Dogma's Fate

The reverberations ran through the structure of the bunker network. Metal walls and railings carried them upwards, spiralling through rooms and corridors and walls. The more distant they got, the more faint they became but they did not fully fade. From the bottom of the structure to the very top, there was no one who did not feel the clash of Firebird and the Lady in Shadow.

Some, however, were busy with other things.

Dogma snarled, trailing back as he did. His head was bruised where Frostfire had hit him and he was only barely holding his own. She came at him fast, her fists flashed for his face and shoulders. He dodged awkwardly, managing only barely to weave between the attacks.

"Damn you!" He roared at her. "Do you not understand? Do you not _think? _I was saving you!"

In response, she slammed a fist into his gut, knocking the wind from his lungs. An expression of pain flashed across his face.

"You were trying to make me your puppet and slave," She growled. "The fact that I survived was totally secondary. You just wanted a naked woman to fawn over you and follow your every command."

"Y-you could have been happy."

"No, the only one happy would have been you."

Dogma groaned, clutching his gut as he staggered. His face was pale, but his eyes burned with fury.

"Is that how it's going to be?" He said. "After everything I did for you, you're going to betray me? You think I'll let this stand? Do you think that I won't punish you for it? I swear that you're going to be humiliated for this! You'll regret ever crossing me!"

"Crossing you? Idiot! I was never on your side in the first place! Your fantasy of a doe-like servant was always false. Right from the start, you played yourself."

The two traded blows, she blocked a strike with his forearm which rattled her bones. Dogma may have traded half of his power away, but he was still physically strong and fast. His leg swept out, curved under her feet and brought her crashing to the ground. He smirked, raising his foot to bring it crashing down against her, but Frostfire reached out and a shard of ice buried itself in his shoulder. He snarled in pain, his hand went to the blade of frost.

"You bitch!"

"Normally, I try not to be too lethal with my power," Frostfire pushed herself to her feet. "This time, I make an exception."

Dogma drew in a deep breath and screamed. The sound magnified, became a wall of solid force which bore down against Holly. She pushed herself out of the way, forcing her body to move as fast as it could. Behind her, sonic became kinetic, a ram of solid sound blasted through the wall behind where she had been. Dogma snarled and shouted again. This time, he was more subtle, and she was engulfed by a storm of chaos. Screaming filled her ears, loud and terrible. It spiked through her, almost painful in its intensity. As she tried to clear it away, he moved forwards, ramming his shoulder into her gut and smashing her against the wall.

He opened his mouth again, and spoke a word which pierced her like an arrow. Frostfire blinked in sudden pain. Was she bleeding?

"I'm not going to kill you," Dogma said slowly, deliberately. "I am going to keep you as a slave. I am going to break you. To humiliate you. To make you such a lowly being that even the most pathetic would have to bend down just to spit on you! Your time as a human is over. You forfeited the right to ever be a person again!"

Frostfire groaned. His words were rattling her. Not metaphorically, they were literally rattling through her body. Dogma's power was sound. Sonic manipulation and like many powerful supers, it didn't have just one trick. He could use words like solid objects, firing them from his mouth. He could amplify sound, drive you crazy with the beating of your own heart or he could simply drive his words into you like stakes, burning them into your mind. Making it impossible to resist or disbelief, at least for a few minutes. That last one was where his came from. Dogma. Blind obedience.

Her body slid to the ground, her head was spinning and her heart was hammering. He was standing above her, still speaking. She didn't know what he was saying but she felt it in her bones. Weakness. Helplessness. Despair gripped her, tugged at her heart and soul. She was worthless, why was she even trying to fight? She didn't have a chance to win, she didn't deserve to win. Dogma was right. She was just a whore who didn't know her place. Just a...

Just a hero..

She looked up suddenly, opening her mouth to scream in return. Particles of ice and frost danced around her as she gestured. A spike of ice erupted from the ground where Dogma stood, forcing him to leap away. He growled, but she gestured and a dozen blades of spinning ice hurtled after him. He intercepted with a blast of sonic force which shattered them into glittering fragments. Then, she switched to fire. Calling forth the other side of her nature. Compared to Redwing, Frostfire's ability to control flame was limited. But she did have one advantage.

She didn't need to project it from her body. She just pointed and there it was. Dogma gave a cry as the metal under him turned molten. He pushed off, jumping away just in time to take another blade of ice to the ankle. He crashed to the ground, came up rolling, but she was already moving. Frostfire smashed a fist into his face. Probably a bit harder than she should have, but it managed to disorient and confuse him. Then, as he struggled to force himself to speak, she placed her hand on his forehead.

"One word, and I kill you now."

He looked into her eyes, trying to read her intent. Seeking any sign that she was bluffing. But she was not. Dogma had broken the rules, tried to bend them to his will. There was no sympathy in Frostfire now. If he gave her a reason, she would kill him. He realised this all in one moment, and his face went pale. At the same time, a shell of ice extended itself from the ground, locking his hands and feet in place.

Then Holly felt a shiver pass down her spine. A shadow fell over her, and she leapt away just in time. A figure formed from the shadow where she had been standing. A naked woman clad in shadows, her skin was pale, her eyes were old.

"You're here!" Dogma laughed in relief. "Get me out of this! We can still salvage the situation!"

"I am not here," The Shadow Lady said. "I fight below. This is a projection. You converse with a construct."

"Whatever!" Dogma snapped. "Release me at once!"

She looked at him for a moment, and then just went right on talking.

"Firebird is more powerful than I had thought," She admitted. "Currently, we are fighting. I am losing. I can hold her back, but her power counters my own. Even if I have more raw strength, it matters little when I cannot make use of it. I would say that I can hold her for another five, perhaps ten minutes. After this, I will be overpowered as I was before."

"Why are you telling me this? Damnit!"

Dogma spoke a word which rocked the room, the ice holding him in place shattered and he staggered to his feet. Frostfire was circling carefully, not sure what her next move would be. She didn't want to fight them both, and feared that if she attacked now, that was exactly what she would do.

"I require your help", The Shadow Woman said. "The others you have recruited. Those who also have powers. They have agreed to serve you, yes?"

"What does that matter? You can't reposition them now. They wouldn't be fast enough."

"It matters. The old magic matters. They serve you, yes? Willingly? You speak for them?"

"In suppose so."

"Then grant me their power. Grant me their lives."

Dogma looked shocked and even Frostfire was surprised.

"You can do that?"

"They have given over their fate to you. You are their master. I cannot take the power that has not been willingly offered but in this case, so long as they serve you then you have the ability to make that choice. I cannot overpower Redwing now, but I can do so if I am stronger. Release their power to me."

"I can't!" Dogma protested, "Dusklord and that other shadow knight are cleaving through my forces! If I do not have my own supers ready to defend me, then whether you best Redwing or not doesn't matter."

"I will have the power to defeat my wayward sons as well," The Shadow Lady promised. "That much, I can already do. Redwing is the problem. The only problem. Grant me the lives of your followers, and I shall break Redwing. This I swear. The word of a goddess."

"In that case..." Dogma looked panicked, his face was pale. Things were rapidly spinning out of control. "Take them! Take them all! Use everything that you have access to and bring this foolishness to an end! Defeat Redwing, but do not kill her! I want her - and Frostfire - back in chains!"

"As you wish."

All over the complex, people stopped. They suddenly felt weak. Legs collapsed from under them. Hands started to shake and then went limp. One by one, they started to drop like flies. Shouts echoed through the bunker, first alarm and then terror. As each one died, a shadow flowed from where they law, flashing across the ground and deeper into the complex. Dogma laughed, feeling ecstatic relief rushing through him. Everything would be brought under control now. Everything would be exactly as it should be.

Then, he realised that he too was starting to feel weaker.

His eyes widened, and he turned to her.

"I didn't say to take my power! You don't have permission for that!"

"You gave it before," The Lady said. There was a certain set to her features that could almost have been satisfaction. "When you traded me half of your power. You told me to take ''as much as I need'' and never closed off the invitation. I needed half then. Now, I need it all."

"No, no! I deny you! I take back permission!"

"Once given, such a connection cannot be severed by only one side," The Shadow Lady said. "Your soul is strong. Your powers are greater than most others. They will serve me well. You will die, but I will honour your final command. By such things is the old accord kept."

"You tricked me!" Dogma's legs collapsed under him and he spilled to the floor. He was looking more and more withered and a corona of darkness clung to him, growing every deeper and larger. "I didn't want this! I didn't want this!"

He moaned to himself. Then, he went silent and still. His form would not move again. The shadow which had been his power flowed downwards, seeking the Shadow Lady and her true form.