The Black Mask was still in control. From the couch she was lying on in Level One of Citadel Base, she could see Velocity bustling about taking care of all the other team members. The young woman was stepping into the leadership role very well, the Black Mask thought, facing the challenges with a maturity that belied her age and an efficiency that only someone of her... speed could achieve. The Mask smiled. Really, there was nothing else for her to do here. The Base's medical equipment would help those team members make a full recovery, in the Black Mask's estimation.
She quietly got up and walked to the elevator. She'd recovered rapidly from the battle, sensing that her body had repaired any physical damage while she was still unconscious. The wooziness she felt was also rapidly disappearing, enabling her to think clearly. Cosmus would have to be dealt with. The man knew their secret base, identities, everything. While the base would likely survive his assaults, and the others would defend themselves, she knew there was one innocent member of the team that would not understand, that would not defend herself from a creature such as he. That member was Beth.
The time for denial was past. She must come to grips with reality. She could refuse to accept what she was and who she was no longer.
The Black Mask road the elevator to Level Three, the practice room. As she stepped out of the elevator, lights softly came to life, illuminating the area.
"AABLE," she said as she strode toward the huge oval table. "We have work to do."
Over the course of the next half hour, the Black Mask rapidly updated AABLE with all the information about Beth, her condition, her history, recent events and what she wanted the AI to do. She then wrote a letter and left the base, heading back to Beth's room, note in hand.
Beth sat up in her bed with a gasp and a scream, as if rising from a nightmare. She looked around her bedroom in confusion and saw a note flutter to the floor. She blinked and picked it up, then stared at it in shock. The note was in her own hand writing.
Beth,
I know the fears you've had about what has happened to you. I know that you fear even more that you may be losing your mind.
You're not. Trust me, Beth. I am your friend, your ally... You and I are one.
It is time that you see something. It will show you the truth and it will heal you of the doubts, fears, of even the blackouts you still endure.
You've never shrunk from any danger or fear in your life before, Beth. You've faced it head-on and embraced it. You must face this, too, because it's the truth.
If you feel you are strong enough, that you wish for your torment to end, you may do that any time you choose. Come to the elevator and go to Level Three. Abel will be there waiting for you. He is your friend. You can trust him.
-The Black Mask
She stared at the note for a long time. She looked at the little alarm clock by her bed. Time had passed. A lot of time. And she couldn't help but feel that now she was missing something really important. The Base, Veronica, her new super-powered friends.
Had she gone completely crazy? Was she now imagining she was a masked vigilante and writing notes to herself? What was the reality?
Why was she having blackouts?
She could follow the instructions in the note, or she could sit here and continue to cower from what was happening while her friends faced everything with eyes open wide. That thought did not sit well with her. Ultimately, it was got her moving, past the burnt clothes lying on the floor, past the silk black mask hanging on her own bedroom doorknob.
She went to the strange stairwell elevator and pressed a button. It opened, she got in and stared at the oddly family five buttons. One had no dots, the other had one, two, three, four, and five dots. She pressed the one with three dots.
Shaking with nervousness and a fear she could not yet identify, she took the long elevator ride down for what seemed a long time, down to the very heart of Citadel Base. At last, the doors slid open and she stepped out into the Training Level.
"Good evening Ms. Beth. I am AABLE." AABLE looked like a gentleman in his late fifties. A slight pudge and balding, AABLE looked about as harmless as could be mustered by an AI. "I trust you are well and have many questions."
Beth looked around and turned to her left. There just past the strange man was a huge, oval table. The soft, sunny glow felt welcoming to her. She took a couple long strides into the room, then she returned her gaze to AABLE.
"Abel?" She looked at the note she still held in her hands. "Pleased to meet you. And yes I definitely do have a lot of questions. But first, can you tell me a little about yourself? I have a note here from the Black Mask but honestly, I don't know how she knows me or why she says I should trust you."
"Yes of course. I am a hologram of a computer system that is programmed to aid and help all who are in need of these facilities resources. You are in need of my knowledge and help and thus will endeavor to make sure you are without questions and feel more knowledgeable about your situation. Is there anything I can get you before we start?"
Beth blinked, feeling weirdly like she'd stepped onto the set of a Star Trek episode. "Uhh, no I'm okay, thanks. I guess I'll just take a chair?"
She walked over and pulled up a chair and sat down. She felt like she was just about to step off Tri-Trump Tower number two again; exhilarated and scared to death at the same time. She smiled and took that plunge. "Okay, let's start with this. The Black Mask knows about my blackouts. How does she know about that and why do I have them?"
"The reason you black out is the side effect of sharing two minds in one body."
"Two minds... Oh God!" Beth said horrified. Thoughts of bad SciFi movies wavered before her eyes. "Do I have some kind of nightmare brain tumor with a mind of its own? What's going to happen to me? Am I possessed?"
"Please Ms. Beth, calm yourself. There is little reason to panic. The other half that resides in you is the hero, the Black Mask. To explain, when you had the accident, a while back in the caves, you came into contact with the technology from an ancient but peaceful alien race. The technology that landed here on earth has the sole mission to see this species succeed and not harm itself to extinction. The Artificial Intelligence in the device that saved your life, also gave you all the knowledge of that race. However, because of the fragile state of the human mind, it was deemed necessary to slowly introduce yourself to that knowledge. So, to keep you safe, the artificial intelligence created another personality. And thus was born The Black Mask.
"As for your black outs, every time the identity of the Black Mask came forth, you would reside back; thus giving you memory lapses. You are in no physical danger from this situation you are in. But, The Black Mask sees that it is time to start acclimating you with the knowledge that is within you. I would assume that it would be nice not to have anymore of these blackouts?"
Beth nodded. A thrill of fear shivered down her spine. The thought of being an actual superhero was both thrilling in the sense that she now suspected she might have more powers than just regeneration, but also scary in the sense that she might have far more responsibilities than she had ever realized.
"That's how I survived that fall, isn't it?" Beth said. She'd fallen what had seemed like forever, but might have been closer to sixty feet, right onto this big glowy crystal thing. It should have turned her into hamburger or at least snapped her back in half. Her father had pretty much said as much when he saw the hole she'd fallen through. "This alien technology somehow restored me, and as a side effect, now I always heal from anything."
The thought was really mind blowing. She was a superhero now because of sheer accident and good luck -- thanks to an alien intelligence. "So what do I call this alien intelligence thing? I guess I can't talk to it directly or it would have already done that, huh? Or maybe you're it's spokes-person."
"To keep things simple, let's refer to the other half as The Black Mask. As the knowledge start to adapt in your mind, the true state of things will become clearer. I do however have a means of starting this transfer of knowledge. There is a room here that allows all of the team to train through sensory holographics forms. With this, you can talk directly with your alter-ego and start your education, as it were. If you would follow me we can begin immediately."
Beth nodded, still a little awe-struck at the whole situation. She followed him over to the Training Matrix area, which was just next door and on the same level they stood now. At his gesture, she sat down.
She began to ask, "So what do I--"
GLUMPH! For a moment, everything went dark for Beth.
Had she been a bystander watching the proceeding she might have been equally amazed and horrified at the proceeding. When Beth sat down, a strange pseudopod with a large hood on the end -- actually shaped more like a closed catcher's mitt -- descended and enveloped her head. The thick tentacle-like trunk that connected it to the ceiling swayed and pulsed in an odd, drunkenly orgasmic rhythm that both fascinated and repulsed a would-be onlooker. Beth's own body twitched randomly as if attempting to move and respond to whatever induced hallucination was now going on inside the thing. She mumbled something unintelligible, muffled by the alien "hood". Citadel Base itself would handle her breathing and other basic life support requirements for her -- her mind need no longer concern itself with such things.
Of course, AABLE was well aware what was awaiting her inside the Training Matrix.
From her perspective Beth suddenly rushed into a plain, white chamber. There were two, overstuffed, red chairs there. No light source could be discerned yet it was very bright. Standing between the lone pieces of comfortable furniture was a young woman dressed in what appeared to be a black leather bodysuit and a black silk mask that covered the top of her head as well as her eyes.
"The Black Mask," Beth gasped
"More or less," The Black Mask replied. "Beth Bishop, we need to talk." Beth nodded and as the Black Mask took her seat in one chair, she took the other. And then they started to talk.
Though it was almost impossible to tell time in the Training Matrix, they did speak for a very long time. During their conversation, the room changed, taking them to locations both familiar and not so familiar, revealing wonders, but also revealing basic truths about herself, the Black Mask, and what had brought them to this point. They climbed mountains, on alien landscapes, ascended the stairs of more familiar towers, and spoke of many things of the past and present. There was a lot to say, and Beth wasn't going to be able to absorb it all, but still it had to be done.
In the end, there really could only be one personality that remained. The other had to be absorbed and integrated. Nor could either personality be discarded in favor of the other, for that would simply trigger a destructive, internal struggle that might see no end, or if it did, would end in the destruction of the opposing personality.
No, instead Beth had to embrace the Black Mask. The Mask stood ready to embrace Beth. When they finally did embrace each other, their separation ended and unity was the result.
Hours later, when the hood released Beth, the young woman who stood from that chair was no longer tormented by doubt and ruled by fear. She was Beth Bishop, the Black Mask!
This page by Dustin Evermore and Chris Rich-McKelvey, 2008.