*HF* The Hunt
By Mufasa
The Hunt
Prologue
1586 A.D. Somewhere in West Africa
He was nine years old. Nine years old when he and his friends were playing in the field next to the city. Nine years old when he saw the pale invaders ride in. Nine years old when he felt the heavy weight of the net drop over him. Nine years old when he saw his father shot down coming after him. Nine years old when he was carried away, never to see home or his loved ones ever again.
They shackled him and made him walk long and hard. The cuffs seemed to eat away at his flesh as he marched on, the blood dripping from his wrists. He could not understand why these pale men treated him and these people like animals. Even slaves were not treated so terribly. What had he done wrong? What had everyone else done wrong to deserve this? Every night in the crowded holding cell next to the giant lake, he would see some poor woman dragged by the collar around her neck up the stairs. Then, as he tried to sleep, he would her scream… hear her sob… and then nothing but grunts. Usually, she was returned the following morning bruised and battered…
It was not long before he was pushed aboard a wooden ship and shoved into the darkness below, into a hell even more enduring… By now, his wrists had grown numb to the pain. He could feel the maggots burrowing in the tissue underneath. The air was unbreatheable… filled with the smell of sickness, dysentery, rats, and in some cases death.
For some strange reason, the darkness didn't affect the young boy named Djimon as it did everyone else. He could see in the darkness. He felt strangely empowered by the darkness. Sometimes, he even felt like he could become one with it… move through it like an eel through water.
It was one day while sleeping that he woke up to find a strange looking man grabbing him by the chin. Unlike the others below deck, this man appeared to be healthy… his skin looked a different shade than anyone's. His skin was cold to the touch, to the point where goosebumps erupted on his flesh. "Hello, Boy… I've noticed that compared to the others, you're looking rather… fit." Djimon didn't answer the man. For some reason, he COULDN'T answer the man. His touch was enough for him to freeze altogether. "Don't worry, Boy… I'm not going to hurt you, unlike the pale men above. That coldness you feel? That is how you hear me and see me. No one else knows I am here but you."
The man crouched beside him, slapping him playfully on the cheek with his free hand. "You grabbed my attention when you commandeered my soul devourers… when you projected your consciousness through them. Of course, you don't understand what I'm talking about. You feed on the darkness. You have not even noticed the scars from the shackles have healed. You are brimming with mystical talent… What if I told you I could take you away from here… make you one of my family… and feed you a darkness so pure that it would blot out all but the strongest light. I could take you where you and your power can grow… where by the time you finish growing, you will rule by my side. In short, I can make you a king, which is a better life than what is headed for you, now. I return your faculties to you, Boy… Would you like that?"
Djimon hesitated at first, but then nodded his head up and down. "Please… Yes…"
"Do you want to be my son, Djimon? Would you give anything to be my son?"
"Yes… Yes, I would."
"Good… I only ask for one thing in return." The man smiled, running his hand down Djimon's cheek and gripping him tightly by the shoulder. Djimon jerked in his place, the increase in coldness taking him by surprise. Involuntarily, both his shoulderblades pulled backwards and his eyes rolled up to the back of his head as the coldness overwhelmed him. The man first took his finger and flicked it across Djimon's sternum, and then rubbed his hand up and down, taking a strange satisfaction in seeing the young boy writhe like this in response to his touch. Then, with a jerk of his hand, he plunged his hand into the boy's chest, wrapping his frigid hand around the boy's heart.
He ripped it out of the boy's chest, still beating. Djimon spasmed, trying to scream, but he couldn't. He fell back against the wooden floor of the ship, feeling the icy cold of impending death wash over him. The man pushed Djimon's eyelids open and looked inside, eating the heart slowly and savoring every bite. The man grabbed Djimon by the nape of the neck, and pulled his head down so the boy could see the hole in his own chest miraculously heal before his very eyes.
Djimon rose into the air, his bindings shattering around him. The darkness he had so cherished before streamed into his body as well as the overpowering coldness. Unlike before, he could feel it inside of him… but he was no longer afraid by it. He welcomed it. In the end, he felt a surge of what felt like lightning charge through him, concentrated on his eye. When he finally set on the ground, his skin was darker than the surrounding shadows and a lightning-bolt shaped tattoo shined brightly white across his eye. "Who are you?" the boy asked, in marvel of what just happened.
"My name is Lao Tsung." The man said with a smile on his face. "You shall call me father… and I shall call you Darkheart."
End Prologue
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Chapter One
Prydesville, NYPresent Day
Residence of Khalid Hunter
The first thing he did was cut off the electricity. After all, everyone knew that there was not a security system in the world that could work without power. Two hours later, sure that the man of the house was not home, he broke in the front door. With the nearest neighbor a quarter mile away, the man took his time. If he had wanted to, he could have cleaned out the entire house… taken any item Khalid may consider valuable, but he was here after something less conspicuous.
What he was looking for was easily found in the bathroom. Passing through the bedroom, he noticed that most of Khalid's clothes and an assortment of items were missing, no doubt taken on whatever trip he was on. It made no matter. He knew where to get what he needed. No one ever thinks to look there. He pulled a screwdriver out of his shoulder pocket and unscrewed the drain on the shower. Then, reached in and pulled out a clump of hair and placed them in the plastic bag.
Next, he whipped out his cell phone as he started walking out. "Gardino. Yes… Max here. I got the sample. My pals at the Friends of Humanity will gladly run a test on it." Running his hand along the dresser, he scattered everything to the floor. "You can rest assured, the police will probably conclude that it was a robbery." He pushed over the book case and kicked its contents around. His eye catching something, he crouched toward the ground. A discarded to-do list dated months ago? "Just found something here… You might consider it interesting. It says to meet Grover for lunch. Yes… I'd say Grover as in SuperGrover… as in it looks like those two might be more than acquaintances. Well… I don't know if THAT's the case… but still… Interesting isn't it? I'll be right over…"
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Somewhere in the Ukraine
Vasili Turken knew there was trouble. He just had no idea what his trouble was. Several minutes ago, he noticed that the guards' signals started dropping off one by one. It didn't make sense… The security sweep didn't register any sign of intruders… No forced entry… No power taken off line. "//Yuri, run a sweep of the grounds again. Set it to detect any signature giving off more than the expected infrared output.//" (Translated from the Russian)
"//Aye, sir. Should I inform Sasha below to prepare the plutonium for shipment?//" The blonde-haired youth said, looking up from his command station.
"//No… Not yet. We don't want to run the risk of the Russian spies catching onto us.//"
"//Sir! Sasha's communication array came on… There's fighting in the basement!//"
"//Shit…//" Raising his hand into the air, Vasili snapped his fingers, the order to electronically seal the compound. Grabbing the semiautomatic on his desk, he kicked open the door and stormed into the hallway, his elite troop of mercenaries surrounding him. "//Yuri, take five men and go around toward the tunnel exit. Mikkhail, take ten down the main stairway. The rest of you follow me on the freight elevator. Armed and ready. Shoot to kill.//"
Silently, they went, each knowing that they were headed toward a fight. Most of the outside world thought that this was simply a toy processing plant. In reality, it was a temporary storage place for weapon's grade plutonium and other black market goods. As the elevator lowered, Vasili looked down in disgust at the crunching of stray gunpowder at his feet. "//Damn it… I told Sasha to be careful Boris didn't spill the powder again. Remind me to dock it from his paycheck.//"
When the doors to the freight elevator opened, they at least expected to see a fight in progress… or shooting… or the whirring of machinery. No such luck. Instead, they found the LAST thing they every expected. A woman with bright red hair, lounging lazily in the bed of a jeep… in a white bikini. "Hello, Boys." She rolled to her side, tossing her hair to the side and running her hand back and forth along the edge of the gate. "I don't suppose any of you are MAN enough to please me?"
Vasili had his gun trained on her, "Who are you, American?! How did you get in here? Where are my men?"
"Don't tell me you're THAT kind of man?" she said. "And here I was thinking I hit paydirt with you FINE looking bunch. The name's Sharon, Sweetie."
"All right, 'Sharon', stand up SLOWLY… and keep your hands in the air!"
Sharon loudly kissed her hand and blew… sending a small fireball right at their feet… and igniting the gunpowder on the floor. The explosion knocked all of them through the air and they came up shooting. Unexpectedly, their bullets dropped to the ground rather heavily… then they found that their guns became too heavy to hold and dropped them. "What?! How…"
Another voice boomed out from above. "That's because I manipulate gravity. Allow me to demonstrate." Using his hands to guide him, Cyclops reached out with the Odinseye and picked all of the mercenaries into the air and dropped them all heavily. "It's rather simple, Mr. Turken. Perhaps if I had more time, I could explain it to you… For now, though…" All of the mercenaries froze still as if something wrapped around them, stopping their movement. "We'll just appropriate all of your supplies."
"The Hellions," Vasili said, as more people came out of the darkness. "You won't get away with this! Our government…"
"Hasn't officially sanctioned your activities…" Cyclops said, walking up to him. "I already looked it up in the computer. I wouldn't move if I were you… Marvel Girl over there has been in a rotten mood ever since the conversion blocked her telepathy… and I hear that she has a NASTY temper."
"Sssssh, Cyclops…" Marvel Girl said. "You'll ruin the ending!"
"Conversion?"
"Yes…" Darkheart's voice said from behind him. "Conversion."
At the sound of his voice, Vasili immediately started shaking and sweating. "Darkheart… I have your shipment here as promised… I was going to send it to you! I SWEAR!"
"No… no… No you weren't. See, I happen to know that a certain dictator in Baghdad shorted you on the money last week… So you decided to hold my goods and sell them to the highest bidder and then use the money to buy more. Isn't that right, Vasili?"
"It isn't true! I swear…"
With a flash of the tattoo across his eye, Darkheart had Marvel Girl direct Vasili's attention toward the troops in the back. "That's not what Sasha says. Are you accusing him of lying?"
Vasili's eyes met Sasha's… and saw the black emptiness that had swallowed them. "Sasha… What has he done to you?"
Darkheart leaned toward his ear. "Fortunately for you, Vasili, I'm in a time of recruitment. So, I am going to spare your pathetic life…"
"No… no… please don't…"
"…and the lives of your men…"
"No… no… NO… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" he screamed as the soul devourer entered his body. Futilely he resisted, until he was kneeling on the ground, licking Darkheart's muddy boot.
"Be good, Vasili… and I may even return your free will to you."
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Hellions Compound, Ready Room
Darque Feonix paced back and forth at the end of the wooden table, making eye contact with what was left of the White Court. Between the two courts, they definitely got hit the most by Darkheart. Who did he have left? Outburst, Rune, and Tangerine. That meant that he had to pull people in from outside…
"All right guys, this is what we are looking at. You know how strong of a hold Darkheart had over Deadpool and Maul. They were not pulling their punches. We can't afford to either. They've got six of us and four of the Greys, which means that right now we are at a disadvantage."
"A disadvantage?" said Outburst, raising her eyebrows. "Don't you mean the words… Outnumbered and overpowered? Let's see… they have… oh… MOST OF THE HEAVY HITTERS! HELLO!"
"Perhaps, but not all of them. It's not who has the most strength, but rather who has the best plan. You should know that by now."
"Okay, let me phrase it this way… The people they have on that team were the ones that either trained or trained WITH us… They know our moves… they know how we think… AND they have the heavy firepower."
"That's why I called in a few friends…" Darque Feonix's eyes flashed yellow as he turned toward the large white double doors behind them. As the three of them turned around, it opened up revealing three people.
"WOLFY!" Outburst said as she ran from her seat and jumped into DarkWolf's arms. "Here I was thinking that mean ol' king of yours wasn't going to let you come…"
"Well that mean ol' king of mine DID let me come…" he said as he set her down on the linoleum. "And what's the deal with the pheromones? I could smell you ALL the way from the outside of the building! GET SOME DEODORANT!"
"HEY!" she shouted, slapping him playfully in the cheek… "They're odorless and…"
"Yeah… SURE they are… I can see all these men in here ogling you and…"
"HEY!"
Gomurr laughed to himself as he watched this playful reunion between the two young lovebirds. Of all the couples that have formed in the Hellfire Courts, this was the one that was considered the most fun to observe. Two extremely lively and eccentric personalities with different alliances who are the best of pals. They can joke about anything. They can say anything to each other. Despite the more "seasoned" and "experienced" couples around, it seemed that these two were the most stable and the most "innocent"… which is a really SCARY association if you get to know these two!
Gomurr stepped the rest of the way through the door and with a wave of his hand floated into the chair. Although he was here now, he had to admit that he was a little… peeved. If they knew earlier that this Darkheart - who apparently had issues with HIM of all people - was proficient in the energies of the Crimson Dawn, then why did they not consult him earlier? As the Proctor of these energies, they should be of the utmost concern to him. Now, the situation has been raised to a higher level altogether… with the stakes the most damning. "This is something that should have been brought to my attention earlier, Feonix."
"I know," said Darque Feonix. "I can give you any excuse you want to hear, but it was just an oversight on our part…"
Oversight? Since when did Grover make oversights? He thought to himself, still annoyed… but more with concern about the man he raised and his friends. An insane Grover was bad enough to defeat. (Phantom Nails) A sane EVIL Grover? There was still time… provided that certain circumstances have not been met. "How are you doing, Rune?" Gomurr asked, trying to eliminate that train of thought.
Rune nodded, and then turned away with a little bit of guilt. As Gomurr's student, even if SuperGrover had chosen not to inform the Ancient One of Darkheart's power or objectives, he should have taken the responsibility on himself to do that. Then again, lately he was notorious for not keeping others informed of developments… "O…okay, Master. It is good to see you again."
Tangerine sighed in a little bit of frustration as she saw everyone greet each other. She had always felt like the odd one out, even among those who indeed ARE the odd ones out. She could see the loyalty in this room to these two, even though they were from another court altogether. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt a big black hole probably from a life she could not remember. It was like she wanted to miss someone… but she didn't know who or what they meant to her.
"Oh… Okay… NOW I get it…" said the last guest standing in the door. "For YEARS, I put up with the ogling and the chauvinist remarks, but when I come back to help I can't even get a hug or a kiss?!"
"Rachel…" Darque Feonix said, holding his arms out to greet her. "I don't suppose I can convince you to come back, can I? There's one particular position I'd LOVE for you to fill…"
"No… I'm afraid not," she said kissing him on the cheek. "I have to say that my last Hellfire position killed my taste for the life altogether. I'm glad to see that it's not the same Hellfire Club we grew up with. Anyway, I don't miss it. The work I do now is rewarding in itself… and to me has almost as much substance as my time in the Hellions. Dad needs me, these days… And he's helping me with my search. We can catch up later, I guess… When we get everyone else and bring them home."
"You're right… When we…" Darque Feonix allowed his voice to trail off as he turned toward the double door on the other side of the room. "If you'll excuse me, Rachel… There's another piece of business I have to deal with."
As soon as he finished that sentence, the solid wood double doors were blown open. Khalid walked through the door, with his aura flared, his eyes directed toward Darque Feonix's. His demonic voice echoed through the room, as he called out. "Everyone… out… now."
"You have GOT to be kidding!" Outburst said, hopping into the seat. "I'm not missing THIS one for the world!"
Khalid glared at her, the rumble in his voice getting louder. "Then go watch it on the security camera… but OUT!" He turned back toward Darque Feonix, his eyes sparkling even brighter. "The White Knight and I need to talk."
Gomurr had actually started to cast a spell that would force Khalid to calm down, but he stopped when he saw the smile flicker in Darque Feonix's eyes. He was more than prepared to deal with a rage of an ancient Egyptian King, but his gut told him that this was something he needed to stay out of. Despite the display, Khalid was the one in charge… though he was not exactly sure for how long. In recent months, Khalid's temper has been growing much shorter… almost like an adolescent whose hormones are raging out of control.
Darque Feonix stepped toward Khalid, easily meeting his glare. "He's right, everyone… He and I do have business to discuss. This won't take too long, I assure you… Please wait outside," he said, looking at Khalid with a smile. When everyone had finished filing out of the room, Darque Feonix telekinetically pulled the doors shut and deactivated the security cameras. "How dare you barge in here addressing me like that?! Like it or not, I am your superior and as of right now the highest ranking officer…"
"Take your fucking rank and shove it up your ass."
"Uncouth… insubordinate… confrontational…"
"Oh… You tell me that you weren't inviting ANY of this by cutting me out of the loop. Having your assistant leaving that smartass message on my answering machine telling me that my services would NOT be needed today took the fucking CAKE! I think it is fairly obvious we don't like each other… but this is something TOO important to…"
"Exactly… This is something TOO important to have an inconsistent, bumbling, intermediate FUCKUP tagging along. None of this would have happened if you thought it out before going under to save Grandpa Drac!"
"Hold on RIGHT there… I was poisoned and just had the shit beat out of me. That man absorbs light, meaning my powers didn't do SQUAT against him. My choice was play bad or probably get my neck snapped. Considering the man had a metal plated vampire and extensive files on EVERYONE, the choice was obvious. I risked my LIFE keeping that charade up, not really knowing if Grover could track me down or not! So, I don't want to…"
"You talk of risking YOUR life, how many OTHER lives have you risked?! How many OTHER lives might you have cost?! Our friends are out there doing who knows WHAT because of your so-called calculated risk. Aside from the fact I consider you unreliable and untrustworthy, you have proven yourself INCOMPETENT in the field… and I'm not going to risk everyone else's lives by taking you along!"
"You have REAL nerve, Kane…"
"Do not call me by that name again or I'll…"
"Come on… I DARE you…" Khalid snarled. "It'll be WORTH the psi-bolt to see you pass out from sensory overload!"
"If I force my way inside your head, Boy, you aren't going to be lucid enough to enjoy it!"
"Last I checked, Boy, I'm older than you are… Let me give you a piece of advice, BOYI ALWAYS strike back. Regardless of whether or not you think I'm worth used toilet paper, there is no way in HELL I am going to stand by while my cousin…"
"Fine," Darque Feonix said, turning toward the exit. "Don't stand by. Do what you've always done every time the Hellions have gone on a mission." He opened the door behind him and turned back toward Khalid, winking his eye with a smile. "Go practice. See you later." The door slammed shut behind him.
Khalid glared at the door, feeling the blood pounding through his head and the rumble in his chest. The energy from his eyes crackling, Khalid just stared at the door… allowing his photon aura to form into a lion shape and still grow brighter and more intense… and the loud growl to pass through his teeth. Then with a single photon wave, blew apart both sets of double doors, the table, and all the windows to the ready room.
End Chapter One
Chapter Two
Lounging aboard the official aircraft of the White Court, Outburst had her legs propped up on the card table. "Prick," she muttered as Darque Feonix came on.
"Excuse me?" he said.
"You heard me. Hey… Just wanted to make sure that despite the pheromones you knew exactly what I thought of you."
"We don't have time for this shit, Outburst." He said, dismissing her.
"Oooh… Nice words… Hope you follow your own advice someday."
He snapped his head toward her direction, his eye flashing. She winked and smiled at him. With everyone else coming onto the ship after him, he put it out of his mind. Outburst, he would deal with later… after they get everyone back home safe and sound. Telekinetically, he set the autopilot to rendezvous with the Grey Court, who had decided to do recon back at the site in Baja California where Darkheart had made his move. "All right… Strengths and weaknesses." He said to the gathered group. "Telepathy does not work against anyone who has a soul devourer. I'm also going to assume that the soul devourer prevents its host from sending telepathic attacks as well."
"Something else," Rune put in. "The soul devourers don't ACTUALLY change someone. What it does is exaggerate the darker side of their personalities. Everyone has a nasty streak… It does it without thought or compunction. From what I'm gathering, Darkheart has the ability to control and maybe even project his consciousness through these soul devourers. His control is absolute."
"How exactly do you get rid of these soul devourers?" Sabre asked, drumming her fingers across the table. "They seem to me to be the key to the problem."
"Soul devourers are native to the dimension of the Crimson Dawn. My predecessor, Lao Tsung, was particularly known for using them do his bidding." Gomurr said. "This Darkheart is the first I've heard of who apparently has a rapport with them to the point he can project himself into them. In most cases, the soul devourer simply releases the dark nature of a person. Before now, I have never heard of them being used as a tool for possession. If what you are saying is correct Rune, they are truly at his mercy. As Sabre said, the soul devourers must be removed without harm to the host. Easier said than done… especially since we are essentially fighting our friends."
Listening to the discussion as it unfolded, Darque Feonix again come in. "With the soul devourers coming from the Crimson Dawn, is it possible that you can assert control over them and then control them long enough so we can contain them and figure out a way to separate them?"
"As I said before, it is unheard of actually having absolute control over them. What may have happened is that this Darkheart's NATURAL talent is a symbiosis with them and that the Crimson Dawn is auxiliary to that. I can't assert control over them myself, but what I CAN do is sever Darkheart's hold over them. We still have to deal with their evil twins, though… If I take Darkheart out of the fight, that will prevent him from retaking control. That will also keep me from aiding you, because more than likely I'll have to… um… rip this upstart a new one."
"WOW!" Darkwolf said. "Gomurr with the dirty mouth… And you used to make me weed the garden for telling the joke about the hooker and the spa…"
Outburst slapped him in the back of the head. "Later, Wolfie… They're not cool enough to understand it!"
Darque Feonix shook his head and then continued. "All right… Rune… Can you separate the soul devourers from the people?"
"At the current step of my studies, I have one spell that will do it without any trouble, but it will take me a while to recite it… and it might not be timely enough. Byron is more suited toward that, but more than likely she is going to be close to the top of their hit list."
"Why? Do they know the depth of her experience?"
"No…" Rune said, with a bit of a chuckle. "A more basic one. She's the Goddess of Hell… and although she is susceptible to the magics of the Crimson Dawn, her powers make it impossible for soul devourers to possess her. If you didn't notice, Darkheart actually tried to kill her. She survived the last ambush because Loki saved her at the last minute."
"All right… Here's the preliminary plan I'm going to pitch to the Grey Court. Gomurr takes Darkheart out of the fray. Everyone else has two objectiveskeep everyone else busy AND in place… and to keep Byron covered so she can do her thing. Everyone watches everyone's back… and as soon as someone's released, we scoop them up as quickly as possible. Sound good?"
-----------------------------
She floated in the air above the rubble, her dark blonde hair kept tied up with a single clasp through the bun. With a slight bit of effort, her hair changed into the color of fire and her eyes lit up a dark shade of orange. The small portal behind her provided the life-line she needed in order to use her powers at this level. Telepathy, telekinesis, shapeshifting… That was all imbedded in her genetic code. Talents she had been using since her adolescence. This particular talent, which was cleansing the area of corruption, was tied into her powers as Goddess of Hell. For small things, it would be nothing, but to pull a spell of this magnitude, she required a direct link.
She held her hands out to the sides, allowing them to glow with the power she was calling on. Raising them overhead, a ball of fire formed… which she then hurled toward the wreckage beneath her. A flash of white flame shooting out toward the sky told her that the spell was working. Closing the porthole behind her, she settled toward the ground gracefully. "All stains of corruption have been removed. There is no danger of soul devourers right now."
"Good work, Byron." Daemon said as Maul carried him down toward the ground. "Just to let you guys know, I'm not expecting any leads at all. From what I've seen so far, this Avery Brooks wannabe learned his lesson after K crashed his computer system. He probably didn't leave any trace. But…"
"It doesn't hurt to check, nonetheless." Byron finished. "Until the White Court meets up with us, we don't have any other options, do we…"
With Loki clinging shakily on his back, Diablo set on the ground next to his wife. "Mortals… Always trying to be so damn realistic. You can let go, Loki…"
"Look! Look!" Loki said, morphing into an orangutan. "He's got a monkey on his back! Byron! Send him to rehab!"
Everyone groaned. "Not now, Loki…" said Daemon. "We have to scout the area."
With a smile, Diablo flapped his wings… hurling Loki through the air into a mud puddle. "HEY!" Loki screamed. "No fair! You're getting my fur all messed up." Loki morphed back into his regular form, wiping the mud off his hair. "Now I'm brown! Who wants to be BROWN! Brown is a dirty bland ol' color just like…"
"Grey?" Diablo said, with a smile.
"Yeah! Like grey… HEY!"
With a sigh, Diablo fluttered his wings, creating a wind that pulled the mud off of Loki. "Scared to get down and dirty?"
"Rassumfrassumbatwingedtoadrassumfrassum…"
"Mental noteLoki's soul gets to wash the hellhounds every week."
"DIABLO!" Byron yelped.
"Er… um… Just joking, Dear… Eheheheh…" He glanced back toward Loki with a smile. "Just joking…"
Daemon sighed. He knew earlier that allowing Diablo to come was trouble, but he figured that the need for warm POWERFUL bodies took precedence. (This was not a situation he would like to call Genesis X in on… although it did involve their leader.) The mixture of Loki and Diablo might be more trouble than it was worth. Where did Maul go? He thought, glancing around… Granted, this was not an anticipated battle scenario, but he would think that these so-called grown ups would at least…
Maul rose up from a shadow to his side. "The rubble beneath the surface has been destroyed by the volcanic activity." He said, shuddering his head as his ear healed. "I learned the hard way."
"Just what I was afraid of," Daemon said. "Nothing… Not even a clue." At that moment, the wind shifted direction. Detecting a familiar scent in the air, Daemon and Maul both stood in a battle stance as they looked into the air.
"Looks like I messed up," Grover said, setting down on the ground in front of them. "I flew down too low on my way here. I figured you guys would be out here… since the lines to the Hellions Compound have been busy."
"TRAITOR!" Diablo shouted, flying toward Grover. "I'll have my vengeance for what you have done to my wife!" Before any of them could move, Diablo kicked Grover across the face and then started to bring his extended claws down on Grover when Byron's voice stopped him.
"Diablo! No! It's not his fault." She said, pulling Diablo back.
"Stay behind me, Byron!" Diablo shouted. "I'll never let him harm you again!"
"I'm not out to harm Byron, Diablo." Grover said.
"Liar…" Diablo said. "I can still smell the stench of the soul devourer on you… That pathetic artifact you call Excalibur may disguise most things, but it won't disguise it from me!"
"Is this true, Grover?" Byron asked. Her eyes glowed a bright shade of orange as she scanned him, but she abruptly stopped. "If so, why aren't my powers working on you? Diablo's right, you DID attack me before!"
"He's right… I can still feel the soul devourer inside of me… but for some reason, Excalibur loosened its hold. I have my free will, now, provided I stay a certain distance away from Darkheart. It's conceivable that it may be causing mystical interference as well…"
Diablo still stood protectively in front of Byron. "Don't listen to him. He's lying…"
Byron placed her hand on his shoulder. "Diablo… He's right. I don't sense a connection between him and Darkheart."
Out of nowhere, their conversation was interrupted by a stunning black-haired woman, eyeing Grover lustily. "Hello, handsome… Gimme a kiss…" She said, grabbing Grover and dipping him over. Just before she could land her lips on him, Grover placed his hand on top of the woman's mouth. "No thank you, Loki… Not with that bad breath you're sporting."
Loki let Grover go and morphed back to his original form. "Acts and looks like Grover to me!"
Watching the entire exchange take place, Daemon and Maul glanced at each other. Maul broke the silence. "If I were evil, I'd have gutted him."
Daemon's sword disappeared with a flash of light. "What are you talking about? If you were GOOD you would have gutted him!"
"And you wouldn't have?"
"I'm not telling that lie. Come on, then… Let's go rendezvous with the whites."
As they started moving toward the aircraft, Diablo stepped in front of Grover and glared into his eyes. "I'm warning you… If you betray Byron, I'll…"
Grover sneered at him, his eyes sparkling. "You're welcome to try, Diablo… But you're powerless, now, aren't you."
"Powerless does not mean defenseless… Don't make me regret siding with Uriel." He said, flying upward.
Wouldn't DREAM of it… fool…
End Chapter Two
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Chapter Three
Khalid took a deep breath as he paced back and forth in front of the gate. Could he do this? DARE he do this? Of everyone in the Hellfire Courts, this was the one woman he knew the least… but one he has heard the most about. There were a lot of risks involved in coming to her for help, not the least of which he was basically told to keep his nose out of it. Everyone has warned him about herGomurr… Grover… Cougar… Nemesis… Might doing this risk Nemesis' anger? Perhaps… Possibly Gregor's too, but he didn't know him. In the past year, Avalon has undergone so many changes that he wasn't sure if he knew him… or even if he ever did. From everything he has heard, this may very well be a deal with the devil herself. Come on, K… You're here because you need help. NOT to dance around people who could give a rat's ass about you, anyway.
Khalid lifted his hand and slowly brought his finger toward the bell. He still wasn't sure he wanted to do this. Granted, there was the possibility that she wouldn't be bothered with him or that she was at one of her many other homes, but for some reason he didn't think that was the case. Just as he was about to press the bell, the gate opened of its own volition. With a yellow flash of his eyes, he slowly raised his head up and saw her looking down at him from her balcony. Well… Guess she is here… and expecting me.
"Excuse me, Mr. Hunter…" A low voice said in front of him. "Ms. Tolliver is waiting to see you."
Khalid looked toward the man it came from, halfway expecting to see a middle-aged butler dressed up in the traditional tuxedo with a potbelly, balding hair, and a mustache. Nope. Not hardly. The man leading him inside the house was six-foot five, well-muscled, well-tanned, wearing cut-offs. The stereotypical blonde "surfer-boy" looks, but spoke like a gentleman. For a brief moment, Khalid felt a twinge of jealousy, being reminded yet again just how "square" or "hick" he was, but put that out of his mind as he was led through the house into the garden in the back.
The garden was unbelievable. Beautiful exotic plants and flowers from all over the world were lain throughout, impeccably pruned so he could not see a brown leaf anywhere. Happily chirping birds flew back and forth, calling and responding. Butterflies fluttered flower to flower, eagerly sipping on the nectar and encouraging pollination. Khalid found his senses seemingly heightening on their own devouring whole what the garden had to offer him. The place was just so relaxing that he fell halfway into a daze just standing around. It was almost like a strange form of intoxication had just washed over him. Without even thinking of it, his aura flared on its own a dull shade of yellow, his eyes taking in another dimension of beauty altogether. Every living thing in the area glowed with the vibrancy of life… and he could see it, and halfway feel that with but a thought he could just reach out and use it.
"A beautiful place, Mr. Hunter… Is it not?"
"Yes," Khalid said, turning to meet his hostess. "Enough to just take you away. Good afternoon, Ms. Tolliver." He extended his hand out toward hers to shake. She stood pondering him, almost amusingly, and then accepted his handshake. Before he knew it, Khalid found himself taking in her appearance. Her white shirt was buttoned at the top and tied just beneath her chest, showing off her smooth abdomen. Just like the man who let him in, she wore cutoffs which complimented her long thighs and legs. Last but not least were the soiled work gloves which protected her delicate hands from the effects of doing garden work. Khalid snapped back to reality as he reminded himself that this woman was at least 100 years older than he was, has servants that look better than he probably ever will, and has a reputation for having the most people in her disfavor to come down with various occasionally-fatal ailments. "Please forgive me for my aura, your garden is just so striking, I find myself trying to see as much as possible."
"Think nothing of it, Mr. Hunter. Once upon a time, I too was a novice with my mystical powers. It can be embarrassing at moments, particularly when you are left to discover them on your own. Has Cougar become so busy in his old age that he has not found the time to teach his successor?"
Khalid avoided his tendency to wince. "No… no… He's actually all-too-eager to teach, however his prospective student is not all-too-eager to learn… I'm just kind of wary about the entire thing altogether and am just taking it nice and slow, I guess."
"In other words," Jon said as she reached onto the cart behind her for the pruning shears. "This is new to you and you are too scared to take the plunge."
"Well… Yeah… You could say that," Khalid said as he watched her bend her knees to prune some leaves on a mother-in-law's tongue plant. He felt his breathing speed up a bit as a rumble started building in his chest. Aw fuck… NOT here… and NOT near this woman… He slapped himself in the back of the head, making it look like he was scratching his scalp. "That experience is kind of the reason I came to see you." He said, trying to look away.
She smiled as she placed the clippings on the cart, moving toward the begonias. "Let me guess… It has to do with the incident involving the Grey and White Courts at the moment?"
"Y-yes…" Khalid said, this time trying to block out the scent of her perfume. He could feel himself starting to sweat as he desperately tried to push Mufasa below. "I just can't stand by while they are in Darkheart's mercy like that. With his locked hold on their minds, it will only be a matter of time before they do something they will regret for the rest of their lives. I'm considered a liability, but I really feel I could be a great help, given the chance."
"So… what exactly do you want me to do?"
Khalid stopped a moment, his tongue tied. She had a good question. What exactly DID he want her to do? Help him track down Grover? That might be a good place to start. On the other hand, would it be wise to tell her about the connection through Excalibur? No… He couldn't second-guess himself now. "This is difficult to say… but normally, I always feel a connection to Grover…"
"Yes… because of Excalibur?"
Damn… the woman knows more than she lets on… "Yes… He was able to track me down, because I was faking possession by a soul devourer. Now, the tables have turned… I'm the one that's okay and he's the one who is possessed. I still feel this connection, but it feels different somehow… Early on, I was the one that felt drawn to Grover… because he has the majority of the gauntlet… but I'm not sure that I could be able to track him. I was hoping…"
"Most people, I would probably laugh at and force from my sight. Your case is slightly different. Don't ask me why… It could be the naiveté factor or the muscles… or that incredible growl of yours."
A sneer spread across Khalid's lips, a soft growl this time passing his lips. Surprised with himself, and a bit embarrassed, he slapped his hand over his mouth and clenched his eyes shut. Jon laughed as she saw his skin change to a brighter shade of red beneath his yellow photon aura. Yeah… I know why she's doing it… She finds it hilarious I'm losing control… and I'm betting this is another thing to throw in Nem's face… Khalid forced himself to speak, hoping he wouldn't embarrass himself any further. "You can help?" He asked.
"Yes, I can… but the question is will I? What will I get in return?"
Another more guttural growl started to come out when Khalid swiftly hit himself in the stomach. "Free front row tickets to my gig at the Lincoln Center?"
"Free?" She said, almost quizzical. "How quaint… but given the circumstances, well worth services rendered." Before Khalid could prepare himself, she grabbed him roughly by the back of the neck. His aura flaring more strongly around him, he felt the tattoos on his arms light up and everything go numb as he left his body. Through a yellow haze, he saw himself on a ship, watching what appeared to be Daemon and Kane arguing loudly… and Grover watching the exchange… What?! Grover is with them already?!
At his side, he saw Gomurr look into the air and wave his fingers in the air. Feeling himself get bombarded by some strange energy, Khalid struggled back and managed to break free, only to crash back into his own body and fall into blackness.
--------------------------------------------
Strange, thought Gomurr as he scanned around the cabin of the aircraft. The astral signature disappeared completely before I was able to pinpoint just who it was… as if it were repelled by my magics… He finally pulled himself back to the argument at matter… an argument he decided to keep himself out of altogether when it began earlier.
"Why the hell did you do THAT for?" Daemon said, glaring at Darque Feonix. "Have you lost your fucking mind?! Aren't you one of these 'bad-ass-mother-fucking' original Hellions? God DAMN, you're so fucking stupid."
"No… I was fucking in charge of the White Court… and part of the responsibility was making sure my people come back." Darque Feonix answered back. "He's terrible in the field and we don't have the people to spare covering his ass."
"Let's get this straight… All the guy has to do is stand there and shine his bright light and scare away the bad meany soul devourers and you are going to take him out of the fight because you don't want to COVER him?!"
"He can't pull his weight… I thought that you of all people, Daemon, would understand he's a liability in a combat situation. It's one thing when the enemies are all bad guys determined to kill you, but it is ANOTHER thing when these are friends and allies."
Outburst leaned back into the chair, propping her feet on the table with a smile. "He's right, Gabe… It's not like these friends and allies are all POSSESSED and Khalid's going to drive the evil demons out. Oh wait… Ooops… I forgot… NEVERMIND!" she belted, with a smile.
"Rhiannon… That's enough," Grover interrupted. "I've been probably the biggest supporter of Khalid this past year or so, but Feonix is right. We don't have the people to spare covering him. We have too many people whose asses we are trying to save without worrying about him, too."
"Well…" Daemon said. "I guess it is fortunate for you then that he didn't share that same attitude when Darkheart started taking over your body…"
"Obviously, Khalid didn't do too good a job of it, because I still have a soul devourer inside of me! Regardless of how useful he might be, we have other people to fill his role. Darque Feonix's plan is sound… Gomurr takes Darkheart out of the fight. Byron casts people out. Everyone covers Byron."
Gomurr stared blankly at Grover, just thinking about everything that has happened these past few months… the changes that have taken everyone… the revelations… the heartbreak… Just looking at Grover - the son of his heart - he just had to sit and muse. Grover wakes up and finds out he has relatives… falls out with Khalid… Dealt with other emotional burdens… Gomurr has always said he would be there. Why did Grover cut him out earlier? Somehow, he doubted it was the same reason he was cutting Khalid out now. What's wrong with Excalibur? It shouldn't be able to resist my mystical probes simply because of the soul devourer…
"Fine…" Daemon said. "Your court. Your cousin. Your call." He sat down, leaning in his chair. Yeah… though I'm the one who is going to be put behind the eight-ball because of it. Other than that, there was just something that did not sit well with this. Something that was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't quite think of it… "Let's move out. We don't have the time to bicker."
"Agreed," Grover said. "I know they swiped some weapons grade plutonium from the Ukraine this morning, because I escaped on the way… I'm not sure what they are up to, but…"
"You're right… We can't let that get into the wrong hands."
"Exactly… Let's move out."
-----------------------------------------
Dimension of the Crimson Dawn
For all intents and purposes, Darkheart was the master of this realm. For the years since Gomurr acquired the proctorship, he made the mistake of remaining detached, never daring to delve into it. Darkheart was a different story. He grew UP in it… thrived in it… mastered it. He had no choice, for it was the only way for him to survive after what happened to his father. As the years passed, Darkheart came to find just how much he really LOVED the place… and just how much he had come toward becoming on with it.
His favorite place to go was atop of the large master spire, stretching miles into the sky. The power seemed to be more concentrated there, allowing him to think clearly and become accustomed to the sheer amount of energy at his disposal. The soul devourers lived in the sky, draping over the realm like clouds allowing only a dismal red light to pass through to the ground below.
Darkheart spread his arms, allowing the soul devourers to wrap around him, sliding over his skin like water. Yes, he could direct them to do anything he wished, but for now he was pleased with simply allowing his mind to become like theirs. He smiled as they passed in and over him, shuddering in pleasure as each one passed through his chest.
With the white flash of the tattoo across his eye, their motion around him sped up, carrying him into the air. Pulsing with an almost ecstatic feel, Darkheart shot from his eye a bolt of black lightning into the air, opening up a dark hole within the sky.
"Father…" he called out. "Can you hear me?"
"Yes… faintly… "
"They are no match for you, father… I had taken the Proctor's son, but Excalibur interrupts my rapport with the soul devourer. They are virtually powerless against you."
"Don't underestimate them… particularly Gomurr. He is to have no idea the depth of my plans… Has the Hell Goddess been dealt with?"
"Unfortunately, not yet… but she is no match for you either, father."
At first he heard nothing, but then dark laughter from the other side. "And what of the Purified?"
"Another person who shall be term…"
"No… I think you might have another use for him… or part of him, anyway…"
"I don't understand, Father…"
"The same rite that gave you rebirth, Darkheart… will give you the power you crave. Think of that for next we speak…"
With that the portal fell and Darkheart was carried back toward the top of the spire. The soul devourers immediately rushed in to replenish his strength. His head still buzzing and ecstatic from the soul devourers swarming over his dark skin, he scratched something into the top of the spire with a shadowblade… and then raucously laughed once he saw it. He understood his father's words at last. It was a heart with a lightning bolt across it, dripping with blood…
End Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Area 51, inside the base
Everyone knows it exists. The American government denies it exists. It is plain OBVIOUS that it exists. As for what is inside it? No one knows for sure. Many people believe that long-deceased aliens or pieces of an extraterrestrial aircraft are stored there. In this day and age where mutations, demigods, and guests from outer space are pretty much commonplace, most people could give a flying fuck.
Very few people had an inkling of what was really made here. Weapons… Advanced weapons, some of them even using satellite or microwave technology. Several communications satellites that could obliterate any target over the entire planet. Devices which cause an electromagnetic flux, disrupting any and all functioning electrical devices. Satellite dishes capable of transmitting any signal all over the Earth.
This base was ready to face a number of domestic threats. Every type of sensor they could think of was running. Infrared sensors detect heat signatures. Sonar sensors detect large objects. Electromagnetic sensors detect electrical currents. Psionic sensors detect thought patterns. It was the opinion of the United States that combined with the considerable number of armed forces, no threat foreign or domestic could possibly threaten them.
Unfortunately, that was not the case.
"Hold it THERE, Ma'am." The guard said, his semiautomatic drawn on the stunning blue-skinned specimen before him. "You need to show me your pass."
"I do?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. "But… I'm a beautiful blue alien with lustrous blonde hair. You, being a man, are supposed to go completely gaga for me and drool at my feet."
"Sorry, Ma'am." The guard said with a smile. "I can't… I'm on the job. Meet me in Roswell at 5:00 and we'll talk… As for now, I'm going to have to escort you to my captain so he can deal with you…" He walked over, gently taking her by the arm.
"But I don't WANT to see your captain!" Faster than he expected, she spun around, kicking him upside the temple. As he fell back, his gun flipped into the air and landed in her hand. "Now, cutie… I guess you'll just have to go on a date with me."
The guard backed away, sliding back across the ground. "JOHN! Intruder alert… Mutant female… Armed and dangerous…"
Another guard came to him from the side, helping him to his feet. "Carl… You have to be more careful…"
Carl spun toward him, his eyes in disbelief. "John… What the hell is WRONG with you?! Can't you see she is armed!?!"
"Of COURSE I have arms… and I'm not a mutant! I'm an alien!" Sighing, Nebula took the bullets and melted the gun in her hand. "Terrans… They are ALL alike!"
"No kidding," the guard John said, his features turning green until he transformed into another alien. "They ARE all alike!"
"JOHN??!! You're…" Carl said, as he started to back away from Impy too.
Impossible Man tackled him, his entire body wrapping around him like a green ooze. Carl struggled inside but eventually, he passed out from oxygen deprivation. Satisfied, Impy spat Carl out from his body, leaving him slimy and unconscious on the ground. "They are all gullible."
From her hands, a large fireball blew off the door. Several assorted scientists shifted in their feet and spun around. Nebula saw one of them reach for a button… and hit the machines with another fireball. Crackling and exploding, the room began to fill with smoke. "Oops… How clumsy of me?" She said. "Looks like you can't call Washington for help. Blame it on the dumb blonde!"
One man pulled out a gun, ready to fire. "Damn muties… Going to die for…"
Before he could fire, Impy appeared next to him with a green pop, pulling the gun out of his hand. Before the man could move, Impy placed another gun directly underneath the man's jaw. "Hello… What's your name?"
The man started to move, but Impy shoved the gun harder underneath his chin. "N…n… Niles…"
"Well, Niles… I take personal exception to being called a mutie… and so does Nebula over there."
Nebula waved over with a smile as she continued beating assorted guards up.
"You see… We are aliens. A--- li--- ens… Not muties. That wasn't a very nice thing calling us that… Are you going to apologize?" He asked, pulling the safety off of his gun. "Are ya?"
The man stuttered and slowly began to speak… "I… I'm…"
"TOO LATE!" Impossible Man said, pulling the trigger… Water shot out the other end, soaking the man's chin. Impossible Man had started to laugh, when he noticed that the water on the floor was not as clear… and much warmer… "What the… YOU PEED ON ME!" Angrily, Impossible Man headbutted the man in the chin and threw the man into one of the machines.
More people emerged out of the darkness of the room, spreading out around the control center. With a laugh, Cyclops picked one of the scientists out of his seat and threw him against the wall nonchalantly, with a boost of the gravity-manipulating Odinseye. With a few well-placed taps of his fingers against the control module, the menu came up on the screen. "The computer is printing up an inventory of the weapons as we speak… MAN, what I wouldn't give to have some of this stuff in MY Christmas stocking! That damn Grover… thinking I was too much of a straight-laced fuddy-duddy to get some toys…"
"Gee," Blackfire said, floating by. "…and here I was thinking I could just get you any ol' porn film."
"I already HAD the one you gave me for Christmas!" He said, ripping the inventory printout off. "Good… it tells where we can find the schematics to each weapon, also!"
As everyone went to work around the room, Darkheart descended from the ceiling above, the smile on his face hidden by the timbre of his skin. "My my my… Guess good ol' Uncle Sam oughtta go back to work. More money needs to be spent on defense. Good work, you two." He turned toward the scientists around the room. "Hello, ladies and gentlemen… I would just like to say…" The lightning bolt across his eye shined brightly white. "Thank you for providing more warm bodies to fill my ranks. We should be expecting any guests any time soon… Please don't resist as the soul devourers take you over mind and soul. Cyclops… Marvel Girl… secure the secret weapons arsenal. Blackfire… Faith… Scour the area and make sure that every person has a soul devourer. Everyone else… Let's plan a welcome party…"
As everyone went about their assigned duties, they didn't notice a single guard - Carl - slip into the ventilation duct and lie still… hoping to draw as little attention to himself as possible. The Hellions?! We just got attacked by the HELLIONS??!!
----------------------------------------
He was crouching in the garden with a photon spade in his hand, moving dirt so he could plant marigolds. Reaching into the tray behind him, he placed one firmly into the ground and soaked the ground with water. Most plants tend to undergo shock when they are moved from the tray into the ground, but it didn't happen with him. After his touch, it seemed that the plants would flourish. He would never notice it as anything different because it had been that way his entire life.
He closed his eyes as he planted yet another one and started to water it. A hand grabbed him by the bare shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze. The sound from his throat was very much like a motor sound, like a purr… a soft continuous purr. Finished with another marigold, he reached onto the cart behind him and took a glass of lemonade to quench his thirst… and stopped…
That was when he noticed. He was in a garden… planting flowers… his shirt was hanging on a chair… and he was purring… in front of Jon Tolliver. He relaxed his grip on the glass enough so it fell, spilling its contents all over the ground. His heart pounding like crazy as he tried to decipher what had just happened, he rose to his feet, dusting off his hands… and stepping away from the Black Soothsayer. "Ms. Tolliver… I didn't… I… um…"
Jon laughed aloud as she saw this change come over him. She doubted he even knew at one point he was back in charge again. "No, Khalid… Mufasa was a gentleman and took my decline of his advances quite well. As you can see, for the last hour you've been planting my marigolds… and doing a lovely job of it. They are looking healthy."
Khalid slapped himself in the chest to stop the purring and started to put his shirt back on. Okay… Worst-case scenario didn't happen… Instead it was the SECOND worst-case!!! "I… um… thank you… for helping me with… I'll send… The tickets…"
"Forget the tickets… Your work in my garden was more than payment enough for activating your powers. Since Mufasa was so… considerate, I take it that whatever you saw met your satisfaction?"
Khalid cleared his throat, buttoning his shirt up. "Er… Yeah… They've found Grover… I guess… um… I… need to go, now…" He said, slapping his chest once more to get rid of the purr. "Thank you." He said, practically running out.
Jon smiled to herself as she watched him pass the gate. Nathan, Nathan, Nathan… Looks to me like your pet project is starting to run out of control… "Gerald, did you record the videodisc as I instructed?"
"Yes, my lady…"
"Good… Do send it to my dear friend, the Black Queen. We both know how she loves videos of her discarded playthings fawning all over me."
-------------------------------------
Area 51, on the outskirts
"I can tell you this much," Darque Feonix said stepping out of the ship. "This place is fortified well. There is a psionic shield that extends around the perimeter of the area. I can either use my telepathy or telekinesis completely outside or completely inside, but I can not use it through the field. That means that I can't telepathically scan in. Once we are inside, I can't telepathically send a message outside either. The only way we are going to maintain silent contact is if everyone is inside the field at once."
"Well-played, Darkheart…" Grover said, thinking over what the Knight said. "It is also has an electronic dampener. No scans. No radio signals. There is no backup this time. Once we stepped, then we were cut off from everyone else."
"How convenient…" Diablo said, his eyes still locked on Grover. "…that although your soul devourer is not under Darkheart's control that you are able to track the others here."
"Yes, Diablo… just as convenient as Satan's nephew popping up to assist us in our time of need." Grover replied. "Especially when at LAST mention he had his ass handed to him by the Black Court."
Diablo gave a low chuckle. "So sure of yourself, Breslin, that the Lord of Hell's plans are obvious on the surface. Believe what you will… How easily you forget that six years ago, you had considered me one of your strongest allies."
Gomurr's eye raised at that last remark. That's impossible… Six years ago, Grover was dead. Killed by Entropy!
"I don't know what the hell you are talking about," Grover answered, scouting the area. "And we really don't have time for this. Somehow… someway… we need to draw them out here into the open. We don't need to do our fighting inside like in Mexico. They're just waiting low, waiting for us to walk in."
"No doubt knowing we are here because of your soul devourer," Diablo chuckled. "That was really a sound plan… Like hiding in the dark with the flash light on. They don't make mortals like they used to."
Unexpectedly taking everyone by surprise, Grover spun on his heel, backhanding Diablo with all his might. Diablo stood absolutely still, glaring Grover in the eye. He reached his hand up to his cheek, wiping the blood that started oozing from the wound. Everyone could see Grover's gauntlets morphing back into their original shape rather than the jagged gloves they had been in.
Before anyone could react, a boulder ripped up from the ground, slapping Grover in the face. Her hair changed into a shade of orange, Byron held her hand to the side, a fireball flaring brightly. "If you strike my husband ONE more time, Grover, you'll deal with ME."
Grover hovered in the air, this time forming a staff with trident blades on the ends. "BOTH of you try my patience… I will not…"
"STOP!" Gomurr yelled. "This is neither the time nor the place." He stopped, turning to face Grover. "I realize that you are being affected by the soul devourer, but you must keep control. I'll see about separating it from you after this is over."
"Yes, Gomurr…" Grover said, settling down. "You are right." His eyes still glaring at Diablo's, his words came out easily, unforced. "Please forgive me for my outburst."
Diablo looked back at him with a smile on his face. "Forgiven…" Byron turned back toward him, to check him out. She was surprised to see Tangerine pull a cloth out of her pocket and dab Diablo's cheek, much like a mother with a child.
"Diablo…" Tangerine said. "You have to be more careful… That is a nasty cut. You should not take powers you no longer have for granted."
Her eyes opened wide, Byron looked from Diablo to Tangerine… and then turned away.
"Byron…" Diablo said, with a jerk. "No… It's not… I…" He turned back toward Tangerine. "You…"
Tangerine also stood still, looking at Diablo blankly. "How… can… I know that?" she said, with a daze. "I…"
Hearing that part of the exchange, Byron turned back, this time seeing the concern Diablo looked at Tangerine with. No… He's not cheating on me… but why… WHY is he looking at her like that? Diablo and I are going to talk…
"Come ON, Tan…" Rune said, pulling Tangerine away with a tinge of jealousy. His eyes met Diablo's as he passed, glaring at them.
After they left, Byron whispered toward Diablo. "Diablo… What is going on? Why…"
"Ssssssh… I'll explain later. It's complicated…"
Seeing the tension that just washed over the group, Gomurr knew that one of the things they were risking was self-destruction from within. He hoped like HELL that the other group was faring better… "Spread out, but not too far."
--------------------------------------
Cloaked, Daemon watched from his position on the top of the surveillance tower. They had several things going against them. With a significant number of veterans being compromised, they more than likely knew their tactics. How to counteract that? Easy… Daemon maps out the initial assault. Considering the relatively short length of time he has been in the Hellfire Club, chances are that they have not figured out his tactics, yet. Faith was the only one who has seen extensive use of them first-hand… and he didn't show her everything.
Several wildcards in this battle… Sabre, DarkWolf, and Diablo. Assume that the others are not yet aware of their presence, so they probably have not made any adjustments yet. Sabre in particular was crucial, because of her experience with teleportation. She's more practiced than anyone else and has it fine-tuned. Likewise, she'll more than likely become a secondary target.
With a pink flash of light, the object of his thoughts at the moment set down beside him. "Gabe… you here?"
"Yes." He said. "Everyone in position?"
"Yes." She said. "Grover's group arrived in a clump just like you asked and then spread out. The ship is in plain view."
"Good… They know we are here and they know we are up to something. They just can't figure out what we are up to. Give the signal for Outburst to knock politely."
-------------------------
"YO, SHITHEAD!" Outburst yelled into the security camera. "Why don't you get your sorry ass out here? I hear you have a bad case of constipation so I brought you the PERFECT laxative!" She said, waving her glowing cards in front of the camera.
Darkheart looked at Outburst's image on the videoscreen from inside the ready room in disbelief. "All the subterfuge and hiding… and they send a little girl to 'call me out'? Time to greet them…" He laughed. "I know just how much the rest of you have been looking forward to this…"
End Chapter Four
Chapter Five
"Normally, I don't waste my time with little girls," Darkheart said, rising out of the darkness behind her. "but what can I say? You've CERTAINLY grown up… and those pheromones make you all-too-irresistible…"
"You know… I'm not surprised at all," Outburst said with a glint in her eye as she backed away from him. "I talk about shoving these cards up your ass and you get horny. Guess we all know what side of the tree DARKHEART's swing is on!" Three cards flew from her hand, hitting Darkheart in the face and the stomach.
At first he seemed to be affected, but then she saw his skin darken and the lightning bolt across his eye shine. Black wisps of smoke shot from his wrist jerking Outburst around the waist and bringing her into him rather forcefully. He rammed her into the wall yet again, knocking the wind out of her. He wrapped one hand around the front of her neck and the other rested on her face, sliding down. "Little girl… I'll let you ride my swing…" He said, caressing her neck with his maddeningly cold touch. "And you can decide later if you enjoyed it or not after I've inducted you into adulthood."
The muscles in her neck constricted, Outburst tried to scream out but nothing would come. She struggled to break free of his grip, but his natural strength and the pure corruption of his touch was fighting her thoughts. Her eyes glowing a brighter shade of green, her head shook back and forth as she tried to push him off… Get him off her body and out of her mind…
Darkheart chuckled loudly in her ear as his cold lips traced her neck. "Yes… struggle… make it more enjoyable for me as I conquer you…" Without looking behind him, he backhanded DarkWolf across the cheek and kicked him out of the way. "Oh… I DO love an audience!" He said as the wispy smoke wrapped around DarkWolf. "Your girlfriend certainly knows how to please a man… Now, watch as I make a REAL woman out of her!"
DarkWolf snarled at him, straining his muscles against the wispy smoke. On his back, the jade handle of the Sword of Haresh glowed and shot out of its harness, slicing through the smoke. After it landed in DarkWolf's hand, he cut his bonds and started coming at him with a growl.
Darkheart glanced at him, again laughing. "You remind me so much of Mufasa that way…" That was when he noticed that his feet were feeling warm. "How…"
The ground exploded beneath him, tossing him into the air. Hyperventilating, Outburst landed on her feet. Finally, catching her breath, she pulled out her bo. "Gee, shithead… THANK you for that induction into womanhood. It does WONDERS for my ego," she said, slapping him between the legs with her bo. "To know that when my first time comes around, not ONLY is my boyfriend being a voyeur…" Two more cards flew from her hands, hitting him in the face. "…but my 'GUIDE' can't get it up! HAVEN'T YOU HEARD OF VIAGRA??!!!"
A shadowy wave flew from Darkheart, hurling DarkWolf and Outburst into the wall. "I've tired of this game… I'll just wait until I convert you BOTH to have my fun and then…"
"Oh… but then you'll miss the main event…" a voice said, shooting up from a hexbolt." Gomurr landed on his feet, spinning his staff in his hand. "So… YOU are the young man I've heard so much about that has been causing all this trouble with these little soul devourers."
"ANCIENT ONE… Are you so tired of life, you dare to challenge me?"
This time, Gomurr laughed drawing particular attention to the staff in his hand. "Now I see… Your body is not of his seed… but your essence is. As a sacrifice, he ripped out your heart and replaced it…"
"You took the only father I ever had…" Darkheart spat at him… "And I'll see you…"
Gomurr leapt through the air, bringing his staff across Darkheart's jaw. "Did anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?"
--------------------------------------
From his vantage point on the tower, Daemon saw DarkWolf and Outburst hurled away from the entrance. Gomurr was supposed to drag Darkheart away from here, but it did not appear the guy was cooperating. At least we have everyone else spread out. Any moment know, they should make their move…
At that instant, Daemon felt the tower beneath him shake. "Uh oh…" Then it began to fall. Daemon took a deep breath and spread himself flat across the tower to spread the distribution, when he felt a warm glow around him… and landed in Maul's arms. Realizing where he was, he jerked his head back and pulled himself to the ground, flashing his sword.
Sabre watched him do this, laughing as she saw the vampire's lack of reaction. "Geesh Gabe… I teleport you away like that and you get paranoid."
"No… Not quite…" Daemon said, shoving Sabre to the side. With his sword, he deflected three knives aimed at her with deadly accuracy. "Maul! Cover her!"
Marvel Girl landed on her feet and telekinetically set SlashR on the ground beside her. "No, Gabe… Maul CAN'T cover her." With a burst of telekinetic energy, Maul was hurled into the wreckage of the tower. Part of the antenna pulled itself free, thrusting through Maul's abdomen. "He's busy recovering."
With a flash of light, Sabre appeared behind Marvel Girl, hitting her across the base of the scalp with the side of her hand. "I can take care of myself, thank you very much!" With another blink, Sabre appeared in front of her, this time punching her in the lip. "Come on, 'queen', get up to speed!"
Marvel Girl responded with another telekinetic burst, hurling Sabre away from her. "Had the conversion process not blocked my telepathy, I'd have destroyed you by now. It just means that I need to be more creative!" Bits of debris pulled into the air, swirling around her, first at a slight speed, but then accelerating. "Let's try this one again!"
As expected, Daemon's extradimensional sword Anubis cut right through SlashR's own sword. That was what Anubis did. It just kicked ass. What SlashR didn't foresee was how his own agility was matching Daemon's. Was it all luck? Was Daemon consciously holding back? It didn't make sense! No speed… no energy attack… What was he doing?
SlashR's foot landed against Daemon's temple, knocking him off-balance. Daemon rolled with it, coming back to a stand when he saw three knives coming at him. Easy… He deflected them with the extradimensional sword and came at him.
Daemon found it odd that SlashR just stood absolutely still when he punched him. He found it even more odd when SlashR looked at him with shock as he still fought on. Three kicks and SlashR was down on the ground. "And you're the headmas…" Daemon started to crack when he saw the stricken look in Sabre's eyes… and noticed that SlashR's three blades he had deflected had actually landed… one in his shoulder, another in his knee, and the other one between his shoulderblades… and the blood that was gushing out of them…
"Daemon?! What happened to you?!" Sabre said, surprised… Distracted, she didn't see the steel beam shoot out and tag her across the forehead. As she fell toward the ground, she didn't notice that both her and Daemon fell through the shadows and were moved.
Marvel Girl reached the spot and glared around, her teeth clenching. "Maul…" she said.
-----------------------------------
From their position under the eave, Daemon resisted the urge to cringe as he saw Maul rip the piece of tower out of his stomach. Kneeling next to him, Maul ripped a sleeve off of Daemon's trench coat and pressed it against his shoulder, placing Daemon's hand on top of it. Stepping back, he brought his blood-soaked hand up to his mouth and licked his finger, smiling at Daemon."Press right there and you'll be fine. I'd hate to see all that delicious blood go to waste."
With his free hand, Daemon flashed Anubis again, glaring Maul in the eye. "Yeah… FUNNY one, Drac… We can't wait any longer for Gomurr to get Darkheart out of here. Tell the others that we need to move to the next stage of the plan."
Maul turned away, looking at the battlefield… with everyone scattered around, trying to keep the possessed divided and not working as a team. "Yeah… Sure… Easy as pie." Maul muttered. As he sank into his shadow, Maul thought to himself. Too bad… I should have got myself a drink from the girl first…
--------------------------------
Hellion's Compound
It was odd. Just a year ago, Khalid would have never thought he would have this feeling while everyone was on a mission. His attitude? He was not going to risk his career going on these missions with the Hellions. At the drop of a dime, they would rush out to battle in some public arena, saving who knows whom from certain death. They were the ones who wanted to stop the bad guys. Not him. He wanted none of this life. His disdain for the Hellfire Club politics not to mention how he did NOT get along with his peers was reason alone to walk away. Everyone would have been happier had he just walked away. Why DIDN'T he walk away? This was just not the life for him.
Easy, K… At the time, it was the safest place for you to be until you could get a handle on your powers. He thought to himself. Yes, there were those that gave a rat's ass about you, but there were others who were looking out for you. There are those you have either won over or have won you over.
Has anything good come out of it? What about what it his done to you sanity? The way it has moved you toward the breaking point? There is this strange empathy with Grover because of that shit on your arm… not to mention that Daemon's fucked up memories keep hitting him. Hell… His powers seem to flare up on their own accord these days. Mufasa comes and goes as he wishes… not to mention that those rare times he sleeps, he still dreams… of New Year's over and over again…
STOP IT! Quit obsessing over your problems. Because you stayed in the Hellfire Club, you found out the truth about Grover… and in the end brought a sense of closure to Grover and the entire family. You owe these people a lot. They have done so MUCH for you…
He looked out the window of his office at the mural Outburst and the other Hellions painted on the side of the Lecture Hall when it was rebuilt in February. It was of all the Hellions, both new and old. In a way, it was cartoony, but she managed to bring out the features of everyone's personality in it. The thing that made Khalid smile and caused his throat to choke was that toward the very end… about five people in… was a rendition of Khalid himself. He hid it well, but he felt a strange sense of elation when he saw that.
He thought Kane was full of it earlier when he was cut out of the loop. At the time, he was positive Kane was acting solely to be an asshole. That vision of seeing Grover on the ship planning with them… dismissive that he was not along… Khalid just started reconsidering everything.
Was Kane right? Khalid could mention all of these times that individual people have done right by him, but has he done right by them? At the time, Khalid thought that he had no choice… that by playing "bad" it would stick him in the best position to pull Darkheart's ground out from under him… and possibly provide a beacon for Grover to track them down… maybe do some spying. Was he playing around with everyone's lives?
Taking that train of thought further… Was his serving as the White Rook simply keeping someone else more qualified from taking the role? Someone who was prepared to go on missions rather than only those that would not expose him? Someone who was actually SANE?
Maybe all this time he was being selfish… Maybe it was too much to ask that whatever he helps with does not interfere with his career… Maybe he was being selfish by demanding to go on the mission. Kane might have a point. Just his presence there might be endangering everyone.
It would just be better for everyone if he left.
He walked out the door and started down the hall, entering Grover's office. "Hey Alice… When everyone gets back in, can you tell Grover I need to speak with him?"
"You're actually speaking with him?" Alice joked, as she typed. "Just kidding… Sure, I will. I'm somewhat surprised you aren't out there with everyone. I could understand hanging back for the generic 'beat up the bad guy in the middle of Times Square' missions, but I envisioned you as helping with something of this magnitude." Seeing Khalid's almost-stricken expression, she realized that she had stepped into sore territory. "Khalid… Are you okay?"
He nodded. "Y… yes… Just a little…" Before he could finish, a small high-pitched voice interrupted them, laughing and giggling. Khalid turned around to see Dr. Angelo Torres walk in with a small six-year-old riding on his shoulders.
"Glad to see some people!" Angelo said, huffing and puffing. "For a moment, I thought everyone was going to let Christian here ride me off a cliff! Hey, Khalid… Nice to see ya. You're overdue for your annual exam."
"Yeah," Khalid said. "I'm overdue for last year's too."
"Christian," Alice said, looking down toward the six-year-old heir to Aidos Simitis' fortune. "I have some colored pencils and sketchpads over here… Do you want to draw?"
"Yes! Thanks, Ms. Pembleton!" He walked and hugged her. "I love drawing… but I'm hungry…"
"I'll just…"
Khalid cut her off, forcing a smile. "No, Alice… Allow me. Christian, how does a big Coney Dog, potato chips, and cole slaw sound?"
"Yummy, Uncle Khalid!"
"All right, then…" Khalid said, looking down at his little cousin. He wondered briefly what Grover was like at that age. Putting that out of his mind, he glanced around the room. "Alice? Angelo? You want in? I'll get some ice-cream too."
"Sure…"
"No problem!"
Khalid rubbed his hand on Christian's scalp, tossing his hair about. "Be good and draw until I get back." He said, leaving.
As everyone else went about their business, no one noticed that Christian's drawing was looking like a bald midget in a robe with a tattoo across his eye…
End Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Daemon's plan was sound. Keep everyone spread out until Gomurr takes Darkheart out of the fight. Prevent them from working as a team. Everyone else's job at that point was simply to keep busy. Wear them down… That would set the perfect stage to set Darque Feonix's plan into motion. Namely… after Darkheart is removed from the fight, Byron starts exorcising the soul devourers.
Darque Feonix could not help but think that there was something wrong. Something nagging in the back of his mind. Something that was just so WRONG about this, it was like it was burning in his brain, but something just was not connecting.
"There you are, Kane…" Cyclops said, rising out of the darkness. With a laugh, he pulled his own staff out of his shirt pocket. "Feel like going one on one?"
"Case… Just because it is you, I'm not going to…"
"Oh… like you could do anything to me anyway." Cyclops said, tapping his forehead. "Tactics, Kane. You forget… This very soul devourer that gets me to show just how much of an asshole I can really be prevents you from tearing open my mind…"
His eye flashing, Darque Feonix pulled out his own staff. "Come on, Case… You know me better than that. That's not my only defense. I've wielded this staff long before I ever became a Hellion. You can't defeat me with a staff… You never could. You always had to use some other means…"
The Odinseye flashing, Cyclops walked up, holding the staff at just an arm's length. "Yeah, Kane… I did. That's because I'm smarter than you… better able to adapt…"
"I'm not arguing, there. I always looked up to…"
"Please, Kane!" Cyclops said, taking a swing. "Don't make an ass out of yourself anymore." As expected, Darque Feonix blocked it, this time, adjusting his hold to sweep the legs. "I lost my eye in an attempt to stop you from getting swallowed in that Phoenix shit because I just KNEW Paramount and Harbinger were going to kill your lover and her elemental would go flying into you." With a flash of the Odinseye, Cyclops was pulled into the air enough to kick Feonix in the face. "ALL you had to do was stay away. That was ALL you had to do." Staggering back, Feonix knocked Cyclops' feet out from under him and with a telekinetic nudge, threw him into the ground. "NOOOO… You came charging in… and swallowed that FIREBIRD shit!"
"Gee, Case… It's been six years. Get over it."
The Odinseye glowed bright blue as objects around them were pulled into the air. Cyclops ability to manipulate gravity fields was similar to telekinesis in that it was powered by his willpower. With the telepathic component taken from the fight, Darque Feonix was at a disadvantage. Both of them knew the other's moves. They could conceivably cancel each other out as far as power goes, but Cyclops is the one trying to kill him. Although he was trying not to, Darque Feonix was pulling his punches.
"No, Kane… You see… My best friend - Kane X - DIED on that day… and you KILLED him!"
"Case… you can't be serious!" He said. "I…"
"DEAD serious!" Cyclops said, hurling shrapnel and debris at him. Darque Feonix telekinetically caught it. They were at a stalemate. Darque Feonix could overpower him, but that could mean killing Cyclops… but he could not allow Cyclops to kill him either. "Come on, Kane… I got you locked down… You can't do anything else…"
"Sorry about your pain, Case… but REALLY you need to get over it." With that, he adjusted the direction of his push, causing the momentum of the shrapnel to shoot it to the side. While he was distracted, he didn't notice Cyclops jerk his wrist toward him, shooting a bolo. It wrapped around his neck, completely cutting off his air. It was so heavy, Darque Feonix was pulled to the ground.
Seeing him struggle with it, Cyclops walked over laughing. His staff hit Feonix in the chin and then against the temple. "Oh… I'm over it, Kane… Not nearly as over it as YOU are!" He brought the staff down toward Feonix's neck in a move to finish it only to find Darque Feonix catch the end with his hand and a telekinetic nudge. With his other hand, he ripped the bolo off and struck Cyclops down cold.
With Cyclops down, Darque Feonix coughed for air and crawled over to him, pulling the Odinseye out of his eye. "No, Case… I can't say I'm over it, either. I'm not sure I'll ever be over it."
At that moment, Maul exploded out of the ground in front of Darque Feonix and caught an arrow that was bearing down on his shoulder. Two more arrows came at him, this time aimed at Maul's eyes. He grabbed one of them before it could reach, but the other he could not get in time. Luckily, Darque Feonix caught it. Telekinetically, he lashed out, throwing the source - Hawkeye - into a jeep.
"Thanks, Maul… I didn't see that coming."
"Save it," Maul said, grabbing Darque Feonix by the back of the shirt and setting him on his feet. "Daemon said to go to the next stage."
"Gomurr's taken Darkheart out of the fight already?"
"No… 'We' can't wait any further." Maul said in a mocking tone. "Too many spikes getting injured." He said, with a smile. "Can't have any of my future meals getting killed, can I?"
"Very funny."
"Who's joking?" Maul said with a smile while sinking back into the ground.
"I HATE that fucking vampire," Darque Feonix said.
---------------------------------------------
Hearing the commotion outside, Gomurr could tell what was happening. He had fooled around sparring with this Darkheart long enough. People outside were getting hurt and he needed to hurry up and drag Darkheart out of here and take care of him properly.
What surprised him was just how well this man had adjusted to the energies of the Crimson Dawn. Just being near him was enough for Gomurr himself to start feeling the pulse of those energies. The darkness was intoxicating… he wanted more of it. Hell… he wanted it to fill him. No… It's the corruptive power… You can't let it…
"What's WRONG, Ancient One?!" Darkheart said, his fist making contact with the old one's chin. "You can't bring yourself to do it… You can't bring yourself to take a taste…" With a jerk of his hand, a wisp of black smoke flew into Gomurr's face, causing him to have a coughing spell. "You have no idea what you gave up."
"Oh… but I do!" Gomurr said, hitting Darkheart in the face with a hexbolt. Flying into the air, he kicked Darkheart in the face and then brought his staff down on the back of his head as he passed. He couldn't help but laugh at how this must look… A barely four-foot tall midget that is the size of a small child, fighting a rather large black man more than two feet taller than himself. The red Crimson Dawn tattoo glowed bright red across Gomurr's face as he gestured with his hand and motioned for the very shadows to lash around Darkheart. "I knew what I was doing when I ripped it out of Lao Tsung's grasp… and I knew what it could do…" He stopped for a moment, seeing the look of frustration… of desperation that flashed across Darkheart's face. He could almost swear the man was on the verge of tears. "You were but a child…" Gomurr found himself saying.
With a white flash of the lightning bolt across his eye, Darkheart drew the shadows inside through his skin and hurled them out of his hands as daggers to Gomurr. "I'm no longer a child, old man!" Darkheart said, watching the daggers rip into Gomurr. "A son, I will be for ALWAYS." He said, stalking toward Gomurr. "But I am MORE than the son of Lao Tsung…" he said, grabbing Gomurr in the air by his robe. "I am the son of the Crimson Dawn itself… and I vow vengeance…"
Gomurr coughed, clearing the blood out of his throat, and looked into Darkheart's eyes in disbelief. Shaking his head back and forth, he sighed. "No… You are the son of darkness, Darkheart…" he said, his hands glowing with a whitish-purple light. "And what you are in need of more than anything else… is a SPANKING!" The hexbolt shot from his fingers, slamming into the ground… A wind formed, ripping Darkheart off of Gomurr and slapping him into the wall.
With a flash of his eye, Darkheart's head jerked. "One of my soul devourers… was just destroyed…" Furiously, he slapped his fist into the wall behind him and spun around, his eyes glaring intently at Byron. In front of her, Blackfire lied on the ground, grabbing her head. Her hair orange and a yellow glow around her, she turned toward him, her face smiling all the way. "BYRON!!!! I should have known…" He spun toward Gomurr, "You… this was stalling… the entire time… so you could remove me and have her exorcise my soul devourers. Sneaky… to be admired… The members of this Hellfire Club prove themselves to be more worthy adversaries than I would have ever hoped." With a jerk of his hand to the side of his head, he pointed toward Byron. "Unfortunately for you, I'm about to ruin your fun…" He said, his hands glowing with an ominous dark…
"I told you before that you talk too much." Gomurr said, hurling a hex bolt at Darkheart's feet. Surprised, both Darkheart and Gomurr fell through, disappearing without a trace.
------------------------------------
"About time," Byron said with a sigh as she saw Gomurr drag Darkheart off. With the porthole behind her providing her a direct link to hell, she could draw on all the power she needed. Her hands glowed a bright white as she started to form a large fireball over her head. Around her, she erected a telekinetic field. "To get everyone at once, I'm going to have to make this huge. I'll need some time. You're going to have to stall."
Having been exorcised just before Darkheart left, Blackfire rose from the ground. "Gabe… WHERE'S GABE??!!"
Maul grabbed her by the shoulder, yanking her awkwardly up to her feet. " This isn’t the time girl…
He is safe, now help your other friends…"
Understanding, Blackfire took to the air, only to be jerked backwards by the hair. Faith slapped her hand around her throat, this time squeezing. Unable to breathe, Blackfire grabbed her by the arm, attempting to force her to bend it, but it wouldn't budge.
"I don't see what makes you so tough, bitch," Faith said, squeezing tighter. "You think you're so fucking BEAUTIFUL, DON'T you? Not only on the outside, but the INSIDE! That allows you to wrap men around your little finger… and make them feel guilty. Don't try to deny it. I've seen you DO it."
Blackfire wrapped her legs around Faith's arm and fixed her calf under Faith's neck. No, she was not a match for Faith's strength, but this did give her a little more leverage. Finally, she ripped her neck out of Faith's fingers and pulled Faith's arm behind her back. "Faith… I don't do that… Honest…"
"WHY do you have to be beautiful?!" Faith screamed, throwing Blackfire from around her. "Why do ALL the guys have to be looking at YOU all the time?!"
Blackfire felt a sense of pity, this time. It shocked her to see Faith this upset… this angry. She saw something inside of Faith at this moment to an extent that she was not sure Daemon had. Faith was depressed. Even more than that… Faith felt guilty over something. But what? What did she feel guilty about?!
Faith came straight at her, ready to punch her down. Blackfire moved to the side, but she knew she wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time… and she could not bring herself to fire on Faith. Just before Faith could reach her, a blue hand reached out and caught her around the waist. She stopped, staring at Grover… but would not fight him.
"Grover?" Blackfire said. "Thank God."
Grover turned to her… and a smile grew across his face. He let Faith go.
"What?!" Blackfire said, barely dodging.
Maul grabbed Grover from behind, managing to grapple one arm and began to hurl him down toward the ground. "Naughty, naughty Weisskoenig…"
Before he could blink, Grover expanded his kinetic field, knocking Maul away from him, spinning him to the ground. "Like lambs to the slaughter aren’t we? You’d think that with all the training we put you people through, some of it may come into use…but NO..." forming a dagger in his hand from the Gauntlets of Excalibur instantly, he jerked his arm across Maul's throat, slitting it. He followed it up with a kick to Maul's chin, knocking him to the back of Byron's telekinetic field.
"MAUL!" Blackfire yelled, as she fired a black fireball at Grover.
Grover zipped around the fireball with ease, plowing through Byron's telekinetic field and punching her in the kidney. Byron screamed as she fell, the exorcising flame dissipating from her hands. When she landed on the ground, she stuttered to look up when she saw Grover's boot land itself across her forehead. "No…" she said.
"TRAITOR!" Diablo said, his sword flying over Grover's head. "I TOLD you he was faking it!"
"Yes, I was…" Grover said, hurling Diablo away with his kinetic field again. He flew into the air, yelling across the battle field. "HEAR me! Darkheart's out of the picture. He could never control me because of Excalibur… You ally yourselves with me and it will be US who rule this fucking country… The best part?" Grover said. "You keep your free will."
Tangerine picked Byron up, flying backwards. "Byron… This doesn't look good… I'm getting you out of here."
"Tan… No… It's Excalibur…" she mumbled groggily. "It's allowing him to influence the others. You have to…"
This time, Grover directed his voice toward Tangerine. "But first… Some well-deserved fun… Kill them… Kill them ALL!"
End Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
"All right," Khalid said, coming back into the office of the White King. "I've got the coney dogs… potato chips… Coca-Cola… ice-cream… Everything right here."
"YAAAAAAAY!" Christian said as he turned in his chair. "Food!"
"Yes… Food, if that’s what your willing to call it. Here ya go, Christian." Khalid carefully set the tray down on the table and started arranging the food. "Better move your sketchpad. I don't want anything to get on it."
"Here, Christian… I'll take it." Angelo said, moving the sketchpad on top of the filing cabinet. Turning back around, he stopped a moment to muss Christian's hair again. "You coming over to eat, Alice? The food's good and hot, now."
"In a moment. I'm just finishing these records, here."
Out of his pocket, Khalid pulled out a wad of napkins, being sure to set the majority of them near Christian. Although the kid was bright for his age, Khalid was still one to remember that he was a kid… a kid that had been through more than his share of his horrors in just the past six months. On Christmas Day, the kid had been kidnapped and locked into a crate for hours. His adopted father - the only one he knew - was shot at point-blank range with a plasma gun. His mother? That was a different story altogether… Then New Year's… Man… New Year's… Khalid himself still had nightmares from it. Lord knows what something like that did to Christian…
This was a period of adjustment for everyone… especially Christian. The kid went from two in his family to none… and suddenly had thirty or forty… His relationship with Grover has grown by leaps and bounds as well as Gomurr, who may as well be his grandfather. To everyone's horror, there was one man whom Christian considered his best friend… Maul of all people! They were equally shocked to discover that Maul himself was won over by this kid…
In a way, Christian was part of the reason Khalid and Grover fell out a few months ago…
"All right, Christian… now try not to get the chili all over your shirt like last time. Grover would have a fit!" Khalid said, setting up the table. "This time, make sure you get it all over the floor!"
"Ignore him, Christian…" Angelo said. "He's just trying to get you to do his dirty work!"
"Hello, Office of the White Hellfire Club." Alice said into the phone. Looking over toward Angelo, Alice shook her head, motioning for him to keep Khalid busy. "No… I'm afraid he's out of town on an engagement now. You can fax the details here and we'll look into it." She turned her back to them, speaking softly into the phone. "Deputy Collins… Please… Mr. Hunter will be back tomorrow afternoon. So… the house was completely vandalized? Top to bottom? Yes… send the report to my fax number… Thank you." She hung the phone up and stepped away from the desk.
"Who was THAT Alice?" Khalid said with a chuckle. "I saw you turn your back and whisper… Is that your fiancé calling the business line to sweep you off your feet again?"
"Yes… Yes… That's it, Khalid…" Alice said, smiling as she sat down. "He's ALWAYS like that."
"I thought he usually called you on the cell phone?" Angelo said, looking up with a smile, but then he saw Alice's eyes moved like they were asking him to be quiet. " Must be keeping you on your toes I guess” Angelo spurted out of nowhere.
Christian and Khalid looked back and forth between the two of them and then at each other. "See, Christian… That's what happens when you don't eat your vegetables. You go BONKERS!" Quickly, Christian grabbed a handful of potato chips and shoved them in his mouth. "That's my boy!"
"Um… Khalid… I think my Coke is flat. Would you mind?"
"No… I wouldn't mind. Christian! Keep an eye on them!" Khalid said getting up when he had a dizzy spell. "Whoa…" He said, stumbling into the file cabinet. Christian's sketchpad slid off the top, landing at his feet. He stopped for a moment as he felt his aura flare yellow on its own and his senses go crazy. He stood for a moment, covering his ears to shut out the sounds.
"Hold on, Khalid… You better sit down." Angelo got up, making his way around the table. "Let me get a look at you…"
"No… It's okay… I…" Khalid knelt down, picking up Christian's sketchpad, when he saw the drawing on the first page… that looked strikingly like Gomurr and Darkheart fighting. "My god…" At once his mind was assaulted with images and sounds of the two fighting. Shaking his head, he flipped the next page to see a drawing of Grover hitting Byron in the back and Maul on the ground with blood coming from his neck. As those images assaulted his mind, he threw the sketchpad away from him abruptly and started down the hall, still stumbling. "Shit… They're in trouble…"
"Khalid?!" Angelo said, following him out the door.
Christian turned around, "Alice… is Uncle K-Lid going to be okay?"
"Yes, Christian… He's going to be just fine…" She said, picking up Christian's sketchpad. Looking through it, all she saw were assorted scribbles and coloring. Um… okay… Art is DEFINITELY not Christian's strongsuit at this point in time. "Here, Christian…" She said, "You can draw after you finish eating. I'll be back in a couple of minutes. I'm going to check on Uncle Khalid. He seems to be a little sick."
"Okay, Ms. Pebles ton." He said with a chuckle as she left the door. "Poor Uncle K-Lid… I know! I'll make him feel better!" He picked up his sketchpad and flipped through it. "I'll draw a picture of him!"
-------------------------
"Come on, Khalid… You better sit right here on the cot," Angelo said pulling out the stethoscope. "You aren't bleeding through your nose, which is a good sign… Aura's not hot enough to burn anything… Another good sign…"
Khalid started to push himself up. "I'm fine, Angelo… Really… I'm telling you… Take a look at Christian's sketchpad! They're in trouble! I…"
----------------------
Christian pulled out the yellow color pencil and started coloring on the sketchpad. "Uncle K-Llid needs a little more yellow around him… just like his glow…"
----------------------
"Khalid… Calm down… Just a hallucination or something. I don't know. Hold on… let me give you a sedative and see if that helps you put your aura down…" Angelo said.
"No, I'll be…" Khalid stopped as his senses flared even more. Again the visions overwhelmed him, becoming too much for him. Growling, his hand covered his eyes and he writhed back and forth trying to drown out the sights and the sounds in his head… Byron injured… Sharon covering Maul… Darque Feonix and Grover fighting in the air… Grover punching him in the lip and forming a point on the end of his staff… Khalid's aura flared even more, this time knocking Angelo and Alice away from him.
"This was NOT in the job description," Alice said, climbing back to her feet.
----------------------
"Awwwww… Uncle K-Lid looks lonely… I know! I'll draw someone to cheer him up!" He said, this time grabbing the Gray colored pencil…
----------------------
That last thing Khalid heard before he teleported was Angelo yelling something about the mutant dampening field not working on him. It was difficult to hear through the loud demonic roar coming from his throat. He was just not used to channeling power at this level… and he prayed that he NEVER had to do it. His eyes, nose, and ears still screaming from the sensory overload, Khalid felt himself fall about four feet to the ground with a thud.
"God DAMN…" Khalid shouted into the air. "I will NEVER get that brat a fucking sketchpad again!" He sat still for a moment, waiting for his senses to die down, only then realizing that someone was shaking him by the shoulder.
"Sssssh! Keep it down!" The man said. "I don't know where you came from or how you got here, but it looks like two groups of Hellions are fighting outside! There are people roaming the halls looking for us…"
"What the hell…" Khalid said, turning to see the man. "A fucking soldier?! Where the hell am I?"
The man saw him and backed away. Khalid could see the identification around the guy's neck. Carl Healton. He started to speak when the man's eye opened wide. "What the hell?! You're Mufasa! How the hell did you get here?! I saw the light and…"
"You need to tell me exactly what is happening, Carl… Right now. Where is everyone?"
"They're outside… and that's the nearest door, but you can't get through it. It's electronically locked. The only way to open it is from the computer center and they have all those people possessed! You have to…"
Khalid flared his aura and knocked the door off its hinges with a photon paw. "Stay out of sight…"
"Y… y… you're a mutie??!!"
Khalid stopped, glancing to his side. " Just stay out of sight." He said, walking out. He could feel himself choke, knowing that he may have just set the ball rolling on what may be the end of his career…
End Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
The good news. Without Darkheart around, those possessed with soul devourers were just as tired as those without. They were getting tired… they were going unconscious… they were manageable.
The bad news? They were united. By whom? Grover… the White King himself. He infiltrated them… waited for Darkheart to be taken out of the fight… and then took over the possessed himself using Excalibur to influence them. Put simply, it had gone from bad to worse.
Daemon blamed himself. Because Grover wasn't acting like everyone else, they gave him the benefit of the doubt too soon. Hell… Even Gomurr had said that Grover was okay. Well… he wasn't… and he had quickly put their plans asunder. With the "good" guys having been injured more seriously trying to put the "bad" guys down with minimal pain, they were not all that prepared for dealing with a united front. The idea was to KEEP them from uniting… It was a sound plan.
"Let's see…" Daemon said, looking in front of them. "SlashR… Hawkeye… and Nebula. So… that means three knives… two arrows… and probably a few fireballs… and I have…" Daemon looked at his hand. "One extradimensional sword that kicks ass. Might stop the knives and the arrows, but probably not the fire in time. Do you have any ideas, Sabre?" Daemon asked, stepping backwards. "Oh… wait… I forget… I'm carrying you with the other arm and you have a concussion. Nevermind."
"I've got it," Hawkeye said, with a smile. "I'll aim mine at Sabre… SlashR at Daemon… and Nebula, you just fry them both at once. That way, we all get to enjoy this killing."
"Hey! What a WONDERFUL idea!" Nebula said.
"I think it sucks." Daemon said. "I've got a better idea. You three versus me in hand to hand combat. Handicap match. I won't even use my sword."
"No, sweetie…" Nebula answered. "I couldn't BEAR to muss up my hair with your blood. I just washed it this morning!"
The trio stopped approaching when three cards landed at their feet. "HEY! NO STAFF MEETINGS WITHOUT THE HEADMISTRESS!" Outburst said, landing in front of them. "Now back up…"
"What are you going to do, Outburst?" SlashR asked. "Charm us with your hormones?"
"They aren't hormones… They are PHEROMONES!" she said. "I swear… Weren't you paying attention in biology?"
"No… and neither were you!" SlashR said. "Oh well… I think we have ourselves an even match, now… Three vs. three…"
Sabre's voice weakly called out. "No fair… I'm unconscious here… Gimme a day…"
DarkWolf jumped from behind, shoving Nebula into Hawkeye. SlashR spun around, this time hurling knives at DarkWolf, but he intercepted them with the Sword of Haresh. The bounced off, flying into the light post, and moving toward Daemon, but Outburst intercepted them with her bo and deflected them so that they struck SlashR in the back. By this time, Nebula turned her fire on Daemon, who shielded Sabre with Anubis while Outburst threw a card at her feet.
Marvel Girl flew in from behind, telekinetically hurling DarkWolf into Daemon and Sabre. She pulled Outburst into the air, about to throw her down when a lightning bolt ripped out of the sky, striking her down. His hands glowing blue, Rune made a gesture with them, causing the wind to pick up. With a flick of the wrist, he directed it toward Nebula and Marvel Girl, distracting them long enough for Outburst to hit them both with cards.
"It's not wise to turn your back on me," Hawkeye said, this time shooting two arrows aimed at Rune's chest and neck. This time, Maul tackled Rune from behind, taking the arrows in his back.
"Damn it," Daemon said, looking at the fight. "This has got to be brought to an end before someone gets killed." At that moment, he noticed that he could feel his powers kicking back in. How? K’s here?! He turned around, looking toward the horizon… and saw a group of helicopters coming their way. Shit… It's the military. This has just gone from bad to worse…
-------------------------------
Interlude
Place unknown
He sat up in the bed, looking around. He did not understand, but he had a headache. He felt as if he had been through an ordeal… as if something had been ripped out of him. It was a strange feeling. One he could not quite explain. Who was he? Where was he?
Slowly, his gaze shifted toward the mirror at the side of his bed. He picked up the hand mirror, for the first time getting a look at himself. He was white… and he had blonde stubble on his face. Okay… His eyes were blue… but his head was shaved bald. Just this morning, he could tell. Damn! Was he a skinhead?! He mulled it over… but changed his mind, seeing that he could morph his hands into claws at will. Nope… Probably not a skinhead.
He looked at himself in the mirror, turning his head from side to side. His face and his scalp had thick red and blue lines painted on it. Dangling from his neck was a necklace of some sort. Its significance, he did not know.
He rose to his feet, a feeling of nausea washing over him almost immediately. He looked down at his hands to see that they seemed to glow with a strange sort of energy. Photovaltic, he thought the name of it was. The man felt sick. That was for sure… At the sound of the door opening, he spun around, his eyes locking with some of the most enchanting eyes he had seen.
"My love," she said, stepping the rest of the way through the door. "You should not be up. You are still weak from the initiation process."
He stumbled forward, but she caught him. "Initiation? What… initiation? Who… where am I?"
"You, my beloved, are home." She said, embracing him. "Your previous life was wiped away. You are to start anew, which is what our name means."
"What? I don't under…" He began, but she placed her finger on his lips and led him back toward the bed.
"My love… My name is Domina. You are my Jaeger… and we are Neo."
End Interlude
-------------------------------
In his early days, Darque Feonix was only a low-level telepath/telekinetic. His main strength lied in his precognition. There were cases in which he knew things to happen before they did. He was not always aware of when they happened. It could be a month… a year… or a half an hour. Normally, he did not know. It was this very talent that cost him the only family he had known… that had him wandering.
It was a day, shortly after dispatching a demon named Pyre, that four people emerged from a red portal. The late Jamie Madrox… Rachel Ferguson… Casey Jones… and Grover… He had a family, once again. People he cared for. A real life with a real future…
Then, Grover died. Struck down by the cosmic force known as Entropy. On the day of his funeral, a madman named Paramount and a time traveler called Robert Maxwell decided to slay Kane's lover - the Black Queen Phoenix - so that Claudia Sandubal would rise to the queen's position. The other surviving Hellions went to stop them while Rachel was to occupy Kane. Kane opened her mind and found out… rushed in at the moment of Phoenix's death. The elemental swept into his body, becoming one with it… and nothing was ever the same again.
Now, Darque Feonix no longer is the avatar, but his psionic power and expertise remains at a level far above almost everyone else.
None of it was any good against SuperGrover. With his kinetic aura, telepathy and telekinesis slide over him like water off a duck's back. Fighting him hand to hand would not be a smart idea, either. A staff formed from the Gauntlets of Excalibur would snap his staff like a twig… not to mention that with the control Grover recently developed over the Gauntlets, being up close to him would not be a good idea anyway.
The answer? Fight indirectly… and don't let Grover get in close… and hope no one else hits you from anywhere else. Stealing a page from Marvel Girl's fight with Sabre earlier, Darque Feonix first drew Grover away from everyone else and then telekinetically pulled shrapnel into the air, revolving it around him at a high velocity.
"KANE!" Grover yelled as he blocked his face from being hit with a sink. "What's wrong?! Too afraid to face me?!"
Damn it… Why the hell are all these people calling me Kane?! Must be that damn Khalid's influence… Feonix thought as he pulled heavier pieces into his miniature cyclone. "No… Just not stupid. I already fell for your tricks once, Grover… I'm not going to do it again." He said, this time hurling a jeep engine into him.
The blade Grover formed from Excalibur sliced it apart, easily. He tried to grab onto it, but it whipped away. He had to give it to Darque Feonix. The man was not going to make this easy. Unfortunately for him, Grover was already analyzing the situation. The centripetal force Feonix was generating naturally made the cyclone push horizontally. He was using so much shrapnel that he could not cover the vertical.
Grover flew upward into the sky, being sure to contain as much oxygen as possible within his field. The idea was to fly high enough so that Darque Feonix could barely see him. Then, he came down, first allowing gravity to naturally pull him and then using his own field to propel him. A trail of smoke streamed after him as he bore down on Feonix from above.
"Take… me out to the ball… game… take… me out to the…" Darque Feonix sang as he scanned the sky looking for Grover. Because of the White Uniform, he couldn't see him at all. Try as he might, he was doing this blind. What gave Grover away was the stream of smoke. "Batter up," Feonix said, slapping Grover with the entire mound of shrapnel at once, wrapping around him. Keeping a telekinetic squeeze on it, he slapped it into the ground hard. "Home run." Darque Feonix said, settling down on the ground beside it. "I hope I didn't hurt you too much, Grover, but I had to put you down hard. Now, stay put and surrender like a good…"
Before he could finish Grover exploded out of the wreckage, ramming into Darque Feonix. Forming a pointed staff with Excalibur, he stalked over to where Feonix lied, laughing. "Surrender? Now THAT was funny, Kane. Tell you what… Beg for your life." Darque Feonix started to telekinetically pull himself in the air when Grover kicked him again. This time, Darque Feonix landed square on his back and Grover picked him up in the air. "Come on, Kane… Beg for your life," he said forming a dagger from Excalibur and holding it to his neck. "I'm waiting… Hold on… What is this?" He said as a white porthole opened ten feet to his side. "Stay put, Feonix…" Grover said, throwing him to the side. "You call that sneaking UP on someone Khalid? DAMN, you're dumber than I thought…" He started walking toward the porthole. "Aren't you going to come out? Or are you chicken?"
Darque Feonix started to get up, when he felt a hand grip him by the shoulder. "Ssssssshhhh…" Khalid whispered into his ear, blood dripping from his nose from containing the light inside. "Thought you needed a break."
"What the hell are you doing here?! I thought I ordered…"
"Fine. You want me to go back?" Khalid stood up, this time projecting his voice toward Grover. "Hey, Grover! Kane doesn't want me around, so I'm just going to forgo the fight and go home."
Grover turned around to face him, practically dumbfounded. "I see you wearing yourself out, Khalid… You KNOW opening portholes does that. Man… you really ARE dumber than I thought. I can't believe I'm related to you! Don't worry," he said, forming his staff again. "I'll put you out of your misery."
"One thing, first… Have you ever thought about what would happen if a telekinetic tried to hold back a solar flare and failed?"
Grover started flying toward him. "No… I've got other things to do with my spare time."
"This." Khalid said, his hands covering Darque Feonix's eyes. A solid beam of light shot out of the porthole behind Grover, slapping into him and knocking him past them. Khalid shut down the porthole, but the momentum kept Grover going for about two miles. "Hurry… He'll be back here in no time."
"I know that, Khalid… I'm not a roo…"
"Well, I'm not disputing that. This is what I'm telling you, though. Excalibur is what is anchoring the soul devourers. So Grover's the one I'm going to target."
"How do you know that?"
"Because I have that fucking shit in my arm. Since I'm this close, I also know that for some reason Grover's soul devourer released the Simambe component of Excalibur. He's immune to magic, which is probably why neither Gomurr nor Rune suspected something was going on."
Hey… He's better at this than I thought. "All right, Einstein… You seem to know a lot about what is going on. Do you have a plan?"
"Well… sort of... My sliver of Excalibur might give me a backdoor to destroy his soul devourer if I make direct contact with it."
"Are you saying…"
"Yes… Sort of… I've got to tackle Grover. He probably knows this already and withdrew Excalibur inside his skin… Not to mention that I never actually did anything like this on purpose… or that I’m not sure Simambe will necessarily reverse back…" Khalid stopped, backing away as he saw Grover closing in from the distance. "Not to mention that Grover might be immune to my protection spell… or that Excalibur might allow him to predict what I’m going to do… or that I’ve never lasted more than three minutes in the Danger Room against him…" Khalid stopped, blinking his eyes. "No, I don’t have a fucking plan."
Darque Feonix rolled his eyes, seeing Khalid go on like this. He went back to his original assumption. "Get the hell out of here; I'll take care of Grover…"
"No… I already pissed him off. He’s not going to let me walk away. Besides… Everyone else is going to need you for something else."
"What?" Neither Khalid nor Darque Feonix moved as they heard an explosion from a missile that impacted behind them. "Oh… yeah… the military… Good point. If you weren't incompetent in the field, I'd say that you were making sense… but you are, so you weren't. Oh… and the damage to the Ready Room is coming out of your paycheck."
“Jackass,” Khalid grumbled loudly as Darque Feonix flew off to take care of the approaching military.
End Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
All right… Darque Feonix said, looking at the military who had finally arrived. Excellent… they are wearing lightweight psi-shielding. I'll easily burn through that, but somehow I've got to get them to turn around… not to mention keeping them from shooting anyone and everyone. He thought. He was about to do it when he reconsidered that approach. No… He couldn’t just go poking inside their heads and force them to turn around or land. These weren’t everyday civilians in the middle of the city or a small town. These were the Armed Forces. They are more likely to figure out what was going on. No… The Hellions had a positive image and Darque Feonix knew that he had to protect it at all costs.
It is important I speak with the man in charge. He projected. The situation is not what it appears to be.
“WHAT IT APPEARS TO BE,” a man’s voice said over the loudspeaker, “IS THAT THE HELLIONS HAVE ATTACKED A RESTRICTED GOVERNMENT INSTALLATION. I AM HEREBY ORDERING THE UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER OF THE HELLIONS. YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS TO COMPLY.”
Thirty seconds to comply? Since you are so positive that you have a grasp on the situation, why don’t you look out your binoculars toward the back. The Hellions have been compromised and so have your people who work here.
“FIFTEEN SECONDS…”
They have been brainwashed. One of our own is in the process of reversing it. Feonix projected. Please… Land your crafts and we can…
“YOUR TIME IS UP!” The air filled with the sounds of machine gun fire bearing down on Darque Feonix. At first, they were surprised to see that Darque Feonix was neither moving nor screaming, but then they saw that the bullets had never reached their mark. They hung in the air right in front of him. They also found with startling certainty that the helicopter engines had stopped running… but they were still hovering in the air.
You’re trying my patience. Had I WANTED to, I could have already destroyed you. Now… Darque Feonix telepathically projected. With little effort, he telekinetically forced the helicopters to the ground. Let’s try this again… but this time, a little bit more cordial, huh?
At first, there was no movement from the direction of the helicopters, but then a large, middle-aged, Black man stepped out of the lead helicopter, holding his hand in the air as a motion for everyone to stay still. He approached Darque Feonix, no sign of fear ever flashing across his face. Darque Feonix knew differently, however. The man may have been trained to lock his thoughts from a low-level psi, but that did very little to shield his thoughts or his name from Darque Feonix. “I apologize for my rude… entrance, but I’m hoping you can see the need for an explanation in my report to the government.”
Darque Feonix smiled, raising his eyebrows. “I’ll give you that and better, Commander Bridge… From your thoughts, I see you are a member of S.H.I.E.L.D… the secret government organization that officially does not exist.”
“And I know that you are Darque Feonix, formerly a bunch of aliases… I’ve dealt with telepaths before.”
“Well, how about Darkheart?”
“I am well-aware of Darkheart. Just yesterday, agents sent to infiltrate Black Vein… agents I thought had been dead for YEARS… reported back to my boss and gave him a full report. We’ve done our homework, Darque Feonix. All the men are fully aware that the Hellions had been compromised.”
“Then why did you…” He stopped, reading G.W. Bridge’s mind again. “Blanks. You had to keep appearances for the spies.”
Bridge said, “We’re here to make sure that Area 51 is again secured after the Hellions’ battle is over. Area 51 is the United States government’s worst-kept secret…” With a sigh, he turned toward the red light flashing in the distance. “Just as Mr. Hunter’s secret will be before this day is out…”
--------------------------------
He had to give it to himself. He was doing a fairly good job of keeping calm. Sure, he didn't have the faintest clue what the hell he was doing… and this match was just as one-sided as anything else, but he kept his cool.
Outside, anyway. Inside, he was screaming. Inside he wanted to high-tail it, but he knew he couldn't. He had an obligation, not only to Grover, but to Christian and to his own family. They waited almost thirty years to find out what happened to Aunt Carolyn's missing son. God damn it, they deserved to know… EVEN if Grover was being a fucking prick about it. For years, Khalid's mother has worried about it… and it pisses him off that Grover has the opportunity to give closure, but does not take it. Hell… It pisses him off that Grover won't tell Christian the truth… or that he cut off Cougar out of so-called loyalty to Gomurr. That's right, K… Call on all that anger… he thought.
DAMN, he wished Mufasa would take over right now…
First thing's first - Light blinds. With his aura flared and his heightened senses already adjusted to the environment, Khalid's not going to get blinded. Grover can. Just as Grover was about to reach him, Khalid teleported out of the way, watching him get blinded by the flash.
Next - Super-strength, Excalibur, Kinetic field. Flight. Grover's real danger is up close. The answer? Keep him from getting close. Khalid flared his aura into the lion-shape as Grover came. The trick was not to attack him head on, but use the photon paws to hit him from the side. That changed the direction of the momentum away from him. Each time Grover made a pass, Khalid held his breath, hoping like hell this was going to work. He was not used to using this lion aura this offensively… and he thought that photon bolts would be too risky. Khalid succeeded in knocking him into a scrap heap on the fifth pass, with a photon backhand. He took a sigh of relief as Grover did not immediately get up. The guy crouched down, studying him.
All right, Khalid thought. Grover decided to stop flying… though I can't tell what he's doing, now… He's fucking planning something. I don't like this… That was when he realized that Grover wasn't crouching down… but picking something up… picking a LOT of things up…
"You know, Khalid…" Grover said, walking toward him. "You make me proud. You've started to think defensively. I know your strong-suit isn't hand to hand, so I tried to get in close. YOU knew your strong-suit wasn't hand to hand, so you KEPT me from getting close. Good for you." He said, throwing a piece of shrapnel at him. Khalid knocked it away with his photon paw and started knocking another and another away as Grover drew closer and closer… "What you should have done, LONG AGO, was find a way to do more with your power at once. Sort, of like I'm doing now." Grover chuckled as he closed the distance by walking. Khalid, by this time, had started moving backwards, but the bulk of his concentration was on deflecting the pieces of shrapnel before they could hit him. "You see… Fairly simple. My strength allows me to throw heavy objects, such as these pieces of steel, as if I'm just shuffling cards. I'm using my kinetic field to accelerate them even further out of my hands. So, they are coming at you as fast as speeding bullets." As he drew closer, he laughed as he spoke, his eyes sparkling with yellow energy. "Luckily for you, your sensory perception is high enough for you to knock these out of the air before they get to you. Unfortunately, that leaves no room for you to concentrate on moving, because the second you do, you either trip, fall, and get hit… or you stop using the photon aura for an instant and get hit. Either way, you're practically standing still." Grover said, pulling within feet of him. "I don't have to worry about that!" Grover said running into him. "Because I'm already there!"
First came an uppercut, then a punch to the stomach followed by a knee to the face. Khalid flared his aura, knocking Grover away from him, but just as soon as it happened, Grover was on him again. This time, it was a knee to the stomach, followed by an elbow drop to the back. When Khalid hit the ground, he hit the ground hard. "Hey! Don't go to sleep, yet! I'm just starting to have fun! Got twenty-some years of beatings to make up…" He said, kicking Khalid in the ribs. He broken into a little laughter as he saw Khalid actually fly about ten feet through the air and slap the ground. "Man… Cousins, these days…"
Khalid flared his aura along the ground, sweeping Grover's feet out from under him. Knowing he could fly, Grover just simply spun his legs over his head to get straight up, this time getting hit with a photon paw to the eyes. Wrapping him up with the photon paw, he slammed Grover on his back to knock the wind out of him and punched him full in the side of the neck to temporarily delay the flow of blood to his brain. Then, he brought his fist down on the point between Grover's chest and shoulder. "You know, I don't get you… One day you are trying to make up with me… another day, you are tracking me to Mexico… and then today, you are trying to kill me. How about making up your fucking mind?!" Khalid said, starting to knock Grover's head into the ground, when Grover extended his kinetic field, knocking him on his back.
Khalid started to get up when he felt a foot slap him in the chest and pin him forcefully to the ground. His eyes momentarily slamming shut, Khalid felt the boot slide up to his neck, pushing just enough to cut off the air, but not enough to break the windpipe. “You know, Khalid… Maybe I’ll do just that.”
With a flash of light, Khalid disappeared from the ground, this time appearing above his head. The back leg of the lion aura kicked Grover in the face, staggering him back as Khalid landed on his feet. The photon blade appeared in his hand as the lion aura slapped at Grover twice more. With a photon uppercut, Khalid brought his hand down, the photon blade going directly for the shoulder… Just before he could make contact, Grover’s hand closed around Khalid’s in a vise grip. “Whoa! Now THAT was better, Khalid.” Grover said, jerking him forward.
His head crashing into Grover’s chest, Khalid staggered backward, unable to pull away. “I actually felt those.” Grover said, backhanding Khalid with his other hand. Next, he squeezed Khalid’s wrist, shattering the bones in his hand and then headbutted Khalid in the chin, with a laugh. “Now, let’s see if you bleed this time," Grover laughed aloud, shoving a blade formed from Excalibur through Khalid's abdomen. "Oooooh YEEEAAAAH… I think I felt some spine on THAT one!"
The tattoos on Khalid's arms flared yellow. Khalid's aura surrounding him, Grover felt Excalibur spike and bubble from within as the soul devourer was destroyed… and then snapped straight as a large yellow bolt of light shot away from him, flashing throughout the secret base. Around the base, people dropped to the ground, gasping as the soul devourers were destroyed from within and the fighting among the groups come to a stop. In the end, almost everyone was back to normal… except for two people.
Furiously, Grover knocked Khalid away from him, pulling Excalibur from his abdomen with a snap. Khalid stumbled backwards, his eyes never moving away from Grover's. He finally fell on his back, his hand pressed on his stomach, and coughing up blood that was filling his lungs. Grover walked toward him, this time grabbing Khalid by his hair. "Come on, Khalid… Before you die… One last growl. You know you want to do it."
Khalid could feel a mixture of things… Pain… cold… weakness… and could feel his senses and vision doing strange things. Grover's normally invisible kinetic field practically glowed to him. Even stronger was the empathic connection forged through Excalibur. Both Grover's life essence and the Gauntlets of Excalibur were pure… untainted. Although the Simambe component had been released, it was not affecting Grover's faculties at all. Khalid's connection with Excalibur told him that the soul devourer has changed – released, being a better term – something deep within Grover's psyche that was already there… something which Khalid himself could do nothing about, no matter what. This WAS Grover in charge.
Khalid started gasping with close, shallow breaths. "No…"
Grover placed his hand on Khalid's chin, preparing to snap Khalid's neck. Although Khalid's aura was not up, Grover felt that he could still feel something burning from beneath the surface of Khalid's skin. Other than that, he noticed that an extremely cold wind had started to pick up and that thunderclouds were rolling in. Odd… It was clear a few minutes ago… and we're out in the middle of the desert! "Come ON! One last growl! Make it a good one… and then I'll put you out of your misery."
"No." Khalid said, this time as the cold rain began to fall. Another yellow flash came to his eyes, this one fainter than usual. "Grover… Look… up…"
"No, I'm not falling for…." Grover stopped as he noticed someone standing directly in front of him. His gaze traveled upward from the ground as he laid eyes on the woman. Everything she wore was white. White sandals… a white dress flapping in the wind… even a white beret, keeping her long blonde hair from blowing in her face. He stopped altogether when he also noticed the white field of electricity surrounding her and the white glow in her eyes. He let go of Khalid's head, this time standing to his feet…
"Say… hello… to your… mother…" Khalid forced out as he propped himself on the ground, coughing up more blood.
First, he tried to swing at her, but jerked as his fist passed through her. Realizing it was not a shapeshifter, he stepped back, pulling into the air… and without another word flew off…
"Khalid! What the hell ha…" Daemon started to say as he pulled up seconds later. "Fuck."
Khalid coughed some more blood out as Daemon propped him up. "You're right…" he said. "I'm… a fuck… up…"
"Shut up, K…" Daemon said, ripping his other sleeve off and pressing it to Khalid's stomach. "You can't spare the breath…" Picking him up, Daemon took great care to keep his hand placed over the wound in the back.
"He's gone… evil…"
"I know… I saw him fly off… Relax K; you're going to be fine."
Khalid laughed through the pain, coughing even more blood up. "Just sayin' that… because I'm the pet battery…"
"I'd shock you, but like this, you might interpret it as pleasure rather than pain."
"Pain?" Khalid laughed out. "I don't… feel pain… just… cold…" he said, his eyelids becoming lazier. It was almost like time sped up around him, this time… hearing sounds and noises… and people screaming and sobbing… and laughter…
End Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Lyon’s Hill, NC
“Joe…” Robert Cougar said into the phone while he fixed dinner. “What the hell are you doing?! Are you on the road?!”
“Roy, they’re hot on my tail… Collecting a special breed, it seems. I’m steering with one hand while trying to rip a tracking beacon out of my arm.”
“The Van Helsings??!!”
“Yeah, Roy… The very same. I don’t think I’m going to be able to lose them. They’re on high-speed transports…”
Cougar heard the sounds of a struggle at that point and then a small scream as someone was thrown out of the car. “Joe! Talk to me!”
“I’m okay, Roy… Listen. They are after those who do not respond to silver. They’re particularly interested in me because of my connection to you. They’re out to…”
“JOE! Listen…”
“I’ve got to go, Roy…” he said, “Tell Shani and Zeke I give them my best.”
Cougar stood there in shock as he heard the click of the phone. He started to attune his life force to match his brother’s so he could “eavesdrop”, but with a yellow flash of the eyes, he grabbed his head and jerked back. Someone else… cutting me off… His hand snapped to his wrist, which suddenly erupted in a flush of pain, and then he jerked forward as if being hit in the stomach. He could feel it go through and his legs fall out from under him. Struggling, Cougar forced his life force back to normal and lay there, recovering from what he just saw.
“Good lord… Khalid!”
-----------------------------
It was a lovely day in the dimension of the Crimson Dawn. The black sea of soul devourers parted the sky just enough to allow some light from the red star to shine through. You could see the twisted souls and constructs walking to and from the Redblood woods as they stopped by their neighbors picnic table to eat their children. If you were lucky, you might have a rabid ground squirrel shoot out of the ground and take a small nibble from your ear. Dead flowers sprouted out of everything – trees, people, rocks, antelopes… a GORGEOUS day.
On a plateau above it all, two men – Gomurr and Darkheart – sat at a table, having a good-natured conversation as twisted creatures fell all over themselves, serving them a cup of tea.
“You know, Darkheart… I have to object strongly to your taking over my friends and son like that.” Gomurr said, taking a sip. “Mmmmmm… this is good…”
“Orange and Spice sweetened with a little bit of honey. Dad himself preferred Amaretto, but I never really did get into that.”
“Give it another try, but with Carrot Cake. Then, you can see what ol’ Lao Tsung saw in it. Sorry I killed him, by the way. I couldn’t allow him to mess up Earth.”
“Oh… I totally understand… Just like it is my duty to take revenge… Peanut Butter Cookie?”
“Don’t mind if I do myself…” Gomurr said, taking a bite. “Mmmmmm… Just like Delia used to make…”
“They should be. Bitch swiped my recipe! BOY am I still mad…”
“Women have a habit of doing that…”
Okay… okay… I give… It didn’t really happen that way. The day was not nice in the dimension of the Crimson Dawn. In fact, the place was stormier than usual. Lightning shot down from the sky, each time reducing some unfortunate soul to a pile of dust. The wind was fierce, past hurricane strength. The sky rained blood. Everyone native to the place loved it.
Two people, both anchored in place by their powers, were too absorbed in their fight to enjoy it. It was an unbalanced fight in many ways. Gomurr was had accuracy and speed. Darkheart had strength. Both of them had power, but Darkheart’s was primarily concentrated on his soul devourers and his teleportation. Gomurr, considering he was SEVERAL thousand years old, had developed a mastery over a variety of magics. The fight was over before it began.
There was just one thing that was not sitting well with Gomurr right now. There was something about the layout of this place that did not sit right with him. Spires everywhere, as far as the eye could see. Short ones, big ones, a variety of sizes.
Gomurr enjoyed a strange satisfaction as he saw Darkheart struggle inside the hex-field, cut off from his dark energies. “NOW, you insignificant spoiled brat… You will tell me the PURPOSE of these spires. WHAT are you up to?!”
Darkheart laughed inside the hex-field, smiling at the wisened mage. “Come ON, Old Man… You consider yourself a proponent of modern philosophy/psychology. The forest symbolizes pubic hair and the spires are PHALLIC symbols!”
Guided by his hand, a bolt of lightning erupted from the sky, ripping through the forcefield into Darkheart. Although he was screaming, Gomurr could also tell he was laughing at him. With a gesture of his hand, Darkheart was hurled into one of the spires, his back cracking it upon impact. Grover flew over to him, setting carefully on the ground. “You will speak up NOW or…”
“What, Ancient One? Can you bring yourself to do it? Can you bring yourself to strike me down? Me? You MADE me! I became what I became because of you.”
Another lightning bolt ripped out of the sky, striking Darkheart. As his body jerked and spasmed, Gomurr took his index and middle fingers and poked Darkheart strongly in the neck, cutting off the circulation of blood to his brain. “No… I had NOTHING to do with what you became… Lao Tsung made you… and the joke is on YOU, Boy…” Gomurr struck him with another hexbolt to the face, dropping him on his knees. There, he leveled the staff at his throat. “I knew about your sorry ass for centuries… and just like now, you would NEVER be a threat to me! You have become EXACTLY what it is you claim he rescued you from…”
“Shut up, Anc…”
Gomurr tapped the staff on Darkheart’s chin and then pressed it against the Adams Apple. “He pulled you off the slave ship… named you his ‘SON.’ You are NOTHING but a hypocrite, vowing loyalty to your ‘father’ for that act. What have you become? Not a prince… Not a king… Not an heir… but a SLAVE. A SLAVE to your father, following directly in his footsteps. A TRAITOR who in his master’s name, enslaves his very own.” Angrily, he shoved him back, and kicked him in the chin. “As Mufasa would say, you aren’t worthy…”
“The same Mufasa you unwittingly betrayed… the SAME Mufasa whose kingdom fell because of YOU!” Darkheart slowly rose to his feet. “Tell me, Ancient One… What would happen if you told Khalid that not only did Mufasa die coming after you, but you destroyed Kemet afterwards…”
“Don’t you DARE…”
“Oh… I know my African history VERY well. The DAY his body was entombed, the surrounding kingdoms decided to bring Kemet to its knees. The capital of the Southern Kingdom lies buried beneath the sand, NOT because of wind shift… but because you sank it into the ground!”
With a bright white field enveloping him, Gomurr stomped his foot on the ground. An earthquake shook around them, growing more powerful. Darkheart weakly tried to cover his head as the spire fell on top of him, scattering dust everywhere. Out of the corner of his eyes before it was clouded by dust, he could see the other spires around toppling to the ground. Darkheart staretd to scream, but the dust traveled into his mouth choking him… and the rocks buried him alive.
“And I just sank you into the ground as well.” Gomurr coldly said into the pile below. “You talk too much.” With that, he formed a hex bolt at his feet, sliding through the ground and out of the dimension.
He was not around minutes later to notice the pile of rocks explode away from where he was. As Darkheart rose, he wasn’t crying or seething, but laughing… raucously. “Old Man… FOOLISH old man… You don’t realize that you just set into motion, what will be your DOOM!”
Behind him, the dust finally settled, revealing rock piles everywhere… at the base of dark obsidian spires, each tapered at the end like a curved dagger and pulsing with dark energies that were drawn to them. “Thanks, old man… It’s only a matter of time…”
-----------------------------------
Houston, Texas
Hours Later
It was one of his homes away from home. Most people would never expect someone like him to have one, but Grover had considered just having a few placed throughout the world so that he always had someplace to stay. No, it was not a luxurious "pad" always complete with maids and butlers. Sharon Stokes had cut those expenses out of the White Court's budget when she took over as queen. "Frugal bitch," Grover muttered, phasing through the window.
As the White King, it was his job to know everything that went on in his court. The conclusion he came to? His court was WEAK. Why was it weak? Because he had been WEAK when he came on… attempting to bring a sense of ethics and morality to the club. BAAAAAAAH. It was worse than it EVER was, the difference being that there is one more court! Going up against any of the other Inner Circles, Grover KNEW that his would be the first one dispatched… especially since the only ones with ANY hope – Nytshade, Onyx, and Harbinger – were no longer with them…
“Computer,” Grover called into the air as he washed blood – Khalid’s blood – off of his hands. “Prepare terminal… Bring up the White King’s personal directory.”
Access to the White King’s personal directory has been denied.
“What user code?”
Alicia Jane Pembleton.
“Smart move, Alice… following Case’s orders, no doubt, but did you REALLY think I would not have found away around that? ComputerSigma, Mu, Upsilon, Rho, Gamma.”
Secret Access Secured to the White King’s personal directory.
“Download Neutralization Protocols for the Inner and Outer Circle and write to disc. Out with the old and in with the new… and I think the White Court is WAY overdue for some housecleaning.” Grover changed out of his White King’s uniform into casual clothes, taking the time to look at the blood stains splashed on the sleeves and the front. A smile came to his face as he relived the moment he thrust Excalibur into Khalid’s stomach and felt the vertebrae and spine break. There was something really intoxicating about that moment… especially the feedback Excalibur gave him. The pain… the betrayal… the burning power… and even right now, Khalid lingering on the edge of death. “Too bad, Khalid. You were making progress. Not enough to be useful… cousin.”
“First on my list, when you die, is to rip what is rightfully MINE out of your fucking arm.” Grover said, leaning back in his chair. “Next, I have some fun. Housecleaning should ALWAYS be fun… Nice… slow… and painful.”
At that moment, Grover was shocked out of his train of thought by a loud clap of thunder followed by the lights flickering off. He walked to the window, looking at the weather outside. The almost-torrential rain beat mercilessly against the window, sending stream upon stream of water sheeting down. The outside view was so blurry, Grover could barely make out the pecan trees that were bobbing and waving under the wind’s attack.
When the lightning struck twenty feet from the window, Grover was so startled he jerked back. His eyes finally cleared from the lightning flash, he took a deep breath, noticing how it seemed to fog. Odd… Did the temperature in the room just drop twenty degrees? He turned around to go toward the circuit-breaker, when he noticed that he was no longer alone.
He was face to face with her again. She stared at him morosely, sadly. His arm spun around to backhand her, but it passed through as before. "Get out of here, bitch. You died on me, so I don't owe you anything…"
The spirit of Carolyn Breslin stared blankly at him, a single tear sliding down her face. She reached her luminous hand out as if to touch his cheek, but he jerked back. Forming a pointed staff from Excalibur, he swung to strike her in half. The moment Excalibur made contact, he caught a vision…
The vision of sitting in a car along the countryside, chatting with a man about the kids in the back seat… looking out the window to see a hot ball of gas speeding toward him… instinctively covering the baby in his arms with his body… expanding the psychokinetic field around the two of them in hopes that both his body and the field would protect the baby from the impact… with his last thoughts lowering the temperature around the baby to protect the child from the explosion…
Wasted by the assault of images, Grover fell backwards, scooting away from the ghost. Excalibur drew inside of him, bubbling cold from the contact. "Dumb bitch," he said. "You should have saved yourself."
The lightning struck again, lighting the room up. When it finally died down, she was gone. Grover stared at the window in disbelief for a few minutes and then hurled the chair at it, watching it bounce back from the shatterproof glass.
The bedroom was cold for the rest of the night…
End Chapter Ten
Epilogue
Theoretically, they had the advantage. There was only one of him and ten of them. Unlike him, they were undead. It would take him twice as long to achieve the level of those at his current age. This man should be a pushover.
Wrong.
Patrick Walsh was no normal man… or vampire, for that matter. Unlike them, he can slide through the shadows for miles… His healing factor – which he was born with – was stronger than theirs. He could go longer between feedings. His senses were naturally acute, only heightening with age. Another advantage was an unbreakable adamantium skeleton, sharper than any natural metal on the face of the earth. The most decisive factor in this battle, however, had nothing to do with physical attributes, but rather experience.
Patrick Walsh was a living weapon, trained in many forms of combat. He was the Kaiser’s effort to beat the Canadians and the Americans at their own game. Walsh was faster, stronger, and more vicious than these vampires. Quick on his feet. Since having ripped his freedom from Ryan Jensen, Walsh has only become more dangerous.
“DAYWALKER,” the vampire hissed, coming at him with a crowbar. “The Council has ruled against you…”
“WHAT council,” Maul asked, blocking the crowbar with his forearm. Continuing the sweeping movement of his arm, he ripped the crowbar out of the vampire’s grip and flicked it to the side, impaling one of his brethren. “WHAT judgment?!”
“The CHARGE is treason…” the vampire spat, scratching his opponent wildly across his face. “…and the penalty is DEATH!”
Maul spun around in the air delivering a round house to another vampire’s neck. Next, he plunged his hand through the vampire’s chest, ripping out the heart. “No! I know of NO council… I am subject to NO one’s authority!”
Another one flew up from behind, shoving a wooden stake through his back. “We ALL are under the jurisdiction of the Vampire Council… and they have decreed your death.”
Snapping his head backwards, Maul slapped the back of his head into the vampire’s chin. Then, he ripped the wooden stake out of his back and shoved it through the vampire’s chest. “And just HOW do they plan on carrying it out?!” Maul said, shoving the exploding vampire back. Turning around, he was greeted with a stream of acid in the face.
“Do not run from your fate, Daywalker… Everywhere you go… Everywhere you run… We COME for you… ALL of us. So decrees the High Council!”
With a swipe of his hand, the final vampire head dropped to the ground. His hands covering his eyes, Maul landed on his feet and sank into the darkness below. His face healing, Maul continued on his way toward his destination. His psionic powers did not pick them up, but his senses told him that more of them were on their way. As far as Maul was concerned, though, a true Hunter NEVER stops being the Hunter… even if he becomes the Hunted.
Rising from the shadows on the hospital room floor, Maul looked down at the patient. According to the medical chart, the prognosis was not good. He had already been in the operating room while doctors struggled to contain the internal bleeding. First thing in the morning, they were going to operate. Even in the remote chance that Khalid would survive, they expected to replace at least the kidneys and the liver. If he survived that, he would never walk again. Grover had severed the spinal cord.
“Ahhhhhhh… Löwe… I find myself at your side… again like a guardian angel pulling you from the clutches of death.” Maul chuckled as sat at the bedside. “Perhaps you have a death wish, no? Such things have been known to run in the family… much like the birthmark passed to me by my father…” He half expected to hear a response from Khalid, but to his disappointment, nothing came out. He could not grow upset. Maul could not help but feel that this was in a way a failure on his part. “But that is not why I come here,” he said, rising to his feet.
“I will heal your body… and do my best to repair your damaged mind… but I ask something in return.” He reached down toward Khalid’s face, pulling the respiratory tubes out through the nose. “You have yielded your mind to me so I could release you from your inner prison. This time, I ask for more… and ask for you to trust me.” With that, he discorporated into mist and floated over Khalid's head. Khalid's back arched as the mist entered through his nose.
At first, there was a flare of the photon aura, but it was soon to die down again. Khalid's wounds began to close up, almost immediately. With a snap, Khalid's hand flew upward, ripping the tubes and IV's out of his arm. He also pulled off the heart-rate monitor, the respiratory monitor, and anything else attached. He stepped out of the bed with a smile, seeming to delight in the sensations of his wounds closing.
Standing up, Khalid first looked down at his stomach, his hand grazing the entry point where the Gauntlet was plunged through him. He could feel the painful tickle of his internal organs reknitting and those internal sutures disintegrating. From Khalid's mouth came a laugh of triumph and satisfaction. "A perfect fit," he said, looking over the body and flexing the muscles. "The muscles are slightly weak, but the healing factor will take care of that." He chuckled as he looked down. "The proportions worked out better than I ever expected… even got my birthmark…" As his head came up, his eyes were black, with glowing red pupils. "Let’s take you for a test spin, no?"
-----------------------------------
The door exploded inward, sailing across the room. In the doorway, a darkened man rushed in, his extradimensional sword glowing brightly. “SHARON!”
“GABE!” She screamed, fighting her restraints. “HELP ME!”
The blond-haired man grabbed her roughly by the hair, slapping her across the face. From his shoulder pocket, he whipped out a plasma pistol, and forced it to her temple. “YEAH, Gabe… Come and HELP her! She’s asking for it! I ALREADY helped myself to some of her!”
“CHARLIE!!!” Gabe said, rushing at him… but his thugs were on him at once. Low-level armed thugs… their armor was nothing compared to his sword. One swing and two heads fell to the floor, the necks spewing thick crimson blood all over him. A spin on his feet and one man’s internal organs came gushing to the ground… “SHARON!!!!”
“GABE!!!!”
“You make me SICK!” Charlie said, slapping her face with his pistol again. “GABE,” he said, in a high-pitched mockery of her scream. “COME HELP ME!” With a jerk on her dampening collar, he dragged her off toward the teleporter pad in back. “Come here, bitch! I’ll show you what a REAL man is like!”
“GABE!!!!” Sharon screamed, this time stomping Charlie’s foot. Slipping behind him, she put her restraints over his neck and pulled back, squeezing hard as she tried to choke his air off. “GABE!!!”
Daemon knew that now was his time. Doused in blood, he slew the last of the armed guards and rushed toward Charlie and Sharon. “SHARON!!!!” He barely noticed the smile across Charlie’s face as he pulled the plasma pistol up and fired directly between Gabe’s eyes. Propelled by the power of the round, Gabe crashed into the wall behind him, landing on the floor as he saw Charlie knock Sharon out and tap a button on his belt. “No… Please… No…”
As Charlie and Sharon started to fade away, he laughed at Daemon. “I’m enjoying this one… You FAILED, Daemon… You absolutely FAILED… and you’ll NEVER see her again!”
Daemon was already on his feet and almost there when they disappeared completely…
“SHARON!” He screamed, sitting up in bed. He stopped as he felt his heart pound. He was in his penthouse apartment… at Strong Towers… NOT fighting Charlie, as he dreamt.
He ran his hand beside him, feeling the other side of the bed. No… Sharon didn’t sleep here, tonight… She and Michael Breslin went to the hospital earlier after they were told Khalid had disappeared. With Cyclops and Darque Feonix out trying to track down Grover, she had asked the Grey Warlord Havok to come with her. Damn it… I KNEW I should have insisted on coming. Why didn’t I?
“Computer… Dial Sharon Stokes’ cell phone.”
“Yo?” a male voice said, answering the phone.
At first, Gabe was about to cuss at him, but then he realized that it was Michael Breslin… Havok… the Grey Warlord. “Mike… You guys made any progress?”
“No… not really. None of the doctors or nurses know anything. No traces of anything… no sign of forced entry… Hold on, Sharon’s coming over…”
Gabe heard the sounds of the phone shuffling over, before hearing the soft breathing that came from Sharon Stokes. Apparently, she had been doing a lot of walking… “Gabe… I did find something… burned in the floor, probably with one of Khalid’s photon stakes… I’m not sure, but it looks like a symbol I’ve seen at your apartment… It looks kind of like a backwards letter R… with an eye in the loop.”
What the…?! “Sketch it down and I’ll take a look at it when we have breakfast.”
“No problem. I’ll wrap up over here. See you in four hours or so…I REALLY need some sleep!”
A wry grin grew across Gabe’s lips. “You can come over HERE, if you…”
“I said I need SLEEP, Gabe!” She laughed out. “Give me about four hours… Love you.”
“Okay… Love you.” Hearing the click on the other end, Gabe let out a sigh of relief. For a moment, a
feeling of embarrassment shot through him as he realized what he did. It was nothing but a dream… a dream that was so convincing that his heart still pounded in his chest from it. When you have a bad dream, watch out, he thought… and then stopped. God damn… KHALID was the one that said that. Bitch ass mother fucking son of a bitch… Cramming his thoughts down my head again. Not to mention that it was because of HIS ass I didn’t get any last night. MAN, am I in a rotten mood… He thought to himself. In reality, though he was far from it. He felt relieved… though he didn’t know why.
He suddenly stopped, first staring straight ahead. Hold on. His graze traveled toward the golden bracelet on his nightstand… the one that was flashing and beeping so only his brainwaves could pick it up.
With a single sweep of his hand, the brightly colored Pharaohan bedspread flew off of him. He started toward his bedroom door, pausing only to snatch the bracelet off the nightstand. Gabe called into the air as he fidgeted with the bracelet in his hand, latching it around his wrist. "Computer, lights on." Dimly, the living room started to brighten up as he reached the front door and it opened it wide.
Gabe did not know exactly what he expected to see, but it sure as hell wasn't this. Khalid stared dazed, with an uncharacteristically confused look across his face. Silently, he looked down at himself, as if for the first
time noticing the blood splashed across his hands, chest, and even his face. His hand traveled toward his stomach, grazing his abdomen where he had been stabbed mere hours ago… and now noticing that the very wound had closed up, not leaving even a scar as evidence. He pulled his hand away from his stomach, noticing how thick and sticky the blood was… and that it was still warm. He just stared at the blood on his hand, transfixed.
"About TIME your fat ass got here!" Gabe said, jerking Khalid through the door by the arm. "From here on out, you're GROUNDED, Buddy." After closing the door shut behind him, Gabe tapped the bracelet on his wrist. Still dumbfounded, Khalid didn't notice the electromagnetic shock jolt his entire body as the bracelet on his wrist was reactivated. "Goddamnbitchassgettingstabbedandalmostdyingonme..."
"What… happened…" Khalid said, walking toward the living room… still staring at his hands.
"Showingupatmydooratthreeoclockinthemorningwearing… GAAAAAH!!! You're tracking blood all over my white carpet!"
"How…" He said, staring down at his stomach again.
"DON'T SIT ON MY COUCH!!!!"
Khalid dropped into the white easy chair across from the couch, just staring at himself… dazed… and visibly stunned. "Good lord… What have I done?" he said, never looking from his hands.
"MY CHAIR!!!" Gabe said, grabbing Khalid by the shoulder. "That's it, K." With a jerk, he pulled Khalid out of his chair and dragged him back out of the living room, through the training room, and into the room beyond it. With a flick of the wrist, he shoved Khalid toward the wall and called into the air. "Computer. Shower on." His glare snapped back toward Khalid as the water jets kicked in. "STAY here until you're squeaky clean."
If Khalid noticed, he did not register it or the industrial strength showers pounding against him. He just stared at his hands, watching the blood drip from them… blood that was not his… blood that felt strange… "What have…"
Walking back through the training room, Gabe breathed a sigh of relief. Glad the nimrod's still alive. "Computer… send the scout out to collect blood samples throughout the building." He said, kneeling down to inspect Khalid's bloody footprint. "Then, do a spectral and chemical scan on it and run it through the databanks." I'm not sure I'm going to tell Khalid, this… Gabe thought, running his finger through the footprint. Something’s off about this blood. The smell and the texture are not right for human blood… but they ARE familiar… Gabe thought taking a closer smell. His eyes flashed open as he turned toward the training shower room.
Khalid’s completely healed… No scar on him at ALL from Grover’s blade… Daemon thought. And he arrives at my doorstep completely drenched in VAMPIRE blood?! NOT good, Khalid… NOT good at ALL!
The End