Special thanks goes to my good friends: The Story's Shadow, and my other good friend/editor Darkest Nightmare's Dread for writing this excellent chapter, thanks my good friends.
The team had decided that it would be best if they kept a close eye on Vixen, but not to the point of total distrust. They had faced various foes, but what she described was something, unlike anything they'd ever confronted. So they agreed Doreen would be the one to take her around the city and investigate anything Vixen believed was of suspicious manner. They had been going over and back again around the city for several minutes. Doreen was getting bored.
"I'm SO BORED!" Doreen groaned.
"Are all you humans like this?" Vixen asked.
"First off: rude. Second: I'm a mutate, not a human. Though, say that to any species, it's still rude," Doreen chastised.
"I'm sorry, this is the first time I've been to Earth," Vixen apologized.
"Be that as it may, be careful what you say to others. Not everyone is as forgiving as me," Doreen chuckled.
"I'll keep that in mind," Vixen chuckled back.
They continued to patrol for several more minutes. They spot something moving into an alley.
"Hmm, curious," Vixen muttered.
"Let's get a closer look," Doreen said.
Vixen nodded in agreement. They carefully made their way towards the alley. They then spot an individual Vixen recognizes much to her dread...and oddly...hope. The individual chuckles.
"Come out, I know you're there," the individual said.
"Who are you mister?" Doreen bellows as she marches into the alley.
"No, don't," Vixen gasped as she tried to pull back the heroine yet it was too late.
She groaned as she walked into the alley and stood beside Doreen. They faced Wraith as he turned.
"Ah, Vixen. It is such an 'honor' to be in the presence of the illustrious daughter of the 'mighty' Crusader," Wraith mocked bowed.
"How?" Vixen gasped.
"Do you really believe my master wouldn't know of your existence? Foolish child," Wraith scoffed.
"And we know about you, 'Wraith'! You're going down!" Doreen proclaimed.
"I doubt that," Wraith said.
Wraith surged forward. Doreen yelled as she charged forward.
"Don't!" Vixen cried out.
Doreen threw a punch. Wraith quickly snatched her wrist then neck then slung her back into the alley. Doreen yells in panic, but then flips in the air and quickly pushes herself back off the wall she nearly crashed into. With the momentum, she launched herself back at Wraith. Wraith turned around and caught her by the throat.
"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Wraith scoffed.
Suddenly there was a strange sound that pierced the air followed by what seemed to be a whirring. Wraith caught something in his free hand: a shining golden arrow. He then growled in pain as he felt a searing pain in his right leg. He looked down to see another arrow in it and blood dripping from it. He and Doreen looked back to see Vixen with a golden bow in her hands and pulled back on the string which revealed another arrow. She had a look of pain on her face but mixed with determination.
"Release her," Vixen hissed.
"You want her? Take her!" Wraith growled in anger and pain as he tossed Doreen towards Vixen.
Doreen grunted as she skidded across the ground, but got back onto her feet. She groaned as she rubbed her throat.
"He's got a grip like a bear. What did you hit him with?" Doreen grunted.
They looked as Wraith groaned as he dropped to one knee and started to remove the arrow.
"This bow and its arrows are enchanted. Every hit hurts the target's soul, but in return damages the archer...except for a clear hit at the heart," Vixen grunted.
Doreen's face nearly drained of blood.
"Then you should stay out of this. We need him alive...and I want some payback," Doreen said.
"N-No, you need my help...you can't take him on your own," Vixen grunted.
"Who said I was alone?" Doreen chuckled.
Wraith growled in pain as he removed the arrow. He then stood up.
"You'll pay for that," Wraith snarled.
"Not likely," Doreen scoffed.
Doreen whistled. Wraith grumbled under his breath and started approaching. Then there were the sounds of chittering.
"What is that?" Vixen grunted.
"Wait for it," Doreen chuckled.
The sound got louder and then stopped. Wraith heard it again and looked up as did the two young women. Tippy-Toe stands on the edge at the top of one of the walls of the alley surrounded by several more squirrels.
"Get him!" Doreen shouts then charges forward.
The squirrels leap from their perches and began to swarm Wraith, who furiously began swatting at them.
"Get these rodents away from me!" Wraith demanded.
"Not likely! Hiyah!" Doreen laughed as she smashed her right foot into Wraith's chest.
Wraith grunted as he hit the ground and the squirrels bit and scratched him whilst he was on his back. He tried to throttle some of them, but Doreen punched his face several times. As WRaith tried to strike back, Vixen sent more arrows into his limbs making him yell in pain and Vixen to groan in pain. Wraith groaned but didn't move after several more punches.
"Alright, boys and girls that's enough. Thank you all again," Doreen chuckled.
The squirrels chittered a response and took off. Doreen pulled out her phone and texted something. Vixen approached.
"Some of the others will be here soon. We'll have him secured and brought back to base," Doreen said as she put her phone away.
"N-Not...likely!" Wraith hissed.
The two young women looked down as Wraith leaped up and threw something to the ground. Smoke of a strange color rose in the air. The two women inhaled before they could think not to and began to cough horribly and dropped onto their hands and knees. Wraith began to laugh.
"That gas was made to for those with the blood of beasts, it was used on your world Vixen. There will be no mark, but your deaths will come slowly and painfully. I intend to watch every glorious, revenge filled moment of it," Wraith laughed and groaned as he removed the arrows.
"Not gonna happen!" A voice called out.
The three looked up to see Iron Heart and Ghost Spider dive at Wraith, firing their respective projectiles. Wraith managed to dodge them and leaped onto the roof of one of the surrounding buildings then disappeared in a puff of smoke. The women hurried to the two women in pain. After several minutes they had arrived back at the Secret Warriors' base's medical ward. Iron Heart analyzed them.
"The poison's unlike anything I've ever seen, this is bad. It'll take me some time before I can make a cure," Iron Heart said.
"So get started! We don't know how much time it will take!" Ghost Spider nearly screamed in panic.
"I know of this poison. *Groans* It was used on my world by Imperious...like all other poisons, it can be cured...by something Crusader had our people carry or have storages of: Continuum blood," Vixen explained.
She managed to pull out a single vial of the substance.
"This is all I have, I was in such a rush...I forgot to bring more," Vixen groaned.
"Good, I'll analyze this and try to synthesize more of it," Iron Heart said.
"No, the longer one has this poison, the more severe the pain and effects are...and that amount of blood is only good for one person...if you don't use it now...the end comes closer with even more agony," Vixen groaned.
"W-What do I do?" Iron Heart gasped.
"G-Give...Give it to your friend," Vixen stammered in pain...
-Much Later-
Iron Heart flew away as fast as she could. Her mask hid it well, but tears were streaming down her face. (Why? Why did this happen?) She was too choked up to even be able to ask the question aloud, but while time would help in that, it wouldn't help explain what happened…
An hour previous
It had seemed to be a routine scouting mission for the Secret Warriors, until Gwen spotted some kind of skeleton-like thing skulking around one of the city squares. "Whatever this thing is, I don't like the look of it," Spider-Gwen, otherwise known as Ghost-Spider said on her communicator.
"Do we know what he's up to?" Patriot asked as he made his way to her location.
"Don't know," Spider-Gwen said as she crouched out of sight. "He seems to know I'm here, but he's just … standing there, like he's waiting for something."
"Or someONE," Quake said, a deep frown on her face. "I don't like this, people."
"Hey, SG here," Squirrel Girl said. "I'm taking a quick look-see around Skellington Jack, and I'm not seeing anyone nearby."
"Okay, people. I'm not liking my odds if I have to take this guy on alone," Gwen said as she peeked up to look at the skeleton, only to realize that he was slowly approaching her hiding spot. "Okay, this guy's giving me the creeps. Form up, people," she said as she jumped off the top of the building she was on, swinging to the ground. She could see the skeleton man only a few yards away from her, and she didn't like what she saw. He was covered in armor, and that was covered in a red substance that was most assuredly some kind of blood. He had no eyes, only shadows. "What did you do?" She wondered out loud.
"I have killed, many times," the skeleton said in a casual voice. He may as well have been discussing items on a menu.
Ghost-Spider shuddered at the skeleton's words. "Can you at least give me a name, or something?" She asked, trying to stall for time as her team got into position.
"I am Wraith," the figure replied, "and soon, I will be the last face you see."
"I wouldn't bet on that," -Gwen said as she got into a crouch. "See, I'm not alone here." As if on cue, her team came into view. Patriot ran around a nearby street corner, shield at the ready. Inferno was hot on his tail, literally, as the young hero had decided to go flame form already. His head stood up on end and seemed to flow in a wind only it could sense. With a whoosh, America Chavez ran into view, her brown hair flowing behind her as she ran. Squirrel Girl jumped from a nearby tree behind Wraith, and Quake slid into view right next to her. There was a slight whirring noise as Iron Heart landed a short distance behind Wraith. "I've got friends," she said, a smile behind her mask. Wraith was silent for a moment, and then started chuckling. "What's so funny?" Spider-Gwen asked, confused.
"I cannot believe … that you were so STUPID to bring all your friends here!" Wraith spat out, laughing loudly. He pulled out a small, sharp-looking black knife. "Who wishes to die first?" He said, a sinister grin on his face.
"How about you?!" Quake said as she started concentrating her powers, trying to vibrate Wraith's head, or heart. She growled in frustration as she couldn't even find anything to vibrate. Annoyed, she stomped on the ground, causing a crack to appear that went straight for Wraith. At the last moment, the skeletal villain rolled to the side, forcing Ms. America and Inferno to dodge to the side. Quake stomped on the ground again, this time catching Patriot's ankle as the black teen tried to dodge to the side. Taking advantage of the sudden chaos, Wraith dashed forward and stabbed Patriot in the chest with his knife. "WHAT?!" Quake shouted, stunned at what had just happened.
Patriot was similarly stunned, as he could feel the knife cut through his heart as Wraith planted his foot on his chest and pushed. No knife had ever cut through his superhuman skin. Something in him told him that he wouldn't survive this wound. "Well," he said as he collapsed to the ground, holding himself up with one hand as he put a hand over his heart in a feeble attempt to staunch the bleeding, "the fight ain't done, now is it?"
"No," Wraith said as he sliced through Patriot's neck, leaving him to drown in his own blood, "but you are." He stood up and turned to look at the remaining heroes. They looked at him with incredible hatred, but it was not with hatred alone that their eyes shone. "Scared?" Wraith said with a chuckle. "Or would you like to cripple any more of your team, Quake?"
With an angry growl, Quake ran at Wraith, waiting until she was close before unleashing another fissure. "No, don't!" Spider-Gwen shouted, but it was too late. This time, Wraith dodged to the side and slashed the heroine across the throat.
"Anymore bright ideas?" Wraith asked, a smile on his face. In response, Quake spat out some of her blood on his face, and any words she would've said came out as gurgles as the heroine collapsed to the ground.
Before Wraith could savor the warm feeling of the fresh blood flowing down his face, America Chavez ran forward at blinding speed. She literally ran circles around the skeletal villain, punching rapidly while shouting "ORAORAORAORAORAORA" at the top of her lungs. It made no sense to Wraith, but he knew that eventually, he would have his opening. It was all but handed to him when Inferno threw a fireball at Wraith. America Chavez was momentarily distracted by the fireball, and that's all the time Wraith needed to lunge forward and catch her in the side with his blade. He quickly followed this up with a slice to the throat. "Heh! Muda muda!" He countered.
Ghost-Spider jumped into battle, trying to web Wraith to the ground. "Inferno, move in!" She shouted. The flaming teen immediately ran in, throwing fireballs at Wraith, as well as lobbing a couple into the air to try and effectively hem him in so he couldn't escape the attacks. The fireballs hit home, surrounding the skeletal villain in brilliant flames. Inferno moved in quickly, trying to see what damage had been done. "Don't get too close," Gwen cautioned. "I know you can't burn, but-" Before she could finish her remark, a black blade flashed out from the flames, cutting through the part-Attilan teen's throat. Before he could use his bio-plasma to heal the injury, Wraith sliced through his neck completely, decapitating him. "NO!" r-Gwen shrieked in fury and pain, charging forward to save her friend, but Wraith clothes-lined her midair. The spider-heroine collapsed to the ground and tried to sit up, but a blade to the heart stopped her in her tracks. "Why?" She wheezed as she could feel the life leaving her.
For a moment, Wraith said nothing, eventually replying, "Because I was ordered." He heard a furious shriek to his right, but before he could turn to face the source, he was blasted backwards by energy beams. "So, you wish to die as well?" He asked.
"Screw you!" Iron Heart shouted as she fired another beam. Wraith dodged to the side and was about to throw his knife at Iron Heart, but a timely kick from Squirrel Girl threw his aim off. Instead, Doreen took the knife to her tail, the pain ruining her recovery, allowing Wraith to stab her in the chest. "What?!" Iron Heart asked, stunned. Her intellect could not explain what she'd just seen. "Why?"
"So you'd live, doofus," Doreen groaned as she turned toward Wraith, preparing to channel her strength into a roll that she knew wouldn't save her. "Well, what are you waiting for?!" She snapped at him.
Wraith shrugged. "Let it never be said that I never had pity on dumb animals," he said with mock sadness as he sliced Doreen's throat. Turning away from the dying heroine. Wraith threw his knife at the retreating form of Iron Heart, but he missed, only gouging the right arm of the armor. "We shall meet again…" The villain said as he watched the woman retreating…
Daisy awoke with a start, and bolted upright in her bed, sweat streaming down her face and into her eyes, resulting in her quickly wiping the sweat from her eyes. 'Breath Daisy, just breath.' she thought to herself as she tried to calm her racing heartbeat. She looked around and remembered she was still in her bedroom in the Secret Warriors underground base, and that should have brought her comfort knowing she was safe, but those feelings where short lived when memories of the dream came screaming back to her. 'A skeletal warrior named 'Wraith,' where have I heard that... no... it can't be.' Daisy thought to herself as she suddenly remembered where she had heard that name before. 'That girl Vixen, she warned us of an emperor named Imperious, and also his lead general... Wraith.'
-Meanwhile-
Doreen woke with a start, her heart beating a million miles a minute as she tried to make sense of the dream she had just endured. 'Try and remember every detail, D, it'll help.' she thought to herself as she turned on her bedside lamp and stood up from her bed, and began to pace the floor of her bedroom. 'I was on patrol, with... Vixen... yea I believe it too.' Doreen thought to herself as she remembered patrolling the city. 'We where encountered by... Wraith... that general Vixen warned us about.' Doreen thought as she tried to remember every part of her prophetic dream. 'We where fighting, and then he... poisoned me and Vixen, but then she told Riri to give me the only cure she had. Why would she save me and not herself?' Doreen thought to herself. Before she could contemplate and analyze any more of her dream, her phone began to vibrate on her night-stand, and she quickly picked it up, and noticed it was the Secret Warriors group text that she and Riri had set up upon Daisy's request.
Daisy: 'Emergency meeting at the HQ!' Daisy texted the Secret Warriors, who all responded quickly
Gwen: 'I'll start swinging to the HQ''
America: 'I'll get on the hog'
Riri: 'I'll do my best to sneak out without alerting my dorm mates'
Kamala: 'Be there in twenty'
Dante: 'On my way'
Rayshaun: 'I'll prep the coffee, there are some advantages to living in the HQ, LOL' Patriot joked, and that made Doreen smile.
Doreen: 'I'll get dressed and be on my way'
-Later-
"Rayshaun, Daisy told us all there was an emergency meeting, and not everyone is here, except for Daisy." America said in a tired tone as she barely suppressed a loud yawn.
"She said she had to get something before the meeting started–" Rayshaun began as the door to the meeting room opened, and to everyone's surprise Vixen walked in behind Daisy.
"What is she doing here?" Gwen asked in a skeptical tone, a sentiment that was echoed by the suspicious looks of all of her team-mates.
"I invited her to this emergency meeting." Daisy answered simply.
"That's obvious, but why?" America asked with a glare aimed at Vixen, meant to intimate the younger girl, but Vixen met that glare with a glare of her own, and that made America drop her angry glare.
"Because I might have answers." Vixen answered with a glare at America, which made America shrink for a second in her seat.
"Answers to what?" Kamala asked her leader as Daisy took a seat at the head of the conference table, while Vixen did not take the seat offered to her, but instead choose to stand.
"The answers to the nightmare–" Daisy began before Doreen gasped.
"You had a nightmare also?!" Doreen squeaked, and that earned looks from everyone, Vixen included.
"Yes, I did." Daisy said calmly.
"Daisy, not that we aren't interested, but did you only call us here at 1:31 AM to tell us you had a bad dream?" Dante asked as he let out a loud yawn.
"Not just a bad dream, it seemed more like a–"
"A vision?" Vixen asked, which now caused everyone to look at her with both suspicion, and interest, and Vixen suddenly felt a mild case of stage fright for the first time in her life, but thankfully Rayshaun took the spotlight off of her.
"Vixen, didn't you say your dream seemed 'peculiar, and deafening?'" Rayshaun said as he quoted the teenagers own words back to her.
"I said that." Vixen said nervously. 'I forgot to mention this, but it almost seemed like a vision, something that might, or might not have happened–"
"Or maybe it already happened, or has not yet happened." Riri said cautiously as she tried to carefully word her sentences in a way that they would make sense.
"Nicely put, Riri." Daisy said in a serious tone as she went on to explain the context of her nightmare, and more importantly, what had happened to her and her friends.
"Whoa, that's just..." Gwen said as she leaned forward in her chair, and began nervously twisting her blonde hair.
"That made my blood run cold." America said as she put a hand to her throat and gulped, a sentiment echoed by most of her friends.
"I died!?" Dante said nervously, which resulted in Kamala placing a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, which made him blush slightly, which did not go unnoticed by Vixen.
"Of all of us, how did I survive?!" Riri asked as she felt sweat beginning to form on her scalp.
"At least I died a hero." Doreen tried to joke, her response was a dead awkward silence that filled the room like a thick mist.
"Wait a second." Vixen said, and that made everyone jump as they where all contemplating the vision Daisy had informed them of. "Quake–" Vixen began before Daisy cut him off.
"Call me Daisy." Daisy said simply with a serious tone.
"Daisy, you said your team-mates where all murdered by Wraith, yet I noticed when you where recounting every tiny detail, one of you was missing from the vision." Vixen said wisely, and that made Daisy gasp.
"She's right!" she said quickly, "Kamala, you where not in my nightmare." she said as she looked at Kamala.
"I don't know if that's good or bad that I wasn't in that vision." Kamala said in a serious tone.
"What do you mean?" Rayshaun asked his fellow Secret Warrior.
"There is only two conclusions I can draw from not being in the nightmare. To put it simply, I'm either not at the battle, or I'm... I'm already dead." Kamal said in a frightened tone, and this time it was Dante's turn to put his hand over Kamala's, and Vixen noticed the millisecond look they exchanged with each-other.
"OK, I'm scared, and I don't scare easily." Gwen said, a look of fear present in her eyes.
"Vixen, you said a dream brought you here, in the dream was a vision of Wraith killing, saying he's already killed the Avengers, and all but one of us present in this room, am I correct?" Riri asked Vixen, to which the yellowed eyed teenager nodded silently. "But in this vision Daisy had, I survived, and Kamala is nowhere to be seen, I can't say this for certain, but my logic is finding holes in all these visions." Riri said.
'You bring up a good point." Vixen began carefully. "But if my father taught me anything about Imperious, it's that his nightmares are only two possible things, a warning, or a glimpse of the future...
To be Continued...
Written by Darkest Nightmare's Dread, The Story's Shadow, and Nobel Six
Editor's note: I snuck in some elements from Undertale. Spot 'em?
