Morpheus’s Legacy Universe – Part 22 (7-12)

The Return of Nevermore

by

Morpheus

 

Part Two

 

Chapter 7

In the middle of Baltimore was a large clearing, which had once been a beautiful park, with luscious green grass, a scattering of trees, as well as benches and playground equipment. However, all of that was now gone, as the park and everything within had been completely and utterly destroyed. Now, where the park had once been, there was a field of black stone.

In the middle of this field, sitting atop a pile of what appeared to be human skulls, was a throne, made of black stone. Nevermore sat upon the throne, silently contemplating her surroundings. Her glowing red eyes slowly swept over the area in front of her, though she scarcely noticed the hideous and deformed creatures which she’d scattered about as guards.

Nevermore had chosen this city as the location of her ritual, because this was where HE had been buried. The writer. She remembered the writer with a certain fondness, though she would never admit as much to anyone else, not even her most trusted servants. That kind of weakness could never be revealed to another.

When Nevermore had first come to this world, she and her servants had been stripped of their power by the journey. Her servants had been trapped in raven form, while she had been left with barely enough magic to light a candle.

The writer had been the first human they spoke to, and with him she had struck a deal. The writer acted as her guide, teaching her about this world and helping her to begin the slow process of rebuilding her power. In return, she had provided him inspiration and taught him the power of fear. In her own way, she’d considered him a friend, as much as she could any of his kind.

It seemed appropriate to Nevermore, that after all this time, she would finally achieve her true objective, so close to the resting place of the one who had helped her begin. Of course, she had no idea if the writer would approve of the terror she was unleashing, or whether he would be horrified at his own unwitting hand in causing it. Nor did she truly care. It was enough that he bear witness, as that symbolism would strengthen the ritual.

Then, Nevermore’s thoughts shifted from her former ally, to her present ones. Each of them had been carefully selected, not only for their power, but also for their ability and willingness to help her build the power she required.

Force had once been a hero of great power…and great ego. His own arrogance had been his undoing, and was the tool she used to manipulate him. Of course, Nevermore knew Force was not quite as oblivious as he seemed. The former hero was attempting to play her, to lure her into a false sense of security so that she would lower guard to him. The fool. He was unskilled in deception, and his efforts were obvious, though admittedly, almost amusing in their clumsiness.

Nevermore also knew that sooner or later, Force would turn on her. His pride would demand it of him. Either he would attempt to take her throne and power for himself, or he would succumb to his own delusions again, and decide that by defeating her, he would prove himself to be the ultimate hero. With Force, either was a possibility, though not ones that she was concerned with.

Circuit Monger was a useful ally, and even more predictable than Force. She had eagerly discarded her humanity and everything that came with it, and had embraced existence as a machine. Now, the only thing that Circuit Monger cared about, was gathering new information, and as long as Nevermore helped her to achieve that goal, and offered knowledge not found elsewhere, she would continue to serve.

And then there was Loki, a powerful agent of chaos and destruction, yet also a weak and foolish pawn. Loki was a pawn, not only of Nevermore, but also of the creature within his own staff. That dark and malevolent being thrived on chaos, and manipulated Loki much the way that Nevermore’s treacherous servant Ebon had manipulated the previous Scepter. That being was the source of Loki’s power, and the one Nevermore was truly concerned with. Of course, it was only a matter of time before that being grew bored with its current pawn and sought another.

Out of all of Nevermore’s allies, the Scepter was the least experienced, yet also the one with the most potential. Not long ago, the woman had been one of the weak and useless masses, until she encountered Ebon, who decided that she would be his new puppet. Ebon had reshaped her mind and personality, consuming her conscience and giving her a hunger for power. With her newfound ambition, the Scepter had eagerly enslaved her would be master, and might one day challenge Nevermore herself…if she survived long enough to gather that level of power.

Finally, there was the Sinner, who, unlike Nevermore’s other allies, was her own creation and obedient servant. Nevermore was the one who found the Sinner, back when she’d been a bitter and resentful young man, and had given him power and direction. When the Sinner had died, Nevermore had been the one to bring him back, and to provide a new body. The Sinner was a useful servant, though also a deeply flawed one.

Nevermore had carefully selected each of these allies because they were powerful, merciless, willing to do what she required, and of course…utterly expendable. Just as importantly, each of them was also so focused on their own interests and obsessions, that they would not think to question Nevermore’s ultimate goal, or what it might mean for them. That was necessary, as she wouldn’t have been able to trust them with their assigned tasks, if they realized how unlikely they were to survive what was to come.

“My allies have planted the obelisks,” Nevermore quietly mused to herself. “We have sown the seeds of terror, and now it is time to harvest.”

Each obelisk was infused with her power, and once each of them had been placed, they allowed her to form the barrier that would prevent anyone outside of this city from interfering with her plans. The barrier was powerful, and would take a great deal of time and power, if anyone was going to penetrate it. By the time any of her enemies was able to do so, it would be far too late.

Nevermore smiled faintly, though it was one of cruel satisfaction. As the rules of magic required, all spells of that level had a flaw. However, a skilled mage could craft their own flaw, designing it in such a way as to turn it to an advantage. If one did not do that, then the flaw would form on its own, uncontrolled and perhaps even unseen until it was too late.

Nevermore had turned the flaw in her barrier into a doorway, one that would not only allow her to pass through freely, but two of her allies as well. It would take a great deal of time before her enemies discovered exactly what that flaw was, and she knew that even if they discovered this flaw, they would not be able to make use of it without time to prepare.

“The barrier will prevent outside interference,” Nevermore announced. “For once, I am able to gather the power I require, without concern for this world’s guardians…”

“Perhaps,” Munin agreed cautiously, from where he stood a short distance from the throne. “But there is always the possibility that Baltimore has guardians of its own, heroes who have yet to make their presence known. This is something we must guard against.”

Nevermore didn’t respond to her servant’s comments, though she knew he was correct. Of course, she had already taken that possibility into account, which was why each of the obelisks was guarded, and why she’d created a small army of creatures. If any heroes attempted to interfere this time, they would find her ready. This time, she could not afford to lose.

For the first time in more than a century, the dimensions were in alignment. Now, after all this time, she could do more than merely gather power. Now, she could finally use that power to achieve her goal.

Of course, she had to finish gathering the power. Nevermore had not created the obelisks and barrier merely to keep interlopers away. She’d also created them to help her gather the power she required. She drew power from fear and death, and she had ensured that this city was filled with both. The barrier gathered up that power, while the obelisks transferred it to her throne, where she could use it.

“The day is finally at hand,” Nevermore stated, a faint hint of eagerness in her voice, though only her loyal servants would hear it. “After all this time…”

Nevermore held out her hand and began to focus some of the power she’d gathered. The black stone ground, where a swing set had stood a mere day earlier, began to crack and melt. Two black stone pillars began to form, fifteen feet apart from each other. They slowly rose up, until they reached a height of twenty feet, then the tops began to bend towards each other. Once the two pillars touched, they fused into a single stone arch.

Suddenly, Nevermore felt a disturbance in her power and instantly knew that one of the obelisks had fallen. “The Sinner,” she stated after a moment, recognizing which of the pillars it had been.

Munin cautiously asked, “May I ask what is troubling you?”

“It seems your concerns have proven valid,” she answered grimly, turning her attention to the ground before her throne.

The stone shattered and melted, sinking down and filling with a crimson liquid. Once the pool had filled, Nevermore finished the spell and images began to appear in the blood. She saw the obelisk, now a pile of rubble in the street. The Sinner was on the run, having abandoned her station now that it had fallen. And then, Nevermore saw the heroes, three women in costume.

“The heroes that you spoke of,” Nevermore mused. “It seems that they have made their move.”

“The Sinner failed,” Munin stated in a dark tone that was filled with disapproval. Beside him, Hugin silently nodded agreement.

Nevermore scowled and her eyes burned with an even darker malevolence than they had a moment before. The Sinner was a useful servant, one she had spent years grooming, yet one who was ultimately expendable. If the Sinner survived the heroes, then Nevermore would punish her for her failure. But at the moment, she had more immediate concerns.

The loss of one obelisk was an annoyance, though not a true threat to her plans. Her barrier would remain standing, and she would continue to gather the power she required. However, the fact that any heroes were present within the barrier, was cause for concern, and one that would need to be dealt with.

Chapter 8

Joselyn slowly looked around, feeling an odd mixture of nervousness and awe as she saw a flat grey desert which stretched out in every direction as far as her eyes could see. Even the sky was dull and gray, seeming just as barren and lifeless as everything else around here.

“We’re almost there,” Legacy announced. “We’re almost out of the Empty.”

Joselyn nodded at that and looked at Legacy, who had a sad air around her and radiated a grim intensity. Of course, Joselyn understood why. If she’d been through what Legacy had, losing all of her friends and then ending up in one of their bodies, she would probably have been the same way.

“I came close enough to it,” Joselyn quietly reminded herself.

She looked at Legacy again, remembering how she’d lost her own family and her old body. Unlike Legacy, she’d been able to get her family back, otherwise, she might have become just like her.

“This place is pretty creepy,” Kaboom announced, gesturing in a direction, which appeared to be at random. “Everywhere you look…nothing.”

“It is called the Empty for a reason,” Legacy announced wryly.

Joselyn snickered at that. After they’d stepped through the barrier, Legacy had used her magic cloak to open a portal into another dimension, one which she insisted would be a shortcut to the obelisk. It wasn’t quite teleporting, since they had to do a bit of walking while in the Empty, but it was a much shorter distance than if they’d tried going to the obelisk directly.

“I couldn’t use the Empty to get past the barrier,” Legacy said, answering the question that Joselyn had. “But once we got through the barrier, I could travel within it.”

“I knew the Traveler,” Red Blade commented. “I traveled this way with him once before.”

That drew Joselyn’s attention to her. Red Blade was a ghost, who was possessing Channel’s body, so the whole situation was extremely strange and creepy. But in spite of that, Red Blade had been a hero while alive, and was trying to help them, which earned a lot of goodwill.

Joselyn had heard of Red Blade before, both the current one and the original, who’d been killed and who was now walking beside her. In fact, she was pretty sure that her dad had fought alongside him once or twice.

“What’s it like?” Joselyn abruptly asked Red Blade. “I mean, is Channel in there with you?”

She frowned, thinking that it would have to be weird, to share your body with someone you didn’t even know. It would have to be extremely strange for Channel, who did it over and over again.

“She is present,” Red Blade admitted. “She can see and hear everything I do. In fact, I am here at her sufferance, and could be removed at any time I become inconvenient.” She didn’t seem to be the least bit bothered by that fact. “For now, she has given me the honor helping to fight these villains.”

“We’re here,” Legacy announced, abruptly stopping.

Joselyn looked around, seeing absolutely nothing to differentiate this spot from any other, which made her wonder how Legacy knew that this was the one. But before she could act, Legacy suddenly swirled her cloak, which seemed to grow and expand, covering all four of them for a brief moment. When Legacy snapped the cloak back, Joselyn saw that they were now standing in the middle of a grocery store parking lot.

“That was impressive,” Joselyn admitted. Then she looked around and saw the obelisk, no more than fifty feet away from them. “And convenient.”

“Definitely,” Kaboom added with an easy grin. “I still prefer flying though. Now, I believe we have an ass to go kick.”

“Careful,” Legacy warned Kaboom with a glare. “You have no idea how dangerous Loki is. You have no idea what he’s capable of…”

“Look at our surroundings,” Red Blade added a moment later, drawing her crimson bladed sword and looking around with a deep scowl.

Joselyn looked around, seeing signs of destruction. There were several lumps of melted metal, which looked like they had once been cars. There was a large sinkhole in the middle of the street, with the back end of a city bus just barely sticking out from the top.  And then there were the statues. There were about two dozen statues scattered about, each looking like a person who was running away in terror. Her power informed her that these were not just statues, and that each and every one of them was a person who’d been killed.

“This guy is a monster,” Joselyn agreed, feeling a chill down her spine. She’d heard about what Loki had done to the Seven, but seeing the results of his power for herself, was still rather shocking. She tried to figure out where Loki was, and a moment later, her powers warned her. “He’s over there…” She couldn’t see Loki, but she knew that he was in that direction.

“That’s not fair,” Loki’ exclaimed, seconds before he suddenly became visible.

Joselyn had known about where he was at, but his sudden appearance still managed to startle her. In spite of his reputation and what he’d done, he didn’t actually look all that dangerous, except for left arm, which was clawed and covered with red scales. “Some kind of invisibility or camouflage…”

“You gave me away, before I was ready,” Loki continued smugly. “And here, I was planning to fuck with you before I got serious…” Then he paused and his attention went to Legacy, who stood there glaring at him with a look of pure hatred, as though she could kill with her looks alone. “YOU,” he spat out viciously, obviously carrying a grudge of his own. “You’re that fucking bitch from the Seven…”

“My name is Legacy,” she announced in sharp and angry voice. “As in, you murdered the Seven, and I carry their legacy…”

Before Legacy had even finished saying this, she used her telekinesis to grab a chunk from a shattered brick wall, and flung it at the villain. “Protect me,” Loki commanded, and suddenly a wall of smoke formed between him and the debris, blocking it as though the smoke was solid. As soon as the shattered brick fell to the ground, Loki held out his staff and yelled, “Kill them…”

The thick wall of smoke, which had just finished blocking Legacy’s attack, solidified and formed into dozens of black spikes that hung into the air, for only a second before they exploded out like a shotgun blast. Joselyn saw them coming in time to drop to her knees and form a glowing pink disk in front of her, which stopped two of the spikes that would have otherwise hit her. Legacy snapped around, swirling out her cloak so that it covered her and Red Blade. Black spikes tore through her cloak, but never emerged from the other side. Joselyn instinctively knew that they’d been sent to the Empty.

“He’s a vicious bastard,” Kaboom announced, glowing with an orange force field that protected her from the attack. She flew up into the air, concentrating the energy around her fists so that they both burned with an orange glow. “Now it’s my turn…”

“Wait,” Joselyn called out, trying to remind her of the plan, but it was too late.

Kaboom flew straight towards Loki, yelling, “Hey, asshat,” right before firing an explosive blast.

The blast hit where Loki had been standing, but the villain was already gone, having vanished an instant before being struck. He reappeared a short distance away, looking momentarily confused before holding out his staff and calling out, “Destroy them…”

A blast of green energy erupted from Loki’s staff and spread out like a wave. Joselyn suddenly found herself floating up into the air, above the wave, courtesy of Legacy’s telekinesis. At the same time, Kaboom grabbed Red Blade and flew her out of the way.

“Holy shit,” Joselyn cried out, watching the green wave wash over some cars, which were melted and scorched when it passed, until it slammed into the wall of a building and vanished, taking part of the wall with it. She looked to Legacy and said, “Thanks for the save…”

“Your dad would never forgive me if I let you get hurt,” Legacy responded with a faint smile, before adding, “You know, he told me about you…said that I should talk to you about the whole sex change…”

“He mentioned something like that to me too,” Joselyn responded with a wry smile. “But I think that conversation should wait…”

“Agreed,” Legacy said, setting Joselyn back down.

“KILL THEM,” Loki cried out, holding his staff out.

Suddenly, the stone statues all began to move. They shifted and turned, then came straight at the heroes. One of the statues charged Red Blade, swinging a stone fist with obvious intention to kill, though Red Blade jumped back and dodged the attack.

“Careful,” Red Blade warned. “These are civilians…innocent victims of Loki’s power…”

Legacy used her telekinesis to push several of the stone people away from her, while Joselyn formed a pair of glowing pink daggers, one for each hand. Kaboom landed on the ground near them, her hands glowing with a bubbling orange energy.

“No,” Joselyn responded, feeling out with her sixth sense and ‘knowing’ that these statues were not alive. Though they used to be human, they had been killed when Loki turned them to stone. “They aren’t alive… They’re just stone zombies…”

“I can kill zombies,” Kaboom responded grimly. “Let’s do this…”

Kaboom lunged forward and punched one of the statues, who had once been an attractive woman. As soon as her fist connected with the statue, there was an explosion, and the stone woman was reduced to shattered gravel.

“Please forgive me for this necessity,” Red Blade said as she swung her sword, slicing through two of the statues in one swing, then lunged forward and impaled a third.

Joselyn threw both of her daggers, both of which hit their target, a statue what had once been a fat and balding man. The blades both sunk into his chest and stomach, but didn’t slow him at all.

“My powers aren’t going to do much against these things,” Joselyn warned the others, forming a pink force field disk in front of her, right before the statue’s fist slammed into it. She stepped back, trying to think of a plan.

“You sick bastard,” Legacy exclaimed, using her telekinesis to slam statues together until they shattered. Then she held out her right hand, revealing that the entire arm was made of black metal. A beam of red energy shot out of her palm, being directed at Loki. “You murdered these people, and then you do this to their bodies…”

“Protect me,” Loki cried out, an instant before a shimmering black disk appeared in the air in front of him, blocking Legacy’s attack.

“Don’t worry,” Loki responded with a smirk. “You’ll be joining them soon enough…” Then he swung his staff and yelled, “BREAK THEM!”

The ground in front of Loki suddenly shattered, and a massive crack began to form, spreading directly towards where Red Blade and Kaboom were standing. Kaboom grabbed Red Blade and lifter her off the ground, just a moment before the ground split open into a crevasse beneath their feet. Half a dozen statues fell into the opening and were lost.

Joselyn snarled in frustration, then looked to Legacy, who was getting more pissed off by the moment. She was pretty sure that if this kept up much longer, Legacy was going to lose it.

“Legacy,” Joselyn cried out. One she had the woman’s attention, she gestured towards Loki and said, “Can you get me closer to him?”

For a moment, Joselyn didn’t think that Legacy was going to comply, but then the cloaked woman responded, “I understand…”

Joselyn began to float off the ground, courtesy of Legacy’s telekinesis. A moment later, she was thrown in Loki’s direction. She grimaced, formed a pink force field disk to protect herself with, then hit the ground and rolled.

“You bitches are getting on my fucking nerves,” Loki exclaimed in annoyance. “I’m gonna do the same thing you do that I did to those Seven losers…”

“LOSERS?” Legacy yelled furiously, firing two more blasts of red energy at Loki.

Joselyn cursed and kept her force field disk ready, to protect her from accidentally getting hit by Legacy. Then, she turned her attention back to Loki and yelled, “Loki. Drop your staff.”

Loki turned to look at Joselyn in surprise, dropping his staff as he did so. “Why the hell would I do that?” Then he paused, suddenly realizing that he’d already done as she commanded.

“I’ve got it,” Legacy called out, using her telekinesis to grab the staff and toss it aside, well out of Loki’s reach.

“Stay right where you are,” Joselyn commanded, pushing with her mind control power, ensuring that Loki was truly trapped and defeated. “Your feet are glued to that spot.”

Loki looked confused for a moment, then horrified and angry. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?”

“Mind control,” Joselyn responded with a smirk. “I once took Force down the same way, so don’t feel too bad about being a helpless little bitch. Then again, you just got your ass handed to you by a teenage girl, so you should feel humiliated…”

“You defeated Force?” Kaboom asked her in surprise. “Then why aren’t you on that team?”

“Because Force knows what I can do now,” Joselyn responded with a smirk. “And he would have hit me hard and fast, before I had a chance to do it again. And of course, the last time I met him, I made him shit his pants, so he’d probably want revenge on me…”

Legacy came forward, glaring at Loki with a cold hard expression. “I should have killed you the last time. I never should have let you go to prison…”

“We are heroes,” Red Blade reminded her. “Not executioners.”

“What you are,” Loki answered with a smug look that suddenly had Joselyn worried, “is dead.”

“He’s up to something,” Joselyn warned, only to see Loki’s staff flying through the air and right into his outstretched hand.

“Protect me from her mind control,” Loki commanded.

Black smoke began to form and swirl around Loki, but Joselyn could still see the villain within it. However, what she saw was Loki dropping to his knees and screaming in agony as his body began to shift and change.

“What’s happening to him?” Kaboom demanded with a look of surprise.

Loki screamed, his voice changing and becoming higher pitched. Then Joselyn’s eyes shot wide as she realized how Loki was changing. His hair was growing longer. His chest was pushing out into two mounts. When the smoke cleared, Joselyn could see that Loki had become a woman.

“He turned into a girl,” Kaboom blurted out the obvious.

Loki stood up and looked down at himself…at herself, and gasped in shock and horror. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?”

“You did that to yourself,” Legacy stated, looking almost amused. “Talk about karma…”

Loki snapped around and screamed, “DIE!”

A blast of flame shot out of Loki’s staff, though Legacy suddenly vanished, stepping into the Empty. She stepped right back out a moment later, after the fireball had gone past.

“Lady Knight,” Red Blade called out. “If you would unarm her again…”

“I…I can’t,” Joselyn admitted in horror. “My mind control only works on guys… Loki made himself…herself immune…”

“Of course,” Kaboom grumbled. “We can’t ever do anything the easy way. I guess we’ll just have to kick her ass the old fashioned way…”

“When has a villain ever gone down the easy way?” Red Blade asked with a chuckle.

“She has a point,” Joselyn reluctantly admitted.

Red Blade charged straight at Loki, with a grim look on her face that told Joselyn that there would be no mercy. “Don’t let her touch me,” Loki ordered, just a moment before a glowing red disk appeared beneath her feet and lifted her up into the air, out of Red Blade’s reach.

“Hey, asshat,” Kaboom yelled, flying straight for Loki.

“Stop her,” Loki commanded.

A moment later, thick chains appeared around Kaboom, wrapping around her, with a long length stretching out and being anchored to the ground. Kaboom was yanked to a halt, then began to struggle with the chains. Red Blade immediately rushed over to where the chains were anchored to the ground, using her blade to slice right through the metal links.

Legacy reached the bracer on her left forearm, and was suddenly holding a bow, that appeared to be made out of bone. She drew back and fired an arrow of hellfire. Loki yelled out, “Protect me,” and the arrow suddenly changed direction, hitting the wall of a nearby building and burning a large hole through it. Loki smirked as she commanded, “Give me armor to protect me…” The words had barely left her mouth when black smoke swirled around her, then solidified into red and black chitinous armor, that covered her body from the neck down. “Now, I’m gonna kick all your asses…”

“Pretty cocky for someone who accidentally turned herself into a chick,” Kaboom mocked Loki, who glared back with an expression of hatred.

Joselyn watched, feeling nervous and frustrated. She wasn’t a heavy hitter, at least not with her physical powers, and they were almost useless against someone like Loki…who was now in the air and out of her reach. And now that Loki had transformed into a woman, Joselyn’s mind control wouldn’t work on her either. She needed to find something she could do, because she hadn’t come though the barrier just to stand around looking pretty.

“I’m gonna kill you all,” Loki screamed. “I’m gonna level this fucking city to the ground. Nevermore told me to cut loose, so I’m gonna give it to her…”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Joselyn gasped, seeing the manic look in Loki’s eyes.

At one time, Loki had just been a smalltime anarchist, the kind of punk who caused as much trouble as he possibly could, because it gave him a feeling of power. But then, Loki somehow acquired that magic staff, which gave him real power, and the ability to spread chaos and destruction at a level that even he’d never imagined. Now, Joselyn knew that Loki was about to push the limits of that power, and it wouldn’t be good for anyone.

“STOP HER,” Joselyn yelled, hoping that her team could distract Loki before the anarchist could do whatever she intended.

“One shot,” Legacy stated grimly as she took aim with her strange bow. “One good shot and I end this for good…”

Before Legacy could unleash her hellfire arrow, a smoky figure began to take form in the space between her and Loki. In mere seconds, the thick black smoke solidified, revealing a massive creature that stood thirty feet tall, and was all black, except for a pair of malevolent red eyes. Joselyn could only stare at the monster, which looked to be a fusion of a crab and a gorilla, and which was not only covered in armored shell, but also had a pair of massive crab claws.

“Not another damn monster,” Legacy exclaimed as she fired the arrow at the creature.

The arrow struck the monster in its armored, crab-like head, and seemed to burn into the shell, without doing any serious damage. Still, the creature bellowed, letting out a deafening shriek that made Joselyn cover her ears. Then the creature lunged forward, swinging its massive claws, each of which was the size of a small car. Legacy flew back, right before one of the claws passed through the spot she’d just been. Then it lunged forward again, smashing the other set of claws along the face of a building, sending a wave of shattered stone and glass falling to the ground behind it.

“There are still people in those buildings,” Joselyn cried out a warning to her team, knowing that every minute that creature existed, the more innocent people could be killed.

Kaboom flew at the monster as fast as she could, with both of her hands burning with orange energy. She hit the monster with a two fisted slam, and her power released an explosion that would have made even Grendel pause and take notice, though the crab creature merely howled in rage and turned to swing its claws. Joselyn saw that the shell had been cracked a little where Kaboom hit, but not nearly enough.

Red Blade ran forward and slashed the monster’s leg, though the creature didn’t seem to even notice it. “Legacy,” she called out. “Can you give me a lift?” She used her sword to gesture towards the creature’s head. Legacy nodded, then used her telekinesis to left Red Blade into the air, dropping her at the spot where Kaboom had cracked the shell. Without hesitation, Red Blade drove her sword in, all the way to the hilt.

The monster let out another hideously loud shriek, nearly driving Joselyn to her knees as she scrambled to cover her ears. However, in spite of having been hurt, the monster didn’t go down. Instead, it started lashing out even more frantically, smashing a car, slamming a claw into the side of a building, and then snapping its other claw towards Legacy.

“It’s like a two year old throwing a temper tantrum,” Joselyn muttered, thinking about how bad Evie and Katie used to be back when they’d been toddlers.

“Smash them,” Loki called out in delight. “Stomp on em like fucking ants…”

Joselyn glared at Loki, who was no longer contributing to the fight directly, and who seemed content to just watch for the moment. “Thank God for that,” Joselyn muttered, knowing that if Loki attacked them while they were dealing with the monster, they’d be in even worse trouble. Fortunately, Loki didn’t seem particularly bright. Loki was extremely powerful and incredibly versatile, but Joselyn was starting to get the feeling that her staff was actually the brains of their operation.

For a several seconds, Joselyn thought about how she could sneak up on Loki and attack her while she was distracted, but then she turned her attention back to the rampaging monster. “I have an idea,” she suddenly exclaimed, desperately hoping that it worked. “Kaboom,” Joselyn called out. “Legacy. Hit it again… Get it pissed off and lead it in that direction…” She gestured off to the side.

Legacy looked around for a moment, then her eyes lit up in realization. “Good thinking…”

“I don’t know what you have in mind,” Kaboom responded, “but I’m game to try.”

Legacy and Kaboom both attacked the monster, then quickly pulled back. The monster let out another hideously deafening roar, then charged right after the heroes. It violently lashed out with its claws while stomping on the ground. Loki just sat back and laughed.

“Get them my pretty,” Loki yelled out, “And those little bitches too…”

“Come and get me,” Kaboom called out, firing an explosive concussion blast right into the monster’s face.

The monster shrieked and charged straight towards Legacy and Kaboom, while Red Blade held into the sword that was still driven into the creature’s head.  The monster stomped through several statues, knocked over a car, and quickly caught up to Legacy, who hovered in the air in front of it, offering an easy target.

“That’s it,” Legacy called out to the beast. “Come and get me…”

“No,” Loki called out frantically. “Stop…”

However, the monster leapt at Legacy, who vanished into the Empty. The creature passed right through where the hero had been, smashing into the black stone obelisk that had been right behind her. With a deafening shriek of frustration, the monster lashed out, smashing the obelisk which toppled over and shattered at its feet.

“Now,” Kaboom exclaimed with a grin. “Let’s see if we can lure that thing towards Loki…”

“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU’VE DONE?” Loki screamed, though Joselyn wasn’t sure if the villain was yelling at them or her own monster. “KILL THEM!”

Loki swung his staff and a dozen giant hornets appeared, shooting out almost as though they were projectiles. Joselyn threw up a force field disk to block one of the dog sized insects, then she snapped around the side and used a glowing pink rapier to stab it in the side. She quickly dodged back, then slashed at a second hornet.

A flash of red hit one of the hornets and killed it, drawing Joselyn’s attention to Legacy, who’d reappeared. “Thanks,” Joselyn called back to her, using the momentary distraction to form a pair of glowing pink daggers, which she threw into the remaining hornet.

Red Blade pulled her sword from the monster’s head, just in time to slice through the three hornets that were attacking her. However, she lost balance when the monster shifted and began to fall. Legacy rushed to save her, leaving Joselyn to focus on two more hornets that were flying in her direction.

“Why do my enemies always have to do the bug theme?” Kaboom joked, right before punching one of the hornets, which exploded from the impact, destroying not only that insect, but the one beside it as well.

Suddenly, the monster snapped around and hit Kaboom, sending her flying into the side of a building. Kaboom pulled herself out of the wreckage a moment later, but she was holding one arm, as though she’d hurt it.

“I fear my blade is not up to this task,” Red Blade exclaimed. “Perhaps it would be better to replace me with one who would be of more use against that beast…”

Red Blade had barely finished speaking, when her body shimmered and her costume changed. Gone was the red and white, replaced by the blue and violet one that Channel wore. “I’m afraid you’re right,” Channel said as she grimly looked around. “But thank you for your help.”  Several seconds later, Channel’s costume shimmered and transformed again, so that she was now wearing a black and violet costume, with a completely different style.  Her posture and body language changed as a new spirit took control.

“Its head,” Joselyn called out, using her sixth sense to try finding the monster’s weak spot. Her powers confirmed what she’d already guessed. “Its shell is already cracked on the head…”

“Damn you’re a big one,” Kaboom exclaimed, flying right to the creature’s had and punching it right where she’d previously damaged the shell. Joselyn noticed that she was using only one arm, and was still holding the other as though it was injured. She used her good arm to punch at the monster several more times before Legacy called out for her to get out of the way.

As soon as Kaboom had flown back, Legacy pulled out the strange bow she used, and fired burning arrows into the shattered spot.

The monster roared in pain and lashed out, staggering towards Joselyn who started to run. Suddenly, she floated up into the air, held aloft by telekinesis. She looked to Legacy, only to realize that Legacy was too busy attacking the monster, and the one who’d saved her was currently in Channel’s body.

“Thanks,” Joselyn called out, only to realize that she recognized the costume that Channel’s body currently wore. Her eyes went wide in realization. “You’re Vesper…”

“Yes,” Vesper responded, giving Joselyn a closer look and pointing out, “You’re wearing the White Knight’s symbol on your belt…” She paused for a moment before adding, “Channel says that you’re his daughter…”

“Yeah,” Joselyn said, pointing to the monster. “But maybe we should talk about that AFTER we stop this big ass freak.”

Vesper nodded agreement. “Good point.”

She set Joselyn down on the ground, then floated up to where she could join the fight. She used her telekinesis to fling debris from cards and shattered buildings at the monster’s head.

The monster’s shell had finally been cracked wide open, and two burning arrows went into the creature’s head. It shrieked out yet another deafening bellow, then collapsed to the ground, where thick black blood leaked from its body. For several seconds, Joselyn and the others all just stared at the monster, expecting it to jump back to its feet and continue fighting. Instead, it turned into a thick black smoke and faded away.

Vesper then turned to Legacy and gasped, “Traveler?” However, a moment later, she added, “That’s Hellshot’s bow…”

Legacy snapped around and stared at Vesper, her eyes going wide in shock. “Amelia?”

“You…look like me,” Vesper gasped, looking just as shocked. “Who are you?”

“DIE,” Loki suddenly yelled, drawing everyone’s attention back to the villain.

Almost as one, Legacy and Vesper used their telekinetic powers to throw debris at Loki, though Legacy also drew her bow and fired an arrow of hellfire. The debris hit Loki and sent her flying back from the impact, while the arrow flew right through the space she’d previously occupied.

Loki had been knocked from her floating stone platform and hit the ground, though she quickly scrambled back to her feet, patted her armored chest and laughed. “I’m gonna fuck you up. KILL THEM!”

“Look out,” Joselyn yelled, an instant before the ground exploded beneath them. She formed a glowing pink disk beneath her feet, just in time to protect herself from the shrapnel.

Kaboom was in the air and out of range, though Legacy and Vesper were right in the middle of the impact zone. Legacy threw herself at Vesper, pushing out with her telekinesis at the same time to throw Vesper away from the explosion. Then, Legacy screamed a large piece of concrete slammed into her thigh.

Joselyn stared at Legacy in worry, then looked back to Loki, bracing for another attack. However, she was surprised to see Loki vanishing in a puff of black smoke. Her sixth sense confirmed that Loki really had teleported away, and hadn’t just turned invisible.

“You okay?” Kaboom asked, landing on the ground beside Legacy.

“My leg,” Legacy replied with a grimace. She held her thigh with a look of pain. “Damn. I think I broke it...”

“You did,” Joselyn agreed as she came over. She concentrated on her power. “In two spots.”

“You pushed me out of the way,” Vesper stated, staring at Legacy with a confused expression. “Who are you? Why do you look like me?”

“Amelia,” Legacy whispered, staring back with eyes that were staring to fill up. “That is you in there…isn’t it?”

“You have Traveler’s cloak,” Vesper said, her eyes locked firmly on Legacy. “You have Hellshot’s bow…”

Legacy gave a forced, and obviously pained smile. “I have Umbrella’s umbrella…” She held up her right arm, which was made of black metal. Then she looked away and quietly added, “And I have your body…”

Vesper moved closer, crouching down beside Legacy. “Who are you? How…?”

“I never thought I’d see you again,” Legacy whispered, staring at Vesper with tear filled eyes. “You died. Everyone died…” Then she shook her head before abruptly asking, “Do you remember what Loki did? How he killed you?”

Vesper had a haunted look on her face as she nodded. “I…I was in someone else’s body… My powers weren’t working… And then…”

Legacy grimaced. “Then, Loki killed everyone while they were distracted and off balance. Only two of us survived…” Vesper let out a gasp of shock while Legacy continued. “Karen survived…in Ben’s body. I got stuck in yours.”

“My God,” Vesper gasped, staring at Legacy in horror, and realization. Joselyn could see the flash of understanding in her eyes as she realized that Legacy was one of her old teammates in the Seven. “And you…?”

For a moment, Legacy looked as though she wasn’t going to say a thing. Then she took a deep breath, looked away, and quietly answered, “Everett. I used to be Everett…”

“Everett,” Vesper blurted out in surprise.

“I go by Eve now,” Legacy quickly added.

Jocelyn couldn’t resist pointing out, “I have a sister named Evie…” However, no one paid any attention to her.

“Everett,” Vesper gasped, her own eyes filling with tears. She looked Legacy over and gasped, “What did Loki do to you?”

Without saying another word, the two women began to hug each other, both of them crying. Joselyn felt tears forming in her eyes too, and she’d only met Vesper once before her death. She could only imagine what this surprise reunion meant for Legacy.

Chapter 9

Sam stepped through the barrier and immediately felt a chill run down her spine from being so close to that dark power. Her every instinct screamed at her to destroy that barrier, or at least, to stop the one who’d created it. She wasn’t sure how much of that desire was her own, and how much was a side effect of her power.

Now Sam and her team had gone through the barrier, the next step was to find their assigned obelisk and the villain who guarded it. Unfortunately, that was over thirty miles away, which meant that it wasn’t going to be a quick and easy journey. Of course, she could fly there, as could Mystik, but she was pretty sure that neither Deadbeat nor Agent Briggs…Poison could fly. That meant she and Mystik would have to carry them. Sam shuddered at the thought of carrying Deadbeat’s dead and decomposing body, but since Deadbeat was one of her own teammates in the Slackers, she couldn’t very well put that one off on Mystik.

Since Sam wanted to put off touching Deadbeat for as long as possible, she looked over her new team. She knew Deadbeat and had worked with her for some time now, but the other two were almost a complete mystery. Agent Briggs, who was calling herself Poison now that she was in costume, was a DAD agent, which meant that she was probably trained and experienced. However, Mystik was even more of an unknown. All that Sam knew was that she was some sort of magic user, and that she could fly. Sam, had seen Mystik doing so when she’d first arrived on the gathering point.

Then, Sam noticed that Mystik and Poison seemed a bit wary of each other. “I take it that you two know each other,” she commented, remembering that they’d already said as much a short time ago. However, at the time, she’d been distracted by everything else that had been going on and hadn’t paid much attention.

“We’ve worked together before,” Poison carefully responded. “It wasn’t under very good circumstances.”

“You can say that again,” Mystik muttered.

Poison smiled faintly and explained, “I was undercover in the Black Guild, and we worked a couple jobs for them together. At the time, I thought Mystik was a rookie villain, and she probably thought I was a psychotic monster.”

“You did a good job of playing the part,” Mystik pointed out.

“If you were there because you were undercover,” Sam asked Poison, then looking at Mystik, “then why were you there?”

“Because I was a rookie villain,” Mystik answered with a scowl, which surprised Sam.

“What the fuck?” Deadbeat demanded. “You’re a villain?”

“I was.” Mystik just shrugged, as though it was no big deal. “The fact is, I was a small time thief, and when I got my powers, I decided to try for the big leagues. But as it turns out, I wasn’t very good at it…”

Poison smiled faintly. “She started sabotaging half the jobs…or at least…protecting the bystanders. She released a bunch of hostages the Black Guild was holding, saved my life after my cover was blown, and then helped save the world.”

“And she made sure I got a second chance,” Mystik grudgingly admitted as she gestured to Poison. “Ironically, I’m better at being one of the good guys anyway, so that’s what I do now.” Then she gave a wry smile and added, “Besides, my girlfriend made me promise to stay on the straight and narrow.”

“I’m just glad I didn’t waste the effort,” Poison said with a faint nod of approval.

Mystik looked a little self-conscious at that, then gave Poison a curious look. “I thought you were playing dead, so no one from the Black Guild would come after you for what you did. What made you change your mind?”

“This,” Poison answered, gesturing to the barrier with a grim expression. “And this new Scepter. I hate leaving unfinished business, especially after everything I went through to take down the Black Guild and the Scepter.”

“Speaking of which,” Sam said with a glance to Deadbeat and a sigh of resignation. “We should get going.”

Deadbeat nodded. “The sooner we get this thing over with, the sooner I can get a beer.”

“I can take us there,” Mystik announced. “It will take a third of my power, but it will be the fastest way to get to the obelisk.”

“Then do it,” Poison told her.

Mystik held up her gold metallic staff, swung it about in a dramatic fashion, then slammed the base of it into the ground. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and a strange twisting sensation, and then they were somewhere else.

Sam looked around, surprised to see that she was now standing on a grassy lawn, in what appeared to be the suburbs. The homes and street all seemed calm and peaceful, reminding her a great deal of her own home, until she looked at the house across the street. A large black obelisk sat in the middle of a carefully manicured lawn, as if it was some kind of massively oversized lawn ornament.

“What the fuck?” Mystik suddenly exclaimed, which brought Sam’s attention to the base of the obelisk.

A dozen people…men, women and children…were all handcuffed to each other, wrist to wrist, so that they formed a circle around the base of the obelisk. The children, and several adults, were crying, while every one of them looked terrified.

“Hostages,” Poison stated in a grim voice.

“Yeah,” Mystik agreed in identical tone. “This is the Scepter’s style all right…”

Just then, Sam saw a flash of movement from the corner of her eye, but before she could consciously register it, Deadbeat was thrown back. Sam snapped around, only to see Deadbeat’s body on the ground a short distance away…while her head was entirely missing. A gore covered cinderblock tumbled along the ground even further away, before coming to a stop.

“TAKE COVER,” Poison ordered.

Sam flew straight up into the air, a moment before a stop sign flew through the space where she’d been standing a moment earlier. She quickly looked around for the source of the attack, noticing that Poison and Mystik had both run for cover behind a parked car.

“What part of take cover don’t you understand?” Poison snapped.

“I’m going higher,” Sam called back, hoping she could get out of range and get a better view at the same time. After a few seconds, she saw movement from the window of a house, the very one that the obelisk sat in front of.  Going back down, she pointed to the house and announced, “I found her…”

“Good,” Poison responded. “She has us pinned down at the moment, but knowing where she’s coming from makes a huge difference…” Then she chuckled faintly and added, “Damn, I wish Harbinger was here for this one. We could use a good sniper, right about now.”

Sam dropped back to the ground, right beside Poison and Mystik, just a second before several rocks and bricks smashed into the other side of the car. They all shifted, prepared to break cover if it began to fail.

“I’m sorry about your friend,” Poison said, glancing around the back of the car and trying to catch a glimpse of Scepter.

“No big deal,” Sam responded with a faint smile. “Once Deadbeat finds a new body, he’ll be back.”

“I am not even going to ask,” Mystik commented.

“Our objective is the obelisk,” Poison reminded them. “Taking out the Scepter doesn’t do any good if we can’t remove the obelisk too.”

“Hard to take that out with the hostages,” Sam reminded her grimly. “If we do anything to knock it down, people are going to get crushed.”

Mystik nodded. “If I get close enough, I can free the hostages or take out the obelisk, but I can’t do either if I have to worry about getting my head knocked off.”

“So, either way, we have to deal with the Scepter,” Sam stated. “I’ll get her attention so you two can move in.”

Sam took a deep breath, then flew up into the air again. A fire hydrant suddenly flew at her, but she saw it coming in time to move out of the way. She flew towards the house, firing a brilliant blast of light right at the window.

While Sam was doing that, Poison and Mystik came out from cover and began rushing towards the house, trying to catch the Scepter by surprise. However, they had only made it halfway to the house, when the front door was flung open. A woman emerged, but it wasn’t the Scepter. It was a woman, who looked like a suburban soccer mom.

“Stop where you are,” the Scepter yelled, standing right behind the woman.

The woman stepped forward while the villainess used her as a human shield. A man came out with them, acting as a second hostage and shield. Both of the hostages looked terrified.

“One step more, and they die,” the Scepter stated. She held out her hand, which was firmly clutching a scepter. With a slight gesture with the scepter, the two hostages floated a foot into the air and remained there.

“What do you want?” Sam demanded, hovering in the air and wanting to blast the Scepter, but knowing that she couldn’t risk it.

“I want the world to kneel at my feet,” the Scepter answered with a smirk. “And one day it will. For now, I merely want to repay a debt, and that means dealing with minor nuisances, such as yourselves.”

“Let them go,” Poison demanded.

“I am the one in control here, not you,” the Scepter snapped.

Suddenly, the man who was floating beside the Scepter let out a gasp, right before his neck bent into an unnatural angle. A moment later, the man’s lifeless body dropped to the ground.

Sam gasped in horror and prepared to blast the Scepter, but the villainess gestured to the other hostage who was still floating there, screaming in horror. Sam snarled and spat out, “You monster…”

“A meaningless label,” the Scepter stated in a cold tone. “One the weak give the powerful.”

“And you think that you are powerful?” Poison asked, obviously trying to distract the Scepter and buy time to think.

The Scepter snarled. “I AM powerful, and I will only grow more so.” She gestured to the woman who hovered in front of her, and who was crying in terror. “Surrender heroes, unless you wish to see her die too.”

“Shit,” Poison exclaimed in frustration.

Sam scowled, seeing that they didn’t have a choice. Not unless she wanted to watch the Scepter murder that woman the way she had the man.

“You win,” Sam spat out bitterly, landing on the ground and holding up her hands.

Mystik hesitated a moment, but her staff was suddenly torn from her hands by the Scepter’s power, and sent flying nearly thirty yards. She glared at the Scepter but made no move.

“Kneel before me,” the Scepter commanded, “and I will let you live.”

Just then, the dead body near the Scepter’s feet groaned and began to get to his knees. As he looked up, his head still hung at an unnatural angle.

“G…Garret?” the hostage gasped in shock.

The corpse slowly staggered to his feet, moaning, “Brains…”

“What the…?” the Scepter started, taking a step back in surprise.

A moment later, the slow and staggering corpse suddenly launched himself at the Scepter, grabbing the scepter from her hand and throwing it. “Got your power, bitch,” Deadbeat exclaimed from his new body as he punched her.

The hostage dropped to the ground, free of the Scepter’s power. Sam saw her opening and flew to the hostage, grabbing her and pulling her away while Deadbeat threw himself at the Scepter, keeping her occupied.

A loud roar filled the air, right before a large black panther pounced on Poison from the side. Poison snapped around, surprised by the large cat that she hadn’t even seen sneaking up on her.

Poison’s fists burned with a green glow, and she dodged to the side, avoiding the slashing claws before punching the cat in the side. The cat snarled and hissed, seeming angry but unharmed.

“It…didn’t die,” Poison blurted out, looking at her glowing hands in surprise. “But my touch is lethal…”

“Ebon is no ordinary pet,” the Scepter exclaimed. “And I am no ordinary woman…”

With that, the Scepter gestured at Deadbeat, who was suddenly thrown away from her. She no longer had the scepter which Sam had assumed was the source of her powers, yet she still had her powers.

“Ebon,” Poison exclaimed in surprise.

Mystik’s staff flew through the air and right into her waiting hand. “Last I knew, Ebon was a housecat… That can’t be the same cat…”

“I think it is,” Poison responded grim. “Somehow.”

“Let me down from here,” Deadbeat ordered, flailing through the air.

“Ebon recognizes two of you,” the Scepter announced, sounding surprised. “He says you two played a part in ending the Black Guild and killing my predecessor…”

Poison glared at her. “So you aren’t the previous Scepter after all…”

“No,” the Scepter responded with a cruel smile. “He was nothing but a puppet. A pawn.”

The Scepter made a gesture with her hand, then Deadbeat let out a yelp, right before his body was torn in half. The lower half of his body was flung onto the nearby rooftop, while the upper half flew into the middle of the street where it hit hard enough to peel of flesh and shatter bones.

“Not again,” Deadbeat gasped out before his body went motionless.

“GARETT,” the hostage woman cried out while Sam tried to get her to run while she could.

“You are a monster,” Sam announced with fury burning in her eyes.

Sam glared at the Scepter, and the swirling glow around her body grew brighter as she gathered her power. She was about to blast the Scepter, who she could feel the taint of darkness from, but then she hesitated and realized that there was a much more powerful source of darkness.

“The cat,” Sam exclaimed, looking at the black panther that Poison was fighting. She could feel a lot of darkness from that cat, the same darkness that she’d felt from Nevermore and her creations. Without another moment of hesitation, Sam blasted him with a beam of light.

As soon as Sam’s light blast hit Ebon, he howled in pain and jumped back. Ebon snarled and roared, glaring at Sam with a look of pure hatred in his eyes. Sam felt a chill run down her spine as she realized that this was no ordinary cat. Ebon was something else entirely…a creature of darkness in feline form.

“NO,” the Scepter snarled, right before Sam was suddenly thrown back.

“You take the cat,” Poison exclaimed. “I’ll get the Scepter…”

Poison charged straight at the Scepter with glowing green hands, which Sam knew, would normally kill on contact. The Scepter looked vaguely worried, then levitated up into the air, out of Poison’s reach. As soon as she was high enough, she used her telekinesis to lift the various scattered bits of debris from around the yard, then sent them all flying straight at Poison.

“I’m not that easy to kill,” Poison said as she quickly leapt and dodged, avoiding the projectiles.

Sam paid little attention to what her teammates were doing, instead focusing on Ebon. The cat was snarling, glaring at her with glowing red eyes. Then the dark creature abruptly leapt at her, claws and fangs extended. Almost on reflex, Sam blasted Ebon with as much as she could, sending the cat flying back with a shriek of agony.

The Scepter suddenly dropped from the air and hit the ground, looking as if she was in pain. Sam stared at the Scepter, then back at Ebon in surprise and realization. With a grim smile, she fired another blast at the feline.

“You won’t win,” the Scepter yelled furiously, getting back to her feet and looking as though she was in great pain. Though most of her face was obscured by her helmet, the fierce determination was still clear in her voice. “You will NOT beat me…”

“We already have,” Mystik called out.

Sam looked to Mystik, who was floating in the air, right in front of where the obelisk had previously been. She gasped in surprise and saw that there was absolutely no sign of the obelisk, other than a blackened spot on the ground where it had previously stood.

The hostages, which had all been chained up in a ring around the obelisk, were no longer held in place by the stone pillar. They were still chained to each other, but half of them were dragging the other half, trying to get away from the Scepter.

“The obelisk,” the Scepter exclaimed in surprise, right before demanding, “WHAT DID YOU DO?”

Mystik smirked, twirling her staff around in a move that was obviously intended to show off. “I sent it to the same place I sent the last Scepter. Needless to say, it’s gone for good.”

The Scepter snapped out her hand as if to use her powers on Mystik, but nothing happened. That only seemed to shock and frustrate the villainess even more, though she still looked arrogant.

“You’re defeated,” Sam announced.

Poison immediately followed that up with the command, “Surrender.”

“NEVER,” Scepter yelled. “I’m too powerful to be stopped by the likes of you…” At this point, she sounded more like she was trying to convince herself of that than them.

Sam saw a flash of black, only to realize that Ebon was now running straight at the Scepter. Poison saw him coming and immediately snapped around to hit him, but the cat leapt over her head and landed right beside the villainess.

The Scepter gave a cruel smile, then Poison was thrown back, where she landed in the middle of the street. A moment later, the villainess started to levitate again.

“I don’t think so,” Mystik exclaimed as she suddenly appeared in the air beside the Scepter. Mystik was already swinging her staff, and hit the Scepter as hard as she could. Sam followed that up by blasting the Scepter with a burst of light.

The Scepter dropped from the air again, hitting the ground beside Ebon. “NO,” the Scepter snarled furiously. “I will NOT be beaten… I will NOT be powerless again... NEVER AGAIN.”

“Shut the fuck up,” a new voice added.

Sam looked to the source, a teenage girl with blood all over her clothes, and with a dull lifeless color to her skin. Deadbeat continued walking straight at the Scepter with a look of fierce determination on her new face.

“You know what,” Deadbeat stated. “I just climbed out of a pile of dead bodies in that back yard.” She gestured to one of the houses down the street. “You’re going down, you sick bitch. There was a baby… A GOD DAMN BABY! There is no way in fucking Hell that you’re gonna walk away from this one.”

This was the first time that Sam had ever seen Deadbeat so angry or motivated. Normally, the zombie hero was lazy and virtually useless, living up to her codename as if that was a challenge she had to meet. But not now. For the first time since Sam had known her, Deadbeat was pissed off and determined.

Ebon abruptly turned and pounced on Deadbeat, clawing a nasty gouge down the side of her face, all the way down into her collarbone. However, Deadbeat barely seemed to notice the injury and merely grabbed the cat and slammed him into the ground. Deadbeat was stronger than she looked, and her bodies were completely expendable. Even if Ebon tore Deadbeat to shreds, Deadbeat would merely get a new body and come back.

Sam blasted Ebon with another blast of her light, and the cat shrieked in pain. He quickly scrambled back to his feet and hissed at her. The large cat’s glowing red eyes were filled with hatred, and it was all directed at her.

“Bad kitty,” Deadbeat exclaimed, right before kicking Ebon in the side as hard as she could. The panther tumbled over, quickly regained his footing, and was about to leap at Deadbeat again, when Poison leapt at him.

Since Poison was keeping Ebon busy, Deadbeat charged straight at the Scepter, as did Mystik, who used her staff to repeatedly hit the villain. She jumped back when Deadbeat reached them, giving Deadbeat room to work. Without a word, the zombie girl picked the Scepter up, held her over her head for a moment, then body slammed her into the ground.

“Deadbeat,” Poison called out. “Find something to restrain the Scepter. Glamour Girl and Mystik, keep her covered…”

Deadbeat sneered, which was a frightening expression on her shredded face. “The way you’re barking orders,” she grumbled, “I’m starting to feel like I’m in the Army…”

“I was in the Marines,” Poison responded proudly. “Not the Army. Now move your ass, soldier.”

“Bite me,” Deadbeat responded, flipping Poison off, then kicking the Scepter in the side before she turned to do as she’d been instructed.

“No,” the Scepter snarled, struggling to get back to her feet. Her armor was cracked and dented, but her spirit and determination seemed intact. “I will not be defeated by the likes of you. I will not be powerless again… Never again… I am the one with the power now. ME! I’ll crush you all…”

Suddenly, Sam found herself moving through the air, but not under her own power. The rest of her team began floating up as well, much to their evident surprise. She gulped, having a very bad feeling as she remembered how easily the Scepter had killed that hostage earlier when he was helpless like this. However, it took her a moment to realize that even the Scepter seemed a little surprised. But then, Sam was abruptly slammed back to the ground, hitting into the lawn with a painful thud.

Sam started to scramble back to her feet, only to see Ebon leap at the Scepter. As soon as the panther landed, his body seemed to shift and blur into a thick black smoke, which quickly reformed into a new shape. A giant black bird…a massive raven with glowing red eyes, let out a loud ‘kaw’ before he grabbed the Scepter in his claws and took to the air.

“Stop them,” Poison yelled.

Mystik held out her hand, and the staff that she’d lost when she’d been thrown around, quickly flew back into her palm. Sam flew up into the air, determined to catch the Scepter and that dark creature who was helping her, but when she looked around, all she saw was dark clouds. The Scepter and her giant raven had disappeared. With long stream of profanities, she settled back down to the ground.

“They got away,” Sam reluctantly told the others.

“FUCK,” Deadbeat snarled furiously.

“Did you see Ebon?” Mystik asked Poison. “I knew that damn cat wasn’t normal, but I never saw it do anything like that…”

“Me either,” Poison admitted. “Whatever that thing really is, I’m getting the feeling that it’s at least as dangerous as the Scepter is…if not more.”

“At least we took care of the obelisk,” Sam pointed out, looking to Mystik and adding, “Good job with that.” Mystik merely nodded.

“Whatever,” Deadbeat grumbled, gesturing to the hostages that were still handcuffed together. “While you gets cut them loose, I’m gonna go get a body that isn’t so damaged, then I’m gonna look for a beer. After what I just saw back there, I’m gonna need at least a six pack.”

“Just don’t get drunk,” Poison pointed out grimly. She stared at the spot that had previously been occupied with the obelisk, scowling deeply as she did so. “We might have won this battle, but the war isn’t over. We’re not done yet.”

Chapter 10

There were times when Julie loved her power and just how versatile it could be. No matter what the problem was, she could usually call on the right person to help her out. If her car broke, she could channel a mechanic. If she got locked out of her apartment, she could channel a locksmith…or a professional thief. And when she ran into serious trouble, she could channel a superhero, and occasionally, even a supervillain who was looking for a little redemption or revenge.

Of course, there were other times when Julie hated her powers. Due to the nature of her abilities, she was a professional damsel in distress. Whenever there was a problem, she had to call someone else for help.  She had to rely on other people to fight her battles for her. She might be a superhero, but most of the time, she didn’t really feel like it.

Julie scowled impatiently, or at least, she would have if she wasn’t just a passenger in her own body. At that moment, Vesper was the one in the driver’s seat, controlling her body and talking with her assigned team. She couldn’t help but feeling a little jealous of Vesper because of that, and because she and Red Blade had been the ones to fulfill her mission, rather than her.

At the same time, Julie was straining under Vesper’s presence, and could easily have let her go at any time since their mission had been completed. However, instead of reclaiming control of her own body, Julie struggled to keep Vesper there for just a little longer. Vesper deserved this chance to say goodbye, as did Legacy.

“Everett,” Vesper cried, her tears coming from Julie’s eyes. She had just learned everything that her former teammate and friend had been through, and it broke her heart. Julie could feel the powerful emotions. “I’m so sorry…”

“No,” Legacy shook her own head. “I’m sorry…”

“It’s not your fault I died,” Vesper assured Legacy. “Nor is it your fault that you’re in my body. You never should have had to carry the burdens of the entire team…”

Julie felt awkward for being caught in the middle of such a personal moment between Legacy and Vesper, and she felt bad for having to interrupt it. “I can’t keep you here for much longer,” she warned Vesper, communicating mentally through the connection that allowed the other woman to borrow her body. “Maybe another minute at most…”

Vesper nodded their head, then gave an apologetic smile to Legacy. “I’m afraid, I have to go. Channel says that my time is up…”

Legacy scowled, “Tell her that we need more time…”

This time, Vesper shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way. I think that Channel has given me as much time as she possibly could. She’s exhausted from pushing her powers…”

“Amelia,” Legacy whispered, tears still running down her cheeks.

Vesper gently reached out to touch Legacy’s cheek, smiling sadly. “I guess, you’re sort of like my sister now. It’s strange, but I kind of like the idea… I already thought of you as family, so I guess this makes it more official.”

“I...I’m glad I got to talk to you again,” Legacy quietly told her.

“Me too,” Vesper agreed. “I’m proud of you…and I know the others would be too.” With that, she leaned forward and gave Legacy a gentle kiss on the forehead.

Legacy choked up but managed to whisper, “Goodbye,” right before Vesper faded back to where she’d come.

Channel blinked her eyes as she took control over her body again, then quickly stepped back, blushing self-consciously. “That took a lot out of me,” she admitted, more to cover the awkwardness than for anything else. “Channeling two spirits back to back, and holding them for so long…”

“Thank you,” Legacy told her as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She shifted position, then winced in pain, grabbing at her leg again.

“Hold still,” Lady Knight warned her. Julie looked at Lady Knight, who had just finished tying a cloth arm sling for Kaboom.

Julie looked at Legacy’s injured leg, which according to Lady Knight, was broken. “I’d channel a doctor or something, if I wasn’t wiped out…”

“You’ve already helped a lot,” Legacy told her with a faint smile. “More than you can know.”

“You’ll probably have some hellacious bruising to go with that broken leg,” Lady Knight said as she crouched down beside Legacy. “But you don’t have a compound fracture, so that’s good. Sit still and I’ll get a splint on it…”

Julie watched as Lady Knight ran off, coming back a couple minutes with two short lengths of rebar and a bunch of cloth. She quickly put a splint on Legacy’s leg, clearly knowing what she was doing. Then again, Lady Knight had grown up among a family of superheroes, so she’d probably been trained in first aid and emergency medical care, just in case.

“That should do it for now,” Lady Knight said. “You’ll just need to keep off your leg.” She hesitated a moment, then asked, “How are we going to get back?”

Legacy grimaced in pain and gestured at her leg. “I can’t walk back through the Empty like this…”

“Can you fly back?” Julie asked.

Legacy shook her head. “My telekinesis is pretty much tapped out, and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t focus enough to use it that well anyway.”

“Damn,” Kaboom exclaimed, looking around with a worried expression. “If Loki comes back, none of us are in any real shape to keep fighting her…”

“I doubt Loki will come back,” Legacy stated grimly. “More likely, he…she…will start causing trouble somewhere else.”

“You know her best,” Channel admitted.

“Once all the obelisks are gone,” Lady Knight pointed out, “the cavalry will come rushing in, and will deal with Loki and the others.” She smirked faintly before adding, “I imagine my family will probably target Force. We still owe him a good beat down.” Then she glanced to Legacy and added, “Then again, Dad will want to hit Loki…HARD.”

“Either way,” Channel said, looking at the others, especially at Legacy and Kaboom, “we’ll need to get you some real medical attention.”

Lady Knight slowly looked around with a strange expression on her face, as though she was trying to listen for something. “There,” she finally announced, pointing down one of the ruined and empty streets. “There’s a doctor down there…”

“Are you sure?” Kaboom asked, giving her a suspicious look.

Lady Knight just shrugged. “It’s a vague sense, but it’s all we have.”

A short time later, they found the materials the make a stretcher and placed Legacy on it. Then, they started carrying Legacy in the direction that Lady Knight indicated. Kaboom only had one good hand, but she was a lot stronger than she looked, so was still able to help with the stretcher.

As Julie helped carry the stretcher, she carefully watched her surroundings for any signs of danger, though she kept sneaking glances at her companions as well. It was hard to believe that all three of them used to be guys. Lady Knight, not only had ‘Lady’ in her name, but her hair and part of her costume were also pink. Julie had a hard time imagining a guy who would willingly use that codename or wear that much pink, unless he was gay. Not that there was anything wrong with that. Unfortunately, she didn’t know Lady Knight well enough to feel comfortable asking her.

After the conversation between Legacy and Vesper, Julie already knew much of Legacy’s story. It was quite a tragic one, so it was no wonder why Legacy had been so intense, and why she’d reacted so personally towards Loki. But strangely enough, much of Legacy’s intensity had faded away. She was quite subdued, and obviously not only from her injury.

And then, there was Kaboom. Julie didn’t know much about Kaboom or how she’d become a woman, but it was easy to believe she used to be a guy. Now that Julie was paying attention, she realized that Kaboom behaved something like a typical jock, and she even reminded Julie a great deal of her teammate Chrome.

“When I get back,” Julie mused. “I’m going to have a lot of questions for Glamour Girl…” She felt just a little offended that Glamour Girl had kept something as important, as the fact that she was really a guy, from her own teammates and friends.

“What was that?” Lady Knight asked.

Julie blushed a little at having been caught talking to herself. “I was just curious about you all… I mean, I had no idea there were so many heroes with the whole gender thing…”

“Me either,” Lady Knight admitted wryly. “I mean, I knew about Legacy…”  She nodded towards the woman on the stretcher since her hands were both holding it. “And of course, I knew about Hardshell, since her change is kind of an open secret in the community. But everyone else…”

Legacy looked over at Lady Knight and asked, “You’re Joshua, aren’t you?”

“I was,” Lady Knight admitted self-consciously. “Needless to say, I don’t use that name anymore…”

“Will…your dad talked about you a few times,” Legacy explained with a sigh. “Back when he was with the Seven…”

“I knew about Counterweight,” Kaboom added, not to be left out of the conversation. “And I knew a villain who was intentionally trying to change…” She shook her head and chuckled. “Actually, she’s the whole reason I got changed.”

Julie gave Kaboom a curious look, definitely wanting to know more. However, instead of asking about that, she instead asked, “How much further. We’ve been going for over three blocks…”

“We’re almost there,” Lady Knight answered.

At that, Legacy looked at Julie and cautiously asked, “Channel… Do you think that you could bring Vesper back again sometime? So I can talk to her…”

Julie winced a little at the request, as she did nearly every time someone asked her to channel one of their loved ones for them. She hesitated a few seconds. “My powers don’t work that way,” she finally said, giving Legacy an apologetic look. “I can’t call up a specific person. All I can do is ask for help dealing with a situation. Most of the time, someone with a reason to help, or some kind of unfinished business offers to help. Sometimes, no one does. I can’t control who hears my call, and I rarely get the same person a second time.”

Legacy gave her a disappointed look but nodded her understanding. “Thanks anyway.”

Lady Knight abruptly stopped, forcing everyone else to do so as well. Then she stared of with a look of concentration before pointing to a nearby building. “There.”

With that, Lady Knight led them to the building, and to a specific business with a sign above the door that proclaimed it a veterinary clinic. “Just what I need,” Legacy grumbled. “A flea dip and some grooming.”

Lady Knight smirked at that. “And here, I thought we were taking you in to get fixed…”

“Really?” Kaboom added. “I thought it was for deworming.”

Legacy winced in pain, then rolled her eyes and muttered, “Assholes.” However, Julie noticed that she was smiling, very faintly.

Kaboom opened the door, then Julie and Lady Knight brought Legacy inside. “Hello,” Julie called out. “Is there a doctor here?”

“Don’t move,” a woman’s voice commanded.

Julie looked at the speaker, who had just stepped through the far doorway and into the waiting room. She was in her mid to late thirties, with dark blonde hair. And of course, she had a gun in her hand that was pointed directly at them.

“We aren’t here to hurt you,” Julie quickly said. “We’re heroes…”

“And our friend needs a doctor,” Lady Knight added, gesturing to Legacy.

“So you came to a vet?” the woman asked suspiciously. She hesitated a moment, then lowered the gun. “Well, you obviously aren’t with the rioters or the infected.”

“Infected?” Kaboom asked with a worried look.

“And fortunately for you, I am a doctor, or at least, I used to be,” the woman said. She stared at them for a moment before letting out a sigh. “My name is Denise Roberts…or Doctor Roberts if you want to get technical. Not that anyone has called me that in years.”

“No offense,” Kaboom said, “but I think she needs a human doctor, not a vet.”

Denise came over and looked down at Legacy. “I’m not a vet,” she said after a moment. “I only stopped here because I was looking for medical supplies, and it seemed like a safe place to rest up for a bit.”

“Sorry,” Kaboom apologized with a shrug.

“Bring her into the back room,” Denise told them, gesturing to the door she’d just come through. “I’ll take a look at her injuries.”

Julie and Lady Knight brought Legacy into the back room, where there was a large metal examination table, that was big enough to treat a great dane. There was plenty of room for Legacy to be stretched out on it.

Denise quickly removed the splint that Lady Knight had made, then looked at the black spandex costume that Legacy was still wearing. Legacy winced in pain, then held out her black metal hand. One of her fingers stretched out, forming a sharp looking blade, which she used to slice down the side of her leg, opening the costume so her leg could be exposed.

After performing a brief examination, Denise told them the same thing that Lady Knight had. “Your leg is broken, and it looks like you have heavy bruising. I can’t do much for your injury beyond what was already done for you, but I do have something that will help with the pain.”

“That’s a lot better than nothing,” Kaboom said, gesturing to her own injured arm. “Do you mind taking a quick look at this too?”

While Denise looked at Kaboom’s arm, she asked, “So, you’re heroes…” She looked at each of them with a wary expression. “Do you know what’s going on with all this?”

“The quick explanation,” Lady Knight said with scowl, “is that a big bad villain put a magic dome over Baltimore, so almost no one can get in or out while he and his people destroy everything.”

“Almost no one?” Denise asked.

“I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be able to get through,” Julie told her. “We managed to get through, but very few people can. We came in to try fixing this.”

“It doesn’t seem that you’re doing a very good job of it so far,” Denise pointed out wryly. Then she hesitated a moment before asking, “Can you get back out?”

“Travel is a little challenging at the moment,” Julie pointed out wryly, nodding to Legacy, “but we do need to get back to our command center on the other side, so we can report in.”

“I’m feeling a little better,” Legacy admitted with a wince. She carefully touched her injured leg, which had been splinted again. “Now, instead of hurting like Hell, it’s mostly numb. If we’re careful, I can probably get us back through the Empty.”

“And you can’t take me with you,” Denise said in resignation. There were several apologetic looks. “Then perhaps, you can deliver a message for me instead.”

“Sure,” Julie answered.

Denise found a piece of paper and wrote down a name and phone number. “When you get out,” she said, “please call my nephew and tell him that my…condition has returned. Tell him that I’ve relapsed, and that I need him here as soon as possible. Assuming you people get rid of that barrier. If you don’t, then things could get even worse inside here, very quickly.”

Julie gave Denise a curious look, wondering what that was about, but accepting the paper. “We’ll make sure to tell him.”

Suddenly, Lady Knight froze, then blurted out, “Ms. Miracle is in trouble…”

“What?” Kaboom asked. “How do you know?”

“Psychic,” Lady Knight reminded her, tapping her forehead. “I don’t know what’s going on, only that Ms. Miracle needs help…”

Julie looked to Legacy, then to Kaboom. Kaboom let out a sigh. “I can help Legacy back to the command center, if you two are up to helping Ms. Miracle.”

“Okay,” Julie said with a sigh as she handed Denise’s note to Kaboom to deliver. “I’ve rested up, and I’m pretty sure I can find someone to help.”

Chapter 11

Ms. Miracle flew through the air, immediately recognizable to nearly anyone who saw her. She was a gorgeous woman, with long golden blonde hair and a body that was both sexy and statuesque. The red and gold costume that covered her entire body from the neck down, was skin tight and left very little of her impressive form to the imagination, while the golden aura that surrounded her as she flew, helped to identify her as one of the most famous heroes in the country.

Of course, she was not the original Ms. Miracle, as the original had died nearly a decade ago, murdered at the hands of Baron Nevermore. The woman who currently bore that name had inherited it, her powers, and even her appearance, from her mother.

“He’s back,” Daphne muttered to herself, her voice tense with the barely controlled emotion. “Baron Nevermore is back.”

Daphne clenched her fists, filled with a mixture of anger, fear, and disgust at the thought of the villain. Baron Nevermore had murdered her mother, had taken away the only family that Daphne had, and had condemned her to growing up in a series of foster homes. Admittedly, Daphne hadn’t even known that her mom had been Ms. Miracle until after she’d inherited her mother’s powers and had become Ms. Miracle herself, but years of ignorance on her part didn’t excuse what Baron Nevermore had done.

“I thought I was done with him,” she spat out bitterly.

Shortly after she had gained her powers, when she’d changed from Dave to Daphne and had become the new Ms. Miracle, she’d had a chance to face Baron Nevermore. After all those years, the villain had finally returned, and she had faced him alongside her friends and teammates, the Miracle Men. It had been a terrifying fight, and in the end, Baron Nevermore had been sent to Hell. Literally. But now he was back, and the peace Daphne had gained from his previous defeat had been disrupted.

Daphne itched to go after Baron Nevermore, to finally stop him for good. After what he’d done to Baltimore and all of those innocent people, there was absolutely no doubt in her mind that he deserved death, at the very least. However, she was not going after Baron Nevermore at the moment, which may have been a good thing. As the White Knight had pointed out earlier, there were a lot of personal grudges in play, and those could make people reckless and sloppy.

“That kind of thing can get people killed,” she reminded herself. “The wrong people.”

Thinking about personal grudges, Daphne wondered how good of an idea it had been to send Lady Hexx on the team that was going after Force. She definitely had a personal grudge, though admittedly, it wasn’t any worse than the one that she herself had against Baron Nevermore.

Daphne looked over at her current teammates, Lady Hexx and Counterweight, who were flying a short distance away, in an odd fashion. Counterweight was sitting on top of a Volkswagen Bug, using her gravity manipulation power to send it flying through the air, while Lady Hexx rode inside.

This certainly wasn’t the first time that Daphne had worked alongside Counterweight, who was a part time member of the Miracle Men, though admittedly, she’d also been working as a member of the new Crusaders lately as well. In fact, the first time they’d fought together had been against Force.

Lady Hexx was a bit more of an unknown since Daphne had never met her before. Daphne knew that the eerie pale skinned woman had first appeared as a villain, going after Force. However, in hindsight, that now seemed quite reasonable of her. Ever since then, she’d been acting more like a hero, even working with some kind of search and rescue team to save people.

“It’s too bad Catalyst can’t be here for this,” Daphne called out to Counterweight, who immediately nodded agreement.

“Yeah, she’d make this a lot easier,” Counterweight agreed.

Catalyst was Counterweight’s girlfriend, and another reserve member of the Miracle Men. Since Catalyst had the ability to give powers to normal people, she could have recruited reinforcements to help them while inside the barrier. However, even more importantly, she could also take away powers.

When the Miracle Men had faced Force, Catalyst had been the one to finally defeat him, by the simple act of walking up and turning off his powers. Unfortunately, Daphne was pretty sure that they wouldn’t be able to end things so easily this time.

“There it is,” Counterweight abruptly called out, pointing ahead of them.

Daphne immediately saw what Counterweight was pointing at, and as they quickly got closer, she could make it out in even more detail. The black stone obelisk was sitting in the middle of a large grassy area, of what appeared to be a park. And as they approached, she could see the benches and small tables around the outside of it, confirming this impression.

However, in spite of the fact that the obelisk was out in the open, Daphne had no illusions that it would be easy to destroy. For one thing, there was a shimmering bubble around not only the obelisk, but the entire park. It reminded her of the much larger barrier that surrounded all of Baltimore, though it lacked the larger barrier’s purple color. Daphne knew, that in spite of the similarities, this barrier had not been created by Baron Nevermore, but by Force. She’d seen him create a force field like this once before.

Then, as if outright claiming this force field bubble as his own, Force hovered above it. He was posing, with his arms crossed, radiating a sense of arrogant power. And he was staring right at them.

“It looks like we lost the element of surprise,” Daphne announced, a moment before Force flew straight at them.

Suddenly, the car that Counterweight was sitting atop of, began to melt and change, courtesy of Lady Hexx’s powers. The metal body reformed into the shape of a giant fist, while Lady Hexx climbed on top and joined Counterweight. They briefly spoke, too quietly for Daphne to hear, but she could see the broad grin on Counterweight’s face.

“Let’s do it,” Counterweight exclaimed, using her gravity powers to send the massive metal fist straight at Force.

Right before impact, Counterweight and Lady Hexx leapt off. For a moment, Daphne planned to grab them, until Counterweight grabbed the white skinned woman, and the two of them began falling much more slowly.

The flying metal fist slammed into Force, who was thrown back from the raw force, though he barely seemed to feel it. As the metal fist was reclaimed by gravity and fell back to the ground, Force remained floating in the air, looking angry.

“You,” Force started in a loud voice. “Allied with that white skinned bitch… If it hadn’t been for her…”

Force looked down to where Lady Hexx and Counterweight had just landed on top of a brownstone building. The expression of fury on his face burned with pure hatred. A moment, later, he fired a concussion blast down at the building. However, the roof seemed to melt and reform, rising up to form a shield that protected Counterweight and Lacy Hexx from the attack. Force was about to launch another attack on them, so Daphne flew straight at him, only to get hit with a force blast instead.

“Damn,” Daphne exclaimed as Force’s blast sent her flying back. It stung and would probably leave a few bruises, but it could have been much worse. She retaliated by firing her own blast of golden energy at the former hero, though Force barely seemed to notice it.

“I don’t know how you got past Nevermore’s shield,” Force announced. “But I can assure you, you will NOT get past mine…”

“How could be part of this?” Daphne yelled at him. “You used to be a hero…”

“And you used to be dead,” Force responded with a sneer. “Things change.”

With that, Force flew straight at Daphne, punching her hard enough to send her flying back until she crashed into the wall of a building. She grunted at the impact, knowing that she was going to have some serious bruising from that, but immediately climbed out and flew back towards him.

“I wasted two decades of my life,” Force exclaimed, “saving the world and protecting those ungrateful wretches. No more. Now, I’m going to make every last one of you pay for turning on me…for locking me up in Mount Prometheus like some common villain…”

Force charged at Daphne again, looking like he was going to try another punch, though he surprised her with another force blast instead, sending her flying back, though this time she avoided hitting anything. She caught herself in the air, glared at the former hero, and wondered how she was going to beat him. She’d fought him before, but hadn’t been able to do to so then. Catalyst had been the one to do that.

“But he isn’t coming at me with everything he has,” Daphne mused in realization. “He’s holding back.” Her eyes darted to the force field surrounding the obelisk. “Or he’s diverting his power to that thing…” A faint smile formed on her lips.

A moment later, Daphne turned her attention to her teammates, who were both still standing on top of that building. Unfortunately, since she and Force were flying, that meant that Counterweight and Lady Hexx couldn’t help much. Lady Hexx couldn’t fly, and Counterweight’s gravity powers didn’t give her the speed or maneuverability for a good aerial fight.

“But if I lure Force towards them,” Daphne told herself with a faint smirk.

Daphne blasted Force with another burst of golden energy, though it couldn’t penetrate the invisible force field that surrounded his entire body. However, the attack did annoy him, and he came at her again, though she backed up, leading him closer to her allies.

Once they were close enough, the roof of the building began to melt and flow, and a large hand reached out and grabbed Force, holding him tight. The brick and building material continued to flow around him, covering Force completely.

“I have you now,” Lady Hexx announced, standing out in the open with her cloak flapping in the wind. She gestured to Force, and the stone sphere that had been a hand, separated from the ‘wrist’ and fell. It smashed into the ground right beside the building.

“Come on,” Counterweight exclaimed, grabbing Lady Hexx’s hand and jumping off the edge of the roof. The two women floated down to the ground while Daphne flew down to get a better look at Force.

Force hit the ground pretty hard, but he’d been cocooned in brick and stone, so she was pretty sure he wasn’t out of it yet. The bastard was far too tough to be taken down that easily. And just as Daphne expected, the stone sphere shattered and exploded, revealing an angry looking Force.

“YOU,” Force snarled, glaring at Lady Hexx as she and Counterweight landed a short distance away. “You were the one who turned everyone against me…”

“You did that yourself,” Lady Hexx announced as she bent down to touch the ground.

Suddenly, two massive stone hands rose up from the street on either side of Force, and slammed together. Then, almost immediately, the hands and Force were pulled back down beneath the ground, while a wave of stone formed up from behind them and came down on top, burying Force completely beneath the ground.

“Holy pothole,” Counterweight exclaimed, staring at the spot where Force had vanished beneath the ground. She glanced over to Lady Hexx. “Remind me not to piss you off…”

“I’m really pushing myself to control that much at once,” Lady Hexx responded with a grimace. “And to keep holding him down…”

“Don’t let him go,” Daphne called out.

However, just as Daphne finished speaking, the ground exploded and debris was through everywhere. Lady Hexx and Counterweight were through back, with Counterweight letting out a yelp of pain as a piece of rubble hit her shoulder. Lady Hexx immediately got back to her feet, revealing a bloody nose, which clearly stood out in contrast to her white skin.

Force floated up from the newly formed crater, a look of fury on his face. “DO YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME?”

“It can’t be that hard,” Counterweight joked. “I hear a sixteen year old girl did it a few months back…”

Force snarled in rage and flew straight at her with his fist raised. Daphne desperately threw herself at him, knowing that if he hit Counterweight or Lady Hexx, he’d kill them instantly. She slammed into his side, barely in time, and hit him as hard as he could. Force flew back until he crashed into his own force field barrier and came to an abrupt stop.

“I’m going to kill you all,” Force yelled, right before flying straight at Daphne again.

“And you called yourself a hero,” Daphne spat at him, hitting him back as hard as she could.

Daphne and Force traded blows, going higher and higher up as they did so. She realized that she was taking Force out of their range to help, and she wasn’t sure she could take him by herself. However, at the moment, she was the one who was best equipped to handle his raw power.

“Damn,” Counterweight exclaimed, holding her injured shoulder and wincing. “Maybe I can get up there and hit him with another car.”

“Maybe,” Lady Hexx agreed, though she wasn’t looking at Force, but his force field barrier. “As for me, I’m going to hit him where it hurts the most. His pride.”

Counterweight chuckled faintly at that. “Well, his ego is big enough that it makes an easy target.”

Lady Hexx nodded. “I’m going to make him fail.”

With that, Lady Hexx bent over and touched the ground. Suddenly, a deep hole formed, with stone stairs going down. Lady Hexx didn’t say another word before she began walking down those steps and vanishing from view.

“I wish Catalyst was here,” Counterweight grumbled, looking up at Force. “Or Kaboom. I bet she’d be able to dish out some nice damage.”

Daphne flew at Force, firing a blast of golden energy into his face, then dodging back to avoid a force blast to her own face. She quickly looked over the surroundings, noticing that most of the buildings nearby were relatively unharmed, except for the damage that they’d caused since her own arrival. However, she did notice that one building was completely destroyed, and it looked very recent. She looked at her opponent, suspecting that he’d destroyed the building as a show of force. And she was pretty confident that the former hero hadn’t even waited to make sure it was empty first.

“One I’m finished with you,” Force announced, “I’m going to bring your body to Nevermore to show her how to do the job right…”

Daphne snorted at that. “So, you’ve gone from hero, to being a henchman. Quite a comedown…” Force snarled and fired a massive concussion blast at her, but she’d seen it coming in time to drop down and out of range. “Then again, you were never a very good hero anyway…”

While Daphne was taunting Force, she saw Lady Hexx climb out of a hole…inside the force field. It took Daphne a moment to realize that her white skinned teammate, had just dug under the dome, and was now going straight for the obelisk. And as Daphne watched, she touched the base of the black stone pillar, which began to crumble and dissolve.

Counterweight yelled, “TIMBER,” right as the stone structure toppled over and shattered.

“NO,” Force yelled, his expression a mixture of anger and fear. Without another word, he turned away from Daphne and flew straight down at Lady Hexx.

A vaguely humanoid figure made of dirt and stone rose up from the ground and punched Force. Force destroyed the thing with a single force blast, but while he was distracted, Lady Hexx sank into the ground and vanished from sight.  A moment later, Counterweight dropped a large chunk of stone on him from above, a chunk that had been part of the obelisk until recently.

“You will pay for that,” Force exclaimed. “You will all pay…”

“I will say this for you,” Counterweight commented from where she floated in the air. “You sure have the villainous monologue down pretty well.”

Once again, a pair of giant stone hands rose up from the ground and reached for Force, but he snarled and released a blast of raw force in every direction at once, creating an explosion that destroyed the hands and everything nearby.  Lady Hexx had used some of the stone from the obelisk to create a wall to protect herself, though Force immediately turned and blasted the wall, destroying it.

“I’m going to enjoy killing you,” Force said, staring straight at Lady Hexx.

“You already killed me,” Lady Hexx responded grimly. “You destroyed my old life. You cost me everything…”

Daphne flew straight at Force and was about to hit him, when he snapped around and blasted her, sending her flying back and into the side of a building. She cursed as she dug herself out of the building and took to the air, realizing that they may have toppled the obelisk, but their situation had just gotten even worse. Force no longer had his power and attention divided in the effort to maintain that force field, which meant he could now focus everything on destroying them.

“Damn, I wish my team was here,” Daphne muttered. She worked pretty well with Counterweight, and even Lady Hexx, but she really could have used the rest of the Miracle Men right then.

Before Daphne realized it, Force came down and hit her from above, sending her straight to the ground where she smashed into the middle of the street. She winced in pain, struggling to get up to keep fighting, but Force was on her again. He slammed into her, driving her painfully back into the hole she’d made with her previous impact.

“You will not beat me,” Force grimly stated as he grabbed Daphne by her throat, tight enough that she couldn’t breathe. “I was the most powerful hero who ever lived, and you were all so jealous of my power that you turned on me. Well, I’m going to make you regret that. I’m going to make the entire world wish that they’d never turned on me…”

Daphne desperately scrambled to break free from Force’s grip, but he held her too tight.  She silently called out to help, praying for someone to get him off her. Then, as if to answer her call, a pair of metal arms grabbed Force from behind and yanked him back. Force released Daphne, who fell to her knees. And as she rubbed her sore neck and gasped for breath, she looked at her savior, an armored metal figure that looked it had been made from a car. It took her a moment to realize that Lady Hexx was controlling the thing.

“You disgust me,” Lady Hexx’s voice exclaimed from her armor. “You’re a monster…”

“And you are dead,” Force responded, slamming into Lady Hexx and sending her flying back.

However, a moment later, Counterweight added, “And you’re easily distracted.”

Counterweight grabbed Force from behind, and they both shot up into the air about thirty feet, right before she reversed gravity and drove Force right into the ground. Unfortunately, Force immediately returned to his feet, releasing another explosion that knocked everyone away. Counterweight cried in pain, grabbing hold of her shoulder, which she’d hurt earlier, while Lady Hexx’s armor melted off so she could release herself.

Daphne grimaced and slammed into Force again, hoping that if she could keep him close to the ground, than the others might be able to keep helping her. She couldn’t beat Force on her own, but if the three of them worked together, then they might have a chance.

Daphne’s hope was short lived as Force hit her with a concussion blast, then immediately flew over to punch her, sending her flying halfway down the street. Before she could recover, he was on her again, alternating between blasting her and punching, not giving her a chance to catch her balance.

“Go down,” Force commanded, frustrated that she kept getting back to her feet.

“Not for the likes of you,” Daphne spat, glaring at the man she’d once looked up to. Once upon a time, Force had been one of the most respected heroes in the world. Now, it was hard to even imagine it.

Daphne blasted Force, then charged him to follow up with a punch. He blocked her attack and immediately backhanded her hard enough to slam her into the wall of a neighboring building. She grimaced as she climbed back out, getting more than a little tired of this. Force charged her again, and a moment later, she found herself being slammed into the ground again. Once again, Force was on her, grabbing her by the throat.

“I am going to kill you,” Force said with a sneer. “Then I will go after every single person who dares to call themselves a hero…and I will crush them as well.”

“You’re insane,” a new voice exclaimed, right before there was a flash of gold light, followed by Force being yanked off her. “I didn’t believe it at first, but now…”

Daphne dropped to her knees for a moment, feeling dazed and gasping for breath. “Thanks,” she said, not sure who it was that had just helped her out this time.

Then as Daphne looked up, she saw a woman floating in the air a short distance away, while Force was digging himself out from the next building over. It took Daphne a moment to realize that her savior was Channel, and another second to realize that Channel was dressed in a red and gold uniform that was identical to the one that she was wearing.

“David,” Channel asked, staring at Daphne with a strange expression. “Is that you?”

“How did you…?” Daphne started to ask, wondering how Channel knew her other name, until it dawned on her. Channel was wearing her costume. “MOM?”

Daphne stared at Channel…at her mom, who was in Channel’s body, feeling stunned and overwhelmed. Her mom was dead. She’d died years ago, killed by Baron Nevermore. But Channel had the power call forth the dead, bringing Daphne face to face with the one person she’d never expected to see again.

“It is you,” her mom cried out with tears in her eyes. “But you look like me…or like how I did when I was using my powers. How?”

“I don’t think this is a good time for question and answer,” Daphne told her, reluctantly pointing at Force, who was about to come at them again.

“I wouldn’t worry about him,” Daphne’s mom said, looking rather smug.

“I know that I’m not,” another voice added. Daphne looked over at Lady Knight, who stepped out from around a corner and was staring straight at Force. As soon as Force saw her, a look of fear and panic crossed his features. Daphne wasn’t sure why, until the pink haired girl simply commanded. “You have no powers.” She had an evil smirk on her face as she added, “Or any bowel or bladder control.”

“YOU,” Force exclaimed, still looking terrified of the girl, but also furious at the same time. He flung out his hand to hit her with a force blast, but nothing happened.

“I think we’ve been through this before,” Lady Knight said, “so you know the score. Now, sit down, don’t move, and don’t say a word.”  To Daphne’s surprise, Force did exactly as he was told. He looked furious and kept glaring at Lady Knight, but he obeyed. “And close your eyes,” she added, almost as an afterthought.

“How?” Daphne asked Lady Knight.

“Mind control,” the pink haired girl responded smugly, making a show of buffing her nails. “I took him down the same way a few months back.”

Daphne wanted to ask Lady Knight more about that, and why she hadn’t been on their team to deal with Force, but she had other questions that took priority. She turned her attention to her mom, who had landed on the ground a short distance away, and who was alternately looking at Force and at her.

“David,” her mom started, looking awkward and uncertain. Daphne could understand that, because she suddenly felt extremely self-conscious about being a woman.

“I usually go by Daphne now,” she admitted awkwardly.

Then on a whim, Daphne flipped a mental switch, and felt her body beginning to change. Her breasts shrank, deflating and pulling back into her chest, while she felt a pressure building in her groin. Though she was aware of all the other changes occurring in her body, she tried not to think about them. Instead, she just stared at her mom, seeing her reactions. Seconds later, Daphne was gone and Dave stood in her place.

“I’m a skitzomorph,” Dave explained awkwardly. “I can change back and forth…” Of course, it had been about three weeks since the last time he’d been a guy. Anymore, he felt much more comfortable being in his female form, where he also had his powers.

“Me too,” his mom responded with tears in her eyes. “Or at least, I was.” Then without warning, she grabbed him in a hug. “I’m so sorry I never told you about this part of my life…”

“You lied to me,” Dave exclaimed once they broke apart. Tears still ran down his cheeks, and he wasn’t sure whether to be angry or ecstatic. “You disappeared without any warning, and I got dumped into foster homes, thinking that you’d just abandoned me and ran off…”

“I’m sorry,” she gasped, looking guilty. “I always meant to tell you when you were a little older.”

Dave wasn’t sure what to say to that, though he was about to respond anyway when he suddenly saw movement from the corner of his eye. A black figure was rushing straight towards them, and as he turned, he saw a man in a black costume that resembled some kind of ninja outfit. However, the figure also had a black bladed kabana, and was going straight for Lady Knight.

“Look out,” Dave yelled, reacting on instinct and throwing himself at Lady Knight, shoving her out of the way an instant before a surge of pain tore through his side.

Dave dropped to his knees, grabbing his side and the sticky warmth of his own blood spilling out. “DAVE,” his mom yelled desperately in Channel’s voice, right before she punched at the ninja. The ninja just leapt backwards and out of range.

“It seems that we arrived too late,” a new voice commented.

Dave grimaced and glanced at the speaker, who was another man dressed all in black. This one was wearing some kind of old fashioned suit and was leaning on a cane. Obviously, he’d come with the ninja, who now stood right beside him.

“Nevermore sent us to assist you with your task,” the man with the cane told Force. “But it seems we are too late. Now, I’m sure Nevermore would like to have a word with you about your failure.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” Lady Knight exclaimed, though a moment later, there was a swirl of red energy, and the two men in black were gone, as was Force. “Damn. They got away.”

Dave blinked, feeling dizzy. His mom was suddenly by his side, holding him tightly. “No,” she cried out, her tears falling onto Dave. He vaguely remembered the last time his mother held him, all those years ago, and in spite of his pain, he smiled faintly. “I didn’t come back for this. Not for this…”

“Mom,” Dave whispered, wishing he had the strength to hug her back…to tell her goodbye now that he finally had the chance. And with that, everything went dark.

Chapter 12

The Face stood in the middle of the command tent, staring down at the large table that was covered with maps. The map that currently held his attention, had five crystals placed in various spots, each one representing one of the obelisks. When he’d first placed the crystals, each of them had been black, but one by one, they turned clear. Now, only one black crystal remained.

“How are they doing?” the White Knight asked as he came up beside the Face.

Though the White Knight appeared calm on the surface, the Face could tell that he was worried. Of course, the Face didn’t blame him since he was concerned as well. After all, like himself, the White Knight had a daughter who was on the other side of the barrier

“Four of the obelisks have been cleared,” the Face announced, gesturing to the remaining black crystal. “The only one that remains is the one being guarded by Circuit Monger.”

He scowled beneath his mask, frustrated since the one remaining obelisk, was being guarded by someone who he regarded as a personal enemy. Circuit Monger was a mockery of his old friend and teammate Circuit, and he hated to see that monster dishonoring Circuit’s memory in this way.

“None of the teams have returned yet,” the White Knight said, pointing out a fact that the Face was already more than aware of.

“I know,” the Face responded, silently wondering if Gwen was all right and when she was going to be back. He’d sent her to fight the Sinner, and though her team had completed their mission, he had no idea what condition they were in afterwards. He glanced over to the White Knight, whose own daughter had been sent after the Loki. “Loki’s obelisk is down, so your daughter’s team succeeded…”

“I know,” the White Knight said, though he didn’t look any less worried. After a few seconds, he admitted, “I wish I could have gone in with them. Maybe if I’d let Mystik change me…”

“Then you’d be in a body you weren’t familiar with,” the Face reminded him. “And you’d probably be too distracted and off balance to fight at your best. Trust me, her power is better spent elsewhere.”

The White Knight nodded at that. “What about the Exile?”

For a moment, the Face focused on his mask, then admitted, “I think she’s still watching us, but she’s keeping her distance and has made it clear she won’t provide assistance.”

“Too bad,” the White Knight mused. “But perhaps, for the best. I’ve only encountered her twice before, and neither was a good occasion.” Then he looked over the maps and asked, “What’s our current situation?”

“The barrier only has one obelisk left to maintain it,” the Face explained. “Which means, the barrier is much weaker, and we could probably break through it in less than a day. However, the problem is, we won’t have enough time.” He pointed to the map, right in the middle of Baltimore. “I’ve detected a large buildup of magical energy in this location, which is where I believe Baron Nevermore is located. Whatever he has planned, I believe this is ground zero.”

“And we can’t reach it until the barrier is down,” the White Knight finished in frustration. “I just hope that last team is able to complete their mission before its too late.”

Suddenly, Figment ran into the command tent, calling out, “Dad!” As soon as she had the White Knight’s attention, she blurted out, “Joselyn’s team is coming back through the barrier…”

Before either the Face or the White Knight could ask her any questions, she ran back out of the tent. The Face and White Knight looked at each other, then hurried out after her. A group of heroes were already gathered near the barrier, watching as Kaboom stepped through. She had one arm wrapped in a sling, and was using her other arm to pull a stretcher behind her. Legacy was laid out on the stretcher, and the Face immediately noticed that one of her legs was wrapped up.

“Where are the others?” the White Knight immediately demanded, though everyone knew that what he really meant, was “Where is my daughter?”

Kaboom carefully set the stretcher down and gave a guilty look as she answered, “Lady Knight and Channel stayed behind to go help Ms. Miracle.”

The White Knight scowled at that. “She went after Force…”

Legacy sat up, wincing a little as she did so. “She said her ESP told her that Ms. Miracle needed help, so they went to help.”

The White Knight groaned a little at that. “Of course she did.” Then he bent down next to Legacy. “How bad are you hurt?”

“Broken leg,” Legacy answered with a faint smile, somehow seeming far less bitter than she had before going through the barrier. “Fortunately, we found a doctor who gave me some great painkillers.”

The Face looked the two of them over, seeing their injuries and feeling even more worried about his own daughter. “Let’s get you to the medic tent,” he announced. “I have some spells that should help with your injuries.”

“Thanks,” Kaboom said with a forced grin. “But that reminds me. The doctor who helped us out, asked us to deliver a message to her nephew. Apparently, she has some kind of medical condition and wanted her nephew to come and help her deal with it.”

“I’m afraid that we have more urgent things to do than deliver messages,” Icarus commented from a few feet away.

“That’s what I figured,” Kaboom respond with a shrug, though she immediately winced from the pain in her arm. “And even if the guy was here, it’s not like he’d be able to get to her anyway. But before she took off, Lady Knight said this was important.”

The White Knight looked momentarily startled, then quickly demanded, “What exactly did she say?”

Kaboom scowled with a thoughtful look, then carefully answered, “She said we should bring the nephew here as soon as possible…”

“Yeah,” Legacy agreed, looking the White Knight in the eyes. “Your daughter said that the doctor made her a bit nervous for some reason, and that she had a strong feeling that we should get her nephew as close to her as possible…as soon as possible.”

For several seconds, the White Knight just stared at Legacy with a grim expression. Finally, he said, “She wouldn’t have said that without good reason, so I think we should check on this nephew.” He looked at the Face, who reluctantly nodded agreement.

“Very well,” the Face said, suspecting that this was a waste of valuable time.

The White Knight was placing a lot of trust on a secondhand account, of what appeared to be a vague comment from his daughter. However, since the White Knight was obviously worried about his daughter, the Face could afford to humor him.

The Face accepted the written note that Kaboom offered, then turned his attention to trying to heal the two injured heroes. Healing was not one of his specialties, and though he did have some spells that could provide some healing, they were very energy intensive, and he couldn’t afford to use up all his magic at this time. Because of that, he cast a couple of his lesser powered spells, which would speed up their healing, but which wouldn’t deplete him.

A few minutes later, the Face returned to the command tent and picked up a phone to make a phone call. As soon as a woman answered on the other end, he said, “Hello. I am attempting to contact a Will Hartkey Junior. Have I reached the right number?”

“Who are you?” the woman on the other end demanded. Her tone was carefully controlled, but clearly suspicious. “What do you want with my son?”

“I believe that this may be easier to discuss in person,” the Face told her.

With that, the Face began to cast a spell, one which used the phone connection to help locate the other end. Once he had it, he opened a glowing red portal and stepped through it. A second later, he appeared in a kitchen, where a blonde woman stared at him in surprise. Without saying a word, she dropped the phone and reached for a large kitchen knife that was sitting on the counter within easy reach.

“I mean you no harm,” the Face announced, holding his hands up to show that he was unarmed. Of course, as long as he had his mask and his magic, that wasn’t actually true, but this woman didn’t know that.

“Who are you?” the woman demanded, clutching the knife firmly, though from her grip, it was clear that she had no experience with knife fighting. Still, even amateurs could be dangerous, especially if they were underestimated.

“I am called the Face,” he answered carefully, “and I am a superhero…with a group known as Faction Zero.”

“A superhero?” she asked warily, her eyes narrowing. “Why are you here?”

“I am here on behalf of a Doctor Denise Roberts,” the Face started.

The woman with the knife interrupted him with the exclamation, “What did my sister do this time? Is she in trouble?” Then she suddenly paled and lowered the knife. “Is this about that thing in Baltimore that I saw in the news?”

The Face nodded at that. “I’m afraid that she currently trapped within Baltimore. Several of our people were able to get through, and she asked them to deliver a message for her…”

“I’m Janine Hartkey,” the woman with the knife said, before she carefully put the blade back onto the kitchen counter. She gave the Face a strange look. “From what you said on the phone, I assume this message is for my son Will…”

“Indeed,” the Face responded, not saying anything else as Janine was not the person the message was intended for.

“WILL,” Janine called out, leading the Face out of the kitchen and into the living room.

A moment later, a teenage boy with light brown hair came into the room from the hallway. He looked to be about sixteen or seventeen, about the same age as Gwen. “Yeah?” the boy asked, not taking his eyes off the Face. He had a somewhat suspicious expression, which made it clear that he was definitely Janine’s son.

“I am called the Face,” he introduced himself to the boy, who was obviously Will. “Denise Roberts asked that a message be delivered to you…”

“She’s in Baltimore,” Janine quickly blurted out.

Will’s eyes went wide. “Oh shit…”

“Language,” his mom warned him, almost automatically. Will just rolled his eyes, making the Face smile beneath his mask. Gwen often did the same thing.

“Is Aunt Denise okay?” Will demanded.

“From what I’ve been told, she was unharmed and hiding in a safe place,” the Face explained, seeing a look of relief on both the other faces. “However, when some of my people encountered her, she asked them to deliver a message to you. Since they are injured, I am delivering the message instead. Normally, I would not do something like this in person, especially when there is such a critical situation, but a psychic has insisted that this is urgent.”

Will stared at the Face for a moment, suddenly looking worried. “Okay,” he said awkwardly. “What is it?”

The Face frowned faintly before saying, “She said to tell you that she has suffered a relapse of her medical condition, and that you needs you to go help with her condition…”

“Oh shit,” both Janine and Will blurted out at once.

“I don’t know what this medical condition is,” the Face admitted, “but our psychic seems convinced that that you have to reach your aunt as soon as possible.”

Will nodded at that. “Yeah.” He looked to his mom, who didn’t seem very happy. “We always knew this might happen,” he told her awkwardly. “Maybe, if I get there in time…”

“Go,” Janine told Will. “Be careful, and keep Denise out of trouble.”

“I will,” Will promised, before turning his attention back to Face. “I just need something first…” With that, the boy turned and ran back to his bedroom. When he returned a minute later, he had a dark blue backpack slung over his shoulder. “I’m ready to go.”

The Face nodded at that, impressed by Will’s willingness to rush off to help his aunt with almost no warning. And since they obviously knew that there was a dangerous situation in Baltimore, it also spoke well for his courage. Or his foolishness. Sometimes, the two could be indistinguishable.

“Baltimore is still isolated,” the Face warned Will, “but we expect to gain access at any time. Once that happens, we’ll try to reunite you with your aunt as soon as possible.”

“I just hope it won’t be too late,” Will muttered, looking worried.

The Face looked to Janine, who made no move to come with. “I promise that I will watch over your son, and keep him safe.”

Janine just snorted at that. “You’d better.”

“I can take care of myself,” Will reminded her. The Face just smiled at that. Every teenager thought that they were invincible.

Since there was no point in staying any longer, especially when the Face had more important concerns, he gestured to the side and opened another portal. He and Will stepped through, and he found himself right outside the command tent. He looked to the barrier and was disappointed to see that it was still there.

“No way,” Will exclaimed, staring at the barrier in surprise. “It’s just like on the news…”

“Very few people are able to make it through,” the Face warned him. “But we don’t think it will be much longer.” He gestured around them, and to all the heroes who were impatiently waiting for their opportunity to contribute. “Until then, you’ll have to wait along with everyone else…”

“Just great,” Will muttered with a roll of his eyes. “Superheroes.” He glanced to the Face and quickly added, “No offense, but the last superhero I met was a total douche.”

The Face chuckled at that, absently wondering who Will had previously met. From Will’s description, it might very well have been Force. “Hopefully, you’ll find these ones a little more agreeable.”

He looked over to Mega and gestured for her to come over. She was a large amazon, who was seven feet tall in her base size, and somewhat intimidating as a result. However, she was also good with kids. Or at least, she was great with Gwen.

“Mega,” the Face asked his teammate. “Can you keep an eye on Will?” He gestured to the teenage boy, who was looking up at Mega with an expression of curiosity. “Apparently, Lady Knight thinks he needs to be here, but I want to make sure he’s safe.”

“Sure thing,” Mega agreed. Then she gave Will a friendly smile and teased, “Let me guess. You’re a superhero too?”

“Not exactly,” Will responded wryly.

Mega chuckled at that, then began to lead him to where some tables and chairs had been set up. “So,” she continued to joke. “What’s your codename?”

Will gave her an odd look, smirking faintly as he answered, “Call me GM.”

The Face chuckled at that, then turned and went back into the command tent. He wasn’t sure why Lady Knight thought the boy needed to be here, but he had more important things to worry about, such as the barrier, the villains inside, and of course, his own daughter.

Joselyn carefully tugged on her seat belt, making sure it was secure for at least the tenth time. A few seconds later, she nervously looked out over the edge of the vehicle she was flying in, watching the ground and buildings quickly pass by beneath them.  The ‘vehicle’ in question was a truck, or at least it had been before Lady Hexx took the metal and reformed it into something that more closely resembled a flying saucer.

“I can’t believe I’m flying in a truck,” Joselyn quietly grumbled to herself.

Of course, the metal shell no longer looked anything like a truck, but she clearly remembered what it had looked like before being changed. She scowled and looked around the inside, which was less unsettling than looking out over the edge.

Counterweight was sitting in the driver’s seat, using her gravity power to make the metal shell fly. Of course, it would have been more accurate to say that they were falling…parallel to the ground. The altered gravity was messing with Joselyn’s sense of up and down, which she really didn’t like. However, she had to admit that this was the most efficient way they had of traveling at the moment.

Joselyn’s eyes went to Lady Hexx, who was belted in to the seat beside her, and who was gently rubbing her ankle. Ironically, Lady Hexx’s injury hadn’t been caused by Force, at least not directly. She’d twisted her ankle in the rubble, after Force had been taken away.

Then, Joselyn looked to Ms. Miracle…or Dave, as Counterweight called him now that he’d turned into a guy. He was on the floor of the shell, unconscious but still alive. Barely. His side had been sliced open, and he’d lost a lot of blood. Maybe, if he’d been awake enough to turn back into Ms. Miracle, her powers would have been enough to deal with the injury. Unfortunately, he was completely out of it, so that wasn’t even an option.

Denise was bent over Dave, desperately trying to stop the bleeding and keep him alive. Fortunately, after Dave had been injured, Joselyn had known exactly where to find a doctor. And just as fortunately, Denise had still been there, and had been more than willing to help.  She had a grim look on her face as she worked on her patient, which Joselyn took to be a bad sign.

The last passenger in the shell was Ms. Miracle…the original one. She was crouched down by her son, on the opposite side from Denise, and she was watching with a horrified and haunted look on her face. Joselyn could only imagine how horrible it was, to have something that should have been a joyous reunion, become a tragedy instead.

Joselyn was a little surprised that Ms. Miracle was still present, or at least, that Channel was able to keep her around for so long. However, she strongly suspected that at this point, it was Ms. Miracle’s desperation to stay by her son’s side, that provided the power they needed.

“How does Dave look?” Counterweight asked in a clearly worried tone.

“Not good,” Denise answered grimly. “I’m doing what I can, but I’m a researcher, not a surgeon. He needs a hospital and some trauma specialists as soon as possible…”

Joselyn scowled at that, remembering that Denise had already said that when they first went to her for help. Unfortunately, the local hospitals were currently out of power, along with everything else, and with the current emergency, they would probably all be overwhelmed anyway. That was why they’d decided that the best course was to get him help outside the disaster area, where he could get real medical help.

“I’m so sorry,” the original Ms. Miracle told her son, looking as though she was about to cry again. “I should have done better for you. I should have told you about me. I should have made arrangements for when I died. And maybe, I should have quit being Ms. Miracle and just focused on being a mother…”

“This isn’t your fault,” Joselyn said, feeling awkward for being caught in the middle of such a personal thing.

“He became a hero because of me,” Ms. Miracle pointed out. Then she smiled wryly, though it was a tight and pained smile. “I never imagined that he’d follow in my footsteps so literally. It’s hard to believe that David is now Ms. Miracle…”

“He told me that he didn’t know about your career,” Counterweight added awkwardly, “until he turned into your clone.”

Tears ran down Ms. Miracle’s cheeks as she bent over kissed Dave on the forehead. “I’m proud of you. Even if you can’t hear me, I needed to tell you that…”

“Damn,” Counterweight abruptly exclaimed. “That damn force field is still up…”

Joselyn looked ahead and saw the shimmering purple barrier, then let out a stream of muttered profanities. They’d been counting on the other teams completing their missions so that the barrier would be gone before they reached it. Unfortunately, it seems that the other teams weren’t as successful as they had been.

She glanced to Dave and muttered, “If you can call this successful…”

Counterweight lowered the metal shell to the ground, right next to the barrier. Joselyn looked through the barrier and saw the hero encampment on the other side. It wasn’t a hospital, but she was sure that someone had the power to help Dave. Someone had to.

“We have to stop here,” Counterweight said, gesturing to the barrier and looking at Denise. “You won’t be able to get through the barrier.”

“Then I doubt she’s the only one,” Lady Hexx said, gesturing to Dave with a grim expression. “He’s no longer Ms. Miracle, which means that he can’t go through the barrier either…”

“SHIT,” Joselyn cried out in frustration and guilt. It was her fault that Dave had been injured. He’d been hurt while saving her. If she’d only been paying more attention, he wouldn’t have needed to save her.

Suddenly, a new voice announced, “I’m surprised that you’re giving up so easily…”

Joselyn snapped around, surprised to see a golden skinned woman, who was floating in the air a short distance away. “Exile,” she blurted out in surprise.

“You know,” Exile mused, looking at the barrier. “With four of the five anchors removed, the barrier isn’t nearly as stable as it had been. In fact, it’s actually a lot more…flexible.”

“Flexible?” Joselyn asked in momentary confusion, until she realized what Exile was hinting at. “You mean, Dave might be able to get through anyway…?”

“I have reason to believe that you all might,” Exile responded with a faint smile.

Joselyn stared at the woman for a moment, wondering why she was suddenly being so helpful, when previously, she’d made it extremely clear that she wasn’t going to get involved. “Why are you helping us?”

“I’m not helping you,” Exile answered, momentarily giving Dave a look of concern. “I’m just making a simple observation…”

Joselyn blinked at that, and before she could ask if Exile had any other observations to offer, the gold skinned woman faded away and vanished. With a scowl of annoyance, Joselyn muttered, “She’s like a damn Cheshire Cat.”

“The Exile,” Ms. Miracle said in a near whisper, staring at where the woman had been just a couple seconds earlier. “If she’s taken an interesting in this situation, then things are even worse than I thought…”

“Never mind her,” Denise announced, gesturing to Dave. “We have more urgent concerns.”

With that, Lady Hexx touched the metal shell and it began to reshape itself, with the metal pulling away while leaving Dave on a metal stretcher. Without saying a word, Counterweight reached down to reduce Dave’s gravity, so they could carry him more easily.

“Careful,” Denise warned when Counterweight tripped.

“I hope Exile was right,” Joselyn announced, right before Dave was carried through the portal.

Once Dave passed through without any problems, Joselyn let out a sign of relief, then looked to Ms. Miracle and Denise. Neither of them would have qualified to pass through the barrier earlier, but Dave just proved that the rules had changed. Exile had been right.

Ms. Miracle walked through the barrier without hesitation, while Denise waited just a moment before going through. Joselyn nodded faintly, then followed.

As soon as they were on the other side of the barrier, heroes began rushing over go greet them. The Miracle Men all looked at Ms. Miracle in confusion, until they saw Dave.

“DAVE,” Rumor exclaimed, rushing to his side and staring at him in horror.

“His girlfriend,” Counterweight quietly told Ms. Miracle, who gave Rumor a closer look.

“Where are your medical facilities?” Denise immediately demanded. “And does anyone here have any healing powers?”

“Doctor Roberts,” Kaboom exclaimed in surprise. “How did you get through?”

Before Denise could answer, a teenage boy called out, “Aunt Denise…”

“Will,” she responded in surprise. Then she smiled, suddenly looking relieved. “I didn’t think they’d actually call you, much less get you here…”

“I came right away,” Will told her.

Denise nodded, following after Dave as he was carried to the medical tent. “We’ll talk later.”

Joselyn followed everyone to the medical tent, where she saw Legacy sitting back with her leg up. She gave Ms. Miracle a look of surprise, then looked at Dave in confusion. However, as soon as she realized what costume Dave was wearing, there was a look of understanding.

“What happened?” Rumor demanded, a hint of panic in her voice. “Why did she turn back to Dave?”

“He changed back for me,” Ms. Miracle said quietly, her voice shaking and her expression looking stricken. “To show me who he’d become…” Rumor gave her a suspicious look and Ms. Miracle gave a pained smile. “I’m his mother…”

Rumor’s eyes widened. “Holy shit…”

The Face looked over Dave, then his mask began to glow with a golden light while his clothes changed from blue to gray. He held out his hands and announced, “The wound is tainted with dark magic. I’m removing it now, but it’s taking a lot of power…”

“Is he going to be all right?” Ms. Miracle asked hopefully.

“I don’t know,” the Face answered. “I’ve cleared the taint and I’m trying to heal the wound. I don’t know if it will be enough. I’m not a doctor.”

“I am,” Denise said, giving Dave a grim look before adding, “He’s lost a lot of blood. Too much.”

Just then, Joselyn’s dad came into the tent, looking worried. “What happened?” He looked at Dave and grimaced. “Force.”

“No,” Counterweight responded. “We beat Force, then some sneaky ninja got him…”

“It was my fault,” Joselyn exclaimed as tears started to form. “She…he got hurt saving me. If I’d paid more attention…”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Ms. Miracle said, putting a gentle hand on Joselyn’s shoulder. “This is the risk we all face in this line of work.”

Joselyn’s dad froze, staring at Ms. Miracle for a moment. “What...? Who…”

“I’m Ms. Miracle,” she answered wryly before glancing at Dave. “The original one.” Then she took a deep breath before saying, “It’s been a long time…”

“Oh my God,” Joselyn’s dad gasped, his eyes going wide. “This is a surprise.”

“I’ve healed the wound,” the Face announced. “At least most of it…”

“He’s still lost too much blood,” Denise pointed out. “Unless you can magic up some more, he’s going to need a transfusion…”

Rumor immediately blurted out, “I’ll donate…”

“Me too,” Counterweight added.

Denise looked around the tent, which was a too crowded from everyone trying to check in on Denise. “Does anyone know her blood type? And is anyone here a match?”

There was a long pause, then Ms. Miracle cautiously asked, “Would the blood of one of his parents work?”

“You aren’t in your own body,” Joselyn reminded her. “And I don’t know what type Channel has.”

“I…I wasn’t talking about me,” Ms. Miracle said in a whisper. She took Dave’s hand in hers and tears were running down her cheeks. “I meant his father…”

Rumor blinked in surprise. “Dave told me that his dad died when he was a kid…”

Ms. Miracle nodded at that, looking sad. “Roger…his foster father did.” She shook her head sadly, then announced, “But his biological father is still alive…”

“Really?” Rumor blurted out. “Dave is totally going to freak when he finds out…” She looked at Dave, clearly remembering that there was a good chance that he might not have that opportunity.

With that, Ms. Miracle looked up and her eyes locked on Joselyn’s dad. “Will,” she said, looking shaken. “YOU are his father. Dave is YOUR son.”

“WHAT?” Joselyn and her dad blurted out simultaneously.

Joselyn stared at her dad, then at Ms. Miracle. “You’ve got to be kidding…”

Everyone else gasped and stared, but Ms. Miracle didn’t seem to notice them. Instead, she just stared at Joselyn’s dad. “After we broke up, I discovered I was pregnant. By then, you were already seeing that other woman, so I didn’t say anything...”

Joselyn’s dad stared at Ms. Miracle, then at Dave, looking even more shocked than how Joselyn felt. “I’ve worked with him…with this other Ms. Miracle before… My God. I had no idea…”

“So,” Joselyn joked weakly, “I have another sibling I didn’t know about. Mom is going to freak…” However, no one seemed to pay any attention to her.

“Of course I’ll donate my blood,” her father exclaimed, before quickly adding, “I would have done that even if we weren’t related.” He held out his arm to Denise. “Take what you need.”

Denise gave him a flat look. “Just because you are related, that doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily be a good match…”

“Magic will take care of that,” the Face said. “In fact, the closer the blood relationship, the better…as far as my magic is concerned.”

“Okay then,” Denise agreed before pausing to look around the crowded tent. “Everyone not related to the patient, get out…”

“That doesn’t narrow things much,” Joselyn pointed out wryly, thinking that if Dave was really her half-brother, than all of Knight Force was related to him. However, she understood what Denise meant, so helped to usher most of the people out of the tent, before leaving herself.

 

TO BE CONTINUED

 

Baa Baa Black Sheep is listed as number zero because it is a story that was written several years before the first Legacy Universe story. I originally had no intention of Black Sheep being part of this universe, but at the time I was writing The Knight is a Lady, I ended up tying him into the Legacy continuity.

 

00-Baa Baa Black Sheep

01-The Miracle Legacy

02-A Change of Heart

03-Hardshell

04-The Praxis Crossing

05-Mannequin

06-The Vengeance of Lady Hexx

07-Glamour Girl

08-Counterweight

09-Grendel and Beowulf

10-The Dark Legacy

11-The Witch Seed

12-Marvel and Meyhem

13-The Infiltrator

14-The Return of Red Blade

15-With a Golden Staff

16-The Knight is a Lady

17-Kaboom

18-The Legacy of the Seven

19-Invincible

20-A Velvet Touch

21-Harbinger

22-The Return of Nevermore