The Spectrum Force/Rachel Summers, Heather Ray [unputdownable books .TXT] 📗

and surrounded Tanya.

"Sanctity," said one, "where is the Mother?"

"I... I don't know!" she cried, "Rachel's gone!"
Chapter Three

A black portal opened in the center of the throne room, and a young woman with curly red hair, wearing a red and gold bodysuit fell through. She landed with a thud.

"Ow," she moaned, touching her head, "I remember Multiversal transit being a little more bearable, Tanya."

Rachel Summers looked up, and to her surprise, she didn't see her companion. And, to add to her surprise, she didn't see the familiar wooden glade where the Askani Clan built its base. Instead, she finds herself in a dark room, elegantly decorated with dark gems and black marble.

"At last," said a chilling male voice, "After over a century of searching, I have finally found you, Eternal Flame."

"Who are you?" asked Rachel, rising to her feet. The source of the voice stepped out of the shadows, his face still darkened by the shadow cast from his forest mane. His red eyes glowed with an unnatural power.

"Come now," he chuckled, "You really don't remember me, Eternal Flame? Search deeply, child, and you will recognize me from years past."

Rachel studied his face curiously, until her eyes widened with surprise. Her green eyes glowed as memories that weren't her own poured into her mind, displaying scenes of relentless chases and obsessive exploits. Rachel gasped as the light dimmed, and the memories of the remaining essence of the Phoenix Force within her opened her eyes to the being standing before her. Rachel couldn't help but shudder.

"Ah," said Acheron, noticing her discomfort, "I knew you remembered me, Phoenix."

"What do you want, Acheron?" Rachel barked.

"What I've wanted since I first learned of your existence, Eternal Flame... I want your power. Your infinite life energy."

"I hate to break it to you," said Rachel, slowly stepping away from the dark emperor, "but the Phoenix Force separated from my body several months ago. The essence returned to the universe. I can't help you."

"But you can," said another voice, coming from behind her. Rachel spun around on her high heels to see a woman, dressed in a flowing black gown, with forest green hair similar to Acheron's. Her eyes also glowed with evil.

"And you are?"

"Phaedra, the Empress of the Denebian Empire. I am the one who finally found you. Even though you no longer have possession of the Phoenix Force itself, you have access to a portion of her limitless powers. It may not be as much as the Eternal Flame has, but half of infinity is still infinity. I'm sure you get the idea."

Rachel's eyes widened again as she realized their evil intentions. Her eyes glowed with orange flames, as she released the flames of the Phoenix through her skin, filling the dark chamber with incandescent light. Both the emperor and empress hid themselves from the powerful rays, and Rachel took advantage of the opportunity, and fired a beam of energy through the tainted glass window. The window shattered under the force of Phoenix's massive energy beam, and she leapt out of the window. The orange aura of flaming power surrounded Rachel's body, protecting her from the coldness of space, and it took the form of a flaming bird. In seconds, Rachel was hovering over the planet Earth, thinking of her next move.

"The Denebians followed me home!" she shrieked, "I need to find some help!"

Rachel let her mind call out, searching for one of her telepathic Askani followers. But none obeyed her unspoken calls.

"Maybe... I'm back in the 1900's?" she said, trying again. But once again, she couldn't find a familiar psi-print. Rachel frowned in frustration. "Where the heck am I?!" she shouted, "There must be some kind of mutants here!"

Rachel focused again, and swept the entire globe with her scan. She finally did discover a mutant telepathic mind, somewhere in California. But, it was so weak, it was barely noticeable.

"Well," she shrugged, "I don't know where else to go."

With that, Rachel descended to Earth, headed for California. From inside the asteroid, Acheron and Phaedra watched her depart.

"Where is she going?" asked Phaedra, "Who could she know on this planet?"

"I don't know," said Acheron, "But it matters not. I shall find her."

Chapter Four

Saturday morning, at nine o'clock, Christopher Greyson wakes up at the conclusion of a peculiar dream.

"It... it was a dream," he whispered, sitting up in bed, "But it seemed so... real. And I remember it so well, even after I'm awake."

Chris shakes his head, trying to clear his mind, and glances at the alarm clock beside his bed.

"I'm late!" he yelled, "I didn't even hear the alarm go off!"

Chris hopped out of bed, grabbing his bath towel, and headed for the shower. Five minutes later, the tall, tan young man hurried back into the bedroom, his tone body and curly dark hair dripping with water, and a white towel around his waist. He searched frantically through his chest of drawers, and the noise woke his roommate, Kevin, who was still asleep on the other side of the bedroom.

"A little less noise, please?" he muttered, opening his eyes and frowning.

"Sorry about that, Kevin," said Chris, selecting a green and blue UCLA T-shirt and blue jeans, "but I'm running late."

"Late?" Kevin yawned, stretching his arms, "Late for what? Its Saturday, isn't it?"

"Yes it is, and I'm going to breakfast with Rachel. I was supposed to be at her apartment at a quarter of nine!"

"Rachel, the Cuban girl downstairs?" asked Kevin, "She's hot! So, are you two serious?"

"What do you mean, 'serious'?" asked Chris, running back into the bathroom to get dressed.

"What do people usually mean, Chris? Have you fallen for her?"

"We only met last weekend!" called Chris, "This is the first time we ever went out without the whole gang going, except when I walked her to class."

"So, you're already escorting her around campus."

"We go to the same class," said Chris, stepping out of the bathroom and headed towards the door, "I'll be back later."

Chris waved goodbye to his roommate, and waited for the elevator just down the hall. While he waited, he began to think about the dream that disrupted his sleep last night.

What is wrong with me? Why am I letting this thing bother me? It was only a dream. Wasn't it?

Meanwhile, on the fifth floor of the same apartment building, Keith Maloy, Matthew O'Conner, Tamara Fox, and Craig Gillis sit around the kitchen table of the girls' apartment, waiting patiently while Jocelyn put the finishing touches on breakfast.

"Are you sure you don't want help, Joce?" asked Tamara.

"Nah, I can handle it," said Jocelyn, mixing the pancake batter, "Just be patient."

"Where's Rachel anyway?" asked Matt, "Studying the weekend away at the library again?"

"Actually, she's in her room," said Tamara with a grin, "getting ready for her date."

"Date?" asked Keith, "Really? With that Chris guy?"

"Uh, huh," said Tamara, smiling widely, "I knew they'd make a good couple."

Just then, Rachel stepped out of her bedroom.

"Well," she said, turning full circle, "what do you think?"

Rachel was wearing a deep purple sleeveless "V" neck sundress, with white flowers decorating the lightweight fabric. The skirt nearly reached her knees, and she wore high heeled white sandals, to match. Her hair was worn free, cascading around her face and neck in dark waves with some reddish highlights from the California sun.

"Wow," said Craig, "you look great, Ray."

"Aren't you a bit overdressed for breakfast?" asked Keith.

"I'd say," said Matt, "she must really like this guy."

Rachel blushed slightly, and then frowned at Matthew.

"For your information, I just felt like getting dressed up, is all."

"Sure you did," said Matt with a knowing smile.

"Uh, when is Chris coming?" asked Jocelyn, trying to change the subject.

"He should've been hear about twenty minutes ago," said Rachel, glancing down at her watch, "I wonder what's keeping him."

"He's twenty minutes late?" said Matt, "That's pretty bad, since he lives like six flights of stairs away."

Before Rachel could yell at her opinionated friend, there was a knock at the door. Rachel shot Matt a disapproving glare before she opened the door, and smiled up at Chris.

"Uh, sorry I'm so late," he said sheepishly, "I had some trouble sleeping--"

Chris stopped talking as his eyes ran up and down Rachel's tall, stunning form.

"Uh, wow, Ray," he stuttered, "You look... fabulous!"

Rachel smiled brightly at the compliment, and took Chris' hand.

"See ya later, gang," she called, stepping out the door.

"So," said Keith, "what are the rest of us going to do today?"

"I was planning on jogging a bit," said Tamara, "Its great exercise, and its such a beautiful day!"

"That's an idea," said Craig, "How much do you jog? A mile? Two miles?"

"Actually," she said, "I jog around the campus."

"Around the whole campus?!" said Matthew incredulously, "As in the whole UCLA campus?! That's like twenty miles!"

"Its seventeen miles," said Keith, "and believe me, she means it."

"Ah, come on, gang," Tamara said excitedly, "It'll be fun!"

"Yeah, right," grunted Craig, "and I'll spend the rest of the weekend in a hospital!"

"I'm game," said Jocelyn, "So long as we're back by four, though. I have diving practice at four-thirty, and we have a competition tomorrow against Drexford University."

"Don't worry. We'll be back in plenty of time."