him. As Rahsas stirred, the girls realized that their companion from home was also here, and rushed to his side. There was no strong bond between the four, but a piece of home in a strange land is the most precious commodity of all. As soon as Rahsas explained, he was alone here, that brief feeling of hope faded, and now the five lost travelers felt more desperate than ever. Just as Gomurr began to once again formulate a plan. A door in a dark corner of the huge chamber slid open, and the beautiful woman from Rahsas' vision stepped through. Beautiful red hair framed her face, and her elegant gown and regal manner made all there admire her loveliness. A soft veil hung down concealing her eyes, but the smile below them was genuine and warm. A triangular prism hung from her neck and pulsed and shone with a beautiful light when she spoke. She was flanked by two dark complected soldiers in crystal breastplates.
"My friends," she cooed, "I must apologize for this most inhospitable welcome. I fear in this time of danger, my armies are quite overzealous in their protection of me.....Please, come...forgive them their duty. I can only beg your forgiveness and try to make it up to you. Follow me, and I will take you to a place, where your wounds can be tended and your spirits refreshed. I see you know the youth that made the unexpected entrance into my sitting room earlier. My apologies again, I was as unfamiliar with him as I am with you, and my guards once again thought only of my safety. GUARDS! help them to their feet and show them to somewhere more comfortable."
Rahsas started to speak, "But you called me bro.........."
"Shhhh," the lovely young woman interrupted, "you were quite incoherent when you arrived, and have been babbling foolishly since that time. We thought you a threat, but now see, that you mean us no harm. Please, let us help you."
And with that statement she swept out of the room and glided down the hall. The guards approached them and helped Rahsas to his feet. As Gomurr looked at the men, he noticed that their eyes were completely clear with no hint of a pupil or iris......only a soft white glow emanated from them. They were very efficient and quick, and in short order the travelers were placed in rooms with beautiful fountain tubs and huge wardrobes of clothing in which for them to change.
"Things are looking up," said Gomurr, "We'll be sure to find a way home now."
A little voice in the back of his mind kept goading him though that things aren't always as they seem.
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Havok, the black night practiced his fighting forms with Psi-Shot halfheartedly. Gregor's rage previously in the morning had made all the members of the Black Court a little distracted. Open warfare between houses was a dangerous thing. When the Black's were exiled, it took all the finesse and skill that house arbitrators had to prevent a cycle of revenge and destruction, so now that Gregor had announced his intentions so boisterously, there was ample reason to worry.
"I need a drink," Havok stated. "It's too bloody hot to be out here practicing with you punks anyway."
**Whack** Psi-Shot's psi-lance struck Havok on the ear with a thump.
"ARRRGGH, you little $%&*@#, what the hell do you think you're doing," he shouted.
Psi-Shot backed away slowly. Havok's wrath was as famous as his death stare, which could easily freeze an enemy in his tracks.
"I'm sorry sir," the 16 year old youth said, "I thought you were prepared for that move."
"I was," Havok screamed, "if it hadn't been so sloppily executed as to miss the target area by miles."
The thrust had been perfectly performed, but Psi-Shot knew there was no reason to argue. The best thing to do was to extricate himself from this situation as quickly as possible and to avoid any further contact with the Black Knight for as long as he could. A gravelly laugh filled the air behind them and they turned to see Super-Grover's approach.
"It appears the student has bested the master once again." Grover joked.
Havok snapped his attention toward the new arrival. "What business is it of yours blue boy? Go back to your philosophy books, and leave the fighting to those of us that do it well."
Grover concentrated and his bracelets became a staff. He began to spin it casually in a circle with his arm. "Let us see what you can teach me, no?"
Havok stalked toward Grover, his taloned hands squeezing his staff tightly. His first thrust would have shattered flesh and bone alike if it had not been quickly dodged by Grover. His second was even more brutal. With each swing or thrust, Grover evaded it just in time or blocked it with his own staff. Havok's rage grew and grew, his last stroke shattered Grover's concentration causing him to lose the grip on his staff, thus turning it back into bracelets. Although now weaponless, Grover deftly rolled and tripped Havok with his leg. Grover then rolled on top of him and held the jagged edge of his gauntlet-like bracelet's to Havok's throat.
"Let us not give in to the animal within, dear Havok, for a true man can always leash the savage beast." he quoted as his eyes glowed a brilliant yellow.
Havok's own eyes clouded and he let loose a plasma blast that rocketed Grover away from him.
"STOP" a voice roared. Gregor stepped down to the practice field. "If you idiots are done strutting like thyroid crazed roosters, there are students to teach," he said pointing at the confused looking Psi-Shot.
"Come with me, Psi-Shot. Let these children finish their juvenile tussle. I have a very important task for you" Gregor said as he led Psi-Shot away.
Gregor took Psi-Shot into his inner office. The lad was clearly nervous and sat pale-faced in front of the pacing Black King. Finally the older man spoke.
"Psi-Shot, you have gained a great deal of control over your psionics since you joined us at the school, and I've never asked you for anything in return," Gregor began, "but now I need, what you might call a favor."
Psi-Shot looked up shyly. "What kind of favor?"
"Well," continued Gregor, "Your telekinetics is almost to Alpha levels, but your telepathy is still not quite as strong as it should be. I realize you have no trouble reading thoughts of unshielded minds, but can you influence people....can you MAKE them do what you want?"
Psi-Shot stammered, "I've never tried. Gomurr says that having powers like mine, you have to be more careful than with physical powers. He says that although physical powers can maim or even kill. My psionics can actually erase a person....taking away what makes them who they are."
Gregor mused to himself, "When and if we get that troublesome little mage back, He and I will have to have a talk. How dare he purposely stunt the development of one of my Upstarts."
He didn't say this to Psi-Shot, however, to the boy he said, "Son, Gomurr is a very wise man, but has fallen into trouble himself....along with several of the other students, and you may be the only one that can help them."
"How?" Psi-Shot asked, "I'm not a teleporter or a mystic. I'm a psionic, plain and simple."
"Yes," Gregor pressed, "but you could WIN a mystic over to our side, couldn't you?"
"Well, I suppose I could try, but I can't promise anything. Like you said, my telepathy is nowhere near as strong as my active psionics," Psi-Shot finally agreed.
"Good, my lad. You are doing a great thing for your friends here." Gregor droned. "And even if it doesn't work, it never hurts to have the boy more practiced in mental manipulation for further use at a later date," he finished his thought to himself.
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Gregor immediately took Psi-Shot to see Nytshade, the White Queen. After charming his way past her beautiful young receptionist, Gregor entered into her private office with the boy in tow.
"Good day Jon," Gregor stated, "It's been too long."
"Not long enough!" spat Nytshade as she reached for her intercom. Speaking into it, she said venomously, "Ms. Johanson, you're fired!! Please be out of the building before I see you again, and please don't embarrass yourself by making excuses. I said I wasn't to be disturbed."
Releasing the button, she looked up, "I told you Gregor, I can't help you. You are endangering my position as White Queen simply by being here."
"Come now, Jon," Gregor said, "What's a meeting between old.....friends?"
"I'd like to introduce you to one of my pupils, Jon. This is Psi-Shot. Show her what you can do, boy," Gregor commanded.
Psi-Shot reached out with his mind. His young face focused in concentration. Seeing into Nytshade's mind was like being transported from room to room in the Tower of Babel. The psi-chatter was so hard to follow, it could not possibly be that of a singular individual. The thoughts rolled through his head. Men's and women's voices both came to him in almost 20 different languages. What kind of person can live with this many conflicting thoughts. Then finally he was in. Although, it felt like she had given up instead of him breaking through.
"She's under my control, sir," wheezed Psi-Shot, "but something is wrong. I think maybe she is having a breakdown...her thoughts are so scattered and conflicted."
"Nonsense!" boomed Gregor, "Jon has always been a notoriously difficult woman to understand. That's what made her so........appealing. Come now, let's get her back to the school."
The three marched out of the White Hellfire Club HQ and into Gregor's waiting limousine. Gregor's thoughts were jubilant. The famous Nytshade was now his as a mind-shorn puppet. What a prize she would make. He allowed his thoughts to roll back over the time they had spent together. She had always been a extremely exotic lover, but had always kept him at a distance emotionally and mentally, but now she was his. Oh this could be interesting....Very interesting indeed.
CHAPTER EIGHT: MIRROR/RORRIM
Although Gomurr refused to be separated from his students, there was still suitable privacy for all parties involved to refresh themselves and change clothes. Silent servants bobbed and weaved around the travelers, bathing their wounds and dressing them in fineries beyond imagine. When all preparations were finished, Gomurr looked at his pupils in amazement, and then looking in the mirror was a bit amazed at himself. Rita stood before him in a long flowing gown of the palest blue silk. Her dark hair and features making the material almost white by comparison. Her long dark hair was put up and netted in strands of tiny seed pearls. Jam had taken a different approach to dressing. Instead of the silken gowns the servants kept trying to push on her, Jam opted for a simple pair of white tailored pants and a red velvet waist jacket. Both items looked as if they were made for her and were complimented by shiny black boots and understated jewelry. The most startling metamorphosis of the three was found in Bux, however. The normally shy girl now radiated beauty and poise that seemed completely natural to her. Her green satin gown clung to her figure like a glove, and in her hair, the servants had placed a delicate jeweled tiara. Bux seemed possessed of an air of regalness that she had never shown before. With a look in her eyes that was almost haughty, she approached the other girls.
"Isn't this wonderful?" she giggled, "I feel just like Cinderella dressed up for the ball."
This statement brought the other girls back down to earth, and they began to giggle and examine each other's clothing choices.
"Only Bux would think of Cinderella, I was thinking of Cindy f***in' Crawford, House of F***in style!" said Rita, and then the girls turned to notice their escorts for the evening.
Both Gomurr and Rahsas dressed in what passed for evening attire for men in this place. Both wore softly flowing striped trousers that were sharply tapered at the ankle They also wore brightly colored jackets in tones that complimented the trousers. Rahsas garments were quite easily found, since most people here were exceedingly tall, but Gomurr had to be garbed in a child's pants due to his diminutive stature. Overall though, they both looked as sophisticated and suave as the girls looked beautiful. With the preparations made, the servants began to leave and the lead servant approached them inviting them to follow him. So off they went through high ceilinged rooms with gilded skylights and down velvet carpeted hallways until they reached the chamber that the servant had specified.
"Please go in," the servant mumbled as he left, "She is expecting you."
As the huge entrance doors swung inwards, Gomurr was struck by a thought. An ancient saying came to his mind. "Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly."
At their approach, the woman got to her feet and approached them, hands outstretched. She was wearing a beautiful deep blue gown and veil that flowed softly behind her.
"Aaaaah, my guests have arrived, and suitably attired after their somewhat rough travels. Could I offer you something to drink, before the ceremony and dinner?" she said sweetly.
"What ceremony is this, madam?" Gomurr asked.
"Oh my ancient friend, why a ceremony as old as time itself.....A ceremony of gift giving and receiving. Have no fear and please call me Lady Robyyn."
"How funny," Bux whispered to Jam, "Robin is my real name."
"No wonder, you go by Bux," said Jam, "Robin sounds like a goofy bird or something."
Overhearing the conversation, Lady Robyyn said, "It appears we share more than tastes in names my dear. In fact, that is what first brought you to my attention and let me know you were no danger to me."
At this point, Lady Robyyn removed her veil, and there standing in front of them was an almost dead ringer for Bux....a little older perhaps...more mature features...but Bux nonetheless. Gomurr stiffened, but said nothing. The recognition was immediate on almost all their faces. Bux gasped and said, "You.....you....you look just like me!"
______________________________________________________________________________
Gregor was enjoying himself immensely. With Psi-Shot's hold over Nytshade solidified, she was his to command. If not for the need of having the boy present, the situation could take a decidedly even more enjoyable turn. But first things first. He had to find a way to get Rahsas back. Gregor decided to take Jon and Psi-Shot in his car to the academy grounds, but it never hurt to be cautious in matters such as this, so he enlisted the aid of two of the advocates to their number. Deadpool and Siryn followed closely behind them, in a sleek black humvee. What else would a mercenary drive?
When they arrived at the school, they saw Nemesis and Blink standing in the courtyard surrounded by the panthers. Blink wore the look of fearful respect as she watched her mistress feed and stroke the panthers fondly. As Gregor approached, they noticed him, as well as his companion, and a look of bitter hate crossed the eyes of the Black Queen.
"What is SHE doing here?" raged Nemesis, pointing at Nytshade. "Slumming again are we, Gregor?"
"Claws in kitty-cat!" said Gregor, "She is of use to me, and that is all you need to know."
"You dare bring a rival queen into my presence!" Nem spat, "What sort of need could this pathetic creature fill, other than that of a plaything or concubine."
Nem watched her opponent's eyes closely, and when Nytshade gave no reaction, she sent out a mental probe into the White Queen's mind.
"What is this?" Nem laughed, "She is being psionically controlled, but wait, there's something wrong. There should be only two minds present. I am sensing three. It appears our poor White Queen is even more unbalanced than I previously thought, you're pathetic attempt at controlling her has caused her personality to split. I can see where having a pet is nice Gregor, but this is entirely too dangerous. I demand you let me mind wipe her and try to repair what damage you've done, so we can return her to the Whites, or we dispose of her now. You endanger us all!"
"She will fulfill her purpose and then be returned, Nemesis. Now leave us before I tire of your prattling," Gregor roared. "Deadpool.....Siryn....show your Queen to the gate."
With that, the Black Queen whirled and strode away. Clarice, her pawn, quickly followed and Deadpool and Siryn brought up the rear.
As they reached the gate, Nemesis lashed out with her mind at the two advocates, but Gregor had prepared for this eventuality. Deadpool laughed and looked at the Black Queen.
"Gregor said you would try something like this Nem," Deadpool said showing Nem a black box securely fastened behind his ear, "so, he gave us these."
"Psi-baffles!!!!! How dare he!!!!!" she screamed, "Now Clarice!! We'll see how PREPARED Gregor is."
With that, young Clarice Ferguson quickly sent two blink pulses into the chest of each of the advocates. Siryn immediately crumpled to the ground, but Deadpool still stood. His own stubborn will keeping him on his feet. Blink came round with a side kick finishing what her time/blink pulse had started.
"Excellent work my dear, but you left them alive," Nem said, as she stepped over the bodies of her fallen comrades. "Someday we'll have to work on your killer instinct. Now let's get back to Gregor and my dearest Nytshade."
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"Well that was rather distasteful.......but a more than a little satisfying. To think that after all these years, I can still inspire jealousy like that in womankind," Gregor mumbled. "Now let's get down to business. Psi-Shot, open yourself up to her memories. Search for any concerning Rahsas. We need to know how his power works and how we can access it through the White Queen."
Gregor had not been paying much attention to the youth, since they first arrived on the grounds of the academy. It was only after giving this command that he noticed the condition the boy was in. His face, normally full of emotion and promise, now looked haggard and drawn. It was clear his possession of Jon was taking a toll on him, but sacrifices must be made by all in order to regain Rahsas...and the others, of course.
"Do it now boy, time is of the essence," Gregor commanded.
Psi-Shot reached out with his mind and took the White Queen's own. He searched for the memories that Gregor specified, but it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. With each passing moment Psi-Shot felt his grip loosening on the White Queen's psyche.
"I can't hold out for much longer, sir." groaned Psi-Shot, "Something is breaking the hold on her mind. It's not like she's fighting me, it's some other force."
And with that statement Psi-Shot crumbled to the ground, a small trickle of blood running from his nose.
"The child may not be able to control this witch, Gregor, but I can!" said Nem as she took control of the White Queen, "Never send a boy to do a woman's job, my Black King. You should have learned that lesson.
Nem concentrated and caused the White Queen to take hold of the awesome mystical abilities that were now hers to command. The air around the White Queen's clenched fist began to glow and vibrate.
"NOW LET THE GAMES BEGIN," said Nemesis.
CHAPTER 9: PUPPETS AND MASTERS
Gomurr was the first to speak after the startling revelation about lady Robynn was revealed.
"What sort of game are you playing Robyyn, or whatever your name is? I demand to know why we have been brought here, and how we are supposed to get home. The time for your silly dangerous amusements is long past!" Gomurr almost shouted.
At his words, Robyyn's eyes narrowed and a look of anger and just a touch of fear crossed her face. Her guards began to inch toward the Upstarts and their teacher, but Lady Robyyn held up a restraining hand.
"Peace my minions!" she said, "The man asks an honest question, and I fear he will not like my answer. Very well, if you want to hear the tale, it is my duty to tell it. I, along with my mother and her mother before her, am what is called a Nexus Being. Almost all creatures have counterparts in the various dimensions. What makes my line different.....and you different as well, Bux......is that we are usually beings of great mystical power, as well as the ability to tap into our other-dimensional counterparts and communicate or at times breach the veil and cross over to them."
At this statement, Bux looked up at Robyyn with fear in her eyes and said, "So it was you that I kept hearing in my head, but why? I felt you were in danger and that you needed me for something, but what could I possibly give you. I have no such power."
"Oh, but you do, my child." Robyyn purred, "Even more than your diminutive teacher suspects. Do you believe that I caused your friend's wounds to heal so nicely or that it was my power that kept you all sane during the dimensional jump. Oh no, sweet Bux.....that is your gift.....and it is one that this realm is in dire need of. Because if you cannot heal this world, I fear we are all doomed. You see each manifestation of the nexus has slightly different abilities, but enough of this for now. Your gifts are still raw and undeveloped, it will take a great deal of training before you are ready to do what must be done and time is growing short. Now come, I promised gifts and gifts you shall all have."
"Look, Queenie Lady, or whatever the hell kind of friggin royalty you claim to be," Jam shouted, "The only gift we want is a ticket home. I couldn't give a flyin fig about dimensional nexus jumpers from beyond. I just want out of here."
"I fear my dear that this also is beyond my power. You see, not even I know how you arrived here. I was only alerted to your presence after I my desert sentries brought word of you. One of you must have caused the nexus bridge."
They all looked toward Gomurr, then toward Rahsas, then finally at Bux.
"Ok kiddos, who did it. This is gettin really old...really fast," mouthed Rita, but none of them could give any answer, and the revelations weren't finished yet.
"Robyyn," Rahsas said, "My abilities lie in teleportation and I was responsible for my own journey here, but had nothing to do with the travels of the others. My powers have never been so unpredictable. Something or someone is hampering them, and It seems entirely too coincidental that I also felt called to this location. Upon my arrival I have but one solid memory.....of you...calling me Brother...and then nothing."
Robyyn's face turned ghostly pale, and her fingers gripped the staff, that also held such a sense of deja vu for Rahsas.
"Rahsas, it appears, the time has come to reveal the secrets of the past in order to save the future. It's odd that the one who began this downfall would return in company with the one who can prevent it," Robyyn said. "Yes, you are known to me as brother, but not of blood. When I was young, after the death of my mother, a man took me in. He also had taken in another lost child in the form of a dark-skinned lanky youth. I see now that you are that that boy from my past, Rahsas."
Rahsas shifted his gaze and looked straight into Robyyn's face. Is this why he had never felt at home anywhere....because he wasn't. Could this strange place really be his birthplace?...but what of the memories that recalled a place of peace and beauty. If the memories of Robynn were true, then what of the memories of the lessons and the old man......and the staff.....the staff coming down again and again on the old man.....What did it all mean?
"You speak of a teacher, Robyyn," Rahsas asked, "Where is this man now? Why do you hold the staff he sometimes wielded. What happened to the teacher?"
Robyyn's face grew cold and hard. She looked at Rahsas with venom in her eyes.
"I think that is for you to reveal child of darkness!!" Lady Robyyn howled "Was it not you who was so jealous and spiteful of the old one's power that you destroyed him? Was it not you who bludgeoned him to death with this very staff, and then ran cowardly away to spread your evil to others. Confess, BETRAYER!!!"
Rahsas' mind whirled. This couldn't be true. He had never killed anyone. Why couldn't he remember?
Gomurr spoke up again. "Robyyn, I see you are visibly upset, but I cannot believe that Rahsas had anything to do with the death of your master. What proof do you offer of your claims?"
"Proof!!!!" Robyyn sniffed, "What more proof do I need, but the look on his face. I found the old man bleeding and dying on the floor of his chamber. Rahsas was nowhere to be found. In his last words, the old one entrusted to me this realm, and I shall not fail him. If what you think of the boy is true......and that he has somehow changed from the viper he was, then I give credence to your words, but only because he may be the deliverer of this place as he once was the destroyer. By bringing the girl to me, he gains a reprieve. Otherwise he would be dead."
All eyes turned to Rahsas. He stood swaying slightly on weakened legs. How could this boy they trusted be capable of killing someone in cold blood? The look on his face showed such anguish.
Things would never be the same again.
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The first mystic flare shot from Nytshade's hand and struck Gregor in the chest. While he was in flight, with his kinetic field going, it did relatively no harm.
"Calm down, Nemesis," he shouted. "Don't make me hurt you or the White Queen."
"Me????? Calm Down?" Nem laughed. "After the way you spoke to me earlier, you are lucky I don't use dear sweet Jon's powers to fry you to a crisp. Her power is delightful by the way. Pity, you can never experience it for yourself. Suppose I destroy her and you as well? I can see it now, the mourning Black Queen accepted back into the arms of the IHFC after the news that her Black King and the White Queen had plotted against her. I can do this Gregor, I can make them think anything I want with the proper mental manipulations and the corpses of you and Nytshade as set dressing."
Gregor concentrated and sent a projectile blast towards the ground in front of Nem. His power of turning pollutants in the air into propulsive and projectile energy was effective even at this close range. Should the shot have hit Nem instead of the ground, she would have been obliterated. The shot did strike the ground, however, causing Nem to fall. Her Pawn, Blink, fired a time pulse bolt at Gregor, which he narrowly avoided.
"So the kitten wants to play along with the cat!" Gregor growled. "I swear Nem, if you have injured Psi-Shot in this foolish temper tantrum, I'll make you pay."
Gregor concentrated again and formed a energy spear from the surrounding pollutants. Even in the relatively pristine area of the state where the school was located, there were still enough pollutants in the air to form this simple weapon. He hurled it at Blink, catching her jacket and pinning her to the side of the building. She cried out in pain.
"Clarice!!!!" Nem screamed, "Are you alright....Please say something!!"
With Blink possibly injured, Nemesis released her hold on Nytshade's powers and the battle was over. Nem ran to Clarice as Gregor picked up the stunned Psi-Shot making sure he was uninjured.
"Nemesis, you are lucky this child is unharmed or my spears would have found your heart as well as hers....As it is, she is merely bruised, but let this show you. I am not a man to be trifled with and my students are not to be endangered."
Psi-Shot sat upright in Gregor's arms.
"I'm all right, sir, and it wasn't Nemesis who took me out. It was someone else. I have never felt that much psionic energy before, and it was too much for me," Psi-Shot wheezed.
"If it wasn't Nemesis, then who?" questioned Gregor.
At that moment a psionic voice so loud it caused them all to cover their ears in pain filled their minds.
"Enough of this foolishness!!!!! I have let you all play your pathetic power games for far too long. I have inhabited the body of your so-called White Queen for well over 50 years. Her decadent lifestyle and powerful position in the world made her the perfect vessel. Although she was at first a rather difficult host to take, she soon accepted the fact that as she needed the mystical energy of others, I needed the psionic. A pity she never quite agreed when I had to destroy a person to get it. Oh well, there's no accounting for the petty moral dilemmas of women. Through this vessel I have sensed an even greater power than you mutants possess. A power that will allow me to not only rule here, but to rule in every dimension across the multiverse....and that power lies through this portal!!!!!!!" so spoke the Shadow King through his mind-shorn puppet as her hand pointed toward the spot where Gomurr and the others had disappeared.
So with casual ease, Amal Farouk took control of the bodies of all present and began to formulate a plan on how to reopen the portal which the travelers had disappeared into and then on how to feast on the minds of all the people therein.
CHAPTER TEN: THE GIFT
Rahsas sat in the darkened chamber to which they were brought to after Robyyn's accusations, quietly discussing this latest bombshell with Gomurr. He knew in his heart that he wasn't a killer, but all of the evidence pointed to him. He remembered the old one, and the day of his death, and the staff making a sickening thump each time it struck his ancient body. He even remembered holding the old man's dying body, his life blood flowing out over Rahsas' own still childish hands. Something was still escaping him though......WHY COULDN'T HE REMEMBER!!!!!
Gomurr looked over into Rahsas' eyes, "Rahsas, there is no need for you to worry. We will find a way to get home, and then all of this foolishness can be forgotten. If this is indeed your home, and what Lady Robyyn says is true, I'm sure that there were circumstances that she failed to mention."
Rahsas looked back at Gomurr and said, "Master, there is no doubt in my mind, that this is where I come from, but there is serious doubt in my mind about Robyyn. She seems to know all the answers, but speaks in riddles and half truths."
"I know this well," returned Gomurr. "and that fact worries me a great deal. While speaking with her, I began thinking about her guards and servants, the means by which we were brought here, and my own inability to draw on the Crimson Dawn. She has shown great mystical abilities, and seems to be hiding even more power. I believe it is she that blocks my access to the Dawn. Were my abilities up to par, I would probably be able to get us home. What of your shadowgate power, has it returned?"
"No sir," Rahsas answered. "It is like you said before, somehow, I am being blocked. What can we do? She is so powerful and outwardly means us no harm, but what can she gain by keeping us here?"
"I don't know, Rahsas," whispered Gomurr, "but I'm almost frightened to find out."
Just then the doors to the chamber slid open and the guards with the soulless eyes entered.
"Lady Robyyn demands your presence in the grand auditorium.......Follow us!" boomed the guards in unison.
Gomurr, Rahsas, Jam, Rita and Bux all followed, feeling like lambs being led to the slaughter. When they entered they saw the Lady Robyyn sitting on a crystalline throne in the center of what can only be described as a room made entirely of mirrors. The room itself was a pyramid with a floor that was also mirrored. When the doors shut behind them there was no evidence that they ever existed, for they too were mirrored. The whole thing, despite it's brightness and beauty, was maddening to look at. Every where you turned you saw yourself looking back. Gomurr felt that it was some sort of elaborate spider web with them trapped in the center.
"Welcome my good travelers," Lady Robyyn cooed. "I must apologize for my outburst earlier. I was highly agitated and realize now, to argue the point of guilt or innocence is useless. I can produce no evidence to the fact that Rahsas is guilty, and you can produce none to say he is not. Thus, we are at an impasse, so I shall not mention it again. Now, I promised gifts to you earlier when we met, and gifts you shall have."
With that, Lady Robyyn slapped her hands together quickly and the doors slid back open. In strode several servants with the same white on white eyes of the guards. They were all carrying large cushions in their arms with small ornately carved boxes resting in the center. The final servant to enter carried a large almost black staff with an ornately carved head piece. All the items were deposited at the feet of Lady Robyyn, and she dismissed the servants as soon as they had placed their burdens there.
"Please step forward one by one and accept your gifts as tokens of respect and friendship," said Lady Robyyn in a highly ceremonial voice.
Gomurr was the first to approach.
"For you my ancient comrade, I give the gift of knowledge. I see in your eyes a curiosity about this place and it's history, so I give to you an ancient script detailing the genesis of my kingdom," Robyyn intoned as she gave Gomurr a gigantic book bound in thick green leather, and closed with golden hinges.
Rahsas was the next to approach. He almost cringed at the though of taking a gift from this woman who believed he had killed their mentor, but he wasn't about to deny her this seemingly important ceremony.
"For you, brother of my heart," she hissed sarcastically, "I offer this fine staff made from the trees that once grew in abundance here, but now are almost nonexistent. I fear my touch does not bring about the growth of nature like that of our master. May the strong wood of this staff keep you on the path of goodness you now tread."
Rahsas looked at the staff and noticed that the head piece was an intricately carved snake's head. The detail was incredible and it looked as if it could come to life at any moment. When he took it in his hand, he felt that it should signify something, yet he didn't know what. He also didn't fail to notice the implications of the snake imagery.....THERE IS A SERPENT AMONG US came to mind.
"Now come ladies, allow me to offer you gifts, that though can never be as beautiful as you, can accent that beauty," Lady Robyyn purred.
Rita was first to receive the gift.
"Child of the gypsy heart, I give you this ring. May it's fiery shine serve to remind you that beauty and strength of will are your greatest gifts."
Rita looked at the huge ruby ring Robyyn placed in her hand. She looked at Gomurr for an instant, and at his approval slipped the ring on. Next came Jam.
"To you, child of song, I give this balisset. May it's music serve to remind you to follow the song of your heart."
With this said, Robyyn handed Jam a small guitar that was intricately decorated with precious jewels and golden scroll work. The instrument itself was almost half the size of a standard guitar but produced a deep soulful strumming noise as it's strings were touched.
Finally Bux approached the throne. Lady Robyyn's eyes narrowed at her coming.
"Come child, I have saved a very special gift for you. You are as much sister to me as any I have ever met. Our similarities of appearance are an indication of a bond we share that transcends time. Take this trinket, with my blessing."
Robynn gently placed a small golden chain around the neck of Bux. At the end of the chain was a simple crystal pyramid. It seemed slightly plain compared to the ornate gifts the others had been given, but if Bux's immediate bow and smile was any indication, she was highly pleased.
With the ceremony completed, the travelers were allowed to return to their quarters. Each began examining their gifts almost as soon as the doors were closed behind them. All present expected some sort of treachery within each offering, but none was found. Finally Gomurr gave up and begin to thumb through the ancient script he had been given. The others, exhausted from the last few days drifted off to sleep even though it was only mid-day................all that is, except for Bux, who lay awake slowly rubbing the pendant around her neck and whispering to herself. The crystal glowed ominously and in another chamber Robyyn knew the child was almost hers.
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Deadpool awoke with a bass drum pounding in his brain. So this is what it felt like to be time phased....not an experience he'd care to repeat. He immediately began trying to revive Siryn, who finally sat up, complaining of the headache that Deadpool knew so well.
"What happened Wade," Siryn moaned.
"It was that little minx of a pawn that Nem has. She used her time pulses to displace us for a split second causing our nervous system to shutdown," Wade explained.
"Well, we'll see who laughs last when I get my hands on her.....I'll scorch her good," Siryn said.
Deadpool helped Siryn to her feet and they begin to walk toward the main buildings of campus. Deadpool pondered to himself. It wasn't normal for Gregor just to leave his back-up team high and dry, even if they had been taken out pretty early in the game. Something was going on here that they didn't know about yet. As they approached the central garden courtyard they saw Nem, Nytshade, Gregor and Blink staring blankly into space as if listening to the wind. Psi-Shot still sat on the ground, but had the same blank look on his face.
"Something not quite kosher is goin down here," whispered Siryn.
"I know what ya mean, babe, and with heavy hitters like that all spazzed out, it's something major league bad. I'd say it's time to call in some reinforcements," Deadpool whispered back.
At that moment, Deadpool noticed that Siryn too was beginning to behave strangely. She seemed to be struggling to comprehend some completely horrible and alien image. Her eyes glazed over and then a grimace would pass over her face. At one of these odd emotional changes, Siryn let out an ear piercing scream.
"Run Wade," she screamed, "He's going to make me hurt you. He can't get to you for some reason, so he wants you dead.....RUN NOW."
Deadpool didn't know who "he" was, but things were starting to make sense. It had to be a telepath of incredible power to take out Nem and Psi-Shot and to break through the psi-baffles that they both wore. Lucky for Deadpool, the Weapon X program that had provided him with his crude healing factor also had proofed him against psi-attack. Somehow his healing factor was fighting off the telepathic probes, and although his head throbbed and pounded with the effort, his thoughts were still his own.
At first, he looked at Siryn in shocked silence, but when she fired her first flame blast at him, he realized that she meant business. At the same moment he back flipped away from the scorching heat of her blast, a kinetic energy projectile courtesy of Gregor, a psi-dagger from Psi-Shot, as well as one of Blink's pulse bolts struck the ground in front of him. What was going on......they were all asleep on their feet just minutes ago..and now they are blasting away at him. Deadpool knew he had to get out of there or he was a goner, and having been in combat situations almost his whole life, he sprang into action.
The first thing Deadpool did was to take Siryn out of the fight. He couldn't risk killing her, if the others forced him into using more lethal methods. She was quick and agile and her fire blasts were at highest intensity, but he was faster and had taught her everything she knew about combat. With a grace almost lyrical, he back flipped again and landed behind her. He then knocked her unconscious with a single stroke across the back of her neck. As she collapsed, he scooped her into his arms and ran for the nearest cover. He knew he couldn't take on all of these people, but he also knew he couldn't let her fall back under the influence of whatever held the others. There was only one chance of escaping.
Deadpool ran toward the spot where they had parked the cars. Gregor's energy bolts seared the earth around him. The smell of ozone was hot in his nostrils. Just as he reached his humvee, a teleportal opened in front of him and out leaped Blink and Psi-Shot. Blink was as fast as her namesake, but Deadpool was faster. A sharp uppercut across the bridge of her nose sent her wheeling into darkness.
"That's for the pulse bolt earlier, little girl," laughed Wade, "and as for you young man, this is for not treating your elders with the respect they deserve."
With this, Deadpool back-kicked Psi-Shot in the head. The young psi's neck snapped back and, although he fought to maintain his hold on awareness, he was soon sleeping the troubled sleep of the defeated. This left only Gregor. Deadpool could hear the roar of Gregor's afterburner blast field as he tossed the unconscious Siryn into the passengers side seat.
"Just got one shot with this, better make it a good one," Deadpool thought.
He activated the vehicles engines and pushed a few keys on it's onboard computer. He knew there was no way to take on Gregor with physical force. His blast shield protecting him from all harm while it was activated. But Gregor himself had helped him design the arsenal that he now prepared. With a final key stroke a liquid cannon sprang from the back hatch. Much like the high pressure sprayers used by policeman to control riots, the liquid cannon sprayed out a stream of thick yellow fluid that on contact with air became resin-like and extremely sticky. The jet of liquid caught Gregor in the chest and immediately began to stretch and stick to his blast shield. As the resin spread, the blast shield, which was usually almost invisible, became more like a sticky bubble with Gregor inside. When Gregor touched down, the resin anchored him to the ground and he was momentarily trapped. Deadpool knew this wouldn't hold him for long, so he took the opportunity to make good his escape. He had to find some help.......but where?
______________________________________________________________________________
"DAMN!" shrieked the Shadow King as he squatted on the astral plane moving his puppets like chess pieces.
He should have sent them all after the tainted one. How Amal Farouk missed the day when all minds were his to command. Those were days when no one could stand against the might of the shadow king. No one held the mutated genetics, the mental conditioning or the technological magics that prevented his entry into their psyche, but even now, in this time of super-mutants and silicon chip psi-shields, there were ample minds with such delicious emotions on which he could feed. What harm could one mind-twisted mutant do? He couldn't have spared the two wenches, even for a moment. He needed Nem and Nytshade to open the dimensional pathway. His sharp fingers sliced through their ripe psyches...twisting pain centers.....and promising the soothing release of the pleasure hormones when they completed their task. These two puppets who held such hate for one another were now working in perfect unison thanks to his guiding touch, but they must work faster......for he knew.....deep within his black heart that the escapee would bring others, and even his power had limits.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: ALLIANCES
Gomurr continued to thumb through the ancient text. If this book was a true representation of the actual events that shaped this place, then something was incredibly wrong here. It appeared Lady Robyyn held all the power in this realm, but the book's somewhat unclear description illustrated both a male and a female power source. The female half of the force was known as the Trimonicon and was represented by the pyramid that was so apparent in all the structures in the palace. This force was said to be charged with healing and life energies, fire and light magics, and something that Gomurr was unfamiliar with........something called the V'shani. Gomurr had studied hundreds of mystical systems of empowerment over the centuries, but this term was still unknown.
As he read on, the text began to profile the male half of the force. This half was symbolized by the serpent and was called Anaconza. It controlled nature, water forces, and the joctu, which was translated into jump. Gomurr concluded that this meant teleportation. So Rahsas' teleportation abilities weren't mutant-gene related, but mystical. The text gave no indication of any shape shifting abilities that Rahsas' malleable form displayed, so that gift was truly a mutant power and is what set off Gregor's mutant scanning device when he recruited the lad.
As Gomurr finished the last pages of the book, he noticed that the others were beginning to stir. Rahsas sat up groggily rubbing his eyes. Rita and Jam stretched and yawned. Bux, however, continued to lay on her mattress curled into a fetal position. As Rita, reached over to awaken Bux, her hand brushed along the pyramid which had been Bux's gift. At this Bux, leaped into awareness, eyes wild, and fingers clutching her necklace.
"Don't touch me!" she screamed as she pushed Rita away roughly.
Rita's eyes widened and the others looked curiously at Bux. The beautiful young redhead seemed to realize what she had said, and immediately apologized, explaining that she was caught in the middle of a nightmare and Rita had startled her.
"It's understandable," said Gomurr, "We are all under a great deal of stress. The good news is thought, that while you have slept, I think I may have found a clue as to how to get us home."
At this moment, there was a knock at the door. Lady Robyyn herself stepped into the room, wearing a gown and veil in the style of the one she had been wearing on their first encounter.
"Night approaches, my companions, and there is much to do. Come, join me in my chamber. There is a favor that I must ask of you all."
Gomurr didn't like the sound of this at all, but they had little choice, so they followed Robyyn back to the huge mirrored room. Gomurr noticed the servants lining the hall. They all bowed to the group as they moved towards the pyramid chamber. Gomurr realized they paid special attention to Bux as she swept past them. Whey had they all left their duties and lined the hall to watch them? Something was definitely wrong here. As they entered the chamber Gomurr noticed that the brilliant splendor of light that had once made the room painfully bright was now only a dim glow. He lit a mystic flare on the end of his staff, but Robyyn, with an example of her own power, quickly extinguished it.
"Dark deeds require darkness, ancient one, but have no fear. All is well." She said.
As they became accustomed to the darkness, they realized that the room gave off a steady very low glow of it's own. An almost humming sound came from the mirrored walls as they produced their strange phosperesence. Rahsas suddenly had a flash of memory. The glowing pyramid suspended in darkness. This was the gateway to this world. What were they doing here? The light became a bit brighter and the humming noise became faster and a bit louder. Gomurr felt it's rhythmic throbbings in the back of his mind. His thoughts centered on one thing......the Lady Robyyn and her beautiful face.......how blissful it would be to spend every hour with her.......to serve her every whim.......what a treasure to be coveted she was. The same thoughts raced through the minds of all present and a wicked smile crossed the lips of Robyyn. It was almost time.
"The fools," Lady Robyyn thought, "This is almost too easy. My gifts sensitized them to my powers and now the V'shani will make them mine."
Robyyn's mind was one with them all now. Each shared her innermost thoughts as she shared theirs. Rahsas finally knew the real truth. It was not he that had slain the old one. It was Robyyn herself. He could see her now, standing over the old man. He watched as she swung the staff down onto his ancient frame. He could see himself in her mind's eye....clutching the old man's dying body with tears running down his face....and then he was gone, claiming his birthright as wielder of Anaconzan. He had taken his gift of Joctu and fled from Robyyn's terrible wrath and jealousy....but what did that matter. He was bathing in her light now...in her love...they could be together again...just like family.
Rita's thoughts whirled and throbbed along with the light. She was with the lady Robyyn sitting atop a huge pedestal. Beneath her stood the parents she didn't care to remember......she watched her sad eyed mother........watched as tears rolled down her dark complected cheeks as she gave the tiny screaming baby that was Rita into the arms of the nuns........she watched the handsome white man next to her mother hand them a huge roll of cash, as he mumbled something about not wanting the disgusting half-breed child.......but she was loved now.....here in Robyyn's light she would be loved by all who saw her.....forever.
Jam also sat with Robyyn, only she sat behind a barred wall. She watched as the men were paraded by her in chains......the men from her past that she buried deep within and only released in the burning melodies of her music. First, there was the alcoholic father, that had told her that she would never grow up to be an uppity whore like the mother that had run away when she was two. To this effect he constantly gave her "reminders" in the form of fists and belts. Next came the first love of her life, who turned out to be worse than her father covering her with both fists and guilt as he degraded her body and soul. Then came the flashy young "talent agent" who turned out to be nothing more than a pimp assuring her that "this" was the only way to make it in "the business". As each man was paraded by, Lady Robyyn let loose a bolt of energy from her staff...branding each with the marks of shame that Jam wore on her soul every day of her life...but it didn't matter now...she was safe with Robyyn and she would be protected......forever.
Gomurr's thoughts were like quicksand. Everytime he formed a relevant image it was swept away by the smiling face of Lady Robyyn. Here was a woman who was as learned in the ancient magics of the world as he, yet as young and as beautiful as a spring flower. Here was a woman who would look past his stature and ancientness to see the true man beneath. Here was a woman with whom he could share his life with. He concentrated trying to shake off the relentless imagery of Robyyn He thought of his students. Each dressed up in their upstarts uniform, but the head of each was soon replaced by Lady Robyyn's. He concentrated again, and the students returned.......except for Bux, she still looked like Robyyn....SHE WAS ROBYYN......WHAT WAS GOING ON?
"NO!" cried Gomurr as he brought his staff up. "I will not fall so easily to your charms, Robyyn. You cannot claim me nor my students. TAKE THIS INSTEAD."
With that, Gomurr fired a mystic bolt, that although was in a terribly weakened state, was enough to break the spell that Robyyn held over them. Robyyn spun to face Gomurr, her veil falling away to reveal a face so hideously old and decayed that it ceased to be a face at all....it was only a grinning death's head, and the skull began to laugh.
"It's too late, little man!" she roared, "She's already mine."
"Now and Forever," Bux said........Only it came out in the dry cackle of Robyyn's voice.
______________________________________________________________________________
Deadpool's tires hummed along the road as he sped Siryn back to the Black Hellfire Club HQ. Siryn's hands were bound and she was mildly drugged in case she happened to wake up on the return trip. As he pulled into the huge circular drive next to the mansion, he had one solitary thought....WHAT NOW?
As he stepped out of the vehicle with Siryn in his arms, Silver swung open the mansion door?
"Deadpool.....Wade....What's going on here?" he called. "You entered the grounds without bothering with the security access, if Avalon hadn't deactivated the system when he did a bio-scan of you and Siryn in the vehicle, you would be dead right now."
"No time to explain, Silver," Wade said, "Siryn's in trouble and so are the rest of the people around here unless we do something pretty fu*&in' fast."
Silver looked down at Siryn and opened the door for Deadpool to enter. They went straight to the med-lab and called for Avalon. When the lad appeared he set the computers to run an auto-diagnostic on Siryn. After the scan Avalon reported the results to the two men.
"It appears, sirs, that Siryn has been the victim of an alpha level psionic attack," the youth said. "There is no longer any trace of the person responsible, and her system is trying to recover. It is strange, however, that she fell victim to the attack at all. All recorded psionics have been programmed into the matrix inside the psi-baffles that she was wearing. It must have been an unknown telepath of extreme power to break through. He or she must operate under a limited geographical distance, however, since Siryn is once more herself."
It was then that Siryn began to stir. She reached out to Deadpool instinctively.
"I'm so sorry, Wade," she cried, "It was like I had no control over my actions, I knew what I was doing, but was powerless to stop it."
"It's ok girl," said Wade, "You gave me a warnin'. That's better than a lot of people do."
Just then Supergrover entered from the main hall. The brutally handsome mutant with the skin of blue velvet quickly accessed the situation.
"I heard a little of what's going on, but I need to know the whole story," Grover stated. "Who attacked you and where are Gregor and the others?"
"To tell ya the truth, Grover," Deadpool said, "the answers one and the same....Gregor and the others attacked me, but according to Siryn, they are under someone else's control."
"Could Nemesis possibly be using them for some scheme of her own?" questioned Silver.
"Unlikely sir," said Avalon, "Gregor insisted Nem's psi-print be downloaded into the psi-baffles to guard against just such an occurrence."
"It doesn't matter who or what's controlling them," said Havok as he entered the room. "It's our job to kick some a$$, and sort it out afterwards. A telepath is dangerous no matter who they claim to be working for."
All the members of the inner circle had heard of Havok's distrust of psi-talents. They knew his father had been manipulated by a telepath and forced to kill his mother. His hatred for telepaths was well known, but in this case he might be right. Their main goal had to be the rescue of their members, regardless of who was controlling them, and if it meant hurting them to help them, then so be it.
"As Black Bishop, that leaves me in charge," said Silver. "Grover..... Havok..... Deadpool..... Siryn, sit back down and let Avalon fit you for new psi-baffles. There's got to be away around this."
"I don't think that will be necessary," spoke up Grover. "Since whoever this person is circumvented the baffles on one occasion, they are likely to do it again. Might I suggest an alternate method of stealth."
They all listened as Supergrover laid out his plan. Apparently Grover held a low level psi-power of his own. He was not a telepath by any means, but he was completely undetectable by psionic methods. Somehow his body created a constant psi-static halo around itself and this halo could be spread out to cover other people. The only problem was the further the people were from his body, the weaker the shielding was. After Grover explained this as yet unrevealed power Havok, the Black Knight spoke up.
"I knew there was some reason I didn't like you blue boy," Havok grumbled, "All of you psi's are the same, double dealing and sneaking about is second nature to you. Why haven't you told us about this before."
"I was aware of his abilities.......just as I'm aware of yours, Havok," Silver said, "and if you don't stop this foolish rivalry with Grover, then I will stop it for you. The important thing is finding the others and bringing them home."
All eyes turned to Havok. Confronting Silver now would be a dangerous proposition. As Black Bishop, he held more title than Havok did, and thus the others would almost undoubtedly support him.
"Calm down Silver, I was just playin' with the blue b.......I mean Grover. I realize this is important." said Havok finally.
With tempers as back to normal as they got around the BHC, Grover continued to formulate his plan.
"OK......Silver, myself, Havok, Siryn and Deadpool go in through the underground access tunnels."
"But only Gregor knows the codes to those doors," Deadpool said.
"I can change the steel into tin and Siryn can melt our way through...that way we won't set off any alarms," said Silver.
"When we get there," continued Grover, "It's very important you all stay close to me. My aura only goes out so far."
"But, how are we supposed to take out our people, while being so anchored down to you?" asked Havok.
"That's just a problem we'll have to face when we get there," finished Grover. "Hopefully, we can take them out fast and hard, without hurting them too badly, by using the element of surprise."
"Great," grumbled Havok under his breath, "not only is this probably a suicide mission, but I have to die beside a blue freak."
And in that great frame of mind, they went to confront their former comrades and the Shadow King.
CHAPTER 12: THE BEST LAID PLANS
Gomurr and his students rushed towards Bux and Robyyn as the hateful words fell dully from their flame-haired teammates mouth. Robyyn held up her hand in a palm out gesture and suddenly the rescuers found their path blocked by a invisible wall. They watched as Bux meekly followed Robyyn toward the throne. The now cadaverous Robyyn, touched the delicately carved crystal of the throne and it slid away. As it slid, a slight scraping noise was heard, as a man-sized glowing pyramid rose from the floor beneath. Rahsas pounded against the mystical shield.
"I've been in your mind, Robyyn. I know the truth now," screamed Rahsas.
"Yes, you know now," spat Robyyn. "but all you'll do with that knowledge is DIE."
The now skeletal hand of the Lady Robyyn gripped her staff and fired a bolt of flame directly at Rahsas. The shield dropped to let the fireball go through and Rahsas barely had time to contort his incredible flexible body so that the flame passed through him. This however, was to Gomurr's disadvantage because, as he was standing behind Rahsas, the magic bolt struck him in the center of the chest.
"So you dare use your mutant powers to defy me," Robyyn screamed. "You think just because you can twist your body like a sideshow freak, that you can defeat me. You couldn't be happy with just the mystical abilities granted to you by being the embodiment of Anaconza, you had to have more. Well now, I've got your magics and mine as well, and you've got nothing more than contortionist tricks."
"I didn't choose to be a mutant," Rahsas screamed back at her. "This is the way I was born, and I've come to accept it, and it does have certain advantages."
Rahsas reached out his maleable arm and encircled Bux's waist. He thought if he could just separate her from Robyyn, then maybe they could all escape together. He thought wrong, however. As soon as Bux realized what was happening, she struck out at Rahsas with a mystic bolt of her own. Somehow Robyyn had catalyzed the abilities that Gomurr had suspected Bux of having. Rahsas pulled away and looked around frantically for help. Gomurr was just beginning to recover from the flame bolt and Rita and Jam were too frightened to move. It then occurred to him, what Robyyn had said. He was the living embodiment of Anaconza. He had the power to stop her. He simply had to find his way around the blocks she had placed on him....then it occurred to him. The glowing pyramid.......his trip through the darkness and into the light of yet another pyramid........Robyyn's Trimonicon staff..........the structure of this room. She had used her nexus powers to direct all of this world's magic into herself by focusing it through the crystaline properties of the pyramids. That's why Gomurr and he were having trouble with their powers.
"It's the mirrors," Rahsas screamed. "She's using them as a focus point for all the mystical energies in this realm. Strike out at the mirrors."
"NO!" Robyyn screamed. "You don't know what you are doing. You can't imagine the powers that I hold in check. You endanger every man, woman and child on this plane of existence by releasing those energies."
This statement seemed to bring everyone to silence. Bux still stood transfixed by the foul creature that had once been the Lady Robyyn. Rita and Jam stood staring at their friend, wondering what to do. Then Gomurr, who seemed possessed of an almost uncontrollable rage, slammed his staff into a mirrored wall, bringing shards of glass down in an explosive rain.
"No, Robyyn," Gomurr said as he shattered another of the mirrors, "It is you who don't understand. You are lying to us once again. The people of this realm are long dead. That's why they bow and scrape like mindless zombies.....THEY ARE. That's why there were no settlements between where we landed and your palace, and that's why you need Bux so badly. You've sucked the life force of this dimension dry, and now you need a young body of a dimensional counterpart in order to control it."
"So, you've discoverd my secret," Robyyn hissed, "but it's too late. I've gained control over dear sweet Bux now, and you are all just fuel for the fire."
Robyyn tapped her staff on the floor and Gomurr, Rahsas and the two girls were instantly surrounded by a ring of fire. The fire blazed to the ceiling and slowly began to close in on them.
"Run, little Rahsas, just like before. I grant you that power back," Robyyn cackled. "Take your remaining friends and go. Your toll is paid by this gift you brought me."
"You can't have her!" Rahsas yelled over the roaring flames. "I'll never lose anything to you again."
Rahsas picked up the wooden staff that had been given to him as a cruel twist of the knife and lifted it into the air.
"Foolish Boy, I told you that staff is powerless now. I've absorbed the Anaconza as well as the Trimonicon." laughed Robyyn.
"I don't need magic to take you out. I know your secret now. You've lived in lies and pretty light shows for far too long, Robyyn, now it's time to let in the dark." Rahsas raged.
The tall youth then reared back and tossed the staff like a javelin. Whether his aim was guided by the magic of Anaconza or just rage and discipline, the serpent headed staff crashed into the front glass panel of the pyramid and it exploded outward in an obsydian tide of darkness.
"You've doomed us all!" Robyyn cried as the blackness swept over the room and began to eat the entire world.
______________________________________________________________________________
Silver was impressed. The plan was actually working. Deadpool with the help of Avalon on the comm link had been able to de-activate the school's security perimeter alarms giving them access to the tunnels beneath it. When the murky water became so deep it made walking difficult, Silver used his abilities to turn the iron rust and metallic garbage in the water into a solid surface that they could walk on.
"Why didn't you do that in the beginning," Deadpool groaned.
"Frankly, I didn't think about it, until the water level started rising," returned Silver.
"Well, I'd hate for you to soil your new silks," laughed Deadpool.
Silver looked around, and despite the direness of the situation, his teammates in this venture gave a little laugh. He himself even found it slightly amusing. His new costume had been delivered, shortly before Deadpool had arrived at the mansion with Siryn. He had thought to field test it before actually using it, but when this mission arose he decided to wear it. Business suits weren't really conducive to wading threw sewers after all. The form fitting black body suit was accented with metallic gauntlet like gloves and a metal belt. The gloves, being made of metal, meant he was free to change the composition and shape of them at will, and the belt could be transformed with his powers into a variety of different items. He had gotten the idea from Supergrover and had been very impressed with the design he was presented with. He realized the novelty of his being in normal "super hero" garb only after Deadpool had pointed it out. It was rather funny if you thought about it.
Just as the waters ended and they all begin to step up onto the concrete platform of the spillway, they heard an inhuman scream. Havok felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up and he morphed his hands into claws in readiness for trouble. The sound came again....only closer this time. Havok, being the most accustomed to battle scenarios quickly took the point.
"All right, everyone," Havok commanded. "Form a circle back to back and be ready for anything."
Suddenly, a jet black mass of fangs and claws came flying from the darkness. The panther lashed out at anything in its line of sight. Havok fired a bio blast, but it went wide, hitting a section of the tunnel ceiling and almost bringing it down.
"Well so much for the high octane route," Havok yelled over the sound of crumbling rock. "Looks like we'll have to do this upclose and personal."
Just then another figure came hurtling from the darkness. Why were Nem's panthers attacking them? Nem held complete sway over them. Something must have happened to her to make them behave this way. In truth the Shadow King had taken control of the panthers after taking control of Nem and had placed only one thought in their minds.......KILL! Just then a third panther bounded into the area in front of the blast doors where the group of BHC members stood.
The first panther leaped at Havok, who was facing the other direction. It's claws extended it was within inches of raking Havok's back, when Grover's staff came down soundly on its head. The cat roared and jumped away. Siryn let loose a low level flame blast and hit the cat in its hindquarters. The smell of burnt hair and flesh mingled with the already fetid smell of the tunnels to make it even harder to breathe. The big cat wasn't ready to give up yet, though. Farouk's commands were still strong in his animal brain. He leaped again, this time directly towards Siryn, who was distracted by its compatriot. Silver leaped in front of her, concentrating his abilities into the gauntlets on his fists shaping them into adamantium spear points. The cat landed on the spear tips with a sickening wet thump and then was still. No one would doubt Silver's new uniform again. They were not safe yet, however.
The other two cats even more enraged by the smell of their brother's blood leaped as one at Grover and Havok. Havok raised his taloned hand and gutted one of the beasts before it could reach him with its own claws. The other however, knocked Grover to the ground and was going for his throat. Havok quickly fired a low level plasma burst directly into the cats brain. It died instantly.
"Th...Th..Thank you, Havok," Grover stuttered.
"Think nuthin of it, Blue," returned Havok. "If you get your ticket punched I want it to be by me and not some stupid jungle cat."
"Thank you, nonetheless," said Grover.
"Don't mention it," said Havok finally.
The others said nothing, but they all saw what was happening. Perhaps......just perhaps, the bitterness between Grover and Havok was beginning to thaw....and what a formidable duo they would make when it did.
"Here's the blast door," panted Silver. "We can expect it to be more dangerous as we go along. There are still ten more panthers as well as our mind controlled friends with whom we might meet."
Silver concentrated and the shiny steel blast door took on a muted dull appearance.
"Now, Siryn," he instructed.
The fiery young redhead concentrated her flame blast to laser sharpness and quickly cut a circle in the now thin tin doorway.
"We're in," breathed Deadpool. "Now what?"
"Now we go up," said Havok pointing towards the access hatch above thier heads. "And stick close to Grover.....remember we need to be completely psi-blind people."
The access hatch opened onto the pad of the garden fountain. As they swung it open, the dim sunlight from the slowly departing day shone across the grounds. All was quiet. No sign of panthers roaming or thier friends for that matter. Where was everyone? The group of five anxious mutants gathered on the lawn. Each prepared themselves for the confrontation. Deadpool loaded and rechecked his weapons. Siryn's hands begin to glow with the heat she was holding. Grover changed his bracelets to a staff and then just as quickly changed them to num-chucks. Silver's Gauntlet's appeared to melt and shift into shining spears and his belt morphed into a breast plate. And finally Havok, who seemed to be always ready for battle, worked his clawed hands spastically.
"Are we ready, people?" whipsered Havok.
"Let's go," said Silver.
The mutants, huddled around Grover, took five anxiouis steps forward before all hell broke loose. The ground in front of them exploded as Gregors energy spear exploded in front of them.
"So much for the element of surprise," yelled Deadpool over the cacophony. "Woohaaa, it's down to tooth and claw now...just the way I like it."
Deadpool somersaulted into the air and away from the group. He was counting on the fact that he had withstood the telepathic control placed on the others before. He still felt the sharp pain at the base of his skull, however, as his healing factor and the psi-baffles did thier jobs. He landed in front of Nem and prepared to knock her out with a shot to the back of the head. She reacted too quickly, however, and he was pounced on by one of her panthers. He felt its claws dig into his arms and the warm blood wash out over him. He knew his healing factor would stitch the scratches up relatively quickly, but he had to shake this cat. Rolling the the snarling beast over on to the ground, he pulled his ionic knife from its boot holster and slid it across the cat's throat. The creature didn't even have time to scream as the ionic blade cut and cauterized the wound, only leaving it open so the blood flowed freely. Nem's eyes went momentarily blank with the death of another one of her thirteen pets. This was deadpool's chance. He swept her legs from underneath her with a roundhouse kick, and then took her out with a quick thump to the nerve cluster at the base of the skull.
Meanwhile the others stood back to back within Grover's aura of protection. Siryn was holding off Psi-Shot with her flame bursts and Havok's plasma charges kept Gregor at bay, but they had forgotten the clever little teleporter Blink. Suddenly a portal opened in the center of them and Blink came flying out with a pulse bolt in hand. Without warning she let it fly and it struck Siryn in the back knocking her unconscious.
"Siryn!" roared Silver. "I'm sorry Clarice, this is for your own good
Concentrating his powers once again, Silver caused a metal statue in the fountain to rust through and fall onto Blink. Luckily for her, he had changed the metallic content of the statue from Bronze to tin. Although still heavy enough to take Blink out of the fight, it was now not so heavy as to kill her. When and if they got out of this, she definitely would not be happy with the bruises and possible other injuries, but at least she was alive.
This left only Gregor and Psi-Shot to deal with. The youth's psi daggers posed no threat to them as long as they stayed close to Grover, but Gregor's blasts continually rained down on them from above. Almost all involved had forgotten the missing Deadpool. Quickly and efficiently He brought down the Psi-shot with a nerve pinch, and then there was one. The Black King roared in a voice that was his, yet not his.
"You can never defeat me mutants, as long as I control this one's fiery passions," said Gregor in a heavy Arabic accent. "And as you fight your useless battle, I am on my way to achieving even greater power."
The Shadow King was fighting a two front battle. He guided Gregor's blasts in an attempt to separate the other mutants from Grover and then take control of them one at a time, but he also maintained his hold on the puppet he had controlled the longest, Nytshade. He dug through her mind with reckless abandon, forcing her to try spell after spell to reopen the portal. Why couldn't she do it? Something was blocking her.
Gregor's explosive blasts continued to rain down on the four remaining members of the rescue party. Deadpool had rejoined the other's under the protection of Grover's psychic defense shield. There was no way to take the fight to Gregor. Each shot of his energy spikes were met by Havok's plasma burst with explosive effects, but in order to stay under Grover's aura, their motion was greatly limited.
"I've got a plan," said Silver. "If you can get him close enough to where my powers can affect him, then we may have a shot of ending this once and for all."
"Somehow, he knows not too get to close to us," Havok said. "Whatever force that is controlling him is keeping him at a distance on purpose."
"Not for long," Deadpool said. "Wish me luck."
Deadpool rolled across the grounds holding his head in agony.
"My mind, my mind….OH GOD THE PAIN!" he screamed.
Amal Farouk, squatting in the astral plane, noticed this latest mutant to fall under his control.
"It appears, the one that has resisted me so successfully has finally begun to weaken, yet somehow I still can't get through," thought the Shadow King. "I'll just have to further separate him from his accursed blue-skinned companion."
Gregor, under the Shadow King's influence, swooped down to drag Deadpool away, but as he neared the ground, his blast field sputtered and went out, and he fell careening toward the earth. He landed with a thud mere feet from Grover and his compatriots.
"What happened to him?" asked Havok.
"I happened," said Silver quietly. "I've never used my power directly on another human, and I pray I'll never have to do it again."
"What are you talking about?" said Grover.
"When he got within my sphere of influence, I rapidly oxygenated the iron in his blood stream, effectively exhausting his bio energy. I just pray he's not permanently injured," explained Silver.
The Shadow King cursed and sputtered on the astral plane.
"NO, this can't be happening," he roared. "All is not lost, however, if I can just get this damnable witch to do as I command."
Suddenly the portal flared to life and a great darkness roared out pulling everyone within its wake in…..including the Shadow King.
"This is impossible," Farouk roared. "I'm not even tethered to the corporeal plane by a host body any more. What force could possibly drag me into its power."
And then the Shadow King sensed the great power that was being unleashed from the other side of the portal and willing surrendered himself to it.
"This power is like none I have ever experienced," he cried gleefully, "and as always, I shall find a way to make it mine."
Then all present were sucked into blackness, and the portal closed once again with the sound of shattering glass.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: DARK UNION
The stygian darkness swirled and coursed around Gomurr. It's vile blackness threatened to turn his stomach. The darkness was all-consuming. To Gomurr's senses, he was swimming in a pool of putrid obsidian refuse. In reality however, this was the astral plane, with all its wondrous potentials, only corrupted by the vampiric lust of Lady Robyyn. This place consisted of the enslaved, yet dead thoughts of every being in this dimension. Robyyn had used and destroyed them all. One thought raged in Gomurr's mind.....WHERE ARE MY STUDENTS?...and then......WILL I DIE LIKE THIS, COMPLETELY ALONE?
Just then, his hand brushed something in the blackness. It felt cold to the touch, yet pulsed with an unseen mystical power. Gomurr, grasped the object and pulled it to him. Even a dangerous contact would be more bearable than this horrific black solitude. As his hands followed the object he realized it was Rahsas' staff. He gave the object another tug and was pulled into contact with Rahsas. The lad's body was cold and rigid. His fingers were in a vise like grip around the staff. Somehow he had retrieved it before they were all pulled physically onto the astral plane. Gomurr tried to shake him back into consciousness.
"Rahsas, wake up!" he shouted.
Gomurr's words came back to his ears in maddening echoes. Rahsas remained deathly still. Gomurr's mind raced.....Where are the girls?.....Where's Robyyn?........How am I going to get us out of here? These thoughts whirled through Gomurr's ancient head, and then unconsciously he reached for the Crimson Dawn. Where once he found only a mystical shield, he now could feel the dark pull of the Ebon Vein of the Crimson Dawn. Robyyn had lost her control of the magics of this land....Was she dead? There was no time to worry about that now. Gomurr summoned the neon spiders and scorpions that were his to command. The crackling neon energy beasts let off a bright glow that was at first blinding in the utter blackness. As his eyes adjusted, he began to see objects floating in the void of dead minds. He saw two of the girl's floating nearby. Rita and Jam lay bobbing up and down on the current of the undead's thoughts. Somehow they had all been pulled physically into the astral plane. This was virtually impossible for all but the strongest psi-talents or mystics. Robyyn had played with forces she herself did not comprehend....and speaking of Robyyn where was she?.......AND WHERE WAS BUX?
Gomurr commanded his neon minions to gather the lifeless bodies of the students, as he began to swim through the inky blackness. He concentrated and realized almost all his power had returned. He focused his thoughts on the students. Although, he was not a telepath, by any sense of the word, he could see the student's auras surrounding their bodies. They were alive, but in a slumber so deep that even their youthful bright auras were almost completely shadowed. How had he escaped that fate?
"It's simple old man!" hissed Robyyn's voice from the darkness. "Your mystical abilities, as small as they are, safeguarded you from the onslaught of the pure psionic energy here. It appears the minds of the children were not quite as resilient............and before you ask...yes, I read your mind. You see......your plan backfired. Rather than destroying me, by dragging my realm completely onto the astral plane, you have given me almost unlimited power. My every thought is reality here."
A smile crossed Robyyn's face and Gomurr heard a noise from behind him. From the darkness a huge beast had formed. It's body only slightly darker than the surrounding gloom was camouflaged so well that Gomurr could not discern it's actual size. It's gigantic fangs glowed eerily against it's own blackness. The beast struck out at Gomurr, it's fangs snapping only inches away. Gomurr once again drew on the Crimson Dawn and suddenly the beast was covered by neon scorpions. It's cries were earsplitting as the crackling energy creatures drove their stingers into it again and again. By the time Gomurr had defeated the beast however, Robyyn was almost out of sight, and as he scanned for what would pass as the horizon in this place, he could barely see her in a bubble of mystical energy.......and there by her side, was BUX.
Gomurr quickly took a lesson from Robyyn and surrounded himself with a mystical orb. The energy creatures soon delivered his students unto him inside the orb, and they all begin to give chase toward Robyyn. Rahsas stirred in his sleep and finally came awake. Gomurr noticed the awakening and nudged Rahsas with the heel of his slipper.
"Wake up, child." Gomurr said. "If we are ever to get Bux back and get back home, I need your help."
Rahsas finally stirred enough to completely awaken and got up shakily to his feet. In his hand he still held the Anaconza Staff.
"My powers are no longer blocked, Rahsas," Gomurr explained as he showed the boy the glowing dagger tattoos on his palms. "She must not have the control she thinks she does here."
"Then mine may work as well," Rahsas exclaimed.
The tall youth concentrated and drew on the power of Joctu. A shadowgate appeared and he smiled. A part of him that had been missing for many days was now returned.
"I can take us home through this," said Rahsas, "but what about Bux?"
"We can't leave without her," Gomurr said. "Help me get this thing moving faster. We have to catch Robyyn."
The two glowing orbs raced through the darkness of the astral plane. Rahsas aimed his staff at the rear of the orb and let loose a mystic blast. The trailing orb jetted forward, slowly gaining ground on the leader. At this point, Jam and Rita began to stir.
"Hey can you take it easy on the corners, leadfoot," Rita said weakly. "My head's still achin and all this bouncin around ain't helpin much."
As they came closer and closer to Robyyn and Bux, Gomurr thought he recognized their destination. Ahead in the distance, suspended in the stygian blackness, was an almost exact replica of the pyramid in Robyyn's throne room. Gomurr put more effort into the chase, if she reached that structure, she might be able to reestablish her control over their powers.
"Undercloaks attend me!" Gomurr shouted and suddenly the shadow forms of ninjas were beside him.
Gomurr pointed his finger towards Robyyn, and just as quickly it was she that was surrounded by the darkly masked figures. She shot bolts of pure fire through them, destroying them almost immediately, but they did serve to slow down the speed of her force bubble. Gomurr's party had almost caught up by the time Robyyn reached the platform holding the glowing pyramid. After destroying the last of the undercloaks, she grabbed Bux roughly by the arm and guided her toward the pyramid. Rita and Jam watched in stunned silence as their friend blindly followed Robyyn's commands and reclined against the glowing side of the structure.
Bux's mind struggled against the flow of thoughts that were being forced through it. Her head ached and throbbed as she was compelled to do as Robyyn asked. Robyyn was so beautiful and kind, how could she disobey her? The joining was necessary. Robyyn needed her and it was her duty to help. A small part of her mind held back, however, choking on the foul essence of Robyyn's psyche as it forced its way into Bux's thoughts. This part knew to give in was to live eternally as a slave. Gomurr and his companions were in shouting distance now, as they watched Robyyn's skeletal hands caress and touch Bux's lifeless face.
"She's going to take over Bux's body. She's dying and she's performing the V'shani in order to transfer her essence into Bux," Rahsas shouted.
"That shall never happen!" cried Gomurr. "Take us there now Rahsas."
Rahsas concentrated and the four jumped through a shadowgate to land on the pyramid platform. But it was too late. Robyyn was prepared and struck out at them with spears of flame. The first hit Jam in the chest. She cried out and fell. Bux's mind reeled. What was happening? Why was Jam screaming so? Why couldn't she think? It was then that she saw the true form of Lady Robyyn. The skeletal creature laughed maniacally and shot huge bursts of eldritch flame at Gomurr and Rahsas knocking them both back. The last remaining corner of Bux's resistance gained strength at this point and pushed ferociously at the invading psyche of Robyyn.....She could not allow her friends to be harmed.
A strange look passed over the ghastly death's head that served as Robyyn's face.
"No, it's impossible. Nobody has ever resisted the V'shani," Robyyn croaked. "I am already a part of you girl......I AM YOU.... you cannot deny that. I will possess you body and soul."
"Noooo!" screamed Bux. "You will never be a part of me, but you have given me the key to defeating you. We may somehow be the same person, but I'll never be like you."
It was then that Bux reached out with a power that Robyyn could never have.....the power of her heart. Bux's mind reached out to the two girls that were more sister to her than friend......her heart and soul taking in theirs and making it her own. Their strength of mind and love for each other combined by Bux's own V'shani spell, surged out like a beacon against Robyyn's dark tangled mind. Slowly, Robyyn began to weaken. Her scheme, that had worked time and again on her many dimensional counterparts, was somehow being stopped. Her ability to take over the bodies of her alternative selves had never been blocked in this manner. Every version of herself held mystical ability, but this was impossible. This girl could not be blocking her, yet she was slowly being forced out. Rita and Jam seemed to radiate with the same glowing warmth of the crystal that Bux lay on. Their eyes were closed tightly yet a small smile was on their faces. Robyyn tried again to regain her grip on the bright young mind of Bux, but couldn't seem to catch a handhold. The psychic essences of all three girls mingled in a way that made it impossible for her to latch on, and then with a shriek, Lady Robyyn was forced out of the mind of the beautiful young redhead.
"That is the true power of the V'shani," cried Bux. "It's not to possess the will of others.....it's to meld and heal and learn. You are undone, witch. It's over."
"No, it's not over yet," wailed Robyyn. "I can't be defeated this easily."
Robyyn cast her mind out......searching for a connection that would sustain her long enough to destroy these creatures that had usurped her powers.....and then she found it. Her far reaching mind had sensed a presence.......a presence dark, evil, and incredibly powerful. She had found the Shadow King. With a twist of the astral plane, Amal Farouk along with all of the others from the prime reality tumbled out of the nexus pyramid and into the fray. Robyyn reached out to Farouk, as the Shadow king reached out to her. When their minds met a psionic tremor was unleashed across the mindscape that was so powerful it made Psi-Shot, Bux and Nemesis scream out in pain. Crimson lightning of pure psionic energy flashed across the darkness. The minds of Farouk and Robyyn wrestled for control. Robyyn's mystical V'shani possession raged against the mutant psionic strength of Farouk. All others in his thrall were completely abandoned as a result, and were now free of his influence once more. Then with a final blinding flash of blood red energy, the form of Robyyn began to grow and change as an unholy synthesis was formed. Her skeletal frame creaked and groaned and finally exploded in foul smelling cloud as the transformation continued. The shape of the emerging creature was impossible to judge. It's rapid metamorphosis was like watching liquid mercury change patterns.....and then the true shape of the enemy was revealed. Towering over all, a creature of pure psionic energy given form by the mystical powers and hate of Robyyn stood looking down at the small group of people trapped in this dead mindscape.
"Finally, after centuries, I have found a companion worthy of my glory," roared the Shadowking across the darkness, his voice a razor blade cutting the darkness.
"And in you my Shadow King, I have found a host that will not wither and die wielding the powers I possess," screamed Robyyn's voice from the same form.
Somehow in the astral plane, where all things were possible, the two beings had merged and in doing so created an evil greater than the sum of the two.
"We are Avatar and we are your doom!" screamed the creature in the voices of both Farouk and Robyyn simultaneously, and Gomurr's blood ran cold.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: CHILD OF DESTINY
Avatar sneered down on the group of travelers at its feet as it continuted it's metamorphosis. Now standing at least thirty feet tall and clothed in blood red psionic armor, the amalgamation of Robyyn and Farouk had taken on an almost cat like visage. Its face now held the eyes of a predator above a too snub nose and a mouth that was full of too many impossibly sharp teeth.
"Foolish children," Avatar screamed. "You have no idea of the power we......I wield. Surrender to me now and revel in the pleasure of being my slaves and consorts for eternity. Do not make me possess you all again. I assure you it won't be as pleasant as the first time."
This last comment was meant for Nytshade, who had been under Farouk's will for over 50 years. The beautiful sorceress scowled, and her mind filled with images of acts of debauchery and shame that Farouk had forced her to perform. Never again she vowed.
"You will never touch me again, mind-raper," she screamed. "If you could take us, we would already be in your thrall."
This gave Avatar pause. It was true. After merging, with Robyyn, in the last instant that their psyches were separate, Farouk realized just how many minds Robyyn held in check within her own.....thousands....hundreds of thousands. It appeared even his psionic powers were capable of controlling no more.
"No matter," Avatar thought, "I am stronger than the sum of my parts and after I slay these pathetic weaklings, I will find a way to circumvent these limitations and I will find new worlds to conquer."
Avatar raised a hand and let it fall, releasing a crimson bolt of psionic energy charged with eldritch fire. It seemed to explode all around the assembled group below, rocking all of them off their feet. Deadpool tumbled off the foundations of the pyramid and went sailing into the infinite darkness. Siryn activated her powers and was engulfed in flame. She took flight and streaked after Wade as he fell, catching him just at the moment he was about to disappear into the inky darkness forever.
"There is no solid ground here," she screamed. "Everyone stay close to the pyramid."
This brought them all into action. Silver reached out with his metallurgic abilities and made contact with the base of the pyramid. It held some metallic properties, but seemed to stay aloft in the blackness by some other means. There were no supports, it was simply there. Silver concentrated once again and drained all the trace metals from the base, shaping them into a razor thin yet adamantium strong floor of sorts stretching at least 50 feet in a square around the pyramid. This gave the assemblage at least some room to maneuver, while Avatar rained its blood red energies down around them.
"Everyone, open their mind to me!" Nem screamed over the roar of the battle. "We must attack together."
Nem's mind suddenly embraced all present allowing them wordless communication and all the brave warriors attacked the psi-beast as one. Siryn let loose with a flame burst strong enough to turn a redwood to cinder in seconds. Havok and Psi-Shot each released plasma bursts and psionic daggers in increasing waves. Nytshade, who perhaps, knew to fear the dread creation more than the others, fired a hex bolt and Gomurr increased its power a hundred fold with a spell of his own. Rahsas fired blast after blast from his newly found Anaconza staff as if he was born with the knowledge of its use. Blink and Gregor stood side by side firing energy spikes charged with maximum power, and through it all the rapid firing of Deadpool's machine pistols echoed most loudly of all.
Silver and Grover shielded the three human girls from the fallout of the battle to the best of their abilities using the gauntlets and bracelets they controlled. The din of battle was deafening with the upstarts and black court members utilizing their abilities more than they ever had before. The combined effort of the warriors would have been enough to level 10 city blocks, yet Avatar barely was phased.
"Your efforts are as pitiful as they are futile, children," the psi-beast roared. "Do you really hope to challenge me with your pathetic powers. The fear and anger you pour out only makes me stronger."
With this, Avatar swung its monstrous arm through the air. The resulting air vortex swept Deadpool toward the glowing crystal pyramid, and as he reached out to it to slow his momentum, he suddenly disappeared.
"Wade!!!!" Siryn screamed. "What have you done with him, Avatar?!"
"Simply sent him to a better place," Avatar laughed.
"YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT," roared Gregor, as he triggered his blast field and hurtled toward Avatar.
Avatar with a lightning fast move that was insanely out of synch with its tremendous bulk, simply swatted Gregor out of the air and sent him flying into the other side of the pyramid where he also promptly winked out of existence.
"You seem to be dropping like flies in a spider's web," Avatar mocked. "Let's see...who's next."
"We're being wiped completely out," Nem said to Gomurr, "And that thing is just toying with us. There's got to be a way to stop it."
"I think I know the way," said Gomurr almost sadly, " but are we willing to pay the price?"
With that Gomurr, ceased attacking Avatar and rushed hurriedly over to the three girls that were his newest students.
"Bux," he said, "You are the only one that has the power to stop this, before any others are lost."
"Are you mad?" said Silver. "The only thing keeping these girls alive right now is Grover's and my protection. What could they possibly do?"
"More than you know," said Gomurr. "More than you can know."
Gomurr reached out his hand to Bux and she looked at him with the fear of a thousand nightmares in her eyes.
Gomurr said simply, "It's time."
"You're not leavin' without us, Chica." said Rita.
"Like it or not, we're a team, darlin," said Jam.
"Then let us go," said Gomurr pulling each of the girls into the shadows that he teleported through.
"What in the name of heaven is that old man thinking," thought Silver as they faded away.
They trio of girls and Gomurr stepped out of the shadows at the very base of the crystal.
"Now, you must take back what is yours, child of the nexus," Gomurr said to Bux.
"Look dwarf, I'm just a kid, if you want me to do something, you need to speak English," spat Bux.
"I'm afraid, my child, it's just that simple. All of this power you see being used to destroy your friends is yours. You must simply accept it," said Gomurr.
"You must be unstitched, old man. It took everything I had to break free of her power before..and I don't even know how I did that." screamed Bux on the edge of hysterics.
"I do know how though," snapped Gomurr taking her hand and placing it in Rita's and then taking Rita's and placing it in Jam's. "Together, you three girls, stopped Robyyn from performing a spell she has performed time and again over the years. Together......you can defeat this."
A scream split the air as they saw Blink fly by and disappear into the crystal. With each new addition of people into it's mass, the crystal changed from its brilliant white to a deeper red. It's once radiant glow was now tainted by streaks and swirls of crimson.
"How do I know what to do?" screamed Bux in tears.
"I cannot say," said Gomurr patting her shaking shoulder. "I just know simply that you will know the time and the place to take your stand. Now go. You are the hope for us all. Go claim your destiny."
And with that the three girls stepped into the crystal.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: HEART OF THE NEXUS
They slipped effortlessly through the shimmering facade of the pyramid. Once inside they were assaulted by the void. At first there was only nothingness. Then there was something forming out of the nothingness, until it became everything...and then the world went black again. When Bux sat up, she looked around at her surroundings. She was in a beautiful meadow. Rita and Jam sat beside her on the grass-covered hill. A serene brook curved its way slowly across the beautiful landscape...and then they saw her. Blink approached them with her arms open wide.
"Welcome, my friends," Blink said. "Come join us, we were just sitting down to eat."
Rita, Bux and Jam followed the beautiful young mutant up the hill and to a sheltered gazebo. There sitting under the shade of the quaint structure, sat Gregor and Deadpool......sipping tea! Deadpool turned toward them, but there was no sign of the scars that the Weapon X program had branded him with. He rose to greet them.
"Come ladies," Wade said. "Join us in our respite."
The girls looked at him in stunned silence. His handsome face was aglow with actual joy. Where was the scowling mercenary? Something was very wrong here.
"I can tell by your faces," explained Wade, "that you wonder what happened to me. It's quite simple really. Here in the heart of the nexus, you can be anything you want to be."
"It's true," said Gregor as he stepped up to greet them. "Your fondest desires are made real here. Look out over the beautiful landscape. I created all of this. I envisioned the utter cleanliness & beauty of it all. Although my mutant power feeds on the pollutants in the environment, the actual conversion process can be quite painful at times. Here I have no need for the power or the pain."
"For my part," said Blink, "I chose peace. Gregor and Wade insisted on having at least revolting peasants or wild natives or something, but in the end I won them over. This is how I've always wanted my life to be.....no attacking phalanx....no prejudice or hate, just love and caring forever."
Rita, Bux and Jam looked on in disbelief. Something was definitely wrong with this picture. From the sounds of the screams these three made while entering the nexus, they sure weren't responding to this utopian view.
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Outside, the battle raged on. Psi-Shot and Havok still stood side by side, each releasing his mutant power against Avatar. Rahsas used his newly regained shadowgate power to teleport large chunks of Avatar's armor into nothingness. The missing sections were replaced as quickly as he removed them, however. Somehow the psi-beast was healing itself. Silver had erected a barrier of sorts from the metal of the pyramid base allowing them some protection, since its properties seemed to be immune to Avatar's blasts. SuperGrover had taken to the air and was attacking Avatar with his bo staff, while trying to avoid the massive blows he rained down on the others. Siryn, who also took flight after watching Gregor disappear, glowed with a white hot intensity as she fired burning jets of flame onto Avatar's shining psionic armor. Gomurr and Nytshade cast spell after spell, working in unison to find a chink in Avatar's defenses. Nem, in a moment of bravery stepped out from behind the shield and once again tried to wrestle her way into the Avatar being's mind. She was rewarded for her efforts with a psionic hammer blow that brought her to her knees. Avatar reacted with lightning quickness to her mistake and immediately seized her and pushed her through the facade of the glowing pyramid. She passed through it's surface with the sound of shattering glass and an unholy scream.
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INSIDE THE CRYSTAL:
Gregor, Deadpool and Blink continued to converse and eat, as the three confused girls looked on.
"Something's not right here. These people aren't right," whispered Bux to the others.
"I know it Chica," returned Rita. "Gregor is way too tightly stitched to have created this garden spot. His idea of paradise is a hostile corporate takeover or a country club debutante with a fat roll of Daddy's cash."
"I'm getting to the bottom of this," said Bux again. "I won't let my friends be used any longer."
Bux strode toward the revelers, and they watched her closely. Gregor was the first to speak up.
"This structure is a bit crowded, my dear," he cooed. "Allow me to make you another."
With that, he gestured, and another quaint country style gazebo appeared on the hill.
"That's ok," said Bux, "We can all squeeze in."
She continued walking toward them, and now Blink spoke up.
"Don't be silly, Bux," she said. "It's our goal here to make you as comfortable as possible. There's plenty for everyone and no need to be crowded."
Bux continued her approach and Deadpool's words were the most direct of all.
"Don't be a fool, girl," he spat. "Don't you see what we can offer you. Don't come any closer."
The last part was stated in a voice that didn't belong to Wade at all. It was the voice of Lady Robyyn. Bux reached out and touched Blink's arm and immediately drew back her hand. She looked down and noticed her fingers had been sliced open in several places and blood dripped slowly down them. When she looked back up to the smiling face of Blink....all traces of her friend were gone, and in her place.......another crystalline soldier. Before she could turn to run, the crystal guard swung it's sharpened appendage knocking her down the steps of the gazebo....only the gazebo was no longer there anymore. In it's place was a mass of decaying bodies, and atop them sat two more grinning soldiers where Deadpool and Gregor had once been. The beautifully appointed table was now covered with putrid scraps of some dark bloody meat and flies swarmed openly.
"You were warned!" screamed the soldiers in unison.
"NO.....You were warned," screamed Bux.
Without warning a bolt of pure eldritch fire flew from Bux's fingertips and blasted through the center of the Blink/soldier. It immediately crumbled into dust. Bux spun on the other two soldiers, and reached out with her newly discovered V'shani aspect animating the rotting corpses beneath them. Soon the two soldiers were buried beneath a writhing pack of the dead. Bux then looked down at her bleeding fingers. She concentrated and the wounds closed as she watched, leaving not even a scar as they went. Rita and Jam looked at her in amazement and a little fear.
"Where did you learn how to do that, girlfriend?" Jam asked.
"I don't know, Jam.....I just don't know," said Bux.
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OUTSIDE THE CRYSTAL:
"Fools!" Avatar screamed. "Your pathetic attempts to stop me are useless. As you pitch your puny battle against me, the very prize you seek binds herself to me in a way I could never do myself."
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INSIDE THE CRYSTAL:
Suddenly the entire landscape shifted into one of utter horror before the girls' eyes. The pastoral scene was replaced by a landscape of war torn hills and scattered bodies. Carrion birds picked here and there at the corpses and the charnel house smell was nauseating. Rita and Jam covered their mouths, but Bux moved calmly forward. Without warning an entire legion of crystal soldiers materialized from the ground. Bux's reactions were equally fast. Immediately she began animating the corpses surrounding her to fight the new threat. She fired blasts that seared the air and the crystalline soldiers exploded all around her. Rita and Jam watched in horror as their friend calmly stepped through the madness and contiunued to move steadily forward.
"Come on you whimpering idiots," Bux said. "Do you want me to leave you here to die."
"Bux....you're scaring us," screamed Rita. "How are you doing all this. Stop it now, before it's too late."
"Don't be a fool," raged Bux. "I'm the only thing keeping you two alive. Now come on before I decide you are just dead weight."
Rita and Jam felt a slight psionic tug in the backs of their minds and soon they were following closely behind Bux as the battle raged all around them.
"There......there's the exit!" screamed Bux over the din of battle.
She pointed to the horizon and the other two girls saw the focus of her attention. They could see the crystal wall shimmering in the distance. Outside, they could see their remaining friends fighting valiantly against impossible odds. They ran toward it as one.
"But, what about the others that are still trapped in here like us," questioned Jam. "The real Blink, Gregor, and Deadpool must still be around here."
"There's no time for that," said Bux. "We've got bigger worries. If I don't get out there...all our friends will be dead."
"No." said Rita. "I'm not leaving without them."
"Me neither!" piped up Jam.
"Very well, then," said Bux. "Join them."
She waved her hand and the four lost heroes appeared before them. They were all bound and gagged. Blink's hair hung down obscuring her face, but the abuse was evident in the forms of Gregor and Deadpool. Nem's proud face now held only a blank look. Suddenly hands seized the girls from behind and they were quickly subdued. Bux turned to them and stared coldly.
"You could have had it all, girlfriends, but you chose to kiss it away, for this pack of losers. When I become part of Avatar I'll have worlds at my command. The power I wield now will be as nothing compared to it," said Bux flatly.
"No, Chica," screamed Rita, "This isn't you."
"We love you, Bux. Please don't do this," pleaded Jam.
Bux looked at them strangely and a tear slid down her face.
"I can't stop it now," she almost cried. "It's too late."
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OUTSIDE THE CRYSTAL:
Avatar stared through the crystal pyramid at the scene unfolding.
"Don't weaken now, you fool girl," the creature roared. "It's all within your grasp."
"Now as we planned," screamed Gomurr, "while Avatar's distracted."
Siryn soared into the air, her body lit up like a star. As she reached the apex of her flight, she outstretched her arms and was immediately surrounded by a bird of flame.....THE MIGHTY PHOENIX WAS REBORN.
The great and powerful Avatar reeled back. Who in this group could possibly hope to contain the infinite power of the Phoenix. Both minds within the shell of Avatar knew of the legendary cosmic power of the Phoenix, and for a moment it stepped back toward the crystal.
"Now Rahsas," Gomurr said.
Rahsas aimed his Anaconza staff at the crystal and let loose a blistering black bolt of energy. When it struck the pyramid, it spread its black mass over a