“This blows,” Chrome exclaimed. He looked at Glamour Girl and Deadbeat with the jealously clear in his eyes. “It’s not fair that you two get to go fight the bad guys, while the rest of us are stuck back here, sitting on our asses and twiddling our thumbs…”

“I don’t like it either,” Nike stated grimly. “But we will get our opportunity…”

Zero Kay quickly added, “Once the barrier is down, the rest of us can go in. Until then, we have to be patient…”

“You’re welcome to go in my place,” Deadbeat said, not looking any happier than anyone else was. She took a swig of her beer and grumbled, “Why couldn’t this have happened when I had a guy’s body?”

Julie just stood back, remaining silent as the rest of her team grumbled and complained about how things had been set up. Then she saw the White Knight and the Face move up to the front of the group again, obviously about to say something. She cleared her throat to get her team’s attention, and when that didn’t work, she snapped, “Guys…”

“There are five pillars that are keeping the barrier in place,” the Face announced. “We have to destroy all five in order to remove the barrier, because even a single pillar is capable of maintaining it…at least for a time. Because of that, we have assigned five teams, and each will be responsible for dealing with one of those pillars.”

The White Knight slowly looked around, focusing his attention on those who were about to go through the barrier in order to perform the task. “Needless to say, each of these pillars is guarded by one of the five villains…”

“What about Baron Nevermore?” Shiver asked. “Isn’t he the primary threat?”

“Yes, he is,” the Face responded. “Unfortunately, we don’t currently know where he is. At the moment, our best strategy is to remove the barrier so that the rest us can go in and deal with Baron Nevermore and any of the other remaining threats.”

“I still think I should be on the Force team,” Lady Knight loudly complained to her father. “I mean, I beat him once before, and I can do it again…”

The White Knight put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a worried look. “But he knows you can defeat him that way, and he won’t let you get close enough to try it again. And even worse, he now has a personal grudge against you for the way you humiliated you. If he saw you, he’d go after you with everything he had…”

“And going after Loki is any safer?” she pointed out wryly.

The White Knight winced at that, looking even more worried. “I don’t like you going after him either. If it was up to me, I’d send you home where it was safe, but unfortunately, we need you too much. Remember, don’t take any risks. As soon as Loki is within range, use your mind control and take him out of action. He doesn’t know about you, so that gives you the element of surprise. Use it.”

“Will do,” Lady Knight said, giving her dad a hug. A moment later, Figment came up and gave her a hug as well while the rest of Knight Force gave her advice and reassurances.

Julie looked to her own teammates, Glamour Girl and Deadbeat, who would also be passing through the barrier. She still had a hard time believing that Glamour Girl was really a guy. Then again, that would certainly explain a few things about her and the odd gaps in her knowledge that occasionally came up.

“I’ve been thinking,” Julie announced, stepping forward. She looked to the Face and the White Knight and said, “If I’m channeling a male spirit, I just might be able to get through…”

“You’re more than welcome to come,” Glamour Girl said with a smile. “The more the merrier…”

“Fuck yeah,” Deadbeat agreed. “The Slackers took down Nevermore, so our team can take down this Scepter chick, no problem.”

“Actually,” another voice announced. “I’ll be joining the Scepter team…”

Julie was surprised to see Agent Briggs coming towards them, but she was no longer wearing her nice suit. Instead, she was wearing a black and green costume that looked more like sleek and lightweight armor than straight out spandex. Then, as if to show off, or perhaps demonstrate that the costume wasn’t just for show, she held out her hand, which began to glow green for several seconds.

“That’s a Sanction uniform,” Icarus commented, giving Agent Briggs a curious look.

Julie stared at Briggs in even greater surprise. She’d heard of Sanction, a team of developed that worked for the Developed Affairs Department. From what she’d heard, Sanction was part hero group and part SWAT team, created to not only go after villains, but also rogue heroes.

“It is,” Briggs responded evenly.

Suddenly, Shiver blurted out, “You’re Toxic…”

Briggs scowled at that, fixed him with a steady look and stated, “The real Toxic died a slow and excruciating death several months ago. However, I did use her identity to infiltrate the Black Guild. In fact, that’s why I’m going after Scepter. I have some familiarity with Circuit Monger from my time with the Black Guild, but I need to see the Scepter with my own eyes. I need to see if this is a new Scepter, or if the old one has come back the same way Baron Nevermore has.”

Julie noticed that Mystik was the only one who wasn’t surprised by Briggs’ revelation. “You knew who she was,” Julie exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Mystik responded with a shrug.

“We’ve worked together before,” Briggs explained with a wry smile. She gave Mystik a knowing look, then quickly looked around. “For the purpose of this mission, you can call me…Poison. Yes, I think that will be an appropriate name.”

“Better than Agent Orange,” Mystik joked, looking just a little uneasy.

The Face looked at her and said, “You do remember that there are limitations on who can pass through the barrier.”

“I qualify,” Briggs…Poison stated with a scowl, making it perfectly clear that she was going, and that there was no point arguing with her.

Kaboom looked at Julie and said, “If you can get through the barrier, you’re welcome to join our team.”

“Sure,” Lady Knight agreed with a weak smile. “We’d be happy to have your help.”

The White Knight nodded at that. “That sounds good then.”

Julie gave a nervous smile, then glanced back to the rest of the Slackers, who would remain behind. “First, I’d better find out if I really can or not.”

With that, Julie gave a mental call for help, and almost immediately felt several spirits respond. One of them was not only male, but felt familiar. She’d channeled him before, so reached out to that one and pulled him into her body while she slipped back to make room.

As the spirit took control of Julie’s body, her posture changed while her uniform shimmered and transformed. A second later, her body was dressed in a red and white costume that bore little resemblance to the one she had previously been wearing. Along with the new costume, a sword suddenly appeared in her hand, one with a crimson blade.

“I am Red Blade,” the spirit announced from Julie’s mouth. And though he was using her voice, the tone was noticeably different. “I will assist however I am able.”

“Red Blade,” the Face exclaimed in obvious recognition. “It’s been a long time.”

“That it has,” Red Blade agreed with a smile. “But I’m afraid we don’t have time for reunions.”

Red Blade gave a brief salute with her sword, then turned and walked straight toward the barrier…and then through it. A moment later, everyone else who could, followed right behind her.

--------------------

Gwen reached up and held onto her Witch Girl hat so that the wind didn’t blow it off. She knew that the witch hat was a bit silly, and it came off far too easily in a fight, but it was all part of her image. An image that she’d inherited from her mother.

Not for the first time, Gwen wished that she could teleport the way her dad could, because that would have made it much easier to get to their assigned obelisk. However, she’d inherited her magic from her mom, not from him, so her powers and abilities were quite different than his.

Since Gwen couldn’t simply teleport her assigned team to the obelisk, she’d been forced to find a different means of travel. Fortunately, she had a spell that she’d been working on for the last couple months, and it was nearly perfect for what she needed. At the moment, she was standing atop a small cloud, one which she was riding as if it was some kind of magic carpet. It was odd looking, and more than a little unnerving to ride since there were no walls or seatbelts, but it took her to where she needed to go, and that was what mattered.

Gwen glanced over at her two companions, Alleycat and Mannequin, who rode on the cloud beside her. Alleycat, or Anne, as she was called outside of costume, was one of her teammates in Faction Zero, and one of her friends. Anne had been there after she’d changed, helping her to learn about being a girl, and convincing her that she wasn’t alone. That she wasn’t the only person to ever go through something like that. And though she’d met Mannequin a couple times since joining Faction Zero, she’d had no idea that the blonde woman had once been a guy as well.

“I can’t believe it,” Gwen finally said, looking at Alleycat but glancing to Mannequin. “I mean, how many of us there are… I thought we were the only ones…”

“Yeah,” Alleycat agreed with a scowl. “When I first changed, I thought I was the only one. Now, it must be some kind of weird fad or something, because it looks like everyone is doing it…”

Mannequin chuckled. “I know exactly what you mean. This whole thing is pretty damn weird.” She gave Gwen and Alleycat each a curious look, then shrugged. “I used to drive a rig, until I had a pretty bad accident. Fortunately…or unfortunately…depending on your point of view, it was pretty close to where a couple mad scientists were working. The next thing I know, I wake up with my brains stuffed inside this fembot…”

“Fembot?” Gwen asked in surprise, looking Mannequin over.

“Yeah,” Mannequin responded with a shrug. “I’m a synthoid, or at least my body is. Hell, before Doctor Power fixed me up with more realistic looking skin, I actually did look like a Mannequin…”

“Ouch,” Gwen responded. She’d heard that Mannequin originally had some kind of plastic looking skin, and that she had looked like a Mannequin, but she’d never really seen her like that. It was hard to imagine, and a little creepy to think about.

“What’s your story?” Mannequin asked.

Gwen gave a pained smile as she answered, “My mom was Ms. Witch and when she died, I inherited her powers. This…” She gestured down at herself, “is a side effect.”

“I had a bum ticker,” Alleycat said a moment later. “When I got a transplant, there was some kind of fuck up, and I somehow ended up getting a heart that used belong to Wildcat. Apparently, her powers were in every cell of her body, because it infected me with her DNA and turned me into her clone.”

Gwen nodded at that, having heard Alleycat’s story before. “I wonder how everyone else changed…”

“You can ask them when we’re done,” Alleycat said. “Right now, we’ve got a job to do…”

Gwen didn’t need to see the direction that Alleycat was pointing, to know that they had arrived. A short distance ahead, she could make out an obelisk, right in the middle of an intersection. As they got closer, she could tell that it was made of black stone and that it was about forty feet tall. All in all, the sight of it sent chills down her spine. She could feel the dark magic radiating out of the thing, and that feeling reminded her far too much of her sister Carolynn.

“People,” Mannequin stated, pointing down at the street.

Gwen immediately saw what she meant. The street around the obelisk was filled with people, dozens of them, perhaps as many as a hundred. Gwen wasn’t about to count them to find out. At the moment, they all seemed to be sitting there or sleeping, and the only way she could tell they were alive at all was that a few occasionally moved.

“Are they all stoned?” Alleycat asked in surprise.

Gwen looked around the neighboring buildings and cars, many of which were smashed or burned. From what she could see, it looked like there had been some kind of riot, but now, all those people were sleeping it off. It confused her at first, until she remembered what she’d been warned of.

“This Sinner is supposed to be guarding this thing,” Gwen said, feeling a little self-conscious because she didn’t want to be wrong and look stupid. However, she was pretty sure that she was right. “I think they’re all being affected with sloth.”

“That sounds about right,” Mannequin agreed.

Alleycat nodded. “Either that, or they had a big orgy and are all sleeping it off…” However, since most of the people were clothed, Gwen doubted that, though the idea made her blush.

“I’m taking us down,” Gwen announced, willing the cloud to land.

As soon as it touched the ground, it faded away, leaving the three of them in the middle of the street. She let out a sigh of relief, realizing that she’d used up far more magic with that trick than she’d expected. Now, she would have to be a lot more careful with what she had left.

“All we have to do is destroy that thing,” Gwen said, pointing to the obelisk.

“That shouldn’t be too hard, with all these people napping like this,” Alleycat pointed out with a smirk.

Suddenly, a woman’s voice called out, “Did you really think it was going to be that easy?”

A woman stepped into view, and Gwen could immediately see that she was gorgeous, with a very nice body. She was wearing a tight black leather catsuit, which showed off every curve. However, the long crimson coat that she wore on top of it, obscured the view and spoiled the effect.

“The Sinner,” Alleycat stated grimly.

“You’ve heard of me?” the Sinner responded with a look of delight. “Good. I do so love to revel in a bit of pride and vanity…”

“This is pretty convenient,” Alleycat said, smirking as she took several steps towards the Sinner. “I figured we’d have to go looking for you…”

“Time to get up, you lazy losers,” the Sinner called out with a sneer. “I let you rest and recharge long enough…”

Before she’d even finished speaking, all the people who were sprawled out along the street and sidewalks began to get up. “Please,” one woman cried out with a desperate, almost haunted look in her eyes. “Let me go…” Suddenly, the woman’s expression changed and there was an almost hungry look on her face as well.

“These…heroes,” the Sinner announced, spitting out the word ‘heroes’ almost as if it was a profanity, “have developed powers. It is so unfair that they have powers and you don’t…”

“I want powers,” exclaimed the woman who’d just been begging a couple seconds earlier. “Give them to me…”

The woman suddenly charged straight at Mannequin, while the rest of the newly active crowd exploded into movement. Gwen let out a gasp of surprise as a wave of people began rushing towards them, their expressions all radiating greed, envy, or mindless rage.

“Look out,” Alleycat yelled, an instant before she was surrounded by people who were trying to desperately grab at her. She flailed out, punching and kicking the people back, though Gwen noticed that she wasn’t using her claws. After all, these people weren’t the enemy. They were the Sinner’s victims.

“Leepsay,” Gwen called out, holding out her hands and pushing out the magic which caused half a dozen people to collapse to the ground, sound asleep. However, other people charged right over them, practically trampling them. She desperately backed away, trying again, “LEEPSAY.” This time, she hit people at the edges of the crowed, who were less likely to get run over once they were no longer moving.

Mannequin was strong and tough, and was casually tossing people away from herself, though she appeared to be holding back. “Damn,” she exclaimed, looking frustrated.

The Sinner had vanished from sight, disappearing into the crowd, though her laughter could still be heard. “You heroes disgust me,” her voice called out. “So self-righteous and hypocritical…”

“Come on out here so I can kick your ass,” Alleycat demanded, pausing only a moment before returning to her desperate fight with the crowd.

“I don’t think that would work out well for me,” the Sinner responded. “I think I’ll just stay back and let these innocent bystanders tear you apart. That should be entertaining…”

“Luegay,” Gwen exclaimed, and suddenly a dozen of her desperate attackers became frozen in place, with their feet not coming free of the pavement. “Allway,” she added a moment later, creating a glowing wall of energy in front of her, which kept anyone from coming at her head on.

“Howe the hell are we supposed to beat that superfreak bitch if we can’t even see her?” Alleycat demanded in frustration. “And when we’ve got to deal with these assholes…”

“It’s like being stuck in a zombie movie,” Mannequin agreed, throwing a man into the middle of a group and knocking them all over.

Shouts of “Give me,” and “Mine,” kept coming from the crowd, which Gwen supposed was better than having them chant, “Brains.”

Gwen looked around frantically, trying to see the Sinner, as well as figure out how to deal with this crowed. So far, about the only thing she was doing was picking them off a couple at a time, and using up all her magic. If she ran out, she was helpless. Then, as she looked around, she saw the black obelisk and gasped in realization.

“We don’t have to beat the Sinner,” Gwen called out to her. “We only need to take down the obelisk…”

“Good thinking,” Alleycat agreed.

Gwen took a deep breath, gathered her magic, and yelled, “Attershay,” unleashing her spell at the obelisk. The stone suddenly began to crack and shatter, but not enough to destroy it. She was too far away and couldn’t put enough power into the spell. “I guess I’ll have to try it again…”

Before Gwen could cast the spell for a second time, the Sinner stepped out of the crowd. She actually stopped to give a sexy pose, commenting, “I’m afraid, I can’t let you do that, little girl…”

“That’s Witch Girl,” Gwen corrected the villain, right before shouting, “Irefay,” and unleashing one of her favorite spells, a fireball which flew right at the Sinner. Unfortunately, the Sinner jumped to the side and managed to avoid being hit. And even worse, there was a scream of pain from the man who’d been standing behind her, and who was now engulfed in flames. Gwen gasped in horror. “Oh my God…”

The Sinner just laughed. “This party was definitely worth coming back to the dead for.” Then she stepped back into the crowd, using the civilians as a shield. “Now, to turn this into a real party... An orgy.”

Gwen had barely absorbed what the Sinner said, when she suddenly felt it…an unbearable horniness. Her groin…her breasts…her entire body ached to be touched. She felt a burning, desperate, and primal need for sex.

Lady Knight had warned her that the old Sinner could do this and that the new one might be able to as well, but Gwen hadn’t been concerned. After all, she had a spell that could protect her from mental influence, though she was now so distracted by her need for sex, that there was no way she could focus on using it.

Without any conscious thought, Gwen grabbed the nearest person, a middle-aged woman who was old enough to be her mother, and began to kiss her and tear off her clothes. At the moment, Gwen didn’t care who she had sex with, as long as she had sex. The woman responded with an equal level of frantic desperation.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Mannequin yelled, suddenly yanking Gwen away from the other woman. She shoved Gwen back, though Gwen immediately ran for the next person she saw, Alleycat. “Stop that you two… Focus.”

Gwen completely ignored Mannequin, at least until the blonde woman grabbed her gain, then she became the next target for Gwen’s desires. As Gwen was pushed back and held at a distance, a part of her realized that Mannequin was somehow immune…much to her great disappointment. That was probably due to Mannequin being some kind of android, but she didn’t care.

The Sinner’s cruel laugher filled the air. “I do so love to see such fine upstanding heroes like yourselves, cutting loose and enjoying yourselves…”

“Let them go, you sick bitch,” Mannequin exclaimed, holding her hand out and firing blast of energy from her palm. The blast nearly hit the Sinner, who was now exposed since those people she had been hiding behind, where now sprawled out on the ground, frantically kissing, groping, and removing their clothes so that they could do more. Still, the villainess moved faster than Mannequin had expected, and soon found cover again.

“So, you’re the ultimate prude,” the Sinner taunted Mannequin. “If lust doesn’t work for you, perhaps something else. What is your defining sin? Pride? Anger?”

Mannequin didn’t respond to her taunting, at least not verbally. Instead, she held both of her arms out, and suddenly, her forearms split open and small weapon systems emerged. A second later, six tiny missiles, each the size of a large marble, were fired out. The Sinner dove for cover, though it quickly became obvious that the weapons hadn’t been aimed at her. All six missiles hit the side of the obelisk, exploding and creating large holes in the stone.

“As much as you need to be taken down,” Mannequin announced. “You aren’t our first priority.”

“No,” the Sinner exclaimed, staring at the shattered and crumbling obelisk with a mixture of rage and fear. “Nevermore will be furious…”

“Good,” Mannequin responded, closing her forearms back up again, then firing multiple blasts of energy at the obelisk from her hands. The stone crashed to the ground, becoming nothing more than a pile of rubble.

Since the Obelisk had been destroyed, Mannequin turned her attention back to their secondary priority, the Sinner. However, the Sinner ran back into the crowd, which suddenly lost interest in sex, and instead launched into a violent frenzy. As what had been the beginnings of an orgy transformed into a riot, Mannequin turned, grabbed Gwen and Alleycat, flung each of them over a shoulder, and then ran the other direction.

Once Mannequin was far enough away, and Gwen and Alleycat had calmed down, she carefully set them on the ground and asked, “How are you feeling?”

“Oh my God,” Gwen exclaimed, turning bright red and being unable to look at Alleycat, whom she’d been kissing and trying to undress a short time earlier.

“Pissed off,” Alleycat responded with a scowl, glaring back in the direction they’d come.

Gwen gulped, then asked, “What now?” She looked at Mannequin. “You blew up that pillar, so our mission is done…”

“Maybe,” Alleycat said. “But I don’t like the idea of letting that bitch run loose…” She looked at Gwen and Mannequin. “You saw what she did to those people…”

“Me either,” Mannequin admitted. “We were supposed to blow the obelisk and go back, but I’m fine with staying to deal with the Sinner if you two are.”

“I’m in,” Alleycat immediately stated, looking to Gwen.

Gwen winced, thinking about how easily the Sinner had taken control of her…and made her feel those things. “I…I have a spell that might protect us from her,” she admitted, giving a self-conscious smile. “I was a little too distracted to use it before, but if I use it before she hits us with anything else…”

“And if it doesn’t work,” Mannequin added with a grim smile, “I seem to be immune, so should be able to deal with her.”

Alleycat nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe, you should deal with the Sinner, while we deal with anyone she has under control.”

Gwen nodded her agreement while Mannequin said, “Sounds good to me.”

Then Gwen looked back in the direction they’d come, seeing the violent rioting that was occurring just down the street. She had no doubt that the Sinner was using the chaos as a distraction while she escaped, since without the obelisk to guard, she no longer had any reason to remain.

“She…reminds me a bit of Carolynn,” Gwen admitted with a slightly shaky voice.

Alleycat put a gentle hand on Gwen’s shoulder and nodded her understanding. “I can see that.”

Mannequin just gave her a curious look, obviously not knowing about her sister. Carolynn had been Gwen’s older sister, but she’d embraced a dark and twisted form of magic, had murdered their mother, and had then become a villain called Ms. Bitch. As it was, Gwen was suddenly thankful that Baron Nevermore hadn’t recruited Carolynn the way he had these other villains.

Then with a deep scowl, Gwen wiped off her uniform, adjusted her witch hat, which by some miracle, had not been lost the earlier chaos, and announced, “Let’s go find that bitch and stop her.”