The Global Protectors versus The Wraith Lord

By Marcus_Lycus@hotmail.com

Lessee… The Global Protectors and the Wraith Lord are copyright Doctor Droid (www.superstories.net/droidzone), other characters and text are copyright Marcus Lycus. Most of the background is my own, if something does not fit the good doctor’s vision or the established world of Megapolis then just assume it happened on Earth 2 ½ J

Any resemblance between characters in this story and any actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Please e-mail me with any comments, complaints or suggestions.

Part 6: Dawn Star

Thick white mist came for all five of them at once. Valkyrie calmly submitted to its embrace accepting whatever would come next.

Star fought back weakly while Maple Leaf screamed her lungs out clutching to the stones hard enough to leave imprints. Shamrock was sitting on a broken chair, trying to think of a new overture to get Rising Sun to speak to her when the mist entered, it swirled under dress, infiltrating itself between her skin and her clothes, chilling the girl to the marrow. Then it expanded, shredding her clothes and gripping her with a hundred hands. Across the room Rising Sun was in hysterics "Shannon help me! Don’t let it take me!" In some dark part of Shamrock’s heart she felt a bit of satisfaction that Kisume was finally forced to speak to her. But it only lasted a second as they were both dragged off their feet and into the stone corridor. As they were dragged they felt the hands pawing them, fingers in their orifices and clawed hands scratching their fair skin. They were taken to the central vault, as the door opened Shamrock noted with dread that once again all five of them were assembled.The clammy tendrils deposited each girl on a different spike of the pentagram. The mists then formed into five Demon Wraiths who stood at each point watching the girls through narrowed eyes. Several zombified VX agents as well as the walking corpses of Wolfe and Clyde joined them. Above the floor the figures in the golden bottles seemed more agitated, beating against the sides of their prisons and moving their lips as if shouting some warning.

Each Global Protector found a new costume waiting on the floor as well as a set of chains bolted to the floor. They hesitated for a moment, should they dress? What if they were punished? But when Star finally began covering herself in the tight spandex costume the others followed. Let it be on her head. The girls eyed each other and the demons warily as they dressed. Why were they here? What new punishments awaited them? There was no talk of escape, no plans for defiance. The girls were too afraid for that. Each girl’s only hope was that someone else would suffer more than she.

They waited for some time in silence. At one point Star, stretching, slipped over the boundary of the pentagram. The growling demon sent her scurrying back to the middle where she huddled in a ball and did not try to move again. Rising Sun started to say something to Shamrock but stopped when the Irish girl turned away.

At length the Wraith Lord descended one final time through the ceiling, his arm wrapped around Circe. Valkyrie cried out to her.

"Girls" the Wraith Lord instructed, something like joy entering his chilling voice "girls, why have you not bound yourselves? Must I do everything?" Like snakes the chains lashed out catching each girl by the wrists, ankles and neck pulling the painfully to the ground helplessly spread-eagled. All the girls, except for Valkyrie, who was left standing confused. The Wraith Lord released her letting her run to Val and embrace her.

"Val! Val, why didn’t you protect me? How you could you let him take me?"

Valkyrie held the girl tightly tears falling, she could see the welts on her lover’s back, feel her trembling in her arms. "I’m sorry, Circe, I’m sorry…"

"Val, you have to listen to me, you have to. He-he’ll let us go but you have to do one last thing for him. Then he’ll never hurt me again. Please say you will, please…"

"Say it, Circe, you know I’ll do anything to protect you."

Circe’s voice dropped to a whisper, "You-your friends. He wants you to, to end it for them."

Valkyrie looked over Circe’s shoulder at the bound heroines on the floor. Star struggled, still hoping to get free, Maple Leaf was tense, waiting for a chance, Shamrock and Rising Sun lay limply, seemingly without hope.

"I-I…"

"Please Val" Circe pleaded, stroking her back in the way Val found irresistible "Please. Look at them, they have suffered so much, don’t you love them? Don’t you want them to be free? Don’t you love me? Don’t you want me to be safe?"

"But why?"

"The Wraith Lord has decided to leave this place, leave forever, but he needs energy to do it. Your friends, they will provide that energy. And then he’ll be gone! Never to return!" Strictly speaking Circe wasn’t lying, the Wraith Lord was planning to leave forever, she just hadn’t mentioned that his first destination was Moscow and from there he planned to unleash hell on Earth. But that doesn’t make her a liar.

Behind her, Valkyrie could hear the others cry out as the realized what was being planned.

"Fucking dyke! Hey Wraith Lord let me do it! I’ll do all of them! I’ll do anything!"

"No! Val you can’t! You wouldn’t! We’re friends…"

"Please Val-san, please end it…"

"You cunt. I knew you’d betray us."

"Circe, I…"

She looked again at her friends’ fear, disbelief, acceptance and anger. She thought about what they had all been through.

"Circe, if I don’t…"

"Then the Wraith Lord will return them to the pits. And… and I will join them. In time, I imagine he will kill us all anyway. Val, please…"

"I understand."

It was the only logical choice. Too much had happened. Even if they were rescued their sisterhood was shattered forever. She could end their pain, end the threat of the Wraith Lord and leave with Circe. It was just one simple thing, and the Wraith Lord would kill them all eventually...

"I’ll do it."

***

The others were silent as the Wraith Lord gave Circe a black curved dagger etched with sickly green runes. An evil-looking weapon for an evil job. Circe passed it on to Valkyrie and whispered to her that at the signal the blow had to be through the heart, a single clean stroke. Val nodded silently. Star began to wail loudly. Shamrock didn’t plead or beg, she just repeated "no, you can’t, Val, I know you won’t…" She still had faith that, after everything, one of her teammates would never… would never kill her.

Valkyrie and Circe walked to Maple Leaf and waited for the signal.

With that taken care of, (he had to admire how smoothly the Succubus handled the blond, he would have to reward her later) the Wraith Lord began to enchant. Over the last thousand years he had poured much of his energy into these dungeons, extending them into other dimensions, giving himself total control over all that happened within. But it had come at a cost, outside of them his power dwindled to almost nothing. He was not even sure he could survive for long without returning to his home, without the energy from his harem of captives.

But his home was no longer safe. He would destroy it today, taking back the power he had invested in these dungeons, draining his captives dry and absorbing the rich psychic energy of these Global Protectors. He would miss the Dungeons of Despair but he would no doubt create even greater ones in the world outside.

The dungeons began to shake, rocks fell from the ceiling, walls turned hazy and disappeared… and in the central vault the Wraith Lord signaled to Valkyrie.

Val looked into her leader’s snarling face. Spitting Maple Leaf growled "do it, you cold bitch, come on, I know you want to." She heard Shamrock’s mutterings again, telling her she can’t do it. She wouldn’t do it. She couldn’t. Circe squeezed her hand harder and whispered "do it, for me, for them."

Valkyrie raised the knife…

And brought it down on Maple Leaf’s chains.

Circe screamed and tried to wrestle the dagger from Valkyrie’s hand but the heroine shoved her away. Maple Leaf sat up in disbelief feeling hope for the first time since that monster had first taken her in the tunnels. Valkyrie nodded to her and she stated moving towards Shamrock. The green demon moved to intercept her but with a flick of her wrist Valkyrie tossed the black dagger, the cursed weapon destroying the creature instantly. The other four demons roared and moved in on them.

The Wraith Lord’s form shuddered and he screamed trying to keep control the incantation without the power of the Global Protectors. The floor shook again, more stones fell.

Valkyrie got the attention of the demons hurling massive stones at them keeping them away for the second. Circe was screaming at her to stop warning her of the horrible things that would happen.

Maple Leaf tore Shamrock’s chains loose, Shamrock paused to embrace her leader. "I knew it! I knew she wouldn’t do it!"

"Later Shamrock, we haven’t won yet. Get RS, I have Star."

***

Maple Leaf ran to Star’s position straining to break the black iron chains, telling Star "as soon as you’re free help Val with the demons while I go after the Wraith-" but Star wasn’t listening, as soon as she was free she ran for the nearest door trying to break it down. Maple Leaf tried to pursue her but was blind-sided by a blow tossing her against the far wall. As her vision cleared she saw the red demon, her old captor looming over her. It raised its meaty claw to strike her and she cringed. ML tried to rise, or kick him, or fly, or something… but she could not move. She moved back assuming a prone position and awaited the inevitable with her eyes tightly shut.

***

Shamrock also had to strain to get Rising Sun’s chains off but finally snapped a link freeing her friend. "Kisume, come on, this is it, this is our chance!" but Rising Sun curled into a ball muttering "good girl…I’m a good girl… don’t hurt me…good girl…".

Oblivious to the danger Shannon dropped down holding her prone friend trying to coax her into action.

***

Backing up, trying to keep the demons and zombies at bay, Valkyrie stole a glimpse behind her and realized she was alone. One way or another, the other four Global Protectors were out of action. Looking around she tried to form a plan, to do something. Behind her the Wraith Lord cried out again shaking the room. Cursing herself Valkyrie realized she had missed an obvious opportunity. Picking up another hundred pound rock she faked a throw at a demon and instead tossed it at one of the gold bottles over their heads.

The magical prison shattered nicely spilling a blond woman to the floor. Dress in her black leather mask, corset and pants Panzer Frau rose to her feet charging at the demons that had tormented her for so long. She seized the first one she found, a great black brute and snapped its neck dropping it to the ground. The other two advanced on her…

Valkyrie was impressed with the German villain’s performance but before Valkyrie could liberate another prisoner something hit her from behind, clawing at her face. Circe screamed in her ear "STOP! Val, my love stop!" Her hands turned darker, then red. She got heavier and stronger restraining Valkyrie. For a few seconds it seemed the last Global Protector would fall.

***

The Succubus bared Val’s breasts, tweaking her nipples and licking her neck. "Come lover, your friends are beaten, they don’t want to live, just finish the job for me, finish it and we will be together forever."

Valkyrie struggled helplessly in the Succubus’ grasp, her determination weakened by the sickening realization of how thoroughly she had been deceived. She felt the familiar caress and heard the honeyed words in her ear, she wanted nothing more than to surrender to her lover but she could not forget what she had seen, what she had done. It would end now but only in victory or in death.

She seized the Succubus’ black hair and flipped the demonette over her shoulder. A quick stomp broke the creature’s nose and put her down. Looking up Valkyrie saw how bleak the situation was. Maple Leaf pinned by a hulking red demon moaning softly and not trying to fight back. Star was molested by a VX zombie. Shamrock held Rising Sun whispering comforting words but showing no sign of returning to action. Panzer Frau had fallen beneath the onslaught of the other two remaining demon wraiths. Val almost went to the Nazi’s aid but rejected the idea. She recalled her grandmother’s stories of the war and could feel no sympathy for the fascist warrior. She saw the demons draw blood and the Nazi fell still.

Instead she flew towards Star. The American’s top had been torn down the center as she ineffectually wrestled with the rotting zombie. The undead creatures still wore his VX power suit, gauntlets and (Valkyrie smiled) his mind control helmet!

She snatched the helmet off the zombie and swooped upwards, smashing the zombie’s rotten skull as she went by. The destroyed creature fell freeing Star but the traumatized girl just ran back to the door and tried once again to batter it down.

But her weakness no longer mattered.

Valkyrie placed the high tech helmet on her head. Sensing a living user the long-dormant circuits reactivated, green lights filled Valkyrie’s vision. The demon wraiths and the Wraith Lord himself were far too alien for the machine to affect but her friends glowed brightly, their psychic auras tantalizingly vulnerable the helmet’s power.

***

The four incapacitated Global Protectors rose as one. Wordlessly Shamrock and Rising Sun pulled the red demon off their leader. With ruthless efficiency Maple Leaf thrust her fists through the creatures eye sockets killing the hellspawn. Star tore loose masonry burying the other two. Then they turned to the struggling Wraith Lord in the center of the room. Valkyrie then commanded the girls to surround him.

Another tremor struck and all five heroines felt a sudden disconcerting sensation of being in two places at once as the entire complex shifted between the real world and … elsewhere. The dungeons slipped out of focus, the stones becoming double images. Cracks appeared in the walls showing a glowing green limbo beyond. The Clyde and Wolfe zombies were sucked into one and lost.

The necromancer fell to the floor, all pretense of control lost. He noted the girls’ presence but could barely be bothered to care. The spell had slipped from his control, his dungeons were being swept out of this dimension entirely, his power leaching away. Compared to that, five angry ex-slaves were just insignificant.

Or so he thought…

Maple Leaf struck first pounding him with hammer blows tossing him against a crumbling wall. Star struck next cracking his skull with her haymakers, finally Rising Sun and Shamrock beat his body cracking ribs with their blows until the wall behind him crumbled from the impacts, casting him into the limbo beyond where the swirling mists quickly claimed him.

Valkyrie nodded once and commanded the others to follow, hopefully there was still time to get out.

***

That summer morning the entire plateau where the Castle Kafke once stood imploded. Rockslides continued for hours as the mountain settled into its new shape.

From a safe distance Tigress, La Sola and Aussie Girl watched the disaster."There’s no way they could survive.""Maybe they weren’t in there…"

"We will find them, whatever it takes."Searching the mountainside from the skies Tigress was rewarded when she caught sight of a white costume emerging from a small cave. The heroines rushed down to greet their missing teammates who had escaped the imploding dungeons at the last second. But the survivors seemed strangely subdued, barely waving, not saying a word.

"How, how long?" Maple Leaf finally asked, "how many months were we prisoners?"

"How long? Maple Leaf you were only missing one night!"

Epilogue 1: The Protectors Reborn

The next week was the worst the Global Protectors ever had.

On the flight back, Maple Leaf Maple Leaf tried to put on a brave face. She reported on their captivity in a dispassionate tone, telling her teammates what had happened, but leaving out the betrayals, especially her own treatment of Star. She promised it would not effect the team permanently. "We just need a little time." The others just gazed out the windows or cried softly.

When the Globe Hopper II landed Shamrock immediately took off for home. She refused to answer calls or her communicator. After a day La Sola visited her. After finally convincing her friend to open the door she learned that Shamrock was quitting and would return to Ireland as soon as she felt ready to travel. She asked the others not to come, she could not face them again.

Valkyrie and Rising Sun locked themselves in a lab, not even emerging for food.

Star retreated to a secure room in the subbasement of the Gaia Building, coming out only during the day, and only when another teammate accompanied her. She refused to even speak to Maple Leaf and threatened to sue when her leader came to see her. Aussie Girl tried to help her, spending time with her, listening to what happened.

Maple Leaf visited her salon for a haircut and full facial and the next day went on a mission, catching some bank robbers with Tigress. She did pretty well until one of the robbers, wearing a red shirt, lifted his hand to hit her. Maple Leaf fell to the ground quivering in fear. She lay there for two hours until the police found her. After that she didn’t try to go on any missions.

After spending a few days listening to Star, Aussie Girl was seen pricing tickets home and looking on line for apartments in Melbourne.

La Sola started looking into a music career.

Wolfe International News called everyday threatening to sue if they did not find out where their reporters were.

Trying to keep the team together, Tigress did not know what to do.

***

So the mood was somber when, a week after their escape, Valkyrie called a meeting. With some effort she managed to persuade the others to come but they all noticed Shamrock’s empty seat.

Valkyrie wasted no time getting to business. "The Wraith Lord has succeeded it seems. He has destroyed the Global Protectors."

No one could argue.

"Even without the mental and physical scars he left us with, how can any of us trust each other again?"

No one spoke.

"Rising Sun and I have considered the problem carefully. Between us we have found an answer."

She reached under the table taking out the VX mind control helmet.

Star recoiled jumping out of her seat. La Sola had to restrain her and help her back. She was shaking visibly.

"We have tested this, and improved it. It can be used to erase certain memories, to make the events in the Wraith Lord’s dungeons seem like a bad dream."

Cries of disbelief and even outrage emerged from Tigress, La Sola and Aussie Girl but the former prisoners were strangely quiet.

Star was the first one to voice what they were thinking. "Are you sure? Are you sure it will work?"

Rising Sun replied, lowering her head almost in shame. "We, we already tested it."

More disbelief and outrage followed. Valkyrie walked to the door and said "Shamrock, could you come in here please." The others fell silent as the cheerful redhead walked in and waved to them.

"Hi guys, I’m really sorry I haven’t been around this last week, I just needed a rest after that case in Vlaxia, I guess. I hope you’re not mad."

Maple Leaf blinked several times. Shamrock? She seemed happy, healthy, well rested and at ease with her teammates. She looked better than any of them.

"Tell me Shamrock" Valkyrie asked "what do you remember about that Vlaxia case?"

"Val? You asked me that before back in my apartment."

"Please."

"Well, I remember watching the VX base, and I remember falling asleep, some kind of gas or something I guess. Then everything is fuzzy, like a dream. I remember dungeons, and someone being hurt. Then we fought some kind of evil wizard and got out. Not much I’m afraid. Like you said, the wizard’s magic must have scrambled my memories. I guess that’s why I was so tired. Wish I could be more helpful."

"That’s just fine Shamrock, you can go now."

"What? What about the meeting, you’re not throwing me off the team are you? I’m sorry about missing that week but you said it was OK!"

"No, no, no, nothing like that, we just need you to cover, um, monitor duty. I’ll tell you all about the meeting after."

"Oh right, OK, I’ll um, go do that." As she left Shamrock called out "Oh Kisume, do you want to go out for Thai food tonight?"

Rising Sun nodded silently, trying to forget the image of Shamrock standing over her, beating her face in with a steel glove…

"Cool! See you later!"

***

"That, my friends, is the effect of the treatment."

"You raped her mind!" Tigress shouted rising from her chair.

"I did nothing of the sort! I visited her and told her what I was doing! She begged me to do it! She BEGGED me!"

"You don’t know what it’s like!" Star challenged, "I want to forget too. Do me next! Please!"

"Wait, everyone wait." Maple Leaf interrupted. "Val even with her permission you should have taken this to the team, this is, this is very… complicated. We need to approve it."

"What is there to approve!?" Rising Sun rose to feet yelling hysterically "We need this! I NEED THIS! I need to forget what happened or I’ll go mad!" She sank back down crying, Aussie Girl hugged her and nodded.

"I will never approve such a move." Tigress replied. "How can we learn if we do not remember our mistakes?"

"If we don’t do this" La Sola rebutted "we won’t have a team at all."

"Do you want us all to become mind controlled zombies?"

The table dissolved into screaming, shouting and crying.

Through it all, Maple Leaf tried not to show her relief. Her head knew Tigress was right but… there was no way they could function. No way they could continue. So she banged her gavel and called them back to order.

"Before we vote, I have some questions. Valkyrie, what exactly will we remember?"

"Everything up to the capture, then just hazy memories of the dungeons, that the dungeons were terrible, and that we fought and won. None of the other… incidents."

"What about your memories?"

"I can set the helmet on a time delay to erase, I mean treat, my memory."

"What about the future? Are we going to this every time… something happens?"

Valkyrie thought hard about how to phrase the next answer. "This is obviously something extreme and something we will only use for the greatest emergencies. And only with permission."

Satisfied Maple Leaf called a vote. Not too surprisingly it was 6 for, 1 abstaining (Tigress, who finally agreed to take part even though she disapproved) and with Shamrock blissfully unaware that anything was going on.

"OK then Val, let’s start."

Donning the helmet Valkyrie felt a bit of guilt. She, of course, had no intention of affecting her own memories. She knew she was strong enough to continue, and there were some memories… some memories she wanted to keep.

She thought about the future as well. For a while now she had seen the effects of her teammates’ battles wearing on them. That mind control incident in the shopping mall had left them all a bit wary, a bit humbled. Encounters with villains like Madam Manacle, the Dominator and Bruticus had taken their toll. Even Shamrock was not as bright or innocent as she had been before her encounter with Dynamo. But now Valkyrie had a tool she could use to keep her teammates healthy, happy and heroic. And pure. They would be better this way. With the mind control helmet she would keep them the way they should be, the way she loved to see them. And she loved them all so much.

Epilogue 2: The Wraith Lord Reborn

In the interdimensional wastes of limbo a small crumbling island of rock drifted. Corridors and chambers were held together by weakening spells and the few inhabitants knew the end was near.

Then…

His robes shredded by the cold winds of limbo, his skull was cracked, his power nearly spent, the Wraith Lord grabbed the breached wall of the central chamber and pulled himself back in. He looked at the wreckage of what had been the seat of his power. The golden bottles were all shattered now. The heroines had fled to other parts of the dungeons hoping to find a way out. His demons were almost all dead, save for one buried in the rubble. Reaching down he pulled the Succubus free. Her eyes fluttered briefly and she cried out in horror as she saw her master before her.

"Please master! It wasn’t my fault! I tried my best-"

"You excuses mean nothing now. What is done is done. Survival is our only goal. Come. My collection is free, it will be a challenge to reassemble it."But he knew he would. He was eternal. He was power. He was the Wraith Lord. He would inflict new torments on his collection of heroines, their fear, pain and despair would reinvigorate him. He would restore the dungeons to their former glory and return to the real world.

And the Global Protectors would pay.

The End?