The story so far....

[Spellbinder]

In the 21rst century...the world moves at a dizzying fast pace...steel edged technology rules the landscape and reaches into the lives of everyone. In America...MysTech has grown to become one of the largest, most powerful commercial entities and its political, financial, and social reach is even felt globally. MysTech has ushered in a new era of technology that is enhanced by a "new source of previously untapped energy". Society has become content and complacent and is unaware of the hidden, molevalent motives of MysTech and all of its various agencies and companies that range from retail, pharmaceutical and financial to hospitals, media and government.
The evil forces of this world that would see chaos rule the day have not lost sight of the fact that the general populace of America has become more "drone like" in the wake of the "quick/convinient" living experience that MysTech products and technology have provided....and a dark corruption is brewing..at a grass roots level. Deep below ground is a whole other world...a covert metropolis of technological wonder called "The Citadle" that is the mega center of MysTech...where bio weapons engineering, unspeakable experimentation on humans, and the harnessing and igniting of the BLACKEST MAGICKS; all in the pursuit of "playing god" are the true pursuit of this company. Such a gross abuse of nature and violation of natural life cannot go on without some type of reprisal...for nature does not ever truly confirm to the machinations of man...as MysTech and indeed the world will painfully find out......if not for a hand full of men and women...whose lives have each been blighted in someway by the dark grip of MysTech. These men and women will be drawn together by the vast, terrible powers that loom large and threaten this world....but they are hardly ANYONE's ideal image of "super heros". Can they get past their stark contrasts and personal circumstanes long enough to come together to protect those who cannot protect themselves from the sweeping darkness of MysTech?

With that question being posed.........the story now begins.....in the sprawling metropolis of NYC....at night time....as the black city skyline shines and pulsates against a rumbling, churning atmosphere.....and citizens who seem to NEVER sleep engage in their nightly rituals....

 

[Spellbinder]

Chapter 2

After 24 hours of pure hell following the disaster in The Citadle which resulted in carnage and chaos in NYC , The Six....a group of reluctant defenders found themselves drawn together to face vast and terrible evil ....faced the challenge to destroy the far reaching, deadly threat of MysTech's evil doctor's Adam Chandler and Christopher Victory. With an assistance from the powerful sorceress Ororo, Black-- the nemesis of Spellbinder and Guardian was destroyed utterly, Foxfire was liberated from the torture of the Citadle and the team finally began to come together.

Through the many set backs of their first caper, the individual members of The Six demonstrated the individual resiliency and strength of will that made their union so powerful.

Startling revelations about Guardian and Prophet were uncovered as it was learned they were brother and sister. Black Widow, who was brutalized by the demon mage, Imagiomg, was infected with the Techno Organic virus but SURVIVED and emerged a new woman complete with new powers and physical enhancements. How her newfound abilities will change her life and affect The Six remains to be seen. At the heart of the struggle, Spellbinder and Shockwave were put to the test as they confronted the men who shaped and ultimately blighted their lives...their father's: Christopher Victory and Adam Chandler. The battle was fierce and frought with pain including Guardian being struck down by Imagiomg just as she destroyed him....but in the end...the evil doctors were humbled and broken and for the final justice, Ororo damned them to an eternity in the icy, magickal HELL known as Limbo.

Spellbinder and Ororo combined their powers to restor the city and its people.....and following the sealing of the Citadle from all public access, The Six were finally able to realize all they had come through.....TOGETHER.

Ororo bid them farewell and returned to Limbo to care for a gravely wounded Guardian....leaving The Six to now begin their lives anew.

The foundation has been laid....and so it begins.....

 

[Spellbinder]

Chapter 3

As the Six attempted to reconstruct and resume their lives, a new dimension in dysfunction would soon be learned by the group.
Mystech's toxic touch is never truly removed from The Six, as Kelly King, the MOTHER of Alison Marble and Cameron King has returned from a hellish dimension..BENT on the destruction of her children and vengeance against Spellbinder. While Spellbinder and Ororo work to free Alison from Imagiomg's posession in Limbo, Kelly begins to sew the seeds of discord throughout Illustra's private residence. At the same time Morgan's connection to Limbo is fully realized, and she begins a slow progression toward a more demonic demeanor...becoming more agressive and hostile with each passing day.

Old friends and "New" enemies arrive in the form of Morningstar, another one time member of Valiant and a mysterious "doctor" from mystech who claims to be on the run and in need of assistance. Tempers flaired and paranoia brewed as Morgan slipped further and further into darkness and began lashing out at her team mates, badly injuring several of them.

Help arrived in the form of Erika King, ANOTHER sister of Cameron's. A profiler from the west coast, and a white witch, Erika came specifically to help Alison and Cameron destroy Kelly, only to learn from Morgan's familiar Tinkerbell, that Kelly was ALREADY in their midst and had more than planted seeds of dischord.

Following the revelations, the six, along with erika and morningstar relocated to Erika's mansion on the west coast and prepared to do battle with Kelly to finally destroy her. after many MORE near deadly encounters between the group and Morgan...Morgan finally succumbed to her darkside following events in a bizarre dream which featured her former arch nemesis BLACK. Kelly succeeded in capturing Cameron but was fought to a standstill by Guardian...and a few intense hours later, the remainder of the group gathered their forces and journeyed to a mysterious lighthouse to do battle with Kelly one last time. In a final, frenzied showdown in which Kelly was truly cruel and vicious in her attacks , Guardian showed her FIRST glimpse of compassion to her siblings and allowed Cameron to use the power of the mystic gem, The Seige Perilous, to forever seal the fate Kelly King.

Following the destruction of Kelly, the group returned to the outside...only to be confronted by a now truly demonic and evil Spellbinder. A new nightmare BEGINS that will cross dimensions, realms and subject everyone to a whole new meaning of the word HELL.

 

[Spellbinder]

Chapter 4

Spellbinder lost herself in her demonic nature and in a fury of vengeance and anger, brutalized her former teamates murdering Black Widow outright and extracting Cameron's skeleton before sealing him in amber before unleashing a magickal hell upon the helpless city of NYC and its citizens. as chaos and magick consumed all in its path around the city ...the Six along with their allies, Ororo, Erika King and Dr. Karen Victoria, joined forces once more to battle an encompassing evil coming from one of their own.


Through the harrowing campaign, many of the six were forced to address character issues within themselves and elevate to a new level of awareness and responsibility. the family ties between Guardian and her brother Prophet and sister Erika began to mend and Ororo stood in the gap for the Six against the terrifying arcane power of the dark child, Spellbinder; she was joined by Spellbinder's mother, noted psycho therapist and accomplished chaos witch Dr.Karen Victoria.


Illustra, a symbol of a flawless synergy between fashion and technology as well as Morgan's home and the home of the Six fell before the demon sorceress' wrath and the group was confronted once again by Black, who is now revealed to be Morgan's right hand alpha demon of Limbo's hordes.

The final battle took place at the Empire State building...warped and perverted by Morgan's magicks as she rained down brutal violence upon her former teammates and attempted to seal the fate of the city, bridging the path between earth and limbo with the blood sacrifice Cameron King's younger self...the innocent child who grew up in an orphanage.

In the last moments of the battle, with Erika King gravely wounded by the Soul Sword and Shockwave and Prophet haven been subject to brutal attacks by Morgan once again The Six had done all they could do and it was left to Ororo and Karen to stop Morgan from murdering the child Cameron and forever cementing herself in this "dark child" aspect. With a brave and timely assist from Guardian, who placed herself in the path of total bodily destruction to save the child Cameon, They succeeded...but not without losses to the team as Black Widow and Foxfire, Morgan's half-sister were lost....casualties of this nightmare.

With Morgan checked and restored to herself...she used the last vestige of her power to restore the city, sweeping all the demons of Limbo, including Black BACK to limbo and purging the dark magicks that tainted the city with a sweeping pillar of eldritch flame that traversed the entire city before finally hurling her own Soul Sword into the heart of the pentagram/stepping disc in the sky.

The city, including Illustra were restored the collective memories of the citizens were altered by a spell from Ororo to ensure that they only remembered "fleeting images from nightmares they had in their sleep". Now the Six were left to recover in their minds and souls, mourn their dead and begin their lives again...NOW realizing the folly of their past methods and appreciating what they had as a group. They were returned to Illustra and now faced a new day...with new questions to be answered...and now situations to face....would the lessons they had learned from the Inferno Crisis remain in their hearts?

 

[Spellbinder]

Chapter 5

Some things change....others remain the same...or grow WORSE. Following the arrival of Helena Quatermaine....Alexis, Shockwave of the Six, was visited with heart break and tragedy as her Brother was now dead. With his death came a new threat once again from the branches of Mystech as Helena Quatermaine used her vast resources and wicked cunning blight Alexis' life. Her attempts on the life of her bitter rival, Karen Victoria served as a catalyst of involvement from Spellbinder and Guardian and Alexis' ties to the Six drew the rest of the group.

Uneasy truces were formed as this fractured team pulled together to save Alexis and help topple Helena and another tributary of MysTech. Alexis emerged from the caper with the power to glamor...a ironic gift/lasting reminder that Helena would always be apart of her in some way. Revelations were made as well...now that Alexis finally knew the truth about her origins and her father. She would have time to process and heal....as the Six continued to struggle from the lingering traces of Inferno. Blaze's death cast a shadow on the deep chasm between Morgan, Alison and Haleigh....while Cameron found himself forging a new path in his life in all aspects...and the mysterious new comer, Bane was experiencing many dramatic changes of his own as he attempted to cement his place in the six.

Now the team forges on new tests and trials....which will take them across space AND time like never before.

 

[Spellbinder]

Chapter 6

with the threat of Helena neutralized, the Six were now faced with old issues that had long been unresolved. mainly the "mortal enemy" status between Spellbinder and Guardian against Black Widow. As a new threat was uncovered, thanks to the efforts the high powered, well connected and resourcefull Alycia Barnett, the team found itself standing in the gap between the safety/wellbeing/freedom of millions of unsuspecting mutants/meta humans and the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT itself which has many covert ties to MysTech.

Following a terrifying rescue effort in which Spellbinder, Guardian, Shockwave and MorningStar saved Alycia Barnett and Senator Sharon Kelly from the murderous rampage of the nearly INDESTRUCTIBLE SUPER SOLDIER; More of Black Widow's origins and dealings were brought to the surface as the the pieces of the puzzle surrouning MysTech, Clandestine Inc and the federal government were pieced together with reluctant confessions by Black widow herself and startling information provided by Alycia. information that ALSO revealed that the Super Soldier was in fact a man from Haleigh's past.

Black Widow's standing in the group plummeted even further but given the magnitude of the task they faced....the group once again was forced to stay together...tension however reached a boiling point while in Limbo as Spellbinder and Black Widow had a bitter battle in which both women sought to destroy one another. Ororo intervened and brought calmness to the situation....and a major breakthrough was made on the part of BOTH women...a critical turning point allowing the team to martial its forces and forge ahead to the task of battling the forces of A.I.M (Advanced Idea mechanics) the technical arm of MysTech.

The battle against A.I.M. in its central core "NERVOUS" prooved to be the most terrifying, and harrowing campaign the Six had faced to date. the group were tested to their limits of strength, power and resolve ...but their team work prooved just how POWERFULL they were AS A GROUP.

To help ensure the mission would succeed, Spellbinder and Guardian once again battled a regenerated Super Soldier.....a fatefull battle which saw Spellbinder battered into a coma and Guardian impaled with a photon spear. With Shockwave rendered unconscious in her attempt to controll the surging energy of the core meltdown in NERVOUS, The team was nearly decimated by half but acts of extreme bravery on the part of Black Widow, Prophet and MorningStar to save the lives of their three fallen comrades. Following their narrow escape from NERVOUS itself, Black Widow detonated a nuclear bomb that DESTROYED and EXPUNGED the entire underground fortress and even changed the geography of the arctic circle and with it seemed to come the final destruction of the Super Soldier as well.

The team returned to Limbo where Ororo saved the lives of Spellbinder and Guardian while also restoring Shockwave to health...taking a much needed rest from life on earth and their individual demands, the team stayed in Ororo's citadle and garden to recouperate....not only their minds and bodies but also to forge new bonds of trust, understanding, respect and even friendship among each other....Haleigh and Morgan were now at a new place in their relationship as were Alison and Alexis and Delilah, who now seemed comfortable to be apart of the group had more than earned her place as well as the respect of Alexis and Haleigh who had not known her personally before.

The group had been tested by fire like never before..and had emerged even MORE honed for battle...but now, they were a true unit ready to face new challenges and situations.....and how fitting that when they returned to earth, the FIRST situation they would face would stem from a tragic spectre from their recent past....the death of former member Blaze Fielding.

Although her death had been covered up from press attention by Alycia Barnett, there were others The Six were not aware of that had come to find out about Blaze's death..AND the manner in which it occurred and although Morgan thought she might be able to live with herself after all inspite of Inferno.....there is at least ONE person in this world who would like to see her NOT live AT ALL.....

 

[Spellbinder]

Chapter 7

For everything that ends...something STILL remains. Blaze is dead and the spectre of her death came to a head in the form of her TWIN, Jasmine Fielding, who is the polar opposite of Blaze/Foxfire. Just as The Six seemed to enjoy the harmony amongst themselves and attempted to honor the memory of Blaze with the star studded reopening party of XS the evening was soon destroyed with the revelation of Jasmine. Circumventing the execution of Blaze's will by Alycia Barnett, Jasmine attempted to assassinate Morgan and sieze control of the club. She was thwarted by Black Widow, Guardian and Shockwave. MorningStar who has now moved into Blaze's old apartment has opted to remain with The Six for the time and was also present for the evening's festivities AND unpleasantries as she joined the group (along with Prophet) in witnessing the painfull meeting between Morgan and Jasmine. Jasmine struck Morgan in the face and assaulted her character to the core with her cutting words....calling the sorceress a murderer and heartless witch. Members of the group tried to come to Morgan's defense but Jasmine was as stone code as her code name implied. Morgan, who had never truly recovered from inferno's aftermath LASHED OUT with her wind powers and battered Jasmine as well as destroying the VIP lounge. Alycia Barnett, MorningStar and Prophet all intervened to prevent Morgan from killing yet ANOTHER sister and bringing some calm to the situation while BlackWidow who was suffering her own emotional distress due to the striking resemblance Jasmine bore to Blaze sat silent.

The initial confrontation ended with Alycia threatning to bury Jasmine in litigation not to mention exposing her father and family to the state and federal authorities who would like nothing better than to NAIL them to the wall. MorningStar prepared to escort Morgan out of the club but not before Morgan decked Jasmine in the jaw....breaking it and sending her flying into a wall and FORBIDDING her to ever set foot into XS or ILLUSTRA.

The evening ended and the next threat to the team loomed in the air in the form of Victor Klein...a crime lord and minor operative for Illustra. In addition, Guardian foresaw the deaths of Sharon Kelly and Alycia Barnett and the city wide destruction that would be wrought by the omega sentinel Master Mold. Through the contacts and clout of Alycia, Haleigh and Delilah, Victor was finally captured and brought to trial while Jasmine was placed in safe housing by Haleigh.

A new villain in the form of Pipeline emerged, abducting Sharon Kelly and Alycia as well as facilitating the release of Victor. Victor was subsequently destroyed by Guardian who had been "missing in action" during the trial proceedings; while the rest of the team tracked Sharon and Alycia to a seemingly abandonned warehouse where they were being brutalized by Commander Rick Riley, a formerly high ranking officer in the military and a former friend of Black Widows who had given himself over to the service of MysTech.

Spellbinder, now operating with a blood thirsty edge, severly weakened the defenses of the Cell and slaughtered/destroyed many of the guards/drones protecting it...the rest of the group followed fighting through the horrors of the tunnels below ground. Rick Riley attempted to rape an already battered Sharon Kelly but was stopped when Alycia, who was also badly beaten, smashed a large rock into his head. The two women bravely attempted to escape but were soon attacked by sentinels. The Six , now reunined in the tunnels intervened and rescued their allies and returned to the surface where they engaged in a final battle with Commander Riley, more sentinels and drones.

Riley seemingly perished in a grudge match between himself and his former ally Black Widow but not before detonating a powerfull plasma bomb and activating the matrix for the omega sentinel MASTER MOLD.

Now the group continues to take steps to avoid Guardian's precognition, all the while unaware of the growing anti mutant sentiment sweeping the city and in fact the nation following the events of the "trial" and the massive damage to the federal court house.

 

[Spellbinder]

Chapter 8

Even with the threat of death looming over the Six once again, it did not derail the progress made by the members of the team in building strong bridges of communication and trust between themselves. Several members including Prophet had gone missing or quit the team and with the core team having been reduced in size, In a show tremendous trust, Guardian revealed to Black Widow the details of the grim fate awaiting a member of The Six and one of their closest allies. All the while the highly anticipated senate race for the seat in NY was underway with Sharon Kelly facing off against William Stryker. Sharon , an outspoken supporter of mutant rights and civil liberties was a public favorite, despite drawing criticizm from Republicans and corporate interest groups...particular MysTech whom she had publicly blasted more than once and called for scrutiny of the the global entity.

Meanwhile, Shockwave received a mysterious gift from an unidentified deliverer. Upon opening the gift she discovered a letter in Helena Quartermaine's handwriting along with a beautifull choker that had been handed down for generations in the Quatermaine family. Before the shock of this could set in, the choker immediately adorned itself on her neck and caused a powerfull reaction knocking her out. The long term effects of this new permanent accessory to Shockwave have yet to be seen but its for certain that the immediate changes in her have not gone unnoticed by her team mates.

As night fell, the senate race was coming to a close and it became clear that Sharon Kelly would win her bid for re election. The Six were preparing to join Alycia Barnett and Senator Kelly for the victory celebration at the rainbow room. While Sharon did win the race, the celebration would never come as She and Alycia were attacked by Master Mold the omega sentinel, one of the most powerfull technological achievements of MysTech to date.

Spellbinder was the first to arrive on the scene to try to aid the two women, but the super sentinel was able to adapt to even HER magickal powers and knocked her out of the air, sending her crashing into the Limo. Sharon demonstrated her bravery as she pulled an unconscious Alycia out of the wreckage and then went BACK to try to free her friend Spellbinder even as Master Mold was preparing to fire upon them. Spellbinder revived and ordered Sharon to get away from that spot but even as the sorceress attempted to draw the super sentinels fire, the radius of the blast encompasssed the senator and fatally wounded her. She died in the arms of Alycia Barnett. MorningStar frantically tried to rescitate the fallen senator but it was no use.

The rest of the Six battled Master Mold with a vengeance, even Frost was now working in concert with the team effort, while Shockwave was now demonstrating a new found proactive mentality with vicious attacks. The super sentinel was able to adapt to all of their powers. The battle grew more and more intense as Master Mold was intent on destroying them AND the city but with a splendid show of team work, the Six destroyed the super sentinel's body...leaving only the cranial unit in tact.

Typical of most monsters and villains, Master Mold attempted one last attack against the battered team of The Six in order to destroy them. to stop him and save the city, Guardian unleashed the power of the Seige Perilous against him and Spellbinder attemped to forcibly push him through the mouth of the vortex. At the last moment, as it seemed a final victory was in their grasp Spellbinder was PULLED INTO THE VORTEX AS WELL..BY MASTER MOLD. Black Widow attempted to snatch Spellbinder from the brink of death but was unable to save her as she was sucked in, screaming with surprise and shock. The mystic gem then closed leaving the devastated team with TWO losses and the area around them badly damaged from battle.

The surviving members of the team escaped before rescue workers and law enforcement could arrive, leaving Alycia with a doctored tape from a nearby light pole of the nights events. With this tape and Alycia's testimony, MysTech would be dealt a telling blow from which it would never recover...while The Six and their allies would attempt to grasp the reality they now faced, Spellbinder, the powerfull sorceress who was their team leader along with Senator Sharon Kelly were now DEAD.

Even as the shock and pain begin to set in, the Seige Perilous would mysterious act on its own as Frost, who had known nothing but pain, loss and betrayal in her life was granted the unique opportunity of a new life in a world where she had BOTH her sisters and her daughter...a new life with NO memory of this life and at the same time Foxfire, the member of the six who had perished during The Inferno was RETURNED to her life with the Six...in Illustra..only now, without her sister Spellbinder.

There were painfull losses and surprising gains in this sequence of events...and how the team will go from here...no one knows for sure. All they can do...is keep going...one step at a time.

 

[Seer]

Chapter 9

As the surviving members of The Six: Guardian, Black Widow, MorningStar, Shockwave & and recently returned Foxfire struggled to cope with the violent deaths of Spellbinder & Senator Sharon Kelly, already a threat was in their midst...from one of their own!

joined by Morgan's mother, Doctor Karen Victoria, They gathered with city, state, federal officials, celebrities and public mourners to honor the fallen Sharon Kelly at a catherdal in NYC. The funeral was attended by a mysterious arrival, a woman dressed all in white.

The Woman in white had a private confrontation with Shockwave in Central Park and revealed herself to be Malice, the White Queen of the inner circle, and a long time ally of Alexis' evil aunt, Helena Quaterman

Alycia Barnett, who survived the nightmare of Master Mold and craddled Sharon in her arms as she passed away, performed the difficult task of the reading of Morgan Victoria's will and the executing of her estate. But even as the trusted ally and confidant of The Six and their families carried out this task and the team was finally realizing the reality of their situation, things went from bad to WORSE as Shockwave, giving into the evil and corruptive influence of the chocker that adorned her neck, announced her change of heart and betrayal of the Six.

Guardian and Black Widow confronted her but with her new found persona and power increase, she evaded them and escaped. Immediately joining forces with Malice and a newly restored, more powerfull WILDpack. Taking the name Blackout, Alexis Quatermaine battled with The surviving members of the Six. The battle destroyed Central Park and left the city shaking with fear and disbelief, further undermining all the work that Sharon Kelly had did to promote TOLERANCE of mutants and meta humans.

Malice revealed herself to be the woman behind many of the most tragic moments in the lives of The Six even BEFORE they came together as well as powerfull and brutal omega class telepath/empath as she battled with Guardian and caused the witch to inadvertently add MORE damage and injury to the battle area.

New lines of battle were drawn as Malice and Blackout set about finishing what had been started a year ago. But Malice herself would be visited by a "skeleton" from her past as Doctor Victoria, the ex WIFE of Doctor Christopher Victory, [whom Malice had an affair with and succeeded in compelling him to leave his wife and daughter] paid the White Queen a visit at the Hellfire Club mansion and had a grudge match with her. The Doctor prooved to be quite capable of fighting against the telepath with her magicks while MorningStar faced off against Blackout and the WILDpack in another rematch.

Malice employed the use of psychological warfare, even moving the base of operations back to the Citadle as she and Blackout captured all but Foxfire and Doctor Victoria. Blackout tortured and berated her former team mates but in a moment of carelessness, she was accosted by Black Widow who INFECTED HER with the Techno Organic virus.

In a rescue attempt, Doctor Victoria and Foxfire were seperated inside the citadle and while Malice confronted Foxfire, the Doctor was confronted by the monstrous Super Soldier. The Doctor succeded in freeing the captured members of the Six and engaged the Super Soldier in battle while Guardian rescued Foxfire from Malice, who had prooven to be more powerfull than Foxfire could handle.


In a turn of events, the Techno Organic virus hastened a power progression in Blackout and removed personal restraint, allowing the metahuman to plummet to new depths of evil. as the final battle began, she and Black Widow attempted to destroy one another while Guardian kept Malice from harming anyone ELSE from the team. The city of New York was brought to its knees as Blackout "blacked out" the ENTIRE city and began causing rolling blackouts along the east coast...taking in ALL of the energy that powered the city and beyond. Malice, realizing that Blackout was beyond her help and would die either way, abandonned the metahuman and protected her own personal interests, escaping in a private craft.


In the final moments, Blackout attempted to destroy the surviving members of the Six in one terrible onslaught but Guardian checked her and a RAGING firefight/stand off between the two women errupted. The city and its citizens paid the price as lives were lost, propety was destroyed and The violent backlash destroyed everything in its path as both Guardian and Blackout were blasted away...leaving them both presumed dead.

Now with only Black Widow and Foxfire consicious, the two women were alone in a city paralyzed in darkness and gripped by disaster. Doctor Victoria's fate was also unknown. With no where to turn, they called for the one ally they had left, Ororo the powerfull sorceress from Limbo who watched over the dark trinity to rescue them from the impending fall out of this mega disaster.

The Six were now down to TWO and where they would go from here was ANYONE's guess.

and so we watch....

 

[Seer]

Chapter 10

Following the destruction of New York City, the surviving members of The Six were rescued by Ororo and taken to Limbo where they were healed and allowed much needed time to rest. After bringing Guardian back from the dead, Ororo sent Foxfire, Black Widow and Guardian on a daring, cross time mission to find the one person who could help them rescue Spellbinder....her cross time counterpart, Darkchilde. as the three women traveled across Limbo through time AND space, they finally came to Darkchilde's timeline and learned that the sad reality there was that Karen and Ororo were both DEAD and that Darkchilde been transformed by her grief into a being of pure magick..without any heart or emotions. During their adventure they came across a statue in the garden of that timeline's Ororo. It was in fact Persephone, a sister "dire wraith" of Darkchilde and the sole survivor of the massacre of the Masters of Evil outside of Darkchilde. The women of the Six freed her and made it possible for her to be reunited with Darkchilde.

Upon their reunion, Persephone learned of the fate of her friends, her family and it was through her reaching out to Darkchilde that the demon sorceress was able to return to HERSELF. In gratitude for their assistance, Darkchilde agreed to help the women of The Six rescue Spellbinder on the condition that they take Persephone back with them to their timeline as she could not survive in Limbo and there was no life for her here. Although Persephone protested, she soon realized that Darkchilde was doing this for HER benefit and wellbeing and agreed to go with them.

With Darkchilde's help, the women of the six were able to once again circumvent time and space and RESCUED Morgan from certain dealth within the Seige Perilous.

Meanwhile, MorningStar, remained behind in Limbo at Ororo's instructions and took much needed time to do soul searching and come to terms with all the changes she had gone through since joining the team full time and Ororo went about the business of contacting Nicolas King, a powerfull young mutant whose destiny would bring him into the Six. In his first act, he rescued the fallen Dr. Karen Victoria from the rubble of the Citadle and from the clutches of Malice, an omega class telepath/empath and the WHITE QUEEN of Mystech's "Inner Circle.". He survived his harrowing battle with Malice and was then brought to Limbo by Ororo.

As Ororo healed the doctor, the rest of The Six returned with their newest member and a physically in tact but unconscious Morgan. Karen and Morgan were soon reunited and the rest of the team were as well. For Persephone, it was bittersweet to see Ororo ALIVE and well again in this timeline as the memories of her Ororo still lingered in her mind AS WELL as now being in the presence of this timeline's answer to Darkchilde.

The Six experienced restoration on more than one level as one of their own was returned and her mother was now saved. they were joined by new members and ready to return to their home in NYC where Alison and Ororo worked together to restore the city and repair the damage using their powerfull magicks.

The time for adjustment and transition was difficult and as things became strained Dr. Karen Victoria stepped in to mentor and counsel the team as a whole, helping to set them on a better path. Even as the members of the team and their allies continued to move on, some were UNWILLING to forgive OR forget...namely Alycia Barnett, who had begun an exhaustive campaign to exact revenge on SOMEONE for Senator Sharon Kelly's death. her research would uncover startling information that struck close to home for Haleigh as well as having a mysterious to connection to PERSEPHONE.

Malice, came calling again, this time working with the Dire Wraiths, a murderous, evil, alien band of space traveling sorceresses. These same creatures were responsible for the deaths of Persephone's friends and family in Darkchilde's timeline. This shocking development would soon be driven home as Malice CAPTURED Guardian and the Dire Wraiths attacked The Six and Illustra with a powerfull, magickally based storm as they stormed the building with their hell hounds and deathwings. Morgan, who had not fully returned to her "true self" was JARRED back to her former self following her attempts to locate Alison and the subsequent attack by Malice.

She returned to the team with horrid news, Cameron King aka Prophet had beem MURDERED by Malice and the white queen was using that to TORTURE the Seer.

The Six gathered together to go to the Terror Dome to rescue Alison and engaged in a VICIOUS fight with the Dire Wraiths and their minions. During the battle, Malice attacked and possesed Foxfire, Persephone and MorningStar and set them against Black Widow. The emotional and psychic damaged caused by Malice was deep and telling...and Black Widow was nearly killed. Dr. Victoria arrived to help her daughter and the team but was seemingly killed by the wraiths in the EXACT same way she did in Darkchilde and Persephone's timeline. This death snapped the women of the six out of their possession and sent Morgan over the edge who immediately reverted to her "Inferno" persona. Joined by Alison, who was now lost in darkness as well, the women lashed out with a murderous fury and vengeance as they destroyed the Terror Dome and the Dire Wraiths before transporting Malice to Limbo where Morgan decapitated her with the Soul Sword.

Though the physical threat of Malice had FINALLY been dealt with, the damage she caused on an emotional and psychological level was still very deep for the members of the Six. Karen was found to be ALIVE in Limbo, her own "movement" power having saved her at the moment she had been attacked by the wraiths. THIS surprise and WELCOMED development was used by MorningStar who was able to bring Morgan and Alison AWAY from their dark and destructive psychosis and back to reality.

The team, tired and weary returned to earth, to Illustra and were now left to recover from the damage caused by Malice...a woman who had terrorized them and their families for years even BEFORE "The Six" had formed. They would attempt to move on with their lives, mourn their dead and prepare to face a new era in their lives....now that MysTech was hardly the threat it once was.

 

[Seer]

Chapter 11

Alycia Barnett has had many targets in her profession. She always took them down and apart in a grand and VICIOUS fashion. She did not take defeat OR loss lying down.

In the months that followed Sharon Kelly's death and the disaster of Master Mold. Alycia has spent many hours searching for a way to bring justice to her fallen colleague and friend.

Her break came when she discovered the link...Stavros Cassadine, the founder and commander of the world's most powerfull weapons shipping/manufacturing company, a company that enjoyed a happy alliance with Mystech.

Her own plan of action was temporarily placed on hold as the team and their allies came together to bury their fallen member, Cameron King, aka Prophet. His death at the hands of Malice (seemingly) had left a brutal mark on the team's spirit....

The team could hardly address that as Alycia and Haleigh locked horns on the subject of the Cassadines. It was revealed that HALEIGH was Stavros' step daughter and had KNOWN of their alliance to Mystech and this secret, now revealed fractured the relationship between Haleigh and Alycia and caused more than a few eyebrows to raise among the Six.

Despite this disturbing revelation, at the urging of Alison, the team traveled after Alycia to GREECE to ensure that she would succeed in her plans but to also make sure that AVA Cassadine, Haleigh's half sister, would not be killed. The caper was a success and despite the disruptive efforts of Erika King, Cameron's OTHER sister.

Erika had come to reveal herself to be a traitor not only to the six, but to ALISON as well. SHE , under the power of Malice murdered her own brother. It was a harsh blow but one that was answered by ORORO, who came and DESTROYED Erika utterly and freed the spirit and essence of Cameron so that he could rest in peace and in a final twist of fate, Ava Cassadine was granted the chance to leave this life behind without LOSING it. Passage through the Seige Perilous resulted in her being placed in a new reality but the mysterious gem INTEGRATED her emotions and some remnants of her personality into PERSEPHONE, giving her a solid identiy in THIS reality and completing her own transition from the world she once knew into this one.

With Stavros captured, Ava sent away and Cameron finally at peace, it seemed this caper would end with relatively few casualties but several days later Stavros escaped and came to Illustra to confront Alycia. In that moment when he appeared to attack her, the former DA defended herself and accidently threw him out of the window on the 99th floor.

Now the Six stand most are ready to help their friend in her hour of need but ONE among them has turned against her and this is causing a whole NEW host of problems.

 

[Seer]

Chapter 12

Stavros Cassadine, CEO of the global weapons manufacturing/shipping giant, Cassadine Corp. was murdered by Alycia Barnett. It was self defense...self defense is NOT murder...unless of course the whole situation was orchestrated by a contract killer.

New comer, Ethan Cruise, was working for Stavros Cassadine. He was a mutant with the power to manipulate "hard light" to various effects. He aided Stavros in escaping federal prison but his attempts to confront Alycia resulted in her throwing him out of the window of Illustra's 99th floor.

Following the initial damage control, Alycia was cleared of any wrong doing but the INTERNAL struggle between herself and Haleigh reached an explosive boiling point. Their relationship was fractured on both a personal and professional level...and so fierce was the fall out that the other members of the Six suffered the effects of Haleigh's seemingly inexplicable negativity and self destructive behavior. Her standing with the team once again came in GRAVE jeopardy as she lashed out at Morgan, Alison and even Nicolas. Persephone, now merged with the essence of Ava Cassadine, found herself struggling internally. "Ava" now resented and despised Alycia for killing her father, Stavros, but PERSEPHONE herself could see that it was something that HAD To happen...it was self defense.

Following a visit from a distraught Nicolas, Dr. Karen Victoria paid Haleigh a surprise and HARD visit as she confronted the woman and FORCED the woman to stay and face the music, using her magicks AND her skills as a noted psycho therapist. Haleigh was administered the most INTENSE form of Psycho Therapy she could have imagined as she was forced to confront HERSELF to the core..with NO spin, no "rationalization". Though the doctor's methods were harsh, it seemed to work and Haleigh found a new center as she gained an epiphany.

Relationships among the team were once again restored and the trust and "family" spirit that they all had come to enjoy and depend on was once again renewed. In keeping with "new paths", Alycia Barnett bid a final farewell to the team as their personal attourney, leaving her office behind to take a new, high powered position with the federal government. Her realtionship with Haleigh still remained in "ashes" after the initial fall out and no one was sure what would come of it.

New business partnerships within the ranks of the Six strengthened the groups financial and social clout in the business and fashion world as Illustra Inc formed new partnerships with Cassadine Corp. (now under the complete control of Ava aka Persephone) and King Enterprises, Nicolas' company). Illustra Inc ALSO renewed its contract with Liquid Crystal Images...prooving to Haleigh that Morgan was not ready to abandon her. In the spirit of family, Alison offered Delilah the chance to purchase stock in Illustra, making her apart of the Illustra family and Morgan offered Nicolas a contract as Illustra's first MALE SIGNATURE SUPER MODEL! All of these things lent themselves to a vibrant, uplifted feeling among the Six and Illustra itself as they all enjoyed new buzz and higher Q ratings on the social buzz of NYC.

Of course, not everything could go well for long as Doctor Victoria was assaulted and kidnapped. In a strange, alarming twist, Alison's precognition began to fail and Morgan's stepping discs would not follow her commands. The team attempted to pull together to rescue Karen and found themselves back in a place that looked like it had been left behind by TIME itself.

The hometown of Morgan and Delilah was a place of mysterious, and heart breaking secrets and it was to be the place where Delilah confronted a powerfull, terrifying enemy that prooved to be a threat on more than one level. The Supreme Pontiff, a rabid anti mutant cleric who was a mutant HIMSELF and the leader of a religious sect called Church of Humanity, and a terrifying, abusive man, had an on score to settle with Delilah and Dr. Victoria.

The team rescued Karen, only to see her BURNED ALIVE in a lake of fire! Morgan and Alison were also struck down as well. Persephone, Rampage and Black Widow did their best to defend what was left of the team as MorningStar found in herself the strength and courage and the POWER to finally destroy the Pontiff before he killed all of her friends and family. AT THE SAME TIME, Alycia Barnett arrived at the Parthenon where the members of the Six and their allies were held in the thrall of the Pontiff in REALITY. Barnett, now the commander of a powerfull, deadly, efficient federal strike force called "Freedom Force" , PERSONALLY gunned down the Pontiff at the same time that Delilah destroyed him on what was revealed to have been the ASTRAL PLANE.

The members of the Six were tended to by Alycia's emergency medical team as she briefed them on the reality of the situation. The Six had fallen prey to the chemical and extreme psychological warefare of a man who had attempted to kidnap Delilah Trelevan YEARS ago when she was a child. He was OBSESSED with her, believing her to be the sacrifice needed to save mutants from eternal damnation. Her father had thwarted his attempts to kidnap her and Karen had treated her for mental trauma as a child. His return in the present was his attempt at REVENGE as he sought to rewrite history in Delilah's mind. But now, he is DEAD both in the real and spiritual realms.

Alycia and Haleigh were reunited for the first time and again the venom was exchanged between them but Haleigh FINALLY admitted to Alycia that she never would have HURT her..she just wanted Alycia to understand how it had FELT to be steam rolled over by her during her quest to avenge Sharon Kelly's death. Alycia, a woman who NEVER admitted to being wrong about anything...showed a glimpse of humanity as she admitted in her own way...that she didnt realize how she had hurt Haleigh...and that it wasnt her...intention to do so. Alycia, despite missing her friends in Illustra, quickly departed. it was obvious to the Six that she was a changed woman in more than one way.

Before she left however, she revealed one last bit of news. ETHAN CRUISE, her "would be" assassin, and menace of the Six had received a presidential pardon thanks to the lobbying of the "Super Hero Affairs Committee", the federal committee that Alycia was now chair woman of. His efforts to help root out Mystech overseas, and information he provided..not to mention his selfless efforts to assist the Six in rescuing Dr. Karen Victoria had not gone unnoticed after all. He was now a free man and the posibility of his joining the Six loomed large ..despite the objections of Morgan and Alison.

The team now was left to recover from what was essentially a truly TERRIFYING nightmare/hallucination shared among them all. One that DELILAH TRELEVAN had saved them from. In doing so, SHE found that she was now more comfortable with herself and her new found spirit and personality shines forth like the "MorningStar" that she is.

 

[Seer]

Chapter 13

Persephone, one of the newest and most mysterious members of the Six, had come to the team under special circumstances. She didnt have a life that was rooted in this timeline as the others did and her past was one that was deep and complex. With the mysterious power of the Seige Perilous, she took on the life of Ava Cassadine and began to build a "life portfolio" in this timeline but her heart longed to return to the timeline of the Masters of Evil where she and Darkchilde, Spellbinder/s crosstime counterpart reigned down terror and evil together.

In the six, no one can keep their past hidden for long, try as they may and Persephone was no exception. Now as she assumed the mantle of controlling the Cassadine business empire, unrest began to stir in Greece as major investors began backing out following the announcement of a business merger with Illustra. Persephone, now with the identity of Ava, journeyed to Greece to control the situation only to receive a grim warning about the coming of the red moon, the first sign that her past as Persephone, a goddess, was about to catch up to her in a big way.

with the visions of Guardian the Six came together to follow Persephone to Greece, ready to help their newfound, if not a bit standoffish team mate and they came just in time for the moon was now running red with blood and hatred and creatures that could only be seen in NIGHTMARES were now running rampant, terrorizing Greece. The Six attempted to find Persephone while they themselves were falling under the power of the red moon and were now given over to more overt,bold acts of debauchery and violence toward others and EACH OTHER.

Persephone was surprised when she received much needed assistance from Barbara Minerva, ANOTHER hold over from the Masters of Evil timeline who was now here in this timeline as well. Barbara had been a long time, respected ally of MoE and a close friend of Persephone's. With Minvera's aid, Persephone was able to escape the attack set upon her and was able to put two and two together. Circe was behind all of this and she was not only out to strike at Persephone but to capture Pandora's Box. Barbara was now Pandora/s guardian in this timeline as well as keeper of this world's must legendary and dangerous artifacts/talismans...just as she had been in MoE's timeline.

The Six finally reached Persephone, but by now they were so bewitched by the red moon that they were of little help or support to her and this was very evident when she had a hard falling out with fellow (and also new) team mate Rampage. Persephone herself was not affected by the red moon for she KNEW just who responsible for THAT and its origins.

As The united Six joined Barbara Minerva and her soldiers in a frenzied battle against Circe's army of bestiamorphs, the Six sustained several casualties. Minerva's army was annihilated and her mansion destroyed. In her last moments, Minerva provided Persephone with the means for her and her team to escape as Circe herself appeared and assaulted Spellbinder so viciously before killing Minerva in one final mystical holocaust.

The medallion given to Persephone by Minerva sent Persephone and her team mates back to Ancient Greece, the time of antiquity when the gods and goddesses of Mt. Olympus were in full effect. Zeus, Athena, Hera, Aphrodite and even Hades were all in attendance as was Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft who was Persephone's best friend. In this timeline, the six discovered the horrific actions committed by Persephone, including the brutal murder of Demeter, her own mother! The fallout was intense and the Six witnessed first hand the bitter, dysfunctional dynamics on Olympus. Hardly as romanticized as it was in history books.

As more and more of Persephone's treachery became clear, it was hard for many of the Six to trust or even LIKE her even though many of THEM had checkered pasts, it seemed that none of their actions had as devastating or far reaching impact as Persephones, for with the knowledge revealed by Hecate, it became clear that Persephone's actions laid the foundation for the nightmare that Circe was now reigning down on the Six's earth. The six also learned of the prophecy surrounding Morgan's birth and the reason for the dark trinity coming into existence. Many clues to the present were gained by the lessons and knowledge given from the PAST as the Six saw just how closely related things were.

As things continued to deteriorate for The Six and Persephone, she plummeted to whole new depths of depravity as she went BEYOND brutal with the murder of Hades, leaving his body castrated AND decaptitated. Hades was once betrothed to Hecate and this was one of many actions that strained Hecate's friendship with Persephone. Finally after more confrontation, Hecate lost control and destroyed Hera in rage and the Six had an all out battle with the Olympians and heavy casualties were sustained on both sides with Athena destroying Black Widow while Aphrodite brought down Guardian and Rampage before she herself was killed by Spellbinder. In a moment of sanity as she realized that things were NOT happening as they were meant to, Hecate cast a spell to rewind time just enough to allow EVERYONE to "do this again" with only the faintest memory of what had "taken place" already. THANKFULLY it was enough and the Six were able to leave Ancient Greece and return to face Circe on the Isle of Aerie.

Pandora was rescued from Circe's clutches by Dr Karen victoria and Alycia Barnett and the Six did battle with the bestiamorphs AGAIN. Just as the odds began to proove overwhelming, Athena appeared in their timeline and lent a surprisingly helping hand when she summoned the legendary Amazons to join the battle and beat back the bestiamorphs. Angered by this, Circe joined the battle herself and attacked the Six relentlessly, evacuating Guardian and once again brutally injuring Spellbinder as well as many of the team. As she prepared to finish them off, Athena herself joined the battle and defended the Six while at the same time enabling Guardian to use the golden lasso of Gaea to forcibly seperate Circe from the power of Hecate she now perverted.

Hecate was now in the Six's timeline as well and exacted justice upon Circe, depowering AND decapitating her before Athena transported them all to the beautifull and hidden island of Themyscria where Morgan and Alison were to be cared for by the Amazons.

While here, the six learned of Barbara Minerva's true fate. That she had not died in vain and was REBORN as an Amazon. This brought comfort and balm to Persephone, knowing that her friend was now truly in a better place and able to live in peace.

Hecate, Athena and Persephone attempted to discuss their long unresolved issues, with some helpfull input from Black Widow and Rampage but just as it seemed nothing would come of it, Demeter herself appeared, alive, and physically in tact...much to the shock of EVERYONE present.

Demeter explained to them how she came to be here and that it was from within Persephone's own heart! With Demeter's words and grace, Persephone sincerely apologized for all the hurt, pain and damage she caused. She reconciled with her mother and was forgiven by Athena and Hecate. Persephone was also FINALLY able to allow herself to give the six and this new timeline a fair chance to become her foundation, her family. It was a release that brought much comfort to her soul. Demeter remained with Athena and would now live on Paradise Island as she could no longer return to Olympus and Hecate carried them on to t heir last stop in this time and space spanning journey.

Barbara Minerva's former residence was restored and Guardian was chosen to be Barbara's successor. Given her history and her origins it made perfect sense for the precog/witch to take over as guardian of Pandora and keeper of time on this earth but the declaration of her destiny did not go without protest from her team, her FAMILY, the Six.

Alison, with a heavy heart, accepted Hecate's calling and became Harbinger, the keeper of time on the Six's earth. she would now reside in Minerva's state of the art, sprawling mansion and would care for and protect Pandora. With tearfull hugs and goodbyes, Alison bid her team farewell and moved on with her new life while Hecate also bid the Six a final farewell before departing this plane of existence...but NOT before leaving some last words of encouragment for both Persephone and the team.

Now without their beloved precog, the six returned to New York and Illustra where they were to begin their lives...

 

[Seer]

Chapter 14

The team began to pick up the pieces after losing one of the original members of the Six, Alison aka Harbinger to a greater destiny...one that she had known she was meant for.The past comes back sooner or later whether we're ready or not. Haleigh thought she was embarking on her future with Zach but things would proove quite the opposite.

From the beginning, when Ororo appeared before Haleigh in St. Patrick's Cathedral and revealed a miraculously returned Cameron King, the signs were pointing to a theme of past people and events revisiting Haleigh, all the while, nature itself seemed to be rebelling as birds of all species began to behave erracticly across NYC, the strangeness of this not lost on any one of the Six for they each experienced their close encounter with birds.

Morgan and Nicolas began their delicate dance around each other as they attempted to figure out where they stood with one another while at lunch, Morgan's mother, Dr. Karen Victoria joined them and almost immediately after, they got the call to return to Illustra for an emergency. Ava, who was also attempting to make good use of her newfound chance at life was now reaching out to Delilah, enjoying a relaxing day at Illustra but they too were summoned as they all discovered that Cameron was alive and had been returned.

Many questions were raised and soon, it became clear that Alycia Barnett would be involved in reintergrating Cameron into society discreetly, a fact that did not sit well with Haleigh for those two women had become bitter enemies following the Master Mold and Cassadine capers. Alycia's rift with Haleigh began to cause her to grow mistrustfull of other members of the Six..namely [b[Nicolas[/b]. the woman's now high powered position and blood thirsty personality caused her to become less willing to work with her longtime allies and only her friendship with Morgan prevented her from lowering the boon on Haleigh. Still, she went after Rick Riley on her own, intending to kill him only to be surprised and captured while many of her men DIED in a violent trap. She was interrogated by Rick but she resisted and he drugged her. after a time, Cameron found her via telepathy just as she was attempting to ESCAPE Rick and summon the Six for reinforcements.

But as it always happens, Haleigh found the deck stacking against her and as her own feelings that she fought to keep hidden began to brim over, she experienced "malfunctions", broadcasting her memories over ANY media device and causing electrical devices to spike with power bursts. It seemed random at first, but upon deeper inspection it prooved to be yet ANOTHER ghost from the past come back for vengeance...Rick Riley, who along with several other survivors from MysTech's consortium began to activate a program within Haleigh's now hybrid system that had been laid by Doctors Christopher Victory and Adam Chandler and cemented by the powerfull magick of Imagiomg.

Haleigh was unwittingly fullfilling a horrifying prophecy from Alison as her own past and the sins , secrets there in began to place everyone around her in jeopardy. Just as it seemed like it couldnt get worse , there was one more shock, one that would not only affect her but Morgan and Alycia as well. Sharon Kelly had been REVIVED and turned into the vengefull, psychotic and extremely powerfull Silver Swan.

Following a dangerous recon mission comprising Spellbinder and Rampage, to determine just WHAT was causing Haleigh's deadly malfunctions, Spellbinder struggled painfully with the task of leading the team and trying to protect a woman that she seemed to grow to mistrust again...the rest of the team pulled together, joined by Dr. Victoria and Alycia as they not only saught to help Haleigh but to defend against the growing threat of an insane Sharon Kelly.

Bird attacks plagued the city, causing mass chaos and carnage. Even members of the six such as Ava could not escape this new, deadly expression of Sharon's powers as the woman rampaged across the city mudering dozens with such savage instinct that it made even HALEIGH recoil..and all this while she made bee line FOR Haleigh.

While the rest of the team had precious little time to expect Silver Swan's arrival, Haleigh, who had been sedated by Dr. Victoria , did NOT have the luxury of prior knowledge. She and Zach went to the cathedral to follow up with the chaplin and discovered the grizzly scene of dead bodies all around and then Silver Swan attacked. She revealed not only was she there to KILL Haleigh but that Zach had had a brief but torrent AFFAIR with her while she was still a senator. it was a blow that struck Haleigh to her core and caused the WORST "malfunction" yet...broadcasting in the OPEN AREA around the cathedral as well. Silver Swan was halted in her brutalizing of Haleigh by Ava while Morgan and Cameron attempted to plead with Sharon to let them HELP HER.

Sharon didnt listen and instead DESTROYED the cathedral before attacking police, fire and rescue units as well as other innocent people , still gunning for Haleigh. Cameron used his telepathic powers to black out the memories of this incident of ANYONE other than the six while Delilah provided an escape for the team and their allies. Morgan was lost in the chaos but had managed to escape to limbo before returning to Illustra. Beside herself with grief she lashed out at Haleigh and it took Delilah and Nicolas to STOP her from hurting or possibly KILLING the woman. Behind the grief lay the unfortunate truth that what was happening WAS in large part Haleigh's doing...or something that rested on her shoulders. many members of the team were growing weary of her stone walling ways and Morgan's slipping into a darker mode, reminiscent of the night she turned into Darkchild was a sign that things had to be fixed and FAST.

Dr.Victoria seperated the team leaving Ava, Mike and Cameron with Haleigh but even as Haleigh turned to her sister, there was one MORE bombshell. Ava revealed that she knew about and had been PRESENT for the brutal experimentation and transformation of Patrick Phillips, Haleigh's one true lost love into the terrifying Super Soldier, one of the ultimate pet projects of Mystech presided over by the Dr's Adam Chanlder, Christopher Victory, Malice and Stavros Cassadine, MysTech's chief "outside" backer.

This information pushed Haleigh over the edge with grief and a sense of betrayal, causing her to nearly sieze up in a fatal "malfunction" before Dr. Victoria arrived and sedated her and scrambled her powers with magick.

Sharon arrived and attacked Illustra, striking down MANY of Mike's men and wounding Mike himself before battling in the air and throughout Illustra with Ava. Ava kept the woman from reaching Haleigh and escaped before she could be killed herself but the birds, under sharon's power now overwhelmed Illustra.

Time passed as the team struggled to come together and assess the situation, seeing things for what they were and REMEMBERING that Rick Riley was the enemy, the catalyst behind ALL OF THIS.

But even as the team reunited and Alycia now saw an alive and wildly different Sharon, Rick Riley himself appeared, confronting the team as he attempted to kill Sharon on the spot. He goaded Morgan and Alycia into attacking him, using the energies of their blasts to knock out the team and capture them. Subjecting Morgan to a brutal beating before taking them to an undiscolsed location.

Ava, Nicolas, Cameron and Delilah were held powerless in stasis tubes, wearing mutant collars while Morgan was bound in cement blocks and gassed via the Black Lotus blossom. Karen was hung by her arms from the ceiling and Haleigh was left on the floor while Alycia and Mike were also left on the floor across the room.

Dr. Victoria, the first to revive attempted to goad Riley with scathing character assassination while Alycia launched a frontal assault on Riley, making the ultimate sacrifice to not only secure Haleigh's freedom, but to ensure the others would get free as well. the team was soon liberated by Haleigh. Nicolas and Delilah gathered the wounded and the presumed dead and Morgan healed whom she could while the final battle between Haleigh and Riley played out and he reminded her that everyone she gets close to DIES. He was about to unleash Alycia's EMP wand upon her and kill her but then the Silver Swan appeared, and used the last of her strength to disarm and brutally bring down Riley...leaving him a pile of humiliated flesh and nearly broken spirit before Haleiegh finally decapitated him.

Morgan evacuated the team to Limbo where everyone received healing and she and Nicolas worked together using science and magick to save Sharon from painfull death.

The team continued to struggle as Haleigh seemed set to continue in her maladaptive ways. She had a bitter confrontation with a recently revived Sharon much to the chargin of many present...the subject of Zach was still a sore subject for her but as Dr. Victoria put things into perspective and Sharon railed against Haleigh, Ororo appeared and brought further order, allowing Haleigh to be reunited with her one true love, PATRICK, sans "Super Soldier" form.

His manifestation was a source of surprise and shock for nearly everyone including Haleigh but the young man appeared to be totally free of the deadly mystech programming as he addressed his love, and then Karen, the woman who had vanquished the super soldier and finally Ava who had been wracked with guilt over him for so long.

Ororo wanted Haleigh to REMEMBER there was a better way to be and that NOW was the time to change. with patrick's help, she finally saw that and as he departed, the team stood....having destroyedRiley and GAINED not one but two lost lives (Sharon and Cameron).

The team returned to Illustra and began anew, and after a week of struggle, they celebrated in a night of glamor and fun as Madonna, Illustra and Diddy gave a star studded audience a show stopping performance at a gala/concert event to benefit the fight against breast cancer.

Even in the midst of such fun, Haleigh was once again haunted by something from her now RECENT past as Zach was in attendance. In a final exchange, she returned his engagment ring and asked him to leave, turning from him and returning to her table with the others ...and closing the door on a chapter of her life she no longer felt had anything to be added.

Haleigh had been through alot but as Madonna had said at the beginning of her a performance...a person can ALWAYS...change...and become a BETTER person...

 

[Seer]

Chapter 15

With Morgan and Karen on the west coast taking care of personal business, the rest of the Six along with the newly resurrected Sharon Kelly aka Silver Swan and Alycia Barnett set about testing out the newest addition to Illustra, a state of the art "Training arena". The first session began and climaxed with them being in a dark, gothic mansion filled with zombies and other creepy foes. Sharon reacted severely negative to this which prompted Alycia to shut down the sequence and both women made a hasty exit.

Haleigh was suspicious while Delilah continued to show discomfort just being around Sharon. Nicolas took Sharon to her new home and attempted to care for her, but her lack of response and detached demeanor prooved to be more than a little discouraging for the young mutant. In the hopes of helping her to better adjust to her new lease on life, he presented her with a rare and unique gift in the form of two large silver gryfalcons and with Sharon's new found telepathic sway over all species of avians, the birds immediately began to bond with her.

Delilah, returned to the NYPD on a special assignment, a high stakes police bust that ended badly when she was interrupted and her bust highjacked by the infamous vigilante criminal known as Bishop. The encounter left her more than her ego bruised, she was bothered by him on a deeper level.

Ava enjoyed an evening dinner at the Parthenon with a date, the same man who had attended the Madonna concert with her, however just as she was parting ways with the man the sudden arrival of Alison in the Parthenon drew her away from her date to greet the Seer who had been residing in Greece for several months now. Alison revealed her reason for being here, a reoccuring vision, a nightmare in which more than half the six was decimated as the antimutant sentiment climaxed but worse...the image of a creepy, gothic mansion was involved as well...the same mansion ava had experience in the training arena.

As Ava and Alison headed to Illustra, Haleigh paid Alycia a visit at the Parthenon hotel towers to confront her about the secret of the Arklay Mansion, after reluctance, Alycia began to reveal the secret, a tragic backstory in which Sharon lost her family and nearly lost her own life in the Mansion but in fact her young son, Kyle, whom everyone had thought dead, was perhaps still ALIVE within the mansion and even worse, this mansion was the birthplace of Mystech. As Alycia and Haleigh discussed the situation, it became clear that an investigation was warranted and Haleigh insisted on going with the federal agent...a sign of how far their own relationship had improved. They agreed to discuss it with the Six before going. After a briefing, Haleigh and Alycia journeyed to the mansion, tailed by Bishop while Morgan waited at Sharon's cottage. Their first recon into the mansion nearly prooved to be their last as they were greeted by a variety of creatures, including a massive hulking thing...that turned out to be a G-virus mutated KYLE! Morgan and the rest of the Six arrived to rescue Haleigh and Alycia and quickly escaped, returning to Illustra to discuss the situation further.

The next day, Sharon, who usually appeared to be uninterested in her environment, began to go around town attacking men...men who were abusing their wives, girlfriends or children. her brutal brand of vigilante justice excited crowds, frustrated police and alarmed The Six...but even worse, the scrutiny of Bishop, whom Delilah was now secretly doing a cat and mouse dance with.


Nicolas and Delilah attempted to keep up with Sharon, preventing her from murdering any of her victims but all of that changed when Bishop attempted to murder Sharon in her brownstone. She not only survived, but nearly killed HIM in the name of defending herself. Morgan, Alycia and Nicolas arrived in time to get Sharon the medical treatment she needed and while she recovered, the six, along with Alison discussed the growing scenario involving the mansion, Sharon and the "variable" that Alison saw. Her visions indicated that "variable" was none other than BISHOP, confirmed by the diary that Alycia found in the mansion. He not only knew who Sharon was, but also Alycia for she had HIRED him to rescue sharon from the mansion 20 years ago the night she lost her husband and son. it was suggested that Delilah knew Bishop more closely than originally thought, which raised suspicion.

They agreed the time had come to reveal the truth about Kyle to Sharon...while Haleigh and Delilah met with Bishop to discuss his recollection of Arklay while Alison and Ava did as much strategizing for the impending trip to the mansion as they could.

Once told about her son Sharon left Illustra, but instead of acting out a bout her son, she instead proceeded to brutally attack Bishop in daylight in front of everyone, as Alison revealed that it was HE who had tried to murder her in the brownstone. Alison and Morgan coldly forbade the team to interfere as Sharon attacked bishop and when Delilah TRIED, she was removed from the situation as Morgan teleported them all back to Illustra, leaving Sharon to finish Bishop off, but he escaped.

Tension between Delilah and the Six boiled over as they confronted her about Bishop and Alison revealed they were not only aquainted but INTIMATE and that he had been in Illustra several times. Morgan was furious and the rest of the team asked Delilah why she was seeing him and it was at this moment that Delilah fullfilled Alison's prophecy as she not only DEFENDED Bishop but seemingly TURNED on her friends, denouncing them for who they were and what they did, their methods, before walking out on them.

A shaken and wounded Bishop hid at his hotel, with no sign of Sharon in pursuit, he was later joined by Delilah who was now visibly distraught at the turn things had taken. The rest of the six prepared to journey BACK to the mansion where Sharon had already arrived after abandoning her attack on Bishop. She was determined to find her son and The Six were determined to not only help her but to destroy ALL traces of the G virus, the predecessor to the "designer" T virus. Alycia and a small troop of Force Works joined them.

Morgan made one last attempt to appeal to her friend but the two women quickly began shouting at each other while an amused Bishop watched. Morgan vowed to kill him if he came anywhere near the six or Sharon again and left...leaving Delilah behind. After she rejoined the Six, they went inside the mansion to find Sharon, the virus....and Kyle.

Inside the mansion, split into groups of three, the team went deeper into the mansion, confronted by creatures of all kinds. Sharon was far ahead and impossible to pinpoint. Bishop arrived as well and was followed by Delilah.

Morgan, Alison and Ava battled hordes of Zombies and other mutated creatures before falling down below ground into a sand filled arena where they were soon confronted by the monstrous creature that was once Kyle while Nicolas, Haleigh and Alycia battled their way through the main levels of the mansion against zombies and creatures, moving through a network of hidden passages to finally find the nerve center of the mansion. Alycia was mobbed by zombies, bitten multiple times and as Haleigh and Nicolas fought valiantly to save her, Sharon arrived and turned the tide in their favor. Meanwhile, Delilah stalked through the mansion,eventually taking the same path that Morgan, Alison and Ava had taken but without any of the threats they faced. She too fell down to the arena and hid as she watched her friends do battle with Kyle.

In the lab, Haleigh, Nicolas and Sharon were confronted by a revived and highly mutated Dr. James Marcus, the creator of the G Virus who had been thought dead by Malice's hand. He had evolved and formed a symbiotic relationship with the mutated zombie leeches. He was insane and attempted to destroy the members of the Six. Sharon escaped while Nicolas battled him and kept Alycia safe. Haleigh found the last remains of the G Virus and destroyed it just as Nicolas destroyed Marcus butNOT before he set the auto destruct sequence.

In the Arena, Morgan, Alison and Ava succeded in temporarily checking Kyle but as they were reunied with the others, they saw that Alycia was badly hurt and near death...possibly on the verge of turning into a zombie. Delilah revealed herself, only to be coldly rejected by most of the team as they scrambled to do something to save their ally. Morgan and Alison worked their magick in unison, while Haleigh used her own unique bond with the virus to pull it from Alycia's body and destroy it in the air.

Alycia would survive but KYLE burst from the trappings of hell itself, seemingly unfazed by all the punishment that he'd been given by the women of the six moments before. Morgan attempted to sheild the team but was overcome by his force and as Nicolas did his best to pick up the slack, Sharon appeared once again, lulling her son with a sonic hymn song courtesy of her powers. She came close, assuring him that he would be okay...and asking hiim to kneel down. It became clear that she was going to kill him to free him from his hellish existence and at that moment BISHOP, who had been hiding far above in the embattlement, prepared to fire upon SHARON killing HER as well. Delilah appeared, and realizing that he had lied to her and that he was endangering her friends lives, she killed him just as Sharon decapitated her son.

There was little time to think, let alone react as the team hurridly escaped the mansion before it was destroyed on ALL levels, causing a massive explosion and feedback throughout the arklay forest, which had also been purged of infected and mutated creatures by the six. They had destroyed the virus and ended the threat/suffering of Kyle and the last remnants of Mystech's glory had been destroyed...Bishop was also dead. it seemed like a sound conclusion.

The next day, the backlash was unlike anything anyone could have expected as a package previously put together and mailed by Bishop reached the hands of law enforcement, media and other prominent figures exposing the identities of all the six, as well as Alycia Barnett's allignment with them and the true status of Sharon Kelly. The united states, the WORLD now knew who the six were and the backlash was as violent as it was sudden. Their lives were no longer their own as they were nearly black listed from every industry and setting, riots and protests erupted and soon, SENTINELS were despatched. It was everything Alison had predicted and more and it was all caused by the man Delilah had once been so willing to defend.

Morgan helped Alycia escape certain execution at the pentagon while Karen joined the team in fighting for their lives. Illustra was destroyed and nearly half the six fell by the hands of sentinels. Silver Swan joined the battle but even she could not effectively turn the tide. The moment of their deaths was at hand as the super massive TRI SENTINEL oblitered everything in its path in order to vaporize the Six. They should have been destroyed utterly.

Divine intervention in the for of Hecate, the moon goddess & the goddess of witchcraft , single handedly altered the outcome of Alison's vision as the six and their allies were snatched from death and transported to the Isle of Aerie where they were greeted by Hecate & Athena.

As the reality of their situation set in, several members of the six voiced their agitation with Delilah who they blamed for choosing Bishop over them and not only betraying thier trust but endangering their lives. Arguments ensued and Haleigh managed to alienate herself again from not only half the team but the goddesses as well. Delilah apologized for her errors in judgement but the road to forgiveness will proove to be long and hard for them and as the goddesses revealed that the six would now live on Aerie, outside the world they had been so much apart of, they had to accept the change in their reality.

Sensing their despair, Athena offered Sharon and Alycia an opportunity to be reborn as Amazons. A fitting reward that was immediately trashed by Haleigh who incurred Athena and Hecate's wrath before Demeter intervened and calmed everyone down, as well as offering a subtle but crucial compromise to the option of sharon and alycia leaving. They would return in due time. As Delilah went to Haleigh to thank her for her unlikely support and Persephone engaged in a reluctant reunion with her mother, Nicolas and Mike took the opportunity to prepare the first feast of the six in their new home, inviting the goddesses to join them. Alison returned to Minerva's mansion.

Their nightmare ended with them waking in a new reality, one that was filled with possibilities and uncertainty...but one they were at least ALIVE to explore together. and so what began as a nightmare filled with betrayal and violence ended on an unexpected yet positive note...with only the wind, the stars and the oceans to watch the six as they looked ahead...with Delilah still in their midst.

 

[Seer]

Chapter 16

Adjusting to life on Aerie was anything but easy. The rift between Delilah, Morgan, Alison and Karen was deep and bitter and Haleigh had now firmly cast herself at odds with the trio of witches as well.

After a few weeks of settling in and making suitable homes for themselves on the massive, mysterious Isle of Aerie, the members of the Six were accepting their new reality as outcasts as well as the departures of Sharon Kelly and Alycia Barnett to the island of Themyscria where they would receive training from the Amazons themselves. Mike to was adjusting to his new life, now being one of a precious few HUMANS to have given up their normal life in the name of helping the Six.

Ava, who was perhaps best suited to this new circumstance due to her alter ego Persephone, was living the life of a goddess in classic times, even having a secret gentleman caller, until Alison arrived and discovered them. The Seer kept Ava's secret both from Athena and the rest of the members of the Six...but somethings could not be kept under wraps for long, mainly the inevitable confrontation between Morgan and Haleigh.

Delilah went to see Morgan, and was well received, much to her surprise. The two women had long been best friends and as they attempted to talk after weeks of silence, Morgan discovered Haleigh in the forest near the rotunda and went to confront her. Delilah could only watch as the two women screamed at one another, the confrontation even drew Nicolas, Alison and Ava from across the Island.

As the two women argued fiercely, they took a shocking fall down a muddy slope and landed into a mud pond where a catfight of epic proportions ensued. Delilah and Nicolas were transfixed while Ava and Alison proceeded to comentate the fight and place bets. The catfight was cathartic for both women as they got out their anger, their feelings and concerns and gave each other a ferocious, thorough mud bath as well. The catfight ended with Morgan and Haleigh reaching a new understanding, and with Haleigh dumping buckets of mud on the spectators as well.

Pandora joined Alison on the island for an evening visit and An evening of dinner at the Rotunda and what was supposed to be pleasant conversation was soon derailed when Dr. Karen Victoria and Alison, both flushed from the pleasures of HEMLOCK, began to slam Haleigh even as Nicolas and Mike attempted to build bridges between the various "cliques" of the team. Ava chided Alison while Karen and Haleigh continued to go head up and when Nicolas attempted to speak up for Haleigh, Alison turned on him which caused him to slam her in such a manner that it shocked and outraged many women at the gathering. The dinner soon ended with various people going in differente directions. Ava returning to her villa with Pandora, Karen and Haleigh tongue fighting through the Rotunda with Mike and Morgan following them, Nicolas going out to a far reaching shoreline and Delilah staying behind to feed Tinkerbell.

Nicolas attempted to consult Athena , but the goddess herself seemed less than willing to assist him. She was clearly no Ororo. Nicolas was soon confronted by a vengefull Alison who prophicied the young mutants eventual loss of standing with the Six and a storm of great personal tragedy to befall him. Nicolas stood his ground against the telekinetic witch but had yet to know just how bad a form her prophecy would take. Alison revealed her confrontation with Nicolas to Ava and the two women celebrated with glee in Ava's villa as Ava now had an ally AGAINST Nicolas....which was the first phase of Alison's prophecy.

Morgan, suffering from growing stress from her own situation of being removed from the world of fashion as well as the feeling that Nicolas viewed her more like a trophy than a woman, was growing faint from the pain of her headache. the agitation of the nights events and their implications prooved too much for her as she struggled to keep herself in check and stepping discs began to open all around the island at random intervals. finally, as the fight between Karen and Haleigh reached a climax, a crash of limbo's thunder signaled Morgan's blacking out as she fell to the ground in a deep coma like state. at that same moment, Alison and Ava DISAPPEAR from Ava's villa while Pandora looks on in dismay. The young woman runs to the rotunda to find Delilah and Mike and tell them what happened.

Karen and Haleigh call off their argument as Morgan , the stepping discs and news of Ava and Alison's disappearence take priority over their long standing feud. The group move to the inner most portion of the rotunda, taking care to stay together to minimize chances of falling into a disc, which they soon believe is what happened to Ava and Alison.

With Morgan down and unresponsive, Delilah contacts Ororo who promptly brings them to her garden Citadle. She confirms what the Six suspect and instructs them to leave Morgan in her care while they must embark on a time/space adventure to find their friends. Karen returns to Minerva's mansion to guard Pandora and the "artifcats of all ages" in Alison's absence.

The rest of the team is left to the task of braving the time/space defying laws of Limbo. As they left the serenity of Ororo's garden, the passed the living statue of Alexis Quartermaine, a former member of the Six that Ororo had turned to stone many moons ago.

They're arrival into "the rest" of Limbo greeted them with icy, windy weather as well as haunting temporal phantoms of past events, some from the Inferno, some from Morgan's life BEFORE the six. They arrived to the Summit, Morgan's castle by default after Belasco was driven from Limbo and inside, they found her inner sanctum and saw more personal glimpses into Morgan's life. Haleigh showed some hesitancy in exploring Morgan's "Chamber of dreams" , feeling that the bedroom was a most private and sacred place.

The first disc opens and the group, consisting of Delilah, Haleigh, Nicolas and Mike, jumps in. They are taken 10 years into an ALTERNATE future where witches, magick and witchcraft are capital crimes. Morgan has been brutally raped and murdered by NICOLAS,who was himself killed by KAREN in retaliation. The alternate Six's family unit was obliterated as Alison, Ava and Karen cast out Haleigh for even showing an OUNCE of sympathy or waver towards Nicolas and Delilah , who was now chief of police was no longer trusted by Ava and Alison as SHE was the one who arrested Karen. Ava and Alison in this timeline were also the god mothers/surrogate aunts for Victoria, the daughter of Morgan and Nicolas from happier times long gone. The mainstreams saw, with heavy hearts, the pain and trauma their alternates had endured and when the time for "contact" came, Nicolas beheld his alternate daughter but was soon savagely attacked by alternates Ava and Alison in their manor. Mainstream Haleigh and Delilah calmed the situation long enough for the two groups to form a truce to accomplish the alternate's goal of rescuing Karen and leaving the country. The hostility by alternates Ava and Alison toward Nicolas was beyond even his wildest dreams.

The groups launched their daring rescue attempt for Karen, storming the live, televised execuation "ceremony" presided over by Governor Ricky Riley. Karen was rescued and the mainstreams covered the alternates as they escaped for their lives. The final moments in that timeline saw the mainstreams watching the manor of the surviving alternates explode with the alternates having successfully left the country.

the NEXT timeline saw the mainstreams actually going to a PAST timestream in the Masters of Evil timeline where Darkchilde lead the coven, the same coven that mainstream Persephone had been apart of in her previous life. At first they were greeted with more temporal phantom's from the MoE's past. In the legendary bar, XSThe mainstreams became further strained among themselves when faced with the challenge of "blending in" with the MoE, a group of people DEDICATED to "EVIL IN EVERY FORM", and yet the MoE seemed less like a group of rogues and more like a family with problems , lives and loves...just like the mainstream Six. However that did not stop Delilah from having words with Mike and Nicolas and when Nicolas reached into her head telepathically, Delilah, who was against telepaths "messing inside her head, attempted to smack him. The use of his powers to block her move caused her to break her arm, yet another move in which he was fullfilling Alison's prophecy. The group was soon confronted by Darkchilde herself and she was in no mood to hear their appeals. She restored Delilah's arm and cast them into her version of Limbo in the midst of a "temporal phantom" where they were pitted against the MoE, who saw the mainstreams as their arch enemies, the Guardians of Light! The mainstreams battled valiant against the MoE but the odds were not in their favor and when the battle was about to end in tragedy, Darkchilde appeared and froze the "temporal phantom" to confron the mainstreams herself. She demanded Nicolas' soul in exchange for passage from Limbo to the next part of their journey. The rest of the team, especially Haleigh vehemently protested this and were prepared to fight Darkchilde, DESPITE her having helped them to get Morgan back, bringing Persephone to their team and her being the most POWERFULL point in the Dark Trinity. In the end, it was her harsh way of trying to teach them a lesson that they all knew they needed to heed. She spared Nicolas' life and wished them much success in rescuing Persephone and Harbinger as she sent them on their way.

The next stop in the time crossing journey found them in an alternate timeline where the Six had FAILED to destroy Blackout , Morgan was still lost to the seige perilous and ALISON was now dead as well. Karen as Shadow Weaver/The Black Queen who was much more ruthless and had murdered Christopher Victory in this timeline and was now alligned with Malice, the White Queen and Helena, The Red Queen and the SisterHood had a deathgrip on New York City. The Silver Swan was accidently left behind when the alternate six who had survived were spirited away by Ororo. The mainstreams sought refuge in a badly damaged and virtually abandonned Illustra where they encountered a frightened and disoriented Silver Swan. Delilah used her powers to calm the mutate and she seemed to be content with joining their ranks for the time being. The Sisterhood and Blackout launched a violent assault on Illustra, battling the mainstreams whom Malice IMMEDIATELY recognized as interlopers from the same time SHE HERSELF was once from. This was not an alternate Malice, but rather the consciousness and mind of MAINSTREAM malice that took over her alternate's body after her original death. During the violent battle, Delilah was rendered unconscious and Arsenal and Silver Swan were captured.

The Sisterhood in this timeline were vexed with internal struggle, mainly between the Black and Red Queens. Karen and Helena were enemies in almost every timeline conceivable and their catfights in this one were near lethal levels. Karen did show maternal instinct toward Alexis though. While in captivity, Mike used the opportunity he had to appeal to this cross time alternate of Karen whom he speculated from the beginning was not TRULY dedicated to the Sisterhood's cause and as Karen began to see the TRUTH about her choices, Malice attacks her and renders her unconscious. As the Mainstreams arrived for a daring rescue and show down with the Sisterhood, Silver Swan breaks free and battles Blackout viciously while Mike does his best to protect unconscious Karen, resulting from a nearly fatal wound. The mainstreams wage an increasingly escalating battle with the Sisterhood but Karen turns the tide as she releases Blackout from her aunt's posession. After a harsh battle with Rampage, Malice telepathically seizes Haleigh and uses her technopathy to DETONATE the Citadle in an attempt to kill everyone. She and Helena escape and the rest of the group is teleported out by Karen but not before Malice causes Karen's heart to stop. In a surprising assist from Ororo, the group is taken to Aerie and allowed a brief moment to recouperate while she restores Karen. Ororo moves the mainstream group away from from the alternates, allowing to be reunited with their own friends and new arrivals from this time. The mainstreams are carried onward knowing that things were going to start over for the surviving alternates in this timeline.

In the FINAL time stop found the mainstreams in a time stream were Alison's original prophecy about the outcome surrounding events of Arklay Mansion and Bishop came to PASS. MANY allies and past members of the Six including Karen and Mike were dead in this time. a full scale human/mutant war was ravaging the U.S. and NYC was ground zero. Sentinels ruled the land and Mystech, backed by the government powered them. Alternate Delilah Trelevan was the "The Justicer", the highest ranking human commander on the field of battle with Nicolas as her PSYCHIC HOUND. It was learned that mainstream Alison and Ava had fallen HERE MONTHS ago and were now captured, enduring brutal experimentation and torture at the hands of mystech. Mainstream MORGAN joined her companions and was RESCUED from sentinels by an alternate version of Blaze who called herself Firebird. the joined the mainstreams who were accompanied by an alternate Silver Swan in making their way to where Haleigh had located Ava and Alison as well as her own alternate. Several harrowing battles with Sentinels ensued while the alternate of Alycia , calling herself Omega Sentinel began to exact revenge by slaughtering nearly everyone in the compound using her new found powers as a nano tech sentinel synthezoid to control the defense systems of the building. She freed alternate Haleigh and lead them to Ava and Alison. the Mainstreams and other alternates arrived and were shocked at the new state/apperance of Alycia but she showed no emotion as she informed them of where their friends were, refusing Nicolas' call for her to let them help HER too. With 4 minutes to save them and escape, Spellbinder teleports them to the dungeon where they are promptly attacked by Justicer Trelevan who knocks out Mike and Sharon, sends Blaze flying and saves the WORST damage for Nicolas, a telling reminder of the rift between mainstream Delilah and Nicolas. Hound Nicolas attacks Morgan and brings forth more of her demonic aspect as the sorceress defends herself. while Both haleigh AND her alternate see to Ava and Alison, mainstream Nicolas engages his alternate self on the astral plane and FREES him of the psychic poison and programming. Spellbinder manages to subdue Justicer Trelevan and the group is teleported outside of the compound as it was forcibly exploded by the rising of Master Mold the "father" of all Sentinels. But even as the group of mainstreams and alternates look upon the face of what could be doom, Omega Sentinel releases pulse generator bomblets that destroy the master sentinel down to the subatomic level, this ending the threat of a global nuclear strike against the u.s. and bringing all sentinels offline. Nicolas and his alternate find Omega Sentinel and the entire group is teleported to a safe house in Canada that was owned by Clandestine Inc. There, they are also reunited with an alternate Alison who was rescued by super humans and mutants in Canada.

The mainstreams now have their ava and alison back and this alternate group of the six, the closest to the mainstreams in many ways, has most of their family back and BOTH groups will have a long road to recovery. With lessons learned, The cross time caper ends better than expected and the mainstreams return to their earth to care for their wounded and look ahead to the next adventure.

 

[Spellbinder]

Chapter 17

Family ties...they bind and bring pain.

As the Six, namely Morgan and her mother Karen, attempted to recover and administer therapy unto Alison and Ava, Nicolas learned of the shocking and violent death of his father's friend and business partner Magnuss. The circumstances of his death and a slew of other similar deaths coincided with the violent take over of nearly 40 % of King Enterprises, stock, giving the mysterious new shareholder near controlling interest of the company.

Meanwhile, in New York City, Malice and Enchantra (the cross time alternate of Helena Quartermaine) had miraculously ended up back on MAINSTREAM Earth where they set about restablishing the Hellfire Club and its covert ties and strongholds. The violent take over of King Enterprises drew their attention as well and prompted them to seek out the mysterious person behind it.

Dominique Deveraux, a mysterious, sexy, chanteuse, arrives in New York and immediately grabs the attention of high society with her beauty and her singing ability. She sets the stage on fire at the Parthenon, where she comes to the attention of Malice and Enchantra, who realize she is more than a mere human. They follow her to her diamond suite and are confronted by her, only to discover that she is in fact a powerfull metahuman AND the one responsible for the hostile takeover of King Enterprises. After a tense meeting in which Dominique and Helena's disdain for one another is firmly estabilshed, Malice offers Dominique a position in the SISTERHOOD. Dominique shows her unexpected guests out, saying that she will ponder the offer. Dominique not only was prooving to be the boost the Sisterhood would need, but she also carried a deadly secret with her as well.

Dominique and Enchantra are not the ONLY new arrivals on earth, as Firebird the sleek, cooler and more powerfull version of Foxfire managed to hitch a cross time ride from the timestream where the six rescued Alison and Ava to mainstream. Silver Swan also returned from Themyscria. the two women provided a much needed boost to the Six's ranks as Haleigh and Nicolas began investigating the issue of King Enterprises, the murders and soon discovered that many of the surviving shareholders would be at a grand affair at the revitalized Hellfire Club.

The six- consisting of Rampage, Black Widow, a newly inducted Silver Swan and Firebird all journeyed to the Hellfire club to investigate, and found themselves in a lavish evening affair where the White and Red Queens announced their newest addition, the Black Queen, Dominique Deveraux. She immediately registered as something MORE than just another villain to Nicolas but no attempts by Haleigh to glean information her returned substantial results. Indeed, not even Malice could obtain much about Ms. Deveraux's past. The Blackout went into effect in the Hellfire Club.

At Minerva's Mansion, Karen and Morgan struggled to help a recovering Ava and Alison. Ava's repeated attempts to stall their efforts added to the growing agitation in the mansion, It was a sign of something much deeper. Alison remained largely unresponsive until a specific moment where she awakens and is reunited with everyone in the mansion including Ava. They now share a closer bond of friendship following the ordeal they suffered together.

Back at the Hellfire Club, the Six learned that Dominique was reponsible for the hostile takover and that she bore a PERSONAL grudge against Nicolas, but before they could learn anymore, they were confronted by the new Sisterhood, with deadly results as a new, better strategized battle from the Sisterhood crippled the Six and Dominique herself, who used the name "ISIS" i battle, burned a RUNE into Nicolas' chest.

Spellbinder, having learned of the situation from Mike and Karen, pulls the Six out. they scramble to heal those who have been hurt but nothing can be done for Nicolas and so Karen binds and sedates him as they struggle to piece together the mystery of Dominique. A recently Alison emerges and reveals that through Nicolas great danger and harm will come to Morgan and them all and urges everyone to abandon him which draws immediate protests from Haleigh and Mike. The team draws together as a wave of uncertainty washes over them in the form of a storm that moves over the ocean and around the mansion.

The Sisterhood attacks the mansion on a multifront assault and Dominique herself sends a death apparition into the infirmary where Nicolas lays. Morningstar destroys it and the group moves together to gain more fighting room.

In the Marble pantheon of the mansion, the Six battled ferociously with the Sisterhood. The Six were hard pressed to keep themselves ahead of the Sisterhood and continue to block Isis' attempts to destroy Rampage. But just as Isis seems to be poised to strike a final blow, the RUNE that prooved exceptionally damaging to Nicolas glows and causes a transformation in Nicolas that is more than skin deep. He rises and physically molests Dominique in such a way that it draws gasps from members of the Six AND the Sisterhood! From his very body an EVIL emerges in the form of SET, the egyptian god of storms and destruction! His terrifying arrival sends the Six AND the sisterhood into overdrive as they join forces to try to stop him from capturing Morgan, Haleigh and Dominique but he, along with his SON, Nicolas overpower the teams and take their captured targets away, leaving the Six and Sisterhood raw with shock, dismay and many questions. The emergency situation prompted a truce between the two teams.

Elsewhere, Morgan, Dominique and Haleigh were held in a dark, undetermined place...struggling to find a way to free themselves, Morgan and Haleigh realize they need to work WITH Dominique, who is still unconscious at the moment. But before they can do much, SET himself appears and binds Morgan and Dominique to the wall before taking Haleigh away. He uses his power to reach deep into her mind and pull forth a hidden feeling of LOVE for Nicolas and sends her to his son, who has also be manipulated and weakend. The two young people, identifying with one another on feelings of being an outcast and misunderstood bond together, on more than one level and become physically intimate as feelings of love and passion come forth uninterrupted in both. All the while, Morgan and a newly awakened Dominique strike their truce and Dominique tells Morgan her tragic secret.

Set IS INDEED the father of Nicolas. His mother is Dominique's sister, who was not only raped by Set to conceive Nicolas but died while giving birth to him. Dominique is his vengefull aunt who blames him for his mother's death and for being the seed of this monster god who destroyed her village. Her family once enjoyed a prosperous life as did their village due to the covenant they shared with Isis, the egyptian goddess of rebirth and magick. Set, Isis' brother, had deceived Dominique's sister and tricked her into breaking the covenant and the result was her being raped and impregnanted. Dominique, then a minor sorceress, begged her sister to allow her to terminate the pregnancy, but Nicolas' mother was determined to have him and raise him in love and honor...so Dominique relented and prepped as her sister's midwife instead. The birth was tragic and fatal for Nicolas' mother and Dominique went temporarily insane , or so it seemed, as she tried to stab the infant Nicolas with a consecrated dagger only to fail two savage attempts.

From that moment until now, Dominique has lived only to bring shame and revenge upon Nicolas and/or all he holds dear.

The Six and The Sisterhood also learn of this tragic back story courtesy of Harbinger's abilities. They begin to fashion a plan to rescue their captured teammates as well as Nicolas, realizing that he is a pawn more than a villain. Spellbinder liberates herself and Isis from captivity, teleporting them to Limbo before retreiving Haleigh and Nicolas as well. Morgan is still unaware of what has happened between Haleigh and Nicolas while they were in captivity. Alison and the others return to Minerva's mansion to retrieve an item that by right belongs to Isis' current avatar, Dominique and will be the key to them defeating Set.

In Limbo, Spellbinder and Isis faced a foolish and arrogant Set, as he attempted to recapture his son. He was humiliated and driven away by the two sorceresses and they then reunited with their comrades back on AERIE where the final battle would be.

Isis, the avatar was reunited with the Sisterhood AND the Septre of Isis, an ancient talisman of power created by the goddess herself ages ago and together, the two teams began to take their place in a carefully laid plan by Harbinger.

Set arrives and begins his final deadly pass at the teams, who respond with well coordinated, to the point, powerfull attacks/defense. When it seems that Nicolas may soon given in yet again, he plays out his own strategem as he strikes down his father while others back his play. In the end, Isis and Harbinger banish set from this plane of existence, sealing him away but not before he vows to return through his son if he should be killed or vexed beyond repair.

The battle with Set ended, but the real damage was about to begin as Malice and Enchantra brutally revealed the secret that Haleigh and Nicolas had, just as Alison was about to out them herself. The team shattered in disbelief, shock and outrage as the Sisterhood took their leave. The truce was over but an agreement between Malice and Harbinger would ensure that neither side would bother the other for a while, allowing them both time to pick up the pieces left behind by this caper.

As everyone reacted to the shock of what Nicolas and Haleigh had done, Morgan's reaction was among the most explosive, as she abandonned the Six, as did Alison who was not only bitter at Nicolas from BEFORE, but was tired of Mike CONSTANTLY second guessing her. The weeks that followed were painfull for all, with Karen becoming more abusive toward everyone and even homicidal as she struggled to cope with the loss of her daughter and the new level of power she gained in the battle to keep Set from taking Morgan. Mike attempted to meet with Karen, sharing his concerns about her personal changes and how they could effect not just her but the team based on what he'd seen in the time stream during the last caper.

Ava, who blamed Nicolas solely for what happened with Haleigh, SNAPPED...the result of her never fully recovering from her ordeal in the time stream, and viciously murdered Mike. That act underscored how bad things were, with Morgan and Alison gone, Nicolas missing and now Mike dead. Karen used her new found command over the spells of the Darkhold to resurrect Mike and then proceeded to assault Persephone and threaten the lives of Ava, Haleigh and Nicolas. Sharon, Blaze and Delilah tried their best to keep things calm, but to no avail.

Hecate and Athena appeared and did their best to restore or at least STABILIZE the situation. Karen, Haleigh, Ava and even Morgan all benefited from it, while Nicolas called for and received a response from Dominique. They spoke and the avatar left him with hope for the future at least as far as his company goes and insite on his mother. She left him an heirloom of her's before leaving which helped HIM to find his center again and so he returned to Aerie.

Morgan severed all friendship with Haleigh and Nicolas as she returned to Aerie at Hecate's urging, remembering the story of Hecate's betrayal by Persephone and Hades...which was a parallel to what she'd endured with Nicolas and Haleigh. It left her with a small but definate doubt in her head about which direction to go when dealing with them.

All in all, this caper was a deeply emotional one for even as one battle was won, many others seemed lost. The team stabilized and was now poised to carry on as they had before, some relationships broken, others restored and one person having learned the horrible truth about his real origins and family ties.

 

[Spellbinder]

Chapter 18

Following the move from Aerie to Melrose Place The Six attempt to rebuild their lives back INTO the world that not so long ago wanted them dead. Thanks to carefull moves and manipulations by Harbinger and The Sisterhood, the Six were able to integrate back into society.

As the group settled into the trendy apartment complex, their own personal dramas and rifts among them began to become more pressing and problematic. This was further complicated by the arrival of the mysterious set of sisters, Claudia and Clara Zacchara. Claudia had gained residence to an apartment within Melrose Place thanks to a previous agreement she signed with Karen Victoria shortly after she and Spellbinder purchased the property.

The Six attempted to start their lives anew and while many such as Morgan, Nicolas King and Haleigh Davidoff experienced professional success, their personal strife was growing to a painfull if not dangerous level, one that Claudia Zacchara would not hesitate to exacerbate for her own twisted pleasure and selfish gain.

In a shocking blow up which saw Morgan attack Haleigh before Nicolas in turn attacked Morgan, Delilah and Sharon before damaging a significant portion of Melrose Place, Harbinger and Shadow Weaver responded to the distress of Spellbinder and appeared at the apartment to help control the situation but the damage had been done, the effects of which couldnt be imagined at this point.

A centuries old entity, a demon named Barbas was unexpectedly REVIVED from his purgatory. having originally been humiliated and defeated by Hecate and then again every 1300 years by a descendant of her bloodline, the demon of FEAR had an eternal grudge against Hecate and ANY who bore her legacy, in this case Karen and Spellbinder. He preyed on witches specifically but could also target mortals and other meta humans and now, thanks to the Six's own drama he was now ready to begin a new reign of terror slightly ahead of schedule.

While Claudia began to sew seeds of dischord fanning the flames of hostility between Nicolas and Morgan, others members of the team continued to voice their displeasure with Nicolas and Haleigh, despite the objections of Arsenal.

The start of the real nightmare began when Firebird was involved in a near fatal auto accident. When Morgan received word, she and the rest of the team, save Silver Swan rushed to the hospital and worked together to by pass security and roving eyes as they stabilized Blaze, saving her from death. Sharon on the other hand, confronted Claudia in MP. The two had a long standing feud between them as Sharon had tried her level best to bring down the Zacchara clan during her days as a Senator but was famously unsuccessfull. Something neither woman forgot.

Barbas continued to close in on the team, haunting Alison with nightmarish visions of her missing brother, Prophet which resulted in very REAL injuries to her physical body. Soon, more strange occurences began to fall on the residents of Melrose Place, even the Zaccharas were not safe from strange twists in reality and nightmarish moments that posed physical danger to them.

After a terrifying nightmare which resulted in the deaths of more than one person from both the six AND the zaccharas, Karen was able to discover the most likely candidate behind these attacks. An entry on Barbas from the Darkhold which was composed by Verna Eckert, Karen's grandmother, Morgan's great grandmother...a high priestess level witch and up to the current time, the most recenet witch in hecate's bloodline to face and defeat Barbas during his last cycle. But even with more information, that did not stop the attacks which began to brew feelings of paranoia among the residents, specifically Morgan who was in fear for her life from Nicolas after being menaced both asleep AND awake by a figure that seemed to strongly resemble Nicolas.

The Six and the Zaccharas tried desperate to hold on to some sense of control in their lives but even as the nightmare closed in on t hem, Haleigh was greeted by another "ghost"...this one was REAL, in the form of Zachary Armani, her former fiance' who once had a past relationship with Sharon Kelly. True to form, Claudia closed in on him just as she had Nicolas, attempting to use him as a source of drama against Haleigh. Even in the growing stress of the nightmare, Claudia would not show any OUTWARD signs of remorse for she too had her secrets , her vulnerability to hide. Of them all MorningStar was the LEAST affected by Barbas, or so it seemed....for her fears lie in watching her friends being assaulted and her NOT being able to do anything ABOUT and so perhaps her torture was the worst, as it was on going!

Nicolas was also suffering, feeling increasingly exiled by his own team, it got to the point that his only living relative, his aunt Dominique Deveraux made several appearences not only to protect him from Barbas but to help steady him as he struggled to survive his "not so great" moments with the team at this time.

The nightmare took a tragic turn when Arielle, a young witch who ran an apothecary on L.A.'s trendy Melrose Avenue, was befriended by Karen, Mike and Blaze following their successfull intervention against an invasion of the apothecary by a local thug. The young witch and her coven had become targets of Barbas as well who had already slain and consumed their high priestess. Barbas attacked Arielle next and although Karen and the Six arrived to try to save her, they were too late much to Karen's dismay and grief.

A confrontation between members of the Six and the Zaccharas soon followed when Blaze confronted Clara about Claudia's actions and the effect they were having on the team. the catfight that ensued was violent but short lived and ended with Morgan casting Claudia and Clara out of Melrose Place permanently.

Barbas, however, had other plans as he planned to use the Zaccharas as a much needed power boost in his campaign to take revenge on Karen and finally Morgan before consuming her and taking his place BACK on earth proper and beginning a new reign of terror.

The final evening of the nightmare, the six and the zaccharas were all transported to the astral plane to the most recent emotional/ultimate manifestation of the Six's collective fear and anxiety, the Arklay Mansion.

The Zaccharas were transported to the unusual, deadly Aqua Ring while the Six were broken up into groups of three and scattered throughout the grounds of the eerie mansion.

Through a series of harrowing situations, some utterly life t hreatening and others meant to break down sense of self, all parties involved pressed their way , not sure WHERE they were trying to go, but k nowing they had to move in order to survive. as the groups move, they find t hemselves conquering personal fears and resolving issues among themselves. Something Barbas hadnt quite counted on, the inner strength of the SPIRIT of the Six.

When the groups ended up in the dreaded arena of Arklay, they were about to square off with the Zaccharas when suddenly Prophet's whereabouts FINALLY became clear. He was here, a prisoner on the astral plane and torture victim of Barbas' the entire time.

As they struggle to free them, Barbas strikes in ernest and takes down most of t he Six before attacking Claudia reveling in stripping her to her bare fear and painfull memories. He would have gained the power he needed to destroy Karen and then Morgan but he is mometarily distracted by Arsenal, Harbinger turns the tables on him long enough for everyone to regroup.

Claudia uses more of her own unique powers as s he attacks Barbas and struggles with the centuries old demon. A struggle which she cannot win and so as the Six and the Zaccharas are forced to work together for ALL their sakes, Morgan teleports Claudia to safety even as Barbas tries to completely consume her.

As Barbas makes his final, savage pass, Spellbinder and Shadow Weaver use their magick and cast a spell to call upon their ancestors who have faced and defeated Barbas. They join forces as Hecate herself appears above them all and Barbas' form is bombarded and explodes as the souls of all those he consumed, included Karen's childhood friend Katie , also a witch AND Arielle among the many come forth into Hecate's open arms as she leads them to a life outside of this realm of existence.

Barbas is defeated, and sealed away once more for a millenium.

The Zaccharas and the Six return to reality, to Melrose Place and soon after the Zaccharas take their leave but the reluctant truce between them and the Six has brought a sort of peace between the two groups now that extends into their personal and professional lives.

Prophet is now back with the team and Persephone has returned from her self imposed exile just as Karen and Alison prepare to return to Greece and Morgan announces her sabbatical on Aerie from the team.

 

[Spellbinder]

Chapter 19

The team goes through another roster change with Silver Swan and Persephone joining the team and Spellbinder and Firebird departing. The new roster has its own "growing pains" as an increasingly resentfull Sharon finds her relationships with MorningStar and Rampage straining while she squares off against Black Widow, whom she has never been on the best of terms with since her return from the dead. Prophet has also returned to full active status with the team following his rescue from Barbas. His relationship with Haleigh is not what it once was, now that Zachary Armani has returned to Haleigh's life...and bed. Prophet soon begins to find comfort in the arms of the most unlikely person, Sharon Kelly.

Meanwhile, Alycia Barnett appears at LAX, now showing attributes of an Amazon and apparently alligned with a human rights/anti mystech group known as Terra Save. At the airport she intends to meet with and confront Senator Ron Davis over his involvement with and very public support of suspect pharmaceutical giant WilPharma, whom many believe to be either an offshoot of or a reoncstructed Mystech.

As Alycia confronts the Senator, the situation quickly disolves into one of danger and carnage as a TRUE zombie emerges and attacks one of the guards. The T Virus spreads quickly with violent and deadly results that are captured on live national television. Alycia, a survivor of the initial Mystech nightmare and Arklay Mansion, watches in horror as the very thing she is trying to stand against seems to be happening all over again and soon a commercial jet crashes into the terminal itself and its "survivors" all zombiefied begin to fall out of the plane and take over the terminal itself.

The Six arrive at LAX and are greeted by Commander Angel Miller a former officer in Alycia's "Force Works" team during her days as a federal agent and another survivor of Arklay Mansion. After the revelation that Alycia is among the survivors trapped inside the airport, She greets the Six and gives them the go ahead to get inside the terminal promising to "look the other way". THe Six make their way inside and find Alycia holding a group of survivors together. Their reunion with her is secondary as they work together to get the survivors out. Outside the terminal, Alycia knocks the senator out cold in a fit of rage and demonstrates more of the changes in her since the last time the Six saw her. The U.S. government, showing that they have learned alot from the disater of Mystech, quickly move in to deal with the bio hazards and contain the situation.

In the days following, more contact is made with Alycia by various members of the Six including Sharon, whom she has a deep, emotional conversation with as they recount their past with the six and Alycia's bitterness and Sharon's resentment towards the team. Haleigh and Delilah work to piece more information together about what happened at LAX. THey learn that Alycia has been working with "Terra Save" and attempt to speak with her about it. They find that she is cold to them but still civil enough to cooperate.

Sharon's relationship with the team continues to deteriorate with she and Delilah exchanging harsh words and she and Haleigh having a knock drag out catfight that leaves both of them injured. Of everyone at Melrose Place, only Persephone manages to keep a surprisingly objective view of the situation, able to see Sharon's issues due to her own past and origins in the MoE timeline and feeling like an "outsider" among the current time she's with.

After the personal confrontations seem to settle for one evening, NIcolas is haunted by distressing thoughts and images, distress calls from Isis, his aunt the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club. The fact that her distress is broadcasting over thousands of miles to him INSPITE of her psi screen rouses him awake to summon the others. THe Six and The Sisterhood are still enjoying a TRUCE and since Isis represents the BRIDGE between the two teams, the Six elect to go to NYC to investigate.

Upon arriving they are greeted by another violent, horrific T VIRUS outbreak, the 2nd bio terror event in less than 24 hours. They find the Sisterhood evacuating to their state of the art underground catacombs and quickly join them. Once safely below, the teams engage in bitter, toxic bicker where Malice not only reveals the current schisms among the team but the thoughts and feelings of many members of the Six hoping to promote MORE confusion among them. Delilah bravely tries to stand in the gap for her team against The Sisterhood's cruel verbal abuse and takes on more than her fair share of the burden. During this time, they are interrupted by the sudden appearence of a shadowed woman with striking green eyes. THe woman has the aspect of a derranged child in her presentation and informs them that she is not only behind these two bio terror attacks but others across t he globe and that more are to come. she ALSO hints to a past with Malice, a deep history in fact. She refers to Haleigh and Sharon as "property" she will reclaim and seems to raise many questions with her cryptic statements. After her appearence the two teams are left slightly bewildered and for the time being, they abandon their bickering to focus on the more important issue at hand.


Later that evening, Sharon, who seems oddly "at home" in the Hellfire catacombs, takes things to another level with Cameron as they sleep together. Haleigh has nightmares about the mysterious green eyed woman and her own sudden "issues" where she feels that she will give in to the virus and become a zombie herself and thus become a terrible danger to her team mates.

The following morning, Senator Ron Davis is found murdered. THe Six make their way to his office and all evidence or LACK THERE OF points to one person, Alycia Barnett. Her role in all of this is unclear but no less linkable. They ask Alycia to meet with them at a former secret base of Bishop's. During their meeting Alycia confesses to killing the senator and that she has already discovered the where abouts of WilPharma's "headquarters" , she does NOT reveal the location but states that she will go there to deal with the perpetrator herself. Further evidence of her bitterness toward the Six is painfully clear during this encounter.

They return to the Hellfire Club were more bickering is exchanged until finally Malice reveals that Haleigh is suffering from the virus' enhanced stage and could very well become a ZOMBIE sooner than anyone dared suspect. Out of dire need and desperation they strike a bargain where Malice will attempt to SAVE Haleigh if she is "turned" in exchange for their help in dealing with this female green eyed terrorist.

Malice comes forward with information about the woman's identity and her link to Mystech's founder, Dr. James Marcus as well as her OWN deep past with Mystech. With Malice's information, they are able to determine that this woman is not only Jessica Marcus, daughter of Dr. Marcus, but that she is apparently operating off of Sheena Island, a secret remote island in the pacific ocean and the last true strong hold in Mystech's legacy.

The two teams make their way to the island, where Sharon had already accompanied Alycia to the island ahead of them. They fight there way through many dangers and finally catch up with Alycia and Sharon where they are greeted with more horrors including a new breed of zombie , other creatures and technological dangers.

During their descent into the underground reaches of the Arklay Mansion replica on top of a massive mountain, they are betrayed by a seemingly murderous and hatefull Alycia as she detonates the train they are in before being ambushed by a gigantic aquatic creature and finally captured and rendered unconscious by Viper.

They awaken in the observatory where Viper reveals herself to be Jessica Marcus and that she had captured Alycia PRIOR to the LAX outbreak and implanted her with a psychic device that allowed her to be controlled by Viper. She proceeds to torture Haleigh and taunt Ava and the others. Malice attempts to render her inert with a Psycho blast but it fails due to Viper's unique physiology. While Viper attacks Malice, it buys Haleigh time to free as many of the others as she can and hopefully turn the tide but Viper prooves to be one step ahead of them all with her extreme physical powers AND genius level intellect. But her most DEADLY power is her total telepathic control over ALL the viruses engineered by Mystech!

Viper attacks Haleigh and catalyzes the T Virus within her to its final stage. Malice shield's Haleigh's mind and tries her best to HALT the final transformation into a zombie by Viper's devices turn Malice's psychic energy back upon her, knocking her out and leaving Haleigh defenseless against her transformation into a ZOMBIE. She attempts to attack the team, Persephone delays her approach and Silver Swan intercepts her, holding her back and finally knocking her out cold with the use of her sonic scream.

Isis, freed from her entrapment by Prophet, assists members of the Six AND Sisterhood with her magick, healing those in battle and protecting those who are injured or unconscious, including a badly injured Alycia whom Viper tried to use as BAIT to the zombie Haleigh after slitting her throat.

Persephone engages Viper in mortal combat during which time she severely injures Viper causing her to mutate into two powerfull, dangerous forms before Persephone herself is wounded by Viper in battle.

Isis restores Persephone while Prophet pushes his powers to the limit in an attempt to dismantle the device Viper is using to unleash the progenitor virus into the world's atmosphere. MorningStar and Persephone battle Viper , causing her to mutate into her final monstrous form before she is finally destroyed by them.

Persephone then teams up with Isis in a final effort to erradicate the virus using the power of nature and isis' own roots in LIFE AND REBIRTH to check the virus before it can take hold in the atmsophere. MorningStar destroys the structure that Prophet had damaged and brought offline, ensuring that all loose ends in Viper's plans had been destroyed.

In one final twist, a recovered Malice reveals that the woman that they THOUGHT was Alycia was infact a life model decoy, a "real as life" copy of any person that Mystech has ever encountered. Viper had used the LMD of Alycia as an emotional weapon against the team and it had worked, TOO well.

The teams stop at Minerva's Mansion where they are greeted by Harbinger and tended to by her support staff while Malice fullfills her end of the bargin and restores Haleigh's mind and consciousness, allowing Haleigh to check the T Virus in herself and restore control, effectively giving her a new lease on life. With that finished, the Sisterhood departs leaving the Six to take in all that has occurred.

Silver Swan prepares to leave Minerva's Mansion and the team. She is met by Haleigh and the two exchange words, civil words with surprising revelations and positive affirmations. Sharon departs on a truly positive note leaving behind the people who had once been such a part of her life. Haleigh, Delilah, Ava, Cameron all try to make sense of things, including the revelation of Alycia, Sharon's departure and how though they successfully stopped Viper are they truly free of the ghosts of mystech now or not.

 

[Spellbinder]

Chapter 20

While recovering from their battle with Viper at Minerva's Mansion, The Six remained in a state of transition. Silver Swan, having turned a corner in her lethal level of resentment toward the team and playing a vital role in containing the threat of Black Widow (while in zombie form) decided she needed to leave the team. In a sign hinting to better relations between herself and the team- Sharon exchanged some final thoughts with Persephone and the restored Black Widow before leaving Minerva's Aerie and the Six.

Harbinger, contacted Alycia Barnett, who was completely unaware of what had transpired. Viper's use of a "life model decoy" of Alycia was an extreme psychological weapon against the Six but now, with the truth revealed they were right where they were with Alycia the day she left Aerie for Themyscira.

MorningStar, still suffering from the burden of guilt over using lethal force to stop Bishop in Arklay Mansion and having just suffered severe verbal/emotional abuse at the hands of Malice during the last caper, lost herself in grief and guilt and committed suicide by drowning herself in the ocean.

Alison, Haleigh and Ava retrieved and attempted to revive Delilah to no avail. Ororo arrived and took Delilah leaving the Six to trust in her to do what could be done for Delilah. Alison contacted Spellbinder, who had been on sabbatical on the Isle of Aerie to inform her of the heavy losses to the team and Delilah's suicide. After Morgan's arrival and distressed reaction, she resolved to stay to be on hand to help in Delilah in anyway she could. Later Rampage, who had been spending time with Isis at the Hellfire Club to receive further training both mentally and physically, was also informed of Delilah's suicide and he too rejoined his team. The relationship between himself and Morgan was visibly healthier and on solid ground and he also saw his relationship with Haleigh in better standing too.

Delilah was revived by Ororo and although the immortal weather witch tried her best to counsel and ease the anguish of the mutant, the burden of guilt was too great on Delilah. She begged Ororo to cross a line by using her magick to "take away her guilt"- something Ororo would not do, but out of sympathy and concern, she DID send her to someone who would have no such qualms.

Delilah found herself now in another place outside of space and normal time. She was in the Parthenon of Athena standing before the massive marble statue of the Goddess of Wisdom and War. Delilah beseeched the goddess for help but feeling she must be wasting her time, she ran out of the parthenon only to charge into another goddess, Hecate, The Goddess of the Moon[Crone] & Witchcraft.

Knowing who Hecate was and her connection to Morgan, Delilah opened up inspite of herself and cried/pleaded for help yet still s he found herself uncomfortable around the goddess. Hecate wasted no time grabbing Delilah and pulling her back inside the parthenon where she offered her own spin on Ororo's device before she and Athena acted to grant Delilah her wish- "to take away her guilt" over Bishop. Hecate then returned Delilah to Earth and used her magick to calm Delilah's spirit.

Delilah's return was met with emotional relief but lingering questions. Hecate was not on hand to answer them. Haleigh and Ava took their concerns to Alison, who validated them and revealed some of what had happend to Delilah via her seer's eye. Whatever Hecate had done for Delilah, it now had set in motion a chain of events that would have wide reaching effects on them all.

Meanwhile- the mansion had been haunted and vexed by an anamoly or "poltergiest" of some kind. One that eluded all forms of detection that were represented among the Six and the mansion's own considerable technology. Even the animals on the aerie that were on the mansion grounds were reacting to the anamoly which was proof it was there but nothing the Six could do would reveal the nature of it.

The anamoly was actually a woman named Millennia aka Bianca Ceasul. The woman was actually a previously unknown survivor of the Inferno event. Though she had died at ground zero that night, the clash of extremely powerful magicks that had swallowed her, combined with the efforts of Ororo and Harbinger to reset time in that localized area had not only revived the woman, but left her "out of synch" with the recognized perception of time in this reality and thus granted her ability to "hide in plain sight". Whenever someone looked directly at her, they simply saw a statue of her and would not realize the statue was not supposed to be there. Moreover, Bianca found that she could not die...and stay dead. She would always revive.

Bianca's link to the six also included time spent with Barbara Minerva, the original mistress of Minerva's mansion and the aerie on which it rested. She herself being a cross time hopper was friends with Persephone from the MoE timeline. She laid her life down in mainstream time helping Persephone and the Six in the fight against Circe during the red moon but BEFORE that, before she had even met the Six, she had found and rescued a water logged Bianca, taken her in and nursed her back to health. Barbara was the one who not only explain to her Bianca the nature of her gifts but trained her in the arts of the hunt, espionage, trapping as well as hand to hand combat, use of a variety of weapons and firearms and other discplines the famed acheologist/warrior had mastered.

Despite Barbara's help and kidness, Bianca lightly regarded her and only remained for a short timebefore departing for parts unknown. She would not resurface unto now, as she haunted the mansion to the irritation of Alison and the distress of her friends.

During a severe storm, the mansion's security detected a life form in the stormy seas. Alison was prepared to let him die but was persuaded by a passionate Nicolas joined the rescue team in extracting the man and bringing him to the infirmary. His name was Maxim Sheremetyev.

Delilah made first contact with him but he prooved to be able to handle even her skill of interrogation. Various members of the Six tried and failed to crack his wall while he managed to sew the seeds of discontent and dischord between Delilah and the others much to their dismay.

All the while- the anamoly haunting the mansion had continued her run unchecked until finally she reached her goal- the catacombs and ultimately the Vault of the Mansion where she found her object of the hunt, The Sword of Anger. With all that was going on, Bianca managed to steal the sword and escape with no one the wiser.

Days passed and as relations between Delilah and the Six grew more strained, Alison decided it was time for the mystery man to leave. Soon, however, it was discovered by Haleigh- quite by accident- that there had been a serious security breach and that the Sword of Anger was gone. Alison locked down the mansion and was prepared to dispatch the mystery man back to America but not before mind wiping him. The man escaped, only to be found and confronted by Delilah and soon the others and taken back into the mansion where Alison brutally confronted him and then made physical contact.

At that moment, Alison had a powerfull vision/projection manifested by a mix of retro/precognition that revealed previously unseen events linked to this man- events that revealed him to actually be one of the Six's deadliest foes, Connor St. James b.k.a. Bishop!

The utter shock left the Six in various states of dismay and rage and Delilah was shattered to her core by this- yet another and quite possibly the ULTIMATE lie this man perpetrated to her. The fallout from this revelation was not unlike various episodes in the Six's recent past involving similar devastating revelations.

During questioning by Haleigh, Nicolas and Alison- Bishop revealed that why he didntknow HOW he came to be back as he was now, he knew that someone was after Delilah and her team. That the anamoly haunting the mansion and the woman he spoke of were one and the same. Moreover, she was the woman who commissioned Bishop to go after The Six and the Silver Swan out of revenge for The Six's involvement in the Inferno and Silver Swan being a "Crime against nature"

With the anamoly revealed along with her name, Alison was able to obtain more of her backstory from some of Barbara's hidden journals, learning that the woman had stayed here for a short time and knew the layout of the mansion as well as she did.

The bitterness and resentment between Morgan and Delilah over Bishop boiled over to a flash point leaving the team once more with a painful rift.
As the team, assisted by Alison struggled to pull themselves together and use the information they now had to assess their foe and form a plan, it became clear that Bianca not only behind Bishop vexing them before and the reason for him being out here now, but also that she had a score to settle with the Six and Spellbinder in particular. So much so that Alison now saw a deathglow forming around Spellbinder AND Delilah.

Back in New York, during the gala hosted by Bianca, Ava (in glamored form) gains access to the party and shadows Delilah who was now there as Bishop's guest to close in on Bianca. Morgan, Nicolas and Haleigh monitored from the Parthenon hotel. Soon however, Delilah's cover was blown as Bianca double crossed Bishop. Despite Ava's efforts Delilah was lost in the heat of battle and destruction of the mansion they were in.

Unknown to them at the moment, Bishop had managed to escape Bianca taking Delilah with him while Nicolas retrieved Ava bringing her back to the Parthenon. Delilah was now in a place as yet to be determined by her team.
She and Bishop had a very deep, dysfunctional interation before ultimately becoming intimate witwh one another that evening as they hid in a cabin in the forest. Soon, however, Bianca tracked them down and attacked once more and Bishop, in an attempt to stop her once and for all , detonated the cabin. He did not succeed, howeve, as Bianca escaped with her prisoner, Delilah.

Back at the Parthenon, a shaken Bishop returned, giving the Six more information that he managed to retrieve but then delivered the news that he'd lost Delilah and that she was quite possibly dead. This, of course, angered Morgan greatly, causing her to shake Bishop violently before throwing him down into a chair. the rest of the team did not receive it well either but Alison was hesitant to confirm Delilah's death given her own seer's intiution.

Morgan, needing a break, left the meeting and went down stairs to the main floor of the parthenon, where Dominique Deveraux happened to be performing to much fanfare that evening. She soon was notified of a message for her waiting at the front desk. It was a ransom note from Bianca in the form of an "invitaiton" to return to the scene of the Inferno's climax, the top of the Empire State building. Delilah was being held prisoner there.

Without a word to the others, and thus unwittingly bring Alison's precognition about the deathglow closer to reality, Morgan went to rescue Delilah on her own. Bishop was the next to discover the letter at the front desk, using his guile and manipulation to distract the clerk. He then followed Morgan.
Delilah, held captive on the top of the Empire State Bldg., tried reasoning with Bianca, appealing to her with compassion and an offer to get her help- magickal help. But Bianca was beside herself, bent on revenge against Morgan believing that stabbing Morgan with the sword of anger was the only way to put things right. Soon Morgan arrived and confronted Bianca, promising to unleash brutal violence upon her if she dared to interfere with her rescuing Delilah. They exchange insults, threats and things get physical.
Delilah, knowing Bianca was truly no match for Morgan appealed to her friend to cease escalating the violence before she makes the wrong choice and ultimately undoes all the progress she HERSELF had made after the Inferno. Morgan listens, HEARS Delilah's words and realizes that Bianca is not the enemy but a lost soul in need of AID and thus, ceases her threatening posture. She evades Bianca, who then is confronted by Bishop.
During their confrontation, Bianca stabs Bishop, running him through with the Sword of Anger. The blood of an "innocent" was all that was needed to cause the sword to reactivate its link to its owner, BLACK a member of the Axis of Evil fro Mystech and one of Spellbinder's deadliest mortal enemies. With bishop now dying, Morgan hurridly frees Delilah and offers to help Bianca escape if only she'll abandon the sword.

Bianca , believing the Sword is giving her it's power does not respond, only to find herself confronted by a restored Black. The monstrous creature composed of dark nega-energy takes back his sword and dispatches Bianca and then brutally assaults Spellbinder.

Alison registers the moment of the death glow consuming Spellbinder and the beginning of Black's attack on her and she and the Six RUSH to the Empire State building. Despite their frantic efforts, they are too late to save Morgan. ShadowWeaver , who already felt her daughter's cry from the otherside of the world was contacted by Nicolas and Haleigh to come and evacuate Spellbinder from the immediate danger and try to save her life. Shadow Weaver also takes the badly wounded Bishop as well.

The Six go after Black with a vengeance with Nicolas leading off the attack and Bianca, having seen that she made a massive miscalculation and having been affected by Delilah's words and Spellbinder's change of heart and apology, even lends a hand in helping to deal with Black.

Alison casts a a "fear spell" causing Persephone to become Ororo- the one person Black was unable to overpower and utterly terrified of. Persephone, as Ororo savagely attacks Black and beats him back. When he recovers the Six carry out their plan. MorningStar tricks Black with a real as life hologram of Spellbinder, Harbinger traps him within the unbreakable Crystal Cage and Black Widow uses the only known method they have to kill Black, the same one Spellbinder FIRST used on him years ago during Valiant. She burys the sword of anger DEEP into Black's back, pushing it through his chest/heart area and holding it there until Black blows apart.

Bianca informs the Six that she and her people will divert the media and "clean up" so that no one else knows what has happened. it's her own way of settling her debt to them now and while she has no sympathy for Morgan and does not take Delilah up on her offer- the words of Delilah did effect her more than she cared to admit and so as the Six finally take their leave of her (and the sword of anger with them) Bianca is left there not quite victorious but not utterly defeated either.

At Minerva's mansion, Firebird has also returned from Aerie to be by Morgan's side as Karen and the medical team work round the clock to try to save her. The team returns and while they all wait in the observation pod of Morgan's room, Delilah goes down to see her best friend and is confronted by Karen who agressively questions her actions, her motives and where her loyalties lie.

Delilah, having truly had an epiphany and recentered herself, answers Karen with truth and honesty -

"You asked whose side I’m on? I’m on MORGAN’S side. I’ve always been on her side, on this team’s side. I didn’t show it in the right way, and for that I’m sorry. I understand now that sometimes we have to do things for the greater good, things we don’t necessarily want to. I understand now that our powers mean we do play by different rules. BUT I won’t let my friends lose their humanity by it!

When she satisfies Karen's demand for answers, the doctor lets her pass and she has a tearfull, heartfelt moment with Morgan, who lies in a coma but can apparently still hear.

Soon after, Delilah and the Six find themselves at a true momenet of recovery and redemption as the rift between them is repaired and their united front is solidified once more and in a stunning rebuke to Bishop, Delilah rejects him in a most unmistakeable way.

The moment of reunion and victory is short lived, as Morgan's vitals crash and despite the efforts of her mother and the medical staff, she dies. The Six are devastated but even as the emotions sweep over them, Shadow Weaver, broken by her own grief and guilt, prepares to sacrifice her own life to bring her daughter back via the forbidden necromancy spell- the same one she used to revive Michael Armstrong and ultimately catalyzed her transformation into "Shadow Weaver." She blocks the Six from trying to reach her as she begins igniting the spell. Alison and Nicolas prepare to mount a desperate attempt to break through her barrier to stop her even as Delilah states they should LET her go through with the spell.

At the last moment, Hecate appears, stopping Karen and putting her and an emotionally distraught Firebird to sleep as well as bringing the Six down into the room with her and Morgan. The Goddess of Witchcraft brings calm and reveals that Ororo acted quickly to save Morgan's soul from completely departing this realm of existence while Isis, the egyptian goddess of rebirth and magick along with Nut, the egyptian goddess of the sky (both Nicolas' ancestors/relatives) CAPTURED BLACK and presented him to Hecate for final retribution!

With the Six bearing witness to this solidarity among dieties from different generations and cultures, Hecate condemns Black for harming that which SHE has created and DESTROYS him utterly from all time and space. Ororo then releases Morgan's soul back to Hecate, who in turn restores Morgan's physical body, purging it of all poison and damage caused by Black and then reuniting her soul with her body.

With Morgan revived and alive, Hecate thanks Isis, Nut & Ororo for their help and turns her attention to the others.

Bishop- who bore witness to all of this himself and even tried to stop Delilah from interferring with Alison attempting to stop Karen from killing herself [at peril of his own life] steps forward and asks Hecate why she resurrected him.

The goddess takes the opportunity to mock and humiliate him in front of everyone but he remains strong and defiant. Hecate finally reveals that his resurrection, while at her hand was most certainly not HER personal choice of manifestation for Delilah's request. It turned out that both he AND Delilah were bewitched by a curse, one that followed them through a dozen life times and began in a most ancient time and place on earth, the Akkadian Empire, an age when literacy was at its infancy. Delilah and Bishop existed then as Divya- a servant in the king's palace and Kunar- a soldier in the palace guard. Young and in love, the two were doomed when Divya rejected the affections and advances of the high priest Enkil. They are soon caught and sentenced to death by the king. Before the two star crossed lovers could escape together, Enkil put a curse on them damning them to always find each other in any lifetime that they live and always be predestined to betray and murder one another.

The details of this brought tremendous insight and evoked sympathy for Delilah from those of the Six who were conscious to hear it. It explained so much about them and why Delilah had went to him before during the last time they crossed swords with Bishop and why he was alive again now. Bishop, now at the end of his rope, began to display agitation and hostility toward Hecate, who continued to mock him. She freezes him and then delievers the ultimate bombshell to Delilah and the Six. Delilah was now carrying Bishop's seed in her. She was pregnant.

The Six were stunned and Delilah nearly faint as Hecate offered her a chance and choice to break the curse and set herself free of him forever but at a cost. The amount of power required to break this spell would cause her to lose the forming lifeforce inside of her that would become her child. Despite it being the earliest stages/signs - Delilah simply could not bring herself to make such a choice or even entertain the idea, despite Alison's urging while Nicolas offered a fair counterpoint, using his own circumstances and how his mother chose to keep him despite his dreaded parentage.

Hecate, never one to spend too much time with today's "mortals", did not entertain the idea of giving Delilah time to decide, despite Nicolas and Alison beseeching her for consideration, and she departed, leaving Delilah with a vague but no less telling warning of the error of her slow and ultimate indecision. Bishop was released from temporal stasis after Hecate's departure.

Delilah called on her team for complete silence and secrecy from Bishop about the pregnancy and they immediately agreed and as he asked if the curse was broken, Delilah lied saying it was and quickly exited the infirmary. Bishop intended to follow but was stopped by Alison, who informed him that his involvement in all of this was over now that the curse was broken and that his time at Minerva's Mansion was at an end.

Alison and Nicolas make arrangements for him in Greece and provide him with safe passage off of Minerva's Aerie to Greece mainland and as he leaves into the night, Alison looks at Nicolas, both knowing that they and the rest of the team just participated in perhaps the biggest and possibly deadliest COVER UP the team had seen to date...all in the name of helping their team mate, their friend, family- Delilah Trelevan.