Power Theft
Power Theft
Midnight in city of Dar Myrrosha; in the Geological Museum a crime is taking place. A flawless diamond about the size of a beach ball is on display in glass case. Due to it color of deepest ebony and the general shape which can generally be likened to a Valentine Heart, the stone is called the Heart of Darkness. What the general populace of the city, the nation; in fact the whole world, one of the most valuable geological finds in history is a cursed artifact of evil. And dangling above the stone is a strangely furred wolf bitch.
Janet Germaine has suffered her entire life for her strangely fox-like coloration. Most of her body is covered by luxurious black fur. But there splashes of white in some really odd places. The tip of her tail for one along with a stripe in the front highlighting her breasts to her sex is the one she can most conceal, but the gloves and boots make some mistake her for a large vixen. Worse for her has been the large splotch on her face. Together with her platinum top fur has led many to call her ghost girl and worse. Janet's skills in the ways of stealth, which were once a survival tactic against the cruelest of bullies in school, now lend themselves to her chosen profession as a thief. Her choosing sonic weapons to aid her both in getting what she wants and stunning guards to help her get away, along with her unusual coloration has led the media to give her the moniker of "Banshee" which she finds quite ironic.
Sliding down the rope is the easy way to get to the target. Once in place, Janet uses a sonic pistol to get at the Heart of Darkness. She had altered her back pack specifically to hold the bulk of the Heart and now that she has it she climbs back up to the roof. But the Gem Pit as it is called is the lowest level of the museum. She has to pass by row upon row of other geological oddities, many almost as valuable as the Heart itself. At the roof of the pit is the floor of Ancient Animal display. It was here, between the legs of a roaring tyrannosaurus skeleton that she gained access to her target. And it is here that she meets one who would stop her from leaving.
A male wolf, charcoal grey furred with black tiger strips up and down his body, or so Janet has been told. But the hooded black cloak conceals his face for the most part. Only the angry red orbs that are his eyes, lacking the normal extras eyes usually feature like an iris and a pupil, shine from under that hood. Much of the rest of his body is covered in black. Besides his silver utility belt and the silver pentagram on his chest are his crimson glove gauntlets. His presence is felt before he is seen as Banshee whips out her pistol.
"Who's there? Are you here, Wraith? You're not gonna stop me!" Banshee cries out.
The pistol is torn from her hand as the Wraith emerges from the shadows to admonish her: "You know better than to point things randomly, Banshee. I will not allow you to bring the house down to cover your escape. Not that I can allow you to leave with the Heart of Darkness, mind you. I put it here for a reason."
"Your wards made sure I could not get at it so easily, Wraith." A voice in the shadows says. "So I hired someone to steal it for me. Now, Miss Banshee, if you would be so kind..."
"Where is my payment, Shadow Lord?" Banshee asks with a growl. "You said you would provide a distraction if the Wraith showed up to try and stop me."
"Your payment is waiting for you at your safe house." Shadow Lord answers calmly. "As for the distraction, I suggest you start running the second you hand over the Heart of Darkness."
Satisfied for the moment, Banshee deposits the gem into the palm of an oversized white glove and then she runs for the exit.
"Hear my command you hands of time. It is now time for you to unwind. These creatures made of stony bone. Return to them their flesh and make them servants of my own."
Dinosaur and ancient mammal fossils quickly return to the forms they had whilst still living. A white gloved hand salutes Wraith with its position over a pair of eyes in a deeper patch of shadow.
"Eyes that see only truthfulness; I ask of you to lend me your vision so I might pierce the veil of falseness. Shadows of the past; not made to last. Fade from my sight fast!"
Wraith manages to become incorporeal with enough time to avoid getting eaten as a tyrannosaurus lurches for a meal. Fading from view, the dinosaurs and ancient mammals fight among themselves as the pool of shadow itself fades from existence. When the police arrive the next morning only the Heart of Darkness is missing, and not even the fossils are disturbed from last night. Back at the Haunt, the Wraith's secret base, the mystic detective broods over what he could have done differently. "I should have grabbed the Heart myself" he thinks to himself. "No that would require using the gauntlets more than we really want to." He answers himself back rhetorically. A female face appears on the large main computer screen slightly above him.
"Master," the digital female face intones mechanically. "In his current form, the Shadow Lord cannot use the Heart of Darkness."
"That, my dear Oracle," Wraith says. "Is just about the only bright spot; Shadow Lord's infernal master, the Dread Nocturnal Emperor still slumbers and cannot be awoken even with the Heart of Darkness."
"What could awaken him, master?" Oracle asks in the same digitized voice that was installed into the circuitry. Wraith knows it's just a program, but the intoning is so much like an actual female at times, he feels the need to remind himself that this is just a machine. To which he responds with. "A mystical sonic tone, Oracle, Banshee's sonic abilities are technologically based. Even if the Shadow Lord were to coerce her she couldn't channel the right pulse to do the job."
Somewhere in the nexus between realities a shimmering shadow that looks remarkably human carries the Heart of Darkness to an immense being made entirely of shadow stuff. The fringes of its existence are tentacles and crab claws the height of an average human. Rising and falling in general mass and position, this giant shadow is obvious asleep. Within the head of the human shaped shadow are eyes that generally face where "he" is faced and gives a general indicator as to what direction he himself is facing. Placing the Heart of Darkness before the sleeping giant creature of shadow, the man kneels before the titan. "Great and terrible, Master, I have made the proper arrangements for you to awaken from this unnatural slumber. Just give it time to develop."
Elsewhere in an apartment located in a slum district ruled by Columbian Drug Lords and their gang banger enforcers Janet Germaine slips into her safe house. Honest police officers won't go near here without a SWAT team back up. Less than honest cops are interested in other things than true justice here like drugs, gambling and prostitution. Janet is under the protection of a crazy Chihuahua who calls himself Juan Morte. While it may not be much of a name his reputation as one who would kill anyone who he even perceives as looking at him cross eyed makes most other drug lords give him a wide berth. Janet stole a clear quartz bauble in the shape of a monkey's skull once and he keeps her around because her likeness to a ghost he finds pleasing. On the counter that functions as her kitchen table is a large tome with the title of Sonic Arcanum. This was a big part of her pay off for the Heart of Darkness job. Wraith is one of the few people that can thwart her robberies with his sorcery. If the Shadow Lord was not just jerking her chain, this tome would teach her magic that goes along with her chosen motif that the Wraith can't confiscate from her.
From the first page, she finds formulae that will allow her to do all she used gadgets for and more. Burning the midnight oil, Janet proves a quick study. She tries out a Sleeper spell on some rival gang members to her patron and the spell works like a charm. Over the next few weeks she spends her time mastering the spells in the tome. Her singing can lull people to sleep, or deafen them with her screams. She learns wailings that can paralyze or even kill. All of this training does not go unnoticed as the Shadow Lord is watching with great interest. Eventually word seeps into the Wraith's ears that some is using magic in the Wastelands. What's more disturbing is that the magic is of a sonic nature. Flying in one night and by keeping himself invisible Michael Morgan, the Wraith witnesses Banshee take on a whole gang of thugs and beat them soundly. Not willing to reveal himself just yet he decides to keep an eye on her and assigns a spy eye, a magical construct that is basically a big eyeball with bat wings that is limited to observing and sending the images to the Wraith back at the Haunt, to watch over her.
"Master, your spy eye is sending back good data on Miss Germaine." Oracle states upon his return to base.
"Good, any signs of the Shadow Lord?" Michael asks he watches Janet undress. "Nice, I don't mean to be such a voyeur but Banshee switching from technological sonic abilities to arcane means of producing sonic affect is cause for concern."
"Why is that, master?" Oracle asks in a puzzled tone of voice to which Wraith answers with: "It mainly concerns the Heart of Darkness she handed over to the Shadow Lord. If she learns to create arcane sonic pulses in the right manner they could be used in conjunction with the Heart of Darkness to awaken the Dread Nocturnal Emperor from his deep slumber. And should that happen; we will really have a problem on our hands."
Steeling for a potential arcane duel, the Wraith walks through the shadows and into her bedroom for a little chat. Janet was undressing to take a shower and the appearance of someone walking out of the shadows of her apartment startles her. Yelling a short arcane phrase she unleashes a dart like pulse of enchanted sonic energy. Knowing this was a possibility Wraith easily dispels the pulse before it can actually hurt him.
"Wraith!?" Janet half asks and half states in alarm. "What are you doing here?"
Wraith advances on Banshee, the eyes below the hood of his cloak seem especially angry as he admonishes her: "You can get into more trouble, girl. First you steal the Heart of Darkness and hand it over to the Shadow Lord and now you study the very magic he needs to release his master, the Dread Nocturnal Emperror from its eternal slumber."
"The book of magic was payment for the Heart of Darkness job." Janet growls. "I am getting tired of being dependent on technology that can be stripped away. So I decided to go the magic route. But what is this Emperor you're ranting about?"
"A being of living shadow stuff that invades other dimensions to devour the souls of its residents." Wraith says matter of factly. "A member of my family put it to sleep some time ago at the cost of his own life. And I'd rather it not wake up again for some time to come." Janet would go pale were she not already white in some places but then she notices the fact that usually extremely spooky looking Wraith has a hard on that can be seen through his black pants. Only the fact that he is apparently doing his best to concentrate on grave matter that he came here to discuss is keeping Janet from giggling. "Well, I was going to pop into the shower before getting more practice in, care to join me?"
The corner of the one eye goes up until he realizes himself that he has a hard on. "Well, discussing things over a good washing can't hurt can it?"
Chuckling to himself, the Wraith disrobes in an instant and telekinetically turns the shower on. As they wait for the shower, Janet lies on her bed and spreads herself. She is surprised when Wraith has some rope, from where it came from Janet has little idea, snake around and tie her up. While she is concerned Janet is also curious to see what the mystical vigilante has in store for her. As he fondles her breasts Janet struggles to no avail to get free of her bonds, but to no avail. Gently but surely Michael slides himself inside of her. Janet moans as she surrenders control to this "hero" who has restrained her. And when Michael starts to lick and suckle at Janet's tits, the villainess starts to think she might be on the wrong side of the law. She whines more in pleasure than pain as she begs him to fuck her faster. Michael is unwilling to answer her as he keeps his muzzle on her breasts, licking and suckling as his tongue plays with her nipples. Before his knot inflates, Michael takes out his member and offers it to Janet. For her part she has never wanted to suck cock anymore than at that moment in time. However after she has sucked him dry, she requests that if he is so inclined to service her in the shower, that he leave the knot in place.
Once in the shower both wolves wash each other and each has favorite parts of the other to linger over. For Janet it is Michael's groin, especially his cock and balls. For Michael it is Janet's bosom and her nether regions. Janet is still randy while Michael is just now getting hard again. Positioning her up against a wall, Michael slots his phallus into her anus. With hot water streaming down on them the steam fogging up the mirror is from the pair and their yiffing as much as it is the water itself. And while the pair disturb the night with their lustful cries the Shadow Lord is trying to make his own visit to the Banshee to enlist her aid in his cause. When he finds himself blocked from entering her abode as he had done previously, he uses divinatory magic he looks in on her and finds her busy. At first he wonders why this should prevent him from entering her place, but then he spies her partner and recognizes him. Frustrated, the Shadow Lord burns his master's emblem on the side of the building and then departs.
The next morning, Janet finds herself bound and naked again. But unlike when Michael did it, Juan Morte is not as gentle by a long shot. The vicious Columbian Chihuahua is very nervous about what was burned into the very foundations of his place and demands to know what Janet did to provoke the dark one. Burning his Cuban cigars into her sides he asks his question over and over again until the Shadow Lord makes himself known.
"Aye Carumba!" Morte screams. "Who are you? And what do you want?"
A cartoon like hand knocks the little dog to the floor as the voice of the Shadow Lord rumbles through the chamber. "I am called the Shadow Lord and this bitch has entered herself into my service whether she wants to admit it or not. Unless you wish to confront the legions of darkness, you will step aside and not hinder me while I collect my servant."
"Sacre Dios!" Juan exclaims. "You want the bitch, you can have her."
Janet struggles with her bonds even more now. "No! I won't help you awaken your master! Wraith told me..."
"I can guess what Wraith told you." Shadow Lord chuckles. "And it certainly is the truth but by accepting that Grimoire and taking in its secret you have bound yourself to my service, whether you like it or not."
"Wraith! Oh gods, Wraith," Janet pleads with her lover last night who is not here now, a fact that greatly amuses the Shadow Lord. "Oh do call out to Master Morgan, I have plans for him too. Kan-Du was most bothersome when he still drew breath. It was a mere fluke that he should put my master to sleep, oh yes, yes, yes it was! But as for the Wraith himself, well, I conjured up something for him to play with."
The spot of darkness that indicates the presence of the Shadow Lord increases exponentially until it engulfs the entire room. When at last something can be seen the result of the vision is most terrifying to behold. Janet finds herself dangled in front of a somewhat shapeless mass of shadow stuff, her wrists and hands engulfed in a ball of semi solid shadow stuff. She can flex her hands but her arms cannot move them. Above her is the Heart of Darkness, the very artifact of fell power she stole on behalf of the Shadow Lord. Ropes of shadow attach the balls encasing her hands to the Heart. The black blob of immense proportions will occasionally have an eye of pure scarlet energy alight in a random portion of the thing's body. From this mass of dark protoplasm a pseudo pod of pure shadow will extend itself. The tentacle of dark energy will rub itself against parts of her body before invariably shoving itself into a body cavity. As much as she can, Janet squirms in her bondage but to no avail. She is trapped by magic and cannot do anything about it. As she is assaulted and molested by the god like mass of black pudding a sexless being of pure shadow comes flying by.
"Well, well, enjoying my master's appetites are we, Miss Germaine?" The Shadow Lord inquires in a smug tone of voice.
"Come to gloat, Shadow Lord?" Janet growls.
A heary burst of laughter resounds throughout the chamber with Shadow Lord arching its back in a laughing pose. "As a matter of fact, yes! It seems our dear, dear friend Michael Morgan is having trouble defeating the shadow goblins I let loose on your world." A plane of obsidian appears before her. In its depths spiteful beings of pure shadow menace the normal people of the city before they start to fade out existence. "Ah, it seems he is a true wizard after all. But how many of my obsidian monoliths has he gotten to? Hmmm, it would seem most of them. What's this he merely deactivated the one? Well that will never do. I will have to reactivate it to show him that laziness on his part will not be tolerated." It reaches into the dark crystal to do as he had stated but once he so much as touches the monolith on the screen he grunts. "What is this? I can't let go! Of all the inconsiderate inconveniences!"
"What's the matter, Shadow Lord?" Banshee asks with a smug smirk of her own. "Did the Wraith manage to set a trap you just couldn't resist springing on your self?"
"Shut up, Slut!" Shadow Lord bellows as it back hands Banshee who now openly guffaws at its situation. Just after the violence of the shadow being, Janet feels a caress on her cheek as words vocalize in her mind in Michael's voice.
"You cannot see me, nor can the Shadow Lord." Wraith states: "I think I know how to get you free but it will be risky. And if we do it right, Shadow Lord's plans will back fire."
"What do you want me to do?" Banshee thinks rather than speaks. "But even if you do free me there will still be the heart of darkness."
"Exactly," Wraith says in a smug tone of voice. "Tell me Banshee, you have always based your abilities on sound. Have you ever used a sonic pulse to just completely smash glass?"
"As in send it into a million pieces? A few times." Banshee again does her best not to vocalize as his train of thought dawns on her. "We're going to shatter the Heart of Darkness?"
"Yes, and if it is done in the proper style," Wraith is almost giggling through his mental communication. "And whether he realizes it or not, Shadow Lord has set things up just as they need to be. But it just so happens that much of the same conditions needed to wake up the Emperor are the same ones needed to send him to sleep for a very, very long time."
"What do you need me to do?" Banshee almost vocalizes this in her excitement and enthusiasm.
"Send the most powerful sonic scream you can muster into the Heart. I have already done the necessary preliminary work; it just needs a pulse from you. Sing as high as you can go and try to go a little higher."
Janet reaches deep into her memories for inspiration. In particular into voice and singing lessons her mother was having her take so she can seduce men. Her family line had always been thieves. Each successive member had taught her daughter to seduce a powerful male and have him sire a daughter and then blackmail him to riches while you robbed him blind. It was while visiting her grandmother that her singing had paid off in a most unexpected way. She had long grown tired at performing for her grandmother's guests as if she were nothing more than a curious pet.
While singing several arias, Janet let her octaves get so high that they shattered the finely etched wine glasses everyone was drinking from. The stunt earned her a whipping she had never before in her life received. But it also impressed her grandmother's guests. Drawing on this memory, Janet begins to sing those very same arias as loudly as she can. Her magical training kicks in to raise the octaves in which she is singing even higher as the Heart of Darkness begins to shake. Below her the amorphous blob starts to stir as extends tentacles to rape her bottom orifices. Ignore the distraction, Janet keeps up her singing. Nearby the Shadow Lord begins to show great favor with her as it sees its master awakening. But then the realization what could happen should the Heart shatter hits it and tries to truly extricate itself to ensure the ritual it wants is performed. Until somehow it sense the presence of the Wraith.
Concluding that the Wraith had done something to the Heart to weaken its structural integrity, the Shadow Lord makes a grab at Banshee when a blinding light is flashed. It is in this attack the Wraith is forced to reveal himself. Once revealed the awakening Emperor of the Night tries to attack what it perceives as the one who entrapped it in the first place. But as it tries to do so, the Heart of Darkness shatters releasing her arias in a powerful magic enhanced lullaby that puts the monster into an even deeper sleep. And as the Heart shatters the Shadow Lord is pulled into his own monolith and entrapped there. When Janet wakes up again she is in a strange bed in a strange place. Sleeping next to her in this king sized bed is Michael Morgan himself. Both are quite naked, and as the master wizard slowly awakens, Janet can see he has morning wood. Taking the engorged phallus gently by the hand, she impales herself along its length. Michael awakens and finds the once exhausted Janet bouncing herself on his morning wood. Letting her ride him as well as letting her think him still asleep, he enjoys the vision of flopping breasts before his eyes and does his darned to keep from fondling her and revealing his wakefulness. This time the knot lodges itself in her labia plugging her folds before filling her womb with his seed. About the only that could ruin the scene does as a stone statue walks itself into room to with a huge covered tray. Janet screams in fright and Michael rolls her beneath him to try and calm her down.
"Janet! It's alright, the statue is a golem, one that has been in my family for years." Michael tries to explain.
"A golem?" Janet asks incredulously. "What the Fuck is a golem?"
Adonis, so named because the marble statue was made in his image, chuckles. "I am sorry, Master Michael, shall I come back later?"
"It's alright, Adonis," Michael assures. "Would you mind explaining what you are to Miss Germaine?"
"Certainly, Sir," Adonis concedes. "I am a stone golem. My name stems from the mythical personage from which my body was crafted. The spirit of some elemental, earth in my case as I have always fancied, is bound within me allowing me to walk and talk like many people do. Although I know that I am not a true living thing I am in the service of the Morgan clan of Witches for centuries. Service I am proud to perform as they have maintained their faith and dedication to the principles of light for as long as I have aided them."
"In other words," Janet says plainly. "You're a statue enchanted to function like a robot."
Adonis canters its head in thought for a moment. "Yes, I suppose that is a way to put it in modern contexts." Then it looks over to its master. "Master Michael, I have a spot of bad news I'm afraid."
"What is it, Adonis?" Michael asks to which Adonis responds with: "Well, Sir, it seems the monolith in which you trapped the Shadow Lord is...well...missing."
"Missing?" Michael asks incredulously. "A five hundred pound monolith has simply vanished?"
"The police are not telling the public yet but it was just removed over night. All without anyone seeing a thing." Adonis reports.
"As if by magic," Michael says as he shakes his head. "And I have a pretty good idea by who..."
In a secluded fair ground the monolith in question is the central pole of the big top of a production calling itself "Cirque Majique". Standing in front of the rune carved pole of magic power is a black and white harlequin Dalmatian. Incessantly he giggles as he confronts the set of eyes floating behind the volcanic glass.
"Well, well, well, thought we were pretty smart didn't we, Shadow Lord? But the Wraith managed to get you in the end." Then he whines for a moment. "It's almost unfair, when and if that damnable do-gooder finally catches me, I wind up in jail. But you, you will never suffer the indignity of a trial, where a bunch of poor saps who think they are your betters pass judgment upon you. No, you get to spend your time in a nice cozy prison all to your lonesome."
"Would you stop your inane ramblings, White Clown!" Shadow Lord roars indignantly.
The White Clown raps on the smooth glass of the Shadow Lord's prison. "Temper, temper, Shady! Is that anyway to treat a friend?"
"You a friend?" Shadow Lord bellows in a laughing matter. "You do tell the funniest jokes on occasion, Clown. When have you ever been a friend to me?"
"Well, I do intend to set you free, and to help you awaken your master." The White Clown says with a dark smirk. "How's that for being a friend?"
"And what do you get out of it?" Shadow Lord starts to asks then answers his own question in realization. "Of course! You're an entropist, so silly of me to forget. But how do you intend to do this?"
"Now, now, that would be telling now wouldn't it?" The White Clown smirks as he places a claw to his muzzle in a coy manner.
End