Lord Wodnesdæg of the House of Adamo (Wod to friends and family) had seen many wonders in his relatively short life.
His world was one of wild and free magic, despite the efforts of some short-sighted individuals to try to constrain it. A world where outcasts had their own kingdom, living in peace with normies, where a farmer chatting amiably with a dragon at a crossroads was so commonplace it seemed mundane.
On his visits to other universes after meeting Enid Sinclair and her Wednesday, he had also seen many new and strange things. Mechanical devices so advanced that they would make some of the wizards who had visited his court die of envy, vehicles made of heavy metal capable of taking flight, cities of glass and concrete filled with towers that rose up to scrape the skies…
But at that moment, the place where he found himself surpassed all that and more.
Because from the large window in front of him, he could see the blackness of space broken by the blue and green glow of planet Earth below him, floating in the darkness of the void like an enormous jewel.
It was a beautiful sight, and also humbling, in a good way. It put into perspective how small they really were, including him, a prince of the oldest family in their world.
“It's not something you see every day,” said Pup's voice beside him, “Well, I guess these people do.”
After meeting the Enid from that universe, the heroine SuperWolf, and the variant of Ajax (who, apparently, was a native of Mars in this reality), the two superheroes (a concept that Pup had tried to quickly explain to Wod without much success) had taken them to their base. The two interdimensional Addams had expected some remote and well-defended headquarters, or perhaps some public and visible location to display some authority...
A huge space station in geosynchronous orbit was something far more advanced than either of them was used to. That is, in Pup's world at least they had had the space race, but nothing like that level.
The fact that they had ascended to the location using a purely technological teleportation device that Needler would undoubtedly have loved to study only emphasized how advanced the entire place was.
They had been brought to a “waiting room” while the rest of the local hero team was being gathered to talk to them. Neither Pup nor Wod were naive, and they knew that this place was undoubtedly monitoring and watching the two, and that if they tried anything, the room could easily be turned into a makeshift cell. But they had no intention of doing anything other than waiting, and the room was clearly designed for the comfort of visitors, with excellent views of space and the planet below them.
“This place is truly a marvel,” said Wod, responding to Pup's earlier statement.
“Do you think your world could have something like this? I mean, I've seen some of the things your people can do with magic...”
“Perhaps?” wondered the prince of the House of Adamo before frowning slightly. “It would take at least a dozen archmages working together without their egos getting in the way, and I don't see that as plausible,” he laughed.
“Would everyone want to do it differently and not agree on anything?”
“Everyone would want to do it in twelve different ways, a couple would start working on their own, others would forget about the project and go about their business, and we would probably end the first week with a living automaton the size of a city vomiting magical waste.”
“Why does all that sound like it happened?” Pup asked, amused.
“Some of my grandparents' urban reforms were interesting... my castle is alive for a reason, after all.”
After a few moments of silence, Pup asked, “How do you think the others are doing?”
“Worried about Lady Taylor?”
“Tay is very capable, but without me around... the poor thing must be having a hard time,” replied Pup. “Aren't you worried about Eneit? And Geraint?”
“I trust that my cub is safe with his cousins and young Varadi. And my Eneit… I miss her, of course, but I’m not worried,” Wod smiled as only an Addams in love could, “She’s much more dangerous than I am. I’d worry about the poor fools who want to test her.”
The two continued chatting and exchanging stories, letting time slip by. They didn't have to wait long before the door of the room opened with a soft hiss and a figure entered the chamber.
A'Jax Ptr-Olus, The Martian Gorgon, was interesting. The two visitors could easily recognize in him the features of the different variants of Ajax Petropolus they had encountered over the years, only in this case with red eyes, green skin, and his serpentine hair exposed without any apparent petrifying effects.
Oh, and he was also a head taller than any other Ajax they had ever met and visibly more muscular.
“Greetings,” he said, bowing his head slightly, “I apologize for the delay, but sometimes it is difficult to gather the entire team.”
“No problem at all, Lord A'Jax,” said Wodnesdæg, “I am aware of the difficulties involved in maintaining optimal collaboration between multiple fiefdoms.”
“Uh... technically we're not... Oh, I guess Bianca and Yoko would be... I mean...”
“Don't worry about it, A'Jax,” interjected Pup, “That was Wod-speak for saying he understands that each of you has a lot of responsibilities and that it's not easy to put them aside to attend to two strangers from another universe.”
“Oh, you'd be surprised how common a situation like this is,” laughed the Martian. “You know, I know you're a variant of her, that you both are, but...”
“I smile a lot, I'm sociable, and I don't have any apparent homicidal impulses?” asked Pup, with a gentle smile on her lips.
“Yes, exactly,” replied A'Jax, but whatever he was about to say died in his throat. Because it took only a second, a slight inclination of the head and no apparent superficial change in the expression on her face... but Pup's smile became sharp and the super- powered Martian had to fight the urge to take a step back in the face of the aura of menace that had fleetingly emerged from the young woman.
“But I'm still a Wednesday,” said Pup.
Wod just laughed as if he had been told the best joke in the world.
§§§
A'Jax led them through the station's wide corridors.
The place was not inhabited solely by superheroes. There was a small army of technicians, scientists, and other personnel on site performing multiple tasks.
“Mostly employees of S.T.A.R. Labs and Addams Industries, although we also have some freelance volunteers. They help us keep everything running and up to speed,” explained the Martian Gorgon.
Finally, they reached an area that was visibly more isolated from the rest of the station and had clearer security measures in place. Double-armored doors, decontamination chambers, etc. Soon they found themselves in front of a larger door that opened to reveal another room with windows overlooking deep space. In the center of the room was a large circular table surrounded by several comfortable-looking chairs, some of which were occupied.
“I bring our visitors,” said A'Jax, drawing the attention of everyone present.
Enid Sinclair, Superwolf, was the first one they saw. She was standing in front of the window looking at the stars before turning around and nodding to them, then approaching the table and sitting down in one of the empty seats.
“You already know Superwolf,” said A'Jax, “Allow me to introduce the others... this is Jade Lantern.”
He pointed to a woman with tanned skin, short brown hair, and bright green eyes who appeared to be wearing a suit in different shades of green that fit her body like a second skin. In fact, it was almost as if the suit were made of light or some other kind of energy converted into solid matter. On one of the fingers of her right hand, a ring glowed with an emerald light that seemed to pulsate with barely contained power.
Jade Lantern watched Pup and Wod attentively and cautiously, but the smile on her face was warm and sincere. Pup and Wod simply greeted her with a silent gesture, but they were both fairly certain that she was a variant of Divina.
A'Jax continued with his introductions, “This is The Rush, the fastest man alive.”
The man, who despite the scarlet mask covering his face was clearly a variant of Xavier Thorpe, greeted the newcomers with a thumbs up that contrasted with the solemnity of his gaze and the rigidity of the facial muscles around his mouth. His entire costume was a deep red, with yellow boots and gloves and a lightning bolt symbol on his chest. Despite being seated, everything about him seemed to evoke movement. It was as if his body was vibrating in an almost imperceptible way.
“Here we have Queen Siren, Queen of Atlantis,” said A'Jax, pointing to a dark-skinned woman with vivid blue eyes and a shaved head. She was tall and slender and wore tight-fitting orange and aquamarine armor that appeared to be made up of thousands of tiny metal scales that seemed to blend in with the visible, almost iridescent scales covering her skin. Her pose was serious and stern, but she greeted the newcomers with a slight nod of her head.
“Call me Bianca,” she said. “This is not my kingdom, we can do without titles.”
“We can do without titles, she says, but then you're always the first to remind everyone that you're the queen of fish,” said a mocking voice, that of the last person sitting at the table.
She was an Asian woman with pale skin, dark hair adorned with a golden tiara, and bright red eyes. She wore a suit that appeared to be a very liberal version of Greco-Roman armor with multiple influences from different Mediterranean cultures mixed with others from further east. Her entire outfit offered reasonable protection while emphasizing the power of her tall, muscular physique. She greeted Pup and Wod with a broad smile that revealed prominent fangs.
“Koyoko Tanaka of Themyscira at your service, although in this very special private club of ours, they call me Blood Amazon.”
“I personally call her pain in the ass,” Bianca grumbled, crossing her arms.
“Aww, I love you too, BiBi,” replied the vampire Amazon with a mocking smile.
A'jax invited Pup and Wod to sit down as he took his seat. “As you can see, we're a somewhat... diverse team. You can call us The League.”
A collective groan rippled around the table.
“Seriously Jax, that can't be the name,” said Jade Lantern, “It makes us sound like a sports organization.”
“Yeah, it's missing something...” added The Rush.
Koyoko raised her hand but was interrupted by Bianca before she could speak. “No, we're not going to call ourselves the Super Buddies either, Tanaka.”
“It's a valid name!”
“It's childish!”
“Well, we have to appeal to kids, don't we?”
Wod and Pup exchanged glances as the unexpected verbal debate continued, wondering whether or not they should intervene. For his part, A'Jax had simply covered his face with one of his hands and groaned in an act of frustrated resignation. Childish situations like this must have been more common than expected...
And then a voice stopped everything.
“Enough.”
Enid hadn't raised her voice. She hadn't sounded harsh or irritated; she had been gentle but with a quiet authority underlying her words that demanded attention. The verbal equivalent of a steel sword wrapped in a silk cloth.
“We have visitors,” she said, looking at Pup and Wod, “and they have something to tell us.”
Wod nodded and gestured deferentially toward Pup, “It is best that you explain our situation, Lady Pup. You are more concise and precise with your words, while I am sure to fall into unnecessary theatricality. But I will intervene if you need me to.”
And so, as other members of her family in similar situations had done before her, Pup proceeded to tell her story to the group of superheroes in front of her, trying to ignore the surreal nature of the whole situation. She told them who they were, about their previous experiences in the multiverse, how they had gotten there, and the reason why... It only took her a few minutes.
When she finished, Blood Amazon whistled, “Wow, that's quite a story.”
“Yes, very elaborate,” said Bianca, Queen Siren, casting a suspicious glance at the visitors.
Pup simply raised an eyebrow in a very Wednesday-esque manner, “You don't believe us?”
“Don't take it personally,” The Rush interjected, “Dimensional travel is perfectly believable, we've had very similar experiences with visitors from other universes, alternate realities, different dimensional planes... but that's precisely why we have to be cautious.”
“Those experiences have been both positive and negative,” Queen Siren continued, “And some negative ones posing as positive before their true intentions were exposed.”
“Your story about coming here to save the life of our Wednesday Addams to prevent a cosmic cataclysm would be very convenient if she…” Jade Lantern began, before interrupting herself and casting an apprehensive glance at Superwolf.
“If she were still with us,” murmured the Last Werewolf of Krypton.
“Well, that's precisely why I believe them... if their story were a hoax, they would have done their research better and would know that Moon Raven has been dead for two years,” said Blood Amazon.
“Koyoko!” scolded Jade Lantern, but the vampire just shrugged. “What? I'm just telling it like it is...”
“Moon Raven?” asked Wod.
“Oh, Wednesday's identity when she wore the cowl,” explained the vampire.
“She began her career long before any of us made our public debut,” said A'Jax. “Many of us thought she was an urban legend until Superwolf introduced her to us. They already knew each other...”
“She was the most dangerous woman in the world,” said Enid, with a hint of nostalgia in her voice. “And she didn't even have any superpowers. The Moon Raven.”
My moon.
“We're in a predicament,” said Pup. “That Morningstar fellow sent us here to protect the Wednesday Addams of this universe, but now you're telling me there's no Wednesday Addams in this reality. But I don't think he would send us here just by chance... it would be just a waste if we only sat around waiting for our inter-universe travel devices to recalibrate so we could leave.”
“How did she die?” asked Wod, curious, “It's not easy to get rid of an Addams…”
A collective shudder seemed to run through the group.
“That's… a complicated story,” said Bianca.
“She tried to kill us,” said Enid, shrugging her shoulders.
Wod and Pup turned to look at her in surprise, “What?”
“Well, not exactly,” clarified Superwolf, “It would be more accurate to say that she planned how to kill us. A series of neutralization protocols for each member of our team, methods to stop us with varying degrees of severity in case we strayed from the right path or fell under the control of others... If any of us had become a threat, she had a plan to stop us.”
“And some of them were fucked up,” grumbled The Rush, “I still remember the feeling of that bomb sewn into the flesh of my torso…”
“Two days in an adamantite coffin wasn’t much fun either,” whispered Koyoko.
“Wednesday's plans were secret,” A'Jax began to explain, “But her security was compromised after she let her guard down in a personal relationship...”
“Galpin,” Superwolf growled. Her claws extended instinctively.
“Industrialist Taylor Galpin, a childhood friend and... er... well, perhaps something closer,” A'Jax continued, ignoring the continuous growl reverberating in Enid's throat, “He turned out to be under the control of a cabal of supervillains led by Laurel Gates, a.k.a. the Crimson Lantern, and the sorcerer Crackstone.”
“In short, they discovered her identity, stole her plans to kill us, put them into action, and almost succeeded, and in the end... well...”
“Wednesday died after saving us all,” Enid continued, “Exhausted, wounded, and almost out of resources, she had freed us from the final trap when Galpin treacherously attacked her after injecting himself with an experimental serum that transformed him into a monster.”
“They both fell into a malfunctioning teleporter platform just as it activated... We found only half of Galpin's torso. Of her, only one hand. The rest of her body was atomized,” concluded A'Jax.
There was almost a minute of silence after the story, as if a mournful atmosphere permeated the room.
“What about her family?,” asked Pup, “Without her present, I can’t rule out the possibility that the Normalcy Nine might want to use an alternative target.”
She couldn't help thinking about her little sister, Wednesday Jr... Would she also count as a Wednesday for situations like this?
The somber expression on Enid's face was a clear answer before the she-wolf had to speak, “Gomez and Morticia Addams died when Wednesday was nine years old. She had no siblings. Her butler Lurch took care of her, but he also died shortly after Wednesday's passing. And her other assistant, Thing... well, we haven't heard from him in years. And it's better not to talk about her uncle.”
“Didn't she have a sidekick?” asked Koyoko, “That red haired brat who followed her everywhere... What was her name? The Sparrow, or just Sparrow or something like that?”
“Agnes,” Enid snorted, “That kid was just a groupie. I keep an eye on her from time to time to make sure she doesn't end up dead too. Weds couldn't stand her, but she wouldn't want anything to happen to her either...”
After that, the conversation had gone round in loops without getting anywhere. They had exchanged a few anecdotes and stories about Moon Raven, but nothing that could be of any use to Pup and Wod.
It seemed that all they could do was wait for their devices to stabilize again so they could leave, but as they waited in the same room where they had been brought upon their arrival, Pup couldn't help but pace around in circles, worried.
“Is something troubling you, Lady Pup?” asked Wodnesdæg, casting an inquiring glance at his variant and interdimensional sister.
“It doesn't make sense, Wod,” said Pup. “If the Wednesday of this dimension is dead, why send us here?”
“There was some randomness to our arrival,” said Wod. “But you don't think that's a factor, do you?”
Pup shook her head. “Look, I'm not a detective like Weds, but... no matter how random it was, I don't think Morningstar would send us to a universe without a Wednesday if our mission is to make sure we find a Wednesday. Something doesn't add up here...”
“You're not wrong,” said a third voice.
A'Jax Ptr-Olus, The Martian Gorgon, closed the door behind him after entering the room and typed a code into the keypad next to the entrance. The lights flickered for a moment.
“I have temporarily cut off monitoring of the room to ensure privacy,” explained the Martian superhero with a hint of tension in his voice. “You are right that something is amiss, and I can only tell you about it in private.”
“What is it?” asked Pup, although part of her already knew the answer.
A'jax stared at her and took a deep breath, as if uttering the next words would require extra effort.
“Wednesday Addams, the Moon Raven, is still alive.”
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