Nothing that was happening made sense.
That was the recurring thought in The Bright One's mind for the last few minutes. A whole series of certainties she had taken for granted over the last couple of centuries had just been flushed down the toilet. The impregnability of her fortress, shielded from any incursion from other realities, was apparently little short of a joke to an Addams-flavored scientific and demented mind.
Time seemed to stand still as she looked at how her armor had been affected by the latest attack, its purity sullied in a way it had never been before, not even in her last encounter when she faced this latest Wednesday Addams and her particular gang.
She lifted her gaze, pinning it on her opponents and couldn't help but be flooded with another kind of disbelief when she saw that they were talking amongst themselves, as if ignoring her. As if they didn't have a care in the world.
"Needler! Seems my suspicion was right," Enid said, greeting the mad scientist with a smile.
"Mmm, about her identity?" asked the pale Addams as the portal closed behind her and its green glow faded, "Drats, Woe is going to be insufferable about winning the bet."
"Have you lot been wagering on who The Bright One was?" asked Wednesday, somewhere between irritated and intrigued by the whole thing.
Needler turned to look at her, her eyes as always darkened by dark circles that betrayed a chronic lack of sleep, "Truth is, I was convinced it would be a variant of our mother, given her occasional overbearing and overprotective tendencies. By the way, it's good to see you again, Wednesday Addams."
"Likewise," said Wednesday, "It looks like it's been a significant period of time for you, too," she added, giving the scientist an up-and-down look. Needler must have been in her mid-thirties.
"Uh... Girls?" interrupted Enid. The two Addams turned to look at her and watched as the she-wolf pointed ahead. The Bright One was back on her feet, standing in front of the shattered wall facing the outside, her hands glowing with a whitish glow that grew in intensity with each passing second. Staring at the light hurt the eyes.
"You look awfully confident and calm, considering the high possibility that I'm going to fry your internal organs, rip them out and shove them back down your throat after breaking all the teeth in your mouth," the armored fiend said.
"Oops, someone's a wee bit cranky," laughed Enid, baring her fangs and sticking out her claws.
"You insufferable mutt!" shouted The Bright One, extending her arms forward and preparing to fire a discharge of pure energy with enough force to demolish a skyscraper. To her misfortune, Enid chose that moment to move onward, at a speed not unlike that used by the armored villainess before. In the blink of an eye, the lycanthrope had covered the twenty meters that separated them and was right in front of The Bright One, ramming her. Not only that, in that split second Enid had fully transformed into her lupine form, increasing her mass and size considerably. She was like a furry wrecking ball smashing into the armored figure and knocking her off balance, forcing her to dispel her attack.
Wednesday watched with interest as Enid's clothing was not shredded by the transformation, but seemed to have expanded and adapted to the new shape and size of her body. Given the high-tech appearance of the garments she surmised that Needler was surely responsible. She felt the tingling of Agent A's spectral reinforcement in all her limbs as she tensed her muscles, ready to follow her she-wolf into battle, but Needler halted her.
"Hold on," the scientist said, as she holstered her pistol and reached inside her trench coat. From there, almost as if the interior pockets were much larger on the inside than on the outside, Needler extracted a saber of simple design but exquisite workmanship which she held out to Wednesday.
"This is one of multiple weapons that have been imbued with drops of blood from Enid or from other of her counterparts who volunteered," Needler explained, "It should allow you to inflict optimal cuts on our enemy's armor and body. Carve our name into her flesh."
Wednesday weighed the weapon. It was splendidly balanced, and the moment her hand touched it she felt as if it became an extension of her body.
Oooh, this is going to be fun.
Wednesday nodded silently at Agent A's words. Between the properties of the sword and the extra gifts that the partial possession by the specter lent her, she was sure she could cut through her enemy or any of her Shadow Hyde as if they were made of butter. She could contribute to the battle in a more meaningful way than last time.
Her gaze refocused on Enid and The Bright One. The lycanthrope was launching swipe after swipe that was blocked by shields of light and energy conjured by The Bright One instantly, which broke one after another forcing her to be on the defensive. Although occasionally a bolt of energy or flash of fiery light would escape her hands only to be dodged by Enid at the last moment.
Wednesday felt the compelling urge to join the fray, but first...
"Needler, I know what her plan is. Do you see that enormous pyramid over there? I need you to listen to me for a moment..."
§§§
Friday felt it in her bones. Something was going to happen, but it didn't seem to be the design of her jailer, whoever they were.
She peered out the window of her cell door and tried to look outside. The area of the prison she was in was still incredibly dark, being right at the foot of the giant pyramid that cast its shadow like a mountain causing perpetual night. She could see movement, the shadow beings like the one that had captured her running in one direction. There was something about them that reminded her of panic, they seemed to be in a state of alert.
Events seemed to rush at that moment. Her monstrous jailers began to howl and scream as an alarm shattered the silence stridently. She could see something new, like flashes of emerald light reflecting off the surfaces outside, but from her position she could not determine what the cause was.
"Thursday?" she asked, hoping her companion in the next cell could hear her despite all the deafening noise, "Thursday, can you hear me, can you see anything?"
"I'm here," replied the voice of Wednesday Thursday Addams, the male interdimensional counterpart located in the cell adjacent to hers who had been her only companion for the past week and a half, "I can't see clearly what's... Circles of Hell!"
"What, what's going on?"
"They're like... Portals! Portals are opening up and a bunch of people are coming out of them! I don't recognize who... Oh! Some of them are our counterparts! And they're fighting our jailers!"
Portals? Something akin to hope welled up inside Friday. If other counterparts of hers were there, that meant...
Suddenly, she jerked back as a pair of green eyes appeared in the window on the other side of the glass across from her.
"Aha!" a voice exclaimed, "Let's see if I can get this open... Μπίνγκο!
The door slid open, opening fully. A blast of air hit Friday in the face, as if the outside atmosphere flooded the cell that had been fully isolated until that moment. The sound of battle and chaos outside became clearer: the roars of monsters made of shadows, noises of cutting metal, gunshots and battle cries, jubilation and something that powerfully attracted her attention: howls of multiple lycanthropes.
At that instant, her rescuer entered the cell and Friday had to blink in perplexity for a moment as she recognized the face before her.
"Miss Enid?"
The newcomer smiled. A catlike smile that made her green eyes sparkle. Her face was identical to the Enid Friday had known years ago except for said eye coloring and brown hair. She wore an outfit that could only be described as black armor that looked almost like a second skin, revealing an athletic physique.
"Yes, but no. Call me Saint-Clair," Saint-Clair replied, "Mmm, a Wednesday Addams dressed in pink... Please, tell me you're the one they call Friday."
"You're a variant of Enid!" exclaimed Friday, smiling and immediately catching on to what was going on, "Is she here? Have the others come?"
"I'm going to have to be somewhat sparing with explanations at the moment," said Saint-Clair. She reached her hands to the back of her belt and extracted a pair of daggers, "Can I assume you know how to use a pair of these?"
Friday didn't answer. She merely raised an eyebrow, almost as if to silently say "Are you serious?". Saint-Clair snorted, holding back a laugh.
"Right, you're an Addams. That was a stupid question," she said, "Take them and follow me. They should serve you well for hurting the Shadow Hyde."
"Is that what those things are called?" asked Friday, "Wait, Hyde...that was the monster Miss Enid fought..."
"Yes, the situation is a bit complicated, there's a lot to catch you up on," replied Saint-Clair stepping gingerly out of the cell and motioning Friday to follow her, "For the moment follow me, we're going to focus on opening cells. The idea is to free everyone and then set up some sort of evacuation route, though we'll probably have to neutralize all the enemies first."
Friday wielded the daggers and followed Saint-Clair outside. The corridor was much wider than she could glimpse from her confinement and she could see other rows of cells several meters in front of hers being systematically opened. The place was a sea of variants, multiple Wednesday Addams and Enids freeing more of the former's counterparts as they battled the Shadow Hyde, as Saint-Clair had called them.
While most looked humanoid, Friday could see what was clearly a golden tyrannosaur Enid repeatedly crushing one of the shadow monsters into a grayish mass of goo while being cheered on by an ape-like creature leaping on her back. The ape, with eyes that betrayed an almost human intelligence, had long hair pulled back in two pigtails that betrayed its identity.
A few meters away from them, a middle-aged Enid dressed as a soldier, wielding a futuristic-looking rifle and a knife, opened one of the cells, letting out a Wednesday who looked like a living marble statue, with golden cracks adorning her skin. Her hair, once again pulled back in the familiar pigtails, was luminous white like moonlight.
A little farther away, what looked like a Wednesday and Enid couple dressed like classic pirates straight out of a Hollywood movie were moving in circles back to back, systematically shooting multiple Shadow Hyde, attracting the monsters' attention with exclamations of "Aarrrr!" and surprisingly creative insults. In doing so they covered the escape of many other Wednesdays leaving their imprisonment.
In the midst of all that chaos, a voice behind her caught her attention.
"Friday?"
Friday turned and saw that the cell adjacent to hers had been opened by a purple-skinned Enid, with horns peeking through her blonde hair, a long tail and huge bat-like wings on her back, like a gargoyle. From inside the cell had emerged a young man who, apart from his otherworldly pallor, was the spitting image of a young Gomez Addams but without the moustache. He seemed somewhat disoriented, although he held the saber he had just received with determination. She recognized him instantly.
"Thursday!"
"Oh, it's nice to be able to put a face to your voice," he said, smiling, "Has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like a colorful version of mother?"
"Occasionally, though unfortunately I've never developed a complex because of it. And you look a lot like..."
Friday was interrupted when a Shadow Hyde materialized from the shadows on the ground, throwing a claw that would have caught her if Saint-Clair hadn't pushed her aside, nearly knocking her off her feet. The young werecat intercepted the blow, grabbing the monster's limb with superhuman strength. Her eyes glowed green and her fangs elongated. The musculature on her body increased slightly as fur seemed to begin to appear on her face and her ears became pointed.
"Nice ambush attempt, μαλάκας," said Saint-Clair, grinning like a cat that had caught a canary, "But you didn't count on..."
She was unable to continue, for at that moment the Shadow Hyde's skull exploded, pierced by a bolt fired from a crossbow that had undergone the same ritual as the other weapons brought by the interdimensional visitors. The Shadow Hyde fell limp and began to dissolve at the feet of an indignant Saint-Clair.
"Willaaaa! That one was mine!" she exclaimed, pouting.
Friday, still dazed from the sneak attack sat up with Thursday's help as she silently berated herself. It seemed that all that time locked up had dulled her senses if she could be surprised like that. But the self-reproaches were short-lived when she recognized the figure that had finished the creature. She was unmistakable, with that strained smile, the scowl and the crossbow in her hands.
"WOE!"
The Addams in pink leapt over the remains of the monster and enveloped the younger Addams in a hug. Woe didn't smile or disguise the discomfort on her face, but her voice sounded uncharacteristically soft as she murmured, "It's good to see you are safe, but let go, you colorful monstrosity."
Friday let go of Woe, being unable to suppress the smile that was making the muscles in her face ache from the sheer intensity and the slight tearing in her eyes as she gently held her counterpart by the shoulders, looking at her warmly.
"Oh, Woe," Friday said, with a hint of nostalgia, "For you hardly any time has passed..."
"And for you the passage of time has been considerably more momentous," Woe replied, "Though perhaps you'll be glad to know you're not the only one."
"This is one of the Wednesdays you told me about?" interjected Thursday at that point. Friday nodded, still smiling.
Woe looked at him with interest, "Ah, a male counterpart. Out of a whole sea of familiar faces that often aren't even human, your condition remains one of the most unusual."
"This is all very nice and it's great that you're all friends," interrupted the gargoyle Enid, her voice cavernous as her eyes emitted a red glow, "But we have to keep freeing the others and there are still monsters roaming around so don't get distracted..."
Almost as if her warning had tempted fate, her voice was deafened by a furious roar. A Shadow Hyde had materialized close to the group, just a few feet away, and had launched itself toward them with a mighty leap. Its sharp claws extended and its mouth gaped open revealing in its mass of shadows dozens of razor-sharp teeth.
The beast was in the air, about to fall on them. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Woe wielded her crossbow, beginning to raise it to take aim at the monster even though it was obvious she wouldn't have time to do so. Friday and Thursday tensed their bodies, wielding their newly received weapons. Behind their backs, the gargoyle Enid had spread her wings and emitted a lion-like roar. Out of the corner of her eye, Friday could see Saint-Clair beside her, changing shape, fur peeking out of her face and hands...
But in the end they didn't have to do anything.
Something huge came through the air in a single leap from one of the upper platforms, ramming into the Shadow Hyde, intercepting its trajectory and sending it crashing down. The shadow monster fell backwards feeling sharp claws digging into its body, barely able to comprehend what had happened.
Its newly arrived opponent was upon it, holding it immobile with prodigious strength. It was a male lycanthrope, with a markedly muscular body despite the golden fur covering him and a height and size almost identical to that of a fully transformed Enid, making him considerably larger than was usual for werewolves. The werewolf gave the Shadow Hyde no quarter, guided by a primal instinct and fury driven by retribution and vengeance. He sank his claws even deeper around the dark monster's neck, ignoring its futile attempts to wriggle free, and pulled hard, tearing its head clean off and splattering its own fur with the remnants of the other beast's gray ectoplasm.
He lifted the Shadow Hyde's decapitated head before it began to dissolve like the rest of its body, emitting a triumphant howl.
Friday had no problem recognizing her husband on the spot.
"Eamon!"
Eamon Sinclair turned his gaze back to his wife dropping the remains of the Shadow Hyde. His lupine face, which up until that moment had been a mask of savage rage worthy of a legendary monster, changed to an expression that would have been more appropriate on an elated puppy, with glowing golden eyes turning blue like a summer sky. He leapt toward Friday, but stopping before crashing into her and began sniffing her and gently nudging his muzzle against her face and neck as he emitted whimpers of delight. Friday laughed, petting the fur on his neck and behind his ears.
"Oh, my love, look at you!" said the Addams dressed in pink, joyful but also bewildered, "How is this possible? There doesn't seem to be a full moon here..."
"Needler and Grandmama," explained Woe, "Between the two of them they created a tonic that allows werewolves and other Enid variants with similar abilities to be able to transform at will if they did not possess said power."
"I was given a similar concoction," the gargoyle Enid added, "If it were daylight here I would now be a useless stone statue if it weren't for it."
"Fascinating," murmured Thursday, looking at her with attention.
Friday was still hugging the huge neck of the transformed Eamon, taking note of his scent as much as he was noticing hers, "My wolf, my beast, you've come for me."
"Meeowr... being fair he's not the only one who's come for you," added a half-transformed Saint-Clair, "To tell you the truth..."
"MOM!"
"MOMMY!"
Friday turned, though without letting go of her husband. Her eyes were riveted on the two figures running through the crowd of Enids and Wednesday who were still battling the Shadow Hyde that appeared in the area. Tears welled up in her eyes again as she released her husband's fur to open her arms and receive Theo and Dora in an embrace. The two young Addams twins rushed into her arms, crashing into her and nearly knocking her over if it weren't for Eamon acting as a giant living mattress.
"They were the ones who started looking for you," Woe said, for once deciding not to berate the sentimentality she was witnessing, "In a way, if it weren't for these two we wouldn't be here."
Friday nodded in response, her eyes closed and she squeezed tightly into the embrace, holding her son and daughter almost as if she feared she would be separated from them again.
"Oh, how I've missed you," she said, filling both of their cheeks with kisses, "My little monsters! My little spawns!"
Theo merely laughed, ignoring any feelings of embarrassment. Dora uttered another "Moooom!" by way of complaint, but there was no real reproach in it. Any adolescent mortification at such an unabashedly public display of affection was being eclipsed by the monumental relief of finally having found their mother.
Friday noticed how the small flicker of hope in her chest turned into a smoldering bonfire as she held her children in her arms again and felt how Eamon's giant, furry form wrapped protectively around all three of them. She knew that there were still difficulties to be faced and battles to be fought, but at that very moment she was sure that everything would be all right.
And
sure enough, it was at that precise instant when the citadel tower of
The Bright One, several hundred feet above the prison area, exploded
with a sphere of burning white light.
NOTES
I used InvertColor's fanarts for the mosaic, I couldn't resist.
Well, in the end I couldn't get this out early but at least it's not out any later than last week either. In my defense: a) I'm still very busy with various stuff in my nefarious real life. And b) this chapter is one of the long ones.
There are still characters to appear, reunions to occur, and battles to fight. This whole final stretch is going to take me a while. I've been juggling, shifting scenes back and forth, trying to keep the whole thing balanced. I hope you liked this chapter... because there are still a few more crazy things to come 😈
Some translations!:
Μπίνγκο!: (greek) Bingo!
μαλάκας: (greek) asshole, wanker, jerk, motherfucker, etc.
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