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Chapter 3: Empowered

The Greenboard Bistro had turned out to be an excellent venue for the girls to have eaten at. They sat at a small table together, ate soup and sandwiches, then had lattes while they watched all of the other patrons in the establishment. After deciding to take a quick tour of the city before they would head back to their room, the pair left the restaurant and walked the streets to take in the sites. Shade eventually discovered that they were in this world's Seattle, Washington and it was Autumn, just as it had been back home. The air was getting cooler as the sun began going down and evening set in. Shade was beginning to feel the cold, so the pair decided to head back to the room. They were about eighteen or nineteen blocks away from the Hilton, and while not especially far, the winding roads and avenues made it a much longer walk.

Leaving the main thoroughfare and taking some of the side streets, the girls strolled passed a number of apartment buildings. Without warning, the entry door to the nearest apartment exploded outward in a gout of flames. Cals’tha threw her arms up to shield her face as shrapnel streaked by and the explosion pushed her into Shade, leaving them both on the ground in a heap. Opening her eyes, the Drow saw she had reflexively created a shield out of ice to deflect most of the blast’s energy. She would have spent more time pondering this development if Shade was not lying beneath her, struggling to get up.

“Cal, can you get off of me? Please,” Shade asked, sounding more than a little stressed. "You are a lot heavier than you look."

Cals’tha immediately got to her feet and turned to help Shade stand. “I’m sorry. I just-“ She stopped mid-sentence as a bright bolt of energy tore through the night air, bathing the street in a reddish light before it struck the sidewalk nearby with a violent explosive crack a few feet away.

Shade looked up at the apartment building the door had exploded out from. She noticed the blast had originated on the second floor, glass from the window still cascading down into the street. Pointing, she turned to Cals’tha. “Look up there! Something’s going on,” she said, somehow seeming more excited than the Drow could remember seeing her in some time.

“Yeah, and? We should get out of here,” Cals’tha stated plainly as she turned to walk in the opposite direction. “This isn’t our business.”

With a firm grip, the taller woman stopped her friend. “No. We have been given a gift and we should use it.” She turned to look down at Cals’tha with her dark eyes. “Don’t you see? The Witch has given us a chance to do something – I mean truly do something and give our lives meaning,” she said passionately. Lifting her hand to point up at the building, Shade continued on, “This, right now, is it.” Shade, at least as a character, had always been eager for a fight. It seemed that had not changed. Or perhaps it was more true that it had become a new reality.

Cals'tha, however, felt more than a little hesitant. She was only just beginning to scratch the surface of what it meant to be Cals'tha, endowed with an exotic body many would kill for as opposed to being the fat slob she had been as Matt. She had no desire to risk losing this new life. "What if we just end up giving our lives, minus the meaning part? There's something really heavy going on in there, Shade," the blue-gray skinned Drow protested. "Look at us! We don't even know how to use our abilities! They just seem to react to us reflexively!"

"Exactly!" Shade exclaimed. "They are a reflex, just like flinching whenever a bully is about to swing at you, or the way you jerk back a hand when you touch something hot," she said with an almost zeal-like tone to her voice. "I don't know how I know - I just do," she explained. Placing her hands on the shoulders of the much shorter Cals'tha, Shade declared, "We can do this. We have been through worse before." With that, she turned and walked purposefully toward the blown-out entrance to the apartment building, where things had quieted down.

Looking nonplussed, Cals'tha shouted after her friend, "Been through worse?! Are you insane?! That was a game!" Realizing her friend would not be deterred, the Drow gritted her teeth and set off after Shade, cursing under her breath, "Jesus Buddha effin' Christ, this is stupid!" She wanted nothing more than to get back to the room and spend some time in the spa tub, but Cals'tha felt inextricably compelled to stay near Shade.

Catching up with Shade, Cals'tha followed her friend into the building. The large doorway and much of the surrounding masonry had been blown out, leaving a gaping hole in the face of the building. On the interior, there was a narrow foyer that housed a bank of mailboxes on the right hand wall. Just beyond that point was the beginning of the stairwell. The first landing was only five steps up before the stairs twisted up out of sight, continuing on to the next floor. The entire foyer area was charred from the earlier blast, burnt envelopes from the destroyed mail boxes strewn all over the tiled floor. A charred body was lying just inside the entrance, the smell overwhelming. Cals'tha knew she should have been more uncomfortable with the scene, yet it somehow managed to barely bother her.

With a sharp tug, Shade pulled Cals'tha onward and she obediently followed her friend up the stairs. The building had seven floors, but most of the commotion had been on the second. Stepping off of the second floor landing, the girls were surprised to find the dimly lit hallway was silent. There were not many doors; one straight off of the landing and two in each direction from there, left or right. One of the doors to the left appeared to be ajar and as the girls cautiously approached, they could hear a low, raspy voice speaking.

"-aware. I have them both subdued, though they deserve worse. Get here before I change my mind. Awaiting extraction - and send a containment team." The voice grew silent and a static-filled reply answered it from a radio, but neither girl could make out the words.

"Whoever that is in there has hostages and he might kill them if the people he is waiting on don’t show up," Cals'tha whispered harshly. "He will probably kill them if he sees us! Maybe we should call the cops..."

Shade did not even seem to hear Cals'tha's suggestion, instead saying, "Remember how we used to run those hostage dailies all the time when we got an office building scenario?"

With furrowed brows, the Drow replied, "Of course I do. I aggroed, you teleported in behind the kidnappers and we closed them in a vice." She thought for a moment and then whispered angrily, "Are you seriously suggesting we do that here?"

"Shh!" Shade admonished. "Yes, I am. Look, just use the emotions you are feeling and focus them to use your powers. The situation may be different, but you have done this a thousand times." Shade smiled. She smiled an actual, genuinely encouraging smile. That was a first for her. Cals’tha knew her friend had been borderline suicidal for years, but this was a new level of unhinged.

"How can you be so certain that it will work?" Cals'tha asked, incredulous.

Shade's only response was, "I just feel it to be true. Trust me."

For the first time since finding themselves in this world, Cals'tha reached inward and attempted to manifest her powers intentionally. The air grew colder and a long bladed sword of jagged ice appeared in her hands. She was taken aback. It was far easier than the Drow had ever thought it would be. She immediately created a small short sword for her off hand, marveling at this power she possessed. It was almost as easy as breathing.

"Beautiful," Shade said with a smile. "Now let's go say hello and see if we can't talk this guy down without any violence. Whatever happens, we need to help those people."

"Okay... Alright," Cals'tha replied. "I can do this."

"And Cal, if it looks like things will go south, do not hesitate to defend yourself," Shade added with concern.

Nodding once, Cals'tha darted for the open apartment. She felt her courage growing, as though this were just another mission from the game. Taking a deep breath, she turned and stepped purposefully through the doorway - and stopped cold. A woman and a man were lying on the floor, physically beaten and tightly bound with some kind of cord. The man was dark skinned and tall, wearing jeans and a dark jacket. The woman was about as short as Cals’tha and looked to be a teenager. Her blue eyes seemed at odds with the auburn hair framing her face. What got her attention, however, was the creature standing over them; a tall skeleton enshrouded with a baleful green fire. Its empty eye sockets turned to regard the intruder. The undead creature spoke without moving its lipless mouth, "What are you doing here? Leave this place. You have no authority here." He turned and took a threatening step toward Cals'tha.

"I am only going to ask this once: Let them go, monster," the Drow demanded, holding both weapons at the ready, “otherwise I will send you back to the Hell you came from.”

In the blink of an eye, the skeleton was on Cals'tha, grabbing her wrists in vice-like grips. The green fire surrounding him burned the Drow without leaving a mark on her skin. She let out an involuntary shriek of pain. "No, girl. I do not know what you are thinking, threatening me, but you always were arrogant. This is what befalls all who dare defy th-" Its gloating admonishment was cut short as it reared back in pain, mouth open in a wordless screech. It was then that Cals'tha saw her friend had appeared behind the creature, sticking daggers of pure darkness into the thing’s hollow ribs. The grip it held on the Drow's wrists, however, remained firm.

Dropping her weapons, Cals'tha grasped the creature’s boney forearms, fear and anger making her impulsive. The air in the room grew cold and a thick hoarfrost began to form along the bones of the skeleton's arms. The green fire surrounding the creature began to flicker and dim as Shade drew away the monster's energy through the wounds her daggers created as his body became entombed in the deadly frost. "No," Cals'tha began, "It is you who will know what it means to defy me! Attacking a Drow priestess was the last mistake you shall ever commit." With the last utterance of her declaration, Cals'tha roared and brought her arms together causing the skeletal creature to collapse into a pile of bones.

The girls stood over the shattered remains of the once-living skeleton for a long few moments, staring at its broken remains. Almost simultaneously, the pair looked up and met one another's wide-eyed stares. They both smiled. "See? I told you. We can do this," Shade pointed out, excitedly.

With a firm nod, Cals'tha agreed, "You were right. It was so easy, and using my power makes me feel... I don't know. Strong. Invincible."

"Unstoppable," Shade added. "We are unstoppable."

"Yeah, but it's odd... I think that thing knew me, some-" Cals'tha began before a girl's voice interrupted.

"Um, hello?" the bound girl asked. Shade and Cals'tha turned in the direction of the voice, suddenly remembering the two hostages on the floor. The man was watching the victorious duo uncertainly, but the girl spoke up once more, "Would you guys mind untying us, please? We would really appreciate it."

"Of course," Cals'tha said, but before she could move to untie the pair, Shade snapped her fingers and the ropes dissolved. She looked rather smug. "You two are free to go," the Drow stated with an almost self-important smile.

Standing up, the man and teen seemed a little hesitant, but the woman nodded at the two saviouresses. "Thanks. We owe you guys – I think," she said.

"Yeah. Thanks," the man chimed in. Turning to the girl, he said, "Grab the box and let's go, Rachael."

The teenager, Rachael, stooped over and picked up a small metal tin that was about the size of a hat box. It was old and beat up looking, the dull metal surface scratched and dented. "Let's get out of here before the cops show up," she said hastily, immediately dashing out of the apartment.

The man stopped next to the girls and looked them both over a moment before suggesting, "You two should get moving. The cops will be pissed you took out one of their most prominent meta-crimes detectives." With that he ran after Rachael.

Immediately both girls looked at one another in concern. “Cops? That thing was a cop?!” Cals’tha began, in a panic. “What the Hell did we do?”

“Let’s just get out of here and we will figure this out later,” Shade said hurriedly. “Come on!” Grabbing Cals’tha by the hand, the shadow caster dragged her friend out of the apartment and down the stairs. The girls raced out of the blown open entranceway and ended up face to face with an entire street full of squad cars and well-armed cops – all of whom had their guns leveled at the duo.

An authoritative voice boomed over a loudspeaker, “Hands up above your heads!”

Cals’tha looked up at Shade and whispered harshly, “What do we do? They will put us away for what we did to one of their own!”

Without looking down at her friend, Shade gripped Cals’tha's hand tighter and replied in a soft, even tone, “They don’t know what happened here. Not yet. We will get out of this,” She said assuredly.

“How can you be so certain?” Cals’tha asked, somewhat emboldened by her friend’s calm demeanor.

“Because we did not come here just to end up in prison for the rest of our lives,” Shade said with a reassuring squeeze of Cals’tha’s hand. “We will play along for now. They have five squad cars, an armored transport van, and some pretty heavy looking firepower.” Releasing her friend’s hand, Shade lifted her arms. After a moment, Cals’tha followed suit.

A police sergeant and two female officers approached cautiously, weapons drawn. The sergeant barked out commands at the two girls. “Turn around slowly and lie down on the pavement.” Shade and Cals’tha obeyed and were immediately set upon by the other two officers who straddled the girls as they bound the pair’s wrists behind their backs with heavy restraining clamps. The officers pulled the Drow and shadow caster to their feet. They then performed a quick frisk, finding only the credit card, and escorted the pair toward the back of the armored van. As they walked, the sergeant addressed the restrained girls. "You are both under arrest for violation of the Seattle Meta-Human Civil Rights Charter and the National Meta-Samaritan Act of 1984 for public and violent use of meta-abilities while not currently in possession of a licensing ID."

"Wait! We what?" Shade asked in confusion.

The sergeant merely continued on. "You are also being detained under suspicion of aggravated assault and attempted murder of a Seattle police officer, as well as aiding two known fugitives. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say, or any meta-human abilities you use, can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you." Opening the van, the sergeant gestured to the awaiting benches inside. Both girls noticed two other prisoners were already shackled in the front of the compartment. They were the man and teenager from the apartment.

Feeling the gravity of their situation weighing down on her, Cals'tha planted her feet hard, stopping the officer escorting her. She swung around and rammed a shoulder into the cop, who fell to the ground, but the Drow stopped cold when she saw the green bale fire surrounding a devilish skeleton who was standing just a few yards away. The now-familiar rasp of its otherworldly voice cut through the night air like a knife, "Both of these women need to be collared. They do not deserve special treatment. Do it now, sergeant.” Both girls were completely dumbfounded. Things were unraveling so quickly that neither of them could keep up with what was going on.

The sergeant gestured to a small group in the surrounding police line as he helped the fallen officer to her feet. A group of three men approached, all dressed in tactical gear. One of the men carried a large rugged case. When the trio reached the sergeant, the man with the case placed it on the ground, unlatched it, and retrieved two large rings which were gunmetal in color. Each ring was open on one side and hinged on the other. The other two tactical officers retrieved the rings and clamped one around both Cals’tha’s and Shade’s necks.

Cals’tha felt as though she had just been dropped into a frozen lake. It was as though someone had reached into her very soul and removed a piece of it. Without even attempting to do so, Cals’tha knew the collars had cut off their ability to access any meta-human powers. Rough hands grabbed the Drow by the arms and pushed her up into the van behind Shade, who was trying to remain defiant though she looked terribly ill. As they were shackled and left on benches opposite of one another, Cals’tha turned her head to regard the man and woman from the apartment. Criminals. Cals’tha and Shade had freed two criminals and attacked a meta-human cop. She wanted to fall apart and cry.

As though noticing the silent scrutiny, the man turned to look at Cals’tha. “You get used to the collar,” he began, “eventually.” He stretched his neck as though the collar were causing physical pain then lifted his head in a short nod toward Shade. “Your friend looks like she may be taking it worse than you, though that’s not much of a surprise.” He seemed about to continue, but the doors slammed shut and the armored van began moving.

Cals’tha furrowed her brow and curled her lip in a snarl as she asked, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Hey! Calm down! For better or worse – though I am hoping the former, we are stuck together. The collars are only one of our problems right now. Where we’re going, things will get worse…” the man said before pausing for a long moment. “Especially for you two. My name’s Dhamal, and that there is Rachael,” Dhamal stated, nodding at his shackled partner who was seated beside Shade.

“Dhamal,” Rachael warned in an even tone. She looked around expectantly at each bump in the road the van bounced over, clearly on edge.

Shaking his head, Dhamal replied, “Look, I think we can trust them. For now. They did just try to rescue us, even if I don’t understand it.” He narrowed his eyes. "I'm beginning to think they don't understand it either."

“Thanks, I suppose,” Cals’tha said. “You are right, we seem to be in this together, for whatever that may be worth.” After taking a deep breath, the Drow added, “You may call us-“

Rachael interrupted, “We know who you are.” She shot a glaring look at Dhamal.

“What?” Shade asked, confused.

Dhamal looked at Shade and then back to Cals’tha. “Yeah. We know who you two are. Who in this city doesn’t? After that wave of insane crimes with the influx of meta-humans a few years ago… I mean, Hell. You two put away so many of them and then, poof! You both disappeared for the last couple of years.” He looked Cals’tha over with intense scrutiny and asked, “What happened to make you two suddenly decide to fight against the system?”

This was insane! They both had lives here before the witch ever put them into this world? How was that even possible? Granted, none of what had happened should have been possible, but things were becoming far more complex. Cals’tha had so many questions, and just as she opened her mouth to speak the van lurched violently, forcing the prisoners to grasp at their anchored chains in order to stay on the benches. A booming explosion accompanied by an impact on the right side of the van caused it to list violently onto its side before sliding to a stop.

Hanging by her wrists from the chains, Cals’tha tasted blood in her mouth and felt herself blacking out. She tried to focus and find Shade, but her mind was swimming. The last thing she saw was the dim light streaming into the dark van as the doors were pried open.

Darkness finally claimed her.

Part 3 of a story commission for

Chapters:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4 (Coming soon...)

Epilogue (Coming soon...)

Description

Chapter 3: Empowered

The Greenboard Bistro had turned out to be an excellent venue for the girls to have eaten at. They sat at a small table together, ate soup and sandwiches, then had lattes while they watched all of the other patrons in the establishment. After deciding to take a quick tour of the city before they would head back to their room, the pair left the restaurant and walked the streets to take in the sites. Shade eventually discovered that they were in this world's Seattle, Washington and it was Autumn, just as it had been back home. The air was getting cooler as the sun began going down and evening set in. Shade was beginning to feel the cold, so the pair decided to head back to the room. They were about eighteen or nineteen blocks away from the Hilton, and while not especially far, the winding roads and avenues made it a much longer walk.

Leaving the main thoroughfare and taking some of the side streets, the girls strolled passed a number of apartment buildings. Without warning, the entry door to the nearest apartment exploded outward in a gout of flames. Cals’tha threw her arms up to shield her face as shrapnel streaked by and the explosion pushed her into Shade, leaving them both on the ground in a heap. Opening her eyes, the Drow saw she had reflexively created a shield out of ice to deflect most of the blast’s energy. She would have spent more time pondering this development if Shade was not lying beneath her, struggling to get up.

“Cal, can you get off of me? Please,” Shade asked, sounding more than a little stressed. "You are a lot heavier than you look."

Cals’tha immediately got to her feet and turned to help Shade stand. “I’m sorry. I just-“ She stopped mid-sentence as a bright bolt of energy tore through the night air, bathing the street in a reddish light before it struck the sidewalk nearby with a violent explosive crack a few feet away.

Shade looked up at the apartment building the door had exploded out from. She noticed the blast had originated on the second floor, glass from the window still cascading down into the street. Pointing, she turned to Cals’tha. “Look up there! Something’s going on,” she said, somehow seeming more excited than the Drow could remember seeing her in some time.

“Yeah, and? We should get out of here,” Cals’tha stated plainly as she turned to walk in the opposite direction. “This isn’t our business.”

With a firm grip, the taller woman stopped her friend. “No. We have been given a gift and we should use it.” She turned to look down at Cals’tha with her dark eyes. “Don’t you see? The Witch has given us a chance to do something – I mean truly do something and give our lives meaning,” she said passionately. Lifting her hand to point up at the building, Shade continued on, “This, right now, is it.” Shade, at least as a character, had always been eager for a fight. It seemed that had not changed. Or perhaps it was more true that it had become a new reality.

Cals'tha, however, felt more than a little hesitant. She was only just beginning to scratch the surface of what it meant to be Cals'tha, endowed with an exotic body many would kill for as opposed to being the fat slob she had been as Matt. She had no desire to risk losing this new life. "What if we just end up giving our lives, minus the meaning part? There's something really heavy going on in there, Shade," the blue-gray skinned Drow protested. "Look at us! We don't even know how to use our abilities! They just seem to react to us reflexively!"

"Exactly!" Shade exclaimed. "They are a reflex, just like flinching whenever a bully is about to swing at you, or the way you jerk back a hand when you touch something hot," she said with an almost zeal-like tone to her voice. "I don't know how I know - I just do," she explained. Placing her hands on the shoulders of the much shorter Cals'tha, Shade declared, "We can do this. We have been through worse before." With that, she turned and walked purposefully toward the blown-out entrance to the apartment building, where things had quieted down.

Looking nonplussed, Cals'tha shouted after her friend, "Been through worse?! Are you insane?! That was a game!" Realizing her friend would not be deterred, the Drow gritted her teeth and set off after Shade, cursing under her breath, "Jesus Buddha effin' Christ, this is stupid!" She wanted nothing more than to get back to the room and spend some time in the spa tub, but Cals'tha felt inextricably compelled to stay near Shade.

Catching up with Shade, Cals'tha followed her friend into the building. The large doorway and much of the surrounding masonry had been blown out, leaving a gaping hole in the face of the building. On the interior, there was a narrow foyer that housed a bank of mailboxes on the right hand wall. Just beyond that point was the beginning of the stairwell. The first landing was only five steps up before the stairs twisted up out of sight, continuing on to the next floor. The entire foyer area was charred from the earlier blast, burnt envelopes from the destroyed mail boxes strewn all over the tiled floor. A charred body was lying just inside the entrance, the smell overwhelming. Cals'tha knew she should have been more uncomfortable with the scene, yet it somehow managed to barely bother her.

With a sharp tug, Shade pulled Cals'tha onward and she obediently followed her friend up the stairs. The building had seven floors, but most of the commotion had been on the second. Stepping off of the second floor landing, the girls were surprised to find the dimly lit hallway was silent. There were not many doors; one straight off of the landing and two in each direction from there, left or right. One of the doors to the left appeared to be ajar and as the girls cautiously approached, they could hear a low, raspy voice speaking.

"-aware. I have them both subdued, though they deserve worse. Get here before I change my mind. Awaiting extraction - and send a containment team." The voice grew silent and a static-filled reply answered it from a radio, but neither girl could make out the words.

"Whoever that is in there has hostages and he might kill them if the people he is waiting on don’t show up," Cals'tha whispered harshly. "He will probably kill them if he sees us! Maybe we should call the cops..."

Shade did not even seem to hear Cals'tha's suggestion, instead saying, "Remember how we used to run those hostage dailies all the time when we got an office building scenario?"

With furrowed brows, the Drow replied, "Of course I do. I aggroed, you teleported in behind the kidnappers and we closed them in a vice." She thought for a moment and then whispered angrily, "Are you seriously suggesting we do that here?"

"Shh!" Shade admonished. "Yes, I am. Look, just use the emotions you are feeling and focus them to use your powers. The situation may be different, but you have done this a thousand times." Shade smiled. She smiled an actual, genuinely encouraging smile. That was a first for her. Cals’tha knew her friend had been borderline suicidal for years, but this was a new level of unhinged.

"How can you be so certain that it will work?" Cals'tha asked, incredulous.

Shade's only response was, "I just feel it to be true. Trust me."

For the first time since finding themselves in this world, Cals'tha reached inward and attempted to manifest her powers intentionally. The air grew colder and a long bladed sword of jagged ice appeared in her hands. She was taken aback. It was far easier than the Drow had ever thought it would be. She immediately created a small short sword for her off hand, marveling at this power she possessed. It was almost as easy as breathing.

"Beautiful," Shade said with a smile. "Now let's go say hello and see if we can't talk this guy down without any violence. Whatever happens, we need to help those people."

"Okay... Alright," Cals'tha replied. "I can do this."

"And Cal, if it looks like things will go south, do not hesitate to defend yourself," Shade added with concern.

Nodding once, Cals'tha darted for the open apartment. She felt her courage growing, as though this were just another mission from the game. Taking a deep breath, she turned and stepped purposefully through the doorway - and stopped cold. A woman and a man were lying on the floor, physically beaten and tightly bound with some kind of cord. The man was dark skinned and tall, wearing jeans and a dark jacket. The woman was about as short as Cals’tha and looked to be a teenager. Her blue eyes seemed at odds with the auburn hair framing her face. What got her attention, however, was the creature standing over them; a tall skeleton enshrouded with a baleful green fire. Its empty eye sockets turned to regard the intruder. The undead creature spoke without moving its lipless mouth, "What are you doing here? Leave this place. You have no authority here." He turned and took a threatening step toward Cals'tha.

"I am only going to ask this once: Let them go, monster," the Drow demanded, holding both weapons at the ready, “otherwise I will send you back to the Hell you came from.”

In the blink of an eye, the skeleton was on Cals'tha, grabbing her wrists in vice-like grips. The green fire surrounding him burned the Drow without leaving a mark on her skin. She let out an involuntary shriek of pain. "No, girl. I do not know what you are thinking, threatening me, but you always were arrogant. This is what befalls all who dare defy th-" Its gloating admonishment was cut short as it reared back in pain, mouth open in a wordless screech. It was then that Cals'tha saw her friend had appeared behind the creature, sticking daggers of pure darkness into the thing’s hollow ribs. The grip it held on the Drow's wrists, however, remained firm.

Dropping her weapons, Cals'tha grasped the creature’s boney forearms, fear and anger making her impulsive. The air in the room grew cold and a thick hoarfrost began to form along the bones of the skeleton's arms. The green fire surrounding the creature began to flicker and dim as Shade drew away the monster's energy through the wounds her daggers created as his body became entombed in the deadly frost. "No," Cals'tha began, "It is you who will know what it means to defy me! Attacking a Drow priestess was the last mistake you shall ever commit." With the last utterance of her declaration, Cals'tha roared and brought her arms together causing the skeletal creature to collapse into a pile of bones.

The girls stood over the shattered remains of the once-living skeleton for a long few moments, staring at its broken remains. Almost simultaneously, the pair looked up and met one another's wide-eyed stares. They both smiled. "See? I told you. We can do this," Shade pointed out, excitedly.

With a firm nod, Cals'tha agreed, "You were right. It was so easy, and using my power makes me feel... I don't know. Strong. Invincible."

"Unstoppable," Shade added. "We are unstoppable."

"Yeah, but it's odd... I think that thing knew me, some-" Cals'tha began before a girl's voice interrupted.

"Um, hello?" the bound girl asked. Shade and Cals'tha turned in the direction of the voice, suddenly remembering the two hostages on the floor. The man was watching the victorious duo uncertainly, but the girl spoke up once more, "Would you guys mind untying us, please? We would really appreciate it."

"Of course," Cals'tha said, but before she could move to untie the pair, Shade snapped her fingers and the ropes dissolved. She looked rather smug. "You two are free to go," the Drow stated with an almost self-important smile.

Standing up, the man and teen seemed a little hesitant, but the woman nodded at the two saviouresses. "Thanks. We owe you guys – I think," she said.

"Yeah. Thanks," the man chimed in. Turning to the girl, he said, "Grab the box and let's go, Rachael."

The teenager, Rachael, stooped over and picked up a small metal tin that was about the size of a hat box. It was old and beat up looking, the dull metal surface scratched and dented. "Let's get out of here before the cops show up," she said hastily, immediately dashing out of the apartment.

The man stopped next to the girls and looked them both over a moment before suggesting, "You two should get moving. The cops will be pissed you took out one of their most prominent meta-crimes detectives." With that he ran after Rachael.

Immediately both girls looked at one another in concern. “Cops? That thing was a cop?!” Cals’tha began, in a panic. “What the Hell did we do?”

“Let’s just get out of here and we will figure this out later,” Shade said hurriedly. “Come on!” Grabbing Cals’tha by the hand, the shadow caster dragged her friend out of the apartment and down the stairs. The girls raced out of the blown open entranceway and ended up face to face with an entire street full of squad cars and well-armed cops – all of whom had their guns leveled at the duo.

An authoritative voice boomed over a loudspeaker, “Hands up above your heads!”

Cals’tha looked up at Shade and whispered harshly, “What do we do? They will put us away for what we did to one of their own!”

Without looking down at her friend, Shade gripped Cals’tha's hand tighter and replied in a soft, even tone, “They don’t know what happened here. Not yet. We will get out of this,” She said assuredly.

“How can you be so certain?” Cals’tha asked, somewhat emboldened by her friend’s calm demeanor.

“Because we did not come here just to end up in prison for the rest of our lives,” Shade said with a reassuring squeeze of Cals’tha’s hand. “We will play along for now. They have five squad cars, an armored transport van, and some pretty heavy looking firepower.” Releasing her friend’s hand, Shade lifted her arms. After a moment, Cals’tha followed suit.

A police sergeant and two female officers approached cautiously, weapons drawn. The sergeant barked out commands at the two girls. “Turn around slowly and lie down on the pavement.” Shade and Cals’tha obeyed and were immediately set upon by the other two officers who straddled the girls as they bound the pair’s wrists behind their backs with heavy restraining clamps. The officers pulled the Drow and shadow caster to their feet. They then performed a quick frisk, finding only the credit card, and escorted the pair toward the back of the armored van. As they walked, the sergeant addressed the restrained girls. "You are both under arrest for violation of the Seattle Meta-Human Civil Rights Charter and the National Meta-Samaritan Act of 1984 for public and violent use of meta-abilities while not currently in possession of a licensing ID."

"Wait! We what?" Shade asked in confusion.

The sergeant merely continued on. "You are also being detained under suspicion of aggravated assault and attempted murder of a Seattle police officer, as well as aiding two known fugitives. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say, or any meta-human abilities you use, can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you." Opening the van, the sergeant gestured to the awaiting benches inside. Both girls noticed two other prisoners were already shackled in the front of the compartment. They were the man and teenager from the apartment.

Feeling the gravity of their situation weighing down on her, Cals'tha planted her feet hard, stopping the officer escorting her. She swung around and rammed a shoulder into the cop, who fell to the ground, but the Drow stopped cold when she saw the green bale fire surrounding a devilish skeleton who was standing just a few yards away. The now-familiar rasp of its otherworldly voice cut through the night air like a knife, "Both of these women need to be collared. They do not deserve special treatment. Do it now, sergeant.” Both girls were completely dumbfounded. Things were unraveling so quickly that neither of them could keep up with what was going on.

The sergeant gestured to a small group in the surrounding police line as he helped the fallen officer to her feet. A group of three men approached, all dressed in tactical gear. One of the men carried a large rugged case. When the trio reached the sergeant, the man with the case placed it on the ground, unlatched it, and retrieved two large rings which were gunmetal in color. Each ring was open on one side and hinged on the other. The other two tactical officers retrieved the rings and clamped one around both Cals’tha’s and Shade’s necks.

Cals’tha felt as though she had just been dropped into a frozen lake. It was as though someone had reached into her very soul and removed a piece of it. Without even attempting to do so, Cals’tha knew the collars had cut off their ability to access any meta-human powers. Rough hands grabbed the Drow by the arms and pushed her up into the van behind Shade, who was trying to remain defiant though she looked terribly ill. As they were shackled and left on benches opposite of one another, Cals’tha turned her head to regard the man and woman from the apartment. Criminals. Cals’tha and Shade had freed two criminals and attacked a meta-human cop. She wanted to fall apart and cry.

As though noticing the silent scrutiny, the man turned to look at Cals’tha. “You get used to the collar,” he began, “eventually.” He stretched his neck as though the collar were causing physical pain then lifted his head in a short nod toward Shade. “Your friend looks like she may be taking it worse than you, though that’s not much of a surprise.” He seemed about to continue, but the doors slammed shut and the armored van began moving.

Cals’tha furrowed her brow and curled her lip in a snarl as she asked, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Hey! Calm down! For better or worse – though I am hoping the former, we are stuck together. The collars are only one of our problems right now. Where we’re going, things will get worse…” the man said before pausing for a long moment. “Especially for you two. My name’s Dhamal, and that there is Rachael,” Dhamal stated, nodding at his shackled partner who was seated beside Shade.

“Dhamal,” Rachael warned in an even tone. She looked around expectantly at each bump in the road the van bounced over, clearly on edge.

Shaking his head, Dhamal replied, “Look, I think we can trust them. For now. They did just try to rescue us, even if I don’t understand it.” He narrowed his eyes. "I'm beginning to think they don't understand it either."

“Thanks, I suppose,” Cals’tha said. “You are right, we seem to be in this together, for whatever that may be worth.” After taking a deep breath, the Drow added, “You may call us-“

Rachael interrupted, “We know who you are.” She shot a glaring look at Dhamal.

“What?” Shade asked, confused.

Dhamal looked at Shade and then back to Cals’tha. “Yeah. We know who you two are. Who in this city doesn’t? After that wave of insane crimes with the influx of meta-humans a few years ago… I mean, Hell. You two put away so many of them and then, poof! You both disappeared for the last couple of years.” He looked Cals’tha over with intense scrutiny and asked, “What happened to make you two suddenly decide to fight against the system?”

This was insane! They both had lives here before the witch ever put them into this world? How was that even possible? Granted, none of what had happened should have been possible, but things were becoming far more complex. Cals’tha had so many questions, and just as she opened her mouth to speak the van lurched violently, forcing the prisoners to grasp at their anchored chains in order to stay on the benches. A booming explosion accompanied by an impact on the right side of the van caused it to list violently onto its side before sliding to a stop.

Hanging by her wrists from the chains, Cals’tha tasted blood in her mouth and felt herself blacking out. She tried to focus and find Shade, but her mind was swimming. The last thing she saw was the dim light streaming into the dark van as the doors were pried open.

Darkness finally claimed her.

Part 3 of a story commission for

Chapters:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4 (Coming soon...)

Epilogue (Coming soon...)