Smiling maniacally to myself, I pushed away from the monitor. It was time for me to get to work. I promised to show up for the Memorial Day celebrations. There's going to be fireworks in the old town tonight.
I walked down the hallway toward the bedroom I had claimed as my own. The chances of me returning here were slim. It was funny, but I had come to feel rather nostalgic toward the Hyperion. The old girl had good bones. Perhaps, she would stand the test of time as she had these past sixty years or more. I shook away the cobwebs from my mind.
My feet moved of their own violation, taking me to the seemingly endless closet. I quickly grabbed what clothes I needed, and headed for the bathroom. Tonight started the countdown to the witching hour. Stepping into the shower, I smiled as the hot water hit me.
The sweet little merceau had completed thanks to my companions' wonderful performances. I must prepare to play my part in the main performance. The red velvet curtains were about to rise while the audience held their breaths in anticipation. And, within the blinking of an eye, a mere twenty four hours, they would witness the highs and lows of each sweet note, the brisk lively allegro, pensive nocturnes, graceful adagios, slow largos, and my favorite capriccio as I'm ever one for improvisation. All this before the curtains crash down once more, but will the audience stand and cheer? Or will I bring down the house atop all our heads? Only time will tell, and I have a feeling that old goat keeps what he knows to himself.
I dressed carefully for the opening act as I felt it. Night was coming. The sun had started its downward path. The shadows crept further from their hiding places. They grew bolder as the golden light dulled, no longer able to chase them back into their corners. My blood pounded with each beat of Night's waking call. Times such as this when I opened myself to it, set my senses free to that wildness I had claimed. I reveled in it. Did I bother giving it a name or wonder at fate, destiny or calling? NO!
Why should I? Were those things real to me then I would have died at the Master's hand. Slayers were forbidden to kill humans, yet I've witnessed humans outstrip demons when it came to outright evil. Why did some Supernatural Higher Beings allow old men and women control over young super powered girl's lives? Were they nodding off on the job? I wasn't the Slayer by any means of the definition, and had died enough times to prove it. Those deaths didn't activate another Slayer after Kendra, which was proof enough for me. I considered myself a free agent. Was it my fault I kept what came with the title? I think not. Someone should have read the fine print. Was I going to use those powers and any others available to me to render the vengeance I had planned over the many years? Absolutely.
I stepped onto the Hyperion's rooftop, where the city lay before me bathed in twilight. She was for the briefest moments the glamorous Lady of my youth. Lights dotted highways, buildings and the downtown slowly coming to life. They battled with the stars that had started to peek into life overhead.
The cars rush toward their homes, and it saddened me. They weren't trying to get home to family, news or some other mundane, yet welcome normalcy. No, they pushed ever forward to beat the curfew enforced on their lives by powermongers who wanted to control every aspects of the people they governed.
Dennis joined my solitary pondering. He appeared beside me in his chilling specter way. It felt oddly appropriate that the only creature to bring me comfort on this Eve of Destruction was my ghostly friend.
"It's nearly time," I whispered into the slowly creeping night. "Thank you for sharing your home with me. I pray she withstands the coming storm."
It was funny. Perhaps, the old girl had her own spirit. I had witnessed odder things in my life. No sooner had I uttered those words to my friend than an odd wind blew across the roof, disturbing the air around us. Dennis' face turned sad as he gazed at me. He knew this day would come. But, like the eternal boy, he truly was, he still hoped it never would. He stood there watching me, as I stood perched on the roof's edge. I turned back to give him one last smile simply because I knew it would bring him some sense of peace.
Turning back, I left Dennis and that tiny spec of feeling I had remaining behind in his safe keeping. My body started to hum as it readied for the coming night. Everything I intended to put it through on this night of nights. I crouched down then propelled my body out into the night.
And, the Night welcomed me as a Mother does her wayward child. My blood danced with excitement as the inevitable beat drummed through my veins. The barely controlled animal alive within my skin lay ready to pounce. I only needed the least provocation and a ready target for this evening to get underway.
The buildings stood like stepping stones, and my nimble feet jumped across them like some child playing hopscotch. Soft wind caressed my skin and tangled through my hair with gentle fingers. I blocked out the light with darkness flying out behind in my passing, only to allow its return as I continued on my journey. I had become the specter on this night, the thing of nightly lore to scare children - the cautionary tale. Or, more perhaps, I created what was never my intent when I started this quest, or even this night's journey - history.
I wanted vengeance, and intend to have it. My single-minded vendetta to ensure that came about to my liking had long-reaching effects that I hadn't considered. Would I have changed anything should I have known? Not on your life, or well mine, well that's a mute point, and I've digressed.
Things happened because of something you've done, or had done to you. You must decide what you as a person plan to do about it: deal, ignore, accept or act. Each choice came with consequences, which you had to learn how to accept. I regretted nothing I'd done except that it took too damn long to do it!
Jumping down to the alley below, I knew the clock was ticking. Everything from this moment forward had to go like clockwork.
The faces staring back at me showed no emotion. Much depended on them, and yet I strangely had no reservations in their abilities to perform their allotted duties.
It was an odd disjointed feeling. I gave my trust so sparingly, some say miserly. But, here at the end faced with near strangers and I seem to have any such compunctions. My mind's was already racing through scenarios, no longer allowing me to stop to ponder this anomaly.
The ally glowed with an unnatural light. It surrounded me, racing through me then dissipated into the air. I'm nothing if not a dichotomy of oddities. Racing across the rooftops as a dark specter or trying to become an alleyway night light. We each do what's needed.
I exited the alley, proudly wearing my white 'V' mask, as I stepped onto the street. The pieces were all in play. I had just moved onto the white square. It was the Black Queen's move now.
Phones lines lit up at the Capitol, the Police Department and every news affiliation across the globe. Maggie Walsh was not happy. She hated disorder more than she abhorred not knowing what was happening. Control. Control was her mantra, her prayer. It had saved her from her past, and she had vowed never to return to the chaos of her childhood.
It's amusing the things you learn about a person when they think they're talking to your dead corpse. The awakening moments between life and death brought clarity to my mind. Dearest Maggie took great delight in seeing how long she could wait, before bringing me back to the land of the living. She took it as her right alone, and used my dead, cold body, laying still and alone as some macabre confessional.
I used those confessions against her now. Gazing at the small device in my hand, I watched the first steps in pulling her world apart as she had mine.
"Where are the troops I ordered to surround the blocks around the Capitol?" she shouted.
"Madam Regent, they're in position and have reported no sightings of target," Riley answered her coming to attention.
Maggie's mouth turned down, showing how disturbed she was by the news. As her mouth went down, mine went up in satisfaction. I closed the small monitor, placing it back in my pocket as hurried to the next location. This night felt much like Christmas Eve. Though, I would never dare compare myself to St. Nick, unless it was the demonic version I had come across during my journeys.
There was something in the air. A contagious excitement that had nothing to do with me. I may have lit the fuse, but where the wild fire raced from there was of its own violation. Other hands and breathes had fanned the flames, guiding it along its path. I felt that with each step I took tonight set those flames flaring higher. My own volatile emotions stood ready for action as the seconds counted down...three...two...one.
The layout of any major city was essentially the same. Los Angeles could claim no outstanding differences. It had its loops, highways and byways, but at its center stood the Capitol. Everything branched out from there. The universal rules were the same. Traffic was awful and parking was impossible.
There were several added advantages to growing up in LA. My mother liked to take me to museum and cultural trip, and father had worked downtown. They had taught me the importance of knowing where I was in case we ever separated. My mother also taught me to greet the people at the places we visited. She made it a point to introduce herself and me to everyone from gallery curators to the guards at the doors. We may not have parted on the best of terms, but my mother gave me a rich and loving childhood. It was only in the teens that the rift between us grew, which was as much my fault as hers.
That was how I met Sam. He had worked at the Capitol for the past forty years. He had seen everything and knew where the skeletons were hidden, literally. Maggie kept him around, because she thought him harmless. She did it as part of her goodwill gesture, and Sam mostly just greeted people these days. He answered questions and gave directions. Maggie thought him mostly senile, and took every opportunity to point him out as her senior citizen poster boy.
Sam smiled genially, while she talked, or posed for pictures that she sets up then would go on about his business. Maggie hadn't realized that his mind remained sharp. He shuffled around the Capitol on his breaks, picking up information that he could pass along to us.
It was with Sam's help that I'm able to stand here now. Maggie had pulled every available soldier from the buildings not directly surrounding the Capitol. She wanted them armed and ready on the grounds. The woman apparently felt I didn't have either the resources or the fortitude to try an aerial attack.
My cheeks were starting to hurt from the maniacal smile plastered across my face. I watched soldiers scurry about from my Birdseye view from directly across the street, but two blocks away. Somewhere along the way Maggie had gotten sloppy, which tickled me to death. I burst out laughing at my own thoughts. Yes, I knew I skirted the edge of madness, probably had danced over the edge a time or two and would fall completely before this night was through. As long as I lasted until I had completed my quest then it was a fall that I was willing to take.
I peered through the high-powered infrared telescope to track the tiny dots that ebbed and flowed as they scurried about.
"Hurry, hurry, run, run as fast as you can lest your nasty queen eats you for foiling her plans," I whispered under my breath.
It was comical watching them race around, snapping orders about alertness and preparing for attack.
"Helooo!"
Seemed an oversight of gargantuan proportions to look everywhere but up. Perhaps, old Mags bought her own PR, and because she said it was so, then it suddenly came into being. It wouldn't occur to her that I didn't intend to play by her rules. Or, to my great pleasure that I would conceive of any altercations, she couldn't foresee and easily counter.
Arrogance. I have realized through my journey how insidious it could become. It wasn't anything I had ever pondered, strived for, or felt necessary in my former life, nor even on my vengeful quest.
Please, don't gasp in outrage, stating that it took arrogance for me to have carried my vengeance to this point, and even to strive further. Though, they're dark emotions, granted, I would argue the point as to their difference. Oh, each taken to the extreme lead to harsh, and in my dealings deadly repercussions. Even with the death I've dealt, and still intended to deal before this night concluded, I stood by the belief that when we meet again in Hell, of which I had no doubt, Maggie's arrogance would far out weigh my vengeance.
Dare I say I wait with baited breath to have my conclusions proved correct? That I know my destination of fire and brimstone, and dancing to whatever tunes Lucifer cares to play awaited me may shock you. I can't see how at this late date.
The human condition never failed to confuse and amuse me. We scream for facts, figures and proof for everything, before we would believe in anything. Yet, when we have them laid at our feet we shy away from them, lock them away and excuse them rather than face the ugly we've uncovered. Pushed to the edge of our endurance, and we rally to unimaginable heights. We don't understand ourselves, but are always so quick to judge and label anything that was other.
Dearest Maggie had availed me of the means to provide the proof needed to set in motion the final phases of this night's coming storm. It had started to roll in even as I stand here waiting for her pawns to move to their proper positions on the board. The musicians were tuning their instruments to accompany each act as the curtain started to rise. It was time.
This just in from WNLA. Tonight our cameras caught the terrorist V just outside the Travers Building, which stands only blocks away from the Capitol. Who among us can forget that riveting broadcast just 24 hours ago given by this nefarious character. He claimed that he would stand on the Capitol's steps and ring in the Memorial Day holidays. Our Capitol reporter fed us this live footage of the...
Live from the Lincoln Center red carpet. Stars flooded the theatre tonight for the premier of Transformers 7 when an explosion rocked the streets. The unforgettable face of V came bursting through...
Coming from...eyewitness accounts of the Powers' Number One enemy - V...Several sightings across LA...
The wall of television screens displayed against the wall to my left battled to bring the late breaking news. I stepped away from the windows to take in the media maelstrom. No wonder actors became hooked on the attention. It was rather addictive. Nah!
It was time to see how the kiddies were handling the news. As if by magic, my phone rang. I loved when a good plan came together. My face reflected back at me as I listened carefully to the person on the other end. If Maggie could see it at this moment, she would know fear. My eyes glittered with an unholy light and my body tensed with anticipation. The dark bar stood out against the whiteness of my mask proclaiming to the world that vengeance had arrived.
The line went dead as the inbox alerted me to an incoming message. I quickly scrolled to the mail browser. The inbox counter incremented. I watched it slowly increase, until it finally stopped.
Mission accomplished.
Letting the device fall to the floor, I crushed it beneath my boot. I quickly went back to my stealth observations. The soldiers' earlier frantic movements had increased frenetically. They were stumbling over each other as they rushed to respond to the numerous orders barked at them. Poor things had no idea which way was up, and if I had anything to do with it would only get worse from here.
Time to start the races.
The dogs were at the gate, and barking in excitement to be off after that pesky rabbit. My role for this evening was to ensure I remained the lead dog, and didn't become Mrs. Cotton Tail.
And, we're off.
A figure dressed in black with its face painted white stood surrounded by Super Soldiers. They advanced with their weapons drawn ready to fire upon the fugitive - The Number One Terrorist on the Powers Most Wanted List. Orders barked above the mayhem of "HALT!" and "STAND DOWN!" The dark figure remained immobile, while the soldiers moved ever closer.
They circled like hungry wolves waiting and ready to pounce on their quarry, and rend it to the ground. Fingers tensed on their triggers, muscles bunched beneath their uniforms, while the blood pumped faster, and their hearts beat out a furious tempo that drummed through their heads. It drowned out all thought of order or discipline. A heady scent danced across their senses. Long sensuous fingers dipped in blood and mayhem caressed their faces with a lover's touch.
Their masters watched their trained pups catch the scent and take up the chase. They barked their orders, loosened the reins, all the while patting each other's backs at how well they'd trained their pets. Their moment of glory faltered as their tin soldiers fell by the wayside like dominoes tumbling one after another.
Shock turned to anger as their power fled with each body that hit the ground. Anger soon gave way to fear as they back away as the darkness came for them. Its pale face stared them down and they knew in those last moments that they looked upon Death's face and it had pale blue eyes.
Those blue eyes turned to stare straight into the camera, before it faded to black.
Maggie Walsh stared on in horror. She had just watched the same scene play out on no less than five different screens.
I have to say, I kinda like her with her face doing that wide-eyed fishy look. Much better than that tight-assed pinched look she normally wears.
"I want answers and I want them now!" she screamed to the Senior Staff members flanking her. "Who are these people? Our intelligence showed V as having no accomplices, and now we have not one, but five. FIVE!"
Her voice hit atomic levels. No one spoke, or even dared to take a noticeable breath for fear of bringing Madame Regent's fury down on their head. She leveled those cold, piercing blue-gray eyes on the people surrounding her, which didn't help them in their endeavors to provide her the information she demanded.
Guess that Ole Mags never took any Management Classes, or maybe she skipped out when they taught about not screaming at your subordinates. People don't work well when their scared shitless.
Giles had abandoned his post in DC, before it literally came down around his ears. Bet that hadn't endeared him to Maggie when he relayed V's identity to her.
"Madam Regent," he said.
It was hilarious to me to watch his fingers flex, knowing he desperately wanted to reach for those damned glasses. This eye spy was totally cool, too bad I couldn't have done it sooner, and it was only good for tonight. But, after tonight it wouldn't much matter, now would it.
Shush, must listen to the Man in Tweed as he blesses us with his knowledge. I'm sure it will enlighten us on this dark and dreary night, while darkness walks the streets.
Maggie turned with Field Marshall precision. It was an impressive and well-practiced move. She stared at the former Watcher with an expression somewhere between expectant and perturbed.
I wondered if he failed to amuse her, whether her lower jaw would unhinge and she'd swallow him whole. What, like I'm the only one to think it?
"Erm, I do believe that you have forgotten how personable 'V' was in the past," he hedged, unwilling to expound with so many witnesses.
Maggie's eyes narrowed, causing Giles to swallow visibly. He stood his ground though, and waited. She remained silent for several long moments. Giles was starting to perspire, and the others were working hard not to look in his direction. They somehow had decided if they ignored him that they might escape whatever punishment he garnered for his foolishness.
Lemmings the lot of them, but what else could you expect from the brownnosers that surrounded Maggie. It wasn't as if she actually allowed anyone to have an actual opinion.
She strode up to him, crowding close to him, invading him personal space. Although he towered over her by several inches, it was Giles that appeared to become smaller next to the overpowering Regent's larger than life persona.
"Yes, well be that was some time ago, and still doesn't explain our current situation." Her tone was dismissive as she turned and walked away.
I couldn't help but chuckle at the quick breath Giles took when he saw that no one was looking. It was time to raise the odds. Mmm, how about we clean out the reserves just a little more?
I'm sure you're wondering where this wild ride was leading. Though the chase was quite exhilarating, it was time to thin out the masses and move onto the next level. The chuckle I had contained throughout broke free when my captive audience startled as the blackened monitors came to life.
Again, that disconcerting feeling swept over me as I watched my face fill the screens even knowing it was me, yet not. My lips mirrored the feral smile that bloomed across five separate mouths. They moved in accord, and what came next was music to my ears.
"Madame Regent, we come before you on this Memorial Day Eve to declare war on the Powers. This is your final warning. You and those who serve you knowingly are enemies of the people. Before this night is through your crimes and those of the Powers will be laid bare before the people. They shall see you for what you truly are. We do nothing but show them, and they will do the rest. Madam Regent, we bring the truth, with each breath we take, each step we take that brings us to your very doorstep. When we cross your path, again all eyes will turn to you. What was done will come undone."
Each word they spoke was in perfect harmony, one voice overlaying the other, creating a singly echo. The words suddenly stopped and I couldn't wait to see the reactions.
Wait, wait for it. Here it comes.
"How dare they!" Maggie bit out the words through clenched teeth.
I watched Willow hurry forward, pushing some technician from his seat. She plopped down and started pounding away at the keyboard. I didn't need a mirror to know I was smiling like a fool. This just kept getting better and better. Poor little hacker, she thinks she can trace the feed. She didn't realize that you couldn't trace yourself. It's rather like a dog chasing its own tail, never going to happen. But, its fun to watch.
CiCi's phone rang. She held it up to Maggie, asking permission to answer it. The curt nod wasn't very reassuring to the normally intrepid TV personality. She listened carefully to the person talking, paling visibly as she gave monosyllabic answers. CiCi clicked the phone shut and stared down at it as though she thought it might bite her.
"Well, what was that about?" Maggie demanded.
CiCi bit her lip, trying to find the politically correct answer. "Uhm...that was one of the stage managers from the evening news. He, well he," she stammered.
Maggie marched over to her, and grabbed her slender wrist between surprisingly strong fingers. She jerked the taller woman down until their lips were nearly touching.
"Spit it out, before I decide to have Major Finn loosen your tongue, girl!"
The pretty brunette's dark eyes widened at the threat. "The broadcast went out live - globally." She visibly winced when Maggie squeezed the arm still trapped between her fingers.
Mmm, me thinks the old girl didn't like her present. And, to think I worked so hard to pick the perfect gift.