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While searching for their source, Nightmunk travels to the Moon, then to the Qliphoth--an ancient dimension of evil and chaos--to prevent the unmaking of reality itself!", "description_bbcode_parsed": "Powerful magical artifacts are turning up in the hands of the Cobra Lords, a Millennium City biker gang. While searching for their source, Nightmunk travels to the Moon, then to the Qliphoth--an ancient dimension of evil and chaos--to prevent the unmaking of reality itself!", "writing": "[center]The Exile[/center]\n\n[center]a story set in the universe of Champions Online[/center]\n\n\tCarl's Gym is located in the Westside neighborhood of Millennium City, and like everything else in that area, it's rather run down. It's also frequented by some of the more unsavory elements that infest that area. But I prefer it to the more upscale gyms in other parts of the city, which were all built after the Battle of Detroit flattened everything. It feels more like a real gym to me, with its creaky wooden floors and signed pictures of guys with broken noses hanging on its rough brick walls. So I go there twice a week to work out.\n\tI was in my usual corner, stripped to the waist, my hands wrapped in tape, slugging the hell out of a punching bag, when a bunch of Cobra Lords walked in. They're one of those unsavory elements I mentioned, a gang of bikers who think they're a lot more dangerous than they really are. Their main pastimes are dealing drugs, extorting protection money from local businesses, and rumbling with other gangs. These Cobras weren't breaking any laws at the moment, however, just strutting around in their leather chaps and vests, acting tough. Even so, I kept an eye on them as I continued my workout.\n\t\"Hey, look, it's one of those manimal freaks!\" one of them said, pointing at me.\n\t\"Shut up, Gus!\" said another. \"That's Nightmunk! You know how many Cobras he's sent to the slammer?\"\n\tGus laughed. \"What, that little runt? Gimme a break!\" And he started walking toward me.\n\tI sighed. I knew where this was going. As he drew near, I turned around to face him. He was twice my height, a big brawny bear of a man, his hairy chest and muscle gut exposed beneath his leather vest. He leered down at me unpleasantly. \"What are you doing on Cobra Lord turf, furball?\" he asked.\n\t\"You're obviously new here,\" I said, \"so I'm going to give you one chance to back off and go rejoin your buddies. After that, whatever happens is on you.\"\n\tGus stared at me in consternation, pursing his fat lips. He clearly wasn't used to people not being afraid of him, especially people as small as me. Or maybe he was having second thoughts now that he was close up and had gotten a good look at me. Despite my size and being a chipmunk, I'm pretty buff, and I have a fair number of scars that are visible through my fur, souvenirs of my days in the fight pits on Monster Island. He turned to his buddies, but they were all busy looking at other things. Then he turned back to me and his ugly, bearded face twisted into a scowl. \"Nobody tells me to walk! Especially not a pipsqueak like you!\" And he drew back a huge fist to throw a punch at me.\n\tMy right foot shot out and buried itself in that big muscle gut of his, and he doubled over with an \"oof\" as all the air left his lungs. That brought his face within reach of my fist, so I threw a left hook at him and sent him sprawling onto the wooden floor. I stood gazing down at him as he spat blood while getting up on his hands and knees. \"Are we done?\" I asked.\n\tHe snarled and launched himself at me with all the grace of an angry elephant seal. I punched him right in the center of his face and felt his nose break, unleashing a torrent of blood. He howled and cupped his nose in his hands, crimson trails seeping between his fingers.\n\t\"Now are we done?\" I asked.\n\tHe glared at me as he knelt there holding his broken nose. \"Just you wait!\" he said in a muffled voice. \"Once we have the pearls, you'll be the first to die!\"\n\tI frowned. \"Pearls? What pearls?\"\n\tOne of his buddies started coming toward us. \"Shut up, Gus!\" he growled.\n\tNow I was interested. \"What is he talking about?\" I asked.\n\tThe other Cobra Lords looked at each other and ran. I let them go. I didn't see any need to chase them. I had Gus. I grabbed the collar of his vest and dragged him across the floor and into the locker room. Once there, I threw him into a bank of steel lockers. \"Now, what about these pearls?\" I asked him.\n\t\"Piss off!\" he said, glaring at me as he lay there with his back against the lockers. \"I ain't tellin' you nothin'!\"\n\t\"That's a double negative,\" I said, \"which means you are going to tell me something. Something about pearls.\"\n\t\"Screw you, freak!\"\n\tI grabbed the collar of his vest again and slammed his head against the lockers, which made him cry out in pain. \"I'm in a really bad mood right now, and my patience with punks like you was pretty thin to begin with. Tell me about the pearls, or I'll break both your arms.\"\n\tHe swallowed, and I could see him weighing his fear of me against his fear of his buddies when they found out he'd squealed. I banged his head against the lockers again to remind him that I was here and they weren't.\n\t\"Th-they're magic!\" he blurted out. \"They give you powers!\"\n\tI sighed. Magic again. I hate that stuff. \"You said you were going to get them. Where from?\"\n\t\"A guy named Hydrophis. He lives in the sewers.\"\n\t\"And he's just giving these things away?\"\n\t\"No, he wants us to rob banks for him. He wants money.\"\n\t\"What does he need money for when he has magic pearls?\"\n\tGus blinked, clearly never having thought to wonder about that. \"I don't know.\"\n\t\"Where can I find him?\"\n\t\"He moves around. He contacts us when he wants to meet. Look, I've told you everything I know!\"\n\t\"Such as it is.\"\n\t\"So can I go now?\"\n\tI let go of him and stepped back. \"Get lost.\"\n\tHe got to his feet and scurried out of the locker room, still holding his nose. I went and sat down on one of the benches, mulling over what I'd learned. The name Hydrophis wasn't familiar to me, and neither were magic pearls, but they both suggested a connection to water, as did the sewers. Unfortunately, there are miles and miles of sewers beneath Millennium City, and without a clearer idea of where to search, finding this guy would be like searching for one flea on the back of a very large dog. I stood up, went back to the main floor of the gym, collected my shirt and jacket, and left. There were a lot of dark, dank, stinking tunnels in my future. I could hardly wait.\n\n\tI walked home along the dingy streets of Westside, past its bars, pawnshops, gun shops, and boarded-up storefronts. It was getting on toward evening, and most of the businesses were closing down, their owners unfolding steel lattices in front of the doors and windows. In a couple of hours, this place would look like a ghost town, desolate and uninhabited save for the members of the various gangs that roamed the streets, searching for prey. \n\tEventually, I arrived back at my apartment. A pretty girl with short brown hair was in the kitchen, making dinner. Her name was Julie Martins, and she was my girlfriend.\n\t\"Hi, Alvin,\" she said as I walked in.\n\t\"Hey, Julie,\" I replied, going over to my computer and switching it on.\n\t\"Have a good workout at the gym?\" she asked.\n\t\"Uh huh,\" I said, watching the screen while the machine booted up.\n\t\"We're having meatloaf and mashed potatoes tonight,\" she said.\n\t\"Okay,\" I said. I logged on to the website for UNTIL—the United Nations Tribunal on International Law—and searched their villain database for Hydrophis. Nothing. Whoever he was, UNTIL had never heard of him.\n\t\"Also, Dr. Destroyer returned and declared himself ruler of the world,\" said Julie.\n\t\"That's nice,\" I said, searching UNTIL's database for anything regarding magic pearls. Again, I came up empty.\n\tJulie came over and tapped me gently on my forehead. \"Hello?\"\n\tI blinked and looked up at her. \"What?\"\n\tShe shook her head. \"And you call yourself a detective.\"\n\t\"I heard what you said. I assumed it was a joke.\" I sent an e-mail to Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk, telling them what Gus had told me.\n\tJulie sighed and walked back to the kitchen.\n\tI called up a blueprint of the city sewer system. It looked like a plate of spaghetti. You could hide an army down there. For all I knew, that was exactly what this Hydrophis was doing.\n\t\"What do you want to watch over dinner?\" Julie asked.\n\t\"I don't think I'll have time to watch anything,\" I said. I decided to narrow my search to the sewers beneath the northeast part of Westside, since that was Cobra Lord territory.\n\tThe oven beeped to inform Julie her meatloaf was done. She took it out and put it on the table with a bowl of mashed potatoes. I downloaded the map of the sewers into my cell phone, shut down the computer, and went to the dinner table.\n\tWe'd been eating in silence for about five minutes when Julie finally spoke. \"Alvin, we need to talk.\"\n\t\"What about?\" I asked.\n\t\"Ever since you got back from Ireland, you've been sullen and withdrawn. We hardly do anything together anymore. I miss you. I miss hearing you laugh when we watch bad movies together. I miss the jokes you make. And I miss the cute way you squeak when we—\"\n\t\"Okay, I get it,\" I said. She was right, of course. While I don't exactly have a bubbly personality, I'm not normally a cold, unsympathetic loner, either, and when I'm with Julie, I can be downright lovable. She has that effect on me. Being with her gives me a chance to lighten up and enjoy life, take a break from all the violence and filth I deal with day after day. She lets me forget myself for a while.\n\tJulie leaned forward a bit. \"It wasn't your fault, Alvin. You couldn't have known what effect that woman's venom would have on Sean and the others.\"\n\tI looked up at her, a lump in my throat. \"Sean was a good friend. He got bitten by Patricia Whyte because he was trying to save me. And now he's a monster, imprisoned in an UNTIL lab while they try to find a cure for his condition. And there's others like him out there, starting new cults to Glycon, infecting other people. I couldn't save any of them! Just like I couldn't save . . .\" I couldn't continue. I hopped down off my chair and went to the living room, sat down on the couch, and covered my face with my hands.\n\tJulie got up and came over, sat down beside me. She understood what was really troubling me. My two brothers, dead and buried on Monster Island. She put her arm around me and hugged me to her. \n\tI sat there with my head against her shoulder, my tears soaking the fur on my cheeks as she held me close and stroked my hair. Normally, I can keep a lid on this, but sometimes it gets to be too much, and then it all just comes gushing out—the anger, the sorrow, the guilt. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't been there. Thrown a screaming fit and broken a bunch of stuff, I guess. Even as I sat there with her arms around me, I knew I was being stupid. One of the first lessons Nighthawk had drilled into me was that no matter how hard you try, you can't save everyone. You just have to do the best you can and learn to live with failure. You try to console yourself by thinking of all the good you've done and all the lives you've saved, but you still spend some nights feeling rotten and miserable and wondering if it's all worth it. That's when it really helps to have a shoulder to cry on, a gentle hand to hold.\n\tAfter a time, I lifted my head and looked up at Julie. \"I'm sorry,\" I said, swallowing. \"I'll try to act more like a boyfriend.\"\n\tShe smiled and ruffled my hair. \"You [i]are[/i] my boyfriend. The best I've ever had.\" And she leaned down and kissed me on my muzzle. That made me feel a bit better.\n\t\"I need to start getting ready for work,\" said Julie, letting go of me and getting up.\n\t\"Me too,\" I said. I hopped down off the couch, and we both went into the bedroom and started changing into our respective uniforms—Julie into her waitress outfit, me into my Nightmunk body armor, cape, and hood. We left the apartment and walked down the street together toward Shererra's, the bar where she works. I generally accompany her there, because the streets of Westside aren't safe after dark. Actually, they're not safe anytime.\n\tWe stopped in front of the bar, and she knelt down and kissed me again. \"Good luck, Alvin,\" she said to me, smiling, the light from the neon sign shining in her eyes. \n\tI smiled back at her. \"Get lots of tips.\"\n\tShe went inside, and I stood on the sidewalk, watching her go. Then I turned and headed off down the night-darkened street.\n\t\n\tThe rank smell of decay hit my nostrils, causing me to wrinkle my nose as I pried open a heavy manhole cover. I hate going into the sewers. Unfortunately, my work takes me there fairly often, since a lot of Millennium City's criminal element uses them for nefarious purposes. I descended the steel-rung ladder, replacing the cover as I did so, and dropped down to the wet concrete floor. I took the flashlight from my belt, switched it on, and played it around. I was in a long tunnel that disappeared into darkness on either side of me. Picking a direction at random, I started walking.\n\tFor the next couple of hours, I made my way through the labyrinthine maze of Millennium City's sewer system, navigating by using the map I'd downloaded into my cell phone. Since I had no idea where my target might be, I tried to work through the sewers under Westside methodically, covering as much ground as possible. Rats scampered out of my way as I approached, their beady little eyes glowing in the darkness. I've been asked if I feel any kinship to these creatures, since I'm part rodent myself. I don't. Back on Monster Island, they formed a regular part of my diet.\n\tI was wishing for someone or something to relieve the monotony of the endless tunnels when my wish was answered and my light fell upon a figure lying on the floor ahead of me. I ran toward it, then stopped when I saw what it was. It wasn't human. Its skin was brown with yellow speckles, and scaly. There were webbed fins on its back, arms, and legs. A long, sinuous tail was curled around it as it slept. Its head was lizard-like, with a webbed crest on top, and it had four fingers on each hand, tipped with long, wicked-looking claws. I'd seen these creatures on Monster Island, but only from a distance, since it was generally a good idea to give them a wide berth. This was a Lemurian.\n\tOkay, time for a little history lesson. The Lemurians are an amphibious reptilian race that predates humanity, supposedly created by dark gods called the Bleak Ones. They once had an empire that covered half of Earth and were masters of magic and technology. But they turned against their gods, who cursed them by giving them human forms, and their continent sank beneath the Indian Ocean. All that's left of their once-great empire is a single undersea city. Recently, however, some of them have returned to worshipping the Bleak Ones. These have regained their original forms and are now waging war against their human brethren. They recently attacked Millennium City, but were repelled by its heroes. Got it?\n\tThe Lemurian raised its head and blinked its golden, cat-like eyes as I shined my light at it. \"Who is there?\" it asked, in a raspy, hissing voice. \"I warn you, I am quite able to defend myself!\" I turned my light on myself, letting it illuminate my face, and the Lemurian's eyes widened. \"A manimal? What are you doing in Millennium City?\"\n\t\"I might ask you the same question, Lemurian,\" I said. \"You're clearly not a diplomatic envoy from Lemuria, since you're in your reptilian form. Are you a leftover from the invasion?\"\n\tThe Lemurian glared at me. \"That was not my doing! I was here before that! In fact, I helped to defend this city against my own people when they attacked it, and saved many humans, not that any of them ever thanked me!\"\n\t\"They might have been a little distracted by all the death and destruction your fellow Lemurians were causing,\" I said.\n\t\"Again, that was not my doing. I did what I could to help.\"\n\tI looked at him, puzzled. \"Why? I thought all you Lemurian rebels hated humanity.\"\n\t\"My reasons are my own!\" he snapped. \"I feel no need to share them with a manimal!\"\n\t\"Fair enough. Do you have a name?\"\n\t\"I am called Samtiss.\"\n\t\"Pleased to meet you, Samtiss. I'm Nightmunk. Have you ever heard of someone called Hydrophis?\"\n\tHis eyes narrowed. \"Where did you hear that name?\"\n\t\"I take it it means something to you.\"\n\t\"He is a Lemurian sorcerer. A powerful one.\"\n\t\"Is he the sort who would go around handing out magic pearls to human thugs?\"\n\tSamtiss's mouth fell open, revealing many small, sharp teeth. \"What?\"\n\t\"That's what I've been led to understand he's doing. What I don't know is why.\"\n\tSamtiss shook his head. \"I cannot imagine why he would do such a thing, but there must be a reason.\"\n\t\"Well, this just got a whole lot bigger than I thought it was. I could use some help, if you're not too busy.\"\n\tHe seemed to consider it for a moment. \"Hydrophis would no doubt kill you if you faced him alone,\" he said at last. \"Therefore, I will help you, though it may well mean both our lives.\"\n\t\"How generous of you,\" I said.\n\t\"Think nothing of it. It would not be the first time I have risked my life for a lesser being.\"\n\tI resisted the urge to tell him where he could stick that.\n\tHe stood up, giving me a good look at him. He had a slim, lanky build, with a white-scaled underbelly much like a snake's. He wore no clothing, but had nothing to conceal. As I watched, he bowed his head and closed his eyes.\n\t\"What are you doing?\" I asked.\n\t\"Opening myself up to the vibrations of Lemurian magic,\" he replied. \"If any is being used nearby, I should be able to sense it.\"\n\t\"Are you a sorcerer, too?\"\n\t\"Merely an apprentice, but being able to feel the ebb and flow of magic is an elementary skill.\" He raised his head and opened his eyes. \"Follow me.\" He began walking down the tunnel, his claw-toed feet splashing in the puddles. I headed after him. While his condescending attitude grated on me, it was better than wandering the sewers aimlessly.\n\tWe walked through the tunnels for about twenty minutes, Samtiss acting like a magical divining rod, until at last I heard voices up ahead. They were human voices: gruff, male. Most likely Cobra Lords. We snuck up to an opening that led into a large chamber. Inside were ten Cobra Lords dividing up sacks of money. Each of them was wearing a pair of glowing purple gauntlets, which clashed violently with their leather-and-denim outfits. These gauntlets were transparent, as their arms were quite visible through them.\n\t\"All right!\" one said, chuckling. \"Over two hundred thou! What a haul!\"\n\t\"Yeah, those bank guards never knew what hit them!\" crowed another.\n\t\"I love these things!\" said a third. He raised an arm and fired a bolt of purple light at the wall. It struck with a loud crack, leaving a hole in the concrete. \"We could take on a superhero with these!\"\n\t\"We should go and find one!\"\n\t\"I can think of a few I'd like to pound into the dirt! Like Defender!\"\n\t\"I wanna beat up Ironclad!\"\n\tI glanced at Samtiss. \"Ready?\"\n\tThe Lemurian nodded, and his body began to crackle with electricity as the sharp tang of ozone tickled my nose. He stepped forward, his hands raised. A bolt of lightning shot from them and flattened three of the Cobra Lords before they could move. I jumped past him and hurled three blunted throwing blades at another group, striking each one in the forehead and sending them all sprawling to the concrete. The four remaining Cobras whirled toward us.\n\t\"It's the capes! Kill 'em!\" one shouted.\n\tAs a purple bolt shot past me, I dove aside, rolling to my feet and sending another throwing blade zinging toward a Cobra's head. Another bolt hit Samtiss, knocking him back against a wall. He snarled, and lightning arced from his clawed fingers, striking the Cobra who had shot him and paralyzing the man as the electricity coursed through his body. Another Cobra lifted both his arms, and I suddenly found myself surrounded by glowing crystals hovering in the air.\n\t\"Those are sigils of destruction!\" shouted Samtiss. \"Get away from them!\"\n\tSince sigils of destruction didn't sound like anything good to be near, I decided to heed his advice and backflipped, somersaulting away from them. A second later, they detonated with a deafening boom that knocked me on my ass. I can't say if my body armor would have been enough to save me if I'd still been in the middle of them.\n\tSamtiss raised his arms as well, and five crackling globes of electricity appeared around the two remaining Cobras. They writhed and twisted as glowing white fingers clawed at their bodies, and finally they collapsed to the floor.\n\tI looked over at Samtiss. He was clutching his scaly chest and gasping for breath, clearly in pain. I went over to him and gave him an anaesthetic injection from my belt. Then I started examining the unconscious Cobra Lords. On each one, I found a small pearl that glowed in my gloved palm. The moment the pearl was removed, their transparent gauntlets vanished. Apparently, the gauntlets weren't real objects, merely manifestations of the pearl's power. One also had a piece of paper with three addresses on it.\n\tI tied up the Cobras and called the police on my cell phone, giving them the coordinates, then came back over to Samtiss. He seemed to be breathing more easily.\n\t\"We should get you to a hospital,\" I said. \"You might have broken ribs.\"\n\tHe shook his head. \"My bones are cartilaginous. They cannot break. I will be fine. I just need to rest for a while.\"\n\t\"Let me take you back to my place, then,\" I said. \"You can rest there.\"\n\tHe looked at me strangely, then nodded. \"Thank you.\"\n\tIn one wall of the room there was an iron-rung ladder leading to a manhole. We climbed it and went up to the street.\n\n\tSamtiss and I made our way back to my apartment through the dark streets of Westside. Even for Millennium City we made an unusual-looking pair—a costumed chipmunk manimal and a reptilian Lemurian—but it was two in the morning and the streets were deserted, so nobody gave us any trouble.\n\tOnce back at my place, Samtiss lay down on my couch and closed his eyes while I got on my computer and started checking out the list of addresses I'd found on one of the Cobra Lords. They were all scientific research facilities. There are a lot of those in Millennium City, and they frequently get hit by supervillains looking for this or that doohickey they need for their gizmos of ultimate power. However, nothing about the labs suggested what it was Hydrophis might be after.\n\tI decided it was time to call in some backup, so I contacted my partners: Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk. I told them what I'd learned so far, and they each agreed to investigate one of the labs while I took the third. Even if Hydrophis wasn't making his move tonight, we might at least be able to figure out what his target was. Nighthawk also suggested I keep an eye on Samtiss, pointing out that we knew nothing about him and that he might have his own agenda. As you can probably guess, Nighthawk isn't the trusting sort.\n\tI shut down my computer and turned around to find Samtiss awake and sitting up on the couch. In his clawed hands he held a framed picture that normally sat on the coffee table. It was a photograph of me and Julie, her arms tight around me as we both smiled at the camera. I remembered when that picture was taken. It had been a bright, sunny day, the first warm day of spring, and we had been sitting together on the grass in Hutchinson Park, having a picnic and drinking sangria. Some kid had come up to us and offered to take our picture for five dollars, and we'd agreed. Afterward, we'd fed the swans by the lake. It had been a perfect day.\n\t\"You are friends with this human female?\" Samtiss asked, gazing at the picture.\n\t\"You could say that,\" I replied. \"She lives here too.\"\n\tThe Lemurian jerked his head up at me, clearly surprised. \"She shares her living quarters with a manimal?\"\n\t\"Something wrong with that?\" I asked, perhaps a trifle defensively.\n\tHe didn't reply. Instead, his golden cat-like eyes returned to the picture. I tried to figure out what was going through his head, but his reptilian face was impossible for me to read. Finally, he set the picture aside and stood up. \"What are we doing?\" he asked.\n\t\"You feel up to going back out?\" I asked.\n\t\"I am fully recovered.\"\n\t\"All right. We're going to check out one of the places on that list: Cambridge Labs. My partners are covering the other two.\"\n\tSamtiss nodded. \"Let us go, then.\"\n\tI led him up to the roof, where I keep my grav bike parked. It's a nifty little gadget, sized for me and accessorized with the Team Nighthawk bird motif. \"You can sit on the back,\" I told him.\n\t\"No need,\" said Samtiss. His body began crackling with electricity, and he rose off the roof and into the air.\n\t\"Huh,\" I said. \"I didn't know you could fly.\"\n\t\"All ionic apprentices can,\" he said, floating before me with arcs of electricity snaking across his scaly body. \"It is a simple matter of redirecting one's electrostatic repulsion field.\"\n\t\"If you say so,\" I said, climbing onto my bike and firing it up. I took off into the star-swirled sky, my cape fluttering behind me, Samtiss following like a ball of St. Elmo's fire.\n\n\tFive minutes of flying brought us to a blocky steel-and-glass building in downtown Millennium City with a sign out front identifying it as Cambridge Labs. I parked my bike in the alley behind it and went to the back door. It was immediately apparent that the Cobra Lords had beaten us here, as the door had been blasted off its hinges. I took out my cell phone and called Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk, telling them that the Cobras were at Cambridge Labs and that Samtiss and I were investigating. Then I crept inside cautiously, alert for any sign of the intruders, Samtiss following behind.\n\tWe were in a long, brightly lit corridor. I glanced up at Samtiss. \"Do you feel any magical vibrations?\"\n\tThe Lemurian nodded. \"They are emanating from above and to the right of us.\"\n\tWe turned right at the first intersection and saw a human figure lying crumpled on the floor of the hallway ahead. We ran over, and I crouched down to examine it. It was a security guard. Fortunately, he appeared to be only unconscious. I revived the man with a smelling salt, and he blinked his eyes in surprise at the sight of us. \"What? A manimal and a Lemurian?\"\n\t\"It's all right, we're friends,\" I said. \"Do you have any idea what the Cobra Lords are looking for?\"\n\tHe shook his head. \"None. They just broke in here and started tearing the place apart! They have these gauntlets that fire some kind of weird purple energy!\"\n\t\"Yeah, we've encountered those before. Can you walk?\"\n\t\"I think so.\"\n\t\"Good. Get yourself out of here and call the police.\"\n\tHe nodded and got to his feet. \"I don't know why the cops aren't already here. Those bikers should have tripped the silent alarm when they broke in.\"\n\t\"Your technology is primitive by Lemurian standards, human,\" said Samtiss. \"No doubt the mechanism was disabled somehow.\"\n\tThe man frowned at him and left. We proceeded to the elevators, taking one up floor by floor, until we arrived at the level where Samtiss said the magical vibrations were coming from. The doors opened, and we found ourselves face to face with four Cobra Lords. I dropped two with my throwing blades in a second, and Samtiss shocked the other two unconscious a second later. Then we ran down the corridor together, the Lemurian leading the way.\n\tWe found ourselves before a door with a sign that read, \"Particle Physics.\" There was also a warning that high-energy equipment was in use here and that people with pacemakers should exercise caution. Since I didn't have a pacemaker, and I doubted Samtiss did either, I opened the door and we charged in.\n\tThe lab was a shambles. Cabinets had been smashed open, and papers lay strewn about the floor. Scattered around the room were a dozen Cobra Lords, the authors of all this chaos, and in the back I could see a hulking reptilian figure wearing a complex suit of armor and a helmet that I recognized as being of Lemurian manufacture. In his arms he held a technological gadget whose function I had no idea of. Whatever it was, he couldn't be allowed to have it.\n\t\"Hydrophis!\" shouted Samtiss, rising into the air and flying toward the other Lemurian. I hurled a handfull of sleeping gas pellets at the Cobras between them, trying to help clear a path to our quarry. The bikers went down instantly.\n\t\"What?\" asked Hydrophis, in a grating, rasping voice like a death metal singer. \"Another Lemurian, attacking me?\"\n\t\"I am Samtiss,\" shouted my companion, \"and I have renounced the Bleak Ones!\" He fired a bolt of lightning from his hands at Hydrophis, who recoiled when it struck him but didn't appear particularly harmed by it.\n\t\"Then you are a heretic and a traitor!\" roared Hydrophis. \"Die!\" And with that he raised one clawed hand and fired a massive bolt of purple energy at Samtiss. Samtiss held both his hands out before him and created a sparking circular shield that absorbed most of the blast, though it still knocked him back some. He roared and flew at Hydrophis, hurling one lightning bolt after another at him.\n\tMeanwhile I had my hands full with the remaining Cobra Lords, who were all attacking me. Bolts of purple energy flew at me, and I dodged them as deftly as I could while hurling throwing blades right and left. Cobras were dropping all around me, but the rest were starting to get wise. They created magical shields before them to block my throwing blades, forcing me to go hand to hand with them. I slugged one in the gut, kicked another in the groin, and bashed a third in the nose when he tried to grab me. I could see Samtiss and Hydrophis going at it, the latter hunkered down behind a purple magical shield as Samtiss hovered before him, blasting at him savagely with blinding arcs of electricity.\n\tWith the last of the Cobras put down, I ran to help Samtiss deal with his countryman. Since this seemed pretty important, I decided to go all out, extending the questionite talons from my gauntlets and laying into Hydrophis, slashing at him furiously. He howled, and blasted me with a purple magical bolt that threw me back ten feet or so. As I got to my feet, I saw a purple globe form around him. Nothing Samtiss did seemed to be able to penetrate it.\n\t\"The world you know is about to end, manimal!\" snarled Hydrophis. Then he turned to Samtiss. \"And you, traitor: There is a special fate in store for you when he returns!\"\n\tAnd with a flash of purple light, he vanished.\n\tI turned to Samtiss, panting. \"What was Hydrophis talking about? Who is 'he'?\"\n\t\"I . . . do not know,\" the Lemurian replied.\n\tI sighed. \"Great. Another villain threatening the end of the world. Must be Tuesday.\"\n\tSamtiss shook his head. \"It is Thursday.\"\n\t\"Forget it.\"\n\n\tTwenty minutes later, Nighthawk, Lady Nighthawk, the cops, and the director of Cambridge Labs had all joined me and Samtiss. My two partners had both been jumped by Cobra Lords at the places they had visited, and while it hadn't been anything they couldn't handle, the encounters also hadn't been especially productive, as the Cobras knew nothing of value. While the cops rounded up the Cobras Samtiss and I had defeated, the director told us about the gadget Hydrophis had stolen. Apparently, it was a matter-energy converter, which could transform almost any matter fed into it into energy with a high degree of efficiency. It was still in the experimental stage and had a tendency to break down fairly often, but when it worked, it could provide an amazing amount of power. I asked Samtiss what Hydrophis might want with something like that, but he had no idea. I noticed the cops regarding my Lemurian companion with suspicion, but I suppose that was to be expected. They'd probably had unpleasant experiences with his people when the Lemurians had attacked Millennium City.\n\tThe director also told us that the converter gave off a unique type of radiation and that they had a scanner that could detect it if the converter were activated anywhere within ten miles of the lab. He said he'd have someone watching the scanner at all times and he'd inform us the moment it picked up anything. Since there didn't seem to be any more that could be done here, Nighthawk, Lady Nighthawk, Samtiss, and I left the lab.\n\t\"Well, now what?\" asked Lady Nighthawk as we entered the alley behind Cambridge Labs.\n\t\"Now we wait,\" replied Nighthawk. \"The ball is in Hydrophis's court.\"\n\tShe nodded and turned to me. \"Nightmunk, could I speak to you in private for a moment?\"\n\t\"Sure,\" I said. Leaving Samtiss with Nighthawk, we went around a corner.\n\t\"Are you sure you can trust that Lemurian?\" Lady Nighthawk asked once we were out of earshot of the others.\n\tI shrugged. \"He's been reliable so far.\"\n\t\"What do you plan to do with him?\"\n\t\"I figured I'd take him back to my place.\"\n\t\"Do you think that's wise?\"\n\t\"He has nowhere else to go, Dana.\"\n\t\"What about the Lemurian Embassy?\"\n\tI shook my head. \"I asked him about that. He said they won't take an untransformed Lemurian into their midst.\"\n\t\"Even though he's changed sides?\"\n\t\"Apparently, there's a strong cultural bias against it.\"\n\t\"Have you talked this over with Julie?\"\n\t\"No,\" I admitted. \"There hasn't been time.\"\n\t\"You might want to do that. It's her apartment, too.\"\n\t\"Yeah,\" I said. \"Was there anything else?\"\n\t\"No. Just be careful, Alvin.\"\n\tWe rejoined Nighthawk and Samtiss, and my two partners bid us good night and faded off into the darkness. I got on my grav bike and flew back to my apartment, Samtiss following like an electric fairy.\n\tOnce back at my place, I traded my costume for a T-shirt and sweatpants and went to the kitchen to make myself a sandwich. \"You want anything?\" I asked Samtiss as he stood in my living room, watching me.\n\t\"I am not hungry,\" he replied.\n\t\"In that case, would you mind using the shower to wash that sewer sludge off of you? It's kind of stinking up the place.\"\n\t\"I shall do so,\" he said.\n\tI sat on the couch, eating and watching television, while Samtiss cleaned himself up. The door opened, and Julie came in. She smiled when she saw me. \"Hi, honey,\" she said. Then she looked puzzled as she heard the water running. \"Who's in the shower?\"\n\t\"A friend from work,\" I replied.\n\t\"One of Team Nighthawk?\"\n\t\"No, it's someone else.\"\n\t\"Do they not have a shower of their own?\"\n\t\"That's what I need to talk to you about.\" I turned off the television, hopped off the couch, and went over to her. As I did, the sound of the shower stopped and Samtiss emerged from the bathroom, his scaley brown and yellow body gleaming wet and dripping on the floor. Julie gasped and recoiled when she saw him.\n\t\"Holy shit!\" she said.\n\t\"It's all right,\" I said. \"He's friendly.\"\n\tShe whirled on me. \"A Lemurian? You brought a goddamned Lemurian into our home?\"\n\t\"He's helping me with a case.\"\n\tHer hands clenched into fists. \"Get him out of here!\"\n\tI stared at her. \"What?\"\n\t\"Get him out of here! I won't have that monster in my home!\"\n\t\"Julie, he's turned against his own people.\"\n\t\"I don't care! I want him gone!\"\n\tI turned to Samtiss. \"Could you wait outside, please?\"\n\tThe Lemurian nodded and walked past us and out the door, closing it behind him. Then I turned back to Julie. \"Okay, what gives?\" I asked.\n\tShe looked at me in surprise. \"What gives? Alvin, they attacked the city!\"\n\t\"I've never seen you show any racial prejudice before, and it's doubly surprising since you're sleeping with a manimal. So there must be something else going on.\"\n\tShe scowled at me. \"You always have to be the detective, don't you?\"\n\t\"It's not something I can just turn off.\"\n\tShe paused and took a deep breath. \"Alvin, I put up with a lot of shit being your girlfriend.\"\n\t\"I know you do.\"\n\t\"The long absences, the constant worrying, the nights you come home battered and bloody . . .\"\n\t\"And I appreciate all of that.\"\n\t\"Not to mention the looks we get when we're out in public together . . . the whispered comments. Do you know I haven't even worked up the courage to tell my parents about you, yet? All they know is I have a boyfriend.\"\n\tThis was getting hard to take. I swallowed. \"I'm sorry, Julie. But I can't change what I am.\"\n\tShe knelt down to be eye to eye with me. \"And I wouldn't want you to. I love you just the way you are.\"\n\t\"So you can accept me as your lover, but you can't even tolerate a Lemurian in your apartment? I don't understand.\"\n\tShe sighed. Then she stood up and walked across the room. Finally, she stopped and turned to face me. \"A good friend of mine was killed in the invasion.\"\n\t\"Oh,\" I said. \"I didn't know.\"\n\t\"One of their drilling machines collapsed the building we were in. We were buried in the rubble. I was pulled out by rescue workers, eventually. Susan didn't make it.\"\n\tI knew nothing about this episode in Julie's life. The Lemurian invasion had occurred before we'd met. When you've suffered a big loss, it's easy to forget that other people have, too. That your pain isn't special.\n\tI walked over to her. \"Julie, Samtiss had nothing to do with that. He had already turned against his people by then. He fought them during the invasion. I saw him fight one of them tonight.\"\n\t\"What do you want him to stay here for?\"\n\t\"Partly just for convenience. We're working on a case together, so it would help to have him close at hand. And partly because he has nowhere else to go. His own people won't accept him. He's all alone in a strange city where everyone is against him. I know what that's like.\"\n\tShe was silent for a long time. Then she sighed. \"All right. Bring him in.\"\n\tI went to the door, opened it, and looked out in the hall. It was empty.\n\t\"Damn it,\" I said.\n\t\n\tThe following week was pretty uneventful. I didn't want to get too involved in anything, since at any moment a call might come from Cambridge Labs saying the matter-energy converter had been activated, so I mostly just stuck close to my apartment. I passed the time by doing research on various criminals and their activities, and I asked my contacts in the MCPD to alert me if there were any more hi-tech thefts. Julie and I didn't talk very much. I told her I didn't blame her for Samtiss leaving, but I could tell she didn't believe me—which spoke well of her powers of perception, because it was, in fact, a lie. I could also tell she was lying when she said she was sorry he'd left. So there we were, both lying to each other, living in a world of long, uncomfortable silences. It felt as if something had died between us, and I didn't know how to fix it. I was scared that I might be losing her, but I was even more scared by whatever it was Hydrophis was up to, so my private life had to take a back seat for the moment. This is probably why so many superhero relationships fail.\n\tFinally, I got the call from Cambridge Labs that I'd been waiting for. They'd gotten a hit on their scanners. Oddly, the signal was coming from the Detroit River. It was evening when the call came, so Julie was at work and I was alone in the apartment. I thought about calling her, but I didn't know what to say, so instead I just suited up and headed out. Hopefully, this would be over quickly and I could concentrate on trying to mend fences with her. \n\tEither that, or I'd be dead.\n\tI flew to the riverfront on my grav bike, flying over steel cargo containers stacked like giant bricks by the piers. According to the coordinates the lab had given me, the signal was coming from less than a hundred feet offshore. As I gazed down into the inky black water, I caught a reflection in it of something bright, and I looked up. It was Samtiss, dropping down out of the dark sky, his scaly body wreathed in twisting arcs of electricity.\n\t\"How did you know to come here?\" I asked. As far as I knew, the Lemurian didn't have a cell phone.\n\t\"I sensed emanations of Lemurian magic,\" he replied, hovering above the water in front of me.\n\t\"Magic? Could Hydrophis be using the converter to power some kind of magical device?\"\n\t\"That is entirely possible.\"\n\t\"Any idea what it might be?\"\n\tHe shook his lizard head. \"None whatever.\"\n\t\"Look, Samtiss, I'm sorry about what Julie said—\"\n\t\"Our immediate circumstance precludes unnecessary conversation,\" he interrupted. \"Let us stop Hydrophis.\"\n\tI blinked, taken aback by his abruptness. \"I had intended to wait for my partners to arrive.\"\n\t\"By then, it could be too late. Come.\" And with that, he plunged into the water. I sighed, put on a breathing mask over my muzzle, and jumped off my bike into the river.\n\tThe Detroit River is murky at the best of times, and it was night, so I couldn't see a blessed thing. Fortunately, my guide was a Lemurian, who was used to being underwater in total darkness. Samtiss took my hand and led me to an opening in the muddy bottom that had apparently been made by a Lemurian drilling machine. It went down about thirty feet, then turned horizontal. We followed the submarine tunnel for a while, and I had to admire the ease with which Samtiss operated underwater. Finally, the tunnel bent upward, and I could see a shimmering circle of light above us. We rose toward it and broke the surface.\n\tWe were in a pool in an underground cavern, and we weren't alone. There were six Lemurians standing guard around it. They were all wearing ornate armor identifying them as adepts in their respective disciplines: bronze for ionic magic, purple for dark magic. They didn't look happy to see us.\n\t\"Intruders!\" one hissed. \"Kill them!\"\n\tI jumped out of the pool, hurling a handful of sleeping gas pellets, and two of the lizards went down. Samtiss rose into the air and shocked a third with an electrical bolt. Then a fourth one raised both hands, chanting, and a swirling vortex of darkness appeared before us. It was a puddle of pure entropy, and I could feel it pulling at me, drawing me toward it, sucking the energy from my body like a hungry leech. My teeth chattered as a numbing cold gripped me. Trails of electricity from Samtiss curved toward it, disappearing into it as he struggled not to follow them, since anything that entered it would simply cease to be. I seized my grapple gun and fired it at the dark adept. The claw hooked on one of the pauldrons of his armor, and I pressed the rewind, which yanked him toward his own vortex. He staggered forward, arms flailing, and with a cry, fell into the vortex. The top part of his body was instantly devoured by the darkness, and then the vortex vanished, leaving only his lower half lying on the stone floor. It made me feel a little sick.\n\tI didn't have time to think about it, though, as a blast from one of the ionic adepts hit me and my whole body convulsed as the current coursed through it. My muscles froze up and my jaw clenched as I endured the awful feeling of being electrocuted. Fortunately, Samtiss came to my rescue, blasting the adept who was shocking me. That broke the adept's concentration, and I leaped at him, slugging him across his snout and putting him down.\n\tThe last adept saw how things were going and tried to flee, flying toward an opening in the cavern wall. I decided I didn't want him raising the alarm, so I hurled a web grenade, which covered his body in sticky fibers, gluing him in place long enough for Samtiss to finish him off with an electrical blast.\n\tSamtiss and I went to the opening the adept had been making for. It was the mouth of a tunnel. Fortunately, there were torches in sconces on the walls, providing light. We made our way cautiously along the tunnel. Eventually, it opened into a large chamber of worked stone. The chamber held a wooden dining table laden with food. Around it sat a bunch of Cobra Lords. \"I dunno,\" one of them was saying. \"It don't feel right bein' allies with these lizards.\"\n\t\"But they gave us these!\" another said, holding up his arms, on which he was wearing a pair of transparent magical bracers.\n\t\"Yeah, we got powers now!\" said a third. \"No heroes can push us around anymore!\"\n\t\"But they attacked the city once!\" the first pointed out. \"You really think we can trust them?\"\n\t\"We don't gotta trust 'em,\" said the third Cobra. \"If they try and double-cross us, we'll just blast 'em!\"\n\tI shook my head. \"Lord, these guys are dumber than a bag of hammers,\" I whispered.\n\t\"A bag of hammers?\" asked Samtiss, looking as confused as his reptilian face could manage.\n\t\"Never mind. Think you can convince them you're on their side?\"\n\t\"But I am not wearing any armor,\" he said.\n\tI shrugged. \"So, you left it at home. You're a Lemurian. Do you really think they're going to question you being in your birthday suit?\"\n\t\"Birthday suit?\" he asked, looking confused again.\n\t\"Just go talk to them.\"\n\tSamtiss stepped into the room and walked over toward the Cobra Lords. They sat at the table watching him with surly, suspicious gazes. \"Good evening, gentlemen,\" he said. \"I trust the food is to your liking?\"\n\t\"I never cared much for fish,\" said the lead Cobra. \"When do we go back to knocking over banks?\"\n\t\"When Hydrophis says so,\" replied Samtiss.\n\t\"Hydrophis,\" another Cobra grunted. \"Ain't he done buildin' that magical doohickey of his yet?\"\n\t\"Pardon me,\" said Samtiss, \"but I am new here. What is this doohickey you speak of?\"\n\tThe lead Cobra shrugged. \"Some kinda portal.\"\n\t\"A portal to where?\" asked Samtiss.\n\t\"I dunno. Ask him.\"\n\t\"I shall do so,\" said Samtiss, moving casually to one end of the table. \"Where can I find him?\"\n\t\"Down that tunnel,\" said the Cobra, pointing. \"Turn right at the fork.\"\n\tSamtiss smiled. \"Thank you, gentlemen. You have been most helpful.\" With that he began to crackle with electricity and, raising his arms, sent a massive lightning bolt down the length of the table, causing every one of the Cobras to slump face-first into their plates.\n\t\"Nice!\" I said, coming into the room to join him.\n\tSamtiss turned to me. \"I just got it.\"\n\t\"Got what?\" I asked.\n\t\"Birthday suit. The outfit one is wearing when one is born. Nothing!\"\n\t\"You'll master human idioms yet,\" I said. \"Any idea where this portal might lead to?\"\n\tSamtiss shook his head. \"I fear not. However, the energy requirements for magical portals increase with the distance between the two openings. Based on the amount of power the matter-energy converter is capable of producing, its range would be restricted to this planet and its immediate vicinity.\"\n\t\"That doesn't exactly narrow it down a lot,\" I said.\n\t\"I am sorry. That is the best I can do.\"\n\tWe entered the tunnel the Cobra Lord had indicated and walked along it. \"You know,\" I said, \"I have friends in UNTIL. That's the United Nations Tribunal on International Law. They police supercrime all over the world.\"\n\t\"I know who they are,\" said Samtiss. \n\t\"When this is all over—assuming we're both still alive—I could put in a good word for you, and maybe they could find you a place to live. You wouldn't have to hide out in the sewers anymore.\"\n\t\"I do not require the charity of surface dwellers,\" Samtiss replied stiffly.\n\t\"Oh, it wouldn't be charity. You'd be expected to earn your keep, doing work for UNTIL. I'm sure they'd appreciate your help on Lemurian matters.\"\n\t\"And they would trust a Lemurian?\"\n\t\"They might, if I vouched for you.\"\n\tHe nodded. \"I will think about it.\"\n\tWe continued on down the tunnel. Eventually it opened up into another chamber, and we crept up and peered cautiously inside. This one contained five Lemurians—four big bruisers, wearing only leather straps across their massive chests and holding enormous swords, and a fifth in gleaming golden armor emblazoned with mystic sigils, who was floating a foot above the floor. They were arrayed around a raised platform with a pulsing green light atop it. Beside the platform and wired up to it was the stolen matter-energy converter. Samtiss hissed softly. \n\t\"Trouble?\" I asked.\n\t\"The one in gold armor is an archmagus,\" said Samtiss. \"They are the mightiest sorcerers among my people.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Think you can run the same con on them you did on the Cobras?\"\n\t\"You mean pretending to be an ally?\"\n\t\"It worked once.\"\n\t\"We appear to have nothing to lose.\" He stepped into the chamber. What followed was an exchange in Ancient Lemurian, which Samtiss translated for me later.\n\tThe archmagus rotated in the air to face him and hissed. \"Why are you not wearing your armor, fool?\" he asked.\n\t\"I beg forgiveness, my lord,\" Samtiss replied. \"I just woke up from a nap and thought I heard something.\"\n\t\"Well, go back and put it on!\" snapped the archmagus. \"We must be ready in the event surface-dwelling heroes attack!\"\n\tSamtiss nodded, regarding the platform. \"So this is the portal. I had not seen it before. Has Hydrophis already gone though?\"\n\t\"Of course he has, along with a contingent of our people! Now go and get dressed!\"\n\t\"Actually,\" said Samtiss, \"I feel quite comfortable the way I am.\" And with that he blasted the archmagus with a lightning bolt.\n\tThe archmagus writhed in the air as electricity coursed around him, momentarily stunning him, and the four Lemurians with swords whirled toward Samtiss. Deciding it was time to make my presence felt, I stepped into the room and hurled a throwing blade at one of the big fellows. It ricocheted off his cranium and struck another on his, and they both fell to the floor like sacks full of mud. The other two turned to face me and began advancing with swords raised. Seeing that they were both barefoot, I decided to take advantage of this fact and tossed a handful of caltrops in front of them. They both howled in pain as the metal points pierced the soles of their feet, and began gingerly trying to pull them out. No, I don't play fair—not when I'm fighting eight-foot lizards, anyway. Besides, Samtiss was in trouble.\n\tThe archmagus had recovered and summoned a ring of those sigils of destruction I'd seen a Cobra Lord invoke days ago. He blasted Samtiss with a mystic bolt, knocking him back into a sigil. It exploded, which knocked him into another, which also exploded, and so on. The chain reaction was devastating, and poor Samtiss was hurled from sigil to sigil like a rag doll, until finally he was blown out through a gap in the ring and lay battered on the floor, barely conscious. \n\tMeanwhile, the archmagus had turned his attention to me. \"A manimal,\" he scoffed, tongue flicking. \"Is this the best the surface dwellers have to offer?\"\n\t\"No,\" I replied, \"but all the others decided they had better things to do than fight you losers, so you're stuck with me.\"\n\t\"They shall regret that,\" said the archmagus, and raised his clawed hands to blast me.\n\tI jumped aside, tossing a smoke bomb at him to screw up his aim. His mystic bolt missed me by miles, and I closed with him while he was momentarily blinded, extending my talons and slashing at him. Whatever his armor was made of, it was no match for questionite, one of the strongest metals known to man. They sliced through his armor as if it were warm butter, and into the flesh beneath. The archmagus howled and flew back away from me, hissing angrily. \"Curse you, manimal!\" he said. \"The Bleak Ones will devour your soul!\"\n\t\"I'll try to keep it fresh for them,\" I said. I whipped out a bola and hurled it at him, because I'd read somewhere that sorcerers can't do much if their arms are bound. It wrapped around his torso, pinning his arms to his sides. As the archmagus squirmed in the air, trying to wriggle free, I spun about to confront the two big guys with swords, who were done picking caltrops out of their feet and were now charging toward me, looking none too happy.\n\tI ducked one sword, and as it whooshed above my head in a blinding arc, I deflected the other one with my claws. The impact knocked me back about ten feet, as the Lemurian was unbelievably strong. I somersaulted in midair, landing on my feet in a crouch, and hurled a handful of throwing blades at him. Three struck him in his scaly chest, but he barely seemed to notice them, roaring and charging at me with his sword raised above his head. Fortunately, I'm used to fighting people bigger than me. Reasoning that he had built up too much momentum to easily stop, I met him halfway, barreling toward him and going low, throwing myself at his legs and taking them out from under him. He toppled forward and landed on the floor face-first.\n\tI barely had time to take a breath, as the other one was bearing down on me. He was being cagier than his companion, however, approaching slowly, sword held up defensively before him. I was running low on gadgets, but I still had a few tricks left. I hurled a handful of gas pellets at him, and as he stood there choking, I held my breath and laid into him with a couple of punches to the gut. It felt like hitting a brick wall. I backed up to get out of the gas cloud, and he staggered after me, woozy from the gas but still going. Maybe it didn't work so well on Lemurians, or maybe he just had the constitution of a horse. He took another step, then another, then fell forward and collapsed to the floor, out cold.\n\tAs I stood there gazing down at him, something hit me in the back, hard, hurling me forward. I landed face down on the floor. I turned over to see the archmagus hovering above me, finally free of my bola, his wide, sharp-toothed mouth grinning.\n\t\"Your puny toys are no match for Lemurian sorcery!\" he gloated. He raised his clawed hands to blast me again, and I was still too stunned to dodge. Then there was a blinding flash accompanied by an ear-ripping roar, and he fell to the floor before me.\n\t\"In that case, it is a good thing I am here,\" said Samtiss, walking over and offering me his hand. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet. We went over to the first swordman, who was still lying where he'd fallen after I'd tripped him, and I turned him over and winced. It seemed the fall had rammed my throwing blades deep into his chest, killing him. I felt bad about that, but there was nothing I could do for him, so I tried to console myself with the fact that his death had been an accident, and after all, he had been trying to kill me. Then I turned my attention to the portal.\n\t\"Shall we see where it goes?\" I asked Samtiss.\n\t\"The archmagus said there are more Lemurians on the other side,\" he said.\n\tI nodded. \"More fun times.\"\n\tHe looked at me, puzzled. \"You are a strange little manimal.\"\n\tI grinned up at him. \"Come on, I'll race you.\" And I ran forward into the green light.\n\tThere was a moment of dizziness, and I found myself standing in a large, circular room. The walls were lined with blinking, flashing computers, and the floor was strewn with the bodies of UNTIL agents in their blue and grey uniforms. I looked up. The ceiling was a transparent geodesic dome, beyond which lay a pitch-black sky that was wild with stars. And among them, a familiar blue-and-white ball hung lonely and beautiful in the endless night.\n\t\"Where are we?\" asked Samtiss, who was now standing beside me and looking around at the bodies.\n\t\"We're on the moon,\" I replied.\n\tSamtiss stared at me with his snake-like eyes. \"The moon?\"\n\tI nodded. \"As in the light of the silvery.\" \n\t\"But what are all these UNTIL agents doing here?\" he asked.\n\t\"UNTIL maintains a base on the moon where they keep their most dangerous prisoners—sort of a lunar Guantanamo. I'm guessing this is it.\" I went over and examined the nearest UNTIL agent. As I'd feared, he was dead.\n\t\"Then Hydrophis must be after one of them,\" said Samtiss.\n\t\"Stands to reason,\" I replied. I moved from body to body, checking them for signs of life. One was still breathing. I injected her with a stimulant, and her eyes fluttered open. They widened when they saw me. Then she saw Samtiss, and her hand instinctively went for her gun. I stopped her. \"It's all right, he's a friend. How many Lemurians came through here?\"\n\t\"About ten, I think,\" she said.\n\t\"Any idea who they might be after?\"\n\t\"We have a Lemurian prisoner in Beta dome. Huge fellow.\"\n\t\"That must be it, then.\" I looked up at Samtiss. \"Come on.\"\n\tThe UNTIL agent looked at us—a small manimal and a Lemurian. \"Is there any more help coming?\" she asked hopefully.\n\tI shook my head. \"We're it.\" \n\tShe didn't bother trying to hide her disappointment. \"I'll see if I can get the telepad to Earth working. The Lemurians disabled it when they attacked.\"\n\t\"Good idea,\" I said. \"It would be nice to have a way home.\"\n\tSamtiss and I went through a sliding door into a passage that connected Alpha dome—where we had materialized—to Beta dome. The Lemurian was finding it difficult to walk in the lower gravity, so he flew instead. As for me, I adjusted quickly. Believe it or not, this actually wasn't the first time I'd been on the moon. Several months ago, four other heroes and I had been transported by a decadent alien race called the Malvans to an arena called the Forum Malvanum on the far side of the moon. There, we'd participated in the Lunar Games, in which we'd fought a variety of opponents in gladitorial combat. It hadn't been a pleasant experience for me, since it had taken me back to my days in the fight pits on Monster Island, where my brothers had died. Though we hadn't won the grand prize, our host—a sleazeball named Tateklys—had told us we'd fought well and brought honor to our planet, and then he'd transported us back to Earth. I was happy just to be out of that place. \n\tWe reached the sliding door to Beta dome but didn't go through just yet. Instead, we peered through the window to see what was inside. There were four Lemurian adepts guarding the entrance to the detention section, which appeared to have some kind of shimmering force field over it. There was no sign of Hydrophis. \n\tSamtiss flicked his tongue. \"That barrier is magical,\" he said. \"We will not be able to penetrate it.\"\n\t\"Can we deactivate it?\" I asked.\n\t\"Perhaps. It is undoubtably powered by crystallos shards—probably two of them.\"\n\t\"Will these shards be in Beta dome?\" I asked.\n\t\"No, they must be kept well apart so their resonances do not interfere with each other.\"\n\tI checked the diagram of the base, which was conveniently posted beside each door. There were only four domes, with Beta serving as a central hub linking the other three. Since the shards hadn't been in Alpha, and they weren't in Beta, then there must be one in each of Gamma and Delta. That meant we had to go through these guys to get to them. \n\t\"Okay,\" I said. \"I'll take the two on the right; you take the two on the left.\"\n\tSamtiss nodded and began to crackle with electricity. I hit the button that caused the door to slide open. When it did, I hurled throwing blades at the two Lemurians on the right, beaning each of them on their heads. Samtiss blasted the other two with bolts of lightning and down they went, joining their buddies on the floor. I took advantage of the low gravity to cover the distance to the magical barrier in two long leaps. I'd learned how to move in lunar gravity while fighting in the Forum Malvanum, so I guess something good had come of that episode after all. On the other side, I could see a chamber whose walls were lined with large cylinders. Hydrophis was in there, standing before one and waving his arms around, conducting some sort of ritual. He took no notice of me.\n\t I turned to Samtiss, who had floated up behind me. \"You take Gamma; I'll take Delta.\"\n\t\"Is it wise to split up?\" he asked.\n\t\"We don't have a choice! We don't know how close he is to finishing whatever he's doing, so we have to get in there as fast as possible!\"\n\tSamtiss nodded and flew toward the passageway that led to Gamma dome, while I bounded across the floor to the one that led to Delta. I ran down the passage in long, loping strides, and once I banged my head on the ceiling when I misjudged how high my leap would take me. Upon reaching the entrance to Delta dome, I peered through the window. An oblong glowing crystal about one foot tall was floating in the air six feet above the floor. The door slid aside, and I went over to the crystal and extended the claws from my gauntlets as it floated there, glowing and humming with power. I jumped at it, slashing with my claws when I reached it. Three quick slashes and it exploded, spewing fragments across the room. Mission accomplished. I headed back to Beta dome.\n\tI arrived just in time to see the magical barrier to the detention section go down. Apparently, Samtiss had accomplished his part of our mission. I edged along the curved wall of Beta dome to the detention section's entrance and peered around the corner. Hydrophis was still there, and standing beside him was a gigantic Lemurian, at least half again as tall as he was. He was wearing green and gold armor and a helmet with curling ram's horns that completely concealed his reptilian face. They were speaking to each other in their own hissing tongue, and I regretted that Samtiss wasn't there to translate for me.\n\tJust then, Samtiss flew in from Gamma dome, his body crackling with electricity. He saw me, and I motioned for him to take up a position at the other side of the entrance to the detention section. He did so, and I counted down with my fingers. Three … two … one, and we both sprang into the opening, Samtiss building up a massive electrical bolt while I raised a throwing blade.\n\tHydrophis and his huge companion turned to face us, and the former raised his clawed hands, a mystical shield appearing before him, while the latter addressed us in a croaking voice. \"You are too late, heroes. The Unknowable One is returned to us, and the world will tremble at his coming. I, Graknash, go to usher in his return. I leave you in my disciple's capable hands.\" And with a flash of purple light, he vanished.\n\t\"I will destroy you,\" snarled Hydrophis, \"and join the Unknowable One in glory!\"\n\tSamtiss unleashed his electric bolt at Hydrophis while I hurled a throwing blade at him. Both glanced off his mystic shield to no visible effect. Then Hydrophis gestured, and three glowing purple globes appeared around Samtiss, blasting him with bolts of mystical energy. I tried to take one out with a throwing blade, but the blade just sailed through it. Apparently, the globes had no physical substance. There was nothing I could do to help my friend. While Samtiss writhed, Hydrophis turned his attention to me. A swirling vortex appeared in front of me, dragging me toward it like some kind of black hole, and I could feel it draining my strength. I backflipped away from it, the lower lunar gravity enabling me to go much further than I could have back on Earth. Hydrophis came lumbering after me, his tail lashing behind him, and fired a mystical bolt from one hand. I dodged out of the way, and the bolt struck one of the computer consoles lining the walls of the dome, utterly demolishing it and sending sparks and smoke spewing into the air. \n\tI dropped a smoke bomb, creating a cloud of darkness to hide myself, and leaped at Hydrophis, extending my claws and ramming them into his belly. He roared in pain and lashed out at me. His fist caught me in the side with a blow that felt like being hit by a charging bull, and I went sailing through the air, describing a long, graceful arc that ended with me smashing into the wall in a tooth-jarring impact. I slid to the floor, stunned, while Hydrophis readied more of those purple globes of death. \n\tHis spell was interrupted by a lightning bolt from Samtiss, who had recovered and was on the attack again. Hydrophis turned to face him and summoned another of those swirling vortexes, which began pulling Samtiss toward it. Samtiss struggled to fly back away from it, but he only managed to slow the rate at which he was being dragged into the vortex.\n\t\"The Bleak Ones will feast on your soul, heretic,\" snarled Hydrophis, \"just as they were always meant to. Such is the fate of all our kind. You cannot escape your destiny.\"\n\t\"I have renounced the Bleak Ones!\" shouted Samtiss, as he slipped closer and closer to the vortex.\n\tHydrophis shook his head. \"It does not matter. They created us. In the end, we belong to them.\"\n\tI took advantage of Hydrophis's monologuing to sneak up behind him. While I'm normally against killing, he wasn't leaving me much choice. Gritting my teeth, I rammed my claws into his back. He threw back his head and howled, and the vortex evaporated, freeing Samtiss, who immediately hurled a lightning bolt at him, making him writhe as the volts washed over him. Hydrophis fell to his knees, burned and bleeding, and looked up at the two of us standing over him.\n\t\"I gladly give all for the cause,\" Hydrophis gasped. \"You cannot stop us! We are everywhere! This world will burn!\" And with that he slumped to the floor. I knelt beside him and checked his pulse. He was dead. I noticed a small scrap of paper in his hand with strange symbols on it. I palmed it and stuck it in my belt without Samtiss seeing.\n\t\"Fool!\" spat Samtiss, glaring down at the corpse. \"Fanatical, deluded fool!\"\n\t\"Not so foolish that he wasn't able to beat us to the punch,\" I said, standing up. \"Who is Graknash?\"\n\t\"I do not know. I have never heard of him.\"\n\t\"Is this Unknowable One one of the Bleak Ones?\" \n\tSamtiss shook his head. \"None of them goes by that name.\"\n\tOur conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a contingent of UNTIL agents charging in from Alpha dome, weapons at the ready. Apparently, the one I'd revived earlier had managed to get the telepad to Earth working again. They leveled their guns at Samtiss when they saw him, but I raised my hands to stop them. \"Don't shoot! He's a friend!\"\n\tThe UNTIL agents lowered their guns, and their leader strode up to me. Blond, crewcut, mustache, no-nonsense expression. \"You're that manimal who works with Nighthawk, aren't you?\"\n\t\"What gave it away?\" I asked, grinning. \"Yes, I'm Nightmunk.\"\n\t\"I'm Captain Fisher. Mind telling me what the devil happened here?\"\n\tI gave him a quick rundown on everything that had occurred up to this point, while he listened intently. \"Graknash was captured when he broke into an UNTIL facility several years ago,\" he said when I had finished. \"We've had him in stasis here ever since. We don't even know what he was looking for.\"\n\t\"Well, you now know everything we do,\" I said. I didn't mention the scrap of paper I'd found.\n\tFisher eyed Samtiss suspiciously. \"Are you sure about that?\"\n\t\"He's been nothing but helpful ever since this business began, at the risk of his own life. I think you can trust him.\"\n\tFisher nodded. \"Would you like a lift back to Earth?\"\n\t\"Well, we were going to walk back, but since you're offering . . .\"\n\tFisher escorted us to the telepad room, and we stood on the platform while a technician operated the equipment. I closed my eyes, because I really don't enjoy having my atoms scattered across the universe. One dizzying moment later I opened them, and we were on another telepad in a different, much larger room, with a different technician at the controls. The sudden six-fold increase in heaviness told me we were back on Earth. I thanked the technician for competently reassembling us and asked him where we were.\n\t\"This is UNTIL headquarters in Millennium City,\" he replied.\n\t\"Well, that's convenient,\" I said. We left the telepad room, walked down a corridor to the main control room, took the turbo lift up to the lobby, and exited the building into the city night. My grav bike would have returned automatically to the roof of my apartment from where I'd left it hovering over the Detroit River, so I hit a few buttons on my gauntlet to summon it to me.\n\t\"What do we do now?\" asked Samtiss.\n\t\"I've been thinking,\" I said. \"I feel a little out of my pay grade here—what with magic, Lemurians, the Unknowable One, and so on. There's a guy down in Vibora Bay named Dr. Ka who's an expert on stuff like this. I think I'll pay him a visit. But first, I'm going back to my apartment to take a shower. I'm all wet inside my armor from that swim in the river, and it's very uncomfortable.\"\n\tSamtiss regarded me with puzzlement. \"You are wet and uncomfortable, so you are going to get more wet?\"\n\t\"Yeah, I didn't think you'd understand.\" My grav bike came humming down out of the night sky and landed in front of me. I climbed on and took off, Samtiss flying along beside me. We landed on the roof of my apartment a few minutes later.\n\t\"Will your female not object to my presence here?\" asked Samtiss.\n\t\"Her name is Julie,\" I replied, \"and she is not 'my female,' she's my girlfriend. And she's at work right now, so you're safe.\" We descended the stairs from the roof, and I took out my key and let us into my apartment. I turned on the lights and immediately noticed a note on the dinner table. I swallowed, went over, picked it up, and read it.\n\t\t[i]Dear Alvin,\n\tI need some time to myself. There are some things I need to consider, about us. I know you could probably track me down easily enough, but I really wish you wouldn't. I'll see you in a few days. \n\t\tLove, Julie.[/i]\n\tI sighed, hung my head, and crumpled the note in my hand. \"Shit.\"\n\n\tThe moonlit waters of the Gulf of Mexico rose up to meet the UNTIL jump jet Samtiss and I were riding in as it descended toward the landing pad located on the waterfront of the sprawling city beneath us. There was a soft bump, and the high-pitched whine of the engines began to fade. We unbuckled ourselves from our seats and descended the exit ramp to the platform, stepping into the muggy night air of Vibora Bay.\n\tWe hadn't said a word to each other during the entire trip from Millennium City. I was sulking about Julie going off to have some alone time, and Samtiss understandably didn't want to involve himself in my personal affairs, even though it was his presence that had led to the present situation between me and Julie. I really didn't want to lose her. Being with Julie had made me the happiest I'd been since leaving Monster Island. She was right that it would have been a simple matter for me to track her down, but I wanted to respect her privacy. Besides, frankly, I had more important things to worry about at the moment.\n\tAs we walked along the wooden pier that connected the platform to the shore, Samtiss seemed alert and agitated, his lizard-like head jerking around, his tongue flickering. \"Something wrong?\" I asked him.\n\t\"There are many flavors of magic here,\" he replied.\n\tI'd never heard of magic having flavors before, but then I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about it. I nodded. \"There's a lot of mystical stuff going on in this town. There's vampires, werewolves, voodoo, and demons. A lot of weird things happen here.\"\n\tHe looked at me. \"As opposed to Millennium City?\"\n\tI shrugged. \"It's a different kind of weird.\" \n\tAs we made our way along the waterfront, quite a few civilians were giving us stares, most of them directed at my companion. \"Do they hate Lemurians here, also?\" Samtiss asked.\n\t\"They might think you're one of the Sovereign Sons,\" I replied. \"They're a voodoo-based gang that's active here. Some of them look like humanoid alligators.\"\n\t\"I look nothing like an alligator,\" said Samtiss, sounding almost offended.\n\t\"You're a reptile. Most people aren't going to make a distinction. Also, do you have to walk around naked all the time?\"\n\t\"Do not manimals normally go naked?\" he asked.\n\t\"On Monster Island, we did. But this is America. People wear clothes here.\"\n\t\"We Lemurians are unconcerned with childish notions such as modesty.\"\n\t\"I've seen other Lemurians wearing clothes.\"\n\t\"Clothes are a symbol of status among my people. Since my status is nonexistent . . .\"\n\t\". . . so is your wardrobe. I suppose that makes sense. Still, it might be easier for you to interact with humans if you wore some sort of clothing.\"\n\t\"Do you really imagine that hanging a few of those absurd rags on my body is going to make them hate me any less?\"\n\t\"What have you got to lose?\" I asked.\n\tHis tongue flickered. \"I will think about it.\"\n\tWe boarded a trolley car that would take us into Easton Tangle, where Dr. Ka lived. As the car lurched and clattered along the rails, the few other late-night passengers kept as far as they could from their two bizarre-looking companions as we sat quietly in our seats, minding our own business just like any other commuters. Still, a manimal shouldn't be quite that unusual a sight here. I knew there was at least one who lived in Vibora, a fellow named Ram who worked as a bouncer at a nightclub called the Minefield. More likely they were leery about my reptilian buddy. The Sovereign Sons had a reputation for making people disappear, sometimes to show up later as zombies.\n\tSpeaking of which, as I sat gazing out the window watching the brick buildings with their curving iron trellises roll by, I noticed a pair of figures with long snouts and tails entering a pawnshop. I reached up and tapped my companion's shoulder. \"Time to be good citizens,\" I said. \n\tI hopped down off my seat, dashed to the door, and jumped out of the moving trolley car. It wasn't going very fast, so I had no trouble rolling to my feet when I hit the brick street. Behind me came Samtiss, floating down to land beside me, his body crackling with electricity. \"What are we doing?\" he asked.\n\t\"Our job,\" I replied. I pointed at the brightly lit window of the pawnshop. Inside, menacing the elderly proprietor, were a pair of alligator-men. One was a hulking brute wearing only a fur loincloth, his green, scaly skin painted with mystical symbols. The other was a much more slender fellow, with tan skin, wearing a ratty vest and trousers, a bandolier of daggers across his bare chest, and a top hat. In his hands he held an enormous double-edged weapon that appeared to be a cross between a sword and an ax. It was flat-ended, and each side was lined with a row of rectangular metal blades that gleamed and looked very sharp.\n\tDeciding there was no point in being sneaky, I ran up to the door of the shop, pulled it open, and stepped inside. The two Sovereign Sons turned to face me as the proprietor ducked behind the counter. \"Well, well, what ha' we heah?\" asked the one in the top hat.\n\t\"Be lookin' like a cape ta me,\" rumbled the big one.\n\t\"But he so tiny!\" said the first one.\n\tThe other nodded. \"Barely a mouthful.\"\n\t\"Gentlemen,\" I said, \"I've had a really bad day, so if I'm a little rough with you, apologies in advance.\"\n\tThe one in the top hat clutched his belly and laughed. \"Woo hoo! Is dat a threat?\"\n\t\"Oh, I's so scared!\" the big one chuckled, and began lumbering toward me.\n\tI whipped out a throwing blade and hurled it at the big one's head, striking him right between his beady little eyes. He grunted and staggered backward, stunned. His companion stopped laughing and stared at him, then at me.\n\t\"Want to see me use both hands?\" I asked.\n\tHe snarled and raised his hand, and a bolt of sickly green energy shot from his palm toward me. I ducked behind a wooden cigar store Indian, which the bolt struck and blew apart, sending splinters everywhere. Then Samtiss stepped into the shop, and the top-hatted alligator-man's eyes widened.\n\t\"We have no time for you!\" the Lemurian said, and raised both hands, ripping off a blinding bolt of lightning that struck the Sovereign Son squarely in his chest. He fell to the floor, limp.\n\tThe other one had recovered, though, and roared as he charged at Samtiss, huge fists raised above his head. I tossed a bola that wrapped around the alligator-man's ankles, and he face-planted into the floor. I jumped on him and rammed my gauntleted fists into his snout, pounding it viciously. Blood gushed from his nostrils, but I didn't stop. Not until Samtiss put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me back. \n\t\"Alvin,\" he said. \"I think we are done here.\"\n\tI stood up, panting, my gauntlets dripping with blood, and addressed the unconscious Sovereign Son before me. \"I told you,\" I said, \"it's been a day.\" \n\tI turned and walked out of the store. Samtiss followed me. \"You are upset,\" he said as we walked along the sidewalk together.\n\t\"Oh, you caught that, did you?\"\n\t\"It is about Julie, isn't it?\"\n\t\"Bravo! We'll make a detective of you yet.\"\n\t\"You should not be angry,\" said Samtiss. \"It is not as if you had a future with her.\"\n\tI stopped dead and stared up at him. \"Why the hell not?\"\n\tHe looked at me, puzzled. \"Is it not obvious? You are not unintelligent.\"\n\t\"Pretend I'm dumb.\"\n\t\"You are a manimal. She is human. You are not meant to be together.\"\n\tI folded my arms across my chest. \"Says who?\"\n\t\"Says the fundamental law of nature that compels species to keep within the limits of their own forms when propagating and multiplying their kind.\"\n\t\"That's the same bullshit argument they used to use to keep people of different races from marrying.\"\n\t\"They were wise to do so. People are always happiest with their own kind.\"\n\t\"It was drivel then, and it's drivel now!\"\n\t\"If Julie were happy, would she have left?\"\n\tI glared at him. \"Julie and I could have been . . . could [i]be[/i] as happy together as anyone! Anyway, you're forgetting I'm half human.\"\n\t\"That is an entirely different matter. Dr. Moreau committed a grave sin in creating you.\"\n\t\"So I shouldn't exist, is that what you're saying?\"\n\t\"That is exactly what I am saying. You are a monster. The very word means 'that which should not be.'\"\n\tI stared up at him in silence for a moment. Then I started to laugh. In a moment, I was laughing so hard I had to lean against a streetlamp for support. Tears were soaking the fur on my cheeks and my sides ached, and still I couldn't stop.\n\tSamtiss stood staring at me in helpless confusion. \"Why are you laughing?\" he asked.\n\t\"I'm sorry,\" I said, finally managing to catch my breath. \"I just find it hilarious to hear a being who was created by evil gods to spread chaos and destruction across the world call [i]me[/i] a monster! All I was created to do was sing!\"\n\tSamtiss said nothing for a long moment, just stood there in the circle of light cast by the streetlamp. Then he lowered his head. \"I was attempting to provide consolation. Evidently, I have failed in this. I apologize.\"\n\tI smirked. \"You Lemurians have a strange way of consoling people.\"\n\t\"We are not a sentimental race.\"\n\t\"So I've noticed. Come on.\" We continued walking along the sidewalk.\n\tAfter a few minutes, we reached the doorstep of Dr. Ka's brownstone—or, rather, the doorstep that led to where Dr. Ka's brownstone used to be, because instead of a majestic old building, the lot contained nothing but a pile of rubble.\n\t\"What the hell happened here?\" I asked the ruins in disbelief.\n\t\"That's what I'd like to know,\" came a woman's voice from behind me.\n\tI knew that voice, so I turned around without fear or surprise. Before us stood a woman in a skin-tight green costume with black thigh-high boots and black gloves that rose up past her elbows. She wore a black domino mask that was fused with the green cowl that covered her head, leaving only the lower part of her face exposed. Around her waist hung a belt with various gadgets attached, including a dagger, a billy club, and a dart pistol. Like me, Jennifer Ward, a.k.a. Black Mask, is a hero with no powers. She's the tenth in a series of Black Masks going back to 1765, the first woman to bear the title, and the unofficial protector of Vibora Bay. We'd worked together a year before on a case involving zombies being smuggled into the city, during which we'd become friends and she'd entrusted me with her secret. The case had culminated in a battle with an undead assassin named Dead Man Walkin' aboard Vibora Bay's riverboat casino, the [i]Bayou Queen[/i]. He'd been one of the meanest, deadliest foes I've ever encountered, and it had been the toughest fight of my life up to that point. Without her help, I wouldn't have survived.\n\t\"Hello, Black Mask,\" I said. \"Nice to see you again.\"\n\t\"Hello, Nightmunk,\" she replied. \"What brings you back to Vibora Bay?\"\n\t\"I came to consult with Dr. Ka regarding a case I'm working on,\" I said, \"only I seem to have arrived too late. When did this happen?\" I gestured at the remains of the brownstone.\n\t\"About two hours ago,\" said Black Mask. \"The police have already gone over the rubble. There's no trace of any explosives. No trace of Dr. Ka, either. Witnesses said the building glowed purple and then just collapsed in on itself.\"\n\tI glanced up at Samtiss. \"Sounds like Graknash beat us here.\"\n\tHe nodded. \"These ruins reek of Lemurian magic.\"\n\t\"And two hours would have been just after we got back from the Moon.\"\n\tBlack Mask stared at me. \"The Moon?\"\n\tI nodded. \"Graknash is a Lemurian sorcerer who was imprisoned on the Moon, until another Lemurian named Hydrophis broke him out. He serves somebody called the Unknowable One. We killed Hydrophis, but Graknash escaped.\"\n\tShe turned her gaze to Samtiss. \"And who is this?\"\n\t\"His name is Samtiss. He's been helping me.\"\n\t\"Why?\"\n\t\"I am fighting against the terrible thing that has happened to my people,\" said Samtiss.\n\tShe considered him for a moment, then turned back to me. \"What did you want to talk to Dr. Ka about?\"\n\t\"I thought he might be able to tell me about this Unknowable One,\" I replied.\n\t\"Is there nobody else here who can help us?\" asked Samtiss.\n\t\"Well,\" said Black Mask, \"there's Caliburn.\"\n\tI wrinkled my nose. \"Anyone else?\"\n\tShe shook her head. \"Mages don't exactly grow on trees, you know.\"\n\t\"Who is this person?\" asked Samtiss.\n\tI looked up at him. \"Robert Cole, a.k.a. Robert Caliburn, the Magnum Mage, wielder of the Elemental Flame Gem, Earth's Archmage.\" I looked back at Black Mask. \"Is he even in Vibora right now? He tends to move around a lot.\"\n\t\"Last I heard, he was,\" she replied.\n\t\"And I'm sure you know where.\"\n\t\"It's my job to know. Follow me.\" She turned and began walking down the street, and I followed, trying hard not to stare at her butt, which was right at the level of my eyes.\n\t\"I take it you and this Caliburn are not on the best of terms?\" Samtiss asked me as we walked.\n\t\"You could say that. The first time we met, he tried to kill me.\"\n\t\"Why did he do that?\"\n\t\"He thought I was working for his enemy. Turned out we were both being played. Of course, it didn't help that he has all the warmth and friendliness of a nest of hornets.\"\n\t\"He's not that bad,\" said Black Mask. \"Anyway, you're hardly one to talk.\"\n\t\"Ha! Compared to Caliburn, I'm downright cuddly!\"\n\tShe glanced back at me and smirked. \"Well, you certainly [i]look[/i] more cuddly.\" \n\tWe arrived at a sleek, black motorcycle parked nearby. She climbed aboard and looked at us. \"I'm afraid there's only room for one passenger.\"\n\t\"That will not be a problem,\" said Samtiss. He started to crackle with electricity and rose into the air. I shrugged and climbed aboard the bike, putting my arms around Black Mask's waist. She kick-started the engine, and off we went, Samtiss flying along behind.\n\tWe headed east, into the older part of the city, along brick streets that wound beneath cypress trees draped with Spanish moss, past elegant mansions that had been built before the Civil War and had somehow survived the shelling of the city by Union forces. Many of these had since been turned into hotels and restaurants. One was owned by Guy Sweetland, leader of a gang of werewolves called the Dogz. You could get a thick juicy steak there, provided you like your meat rare, which I don't. Another, toward which we appeared to be heading, was called the White Hare Hotel. It was run by a sweet old lady named Aunt Nancy and rented rooms on a monthly basis to local artists, musicians, and less savory types, such as the man we were looking for. There was a bar and grill on the first floor that made excellent po' boys.\n\tAs we approached, part of the wall on the third floor exploded outward as if a bomb had gone off, and a body came flying out, landing on the street directly in front of us. It was a Lemurian in full battle armor, and it didn't look as if he'd ever be getting up again. Black Mask deftly skidded her bike to a halt beside him, and we both jumped off, Samtiss landing next to us. Out of the hole in the side of the hotel leaped a man wearing a trenchcoat, a pistol in each hand. He twisted in midair and sprayed lead back at the building as four more Lemurians came flying after him. Two went down like plugged ducks, but the other two deflected the hail of bullets with mystic shields and continued after their prey as he plummeted three stories, landed on his feet, and stood up, unharmed.\n\tRobert Caliburn was a tall, lean man with short brown hair, gray eyes, and worn, haggard features. On the rare occasions when he smiled, it usually meant that something unpleasant was about to happen. Besides his customary trenchcoat, he wore a black shirt and brown slacks. He appeared to be about thirty, but I knew he had been a soldier in Vietnam, which meant his true age was probably closer to seventy. He was also responsible, indirectly, for the existence of Dead Man Walkin', which was another reason for me not to like him.\n\t\"You should probably hang back,\" I said to Samtiss, \"so he doesn't think you're a hostile.\" Black Mask and I ran toward Caliburn as the two remaining Lemurians swooped down out of the night sky at him. He was blazing away at them with his pistols, but the bullets were bouncing off their shields harmlessly. I struck one Lemurian with a gas bomb, which detonated on impact, engulfing him a cloud of sleep gas. Black Mask sent a bola spinning toward the other, and it wrapped around him and then discharged a massive jolt of electricity. Both Lemurians fell to the street, unconscious.\n\t\"Well,\" said Caliburn, smirking, \"if it isn't the cavalry, in the proverbial nick of time. Hello, Black Mask. Hello again, fuzzball.\"\n\t\"Always a pleasure, Caliburn,\" I said. \"And by the way, you're welcome.\"\n\tBlack Mask and I went over to the two unconscious Lemurians and tied their hands behind their backs while Caliburn looked on. \"Do we just leave them for the police?\" I asked, looking at the two lizard-men doubtfully.\n\tBlack Mask nodded. \"We do have some experience dealing with magical villains here.\"\n\tI shrugged. \"Whatever you say.\"\n\t\"What the—?\" I heard Caliburn say. \"Don't move, pal!\"\n\tI turned to see him pointing one of his pistols at Samtiss, who was gazing back at him curiously. \"It's all right,\" I said. \"He's on our side.\"\n\t\"An untransformed Lemurian helping humans?\" asked Caliburn, not lowering his gun. \"That's a new one on me.\"\n\t\"He's been in this thing since the beginning,\" I said, walking over to Caliburn. \"I'll vouch for him.\"\n\tCaliburn looked down at me and smirked. \"And who's vouching for you, fur face?\"\n\t\"Look at my costume and ask that question again, wizard.\"\n\tCaliburn shrugged and holstered his gun. \"So, I'm guessing you two arriving with a Lemurian in tow just as a bunch of them try to kill me is more than a coincidence.\"\n\t\"Wow, mages [i]are[/i] smart!\" I said.\n\t\"I'm also guessing this has something to do with the attack on Dr. Ka's brownstone earlier tonight.\"\n\t\"Two in a row,\" I said. \"Want to go for the hat trick?\"\n\t\"Sorry, I don't have any rabbits on me at the moment. What have you got for me?\"\n\tI was about to tell him when we were interrupted by an old woman with glasses and a shawl who ran out of the White Hare Hotel toward us. \"Oh, Mr. Caliburn!\" she cried. \"I'm so glad you're safe! When I heard the explosion upstairs, I thought . . .\" She stopped, staring at me and then at Samtiss and the two Lemurian prisoners.\n\t\"I'm fine, Aunt Nancy,\" said Caliburn, in the kindest tone I'd ever heard him use. \"Don't worry about the damage to the hotel. I'll pay for it.\"\n\tShe made a dismissive gesture. \"Oh, I'm not worried about that. That's what insurance is for. I'm just glad you're all right!\"\n\tI became aware of sirens in the distance, getting closer. \"The cops are coming,\" I said.\n\t\"If we're here when they arrive, we could be stuck answering questions for hours,\" said Black Mask.\n\t\"We cannot afford such a delay,\" said Samtiss.\n\tCaliburn nodded. \"Aunt Nancy, when the cops get here, you didn't see us, understand?\"\n\tShe smiled. \"I understand, dearie. You all run along now. And be careful!\"\n\tHe turned to Black Mask. \"With the Lemurians chasing me, I'll need somewhere to lie low for a while. Can I use your place?\"\n\tShe nodded. \"Of course.\"\n\t\"Good. Gather round, everyone!\" He crouched down and traced a glowing circle on the ground with one finger. Black Mask brought her motorcycle inside the circle, and Samtiss and I got inside as well. We left the two tied-up Lemurians outside. There was a flash of light, and then we were standing in an alley in another part of Vibora Bay. I recognized the location immediately from when I'd worked with Black Mask before. This was the entrance to her secret hideout.\n\tBlack Mask opened a door into a narrow hallway, where she left her bike, and took us down a flight of wooden stairs to a basement. It was just as I remembered it—a shabby, messy affair, with an old sofa, a table laden with Chinese food cartons, a workshop in one corner, and a crime lab in another. On a desk sat a computer with the screen saver running and a police band monitor that crackled periodically with barely comprehensible voices. \n\tCaliburn sat down on the couch and put his feet up on the table. \"All right,\" he said. \"Thrill me.\"\n\t\"Ever hear of someone called the Unknowable One?\" I asked him.\n\tHe actually cracked a smile at that. \"Not that I know of. I take it he's connected with Lemuria in some way?\"\n\tSamtiss and I gave him a rundown on the events that had led up to us seeking an audience with Dr. Ka while Caliburn listened intently. \"Well, you two have been busy boys,\" he said once we had finished. \"So you have no idea what this Graknash intends to do once he finds the Unknowable One?\"\n\t\"We do have one clue,\" I said. I reached into a pouch on my belt and took out a scrap of paper. \"I found this on Hydrophis's body. It's covered in weird symbols. I was hoping Dr. Ka might be able to tell me what they mean.\" I glanced at Samtiss as I handed the paper to Caliburn. The Lemurian's reptilian face managed to convey surprise, as I'd kept the paper hidden from him until now.\n\t\"They're Lemurian hieroglyphs,\" said Caliburn, \"I can tell you that much. I don't recognize the specific symbols, though.\"\n\t\"You would not,\" said Samtiss, tongue flicking. \"We have thousands of such hieroglyphs. Those are ones whose meanings are known only to the priestly caste.\"\n\t\"Can you read them?\" I asked him.\n\tSamtiss shook his head. \"I am a mere apprentice. Such knowledge is above my sphere.\"\n\tI sighed. \"Great. Then we're right back where we started.\"\n\t\"Not necessarily,\" said Caliburn. He reached into his trenchcoat and from somewhere produced a golden scimitar, which he laid on the table before him.\n\t\"That's Dr. Ka's,\" said Black Mask.\n\tCaliburn nodded. \"I found it in the ruins of his brownstone earlier tonight. I was trying to use it to find him when [i]his[/i] scaly buddies,\" he indicated Samtiss, \"came a-callin'.\"\n\t\"You can do that?\" I asked.\n\t\"The weapon is spiritually bonded to its owner,\" said Samtiss. \"It should be possible to trace the link back to his present location.\"\n\t\"Assuming he's still alive,\" said Black Mask.\n\t\"Oh, he's alive,\" said Caliburn. \"The scimitar draws its power from its master. If Dr. Ka were dead, it would be nothing but an inert hunk of metal.\"\n\t\"All right,\" I said. \"How do we do this?\"\n\tCaliburn swept the empty Chinese food cartons off the table with his arm. \"Gather around the table, all of you.\"\n\tBlack Mask, Samtiss, and I gathered around the table on which the golden blade lay. \"Are we holding a séance?\" I asked.\n\t\"Something like that,\" said Caliburn.\n\t\"Do we need to hold hands?\" asked Black Mask.\n\t\"Nah, that's only in the movies. I need each of you to close your eyes and open your mind. Empty it of all thoughts. Concentrate only on the blade. Only on the blade. On the blade. The blade. Blade. Blade. Blade . . .\" Caliburn's voice became hypnotic as he kept repeating the word over and over, until it lost all meaning and became just a sound. An image began to form in my mind, vague and indistinct at first, but gradually getting clearer, like a picture coming into focus. I saw a dark-skinned man in a white tunic, with an ornate golden helmet, gauntlets, belt, and sandals. He was being held prisoner in a black cyclopean edifice whose geometry defied understanding, at least to those of us accustomed to thinking in only three dimensions. Its spindly spires soared up thousands of feet into a sky that was a swirling purple miasma, without a sun, moon, or stars. Around the structure fluttered hideous bat-winged creatures whose faces were all fanged maws, without eyes or noses, and the ground upon which it sat stretched off toward the horizon with nothing but jagged black rocks and gnarled, thorny vegetation as far as the eye could see. Over the whole scene hung an aura of terror, despair, and desolation.\n\t\"I was afraid of this,\" said Caliburn, his grim voice breaking us out of our trances and, thankfully, causing the horrible vision to dissipate. \"He's in the Qliphoth.\"\n\t\"The what?\" I asked, shivering a little at what I'd just seen.\n\t\"It's a kind of anti-universe, hostile to life as we know it. Just going there causes death and madness.\"\n\t\"Sounds lovely,\" said Black Mask.\n\tCaliburn looked at Samtiss. \"It's where your creators came from.\"\n\tThe Lemurian's eyes widened. \"The Bleak Ones?\"\n\t\"The beings you Lemurians call the Bleak Ones, or Rastrinfhar, are better known in occult circles by another name—the Kings of Edom.\"\n\t\"And who are they?\" I asked.\n\t\"Cosmic entities of destruction. They invaded our multiverse billions of years ago, and whatever dimension they visited, they consumed and destroyed. Eventually, they were stopped by an alliance of powers so ancient we can't even identify any of them. All we have are names like 'the Fire Bearer,' 'the Lords of the Jeweled Spider,' and 'the Angel of Cold Shadow.' Some of the Kings were too powerful to be destroyed, however, so instead they were imprisoned in empty dimensions, where they remain trapped to this day. But they can still affect the multiverse indirectly, through those who serve and worship them.\" He looked at me. \"The Elder Worms are servants of the Kings.\"\n\tI swallowed. I'd seen those things on Monster Island—vile, slug-like creatures in armored suits who transformed anyone unfortunate enough to fall into their clutches into one of them. Manimals always took care to avoid them. \"You're sure Dr. Ka is in this Qliphoth place?\" I asked.\n\tCaliburn nodded. \"No question about it.\"\n\t\"Well, then,\" I said. \"Looks like we're going to have to go and get him.\"\n\n\tIt would take Caliburn a few minutes to prepare for our journey to the Qliphoth, so I used that time to file a report for the rest of Team Nighthawk through my cell phone, letting them know where I was and where I was going in case I didn't come back. Then I went upstairs to Black Mask's kitchen and made myself a sandwich, since I didn't know when I'd have access to food again. While I ate, I used the Internet to do a little research on the place we were going to. Turns out Qliphoth is actually a Hebrew word meaning \"shells\" or \"husks.\" In Rabbinic lore, it refers to old, ruined universes that God created before He created the Sephiroth, the multiverse in which human beings—and manimals—dwell.\n\tAs I sat there reading, Samtiss came into the kitchen. The Lemurian regarded me for a moment with his golden, slit-pupiled eyes, his tongue flicking. \"Let me guess,\" I said. \"You want to know why I didn't tell you about that scrap of paper I found on Hydrophis's body.\"\n\tHe nodded. \"I was under the impression that we were partners in this affair. Am I mistaken?\"\n\t\"My partners are Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk. I trust them with everything. I barely know you, and what I do know I don't especially like.\"\n\t\"You blame me for Julie leaving you.\"\n\tI glared at him. \"That has nothing to do with it! You called me a monster! Is that the sort of thing you say to someone you consider your partner?\"\n\t\"That happened after you found the paper,\" Samtiss pointed out.\n\t\"True. The fact is, I don't trust you, and I haven't since this whole thing began.\"\n\t\"Because I am Lemurian.\"\n\t\"Partly. And partly because I simply don't know much about you. When we first met, I asked you why you turned against your people, and you told me you felt no need to share that with a manimal. In one stroke, you insulted me and made me think you had something to hide. That didn't exactly start us out on the right foot.\"\n\t\"Since then we have fought side by side against a common foe and saved each other's lives more than once,\" said Samtiss. \"Does that count for nothing among you surface folk?\"\n\t\"It doesn't hurt, but it doesn't make us friends, either. Anyway, why would you want a monster for a friend?\"\n\t\"My words were ill-chosen. I apologize. I will explain why I renounced the Bleak Ones, if you wish it.\"\n\t\"I think I've already pieced it together. Hydrophis mentioned something about them devouring your soul when you die.\"\n\tHe nodded. \"That is so, but I knew that when I agreed to serve them. It is the price we pay for regaining our original reptilian forms and the power that goes with them.\"\n\t\"So what soured the deal for you?\"\n\tHe sighed, a remarkably human gesture. \"There was a girl named Yareen. She was my lover. Unlike me, however, she was content with Arvad's rule.\"\n\t\"Arvad. He's the king of Lemuria, isn't he?\"\n\t\"Correct, although he himself is not actually Lemurian. He belongs to a race of immortals called the Empyreans. That is why some of us rebelled against him and returned to worshipping the Bleak Ones. Even though Yareen did not hate him as I did, when I was transformed into what I am now, she asked to be changed also, so that we could be together.\"\n\t\"That would actually be kind of romantic, if you hadn't both been dedicated to destroying humanity.\"\n\t\"That is the thing. The change I saw in her after her transformation went far deeper than just the physical. As a human, she had been gentle and kind. That was what I had loved about her. In her reptilian form, however, she was the most wicked, vicious creature I have ever seen. She took particular pleasure in destroying sacred shrines and the priests who attended them, so much so that she became known as Yareen the Defiler. Her cruelty to prisoners was so extreme that even others in the rebellion were repulsed by it, including myself. When I told her of my feelings, she accused me of being weak and not fully embracing the Bleak Ones. It was then that I realized we had made a ghastly mistake. If the Bleak Ones could turn my sweet Yareen into a creature such as this, surely no good could come of serving them. And so I fled Lemuria and came to Millennium City. I thought that perhaps there I might find a means of changing her back into what she had been before.\"\n\t\"Well,\" I said after a moment of silence, \"perhaps that could still happen. One thing I've learned about Millennium City is that pretty much anything is possible there.\"\n\tHe nodded. \"And now that I have bared my soul to you, are we friends?\" There was a tone of pleading in his voice that actually made me feel sorry for him. Having turned against his people, he was all alone in the world. He desperately wanted a friend.\n\t\"I wouldn't go that far,\" I said, still unwilling to fully trust him. \"But I do understand you better now.\"\n\tJust then, Black Mask came into the kitchen. \"Caliburn's ready,\" she said. We both went down to the basement with her.\n\tCaliburn was sitting on the floor in a lotus position, eyes closed. He opened them as we came downstairs. \"All right,\" he said. \"Everybody good and ready?\"\n\t\"As ready as we're ever going to be,\" said Black Mask.\n\tI looked up at her. \"Are you sure you want to come?\"\n\t\"Dr. Ka is a friend of mine,\" she said. \"He'd do the same for me.\"\n\tCaliburn got to his feet. \"In that case, let me give you a little primer about where we'll be going. First, the Qliphoth isn't like anyplace you've ever been before. It's bad. I mean, really bad. An entire multiverse dedicated to evil, chaos and destruction. Evil isn't just something that happens there—it's woven into the very fabric of its existence. Just being there is hazardous to your health. The Qliphoth corrupts everything it touches, and it will slowly warp both your body and your mind, changing them into something else. Something evil. That's why we don't want to stay there any longer than we have to.\"\n\t\"I take it you've been there before,\" I said.\n\tHe nodded. \"Yeah, several times, and it was a ton of fun every time. Second thing. The Qliphoth is inherently unstable, so don't depend on anything staying the same. Landmarks can disappear the moment you turn your back on them. So it's important we stay together, because if you get lost in that place, you're really up the creek.\"\n\t\"Will radios work there?\" asked Black Mask.\n\t\"That's the next thing I was going to mention,\" said Caliburn. \"Because of the Qliphoth's entropic nature, technology obeys Murphy's Law. Ergo, anything that can go wrong, will. That means the more complicated something is, the more likely it is to fail. So all you gadget-using heroes,\" he said, looking at Black Mask and me, \"are going to want to rely on the simplest devices possible.\"\n\tBlack Mask and I nodded to each other. We would be going low-tech.\n\t\"Finally,\" said Caliburn, \"there's the matter of time. There's no day-night cycle in the Qliphoth, and mechanical and electronic timepieces tend to malfunction, so they can't be trusted. That means there's no effective way of measuring the passage of time there. What's more, time isn't a constant in the Qliphoth. It varies from place to place and from person to person. For one person, only minutes of subjective time might pass, while another might experience the passage of hours, days, even weeks. That is, if you could even measure time, which you can't. So, again, it's important that we stay together. Also, because it's full of things that will try to kill you. Any questions? This is your last chance to back out.\"\n\t\"Nobody's backing out, Caliburn,\" I said. \"Let's do this.\"\n\tHe knelt down and drew that glowing circle with his finger again, and we all stepped inside. There was a flash of light, and then we were . . . elsewhere.\n\tI don't think I can really do justice to what I saw next. Maybe a good horror writer like H. P. Lovecraft could, but I'm not him. So I'll just have to do the best I can.\n\tWe were standing on a rocky plain. The ground beneath our feet was purplish-black and looked like solidified lava shot through with cracks that glowed with dim magenta light. Scattered around us were thorny shrubs with sickly white leaves, along with small, mossy growths with stalks that terminated in glowing white blubs. In every direction jagged black fangs of rock had thrust up out of the ground haphazardly, pointing this way and that. In the distance I could see what looked like twisted, leafless trees, their trunks and branches contorted as if writhing in agony. On the horizon towered great dark shapes in defiance of gravity, some resembling buildings, some resembling animals, and others completely alien-looking. The sky above us was a purple and blue nebula that cast everything into an eternal dusk. The air was tinged with sulfur, ammonia, rotten meat, and other noxious scents. And worst of all, there was the sound. A constant low background noise, like someone scraping a scythe along the string of an electric guitar, punctuated by belches and groans or piercing screeches, like someone you can't see whispering nasty things in your ear.\n\t\"Welcome to the Qliphoth,\" said Caliburn.\n\t\"Good Lord!\" exclaimed Black Mask, looking around at the nightmarish vista. \"It's like something Salvador Dali might have painted.\"\n\t\"More like Hieronymus Bosch,\" I said.\n\t\"And here comes the reception committee,\" said Caliburn, drawing his pistols.\n\tI looked in the direction Caliburn was looking. Flying toward us was a horde of bat-winged creatures. I readied some throwing blades, remembering that Caliburn had said the lower the tech the better. Black Mask had some throwing stars in her hands—the kind you see in martial arts movies—and Samtiss was crackling with electricity. We were ready to take on anything the Qliphoth could throw at us.\n\tAs the things came nearer, I could make out more details. They were roughly humanoid, about two feet tall, with bone-white skin and clawed hands and feet, wearing only tattered loincloths. They had no proper faces, just grotesque gaping mouths that occupied almost the entire front of their heads, lined with long, sharp teeth. From those mouths issued piercing shrieks that made me long for the sound of nails on a chalkboard.\n\tCaliburn spoke an incantation, and five transparent purple crystals appeared in the air around us. The bat-winged creatures were suddenly moving in slow motion, making them easy targets. Black Mask and I hurled our throwing stars and blades at them, dropping one after another, while Samtiss fired bolts of lightning from his hands and Caliburn blazed away with his pistols, mowing them down by the dozens. The creatures fought back by shooting sickly green bolts from their hands, but even though a couple hit me, I barely felt them. Nobody else seemed to be especially troubled by them either. Meanwhile, the mound of small corpses in front of us grew bigger and bigger. Finally, the bat-winged things retreated, flapping off back to wherever they'd come from and leaving us standing before a pile of their fallen comrades.\n\t\"Well, that was unimpressive,\" I commented.\n\t\"Don't get too cocky,\" said Caliburn, holstering his guns. \"Those were chaos imps—the least of the Qliphoth's horrors. And you had my sigils of ebon weakness protecting you.\"\n\t\"Is that what those purple crystals were?\" I asked.\n\tHe nodded. \"They slow down adversaries and reduce the damage they deal. Without them, those toxic bolts of theirs would have hurt a lot more.\"\n\t\"Well, thanks for that, then,\" I said, and started collecting the blades I'd hurled from the bodies of the dead chaos imps, while Black Mask did the same with her throwing stars.\n\t\"How do we find Dr. Ka?\" asked Black Mask.\n\tCaliburn produced Dr. Ka's golden scimitar from beneath his trenchcoat and placed it in the air in front of him, where it floated with utter disregard for gravity. The blade slowly rotated and then stopped. \"He's that way,\" Caliburn said, and began walking in the direction the blade was pointing while it floated along ahead of him. The rest of us followed.\n\t\"Scales,\" said Caliburn, glancing at Samtiss, \"get some altitude and see what's ahead of us.\"\n\t\"My name is Samtiss,\" the Lemurian replied sharply.\n\t\"I don't care if it's Brigitte Bardot,\" said Caliburn. \"Get up there and get us some intel.\"\n\tSamtiss's tongue flickered at the mage, but he rose into the air, ascending to an altitude of about five hundred feet. After a minute, he came back down to us. \"There is a structure of some sort a few miles ahead, but it is like nothing I have ever seen before. It seems to have been built upside-down. It rises from a tiny point into a great sprawling stronghold high in the air.\"\n\t\"If it's high in the air, shouldn't we be able to see it from here?\" I asked.\n\t\"Not necessarily,\" said Caliburn. \"The Qliphoth is funny that way. The laws of perspective don't work the way we're used to.\" He looked back at Samtiss. \"Any hostiles between us and it?\"\n\t\"I saw an enormous creature that resembled the animated skeleton of a chicken,\" said Samtiss.\n\t\"Nightmare colossus,\" said Caliburn. \"We'll want to avoid that.\"\n\t\"Do you know the names of all the horrors that live in this place?\" I asked.\n\tCaliburn smirked. \"Only the ones that actually have names. Jack Fool comes from here.\"\n\t\"I can believe that,\" I said. Jack Fool was a tall, gaunt apparition in a ragged jester costume and bird-skull mask who served the magical villain organization DEMON. I'd fought him a couple of times while trying to stop a plot of theirs involving some artifacts stolen from a museum. He wielded a blade with deadly accuracy. \n\t\"You'll have to guide us around that colossus,\" Caliburn told Samtiss.\n\tThe Lemurian nodded. \"Follow me.\"\n\tWe did so, trekking along across the rocky, desolate landscape beneath the eternally overcast sky, past twisted, leafless trees and strange polyp-like things that stared at us with a single great eye surrounded by waving tendrils. All the while, the constant dissonant background noise grated on our nerves, making it hard to concentrate. My teeth were on edge, and I felt anxious and irritable. It was easy to imagine how being in this place for too long could drive you mad. I stole glances at my companions to see how they were holding up. Black Mask and Samtiss were both rubbing their heads periodically. Caliburn seemed to be doing all right, but then he'd been here before and was probably used to it. I experienced a sudden burst of jealousy and felt the urge to pop my talons and ram them into the mage's back. I fought it down with a shiver. It must be the Qliphoth messing with my head, amplifying negative emotions. I wondered how long we had before we were at each other's throats.\n\tWe ascended a rise, and before us lay the upside-down citadel Samtiss had mentioned. It towered a thousand feet in the air, black as onyx, with a jumble of domes, spires, and windows laid out to no sane plan, all balanced impossibly on a base that tapered to a pinpoint touching the ground. To the right of us, I could see the nightmare colossus lumbering around aimlessly. I took out my binoculars and focused them on it. It did indeed look like the skeleton of a giant chicken, twenty feet tall, surrounded by an aura of darkness. I was quite happy to keep my distance from it.\n\t\"I don't see any guards,\" I said, after turning my binoculars to the shadowy citadel.\n\t\"There wouldn't be,\" said Caliburn. \"Getting into places in the Qliphoth tends to be pretty easy. The hard part is getting out again.\"\n\t\"Can you teleport us up there?\" asked Black Mask.\n\tHe shook his head. \"I'd rather not risk it. This place being what it is, there's a good chance we'd materialize inside a wall or a floor. So I guess we'll have to fly up.\" And with that, he uttered an incantation and rose into the air.\n\t\"I didn't know you could fly,\" I said, \"though I guess I really shouldn't be surprised.\"\n\tHe smirked. \"It's something I like to save for special occasions like this.\" He looked over at Samtiss. \"I'll take Black Mask. You carry the furball.\"\n\tThe Lemurian put his arms around my waist, and I felt a tickle of static electricity that made my fur stand on end as we rose into the air together and headed toward the dark fortress.\n\tAs we came closer to the upside-down citadel, the bizarre, alien nature of the place became ever more apparent. It looked as if it had been designed by M. C. Escher on a bad trip, with doors, windows, balconies, and stairs oriented in different planes and arranged with no logical relationship to each other. Just looking at it gave me vertigo. We landed in what passed for a courtyard, which was centered around a statue doing its best impression of Edvard Munch's [i]The Scream[/i]. There was no one about, but it was far from silent, thanks to the malignant sonic wallpaper of the Qliphoth. With the floating scimitar of Dr. Ka pointing the way, we passed through a trapezoidal doorway and went inside.\n\tOur footsteps echoed impossibly loudly as we walked along a dark, gloomy corridor lit by torches, set in sconces along the walls, that sputtered and seemed constantly on the brink of going out. We descended a flight of stairs that somehow seemed to change planes while we were traversing them, so that by the time we reached the end we appeared to be traveling upward. I could see an opening ahead, and I was seized by the horrible notion that we would pass through it only to find that it opened onto the bottom of the floating fortress, sending us all falling to our deaths.\n\tInstead, it opened into a large dining hall with an upper gallery overlooking a long table, around which sat a dozen Lemurians busily stuffing their faces. After the oppressive weirdness of the Qliphoth, the sight of these familiar creatures was almost a relief, even if they did want to kill us. They rose, hissing as we entered the room, readying swords and spells.\n\t\"We can't let any escape,\" warned Caliburn, \"or they'll bring the whole place down on our heads!\"\n\t\"Oh, they're not getting away,\" I said, taking a handful of sleeping gas pellets from my belt. I cast the pellets at the lizard-men, and several collapsed at once. The others came charging toward us. Caliburn summoned his sigils of ebon weakness again, and the Lemurians went into slow motion. Samtiss took advantage of the delay to build up a massive lightning bolt between his hands, while Black Mask removed from her belt a small metal cylinder that telescoped into a fighting staff. Samtiss unleashed his bolt, which leaped from one Lemurian to another, dropping all but three of them. Black Mask waded into these, and with three swift strikes took them down. The entire fight had lasted six seconds.\n\t\"Nice work,\" said Caliburn, \"but we're not out of the woods yet. There's sure to be a lot more of them between us and Dr. Ka.\"\n\t\"Quite right, Robert Caliburn,\" came a screechy voice from above us. We all whirled to face it. There in the gallery stood a slender, purple-scaled Lemurian wearing a crested lavender helmet, breastplate, pauldrons, and loincloth. The lower arms and legs were covered in diagonal lavender cloth wraps while the upper arms and legs lay bare. The fingers ended in long, wicked-looking claws. This one didn't appear to have a tail, but I'd observed there was a fair amount of variation among them. The creature gazed down at us contemptuously with golden, slit-pupiled eyes, black tongue flickering.\n\t\"I assume you're in charge here,\" said Caliburn.\n\t\"You assume correctly,\" the creature replied.\n\tCaliburn nodded. \"Mind telling us your name, so we know what to carve on your tombstone?\"\n\t\"Samtiss can tell you who I am,\" said the Lemurian, leering at him.\n\tI turned to look at Samtiss. He was clearly tremendously agitated, his tail lashing furiously. \"Is that who I think it is?\" I asked.\n\tHe nodded. \"Yareen the Defiler.\"\n\t\"A friend of yours?\" Caliburn asked.\n\t\"She was my lover,\" said Samtiss, clenching his fists.\n\t\"Yes,\" said Yareen, \"we were lovers once, until the weakling turned against the Bleak Ones.\"\n\t\"Terrific,\" muttered Caliburn. \"Are you gonna have a problem fighting your ex?\"\n\t\"Better she were dead than the way she is now,\" said Samtiss grimly.\n\t\"Works for me,\" said Caliburn, drawing his pistols.\n\t\"Allow me to introduce you to someone, Samtiss,\" said Yareen. A small Lemurian came up beside her, blue-scaled, wearing only a loincloth and an ornate necklace and wristbands. \"This is Dorgok. Our son.\"\n\tSamtiss snarled. \"Liar! He cannot be our son! He is too old!\"\n\tYareen chuckled. \"You forget where we are, Samtiss. Time in the Qliphoth does not flow as it does on Earth.\"\n\tSamtiss's mouth fell open, and his eyes went wide. \n\tI noticed that the gallery was filling up with more Lemurians. We were surrounded. This was not looking good. \"Gentlemen,\" said Black Mask, clutching her staff, \"do we have anything resembling a plan?\"\n\tCaliburn shrugged. \"I've always found all-out attacks work reasonably well.\"\n\t\"You are a fool, Robert Caliburn!\" sneered Yareen. \"All you have done is spare me the trouble of hunting you down. I have had years to attune myself to this place. I can reshape it with a thought. You seek Dr. Ka? Very well, I shall send you to him!\"\n\tWith that, the floor literally dropped out from under us, and we tumbled into blackness.\n\t\n\t\"Alvin, wake up!\"\n\tI felt myself being shaken awake by a huge hand on my shoulder, and looked up, blinking the sleep from my eyes. Looming above me was the hulking, shaggy shape of a white gorilla, a pair of bright blue eyes in his wrinkled pink face. They were not the eyes of a mindless brute, however, but gazed down at me with sober, fatherly concern.\n\t\"Qwyjibo?\" I asked, staring up at him in surprise.\n\tHe chuckled. \"You were expecting King Kong, maybe?\" he asked, in a throaty, grating voice. \"Come on, it's almost time.\" He let go of my shoulder and lumbered away from me.\n\tI sat up and took stock of my surroundings. I was in a small chamber of natural stone, sitting on a bed of palm fronds. The only illumination came from a little campfire that had burned down to a pile of glowing embers. I knew this chamber well. It had been my home on Monster Island ever since Moreau had cast my brothers and me out of the big house. I was wearing nothing but my own fur, as was Qwyjibo, but that was normal. Manimals always go naked. I looked over at him as he stood by the entrance, waiting for me. While he was unmistakably a gorilla, he stood fully upright, like a man. \n\tAs I sat there staring at Qwyjibo, an image came to my mind of him looking very different from the way he did now—twenty feet tall and black as soot, with eyes like hot coals, his head and arms wreathed in flames; a savage monster with no human qualities whatsoever, driven purely by animalistic rage, who could breathe fire and tear trees out of the ground. I shook my head. Why should I see him like that? Qwyjibo was my trainer and my friend. If not for him, I would have died in the fight pits, like my brothers.\n\t\"Is something wrong?\" Qwyjibo asked, looking at me, puzzled.\n\t\"No,\" I said. \"For a minute, I thought . . . never mind.\" I stood up and went over to him. \"Who am I fighting?\"\n\tQwyjibo blinked and rapped my skull gently with his knuckles. \"Hello? Is something wrong inside that little head of yours? You're scheduled to go up against Beusa, remember?\"\n\tI nodded. Beusa was a bear. This would be a tough fight. \"Let's go,\" I said.\n\tWe walked together down a winding stone tunnel that was lit by torches stuck in holes in the walls. Occasionally, we passed side chambers where other manimals were eating, sleeping, or fornicating. The place stank of beasts and offal, but I was used to that now.\n\t\"If you beat him,\" said Qwyjibo, \"it'll be your twenty-fifth victory. That means more food and better living quarters.\"\n\t\"I know,\" I said.\n\t\"Still not as good as what you had in the big house, though.\"\n\tI looked up at him. \"I didn't ask to be in the big house, any more than I asked to be here.\"\n\t\"Of course not,\" said Qwyjibo. \"But you've done well. A lot better than anyone expected.\"\n\tI shrugged. \"I had a good teacher.\"\n\t\"Don't sell yourself short, Alvin.\" His muzzle split in a wide ape grin at his little joke as I glared up at him. \"I've trained manimals bigger than you who didn't make it to their twenty-fifth fight.\"\n\t\"Just goes to show size isn't everything.\"\n\t\"No, but it helps.\"\n\tWe entered a large chamber containing dozens of manimals: cats, rats, bears, birds, deer, and gorillas. They were standing around a pit dug into the dirt floor, twelve feet on a side and twelve deep. Standing before it was a massive figure, bigger than Qwyjibo. He had a pig snout, with long sharp tusks jutting up from his lower jaw, and big, spiky tufts of fur sprouting from his broad shoulders. His powerfully muscled body was covered in yellow-brown fur spattered with black spots, and his feet were a pair of thick cloven hooves. He gazed down at me with dark, wicked little eyes. \"So,\" he rumbled, \"you made it to the big two-five, eh?\"\n\tI smirked up at him. \"Disappointed, Hyena-Swine?\"\n\tHe shrugged. \"Maybe you're worth something after all, runt. More than your brothers were, at any rate.\" He grinned unpleasantly.\n\tMy lips curled back, baring my buck teeth. \"Screw you!\" I snarled at him.\n\tHe chuckled. \"Get yourself ready. Whatever happens, I'm going to enjoy this.\"\n\tQwyjibo led me over to where a rat girl was waiting for us. She wasn't much bigger than me, and she had a much more slender build. Her clawed, delicate pink hands began strapping sharpened staves of bone to my forearms. \"You know,\" she said as she worked, \"you're really quite handsome, Alvin. Got a nice body, too.\"\n\tI smiled at her. \"Thanks.\"\n\t\"If you survive this, maybe you could come back to my chamber and rest for a bit?\" she asked, smiling back at me.\n\tI knew what she had in mind, and it wouldn't involve resting, at least not at first. I also knew that what she was really after was the increased food I'd be getting. It's one of the constants of the universe that winners always attract hangers-on. I didn't reply to her, however, as I was distracted by the bone staves strapped to my forearms. Another image came to my mind, of my hand and forearm encased in a grey-and-black armored gauntlet, with talons of bronze-colored metal. I shook my head vigorously. What the hell was wrong with me? Why did I keep seeing things?\n\tThe rat girl scowled at me. \"Fine, if that's the way you want it!\"\n\tI tried to speak, to explain that she'd misinterpreted my head shake as a refusal, but then I stopped. Maybe it was better not to get involved with her. After all, I already had a girlfriend. Another image came to my mind, of a human girl with brown eyes and short brown hair. Wait, what? That wasn't my girlfriend! I didn't have a girlfriend, certainly not a human one! I stood there baffled as the rat girl stormed off in a huff.\n\t\"Are you ready, Alvin?\" Qwyjibo asked, coming over to me.\n\tI looked up at him, my heart pounding in my chest. \"Qwyjibo, something's wrong! I'm not supposed to be here!\"\n\tHe furrowed his heavy brow. \"You can't back out now, Alvin. You know what'll happen if you do.\"\n\t\"But . . . this isn't the way things are! Not anymore! And you . . . you're not like this! You're . . .\" I could see from the look on his face that he wasn't buying any of it. He thought I was having a panic attack, and I couldn't blame him. After all, I was about to engage in mortal combat with a bear. \n\tHe crouched down and grabbed my shoulders with those huge ape hands of his. \"You've got to pull yourself together, Alvin! You can do this! You've killed bigger manimals than Beusa!\"\n\tI swallowed. \"But I don't want to kill him! I don't want to kill anyone! Don't you know how precious life is?\"\n\tHe clamped a hand over my muzzle, silencing me, then leaned close to my ear and lowered his voice. \"I understand what you're saying, and I agree. There are other manimals who feel the same way. But you start talking like that and you're dead, understand? Especially if Hyena-Swine finds out. He'll kill you himself, and he'll make it as slow and painful and bloody as he can.\" He drew back and ruffled my hair, grinning, his voice returning to normal. \"Now get in there and do me proud, Alvin!\"\n\tI nodded and walked toward the pit. I was trembling, and my heart was in my throat. There were furred and feathered bodies all around me, their screams for blood echoing deafeningly off the rock walls of the chamber, pummeling my ears. I desperately wanted to be anywhere but here, doing anything but this. On the opposite side of the pit stood Beusa, a wall of brown fur, almost as wide as he was tall, gazing at me—tiny, naked me—and licking his chops.\n\tTwo bamboo ladders were lowered into the pit, one on each side, and Beusa and I climbed down them. Then the ladders were withdrawn. They wouldn't go back in until one of us was dead. I stood there frozen, staring at the bear I had to kill if I wanted to live. I'd done this twenty-four times before. It should be easy now. Why was I so terrified?\n\tBeusa let out a blood-chilling bellow, and charged.\n\tIt almost ended right there. I was so rattled I didn't even react until he was nearly upon me. Then instinct kicked in, and I spun aside, ducking under a swipe from a paw that was as big as my whole head and slashing at him with my makeshift bone claws as he went by. As I backed away, I saw that my claws were dripping red. I'd scored first blood. Hooray for me.\n\tBeusa whirled around and snarled at me, and I raised my claws defensively. The fear had left me. I was icy calm now. I waited for him to charge again.\n\tHe did, rushing toward me like a furry freight train, his head low, his arms spread wide. He wasn't going to let me duck under his guard again. That was fine. As he drew near, I leaped high, twisting in midair, and slashed at his exposed back as he passed beneath me. He roared as my claws bit into his flesh again. I landed on my feet behind him and backed away, surprised at myself. How had I done that? I'd never performed a stunt like that before. I glanced up at Qwyjibo, who was standing at the edge of the pit, staring down at me, a puzzled expression on his simian face. He'd never taught me to do that. The other manimals looked confused as well. They'd all seen me fight before. This was new.\n\tBeusa turned to face me, and he no longer looked so sure of himself. He dropped to a crouch and began edging toward me cautiously, and I did the same to him. A hush fell over the cave as we closed with each other.\n\tSince the bear had the greater reach, I let him strike first. He swung a paw at me, and I blocked it. The impact shook my teeth, and my feet skidded a little on the dirt floor. He was incredibly strong, like all bears, but his attacks were slow, clumsy, and predictable. Even so, if he got his paws on me just once, it was over. There was nothing I could do against his brute strength. So I couldn't let that happen.\n\tWith my left arm blocking his paw, I rotated inside his guard and lunged with my right, ramming my bone claws into his belly. He groaned with pain and tried to snap at me with his jaws, but I sprang back out of his reach, somersaulting and landing on my feet a couple yards away.\n\tBeusa was looking scared now. He knew he was going to lose. I would have felt sorry for him, except that I was growing more and more certain that none of this was real. I shouldn't have been able to defeat him this easily. I'd fought bears before, and I'd always come away with new scars. This time I hadn't even been scratched. Plus, I was doing things I'd never done before. Something was very wrong here.\n\tThe bear bellowed again and charged at me, and I shook my head. Totally predictable. I waited until he was within striking distance. Then I leaped upward, sailed over his head, and jabbed downward, plunging my claws into his back. I flipped over him, landing on my feet behind him as he collapsed to the floor in a heap. \n\tThe fight was over, and while my body was spattered with blood, none of it was mine. I looked up at the ring of furry and feathered faces lining the pit. The cave was completely silent.\n\t\"I'd like to leave now,\" I said, \"if you don't mind.\"\n\tA bamboo ladder was lowered into the pit, and I climbed up it. All the manimals were staring at me and keeping their distance. I ignored them and walked over to Qwyjibo. He put his hand on my shoulder, and we went over to a rock, where I sat down and he knelt before me and started unstrapping the bone staves from my forearms.\n\t\"What the hell was that?\" the gorilla asked. \"You been training with a kung fu master in secret or something?\"\n\t\"That's what I was trying to tell you earlier,\" I said. \"I don't think any of this is real.\"\n\t\"You mean this is all a dream?\"\n\t\"More like a nightmare. I keep seeing things that don't make any sense.\"\n\t\"Well, normally I'd say you were crazy, but after what I just saw? I know I never taught you to do those things. Right now, I'd be scared to go up against you.\"\n\tI smiled at him. \"High praise indeed.\"\n\tHe shrugged. \"Of course, if you're right, that means I'm not real either.\"\n\t\"That would stand to reason.\"\n\t\"You said something about me not being the way I am.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Somewhere along the way, you become a monster. I don't know how, but I know it happens.\"\n\t\"Hmm. Do I at least get to bash some heads together?\"\n\tAn image came into my mind, an image of Qwyjibo in his monstrous form fighting the Teleiosaurus, a creation of the mad geneticist Teleios—a true clash of the titans. I grinned. \"You get to bash the biggest head on Monster Island.\"\n\t\"Well, that's something, anyway.\"\n\tAt that moment, a shadow fell over us. I looked up to see Hyena-Swine gazing down at me with his piggy eyes. I scowled. \"What do you want?\"\n\t\"Father has sent for you,\" he growled.\n\tI stood up. \"Why do you keep calling him that? He's not our father. No father makes his children kill each other.\"\n\t\"He created us,\" said Hyena-Swine. \"If not for him, we wouldn't exist. Our lives belong to him. Now come with me.\"\n\tI folded my arms. \"Suppose I don't want to?\"\n\tHis eyes narrowed. \"Then I'll bring you to him.\"\n\tI grinned. \"You think you can?\"\n\t\"I am not Beusa, and you haven't got your claws now.\"\n\t\"Alvin,\" said Qwyjibo, \"perhaps you'd better go with him and find out what Moreau wants.\"\n\tI shrugged. \"Fine. Let's go, Hyena-Swine.\"\n\tWe left the cave and walked down a long tunnel and out into open air. Before us lay a tropical jungle, and scattered around the tunnel entrance were the bones of teleioraptors, minor creations of Teleios that manimals hunted for food. A winding path led into the jungle. We followed it. \n\tAfter a few minutes we entered a cleared area containing a sprawling wooden house with a thatched roof. A stag manimal was pruning the shrubs around it while a cat manimal swept the front porch. We ascended the steps and went inside. Sitting in a wicker chair in a comfortable living room, sipping a Singapore sling, was Moreau.\n\t Thanks to H. G. Wells, most people believed until recently that [i]The Island of Dr. Moreau[/i] was a work of fiction, an allegory for Victorian uneasiness about fiddling with nature and the implications of Darwinian evolution. The truth is, Dr. Moreau did exist, and he did create human-animal hybrids on a remote tropical island. He also has a great-grandson named Phillippe, a brilliant but sadistic biologist who eventually discovered the truth about his grandfather's work and took up his mantle.\n\tDr. Phillippe Moreau was a small, dapper Frenchman with white hair and a neatly trimmed goatee and mustache. He was dressed in a dark shirt, trousers, and tie, a white lab coat, and wingtip shoes. His watery blue eyes gazed at me through a pair of thick, round glasses as I stood there naked before my creator. They were eyes that blazed with intelligence and passion, the eyes of a visionary—the eyes of a madman.\n\tI folded my arms across my chest. \"What is it you want, Moreau? I'm busy.\"\n\tHyena-Swine glared down at me. \"Mind your tongue in the presence of your creator, Alvin, or I will rip it out!\"\n\t\"Down, Hyena-Swine!\" snapped Moreau, and Hyena-Swine immediately lowered his head in submission. It was amusing to see the hulking beast-man become so servile in the little Frenchman's presence. \"He has good reason to be angry with me,\" Moreau added, with a condescending smile.\n\tI growled at him. \"Angry doesn't begin to cover it. There isn't a person on this planet I hate more than you.\"\n\tHe adopted an airy tone. \"Be that as it may, I understand you dispatched your latest opponent with, shall we say, unusual skill?\"\n\tI shrugged. \"So what? I thought you wanted us to get better. Isn't that the whole point of these contests?\"\n\t\"True, true. I am simply curious as to how you came by such extraordinary ability, considering I made you to be nothing more than a living toy.\" He leaned forward slightly, and his eyes seemed to glow behind his glasses.\n\tI chuckled. \"Evolution is full of surprises. Look at your species. Tiny, defenseless bipeds living on the plains of Africa, scavenging the kills of lions and hyenas. Who would have guessed that someday they'd walk on the moon?\"\n\t\"Interesting,\" said Moreau, dragging the word out in a creepy, almost erotic way. \"There appears to be more to you than I realized, Alvin. Perhaps I should examine you more closely?\"\n\tI shivered. When Moreau said \"examine,\" it meant scalpels and saws, and no anaesthesia. \"You're not touching me, Moreau,\" I said.\n\tHe nodded to Hyena-Swine. That was my cue. I whirled and socked the beast-man right in his groin. He squealed, grabbed himself, and fell to his knees. Then I leaped at Moreau, knocking him out of his chair as he gaped at me in surprise. We went down together, the glass he'd been drinking from shattering on the wooden floor. I grabbed the broken glass and held the jagged edge to his throat.\n\t\"This is for my brothers!\" I snarled, and slashed the glass across his throat. There was a spray of blood, and his body went limp beneath me.\n\tI dropped the glass and stood up, gazing down at the corpse of my creator, my chest heaving. God, I'd wanted to do that for so long! It felt wonderful! I turned and started walking away from Moreau's body and the whimpering Hyena-Swine.\n\tThen, from behind me came a gurgling laugh. I spun around, and stared as Moreau sat up, grinning above the gaping wound on his neck.\n\t\"I must say, Alvin,\" he said, in a gloppy, distorted version of his normal voice, \"you have exceeded my wildest expectations. But do not get above yourself. You are still just a toy.\"\n\tI swallowed, my skin crawling. \"You're dead, Moreau!\" \n\t\"You cannot kill me. I am a part of you.\" Moreau stood up and began walking toward me. \"You think you are a man because you make love to that woman? You are a toy, Alvin, a silly little thing I made for fun, and that is all you will ever be.\"\n\t\"How can you know about that?\" I demanded. \"You were dead by the time . . .\" My voice trailed off. Yes, Moreau had been dead by the time I met Julie, killed when a group of heroes blew up his laboratory. None of this was real.\n\t\"Do you really think she loves you?\" asked Moreau, grinning down at me.\n\t\"Yes!\" I shouted. \"And I love her!\"\n\tAnd suddenly it was Julie instead of Moreau standing before me, gazing down at me with a cold, contemptous sneer. \"Don't be ridiculous, Alvin,\" she said. \"How could I love a little freak like you? You're not even human!\"\n\t\"You're not real!\" I yelled at her. \"None of this is!\"\n\t\"It's as real as your mind makes it. And you're trapped here, forever. You can't escape your own mind.\"\n\tI froze. That was it, the clue I needed. This was only as real as my mind made it, and the mind could be controlled. The magical heroine Witchcraft had taught me how to do that. \n\tI closed my eyes and visualized a pool of water, its surface smooth as a mirror. My heart and breathing started to slow, and the nightmare around me slowly faded away. I was floating bodiless in a serene void, feeling nothing but bliss. Witchcraft had said this was the place in the heart and soul where peace and happiness dwell. When it all got to be too much for me, this was where I went.\n\tMy eyes snapped open. I was sitting on the floor of a dank stone cell with an iron grate door. I looked down at myself. I was wearing my Nightmunk costume again. I started to breathe a sigh of relief, but then I realized I couldn't be sure that this was truly reality. It might turn out to be like one of those fake-outs in a movie, when someone thinks they've woken up from a dream only to find they're still dreaming. I stood up and walked over to the door of the cell, grasped the bars, and tugged on them. The door rattled a bit. It felt real enough, but then so had everything in that nightmare I'd just left. I shook my head. If I kept doubting my senses, I'd be going down a rabbit hole there was no climbing out of. At some point I had to make the leap of faith that what I was seeing was real. Otherwise, I might just as well give in to the madness that was gnawing at my brain.\n\tThe first step was to get out of this cell. I removed a particle mine from my belt, attached it to the door, set it for a ten-second delay, and then got as far away from it as I could, which wasn't very far. I huddled in a corner of the uncomfortably small cell, counting the seconds until the mine would explode and hoping my body armor would protect me from harm. I tensed when I got to ten.\n\tNothing happened.\n\tI raised my head and stared at the tiny blinking object attached to the door. Had it been a dud? That didn't seem likely. Nighthawk's particle mines had never failed to explode before. I stood up and walked over to it, my heart in my mouth, because there's nothing scarier than an unexploded bomb. I peered at the timer. The numbers were going back and forth between four and eight seconds. Then I remembered what Caliburn had said about timepieces not working here. I sighed, took the mine off the door, and deactivated it.\n\tOkay, time for Plan B. I took a dime-sized thermite charge from my belt and set it against the door's lock. Then I attached a wire that led to a small battery on my belt. The moment the connection was made, the thermite began to glow white hot, throwing off sparks and making a loud hissing sound as melted metal dripped onto the stone floor. I averted my eyes, because the light from burning thermite can do a number on your retinas. The lock was quickly reduced to slag, and I gave the door a kick. It swung outward easily, and I exited the cell.\n\tI was standing in a long corridor, lit by torches in sconces on the walls and lined on both sides with more iron grate doors. Clearly, this was a dungeon. It certainly looked very medieval. There was nothing to suggest which way to go, so I picked a direction at random and started walking, peering into the cells as I passed. None of them appeared to be occupied until I reached one five doors down from the one I'd been in. There, floating in some kind of swirling column and apparently unconscious, was Black Mask.\n\t\"Jennifer!\" I cried, running to the door and rattling it. She didn't respond, and I can't say I was surprised. I quickly opened the door of her cell with another thermite charge and went inside. Then I paused, warily eyeing the vortex she was floating in. I didn't want to touch that thing if I could avoid it, so I took out my grapple gun and fired it at her. The claw hooked her belt. I hit the retract button, but instead of her being pulled toward me, I found myself being pulled toward her and the vortex. I stopped the rewind and sighed. Apparently, there was only one way I was going to get her out of here. I took a deep breath and stepped into the vortex.\n\tI found myself standing in a big, dark room, big enough that I couldn't see the walls or ceiling. Kneeling on the floor in front of me in a circle of light was Black Mask, sobbing. I ran over to her and grasped her shoulders. \"Jennifer,\" I said, \"what's wrong?\"\n\tShe looked at me, her eyes red from crying. \"What's wrong? Everything! Whatever made me think I could do this?\"\n\t\"Yes,\" came a voice from the darkness. \"Whatever made you think you could do a man's job, woman?\" We both looked in the direction of the voice. Into the light stepped a man wearing a green tricorn hat, a long green coat with heavy cuffs, a shirt with ruffles at the neck, black knee breeches, white silk stockings, and black shoes with big brass buckles. His face was covered by a black domino mask. I recognized him from a portrait I'd seen in her hideout. He was Stephen Ward, the first Black Mask, who had fought against the British in the Revolutionary War. He regarded me strangely. \"What in God's name are you?\" he asked.\n\tI didn't see anything to be gained by talking to this phantom from the past, so instead I shook the current Black Mask's shoulders. \"Jennifer, listen to me! This isn't real! It's all in your head! You've got to pull yourself out of it! Just calm down and let it all fade away!\"\n\t\"Get away from her, monster!\" shouted Stephen Ward, lunging and swinging his arm at me. His fist caught me on the jaw and sent me sprawling across the floor. As I sat up, rubbing my jaw and tasting the salty tang of blood in my mouth, I saw more Black Masks emerging from the darkness. There was one from the Old West, wearing a cowboy hat and duster; another from the 1930s, in a trenchcoat and fedora; one from the 1960s, wearing tights and a cape; and the most recent one before Jennifer—her father—wearing a male version of her costume. I jumped to my feet and looked around desperately as more of them came forward. I was surrounded by the Black Masks of the past—nine in all—and they all had murder in their eyes.\n\tI didn't know if dying in Jennifer's nightmare meant I would die in real life, but given how merciless the Qliphoth seemed to be, I wasn't about to chance it. I did know I couldn't take on nine highly trained fighters by myself. Flight was the only option. I looked up. There was only darkness above me, nothing to attach a grapple to. Once again, time for Plan B. I grabbed a handful of sleep gas pellets from my belt, hurling them at the three Black Masks directly in front of me. They reeled and collapsed, and I held my breath and charged through the gas cloud toward Jennifer.\n\t\"Come on!\" I yelled, grabbing her hand. \"We've got to get out of here!\"\n\tShe nodded, getting to her feet, and ran with me toward a glowing door frame with a tilted top that had appeared out of nowhere. We ran together down a dark hallway, through a series of crazily angled door frames that looked like something out of [i]The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari[/i], until we arrived at a staircase that led dizzyingly downward. It flattened out the moment we stepped on it, and down we slid, bouncing off invisible walls as it zigzagged at random intervals. It was like being in a funhouse, only without the fun.\n\tI could see that the slide we were on was coming to an end, and waiting for us there was a huge mouth filled with sharp teeth, grinning in anticipation. Holding Jennifer's wrist with my right hand, I popped the talons on my left gauntlet and rammed them into the slide, and we jerked to a halt just a few feet from that ravenous maw.\n\t\"Jennifer,\" I said, panting, \"you've got to wake up! It's the only way either of us is getting out of here!\"\n\t\"All those other Black Masks,\" she said miserably. \"All that history. Whatever made me think I could live up to a legacy like that?\"\n\tI glanced back up the slide. The other Black Masks were hurtling down it toward us. We had only a few seconds before they knocked us both into that mouth.\n\t\"Listen to me,\" I said, keeping my voice low and steady. \"You are the Black Mask. I've seen you work and I've seen you fight. You're as good as any Black Mask that's come before, maybe better!\"\n\t\"But Stephen said—\"\n\t\"The hell with Stephen! He lived in an ignorant time! This is your time, not his! Now wake up and seize it!\"\n\tShe looked down at the hungry mouth anxiously, and I looked up at the rapidly approaching line of Black Masks. They were almost on top of us. This was going to be close.\n\tI watched as Jennifer struggled to pull herself out of her nightmare, squeezing her eyes shut and concentrating. It didn't seem to be working. Maybe she needed a shock to her system. I had some smelling salts in my belt, but unfortunately both my hands were occupied at the moment. Then I thought of another way. Focusing every bit of strength I had into my right arm, I groaned as I pulled her up on top of me, then mashed my muzzle to her lips, kissing her. Her eyes went wide behind her mask, and the world around us shattered into a million pieces.\n\tWe were back in her cell, Jennifer lying on the floor with me standing over her. The swirling vortex was gone. I held out my hand to her, and she clasped it and got to her feet.\n\t\"Well, that was certainly a novel solution to that problem,\" she commented dryly.\n\tI shrugged. \"It always works in the fairy tales.\"\n\t\"This is hardly a fairy tale, Alvin.\"\n\t\"Have you ever read them? Some of them are pretty dark.\"\n\tShe smiled. \"So does that make you my Prince Charming?\"\n\tI grinned back at her. \"Well, you did say I was cuddly. But I already have a girlfriend.\" Or so I hoped.\n\t\"Anyway, thank you for pulling me out of there. That was one doozy of a nightmare.\"\n\t\"It's the Qliphoth, Jennifer. Caliburn said it would screw with our heads, try to drive us insane. It trapped each of us in our own personal hells.\"\n\tShe nodded. \"It sure knew where to hit me. It's daunting, sometimes, having a legacy to live up to.\"\n\tI glanced down at my own costume, then back up at her. \"I wouldn't know anything about that.\"\n\tWe both laughed.\n\tWe left her cell and walked down the gloomy torchlit corridor side by side. A few doors down we came to another cell with an occupant. It was Caliburn, floating unconcious in a vortex just as Jennifer had been.\n\t\"What do you suppose his hell is?\" Jennifer asked.\n\t\"I'm scared to think,\" I replied. A thermite charge got the door of his cell open, and we went inside. We stood for a moment at the edge of the vortex, then nodded to each other and stepped in.\n\tA blast of tropical heat hit our faces as we were suddenly buried in dense green foliage. From all around us came the sound of gunfire.\n\t\"Welcome to Vietnam,\" I said. A spray of bullets from somewhere shredded the leaves above our heads, and we both ducked down.\n\t\"How are we going to find Caliburn in all this?\" asked Black Mask.\n\t\"We're not going to find him by staying here,\" I replied. We made our way through the thick jungle, keeping low. The air was hot and humid, and there was smoke everywhere. Occasionally, we glimpsed soldiers through the undergrowth. Sometimes they were Americans, sometimes they were Viet Cong. We made a point of avoiding both. Fortunately, we were good at that.\n\tAfter a few minutes, we broke into a clearing. Before us stood an ancient stone temple, shrouded in vines, the corners of the roof turned upward in typical Vietnamese fashion. There on the steps sat Caliburn, dressed in combat fatigues, his helmet and M-16 lying beside him. A cigarette burned between his lips, and his face was smeared with dirt and sweat. He didn't look any younger, but he did seem less haggard, somehow. Before him lay a young Vietnamese boy, his chest a mass of blood, an AK-47 assault rifle clutched in his dead hands.\n\tCaliburn looked up at us with hollow eyes as we approached. \"Why do they send children to fight in a war?\" he asked.\n\tNeither Black Mask nor I said anything. There was really nothing that could be said. It wasn't even worth mentioning that none of this was real, since this was almost certainly a memory of something that had actually happened. All we could do was stand there and stare at the corpse of that little boy.\n\tSuddenly, Caliburn's head snapped up, and he turned toward the dark interior of the temple. He rose to his feet and started walking inside, leaving his helmet and rifle behind. Black Mask and I followed him.\n\tThe inside of the temple was all one room, empty save for a pedestal in the center, about four feet high. On top of it lay a red gem that glowed dimly. As Caliburn approached, it glowed brighter, lighting up the whole room.\n\t\"The Elemental Flame Gem,\" I said.\n\tBlack Mask nodded. \"This must be where he found it.\"\n\tCaliburn reached out a hand toward the gem, then stopped and drew back.\n\t\"Take it, Caliburn!\" I shouted at him. \"You're meant to have it!\"\n\tHe turned toward me. \"I'm not Caliburn! I'm Robert Cole!\"\n\t\"You're destined to become the Archmage!\" said Black Mask.\n\t\"I'm not worthy!\" he yelled back. \"I'm a murderer! A killer of children!\"\n\t\"Caliburn!\" came a deep, grating voice from behind us. Black Mask and I both whirled. Before us stood a dead man.\n\tDarren Williams had been one of the world's top hitmen before Caliburn had put two bullets in him. For some reason, however, he hadn't stayed dead. He stood before us now, a huge figure wearing camouflage trousers, combat boots, and a black Kevlar vest with a skull on it, a machine gun slung across his back. His skin was the color of wet paper, and his bones showed through in various places. His grinning skull was half-exposed, and his eyes glowed a hellish red. He wasn't Darren Williams anymore. Now he was called Deadman Walkin.'\n\tThe last time Black Mask and I had fought Deadman Walkin', he'd nearly killed us both. We'd only beaten him by luring him onto a patch of quicksand, where he'd sunk without a trace. I doubted that trick would work here. I readied a bola, and Black Mask did the same. The best we could hope to do was temporarily incapacitate him and then try to convince Caliburn to take the Flame Gem.\n\t\"You really think those stupid little yo-yos are gonna stop me?\" asked Deadman Walkin', unlimbering his machine gun and leveling it at us. It was an M2 Browning, a weapon designed by the legendary John Browning more than a century ago. It can fire .50 caliber bullets at a rate of 600 rounds per minute. Contrary to what you may have seen in various movies, it can't be held and fired by a single human being. No human being is that strong. But Deadman Walkin' wasn't human anymore, and his undead muscles were more than up to the task.\n\tBlack Mask and I sent our bolas spinning at him. Hers wrapped around his chest, pinning his arms, while mine entangled his legs. Then we both charged at him, slamming into him and knocking him over. Black Mask smashed her nightstick across his perpetually grinning half-skull face, while I popped my claws and plunged them into his chest. He grunted—more in surprise and annoyance than in pain, since he didn't feel pain anymore—and glared up at us with those baleful red eyes. \"Oh, I'm gonna enjoy killin' you two,\" he growled. \"I'm gonna make it last a good, long time.\"\n\t\"Caliburn, take the gem!\" Black Mask shouted. \"We can't hold him for long!\"\n\tCaliburn looked at the gem, reached for it, then drew back again. \"I . . . I can't!\"\n\t\"Son of a bitch!\" I muttered.\n\tWith a roar of pure rage, Deadman Walkin' snapped the cord binding his arms and threw us both off him. He reached for his gun, but I fired my grapple gun at it and yanked it away from him. He snarled, drew a dagger from his boot, and got to his feet. \"I'm gonna flay you alive, rodent, and use your hide for a rug,\" he said.\n\t\"Are you sure I'll go with your drapes?\" I asked.\n\tHe snarled and lunged. For such a big man, he moved amazingly fast. Death hadn't robbed him of any of his speed. I parried his thrust with my claws and slashed at his belly, tearing through his vest and into the flesh beneath. There was no blood, just a nauseating stench of decay. It washed over me, and I reeled backward, feeling sick. Fortunately, Black Mask came to my rescue, tackling him from behind. He threw her off with contemptuous ease and tossed her against a wall. She slid to the ground, dazed.\n\t\"Wait your turn, Black Mask,\" he said, advancing toward me. \"I'll get to you soon enough. First, I've got a chipmunk to skin.\"\n\tBlack Mask had given me a chance to recover, and I took the opportunity to put more distance between myself and the undead assassin. I looked over at Caliburn. He was standing there, staring at the gem, frozen.\n\t\"Screw this,\" I said. I ran to Caliburn, grabbed him by the wrist, and slammed his hand down onto the gem. \n\tInstantly, his body was wreathed in a fiery aura, his eyes glowing like suns. He turned toward Deadman Walkin', who was charging at us, and shot a bolt of flame from his hand. The undead killer went up as if he'd been soaked in gasoline, a howling, dancing human torch. He ran from the temple and was gone.\n\tCaliburn looked down at me. He was now his old self—or should I say, his modern self—wearing his trenchcoat. His face was unchanged, but his eyes held the weight of decades of dealing with mystical terrors and Things Man Was Not Meant to Know. He didn't say anything. Black Mask and I had seen his secret shame, something he'd kept hidden from everyone all these years, the guilt that had haunted him throughout his long life. What do you say after something like that? Sorry?\n\t\"Caliburn . . .\" I began.\n\t\"Save it,\" he said. And suddenly the temple was gone and we were back in his cell.\n\t\"Where's your lizard friend?\" Caliburn asked me.\n\t\"We haven't seen him,\" I replied. \"Seeing as he and Yareen have a personal connection, I'm guessing she has something special planned for him.\"\n\t\"We also haven't seen Dr. Ka,\" added Black Mask.\n\t\"Since Ka is the whole reason we're here, we should find him first,\" said Caliburn. Once again, he took Dr. Ka's golden scimitar out of his coat and placed it in the air before him. The blade rotated slowly and came to rest pointing in the exact opposite direction from the one we were facing. We turned and began walking back the way we'd come.\n\tAfter walking past about a million cell doors, we came to an archway. Through it came a high-pitched screech that didn't sound as if it issued from a human throat. We ran through the archway and found ourselves in a cavernous chamber lined with what I can only describe as torture boards. They were made of polished wood, about six feet high and three wide, tilted at an angle of forty-five degrees, with iron shackles for securing the victim's wrists, ankles, and neck. All of them were stained with dried blood, and two of them held occupants. One was Dr. Ka, who appeared to be unconscious. The other was Samtiss, who was writhing and screeching in agony while his son, Dorgok, grinned and played fingers of electricity over his body from his claws. As we entered the room, the Lemurian boy looked up from tormenting his father and hissed angrily. \"How did you get out of your cells?\" he demanded.\n\t\"I'm guessing you've never heard of someone named Houdini,\" replied Caliburn, smiling. \"Now step away from your father, and we won't have to hurt you.\"\n\t\"Die, human!\" screamed Dorgok, firing a bolt of lighting from his clawed hand at Caliburn, who raised his palm and casually deflected it.\n\t\"Not bad, kid,\" said Caliburn, as Dorgok gaped at him. \"You might become a real wizard someday. But, you see, I'm the Archmage. And that means I win.\" And with a gesture, he froze the boy in place. \"Let's get Ka and your friend and get out of here,\" he said to us.\n\tI ran to Samtiss and released him from his shackles, and Black Mask did the same for Dr. Ka. Meanwhile Caliburn kept watch, as if he were expecting something. As I helped the Lemurian down from the board, I noticed something else in the room: a glass cylinder about four feet tall tucked in one corner. It was covered in dust and cobwebs, apparently forgotten. There seemed to be some kind of vapor swirling inside it.\n\tI didn't have time to ponder the glass cylinder, however, as there was a flash of light and suddenly Yareen the Defiler was standing in the room, along with a dozen Lemurian soldiers.\n\t\"Kill them!\" she screeched. \"Kill them all!\"\n\tThe room erupted into chaos as the Lemurians charged toward us, swords raised. Caliburn summoned his sigils of ebon weakness, and the lizards went into slow motion. Black Mask and I dropped a few with throwing blades and throwing stars, while Caliburn blazed away with his pistols. A couple of the Lemurians closed with me, a pair of big, red-scaled bruisers wearing only chest straps, greaves, vambraces, and helmets. In their clawed hands they held massive greatswords that looked as if they could cleave me in half with one swipe. I was out of throwing blades, and they were too close for me to use my sleep gas pellets without getting myself too, so I blocked their blows and backed up, trying to lead them away from Samtiss, who was still in bad shape from the working over his son had been giving him. They ignored him and came after me, apparently considering me the greater threat, which I guess was a compliment.\n\tI retreated into a corner of the room and bumped up against that glass cylinder I mentioned before. One of the Lemurians swung at me. I dodged, and his blade struck the cylinder, shattering it. The vapor that had been swirling inside flowed out onto the floor and began to coalesce into something solid. It was a humanoid, about four feet tall, with a slender build and long, graceful arms. Its body was covered in brown fur, and it had ears that rose to points and blue, almond-shaped eyes. It wore only cuffed boots, a leather belt, and a green cap with a white feather in it that wouldn't have looked out of place on the head of Errol Flynn. Appropriately enough, there was a quiver of arrows slung across its back and a short sword in a scabbard hanging from its belt. Behind it swished an agile tail. \n\tThe Lemurians and I stared at the creature, which stared back at us and spoke in a chirpy, high-pitched voice, using a language I didn't recognize. Then one of the Lemurians heaved back with his sword and took a swing at it. The creature instantly dissolved into vapor again, flew back about ten feet, and re-formed. Its eyes narrowed, and a bow appeared in its hand out of nowhere. With amazing speed, it fired three arrows into the Lemurian, who crumpled to the floor, looking like a pincushion. Seeing the fate of his partner, the other Lemurian turned to flee, but another barrage of arrows struck him down before he could take a single step. Then the creature turned its attention toward me. I held up my hands, hoping it would understand that I meant it no harm.\n\tAt that moment, both our attentions were grabbed by an explosion of darkness between Yareen and Caliburn. A black cloud was forming, dissolving everything it touched, including a couple of Lemurians who weren't fast enough to get out of its path. Caliburn was backing away from it, hands raised, summoning a net of silvery threads that engulfed the cloud, stopping its spread.\n\t\"What's going on?\" I asked.\n\t\"She's invoking the power of primal chaos!\" shouted Caliburn. \"In a place as unstable as the Qliphoth, it'll spread like wildfire! She'll destroy the whole fortress!\"\n\t\"A small price to pay for getting rid of you, Caliburn!\" hissed Yareen.\n\t\"What about your son?\" I asked her.\n\tShe sneered. \"Sentiment is for the weak! He dies for a greater cause!\"\n\t\"So much for winning Mother of the Year,\" I commented. \"Caliburn, how long have we got?\"\n\t\"Not long!\" he said, gritting his teeth. \"I can hold it for the moment, but it's taking all my concentration. I can't do that and transport us back to Earth!\"\n\t\"Fear not,\" came a deep voice from across the room. \"I can.\" It was Dr. Ka, being helped to stand by Black Mask.\n\t\"Sure you're up to it, Doc?\" asked Caliburn, the strain of containing the black cloud showing on his face.\n\t\"I shall have to be,\" Ka replied. He knelt and began tracing a glowing circle on the floor with his finger.\n\t\"No!\" shrieked Yareen, raising her clawed hands. \"You shall not escape!\" Darkness began to swirl about her fingers as she prepared a spell—but then an arrow struck her squarely in the chest. She hissed, blood dribbling from her lips, and fell to the floor. \n\tI turned to the furry archer. \"Thanks,\" I said. He nodded, seeming to understand. Then I looked at Samtiss, who was getting unsteadily to his feet. \"Can you walk?\" I asked.\n\t\"I can make it,\" he said, \"but there is something here I need.\" He went over to Dorgok, who was still frozen, and picked him up.\n\tSamtiss, the archer, and I ran to Dr. Ka. The sorcerer had just finished drawing the teleportation circle around himself and Black Mask, and we stepped inside. Ka glanced up at Caliburn. \"Robert, we must go!\"\n\tCaliburn nodded and ran toward us. As he did, the silvery net around the black cloud began to shred, and the chaos came gushing out, devouring everything around it. Caliburn jumped into the circle, there was a flash of light, and we were back in Black Mask's basement in Vibora Bay.\n\t\"Well, that was fun,\" I said. \"Remind me never to volunteer to go to the Qliphoth again.\"\n\t\"I'll second that,\" said Black Mask. Then she glanced down at the furry archer. \"We seem to have picked up a new companion.\"\n\t\"Yeah,\" I said, \"but he doesn't habla English.\"\n\t\"A matter easily remedied,\" said Dr. Ka. He gestured, drawing a series of glowing symbols in the air with his finger. \"What is your name, small one?\"\n\t\"I Emorada,\" the archer replied, \"mighty paladin of Omlu.\"\n\tI smirked. \"You're a paladin? I thought paladins were supposed to be knights in shining armor. You look like a cross between Robin Hood and a spider monkey.\"\n\tEmorada frowned at me. \"Paladins are warriors of the gods. I serve Omlu, god of the sky.\"\n\t\"How did you end up in the Qliphoth?\" asked Black Mask.\n\t\"That what that place was? Me and my mentor Rhianna Wintersun was investigating reports of monsters near a village, things like nobody ever see before. We kill a few and follow their trail back to a glowing purple opening floating in the air. I go inside and find myself in weird ugly land with purple sky. Then I attacked by more monsters. There too many to fight, so I turn to wind, but they trap me and put me in glass jar. I dunno how long I stay there. Seem like forever. Then lizard people come, but they no pay attention to me until one break jar and I get out. You know rest.\"\n\tI looked at Caliburn and Dr. Ka. \"Does this make sense to either of you?\"\n\tKa nodded. \"The Qliphoth is contiguous with many other realities. Sometimes, mages create openings to it, through which horrors from the Qliphoth can enter their worlds. It follows that beings from those worlds can enter the Qliphoth as well. That must be what happened to Emorada.\"\n\tI turned to Emorada. \"Did I hear you right? You can turn to wind?\"\n\tHe nodded. \"Yah. Is a gift from Omlu.\" He looked around the room. \"What this place?\"\n\t\"You are on a world called Earth,\" said Dr. Ka, \"in a city called Vibora Bay. I am Dr. Ka, and these are Black Mask, Nightmunk, Samtiss, and Robert Caliburn.\" \n\t\"I in another world?\" asked Emorada, looking surprised. \"How I get back to my world?\"\n\t\"I am afraid that is problematical,\" said Ka, \"without knowing more about the nature of your home dimension.\"\n\t\"So, I stuck here?\" asked Emorada.\n\t\"For the moment, it would seem so,\" Ka replied.\n\tEmorada frowned, but said nothing.\n\t\"Pardon me,\" said Samtiss, \"but there is the matter of my son.\" He indicated the still-frozen Dorgok.\n\tCaliburn folded his arms. \"I would have thought you'd prefer him this way.\"\n\t\"I would like to try to help him.\"\n\tBlack Mask raised an eyebrow. \"After what he did to you?\"\n\t\"His mother may have filled his heart with hatred, but he is still my son. Perhaps it is not too late.\"\n\t\"What about his powers?\" I asked.\n\tDr. Ka went over to Dorgok and placed his hand on the boy's forehead. \"There. He will work no magic until I allow it.\"\n\tCaliburn shrugged. \"Fine. Just remember, scaly, he's your responsibility, not ours.\"\n\tDorgok unfroze and looked around wildly. Then he hissed and raised his clawed hands, trying to summon his lightning. The look on his face when nothing happened was priceless. He stared down at his hands, then at us. \"What . . . what is wrong? Why doesn't my magic work?\"\n\t\"I have blocked your powers,\" said Ka. \"Your father believes you can be turned from evil. I am skeptical, but I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. After all, he did, and his blood flows in your veins.\"\n\tDorgok snarled. \"I curse every drop of that blood!\"\n\tCaliburn rolled his eyes. \"Yeah, this is gonna be fun.\"\n\t\"This is what we do,\" I said.\n\tCaliburn turned to Dr. Ka. \"So, what can you tell us about the Unknowable One?\"\n\tKa raised an eyebrow. \"The Unknowable One?\"\n\tCaliburn nodded. \"That's what's behind this whole business. Nightmunk and Samtiss encountered a Lemurian named Graknash who said he served somebody he called the Unknowable One. They came to Vibora Bay because they thought you might know who that was.\"\n\t\"Also,\" I said, \"I took this off one of Graknash's servants.\" I handed Dr. Ka the scrap of paper with Lemurian hieroglyphs I'd found on the body of Hydrophis.\n\tKa inspected the paper, and his eyes widened. \"The Word of Unmaking!\"\n\tCaliburn looked shocked. \"Holy crap, is that what it is?\"\n\tKa nodded. \"There can be no question of it.\"\n\t\"But that would mean the Unknowable One is . . .\"\n\t\"The Solipsist.\"\n\t\"Excuse me,\" I said, \"but would you mind cueing in us non-mystical types as to what you're talking about?\"\n\tKa turned to me. \"The Word of Unmaking is a spell, a very powerful and dreaded spell that retroactively obliterates a person, as if they never existed.\"\n\tBlack Mask gasped. \"You mean nobody would even remember you?\"\n\tCaliburn nodded. \"It's a bit unreliable, though. Some people might retain traces of memories of the unmade person.\"\n\tI shivered. It was one thing to die. It was quite another to have never been.\n\t\"It does this,\" Dr. Ka continued, \"by invoking the power of the Solipsist.\"\n\t\"And who is that?\" I asked. \"One of the Kings of Edom?\"\n\tKa shook his head. \"It is worse than that.\"\n\tSamtiss flicked his tongue. \"What could be worse than a cosmic entity of destruction?\"\n\t\"Like the Sephiroth—the multiverse we know—the Qliphoth has many planes,\" said Dr. Ka, \"very few of which have actually been explored, so hazardous is the Qliphoth to life.\"\n\t\"The place we were in is called the Shining Darkness,\" said Caliburn, \"and it lies only shallowly within the Qliphoth.\"\n\t\"You mean there are places even worse?\" asked Black Mask, clearly having a hard time believing that.\n\t\"Everywhere in the Qliphoth is bad,\" said Caliburn, \"but there are some places where the entropic forces are so powerful your body would disintegrate the moment you entered them, at least without some serious magical protection.\"\n\t\"In the darkest reaches of the Qliphoth,\" said Dr. Ka, \"at either its highest or its lowest point, depending upon how one measures it, lies the Solipsist, also known as the Decreator or the Anti-God. It is ultimate nonbeing; to go to it or merge with it is to cease to exist. The closest any individual can get to it is to come into the presence of Qemetiel, a being known as 'the Crowd of Gods.' More than a mere King of Edom, Qemetiel is a chaotic fusion of long-dead cosmic entities. It mindlessly sucks in all things that come near.\"\n\t\"Think of it as a supernatural black hole,\" Caliburn helpfully supplied.\n\t\"What would the Lemurians want with something like that?\" I asked. \"Wouldn't it destroy them too?\"\n\t\"You must remember,\" said Dr. Ka, \"all things connected to the Qliphoth crave death and destruction—including, ultimately, their own. Perhaps, deep in their hearts, they realize how wretched their existences are and seek an end to them after they have ended everything else. The Lemurians are simply extensions of the Kings of Edom's nihilistic philosophy.\"\n\tI glanced over at Samtiss and Dorgok. The boy was standing with his fists clenched, tongue flickering, golden eyes blazing. Clearly, he was still furious about being denied the use of his magic. I couldn't tell if he agreed with what Dr. Ka was saying, understood it, or was even listening. He just wanted his powers back. Samtiss, on the other hand, looked utterly despondent as his true nature was revealed to him. I'd never seen anyone look so defeated, and my heart went out to him. While he wasn't exactly the nicest person I'd ever met, he didn't deserve this. No one did.\n\tI turned back to Caliburn and Dr. Ka. \"So, what are we going to do about this?\" I asked.\n\t\"If this Graknash truly serves the Solipsist,\" said Dr. Ka, \"he can desire only one thing: the destruction of all that is. The question is, how does he intend to accomplish it?\" He turned his attention to Dorgok. \"I don't suppose you would happen to know?\"\n\tDorgok's mouth curved into a scaly grin. \"Give me back my powers and I will tell you.\"\n\tCaliburn smirked. \"Nice try, kid.\" He cast a spell, and Dorgok's eyes went blank for a moment and then returned to normal. Caliburn turned to Dr. Ka. \"He doesn't know squat.\"\n\tDr. Ka frowned. \"Normally, I would consult my mystical library, but it was lost when the Lemurians destroyed my home.\"\n\t\"I understand the Magic Lantern bookstore in Millennium City has a pretty extensive library,\" I said.\n\tDr. Ka nodded. \"Then that is where we must go.\"\n\t\"Allow me to do the honors, Doc,\" said Caliburn, and began drawing one of those teleportation circles on the floor with his finger.\n\tDr. Ka turned to Black Mask. \"Thank you for helping to rescue me, Jennifer. I am sure you must have other matters to attend to. I shall contact you if I require your assistance again.\"\n\tBlack Mask nodded. \"I'll be ready. Good luck, Doc.\" Then she crouched down to be face to face with me. \"And thank you for those things you said to me in my nightmare, Alvin. They were very kind.\"\n\tI smiled at her. \"They were also true.\" She hugged me, and I hugged her back.\n\tCaliburn stood up, the magic circle glowing on the floor around him. \"All aboard. Next stop: Millennium City.\"\n\tI turned to Emorada. \"You're welcome to join us.\"\n\t\"I still not sure what goin' on,\" he replied, \"but I try to help.\"\n\tI looked up at Samtiss. \"How about you?\"\n\t\"Where else would I go?\" He grabbed Dorgok's wrist and led the boy into the circle. Dorgok looked sullen but didn't resist. Dr. Ka, Emorada, and I stepped in too, and Black Mask's basement vanished, to be replaced by a small, grassy courtyard nestled between four tall buildings. There were big piles of loose rock at either end, and a marble pedestal in the center with a round ball atop it. In the side of one building was a doorway with a glowing lantern to either side and strange arcane symbols above it. The sky overhead was the rosy pink of early dawn.\n\t\"Our magical research may take some time,\" said Dr. Ka. \"Perhaps it would be best if the rest of you got some sleep.\"\n\tI nodded. \"That's not a bad idea.\" It had been a long night, and I was dead tired. I turned to Samtiss, Dorgok, and Emorada. \"Come on, I'll take you to my place.\" The four of us headed out of the courtyard and onto the streets of Millennium City while Caliburn and Dr. Ka entered the bookstore.\n\tAs we walked along the early morning streets, the city slowly hauled itself awake around us, people heading to work in their cars or on foot, ready to begin yet another busy day. Our odd little company got more than a few stares, since even in Millennium City it wasn't every day one saw a chipmunk manimal in a cape and hood with two reptilian Lemurians and a furry archer. Not too many, though, because this was a town in which the hulk of a giant alien spaceship lay wallowing like some enormous hippopotamus in the middle of the river beside it, a leftover from an invasion by a race of insectoids called the Qularr some years back. I could see it now through the gaps between the buildings on my left, a constant reminder that anything could happen here and often did.\n\tEmorada was looking up at those buildings in awe. \"So tall!\" he said.\n\t\"I take it they don't have buildings like this where you come from,\" I said.\n\tHe shook his head. \"Biggest things we got is castles, but they nothing like this!\" He gestured at a car going by. \"Everyone here ride in magic carriages?\"\n\t\"They're called cars,\" I said, \"and they're not magical. In fact, magic is pretty rare here.\"\n\t\"Then how they go?\" he asked.\n\t\"What's the most complicated machine you have on your world?\"\n\tEmorada thought for a moment. \"Prolly a catapult.\"\n\tDorgok gave a hissing laugh. \"So primitive!\"\n\tI gave the boy a warning glare, then turned back to Emorada. \"Let's just say the machines here are a lot more complicated than that.\" I stopped, realizing it was a long way to my apartment in Westside and I was feeling too tired to walk it, so I hit a button on my gauntlet to summon my grav bike. It would take it a few minutes to get here, so I went over to a hot dog vendor I'd spotted on a street corner and ordered one with mustard and relish. I turned to my companions. \"You guys want anything? My treat.\"\n\tThe vendor regarded the two Lemurians warily but gave them each a hot dog when they asked for one. Emorada, however, just shook his head. \"I dun eat meat,\" he said.\n\t\"Soy dog for my friend here,\" I told the vendor. He nodded and handed Emorada one. The archer sniffed at it, then took a bite, chewed it, and grinned.\n\tJust as we finished eating, my bike arrived, dropping down out of the sky to land beside us, much to Emorada's amazement. I climbed on and told the others to follow me. Samtiss put his arm around his son and took off, while Emorada turned to wind and blew after us. I led them through the air, past the C-shaped blue glass building that was the headquarters of the Champions—the superteam to which my mentor Nighthawk had once belonged—past the circular plaza of the Renaissance Center with its ring of insanely tall towers, and down into the grungy neighborhood of Westside. I landed my bike on the roof of a building there and went down through the roof entrance to my apartment, the others following me inside.\n\tThe apartment was empty. Apparently, Julie hadn't come back yet, and I was sort of glad of that, because it would save a lot of explanations I was too tired to make. At the same time, it would have been nice to get a hug and a kiss after all I'd been through. Either way, it was good to be home.\n\t\"This where you live?\" asked Emorada, looking around curiously.\n\t\"This is the apartment he shares with a human female,\" said Samtiss. Dorgok stared at him, then at me, apparently just as surprised by the idea of a human and a manimal living together as his father had been. \n\tWhatever. I was too tired to care about Lemurian bigotry. \"I'm going to try to get some sleep,\" I told my companions. I looked up at Samtiss, who had been awake at least as long as I had. \"How about you?\"\n\t\"I too could use a rest,\" said Samtiss, nodding, \"after what my son put me through.\" He glanced at Dorgok, who smirked and flicked his tongue at him.\n\t\"How about you, Emorada?\" I asked.\n\tThe furry archer shrugged. \"I fine.\"\n\t\"In that case, would you mind watching the kid for us?\"\n\tEmorada fixed his eyes on Dorgok. \"Be my pleasure.\"\n\tDorgok glared back at him. \"And it will be my pleasure to watch my mother kill you when she comes to rescue me, before she slays my traitorous father and his repulsive manimal ally!\"\n\tI was trying to figure out how to break it to the boy that Yareen the Defiler had died in the Qliphoth, but Emorada beat me to the punch. He grinned at Dorgok. \"Not likely, since I put an arrow in her heart!\"\n\tDorgok's golden eyes went wide and his wide mouth fell open. \"You . . . you killed her?\"\n\tEmorada nodded. \"I a paladin of Omlu. It my duty to destroy evil. Give me a reason and I do same to you!\"\n\t\"Yeah, we're going to have to have a talk about that, Emorada,\" I said. \"We have laws on this world. You can't just go around killing people, no matter how much you think they deserve it.\" Then I turned to Dorgok. \"Anyway, I doubt your mother would bother rescuing you even if Emorada hadn't killed her. She had no problem with the idea of sacrificing you to kill all of us.\" I looked over at Samtiss. \"What was it she said?\"\n\tSamtiss folded his arms as he gazed down at his son. \"'Sentiment is for the weak.'\"\n\tDorgok had managed to regain his composure, somewhat. \"A-and she was right to do so! I would have gladly died for the cause!\"\n\t\"Well, sentiment is the reason you're still alive,\" I said. \"If Samtiss hadn't pulled you out of the Qliphoth, you would have been consumed by the primal chaos your mother summoned. He saved your life because he thought there might be something in you that was worth saving. Think about that.\"\n\tDorgok stared at me, then at Samtiss, then finally at Emorada. His eyes narrowed and he hissed at the paladin. \"I swear by the Bleak Ones, I will kill you! Somehow, I will find a way!\"\n\tEmorada smirked. \"You welcome to try, boy. Better than you have, and I still here.\"\n\t\"Please be patient with my son,\" said Samtiss. \"It would be a pity if I saved his life only to have you kill him.\" He glanced at Dorgok and added, \"And if you must, at least make it quick and painless.\"\n\tEmorada nodded. \"Dun worry, he no suffer.\"\n\t\"Thank you,\" said Samtiss.\n\tDorgok swallowed but said nothing.\n\tI decided I was done with this. I went into the bedroom, stripped off my costume, and climbed into bed. I lay there for a while, shivering. Threats to the entire multiverse were a lot for one little manimal to deal with. I really missed Julie. I wanted so much just to feel her arms around me, her body against mine. It's been said that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I guess it's true, because right now I loved her more than I ever had before. I hoped I'd have a chance to see her again. I curled up under the covers and went to sleep.\n\n\tJulie and I were lying in a field somewhere, making out. My muzzle was pressed to her lips, kissing them, my arms around her and hers around me. The grass was soft beneath us, and a cool breeze blew across us as the sun shone brightly in the sky. We both made happy, contented noises as our mouths strained against each other, enjoying the simple pleasure of being alive, together, and in love.\n\tThen the ground around us began to erupt, spewing forth grotesque, distorted shapes—horrors from the Qliphoth. Some were huge and squat, with four arms and no faces, just gaping mouths. Others were tall and slender, wearing long frock coats of black leather, like some hideous parody of a parish priest, their pale faces devoid of emotion with unblinking yellow eyes. Still others were lithe, prancing things, their bodies criss-crossed by black leather straps, between which one could see their dead-white skin, mad eyes, and grinning mouths filled with rotten teeth.\n\tThe horrors fell upon us, and Julie was torn from my arms. I tried to rescue her, but the priest things shot chains from their sleeves that wrapped around my arms and legs, immobilizing me. I watched, screaming helplessly, as she disappeared beneath a pile of horrors.\n\tI jolted awake, my heart pounding in my chest. I was in the bedroom of my apartment in Millennium City. Samtiss was standing beside the bed, gazing down at me with something like concern on his reptilian face.\n\t\"You were moaning in your sleep,\" he said. \"I decided to see if you were all right.\"\n\tI sat up in bed and rubbed my face. \"I was having a nightmare,\" I said. \"Not too surprising, all things considered.\"\n\tSamtiss tilted his head. \"In this nightmare, were you and Julie attacked by horrors from the Qliphoth?\"\n\tI stared up at him. \"How did you know that?\"\n\t\"I am not sure,\" Samtiss replied. \"I only know I saw that in my mind just before you woke up.\"\n\tI threw aside the covers and climbed out of bed. I was naked, but I didn't care. I went into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and splashed some cold water on my face. I checked the clock. It was four in the afternoon. I'd been out for over ten hours. I went back into the bedroom, pulled on a pair of sweatpants, and went out into the living room. Dorgok was sitting on the couch. Emorada was sitting in the recliner facing him, his knees pulled up against his chest, his long arms looped around them. They both looked at me as I entered the room with Samtiss following me. The sky outside the windows was dark grey, and the glass was streaked with rain.\n\t\"Did either of you get any weird mental images just now?\" I asked them.\n\tEmorada nodded. \"You was kissing that girl,\" he said, gesturing at the photograph of me and Julie on the coffee table. \"Then you was attacked by monsters from that Qliphoth place.\"\n\t\"I saw that too,\" said Dorgok. \"Does she really let you do that to her?\"\n\tI ignored his question. \"How are you all able to see what's going on in my head?\" I asked.\n\tEmorada shrugged. \"I dunno. It never happen before.\"\n\tI turned to Dorgok. \"You lived in the Qliphoth all your life. You know more about it than any of us. What's going on? Why are you seeing my dreams?\"\n\t\"I do not know,\" said Dorgok, \"and if I did I would not tell you.\"\n\tEmorada drew his shortsword from its scabbard. \"We see about that.\" Dorgok shrank back.\n\t\"Put that away, Emorada,\" I said. \"There'll be no torture here.\"\n\tEmorada shrugged and resheathed his sword.\n\tI sighed and shook my head. Something else going on that I didn't understand. I missed fighting street thugs. At least I knew where I stood with them. I went to the kitchen and got myself a bowl of Mighty O's.\n\t\"So what we do now?\" asked Emorada.\n\t\"There's not much we can do,\" I said, pouring milk over the cereal, \"until Caliburn and Dr. Ka finish their research.\"\n\t\"I no like waiting,\" Emorada grumped.\n\t\"Tell us about yourself, Emorada,\" said Samtiss. \"I have never seen a creature like you before. What are your people called?\"\n\t\"I a treekin,\" said Emorada. \"I come from big forest in southwest Karnaltan.\"\n\t\"I've never heard of Karnaltan,\" I said. \"What is it?\"\n\t\"It a big land. I see a map of it once. There forests in west, mountains in north, swamps in south, and ocean all around. East is a desert called Great Wastes. My friend Slang come from there. He a reptile man, like you two.\" He indicated Samtiss and Dorgok. \"It cold up north. I go there once with my mentor, Yorin Stormcloud.\"\n\t\"I thought you said your mentor was someone called Rhianna Wintersun,\" I said.\n\tEmorada nodded. \"She my second mentor. Yorin was my first. He one who recruit me because he think I got what it take to be first treekin paladin.\" He grinned, then his grin faded. \"But he die.\"\n\t\"I'm sorry to hear that,\" I said.\n\tEmorada shrugged. \"It happen. Paladins dun live that long.\"\n\t\"You say you're the first treekin paladin. Yorin and Rhianna weren't treekin, then?\"\n\t\"No, he a goblin and she an elf.\"\n\tI raised an eyebrow. \"Elves and goblins? Sounds like something out of Tolkien.\"\n\t\"I dunno what that mean,\" said Emorada.\n\t\"I'll have to show you the[i] Lord of the Rings[/i] movies sometime,\" I said.\n\tEmorada just stared at me, completely baffled.\n\tI was spared the need for further explanations by a knock on the door. I went over and opened it. Before me stood Caliburn and Dr. Ka. I noticed that even though it was raining outside, neither of them was damp. \"Hello, fuzzball,\" said Caliburn, his hands in the pockets of his trenchcoat. \"Mind if we come in?\"\n\t\"You're always welcome here, Caliburn,\" I said, stepping aside for them to enter.\n\tThey walked in, and Caliburn looked around. \"Cozy,\" he said.\n\t\"It keeps the rain off me,\" I said. \"So, what have you found out?\"\n\t\"We think we may have discovered how Graknash intends to destroy the multiverse,\" said Dr. Ka.\n\t\"Do tell,\" I said.\n\t\"It would require several steps,\" said Ka. \"If the first is thwarted, the others become impossible. Therefore, it is imperative that we block his first step: the freeing of Vulshoth.\"\n\t\"Do I even dare ask who that is?\" I asked.\n\t\"He goes by many names,\" said Caliburn. \"The Eye of the Void, the Lord of the Black Tentacles, and quite a few others. He's one of the Kings of Edom, and he's imprisoned in a pocket dimension called the Black Maze. He can still communicate telepathically with his servitors, however. We think Graknash intends to open a gateway that will allow Vulshoth to enter this dimension. That would be bad. Once here, Vulshoth will start trying to free the other Kings of Edom. That would be worse. If enough of them get free, they'll suck everything into the Qliphoth. And that would be it.\"\n\tI nodded. \"So how do we stop him?\"\n\t\"We think Graknash and his followers have been building up a massive stockpile of chaos energy leached from the Qliphoth and storing it in some pocket dimension for centuries,\" said Dr. Ka. \"Yareen drew upon it when she destroyed her fortress. Their aim is to use this energy to punch a hole through the dimensional barriers into the Black Maze and let Vulshoth out. If we can dispel the energy, they will have to start all over again.\"\n\t\"Unfortunately,\" said Caliburn, \"to do that, we have to know where it is, and we don't. But Yareen does. So we'll have to contact her spirit.\"\n\t\"You mean another séance?\" I asked.\n\tCaliburn nodded and glanced out the window. \"On a wet afternoon.\"\n\n\tAs Dr. Ka went about the preparations for contacting Yareen the Defiler's spirit, I took the opportunity to corner Caliburn in my kitchen. There was a question I wanted an answer to.\n\t\"Something weird happened to me just before you got here,\" I told him.\n\t\"Yeah?\" said Caliburn as he rummaged through my refrigerator for something to eat. \"Something weird is always happening to people like us. You learn to live with it.\" He found a hard-boiled egg and popped it into his mouth.\n\t\"I had a nightmare,\" I said, \"and when I woke up, I found out Samtiss, Dorgok, and Emorada had all experienced it too.\"\n\tCaliburn chewed on the egg and swallowed. \"You mean the one where you're macking on your girlfriend, then a bunch of Qliphothic horrors show up to spoil the party?\"\n\tI gasped. \"You saw it too?\"\n\tHe nodded. \"Me and Dr. Ka. By the way, kudos on landing that girl, Alvin. She's a real honey.\"\n\t\"Is[i] everyone[/i] seeing my dreams?\" I asked, appalled. If those horrors hadn't interrupted things, that dream might have gone in a direction that would have been very embarrassing for anyone else to witness.\n\t\"Not unless they were in the Qliphoth with you,\" said Caliburn.\n\t\"I don't understand. What's the Qliphoth got to do with this?\"\n\t\"Remember when I told you the Qliphoth would try to warp your body and mind, transforming you into one of its horrors? Well, we weren't there long enough for it to change our bodies, but apparently it did alter our minds, so we all now share a mental bond.\"\n\tI felt a little relieved, since it meant the effect was limited to my immediate circle of friends—and Dorgok. At least all of Millennium City wasn't seeing my potentially X-rated dreams. At the same time, the thought of anyone or anything messing with my mind was terrifying. My mind was already messed up enough. \"How long will this bond last?\" I asked.\n\t\"It should fade in a week or so, now that you're away from the Qliphoth's influence.\"\n\tI folded my arms across my chest. \"So, for the next week or so I have to worry about you guys having a ringside seat for my dreams?\"\n\t\"Hey, do you think I'm happy about it, fuzzball?\" Caliburn asked, annoyed. \"I've got no desire to watch you bone your girlfriend, even if she is a honey. And remember, it works both ways. There are things in my head I wouldn't want anyone else to see either.\"\n\tI remembered the dead Vietnamese boy on the steps of the temple in Caliburn's nightmare. \"Point taken.\" I glanced over at Samtiss, Dorgok, and Emorada and found myself wondering what kinds of dreams Lemurians and treekin had. I guessed I'd find out.\n\tDr. Ka called us all into the living room. He'd cleared the center and drawn some kind of glyph on the wooden floor with a grease pencil. Around it lay a large equilateral triangle with a bowl containing burning incense at each corner, filling the room with a pungent odor that smelled like a cross between cloves and rose petals.\n\t\"He must leave,\" said Ka, pointing at Dorgok.\n\t\"Why?\" asked Samtiss, his tongue flickering.\n\t\"Contacting the dead requires all involved to will the shade into existence,\" Ka explained. \"His loyalty is to his mother and her plan. He will attempt to impede our efforts.\"\n\tSamtiss looked at his son. \"You will not help us save all creation?\"\n\tDorgok smirked. \"The human is right, father. I would do everything in my power against you.\"\n\t\"Do you not wish to see your mother again?\" asked Samtiss.\n\tDorgok seemed to waver a moment, then shook his head. \"Sentiment is for the weak. She would be proud of me for trying to stop you!\"\n\tSamtiss sighed and looked at the rest of us. \"What do we do with him?\"\n\t\"I can think of something,\" said Emorada, grinning.\n\t\"Can you freeze him again?\" I asked Caliburn.\n\tCaliburn nodded. \"Yeah, but I'd rather not waste the energy.\"\n\tI turned to Dr. Ka. \"How far away does he have to be?\"\n\t\"It does not matter, so long as he cannot see us,\" the sorcerer replied.\n\tI grabbed Dorgok by his wrist. \"Come on, stupid.\" I led him into the bedroom, got a pair of handcuffs from my equipment box, and cuffed his wrist to the radiator. As he rattled the cuff, testing its strength, I chuckled. \"That was a dumb move, Dorgok. You could have played along and said you'd help. We might have believed you. Now you can't do anything.\"\n\tDorgork hissed and clenched his fists, realizing he'd blown his chance to screw things up. Then again, I had to remind myself, he was just a kid. He hadn't learned how to be devious yet. \"Filthy manimal!\" he snarled. \"I will kill you!\"\n\t\"Yeah, yeah, heard it before,\" I said, waving dismissively as I left the room and closed the door behind me.\n\tThe others had seated themselves cross-legged on the floor around the triangle, and Ka and Caliburn were chanting low, sonorous syllables in a language I didn't recognize. I found myself a spot and sat down to join the ritual. The room seemed noticably darker, but that might have just been because it was getting on toward evening.\n\t\"Close your eyes.\" said Dr. Ka. \"Clear your minds of all thoughts. Form an image in your mind's eye of Yareen the Defiler. Concentrate on it. Permit yourself no distractions. Concentrate on making it as detailed as possible. Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate.\"\n\tI focused on the image of the lizard woman in my mind, using my detective training to recall as many specific details as I could—like the color of the fastenings on her tunic and the way her gold eyes had burned with hatred. Then a cold shock went through me as I heard a piercing shriek. My eyes snapped open, and there, floating in the center of the triangle, was Yareen, her form misty and transparent. Only she wasn't alone. There were claws and tentacles wrapped around her writhing body, which was covered in gaping wounds inflicted by fanged maws belonging to things unseen.\n\tSamtiss started to rise, but Ka held up a hand. \"Stop!\" the sorcerer commanded. \"Do not break the circle! You cannot help her! This is her fate!\"\n\t\"What happening to her?\" asked Emorada, staring at the ghastly apparition in horror.\n\t\"Her soul is being consumed by the Kings of Edom,\" I said. I looked over at Samtiss as he watched in agony while his former lover's soul was devoured by her gods, the fate that awaited all Lemurians upon their deaths. I turned to Dr. Ka. \"Isn't there anything we can do for her?\"\n\tThe sorcerer shook his head. \"Nothing. Her fate was sealed when she pledged herself to the Kings. We must act quickly, before there is nothing left of her to interrogate!\" He held up his hand to her. \"Yareen the Defiler! Where have you stored the chaos energy you intend to use to free Vulshoth from his prison? Speak—I command it!\"\n\tYareen screamed, twisting in the air as wounds began appearing faster on her already mutilated body. It was as if whatever was eating her soul realized what was happening and was trying to finish the job before she could give up any useful information. From her blood-flecked lips issued a series of syllables that were gibberish to me but apparently meant something to Ka and Caliburn, given their reactions. Then, with a final reverberating scream, she dissolved into nothingness.\n\tFor a moment there was only silence. Then there came a deep, shuddering breath from Samtiss. The Lemurian hung his head, hugging himself and shivering. I wanted to say something comforting, but what could I say? He'd just watched the soul of the woman he had once loved be consumed by the Kings of Edom, knowing that the same fate awaited him and his son. Words just seemed so inadequate. I turned to Dr. Ka and Caliburn, who were getting to their feet. \"Did you get it?\" I asked.\n\t\"Yeah,\" said Caliburn. \"We got it.\" Even he appeared shaken by what we'd just seen. \n\t\"We must leave at once,\" said Dr. Ka. \"When the Kings consumed Yareen's soul, they learned everything she knew. They are aware of our intentions and will do whatever they can to stop us.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Time to suit up, then.\" I rose and went to the bedroom to get my costume and equipment. As I opened the door, my nose was hit by the smell of blood. I looked over at the radiator. The handcuffs were hanging from it, empty. On the floor beside it lay a big crimson puddle and a clawed, blue-scaled hand. The window above the radiator was open.\n\t\"Son of a bitch!\" I swore, running to the hand and picking it up. I turned to the door, where Samtiss and Emorada were standing, staring at me. \"The kid bit off his own hand,\" I said.\n\tSamtiss nodded. \"It will grow back.\"\n\t\"Forget the boy,\" said Caliburn from the living room. \"We've got more important things to worry about.\"\n\tMuch as I hated to admit it, Caliburn was right. Deprived of his powers and missing a hand, Dorgok wasn't much of a threat to anyone. In fact, considering how the people of this city felt about Lemurians, it was more likely he'd be needing protection from them. But right now there were more pressing matters to attend to. We'd have to track him down later, assuming there was a later. I glanced at Samtiss, but his reptilian face was unreadable. His tail was twitching in agitation, though.\n\tI suited up and went back out to the living room, where Dr. Ka was drawing another one of those magic teleportation circles on the floor. I used my cell phone to log a report to the rest of Team Nighthawk, telling them what was going on. In the event we failed, they could contact the Champions and maybe come up with some kind of contingency plan. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Ka finished the circle, and Caliburn, Samtiss, Emorada, and I stepped inside. Then my apartment disappeared and we were somewhere else.\n\tSomewhere else was a barren, rocky, windswept plain under an orange sun. On it sat a gigantic sphere, at least a thousand feet in diameter and composed of swirling, shimmering blackness identical to the stuff Yareen had summoned in her fortress back in the Qliphoth—the primal chaos energy that Graknash and his followers had been accumulating and storing here for centuries. The ground around it was littered with the bodies of Lemurians—hundreds of them. Hovering in the air before it was Graknash, his green and gold armor looking brown and copper in the orange light, his ram's-horn helmet making him look positively demonic. He was waving his arms about and making hissing, gargling noises, apparently working some kind of ritual.\n\t\"You three keep him busy while Dr. Ka and I dispel the energy!\" shouted Caliburn, his trenchcoat whipping about in the wind. Samtiss nodded, looped an arm around me, and lifted me into the air, while Emorada turned to wind and flew up alongside us. \n\tAs we drew near Graknash, he rotated in the air, turning toward us. \"You shall not stop me!\" he snarled. \"My faithful followers have already sacrificed themselves to feed our masters' hunger! Soon, the Bleak Ones will be free, and the universe will tremble at their coming!\"\n\t\"You guys talk too much,\" I said, hurling a throwing blade at him. It struck his clawed hand, and he hissed in pain. Then Samtiss began firing electrical bolts at him, and Emorada solidified and started peppering him with arrows. Unfortunately, his armor absorbed most of their attacks. I leaped off Samtiss, landed on Graknash's shoulders, slapped a particle mine onto his back, and somersaulted off him. It was a long way down, but the gravity here was much lower than Earth's, and I fell relatively slowly. Hopefully, Samtiss would catch me before I reached the ground.\n\tWith a loud boom, my mine detonated, and Graknash howled as the back of his armor was shredded. As I'd hoped, Samtiss flew down and grabbed my arm, stopping my fall. Graknash fired a mystic blast at us, but Samtiss blocked it with an electric shield. Meanwhile, Emorada flew around behind Graknash, solidified again, and began pumping arrow after arrow into his exposed back. The Lemurian tried to blast the little treekin, but Emorada turned to wind again.\n\tSuddenly, something began to materialize in the air above Graknash. It was hazy at first but quickly grew more distinct, like an image coming into focus. It was an enormous mass of squirming black tentacles, fully sixty feet across, with a hooked beak in the exact center surrounded by five burning scarlet eyes, and just looking at it sent my mind hurtling into places it shouldn't go. It remained transparent and ephemeral, floating in the air with total disregard for gravity, its five eyes glaring at us.\n\t\"What that?\" gasped Emorada, reappearing next to Samtiss and myself.\n\t\"I think it's Vulshoth,\" I said, struggling to keep from freaking out.\n\t\"More like a telepathic projection of him,\" said Samtiss. \"He is not happy with what we are doing.\"\n\t\"Good!\" I said. \"Let's keep it up!\"\n\tOne of Vulshoth's eyes fixed on me, and I felt like a bacterium under a microscope, being scrutinized by something far vaster and more powerful than myself. Then, in my mind, an image formed of me with my brothers. I was wearing my Nightmunk costume, and we were all laughing happily and hugging each other. It wasn't a memory from my past, I realized, but an offer. Vulshoth would bring them back to me, if I switched sides.\n\tMy jaw clenched as I shook with rage. It wasn't even that I thought his offer was insincere. Hell, if anyone could raise the dead, it would be a King of Edom. What angered me was that he thought I would actually fall for it when I knew that his ultimate goal was the destruction of everything. Did he really think I was that gullible, that selfish? Then again, I reminded myself, a cosmic entity of destruction probably had no concept of altruism, not to mention a very low opinion of us mere mortals. Still, his contempt for my intelligence—not to mention my common sense—rankled me. And the thought of that evil, alien thing trying to twist my love for my brothers to his own ends made me furious.\n\tAnother image formed in my head, this one of Emorada and a woman. She was impossibly beautiful, with eyes like emeralds and long ash-blonde hair that her pointed ears stuck up through. They were kissing, their arms around each other. I guessed I was seeing Vulshoth's offer to Emorada through the mental link we'd gained during our time in the Qliphoth. I glanced over at the treekin, and saw from his expression that he was no more enamored of Vulshoth's offer to return a lost loved one to him than I had been.\n\tThen came an image of a handsome young man and a lovely young woman in shimmering white tunics, both with pale blue skin and green hair. They were walking hand in hand along a street in a majestic domed city beneath the sea. Beside them walked a blue-skinned, green-haired young boy. These had to be Samtiss, Yareen, and Dorgok in their human forms. Just a happy family out for a stroll in downtown Lemuria. No doubt this was Vulshoth's offer to Samtiss. This was getting insulting. How could he offer to bring back Yareen when we'd seen the Kings of Edom devour her soul? How dumb did he think Samtiss was?\n\tSamtiss showed he was smarter than that by snarling and hurling a lightning bolt at the image of Vulshoth, which of course sailed right through him because he wasn't really there. Still, the message was clear: Not interested; go to hell. Vulshoth apparently got it, because Graknash began to glow with a purple light. The Lemurian raised his arms. A purple tear appeared in the air before him, and out of it flew dozens of bat-winged, mouth-faced horrors from the Qliphoth.\n\tThe battle that followed was utter chaos. Samtiss hurled lightning bolts that vaporized the horrors by the score, while Emorada's arrows and my throwing blades sent them plummeting toward the ground below. Even so, the numbers were heavily against us. For every one we killed, five more emerged from the rift Graknash had opened. We were being overwhelmed.\n\tI leaped off Samtiss and tried to reach Graknash by jumping from one horror to another, like a kid jumping from rock to rock to cross a stream. I thought that maybe if I took him down the rift would close. It was the best idea I could come up with. It almost worked, too. I got within ten feet of him before he noticed me and fired a mystic blast that struck me in midair and knocked me away from the horror I'd been aiming for. My body armor absorbed most of the blast, but I was still dazed. By the time I recovered, I had fallen far enough that I couldn't reach any of the horrors with my grapple gun. Samtiss and Emorada were both too busy fighting to help me. I looked down and saw that Caliburn and Dr. Ka were also being beseiged by horrors, interrupting their efforts to dispel the gigantic sphere of chaos energy that Graknash intended to use to free Vulshoth from the Black Maze. I looked up at the image of Vulshoth, hovering silent and transparent above the battle, his gargantuan body like some writhing black sun. His five red eyes might have been gleaming with triumph, but that was probably just my imagination.\n\tI grabbed the edges of my cape and tried to use it as a makeshift parachute. On Earth it wouldn't have worked, but in this world's lower gravity it slowed my fall enough that I could actually control how I landed. I hit the ground at an acute angle, curling into a ball just before impact, and bounced along for about fifty feet before I came to a stop, battered and bruised but still alive.\n\tI stood up, aching all over, and began running back toward the giant shimmering black sphere of chaos energy. Maybe all wasn't lost yet. Maybe I could still help Caliburn and Dr. Ka. That's what I kept telling myself as I ran across the rocky, desolate, alien landscape. I had to cling to some kind of hope.\n\tMy heart sank as I caught sight of Caliburn and Dr. Ka through a gap in the rocks. They were both lying on the ground, either dead or unconscious, Graknash and his horrors standing over them. Samtiss and Emorada were there too, also sprawled at Graknash's clawed feet. Graknash made a hissing sound, which I assumed was the Lemurian equivalent of a cackle of glee, and then turned toward the sphere and raised his arms, gesturing. I gritted my teeth and readied my last throwing blade. I didn't really think I could stop him, but there was nothing to be lost by trying.\n\t\"Wait,\" came Dr. Ka's voice in my head.\n\t\"Doc,\" I thought, \"you're still alive?\"\n\t\"We both are,\" said Caliburn's voice. \"Our bodies may be incapacitated, but our minds can still communicate with you through the mental link we gained in the Qliphoth.\"\n\t\"Good,\" I thought. \"Then you can watch me put a throwing blade in that bastard's back.\"\n\t\"Such an act of defiance, however admirable, will accomplish nothing,\" said Ka. \"But there may yet be a way to win this.\"\n\t\"What do I do?\"\n\t\"For the moment, nothing. Just wait.\"\n\tI nodded, and waited.\n\tGraknash finished waving his hands, and the sphere began to shrink. As it did so, the image of Vulshoth above us began to grow more opaque. I felt my sanity circling the drain as he solidified. Apparently, just being in the presence of a King of Edom could drive mortals mad. Then I felt Caliburn and Dr. Ka reinforcing my will, patching the cracks in my psyche. How long it would hold was problematical, but for the moment I was still sane.\n\tThe horrors around Graknash began hopping about and squealing with joy. For them, this was Christmastime. They began flying up toward Vulshoth, and his tentacles wrapped around them and stuffed them into that huge beaked mouth. Within a minute, they were all gone.\n\t\"Those were just the appetizer, master,\" said Graknash, tongue flickering. He was speaking Lemurian, but perhaps because of my mental link with Samtiss, I could understand him. \"Billions more souls await you, starting with these.\" He gestured at the bodies of Caliburn, Dr. Ka, Samtiss, and Emorada lying scattered around him.\n\t\"Now?\" I thought, clenching my teeth.\n\t\"Now!\" said Dr. Ka, and suddenly my mind was flooded with a mystical formula, which I now understood. It was the Word of Unmaking, the spell I'd taken off the body of Graknash's servant, Hydrophis, which could retroactively obliterate anyone from existence and make it as if they'd never been. My mouth began uttering arcane syllables, and Graknash and Vulshoth clearly recognized them, because they both focused their attention on me.\n\tVulshoth's slimy black tentacles shot out at me, but a glittering image shaped roughly like a spider sprang up before me, and they drew back as if they'd touched a hot stove. Graknash hissed and began readying a spell to kill me with before I could finish mine, but the spider image somehow disrupted it. I continued with my incantation, and Vulshoth seemed to be getting agitated. Perhaps he wasn't sure if even a King of Edom could withstand the power of the Solipsist. Apparently, he didn't intend to find out, because he began to fade, retreating back into the Black Maze. I guess he decided eternal imprisonment was better than utter annihilation. Within a few seconds, he was gone.\n\t\"No!\" screamed Graknash, hurling himself at me, his claws outstretched, his sharp-toothed maw gaping. I grinned. This was something I could handle myself. As he lunged, I leaped above him, twisted in midair, popped my claws, and rammed them into his back, just as I'd done to Beusa in that nightmare I'd had in the Qliphoth. He flopped to the ground, dead.\n\tI stood there panting on the rocky plain of an alien world for a moment, then went over to my companions and began administering first aid. Fortunately, none of them had more than minor injuries. Graknash had wanted them alive for his master to devour.\n\t\"Well,\" said Caliburn, sitting up and popping a stick of gum into his mouth, \"looks like that's that.\" He looked over at me. \"Nice work, Alvin.\"\n\t\"Thanks,\" I said. \"What was that spider thing that appeared in front of me, though?\"\n\t\"That was my doing,\" said Dr. Ka. \"It was the emblem of the Lords of the Jeweled Spider, one of the powers that imprisoned the Kings of Edom eons ago. It can be used as a ward against them and their magics.\"\n\tI nodded. \"Vulshoth sure didn't seem to like it.\"\n\tCaliburn got to his feet. \"So, anyone want a lift home?\"\n\t\"I don't got a home,\" said Emorada, sighing.\n\t\"That makes three of us,\" said Dr. Ka. \"Graknash destroyed my brownstone, and the room at the White Hare Hotel where Robert was staying.\"\n\t\"Eh, you can always buy another brownstone, Khalid,\" said Caliburn. \"In the meantime, I'm sure I can convince Aunt Nancy to put the three of us up for a while.\" He glanced down at Emorada. \"I think she'll like you.\" \n\tEmorada grinned.\n\t\"If you could just teleport me back to my apartment,\" I said, \"that would be great.\"\n\tCaliburn nodded. \"No problem.\" He glanced Samtiss. \"How about you, scales?\"\n\t\"I must search for my son,\" Samtiss replied. He turned to Dr. Ka. \"You seem like a wise man, and learned in occult matters. Is there any way Dorgok and I can avoid Yareen's fate?\"\n\t\"Yareen chose her fate,\" said Dr. Ka, \"just as you chose to reject yours when you turned against the Kings of Edom. Many paths are open to you now. Which one you walk is up to you.\"\n\tCaliburn had just finished drawing a magic circle on the ground. \"All aboard for Millennium City,\" he announced. Samtiss and I stepped into it.\n\t\"See you later, wizard,\" I said.\n\t\"You too, fuzzball,\" Caliburn replied. There was a flash of light and we were back in my apartment.\n\tI barely had time to take a breath when a welcomely familiar voice said, \"Alvin!\" I turned around, and there was Julie, in her bathrobe and pajamas. I smiled up at her, and she smiled back. We went toward each other and embraced. It felt so good.\n\t\"I can see the two of you have much to talk about,\" said Samtiss. \"I will be on my way.\"\n\t\"You don't have to leave, Samtiss,\" said Julie. \"You can stay and have dinner, and maybe watch a movie with us.\"\n\tSamtiss's golden eyes widened, and his tongue flicked. Then he shook his crested head. \"That is most kind of you, but I must find my son.\"\n\tI went over to him and squeezed his clawed hand. \"Just remember, Samtiss, you're always welcome here.\"\n\tThe Lemurian nodded slowly, his tail swishing. \"Thank you. Goodbye.\" And he turned and left.\n\t\"He has a son?\" asked Julie, looking surprised.\n\t\"It's a long story,\" I said. \"So, are you . . . are we . . . ?\" I couldn't finish the question because I was afraid of the answer.\n\tShe smiled. \"Yes, we're still together.\"\n\tI sighed with relief. \"Thank goodness.\"\n\t\"So,\" she said, \"I was thinking, maybe you could get out of that costume and we could have a little fun.\"\n\tI grinned. \"I'd like that a lot.\"\n\tShe took my hand and we went into the bedroom together.\n\tAnd yeah, I squeaked.\n", "writing_bbcode_parsed": "
The Exile


a story set in the universe of Champions Online


\tCarl's Gym is located in the Westside neighborhood of Millennium City, and like everything else in that area, it's rather run down. It's also frequented by some of the more unsavory elements that infest that area. But I prefer it to the more upscale gyms in other parts of the city, which were all built after the Battle of Detroit flattened everything. It feels more like a real gym to me, with its creaky wooden floors and signed pictures of guys with broken noses hanging on its rough brick walls. So I go there twice a week to work out.
\tI was in my usual corner, stripped to the waist, my hands wrapped in tape, slugging the hell out of a punching bag, when a bunch of Cobra Lords walked in. They're one of those unsavory elements I mentioned, a gang of bikers who think they're a lot more dangerous than they really are. Their main pastimes are dealing drugs, extorting protection money from local businesses, and rumbling with other gangs. These Cobras weren't breaking any laws at the moment, however, just strutting around in their leather chaps and vests, acting tough. Even so, I kept an eye on them as I continued my workout.
\t"Hey, look, it's one of those manimal freaks!" one of them said, pointing at me.
\t"Shut up, Gus!" said another. "That's Nightmunk! You know how many Cobras he's sent to the slammer?"
\tGus laughed. "What, that little runt? Gimme a break!" And he started walking toward me.
\tI sighed. I knew where this was going. As he drew near, I turned around to face him. He was twice my height, a big brawny bear of a man, his hairy chest and muscle gut exposed beneath his leather vest. He leered down at me unpleasantly. "What are you doing on Cobra Lord turf, furball?" he asked.
\t"You're obviously new here," I said, "so I'm going to give you one chance to back off and go rejoin your buddies. After that, whatever happens is on you."
\tGus stared at me in consternation, pursing his fat lips. He clearly wasn't used to people not being afraid of him, especially people as small as me. Or maybe he was having second thoughts now that he was close up and had gotten a good look at me. Despite my size and being a chipmunk, I'm pretty buff, and I have a fair number of scars that are visible through my fur, souvenirs of my days in the fight pits on Monster Island. He turned to his buddies, but they were all busy looking at other things. Then he turned back to me and his ugly, bearded face twisted into a scowl. "Nobody tells me to walk! Especially not a pipsqueak like you!" And he drew back a huge fist to throw a punch at me.
\tMy right foot shot out and buried itself in that big muscle gut of his, and he doubled over with an "oof" as all the air left his lungs. That brought his face within reach of my fist, so I threw a left hook at him and sent him sprawling onto the wooden floor. I stood gazing down at him as he spat blood while getting up on his hands and knees. "Are we done?" I asked.
\tHe snarled and launched himself at me with all the grace of an angry elephant seal. I punched him right in the center of his face and felt his nose break, unleashing a torrent of blood. He howled and cupped his nose in his hands, crimson trails seeping between his fingers.
\t"Now are we done?" I asked.
\tHe glared at me as he knelt there holding his broken nose. "Just you wait!" he said in a muffled voice. "Once we have the pearls, you'll be the first to die!"
\tI frowned. "Pearls? What pearls?"
\tOne of his buddies started coming toward us. "Shut up, Gus!" he growled.
\tNow I was interested. "What is he talking about?" I asked.
\tThe other Cobra Lords looked at each other and ran. I let them go. I didn't see any need to chase them. I had Gus. I grabbed the collar of his vest and dragged him across the floor and into the locker room. Once there, I threw him into a bank of steel lockers. "Now, what about these pearls?" I asked him.
\t"Piss off!" he said, glaring at me as he lay there with his back against the lockers. "I ain't tellin' you nothin'!"
\t"That's a double negative," I said, "which means you are going to tell me something. Something about pearls."
\t"Screw you, freak!"
\tI grabbed the collar of his vest again and slammed his head against the lockers, which made him cry out in pain. "I'm in a really bad mood right now, and my patience with punks like you was pretty thin to begin with. Tell me about the pearls, or I'll break both your arms."
\tHe swallowed, and I could see him weighing his fear of me against his fear of his buddies when they found out he'd squealed. I banged his head against the lockers again to remind him that I was here and they weren't.
\t"Th-they're magic!" he blurted out. "They give you powers!"
\tI sighed. Magic again. I hate that stuff. "You said you were going to get them. Where from?"
\t"A guy named Hydrophis. He lives in the sewers."
\t"And he's just giving these things away?"
\t"No, he wants us to rob banks for him. He wants money."
\t"What does he need money for when he has magic pearls?"
\tGus blinked, clearly never having thought to wonder about that. "I don't know."
\t"Where can I find him?"
\t"He moves around. He contacts us when he wants to meet. Look, I've told you everything I know!"
\t"Such as it is."
\t"So can I go now?"
\tI let go of him and stepped back. "Get lost."
\tHe got to his feet and scurried out of the locker room, still holding his nose. I went and sat down on one of the benches, mulling over what I'd learned. The name Hydrophis wasn't familiar to me, and neither were magic pearls, but they both suggested a connection to water, as did the sewers. Unfortunately, there are miles and miles of sewers beneath Millennium City, and without a clearer idea of where to search, finding this guy would be like searching for one flea on the back of a very large dog. I stood up, went back to the main floor of the gym, collected my shirt and jacket, and left. There were a lot of dark, dank, stinking tunnels in my future. I could hardly wait.

\tI walked home along the dingy streets of Westside, past its bars, pawnshops, gun shops, and boarded-up storefronts. It was getting on toward evening, and most of the businesses were closing down, their owners unfolding steel lattices in front of the doors and windows. In a couple of hours, this place would look like a ghost town, desolate and uninhabited save for the members of the various gangs that roamed the streets, searching for prey.
\tEventually, I arrived back at my apartment. A pretty girl with short brown hair was in the kitchen, making dinner. Her name was Julie Martins, and she was my girlfriend.
\t"Hi, Alvin," she said as I walked in.
\t"Hey, Julie," I replied, going over to my computer and switching it on.
\t"Have a good workout at the gym?" she asked.
\t"Uh huh," I said, watching the screen while the machine booted up.
\t"We're having meatloaf and mashed potatoes tonight," she said.
\t"Okay," I said. I logged on to the website for UNTIL—the United Nations Tribunal on International Law—and searched their villain database for Hydrophis. Nothing. Whoever he was, UNTIL had never heard of him.
\t"Also, Dr. Destroyer returned and declared himself ruler of the world," said Julie.
\t"That's nice," I said, searching UNTIL's database for anything regarding magic pearls. Again, I came up empty.
\tJulie came over and tapped me gently on my forehead. "Hello?"
\tI blinked and looked up at her. "What?"
\tShe shook her head. "And you call yourself a detective."
\t"I heard what you said. I assumed it was a joke." I sent an e-mail to Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk, telling them what Gus had told me.
\tJulie sighed and walked back to the kitchen.
\tI called up a blueprint of the city sewer system. It looked like a plate of spaghetti. You could hide an army down there. For all I knew, that was exactly what this Hydrophis was doing.
\t"What do you want to watch over dinner?" Julie asked.
\t"I don't think I'll have time to watch anything," I said. I decided to narrow my search to the sewers beneath the northeast part of Westside, since that was Cobra Lord territory.
\tThe oven beeped to inform Julie her meatloaf was done. She took it out and put it on the table with a bowl of mashed potatoes. I downloaded the map of the sewers into my cell phone, shut down the computer, and went to the dinner table.
\tWe'd been eating in silence for about five minutes when Julie finally spoke. "Alvin, we need to talk."
\t"What about?" I asked.
\t"Ever since you got back from Ireland, you've been sullen and withdrawn. We hardly do anything together anymore. I miss you. I miss hearing you laugh when we watch bad movies together. I miss the jokes you make. And I miss the cute way you squeak when we—"
\t"Okay, I get it," I said. She was right, of course. While I don't exactly have a bubbly personality, I'm not normally a cold, unsympathetic loner, either, and when I'm with Julie, I can be downright lovable. She has that effect on me. Being with her gives me a chance to lighten up and enjoy life, take a break from all the violence and filth I deal with day after day. She lets me forget myself for a while.
\tJulie leaned forward a bit. "It wasn't your fault, Alvin. You couldn't have known what effect that woman's venom would have on Sean and the others."
\tI looked up at her, a lump in my throat. "Sean was a good friend. He got bitten by Patricia Whyte because he was trying to save me. And now he's a monster, imprisoned in an UNTIL lab while they try to find a cure for his condition. And there's others like him out there, starting new cults to Glycon, infecting other people. I couldn't save any of them! Just like I couldn't save . . ." I couldn't continue. I hopped down off my chair and went to the living room, sat down on the couch, and covered my face with my hands.
\tJulie got up and came over, sat down beside me. She understood what was really troubling me. My two brothers, dead and buried on Monster Island. She put her arm around me and hugged me to her.
\tI sat there with my head against her shoulder, my tears soaking the fur on my cheeks as she held me close and stroked my hair. Normally, I can keep a lid on this, but sometimes it gets to be too much, and then it all just comes gushing out—the anger, the sorrow, the guilt. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't been there. Thrown a screaming fit and broken a bunch of stuff, I guess. Even as I sat there with her arms around me, I knew I was being stupid. One of the first lessons Nighthawk had drilled into me was that no matter how hard you try, you can't save everyone. You just have to do the best you can and learn to live with failure. You try to console yourself by thinking of all the good you've done and all the lives you've saved, but you still spend some nights feeling rotten and miserable and wondering if it's all worth it. That's when it really helps to have a shoulder to cry on, a gentle hand to hold.
\tAfter a time, I lifted my head and looked up at Julie. "I'm sorry," I said, swallowing. "I'll try to act more like a boyfriend."
\tShe smiled and ruffled my hair. "You are my boyfriend. The best I've ever had." And she leaned down and kissed me on my muzzle. That made me feel a bit better.
\t"I need to start getting ready for work," said Julie, letting go of me and getting up.
\t"Me too," I said. I hopped down off the couch, and we both went into the bedroom and started changing into our respective uniforms—Julie into her waitress outfit, me into my Nightmunk body armor, cape, and hood. We left the apartment and walked down the street together toward Shererra's, the bar where she works. I generally accompany her there, because the streets of Westside aren't safe after dark. Actually, they're not safe anytime.
\tWe stopped in front of the bar, and she knelt down and kissed me again. "Good luck, Alvin," she said to me, smiling, the light from the neon sign shining in her eyes.
\tI smiled back at her. "Get lots of tips."
\tShe went inside, and I stood on the sidewalk, watching her go. Then I turned and headed off down the night-darkened street.
\t
\tThe rank smell of decay hit my nostrils, causing me to wrinkle my nose as I pried open a heavy manhole cover. I hate going into the sewers. Unfortunately, my work takes me there fairly often, since a lot of Millennium City's criminal element uses them for nefarious purposes. I descended the steel-rung ladder, replacing the cover as I did so, and dropped down to the wet concrete floor. I took the flashlight from my belt, switched it on, and played it around. I was in a long tunnel that disappeared into darkness on either side of me. Picking a direction at random, I started walking.
\tFor the next couple of hours, I made my way through the labyrinthine maze of Millennium City's sewer system, navigating by using the map I'd downloaded into my cell phone. Since I had no idea where my target might be, I tried to work through the sewers under Westside methodically, covering as much ground as possible. Rats scampered out of my way as I approached, their beady little eyes glowing in the darkness. I've been asked if I feel any kinship to these creatures, since I'm part rodent myself. I don't. Back on Monster Island, they formed a regular part of my diet.
\tI was wishing for someone or something to relieve the monotony of the endless tunnels when my wish was answered and my light fell upon a figure lying on the floor ahead of me. I ran toward it, then stopped when I saw what it was. It wasn't human. Its skin was brown with yellow speckles, and scaly. There were webbed fins on its back, arms, and legs. A long, sinuous tail was curled around it as it slept. Its head was lizard-like, with a webbed crest on top, and it had four fingers on each hand, tipped with long, wicked-looking claws. I'd seen these creatures on Monster Island, but only from a distance, since it was generally a good idea to give them a wide berth. This was a Lemurian.
\tOkay, time for a little history lesson. The Lemurians are an amphibious reptilian race that predates humanity, supposedly created by dark gods called the Bleak Ones. They once had an empire that covered half of Earth and were masters of magic and technology. But they turned against their gods, who cursed them by giving them human forms, and their continent sank beneath the Indian Ocean. All that's left of their once-great empire is a single undersea city. Recently, however, some of them have returned to worshipping the Bleak Ones. These have regained their original forms and are now waging war against their human brethren. They recently attacked Millennium City, but were repelled by its heroes. Got it?
\tThe Lemurian raised its head and blinked its golden, cat-like eyes as I shined my light at it. "Who is there?" it asked, in a raspy, hissing voice. "I warn you, I am quite able to defend myself!" I turned my light on myself, letting it illuminate my face, and the Lemurian's eyes widened. "A manimal? What are you doing in Millennium City?"
\t"I might ask you the same question, Lemurian," I said. "You're clearly not a diplomatic envoy from Lemuria, since you're in your reptilian form. Are you a leftover from the invasion?"
\tThe Lemurian glared at me. "That was not my doing! I was here before that! In fact, I helped to defend this city against my own people when they attacked it, and saved many humans, not that any of them ever thanked me!"
\t"They might have been a little distracted by all the death and destruction your fellow Lemurians were causing," I said.
\t"Again, that was not my doing. I did what I could to help."
\tI looked at him, puzzled. "Why? I thought all you Lemurian rebels hated humanity."
\t"My reasons are my own!" he snapped. "I feel no need to share them with a manimal!"
\t"Fair enough. Do you have a name?"
\t"I am called Samtiss."
\t"Pleased to meet you, Samtiss. I'm Nightmunk. Have you ever heard of someone called Hydrophis?"
\tHis eyes narrowed. "Where did you hear that name?"
\t"I take it it means something to you."
\t"He is a Lemurian sorcerer. A powerful one."
\t"Is he the sort who would go around handing out magic pearls to human thugs?"
\tSamtiss's mouth fell open, revealing many small, sharp teeth. "What?"
\t"That's what I've been led to understand he's doing. What I don't know is why."
\tSamtiss shook his head. "I cannot imagine why he would do such a thing, but there must be a reason."
\t"Well, this just got a whole lot bigger than I thought it was. I could use some help, if you're not too busy."
\tHe seemed to consider it for a moment. "Hydrophis would no doubt kill you if you faced him alone," he said at last. "Therefore, I will help you, though it may well mean both our lives."
\t"How generous of you," I said.
\t"Think nothing of it. It would not be the first time I have risked my life for a lesser being."
\tI resisted the urge to tell him where he could stick that.
\tHe stood up, giving me a good look at him. He had a slim, lanky build, with a white-scaled underbelly much like a snake's. He wore no clothing, but had nothing to conceal. As I watched, he bowed his head and closed his eyes.
\t"What are you doing?" I asked.
\t"Opening myself up to the vibrations of Lemurian magic," he replied. "If any is being used nearby, I should be able to sense it."
\t"Are you a sorcerer, too?"
\t"Merely an apprentice, but being able to feel the ebb and flow of magic is an elementary skill." He raised his head and opened his eyes. "Follow me." He began walking down the tunnel, his claw-toed feet splashing in the puddles. I headed after him. While his condescending attitude grated on me, it was better than wandering the sewers aimlessly.
\tWe walked through the tunnels for about twenty minutes, Samtiss acting like a magical divining rod, until at last I heard voices up ahead. They were human voices: gruff, male. Most likely Cobra Lords. We snuck up to an opening that led into a large chamber. Inside were ten Cobra Lords dividing up sacks of money. Each of them was wearing a pair of glowing purple gauntlets, which clashed violently with their leather-and-denim outfits. These gauntlets were transparent, as their arms were quite visible through them.
\t"All right!" one said, chuckling. "Over two hundred thou! What a haul!"
\t"Yeah, those bank guards never knew what hit them!" crowed another.
\t"I love these things!" said a third. He raised an arm and fired a bolt of purple light at the wall. It struck with a loud crack, leaving a hole in the concrete. "We could take on a superhero with these!"
\t"We should go and find one!"
\t"I can think of a few I'd like to pound into the dirt! Like Defender!"
\t"I wanna beat up Ironclad!"
\tI glanced at Samtiss. "Ready?"
\tThe Lemurian nodded, and his body began to crackle with electricity as the sharp tang of ozone tickled my nose. He stepped forward, his hands raised. A bolt of lightning shot from them and flattened three of the Cobra Lords before they could move. I jumped past him and hurled three blunted throwing blades at another group, striking each one in the forehead and sending them all sprawling to the concrete. The four remaining Cobras whirled toward us.
\t"It's the capes! Kill 'em!" one shouted.
\tAs a purple bolt shot past me, I dove aside, rolling to my feet and sending another throwing blade zinging toward a Cobra's head. Another bolt hit Samtiss, knocking him back against a wall. He snarled, and lightning arced from his clawed fingers, striking the Cobra who had shot him and paralyzing the man as the electricity coursed through his body. Another Cobra lifted both his arms, and I suddenly found myself surrounded by glowing crystals hovering in the air.
\t"Those are sigils of destruction!" shouted Samtiss. "Get away from them!"
\tSince sigils of destruction didn't sound like anything good to be near, I decided to heed his advice and backflipped, somersaulting away from them. A second later, they detonated with a deafening boom that knocked me on my ass. I can't say if my body armor would have been enough to save me if I'd still been in the middle of them.
\tSamtiss raised his arms as well, and five crackling globes of electricity appeared around the two remaining Cobras. They writhed and twisted as glowing white fingers clawed at their bodies, and finally they collapsed to the floor.
\tI looked over at Samtiss. He was clutching his scaly chest and gasping for breath, clearly in pain. I went over to him and gave him an anaesthetic injection from my belt. Then I started examining the unconscious Cobra Lords. On each one, I found a small pearl that glowed in my gloved palm. The moment the pearl was removed, their transparent gauntlets vanished. Apparently, the gauntlets weren't real objects, merely manifestations of the pearl's power. One also had a piece of paper with three addresses on it.
\tI tied up the Cobras and called the police on my cell phone, giving them the coordinates, then came back over to Samtiss. He seemed to be breathing more easily.
\t"We should get you to a hospital," I said. "You might have broken ribs."
\tHe shook his head. "My bones are cartilaginous. They cannot break. I will be fine. I just need to rest for a while."
\t"Let me take you back to my place, then," I said. "You can rest there."
\tHe looked at me strangely, then nodded. "Thank you."
\tIn one wall of the room there was an iron-rung ladder leading to a manhole. We climbed it and went up to the street.

\tSamtiss and I made our way back to my apartment through the dark streets of Westside. Even for Millennium City we made an unusual-looking pair—a costumed chipmunk manimal and a reptilian Lemurian—but it was two in the morning and the streets were deserted, so nobody gave us any trouble.
\tOnce back at my place, Samtiss lay down on my couch and closed his eyes while I got on my computer and started checking out the list of addresses I'd found on one of the Cobra Lords. They were all scientific research facilities. There are a lot of those in Millennium City, and they frequently get hit by supervillains looking for this or that doohickey they need for their gizmos of ultimate power. However, nothing about the labs suggested what it was Hydrophis might be after.
\tI decided it was time to call in some backup, so I contacted my partners: Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk. I told them what I'd learned so far, and they each agreed to investigate one of the labs while I took the third. Even if Hydrophis wasn't making his move tonight, we might at least be able to figure out what his target was. Nighthawk also suggested I keep an eye on Samtiss, pointing out that we knew nothing about him and that he might have his own agenda. As you can probably guess, Nighthawk isn't the trusting sort.
\tI shut down my computer and turned around to find Samtiss awake and sitting up on the couch. In his clawed hands he held a framed picture that normally sat on the coffee table. It was a photograph of me and Julie, her arms tight around me as we both smiled at the camera. I remembered when that picture was taken. It had been a bright, sunny day, the first warm day of spring, and we had been sitting together on the grass in Hutchinson Park, having a picnic and drinking sangria. Some kid had come up to us and offered to take our picture for five dollars, and we'd agreed. Afterward, we'd fed the swans by the lake. It had been a perfect day.
\t"You are friends with this human female?" Samtiss asked, gazing at the picture.
\t"You could say that," I replied. "She lives here too."
\tThe Lemurian jerked his head up at me, clearly surprised. "She shares her living quarters with a manimal?"
\t"Something wrong with that?" I asked, perhaps a trifle defensively.
\tHe didn't reply. Instead, his golden cat-like eyes returned to the picture. I tried to figure out what was going through his head, but his reptilian face was impossible for me to read. Finally, he set the picture aside and stood up. "What are we doing?" he asked.
\t"You feel up to going back out?" I asked.
\t"I am fully recovered."
\t"All right. We're going to check out one of the places on that list: Cambridge Labs. My partners are covering the other two."
\tSamtiss nodded. "Let us go, then."
\tI led him up to the roof, where I keep my grav bike parked. It's a nifty little gadget, sized for me and accessorized with the Team Nighthawk bird motif. "You can sit on the back," I told him.
\t"No need," said Samtiss. His body began crackling with electricity, and he rose off the roof and into the air.
\t"Huh," I said. "I didn't know you could fly."
\t"All ionic apprentices can," he said, floating before me with arcs of electricity snaking across his scaly body. "It is a simple matter of redirecting one's electrostatic repulsion field."
\t"If you say so," I said, climbing onto my bike and firing it up. I took off into the star-swirled sky, my cape fluttering behind me, Samtiss following like a ball of St. Elmo's fire.

\tFive minutes of flying brought us to a blocky steel-and-glass building in downtown Millennium City with a sign out front identifying it as Cambridge Labs. I parked my bike in the alley behind it and went to the back door. It was immediately apparent that the Cobra Lords had beaten us here, as the door had been blasted off its hinges. I took out my cell phone and called Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk, telling them that the Cobras were at Cambridge Labs and that Samtiss and I were investigating. Then I crept inside cautiously, alert for any sign of the intruders, Samtiss following behind.
\tWe were in a long, brightly lit corridor. I glanced up at Samtiss. "Do you feel any magical vibrations?"
\tThe Lemurian nodded. "They are emanating from above and to the right of us."
\tWe turned right at the first intersection and saw a human figure lying crumpled on the floor of the hallway ahead. We ran over, and I crouched down to examine it. It was a security guard. Fortunately, he appeared to be only unconscious. I revived the man with a smelling salt, and he blinked his eyes in surprise at the sight of us. "What? A manimal and a Lemurian?"
\t"It's all right, we're friends," I said. "Do you have any idea what the Cobra Lords are looking for?"
\tHe shook his head. "None. They just broke in here and started tearing the place apart! They have these gauntlets that fire some kind of weird purple energy!"
\t"Yeah, we've encountered those before. Can you walk?"
\t"I think so."
\t"Good. Get yourself out of here and call the police."
\tHe nodded and got to his feet. "I don't know why the cops aren't already here. Those bikers should have tripped the silent alarm when they broke in."
\t"Your technology is primitive by Lemurian standards, human," said Samtiss. "No doubt the mechanism was disabled somehow."
\tThe man frowned at him and left. We proceeded to the elevators, taking one up floor by floor, until we arrived at the level where Samtiss said the magical vibrations were coming from. The doors opened, and we found ourselves face to face with four Cobra Lords. I dropped two with my throwing blades in a second, and Samtiss shocked the other two unconscious a second later. Then we ran down the corridor together, the Lemurian leading the way.
\tWe found ourselves before a door with a sign that read, "Particle Physics." There was also a warning that high-energy equipment was in use here and that people with pacemakers should exercise caution. Since I didn't have a pacemaker, and I doubted Samtiss did either, I opened the door and we charged in.
\tThe lab was a shambles. Cabinets had been smashed open, and papers lay strewn about the floor. Scattered around the room were a dozen Cobra Lords, the authors of all this chaos, and in the back I could see a hulking reptilian figure wearing a complex suit of armor and a helmet that I recognized as being of Lemurian manufacture. In his arms he held a technological gadget whose function I had no idea of. Whatever it was, he couldn't be allowed to have it.
\t"Hydrophis!" shouted Samtiss, rising into the air and flying toward the other Lemurian. I hurled a handfull of sleeping gas pellets at the Cobras between them, trying to help clear a path to our quarry. The bikers went down instantly.
\t"What?" asked Hydrophis, in a grating, rasping voice like a death metal singer. "Another Lemurian, attacking me?"
\t"I am Samtiss," shouted my companion, "and I have renounced the Bleak Ones!" He fired a bolt of lightning from his hands at Hydrophis, who recoiled when it struck him but didn't appear particularly harmed by it.
\t"Then you are a heretic and a traitor!" roared Hydrophis. "Die!" And with that he raised one clawed hand and fired a massive bolt of purple energy at Samtiss. Samtiss held both his hands out before him and created a sparking circular shield that absorbed most of the blast, though it still knocked him back some. He roared and flew at Hydrophis, hurling one lightning bolt after another at him.
\tMeanwhile I had my hands full with the remaining Cobra Lords, who were all attacking me. Bolts of purple energy flew at me, and I dodged them as deftly as I could while hurling throwing blades right and left. Cobras were dropping all around me, but the rest were starting to get wise. They created magical shields before them to block my throwing blades, forcing me to go hand to hand with them. I slugged one in the gut, kicked another in the groin, and bashed a third in the nose when he tried to grab me. I could see Samtiss and Hydrophis going at it, the latter hunkered down behind a purple magical shield as Samtiss hovered before him, blasting at him savagely with blinding arcs of electricity.
\tWith the last of the Cobras put down, I ran to help Samtiss deal with his countryman. Since this seemed pretty important, I decided to go all out, extending the questionite talons from my gauntlets and laying into Hydrophis, slashing at him furiously. He howled, and blasted me with a purple magical bolt that threw me back ten feet or so. As I got to my feet, I saw a purple globe form around him. Nothing Samtiss did seemed to be able to penetrate it.
\t"The world you know is about to end, manimal!" snarled Hydrophis. Then he turned to Samtiss. "And you, traitor: There is a special fate in store for you when he returns!"
\tAnd with a flash of purple light, he vanished.
\tI turned to Samtiss, panting. "What was Hydrophis talking about? Who is 'he'?"
\t"I . . . do not know," the Lemurian replied.
\tI sighed. "Great. Another villain threatening the end of the world. Must be Tuesday."
\tSamtiss shook his head. "It is Thursday."
\t"Forget it."

\tTwenty minutes later, Nighthawk, Lady Nighthawk, the cops, and the director of Cambridge Labs had all joined me and Samtiss. My two partners had both been jumped by Cobra Lords at the places they had visited, and while it hadn't been anything they couldn't handle, the encounters also hadn't been especially productive, as the Cobras knew nothing of value. While the cops rounded up the Cobras Samtiss and I had defeated, the director told us about the gadget Hydrophis had stolen. Apparently, it was a matter-energy converter, which could transform almost any matter fed into it into energy with a high degree of efficiency. It was still in the experimental stage and had a tendency to break down fairly often, but when it worked, it could provide an amazing amount of power. I asked Samtiss what Hydrophis might want with something like that, but he had no idea. I noticed the cops regarding my Lemurian companion with suspicion, but I suppose that was to be expected. They'd probably had unpleasant experiences with his people when the Lemurians had attacked Millennium City.
\tThe director also told us that the converter gave off a unique type of radiation and that they had a scanner that could detect it if the converter were activated anywhere within ten miles of the lab. He said he'd have someone watching the scanner at all times and he'd inform us the moment it picked up anything. Since there didn't seem to be any more that could be done here, Nighthawk, Lady Nighthawk, Samtiss, and I left the lab.
\t"Well, now what?" asked Lady Nighthawk as we entered the alley behind Cambridge Labs.
\t"Now we wait," replied Nighthawk. "The ball is in Hydrophis's court."
\tShe nodded and turned to me. "Nightmunk, could I speak to you in private for a moment?"
\t"Sure," I said. Leaving Samtiss with Nighthawk, we went around a corner.
\t"Are you sure you can trust that Lemurian?" Lady Nighthawk asked once we were out of earshot of the others.
\tI shrugged. "He's been reliable so far."
\t"What do you plan to do with him?"
\t"I figured I'd take him back to my place."
\t"Do you think that's wise?"
\t"He has nowhere else to go, Dana."
\t"What about the Lemurian Embassy?"
\tI shook my head. "I asked him about that. He said they won't take an untransformed Lemurian into their midst."
\t"Even though he's changed sides?"
\t"Apparently, there's a strong cultural bias against it."
\t"Have you talked this over with Julie?"
\t"No," I admitted. "There hasn't been time."
\t"You might want to do that. It's her apartment, too."
\t"Yeah," I said. "Was there anything else?"
\t"No. Just be careful, Alvin."
\tWe rejoined Nighthawk and Samtiss, and my two partners bid us good night and faded off into the darkness. I got on my grav bike and flew back to my apartment, Samtiss following like an electric fairy.
\tOnce back at my place, I traded my costume for a T-shirt and sweatpants and went to the kitchen to make myself a sandwich. "You want anything?" I asked Samtiss as he stood in my living room, watching me.
\t"I am not hungry," he replied.
\t"In that case, would you mind using the shower to wash that sewer sludge off of you? It's kind of stinking up the place."
\t"I shall do so," he said.
\tI sat on the couch, eating and watching television, while Samtiss cleaned himself up. The door opened, and Julie came in. She smiled when she saw me. "Hi, honey," she said. Then she looked puzzled as she heard the water running. "Who's in the shower?"
\t"A friend from work," I replied.
\t"One of Team Nighthawk?"
\t"No, it's someone else."
\t"Do they not have a shower of their own?"
\t"That's what I need to talk to you about." I turned off the television, hopped off the couch, and went over to her. As I did, the sound of the shower stopped and Samtiss emerged from the bathroom, his scaley brown and yellow body gleaming wet and dripping on the floor. Julie gasped and recoiled when she saw him.
\t"Holy shit!" she said.
\t"It's all right," I said. "He's friendly."
\tShe whirled on me. "A Lemurian? You brought a goddamned Lemurian into our home?"
\t"He's helping me with a case."
\tHer hands clenched into fists. "Get him out of here!"
\tI stared at her. "What?"
\t"Get him out of here! I won't have that monster in my home!"
\t"Julie, he's turned against his own people."
\t"I don't care! I want him gone!"
\tI turned to Samtiss. "Could you wait outside, please?"
\tThe Lemurian nodded and walked past us and out the door, closing it behind him. Then I turned back to Julie. "Okay, what gives?" I asked.
\tShe looked at me in surprise. "What gives? Alvin, they attacked the city!"
\t"I've never seen you show any racial prejudice before, and it's doubly surprising since you're sleeping with a manimal. So there must be something else going on."
\tShe scowled at me. "You always have to be the detective, don't you?"
\t"It's not something I can just turn off."
\tShe paused and took a deep breath. "Alvin, I put up with a lot of shit being your girlfriend."
\t"I know you do."
\t"The long absences, the constant worrying, the nights you come home battered and bloody . . ."
\t"And I appreciate all of that."
\t"Not to mention the looks we get when we're out in public together . . . the whispered comments. Do you know I haven't even worked up the courage to tell my parents about you, yet? All they know is I have a boyfriend."
\tThis was getting hard to take. I swallowed. "I'm sorry, Julie. But I can't change what I am."
\tShe knelt down to be eye to eye with me. "And I wouldn't want you to. I love you just the way you are."
\t"So you can accept me as your lover, but you can't even tolerate a Lemurian in your apartment? I don't understand."
\tShe sighed. Then she stood up and walked across the room. Finally, she stopped and turned to face me. "A good friend of mine was killed in the invasion."
\t"Oh," I said. "I didn't know."
\t"One of their drilling machines collapsed the building we were in. We were buried in the rubble. I was pulled out by rescue workers, eventually. Susan didn't make it."
\tI knew nothing about this episode in Julie's life. The Lemurian invasion had occurred before we'd met. When you've suffered a big loss, it's easy to forget that other people have, too. That your pain isn't special.
\tI walked over to her. "Julie, Samtiss had nothing to do with that. He had already turned against his people by then. He fought them during the invasion. I saw him fight one of them tonight."
\t"What do you want him to stay here for?"
\t"Partly just for convenience. We're working on a case together, so it would help to have him close at hand. And partly because he has nowhere else to go. His own people won't accept him. He's all alone in a strange city where everyone is against him. I know what that's like."
\tShe was silent for a long time. Then she sighed. "All right. Bring him in."
\tI went to the door, opened it, and looked out in the hall. It was empty.
\t"Damn it," I said.
\t
\tThe following week was pretty uneventful. I didn't want to get too involved in anything, since at any moment a call might come from Cambridge Labs saying the matter-energy converter had been activated, so I mostly just stuck close to my apartment. I passed the time by doing research on various criminals and their activities, and I asked my contacts in the MCPD to alert me if there were any more hi-tech thefts. Julie and I didn't talk very much. I told her I didn't blame her for Samtiss leaving, but I could tell she didn't believe me—which spoke well of her powers of perception, because it was, in fact, a lie. I could also tell she was lying when she said she was sorry he'd left. So there we were, both lying to each other, living in a world of long, uncomfortable silences. It felt as if something had died between us, and I didn't know how to fix it. I was scared that I might be losing her, but I was even more scared by whatever it was Hydrophis was up to, so my private life had to take a back seat for the moment. This is probably why so many superhero relationships fail.
\tFinally, I got the call from Cambridge Labs that I'd been waiting for. They'd gotten a hit on their scanners. Oddly, the signal was coming from the Detroit River. It was evening when the call came, so Julie was at work and I was alone in the apartment. I thought about calling her, but I didn't know what to say, so instead I just suited up and headed out. Hopefully, this would be over quickly and I could concentrate on trying to mend fences with her.
\tEither that, or I'd be dead.
\tI flew to the riverfront on my grav bike, flying over steel cargo containers stacked like giant bricks by the piers. According to the coordinates the lab had given me, the signal was coming from less than a hundred feet offshore. As I gazed down into the inky black water, I caught a reflection in it of something bright, and I looked up. It was Samtiss, dropping down out of the dark sky, his scaly body wreathed in twisting arcs of electricity.
\t"How did you know to come here?" I asked. As far as I knew, the Lemurian didn't have a cell phone.
\t"I sensed emanations of Lemurian magic," he replied, hovering above the water in front of me.
\t"Magic? Could Hydrophis be using the converter to power some kind of magical device?"
\t"That is entirely possible."
\t"Any idea what it might be?"
\tHe shook his lizard head. "None whatever."
\t"Look, Samtiss, I'm sorry about what Julie said—"
\t"Our immediate circumstance precludes unnecessary conversation," he interrupted. "Let us stop Hydrophis."
\tI blinked, taken aback by his abruptness. "I had intended to wait for my partners to arrive."
\t"By then, it could be too late. Come." And with that, he plunged into the water. I sighed, put on a breathing mask over my muzzle, and jumped off my bike into the river.
\tThe Detroit River is murky at the best of times, and it was night, so I couldn't see a blessed thing. Fortunately, my guide was a Lemurian, who was used to being underwater in total darkness. Samtiss took my hand and led me to an opening in the muddy bottom that had apparently been made by a Lemurian drilling machine. It went down about thirty feet, then turned horizontal. We followed the submarine tunnel for a while, and I had to admire the ease with which Samtiss operated underwater. Finally, the tunnel bent upward, and I could see a shimmering circle of light above us. We rose toward it and broke the surface.
\tWe were in a pool in an underground cavern, and we weren't alone. There were six Lemurians standing guard around it. They were all wearing ornate armor identifying them as adepts in their respective disciplines: bronze for ionic magic, purple for dark magic. They didn't look happy to see us.
\t"Intruders!" one hissed. "Kill them!"
\tI jumped out of the pool, hurling a handful of sleeping gas pellets, and two of the lizards went down. Samtiss rose into the air and shocked a third with an electrical bolt. Then a fourth one raised both hands, chanting, and a swirling vortex of darkness appeared before us. It was a puddle of pure entropy, and I could feel it pulling at me, drawing me toward it, sucking the energy from my body like a hungry leech. My teeth chattered as a numbing cold gripped me. Trails of electricity from Samtiss curved toward it, disappearing into it as he struggled not to follow them, since anything that entered it would simply cease to be. I seized my grapple gun and fired it at the dark adept. The claw hooked on one of the pauldrons of his armor, and I pressed the rewind, which yanked him toward his own vortex. He staggered forward, arms flailing, and with a cry, fell into the vortex. The top part of his body was instantly devoured by the darkness, and then the vortex vanished, leaving only his lower half lying on the stone floor. It made me feel a little sick.
\tI didn't have time to think about it, though, as a blast from one of the ionic adepts hit me and my whole body convulsed as the current coursed through it. My muscles froze up and my jaw clenched as I endured the awful feeling of being electrocuted. Fortunately, Samtiss came to my rescue, blasting the adept who was shocking me. That broke the adept's concentration, and I leaped at him, slugging him across his snout and putting him down.
\tThe last adept saw how things were going and tried to flee, flying toward an opening in the cavern wall. I decided I didn't want him raising the alarm, so I hurled a web grenade, which covered his body in sticky fibers, gluing him in place long enough for Samtiss to finish him off with an electrical blast.
\tSamtiss and I went to the opening the adept had been making for. It was the mouth of a tunnel. Fortunately, there were torches in sconces on the walls, providing light. We made our way cautiously along the tunnel. Eventually, it opened into a large chamber of worked stone. The chamber held a wooden dining table laden with food. Around it sat a bunch of Cobra Lords. "I dunno," one of them was saying. "It don't feel right bein' allies with these lizards."
\t"But they gave us these!" another said, holding up his arms, on which he was wearing a pair of transparent magical bracers.
\t"Yeah, we got powers now!" said a third. "No heroes can push us around anymore!"
\t"But they attacked the city once!" the first pointed out. "You really think we can trust them?"
\t"We don't gotta trust 'em," said the third Cobra. "If they try and double-cross us, we'll just blast 'em!"
\tI shook my head. "Lord, these guys are dumber than a bag of hammers," I whispered.
\t"A bag of hammers?" asked Samtiss, looking as confused as his reptilian face could manage.
\t"Never mind. Think you can convince them you're on their side?"
\t"But I am not wearing any armor," he said.
\tI shrugged. "So, you left it at home. You're a Lemurian. Do you really think they're going to question you being in your birthday suit?"
\t"Birthday suit?" he asked, looking confused again.
\t"Just go talk to them."
\tSamtiss stepped into the room and walked over toward the Cobra Lords. They sat at the table watching him with surly, suspicious gazes. "Good evening, gentlemen," he said. "I trust the food is to your liking?"
\t"I never cared much for fish," said the lead Cobra. "When do we go back to knocking over banks?"
\t"When Hydrophis says so," replied Samtiss.
\t"Hydrophis," another Cobra grunted. "Ain't he done buildin' that magical doohickey of his yet?"
\t"Pardon me," said Samtiss, "but I am new here. What is this doohickey you speak of?"
\tThe lead Cobra shrugged. "Some kinda portal."
\t"A portal to where?" asked Samtiss.
\t"I dunno. Ask him."
\t"I shall do so," said Samtiss, moving casually to one end of the table. "Where can I find him?"
\t"Down that tunnel," said the Cobra, pointing. "Turn right at the fork."
\tSamtiss smiled. "Thank you, gentlemen. You have been most helpful." With that he began to crackle with electricity and, raising his arms, sent a massive lightning bolt down the length of the table, causing every one of the Cobras to slump face-first into their plates.
\t"Nice!" I said, coming into the room to join him.
\tSamtiss turned to me. "I just got it."
\t"Got what?" I asked.
\t"Birthday suit. The outfit one is wearing when one is born. Nothing!"
\t"You'll master human idioms yet," I said. "Any idea where this portal might lead to?"
\tSamtiss shook his head. "I fear not. However, the energy requirements for magical portals increase with the distance between the two openings. Based on the amount of power the matter-energy converter is capable of producing, its range would be restricted to this planet and its immediate vicinity."
\t"That doesn't exactly narrow it down a lot," I said.
\t"I am sorry. That is the best I can do."
\tWe entered the tunnel the Cobra Lord had indicated and walked along it. "You know," I said, "I have friends in UNTIL. That's the United Nations Tribunal on International Law. They police supercrime all over the world."
\t"I know who they are," said Samtiss.
\t"When this is all over—assuming we're both still alive—I could put in a good word for you, and maybe they could find you a place to live. You wouldn't have to hide out in the sewers anymore."
\t"I do not require the charity of surface dwellers," Samtiss replied stiffly.
\t"Oh, it wouldn't be charity. You'd be expected to earn your keep, doing work for UNTIL. I'm sure they'd appreciate your help on Lemurian matters."
\t"And they would trust a Lemurian?"
\t"They might, if I vouched for you."
\tHe nodded. "I will think about it."
\tWe continued on down the tunnel. Eventually it opened up into another chamber, and we crept up and peered cautiously inside. This one contained five Lemurians—four big bruisers, wearing only leather straps across their massive chests and holding enormous swords, and a fifth in gleaming golden armor emblazoned with mystic sigils, who was floating a foot above the floor. They were arrayed around a raised platform with a pulsing green light atop it. Beside the platform and wired up to it was the stolen matter-energy converter. Samtiss hissed softly.
\t"Trouble?" I asked.
\t"The one in gold armor is an archmagus," said Samtiss. "They are the mightiest sorcerers among my people."
\tI nodded. "Think you can run the same con on them you did on the Cobras?"
\t"You mean pretending to be an ally?"
\t"It worked once."
\t"We appear to have nothing to lose." He stepped into the chamber. What followed was an exchange in Ancient Lemurian, which Samtiss translated for me later.
\tThe archmagus rotated in the air to face him and hissed. "Why are you not wearing your armor, fool?" he asked.
\t"I beg forgiveness, my lord," Samtiss replied. "I just woke up from a nap and thought I heard something."
\t"Well, go back and put it on!" snapped the archmagus. "We must be ready in the event surface-dwelling heroes attack!"
\tSamtiss nodded, regarding the platform. "So this is the portal. I had not seen it before. Has Hydrophis already gone though?"
\t"Of course he has, along with a contingent of our people! Now go and get dressed!"
\t"Actually," said Samtiss, "I feel quite comfortable the way I am." And with that he blasted the archmagus with a lightning bolt.
\tThe archmagus writhed in the air as electricity coursed around him, momentarily stunning him, and the four Lemurians with swords whirled toward Samtiss. Deciding it was time to make my presence felt, I stepped into the room and hurled a throwing blade at one of the big fellows. It ricocheted off his cranium and struck another on his, and they both fell to the floor like sacks full of mud. The other two turned to face me and began advancing with swords raised. Seeing that they were both barefoot, I decided to take advantage of this fact and tossed a handful of caltrops in front of them. They both howled in pain as the metal points pierced the soles of their feet, and began gingerly trying to pull them out. No, I don't play fair—not when I'm fighting eight-foot lizards, anyway. Besides, Samtiss was in trouble.
\tThe archmagus had recovered and summoned a ring of those sigils of destruction I'd seen a Cobra Lord invoke days ago. He blasted Samtiss with a mystic bolt, knocking him back into a sigil. It exploded, which knocked him into another, which also exploded, and so on. The chain reaction was devastating, and poor Samtiss was hurled from sigil to sigil like a rag doll, until finally he was blown out through a gap in the ring and lay battered on the floor, barely conscious.
\tMeanwhile, the archmagus had turned his attention to me. "A manimal," he scoffed, tongue flicking. "Is this the best the surface dwellers have to offer?"
\t"No," I replied, "but all the others decided they had better things to do than fight you losers, so you're stuck with me."
\t"They shall regret that," said the archmagus, and raised his clawed hands to blast me.
\tI jumped aside, tossing a smoke bomb at him to screw up his aim. His mystic bolt missed me by miles, and I closed with him while he was momentarily blinded, extending my talons and slashing at him. Whatever his armor was made of, it was no match for questionite, one of the strongest metals known to man. They sliced through his armor as if it were warm butter, and into the flesh beneath. The archmagus howled and flew back away from me, hissing angrily. "Curse you, manimal!" he said. "The Bleak Ones will devour your soul!"
\t"I'll try to keep it fresh for them," I said. I whipped out a bola and hurled it at him, because I'd read somewhere that sorcerers can't do much if their arms are bound. It wrapped around his torso, pinning his arms to his sides. As the archmagus squirmed in the air, trying to wriggle free, I spun about to confront the two big guys with swords, who were done picking caltrops out of their feet and were now charging toward me, looking none too happy.
\tI ducked one sword, and as it whooshed above my head in a blinding arc, I deflected the other one with my claws. The impact knocked me back about ten feet, as the Lemurian was unbelievably strong. I somersaulted in midair, landing on my feet in a crouch, and hurled a handful of throwing blades at him. Three struck him in his scaly chest, but he barely seemed to notice them, roaring and charging at me with his sword raised above his head. Fortunately, I'm used to fighting people bigger than me. Reasoning that he had built up too much momentum to easily stop, I met him halfway, barreling toward him and going low, throwing myself at his legs and taking them out from under him. He toppled forward and landed on the floor face-first.
\tI barely had time to take a breath, as the other one was bearing down on me. He was being cagier than his companion, however, approaching slowly, sword held up defensively before him. I was running low on gadgets, but I still had a few tricks left. I hurled a handful of gas pellets at him, and as he stood there choking, I held my breath and laid into him with a couple of punches to the gut. It felt like hitting a brick wall. I backed up to get out of the gas cloud, and he staggered after me, woozy from the gas but still going. Maybe it didn't work so well on Lemurians, or maybe he just had the constitution of a horse. He took another step, then another, then fell forward and collapsed to the floor, out cold.
\tAs I stood there gazing down at him, something hit me in the back, hard, hurling me forward. I landed face down on the floor. I turned over to see the archmagus hovering above me, finally free of my bola, his wide, sharp-toothed mouth grinning.
\t"Your puny toys are no match for Lemurian sorcery!" he gloated. He raised his clawed hands to blast me again, and I was still too stunned to dodge. Then there was a blinding flash accompanied by an ear-ripping roar, and he fell to the floor before me.
\t"In that case, it is a good thing I am here," said Samtiss, walking over and offering me his hand. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet. We went over to the first swordman, who was still lying where he'd fallen after I'd tripped him, and I turned him over and winced. It seemed the fall had rammed my throwing blades deep into his chest, killing him. I felt bad about that, but there was nothing I could do for him, so I tried to console myself with the fact that his death had been an accident, and after all, he had been trying to kill me. Then I turned my attention to the portal.
\t"Shall we see where it goes?" I asked Samtiss.
\t"The archmagus said there are more Lemurians on the other side," he said.
\tI nodded. "More fun times."
\tHe looked at me, puzzled. "You are a strange little manimal."
\tI grinned up at him. "Come on, I'll race you." And I ran forward into the green light.
\tThere was a moment of dizziness, and I found myself standing in a large, circular room. The walls were lined with blinking, flashing computers, and the floor was strewn with the bodies of UNTIL agents in their blue and grey uniforms. I looked up. The ceiling was a transparent geodesic dome, beyond which lay a pitch-black sky that was wild with stars. And among them, a familiar blue-and-white ball hung lonely and beautiful in the endless night.
\t"Where are we?" asked Samtiss, who was now standing beside me and looking around at the bodies.
\t"We're on the moon," I replied.
\tSamtiss stared at me with his snake-like eyes. "The moon?"
\tI nodded. "As in the light of the silvery."
\t"But what are all these UNTIL agents doing here?" he asked.
\t"UNTIL maintains a base on the moon where they keep their most dangerous prisoners—sort of a lunar Guantanamo. I'm guessing this is it." I went over and examined the nearest UNTIL agent. As I'd feared, he was dead.
\t"Then Hydrophis must be after one of them," said Samtiss.
\t"Stands to reason," I replied. I moved from body to body, checking them for signs of life. One was still breathing. I injected her with a stimulant, and her eyes fluttered open. They widened when they saw me. Then she saw Samtiss, and her hand instinctively went for her gun. I stopped her. "It's all right, he's a friend. How many Lemurians came through here?"
\t"About ten, I think," she said.
\t"Any idea who they might be after?"
\t"We have a Lemurian prisoner in Beta dome. Huge fellow."
\t"That must be it, then." I looked up at Samtiss. "Come on."
\tThe UNTIL agent looked at us—a small manimal and a Lemurian. "Is there any more help coming?" she asked hopefully.
\tI shook my head. "We're it."
\tShe didn't bother trying to hide her disappointment. "I'll see if I can get the telepad to Earth working. The Lemurians disabled it when they attacked."
\t"Good idea," I said. "It would be nice to have a way home."
\tSamtiss and I went through a sliding door into a passage that connected Alpha dome—where we had materialized—to Beta dome. The Lemurian was finding it difficult to walk in the lower gravity, so he flew instead. As for me, I adjusted quickly. Believe it or not, this actually wasn't the first time I'd been on the moon. Several months ago, four other heroes and I had been transported by a decadent alien race called the Malvans to an arena called the Forum Malvanum on the far side of the moon. There, we'd participated in the Lunar Games, in which we'd fought a variety of opponents in gladitorial combat. It hadn't been a pleasant experience for me, since it had taken me back to my days in the fight pits on Monster Island, where my brothers had died. Though we hadn't won the grand prize, our host—a sleazeball named Tateklys—had told us we'd fought well and brought honor to our planet, and then he'd transported us back to Earth. I was happy just to be out of that place.
\tWe reached the sliding door to Beta dome but didn't go through just yet. Instead, we peered through the window to see what was inside. There were four Lemurian adepts guarding the entrance to the detention section, which appeared to have some kind of shimmering force field over it. There was no sign of Hydrophis.
\tSamtiss flicked his tongue. "That barrier is magical," he said. "We will not be able to penetrate it."
\t"Can we deactivate it?" I asked.
\t"Perhaps. It is undoubtably powered by crystallos shards—probably two of them."
\t"Will these shards be in Beta dome?" I asked.
\t"No, they must be kept well apart so their resonances do not interfere with each other."
\tI checked the diagram of the base, which was conveniently posted beside each door. There were only four domes, with Beta serving as a central hub linking the other three. Since the shards hadn't been in Alpha, and they weren't in Beta, then there must be one in each of Gamma and Delta. That meant we had to go through these guys to get to them.
\t"Okay," I said. "I'll take the two on the right; you take the two on the left."
\tSamtiss nodded and began to crackle with electricity. I hit the button that caused the door to slide open. When it did, I hurled throwing blades at the two Lemurians on the right, beaning each of them on their heads. Samtiss blasted the other two with bolts of lightning and down they went, joining their buddies on the floor. I took advantage of the low gravity to cover the distance to the magical barrier in two long leaps. I'd learned how to move in lunar gravity while fighting in the Forum Malvanum, so I guess something good had come of that episode after all. On the other side, I could see a chamber whose walls were lined with large cylinders. Hydrophis was in there, standing before one and waving his arms around, conducting some sort of ritual. He took no notice of me.
\t I turned to Samtiss, who had floated up behind me. "You take Gamma; I'll take Delta."
\t"Is it wise to split up?" he asked.
\t"We don't have a choice! We don't know how close he is to finishing whatever he's doing, so we have to get in there as fast as possible!"
\tSamtiss nodded and flew toward the passageway that led to Gamma dome, while I bounded across the floor to the one that led to Delta. I ran down the passage in long, loping strides, and once I banged my head on the ceiling when I misjudged how high my leap would take me. Upon reaching the entrance to Delta dome, I peered through the window. An oblong glowing crystal about one foot tall was floating in the air six feet above the floor. The door slid aside, and I went over to the crystal and extended the claws from my gauntlets as it floated there, glowing and humming with power. I jumped at it, slashing with my claws when I reached it. Three quick slashes and it exploded, spewing fragments across the room. Mission accomplished. I headed back to Beta dome.
\tI arrived just in time to see the magical barrier to the detention section go down. Apparently, Samtiss had accomplished his part of our mission. I edged along the curved wall of Beta dome to the detention section's entrance and peered around the corner. Hydrophis was still there, and standing beside him was a gigantic Lemurian, at least half again as tall as he was. He was wearing green and gold armor and a helmet with curling ram's horns that completely concealed his reptilian face. They were speaking to each other in their own hissing tongue, and I regretted that Samtiss wasn't there to translate for me.
\tJust then, Samtiss flew in from Gamma dome, his body crackling with electricity. He saw me, and I motioned for him to take up a position at the other side of the entrance to the detention section. He did so, and I counted down with my fingers. Three … two … one, and we both sprang into the opening, Samtiss building up a massive electrical bolt while I raised a throwing blade.
\tHydrophis and his huge companion turned to face us, and the former raised his clawed hands, a mystical shield appearing before him, while the latter addressed us in a croaking voice. "You are too late, heroes. The Unknowable One is returned to us, and the world will tremble at his coming. I, Graknash, go to usher in his return. I leave you in my disciple's capable hands." And with a flash of purple light, he vanished.
\t"I will destroy you," snarled Hydrophis, "and join the Unknowable One in glory!"
\tSamtiss unleashed his electric bolt at Hydrophis while I hurled a throwing blade at him. Both glanced off his mystic shield to no visible effect. Then Hydrophis gestured, and three glowing purple globes appeared around Samtiss, blasting him with bolts of mystical energy. I tried to take one out with a throwing blade, but the blade just sailed through it. Apparently, the globes had no physical substance. There was nothing I could do to help my friend. While Samtiss writhed, Hydrophis turned his attention to me. A swirling vortex appeared in front of me, dragging me toward it like some kind of black hole, and I could feel it draining my strength. I backflipped away from it, the lower lunar gravity enabling me to go much further than I could have back on Earth. Hydrophis came lumbering after me, his tail lashing behind him, and fired a mystical bolt from one hand. I dodged out of the way, and the bolt struck one of the computer consoles lining the walls of the dome, utterly demolishing it and sending sparks and smoke spewing into the air.
\tI dropped a smoke bomb, creating a cloud of darkness to hide myself, and leaped at Hydrophis, extending my claws and ramming them into his belly. He roared in pain and lashed out at me. His fist caught me in the side with a blow that felt like being hit by a charging bull, and I went sailing through the air, describing a long, graceful arc that ended with me smashing into the wall in a tooth-jarring impact. I slid to the floor, stunned, while Hydrophis readied more of those purple globes of death.
\tHis spell was interrupted by a lightning bolt from Samtiss, who had recovered and was on the attack again. Hydrophis turned to face him and summoned another of those swirling vortexes, which began pulling Samtiss toward it. Samtiss struggled to fly back away from it, but he only managed to slow the rate at which he was being dragged into the vortex.
\t"The Bleak Ones will feast on your soul, heretic," snarled Hydrophis, "just as they were always meant to. Such is the fate of all our kind. You cannot escape your destiny."
\t"I have renounced the Bleak Ones!" shouted Samtiss, as he slipped closer and closer to the vortex.
\tHydrophis shook his head. "It does not matter. They created us. In the end, we belong to them."
\tI took advantage of Hydrophis's monologuing to sneak up behind him. While I'm normally against killing, he wasn't leaving me much choice. Gritting my teeth, I rammed my claws into his back. He threw back his head and howled, and the vortex evaporated, freeing Samtiss, who immediately hurled a lightning bolt at him, making him writhe as the volts washed over him. Hydrophis fell to his knees, burned and bleeding, and looked up at the two of us standing over him.
\t"I gladly give all for the cause," Hydrophis gasped. "You cannot stop us! We are everywhere! This world will burn!" And with that he slumped to the floor. I knelt beside him and checked his pulse. He was dead. I noticed a small scrap of paper in his hand with strange symbols on it. I palmed it and stuck it in my belt without Samtiss seeing.
\t"Fool!" spat Samtiss, glaring down at the corpse. "Fanatical, deluded fool!"
\t"Not so foolish that he wasn't able to beat us to the punch," I said, standing up. "Who is Graknash?"
\t"I do not know. I have never heard of him."
\t"Is this Unknowable One one of the Bleak Ones?"
\tSamtiss shook his head. "None of them goes by that name."
\tOur conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a contingent of UNTIL agents charging in from Alpha dome, weapons at the ready. Apparently, the one I'd revived earlier had managed to get the telepad to Earth working again. They leveled their guns at Samtiss when they saw him, but I raised my hands to stop them. "Don't shoot! He's a friend!"
\tThe UNTIL agents lowered their guns, and their leader strode up to me. Blond, crewcut, mustache, no-nonsense expression. "You're that manimal who works with Nighthawk, aren't you?"
\t"What gave it away?" I asked, grinning. "Yes, I'm Nightmunk."
\t"I'm Captain Fisher. Mind telling me what the devil happened here?"
\tI gave him a quick rundown on everything that had occurred up to this point, while he listened intently. "Graknash was captured when he broke into an UNTIL facility several years ago," he said when I had finished. "We've had him in stasis here ever since. We don't even know what he was looking for."
\t"Well, you now know everything we do," I said. I didn't mention the scrap of paper I'd found.
\tFisher eyed Samtiss suspiciously. "Are you sure about that?"
\t"He's been nothing but helpful ever since this business began, at the risk of his own life. I think you can trust him."
\tFisher nodded. "Would you like a lift back to Earth?"
\t"Well, we were going to walk back, but since you're offering . . ."
\tFisher escorted us to the telepad room, and we stood on the platform while a technician operated the equipment. I closed my eyes, because I really don't enjoy having my atoms scattered across the universe. One dizzying moment later I opened them, and we were on another telepad in a different, much larger room, with a different technician at the controls. The sudden six-fold increase in heaviness told me we were back on Earth. I thanked the technician for competently reassembling us and asked him where we were.
\t"This is UNTIL headquarters in Millennium City," he replied.
\t"Well, that's convenient," I said. We left the telepad room, walked down a corridor to the main control room, took the turbo lift up to the lobby, and exited the building into the city night. My grav bike would have returned automatically to the roof of my apartment from where I'd left it hovering over the Detroit River, so I hit a few buttons on my gauntlet to summon it to me.
\t"What do we do now?" asked Samtiss.
\t"I've been thinking," I said. "I feel a little out of my pay grade here—what with magic, Lemurians, the Unknowable One, and so on. There's a guy down in Vibora Bay named Dr. Ka who's an expert on stuff like this. I think I'll pay him a visit. But first, I'm going back to my apartment to take a shower. I'm all wet inside my armor from that swim in the river, and it's very uncomfortable."
\tSamtiss regarded me with puzzlement. "You are wet and uncomfortable, so you are going to get more wet?"
\t"Yeah, I didn't think you'd understand." My grav bike came humming down out of the night sky and landed in front of me. I climbed on and took off, Samtiss flying along beside me. We landed on the roof of my apartment a few minutes later.
\t"Will your female not object to my presence here?" asked Samtiss.
\t"Her name is Julie," I replied, "and she is not 'my female,' she's my girlfriend. And she's at work right now, so you're safe." We descended the stairs from the roof, and I took out my key and let us into my apartment. I turned on the lights and immediately noticed a note on the dinner table. I swallowed, went over, picked it up, and read it.
\t\tDear Alvin,
\tI need some time to myself. There are some things I need to consider, about us. I know you could probably track me down easily enough, but I really wish you wouldn't. I'll see you in a few days.
\t\tLove, Julie.
\tI sighed, hung my head, and crumpled the note in my hand. "Shit."

\tThe moonlit waters of the Gulf of Mexico rose up to meet the UNTIL jump jet Samtiss and I were riding in as it descended toward the landing pad located on the waterfront of the sprawling city beneath us. There was a soft bump, and the high-pitched whine of the engines began to fade. We unbuckled ourselves from our seats and descended the exit ramp to the platform, stepping into the muggy night air of Vibora Bay.
\tWe hadn't said a word to each other during the entire trip from Millennium City. I was sulking about Julie going off to have some alone time, and Samtiss understandably didn't want to involve himself in my personal affairs, even though it was his presence that had led to the present situation between me and Julie. I really didn't want to lose her. Being with Julie had made me the happiest I'd been since leaving Monster Island. She was right that it would have been a simple matter for me to track her down, but I wanted to respect her privacy. Besides, frankly, I had more important things to worry about at the moment.
\tAs we walked along the wooden pier that connected the platform to the shore, Samtiss seemed alert and agitated, his lizard-like head jerking around, his tongue flickering. "Something wrong?" I asked him.
\t"There are many flavors of magic here," he replied.
\tI'd never heard of magic having flavors before, but then I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about it. I nodded. "There's a lot of mystical stuff going on in this town. There's vampires, werewolves, voodoo, and demons. A lot of weird things happen here."
\tHe looked at me. "As opposed to Millennium City?"
\tI shrugged. "It's a different kind of weird."
\tAs we made our way along the waterfront, quite a few civilians were giving us stares, most of them directed at my companion. "Do they hate Lemurians here, also?" Samtiss asked.
\t"They might think you're one of the Sovereign Sons," I replied. "They're a voodoo-based gang that's active here. Some of them look like humanoid alligators."
\t"I look nothing like an alligator," said Samtiss, sounding almost offended.
\t"You're a reptile. Most people aren't going to make a distinction. Also, do you have to walk around naked all the time?"
\t"Do not manimals normally go naked?" he asked.
\t"On Monster Island, we did. But this is America. People wear clothes here."
\t"We Lemurians are unconcerned with childish notions such as modesty."
\t"I've seen other Lemurians wearing clothes."
\t"Clothes are a symbol of status among my people. Since my status is nonexistent . . ."
\t". . . so is your wardrobe. I suppose that makes sense. Still, it might be easier for you to interact with humans if you wore some sort of clothing."
\t"Do you really imagine that hanging a few of those absurd rags on my body is going to make them hate me any less?"
\t"What have you got to lose?" I asked.
\tHis tongue flickered. "I will think about it."
\tWe boarded a trolley car that would take us into Easton Tangle, where Dr. Ka lived. As the car lurched and clattered along the rails, the few other late-night passengers kept as far as they could from their two bizarre-looking companions as we sat quietly in our seats, minding our own business just like any other commuters. Still, a manimal shouldn't be quite that unusual a sight here. I knew there was at least one who lived in Vibora, a fellow named Ram who worked as a bouncer at a nightclub called the Minefield. More likely they were leery about my reptilian buddy. The Sovereign Sons had a reputation for making people disappear, sometimes to show up later as zombies.
\tSpeaking of which, as I sat gazing out the window watching the brick buildings with their curving iron trellises roll by, I noticed a pair of figures with long snouts and tails entering a pawnshop. I reached up and tapped my companion's shoulder. "Time to be good citizens," I said.
\tI hopped down off my seat, dashed to the door, and jumped out of the moving trolley car. It wasn't going very fast, so I had no trouble rolling to my feet when I hit the brick street. Behind me came Samtiss, floating down to land beside me, his body crackling with electricity. "What are we doing?" he asked.
\t"Our job," I replied. I pointed at the brightly lit window of the pawnshop. Inside, menacing the elderly proprietor, were a pair of alligator-men. One was a hulking brute wearing only a fur loincloth, his green, scaly skin painted with mystical symbols. The other was a much more slender fellow, with tan skin, wearing a ratty vest and trousers, a bandolier of daggers across his bare chest, and a top hat. In his hands he held an enormous double-edged weapon that appeared to be a cross between a sword and an ax. It was flat-ended, and each side was lined with a row of rectangular metal blades that gleamed and looked very sharp.
\tDeciding there was no point in being sneaky, I ran up to the door of the shop, pulled it open, and stepped inside. The two Sovereign Sons turned to face me as the proprietor ducked behind the counter. "Well, well, what ha' we heah?" asked the one in the top hat.
\t"Be lookin' like a cape ta me," rumbled the big one.
\t"But he so tiny!" said the first one.
\tThe other nodded. "Barely a mouthful."
\t"Gentlemen," I said, "I've had a really bad day, so if I'm a little rough with you, apologies in advance."
\tThe one in the top hat clutched his belly and laughed. "Woo hoo! Is dat a threat?"
\t"Oh, I's so scared!" the big one chuckled, and began lumbering toward me.
\tI whipped out a throwing blade and hurled it at the big one's head, striking him right between his beady little eyes. He grunted and staggered backward, stunned. His companion stopped laughing and stared at him, then at me.
\t"Want to see me use both hands?" I asked.
\tHe snarled and raised his hand, and a bolt of sickly green energy shot from his palm toward me. I ducked behind a wooden cigar store Indian, which the bolt struck and blew apart, sending splinters everywhere. Then Samtiss stepped into the shop, and the top-hatted alligator-man's eyes widened.
\t"We have no time for you!" the Lemurian said, and raised both hands, ripping off a blinding bolt of lightning that struck the Sovereign Son squarely in his chest. He fell to the floor, limp.
\tThe other one had recovered, though, and roared as he charged at Samtiss, huge fists raised above his head. I tossed a bola that wrapped around the alligator-man's ankles, and he face-planted into the floor. I jumped on him and rammed my gauntleted fists into his snout, pounding it viciously. Blood gushed from his nostrils, but I didn't stop. Not until Samtiss put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me back.
\t"Alvin," he said. "I think we are done here."
\tI stood up, panting, my gauntlets dripping with blood, and addressed the unconscious Sovereign Son before me. "I told you," I said, "it's been a day."
\tI turned and walked out of the store. Samtiss followed me. "You are upset," he said as we walked along the sidewalk together.
\t"Oh, you caught that, did you?"
\t"It is about Julie, isn't it?"
\t"Bravo! We'll make a detective of you yet."
\t"You should not be angry," said Samtiss. "It is not as if you had a future with her."
\tI stopped dead and stared up at him. "Why the hell not?"
\tHe looked at me, puzzled. "Is it not obvious? You are not unintelligent."
\t"Pretend I'm dumb."
\t"You are a manimal. She is human. You are not meant to be together."
\tI folded my arms across my chest. "Says who?"
\t"Says the fundamental law of nature that compels species to keep within the limits of their own forms when propagating and multiplying their kind."
\t"That's the same bullshit argument they used to use to keep people of different races from marrying."
\t"They were wise to do so. People are always happiest with their own kind."
\t"It was drivel then, and it's drivel now!"
\t"If Julie were happy, would she have left?"
\tI glared at him. "Julie and I could have been . . . could be as happy together as anyone! Anyway, you're forgetting I'm half human."
\t"That is an entirely different matter. Dr. Moreau committed a grave sin in creating you."
\t"So I shouldn't exist, is that what you're saying?"
\t"That is exactly what I am saying. You are a monster. The very word means 'that which should not be.'"
\tI stared up at him in silence for a moment. Then I started to laugh. In a moment, I was laughing so hard I had to lean against a streetlamp for support. Tears were soaking the fur on my cheeks and my sides ached, and still I couldn't stop.
\tSamtiss stood staring at me in helpless confusion. "Why are you laughing?" he asked.
\t"I'm sorry," I said, finally managing to catch my breath. "I just find it hilarious to hear a being who was created by evil gods to spread chaos and destruction across the world call me a monster! All I was created to do was sing!"
\tSamtiss said nothing for a long moment, just stood there in the circle of light cast by the streetlamp. Then he lowered his head. "I was attempting to provide consolation. Evidently, I have failed in this. I apologize."
\tI smirked. "You Lemurians have a strange way of consoling people."
\t"We are not a sentimental race."
\t"So I've noticed. Come on." We continued walking along the sidewalk.
\tAfter a few minutes, we reached the doorstep of Dr. Ka's brownstone—or, rather, the doorstep that led to where Dr. Ka's brownstone used to be, because instead of a majestic old building, the lot contained nothing but a pile of rubble.
\t"What the hell happened here?" I asked the ruins in disbelief.
\t"That's what I'd like to know," came a woman's voice from behind me.
\tI knew that voice, so I turned around without fear or surprise. Before us stood a woman in a skin-tight green costume with black thigh-high boots and black gloves that rose up past her elbows. She wore a black domino mask that was fused with the green cowl that covered her head, leaving only the lower part of her face exposed. Around her waist hung a belt with various gadgets attached, including a dagger, a billy club, and a dart pistol. Like me, Jennifer Ward, a.k.a. Black Mask, is a hero with no powers. She's the tenth in a series of Black Masks going back to 1765, the first woman to bear the title, and the unofficial protector of Vibora Bay. We'd worked together a year before on a case involving zombies being smuggled into the city, during which we'd become friends and she'd entrusted me with her secret. The case had culminated in a battle with an undead assassin named Dead Man Walkin' aboard Vibora Bay's riverboat casino, the Bayou Queen. He'd been one of the meanest, deadliest foes I've ever encountered, and it had been the toughest fight of my life up to that point. Without her help, I wouldn't have survived.
\t"Hello, Black Mask," I said. "Nice to see you again."
\t"Hello, Nightmunk," she replied. "What brings you back to Vibora Bay?"
\t"I came to consult with Dr. Ka regarding a case I'm working on," I said, "only I seem to have arrived too late. When did this happen?" I gestured at the remains of the brownstone.
\t"About two hours ago," said Black Mask. "The police have already gone over the rubble. There's no trace of any explosives. No trace of Dr. Ka, either. Witnesses said the building glowed purple and then just collapsed in on itself."
\tI glanced up at Samtiss. "Sounds like Graknash beat us here."
\tHe nodded. "These ruins reek of Lemurian magic."
\t"And two hours would have been just after we got back from the Moon."
\tBlack Mask stared at me. "The Moon?"
\tI nodded. "Graknash is a Lemurian sorcerer who was imprisoned on the Moon, until another Lemurian named Hydrophis broke him out. He serves somebody called the Unknowable One. We killed Hydrophis, but Graknash escaped."
\tShe turned her gaze to Samtiss. "And who is this?"
\t"His name is Samtiss. He's been helping me."
\t"Why?"
\t"I am fighting against the terrible thing that has happened to my people," said Samtiss.
\tShe considered him for a moment, then turned back to me. "What did you want to talk to Dr. Ka about?"
\t"I thought he might be able to tell me about this Unknowable One," I replied.
\t"Is there nobody else here who can help us?" asked Samtiss.
\t"Well," said Black Mask, "there's Caliburn."
\tI wrinkled my nose. "Anyone else?"
\tShe shook her head. "Mages don't exactly grow on trees, you know."
\t"Who is this person?" asked Samtiss.
\tI looked up at him. "Robert Cole, a.k.a. Robert Caliburn, the Magnum Mage, wielder of the Elemental Flame Gem, Earth's Archmage." I looked back at Black Mask. "Is he even in Vibora right now? He tends to move around a lot."
\t"Last I heard, he was," she replied.
\t"And I'm sure you know where."
\t"It's my job to know. Follow me." She turned and began walking down the street, and I followed, trying hard not to stare at her butt, which was right at the level of my eyes.
\t"I take it you and this Caliburn are not on the best of terms?" Samtiss asked me as we walked.
\t"You could say that. The first time we met, he tried to kill me."
\t"Why did he do that?"
\t"He thought I was working for his enemy. Turned out we were both being played. Of course, it didn't help that he has all the warmth and friendliness of a nest of hornets."
\t"He's not that bad," said Black Mask. "Anyway, you're hardly one to talk."
\t"Ha! Compared to Caliburn, I'm downright cuddly!"
\tShe glanced back at me and smirked. "Well, you certainly look more cuddly."
\tWe arrived at a sleek, black motorcycle parked nearby. She climbed aboard and looked at us. "I'm afraid there's only room for one passenger."
\t"That will not be a problem," said Samtiss. He started to crackle with electricity and rose into the air. I shrugged and climbed aboard the bike, putting my arms around Black Mask's waist. She kick-started the engine, and off we went, Samtiss flying along behind.
\tWe headed east, into the older part of the city, along brick streets that wound beneath cypress trees draped with Spanish moss, past elegant mansions that had been built before the Civil War and had somehow survived the shelling of the city by Union forces. Many of these had since been turned into hotels and restaurants. One was owned by Guy Sweetland, leader of a gang of werewolves called the Dogz. You could get a thick juicy steak there, provided you like your meat rare, which I don't. Another, toward which we appeared to be heading, was called the White Hare Hotel. It was run by a sweet old lady named Aunt Nancy and rented rooms on a monthly basis to local artists, musicians, and less savory types, such as the man we were looking for. There was a bar and grill on the first floor that made excellent po' boys.
\tAs we approached, part of the wall on the third floor exploded outward as if a bomb had gone off, and a body came flying out, landing on the street directly in front of us. It was a Lemurian in full battle armor, and it didn't look as if he'd ever be getting up again. Black Mask deftly skidded her bike to a halt beside him, and we both jumped off, Samtiss landing next to us. Out of the hole in the side of the hotel leaped a man wearing a trenchcoat, a pistol in each hand. He twisted in midair and sprayed lead back at the building as four more Lemurians came flying after him. Two went down like plugged ducks, but the other two deflected the hail of bullets with mystic shields and continued after their prey as he plummeted three stories, landed on his feet, and stood up, unharmed.
\tRobert Caliburn was a tall, lean man with short brown hair, gray eyes, and worn, haggard features. On the rare occasions when he smiled, it usually meant that something unpleasant was about to happen. Besides his customary trenchcoat, he wore a black shirt and brown slacks. He appeared to be about thirty, but I knew he had been a soldier in Vietnam, which meant his true age was probably closer to seventy. He was also responsible, indirectly, for the existence of Dead Man Walkin', which was another reason for me not to like him.
\t"You should probably hang back," I said to Samtiss, "so he doesn't think you're a hostile." Black Mask and I ran toward Caliburn as the two remaining Lemurians swooped down out of the night sky at him. He was blazing away at them with his pistols, but the bullets were bouncing off their shields harmlessly. I struck one Lemurian with a gas bomb, which detonated on impact, engulfing him a cloud of sleep gas. Black Mask sent a bola spinning toward the other, and it wrapped around him and then discharged a massive jolt of electricity. Both Lemurians fell to the street, unconscious.
\t"Well," said Caliburn, smirking, "if it isn't the cavalry, in the proverbial nick of time. Hello, Black Mask. Hello again, fuzzball."
\t"Always a pleasure, Caliburn," I said. "And by the way, you're welcome."
\tBlack Mask and I went over to the two unconscious Lemurians and tied their hands behind their backs while Caliburn looked on. "Do we just leave them for the police?" I asked, looking at the two lizard-men doubtfully.
\tBlack Mask nodded. "We do have some experience dealing with magical villains here."
\tI shrugged. "Whatever you say."
\t"What the—?" I heard Caliburn say. "Don't move, pal!"
\tI turned to see him pointing one of his pistols at Samtiss, who was gazing back at him curiously. "It's all right," I said. "He's on our side."
\t"An untransformed Lemurian helping humans?" asked Caliburn, not lowering his gun. "That's a new one on me."
\t"He's been in this thing since the beginning," I said, walking over to Caliburn. "I'll vouch for him."
\tCaliburn looked down at me and smirked. "And who's vouching for you, fur face?"
\t"Look at my costume and ask that question again, wizard."
\tCaliburn shrugged and holstered his gun. "So, I'm guessing you two arriving with a Lemurian in tow just as a bunch of them try to kill me is more than a coincidence."
\t"Wow, mages are smart!" I said.
\t"I'm also guessing this has something to do with the attack on Dr. Ka's brownstone earlier tonight."
\t"Two in a row," I said. "Want to go for the hat trick?"
\t"Sorry, I don't have any rabbits on me at the moment. What have you got for me?"
\tI was about to tell him when we were interrupted by an old woman with glasses and a shawl who ran out of the White Hare Hotel toward us. "Oh, Mr. Caliburn!" she cried. "I'm so glad you're safe! When I heard the explosion upstairs, I thought . . ." She stopped, staring at me and then at Samtiss and the two Lemurian prisoners.
\t"I'm fine, Aunt Nancy," said Caliburn, in the kindest tone I'd ever heard him use. "Don't worry about the damage to the hotel. I'll pay for it."
\tShe made a dismissive gesture. "Oh, I'm not worried about that. That's what insurance is for. I'm just glad you're all right!"
\tI became aware of sirens in the distance, getting closer. "The cops are coming," I said.
\t"If we're here when they arrive, we could be stuck answering questions for hours," said Black Mask.
\t"We cannot afford such a delay," said Samtiss.
\tCaliburn nodded. "Aunt Nancy, when the cops get here, you didn't see us, understand?"
\tShe smiled. "I understand, dearie. You all run along now. And be careful!"
\tHe turned to Black Mask. "With the Lemurians chasing me, I'll need somewhere to lie low for a while. Can I use your place?"
\tShe nodded. "Of course."
\t"Good. Gather round, everyone!" He crouched down and traced a glowing circle on the ground with one finger. Black Mask brought her motorcycle inside the circle, and Samtiss and I got inside as well. We left the two tied-up Lemurians outside. There was a flash of light, and then we were standing in an alley in another part of Vibora Bay. I recognized the location immediately from when I'd worked with Black Mask before. This was the entrance to her secret hideout.
\tBlack Mask opened a door into a narrow hallway, where she left her bike, and took us down a flight of wooden stairs to a basement. It was just as I remembered it—a shabby, messy affair, with an old sofa, a table laden with Chinese food cartons, a workshop in one corner, and a crime lab in another. On a desk sat a computer with the screen saver running and a police band monitor that crackled periodically with barely comprehensible voices.
\tCaliburn sat down on the couch and put his feet up on the table. "All right," he said. "Thrill me."
\t"Ever hear of someone called the Unknowable One?" I asked him.
\tHe actually cracked a smile at that. "Not that I know of. I take it he's connected with Lemuria in some way?"
\tSamtiss and I gave him a rundown on the events that had led up to us seeking an audience with Dr. Ka while Caliburn listened intently. "Well, you two have been busy boys," he said once we had finished. "So you have no idea what this Graknash intends to do once he finds the Unknowable One?"
\t"We do have one clue," I said. I reached into a pouch on my belt and took out a scrap of paper. "I found this on Hydrophis's body. It's covered in weird symbols. I was hoping Dr. Ka might be able to tell me what they mean." I glanced at Samtiss as I handed the paper to Caliburn. The Lemurian's reptilian face managed to convey surprise, as I'd kept the paper hidden from him until now.
\t"They're Lemurian hieroglyphs," said Caliburn, "I can tell you that much. I don't recognize the specific symbols, though."
\t"You would not," said Samtiss, tongue flicking. "We have thousands of such hieroglyphs. Those are ones whose meanings are known only to the priestly caste."
\t"Can you read them?" I asked him.
\tSamtiss shook his head. "I am a mere apprentice. Such knowledge is above my sphere."
\tI sighed. "Great. Then we're right back where we started."
\t"Not necessarily," said Caliburn. He reached into his trenchcoat and from somewhere produced a golden scimitar, which he laid on the table before him.
\t"That's Dr. Ka's," said Black Mask.
\tCaliburn nodded. "I found it in the ruins of his brownstone earlier tonight. I was trying to use it to find him when his scaly buddies," he indicated Samtiss, "came a-callin'."
\t"You can do that?" I asked.
\t"The weapon is spiritually bonded to its owner," said Samtiss. "It should be possible to trace the link back to his present location."
\t"Assuming he's still alive," said Black Mask.
\t"Oh, he's alive," said Caliburn. "The scimitar draws its power from its master. If Dr. Ka were dead, it would be nothing but an inert hunk of metal."
\t"All right," I said. "How do we do this?"
\tCaliburn swept the empty Chinese food cartons off the table with his arm. "Gather around the table, all of you."
\tBlack Mask, Samtiss, and I gathered around the table on which the golden blade lay. "Are we holding a séance?" I asked.
\t"Something like that," said Caliburn.
\t"Do we need to hold hands?" asked Black Mask.
\t"Nah, that's only in the movies. I need each of you to close your eyes and open your mind. Empty it of all thoughts. Concentrate only on the blade. Only on the blade. On the blade. The blade. Blade. Blade. Blade . . ." Caliburn's voice became hypnotic as he kept repeating the word over and over, until it lost all meaning and became just a sound. An image began to form in my mind, vague and indistinct at first, but gradually getting clearer, like a picture coming into focus. I saw a dark-skinned man in a white tunic, with an ornate golden helmet, gauntlets, belt, and sandals. He was being held prisoner in a black cyclopean edifice whose geometry defied understanding, at least to those of us accustomed to thinking in only three dimensions. Its spindly spires soared up thousands of feet into a sky that was a swirling purple miasma, without a sun, moon, or stars. Around the structure fluttered hideous bat-winged creatures whose faces were all fanged maws, without eyes or noses, and the ground upon which it sat stretched off toward the horizon with nothing but jagged black rocks and gnarled, thorny vegetation as far as the eye could see. Over the whole scene hung an aura of terror, despair, and desolation.
\t"I was afraid of this," said Caliburn, his grim voice breaking us out of our trances and, thankfully, causing the horrible vision to dissipate. "He's in the Qliphoth."
\t"The what?" I asked, shivering a little at what I'd just seen.
\t"It's a kind of anti-universe, hostile to life as we know it. Just going there causes death and madness."
\t"Sounds lovely," said Black Mask.
\tCaliburn looked at Samtiss. "It's where your creators came from."
\tThe Lemurian's eyes widened. "The Bleak Ones?"
\t"The beings you Lemurians call the Bleak Ones, or Rastrinfhar, are better known in occult circles by another name—the Kings of Edom."
\t"And who are they?" I asked.
\t"Cosmic entities of destruction. They invaded our multiverse billions of years ago, and whatever dimension they visited, they consumed and destroyed. Eventually, they were stopped by an alliance of powers so ancient we can't even identify any of them. All we have are names like 'the Fire Bearer,' 'the Lords of the Jeweled Spider,' and 'the Angel of Cold Shadow.' Some of the Kings were too powerful to be destroyed, however, so instead they were imprisoned in empty dimensions, where they remain trapped to this day. But they can still affect the multiverse indirectly, through those who serve and worship them." He looked at me. "The Elder Worms are servants of the Kings."
\tI swallowed. I'd seen those things on Monster Island—vile, slug-like creatures in armored suits who transformed anyone unfortunate enough to fall into their clutches into one of them. Manimals always took care to avoid them. "You're sure Dr. Ka is in this Qliphoth place?" I asked.
\tCaliburn nodded. "No question about it."
\t"Well, then," I said. "Looks like we're going to have to go and get him."

\tIt would take Caliburn a few minutes to prepare for our journey to the Qliphoth, so I used that time to file a report for the rest of Team Nighthawk through my cell phone, letting them know where I was and where I was going in case I didn't come back. Then I went upstairs to Black Mask's kitchen and made myself a sandwich, since I didn't know when I'd have access to food again. While I ate, I used the Internet to do a little research on the place we were going to. Turns out Qliphoth is actually a Hebrew word meaning "shells" or "husks." In Rabbinic lore, it refers to old, ruined universes that God created before He created the Sephiroth, the multiverse in which human beings—and manimals—dwell.
\tAs I sat there reading, Samtiss came into the kitchen. The Lemurian regarded me for a moment with his golden, slit-pupiled eyes, his tongue flicking. "Let me guess," I said. "You want to know why I didn't tell you about that scrap of paper I found on Hydrophis's body."
\tHe nodded. "I was under the impression that we were partners in this affair. Am I mistaken?"
\t"My partners are Nighthawk and Lady Nighthawk. I trust them with everything. I barely know you, and what I do know I don't especially like."
\t"You blame me for Julie leaving you."
\tI glared at him. "That has nothing to do with it! You called me a monster! Is that the sort of thing you say to someone you consider your partner?"
\t"That happened after you found the paper," Samtiss pointed out.
\t"True. The fact is, I don't trust you, and I haven't since this whole thing began."
\t"Because I am Lemurian."
\t"Partly. And partly because I simply don't know much about you. When we first met, I asked you why you turned against your people, and you told me you felt no need to share that with a manimal. In one stroke, you insulted me and made me think you had something to hide. That didn't exactly start us out on the right foot."
\t"Since then we have fought side by side against a common foe and saved each other's lives more than once," said Samtiss. "Does that count for nothing among you surface folk?"
\t"It doesn't hurt, but it doesn't make us friends, either. Anyway, why would you want a monster for a friend?"
\t"My words were ill-chosen. I apologize. I will explain why I renounced the Bleak Ones, if you wish it."
\t"I think I've already pieced it together. Hydrophis mentioned something about them devouring your soul when you die."
\tHe nodded. "That is so, but I knew that when I agreed to serve them. It is the price we pay for regaining our original reptilian forms and the power that goes with them."
\t"So what soured the deal for you?"
\tHe sighed, a remarkably human gesture. "There was a girl named Yareen. She was my lover. Unlike me, however, she was content with Arvad's rule."
\t"Arvad. He's the king of Lemuria, isn't he?"
\t"Correct, although he himself is not actually Lemurian. He belongs to a race of immortals called the Empyreans. That is why some of us rebelled against him and returned to worshipping the Bleak Ones. Even though Yareen did not hate him as I did, when I was transformed into what I am now, she asked to be changed also, so that we could be together."
\t"That would actually be kind of romantic, if you hadn't both been dedicated to destroying humanity."
\t"That is the thing. The change I saw in her after her transformation went far deeper than just the physical. As a human, she had been gentle and kind. That was what I had loved about her. In her reptilian form, however, she was the most wicked, vicious creature I have ever seen. She took particular pleasure in destroying sacred shrines and the priests who attended them, so much so that she became known as Yareen the Defiler. Her cruelty to prisoners was so extreme that even others in the rebellion were repulsed by it, including myself. When I told her of my feelings, she accused me of being weak and not fully embracing the Bleak Ones. It was then that I realized we had made a ghastly mistake. If the Bleak Ones could turn my sweet Yareen into a creature such as this, surely no good could come of serving them. And so I fled Lemuria and came to Millennium City. I thought that perhaps there I might find a means of changing her back into what she had been before."
\t"Well," I said after a moment of silence, "perhaps that could still happen. One thing I've learned about Millennium City is that pretty much anything is possible there."
\tHe nodded. "And now that I have bared my soul to you, are we friends?" There was a tone of pleading in his voice that actually made me feel sorry for him. Having turned against his people, he was all alone in the world. He desperately wanted a friend.
\t"I wouldn't go that far," I said, still unwilling to fully trust him. "But I do understand you better now."
\tJust then, Black Mask came into the kitchen. "Caliburn's ready," she said. We both went down to the basement with her.
\tCaliburn was sitting on the floor in a lotus position, eyes closed. He opened them as we came downstairs. "All right," he said. "Everybody good and ready?"
\t"As ready as we're ever going to be," said Black Mask.
\tI looked up at her. "Are you sure you want to come?"
\t"Dr. Ka is a friend of mine," she said. "He'd do the same for me."
\tCaliburn got to his feet. "In that case, let me give you a little primer about where we'll be going. First, the Qliphoth isn't like anyplace you've ever been before. It's bad. I mean, really bad. An entire multiverse dedicated to evil, chaos and destruction. Evil isn't just something that happens there—it's woven into the very fabric of its existence. Just being there is hazardous to your health. The Qliphoth corrupts everything it touches, and it will slowly warp both your body and your mind, changing them into something else. Something evil. That's why we don't want to stay there any longer than we have to."
\t"I take it you've been there before," I said.
\tHe nodded. "Yeah, several times, and it was a ton of fun every time. Second thing. The Qliphoth is inherently unstable, so don't depend on anything staying the same. Landmarks can disappear the moment you turn your back on them. So it's important we stay together, because if you get lost in that place, you're really up the creek."
\t"Will radios work there?" asked Black Mask.
\t"That's the next thing I was going to mention," said Caliburn. "Because of the Qliphoth's entropic nature, technology obeys Murphy's Law. Ergo, anything that can go wrong, will. That means the more complicated something is, the more likely it is to fail. So all you gadget-using heroes," he said, looking at Black Mask and me, "are going to want to rely on the simplest devices possible."
\tBlack Mask and I nodded to each other. We would be going low-tech.
\t"Finally," said Caliburn, "there's the matter of time. There's no day-night cycle in the Qliphoth, and mechanical and electronic timepieces tend to malfunction, so they can't be trusted. That means there's no effective way of measuring the passage of time there. What's more, time isn't a constant in the Qliphoth. It varies from place to place and from person to person. For one person, only minutes of subjective time might pass, while another might experience the passage of hours, days, even weeks. That is, if you could even measure time, which you can't. So, again, it's important that we stay together. Also, because it's full of things that will try to kill you. Any questions? This is your last chance to back out."
\t"Nobody's backing out, Caliburn," I said. "Let's do this."
\tHe knelt down and drew that glowing circle with his finger again, and we all stepped inside. There was a flash of light, and then we were . . . elsewhere.
\tI don't think I can really do justice to what I saw next. Maybe a good horror writer like H. P. Lovecraft could, but I'm not him. So I'll just have to do the best I can.
\tWe were standing on a rocky plain. The ground beneath our feet was purplish-black and looked like solidified lava shot through with cracks that glowed with dim magenta light. Scattered around us were thorny shrubs with sickly white leaves, along with small, mossy growths with stalks that terminated in glowing white blubs. In every direction jagged black fangs of rock had thrust up out of the ground haphazardly, pointing this way and that. In the distance I could see what looked like twisted, leafless trees, their trunks and branches contorted as if writhing in agony. On the horizon towered great dark shapes in defiance of gravity, some resembling buildings, some resembling animals, and others completely alien-looking. The sky above us was a purple and blue nebula that cast everything into an eternal dusk. The air was tinged with sulfur, ammonia, rotten meat, and other noxious scents. And worst of all, there was the sound. A constant low background noise, like someone scraping a scythe along the string of an electric guitar, punctuated by belches and groans or piercing screeches, like someone you can't see whispering nasty things in your ear.
\t"Welcome to the Qliphoth," said Caliburn.
\t"Good Lord!" exclaimed Black Mask, looking around at the nightmarish vista. "It's like something Salvador Dali might have painted."
\t"More like Hieronymus Bosch," I said.
\t"And here comes the reception committee," said Caliburn, drawing his pistols.
\tI looked in the direction Caliburn was looking. Flying toward us was a horde of bat-winged creatures. I readied some throwing blades, remembering that Caliburn had said the lower the tech the better. Black Mask had some throwing stars in her hands—the kind you see in martial arts movies—and Samtiss was crackling with electricity. We were ready to take on anything the Qliphoth could throw at us.
\tAs the things came nearer, I could make out more details. They were roughly humanoid, about two feet tall, with bone-white skin and clawed hands and feet, wearing only tattered loincloths. They had no proper faces, just grotesque gaping mouths that occupied almost the entire front of their heads, lined with long, sharp teeth. From those mouths issued piercing shrieks that made me long for the sound of nails on a chalkboard.
\tCaliburn spoke an incantation, and five transparent purple crystals appeared in the air around us. The bat-winged creatures were suddenly moving in slow motion, making them easy targets. Black Mask and I hurled our throwing stars and blades at them, dropping one after another, while Samtiss fired bolts of lightning from his hands and Caliburn blazed away with his pistols, mowing them down by the dozens. The creatures fought back by shooting sickly green bolts from their hands, but even though a couple hit me, I barely felt them. Nobody else seemed to be especially troubled by them either. Meanwhile, the mound of small corpses in front of us grew bigger and bigger. Finally, the bat-winged things retreated, flapping off back to wherever they'd come from and leaving us standing before a pile of their fallen comrades.
\t"Well, that was unimpressive," I commented.
\t"Don't get too cocky," said Caliburn, holstering his guns. "Those were chaos imps—the least of the Qliphoth's horrors. And you had my sigils of ebon weakness protecting you."
\t"Is that what those purple crystals were?" I asked.
\tHe nodded. "They slow down adversaries and reduce the damage they deal. Without them, those toxic bolts of theirs would have hurt a lot more."
\t"Well, thanks for that, then," I said, and started collecting the blades I'd hurled from the bodies of the dead chaos imps, while Black Mask did the same with her throwing stars.
\t"How do we find Dr. Ka?" asked Black Mask.
\tCaliburn produced Dr. Ka's golden scimitar from beneath his trenchcoat and placed it in the air in front of him, where it floated with utter disregard for gravity. The blade slowly rotated and then stopped. "He's that way," Caliburn said, and began walking in the direction the blade was pointing while it floated along ahead of him. The rest of us followed.
\t"Scales," said Caliburn, glancing at Samtiss, "get some altitude and see what's ahead of us."
\t"My name is Samtiss," the Lemurian replied sharply.
\t"I don't care if it's Brigitte Bardot," said Caliburn. "Get up there and get us some intel."
\tSamtiss's tongue flickered at the mage, but he rose into the air, ascending to an altitude of about five hundred feet. After a minute, he came back down to us. "There is a structure of some sort a few miles ahead, but it is like nothing I have ever seen before. It seems to have been built upside-down. It rises from a tiny point into a great sprawling stronghold high in the air."
\t"If it's high in the air, shouldn't we be able to see it from here?" I asked.
\t"Not necessarily," said Caliburn. "The Qliphoth is funny that way. The laws of perspective don't work the way we're used to." He looked back at Samtiss. "Any hostiles between us and it?"
\t"I saw an enormous creature that resembled the animated skeleton of a chicken," said Samtiss.
\t"Nightmare colossus," said Caliburn. "We'll want to avoid that."
\t"Do you know the names of all the horrors that live in this place?" I asked.
\tCaliburn smirked. "Only the ones that actually have names. Jack Fool comes from here."
\t"I can believe that," I said. Jack Fool was a tall, gaunt apparition in a ragged jester costume and bird-skull mask who served the magical villain organization DEMON. I'd fought him a couple of times while trying to stop a plot of theirs involving some artifacts stolen from a museum. He wielded a blade with deadly accuracy.
\t"You'll have to guide us around that colossus," Caliburn told Samtiss.
\tThe Lemurian nodded. "Follow me."
\tWe did so, trekking along across the rocky, desolate landscape beneath the eternally overcast sky, past twisted, leafless trees and strange polyp-like things that stared at us with a single great eye surrounded by waving tendrils. All the while, the constant dissonant background noise grated on our nerves, making it hard to concentrate. My teeth were on edge, and I felt anxious and irritable. It was easy to imagine how being in this place for too long could drive you mad. I stole glances at my companions to see how they were holding up. Black Mask and Samtiss were both rubbing their heads periodically. Caliburn seemed to be doing all right, but then he'd been here before and was probably used to it. I experienced a sudden burst of jealousy and felt the urge to pop my talons and ram them into the mage's back. I fought it down with a shiver. It must be the Qliphoth messing with my head, amplifying negative emotions. I wondered how long we had before we were at each other's throats.
\tWe ascended a rise, and before us lay the upside-down citadel Samtiss had mentioned. It towered a thousand feet in the air, black as onyx, with a jumble of domes, spires, and windows laid out to no sane plan, all balanced impossibly on a base that tapered to a pinpoint touching the ground. To the right of us, I could see the nightmare colossus lumbering around aimlessly. I took out my binoculars and focused them on it. It did indeed look like the skeleton of a giant chicken, twenty feet tall, surrounded by an aura of darkness. I was quite happy to keep my distance from it.
\t"I don't see any guards," I said, after turning my binoculars to the shadowy citadel.
\t"There wouldn't be," said Caliburn. "Getting into places in the Qliphoth tends to be pretty easy. The hard part is getting out again."
\t"Can you teleport us up there?" asked Black Mask.
\tHe shook his head. "I'd rather not risk it. This place being what it is, there's a good chance we'd materialize inside a wall or a floor. So I guess we'll have to fly up." And with that, he uttered an incantation and rose into the air.
\t"I didn't know you could fly," I said, "though I guess I really shouldn't be surprised."
\tHe smirked. "It's something I like to save for special occasions like this." He looked over at Samtiss. "I'll take Black Mask. You carry the furball."
\tThe Lemurian put his arms around my waist, and I felt a tickle of static electricity that made my fur stand on end as we rose into the air together and headed toward the dark fortress.
\tAs we came closer to the upside-down citadel, the bizarre, alien nature of the place became ever more apparent. It looked as if it had been designed by M. C. Escher on a bad trip, with doors, windows, balconies, and stairs oriented in different planes and arranged with no logical relationship to each other. Just looking at it gave me vertigo. We landed in what passed for a courtyard, which was centered around a statue doing its best impression of Edvard Munch's The Scream. There was no one about, but it was far from silent, thanks to the malignant sonic wallpaper of the Qliphoth. With the floating scimitar of Dr. Ka pointing the way, we passed through a trapezoidal doorway and went inside.
\tOur footsteps echoed impossibly loudly as we walked along a dark, gloomy corridor lit by torches, set in sconces along the walls, that sputtered and seemed constantly on the brink of going out. We descended a flight of stairs that somehow seemed to change planes while we were traversing them, so that by the time we reached the end we appeared to be traveling upward. I could see an opening ahead, and I was seized by the horrible notion that we would pass through it only to find that it opened onto the bottom of the floating fortress, sending us all falling to our deaths.
\tInstead, it opened into a large dining hall with an upper gallery overlooking a long table, around which sat a dozen Lemurians busily stuffing their faces. After the oppressive weirdness of the Qliphoth, the sight of these familiar creatures was almost a relief, even if they did want to kill us. They rose, hissing as we entered the room, readying swords and spells.
\t"We can't let any escape," warned Caliburn, "or they'll bring the whole place down on our heads!"
\t"Oh, they're not getting away," I said, taking a handful of sleeping gas pellets from my belt. I cast the pellets at the lizard-men, and several collapsed at once. The others came charging toward us. Caliburn summoned his sigils of ebon weakness again, and the Lemurians went into slow motion. Samtiss took advantage of the delay to build up a massive lightning bolt between his hands, while Black Mask removed from her belt a small metal cylinder that telescoped into a fighting staff. Samtiss unleashed his bolt, which leaped from one Lemurian to another, dropping all but three of them. Black Mask waded into these, and with three swift strikes took them down. The entire fight had lasted six seconds.
\t"Nice work," said Caliburn, "but we're not out of the woods yet. There's sure to be a lot more of them between us and Dr. Ka."
\t"Quite right, Robert Caliburn," came a screechy voice from above us. We all whirled to face it. There in the gallery stood a slender, purple-scaled Lemurian wearing a crested lavender helmet, breastplate, pauldrons, and loincloth. The lower arms and legs were covered in diagonal lavender cloth wraps while the upper arms and legs lay bare. The fingers ended in long, wicked-looking claws. This one didn't appear to have a tail, but I'd observed there was a fair amount of variation among them. The creature gazed down at us contemptuously with golden, slit-pupiled eyes, black tongue flickering.
\t"I assume you're in charge here," said Caliburn.
\t"You assume correctly," the creature replied.
\tCaliburn nodded. "Mind telling us your name, so we know what to carve on your tombstone?"
\t"Samtiss can tell you who I am," said the Lemurian, leering at him.
\tI turned to look at Samtiss. He was clearly tremendously agitated, his tail lashing furiously. "Is that who I think it is?" I asked.
\tHe nodded. "Yareen the Defiler."
\t"A friend of yours?" Caliburn asked.
\t"She was my lover," said Samtiss, clenching his fists.
\t"Yes," said Yareen, "we were lovers once, until the weakling turned against the Bleak Ones."
\t"Terrific," muttered Caliburn. "Are you gonna have a problem fighting your ex?"
\t"Better she were dead than the way she is now," said Samtiss grimly.
\t"Works for me," said Caliburn, drawing his pistols.
\t"Allow me to introduce you to someone, Samtiss," said Yareen. A small Lemurian came up beside her, blue-scaled, wearing only a loincloth and an ornate necklace and wristbands. "This is Dorgok. Our son."
\tSamtiss snarled. "Liar! He cannot be our son! He is too old!"
\tYareen chuckled. "You forget where we are, Samtiss. Time in the Qliphoth does not flow as it does on Earth."
\tSamtiss's mouth fell open, and his eyes went wide.
\tI noticed that the gallery was filling up with more Lemurians. We were surrounded. This was not looking good. "Gentlemen," said Black Mask, clutching her staff, "do we have anything resembling a plan?"
\tCaliburn shrugged. "I've always found all-out attacks work reasonably well."
\t"You are a fool, Robert Caliburn!" sneered Yareen. "All you have done is spare me the trouble of hunting you down. I have had years to attune myself to this place. I can reshape it with a thought. You seek Dr. Ka? Very well, I shall send you to him!"
\tWith that, the floor literally dropped out from under us, and we tumbled into blackness.
\t
\t"Alvin, wake up!"
\tI felt myself being shaken awake by a huge hand on my shoulder, and looked up, blinking the sleep from my eyes. Looming above me was the hulking, shaggy shape of a white gorilla, a pair of bright blue eyes in his wrinkled pink face. They were not the eyes of a mindless brute, however, but gazed down at me with sober, fatherly concern.
\t"Qwyjibo?" I asked, staring up at him in surprise.
\tHe chuckled. "You were expecting King Kong, maybe?" he asked, in a throaty, grating voice. "Come on, it's almost time." He let go of my shoulder and lumbered away from me.
\tI sat up and took stock of my surroundings. I was in a small chamber of natural stone, sitting on a bed of palm fronds. The only illumination came from a little campfire that had burned down to a pile of glowing embers. I knew this chamber well. It had been my home on Monster Island ever since Moreau had cast my brothers and me out of the big house. I was wearing nothing but my own fur, as was Qwyjibo, but that was normal. Manimals always go naked. I looked over at him as he stood by the entrance, waiting for me. While he was unmistakably a gorilla, he stood fully upright, like a man.
\tAs I sat there staring at Qwyjibo, an image came to my mind of him looking very different from the way he did now—twenty feet tall and black as soot, with eyes like hot coals, his head and arms wreathed in flames; a savage monster with no human qualities whatsoever, driven purely by animalistic rage, who could breathe fire and tear trees out of the ground. I shook my head. Why should I see him like that? Qwyjibo was my trainer and my friend. If not for him, I would have died in the fight pits, like my brothers.
\t"Is something wrong?" Qwyjibo asked, looking at me, puzzled.
\t"No," I said. "For a minute, I thought . . . never mind." I stood up and went over to him. "Who am I fighting?"
\tQwyjibo blinked and rapped my skull gently with his knuckles. "Hello? Is something wrong inside that little head of yours? You're scheduled to go up against Beusa, remember?"
\tI nodded. Beusa was a bear. This would be a tough fight. "Let's go," I said.
\tWe walked together down a winding stone tunnel that was lit by torches stuck in holes in the walls. Occasionally, we passed side chambers where other manimals were eating, sleeping, or fornicating. The place stank of beasts and offal, but I was used to that now.
\t"If you beat him," said Qwyjibo, "it'll be your twenty-fifth victory. That means more food and better living quarters."
\t"I know," I said.
\t"Still not as good as what you had in the big house, though."
\tI looked up at him. "I didn't ask to be in the big house, any more than I asked to be here."
\t"Of course not," said Qwyjibo. "But you've done well. A lot better than anyone expected."
\tI shrugged. "I had a good teacher."
\t"Don't sell yourself short, Alvin." His muzzle split in a wide ape grin at his little joke as I glared up at him. "I've trained manimals bigger than you who didn't make it to their twenty-fifth fight."
\t"Just goes to show size isn't everything."
\t"No, but it helps."
\tWe entered a large chamber containing dozens of manimals: cats, rats, bears, birds, deer, and gorillas. They were standing around a pit dug into the dirt floor, twelve feet on a side and twelve deep. Standing before it was a massive figure, bigger than Qwyjibo. He had a pig snout, with long sharp tusks jutting up from his lower jaw, and big, spiky tufts of fur sprouting from his broad shoulders. His powerfully muscled body was covered in yellow-brown fur spattered with black spots, and his feet were a pair of thick cloven hooves. He gazed down at me with dark, wicked little eyes. "So," he rumbled, "you made it to the big two-five, eh?"
\tI smirked up at him. "Disappointed, Hyena-Swine?"
\tHe shrugged. "Maybe you're worth something after all, runt. More than your brothers were, at any rate." He grinned unpleasantly.
\tMy lips curled back, baring my buck teeth. "Screw you!" I snarled at him.
\tHe chuckled. "Get yourself ready. Whatever happens, I'm going to enjoy this."
\tQwyjibo led me over to where a rat girl was waiting for us. She wasn't much bigger than me, and she had a much more slender build. Her clawed, delicate pink hands began strapping sharpened staves of bone to my forearms. "You know," she said as she worked, "you're really quite handsome, Alvin. Got a nice body, too."
\tI smiled at her. "Thanks."
\t"If you survive this, maybe you could come back to my chamber and rest for a bit?" she asked, smiling back at me.
\tI knew what she had in mind, and it wouldn't involve resting, at least not at first. I also knew that what she was really after was the increased food I'd be getting. It's one of the constants of the universe that winners always attract hangers-on. I didn't reply to her, however, as I was distracted by the bone staves strapped to my forearms. Another image came to my mind, of my hand and forearm encased in a grey-and-black armored gauntlet, with talons of bronze-colored metal. I shook my head vigorously. What the hell was wrong with me? Why did I keep seeing things?
\tThe rat girl scowled at me. "Fine, if that's the way you want it!"
\tI tried to speak, to explain that she'd misinterpreted my head shake as a refusal, but then I stopped. Maybe it was better not to get involved with her. After all, I already had a girlfriend. Another image came to my mind, of a human girl with brown eyes and short brown hair. Wait, what? That wasn't my girlfriend! I didn't have a girlfriend, certainly not a human one! I stood there baffled as the rat girl stormed off in a huff.
\t"Are you ready, Alvin?" Qwyjibo asked, coming over to me.
\tI looked up at him, my heart pounding in my chest. "Qwyjibo, something's wrong! I'm not supposed to be here!"
\tHe furrowed his heavy brow. "You can't back out now, Alvin. You know what'll happen if you do."
\t"But . . . this isn't the way things are! Not anymore! And you . . . you're not like this! You're . . ." I could see from the look on his face that he wasn't buying any of it. He thought I was having a panic attack, and I couldn't blame him. After all, I was about to engage in mortal combat with a bear.
\tHe crouched down and grabbed my shoulders with those huge ape hands of his. "You've got to pull yourself together, Alvin! You can do this! You've killed bigger manimals than Beusa!"
\tI swallowed. "But I don't want to kill him! I don't want to kill anyone! Don't you know how precious life is?"
\tHe clamped a hand over my muzzle, silencing me, then leaned close to my ear and lowered his voice. "I understand what you're saying, and I agree. There are other manimals who feel the same way. But you start talking like that and you're dead, understand? Especially if Hyena-Swine finds out. He'll kill you himself, and he'll make it as slow and painful and bloody as he can." He drew back and ruffled my hair, grinning, his voice returning to normal. "Now get in there and do me proud, Alvin!"
\tI nodded and walked toward the pit. I was trembling, and my heart was in my throat. There were furred and feathered bodies all around me, their screams for blood echoing deafeningly off the rock walls of the chamber, pummeling my ears. I desperately wanted to be anywhere but here, doing anything but this. On the opposite side of the pit stood Beusa, a wall of brown fur, almost as wide as he was tall, gazing at me—tiny, naked me—and licking his chops.
\tTwo bamboo ladders were lowered into the pit, one on each side, and Beusa and I climbed down them. Then the ladders were withdrawn. They wouldn't go back in until one of us was dead. I stood there frozen, staring at the bear I had to kill if I wanted to live. I'd done this twenty-four times before. It should be easy now. Why was I so terrified?
\tBeusa let out a blood-chilling bellow, and charged.
\tIt almost ended right there. I was so rattled I didn't even react until he was nearly upon me. Then instinct kicked in, and I spun aside, ducking under a swipe from a paw that was as big as my whole head and slashing at him with my makeshift bone claws as he went by. As I backed away, I saw that my claws were dripping red. I'd scored first blood. Hooray for me.
\tBeusa whirled around and snarled at me, and I raised my claws defensively. The fear had left me. I was icy calm now. I waited for him to charge again.
\tHe did, rushing toward me like a furry freight train, his head low, his arms spread wide. He wasn't going to let me duck under his guard again. That was fine. As he drew near, I leaped high, twisting in midair, and slashed at his exposed back as he passed beneath me. He roared as my claws bit into his flesh again. I landed on my feet behind him and backed away, surprised at myself. How had I done that? I'd never performed a stunt like that before. I glanced up at Qwyjibo, who was standing at the edge of the pit, staring down at me, a puzzled expression on his simian face. He'd never taught me to do that. The other manimals looked confused as well. They'd all seen me fight before. This was new.
\tBeusa turned to face me, and he no longer looked so sure of himself. He dropped to a crouch and began edging toward me cautiously, and I did the same to him. A hush fell over the cave as we closed with each other.
\tSince the bear had the greater reach, I let him strike first. He swung a paw at me, and I blocked it. The impact shook my teeth, and my feet skidded a little on the dirt floor. He was incredibly strong, like all bears, but his attacks were slow, clumsy, and predictable. Even so, if he got his paws on me just once, it was over. There was nothing I could do against his brute strength. So I couldn't let that happen.
\tWith my left arm blocking his paw, I rotated inside his guard and lunged with my right, ramming my bone claws into his belly. He groaned with pain and tried to snap at me with his jaws, but I sprang back out of his reach, somersaulting and landing on my feet a couple yards away.
\tBeusa was looking scared now. He knew he was going to lose. I would have felt sorry for him, except that I was growing more and more certain that none of this was real. I shouldn't have been able to defeat him this easily. I'd fought bears before, and I'd always come away with new scars. This time I hadn't even been scratched. Plus, I was doing things I'd never done before. Something was very wrong here.
\tThe bear bellowed again and charged at me, and I shook my head. Totally predictable. I waited until he was within striking distance. Then I leaped upward, sailed over his head, and jabbed downward, plunging my claws into his back. I flipped over him, landing on my feet behind him as he collapsed to the floor in a heap.
\tThe fight was over, and while my body was spattered with blood, none of it was mine. I looked up at the ring of furry and feathered faces lining the pit. The cave was completely silent.
\t"I'd like to leave now," I said, "if you don't mind."
\tA bamboo ladder was lowered into the pit, and I climbed up it. All the manimals were staring at me and keeping their distance. I ignored them and walked over to Qwyjibo. He put his hand on my shoulder, and we went over to a rock, where I sat down and he knelt before me and started unstrapping the bone staves from my forearms.
\t"What the hell was that?" the gorilla asked. "You been training with a kung fu master in secret or something?"
\t"That's what I was trying to tell you earlier," I said. "I don't think any of this is real."
\t"You mean this is all a dream?"
\t"More like a nightmare. I keep seeing things that don't make any sense."
\t"Well, normally I'd say you were crazy, but after what I just saw? I know I never taught you to do those things. Right now, I'd be scared to go up against you."
\tI smiled at him. "High praise indeed."
\tHe shrugged. "Of course, if you're right, that means I'm not real either."
\t"That would stand to reason."
\t"You said something about me not being the way I am."
\tI nodded. "Somewhere along the way, you become a monster. I don't know how, but I know it happens."
\t"Hmm. Do I at least get to bash some heads together?"
\tAn image came into my mind, an image of Qwyjibo in his monstrous form fighting the Teleiosaurus, a creation of the mad geneticist Teleios—a true clash of the titans. I grinned. "You get to bash the biggest head on Monster Island."
\t"Well, that's something, anyway."
\tAt that moment, a shadow fell over us. I looked up to see Hyena-Swine gazing down at me with his piggy eyes. I scowled. "What do you want?"
\t"Father has sent for you," he growled.
\tI stood up. "Why do you keep calling him that? He's not our father. No father makes his children kill each other."
\t"He created us," said Hyena-Swine. "If not for him, we wouldn't exist. Our lives belong to him. Now come with me."
\tI folded my arms. "Suppose I don't want to?"
\tHis eyes narrowed. "Then I'll bring you to him."
\tI grinned. "You think you can?"
\t"I am not Beusa, and you haven't got your claws now."
\t"Alvin," said Qwyjibo, "perhaps you'd better go with him and find out what Moreau wants."
\tI shrugged. "Fine. Let's go, Hyena-Swine."
\tWe left the cave and walked down a long tunnel and out into open air. Before us lay a tropical jungle, and scattered around the tunnel entrance were the bones of teleioraptors, minor creations of Teleios that manimals hunted for food. A winding path led into the jungle. We followed it.
\tAfter a few minutes we entered a cleared area containing a sprawling wooden house with a thatched roof. A stag manimal was pruning the shrubs around it while a cat manimal swept the front porch. We ascended the steps and went inside. Sitting in a wicker chair in a comfortable living room, sipping a Singapore sling, was Moreau.
\t Thanks to H. G. Wells, most people believed until recently that The Island of Dr. Moreau was a work of fiction, an allegory for Victorian uneasiness about fiddling with nature and the implications of Darwinian evolution. The truth is, Dr. Moreau did exist, and he did create human-animal hybrids on a remote tropical island. He also has a great-grandson named Phillippe, a brilliant but sadistic biologist who eventually discovered the truth about his grandfather's work and took up his mantle.
\tDr. Phillippe Moreau was a small, dapper Frenchman with white hair and a neatly trimmed goatee and mustache. He was dressed in a dark shirt, trousers, and tie, a white lab coat, and wingtip shoes. His watery blue eyes gazed at me through a pair of thick, round glasses as I stood there naked before my creator. They were eyes that blazed with intelligence and passion, the eyes of a visionary—the eyes of a madman.
\tI folded my arms across my chest. "What is it you want, Moreau? I'm busy."
\tHyena-Swine glared down at me. "Mind your tongue in the presence of your creator, Alvin, or I will rip it out!"
\t"Down, Hyena-Swine!" snapped Moreau, and Hyena-Swine immediately lowered his head in submission. It was amusing to see the hulking beast-man become so servile in the little Frenchman's presence. "He has good reason to be angry with me," Moreau added, with a condescending smile.
\tI growled at him. "Angry doesn't begin to cover it. There isn't a person on this planet I hate more than you."
\tHe adopted an airy tone. "Be that as it may, I understand you dispatched your latest opponent with, shall we say, unusual skill?"
\tI shrugged. "So what? I thought you wanted us to get better. Isn't that the whole point of these contests?"
\t"True, true. I am simply curious as to how you came by such extraordinary ability, considering I made you to be nothing more than a living toy." He leaned forward slightly, and his eyes seemed to glow behind his glasses.
\tI chuckled. "Evolution is full of surprises. Look at your species. Tiny, defenseless bipeds living on the plains of Africa, scavenging the kills of lions and hyenas. Who would have guessed that someday they'd walk on the moon?"
\t"Interesting," said Moreau, dragging the word out in a creepy, almost erotic way. "There appears to be more to you than I realized, Alvin. Perhaps I should examine you more closely?"
\tI shivered. When Moreau said "examine," it meant scalpels and saws, and no anaesthesia. "You're not touching me, Moreau," I said.
\tHe nodded to Hyena-Swine. That was my cue. I whirled and socked the beast-man right in his groin. He squealed, grabbed himself, and fell to his knees. Then I leaped at Moreau, knocking him out of his chair as he gaped at me in surprise. We went down together, the glass he'd been drinking from shattering on the wooden floor. I grabbed the broken glass and held the jagged edge to his throat.
\t"This is for my brothers!" I snarled, and slashed the glass across his throat. There was a spray of blood, and his body went limp beneath me.
\tI dropped the glass and stood up, gazing down at the corpse of my creator, my chest heaving. God, I'd wanted to do that for so long! It felt wonderful! I turned and started walking away from Moreau's body and the whimpering Hyena-Swine.
\tThen, from behind me came a gurgling laugh. I spun around, and stared as Moreau sat up, grinning above the gaping wound on his neck.
\t"I must say, Alvin," he said, in a gloppy, distorted version of his normal voice, "you have exceeded my wildest expectations. But do not get above yourself. You are still just a toy."
\tI swallowed, my skin crawling. "You're dead, Moreau!"
\t"You cannot kill me. I am a part of you." Moreau stood up and began walking toward me. "You think you are a man because you make love to that woman? You are a toy, Alvin, a silly little thing I made for fun, and that is all you will ever be."
\t"How can you know about that?" I demanded. "You were dead by the time . . ." My voice trailed off. Yes, Moreau had been dead by the time I met Julie, killed when a group of heroes blew up his laboratory. None of this was real.
\t"Do you really think she loves you?" asked Moreau, grinning down at me.
\t"Yes!" I shouted. "And I love her!"
\tAnd suddenly it was Julie instead of Moreau standing before me, gazing down at me with a cold, contemptous sneer. "Don't be ridiculous, Alvin," she said. "How could I love a little freak like you? You're not even human!"
\t"You're not real!" I yelled at her. "None of this is!"
\t"It's as real as your mind makes it. And you're trapped here, forever. You can't escape your own mind."
\tI froze. That was it, the clue I needed. This was only as real as my mind made it, and the mind could be controlled. The magical heroine Witchcraft had taught me how to do that.
\tI closed my eyes and visualized a pool of water, its surface smooth as a mirror. My heart and breathing started to slow, and the nightmare around me slowly faded away. I was floating bodiless in a serene void, feeling nothing but bliss. Witchcraft had said this was the place in the heart and soul where peace and happiness dwell. When it all got to be too much for me, this was where I went.
\tMy eyes snapped open. I was sitting on the floor of a dank stone cell with an iron grate door. I looked down at myself. I was wearing my Nightmunk costume again. I started to breathe a sigh of relief, but then I realized I couldn't be sure that this was truly reality. It might turn out to be like one of those fake-outs in a movie, when someone thinks they've woken up from a dream only to find they're still dreaming. I stood up and walked over to the door of the cell, grasped the bars, and tugged on them. The door rattled a bit. It felt real enough, but then so had everything in that nightmare I'd just left. I shook my head. If I kept doubting my senses, I'd be going down a rabbit hole there was no climbing out of. At some point I had to make the leap of faith that what I was seeing was real. Otherwise, I might just as well give in to the madness that was gnawing at my brain.
\tThe first step was to get out of this cell. I removed a particle mine from my belt, attached it to the door, set it for a ten-second delay, and then got as far away from it as I could, which wasn't very far. I huddled in a corner of the uncomfortably small cell, counting the seconds until the mine would explode and hoping my body armor would protect me from harm. I tensed when I got to ten.
\tNothing happened.
\tI raised my head and stared at the tiny blinking object attached to the door. Had it been a dud? That didn't seem likely. Nighthawk's particle mines had never failed to explode before. I stood up and walked over to it, my heart in my mouth, because there's nothing scarier than an unexploded bomb. I peered at the timer. The numbers were going back and forth between four and eight seconds. Then I remembered what Caliburn had said about timepieces not working here. I sighed, took the mine off the door, and deactivated it.
\tOkay, time for Plan B. I took a dime-sized thermite charge from my belt and set it against the door's lock. Then I attached a wire that led to a small battery on my belt. The moment the connection was made, the thermite began to glow white hot, throwing off sparks and making a loud hissing sound as melted metal dripped onto the stone floor. I averted my eyes, because the light from burning thermite can do a number on your retinas. The lock was quickly reduced to slag, and I gave the door a kick. It swung outward easily, and I exited the cell.
\tI was standing in a long corridor, lit by torches in sconces on the walls and lined on both sides with more iron grate doors. Clearly, this was a dungeon. It certainly looked very medieval. There was nothing to suggest which way to go, so I picked a direction at random and started walking, peering into the cells as I passed. None of them appeared to be occupied until I reached one five doors down from the one I'd been in. There, floating in some kind of swirling column and apparently unconscious, was Black Mask.
\t"Jennifer!" I cried, running to the door and rattling it. She didn't respond, and I can't say I was surprised. I quickly opened the door of her cell with another thermite charge and went inside. Then I paused, warily eyeing the vortex she was floating in. I didn't want to touch that thing if I could avoid it, so I took out my grapple gun and fired it at her. The claw hooked her belt. I hit the retract button, but instead of her being pulled toward me, I found myself being pulled toward her and the vortex. I stopped the rewind and sighed. Apparently, there was only one way I was going to get her out of here. I took a deep breath and stepped into the vortex.
\tI found myself standing in a big, dark room, big enough that I couldn't see the walls or ceiling. Kneeling on the floor in front of me in a circle of light was Black Mask, sobbing. I ran over to her and grasped her shoulders. "Jennifer," I said, "what's wrong?"
\tShe looked at me, her eyes red from crying. "What's wrong? Everything! Whatever made me think I could do this?"
\t"Yes," came a voice from the darkness. "Whatever made you think you could do a man's job, woman?" We both looked in the direction of the voice. Into the light stepped a man wearing a green tricorn hat, a long green coat with heavy cuffs, a shirt with ruffles at the neck, black knee breeches, white silk stockings, and black shoes with big brass buckles. His face was covered by a black domino mask. I recognized him from a portrait I'd seen in her hideout. He was Stephen Ward, the first Black Mask, who had fought against the British in the Revolutionary War. He regarded me strangely. "What in God's name are you?" he asked.
\tI didn't see anything to be gained by talking to this phantom from the past, so instead I shook the current Black Mask's shoulders. "Jennifer, listen to me! This isn't real! It's all in your head! You've got to pull yourself out of it! Just calm down and let it all fade away!"
\t"Get away from her, monster!" shouted Stephen Ward, lunging and swinging his arm at me. His fist caught me on the jaw and sent me sprawling across the floor. As I sat up, rubbing my jaw and tasting the salty tang of blood in my mouth, I saw more Black Masks emerging from the darkness. There was one from the Old West, wearing a cowboy hat and duster; another from the 1930s, in a trenchcoat and fedora; one from the 1960s, wearing tights and a cape; and the most recent one before Jennifer—her father—wearing a male version of her costume. I jumped to my feet and looked around desperately as more of them came forward. I was surrounded by the Black Masks of the past—nine in all—and they all had murder in their eyes.
\tI didn't know if dying in Jennifer's nightmare meant I would die in real life, but given how merciless the Qliphoth seemed to be, I wasn't about to chance it. I did know I couldn't take on nine highly trained fighters by myself. Flight was the only option. I looked up. There was only darkness above me, nothing to attach a grapple to. Once again, time for Plan B. I grabbed a handful of sleep gas pellets from my belt, hurling them at the three Black Masks directly in front of me. They reeled and collapsed, and I held my breath and charged through the gas cloud toward Jennifer.
\t"Come on!" I yelled, grabbing her hand. "We've got to get out of here!"
\tShe nodded, getting to her feet, and ran with me toward a glowing door frame with a tilted top that had appeared out of nowhere. We ran together down a dark hallway, through a series of crazily angled door frames that looked like something out of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, until we arrived at a staircase that led dizzyingly downward. It flattened out the moment we stepped on it, and down we slid, bouncing off invisible walls as it zigzagged at random intervals. It was like being in a funhouse, only without the fun.
\tI could see that the slide we were on was coming to an end, and waiting for us there was a huge mouth filled with sharp teeth, grinning in anticipation. Holding Jennifer's wrist with my right hand, I popped the talons on my left gauntlet and rammed them into the slide, and we jerked to a halt just a few feet from that ravenous maw.
\t"Jennifer," I said, panting, "you've got to wake up! It's the only way either of us is getting out of here!"
\t"All those other Black Masks," she said miserably. "All that history. Whatever made me think I could live up to a legacy like that?"
\tI glanced back up the slide. The other Black Masks were hurtling down it toward us. We had only a few seconds before they knocked us both into that mouth.
\t"Listen to me," I said, keeping my voice low and steady. "You are the Black Mask. I've seen you work and I've seen you fight. You're as good as any Black Mask that's come before, maybe better!"
\t"But Stephen said—"
\t"The hell with Stephen! He lived in an ignorant time! This is your time, not his! Now wake up and seize it!"
\tShe looked down at the hungry mouth anxiously, and I looked up at the rapidly approaching line of Black Masks. They were almost on top of us. This was going to be close.
\tI watched as Jennifer struggled to pull herself out of her nightmare, squeezing her eyes shut and concentrating. It didn't seem to be working. Maybe she needed a shock to her system. I had some smelling salts in my belt, but unfortunately both my hands were occupied at the moment. Then I thought of another way. Focusing every bit of strength I had into my right arm, I groaned as I pulled her up on top of me, then mashed my muzzle to her lips, kissing her. Her eyes went wide behind her mask, and the world around us shattered into a million pieces.
\tWe were back in her cell, Jennifer lying on the floor with me standing over her. The swirling vortex was gone. I held out my hand to her, and she clasped it and got to her feet.
\t"Well, that was certainly a novel solution to that problem," she commented dryly.
\tI shrugged. "It always works in the fairy tales."
\t"This is hardly a fairy tale, Alvin."
\t"Have you ever read them? Some of them are pretty dark."
\tShe smiled. "So does that make you my Prince Charming?"
\tI grinned back at her. "Well, you did say I was cuddly. But I already have a girlfriend." Or so I hoped.
\t"Anyway, thank you for pulling me out of there. That was one doozy of a nightmare."
\t"It's the Qliphoth, Jennifer. Caliburn said it would screw with our heads, try to drive us insane. It trapped each of us in our own personal hells."
\tShe nodded. "It sure knew where to hit me. It's daunting, sometimes, having a legacy to live up to."
\tI glanced down at my own costume, then back up at her. "I wouldn't know anything about that."
\tWe both laughed.
\tWe left her cell and walked down the gloomy torchlit corridor side by side. A few doors down we came to another cell with an occupant. It was Caliburn, floating unconcious in a vortex just as Jennifer had been.
\t"What do you suppose his hell is?" Jennifer asked.
\t"I'm scared to think," I replied. A thermite charge got the door of his cell open, and we went inside. We stood for a moment at the edge of the vortex, then nodded to each other and stepped in.
\tA blast of tropical heat hit our faces as we were suddenly buried in dense green foliage. From all around us came the sound of gunfire.
\t"Welcome to Vietnam," I said. A spray of bullets from somewhere shredded the leaves above our heads, and we both ducked down.
\t"How are we going to find Caliburn in all this?" asked Black Mask.
\t"We're not going to find him by staying here," I replied. We made our way through the thick jungle, keeping low. The air was hot and humid, and there was smoke everywhere. Occasionally, we glimpsed soldiers through the undergrowth. Sometimes they were Americans, sometimes they were Viet Cong. We made a point of avoiding both. Fortunately, we were good at that.
\tAfter a few minutes, we broke into a clearing. Before us stood an ancient stone temple, shrouded in vines, the corners of the roof turned upward in typical Vietnamese fashion. There on the steps sat Caliburn, dressed in combat fatigues, his helmet and M-16 lying beside him. A cigarette burned between his lips, and his face was smeared with dirt and sweat. He didn't look any younger, but he did seem less haggard, somehow. Before him lay a young Vietnamese boy, his chest a mass of blood, an AK-47 assault rifle clutched in his dead hands.
\tCaliburn looked up at us with hollow eyes as we approached. "Why do they send children to fight in a war?" he asked.
\tNeither Black Mask nor I said anything. There was really nothing that could be said. It wasn't even worth mentioning that none of this was real, since this was almost certainly a memory of something that had actually happened. All we could do was stand there and stare at the corpse of that little boy.
\tSuddenly, Caliburn's head snapped up, and he turned toward the dark interior of the temple. He rose to his feet and started walking inside, leaving his helmet and rifle behind. Black Mask and I followed him.
\tThe inside of the temple was all one room, empty save for a pedestal in the center, about four feet high. On top of it lay a red gem that glowed dimly. As Caliburn approached, it glowed brighter, lighting up the whole room.
\t"The Elemental Flame Gem," I said.
\tBlack Mask nodded. "This must be where he found it."
\tCaliburn reached out a hand toward the gem, then stopped and drew back.
\t"Take it, Caliburn!" I shouted at him. "You're meant to have it!"
\tHe turned toward me. "I'm not Caliburn! I'm Robert Cole!"
\t"You're destined to become the Archmage!" said Black Mask.
\t"I'm not worthy!" he yelled back. "I'm a murderer! A killer of children!"
\t"Caliburn!" came a deep, grating voice from behind us. Black Mask and I both whirled. Before us stood a dead man.
\tDarren Williams had been one of the world's top hitmen before Caliburn had put two bullets in him. For some reason, however, he hadn't stayed dead. He stood before us now, a huge figure wearing camouflage trousers, combat boots, and a black Kevlar vest with a skull on it, a machine gun slung across his back. His skin was the color of wet paper, and his bones showed through in various places. His grinning skull was half-exposed, and his eyes glowed a hellish red. He wasn't Darren Williams anymore. Now he was called Deadman Walkin.'
\tThe last time Black Mask and I had fought Deadman Walkin', he'd nearly killed us both. We'd only beaten him by luring him onto a patch of quicksand, where he'd sunk without a trace. I doubted that trick would work here. I readied a bola, and Black Mask did the same. The best we could hope to do was temporarily incapacitate him and then try to convince Caliburn to take the Flame Gem.
\t"You really think those stupid little yo-yos are gonna stop me?" asked Deadman Walkin', unlimbering his machine gun and leveling it at us. It was an M2 Browning, a weapon designed by the legendary John Browning more than a century ago. It can fire .50 caliber bullets at a rate of 600 rounds per minute. Contrary to what you may have seen in various movies, it can't be held and fired by a single human being. No human being is that strong. But Deadman Walkin' wasn't human anymore, and his undead muscles were more than up to the task.
\tBlack Mask and I sent our bolas spinning at him. Hers wrapped around his chest, pinning his arms, while mine entangled his legs. Then we both charged at him, slamming into him and knocking him over. Black Mask smashed her nightstick across his perpetually grinning half-skull face, while I popped my claws and plunged them into his chest. He grunted—more in surprise and annoyance than in pain, since he didn't feel pain anymore—and glared up at us with those baleful red eyes. "Oh, I'm gonna enjoy killin' you two," he growled. "I'm gonna make it last a good, long time."
\t"Caliburn, take the gem!" Black Mask shouted. "We can't hold him for long!"
\tCaliburn looked at the gem, reached for it, then drew back again. "I . . . I can't!"
\t"Son of a bitch!" I muttered.
\tWith a roar of pure rage, Deadman Walkin' snapped the cord binding his arms and threw us both off him. He reached for his gun, but I fired my grapple gun at it and yanked it away from him. He snarled, drew a dagger from his boot, and got to his feet. "I'm gonna flay you alive, rodent, and use your hide for a rug," he said.
\t"Are you sure I'll go with your drapes?" I asked.
\tHe snarled and lunged. For such a big man, he moved amazingly fast. Death hadn't robbed him of any of his speed. I parried his thrust with my claws and slashed at his belly, tearing through his vest and into the flesh beneath. There was no blood, just a nauseating stench of decay. It washed over me, and I reeled backward, feeling sick. Fortunately, Black Mask came to my rescue, tackling him from behind. He threw her off with contemptuous ease and tossed her against a wall. She slid to the ground, dazed.
\t"Wait your turn, Black Mask," he said, advancing toward me. "I'll get to you soon enough. First, I've got a chipmunk to skin."
\tBlack Mask had given me a chance to recover, and I took the opportunity to put more distance between myself and the undead assassin. I looked over at Caliburn. He was standing there, staring at the gem, frozen.
\t"Screw this," I said. I ran to Caliburn, grabbed him by the wrist, and slammed his hand down onto the gem.
\tInstantly, his body was wreathed in a fiery aura, his eyes glowing like suns. He turned toward Deadman Walkin', who was charging at us, and shot a bolt of flame from his hand. The undead killer went up as if he'd been soaked in gasoline, a howling, dancing human torch. He ran from the temple and was gone.
\tCaliburn looked down at me. He was now his old self—or should I say, his modern self—wearing his trenchcoat. His face was unchanged, but his eyes held the weight of decades of dealing with mystical terrors and Things Man Was Not Meant to Know. He didn't say anything. Black Mask and I had seen his secret shame, something he'd kept hidden from everyone all these years, the guilt that had haunted him throughout his long life. What do you say after something like that? Sorry?
\t"Caliburn . . ." I began.
\t"Save it," he said. And suddenly the temple was gone and we were back in his cell.
\t"Where's your lizard friend?" Caliburn asked me.
\t"We haven't seen him," I replied. "Seeing as he and Yareen have a personal connection, I'm guessing she has something special planned for him."
\t"We also haven't seen Dr. Ka," added Black Mask.
\t"Since Ka is the whole reason we're here, we should find him first," said Caliburn. Once again, he took Dr. Ka's golden scimitar out of his coat and placed it in the air before him. The blade rotated slowly and came to rest pointing in the exact opposite direction from the one we were facing. We turned and began walking back the way we'd come.
\tAfter walking past about a million cell doors, we came to an archway. Through it came a high-pitched screech that didn't sound as if it issued from a human throat. We ran through the archway and found ourselves in a cavernous chamber lined with what I can only describe as torture boards. They were made of polished wood, about six feet high and three wide, tilted at an angle of forty-five degrees, with iron shackles for securing the victim's wrists, ankles, and neck. All of them were stained with dried blood, and two of them held occupants. One was Dr. Ka, who appeared to be unconscious. The other was Samtiss, who was writhing and screeching in agony while his son, Dorgok, grinned and played fingers of electricity over his body from his claws. As we entered the room, the Lemurian boy looked up from tormenting his father and hissed angrily. "How did you get out of your cells?" he demanded.
\t"I'm guessing you've never heard of someone named Houdini," replied Caliburn, smiling. "Now step away from your father, and we won't have to hurt you."
\t"Die, human!" screamed Dorgok, firing a bolt of lighting from his clawed hand at Caliburn, who raised his palm and casually deflected it.
\t"Not bad, kid," said Caliburn, as Dorgok gaped at him. "You might become a real wizard someday. But, you see, I'm the Archmage. And that means I win." And with a gesture, he froze the boy in place. "Let's get Ka and your friend and get out of here," he said to us.
\tI ran to Samtiss and released him from his shackles, and Black Mask did the same for Dr. Ka. Meanwhile Caliburn kept watch, as if he were expecting something. As I helped the Lemurian down from the board, I noticed something else in the room: a glass cylinder about four feet tall tucked in one corner. It was covered in dust and cobwebs, apparently forgotten. There seemed to be some kind of vapor swirling inside it.
\tI didn't have time to ponder the glass cylinder, however, as there was a flash of light and suddenly Yareen the Defiler was standing in the room, along with a dozen Lemurian soldiers.
\t"Kill them!" she screeched. "Kill them all!"
\tThe room erupted into chaos as the Lemurians charged toward us, swords raised. Caliburn summoned his sigils of ebon weakness, and the lizards went into slow motion. Black Mask and I dropped a few with throwing blades and throwing stars, while Caliburn blazed away with his pistols. A couple of the Lemurians closed with me, a pair of big, red-scaled bruisers wearing only chest straps, greaves, vambraces, and helmets. In their clawed hands they held massive greatswords that looked as if they could cleave me in half with one swipe. I was out of throwing blades, and they were too close for me to use my sleep gas pellets without getting myself too, so I blocked their blows and backed up, trying to lead them away from Samtiss, who was still in bad shape from the working over his son had been giving him. They ignored him and came after me, apparently considering me the greater threat, which I guess was a compliment.
\tI retreated into a corner of the room and bumped up against that glass cylinder I mentioned before. One of the Lemurians swung at me. I dodged, and his blade struck the cylinder, shattering it. The vapor that had been swirling inside flowed out onto the floor and began to coalesce into something solid. It was a humanoid, about four feet tall, with a slender build and long, graceful arms. Its body was covered in brown fur, and it had ears that rose to points and blue, almond-shaped eyes. It wore only cuffed boots, a leather belt, and a green cap with a white feather in it that wouldn't have looked out of place on the head of Errol Flynn. Appropriately enough, there was a quiver of arrows slung across its back and a short sword in a scabbard hanging from its belt. Behind it swished an agile tail.
\tThe Lemurians and I stared at the creature, which stared back at us and spoke in a chirpy, high-pitched voice, using a language I didn't recognize. Then one of the Lemurians heaved back with his sword and took a swing at it. The creature instantly dissolved into vapor again, flew back about ten feet, and re-formed. Its eyes narrowed, and a bow appeared in its hand out of nowhere. With amazing speed, it fired three arrows into the Lemurian, who crumpled to the floor, looking like a pincushion. Seeing the fate of his partner, the other Lemurian turned to flee, but another barrage of arrows struck him down before he could take a single step. Then the creature turned its attention toward me. I held up my hands, hoping it would understand that I meant it no harm.
\tAt that moment, both our attentions were grabbed by an explosion of darkness between Yareen and Caliburn. A black cloud was forming, dissolving everything it touched, including a couple of Lemurians who weren't fast enough to get out of its path. Caliburn was backing away from it, hands raised, summoning a net of silvery threads that engulfed the cloud, stopping its spread.
\t"What's going on?" I asked.
\t"She's invoking the power of primal chaos!" shouted Caliburn. "In a place as unstable as the Qliphoth, it'll spread like wildfire! She'll destroy the whole fortress!"
\t"A small price to pay for getting rid of you, Caliburn!" hissed Yareen.
\t"What about your son?" I asked her.
\tShe sneered. "Sentiment is for the weak! He dies for a greater cause!"
\t"So much for winning Mother of the Year," I commented. "Caliburn, how long have we got?"
\t"Not long!" he said, gritting his teeth. "I can hold it for the moment, but it's taking all my concentration. I can't do that and transport us back to Earth!"
\t"Fear not," came a deep voice from across the room. "I can." It was Dr. Ka, being helped to stand by Black Mask.
\t"Sure you're up to it, Doc?" asked Caliburn, the strain of containing the black cloud showing on his face.
\t"I shall have to be," Ka replied. He knelt and began tracing a glowing circle on the floor with his finger.
\t"No!" shrieked Yareen, raising her clawed hands. "You shall not escape!" Darkness began to swirl about her fingers as she prepared a spell—but then an arrow struck her squarely in the chest. She hissed, blood dribbling from her lips, and fell to the floor.
\tI turned to the furry archer. "Thanks," I said. He nodded, seeming to understand. Then I looked at Samtiss, who was getting unsteadily to his feet. "Can you walk?" I asked.
\t"I can make it," he said, "but there is something here I need." He went over to Dorgok, who was still frozen, and picked him up.
\tSamtiss, the archer, and I ran to Dr. Ka. The sorcerer had just finished drawing the teleportation circle around himself and Black Mask, and we stepped inside. Ka glanced up at Caliburn. "Robert, we must go!"
\tCaliburn nodded and ran toward us. As he did, the silvery net around the black cloud began to shred, and the chaos came gushing out, devouring everything around it. Caliburn jumped into the circle, there was a flash of light, and we were back in Black Mask's basement in Vibora Bay.
\t"Well, that was fun," I said. "Remind me never to volunteer to go to the Qliphoth again."
\t"I'll second that," said Black Mask. Then she glanced down at the furry archer. "We seem to have picked up a new companion."
\t"Yeah," I said, "but he doesn't habla English."
\t"A matter easily remedied," said Dr. Ka. He gestured, drawing a series of glowing symbols in the air with his finger. "What is your name, small one?"
\t"I Emorada," the archer replied, "mighty paladin of Omlu."
\tI smirked. "You're a paladin? I thought paladins were supposed to be knights in shining armor. You look like a cross between Robin Hood and a spider monkey."
\tEmorada frowned at me. "Paladins are warriors of the gods. I serve Omlu, god of the sky."
\t"How did you end up in the Qliphoth?" asked Black Mask.
\t"That what that place was? Me and my mentor Rhianna Wintersun was investigating reports of monsters near a village, things like nobody ever see before. We kill a few and follow their trail back to a glowing purple opening floating in the air. I go inside and find myself in weird ugly land with purple sky. Then I attacked by more monsters. There too many to fight, so I turn to wind, but they trap me and put me in glass jar. I dunno how long I stay there. Seem like forever. Then lizard people come, but they no pay attention to me until one break jar and I get out. You know rest."
\tI looked at Caliburn and Dr. Ka. "Does this make sense to either of you?"
\tKa nodded. "The Qliphoth is contiguous with many other realities. Sometimes, mages create openings to it, through which horrors from the Qliphoth can enter their worlds. It follows that beings from those worlds can enter the Qliphoth as well. That must be what happened to Emorada."
\tI turned to Emorada. "Did I hear you right? You can turn to wind?"
\tHe nodded. "Yah. Is a gift from Omlu." He looked around the room. "What this place?"
\t"You are on a world called Earth," said Dr. Ka, "in a city called Vibora Bay. I am Dr. Ka, and these are Black Mask, Nightmunk, Samtiss, and Robert Caliburn."
\t"I in another world?" asked Emorada, looking surprised. "How I get back to my world?"
\t"I am afraid that is problematical," said Ka, "without knowing more about the nature of your home dimension."
\t"So, I stuck here?" asked Emorada.
\t"For the moment, it would seem so," Ka replied.
\tEmorada frowned, but said nothing.
\t"Pardon me," said Samtiss, "but there is the matter of my son." He indicated the still-frozen Dorgok.
\tCaliburn folded his arms. "I would have thought you'd prefer him this way."
\t"I would like to try to help him."
\tBlack Mask raised an eyebrow. "After what he did to you?"
\t"His mother may have filled his heart with hatred, but he is still my son. Perhaps it is not too late."
\t"What about his powers?" I asked.
\tDr. Ka went over to Dorgok and placed his hand on the boy's forehead. "There. He will work no magic until I allow it."
\tCaliburn shrugged. "Fine. Just remember, scaly, he's your responsibility, not ours."
\tDorgok unfroze and looked around wildly. Then he hissed and raised his clawed hands, trying to summon his lightning. The look on his face when nothing happened was priceless. He stared down at his hands, then at us. "What . . . what is wrong? Why doesn't my magic work?"
\t"I have blocked your powers," said Ka. "Your father believes you can be turned from evil. I am skeptical, but I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. After all, he did, and his blood flows in your veins."
\tDorgok snarled. "I curse every drop of that blood!"
\tCaliburn rolled his eyes. "Yeah, this is gonna be fun."
\t"This is what we do," I said.
\tCaliburn turned to Dr. Ka. "So, what can you tell us about the Unknowable One?"
\tKa raised an eyebrow. "The Unknowable One?"
\tCaliburn nodded. "That's what's behind this whole business. Nightmunk and Samtiss encountered a Lemurian named Graknash who said he served somebody he called the Unknowable One. They came to Vibora Bay because they thought you might know who that was."
\t"Also," I said, "I took this off one of Graknash's servants." I handed Dr. Ka the scrap of paper with Lemurian hieroglyphs I'd found on the body of Hydrophis.
\tKa inspected the paper, and his eyes widened. "The Word of Unmaking!"
\tCaliburn looked shocked. "Holy crap, is that what it is?"
\tKa nodded. "There can be no question of it."
\t"But that would mean the Unknowable One is . . ."
\t"The Solipsist."
\t"Excuse me," I said, "but would you mind cueing in us non-mystical types as to what you're talking about?"
\tKa turned to me. "The Word of Unmaking is a spell, a very powerful and dreaded spell that retroactively obliterates a person, as if they never existed."
\tBlack Mask gasped. "You mean nobody would even remember you?"
\tCaliburn nodded. "It's a bit unreliable, though. Some people might retain traces of memories of the unmade person."
\tI shivered. It was one thing to die. It was quite another to have never been.
\t"It does this," Dr. Ka continued, "by invoking the power of the Solipsist."
\t"And who is that?" I asked. "One of the Kings of Edom?"
\tKa shook his head. "It is worse than that."
\tSamtiss flicked his tongue. "What could be worse than a cosmic entity of destruction?"
\t"Like the Sephiroth—the multiverse we know—the Qliphoth has many planes," said Dr. Ka, "very few of which have actually been explored, so hazardous is the Qliphoth to life."
\t"The place we were in is called the Shining Darkness," said Caliburn, "and it lies only shallowly within the Qliphoth."
\t"You mean there are places even worse?" asked Black Mask, clearly having a hard time believing that.
\t"Everywhere in the Qliphoth is bad," said Caliburn, "but there are some places where the entropic forces are so powerful your body would disintegrate the moment you entered them, at least without some serious magical protection."
\t"In the darkest reaches of the Qliphoth," said Dr. Ka, "at either its highest or its lowest point, depending upon how one measures it, lies the Solipsist, also known as the Decreator or the Anti-God. It is ultimate nonbeing; to go to it or merge with it is to cease to exist. The closest any individual can get to it is to come into the presence of Qemetiel, a being known as 'the Crowd of Gods.' More than a mere King of Edom, Qemetiel is a chaotic fusion of long-dead cosmic entities. It mindlessly sucks in all things that come near."
\t"Think of it as a supernatural black hole," Caliburn helpfully supplied.
\t"What would the Lemurians want with something like that?" I asked. "Wouldn't it destroy them too?"
\t"You must remember," said Dr. Ka, "all things connected to the Qliphoth crave death and destruction—including, ultimately, their own. Perhaps, deep in their hearts, they realize how wretched their existences are and seek an end to them after they have ended everything else. The Lemurians are simply extensions of the Kings of Edom's nihilistic philosophy."
\tI glanced over at Samtiss and Dorgok. The boy was standing with his fists clenched, tongue flickering, golden eyes blazing. Clearly, he was still furious about being denied the use of his magic. I couldn't tell if he agreed with what Dr. Ka was saying, understood it, or was even listening. He just wanted his powers back. Samtiss, on the other hand, looked utterly despondent as his true nature was revealed to him. I'd never seen anyone look so defeated, and my heart went out to him. While he wasn't exactly the nicest person I'd ever met, he didn't deserve this. No one did.
\tI turned back to Caliburn and Dr. Ka. "So, what are we going to do about this?" I asked.
\t"If this Graknash truly serves the Solipsist," said Dr. Ka, "he can desire only one thing: the destruction of all that is. The question is, how does he intend to accomplish it?" He turned his attention to Dorgok. "I don't suppose you would happen to know?"
\tDorgok's mouth curved into a scaly grin. "Give me back my powers and I will tell you."
\tCaliburn smirked. "Nice try, kid." He cast a spell, and Dorgok's eyes went blank for a moment and then returned to normal. Caliburn turned to Dr. Ka. "He doesn't know squat."
\tDr. Ka frowned. "Normally, I would consult my mystical library, but it was lost when the Lemurians destroyed my home."
\t"I understand the Magic Lantern bookstore in Millennium City has a pretty extensive library," I said.
\tDr. Ka nodded. "Then that is where we must go."
\t"Allow me to do the honors, Doc," said Caliburn, and began drawing one of those teleportation circles on the floor with his finger.
\tDr. Ka turned to Black Mask. "Thank you for helping to rescue me, Jennifer. I am sure you must have other matters to attend to. I shall contact you if I require your assistance again."
\tBlack Mask nodded. "I'll be ready. Good luck, Doc." Then she crouched down to be face to face with me. "And thank you for those things you said to me in my nightmare, Alvin. They were very kind."
\tI smiled at her. "They were also true." She hugged me, and I hugged her back.
\tCaliburn stood up, the magic circle glowing on the floor around him. "All aboard. Next stop: Millennium City."
\tI turned to Emorada. "You're welcome to join us."
\t"I still not sure what goin' on," he replied, "but I try to help."
\tI looked up at Samtiss. "How about you?"
\t"Where else would I go?" He grabbed Dorgok's wrist and led the boy into the circle. Dorgok looked sullen but didn't resist. Dr. Ka, Emorada, and I stepped in too, and Black Mask's basement vanished, to be replaced by a small, grassy courtyard nestled between four tall buildings. There were big piles of loose rock at either end, and a marble pedestal in the center with a round ball atop it. In the side of one building was a doorway with a glowing lantern to either side and strange arcane symbols above it. The sky overhead was the rosy pink of early dawn.
\t"Our magical research may take some time," said Dr. Ka. "Perhaps it would be best if the rest of you got some sleep."
\tI nodded. "That's not a bad idea." It had been a long night, and I was dead tired. I turned to Samtiss, Dorgok, and Emorada. "Come on, I'll take you to my place." The four of us headed out of the courtyard and onto the streets of Millennium City while Caliburn and Dr. Ka entered the bookstore.
\tAs we walked along the early morning streets, the city slowly hauled itself awake around us, people heading to work in their cars or on foot, ready to begin yet another busy day. Our odd little company got more than a few stares, since even in Millennium City it wasn't every day one saw a chipmunk manimal in a cape and hood with two reptilian Lemurians and a furry archer. Not too many, though, because this was a town in which the hulk of a giant alien spaceship lay wallowing like some enormous hippopotamus in the middle of the river beside it, a leftover from an invasion by a race of insectoids called the Qularr some years back. I could see it now through the gaps between the buildings on my left, a constant reminder that anything could happen here and often did.
\tEmorada was looking up at those buildings in awe. "So tall!" he said.
\t"I take it they don't have buildings like this where you come from," I said.
\tHe shook his head. "Biggest things we got is castles, but they nothing like this!" He gestured at a car going by. "Everyone here ride in magic carriages?"
\t"They're called cars," I said, "and they're not magical. In fact, magic is pretty rare here."
\t"Then how they go?" he asked.
\t"What's the most complicated machine you have on your world?"
\tEmorada thought for a moment. "Prolly a catapult."
\tDorgok gave a hissing laugh. "So primitive!"
\tI gave the boy a warning glare, then turned back to Emorada. "Let's just say the machines here are a lot more complicated than that." I stopped, realizing it was a long way to my apartment in Westside and I was feeling too tired to walk it, so I hit a button on my gauntlet to summon my grav bike. It would take it a few minutes to get here, so I went over to a hot dog vendor I'd spotted on a street corner and ordered one with mustard and relish. I turned to my companions. "You guys want anything? My treat."
\tThe vendor regarded the two Lemurians warily but gave them each a hot dog when they asked for one. Emorada, however, just shook his head. "I dun eat meat," he said.
\t"Soy dog for my friend here," I told the vendor. He nodded and handed Emorada one. The archer sniffed at it, then took a bite, chewed it, and grinned.
\tJust as we finished eating, my bike arrived, dropping down out of the sky to land beside us, much to Emorada's amazement. I climbed on and told the others to follow me. Samtiss put his arm around his son and took off, while Emorada turned to wind and blew after us. I led them through the air, past the C-shaped blue glass building that was the headquarters of the Champions—the superteam to which my mentor Nighthawk had once belonged—past the circular plaza of the Renaissance Center with its ring of insanely tall towers, and down into the grungy neighborhood of Westside. I landed my bike on the roof of a building there and went down through the roof entrance to my apartment, the others following me inside.
\tThe apartment was empty. Apparently, Julie hadn't come back yet, and I was sort of glad of that, because it would save a lot of explanations I was too tired to make. At the same time, it would have been nice to get a hug and a kiss after all I'd been through. Either way, it was good to be home.
\t"This where you live?" asked Emorada, looking around curiously.
\t"This is the apartment he shares with a human female," said Samtiss. Dorgok stared at him, then at me, apparently just as surprised by the idea of a human and a manimal living together as his father had been.
\tWhatever. I was too tired to care about Lemurian bigotry. "I'm going to try to get some sleep," I told my companions. I looked up at Samtiss, who had been awake at least as long as I had. "How about you?"
\t"I too could use a rest," said Samtiss, nodding, "after what my son put me through." He glanced at Dorgok, who smirked and flicked his tongue at him.
\t"How about you, Emorada?" I asked.
\tThe furry archer shrugged. "I fine."
\t"In that case, would you mind watching the kid for us?"
\tEmorada fixed his eyes on Dorgok. "Be my pleasure."
\tDorgok glared back at him. "And it will be my pleasure to watch my mother kill you when she comes to rescue me, before she slays my traitorous father and his repulsive manimal ally!"
\tI was trying to figure out how to break it to the boy that Yareen the Defiler had died in the Qliphoth, but Emorada beat me to the punch. He grinned at Dorgok. "Not likely, since I put an arrow in her heart!"
\tDorgok's golden eyes went wide and his wide mouth fell open. "You . . . you killed her?"
\tEmorada nodded. "I a paladin of Omlu. It my duty to destroy evil. Give me a reason and I do same to you!"
\t"Yeah, we're going to have to have a talk about that, Emorada," I said. "We have laws on this world. You can't just go around killing people, no matter how much you think they deserve it." Then I turned to Dorgok. "Anyway, I doubt your mother would bother rescuing you even if Emorada hadn't killed her. She had no problem with the idea of sacrificing you to kill all of us." I looked over at Samtiss. "What was it she said?"
\tSamtiss folded his arms as he gazed down at his son. "'Sentiment is for the weak.'"
\tDorgok had managed to regain his composure, somewhat. "A-and she was right to do so! I would have gladly died for the cause!"
\t"Well, sentiment is the reason you're still alive," I said. "If Samtiss hadn't pulled you out of the Qliphoth, you would have been consumed by the primal chaos your mother summoned. He saved your life because he thought there might be something in you that was worth saving. Think about that."
\tDorgok stared at me, then at Samtiss, then finally at Emorada. His eyes narrowed and he hissed at the paladin. "I swear by the Bleak Ones, I will kill you! Somehow, I will find a way!"
\tEmorada smirked. "You welcome to try, boy. Better than you have, and I still here."
\t"Please be patient with my son," said Samtiss. "It would be a pity if I saved his life only to have you kill him." He glanced at Dorgok and added, "And if you must, at least make it quick and painless."
\tEmorada nodded. "Dun worry, he no suffer."
\t"Thank you," said Samtiss.
\tDorgok swallowed but said nothing.
\tI decided I was done with this. I went into the bedroom, stripped off my costume, and climbed into bed. I lay there for a while, shivering. Threats to the entire multiverse were a lot for one little manimal to deal with. I really missed Julie. I wanted so much just to feel her arms around me, her body against mine. It's been said that absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I guess it's true, because right now I loved her more than I ever had before. I hoped I'd have a chance to see her again. I curled up under the covers and went to sleep.

\tJulie and I were lying in a field somewhere, making out. My muzzle was pressed to her lips, kissing them, my arms around her and hers around me. The grass was soft beneath us, and a cool breeze blew across us as the sun shone brightly in the sky. We both made happy, contented noises as our mouths strained against each other, enjoying the simple pleasure of being alive, together, and in love.
\tThen the ground around us began to erupt, spewing forth grotesque, distorted shapes—horrors from the Qliphoth. Some were huge and squat, with four arms and no faces, just gaping mouths. Others were tall and slender, wearing long frock coats of black leather, like some hideous parody of a parish priest, their pale faces devoid of emotion with unblinking yellow eyes. Still others were lithe, prancing things, their bodies criss-crossed by black leather straps, between which one could see their dead-white skin, mad eyes, and grinning mouths filled with rotten teeth.
\tThe horrors fell upon us, and Julie was torn from my arms. I tried to rescue her, but the priest things shot chains from their sleeves that wrapped around my arms and legs, immobilizing me. I watched, screaming helplessly, as she disappeared beneath a pile of horrors.
\tI jolted awake, my heart pounding in my chest. I was in the bedroom of my apartment in Millennium City. Samtiss was standing beside the bed, gazing down at me with something like concern on his reptilian face.
\t"You were moaning in your sleep," he said. "I decided to see if you were all right."
\tI sat up in bed and rubbed my face. "I was having a nightmare," I said. "Not too surprising, all things considered."
\tSamtiss tilted his head. "In this nightmare, were you and Julie attacked by horrors from the Qliphoth?"
\tI stared up at him. "How did you know that?"
\t"I am not sure," Samtiss replied. "I only know I saw that in my mind just before you woke up."
\tI threw aside the covers and climbed out of bed. I was naked, but I didn't care. I went into the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and splashed some cold water on my face. I checked the clock. It was four in the afternoon. I'd been out for over ten hours. I went back into the bedroom, pulled on a pair of sweatpants, and went out into the living room. Dorgok was sitting on the couch. Emorada was sitting in the recliner facing him, his knees pulled up against his chest, his long arms looped around them. They both looked at me as I entered the room with Samtiss following me. The sky outside the windows was dark grey, and the glass was streaked with rain.
\t"Did either of you get any weird mental images just now?" I asked them.
\tEmorada nodded. "You was kissing that girl," he said, gesturing at the photograph of me and Julie on the coffee table. "Then you was attacked by monsters from that Qliphoth place."
\t"I saw that too," said Dorgok. "Does she really let you do that to her?"
\tI ignored his question. "How are you all able to see what's going on in my head?" I asked.
\tEmorada shrugged. "I dunno. It never happen before."
\tI turned to Dorgok. "You lived in the Qliphoth all your life. You know more about it than any of us. What's going on? Why are you seeing my dreams?"
\t"I do not know," said Dorgok, "and if I did I would not tell you."
\tEmorada drew his shortsword from its scabbard. "We see about that." Dorgok shrank back.
\t"Put that away, Emorada," I said. "There'll be no torture here."
\tEmorada shrugged and resheathed his sword.
\tI sighed and shook my head. Something else going on that I didn't understand. I missed fighting street thugs. At least I knew where I stood with them. I went to the kitchen and got myself a bowl of Mighty O's.
\t"So what we do now?" asked Emorada.
\t"There's not much we can do," I said, pouring milk over the cereal, "until Caliburn and Dr. Ka finish their research."
\t"I no like waiting," Emorada grumped.
\t"Tell us about yourself, Emorada," said Samtiss. "I have never seen a creature like you before. What are your people called?"
\t"I a treekin," said Emorada. "I come from big forest in southwest Karnaltan."
\t"I've never heard of Karnaltan," I said. "What is it?"
\t"It a big land. I see a map of it once. There forests in west, mountains in north, swamps in south, and ocean all around. East is a desert called Great Wastes. My friend Slang come from there. He a reptile man, like you two." He indicated Samtiss and Dorgok. "It cold up north. I go there once with my mentor, Yorin Stormcloud."
\t"I thought you said your mentor was someone called Rhianna Wintersun," I said.
\tEmorada nodded. "She my second mentor. Yorin was my first. He one who recruit me because he think I got what it take to be first treekin paladin." He grinned, then his grin faded. "But he die."
\t"I'm sorry to hear that," I said.
\tEmorada shrugged. "It happen. Paladins dun live that long."
\t"You say you're the first treekin paladin. Yorin and Rhianna weren't treekin, then?"
\t"No, he a goblin and she an elf."
\tI raised an eyebrow. "Elves and goblins? Sounds like something out of Tolkien."
\t"I dunno what that mean," said Emorada.
\t"I'll have to show you the Lord of the Rings movies sometime," I said.
\tEmorada just stared at me, completely baffled.
\tI was spared the need for further explanations by a knock on the door. I went over and opened it. Before me stood Caliburn and Dr. Ka. I noticed that even though it was raining outside, neither of them was damp. "Hello, fuzzball," said Caliburn, his hands in the pockets of his trenchcoat. "Mind if we come in?"
\t"You're always welcome here, Caliburn," I said, stepping aside for them to enter.
\tThey walked in, and Caliburn looked around. "Cozy," he said.
\t"It keeps the rain off me," I said. "So, what have you found out?"
\t"We think we may have discovered how Graknash intends to destroy the multiverse," said Dr. Ka.
\t"Do tell," I said.
\t"It would require several steps," said Ka. "If the first is thwarted, the others become impossible. Therefore, it is imperative that we block his first step: the freeing of Vulshoth."
\t"Do I even dare ask who that is?" I asked.
\t"He goes by many names," said Caliburn. "The Eye of the Void, the Lord of the Black Tentacles, and quite a few others. He's one of the Kings of Edom, and he's imprisoned in a pocket dimension called the Black Maze. He can still communicate telepathically with his servitors, however. We think Graknash intends to open a gateway that will allow Vulshoth to enter this dimension. That would be bad. Once here, Vulshoth will start trying to free the other Kings of Edom. That would be worse. If enough of them get free, they'll suck everything into the Qliphoth. And that would be it."
\tI nodded. "So how do we stop him?"
\t"We think Graknash and his followers have been building up a massive stockpile of chaos energy leached from the Qliphoth and storing it in some pocket dimension for centuries," said Dr. Ka. "Yareen drew upon it when she destroyed her fortress. Their aim is to use this energy to punch a hole through the dimensional barriers into the Black Maze and let Vulshoth out. If we can dispel the energy, they will have to start all over again."
\t"Unfortunately," said Caliburn, "to do that, we have to know where it is, and we don't. But Yareen does. So we'll have to contact her spirit."
\t"You mean another séance?" I asked.
\tCaliburn nodded and glanced out the window. "On a wet afternoon."

\tAs Dr. Ka went about the preparations for contacting Yareen the Defiler's spirit, I took the opportunity to corner Caliburn in my kitchen. There was a question I wanted an answer to.
\t"Something weird happened to me just before you got here," I told him.
\t"Yeah?" said Caliburn as he rummaged through my refrigerator for something to eat. "Something weird is always happening to people like us. You learn to live with it." He found a hard-boiled egg and popped it into his mouth.
\t"I had a nightmare," I said, "and when I woke up, I found out Samtiss, Dorgok, and Emorada had all experienced it too."
\tCaliburn chewed on the egg and swallowed. "You mean the one where you're macking on your girlfriend, then a bunch of Qliphothic horrors show up to spoil the party?"
\tI gasped. "You saw it too?"
\tHe nodded. "Me and Dr. Ka. By the way, kudos on landing that girl, Alvin. She's a real honey."
\t"Is everyone seeing my dreams?" I asked, appalled. If those horrors hadn't interrupted things, that dream might have gone in a direction that would have been very embarrassing for anyone else to witness.
\t"Not unless they were in the Qliphoth with you," said Caliburn.
\t"I don't understand. What's the Qliphoth got to do with this?"
\t"Remember when I told you the Qliphoth would try to warp your body and mind, transforming you into one of its horrors? Well, we weren't there long enough for it to change our bodies, but apparently it did alter our minds, so we all now share a mental bond."
\tI felt a little relieved, since it meant the effect was limited to my immediate circle of friends—and Dorgok. At least all of Millennium City wasn't seeing my potentially X-rated dreams. At the same time, the thought of anyone or anything messing with my mind was terrifying. My mind was already messed up enough. "How long will this bond last?" I asked.
\t"It should fade in a week or so, now that you're away from the Qliphoth's influence."
\tI folded my arms across my chest. "So, for the next week or so I have to worry about you guys having a ringside seat for my dreams?"
\t"Hey, do you think I'm happy about it, fuzzball?" Caliburn asked, annoyed. "I've got no desire to watch you bone your girlfriend, even if she is a honey. And remember, it works both ways. There are things in my head I wouldn't want anyone else to see either."
\tI remembered the dead Vietnamese boy on the steps of the temple in Caliburn's nightmare. "Point taken." I glanced over at Samtiss, Dorgok, and Emorada and found myself wondering what kinds of dreams Lemurians and treekin had. I guessed I'd find out.
\tDr. Ka called us all into the living room. He'd cleared the center and drawn some kind of glyph on the wooden floor with a grease pencil. Around it lay a large equilateral triangle with a bowl containing burning incense at each corner, filling the room with a pungent odor that smelled like a cross between cloves and rose petals.
\t"He must leave," said Ka, pointing at Dorgok.
\t"Why?" asked Samtiss, his tongue flickering.
\t"Contacting the dead requires all involved to will the shade into existence," Ka explained. "His loyalty is to his mother and her plan. He will attempt to impede our efforts."
\tSamtiss looked at his son. "You will not help us save all creation?"
\tDorgok smirked. "The human is right, father. I would do everything in my power against you."
\t"Do you not wish to see your mother again?" asked Samtiss.
\tDorgok seemed to waver a moment, then shook his head. "Sentiment is for the weak. She would be proud of me for trying to stop you!"
\tSamtiss sighed and looked at the rest of us. "What do we do with him?"
\t"I can think of something," said Emorada, grinning.
\t"Can you freeze him again?" I asked Caliburn.
\tCaliburn nodded. "Yeah, but I'd rather not waste the energy."
\tI turned to Dr. Ka. "How far away does he have to be?"
\t"It does not matter, so long as he cannot see us," the sorcerer replied.
\tI grabbed Dorgok by his wrist. "Come on, stupid." I led him into the bedroom, got a pair of handcuffs from my equipment box, and cuffed his wrist to the radiator. As he rattled the cuff, testing its strength, I chuckled. "That was a dumb move, Dorgok. You could have played along and said you'd help. We might have believed you. Now you can't do anything."
\tDorgork hissed and clenched his fists, realizing he'd blown his chance to screw things up. Then again, I had to remind myself, he was just a kid. He hadn't learned how to be devious yet. "Filthy manimal!" he snarled. "I will kill you!"
\t"Yeah, yeah, heard it before," I said, waving dismissively as I left the room and closed the door behind me.
\tThe others had seated themselves cross-legged on the floor around the triangle, and Ka and Caliburn were chanting low, sonorous syllables in a language I didn't recognize. I found myself a spot and sat down to join the ritual. The room seemed noticably darker, but that might have just been because it was getting on toward evening.
\t"Close your eyes." said Dr. Ka. "Clear your minds of all thoughts. Form an image in your mind's eye of Yareen the Defiler. Concentrate on it. Permit yourself no distractions. Concentrate on making it as detailed as possible. Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate."
\tI focused on the image of the lizard woman in my mind, using my detective training to recall as many specific details as I could—like the color of the fastenings on her tunic and the way her gold eyes had burned with hatred. Then a cold shock went through me as I heard a piercing shriek. My eyes snapped open, and there, floating in the center of the triangle, was Yareen, her form misty and transparent. Only she wasn't alone. There were claws and tentacles wrapped around her writhing body, which was covered in gaping wounds inflicted by fanged maws belonging to things unseen.
\tSamtiss started to rise, but Ka held up a hand. "Stop!" the sorcerer commanded. "Do not break the circle! You cannot help her! This is her fate!"
\t"What happening to her?" asked Emorada, staring at the ghastly apparition in horror.
\t"Her soul is being consumed by the Kings of Edom," I said. I looked over at Samtiss as he watched in agony while his former lover's soul was devoured by her gods, the fate that awaited all Lemurians upon their deaths. I turned to Dr. Ka. "Isn't there anything we can do for her?"
\tThe sorcerer shook his head. "Nothing. Her fate was sealed when she pledged herself to the Kings. We must act quickly, before there is nothing left of her to interrogate!" He held up his hand to her. "Yareen the Defiler! Where have you stored the chaos energy you intend to use to free Vulshoth from his prison? Speak—I command it!"
\tYareen screamed, twisting in the air as wounds began appearing faster on her already mutilated body. It was as if whatever was eating her soul realized what was happening and was trying to finish the job before she could give up any useful information. From her blood-flecked lips issued a series of syllables that were gibberish to me but apparently meant something to Ka and Caliburn, given their reactions. Then, with a final reverberating scream, she dissolved into nothingness.
\tFor a moment there was only silence. Then there came a deep, shuddering breath from Samtiss. The Lemurian hung his head, hugging himself and shivering. I wanted to say something comforting, but what could I say? He'd just watched the soul of the woman he had once loved be consumed by the Kings of Edom, knowing that the same fate awaited him and his son. Words just seemed so inadequate. I turned to Dr. Ka and Caliburn, who were getting to their feet. "Did you get it?" I asked.
\t"Yeah," said Caliburn. "We got it." Even he appeared shaken by what we'd just seen.
\t"We must leave at once," said Dr. Ka. "When the Kings consumed Yareen's soul, they learned everything she knew. They are aware of our intentions and will do whatever they can to stop us."
\tI nodded. "Time to suit up, then." I rose and went to the bedroom to get my costume and equipment. As I opened the door, my nose was hit by the smell of blood. I looked over at the radiator. The handcuffs were hanging from it, empty. On the floor beside it lay a big crimson puddle and a clawed, blue-scaled hand. The window above the radiator was open.
\t"Son of a bitch!" I swore, running to the hand and picking it up. I turned to the door, where Samtiss and Emorada were standing, staring at me. "The kid bit off his own hand," I said.
\tSamtiss nodded. "It will grow back."
\t"Forget the boy," said Caliburn from the living room. "We've got more important things to worry about."
\tMuch as I hated to admit it, Caliburn was right. Deprived of his powers and missing a hand, Dorgok wasn't much of a threat to anyone. In fact, considering how the people of this city felt about Lemurians, it was more likely he'd be needing protection from them. But right now there were more pressing matters to attend to. We'd have to track him down later, assuming there was a later. I glanced at Samtiss, but his reptilian face was unreadable. His tail was twitching in agitation, though.
\tI suited up and went back out to the living room, where Dr. Ka was drawing another one of those magic teleportation circles on the floor. I used my cell phone to log a report to the rest of Team Nighthawk, telling them what was going on. In the event we failed, they could contact the Champions and maybe come up with some kind of contingency plan. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Ka finished the circle, and Caliburn, Samtiss, Emorada, and I stepped inside. Then my apartment disappeared and we were somewhere else.
\tSomewhere else was a barren, rocky, windswept plain under an orange sun. On it sat a gigantic sphere, at least a thousand feet in diameter and composed of swirling, shimmering blackness identical to the stuff Yareen had summoned in her fortress back in the Qliphoth—the primal chaos energy that Graknash and his followers had been accumulating and storing here for centuries. The ground around it was littered with the bodies of Lemurians—hundreds of them. Hovering in the air before it was Graknash, his green and gold armor looking brown and copper in the orange light, his ram's-horn helmet making him look positively demonic. He was waving his arms about and making hissing, gargling noises, apparently working some kind of ritual.
\t"You three keep him busy while Dr. Ka and I dispel the energy!" shouted Caliburn, his trenchcoat whipping about in the wind. Samtiss nodded, looped an arm around me, and lifted me into the air, while Emorada turned to wind and flew up alongside us.
\tAs we drew near Graknash, he rotated in the air, turning toward us. "You shall not stop me!" he snarled. "My faithful followers have already sacrificed themselves to feed our masters' hunger! Soon, the Bleak Ones will be free, and the universe will tremble at their coming!"
\t"You guys talk too much," I said, hurling a throwing blade at him. It struck his clawed hand, and he hissed in pain. Then Samtiss began firing electrical bolts at him, and Emorada solidified and started peppering him with arrows. Unfortunately, his armor absorbed most of their attacks. I leaped off Samtiss, landed on Graknash's shoulders, slapped a particle mine onto his back, and somersaulted off him. It was a long way down, but the gravity here was much lower than Earth's, and I fell relatively slowly. Hopefully, Samtiss would catch me before I reached the ground.
\tWith a loud boom, my mine detonated, and Graknash howled as the back of his armor was shredded. As I'd hoped, Samtiss flew down and grabbed my arm, stopping my fall. Graknash fired a mystic blast at us, but Samtiss blocked it with an electric shield. Meanwhile, Emorada flew around behind Graknash, solidified again, and began pumping arrow after arrow into his exposed back. The Lemurian tried to blast the little treekin, but Emorada turned to wind again.
\tSuddenly, something began to materialize in the air above Graknash. It was hazy at first but quickly grew more distinct, like an image coming into focus. It was an enormous mass of squirming black tentacles, fully sixty feet across, with a hooked beak in the exact center surrounded by five burning scarlet eyes, and just looking at it sent my mind hurtling into places it shouldn't go. It remained transparent and ephemeral, floating in the air with total disregard for gravity, its five eyes glaring at us.
\t"What that?" gasped Emorada, reappearing next to Samtiss and myself.
\t"I think it's Vulshoth," I said, struggling to keep from freaking out.
\t"More like a telepathic projection of him," said Samtiss. "He is not happy with what we are doing."
\t"Good!" I said. "Let's keep it up!"
\tOne of Vulshoth's eyes fixed on me, and I felt like a bacterium under a microscope, being scrutinized by something far vaster and more powerful than myself. Then, in my mind, an image formed of me with my brothers. I was wearing my Nightmunk costume, and we were all laughing happily and hugging each other. It wasn't a memory from my past, I realized, but an offer. Vulshoth would bring them back to me, if I switched sides.
\tMy jaw clenched as I shook with rage. It wasn't even that I thought his offer was insincere. Hell, if anyone could raise the dead, it would be a King of Edom. What angered me was that he thought I would actually fall for it when I knew that his ultimate goal was the destruction of everything. Did he really think I was that gullible, that selfish? Then again, I reminded myself, a cosmic entity of destruction probably had no concept of altruism, not to mention a very low opinion of us mere mortals. Still, his contempt for my intelligence—not to mention my common sense—rankled me. And the thought of that evil, alien thing trying to twist my love for my brothers to his own ends made me furious.
\tAnother image formed in my head, this one of Emorada and a woman. She was impossibly beautiful, with eyes like emeralds and long ash-blonde hair that her pointed ears stuck up through. They were kissing, their arms around each other. I guessed I was seeing Vulshoth's offer to Emorada through the mental link we'd gained during our time in the Qliphoth. I glanced over at the treekin, and saw from his expression that he was no more enamored of Vulshoth's offer to return a lost loved one to him than I had been.
\tThen came an image of a handsome young man and a lovely young woman in shimmering white tunics, both with pale blue skin and green hair. They were walking hand in hand along a street in a majestic domed city beneath the sea. Beside them walked a blue-skinned, green-haired young boy. These had to be Samtiss, Yareen, and Dorgok in their human forms. Just a happy family out for a stroll in downtown Lemuria. No doubt this was Vulshoth's offer to Samtiss. This was getting insulting. How could he offer to bring back Yareen when we'd seen the Kings of Edom devour her soul? How dumb did he think Samtiss was?
\tSamtiss showed he was smarter than that by snarling and hurling a lightning bolt at the image of Vulshoth, which of course sailed right through him because he wasn't really there. Still, the message was clear: Not interested; go to hell. Vulshoth apparently got it, because Graknash began to glow with a purple light. The Lemurian raised his arms. A purple tear appeared in the air before him, and out of it flew dozens of bat-winged, mouth-faced horrors from the Qliphoth.
\tThe battle that followed was utter chaos. Samtiss hurled lightning bolts that vaporized the horrors by the score, while Emorada's arrows and my throwing blades sent them plummeting toward the ground below. Even so, the numbers were heavily against us. For every one we killed, five more emerged from the rift Graknash had opened. We were being overwhelmed.
\tI leaped off Samtiss and tried to reach Graknash by jumping from one horror to another, like a kid jumping from rock to rock to cross a stream. I thought that maybe if I took him down the rift would close. It was the best idea I could come up with. It almost worked, too. I got within ten feet of him before he noticed me and fired a mystic blast that struck me in midair and knocked me away from the horror I'd been aiming for. My body armor absorbed most of the blast, but I was still dazed. By the time I recovered, I had fallen far enough that I couldn't reach any of the horrors with my grapple gun. Samtiss and Emorada were both too busy fighting to help me. I looked down and saw that Caliburn and Dr. Ka were also being beseiged by horrors, interrupting their efforts to dispel the gigantic sphere of chaos energy that Graknash intended to use to free Vulshoth from the Black Maze. I looked up at the image of Vulshoth, hovering silent and transparent above the battle, his gargantuan body like some writhing black sun. His five red eyes might have been gleaming with triumph, but that was probably just my imagination.
\tI grabbed the edges of my cape and tried to use it as a makeshift parachute. On Earth it wouldn't have worked, but in this world's lower gravity it slowed my fall enough that I could actually control how I landed. I hit the ground at an acute angle, curling into a ball just before impact, and bounced along for about fifty feet before I came to a stop, battered and bruised but still alive.
\tI stood up, aching all over, and began running back toward the giant shimmering black sphere of chaos energy. Maybe all wasn't lost yet. Maybe I could still help Caliburn and Dr. Ka. That's what I kept telling myself as I ran across the rocky, desolate, alien landscape. I had to cling to some kind of hope.
\tMy heart sank as I caught sight of Caliburn and Dr. Ka through a gap in the rocks. They were both lying on the ground, either dead or unconscious, Graknash and his horrors standing over them. Samtiss and Emorada were there too, also sprawled at Graknash's clawed feet. Graknash made a hissing sound, which I assumed was the Lemurian equivalent of a cackle of glee, and then turned toward the sphere and raised his arms, gesturing. I gritted my teeth and readied my last throwing blade. I didn't really think I could stop him, but there was nothing to be lost by trying.
\t"Wait," came Dr. Ka's voice in my head.
\t"Doc," I thought, "you're still alive?"
\t"We both are," said Caliburn's voice. "Our bodies may be incapacitated, but our minds can still communicate with you through the mental link we gained in the Qliphoth."
\t"Good," I thought. "Then you can watch me put a throwing blade in that bastard's back."
\t"Such an act of defiance, however admirable, will accomplish nothing," said Ka. "But there may yet be a way to win this."
\t"What do I do?"
\t"For the moment, nothing. Just wait."
\tI nodded, and waited.
\tGraknash finished waving his hands, and the sphere began to shrink. As it did so, the image of Vulshoth above us began to grow more opaque. I felt my sanity circling the drain as he solidified. Apparently, just being in the presence of a King of Edom could drive mortals mad. Then I felt Caliburn and Dr. Ka reinforcing my will, patching the cracks in my psyche. How long it would hold was problematical, but for the moment I was still sane.
\tThe horrors around Graknash began hopping about and squealing with joy. For them, this was Christmastime. They began flying up toward Vulshoth, and his tentacles wrapped around them and stuffed them into that huge beaked mouth. Within a minute, they were all gone.
\t"Those were just the appetizer, master," said Graknash, tongue flickering. He was speaking Lemurian, but perhaps because of my mental link with Samtiss, I could understand him. "Billions more souls await you, starting with these." He gestured at the bodies of Caliburn, Dr. Ka, Samtiss, and Emorada lying scattered around him.
\t"Now?" I thought, clenching my teeth.
\t"Now!" said Dr. Ka, and suddenly my mind was flooded with a mystical formula, which I now understood. It was the Word of Unmaking, the spell I'd taken off the body of Graknash's servant, Hydrophis, which could retroactively obliterate anyone from existence and make it as if they'd never been. My mouth began uttering arcane syllables, and Graknash and Vulshoth clearly recognized them, because they both focused their attention on me.
\tVulshoth's slimy black tentacles shot out at me, but a glittering image shaped roughly like a spider sprang up before me, and they drew back as if they'd touched a hot stove. Graknash hissed and began readying a spell to kill me with before I could finish mine, but the spider image somehow disrupted it. I continued with my incantation, and Vulshoth seemed to be getting agitated. Perhaps he wasn't sure if even a King of Edom could withstand the power of the Solipsist. Apparently, he didn't intend to find out, because he began to fade, retreating back into the Black Maze. I guess he decided eternal imprisonment was better than utter annihilation. Within a few seconds, he was gone.
\t"No!" screamed Graknash, hurling himself at me, his claws outstretched, his sharp-toothed maw gaping. I grinned. This was something I could handle myself. As he lunged, I leaped above him, twisted in midair, popped my claws, and rammed them into his back, just as I'd done to Beusa in that nightmare I'd had in the Qliphoth. He flopped to the ground, dead.
\tI stood there panting on the rocky plain of an alien world for a moment, then went over to my companions and began administering first aid. Fortunately, none of them had more than minor injuries. Graknash had wanted them alive for his master to devour.
\t"Well," said Caliburn, sitting up and popping a stick of gum into his mouth, "looks like that's that." He looked over at me. "Nice work, Alvin."
\t"Thanks," I said. "What was that spider thing that appeared in front of me, though?"
\t"That was my doing," said Dr. Ka. "It was the emblem of the Lords of the Jeweled Spider, one of the powers that imprisoned the Kings of Edom eons ago. It can be used as a ward against them and their magics."
\tI nodded. "Vulshoth sure didn't seem to like it."
\tCaliburn got to his feet. "So, anyone want a lift home?"
\t"I don't got a home," said Emorada, sighing.
\t"That makes three of us," said Dr. Ka. "Graknash destroyed my brownstone, and the room at the White Hare Hotel where Robert was staying."
\t"Eh, you can always buy another brownstone, Khalid," said Caliburn. "In the meantime, I'm sure I can convince Aunt Nancy to put the three of us up for a while." He glanced down at Emorada. "I think she'll like you."
\tEmorada grinned.
\t"If you could just teleport me back to my apartment," I said, "that would be great."
\tCaliburn nodded. "No problem." He glanced Samtiss. "How about you, scales?"
\t"I must search for my son," Samtiss replied. He turned to Dr. Ka. "You seem like a wise man, and learned in occult matters. Is there any way Dorgok and I can avoid Yareen's fate?"
\t"Yareen chose her fate," said Dr. Ka, "just as you chose to reject yours when you turned against the Kings of Edom. Many paths are open to you now. Which one you walk is up to you."
\tCaliburn had just finished drawing a magic circle on the ground. "All aboard for Millennium City," he announced. Samtiss and I stepped into it.
\t"See you later, wizard," I said.
\t"You too, fuzzball," Caliburn replied. There was a flash of light and we were back in my apartment.
\tI barely had time to take a breath when a welcomely familiar voice said, "Alvin!" I turned around, and there was Julie, in her bathrobe and pajamas. I smiled up at her, and she smiled back. We went toward each other and embraced. It felt so good.
\t"I can see the two of you have much to talk about," said Samtiss. "I will be on my way."
\t"You don't have to leave, Samtiss," said Julie. "You can stay and have dinner, and maybe watch a movie with us."
\tSamtiss's golden eyes widened, and his tongue flicked. Then he shook his crested head. "That is most kind of you, but I must find my son."
\tI went over to him and squeezed his clawed hand. "Just remember, Samtiss, you're always welcome here."
\tThe Lemurian nodded slowly, his tail swishing. "Thank you. Goodbye." And he turned and left.
\t"He has a son?" asked Julie, looking surprised.
\t"It's a long story," I said. "So, are you . . . are we . . . ?" I couldn't finish the question because I was afraid of the answer.
\tShe smiled. "Yes, we're still together."
\tI sighed with relief. "Thank goodness."
\t"So," she said, "I was thinking, maybe you could get out of that costume and we could have a little fun."
\tI grinned. "I'd like that a lot."
\tShe took my hand and we went into the bedroom together.
\tAnd yeah, I squeaked.
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