*HF* Dire Wraiths
By Mufasa
Dire Wraiths
Prologue:
Strong Towers, Penthouse Suite
He sat in the living room tapping his fingers on the armrest impatiently. It was another one of those sleepless nights. The earplugs Maul had given him had cut down a lot of the noise, but not all of it. He moved from his bedroom into the living room to get away from the sound of his roommate’s bedframe continuously smacking against the adjoining wall, but it was not much softer out here. Things were falling off their shelves and onto the floor… the power was flickering on and off… not to mention the loud vocal sounds.
BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAMBAM…
Okay… He’s about finished… He thought, crossing his arms. If this living arrangement was going to continue, this was DEFINITELY going to have to stop. That man and his girlfriend were just going to have to find another place to do their business. Just the sheer inconsiderateness of this caused a growl to slide through his teeth.
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! The solid wood door to the bedroom flew off its hinges into the hallway and shattered into burning pieces. Without turning his head to look, he knew that the room was probably a disaster. What do you expect? People in the throes of passion NEVER seem to have control over their powers. With a sigh, he grabbed the fire extinguisher from the kitchen and doused the flames in the hallway.
“Thanks, I was just about to get that.” Khalid stepped out of the bedroom in a tattered bathrobe with a peaceful, relaxed expression on his face. With a smile, he nodded toward Gabe as he passed by toward the kitchen. “You got something to eat? I’m starving.”
Gabe grumbled as he stamped out what was left of the flames on his floor. He aimed the fire extinguisher toward Khalid and fired, but was dismayed when it did not get past his photon aura. “Look, K… I think I’ve come up with an acceptable compromise… Whoever has the girl over goes into the training room and takes advantage of the sound dampeners and forcefields.”
Serenely, Khalid pulled a steak out of the refrigerator with his bare hands and dropped into the kitchen chair. “Yeah… whatever…” he said. He tore into it, much like one would a sandwich, releasing a contented purr through the kitchen.
“K… you’re purring again.”
“Sorry…” Khalid said, forcing himself to stop. He finished off the steak and by this time was licking his hands. “Good steak… Loved the firespice…”
“You ate it raw.”
“It was? Oh… didn’t notice…” He glanced at Gabe, vividly seeing the field of life force surrounding him. Khalid could see the field that Gabe was born with, the amplification (and fragmentation) caused by Ra, and on the outer rim the small thin sliver that came from Khalid himself when he cast out the hell demon. Under normal circumstances, Khalid might have freaked out at seeing it, but his current state of mind was extremely dismissive. He just carried on as if it were something natural without even thinking about it.
Daemon sat down at the table across from him with a cold Pharaohan beer in his hand. “God damn, you act so different now… If I had known pussy would tame the cat, I’d have locked you in the training room a couple of days with some hookers before beating you into submission.”
“If I remember correctly, Kailon tried that shortly after I arrived on Pharaoh because he got sick of me fighting him tooth and nail. After four days of being locked up with some of his maid servants, I became so mellow I forgot about trying to piss him off.”
“Does Asima know what she is getting into?”
“Got that phrased wrong, don’t you think?”
“I didn’t need the mental picture, K. You know what I mean.”
“Sorry… I’m not sure she does. She knows the legend of what Mufasa was like because of Nefer’s writings on him,” Khalid said, glancing back toward the bedroom. “I’m just not sure she is aware that I’ve changed in more ways than body. If Nefer could see me, she’d be shocked at what I am in this incarnation… I don’t know if Asima’s sleeping with Mufasa or Khalid.”
“There’s no difference, K. Since Kemet, both scents are the same. (Shifting Sands!)” Daemon paused before he continued. “K… There is something that I smelled from Asima.”
Khalid nodded. “Yes… I know. I knew when she arrived here from Kemet. I…” He paused. “I…”
“Is it…” Daemon started.
“Yes… Don’t ask me how I see it, but I can tell by the energy field,” Khalid said, his voice cracking. “She doesn’t know, yet. I…”
“K, she needs to see a doctor. She sure as hell doesn’t need to be going back to Egypt now. She’ll never get the treatment she needs and the risk…”
“You’re right… but I’m not sure I can convince her of that, even if…”
“K…” Daemon saw him cover his eyes with a hand. “Listen, K… Her life depends on it. It could happen to anyone.”
“I know… and…” he stopped, finally looking up. “it did. Just the…”
“Khalid!” Asima’s voice called from the bedroom. Khalid immediately snapped up, wondering if she had heard the conversation between him and Gabe, but then noticed her walk out wearing one of his large-size flannel shirts. “Gabriel,” she said, still with a bit of imperiousness although she long-knew he was no longer the avatar of Ra. She momentarily looked away in embarrassment at her state and then looked toward the window. “I believe there is something you need to see.”
Daemon immediately walked toward the window, his eyes snapping open as he saw what grabbed the attention of her telepathy. “K… Can you power down your aura yet? You have to see this.”
“See what?” Khalid asked. Involuntarily, his eyes flashed white as he saw things from Daemon’s perspective. “Fuck… you’ve gotta be kidding me. This CAN’T be a coincidence.”
Daemon looked back at him as if to ask how he did it, but he knew Khalid didn’t know. He called into the air. “Hell no, this ain’t no damn coincidence. Whoever’s doing this SURE as hell knows what he’s doing. Computer: Dial up the Inner Circles with the message that the situation has gone from bad to worse.”
End Prologue
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Chapter One
Two days later
“So, are you going to say anything?” Daemon asked. “No statement… interview… Anything?”
“No,” Khalid answered. He looked down from the balcony of the Strong Towers Penthouse Suite at the crowds of picketers and the media circus below. “It’s none of their business. You’re right, though. There is no point trying to convince them I’m not here. Someone tipped them off.” Khalid’s eyes scanned the crowd, looking for a certain face that he knew would be at the center of this. “Take a look next to the hotdog stand across the street. Just as expected, Gardino,” he said.
“Yeah, I see him. Your eyes are developing quite nicely, by the way. Want me to go down and gut him?”
“Don’t tempt me,” Khalid sneered. “Someone had to tip him off as well…”
“I can’t say I like all those people marching around my property like that… although it IS good for business.”
“Hell yeah… Mine too. Sales of my CDs have tripled since those government reports were leaked to the press after we went to Kemet. A good celebrity milks whatever publicity he can… However, I’ll be damned if I am going to be bullied into revealing myself so some wannabe journalist can extend his ten minutes of fame.”
“He’s already looking like a damn fool, anyway. The Friends of Humanity issued a statement denouncing his tactics… especially in light of their genetic scan on that illegal hair sample someone swiped from your house in Prydesville.”
“Yeah… that makes me feel good… supported by another version of the KKK! Even that government report Gardino was toting around said I have no X-Factor gene. Unfortunately, there are enough irregularities in that report to point out that something is awry.”
“I’ll say,” Daemon said with a smirk. “Is Josh Whedon still pulling for you to guest star on Buffy?”
“Yep… Sure is… as a slayer from a rival faction. I declined. People are demanding statements left and right. I even had J. Jonah Jameson himself show up to my rehearsal yesterday asking me to give him an exclusive interview. I think I’m getting more out of this by keeping my mouth shut than anything else.”
“Good thinking. Turn lemons into lemonade,” Daemon’s attention focused down on the sidewalk at the people strategically positioned throughout the crowd. Maul was planted among the picketers demanding a statement from Khalid. Blackfire and Cyclops were posing as a reporter and a cameraman. Scrib was the hotdog vendor across the street where Gardino was watching the festivities. Echo was disguised as one of the many sound technicians. DarkWolf, Marvel Girl, and Greg were all members of the crowd, gathered to watch what was happening. “Who came up with this idea again?”
“You did,” Khalid answered, just shaking his head, “to draw out whoever sent the death threats.” He kept on finding that his attention was drawn back to Gardino. Something was not right about him… the way he hung near the hot dog stand. With a flash of his eyes, Khalid could see a strange outline around him. “Daemon… Raise up Jean… Tell her to get Scrib out of dodge.”
“Why?” Daemon asked.
“Gardino’s possessed. I’m sure of it,” Khalid said. “And I don’t think I like the way he is eyeing Scrib right now! I think it’s…” With a flash of his eyes, Khalid shoved Daemon back away from the balcony just as it crumbled beneath him. He was grabbed from beneath by the back of his shirt and the belt loop of his pants and carried high above the mass of people gathered below.
“Hello, Khalid…” SuperGrover said from beneath him, mockingly.
FUCK! Khalid was screaming in his mind.
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Tracy Keenan’s job was to look as inconspicuous as possible and observe the crowd for any signs. Someone had orchestrated this entire thing. Just whom? She didn’t know. No one did. Death threats publicly and privately on a celebrity… Someone leaking to the press just where he was. Was all of this the work of one person… or the work of several? “Here you go, Luv,” she said in her best fake British accent as she handed a hot dog to a small girl. “Do your Mum a favor and don’t let the sauerkraut ruin your pretty dress.”
“Thank you!” the girl said, taking her hotdog and running back to her mother in the crowd.
“Dumb Americans… so fucked up,” she mumbled, trying not to glare. “One of their celebs gets stalked and rather than denounce it, they bring their bloody children out to watch… DAMN I need a beer…” She heard the crowd gasp in shock and looked up to see SuperGrover about 500 or so feet up holding Khalid over his head. “Fu…” she started to say when a hand wrapped around her throat in a vise grip.
“Hello, Fraulien,” John Gardino’s voice said into her ear. “Fancy meeting you here. Now why is an Irish mutie geologist like you pretending to be a hot dog vendor in Manhattan?”
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The scene erupted in pandemonium as the cameras were flashing trying to record as much of this as possible. Picketers dashed away from the front entrance of the lobby to escape the pieces of balcony raining down on top of them. Daemon started to flash his sword when Marvel Girl’s “voice” rang loudly in his head. Gabe, NO! You’ll expose yourself!
Jean… K says Gardino’s possessed and is making a move on Scrib...
That explains why I couldn’t read his mind. Gabe, you need to act shocked and pissed. You are in front of the cameras.
“KHALID!” Daemon called out.
---------------
Friedrich von Bonn, she realized from the phonation of his words as she clawed at his hands. As expected, he had used his considerable telepathic powers to block access to her powers and to cloud the mind of those around them. Well… and the distraction caused by SuperGrover surely didn’t hurt.
“Yes, that’s right… Your friend, Fred, in possession of Gardino’s body. My intention was to make things a little hot for the green branch of Cougar’s family tree, but YOU are an added bonus… Did you think I would REALLY let you walk away from me?”
“You bastard,” she choked out. “What you did to me…”
“…is nothing compared to what I am GOING to do to you,” he teased. “You got too big for your breeches before. I think I am going to take you down a notch…”
“NO!” she screamed, struggling in his grip. She reached for the sauerkraut to throw in his eyes, but his telekinesis firmly held her arms in position.
“What are you going to do? Attack me in public? Then it would be a case of muties exacting their revenge on helpless reporter John Gardino. Only a few people can separate me from…” he stopped when he heard the click at the base of his scalp. “Why hello, there. Who might you be?”
“I might be Jesse Jackson. I might be Montel Williams. Hell, I might even be Sally Jesse – oh wait… can’t be her. She’s got glasses,” DarkWolf said pushing the revolver deeper. “I smell me a vamp. Why don’t you let go of Scrib nice and gentle like? She’s Irish, you know, so she might have a few unlady-like words to say.”
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“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck…” Casey Jones said over and over again as he looked up. “Of all the times for Grover to show his ass. He knows Khalid’s not going to use his powers in public.”
Sharon pointed the camera up to the sky. “Time to call in the Hellions?”
“If we do that, Sharon, he’ll use Khalid as a hostage and dare them to attack. They may take him down, but Khalid will either die or be exposed… He wins both ways.”
“He wasn’t the one making the threats on Khalid’s life, was he?”
“No… but he’s sure taking advantage of our so-called plan. We have to resort to plan B.”
“Which is…”
“I’ll let you know as soon as I think it up…”
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“I have a bone to pick with you… well… besides your vertebrae that is.”
“Yeah, yeah…” Khalid said, trying to keep calm. He could not show his powers in public. That was exactly what Grover was trying to get him to do. “I know the deal; been there; done that.”
SuperGrover laughed aloud from beneath him, Khalid positioned just above his head. He maneuvered in a circle above the crowd, allowing for the cameras to catch him. “I never realized just how much we had in common: the general shape of the face, the size of the hands, both of us and auras. Oh yeah… and we also have Excalibur in common, too. However, that isn’t why I’m here. You see… Ever since I ran you through, SHE’S been haunting me!”
Khalid could see her out of the corner of his eye, a young woman who did not appear to be thirty yet with long, golden tresses. She floated barefoot in the air, her hair and white dress flowing in the wind. He and SG were probably the only ones who could see her – the ghost of Carolyn Norris. Grover’s mother… Khalid’s aunt. “Guess you’ve been bad,” Khalid said. “Mom told me Aunt Carolyn had a temper.”
“Well, I guess that is something we have in common!” Grover chuckled, nodding to his mother. “LOOK, Mommy! I’m a BIG boy, now!” He hurled Khalid toward the ground from two hundred feet, laughing aloud as the pandemonium grew worse. “Come on, Lion-Boy… show your stuff!”
--------------------
“KHALID!” DarkWolf said, his attention momentarily pulled away. That was enough just the distraction for Gardino to hurl him away with a telekinetic burst a nearby telephone pole. He squeezed Scrib’s neck even tighter, laughing into her ear. “This couldn’t have worked out better if I planned it!”
“You didn’t plan it?” Scrib asked.
“No, I didn’t… but I wish I…” He was interrupted with a psionic blast to the face and Scrib being ripped out of his grip. Marvel Girl emerged out of the crowd a telekinetic burst hitting Gardino in the chest. “Shouldn’t you be worried about your friend, witch?”
She laughed throatily, her eyes flashing orange. Despite her act, her head was actually screaming from the effort it took to keep anyone from noticing the fight. “Oh… but someone else has already taken care of that!”
Gardino looked up to see what she was talking about, when he saw it. He clenched his teeth and with a burst of telekinesis, disappeared into the ground.
“That prick… I…” In anger, Scrib didn’t notice the jars of mustard and mayonnaise explode.
“Reign it in,” Marvel Girl said. “We’ll deal with him later.”
---------------
“FUCK!” Grover shouted. “Don’t you ever die??!!”
“Yeah, 5000 years ago. I’m not in any rush to repeat the experience,” Khalid answered as the Wraith carried him over the wildly-applauding crowd. Although the cameras could not pick up the conversation between the two of them, they did record everything happening in the air.
“No, I’m talking about HIM!” Grover said, directing his anger toward the Wraith. “Though, that is another thing we have in common…” Grover snapped his head toward his mother’s ghost. “No one in this fucking family knows when to stay DEAD!” He turned back toward the Wraith, pointing. “You cramp my style…”
“All right… You can put me down,” Khalid said to the Wraith. “I’d rather not get caught in the middle when you two start duking it out,” The Wraith shook his head no. “Look, he’s bitching… he’s about to explode… You can see that vein in his forehead… PUT ME DOWN!” The Wraith took off through the air, dragging Khalid away from Strong Towers. “GAAAAAAH!!!!”
“You come back here!” SuperGrover shouted, flying after them. “I’m not done killing him, yet!”
----------------
“Trish Tilby reporting here. Let us just say that this mystery is certainly unraveling faster than we can make sense of it,” Trish momentarily glanced her head toward the sky watching SuperGrover take off after the Wraith and Khalid. “Forty-eight hours ago, we were tipped by an anonymous source that Khalid Hunter – at the center of the mutant controversy – was being housed in the Penthouse Suite of Strong Towers by up-and-coming multimillionaire electronic mogul, Gabriel Strong. After months of speculation about mysterious events in his past and an accusation of mutancy – that have both been refuted by two illegally-acquired genetic tests – Khalid Hunter has refused to address this issue publicly. As you can see, Gay Rights groups as well as Right-to-Know have been demanding a statement from Hunter.
“This saga took an unexpected twist as local superhero SuperGrover – having been rumored to be insane – grabbed Hunter and tried to throw him to his death. In this frame, you see Hunter being caught by the mysterious Wraith. The Wraith then flew off with Hunter with SuperGrover hot on his trail. I point you to this track over here, where SuperGrover is plainly seen shouting to the side at thin air…which lends credibility to the theory that he is indeed insane and explains his behavior lately…”
-------------------
“Good plan B, Case…” Sharon said, taking the headphones off.
“The Hellions are on the chase, now,” Casey said. “Whoever this Wraith guy is, he’s not getting far…”
“Forget the Wraith, Casey; HE’S not the one we need to be worrying about! Grover is! We have to take him down.”
“You’re right, of course… I’m… Sorry… Don’t know what came over me,” he said, looking away.
He’s sure acting funny whenever I mention the Wraith… Sharon thought to herself, as she saw him out the corner of her eye. What?! “Be back, Casey…” She said, taking off. NOW she knew what was going on. It made PERFECT sense, now, as she stalked over toward the man who was trying to lose her in the crowd. He bobbed left and right through the people, but she kept on him. Once he got toward an alleyway where he couldn’t be seen, he waited for her… “Josh… You tell me what this is about NOW!”
“I have no idea what you are talking about, Sharon,” Josh Hayes said, reaching in his jacket to pull out a cigarette. “Please explain…”
“You set this up… This media blitz… The false death threats… Why?!” Sharon said slapping the cigarette away from him.
“Gaybashers like HIM, Sharon, need to be taken off their pedestal,” he answered. “He needs to know what it feels like to have everyone staring at him, demanding an answer… to have everyone asking whether he is or is not… to be judged not for the type of person he is, but for what he is… The way he was born! Since he obviously learn his lesson from being Black… perhaps being a mutant will…”
Angrily, she pushed him to the wall, balling her fist up. “We’ve been through this several times already; he had no idea that guy was gay when he beat the shit out of him. He was just defending himself against a mugger!”
“Sure… Take his side,” Josh spat. “Since he’s your new friend.”
“Is that what this is about?” Sharon said, ripping her hand away. “You’re mad because he’s my friend? You did this… you did ALL of this… out of JEALOUSY??!! YOU’RE MY FRIEND TOO!!”
“No, I WAS your friend! I can’t be friends with someone who…”
“I can’t believe you,” she said. “After all the years we’ve known each other, you are going to resort to this… I thought I knew you… I…” She jerked her head away, walking back toward the crowd. “You’re right… You WERE my friend.”
After she left, Josh dropped to sit down… and a small tear trickled out of his eye.
End Chapter One
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Chapter Two
The White Court; Office of the White King
Alice Pembleton smiled as she looked over from her desk at the young child at the table. Christian Simitis. SuperGrover’s son. At the young age of… damn… Was he turning seven, soon? At the age of seven, the child has already seen and been through such horrors that would make any child upset. The man who raised him was dead of a plasma blast to the face. His mother had all but forgotten about him, through some means of Ryan no doubt. He had to start from square one when Grover – his biological father – brought him in… get to know everyone.
One thing he always loved to do was draw and color on his sketchpad. She had seen some of his drawings, actually, and couldn’t make heads or tails of them. They looked like random scribbles to her, but he loved to do it. She couldn’t argue. “Whatcha drawing, Christian?” she asked.
“Uncle K-Lid,” he answered, absorbed in the work. “and Daddy… They’re flying.” He laughed, picking up the red crayon. “Uncle K-Lid puked on Daddy’s cape… Daddy’s cussing at him.”
She jerked with a start. That had been the first time she had EVER heard Christian refer to Grover as “Daddy.” She didn’t even know that he knew. Did someone tell him? Gomurr, maybe? Khalid? No, neither of them would have told him. It was at that point she had noticed a cold draft flow through the office. Just as quickly as it came by, it was gone. “Christian… I’m getting a little hungry, here. Do you want a snack?”
“Yes, please…”
“I’ll be right back,” she said leaving the room.
As soon as she left, Christian laughed again. “She can’t see you…”
“I know,” said the woman in the white dress with the long, blond hair. “I told you… You’re special.” She picked up one of the colored pencils and was drawing on her own sheet of paper right next to Christian. Her other hand rustled Christian’s hair, causing them both to laugh again. “Your Daddy can see me too… and Uncle Khalid.”
“Daddy’s been bad… kind of… You should send him to his room.”
The ghost of Carolyn Norris smiled at the thought. “Oh Christian,” she said, hugging him. Her tears slid down her cheek before she broke it with a kiss on the forehead. “Give me a little time. You’ll have your daddy.”
“The goat man made Uncle K-Lid break him and now he doesn’t know how to put him back together.”
“The goat man?” Carolyn said. “The goat man did it?”
“Mmmmmhmmmmm…” Christian said drawing. “The goat man… He’s after Daddy, but Daddy don’t like him. The goatman don’t like Uncle K-Lid. Uncle K-Lid don’t remember the goatman.”
“Christian, I have to go,” she said. “Alice will take good care of you. I have to visit someone.”
“You promise to come back, Grandma?”
“Of course, Sweetie. Be good.” With that, she kissed Christian on the cheek and walked through the wall.
“I will,” Christian said, hearing Alice coming down the hall. “I’ll make Daddy all better.”
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Okay, Khalid thought, doing his best not to look down at the ground which was MUCH further away from him than he would have liked. On the good side, the Wraith caught me and I didn’t have to teleport in front of the cameras. He did not even have to turn around to know that Grover was gaining on them. He could sense Grover’s rage through his tattoos, lined by a sliver from Excalibur. We’re being chased by a news helicopter, so I can’t use my powers. Grover’s close enough I could spit on him… Oh… and one more thing… I think all this flying is going to make me throw up… Suddenly, he felt the Wraith take a strong turn downward… without decreasing speed. “Hey… um… Excuse me… um…” Khalid said, trying not to vomit then and there. “Hold on… GAAAAAH!!!”
The Wraith dipped under a line of trees into Central Park, zipping close to the ground to the astonishment of several joggers. One mugger and his victim were particularly taken off guard, especially when the Wraith – without slowing down – kicked the mugger into a nearby tree. They zigzagged through the grove of trees trying to lose SuperGrover, but he stayed on top of them. (By this time, Khalid actually did throw up. Some of it landed on Grover’s cape, which only pissed him off that much more.)
“You can’t escape me, Khalid!” Grover shouted at him. “You’ve got a piece of my metal! I can track you anywhere you go… GO anywhere you go!”
“You can, can you?” Khalid said, raising his eyebrow up. Of course, he knew Grover could track him. Hell… that was how the courts found their way to Black Vein’s lair. Take into account the environment. He was out in the public – no powers. The Wraith was carrying him – increased mobility. Grover could fly just as fast as the Wraith – bad. Khalid looked at the pond coming up and had an idea. There weren’t too many people around and it looked like it might be deep enough… His eyes lit up with a flash and the Wraith understood. They dove through the surface with Grover coming up behind him.
Suddenly, a light flare shot out from beneath the surface of the water with Grover on the end and knocked him back into a park bench. Grover blinked his eyes momentarily, waiting for them to clear again. He knew what happened. Khalid had opened a porthole beneath the water. Once the two of them disappeared under the surface, Khalid teleported them and allowed a light flare to slam into Grover. “God DAMN, I hate it when he does that.”
He rose back to his feet and stared at the rippling water. It wouldn’t be much longer before the Hellions arrived. Somehow, he was going to have to arrange for them to be on a wild goose chase while he took care of some dangling plotlines… beginning with his court.
“Seems to me,” a voice said, stepping from behind a tree. “That if you want Khalid dead so badly, you are going to have to take care of that Wraith fellow. You notice he seems to always know when that he’s in trouble. I wonder… why IS that?”
“Because that bitch talks to him… THAT’s why,” Grover mumbled to him. “It’s an endless circle. Khalid brought the bitch back; the bitch talks to the Wraith; the Wraith rescues Khalid.”
“In your time with me, have I taught you nothing? Kill the damn bastard! Then, you can kill the OTHER damn bastard… and then the bitch can go away. You’re a little too old to be led around…” The man stopped, getting a good look at Grover’s cape. “Hey… You know you have Grape Nuts on your cape.”
Grover grumbled a moment, wiping the offending regurgitated cereal off of his cape. “And I just fucking had this dry-cleaned… As for the Wraith, you know who he is! I CAN’T just stab him and watch him die! Though, that did almost work with Khalid…”
“Yeah… until that annoying vampire had to come and save him. Did you know he’s your great grandfather?”
“Really? If that’s true, then why the hell is he bugging Khalid all the time?!”
“Don’t ask me! It’s YOUR family! Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. You know who the Wraith is and more importantly, you know who he is NOT. Why not use that to your advantage?”
At first Grover looked away, but then he smiled and flew off into the sky. The man leaned back against the tree and laughed. “Yes, Grover… Kill him. I have no further use for him, especially with his ties to the ol’ fuddy-duddy. Then, you can be back among my fold… where you belong.” With that, the HellGoat disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
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Infirmary
“So… Khalid insisted you come see me, eh?” Angelo Torres said, reading over the medical sheets. “And didn’t tell you why. Sounds like him. He’s been different ever since he came back from Egypt. That’s for sure.”
“The event had an impact on him, I am told. I had only met him after he had changed.” (Shifting Sands)
“He hasn’t changed THAT much,” Angelo said. “Other than he apparently forgot how to use a condom.”
“No…” Asima said. “He accidentally melted it… Excuse me, but what would that have to do with why I am here?”
“It isn’t too often I get to say this, but… Ms. Fayed, you are pregnant.”
“WHAT?!”
“I would say three to four weeks,” Angelo said. “About the time ago Khalid was in Egypt…”
She sat on the cot, momentarily staring as if off into space. He knew… THAT’S why he didn’t say anything. That was why he was so adamant about her visiting the doctor before she left. That explained his near-stricken look when he picked her up at the airport. God… a baby… She was not ready for a child yet. She CERTAINLY knew that he was not.
DARE she return to Egypt an unwed mother-to-be?! If she were found at the wrong place by the wrong people, she could very well be risking trouble. Her psionic powers were formidable enough to help her, but she did not want to have to depend on them.
Then, there is the matter of Khalid himself. He may be over 5000 years old, but he’s just 23. She’s 30. This was not a relationship she had intended to be long-term. With the threat of the Toc-Ra removed, she was able to start her own life as she wished. Yes, there was a physical and mental attraction, but not anything she would want for the rest of her life. Marriage for her was not an answer.
“I… thank you, Doctor…”
Angelo momentarily chided himself for having not used tact. “Ms. Fayed… I know Khalid fairly well. The man was practically bouncing off the walls two days before you arrived, I think he l…”
Before he finished, she stood up almost regally and started toward the door, a cold expression around her face. “Two things to consider, Doctor. How well can a man get to know a woman in a month… and does a man like him REALLY know what it means to love?”
“You tell me,” Angelo said, trying not to lose his patience any further than it has been tested. “I’m probably one of the few people who DON’T think the guy’s off his rocker. From what I see going on, he had you pegged. I think what is REALLY going on is that you are discovering that you don’t know him.”
“You had best mind your own business, doctor.”
“And you had best take care of your business, Ms. Fayed.” He watched her angrily storm out the door, telekinetically pulling it shut behind her. At that moment, Angelo walked over toward one of the beds in the infirmary… where an apparently carbon copy of himself was lying on a cot fast asleep. He placed his hand on the shoulder and with a white flash of light, changed into the form of a different man… wearing a long white robe rather than jeans and T-shirt as the real Angelo Torres on the cot was wearing. “Thank you for allowing me to borrow your form, even if it was involuntary.”
The Stranger waved his hands, calling forth Asima’s medical charts into his hand. “Forgive my tactics, Doctor, but until I can piece together Khalid’s premonitions myself, I think it best that certain information stays out of everyone’s hands…”
End Chapter Two
-----------------------------------
Chapter Three
White Court: Ready Room
She sat at the chair at the end of the table, looking rather uncomfortable. Her foot tapped impatiently against the table leg as she waited. As far as everyone knew, Sharon Stokes was impatient because she was concerned about the White Rook’s health. Nope. That wasn’t the case. She knew before that Khalid would be just fine. It was more like she was trying to decide what to tell everyone. They needed to know to stop looking for the person behind the death threats and the media circus, but she didn’t necessarily need to tell them that Josh was the one behind it. Though Josh would have brought it on himself, she still considered him that much a friend not to sick all these mutant-powered people on him. She could count at least Daemon, Maul, Echo, and Outburst who would probably beat the shit out of him. Cyclops would find some sneaky way to do it. Darque Feonix? She noticed that he’s been staying in the background a lot…
“I think we may as well go ahead and begin,” Cyclops started. “Thanks to everyone who volunteered. According to the Hellions, when they last saw SuperGrover, he was no longer chasing Khalid. I’m assuming either that the Wraith did manage to lose him or that Khalid saw an opportunity and escaped from them both.”
“Hold on, Case…” Sharon interrupted. “Are we classifying the Wraith as a THREAT, now?”
“We do not know a thing about him, Sharon. Three appearances so far – that one where he dropped the letter off to you, in Central Park when he just happened to help Khalid, Daemon, and Maul against the Toc-Ra (Full Circle), and then about two hours ago. As far as we know, he could very well be the one responsible for the threats against K…”
“Come on, Case,” Sharon interrupted. “He’s not. Everyone here knows exactly what the Wraith is. I remember about five or six years ago where he was THE preeminent superhero, outdoing every single masked vigilante in New England. With the way things have been going lately, I don’t find it all that surprising that he’s made a comeback! It’s not like this was being kept a secret. The media’s been camped outside Gabe’s door for two days!”
Gabe watched the two of them argue, noticing how their behavior both departed from normal. Casey was really pounding in that they didn’t know anything about the Wraith. Sharon was right in that based on what they know, it is premature to consider the Wraith a threat. BOTH of them, it seemed, had strayed away from the topic. Case was bugged by the Wraith and Sharon was trying to avoid discussing something else… “Forget the Wraith for a moment,” Gabe intervened. “Three concerns. We still don’t know who was making the death threats. John Gardino was possessed by a vampire with a thing for Scrib and apparently Maul, so that points to at least that connection… especially since we know what K’s grandfather does for a living. Then, there is the most pressing matter, K’s own cousin Grover. K’s right. That man is in full control of his senses.”
“How can you say that?” Darque Fronix said from the other side of the table. “Based on what… Something that Khalid has told you? In case you didn’t realize, Khalid is not exactly a re…”
“Don’t talk about shit you don’t know anything about,” Daemon cracked, pulling a videotape out of his trenchcoat. He handed it to Sharon, who promptly put it in the VCR. “Unlike you two – his so-called allies – I actually took the time to figure out what was going on rather than declare myself too busy. It’s not my policy to clean up after someone else, but what can I say?” he said, winking at Sharon. “The right motivations can make me do almost anything.”
“Fine, Daemon,” Cyclops said. “What IS going on?”
“This is the footage from this morning taken from one of the surveillance cameras in my apartment. We all saw Grover shout several times toward something that was not there. However, take a look,” Daemon said as he paused the tape. “Right there. Whatever Grover’s yelling at, Khalid can see it too. Neither Khalid nor Grover are telepaths. The chances of two ‘crazy’ people having the exact same hallucination at the same time – such as the ghost you two decided Khalid had imagined – is practically nil. In fact,” Daemon pressed another button which changed it into an infrared scan. “Well… whaddyaknow. Two red heat signatures – K and Grover – and two blue signatures – the Wraith and… hey… hold on… Who’s that other person?”
“I’ll be,” Darque Feonix started. “He CAN see…”
“If you had paid attention,” Daemon cut him off. “You’d have known he could do a lot more than just ‘see’ spirits. “
“Fuck,” Cyclops said, looking at the screen, particularly the Wraith. “This guy is really a spirit? But that is impossi…”
“ANYWAY,” Daemon grunted. “The thing we have to consider is that K’s tattoos were activated by a sliver from Excalibur. As we found out a couple of months ago, (Black Vein) Grover can track K. For whatever reason – and I bet it has something to do with whoever that other entity is – Grover wants K dead.”
At that moment, everyone was startled when the two doors pulled apart. They had expected to see Khalid, probably with clothes and hair disheveled, but instead saw someone else… Perhaps the LAST person they’d have expected to walk in. “Now HERE they are,” the figure said, walking to a seat next to Marvel Girl. “I was coming over thinking I might need to get your help tracking down members of the Grey Court and I find them over here!” Unexpectedly, the seat collapsed beneath him the moment he sat down. “Damn, can’t you afford any better furniture, Sharon? You are the queen and all. So,” he whispered to Marvel Girl. “You guys trying to join the White Court?”
“No, Hawkeye,” she answered. “We’re – you know – trying to HELP them?”
“You aren’t trying to join?” Hawkeye said, nodding toward Gabe. “Why not?! I heard the slots of king, pawn, and maybe even rook were open. Scrib… Echo… You should be taking advantage of these opportunities! HAVE I TAUGHT YOU NOTHING??!!”
Gabe sighed, noticing the look of anger flash across the members of the White Court. Sometimes it just did not pay to be Grey Bishop…
------------------------------
Office of the White King
He appeared in a flash of light, dripping from head to toe. He reached up to his scalp, pulling a blob of algae out of his soaked hair and dropping it into the trash can. “Hello, Alice,” he said. “How are you doing?”
“Apparently better than you,” Alice said, momentarily shocked. “Have you been swimming in Central Park?!”
“Yes… Not by choice. I figured Grover could use a bath after I lost my breakfast,” Khalid looked over at Christian who was sound asleep on the couch.
Alice dropped what she was doing with a start when she processed what he said. “Khalid… he told me… I mean half an HOUR ago, he told me…”
“What?” Khalid asked. “That he was drawing a picture of me puking on Grover’s cape… and that Grover was cussing at me?”
“You’re good.”
“Nah… I know the little brat.” Khalid flared his aura for a moment, drying himself off. He started to sit beside Christian, but then considering how he currently smelled he thought better of it. Only God knows what else is in his hair. He reached down toward Christian’s sketchpad, looking at the pictures Christian drew. He already knew that everyone else saw them as mere scribbles, but every time he saw them he actually saw kids drawings. The most recent one – of course – was of the Wraith carrying him through the air and a brown blob flying out of his mouth. “Yep… My little cousin’s got a talent,” he said. He picked up another one – a drawing of Christian sitting at the table with a blonde in a white dress. “Mmmmhmmm…” Khalid said. “He’s been visited.”
“What are you…”
“Nevermind,” Khalid said. “Everyone else is in the Ready Room?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be there in a moment…” Khalid said peeling a can out of his now-ruined kente vest. “As soon as I take a shower, wash my hair, and change clothes.”
“Uncle K-Lid?” Christian said, stirring up from his nap. “You smell. Did you bring me anything?”
“Yeah, I know I smell… and no, I didn’t bring you anything,” Khalid sighed, moving toward the door. “Next time you see your grandmother, tell her I need to speak with her.”
Alice looked back and forth between the two of them trying to make sense of the conversation.
“She went to visit the Strange Man,” he answered.
Khalid jerked in place, those last two words ringing in his ears. His blue aura flared for a moment. Christian rolled off the couch, stopping a moment to wipe the mucus out of his eyes. He yawned himself awake noticing Alice, who watched Khalid dumbfounded.
“Christian, you better stay back,” Alice said. “I think this is another one of his spells.”
Christian stuck his hand through Khalid’s aura – without it growing hot at all – and tugged at his pants leg. “Uncle K-Lid?”
Khalid’s aura receded. “I… I…” He blinked his eyes. “I… better… get to that shower… Christian, wash your hands.”
“Yes, Uncle K-Lid.”
As he left, Alice backed toward her desk and picked up the phone… immediately calling the man who had once been the Black Headmaster – Gomurr.
End Chapter Three
------------------------------
Chapter Four
“SHAG! SHAG! SHAG! SHAG!” Justin Mills kept shouting repeatedly. Rhiannon LeBeau sighed as she walked around filling out paperwork for the Hellions. There were some days she wished she had NEVER introduced that card game to DarkWolf. Yes, it was fun… especially if more than two people were involved… but right now she grew tired of his demanding to play it. (*This takes place just before the rebooting of the BHC… and before the events in Outburst’s story… WHICH SHE HAD BETTER FINISH!!!) “You know you want it… I’m just a shag machine, baby… SHAG! SHAG! SHAG! SH…”
She looked down at Phantom who promptly telepathically brought DarkWolf to a halt. “Of all the people to… Why don’t you bother Greg… or Ben… or whoever else is in your court or whatever?”
“Eheheheheh…” Justin said, deciding not to answer the question… well… immediately, anyway. No, he was not one to buy into the politics of the courts, but while Rhiannon was a member of the White Court – specifically the Headmistress of the Hellions – he decided that maybe he should keep quiet on developments. Well… for now. He sort of found it surprising that the other courts didn’t already know. “Well… They aren’t as much fun as you are! That’s why! Besides… You know them. Telepaths and card games. Need I say more?”
Outburst looked back toward Phantom and winked with a smile. “Oh yeah… TRUST me, I know… I make it a point NEVER to play a card game against a telepath.” WITH a telepath is another story! Teeheehee…
Was that a giggle? Phantom asked Outburst telepathically.
EXCUSE ME?! You know I don’t giggle!
That was a giggle! You giggled1
Justin crossed his arms in apparent anger, unable to “hear” the conversation between Outburst and Phantom. “Hey! Are you two talking about me again?!”
Phantom jumped on Justin’s lap and kneaded his claws in and out as he lied down. One thing he ALWAYS liked about Justin. His skin was so tough that he could claw to his delight and would never have to worry about breaking skin… even when Justin was wearing shorts! Don’t be ridiculous, Justin… You know us better than that.
“Yeah, Justin… If we’re going to talk smack about you, we’ll make sure you can hear every word!”
“Okay!” Justin beamed. “Just making sure!”
“Hey Burst!” Nebula said, popping her head in the door. “We’ve got trouble downtown. Hellions are going to go check it out.”
“Be with you in a sec… You coming along for the ride, Justin?”
“Yeah… You bet ya! I’m not letting you out of my sight. With your pheromones running amok, you’ll probably have the bad guys drooling all over you…”
“Haha… VERY funny!” Outburst glared. “Humph… COME ON!” She said, storming out the door.
-------------------------
Freshly cleaned and changed, Khalid stepped into the Ready Room where everyone was waiting. He could tell by their expressions that their patience – either with him or with each other – had worn thin. Cyclops, it seemed, was off in his own world not truly paying attention to what was happening around him. Sharon was upset, quite visibly… her foot tapping up and down beneath the table. Ironically enough, he found that it was Daemon and Darque Feonix who both wore the most welcoming expressions. Ain’t that an ironic twist of fate? Khalid thought.
“Hey guys… I’m back.” He was about to sit down when he noticed that the only empty chair was between Echo and Marvel Girl. Nope… He was just going to have to stand, then. He heard an “imperceptible” sigh of relief from Echo as she relaxed back into her chair.
“Took you long enough,” Sharon said icily. “The Hellions reported back over an hour and a half ago telling us that Grover was no longer chasing you. For a man who has the ability to teleport, you sure took your sweet time getting back here.”
Khalid was taken aback by just how quickly and readily Sharon had jumped on him, particularly in front of the members of the Grey Court who had gathered to help him… including Hawkeye??!!
“See, Scrib…” Hawkeye nodded in Khalid’s direction. “One opportunity gone. If you had opened your mouth earlier, you could have been Rook! Newbies… I swear… What am I going to do with you?!” Everyone in the room turned toward Hawkeye yet again in disbelief.
“Anyway, Khalid,” Sharon continued. “Daemon’s informed us of three things. 1.) The Wraith is a spirit. 2.) Grover’s in full control. 3.) You and Grover saw something out there.”
Khalid’s eyes briefly met Daemon’s for a moment seeing him look down toward the table. Khalid recognized that expression. Daemon felt caught in the middle, in more ways than one. That was all the cue that Khalid needed… because he sure as hell was not putting up with her shit. “All information I could have told you already.” This time his gaze traveled to Darque Feonix and Cyclops before it went back to Sharon. “Information I HAVE told you, already… Months ago, if I remember correctly… Not that you gave a flying fuck, then. So, let me get this straight. I tell you something; I’m imagining it. Your boyfriend tells you the same thing; it’s the goddamn truth.”
“You’re out of line, Khalid.”
“Considering the way I’ve been pushed off and ignored the last couple months, maybe I need to be. Nevermind… Drop it. By the way… That ghost is Grover’s mother, or do you need Gabe to corroborate that, too?”
“Considering that we’re here to help YOU because YOUR cousin wants YOU dead… because of YOUR fuckup, maybe…”
“Oh… Now I fucked up… and here I thought my powers went off when I was stabbed, killing the soul devourers. Forgive me for not paying attention… Fuck it,” Khalid said moving toward the door. “To hell with you… and to hell with this club. I can fucking take care of myself.”
“That’ll be the day,” Sharon answered coldly. “We’ve been covering your ass since day one… Just like we are doing right now when there are other things we could be spending our time on.”
“Fine… quit wasting your time, then,” he disappeared in a flash, blinding everyone throughout the room.
Once the light had dimmed down, Darque Feonix finally spoke. “And the point of that argument was…?”
Sharon cut him off. “If you have a problem with it, you’re free to join him. As far as I’m concerned, the White Court’s energies will be channeled into saving Grover. I thank the Grey Court for offering their assistance in this matter, but I do not think it will be necessary as of now.” With that, she stood up and walked out of the room. Everyone looked at each other, first in disbelief and then in shock trying to figure out what that entire scene had been about.
“Um…” Cyclops said, looking around. “Dismissed… I guess…” Everyone stood up to leave the room…
Case… hold on… Why the hell is she doing this? ESPECIALLY in front of the Greys?!
You’re the telepath, not me. I can understand Khalid being pissed off, but not her at the moment.
I think she’s hiding something.
I think you’re right… And there is definitely something turning around in my head right now. Here’s the plan… I’m going to tag along with the Hellions. If Grover’s going to make a move, he’s going to get the Hellions out of the way first. You…
---------------------
He was mad… he was angry… and he felt betrayed. Casey… Kane… Them, he would expect that shit from. Sharon? No. Of everyone, she was the last person he’d ever expect to pull that shit… in front of everyone else, nonetheless. He paced back and forth in his office, ripping the stack of mail off his desk as he went through it. Junk… junk… junk…
“Now, how is this productive?” the Stranger asked, stepping out of a disc of light. He sat on the edge of Khalid’s desk, watching him pace.
“It isn’t.” Khalid answered him. “I’m trying to figure out whether I should deal with Grover, track down the source of the death threats, or deal with that vampire possessing Gardino.”
“My suggestion is that you deal with the death threats. There are… extenuating circumstances with Grover.”
“Like what? What could possibly…” Khalid stopped, turning to face the Stranger. “You’ve gotta be kidding.”
“Only if Christian is kidding as well. Your Aunt Carolyn just told me. It makes sense… Grover was possessed by a soul devourer in Mexico (Black Vein); Raphael ensures that the soul devourer is… different.”
“How diff… No… Fuck, no… You’ve gotta be kidding me. Fuck… FUCK, I should have realized it. I…”
“And just how are you supposed to have realized it with my psionic suggestion having been firmly in place since you were born?”
“Don’t get me started on that damn suggestion,” he answered pacing back and forth. “All right… We were blindsided. You can’t put Grover back together because everyone would catch on to you. I’ve gotta do it.”
“No, you can’t,” the Stranger intervened. “Even if you did it away from everyone else, Grover would catch on to you. It’s too soon.”
“It is only a matter of time before Grover catches on to me, anyway,” Khalid said, stopping. “Once that happens… once he finds out the real reason I’m in the White Court… If… I even live that long.”
“I’m working on it. Give me some time.”
“Seven months, Nathan. The clock is already ticking.”
“Yes,” the Stranger said. “You’re right… Seven months.” Silence fell between them. “Khalid… We’re already too late in stopping one major part from being set into place.”
“I know…” Khalid said, sitting down. “I know. Asima doesn’t know, but I altered her energy field to mask the baby’s. Even Gomurr won’t be able to detect anything, yet…”
“I’ll deal with Grover. You deal with the death threats. Deal with what we can now and we’ll take care of your son, later… You do realize, though, that even Raphael could not have pulled a stunt like that without help.”
“I know…” Khalid said. “I know.” With a flash of light, the Stranger disappeared from the room.
Khalid’s eyes flashed white briefly as the Stranger’s suggestion once more kicked into gear. He blinked a moment, noticing from the clock on his desk that he had blanked out yet again for about five minutes. Another trance. They’ve been happening with more frequency, lately. He looked down at the envelope in his hand. Hmmmmm… No address… no scent on it, either… He opened it up, realizing that it was a phone log from the telephone company. Three days ago, someone had made calls to all the major television stations and newspapers in town… from one place. Khalid’s face turned up. Now he had an address.
Now he was going to get to the bottom of this…
End Chapter Four
--------------------------------
Chapter Five
From their inception about ten or so years ago, the Hellions have undergone several incarnations such that even the public recognizes that their membership continually evolves. Exactly where their alumni go, the public has never considered because they have accepted that they do have lives. Everyone has a life. A few mainstays of the Hellions, however, just because of something unique… something different… seem to draw more attention than others.
Somehow, you just don’t miss a guy with blue skin. There is just something about a guy with dark blue skin and sharply-contrasting blond hair. If anyone could see beyond the energy discharge, they might see the blue eyes underneath.
The world knew that particular guy went on to become one of the most popular superheroes ever to hit the world. His image was everywhere – in the SuperGrover comics, the SuperGrover stuffed dolls, the SuperGrover action figures, the SuperGrover commercials… Shortly after his resurrection, there was even talk of creating a SuperGrover cartoon show, but thanks to the resources of the Hellfire Club, that insanity was brought to a screeching halt. Even right now, though the entire world knows that for some reason SuperGrover is evil, they also know that he is currently insane. He HAS to be. All good guys at some time or another get bamboozled by a bad guy and go insane. Either that or some bad guy takes control of them. It’s all stereotyped. They know that eventually SuperGrover will return to the side of the angels and everything will be fine and dandy then.
In the meantime, though, public attention was locked on someone else in the Hellions. In newspapers everywhere, people raved about the actions of this blue-skinned stranger who always refused to speak to the press. They were under the mistaken impression that this young woman HAD to be SuperGrover’s younger sister. They just had too many characteristics in common: blue skin, blond hair, membership in the Hellions. There was even a rumor that she attended classes at Empire State University, but no one could ever prove it.
By this time, Nebula knew for herself that it really did not pay to be in the Hellions. Well… that wasn’t true. It DID pay… and there ARE good benefits… but for HER it didn’t pay. Yeah, when she runs off to the city to save the world or kick ass, there were always photographers and the like glued to her, watching her every move. Lately, though, it has just got more dangerous for everyone involved than usual.
Why?
“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND??!!” Nebula screamed as she tackled a man to the ground to avoid a stray blast.
“So what do you say? We’re talking movie deal, appearances on talk shows, guest stunts on actions shows…” the man rattled on.
From her hand a string of fireballs shot out, intercepting bullets from the cyborgs’ automatics before they could stray off and hit anyone. “As if…” she said, grabbing the man by the shirt. “Even IF I would subject myself to such a grueling schedule, I have other things in mind than commercializing and demeaning my image. Now, will you QUIT hounding me?!”
“If you would just consider my offer…”
“NEBULA!” Outburst’s voice called out. “Get that shithead out of here before someone gets hurt!”
“Nebula?” the man answered. “Oooooh… Catchy… I think there is a villain who already has dibs on that name, but I’m sure my lawyers can work it out. Hmmmmmm… You know… you could be her daughter…”
Gritting her teeth, Nebula grabbed the guy by the knot of his tie and bodily dragged him away from where the other Hellions were fighting that band of cyborgs. “Listen here,” Nebula said, dropping the guy down in front of the police line. “EVERY time you come running out there, you risk your life. Do you know what my job is? My job is to SAVE your life. That takes attention from the OTHER lives I have to save.” She stopped for a moment, hurling a fireball behind her to intercept a plasma discharge that was heading for the crowd before she turned back. “This is the tenth time you’ve done that and you are going to stop. You are endangering my life and THEIR lives every time you pull that and the lives of everyone else we are trying to save.”
“Will you at least consider my offer?”
Nebula gritted her teeth and clenched her hands back and forth. This guy was REALLY on her last nerves. Just as she was about to lay into him some more, she saw a group of guys hooting and making cat calls at her.
“YOW!!!!! THEM HELLION WOMEN ARE HOOOOOTTTTT!!!!!”
“WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!!! I’m a BAAAD little doggie. You can spank me ANYday, Momma!”
Flattered – although furious – Nebula reached inside the top of her shirt and pulled out an envelope which she slapped into the hands of her solicitor. “Guess what? You’re now in violation of a restraining order. Stay the hell away from me…” she said, turning around. “And NO WAY does that tie match those pants…”
“Hmmmmm…” the man said looking down at the envelope. “This might be harder than I thought…”
From behind the man, Casey Jones looked out watching the fight. Most of the time when he observed the fights, he would likely watch it from a restaurant window or at the top of an apartment complex where he would likely not be seen. The Hellions understood by now that they never would know when they were being observed. They had accepted that. From time to time, Casey might find himself reaching out through the Odinseye to move someone out of danger or to occasionally tap out a bad guy. Messing with gravity by now was second nature. He could function both as a force within the team and as someone from the back. As far as the Hellions went, he tried to keep his interference to the bare minimum. Better for them to think he was NOT there then for them to expect for him to be there…
The cyborgs were obviously second rate. The Hellions had walked through them in practically no time, keeping the level of destruction to a bare minimum. One of the ways that helped them to function was that the private sector would donate to a fund specifically designed to fix and repair areas that had been damaged from a battle in which the Hellions were involved. (It was yet another reason why they enjoyed a popular following.)
“Mr. Jones,” a voice said from behind him. “Fancy meeting you out here. I’m surprised a fellow lawyer such as yourself came out to watch the Hellions.”
“Every once in a while, Mr. Murdock, I cannot resist,” he said with a smile. “Enjoying the scene, Matt?”
“Oh yes,” he answered. “Every bit of it I can see. Meant to ask you how that Hunter fellow is doing? We haven’t kept in touch since after I helped with his bout of blindness.”
“Him? Well… considering current circumstances…”
“Aw… yes… yes… I’d have stayed low as well,” he stopped. “What is that falling?”
Casey Jones looked up. Falling, perhaps, wasn’t the correct word… but there was something very definitely moving down toward the Hellions with a fiery streak. The crowd began murmuring as they wondered what it could be, some of them even frantically talking amongst each others because the Hellions were so distracted they could not see it. Good… He lashed out with the Odinseye, stopping the object cold. Exactly what he suspected.
SuperGrover stood suspended in air, his aura that had unexplainably been fiery once again reverting to its invisible state. With a snap, his head turned toward the crowd… looking specifically toward Casey Jones with a sneer. Once again, murmurs swept through the crowd. Casey stood calmly, his eyes locking with that of his old friend. The man was in full control… just as Khalid had told him…
“Change of plan!” Outburst called out. “BIG change of plan. RUNE!”
The mage responded with a sphere of light from his hands which crashed into Grover’s back… and the focus of the fight definitely shifted…
Casey walked into the crowd looking for someplace to change. He couldn’t sit this one out at all…
------------------------------
Sharon’s hand hovered just over the door. After their fight yesterday, she was not sure whether or not she wanted to do this, but she couldn’t NOT do it. Good friends are hard to hold on to. Josh had been there through thick and thin and she just could not let it…
“Hello?” a man said opening the door. He was about 6’5’’ with scraggly dark brown hair and numerous tattoos running up and down his muscular arms. Dark black jeans, a black sleeveless shirt, and a thick silver ring on his finger. Thick green eyes and a Midwestern accent. He stopped for a moment, looking up and down her form. “You must be Sharon,” he said. “Please, come on in.” He opened the screen door, gesturing for her to enter the small townhouse.
Sharon smiled as she entered, noticing all the pictures hanging on the walls. Most of them had been places that Josh had visited since they had left home, but a few of them were of him and Sharon and some of Alex. “I came to talk to Josh… Is he in?”
"No... He'll be back in about twenty minutes." The man grabbed his crutches that sat next to the door and moved back toward the living room where the remote lay on a coffee table. With a tap of a button, the television flickered off and the guy eventually sat down. He winced as he bumped his right shin against the coffee table and sat down, gesturing toward the seat. “Please, have a seat. Go ahead and move those manuscripts. I’d do it, but I’m half-scared I’ll fall.”
Sharon chuckled as she reached over, picking up the stacks of paper and moving them. Unpublished manuscripts with the name Derrick Johnson written across them. “Derrick?”
“Oh… Sorry… Derrick’s just my pen name. My real name’s Tom… Josh has told me so much about you. I couldn’t wait to meet you.”
Sharon smiled. “I have to admit… I’m appalled he hasn’t told me a thing about you. I didn’t even know he was seeing anyone, much less ‘living in sin’.” She stopped as she realized what she said and was about to apologize when Tom burst out laughing.
“We’ve been ‘living in sin’ for more than a year, now. Even longer, if you listen to what Jerry Falwell has to say. I’m surprised he hasn’t mentioned me at all. He didn’t even invite you to the nuptials in June?”
Sharon stood dumbfounded, stuttering just before she spoke. “N… No… I… had no idea,” she said, once again noticing the thick silver ring on his finger. “I…” she stopped, her eyes caught on the sets of ribbons and trophies on the wall.
“I’m going to have to jump all over him about that,” he said, noticing where Sharon was looking. “Oh… those are my Aikido awards.”
“Aikido?” Sharon asked. “Quite a few of them…”
“Yes, as a matter of fact. Undefeated State Champion ten years in a row.”
She noticed that the ten years he was referring to were 1987-1997. She turned back to face him. “What made you stop?” Then, it clicked. The crutches…
Tom was stumbling for an answer when there came a knock at the door. “Let me get…”
“No… Please… Allow me,” Sharon said, moving toward the door. Right now, she really hated herself. An injury ended that man’s Aikido career and she just reminded it of him so absent-mindedly without so much as a thought. “Hello?” Sharon called out as she opened the door…
…to see Khalid staring her in the face with equal surprise. “Sharon?!” Immediately, that surprise turned to almost-outright fury. “I should have known… It makes PERFECT sense considering the way you were acting earlier! So… Josh did it, huh?! Josh pulled this entire thing.”
“Khalid,” she said. “Leave now. He’s not here and…”
Angrily, Khalid pulled open the door standing directly in front of her. “Then, I’ll just wait until he returns.”
“You aren’t coming in here… Now leave before I…”
Khalid pushed himself past her and marched directly for the living room. Sharon kicked the door shut behind her. Damn it. This was EXACTLY the last thing she wanted… A confrontation between Khalid and Josh…
“You?!” Khalid said when his eyes laid on Tom.
“My God,” Tom said, pushing himself to a stand.
The look on their faces were exactly the same – that of two deer stuck in the beams of a headlight. “Khalid?! Tom?!” Sharon said. “You know each other??!!”
End Chapter Five
------------------------
Chapter Six
She appeared in the middle of the fray, invisible to all but one, but her presence was very real. She walked in a circle around the fight, her golden hair flowing behind her. As much as she wanted to, she was powerless to come to their aid. 28 years ago, her time had been cut prematurely short. They had at first been upset with her when she made her first appearance in the Earthrealm, but they realized that there was nothing to say. Carolyn Norris knew the truth. Because of that, they had decided that it would be counterproductive to enforce their restriction…
“Come to enjoy the fight, my dear?” the HellGoat said to her. “I assure you that it will be worth the wait.”
“You know why I’ve come,” she answered coldly. “I was tired of turning in my grave knowing a sick bastard like you was after my son.”
“I’m appalled!” HellGoat said, moving so that he was in front of her. “Don’t you mean to say that I HAVE your son?”
“No you don’t,” she said balling her hands into fists. “You didn’t have my son before; you don’t know; and you will NEVER have my son.”
“What… You think the ol’ fuddy-duddy can save him? Just like he saved YOU?” HellGoat asked. “Oh… He had trouble getting to you, if I remember correctly. I wonder why THAT is?”
“Oh… I know,” she said. “I know a whole lot more than that…”
HellGoat grabbed her by the neck, squeezing it tightly in. “You will tell me EXACTLY what you know, woman… and just how much you know…”
With a flash of lightning, he was knocked away from her. Her eyes flashed with sparks and her hand was posed by her head. “On their plane I can barely rustle a wind… On this plane, I have full access,” she said. “And do you REALLY wish to incur the wrath of your siblings, Raphael? I know Gabriel is flaky, but I heard that Azrael is really looking for any excuse to hunt you down.”
“Your pride will be the death of…”
“Can’t get any more dead than I already am, can I?” she said with a smirk. “I’m not the one you have to fear.”
“Which is why I won’t deal with you, my dear. Please… Do keep watching. Most of your family means nothing to me, but these ones… Khalid would have been SO good if the damn fuddy-duddy hadn’t got to him first. Grover… Christian… as good as mine. I already have your father and…”
“Grover and Christian will NEVER be yours,” Carolyn said. “And while you may have my father, it is only a matter of time before that is rectified...”
“There’s nothing you can do.”
“No,” she said. “But you know what they say… Give a man enough rope and he’ll hang himself.” She turned toward him. “With you, it is only a matter of time.”
“Aaaaahhhh… but I have all the time I need.” He disappeared, leaving Carolyn Norris to watch the fight in peace… and consider what else she needed to do.
------------------------------
Two knives through the air had safely removed Grover’s cape from the rest of his outfit. SlashR (*this takes place before the events in SlashR’s story where he… *sniffle* WE MISS YOU SLASHY-WASHY!!!!!) snatched it off the ground while Grover was distracted from the exploding cards near his stomach and tackled him from behind, pulling back on the neck with his cape.
Grover tried to rise into the air, but two well-placed cards fireballs from Nebula to the face staggered him enough for Outburst to slap him with her bo. The strategy was to hit hard and fast, giving Grover no time to plan in between strikes. The idea was to take him down with as little injury as possible. Although the strikes looked rough, Grover’s strength and his telekinetic aura made him practically all but invulnerable to physical attacks.
Grover’s original plan was to blindside them and hurt them so badly they could not continue the fight. The wrench, of course, was Cyclops. Even now, he could feel Cyclops accelerating gravity specifically around him. The Gauntlets of Excalibur dampened much of the effect, but it was catching up with him. Finally, he grabbed hold of his cape and threw SlashR into Cyclops, knocking loose the Odinseye. Outburst, SlashR, and Nebula were still a problem to be dealt with… but once he got into the air… a streak of lightning from Rune.
“Grover… Surrender or…” Rune started to speak when Outburst interrupted him.
“No, Rune… Don’t even give him the option of surrendering him. He’ll trick us. He’s gotta come down,” she said.
“Rhiannon… This spell is dangerous. We’re risking his life. He has no protection from…”
“She’s right,” Cyclops cut in. “If he does surrender, it will only be a ploy. We have to take him down and make sure he stays down long enough to see what is going on. If you let up, that will only be an invitation for him to continue… Your attack is the most effective. You’ll just have to measure it…”
“With a spell like this, you CAN’T!”
-----------------------
“NO!” Carolyn screamed, knowing that no one could hear her but Grover. “Stop!” With effort, she tried to manipulate the wind on their plane. The blue-haired one… He HAD to know that it was too much. His spell was also causing interference. She could only sit and watch as her son’s life was being drained on him.
The Wraith rose up from the ground beside her, rushing over to check if she was okay, but saw that she was beside herself. “You’ve got to stop them! PLEASE!” She screamed. “If you don’t…”
The Wraith turned to see them, realizing immediately what was going on. As far as everyone saw, he appeared in the Earthrealm as a black blur, moving toward Rune.
Suddenly, Cyclops stood in his way. “I don’t know who you are, imposter, but your ruse is certainly up!”
“Cyclops?!” Outburst called out trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Before she could move, Cyclops used the Odins Eye to temporarily ground him while he started his attack on the Wraith. Seeing that Cyclops had apparently gone berserk over a known superhero who had been apparently trying to help, SlashR and Nebula pulled Cyclops back while Outburst knocked out the Odinseye. “What the hell is WRONG with you?!”
Cyclops almost furiously shoved SlashR to the side and barked at Outburst. “Don’t you EVER…”
“You were ATTACKING a man who didn’t do anything but…” she stopped, her eyes traveling toward the Wraith. “What the…”
Without the Odinseye affecting him anymore, the Wraith tackled Rune. Wasted by Rune’s attack, SuperGrover dropped to his knees and fell face-forward, his muscles wasted from the electromagnetic assault. The Wraith was also affected by Rune’s powerful spell, likewise dropping to the ground. Nebula reached over, to feel Grover’s pulse, but instead felt his aura… good enough.
Cyclops stared down at the two, a little bit angry with himself, but even more relieved. “Rune, bag them both. Take Grover to the brig at the White Court headquarters and set the forcefield. The Wraith we will take to Gomurr.”
“Hold on,” Outburst said. “What the hell is with your obsession with the Wraith?! What the hell has he done but…”
“This thing is NOT the Wraith!” Cyclops barked. “Look… Just do as I say. Don’t argue with me.”
Grumbling from Cyclops’ weird behavior, Rune cast the spell doing what he was asked. Grover and the Wraith were both restrained, en route to different facilities.
It was too bad that Phantom’s telepathy was unable to breach Grover’s telekinetic aura, though. Otherwise Phantom – or any nearby telepath – would have known that Grover was anything BUT unconscious… and that everything was going strictly as planned…
End Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
It happened in 1998. Khalid Hunter went and got smashed after finding his girlfriend in his bed with a friend of his. Unbeknownst to him at the time, it was one of those stretches of time where the Mufasa persona was on the verge of breaking out. After he had been particularly inebriated, he had decided to walk home from the bar to drag his bed into the street and burn it when a rather large man stepped out of an alley, put a gun to his forehead, and demanded he hand over his wallet. (As told in “Only Human.”) Khalid did not take kindly to that, lost his self-control, picked a fight with the guy… and promptly beat the shit out of him almost to the point of death. When he realized what he did, Khalid stopped and called the ambulance. That was the moment where Khalid had buried deep any inkling of Mufasa or the power he represented from coming out…
The damage had already been done. Even the tip of his earlobe that had been shot off in the fight was nothing compared to the damage to his academic career and his reputation. Thomas Harrington – the robber – at the time had insisted that it was a gaybashing. Khalid and the police called it what it was. It didn’t matter. Everyone was convinced. Less than two weeks later, his assistantship was pulled, his apartment was torched, and he went on tour.
They had told him that the extent of Tom’s injuries had been to his face, which would heal. They had NOT told him about the shattered kneecap. In retrospect, Khalid remembered that the move he had pulled – catching Tom’s ankle in mid-kick and striking the knee – was taught to him in his previous life by Kailon-Ra as a means to temporarily incapacitate the enemy… but if done wrong, it could shatter the kneecap. His shock at seeing Tom was genuine. While he knew the guy had been released out of prison after the event resurfaced, he never knew…
Khalid stared dumbfounded at the knee he had destroyed. Tom had rolled up his pantsleg so both Khalid and Sharon could take a look. “I… God, I hate myself so much right now…” Khalid said, looking intently at the leg. “I had no idea… that I…”
“Listen,” Tom answered. “I spent the first few months of my jailtime furious with you… thinking that you had got your just desserts when I told everyone it was because I was gay. The prosecutor was smart by calling in the owner of the club you had played at a few days before,” he chuckled. “After all… How many gaybashers agree to do gigs at gay clubs?”
“Money’s money…” Khalid said.
“I thought you had ruined my life, but then it had been after talking with someone that I realized I was wrong. All that time, I was not mad at you… I was mad at myself. I chose armed robbery. Circumstances did the rest – I just happened to run into the wrong person. I just had no idea it would go this far. After watching the television for the last few days, I realized that I had caused that…”
“No… you didn’t,” Khalid said. “You just happened to be used. You stopped being at fault in Pentway and after you went to jail… You…” He looked at the leg. “You… Damn…”
“Life throws you a curveball, you have to learn to forgive. You have to forgive those who you think wronged you… but you also have to forgive yourself,” Tom said. “I switched the roles several times in my head and realized that you really had not acted all that different than I would have… well… except for the glowing and snarling bit, but otherwise…”
“Yeah…”
“Of course, you know, my philosophy isn’t perfect. I have to admit… If someone pulled that shit that tabloid guy pulled just to serve his own end… or that I had pulled… I’d be ready to kick ass.”
“There are extenuating circumstances on that,” Khalid said. “Let’s start at square one. We don’t hate each other.”
“Good place to start.”
“Square two. Even if I had known about the shattered kneecap before, I wasn’t in a position then to help. I AM, now. I don’t know what they can do or what procedures they have come up with…”
“Um…” Tom said. “Last I checked, there was NOTHING you could do about a shattered kneecap… particularly one that has been shattered for three years.”
“I believe the words you are looking for are ‘unless you know someone filthy rich.’ Blame the Republicans…”
“KHALID!” Sharon called out.
“Just kidding… Anyway, I’ve got friends in high places that might be able to help. Next,” Khalid said, looking around the room. “It seems you’ve got more than a share of unpublished manuscripts.”
“Just about three… I write quickly…”
Khalid reached into his wallet, digging for a business card. Finally, he found it. “Okay… I want you to give this woman a try. Her name is Alice Pembleton. I heard a rumor she was considering starting up a book publishing company. With the investors backing her, I have no doubt it will blossom, BUT she will need some good talent.”
“Look, you don’t have to do this… I…”
“You’re right… I don’t have to do this. Your leg, I don’t even know if anything can be done, but I can find out. As for the publishing? Consider it opportunity. You don’t become filthy rich by not taking chances. Now, if I find out you’re writing shit and turning it over to Alice and the company sinks, then I’ll come over and kick your ass… again. So take your time and do it right.”
Tom considered it and then nodded his head. “I… Thank you. I never expected…”
“Neither did I. Now pick up the damn phone and call Alice before she leaves for the day,” he answered. He looked up behind Tom to where Sharon was standing beyond the couch, nodding her head up and down. She reached for the phone and moved it closer so Tom could use it.
“You better listen to what he says.” Sharon said. Everyone in the room turned toward the front door that they heard open.
Josh Hayes walked in, both arms carrying bags of groceries. When he saw Sharon, he dropped both bags heavily to the ground. “Sharon! What are you doing here?!” he said.
“I came to talk and…”
“Tom, did you…” Josh said, walking the rest of the way into the living room. When he saw Khalid, he pulled a revolver from his belt loop and aimed it directly at Khalid’s chest. “You get the hell away from him NOW!” he said, glaring into Khalid’s eyes. “You get out of my home!”
“Josh! Listen,” Sharon started to speak.
“Did you bring him here, Sharon?” Josh asked. “Did you bring him by here so he could ruin Tom’s OTHER leg?!”
“No she didn’t,” Khalid answered, a slight growl sliding from his throat. “I barged my way in here. And YOUR ass was the one I came to kick, not Tom’s. Now it all makes sense.”
“Josh,” Tom asked. “Why did you do this? I told you I no longer hated him. I told you…” He grabbed his crutches, again pulling himself to a stand, so he could make his way toward the wheelchair.
“Give me the gun, Josh,” Sharon said stepping up beside him. “Let it go, now.” She could wrestle it out of his hand, but she did not want to take the chance of it going off and hitting either Khalid or Tom.
“I have had enough of people like you… YOU, Hunter… bullying everyone else. You ruined his leg… you ruined his life! And I, for one, will ALWAYS hate you for it.”
“It’s not your place to hate, Josh,” Tom answered. “And it wasn’t your place to take vengeance on my behalf. Do you realize what your actions may have already have done? He was defending himself from a bigger threat – me. I held a GUN to his head. I almost beat him to death. No one’s doing that to you. No one’s doing that to me.”
“Josh, give me the damn gun! Put it down!” Sharon pleaded once again.
“You sent him to that shithole…” Josh seethed, not hearing what either Tom or Sharon had to say. “You… Get out. Get AWAY from Tom… Get OUT of my home… CRAWL back into that Penthouse Suite, flash your little light in front of the world, and give them the show they’ve been waiting for. Then, they can see you exactly for what you are – NOTHING… Nothing but a monster who preys upon the weak… who…”
Sharon’s heart sped up when she heard those words. She had heard them before, from exactly the same person. It went further than either Tom or Khalid suspected, and certainly not for any reasons they knew. “Josh… He’s done nothing to wrong you. He’s not your fath…”
“You hear me?!” he said. “Nothing… and NONE of your sweet-talking, bribing, FALSE apologies will ever change what you are. You are scum… SCUM… What goes around comes around, Hunter… and it is FINALLY coming back around to…” Josh stopped as he heard something hit the floor next to him. With a flash of surprise, he looked down at the ground to see something spinning around before coming to a dead halt… the engagement ring. “Tom…?”
“Josh… I told you I could not live with the hate anymore… and I can’t.” Tom said. “Based on what I see right now, that is what you are. We’re finished.”
Josh’s hand shook as his thumb slowly turned the safety back on. His grip lessened and the gun fell to the floor with a clang. Sharon picked the gun up, emptying the bullets and then held Josh as Tom rolled his wheelchair toward the door.
“Josh,” Sharon said. “Josh…” She hugged him, supporting. “I’m… sorry… I’m so…”
He looked back toward Khalid, not sure what he expected to see. It wasn’t anger… happiness… or even content. It was a look of pain… maybe even a look of guilt? Josh shook his head, not content with the lack of expression on Khalid’s face. “Get out of my home, you worthless bastard… Now.”
Not sure what to say… or even if he COULD say anything… Khalid left. He had come in anger and left in… what… pity? Guilt? No… He wasn’t sure what it was. He just knew that it was strong and intense.
“Don’t blame yourself, Khalid,” Tom said, putting the wheelchair inside of his truck. “We all have to live with the consequences of our actions, no matter what they are. You help what you can and console whatever you can’t.” He set himself in the driver’s seat, rolling down the window so he could call out a little more at Khalid. “We’re all good people.” With that, Tom leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes… and just sat outside as Khalid climbed in his car and drove off.
End Chapter Seven
--------------------------
Chapter Eight
Casey Jones – lawyer supreme. Most people know by now that it is a futile exercise to try to argue him down, no matter what the situation is. Without raising his voice, most of the time, he can talk someone into a corner faster than they are able to think. It’s all part of the business. He should know. He spent quite a bit of time perfecting it, both in his extensive studies and in his various roles within the Hellfire Club.
There was time not so long ago where he seriously doubted his place in the world. Yes, he had the external façade of being secure no matter the circumstance, but on the inside he was very doubtful. In an extremely short time span, he had lost two of his best friends to elementals and the one eye that could project his pyrokinetic energy. In one fell swoop, he found himself defending not only himself, but his status within the club and his sense of worth.
In that time span, there were very few people who had even an inkling of what he did while in law school. Yeah, he took classes… read articles… wrote articles. There was a little more, though. More than anyone would ever suspect.
“Cheryl,” he said into the intercom. “Do me a favor and don’t let anyone in for the next five minutes. Tell them I’m… er… watching court videos.”
Cheryl’s bubbly voice tried not to giggle on the other side of the intercom. “Sure enough, Mr. Jones…” she said cheerfully. “I’ll… um… be sure to… er… not allow anyone in.”
As her voice went off, Casey sighed as he heard her voice erupt in laughter from the other side of the office door. With a smile, he shook his head. It was one of those rules the White Court all followed. Unless it was an emergency, they ALL knew not to bother Casey during certain times… his… “viewing” times. After all, everyone had to have their own vices. Outburst liked to pick the pockets of the pickpockets on the fairgrounds. Gomurr always carried Tupperware inside of his robe whenever he went to “all you can eat” buffets. Sharon and Daemon had 11:15 “lunches” inside her office. Grover’s secretary Alice Pembleton, he knew, wrote trashy Romance novels in her spare time right on the White Court computers. Casey… Casey watched videos.
He walked to his collection, scrolling through the hundreds of videodisc titles. There were plenty of classics such as “Dorothy does Oz”, “XXX-Men”, “The Fucts of Life”, and “Captain Caveman Shags the Teen Angels.” His finger ran over the various titles until he got to a release that took place back in 1996. It was called “Ghost.” He pulled it out and watched the bookshelf pull itself apart in front of him.
There it was, sitting in the exact place it had been ever since he had stopped wearing it. All the devices such as the infra-red monocle and the grappling hook still hanging from it. Casey stepped inside the room, looking at it all. The black outfit designed to look like a mummy’s wrap. The bullet proof cape he would use to shield others. The extensions on either arm which would allow him to wrap his opponents in thick black Kevlar wrapping.
“I know the Wraith is an imposter,” he said to himself. “because I’m the one he’s impostering.”
“Mr. Jones,” Cheryl’s voice came from the speaker. “Sorry to… interrupt… but this is just a reminder of your meeting at Mr. Shang Chek’s in twenty minutes.”
“Thank you, Cheryl,” Casey called out and stepped out of the room, returning it – and the costume he once wore as the Wraith – back into the darkness.
------------------------------
“Okay,” Khalid said, examining the saxophone reed very carefully after taking it out of the glass of water. “I think it should be good and soaked by now. Now…” he placed it on the mouthpiece and carefully set the ligature over it so that the end of the reed would not split. “You see exactly what I’m doing, Christian?”
“Yes, Uncle K-Lid,” Christian said, watching intently.
“Now… you put the mouthpiece… This thing right here… on top of the neck piece just like this,” Khalid demonstrated. “The neckpiece snaps in like this… and you turn the screw a few times… and here. All finished. This time was a freebie. From here on out, I expect you to be able to assemble your saxophone yourself. Now…” He bent down, carefully setting the neckstrap over Christian’s neck and attaching the tenor saxophone. “Now… do this.” Khalid opened his mouth, dropping his jaw and pulled his lower lip back over his teeth.
“Okay…” Christian followed suit. Carefully, Khalid set the mouthpiece of the saxophone in Christian’s mouth and then adjusted the child’s lips to pull down.
“Good… just like that. Now… I want you to try something… Place your tongue on the reed and say ‘TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO’.” He heard a small gush of sound coming through, but the reed was not vibrating enough, yet. “It’s coming… Squeeze in on your lip just a little bit… Now… more air… Go… ‘TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO’” Finally, a honking sound came out of the end of the saxophone. “Good! You did it!”
“I did it! I… but it sounds like a goose, Uncle K-Lid.”
“That’s just because it is your first time, Christian. I guarantee you… if you practice every day, you will sound like John Coltrane in no time.”
“Who’s John Colt…”
“Okay, um… Sonny Rollins… You’ll sound like Sonny Rollins in no time.”
“Who is Sonny…”
“Kid, you better set the VCR for your Saturday cartoons come Saturday, because I’m dragging you in my office and making you listen to music all day. Poor deprived kid… Can’t have my favorite cousin be a musical illiterate.”
“Does he sound like Kenny G?”
Khalid’s eyes rolled up in the back of his head and he dropped to the ground, as if he had fainted. Carefully, Christian detached the tenor saxophone and rushed toward Khalid shaking him repeatedly. “Uncle K-Lid! Uncle K-Lid! I’m sorry! Please don’t…”
“BOOO!!!” Khalid said, snapping his eyes open.
“GAAAAH!” Christian said falling onto his rear end. Immediately, he burst out into tears. “You scared me!!!”
“Awwwww… I didn’t mean to… You know I was joking,” Khalid picked him up, hugging him. “And you know… Hey… Wait a minute…”
“Got ya, Uncle K!” Christian said climbing around so he came on top of Khalid’s shoulders. “Time for a ride!”
“You little brat,” Khalid laughed. “I KNEW you were faking…”
“Did not!”
“Did so!”
“Did not!”
“Did not!”
“Did so!” Christian said, and then paused when he realized that a switch had taken place. “HEY!”
“I win…” Khalid said, setting him down. “Practice saxophone for an hour and I’ll let you ride.”
“An hour?! But…”
“Okay… you talked me into it… Forty-five minutes,” Khalid smiled. “Play as loud as you can. I want to hear these walls shake!”
“Okay, Uncle K-Lid… but I still think I sound like a goose.”
“That’s okay… You know how I sound when I flash my aura…”
Christian laughed. “You’re funny, Uncle K-Lid… Are you going to see Daddy right now?”
Khalid nodded. “Yes… I’m going to see your Daddy right now. Don’t worry. I’ll still be able to hear you.”
“I know… I’ll play loud… Just for you.”
“Good.”
---------------------------------
“So… You finally came down to the brig to see your older cousin? What’s wrong, Tater? You couldn’t get used to the idea of living the rest of your pathetic existence without looking upon my blue face once again?”
Khalid stood outside of the forcefield, near the exit. At first neither Nebula nor SlashR were willing to leave him alone with Grover, but Khalid eventually convinced them that with Grover behind the field nothing could happen. In all honesty, he was not totally convinced of that himself. Despite the way the Hellions accounted for it, Khalid still found it odd Grover came down so easily. That guy does not do jack shit without a plan. “Go ahead, Grover… Get it out. I’ve been laid into pretty much all day. I think I can take it coming from you, too.”
Grover slapped the back of his hand against the forcefield causing it to pop and sizzle with an energy discharge before it pulled back. “You can’t take anything from me, Khalid. You never could. It doesn’t matter what you are calling yourself or what is going through your mind. You made me. So now accept me.”
“Accept you? For what?”
“What I am… your harbinger of death…” Khalid’s eyes quickly flashed, the death image from his premonition reviving itself firmly in his mind. For a moment, the image flashed through Grover’s mind as well, vividly arousing all the sensations and feelings it did in Khalid. When it was over, Grover burst out laughing…
“No, Grover…” Khalid said. “It’s not you. As many times as I’ve had that particular flash, I know very well it is not you,” Khalid moved closer so that he was just barely outside of the forcefield. “I’m sorry to hurt your feelings.”
“A man knows usually knows when the shadow of death is stalking him. He knows that when that final time comes he won’t be rising out of the sand.”
“How was it for you, Grover, before YOU rose up out of the sand?” Khalid asked. “How was it seeing our ancestors in hell? Bound to that demon who sustains himself on their souls?”
“What are you talking about?” Grover responded.
“Your friend Raphael plans to take Grandpop there… and he has big plans for Christian.” Khalid stood even closer. “You know, Christian… Your son? The Ascended? Of everyone, the one of us who could challenge all of the Elohim by himself? Hmmm… You tell me… What would Raphael want with a child like him? To take him out for ice cream?”
“What are you talking about… what…” Grover stopped, noticing the headache gripping his head. “You fill my head with lies… with…”
“You know what that feeling is, Grover? That one like a sinus attack? Memories you’ve buried… of a time you’d much rather forget. Happened to me too while I was out in Egypt… They came up so quickly that by the time I realized what had happened it was too late. Splits like that… like the one at your very core have a habit of correcting themselves with just the right kick.”
“You’re nothing but a puppet… a mindless puppet who is too stupid to realize he is being mani…”
“What will it take to ‘kick’ you, Grover? My blood on your hands? Your mother’s tears? Oh wait… That’s already happened. How about your son delivered to Raphael’s waiting hands? All too late, I believe.” He stopped, smiling. “Your poor son… Under the mistaken impression that Daddy gives a flying fuck about what happens to him. Oh wait a minute… That’s right… You don’t know he’s been calling you ‘daddy’, do you?”
Grover started to respond, but then he hesitated. Again, he started to speak, but the words did not come out. With a rush of frustration, he spat at his cousin, more trepidation than before. “You know, Khalid… I had the most wonderful dream last night… that I was participating in a gang rape on an Egyptian princess…”
Khalid’s aura flared bright white as he thrust his hand through the forcefield and slid through Grover’s kinetic field to pinch him painfully on the underside of the jaw. Grover started to attack, but Khalid’s demonically tinged voice cut him off. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. All it takes is one twist of my hand and you drop dead from a stroke. ”
“Cocky are you? Did you forget about my strength, Khalid?”
“Not hardly, but strength means nothing to someone who knows anatomy. Tell you what. I’m just going to go on back upstairs and continue giving your son a music lesson. When you finish escaping from down here, we’ll have ourselves a good ol’ family chat. Maybe if we’re lucky, we can get your mother to come along.”
“Yeah… Why don’t you go do that, Khalid? You can even send Nebula and Slash back in here when you go out. Don’t worry… I won’t kill them when I escape. Only man I plan on killing tonight is you. Everyone else will have to wait till tomorrow.”
“Good,” Khalid said releasing Grover’s neck and pulling his hand back through the forcefield. “Can’t wait. See you soon.” With that, he turned to head back out the door, allowing SlashR and Nebula back in the room to watch SuperGrover. He didn’t tell anyone, but he saw the thin gray trail leading from Grover’s foot into the air duct. Apparently, Grover is getting more adventurous with Excalibur. “Five minutes before the shit hits the fan. Hmmmm… Maybe I’ll get a six-pack of Coke first. I think Christian likes Coke…”
End Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
A victim of Rune’s mystical entrapment field, the Wraith hung limp, simply staring out into nothingness. Unlike other prisoners, he made no attempt to break free… no attempt to strain at his bonds. Anyone who had come to observe him would find themselves stuck gazing long at his face, wondering who anyone who visually was so empty inside – who did not even seem to have a SOUL – could radiate such warmth and caring. His face may be a mass of fog and whatnot, but his heart was very real. Even Cyclops, when Rune transported the Wraith to Gomurr’s, had to admit that there was something very REAL about the Wraith. Something very compelling…
That warmth was the reason they held the Wraith in Gomurr’s study. No one could bring themselves to insist the Wraith be kept in a cold, impersonal brig. He just… well… It was weird, in a way, because there was something about the Wraith that seemed to engender respect. No, the guy wasn’t cuddly by ANY means, but even in his emotionally “blank” state, the spirit radiated something.
The Wraith felt the brief flush of cold air flood into the room, momentarily extinguishing the fire before it continued. Although he uttered nothing, his head looked up toward her eagerly as she floated into the room. Carolyn Norris went to him, only able to brush his cheek with his hand. When she spoke, her voice was full of anguish and a little trepidation. “It’s not fair; I know. This is all my fault. You were simply trying to do what was right. I don’t understand why they are punishing you.” The Wraith looked up at her, saying nothing. Simply, he nodded. “You’re right. Casey… He is only being wary because you assumed the identity that had previously been his. Do not doubt anything. You’ve done good. You CONTINUE to do good. In my short life, one thing I have learned is that the good guys are always the martyrs. That will not happen to you. I promise it won’t happen to you. I… I need time, but I think in some ways I am out of time. It is only a matter of time before…” She stopped. “They’re coming. I have to leave, now, but I will be back. I promise…” Before she left, she leaned over, kissing the Wraith where his cheek should be and flying off through the ceiling.
Immediately afterward, Gomurr stepped into the study followed closely by Rune and Cyclops. Of the three of them, Cyclops was perhaps the most nervous and the most confused. This entity… it just couldn’t have been spontaneously created out of nothing. According to Gabe’s infrared scan, it was very much a spirit. Even now, he could feel something very genuine from it. It… It just did not make any sense to him. “Okay… We’ve got to figure out what is going on, here.”
“Yes,” Gomurr said with a smirk. “Can’t have anyone running around assuming previous aliases, can I?”
Casey snapped his head toward Gomurr. “What the…”
Gomurr stumbled, quickly correcting himself. “Er… I mean… um… Can’t let this spirit go around pretending to be someone else. SO…” he said a little bit redfaced. “Let’s see just what manner of creature this Wraith is…”
Rune leaned against the bookshelf, watching the two of them with a sour expression across his face. The two of them and their damn secrets… Big deal… So some dead guy wants to return to Earth and fight evil. At least that is someone else fighting evil! Who were they to decide who could be whom and who couldn’t? He looked up at the Wraith and saw a poor tormented man… that THEY were hurting. “And how are you going to figure out who it is? I don’t think he is able to talk.”
“Outburst’s cat said that he was unable to read the Wraith’s mind, so that rules out a telepathic scan.”
“Strange…” Gomurr said, touching the Wraith on the wrist. “He… feels like… bone and flesh beneath, yet…” He looked the Wraith in the face seeing a moving swirling black mist. “Clearly… he exists in both the spirit realm and the Earth realm.”
“Maybe we should get Khalid to talk to him? Daemon said he was able to…”
“Yes, I am aware… Able to channel and able to communicate. If worse comes to worse, we can get Khalid to channel the spirit, but I would rather avoid that if possible. At this stage, his mystical field is not yet advanced enough for finite control. Should he expel the spirit forcibly, that may force the spirit back into the spirit realm to replenish its essence. I am just as able to communicate as he is, perhaps more because of my experience,” Gomurr said. “Though… This is no conventional spirit. That radiation of warmth… and…”
“Yes?”
“No ectoplasm,” Gomurr answered. “This isn’t a ghost… but something else…”
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He was many things to them. He was their leader… their mentor… and in many ways, their hero. Hell… SuperGrover was the DEFINITION of hero. When they had learned he nearly killed Khalid, they had naturally assumed that he must have been driven mad or that Khalid did something. SURELY it couldn’t have been that shit Khalid was preaching about Grover being evil. Now that they had finally fought and took him down, they knew that it was not that simple. There WAS something very real, tormenting him. Daemon’s surveillance tape had proved that. They still did not trust Khalid enough to believe it was what he said. No… For Grover to get to the point where he wanted Khalid dead – to end his torment – whatever is taunting him MUST be bad.
The idea turning around in SlashR’s head was that maybe Khalid DID do it… It was just the way he had been acting lately… especially ever since Blackfire had allowed Daemon and Maul of all people to take over his training. SlashR certainly did not like the way things were turning out. Could Khalid have been behind it? Certainly since he talked with Grover earlier, Grover’s been acting pissed. Even right now as he watched Grover in his cell, the man was staring straight forward… as if concentrating.
“You know, Jaimy…” Grover said, smiling through the field. “When Casey assigned Khalid to train with the Hellions, you had originally objected. More and more, I am beginning to think you were right all along. That was the biggest mistake I made… allowing Khalid onto this court. The Rook’s position should certainly have gone to someone more worthy like you or Nebula… or even Outburst. But no… I picked an outsider with no experience in the field… and no control over his powers.”
“What did he do to you, Grover?” SlashR asked.
Nebula got up immediately. “Jaimy, don’t you listen to him. The trouble started with Darkheart. Khalid didn’t do anything to him.”
“How do you know that even now Darkheart’s soul devourer is not in Khalid? You think it’s a coincidence that only Khalid and Byron could destroy them?” Grover said, with a sneer. “Byron’s the goddess of Hell… She’s married to a DEMON. You know, Jaimy… that same demon who ruined your life? And Khalid? Well… you know what he was… King Mufasa of Kemet… the biggest tyrant ever to hit Egypt.”
“Shut up,” Nebula said. “Because I’m not falling for whatever little mindgames you are playing!” She moved just outside the field, staring in. “I don’t know what happened to you, Grover, but last I checked you weren’t reliable. You nearly killed Khalid… your own flesh and blood. Your friend!”
“Can’t you see?” Grover asked. “He’s manipulating everyone. He was doing it from the beginning and we’ve been falling for it. He’s two people away from being King. Casey refuses to see it, but Feonix sees what he is up to. Feonix sees EVERYTHING he’s been about.”
“It does make sense,” SlashR said standing up. “With the way he maneuvered himself in here… with the…”
“JAIMY!” Nebula called out.
“And him just HAPPENING to be Grover’s cousin… and just HAPPENING to be bound to a demon. Not to mention the fact that the guy is off his rocker… Do you REALLY believe that shit about him and this long-ago Egyptian prince named Mufasa?” SlashR said. Nebula looked at him in disbelief wondering why the hell he was pulling what he was pulling…
“You shouldn’t,” Grover said. “He’s playing us all for fools.”
“Yes he is,” SlashR said. “Just like you’re trying to do right now. Give it up, Grover. Neither one of us were born yesterday.”
“I don’t know about that,” Grover said, standing close to the field. “I think you HAD to have been born yesterday if you honestly think that this forcefield was going to keep me!”
As soon as he finished, the lights in the room started flickering. Nebula turned her head toward the energy console regulating the cell to notice that it was sparking. Frantically, her fingers dashed across the keyboard as she tried to regulate the energy spike, but she knew it was to no avail. She started to dash away from the console when it exploded outward, hurling her into the wall.
SlashR acted immediately once the forcefield shut down. Two knives flew from his hand, each aimed toward Grover’s shoulders to take him out of the fight. Easily, Grover deflected them off his telekinetic field and came immediately at SlashR. SlashR was good at dodging Grover’s blows, but once he started to attack, Grover managed to grab him by the shirt. SlashR started to fight when a surge of electricity ripped through his body. For a few seconds he tried to scream, but with all his muscles contracting at once nothing would come out. When SlashR was successfully taken down, Grover released him to the ground.
“Poor Slashy-washy,” he said as the gray liquid trailing from his foot receded from the airduct and back to Grover. “Forgot Excalibur was a metal, did you? Science class, Slash… Metals conduct electricity!” Suddenly a string of fireballs shot out from the corner. Grover barely had time to put his arm up to block the fireball with the Gauntlet of Excalibur. “Aaahhh… Nebula… Are they still calling you my little sister?”
“You don’t have long before everyone cones running in here, Grover?”
“Sure I do. When I short-circuited the system, I also cut off the alarm. All anyone’s going to arrive for is to find Khalid’s heart ripped out. Anyway…” Grover flew at her, using the Gauntlets of Excalibur to deflect the pyrokinetic attack and rammed her into the wall. Before she could move again, he poked Nebula on both side of the neck temporarily causing the flow of blood to her brain to stall. She dropped to the ground, out like a light. “I have really got to thank Khalid for showing me that move last time we fought. Oh well… maybe I’ll thank him as I kill him.”
End Chapter Nine
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Chapter Ten
“Uncle K-Lid, the lights flickered… Do I still have to play my saxophone?”
“No,” Khalid said placing the Coke in the miniature refrigerator. “No you don’t have to play your saxophone. Just hang around… and you do have to promise me that you won’t get into the Coke… Just yet, anyway.”
“Okay, Uncle K-Lid,” he said. Christian started to disassemble the saxophone noticing the somewhat distant expression on Khalid’s face. Repeatedly, Khalid would take a folded slip of paper out of his pocket, read it, and then place it back… hiding whatever was going on inside is head.
“I’ll be right back. You just sit tight. Oh… and do some drawing.”
The moment Khalid left, a cold wind blew throughout the room, momentarily rustling the papers on Christian’s sketch pad. Christian looked up from his seat to see Carolyn descend through the ceiling, in front of him. She kneeled down in front of Christian, stroking his cheek lightly with her hand. “Listen, Christian. It is really important we leave now. Your Daddy is just distracting Cousin K-Lid while the evil bad man is coming for you. I can keep you safe, but you must come with…” Before she could finish, the wind picked up all around the room, this time some knocking various things off the walls and overturning furniture around them. A bolt of lightning ripped through the doorway striking Carolyn in the chest and hurling her toward the wall.
Another image of Carolyn stepped into the room, her eyes flashing white and an electromagnetic aura flaring around her. Her hands were glowing bright white rippling with electricity. As she spoke, her voice dropped low and resonant, echoing in the room. “You get away from him, you fucking bastard… NOW!”
“Grandma?” Christian said looking back and forth between the two women.
“Cover your ears, Sweetie,” the Carolyn in the doorway said. “Grandma’s being meanie-lady now.”
“I think you hurted him,” Christian said nodding toward the “Carolyn” against the wall who was now rising to “her” feet.
“So you wanna play it like THAT you Goddamn bitch?” “Carolyn’s” aura erupted around her and flashed blood-red along with her eyes. From her hand a red stream of lightning shot out at the real Carolyn, who intercepted it with a white stream of lightning from her own hand. “Carolyn” flew at her, knocking her directly off her feet.
“NO CUSSING AROUND MY GRANDSON!” Carolyn said hurling the impersonator away from her with a gush of wind.
Christian at first watched the fight intently, but then his attention turned out the window… Looking… Looking for something…
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Khalid stopped inside the hall the moment the power fell altogether. He allowed it to go dark without flashing his aura, because he knew Grover would have to rely on the “magnetic” pull of Excalibur to find him. Silently, he moved inside of the dining hall waiting… focusing his other senses. The practice of it came from that time he spent being blind. With that technique he learned from Matt Murdock, he mapped out the room in his mind carefully positioning himself. Grover was probably going to make as little sound as possible, so that meant he would likely fly. The scent in the air let Khalid know Grover was closing the distance. Next, all he had to do was listen for the heartbeat… and…
His hand snapped up to his side, catching the knife that was bearing down on his neck. Grover did that no doubt because he figured out what Khalid was trying to do by NOT flashing his aura. Khalid also noticed very prominently the scent of burned garlic. Good job, Grover… Masking his scent… Then, the ceiling fans all turned on at once to cover up the sound of Grover’s heartbeat. Yep. Grover had definitely covered the bases… most of them anyway.
The sliver of Excalibur lining his tattoos let Khalid know exactly when Grover grew near and what he was doing. Khalid flipped on top of the dining room table just as the chair crashed where he had just been. He grabbed the tablecloth as he went, jumping into the air as Grover passed beneath him. The time Grover spent ripping across the tablecloth with a blade formed by Excalibur was just long enough for Khalid to flare his aura and shoot a photon bolt directly into the center of his back, which knocked Grover face first into the wall… causing a nasty dent.
“You fucking prick… HAD to go and flash that little aura of yours… and I thought we were having fun playing in the dark.”
“Didn’t want you to get the idea I was playing hard to get.”
“Oh… but the chase is the best part!” Grover snapped his hand forward, shooting Excalibur out in a thin stream so it wrapped around Khalid’s neck and then pulled him forward. “Why don’t you give your cousin a kiss?” he said, forming a blade in his free hand from Excalibur.
“No thank you,” Khalid said, snapping the palm of his hand across Grover’s jaw when he grew near. “You’ve got bad breath… and that’s just plain sick anyway!” He knew he did not want to be this close to Grover. With the way Grover was getting really fluent with Excalibur, that was the biggest risk up close because it could break past his aura without much effort on Grover’s part. Everything else, Khalid could counteract. He brought his elbow across Grover’s temple from the other side and caught the back of his neck. That exposed the nerve cluster between the shoulder blades, which Khalid pounded on with his other fist. Not much damage, but he did want to stun Grover enough to loosen Excalibur’s hold… which happened… after Grover hurled Khalid toward the wall. One flash of the eyes and Khalid disappeared in a flash of light, emerging out of a porthole that opened up in front of Grover which led to a size 13 to the chin.
“Sweet move,” Grover said. “Wish I could copy that. Thanks for teaching me the one about the nerve cluster. Give me a moment and I’ll use it on you,” Grover said, throwing Khalid by the ankle into the wall. Next, he further knocked the wind out of his cousin by ramming him even further. With Khalid stunned, he tapped both sides of Khalid’s neck to stall the flow of blood to his brain. “Let’s see how it works on the one who showed it to me.”
A thick stream of light shot from Khalid, slapping Grover into the opposite wall. Khalid stood up, with a headache, but otherwise fine. “I may have unwittingly showed you how to do it… but I never showed you how to counteract it.”
“Hey… Tater… You sick or something?” Grover coughed. “Your aura’s blue.”
“You didn’t notice it before?” Khalid asked. “Happened out in Egypt.”
“Why the hell did you go and do THAT?!” Grover yelled. “It makes you look like a fucking puss!” He upended the table, which now knocked Khalid through the air and onto his back. Grover was immediately on him, pinning his shoulders roughly to the ground. He opened his mouth which allowed a gray metal rod to come out which opened on the end to reveal yet ANOTHER gray rod with a mouth on it…
“Gross, man… Do I look like Sigourney Weaver to you?! I HATED that movie… all of them. Will you quit playing with your goddamn metal like that?!”
Grover smiled, withdrawing Excalibur back in. “I’ve gotta make up for all those years of older cousin torture I missed… before I kill you, that is.”
“No thanks,” Khalid said knocking Grover away with his aura. “You forget?! I had brothers to do that!” With a flash of the eyes, a smile spread across his face. Creating a little distraction, are we? Just before Grover reached him, Khalid disappeared in a flash of light.
“NOW what the hell is that prick up to?” Grover looked upward, toward the study… That’s where Excalibur was pulling him. Of course… Christian.
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“Uncle K-Lid!” Christian shouted when Khalid appeared in the room. “Where’s Daddy?”
“He’ll be up in a moment,” Khalid said, dodging the flailing wind and the lightning going around the room. Sure enough, the immediate area around Christian was nice and calm. Not surprising… Neither one of the women slugging it out… well… one woman and one man… cared to hurt Christian. Khalid reached out with the photon tail of his lion aura, grabbing the “Carolyn” imposter around the waist and hurling her into the wall. “I should have known!” Khalid said, an angry growl rising out the back of his throat. “Drop the disguise, Raphael… You aren’t fooling anyone!”
An explosion of smoke surrounded the Carolyn imposter, transforming her features instantaneously to that of a goat/man looking creature, complete with demonic skin, talons, and horns. “The ol’ fuddy-duddy taught you well to see through my disguise.”
“Oh… don’t you know? I could SMELL ya!”
“You must have a death wish, Purified… You’re not powerful enough to challenge me!”
Carolyn moved to Khalid’s side, about to intervene when Khalid grabbed her firmly by the arm. Remembering that this was his aunt, he immediately relaxed his grip and grabbed her by the shoulder. “No, Aunt Carolyn. Grover’s going to be up here in a few seconds. I’m going to need help.”
“Are you crazy? You can’t take the two of them on by yourself! And someone needs to protect Chri…”
“Christian is not in danger! I promise you. You can’t maintain this form in this realm much longer. It’s going to have to be now…” Before he finished, a fireball slammed into his chest knocking him into the wall. With a white flash of his aura, Khalid’s momentum stopped cold and he jumped in to fight the HellGoat.
At first Carolyn hesitated to leave her nephew and grandson alone with Raphael, but then she moved. The Stranger told her before that his hands were bound, but there was still someone else in this realm who could hear her… the Wraith…
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“If he’s not a ghost,” Cyclops asked. “What IS he?”
“That is what I’m trying to ascertain,” Gomurr said, looking where the Wraith’s face should be. There was something oddly familiar about this creature… this thing. The energy it pulsated with derived from the Crimson Dawn… Of THAT much, he was certain. A soul devourer? Was it a soul devourer? Perhaps sent by that damned spawn of Lao Tsung’s, Darkheart? No… That couldn’t be it. It radiated too much warmth. Gomurr started to push his hand into the fog across the face, drawing a little of the Crimson Dawn energy into himself. Her didn’t want to draw in too much, or else the creature might die. Such a creature as this… a soul devourer with heart? It would be tantamount to murder to kill it…
The power of the flash was overwhelming. At once, Gomurr felt the energies of the Crimson Dawn overwhelm him as he read it. A conversation between Darkheart and someone else… whom? A transaction of sorts… an altered soul devourer… Darkheart’s attempt at infusing Khalid with the energy of the Crimson Dawn and Khalid’s deception… (Apparently, the soul devourer had once been apart of Darkheart. That much, he surmised.) Darkheart’s fight with Grover where Grover stabs him in the abyss where his heart should be. Khalid severing a transfer… The essence? But something’s changed… something’s different… Grover stabbing Khalid and accidentally killing the other soul devourers… but releasing… his… releasing something…
A burst of lightning struck Gomurr, knocking him away from the Wraith. When he shook his head, he noticed that his entire library had erupted into a burst of wind. He started to attack the cause but instead stopped cold when he saw it. “What… How?”
Rune started to weave a binding spell to take down Carolyn, but Cyclops stopped him. He noticed that the spirit’s attention was focused on the Wraith. The three of them saw her lips move, but they were unable to hear what she said.
“It’s not possible,” Gomurr said. “It CAN’T be…”
“Who is she?” Cyclops asked.
They saw what appeared to be a mouth come to the Wraith’s face. He mouthed something… They could barely hear it over the rush of the wind. Mother? He said mother?!
“Mother?! The hot blonde is the Wraith’s mother?!” Rune said. “Where have I seen that smile be…”
Gomurr stood up, something turning around in his head. “Rune, drop your field…”
“Don’t you DARE drop that field, Rune,” Cyclops said. “Gomurr, you tell me what the hell is going on!”
Carolyn started nodding her head up and down, repeatedly pointing… pointing some place. Cyclops made out a word that she said… Christian… Christian? Grover’s son? Even more surprising was the Wraith’s reaction… He started struggling… fighting as much as he could against the field. Carolyn turned toward Rune, seeing that he was the source of the spell, and pleaded…
“MMMMMMMYYYYYYYYY SSSSOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNN!!!!” erupted out of the Wraith’s mouth as he finally freed himself from Rune’s mystical entrapment field and shot through the wall.
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Christian closely watched the battle between Goatman and Khalid, watching the two of them go at each other. He at first wondered why Khalid did not use more of his bright light power, but then he figured that was because HE was around. Khalid did not want to take the chance that Christian could be hurt. Fortunately, the Goatman did not want Christian to be hurt either and was likewise holding back. The fight was mostly physical, with Khalid using his photon aura to deflect most of the Goatman’s blows.
Christian saw someone explode into the doorway and knew exactly who it was. “Daddy!” He said as Grover entered the doorway. He ran over, hugging Grover around the legs and turned back toward the fight.
Grover chuckled as he saw Khalid get backhanded by the HellGoat. “What’s wrong, Tater… Bit off more than you can chew?!” he taunted.
“Please, Daddy… He needs help!” Christian said, staring at the fight. He saw HellGoat close the distance and kick Khalid in the ribs, which knocked him through he air. With a flare of his aura, Khalid spun around and got back to his feet, giving the HellGoat a photon bolt to the eyes.
Something clicked in Grover as he looked down at this child, pleading with him. At first, he reached his hand to backhand Christian, but something came over him. He knelt down grabbing Christian by the shoulder. “Christian… Something that Daddy needs to tell you. You see Uncle K-Lid over there? He’s going to die. And when he does, I’m going to sit here and laugh.”
“Stop it Daddy!” Christian said, slapping Grover’s hand away. “That’s not funny!”
“Sure it is, Christian.” Grover said, looking at him with an overly-emphasized tenderness in his eyes. “You’ll discover this more and more as you grow up. People who wrong you… who cross you? They deserve to die.” At that moment, the Wraith came up through the floor, kicking Grover safely away from Christian. He followed it up with a quick punch and a kick to the jaw. “Not YOU again!”
Christian looked back and forth between the Wraith and Grover, at first watching them spar back and forth, but then seeing something… seeing something very basic. “That’s what happened to Daddy…” With that, he walked around Grover and the Wraith wrestling on the ground back to where Khalid and HellGoat were fighting. With a burst of flame and light, the two of them were separated, with Khalid skidding along the ground toward Christian. “Uncle K-Lid… You can stop playing with the Strange Man right now. Both Daddies are here.”
Khalid and HellGoat both stopped, staring at Christian and then staring at each other. They turned to the other part of the room where they could see Grover and the Wraith throwing each other around and fighting each other. “Good plan, Nathan… Got carried away in the role, didn’t we?”
“Shut up, Khalid,” the Stranger said, still in his HellGoat disguise. “It is only a matter of time before Raphael realizes what we’ve done. Though I must admit… it is a little bothering that this child managed to pick me out so quickly…”
“Whatever… I told you before that I could smell you… Try changing your gym socks next time. ”
“Uncle K-Lid,” Christian said, tugging on his pants-leg. “Wraith-Daddy and Daddy-Daddy have something switched… You need to put them both back together.”
Khalid’s eyes flashed white as he read Grover’s and the Wraith’s energy fields. It clicked on him exactly what happened. The soul devourer was designed to take the worst part of it and trade it with the best part of Grover. That was why Grover became evil… Nothing to keep it in check. The remaining soul devourer – which was purged from Grover’s body when he stabbed Khalid – could not cope with the best part of Grover and somehow accessed part of his memories. The memory latched on to an identity it knew… the Wraith.
“Khalid,” the Stranger said, reassuming his original form. “I sense Gomurr en route with Rune and Cyclops. You had best do what the child says before they arrive. I’ll stall them as much as possible.” With that, he disappeared through a circle of light, disappearing from the room.
“Christian… cover your eyes…” Khalid said, leaping into the fray. Two lion’s paws swooped down, slapping both the Wraith and Grover into the ground. He grabbed them both by the wrists, forcing their essences to switch back to their rightful places. Unfortunately, both Grover and the Wraith were resisting the process. Khalid could feel the protection tattoos on his arms start to quiver and suddenly realized that Grover – or the part of the soul devourer that did not want to let go of him – was somehow trying to assert control over the sliver of Excalibur lining his tattoos. Something was going on, because with the increased heat from the tattoos, Khalid could feel something going off inside of him. Suddenly whatever was going to happen stopped when Christian set his hand on the back of Khalid’s neck.
“No, Uncle K-Lid,” the young child said. “Break them apart and THEN put them back together.”
Christian was right. First he attuned their life fields to his so he could destroy the soul devourer completely. Then, he transferred the remaining essence from the Wraith back into Grover, where it came from in the first place. Once the process was complete, Christian released the back of Khalid’s neck and he fell face forward, directly beside Grover.
“Uncle K-Lid,” Christian said. “You need practice.”
“Oh shut the hell up, you fucking brat…” Khalid said, his face into the carpet. “God DAMN, this is so embarrassing…”
“Don’t cuss around my fucking son… He’s got impressionable ears.” Grover stirred beside Khalid and blinked his eyes as he came to. With Christian’s help, he sat up to see the image that had been tormenting him the last few months… Carolyn kneeled down beside him and held him, rustling her hand through his hair. “Awwwww… Mom…”
“Shush,” she said. “Last time I got to do this, you were bald… Gotten a little shaggy there, haven’t you?” She kissed him on the cheek. “Christian can’t anchor me here too much longer, Mi… Grover. I’m proud of you… and I’ve ALWAYS been proud of you…” she said as her physical form started to fade. Before she became completely intangible, she made sure to lay a kiss on Christian’s cheek as well. Her words still carried, although not with the close timbre they were before. “And you both had better behave or I’ll come back and haunt you.”
Grover took a deep breath and looked back and forth between his son and his cousin – who still lay face down on the floor. He started to launch into a fit of self-anger, but instead a different thought came to his mind… HIS son… HIS cousin… Two things he had, but really did not have until now. As far as he was concerned, that one fact superceded anything ELSE that should be running around in his head… like everything that just happened in the last five minutes…
“Daddy?” Christian said. “Can I get the Coke now?”
“Hell yeah,” he said as Christian ran off toward the refrigerator. “MAN, does that sound good.” He reached over, jerking Khalid around and putting his head in a headlock with one arm. “Thanks.”
“No…” Khalid said. “Christian did it…”
No, Khalid… Christian had help… Grover thought, taking the six-pack from Christian. And I’m beginning to think YOU had help, too…
End Chapter Ten
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Epilogue
“Can’t say I’m surprised that Sharon quit,” Khalid said, in the back room. “I saw Josh yesterday. The guy needs help badly coping with the abuse at the hands of his father. I really wish she’d have just decided to take some time off rather than quit altogether.”
“Well, the thing we need to look at,” Grover answered, checking the freshly dry-cleaned cape. “Is that this is the third time something like this happened with me. I’m not sure they trust me anymore. I… well… Let’s say that Feonix and Case are both threatening to quit as well…”
“Over what?” Khalid asked. “The protocols?”
“Yes. The protocols. I figured – especially after the last time – that there had to be some kind of record to efficiently take people down… including me… even if they had to be killed. The one thing they could not get past was that my entry was deleted.”
“Oh yeah,” Khalid answered. “I know that… I deleted it.” Grover stopped, stunned at what Khalid had just said. “Don’t look at me like that… I deleted it months ago. Call me paranoid, but I didn’t think that a file on how to kill the White King was a wise thing to have in the White Court’s computer, given the Hellfire Club’s history.”
“What the… You deleted a hidden file on a hidden directory on MY personal computer… without clearing it with me first?!”
“Hell yeah, I did.” Khalid answered. “Barely got to it before Alice did. This was shortly after Maul healed the stab wound. I was working on requisition forms when I spaced out and accidentally hacked into your file. When I snapped out of it, I saw YOUR file. It didn't occur to me to look around for other ones, even if I had known how to do it.”
“Well… that makes sense… Either way, though, my relationship with the entire court is strained. I think I’m going to take my time easing back into my kingly duties… spend some time with the family I now have.”
“We’d all like that,” Khalid said. He closed his eyes, unconsciously attuning his life field to Asima’s who had returned back to Egypt. Gabe said she had left sometime yesterday after returning from the doctor. According to the “Dear John” letter, she had decided that their relationship was nothing but physical. She claimed she was not pregnant – although Khalid clearly knew otherwise. Some scents in the air, you just don’t miss. He started to wonder briefly if he would ever live to hear someone refer to him as “Daddy,” but suddenly got his answer when the death image from his premonition struck him yet again. With a snap of his eyes, he started to look down, expecting to see a blade sticking through his stomach, but was relieved to find nothing.
“The premonition?” Grover asked.
“Yes… It’s strong,” Khalid answered. “Same image…”
“Is it…”
“No, it isn’t you. That much, I know.”
“Gentlemen?” a voice said, popping his head in the room. “We’re ready to begin.”
“Let’s do this. We’ll talk about this, later.” Grover said as they walked out onto the platform. The entire room applauded as they entered, cheers and whistling coming from the journalists gathered there. Some of them considered it “The Return of a Hero.” The general feeling in the room was just overwhelming enthusiasm and cheering. Khalid went to the microphone first, nodding to Grover just before he went.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Khalid said. “I just wanted you to know that the rumors of my demise at the hands of SuperGrover are grossly exaggerated.” A wave of laughter roared through the crowd before more applause. “As you see before you, he is clearly back to his ol’ goody-two-shoe self.”
“Mr. Hunter,” a reported called from the back. “Can you give us an update on the status of the Wraith and how he ties into this?”
“The Wraith?” Khalid answered. “He might have to speak for himself. Last I heard, though, he was planning on retirement.”
“How do you address rumors and speculation among the press that you are indeed a mutant and have been seen hanging out WITH mutants?” called out another reporter.
Khalid burst out laughing. “What… because I’ve been seen with SuperGrover? A known mutant superhero?”
“As a matter of fact,” the reporter began…
“Hey Grover,” Khalid said, cutting the reporter off. “I’m not allowed hanging out with you anymore because you’re blue, you fly, and you beat up bad guys.” Once again, laughter traveled around the room. Khalid turned back toward the reporter. “The point of this press conference is not ridiculous issues such as that. It is to announce that SuperGrover is back. So, everyone put your hands down and give my cousin over here a round of applause.”
A murmur traveled around the room as SuperGrover went to the mic, laughing at what Khalid had done. He could hear some of the whispers right now. “Did you hear that?” “You idiot! He was hanging around his cousin!” “I TOLD you he wasn’t a mutant.” “Even those two illegal genetic scans said he wasn’t…” “We camped out four days in front of Strong Towers to hear this?!” “To think about it, their faces DO look just a little similar…”
“Ladies and Gentlemen…” Grover said. “As you know, my senses have been somewhat compromised for the past few months and I apologize. The Hellions safely took me down and helped me get treatment for the poisoning that had instigated that radical behavior for the last few months. I do apologize for the way I’ve been acting and promise that in the next few weeks, I DO promise to do all I can to regain the confidence and trust of the public… and make FULL restitution for my actions,” he said. “I also would like to take this time to publicly apologize to my cousin, Khalid Hunter, for submitting the death threats and endangering his life. I am also publicly thanking the Wraith. Without his assistance, I would have made a mistake I’d have regretted for the rest of my life.”
“Mr. Grover… So you are confirming Mr. Hunter’s claim that…”
“Damn right, I am. He’s kept this secret so long that he was about to wet his pants.”
“HEY!” Khalid’s voice shouted out from behind him, helping to instigate the laughter of the crowd. “WATCH it, you muppet!”
Grover sneered back over his shoulder before continuing. “Since Khalid has decided to acknowledge it publicly, I find it only appropriate that I would do so as well. I am also publicly denouncing the harassment Mr. Hunter has received at the hands of the media and the…”
“As would I.” He stopped as the crowd parted… a single man wheeling his wheelchair down the center.
“Well, I’ll be…” Khalid said from behind Grover at the podium.
“My name is Tom Harrington,” the guy called out. “I was the one that Khalid Hunter has been accused of assaulting. I am here to publicly proclaim that he WAS acting in self-defense. It was NOT a hate-crime based on sexual orientation as I had claimed before I was sentenced to jail.” Tom stopped in the center, with all the cameras trained on him. “What had happened to my leg was an accident. It took another man in a wheelchair – one by the name of Professor Charles Xavier – for me to realize the scope of what I did and to publicly restore it. Khalid, I apologize… and I hope you forg…”
Suddenly, two hands gripped the handles of his wheelchair and overturned it, throwing Tom to the ground. With his good leg, Tom started to push away when Gardino came out of the crowd, kicking him in the ribs. Grover was immediately on the task, knocking Gardino away from Tom while people started to scatter. The crowd started splitting in all the directions, screaming frantically as they pushed toward the doors. Five more people flew out of the crowd, all converging on Grover freeing Gardino so he could resume his attack on Tom.
Ripping one of the mic stands as he went, Khalid jumped off the platform, slapping Gardino upside the head with it. “Tom… Stay behind me…”
Suddenly, Tom was behind him. “Oh… I plan to…” he said, wrapping his arm around Khalid from behind. With a flash of his eyes, he realized that Tom was possessed by a vampire as well. Khalid felt himself picked up bodily and thrown into the podium.
Gardino laughed, pulling a knife from his belt. “Come, ‘Tom’, let me DRINK of you!”
“I don’t mind if you do!” Tom said, leaning his head back to expose his neck.
“NO!” Khalid teleported in between them in a flash of light, grabbing each one by the neck. Both Tom and Gardino screamed as they were covered in the blue light. Two clouds of gas streamed out of their mouths, coalescing in the air before two naked bodies dropped to the ground…
“Way to go, Khalid,” the blond “surfer-boy” vampire with the German accent said. “I bet your Grandpops would be REAL proud of you! BOTH of them!” With that, Friedrich von Bonn whistled into the air, calling for all the attacking vampires to retreat. They transformed into gas and escaped through the air vents…
Tom and Gardino had both by this time caught their breath and looked up, Tom with a look of outright horror. Gardino stood dumbfounded, speechless. Khalid turned from them, looking Grover in the eyes. The expression in them was not quite fear… but almost… despair? What’s wrong? Why are they looking at me like… Then, it hit him. He looked around the room seeing the cameras trained on him… people with their mouths agape.
Nothing would ever be the same.
--------------------------------------------
Robert Cougar sat in his living room in Lyon’s Hill, North Carolina watching the live broadcast as he ate his supper. He knew Khalid would claim Grover. That he saw coming a mile away. He watched helplessly as he saw Grover attacked publicly, but in the back of his mind knew Grover would fight them off. Once he saw Khalid cast the vampires out of their hosts… and saw the IDENTITY of the leader – Friedrich von Bonn – the glass of water he had been drinking shattered in his hand. Then, watching the vampires escape on camera… then all the cameras trained on Khalid, who at first didn’t realize what happened…
Cougar leapt up from his chair immediately, not even stopping to turn off the television. That had been a deliberate message… a challenge to HIM by messing with his family… That was the third time Friedrich von Bonn had gone after Khalid, this time succeeding in what he couldn’t do the other times…
“Third strike and you’re out,” Cougar said, scribbling a note on the notepad. He reached down, picking up the duffle bag sitting next to the door. Joseph wasn’t back from Zeke’s yet with the holy water, but at this point he did not care. Cougar slugged it over his shoulder and jumped into his truck.
Friedrich von Bonn and the vampire council were going down. NO one messes with his family. NO ONE.
The End