(Disclaimer: A warning to those who continue. This is a sequel to a previous story. Both of these were written in the mid-1990’s. While the first one was slightly edited and vanity press published, this one has not been touched in over 20 years. I figure I should do something with it and people may get a laugh or fright from how I used to be. Every author comes from somewhere, so this is part of my origin. To that end, I am deeply sorry for whatever nightmares I will inflict on the literary world and the American English language. Enjoy?)
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The entire top floor of the Black Tower is a single room with minimal, but very bright, lighting. There are windows around the walls, but they only show the vast darkness of deep space. A large, metal table takes up a third of the room and several hover-chairs circle around it. Seven of the chairs are occupied and their owners are slowly getting agitated and restless.
“Sorry I’m late. I had to make these very special drinks from scratch. Took longer than I had expected. So, all of you had better like them. So, did anybody miss me?” asks Adriana when she enters the room. She immediately has a nearby robot hand out the glasses of potion while she takes a seat on her large throne. This hovering throne is black as night and has two menacing dragon heads as the arms.
“Don’t worry. Our aim is getting a lot better. In a few weeks, we won’t be able to miss you if we tried,” remarks a red-haired man in a color changing jester outfit. A young blond girl, wearing a black version of Adriana’s clothing, smacks the evil jester upside his blue-eyed head. She has an almost primal look in her eye that reminds most people of a tigress.
“Thank you, Kilanus. As for you, Tegam, behave yourself for this meeting. My fuse is extremely short today,” mentions Adriana. She watches everybody stare at and cautiously sniff at his or her drink. Only the golden armored brute with his weird, albino eyes gulps the potion down. Hellax attempts to push back his spiked, brown hair while he looks up at the others.
“I wouldn’t have done that just yet, Hellax. Since Kilanus wasn’t given any of this, I suspect it is some form of immortal killing poison. After all, Adriana isn’t sadistic enough to kill her own daughter. Unlike me if, perish the thought, I had a child,” says a brown-eyed woman, who actually looks more like an ugly man. She makes a flame serpent slither from her callused hands and it quickly melts Kilanus’ silver skull belt and her crimson skull and crossbones necklace.
“Ooh. I’m sooo scared. I don’t think you should do anything that you would regret, Psylon. Without me, this group loses its unique advantage of extra lives. Besides I can beat you up with my arms torn off,” states Kilanus in a calm, casual voice. The fire animal simply disappears and Psylon starts mumbling to herself.
“I sense a good deal of cyanide in this concoction. But something in it has weakened the deadly potential,” explains a frail, black-haired man in leather armor. His blue eyes look toward a large man, who is nodding in agreement, and a sinister robot that appears to be analyzing the liquid. The cyborg notices the sudden silence and looks up with dark, yellow eyes. Immediately, his sensor probes slip back into his stomach and are replaced by a unique green gel-cell. Still in absolute silence, the cyborg puts a few drops of his drink into the green gel-cell.
“What do you think, Cybro? Mindtrigger and I have already noticed some diluted cyanide in it. Is there anything else that your instruments have picked up?” whispers the large, muscular man. His long, black hair is like the tresses of Mindtrigger, but instead of blue, this perfect killer has deep, red eyes.
“Well, Draveon. It tastes fine to my borrowed human senses, but the ingredients are rather odd. It would appear that Adriana’s remarkable skills in both chemistry and the long lost art of magic has not diminished over the years. I found three different types of alcohol, sulfur dust, raw sodium, a weird form of liquid nitrogen, and some unknown energy. I think the energy came from one of the isotopes that we found during our voyage home. My conclusion is that this beverage is not poisonous, but it is not a common drink,” Cybro explains while his left arm, which ends in a triple laser, grows a straw and drains his cup.
Adriana gracefully chugs her drink before saying, “Are all of you finished talking? All any one of you had to do was ask and I would have told you losers everything. You see, that drink is our newest edge against the planet guardians. I had Startrix use her powers to discover when each of us would die. Since there seemed to be multiple times, we picked the ones with the least amount of casualties on our side. When the time of your death does occur, this potion will cause your body to be teleported back to the top of the Black Tower. Understand?”
“Most of it. But, why did you leave Kilanus out? Or is it because she’s underage and you decided to act like a responsible mother for once in your life?” asks Draveon after he finishes his drink and crushes the silver cup into powder.
“Give me a break. I don’t need a lecture on parenting skills from an oversized testosterone factory. Just because you like kids does not mean that you can tell me how to treat and what to do with my daughter. Get your own child first and then we can argue about this, Draveon.”
“Don’t give my husband any ideas, Adriana. I hate kids unless they’re deep fried and covered in chocolate syrup,” replies Psylon. She gets sick glances from everyone in the room, including the emotionless slave robot in the corner that has no face. She hits it out the door with a small fire wave.
“I really didn’t need to hear that. I mean, I really did not need to hear that. But, to answer the question, the magical power in my potion is useless if Kilanus dies. The reason for this is quite simple. Only my daughter has the power to resurrect us. If she dies, we cannot bring any of our casualties back to life. Now, what else do we have to discuss?”
“You said that you have a perfect plan that will put a major hurt on the planet guardians. Mindtrigger also needs to give us the new information on the guardians that he has collected over the past six months,” says Tegam.
“Duh, what guardians?” mentions Hellax in his usual idiotic voice.
“Go back to sleep, numbskull. Well, Mindtrigger. Age before beauty, so the spotlight is on you. Tell us what you have discovered about our enemies. And this time say it in normal terms. You don’t want to lose Psylon like last time,” orders the blond leader. The fire controlling immortal glares at Adriana after she finishes off her drink.
Cybro pulls out a small, metal box and hits a blue button on its backside, which makes a large hologram appear above the table. It is a hologram of a beautiful, redhead with sweet, hazel eyes. She is wearing an emerald colored skirt attached to a matching, sleeveless shirt. On the chest of the shirt is an intricate picture of a churning whirlpool. She also wears white boots with retractable blades on the outer sides.
“Thank you for your assistance, Cybro. As you all know, this is Hydrana, the Neptune guardian. She is a hydrokinetic, which means she can control and create water, ice, and vapor. Recently, this immortal has acquired a natural automatic cold field that resembles Psylon’s heat field. Any weapon or attack that is based on heat will dissipate before reaching her. Fire attacks are only slightly weakened by this field. I have recently discovered that her real name is Delila Mandervale II. Will that data be useful?” reports Mindtrigger.
“Of course, it is. We can kill their families right before the planet guardians’ eyes!” exclaims Psylon as the hologram changes into a young man. His uniform is a brilliant orange and dark blue streaked bodysuit with an ebony cloak. This guardian’s eyes are a unique pale blue, which clash with his dark, brown hair.
“Hold on for a second, Mindtrigger. We will absolutely not threaten or kill their families unless it is totally necessary! The one thing we do not need at this time are four powerful immortals going on a rampage through us. If you hurt their families, I will personally hunt you down and kill you. That is a move that will be done only in desperation. Continue, scientist,” Adriana says.
“Thank you. The telekinetic Earth guardian, Infinity, is really named Steve Vascotti. After days of research, I have discovered that his bird form comes from an ancient Native American necklace that has been absorbed into his chest. It was made by one of the original guardians and reacts to immortal signatures by giving them this extra ability. He has only become physically stronger since our most recent encounter. His limited abilities can’t grow anymore without causing him severe harm.”
“He’s a lot cuter too,” Kilanus mentions.
“I thought you had gotten over him,” laughs Tegam. Infinity’s hologram is changed to that of a gorgeous, raven-haired female wearing crimson clothes. The revealing outfit has a bare midriff and white lines along the sides that contrast with her long, black gloves and boots.
“Can I please have no more interruptions? The emerald-eyed Venus guardian, Miracle, has become a somewhat bigger problem than she used to be. I should know since she has occasionally made me her favorite target. Her real illusions are capable of sustaining much more damage before disappearing. She was previously called Kelly Tavinowsky and she is currently in a very serious relationship with this one. So, if we can find a way to catch her, we can get him without any painful trouble,” explains Mindtrigger as Cybro changes the picture.
A handsome, blue-eyed boy with shimmering black clothing takes Miracle’s place. His uniform has a dull, white belt and a pair of sleek, blood red boots. In his right hand is a slender sword that has two glowing jewels embedded in its hilt. Around his neck is a medallion, which is a big stone surrounded by nine smaller ones.
“That’s the one who stole my sword of light. When I get my hands on that Mars guardian, I will suck his flesh right off his bones,” roars Draveon. An orange spear suddenly strikes the chair between Draveon’s legs and Mindtrigger walks over to retrieve his weapon. As usual it turns into a mist and goes into the immortal’s ears and nose.
“Another gruesome picture I would like to forget. You’ll get your chance in due time, killer. My plan revolves around that hatred you have and you will eventually get it back. I swear on your life. Finish your report, Mindtrigger, before we have any other interruptions,” orders Adriana.
“Sure. Fate is really Edward Slane, but unlike the other guardians, his biological parents are dead. As usual, more research is needed on the lucky guardian. I have no idea where to discover his past and neither does SEAS. If that computer can’t find it from a distance then I certainly can’t. The only useful piece of information that I have is on the anomaly I found in his genetic code. It makes him immune to most of the guardians’ magic weapons. Just like Kilanus.”
“At least that’s something. But I will personally look into and burn down Fate’s family tree later. I want to see Draveon, Tegam, Cybro, and Startrix in my quarters within five hours. Then, I will explain my perfect plan. Any questions?” asks Adriana as she gets off her hover-throne.
“Why can’t you tell all of us? We have a right to know some of things that you are planning. Whatever one of us does will effect the others,” says Psylon.
“Very well. Let me just say this. For the past year and a half all of us have unconsciously avoided fighting on a specific area in this universe. This area has remained blissfully unaware of what is going on around it. It is about damn time that it became the ultimate battlefield. If I’m being too cryptic about my plan then listen up because I’m only saying this once. We are going to attack the planet Earth. To be more specific, New York City.”
“Earth? Finally. But, why New York?” questions Kilanus.
“Why? Doesn’t every supervillain attack New York,” replies Adriana with a wicked smirk before leaving the confused band of villains behind.
