Mordru and the White Witch hurled spells at one another offensively in combat. Likewise, each worked to block the other’s spells defensively. The duel seemed to go on and on as lightning, ethereal arrows, bright colors and thunderous noise filled the sky.
“She’s not losing,” said Sensor. The others began to understand. By all rights, Mordru was expected to destroy Maziah easily. But yet she was standing her ground. She was his equal. That knowledge must be eating away at him inside.
“The singing is getting louder,” said the Emerald Empress in surprise. “It’s doing something.”
“The song is drawing away my father’s power,” said Dreamer. “The spell removes fear and it removes order. Those are the things my father thrives on. The song is weakening him.”
“We should take part, then,” said Umbra.
“No,” said Tela. “I don’t understand all of what’s happening but we’re here for a reason. If Mordru is weakening, then we need to make Maziah stronger. And we can do that.”
Sensor nodded. “Yes,” she said, “Irma is right.” Sensor extended her hand to Irma’s and held it. Tela then turned to right and extended hers to Dreamer. Dreamer smiled, understanding and did the same, holding Umbra’s hand. Umbra extended hers to the Emerald Empress. Sara looked at it and hesitated but took it. And then she turned, realizing whose hand she must hold. Jacque only looked at her with her own hand open to grasp. Sara nodded and took it.
Tela connected them all telepathically and then connected directly to Maziah.
<<Maziah, here us. You are so close. You can do this. You must do this. Let us lend you our willpower so you can crush the Dark Lord.>>
The White Witch felt the strength and willpower of her sisters flooding into her being. She dueled Mordru spell to spell, all while watching him grow more and more frustrated. Suddenly, she simply stopped fighting. She reached forward and grabbed him by the hands.
He was shocked by the tenacity of the move, and meant to fall backwards. In his mind he realized something deadly: he was indeed, scared. “NO!” he yelled, shaking it off and then squeezing his hands around Maziah’s to try to inflict pain of some kind.
The two were locked, hand to hand, casting unspoken spells at one another. It had become a battle of wills. Mordru’s visage began to shrink again to its normal form, as both the White Witch and he became normal sized.
“Despicable child…” he muttered, “…I could have killed you in the womb…”
Maziah was silent, concentrating and drawing on her friend’s willpower. She concentrated with all of her might. A drop of blood ran through her nose. She cried out from the pain but refocused. “When I was a girl…they called me the White Witch…” she said.
The telepathic circle now walked over to them and formed in a circle around them, so both Maziah and Mordru were in the middle. They concentrated equally as hard, lending her the willpower to succeed and sharing all of her pain.
Outside the singing was so loud that it was shaking the rafters. The building itself began to collapse and they knew it was a sign of Mordru growing weaker.
“I will not…be…undone…by some girl…” said Mordru threw his gritted teeth.
Maziah stared him right back in the eyes with her own teeth gritted. “I am the White Witch,” she said clearly. “Daughter of Mordru the Merciless. Protector of the Earth. And you will be undone!”
A flash of light suddenly flooded the room, blasting off Maziah’s hands as the physical bond between the two was broken.
Instantly, all of them fell backwards to the floor, including Mordru and Maziah. As the girls regained their senses, they realized the basilica was falling down around them.
Dreamer stood up, looking around. “Maziah!” she called out. “Are you okay?!”
“I am,” said the White Witch struggling to her feet. “I…I believe he is…defeated?” as she said the words, she almost could not believe it herself. She was now entirely white, including her hair. Only a trickle of red blood ran down her nose giving her color.
“…not…yet…child…” said a cruel, rough voice as they turned to see Mordru struggling to rise to his feet. For the first time, they could see him as he truly was. His skin was shriveled up as a prune; he was hairless except for some white fuzz along the top of his head. He was gaunt and old, almost a skeleton.
The Dark Lord had been beaten. Maziah dueled her father—and had won!
“Stand down, father!” commanded Maziah.
“…foolish witch…so long as I live, I can kill you all…” he said, rising to his feet. In his heart he knew he was beaten. But he had decided long ago that if he would die, he would take everything he could with him.
No, Mordru. You will not kill anything ever again.
The six girls heard the voice and were filled in confusion. It came from no single source but was everywhere around them. Five of them did not know it at first, but Maziah knew who it was.
Tears ran down her face. “Blok?” she said. “I knew I would see you again!” she almost yelled, smiling.
“I have returned one last time, Maziah. For the Earth has suffered long and hard under Mordru. It now comes to judge him once and for all, and to carry out the sentence”
Mordru was looking around as well. “Show yourself brotherless one!” he tried to yell, his voice barely above a whisper.
”I AM HERE” said the voice, and suddenly the Earth rumbled and the girls were gain knocked off their feet. A giant Earthquake ripped through Yemen, centered on Xerox the Secret City. A giant fissure opened up across the floor below them, and all at once, the city itself began falling into it.
“…no...not like this…” said Mordru in one last act of defiance but he was too weak to resist, and as another rumble occurred, the ground shook and Mordru too fell into the fissure.
The six girls looked up, realizing they had to get out of the danger zone. The Earth in front of them suddenly lifted high into the sky, and they could see it come barreling forward, going into the fissure, as if burying Mordru in a vast, endless tomb within the core of the Earth itself.
As the dirt fell forward, a figure formed within the cascade of falling dirt and sand, and it was the image of Blok.
You have done well child, as I always knew you would. I am proud of you.
The White Witch floated forward to where Blok was, holding out her hand to grasp him but it was only dirt and sand running back into the Earth. He would be there only another moment. “I will miss you, Blok,” she said, a tear running down her face.
“I will always be with you. Feel no sadness in your heart, Maziah. You and your friends have accomplished a great thing. The world has cured itself of a blight long left untreated. Now it will heal. Now it will grow. At the forefront will be you and your allies.
“Thank you,” she said. She could see the last droplets of dirt and sand running down into where the fissure was. The fissure was now gone, filled up to where the level ground now stood.
No, Maziah. Thank you.
And he was gone forever, as was the Dark Lord.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
Maziah turned to the others to see that the city of Xerox was now gone—fallen all around them with not even ruins to show it had been there. The five other girls looked at her, and beyond them, the assembled magic users could now see in; there were no caves or mountains or valleys barring their vision. It was all gone.
The earthquake had stopped but suddenly another rumbling began to occur. This one began slower with a deep hum. Then it began to build and everything began to shake. Not just the ground—it was as if the sky itself was shaking.
And then a great light shot forth from the Earth, exploding outwards once again.
This time no one was knocked off their feet, though the wisest among them realized this quake was much, much more powerful.
“What was that?” asked Tela to Sensor, confused.
Sensor did not understand herself but her powers gave her insight. “A spellquake of some kind…? Something magical has happened.”
“Yes,” said the voice of Dr. Occult, who approached them from a distance. “A spellquake could be the correct term. For thousands of years Mordru has inflicted the world with spells and enchantments. With his undoing, they are all undone.”
“That much and more, Occult,” said his companion, the Phantom Stranger. “Most if not all spells are being undone. Mordru’s fall is the greatest shift since the fall of Ekron. The ramifications are unknown. This age of magic is now at an end; a new one begins henceforth.”
“What does it mean?” asked Umbra, confused.
“It means goodbye, for me,” said the Black Pirate, as he approached them. Already, he had begun to fade.
“Goodbye?” said Umbra. A sudden sadness overtook her, realizing the truth of his words.
“Do not be sad, fair one,” he said. “A curse that long ago should have run its course is being snuffed out. I can depart this plane now for good. I can also bask in the knowledge of the important role I played in altering the course of magic history.”
“I’ll miss you Jon Valor,” she said, surprised by the words.
“Give my farewells to the other lovelies,” he said with a wicked, dashing smile. And suddenly he was gone.
Umbra turned to Sensor, somewhat confused by the whole thing. Sensor could see outwards with her powers and see it was happening all over. She knew they would never know the full effects of what happened.
“Jacquie,” said a quiet voice. She turned to see Sara Romanescu, the Emerald Empress, by her side. She looked as exhausted as Sensor was, and the tone of her voice suggested this was not going to be another confrontation. Even if they wished to, neither had the strength to fight one another right now.
“Sara,” replied Jacquie. “Thank you. I…you…I—thank you.” She smiled at her.
Sara nodded. There was too much between them now and it was better to leave it unsaid. She had killed over a hundred innocents and that could not be forgotten. She spoke once more, this time with finality. “Good bye, Jacquie. I know I’ll see you again.”
Sensor nodded, a tear running down her cheek as she realized that for the briefest of moments, she had her friend back. And now she never would be again. “Until then,” she replied.
And the Emerald Empress flew off and the telepathic circle was broken forever.
To the side, Maziah was still in shock over the defeat of her father and the final farewell to Blok. Dreamer walked over to her and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. “It’s over, Maziah,” she said, equally as surprised. “He’s gone. Father is gone.”
“I believed it could be done. In the end, I started to believe. And now it is.” The White Witch felt a sudden wave of emotion well up inside her and she grabbed her sister tight and hugged her. “Everything I’ve ever known is gone now,” she said to Nura. “I do not know what place I have in the world,” she said.
Before Nura could answer, the man named Dr. Occult answered for her. Among the remaining magic-users he shouted “All Hail the White Witch!”. The crowd responded:
“All Hail the White Witch!”.
*******************************
The magic-users dispersed on their own, and the girls were left with just each other again. The Emerald Empress now gone, it was the five who journeyed on the Black Pirate’s ship there: Tela, Dreamer, Sensor, Umbra and the White Witch.
Mordru was defeated and the world seemed a little brighter. The Earth was healing itself. People felt less anxiety and fear.
“It won’t last though,” said Tela, sensing their common thoughts. “Others will try to instill that same kind of evil on the world.”
Sensor understood where she was going with it. “And we’ll be there, waiting to stop them. And we will be Legion.”
END
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
All around the world, celebrations erupted in cities, towns and everywhere. The Earth War, brief yet devastating was now over. And the victors were content that the good side won.
In Khundia, there were celebrations in the streets. A military dictatorship had been overthrown and the darkness had been cast aside for light. People were cheering and feeling optimistic for the first time in living memory. Zaryan was dead and the war was over. They would try for a democracy now; it would not be easy, but they would try.
In Paris, the Legionnaires celebrated equally as hard. They had reached their lowest point and came out the other side victorious. Tensions were set aside as they embraced one another and cheered. Those who fought in Khundia, those who fought through espionage and those who fought the Dark Lord were all reunited.
Lovers kissed deeply and friends held each other tightly. Tears of joy, and tears of sadness, were shed in remembrance of all that occurred. The Earth War was over.
*********************
The Legionnaires gathered in front of United Nations General-Secretary Chu, Ambassador Relnic and the Countess Winema Wazzo. “I plan on awarding you publicly, and with great ceremony,” she said with a smile. “And as glamorous as I can make it, it will never be enough. But first…I just wanted to tell you thank you. Thank all of you,” she said, and even she could not resist a tear going down her cheek.
“And you non-Legionnaires as well,” said Relnic in reference to the Sentinels.
“We’re all Legionnaires, sir,” said Leviathan firmly.
Catalyst smiled at the comment.
“Does that mean what I think it means…?” said Matter-Eater Lad with a smile.
“I think so,” said Flare smiling back at him. “I think we just got inducted into the Legion!” he cheered and they all cheered.
“Will this cause you problems with your superiors?” asked Mon-El to Leviathan.
“Yes,” he replied, “but I just don’t care about that for the moment.” He had a big smile on his face. He intended for Mon-El, Umbra, the White Witch, Flare, Matter-Eater Lad, Dawnstar and Ultra Boy to join the Legion and for Spirit to rejoin. They deserved it.
Mon-El studied him for a minute. “Jim, thank you. And I’m sorry for shouting at you that day. I was—“
As Mon-El reached for the words, Leviathan cut him off. “It was an honor,” he said. “And it will be an honor every day to serve with you,” he added.
Mon-El shook his hand.
***********************
“I’m going to make sure Blok and Atmos are inducted too,” said Tela to Livewire. “Posthumously. It feels like the right thing to do.”
Livewire nodded. “And one other. Even if only honorary,” he said.
She looked at him curiously as if to ask Who?.
“RJ,” he said.
She nodded as he eyes teared up and he hugged her again.
*************************
Spirit hugged her mom as tight as she could. “Mother,” she said with a smile. “What’s this I hear about you showing up in Yemen?”
“Shh dear,” said the Countess, “that would be ridiculous,” she added sarcastically. “What’s this I hear about this Ultra Boy and you sharing a moment before your little mission…?” she asked right back at Tina.
“Moooooooother!” said Tina but with a smile. For the first time in her life, it felt so right to be around her mother.
As she hugged her, Tina spied Fantomas across the room to the side. “One moment, Mother,” she said. “I have to thank someone for something.”
************************
Fantomas, the spy Jacques Focquart, was standing beside his sister Danielle. Nearby, King Faraday was talking to the US Ambassador to the United Nations, George Whittington. Spirit walked up to him, interrupting his conversation with his sister.
“Jacques,” she said.
He turned, saw who it was and smiled. “Hello Tina, I was just—“
Before he could finish, she gave him a tight hug. Tighter than any she had ever given before. “Thank you,” she said, a tear running down her face. She remembered how he saved her from Firefist—she would always remember.
“My pleasure,” he said firmly.
Invisible Kid was suddenly by their side. “I’m requesting that you be made an Honorary Member too, Jacques,” he said. “We felt after what we went through, that…well, it just felt right.”
“I would indeed be honored,” said Jacques sincerely. He motioned towards King Faraday. “You’re not doing the same for old skull and bones are you? I’m not sure what he’d say.”
“No, I don’t think so,” said Lyle seriously. He looked over at Matter-Eater Lad who was laughing with Flare. “He’s not quite Legion material.”
Tenz had told them all how Faraday assassinated Zaryan and they were all horrified—especially because in a way they were co-conspirators. As far as Lyle was concerned, he hoped he never saw King Faraday again.
****************************
Valor and Sensor held each other close, elated to be reunited and knowing the other was safe. When Sensor went off to spend time with her ‘sisters’ of the telepathic circle, Valor made sure to check on Ferro.
Andy seemed to be fitting in better though he remained quiet and a little aloof. He still wore the metal mask over this face to everyone’s horror, but it provided him some comfort.
Val could not help but notice that he was distraught over something though. “What’s the matter, Andy?” he asked frankly. “Something has been bothering you since we won. You should be happy!”
“It’s Conal,” he said sadly. “I never found him after Khundia. It’s like he just cut out. I was hoping…well, I was hoping he’d join the Legion. Or I don’t know, at least say goodbye. He just took off without even a word.”
*************************
The Legionnaires could hardly sleep that evening despite being beyond exhausted. But they eventually did, after spending several days in Paris helping clean up and put everything in order. Throughout that time, the anticipation continued to build as the Legionnaires knew that soon, they were going home.
“So we’ll finally get to see Legion HQ?” said Flare with a smile.
“Yes,” replied Sensor. “Though everything will be different now. It will be new to everyone.”
“Okaaaaay,” said Matter-Eater Lad with a laugh at the cryptic comment. “At least no more UN Ambassadors and political tip-towing!” he added.
“Yeah, right,” said Catalyst with a smile. “Wait until you meet Metternich.”
“Or President Luthor!” said Invisible Kid and they both laughed.
*************************
At last the day came where they were leaving Paris. For the Sentinels—now Legionnaires which would soon be made official—it felt odd. As if they were leaving one home for another, even though they technically never had a home.
It fees like we’re leaving a lot behind though, thought Sensor. Our whole quest. Our purpose. Blok.
She waited some distance away from Dreamer and the White Witch who gazed out at the city of Paris as it underwent massive reconstruction. She knew in her heart what Maziah was going to tell Nura, and she knew Nura had not realized.
“It will be rebuilt,” said Dreamer to the White Witch with a smile. “All of it. Paris, Marseille, Palermo. They were hit hard but they survived and they can rebuild. It inspires a certain amount of optimism,” she added with a sincere smile.
She put her arm around Maziah’s as they overlooked the city. “Spring is here,” said Maziah suddenly. “The winter chill is going away. Things are growing again.”
“I’d forgotten all about it, to be honest,” said Dreamer. It had been easy to lose track of the time elapsed during the Earth War. All in all, it was only several, albeit deadly, weeks.
“Nura,” said Maziah, turning to her sister. “I’m not going to come with you. To the Legion, I mean. I…want to. But there are other things I must tend to.”
Dreamer was confused. She did not foresee this. “Like what, Maziah? We can help you with those things. The Legion is our home now.”
“No, Nura,” she replied. “It’s your home. And it’s a good one. They are good people and I’m so happy you are with them. But I have a different path now. The path of the White Witch.”
Dreamer was surprised by the bombshell but after a few moments realized she should not be. Perhaps she always knew Maziah would not join the Legion. “Please tell me we’ll see each other though. Regularly.” Her voice was soft and Maziah knew it could break into tears at any moment.
“Of course,” she replied. She held her sister tight.
*************************
Once news spread of Maziah’s pending exit from the group, it was Spirit who decided to get them all together one last time. She told some of them outright why they should meet in the study room, and others she just gave a sly excuse. She sought out Maziah last and asked her to accompany her to the study with a smile on her face. Maziah was initially cautious but Tina’s smile became infectious. They had become friends, Tina and Maziah, though neither were each other’s closest confidante. Perhaps we’ve become better friends that I thought, thought Spirit with a little bit of sadness.
Spirit led the White Witch into the room and there they had all gathered: The Sentinels of Magic. That was the name they had come up with jokingly but it had stuck. Now that they were going to be Legionnaires, the name would fade away. This moment would the last time it had any use. Umbra. Mon-El. Sensor. Flare. Matter-Eater Lad. Valor. Spirit. Dawnstar. Ultra Boy. And the White Witch.
Maziah felt a tear run down her cheek and saw that a lot of them were crying too. They all hugged her tightly to say good bye, most of them unable to find the words.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
"I'm going to miss Asia," Flash said wistfully as the Legionnaires' plane got ready for take off.
"Maybe, but I'll miss missing our victory celebration even more!" Kinetix retorted. "Amazon and I have been Skype-ing with Spirit and Violet, and we have one big bash planned when we're all back."
"We DID think of making it a girls-only thing," Amazon teased, "but you boys did prove yourselves useful so you get an invite."
"Aw, and here I was hoping I'd get to do my Chu interpretation," Shifter joked. He gave a mock scowl and pointed a finger at Amazon, "Isn't it way past your bedtime, young lady? But you can stay up late if you invite me!"
"Yeah, like we'd really invite her," Amihan giggled. "She'd probably have a banquet and snap at us for using the wrong spoons for our soup. Or getting food stains on the napkins. Sorry, ma'am," she said in her most serious voice as she made a mock curtsy.
Everyone, even Wildfire and Hygeia, laughed. Though they'd only met her a handful of times, they all knew of Chu's manner.
"If you did make an all-girls thing, we'd just make an all-boys thing too," Starboy quipped. "Although we definitely would not invite Metternich either!"
"Maybe we could tell him Earthwar was continuing in Antarctica," Polarity said with a straight face.
"And if he asks for a Legionnaire escort, we'll volunteer you, Polarity!" Flash teased.
"And if he can't find anything in Antarctica, we'll tell him the enemy's invisible!" Wildfire roared.
The joking around continued on for a bit before the Legionnaires settled down. Spirits were running high; after all, they'd successfully defended Asia against unimaginable forces.
They had won.
*************************************************
Wildfire handed Hygeia a can of soda, and raised his open can. "Cheers to our successful first mission as Legionnaires!"
Hygeia smiled at his thoughtfulness. "Yes, we managed to survive and not destroy anything important along the way."
"Hey, if anything did blow up it wasn't me!" Wildfire laughed.
"And if anyone did come down with cholera, it wasn't me either!"
The two toasted their success, with Wildfire destroying his can as a way of "consuming" it. They were both excited to see what else would come their way.
*************************************************
"Thanks again for all your help," Kinetix smiled at Blizzard.
"Erm, ah... It was no bother. I was glad to assist you while you were recovering," Blizzard stammered.
"Oh, I meant in the jungle, guiding me to the castle, and tackling the king. But yes, I'd heard you stayed watch from time to time. That was really nice too."
Blizzard blushed a deep crimson, though he tried to hide it. He disliked how awkward he was being. But he didn't really know how to approach foreign girls. Back home, strong customs governed courtship and everything was quite predictable. If a man and a woman did not like one another, that was it. These foreign girls could be so independent and unpredictable.
What was it that the other boys on the tea had advised him? Just be cool. He tried to appear casual and leaned back. "Well, we are teammates after all. And I could not let Quislet take watch over you. That would not have been good at all."
Kinetix gave a small laugh. "I'd probably ask to still be in the hospital now if so!" She touched him lightly on the arm. "Thanks again," she said as she stood up to sit beside Amazon and Flash.
Blizzard wiped his brow as Starboy gave him a thumbs-up. Perhaps he would not mess up after all.
************************************************* "I can't wait to meet the others," Element Lad added. Though they'd made introductions briefly over Skype, meeting them in person would be much more different. "They seem interesting, and our team will be all the better for it with our new additions."
Kid Quantum nodded. "We NEED to meet them. We can't function well as a team if we're not familiar with each others' powers. And there are so many of us now."
"You are really beginning to sound like a leader."
Kid Quantum blushed slightly at that compliment. "I'm just doing my job. Cos did put me in charge on the way here."
"Although many cultures would say that everything that did happen was opportune and for a reason. Many of the powers of the reinforcements were crucial to our win - and so were your insights and tactics. We may not have won if even one of us had been absent. Perhaps even the new Legionnaires, and the changes in our organization as a result of Earthwar, are happening for a reason. As the ancient Greeks would describe it - "Kairos", or the supreme moment. We must take advantage of changing times."
Kid Quantum nodded. "That is wise, but... well, let's just say we as a team have a lot to discuss when we get back home."
"You are right. And we must work together as a team to prepare for our future." Element Lad looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know, Kairos would make a nice code name for you. You always do know how to use your powers at the best times."
Kid Quantum was slightly taken aback. "Are you implying something about my code name?"
"No, no, nothing like that. Although Kairos is shorter and easier to remember... it is not in English, but then not many people are familiar with quantum physics either."
Kid Quantum thought for a moment. She HAD been the subject of teasing by Spark, Kinetix and others before about her Kid Quantum name. Finally, she smiled. "I like that suggestion." Picking up her IPod, she quickly drafted an email to Cos and Leviathan. "Effective immediately, I'd like to change my code name to Kairos..."
*************************************************
Rebound raised his eyebrow as he saw his IPod. Copied were himself, Shifter, Kid Quantum (Cos really was serious about putting her in charge of the reinforcements, he thought), Leviathan, Live Wire and Tela - the Legionnaires-in-charge of each mission. "Did you get Cos' email, Shifter?"
His teammate nodded. "Makes sense, though. With our new additions, and the things we've all been through, we do have a lot to discuss."
Rebound nodded mournfully. "I just hope nobody leaves. After all, the world is a big place - you can't ever have too many Legionnaires."
"And it would be nice if we could all stay together, huh? Especially the "early waves". You, me, Cos, Trinity..." Shifter emphasized the last name. Rebound pretended not to catch it. "Yes, all of us."
Shifter gace him a quizzical glance, then patted him on the shoulder. "She'll be alright. We all will."
Rebound allowed his friend a smile. "Yeah, we will."
*************************************************
Everyone settled back and smiled peacefully as they dozed off to sleep. Tomorrow, they would be home. For many of them, it was, and always would be their first real home.
Day Three of the Earth War. Two days after the Academy Siege, one day after the Coast City Collapse.
Dani Moonstar sat alone in the corridor, waiting for the verdict. She was alone by choice, even though she would have preferred deep down to have Shan, or Sofia or... someone there. This was something she had to face herself. ___________
In the aftermath of the Academy siege, most of the students had been taken to the Legion's medibay - where those who had been knocked out where kept overnight for observation out of routine and discharged, while Sandy's wounds were stitched and Sul's shoulder and ankle strapped up.
Now, only two patients remained, their friends at their bedside - Rocco McCloud and Noriko Ashida. The rampaging monster and the girl who'd stopped him. Both stripped of their accoutrements - the spell that had mutated Rocco so and sent him mad, the collar that had made control for Nori possible. And both deeply, deeply unconscious. ___________
The sound of feet tapping irregularly on the ground made Dani look up. A redhaired girl... Spark, wasn't it?... had come out of the lab and was walking toward her. Almost unconsciously, Dani noted that the irregular tapping was because her left ankle was in plaster, and that she was carrying a walking stick without using it every step, her mind picking up on facts to avoid what was coming.
Spark reached her, and smiled, "Hi, I'm Ella. Do you want to come in?"
"No." Dani forced a grin to pretend she didn't mean it, and followed Ella into the lab.
Inside were two people. One - the Legion's resident brainiac, Quentin "Dox" Docks - was already standing, facing her, his green face carrying a look of mild irritation. The other, lying unconscious on a table, was what Dani's visit was all about - the scarred, one-eyed duplicate of herself who had killed one student herself, then twisted Rocco into the rampage that had injured several students and lead to his and Nori's comas. She - it - was the last thing Dani wanted to look at, but she forced herself to stare, carefully noting where the scars were. If the worst was confirmed, she had to make sure she didn’t just give one or more of them an origin. She would not, could not, become that.
Rather than greet her, Dox immediately said "Before we start, what are your powers?"
Out of the corner of her eye, Dani could see Spark glare at Dox, but just answered "Basal telepathic manipulation and illusion-casting - I can generate an illusion based on what someone's image of joy, desire, pride, fear, despair and so forth is with them in the centre; or generate a simple bolt to stun them."
"Nothing animal-related?"
"If what you're asking is 'do I have powers like her'," she spat the pronoun out, "mine have varied considerably since they originally emerged a decade ago - it took years and a lot of effort to achieve even a degree of stability. There was a time when I could fully communicate with animals, and I still get an occasional low-level read from them - but that isn't consistent, so I rarely try."
"Could you give me a quick demonstration of your current powerset, please? For the record, as much as anything else."
"Here, on you?" Dani wanted to get this over with. Prolonging it by being on the other side of some impromptu emergent assessment wasn't what she had in mind.
"Why not?"
"Sometimes the subject has a very strong reaction, or shows something really embarrassing. You might not want your colleague here to see..."
"I think I'm intelligent enough to deal with a little illusion."
Something inside Dani just snapped at that. It wasn't just the patronising tone, or the smirk on his face, or the fact she REALLY wanted to know what the f██king deal was with her double and anything that delayed that just got in the way. It was all three. And she knew exactly the emotion to teach him a lesson.
Without another word, the room seemed to darken. Spark was inclined to move in, but Dani held her back - Dox wouldn't see her anyway, Dani was pushing hard enough that the outside world probably wouldn't register for him short of an earthquake. Everyone would see it, but only he would feel the psychic backwash.
Eleven figures gradually appeared, five male and six female. All were young children. And all had numbers instead of faces, By number, they alternated in pairs - two males, then two females - in a half-circle around Dox, except that there was no young boy bearing a 5. Dani heard Spark mutter something about a "Brainiac Program" and guessed that Dox himself was the missing figure.
"Really, is this the best you can do?" Dox's words were as arrogant as before as he called toward Dani, but was his voice that bit quicker, or was it just her imagination?
"Why did you forget about us?" 4 spoke with the voice of a young girl to match her figure.
"Can't you even remember our faces?" 8, another girl.
"You don't even care, do you?" 6, a boy.
"Do you know how to care?" 9.
Dox had seemed to be ignoring the questions, but was that beads of sweat Dani had begun to see on his forehead?
"Did you just like being the 'successful' one?" 3.
Suddenly, Dox began to speak, in a low, level voice, "You were all ill from birth, and you vanished while a young child. Logically, you had all died."
Curious now despite herself, Dani began to change course, from guilt to frustration...
"And yet, you didn't even check." 12.
"Even if you were right, would STAR simply throw away material they could use for something else?" 6.
"Were you glad we seemed gone so we didn't compete with you for access?" 2.
"Until you realised Brainiacs were the Intellectual Property of STAR Labs, and your 'free' reign was nothing of the sort, at least." 10.
"When they threw you in a cage after causing trouble." 7.
"And to get out, even just on parole with the Legion, you agreed to sign everything you ever make over to them and never quit." 11.
"Such a stupid thing to do." 1.
"Enough." Dox's voice rang clear out for Dani to hear. Moments later, the numbered children dissolved.
If he was rattled, good, thought Dani. "Can we get on? You're intelligent enough to deal with a little illusion."
He stared at her for one hard second, then said "I'll be back in a moment," and left the room.
"Was there any need for that?" Spark demanded
"He asked for it. Literally. I'm just here to find out what the deal with THAT thing is." Dani pointed to her double on the table. ___________
Back in the medibay, Ming Sul (whose name, by Western standards, would have been ordered as "Sul Ming") sat back in her chair and stared at the ceiling. Her own injuries from the siege had been patched up for now, but she'd remained to sit by Nori's bedside, hoping her close friend and former roommate would wake up. Her current roommate - Sofia Mantega, Dani's adoptive daughter - was also there, nearer Nori's head, staring forward. She wondered who Sofia was thinking of more, Nori or Dani.
"Hi girl."
Caught by surprise at the familiar voice, Sul spun round to see Igor Kuria standing there. Hopping up, she threw her good arm around him until he winced with pain. She backed off and answered her roommate's quizzical look, "Sofia, this is Igor, one of the guys I met on my travels. We found him when we were looking for help for Nori, and he made her collar before he joined the Legion. Igor, this is Sofia, my roommate."
"You been in the wars too?"
"Horde of rampaging animals attacked the school, I got thrown off the back of my possessed classmate into a tree. You know how it is. You?"
"Triple-crash. A booby trap in equipment disagreed with me, I flattened rock monsters with a truck and was on a building when it fell down. The last one was the killer - I'm all rewired and cross-patched inside to keep going while I heal," He popped open his right arm to demonstrate, and Sul saw that rather than the usual neatly-arranged circuitry, there was a tangle of wiring around a visibly damaged core. "hence being here instead of back out there like Tom is." He clipped the skin-plate back on his arm and nodded his head in Nori's direction. "How is she?"
"The doctor says she might wake up any time - they took her for some scans yesterday, and they said that not only can't they see any brain injury, but her overall brain activity is good; it looks more like she's just, well, sleeping than comatose.
"What gets me though is that the lights haven't flickered once, and with the size of her last burst she was probably completely discharged. You weren't there in Siberia when her charge ran low, but she was half-dead then - so if she's not taking anything on, I don't know if she'll wake up until she does." Sul paused for a moment, before asking "Anything you can do?"
"Tol' you - I'm using everything I've got spare to keep me upright. But even aside from that, if I tried again her neck would be nothing but scar tissue before long."
Sul murmured something unintelligible, then said "Tik's going to go spare if she's still like this when he sees her."
"He doesn't know?"
"He gated most of the Academy into hiding, and they're meant to stay out-of-contact for at least a week unless the all-clear's given sooner. Nori was meant to go with them, but... well, it's Nori. She had her own ideas. And she must have known her collar was about to go. I'd bet she wanted to go out in a blaze of glory." Her injured arm at her side, Sul clasped its' elbow with her left hand and looked down at the Japanese girl, sighing. Igor put his hand around her good shoulder to tried to reassure her. _______
"So, on the subject of your duplicate," Dox said as he strode back into the lab, catching both Dani and Ella off-guard, "she doesn't seem to be an imposter, per se."
"Meaning?" Cold dread clutched at Dani as his words sank in.
"The DNA ’fingerprint’ and surviving retina print match. We couldn’t access the fingerprints for comparison - the armour had an undersheath of sorts that enveloped most of her body from the shoulders downward, which we haven't been able to remove - but if the retina print matches, they're likely to as well. I think we can say with reasonable certainty that this is as much Danielle Moonstar as you."
Dani nodded, resigned. She would have to put her affairs in order quickly. Sofia would be hard - she probably wouldn't understand anyway, but as a Catholic, she had especially strong opinions about sui...
"But it isn’t you."
She wanted to react, explode with a loud "WHAT?!". Instead, her knees threatened to give way, and she folded herself downward, squatting on tiptoe, her torso resting on her legs. After a moment like that, the relief abated enough for her to raise her head up and ask "How?"
"The teeth. A few points were suggested, but the primary diagnostic one was the second molar on the upper left. It's virtually unworn, which means the corresponding adult tooth on the lower left must have been lost very soon after it grew in. By comparison, you have both the teeth in question, and the upper one has what a dentist considered to be a normal level of wear for a decade or so of use."
Pulling herself up using the nearest table, Dani took a moment to consider what he had said. As the shakiness in her legs abated, there was only one important question left. "So... what IS she?" She chided herself for admitting her double's personhood, but didn't take it back.
"I don't know." In the background, Ella giggled lightly at Dox's admission, but he continued. "I could speculate, true - it may be a servant of Mordru who was imperfectly transformed into a copy of you, either through a spell or under their own power. It may be some sort of clone, although the retina print being identical and tooth wear would be hard to explain in that event. There's even an indication from another case that Mordru had some level of interaction with alternate realities, and it may be a literal alternate version of you. But there's no hard data to say how she came to be."
"Have you asked...?"
"We haven't dared let her awaken - Ryker's power-damping cells are already full, and given her attack on the Academy, allowing her to regain consciousness outside one is not an option. Outside of examinations, we've been forced to keep her in an old McCauley stasis booth - which is a legal minefield, at best, and certainly isn't a long-term solution." A thought suddenly occurred to him, "The Academy has a power-dam--"
"NO!" Dani almost screamed the word, shocking herself. She tried to pull herself back together, "It hardly makes sense to expect pupils to share a building with-- with someone who killed one of them, left two comatose, injured others and forced the whole school to be evacuated, does it?"
"There may be no alternative. It will take months to construct an extension of, or alternative to, Ryker's. Takron Corp's Galtos prison ship was already under construction pre-war, but even that's at least four months away."
"Isn't there someone less risky? Even the monkey guy who brainwashed women hasn't tried to kill a whole school!"
"They can't transfer anyone tried and convicted outside of prison. On the other hand, this copy of you may never come to trial - depending on the outcome of the war, she may even be exchanged in some sort of prisoner exchange. "
"Look, for now we'll keep her on ice. But this isn't a solution, and you should prepare yourself for the worst." _____
Outside, Dani leaned heavily against the wall. The worst... the worst hadn't come to be. It wasn't herself from the future.
But some of what had been said was bad enough, especially the suggestion that this... clone-thing... might end up in the Academy basement.
She needed a friend to talk to.
And lots of alcohol.
She pulled out her phone and tapped out a number she knew well. "Shan, it's Dani. Are you busy tonight?" __________
"Q, are you okay?" Quentin was trying to act as if everything was normal, but Spark could see faint traces of... uncertainty?... in her best friend.
"I'm fine."
"You don't LOOK fine. And you've barely mentioned anything about the Brainiac Program, let alone that something like that's been eating away at you since before we first met."
"It's not been 'eating away' - as the apparitions said, I've hardly thought about them in years."
"Are they--"
"Representations of the other subjects from the Brainiac program, yes. It's not a major concern." Spark snorted, but Dox simply continued, "If anything, I've been wondering more about what you've been wanting to tell me since California but have seized up every time you were about to say it."
Ella blushed, and said "Stop trying to change the subject. Your--"
"--'problem' is an old hurt at most. Whatever you want to discuss is more urgent, surely. Tell me."
"Q..."
"Well, if you won't, let me guess." He stared at her for five seconds, then continued, "I suppose you want to resign, but being aware that I can't is making you nervous about saying so to me."
Spark almost objected, but ended up sitting with her mouth open, stuck in about-to-speak mode for several seconds. It was true, after all. Damn him - how did he--? "...yeah," she ended up stating weakly. A raised eyebrow made her continue. "Every time I try to sleep, I'm seeing stuff like that SHIELD agent's sleeve and the great big crater. It just made me realise I'm not cut out to be a soldier, and that's what I have to be, to be here. You're right. Hell, Laurel was right when she Got Out. It's a stupid thing to want to be, and I was just being stubborn when I insisted. Obviously, I can't quit in mid-war, bad leg or no, so if I'm healed before it's done I'll have to go back out - but when we win, as soon as I can I'm gone."
'When' they won? Dox wondered if she'd not been keeping up with news from the European front, or whether she was just being optimistic. "If that's what you want to do, I'm not going to try and keep you. I'm not that much of a hypocrite." He forced a smile. He nearly added 'Enjoy your freedom', but decided it would sound too sarcastic.
Ella limped over and hugged him tight for a minute, then broke. "I'm just sorry you can't escape too."
"You're not out yet." He continued to force a smile.
"True." She started limping toward the door, then remembered her walking stick. As she picking up her stick on the way, and began leaning on it at least 40% harder, Dox adjudged, than she had to, then was gone.
Quentin looked at the clock. A full hour until Agent Carpenter was due to arrive. He went to his chair and rested his head in his hand for a minute, resisting the urge to smash. As a Legionnaire, he was nothing - untrusted with any sort of classified material he might be able to decipher and so help the war effort, not allowed to invent anything that might aid the team, he was virtually limited to being some sort of auxiliary doctor - when they already had a perfectly competent specimen!
All because he'd refused to play along with the concept that he was the property of Cadmus/STAR. As a result, he had been imprisoned, and ultimately "freed" to a strictly limited parole as a mascot.
If the other eleven brainiacs were dead, he decided, they were the lucky ones.
He spent five minutes considering what to do, an eternity for him. Then he went to a bag and pulled out a phone. The phone was unremarkable in any detail, except for its' incongruity in the lab full of bleeding-edge, up-to-date equipment. Instead, it was several years old - practically ancient in phone terms - and had been a very basic model even when new. It wasn't like him at all. And that was the whole point.
He looked at it. A voice seemed to run through his head, saying You're being emotional. That mindf██k and Ella quitting's rattled you. You shouldn't do this. For a moment, he almost thought the residue of the "maze incident" had come loose in his head, but dismissed it. It was just him, internally-vocalising some of his own fears.
But the larger fear went in the opposite direction. A fear of growing old, still trapped.
There would be a price to pay, but...
He shook his head, turned the phone on, and began to tap out a text...
Dox was looking over the reply to the text message when there was a buzz at the door, and he barely had time to put the phone away before Agent Carpenter walked in. She'd stayed in one of the Legion's ever-shrinking number of guest rooms - a corollary to their ever-growing roster - overnight, but while she'd cleaned herself up and changed out of her SHIELD uniform into a casual black and white outfit, she was yet another person who didn't look like they'd slept a wink.
Ignoring this, he motioned her to a seat near a monitor before sitting in front of it himself, though he didn't disturb the screensaver just yet. "Where do you want to start?" He didn't necessarily want a long conversation, but her biodata was some of the most interesting he'd been allowed to see for some time.
"My head." Julia opened simply, before continuing, "my memory problems are getting more frequent. Now, it isn't just my second in command's name or a specific clause in SHIELD regulations. Sometimes, like now, I'm alright, but I'm having... vague spells. Times I can barely remember my own name." She didn't have to add that she was scared. It was written all over her face.
Inwardly, Dox sighed. He'd wanted to leave that until a telepath was around - preferably Tela, since she had by far the most experience in these matters - since he had little actual information to give her. But if it had to be done... "I haven't seen the data for myself, but I'm told that the magnetic resonance scan you had this morning showed nothing particularly unusual in your brain's physical structure. Certainly nothing which would explain any cognitive degradation, anyway."
"Which, in practical terms, means what?"
"The doctors are baffled."
"Some help..."
"I have an idea, myself, but it could be wrong - I need more data first. You said you had some photos to show me."
Slightly confused, Julia pulled out a picture from her pocket and handed it to Dox. "Just one. Take a look at my right bicep and my belly."
The photo had been taken at a beach resort and featured Julia, wearing a black bikini, and a young girl Dox presumed was her daughter. Looking at the areas indicated, Dox saw a prominent white scar against the tanned skin on her right arm, but only a couple of faint stretch marks on her abdomen.
"I see. And now...?"
Julia shrugged her jacket off, and pulled up the short sleeve of her blouse to shoulder level. "Firstly, the scar on my right arm has gone."
"And your 'belly'?"
She unbuttoned the lower half of her blouse and pulled it open, to show a vertical scar running from her navel to below the waistband of her slacks. "This is a caesarian section scar. Now, I was fairly sure even before I saw that picture, but with my memory... problems... I double-checked with my doctor before looking for a photo to be sure - and, yes, I had a natural birth for my one and only child. Are you saying that's related to my memory trouble?"
Dox struggled to hide his excitement. Logically, he knew the dangers of twisting data to fit theories, but this all fit... "I'm sure it's all related. Certainly, it fits with what I had been thinking about, at least."
"Which is..."
"That isn't your body."
"What?! I mean, I know I'm... different, since I couldn't lift a car before, but isn't that going too far for a couple of scars?"
"There are various reasons, even before that scar on your abdomen virtually proved it to me - the disappearing arm scar is helpful, but not definitive, since your new powers may have involved some sort of healing factor. Another reason is that, while your DNA has certainly been altered, you don't have a metagene. I've not seen any DNA from individuals with genetically-derived 'super-powers' that didn't have that one identifiable gene. And a third is that, after you didn't recall what happened inside the cauldron which altered you, I asked Cosmic Boy to talk to Trinity about what she saw there when you caught her as she was about to fall in. Apparently, she described reflections which resembled her to some degree, but had different clothing, hair or number of bodies."
"And this means for the body thing...?"
"I suspect that the cauldron somehow exchanged or 'overwrote' your body with that a possible or alternate version of yourself, while preserving your consciousness."
Blinking hard, Julia tried to suspend her disbelief on the alternate reality thing, telling herself to keep focused on the important part, "So, why does this mean my brain is crapping out if my 'consciousness' was 'preserved'?"
"Various possibilities. Perhaps your own memories weren't quite written properly. Or perhaps the 'original' memories weren't deleted and are interfering. We'll need a telepath to examine your memories more directly, and make repairs if possible." _______
Warriors' bar, Manhattan
"I'm telling you Shan, I don't know what I'm going to do."
Dani took another large drink from her beer glass, then looked across the booth to Shannon Manh (Mạnh Cối Xoàn to the government; Shan to her friends), who was sitting there with her girlfriend Luna dePaula. An orphan, Shan was one of Dani's best friends, and her only friend in NYC itself. The two had met some years before at college - Dani was there to undergo teacher training (a necessary prelude to setting herself up as a powers tutor) when Shan, who had already started on her way to the MLIS masters degree she now possessed, first encountered her. They'd gone on to become firm friends, and now, with Dani working only a hour or so away from the Big City, they'd met up for dinner a few times in the previous couple of months.
Even so, Shan had had never seen Dani like this, either recently or at college. True, her friend had never taken the pledge - she'd always been strict with her need for self-control and had taken at most two drinks in a night, usually only one - but now she was downing beer à un taux de noeuds.
Luna saw the frown on her girlfriend's face and squeezed the young Vietnamese-American woman's hand. Even though they'd been living together for months now, with Shan moving to NYC to be with the coffee shop owner as soon as she managed to find a (junior) librarian job there, the bloom hadn't yet come off their relationship, and Shan hoped it never would. They were even wearing cutesy T-shirts referencing each other's professions - Luna's pink T-shirt said "She blinded me with library science!", and Shan's golden one had "Life's too short for bad coffee!" emblazoned across her chest.
Shan appreciated the moral support, but Luna didn't know Dani that well, and the distance of unfamiliarity meant there wasn't much she could say that would help. She looked at Dani, but bit her lip for a moment before responding. "Well, your suspension's been lifted, yes? Now that they know it wasn't really you."
"Not official yet. I've been told it's going to happen tomorrow tho."
"So it isn't you, they can prove it isn't you... where's the problem?"
"It's still something like me. Same DNA and everything."
"Then it's a magic clone or something. The news said the blackhats were pulling all sorts of stunts. Your angsting about it, well, that's probably why they did it!"
"You're not the one who has to look the kids who got hurt, or their pal got killed, in the eye."
"My twin brother was in Vietnam seeing my uncle when the war started, and I haven't heard from him since before the first attacks there. I'm hoping he just can't get to a phone, but if something HAS happened, I'm going to have to tell Luke and Naomi why they won't be seeing their big brother again. Bad things happen to good people Dani. Just count yourself lucky they didn't send a whole army after the school like they did in Paris."
"But--"
"Enough." The atypical self-pity radiating from Dani was getting to be too much for Shan. She adopted the tone she used on her young siblings when they caused trouble. "Lots of people have lost friends or family in this war already, Dani. That's why it's not called 'play'. So, the bad guy borrowed your face - you've got a whole school full of people who can do stuff like change their faces. I think they'll be able to understand the difference between you and whatever this armoured woman is. So what you're going to do is crash on our couch tonight, since you can't go anywhere in this state, and then go back to the school tomorrow, confirm your suspension's been lifted and get back to work making sure those kids are safe doing what they do!"
As Shan finished, Dani sat there in apparently stunned silence. After a minute, Luna nudged Shan, and the two left the booth, heading toward the toilet.
"What's wrong?" Shan asked as they entered the ladies' room.
Luna leaned back against a sink, and replied "I just thought she needed a minute after your forty lashes."
Shan went beet red. "I didn't mean it like that! She just needed a jolt. Do you think I went too far?"
"Hey, you know her better than me. I'll take it she's needed a 'jolt' before!"
"I could be wrong. You're a fresh pair of eyes."
"Well, with a fresh pair of eyes... If you ever broke my heart, I’d be interested in whether she likes girls."
Shan mock-punched her "Seriously!"
"I think she’ll be fine. She’s had a few bad shocks. Most people do at some point - and from everything you’ve said, she’ll bounce back." Luna began to lean in for a kiss. "You have."
As Shan’s arms went around her girlfriend, she hoped Luna was right. Then their lips met, and she was... distracted... for a couple of minutes.
Meanwhile, outside in the bar, Dani looked at her reflection in her half-empty glass of beer. After a minute, she shoved the glass away in disgust. _______________
The Pier, Dox's private workshop
The sky was completely dark by the time Dox reached the riverfront area where he kept a private workshop, since the session with Agent Carpenter had overrun his plan by a full hour. The frustrating thing was that he really didn't have much to add to what he said earlier on the part she was really interested in, namely, her memory. They would need a telepath to get any further, end of. They hadn't even got to discussing her powers, he thought, as he punched in the 12-digit entry code to "The Pier".
As soon as he walked in, Dox saw that things were out of place. Not by much - there seemed to have been an attempt to replace everything just as it had been, but he knew where he'd left things. And then he sensed the tell-tale scraping in his brain that told him someone was trying to break and enter. Sighing at the irony, he called out to the intruder, "Don't bother. Better telepaths than you have tried and failed."
"Touché." A deep, feminine voice came from across the room, as Meta Ure - once Enrapture of the Workforce - walked out of the shadows, dressed in a light blue skirt-suit. "I presume you disabled all surveillance devices, as requested."
"If I had any, I might have. Surveillance is something I have philosophical problems with. Even before considering that it is far too easy for others to hack and use against me."
"Never mind. In any case, they tend to fail when we show up." She paused and continued with a raised eyebrow, "Should I be worried that a Legionnaire would cry for help to us?"
"Hardly. I'm sure an organisation like yours is aware of how I came to be a Legionnaire."
"The little green boy wanted out of STAR's cage."
"Well, the Legion of Super-Heroes is hardly less of a cage, with STAR always there staring at me. I'm sick of it."
"Then what do you want from us? Asylum?" Meta chuckled mockingly.
Dox ignored the laugh. "Two things. First, a disguise worthy of the name, so I can go about my business without this" - he jabbed at his own face to indicate his bright green skin - "giving me away immediately. And, second, identity documents to go with it. Ones which would pass Homeland Security, not just a nickel-and-dime clerk."
"And I presume you're aware of the price."
"Anything which doesn't involve betraying a friend or giving myself away."
"On the latter, provided you honour your commitments, you shouldn't be concerned. And if you're referring to a possible follow-up to the incident with the Raineses on the former, that was a purely personal matter on their part. As an organisation, we have no position on it."
"In that case, when should I expect delivery?"
"The disguise and documents will probably take at least two weeks - there is a war on. Network commitments... those will come as you're required. I couldn't possibly say when you may be called upon. We try not to be too onerous." She sneered, slightly, "Final decision, you will commit?"
Dox held out his hand. They shook, not cordially.
"Welcome to the Network, Quentin Docks."
Meanwhile, in the shadows nearby, a man who appeared to be deep in shadow even in the rare occasions he stepped into bright daylight looked at the heads-up display that had recently been installed in his helmet. Everything read clear - Dox wasn't radiating any sign of a signal, nor was there any evidence of other Legionnaires in the vicinity that anyone had detected.
«Mano.» Enrapture's telepathic 'voice', calling out his only name, echoed through his brain. «As we suspected, I couldn't scan him. I presume there's no sign of treachery?»
«Nothing identifiable.» Mano was curt - the Network was far from his ideal. Still, he had called on them to break McCauley's programming when given the chance. And then he had chosen to remain full-time, even taking a place on Cosmic King's advisory council rather than leaving for extended service - as Wolf and Tellus had, and Dox was now taking up - all for one reason and one reason alone.
He wanted to remember who he had once been.
McCauley had apparently been thorough in destroying all trace of his personal memories, and the process which had mutated him so had obliterated any identifying features of his body. Several attempts to discover the truth had already failed, and insisting that they kept trying just kept adding to his debt. And yet, and yet...
On his shoulder stood the other member of the former Secret Workforce who had chosen to remain. Unlike him, Micro had no special reason to stay. He just liked the work. Most of the time.
«Tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means.» He winced at the prospect of what was to come.
«It means exactly that.» Enrapture didn't smile for Dox to see, but Micro was damn convinced she was smirking inside. Still, unhappy as he was, Micro made his way down to Mano's gloved hand and shrunk to smaller than the naked eye to see. Once committed, you didn't cross Cosmic King - he'd seen the evidence of what happened if you did. The only consolation for this stunt was that he might get the chance to deal some of the retribution on Dox if he tried to cross the Network.
Mano flicked his hand, and Micro was away. On his first tumble through the air, he saw Mano already disappearing through a yellow portal, and knew Meta would have gone first. Steering himself by kicking from dust particle to dust particle with strength that was well out of proportion to his size, he wished they had a bug they were willing to chance on Dox. Smart as he was, he couldn't be all-knowing, surely?
On landing in Dox's hair, still dust-mite sized, the first thing he did was barf.
[b]
To be continued
-------------------- My views are my own and do not reflect those of everyone else... and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Day Four of the Earth War, 8am EST Apartment of Shannon Manh & Luna dePaula
"Dani. Dani."
The pounding in Dani's head nearly obliterated the shaking on her shoulder as someone called her name. With what seemed like an obscene effort, she forced her eyelids open to see Shan standing over her, clearly dressed for work.
"Whatimeisit?" she mumbled.
"Just past eight. Luna wanted to wake you up earlier to see if you wanted a ride out to Westchester when she headed to the Grind Stone, but I said you'd need the extra time."
"D'I need to be gone when you go?"
"No," Shan chuckled, "I'd need to carry you out the door for that. I just wanted to check on you before I went to the library. Last night, you were a bit..."
"Self-pitying?"
"Not quite the word I was going to use."
"Y'wouldn't have been wrong." Trying to sit up, Dani settled for rolling onto her side. "I'm not usually like that, am I?"
"Don't worry, I never would have put up with you if you were!"
Swearing gently, Dani finally pulled herself upright; just as Shan glanced at the clock and cursed inwardly. She had to be out of the apartment within two minutes if she wanted to make her subway train for work. "Anyway, are you going to be okay? I need to get moving super-quick if I want to make it in on time."
"I'll be fine."
"All right." Shan wasn't entirely sure, but time was pressing and she couldn't afford to be late. Bosses waited for no friend. "If you need coffee, I'm pretty sure Luke and Naomi didn't drink all Luna's roast before they went to school. It's in the red tub beside the breadbin."
Dani forced a smile. "Thanks." Shan smiled back, nodded, and was gone a few moments later.
After a few minutes debating whether to try going back to sleep, Dani reluctantly pulled herself from the couch. Entering the kitchenette, she found that Shan’s young siblings had indeed left some coffee.
Five minutes later, she had a steaming mug of freshly-ground coffee in her hand. And as the coffee smell percolated through the room, and her multiplied-by-hangover morning fog began to dissipate, she began to realise that she was sitting in clothes she'd been wearing for twenty-four hours and stank of stale beer. Gagging on the realisation, she finished her coffee quickly, got her clothes into the washer/drier and headed for the bathroom.
Before stepping into the shower, she noticed a full-length mirror. She hadn't looked at herself properly since the silver-clad figure was revealed. She hadn't been able to bear it. If she was going to throw her self-pity in the bin where it belonged, though, she had to be able to face herself.
With care, she unpicked her trademark pair of braids and pulled her hair as tight as she could behind her head to have it out the way. Then she looked herself over. Unlike her double, her tan skin was almost unmarked - the only visible scars were a few whitish dots on her abdomen dating from a childhood bout of chickenpox. Stepping closer, she focused in on her face and neck. Both eyes were obviously present and correct, but ignoring that and the scars... Closing her eyes, she tried to compare. Did her... its... cheekbones show more? Was it just thinner? Was she just trying to invent additional differences?
She shook her head at the useless speculation and went to wash herself.
____________
9:30am EST LSH HQ
Stretching, Sofia walked into the cafeteria for a late breakfast. She and Sul had decided that one of them should be with Nori at all times in the hope she would awaken, and it had been her turn the night before. Tired as she was, though, she didn't feel that bad - after Sul had relieved her, instead of going straight for breakfast, she'd gone to the roof for a quick blast, which had helped matters.
As she twisted the lever to put milk on her cereal, she looked around - the cafeteria itself was nearly deserted - most of the Legion themselves were scattered far and wide, and she supposed the remaining few had already been and gone. The only other figure was another student watching over a comatose friend - the pink-haired Jennifer Adra ("Particon"), who'd been watching over Rocco McCloud solo - all of Rocco's friends bar Jennifer had evacuated; having been judged too young, not powerful enough or simply not good enough to be asked to stay behind and defend the school.
Noting that Jennifer was unenthusiastically nursing a glass of orange juice and nothing else, Sofia decided that she shouldn't be left alone - it was stressful enough taking shifts to watch over someone. Without asking, she slid into the bench opposite Jennifer at her table and said "I thought the doctor had told you to eat?"
Jennifer's head inched up slightly, so that Sofia couldn't see her eyes through her heavily-tinted glasses. "I'm not hungry."
"How is Rocco?"
"No different." She paused for a moment, then mumbled, "How's Noriko?"
"Unchanging." A few seconds of awkward silence ensued, before Sofia changed the subject yet again to try and get an actual conversation going. "So, how did your powers emerge?"
Jennifer looked at Sofia for a good three seconds. Evidently, she had three options - get up and walk away, stab her in the throat with her power lance, or submit to the questioning. And she was too tired for the first two just yet... "A few years ago, I was out walking and there was a crash and a bright flash over the hill. I ran over to see what it was, and there was this crater with a green rock in the middle. And since I was young and stupid, I picked the thing up. Straight away, I had this big pink lightsaber knock it out of my hand."
Rather than replying straight away, Sofia had a strange look on her face. "Did it feel strange to the touch, not like ordinary rock?"
"Yeah, it felt really weird. In fact, it felt like--" Jennifer was interrupted as Sofia's phone rang. She leaned back as the girl sitting opposite talked for a couple of minutes, not wanting to listen in.
When the call ended, Sofia turned back toward her, an apologetic look on her face, "Sorry, Dani wanted to know if the condition of Nori and Rocco had improved."
Exactly where they left off had slipped Jennifer's mind, so she just asked "I was just going to ask if you found one of those bizarre meteors too, then. Did it gave you your powers?"
"Yes, but it had landed quite some time, possibly days, before I reached it, rather than seeing it crash. As my power over the wind started, I nearly blew it away by accident, but held onto it and took it home to my mother - though my cousins grabbed it first. It did nothing with anyone else, however."
Jennifer sat back at that. She'd left an opening, and if she wasn't going to let her alone, at least she could do the talking. "Come on, then, what's your life story?
"There is not much to tell. I grew up in Caracas with my mother, near my cousins, and we were happy, even after I found the rock and my powers emerged. Then my mother died when I was thirteen and I was sent to my father in the USA. He did not like me, told me not to use my powers, and ignored me all he could, as did most others. Eventually, after half a year, I grew tired of being ignored. If Dani had not saved me, I do not know what would have happened."
"When you say you got tired of being ignored..."
Sofia blushed, "I caused a tornado in one of his stores."
Behind her glasses, Jennifer's eyes widened, "You were the Barrett store kid? AND the owner's daughter?"
"Yesss..."
Jennifer wanted to laugh, and pinched her leg to hold it in. "So that's how you hooked up with Moonstar? I wondered how a Native and a Latina 'daughter' two-thirds her age went together."
"She said she saw me on the news. I did not and have not asked why she took pity on me as she did. You should not question a generous act."
"That's one way to look at it." Before Sofia could continue, or change the subject again, Jennifer drained the last of her orange juice, made her excuses quickly and left. She was feeling like it was time to go see Rocco again. And pray.
Sofia, meanwhile, lingered a few moments longer. She had occasionally speculated why Dani had adopted her, and so saved her from her vengeful father. But there was always one, inescapable, thought underlying her speculation - it ultimately didn't matter. Whatever the original reason might have been, Dani had shown clearly in the couple of years since that she'd come to care about Sofia. And Sofia cared in return.
And whatever the double was (some attempt to frame Dani if the direct attack didn't work, to weaken the Academy or even get it closed down, Sofia thought), it was clearly taking a toll on Dani. She'd sounded better on the telephone than when Sofia had last seen her, but that could just be a brave face. Sofia sincerely hoped it wasn't.
____________
11am EST Shan & Luna's apartment
As Dani finished dressing, clipping her decorative belt of large green plates around her waistband, she decided finally what she was going to do. The only thing she could do, really.
From the call, Sofia had said she, Sul & Jennifer were fine and the others were at least stable - if Nori or Rocco woke up she would want to be there, but that could take five minutes, or weeks (Or never?). And while she'd briefly considered running away - sorry, "asking for some time off to get her head in order" - to the Colorado mountains where the cabin the grateful van Dynes had gifted her when paying her fee stood, that had never really been a serious option.
For three days she'd been on tenterhooks. Was that... thing... her future, was she condemned to be a murderer if she lived, was suicide the only way out? Now she knew - whatever it actually was - her future was unwritten, her choices were her own. And Shan was right. If she was going to be true to herself, she had no choice at all - she had to go back.
Besides anything else, after recent events, she didn't dare to leave Shikari in charge of her department when the younger kids returned soon.
Next: Back to School
-------------------- My views are my own and do not reflect those of everyone else... and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic | Subscribe To Topic
