The Dark Legacy free porn video

This is the tenth story in my Legacy Universe, with the previous stories listed below for those who haven't read them. Like the others this is a stand alone story, though it might be helpful to have at least read the first, The Miracle Legacy. The Miracle Legacy Change of Heart Hardshell The Praxis Crossing Mannequin The Vengeance of Lady Hexx Glamour Girl Counterweight Grendel The Dark Legacy By Morpheus I frowned nervously as I climbed out of the limousine and stared at the mansion which was spread out before me. Then with a quick glance back at the chauffeur, who made no move to leave the car, I slowly started walking towards the main entrance. Coming home was never a pleasant experience, though this mansion could hardly be considered a home. Very little of my childhood was actually spent in this house as I had usually been away in various expensive boarding schools. No, this mansion was not a home but was merely the place where my mother lived. I frowned at the thought of my mother, feeling even more nervous as I did so. My name is William Alexander Darque, named for both William the Conqueror and Alexander the Great. With a name like that, certain things were expected of me, though I showed little sign of meeting those expectations. I had just turned 21 last week and was still working on my college education at an expensive ivy league school. I had been doing quite well at school until I received a letter from my mother, immediately summoning me home. I had dropped everything and hurried to the airport as fast as I could, knowing that it was not a good idea to keep my mother waiting. Of course, I was extremely curious as to why she would summon me like this, but I was certain that it had something to do with my father. A surge of conflicted emotions filled me as I thought of my father. He had been a rich and powerful man, but not the sort you can brag to your friends about. In fact, I never spoke of him to anyone, and for very good reason. My father was what is commonly called a 'super villain'. He called himself Lord Dark and was a brilliant scientist who used advanced technology to try gaining power and even take over the world. But six years ago, during one of his most ambitious schemes at world conquest, several super hero teams, including the Protectorate stopped him, causing one of his machines to backfire...killing him in the process. When my father had been alive, he had been a dangerous man. He might not have had any actual developed powers, but he more than made up for that with his technology and keen mind. In fact, I had once watched an episode of the TV show Developments, where they did a list of the top ten most dangerous super villains. Lord Dark had been number seven on the list. I frowned as I thought of my father, never having really known the man. When I was growing up, he was always either off on one of his long 'business' trips or I was away at boarding school, so we never spent any time together and he was never very interested in me when we did. In fact, I didn't learn about his 'occupation' until just after he was killed. Taking a deep breath, I turned my attention back to the front door and the reason I was there. I adjusted my suit, making sure that I looked presentable, then pushed the doorbell. It was unnecessary as my mother already knew I was there, but she could be quite particular about following through on formalities at times. I was not looking forward to seeing her. She was a bit...eccentric. But I guess you had to be if you were going to be marry a super villain. When I opened the door, the butler greeted me with, "Welcome home Master William. Do come in..." I didn't say a word as I went inside, my thoughts lingering on my parents and the question of what this trip was for. There was little doubt that this did not bode well for me. I was very worried, though I did my best not to show it. Then my mother stepped into view and I had to gulp to keep from shaking. Intellectually, I knew that she had to be in her fifties at least, though she certainly didn't look it. Instead, my mother looked to be in her thirties, and with a body that any 20-year-old girl would kill for. It was tight and firm, with C cup breasts that showed no trace of sagging, just as her beautiful face showed no sign of wrinkles or aging. Even her raven black hair, which went down to her shoulder blades held no trace of gray. Of course, my mother's youthful appearance was not natural, though neither was it the result of botox and plastic surgeries. It was the result of a special process that my father had developed. Those who go through the process are given perfect physical health and conditioning, along with a body that remains this way. Part of this means that they have extremely fit bodies, without ever having to exercise, immunity to just about every disease, and their aging process is drastically slowed. Tragically, all of the materials and notes for this process were lost when a group of super heroes destroyed one of my father's secret bases. I considered this especially tragic as it meant I would never be able to use the process myself. My mother was currently dressed in her customary, near all black, in an outfit which was simultaneously sexy yet sophisticated. She even stood there in a pair of stiletto heeled boots and was smoking a cigarette from a long cigarette holder. With one look at my mother, I could easily imagine her as the head of a powerful company, or as a dominatrix, though I would never admit either to her. "William Alexander," my mother greeted me, her voice filled with it's usual arrogance. There was little affection in her voice, but she did look pleased to see me in her own fashion. She watched me for a moment with a calculating look in her eyes before nodding ever so slightly. "You asked me to come," I responded with a gentle smile, not showing how annoyed I was at being ordered to drop everything and come home. She nodded slightly, "You may take your things to your room and rest until dinner. Afterwards, I have something to discuss with you." I frowned at that, knowing that this was just my mother's way of telling me to stay out of her way until dinner. Of course, I didn't like being dismissed like I was one of the servants, but I knew better than to say anything at the moment. So I just smiled, responded, "As you wish mother," and then went upstairs. "Some things never change," I muttered to myself bitterly, wishing that I would have the courage to stand up to my mother. Unfortunately, she was not the type of person that you do that to if you knew what was good for you. At the top of the grand stairwell was a large a large portrait of a man. He was handsome in an arrogant sort of way, with jet black hair and a beard. I stopped in front of the painting and stared at the image of my father for a moment, frowning slightly as I did so. He was a man that I barely knew, yet even six years after his death, his shadow still dominated my life. Every day, I was filled with the fear that someone at school would discover the truth about my father and that my shame would be made public. I shook my head and quickly walked down the hallway, passing a large, ornate mirror. I paused to stare into it, unable to help but notice the similarities between my own features and that of my father. Of course, I lacked the beard or the look of arrogance, though I did have the same jet black hair and dark eyes. I had seriously considered bleaching my hair so as to make my the resemblance less noticeable, though the one time I had suggested doing something that to my mother when I was a teenager, her verbal lashing about the 'dishonoring' of my father nearly left my ears blistered. A minute later, I arrived at my bedroom, though it hardly felt like MY room. During what time I had spent here while growing up, I had never been allowed any say in how it was decorated. I had never even been allowed to put up the posters that most kids did. My mother never knocked before coming in, nor even hesitated about looking through what should have been my personal items. In fact, knowing my mother, I would not have been the least surprised to discover that she had placed a wiretap or other surveillance devices in there. After all, I had discovered them in my dorm rooms more than once over the years. I silently looked around the room, which was well decorated and reminded me a good deal of an expensive hotel room. There was a feeling that it was there more for show than for actual use, which was the way it always had been. But as I looked it over, I mentally noted all of the places that might currently be bugged. It was a habit that I'd gotten into a long time ago, once I'd realized that my mother might be watching my every move. "At least my bags have been brought up already," I noted as I saw them by the bed. One of the servants must have carried them up from the limousine during the short time I was talking with my mother. Since it seemed I was expected to wait and stay out of the way, I sat back and pulled out a book to read. Horror novels from the likes of Steven King and Dean Koontz were one of my vices. They were like the junk food of literature, and though my mother disapproved of such things, I enjoyed reading them. I suspected that one of the reasons I did enjoy them so much was just because my mother did disapprove. Eventually, it was time for dinner and I went to the large dining room. My mother and I were the only ones eating there, while the servants delivered dishes that had been prepared by her personal chef. At first, we didn't talk much, then she finally brought up the subject of school. "I am less than impressed with your grades," she said simply, her tone indicating that she expected MUCH better. I frowned at that comment, wanting to point out that I had a 3.9 grade point average, though I knew that it would do little good. My mother expected perfection and would not be satisfied with anything less. "I will do better," I told her instead. The dinner was excellent, though the dinner conversation was less than pleasant. Most of my mother's polite conversation was similar to the comment about my grades, pointing out things that I could have done better and showing her general disapproval. "Your father would be ashamed," she told me with a scowl after we had finished eating, "You must always remember his legacy." "Yes mother," I responded. She held out her hand and snapped her fingers and one of the maids came rushing over, handing her a cigarette holder with a cigarette already in it. The maid lit the cigarette for my mother and hurried away, while my mother took a draw on it and sat there, looking almost like some sort of old style movie star. "The reason I summoned you home," she said, finally getting to the point, "is your father's Legacy." "Father's legacy?" I asked, having suspected that it was something about my father, though not feeling very pleased at having it confirmed. "Come," she ordered, setting her cigarette holder down and walking away. Of course, I immediately followed with a nervous curiosity. Mother led me halfway across the house and to the large library, pausing only to place her hand against a glass plate on the wall. A moment later, a large section of the wall moved aside, revealing a hidden elevator. I was not at all surprised by this as I knew about the secret elevator, as well as the connected lab that my father had build under the house. However, it was very unusual for my mother to take me down there. As soon as we had gone down the elevator into the lab, I slowly looked around. It had been several years since I had last been down there, though nothing seemed to have changed. Of course, I wasn't really expecting it to have since mother kept everything as it was as a sort of memorial to my father. The lab wasn't a single room, but actually a series of connected rooms, each seemingly dedicated to a different purpose. One was obviously a workshop, another a storage room for various inventions and devices, while a third seemed to be some sort of planning or control, with walls that were covered with video screens. There were several smaller rooms as well, though I hardly think that bathrooms and closets were unique to super villain lairs. "This is nothing compared to Lord Dark's other lairs," mother commented as she gestured around me. I just nodded at that, not being at all surprised since I knew that at least one of his secret bases which had been destroyed by the Protectorate had been a small island. Another of his lairs had been inside of a mountain. This lab was small, but it was close and convenient when he was home. I guess that even super villains sometimes bring their work home with them. Mother quickly walked across the lab with a sense of purpose, barely even looking at the things which surrounded us. She stopped in front of a large display case which held my father's spare costume. It was a suit of black armor with a red skull symbol on the belt. There were two broaches at the shoulders, each one a metallic red skull, which held the cloak to his costume. This was the infamous uniform of Lord Dark. "The time has come," mother stated. "The time has come for you to take up your father's mantle and continue his work." "What?" I gasped in surprise, sure that I had misheard her. But she stared at me with an intense look that brooked no arguments. "You are finally of the age to take up your father's legacy and become the new Lord Dark. It had been too long since those people murdered him, and the world must be made to remember his greatness. They will bow before Lord Dark..." I stared at my mother, more than half sure that she was insane. She had that look of obsession in her eyes, the same one that she had whenever she talked about my father and his great legacy. It was a look which shared me shitless and always had. "But mother," I protested, trying to quickly think of a way to change her mind, which was a nearly impossible task at the best of times. "I am not father... I am not worthy of being Lord Dark..." "You are your father's only son," she stated firmly. "His blood runs through your veins. His greatness is hidden within you. You WILL follow in his footsteps. You WILL honor your father's memory, and you WILL remind the world of the greatness that is Lord Dark." "Oh God," I whispered, wondering what in the world I was going to do. I'd never had any intentions of following in my father's footsteps and trying to take over the world that way. But my mother was obviously expecting just that. "I still have to finish school first," I said, trying to a different tactic. However, my mother did not seem concerned with that little detail. "The world has waited too long for you to come of age as it is," she said dismissively, "I will not allow it to forget your father for a moment longer. Lord Dark will be remembered forever, and we will both assure it." I had no idea how, but a short while later, I found myself doing exactly what my mother wanted. She was used to always getting her way, and to my shame, I was used to doing what she wanted. So I began getting dressed in my father's armor while my mother explained all that it was capable of. My father's armor was filled with advanced technology which made it a very dangerous weapon. One of his favorite discoveries was a form of force field that absorbed parts of visible light, creating a sort of black glow. He used this extensively, especially in his armor. It was capable of creating a force field bubble around the wearer, which could not only protect him but give him a form of flight. It could also fire beams of this energy as a form of black energy blast. There were of course other tricks as well, though those were the most noticeable. As I got dressed and listened to my mother's lecture, I couldn't help thinking of my father. He was a firm believer in the saying that any technology that is sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic. Since technology was reason and logic, it could be understood and dealt with. But magic was something that people didn't understand, and people feared what they did not understand. This was why he frequently disguised his technology as magic, masquerading as a sorcerer rather than a scientist. It was a psychological edge which he used to mislead his enemies and make them fear him.. Though I had not actually known of my father's secret while he was still alive, I learned quite a bit about him after his death. After my mother had revealed his identity as Lord Dark, I had spent a great deal of time studying him, as well as all of his enemies. This left me with a clear understanding of my father's tactics, as well as those of most super heroes. I had originally learned all this as a morbid curiosity, never considering that it might actually become relevant to my own life. "You are nearly ready," my mother stated proudly, holding up the cloak that went with the costume. It was black on the outside and red on the inside. With a dark gleam in her eyes, she draped the cloak over me and connected it to the skull broaches. "You look much like your father." "Thank you," I responded, not sure what else I could say. However, this was not something that I had ever really been proud of. If Hitler had any children, would they have been proud of him? Would they be pleased to look like one of the most notorious monsters of all time? Somehow, I doubted it. Not unless they were as twisted as he was. I doubted that my mother would approve of any comparisons between my father and that other villain, though, so I kept those thoughts to myself, as I always did. I took a deep breath, feeling extremely awkward in the armor. I didn't like wearing something like that at all, especially knowing that if any law enforcement or super heroes saw me in it, they would assume the worst and treat me as a criminal. Of course, my mother's plans were for me to become that very criminal which didn't make me feel any better at all. Then I activated the shadow mask. This was a trick of the armor which generated one of those dark force fields around my head, making my face look all black and lost in shadow, even without the cloak, and giving the additional benefit of acting as a helmet to protect me. My mother seemed quite satisfied at this point and admitted that I now looked nearly identical to my father while he was in armor. "The world will not know what hit them," she laughed cruelly. "They will shudder at Lord Dark's return and quake in fear. By the time we are done, they will think of him whenever they look at the sky," I had little idea of what my mother had in mind and less interest in helping her. But as always, I was to scared...too much of a coward to do anything but what she told me. I was beginning to hate myself for going along with whatever scheme she had in mind, though I couldn't seem to help myself. "I have been working on one of your father's plans for years," mother said. "It will drive fear into the heart of the world, punish them for what they did to him and ensure that he is never forgotten again... It is time for us to bring this plan to fruition." "What plan?" I asked hesitantly, "What's going on?" "You will find out the details soon enough," she responded. "First, though, you must make your presence known. You will retrieve an item that we require...and alert the world that Lord Dark has returned. You will do this and honor your father's legacy..." An hour later, and after a little practice with my father's armor, I was ready to leave for my mission. I activated the force bubbled around me and floated off the ground, and then in the direction I needed to go. Unfortunately, I hated the fact that I was up in the air so high, and without anything underneath me, but there was little I could do about it. "I can't believe I'm doing this," I muttered in bitter self disgust. I'd always let my mother push me around and tell me what to do, and this time it was leading to certain trouble. Yet I still went along anyway. "It's for my father's legacy," I told myself, trying to convince myself that it was a good idea and what I needed to do, though it did little good. Flying...or at least standing up in the force field bubble while it carried me through the air, didn't get much better with time. I rode in it for probably close to an hour, trying my best not to look down. It was damn freaky to look down and see the ground way below my feet, with nothing holding me up and I didn't think I'd ever get used to it. Fortunately, I finally arrived at my destination. I hovered in the air above a large building, staring down at it and grimacing. From what my mother told me, what I was looking for was stored inside. It was a law enforcement storage facility for non-dangerous evidence of super villain crimes. Apparently, one of my father's devices which had been confiscated by the Protectorate had somehow ended up there after his death. It was my mission to get it back. "I just wish I knew what the damn thing does," I muttered, thinking that it was only fair that I know what I was risking my neck for. Unfortunately, my mother had decided to keep that to herself so that she could explain it later in some dramatic revelation of her grand plan. "Whatever it is," I told myself, "It can't be dangerous or they'd never store it here..." Unless of course, I reminded myself, they didn't know it was dangerous. I decided not to think about that possibility. After taking a deep breath and preparing for what came next, I started to descend. But before my feet even touched the ground, a bunch of armed guards with automatic weapons came rushing out of the building. I was surrounded in mere moments and ordered to surrender myself immediately. For a second, I just stood there motionless, tempted to throw my hands in the air and surrender. But I knew that this wasn't an option for me at the moment so I took a deep breath and continued to step towards the building. The guards opened fire, spraying me with a hail of bullets, though none of them were able to get past my armor. Intellectually, I'd known that my armor would protect me, but I was still terrified of being killed. I nearly even filled my pants and was thankful when I didn't. "It's official," I groaned in disgust, "I'm a super villain now..." I grimaced in determination, then continued with my mission. I held my hands out and fired energy blasts from my hands, blowing a large hole in the side of the building. However, I was careful not to hurt any of the guards as I did so. Then I entered through the hole, looking for my goal. "Where is it?" I muttered, using a sensor in my armor to lead me to a large room, and then to a box on a shelf. "This seems to be it..." I tore open the box, dying to find out just what it was that I had gone through all of this for. But the moment I saw the contents, I was filled with even more questions. The only thing in the box was a black metallic sphere that was just a little larger than a basketball. It had a few strange indentations in it, and a few small red crystals set into it. Now that I had it, I was still just as much in the dark as I had been before. Since I had what I had come for, it was time to leave. I had to get past the guards again, which wasn't really much of a problem. The most difficult part was doing so without injuring them, but I was determined to do this without anyone getting hurt. "I can't believe I'm doing this," I grimaced, wishing that I were anywhere else. I already felt guilty for breaking into that building and taking the sphere, and it was getting worse by the moment. I tried to tell myself that it wasn't really stealing since the sphere really belonged to my father, but that didn't do much good. I never would have imagined that loyalty to my family would lead me to do something like this. It wasn't much of a family, but it was the only one I had. Once I had gone back through the hole in the building, I let out a sigh of relief, knowing that all I had to do now was make the trip home. But that hope was immediately dashed when a woman dropped from the sky and hovered in the air in front of me, glaring at me with a determined expression. The woman was tall, at least 6 feet with a very athletic but sexy looking body. She had short black hair, cut in a feminine fashion and a red and white spandex costume that covered everything below the neck. It included a red cape and a red metal belt with some sort of gold buckle and red gem in the center. I stared at the woman in surprise, taking a moment to remember who she was. Thanks to all of the time I had spent online, learning about all the various developed heroes and villains, I was able to recognize her as a hero called Praxis. "Oh shit," I muttered to myself. The good news, for me at least, was that she wasn't known to be associated with any team, so I would likely be facing only her. The bad news, though, was that she was supposedly pretty powerful. "I don't think that belongs to you," Praxis exclaimed with a threatening glare. "Actually," I responded, "It does..." My father owned it, and since he was dead, that meant that it rightfully belonged to me and my mother. Or at least that was my reasoning at the moment. It was either think that way or think of myself as a thief. Praxis wasn't interested in talking about ownership of the strange sphere, or anything else though. She charged me, flying straight at me and hitting me with a powerful punch. I went flying back, smashing into the wall of the building I had just left. Praxis immediately came at me again, hitting me hard enough to shatter the stone behind me and blast another hole in the wall. If it wasn't for my armor, I would have been nothing more than a smear. I finally reacted by punching Praxis back, feeling guilty for hitting a girl but being desperate to avoid the beating that she was determined to give me. She grunted and went backwards. I followed up by firing one of the armor's black energy blasts at her, though she went intangible so it passed right through her. I was actually relived at that since I didn't want to hurt her or anyone else. "I've got to get out of here," I muttered to myself, quickly looking around for the best way to escape. Then it dawned on me. The way I flew in... But before I could activate my flight bubble, Praxis blasted me with some sort of red energy blast, which hurt like hell, even though my armor. I was knocked back, dropping the black sphere as I hit the ground. I quickly scrambled to my feet, only to be blasted and sent flying backwards again. "No," I grimaced, firing an energy blast at her while I got back to my feet. "Surrender now," Praxis told me, "and I might not break every bone in your body..." I gulped, suddenly quite afraid. This wasn't what I wanted... This wasn't what I'd ever intended my life to turn into. I was NOT some super villain, in spite of what my mother was trying to turn me into. But there I was, breaking into some sort of law enforcement facility and fighting a super hero... It had to stop. I couldn't do this kind of thing. "It looks like I'm going to shell you like a lobster," Praxis exclaimed. Suddenly, there was no doubt in my mind that I had to get out of there. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I was afraid of Praxis and the whole mess that my mother had gotten me into. And in an act of desperation, I activated another trick in my father's armor, a blackout wave. It sent a burst of pure darkness all around me, giving me a chance to escape. Praxis screamed, "I can't see...." I didn't waste time attacking Praxis, only throwing the dark force field bubble around me and shooting up into the sky. My heart raced in terror and all I could think of doing was getting away from there... "That's it," I exclaimed as I flew home as fast as I could, "I'm through with this whole super villain thing. I don't care if it is my father's legacy..." *** "How could you?" my mother screamed at me the moment I returned home. She was furious, more so than I'd ever seen her in my entire life. Normally, she was calm and in complete control, though that control had broken at the news of my failure. "How could you return home as a failure?" I winced under my mother's verbal barrage, wondering what I had ever done to deserve such a family. She called me weak, cowardly and a disgrace to my father's legacy, among other things. I had experienced her anger before, though never to such a degree. While my mother was continuing her rant, I just struggled to get out of the armor as fast as I could. Over the last few hours, I had really come to hate it. The armor, along with my mother, reminded me of what a complete and total failure I had been as a super villain. In my first time out, I not only ran into a super hero and ran away, but was so terrified that I completely forgot what I had gone there for in the first place. If my encounter with Praxis had taught me anything, it was that I was not meant to follow in my father's footsteps. Once I had finished taking off the armor, I let out a sigh of relief, along with a groan of pain. The armor had protected me during my fight with Praxis, though not quite as well as I would have hoped. I had several bruises from the shear force of her attack. "Just look at you," my mother sneered, "A coward and a failure. Your father would be ashamed. You ran away from a woman...just ONE woman, and you didn't even retrieve the Refractor Core..." She glared at me with a look of disgust, "I need that if I am going to complete your father's plan..." "I'm sorry mother," I quietly told her. "You certainly are," she snapped as she suddenly slapped me, hitting me so hard that I stumbled back. My whole jaw felt bruised. "Your father would never have failed in such a critical mission." "I'm not my father," I grimaced. "You are not even close," my mother responded with a look of disdain. For a moment, I just stood there and glared at her with a growing anger. For my whole life, I had been intimidated by my mother. I had been so afraid of what she might do that I had meekly done whatever she told me, without ever giving any voice to my own opinions. I was still intimidated by her, but I was also angry. I was angry with the way she always treated me, and with the way she had just sent me off into a dangerous situation without any care about my welfare. All that mattered to her was my father and his legacy. I realized now that this was all that had ever mattered to her. "You will go back out tonight," mother told me with a look of grim determination. "And this time you will not return without the Refractor Core." "No," I told her grimly, surprising both her and myself. Normally, I would have just gone along with whatever she told me, but I was too angry for that this time. I'd finally had enough. Then I pointed to my father's armor, "I'm never putting that on again..." My mother's eyes seemed to flash with fury and she started, "Your father..." "Is dead," I interrupted her, earning an even darker glare. That was the warning that I should stop and deeply apologize for my impertinence, but my long delayed rebellion was building momentum. "He died doing this world conquest thing." I shook my head, then looked at my mom, silently pleading for her to try understanding my point of view for once. "I'm tired of living in his shadow, and I'm not going to get killed repeating his mistakes." "I see," mother responded after a moment of silence. She gave me a look that was as hard and cold as an arctic glacier, then calmly stated, "You do not deserve the honor of being his heir..." And with that, she abruptly turned and walked out of the room, leaving me there alone. Once my mother was gone, I let out a sigh of relief, feeling shaken by the realization that I had finally stood up to my mother. After so many years, I knew that it was about time and I was excited to have finally done it. Of course, I knew that there would doubtlessly be consequences for my defiance, but for once, I was willing to take them. It had been well worth it to be my own man for once. I savored my small victory for a minute before rubbing at my sore jaw and thinking about how hard my mom had hit me. I would definitely have a bruise there, added to the ones I received during my fight with Praxis. If I'd only thought to activate the armor's force field, I could have prevented those earlier ones. Fortunately, I did know how to heal the bruises much faster than normal. A minute later, I was standing in a small room that was just off to the side of my father's lab. Beside me was what looked like a large Jacuzzi, filled with a bubbling yellow liquid. This was the Phoenix Chamber, one of my father's earlier discoveries, and quite possibly a direct predecessor to the special process he used to improve his and my mother's bodies. Soaking in it for several hours could heal minor injuries and generally improve your health. Unfortunately, it was also mildly addictive or I would have bathed in it every chance I could. "Here we are again," I said as I undressed and slipped into the liquid for what was only the second time in my life. The first time had been several years ago, after I'd broken my arm. Thanks to the Phoenix Chamber, my arm was healed in a matter of days rather than weeks. "Oh yeah, that feels good..." I let out a long sigh and closed my eyes as I soaked in the warm liquid, feeling extremely comfortable. The bruises seemed to be fading away as I sat there and I could almost feel the improved health taking hold. Sadly, any health benefits that the chamber gave would fade in just a short time, but since any injuries it healed would remain healed, it still served it's purpose. It was about half an hour later when I finally climbed out of the Phoenix Chamber and cleaned the yellow liquid off me. My bruises had all been healed and I felt fantastic. Of course, the health high would fade soon enough so I was determined to enjoy it while I could. Thanks to the Phoenix Chamber and my finally having the courage to defy my mother, I was in a pretty good mood as I left my father's lab. I was even able to put the super villain incident which led to those things out of my mind for the moment. But that good mood fled the moment I saw my mother standing there, smoking a cigarette from one of her cigarette holders and glaring at me with a dark expression. "You've disgraced your family and your father's legacy," my mother stated grimly, giving me an icy glare. "You've proven that you are unworthy of your father's legacy and that you do not deserve to be his heir..." Then to my surprise, she reached behind her back and pulled out a strange looking gun, which she pointed straight at me. "Mother," I gasped, staring at the gun in shock. I couldn't believe that my own mother had just pulled a gun on me. But before I could say anything more or plead for her to stop this, she pulled the trigger. There was a flash of green light and my body suddenly went completely numb. I collapsed to the floor, unable to move and barely even aware of what was going on around me. My mother stood over me with the gun still pointed at my chest. "It is time for someone worthy to become Lord Dark's heir...," she announced. "You said that you do not wish to live in his shadow, but you will... The whole world will..." With that, she fired the gun again and this time I lost consciousness. I had no idea how long I floated in the dark sea of unconsciousness, only that I occasionally bobbed back towards the surface, catching the faintest bits of awareness from the waking world before I was pulled back down. The only thing that I could remember from these brief periods of near consciousness were lights, confusing sounds and even stranger sensations. When I finally regained consciousness, I slowly opened my eyes, only to wince at the brightness of the lights and groan at the horrible throbbing in my head. I tried to ignore the migraine and the feeling that I had just woken up with a bad hangover. Instead, I tried to make sense of what was going on, though it was hard to think clearly with my head feeling as though it were about to explode. I took a deep breath and looked around, taking a few seconds to realize that I was in my father's lab again. I was also leaning back in some sort of reclining chair. I remained where I was, just taking in the observations and trying to put the pieces together. "She shot me," I whispered to myself, my throat feeling a little dry. I couldn't believe it, but my own mother had just shot me. And considering that I was in my father's lab, I had no idea what else she might have done to me as well. This terrified me and I wasn't sure that I was ready to face whatever it was that my mother was up to this time. After a few minutes of remaining motionless and letting my headache recede, I slowly began to sit up, only to discover that I had something attached to my head. I removed some sort of headband with wires coming out of it and dropped it to the side. Only then did I notice my hand... "What the?" I gasped in surprise, staring at my hand, which was NOT my hand. It was a woman's hand, with feminine fingers and perfectly manicured nails. They even came to points, just like my mother's. I stared at my hands for a moment, then scrambled to get out of the chair, noticing that my hands weren't the only thing that was wrong with my body. As soon as I was on my feet, I stared down at myself, seeing two noticeable and feminine bulges on my chest. Even my clothes weren't my own. They were nearly all black and looked like the same outfit that my mother had been wearing. I was even wearing the same high heeled boots, nearly losing my balance and falling over as a result. "Oh shit," I whispered, still confused but beginning to get an idea as to what was going on. I turned my attention to the chair I had just climbed out of, seeing another identical, but empty chair just a few feet away, and that both of them were attached to a strange looking machine. I'd seen this device in my father's lab before, but had no idea what it was designed for. At least until now. "It's a body switcher," I gasped in realization. The fact that I seemed to have somehow turned into my mother gave proof to this idea. "She stole my body..." But when I looked around, I saw no sign of my own body or of my mother. Taking a deep breath, I reached between my legs and felt the empty spot, then I ran my hand over my firm, flat stomach and the rest of my body. A quick look was all it took to reveal that my entire body did seem to be that of my mother, though I couldn't be completely certain without undressing. "MOTHER!" I called out, both scared and angry at the same time. I wanted to know what she was up to, and why in the world she would take my body. However, there was no answer, which made me even more nervous. After a minute, I decided to go look for my mother, planning to demand an explanation for this. But as soon as I took my first step, I discovered that it was not very easy walking with my entire balance completely thrown off. And the fact that I was wearing my mother's high heeled boots certainly didn't help me either. Still, in spite of nearly falling flat on my face, I made my way through the rooms of my father's labs, using the walls and various pieces of equipment for support. When I finished looking through my father's lab, I was a little startled to realize just how quickly my sense of balance had returned. I was no longer having to use anything for support as I walked, even with the high heels. In fact, it seemed to be easier to walk in them with each passing minute. "Strange," I scowled, then called out, "Where are you mother?" But of course, there was no answer. I had already verified that my mother was not in the labs, but I decided to look through them again anyways, this time looking for clues as to what she had planned. It didn't take me long though to get a very bad feeling about things. If my missing body and mother weren't frightening enough, I quickly noticed that my father's armor was missing as well, along with a number of his inventions. "This is NOT a good sign," I grimaced, going to the elevator so that I could check out the rest of the house. The house was too large to search through the entire thing quickly, though a look through the main rooms showed no sign of my mother. I asked one of the maids, "Have you see my m...my son?" Somehow, I didn't think that she'd tell any of the servants about what was going on. "No ma'am," the maid answered quickly, giving me a look of complete subservience. "Not since dinner ma'am..." After I excused the maid to return to work, I shook my head, hardly able to believe the way she'd reacted towards me. The servants had always been completely obedient to my mother, and my father when he had been alive. But as for me, they would do what I told them without question, yet only because they had been told to do so by my mother. Otherwise, they normally seemed to almost ignore me. I scowled and looked out the window at the darkened night sky, muttering, "Where is she?" Then I suddenly had an idea. I hurried to the security station and pulled up the surveillance tapes from the last three hours. Since I had been unconscious for about three hours, that was all I really needed to check. My hunch was proven correct as one of the surveillance cameras caught the image of Lord Dark flying away from the house with a number of devices from my father's lab trailing behind him in another black force field bubble. I watched the video for a moment, wondering where my mother could have gone. Then I suddenly remembered that she was planning on sending me out for the black sphere, what she called the Refractor Core again once it was dark. Since I had refused to cooperate, she must have decided to take care of that herself. "Damn her," I grimaced, "And damn me for going along with it in the first place..." I just stood there for several minutes, feeling angry and frustrated, as well as more than a little scared. Being in my mother's body was strange and completely unnatural. I felt...uncomfortable to say the least with that situation and desperately wanted to get back to my own body. Since there didn't seem to be anything I could do until my mother returned home, I decided to get a better look at that body switching machine in the lab. If nothing else, that might kill some time and distract me until my mother returned. But when I went returned to the elevator, I was annoyed to find that it had closed and locked itself up again after I'd left. "Just perfect," I muttered sarcastically, frustrated at my mother's paranoid security within her own house. She was the only one who could open the elevator, so I was completely locked out of the lab until her return. Then I paused, slowly raising my hand and staring at it in realization. "I have the key..." I held my breath for a moment before pressing my hand to the glass plate beside the door, worried about what my mother might think of my entering the lab without her permission. Then I shook it off, bitterly reminding myself that she was the one who'd stolen my body and left me with hers. If that left me with the master key to everything in the house, she should have thought of that beforehand. The moment I was in the lab, I went straight for the corner with the body switching machine. I stared at it for a moment before noticing that something was wrong. There was a panel in the front that seemed to be missing and a hole in it's place. I could see a few wires and connections dangling inside. "Mother," I whispered, realizing that she must have removed a part of the machine. But why? Knowing my mother, it could only mean that it was a vital piece and that she didn't want the machine used without her permission. Was this because she didn't want to risk a chance that I would take my own body back? Or perhaps it was so I wouldn't use the machine to trade bodies with someone else... This way she could control exactly who was in her body...and keep track of me. Any of these reasons seemed paranoid, but they were all consistent with my mother's need for control. I stared at the hole in the machine with a cold chill running down my spine. I scowled, knowing that this was NOT a good thing. Not in the least. If my mother had gone through the trouble of disabling the machine, it could only mean that she had no intention of switching back with me when she returned home. She was up to something... She was up to something big and had told me as much herself. The only problem was, I still had no idea what that something was, only that it was based off of one of my father's plans. That alone was a very bad sign. "I have a feeling," I whispered to myself, "that she won't be switching back until she's done with whatever it is." But remembering her words about 'someone worthy' becoming Lord Dark's heir, I felt a horrible weight settle into my gut. "Or maybe longer..." I was NOT in a very good mood when I left the lab a few minutes later. But there didn't seem to be anything that I could do about my situation at the moment, other than wait for my mother to return and then try convincing her to change her mind. My chances of doing that were not good, so I was trapped in my mother's body and feeling helpless about the situation. This only served to frustrate me even more. When I went back up to the main house, I was relieved to find that I had it almost entirely to myself. The servants had all gone to bed, except for a maid who stayed up every night until mother went to bed. She didn't get in my way, and was nearly invisible, though I was still aware of her presence in the next room. "I can't believe mother would do this to me," I scowled. But the truth was, I could believe almost anything of my mother. After a few minutes, I sat down in my mother's chair, a comfortable leather one where she always relaxed at the end of the day. At the moment, I thought that this was the perfect place for me since I definitely needed to relax. Perhaps calming down might let me thing my situation through a little better. And if nothing else, it might make me feel like strangling someone just a little less. Almost as soon as I was comfortable in the chair, the maid suddenly appeared beside me. Without a word, she offered me a tray which held a glass of red wine and my mother's cigarette holder, cigarette already in place. It took me a moment to realize that the maid was just following the normal routine that my mother went through nearly every night. I hesitated for a moment, then decided if I was going to be stuck as my mother, I might as well BE my mother. I took the glass of wine from the tray, then picked up the cigarette holder. I brought it to my mouth, just as I'd seen my mother do countless times before. And as I expected, the maid reached forward with a lighter. I took a slow drag, wincing slightly from the rough smoke hitting my lungs. "You're excused for the night," I told the maid, deciding that I wanted some privacy. "Yes ma'am," she responded with a slight bow before hurrying off. I took a long drag from the cigarette, holding the smoke in my lungs for a moment before blowing it out overhead. I felt sophisticated for smoking this way, yet somewhat ridiculous as well, as though I were a child playing at being grown-up. With a frown, I drowned the taste with the rich flavored wine. A moment later, I was finally overcome by my curiosity. I left the chair and went to the large, ornate mirror which decorated one wall, staring at my reflection. It was definitely my mother standing there, looking quite familiar with the glass of red wine in one hand and the cigarette holder in the other. However, it was immediately obvious that no matter how much I looked like my mother, I was not her. I didn't stand in quite the same manner, nor did I radiate the same aura of arrogance and control. "Still," I mused, "It is a remarkable resemblance..." Someone who didn't know my mother quite well would never have been able to tell that I wasn't really her. I stood there and smoked, trying to look as much like my mother as possible while I did so. The image was quite impressive, making me look more confident and sophisticated. However, it was not an activity that I particularly enjoyed, so I put the cigarette out and finished off the glass of wine. "An interesting habit," I mused as I thought about the way it felt to be smoking, "though not one I think I'll ever pick up." Still, it was easy to see why my mother enjoyed smoking. The nicotine certainly provided a pleasant feeling, though I knew that for my mother it was more the image it presented. And I knew that it was not as though my mother actually had to worry about the health effects of smoking. The special process that my father had put her through made her immune from cancer and nearly every other disease, as well as ensured that no matter what she did to her body, she would always remain in perfect health. In fact, as I considered the healthiness of my mother's body, I became aware of just how good I felt. In fact, I felt absolutely incredible. I somehow felt energetic and more alive than ever before. Before this, my migraine and the strangeness of the situation had distracted me from noticing it. But now that I was calmed down and thinking about how my body actually felt, I couldn't escape the sensations. "Amazing," I whispered as I looked down at myself with a whole new perspective. I was now inside of a body that had gone through my father's process, and I could feel the different. "I feel unbelievable..." I stared down at my feet, at the stiletto heeled boots that I was currently wearing. When I had first awoken in this body, I had been so out of balance that I could barely even stand, much less walk in these things. But I'd gotten used to them fast...impossibly fast. I had been walking around in them with such ease that I had scarcely even noticed that I was still wearing them. My mother had an incredible sense of balance, and it was obvious that I had inherited this along with her body. "Interesting," I mused, "Very interesting..." For a moment, I just stood there, silently thinking about the fact that I now had a body that had gone through father's improvement process. It was something that I had been dreaming about for years, ever since I had learned of it. However, the truth was that I had always dreamed of my own body going through the process, not of being thrust into my mother's. Then on a sudden impulse, I bent over and put my hands on the floor, then lifted my lower body up until I was doing a hand stand. My balance was shaky for just a moment, but that passed and I was able to remain there in a perfect hand stand with no effort. I lowered my feet back to the ground, then went and performed a cartwheel across the living room. "In high heels at that," I marveled at myself. Intellectually, I had known, or at least strongly suspected that my mother was capable of something like this. I had heard enough about the process and what it could do to a human body. But I had never before seen it in action. My mother had never shown off or given any demonstration of her physical abilities. In fact, she had always avoided doing anything physical, thinking that it was beneath her. "Now I really wish that father hadn't lost the process," I sighed, shaking my head. My body...my mother's body had been amplified to the peak of her human ability and her full physical potential had been unleashed. It was impressive as hell. Technically, I did not think that my mother would be considered a developed since her abilities were still within the human range, though she was certainly close. "Why couldn't you ever create backups and duplicates of your work?" I scowled, thinking of just how many discoveries my father had made and then lost because of this. This had to be one of his most frustrating traits. However, the thought of my father and his various brilliant discoveries only brought me back to thinking of my mother, and the question of what it was that she had planned. I scowled, shaking my head and knowing that I wouldn't get any answers until she returned, whenever that was. Since I had nothing to do but wait until my mother returned, I settled down to distract myself again by reading. However, I soon found that the book was a little less interesting now that my own life had turned into a Steven King story. Still, I was stubborn enough to keep at it for at least an hour. When I finally grew tired of attempting to distract myself with a book, I set it down, deciding that it might be a better idea to just go to bed. After all, it was rather late and it had been a busy day. And maybe, I held out a slim bit of hope, when I woke up in the morning I would discover that this had all been a dream, perhaps caused by accidental exposure to a hallucinogen in my father's lab. I went to the bathroom and frowned, feeling uncertain about whatever nightly routine I should follow. I didn't feel comfortable using my own toothbrush in another body, yet the idea of using my mother's seemed rather disgusting, regardless of the fact that I was in her body. So instead, I decided to skip that and just take care of the more important business. "Oh joy," I groaned faintly as I stared at the toilet. After a minute of just standing there and feeling unsettled, I grimaced and undressed enough to relieve myself. I reminded myself to sit down as I went about my business, finding the sensations somewhat familiar yet different at the same time. Thankfully, the relief was the same as always. I frowned as I made my way to my bedroom, then paused, suddenly wondering what the servants would think. There was no doubt that it would seem quite strange for my mother to be sleeping in my own room. And since I had no intention of letting anyone else learn about this embarrassing switch, including the servants, sleeping in my mother's room became the obvious option. She might not be pleased about that when she returned, but she could hardly blame me since she was the one who had put me in her body. As soon as I was within her bedroom, I closed the ornate wooden doors behind me and looked around. The room was impeccably decorated, of course, with a large and luxurious bed. All of the sheets where silk and there was no doubt that it would be extremely comfortable to sleep in. My mother always demanded the absolute best of everything, and it definitely showed. I ignored the mirror as I removed my mother's clothes, dropping them unceremoniously to the floor. I tried ignoring my body and treating it all matter of fact, though it was not easy. In the end, I couldn't resist the curios urge to turn and look at the large mirror which hung from the wall. There stood my mother, in all her naked glory. It was a very uncomfortable moment before I quickly turned around and climbed into bed. At first, I didn't think that I would be able to get to sleep. I feared that I would remain there for half the night, too aware of my new body and too busy thinking of the events of the day. But surprisingly, I drifted away into slumber much more easily than I would have imagined. *** I awoke in the morning, less than pleased to find that I was still in my mother's body. After a moment, I sat up, pulling the sheets to the side and staring myself with a deepening scowl. But I forced myself to remain calm, knowing that it would do me little good to get mad. At least not yet. "It seems that it was no dream," I muttered, reaching over and pulling the chain beside the bed, then quickly covering myself up again. "Yes ma'am," a maid came in, answering the summons. "Is...is my son back yet?" I asked, wondering if my mother had returned during the night. "Not that I am aware of ma'am," the maid responded. "Shall I check his bedroom for you?" After I'd told her to go check, she hurried to the room that I had been staying at, then talked to the other servants before returning to me with a report that there was no sign of my real body. It seemed that mother had not returned home, which I did not take as good news. But while I was thinking about this, I had the maid fetch my breakfast. Once the maid had left, I slipped on one of my mother's black silk robes which hung in her private bathroom, then I sat back to eat my breakfast. I picked up the morning paper that the maid had brought me as well, frowning as I saw what was on the front page. It was a picture of Lord Dark, or at least of me in my father's armor. "Damn," I muttered, reading through the article. I had only read through several paragraphs of the article when I gasped in surprise. The article started off by telling about how I had gone to the building and been chased off by Praxis, who recovered the item that I had been trying to steal. But then the article went on to say that Lord Dark returned last night and nearly blew the building up. "Mother," I gasped. I just stared at the newspaper for a moment before I continued reading. It went on to say that Praxis had been waiting in case Lord Dark returned, and when he did, the two of them had a big fight. Praxis was injured during the fight, though the witnesses said she recovered enough to fly away a short time afterwards. However, the article also made it very clear that Lord Dark severely injured several guards and got away with whatever it was he had come for. "Damn," I angrily threw the paper to the side, furious not only with my mother but with myself as well. I sat there, feeling sick to my stomach. It was my fault. I could have prevented this... I could have kept those people from getting hurt if I hadn't dropped the sphere and left it behind, or if I hadn't refused to go back. I knew that this was foolishness, that I couldn't really blame myself for my mother's actions. But I couldn't help feeling this way. "I can't believe that mother would do this," I whispered. But the truth was, I could. I did. I had known what she was capable of all along. I knew that she wanted that Refractor Core, and I knew that she would do anything to get it. I felt another surge of guilt at that. I had no idea of just how long I remained sitting there in stunned silence, wallowing in my guilt and self pity. My thoughts kept running around the ideas that people were hurt because of me, and that perhaps having my body stolen like this was some form of karmic punishment. Then I finally shook it off, accepting how foolish it all was. It wasn't my fault that my mother had injured those people any more than it was that she had stolen my body. "Lay the fault where it belongs," I reminded myself, as though doing so aloud would make it easier for me to fully accept. "Mother..." After a few more minutes, I decided to accept a piece of advice that my mother had frequently repeated, and that was to be practical and do what needed to be done. I was quite aware of the irony in that as I went to her walk in closet. It was as large as a whole room, and nearly everything in it was black. "Such variety," I muttered sarcastically as I looked for something to wear. "And doesn't mother have any shoes which aren't high heels?" However, I knew that the answer was no. She was quite fond of the extra height advantage they gave her, especially since she always seized any advantage she could get. It didn't take me too long to find an outfit. It consisted of a black long-sleeved shirt, white pants, and knee high black leather boots with stiletto heels. I'd seen my mother wearing the very outfit before, and knew that it was quite sexy, though not really any more so than what I had been wearing the day before. As soon as I had finished dressing, I ran a brush through my hair a few times and decided to leave well enough alone. I didn't know how to apply makeup and little interest in doing so even if I did. And it certainly wasn't as though my mother's face actually needed any. A minute later, I began a search of the house for any sign that my mother had returned without the servants knowing. It wasn't as though I didn't trust the servants, but for something this important, I felt getting personally involved was more importantly. However, as I more than half expected, I found no sign that mother had returned, nor any clues as to what she was currently up to. "I only have one clue," I muttered, "The black sphere... The Refractor Core..." Unfortunately, I still had absolutely no idea what it was for. If I knew that, I might understand why mother was so intent on retrieving it...and what her other intentions were. Then I froze, suddenly knowing where I might find some of the answers I was looking for. I immediately returned to the lab, already having looked there during my search, though this time I had a much better idea of just where to look. I went to the control center, a room with monitors covering nearly every wall. And in the very center, there was the main control console, the access for my father's computer system. "There should be something in here," I said as I slid into the chair behind the console. The monitors all remained blank, a black background with a red skull in the middle. It was my father's logo. I touched the keyboard in front of me, but this screen saver didn't clear. I looked for a power button, then realized that the power was already on or the logo wouldn't be flashing at me. "How the hell do I get in?" I scowled, looking around. Then I saw it, a small glass pad on the side of the console, almost identical to the one on the lab door upstairs. "I hope this works..." The moment I put my hand on the scanner, the logo vanished and the computer system opened up to me. I let out a sigh of relief, then hoped that it would actually have something about the Refractor Core in it, and that this wasn't yet another of my father's inventions where all notes had been lost. I entered a search for the Refractor Core, and to my relief, it appeared. Images of the black sphere appeared on various monitors around the room, along with a large variety of technical data which made no sense to me. But there was more than that There were also links to other devices, plans and notes. I silently started to read through the information, feeling a chill run down my spine as I went deeper and deeper into it. With every passing minute, I became more and more horrified. "She couldn't," I gasped. Mother had told me she was going to complete one of father's old plans, and I had just found nearly every detail. But the end results of that plan would be so extreme that even father had abandoned it as going too far. If mother was willing to continue that project, even after my father had abandoned it as being too dangerous, than that said something very frightening about her mindset. I didn't want to believe she was capable of such a thing, but I was beginning to know better. I had seen the obsessed look on her face. She might very well be capable of anything now.