posted
The Portal About Three Days’ Normal Space Travel from Weber’s World
IB Green reached out to Angdar Fel telepathically. “How’s the invisibility working for you guys?”
“All good. Doesn’t seem like any of the ghouls have spotted us so far. Think we can use this in the showers when we get back?”
“We could, but while you’re ogling the girls in the locker room, Blaze will be ogling you too,” IB grinned mentally as he asked Pov to loop Blaze into the conversation. “Your other crushes are the same type as Angdar, right Blaze?”
“Hoooooooooooooney!” Blaze replied in mock anger. “Don’t worry Angdar, I just look. I don’t touch.”
“That’s good, I wouldn’t want to make IB jealous,” Angdar winked as he slammed his mace into another ghoul. “Careful, Kairos, that one behind you is a fire-breather.”
“Thanks, but I got this,” Kairos said as her time powers reduced the ghoul to dust.
“Just a reminder, team, your main goal is to take out the portal, not defeat all the ghouls. With the Dark Army still pouring through, you keep taking them out and they’ll know you’re there. Let me and Pov do the fighti-“ IB Green suddenly cut off in mid-thought.
“IB?” Blaze asked with fear in his voice. “Where are you? I have to –“
“SSSSH!” hissed Marvin as he placed a hand on Blaze’s mouth. “Don’t lose it. I’m sure he’s fine, okay? Now keep moving or get stuck in the crossfire.” Marvin pulled Blaze down and out of the line of a giant panther who was “running” in space. Marvin pointed in the direction they had come from. “Look, he’s alright.”
Blaze turned and saw a green glow in the distance, and a message written in large green letters – “I’m OK. Pov just got the wind knocked out of him. Telepathy will be back in 3… 2…”
“1!” IB’s voice rang out in their heads again, and Blaze relaxed. “Sorry for worrying you, honey,” IB pathed to him. Blaze sent warm feelings of love back. “No need to say sorry, just glad you’re safe.”
“Let’s get moving,” Kinetix urged, sounding impatient. “The longer we wait, the more ghouls come out.”
“Agreed. And keep an eye out – even though we’re invisible, we’re not 100% safe,” Marvin added.
“I’ll do my best to maintain the telepathic link,” Pov added, “but the farther you go the fainter we’ll be. Just holler for help if you need it.”
The five nodded their thanks as they flew off towards the portal.
*************************************************
Kinetix shivered as they alit on a small piece of debris near the portal. It looked like a floating ring that glowed a sickly yellow color. It was an awful, ugly and unnatural tear in the fabric of reality. They could barely see through to the other side, as ghouls were still pouring out. “How are we going to close that again, when we can’t possibly get close enough?”
“We’d anticipated that,” Angdar said. “That’s why we need you all here.”
Marvin pulled out a black sphere about the size of a bowling ball. It was featureless, except for some lines and grooves around it. “This is the bomb I mentioned. Kinetix, you will coat it with Nth metal provided by Angdar so the ghouls won’t detect it. You will also levitate it into the portal, right smack dab in the middle. Once it’s inside, you need to spread the Nth metal out and let it cover as much of the portal space as possible.”
Marvin quickly flipped a switch, and two small holes appeared on the sphere’s sides. “These are our propulsion system. Unfortunately, they’re rather crude. They’ll be the backup in case the portal affects your telekinesis.” The sphere whirred and energy suddenly jetted out of the holes. The sphere began to advance, slowly but not quite steadily. It wobbled from side to side, though its flight path remained reasonably steady.
“Once it’s inside,” Angdar continued, “you, Blaze, will ignite the bomb. The fuse is here,” he pointed at the deepest groove on the sphere, one that ran around its entire diameter. “Just focus your magical flame on it. You can do that from about 30 meters away, right?”
Blaze nodded; IB had carefully measured the distance of his flame powers. “My only problem is I’m still working on my control. I have trouble keeping the flames focused.”
Kairos raised her hand. “I’m not the smartest kid in class or anything, but won’t the bomb blow us up from that short a distance?”
“That’s where you come in,” Marvin grinned. “Your time powers can slow down the explosion enough for us to get away. Once the bomb ignites, we’re to telepathically call IB and Pov to get us out of here and back to the ship.”
“And if the telepathic link is broken again?” Kinetix asked.
“IB and I discussed this. He’ll use his powers to keep an eye on us by manipulating light from our position. He’ll be able to see us as if we were right next to him.”
Blaze, Kinetix and Kairos were quiet. The plan was good, and seemed simple enough, but it required split-second timing. One missed step, one tiny delay…. They looked at each other and shrugged. “Not like we have much of a choice, anyway. Let’s go.”
The group worked in silence. Their unspoken words hung in the air – good luck to them all.
Kinetix quickly wrapped the Nth metal provided by Angdar around the sphere, leaving spaces for the jet holes. “They won’t see the glow of my telekinetic field, right?” Kinetix asked. Marvin shook his head. “As long as IB maintains his cloak, we’re good.”
“I’m sure he has the stamina,” Kinetix winked. Blaze looked daggers at her as she lifted the sphere higher and higher. When it was about level with the middle of the portal, she rocketed it forward.
“Closer… closer…” Angdar whispered as he stood beside her. Blaze noted that his body turned towards hers, though he didn’t touch her and his eyes remained focused on the portal. “Okay, now a bit higher… and to the right… good. Now, when I say GO, begin to warp the Nth metal so it covers the entire portal like a ring. Have it hover just inside the edges. How long will that take you?”
Kinetix thought for a moment. “About 5 seconds.”
Angdar turned to Blaze. “Can you light the fuse in 5 seconds? Although the ghouls can’t see the Nth metal, we’d best not wait too long.”
Blaze nodded. “I can do that,” he said as he charged up his fire powers. “Let’s do this.”
“Alright. Kairos, be ready. Remember, focus your time powers on the bomb, the portal, and the ghouls in the area. We want to keep them locked near the field so the explosion destroys them too. As we retreat, release your field slowly, starting from the center going on out.” Kairos nodded impatiently, though rather shakily. This was a lot of pressure for a girl in her late teens.
“You’ll be fine,” Marvin said reassuringly. Kairos nodded, and mouthed thanks.
Angdar looked at each in turn. “Okay, then… Kinetix, GO!”
The Nth metal began to flow from the sphere like ink from a brush that had been dropped in water. Kinetix’s eyes and hands glowed green as she wove the metal around the portal’s edges. She gritted her teeth. “This is harder than it was while we were practicing.”
“Must be the unique properties of the portal,” Angdar said. “It’s okay. You’re doing fine.”
Kinetix nodded and continued working. The Nth metal flowed along, entwining itself. Kinetix “folded” it so that the metal hung around the sides of the portal, extending into the space beyond – the space where the Dark Army came from. “I’m almost done,” she called.
“Are you ready, Blaze?” called Marvin.
Blaze stood, feet apart, arms outstretched, eyes closed. Beads of sweat collected on his forehead. He mustn’t - couldn’t – fail. IB and all the others were depending on him. He swallowed, then willed himself to burst into flame. “I am. Here goes nothing.”
He opened his eyes, and saw a flash of movement. Something was moving quickly towards him. “Get down!” Marvin yelled. Kairos screamed.
Blaze’s breathe rushed out as something slammed into him, then he only saw darkness. Before he fell, all he could think of as IB. **************************************************
IB Green smirked as he jammed his quarterstaff between the planes of a crystalline ghoul, much like the one they had fought on Titus’ world. He pushed, and the force split the ghoul apart. “I know how to beat you now,” he laughed. “I should, almost killed me last time.”
“Urgh… I wish I’d gone along with you guys,” Poverty Lad thought as he dodged a being made of what seemed to be rubber. “My punches go through it, and it doesn’t seem to have a mind I can work with.”
“Hmmm…” IB pondered, scanning the battlefield. “I have an idea.” He dodged the claws of a large wolf and severed its head with a laser. He then zipped around the battlefield to float behind a ghoul made entirely of lava. “Pov, over here!”
Pov quickly grabbed the rubbery ghoul’s leg and swung it hard. It crashed first into a large stone ghoul, then into a spikey giant porcupine. Punch-drunk, it couldn’t resist as Pov flung it against the lava ghoul. As they collided, both ghouls screamed. The one made of rubber melted, while the one made of lava hardened and crusted over as it was covered in molten rubber.
“Nice going, kid. Looks like the others taught you a lot,” Pov laughed as he gave IB a thumbs-up.
IB returned the sign, when a bolt of pain seared through his mind. Blaze. He looked at Pov, who looked back, eyes wide. “He’s still alive. But he’s badly hurt.”
IB looked in the direction the others had gone, fear in his eyes. What had happened? He had to go to Blaze. Now. He made ready to fly off after them when a cloud of blackness appeared before them.
“No, not now…” IB whispered. “It’s the Dream-Eater. “
“That’s the…”
“The thing we faced near the Brood Homeworld,” IB’s voice was grim. “It’s much smaller than the other one, but no less dangerous I bet. Pov, I need you to blast like you’ve never blasted before.”
posted
The Portal About Three Days’ Normal Space Travel from Weber’s World
“This is making me very, very angry,” Marvin said as he took aim at the ghoul that was bent over Blaze’s still form. He squinted and fired right at its head. A hole appeared, and flames spilled out. Marvin fired again, and this time it was cold ice that poured out and, spreading over the ghoul’s body. It toppled over and cracked in pieces.
Marvin quickly looked around. Kairos was unconscious; the ghoul had knocked her aside as it leapt for Blaze. Kinetix’s arm was burned, but she was fighting through it to maintain her field on the bomb. Angdar was tending to her; he’d fitted an Nth metal glove on her arm. “This should help you heal,” he whispered.
Marvin flew to where Blaze was lying. The youth felt so cold, and looked so pale. It was like the very life had been sucked out of him by the fire-breathing monster. He listened for a heartbeat… and it was there. It was very faint, though.
Marvin fished out a small gun-like device and held it to Blaze’s temple. It whirred to life, and Blaze sat up with a jolt. “Ohhhh… what happened?”
“Blaze, listen. You were attacked by a ghoul that can absorb fire. It drained you. Are you okay? Can you still ignite the bomb?”
Blaze cupped his head in his hands, then reached for Marvin’s outstretched hand. He stood up slowly, steadying himself. He willed himself to burn. His hands sparked, but only his forefingers fired up.
“I… I can’t. I’m too weak to do more than this,” he sighed, sitting back down. “I’m sorry.”
“Damn,” Marvin gritted his teeth. “Of all the times for us to get attacked!” He glanced over at Kinetix, who was hovering in and out of consciousness herself. Angdar looked up and shook his head. “She won’t be able to maintain her field for much longer. The Nth metal is helping her, but it won’t have that big an effect until she rests.”
“So what do we do…” Blaze paused as IB Green’s voice shouted out at them telepathically. “Is Blaze okay? Are you all okay? What happened!” His fear was palpable.
“I’m sorry for worrying you, hon,” Blaze answered. “We were attacked before I could ignite the bomb. I… I can’t anymore. I’m sorry, I’m still too weak.”
“Kairos is down and Kinetix is hurt very badly,” Marvin added. “We’ll lose our window in the next few minutes.”
“Grife, I don’t really care. I’m just glad you’re all okay,” IB said. His tone meant he was glad Blaze and everyone else was okay. “Oh Blaze baby, I’m so sorry… Look, let’s go back to Weber’s World.
Pov and I are blasting through the miniature Dream-Eater we encountered. It’s taking all of our juice too. We’ll come pick you up, go back and figure something out.”
“It won’t be that easy,” Marvin said. “We needed Blaze because of the magical nature of his powers. It has to be him who ignites the bomb. We HAVE to wait for Blaze to recover.”
The unspoken objection was: how many people would die while that happened? Blaze could feel IB’s anguish. Their team would live, but their failure meant many more would die.
He couldn’t let that happen.
“IB, I… I love you.” Blaze whispered. “Please forgive me.” Blaze blocked the surge of surprise from IB as he lunged forward and wrestled Marvin’s gun from his hand. The Martian’s eyes went wide underneath his helmet as Blaze hit him on the head. Then he took off, ignoring IB’s scream.
************************************************
IB screamed in the recesses of his mind as he poured all his light energy into the ghoul. Outwardly, though, anyone would see only his focus. He had to get to Blaze. Nothing else mattered now. “Pov, focus your eye beams on the spot I’m hitting!” Pov complied as IB intensified his own energy. The Dream-Eater pulsed and shifted, trying to get away. “Now, keep focusing while I broaden my field…” IB’s beam slowly widened, hitting the entire mass of the Dream-Eater. It rippled, almost as if it were convulsing… and then it was gone.
IB zoomed off without a word. In microseconds he was near the portal. He passed Kinetix, who was cradling her burnt arm. Kairos and Marvin were both lying sprawled on the floating rock. Angdar was flapping his wings with all his might, reaching his arm out to stop…
Blaze. Blaze was so close to the portal.
IB used his light powers to reinforce the invisibility around Blaze even as he thought how he could blast him. He had to ration just enough power to stun Blaze and stop him from flying...
He fired. A ghoul who was passing by took the blow. No. There were too many of them. He couldn't get a clear shot. Try to blast through them and he might hit Blaze by accident.
IB’s heart stopped as he screamed through Pov’s mindlink. “Blaze, baby, please! You don’t have to do this! Come back!” He was so close. He could almost touch him.
Blaze turned back for a moment to smile. “But baby, I want to. To save you all. I’m sorry for making you sad. But you’d better go back now.”
IB’s arm stretched out as tears ran down his face. “Wait! Wait, I can…”
Blaze was crying too. “You’re tired, baby. You can’t. Please. Live for me.” His eyes bored into IB’s, as IB tried to grab at the bomb he was holding. He was so close…
A small flame ignited on the tip of Blaze's finger. The same finger that had caressed IB so many times before.
“I love you.”
Then the universe screamed around them as IB felt the force of a thousand suns batter his body.
posted
The Portal About Three Days’ Normal Space Travel from Weber’s World
IB Green stood silently, staring at space where the portal had been. It was gone now. So were the ghouls in the immediate area. And so was Blaze.
IB had never felt so much pain before. He could physically feel his heart aching. It hurt so much that even after he’d exhausted himself destroying the ghouls who’d survived the explosion, he still couldn’t rest.
He turned to survey his surviving friends. Kinetix was lying on the ground exhausted; her burned arm fully encased in Nth metal. Kairos was sitting up, still trying to absorb what had happened. Poverty Lad was beside her; he had arrived just in time to carry her and Kinetix away from the blast.
Marvin had taken his helmet off and couldn’t look in IB’s direction; he was thanking Angdar for saving him. “I didn’t know you could reverse your flight in mid-air,” he said. The compliment was hollow; it was a way to avoid talking about what had happened.
Angdar looked drained; the strain of flying so fast and carrying Marvin must have been enormous. One hand held his side. His once-glorious Nth metal armor was dinged and dirty. But he was a warrior, and he walked like one towards his comrade. “Are you okay, IB?”
“I was able to turn myself to light instinctively. It was tiring. I almost couldn’t keep my atoms together as the blast hit me,” IB said emotionlessly. He had cried all his tears out already. Angdar reached out to touch his shoulder. “IB…”
IB whirled on him. “Angdar, please, please don’t say you know how I feel. Maybe you do. But right now I don’t want empathy. I want to… to… Sprock, I just want to make sure this doesn’t happen again!” He threw back his head and screamed. It wasn’t helping. He just kept feeling angrier and angrier.
“IB, please! I know you’re hurting, but you can’t lose it now. We have to get back to Weber’s World,” Marvin pleaded. “Please. Don’t let Blaze’s sacrifice be in vain.”
“Oh, I won’t, Marvin. But I also won’t let anyone else be sacrificed,” IB said as he floated off the asteroid. His whole body was glowing now. “I could have saved him, Marvin. I could have, if I weren’t afraid to use my powers to the fullest. But no more.” He turned to look at Marvin and the others. “You stay here and rest. By the time you get back to Weber’s World, the war will be over.”
And with that, he took off at light speed. IB Green closed his eyes and reached out to his other selves. “Boys… feel our pain. And our righteous anger.”
He would cry later. **************************************************
Weber's World
“... and forty-seven seconds before we get there.” Rockhopper Lad said via telepathic conference among the LMB leadership. “I’m sorry, I wish we could arrive earlier.”
“You did your best, Rocky. Just managing to return Earth-4 to its own universe, then bring everyone back here, was a big feat. But we can’t keep this up much longer,” IB Indigo said. “News of Legion World’s safety has given us LMBers a second wind, but even after your group shows, we’ll still be horribly outmatched. We need more help. Will the UP Fleet be coming?”
“As to that, all we can do is to wait and see,” Kent Shakespeare said. The others were silent. They knew that someone must be working on bringing Belisarius to heel, but it was by no means a sure thing.
“We’re holding our own planetside,” Spellbinder said wearily, “but too many enemies are getting past our orbital defenses. Is there any way to bolster them immediately?”
IB Indigo’s tone was very regretful. “I’m sorry, Spellbinder. Covering the whole of Weber’s World with my light shield means it’s stretched thin somewhat. I can’t make it fully opaque or there’d be huge gaping holes in the shield. Enemies able to bypass light by turning invisible or into energy, or that use magic, can cross through. And some ships made it through before I formed the shield.”
“Don’t be sorry, IB. Your light shield is playing a huge role in keeping WW from being overrun,” Saturn Girl said kindly. “What we need to focus on is controlling the number of ghouls that actually reach orbit.”
“Let’s look at a list of all the people we have,” Kid Prime suggested. “We may have missed some useful powers who can aid us.”
“I’m looking at the list compiled by Legion Reference File Lad and Portfolio Boy. Give me a second and I’ll “upload” to the link,” Spellbinder said.
“Wait, before you do that, Spellbinder,” came a new voice, “please link to my mind. I have many more names for your list. I'm Hugh Taylor, by the way.”
“This is remarkably thorough,” Helena Handbasket said approvingly as she "scanned" the combined list. Like Rockhopper Lad and Hugh Taylor, her thoughts were fainter due to their distance – but they were growing stronger by the second. “Hmmm… These names are new. How powerful exactly are Nam’lor and the other “Drinking Buddies”? It says here the full extent of their powers is unknown.”
“Very powerful, but they’re busy. Disaster Boy already took them on recon in the outer sector,” Nightcrawler said carelessly. “Maybe Abin can…”
“THEY WHAT?!” Kar-Em, Spellbinder and Kent Shakespeare said in unison. "Are you sure about that, lad?" Kar-Em added. Despite what had just happened with Dev-Em, he was remarkably focused and had politely but firmly told the others to save their sympathies for after the battle.
Nightcrawler seemed taken aback. “What? Disaster Boy asked me if he could go smash some ships on the outer rim. I said to just do a quick count and let us know.”
“How long ago was this?” Kar-Em asked.
“Forty… minutes… uh-oh.”
“The Drinking Buddies are old friends of Power Boy’s,” IB explained helpfully to Rocky and Helena. “But they fight best when drunk, and Disaster Boy told me he has some trouble getting them to listen.” IB addressed Nightcrawler now. “Can you remember where you pointed them? Maybe I can….NO!”
The other members of the telepathic circle crouched winced in empathy. IB’s distress was so strong. “Honey, are you okay?” Spellbinder asked urgently. “What happened?”
“Oh grife… Oh grife…” IB Indigo was normally the calmest of all the IBs, but he was on the verge of panic. “Please don’t let it be true… Please… please…”
“I’ll go to your location now, IB. Stay put,” Kid Prime said.
“I’ll meet you there, Kippers,” Nightcrawler said. “Saturn Girl, link me to him so I can get his location.”
“You were supposed to watch over Blaze! Oh grife, Blaze can’t be…oh grife oh grife oh grife… I’m sorry everyone, I have to go.” IB abruptly winked out of the network.
“His mind is moving too fast. I can’t get a fix,” Saturn Girl said quietly.
Kid Prime’s voice, though mechanical, was worried. “I’ve never seen him so distraught.”
Spellbinder’s tone was mournful. “I’ve never felt him so distraught either.”
posted
Three days from Weber's World, at the Portal
Andgar, Kinetix, Marvin and Kairos watched IB Green leave. They looked from one to the other as they re-entered the ship. There were still a few random ghouls floating around, and the ships defenses could handle them better if they were all inside.
Marvin spoke first, “anyone else really feels like resting at this point?”
Andgar smiled weakly, “I’ll get the ship ready.”
Kinetix watched him walk away and noticed something. She ran over to him and got in front of him. “Stop for a second Angdar.”
“I’m fine Zoe.. It’s just…ehhhh…” he said with a quick inhalation of breath when she gently placed her hand on the right side of his chest.
She lowered her voice so nobody else could hear, “look, I know for a fact that this armor is form fitting and not just a molded piece to make you look like that. It’s dented in pretty bed in a few spots here.’
Andgar hung his head a little. “I know. But, I have no choice right now. I need to be up and about to pilot this ship back to Weber’s World before IB does something stupid.”
She gently moved her hand up to his face and cupped it to his cheek. “You’re either the most stubborn or bravest man I have ever met…maybe both.”
A grin formed at the corners of his mouth, “that’s a good thing…right?”
She smiled and raised herself on her tiptoes and gave him a little kiss. “A very good thing.”
Marvin and Kairos exchanged a quick glance at what they saw, but said nothing.
Andgar started to get the controls ready for the trip to Weber’s World. He contacted POV and asked him to see if he could find out if Deadman could be ready to guide them back as soon as possible.
A short time later, they were in the final stages of preparation when Kairos said something.
Angdar turned his head, “what was that Kairos?”
“I said, I think there is something out there…I’m picking up a reading…”
Andgar and Kinetisx walked over to the console that she was working at. "Bring it up on the main screen please Kairos."
She did so as quickly as she could. She was feeling really bummed out that she had been knoxcked out before the bomb went off. She was trying her hardest to make up for it.
"I was scanning the area and this energy reading just popped up. It seems to be familiar."
Angdar looked at the main screen, "I know IB checked for any trace of Blaze, or anything before he left. I hope this is something good." After he watched the screen for a few more minutes he turned and headed for the airlock.
"Stop right there." Marvin the Martian said. He raced to catch up with him, Kinetix right beside him.
"You're hurt, and it doesn't take a cute set of eyes to see that," he said glancing over at Kinetix.
"If there is any chance that the energy signature Kairos is picking up is Blaze, he is going to need help. And if by chance they are trying to reopen the portal, well...that kind of speaks for itself."
"Ooooh...you're going to make me very..."
Kinetix put her arm on Marvins shoulder. "It's alright Marvin, he's not going alone. Are you...?"
Andgar looked at her and thought about objecting. "I guess not. We need to hurry though, the energy is starting to attract unwanted attention."
Andgar and Kinetix turned and continued into the airlock. "Marvin, please man the weapons station. We're going to need all the cover you can give us."
"Alright then. I can do that."
They turned and stared out the airlock as it slowly opened. In front of them was a glowing orb that was growing. Between them and the orb were over a dozen ghouls.
Kinetix reached over and squeezed his hand. He smiled a little and then jumped from the ship with his sword ready. Kinetix could see that he was screaming some sort of war cry. She grinned and looked at the short sword he had given her and screamed something herself and jumped into the fray.
Registered: Sep 2011
| IP: Logged |
Seven lights of various colors streaked through the darkness of space. The seven merged into one violently, creating a large sphere of bright white light. The defenders all around had to shield their eyes from the glare, while the ghouls in the immediate area were swallowed up, as dirt is washed away by water.
A reformed Invisible Braniac stood in the middle of the glow. His mind was in turmoil. Part of him was angry at himself and at the Dark Army. Part of him was afraid of how he would survive Blaze’s loss. Part of him kept asking how he could have prevented this. Part of him cried out for poor Blaze, lost on his first involvement with the LMB. And his whole being felt the grief stabbing into him.
The Dark Army had to pay. The Dark Army had to be stopped before more people got hurt. He couldn’t allow any more of his friends to fall.
He gritted his teeth as waves of exhaustion washed over him. He had used so much power already. But he had to push himself more. He took aim and unleashed powerful blasts of light at the ghouls he saw. A dragon screamed as a laser pierced its chest. A large werewolf was decapitated by another blast. A third blast burned a woman with bat wings and no legs.
The ghouls and ships around began to notice the threat. Hordes of hideous creatures began to swarm at him.
“Do your worst to me! You can’t possibly hurt me any worse!” IB screamed as he unleashed all his power in wider and wider arcs. But no matter how bright he glowed, no matter how many how many ghouls he destroyed, he couldn’t dim his own pain.
***********************************************
Saturn Girl’s telepathic warning was calm but hurried. “Everyone not immune to light, please clear space quadrant 4-D. I repeat, everyone not immune to light, please clear space quadrant 4-D.”
Spelling Bee frowned as her bees blew up a disembodied head. She turned to look at the quadrant in question. She saw Blacula leading over two dozen LMBers and allies away, while hordes of ghouls were heading towards it.
She launched herself at Blacula. “Hey, hey! What’s with the light show? Is IB trying something new?”
“If it is, it’s pretty dangerous. I was there when the light began to flare up, and I could barely see to find my way out. It’s destroying a lot of ghouls, though.”
Spelling Bee was about to reply when a hand tapped her shoulder. Startled, she spun to find Nightcrawler and her old rival Sara, now Danger Damsel. “We need you to go talk to IB,” Nightcrawler said crisply. “He’s raging against the Dark Army now. He’s doing a lot of damage, but we need to calm him down before he hurts the rest of us, or burns himself out.”
Nightcrawler waved to Blacula. “Keep leading them away, then get those still able to battle to the quadrant A-1. All the ghouls in quadrants C and D are focusing on IB.”
With that, Nightcrawler teleported himself and the girls away.
posted
Three days from Weber's World, at the Portal
Andgar sliced through another ghoul. He glanced around and found Kinetix behind him defending herself. The trouble was, she didn’t see the ghoul coming at her from below.
Oh…no way you sprockin piece of. Trash, He thought as he changed his direction and knocked the ghoul off course seconds before it hit her.
“Thanks Ang.” Kinetix thought over their connection through Pov.
“Angdar, move to your left a little.” Marvin’s voice said in his head.
He dodged left and swore he felt the heat of the ships guns as they went by him, blasting two ghouls into pieces.
“Zoe. We have to get to that orb of energy now.”
She nodded and they plowed their way through the ghouls without really taking the time to dispatch them. They left that to Marvin, as he now had a clear shot at them. He did have to be very careful to avoid hitting them though if a blast missed.
The power levels are growing Angdar,” Kairos chimed in. You two be careful out there. That thing could be a trap.”
They approached the orb. The ghould were staying back a safe distance from it, but were starting to filll in a perfect orb around them, despite Marvins attempts to obliterate them as fast as he could.
Kinetix looked at the orb of energy, and lifted her good arm. The one with the sword Angdar had given her.
Angdar saw what she was doing and held his hand up.
She shot him a look and put her arm down. “You have a better idea? This thing looks like it’s pulsing…like something is trying to get out.” She thought to him.
“I agree,” he thought as he floated around it. “The thing is, I’m not sure if we should…”
He grabbed her and wrapped his wings around her for what little protection they would offer as he sliced at the orb with his sword, just hitting the outer edge of energy.
They went tumbling towards the ever growing mass of ghouls.
**********
Kinetix was able to slow them enough for Angdar to arc just out of the ghouls reach.
She looked at him, and his eyes said the same thing hers did. ‘That was too close.’
Kinetix still held on to Angdar, her arms around his neck, as they swung around to see what his actions had done.
Where the orb once was, was now Blaze, floating in space. He was giving off a tremendous amount of energy, The ghouls, for their part, were still keeping a safe distance.
Blaze turned his head to them and grinned. “That was weird. It kinda tickled,” he said as he was regaining his bearuings.
Andgar and Kinetix looked at each other and Amgdar mouthed the word ‘tickled’ to her with an honestly puzzled look on his face.
Kairos broke the silence thanks to Pov’s link. “Guys, we better get out of here. All that activity has started drawing a few more of those bigger ghouls back this way. We need to move now,.”
Angdar wrapped his arm around Kinetix waist and they headed towards Blaze. “Can you clear us a path that way?” Angdar asked and pointed with his sword towards where the ship was on the other side of the ghouls.
Blaze Smiled and nodded. His eyes were wide and almost crackling with energy. “Let’s go.”
**********
After a quick one sided battle, the three of them landed in the ships airlock. As the doors shut Kinetix jumped and gave Blaze a hug.
“So happy you’re okay!”
“Me too,” Blaze said. “Where’s IB?”
Angdar grabbed his shoulder on the way past and turned him as he walked by. Blaze followed along. “Invisible Brainiac has headed back to Weber’s World without us. He searched for you after the bomb went off, but there was no trace. He didn’t…handle that well.”
“Oh no. We have to get to him. Can Pov connect us through to him?”
Marvins voice came over the ships speakers. “Everyone to their posts, we are ready to leave.”
AS they finished getting into position, Kairos spoke, “Pov cannot link to him. He’s moving too fast to be contacted. Not even those on Weber’s World can get in touch with him.”
“We need to hurry…”
Angdar nodded. “We will be going as fast as possible.”
And with that, they all shut their wyws for the journey back to Weber’s World.
Registered: Sep 2011
| IP: Logged |
Infra-Red Lass knocked on Rockhopper Lad's door. She held a large box in her hands.
“Hello, Infra,” Rocky said as he poked his head out. “What can I do for you?”
Infra looked down. She had the same beautiful features as Rocky's old LMB friend, Caliente. “Rocky, I know you asked not to be disturbed. I know you've been meditating or whatever, but I want you to have this. It was Blaine's”
Rocky took the box and opened it. It was a black cowboy hat that had onced belonged to Openly Gay Lad, his long-deceased first love. “Infra! I don't know what to say! I know how close you and Blaine were.”
She nodded. “I think he would want you to have it, Rocky. He wore this when he and I used to go out to do old-Earth style country dancing. It's the only of his belongings any of us has left.”
Rocky put on the hat. It crushed his crest-feathers a bit, but once those downy feathers were compacted, it was a decent fit.
“Thank you, Infra!” He gave her a little peck on the cheek.
Just then they were all called to the bridge. Helena Handbasket's voice came over Rocky' Omnicom: “Rocky, we are almost to Weber's World. We need you now!” A few minutes later, he stood there, silent. Rocky had not uttered a word since had thanked Infra. Rockhopper Lass stood next to her “brother”, but she didn't dare speak. She knew he was preparing himself for what was to come.
All hands really were on deck. Every LMBer, SMBer and ally who was on board were standing by, ready for the battle to come. The only exceptions were Time-Teller Lad, still recovering from his injuries on Earth-4 who, no longer confined to sickbay, was now resting in his quarters with Hyvvie the Wonder Beagle caring for him.
Infra, Helena, Shark Lad, Timber Wolf, Super-Dense Kid and several other SMBers stood around the silent Pyngwyn Prince.
Their ship was leading the approach to Weber's World, along with most of the Pyngwyn Fleet from Rockhopper Lad's own Pyngwyn Colonies. The LMBers had been referring to them as the cavalry. Rocky was hoping that would be true. He touched his hat, remember the stories of ancient Earth and the European settlement of western North America. The viewscreens showed the scenes of the planet below and the various battles happening all over and above it.
Rocky turned to address all who were on the bridge. “My friends, this is our time. Our colleagues are fighting the evil forces with unspeakable courage, but they need our aid. We must be worthy of the trust they have given us and apprehend the vile miscreants.”
“That's the polite way of saying 'sprock the bastards',” Shark Lad cried.
“Indeed, my friend,” Rocky smiled, nodding. “As you like. Helena, activate the holographic imager.”
“Yes, sir,” Helena replied and pressed a series of buttons. An image of the cowboy-hatted Rockhopper Lad nearly the size of the besieged Weber's World itself appeared and addressed the world below, broadcasting on every frequency available:
“This is Rockhopper Lad, Leader of the Legion of Message Board Posters and Crown Prince of the Pyngwyn Colonies. In the name of the United Planets, I order all who oppose Legion and the UP to stand down immediately, else face the consequences!”
Turning to Super-Dense Kid, now at a weapons station, Rocky solemnly spoke, "Ready to fire on my mark. Now!"
-------------------- The only character in all of literature who has been described as "badnass" while using the phrase "vile miscreant."
From: The Pyngwyn Colonies of Planet Hyustyn | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged |
"Let's get this mothersprocking party ON!" Shark Lad yelled as he led the charge. Those in Rockhopper Lad's group who had been assigned to space began to pour out of the ships carrying them.
They had impatiently been waiting for this moment.
Shark Lad roared as he crashed into a large werewolf. He grinned as he pulled its arm off and used it to pound its head. "See that, fluffy? I could do that to you if I wanted to." Earth-4's Shark Lad chuckled. "Looks like fins beat fur this time."
Timberwolf rolled his eyes as he scanned the area. Selecting his target, he pounced and ripped the fin off a big space-shark. "Same here, you little sardine. This thing is much bigger than you."
"That so? Well, take a look at THIS. INYUKCHUK!" As he grew to gigantic proportions, Shark Lad began swatting at ghouls left and right.
"Hmph, show-off..." Timber Wolf muttered as he pounced on another ghoul.
"Hey, guys... What the heck is that?" Earth-4's Shark Lad asked as he shielded his eyes. A large burst of light was steadily growing in the distance.
Timber Wolf squinted. "Only ones I know with light powers are Kalla and IB... but neither of them is that powerful."
*************************************************
Abin Quank and Jerry were fighting back to back, a ring of ghouls around them. "Hey, you guys maybe wanna join the party over at IB's side of space? I hear he has party favors for all of you," Abin quipped.
"Not funny, Abin. IB's really hurting right now," Jerry said quietly. "Let's just get rid of these so we can go help him."
"Sorry, Jerry. These battles have been getting to me," Abin sighed. "I'm tired, I'm hungry and I haven't had a nap in forever."
"You better keep fighting or else we'll be napping forever," came a grumpy voice as a disk materialized in front of them. A burst of energy took the head off a skeleton, while another was frozen in a block of ice.
"Outdoor Miner! Just in time. But aren't you supposed to be on Legion World?" Abin asked.
"No, Abin, that's not our OM. You must be the Earth-4 OM, correct? Rocky's group must be here. I recognize you, Rockhopper Lass," Jerry said with a smile. "And Infra Red Lass, I presume?" Extending his Durlan form, Jerry shook hands with all three of the new arrivals simultaneously.
Abin followed suit. "Well, pick a dance partner and let's go. And now that you're here, if you don't mind, I'd like to go for a bathroom break!"
*************************************************
Earth-4's Beagle Boy grinned as he zipped through the streets. His Earth-1 counterpart was running in front of him, though he looked distracted AND tired. The fresher, more well-rested Earth-4 Beagz quickly cut up to his counterpart. "Hey, you handsome devil you!"
The Earth-1 Beagz turned and grinned, though it was a weak grin. Maybe he was just tired. His eyes showed it. Both Beagle Boys slowed to a stop. "About time you got here," the Earth-1 Beagle Boy said. "How many of you are there?"
As he spoke, a small army of ghouls began thundering down the streets of Weber's World. Both Beagle Boys turned to face them, when a loud scream pierced the stillness. A wave of sonics, courtesy of the young rebel Hummingbird, shook a group of skeletons to to dust. Hummingbird crossed her arms in satisfaction.
Beside her, Portfolio Girl opened her briefcase. "I choose... all of you!" she said as her army of monsters surged forward. A large dragon with its tail on fire slammed a zombie unicorn into the ground. A giant tortoise shot a jet of water at a large rock golem, wearing it down. Another that looked like a frog with a giant flower on its back grabbed a hellhound its vines and ripped it apart. And a small yellow rodent looked cutely at an advancing ape before electrocuting it with a burst of lightning.
"I'd say there are enough of us," the Earth-4 Beagle Boy smiled. "Let's go and... whoa!"
Everyone shielded their eyes as a burst of light washed over the planet. "What the sprock was that?" Hummingbird asked as she shifted into fighting stance.
The Earth-1 Beagle Boy was silent for a minute. Then he spoke softly. "That was our Invisible Brainiac. And he's not doing alright."
************************************************* "Oh Rocky! It's so good to hear you again," Saturn Girl smiled as she hugged Rockhopper Lad. "Having you back is a good boost for everyone. I've asked the injured and the tired from our forces to rest up while your forces fill in the gaps. Grife, but we've been digging in and we're all exhausted."
"You've done a wonderful job, Saturn Girl. From all I hear, you've been holding your own. Now maybe you should take your own advice and rest. Saturn Guy can take over for you for now," Rocky said kindly as Saturn Girl's Earth-4 counterpart stepped forward.
"Thanks," Saturn Girl smiled back. "Just give me a few moments. I have a few more messages to send." She quickly telepathed - "Icefyre, when I said rest that includes you! Shady, please bring your new arrivals over to Mattropolis' position, then head over to Kid Prime. Sketch Lad, I've asked Hugh Taylor to touch base with you."
She plopped back down and wiped her forehead. "Over to you, SG." Saturn Guy closed his eyes and assumed command. He popped open his eyes again in surprise. "I'm amazed! How long have you been holding this network in place? How can you still function?"
Saturn Girl grinned weakly as she leaned back. "It wasn't easy, but it had to be done. Now Rocky..."
"It's about IB, isn't it?" Rocky asked. "I felt his pain too. How is he?"
"Nightcrawler took a small team to try to talk him down. I haven't been able to reach the others who went to the portal with him, so I don't know how they're doing."
Rocky stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Saturn Guy, please monitor the situation, then let me know if I have to step in. For now, I will have to touch base with Spellbinder." As he finished speaking, a large burst of light flared up in the distance, then dimmed again.
Monkey Eater Lad stopped what he was doing and stared out the window. "Wow. Is that the Earth-1 IB? He's immensely powerful. I wonder if our IB would have grown that much."
Atypical Lass shook her head as she readied her gear. "I'm sure he would have been. He was an amazing kid. I just hope this one gets to live to a much riper old age than ours did..."
*************************************************
Nightcrawler, Spelling Bee and Danger Damsel shielded their eyes as soon as they popped back from their teleport. Even with their inertron-tinted goggles on, the glare was blinding.
The area was clear of all allies by now.
"I've never seem him throw off so much power," Spelling Bee whispered.
"None of us have," Kid Prime boomed from behind. He had moved his massive form over to help shield Weber's World from the immense glare of light. Beside him stood Shadowplay in Candlelight Lass, another LMB founder. She shook her head softly. "His pain is so intense. I wish I could get closer to boost his morale, but he's throwing off so much energy."
"You mean, Spelling Bee and I are going in alone?" frowned Danger Damsel.
"It took a lot of gadgetry from Reboot," Nightcrawler said. "As it is, we only had enough time and resources to outfit you two. Candle can work from a distance, but you two need to talk IB down enough for her powers to work."
Danger Damsel rolled her eyes. A big mission like this, and she had to go in with Spelling Bee. "Are you sure this will work? We two aren't exactly his favorite people at the moment. And I'm hardly his biggest fan, too."
Nightcrawler fixed them with his hardest stare. "Sara, maybe you don't know, but IB does think highly of you. Your breakup meant the loss of a very good friend for him. Maybe it wasn't romantic love, but it was still a very powerful feeling. And you..."
He turned to face Spelling Bee, who looked hopeful. "Yes? Did he say anything about me?" she asked, twirling her hair. "He said he had very strong feelings for you too," Nightcrawler said truthfully, without revealing what those feelings were. "We're hoping you can help shock him into his senses. Now, as soon as you get him to power down, I'll step in with Candlelight. IB's a strong kid, but if Blaze really is dead, he's going to need all the help he can get to move past that fast."
Spelling Bee and Danger Damsel both nodded, then looked at each other. Spelling Bee set her brow. "IB's mine, so don't hurt him, Sara," she said with a sneer.
"You can have him. I just want to survive," Sara replied. The two girls jumped off, flying into the glare.
Invisible Brainiac grit his teeth as he incinerated a gryphon. A tall man with a cigar in its mouth fell as he blasted through its chest. He was starting to tire; none of his selves had had any rest since the battle of Weber's World had started. But he kept drinking in enormous amounts of light energy and unleashing them on nearby ghouls. They were changing tactics, though, trying to rush him and wear him down.
A large compact giant made of rock came rushing at him, blocking his laser with its frame. It was durable, but it still had to see. IB focused a burst of light in its face. It rubbed its eyes, leaving its torso undefended. IB quickly grabbed a grenade courtesy of Marvin from his pocket, attached it to a knife, and hurled it at the giant's midsection. It vanished in an explosion.
As he regained his bearings, a sharp spear flew past his shoulder. He turned to see the giant had likely been a distraction, as a dozen armed knights on horses charged at him. IB quickly formed a dozen knives made of light and hurled them in a wide arc. The lead knights quickly fell. IB charged the remaining ones with a quarterstaff made of light, impaling and beheading left and right. Four, five, six. Too slow for him. Wait, there were two more...
"Shouldn't you be watching your back, considering you're alone?" IB turned to see Danger Damsel shooting the horseman as it came at him from above. Below him, Spelling Bee's bees destroyed the last horseman. "Or your above and below. Maybe you could use some company."
"Thanks," IB said as he spun around to blast another ghoul. "But you should get out of here. The Dark Army is beginning to swarm at us. Duck!" he yelled as lasers flew at them. Danger Damsel deflected a few with her swords, while Spelling Bee cried "S-H-I-E-L-D!" to get her bees to protect her. IB hesitated. He hated the Dark Army, but he still wouldn't kill any living soldiers. He settled for blasting the ship's weapons systems and propulsion, then sent it flying away with a hard light wall.
"Stubborn as ever," Danger Damsel said darkly. "You don't think you need help?"
"I can weaken the Dark Army enough to make it easier for the rest of you," IB said stonily. "No sense for anyone else to have to die."
"IB... please..." Spelling Bee came closer and reached her hand out. "It wasn't your fault that Blaze..."
"It was!" IB cried out as he unleashed another blast. "My grife, it was! I've always been afraid to use my full powers. But if I had, I could have reached him. I could have saved him just as he saved all of us!" Tears were running down his face now, but dared not close his eyes.
"And what will you do? Destroy everything? Calm down and look at that ship you blasted," Danger Damsel said evenly as she pointed with her sword. IB turned to follow, and gasped. Still bodies were floating out of the ship. "No, I was careful..." He quickly flew out and examined them, then relaxed. Skeletons. They were already dead to begin with.
He flew back. "What are you playing at, Sara? They weren't alive."
Danger Damsel shook her head. "You're missing the point. You didn't destroy the ship because you thought it might contain live enemy soldiers. But if it had, they would still have died because you were careless. And that would have destroyed you. I know you too well."
"Then I'll be more careful, although these scum don't necessarily deserve it," IB said, his jaw set.
"Your stubborn streak is showing again," Spelling Bee whispered. "IB, please. Just come on in and rest. Let's talk about this."
"Enough talk. If we hadn't been talking so much, Blaze wouldn't be dead and the portal would have been closed much earlier. Now we're being overrun. I'm going to scour another space quadrant," IB said, turning his back and preparing to fly.
He heard Sara sigh behind him, the same sigh she'd used whenever they had argued while they were still together. He paid her no heed as he scanned space all around. Where was the fighting thickest?
If he had been concentrating, he might have heard Spelling Bee scream out his name in warning as she rushed forward to wrestle Danger Damsel's sword. He might have heard Danger Damsel's movements as she swung the sword before it hit his back.
But he did hear his own scream of pain as everything went black.
Spellbinder's face was grave as she looked at CJ Taylor. The young LMBer was sitting forlornly; recent events had left him quite tired. Raging Bull slapped him on the back. "Cheer up pardner. Them's the breaks in a war; you can never tell who'll survive."
Hrun the Barbarian emerged from the doctor's room, his light cuts bandaged up. "Dev-Em and all my men who died were great losses, but we must not let their deaths sap our morale. We can mourn them later. For now, let's make sure we are all still left alive to mourn!" Raging Bull grinned and gave Hrun a high-five. "Exactly what I was telling CJ here. Hey, I know where the fighting's fiercest right now. Y'all wanna join me?"
"You do not have to ask twice, my friend! Hrun is always ready!"
Rickshaw cocked his rifle and spat. Thankfully, he aimed for the wastebasket this time. His scolding from, Kent Shakespeare, Dr. Gym'll and Nurse Tina had left quite a bad taste in his mouth. "Let's go git these mothersprocking zombies on this mothersprocking planet."
The three LMBers hefted their weapons and headed for the door.
"You go on ahead, gentlemen," Spellbinder said. She turned to look at CJ, who shrank a little. Then he straightened his back and looked at her levelly.
"I'm sorry, Princess. I was part of Cobalt Kid's plan from the beginning. And it cost us Dev-Em."
Spellbinder closed her eyes. She should have known. She'd have to share this information with the rest of the LMB leadership, but that could wait until later. They needed to calm Invisible Brainiac down first, and they also needed to figure out why Dev-Em had suddenly reanimated. "CJ, I am not angry at you. I'm sure you all believed it was necessary." Her tone clearly indicated she was quite angry at Cobalt Kid. "Please don't tell anyone about this first. We don't want to mess up our allies' morale. Now rest; we'll need every warm body for the fight ahead."
CJ nodded; though he'd been through a lot, he was willing to fight again. Spellbinder left him and walked into the next room. Kent Shakespeare and Reboot were standing over the remains of Dev-Em and of Tomar-Tu, both valiant heroes who had sadly fallen to the Dark Army. None of them were happy to have to examine the dead bodies of their comrades, but they had to find out why Dev-Em had come to life.
"Rocky is asking if we have any news, boys."
Another burst of light made herself and Kent close their eyes. Reboot, as always well-prepared, gave a half-grin which quickly turned into a frown. "Perhaps I should be the one to talk some sense into IB. He usually does listen to reason."
Spellbinder winced. Although Reboot was one of the most sensible LMBers, and he and IB did get along well, he needed sympathy now and not logic. She changed the subject. "Did you find anything? We've lost some powerful allies, and we can't afford to have any reanimate and turn against us."
"The only thing we've found out of the ordinary so far is this dark substance. Even after controlling for differences in Daxamite, Durlan and Xudarian physiology, I mean." Reboot held up a jar containing a black goo. It seemed to pulse and throb.
"It looks like... it's trying to get out," Spellbinder said.
"It probably is," Kent said. "Near as we can tell, it's alive somehow. It also matches the description IB, DB and Marvin gave of the black cloud, the "Dream-Eater", that they faced near the Brood homeworld. One thing we can't be sure of, though, is where this thing contaminated Dev-Em, and whether it may have contaminated anyone else."
All three of them paused at that. The implications were enormous. "Is there anyone else I can call?" Spellbinder asked. "What should we do next?"
Reboot shook his head. "At this point, I'd recommend sealing the lab and..." He paused as a tinkling sound filled the room. "It's coming from the bottle!" Kent shouted.
Before they could react, the bottle fell over the edge of the table it was on. The glass shattered, and the blob inside quickly bounced around and entered Tomar-Tu's remains. The three LMBers stared in shock as Tomar-Tu's limbs shook and he slowly stood up. Soulless eyes stared out at them as he raised his sword and swung.
"Spellbinder, get down!" Kent yelled as he threw himself at her. The two LMBers fell to the floor just inches below the sword's arc.
"What's going on in here?!" CJ Taylor yelled as he opened the door.
"CJ, get out of here!" Spellbinder yelled as Tomar-Tu turned to face CJ. CJ gulped as Tomar-Tu raised his staff and prepared to fire. Spellbinder desperately reached out with her telekinesis and threw a chair at him. She had to concentrate...
"E-sprocking-nough!" Reboot yelled as Glitch, his sentient keytool, formed itself into what looked like a flashlight. He aimed it at Tomar-Tu and fired. CJ took the hint and dove to the side as a powerful blast of light illuminated Tomar-Tu.
Spellbinder pulled herself up as Tomar-Tu's body slumped to the ground. A black smoke wafted from his body; it smelled exactly the same as the blob they had kept in the jar.
Kent and Reboot looked at each other. "I think we've figured out what the Dream-Eater does to its victims," Kent said.
Spellbinder opened her mind and reached out to the others. "I think we know what reanimated Dev-Em. We need to get IB back."
There was silence, and then Nightcrawler responded with hesitation. "I... I'm not sure if that's still possible."
Gear floated in space. The ghouls were moving all about and his targeting system was in full effect. Each shot took one down. He wasted no time, took no unnecessary shots. Efficiency was his goal.
He adjusted his boot thrusters and started to move. He sniped a ghoul that was about to attack someone that he didn’t know. He didn’t know a lot of people here. He was glad about that. The less people he saw that he recognized, even counterparts to his own universe, the better. He had lost enough friends already, and if he didn’t know someone, he would not mourn them as hard. Every death he saw affected him, but some hurt worse than others.
He was moving through the heart of the battle. Firing faster and faster. The ghouls never seemed to stop coming at them. There were so many of them. He hoped that someone had a plan, because at this rate, they were going to be overrun pretty soon.
“Things are starting to heat up here young man,” a voice behind him said. Gears head cocked to one side. Oh grief…it can’t be, he thought as he turned to see who had spoken to him.
Kar Em was floating behind him and fired a blast of heat vision past his head as he turned. “Sorry about that son, but you had one coming up from behind.”
Gears face was covered by a full face mask, which kept the shock on his face from showing as he saw his other universe Grandfather in front of him.
“Uh…ummm…no problem sir.”
“Are you alright?”
“Ummm…yes sir. You just reminded me of someone I used to know. I’m sorry, I’m alright now,” he said with a little shake of his head.
Kar Em looked at him and smiled. “Alright then, I guess I must have that kind of face.”
Gear was glad that he had bought that line. Telling him the truth was too much right now. The hoped that if Kar Em was here, maybe Dev Em was around as well. He wasn’t sure how he would react to seeing a heroic version of his father at this time.
“Sorry about that again,” he said as he shot three ghouls in succession.
He turned to go on his way, but Kar Em stopped him by gently grabbing his shoulder. “Jon. you should have disguised your voice as well boy.”
Hear turned back towards him and lowered the face plate. “I’m sorry…Grandpa,” he said and started to cry.
“It’s alright Jon,” he said looking at Gears face for the first time. :”I take it I’m not around where you come from?”
“No…”
“Well, I’m here. So are you. Let’s make sure we make it through this in one piece.”
“Let’s.”
They turned and started fighting again.
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
Blaze was on the edge of his seat. Well, not literally; he was levitating inside Angdar's ship as it soared through the Area. He was still giving off plenty of excess heat energy which he hadn't had time to safely release before they left.
"How are you doing, Blaze?" Marvin asked from the co-pilot's chair.
"Great, actually. Whatever happened to me in there restored my powers completely AND brought me back to the level of control I had before the explosion. I think I have better control now, even," Blaze said as he strengthened the fiery shield around the ship.
"Great," said Dedman. "With you, Kinetix and Kairos, we can navigate perfectly well even without IB." He gestured to the cockpit, which Kinetix had managed to cover with Nth metal. Angdar and Marvin were steering via mental link again.
"I am concerned, though," Poverty Lad said quietly. He'd examined Blaze with all of his vision powers and had found nothing out of the ordinary, except for some microscopic black spots on his costume. "Are you sure you feel alright? We'd better get Kent or Dr. Gym'll to look at you ASAP."
"I'm fine, Pov, thanks," Blaze said determinedly. "I'll go AFTER IB is fine."
Pov shook his head. "Young love. Makes people stubborn," he breathed.
Kinetix leaned over to Blaze and whispered, "I know I'm fine except for my burned arm, but are you sure you're fine? You look a bit paler than you did before..."
Blaze gave an involuntary shiver, then frowned. "I'm fine, thanks. I'll be better as soon as we see IB."
"You don't have to prove anything," Kairos insisted. "I mean, I got knocked out right away and didn't do anything. You detonated the bomb."
"And that's why poor IB's all alone right now," Blaze pointed out. Kinetix and Kairos both sat back, defeated.
"We're almost there," Dedman said. "Kinetix, we're out in 3... 2... 1..."
At the count of 1, Kinetix removed the Nth metal covering the cockpit - and the team saw a large dragon coming at them.
"Evade!" Angdar cried as he steered the ship sharply. He grunted in pain from the sudden movement, though none but Kinetix noticed. "I can't get a clear shot," Marvin yelled. "Someone?"
"On it!" Kairos' stasis field erupted, keeping the dragon in place, it's mouth open in an ugly snarl. Angdar brought the ship around and Marvin fired, taking its wings off. Blaze followed with a burst of heat, reducing the dragon to dust.
"Great, we're here. Now let's go get IB," Blaze said firmly.
"No way," Kinetix said. "Look, I know he's probably in pain now, but I think we need to get to medical attention first." She placed an arm on Angdar's shoulder.
"It's okay, Kinetix," Angdar smiled back. "I feel partly responsible for IB running off. I'll go with Blaze. We can drop the rest of you off first."
"No way I'm going to let you go alone," Kinetix said firmly.
"Let's just all go then," Blaze said impatiently. "Now, where can we find out where IB is?"
"Already found," Pov said carefully. "I've gotten in touch with Saturn Girl. It seems that our allies led by Rockhopper Lad have arrived. And IB is in Space Quadrant 4-D."
"That's a pretty big space," Marvin said. "Can she be more specific?"
"Er... I don't think she needs to be," Angdar said as a burst of light erupted in the distance. Everyone shielded their eyes at the intensity. "That must be IB. Only he is anywhere near that powerful."
Then, just as suddenly, the light winked out. The abruptness left everyone reeling.
"IB?" Blaze's voice was tinged with fear.
"Let's go," Angdar said as he changed the ship's course.
"Oh... Blaze... stop biting... careful with your teeth..."
"I am not Blaze, IB. It is time for you to wake up."
IB slowly came to as he rubbed his head and his side. He couldn't decide which one hurt worse.
Spelling Bee bent over him in concern. "Are you okay?" She turned to Danger Damsel. "Grife, I thought you were going to kill him!"
Danger Damsel crossed her arms and fixed her with a "you have got to be kidding" look. "I'm not following him around like a lovesick puppy, but I don't hate him either. Besides, we still need him to win this war. I just kept him from doing anything more stupid."
IB turned to face the two girls. "Look, I appreciate the concern, but I have to go out there. I can't... I can't let Blaze's death be in vain. It's all my fault."
Sara rolled her eyes, then grabbed IB by the collar. "Okay, I've had enough. Now that you're not bursting with light, you listen to me. Your blitzkrieg already cleared Space Sectors C and D of all enemies, so you can relax."
With a shove, she pushed IB back, then continued. "It was Blaze's choice to play his part in the plan. He's older than you, for grife's sake. He knew what he was doing. And he needed to do it, otherwise the portal wouldn't be closed and we would probably already have lost."
IB stared at her open-mouthed, like he was seeing her for the first time.
Sara continued. "Now, I get that you want to beat the Dark Army. But you go off burning yourself out and you won't be any good to us anymore. Sure, you've taken out a large portion of their forces, but we don't know exactly how many more of them there are. We need you at the command center, sharing what you know with the other leaders. Going off out here, on your own, oin your emotional state, is going to get you and others killed. You want to not waste Blaze's sacrifice, then don't let yourself die needlessly! Right, Spelling Bee?"
Spelling Bee's mouth was open too, but she closed it and composed herself. "She's right, IB. How would Blaze feel if you died without really gaining anything? At least keep yourself alive long enough to see things through to the end."
"I... I... I don't want to die," IB said softly. "I don't. I don't know how I'll live without Blaze, but I don't want to die unless I need to..." He clutched his chest and crouched down, scrubbing at his tears. "Grife, I just... I just loved him so much. I'm sorry, Sara, Bee, I... it's true, I've never ever felt that way about anyone else, even you... I'm sorry I have to tell you this. I... I was so scared when Blaze was about to jump into the portal. If I really loved him, I should have saved him, I should have... I couldn't let anyone else die if I had the power to stop it..."
He couldn't speak anymore between his sobs. He crouched down into a little ball, head on his forearms, arms on his knees.
Spelling Bee closed her eyes. She knew IB loved Blaze, but she never knew how much. Grife, she could never compete with that. She had never seen the normally cool and cavalier IB like this, ever.
Sara closed her eyes as well. "I know. The way you looked at him... You never quite looked at me like that. If it makes you feel any better, I don't think I ever loved you like that, either."
IB kept sobbing. "I just thought that if I could win the war myself... I could make it up to him somehow. I... I... didn't want anyone else to die..."
"Nobody can do that, IB. Nobody can," Spelling Bee said softly. "Look, the others are coming now."
Nightcrawler, Candlelight and a gigantic Kid Prime floated over to them. Candle quickly pulled IB up and patted him on the back. "It's okay, honey. It's okay." Nightcrawler awkwardly patted IB's shoulder too, while Kid Prime stood behind them solemnly. "Are you well, IB?"
IB forced a smile through his tears. "I'm much better now. Thanks, all. I'm so sorry. I feel so stupid. I guess I can't call myself Invisible Brainiac anymore, huh?"
Nightcrawler smiled at the joke. IB would be alright. "Let's get you back to Rocky and the others. There's a lot we have to talk about."
IB closed his eyes and snuggled on Candlelight's shoulder. He was exhausted. "Let him sleep," Candle said gently.
As they turned to leave, a ship slowed down in front of them. Danger Damsel and Kid Prime readied themselves for battle, when Poverty Lad phased out of the ship and rushed to them. "Oh grife! IB! Is he okay?"
"He'll be fine, thank grife," Nightcrawler said. "Can you bring us to Rocky's ship? I'll point the way."
"No, you don't understand," Pov said as his companions began filing out. "It's Blaze, he..."
"Oh IB! My little baby, what happened to you?"
Nightcrawler, Danger Damsel and the others stared in shock as Kinetix and Angdar parted. Blaze flew between them towards them. He quickly rushed to the sleeping IB and caressed the back of his head. "Oh, I'm so sorry baby. I made you feel so sad..."
IB's eyes fluttered open, weakly. "Nighty, where am I? I had the most wonderful dream where I smelled Blaze again..." He paused as recognition set in. "Blaze? B-b-baby, is that you? OH, THANK GRIFE!"
Blaze barely had time to nod before IB jumped forward and held him tight. "Oh my gosh, you're back! You're back! I was so scared. Ohhh my grife, why didn't you wait for me? You should have waited, I could have gone with you and turned you to light and got us both out of there and I told you to wait and..."
Blaze pulled back a little and looked sad. "I'm sorry for worrying you, baby."
IB looked into Blaze's eyes and kissed him forcefully. The two pulled each other tight. None of their audience members averted their eyes; even Spelling Bee and Danger Damsel were touched by the beauty of what they saw.
After a rather long kiss, IB pulled back. "I'm sorry too. What you must have gone through..." He began to tear up again. "To think of you all alone out there..."
"Ssshhh, it's okay. I just felt a mild tickling, and a little cold," Blaze smiled back. "I'm just glad we're together again." The two looked into each other's eyes and began to kiss again.
Marvin coughed tactfully. "Um, both of you look pretty tired, and I think the rest of us are too, so do you want to head to one of the ships first?"
"We could leave you here too," Angdar suggested cheekily. "You did say zero gravity could make for a lot of fun."
IB and Blaze laughed in unison, then turned towards the others. "Thanks, everyone. I mean it. This is the happiest moment of my life so far."
"No kidding," Kairos said. "And it ain't just the glow you have."
"You just sound so... happy," Poverty Lad smiled.
IB reached out his hand, and Blaze held it tight. They began to float back towards the ship. "Let's get out of here."
posted
“Can you see her?” asked Lightning Lass, as both she and Lolita tried to look into the distance for some glimpse of Zhiya.
Lolita carefully looked in every crevice or shadow…and saw nothing. “No,” she said at last. “But that doesn’t mean anything. This is Zhiya’s wheelhouse. If she doesn’t want to be seen, she won’t be.”
Ayla simply smiled at the comment. Why, aren’t you two BFF’s all of a sudden? she thought. It was a kind thought. She did not know Lolita that well, and she knew Zhiya hardly any better, but she could tell both of them could use a female friend. “If you’re worried, I’ll cover us here,” added the Winathian SMBer.
“Okay,” said Lolita. She was worried. “I’m going to try to get a better look.”
Up ahead, not too far away, the Lady Daredevil was perched in the perfect position to spy on the man who had brought them: General Belisarius. He was surrounded by other soldiers, coming and going, making reports, taking orders and going about their business. She would have to be very deliberate in timing her strike.
Zhiya took no pleasure in being an assassin. But it was a role she had taken several times during the course of the resistance, and she felt no guilt about it. During wartime tough choices must be made. Her unique skill set allowed her to be one of the few people to carry out those choices.
A small part of her longed for the war to be over. Afterall, wasn’t Earth—their Earth—saved? The euphoria they all felt after accomplishing their mission after so long was an incredible feeling. And yet, so fleeting. Because the job wasn’t finished. The LMB stepped in to help them when it mattered the most, and now it was time to return the favor.
Belisarius was not an evil man. He was abrupt and harsh, but he wasn’t even unkind. At the onset of this war, his intentions were pure and he acknowledged that his duty to the United Planets came first and foremost. But something had happened along the way; something that had lingered in the back of his mind for years burst through to the forefront. Jealousy. Envy. He had waited his whole life to stand tall and make the UP proud…only to have his glory stolen out from underneath him by the damnable Legion once again. It was more than he could take. So long as he simply followed orders and played the role of pawn, he would never get what he so richly deserved. So now he made his own orders, and damn the consequences.
At long last, Zhiya saw an opening. Not a perfect one—since at least a half dozen of the soldiers were still in the room—but the best shot she would get.
As Belisarius carefully gave orders to his soldiers, checked on the status of those under his command, and went about his business, the Loser known as Zhiya leapt from her perch to dive right into the fray. Every step she made was carefully planned, and flowed easily from the last one. She landed on the balls of her toes and with a fluid slice of her arms, took out the legs of one of the soldiers in a carefully planted blow—rendering him unable to walk for a good long while.
She sprung forward and landed a kick into another, knocking all the breath out of him. Doing a cartwheel to regain her footing, she appeared in front of the next soldier in time to chop him across the throat with such force that his eyes rolled into the back of his head and his hands sprang forth to grab his throat as he gasped for air. Three were down in mere seconds.
Belisarius was a true physical specimen and athlete; he was a soldier’s soldier. He made sure he could do everything he asked those under him to do. It was this physical training that allowed his reaction time to kick in, as he understood immediately what was happening. He turned and ran for the door—he was no fool.
Zhiya turned to follow and leapt at two of the soldiers blocking her way. She extended her foot into the solar-plexus of one of them while hacking at the other with a chop across the temple. Both were rendered useless immediately.
Only one now stood between them, as Belisarius ran off in the distance. The soldier had his weapon drawn and was firing. But his hand was shaky from nerves and Zhiya was far too quick. She was on him in seconds, disabling the weapon and knocking him out.
She moved to chase after Belisarius, and suddenly, her legs wobbled. No, she thought. Not now. She put her hand to her stomach, and with horror, pulled it back covered in blood.
The soldier was wobbly—too wobbly. His wild aim actually did the opposite of what usually happens. It let his firearm blast Zhiya in the side. Set on kill, it only scratched across her abdomen, but the burn went through skin and internally. She could bleed out in seconds.
I have a job to do… she thought, and ran after Belisarius.
In the next room, he was waiting. Behind the desk in his makeshift office, he positioned himself to blast her the moment she walked through the door. His eyes opened wide in surprise to see her walk in slowly, obviously injured. A smile opened across his face.
“It looks like the Gods favor me today,” he said with pride, as if he was responsible for the luck. “Still, that was impressive. I only surround myself with the best.”
Zhiya said nothing. She spoke little on the best days and never during battle. She simply pulled her two sais from her belt, and began walked around the room in a circular motion.
“Don’t be a fool, assassin. I’ll blast you apart where you stand. You’ll never survive this day.”
Zhiya said nothing. But her silence spoke volumes and Belisarius eventually understood. She was prepared to die today, if it meant getting one lucky shot in at him. She’d kill them both.
“You dirty witch,” he said now, with true venom in his voice. “I’ll fucking kill you where you stand. You’ll never reach me in time!” he yelled. The two of them now moved in a circular motion, playing cat and mouse. Zhiya was by the back of the room near the desk, as Belisarius got closer to the door. She was cornered in the room.
As he yelled at her, she lost her footing for a moment and stumbled, but regained her composure.
Belisarius smiled. “You’re done,” he said viciously. “The UP can send as many as they want. I’m the General here. I’m the one—“
BLAM
A small, circular hole, the size of a golfball, appeared in the center of Belisarius chest. Hot smoke billowed off of it. Belisarius looked down in total shock, not understanding. He pointed his firearm at Zhiya, but it fell out of his hands as the strength went out of him. He looked up with fresh tears running down his cheeks. And suddenly, he was gone.
The life sucked out of him, Belisarius body fell to the floor in a crumpled mess. Thump.
Behind him, Lolita stood there with her eyes wide, firearm still smoking and in her hand. It began to shake; slowly at first, and just her hand…and then her whole body began to shake. Tears ran down her face, as she realized what it was she just did.
Zhiya limped over to her friend, speaking at last. “Lolita…?” she said, also in shock. So sweet…almost innocent…but not anymore. “You…?” she began to say, but thought better of it. “Are you alright?” she said at last in a gasp, dropping to her knees by her friend.
Lolita had a unique power in that her computer brain could process immense data. But in this moment, it could not process the events that just occurred. She looked up at Zhiya as if to say something, but could not talk. She simply looked back at her hands. And finally: “he would have killed you.”
“Yes,” said Zhiya firmly. “He would have.”
“I…I had to.”
“Yes. You did. You’ll never know just how many lives have been saved with that action.”
Lolita nodded and began to cry heavily into Zhiya’s shoulder. She recalled the first time she met Belisarius, and how he could not stop staring at her legs. She found it annoying, but not enough to say something about.
“Shh, little one,” said Zhiya, and she rubbed the back of her head lightly. “Let it out. Let it all out.” Zhiya understood this feeling and it hurt her to know Lolita felt it too.
Lolita’s thoughts were all over the place, as if vertigo had taken over. She had been so venomous towards Cobie about the Khunds…about so much that he had done over the last few years. Now, she felt like a total hypocrite.
She’d killed a man. In cold blood.
She rubbed the tears from her eyes and as she did so, she looked at Zhiya’s face to see her friend grimacing in pain. She slowly snapped back to reality. “You’re hurt,” she said, seeing the blood all over her side and hands. “You need a doctor.”
“Yes,” said Zhiya, inhaling deeply. She was fading fast.
Lolita helped her up. “Let’s go,” she said, carrying her back to Lightning Lass.
“We don’t have long now before the soldiers react,” said Zhiya. “They’ll kill us on sight. You need to run Lolita.”
Lolita heard the words but she was going numb now. “No,” she said coldly.
Lolita carried her back to Lightning Lass, one step at a time, as Zhiya inhaled deeply from the pain. Fresh tears formed in Lolita’s eyes and ran down her cheeks as the subdued thump of Belisarius lifeless body played over and over again in her mind.
From: Right by Cobie's Side | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Space Near Weber’s World The Oncoming Horde
The Drinking Buddies were right where they wanted to be. Surrounded by countless enemies and horrors.
“You call THAT a hit?! My Granddam hits harder than that to burp newborn calfs!!!”
Taur-El swung his mighty axe and shattered the front row of skeletons, ghouls, and zombies. The human warriors of the Dark Oval armies had retreated from the savagery.
The powerful Taur-El was at the edge of a small circle of super-humans. Their mission was reconnaissance but, lets face it, none of these people were particularly the ‘reconnaissance’ type. Then they decided to join Disaster Boy on his search and destroy mission of this Titus, a general of the Dark lord’s army, and immensely powerful. They signed up quite quickly and gleefully. Disaster Boy now realized, ‘they must be mad!’
“woooot woot!!!” Atomik yeld as he blasted through a giant elephant like enemy. “Now THIS is a battle worthy of a planetary champion.” The white costumed, red mohawked warrior flew straight through another line of enemies. Dust, gore, and bones splattered everywhere.
Nam’Lor had blown their cover by flying to the rescue of a damsel in distress, a glowing woman. It was incredible she had survived this long.
Kid Gravity was able to hold the large masses of enemies at bay with a gravity field that pushed them away. This gave time for Nike to chop the front lines to bits, Taur-El to crush them, or Atomik to blast them apart.
Disater Boy conserved his power for later. He would have to think of something to get them out of this. Their mission was obviously a bust, Titus would have to wait, they needed to get back to Weber’s World.
Nam’Lor held the yellow costumed woman protectively. She looked uncomfortable.
“You can let me go now.” She said.
Nam’Lor smiled his big goofy grin. “You have costume almost like Nam’lor, except gold with yellow instead of green with yellow, maybe we soulmates!”
Stella Ah thought for a second “Well, technically its my dead brother’s so … I guess that would make the two of you soulmates …”
Nam’Lor shrugged and then as if just realizing that they were surround by death incarnate he lunged for the rim of the circle, grabbing an enemy in each hand and literally crushing them! Nam’Lor turned self satisfied and grinned to Stella as he had bits and pieces off the enemy on his face.
Stella was shocked but also amused. The punk looking Kid Gravity said to her “Don’t worry he’s harmless.”
Stella thought she would hardly call the large Nam’Lor harmless as he picked up a large muscular opponent, swung him around by his ankles and used him as a club.
“What the hell are you doing out here anyway?!” Kid Gravity asked.
Stella replied, a bit stricken, “I was making my way to Weber’s World, to join up, I guess I was late.”
“That’s a bit of an understatement.” The stone warrior Nike commented dryly as she neatly decapitated an approaching swordsman.
“My name’s, Reflekto, I was coming from Xanthu.”
“Reflecto ? of Xanthu?” Atomik asked, intrigued as his hands burned with energy pushing back a crowd of orcs.
“The first Reflecto was my brother, We have the same powers more or less, I’’ve been a scientist for the past several years. I’ve only just taken up the mantle.”
Nike spun with her sword outstretched, slicing through three attackers of various beast origin. “We don’t need a scientist at the moment.” She quipped.
Disaster Boy shouted. “Fine, we’re done, let’s get out of here back to Weber’s World. We need to regroup. Atomik blast us a path, Kid Gravity, you can use your powers to push them away, otherwise, fend for yourself people, don’t’ let them get close. Ready?”
Disaster Boy noticed the Drinking Buddies all stared at him, the hordes of oncoming attackers had even paused.
“Nass.” He said. He knew it even before he turned around. They couldn’t find Titus but, Titus had found THEM.
From: Ninja Land | Registered: Nov 2004
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