Chapter Two
Stephen was feeling positively chipper as he climbed the stairs to the Relic Room.
The meeting with Hank Pym had gone well, and his hopes were high.
Cloak had elected to stay in the study, listening to music, which was fine. Actually, Stephen was relieved it had found a way to cope with its' terrible experience. If staying out of the Relic Room helped that healing process, more power to it.
As he moved toward the giant window, his steps faltered to a halt.
There were lights out, along the far wall, close to where the Gyve was kept, and a sizable area was thrown into shadows. He slanted a scowl that direction, altered his course to have a look.
A cursory inspection revealed what appeared to be some shorted out wiring, resulting in blown out light bulbs.
He made a face, realizing this was a very old building. He needed to remember to check with Wong to see if he needed to call an electrician, or some other arrangement for building maintenance was in place.
As he turned, a sudden shiver ran along his neck, and he spun back, quickly, brow furrowed.
But, nothing was amiss. Everything was exactly as it always was.
He leaned back in, giving the door of the thick, bullet proof glass case holding the Gyve a sharp jerk; it was locked. All the LED lights inside were still brightly lit.
Unconsciously, Stephen smoothed the hidden breast pocket of his tunic, where he kept the key.
It was there, as expected.
Disconcerted, Stephen shook his head, wondering if it was his turn to be paranoid.
He really did need to set up some time to loose Sable, question him, but that entire scenario was admittedly daunting, as a well as dangerous. He realized that was bothering him more than he cared to admit. Perhaps once he got a few answers from Hank Pym, he'd have the focus to get to that.
With a final scowl toward the Gyve, Stephen spun, headed toward the books he'd left lying on the table by the window.
As his footsteps receded, a shadow swirled to life, slid out from beneath the cabinet setting nearest the Gyve.
Clinging to the dark, Ebon cloak watched, waited, until Stephen was gone.
Then, careful to avoid the light, it crawled upwards, closer to the next set of bulbs, waiting for the shadows to lengthen enough for it to get its' folds into the wiring.
Slowly, deliberately, continuing its sabotage.
Preparing the room for its' Masters' escape.
And, now it knew where to find the key.
Stephen was humming, cheerily, despite the thunderstorm crashing outside the Sanctums' windows.
Gateways did prove very useful, he chucked to himself; despite the grim weather he could travel without even getting damp.
He'd just spent an enjoyable evening at the Met with Christine, and he'd even received a gentle kiss on the cheek when returning her to her loft.
Very promising.
Very promising, indeed.
Cloak, as usual, gave a small shake as it lifted from his shoulders, ruffled across the study to tap the speaker on.
Stephen smiled, tossed his gloves on the desk, when a ping alerted him to a text.
Cloak swiveled, curiously, as Stephen laughed, out loud.
'It's Hank Pym! He's found something, wants me to meet him, tomorrow afternoon.' Cloak gave an ecstatic ripple, clearly as excited as Stephen.
A sharp crack of lightning shook the building, a shuddering roll of thunder, and the lights went out, plunging the study into darkness.
Stephen groaned, annoyed. One of the shortcomings of having the tallest building in the area was it's penchant for attracting lightning strikes.
In the blue flicker of lightning, blinking thru the large windows, Stephen saw Cloak give a confused shrug, collar tilted toward the lights.
To his companions' wordless query, Stephen grumbled, irritably,
'You're right. One more thing I need to have looked at. The backup generator should have come on, by now.
'I'm going to have a look. It might just need a switch flipped.'
Cloak gave a bob, obviously content to stay dry in the study.
With another sigh, Stephen rummaged around in his desk drawer for a flashlight, then headed off toward the Relic Room, which had access to the roof, and the backup generator.
The Relic Room was nearly black, with lightning outside the giant window providing the only glimpses of clarity.
Shaking and fussing with the flashlight, which obviously needed new batteries, Stephen crossed the room, headed toward the roof access door.
When something snaked around his ankles from behind and jerked him off his feet, he was completely unprepared. He fell, hard, unable to break his fall.
His head smacked against one of the cabinets, scattering a field of sparkling white dots across his vision, and he blacked out.
Ebon cloak flashed out from beneath the cabinet, knowing it had only seconds before Cloak realized its' Chosen needed it. It dove on Stephen, ruffling violently thru his tunic, looking for the key.
It grasped the key a split second before it was hit by Cloak, a crimson freight train, which tore it away from Stephen, threw it across the room.
Fairly vibrating with a mix of fury and terror, Cloak crouched protectively over its' unconscious Chosen, watching as Ebon pulled itself from the floor.
Urgently, but gently, Cloak shook Stephen. This was a horribly dangerous situation to be caught in, made much worse by the fact that its' Chosen was unconscious. He was defenseless.
While Cloak attempted to rouse Stephen, Ebon cloak flew to the cabinet, fumbling with the lock.
Cloak realized what Ebon was up to, but hesitated, a second too long, before reacting.
As Cloak dove toward Ebon, it pulled the case open, wrapped the Gyve into its' folds, and opened it.
Cloak dodged away, covering Stephen protect him from the violent frozen whirlwind that blasted out, dumping Sable to the floor.
Ebon dropped the Gyve, and it rolled toward Cloak, who grabbed it, wrapping a protective swath of its' other hem edge around Stephens shoulders.
The freezing wind helped to bring Stephen around, and Cloak lifted him to a sitting position.
Stephen groaned, grabbed his skull, fingers coming away bloody. Groggily, he realized that Cloaks' folds were quaking, and shook his head to clear his vision.
What he saw in the eerie flicker of lightning pulled him fully awake, and a jolt of fear ran thru him when he realized what had happened.
Sable was loose.
He had no idea how, but that was beside the point.
Ebon hovered over its' Master, guarding him, but Stephen barely recognized him as the same Sable that had gone into the Gyve.
His long black hair had gone nearly white, his skin a sickly shade of grey. His clothes were tattered rags, his body wasted. He still laid where the Gyve had dropped him, but feebly lifted his head to look at Stephen.
His glittering eyes flashed, angrily, and he bared silver fangs, even tho it seemed he wouldn't be much of a threat in his current state.
Ebon wrapped around its' Master, lifting him, since he was unable to stand.
All the while carefully keeping its' collar turned toward Stephen and Cloak.
Stephen clambered to his feet, swayed dizzily, Cloak at his back, one edge protectively gripping around his chest.
The lights flickered, came on briefly, blinked back out.
Both Sable and Ebon flinched, but didn't flee.
Sable whispered something to Ebon, then locked his hateful glare on Stephen.
'I have given an oath…' he rasped, weakly, his voice cracked, raw, 'to kill you.'
'Break it,' Stephen shot back, snapping up a mandala shield. It flickered as the room seemed to spin beneath his feet, and he stumbled backwards, holding his head.
Cloak caught him, wrapping around his chest from behind, kept him upright.
Immediately, Stephen recognized the symptoms of a concussion.
Concussed, and attempting a defense against a lethal adversary.
Just…..perfect.
Sable hissed, appeared about to attempt an attack, when all the lights suddenly came back on.
Ebon coiled tightly around Sable, faster than the eye could follow, and darted toward the haven of shadows it had spent weeks creating along the wall. Following the faintest shadow trail out of the room, it, and Sable, escaped.
Stephen and Cloak stared, horrified.
'Oh, this is SO not good,' Stephen mumbled, and passed out