Chapter Sixty-Six.
Spider-Girl knew what she had to do and really had to do it rather quickly. She dove down and grabbed Blockbuster by the shoulder, yanking him back about an inch. Blockbuster almost fell over and Spider-Girl slammed down onto the top of his head, all while pulling Ruby out of there.
"Get out of here!" Spider-Girl yelled.
Normally, this would be the coolest moment of Ruby's life, if she was not scared to death. And her mother still was not moving. Ruby trembled and staggered back. Spider-Girl fought this brute of a man and knocked him back, webbing him to the tree.
"What about Mom?"
"I'll get her, now go!"
Archlight made an overarching attack with her energy dagger in an attempt to slice Spider-Girl to ribbons. The web slinger twisted around and grabbed the energy dagger out of Archlight's hand and cracked down onto the side of her head. Spider-Girl whipped around and tried to kick down at Archlight. Who deflected her attack with sickening precision.
"You won't escape, Spider-Girl!" Archlight yelled.
If Gwen had a dollar for every time a bad guy said that, she would have cleaned up pretty nicely. Archlight slammed her fist down onto the ground, the dagger impaling it into it. Gwen rushed around and tried to get to the van where Blockbuster and Vertigo had been dragging Sam into.
"No, you won't…."
"No one will stop the master's plan, "Vertigo said. "And no one will withstand the power of Vertigo."
The ringing of Gwen's ear made her scream out loud and struggle to stand up. The hell she was feeling, it was...something else. Gwen could hardly hold herself up right. Vertigo almost knocked Gwen back a half of an inch. She could feel a blood vessel pop.
Despite that fact, Sam was in the back of the van. And Ruby was counting on Gwen to get her mother back. Gwen forced herself to a standing position, pressing a button in her watch to signal for help. She took out a deep breath.
"Go!" Vertigo yelled. "She's summoned for Supergirl."
"What about the girl?" Blockbuster asked.
"Forget the brat, the woman's the one that we've came for."
Archlight made one more mad dash at Gwen with the knife making an arcing slice in. It came very close to cutting Gwen to ribbons. Gwen avoided the attack, flipped high into the air, and came down right behind Archlight. A line of webbing shot out and grabbed Archlight around the shoulder right before Gwen smashed the woman down with a vicious flying kick to the side of the head.
Vertigo waved her hand and once more, Gwen found the sickening effects of the Vertigo wave dropping her down to the knee. Oh, Gwen felt like she was going to hurl from the feeling of what Vertigo was doing to her. The devious woman smiled and caused Gwen to ripple.
Suddenly, Supergirl dropped down to the ground. Vertigo turned her attention to Supergirl and caused Supergirl to even back off. The splitting emitted through her ears.
A blast of heat vision knocked Vertigo off balance. When Vertigo fell, Supergirl rose back up to her feet.
Their moment of triumph ended up being very short lived due to one of Archlight's exploding spears blowing a hole in the street.
The Marauders moved into the back of the van to secure Sam. The van sped off in the other direction and went as fast as it could, almost screeching to a stop.
Spider-Girl, with one last ditch effort, hurled a tracer, and just barely got the the wheel of the van as it skidded off. Supergirl flew after it, rippling through the air as fast as she could. Her heart almost beat into her chest extremely fast.
No, they were not getting away. Then suddenly, something happened which defied all explanations and made Kara extremely baffled.
The van blinked out of existence. One minute it was there, and the next minute it was gone, without any logical explanation. And Supergirl was completely flummoxed to say the least.
"What in the name of Rao?" Kara asked.
There had been a fourth mutant on that van, maybe some kind of teleporter, or they had some kind of technology. Someone had to be driving that van. Regardless, Kara's mouth hung open in thinly veiled shock.
Too late, much too late, and Kara could hardly believe it. She put a hand on Gwen's shoulder who rose up to a standing position. The Vertigo effect still made her wobbly and breath heavy.
A van drove up and Alex and Lena got out. Ruby stood at the end of the street, paralyzed with fear. Supergirl and Spider-Girl joined them.
"They took her," Ruby said. "They just...why would they do that? What has Mom ever done to anyone?"
"I honestly don't know," Supergirl said. "But, we'll get her back, I swear."
Ruby had been beyond consolation. Lena steered her out of the way and walked Ruby to the van which had been waiting. She stopped and turned to Alex.
"She needs to be taken to a more secure place," Lena said. "Especially if the Marauders come back after her...I thought he was dead."
"Dead?" Kara asked.
"Nathaniel Essex, he was behind the Morlock Massacre," Lena said. "And he worked with my mother."
"Charming," Kara said.
"Indeed, but that just touches the surface," Lena said. "There were rumors he has been around since World War II, and he was...well he worked with the Nazis."
And that was even worse, as Kara painted a depraved picture in her head. But, if Essex was dead, then who was commanding the Marauders? And more importantly, what did they want with Sam? She never did anything to harm anyone. Dark and depraved thoughts crept into Kara's mind, faster than she could flush them out.
"The tracer is on the van," Gwen said. "But...the signals weak."
"I have a signal booster," Alex said. "It should give you enoug to pinpoint the source."
"Right," Gwen said.
Everything had gone awkward. Lena took Ruby off and it left Kara feeling helpless. She had been seconds away from snagging Vertigo and putting a stop to this. And yet, she let Vertigo slip away. Kara could feel a twinge of frustration go through her stomach.
She joined Gwen and Alex. Gwen pulled off her mask. The few bruises from where Blockbuster nailed her back started to heal. Gwen took the glass of water that Alex offered her as they hooked up the signal booster.
"I let Ruby and Sam down," Gwen said. "I should have be able to stop them."
"What about me?" Kara asked. "I was right on top of them and poof...they were gone."
"At least I got the tracer on, that's something, "Gwen said.
Of course, should the Marauders find the tracer, then they were back at grasping at straws. Gwen did not know what the hell she wanted to do.
Kara placed her hand on Gwen's shoulder to try and reassure the other woman. A brief smile crossed over Kara's face, trying to reassure Gwen, but the main thing was Kara wanted to reassure herself that everything was okay, and nothing was amiss. Nothing was wrong, she had to...she had to have faith in this, somehow, someway.
Alex returned with the equipment Gwen needed.
"Here, this should boast your signal," Alex told Gwen.
"Here's to hoping," Gwen commented with a smile.
All they had to do would be to hook up and see if they can get any kind of amplified signal out of this. Alex, Gwen, and Kara leaned over the tracer, with the signal blipping to life and going out into the middle of what might have been nowhere.
"Okay, that's...just wow," Kara said. "You don't suppose?"
"I don't really know," Gwen remarked. "But, we'll see, won't we?"
They were out in the middle of nowhere. Alex brought up the area surrounding the location which the van was heading.
"Nothing around for miles," Alex offered.
"Which makes it a perfect place for some kind of fortress," Kara replied. "So, you think….?"
"I don't know," Alex said. "Let's...get ready."
Alex sent a message because they may need a bit of backup. Even with Spider-Girl and Supergirl, they were dealing with an unknown number of mutants. And if Sinister was still alive, well Alex wanted someone who she knew dealt with him in the past.
Never in her life had Samantha Arias felt more terrified in her life. At least, at least Spider-Girl and Supergirl got Ruby to safety. That was the only solace which kept Sam completely sane. These monsters brought her to this weird cave out of the way.
"Samantha Arias...it's time we met faced to face."
A pale woman with dark hair and red eyes appeared from the scene. She wore a corset which did little to hide the woman's ample chest, a very tight back of black leather pants, and a cape as well. She leaned over and looked Sam over as if she was some specimen.
"Who are you?" Sam asked.
"A scientist," the woman said. "My name is currently Claudine Renko...Lady Sinister many call me. I've had several different guises over the years. Most famously, Jack the Ripper."
Sam shivered at this casual admission from this woman. Who spoke calmly, and yet gave the air of being completely mad.
"I'm very gender fluid."
She tried to pull away from Lady Sinister's grasp, but the woman would not denied her prize.
"I've studied the most impressive specimens out there," Lady Sinister said. "And you are the among the most impressive, Samantha."
"I'm….just a woman...who is trying to get by….I'm no one special," Sam said.
"And yet it was your blood who cured the people of National City from the spider virus made by my associate, Doctor Warren," Lady Sinister said. "Therefore I value your contributions. Your blood is amazing...and you are remarkable...but you'll be even better...when your true self is revealed."
True self, what the hell was this madwoman talking about? Sam looked at the door, where the trio of the three goons who nabbed her blocked the exit. There was no way out for Sam. She was going to die, she was never going to see Ruby again.
"You will help me burn the world," Lady Sinister said. "And I will rebuild a brave new world over the ashes."
"You're insane," Sam said.
"History judges that," Lady Sinister said.
She hoisted Sam up to a standing position and marched her over to the console. Sam's mind was going a million miles a minute. Oh, she was going to die, there was no question about it, she was going to die. Lady Sinister forced Sam's hand on a point on the wall.
A strange crystal console rose up from the cave floor and made Sam shake in fear.
"It needs more to unlocked," a voice says to the cave.
"And then let me help you."
Lady Sinister slashed Sam's palm open and blood sprayed out of the console. What was this madwoman anyway? Sam screamed as her blood sprayed out and the console spilled to life, before a black light shot out and engulfed Sam's brain.
Sam started to lose her sense of self and struggle against the pulse of black light energy. Memories, precious memories burned away. Sam's sense of being stripped away and she morphed into something else, someone else.
"Embrace your true self, Samantha!" Lady Sinister called. "You will….Reign!"
From the entrance, Blockbuster dropped down to the ground with a whirling punch from Supergirl. Alex nailed Archlight, and Spider-Girl took down Vertigo. The three Marauders dropped down to the ground and the trio stepped inside.
"Stand back!" Alex yelled.
"Oh, your symbiote is beautiful," the woman said with a leering smile. "I can't wait to peel it off of your body, when I have you...and I will have you."
"Just who are you?" Supergirl demanded.
"Claudine Renko, but you may call me Lady Sinister," Sinister said. "And our friend is coming to."
Sam's hands started to shake. Whatever was happening to her, Alex figured it could not be good. Gwen moved closer towards her and tried to help Sam. The wound on her hand completely healed and Sam's eyes glowed red.
"Sam?"
"Samantha is dead," she said. "Reign has awakened...and all will pay for their sins...for their failure."
Reign sent Spider-Girl flying with a flick of her finger. She came up and tried to attack Supergirl. Supergirl dodged it, and tried for a maneuver that Astra taught her to disable an opponent. No effect as Supergirl bounced off of Reign with the kick.
Reign grabbed Supergirl around the head to try and crush it like an overripe melon. Alex whipped back and sent a symbiote spear into Reign's stomach which only harmed her long enough for Supergirl to be brought away.
"She's...not there," Kara said. "I saw her eyes...cold and lifeless...whatever this Reign…."
Kara's stomach sunk, and Gwen and Alex came to the same realization.
"She was right under our noses the entire time."
The trio of women turned to face off against Reign. Sinister smiled as she observed evolution reaching it's obvious conclusion.
To Be Continued with Two More Chapters