Astasia spoke to Martinez, as Empress Elissa watched and listened, “So, we finally meet, twin sister.”
“What? My sister's dead,” Martinez cried, as she struggled – still in the clutches of the screaming shadow.
“I'm very much alive, as you can see, and I owe that all to you... sister.”
Martinez stared in horror at the Dark Queen. “No! You're not my sister. You're evil. More evil and dark than the devil himself.”
“I know,” Astasia smiled wickedly. “That's what I always tell him. But I am your sister, Jenny.”
“How?” The screaming shadow dissolved into thin air, releasing Martinez from its grasp.
“Twenty-five years ago. In our mother's womb, when the doctors discovered that I was... different, they tried to terminate my existence with a laser. But you... you placed your body to intercept the beam. Therefore, the doctors canceled the termination process.”
“Afterwards, you used your powers to teleport me into the Dimensions of Beautiful Dreams, where I grew up. I always wanted to meet you, and repay your kindness.”
“No. No. No,” Martinez whispered heavily, over and over, not wanting any part of her twin sister's life.
“Don't worry, sister. We're finally together. And together, we'll become stronger and take over this world, with Joseph at our side.”
“No! You leave him alone!”
“I'm afraid you have no choice, twin sister,” the dark queen hissed devilishly.
Tilting her head back, and stretching her arms out to her sides, Astasia began to hiss a dark enchantment. “Spirits of the Dark, I call upon you once more. I want you to release my sister's soul, and cleave it to me. Her soul and mine, united as one will be stronger and more powerful than anything in this universe. Then, I shall serve the Dark Curse, as I was intended.”
Martinez screamed as her body began to dematerialize before her eyes, molecule by molecule, setting her soul free. Then, as the underworld shook with a thunderous turbulence - the two sisters became one.
In the underworld, a cumulus of blue plasma whirled to life, spitting the rescue team from its mouth. They had done it on their own. Joseph had witnessed Jenny teleport countless of times, and, amazingly, he was able to do it also. The underworld was much worse than they expected. The rancid bowels of hell... the stench of dead rotting flesh hung heavily in the thin air. A path, bordered on both-sides by rows of skulls, human, mutant, and alien, advanced deeper into the abyss. A tiny skull stared up accusingly at Joseph out of the dark ash that shrouded the cave.
The Crazy Johnny Mo, always making light, said, “I'd like to welcome you to the top chamber of hell.”
Hefting a massive battle rifle, Joseph nodded, “This way.” The other two followed him into the mouth of the Celestial hell.
Joseph and the others felt immense tremors. The ground shook, and the rock walls behind them crumpled.
“What the hell was that?” Assault asked.
“An earthquake?” Johnny suggested.
“No. It's Jenny,” Joseph replied. Then, as the tremors ended, he continued, “Let's keep moving.” He hoped he was not too late to save the two women alive who mattered the most to him.
The Mutants could see numerous movements faintly through the haze. The walls and floor of the pathway were coming to life. Bony claws extended swords and daggers that could split metal in two.
“Stay on your toes!” Joseph ordered. “Whatever's in here isn’t friendly.”
Images began to materialize on the floor, small silhouettes moved in ghostly silence through the drifting mist.
A small pack of the creatures of the dark jumped out from within the heaps of dark ash, screeching a battle cry. They were looking for a fight... and found one.
Joseph motioned to his two friends and together they all began to fire, simultaneously, at the bony creatures.
Assault stood firing with the others, as he felt cold steel penetrate his left calf. He didn’t yell, he just absorbed the pain and turned it into determination. He was not going to die in this hell hole. He turned and fired his rifle at a creature holding a dagger, turning the little beast into a bloody cloud of entrails.
Minutes went by as they fought the little monsters. And no matter how many perished in the fight, more seemed to pop out of the floor and from within the walls, as if they were multiplying.
A cold, sharp blade pierced Joseph’s side. He reached for the steel embedded in his side, and slit open his left palm. But he too ignored the pain. The creature shoved the sword further into his side. Suddenly, the creature exploded into a messy red blur, as Crazy released a few rounds from his rifle.
Unexpectedly, the creatures scattered, running further down the path of hell, leaving behind their dead and wounded.
“Are they retreating?” Assault asked.
“No, they want us to follow them.” Joseph answered, grimacing while he clutched his wounded side.
“Just a minute,” said Assault. He took Joseph’s hand in his and clutched it as if they were about to shake hands. Joseph felt an overwhelming burst of warmth. When Assault released his hand his wound was healed. Only a scar remained. Without making eye contact with the others, Assault proceeded to lay his hands on Joseph’s side. Again Joseph felt a warm energy. An astounded Crazy Mo looked down at Assault’s injured calf and saw only a gash in the armor where he had been wounded by the little creature.
“How?” Joseph was confused. How did the Mutant hating Assault know he had healing abilities?
Assault just shrugged his shoulders as the three looked each other over. Being Mutant wasn’t so bad.
“Let's move,” Joseph ordered. “But be careful.”
In a dark and humid cell, beneath the temptress' lair, Elissa lay, wrists cuffed and chained together. The huge, steel-barred cell door slowly swung open, and in strolled two tall, husky creatures. The males were two of Astasia's personal servants of the night.
One servant carried a cauldron of bubbling soup. The other carried a small sword.
Looking at the cauldron placed in front of her, Elissa sarcastically replied, “I don't remember ordering room service.” She furiously charged, burning with the need to fight. She expertly kicked the bowl through the air; the steaming soup spraying the eyes of the servant who had carried it. The servant screamed as the bubbling soup burned his eyes and face, blinding him.
The other evil guard smiled appreciatively and swung his blade in her direction. He laughed cynically, “Shame. Shame.”
“Yeah. Come on.” She taunted.
The guard shoved the bumbling blinded guard out of his way, throwing him against the wall and knocking him out. He walked toward Elissa. He licked his lips, savoring how he was going to make her suffer before he killed her.
Elissa gathered her inner power in her left foot. She jumped into the air and power-kicked the servant in the chest, lifting him off the ground and sending him against the steel cell bars.
She took advantage that he was momentarily stunned and quickly reached down and gripped the servant's blade, which had fallen from his grasp, and drove it into his upper chest, through cartilage and muscle. With one final jerk of his body, the servant was dead.
“Never underestimate your enemy.” She sneered as she reached for a second knife he had sheathed in his belt.
Then using the blinded servant's keys, she unlocked the cuffs. They fell to ground with a loud clank.
She cautiously walked out of the cell, the small blade in one hand, and locked the door behind her, taking the keys with her.
Suddenly, she felt it. Something odd... something strange. But what?
She began to cat step through the labyrinth of hell. Her bare feet quietly slipping over the blackened, rocky floor. She felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck rise as a wave of dread swam through her. Never underestimate your enemy, she reminded herself.
Under the guidance of the Dark Curse, Astasia could sense the Mutant trio had taken the bait and were getting closer.
She lifted her arms into the air in supplication and her chest severed open. Flesh and blood poured from the Dark Queen's wound, giving birth to a monstrous beast that was as black as night - Cerberus, the merciless, three-headed dog that guarded the gates of the Kingdom of the Dead. Poisonous serpents ringed each throat. It had a dragon tail, which whipped about randomly from side-to-side. Its lone responsibility was not to keep people out of hell... but to keep people in.
As her chest reformed, Astasia commanded, “Cerberus, seek and destroy…”
The three-headed beast snarled, blowing hell-flames from out of its swollen nostrils. Then it galloped out of Astasia's lair in pursuit of Joseph and the Mutant Killers. If Joseph made it through this next test, he would truly be worthy of his reward.
The fierce canine stealthily prowled through the path of hell towards the small rescue team, and as Joseph and the others cleared a corner, they came face-to-face with the hound of Hades. There was a short pause as the glowing green eyes of its three heads stared into the fierce eyes of the Mutant warriors. Each waited for the other to make a move.
Then, bursting the monotony of the moment, Cerberus bellowed his anger, echoing throughout the caves for miles.
“What the hell is that?” asked Assault.
“The puppy you asked for Christmas,” answered Johnny.
Cerberus leaped through the air towards them.
Joseph, standing before the others, fell to the ground firing his rifle as Cerberus flew over him. Johnny also ducked and joined in the firing, but it was too late for Assault, who was tackled by the massive demon dog.
As the officer yelled, trying to fight the animal off, Joseph and Johnny fired their weapons - hoping to slay the mongrel with their firepower. They only succeeded in diverting the animal’s attention as it crawled off Assault. He zeroed in on Joseph while Johnny helped Assault to his feet.
Joseph carefully aimed his rifle and fired a couple of powerful rounds at the middle head's neck. The head, decapitated by gunfire, rolled onto the ash-covered ground. In pain and confusion the creature lifted its other two heads and howled into the dark.
The others, now realizing what had to be done, began to fire at Cerberus' remaining two heads. Soon, they too were lying in the ash, next to the first one. The beast collapsed on the cavern floor.
“Bad doggy,” Johnny kicked at the dead carcass. And they were on their way, again.
The Celestial Empress hurried out of the maze from the dungeon to the lair's upper level. As she came into the chamber, she fell to the blackened ash ground. A slight illumination from the fire of Astasia's worshipping temple fell across Elissa's bruised face. Her cheeks twitched and her eyes burned from exhaustion. She was tired, but she needed to stay alert. Fingers stroked her smooth flesh gently and the panic seemed to lift as if it was all a bad dream. “Get up,” a familiar voice whispered.
Elissa raised her eyes to be greeted by Joseph's strong, yet sensitive eyes.
Suddenly, Joseph's eyes changed. Transfiguring into the hot, red eyes of Astasia. “Get up. On your feet,” she hissed.
“Stupid Celestial. You thought you could escape. But you can't. Not from me.” The wicked witch laughed.
Minutes later, Joseph and the others cautiously strolled into the Dark Queen's lair. Nothing could be seen except darkness and Elissa - leashed like an animal to Astasia’s throne.
Elissa, Joseph thought.
Elissa opened her eyes and hesitated - wondering if it was really Joseph. She wanted to call out, be careful. She has eyes in places you wouldn't believe.
Suddenly, Astasia appeared from out of the shadows, followed by the small hellish creatures from the cave. Hundreds seemed to pour out of the darkness.
“I can feel you, Mutant. You made it here to me. Come out so I can see you. ”
Joseph and the Mutant Killers began to fire at her. Seconds later, Astasia’s body fell to the Underworld's floor with a dull thud as arcs of hot-red blood erupted from her body's wounds. She lay silent and motionless.
Joseph and the others stopped firing and remained silent and motionless. Their rifle barrels smoking. The underworld creatures dissipated into nothingness. Now that their queen was gone, so were they.
Assault approached Astasia's inert body, and poked her with the barrel of his rifle... there was no response. The demon queen was dead. Assault looked up as Johnny Mo approached, and they both saw in horrifying fascination as the muscles in her hands begin to twitch slightly.
Before either could react and warn the others, Astasia's arm flashed up releasing a giant ball of fire from her fingertips. The fire set Johnny's right forearm ablaze. First flaking, then blackening and charring. His skin disintegrated swiftly. Soon his arm became flame flushed down to whitened bone. He screamed in absolute agony.
Joseph yelled, “Where is she?!” Her fallen form had disappeared.
Astasia leaped out from the shadows and sent a powerful foot into Assault’s chest, bending and cracking his ribs. Then, in one fell swoop, Assault was ripped off his feet, blown backwards by a small explosion. As he screamed and yelled, two razor thin darts ejected from Astasia’s fingertips and ricocheted off his armored chest.
Using his M-190 grenade/plasma rifle, Joseph began to fill Astasia's tormented body full of explosives, targeting specifically her evil heart.
She screamed in defeat. She had failed in her mission. She could not return to her Dark Lord as a failure.
The devil consort's body began to take a bizarre, alien shape. Astasia’s body became the doorway to an otherworldly warp-zone; Jenny’s soul struggled and fought her way to free herself from her twin sister's bullet-riddled body.
As Jenny's soul reshaped into her former self, she turned to see the last expression on Astasia's face - a look of repentance, sadness, and, above all, love. Jenny felt compassion as the Temptress of the Night exploded into tiny particles of unholy tears. Jenny had succeeded in weakening her evil sister and making her vulnerable to Joseph’s attack.
“Joseph!” Elissa fought her way through the mist of viscera.
“Elissa,” Joseph smiled as he embraced her.
Once again the Prince was reunited with his Princess. Celestial was once again safe. Syn and the Dark Queen were no longer a concern.
Back on the surface, at the Frigate's boarding ramp, General Magnum spoke to Joseph and Assault. Elissa, Martinez, and Drexl stood nearby, while Johnny was showing a medic how to fit him with a prosthetic arm.
“Now that your arrest warrants are moot, we could sure use your expertise in CIMA. Anytime you want to join, let me know. You all are excellent soldiers.”
“No,” Joseph replied flatly, as he kept an arm wrapped around Elissa. Johnny and Assault both shook their heads also.
“Maybe next time, General,” Johnny Mo spoke.
“Yeah,” Joseph agreed. Turning to the Empress, he continued, “But for now... I want to spend some time with Elissa.” And he followed his statement with a not so innocent kiss.
“I'd like to rejoin the Mutant Kill Squad,” Johnny confessed. He smiled at Jenny, and then looked at Joseph. “That is if you will have me?”
Joseph smiled and Jenny smiled. Johnny wrapped his good arm around Jenny’s thin body and lifted her off her feet.
“This certainly puts a new twist on us being Mutant Killers,” joked Johnny.
Assault watched his friends. He wasn’t ready to announce the fact he was a Mutant.
“On second thought, General, I’ve changed my mind,” Assault said. “I'd like to accompany you on your next mission.”
“Great! We could use your help in the Imminent System.” The General welcomed him.
“The Political Sector of the galaxy?”
“That's the one. Come on,” she smiled. “We have to deliver Dr. Drexl back to Earth and drop Syn and Michele at the Penal Colony.”
They walked up the boarding ramp, into the Frigate's belly.
“Later, Victor!” Johnny and Joseph yelled up to their old friend.
Assault waved back as the boarding ramp closed shut, and the Frigate shot into the night sky.
Stardate: January 26, 3275
The Imminent System -
The planet grew hot, wet, and dark. It had been raining black rain for as long as its inhabitants could remember. The war had dragged on for centuries.
The allies of this war were men, women, and children gathered from different planets, trained to stop anyone from destroying their world.
Their foes were the Dominion Mutant Organization - the forces of evil. Children of the Dark Curse. Destroyers of a hundred worlds.
Admiral Thornhart of the Imperial Guards was escorted by an officer through the secret underground barracks, where young children played war in an open area. Older children worked on their endurance and strength, while others loaded their rifles for a night run. Women breast-fed their starving infants, as their men cleaned and gutted game, and others cleaned and loaded their rifles, preparing to walk the barracks' outer perimeters.
The officer led the Admiral past the Imperial's freedom fighters into a private dark cell where they encountered a massive, unclothed individual - a man in his mid-sixties that had the body, strength, and agility of a man much younger. The man knelt in the middle of the cell in a deep meditation, his forehead resting on his prayer mat.
“Thank you, officer. Can I be alone with him?” the Admiral asked.
The officer exited and the Admiral turned to talk to the praying man. Thornhart began to circle the cell, feeling a little awkward with the nude man, praying on the floor in front of him.
“Zahn, sir,” he cleared his throat.
“Yes, Admiral,” Zahn spoke softly as he raised his face from the dirty cell floor.
“Our informant from the year 2287 sent us a message through the subconscious teleportal this morning reporting that your son has survived the confrontation with the Dark Queen. She failed to convert him into the Dark Prince. His existence as the champion of darkness has been expunged... as you planned.”
Joseph and the Mutant Killers Page 6
