Morpheus’s Legacy Universe – Part 22 (1-6)

The Return of Nevermore

by

Morpheus

 

Part One

 

Chapter 1

It was early afternoon but Julie Matthews was already exhausted. Julie was a young woman, just barely eighteen years old, but at that moment, she felt much older. She leaned back on the bus stop bench, let out a loud yawn, and then rolled several strands of her brown hair around her finger, while she waited for the bus to arrive.

This morning, she’d been forced to get up early so she could help open the restaurant where she worked. After getting up at four, then working a full shift, she was ready to just go home and crash. Of course, she knew that it wouldn’t be nearly this bad if she hadn’t been out late last night.

“I should pick one job and stick with it,” Julie told herself with another yawn.

Julie thought about her other job, the one she’d been out working last night. It was volunteer work of sorts, so unlike her job at the restaurant, it didn’t actually pay anything. However, she got to help people who needed it, while hanging out with her friends, so there was no way she was going to give that up. Unfortunately, she still had bills to pay as well, which meant that she couldn’t give up her waitressing job until she found something better.

Just then, Julie noticed a young man coming towards the bus stop. “Hey,” he greeted her with a faint smirk and an appreciative look. “You got a light?” He held up a cigarette.

“I don’t smoke,” she responded apologetically.

“Then, I’ll just take your money,” he announced, pulling a switchblade from his pocket and springing the knife.

Julie slowly stood up from the bench, not making any sudden moves. “Really?” she asked, looking around for anyone who could help her. She saw two other young men a short distance away, but no one else who was close. And from the smirks on their faces, they were friends with the one who was mugging her. “Do I look like I have anything worth stealing?”

“Give me your money,” the punk demanded. “And your jewelry.”

“What jewelry?” Julie asked, knowing that she had to call for help.

There was no one close enough to hear her if she yelled, or at least not close enough to come in time. However, when Julie called out for help, it wasn’t out loud. A moment later, she heard the responses as several voices from beyond offered their help. Julie listened to these voices, the voices of the dead, sensing their personalities and skills, then reaching out for the one she wanted.

Julie almost felt sorry for this mugger, since he had no idea that she was a developed, with the ability to channel the dead through her own body. This was why she was sometimes known by her codename of Channel.

The spirit used the link that Julie provided to come into her body and take control, while she slid into the background. She could still see and feel everything, and could even eject the spirit if he started to go out of control. But for now, she was more than satisfied to let this martial arts master save her.

“You are a foolish child,” the spirit announced from Julie’s body, while taking a completely different posture than what she usually used.

“Who’s the fool?” the punk demanded, waving the knife into Julie’s face.

Julie’s body moved more quickly than she could have done on her own, grabbing the mugger’s wrist and twisting so that he dropped the knife and screamed in pain. The man who controlled her body then snapped out several quick kicks into the mugger’s side, before driving him face first into the ground.

“JIMMY,” one of the mugger’s friends cried out in shock, right before both of them came running over, drawing their own knives. “I’m gonna kick your ass, bitch…”

“Cease your attack or face the consequences,” the spirit warned.

“We’re gonna fuck you up,” one of the men responded as he lunged forward with his knife.

The spirit didn’t bother to say anything in response, and merely moved to the side, grabbing the mugger’s arm and twisting until it broke. He followed this up by kicking the other mugger several times in the side and then in the back of the leg. In seconds, all three of the muggers were sprawled on the ground, where they remained when the bus pulled up mere seconds later.

“Thank you,” Julie told her spirit who had just saved her.

He gave a mental bow, saying, “It was a pleasure to put my skills to good purpose again. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.” And with that, the spirit faded back to where she had drawn him from.

Julie smiled as she climbed onto the bus, absently wondering if one of these spirits could help with her finances, so she wouldn’t have to keep working such a crappy job. After all, she could probably find some kind of financial guru to give her investment advice, or maybe even a pirate who’d tell her where he buried his gold. However, that could wait for later. Now, she had to get home and get some sleep, so she’d be well rested by the time she had to meet up with the rest of the Slackers.

The large windowless room was cold, hard, and dark, with all surfaces being made of black stone. An empty throne, which appeared to have been made of human skulls, was placed in the middle of the room, dominating the attention of those who were gathered in front of it.

A loud ‘caw caw’ filled the air as two black ravens swooped through the

throne room, flying right past the small group of people who stood there waiting, and landing upon the back of the throne. The ravens both turned to look over the gathering, each clawing loudly before hopping off the throne and landing on the ground beside it. As soon as they touched the stone floor, each of the birds began to shift and change, taking human form.

To the right of the throne, Edgar Munin leaned on his black cane. He was tall and thin, wearing an old fashioned black suit, which almost looked as though it could have been worn in the Victorian era. His black hair was brushed back and his eyes hidden behind a pair of round sunglasses.  

Alan Hugin was on the other side of the throne. Like Munin, he was dressed all in black, though his clothing more closely resembled a ninja’s uniform, with armored pads on each shoulder, which looked almost like layered feathers. A black partial helmet adorned his head, with the forehead piece resembling a raven’s head. And though most of his face was covered, a pair of glowing red eyes could still be seen.

Suddenly, a thick black smoke formed over the throne, spreading out and solidifying to reveal that an attractive young woman with blonde hair now sat there. She wore a costume that was purple and black, with pieces of gray metal armor. A gray metal skull adorned her belt while a chain hung loose from her side. A black cloak was wrapped around her shoulders with the hood draped down to obscure her face. Two metal broaches in the shapes of skulls held her cloak close to her.

Baron Nevermore had been a villain of immense and terrifying reputation, until his fortunes had turned and his soul had been trapped in a dimension which could only be described as Hell. But in spite of this setback, the dark sorcerer had escaped, acquiring a new body and another opportunity to achieve her goals.

“The time is upon us,” Nevermore announced. Though her features appeared young and innocent, there was a dark edge to her voice that was anything but. “The day we have prepared for is finally at hand.”

“As long as I get what you promised me,” an annoyed voice commented. “I’m no hired henchman. I have my own reasons for helping you.”

Nevermore’s eyes, which glowed a malevolent red, slowly looked over her allies, settling on the man who’d spoken. Force was tall and muscular, with blonde hair and handsome good looks. The former hero wore a blue and black costume, which resembled the blue and white one that he once wore. His costume had a stylized F on the chest and included a black cape and silver metal shoulder armor.

“Each of us has a reason for this alliance,” Nevermore stated. “Each of us has something to gain.”

“Force is motivated by pride,” a woman commented with a smirk, drawing Nevermore’s attention to her.

The Sinner was currently an attractive woman with long black hair, a tight black outfit with stiletto heels, and a long crimson coat that was open, so as not to hide her curves. She looked much more appealing than she had in her original body, though the same could be said of Nevermore herself.

Of course, the Sinner was correct about Force. The former hero had joined their alliance purely out of pride and ego. That made him easy to understand…and manipulate.

“Soon, you will have your revenge,” Nevermore promised Force. “You will show your former allies how powerful you truly are as you crush them beneath your heel, and you will make them pay for the way they turned on you.”

Force puffed up, smirking in eager anticipation. “Some of those assholes have had this coming for a LONG time.”

“Circuit Monger,” Nevermore announced, turning his attention to the robotic woman.

Circuit Monger’s body was entirely metallic, though female in shape. Most of her body was painted green or black though several parts were more of a dark gray color. Her face was one of the parts painted black which gave her something of an African appearance, an impression which was increased by the dark gray metal cables that came from the back of her head and hung down, looking almost like dreadlocks. At the same time, thin glowing green lines ran over her body, forming patterns similar to a circuit board.

The Sinner looked Circuit Monger over and smirked. “Gluttony is your defining sin.”

“Negative,” Circuit Monger responded in a flat voice. “This unit does not require sustenance.”

The Sinner just smirked at that. “Well, you do have some pretty big power requirements, but that isn’t what I was referring to. You consume information…data…and you aren’t ever satisfied.”

“The Sinner is correct,” Nevermore said as she stared at Circuit Monger. “Your craving for knowledge is unquenchable, but soon, you will have access to countless new sources of information.”

Nevermore turned her attention to Loki, a skinny young man who had a pinched face and black hair with a white lock in front. His costume was red and gold, with some black trim, and was adorned with a red cape. Loki’s left arm from the elbow down, was covered in red scales and claws, looking as though it belonged to a demon rather than a human. And in that clawed hand, he held a black staff.

“Not a fucking word,” he warned the Sinner.

“Loki,” Nevermore announced. “I promised you the opportunity to unleash more chaos and destruction than you have ever dreamt of. Soon, my promise will be fulfilled.”

“About fucking time,” Loki grumbled, though he clenched his staff more tightly and had a nearly manic gleam in his eyes.

Next, Nevermore turned her attention to a woman who was wearing a suit of red and white armor, which included a long red cape. She wore a red helmet with white trim, which covered her entire head except for her lower face. In one hand, she held a scepter, though her other hand held a length of chain. The other end of the chain went to the collar of a large black panther.

“Scepter,” Nevermore said. “To you, I have given freedom from slavery and power over the one who would have enslaved you.” Ebon growled from the other end of the chain, clearly not happy about this turnabout.

“Silence,” Scepter snarled at the cat, who immediately cringed back. She looked at Nevermore and responded, “You gave me the power you promised. I’ll fulfil my part of our deal.”

“And I believe, that leaves me,” the Sinner commented, buffing her nails on her coat.

“You swore service to my cause,” Nevermore agreed, “in exchange for power and your life.”

“And you gave me this nice new body after my last one was killed,” the Sinner responded with a smirk, taking a sexy pose. “I have to admit, I kind of like this one better. It’s so much more fun.”

“Regardless of your reasons,” Nevermore announced, “each of you has agreed to assist me in this venture. Soon, I shall have the power I require to achieve my goal, and each of you shall have what you were promised.” She paused at that and slowly stood up from her throne, slowly looking around her group of allies before announcing, “Now, go and unleash all the nightmares of Hell.”

Chapter 2

Joselyn Knight bolted straight up in bed, gasping for breath and shaking a little from the dream she’d just had. She took several deep breaths to calm herself down, then brushed the long pink hair from her face and tried to calm down.

“It was just a dream,” she told herself, still haunted by her quickly fading dream. Unfortunately, she knew that it was more than just a dream. “Damn…”

Joselyn climbed out of bed, then quickly grabbed the pink bathrobe from the back of her bedroom door. She didn’t even bother to put on her slippers as she opened the door and rushed down the hallway to her parent’s bedroom.

At sixteen, Joselyn was far too old to go running to her parents every time she had a nightmare, but this was a special circumstance. Her heart was still racing from the memory of this one, and even though she couldn’t remember all the details, she remembered enough to know that this was urgent.

“Wake up,” Joselyn called out as she loudly knocked on the door. “Dad! Wake up…” When that didn’t work, Joselyn held her hand out and a ball of glowing pink energy formed in it. She opened the door and stepped into the dark room, using her glowing orb to see by. As soon as she reached the bed, she shook her dad, “Dad. Wake up…”

“Huh,” her less than awake father mumbled, opening his eyes and looking at her in confusion. “What…?”

Joselyn’s mom woke a little more quick and sat up in bed, using her sheets to cover herself. “Honey,” she started, staring at Joselyn. “What’s wrong?”

“I had a nightmare,” Joselyn said in a shaking voice, which made her sound more like a small child than a teenage girl.

“A nightmare?” her mom asked, giving her an odd look in the dim light. “It was just a bad dream, honey. Go back to bed…”

“No,” Joselyn stated firmly. “It wasn’t JUST a nightmare…”

That was enough to get her mother’s full attention. “Was this one of THOSE dreams?”

“Not exactly,” Joselyn admitted with a shudder

Joselyn was psychic and sometimes had dreams about the future, though they often lacked enough context or important details to be useful. Because of that, she usually didn’t bother to worry about them, at least not very much. However, the dream she’d just woken from had definitely been different.

She took a deep breath before announcing, “I think this one is happening NOW.”

“Now?” her mom asked in surprise.

“Do you know what time it is?” her dad grumbled as he slowly sat up, still more than half asleep. He looked at the clock, then at Joselyn.

“It’s time to get up and save the world,” Joselyn answered firmly. Then before her dad could ask any more questions, she turned to leave the room, announcing, “I’ll get the coffee going.”

As soon as Joselyn stepped into the hallway, she realized that she must have been a little too loud in trying to wake her dad, because she’d woken both of her sisters as well. Twelve year old Katie poked her head out from the doorway of her own room, and just outside of the next door down, stood Evie. Evie was Katie’s twin sister, except that she was eighteen. The fact that they were twins, yet had such an age difference, was due to a complicated situation involving another dimension where time passed at a different rate.

“What’s going on?” Katie demanded curiously.

“Sorry I woke you,” Joselyn told her with an apologetic smile. “Go on back to bed.”

“What is going on?” Evie repeated the question.

Joselyn looked at her older sister, who used to be her younger sister until about a year earlier, and let out a sigh. Evie was eighteen, and old enough to be an official member of the family superhero team, Knight Force, when Joselyn herself wasn’t.

“I’ll explain once Dad gets in the kitchen,” Joselyn told her with a shake of her head.

A minute later, Joselyn was in the kitchen, getting the coffee pot going while Katie stood there in her own robe, looking both tired and impatient. Katie, who wasn’t about to be left out of whatever was going on, plopped down onto one of the seats at the kitchen nook and let out a loud yawn. Then their parents finally arrived, with their dad wearing boxer shorts and a worn out t shirt.

Joselyn watched her dad for a moment, noting that even at this time of the morning, when he was still half asleep, he still looked every inch a superhero. William Knight was tall and muscular, with the good looks that would be expected of someone who was called the White Knight. Of course, his dark hair was currently messy and he was in need of a shave, but those things could easily be fixed once he had his coffee.

“What’s going on?” Joselyn’s mom asked, still more awake than her father.

Ellen Knight, formerly known as Deception, had retired from being a superhero in order to focus on being a full time mother, but most people would never know that from her calm and serious demeanor. She glanced to her husband, then to her youngest daughter Katie, before turning her attention back to Joselyn.

“Something big is going on,” Joselyn announced, meeting her mom’s eyes. “I don’t remember all the details, but I know it’s bad. Very bad.”

“Details,” her dad said before taking a long sip of his coffee. He was already starting to become more alert.

Joselyn stared at her dad for a moment before answering. “Force is involved.”

That suddenly earned her the undivided attention of everyone in the room. Every one of them knew Force, a former superhero whose arrogance led him into a self-destructive spiral that had ended in his becoming a villain. Joselyn glanced quickly to her mother, who scowled deeply. Long ago, before she’d met Joselyn’s father, she and Force had been partners…and more. However, it was not the distant past that they all thought of, but the more recent past.

Just a little more than six months ago, Force had launched an attack on their family, capturing most of them in a twisted quest for revenge over imagined wrongs. Joshua was the only one to escape the initial attack, though the stress and terror had caused his latent powers to develop, and his entire body to change as a result.

Joselyn shuddered as she remembered that night, and the many hours that she’d spent hiding while her body underwent the excruciating transformation from Joshua to Joselyn. Afterwards, she’d managed to find her long lost Uncle Edward, the Black Sheep of the family, and together they’d rescued the others.

“Force,” her father stated, now fully awake. He looked at Joselyn with a worried frown. “When he somehow escaped from Mount Prometheus, we knew that he might come after you. You humiliated him, and he isn’t the type to ever forget that…”

“I know,” Joselyn agreed. “But he isn’t after me. Or at least, I’m pretty sure he isn’t…yet. He’s involved in something a lot bigger than that, and...” Then she paused, unable to look at her dad as she added, “I think he’s working with Loki.”

The mention of Loki’s name immediately caused Joselyn’s dad to go pale. “Loki,” he spat the name out a moment later, looking even angrier than he had upon hearing Force’s name. Force had kidnapped and endanger their family, but not long ago, Loki had slaughtered a superhero group known as the Seven…a group that the White Knight had once belonged to. Loki had viciously murdered his friends, and like Force, Loki had somehow escaped from prison.

“I…I think they’re working for someone else,” Joselyn quickly said, still shaking a little as she thought of the dream. “I don’t know who, but…”  She paused to take a deep breath. “I had a feeling of overwhelming dread, and that if they aren’t stopped soon…the whole world is in danger.”

Joselyn’s mom gave her a reassuring hug before gently asking, “Do you remember anything else?”

“Just a couple birds,” Joselyn admitted. “Black birds. Maybe crows or ravens.”

Joselyn’s dad shifted his posture, and she could see that he’d gone into White Knight mode. He gave her a worried look, and then with a deep scowl, he went over to the phone and began making phone calls. Several minutes later, he grimly announced, “Joselyn is right…”

“What is it, Dad?” Evie asked with a worried look.

“Honey?” Joselyn’s mom gently asked.

For several long seconds, Joselyn’s father just stood there with a dark look on his face. “It’s Baltimore,” he announced. Only those who knew him best would have noticed how shaken he was. “A group of villains just attacked Baltimore...and erected some kind of barrier. Now almost a fifth of Maryland is completely cut off.”

“A fifth of the state?” Joselyn’s mom exclaimed in surprise. “Force is powerful, but even he can’t do that much.”

“It isn’t just him,” Joselyn reminded her mom, wishing her dream had been a little more clear.

Joselyn’s dad nodded at that. “And if what Joselyn says is correct, then this may just be the beginning.”

Sam Johnson stepped through the restaurant doors, letting out a loud yawn as he did so. Sam worked from home as a freelance software designer, so he was usually able to sleep in a bit, then have a little something for breakfast before going to work in his home office. However, this morning, Sam wanted to shake things up a little, or at least get out of the house for a bit.

“Damn voices,” Sam grumbled, thinking of the voices that had woken him up in the middle of the night. His wife Anne hadn’t heard the voice, or at least he’d assumed she hadn’t since she hadn’t said a word about them, but that wasn’t really any surprise. Sam had known about them for some time and had yet to utter a single word about them to Anne.

One day, Sam had been walking through Bison Park, when he’d seen a ball of light and suddenly heard voices speaking to him, and then had a strange vision to go along with that. The voices told him that a darkness was coming to the world, and that he’d been chosen as the one to fight it. This announcement had been completely ludicrous, and Sam probably would have assumed that he’d been hallucinating the whole thing, if it wasn’t for the fact that these mysterious voices had also given him powers.

In spite of the fact that Sam had never agreed to fight this darkness, and had been reluctant to use these new powers, he soon discovered that fate seemed to be conspiring with these voices to ensure that he did as they asked. After all, it hadn’t taken long before he discovered the location of this darkness…in his son’s school. The darkness was a supervillain named Baron Nevermore, who’d come back from the dead by possessing the body of a teenage girl, and who was infecting all the other students her dark corruption.

Sam shuddered at the memory of Nevermore, and how she’d transformed normal teenagers into monsters. Of course, some people might joke that all teenagers are monsters, but most don’t have fangs, claws, and a desire to murder you like the ones Nevermore had corrupted. He was just thankful that between himself and his young friends in the Slackers, they’d been able to stop Nevermore before anyone else had been hurt.

“I thought it was done,” Sam muttered to himself as he went and took a seat in a booth. “I thought it was over…”

Once Nevermore had been defeated, and apparently sent back to where she’d come from, Sam had been certain that it was over. He’d completed the mission that the voices had given him, and he’d been waiting until they realized this and took the powers back. However, it seemed that there was a reason they’d left those powers with Sam. The darkness wasn’t truly gone yet.

Then a few hours ago, in the middle of the night, the voices had awoken Sam with another vision and a message. “THE DARKNESS IS SPREADING AND MUST BE STOPPED BEFORE YOUR WORLD IS CONSUMED.” Between that, and the vision of the world being smothered in darkness and evil, Sam hadn’t been able to get back to sleep.

Just then, Sam noticed the waitress that had just stopped by his booth. “Coffee,” he announced, before he even looked up at her.

“All right,” the young woman responded. “Would you like anything besides the coffee?”

Sam finally looked at the waitress, who was about eighteen years old, maybe two years older than his son Todd, and she had long brown hair and a name badge that said her name was Julie. The girl looked extremely familiar, and it took Sam several seconds to realize that he knew her. However, he didn’t know her as Julie. He knew her as Channel…a member of the Slackers.

“Um,” Sam stammered in surprise. For a moment, he was about to exclaim, “I didn’t know you worked here,” until he remembered that none of the Slackers knew what he really looked like when he wasn’t using his powers. As far as Channel was concerned, he was just another middle-aged customer. Giving her a weak smile, he just said, “I’ll have the hash…”

While Sam ate breakfast, he kept watching Julie, wondering if he should say something or not. After all, they were part-time teammates, and Sam did think of her as a friend. Of course, it was hard to really be friends with any of the Slackers, when they had no idea that he was actually twice their age…and a guy. None of them knew him as Sam Johnson, only as a teenage girl named Glamour Girl.

“Maybe I should let them know,” Sam mused. After all, he’d fought alongside the Slackers and thought of them as his friends. Maybe it was time to let them in on the truth…that his powers transformed him into a girl whenever he used them.

When the bill came, Sam gave Julie a large tip, and he was still thinking about whether or not to reveal himself to her. Suddenly he heard a buzzing sound, which he quickly recognized as coming from a cell phone in silent mode. And it was coming from Julie’s pocket. A second later, a similar buzzing came from his own pocket.

“What the…?” Sam started in surprise, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two cell phones.

One of these phones was Sam’s personal phone, the one that his wife, kids, and friends used when calling him. The second phone was his business phone, though not for his software business. Sam didn’t actually have a cell phone for his software business, since he usually did his work on that over e-mail or the landline in his home office. This phone was reserved for Glamour Girl business…and it was the one making noise.

Sam looked at the screen, and it simply had a text message from Zero Kay, another member of the Slackers. ‘EMERGENCY. CALLING IN THE RESERVES. COME TO HQ ASAP.’

“Damn,” Sam muttered, getting up and hurrying out of the restaurant. He spared a glance back towards Julie, but she had already disappeared. “I guess I’ll see her there…”

Sam quickly climbed into his car and drove home, which was a short distance away so didn’t take very long. Once he’d done that, he slipped around to the back yard where he was out of view, and called on his powers. A rainbow of light suddenly began to swirl around Sam, infusing his body and transforming it. In mere seconds, Sam was gone and Glamour Girl stood in his place.

As Glamour Girl, Sam now looked like a sixteen year old girl, with pointed ears like an elf, and long golden blonde hair that glowed. She wore a green and gold costume that left her midriff exposed, and which included fingerless green gloves. In addition, her entire body was covered with a bright and swirling rainbow aura.

“Even after all these months,” Sam mused as she looked down at herself and her transformed body, “I’ll never get used to this.”

Then with a sigh, Sam shook her head, pulled the light around her body so that it not only dulled, but helped her blend into her surroundings like a chameleon, then flew straight up into the sky. Once she was high enough that no one would notice her, she released her aura and flew off, leaving a trail of brilliant colored light behind her.

It didn’t take Sam long to reach her destination, a somewhat run down building where the Slackers had their headquarters. Of course, Sam knew that calling it a headquarters was being generous, since the truth was, it was actually just an apartment where they all gathered and hung out. She wasn’t sure, but strongly suspected that the building’s owner was Chrome’s uncle, which was why they were allowed to use the place.

Sam stepped into the apartment and saw that more than half the team was already there. Chrome was a young black man with a shaved head. He was currently on the couch, sitting on the opposite end as a little girl, who might have looked cute if it wasn’t for her grayish skin, dull eyes, and the dried and crusted blood on her forehead.

“Hello, Deadbeat,” Sam greeted the ‘little girl’.

“Gorgeous Girl,” Deadbeat responded with smirk, waving to Sam with the beer bottle in her hand.

In spite of her appearance, Deadbeat wasn’t really a little girl…or even a girl at all. She was actually a guy, or at least, she had been when she’d been alive. From what Sam understood, Deadbeat was some kind of ghost, who had the ability to possess and animate any dead body she found. She went through bodies pretty quickly, as they were damaged or rotted away, so she usually looked completely different each time Sam saw her. However, the one thing that was always constant, was that she was very unnerving to be around.

“Chrome,” Sam said, looking to the young hero, who was currently playing some kind of hand-held video game, similar to what Todd owned. “What’s going on?”

Chrome looked up and shrugged. “You’ll have to ask Kay.”

“I want to wait until everyone gets here,” a girl exclaimed as she stepped into the room.

Sam looked at Zero Kay, a cute blonde with short hair and a blue and grey costume with white trim. Kay had a grim look on her face, so whatever was going on, she obviously thought it was serious. If Deadbeat had called for everyone to come to headquarters, Sam would have suspected that it was because of a poker game, and probably wouldn’t even have come. However, because it was Zero Kay, Sam had come as quickly as she could.

“I guess we wait then,” Sam announced, moving an empty pizza box off a chair and then sitting down.

The next to arrive was Nike, a young woman with naturally tan skin and short black hair. She wore a white costume with black trim, which included grey metal armor pieces on her shoulders and elbows, along with a matching belt. Then, from her back, she had a pair of gray feathered wings.

“What the hell is going on?” Nike immediately demanded of Zero Kay. She glared at Deadbeat, then at Chrome. “I do have things to do…”

“I’m sure Kay has a good reason,” Sam assured Nike. “And we’ll find out what it is, once Channel arrives.”

“Then we can find out now,” Channel announced as she came in through the door.

Instead of the waitress uniform that she had been wearing a short time ago, Channel was now back in her familiar blue and violet spandex costume. Until this morning, that was the only thing that Sam had ever seen her in, except when her clothing was changed by whatever spirit she was channeling at the time.

Channel gave Zero Kay a curious look and asked, “What’s going on? I had to leave work early for this, so it had better be important.”

Zero Kay looked annoyed that everyone was questioning her, but she didn’t let that bother her as she announced, “You know my brother is with Faction Zero…”

“Yeah, that has come up once or twice,” Channel responded with a wry smile.

Sam chuckled at that since Zero Kay liked to remind everyone that her big brother Shiver, was a member of a big league superhero team. Faction Zero had a MUCH better budget than the Slackers. Then again, a local bowling league team would probably have a better budget. There was a reason these guys were called the Slackers.

“Shiver called me a little while ago,” Zero Kay explained. “He said that something major is going on in Baltimore, and they’re calling in everyone they can to help…”

“Wait,” Chrome exclaimed, finally giving her his full attention. “Everyone?”

“Yeah,” Zero Kay responded with a nervous smile. “The Face is going to come pick us up in about half an hour…”

“The Face?” Deadbeat exclaimed. “That guy is kind of freaky…”

“So says the zombie girl,” Zero Kay responded.

“Don’t you get what this means?” Nike demanded, glaring at Deadbeat. She slowly looked around the room at everyone else. “This is our chance to show what we can do…to prove that we have what it takes.”

Deadbeat snorted at that. “Or we could stay here, and save ourselves the trouble.”

Sam stared at Deadbeat for a moment, then shook her head in exasperation.  “You give zombies a bad name,” she told the lazy corpse, who responded by flipping her off.

“We already proved we have what it takes to play in the big leagues,” Chrome pointed out with a smirk. “Remember Nevermore? We kicked her ass…”

“I…I think this is Nevermore,” Sam announced, and suddenly had everyone staring at her in surprise.

“What are you talking about?” Channel asked, giving Sam a curious look.

Sam let out a sigh, hoping that she was wrong, but she doubted it. “Last night…I received a warning that Nevermore might be back…and making a big move…even worse than the last one.”

“And then this thing happens in Baltimore,” Zero Kay said in realization. “Shit…”

“And isn’t that where Edgar Allan Poe is buried?” Channel asked, while Sam nodded in confirmation.

“And we all know that Nevermore has some kind of Poe fetish,” Chrome pointed out with a scowl.

Sam slowly looked around the room and saw the worried looks on each of their faces, even on Deadbeat’s, and she was already dead. Then as one, they all exclaimed, “SHIT.”

Chapter 3

Joselyn stared intently at the shimmering barrier that was only five feet away from her. It was purple, slightly transparent, and radiated a sense of malevolent power that sent chills running down her spine.

“Don’t touch it,” Joselyn’s dad warned as he came up behind her.

She glanced at her dad, who was wearing his White Knight uniform. As his codename suggested, his uniform was predominantly white, with a modified domino mask and a white cape. In addition, he had gold metal wrist bracers, a belt, and broaches for a cape. Then, on his chest, he had the symbol of a knight helmet.

Of course, Joselyn was wearing her costume as well. Hers was black and pink, with a black belt that included a pink buckle with the family logo in the center of it, the same knight’s helmet that her father wore on his chest. To finish her costume, she had a black domino mask that covered her eyes, though she thought it was probably a bit unnecessary. After all, with her long pink hair, it wouldn’t do much to hide her identity.

“I wasn’t going to,” Joselyn said, looking back at the barrier that completely not only surrounded Baltimore, but also a large area of the surrounding land.

After a moment, Joselyn turned to look around, seeing the growing gathering of heroes that had formed just on the outside of the barrier. Many of them had already tried to break through the barrier, without any luck, so they were trying to figure out a plan of action. Someone had already set up a command tent, while others were briefing the newcomers as they arrived.

Then, as Joselyn watched, a portal opened in the air and a man stepped out of it. He wore a long blue coat, a blue fedora, and a gold metal mask that covered his entire face. The Face was some kind of magic user, and he could create portals through space, which was why he’d been given the task of playing taxi for all the other heroes.

Right behind the Face, six more heroes appeared from the portal. Though Joselyn had never met any of these heroes, she recognized them as the Slackers. They definitely weren’t a big name team, and the only reason that Joselyn had recognized them at all, was that after she’d developed her own powers, she’d made an effort at researching all of the active hero groups, so she could at least be familiar with who the other players were.

“All that research is finally coming in handy,” Joselyn joked to herself.

Then as she looked at the other heroes, her eyes went to a gorgeous blonde woman, who wore a red and gold spandex outfit. Joselyn immediately recognized Ms. Miracle, as well as her team, the Miracle Men. At that moment, they were deep in conversation with several members of Faction Zero. For a moment, Joselyn was tempted to go over and talk with Ms. Miracle, but then she noticed that the Face was coming in her direction.

“You managed to bring quite an army,” Joselyn’s dad told the other hero.

“I brought as many heroes as I could locate,” the Face answered. “Unfortunately, the Protectorate is busy dealing with the Quakemaster in California, and the Lightning Force is caught up with a Lendali incursion in Florida.”

“Are you sure they aren’t just down there on vacation?” Joselyn asked wryly.

“This is my daughter,” Joselyn’s dad introduced her with a smile. “She’s called the Lady Knight.”

“Not the Pink Knight?” the Face asked. Joselyn was pretty sure he was teasing her, but it was hard to tell when that mask hid all of his expressions.

Joselyn shook her head, feeling self-conscious at the reminder of her original codename…Pink. At the time, she couldn’t think of anything else. “No. I decided to skip the color coding part of my family tradition.”

“A wise move,” the Face responded with a chuckle. Then he gestured towards a teenage girl a short distance away, indicating that she should come over. “And this is my daughter, Witch Girl.”

Witch Girl looked to be about the same age as Joselyn, with long violet hair and a sexy blue witch costume with a violet sash around the waist. The whole outfit was topped off with a blue witch hat, with a violet sash around the base.

Joselyn stared at Witch Girl for several seconds, feeling a little nervous and excited at the same time. She’d seen Witch Girl before…in her dreams. From what she’d seen of these brief glimpses of the future, she and Witch Girl were going to end up on the same team at some point, and were apparently going to be friends as well. After all, she’d seen Witch Girl…or an older version of her…as one of the bridesmaids in her own wedding.

“Hi,” Joselyn said to the other girl, deciding to keep quiet about her visions of the future, at least for now. She didn’t want to scare the girl away or make her think that Joselyn was some sort of creepy stalker. “I’m Lady Knight.”

“Witch Girl,” she responded, holding out her hand, which Joselyn shook.

“I didn’t know you had any children,” Joselyn’s dad said, giving the Face a curious look.

“He didn’t either,” Witch Girl commented wryly. Then at Joselyn’s curious look, she quickly explained, “My mom kept me as a surprise.”

“Your mother was Ms. Witch,” Joselyn’s dad said, though whether it was a statement or a question, Joselyn couldn’t quite tell. “You wear a version of her costume.”

“Yeah,” Witch Girl responded, suddenly looking a little depressed. “Mom…”

“Her mother passed away rather unexpectedly,” the Face said. The tone of his voice was pretty rough, so Joselyn guessed that there was a good story behind that. After a few seconds, he quickly changed the subject. “I thought you were going to keep your children out of the business until they were older.”

Joselyn’s dad gave her a wry look, then told the Face, “That was my intention, and still is. This is…an exception.”

“A very dangerous time to make an exception,” the Face pointed out.

“I know,” Joselyn’s dad responded grimly. “But my daughter insisted that she had to be here, and as much as I dislike her involvement, I trust her intuition far too much to leave her behind.”

Witch Girl gave Joselyn a curious look, and it was all she could do to keep from smirking. Sometimes, being a psychic could be a pain in her butt, but it was useful. The fact that her father actually listened to her…and trusted her…made her feel proud of her abilities and determined not to let him down.

“Are you psychic or something?” Witch Girl asked her.

“Yes,” Joselyn answered with a faint smile. “And I can do this…” A dagger made of glowing pink energy appeared in her hand, and the other girl looked impressed.

“I’m a magic user,” Witch Girl announced proudly. Then she gestured to the shimmering barrier a short distance away and added, “And this is definitely a magic problem.”

Joselyn just gave her a wry smile and pointed out, “Maybe, but it’s going to take more than hocus pocus to fix it.”

While they were talking, Joselyn’s dad walked off with the Face, to talk to Icarus, Ms. Miracle, and a couple of the other people in charge, leaving her behind with Witch Girl. She glanced at the other girl, who was slowly looking around at the gathered heroes, probably trying to guess who everyone was. After all, that was what Joselyn had been doing herself.

“Maybe I should call my boyfriend,” Joselyn said with a sigh. “With everything that’s going on, this might be the last time I can talk to him…”

Witch Girl gave her a curious look. “Does he know you’re developed?”

“Yeah,” Joselyn responded with a chuckle. “He knows all about that. I just don’t think he realizes he’s my boyfriend yet…”

Witch Girl started to chuckle at that. “I imagine it might be amusing to watch him figure it out.”

“Well, his sister certainly agrees with that,” Joselyn added with a grin. “Damn. I wish Vickie and Chris were here…” She gave a nervous look towards the shimmering barrier and gulped. “But I’m kind of glad they aren’t too…”

A short time later, all the heroes were asked to gather together in front of the command tent. Several large computer monitors had been set up, while the Face, the White Knight, and Icarus stood in front of them. To Joselyn’s surprise, her father was the one who seemed to be taking the lead on this briefing.

“Everyone,” Joselyn’s dad announced loudly. “You are all aware of the barrier that is keeping everyone out of Baltimore.” He gestured to the nearby barrier. Several heads nodded agreement. “Many of us have tried to break through, without any success at all.”

“The barrier is magical in nature,” the Face added in a grim tone. “It appears to be a bubble, so all attempts to fly over or pass beneath have failed. All attempts to force our way through or physically penetrate, have been in vain. All attempts to teleport through have failed. So far, it also blocks all forms of attempted communication, and nearly every attempt to learn more of what is on the other side.”

“You said nearly,” someone pointed out. Joselyn looked at the speaker, a tall and thin young man, with a blue and grey costume that had some gold metallic trim. She recognized him as Surge of the Miracle Men.

“Correct,” the White Knight announced. “Between satellite images and communications immediately before the barrier appeared, as well as magical and psychic detection…” He glanced to his daughter at that. “We have been able to learn a number of things, which I am about to share.”

“Like how we’re gonna get past this damn thing?” someone else grumbled. This time, the speaker was a black haired young woman with red and gray costume, with gold shoulder pads and belt.

“Patience, Kaboom,” a green haired girl told her. This one wore a black and white spandex costume, with green metallic shoulder pads and bracers, as well as a pair of crossed green belts at her waist. Joselyn recognized this one as Counterweight, one of the Miracle Men. Or part time member. She wasn’t certain.

“As I was saying,” Joselyn’s father continued grimly. “At approximately midnight, five villains appeared in Baltimore and began causing havoc, then went in separate directions. Video footage and phone recordings show that two of them eventually stopped and placed some type of black stone on the ground. Shortly after, the stones grew into large black obelisks…”

A picture of a black stone obelisk appeared on one of the monitors, though it was poorly taken. Joselyn suspected that it had been taken from someone’s phone, and probably posted to Facebook right before the barrier came up.

The White Knight continued, “We have good reason to believe that the other three villains placed similar obelisks.”

“And,” the Face interjected, “that these obelisks are responsible for sustaining the barrier. If we are somehow able to remove the obelisks, the barrier should fall. Of course, this is a catch-22 as we are unable to reach the obelisks until we can remove or bypass the barrier.”

“As for the villains who placed these obelisks,” the White Knight announced with a deep scowl, “and who we believe remain to guard them…”

A new picture appeared on the monitor, of a powerful looking man floating in front of one of these obelisks. There were gasps from the gathered crowd as nearly everyone present recognized him. However, it a woman who vehemently spat out his name. “FORCE.”

Joselyn looked at the woman, who had pure white skin and hair. Her costume was a green spandex outfit, and over that she wore a darker green cloak. Joselyn had never met Lady Hexx before, but she knew who the woman was. From the way that many of the gathered heroes glared at her, it was obvious that they knew who she was as well.

Lady Hexx was a former villain who’d gained notoriety after attacking Force in public. Afterwards, she ‘reformed’ and joined a superhero group in California, while Force became a wanted fugitive and villain. Many in the hero community blamed her for Force’s downfall, suggesting that she’d framed him or had done something to mess with his mind. However, Joselyn knew that this was complete and utter rubbish. Force was a lunatic, and Lady Hexx had only been declared a villain because she’d attacked him when everyone else thought he was a hero.

“Force is no villain,” someone exclaimed, though Joselyn didn’t see who.

Her father scowled as he responded, “Make no mistake. Force is no longer a hero. Months ago, he kidnapped my family…my children…and he attempted to murder them. Somehow, he escaped from Mount Prometheus, and hasn’t been seen again until now.”

“Force is powerful,” Lady Hexx agreed. “And dangerous. Even when he was still pretending to be a hero, he was enormously reckless…endangering civilians and causing massive collateral damage… If he’s decided to drop the act entirely, then there’s no telling how much damage he could cause.”

“Agreed,” the White Knight said, before gesturing to the monitor, which changed to show a picture of a robotic woman.

“Circuit Monger,” Witch Girl snarled from beside Joselyn.

“Faction Zero has a history with Circuit Monger,” Icarus pointed out grimly.

“I thought we destroyed that metal bitch,” a woman exclaimed. She had red hair with golden highlights, and wore a red and gray costume with a white sash around her waist. Joselyn didn’t know who this woman was, but she remembered seeing a glimpse of her in one of her dreams of the future.

“Way too many people here,” Joselyn muttered, wondering how she could possibly remember them all. As it was, the sheer number of people was throwing her sixth sense into a tizzy, or at least, creating way too much noise for her to pick up anything useful.

“Invincible Woman,” the White Knight said, naming the woman. Then he glanced to the teenage boy who stood beside her. He was dressed in a black spandex outfit, with white boots and a white hooded jacket.  “Ghost Boy. Your experience with Circuit Monger should be invaluable, once we are able to get through the barrier.”

Joselyn looked at the monitor again, scowling as she tried to remember everything she’d heard about Circuit Monger. For one thing, she looked like the evil twin of Circuit, a former member of Faction Zero who’d been killed in action. In truth, Circuit Monger had originally been a villain named Trojan, who somehow transferred his mind into a robotic body that was an exact duplicate of Circuit’s, and then he pretended to be her in order to infiltrate Faction Zero. Joselyn wasn’t sure of exactly what Circuit Monger had done to Faction Zero, beyond impersonating their dead friend, but it obviously left some bad feelings.

“Circuit Monger,” Joselyn’s father continued, “when last seen, had been severely damaged and in custody. And like Force, she mysteriously escaped and hasn’t been seen again until now.”

The next picture appeared on the monitor, of a young man with black hair and a red and gold costume. Joselyn had never met Loki personally, much to her relief, but she immediately recognized who he was. Her father stiffened, and most of the other people present wouldn’t have noticed just how tense he was.

“LOKI,” a woman’s voice spat out.

Joselyn stared at Legacy, a woman who wore a tight black costume with a flowing white cloak. She was one of only two surviving members of the Seven, a group of heroes who had been brutally slaughtered by Loki. Only one other person had survived Loki’s attack on them, and both of them had been left with horrible scars, both physical and mental. Then Joselyn looked to her dad, who had once been a member of that very group. Those heroes who Loki had killed, had been his friends and former teammates.

“Loki may not seem it,” the White Knight announced, his voice trembling with barely controlled rage, “but he is extremely dangerous. And unpredictable. His magic can do almost anything, but even he has little true control over it. Again, Loki had been in custody and mysteriously escaped…”

“That seems to be a trend,” Joselyn pointed out grimly.

“Indeed it does,” the Face agreed. “And not a very good one for us.”

Another picture appeared on the monitors, one of a black haired woman in a slinky black catsuit, with a long red overcoat on top of it. Though Joselyn didn’t recognize the woman, her costume did look a little familiar. It took Joselyn a moment to realize that she resembled the Sinner, a villain that she had the displeasure of meeting. Fortunately, the Sinner was dead. She’d seen it herself when her uncle Edward put several bullets through him.

“That’s the Sinner,” Invincible Woman exclaimed in surprise, while Ghost Boy nodded agreement. “We fought her too…”

“The original Sinner could manipulate other people’s emotions,” the White Knight explained, “creating riots and orgies with equal ease. And though the original Sinner has been confirmed dead, this new Sinner seems to share his powers.”

“I thought that bitch was in prison,” Invincible Woman said.

“Let me guess,” Ghost Boy added a moment later. “She’s another one who mysteriously escaped from prison.”

“Correct,” Joselyn’s father said with a deep scowl.

“My guess is, the Key is freeing them,” another woman commented thoughtfully. She was beautiful, with black hair and a violet and gold costume that included a violet cape. In her right hand, she held a golden staff with several gems set in the head. Joselyn vaguely remembered reading one of her dad’s files on her. She was called Mystik, and was some kind of magic user. Mystik continued, “The Key specializes in breaking people out of the clink, so this is definitely his style…”

The Face nodded at that. “That was our first assumption as well, though I have reason to believe that this is not the case.”

Another picture appeared on the monitor, of the fifth villain, a woman in red and white armor. Joselyn had absolutely no idea who she was, though Mystik immediately stated, “She’s wearing Scepter’s armor.”

“I noticed that as well,” Icarus responded.

“She even has a scepter,” Mystik mused, gesturing towards the monitor. “The same as he did. I saw Scepter killed with my own eyes, so I don’t know who this one is…”

Icarus nodded. “So, we have four known villains, and two who appear to be new incarnations of known villains…”

“Scepter led the Black Guild,” Shiver pointed out. “Could this be a new version of the Black Guild?”

The Face shook his head. “Possible, but extremely unlikely.”

“I don’t know much about this new Scepter,” the White Knight stated, “but all four of the others are extremely dangerous…and have few interests in common. The fact that they are working together is troublesome.”

“As is the fact that none of them possesses the power to create this barrier,” the Face added. “Someone else is behind this barrier…and is likely the one who freed them from prison and united them. I have a strong suspicion as to who this is, though I hope I am wrong…”

“Nevermore,” Glamour Girl stated, which made nearly everyone turn to look at her. “Nevermore is behind this.”

Channel looked at the White Knight and said, “Glamour Girl has been warning us that Nevermore is back, and I think she’s right…”

“As do I,” the Face admitted, which earned gasps from around the crowed.

Suddenly, Joselyn’s attention was drawn to Ms. Miracle, who was glowing with a golden light. Her eyes were burning with not only this golden light, but with a look of pure fury. “Baron Nevermore,” the blonde hero exclaimed, practically shaking in anger. “I thought he was dead…that he was gone for good…”

Joselyn gulped at Ms. Miracle’s reaction, remembering that years ago, Baron Nevermore had murdered her. Ms. Miracle had been dead for years, before abruptly turning up alive again. Of course, Joselyn was pretty sure that this woman wasn’t the original Ms. Miracle, though she was certainly taking the thing with Baron Nevermore personally.

Rumor, a black haired young woman in a black and white costume, put her hand on Ms. Miracle’s shoulders to comfort her. “We stopped him once,” Rumor told Ms. Miracle. “We’ll stop him again.”

“And this time,” Quartz, another of the Miracle Men, added, “we’ll take him down even harder.”

Ms. Miracle was still clearly upset, but she stopped glowing and nodded to the White Knight and the Face. “You were saying.”

Joselyn’s father nodded. “We don’t know what their endgame is yet, but….” He gestured to Joselyn. “My daughter, Lady Knight, has precognitive visions, and has foreseen that this is a threat to the entire world.”

“I’ve been warned of the same thing,” Glamour Girl said, drawing Joselyn’s attention again.

Glamour Girl looked to be about the same age as Joselyn, but she had a strong feeling that the blonde girl was a lot older than she appeared, just as she did with Ghost Boy. On the other hand, she was equally sure that Invincible Woman was actually younger than she seemed.

The White Knight slowly looked around the group, his expression grim. “We asked many of you here to help, precisely because you have experience with one or more of the villains involved. You already know how to deal with these enemies. And as soon as we find a way past this barrier, we will have to hit them as hard and fast as we can. The world depends on it.”

With that, the briefing ended and everyone burst into conversation over what they’d just learned. Joselyn watched her dad walk off to talk with the Face, Icarus, and several others, knowing that they were still trying to figure out how to get through the barrier. She stared at the shimmering wall, hoping that they found it soon, because she was pretty sure that if they weren’t able to do so in time, the world would be plunged into an eternal nightmare.

Chapter 4

The man known only as the Face sat in the command tent, looking over the table in front of him in frustration and exhaustion. His hat rested on the table, alongside all of his notes, maps, and the various tools he’d been using to gather information on the barrier and what was occurring on the other side.

Though the Face had managed to learn a great deal, it still wasn’t enough. He knew exactly where the five obelisks were located, as well as who was guarding each one. He had even confirmed that Baron Nevermore was indeed behind this, as the barrier reeked of that villain’s dark magic. Unfortunately, he had yet to discover what Baron Nevermore was after or how to get past the barrier.

With a loud sigh, the Face rested a hand against his golden mask. He would have removed the mask were he able, to rub the bridge of his nose as he used to do when deep in concentration. However, that was not an option. He wore the mask, not to hide his identity, but for a much more important reason. Without that mask to anchor him to reality, he would immediately be drawn to another dimension, one where he had been trapped before acquiring the mask.

“He’s gathering power,” the Face stated, looking over his information. That fact was inescapable.

Baron Nevermore drew power from fear and death, and he currently had hundreds of thousands of people trapped within the barrier, providing him with both. He was gathering a great deal of raw power, far more than he needed to maintain the barrier. Of course, the Face already knew that Baron Nevermore was up to something but, but he still didn’t know what.

“Time is of the essence,” the Face grimly reminded himself, thinking about all of the people who were trapped within that barrier, at the mercy of those villains.

The Face looked up as Ms. Miracle came into the command tent, scowling deeply and nearly radiating her anger. It was obvious that she had a very personal grudge against Baron Nevermore, and he couldn’t truly blame her, not after the sorcerer had once murdered her.

In fact, many of their gathered heroes had personal grudges against these villains. The White Knight had grudges against both Force and Loki, Legacy had one against Loki, and even he, along with his entire team, held a great deal of anger towards Circuit Monger. The Face just hoped that they would all be professional enough as to not allow their grudges to interfere with their performance, or innocent lives could be lost.

Ms. Miracle ignored the Face and went to the opposite side of the tent, to talk to Icarus. However, seconds later, three other people entered the tent as well, Lady Knight, Mystik, and the Face’s daughter Gwen…Witch Girl.

Ever since Gwen and Lady Knight met a short time ago, the two of them had remained together, much to the Face’s approval. Gwen needed more friends her own age, especially ones who could understand the complications that came with being developed. In fact, there were several other young developed, such as Ghost boy and the Slackers, and it might be a good idea to make sure Gwen had a chance to meet them.

“I’m afraid that we still haven’t found any way through the barrier,” the Face told the three, guessing that this was what they’d come to him for.

“I tried a couple spells,” Gwen admitted with a disappointed look and a shake of her head, which spoke of how effective her attempts had been.

“I might be able to do something,” Mystik announced, firmly clutching her golden staff. “Unfortunately, my resources are extremely limited…”

The Face held up his hand, to keep her from explaining when it wasn’t necessary. “Your staff is akin to a genie’s lamp, in that it only grants three wishes before it must be recharged…”

Mystik gave him a look of surprise, which quickly turned to one of suspicion. “How did you know?”

The Face smiled faintly beneath his mask, though none of them could see it. “After the fight with Entropy, I thought you and your staff seemed familiar, so I performed some research. One of your predecessors left behind a journal, where she spoke of the staff of Isis.”

“I see,” Mystik responded carefully. “I’d like to look at this journal sometime, if that’s possible. But for now, I think we have bigger fish to fry…”

“Indeed,” the Face agreed. He stared at her for a moment, then continued, “From what I understand, your staff is quite powerful and versatile, but even so, I am certain it would be of little use against the barrier. Perhaps, once we learn its weakness, you might be able to exploit it…but until then, please do not waste your power. I suspect that when the time comes, you will need all the power you can muster.”

“All right then,” Mystik said. “I guess I can hold off for now. But if we don’t find a way in soon, I’m going to try anyway.”

“Agreed,” the Face told her.

Just then, the Face noticed a newcomer entering the tent. She had dark hair and was wearing a suit, rather than the dramatic costumes that everyone else in the area was wearing. The woman also looked familiar, and it took him a moment to remember where he’d seen her before. She was one of the DAD agents who’d appeared after the incidents with the Black Guild and Entropy, the same one who made sure Mystik wasn’t put behind bars for her previous criminal activity.

The woman looked to the White Knight and held out a badge and ID. “I’m Agent Briggs, from the Developed Affairs Department.”

The Face noticed that Mystik watched the DAD agent with an intent expression. “We’ve met before,” she said cautiously.

“That we have,” Agent Briggs agreed, giving him the impression that there was a lot more going on than he knew. As soon as Agent Briggs looked away, Mystik hurried out of the tent.

“How may we help you?” the White Knight asked Agent Briggs.

“There is a glowing purple dome over a large part of Maryland,” Agent Briggs pointed out. “Needless to say, the government is extremely concerned. Now, please tell me what the hell is going on.”

“I don’t know how much you’re already aware of,” the White Knight answered, “so I’ll tell you everything we know.”

With that, they began to fill Agent Briggs in on everything they’d discussed during the earlier briefing, and everything that they’d learned since. As they showed her pictures of the villains who’d been part of the initial attack, she suddenly scowled, focusing on one picture in particular.

“She’s dressed like the Scepter,” Agent Briggs pointed out.

The White Knight nodded. We do not know what…if any connection, she has to the previous Scepter.”

“You have an interest in the Scepter,” the Face commented, having noticed that this was the one picture she’d been most interested in. Even the mention of Baron Nevermore’s involvement didn’t have that much effect.

“I was part of the DAD investigation into the Black Guild,” Agent Briggs explained, though she didn’t say anything more about it.

Once they’d finished getting Agent Briggs up to date, they left the command tent and went out for a closer look at the barrier. A few of the gathered heroes were still trying to break through the barrier, though the Face suspected that most of them were doing this to keep themselves too busy to think about what must be going on inside.

Glamour Girl floated in the air, firing blasts of swirling light at the barrier. Legacy had out a bone white bow, and was shooting arrows of hellfire against it. Mega had grown to twenty feet tall and was viciously punching it. Even Gwen had returned to the barrier in order to keep trying her magics.

However, the Face noticed that Lady Knight hadn’t gone to the barrier with his daughter. Instead, she was staying close, though he wasn’t sure if that was because she wanted to stay near her father, or because she was interested in Agent Briggs. The pink haired girl kept looking at Briggs with a curious expression.

Suddenly, the Face felt a tingling through his mask, which made him pause and slowly look around. He felt a presence, one that he hadn’t encountered in years. “Exile,” he announced. “I know you are here.”

There was a shimmering in the air, right before a female figure appeared. The Exile was shaped like an attractive woman, though her body seemed to be made almost entirely of golden metal, a fact that was quite noticeable as she was completely without clothing. Her eyes burned with a green glow, and her ‘hair’ was formed of flowing green energy which trailed out behind her. At first, the Exile was ghostly, then became more solid seeming, though he could still sense that she wasn’t truly there…at least not physically.

“Hello, Richard,” Exile greeted him with the name that he had not used in years. “I should have known you would sense my presence…”

“How could I not?” the Face asked her carefully. “You created my mask, and it remains sensitive to your power…”

“You know this woman?” the White Knight asked the Face, giving Exile a suspicious look. She just watched him with a look of amusement.

“This is Exile,” the Face commented, gesturing to the golden woman, who floated with the bottom of her feet just inches from above the ground. “She inhabits the limbo I would be trapped in, if not for this mask. In fact, she is the very one who gave me this mask…”

“The mask is a part of you,” Lady Knight blurted out in surprise.

Exile nodded and turned her attention to Lady Knight. “Yes, it is a tiny sliver of my being.” The moved closer to the pink haired girl, giving her a gentle smile. “Hello, Joselyn.”

“You know who I am?” Lady Knight blurted out in surprise.

“Of course,” Exile responded with a look of amusement.

The pink haired girl protested, “But we’ve never met…”

“Haven’t we?” Exile asked with a faint chuckle. Then she looked towards Witch Girl and mused, “And Gwen as well…”

“Exile,” the Face asked, his voice tense. “Why are you here?” Then he paused for a moment before shaking his head. “Nevermind that. I know why you are here…” He gestured towards the shimmering barrier. “You’ve come to observe. The fact that you are here, or that you have sent a projection of yourself, strongly suggests that the situation is even more dire than I suspected. You only come to observe momentous events.”

With a faint bow of her head, Exile grimly responded, “This is true.”

“Are you here to help us?” the White Knight asked, still watching her carefully.

“No,” Exile responded, almost sadly. “I cannot help you. I cannot interfere directly….”

“Let me guess,” Lady Knight interjected. “You’ve sworn some kind of oath not to interfere…”

“No,” Exile responded with a faint smile, turning her attention back to Lady Knight. “I have sworn no such oath, other than to myself, nor am I bound by any form of Prime Directive.”

“Exile never helps,” the Face explained, before touching his mask and adding, “Almost never…”

“As I have explained to you before,” Exile told the Face, who clearly remembered her reasoning, though wanted the others to hear this as well. “My powers are too great to be used in this realm. I could easily remove this barrier, but the consequences of that action could be far worse than what you already face.”

Agent Briggs said, “I don’t understand,” while the White Knight simultaneously asked, “What do you mean?”

“Have you ever heard of the butterfly effect?” Exile asked in a pleasant tone. “Or the law of unintended consequences? Any use of my power results in long reaching ripples, the consequences of which, even I cannot predict. I live in a self-imposed exile in order to protect the world from my power, and I will not risk its existence merely to make things easier for you…”

“Easier?” the White Knight blurted out angrily. “The world is in danger.”

“I am merely here as an observer,” Exile stated. “And even that may be too great a risk.”

Suddenly, the Face heard his daughter cry out, “Oh my God…”

The Face snapped around, only to see Gwen standing at the barrier, with her arm pushed through it all the way up to the elbow. She pulled her arm back out, stared at it in shock, then stepped forward and walked through the barrier as though it wasn’t there.

“GWEN,” the Face cried out, running towards the spot where his daughter had vanished.

While everyone else was staring at the spot where Witch Girl had gone through the barrier, Exile began to fade away. Just before vanishing entirely, she quietly mused, “If nothing else, this should be interesting.”

A couple seconds later, Gwen stepped back through the barrier, grinning as she did so. “You know,” Gwen commented, putting her hand back through the barrier again and asking, “Has anyone tried to just walk through?”

Julie sat back in a hard plastic chair that someone had scrounged up, while the rest of the Slackers sat a short distance away. Deadbeat had found a table and a deck of cards somewhere, and was in the middle of playing a game of poker with Nike and Chrome. From what she could tell, Deadbeat was winning, which meant that there was also a good chance that the tiny zombie girl was somehow cheating.

Zero Kay was off talking with her brother, Shiver of Faction Zero. And though Julie couldn’t hear what they were saying, they were both smiling and laughing, which seemed out of place considering the circumstances. Then again, if she had a family member to share the experience with, it might not be so bad.

“We are in way over our heads,” Julie muttered as she looked around at the gathered heroes, feeling overwhelmed.

There were a lot of big name heroes present, and they were going up against some major villains, ones who’d left a lot of dead bodies in their wake. As much as Julie hated to admit it, the Slackers were in over their heads and didn’t belong in this crowed. Then, she chuckled faintly, realizing how much more outclassed they’d be when the Protectorate and Lightning Force eventually arrived to join the party.

After a moment, Julie looked over at Glamour Girl, who was standing up and staring at the shimmering barrier with a grim expression. “How are you doing?” Julie asked her.

Glamour Girl scowled, and for a moment she remained silent. “I’m frustrated,” the blonde admitted after a few seconds. “I hit that damn barrier with my light blasts, at full power, and nothing…”

“And then Witch Girl just walked right on through,” Channel responded wryly. “Your blasts did great against Nevermore the last time. Maybe once we get through, they’ll be a lot more useful.”

“I certainly hope so,” Glamor Girl said, looking back towards the barrier again. “This was the whole reason I was given these powers…”

Julie nodded at that, then gestured in the direction where Witch Girl and Lady Knight were talking. “Those two are about your age, so at least you aren’t the youngest one in the group…”

“I never thought I was,” Glamour Girl answered, gesturing to Deadbeat.

“Bite me,” Deadbeat responded, flipping Glamour Girl off. “You know this body is temporary. Next time, I’ll try to find a dead porn star. A MALE porn star.”

“That is a mental image I do NOT need,” Glamour girl said with a visible shudder.

Suddenly, Chrome smirked, got Deadbeat’s attention, then gestured to the side and said, “It looks like you just got a playmate your own age…”

Julie looked to where Chrome was pointing and immediately saw what her teammate meant. A new group of heroes had just arrived, and Julie immediately recognized them as the Guard. She gulped at that, since several members of that team were former members of the Protectorate. However, her eyes went to Warchild, who was obviously the person Chrome had been joking about.

Warchild looked like an eleven year old boy, with a black and white spandex costume. Normally, she would have gaped in horror that anyone would let a little kid put on a costume and fight crime, but she knew that Warchild was more than he appeared. From what she’d heard, he used to be a grown man until something happened, which not only gave him powers, but also did a fountain of youth on him.

After staring at Warchild for a moment, Julie looked over the rest of the Guard. There was Mannequin, who was a blonde woman who was built like a stripper, and wore a green and gray costume, that didn’t show much skin beyond her face and arms, but still left very little to the imagination. Right beside her was Diamond, who wore a flowing white costume that included a loin cloth and a diamond necklace, followed by Radiant, an auburn haired woman with a white and blue costume, that included a blue cape and a blue domino mask.  And then, trailing in the back, was Interface, a Hispanic man in a red and gray costume, with some gray metal armor trim.

From what Julie knew of the Guard, they were short two members. Father Time and Genius, who unlike Warchild, was legitimately underage. That was probably why she wasn’t there with the others.

As Julie watched, the Guard split up and went in separate directions. Diamond and Interface went directly towards the command tent, but to Julie’s surprise, Warchild started towards her. As the apparent boy came closer, it became obvious that he wasn’t interested in her, but in the card game that was going on almost beside her.

“Is that poker?” Warchild asked with childlike innocence. “I’ve never played poker before. Can I play?”

“Sure thing, kid,” Deadbeat said with an almost evil grin. “We’ll deal you in…”

Julie was about to warn Deadbeat that Warchild wasn’t as young as he appeared, then she decided that it might be more interesting to keep quiet and watch. It didn’t take long before her suspicions were proven right, as Warchild quickly won a big around, then made exclamations of ‘beginner’s luck’.

“You seem to be taking this all pretty well,” Julie told Warchild. “I mean, you and your whole team came rushing over, only to get stuck waiting with the rest of us…”

Warchild just shrugged. “It’s just like back in the army. A lot of hurry up and wait.” That earned some curious looks from the other card players, who apparently didn’t know much about his background as a former adult.

Chrome gestured to the barrier and told him, “Just a short time before you guys got here, someone was able to get through the damn thing. Now, we’re all waiting while the Face tries to figure out how she did it.”

“I’m just a soldier,” Warchild said with a shrug. “I’ll leave that kind of thing to the officers. Just let me know when it’s time to go in and kick some ass.”

Julie watched as they dealt another hand, then got up and decided to stretch her legs. She looked around again, hoping to see that the Face had figured out how Witch Girl was able to get through the barrier, when she noticed Radiant walking up to the White Knight. “How are Ellen and the kids?” Radiant asked him pleasantly, as if they were old friends.

“She isn’t happy that Force is back,” the White Knight responded. “And I’m half surprised she hasn’t come out of retirement just to help go after him. Honestly, it’s probably a good thing that she stayed home. We already have too many personal grudges.”

Radiant nodded at that. “I can certainly understand that. And the kids?”

“They’re doing fine,” the White Knight told her, looking rather proud. “In fact, Joselyn is over there…”

“You let Joselyn come?” Radiant asked in surprise. “I know she defeated Force before, but I doubt he’s going to let her get close enough to try that again…”

The White Knight shrugged. “She insisted that she had to be here. You have no idea how difficult it is to argue with a psychic.”

“Especially one who saved your life,” Radiant commented out with a chuckle. “I’m just glad that she’s handling her changes so well…”

This personal conversation definitely caught Julie’s curiosity, but she didn’t want to get caught eavesdropping on them, even if they were talking out in the open, so she slowly walked away. She found herself walking towards another group of young women, who were about the same age as most of the Slackers.

She recognized the green haired girl in the black and white costume with the green metallic trim as Counterweight, a reserve member of the Miracle Men. Julie knew that Counterweight had some sort of gravity manipulation power, but not much else about her. And though someone had told her that the other two were Catalyst and Kaboom, she had no idea who they were.

“Hi,” Julie said as she introduced herself to the trio. “I’m Channel…with the Slackers.”

“Counterweight,” answered the one she recognized.

“Hi,” Catalyst said, giving Julie a friendly smile. “I’m Catalyst and this is Kaboom…” Catalyst had a blue and lighter blue costume, with a blue cloak, and some gold metal trim, including her partial face mask and a bow staff which she held in her hand. The girl she gestured to, Kaboom, had tanned skin, long black hair, and a red and grey costume with gold metal trim.

Kaboom gave a nod and a smile. “Nice to meet you.” She gestured over to where most of the other Slackers were gathered and asked, “That your team?”

“Yep,” Julie agreed. “We aren’t exactly a big name team, but we do our best.”

“Trust me,” Catalyst said with a chuckle. “Kaboom and I are quite familiar with that problem…”

“We started the Crusaders when we were back in high school,” Kaboom said with a chuckle of her own. “We were pretty much the garage band version of superheroes…”

“We still are,” Julie told them, feeling a little self-conscious, though not much since these three didn’t seem very judgmental about it, like some heroes seemed to be. “Unfortunately, billionaire sponsors don’t exactly grow on trees…”

“I just wish my girlfriend was here,” Kaboom said with a sigh, before giving a wry smile and admitting, “She didn’t think she’d be welcome in this crowd, so didn’t bother to come.”

“We could use her firepower,” Catalyst admitted with a sigh.

Kaboom nodded at that, then gave Julie a curious look. “I hear you guys took out that asshat Baron Nevermore before… He ain’t no bush league villain…”

Julie smiled at that, feeling pleased that her team was getting some recognition for that. Still, she didn’t want these three to get the idea that beating Nevermore was going to be easy.

“Nevermore had just come back from the dead,” Julie explained. “She was in a new body and wasn’t at full power…”

“Still,” Counterweight added, “Taking down Baron Nevermore at all isn’t something to sneeze at…”

“Definitely not,” Catalyst agreed.

Julie nodded at that, then gestured towards the barrier. “Back then, she took over a high school and turned most of the teachers and students into monsters… If she…or he…is doing that in there…then we might be facing an enormous army. The longer it takes for us to get in, the worse it’s going to be.”

“Damn,” Kaboom muttered while Counterweight nodded agreement.

“Then let’s hope the Face figures out how Witch Girl got through that barrier,” Catalyst stated grimly. “Because if it takes much longer, it may be too late.”

Chapter 5

Denise Roberts crouched down behind a parked car, breathing heavily as she carefully peeked around the back side, desperately hoping that no one was there. When she saw it was clear, she let out a sign and allowed herself to relax just a little.

“I’m safe,” she told herself, knowing that this was a lie. She wasn’t safe. No one in Baltimore was.

After resting for a minute, Denise picked up her backpack, took another look to make sure it was still clear, then ran to the cover offered by another car. She did this several more times before making it to the mouth of an alley, where she ran down it. Hopefully, this would be a better place to hide, one where she was less likely to be seen. Unless of course, others were already hiding in there, in which case, her situation might become even worse. Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Denise collapsed down behind a dumpster, ignoring the foul smell. Anyone who spent years running and hiding, got used to things like this…to disgusting smells and dangerous places. At the moment, this dirty alley was far safer than her own home had been.

Closing her eyes for a moment, Denise wondered how this had happened. She’d lived in Baltimore for five months…which was the longest period that she’d been able to stay anywhere in years. She had a small apartment, a place where she could perform her research in peace, and for the first time in years, she’d been able to really relax and get comfortable. She should have known better than too get comfortable.

In the middle of the night, she’d awoken to the sounds of screams and explosions from outside her apartment window. She quickly discovered that there was no power, and when she looked out the window, every building was dark. Every car was motionless, without a single headlight visible. It was as though the entire city had been struck with an EMP, and the only light to see by was what had been provided by the full moon, or buildings and cars that were on fire.

People were rioting in the streets, attacking each other, busting through doors and windows to attack those inside, and simply destroying everything in sight. Denise had been shocked when she saw the violence and destruction that was occurring right outside of her apartment, though she knew better than to just hunker down and hide. She’d immediately gotten dressed, then grabbed her backpack, which she always kept filled with the essentials in case she needed to leave fast.

Denise had barely managed to get dressed when several of her neighbors burst into apartment, breaking down the door with a sledge hammer and charging in like a horde of viking berserkers. They were clearly insane…or enraged beyond understanding. Instead of fighting, she’d immediately grabbed her bag and ran for the bathroom, where she locked herself inside and then slipped out through the window. The last thing she’d seen, when she’d looked back, were the flames coming out of her windows.

“My work,” she gasped, angry and horrified. “Those monsters burned my home…and my lab.”

Denise didn’t really care about most of the belongings that she’d lost when they set her apartment on fire, since she was used to traveling light and not owning much. What she did care about, was the small lab that she’d managed to put together, and where she’d spent months researching a cure for her condition. And now, all that research was gone…burned to ash.

“DAMN,” Denise spat out bitterly. And she didn’t even know why it had happened.

While running away from her apartment and trying to avoid the rioters, she’d seen a woman in a long red coat…who’d been walking down the street and laughing in delight at the chaos. It hadn’t taken much to realize that she was somehow behind it all. After all, when a group of cops had confronted her, each of them suddenly turned and joined the rioters. Once Denise saw that, she’d not only avoided the woman, but had hurried off in the opposite direction.

At first, Denise had thought the chaos would have been contained to a block or two, but now, she knew that all of Baltimore was affected. And since there were no phones or TV, for all she knew, it might have spread over the entire world. That was an especially depressing thought, and one that she tried not to dwell on.

“One thing at a time,” Denise told herself. “Survival first, then make my way out of Baltimore.”

The area where Denise was currently hiding didn’t look as though it had been burned down and looted quite like the area around her apartment. Instead, the buildings seemed much more intact, though the streets were nearly empty. She’d seen a few looters and such, but not on such a massive level. When she had seen other people, she’d avoided them entirely.

Suddenly, Denise heard a woman screaming. “HELP! HELP!”

Denise froze, caught between the logical response of running away from this clear sign of danger, and going to help. She had to remind herself that she was no hero, and there was nothing she could do to help. All she could do, was get herself into even more danger than she already was.

“I’m not a hero,” Denise told herself as she heard another scream for help. She winced at that. “But I am a doctor, or at least, I used to be…”

With that, Denise picked up her backpack, which contained a few emergency medical supplies, and hurried towards the cries for help. She tried to keep down, hoping that no one would see her, and she managed to reach the source of the yells without being seen. Then, as she saw what was going on, she crouched down behind another car, watching the scene unfold with a mixture of curiosity and horror.

The woman who was frantically screaming for help, had her back almost pressed up against the front window of a clothing store. She had a baseball bat that she was desperately swinging back and forth, trying to keep her attackers from getting too close. There were nine of them, normal looking people who had her completely surrounded. They didn’t seem angry or violent, like the rioters had been. Instead, they were oddly calm and orderly.

Then Denise looked closer, and gasped in surprise. The people surrounding that woman, all had glowing green eyes. Glowing lines radiated out from around their eyes, almost looking like patterns from a circuit board. As Denise watched, the group all came at the woman at once. She hit one of them, an elderly man, though he didn’t even flinch. The rest of them grabbed her and pushed her to the ground, pinning her there while a teenage girl put her hand on the woman’s forehead. The woman stopped screaming and went motionless.

While this was going on, the attackers didn’t say a word, yet they still worked together with an odd synchronization. Denise remained where she was for another minute, wanting to run but needing to know more. She was a scientist, and she needed to understand what was occurring. Finally, the woman who had previously been screaming, stood up and joined the others. Her eyes now glowed green, and Denise could see the glowing circuit pattern that radiated out from them along her skin.

“They infected her,” Denise mused, her mind racing over the ramifications of this. It appeared that Baltimore was undergoing a major outbreak, though their symptoms were definitely different from the people who she’d previously seen rioting. “What in the world is going on?”

The group of infected individuals abruptly split into two smaller groups, each containing five of them. And without any form of communication that Denise could see, each group turned and went in separate directions, though both groups walked towards nearby doors and vanished inside the buildings.

“We need to be quarantined before this spreads,” Denise said, not wanting to be trapped in the quarantine zone with those people.

Denise turned and ran, not only wanting to get away from those infected individuals, but also out of Baltimore before everything was locked down. However, she hadn’t gone far before she tripped and fell. She caught herself with her hands, right before her face would have smashed into the asphalt. Unfortunately, she scraped her palm in the process.

“Damn,” Denise muttered, quickly scrambling back to her feet, until she realized that her palm didn’t just sting…it itched and burned. It was a sensation that she hadn’t felt in months, but she immediately recognized it. “NO,” she gasped in horror. She stared at her palm, and the skin that was starting to turn blue. “Not again… Not now…”

Denise scrambled for one of the pockets on the side of her backpack, where she pulled out an already filled syringe. It had been months since she’d had an episode, but she still made sure to keep her medication close at hand. If she got the genetic stabilizer into her system quickly enough, she might be able to halt the episode before it went too far. She jabbed herself with the needle, without hesitation, desperately hoping that this worked.

Joselyn stood back, looking over the gathered heroes, and especially at the latest arrivals. Just a few minutes after Witch Girl discovered that she could somehow walk right through the barrier, the Guard finally arrived, followed shortly by the solo heroes Marvel and Praxis. However, the additions that interested Joselyn the most, were the ones who’d only just arrived. These ones were the remaining members of Knight Force. Her family.

“About time you got here,” Joselyn teased her sister Evie, who was wearing a green and black costume, in a style very similar to the one she herself was wearing. And since Evie was in costume, she was also using her codename of Figment.

“Oh yeah,” Evie responded with a grin. “I went back to bed and got a few more hours of sleep.”

Joselyn just snorted. “Bite me…”  Witch Girl had been standing back a short distance and came up, giving Evie a curious look. “This,” Joselyn announced, gesturing to Evie, “is my big little sister Figment.”

“Big little sister?” Witch Girl asked in confusion.

“Lady here was born a few years before me,” Evie explained with a smug look. “But I’m older than she is.”

Witch Girl blinked at that, then demanded, “How the hell does that work?”

“It’s complicated,” Joselyn and her sister said at the same time, right before they both burst into giggles.

Joselyn looked over, noticing the rest of Knight Force coming towards them. Her uncle Leon…AKA Neon, was the closest, and she absently noted that Mannequin from the Guard was giving him a wary look. That was obviously because of his days in the Elite, where he’d actually been teammates with Force, and Mannequin had been one of their enemies…and the catalyst for the team to disband.

“How’s my favorite niece?” Uncle Leon exclaimed, giving Joselyn a hug, much to her embarrassment.

“I thought I was your favorite niece,” Evie exclaimed, punching him in the arm.

Joselyn grinned. “And I bet he tells Katie that she is…”

“I thought I was,” her cousin Angie added as she came up with her brother Ryan. Of course, since they were both in costume, they were Agony and Shuriken at the moment.

And then, right beside her cousins, came her aunt Gina...AKA Target. In fact, Aunt Gina, even wore a white costume with a big red bullseye on both her chest and back. She gave Joselyn a quick hug, then asked, “Where’s your father?”

Joselyn gestured towards the command tent. “He’s in there, trying to figure out what those assholes are planning…”

Her uncle Leon nodded and stared at the barrier. She couldn’t see his expression since his mask covered his entire face, but she could hear the frustration in his voice as he muttered, “Damn it, Scott. Every time I think you can’t get any crazier, you go and prove me wrong.”

“It’s not your fault that Force is an idiot,” Aunt Gina told him, right before the two of them started for the command tent.

Joselyn watched them leave, then paused to look around. Exile had vanished around the time Witch Girl had walked through the barrier, though Joselyn’s sixth sense told her that the golden woman was still watching them…just from a greater distance. Somehow, Joselyn didn’t think that Exile was going to make another appearance, but that wasn’t her sixth sense talking, just her common sense. That woman clearly didn’t want to get involved.

“Too bad,” Joselyn mused. If nothing else, she would have liked to talk to her. Then, she considered all the people who were present and willing to help, and shook her head in disgust. “We have enough power here to easily conquer a small country, and we can’t even walk into Baltimore.”

Suddenly, Witch Girl exclaimed, “I think my dad has something…”

Joselyn turned her attention to the command tent, where the Face had come out with a sense of purpose. He walked towards the barrier, pausing in front of it before holding out his hand. There was a glow as he did something with magic, though Joselyn couldn’t tell what.

“Alleycat,” the Face called out. “Can you please come here…”

A woman with dark hair, naturally tan skin, and a gray and crimson costume walked towards the Face, casually asking, “What do you need?”

The Face looked at his teammate and asked, “Please attempt to pass through the barrier.”

“Are you out of your damn mind?” Alleycat asked, gesturing to Mega. “If she couldn’t break through that damn thing, what makes you think that I can?

“Me,” Witch Girl announced, sounding a little offended that her teammate was questioning her father’s judgement. “I got through.”

“Good point,” Alleycat reluctantly admitted. After Witch Girl had done that earlier, several other heroes had attempted to simply walk through the barrier as well, but none of them had succeeded. Obviously, Alleycat was remembering that, as she didn’t look the least bit confident in her own success.

Alleycat stepped up to the barrier, then reached out to touch it. Her arm passed through the barrier, and after making sure that she could pull it back, she stepped all the way through and vanished. Since the barrier was transparent, she could be seen a little from the other side, and Joselyn watched as the hero turned and came right back through.

“What the hell?” Alleycat demanded.

“How come we can get through?” Witch Girl asked Alleycat. “The only thing we in common is…” Then she paused with her eyes going wide in surprise.

“This confirms it,” the Face stated. Then in a louder voice, he announced, “I know the barrier’s weakness…”

All the heroes immediately pushed forward so they could hear. After spending hours, standing helplessly outside the barrier, each and every one of them was eager to make some progress, and this was the first bit that any of them had really seen.

“How do we get through?” Joselyn’s father asked, the eagerness clear in his voice.

“You cannot,” the Face admitted. “And neither can I.”

“Explain,” Icarus demanded, looking irritated and impatient.

The Face nodded at that, with his expression hidden behind his golden mask. “This barrier is high level magic,” he explained. “High level and very powerful.”

“I believe you’ve already mentioned that,” Joselyn’s father pointed out impatiently.

“Indeed, I have,” the Face agreed. “Every high level spell has an exception…what you might consider a loophole or an Achilles heel. For many, these might be seen as a flaw in the spell, but an experienced sorcerer like Baron Nevermore, would know how to turn this to their advantage. Instead of a weakness, this becomes an escape path so that he himself does not become trapped within.”

“And you’ve identified his back door into the system?” asked Interface, a member of the Guard.

Joselyn looked at Interface, who was a Hispanic man with a red and gray costume, with a few grey metallic pieces. She’d never met him before, but a short time ago, she’d learned that he had experience dealing with Circuit Monger, or at least, with the man who’d become Trojan, and eventually, Circuit Monger. From what she’d picked up, they even acquired their powers from the same source.

“Yes, I have,” the Face answered, though he didn’t sound very pleased by this. “The Slackers have informed us that Baron Nevermore initially returned to life by possessing the body of a teenage girl. It seems that he may still be using a female body, because when he crafted this barrier, he used that as the key to pass through it.”

“Dad,” Witch Girl blurted out with a worried look on her face.

Joselyn stared at Witch Girl in a sudden realization that was only confirmed by her sixth sense. “She’s like me…”

“I am sorry,” the Face told his daughter, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I would prefer to protect your privacy, but this is too important…”

Witch Girl slumped over, suddenly looking extremely self-conscious. “I understand…”

The Face slowly looked around the gathered heroes before announcing, “Only those who have changed genders can freely pass through the barrier…” There were some gasps of surprise, and a lot of attention was instantly focused on Witch Girl and Alleycat.

“Circuit Monger used to have a male body,” Icarus pointed out thoughtfully. “And if we assume that the Sinner and the Scepter aren’t replacements, but that they were brought back in new bodies the way Nevermore was…”

“Then three more of our foes will be free to pass through the barrier as well,” Radiant added.

“Alleycat and Witch Girl can pass through the barrier,” the Face said, definitely not sounding happy about it. “And if Hardshell were present, she would be able to go as well. Unfortunately, they do not have the power to defeat all of the enemies within.”

Joselyn stared at Witch Girl and Alleycat, feeling stunned at the revelation that they were both like her. She stepped towards the barrier, whispering, “This is why I had to come…” And with that, she stuck her arm into the barrier, up to her elbow. “What do you know,” she loudly announced, trying not to show how nervous and self-conscious she felt. “I used to be a guy before my powers developed…”

“You too?” Witch Girl blurted out in surprise, and a bit of relief. Joselyn grinned back at her.

“Way to go, sis,” Evie said, coming forward and giving Joselyn a hug. “I know that couldn’t have been easy…”

“It wasn’t,” Joselyn admitted, looking towards the other girls who’d changed genders. “But at least I’m not alone.”

Several seconds later, Mannequin stepped forward and announced, “I used to be a man, before some mad scientist stuffed me in this body…”

She was followed by Lady Hexx, who looked around defiantly and admitted, “I used to be a guy too, until Force knocked me into some toxic waste…”

There were a few gasps at that, and someone exclaimed, “No wonder you went after Force…”

“I can probably pass through the barrier,” Praxis said as she stepped forward.

“I should be able to,” Glamour Girl added as she stepped forward as well. She stared at the barrier with a fierce look of determination. “I couldn’t blast it, but if what you say is right, I should be able to just walk through…”

Chrome stared at Glamour Girl in stunned disbelief. “You were a guy?”

Glamour Girl shrugged, suddenly looking uncomfortable. “I still am,” she answered awkwardly. “Most of the time.”

“Damn,” a little girl zombie stepped forward, obviously not happy. Deadbeat scowled in disgust, muttering, “I guess that means I have to go too…”

“Ditto,” Mystik added, stepping forward and clenching her staff.

Invincible Woman and Ghost Boy shared an odd look before they stepped forward. Ghost Boy, the apparent sidekick, said, “I believe we qualify for entry as well.”

Next, Ms. Miracle and Counterweight stepped forward, obviously volunteering though neither said a word. A number of the heroes stared at Ms. Miracle in surprise, shocked that such a famous hero was one of those who would be able to get through the barrier.

“The original Ms. Miracle was my mom,” she announced, obviously uncomfortable with the attention. “I inherited her form along with her powers.”

“So,” Mega said, giving Ms. Miracle a sympathetic look. “Baron Nevermore didn’t kill you. He killed your mother…”

Several of the Miracle Men stepped close, with Rumor giving her a hug. Joselyn didn’t need her powers to tell her that their relationship was a bit more than just being friends and teammates.

“What the hell,” Kaboom commented as she stepped forward. “Those asshats need to go down. I’m in too.”

“And so am I,” Legacy stated with a dark expression that made Joselyn shudder. “Loki and I have unfinished business.”

“It seems that there is a lot of unfinished business to go around today,” Joselyn’s father said, not looking very happy. “We can’t let that interfere with the job. We have to put our personal issues on hold and remain professional.” He was staring straight at Legacy as he said this.

“Unbelievable,” Icarus exclaimed, staring in surprise at all of the heroes who’d stepped forward. Two of them were from his own team, Faction Zero, but he was clearly stunned by how many of them there were. “We have fifteen…gender switched people…”

“And only one of them is currently male,” the Face pointed, briefly looking at Ghost Boy. “The chances of seem seem…unlikely.”

“Unlikely or not,” Agent Briggs pointed out with a strange expression, “it seems that we have enough people who are able to pass through this barrier, that we can actually send in multiple teams.”

Marvel was standing a short distance behind Joselyn, and commented, “At one time, my fiancé would have been able to go through…but I really don’t think he’d be willing to go through that again…even to save Baltimore. Then again, I think he misses the powers…”

Agent Briggs gave her a curious look, and mused, “I know a sniper who would be perfect for this mission…”

Mystik looked around at all the other volunteers, then turned her attention to the Face. “I can probably change three more people,” she said, holding her staff up a little. “But it would wipe me out for the fight. Still, a three for one trade would probably be worth it…”

“Perhaps,” the Face agreed. “But those three would then be fighting in unfamiliar bodies, and there wouldn’t be time for them to adjust…”

“It takes awhile to get used to it,” Kaboom agreed. “My powers changed when I did, so there’s also that…”

Joselyn looked around, staring at each of the other people who’d stepped forward, stunned by just how many of them there were. When she’d first changed, she’d thought she was a freak, that no one would understand what it was like to go through an overnight sex change. But as she’d learned, she wasn’t nearly as alone as she’d thought.

While she was standing there, her dad put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and saw him watching her with a worried expression. Of course, that was to be expected. She’d just volunteered to go in and fight some of the world’s most dangerous villains, and the situation was serious enough that he couldn’t say no, though he obviously wanted to.

“Now that we know who can get through the barrier,” he announced, his voice tense, though she knew that most of these people didn’t know him well enough to pick it out. “We need to decide on teams.”

Chapter 6

“This blows,” Chrome exclaimed. He looked at Glamour Girl and Deadbeat with the jealously clear in his eyes. “It’s not fair that you two get to go fight the bad guys, while the rest of us are stuck back here, sitting on our asses and twiddling our thumbs…”

“I don’t like it either,” Nike stated grimly. “But we will get our opportunity…”

Zero Kay quickly added, “Once the barrier is down, the rest of us can go in. Until then, we have to be patient…”

“You’re welcome to go in my place,” Deadbeat said, not looking any happier than anyone else was. She took a swig of her beer and grumbled, “Why couldn’t this have happened when I had a guy’s body?”

Julie just stood back, remaining silent as the rest of her team grumbled and complained about how things had been set up. Then she saw the White Knight and the Face move up to the front of the group again, obviously about to say something. She cleared her throat to get her team’s attention, and when that didn’t work, she snapped, “Guys…”

“There are five pillars that are keeping the barrier in place,” the Face announced. “We have to destroy all five in order to remove the barrier, because even a single pillar is capable of maintaining it…at least for a time. Because of that, we have assigned five teams, and each will be responsible for dealing with one of those pillars.”

The White Knight slowly looked around, focusing his attention on those who were about to go through the barrier in order to perform the task. “Needless to say, each of these pillars is guarded by one of the five villains…”

“What about Baron Nevermore?” Shiver asked. “Isn’t he the primary threat?”

“Yes, he is,” the Face responded. “Unfortunately, we don’t currently know where he is. At the moment, our best strategy is to remove the barrier so that the rest us can go in and deal with Baron Nevermore and any of the other remaining threats.”

“I still think I should be on the Force team,” Lady Knight loudly complained to her father. “I mean, I beat him once before, and I can do it again…”

The White Knight put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a worried look. “But he knows you can defeat him that way, and he won’t let you get close enough to try it again. And even worse, he now has a personal grudge against you for the way you humiliated you. If he saw you, he’d go after you with everything he had…”

“And going after Loki is any safer?” she pointed out wryly.

The White Knight winced at that, looking even more worried. “I don’t like you going after him either. If it was up to me, I’d send you home where it was safe, but unfortunately, we need you too much. Remember, don’t take any risks. As soon as Loki is within range, use your mind control and take him out of action. He doesn’t know about you, so that gives you the element of surprise. Use it.”

“Will do,” Lady Knight said, giving her dad a hug. A moment later, Figment came up and gave her a hug as well while the rest of Knight Force gave her advice and reassurances.

Julie looked to her own teammates, Glamour Girl and Deadbeat, who would also be passing through the barrier. She still had a hard time believing that Glamour Girl was really a guy. Then again, that would certainly explain a few things about her and the odd gaps in her knowledge that occasionally came up.

“I’ve been thinking,” Julie announced, stepping forward. She looked to the Face and the White Knight and said, “If I’m channeling a male spirit, I just might be able to get through…”

“You’re more than welcome to come,” Glamour Girl said with a smile. “The more the merrier…”

“Fuck yeah,” Deadbeat agreed. “The Slackers took down Nevermore, so our team can take down this Scepter chick, no problem.”

“Actually,” another voice announced. “I’ll be joining the Scepter team…”

Julie was surprised to see Agent Briggs coming towards them, but she was no longer wearing her nice suit. Instead, she was wearing a black and green costume that looked more like sleek and lightweight armor than straight out spandex. Then, as if to show off, or perhaps demonstrate that the costume wasn’t just for show, she held out her hand, which began to glow green for several seconds.

“That’s a Sanction uniform,” Icarus commented, giving Agent Briggs a curious look.

Julie stared at Briggs in even greater surprise. She’d heard of Sanction, a team of developed that worked for the Developed Affairs Department. From what she’d heard, Sanction was part hero group and part SWAT team, created to not only go after villains, but also rogue heroes.

“It is,” Briggs responded evenly.

Suddenly, Shiver blurted out, “You’re Toxic…”

Briggs scowled at that, fixed him with a steady look and stated, “The real Toxic died a slow and excruciating death several months ago. However, I did use her identity to infiltrate the Black Guild. In fact, that’s why I’m going after Scepter. I have some familiarity with Circuit Monger from my time with the Black Guild, but I need to see the Scepter with my own eyes. I need to see if this is a new Scepter, or if the old one has come back the same way Baron Nevermore has.”

Julie noticed that Mystik was the only one who wasn’t surprised by Briggs’ revelation. “You knew who she was,” Julie exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Mystik responded with a shrug.

“We’ve worked together before,” Briggs explained with a wry smile. She gave Mystik a knowing look, then quickly looked around. “For the purpose of this mission, you can call me…Poison. Yes, I think that will be an appropriate name.”

“Better than Agent Orange,” Mystik joked, looking just a little uneasy.

The Face looked at her and said, “You do remember that there are limitations on who can pass through the barrier.”

“I qualify,” Briggs…Poison stated with a scowl, making it perfectly clear that she was going, and that there was no point arguing with her.

Kaboom looked at Julie and said, “If you can get through the barrier, you’re welcome to join our team.”

“Sure,” Lady Knight agreed with a weak smile. “We’d be happy to have your help.”

The White Knight nodded at that. “That sounds good then.”

Julie gave a nervous smile, then glanced back to the rest of the Slackers, who would remain behind. “First, I’d better find out if I really can or not.”

With that, Julie gave a mental call for help, and almost immediately felt several spirits respond. One of them was not only male, but felt familiar. She’d channeled him before, so reached out to that one and pulled him into her body while she slipped back to make room.

As the spirit took control of Julie’s body, her posture changed while her uniform shimmered and transformed. A second later, her body was dressed in a red and white costume that bore little resemblance to the one she had previously been wearing. Along with the new costume, a sword suddenly appeared in her hand, one with a crimson blade.

“I am Red Blade,” the spirit announced from Julie’s mouth. And though he was using her voice, the tone was noticeably different. “I will assist however I am able.”

“Red Blade,” the Face exclaimed in obvious recognition. “It’s been a long time.”

“That it has,” Red Blade agreed with a smile. “But I’m afraid we don’t have time for reunions.”

Red Blade gave a brief salute with her sword, then turned and walked straight toward the barrier…and then through it. A moment later, everyone else who could, followed right behind her.

Gwen reached up and held onto her Witch Girl hat so that the wind didn’t blow it off. She knew that the witch hat was a bit silly, and it came off far too easily in a fight, but it was all part of her image. An image that she’d inherited from her mother.

Not for the first time, Gwen wished that she could teleport the way her dad could, because that would have made it much easier to get to their assigned obelisk. However, she’d inherited her magic from her mom, not from him, so her powers and abilities were quite different than his.

Since Gwen couldn’t simply teleport her assigned team to the obelisk, she’d been forced to find a different means of travel. Fortunately, she had a spell that she’d been working on for the last couple months, and it was nearly perfect for what she needed. At the moment, she was standing atop a small cloud, one which she was riding as if it was some kind of magic carpet. It was odd looking, and more than a little unnerving to ride since there were no walls or seatbelts, but it took her to where she needed to go, and that was what mattered.

Gwen glanced over at her two companions, Alleycat and Mannequin, who rode on the cloud beside her. Alleycat, or Anne, as she was called outside of costume, was one of her teammates in Faction Zero, and one of her friends. Anne had been there after she’d changed, helping her to learn about being a girl, and convincing her that she wasn’t alone. That she wasn’t the only person to ever go through something like that. And though she’d met Mannequin a couple times since joining Faction Zero, she’d had no idea that the blonde woman had once been a guy as well.

“I can’t believe it,” Gwen finally said, looking at Alleycat but glancing to Mannequin. “I mean, how many of us there are… I thought we were the only ones…”

“Yeah,” Alleycat agreed with a scowl. “When I first changed, I thought I was the only one. Now, it must be some kind of weird fad or something, because it looks like everyone is doing it…”

Mannequin chuckled. “I know exactly what you mean. This whole thing is pretty damn weird.” She gave Gwen and Alleycat each a curious look, then shrugged. “I used to drive a rig, until I had a pretty bad accident. Fortunately…or unfortunately…depending on your point of view, it was pretty close to where a couple mad scientists were working. The next thing I know, I wake up with my brains stuffed inside this fembot…”

“Fembot?” Gwen asked in surprise, looking Mannequin over.

“Yeah,” Mannequin responded with a shrug. “I’m a synthoid, or at least my body is. Hell, before Doctor Power fixed me up with more realistic looking skin, I actually did look like a Mannequin…”

“Ouch,” Gwen responded. She’d heard that Mannequin originally had some kind of plastic looking skin, and that she had looked like a Mannequin, but she’d never really seen her like that. It was hard to imagine, and a little creepy to think about.

“What’s your story?” Mannequin asked.

Gwen gave a pained smile as she answered, “My mom was Ms. Witch and when she died, I inherited her powers. This…” She gestured down at herself, “is a side effect.”

“I had a bum ticker,” Alleycat said a moment later. “When I got a transplant, there was some kind of fuck up, and I somehow ended up getting a heart that used belong to Wildcat. Apparently, her powers were in every cell of her body, because it infected me with her DNA and turned me into her clone.”

Gwen nodded at that, having heard Alleycat’s story before. “I wonder how everyone else changed…”

“You can ask them when we’re done,” Alleycat said. “Right now, we’ve got a job to do…”

Gwen didn’t need to see the direction that Alleycat was pointing, to know that they had arrived. A short distance ahead, she could make out an obelisk, right in the middle of an intersection. As they got closer, she could tell that it was made of black stone and that it was about forty feet tall. All in all, the sight of it sent chills down her spine. She could feel the dark magic radiating out of the thing, and that feeling reminded her far too much of her sister Carolynn.

“People,” Mannequin stated, pointing down at the street.

Gwen immediately saw what she meant. The street around the obelisk was filled with people, dozens of them, perhaps as many as a hundred. Gwen wasn’t about to count them to find out. At the moment, they all seemed to be sitting there or sleeping, and the only way she could tell they were alive at all was that a few occasionally moved.

“Are they all stoned?” Alleycat asked in surprise.

Gwen looked around the neighboring buildings and cars, many of which were smashed or burned. From what she could see, it looked like there had been some kind of riot, but now, all those people were sleeping it off. It confused her at first, until she remembered what she’d been warned of.

“This Sinner is supposed to be guarding this thing,” Gwen said, feeling a little self-conscious because she didn’t want to be wrong and look stupid. However, she was pretty sure that she was right. “I think they’re all being affected with sloth.”

“That sounds about right,” Mannequin agreed.

Alleycat nodded. “Either that, or they had a big orgy and are all sleeping it off…” However, since most of the people were clothed, Gwen doubted that, though the idea made her blush.

“I’m taking us down,” Gwen announced, willing the cloud to land.

As soon as it touched the ground, it faded away, leaving the three of them in the middle of the street. She let out a sigh of relief, realizing that she’d used up far more magic with that trick than she’d expected. Now, she would have to be a lot more careful with what she had left.

“All we have to do is destroy that thing,” Gwen said, pointing to the obelisk.

“That shouldn’t be too hard, with all these people napping like this,” Alleycat pointed out with a smirk.

Suddenly, a woman’s voice called out, “Did you really think it was going to be that easy?”

A woman stepped into view, and Gwen could immediately see that she was gorgeous, with a very nice body. She was wearing a tight black leather catsuit, which showed off every curve. However, the long crimson coat that she wore on top of it, obscured the view and spoiled the effect.

“The Sinner,” Alleycat stated grimly.

“You’ve heard of me?” the Sinner responded with a look of delight. “Good. I do so love to revel in a bit of pride and vanity…”

“This is pretty convenient,” Alleycat said, smirking as she took several steps towards the Sinner. “I figured we’d have to go looking for you…”

“Time to get up, you lazy losers,” the Sinner called out with a sneer. “I let you rest and recharge long enough…”

Before she’d even finished speaking, all the people who were sprawled out along the street and sidewalks began to get up. “Please,” one woman cried out with a desperate, almost haunted look in her eyes. “Let me go…” Suddenly, the woman’s expression changed and there was an almost hungry look on her face as well.

“These…heroes,” the Sinner announced, spitting out the word ‘heroes’ almost as if it was a profanity, “have developed powers. It is so unfair that they have powers and you don’t…”

“I want powers,” exclaimed the woman who’d just been begging a couple seconds earlier. “Give them to me…”

The woman suddenly charged straight at Mannequin, while the rest of the newly active crowd exploded into movement. Gwen let out a gasp of surprise as a wave of people began rushing towards them, their expressions all radiating greed, envy, or mindless rage.

“Look out,” Alleycat yelled, an instant before she was surrounded by people who were trying to desperately grab at her. She flailed out, punching and kicking the people back, though Gwen noticed that she wasn’t using her claws. After all, these people weren’t the enemy. They were the Sinner’s victims.

“Leepsay,” Gwen called out, holding out her hands and pushing out the magic which caused half a dozen people to collapse to the ground, sound asleep. However, other people charged right over them, practically trampling them. She desperately backed away, trying again, “LEEPSAY.” This time, she hit people at the edges of the crowd, who were less likely to get run over once they were no longer moving.

Mannequin was strong and tough, and was casually tossing people away from herself, though she appeared to be holding back. “Damn,” she exclaimed, looking frustrated.

The Sinner had vanished from sight, disappearing into the crowd, though her laughter could still be heard. “You heroes disgust me,” her voice called out. “So self-righteous and hypocritical…”

“Come on out here so I can kick your ass,” Alleycat demanded, pausing only a moment before returning to her desperate fight with the crowd.

“I don’t think that would work out well for me,” the Sinner responded. “I think I’ll just stay back and let these innocent bystanders tear you apart. That should be entertaining…”

“Luegay,” Gwen exclaimed, and suddenly a dozen of her desperate attackers became frozen in place, with their feet not coming free of the pavement. “Allway,” she added a moment later, creating a glowing wall of energy in front of her, which kept anyone from coming at her head on.

“Howe the hell are we supposed to beat that superfreak bitch if we can’t even see her?” Alleycat demanded in frustration. “And when we’ve got to deal with these assholes…”

“It’s like being stuck in a zombie movie,” Mannequin agreed, throwing a man into the middle of a group and knocking them all over.

Shouts of “Give me,” and “Mine,” kept coming from the crowd, which Gwen supposed was better than having them chant, “Brains.”

Gwen looked around frantically, trying to see the Sinner, as well as figure out how to deal with this crowed. So far, about the only thing she was doing was picking them off a couple at a time, and using up all her magic. If she ran out, she was helpless. Then, as she looked around, she saw the black obelisk and gasped in realization.

“We don’t have to beat the Sinner,” Gwen called out to her. “We only need to take down the obelisk…”

“Good thinking,” Alleycat agreed.

Gwen took a deep breath, gathered her magic, and yelled, “Attershay,” unleashing her spell at the obelisk. The stone suddenly began to crack and shatter, but not enough to destroy it. She was too far away and couldn’t put enough power into the spell. “I guess I’ll have to try it again…”

Before Gwen could cast the spell for a second time, the Sinner stepped out of the crowd. She actually stopped to give a sexy pose, commenting, “I’m afraid, I can’t let you do that, little girl…”

“That’s Witch Girl,” Gwen corrected the villain, right before shouting, “Irefay,” and unleashing one of her favorite spells, a fireball which flew right at the Sinner. Unfortunately, the Sinner jumped to the side and managed to avoid being hit. And even worse, there was a scream of pain from the man who’d been standing behind her, and who was now engulfed in flames. Gwen gasped in horror. “Oh my God…”

The Sinner just laughed. “This party was definitely worth coming back to the dead for.” Then she stepped back into the crowd, using the civilians as a shield. “Now, to turn this into a real party... An orgy.”

Gwen had barely absorbed what the Sinner said, when she suddenly felt it…an unbearable horniness. Her groin…her breasts…her entire body ached to be touched. She felt a burning, desperate, and primal need for sex.

Lady Knight had warned her that the old Sinner could do this and that the new one might be able to as well, but Gwen hadn’t been concerned. After all, she had a spell that could protect her from mental influence, though she was now so distracted by her need for sex, that there was no way she could focus on using it.

Without any conscious thought, Gwen grabbed the nearest person, a middle-aged woman who was old enough to be her mother, and began to kiss her and tear off her clothes. At the moment, Gwen didn’t care who she had sex with, as long as she had sex. The woman responded with an equal level of frantic desperation.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Mannequin yelled, suddenly yanking Gwen away from the other woman. She shoved Gwen back, though Gwen immediately ran for the next person she saw, Alleycat. “Stop that you two… Focus.”

Gwen completely ignored Mannequin, at least until the blonde woman grabbed her again, then she became the next target for Gwen’s desires. As Gwen was pushed back and held at a distance, a part of her realized that Mannequin was somehow immune…much to her great disappointment. That was probably due to Mannequin being some kind of android, but she didn’t care.

The Sinner’s cruel laugher filled the air. “I do so love to see such fine upstanding heroes like yourselves, cutting loose and enjoying yourselves…”

“Let them go, you sick bitch,” Mannequin exclaimed, holding her hand out and firing blast of energy from her palm. The blast nearly hit the Sinner, who was now exposed since those people she had been hiding behind, where now sprawled out on the ground, frantically kissing, groping, and removing their clothes so that they could do more. Still, the villainess moved faster than Mannequin had expected, and soon found cover again.

“So, you’re the ultimate prude,” the Sinner taunted Mannequin. “If lust doesn’t work for you, perhaps something else. What is your defining sin? Pride? Anger?”

Mannequin didn’t respond to her taunting, at least not verbally. Instead, she held both of her arms out, and suddenly, her forearms split open and small weapon systems emerged. A second later, six tiny missiles, each the size of a large marble, were fired out. The Sinner dove for cover, though it quickly became obvious that the weapons hadn’t been aimed at her. All six missiles hit the side of the obelisk, exploding and creating large holes in the stone.

“As much as you need to be taken down,” Mannequin announced, “you aren’t our first priority.”

“No,” the Sinner exclaimed, staring at the shattered and crumbling obelisk with a mixture of rage and fear. “Nevermore will be furious…”

“Good,” Mannequin responded, closing her forearms back up again, then firing multiple blasts of energy at the obelisk from her hands. The stone crashed to the ground, becoming nothing more than a pile of rubble.

Since the Obelisk had been destroyed, Mannequin turned her attention back to their secondary priority, the Sinner. However, the Sinner ran back into the crowd, which suddenly lost interest in sex, and instead launched into a violent frenzy. As what had been the beginnings of an orgy transformed into a riot, Mannequin turned, grabbed Gwen and Alleycat, flung each of them over a shoulder, and then ran the other direction.

Once Mannequin was far enough away, and Gwen and Alleycat had calmed down, she carefully set them on the ground and asked, “How are you feeling?”

“Oh my God,” Gwen exclaimed, turning bright red and being unable to look at Alleycat, whom she’d been kissing and trying to undress a short time earlier.

“Pissed off,” Alleycat responded with a scowl, glaring back in the direction they’d come.

Gwen gulped, then asked, “What now?” She looked at Mannequin. “You blew up that pillar, so our mission is done…”

“Maybe,” Alleycat said. “But I don’t like the idea of letting that bitch run loose…” She looked at Gwen and Mannequin. “You saw what she did to those people…”

“Me either,” Mannequin admitted. “We were supposed to blow the obelisk and go back, but I’m fine with staying to deal with the Sinner if you two are.”

“I’m in,” Alleycat immediately stated, looking to Gwen.

Gwen winced, thinking about how easily the Sinner had taken control of her…and made her feel those things. “I…I have a spell that might protect us from her,” she admitted, giving a self-conscious smile. “I was a little too distracted to use it before, but if I use it before she hits us with anything else…”

“And if it doesn’t work,” Mannequin added with a grim smile, “I seem to be immune, so should be able to deal with her.”

Alleycat nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe, you should deal with the Sinner while we deal with anyone she has under control.”

Gwen nodded her agreement while Mannequin said, “Sounds good to me.”

Then Gwen looked back in the direction they’d come, seeing the violent rioting that was occurring just down the street. She had no doubt that the Sinner was using the chaos as a distraction while she escaped, since without the obelisk to guard, she no longer had any reason to remain.

“She…reminds me a bit of Carolynn,” Gwen admitted with a slightly shaky voice.

Alleycat put a gentle hand on Gwen’s shoulder and nodded her understanding. “I can see that.”

Mannequin just gave her a curious look, obviously not knowing about her sister. Carolynn had been Gwen’s older sister, but she’d embraced a dark and twisted form of magic, had murdered their mother, and had then become a villain called Ms. Bitch. As it was, Gwen was suddenly thankful that Baron Nevermore hadn’t recruited Carolynn the way he had these other villains.

Then with a deep scowl, Gwen wiped off her uniform, adjusted her witch hat, which by some miracle, had not been lost the earlier chaos, and announced, “Let’s go find that bitch and stop her.”

 

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