Her mind awoke before her body, with an intense pain drilling into her head as her chrome implants and neurons began working in sync again after the paralysis induced throughout her systems. It was never pleasant to feel the chips embedded at the base of her skull rebooting; there was always a build-up of heat that, however slight, made it feel as if her vertebrae were on fire.
The rest of her body followed suit. Her still-biological organs and basic vital functions had never stopped working, of course, but the rest of her limb coordination systems and part of her nervous system had suffered the equivalent of a shutdown caused by an EMP when she was placed in her cage.
And all of that getting underway was a real pain in the ass for Enid Sinclair, as her mind was fully aware of everything but her synapses wouldn't let her move enough to even let out a scream of pain.
Finally, everything settled down, and she was able to open her eyes, even though she still felt as if she’d just been beaten to a pulp.
Well, almost like a Sunday morning, but without Wednesday by my side…
Where was she, anyway?
She looked around without moving her head. The room resembled a hotel or hospital room, nothing like Wednesday Addams’s underground lair. The walls were a pristine, marble-like white. A pale white light illuminated the room, emanating from a strange floating orb in the center. And there wasn’t a single window.
What was at the foot of the bed, however, was a chair and a huge figure sitting in it, watching her. A tall, muscular woman with blonde hair, dressed in what looked like armor made of leather and fur who...
“Why do you have my face?” asked Enid. Her voice sounded raspy and had a metallic edge to it, as if it were coming through a speaker with static.
The woman in the chair, Eneit Synklar, looked at her with a neutral expression, but a hint of relief shone in her blue eyes. “Ah, you’ve finally woken up.”
Suddenly, memories flooded back to Enid as she began to adjust her cybernetic body in the (unnaturally comfortable) bed.
“Wait, wait… I know you. Or I remember you… Synklar? Was that it? From that gig in another dimension where the other me recruited us…”
“It’s a relief to see that your memory hasn’t been compromised by your captivity,” said Eneit, “It certainly helps explain part of your current situation.”
Enid Sinclair, the cyborg known as The Cutting Wolf, one of the most notorious techno-terrorists and anti-establishment rebels in her dystopian world, couldn’t help but frown slightly.
Eneit looked at her again in a way that took Enid a few seconds to decipher. Her barbarian counterpart from another universe was looking at her with… remorse? Guilt?
And why?
“What is my current situation?” she asked, unsure if she would like the answer.
And where's Weds? she thought, And Joel? The others?
Eneit stood up from her chair. “Can you move?” she asked.
“Yes, I think so. My systems aren't quite at 100% yet, but I should be able to walk without any problems…”
“Then please follow me.”
The barbarian princess led the cyborg out of the room and down another pristine white hallway. The lack of windows and the artificial lighting would have been unnerving to most people, but Enid was used to living in underground shelters and environments cut off from the outside world.
Finally, Eneit led her into a new room. The space was spacious and circular in layout, with numerous sofas, tables, and bookshelves arranged around a large central round table.
In the center of the room, on top of that table, there was a sort of column hanging from the ceiling made up of monitors and TVs of various sizes and formats, from which multiple wires seemed to dangle like twisted ornaments.
It was like an upside-down Christmas tree made of televisions with wreaths of cord and cable.
On one of the sofas sat another woman. She was young, dressed in a sort of black jumpsuit made of a strange fabric that accentuated her fit yet slender and somewhat lanky figure, leaving only her hands and bare feet visible. Her eyes seemed abnormally large on her delicate, pale face, framed by long, curly brown hair that could have used a good combing.
The scent reached Enid’s nose in an instant, and the cyborg werewolf couldn’t help but instinctively go on guard.
“You’re a Hyde,” she said.
“Taylor Galpin, nice to meet you,” said the young woman, almost resignedly.
“And for your peace of mind, she’s not like the Galpins you’ve surely met,” Enid interjected, “Taylor is a good friend and ally. She’s family.”
Okay, so the Hyde was part of a choom-pack with a version of herself that looked like she’d escaped from an old She-Ra cartoon. Fantastic.
“Cool, I guess,” she said… “And where exactly are we?”
“At the…home base, so to speak, of an individual we know only as Morningstar,” replied Eneit.
“Although the bastard doesn’t seem to be here right now,” said Taylor, pointing to the column of monitors, ”He owes us a few explanations as well.”
“And I’m here because…?” Enid asked. “Don’t get me wrong, this is a lot better than being in a cage on my way to a penal colony on Mars, but I’d like to know a little more.”
Enid and Taylor exchanged a look that did nothing to put her at ease.
“You might… want to sit down for this,” the Hyde said.
“Big Eyes, I’ve been a prisoner for who knows how long, and I just got up from a bed where I’ve been lying for…”
“An hour,” Eneit interjected.
“An hour! Well… it’s been a long time since I’ve been able to move whenever and however I want, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to stand here quite comfortably wiggling my toes while you guys finally tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“You see, Lady Sinclair…”
“Just call me Enid… or better yet, Cutting Wolf… in case there are others like us out there. That’s probably the safest bet.”
“Very well, Cutting Wolf,” Enid continued, “I’m sorry to inform you that, at this moment, you are likely the sole survivor of your entire universe.”
…
…
…
“What.”
…
…
“I know it’s a shock, and I wouldn’t even dare to presume what…”
“WHAT THE FUCK!?”
The organic parts of her body were covered in short fur, while the cybernetic components creaked as the muscle mass they covered (or were fused with) expanded slightly, causing parts that shouldn't move to shift.
Her face, still human, had taken on certain minor wolf-like features, and a pair of suddenly sharp fangs pierced her lips slightly.
When she spoke again, her voice sounded cavernous.
“What do you mean I’m the only survivor of my universe?! What the hell does that mean?!” she asked, not yet shouting but with a rising tone in her voice.
It didn't make any sense. The sole survivor of her universe? That was… How many people are even alive in an ENTIRE universe!? How could she be the only one left!?
And Wednesday!?
“Wednesday…,” she whispered, before a growl escaped her throat, “Where is my…? Where is Wednesday?”
“She…,” Taylor began, but fell silent when the barbarian princess raised a hand.
Let me handle this, she seemed to say.
“We were cast into your universe with a mission,” Eneit began. Her voice had taken on a tone Taylor had heard only a couple of times before. A strange blend of conciliation and authority, like a metal gauntlet wrapped in silk. Equal parts kindness and firmness, “A group known as the Normalcy Nine roams the multiverse killing variants of Wednesday Addams. And with the death of each one, her universe dies. When we arrived at yours, we found your Wednesday, and she convinced us to participate in your rescue. But during the operation, one of the Nine appeared unexpectedly and…”
“You failed,” said Cutting Wolf, her voice monotonous and metallic. She sounded more like a machine than a woman.
Eneit lowered her head, her face betraying her shame and pain. “We did.”
“YOU FAILED!” screamed the cyborg, chrome claws emerging from her fingers and long blades from her forearms, while silver tears began to stream down her face. Her whole body trembled as if she wanted to throw herself at them but was holding back, perhaps because a last shred of humanity, conscience, or logic was keeping her in check, telling her that it wouldn’t solve anything.
And then a new voice spoke.
“All you have left now is pain and the urge to tear those responsible to pieces. But I assure you, these two women are not to blame for anything,” said Wednesday Addams.
Eneit looked at her in surprise, and Taylor jumped up from the couch, turning to face her.
“Weds!?” she asked. “When did you get here? How long have you been here?”
“I just arrived. The multiversal device dropped me off in an adjacent room… and I’ve been here long enough to know what’s going on. Synklar, Galpin, I’m sorry your mission didn’t go as planned.”
Cutting Wolf had her eyes fixed on Wednesday. She knew, on a conscious level, that this wasn’t her Wednesday, but her mere presence and scent were so familiar that she felt the rabid wolf inside her calm down, even though her mind remained a storm of thoughts, questions, and incandescent pain.
“You… you are…”
Wednesday approached the cyborg, her usually stern gaze taking on a faint hint of understanding. She extended a hand in greeting, which the cyborg shook slowly, as if afraid of breaking it.
“I’m Wednesday Addams, though not your Wednesday Addams,” said Weds, “and I can barely imagine the whirlwind of murderous chaos brewing in your mind right now, but if you’ll let us, we’ll help you bring the real culprits behind all this to justice.”
Addams justice.
“That… that would be nice,” said Cutting Wolf, sniffing back her tears as her voice returned to a softer tone. She looked at Eneit and Taylor, though not with anger, only immense sadness in her eyes, “I think… I think I’m going to sit down now.”
The Hyde stood up and helped her, taking her by the shoulders to guide her toward one of the sofas. Meanwhile, Eneit approached Wednesday with a solemn air, standing next to the Addams, who watched the rest of the scene with her arms crossed.
“The situation is…,” the barbarian began.
“Don’t blame yourself,” Wednesday interrupted, “We were all thrown into this mad hunt with hardly any preparation. And I can see it’s been even more chaotic than I expected if you’ve been with Taylor.”
“Indeed… we both ended up in a strange universe. And I have no idea where my Wod might be or who he’s with,” said Eneit, “What about you? Do you know anything about your Lady Enid?”
“We were lucky enough to end up together in our destination universe… and we were able to resolve the situation with a little help from our local counterparts,” Wednesday said, without going into further detail. “Before heading back here, Enid decided to stop by our universe to make sure the children were all right.”
“I must thank her,” said Eneit, thinking of her little Geraint, “If fate so decrees, the situation at your home has remained under control.”
§§§
When Enid Addams materialized back at her house, she knew immediately that something had happened.
There were strange scents.
Now, that didn't really mean anything serious. They did have visitors from time to time (even though Wednesday detested even the slightest hint of social life), whether they were neighbors, postmen, delivery boys or the occasional police officer who had caught their daughters playing with a lightning rod on a stormy day in the bell tower of the local church.
But the scent of strangers mixed with the smell of blood, and the heavy, ozone-filled air that hinted at electrical discharges and… Fester? Theo and Dora?
What on earth has happened? Enid thought, glancing around the entry hall of her house. There were no bodies, but there were still visible traces of blood on the floor, and a huge hole in one of the walls.
She was reassured to note that none of the blood belonged to her family, but even so, an animalistic growl had begun to echo in her throat, and someone heard it.
“Who’s there?” asked a voice from within the walls.
Enid looked up, her nerves calming down. “Cousin intruder?”
“Holy shit! Enid?” Cousin Intruder’s voice rang out from behind the wall, echoing more clearly than ever through the huge gaping hole. “You’re back! Are you alone? Where’s your missus and the others?”
“Weds and the others are… busy. A lot has happened, Intruder, but I had to come back to make sure everything was okay… What happened here? Whose blood is that?”
“You’d better go to the main hall; the others are there, and they’ll be able to fill you in better than I can, that’s for sure.”
And that’s exactly what Enid did. The moment she opened the doors leading into the main hall, multiple pairs of eyes turned to her. Two in particular couldn’t stay still.
“MOMMY!” Day exclaimed as she and Rissa threw themselves into their mother’s arms.
“My little monsters!” said Enid, pulling the girls into a tight hug and sniffing them from head to toe, making sure everything was all right…
And everything was all right, although there was something about Day’s scent, something that…
It couldn’t be.
“Friday Saturday Addams,” said Enid, looking at the girl with surprise and a touch of concern, “Have you wolfed out?”
“Yes! And I bit a man’s head off with my teeth!” exclaimed the girl, nodding and smiling with the same ease as any little child recounting a harmless adventure, like seeing a frog in the pond or petting the neighbors’ dog.
My daughter did what…!?
Enid’s alarmed thoughts were interrupted when she felt the small hand of her other daughter, Rissa, resting on her cheek. Enid looked at her other little pup, and Larissa Tuesday Addams returned her gaze with an expression of quiet comfort.
She hugged them again, without saying a word, almost clutching them tightly. She glanced at the others in the room. Theo and Dora were there, waving and smiling at the scene. So was Varadi, though the teenager seemed both relieved and nervous at the same time. And little Geraint, who looked at them perhaps with a touch of longing and envy, no doubt worried because his parents hadn’t returned yet. And at the back of the room, Fester stood with that usual smile of his that suggested he’d either heard the best joke in the world or had just enjoyed a torture session.
Since he was wiping his hands on a bloodstained white handkerchief…
“Fester… Dora, Theo, I’m glad to see you… Varadi? I need to know what happened. Now.”
“Well, you see… after you and the rest of the adults vanished into thin air…” the young golem began.
And Varadi, with help from Dora, Theo, and occasional contributions from the children and Intruder, told her everything.
How Atticus had been sent home, but the boy had been captured by three individuals who appeared to be identical to the initial attacker, and how they had broken into the house.
How Day transformed, instantly killing one of them to save Attie while Varadi knocked out another.
When they told her how the one still standing had neutralized Day with silver nitrate, Enid had to resist the urge to transform right then and there. She simply cast a grateful glance at Dora and Theo for their intervention in saving her daughter.
And finally, they had apprehended the third intruder and contacted Fester to see if they could get any information about what was going on.
“So?” asked Enid. “Did you get anything out of him?”
“Not much, unfortunately,” said Fester. “They have someone in charge who really terrifies them. Still, I managed to find out a little about how they’re organized. They’re a small army: each of those Nine calls himself a Prime and commands about a hundred variants of themselves. Having more than one of them operating at the same time, as was the case with these three, seems to be unusual.”
“Well, if you didn’t get anything else out of him… we don’t need him alive anymore,” said Enid, her voice suddenly resonating with the guardian wolf’s fury.
“Well, I was planning to feed him to the ghouls, just like we’re going to do with the bodies of the other two, but…” Fester began.
“But what?” asked Enid.
“Another thing I managed to get out of him is that all the Nine reside in some kind of fortress. He didn’t know much, but the place is hidden in such a way that their travel devices only take them back if they first contact the base and are granted access from there.”
“So we can’t use their travel devices, they’d know right away that we’re not one of them,” said Enid, getting up from the ground but still holding her daughters in her arms.
“You want to find their base,” said Theo. “Is this like the thing with The Bright One?”
“Potentially worse,” said Enid, “No, forget the ‘potentially.’ It’s much worse. Entire worlds are at stake. It would be ideal to nip this in the bud by striking them on their own turf…”
“Oh! Okay, fine, then you can’t kill the guy,” said Varadi, “If he’s alive, his blood resonates better!”
“Okay, that’s a bit over my head,” said Fester.
“It’s just like your old travel rings!” explained Varadi, “And the tracker my mother built to locate Aunt Weds when you went to rescue her years ago. We can use this guy’s blood not to find the dimension he comes from, but maybe to track down variants of him. And if there’s a high concentration of his variants gathered in one place…”
“Oooh! That must be where their base is,” said Dora. “We could go straight there and beat them up.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said Enid. “I need to meet up with Weds and see if the others…”
“Our parents?” Geraint asked suddenly, his voice anxious, “Are they okay?”
Enid knelt down again, bringing herself down to the boy’s level, while letting go of Day and Rissa, who then went to hug their cousin. Enid looked gently at Geraint, and then back at Friday’s twins and Varadi.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know where they are,” she replied, “I hope things have gone just as well or even better for them in all this as they did for Weds and me, and that they’re on their way back to the meeting point. I need to check that everyone’s okay, and then come back and talk to Grandmama so that…”
Suddenly, Enid Addams fell silent.
She stood up abruptly, every muscle in her body tensed.
A short coat of fur began to cover her skin. Her eyes shone with a golden glow.
A primal instinct was screaming inside her. It wasn't the wolf itself. It was something older, something she still didn't fully understand even after all these years.
Something she had never felt manifest itself in this way before.
It was the Volvaugr.
“Mommy?” whispered Day.
“Enid?” Fester asked. “Niece? What’s going on?”
The she-wolf replied without looking back at them. Her gaze was lost on a horizon beyond the walls of perceptible reality.
“It’s Wednesday,” she said.
She’s in danger.
“Things fall into place before they start falling apart.”
― Khayri R.R. Woulfe
NOTES
People. Get ready 😈
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