The Lord of Night
"Who are you?" Blink asked the woman who had just saved them from Two-Gun Kid. Something about the young woman just screamed defiance. Clarice wanted to join in that scream. At the moment she was feeling especially vulnerable and having something to siphon strength from would be a great help.
Calvin could clearly see the admiration Blink had for the little pygmy, but he couldn't help feeling suspicious about the woman. How had she known to show up when she did? Why wasn't she in one of the camps? Most importantly, was she unique?
"Her name is Elsa Bloodstone," Nocturne, still occupying Selene's body, answered. Talia was seeing all the memories of the vampire and they horrified her. Elsa was part of the extremely small resistance movement against the vampires. Her Bloodstone had made her immune to vampirism.
"That's right body snatcher. Now shut up and keep running!" Elsa ordered roughly never keeping her eyes in any one direction. The blue girl had only stopped Blade and the others. No vampire could be killed permanently except with diamond. Eating onion dissolved their innards and put them into a coma. Sunlight only dehydrated them, but the feeling was unpleasant enough to keep them inside.
"Are you running a solo operation?" Thunderbird asked ignoring Elsa's comment about remaining silent. Horsemen, even former ones, didn't take orders from those they perceived as inferior easily.
"She wishes she was that lucky," Northstar said raining down from the ground carrying two small children in his arms. Both looked like they had come from the camps.
Stopping her run Elsa sighed, "You went on the mission anyway? By yourself as well? Jean you can't be taking risks like that."
"Well, it seems your new friends drew out Blade and the others. It was the perfect moment to move in I think. Besides these are his children. He deserves to have them back," Northstar replied.
Blink had heard from Magneto that the Northstar of her world was as vicious as they came and he worked under Sinister. It was hard to imagine that looking at how gentle this man was and how he so tenderly carried the two young children in his arms. They had to only be 2 years old. Clarice nearly fell into tears looking into the eyes of the children. It was as if innocence had been replaced with horror. She had seen those same eyes on her world so many times. At one point those were the eyes she had.
"I don't know about the rest of you, but I want to keep moving. No telling when Blade and the others might catch up to us. Fighting a voodoo priestess isn't on my list of favorite things to do if you know what I mean," Mimic said unsheathing his bone claws. Standing still like this in the wide open made Calvin nervous as hell. He didn't like it one bit and his mind was still wracked with why Timebroker hadn't sent them any replacements yet.
ElsewhereWhite blankness stretched in all directions. There was no geographical feature noticeable for miles. It was as if the Timebroker resided in an infinite white cube. Timebroker found the environment quite suitable to his needs even when others found it bland.
"Oh Timebroker you really need to decorate my man! Things are just so…dull in here. I can't believe I use to like this place," Vange complained.
"What do you want Vange? You want to pull out another special move on me?" Timebroker asked annoyed with the unexpected visit of Vange.
"Oh you're talking about that team of Exiles aren't you? Well, its part of our little game. I get to put up roadblocks every now and then just like you do," Vange reminded smugly. One certain team of Exiles was proving to be one of Timebroker's most successful. He needed to knock them down a notch and by not being able to have replacements come in their success rate was far lower.
"Do you ever tire of our game?" Timebroker asked as he took a seat in a spontaneously created chair. Creating a cup of English Tea specific to Earth 616 the Timebroker looked as if he had taken a taste of heaven.
"You and your damn sophistication. And no. I don't ever tire of our game. It's the only thing that keeps me from being driven mad. You and me both understand the true nature of the Omniverse," Vange reminded.
"Yes we do," Timebroker, sighed thinking on that ultimate truth. In all the Omniverse there was only one true constant. Nothing mattered. Nothing you could ever do would ever really matter. When every possibility exists there is nothingness. That is the truth of the Omniverse and Timebroker has been grappling with it for quite some time.
"Oh don't look so sad Timebroker. We're still having fun despite that. Think about it now for a second. If Kang, Ramses Xavier, Khan, Immortus, and the like all knew what we know do you think they would stop their conquests? No, they would only pursue them even harder to prove the truth wrong."
"We're different from them Vange. You know that well," Timebroker said creating a small wooden table to put down his tea.
"The one who made us chose to make us composed of billions of minds for a reason. We were meant to be unique Timebroker," Vange protested.
In appearance the two couldn't look more different. Timebroker looked like a fat Jarvis with pupiless eyes while Vange was a Fabio look-alike wearing neatly pressed fluorescent colored suits. The suit this time happened to be a lime green. It was hardly a wonder the two were at odds with each other on so many things.
"Why are so nonchalant about the nature of us and the Omniverse? Vange we were meant for a higher purpose. Instead we play this game. What if I was to stop playing the game now?" Timebroker asked.
Vange chuckled, "Oh my boy well I'd be worse than Kang and all his incarnations combined."
"That's what I figured. Your dominant personality after all is quite violent."
"And yours is a good doer who's long outlived his time on most worlds. Isn't that right Clark Kent?"
"In the Omniverse time is no more constant than anything else. But En Sabah Nur wouldn't see that I'm sure," Timebroker shot back.
"You got a little fire in you! I knew our maker threw a couple of Typhoid Marys into you," Vange smiled wickedly.
Jumping up from his chair all the items he had previously created disappeared in a puff of smoke that sounded like a crash of lightning, "Why are you here Vange?"
Snapping his fingers Vange acted like he had just remembered, "That's right. I just want to let you know that our game of ours is about to intensify. This is your notice. First people on my list are those damn reality hopping teams of yours."
Thunderbird hated being underground, but that's where Elsa and Northstar's base of operations was so this is where they came. Proudstar couldn't imagine living here. He yearned to be free and out in the open. Not to mention being confined remain him of the time spent in Apocalypse's genetic alteration chamber when he was being made into a Horseman.
Mimic looked around the dark cave and began to whistle to prevent himself from making a snide comment. Blink on the other hand made her feelings known, "So this is your base huh? Nifty."
"If you call living underground nifty then that's all you honey. Otto is going to be so happy to see his kids. Otto! Otto!" Northstar called out as he slowly flew around the large cave looking for the father of the two children he was carrying.
"So who's Otto? An old English guy," Mimic said his mind still on Timebroker and what the hell he was trying to pull.
"Otto Octavius. One of the world's most brilliant men. He gives us all our tech and is pretty much the only reason we're alive today," Elsa replied her hand demanding her to backhand the rude Calvin. She fought the instinct though and just gave the bulky man an indignant glare.
"Doc Ock? Boy oh boy," Nocturne sighed putting her hand to her forehead.
"Guess you had an encounter with him before," Mimic laughed.
Looking to Thunderbird, Talia smiled, "You could say that. I use to date his son."
"What the hell are you all rambling on about?" Elsa asked believing these people to be insane vagabonds more and more with every sentence they spoke.
"Get Otto. We have a story to tell you," Blink replied.
TokyoThe long hallway was lined with six foot torches carved from the finest marble of Greece. Wild flames moved exotically through the air lighting the passageway. These flames were not of a normal nature because they filled the air with the fragrance of dried blood. It was a smell that the High Priest of the vampires savored as he made his way down the purple rug to the end of the hallway where his race's greatest hope laid asleep. The end of the hall gave way to a massive steel door etched all over with masks of a grotesque nature. All of the masks were mystical wards meant to keep the Lord of Night trapped.
The white-cloaked cleric made his way to the end of the hall and rubbed his hand across many of the masks making them glow a bright red as he did so. Pulling back his hood long black hair escaped and reached down to the edge of his buttocks. Kirigi grinned with blood stained teeth, "Soon my master you will be free. In only a few hours."
Turning his back to the door Kirigi made tracks for whence he came. As he moved swiftly down the hall he took the time to acknowledge the large portraits of the great vampires that had come before him. Dracula, Herbert Wyndham, Nathaniel Essex, Woodrow Wilson, and Ho Chi Minh were just a few of those portraits. Moving his eyes across these portraits had prevented him from seeing one of his charges approach him, but his sense of smell had picked up on the young lad a long time before his arrival.
"What is wrong Kevin?" Kirigi asked the boy as he bowed before the High Priest.
"Camp 447 has experienced a rash of attacks by unknown assailants and Selene has gone missing," Kevin McTaggert mumbled afraid of the reaction the High Priest would unleash.
Holding a clamped fist to his mouth Kirigi cursed, "Does the universe conspire against me?"
Selene was one of the crucial pieces in resurrecting the Lord of Night. He could not handle the tremendous task alone. It was to be Selene, Marc Spector, and himself that would take upon the great honor of freeing the extremely powerful Lord of Night. Fate seemed to have cursed him now by snatching up Selene. Spector and himself did not have the needed power to complete the quest without the woman. If the Lord of Night were not freed tonight then it would be another thousand years before it could be attempted again. A thousand years that Kirigi would not be around to see.
"Find Marie Laveau. She will have to substitute for Selene. We have no choice," Kirigi ordered.
Rising up Kevin ran down the hall to do his master's bidding. Kirigi watched the young vampire run away and after he was gone out of sight the High Priest made his displeasure known, "This cannot be happening! Not tonight! Damn those lowborns for their interference! Damn them all!"
"Perhaps we can be of assistance master," twelve voices all hissed at once. Kirigi didn't even have to turn around to know who slithered behind him. They were his nagas. All of them bore the head of an aged woman, but the body of a purple boa constrictor. They were born from his own flesh. Kirigi was a master of flesh sculpting. He could take a piece of himself whether it is a limb, organ, or some other part and form it into a servant creature. It was even possible to combine fleshes to summon even more powerful creatures. He kept those more powerful creatures from the sight of many so as to have himself a cache of power against ambitious vampires seeking to usurp him.
Though he was grateful for their offer Kirigi had to refuse, "My nagas you are meant to defend me and the others during the summoning ceremony. Sending you out to find Laveau will mean me having to waste more valuable resources. I won't do that. Marie will have to do."
"Of course master," the nagas replied slithering away into the darkness once more.
"You must understand. This is quite a bit to take in," Octavius said full of shock as he sat down in a chair.
"Trust me I understand entirely. There are still times when I am shocked by the histories of my teammates. To be quite honest I'm more comfortable with worlds such as yours," Blink replied. The worlds where things didn't seem so bad or where things actually had a happy ending only depressed Clarice because she never got that in her life. Worlds where reality was harsh and where day-to-day living was the rule is what made Blink feel at ease. In a way they made her feel like she had returned home in some way.
"That's hardly the most shocking thing. The Lord of Night coming back is what's frightening," Elsa remarked.
"She's right. The Lord of Night cannot be freed," Talia replied drawing once again from the memories of Selene who she held a grip over.
"Just who is this Lord of Night?" Thunderbird asked feeling the tension suddenly grow thicker amongst the people who knew exactly what the being was.
"His real name is not known for a fact, but most believe that he was once a vampire called Varnae. Supposedly, the first vampire. No one can prove this though. As the story goes Varnae summoned demon after demon and merged them into himself. Some estimates suggest that he absorbed over a million demons. Varnae's power became tremendous and he created legions of vampires to spread chaos across Earth. A group of otherworldly wizards locked Varnae away before his influence became too strong. The damage had already been done though and over the years Earth degenerated into what it has become today," Elsa recounted.
"Then there is no way we can allow this monster to be bought back!" Mimic exclaimed. He never had a thing for demons. He had only told Blink of his encounter with Mephisto, but it had soured him to all hellspawn. Mephisto had kidnapped him and the Snowbird of his world. He tortured them with visions of dark futures, and ghosts of past mistakes. Snowbird went insane from it and it had taken Calvin months to get over what he had seen.
Clarice knew of Calvin's sensitivity and concern for him grew in her, "Do you have a map anywhere in here? If I see one I can get us to Tokyo in no time at all."
"There's no need for that Clarice. I can get us there using Selene. The only question that remains is who's all in for this little adventure?" Talia asked. She almost wished Proudstar would volunteer to stay behind. Sunfire and Morph had already been lost during this mission. She couldn't stand the thought of possibly losing any more people.
"There is no way I would let you do this alone Exiles. I'm coming," Elsa proclaimed.
"As am I," Northstar added.
Otto rose from his seat and wiped off his thick glasses with a thin white handkerchief. With a deep sigh he said, "I guess its time for me to unveil the Vampire Protocols I was working on."
"Vampire Protocols?" Elsa asked turning her head to give Otto a venomous stare. She hated it when secrets were kept from her.
"I've been working on them for quite some time. Just like I activated Northstar's X-Factor gene I've been doing the same with others," Otto revealed.
"What others? It's just been us. Everybody else we've rescued and bought into the fold has…you lied," Northstar said his mouth gaping open in reaction.
"I'm sorry Jean. I did lie. Those that you rescued never died on other missions. I've been keeping them all in stasis after activating their X-Factor genes. I wanted to have secret weapons against the vampires. It seems that it is time to unveil those I've kept hidden from you," Otto said turning his back to the group and walking towards what looked to be solid rock. Instead of crashing into the formation he simply passed through it.
"Follow him. It's time we uncover some secrets," Elsa groaned as she briskly walked through the wall.
"Anyone smelling tension?" Mimic asked with a bit of a chuckle. Blink quickly elbowed him in the ribs.
"Just follow Northstar and Elsa. This is none of our affair, but if it helps us stop the Lord of Night then so be it," Blink said.
"She's right. Let's go," Thunderbird replied with a little bit more anger than he had intended to display. Just the thought of people being trapped in chambers and being used as guinea pigs sickened him. It reminded him far too much of the ordeal he had went through under Apocalypse. One of his first missions under Apocalypse had been to infiltrate a base where Sinister was producing soldiers to kill him. The base was full of young children; none older than 9, and all of them had been genetically altered by Sinister. The Horsemen tore through the children without regard and that was just one more nightmare that haunted Proudstar at night.
Thunderbird was the first to step through the wall followed by Blink, Mimic, and then Nocturne. What they saw made one of them angry, had another reminiscing, had another wanting to puke, and one of them speechless. Five men and women were all hanging in mid-air with hundreds of tubes running through their bodies and large metal helmets covering half of their heads.
"What the hell is going on here?" Elsa asked her anger growing at the disgusting sight before her.
"I told you all I was keeping them in stasis. Some of them have unstable abilities. Like young Danielle. She brings fears to life and as such she'd be a hazard to our mission. By keeping them stasis I can steadily build up the resources to train them all properly. This mission is dire though and requires the release of some of my subjects," Otto replied.
"Don't free any of them!" Blink exclaimed.
"Why not? We're going to need them," Northstar replied.
Shaking her head Blink stood her ground, "No we're not. Don't release any of them. Even if we stop the Lord of Night this world will need protectors. I'm not going to waste any of them on our mission. We're the Exiles and we'll handle it."
"Doesn't mean we aren't coming along," Northstar said standing his ground just as firmly.
"Fine. Come on! Talia get us out of here," Blink ordered.
"Everyone hold on. This might sting a little," Nocturne warned.
TokyoA quick flash of light in front of the Night Temple and in moments a group of heroes suddenly appeared a few feet above the ground. Much to their chagrin they all landed with unnecessarily hard thuds.
"Sorry guys. Still haven't gotten the hang of all her magic yet," Talia apologized.
"Okay. What exactly are we up against here?" Blink asked knowing that three people could probably answer her question.
"The High Priest Kirigi and a host of his vampire guards," Elsa replied.
"And don't forget his host of different monsters," Northstar reminded.
"He forms them from his flesh. He's a very powerful magician. We have to take him down to prevent the resurrection all together," Nocturne added.
"Then we need a big explosion. I want to hit this guy hard and fast. I rather not have to confront him directly. In fact I have an idea. How far away are we from the ocean?" Blink asked with a devilish smile.
"Only a few miles. You should be able to feel it out," Nocturne replied.
"Good. Get ready for things to get nasty quick then," Blink said as a portal formed above the temple and unknown to the others she had formed quite a few inside random places across the building itself. Each one of these portals had a corresponding portal in the Pacific that quickly began pouring tons of water into and on top of the building.
"INFIDELS!" a voice screeched from the building as a drenched man covered in a white cloak leaped from the building. It was Kirigi. High Priest of the Vampires. Landing on the ground with a loud quake he looked upon those who had prevented his ceremony with venom.
"Looks like we're going to have to take this guy to the cleaners," Mimic joked pulling up his sleeves.
"Guess so," Blink smiled eager for a fight.
"What's happening to you my friends?" Northstar asked as the Exiles were consumed by a bright yellow light.
Realizing what was happening Thunderbird yelled, "Not now!"
It was too late and in moments the Exiles had disappeared leaving Elsa and Northstar alone against the powerful Kirigi. An unconscious Selene laid next to them and unfortunately for them Talia no longer possessed her.
"You two have been nuisances to the vampire race for far too long," Kirigi grinned as he spread his arms out wide and all of his nagas sprang forth from them.
Elsewhere"You took us away too early Timebroker!" Blink yelled not being able to control herself. She had deterred Otto from releasing those had held captive. Perhaps if she hadn't Elsa and Northstar would stand a fighting chance. As it was now they were dead and all because of her.
"You accomplished your task and that is all I asked of you," Timebroker replied.
"Why did you pull us to your blank ass home anyway? And why didn't you send us replacements?" Mimic asked annoyed.
"I bought you here because some of you are going home," Timebroker said choosing not to answer the replacement question.
The shock of what Timebroker had said made everyone on edge, but no one dared ask who was going home because they knew some would be left behind. That pained every last one of them because it felt unfair that someone would have to stay and continue the fight while the rest of them got to go back home.
"I see none of you will ask me who is going home and that is fine. I understand that, but I will tell you. Talia, John, and Calvin you are all going home," Timebroker said.
Blink smiled at her teammates and gave all of them big hugs. After doing all of that she smiled, "You three take care of yourselves. Enjoy your homes. Cherish them. For me, alright?"
"If I could Timebroker I'd like to go home with Talia instead of going to my reality," Thunderbird requested squeezing Talia's hand and hoping he would get his wish.
Timebroker nodded, "Of course you can John. You have earned that much."
And with a wave of his hand Timebroker delivered everyone to his or her destinations. All save for Blink who still stood with her head hung a bit low.
"Do you hate me for not sending you home as well?" Timebroker asked.
"No. I'm just going to miss them is all," Blink replied.
"I understand, but I need you to be strong Clarice. You're going to be leading a raw team and things are only going to intensify more," Timebroker explained.
"What do you mean?"
"You will begin to have multiple missions on some worlds and I won't always be able to send in replacements now," Timebroker warned.
"Fine. Just give me my new team already," Blink demanded.
"I think I should tell you a bit about all of them before I do that. First off we have Stepstone. She's a version of Illyana Rasputin from a world where Shadow King had formed the X-Men. Then we have Hardcase. He's from a universe completely unfamiliar to you, but he served on a team called Ultraforce. After him is Mistress Strange. She's a version of Storm on a world where she was an apprentice of Dr. Strange. She probably won't get along very well with Bluestreak who is an alternate reality daughter of Quicksilver. The lady can be quite the joker. Finally, there is Reed von Doom who is the son of Doctor Doom in a reality where the good Doctor conquered the entire universe."
"You're giving me a hell of a squad here," Blink sighed just imagining the trouble she was going to have to deal with.
"You'll do fine Clarice," Timebroker smiled.
EpilogueKirigi kneeled in front of the flooded temple and knew his life was over. The Council would never allow him to live after this failure. He was doomed, but at least he had eliminated Elsa and Northstar. Maybe that could redeem him some. It was a slim hope, but the High Priest had little else to hold onto.
"Don't despair yet Kirigi. I have an offer for you."
Jumping up at the sound of the voice Kirigi turned to it and was prepared to once again unleash his nagas on the strangely clothed man.
"Easy Priest. I'm Vange. And I promise that vengeance can be yours. You only need listen to me for a while."
Next Issue: An insane Daredevil!