NOTE: "Judith Strikes!" is a shared world project written by several "Daria" fanfic authors. Individual authors are credited in each chapter. It may also be helpful to read my short fics "Misnomer" and "Research" before embarking on this one. Enjoy! - Erin M. (Shallow 15)
JUDITH STRIKES!:
OPENING GAMBIT
A "Daria" fanfic by Erin Mills
"Daria" ©2010 MTV Networks/Viacom International
Somewhere in the Multiverse...
It was a dead world, and had been for some time. Civilization had its time and had moved on, quietly and with little fanfare. There were still some traces though. A few buildings still stood relatively undamaged and were still structurally sound.
One of these was a large, red brick, two story house on a quiet suburban street. While a majority of the windows were shattered and blown out, the rest of the house was still intact. The lawn was yellowed and dead. If anyone was still around to look in the garage, they would have found an old red SUV sitting in there, also long dead form disuse.
The interior of the house wasn't much better. The elements had taken over in the years since the end and the furniture was rotted and unusable in most of the house. In the living room were the remains of six human skeletons, all jumbled together in a pile in the center of the room. They, too, hadn't been disturbed in years.
The only incongruities to the disarray and neglect in the house was in one of the upstairs bedrooms and the bathroom down the hall from it. The bedroom was kept clean and orderly, and had padding on the walls of half the room. On the wall with the door, four bookshelves held a variety of books ranging from modern hardcovers, to ancient tomes, to electronic datapads. The desk in the center of the shelves held what was probably one of the most impressive pieces of personal computing ever devised.
There was no screen, just a large rectangular holographic projection hovering in the air over the desk, below it a wafer thin touchpad that had been configured to resemble a standard "qwerty" style keyboard. Under the desk were eight CPU "towers" wirelessly networked together and running a stolen and cracked operating system well in advance of the technological standard the world used to run on. The entire system was connected to a small capsule device about eight inches long that bore a striking resemblance to a Fabrege egg, except the faceted "gems" on its surface occasionally flashed and pulsed as power was created to run the system.
These were the only signs that the world may not have been as dead as it appeared. And with a flash of blue-white flame, the house was once again occupied.
She appeared in the center of the room. She was clad in a black matte catsuit, complete with impressive boots and leather gloves. A brown, multi-compartmented utility belt was slung loosely aroudn her hips. She wore a hooded, blood red cloak which brushed the floor as she moved. She looked around the room, nodded to herself, then pushed back the hood and shook her head.
A cascade of brown hair flowed down to her shoulders. Her face was lean, piercing brown eyes covered by a pair of large round glasses. Her expression was stern, giving an impression of barely controlled rage. She reached up and unhooked the clasp of the cloak at her neck, shrugging it off and tossing it on the bed.
The silver heart shaped locket hanging from a chain around her neck glittered briefly in the sunlight that came from between the drapes on the window. She touched the locket to keep it from swinging, then reached into one of the compartments of her belt and withdrew a USB flash drive. She knelt down next to the desk, located a tower that was compatible with the technology and slid the drive in.
She sat in the chair in front of the desk, pulled off her gloves, then reached up and slid her fingers across the holographic screen. Instantly, a layout similar to a Windows desktop appeared. She tapped the icon for the appropriate tower, then for the USB drive. Data began scrolling across the screen.
She read almost as quickly as the information was displayed, stopping and re-reading when she wanted to be sure she understood what she had read. It had taken her a long time to acquire this information, and if she was right, it would lead her to what she had been searching for.
The screen scrolled to the next section and she cursed. The text had turned into an unintelligible mass of gibberish. The file was corrupted. She cursed herself for not taking the time to check to make sure the copy had been successful before she had turned the abandoned DELPHI base into a radioactive hole in the ground.
"Fucking Foundation," she muttered, scrolling back up to the legible text. They were getting more aggressive lately. Something had to be up. Probably having a hissy over something those clueless morons at the Agency were doing or not doing or whatever. Either that, or they had a knot in their shorts about those sanctimonious Ringbearers. Those two groups always gave the Foundation a headache, and she was grateful for it. It kept the Guides busy trying to keep their existence a secret while she got on with business.
Except, with this file corrupted, business had come to a screeching halt. The DELPHI base had been one of their universe's main research centers in trans-reality travel, at least until they had made the mistake of subcontracting their computer systems to Aperture Science Laboratories. Boy, did they learn their mistake in a hurry.
She drummed her fingers on the desktop and looked at the file again. Maybe there was something usable in what had gotten copied. it was worth a look,otherwise she was going to have to backtrack and maybe hit another DELPHI base...hello, what was that?
...substantial information acquired through alliance with entities known as the Agency and the Corps of Ringbearers. It is the opinion of this subcommittee that all Level 9 information be copied and uploaded for into Agency archives, and the Corps of Ringbearers database (code named "Well of Souls") for safekeeping, especially information as pertains to ongoing investigation into unexplained incidents of violence in the Lawndale area on multiple worlds. Additionally, further backups should be placed in DELPHI's own database, also code named "Well of Souls" on D-247 for insurance purposes should anything happen to this installation.
Three alternate DELPHI bases have been struck over the last year, and subsequently either destroyed or severely damaged. The reasons remain unknown, but this subcommittee strongly suspects some sort of planned attack. Additionally, Agency contacts indicate that one of their main research centers, code named "The Library", on world D-218 has been recently attacked and the Guardian of the Library murdered in cold blood. It should be noted that the Guardian was D-218's Daria Morgendorffer. The subcommittee does not believe this is a coincidence.
While Level 9 information is classified as Class Ultraviolet Top Secret, the subcommittee feels that, since this DELPHI installation has information unique to the nature of artifacts and devices known to have trans-reality properties currently determined too valuable to share with other DELPHI installations in other realities (except, of course, the aforementioned installation on D-247), the best course of action to ensure that this information is kept away from whoever or whatever is attacking our people, is to place backups in the hands of these organizations, as they have other methods of protecting it than our more mundane security protocols, and trigger a virus within our own system should it become compromised to ensure that the list of Level 9 xnkwhsidhetkbngt dshusif 74473*^&%6cv dfvithbbb-fg=;;
She leaned back in her chair, read the paragraphs again, and a sinister grin spread over her face. Obviously, this wasn't supposed to go any further than a few higher ups in the DELPHI hierarchy. And it proved that their own security protocols, while effective in keeping their own secrets, weren't as extensive as they had hoped.
Because they had just told her where to find a shopping list of some of the most powerful cross-universal items in the entire godforsaken multiverse.
She opened another window, looking at a database of her own. She frowned in concentration, then pulled an ancient book from the shelf next to the desk. She flipped through the pages. Finding the book amid the multiple versions of the Library had been a huge pain in the ass, but ultimately worth it.
The Tome of T'agobinskem'ace was possibly the most comprehensive guide to the multiverse ever written. Composed by three madmen in a universe far removed from the others, it had many theories on interdimensional travel and the various methods of doing so. It also contained many other theories. Terrible theories. Theories that if implemented with the right collection of items at the right time and place could unleash untold chaos and destruction.
Daria Judith Morgendorffer liked chaos. She liked destruction. And she especially liked the idea of thousands upon thousands of Green Jacketed Snot Nosed Bitches losing their lives and home worlds. Just like she had lost hers.
Ah-ha, here it was.
Even though the Tome was ancient, it held information that was eerily up to date. It was the method by which Judith had been able to keep her activities hidden from the various agencies that had appointed themselves the guardians of reality. The Tome held extensive notes on the Agency, the Ringbearers, DELPHI, and even the Foundation, the most secretive of the bunch.
The Tome didn't predict the future, it just had information that wasn't readily available to anyone who wasn't part of these organizations. Even with the Tome's guidance, Judith knew she had to proceed cautiously. She might know how they worked as organizations, but individual agents in those organizations were unpredictable. She suffered no illusions about the Tome. It was an edge, a resource, not an guarantee of victory.
The Well of Souls is the common name of the central databases of both the Corps of Ringbearers and the organization known as DELPHI.. Access to the Wells can only be made in person either at the Ringmasters homeworld in universe D-476, or in the main DELPHI installation on planet Earth in universe D-247 .
"Bingo." Judith grinned, tapping the page. "Bracers and belt."
The staff of the DELPHI base on D-338 were incredibly paranoid, even by secret government project standards. So much so, they didn't even trust other versions of themselves from other realities. That they were willing to entrust not one but three other entities with the information proved how serious they were that it not be lost.
There was little in the Tome about how the Agency guarded their information, which was fine with Judith. The less she had to deal with them for the moment, the better. She had better luck with DELPHI and the Ringbearers.
She read the information, then read it again. Both took their access seriously, taking advantage of whatever they could to alert themselves to any cross-dimensional invasion of their systems. And, of course, one of the first things they did was to attempt to seal off any escape by reality jumping.
Judith sneered. Well, that might work for the types of magic and tech they knew about, but as her setup here had proven, the locket had its own little tricks for dealing with those kind of obstacles.
The Ringbearers were going to be especially difficult, since lethal force seemed to be the standard response to any unauthorized visits to Nova Valdis. By the same token, DELPHI had a huge staff on base, heavily armed and with a small dormitory's worth of metahumans ready and able to take intruders down. And most of them were psionic in nature.
Judith drummed her fingers on the desk, then opened up another file on the computer. She had been systematically cataloguing the abilities of the locket, and while she had no doubts she could get away if things went horribly wrong, there was no point in going at all if she couldn't get in. Hence, trying to see if there was anything the locket could help with in that department.
She scrolled down the list of abilties until she hit an entry marked "Temporal Disalignment." As she re-read the entry, she smiled. Even though the ability was one of the few that was almost impossible to keep up for a prolonged period of time, it should be sufficent to keep DELPHI off balance for long enough.
But that wasn't going to be enough. Especially since the Ringbearers probably had a few temporal tricks of their own. Judith doubted she could use that particular ability on the Ringmaster homeworld.
In short, she was going to need some help. Some particularly lackwitted, but ludicrously loyal help. Help that could charge in and cause a mess of havoc and chaos to keep the main security forces busy.
And distract them long enough for me to get the lists. Oh, this'll be a whole MESS of fun.
Judith quickly put the Tome aside and brought up her database again of the various worlds she had visited in her travels.
Distractions...distractions...I need something sufficiently menacing and powerful enough to keep the Ringbearers and DELPHI'S metahuman goons busy, but dumb enough to not realize that they're cannon fodder. Wait a second...where was that world?
She clicked through a few more entries until she found what she was looking for: D-249, a distant cousin to D-247. The Green Jacketed Snot Nosed Bitch of that world also ran around as a damn superhero, but unlike D-247's Bitch, D-249's had no powers, instead running around with pain inflicting gadgets and calling herself "The Misery Chick." She, along with the Jane and Trent Lane of that universe had been driven out of Lawndale by a crazed, mad scientist version of Angela Li, relocating in the city of Century Station to train themselves to go take back their hometown. Fat chance.
What Judith was interested in was Li's primary goon squad: genetically engineered clones of Kevin Thompson, beefed up and programmed to single-mindedly pursue a goal. And as long as that goal involved a lot of mindless mayhem, they were perfect for Judith's needs. Besides, Li owed her one after she had helped her with that Trans-Temporal Oscillation Disinhibitor. It wasn't Judith's fault that when Li turned it on, it opened a portal to a massive dinosaur stampede. Well, maybe not ENTIRELY her fault.
Either way, Judith had saved the scientist's ass and Li owed her big time. Seemed like this would be the perfect opportunity to collect. After that, a quick trip to D-247, and from there...
Well, no sense in getting ahead of oneself.
Judith made a quick check of some information she had gotten thanks to a well timed Freedom of Information Act request she had made a few months previous, saved her work, replaced the Tome, and set the security on the computer. It wasn't really necessary, the Foundation had already done her the favor of isolating this world from the rest of the multiverse, but it didn't pay to tempt fate. She picked up the cloak from the bed and put it back on, then did the same with her gloves.
Having done that, she turned and entered the closet. At the bottom of the closet was a square safe. She knelt down and typed in the combination on the electronic keypad. The lock beeped, a light went from red to green, and Judith opened the door.
Inside the safe were six exotic looking devices. Three were technological marvels, complete with digital readouts, buttons and flashing lights. The other three were ancient artifcats composed of gems, ornate carvings, and assorted mystical fetishes. One of these looked similar to the egg-shaped power source that ran her computer, except it was made of stone, with six blood red jewels surrounding it. They sparkled in the light, sending ruby colored shadows over the walls.
Judith took the "egg" out of the safe, closed the door and stood up. She touched one of the jewels and slid it out of the slot it rested in. She smiled.
"This should do it. Can't wait to see their expressions." she said, placing the egg in one of the compartments of her belt.
She drew the hood of the cloak over her head, and grasped the locket around her neck. She closed her eyes and concentrated on Li's lab in what used to be D-249's Lawndale High. The locket began to glow with a blue white flame and a similar glow eminated from Judith's eyes. She loved this part. The feelings of power, of control, of being able to go anywhere and do anything. She imagined tit was what being God felt like.
She'd have to ask Him before she killed the bastard.
A flash of light and Judith was gone.
The Well of Souls, DELPHI, World D-247
"So let me get this straight," DELPHI psi-agent Kyle Watts said, stirring some creamer into his coffee. "You majored in psychology? At Middleton?"
"I know, I know," his fellow psi-agent, Heather Patterson replied, tucking an errant lock of her curly red hair behind her ear. "Not the best choice of school to study at. Not that I actually DID much studying."
"No, that's not what I meant. I thought it was required that everybody who works here in the Psi Corps had to have a background in communications from USAES or the HIVE."
Heather shrugged. "Wouldn't know about that. All I know is that my powers developed later than most. I was a sophomore in college when it happened. One second I'm droning on and on about 'Middleton's time honored tradition of tomfoolery,' the next, I've levitated an idiot frat boy and got guys in uniforms cornering me in my dorm room. They offered to send me to the HIVE, I said yes, and here we are."
"And you still studied psych?" Kyle asked, finishing his coffee and tossing the cup across the room towards the garbage. It was going to fall short by four feet, but Heather reached out with her mind, caught the cup and deposited it in the trash can.
"Show off," Kyle said. Heather made a face and smiled.
"Psych's been helpful here," she said. "the psychological effects of people being exposed to the existence of the multiverse are fascinating. Besides, given a lot of the stuff we could see in other realities, it makes sense to have somebody on staff who can deal with anyone who breaks down."
"Like that'll happen. None of us would be here if we didn't have our screws tightened down." Kyle got up from the booth and helped Heather up. The two left the canteen and began walking back towards their duty stations.
"True," Heather said, "but you never know what could happen. I mean, if you had told me five years ago, I'd be working for a secret government organization protecting one of the largest depositories of information anywhere, I would have said you were nuts, that something of this scale couldn't possibly exist. If psych's taught me anything, it's that nothing is ever as cut and dried as it seems."
Deep underneath the lowest sublevel of the DELPHI installation, hidden in an cranny carved into the bedrock decades before the first beam had been sunk for the base's foundation, a small red jewel flared to life and began glowing. The cranny was filled with the crimson light.
After a few moments, the light focused into a tight beam and began rapidly burning its way through the rock.
"So what's the HIVE like?" Kyle asked as he and Heather made their way back towards the communications room.
"Pretty nice," Heather replied. "It's in this little village outside Vienna. Huge mountains, grassy hills. Add Julie Andrews and you've got 'The Sound of Music.'"
"Sounds nice."
"It is. Great school too. Never thought I'd take to a military school, but it's pretty well balanced. Even functions as a mundane school."
"Really?"
"Yeah, they call it the sister school to Heidelberg. Very prestigious. They hide all the buildings where we do the fun stuff behind perception filters and spoofing screens. The regular military brats have no clue what's happening."
Kyle quirked an eyebrow. "Do I hear a bit of mischief in your voice, Agent Patterson?"
Heather gave him a devious grin. "Well, perhaps a certain neophyte psionic student got a LITTLE tanked on blackberry schnapps one night and levitated all the uniform pants of a snot nosed little Swiss Miss to the roof of the women's dorm."
Kyle let out a laugh. "Oh, you are SO telling me this story once we're off duty."
"Only if you tell me about the 'Legend of Captain ElectroPants.'"
"Who told you about that?"
The light burned through the stainless steel floor in the main entrance foyer of the DELPHI Well of Souls complex. As soon as it broke through it shot up to the ceiling and spread out into a huge crimson portal forty feet in diameter, completely covering the teleport portal that was the usual entrance to the facility.
No sooner had the portal formed, than a horde of musclebound silohuettes began running out of the portal and into the base. Five, then ten, then twenty and more and more.
Within thirty seconds, five hundred eight foot tall, six hundred pound clones of Kevin Thompson, clad in black leather versions of the Lawndale High football uniform had entered the facility.
And more continued to pour through the gate.
This was the point that all hell broke loose.
The alarm echoed throughout the base. Heather and Kyle looked up sharply then began running down the corridor. They were soon joined by additional DELPHI forces, fellow metahumans, and a platoon of SHARD robots.
As they rounded the corner, The entire group skidded to a halt. The connecting corridor was filled with Kevins. The entire horde of lunkhead quarterbacks turned and gave vapid grins.
"Opposing team! Cool!" said one in the front.
"And cheerleaders!" said another, eyeing the women in the group. "Really cool!"
"Oh hell." Heather muttered.
"Take 'em down!" Kyle yelled. He thrust out his fists, sending bolts of red lighting down the corridor towards the football players. three of them impacted, sending a couple of the goons flying into the walls.
The Kevins looked at their fallen comrades, frowned, then charged the DELPHI squad. Kyle leaped into the fray, throwing bolts of electricity anywhere he could strike an enemy. He was followed by several dozen more DELPHI forces.
Heather turned to find a Kevin charging towards her and leaped into the air. She frowned and projected a mental blast of psychic energy towards him. It connected and sent him flying back into a crowd of his lookalikes. Three of them fell on top of him, their bulk keeping him from moving.
Suprisingly, the trapped Kevin simply looked around, grinned, and said "Cool!"
Then he exploded.
Heather found herself being propelled down the corridor by the blast. Soggy wet chunks of quarterback splashed down around her, as well as fragments of SHARDs, and broken equipment.
She hit the floor hard and rolled to a stop. Soon afterwards, Kyle slid to a halt next to her. He sat up, shaking his head. He was singed in several places, and his uniform had holes in it.
"Well, that was unexpected." he said. "You all right?"
"Fine, just bumped up a little." Heather answered. "What the hell do they want?"
"I don't know. They don't exactly seem to be the brightest bunch of goons I've ever encountered."
"There's got to be somebody behind them," Heather said. "No way these guy would be dumb enough to break in here on their own."
At that point, a Kevin dashed by yelling "I'm open! I'm open!" He paused and struck a receiving pose. He was promptly crushed by a flying SHARD robot. Heather and Kyle looked at each other.
"Okay," Heather amended. "Maybe they are, but they're DEFINITELY not smart enough to have gotten in here in the first-"
She cut herself off and blinked. A fire was burning through her brain. A twinge of something. A presence. Insane. Evil.
And moving.
Heather got to her feet and began running back down the corridor, following her instincts.
"Where are you going?" Kyle called.
"These guys are the distraction! Whoever's behind it is going for the TEMPLE!"
Judith strode down the corridors of the DELPHI installation, dodging, ducking, and generally staying out of the way of the carnage unfolding in front of her. Around her neck, the locket glowed faintly. Using the Temporal Displacement ability, Judith was keeping herself a few seconds out of sync with the universe as a whole. Anyone who saw her wasn't seeing her, but where she had been a few seconds previous. It wasn't as good as invisibility, but with all the carnage, who really cared?
Around her, the carnage was unfolding nicely. The Kevins had been told that they were being watched by NFL scouts and that if they were tackled and immobilized the best thing they could do is activate their self destruct so that "they wouldn't be seen as losers." Additionally, they had been told that all the female staff were secretly in love with them. When a Kevin managed to trap one of the female agents, they dissolved into a viscous, sticky pile of bioplasmic goop that held their captives in place.
Judith didn't think too much about her strategy. She had to keep her focus or the Temporal Disalignment would turn into an unwanted time trip fairly quickly.
A metahuman slammed into the wall next to her. Judith stopped moving long enough for the three Kevins who were pursuing him to slam him into the wall again. Then she moved on, letting one of the Kevins explode behind her.
As she made her way down the maze of corridors, working her way lower and deeper into the base, she heard an ominous pronouncement.
"ATTENTION: SECURITY BREACH REACHING UNACCEPTABLE LEVELS. TERMINATION GRIDS WILL ACTIVATE IN TEN...NINE...EIGHT..."
"Well, that can't be good." Judith muttered to herself. She leaned up against a wall and focused harder, creating a greater Displacement. As she phased her self a full minute out of sync, every security measure in the base activated.
Instantly, every person in the base not encoded and recognized by the DELPHI comutper system was targeted by every security procedure in place. Kevins found themselves cut down by high powered rail guns, obliterated by multi-phase disintegrators, sliced into ribbons by cunningly tripped nets of monofilament wire. and worst of all, found random parts of their anatomies telported a full meter away for here they should have beenlogically located.
This had an unexpected side effect, in that a majority of the Kevins' self destruct activated once life had ceased, injuring or outright killing several DELPHI operatives for each detonation.
Through all this, Judith calmly continued making her way to the center of the Well. Being phased out of sync effectively fooled the system into targeting a phantom which was no longer there. Within forty seconds, the Kevins had been eliminated and Judith had reached DELPHI's greatest secret.
Judith dropped the Disalignment back to a ten second gap, reached into the folds of her cloak and withdrew a wad of plastic explosive. She added a small detonator, took a few steps back, dropped the Disalignment long enough to detonate the explosive and walked through the disabled door into the chamber beyond, phasing back out of sync.
-
"Somebody give me a status report!" Kyle barked into his communicator.
"Sectors 24 through 26 are being secured. Substantial damage in the lower levels, and we've still got that Starseed Grey with more of those goons are coming through!" came the response.
"Shit," Kyle cursed. "Any sign of Patterson?"
"She was heading for the core at last report, sir. Something about a potential Screaming Spiral. Back up is trying to catch up to-oh shit."
"'Oh shit?' What 'oh shit?'"
"The TEMPLE chamber has been breached!"
"Oh SHIT!"
Judith whistled in spite of herself as she entered the chamber of the DELPHI Temporal Equillibrium/Metrological Preservation and Logistics Engine. A full five stories tall, the TEMPLE was a technological marvel, covered with LEDs, readouts, and power cables. There were sixteen workstations surrounding the central tower, with an additional sixteen on the four catwalks above the ground level.
Judith strode up to one of the terminals and synced herself back into local time. She plac ed her fingers on the keyboard and blinked as a voice entered her mind.
Welcome to the TEMPLE of DELPHI. Please state your request.
"Psionic supercomputer. Nice." Judith said. "I'm starting to actually respect these guys."
Please state your request.
"It can't be that easy." Judith said to herself, then louder: "I'd like the list of Level 9 trans-reality devices and artifacts uploaded to this system from the DELPHI archives located in universe D-338."
This information can only be accessed by DELPHI operatives with Class Ultraviolet security ratings. Please state your name.
Judith considered lying for a brief second, then changed her mind. "Judith."
Operative not found. Initiating security lockdown.
Judith smirked. "Don't let me stop you."
There was a series of clunking sounds as each of the access doors leading to the TEMPLE began to shut down, power cut from them. Judith folded her arms and sighed, waiting for the show of force to stop.
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"
Judith turned towards the entrance where she had come in. A redhead in a DELPHI uniform stood there, gun drawn. The security bulkhead slammed down behind her. Judith smiled. The redhead was cute.
Too bad she had to die.
"Get your hands up." Heather demanded. Judith grinned again and slowly put her hands in the air.
"No need to get hostile." Judith said, turning fully to face the DELPHI agent.
"You already did." Heather replied. "Drop the hood."
"No."
Heather blinked. "No?"
"No, don't feel like it."
"You don't have a choice! I'm the one with the gun pointed at your head! Drop. The. Hood."
"Well, if you insist."
Judith grabbed the sides of the hood and pulled it back off her head, revealing her face. Unseen, her second and third fingers gripped the tiny daggers concealed in the edges of the hood. On the other side of the room, Heather quirked an eyebrow.
"Why do you look familiar?" she asked. Judith shrugged.
"I just have one of those...FACES!" On the last word, Judith hurled the daggers acors sthe room and dove to the side. Before Heather had a chance to react the needle thin blades hit her fingers causing her to drop the gun. Heather cursed then smiled.
"You know, I don't really need the gun." She concentrated and Judith found herself rising off the floor. Judith struggled against the psychic grip she felt crushing her.
"Telekinetic. Cute." She gasped. Under her cloak, her right hand slipped into the transdimensional folds and gripped an item. Heather spotted the movement and focused on Judith's hand, forcing it out. Judith was gripping a small gold sphere.
Heather flexed her mind and pulled the sphere out of Judith's hands and floated it towards her. It hovered in front of her face. Heather glanced up at Judith.
"Phantasm-style exploding gold sphere of death?" she asked.
Judith shook her head. "Nope. Anti-psionic nanovirus."
The sphere burst open and a gray cloud of dust burst out, clouding around Heather's face. She coughed loudly, involuntarily breathing in the nanobots that comprised the cloud. Instantly, she felt a fog cloud her brain and Judith fell to the floor, landing lightly in a kneeling position.
Heather fell to her knees, feeling the nanovirus go to work on her cerebellum. She felt her motor functions being overridden, but part of her mind was still her own. Her limbs felt heavy, useless, and she couldn't move.
Judith smiled and walked over to Heather. "Now then, let's see here. Name, rank, and security clearance, please."
"Patterson, Heather, Metahuman Operative, Project: Utau assigned to the Well of Souls, Security Clearance: Class Ultraviolet." The words came out involuntarily, and Heather's mind screamed in protest.
"Excellent. Pleasure to meet you. My name's Judith. Come over here, would you, Heather?"
Judith led the agent back to the terminal. "Now, Heather, would you be so kind as to ask the TEMPLE for the information I need?"
Heather thought she was having an out of body experience as her body stepped over to the terminal, requested the information, printed out a hard copy and handed it to Judith. She tried as best she could to glare at her assailant.
Judith smiled as she glanced over the information and placed it in a compartment of her belt. "Thank you, Heather. You've been very helpful. And because of that, I'm not going to kill you. The nanovirus should wear off in about three minutes, and no, it won't affect your powers.
"Oh, and don't worry about the Kevins. The portal will close automatically in about ten minutes. Of course, by that point this entire place will be crawling with them, but hey, I'm sure you've got enough toys here to clean up the mess. Normally, I'd be tempted to have them bring in an A-bomb or something to take this place out, but frankly, I can't be bothered."
Heather felt control of her mouth coming back to her. She forced her thoughts through clenched teeth. "You aren't getting out of here alive."
Judith smirked again. "Thank you, Madame Cliche. One thing you good guys never realize." She reached under the cloak and gripped the locket. The locket began glowing, followed closely by her eyes. Heather's eyes widened as the disturbing sight of blue-white flame reflecting off Judith's glasses.
"Bad guys don't follow the Rules." Judith finished. "Ciao!"
There was a flash of light and Judith was gone. A few moments later the security bulkhead opened, admitting Kyle and a squad of DELPHI security.
"Heather? You okay?" he asked. Heather shook her head.
"I'm hit with a nanovirus. I can't move anything but my head." she reported. "It's wearing off though. The perp's gone."
"What did they get?"
"Some list that our counterparts in D-338 asked us to archive."
Kyle frowned. "Level 9 information?"
"Yeah. Is that bad?"
"I helped archive it. As our time traveling friend once said, 'imagine as bad as it could get and add a whole other suitcase full of bad.'"
"That's bad. Do I want to know how bad things are up top?"
Heather shook out her limbs as the last of the nanovirus was destroyed by her immune system. She began making her way out of the TEMPLE chamber, heading for the communications room. Kyle followed her, after ordering the squad to secure the chamber.
"There's still a mess of those goons coming through the portal." Kyle replied. "Fortunately, they're stupid enough that we can get them without having to reactivate the grid. No idea how they got past security in the first place, or how the hell we're gonna close the damn portal."
"She said it would close on its own in about ten minutes. They were just there to keep us busy." The two agents stepped out of the elevator into the shielded communications room. Heather ignored the agents on staff and went to a free workstation.
"She?"
"The perp." Heather explained. She picked up the phone. "This is Patterson. Get me the Director. Code Red."
"Who was she?" Kyle asked."Anyone we know?"
Heather shook her head. "No. She called herself Judith. But the weird thing was, I thought I recognized her. Convergent recognition, maybe?"
"What? That another version of you has met another version of her? Maybe. We'll check the files. She won't get away with it. No matter what reality she holes up in."
"I hope so. I don't even want to think about what she can do with that list. Hello? Director? Agent Patterson here. Yes, sir. We have a Doomsday Book. The TEMPLE's been compromised..
The Well of Souls, Ringmaster Homeworld, World D-476
Well, Judith thought as she ducked behind one of the support pillars in the chamber of the Well of Souls, Nice to see these guys take security a little more seriously than DELPHI.
Out in the main chamber, the Ringmasters' special force of Ringbearers, known as Warhammers, were systematically slaughtering the ongoing tide of Kevins. Quarterback after quarterback went on to that great end zone in the sky as the Warhammers used their powers to slice, filet, chisel, evicerate, and generally coat the entire room with a variety of entrails and organs.
"We know you're hiding there!" A presumed squad leader called out. "If you surrender now, we'll simply wipe your memory and you can go home. No harm, no foul!"
Judith smirked under the hood of her cloak, and reached into it's folds. She withdrew a futuristic looking grenade, and thumbed a button on it's surface.
"But I LIKE harm!" she called out, "Especially when it's sanctimonious reality cops like you getting it!"
She leaned out from her hiding place long enough to hurl the grenade, which exploded in a rainbow of colors, briefly dazzling the eyes of the Warhammers. Most of them recovered quickly from the flash, then quickly used their rings to throw up shields as they began being pelted by more chunks of genetically engineered quarterback.
From further down the chamber, the second and third waves of Kevins dashed into the room from the portal Judith had created. Warhammers unleashed further hell, calling to each other when necessary for backup or distractions. Around them Kevins exploded, or melted into sticky goo, keeping the Warhammers busy.
Meanwhile, Judith hunkered down behind the column as beams of energy from the Warhammers rings chipped away at the ancient stone. Judith frowned. This had ceased to be fun.
She gripped the locket in her hand and phased herself out of sync with the local timeline. She look a deep breath and began running through the Warhammers, dodging beams of light, and rolling out of the way. She charged past the squad that had her pinned down and let out a yelp of surprise as the squad leader grabbed her arm and dragged her to a halt, breaking her concentration and bringing her back into sync.
The squad leader looked down at her with a grin."Yeah, we know all about your little timeshifting technique. You want to surrender now, or do we have to just kill you outright?"
"I prefer option C," Judith said, grinning evilly. She turned her head and yelled out; "KEVIN! EMERGENCY PLAY! THIRTY-ONE Z RIGHT!"
Instantly, every Kevin in the chamber turned their heads towards the sound of Judith's voice. They all frowned simultaneously, surveying the scene.
"Yo! They're ganging up on the coach!" One of them cried. "GET 'EM!"
With a scream of machismo, the entire horde of Kevins charged towards the squad holding Judith captive. The Warhammers quickly raised their rings. Judith used the distraction to break free of the squad leader, wrap herself in her cloak, and step back form the ensuing carnage.
"Carnage" being a woefully inadequate way to describe the scene before her as the Warhammers ripped and shredded the Kevins to huge bloody pulps. The horde kept coming and the squad kept mowing them down. Judith took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of death and blood. She got to her feet and stood, reveling in the sounds of pain and agony. Relishing the wet splatters of gore that soon saturated her cloak. Her grin was satanic, bordering on sheer orgasmic bliss as she heard and felt her forces being annihilated around her.
Judith closed her eyes and shivered in delight as one Kevin managed to get through the Warhammers onslaught and explode, sending several of the Ringmasters' elite flying into the walls of the chamber. More ichor rained down from the explosion, splattering with wet thumps onto the marble floor of the chamber. Judith imagined the whole population of the multiverse screaming as they all drowned in the sea of blood and hate she would unleash.
"HOLD!"
The word echoed throughout the chamber. The portal admitting the Kevins suddenly winked out of existence, slicing those who had the misfortune to be halfway through to ribbons. The remaining Kevins screamed as they were turned to ash by brilliant flashes of light. The Warhammers looked up and stepped back respectfully as one of the Ringmasters descended into the chamber.
Judith opened her eyes and looked at the newcomer. He was tall, thin, and not entirely unattractive. She thought he bore a passing resemblance to a young Laurence Olivier.
The Ringmaster approached her with a frown on his face. He saw a short, hooded apparition, dripping with blood, with a blue white glow emanating from around her neck.
"We like to know who we are about to destroy for violating our sanctum. Who are you?"
Judith shrugged, reached up and gingerly pulled the blood-sodden hood form her head. She looked at the Ringmaster, a bored expression on her face. "My name is Judith."
"Why have you come here?"
Judith tilted her head, bristling at the imperious voice ordering her to answer. "I came here for information that the DELPHI installation in universe D-338 asked you to archive for them as insurance."
"Insurance against what?"
"Well, people like me, presumably."
"What is that around your neck?"
Judith blinked, surprised by the sudden change in topic. She didn't know why, but she had a strong impression that showing the Ringmaster the locket would be a good idea.
She smirked as she saw the Ringmaster's eyes widen by a fraction. He kept the rest of his expression under control, but the damage had already been done.
Weren't expecting that, were you, O Great and Powerful Oz?
The Ringmaster's calm demeanor was back in place. "Where do you come from, Judith?"
Another shrug. "Does it matter? I haven't been able to find it anywhere, anyway."
The Ringmaster's brow furrowed. "Indeed?" He took a deep breath, "Did it simply not occur to you to come to us and ASK for the information you wanted?"
Judith's own frown returned. "In my experience, people tend not to want to share that kind of information."
The Ringmaster inclined his head. "That is true. However, these are not usual circumstances. If we give you the information you desire, will you leave our world and never return?"
"You can keep this depressing rock. I would have prefered not to come here at all. Too much snootiness in the air for my taste." Judith said, folding her arms.
"Very well. Come with me."
Judith followed the Ringmaster past the stunned Warhammers and into the central storage cores of the Ringmasters' Well of Souls.
They emerged a few moments later. Judith flipping up the hood of her cloak again, ignoring the drops of gore that flew from it.
"And the information will stay in my head, ready to be accessed at any time?" she asked. The Ringmaster nodded.
"It will be at your disposal anytime you need it. Simply bring it to mind."
"Well, thanks for the help...I guess."
The Ringmaster didn't reply. Judith frowned.
"Yeah, fuck you too. See you around."
She grasped the locket around her neck, and the Warhammers' sense of surprise was once again tested as, completely opposite their expectation, Judith vanished in a flash of blue-white light.
The squad leader walked up to the Ringmaster. "Forgive me for being impertenant, Master. But why did you give her the information she wanted? DELPHI-338 made it clear that it was dangerous for that list to fall into the wrong hands."
"Sometimes, the right hands are the wrong hands. The young lady is more unique than even she knows." He turned to the squad leader. "Alert all Ringbearers and associates. Give them her description, tell them to be on their guard and to protect their families. Make sure our friends at the Agency are made aware as well. Great things are afoot."
The Ringmaster stared at the spot where Judith had vanished. The only area of the floor not covered in blood.
"Great and terrible things."
Starbucks Coffee, Boston, MA, World D-101
Daria Morgendorffer winced and put a hand to her head. She waited for the green stars in her vision to clear before she opened her eyes.
"You okay there, amiga?" Jane Lane asked from across the table. The two had met up for their weekly "coffee bitch" session. It was a time they could connect, chat, and generally whine about their various professors at Raft University and Boston Fine Arts College.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Daria replied. "Just a sudden head rush."
"Pre-finals week stress?"
"No, nothing like that. Just a weird-Jane, did you ever get a feeling of dread for no good reason?"
"Pretty much every morning I walked into homeroom back in Lawndale. Oh, wait, no. That had an actual reason. I was in high school."
"You and everyone else." Daria agreed. "No, what I mean is, I just got this weird feeling, like something really bad was about to happen and somehow, it involved me."
"What? Like somebody's going to die or something?" Jane asked. "You aren't going to tell me you're being haunted by the ghost of Tommy Sherman are you?"
Daria shook her head. "No, that's not it. Its just this dread that something really awful is going to happen, and that I'm involved, but it isn't going to happen here and it isn't going to exaclty happen to me or anyone connected with me."
"I'm having flashbacks to that story assignment O'Neill gave you. You're saying that you think something bad is going to happen, but not to you or anyone connected to you, not here, and yet you are somehow involved in it?"
"Right." Daria said. "What do you think?"
"I think you need more coffee."
"Good idea."
"And possibly psychiatric help."
"Go to hell, Lane."
"You first, Morgendorffer."
The two smirked at each other, and promply moved on to other topics.
IT BEGINS...