Salem-X

Issue #49 – Shadows - Part Four

Salem School of Witchcraft

The Infirmary

"Try not to hurt the students," Klara said as she cast spells of light to throw back the army of dead shadows. Her body may be broken but her mind and powers are still a match for anyone.

"Well, they aren't doing much of anything," Elementa said as her powers over the elements seemed to have no effect on Salamander who stood there string at her.

"It's because they haven't been fully trained on how to use there powers," Shaman said he became a large dragon to make it easier to fend of the living dead.

"That's probably a good thing," Max Dillon said as he sent a wave of electricity that turned any shadow it hit to shadowy dust.

"No, if they were trained they would not only know how to use their powers but be able to defend themselves from those like the Charmer and Thief. They are only here to fuel him," Klara responded.

"Then we knock them out," Salem said as he did a round kick to David Knox sending him back against the wall and knocking him out cold.

"I don't need them conscious to use their powers," Chad said as he made a quick symbol I the air and then waved his hands causing all the scalpels and sharp instruments in the infirmary to rise up and attack with glowing symbols on them.

"Why are you doing this?" Portal asked as she was making as many portals as fast as she could to get rid of the weapons coming at them before someone got cut or worse.

"You see, my ancestors, the thieves were outcasts from the rest of the Spellbinding families. Thought exiled and extinct, we kept to hiding and vowed to get revenge one day and passed on the mission with each generation. Then, when I learned that the first time in a generation that a Spellbinder from each line has manifested with full powers I knew it was time to strike," Chad said as he drew another symbol that sent a ball of energy at Portal causing her to vanish from site.

"Laura!" Salem screamed as a bunch of the dead shadow warriors tackled him.

"There are so many of them," Tyllas said as she used her wings to move as fast as she could to avoid the sharp weapons that weren't moving as fast as they had before.

"It seems he can only borrow one power at a time and when he does all others are slightly weakened," Python said as she used her strong snake like body to move fast and strike at the dark dead.

"You ladies talk to much," Jason Strongbow said as he released two arrows that had each hit a shadow being behind the ladies causing them to turn to shadowy dust when the arrows exploded into bright light upon impact.

"Glad to have you back with us, Scarlet Eagle," Python said with a smile.

"Actually, I've been going back and forth with the name and I have settled on Scarlet Arrow," Jason said as he leapt into the air releasing several move arrows.

"Weaker or not, there still too many of them," Reaper said as he turned the dead to dust with each slice of his ionic scythe.

"I just don't understand what is happening," Kim Vasco said as she watched the battle unfold and the one named Chad move closer towards her.

"I cooked up this plan to get you and me into this mansion where the other Spellbinders were all conveniently gathered for me thanks to my tip to Dr. Strange about you all and him getting Salem-X to do the rest. Now that you are all here, I have a way to combine my powers with yours that will kill all the Spellbinders and allow me to permanently steel all your powers becoming the last Spellbinder, the Master," Chad laughed as he drew another symbol and hundreds more dead shadows began to show up as he took her power once again.

"We can't let him do that," Natura said looking at her grandmother as she and Mermana tried to take on the charmed Spellbinders but now couldn't touch them due to the power of Liza's shield spell.

"You can't stop me," Chad laughed as he called on more dark warriors and then stole another power and began to change his form into something bigger.

"Kim, you have to use your gifts," Klara said looking at the frightened girl.

"I don't know how and if I did, I don't want to be a part of those dead creatures," Kim said as she eyed Salem-X becoming overwhelmed with the shadowy dead.

"Dear, what you see come from evil. You are good. Not only can you command the dead but you can make death good and peaceful. Just try, I can guide you," Klara said as the girl looked at the old animal looking witch and nodded nervously.

"You can't stop me," Chad laughed as he continued his magical change.

"But I can," Bryce said as he walked right through the shadows and the protective shield and slamming the Thief over the head with a stick causing him to drop to the ground and shift back to normal.

"Now, while he is weak," Klara commanded as Kim looked at the fallen man.

"I will enjoy killing you as I did your parents," Chad said with a smile while he touched the back of his head to feel blood.

"You," Kim said as he tried to hold back the tears and started to form symbols in the air.

"I will help you," Klara encouraged.

"As will we," a spirit in the shape of a man said as it appeared beside her with another spirit of a woman.

"Mom, dad?" Kim asked as she realized the truth in Chad's comment.

"As, baby, you can do it. He may have killed us but we will always be with you. Show him the strong girl we raised and that good always wins over evil," Kim's mom said as the spirit leaned in and kissed her daughter.

"Oh, he doesn't know who he's dealing with. I command all you shadows of the dead to return from which you came, now!" Kim screamed as she stood up with a new found strength and with the help of her three elders she drew symbols in the air.

Symbols of bright light appeared in the air and shot out hitting each and every shadow being. As the symbol hit, a flaring white light caused the being to scream as each one appeared to be dragged back to where ever it had come from. In a matter of seconds they only people in the room were Salem-X and the Spellbinders. Kim then, with Klara's help, drew more symbols and this time spirits of white light began to enter the room. Several grabbed and held down a screaming Chad while the others walked up to Paul and the other Spellbinders and after touching them vanished in a puff of white light taking the Symbols off their heads with them and freeing the Spellbinders. Shaman commanded the others to quickly assist the dazed Spellbinders and fill them in on what was going on while Paul stood there being held by Salem and the newly appeared Portal starting to feel guilty for what he had done.

"You think you've won? I can take all of your powers and still kill you all," Chad said as he drew a symbol and asked the spirits to let him go and then charmed Salem and Portal to walk towards him.

"Kim and the rest of the Spellbinders can stop him. Combine your powers and bind him," Klara said as Kim took center and the rest of the Spellbinders, minus Paul and Chad, formed a circle around her.

Following Klara's guidance, they all concentrated and began using their powers and creating symbols. A powerful energy swarmed around them as their symbols moved above them all and started to merge forming one giant symbol. Before they could release the spell, Chad grabbed a weapon from Salem and threw it as hard as he could at Kim. Everyone stared in shock as the sword approached Kim but then stopped dead in it tracks. Standing between Chad and the Spellbinders, was Paul with a sword sticking out of his chest.

"Why?" Kim asked as she looked at the boy who moments before was trying to help kill her not save her.

"I was wrong, I'm sorry. Stop him," Paul said as he went limp and fell to the ground.

With that Kim took up his sacrificial strength and she and the other Spellbinders released their magic. The symbol high above them flew at Chad Barrow, the Thief and hit him with full force. Chad screamed as the large symbol grew bright and then vanished after something strange had reached out and pulls Chad inside taking him away forever. All the Spellbinders collapsed with weakness as Salem-X began to tend to everyone.

"You did good baby," Kim's mom said as her parents spirits began to fade.

"Mom, dad, please don't leave me," Kim cried.

"Don't worry. We are always with you and when ever you want to talk, you know how to call us," Kim's dad said as both spirits waved and vanished.

"Okay everyone, let's get this place cleaned up. Tomorrows a new day," Shaman said as he knelt down and picked up the dead body of Paul and left the room.

Epilogue

"Where am I?" Chad asked as he looked around to what appeared to be a shadowed wasteland.

"I think we are in some kind of limbo," a figure made of darkness said.

"Paul, but I thought you died when you foiled my plans?" Chad asked in anger as he made out the figures shadowed features.

"It seams when I died my spirit got caught in the spells path or maybe for my evil doings I was sent here to be punished with you," Paul said in a raspy and airy voice.

"Does this mean we are stuck here forever?" Chad asked as he looked around.

"Don't worry boy, I have plans for both of you," a woman's voice said as a portal opened and a woman with jet black hair and red lips stepped out and extended a pale white skinned hand with red nails to each of them.


Young Avengers

The A-List

Bishop Manor – Home and Headquarters to the Young Avengers

"So, Kid Ultron is the newly merged being of the Ultron of your time and the sleeper agent Ultron of this time created?" Patriot asked as he and the rest of the Young Avengers looked at the images on the screen.

"Yes, but on the plus side, for now, he has trapped himself in a more human and power limited body. I believe there is a chance to that Ultron could be purged and Victor could emerge," Iron-Lad said as he scrolled to the next images of the rest of the Bastards of Evil.

With the data and DNA scans and tests, Kid Vis and Iron-Lad had been able to confirm the identities of the evil group they had just fought. Aftershock was Electro's daughter, Allison Dillon. Mortar was Grey Gargoyle's son, Pierre Sullivan. Darkstar was Black Bolt's daughter, Marcia Daniels. Slayer was Princess Python's son, Danny DuBois. The last member was tougher to determine. Miss Enchantress was Sylvie Lushton, but it wasn't certain who her real father was. The best guess was she might be telling the truth and that there was a sixty percent chance that she was the daughter of Loki. Without special equipment and Asguardian help, they could not tell for sure. The only thing they did know was that, whether their parents knew of them or their powers, they all had been spawned from evil and had chosen to follow their parent's footsteps.

"I really think we should be looking for Billy and Tommy," Hulkling said with a grunt.

"First, we don't know where in space to look or the real means for space travel right now. Second, from what we've already confirmed is that they, along with a bunch of other mutants from Salem-X, X-Calibur and the X-Men have all been abducted. Once anyone gets a lock on where they are I will know and we can act then, other than that I am sure that with people like Wanda they are in good company," Iron-Lad said, feeling their frustration at being helpless to find them.

"Hey, at least we now they are alive and the Bastards didn't kill them," Archtress said as she placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

"I know, it's just hard," Hulkling said as he kept thinking of his first love and true love.

"What about your mom?" Stature asked.

"I still don't know. I mean we have confirmation that my I am half Skrull and half Kree. My changing into Hulkling and my wings are due to shape shifting from my Skrull side and my resistance to injury and strength come from my Kree side but we still don't know if Captain Marvel is really my father let alone which alien race comes from which parent," Hulkling said with a sigh.

"Well, confronting your mother is all it would take," Patriot said.

"I know, but I don't think I am ready for that yet. If my father was Captain Marvel, man talk about a legacy to live up to but most of all is my mother. What if she isn't my real mother and has no knowledge of any of this, talk about a coming out shock. Or she does know and she is an alien holding on to me, whether a real mother or not? I think I will be safe living with what I know for now, or at least till Billy gets back," Hulkling said as he really feared the answers he might get once he confronted the woman he had always known as his very human mother.

"You don't have to tell me or any of us about living up to parent legacies," Patriot said with a smile.

"Yeah, what about you, Tamia? Saw a pretty intense conversation between you and Captain America," Kate asked her friend.

"Captain knows Falcon is my father but he agreed for now not to say anything to him until I was ready," Talon answered.

"What's holding you back? I'd give anything to be with my father," Stature said as she tried to hold back her tears.

"I don't know," Talon whispered as she did know, the fear of rejection.

"Okay, we managed to pull the A-List together. I think we should decide on these before Iron-Man figures this out again or he and Cap get to them first," Kid Vis said as he pulled up the list and bios with images.

"We did this in connection to each member of the Avengers and managed to add a few to the list that even Tony wasn't aware of," Iron-Lad said as he smiled with the first entry and ready everything while they all listened without interruptions.

"First, it appears that Tony Stark has two kids out there. It seems that when he was very young he had knocked two different girls up. His father helped him go to great lengths to pay the women off and keep this silent. Once, one of the women told a confidant and that man disappeared the next day. Tony knows of them and he keeps tabs on them but according to his records he has no desire to acknowledge them. If it wasn't for this entry he placed no one would have ever known. Even I was not aware of these relatives that's how buried it was and had been kept. Tonya Winters lives in Hollywood with her super model mom and is fifteen while Luke Collins is in a boarding school in Europe. He is also fifteen.

"Of course, Henry Pym's children are his creations Ultron and Jocasta which lead us to Vision and even Kid Vis here and Kid Ultron. Captain America just has noted you Patriot now having the serum in you and wearing a similar outfit. Even though it's not a hundred percent confirmed, but we have Wiccan and Speed listed as children of Scarlet Witch and Vision. Another interesting fact is that it was recently found out that Wanda had another child with Electro due to some magical war no one remembers but Wade Harkness of Salem-X is their son.

"Wonderman, didn't have any children before he died but it newest member of Salem-X, Reaper is Simon's son from another reality. Not sure if we should go after someone already on Salem-X, but we can think about it and wait when Wiccan gets back to see what he thinks. As for the second Ant-Man we have Stature already on our team and as well as Falcon's daughter and Mockingbird's daughter. Now, here's the rest of the list that was put together.

"Lionheart, who died had two young children. It seams no one but Captain America and Captain Britain knew her true identity to keep the kids safe. I know this, being from the future as well as the new Lionheart brought into the Avengers confirmed my scans and Intel that it is Martin Leigh and he is the original Lionheart's grown son from the future. My guess is that Captain America, besides us, will be the only ones knowing this man's true identity.

"There is Thor Girl who goes by Tara Olsen. Not much is known about her except that she has modeled her self after and been close to Thor. She is not his daughter but he tended to view her as such. After Thor's disappearance she kind of went off the radar living a human life now but I saw hints that they may have already approached her for this new Avengers Academy.

"Now, Thunderstrike had a son, Kevin Masterson. He is in high school and I have located where his father's hammer is being hidden. Also, unknown to anyone but me and Tony Stark, Hercules has a son out there too. Seems he got a girl pregnant on one of his parting phases. She came to Avengers mansion when she was pregnant but Tony met her and confirmed to her that the child was not Hercules but Tony has been keeping tabs on him ever since. Just recently I have seen signs his powers are manifesting. His name is Argo and he goes to high school in New Mexico.

"Black Panther has a sister named Shuri who has been training to be the next Panther if something happens to him before he can produce an heir. She has just turned twenty-one so is slightly older than the rest of us but has just come to America to sow her royal oats to say. Then there is Julie Carpenter's daughter Rachel Carpenter who I know you've remained in contact with Cassie and how she's wished she could be a super hero too like her mom. Namor has no children but Tony had marked his cousin's Namora and Namorita who are both tied up with their Avengers and the New Warriors.

"It appears the late Doctor Druid had a son, Sebastian Druid. He was passed from foster home to foster home until he recently turned eighteen. Now he works in a comic book shop and as you can see by his size he has never gone hungry. If the reports of why he was moved from home to home as a difficult child might speculate that he may have a knack for magic like hid dad and he may not even know it.

"Of course Reed and Sue have Franklin and Valeria, but they are too consumed by the Fantastic Four and Power Pack. Then there is Spider-Man, who has kept his identity a secret. I of course know who he is, Peter Parker. I also know that he had a daughter who grows up to become Spider-Girl. The same daughter in this time he and Mary Jane thought died at birth. It was always a suspicion that she had actually been kidnapped by Osborne and sold away. I have tried searching for her and these rumors but haven't had luck yet.

"Then there is Luna, Quicksilver and Crystal's daughter who is tucked away with the Inhumans off planet and then I have entered the entry of Captain Marvel and his possible connection to Hulkling. There are only two more Avengers notes in these files. There is Hulk, who according to Tony, he and a group called the Illuminati had sent him off in space for a brief time but Hulk had made his way back to Earth where Tony and his Illuminati erased his memory of them sending him away or him ever being gone from Earth. It seems Tony hid a devise and kept a recording of Hulk's whereabouts in space.

"It seems Hulk had fallen in love with a woman on a planet and had a child. They named him Skarr and if my calculations are right he would be about thirteen now. When Hulk came back he lost all contact with this planet or what has happened to Skarr but he has always kept an eye out for signs of Hulk's wife, child or his Warbound to come looking for him to Earth. Also, there are notes in here that She-Hulk has adopted a high school girl named Lyra Walters. Iron-Man had noted he believed there to be a connection between the girl and Bruce Banner. I'm not sure but I did do a scan and found traces of gamma in her so she is defiantly related to Hulk or She-Hulk somehow.

"Now, the last one was an entry that the original Swordsman, Jacques Duquesne had a daughter. When he died he had entrusted Iron Man with a secret, that he had a daughter out there. Tony promised to look for her for him, but Tony never had any luck. Not sure if he truly tried or not but his child was never found. Using what knowledge I had did a trace and I actually found the girl and traced her to an orphanage and I also came into possession of Swordsman's sword. This morning I just received the data of the name of the family that she was sold to and was about to open it into this file," Iron-Lad said as a drawer opened up to show the sword and the data opened up on the screen.

"I don't believe it, the people who bought the girl was Derek and Eleanor Bishop," Kate said in shock.

"So that makes me this Swordsman's missing daughter?" Susan Bishop asked as she stepped into the room and saw the data and a picture of her up on the screen next to her parents and the Swordsman.

Next: Issue #50 – Winter's Flame - Part One & Young Avengers: New Recruits – Part One