Cadmus

Cadmus is the first chapter in the Wombles Seven. If you were looking for the organisation, see Cadmus (organisation).

In the darkest, blackest part of Cadmus, Lillian Luthor poked her head through the door to glance at the newest prisoner, a girl who had been crying for hours. The girl had claimed over and over that she didn’t have magic but after what she had seen, Lillian didn’t believe it for a moment.

All of a sudden, the girl stopped crying.  “Get away from me, you hideous woman!” she snapped viciously. “I already told you, I DON’T have magic!” “I’m not listening to your lies!” said Lillian. “Especially since I have to leave right now.” She added, with a glance at her watch. “I have some important business to discuss with the King & Queen about that two-faced David Vincent. Well, I’d rather speak with just the King, really, but I may not have a choice.”

Lillian walked out the room, and eventually made into the open. The girl stood up & examined her surroundings.  All she could see was black. She focused hard to see if there was anything more, but there wasn’t.  “Hello?” she called out. “Hello?!” She sighed as she was met with complete silence.

Meanwhile, Steed & Cathy were on a walk in the park, completely unaware of Lillian’s intentions since whilst she’d tried to send a letter, it had been in a mysterious code which made the postman suspicious and so he’d burned it to ashes.

Lillian, on the other hand, was headed at a fast pace to where she’d requested they meet (her own home, in the basement). She saw a brightly coloured sign which read “We love you Lillian Luthor!” “What?” she screeched. “How do you know who I am!?!?” And then realized she was talking to an inanimate object.

Back in Cadmus, the girl was trying any way she could think of to get out. She was just about to give up when the whole door gave way and began to crumble. She ran out of the building & whispered, “Where am I?” “London.” Said a man sitting on a bench. “Cadmus moved to England for some reason. They said you had magic.” “I don’t!” “Whatever. Nothing I can do, is there?!”

The girl ignored him and found the nearest coffee shop. She ordered a large latte macchiato and tried to think what she was going to do, and how on earth she’d wound up in England.

Lillian reached her home and discovered that neither Steed nor Cathy had arrived. She also discovered that someone had put graffiti on the wall which exactly matched the sign she’d mistakenly spoken to earlier. She was most frustrated. She took off her scarf and threw it out the window then smashed her TV and laptop to pieces in a tantrum. “We need to stop The Invaders!” she shouted. Everyone in the street heard her and replied, “Don’t be ridiculous! We’re all just regular citizens! Besides, what about all the other evil freaks?”

This only frustrated Lillian more, so she wound up smashing her mobile to pieces.

The girl had finished her coffee and still didn’t know what to do. She asked the waitress. They asked what she was talking about. She said she wasn’t sure. The waitress looked confused then shook her head and walked away. The girl sighed and also walked away, but in the opposite direction so that she exited the café and started looking for someone else to ask.

Over at the grounds of Grand Steed Manor, the rebuilding of the house itself was still taking place. It had turned red and disappeared three months ago, after Steed and Cathy had supposedly defeated all their enemies.  They had been rather bored since then, and had been living in New Steed Manor, which was now Bungo’s Avengers HQ.

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“John, there’s something I need to talk to you about.” Said Cathy as Steed was trying to teach Thomas and Lucy how to count.

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“What is it, my dear?” he asked, realising that he only had five digits on each hand.

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“Well, you remember three months ago?”

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“How could I forget?”

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“Well, something rather odd happened during that time.”

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“Which odd thing are you referring to?  Katy Perry turning people into zombies?  Grand Steed manor turning red and disappearing?  Batman mysteriously vanishing?”

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“None of those.”

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“Face trying to kiss you?  The Joker and Harley Quinn attacking London?  Having strange dreams?”

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“None of those either.  It’s something you don’t know about.”

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“Oh?”

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“Well… I discovered that I was a metahuman.”

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“A what?”

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“I think it’s someone with special abilities.  I think I have super speed.”

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Steed stared.  Thomas glared.  Cathy opened the window for air.  Lucy didn’t care.

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“Did you just say… That you have super speed?”

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“I think so, yes.”

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“Well can you demonstrate?”

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“Throw your bowler at me.”

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“But it’s lined with steel!”

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“Please?”

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Steed reluctantly did as she said.  As he did, everything appeared to slow down just like it had three months ago.  Cathy dodged the metallic hat just before it nearly cut her throat, and ran to the kitchen, grabbed a snack and came back again, with Steed’s bowler still in mid-air.  It appeared to be going very, very slowly.  Cathy was trying to work out how to speed things up again when her phone rang.  She answered it, but she couldn’t understand what the person calling her was saying because it was too slow.  She ended the call.

Batman’s mysterious vanishing was no coincidence.  He had been down in the sewers where the leader of the invaders, David Vincent, had been torturing him to try and get some information about the whereabouts of the king and queen.  They hadn’t told the public where they had moved to.  Batman didn’t actually know where they were, so he had no information to give, hence why he was still in there after three months.  The torture had made him more dark in personality, and the electric prodding devices had turned the blue parts of his suit black. While he was away, Batgirl was protecting Gotham, and since Robin was now nineteen, he was being his own hero in Bludhaven.  He hadn’t decided whether to change his alias or not yet, though.

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“Are you ready to give up their location yet, Batman?” asked a silhouette of Vincent through Batman’s torture cell window.

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“Never.” Replied Batman angrily in a dark and brooding voice, which really didn’t fit with how he used to act at all.  Vincent noticed this.

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“You’ve changed.” He said.  “I wonder who you really are?”

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Vincent walked into the torture cell and took Batman’s cowl off. He was too shocked and beaten to resist.

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“Ah, now this is interesting.” Said Vincent creepily. “Bruce Wayne is an insane man who wears his pants on the outside and thinks he’s a superhero.  My partner will be interested to hear about this.” Vincent walked out into a cave full of cages.  The word “CRACKED” was painted on the wall in large letters, and it seemed to be some kind of prison.  But none of the prisoners were there.  Instead, The Joker was there outside of any cell.

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“I’ve got something very intriguing to tell you.” Said Vincent.

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“Oh?”

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“I discovered Batman’s true identity.  He’s Bruce Wayne!”

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