Bad Hand
By mkusenagi2
The story
concept © 5-19-2006
All Marvel characters are © Marvel
Comics.
Kim Possible and other characters
from the show are ©
Disney Co.
I don't own Dark Horse Comics'
characters
either.
Part VII
9-24-2006
The
Mano Malo
Bermondsey Docks
Bermondsey Parish
London,
England
The Kitchen
1420 hrs
"WHAT!" Kim and Wade chorused.
"'K boys and
girls… hold on to your seats 'cause we're going back at LEAST
12,000 years…"
Ron said as he looked at Sheila, squeezed her
hand and began to tell the tale.
---
It was the END of an age…
Mankind had risen to great heights and had walked with the GODS as equal partners…
Until the First Men turned AWAY from the GODS…
And saw them as RIVALS…
Now due to the Rift and the selfishness of the First Men…
The Gods started to withdraw their essence…
Or CHANGE it…
So only the worthy may use it…
For this is the secret of magics…
Magic is the raw essence of the Gods…
What men would call their BLOOD.
Into this time was born a gifted child… Varnae of North Atlantis.
He astonished his teachers with his ability to summon magical energies and use them…
At the age of four…
It was believed that he would be the one to heal the rift between the Gods and the First Men…
As he came of age he became learned in the ways of ALL magics…
Yet it wasn't enough…
Because of the RIFT…
The First Men began to WITHER and DIE…
One of the First Men REFUSED to settle for such a fate…
Varnae, Exalted above all the other Priest Kings of North Atlantis, sought the secrets to the ultimate form of Immortality…
Godhood.
He traveled the world seeking knowledge in the far corners of the Earth and gaining followers along the way…
Finally he and his brethren found…
The Ebontome…
The last remnant of Chthon's presence in this realm…
They 'used' it…
And discovered several Dark Realms…
Two stood out from the rest…
Chthon's…
And
The Ancient Ones…
Varnae 'promised' to release the Ancient Ones and Chthon if they gave him and his brethren what they sought…
A 'pact' was forged…
The other Priest Kings learned of his treachery…
And attempted to stop him before he used the Book…
They managed to kill him…
But were too late…
Varnae arose from the Dead, empowered by the spells from the Book…
Cursed by Chthon and the Ancient Ones into servitude…
Forever shunning the Light of Day…
Thirsting after the Blood of the Living…
THIS was the 'immortality' that he had been 'blessed' with…
Chthon and the Ancient Ones inflicted a cruel joke upon him…
And ensured that he and his ilk would be unable to sire any offspring…
Except through their BLOOD…
Varnae… Enraged, infected his brethren with his curse…
He sealed the way to the realms of Chthon and the Ancient Ones…
Gathered his 'children'…
And destroyed Northern Atlantis…
---
Now the Gods were aware of Varnae's machinations…
And had decided upon a solution…
From the ranks of the Second Men…
A noble bloodline would be nurtured…
For one purpose…
Heroes!
Champions that could wield the ULTIMATE Antithesis to Varnae's accursed plague…
The Lotus Blade…
A weapon designed to HEAL…
Or CAUTERIZE…
The FIRST…
To successfully wield it against Varnae…
Was…
Nuadu, King of the Tuatha Dé Dánaan…
Known as Silver Arm.
He immobilized the Beast with magics…
Decapitated him…
Sealed his undying head in a block of stone engraved with the Fifty Names Of Marduk…
And threw it into the sea where Atlantis rests…
Since then…
The Blade has passed over the millennia…
From one Champion to another…
Protecting the Light…
To the present day…
It is said that when the time is right…
The Blade will find its true owner…
---
"And that's the story…" Ron said to an astonished Kim and Wade.
"…"
"So, whatcha got?" Sheila asked Wade.
"Huh?" Wade.
"Spill Wade." Ron.
"Oh yeah! Uh… well that's what was in the files you discovered… Roxxon found a sunken city…"
"Let me guess… Atlantis." Kim.
"Uh… that's
what they think… They were checking the sea floor looking for oil
deposits
when they discovered a magnetic anomaly… they took some
samples and found some
artifacts in the cores…"
"So they started looking for ancient tech…" Ron.
"And went to the Second Best expert on building probes…" Sheila.
"my uncle slim…" Kim whispered.
"yeah…" Wade.
"So how'd the Shadows get here?" Kim.
"Uh… there's footage… but you don't want to see it…" Wade said as he turned gray, "Trust Me."
"WADE!" Kim growled.
"OK. OK!" Wade said.
Wade ran the lab's video…
Kim, Ron and Sheila saw Slim try to open the block with the plasma torch…
Varnae's head was released… and was vaporized/changed by the energy in the torch…
The magically charged plasma hit Slim…
And the first Shadow was created!
"Turn it off." Ron said as he reached over and squeezed Kim's hand.
"'k." Wade.
"…" Kim wept.
"Uh… I've been analyzing the footage from your first encounter… and…" Wade quietly said.
"AND?" Sheila replied as she squatted next to Kim and hugged her.
"Uh it looks like there are faces inside the Shadows… like they're stuck in a twisted space…" Wade.
"When Slim hit
him with the torch, it must have triggered a magical reaction… and
the
Ancient Ones or Chthon tried to pull Varnae into their Realms…
but it looks like he's
stuck…" Ron mused.
"Can we save them?" Teary Kim.
"I… don't know KP… but I'll do everything I can…" Ron said.
"So if he's stuck, how'd he talk to the Queen of Spiders?" Sheila.
"I'd guess that he's able to solidify… or if someone knows how to use spells from the Ebontome to talk to him directly or through a thrall…"
"So what do we do?" Kim asked.
"I'm gonna meditate on this… see if I can think of something KP… Sheila make sure she gets some rest… Wade let me know if you find anything else." Serious Face Ron said as he rose from the table.
"Ok Ron." Wade replied.
"'K Hon." Sheila.
"Ron?" Kim.
Ron turned and looked her in the eye.
"Yeah KP?"
"Thanks… I KNOW you'll do your best."
"Don't thank me yet KP, 'til we get OUT of this mess." Ron said as he left the kitchen.
---
2 hours later…
Kim rose from her bed and went to Sheila's door…
"KNOCK! KNOCK!"
"Come in." Kim entered Sheila's room.
"Nice place." Kim said as she looked around, "Can we talk?"
"Sure. What's up?" Sheila replied.
"What happened… y'know…" Kim hedged.
"Well… when Sis got me drafted into the B.P.R.D. I got to see what the Ancient Ones and their 'children' look like…"
"Yeah?" Kim.
"…" "It's like looking at a… Cancer… of Space… And Time… I had to get therapy afterwards…"
"Gorchy?"
"Yeah."
"…"
"oh."
"So after I
SAW that… I GREW UP, decided to behave, and promised myself
that if I
found a good guy… I'd make sure… And when I REALLY
met Ron… Y'know…" Sheila said
while looking into Kim's
eyes.
"Yeah… I know… he's something else… isn't he?" Kim said.
"Yeah… Kim I
KNOW he's going to KILL me but I HAVE to tell you
what happened the day
it changed…"
End Part VII