Blood Sisters
Chapter 22

Danger was closing in around The Winter Woman from all sides. North Star shot a water cannon at the first approaching revenant which barely slowed it down. She froze the water at its feet and it slipped, buying her a few seconds. The bloodsisters behind her were getting free of her ice-wall, huge cracks forming as they turned their impressive strength against it. The revenant with frozen feet being commanded by Agent David broke free and continued over to the strange machine with Cricket draped in its arms, still only semi-conscious. Behind her, she heard chunks of ice as they shattered on the floor, the last revenant was free, bearing down at Broadsword, who was slumped on the floor against the wall.

Winter had only a heartbeat to decide, she made a column of water into the air, freezing it solid as it reached the metal rafters high above. She wrapped one arm around it and pushed jets of water from her feet, rocketing her up the icy pole. Taking careful aim as she rose farther up she hit Broadsword in the face with a stream of water “C'mon, wake up you rusty bucket” she muttered.

Her frozen column shook as the revenant below hit it. It started to break apart from the bottom up, chasing North Star to the ceiling. Winter was loosing velocity fast as her water jets had farther to go to push her off the floor. As the column she was grasping started to break apart North Star took a desperate gamble, she shot a large stream of water from a raised hand, freezing it around her arm and up onto the rafters. Winter hung there like an icicle, suspended high above the floor, one arm frozen above her. With no time to spare she made a large sphere of water and flung it down at the machine the controlled revenant was about to lay Cricket on. She froze it into a big ball of ice that smashed into the device, crushing it. Sparks and smoke exploded from the machine. David looked up at North Star and sighed.

Broadsword groaned and came awake just as a revenants foot was about to crush his head. The Metal Man rolled away and made thick metal shackles around the synthoid's legs while it was off balance from its missed stomp. The revenant fell on its side and Broadsword made it to one knee. With an angry grunt Jack enveloped the revenant's head in steel. The revenant started to flay its arms, reaching up to strike the metal while its neck strained to break its head from the steel. Broadsword piled on more metal to lock down its arms, and then reinforced the metal over the synthoid's face as it started to crack. The revenant twitched in its steel cocoon, unable to breathe. Broadsword swayed on his feet. He had used all of his absorbed metal, save the armor he crafted on his skin.

Miracle flashed into the room from above and looked around quickly, she saw Cricket being held aloft by a revenant. She yelled “no! Cricket!” as it slammed her into the floor, cracking the polished reinforced concrete. The Indestructible Girl lay very still. Jenny ported across the room to help her sister, appearing right above her in a defensive pose. With a press of his thumb on his PDA David directed his revenant to attack Miracle, which it did. Jenny stood her ground, focusing on defense. She blocked strike after strike from the synthoid, her force-field sparking slightly from each deflected blow. Finally the revenant hit her, but it was just a glancing blow. Jenny winced as she was knocked back and fell on her uninjured side. The Golden Girl flashed back onto her feet and saw the few seconds she bought Cricket was enough, her tough little sister was coming around.

Across the room, the last rogue revenant was doing them a favor, fighting the bloodsisters who were piling on it, trying to wrestle the synthoid to the ground. The revenant hurled one after another into the walls, but it was slowly getting dragged down.

Agent David pulled out his pistol and fired several shots up towards North Star. Winter fired back with a deluge of high pressure water spikes that she froze into sharp ice blades. Several of these hit the agent, tearing up his shirt and knocking him over, but not penetrating his Kevlar vest. The agent's shots were on target however, and shattered the icicle that Winter was clinging to, North Star started falling from high in the air, giving a piercing cry of distress.

It was then that Goldstar flew into the room. Looking up in alarm as his sister-in-law fell. He did not have the ability of Miss Liberty to compensate for a fast change in velocity so he did his best to fly up above Winter then fly down after her, trying to closely match her acceleration before catching her. Even in his solid form, Goldstar could fly incredibly fast, but this was going to be close. He caught Winter, but the two of them were still heading straight for the floor. Marty knew he would not be able to change direction in time, besides that would also injure North Star. Goldstar did the only thing a hero like him could do. He braced himself and shifted his powerful force-field from himself to protect Winter. She did not even have time to shout in protest before the two of them slammed hard into the floor. Goldstar had trained himself well, and he rolled with the impact as best as he could, avoiding hitting his head straight on. His neck was tucked into his chest and he plowed shoulder first into the floor. The joint shattered apart, blood instantly staining his white and yellow beta-cloth. Marty's spine and rib-cage compressed brutally along the same side as the shoulder, generating chilling snaps as bones broke. Goldstar collapsed flat on the floor and moved no more.

Jenny screamed in horror as she witnessed her father's plight. Teleporting over to him and cradling his head “Dad! Daddy?!” she sobbed. The impact of Winter's fall had been significantly reduced by Goldie's force-field, which faded from around her moments after Goldstar lost consciousness. Winter made a quick assessment of Marty and grabbed Jenny's shoulder, her halo buzzing under her hand. “Jenny, I have to get him to the trauma center, you hear me? I'll take him. You have to hold the line here, I've done all I can. Protect Cricket!” With that, Winter froze Goldstar in an icy body-cast, leaving only his face open to the air. She glided quickly to the door controls and hit them. The huge metal doors opened slowly, and Winter made a barrier of ice behind her to slow any pursuit. As soon as possible she skated through the door, racing fast as she could to save Marty.

Cricket had got to her feet, still reeling, and jumped away from the revenant. Jenny stood up, tears in her eyes. Agent David had one revenant jump after Cricket. The other revenant crushed the last bloodsister under its heel, then turned its attention on Miracle. David called over to Miracle “Give it up Miss Goldstar. You fought well, but you can't win this. Your friend can barely stay on her feet, and you yourself are looking pretty battered”. Jenny gave the agent a sly smile even as she fought her tears “Your right, winning this fight would take a miracle”. She teleported right behind David and kicked up under the arm that held his PDA. His hand opened involuntarily as the shock from her foot caused it to spasm sending the PDA into the air. The force of the blow spun him around as her kick hooked him on the triceps and she pulled her foot back. Before The Agent could even curse, Miracle punched straight above her head, not even looking, stretching out her force-field above her fist until it hit the small computer, smashing it to bits. Miracle had kept her gaze steady on David the whole time. She smiled bravely at the agent, her face still wet “I never lose, especially to a dickhead like you”.

That is when it hit, a strange pulsing wave that spread out from the floor. Miracle's golden halo flickered and she felt a strange tug, causing her to check her balance. The Agent also lost his footing and went down on a knee, scowling. Cricket called out painfully, falling to the ground as energy began streaming out of her and somehow through the floor. The two remaining revenants simply collapsed, falling apart as their bio-mutant energy was drawn out. Jack held onto the wall to stay on his feet, some of the metal on his body falling off, revealing his flesh underneath. “What the hell?” Agent David said. He tapped on his earpiece and said “Auxiliary Control, status!”.

A faint shadowy wave spread out from Shay's Mountain at ever increasing speed feeding on more and more energy from the New Humans it caught. Anyone, anywhere felt a tug from their shadow, feeling disoriented for a few seconds. The New Humans all experienced a disruption in their abilities lasting from a few seconds, up to several minutes, but their powers returned quickly. The wave covered the entire globe in a pale shadow before it faded away into space.

Barely effected, Jenny shook it off and her radiance shone bright as ever. Miracle teleported over to Cricket, who was howling in pain. Cracks started to form on her skin, out of which bio-energy erupted and was sucked through the floor. She grabbed Crickets hand, and felt her weakening. Jenny looked over at David “What is this? It's killing her!” The Agent said “I am getting a transmission from Iron Gorgon, The Dead Man, The Silhouette and Michaela are on Level C, about forty feet below us... They have your mother, Miss Goldstar. I think they are killing her!” Miracle felt like she was torn in half. She looked down at Cricket, fearing deeply for her. Cricket squeezed her hand “Go, save your mother, save Ally... I love you Jen!” Miracle sobbed, flashing to her feet. She screamed at David even as her throat clenched up in terror “Don't. You. Touch her!”. Miracle trusted her luck once again, teleporting blindly straight down. Agent David got to his feet, slowly walking towards Cricket. The Indestructible Girl was still pinned to the floor as her essence was dragged out of her. She gripped at the concrete floor, bio-energy flaring out of her arm. She dug in her fingers and came up with a chunk of floor the size of a grapefruit. With all the strength she had remaining she hurled it at Agent David's head. It missed by a mile, smashing into gravel against the wall behind him. “It's over 1-8-7” he said. She glared at him with hatred, forcing her last words out “My name, is Cricket.” Then she closed her eyes.

***

The Silhouette was pulled forward as the shadow wave exploded from the metal ring before her, doubling over in pain, though she was finally free of the machine, which was now operating on its own. Victor rocked only slightly, as he was braced. Michaela took a step back, her blue skin fading away only momentarily, giving a glimpse of what the vampire might have looked like before she was Michaela. The vampire snarled “Enough, Davos! First you die, then her!” she pointed a claw at Miss Liberty who's body was starting to crack open, fires of energy flaring out from them. Victor was barely able to duck away from her charge, her claws just scraping the skin of his neck. The Silhouette cursed at the vampire “No you don't puto, if anyone is going to kill Muerte its going to be me, get away from him!” She grabbed hold of Michaela with two tentacles of darkness and flung her across the room. Victor looked over at The Midnight Mistress “Thank...” Candelaria had crossed the distance between her and Davos, she punched him in the face and his head jerked back. His nose collapsed from the blow, and blood streamed out. The Silhouette went to strike him again, but he blocked it easily. He was a much more capable combatant then her. “Bastardo, stinking cabrón! Bésame el culo y hijo de puta!” she shrieked at him. With a snarl she wrapped him tight in shadow tendrils, squeezing him hard. Victor struggled to breathe. He looked puzzled as he strained to talk “let me... let me out, Candelaria please... something has gone wrong!” the machines started to vibrate violently and The Dark Lady looked around in alarm. “Fine, fix it” she spat and dropped him. Victor took a breath, then ran to the controls “what... I don't get it... this... ahh!” he smacked his head “dammit, there must be different resonances, or phases... this only effects HER type of power, dammit. Dammit! DAMMIT!” The machines started to shake apart “Shut them down, Muerte!” The Silhouette yelled.

Across the room, Michaela stood up, growling like a wolf. She started to stalk forward back towards her prey when something struck her in the back. Something hurt, and she felt a burning starting to spread into her. Carbon-nanotube cables snaked around her gripping her so tight it welted her tough hide. Michaela's hissed into the darkness, her ruby eyes glaring red. The Iron Gorgon stepped down from the last few stairs, the servos whining in the powered legs. The vampire spat at the armor. Then howled as the burning spread further, her body writhing in pain.

“Hello Michaela” Sarah Reed's voice came from the armor. The mirrored visor rose up, and Michaela stared right into Sarah's horrifying deformed face. “I bet that hurts. I'll bet that you didn't know that when I was getting my pre-med degree, I also got a degree in chemistry” Michaela howled and hissed, starting to shift into her blood-form trying to escape her bonds “Go ahead” Sarah laughed coldly “Remember, I have studied your physiology, I know exactly how to kill you. The acid that is burning through your vile veins will keep dissolving you alive, even if you do turn to blood”

Parts of Michaela's flesh started to visibly burn away, and her cries turned to whimpers as her insides melted. “I am rotting away myself, you demon bitch. Ironic that the only thing that will keep me alive from your disease is your blood” Sarah laughed bitterly “Fortunately I have enough for a while in the freezer to keep me going while I look for an alternative”. Sarah let the vampire fall to the floor like a wet rat, her snake-like cables snapping back into her armor. As Michaela's writhed helplessly at her feet, her body oozing away, the vampire started to gasp, trying to speak, clutching at her abdomen. Sarah spat “I believe the words your looking for are: I'm melting! I'm melting! I'm melting... boo hoo.” Sarah stood over her fallen tormenter whispering “no more killing for you, this nightmare is over.” A feeling of relief flowed through Sarah, she was free of this beast forever.

Then, with an ear-splitting squeal a black mass of tissue tore out of Michaela's abdomen, her parasite fleeing from its host in a desperate bid for survival. What remained of the vampires blue hide faded to human flesh, and its ruby eyes turned to a woman's horrified death gaze... “please” the woman gasped with her dying breath “my... baby...”

Sarah looked over at the swarming black mass, realizing in horror what no-one had ever dreamed or dared to think. The parasite that turned Michaela into a remorseless killer, endlessly hungering for blood with no conscience, no mercy. A being that only knew hunger and pain... it was the woman's unborn child. Sarah felt bile rise in her throat and she shut her eyes against the tragedy. The fetus, somehow, must have developed its powers in vitro, claiming its mother's body for its own.

Sarah began to sob tears from her lidless eyes, her body shaking it the armor.

***

Across the room, a young woman born into the world as a shining light appeared with a flash.

Miracle looked over at her mother, her body pulling itself apart as bio-energy was torn from her.

From above, whisps of bio-energy came through the floor, from Cricket and the other sisters of Miss Liberty's blood. Victor startled at her “How is it that you aren't on your knees?!” Davos glared at The Golden Girl “your power should be like your mothers, the same... your energy should be sucked into shadow like hers!” Miracle's halo of radiance buzzed in the air, almost unheard as the machines in the room began to spark and smoke, nearing overload. Jenny gestured to the light all around her “I don't have a shadow, Dead Man!” Jenny hollered at him. “Turn these off before they kill my mother!” Victor looked around him and yelled “They are going to turn themselves off! I had not intended for your mother to die, something has gone wrong, girl! All the dammed powers from all the damn New-Hums in the world should have been sucked away, but it should not have killed them! Instead, just Miss Liberty and those like her are being effected, and it will kill them all!”

The Dead Man ran to his master control panel, which was sputtering out arcs of electricity as its circuits exploded. He hit a switch that released the bonds that restrained Mighty Miss Liberty. The Silhouette, grabbed at Victor as the room started to shake “We have to go Muerte!” Victor looked back at Miracle and yelled “destroy your mothers bracers! It might give her enough power to survive this.” The Silhouette pulled The Dead Man with her into darkness. As he started gasping for breath she snarled at him “I should leave you here to die again and again for eternity, mi amor!” in the dark, where he could not breathe or see, Victor pleaded silently with Candelaria. She pushed him away to die, alone in the endless night. The Silhouette stepped out of the shadow of a tree, miles away in the mountains. She fell down at the base of its trunk and buried her head in her hands. She loved the evil bastard, and she knew she would go back for him eventually. But in the meantime she would let The Dead Man die again.

***

Miracle went to her mother's side, grabbing both her bracers in her hands, she could feel the intense heat right through her force-field. Allison looked over at her little star “Jenny... oh Jenny...” Miracle swallowed her tears and her fear. “Stop that mom, were getting out of here!” Jenny sparked the bracers over and over till they fell apart. Miss Liberty's energy flowed back into her body, the cracks in her flesh started sealing up and the wounds on her wrists and chest began healing as bio-energy flowed into them. Allison sat up slowly, still weak. Jenny looked around her in terror as Dr. Daedelus' machines started to explode, threatening to bring the whole room down on them. Jenny cried, her mother was still to weak to move, her body was still fragile, still showing fine glowing white lines where the cracks had been. Jenny pressed against her mother as hard as she could, howling as her radiant force-field pulsed between them, trying to repel Jenny away. Larger explosions shook the room, and Allison grunted as a piece of smoking shrapnel bit into her arm. Jenny wrapped her arms around her mother and squeezed with all her might, crying out as her force-field strained against her efforts, discharging electric needles into her skin. “Come. On” Jenny wailed.

Finally, with a flash as bright as the exploding room Miracle pulled her mother into her golden world with her. Holding her flesh to flesh for the first time. Jenny sobbed, her body burned and shaking. Allison clung desperately to her daughter, holding her tightly as her strength slowly returned. The two women had to hold on tight, as Jenny's force energy kept sparking and trying to push Allison out. With a final burst of effort, Miracle teleported away with her mother in her arms as the room behind them went up like an atom bomb.

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