Chapter 13
The Tomorrow Trilogy
by Pendragn
---Section 1: Star Fall
“But my liege, we really can’t afford to deny the Shi’Ar offers any longer. The plague has struck down nearly all of our trueblood centurions, and yourself...” Arak Daat, one of the four ruling councilors of Xandar, confided in Adora, Queen of Xandar. She looked at him, with tired eyes.
“Arak, I don’t TRUST the Shi’Ar! For months now they have been trying to bully their way into controlling Xandar, and then, when they threatened the trade embargoes that forced us to send Saal to Earth to discharge Richard Rider...” So much had happened in the short time since Xandar’s rebirth. Adora sometimes had difficulty keeping it all straight in her head.
“Then they, somehow, managed to bribe Coulter into letting them run surveillance spheres out of our centurion installations...” Adora knew she could not place all of that particular event’s blame on councilor Coulter. She too had thought keeping a closer eye on sectors under NovaCorps protection would be useful. How naive she had been.
The other councilor in the chamber with Adora, Meria Layc, placed her hand on top of Adora’s, feeling it shake from the many effects of the clonal degeneration. “Xandar is too powerful, too trusted, to be allowed to become part of the Shi’Ar. With our reputation, and the resources of the Nova-Force, the Shi’Ar would rule this universe uncontested, no power could stop them. We’ve taken a vote, your majesty, just amongst ourselves. I and Nohr are opposed to consolidation with the Empire, while Coulter and Arak...” Meria looked with deep contempt at her colleague across the room. “Well, I think you know where they stand. We need your decision, my Queen.”
The hissing sound of the automated door granted Adora a moment’s reprieve from answering the query of her advisors, as Nohr Vaul, the youngest of the advisors, entered. He looked visibly shaken. “My Queen, I have word from the World-Mind. The First Centurion has taken ill. It.. it is the degeneration, my liege.”
Adora touched her hand to her face, suppressing a shuddering sob. The First Centurion, as custom held, was her mate and dearest love. “If Tanak is ill, I have no choice. Alert Deathbird’s vessel. I am ready to discuss a merger.”
---
“Stop them!” Blasts of gravimetric energy tore from a small cluster of blue-skinned men standing guard in front of the door to the royal audience chamber, the energy colliding with Richard Rider’s chest, only to be absorbed.
As Dagger let fly a volley of light knives and Firestar disabled the temporarily stunned guards, Carlton peered around the corner and looked at the fallen corpsmen.
“Rich, why is it that not a single one of the centurions we’ve fought in the last 20 minutes has been Xandarian?”
---
Nohr Vaul looked at the endless rows of medical bays, lining what had once been the great auditorium, looking for all the world like a graveyard for those who are not yet dead, but no longer alive. The sounds of medical equipment echoed off of the vaulted ceilings, and the occasional sound of a lifesign leveling off into the flat line of the afterlife helped to shroud the room in a melancholy that suited Nohr’s mood. He stood there, waiting for Arak, anxious about what the near future held for the Xandarian people.
He heard the soft footfall of the eldest advisor behind him, and turned, looking upon his mentor in the soft light of the auditorium-cum-hospital. He did not look as though any of his worries had been alleviated by Adora’s decision.
Nohr spoke, hesitantly at first. “I failed. I sent Firelord to Earth, trying to retrieve the prime matrix, but he failed. Somehow, we lost contact with the ship, and Pyreus. I.. failed my queen. It must be as you said Arak, surely Rider’s matrix can heal the queen, but my attempts to obtain it have been failures. I can see no choice but to side with you and Coulter, Xandar must have the help of the Shi’Ar physicians...”
Arak looked at the youthful councilor, pride swelling on his face. “You have not failed your Queen, my boy, you’ve saved her! With your endorsement, we have complete agreement within the Council. Whether Adora likes it or not, Xandar and Shi’Ar shall become one, and this terrible sickness can end!”
“Complete agreement? But I thought Meria was still opposed...” Nohr looked confused, but as Arak placed a re-assuring hand on his shoulder, everything seemed to get better.
“Coulter is, even as we speak, convincing our female counterpart of the.. merits of siding with us. Now.. get some sleep, my boy. Tomorrow morning, when Deathbird arrives, we shall have a historic event upon our hands. You’re name will go down in history.. Nohr Vaul, the man who saved Xandar!” Arak ushered Nohr out of the auditorium, even as a quiet buzz began to come from his coat pocket.
Reaching inside and removing his communications device, just as the doors closed, Arak was greeted by the visage of a gray skinned nova centurion. “Lord Arak, the Terrans have reached Adora’s chamber! What do we do?”
“Fool! Had Nohr heard that Rider is here, you could have just ruined everything! It doesn’t matter what those Earthlings tell Adora now, we have unanimous consent among the council, she is powerless to stop us. Summon all corpsmen, and whatever you do, keep them contained in that chamber.”
“But sir, one of the terrans, the one with the Kymellian energies... he has made his way to the port and re-taken his starcraft! What do we do about him?”
“Blow the smartship out of the sky.”
---
“Richard!” Adora, Queen of Xandar, sat bolt upright in the combination throne-bed she was currently confined to, as, in a burst of microwave energy, the small contingent of New Warriors that had come to Xandar seeking to resolve the Shi’Ar/Xandarian conspiracy once and for all, entered the royal throne room.
“Oh my God...” Rich looked at the Queen, who had been, when he last saw her, a beautiful, vital young woman. Now she looked awful, her skin discolored and hanging loosely from her emaciated frame. Her hair was falling out, and her entire body seemed to be quivering. The only parts of her that retained the vivacity of her previous stature were her eyes. They gleamed with something that had become foreign to them in the times since Rider’s expulsion from the Nova corps. Hope.
Carlton approached the Queen, bowing awkwardly. “My lady, I haven’t had the pleasure. I am Carlton LaFroyge, otherwise known as Hindsight. My companions are Tandy Bowen, Dagger.. and the others I believe you’ve met, Angelica Jones-Astrovik, Firestar.. and...” Carlton began to realize how silly he sounded, telling Adora things that she obviously already knew, from the extensive surveillance Xandar had placed Earth under. “Your majesty, can.. can you tell us what’s happened here? We haven’t gotten a complete story from anyone in the past few hours.”
---
Plasma blasts detonated all around Friday, as the small and all-to-recently rebuilt Kymellian smartship attempted to do evasive maneuvering that it’s refurbished form was not equipped for. Inside, Alex Power, the sometimes-New Warrior known as Powerhouse, worked frantically at the controls, helping Friday compensate for some of the damage to her not-yet-complete guidance systems.
“I told them thirty minutes. I’ve given them an hour. Friday... take me home.”
“Alex, I really must advise against this...” the soft electronic voice of the smartship answered Alex’s command with the stern, parental tone that Friday had always used with the Power children.
“Now, Friday.”
With a flare of ion-driven thrusters, Friday maneuvered into position for escape trajectory, and launched into hyperspace, leaving the remaining four Warriors stranded very far from home.
---
“But it didn’t work! You told Nohr, when the epidemic first began, that a Nova-Force would overcome the disease. So I secretly forced mine in to the Queen. As a councilor, I could no longer serve actively with the Corps anyway...” Meria looked at Coulter, fear evident on her face. The two councilors stood in a small, dark room, somewhere far from prying eyes. Coulter knew of many such places.
“What I told Nohr was that the prime matrix would overcome the disease. You must have misheard me. But that doesn’t matter now. What matters is that I know that what you have done is what infected the Queen in the first place, and it’s only a matter of time before others find out as well. Wouldn’t it be better if she was cured when they learn this? The Shi’Ar can find the cure she needs!” Coulter was a weaselish fellow, and he was the most openly Shi’Ar supportive of all Xandarians. For some reason, everything he said in confidence always seemed to Meria like.. black mail.
“But what if we get the prime matrix? Can’t that still work...?” Meria was violently opposed to joining the Shi’Ar Imperium. She hoped, desperately, that there was some other way.
“Nohr tried and failed! And the Queen doesn’t have the time. What do you say, Meria? It’s your decision now. Does Adora live, or does she die?”
---
“My Lady, the Pendragon warship which we commandeered has returned to Xandarian space. What do we do with it?” the ensign aboard the Shi’Ar imperial cruiser spoke to the Majestrix through her dedicated comlink in the battle room. Deathbird was presently occupied with honing her combative skills as the cruiser made all haste back to Xandar to close the annexation of the small planet cluster into the greater glory of the Shi’Ar Imperium.
“Destroy it. We don’t need Arak or Nohr finding out we tried to kill their little cure-all, now do we? And don’t bother me again with something as obvious as this, or I’ll eat your heart.” Deathbird closed the comlink and returned to skewering the captured Kree soldiers with her broadsword. She couldn’t wait to run that same blade through the sniveling Xandarian Queen.
---
“And that about brings you up to speed.” Adora breathed heavily, the strain of telling the convoluted recent history of Xandar more difficult for her than she had anticipated.
“Well, let’s just do what we came for and leave folks. Tandy, if you would...” Nova paced, nervously. Something in Adora’s story didn’t fit right. If one of the councilors had sent for him to cure Adora, why hadn’t he been immediately taken to see her? Why the cell?
Tandy Bowen walked up to the Queen, and placed her hands on Adora’s shoulders. A soft white light began to pour from Tandy’s body, light which blinded and soothed all at once, light which infused Adora with the beauty and vitality that she had lost.
“Something’s wrong! I’m trying to purge the disease, but it’s attached to something! I can’t make it let go!” Tandy began to writhe, as the healing effect generated a crackling red feedback.
Carlton jotted notes in a notebook drawn hastily from his ‘utility belt’, and then he turned to Adora, his face alight with the thrill of discovery, even as Dagger grew weaker. “Queen Adora, you said all of the Xandarians in the NovaCorps are ill... but how many other Xandarians are?”
From between clenched teeth, Adora spat out her answer. “I’m the only non-corpsman infected so far.”
Suddenly the train of thought which Hindsight perused became clear to Nova as well. “It’s attached to the Nova-Force!”
“But I have no Nova-Force...” Adora began to lose consciousness, her eyes rolling back into her head, even as Dagger broke contact.
Touching her hand to Rich’s cheek, Tandy pulsed her healing light through his body, and felt the same grasping flutter of energy within him that she had felt within Adora. “She may not KNOW she has it, but Adora has one of these energy matrices in her. And as long as it’s there, it’s burning the cloned body out. I can heal her, but only if she gets rid of that thing.. and NOW, because she’s not going to last much longer.”
Carlton looked at Rich, naked longing in his eyes. “Did you just say that.. you have to find someplace to put a Nova-Force.. a host?” Hindsight made no effort to hide his desire to be a superhero. This could just be the chance he had waited all his life for. He dared not pass it up.
Adora’s body convulsed, and energy lanced out from her, striking Tandy and drawing her inner light out, forming an interwoven lattice of white and red light. Carlton shook his head as he realized that the decision as to who was going to take the matrix off of Adora’s hands was out of his control. Luckily, he’d grown used to rejection.
---
They were seated, in the small audience chamber aboard Deathbird’s cruiser. On one side of the table, Deathbird sat, surrounded by her entourage. The Imperial Guardsman, Gladiator, was on her left, and on her right, a mysterious figure clad in dark leather. He had intricate silver gauntlets and a belt of the same substance, as well as a visor which covered his eyes. To the right of this figure was Coulter.
The other side of the table was occupied by Arak, Meria, and Nohr, all of whom looked nervously at the empty seat, the seat where Adora belonged.
“It pains me to hear that your Queen is too ill to continue our negotiations, but Coulter tells me that.. you have come to a consensus?” Deathbird spoke in measured tones, but the way her feathers ruffled betrayed her haste. “I have the contract here. It just requires your signatures.”
Coulter pushed the heavy parchment across the table, gesturing for Arak to sign it. As the elder statesman placed his signature upon the sheet, an alarm klaxon sounded, and the Shi’Ar vessels computer elaborated on the situation.
*Warning. Chamber door under assault by high powered microwave emissions. Countermeasures ineffective. Structural failure imminent*
“Hurry! There are rebel factions from both our worlds who do not want to see this happen, and their forces are upon us. We must finish this!” Deathbird’s voice rose to a screech as Meria grudgingly signed the sheet, her eyes growing wide in disbelief at the red-hot material of the door, as it began to peel back and melt away.
“Microwaves.. but.. wasn’t one of Rider’s companions a microwave user...” Nohr hesitated, watching the door. Gladiator stood, his eyes smoldering.
“Sign it now.”
And as the ink from Nohr’s signature soaked into the parchment, Firestar finished off the reinforced doorway and was followed in her entrance by both Nova and Adora.
Deathbird laughed aloud, as Gladiator and the other figure moved in close to her. “You are too late, Adora! Your world is mine!”
---
Carlton LaFroyge was a computer expert, by his own standards. He had played with many of the best computer systems Earth had to offer, and for a brief time had used a Xandarian databank, on board a ship belonging to Firelord and Air-Walker. Now, using the full power of the World-Mind, in person, he was truly amazed.
“Well Tandy, I have the sequencers in the medical bay set. On Adora’s mark, you release the Nova-Force into the World-Mind, and it will automatically take the modifications your powers made to the matrix and incorporate them into the biological profile of every Xandarian affected by the degeneration.” Taking out his notebook again, Carlton quickly began jotting down schematic sketches of the World-Mind. If he had his way, he’d have one of these things for his own use, back on Earth.
Dagger stood, looking out the window of the World-Mind chamber, into the clear night sky. She wore the white and gold costume which the Nova-Force had supplied her with, and she could tell that this was not the only change to her that this alien energy had caused. “I can’t believe Alex left without us... he’s changed so much, since he and I served on the team together.”
“Well, we did sort of blow up his best friend. But he stole half the gear that he used to rebuild Friday from the Pad, so the way I see it, we’re all even. But something does bother me.”
“What’s that?” Tandy stepped away from the window, placing her hands on the receiver panel, waiting anxiously for Adora’s call.
“Some of the stuff he used, well.. it came from the Hydra complex. I didn’t have time to examine it all very closely, originally, but while we were on our way here, in Friday, I took a good look at the parts labels. He had the power cells from the Corruptor beam in Friday’s navigational systems and, well... they were labeled “Project: Day”. I’m curious what that means. If we ever catch up with Alex, I’ll have to ask him what else he found down there...”
---
Adora, Queen of Xandar, looked upon her councilors, eyes burning with rage. “What is the meaning of this? What have you done!?!”
Nohr and Meria leapt to her side, their tearful apologies overlapping, each confessing to their parts in the various machinations. Adora simply nodded at them by way of acknowledgment, and turned her attention back to Deathbird’s end of the table, even as Arak rose and returned to the side of his Queen.
“Coulter, don’t you belong on THIS side of the table?”
The sickly looking councilor rose, his face covered in a broad, triumphant grin. “My allegiance is to Shi’Ar now, Adora. As is yours...”
Nova pushed his way to the table, past the few Shi’Ar guards who had attempted to form a barrier between the two New Warriors and the proceedings. “Like hell it is!”
“What your man here says is true, Adora. Now, before you arouse my wrath.. on your knees.” Deathbird’s feathers bristled, and her lips curled back in a sneer which revealed a pair of teeth filed to razor points.
Adora clicked a small device on her belt, and almost immediately, the alarm klaxons sounded again, this time giving a different announcement to Deathbird and her crew.
*Warning. Xandar World-Mind generating unusual frequencies. Guards in medical bay report rapid recovery of Xandarian Centurions. Requesting commands*
“Very well, Majestrix. You may consider Xandar yours if you wish, but I tell you now, what you hold in your grasp is a world rife with rebellion. We’ll tear the biospheres apart before we allow you to step foot on our planet again.”
---
Deathbird parried yet another lunge by Adora. She held her left hand to her side, trying to slow the flow of blood from the wound she had already received, and glanced out the window of the small chamber, to the fight going on outside. Gladiator and Optax were holding their own against Nova and Firestar, but just seconds ago a third, brightly glowing figure, had entered the fray. A stinging slash to her shoulder brought the Shi’Ar Majestrix’s attention back to the fight at hand, and she renewed her assault on the rebellious Queen. Somehow, things were not going according to plan.
---
“So, what is it you do again? You shoot nothingness from your eyes? That helps you...how?” Firestar flew circles around the free-floating, nearly human looking Shi’Ar guardsman. She was avoiding cutting lose on him until she could more fully gauge his powers. She hoped this taunting tactic would lure some information out of her mysterious foe.
Optax didn’t even hesitate, releasing a pulse of gray light from his visor as Angelica completed her third loop, just barely avoiding the strange beam. “Silence. It gets me... silence...”
Not far away, Nova and Gladiator had engaged in a high-powered boxing match, the titanic strength of the two landing blows that would cripple mountains. But still, each pushed on. “Red, is that Dagger coming up over there? Since when could she fly?!”
“Must be a side-effect of absorbing Adora’s Nova-Force, I guess...” Firestar glanced aside, just for a moment, to see what Rich had been talking about. That opening was all that her assailant needed.
The gray light flared once, and the full measure of the blast struck Angelica. The brilliant glow of her microwave energies ceased. The indicator lights on her suit’s life support systems ceased. Her radio signal ceased. And Optax’s body flared a brilliant amber color, as he unleashed the sum total of all energy from Angelica’s now still form at Nova.
“ANGEL!” Richard Rider counted the red-headed mutant among his dearest friends. He was not about to see her die. Grabbing Gladiator by the cape, he spun the blue-skinned alien around, placing him immediately between himself and Optax’s oncoming energy release. The impact of said beam on the guardsman was spectacular, and it seemed to be enough to incapacitate him. For now.
Flying at the phenomenal speeds that had earned him the nickname “human rocket”, Nova raced Firestar back to Xandar, hoping he was not to late to keep her from suffocating.
And Optax turned his attention to the newcomer, the brilliantly glowing beacon of light that had launched from Xandar and provided the distraction Optax had needed. The New Warrior known as Dagger.
The white energy which formed the magnificent halo around Tandy was allowing her to not only breathe in space, but also fly at impressive speeds. Already, she could feel the enhancements to her own powers that the Nova-Force had given her. She knew she had it within her to beat this guardsman.
“You look.. new. Your power is different than any other I have seen. I shall enjoy.. nullifying you...” Again, Optax’s eyes released their harsh barrage. And rather than leap out of the way, combining the graceful agility she had honed for years and the near-cosmic flight afforded her by the power within her, Dagger simply opened herself, let her light flow outward, not pushing away the pulse, but instead embracing it. Absorbing it.
“What? That’s not possible! My energies can NOT be absorbed by corpsmen! That is why I am here...” Optax engaged a small thrusting device built into his boots, realizing that the advantage he had was lost.
Despite all that had changed within her, Tandy knew that her greatest power was still with her, slightly stronger, but otherwise unchanged. With a violent throwing motion, Tandy Bowen unleashed a pair of blazing light knives, watching as the comets of radiance collided with the guardsman, and propelled him into the side of the Shi’Ar vessel, knocking him unconscious.
Grabbing his limp form, Dagger returned to the surface of Xandar, even as the mighty imperial cruiser released it’s docking clamp and began to enter escape trajectory.
It seemed as though Adora had won.
---
They spent the next three days helping Adora’s forces drive the few remaining clusters of Shi’Ar troops out of Xandarian space. While the victory was temporary at best, it was still a victory. But it had not come without a price.
Rich stood at the side of Adora, as she looked upon the burial chamber which contained the First Centurion.. the only Xandarian who had not recovered from the plague once Dagger’s modified matrix had been introduced to the World-Mind. Adora had lost her beloved husband. More importantly, Xandar had lost it’s general.
“Rich, I have something to ask of you. I do not order you to do this. But I do beg you to consider. Until we re-organize the government, and replenish the ranks of the NovaCorps.. Xandar is vulnerable to the Shi’Ar counter strike.” Adora looked deep into Nova’s eyes, her tone bordering upon pleading.
“What are you saying Adora? You want me to give you back my powers? I came all this way to avoid giving this up, and now you’re trying to GUILT me into returning them?”
“No, Richard.. I am asking you to stay on Xandar and help us prepare for the coming war.”
---End Section 1: Star Fall
---Interlude 1: Father’s Sins
Sirens flared as New York’s Code Blue police agency packed Heidi Franklin, James Sharp, and Dwight Hubbard into an armored detention van. The trio, all that remained of the villains-turned-heroes-turned-villains-again Psionex, had voluntarily turned themselves in to Police, citing a need to pay for their crimes. While the police psychologists were baffled, the DA had no problem accepting their confessions. It was nice to see everything all tied up in a nice, neat package, for once.
And as the doors closed on the van, and it drove away from the Cheetah Club, Donyell Taylor, the former New Warrior most frequently known as Bandit, fired a swingline to a neighboring building from his rooftop vantage point, heading into the heart of Manhattan. He had a few questions for.. his benefactor.
---
The concealed entranceway Bandit used to enter the plush offices of Edenfall Enterprises opened, and the young superhuman found himself face to face with his benefactor for the first time in months. But somehow, he had to know what was going on, with Sil, Mathemanic, Psionex, everything.
“Sir, I know you said only to come and see you in emergencies, but.. what’s gone on these past few days, I can’t think of anything more urgent.” Bandit collapsed into an office chair, trying to see into the shadows, to make out a more definite form of the man who had asked to be referred by the strange title “Viper’s Whisper”.
The man replied, his voice thick, heavy, sounding almost alien to Bandit, but at the same time, soothing. “Now my boy, we’ve known each other for a long time now. Why, when we first met, back in Chicago, you hadn’t even learned the truth about your family. Look at all I have done for you. All the... help... I have given you. Help finding your brother. Help with everything. Don’t tell me that you’ve failed me... that would make me very unhappy...”
Bandit suddenly felt overwhelmingly guilty, deeply saddened that he could betray this man, who meant so much to him. But then, almost like a burst of insight, he realized that these feelings.. were not his own.
“We lost contact with you, Psionex and me and Sil, shortly after the bombing run on the Stock Exchange. Since then, I guess.. for some reason, Mathy was messing with all of our heads. Well, we finally broke out of it, and.. now Sil’s gone. And Psionex, they turned themselves into the police today! You promised, when I brought Sil to you.. you promised you could make her stay with me forever. I... can’t live without her.”
Viper’s Whisper, a name he had earned during a trip to Israel many months ago, slowly strummed his fingers on the mahogany desk before him. “Leave me, Bandit. Take Cloak and fetch the next person on the list, and take them to the farmhouse. I’ll deal with Silhouette.” As he spoke, the mysterious man used his phenomenal powers, pushing against Bandit’s mind, seeking to bend it to his will. Again, as it had mere moments before, it seemed to defy him, but he renewed his assault, and his subtle manipulations once more took hold.
Bandit stood and walked out the door, silent, glad that things would work out. Things always worked out when the Master was involved.
As the door swung closed, the man secluded in shadow closed his eyes, and taped into the mind of his other servant, Cloak. He pushed into the mind, swimming in it’s despair, noting to use that later, and ducked into the darkforce dimension. Once there, he created a construct he had grown most fond of, a pair of eyes, seemingly made of liquid shadow, which served as communications and spying apertures. His shadow eyes flickered a few times, seeing a some faces familiar to his servants, and finally coming to rest on the sleeping form of Silhouette Chord. She lay in a dark room, somewhere far from New York. Her mind, already touched by Viper’s Whisper’s power, called to her, and he saw that the veils of confusion he had placed within her still held.
As he closed his shadow eyes and returned his attention to the room around him, he contemplated his scheming. Soon, those who had cost him so much would pay, pay in ways they could only imagine. And it didn’t matter if they found Silhouette or not. She belonged to him. And the search.. the search was buying him time to gather the last few sinners he needed...
Psionex had outgrown their usefulness. They had been a liability, and he had taken care of them, in a way that would never lead anyone back to him. He only hoped that Bandit and Cloak did not prove to be equally troublesome.
---End Interlude 1: Father’s Sins
---Section 2: Shadow Past
“You can speak to the prisoner for only a brief time Mr. Taylor. He’s been acting up lately.” The guard spoke to Dwayne Taylor with the deferential tone that often accompanied the speech of the common man to the rich.
“Has he been using his powers?”
“No sir, so far, he’s kept his promise to be a normal prisoner. We don’t think he wants to escape, but he’s been starting little fights for weeks now. He’s bad for morale.”
“Well, this won’t take long. If I can just have about 3 minutes alone with him?”
“Sure thing sir.” And the guard slipped out the door, as the prisoner in question sat down at the chair on the other side of the reinforced glass window.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Dwayne asked, tentatively. The figure on the other side simply nodded.
“I need you to do me a favor.” Another nod.
“I’m going to get this receiver planted in your cell tonight. When it beeps, I want you to seal off access for as long as you can. Do you understand me?” Another nod.
“Help me with this and you can name your price.”
A smile.
---
The two men who rode in the private helicopter owned by the Taylor Foundation had a very difficult history. They were blood brothers, both sworn to a life fighting crime, and then, the nervousness of one cost them both the health of one they held dear. From that moment on, Dwayne Taylor and Midnight’s Fire had been bitter enemies, and rivals unrelenting. But now, after hearing what Fire had to say, about a horribly confused and hurt Silhouette, Dwayne had to get to the bottom of this.
Sprocket called into the back seat, where the two young men sat, glaring at each other. “You aint killed the little @#$% yet, have you Dwayne? I really wanna watch you beat his head in, so don’t get in a hurry...”
Dwayne diverted his eyes from Fire just long enough to give his pilot and friend a reprimanding look. “Just get us to Madripoor, Sprock.”
“Don’t look at me that way, boy, or I’ll drop your haughty little ass off right here.” Sprocket gave the helicopter a sharp dip, causing a look of panic to race across the faces of both her passengers.
Laughing, Amelia Barnhardt continued on her course, happy to be getting involved in the super-heroics of Dwayne’s life once more. She had missed this job.
---
Her head hurt. Whenever she tried to focus her thoughts, Silhouette Chord found her mind brushing against an intangible, invisible barrier. She was so confused. She had memories of two distinct individuals. One was her, the other was.. something else. What made her head hurt was, without being able to concentrate on her memories, she was losing track of which set of them was her own.
---
As the chopper set down on the heli-pad of the newly opened Taylor Foundation Madripoor Offices, an aging oriental man approached the disembarking form of Dwayne Taylor.
“Masahiko!” Dwayne exclaimed as he saw, for the first time in months, the world-famous martial artist he had been training under during his first few weeks away from the Warriors. He bowed formally, and Masahiko did likewise, then they exchanged a handshake. “I’m so glad you could be here. When we go back, which, with any luck, will be soon, I have a student back in New York that’s just dying to meet you.”
“My sister, Taylor. We are here to help my sister. Not to catch up with old friends.” Midnight’s Fire extricated himself from the helicopter, and walked up beside Dwayne.
Masahiko bowed at Fire and said, simply, “You move with grace like the cat.” Fire made no bow, nor reply. Instead, he cocked his ear to the sky, as if listening for something.
Suddenly, Masahiko lunged, sending a powerful kick at Fire’s head. His superhuman reflexes kicking in, Midnight’s Fire spun out of the way, and as he prepared to land a kick on Masahiko, found his opponent vanished. He turned back, towards Dwayne, only to find the small Japanese man there, and he watched, in a detached, surreal way, as the man struck a powerful blow to his groin.
“Respect your elders, or you will find that your grace becomes most mule like, and your voice.. like that of a small boy.” Masahiko bowed once more, and walked inside the building. Suppressing a laugh, Dwayne offered his hand to Fire, who merely swatted it away.
“We have much to do.”
---
She was all around him. Her smell brushed across his nose whenever the wind shifted. His beautiful daughter, struck down so long ago. He had taken her power for his own, and left her alone. When he had finally been able to return, she was gone. He had followed her energy trail so far, to here, Madripoor. His beautiful daughter was dead, but if anyone knew that death was simply an obstacle to overcome, it was Diego Caseas.
---
“But I left her here! I don’t know where she would have gone! She was in no condition to go out alone...” Fire pounded his fist against the wall of the small apartment he and Sil had been staying in. She was no where to be found, her belongings still in her closet. And most peculiarly, her braces were leaning against the wall.
“I’d say she was taken by someone. I don’t see signs of struggle, but, you and I both know, she can’t have left here alone without these...” Dwayne held the braces in his hand, feeling the smooth metal that served as a constant reminder of how he had failed her in the past.
Suddenly, flickering just outside his vision, Dwayne saw a pair of eyes, made of a dripping, fluid darkness. As he turned to gaze upon them, his mind set to ringing. He felt the dull throbbing in his mind, the throbbing that had been a part of him ever since Tai clouded his mind all those years ago. And then, the eyes seemed to blink away, moving at rapid speeds away form the apartment.
Fire looked at Dwayne, concern evident on his face. “I think that whatever they were looking for isn’t here... and I think you should get some of that armor of yours on.”
---
He had come every hour on the hour for the last day. Every time, he simply placed his hand on her forehead, and whispered words she could not understand. And when he left, the veil in her mind was a bit weaker, but the memories that were not hers.. were stronger. Or was she wrong? Were those her memories returning, and those that were the other person’s fading? She was Silhouette Caseas, of course the memories of hers were strengthening. Why would this man who felt so familiar be trying to extinguish her mind? She was Maria Chord. of course her memories were strengthening. Wait.. what was her name?
---
“I am so out of practice with this stuff...” Dwayne adjusted straps on the suit of armor he had brought with him, as another crash came from within the small bar near the docks that Fire had insisted they come to. The armor he wore was nearly identical to his first armor, and it had literally been years since Dwayne had used this suit. He was suddenly even more sure that his decision to get out of the hero game was the right one.
In an amazing burst of speed, Fire returned to the street, and he brought with him a very familiar face. Dressed in heavy brown kevlar, and wearing chains and massive claws, Night Thrasher gazed upon Smiling Tiger for the first time in months. “What did we need him for again?”
“The Tiger here can track my sister’s scent. He may not be happy to be working with you again, but he knows better than to anger me.”
And with that, the trio who had once composed half of the mysterious Folding Circle began a chase across the criminal capital of the world. Smiling Tiger latched on to Sil’s scent easily, and, with great effort, Dwayne was able to keep up with the two superhumans. And the trail led to a place lost amid the ruins of the slums. The reek of human waste permeated the air, and both Fire and the Tiger, with their enhanced senses, reeled from the assault. Dwayne thanked Chord for his suggestion of putting air filters in the Night Thrasher helmet, and kicked in the door to the building Tiger had indicated.
“Sil! Sil, are you in here?” The infrared sights in the helmet kicked in, but Dwayne could make out very little within the small building. Then, a voice which he had hoped to never hear again replied to his query.
“No. Silhouette is not here. Silhouette is never going to be anywhere again. But perhaps you would like to meet my daughter, Maria Caseas.”
A swirling tide of black energy swept over Dwayne, Fire, and Tiger, washing away any semblance of consciousness.
---
“Ah yes, you are awake. My circle, it seems, has once more begun to fold.” Diego Caseas, the former leader of the Folding Circle, paced the length of the small room, in front of his three captives, who were held suspended in mid-air by tendrils of darkforce. The otherdimensional energy, a source of power for Cloak and Silhouette, was also the source of many New Warriors problems over the years, particularly during the incident with the being known as Darkling.
While Dwayne had not been a part of that situation, he had heard stories. The fact that Left Hand had as much control over the Darkforce as he did was frightening enough. But the knowledge that he was also an accomplished mystic was more than enough to strike terror into the assembled captives.
“What have you done with my sister, madman!” Fire struggled against his bonds, to no avail.
“As I said before, boy, your sister is no more. But my daughter is dying to meet you.”
Diego clapped his hands, and from the side room entered a figure which broke Dwayne’s heart. Sil entered, walking on her own legs, wrapped in a thin black mist. She wore a golden torque around her neck, and she looked strikingly similar to...
“Asylum! Then, is the story true...? But.... this makes no sense...”
---
The janitorial staff of Edenfall Enterprises was efficient, but sometimes, the tiny little slips of paper that made up the memos often sent out by the CEO fell between the desk and the wall. And, if one were to read these scraps, one might find one that read something like this.
“Mr. Caseas: I have looked into your inquiries about suitable super-human hosts. The number of female darkforce manipulators is limited, but I believe there is a young woman in Madripoor who will fill your needs nicely. Your powers should enable you to overtake her easily, and she has a somewhat personal connection to your own past. Best of luck in your endeavors, and I assure you, she is already quite... confused. And that I have done at no extra charge. We hope for your continued patronage. --Whisper”
---
“Robbie didn’t kill your daughter!” Dwayne contorted in agony as, yet again, the Left Hand blasted him with his energies. Already both Fire and Tiger had lost consciousness, reduced to gibbering fools by “Asylum’s” misty shroud. But Dwayne’s mind was protected, somehow, and that left him to the tender mercies of Diego. “We scatter her, she reforms! And dammit, before today, NOBODY knew who Asylum really was! Genetech never gave us a profile on her real identity..”
“That is not acceptable, Night Thrasher. You cost me something that was dear to me, and now I have taken what is dear to you.. and used it to replace my loss. And now.. my use for you has ended. Perhaps you would like to be sent to the Pit, where you can join Tai for all eternity!” The Left Hand motioned strangely with his hand, and a swirling vortex opened above Dwayne’s head.
“Tai isn’t dead?” Terror turned the blood coursing through Night Thrasher’s veins to ice. He didn’t have a chance against Tai.. not now.. not like this.
“She’s as dead as I am... but I am more clever. She can’t escape the Pit, the void formed by the collapsing Well of All Things. Neither could I, for quite some time. Until I felt the Darkforce flood into this world. When that portal opened, I simply.. followed. Now, I don’t want Tai here, with me. But I am happy to send you to her. When you see her, tell her what lovely things I have done to her granddaughter...”
Dwayne Taylor began to float upward, into the portal. He had little choice, as he bit down on the small device in his mouth. The transmitter flared to life, and broadcast a quick signal to a prison in New York...
---
Henrique Manuel Gallante heard the signal go off, and as he was asked, he reached out with his powers, sealing all access points between the Darkforce dimension and Earth. For a few minutes, all darkforce-based super beings would be rendered.. powerless.
---
“What is this? How...” The bonds which imprisoned Dwayne, Fire, and Tiger dissolved, even as the portal sealed and the energy which perpetually boiled around Diego’s left hand ceased to be.
“I had actually set up this plan to keep Sil from running. But.. things just didn’t work to your advantage, did they, Caseas?” Dwayne brought his escrim stick down hard across Left Hand’s head, causing him to collapse.
“FATHER!!” Asylum/Silhouette lunged at Dwayne, her misty form unchecked by the darkforce failure.
Dwayne caught her, and the pair rolled to the floor, wrestling. Fire and Tiger watched, but it was hard to see what was happening. The black mists generated by the Asylum personality in Sil’s mind obscured the combatants from view, and Fire cursed his own weakness for not being able to withstand the mind-altering cloud long enough to help free his sister.
Finally, after minutes that seemed to last for hours, Dwayne realized what he had to do to bring Sil’s personality back to the fore.
“Sil.. I know you are in there. You have to fight this.. fight it for me. Fight it for your brother, and Chord..” The look in her eyes did not waver. Only hate burned in her heart.
As he rolled her over, pinning her beneath his considerable frame, Dwayne Taylor made a sacrifice unlike any he had ever made before. “Sil, you have to come back.. for... Bandit.”
“Dwayne? Is that you....?” and once more, the eyes were those of the woman Dwayne loved more than life itself. Tears streamed down his face, but they were not tears of joy.
“Yeah Sil, it’s me. Come on, let’s get you home.. and this time, you are going to get the help you need...”
---End Section 2: Shadow Past
---Interlude 2: Mother’s Sins
She ran her fingers through her long dark hair once more, while she waited. Dana Cannon had been waiting for thirty minutes, but her psychologist was late. This was a new one today. She had liked Dr. Carter. Too bad he hadn’t liked her.
Finally, the young woman saw the door into the office open, and in entered a woman of middle years, with short hair, dressed in a business suit.
“Dana, I’m going to be your new doctor. My name is Helen. Now.. I know you’ve done this all before, but I have to ask you a few questions to get acquainted with you, OK?”
“Sure thing Helen. Say... how is Dr. Carter doing? Did.. did he say why he wouldn’t be seeing me any more?”
Looking up abruptly, the doctor said, with a catch in her voice... “Dr. Carter killed himself last week. Tuesday night.”
“Oh. Then.. does that mean... that I was...” Dana began to get worked up, a few tears streaming down her plump face. She had freckles and wore a heavy turtleneck, and looked so sad, sitting there. Helen got up, and sat in the chair next to her.
“Yes, Dana, you were the last one to see Dr. Carter. But don’t you think anything of that, this was NOT your fault...”
Tears openly streaming down her face, Dana turned to Helen, and whispered softly, “Can I go? I really don’t think I can do this today...”
“Well... yes, that’s fine. Go on home. But remember Dana, this was not your fault, and I don’t want you to think anything like that! You have a good night, OK?”
“Thanks Dr. Helen. I’ll see you later. Good night.”
---
Helen Smith had been a teen psychologist for years, and the profile she was looking at, on her newest patient, was nothing she hadn’t seen before.
Dana Cannon was diagnosed with a mental disorder that caused her to seek solace from her mental problems in food. While she had been working to overcome this problem, she was still under doctor’s orders to seek therapy. She was a relatively healthy 19 year old, just starting college at ESU, working as an intern on the set of Secret Hospital, and a part time baby sitter for Jim and Margaret Power. She was diagnosed with chronic low self-esteem, and had frequent headaches. That wasn’t so bad. This girl was one of the lucky ones. She had grown up in an abusive home, but an uncle had set her up with other family members and was helping to put her through college. She had people who cared about her. She was one of the lucky ones. She’d be fine.
Helen Smith looked at the pictures of her three young daughters, on her desk, and suddenly, thinking back to Amy, she realized, that Dana would not be fine. She would never be better, she was destined to lead a miserable life. And it wasn’t for lack of trying. It was because the psychologists who worked with her were not good enough. Helen was not good enough. Helen was a failure, a disgrace.
Touching each picture, Grace, her 11 year old... Jean, her 9 year old... and little Sue, who would be 4 tomorrow... Helen realized, as a single tear slipped free of her eye... she realized what a miserable failure she was. She glanced out the window, at the 10 stories below her.
And she opened the window.
And as she took that step, all she could think of was how completely inadequate she was.
And in the morning, little Sue’s birthday present was a phone call from the NYPD, alerting the family of the horrible events of the night before.
---End Interlude 2: Mother’s Sins
---Section 3: Renewal
From the Journal of Michiko Musashi.
--I started writing this journal as an assignment for a journalism class, but, well, since starting today it is including all of my Turbo experiences, it probably wouldn’t be such a good idea to use it in class. But so much is happening right now, I have to write it down. It’s times when I feel this way that I know I have taken the right major, the right calling. I really do love journalism.
Well, today was crazy. I was helping Rina and Robbie move more of their stuff into Four Freedoms Plaza, when suddenly Trey ran in and told us that Mathy had started acting strange. When isn’t Mathy acting strange? But he was gibbering about losing control. We tried to calm him down, but I don’t think we did much good. Finally he left, saying that he was going to hide with the Thinker, he was muttering something about not wanting to be here for the final battle. I really wish we all understood him better. But, it’s not like we had any right to hold him, he had saved our lives after all. Or so he says.
Oh! I almost forgot! Dwayne went to Madripoor with Midnight’s Fire today, and somehow, Vance ended up with a mild concussion! When Angel gets back from space, she’s gonna have Dwayne’s head.
--Well, it’s been about a week since I last had time to write. Between midterms and a flying trip to Paris to help Darkhawk out with some weirdness with some creatures called The Ruined, (Just me and him! I never noticed it before, but Chris is a really nice guy... but anyways....) I am surprised I even bothered to write again. But today was full of introspection, so I thought I’d come bother you again, my little journal.
Went and visited Sil and Laura in the hospital today. The doctors say all of the Xandarian junk in Laura’s system is finally purged, and they released her today. She was happy to go, but upset with herself, for being used against Rich. She’s a real sweet girl, I hope Rider doesn’t screw things up between him and her too badly. That is, if he ever gets back from space. We’re starting to get worried.
And Sil... Dwayne hasn’t really left the hospital since they put her in. There’s a whole team of shrinks trying to figure out the extent of the damage Left Hand’s mucking about did to her. And the weird thing is, my visor picks up traces of two separate mind altering events. It’s amazing the things this visor sees. Mike would have loved to know how sophisticated the suit is getting.
I miss you Mike. The Warriors aren’t the same without you.
--Well, don’t get used to it or anything, but here I am, writing in two days in a row. Alex came back today. With Friday, banged up, but alive. What worries me is that Alex came back alone. No Angel, or Rich, or Carlton, or Tandy. Vance is near breakdown. He’s been petitioning the Avengers to give him a quinjet to head for Xandar. Luckily, Iron Man seems to have headed that off. Angel told me once that Vance had gotten really protective recently, but this is ridiculous.
I’m sure they’re all right. Oh! Alex wants to stay with the team, and, since we haven’t really GOT a team right now, nobody told him no. But I figured, the way he was acting when we asked him for help with Firelord, that, well.. guess I thought he hated us.
--It’s been two weeks since I last wrote, and we’ve received no communication from our space lost teammates. Speedy finally found Neils (his cat. Don’t look at me like that. This cat bounces.. and, well.. I guess that does sound stupid.), or rather, some kid who saw Robbie’s add on the internet found him. In Colorado. He crashed into the offices that this kid’s dad runs or something. Some comic book review magazine or something. The Comic Reader? I dunno. I’m just telling you about it because, well... it seems like something you’d like to know.
And Nita came back today. You’ll never believe this, but she looks normal again! I mean, I didn’t have a problem with her Kymaera look, but now, wow! She’s even more beautiful than before. And her powers changed too, it’s strange. She’s a bit stronger, and now she can turn invisible! She also makes acid from her hands, and has better control over her electrical reflection powers. I was worried about Carl and Tandy and Angel and Rich, so, I bet you’ll laugh at me, but I took notes about Nita’s powers so that when Carlton gets back he can update that New Warriors computer game he made.
--Another week, but this time, great news! The space-goers have returned! Not only that, but Dwayne has finally got the major reconstruction on the Crash Pad done! So much is going on right now! You’d love to be here. Dagger, well.. wow. Somehow she managed to absorb a part of a nova-force (whatever that is.. I think it’s what gives Nova his powers) and it’s given her this gorgeous morphing costume like Rich had, only its white and gold, and doesn’t have that dorky helmet. She’s modified it to be closer to her original, and it’s just... great. Speaking of which, I found some more of your armor designs, and I think I am going to try and change the Turbo suit again. Wish me luck.
Some bad news. Rich stayed in space. He’ll be back, as soon as he can, and he sent word that he’ll miss us all, but I can’t help but feel abandoned. He was there for me when you.. well.. anyways. On the brighter side, the ship the Xandarians gave to the guys, it’s not so much a starship as a big hoverpod with a stardrive, so Carlton thinks we can modify it and get it to work as a sort of transport. That’ll be great, what with us not having a vehicle since Thrash left and took Sprocket with him. (or so everyone tells me. I was never really around Amelia, but she seems really cool.)
Speaking of teams.. we still don’t have much of one. Dwayne and Trey have been off doing.. something, for weeks now. Rage and Speedy and Rina are here at the Plaza all of the time, me, I’m at class. Vance and Angel are back to their lives, and Nita is overseeing the construction at the Pad, just to have something to do, I think.
Tandy went out to find Cloak. This is just a guess, but between you and me, I don’t think he’s gonna take her changes very well. She can fly now! She can absorb energy like Rich used to.. no energy pulses or strength, but she still has her healing light and light knives.. I guess it looks to me like she doesn’t NEED Cloak anymore. Not the way I need you. I’ll talk again soon.
--Well. It’s been 4 weeks. I guess I don’t really have an excuse for myself, you know me well enough to see through one if I tried. But in these four weeks, things have changed so much.
Well, first things first. We have a base again! The Crash Pad is finished, and Dwayne put in tons of new equipment, mostly in the gym and in the computer/lab, for Carlton. We still aren’t X-Men or Avengers here, but Dwayne said, when we first walked in, that he had some new ideas for the New Warriors, and well, man.. I can’t get my hand to write this fast enough. I miss having you right here to listen to me babble, you know.
OK. Between the new Pad and the Warjet (Carlton named it, blame him, not me... ), our equipment needs are pretty much filled. That leaves a roster, doesn’t it. Well, yours truly made the cut (but it should be you, not me...), along with Nita (she plans on leading, and I think she has a lot better knack for it that any of the rest of us...) and Speedball, but since they are the only founders still willing and able to be active, I guess they are assumed to be in.
Also in is Thrasher. You remember me writing about Trey, right? Well, all that time he spent with Dwayne was also time spent with some ninja-karate guy named Masahito, who taught Trey a lot more martial arts discipline than he had before. I don’t mean kung fu moves so much as I mean mental discipline. Trey still has a hell of a temper, but he’s also able to work with the team now. I blame part of that on Nova being gone. But Thrasher is in, wearing a lighter version of the armor, more martial artist than Iron Man wannabe. I like it, and to be honest, I am starting to like Trey too. Just as a friend! Don’t get jealous Mr. Jeffries!
Speaking of armor designs... I did use one of yours to revamp the suit again. Still black (it looks better with my hair), this suit has more streamlined turbines, but they have more fine motor control. With concentration, I can almost pull off a semblance of telekinesis! Sure, I’m no Vance, but you were right about the fan control changes you suggested! I also added some more scanning gear to the visor. It helps make up for Rich’s absence and Trey’s new armor’s lack of a CPU.
Finishing out the team are Dagger (I told you about her new powers earlier, well, she’s getting better with them, its really exciting! And I guess she never did find Cloak...) and Alex Power. Surprised by the last one? You aren’t the only one. Personally, I think that they all agreed to it as a way to repay him for what they did to Friday. But Carlton.. I think Carlton is using that adage about keeping friends close and enemies closer. He doesn’t trust Alex much. Can’t say as that I blame him, but.. I’ll never understand men. That’s why I had you.. to translate for me...
Since school is out for the summer, Rage is with us too, and man, is he changed. He’s as strong as ever, but now he doesn’t get mad! He’s really mellow, it’s almost as if all of the anger and wrath has been bled out of him. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining, and I love to see Robbie and him together, but it’s weird.
So Nita, me, Robbie, Dagger, Alex, Trey, and Rage. Not bad. When Sil gets out of the hospital she might rejoin too, but.. we don’t want to push her. Things have been rough on her. We still haven’t got a clue about the first mind-control signal I detected. So maybe it’s better that Sil’s still in the hospital.
Oh! Before I go, Dwayne had something neat to say. I recorded his speech (practicing for the big time...) and copied it here for you...
“For the last year, the Warriors have been a loose knit family, not a team. Weirdness with Psionex and a single incident of interstellar conflict not withstanding, as a team, you guys haven’t been doing much protecting the common man at all since you reformed. Well, don’t think I’m criticizing you. I wasn’t here, so you can’t be helped for your mistakes. Well, now I’m back. Sort of. I’m going to lead this team, financially, and administratively. I’ll be on the combadge with you when you go into a situation, and I’ll try my best to give you the benefit of my knowledge. Just like the rest of your support staff, Carlton and Rina, will. But my days in the field are over. I’ll help you find wrongs to right, and I promise, as per Nita’s request, the mission statement of our little family here has changed.”
“No more fighting muggers and drug dealers. Well, no more focusing on them. From now on, we fight whatever fight we feel needs fighting. Every one of us, active, inactive, watch the news. Read the paper. And when you find something that the Warriors can do to make a difference, even if its not earth shaking, but saving one person in a country on the other side of the world, it’s Warriors business. We may not be the setup the Avengers are, but that’s an ADVANTAGE, not a hindrance. From now on, the Warriors fight the kinds of crime that need fighting. Anywhere. Welcome to the first day of our new mission folks. Now, about that family thing.. let’s get some dinner. Public speaking takes a lot out of me!”
It’s more like the superhero setup you always wanted to be part of Mike. Now more than ever. Mike...
I know you can’t hear me. But sometimes when I’m writing, I forget that you’re gone, and I can feel you breathing down the back of my neck, looking at my every word.
So these words.. they’ve been for you.
---End Section 3: Renewal
---Epilogue: Original Sins
Dana Cannon looked at the newspaper headline again. And once again, she felt miserable. She sat in the small apartment that she lived in, alone, and read the article again. Dr. Smith had killed herself the night before.. that made two doctors in a row that had killed themselves after seeing Dana. And the one before that, Dr. Jamisol, had been institutionalized for severe depression. Amy seemed to leave a trail of destruction wherever she went. Uncle David had tried to get her a better life, and look what he got for his trouble, a worthless niece who was fat and ugly and was so worthless that everyone around her felt even more worthless.
She knew better than this, but Dana couldn’t help it. She opened the freezer and took out the ice cream. And she ate.
That’s when the temperature in the room dropped, and the lights flickered. And then, a man with a cut off glove, he stepped out of a man who was more cape than man. He spoke in a measured, oily voice that obviously did not belong to this body. Somehow, Dana could feel the presence of something dribbling across her mind.
“Dana Cannon, you are a glutton, you are one who has been raised to believe that you are worthless and because of that, you have turned to any means possible to make yourself feel better. What you don’t know, is that your misery has tainted a mighty gift within you, and because of this.. you ruin the lives of all those around you. You are a Psiphon, one who destroys the brightest emotions of those around her. And it is this reason which has caused me to seek you out. Come with me, Dana. Be my Psiphon.”
“No.. you don’t want me. There are better people than me... there are stronger people. Go away.. leave me alone!” Dana panicked, and in her despair, latent empathic power welled up, and the gloved figure was driven back, into the billowing folds of the one he called his steed.
“Perhaps you are right, girl. Perhaps I don’t want you to come with me...”
Dana fled out of her apartment, running for the Power family’s brownstone, where she would baby-sit for Jack and Katie Power.
And within his office, Viper’s Whisper finished his thought...
“Perhaps you can do more damage right where you are.”
---End Epilogue: Original Sins
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