Queen’s Journey
Benjamin Medrano
Contents
The Story So Far
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Epilogue
Queen’s Journey by Benjamin Medrano
© 2021 Benjamin Medrano. All rights reserved.
Contact the author at [email protected]
Visit the author’s website at benjaminmedrano.com
Sign up for the author’s mailing list at http://eepurl.com/cGPT-b
Cover Art by Mario Wibisono
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
For the readers in my Discord, who ask questions that remind me of small details.
The Story So Far
Created by the villain Shadowmind, Lilith Carpenter has had a short yet eventful life. In a year and a half, she has done a great many things. She’d fallen in love with Gina and Rachel, the secret identities of the heroines Warden and Morgan Le Fay that helped incarcerate Shadowmind. She saved Gina from magical slavery to the villain Blue Impulse, and awakened powers which allowed her to heal Rachel’s mortal wounds when she was ambushed. After being revealed as Shadowmind’s creation, she evaded capture with her lovers, then helped infiltrate the base of the villain Doctor Johnson, who’d captured the heroine Blooming Orchid, who they rescued as well as capturing the villain.
After public pressure and numerous heroes decided that her death would be unjust, Lilith received a pardon and the official bounty on her head was rescinded, at which point she moved to Paragon City in Utah with Gina and Rachel. No sooner did she arrive than she made contact with the premier local superhero team, the Sentinels, and found herself embroiled in conflict.
Attacks by the insane villain Dreamer culminated in Morgan and Warden helping stop the release of chemical weapons from a disposal facility, while at the same time that Lilith helped Spark, a member of the Sentinels, stop a malevolent psychic alien from stealing a spacecraft from the military. In the process they captured a refitted human experiment which the alien had turned into a primitive faster-than-light engine.
With her actions buoying her reputation, Lilith was invited to speak at the Las Vegas Hero Convention, one of the biggest superhero conventions in the country. While there, Shadowmind began interfering with Gina and Rachel’s emotions where Lilith was concerned, making her feel more isolated. When Lilith was attacked and nearly killed, she found herself in Sekhet-Aaru, the ancient Egyptian afterlife, where she met several deities, including Anubis, Bastet, Ra, and Serket. Ra granted Lilith a gift that would allow her to undergo a third awakening, where her powers could change or grow still stronger, before returning her to Earth.
While Lilith was missing, Rachel discovered that her emotions had been tampered with, and helped Gina discover the same thing. Due in part to the manipulation, their trust in Lilith eroded to the point she couldn’t use her powers to strengthen them, and Lilith wondered what she’d done to push them away. She was interrupted when the villainous group Destruction Corps transported the entire convention center into a hostile dimension where they would likely die, while their other members attacked cities around the United States.
While the other heroes defended the convention center, Lilith, Morgan, Spark, and Warden moved deeper into the dimension and used an anti-orbital weapon that Circe, Shadowmind’s AI, had hidden in Lilith’s RV to destroy the satellite holding the convention center there. They barely escaped before a titanic monster crushed the RV, and the group was left to make their way home and to try to determine how to move forward, especially with how Gina and Rachel’s emotions had been altered.
And now Lilith’s story continues.
Prologue
Monday, August 18th, 2031
Final Countdown Redoubt, Kansas
The high-pitched whine of the centrifuge began to vibrate, and Omega Code winced, bracing himself. An instant later one of the vials of green liquid began glowing, then exploded, setting off a chain reaction of bright green flashes as the centrifuge ripped apart violently, and the glass between him and the device went black as the flash protection kicked in. Fortunately, it was bullet-proof glass, or he might have been in danger.
“Well, I suppose that’s another failure,” Omega Code muttered as the window slowly cleared again, revealing a room full of acrid green foam, but paused as he saw that large sections of the synthetic armor on the walls had melted away, leaving behind bare metal, and his eyebrows rose as he considered, then corrected himself. “Well, perhaps not. Maybe it’ll work as a weapon… and if all else fails, I can use it to clean off my model collection so I can paint them right. Assuming it doesn’t melt pewter.”
He turned his attention to the screens below the window and frowned at them, considering what the sensors in the room were telling him. The concoction wasn’t looking nearly as lethal as he’d hoped it’d be, which was quite obnoxious, but he’d decided to try it out on a whim anyway. Watching some various videos online had given him ideas… and the idea of melting an entire city with a modification of a child’s volcano experiment had amused him.
“I’m going to have to do plenty more experiments if I want to make that work… ah, it won’t matter anyway. My next plan will do the job. I know it will, and I’m no child. I don’t need a child’s volcano experiment.” Omega Code gloated to himself, then began to laugh loudly, letting his anticipation get the best of him.
He let his laughter slowly die as the hatch into the room clicked loudly, the locks slowly retracting, then it swung open to reveal the hulking form of Black Harbinger, though the black-armored figure didn’t have his usual entropic sword in hand. Omega Code turned to face his lieutenant, grinning broadly at him.
“Ah, you’re here! Do you have good news for me?” Omega Code asked, clapping his hands together as he flopped into a convenient chair.
“The prisoners have surrendered to the inevitable, and the minions report that the first of your devices have been placed,” Black Harbing
er replied in his deep voice, seeming entirely unsurprised by Omega Code’s reaction. “Unfortunately, two of the magi were weak-willed, and I only eliminated one of them.”
“Ah, Atlanteans. They’re so arrogant, but at the first sign of adversity, their facade crumbles like the morals of society do when they think you aren’t looking,” Omega Code said, sneering slightly in contempt. At least most heroes were brave in the face of death. “Which of them did you kill?”
“The short one. He seemed the weakest-willed, and I hoped that the others would prove better sport. I was wrong,” Black Harbinger replied, a hint of disgruntlement in his metallic voice. “It was boring. The other two submitted before he’d stopped twitching.”
“Unfortunate, but not unexpected… you have particular tastes,” Omega Code admitted, debating for a moment, then asked, “What about Percy? I do have another task for you which you may find more exciting, but Percy takes priority.”
“He’s on his way back from the groomer,” Black Harbinger said, pausing to study Omega Code, then asked, a hint of eagerness in his voice, “What task do you have in mind?”
“I’ve decided that I want Lilith Carpenter. Her nature means that if I can convince any of these so-called heroes that the world needs to burn, it’s her. She hasn’t had a chance to be fully indoctrinated by the miserable excuse for a society that’s around us… and her powers would be perfect for convincing people of what fools they are should the next attempt fail,” Omega Code said, thinking about society venomously. The only solution to humanity’s ills was to wipe them out like the infection they were. “It isn’t going to be easy, but with the Atlanteans, it’ll be simpler than it would be otherwise. I want you to arrange travel to Paragon City, then wait for the opportunity to distract or destroy the Sentinels while your minions abduct her. With the help of the Atlanteans, of course.”
Black Harbinger went silent for several seconds as he thought, then spoke slowly. “A rematch with Warden would be good. However, as she contained my self-destruction last time, I’m uncertain I can cause the devastation I desire with her in the area.”
“True! Which is why you should use the entropic amplifier. That should allow you to give them a very nice surprise,” Omega Code said, grinning even more broadly now, one foot tapping on the floor rhythmically.
“As you wish, it shall be done,” Black Harbinger said, bowing his head slightly, then turned to leave the room.
Watching him go, Omega Code couldn’t help another cackle, as he thought about how the heroes would react to this. Poorly, if he was any judge of their past actions. Regardless, he had more important matters to attend to.
Taking a look at the room, the supervillain considered, then shrugged, deciding that dealing with the foam and centrifuge could wait. He’d figure out the counteragent later, after he soothed Percy’s feelings, and he sprang to his feet.
“Daddy’s on his way, little guy,” Omega Code called out, heading for the garage.
Percy never reacted well to the groomers, but better that they dealt with trimming his claws than Omega Code.
Chapter 1
Monday, August 18th, 2031
Guardian Compound, Paragon City
“Morgan, it’s good to see you!” Decarin said, stepping back to let Morgan into the hallway, and she couldn’t help a wry smile as he continued. “I’ve heard all about things in Vegas from Spark, it sounds like it was a disaster, if you ask me. It makes me a bit surprised to see you on your own, rather than with the others.”
“Unfortunately, events in Vegas have had some… unanticipated consequences,” Morgan replied, grimacing slightly. “I came to speak with all of you now because Warden and I need to deal with those consequences, but we also don’t want to leave Lilith alone when she’s out shopping.”
“Ah,” Decarin replied, though the brown-haired man looked even more confused than he had before. After a moment he shrugged and gestured down the hall. “Anyway, the others have gathered already, so if you want to join us…?”
“That would be perfect,” Morgan said, though when she smiled at him, it felt a little strained. Morgan wasn’t happy about the situation, and when they discussed things with Lilith later… she was afraid of how Lilith was going to react. If it weren’t for having to deal with getting plane tickets back to Paragon City the previous day, they’d probably have had the discussion then.
She shook off the thought, instead focusing on following Decarin as he led the way down the hall and into a room Morgan recognized from previous visits. It was large enough to fit all four of the Sentinels, as well as several guests, so she supposed it made sense to use in the current situation.
Stepping inside, she smiled on seeing the team, her tension easing at how relaxed they were. While Shade was in his usual black robes, he had his hood down to reveal his handsome, native features, and he quickly set down the cup of tea he was drinking before standing and giving her a polite nod. Sitting in her custom chair which allowed her wings to extend comfortably behind her was Archon, her flame-like hair in a braid, while she wore a long, flowing dress that was a nearly eye-searing pink. Last was Spark, clad in her usual armored black and blue suit, and she grinned at Morgan, sitting forward so suddenly her bangs got into her eyes.
“Hi Morgan! Got anything fun planned? Celebrating because we beat the snot out of DC’s plan?” Spark asked quickly, practically bouncing in her chair as she brushed her hair back again.
“Spark, please,” Shade said, a hint of reproach in his voice, and Spark blushed, quickly sitting back in her chair.
“Right, sorry, sorry… pleasantries first,” Spark said, letting out a sigh. “I’m just bored.”
Shade sighed, shaking his head as Decarin pulled out his chair and sat, then looked at Morgan. “Sorry, Morgan. How are you doing? We were a bit surprised by your request for a meeting, but considering the circumstances, it’s the least we could do.”
“Agreed. Considering what we’ve heard about the events on the other side, without the four of you working together, even if they managed to escape that death trap there doubtlessly would have been far heavier casualties,” Archon said, her voice even as she tapped the rim of her mug of coffee.
“Thank you. And Spark… I don’t know how you can be bored, after a weekend like that,” Morgan said, pulling out a chair to sit as well, a little stunned internally at the woman’s reaction. “I think I’m good on excitement for the year.”
Spark shrugged, grinning as she replied. “Maybe it’s just my metabolism! I tend to burn through things like that fast, then I’m ready for the next bit of excitement.”
“Personally, I think she’s just an adrenaline junkie,” Decarin chimed in, but he sat back and said. “Anyway… mind telling us what this is all about? With our luck, a villain will decide to strike any minute, since we’re all occupied.”
Morgan winced at that, as he had a definite point. It always seemed like things would go wrong at the worst possible time, which was why she was concerned about the situation with Gina and Lilith. Sure, they would probably be safe at the mall, but she couldn’t count on that. Still, she needed to stop being afraid of admitting what was going on. She’d have to tell Lilith soon enough, and that wouldn’t be a pleasant conversation.
“I… well, Warden and I have a serious problem,” Morgan said, bracing herself as she took the plunge at last. “We need to leave Paragon City for a while, possibly for several months or more, and we’d like you to keep an eye on Lilith while we’re gone.”
All of the other heroes went still, at least for a moment. Shade froze halfway into his chair, while Archon’s eyebrows rose, and Spark stared at Morgan like she’d grown another head. Decarin opened his mouth, but Spark spoke first.
“Why in the hell would you be leaving?” Spark demanded, her enthusiasm having changed to anger in an instant, and electricity crackled across her fingers. “She was almost murdered in Vegas, and you know that both SMOKE and a bunch of assassins are after her!”
> “I know. Believe me, I know, and so does Gina,” Morgan said, not even trying to keep referring to her friend by her hero name anymore, and she reached up to rub her eyes tiredly. “The problem is Shadowmind.”
“Well, that’s certainly ominous,” Archon murmured softly. “Lilith said she’s alive. You have confirmation?”
“Yes, unfortunately,” Morgan said, opening her eyes again and taking care to avoid Spark’s gaze, as the woman was glaring at her. “I noticed something… wrong, after Lilith vanished in Vegas. So I did an in-depth examination of myself, and found that my mind was riddled with psychic energy where changes had been made. Worse, so was Gina’s, and we recognized Shadowmind’s influence. The changes go back as far as the point when we captured her, and there are so many of them, we can’t tell how much she’s… she’s twisted and changed. We know some of it has to do with Lilith, but what? We don’t have the slightest clue, and trying to undo mental effects on yourself is…”
Queen's Journey (Lilith's Shadow Book 5) Page 1