The first thing I noticed was how cold I was. I shuddered, feeling the cold gooseflesh beginning to cause prickles all over my body. My eyelids fluttered, admitting a tiny bit of light. My body seemed stiff, almost unyielding and I remembered how the Alchemist had touched me with his stone, turning me to gold.
With a great deal of effort, I moved my eyelids; opening them a bit more. I saved trying to move anything more than that for a few moments. Drawing in my surroundings, I could tell I was in a strange room; one that seemed antiseptic and almost hospital like. But there were no windows here, merely a heavy wooden door.
"Can you move at all?" came a melodic voice. My head lolled to the side and I saw a woman in a dark blue tunic sitting next to my bed. Beneath a mop of dark hair I noticed her face was masked; but beneath it I could see a merry twinkle in her eye.
"You're awake I see. I'd better alert the Captains." She breezed from the room, her cape billowing wildly behind her before I utter a word.
"Don't pay any attention to Danger Woman," said a severe looking man, who entered the room before the door could shut. He wore a dark blazer and gray pants, with a maroon turtleneck. Thick gray hair was visible from under a dark fedora, which hooded his features. The man wore a flowing cape and an amulet. As his eyes met mine, I could sense a powerful presence in him.
"I sense an ancient power coursing in you, White Owl," he began. "Almost as powerful as that which pulls me unaging through time." I shuddered as he drew close, though whether that was from his familiar ease, or the room's temperature, I'd be hard pressed to say.
I looked up and my gaze met his, then locked. I lay transfixed as his dark gray eyes stared into mine, boring into and baring my soul to him. "Your recovery is remarkable," he said. "Outside of the Captain, I've never seen such a speedy recovery."
"Captain?" I asked. "I thought Danger Woman mentioned Captains. For that matter, who are you and where am I?" I was incredulous, and still uncertain of which rabbit hole I'd fallen through.
The dark man scowled. "I am known by many names, but recently I've been known to the world as the Dark Hunter. The truly heroic one is Captain Valiant. The 'other' captain and our alleged leader is nothing more than a buffoon."
Another masculine voice replied from the doorway. "Now Hunter, I wouldn't go calling names if I were you." As I turned my eyes I saw a bluff man in a dark red bodysuit entering the room. A deep gold cape hung draped over his shoulders and the image of a "V" with a comet inside of it covered his chest. His face was less grim than that of the Dark Hunter and a full head of dark hair covered his head. Behind him at the door, Danger Woman lingered.
The vision in scarlet drew closer and I felt him take my gloved hand into his. My heart raced excitedly and my grey eyes met his deep blue ones. We held our gazes steady, and I felt my heart melting at his touch. "Hello, little lady, I'm Captain Valiant. His head turned, as he ran a gentlemanly glance across my body, then he looked at the Dark Hunter. "She's clean," he said. "Looks like your juju worked, DH."
"I do not use juju, Captain, as well you know. It takes a great deal of eldritch energy to keep the balance, especially where amateurs like the Alchemist are concerned."
At the mention of the Alchemist, I started. Valiant turned from his bantering to me. "Don't worry about him," he said. "He's been put away for a long time, where the only stones he'll see will be state provided."
"What happened?" I asked.
Dark Hunter cleared his throat, and excused himself; shooing Danger Woman away. Captain Valiant sat down next to me and smiled. "Well that's a long story, White Owl. Are you sure you're up to it?"
I nodded and he smiled. "All right then. What you may not have known is that the Treasury department had an agent in the Alchemist's gang--very deep cover. When he gathered the evidence of the Alchemist's plan and how it involved the Philosopher's stone, the Treasury agents called in the Guild here.
"Needless to say, your appearance took us by surprise. We knew about a new heroine in Queen City but didn't think you'd be interfering with the Alchemist. So when you literally dropped in, our inside man panicked. He called us onto the scene.
"Danger Woman's songs brought the gang to heel, as they fell at her feet in adulation. I took out the Alchemist, but the philosopher's stone was lost in the fight. Dark Hunter spotted you, and insisted we bring you back to the Guildhall. He managed to somehow convert you back to flesh and bone. So how do you feel?"
I rubbed my arms and smiled. "I think I'm feeling much better. But what did you mean 'I'm clean'?"
He actually blushed and glanced down at the floor. "I had to use my penetra vision to look at your molecular structure. But I have to admit, I sometimes peek."
Now it was my turn to blush.
"But I admit, I liked what I saw."
I blushed even more deeply.
"CAPTAIN VALIANT, REPORT TO THE BRIEFING ROOM," came a voice from a hidden loudspeaker.
He turned to me, "Duty calls," he said, with a wink. He left the room with a cheery wave of his cape. I realized I might have to rethink my opinon of capes. The door stayed shut and I leaned back, trying to piece things together.
Not that I was uncomfortable with a strong hero type in my life, but Captain Valiant's story seemed to pat. They just HAPPENED to be there? And somehow Dark Hunter knew the way to put me back together? I wasn't sure I was buying it, and I slipped out of the bed, padding to the closet where I found my boots.
I slipped into the boots, then tested the lock of my door. The door swung open easily and I slipped into the hallway. The hall was well lit, and I could see signs pointing out the various locations in the Guildhall. I eased to the left, as the markers pointed out the briefing room in that direction.
Leaning close to the wall, I followed the hallway up three doors. The door to the briefing room was open, and I paused, listening.
"The plan proceeds then?" came the voice of the unseen leader.
"Yes Captain," replied the voice of Danger Woman. "The woman in the infirmary is of little consequence, and our charade has convinced her we are who we say we are."
"Should we not add her likeness to our cadre?" said the husky, smokey voice of the Dark Hunter. "After all, she was here when we made the exchange."
"There is no time for that," said the first voice. "Our impersonations must be perfect. After all, the Guild is trusted by this world as heroes. They certainly will not be prepared when their most trusted heroes destroy their defenses and conquer the earth."
"These enhanced bodies are indeed powerful," said the voice of Captain Valiant. "And the humans inside are a determined lot. I am expending a lot of energy keeping this one under my subjection." The other three voices voiced agreement.
Valiant's voice rose again. "I am going back to the lab for another injection, to keep this meddler under my control." I heard the chair scrape back as I pictured him standing.
I melted into a niche in the wall, then waited as Captain Valiant walked by. After insuring no one was following him, I dropped in behind. Valiant seemed unaware I was following, but I was uncertain how hyper his senses were. He rounded the corner, and I turned to follow, when I ran into a hard fist.
Dazed, I dropped to the ground. Valiant grabbed my wrist and pulled me to my feet, then threw me forward into the wall. I met the mortar with my chin and sagged, dropping to the floor. I tried to twitch, but my muscles were stunned, and unresponsive. Smiling, Valiant approached once more; his pleasant expression replaced by an evil sneer.
"I don't know what you heard, White Owl, but you're going to wish you had minded your own business. He grabbed me by the back of the neck and dragged my limp form back to the lab.
"Valiant, we heard something like a fight. Are you all right?"
"Yeah, just taking care of a loose end. Want to meet me in the lab?"
There was a moment's delay then the response, cold and harsh. "We'll be there to deal with her."
I don't know what I was expecting, but the lab was a well stocked chemistry and physics lab. But in the center of the room was a large table. Captain Valiant threw my limp body on the table and began cinching thick steel straps around my wrists and waist. I squirmed, but couldn't break free. The lab door opened again, and Dark Hunter and Danger Woman entered, flanking a strange man in a purple and green uniform. He had a gun pointed at me.
"I don't know who you are, nor am I too concerned about it, woman. But I will not allow you to stand in the way of Zaxxon domination," he said.
"Zaxxon what?" I asked.
"For too long, the Galactic Alliance has kept the Zaxxons from their primary focus of conquest. But their premier ranger, Zammo, is from this planet. We waylaid him on a mission and I joined myself to his mind. Upon returning him to the guild, my associates took and control the bodies of the remaining guild members."
"You mean Valiant is still in there?" I nodded at Captain Valiant.
"He is, though he's overpoweringly stronger mentally than Zammo or Danger Woman. Thanks to Dark Hunter though, we are able keep all of Valiant's mental energies at bay. That injection should be taken soon Captain."
The last bit was said to Captain Valiant, who nodded. "I'll get to it," he said.
Zammo returned to me. "I'm afraid you know too much White Owl. You cannot be allowed to live. I think the manner of your death will be ironic though, because you're going to die at the hands of the earth's mightiest defenders." He raised his gun and I saw him preparing to depress the trigger.
To my right, Captain Valiant was wrapping his hands around my throat. I swallowed hard, and redoubled my efforts to get the shackles free. To my right, Dark Hunter's amulet began glowing as he began chanting horrible things--rending my soul, and things like that.
Behind Zammo, I saw Danger Woman drawing a deep breath, then she picked up a microphone. With a swift blow to the back of the head, Danger Woman slammed the microphone into Captain Zammo.
His shot went wild, burning through the table and splitting the restraint holding my right wrist. I rolled out of Valiant's grasp and with a bit more table splitting, managed to kick the amulet free from Dark Hunter. The stunned heroes shook in fury and I rolled behind them, coming up behind Danger Woman.
"I hope you have a plan," I said.
"I do," she replied. "Cover your ears."
I did as I was told and saw her open her mouth. Even through my gloves, Danger Woman's song was gorgeous; almost siren like in compulsion. The male heroes dropped to their knees; enslaved by Danger Woman's musical abilities. Her tune changed to a lullaby and I fought back a yawn. But the effect on the men was incredible. All three dropped to the floor, unconscious.
"How did you do that?" I asked.
"I have mystical karaoke powers," she said cryptically. "But we need to act quickly."
She pointed out another chemical on the shelf. "Wave that under their noses. The Zaxxons can't stand the scent of Frisia. I sprayed the perfume under the noses of all the heroes; and for good measure splattered some of it on myself.
"How did you find out about this?" I asked.
"Well the Zaxxons were trained to mimic us as much as possible. They knew I had perfume, but not it's scent. So when I put it on, the Zaxxon in me went out screaming. I caught it and put it into the dimensio stabilizer." I knew better than to have her explain that.
The three heroes twitched, stretched and distorted as the Zaxxons inside stuggled to get free. Three little imp like creatures crawled out of the mouths of the men, and raced for the door. Danger Woman and I scooped them up and she showed me how to operate her stabilizer. We locked the remaining Zaxxons in the eighth dimension, then returned to the heroes.
Dark Hunter excused himself, and went off to compose himself. Danger Woman and Captain Zammo went to take charge of the Zaxxons and I was left with Valiant.
He touched a fading bruise on my face. "Looks like I got a little rough, there. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. You weren't yourself. And how many women get to say they went three rounds with Captain Valiant?" I smiled.
"I think I'd just as soon buy you three rounds," he replied.
"Why Captain! Were you asking me out?"
He blushed. "I understand if you have a boyfriend or something."
I slipped my arm into his. "I accept."
He gaped in awkward silence, then said, "I know a great place in Hub City. Care to try it?"
The End.
With a great deal of effort, I moved my eyelids; opening them a bit more. I saved trying to move anything more than that for a few moments. Drawing in my surroundings, I could tell I was in a strange room; one that seemed antiseptic and almost hospital like. But there were no windows here, merely a heavy wooden door.
"Can you move at all?" came a melodic voice. My head lolled to the side and I saw a woman in a dark blue tunic sitting next to my bed. Beneath a mop of dark hair I noticed her face was masked; but beneath it I could see a merry twinkle in her eye.
"You're awake I see. I'd better alert the Captains." She breezed from the room, her cape billowing wildly behind her before I utter a word.
"Don't pay any attention to Danger Woman," said a severe looking man, who entered the room before the door could shut. He wore a dark blazer and gray pants, with a maroon turtleneck. Thick gray hair was visible from under a dark fedora, which hooded his features. The man wore a flowing cape and an amulet. As his eyes met mine, I could sense a powerful presence in him.
"I sense an ancient power coursing in you, White Owl," he began. "Almost as powerful as that which pulls me unaging through time." I shuddered as he drew close, though whether that was from his familiar ease, or the room's temperature, I'd be hard pressed to say.
I looked up and my gaze met his, then locked. I lay transfixed as his dark gray eyes stared into mine, boring into and baring my soul to him. "Your recovery is remarkable," he said. "Outside of the Captain, I've never seen such a speedy recovery."
"Captain?" I asked. "I thought Danger Woman mentioned Captains. For that matter, who are you and where am I?" I was incredulous, and still uncertain of which rabbit hole I'd fallen through.
The dark man scowled. "I am known by many names, but recently I've been known to the world as the Dark Hunter. The truly heroic one is Captain Valiant. The 'other' captain and our alleged leader is nothing more than a buffoon."
Another masculine voice replied from the doorway. "Now Hunter, I wouldn't go calling names if I were you." As I turned my eyes I saw a bluff man in a dark red bodysuit entering the room. A deep gold cape hung draped over his shoulders and the image of a "V" with a comet inside of it covered his chest. His face was less grim than that of the Dark Hunter and a full head of dark hair covered his head. Behind him at the door, Danger Woman lingered.
The vision in scarlet drew closer and I felt him take my gloved hand into his. My heart raced excitedly and my grey eyes met his deep blue ones. We held our gazes steady, and I felt my heart melting at his touch. "Hello, little lady, I'm Captain Valiant. His head turned, as he ran a gentlemanly glance across my body, then he looked at the Dark Hunter. "She's clean," he said. "Looks like your juju worked, DH."
"I do not use juju, Captain, as well you know. It takes a great deal of eldritch energy to keep the balance, especially where amateurs like the Alchemist are concerned."
At the mention of the Alchemist, I started. Valiant turned from his bantering to me. "Don't worry about him," he said. "He's been put away for a long time, where the only stones he'll see will be state provided."
"What happened?" I asked.
Dark Hunter cleared his throat, and excused himself; shooing Danger Woman away. Captain Valiant sat down next to me and smiled. "Well that's a long story, White Owl. Are you sure you're up to it?"
I nodded and he smiled. "All right then. What you may not have known is that the Treasury department had an agent in the Alchemist's gang--very deep cover. When he gathered the evidence of the Alchemist's plan and how it involved the Philosopher's stone, the Treasury agents called in the Guild here.
"Needless to say, your appearance took us by surprise. We knew about a new heroine in Queen City but didn't think you'd be interfering with the Alchemist. So when you literally dropped in, our inside man panicked. He called us onto the scene.
"Danger Woman's songs brought the gang to heel, as they fell at her feet in adulation. I took out the Alchemist, but the philosopher's stone was lost in the fight. Dark Hunter spotted you, and insisted we bring you back to the Guildhall. He managed to somehow convert you back to flesh and bone. So how do you feel?"
I rubbed my arms and smiled. "I think I'm feeling much better. But what did you mean 'I'm clean'?"
He actually blushed and glanced down at the floor. "I had to use my penetra vision to look at your molecular structure. But I have to admit, I sometimes peek."
Now it was my turn to blush.
"But I admit, I liked what I saw."
I blushed even more deeply.
"CAPTAIN VALIANT, REPORT TO THE BRIEFING ROOM," came a voice from a hidden loudspeaker.
He turned to me, "Duty calls," he said, with a wink. He left the room with a cheery wave of his cape. I realized I might have to rethink my opinon of capes. The door stayed shut and I leaned back, trying to piece things together.
Not that I was uncomfortable with a strong hero type in my life, but Captain Valiant's story seemed to pat. They just HAPPENED to be there? And somehow Dark Hunter knew the way to put me back together? I wasn't sure I was buying it, and I slipped out of the bed, padding to the closet where I found my boots.
I slipped into the boots, then tested the lock of my door. The door swung open easily and I slipped into the hallway. The hall was well lit, and I could see signs pointing out the various locations in the Guildhall. I eased to the left, as the markers pointed out the briefing room in that direction.
Leaning close to the wall, I followed the hallway up three doors. The door to the briefing room was open, and I paused, listening.
"The plan proceeds then?" came the voice of the unseen leader.
"Yes Captain," replied the voice of Danger Woman. "The woman in the infirmary is of little consequence, and our charade has convinced her we are who we say we are."
"Should we not add her likeness to our cadre?" said the husky, smokey voice of the Dark Hunter. "After all, she was here when we made the exchange."
"There is no time for that," said the first voice. "Our impersonations must be perfect. After all, the Guild is trusted by this world as heroes. They certainly will not be prepared when their most trusted heroes destroy their defenses and conquer the earth."
"These enhanced bodies are indeed powerful," said the voice of Captain Valiant. "And the humans inside are a determined lot. I am expending a lot of energy keeping this one under my subjection." The other three voices voiced agreement.
Valiant's voice rose again. "I am going back to the lab for another injection, to keep this meddler under my control." I heard the chair scrape back as I pictured him standing.
I melted into a niche in the wall, then waited as Captain Valiant walked by. After insuring no one was following him, I dropped in behind. Valiant seemed unaware I was following, but I was uncertain how hyper his senses were. He rounded the corner, and I turned to follow, when I ran into a hard fist.
Dazed, I dropped to the ground. Valiant grabbed my wrist and pulled me to my feet, then threw me forward into the wall. I met the mortar with my chin and sagged, dropping to the floor. I tried to twitch, but my muscles were stunned, and unresponsive. Smiling, Valiant approached once more; his pleasant expression replaced by an evil sneer.
"I don't know what you heard, White Owl, but you're going to wish you had minded your own business. He grabbed me by the back of the neck and dragged my limp form back to the lab.
"Valiant, we heard something like a fight. Are you all right?"
"Yeah, just taking care of a loose end. Want to meet me in the lab?"
There was a moment's delay then the response, cold and harsh. "We'll be there to deal with her."
I don't know what I was expecting, but the lab was a well stocked chemistry and physics lab. But in the center of the room was a large table. Captain Valiant threw my limp body on the table and began cinching thick steel straps around my wrists and waist. I squirmed, but couldn't break free. The lab door opened again, and Dark Hunter and Danger Woman entered, flanking a strange man in a purple and green uniform. He had a gun pointed at me.
"I don't know who you are, nor am I too concerned about it, woman. But I will not allow you to stand in the way of Zaxxon domination," he said.
"Zaxxon what?" I asked.
"For too long, the Galactic Alliance has kept the Zaxxons from their primary focus of conquest. But their premier ranger, Zammo, is from this planet. We waylaid him on a mission and I joined myself to his mind. Upon returning him to the guild, my associates took and control the bodies of the remaining guild members."
"You mean Valiant is still in there?" I nodded at Captain Valiant.
"He is, though he's overpoweringly stronger mentally than Zammo or Danger Woman. Thanks to Dark Hunter though, we are able keep all of Valiant's mental energies at bay. That injection should be taken soon Captain."
The last bit was said to Captain Valiant, who nodded. "I'll get to it," he said.
Zammo returned to me. "I'm afraid you know too much White Owl. You cannot be allowed to live. I think the manner of your death will be ironic though, because you're going to die at the hands of the earth's mightiest defenders." He raised his gun and I saw him preparing to depress the trigger.
To my right, Captain Valiant was wrapping his hands around my throat. I swallowed hard, and redoubled my efforts to get the shackles free. To my right, Dark Hunter's amulet began glowing as he began chanting horrible things--rending my soul, and things like that.
Behind Zammo, I saw Danger Woman drawing a deep breath, then she picked up a microphone. With a swift blow to the back of the head, Danger Woman slammed the microphone into Captain Zammo.
His shot went wild, burning through the table and splitting the restraint holding my right wrist. I rolled out of Valiant's grasp and with a bit more table splitting, managed to kick the amulet free from Dark Hunter. The stunned heroes shook in fury and I rolled behind them, coming up behind Danger Woman.
"I hope you have a plan," I said.
"I do," she replied. "Cover your ears."
I did as I was told and saw her open her mouth. Even through my gloves, Danger Woman's song was gorgeous; almost siren like in compulsion. The male heroes dropped to their knees; enslaved by Danger Woman's musical abilities. Her tune changed to a lullaby and I fought back a yawn. But the effect on the men was incredible. All three dropped to the floor, unconscious.
"How did you do that?" I asked.
"I have mystical karaoke powers," she said cryptically. "But we need to act quickly."
She pointed out another chemical on the shelf. "Wave that under their noses. The Zaxxons can't stand the scent of Frisia. I sprayed the perfume under the noses of all the heroes; and for good measure splattered some of it on myself.
"How did you find out about this?" I asked.
"Well the Zaxxons were trained to mimic us as much as possible. They knew I had perfume, but not it's scent. So when I put it on, the Zaxxon in me went out screaming. I caught it and put it into the dimensio stabilizer." I knew better than to have her explain that.
The three heroes twitched, stretched and distorted as the Zaxxons inside stuggled to get free. Three little imp like creatures crawled out of the mouths of the men, and raced for the door. Danger Woman and I scooped them up and she showed me how to operate her stabilizer. We locked the remaining Zaxxons in the eighth dimension, then returned to the heroes.
Dark Hunter excused himself, and went off to compose himself. Danger Woman and Captain Zammo went to take charge of the Zaxxons and I was left with Valiant.
He touched a fading bruise on my face. "Looks like I got a little rough, there. I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. You weren't yourself. And how many women get to say they went three rounds with Captain Valiant?" I smiled.
"I think I'd just as soon buy you three rounds," he replied.
"Why Captain! Were you asking me out?"
He blushed. "I understand if you have a boyfriend or something."
I slipped my arm into his. "I accept."
He gaped in awkward silence, then said, "I know a great place in Hub City. Care to try it?"
The End.
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