Arlit, Niger. 25 years ago The children wailed and fussed all through their first night alive, until they were brought together in the morning. Eight newborn girls, born to eight different mothers, each born at the same moment. They were identical from their pearly toenails to the wispy white hairs on their heads. The mothers were still lying in their beds, none knowing that seven other women had born the same child the night before.
The infants cooed and gurgled when they were laid down together in the crib for observation. They all seemed to know their sisters, reaching toward each other as the medical staff looked on in amazement. At the same moment, eight tiny mouths reached open to yawn, and then they all returned to their happy newborn chatter.
"I've never seen anything like it," the head doctor muttered. He leaned over the side of the crib to try to get a better look. "The mothers can't be strangers. They're lying. They're connected through one man, at least."
"They're married, every one, and the husbands are here," a younger doctor protested. "We've been asking them for hours and none will admit to any wrongdoing. They swear they've been faithful, they say they just want their daughters. This one was conceived on her mother's honeymoon." He tried to point out the baby who belonged to the youngest mother, but the girls were too hard to tell apart. He had to reach down and check the names on their plastic hospital bracelets.
"No matter." The head doctor furrowed his brow. "This has to be explained somehow."
A third doctor crossed his arms over his chest. "They're albino," he said darkly. "What more explanation do you need? This was demons' work." He held back the more vicious thoughts in his head: no African born with such pale skin could grow up to do any good. If the children should die before they had the chance to become the demons he knew they would be, he would have rejoiced.
"We should give them back," the second doctor said, reaching down to pick up one of the girls. "No one has to know. They're healthy, apart from their condition. We can send them home and no one needs to know what's happened."
In his arms, the baby sniffled and started to cry, and her seven sisters joined in as a chorus. It wasn't until they had all been lifted, all sharing the same state of being that they were content again.
"They'll learn to live apart. They have to, no one in their right mind would take in all eight." The young doctor bounced two of the babies on his hips. "They'll learn. And they'll grow as normal girls."
"They'll never be normal," the third doctor shook his head, but did his part to carry the children back to their anxious parents. The secret was kept: eight identical, unrelated newborns, given back to their families to live separated, never to know the others existed and simply to live their lives. That was the hope that the hospital had, no investigations, no undue attention to the miracle. Just simple, normal life for all.
But the gods had other plans.
* * * * *
"Catch me!"
Those were Jonni Thunder's last words before a surge of yellow-orange lightning blasted out from her body. She fell to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut, as the lightning bolt formed its upper self into an electrical image of Jonni's own body. Arcs of electricity cascaded down from its head like hair and dark red eyes narrowed and took in its surroundings. With a roar of thunder and speed of lightning, the figure streaked through the battlefield and blasted the various armed troopers: Nigerien military, SPIDER mercenaries, militant rebels, all were struck full on or blasted from afar by pulses of energy.
In all that time, Jonni Thunder's body lay unmoving on the ground, protectively held by Manitou Dawn as Hawkgirl and Zenobia stood tense and ready for battle, only to watch as the thunderbolt struck down each opponent in less than an eye blink. The thunderbolt hesitated as it began to return to Jonni's still form, and glanced over at the base. Its eyes could see what the others could not and the odd-looking face gave a sour look.
"There's a self-destruct signal going off in the base, and I've got to see if I can stop it!" The thunderbolt pivoted away from her team-mates and headed for the base.
"What was that?" Zenobia asked as she watched Jonni's energy form vanish into the darkness of the base.
"That was our buddy Jonni Thunder," Hawkgirl said with a smug grin. "She can release an electrical form of herself. As you might have noticed."
Zenobia gave Hawkgirl a cool look at the sarcastic answer. She took a step over one unconscious SPIDER trooper closer to Hawkgirl, as the feathered fury refused to back down from the Amazon.
"Let's focus on our next step," Manitou Dawn stated as she knelt next to Jonni's body and held it safe. She stared up at the two warrior women with a frown. "We're far from done, and Jonni's put herself at risk so we can do what needs to be done. There's some poor creature or spirit being bound up in this insane scheme, and we're not letting her down either."
"Dawn's right," Hawkgirl said with a nod of her head. "We should put some distance between us and here anyway, in case Jonni can't stop the place from going up. You said you felt the source of the weapons." She turned to the shaman and stepped up close to her. "Can you lead us there?"
"Yeah, shouldn't be a problem."
"Okay, then Zenobia, you carry Jonni and follow along," Kendra said and wrapped her arms around Dawn, then lifted up into the sky in a rush of wind.
Zenobia reached down for the unconscious detective, and held her surprisingly careful in her grip, then leaped up into the air after Hawkgirl.
How did she get to be in charge? she grumbled as she caught up to the winged wonder.
How did you come to let her lead you? That answers your question. The thought wasn't wholly hers, and it rattled her as too calm and too wise for her own good.
Athena, what have you done to me?* * * * *
Arlit, Niger. 17 years ago.The young girl's thin white hair blew around her face, escaping from the scarf tied around her head. She reached up to tug it back into place against the warm wind, knowing she needed to keep her head out of the bright summer sun. She wandered through the streets of the city, taking more time than she really had and shuffling her small feet. Arlit buzzed around her: people buying and people selling and people begging, and her ears filled with the sounds of cars and shouts, and her own shoes slapping the hot pavement. It was so much more excitement than the girl ever found in her small hometown, close to the city. Today was more exciting than any other visit: today, she had been sent to find her own way to her destination.
She gripped the letter in her hand, crumpling the paper and smoothing it out, over and over again each time she needed to look at the address. Her parents had been so proud when the letter had arrived, proclaiming that she had been chosen for a special opportunity, a summer school that promised to build every skill that she could ever need. The girl still shuffled her feet even when she found the building, an old, small structure nestled in the shade. It might be special, but it was still school.
Still, she eventually took the thick brass knocker in her small white hand and let it fall back on the door. Within a few minutes, a smiling old man answered. "Ah, very good, you're the last one. Come in, come in and we can get started." He took the girl's hand, and as soon as their fingers touched, she trusted him. He wasn't very tall, or very short; he wasn't the darkest man she'd ever seen but far from the lightest; he wasn't thin, but he wasn't wide. His head was bald, and his fingers hairy, and when he smiled at her his teeth glittered as brightly as his small black eyes. In the back of the girl's little mind, she thought she had seen that smile before.
"Have I met you already?" She asked him, content to rest her small hand in his and follow him inside.
"A long while ago," the old man answered. "Now come, Abeke, the others are waiting."
"How did you know-"
"Your name? You aren't the only one." The old man smiled his twinkling smile again, and little Abeke followed him, her shuffled steps picking up their pace as they approached the main room.
She gasped when she saw the others. Abeke was the last to arrive, and seven other faces turned toward her when the door opened. They wore different clothes, but all had chosen a shade of deep green for their special day. The eight small heads were covered in the same thin white hair, every pair of eyes looking into an identical one. With all of the girls in the same room together, it was as if a funhouse mirror had gone haywire. Abeke stepped inside as the old man closed the door behind them. "You look just like me!"
"Nuh-uh, stupid!" One of the other girls marched up to Abeke, and stuck out her tongue. "I don't look like any of you,
you all look like
me."
"Adanya, be nice," the old man chuckled, and took a seat in the corner of the room. All eight girls flocked to him, anxious for the answers that floated invisible around him in an aura. "You all look like each other, and there's a very good reason for it. I've brought you all here today to tell you that reason. Leave your things here, and we'll take a nice walk, yes?" When he stood, the girls all rose with him, eight marionettes on one string.
Abeke was the quiet one, she realized by the time they reached their destination. Though the girls were so similar in body, their minds had all expanded in different ways with their different upbringings, and by the age of eight they were separate personalities. Adanya - at least, the first Adanya she had heard - was bossy and kept at the front of the line, while Abeke hung back and shuffled her feet as she always did. It was getting hard to keep track, she thought, her small brow furrowed in a frown. Aside from her, there were two other Abekes in their little group, and three Adanyas, and two Adannas. By the time they reached the mine and the old man gathered them together again, Abeke had decided simply to tell the others apart by their clothing.
"Now gather round, girls, have a seat. I've got a story to tell you, and I do love stories," the man smiled, and the girls obeyed. He gestured toward the mine behind them, a vast pit full of uranium, a place that would have been dangerous to other little girls, but not to them. He began to speak, and the girls listened raptly.
"A little more than eight years ago, I had a brilliant idea. At that time, you all were connected even more strongly than you are now...before you were even born, you were one spirit, one soul. But you had a special mission, and I knew that one of you wouldn't be enough to complete it. And when I saw the mine here in the city of your birth, well, I couldn't resist. You probably don't know what 'fission' is, but you've split things apart before, haven't you? Torn paper, broken sticks? That's what goes on every day here in the minerals...and that's what happened to you. One little girl, split into eight," he reached out to each of them in turn, tapping his finger on their noses. "A magical event...and one that no one knows about, but you, and me. And now that you've come together again at last, you'll learn with each other, learn how to fill that wonderful destiny of yours."
"Why eight?" One of the little Adannas piped up.
The old man smiled again, and reached his hand down to the ground. When he brought it back up in front of them, it held a small spider. "You know how many legs he has, don't you?" They all nodded. "And look how well they work together." He turned his hand upside down, and the girls all watched in awe as the spider scurried to the top again. "That's what you will be. Eight legs of the same body, eight bodies for the same soul. You'll be unstoppable."
He kept speaking for a while, and soon had the eight girls working together, teaching them all sorts of things as the day went on, and promising more throughout the summer. When the sun dipped down over the horizon, the man rounded them up and marched them back to the building in the city to go home. Abeke was the last to leave, as she had been the last to arrive, and when she was alone with the man, she turned to him with a question in her shy voice. "Sir...you didn't tell us who you are."
The twinkle in his eye and the sly grin on his face brought his name to mind without any more prompting. "I'm a Spider myself, Abeke...now run along. I'll see you again so soon."
He stood at the doorway and watched after Abeke as she left down the street, the last of the small white heads disappearing into the city. Anansi sighed. They were truly lovely children, and bright. They may even grow up to be beautiful. It was a shame.
* * * * *
The consciousness of Jonni Thunder raced through the wiring of the SPIDER base, desperately attempting to adjust to an entirely new world of sensory input at the same time as trying to figure out how to shut down an unknown computer code. She hated it when her body was left somewhere out of her awareness, out of her control, even if she did trust Dawn and Kendra; she didn't like the feeling in her electrical form, as each second of activity saw another erg of energy burn away and make her that little bit weaker; the feeling of running out on borrowed time.
Still, there was a sensation beyond these pragmatic concerns and worries that Jonni felt this time out. She could feel the electric world she flowed through, heard in some strange way without ears the digital flow of information whirl past her, and it was intoxicating; so different and made her feel alive in a completely different way. She honed these new senses and sensations to her task however and found herself in the mainframes that ran the base's operations. Uppermost in her mind as she first leaped into action was losing track of time; disassociated from the physical world, she'd been unsure if she'd be able to keep track of the countdown, but the passing of each second was like a rumble in her body that kept her alert to the dwindling time she had left. Though with the speeds she thought and moved at, each second seemed to offer hours of opportunity.
Can't be this easy can it? She was in awe as she reached out with her thoughts, bound up with her electrical form, and contacted the flow of current and convinced it through mental effort and physical will to cease.
Just talk to it? Seems almost like cheating. As she continued to experiment with her powers and melt apart the leads to the detonation sequence and end the threat for good, she felt as if she bumped against something solid.
She turned her attention to it, and found some form of wall that kept apart some vital part of the mainframe storage. With the imminent threat of destruction removed, Jonni could focus her attention on the new obstacle, her more pragmatic thoughts of dwindling energy and increasing distance back to her body pushed to the back of her mind. There was a mystery here.
Someone doesn't want me to see something, and damned if that just doesn't make me need to know it, she mused and stared acutely at the point of resistance. She began a methodical assault on this defiance, seeking out each and every possible entrance, bypass or weakness; each attempt accompanied by increased confidence in her own prowess.
I'm going about this all wrong, aren't I? I'm trying to get in, but what if I try to get it to come out? She raced through the areas of the computer that controlled passwords and monitors and in only a few more moments, she could see the files scrolling up past her onto the window that faced the 'real world', technicians and data clerks and maintenance people still attempting to escape the sealed control room. Her excitement at succeeding in unlocking access to these secure files were erased as she read what she could understand of them. Instead, she felt something that in her actual body would feel like nausea.
Blueprints for the device that makes those weapons...it...oh God, some poor creature is being broken up to make these guns? An energy creature, being diced up to make a better laser gun? It took her another second to feel kinship with this poor victim SPIDER, and in particular, its leader Mortalla she now read as she scanned other files on the organization's creation, tortured and vivisected for its uses. The being of pure energy, not unlike Jonni herself at the moment. She screamed silently as she bolted from the mainframe, out into the base's wiring, and tore through the concrete roof into the air. Her scream now mixed with the roar of her passage as she tore after her companions, feeling the same rage as Dawn had come to feel earlier.
* * * * *
When she received the call from her sister, Mortalla expected something routine, mundane, even recreational. She waited in their private chamber, far away from the prying eyes of those who thought themselves to be important agents of SPIDER. Her jacket was comfortably unbuttoned and her hair set loose, and when her double rushed into the room, Mortalla greeted her with a tight embrace and a murmuring kiss on the lips. "Well, well, sister dear, your call was so urgent. Have you missed me so much since last night?"
The second Mortalla batted the other's hand away and pulled herself out of the hug. "Now is not the time. Are you paying any attention at all?!"
"What? What is it, something's happened?"
"Something's happened," the second woman scoffed and threw up her hands, crossing the room to the computer terminal and pulling up the chaos. "We've been infiltrated! Cast-offs of the Justice League and some American whore called Thunder who's just destroyed our plans. She turned off my self-destruct, we're losing control!"
"Calm down, sweet sister, please," Mortalla stood and stepped to the screen, watching the panic in the room where Jonni Thunder's energy form had made the machines sputter and spark. "We've faced worse, we shall recover."
Her sister whirled around, long pale hair smacking the first woman's cheek. "What if they've found the alien? We're about to be ruined, how can I be calm?"
"We will not be ruined." Mortalla grabbed her sister's wrists, pulling them together. "SPIDER will not be ruined. We still have hope, haven't you called her yet?"
"Would
you want to be the one to tell her the mission is in danger?" Mortalla snapped back. "No, I haven't called her yet. Dammit, we have to do something!"
The first woman gathered her hair up in her hands and bound it tightly behind her head, ready again for business. "We have no choice, we only know little. She would know more, she will know what we must do. I'll tell her, dear, now calm yourself. We did not become who we are by panicking." She tapped her fingers on the keyboard and erased the scene of chaos from the computer screen without another thought.
Within moments, the image of a third albino woman materialized. "What in hell is going on down there?"
"Our party's been crashed, it appears," said the first. "A team of superheroes. They've made their way inside and prevented the destruction of our facility. We fear that they've found the designs for our weapons by now."
"And the creature," the second added, a snap in her voice. "I don't put it past them to identify it as alien. We're going to be overrun with investigation unless we do something now."
The woman on the screen put a finger to her lips, and then nodded. "Very well. I'll take care of it." She moved her hand to shut the camera, but was stopped by her sister's shout.
"Wait, what are you going to do? What do you need us to do?"
"Nothing, girls, nothing," the third smiled. "I'll simply take out the ship."
"Take...?"
"Oh yes, the engines are already so weak," she explained calmly. "With all that anti-matter, it won't be any trouble to get rid of the evidence. No one will ever lay a hand on the ship, no one will know how the guns were made, it's perfect."
"Perfect!" The second protested. "You'll destroy everything! The factory, the base, the soldiers,
us! The whole country would go up with an explosion that big!"
"Father would be so proud," the third grinned, a manic gleam in her eye. "What were we put here to do but cause chaos? I can't imagine any sweeter." With that she moved her hand off-screen and flicked off the camera, turning the computer blank.
The remaining two Mortallas stared at each other, and quickly ran out of the room and down the hall.
"I told you not to call her!" the second spat out furiously as they ran. "She's even madder than the rest of us. Now look what's happening!"
"It's her fault, not mine," The first glared back, breathing hard. "But I never imagined she'd get this bad....when did this happen, when did she go so wrong?"
The second looked back at her sister gravely. "She's always been the bad egg, as long as we've known each other. Maybe you just never noticed."
* * * * *
Just outside of Arlit, Niger. Five years ago."Are you ready?"
"As much as you are."
The sisterly joke made all three smile. Anansi had guessed right-- the girls had grown up beautiful. At twenty years, they were in the peak of their prime. All eight had grown their silver hair out long, their bodies lush and full. After their long years of training and practice, they had finally been deemed ready to begin their plan.
Three of them were in place together outside the compound. The other five were settled inside the main building that loomed over the uranium mine, ready to help nudge the chaos along. They had all dressed in the costume of their own design, the sleek green jumpsuit that suited their pale skin so well. They had chosen their new name together. At long last, they were one again.
With Anansi's training, they knew how to move as one. The uranium mine compound was a few hundred yards across, but the company headquarters and the base of their hired militia only covered a small portion. This close together, the eight bodies surged with energy and power. The three who stood next to each other could feel the others' presence, as well as the distant beacon of power from their sisters in the building. All they had to do was cause confusion, and trust in each other. They had already all but won.
They burst through the gate in one swift movement, drawing on each other's power to shoot up from the ground like they would from a cannon. The speed and power of their assault tore through the thick barbed fence without even scratching their pale skin. A klaxon started to blare as the gate fell - the signal to those inside.
In the building, five women glanced out the window to see their sisters tearing through the militia base. They stormed past the lines of ordinary soldiers and crashed into the small building where the general worked. Five sly smiles spread across slim lips, and those inside set to work.
They had placed themselves each on a different floor, and now they let themselves be seen. Within moments, on every level, there was chaos. No man in the building could keep track of their moments - none knew they were seeing more than one woman. To the eyes of cameras and soldiers and executives, she was everywhere at once, bounding at lightning speed across impossible distances. Outside there was the same confusion from the three, the highly-trained private soldiers stirred into a whirling panic when they realized what they were dealing with. Two sisters ran circles all around the camp, like wolves around a pack of sheep, keeping them trapped. The final one was already inside the base commander's office. The soldiers didn't need to hear his final scream to know that they had a new leader.
The executives of the mine did not prove much more of a challenge. They had prepared to defend their mine against thieves, those who would come by night and steal the rare mineral out of the earth. They were not ready for a full takeover, much less by this sort of superhuman force. The women tore their way through the offices, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. when they reached the elegant, rich office of the CEO, all five smiled at each other, and chose to show off their real power. Five legs kicked down the door, and five bodies surrounded the cowering man.
"Who are you...what do you want?" The executive was on his knees already, his bald black head shining with fearful sweat.
"I am Mortalla," all five answered. They fanned out around him, standing strong and leaving him no escape. "I need what you have."
The man jabbed his finger on the panic button under his desk, over and over again. "Leave, or, or you'll have to face the best private army in all of Niger!"
Mortalla laughed. "My sisters have already dispatched your army. Although we appreciate your gift," she added, every one of her grinning. "We needed an army."
The man's dark face blanched. "Alright, it's yours, alright, whatever you want it's yours just please leave me alone!"
Mortalla's five right hands all struck out for the man's neck. She spoke in stereo. "It won't be enough to have your permission. Authority comes from conquest, I'm afraid. And you are in my way."
Her hands closed, and the old boss kicked and struggled but couldn't escape. When he went still she tossed his swollen body aside, the bones in his neck crushed almost to powder. Mortalla's bodies grinned at each other. All it would take now was an explanation to their new employees that power had changed hands. No one would be fool enough to call in any other authorities - all knew it was no use. Might made right in Niger, and Mortalla had come into her strength at last.
They had all they needed now. Their new organization built up quickly, with the money from the mine and the power of their military strength. Mortalla drew on their teachings, the things they had been learning since the tender age of eight.
They named their group SPIDER, after their father.
* * * * *
“Sister, stop!”
The sun beat down on the desert over the crashed alien ship, and crisped the skin under Mortalla’s white hair. The one of her who whirled around at the shout had always been in charge. She was the one who monitored her seven sisters, she was the one who organized their plans. She was the one who the other two had called to alert to the disaster, and she was the one who knew how to end it satisfactorily.
Now she stood facing those two, as they raced to follow her toward the ship. They drove their car up beside her as she walked, only getting out of the vehicle when they thought they were close enough.
“Sweet, stubborn one, listen to us,” One of the others purred, stepping up and stroking her cheek. “We were rash to call on you, when our victory is so close at hand, we know that now. All of us, don’t we?”
The third woman nodded, her face set more sternly. “The heroes, I think they’re on their way, right here. We can simply take them down, there’s no need to blow anything up.”
“Now, now.” The one in charge grinned again, her white hair fanning out behind her in the desert breeze. “I’ve made my decision, girls. Don’t overstep yourselves, just let me handle it. Go back to your little crafts, we’ll need more of those guns.”
“We won’t need any if you destroy them all!” The third nearly lunged forward, but for the soft hand that lay on her arm.
“Please, listen to yourself. Have you forgotten what Father told us?” The second stepped forward now, closing the distance and taking the hand of the most explosive of her sisters. “We are one soul in separate bodies. This fight belongs to us all, and the decision too.”
The first wrenched her arm around, freeing herself of her sister’s grip and clutching the woman’s wrist in her own. When she pushed downward, the gentler one let out a soft cry and her knees buckled. “And have you forgotten what I told you? I made my decision!”
“You don’t control us,” the second ran forward now, her speed triple that of any normal woman. She grabbed the long loose hair that flowed off of the first’s head and pulled back on it hard.
“Bitch! Let go of me!” She let go of the second sister’s arm without realizing it, and was rewarded with a smack to the face.
The second scrambled back to her feet, her beautiful face dark with anger. “This project belongs to us all, and we are not going to let you ruin it.”
The roar that came out of the woman’s mouth chilled the other two, despite the burning heat. She kicked and struggled, finally throwing her head back to dislodge the third sister from her back, and between the three of them the fight was on.
Their struggle kept the three women from noticing the arrival from above of Hawkgirl and her companions. They swooped about the crash sight in a wide arc and saw one of the three green-clad albinos slap another one hard across the face while a third tried to scratch at the slapped woman.
"Okay, that's not the sort of thing one expects to see," Kendra Saunders said as she hovered, Dawn held securely in her arms. "Especially not from someone running a secret organization dedicated to evil."
"Triplets?" Zenobia asked as she zipped around Kendra and also looked over the scene. "There are triplets running this SPIDER?"
"All I know for sure is that starship has the poor creature being divvied up to make their disgusting weapons," Dawn said with a snarl and gripped her tomahawk until her knuckles turned white. "I don't know how they are, but it's trapped in that ship and being made to suffer. I want to give some suffering back."
"Well, it shouldn't be too hard putting down the Three Stooge-ettes, so let's get to it, and see what we can do about this thing Dawn's sensed," Kendra said as she swooped down to the ground. "Get ready, Dawn."
"Lock and load, Hawk," Dawn said with an eager, mean grin on her face and suddenly felt the strong arms release her as she soared on her own toward one of the three albino women.
Zenobia dropped down to the ground and very gently laid Jonni's physical body on the desert ground behind a larger boulder. "Stay out of trouble," she grumbled to the unconscious detective and leaped out toward the three women called Mortalla, as Hawkgirl twisted around after she pitched Dawn into the fight. She then plunged toward the third fighting Mortalla with a rush of excitement.
The first of the three women felt the blow from Dawn and staggered a bit before pivoting to face her. All three Mortallas drew up to their full height, a scorching look in their eyes. <"How dare you?"> snarled the Mortalla that had been the target of her sisters. <"I want to feel their blood on my skin!">
As Zenobia and Hawkgirl closed in from two sides, the vicious Mortalla hurled herself at the Amazon as the more pragmatic of the three grabbed up a couple of rocks, and threw them with all her considerable strength. While Zenobia easily blocked the projectiles with her bracers, it was timed too close to the closing woman in green, who collided with Zenobia and brought her hard to the ground. Mortalla's knee drove into the Amazon's sternum and air rushed from her mouth as a result, now momentarily breathless and vulnerable.
The third Mortalla licked her lips with excitement and hooked her arms around Dawn's. <"Your skin feels so nice, it's a shame we can't be closer,"> she said to the Amerindian, as she used her power to throw Dawn over her hips and up into the diving Hawkgirl. Forced to catch her team-mate, Kendra was thrown off-balance as the second Mortalla dashed at her sister, and leaped off her cupped hands, propelled with tremendous speed and accuracy into the two former Justice Leaguers. Her fists crashed into Dawn's lower back and Kendra's short-ribs with vicious force and the three women crashed into the ground now, Mortalla on top as she bounced away in a hand-spring and left the two heroines vulnerable to the third Mortalla's follow up strike, a cartwheeling kick to Hawkgirl's head. Though her feathered helmet absorbed the worst of the blow, it still left Kendra's head ringing.
<"Oooh, what's this over here?"> asked the Mortalla that pulled herself up from Zenobia. She turned toward Jonni, and gave Zenobia a spiteful kick to the head as she stepped away from her downed foe to investigate. <"Someone else to play with? The source of my sisters' current panic, perhaps?">
"I don't know what you're saying," Zenobia replied as she pulled herself back up to her feet and charged at her enemy, and sent them each crashing into the hard rocky terrain beyond Jonni's body. "But I know I don't like how it sounds, so let's just put you down fast!" She pulled her spear up high and prepared to thrust it into Mortalla, now flat on her back under the wonder woman. Mortalla clamped her hands over the end near her and resisted with all her might. As the spear shook between the two warriors, Zenobia noticed another of the sisters racing to intercede. "It's like fighting a horde of ants," she grumbled as the arriving Mortalla leaped over Zenobia, and gripped the uppermost part of the spear.
With a twist of her arms beneath the Amazon, the vicious Mortalla used her sister's aid to pivot the spear and use the momentum to throw Zenobia off and onto her back, though she bounced back up too quick for the sisters to take full advantage. Now though, they held the spear between them.
Hawkgirl took to the air to avoid the heavy blows from the third Mortalla and clear her head, as Dawn rolled to the other side. The more cautious and prepared of the three sisters, this Mortalla drew out a wickedly curved dagger and approached the shaman. She slashed at her, Dawn barely able to block with her own weapon as she backpedaled. Dawn faced a whirlwind of graceful slicing and carving that she could barely follow.
"I'm not out of the game yet, girl," Kendra snarled as she suddenly dropped down behind Mortalla and swung her own mace for the small of the villain's back.
Mortalla spun too fast, superhumanly fast and managed to avoid the blow, and thrust her own weapon back at Hawkgirl, and the duel was on in earnest. Dawn took a moment to catch her breath and saw how Zenobia struggled against the too-well-coordinated prowess of the other Mortallas. Her dark eyes traced a line back to the Mortalla that battled Hawkgirl, and witnessed the precision in the strikes and blocks; the choreography of the three women. With a moment to herself, she took a deep breath, held it and then slowly exhaled, expanding her awareness as she did, sweeping the field of battle and sensing it. Many women as one, power compiling as the one woman in eight, yes she could sense the eight strands of what might be spiritual webbing, the one woman in eight growing more powerful as they draw nearer. These three so strong and coordinated by these ethereal bonds.
Then Dawn began to grin and spun her tomahawk in her hand, worked it to a certain speed. Her awareness was too focused on another level of the world to notice the new figure that approached the battlefield.
Over the heads of the combatants, almost too fast to be seen, Jonni Thunder flew. She passed over her own head, her body still safely stashed behind its boulder, but she knew it would slow her down too much to return to it, despite the magnetic pull it held for her electric form.
Can’t stop yet…not before I help…not before we get whatever that poor creature is out of there. The thought stuck in the front of her mind, her emotions whirling. It was easier to let them guide her, in this form, without her physical body getting in the way.
She swooped into the alien ship, past the thick metal walls and into the strange, unfamiliar collection of technology.
“Great. Where is it…what do I do…”“H-hello?” called a weak voice from farther into the ship. “Who’s there…”
Jonni flew faster, and came across the body of a small girl in SPIDER’s uniform. She stood unsteadily, her hand clutching a handle on the wall so hard that it made her dark hand pale.
“What are you doing here?”“Doesn’t—“ the girl stopped to take a rattling, labored breath. “Doesn’t matter now, you have to help…”
The machine roared around the both of them, the logo of the terrorists proudly blazing on its casing. When the woman turned toward it, Jonni knew it was what she was looking for.
“What does it do? How do I stop it?”The girl swallowed hard again, unable to hide her pain. It hurt to move her arms and type on the keypad, it hurt to take enough of a breath to speak. “It’s…there’s a thing, a creature, an angel, something…the machine, it’s breaking her up…it’ll kill her. I think, I think I almost figured it out, there’s just…one thing…”
”Tell me what to do.” Her strong, steady voice hung in the air long after Jonni’s form raced into the machine.
Gabrielle was too worn down to even wonder too much at the spectacle. She simply knew that Jonni was there to help her. There was that whisper in her ear again, a thankful reassurance from the entity that swirled in the stale air. By the time she looked back at the computer screen, Jonni’s words were scrawled in gold font, waiting for their answer.
“I just can’t get in…the security clearance, I need Mortalla’s security clearance to get in and shut it down,” Gabrielle muttered, and typed.
The gold letters showed themselves again from inside.
“This one?” Jonni asked. Something clicked in the computer, and suddenly Gabrielle’s frantic search paid off.
“That’s it…” Gabrielle whispered, just before her throat gave out. Her hands were shaking, but she controlled them with all of her strength, just long enough to finish typing her commands into the system. It took even more effort to keep her eyes focused, and more still to face what she was about to do.
When Gabrielle shut down the machine and rescued the strange entity, there would be an enormous burst of energy. All of the fragments of the creature’s spirit would race out of the diamonds, and back into the ship. And Gabrielle was in the way. Her body had been battered by the radiation inside the ship for far too long, but if she turned back now, if she begged the newcomer’s help to get her outside, she might still live. If she stayed in the way of the explosion, she wouldn’t. She knew this as surely as she had known that she needed to come to the ship in the first place. As surely as she knew that the creature was suffering torture at Mortalla’s hands.
Gabrielle took a last, long breath, and hit the switch.
The pressure of the blast forced Jonni out of the machine, and her time was up. Her electric form soared through the air and back out into the desert, and Jonni could only get a frenzied glimpse of Gabrielle’s body falling limp. The pull of her own body was too strong now, too hard to resist, and Jonni had to leave the scene. When she woke again it was on the sand, and feeling her exhaustion.
Still inside, Gabrielle felt nothing but the soothing presence that had met her in the ship. Her breath left her lungs as the machine stopped rattling, and one by one the fragments of spirit soared joyfully back together. Each one rammed into her body, the first few passing through her, and their gentle hands guided her spirit out into the air. She fell to the ground when her soul passed away, but the fragments were still coming. They swirled around her body, drawn toward the empty space inside. The girl’s skin glowed and began to smooth over, erasing her blemishes and dry patches. Her hair grew out, still coarse and curled but shinier, healthier. Soon she picked her head back up, and drew another breath, her eyes snapping open. Where they had once been simple brown, her eyes swirled now, a rainbow dancing in them, blue and red and green and gold around and around.
She stood up slowly, turning her hands over in front of her face, and adjusting to her senses. She stepped toward the machines, looking around as if trying to take everything in at once.
She knew what to do. Just not why to do it.
The engines are broken, she knew.
They’re dangerous this way. If the antimatter inside were to get loose, no one would be safe for miles.The woman walked faster now, deeper into the machinery in the ship until she found the right place. There were two sets of thoughts vying for control in her head, still not fully melded into one. The part of her that had been Gabrielle still had the technical know-how to manipulate the engines. The part that had been the entity knew the machines inside and out, though not how they worked. Neither part had any memory of the people they used to be. They just knew what had to be done.
She crawled under the engines and set to work, amazed that she wasn’t feeling any ill effects from the radiation. There wasn’t a leak in the engines as of yet, but the damage was considerable. It took time, and it took patience, but she didn’t have to fix the machines and make the ship fly. She only had to de-activate them, so they couldn’t cause any further damage. It was only when the job was done and she sat in the silence that the woman started to wonder.
What happened…who am I?* * * * *
Back outside......Jonni's eyes fluttered open and she let out a soft groan. Her hand rested on her forehead, and she felt her body tremble as she recovered from the separation. Her head was heavy, and her stomach flummoxed; she was struck with a full reminder of what she hated most about her power: this moment of painful hangover. She pulled herself up to her knees, hands grasped on the boulder for help, and looked over the fight that engaged her team-mates.
Zenobia dueled with two of the Mortallas, holding her own but unable to land a telling blow against either of them. Instead, one of the Amazon's cheeks was bruised, and the spear had managed to cut open the palm of one hand as the powerful woman had grabbed it when thrust to her and pulled it from the sisters. Hawkgirl and the third Mortalla circled each other, neither able to truly hit the other, their speed and skill negating any momentary edges either combatant might hold. Jonni steadied herself on her feet and fought through the pounding headache and cold sweats at the nape of her neck to focus and choose someone to help.
Manitou Dawn, on the other hand, stood between the two battles, tomahawk in both hands, now held high above her head. Her eyes were closed, and she chanted something in a low voice, husky with a timbre that started to make the air shimmer. As it did, Jonni saw what look like a silvery strand stretched between the three sisters, and before she could blink, Dawn had brought her weapon low and severed it.
"Ahh!" All three of the villains cried out in shock, sudden loss rocking their very hearts. Hawkgirl's opponent staggered back and dropped to a knee, and that was followed by a kick from Kendra that sent the woman unconscious to the ground.
<"What? What's happened? Sisters, where are you?"> called out the Mortalla who enjoyed the contact with her sisters the most, the one that reveled in a bond no other could feel. She pivoted on her heels, and tried to understand what happened; she turned into Dawn's spinning tomahawk as it crashed directly into her nose.
<"You wretched, miserable, horrible bitch!"> the third, the meanest of the sisters, declared as she started to march toward Dawn. <"No one comes between me and my sisters! I will kill you in the most painful way you could imagine!">
"Did you forget about me?" Zenobia asked as her strong hand gripped the last Mortalla's shoulder too hard, and spun her around. "I don't know what you are saying, but know this: your madness ends here!" Then the last of the sisters flew back through the air a dozen feet and crashed against the boulder near Jonni.
"Is that it? Did we win?" Kendra flew over to Jonni and helped to support the detective as Zenobia collected the three criminals, and Dawn made her way carefully to the crashed ship. "Jonni? You okay?"
"The worst part about my powers. All the after-effects of a great night of binge drinking...none of the delicious drinks or colorful umbrellas," Jonni answered with a weak grin. "They can't make their weapons anymore. The ones that did exist, should be inactive now. Thanks to...whoever she is." Jonni glanced over at the hole in the hull, Zenobia and Hawkgirl following her gaze, and watched as Dawn helped the woman who was Gabrielle stagger from the ship.
"The spirit is whole," Dawn said as she helped the woman over to the rest of the group. "But I'm not sure what's happened. She's not in the ship. She...I think she might be in the young lady here."
<"Who are you?"> Jonni asked in French as they looked at the confused woman of two minds.
"Don't...know..." she muttered in broken English. "Can't...I can't remember...I...was I one of her...followers?" She saw the uniform of SPIDER that she wore and looked over at the bound villains, then to the heroines. "I...I'm pretty sure I don't want to be..."
"She helped me reverse the machine," Jonni told the others as she pulled herself off of Kendra's arm and stood on her own. "It looked to me just before I had to get back to my body like she killed herself to do the job. Help the alien, the spirit, the...whatever, and deprive SPIDER of the weapons. At the least, she risked her life to do it."
"Sounds to me like we should help her recover then," Dawn said as she stood near the former Gabrielle. Kendra was about to speak and Dawn cut her off. "I'm a healer. It's what I do. And I say, she needs healing. She can help me find the spirit, and make sure it survived, that it's okay."
"We'll accomplish little more standing here arguing over strange appearances under a hot desert sun," Zenobia stated. "We'll return to my home, and we can talk there. And I can help your friend here," she tilted her head toward Jonni, "with her lack of alcohol. Though I have no umbrellas for you."
"I'll rough it, thanks," Jonni answered as Zenobia picked her up and Hawkgirl went to pick up Dawn.
"I can't carry two, not easily," Kendra stated.
"I...think...I think it's not necessary," the woman said as she began to glitter softly, shimmering around her entire body and she weightlessly lifted from the ground. "I can fly."
"Convenient," Zenobia grunted.
"And pretty. Like a rainbow halo," Dawn said with a friendly smile.
"Halo. I like that," the woman said as she shot up into the air. "Can you call me that for now? Halo?"
"Sure, Halo it is," Hawkgirl said as the group headed off to the horizon. Jonni held onto Zenobia's back as the Amazon carried the bundle of cable that contained their enemies.
* * * * *
It was a pleasant enough house, simple white clapboard with several comfortable rooms, surrounded by a simple wooden fence ten feet high. A compound fit enough for an Amazon recluse who wanted a place to contemplate her place in life. Zenobia found it odd that she felt something akin to nervousness as the group had approached; these were her first guests. After dropping off the Mortallas, and alerting regional authorities to the weapons manufacturing facility for the rest of the SPIDER troops in the area, the five women headed out to Zenobia's home for rest and shortly after arrival, made contact with Wonder Woman, so that she could have the League come and retrieve the starship. There was no one else any of them trusted to secure it away from dangerous minds and eager hands.
Now they rested, and they drank, and Zenobia played hostess, and it felt so strange to her. Hawkgirl rubbed her the wrong way at every word the feathered fury spoke; the shaman was much too serene, a scholar and mystic, and the warrior had no common ground with her; and the detective, Jonni Thunder, housed some strange electrical creature, and besides that, was so very pampered, clearly. And Halo...none of them knew about her, or her powers, or the source of them, just that she had been in a SPIDER uniform before they arrived here at Zenobia's sanctuary, and she'd found her a tunic to don instead. Four women that were as far from her as possible, now intruding on her sanctuary; and yet, Zenobia had no choice but to accept the fact that somehow she...wasn't opposed to it, either.
"According to Queen Diana, the SPIDER operations around Lake Chad are being dismantled now that we have the three women in custody and opened up access to their local mainframes," Kendra explained as she stepped back into the parlor from the latest communication. "They're still out there, but they took a major hit over this. And the ship is safely tucked away off-planet. Katar helped see to that," she added at the last moment with a slight smile that made Dawn chuckle.
"I'm sure exposing Mortalla as more than one woman will put a crimp into their command structure as well," Zenobia said as she placed a pitcher of water and a pitcher of mead on the table between the ladies, then sat down. "We have done well today, and we should be proud." She coughed slightly and stood tall and strong before adding, "Thank you, for your help, and for allowing me to aid you."
"Thanks to you, Zenobia," Jonni said quickly. "You made things a lot easier, that's for sure. Right, girls?"
Hawkgirl shrugged and made a small nod in concession, as Dawn brightened up. "Yeah, very true. Thanks. And thanks for letting us catch our breaths here. Nice place you have."
"Yeah, nice place, good wine, nice apples," Kendra muttered quickly. She rubbed the back of her neck and sighed, a glance over to the corner of the room where her helmet and harness lay.
"I've been given the resources to put together a team, and do some real good for the world," Jonni said to Zenobia. "Birds of Prey. The three of us, with a source of information on the big bads out there like SPIDER, before they get out of hand. You're welcome to join. We'd love to have you." She looked over at Halo and added, "And you, Halo. We'd like you to come back with us. We'll make some arrangements, put you up with us, and see if we can't figure out what you've lost, what you've gained, and take care of you while you get back on your feet. And you can put those powers of yours you're figuring out to good use."
"I'd love to," Halo said softly, and sipped at the water in her cup. "I...that feels good. I like that. Please."
"I'll be around," Zenobia said. "I don't join things. It's not my style. And there are things that I would see accomplished that I suspect aren't on your agenda. But if you need some extra muscle, I'll pitch in. But that's all. Understood?"
"Works fine by me," Hawkgirl said quickly. Too quickly, she turned her head away and bit her tongue. "No, I mean that. That's...that'd be good. It'll be good having a...Wonder Woman in reserve."
Zenobia looked at Hawkgirl with an arched brow, shocked at the admission, and raised her cup. "To a successful battle today. And to your Birds of Prey, many more to come."
The five cups clacked off each other as the five women gazed nervously at each other, and at the words spoken, and wondered at the consequences of what they had just begun.
