Bad Moon Rising

Back at 4 Yancy street, Reed and Susan sat up in bed, unable to get to sleep after the events of the day. On his side of the table, Reed went over his last bit of notes over what happened when their home was attacked, having gone over the recordings the lab made of the six intruders and how they had attacked his family.

“Very interesting…” Reed silently mused, his eyes going over every detail, rewinding and going back to specific details to keep a mental note. “Sonic attacks, holographic illusions, increased strength... But how did they come here?”

“Reed?”

Turning off the pad in his hand and setting it aside at the bedside table, Mr. Fantastic looked to his wife who lounged on her side, propping her head up with her hand over the pillow. “Yes dear?”

“You’ve been watching that playback for over an hour now. Something worrying you? Apart from the obvious.”

“Yes…” Answered Reed, putting his reading glasses away and rubbing the bridge of his nose as he sat back and crossed his arms. “These new visitors of ours, they came here under their own power and volition. I was just trying to find out how they did that. There wasn’t a device they had on hand. The fact they came through the existing portal and not through an aperture of their own has me assume they used the same type of portal device as mine. But that would imply the portal device acts as an anchor or a hub for another portal to link with. But if that were the case…”

“The one with the tentacles seemed to be the ringleader, and you’re right, she wasn’t surprised about where they were, but I didn’t see anything like a control or a remote with her.” Breathed Susan, seeing the worry in Reed’s eyes. “How long do you think they’ve been attacking realities.”

“I have no idea. I’m more worried if there are more LIKE them out there. I’m starting to wonder if it might be too dangerous to have a device that can explore the multiverse.”

Resting a hand over her husband’s shoulder, Susan moved closer to peck him on the cheek. “Reed, if it wasn’t for that device, we would never have got to know so many of me, so many of US out there.” Moving to rest overtop of him, Susan smiled warmly and kissed Reed over his forehead, before trailing down his eyebrows, nose and then his lips, lingering into the kiss. “Yes, we saw some rough spots, we met versions of us that scared us all, but not all of them were bad. We met wonderful people from those other realities. Well… Wonderful versions of me. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Well…” Tapping his chin in thought, Reed looked up. “That one version of you was a VERY good lab assistant, its nice to meet a side of you who is a good listener and eager to be a part of… Ouch.”

Pinching his cheek with her fingers, Susan snorted with a grin as she rolled her eyes and kissed him again.

“You’re lucky you’re cute when you’re naive, Reed.”

The couple chuckled and sharing another kiss, Reed reached out with his extended arm to turn off the light at their bed. Susan still kissing him even in the dark. Pulling the sheets over them both as she swooned and the two turned over.

***

It was well into 3 in the morning at the bar with no name, its staff letting out the last of its patrons out the front door onto the streets and the waiters began cleaning up after them. The till was emptied and counted while tables were wiped clean, and dishes washed behind the bar.

“That’s the last of’em boss.” Called out the bouncer as he stood at the door. Nodding over to the owner who sat by a table counting his earnings for the night and got a gesture to lock up now that everyone was out. Turning to the door to close it, he was surprised to find it didn’t yield for a split second until it finally budged, and he was allowed to close it. “Door’s acting up a bit boss, second time tonight.”

“Don’t matter Butch, after tonight, we’re clearing out and relocating.” Explained the owner as he finished his till count and bagged the bar’s earnings. “Shit, after tonight, the last thing we need is a dead body in the washroom to get the fuzz on our ass.”

“Well don’t worry, we got rid of the guy…” Nodded another guard after locking up the back door, the man shaking his head, still shocked. “Geez, what sicko kills a guy for his eyes?”

“I dunno, I’m just glad those bitches disappeared the moment we found the guy in there, little Miss Halloween party gave me the willies.”

“Do tell…” A disembodied voice spoke, loud enough for the staff to stop what they were doing, halting in their tracks and look around. Their attention quickly turned to the jukebox at the other end of the bar that suddenly turned back on, the machine clicking as some unseen presence typed at the song requests and whirled to life, playing Dancing in the Moonlight by Toploader. “I’ve been looking for this place all night to find some information on some individuals I’m searching for. I do hope you can accommodate me.”

At that moment, the invisible stranger appeared before the bar’s staff, standing in the middle of the dance floor dressed in black and white with a massive white cloak wrapped around her. A matching white hood obscured her face, which was also covered in a black featureless mask save for the sliver of a crescent moon etched over the forehead.

“Hey lady, we’re closed.”

“I know. I waited until your closing hours because I didn’t want the innocent to get involved in our private little chat.”

Approaching the owner of the bar, the rest of the staff stood uneasy, some of them reaching into their jackets when the woman snatched up a pair of glasses from the bar and placed them on the table in front of the man. With her other hand she let a collection of gold and silver rings drop into the glass.

“These belonged to some very unsavory individuals I met tonight. Thieves, muggers… Rapists. After a bit of coaxing, they told me about a bar with no name in the city where the unpleasant and ne’er-do-well like to frequent and hide from prying eyes. I’m here because I’m looking for six women who wronged someone… Very close to me.”

“Yeah? Sucks to be them, toots.” The group of men chuckled with their boss as he pulled the glass full of expensive rings towards him to check out but made care not to reach inside. “But we’re not the troublemakers here, we just serve drinks. We don’t ask if the one orderin it is wanted for tax evasion or dressing up like a fucking street clown who robs banks on his workdays. This place works because no one asks questions. Besides, what makes you think I’ll tell you anything?”

Extending her other gloved hand, the woman let drop a pile of severed fingers into the second glass, each with metallic stains hinting they were the fingers those rings came from, making the man back away in his chair and get to his feet.

“THEY talked, and so will you.” Hearing guns cocking, Moon Dame looked over her shoulder to find a dozen guards with guns aimed right for her. Ignoring their threatening poster as she looked back to their boss who did the same. “Six women. One with metal tentacles for arms, one with a lioness motif, one with wings, one with…”

“SHOOT HER!”

A chorus of gunfire rang out, leading the two bartenders to drop to their knees and clutch at their ears as bullets sprayed towards the robed woman, who did not move an inch during the entire barrage. She didn’t need to. The metal slugs stopped a foot away from her person like they had hit an invisible wall. By the time the firing stopped with a ‘click’ ‘click’ ‘click’, Moon Dame raised a hand and flicked her finger.

The song on the jukebox then changed, playing Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Turning her attention to the men reloading their weapons, Susan unfurled her cloak and reached out with her hands towards the guards. There was a strange… Shimmer in the air where her hands were, almost like shapes forming that warped the light when she grabbed hold of what now seemed like a pair of invisible khopesh blades, spinning them expertly in her hands as she darted towards the first bouncer still trying to reload and struck. Like a gust of wind, Moon Dame danced around him as he stared down at his pistol, the gun falling apart after being cut in half while Susan moved on to the next armed man.

The bar owner could only watch on in shock as he witnessed this white-caped woman move with inhuman speed, disarming his men before they could reload. Realising he was outclassed, he tried to flee out the back door, but when he got to the emergency exit, his feet refused to budge. Looking down, he didn’t see anything, but it felt like something invisible had grabbed hold of his ankles and refused to let go. By the time he looked back to what was happening to his staff, they had all been disarmed, and this woman, this witch stood back where she original stood before the table, the displacement in the air her swords gave off were gone as she raised a hand and pointed up.

That very instant the men cried out in shock as they found themselves thrown up and pinned to the ceiling, their arms and legs spread eagled as if they were braced in shackles they couldn’t see. Pointing back at their employer who made to run, the man found himself skidding back, **** to turn around and face her and fell to his knees with his arms crossed behind him as if he were tied and bound.

“PLEASE! Don’t kill me!”

“I’m not HERE to kill you, I’m here to ask you questions.” There was a moment where Moon Dame turned her head, almost like she was listening to someone before shaking her head and looking back at the man she had under her proverbial thumb. “I’m looking for six women who arrived here.”

“Yeah, they were here… Damned if I knew HOW, they just showed up in the booth over there and ordered drinks. When we found a dead body in the washroom, they disappeared like a fart in the wind. That’s all I know I swear!”

Moving over to the corner booth of the bar, Moon Dame carefully looked over the table and seating, finding scratches and cuts in the wood from a knife. There was a moment where she stood there, her hand clenching open and closed as she whispered something under her breath, almost like she was arguing with someone before she turned to the people at the bar, the lot realising they could move again.

“Report the **** of the man you found, or you might see me again the next night.” Heading out towards the back exit, Moon Dame didn’t look back when she opened the door. “And you’ll know its me, I’m the one who see coming.”

***

Outside of the bar and making her way up the wall of a tall building to perch over its roof, Moon Dame frowned as she watched the bar staff scatter, waiting for the sound of police sirens as two police cruisers arrived on scene to question the remaining people there. Getting up, she walked down the roof of the building to head to another, to patrol the city further for her prize.

“You let them live.”

Stopping over a rooftop and wringing her hands, Moon Dame turned to look over a rooftop nearby where she spotted the source of the familiar voice scolding her. There, stood a man wearing a white robe like her own, his limbs bandaged, holding a white ivory staff that ended in a crescent moon. But where a face should have been, there was a fleshless, floating skull of an Egyptian crane glaring back at her, expressionless.

“I spared them because they didn’t kill anyone.” She hissed the answer out. “They may be scum, but he was right in one aspect, they served food and drink. Nothing more.”

“Food and drink to the dredges of this city. A rat’s nest is not hallowed grounds to call sanctuary, those men sheltered the worst and covered up their sins from the public eye. I taught you to show no mercy to those who do not do the same. What has changed, hmm?” Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon questioned as he gripped his staff in both hands.

“What’s changed? We are in another universe, a universe where I and my friends did not die oh so long ago. A universe where Reed and I are happily married with two children. And here I am your loyal servant of justice. I am curious oh lord Khonshu. Did you save me that faithful night? Or did you wait for just the right moment to step in and benefit from a tragedy?”

“Her tale is her own as is yours. Your tale had ended THAT day, and I saw fit that someone driven to desire justice would get that, or are you ungrateful for my intervention?” Khonshu asked, his avian beak risen imperiously.

“…. No.”

“No indeed!” Appearing behind her suddenly, Susan remained still as her patron circled her, his ivory staff tapping the stonework at their feet with each step as he berated her. “When I found you, the metal clad despot had already had his way with you and your loved ones, you were gasping for help even after you breathed your last breath. I offered you the chance to be my knight and enforce MY justice on the mortal world. You do not question me, otherwise I may have to second guess our agreement and let you go as you were before I found you. And last I checked you didn’t have a pulse then.”

“I will serve as your Moon Dame; you have nothing to fear of that.”

“Talking to yourself again?”

Snapping her attention behind her, Moon Dame found she wasn’t alone. There standing with her arms crossed was the blue clad Daredevil woman who arrived in this world like her, her lips pursed, and an eyebrow raised.

“No. I am communing with my god.”

“SURE, you were.” Lowering her arms, she stepped closer to the robed woman. “Didn’t find them I take it.”

“No, but I know now that they are compulsive, sadistic. They know when to hide, but cannot bring themselves to hide for too long, they NEED to inflict pain, either to vent their troubles or fine tune their ghastly craftsmanship. This will help me find them.” Looking Daredevil over, Moon Dame narrowed her eyes. “How did you leave the household?”

Raising her arm, the tracker was missing from Daredevil’s arm. “We have a shared benefactor. One who sent me to go looking for you to make sure SHIELD doesn’t start asking questions when the sun comes up.”

Looking out to the horizon where sunrise would come, Moon Dame sighed. “Indeed, my duties end soon. Let us return, but the six, they are mine.”

“Get in line honey, you’re not the only one.”

Turning invisible, the pair left the scene for the police to investigate the bar and its staff.