The Return of Nevermore part 8

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Loki snapped around and screamed, “DIE!”

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

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

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

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

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

“She has a point,” Joselyn reluctantly admitted.

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

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

“Stop her,” Loki commanded.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vesper nodded agreement. “Good point.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Everett,” Vesper blurted out in surprise.

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

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

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

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

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Comments

Another great story

I almost didn't read this, because I dislike the Nevermore character so severely. I'm glad now I went ahead anyway. Great character interactions!

Waterdog

some healing for Eve

good! and another obelisk down!

DogSig.png

With two obelisks down, will

With two obelisks down, will that shred and tear open some of the dome so that more of the heroes can come through it? Definitely looks like ones currently inside the dome need some extra help.

As Usual

As usual your stories are always great! I really like that these characters have all returned for yet another great story.

We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.

Terrific stuff Morpheus.

I will admit a bit of surprise at the paucity of comments this story is receiving, but I guess us superhero geeks (or geekettes) are rare critters.

Nevertheless, this is solid, great writing and I can't wait til the next chapter.

Catherine Linda Michel

As a T-woman, I do have a Y chromosome... it's just in cursive, pink script. Y_0.jpg

The long wait is now over

When I first read The Miracle Legacy and then the rest of the stories 18 months ago I fell in love with this universe specifically and your writing in general. I am delighted that the story you hinted at years ago in finally being published.

Channel

I’m glad they had this reunion I hope ms miracle gets hers too.

hugs :)
Michelle SidheElf Amaianna