Unique

Unique

Mark A Davis

294

Black Dahlia, sorceress and leader of the Black Moon Maidens, stared across her desk at a young, dark-skinned woman with an afro, who wore a leotard of red, white, and blue, with leather gloves and platform boots.

"You're Wings of Liberty?" asked Dahlia.  The other woman nodded.  Dahlia had long red hair, very straight, and wore a long Gothic gown of black with a laced up bodice and poet's sleeves.  She also were several pounds of silver occult jewelry.

"The problem being that you don't have wings, as of yet," the sorceress added.

The office of the sorceress was on the second floor of the super group's headquarters.  The walls were as black as the void, but the room was lit by a diffuse, magical light with no apparent source.  Shelves were cluttered with books, figurines, and skulls.  An autographed photo of Robert Smith from the Cure hung on the wall.  The room smelled of lemon and licorice -- in part due to the candy sitting on a bowl on the desk.

"That's right," said Wings of Liberty.  "I've dreamed of having wings since I was a child.  That book contains a spell that can give them to me."

Dahlia raised an eyebrow.  She picked up a leather-bound book.  It looked quite old, with yellowed pages.  She opened it carefully and examined the first few pages.

"You found this book... where?"

"An old bookstore," said the heroine.  "I'd never seen it before, but I had a dream that it would be there."

"Mystical dreams leading you to spell books," the sorceress muttered.  "Just what we need."  She flipped through the pages and read for a few moments.  "This spell will not only give you wings, but taloned feet as well, actually," she finally added.

"I am aware," said the other woman.

The sorceress pursed her lips.  She said, "You do realize I typically charge one million dollars for transformations such as this?"

"I am," said Wings of Liberty.  "I also know that you don't grant interviews to people that can't offer proof of payment up front, and yet you agreed to see me.  I had a dream -- a vision -- that you would do this."

Dahlia sighed.  She stood and began to pace.  "Yes," she said.  "Well, I also had a dream this morning -- a vision, if you will, that you would come to me with this book, and that I would cast this spell and give you the wings you need to become the heroine you desire to be."  She turned and placed both hands on the desk, leaning forward.  "All of these visions are a problem, Miss Wings of Liberty.  Clearly someone wants me to cast this spell on you -- but I don't believe in god.  At the very least, I don't believe in a creator that actually cares about our little lives.  For this reason, I don't trust prophetic dreams.  But I do know of several powerful entities who might decide to send such dreams, actually.  They are gods of a sort -- small gods, or at the very least powerful beings with delusions of grandeur.

"Of those, there are two who take a particular interest in the affairs of Terran superheroes -- the Reality Bender, and Eternia the Watcher.  Of those two, only one works in very direct ways such as this."

Dahlia retrieved from a desk drawer a locked wooden box.  She produced a key and opened it.  From within she drew a trading card.  Wings of Liberty could see that it was especially fancy -- embossed, with gold foil, and most likely quite rare.

"Do you know what this card is?" Dahlia asked.

The woman shrugged.  "No?"

"This," said Dahlia, "is one of the Eldritch Gods trading cards, series one.  They're put out by Sonny's Collectibles, based here in Los Angeles, CA, actually.  The owner is Sonny Kissinger -- a good friend of mine, of a sort.

"This particular card is a Shag Sogoth -- the sleeping old one of  the starless seas.  It was the rarest card of series one -- in fact, there were maybe fifty ever produced.  For years Dark Dr. Dark had one and I did not, and he lorded it over me.  It was the only card in that series that I was missing.  Then I met Sonny and did a favor for him, and he gifted me with this card.  Finally I had a collection to rival that of my mentor.

"Soon, however, a new series of cards were issued -- Minor Gods and great Sorcerers.  In that series the rarest card was of King Bofforma III of the Kalownian Empire -- a mystical god-king of an ancient kingdom lost in the mists of time.  For months Dark Dr. Dark had this card and I did not.  My solution this time was more direct -- I purchased 51% of Sonny's Collectibles.  It's a small operation, after all, and I've become a fairly wealthy young woman.

"Part of the deal included being given one of these rare cards.  Once again I had a collection to match that of my mentor.  But that did not last.

"Dark Dr. Dark was summoned to an Infinite Secret Crisis Wars -- a battle between heroes and villains on a far away planet, under the guidance and at the whims of an all-powerful alien known as the Reality Bender.  Those who competed successfully in this contest were granted gifts -- special powers, for the most part.  But Dark Dr. Dark wanted something different.  He requested a unique gift -- and by unique, I don't mean somewhat rare or unusual, I mean to use that word as it's intended to be used.  He asked for something that was absolutely one of a kind.  There would only be one.

"Can you guess what that was?"

Wings of Liberty cocked her head to one side.  "I'd suppose it was a trading card that you don't have?"

"Yes, actually," said Dahlia.  "It was one that I could never have -- an embossed foil card of the Reality Bender himself, produced by magical means.  Sonny's Collectibles never made such a card, but if you check their company records it shows that they did.  Just the one, mind you.  You see, it was a real card that this wannabe god created -- an official card from the Sonny's Collectibles Eldritch Gods line of collectible cards.  At the same time, no proofs of the card existed -- I could not have a second one printed, even though I owned the company.

"I will help you," said Black Dahlia.  "It's been prophesied in dreams, after all.  I'll cast this spell for you and give you the wings and talons you desire.  Mind you, I think it's foolish to turn yourself into a half-animal freak, but it's nothing I haven't done several times before.  But I won't do it for free.

"I want one thing in exchange:  my own copy of that card -- the Reality Bender Eldritch Gods card, embossed, with gold foil."

The heroine's eyes went wide.  "What?  But... that's impossible!" she exclaimed.  "How can you possibly expect me to... I mean, I have no way of producing that... you yourself just told me that there's only one in existence....."

"I know," said Dahlia.  "Nor do I wish to possess the one that Dark Dr. Dark owns.  I want a second card.  I want there to be two in existence -- only two, with the second going to me."  She placed her Shag Sogoth card back in the wooden box and shut the lid.  "Please note, Miss Wings of Liberty, that I'm not asking you to produce it.  I am just merely stating my desires aloud for all to hear -- nearby humans, spirits, demons, otherworldy gods...."

Black Dahlia sat straight in her chair, hands folded in her lap.  Wings of Liberty opened her mouth, but Dahlia held up a hand, indicating she should wait.  Several moments later her phone rang.  She picked it up.  "Yes?  Very good.  Please bring it up immediately."

A minute later a young woman appeared.  She was dressed very much like Dahlia, minus all the occult jewelry.  On her left breast was a name tag that read:  Danielle Veisi -- ask me about our corset club!

The woman placed a package wrapped in brown paper on Dahlia's desk.  She curtsied, and disappeared.

Dahlia inspected the package.  "Well," said Dahlia brightly, "would you look at that!  A package addressed to moi, with no return address.  I do wonder whatever could it be?"  She carefully sliced through packing tape and soon had revealed a small box.  She removed the lid and peered within.  "Why, wonder of wonders!  'Tis an official Eldritch Gods special Reality Bender embossed gold foil trading card!  One of two in existence!  I do wonder who sent it to me?"

She retrieved her wooden box, unlocked it, placed the new card within, and locked it away.  Then she glanced up at the heroine and said, "Well, Miss Wings of Liberty, are you ready to have real wings?  Let's not dally, then!"

***

Dark Dr. Dark studied the card as he sipped his tea.

"Impressive," he finally admitted.  "That indeed appears to be the genuine article.  I suppose I never asked that mine remain unique, and thus our friend the Reality Bender was free to make another."

"Indeed," Dahlia said.  She looked quite pleased with herself.

"Of course," said the sorcerer, handing the card back, "I did notice a week ago when my card, which had always been marked as one of one, was suddenly altered to read one of two."

Black Dahlia nodded.  She placed the card within her box and carefully locked it.  "And now," she said, "I once again have a collection that is the equal of yours."

"Is that so?" asked Dark Dr. Dark.  "That would mean that you also have an Eternia the Watcher card, yes?"

Dahlia frowned.  "There's no such card...." she began, but the sorcerer produced it from beneath his cloak in one smooth but deceptively fast motion.

"Gold foil, embossed, one of a kind," he said.  "Presented to me by Eternia herself, who I need not remind you is very rarely encountered."

Dahlia's eyes narrowed.  She stared at the card.  Dark Dr. Dark flipped it over to show the Sonny's Collectibles logo, and the "one of one" notation.  "When did you... how...?"

"That, my dear," said the sorcerer, "is for me to know and you to find out."  And he grinned like a Cheshire cat.

FINI