RichGenX

Attention: Generation X and their villains, as well as any other mutant mentioned in this story, is property of Marvel Comics. The character Richard Cale is named after family relations. Any other reference to anything copyrighted is a chance happening.

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Reflections On The Emplate War

Chapter 1: A Savior Appears (Audio)(Original)

It had been a most aggravating morning at the Xavier Institute. It had begun when Sean and Emma had arrived with all their charges, and given that they arrived in a rental vehicle, it was obvious that the cause was not a good one. It had been fortunate that when Emma had contacted the school as they arrived, it had been Dr. Hank McCoy who had answered the call.

Hank McCoy, also known as Beast, was one of the best minds on the planet. In fact, his scientific mind was one of the best to handle the situations that he was facing. The teenager that was now in his own office was sitting in a chair, keeping up an apparent air of defiance, no doubt due to the information he could get about the events that had happened. In fact, the suspicions that were voiced about the child being a time traveler had prompted him to request someone else to be present for when he started to find out the course of events that led to this moment.

As he looked at the young man, trying to determine what he could of the mutant that saved Richard Cale and Penance from Emplate, he did notice some details that helped him determine some facts. He was already noticing similarities in some facial features to one of the Generation X members, or at least one of the founding members of the group. He wasn’t even sure if he should even broach that topic, at least for right now. In all honesty, knowing who the mutant’s parents were might set in motion some drastic events.

He was brought out of this train of thought when the young man finally spoke. It was the first time the boy spoke since Emma escorted him into the room and left to deal with the possible aftermath of when Richard and Penance had finally recovered. His words, however, gave off he impression that this was possibly a waste of time as he said, “So how long are you going to keep me here? I know what Emma Frost said, if that was her, but I doubt this is going to be productive.”

Hank politely nodded, and smiled as he adjusted his glasses. In part, they were more for show, but he found it comforting to have them on during these types of sessions. He then responded to the young man’s statements. “Oh, we will begin in a moment. One must never underestimate the importance of learning, especially when it comes to understanding matters involving temporal displacement. We are just waiting for someone else who is familiar with situations similar to yours.”

To his surprise, Hank heard the teen mention the very person with some details he wasn’t aware this time traveler would know. “You’re talking about Lucas Bishop, right. I know about him, but I don’t know how much help he’d be. Wasn’t he confused about how things were when he first arrived in this timeline? How could that be helpful to me?”

He was inwardly thankful when a deep voice responded to what the teenager said. “That is true, but I learned about this time, and have seen the effect shared knowledge has helped preserve this timeline and kept it from becoming other bad versions of this timeline.” Hank hoped that those words would help get through to this young man.

To his complete and utter surprise, he heard the boy give an almost harsh laugh as he responded to this. “Your knowledge didn’t end up very helpful in my timeline, unless it meant you were one of the first people to die.”

He noticed that Bishop seemed both angry and shocked by that little bit of info, but it didn’t stop him from responding. “Listen. I’ve faced things you haven’t, even now that you are in this timeline. Besides, if it wasn’t for my knowledge, Generation X wouldn’t know much about the first Emplate.” That was a very true fact, since after that one encounter, the team got a great deal of helpful information, some that might not have been easily obtained from Monet St. Croix, or her father.

Almost as a retort, but it was obviously held in check, the boy responded to that. “Fine, you had information based off the original, but the Emplates in my timeline came from a different source. You knew nothing about how they operated, and at the time, no one had seen any like them. They had caught you in a gruesome trap that no one saw coming.” The statement had had an effect on Lucas, causing him to stagger back as if slapped.

Hank figured now would be the right time to get the teen to open up about the timeline he came from. He leaned forward a little, in a hope to look kindly, and said, “Then I think now would be a good time to tell us about that timeline. I will admit that I am curious about what happened there, since you are hinting it is worse than others.” He thought for a moment about the timeline that had come to be known as The Age Of Apocalypse, where a darker version of himself and the mutant known as Nate Grey were from. He then amended to his statement, “Also, could you tell us your name?”

He watched as the boy sighed and sat down. The action also prompted Lucas to sit down as well, as he answered the question before telling them of his time line. “Alright. To start off, my name is Darrett Xavier Thomas. And before you ask about who my parents were in my timeline, they are two of the Generation X members. Anyhow, my timeline was pretty much decimated by an event known as The Emplate War.” Just hearing that, Hank noticed another look of shock cross Lucas Bishop’s face.

Hank started trying to figure out what actually cause this, and he would have to admit that it had to be Emplate who started the war, but how exactly did it happen. He even jotted it down as he asked, “And what exactly started this war, Darrett?”

He watched as the boy looked a bit haunted as he answered that question. “It had apparently started when the abduction I stopped happened. You see, if I hadn’t arrived when I did, Emplate would have committed the act that caused all the chaos of my timeline. Generation X would have arrived too late to rescue them.”

Hank had heard about Richard’s unique powers. In fact, all of the X-Men had been made aware of the young man’s power, and he could understand how dangerous that could be. He also knew that they had already gotten an idea of what Richard would be as an Emplate. It was Bishop, however, who came to the conclusion he was coming to. “So this made Emplate a lot stronger and a bigger menace.” To their shock, they saw Darrett shake his head. “You mean this actually weakened Emplate?”

Darrett nodded, and Hank heard the limited response the lad had. “Yes. While my parents never knew the exact chain of events, something happened that caused Emplate to have them long enough to impose his powers on Skitz, and something made Skitz and Penance snap. The cause has been speculated to how he enthralled them, or the thought that they would be Emplates for the rest of their lives.”

Hank took that information in, and internally speculated on the outcome of that sort of snap. Given what little knowledge he had of the two mutants involved, he could speculate on how it might have come about. Two lovers looking out for one another, while also holding out hope they would be rescued. Something that might have been seen as betrayal might have to trigger it. A betrayal so deep the two would declare war on Emplate and maybe Generation X. He just tapped his pencil as he said, “So, Emplate and Skitz were fighting one another then, and it affected the world.”

To his surprise, he saw the young time traveler shake his head. “No. After their minds snapped, Skitz and Penance had slaughter most of Emplate’s followers. After they did that, they made their way to the school and slaughtered Monet St. Croix. I never got told why, as my parents never told me. They took it to their grave. After that, they took on every group they perceived as threats to them. They had taken out the Friends Of Humanity, the Sentinels, X-Factor, and even the Brotherhood of Mutants.”

Hank watched as Lucas finally spoke as he wrote this information down. “You mean Skitz and Penance were beginning to take over the world at that time?” He saw the boy nod, and he saw Lucas lower his head, shaking it as he said, “Good grief. They must have used Emplate’s dimensional shift power to do that with such efficiency. We still don’t know how to combat that.”

He then thought about one problem that hadn’t been addressed, and it would no doubt be a problem in this timeline that Darrett had come from. “What about the Legacy Virus? We still don’t have a cure for it. How do they handle that?”

Hank watched as the boy thought about it for a moment. “I’m pretty certain it was cured. I remember hearing that when the cure was first discovered, it was believed that Moira McTaggart was behind it. However, once the cure was out there, and it appeared Skitz and Penance were using it to track and capture mutants. When Banshee and Generation X sought her out, they found out it was in some sort of company run by Skitz. In fact, they had put out the information to lure him in to be slaughtered. They had even made a spectacle of it.”

At that moment, Hank had a good idea of how bleak the timeline was. The crazed Skitz and Penance of that timeline had thought things out. With the fact that Generation X would be more on their guard than the other groups, and the addition of a cure for Legacy meant that they were able to lure out their main threat next to Emplate.

He then wondered about the team, and he could tell that Lucas was thinking the same thing as he asked, “What happened to Generation X at that time? From what you said, they were down two people by this point, unless they took others on during this time.”

He watched as the young man lowered his head, as if recalling something unpleasant. He realized what it was when Darrett spoke again. “Well, Emplate and his lover had joined the team when he realized that Skitz and Penance snapped. Some of those details are fuzzy. What I do know is that after Banshee was killed, the team split, with some following Emplate, and some staying with Emma. I think the thought process was that some would try to find a safe place for those trying to fight back, while the others thought it was possible to hide themselves as Emplates. Both were better than the idea of being like livestock.”

As they took that information in, Hank realized how dangerous a foe Richard Cale could be. He realized that if the mutant population declined, or became non-existent, they would go into starvation. Also, while he was still relatively unknown as a threat, he no doubt realized enough what his parents’ connections would have gotten him. He most likely taken over his parents’ company in that time, and somehow came up with a cure for Legacy. In fact, he was also certain that if that happened in that particular timeline, the ability to hide would fall flat for either side. He looked at Darrett, and then said, “I’m guessing the split didn’t work out so well.”

He saw the young man nod. “Correct. First off, the school came into hard times. It was amazing he never attacked the school directly, but he was cutting off their finances. Emma’s company came under fire, and was slowly being cut off from all there income sources. Her company was also being taken over by another company. It turned out to be a company headed by Skitz to take over the school. This was discovered when Emma was called to meet with the company head. I think besides my parents, two others were part of the rescue operation, but while those two were captured, my parents were kept out. During that meeting, Emma relayed to all of them Skitz had already taken out Emplate and his small group.”

At that moment, he saw Bishop hang his head, and responded in a haunted voice, “And the Emplate hordes started showing up. They would have no way to stop them, except for killing them. No wonder they took out the bigger X-Groups. They’d either get willing people or get rid of possible threats. That doesn’t answer what happened to regular humans. They wouldn’t want to become Emplates, especially the ones who hate mutants.”

He watched as Darrett should his head. “I don’t know. There were some rumors that he found a way to change humans into mutants, but he had pretty much driven the human population to extinction. All that were left on the planet were mutants and Emplates, and the mutants were either livestock, or have made their way to the Savage Land. It was there that my parents found the unlikeliest of allies, Professor Xavier and Apocalypse.”

The more Hank heard about this timeline, the more he found it disturbing. Some combination of events had turned two adversaries into allies, that being the whole situation that the mutant species was in. He thought about that, and eventually said, “Such an unlikely duo to be the bastions of hope. Using the Savage Land is also an interesting choice, given how it negates mutant powers.”

He saw Lucas nod in agreement, as he said, “Indeed, and it isn’t easy to see Apocalypse doing something helpful. I’ve seen the chaotic timeline where he achieved his goal, and he’s even worse with all the power he had. It wasn’t a good place.”

He watched as Darrett looked at Lucas and asked, “Did you ever find out if those two were in that timeline?” When the older time traveler shook his head, he was surprised when Darrett said, “I would be surprised if they were alive. When they finally eliminated and taken over the world, they openly declared war on Apocalypse. Something about a history with Skitz’s family.”

Hank jotted that down, determined to start looking into the Cale family at that bit of news. He knew Apocalypse had been around a long time but were there people fighting him long before the X-Men knew of his existence, and if so, how did they keep it secret. It appeared that the Cale family had a lot more going on than Richard Cale would admit or knew about.

It was Lucas who prompted the teen to explain more, if he could. “So it was possible Apocalypse was still seen as a threat. Did those two ever have that face off?” At this point, Hank had a feeling what the answer to that question would be.

As expected, he saw the boy nod. “Yes. It did happen, and it was unfortunate for mutants. My father had gone on a mission with Apocalypse and some others to try and find some sort of weakness in Skitz’s command. They had even gone to Skitz’s ancestral home. When they got there, however, they ended up walking into a trap. From what my mother had told me, since they each had some video equipment with them, there was a sword surrounded by black flames. I still can’t fathom how that happened, but before they could react to the strange sight, Skitz and Penance attacked. Some of the images they had gotten showed a genuine scared look on Apocalypse’s face. I think at that point, my mother knew that our hideout was no longer safe, and we fled there.” The boy paused long enough to look Hank straight in the eyes. “We had left the Savage Land and not too long after we left, the Emplate’s invaded, and they weren’t hindered by the places strange abilities.”

Hank wrote that down, especially the sword. He had recalled reading somewhere about a certain class of knights that had such a weapon, but he would have to hunt for that information again. He then put his writing implement down, and said “So from that day, you two were on the run, hiding from the Emplates as best you could.”

He watched as Darrett nodded and closed his eyes. “Correct. For years we moved from place to place. My own power had developed, and it was helpful to create an early warning for us. Eventually, we were able to find out about something. It seemed that things weren’t far off on something being hidden at the Cale Ancestral Home, and we made our way there. We had been able to sneak in, and then find our way to the secret vault. I was amazed by some of the things I saw there, but the key thing was a small serpent-like item, eating its own tail. We had just found it when they attacked us. Somehow, someone else had infiltrated them, as someone had posed as Skitz, and it allowed me to grab the magical thing.”

Hank steepled his fingers and looked at the teen. “And it was then you arrived in our time, and stopped Emplate’s plan, causing him to retreat with, if I recall some things I’ve been told, Aura, who is an adopted cousin to Richard. You have, in essence, prevented that timeline from coming to be.” Inwardly, however, he amended it since if certain theories were correct, it would have been created regardless as a parallel timeline.

He watched as the teenager nodded. “Yes, but even after the two fled, I thought I should kill them since it was still possible that they could become those evil figures. I could see the fear in their eyes just before they passed out. After that, Generation X came in, and we were all brought here.”

Hank nodded once, and then responded. “Indeed. No doubt the whole experience they went through had an effect on them. That is why they separated the two.”

He saw Lucas nod, as he said, “Indeed. I passed the hall with the rooms they put each on it. They are obviously not happy about it. I heard a lot of thuds and crashes coming from the hallway.”

Hank stood then, realizing what that bit of news meant. “Which means they are now conscious, and aware they’ve been separated. A bit foolish, given their mental state, but given Richard’s abilities, it is understandable. We need to get down there, and I hope a few others are on their way as well. I’m sure they both realize they are not in a familiar area, and their fear levels went up.” He watched as the other two got up as well and headed for the door. There were still some questions to answer regarding Darrett, as to who his parents were, as well as what powers he may have. He had a feeling Richard’s ability might be able to help find some of those answers out but hearing about the alternate timeline had provided him with some questions as well. Those, however, would have to wait until they calmed the two Generation X members down, and this event could have had some deeper psychic scars that would take time to heal. Before he left the room, however, he returned to his desk and grabbed an envelope that he would be sure Sean would be happy about.

Attention: Gauntlet Dark Legacy is the property of whomever owns the creative IP for it. The story is not official canon, but is based off the game.

Legendary Heroes

Chapter 16: Into The Toxic Mines (Audio)

Deep in the depths of the mines of the Ice Domain, the Yeti stomped through the chamber closest to the strange glowing rock in the mine. It pleased the Yeti to see the rock was affecting the selected captives he had placed there. The already mutated dwarves had done a good job of securing those prisoners. Some of the prisoners were already taking on a purplish hue. Some were even getting taller and losing their beards. It was a sight the Yeti liked to see.

He moved onto his den, grabbing one of the dwarves that was in line to be mutated. He could already smell that this one was slightly stronger willed. This meant they also might be aware of what happened to the dwarf that had transformed, and even dared handle the vile mystical fire that could harm him. He had to know where both were.

Once they were in the den, he lifted the dwarf up to his face and growled, “So dwarf, where is the dwarf that held that vile fire? Where have they gone?” He was hoping to get an answer, but he was ready in case this one wasn’t smart.

As was expected, the dwarf wasn’t as helpful as they could have been. The Dwarf just started spitting and cursing out The Yeti. “You vile creature. I have no bloody idea where your bloody spy has gone. If I had my hammer, or my war axe, I’d show you what a real dwarf can do.” The Yeti heard the Dwarf start another swearing tirade, so the Yeti just threw the creature to one of the mutated polar bears that had been in the cavern.

The Yeti took great pleasure as the swearing turned to screams of pain, and eventually to the gurgle of death. He enjoyed it so much he had even started to gnaw on another dwarf’s arm. Maybe the sight of him chewing on the arm would loosen the tongues of some of the more weak-willed prisoners.

The momentary snack, however, was interrupted by the arrival of some of the mutated minions, and they were bringing in a few items. He could see that two of them were Runestones, as he could feel the magic radiating from them, each etched with a red rune. The other item was a golden lamp with a faint black cloud hovering near its opening. That lamp also radiated magic, but the Yeti felt it wasn’t a threat, even though the magic he sensed from it was similar to the cursed flame from Tarkana.

As he looked at them, he watched as one of the mutated miners moved forward, and in his garbled voice said, “Master. We found these items and knew you would know what to do with them. We feel they must be important.” The Yeti figured the radiation from the strange stone hindered their ability to think, but not enough that they didn’t know they should obey him.

He watched them and then pointed away from his lair. “Take them to separate places, and guard them with the various elements. Seal that lamp deep in the frozen caves, covered in snow. Take one of the runes, and submerge it in ice, while the other should be kept in flame. I’m sure you can figure out the appropriate place, but if you need help…” The Yeti waved a hand, and soon some of the giant Ice Worms erupted out of the ground. “The worms can help you.”

He watched as the miners nodded, and headed off, the strange ice worms following them. Those Ice Worms were amazing creatures, as they could erupt from the snow, and still be buried in it without leaving any marks. He wondered if they had spent too much time near the strange mutating stone. At least they were obedient, even though they ate the occasional Mutated Miner.

He was broken out of those thoughts, however, when the image of Skorne appeared in front of him. He understood his place when it came to Skorne as he did his best to kneel. While he was covered in fur, the cold still had an effect on his joints. A being his size did have to move to prevent too much stiffness. “My lord Skorne. To what do I owe this honor.”

He noticed that the image of his master was looking around before it responded to him. He wondered what that was about but got his answer when his master finally spoke. “Yeti. Has your minions brought you any magical items yet?” The Yeti noticed that his master sounded slightly worried, as if those items were extremely important.

Determined not to anger his lord and master, the Yeti answered. “They were just brought in before you appeared. I had already issued them off to various hiding spots.” He judged Skorne’s face after he answered, and he could see that his leader was pleased.

After a moment, he was the focus of Skorne’s attention. He was almost afraid that he had ticked off the demon, until he responded. “Very good. You’ve been the only one to hide them before I contacted. You have proven yourself once again as one of my better agents. I still, however, question the lack of use of Ice Golems. They would be very helpful, especially up on the surface.”

The Yeti laughed in polite amusement. The Ice Golems would be good on the surface, but he was sure the radiation from the strange stone, as well as the heat in some parts of the chasm would weaken them. He then pointed over to the Polar Bear that was finishing its latest meal. “I acknowledge they might be helpful on the surface, but with the mutation done to the Polar Bears, they are more vicious, always hungry, and easy for me to control. They will be perfect deterrents for any would be heroes.”

He watched as Skorne laughed as well, and he could tell that his leader acknowledged his point. Once the laughter stopped, he heard his master say, “Very well. I will still send some of the lion gargoyles to you. They should get along well with those polar bears.” The Yeti appreciated that.

After hearing that, however, he heard Skorne say something that also comforted him. “I will let you know that the flames that are the bane of your existence are safely secreted in another realm. I have no doubt that it has been hidden in a very clever way, and no one shall be able to get it and get back to here.”

The Yeti nodded, and then looked over at the dwarves he had prisoner. Some of them had been watching this exchange, and no doubt were quaking in fear. The Yeti then said, “That is a comfort, however I need to find where the damnable dwarf that turned into an Ogre has gone. Only Tarkana had that gift, and it was no doubt that the dwarf that escaped was of their lineage.”

That was an obvious sore spot for both the Yeti and Skorne. While the heroes from the first time they were active were long dead, their bloodline had continued. Back then, it had been four males and four females, although with dwarves, it is hard to tell the difference. Tarkana had been a female dwarf, and so they had to make sure this one wasn’t female as well.

After a moment, one of the mutated miners had stepped forward, and with obvious trepidation spoke. “My lord, I heard one of the other prisoners speaking about that one that got away. Apparently, that one went into exile, and the one that spoke recently found out about the heritage of Ogres and Dwarves. They were telling the others that ‘she’, referring to the exile, might be their best hope.”

The Yeti nodded, taking in this information. The threat was outside of the realm, but no doubt the dwarves already took steps to isolate themselves from the threat. They had forgotten their own heritage, which meant they had done most of the work. He then looked at the miner and said, “Very good. Once your promotion is complete, I want you to execute that particular dwarf. No need to let them get to too many of the younger dwarves and make them realize how foolish the older ones were.” With that, he froze the miner with his ice breath so the transformation could begin. It wouldn’t take long, but as Skorne disappeared, obviously thankful of that news, the Yeti had given his minion the perfect reward. They had little to fear now.

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The Spy Who Didn't Shag Me

Chapter 6: Not The Best Cruise. (Audio)

Silverhawks was initially the property of Lorimar Telepictures, and is now the property of whomever holds those rights now. No money was made off this story.)

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Infestation In Limbo

Chapter 5: Suspicions Grow (Audio)

The trio of Condor, Steelwill and Warden Lock-Up arrived at the cell just in time to see the horrible sight. Rattler was slumped on the floor with evident signs of the blast that killed him on his chest. The guard was at the window, shooting at someone fleeing. Condor already had a feeling who it was, and said to Steelwill, “Will, get him away from window. I want to see who he was shooting at.”

As Steelwill pulled the guard away from the window, Condor heard the guard stop blast as he responded, “It was the Mob. We were just coming to get Rattler, and they shot both Rattler and my partner.” It was then that Condor noticed the other body that was now under Rattler’s body.

As he approached the window, he heard Warden Lock-Up say, “Good grief. He’d been working here for a while. He was one of the few I could trust to run the place if I were incapacitated.” No doubt, the Warden would be talking with the guard now as Will went to check the dead guard out. Still, Condor caught a glimpse of the vehicle fleeing the scene.

The vehicle that was fleeing was definitely one of the Mob’s vehicles. Driving the vehicle had been Hardware. This was obvious by the pack that was on back, making one wonder how he could drive the vehicle with that behind him. In the back of the vehicle, however, was Yes-Man. That last detail told Condor that the guard’s story didn’t make sense at all. Condor even remembered when he captured the gangster, and that Mon*Star didn’t even stand in his way when he went to capture him.

Warden Lock-Up continued to put the guard at ease. This particular guard wasn’t one of the new guards but had been at the Penal Planet for one Limbo Year. True, he had to deal with the occasional brawl in rec area, but something like this hadn’t happened in a while. As Condor got away from the window, he said, “Was the Mob out there like he said?” When he saw Condor nod, he responded, “Then the guard must be telling the truth. The Mob finally took this opportunity, knowing they wouldn’t be blamed for this.”

To the warden’s surprise, he saw Condor shaking his head, but before he would question that, he heard Steelwill say, “I don’t think so either. While Rattler was shot in the chest, the guard was shot in the back. It doesn’t make sense if the Mob did a hit from the window.” That bit of information had him trying to figure out how it would have played out that way.

It was then that Condor mentioned something that could explain the blast to the front. “Also, Yes-Man was in that Mob vehicle. He’s Rattler’s nephew.” Warden Lock-Up wanted to say something, but Condor continued speaking. “I remember Yes-Man pleading with Mon*Star to not let me take Rattler in. Mon*Star didn’t stand in my way. Given that, the threat The Infestation poses, and that Rattler had key information, I doubt the Mob was here to kill him.”

It was at this moment that Warden Lock-Up had noticed a slight change in the guard. Over the years, he could tell when someone was nervous about something. He’d seen it on a few prisoners, and he could see it on the people as well. He scowled as he looked at the guard. “Tell me. How exactly could The Mob have done this?”

The guard, knowing his story wasn’t panning out, did the only thing he could at this point. His cover was most likely blown, but he had to report that the Silverhawks were already suspecting things. The Mobs arrival also complicated things since The Infestation was unaware of this Yes-Man’s relation to Rattler. He started to raise his weapon in an attempt to at least wipe out three more problems.

Unfortunately for him, Steelwill noticed the movement, and tackled him into the wall, knocking the guard out before he could even fire the gun. As he connected with the guard, Steelwill even said, “That was the wrong move. You should have just given up.” When Steelwill backed off, the guard slumped to the ground unconscious. He then took a moment to handcuff the guard as he said, “I didn’t think he’d try something so foolish.”

Condor nodded at the statement, thinking the same thing, but also put some thought into it. In all honesty, with everyone rushing to the area of the supposed prison break attempt, the attempted murders might not have been noticed until it was too late. He then commented on it. “It might not have been foolish, but more a last resort plan. If it had been just the Warden and I, he might have been able to take out one of us easily. Even with three, he might have at least caused enough chaos to allow him to escape, especially if he had killed Warden Lock-Up.”

Warden Lock-Up nodded at that, and added, “Very true. If he was aware of the special key I hold.” Warden Lock-Up then shook his head and looked at the fallen guard. “What’s odd is that he wasn’t the guard I sent the orders to move Rattler to. He was actually supposed to be in another sector.”

That statement made Condor give the Warden the side eye. “I take it this guard was only here within the past six months?” He did remember that the Warden was told about that precaution. They figured any guards brought in in the past six Limbo months would be a possible Infestation member.

Both Silverhawks were surprised when the warden responded. “Actually, he’s been with us for at least a year. I remember recognizing him for that. The only one of those guards that lasted the year without serious injury.” If that was the case, it meant they would need to increase all the measures they were taking to stop the Infestation. They were figuring they only started their plans six Limbo months ago. Having their people already in Limbo for one Limbo year meant things were being put in place long ago.

Condor looked at Steelwill and said, “Will, can you get him back to Hawkhaven in the Sprinthawk.” When he saw Steelwill nod, he turned to the Warden and said, “Can you give me all the details on that guard? We want to be sure we can pinpoint how long The Infestation has been setting up their move into Limbo.”

Warden Lock-Up nodded, and said, “Of course. If you come with me, Condor, I’ll get it right away for you.” Condor then nodded to Steelwill, knowing full well that he could handle the prisoner. He then followed the warden to get that information. He had a feeling the warden would also keep hard copies of all those records.

Back on Brim*Star, Mon*Star was at the communications console answering a call he hoped would provide him with information. He just wasn’t expecting the call so soon. He answered the incoming message with all his authority. “What have you found out, Yes-Man?”

To his dismay, he heard Yes-Man in the background, but it was Hardware answering his question. “Bad news, Planet Master. It seems one of the guards shot Rattler, and that guard was with the Infestation.” That bit of news hit Mon*Star like a brick wall. While The Rattler did try to muscle in on his territory, he did have some respect for the mobster. It also explained the state Yes-Man was in.

Mon*Star paced for a moment, and then asked a serious question. “Are the Silverhawks aware of this?” Deep down, he hoped his foes were aware of this. The Infestation was a problem for both of them.

It didn’t surprise him when he heard Yes-Man brake out of his lament for a moment and answer his question. “They do, Planet Master. I saw Condor’s face at the cell window.” That answer told him two things. For one, he was glad that broke Yes-Man out of his lamenting. He had seen a few deaths that were close to him, so he knew it wouldn’t be easy for Yes-Man. His toady was a bit too emotional. The second thing it told him was that the Silverhawks had been aware that Rattler had information they could have all used.

For a moment, he thought about seeing if Zero could somehow get the information, but he figure it would be too late for that. He disregarded the idea, and then said to the duo, “Get back here quickly. We will need to come up with a new plan of attack. If the Infestation had gotten into the Penal Planet’s guards, they could have gotten into other places. We’ll have to check all operations The Mob is running.” He then turned off the communicator and turned to all his underlings who had arrived in the central chamber.

It bothered him that not all of the Mob was there. Poker-Face was taking care of things at the Starship Casino, but Mon*Star was certain he would eventually come to Brim*Star. Melodia wasn’t there, and that had him worried. He didn’t see Timestopper there, but he did see Zero there. While Timestopper could be problematic, and a bit of a wild card, he didn’t think the kid would join The Infestation. Mo-Lec-U-Lar was not there, but he knew where their master of disguise was at the moment.

He was about to address the group when a call came in. He went over to the communications unit and answered it. He was stunned to see Harry, the owner of the Sin-I-Star Diner on Fence on the screen. Before he could say anything, the robot delivered some seriously bad news. “Mon*Star, I’ve got bad news. The Infestation has captured Melodia.”

This bit of news shocked Mon*Star, and he was hoping he wouldn’t hear it. He looked at Harry and said, “What exactly happened, Harry? I want to know how it played out.” He, as well as the others, listened as Harry relayed what had happened. Hearing how the fight played out, he was shocked that the attacker, who was Melodia’s sister, had used Crystal Twist on her. He hated to think what The Infestation was doing to her.

Once Harry was done speaking, Mon*Star did his best to contain his anger. He lowered his head, and finally said, “Thank you, Harry. Keep an ear out. The Mob is still here, and we aren’t going anywhere.” He then turned off the communications unit. He started to consider the possibilities. This could very possibly turn into a gang war, one worse than the one when he came to power.

He looked around at all those present and said, “I want you all to start searching for Melodia. That is a top priority right now. One of you remain here and let Hardware and Yes-Man know. I also want to make sure Sky-Shadow changes his surveillance to finding The Infestation. I want to know where this group is.” He turned to leave his command room and paused long enough to issue one more command. “And make sure you are ready for a fire fight. Since the Silverhawks know of this threat, they might not be in the hurry to attack us, but the Infestation will most likely attack if they can.”

He heard them all acknowledge his commands, and he left the command room. This situation was already starting to appear as a drastic one. He knew what he might have to do, and part of him didn’t want to do it. Still, this situation was calling for more desperate measures. If everything he’s heard about how The Infestation works was true, things could be worse than the last Mob War could have been if Stargazer wasn’t in Limbo. While he hated to admit it, this was one of those times he was glad the Silverhawks were around, and he was going to need their help. He just needed to pull out the old communicator he used.

Back at Hawk Haven, everyone in the command center was listening to the report that was coming in. Each of them had a look of horror on their faces as Steelwill reported about what had happened. “Just as we arrived at the cell, we found Rattler was dead, and the guard was claiming the Mob had done it. Of course, when Condor noticed Yes-Man was in the vehicle, he realized that the guard was the one who did it. Seems the guard is part of The Infestation.”

Stargazer shook his head as he heard that, but then asked, “Sergeant, how long was that guard working there?” Deep down, he was hoping to hear that the guard was a rather new addition to the staff there.

Everyone was surprised when Steelwill relayed the answer. “He’s been here a while, Commander. I think even before that brothel on Bedlama was set up.” There was a bunch of shocked and worried reactions when that was said. Stargazer massaged his temples, while Copperkidd let out a low whistle. Others just shook their heads as things were getting more complicated.

It was Quicksilver who stated the obvious problem. “This could show that the Infestation has been in Limbo for longer than we initially thought.” Quicksilver also saw the trouble that would mean. It meant that the Infestation had set its sights on Limbo longer than they first thought.

Stargazer responded as his mind was racing along the same path. “Steelwill, I want you and Condor to get back here as soon as possible with that guard. We need to find out what they know. Any information could be helpful.”

He then shut the comms unit off and turned to the assembled people there. “This is serious. If the Infestation has been in Limbo longer than we thought, we are going to have to double check our own security.” He looked over at Steelheart and said, “Steelheart, once Steelwill is back, I want you two to start double checking the computer. I also want to know how long a complete reboot will take if we need to take that alternative. You two may also end up being our best asset, and since you’ve managed to do it with your birds, I want to see if you can set up some way for us all to communicate telepathically.”

He saw all the surprised looks on their faces, but he had to respect how it passed quickly on Steelheart face as she saluted. “On it, Commander. The telepathy might be a tall order, but we can see what we can do.” She then exited the command center, most likely already thinking about the order.

Once she was gone, Stargazer then looked at Bluegrass. “Bluegrass, I want you to double check the vehicles with Flashback. Once that is done, Flashback, I want you to see if there is any way to jump back in time to give us some ideas of where to check now in the present. I don’t want any actions taken back then, just so we can get ideas.” He saw Flashback nod at that and watched as the two headed down to the hanger.

Before anything else could be said, Quicksilver already had an idea on what he should do. “I’ll be with Condor once they get back. I want to be there getting information as soon as possible.” It was the truth, and he wanted to get more information about this group. Maybe he could figure out others who could be agents of this group.

To Quicksilver’s surprise, he heard Stargazer say, “No. I want you to interrogate the guard, but I want Moonstryker with you. I don’t want any of their agents to be able to anticipate our actions. I want to keep them off balance for now. I want Condor to get back in touch with his friend.”

Quicksilver had to admit that what the Commander wanted to do made sense, and just nodded that he understood. “I’ll tell Condor once he and Steelwill get here.” He then moved to the elevator to take it down to the hanger, but he also had to wonder what task he had for Copperkidd, as Stargazer hadn’t given their wildcard an assignment yet related to the current situation.

Quicksilver wasn’t the only one wondering what task Copperkidd was going to get. He was wondering about it too. Copperkidd had heard all the tasks, and was even mentally figuring out how to program a firewall for Hawkhaven’s systems since a reboot would be a temporary fix at best. He was already thinking of adding it to his own vehicle, The Space Racer.

Before Copperkidd could raise his concerns, he was surprised when Stargazer just held up his hand and said, “Kidd, I have a very special task for you. I can’t tell you what it is right now, but I will meet with you in your quarters in a bit. That should give you some time to develop some sort of firewall, as I’m sure you are already thinking about it. Discretely enter it into the system if you can get it done quickly.” This made Copperkidd smile, for two reasons. One was that he was already thinking about the firewall, but the other was that he was getting a very special task. He just knew it, and it had to be something he could succeed on.

As Copperkidd then left the command center, Stargazer headed back to his office. This whole situation was a mess, but he didn’t last in Limbo without constantly thinking things out. Yes, he’d jump into a situation a little too sure of himself, but he was always thinking things out. It’s what made him a good leader, and something he was hoping Quicksilver was picking up on. Combatting a threat like The Mob, and even The Infestation meant thinking along various trains of thoughts and getting ahead of the criminals.

Those thoughts were running through his mind as he first walked over to this desk and pulled out a hidden key. As he did that, he momentarily let his gaze land on the pencil on his desk. He had been long aware that the pencil was more than it seemed since he never needed to sharpen it. He just acted like he wasn’t aware of it. That would turn in handy, as well as tip his hand on what he was long aware of, but it was something he had to do.

He then used the key to unlock a hidden alcove and pulled out a small communications device he had been given after his first arrival in Limbo. While it played a part in his efforts to clean up Limbo, he wondered if the person who had given it to him still had theirs. While they were on opposite sides, he had a feeling they still had it. He then picked up the pencil, closed the alcove, and then sat down at his desk. He had to make at least one call, even though he wasn’t sure if a reboot had happened or not. The way things were going, he’d have to at least warn other locations in Limbo about the threat. He just had to decide on which one was most important.

*************************************

Outside the Lightyear Limit, but slowly making its way closer to it, the casino that was the front for The Infestation’s operations was abuzz. In what was the command center of the operations, the leader listened carefully to the report of what happened at the Penal Planet. He had been wise to have a few agents placed into the guards there. It wasn’t enough for a full takeover, but it was enough so he could hear about events.

At this point, he was hearing from one of those agents who was tasked to gather information. “The task was done, sir, but there was a complication. The Silverhawks arrived just as the hit went down.” That was something he had expected, however he was sure his agent had a back-up plan for when they arrived.

He then responded to the agent, remaining as calm as he could be at that moment. “Did they see it happen?” He hadn’t expected them to arrive there as quickly as they had. He had expected them to contact the Penal Planet before heading off. Plus, with the planned chaos to smokescreen the hit, he expected them to head there last. The Silverhawks were more of a threat than he initially figured.

He started to relax when the agent responded. “Well, it seems the Mob had chosen the same time to come to the Penal Planet. The guard blamed the hit on The Mob.” Those words made the leader smile, as it proved fortune was smiling on the Infestation. Then the agent continued, “but the older one, Condor, said that in the vehicle was The Rattler’s nephew. It was enough to clue the Silverhawks in that the guard must have done it.”

The Leader was thrown by that detail. How did Mon*Star have the nephew of The Rattler in his group? It was not in his research into the Mob, but then again, those who were lackies tended to be least likely to be brought out of their gang, unless they had enough willpower.

Eventually, The Leader responded to the responded to the report with calmness on the outside. “Keep a watch on the place, but if they start probing, you will need to make your way out of there. Pass the word if you encounter some of the other agents there. We hadn’t gotten enough there yet to take over, so be as discrete as possible.” He then ended the communication, and slammed his metallic fist on the console, causing a dent.

He took a calming breath as he mentally processed the report. On the plus, The Rattler was dead, so Hawk Haven would be calling on him again, not that they knew the old detective was the head of The Infestation. On the minus, the Silverhawks, or at least the older ones, were thinking ahead enough to be a problem. He was going to have to plan an ambush of some sort for them.

The Leader then looked over to the others in the place and asked an important question. “How are our plans for getting control of Automata, Dolar, and the Artificial Sun? We may need to speed up some of our timetables if we want to take over.” It wouldn’t be the first time he would have had to speed up some timetables, but this was the earliest, and it troubled him.

The first to speak up had been Bandit. His near harsh voice almost matched the frustration The Leader was having. “Still working on the plans for Automata. Mainframe keeps a tight grip on security, so we will have to find the right way to approach her. We are considering Zero, since he’s a bit freelance, but since The Mob had him steal her memory once, she’s beefed-up security a bit.” He nodded, noting that they would have to get a crew onto Automata for their best results.

He then heard Rhino speak. “The same goes for the Artificial Sun, especially as the Silverhawks keep tabs on the place. We also can’t take Professor Power out of the equation as he’s taken a few steps by making some operations secret. He even keeps a secret about the item behind the Artificial Sun’s power. He also made sure the Sun is a one-man operation.” He nodded to that as well and knew any plan for the Artificial Sun of Limbo would be a, if not the, big win. That was one he wanted no flaws with.

Finally, Hotwire spoke from his console. “It won’t be long until I’m through to Dolar. Ever since we found out about Gotbucks, it will be easy to start to transfer of funds. In fact, I’ll be doing so tonight.” That was good news. While it was usually a slow task to transfer the funds, it would be enough to increase their power. Dolar was the central bank of Limbo Galaxy, and it would be easy to drain the funds digitally. They could also arrange transfers of the physical funds.

He walked over to the console, and said, “You know the plan. First day, just target the hidden bank accounts. The ones people have started to hide funds. But start it with double the usual starting point. And after a few days, start targeting the other bank accounts.” He noticed the surprised look on Hotwire’s face, and he just said, “We have to speed some things up. I also anticipate someone might try a reboot of the system.”

He saw Hotwire nod before continuing his work, asking only one question. “Are we keeping Gotbucks in the dark?” He nodded, and his expert hacker smiled. “I was hoping that would be the case. I can definitely make him unaware of the changes in his system.” The Leader was pleased by this, and also took note of one thing.

The Leader saw on one of Hotwire’s consoles a search for Zero The Memory Thief. After all his time working with Hotwire, he knew that if Hotwire was looking into someone like Zero, it meant he was preparing for a change. The physical body Hotwire had now wasn’t his original body. It was part of what made Hotwire such an effective member. To date, Hotwire had switched bodies at least five times, and only one of those was due to an emergency. He just hoped it would wait until after Zero was deemed useless to them.

Now assured that some things were progressing, as well as the evening in Limbo Galaxy was approaching, he decided to take some time to relax before the call he was expecting to come in did so. He left the command center of his operations and moved his way towards the Twisting chamber. He wanted to be sure that his newest showgirl was being convinced to work. He already could tell she was fighting it as he neared the chamber. He heard her screams of pain, but mixed with it was the laughter of her sister.

When the door to the room opened, Harmony had noticed it. She stopped her laughter but continued distributing Crystal Twist to break her sister. Given their own natural defenses to the drug, she knew it would take a lot of it to completely break her sister. Even now, she felt her sister wasn’t fully broken, and she also wanted to make her sister do a lot worse. Still, she smiled at The Leader and said, “Good news. Melody is almost ready to be your new songbird, and with enough time, she’ll even be willing to turn some tricks for you.”

To her own disappointment, The Leader just said, “No. We won’t go that far with her yet.” She was about to protest, especially since she’d love to see her sister dropped down to that low, when The Leader just said, “I want her to have some hope to crush before we have her doing that. Besides, I bet you’ll enjoy watching the hope drain out of her.”

She did smile at that thought. She did love destroying anything her sister had. Hell, she was glad she had destroyed her dreams of stardom so long ago. Turning Melody into a singing slave who had to rely on her, and The Infestation was a thrill, and the longer it lasted, the more hope would die in her sister. She loved that. Maybe she’d take some time to show her thanks for that with The Leader later.

She pushed a button as she put the Twisting Chamber into shutdown and pushed another button to summon one of the broken song girls that worked at the casino. When the girl arrived, she pointed at her sister as she collapsed out of the Twisting Chamber. “Get her set up in a room, and dress her for her debut performance. And make sure her eyes are covered in the typical goggles. Also, make sure her hair is different. I don’t want a chance of her being recognized by anyone. You know the price for failure.”

She smirked as the girl rushed forward, saying “Yes Mistress” as she did so. She watched with pure delight at the fear she induced as well as seeing her sister partially dragged out of the Twisting room near naked. No doubt if people were able to see that, it would piss off her sister, but Melody was in no state to protest.

She then turned to The Leader, and coyly said “Since I now have some free time, is there anything I can do for you?” It wasn’t like they hadn’t been together, nor that they were in something more than a working relationship. She just knew he appreciated some of her other skills.

She was a little disappointed when he said, “Not right now. While I missed part of the show of the Twisting of your sister, I will need some time until I can indulge. I think the Silverhawks will be contacting my cover again, which means I need to be ready for it. Once that call is done, I’ll stop by later.” That last part improved her mood. Still, she could sense something more was at play. No doubt it was linked to the hit on The Rattler. Even when she heard the mobster was in Limbo, she knew it could be a problem if they didn’t take care of it quickly. Had something gone wrong with the hit? She would have to ask him later, after this call came in.

************************

As the Limbo day came closer to its end, Lord Cash, the man in charge of the bank planet of Dolar, was starting to get things in order. He had a simple ritual he followed before retiring for the evening. He would close out all pending bank issues for the day, and then set up the initial lock down before putting Gotbucks in charge. He was efficient when doing it, and even had some time for any last-minute issues.

He was just about to call it a day when a call started coming in. It was accompanied by the Silverhawks logo, so he knew this was something he had to handle. He quickly answered the call, “Lord Cash here. How can I help you, Silverhawks?”

He maintained his composure as Commander Stargazer’s image appeared on the screen. “Lord Cash. I’m glad I got a hold of you before you closed the bank world for the day. Things have been going crazy today, and I need to brief you on something.” Lord Cash could hear the urgency in the Commander’s voice, so he wasn’t going to argue about anything. He just nodded and motioned for the Commander to continue.

He was worried, however, when he heard what the Commander had said. “Earlier today, one of the armored vehicles heading to Dolar got ambushed by a dangerous group working their way into Limbo. They call themselves the Infestation.” He remembered hearing that the vehicle had been attacked. He had assumed it was the mob, but it also reminded him that he would have to have an emergency shipment brought in. The company was good about that.

He nodded and responded to the news. “I do remember hearing that. It also reminds me to get an emergency shipment. I have not, however, heard of this Infestation. Who is this group?” He actually didn’t recall hearing about the group from any of the other financial institutions he dealt with.

He heard a short laugh come from Stargazer as he responded to the question. “Huh. Consider yourself lucky. The Infestation is worse than the Mob. No one has successfully brought them down. They move from system to system, covertly take over and ruin them. They also do things Mon*Star wouldn’t dare touch.” That did worry him. Mon*Star and his Mob weren’t ones to eliminate witnesses to their crimes. The Mob boss was aware of what that could do. He was also sure Mon*Star had some proxy accounts in the bank.

Lord Cash dabbed his brow, a bit worried that something bad was coming. “I take it you have a possible Mob war on your hands. Should I make sure Dolar is on lockdown? And is this just a recent thing?”

The next words Stargaze said caused him to worry some more. “I wish it was. Seems they already started to set things up here. They just had an agent strike at the Penal Planet, wiping out a prisoner who could have exposed the leader of the group. A brothel was also found on Bedlama, so they have been in the area for a while. So you need to check things for as far back as a year. I can’t say how they will try to get into the bank planet, but I won’t be surprised if they try.”

Lord Cash wiped his brow again, since he hadn’t felt it was needed to check things like that. As Gotbucks started to roll into position to handle issues and security for the closed hours, he felt a little at ease. “I do thank you for the warning, Commander. I’ll have Gotbucks set up a sweep for anything unusual. I hadn’t anticipated that something like that would happen, given all the trouble the Mob caused.”

He saw Stargazer grimly nod to that. “I know. No one here anticipated this, but we need to be aware of things. I know you have Gotbucks there, so you don’t usually hire extra help, but you need to be aware, and make sure the computers are secure.”

Lord Cash smiled at that since he knew how secure Gotbucks kept things. “That shouldn’t be a problem, Commander. Gotbucks is keeping the computers in tip top shape. Now, I need to schedule a replacement delivery. I do thank you for the heads up.” With that, he ended the communication, and made the call for the emergency shipment.

While Lord Cash did that, and Gotbucks got into position and linked up with the computer, neither were aware of the hacking going on at that moment. Hotwire, the master hacker of The Infestation was adding code to Gotbucks to begin the process of transferring funds to The Infestation’s coffers. It was so sophisticated, Gotbucks was unaware of the changes in his programming. He was becoming an agent of The Infestation that was completely unaware of the things he was doing. It was the perfect way to get access to Dolar, and lock in their control of the Bank Planet, and the finances of Limbo Galaxy.

Attention: Generation X and their villains, as well as any other mutant mentioned in this story, is property of Marvel Comics. The character Richard Cale is named after family relations. Any other reference to anything copyrighted is a chance happening.

====================================================

Relatively Dangerous Redux

Chapter 5: Emplate Wins? (Audio)(Original)

Angelo Espinosa looked around the room he and Franklin Richards were stuck in. When everything went down, they ended up stuck in the exhibit room for the Bermuda Triangle. He wasn’t going to admit that he was scared of the situation, but he was. The whole situation was a nightmare, or out of a bad horror movie. They had split up into groups of two to search for Richard and Yvette, and during that time Emplate had found out where they were and managed to put the place in lockdown.

He looked over the room again, taking in all the items in the exhibit, and tried to figure out which one would be the trigger in the room. There were too many to pick from, and they needed speed on their side. For a moment, he wondered if there was some way to predict where it would be, and then an idea hit him. There was a way to fix its location.

He turned to Franklin Richards, and noticed the boy looked like he was just as scared as Angelo was. This wasn’t good since when scared, mutants could lose control of their abilities. He figured, however, his solution to this particular problem would both help them escape the room and calm the boy down. He calmly asked Franklin, “Hey Franklin, are you alright?”

He waited for the boy to respond, and as he figured, Franklin answered in the way he expected. “I’m scared. I mean, this whole situation is scary, and I don’t want anything to happen to Richard and Yvette, but…” Angelo didn’t need the boy to finish what he was saying. He felt the same way about the situation.

He put a hand on Franklin’s shoulder and gave him a smile. “I completely understand. I’m scared as well, but I also know they are depending on all of us to come to their aid.” He didn’t want to put any more pressure on the lad, and decided not to mention that if they failed, they may never see them again.

To Franklin’s credit, Angelo saw him nod, and then looked around the room to where Angelo remembered the trigger Godiva used before was. “I know we have to get out of here, but why can’t we use the spot from before?” Angelo had been thinking about that, but figured it wasn’t possible, at least right now.

Angelo did, however, have a plan which is why he also hoped Franklin’s fear was under control. He looked back at Franklin, and said, “I had just been thinking about that. Do you remember how Godiva said the switch changes every day?” He saw the boy nod, and he then continued. “No doubt, she set things up for it to prevent it from being the same spot two times in a row. So when Emplate set-up this lock down, it switched to another spot. Now, with your ability to alter reality…”

He was actually proud when Franklin’s eyes went wide as the lad thought the problem out. “I could alter things to make that switch work again.” Angelo nodded, and instantly he saw Franklin close his eyes and start to focus on those powers he had. He always wondered how Franklin’s powers would appear to an outside observer, and even wondered if the task might have bigger ramifications for the world at large. Would he even see anything happen at all, given the hidden mechanisms that would be affected?

It could have been his imagination, or it could have been he noticed a slight shiver come from the trigger they had seen used before. He might have actually heard the quietest of clicks as well. What he could be certain of was when Franklin said, “I’ve done it. Try it now.” Angelo nodded and went to the trigger point and activated it.

He saw the door start to open, and said to Franklin, “Great job. Now come on and we’ll find the others.” He then entered the secret passage and moved to the next room door. He was about to open that door when it opened in front of him. He came face to face with Sean as he was about to step through.

Angelo was thankful his teacher didn’t attack them, but he could hear the surprise in the man’s voice when he uttered, “Angelo. How did ye manage to get out of the room ye and Franklin were in? We were just coming to get you.”

Angelo smiled, and just motioned to Franklin, who was just getting to the door himself. Franklin gave a smile and said, “Angelo figured I could alter reality to switch the trigger back to the one we saw earlier.” Angelo saw the look on Sean’s face when the boy said that, and he could tell the teacher was impressed.

Sean then came through the door with Kyuukai, and he heard the Asian girl respond to that statement. “That is an impressive feat, but I imagine it was also draining to do a focused change like that.”

Angelo looked at Franklin and saw that the boy nodded. For a moment, he wondered if he did the right thing by having the boy use his power in that way. Maybe if they took the time to search the room, or patience to wait for the others, they could have saved Franklin’s power to get into the room where Richard and Yvette were. Still, he wanted the lad to focus in case of doing something accidentally.

He then turned to face the direction opposite from where they came from, and said, “I think that right now, we need to get to where Artie and Leech are. I can only imagine how they must be feeling right now.” He saw the others nod, and he let Sean lead the way at this point. He just hoped things weren’t escalating out of control, and that Emplate wasn’t preparing to escape with two captives.

Sean Cassidy was currently living a worst-case scenario with everything that was happening right now. Even on the plane ride down here, he was worrying about Emplate having a trap set up, and it turned out he was right. He was thankful that during the short time Richard was at the school, the lad had shown a quick inventive mind, despite the trauma the lad had gone through. Even now, he was certain Richard had put several obstacles in Emplate’s way. Still, he was going to give both Richard and Yvette a lecture about this once they got out of this.

He momentarily scolded himself for thinking that optimistically, since he should be mentally preparing for the worst-case scenario. He did try to teach all of the students to prepare for the worst in a battle situation. Of course, Richard going off on his own, and Yvette following was downright foolish moves for each of them. At least they would stay together, which would be a problem for Emplate.

He stopped thinking about that as they entered the Inner Earth exhibit room. The second they entered the room, he stopped and said, “Franklin, can ye keep the door open. That way we don’t have to search for the switch to open it.” He saw Franklin nod, looking a bit grateful for the task. He then continued into the room.

Sean wasn’t surprised to see Artie and Leech come out of wherever they were hiding. Just from the looks on their faces, Sean could tell they were both scared and worried. He was glad that they were safe though. He’d hate to think how Emplate might have exploited their powers. That thought was chased from his mind, however, when Leech asked him “They still in there?”

Anyone who had spent time with the young Morlock member would take a moment to process the missing word, but he knew what the lad meant. He looked over at the door and said, “I believe so, lad. I’m betting Richard and Yvette came up with some roadblocks for Emplate’s plan.” He could see hope on the faces of Artie and Leech, and it helped him feel better about things.

Sean then turned his attention to the door. He was aware that Kyuukai had come over to the door as well, but he wondered if there was a way in. He could see the door required a passcode of some sort. If this was the door Emplate had used, he would have figured out or gleamed the knowledge from Godiva. In fact, he would have also set things up so he would have changed the passcode. Still, he had to wonder if it was possible to get in this door.

He turned to look at Kyuukai, but before he could ask, he heard her answer his question before he asked it. “I don’t know the passcode for this door. It’s part of the security measures for the room, due to an alternate purpose.” For a moment, Sean could have sworn that the girl looked embarrassed. He then realized what it meant, and he wondered if Richard had figured that out long before any of them.

He was broken out of that thought when he heard Angelo let out a low whistle. After the lad was done with that whistle, he said, “Well, that’s a bit freaky. I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t have thought that about that room. I would suggest, however, that you two change those doors so either passcode or password or whatever you want to call it working on either door in case a situation like this happens again.”

He nodded in agreement with that one. “Angelo is right on that. I won’t pass any judgement on what you do in there after hours, but it may have played some part in delaying Emplate’s escape.” He also inwardly wondered to himself how much of that he’ll have to explain after all this is over. What he did know, however, is that they would need to get to the other side.

Sean activated his communicator and hoped that Emma would answer right away. “Emma, can you hear me? I need to know if Godiva is still with ye over there.” He hoped that she would answer, however he had a feeling she wouldn’t be answering.

This is why he wasn’t surprised when another voice answered him. “She can’t answer you right now. The last psychic scream knocked her out. I’m trying to trip the door, but I’m not having much luck.”

It took Sean a moment to figure out who had been speaking, and he realized it was the new girl, Daria. “Daria, what do you mean by trying to trip the door?”

When he heard her response, he glanced over at Kyuukai. “Well, I’m utilizing my powers to make my fingers like wires. I’m trying to use the wires to trip the locks.” Sean looked over at Kyuukai when he heard that, and he saw her shaking her head.

He sighed, and then said to Daria through the communicator, “Best to stop trying, lass. Kyuukai has just assured me that that won’t work. Do you know where Godiva is, since we are over by the door that needs her password?”

To his surprise, he heard Jubilee respond to his question. “She’s with us, Banshee. Unfortunately, we hit an obstacle that isn’t budging.” He then heard her swear under her breath.

It didn’t really bother him if they swore in a situation like this. Inwardly, he was cursing this whole situation out. He then thought about how they would have to get to the room he was currently in. It meant climbing up one set of steps, and then going down another set of steps. The top of those steps was the perfect vantage point for Aura to stand guard, keeping them all apart. In fact, just as he realized it, he said, “It’s Aura, isn’t it.”

It was then he heard Godiva’s voice over the communicator. “Yes, it’s the bitch. She has Everett at a standoff here. He’s using two aura like hands, and from what I can tell, she’s only using one. I guess she’s got a lot more skill with her powers than I would have guessed.” That bit of information told Sean quite a lot. While it was what they all suspected, it was a lot better than dealing with all of Emplate’s thralls. It also told him that she was very effective at keeping the team separated.

He looked again at Kyuukai and asked a key question. “Do ye think you can use her password to enter the room?” He honestly hoped she could, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Emplate had taken steps to change the password once they entered the room.

As if she had been having the same thoughts, he heard Kyuukai respond to his question. “Only if he didn’t change the password, and if he already got the knowledge of the password from Godiva, I think it is a good bet he changed it as well.” He couldn’t argue the logic. He also wondered if Emplate had planned for the split to happen like it had. While he was certain there was no way Emplate could be influencing Godiva’s decisions, it would not take into account how everyone else got split up.

After a moment, he heard another voice on the communicator. He was actually glad to hear it. “Sean, we may just have to have Kyuukai relay the password over the communicators. If anything happens that those two scream again, I’m betting any message will get garbled. Chamber was not in good shape after they screamed.” Sean was glad to hear Emma’s voice, but he didn’t like the limitations of not keeping the password verbally secret.

He nodded and the second Kyuukai uttered the word, he heard a new commotion over the communicator. It sounded like the others were shouting as if something was moving them. All of a sudden, he felt his heart sink. He quickly shouted into the communicator, being mindful not to let his powers to activate, “What’s goin’ on?”

While he wasn’t surprised, it was as he feared when another voice came over the communicator. It was so loud, he heard it echoing from the secret doorway. “What’s going on, big mouth, is that I’m being you to the punch.” He never noticed any echoes when the others spoke, but he never considered that the hallway had excellent acoustics.

Elane Bonstein had been waiting for this exact moment. She knew she would need Kyuukai’s password and had been hoping that they would speak it aloud. Her lover had even told her they would most likely have to speak it out loud. So she knew what she would have to do. Besides, she was getting bored with the little challenge that the one known as Synch was giving her.

Once she heard the password echoing up to her, she made her move. Behind her wasn’t a big threat, so she removed her hand from that side and she used both to push the other away from the stairway. It wasn’t too hard for her. She’d been using her powers a lot longer than Synch was trying to use her abilities. She took pleasure in hearing their cries of surprise as she pushed them down the secret passage as she ran down the steps. It also afforded her a moment to taunt the headmaster of the school.

Once she was at the door to the exhibit Kyuuaki’s door was in, she rushed in, letting it close behind her. To her delight, the two in there started to react to her presence instead of focusing on the door. The bug girl was running towards her, her hands now turning into metallic hammers. The other one in the room, who had to be the headmistress, was preparing to attack her apparently with a psychic attack of some sorts. It was a bit obvious at that point.

Elane just laughed, and then grabbed the headmistress with one aura hand, while quipping, “I think you should stand here for a moment.” She noticed the shock on the woman’s face as she moved her. It even caused her to forget about her attempted attack, especially as bug-girl slammed into her. It was just what she wanted to happen.

She ran over to the door and started to type in the password. As she did so, she momentarily glanced over at the two fallen foes. For a moment, she regretted not being into blackmail. If she had a camera on her, she would have had a perfect blackmail picture. It probably would have taken precious time to do so. She also heard movement, figuring the others were getting back to the door.

Thankfully, she had the door unlocked. She quickly ran in and closed the door behind her. As she did so, she saw her lover come over, and quickly reset the password for the door. Once that was done, she faced him, and just in his eyes, she could see he was frustrated. She put one hand on her hip and said, “What’s wrong? Don’t tell me they put a wrench in the plans?”

She watched as he nodded, and then responded. “Indeed. It seems Richard was able to do enough to stymie my plans. As it goes, I think this may need your personal touch to get them to tell us what we need to know to succeed.” Hearing that brought a smile to her face, and she could tell Marius was pleased by that when he said, “I figured you’d enjoy that.”

She nodded, and started walking over to where Richard and Yvette were restrained. As she did so, she said, “Oh yes. Some more screams I think are needed. It’s playing havoc with all the psychics.” As she neared, she also noticed a trail of blood on their foreheads, to which she said to Emplate, “Were you a bit peckish?”

She saw him nod and heard him respond to the question. “A little. I must admit that there is a slight difference in the taste of Richard’s power from Yvette’s power.” Inwardly, she was a little curious about it, but decided it wasn’t as important as the pain her lover inflicted on them. She then heard him say, “Unfortunately, the love between them has strengthened Yvette’s own will power.”

She gave a wicked smile as she neared the captives and saw the obstacle in their way. Richard and Yvette had manacled themselves together. This told her everything about the situation, but it also told her how to best attack the two to find out where the key to the manacles was. She watched as Richard and Yvette eyed her and could see some fear in their eyes.

Elane looked at the two of them, and then said “Alright. Here is what will happen. I will take turns crushing a part of each of you. This will keep up until you tell me where the key to those manacles is.” She noticed that they now looked scared, but she wasn’t stupid. She had already put the aura of her hand just above Yvette and lowered her hand.

The action got the exact reactions she wanted. She watched as the invisible force of her aura pushed down on Yvette’s chest, obviously crushing the girl. She even had to wonder what the screams were doing to all the psychics. She also saw tears on both their faces, and soon she heard Richard give in to the pain being caused, no doubt shared in a mental link they had. She heard him respond, but she wasn’t surprised when he kept it a bit cryptic. “It under the last place to sit.”

She stopped her assault and smiled. “Now, was that so hard to tell us.” She then stepped back pondering his words, as well as how easily he gave the information. While he had given an answer, he gave it too easily. She was actually hoping to inflict pain on both of them for a bit. It also proved that attacking them individually was the best way.

As she pondered what Richard had said, she saw her lover looking over the room. “Such a cryptic clue. One could imagine a few places to sit in here that would be the last place one would sit.” She looked around the room and pondered that as well. He would have to put it somewhere that they couldn’t easily access.

She was about to ask Marius where he had found them, when she heard a distinct noise. It wasn’t one would hear on a regular basis, but if you got too near to certain objects, you’d hear it. She heard an electric hum, just like those that come from electric fences. She went over to the exhibit and noticed the device in the cage. The cage had to be a security measure, but she wasn’t about to touch it, even with her aura. She still tried to look at the chair, and from just the right angle, she managed to spot the key. “Damn it. I figured he gave in too easily, and now I see why. He managed to toss the key so it was behind the electric chair. The only way to get it is to bend over and touch the damn thing.”

She felt Marius near her after she said that, and saw he was examining the set up as well. “It seems Godiva thought this one out as well. The hum is coming from the cage as well, but not as loud. We can’t risk touching the cage, especially with my respirator. However, I don’t think we will have to wait for long.”

She looked at him, slightly puzzled, and said, “What do you mean we won’t have to wait for long?” Are you expecting something to happen that will help us?”

She was stunned when he responded, with a slight chuckle. “Why yes. I’m expecting Generation X to shut off the power. It will be the only way to reset the doors. In that time, we can rush in the cage, get the key, and escape with our prize. However, we need to get some barricades in place.”

Elane then realized what Marius meant. Generation X would have to shut off the power to get past the doors, taking out the last obstacle in their path. She nodded, and started barricading the doors, figuring that not all of them would go running to the control panels. As she worked to barricade the doors, she also heard both Richard and Yvette were starting to struggle. They knew their time was limited, and that all their obstacles were for nothing.

Everett quickly recovered from the attack they had all been victimized by. When he had returned with Jubilee after helping get Jonothan as far away from the screams as possible, he joined the others trying to get to the other side. He had not anticipated that Aura was that powerful with her ability, but he should have known better. Even from his brief time accessing her ability, he figured she could do something like that. He just didn’t expect it to be so powerful.

He then got up, and as he did so, he started to help the others up, the first one being Jubilation. As he was helping her up, she said something that caught him a little off guard. She was obviously flustered by this turn of events, but even that didn’t make him expect what she said. “I’m beginning to wish we were dealing with Sabretooth.”

He looked at her as they helped the others get up. After the whole Phalanx situation, he had heard her talk about how dangerous Sabretooth was. In fact, she had told him how he had almost killed her, and how Sabretooth had been close to killing Bishop. He honestly didn’t think she would ever want to face him, so he asked the question. “Why do wish that? I thought you were scared of facing him.”

She looked at him with a look that told him that he should have thought of the answer. “Because we have tons of information regarding Sabretooth. Aura we know bupkis about. We really didn’t get a lot of time to question Skitz about Aura. Plus, we know nothing about what she’s been up to. Besides, we suspected she’d be out of commission after we figured she was helping Emplate.”

In all honesty, she was right. He overestimated himself in his ability to use Aura’s powers. He thought he could combat her, but she demonstrated she had more control over her ability than he thought. He had been learning how to use everyone else’s powers and been finding out some things about those powers. He was also trying to figure out how some of those powers were replicated by his own mutant aura, and if it was possible to replicate all the abilities he came across.

He was brought out of those thoughts when Sean’s voice came over the communicator. “Is everyone alright? Is anyone injured?” Everett could hear the concern in his teacher’s voice. That worried him as he looked around at the others. Everyone there had finally gotten up and were flashing the thumbs up. No doubt, Aura didn’t want to waste time making sure they were hurt.

He spoke into his communicator, and said, “We are alright here. Just a little shaken up. How’s everybody with you, Banshee?” He was worried about the others that weren’t with them.

To his relief, Sean answered his question in a way that was good. “Everyone with me is alright. My big concern is Emma and Daria. They aren’t responding, and I don’t want to leave the others alone, just in case.” Everett completely understood on that one. When they had split up, all the young kids ended up on that side of the museum.

Everett saw everyone was up and ready, so he responded, “Don’t worry. We’re on our way over there.” He motioned to the others, and they all rushed back to the room they had left Emma and Daria in. He hoped that they weren’t hurt or worse. They would have been more of an obstacle to Aura than his group was.

To his dismay, as they approached the door, it was closed. That meant they would have to trigger the door again. He wasn’t sure if it was part of the design of the system or not, but even some of these doors had a puzzle on them. He sighed and said, “Godiva, can you quickly open the door this time?”

Before Godiva stepped forward, he saw Monet step forward and say, “Allow me.” He then watched, a bit amazed, as she worked on the puzzle with amazing speed. In fact, he wasn’t sure if any time had passed by the time she solved it and the door opened. She then stepped in the doorway to hold it open as she said, “Speed was of the essence.”

Everett couldn’t argue that, and he led the rest into the room, only to stop in surprise at what they saw. The room wasn’t overly damaged, but in one corner of the room, far from the door to the Inhumanities Exhibit, Daria and Emma were on the floor almost in a compromising position. He had a feeling that Daria might have tried to delay Aura but Aura used Emma as a shield.

Some of the group rushed over to help Emma and Daria up, while a few others went with Godiva to the door. He went with the group over to Emma and Daria and helped get them back on their feet. He could tell Emma was a bit more lightheaded than Daria was, no doubt due to all the psychic screams.

As they got the two to their feet, he heard Monet ask the question he figured was in part on all their minds. “What happened to you two?” He took notice for a second that Monet seemed the least fazed by the psychic attacks. He also thought that her father was a little concerned when looking at Monet.

He watched as Emma was rubbing her side as she responded. “Aura decided to use me as a means to deflect Daria’s attack. I’m hoping that those sledgehammer hands didn’t break my ribs.”

He then heard Daria say in response, “When she pulled you into my path, I started morphing them back to normal. Hopefully they didn’t do that.” He then saw her look over at the door, and say, “You don’t think Aura has the door blocked, do you?”

To his dismay, he heard Godiva respond to the question. “She doesn’t need to. The password was changed. This is definitely not good. They’ve gotten around the password issue, but we still have one last trick. Hopefully, the layout of the room will work in our favor.”

At that point, Everett heard Sean over the communicator again. “What’s this last trick, and why didn’t we use it earlier?” He wondered the same thing but given who had been initially in the rooms these doors were in, it made sense not to try it first. True, before they weren’t entirely certain if Aura was there or not, and everyone was all separate, but now that everyone was together, they could have tried that first, or been ready once they realized Aura was in the way.

He heard Godiva answer the question, and she sounded a bit upset for not thinking about it first. “There are two emergency situations. The one they activated is a failsafe for an internal threat and keeping the problem located to one room. The other is the emergency evacuation situation. In situations like a natural disaster or fire, the system is set to shut down power to the doors, deactivate the password options, and shut down all unnecessary items.”

He then heard Kyuukai speak over the communicators, and something she said made him do a double take. “Yes, it switches to the smaller generator we have. We work on main power, as well as a generator so it doesn’t pull on the electric grid. Godiva has an actual working electric chair in that room, but it’s always kept at lower power, just in case.”

He heard Jubilation respond to that and she probably spoke all their thoughts at the moment. “Wait a minute. That thing in there was genuine. It’s a good thing Emplate didn’t know that or used it at all. I don’t want to think about what that would have done to them.”

He was stunned when Godiva responded to the statement. “I wasn’t thinking that that bastard was using it. I think my cousin finagled something with it. If he figured out how to max out its output, he might have done something to use it as a security measure. That’s why I didn’t want to mention this option.”

He looked over at Emma and said, “To be honest, Skitz most likely did something like that. If Emplate and Aura are aware of that as well, or figured out what he did, the shutdown would basically hand them over. We’ll have to be ready to rush in once this is activated.”

At that moment, a different voice came over the communicator. To his chagrin, it was Paige, and he had completely forgotten about her and Jono. “Chamber and I can handle that. Just tell us how to get to the security room from the Lobby, and we’ll let you know when we are about to hit the button.” Everett thought that was a good plan, and as the directions to the security console were given, he took that moment to tell some of the others to get over with Sean and Kyuukai.

Paige Guthrie had listened very carefully to Godiva directions, since she knew how much was on the line with what they were about to do. Once she had it down, she looked at Jono and saw that he was now able to move. When Jubilee and Everett had left to return to the others, he was already starting to recover. It was a positive thing in all the chaos.

Once she started to move, he was at her side, and that made Paige feel good. As the moved, she heard his voice in her head, and it sounded stronger than it had been before. “Did you catch everything you had to do?” She nodded, and then pushed a button causing the stairway that led to the security area to lower. Godiva had hinted that this generator was in a basement.

As they headed down the steps, she decided to voice her concern. “Chamber, Ah hope we are able to save them doing this. Ah’d hate to think that we are helping Emplate achieve his goal.” She then shook her head and added, “As well as feeling we are betraying Skitz and Penance.”

As they entered the area, Paige noticed there were other exhibit items for the museum in there. She knew they would have to head through the room, since the generator room was towards the back. As they passed the various items, she heard some words of comfort from Jono. “I’m sure we’ll succeed. Everyone is ready to barge in there, so it shouldn’t allow Emplate and Aura to escape with them.”

She nodded, but when she reached the door to where the generator was, she paused when she thought of Emplate’s one ability. “Not if Emplate phases them out of synch with our dimension. That ability of his allows him to be able to sneak by all of us. How can we stop that?”

To her surprise, Jono had an answer. “I think if Synch uses his aura to link to Skitz’s ability, he might be able to detect Emplate in the same way Skitz did when Emplate’s out of synch with our dimension. Either that or he gets in synch with Emplate. It would be risky, but it might be our best way of catching Emplate if he uses that trick.” She had to admit, that was a very plausible idea.

As they entered the generator room, another thought crossed her mind. She looked at Jono for a moment, and said, “Chamber, do you think Mondo has a crush on Daria? I mean, he did want to get back to where she was.”

As they got over to the generator, she heard him respond to her question. “Of course. He’s a little more upbeat than he usually is when he looks at her. I also noticed some traits you had before we started dating.” She paused when she heard that. She didn’t realize that men showed some of the same signs of a crush like women did.

She got to the generator unit, and looked at the controls that were on it, while responding to that statement. “When this is over, maybe we should try to get them on a date. Just to add something positive to this whole fiasco.”

She then looked over the unit and noticed a few warning lights were lit. They had already suspected that, but this was just confirming it. She then spotted the reset button, and went to press it, but stopped. She wanted to be sure everyone was ready before she pressed that button. She quickly activated her communicator, and said, “Ah’m at the generator, and I’m ready to push the button. Is everyone ready?”

She paused, waiting for the response. Each second felt like an eternity, and it even meant that Emplate and Aura could be making things harder for them to get through the doors. Of course, she even considered the fact that Skitz and Penance might panic the second they deactivated the power. If they did, it could create more problems for them.

Soon, she heard a response from the comms unit. “Alright Husk, we are all in position. Push the button, and keep an eye on Chamber, just in case.” Paige pressed the button, and the unit shut down. It was accompanied by the lights dimming for a moment. She also noticed that Jono had started to collapse, but she ran to his side to help him. Now she just hoped everything would work out. She really didn’t want to feel like she failed the team.

***************************************

Darrett was in serious trouble. He was inches away from the artifact, knowing all he needed to do was grab the item. His mother, who was now dead, had told him that much from what they had learned. He just wasn’t sure if he would have the chance to get at it in time.

To his surprise, he saw the look on Richard Cale’s face change, almost as if he was in shock at what he saw. It was as if he had never seen it before as he spoke with almost reverence at what he was seeing. “The Ouroboros. A relic that is supposed to be fused with time altering magic.”

The words had an effect on the situation, one that completely surprised him. When Richard Cale said that, he saw a look of confusion first cross Yvette’s face. It was then replaced with rage, as if she had just realized something. It was at that point he saw the crazed redhead drop his mother and lash out at Richard Cale. The figure then started to change, becoming rather featureless. It had been another mutant, one that could shapeshift. He also saw another figure enter the room. It was the real Richard Cale, and he realized what was about to happen.

He took the moment fate had allowed him and dove for the magical item. As he did that, he heard the real Richard Cale shout, “Stop him. He’ll destroy everything.” He grabbed it as he heard the others start to move towards him. He only had one thought on his mind. He had to stop the moment they came about.

Soon, there was a flash of bright light, and a moment of disorientation. He even felt like his stance was changing. He never really heard what it felt like to travel through time, most likely because the list of known time travelers was gone by the time he reached this moment. They had been some of the first to fall when the world went to hell.

As a momentary wave of nausea hit him, the world finally came into focus, and he was now in a dimly lit room. He heard people moving, and by the sounds, they were putting up barricades. They had, however stopped, and he heard a male voice say through something, “They just shut off the power. Elane, get the key while I unhook Richard and Yvette.” Darrett realized where he was, and he quickly sprang into action. He had to stop this from happening and prevent the dark time he was from.

The second the lights dimmed; Richard Cale knew their time was up. He had even heard Emplate tell Elane to get the key. No doubt the barricades would cause enough of a delay for Emplate to escape with them. He glanced to his side, and he could tell Yvette was alarmed by what was happening. No doubt to him that she had picked up on his own anxiety and fear. “He’s going to capture us, isn’t he?”

He felt the fear in her thoughts and responded. “It looks that way. I’m sorry I caused us to get caught here. I shouldn’t have left the group earlier. I was just worked up, and…” He couldn’t continue the thought. He had let them get captured, and all his plans weren’t enough. His own stupid action led to this fate.

He then heard in his mind words of comfort. “There is still a chance. They know where his place is. We just have to hold out. We still have to have hope.” He knew she was right. As long as they had their mental bond, they were safe since it meant he still had her power. It would be harder when that bond was gone. No doubt Emplate would separate them.

He almost headed down that mental path when he heard a sound. It sounded like someone was being struck. He hadn’t heard the doors open, but that sound seemed to change something in the room. He even heard Emplate exclaim “What? Who are you?” This started to raise questions in his own mind. Did some other mutant somehow come to their rescue?

Soon, he heard one of the doors being forced open. It was obvious that he wasn’t the only one who heard it as he heard another exclamation come from Emplate. “Damn it. I don’t know who you are, but you’ve made a dangerous enemy today.” No doubt Emplate was going to flee now. Richard didn’t think he’d stick around once the doors were fully opened, depending on how Emplate’s ability worked, but he wasn’t about to find out.

As the doors were forced open, he and Yvette finally saw their savior. It had been a teen, most likely in his mid-teens. The boy looked African in decent, but he didn’t focus long on that. He noticed the look in the boy’s eyes, and he saw a hatred in them. He wasn’t sure why that was, but it scared him.

He noticed that Yvette saw it as well, and he could feel the fear in her as she said in the mental link, “If this is the person who saved us, why does he look like he wants to kill us?” He wished he had an answer for that, and he knew his power wasn’t going to latch on to this new arrival. However, before anything else could be done, he heard the doors give way, and everyone rushed in. Still, he wasn’t certain everything was right. In fact, everything about the moment just caused him to pass out, and he even felt Yvette go out as well.

Sean Cassidy led his group into the room and was surprised by what he was seeing. He had mentally prepared himself for the worst outcome, but to see that Richard and Yvette were still there lifted his heart. He didn’t see Emplate or Aura, but he did notice the young man glaring at the two. He wasn’t sure who this new arrival was, but he had a feeling he had done something to scare off Emplate and Aura.

The young man noticed him, and backed away from the two captives, holding his hands up. As he did so, he heard the new person say, “I just arrived, and I managed to fend off the attackers.” Sean inwardly sensed the truth, and also suspected something about this stranger.

He then saw the other door open, seeing the others enter the room, getting past the remains of the blockade. As the others entered, he noticed that they were all relieved to see Richard and Yvette, and he also noticed that Godiva was picking up something that was on the floor.

He went over to the two then, and he could tell something wasn’t right. They looked like they had gone unconscious, and he wondered what had happened to them that caused that. Had Emplate done something to them before he got thwarted. There had to be an answer. He then started to free them from the device they were on.

As he worked on that, he heard others arrive, and it was Paige’s voice that broke the silence. “Did we get to them in time? Were we successful?” He heard the concern in her voice, but then heard the relief when she saw them. “Thank goodness. Ah was scared we would be too late when we got up here.” He wasn’t sure where the girl was looking, but he figured she had caught sight of the new arrival when she said, “Who is that?”

Sean didn’t want to focus on that, but he said, “One thing at a time, Paige. Emma, could you come over here.” He waited until he saw her by his side. It was at this time when Godiva had gotten over to them with what had to be the key to the manacles that Richard must have put on him and Yvette.

He glanced at Emma but could already tell she knew what he wanted her to do. Given the state of the two, she was forgoing her promise to Richard, figuring the lad would understand. It wasn’t long before she said, “It’s not good. They’ve both gone into psychic shock. This situation was way too close a call for them both. We are going to need to get them to the X-Men.”

He nodded, and then looked over at the stranger in the room. As he did so, he said, “I agree. I also think we should bring our new arrival along. Seems he saved the day, but I have an odd feeling that he’s not local.” At this time, everyone seemed to be focused on the new arrival. He could tell there was a sense of both gratitude and suspicion in the group for this person.

If anyone had to break the silence, he was partially glad it was Jubilation. While she was the most seasoned of all the students, she also tended to be the optimist of the group. She also seemed to pick up on something he already suspected. “Hey, he arrived at just the right moment. I’m guessing a good guy time traveler.”

He nodded, and with that, he knew what they had to do. He was thankful that Godiva and Kyuukai were helping with getting Richard and Yvette out. It worried him how much this situation would play on both of their minds. He had a feeling that they might not be the same after this, especially with all the trauma Richard had been through since joining the school and team.

He did try to look on the positive side over all this. Knowing about how one place could be pro-mutant to the point that they can live together in harmony, proof that Xavier’s dream was possible. It was also good to gain allies like Godiva and Kyuukai, and that they were aware of their powers. He also wondered if Kyuukai’s powers might be beneficial in some ways. He might have to talk that over with Emma later.

Once they were ready to go, he saw Cartier St. Croix watching with a concerned look on his face. Sean walked over to him and calmly said, “I know this was a hell of situation, but I’m hoping they will all be fine. This isn’t the first time we’ve had to deal with yur son.”

He heard Cartier sigh, and then heard him respond to the statement. “I know. It’s just I didn’t know that things stood the way they are now.” He saw Cartier shake his head, feeling that there was more to know than Cartier was about to let on. He wasn’t overly surprised since the St. Croix family seemed to have a whole host of secrets.

He was about to head to the vehicle when Cartier then said something that surprised him. “Keep an Eye on Monet, in case she has one of her spells. If she does, try to get her out of it as quickly as possible. And don’t let Richard’s parents know about this, at least not yet.” That last bit surprised him. He wasn’t going to tell them, and he was certain Godiva wasn’t about to tell them, since Richard wanted his visit to be kept from them.

He nodded, but then said to Cartier, “Don’t worry. Right now, we need to make sure they are alright, and get some information about our mystery savior here. However,” he paused and looked Cartier in the eye, “I think we will need to speak about all the secrets. Learning about Monet and Marius were things we should have been informed about.” He saw Cartier nod in agreement, and Sean then headed to the vehicle. They had to get to the X-Mansion and do so as quickly as possible.

@chase3: I would say either very good time management, or very little sleep.

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The Spy Who Didn't Shag Me

Chapter 5: Getting Ready For The Cruise. (Audio)

Attention: King’s Quest is property of Sierra. Most character names are also from the King’s Quest Companion by Peter Spear. Some characters are my creation. This story also takes place after all eight King’s Quest games.

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Revenge of the Black Cloak Society

Chapter 17: The Wedding Goes Awry (Audio)

Lolotte glared at her fallen foe, and momentarily contemplated stealing Genesta’s medallion again. It was a very tempting prize, but right now she needed to make sure she got away with her current prize as well reclaiming what she lost after her ‘death’. She knew Genesta would not be attacking her right now.

She turned to looked at all the wedding guests and saw no one was attacking. She knew that one of those individuals wasn’t going to attack her, since it was Shadrack. He had left a note for her that she looked at after she had gotten control. He wasn’t going to reveal himself, as the note said, but she wondered for a moment why no one was attacking. It then hit her that they didn’t want to hurt Rosella. That was something she was going to use to her advantage.

With a snap of her fingers, a yellow scarf appeared, and she directed towards the still shocked Edgar. In an instant, it wrapped around his neck, and he screamed as the transformation began. The screams cause more panic to erupt, and the people started to back away, fleeing from their seats and out of the room. There was no doubt in her mind that the chaos would also bring the guards, but they wouldn’t be able to enter.

During all this, she heard a whimper in her mind, and she had no doubt that Rosella’s soul was taking all this in and experiencing pain at it all. She was sure that Edgar’s transformation caused her greatest foe pain. It was that pain that would help destroy her spirit faster. Once that happened, Lolotte knew her return would be complete.

She then looked on as two individuals started to approach. She wasn’t surprised to see who they were, although the one she had only seen in person today. They were King Oberon and King Graham. Both of them had stern looks on their faces, and no doubt wanted to apprehend her. In fact, she was sure Oberon was trying to decide what spell to use when his eyes started to glow as he spoke. “Lolotte, how did you manage to cheat death?”

She then heard King Graham ask another question, one that she was sure he wouldn’t like the answer to. “And what have you done to my daughter?” She noticed neither of them were armed but didn’t think that would hinder Oberon too much. In the back, she noticed that the bridal party had all rushed there, but some started to advance as well.

A quick glance to her side allowed her to see that the transformation had completed, and she faced the two advancing kings. She laughed and answered both their questions. “I’ve learned many tricks since you banished me, Oberon. I learned to place a copy of my essence, or what the mortals call a soul, into an object. In due time, I’ll take over this form, and Rosella will be no more.” She relished the look of shock on Graham’s face, and then saw both of them start to advance.

She was ready for that, and launched a bolt of force at them, knocking them both backwards into the group. No doubt some of the guests were knocked down as the two kings ran into them. She also noticed some of the various members of the wedding party advancing, as well as some of the guards. This made her think it was time to head back to Tamir.

She extended a hand towards Edgar, and magically brought him over to her. She then shocked them all when she manifested fairy wings and flew out one of the windows with her captive. It may take her a little time, but she would get to Tamir and her castle. After that, she would try to pick Rosella’s mind to find out where she put Pandora’s Box. That, she was sure, would not only boost her power, but that of the Black Cloak Society.

Queen Valanice had run to her husband when the blast had knocked him back. She hoped the blast hadn’t hurt him, but there was no telling what that blast had done to him. In fact, she wondered if the fact that Lolotte was now in control of Rosella’s body might impact any power that was used.

Once she was to his side, she noticed that Alexander and Cassima had also came to his side. For a moment, Valanice had a flash back to when Alexander had returned to Daventry after being missing for so many years. Just as her husband had been ready to pass on his adventuring cap, he suffered a heart attack. Luckily, Rosella had come back with a cure for him. Now, however, they all asked the same question that was on her mind, although when she asked it, it was, “Graham, are you alright?”

To her horror, when Graham went to respond, he couldn’t even get a word out as he grasped at his chest. For Valanice, she was reliving a nightmare from those years ago, but worse. Her husband was dying, and her daughter was possessed. She was about to lose two family members on what was supposed to be one the happiest days of their lives. She quickly grabbed her husband and tried to fight the tears threatening to burst forth.

As if picking up on her distress, Valanice felt a presence over them, and she looked over to see Queen Titania walking over to them. She noticed the concern on the fairy queen’s eyes and watched as she knelt down. She then watched as Titania placed a hand over Graham’s heart, and a glow started. Before she could ask, she heard her say, “It will be alright. While your husband is mortal, it was most likely his age that, as well as the latent magic in Rosella that allowed the blast to do that. He’ll be fine in a bit, but he'll need rest.”

Valanice nodded and watched as the pained look on Graham’s face slowly faded, only to be replaced by a calm look. She could feel his chest rise and fall, telling her that his breathing was fine. She felt relief knowing that Graham was going to pull through the attack, but now she was worried about Rosella, and how they could save her.

She recalled what had happened to the young lady that had been possessed by Dahlia, and fear that her daughter was lost to her started to overwhelm her. While she had felt that sadness before when they first entered the realm of Eldrich, she knew she had to be strong and not let it overwhelm her now. She could not let this day be made any darker than it already had. She had to fight the evil that was darkening this day.

She got up and turned to face Titania and asked the question that was on her mind. “Queen Titania, we’ve already had to deal with a possession. Is there any way to save Rosella from dying if we must kill Lolotte in her body?”

She notices a slightly horrified look on Titania’s face, but then a calmness replaced it, most likely recalling being told what happened with Dahlia’s attack. She was given hope when Titania calmly said, “Depending on the possession, there is a possibility. It depends on how it was done.”

Those words meant more to her than anything else that could have been said. Right now, Graham was being spared from death, and now there would be a chance to save Rosella. While it seemed slim right now, it was better in her mind that there was a chance. She kept pace with Titania and asked the question now on her mind. “Can you explain that a little more, since we have to come up with a plan to stop Lolotte.” As she asked that, she noticed that besides the bridal party, only two guests had remained behind, that being the King and Queen of Silmaria. She started to wonder if they would have more allies in this battle with the Black Cloak Society.

Titania looked at Valanice and paused for a moment. She knew her son’s future mother-in-law wanted to hear something helpful, and she also had a very good point in planning a way to stop Lolotte. She nodded and addressed this issue. “Possession is a very tricky thing, as part of it is based on the intent of the one possessing. It can also depend on how the possession is done.”

She looked around the room, noticing the few who didn’t flee when Lolotte had surfaced. She noticed the Queen of Silmaria was paying attention to what she was saying, and it made her wonder about the woman. Something about her seemed to remind her of something, but she continued with her explanation. “For example, it can depend on if the possessor already has a physical body or not. That can factor in if they wish to control the one that they are possessing, or passively observe. If they have no physical form, they won’t have to maintain control of another form and can use all their power to control the new form.” She saw Valanice nod in understanding.

Then she heard the Queen of Silmaria add something she had not expected. “The willpower of the possessed being also plays a factor. The stronger the will the person has, the longer they can fight back, even if the possessor has taken control of the physical body.” When she looked at Queen Katrina of Silmaria, she noticed the redhead looking away for a second, when the woman finally said, “I know a little bit since my past spent time in those dark magical groups. I even became a vampire to help them, until my husband came along, and another one of the group betrayed me in the end.”

Titania nodded, giving the woman another appraisal before responding, “I thought there was something familiar about you. You had been trying to harness the power of Avoozl. Given the dark chaotic magic those entities thrive on, you might have only succeeded for a moment. Why did you try to tap that dark force for?” While she was thankful that this woman didn’t succeed in her darker days, she wanted to be sure she wasn’t part of the plans of the Black Cloak Society.

She was relieved when she heard the response. “I wasn’t doing it for any group. It was more to prove I had been worthy of being in WIT. Over my years, I learned that was folly, especially after I had died.” It was then Titania had realized what had happened. She had heard some things about how that dark order had formed and fallen apart centuries ago in Mordovia. She had also heard Count Tsepish say how someone had asked for his dark gifts in a hope of controlling those dark rituals but hearing how the person wouldn’t be able to find them. At least the woman had realized her folly.

Titania then went back to explaining the possession to Valanice. “As Queen Katrina stated, willpower is a factor. That means we may have a good deal of time to break Rosella free, as long as Lolotte doesn’t get a boost in power.” She started to wonder if there was anything that could complicate things.

It was at that point she heard Genesta say, “Titania.” She had almost forgotten that Lolotte had attack her and ran to her side. Luckily, she had already started recovering from the attack. When she got close, she heard Genesta say, “Titania. Lolotte knows that Pandora’s Box is located in Tamir. After what happened to Alexander, I had called Rosella to Tamir to find out how secure it could be.”

Hearing that bit of information caused Titania to realize how much Lolotte had been up to before she had been defeated. While she had never suspected that box of the old evil fairy, Pandora, was hidden in the place. It shouldn’t have surprised her, since every fairy knew the big truth of the land of Tamir. The land was rich in fairy magic, both a mix of good and evil. It made complete sense that the box would have been hidden there somewhere.

She came back to her senses, and said, “Well, that isn’t good news. If Lolotte gets it and opens it, she’d become too powerful to contain, let alone defeat. It could even erase Rosella’s mind entirely. We are going to need to work quickly to stop her.” At the moment, she noticed a scared look crossing everyone’s faces, and she was certain it crossed her own as well.

Princess Yvette stood listening to everything that had been said about what was going on, especially the news about Pandora’s Box being in Tamir. She had never heard Rosella speak about that during their visits, but she never suspected what she heard. She moved forwards to Titania, and said, “Queen Titania, how much danger does Pandora’s Box represent? Rosella once told me that parts of Tamir felt evil, even though they weren’t near Lolotte’s Castle.”

She heard Titania speak after she said that. “Yes. It is one of the big secrets of Tamir. In fact, a big secret of the whole continent of Tanalore. You see, Tamir is enchanted to bind very dark, ancient, evil magic. The mountains bind a dark creature that had been linked to the house that is seated in the eastern part of that land. It is also why the evil of Pandora’s Box was so well hidden.”

Everything about that made sense to Princess Yvette, except for one little detail. “I know this will sound foolish, but I’ve always heard that only hope was in the box.” She looked over the group, hoping that she hadn’t heard wrong. By the looks on their faces, she figured she hadn’t been the only one who heard that.

She even saw Titania nod as she responded. “It was all part of how we hid what she had done. By instilling that only hope is in the box, and that it should not be lost, even evil doesn’t go after it. Only those who truly looked into it, and even knew the history of the fairies would know that the box didn’t contain hope, but the darkest demons that Pandora managed to control. It took many to defeat her, and she had only unleashed one of the hundreds she had in the box.” She noticed that Titania had shivered slightly as she must have thought about what ever those creatures might be.

She thought about what Lolotte would do now and figured that the evil fairy would most likely make an attempt to get the cursed box again. While it would most likely wipe out Rosella’s mind and soul, it might even cause more chaos in the land, if not the world. What they would have to do is somehow remove the evil thing from its current hiding place and move it some place different.

Before anyone else could say anything, Yvette spoke up to Titania. “Your majesty, I’d like to volunteer on helping defeat Lolotte. No doubt, we will need to find and move the box, since Rosella does know where it is. She did allude to it once when she recounted her adventure in Tamir.” She hoped she wasn’t too forward on that, but she could tell the Queen of the Fairies wasn’t going to deny her offer.

She then heard Titania respond to her request. “I do appreciate that, but this is slightly different than when Rosella had gone into Tamir. I feel more magic will be needed than what you could harness.” Yvette blinked when she said that, and then realized that while her own family could harness some magic, she hadn’t had any training in harnessing magic. If magic was going to be needed, she wasn’t going to be much help.

She was surprised when someone spoke up, and she turned to look at who had spoken. It had been the woman who had spoken about possessions, Queen Katrina of Silmaria. “Queen Titania, I offer to help her on this. My magical skills might be helpful in many ways. Besides, I still have some sway with some of the dark creatures.” Yvette could see how that could be helpful, and also hoped it was an honest offer of help.

She could see Titania was thinking about it. She figured they would need to get going as quickly as possible. She did figure that Rosella would not share that information, at least not willingly, with Lolotte. Of course, she didn’t know how long Lolotte was in control, although she suspected it happened after she met with Rosella last night. Before Titania could say anything, she noticed that Oberon had gotten up and looked like he had something to say regarding this whole situation.

King Oberon had finally recovered enough from the blast from Lolotte. It took him longer than he would have preferred. It was obvious that Lolotte had already tapped into the latent magical power he had sensed in the girl. He had a feeling that should they be successful, his future daughter-in-law would be forever changed. It wouldn’t be the first time a mortal was turned into a fairy.

He had been listening to everything that was being said while he recovered. He felt they were forgetting something very serious, at least serious to Rosella’s family. “Before you head to Tamir, something will need to be done to fortify Rosella’s mind. While I am sure Rosella can fight off Lolotte for a while, she will last longer if we can join her mentally. The only problem is that such telepathy needs proximity to work, even amongst our kind.”

To his surprise, he heard a dignified voice state, “What about through dreams?” He turned to look at one of the individuals who was being allowed back into the room since the chaos seemed to have ended. He had almost forgotten that one of the guests from Ooga Booga had been the good Dr. Mort Cadaver. He knew of the undead doctor’s fascination with the dream realms and knew of his part in the events that stopped Malicia.

He then rubbed his chin and beard considering the idea. While he didn’t know much about the dream world, it could be that someone being possessed might be in a dream state while their soul still exists. “Hmm. To be honest, I’m not entirely certain. If it is possible, Mab would know. A shame she couldn’t attend the wedding, or we could have asked her.”

He watched as Dr. Cadaver nodded and then stated, “I think that shouldn’t be a problem. Recently, I’ve had some of the vampires and other undead who gather thralls come into my office complaining about dreams from thralls, and then losing the link to that thrall. I’ve discovered a mental link between them and their thralls. It is quite a clever way for the stronger ones to break free. I would imagine that if a possessed soul is in a dream state, Mab would know. I also know for a fact that Queen Valanice knows exactly where Mab’s palace is in the dream world, and I can help her get in there again.”

He then noticed Queen Valanice approach Dr. Cadaver, saying, “Do you still have the tapestry, Dr. Cadaver?” When he saw the man nod, Valanice then said, “That could be it. I’ll go to Mab and ask her help on this matter. I can only imagine she would help since Rosella defeated Malicia. Besides, as Rosella’s mother, I might be the best chance we have at getting through to her.”

Oberon nodded at that, but then offered some addition information. “Go but be sure to mention to Mab how Rosella sprouted fairy wings. I suspect that Lolotte’s possession has somehow awakened something in Rosella. I believe if she survives this, she’ll be a bit more fairy now.” He noticed the look on Valanice’s face, but he held up a hand and said, “It isn’t the first time a transformation like this has happened. But I do suggest that you and Dr. Cadaver go now and start the process.” He then turned to Princess Yvette and Queen Katrina. “We will transport you to Tamir in a few minutes. Do what you can to hide and secure the box better, as well as come up with some trick to capture Lolotte.” He saw them both nod, and a small part of him wondered if Queen Katrina was already thinking about a possible plan. He had heard of her past, and a part of him hoped she wouldn’t revert to her evil ways.

Attention: Gauntlet Dark Legacy is the property of whomever owns the creative IP for it. The story is not official canon, but is based off the game.

Legendary Heroes

Chapter 15: Never Make Wishes (Audio)

Deep in the inner sanctum under the Mystic Pyramid, the dark Genie resided, his power growing. His overtaking of the Desert Realm was almost complete. He had corrupted the Temple Of The Magi, and the Mystic Pyramid was channeling power down to his sanctum. As his influence grew, he could sense wishes from the nomads in the desert and perverted them to his means. Those that wanted power, he turned into minions of his. If they desired eternal life, he transformed them into the undead. If they wanted wealth, he would trap them in a cave with gold that they could not escape.

He paused in his wish granting when he heard beings enter his lair. He turned around to see some of the mummies and sandmen entering with some of the few remaining people left. For a moment, he scanned over them, looking for the one figure he wanted to find. He brought his scimitars into existence and address the prisoners. “I want to know where the one known as Toyodai is. If you answer, you will be rewarded.”

He waited for a moment, keeping his gaze locked on the group. As he did so, he could see their deepest desires, as well as how much they kept those secret. One of the group didn’t hide his desires so deep. That was the one who would reveal what he wanted to know. All he needed to do was keep his eyes locked on the group, and mentally send out the urge to tell to that one.

It didn’t take long for one of the people, the one he knew it would be, to push forward saying, “I saw where he went. He entered a magical portal to the tower of Sumner.” While it was the information he wanted, the fact that the Wizard had managed to get out of the Desert Realms before his power could contain things irked him. Ethereal connections like a strong wizard’s tower were very difficult to contain. He would, however, have several minions ready for where and when the spot would appear again.

He then looked at the man and smiled. “Very good. For that, I shall reward you.” He motioned one of the sandmen minions he had to move forward and sent a whirlwind to engulf the two. He took delight in the screams of pain coming from the man as the magical wind started to merge the two beings together.

As the whirlwind did its job, he looked over at the remaining group, and pointed his scimitars towards another doorway in his chamber. Two mummies emerged from it, and he said, “Take them down to the mummification chambers. Their souls can help create more to keep the tombs safe from any invaders who get that far.” He watched as the mummies and the guards with prisoners started to drag them down. He delighted in hearing wails of fear from the prisoner, and the occasional strike the guards had to make.

He looked back at the whirlwind, watching it take on a darker hue. He even saw some of his smaller clones occasionally pop out to wipe their swords on the sand, not that they had to do so. Unlike his own swords, their swords were like their own bodies, constructs of wind.

While that process continued, The Genie brought up an image of the Mystic Pyramid and the Temple of the Magi. The progress of corrupting both of those was going nicely. He had created switches all over the place to change the floors in a massive area of the Temple of the Magi, and he had given the Mystic Pyramid the look of surreal incompletion. Parts of it looked like it needed to be finished and floated in the air. Those still free in the Desert Realm would look at it, and if they weren’t magically inclined, it would drive them to madness.

He turned away when he heard one of his existing Generals arrive in his sanctum, bringing with them a Rune Stone and what looked like a pair of bellows. The bellows had a puff of toxic green gas coming from the nozzle end of it, making him wonder if it was some sort of weapon.

Once they had stopped, The Genie saw another image appear hovering in the air, and in a brief moment, he recognized the image of Skorne. He bowed for a moment, responding to the image of his lord. “Skorne, my Lord. To what do I owe this honor. Do you have a task for me?”

He watched as Skorne nodded, and then looked over at the objects that had just arrived. “Indeed. I can tell your corruption of the Desert Realm is going well. I want you to find some hiding spots for this Rune Stone, and the Poison Bellows that will harm the Spider Queen. I don’t want them discovered at all.”

The evil Genie laughed as he heard that, knowing full well that the request would be very simple. “You have sent them to the right place. One thing the people of this land had been good at is secret chambers in their tombs and holy places. I’ll have my generals, including the newest one, place them in two separate ones.” At that moment, he saw the whirlwind creating his new General end, and the figure looked momentarily dazed.

He looked at the two Generals, and said, “Take those to two different hiding places. I don’t want them to be in the same place, should that Wizard return.” When the two Generals nodded, and start taking the items away, he returned his attention to Skorne. “I have found out that the Wizard that tried to stop my return headed off to Sumner’s Tower. He may return with help.”

He noticed that Skorne looked grim at that bit of news. He wondered if he had displeased the demon, but relaxed when Skorne finally spoke. “That is a problem. I figured Sumner would react, but he’s not strong enough to stop me now. At least not alone. Luckily, I have more forces to use, thanks to his foolish brother. I will send some Gargoyles for you to command. The lion ones actually have fire powers, so they will be a fine addition to the Desert Realm.”

The Genie laughed at that. He actually had many places to place them. He could place them all over the tunnels where the Mummies were. He could place them all over the town, and the Temple of the Magi. He even had a place where he could put two of them. He figured any hero sent would be unable to tackle two of the things at once.

A grim thought crossed the Genie’s mind then, and he asked his master about the one thing that could be a problem. “What of that accursed lamp? Where did it end up?” The last thing he wanted was that damn lamp being used to blind him again. While he was an agent of darkness, the darkness that lamp held he could not see through, allowing enemies to scatter out of his attack waves. It could cause his downfall should it be brought out again.

He saw Skorne look at him. “Do not worry. I am sure it will be in a very cold place, but also a dangerous place to linger around for too long. I doubt any hero will be able to locate it. This world will be ruined before anyone can stop us.” He heard Skorne laugh with that last statement, and he couldn’t help but join in.

After a moment, he saw Skorne fade from sight, and he decided to increase his forces before the Gargoyles arrived. He turned to some of the sand flowing into his chamber through cracks in the walls and cast a spell at them. Soon the sand was swirling and taking on a roughly humanoid shape.

The Genie was well aware of how strong sand could be, and as it packed together into those humanoid forms, he could see it was going to be strong. Once it was done, and they had horrifying faces glowing an evil blackish color. He smiled at the legion of Sand Golems and commanded them. “Go forth, and find a place to blend in. Should anyone choose to oppose me, strike them down.” He watched as they all saluted him with a roar and lumbered out of the chamber. Once the Gargoyles arrived, a part of him wanted to see the Wizard return and try to get past all his forces. It was enough to make him laugh again.

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The Spy Who Didn't Shag Me

Chapter 4: How To Spend A Million Dollars. (Audio)