The name Fatehpur Sikri evokes a nostalgia of history amongst Indian minds. The richest period of history can be attributed to the Mughal period, Akbar being one of the emperors who shone the brightest for his deeds. And Fatehpur Sikri stands for all the architectural wonder that this emperor’ time could conjure up.
This is officially a city and a district but in reality, this historical façade is a mere ghost town of the past though it has a present day population of 28804 as per census data. The façade of Fatehpur Sikri remains a historical monument – deserted – though it was built to support a sprawling ancient city. - www.fatehpursikri.org
The red sandstone monuments of the abandoned Fatehpur Sikri stood out against the stark sky. Its name, the "City of Victory", certainly made it an apt choice for a battlefield. Amazon hoped that the victory would be hers.
The Legionnaires' hunch had been right. When Amazon had stepped into this magnificent complex of mosques and temples, she had been met by Kalki.
Nearly all the SHIELD agents with her were down, though hopefully alive. She and the remaining two cowered behind a temple that looked like it could belong in either Iran or India. She wished she had time to admire the architecture, but... she concentrated on reviewing what she knew of Hindu myth. Her family's large library did have some use after all. If she was right, then she needed Wildfire's powers. If she was wrong...
She didn't have time to finish that thought. A tremor shook the earth and the wall of the temple came crashing down. Reacting quickly, she shielded them with her body.
"How could one small temple produce so much rubble?" Was her last thought before she sank into darkness.
“This isn’t working!” Amihan thought desperately. She had been trying to blast the tikbalang back, but the mountainous terrain and the sparse trees made it difficult to get a clear hit. She could use her full powers, but she risked uprooting trees and having them fall down the slopes. She couldn’t injuring the fleeing civilians.
She decided to change tactics. She focused on the two nearest her, and commanded the winds to carry all air away from their heads. At the same time, she kept blasting their feet and legs to buy time. It worked; they fell to their knees, choking. In a few more seconds both were unconscious.
She looked around. The others had stopped in their tracks, apparently thinking that she had unleashed some powerful magic on them. She steadied herself to avoid falling to her knees – showing weakness might make them rush her again. A moment or two of rest and…
A whooshing of the wind alerted her.
Instinctively, she ducked just as a claw swiped at where her head was. She looked up in horror to see a mananaggal slashing at her through the air. A grotesque mockery of a woman with bat wings, it flew swiftly. She summoned more wind to blast it back, but was too tired. It hung in the air, strong wings slowly bringing it closer.
“Blessed Mother, have mercy,” she cried. “I won’t lose today!”
“No, you won’t!” yelled a familiar voice, just as a rotund form sproinged out of nowhere and crashed into the manananggal, sending it flying towards the mountain wall.
“You okay?” Rebound asked.
“Rebound, the hanging coffins…!”
“Oh, right.” Rebound bounced into the monster again, altering its trajectory so it instead slammed into a tree. “At least we kept the dead from being disturbed further.”
“Thanks, you got here just in time,” Amihan said as Rebound helped her up. “We’re not out of danger yet, though.”
“Not to worry, the reason I’m late is because I collected this.” Rebound held out a pungent plastic bag full of garlic.
Amihan smiled. With a wave of her hand, she caused the odor to waft all around them. In no time at all, the creatures all around either fainted or ran away.
Suddenly, she paused. “Wait, what about the townspeople?”
Rebound merely smiled and pointed. Amihan turned her head to follow, and was amazed. Row upon row of people, locals and tourists alike, were standing in a ring with garlic around their necks. They had made a ring around the peak; all the creatures inside the circle were trapped.
It was Rebound’s turn to be surprised when Amihan hugged him. “You are absolutely amazing!” He couldn’t help but blush. “Call me amazing when we do figure out what to do with them…”
Amihan paused. “Legend says that these creatures are quite intelligent in themselves. Maybe we can find out what their purpose here was…”
In the form of an Arctic hare, Shifter scurried across the snowy landscape dotted with small shrines, stones and prayer wheels. His destination was the fiery halo in the distance.
It looked like Element Lad had taken care not to damage any of the spiritual objects on the mountain. Not unexpected.
What was a bit more unexpected was the sight that met him. Element Lad was crouched behind a titanium wall, while above a fearsome raptor was with its wings on fire pecking at it. Each slam seemed to bend the shield, while Element Lad's glowing hands showed he was doing his best to reinforce it.
At the same time, the air around the Garuda's wings shimmered and literally exploded.
"I regret causing such harm to you, but you can't be allowed to win!" Element Lad's calm and forceful tones were carried by the mountain wind. He sounded weak.
While his current form was good for stealth, now he needed speed. Shifter turned into a wolf and sped towards them. Element Lad was putting up a good fight, but he was weakening and the Garuda simply looked angry.
It slammed into the wall again and again, each blow sending tremors across the ground. Suddenly, it buckled...
And a speeding Shifter leaped, transforming back to human as he hung in midair. He dove right at Element Lad, pushing him out of the way just as a talon crashed through the wall.
The two teammates tumbled down the snow as angry cries pierced the heavens.
*************************************************
Angkor
"Quislet calling Hygeia! Where's the party, huh?" Quislet was in the airplane's cockpit as it sped towards the Siem Reap airport. "I'm almost there!"
"Quislet, not so loud... I'm hiding outside the main temple while I'm waiting for the SHIELD agents to fall. But I can't take on the aspara myself. I still can't tell if they're still stone or if they're now flesh and blood."
"What does it matter? Stone or flesh, we can slam them!"
"Maybe you can, but I haven't yet found a microbe that can erode stone yet. How long will it take you to get here?"
"How long, Mr. Pilot? I mean, Quislet's not speeding things up but we can still go prety fast!"
The pilot just stared straight ahead.
"Hey, Mr. Piloooooooot!" Quislet waved his hand in front of the pilot's face. Uh-oh. He couldn't have annoyed the pilot that much...
He closed his eyes and tried to divine for traces of magic.
"Quislet? What's happening?" Hygeia's hushed tones came over the comlink.
"I have bad news, Hygeia. Pilot's entranced, probably by the same apara playing tricks down there Guess they got more powerful."
"Oh... oh no. Then that means..."
"That means I have to land the plane! What fun!"
"But what if the airport personnel are entranced too? How can you get out?"
"Who says I'm landing in the airport? I'll land right outside the temple!"
"What... No, Quislet! The Angkor Park is 400 square kilometers, but how will you make it without toppling the buildings?"
"Just watch, my lady! Quislet show you it's done!" With a twinkle in his eye, Quislet got behind the controls. This would be the most fun he'd had in forever!
It was their intention to arrive unseen in the night, but the journey to Khundia was harder and longer than planned. Still, the Legion of Super-Heroes Espionage Squad made it…and this time luck was on their side. “Is that singing? And cheering?” asked Shrinking Violet incredulously.
“Yes,” said King Faraday, “and whatever it means, it’s given us the perfect distraction to slip in unnoticed. Some of us can’t turn invisible, after all.”
Fantomas, the spy Jacques Focquart, smiled as he bent light around him to turn invisible and turned to the Legionnaire Invisible Kid who was doing the same. “It is a convenient ability my friend, is it not?”
Lyle smiled. The two of them had been interacting only briefly over the last few days (or was it weeks now?), but Lyle was starting to grow attached to him. Jacques was a few years older than them, in his early twenties—he was much closer to their age than King Faraday’s. Lyle was beginning to think of him as an older brother figure.
Invisible Kid, Spirit, Shrinking Violet and their friend Matter-Eater Lad felt the same trepidation they felt the last time they were in Khundia. This difference this time was they had a precise mission. That focus brought a certain level of comfort to them, as so did their new companions.
King Faraday, the super-spy, was all business as usual. His companion Fantomas took the cue and did the same with the Legionnaires following suit. Shrinking Violet shrank down and jumped on Faraday’s shoulder and Spirit went into her ethereal form so she could phase somewhere else if needed. Only Matter-Eater Lad, the Sentinel Ten Zil Kem, was unable to get totally out of eyesight.
I have my own uses, thought Tenz, trying to reassure himself. Otherwise someone like King Faraday would not have brought me. Matter-Eater Lad had a pretty good idea why he was there though. If they could not penetrate the holding cell of Danielle Focquart, it was a safe bet that Faraday would ask Tenz to allow himself to be caught…and then break Danielle out from the inside. It was a trick he’d used a few times already and seemed to be an ongoing theme in his budding super-hero career. Not the flashiest power. Now I just have to be sure I’m not killed on sight.
Jacque’s sister Danielle had been a prisoner of the Khunds since the catastrophic Suicide Squad mission that left Doug Nolan dead. Her codename had been ‘Oracle’ because of her natural abilities—she could control technology, specifically computers, by communicating directly with and then overriding them. The Khunds had somehow turned her powers into their most important weapon, the ability to shut down enemy technology. It made air strikes and remote missile strikes impossible. The Legionnaires suspected it also stopped the major countries from dropping a nuclear bomb on Khundia.
“I should never have let Danielle come here,” Jacques said softly. When he was with King Faraday, he never spoke out of turn since Faraday was not the kind of man for idle chit-chat. But being around these Legionnaires, he felt a need to connect that he had pushed aside for some time.
“She’ll be okay,” said Spirit reassuringly. She also liked Jacques a lot—they all did. “We’ll get her out of here and then she’ll be back to you and her life in no time.”
“Maybe even a better life,” said Lyle. He thought of the Legion Academy suddenly as an option for Danielle. He knew they did a great job with kids that had been traumatized by their powers; he wondered if the trauma Danielle would have after this could be helped there.
“What now?” asked Shrinking Violet on King Faraday’s shoulder.
“We get into position,” he said. “And we wait.”
The others soon fell silent, as King Faraday had a way of making people do that. Instead they waited and they listened and soon their eyes went wide as they picked up on what the Khunds were chanting. White Witch.
*****************************
Maziah sang her song in Khundia and the Khundish citizens heard it through their ears and heard it in their hearts.
And all around the world, others heard it in a different way.
In Xerox, the Secret City of Yemen, Mordru heard it and grew angry once more. He let his daughter live on the belief she would eventually come crawling back to him and submit to his will. This time he would finish her and be done with it.
Across the Earth, others heard her song. These were the ones who walked on the unseen roads and highways where knowledge had been refined and the structure of things had been loosened. These were the magic users.
The teenager known as Dragonmage felt a pounding in his head all morning. Drinking tea did not help and in fact only made it worse. After weeks of wandering aimlessly from place to place, he did not at first recognize a Calling when he heard it.
Using his skills of divination he could see for the first time in a long time, there was a place he should go. There was a gathering.
He began his journey, along the dusty streets of Abu Dhabi and once he found the right direction, the headache began to fade. He felt better and the journey gave him a sense of purpose again. He became so distracted by the newfound feeling that at first he did not notice a companion by his side.
The man walked in step with Dragonmage but said nothing. He had an old-fashioned trench coat and fedora hat on his head. Clearly he looked like a relic from some lost era halfway around the world. Instantly, Dragonmage knew he was magic-user. An old one and a powerful one.
“I am called Dragonmage,” he said to his newfound companion.
“And I am Dr. Occult. I also hear the calling and would join you on the way.”
“Where are we going, then?” asked Dragonmage, feeling this new entity was friendly.
“We are going to a reckoning,” said Dr. Occult with some satisfaction. “The White Witch has thrown down the gauntlet and the final confrontation begins.”
“We go to see a battle, then?” asked Dragonmage. He wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or excited. He’d never seen a wizard’s duel before but he thought he was being called to something larger.
“We go to see a turning point,” said Dr. Occult. “What comes next changes the nature of magic hereafter. Though you and many others like you do not know it, your future hinges on what is to come.”
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
The shadows grew longer and the sky began to darken as the sun receded into the west. The evening arrived as the air grew chilly, and day slowly moved towards night.
The Legionnaires began gathering on the roof of the Paris United Nations building after word spread little by little throughout the day. Arguments had broken out between them at various intervals but very few of them would confront Mon-El directly.
Tela tried, telling him it was a savage, horrible idea, but he brushed her off abruptly.
Livewire screamed at Leviathan, telling him it was his job to do something, but Leviathan did nothing. Instead, he seemed accepting and almost oddly encouraging about what was to occur.
Below the NATO soldiers, most of whom were French, could feel something in the air. Beyond the city limits, the Khundian army also waited impatiently.
Mon-El emerged onto the roof wearing his blue and red costume, with long blue flowing cape. Around his belt was a sword—the Roman gladius. The assembled Legionnaires and allies fell into silence at the sight of him. A sense of awe overtook them.
The hero known as Atmos stepped forward and put his hand on Mon-El’s shoulder. “Good luck,” he said. Many followed, including those closest to him like Flare, the still injured but walking around Valor and Dawnstar.
Ultra Boy stepped in beside him. He had volunteered to be Mon-El’s ‘second’. He would be there by his side if anything went awry.
Umbra was waiting for him at the end. She was visibly upset, with Tela and Dreamer by her side. Dried tears were on her cheeks but she stood proud like a warrior-born, not showing any fresh tears. She would not admit how scared she was. “You don’t have to do this,” she said to him. It was clear she feared he was not going to come back.
“I do, Tatiana,” he said softly. “We’re beaten. You know it. I know it. Something has to happen to bring us out of this spiral. And this is all I know.”
He expected her to hug him but she was too upset, and her posture showed that to be strong, she would go the way of the warrior, not the damsel. He simply leaned forward and embraced her, pulling her into his chest. He leaned down and kissed her, and she kissed him back briefly. “I love you,” he whispered.
And then he flew off. “I love you too,” she whispered to herself, knowing he heard it with his super-hearing.
********************
Mon-El flew out to meet Dev Em, who was already waiting for him. Ultra Boy stayed by his side but was back several feet. Dev Em had no second.
Dev Em was in his usual purple attire, but this time on his head he wore an old-fashioned Roman centurion’s helmet. A gladius was hung on his belt and in his hands were a spear and shield. All pleasantries were gone from Dev Em’s face; he was deadly serious and angry. He wants this to be over now, thought Mon-El. He wants me to be dead and is ready to move on.
High above the skies, with everyone who could see them looking on, the two stood several feet apart. “You’ve made your decision, Mon,” said Dev.
“Save the long-winded diatribe, Dev. You betrayed me two thousand years ago in the most cowardly of ways. Now you seek to subjugate the world. We will both do what we must,” he added, staring at him coldly.
Dev Em moved so quickly that Mon-El was not expecting it. Dev’s reply to Mon-El’s words was an aggressive attack up front, smashing his Roman shield into Mon-El’s face with full super-strength, knocking him to the ground.
Mon fell backwards immediately, falling down to the Earth and Dev Em was back on him in seconds, smashing the shield against Mon-El and trying to poke the spear through his throat. Mon-El’s skin was invulnerable and impervious to the weapon, yet with Dev Em’s super-strength behind it, it might succeed.
As they descended, Mon-El knew he had one chance; otherwise this skirmish would end quickly. Timing it perfectly, he shifted his weight and flipped Dev Em around, so he was descending first with Mon on top of him. They landed in a calamitous explosion of debris, as Dev’s back smashed into the Earth, and the momentum carried Mon-El flying over the top of him.
As the dust began to clear, Mon-El realized he was holding Dev Em’s spear. He snapped it over his knee and sent it flying, just in time to see Dev Em rising from the ground in a fury. The Roman helmet was smashed and gone but he still held the shield.
Hoping for another moment to catch his breath, Mon-El fired his heat vision at the shield melting it to slag, and Dev Em hurled it aside. He flew at Mon again at immense speed but this time Mon-El flew right back at him.
The two landed at one another again with a sonic boom, as the shockwaves sent everything backwards from them. Both of them landed blows upon the other, causing each other to stagger back.
They were back on each other in an instant, both throwing fist after fist into each other’s face.
As it now seemed the battle was taking place on land, thousands rushed forward to see better. High in the sky, Ultra Boy watched and was soon joined by Dawnstar, Atmos and Conal Kent with Ferro in his arms. Towering even above them in giant form was Leviathan, who had grown to super large height in order to see the battle first hand.
Mon-El and Dev Em traded blows and their immense strength was enough to overcome their mutual invulnerability. They were wearing each other down. Mon-El knew this could not continue otherwise he would tire out and so he ducked a blow using super-speed and flipped Dev Em over his back, sending him into a pile or rubble. He was then on him in an instant, grabbing him from behind and choking him. As he did so, he used his heat vision to melt the debris and rubble around him, hoping to forge a pile of molten iron. If he could weaken Dev Em enough, perhaps he could capture him.
Dev seemed to know exactly what he was doing and in a fury, shifted his weight forward and sent Mon-El into the molten iron burning him. His invulnerable skin was not harmed but he actually felt pain—the harder and longer they fought, the more he’d be worn down and his powers would be temporarily depleted. The burning ripped apart his costume and his cape and he threw it aside.
Dev Em flew at him at super-speed and again they hammered one another with punch after punch.
“They’re going to kill one another!” shouted Dawnstar to Ultra Boy. She had grown to be very fond of both Mon-El and Ultra Boy, perhaps because they could fly together. She had very few, if any, friends among them, but Mon-El and Joe had always been kind to her. Ultra Boy could hear the worry in her voice.
“It’s what he wants, Dawny,” he said grudgingly. He was considering entering the fray against Mon’s wishes.
Below, the two continued to hammer one another, although both now were more judicious about it. They flew around low to the ground, playing cat and mouse with each other alternating in the roles. Both were getting tired and they were now feeling the blows. Both of them had costumes in tatters.
“I’ve got two thousand years experience, Mon!” cried out Dev Em. “And you’re still a bit rusty! You don’t have a chance!”
Mon-El stuck up behind him and landed a blow. “You could never beat me, Dev,” he said. “Two thousand years hasn’t changed that.”
Not far off, Umbra ran through the streets to see the action. Tela tried to keep up with her and Livewire tried to keep up with Tela. He needs me to be strong, she thought. A warrior. I’m terrified and I don’t agree with this, but that’s what I’ll be for him…
Mon-El flew along the rubble and Dev Em followed in pursuit. From above, Leviathan noticed both were slowing down enough for the human eye to keep track of them. Each time they hit one another, it caused the on-lookers to jump from the noise.
Mon-El turned to meet Dev and the two collided again, rolling forward and punching one another. As they got up, both were covered in bruises and cuts as the punches were now taking their toll. Both were breathing heavy and Dev Em suddenly smiled. His mouth was bloody and he was missing a tooth. “You’re right,” he said at last. “I would have never let you rule as a Lord under Mordru. It was a deception. I was going to kill you.”
Mon-El knew this was truth even though Dev’s words were clearly intended to infuriate and distract him. Yet it worked. The words stung; even after all this, the betrayal still hurt.
He flew at him at top speed, but Dev Em was waiting for him. As he did suddenly a huge projectile was fired into their midst, over Dev Em’s shoulder, nailing Mon-El strait on.
It was a small missile and it exploded outwards with a huge boom, sending Mon-El backwards and reeling. Confusion set in for a moment but it soon became clear what happened. Dev Em reneged on the arrangement; he had set a trap to bring down Mon-El’s invulnerability and now one of the Khunds had fired a missile at him. The realization set in that the Khunds had begun storming the city.
“RRGGH!” erupted Leviathan at the top of his lungs, infuriated by the trickery. He came smashing down with a giant fist into the Khunds. All at once, the Legionnaires and the French soldiers erupted—in less than ten seconds, the entire war began anew.
Fighting raged all around them, and the dust where Mon-El lay began to clear. Dev Em walked forward covered in bruises and blood with a smile on his face.
But then his eyes went wide.
Mon-El stood there, among the dust clouds, as magnificent as ever.
His costume was in tatters and he was covered in bruises and blood. But he stood proud and he stood tall. The missile hurt him but it did not finish him. In his hand was his gladius, pulled from his sword belt.
“Raise your sword,” he said firmly.
Dev Em was in shock, for a moment disbelieving that Mon-El was alive.
“Raise your sword, coward,” repeated Mon-El. At last the realization set in. Dev Em pulled his sword from his sword belt.
Neither of them had the strength to fly and would not be replenished until sunrise. They did not know it, but they had been fighting for four hours. Their vision powers were functioning but no longer reliable. They would settle this the old way.
This time it was Mon-El who lunged forward. Dev Em brought his sword up just in time and the swords clanged against one another. All around them fighting was occurring but neither paid any attention to it. They only saw each other.
The fighting went on: thrust, parry, thrust, dodge. The Roman gladius was not designed for fancy swordplay, however; it was designed for killing.
Mon-El could feel a shift in the battle. Dev Em was backing up. He was on the defensive. Something had happened; his trick had failed and his confidence was lost. Without his deceptions and advantages he was no warrior; he was a coward. He began to back up as Mon-El redoubled his effort and swung his sword violently at Dev Em.
And suddenly, Dev Em tripped backwards on a rock, and began to fall. Mon-El swung his sword again and knocked Dev Em’s gladius out of his hand, sending it flying. Dev Em landed on his back and knew he was beaten.
“Monius…I…you…” he began to say as he tried to pull himself up.
But it was too late.
Mon-El swung his sword down at full speed and caught Dev Em directly on the neck. It sliced through his skin, and then flesh, and then bone, and came out the other side in one fell swoop. Moments later, Dev Em’s head fell backwards and his torso fell to the ground.
All around them, the fighting began to slow as the realization of what just occurred set in. The Khunds were astonished and suddenly unsure what to do. The Legionnaires were in shock. But the NATO soldiers saw the advantage—and pressed onwards.
The chaos soon turned into a rout, and the Khunds began to flee. The siege was broken—the Khunds would try running all the way back to Khundia but would never make it.
Running through the crowd, Umbra emerged from the chaos to see him. He turned to her, letting the gladius drop to the ground. He walked away from the body of Dev Em, the immortal who lived long and hard but died harder.
Seeing the scene in front of her, Tatiana was shocked and horrified by what she saw. Such savagery; such violence. It was almost too much.
No. I am a warrior. The latest in a line of ancient warriors. And I must stand by my man. She walked forward and opened her arms as Mon fell into them. He was exhausted and could no longer hold himself up. She held him up tightly and thanked God he was okay.
***************************
Alll around them the Khunds were panicking and fleeing as the tide had turned. The NATO soldiers under the UN were pushing them back out of Paris, and the Legionnaires had joined in on the assault.
The Legionnaires found themselves cheering. They were winning this battle! We can do this, thought Leviathan with a smile as he moved through the crowds. We can really win this thing!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
With their adrenaline high, the Legionnaires could not sleep that night, though Mon-El was able to get some rest with Umbra by his side.
“That…that was unbelievable,” said Catalyst in shock.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Joe, nodding.
“I hope I never see anything like it again,” said Tela. There was disgust in her voice. “The Legion can’t be about that.”
“We’re at war, Irma,” said Leviathan. He seemed totally revitalized by the turning of the tide. All of their morale seemed higher.
Tela scowled in response.
“Yes, we are at war,” said a clear recognizable voice of Dirk Morgna, as Flare walked in the door. “And it’s time we won it,” he said. By his side was a girl they all recognized as Veilmist, one of the Khundian Legionnaires. They all rose to start yelling but Dirk held up his hands. “She’s with me,” he said.
Before they could yell further, Sensor and the White Witch entered. They were all taken aback by Maziah’s appearance—she was now completely pale and her hair was no longer auburn at all but a platinum white. They could see more than her appearance had changed. She looked strong, and noble. She looked majestic.
“Where have you been?” said Nura both out of anger and worry. “You just left, Maziah!” she said.
“We have been busy,” said Sensor in reply but she was addressing them all. “And I think it’s time to call everyone in here. I’ve given it much thought and I think…I think we have a plan.”
“A plan?” said Leviathan. “Against Khundia? Or Mordru?”
“Both,” she replied. “A plan to win this war.”
END PART 4
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
"Where is she?" Wildfire wouldn't admit it if anyone asked, but he was worried. Amazon had been silent for too long.
He alit on the magnificent dome of the Taj Mahal and looked around to get his bearings. There were a number of people milling around the tomb grounds, but no sign of his teammate. How hard could it be to find a large, green...
Something slammed into him from behind. "Oof!" he yelled, in surprise rather than in pain. He quickly righted himself in midair and flew back, blasting at whatever it was.
He recognized it. It was Kalki, and it was trying to stab him. He fired again, but it blocked his blast and slashed at his suit.
Cursing, Wildfire let loose a strong blast of energy and darted off. He couldn't risk damaging his suit.
He aimed again, letting loose a powerful pinpoint blast at the sword. It melted.
And as it did, Kalki screamed. A horrible, tearing sound of pain and rage.
"What... did I hurt it?" Wildfire panicked for a moment. But then he refocused. He blasted once more, pushing Kalki back and into a pile of rubble. Confident that it would buy him a few minutes, he darted off to find Amazon.
The vampire roared and prepared to attack the new interlopers... when he was suddenly stopped dead, trapped in one of Kid Quantum's stasis spheres as Jazmin took charge of the situation. "I've got him. Brek, make sure none of those other things get near us. Zoë, dig out our guys and make sure they're okay."
As Blizzard's ice walls went up to surround them, a relieved Gear allowed himself to fall back onto the building's rubble even as Kinetix began to carefully dissolve the materials pinning the still-unconscious Spark, Polarity and Cos. The strength of the Legion was in the depth of powers it collectively held, a depth which the uncaptured members hadn't had, with only two sets of offensive powers between the five. Now, with the rest of their team freed, things suddenly felt a whole lot less critical. _______
In the cage, Julia ripped the restraints from Dox, the last of the trapped Legionnaires, and slumped to the ground beside Trinity. With the first three revived having gone to save their teammates, and Flash & Starboy also up and heading after the noseless freak who had her dumped in the cauldron, Kid Quantum had indicated that she should stay and watch the vulnerable Trinity, who was just sitting and staring forward, and Dox.
What this did, however, was give her time without anything to focus on, and she'd started shaking again. _______
"You can't hold me! I am Count Orlok, trusted hand of Mordru! No... young... freak of black science will... keep me... trapped."
Starboy mimed yawning as he added a few more tons to Orlok's weight. Already, the nosferatu - a truly ancient vampire - had been struggling. Now, he fell to his knees.
"Gee, he doesn't look happy." Jenni Ognats - the fastest girl alive, the Flash - leaned against him lightly, a wooden stake in her hand in case it became necessary to use it.
"No kidding," Tom replied. Holding Orlok down was beginning to be a strain, but the tall Australian was working hard to impress the girl. "What're we going to do with him? I vote we keep him and call him 'George'."
"Wouldn't that involve Gene hugging him?"
They both burst out laughing at the thought. _______
Cos was the last of the three Legionnaires to stir. Immediately, a sharp pain in his left arm brought him wide awake but made him think twice about moving.
"Careful Rex." He turned his head gently to one side to see Polarity standing there. "Kinetix flew off to get Dox. She said something seemed wrong with your arm and that she didn't want you to move until he checked it over."
Settling back on the smoothed-out rubble, Cos looked around and saw Kid Quantum staring at the vampire, frozen in her bubble of stopped time, and the white walls surrounding them, with no apparent damage yet from the rock monsters' assault outside. Reassured there was no imminent danger, he looked up at his brother. "How are you?"
"Great for someone who was on a collapsing building. Nothing more than a few bruises and scrapes, I think."
"And Spark & Gear?"
"Ella's left ankle's swollen, but she's mostly alright. Gear's same as me - sore, but no major damage."
"That's something." He rested his head back for a minute, until he caught a glow from the corner of his eye. Looking in its direction, he saw Kinetix carrying Dox, Agent Carpenter and - oh thank god - Lorna in her telekinetic field. On being set down, Dox immediately went over to check on Spark's ankle, but Trinity didn't seem to move when set down. She didn't even seem to notice anything.
He tried to scramble up, to go over and see her, but Kinetix immediately pinned him back down. "Not until you get checked over."
"For crying out--- hold my arm together if you have to, I'm going over to see her."
Zoë relented, and he winced as he indeed felt her TK clamp around his bad arm. Rather than saying anything else, he pushed himself up with his right arm and hobbled over to Trinity.
"Lu? Lu, are you okay?"
"Hi Rex." Her blank, orange stare barely faltered, her voice was oddly sing-song, and even her use of his first name was strange - like most of his friends, she almost invariably called him "Cos". A wave of anger shot through him - not at her, but at the idiots who'd said she should be back on the active list for this.
"Lu, what happened?"
"I stopped the siren - told you I could hack it. And then there was this cauldron, and I looked into it, and it felt like something I don't even know. Like I should know. But I don't know. You know?"
Meanwhile, as Cos tried to disentangle what his girlfriend had just said, Dox finished binding Spark's ankle. "Kaput?"
"Yeah, Trinity had a flight ring too, and they both just cut out suddenly. Obviously, the bad guys had something to do with it, but I never saw what."
"Interesting. I wonder if it's a localised effect or if they've been permanently denatured. No warning at all?"
"No, just flying along and fzzzt."
"Something to consider if they ever get used again. Can you stand?"
"I'll try if you help me up."
As Dox helped Spark into a standing position, Julia was standing nearby, controlling herself but feeling useless in the middle of the activity. As such, she was surprised to hear Dox call her over. "Yes?"
"Spark's ankle is too injured to put weight on right now, even bandaged, and I need to examine Cosmic Boy before we move. Could you hold her while I do so, until I can get Kinetix to fashion a more substantial support?"
"Sure." Without thinking, Julia simply picked Spark up in both arms like a young child, as she'd hoisted her daughter once upon a time. Then, belatedly, she noticed Spark's look of surprise, together with Dox's inquisitive face at her pose & lack of strain, and blushed. "The vampires did something to me, and it's boosted my strength, but I'm not sure what else it's done. When you get a chance..."
"It'll have to wait until we're back in New York and I have equipment, but yes."
As Dox headed off to check on Cosmic Boy, Spark looked awkwardly away from the woman holding her, and then back again. Notwithstanding the slightly... uncomfortable... position, she had something to tell the SHIELD agent that wouldn't be an enjoyable duty under any circumstances. She reached into her left belt pouch - fortunately, the side away from Julia's body - and pulled out a small metal badge, formed into the number 5853, that she'd taken from the SHIELD uniform inside the shattered rock monster earlier. She waited until Julia had registered what she was showing her before adding, "I'm sorry."
Julia felt her heart sink. With Spark saying the badgeholder was dead, it meant all her team were almost certainly gone. The badge number identified her second, the man who had put her in the fridge to save her, K-- what was his name? She'd only seen him virtually every working day for the past year, why couldn't she remember?! Ko... Kolkin, that was it. The only one who'd outlasted her in the first place. "That's Kolkin's badge. Where did you find it?"
"Inside one of the rock monsters. I looked a few minutes after it was broken, and there was a sleeve sticking out, and not much left inside it. We think that the guys the ground swallowed were basically... well... used up to give the monsters 'life'."
Julia turned away from Spark's face and just stared into the distance for a few moments. Not only had the blasted 'war' corrupted her sister and done who-knew-what to her, it had taken the lives of seven good SHIELD agents who she'd been in charge of, responsible for. What next? My daughter? she wondered, and with that thought her limbs stopped threatening to shake. She had to get through this to make sure her six-year old daughter, Rachel, was okay. And that thought gave her clarity, gave her focus.
What was also becoming clear was that Blizzard's ice walls were beginning to crack from the rock monsters' assault faster than he could repair them. With his gauntlet newly refashioned by Kinetix into a cast for his injured forearm, Cosmic Boy was being looked to for a decision on what to do. Instead, he called Kid Quantum over for a private word and got straight to the point. "Jazmin, I need you to take over here. I can't focus on Lorna *and* on leading us, and she needs me more just now."
"Are you sure? I don't know if..."
"If I didn't know you could do it, I wouldn't ask."
"...I've still got a black mark on my file from the North Pole escapade, you know."
"And if we'd been less fortunate, I'd have one from ignoring a direct order over the Workforce thing." Cos smiled. "Stop looking for excuses. They're your team now, Kid Quantum, and I'll be behind you all the way."
Jazmin Cullen swallowed hard, and checked that she still had the vampire locked up - more for the purposes of stalling than for any fear she'd dropped the stasis field. Then she shook her head and, as soon as her chin-length dreadlocks stopped moving, set her face and called out. "Everyone, listen up. We're going to have to move, so I want everyone who can't fly to make their way over to Kinetix, and--"
Cos smiled more broadly as Kid Quantum started to corral everyone ready to move, before he turned away to take his girlfriend - still in shock from her near-death experience - back into his arms, as a thought that had been forming in his mind for some minutes leapt out. They don't need me.
For some, this would have been a tremendous blow to their ego, but after months of managing crises, and buffering relations between Leviathan's big clunking fist and the rest of the team, Rex Kline was relived to be able to step back. With people like Tela, Invisible Kid, Kid Quantum and even Rebound around, the Legion wasn't short of leadership material. Trinity however, well, he thought as he held Lorna close. He'd been right, but it wasn't the sort of "right" anyone could take pleasure from. He hadn't been "infantilising" her, as Metternich had claimed, she simply hadn't been ready. _________
Toward the centre of operations, Spark was on her feet - albeit with a supporting cast on her ankle - but still needed to lean against Dox for support as Kid Quantum finalised preparations to head to City Hall. This was interrupted as a cry of "Tomneedshelp!" rang out, and all heads turned as Flash skidded over the tops of the marauding monsters and jumped to skid to a halt in front of them. "There's a bunch of the rock monsters closing in on Starboy and the big bad!"
Kid Quantum didn't even pause before ordering them into the air. Immediately, Ella felt herself rising upward, this time not with a flight ring, but under Kinetix's power - along with around half the group. Kid Quantum herself flew in front, with the vampire in his stasis field trailing along behind her and Kinetix and Polarity to either side of her. Cosmic Boy, meanwhile, kept to the back, Trinity in his arms.
Ninety seconds later, they touched down at City Hall, protectively surrounding Starboy and his captive as the hordes closed in. Outside this, Blizzard immediately threw up an icewall, a semi-circle backed against the Hall, a certain cauldron left on the other side (If Julia had any thoughts on this, she kept them to herself).
"You... don't expect... mere ice to stop... my golems?" Orlok wheezed, taunting them in spite of Starboy's gravitational pressure.
"Lighten the load a touch, Tom. I need him able to speak," Jazmin ordered. Starboy raised his eyebrow at the purple-suited woman being the one to give the orders, but complied. "Either you tell us how to stop them, or you join your friend in the bubble."
Orlok strained to look up, and laughed "As long as I live, they will never stop." He sneered. Look at you. 'Legionnaires,' sworn never to kill in case the world sees you for the threat you are. More of my golems are being born every minute. Soon, even you will be overwhelmed, and there is nothing you can do."
Kid Quantum stopped, uncertain of what to do - she and Flash had once set out to kill someone, but that had nearly been a terrible mistake. And he was right that the Legion's charter forbade killing - if it would even help.
As the Legionnaires looked at each other, Jazmin's uncertainty reflected in them, Julia swallowed hard and took a decision. She had to step in. She inhaled deeply, took the stake from Flash's hand, and spoke, "Not everyone here is a Legionnaire. As a duly appointed Agent of SHIELD, under Fury Directive 47... 47..." she shook her head and continued, "47/5(b), you will offer submission and disarm all threats to the civilian population of this country immediately. If you do not comply, I am authorised to use lethal force to prevent you deploying any further threat. This was your last and only warning."
The nosferatu almost laughed as he recognised his earlier victim. "Memory problems, agent? Don't you want to know what the cauldron does?"
Julia paused, but only for a moment. She wanted to know, deeply, but the professional side of her screamed that from what he said, every moment he lived, more rock monsters were borne from the ground. An army to march in Mordru's name.
As her sister had.
So she simply said, "I'll find out some other way," and followed through on Fury Directive 47/5(b), plunging the stake through his withered heart. She almost expected him to turn to dust. He didn't. He merely collapsed finally to the ground, blood seeping gently around the stake.
For a minute, the city fell into silence, as the pounding on Blizzard's wall ceased. Then the ground began to crack loudly in all directions.
A voice yelled "What's going on?", but no-one was quite sure who in all the noise.
Dox spoke up - already in the sky, a flight ring suddenly on his hand. "The golems were produced from the city's bedrock. Presumably, whatever "spell" was animating them was also compensating for the city being undermined."
"So now it's been broken... gotcha." Kid Quantum shouted. "Zoë?"
Everyone able had already left the ground - including Spark, whose flight ring had started working again with the nosferatu's spells breaking on his death - and Kinetix scooped up the remainder. As they flew higher to relative safety, Coast City crumbled rapidly, the sea which gave it its name rushing to fill the crater. Within ten minutes, a city which had housed a million people was simply gone from the map, its' inhabitants dead. Lost to a world war borne from a father, half a world away, who couldn't handle his daughter's rejection.
As such, it was a sober group who touched down on the crater's edge. While they had technically stopped a threat which could have done the same to other cities, none of them felt particularly successful. While, with the radio-damping field gone, Gear called for retrieval, everyone else stood in silence, with Cosmic Boy holding Trinity close.
The helicopters arrived as dawn began to break, and Spark thought back to the sunset she'd seen as they'd arrived the previous night. Perhaps it wasn't the last one she'd ever see. But she thought back to a line in a book she'd read, from a character who'd fought in World War II. "My progress towards maturity got interrupted by the World War and my experience with it. War doesn’t mature men; it merely pickles them in the brine of disgust and dread."
As she got onto the helicopter, she took one last look back at the grave of a million people. Suddenly, she felt she knew exactly what the quote meant. _________________
Epilogue: A Good Day To Live?
As the helicopters faded into the distance, one last living being still remained within what had been Coast City.
She lay near the wreckage of the City Hall, a beautiful woman breathing the water shallowly. Her eyes were wide open, but she saw nothing. She shivered, but not from the cold despite her nudity. What troubled her was something new.
Mere hours beforehand, she had been a siren, serving her Lord Mordru as she had for centuries. And, as was the way of sirens, she was a hollow being without a sense of self - she sang people to their destruction not from malice or glee, but simply because it was her nature.
Then Trinity had propelled her into the cauldron, where a redheaded vision of herself in satin had seemed to brush against her - and suddenly, sentience, a soul, rushed to fill the hollow void of her mind. And with that, the full knowledge of what she did, what she had always done, crashed through her. In horror and self-hatred, she had passed out.
Now, tipped from the cauldron in the city's fall, she was half-buried in rubble, her pale skin and silver hair contrasting sharply against the dark slate and stone. Still immortal, she knew there was no escape in death, but lay still - where she was, she could harm no-one.
She kept up this unmoving penance for days. Then a yellow disc appeared in the waters above her, and two women - one dark-haired, one blonde - in scuba equipment swam through it, and a voice echoed through her head, cajoling, offering, tempting. Soon, she was utterly enraptured, the warnings of her newfound soul silenced by the dark-haired woman.
Meta Ure grinned beneath her mask. Her mission was a success, her debt reduced, but it wasn't Levar's "request" that made this such a pleasure. He would have his goddess, true, but playing with such a new, yet horror-struck, soul was its own reward. She directed Sidestep to bring the portal down upon them, and finally Coast City was truly dead.
Element Lad stirred, eyes opening slowly. He felt his body, and was surprised that it hurt far less than he expected.
"Take it easy, Jan. As far as I can tell you're alright, but take your time getting your bearings."
Element Lad nodded, thanked Shifter politely - he had registered his teammate's identity just as he'd ben tackled - and sat up slowly. Then he stared, rubbed his eyes, and stared again.
Shifter's face was recognizable as his teammate Reed, but that was it. Below his neck were multiple arms - arms which were now morphed into a makeshift cot. He'd also shifted various limbs - one held a lamp, another was tucking a jacket around his teammate, and another acted as an "eye" to keep watch. The top of his head had been shifted into a white tent, and he'd let himself be cvered by a light layer of snow to keep hidden.
"You have certainly improved your shapeshifting skills," Element Lad said, calmly accepting his teammate's unusual powers.
"As have your own transmutation skills. I believe the fiery wings of the Garuda were your doing?"
"Phosphorus and other compounds. I normally use them constructively, but I felt I had no choice. I did not want to cause it grievous harm, but the pilgrims..."
"I understand. But Jan, are you willing to kill it if we have no other choice?"
The silence grew loud as Element Lad thought for a moment. "Can we not ensure that we do not have to take such a choice?"
"Little is ever sure in this world, but let us try out best. Can you tell me exactly what you did to defend yourself? I think I may have a plan."
Element Lad nodded and began narrating. His entire being still hurt, but their planning was crucial.
Hygeia crouched in her hiding place, heart beating fast. What would crazy little Quislet do now?
She had little time to wonder, as their jet suddenly streaked out of the sky. It flew over the temples, passing dangerously close (by Hygeia's standards) and turning to land into an open field nearby.
Hygeia watched in terror as the plane bounced once, then again, before touching onto the ground. Luckily, the makeshift runway had no temples or other ancient structures. The trees and plants in its path were not so lucky, with a few being uprooted. She tried tracing its potential path and...
"Quislet!" she hissed into the comlink. "You have to stop now, there are temple gates in your path!"
"Why worry about smelly old temples, Hygeia? I'm having lots of fun right now!"
"You...!" Calming herself, Hygeia realized that Quislet was probably playing with her. "If you damage the jet too much, we won't be able to leave. And I bet Rebound won't let you control any jet again."
"Good point, smart lady! But not to worry, Quislet has perfect control. Watch!"
Hygeia almost couldn't bear to keep her eyes open, but she needn't have worried. Indeed, the jet skidded to a halt a few meters away from the temple gates.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she shrank back into her alcove. "Quislet, meet me here fast. Your landing is sure to attract attention. We need to make use of this diversion."
Sure enough, enthralled SHIELD agents started running past her towards the plane. She waited as they streamed past - they had to act now.
"I still can't quite believe we did that." Rebound scratched his head, reliving the inquisition through which he and Amihan had put their prisoner manananggal. They had bound its winged torso while threatening to salt its lower half so it could not recombine. Surprisingly, it had worked - the creature was intelligent and could speak both Filipino and English.
The squirming innards still made him feel gross, though.
Amihan steadied herself as she climbed down the rope hanging from the slick, slippery limestone pillar. The hole she was creeping through was just barely large enough for her, which meant Rebound would have a much tougher time. "We didn't have much choice, did we? Like a parent who must punish, or even disown, a disobedient child."
"That's... a curious example to use," Rebound mused.
"I thought you would relate to it. After all, we both come from cultures where family ties and honor. Facing severe disappointment from parents is... one of the worst things that could happen to us."
Rebound was silent for a moment. His own aunt, who had married a Filipino man, had taken five years to reconcile with his grandparents. He himself had worked hard to make his parents proud, and sometimes wondered what his path would have been had they not allowed him to join the Legion.
As he squeezed through to join Amihan, he was glad he had an excuse not to reply to that yet.
As they balanced on the ledge, their guide pointed ahead. "We are at the bottom part, where the Sumaguing Cave joins the Lumiang," he said in decently good English.
"Then it should be around here. Where...?" Rebound trailed off, thinking of the enormity of what they were supposed to find.
"Let's keep looking then," Amihan said, lifting herself gently off the cavern floor. "Stay safe."
*************************************************
Agra: Fatehpur Sikri
"Amazon!" yelled Wildfire (or transmitted, to be technically accurate - Wildfire didn't even have a real mouth or throat) as he spied his teammate.
"I... I can't stand..."
"Easy now, little lady. You might have a fracture or something. Come on, let's clear that rubble away and fly you off."
"Thanks..." Amazon smiled warmly as Wildfire reached out a hand to help her up.
Then her smile turned into an evil, vicious grin.
"Thank you for walking into my trap!" Suddenly, the girl Wildfire thought was his teammate began to twist, and sharp tendrils erupted and reached out to rip into his suit...
Amazon limped along hurriedly, carrying the two SHIELD agents on her back. She had managed to dig all three of them out of the rubble, but wasn't in any condition to speed up her pace.
She was delirious; he heat and her own exhaustion were making her imagine things. She saw images of her past - her strict parents; her high-class "friends"; her extended family - most of whom faded away afer she'd changed.
She saw people's reactions to her; being called "freak" and "monster"; a crowd's hushed shock as she walked into a church; children crying at the shopping mall.
She forced herself not to give into despair. It had been her desperation at her situation that had led to her being imprisoned and experimented on. Never again. She forced herself to focus on the good she could do, and the acceptance she had found as a Legionnaire. She'd made new friends, like Kinetix, Rebound, Wildfire - the dear even called her "little lady". He...
"Get off me, you squaj!"
He was screaming?
Jolted out of her reverie, Amazon saw... she couldn't quite describe it. Wildfire was struggling against a thing (for lack of a better term) that had her head and multiple sharp tentacles.
She instantly knew what is must be.
Setting the agents down gently on the ground, she sprinted towards Wildfire's aid.
Wildfire sruggled to dodge the blades trying to slit his suit open. He tried to fire at the shapeshifter that was on him, but it had his "arms" pinned - and even if he could fire at it, it was flowing too fast for him. He was stuck.
Life as it was now wasn't ideal, but it was still life, and he didn't want to lose it...
"Mind if I cut in, dear?" Amazon's voice rang out as she grabbed the shapeshifter and forcibly peeled it off Wildfire. It gave off a hideous snarl and turned its attention to her, slashing and jabbing at whatever it could.
"Amazon, hold on! I'll blast it off you!" Wildfire concentrated, trying to find an angle where he could hit the creature without hitting his teammate. But it was moving around too much...
"Do it now! It's arms HURT!" Her sleeves were now ripped into little ribbons.
"I... I can't... a direct hit might kill you!" A sharp tentacle took off part of Amazon's hair.
"And this blood loss won't? Trust me, I'll be fine - you can't hurt me!" A gash appeared on her arm.
"You don't know how powerful I am!" Another gash on her thigh.
"Maybe you don't know how powerful I am! I can handle it! Trust me!" Amazon twisted just in time, as a blade swung by where her hand had been. It connected with her thigh, though.
"I... I..."
"I trust you, trust me back!" Blood was flowing, and Amazon's pants leg was stained red. Amazon bent over, clutching her wound. The creature smiled, a terrible, evil smile, as it swung its arm back, the end morphed into a sharp saw with ugly teeth.
It swung.
"I'm sorry!" Wildfire yelled as he poured his energy straight at Amazon.
A horrible scream pierced the stillness of the ruins. All Wildfire could see was a twisting, writhing form that melted into the ground.
"No! It didn't
As his vision cleared, Amazon emerged... whole, healthy and smiling. She ran forward to hug an astounded Wildfire.
"Told you! Radiation doesn't hurt me - I can absorb it safely. I recognized that thing from my old mythology classes and knew you could hurt it."
Wildfire paused for a moment, and hugged her back. "I'll let you take the full credit for this win, if you don't tell anyone I almost balked."
"Deal." Amazon smiled as she set him down. "Now let's finish the clean-up so we can go home - I need a bath."
The monstrous bird winged its way around the mountain, searching for the prey that had eluded it.
Its keen eyes scanned the snows, looking for any trace of where it could be...
A flash of movement at the corner of its vision caught its attention. Turning to look, it would have given a cry of joy if it could.
Coiling in the snow below was a majestic many-headed serpent with a crown on its head. A Naga!
The Garuda struck instinctively. It dove right for its mortal enemy, beak stretched out, talons ready to grab...
The Naga disappeared just as it swooped down, and the world burst into light.
***********************************************
"Good job, Shifter. Your agility and skill is indescribable."
"Your transmutation skills are similarly impressive, Element Lad. You measured out just enough of an explosive mixture to stun our captive, but not kill it." Shifter surveyed the Garuda, whose wings and legs had now been bound in titanium.
"And I believe I've transmuted just enough of its oxygen into knockout gas to keep it disoriented without suffocating it. Well..." Element Lad waved his arm. "Now I have."
"I'm impressed as well by your knowledge of myth. You selected the right model of a Naga for me to impersonate. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to fool the Garuda."
Element Lad nodded modestly. "It was a simple matter, since I already knew what the Garuda looked like in real life. It follows that the Naga would be from the same belief system."
Shifter nodded. "Amazon and Wildfire report a similar success. The Kalki they were fighting turned out to be a Rakshasa - a Hindi demon. Amazon confirmed it when she saw it attack Wildfire; luckily, she knew that it was vulnerable to intense heat and radiation." He left out for the moment that they were unable to capture their opponent - that discussion could wait another day.
"I'm glad they are well. What about the other teams?"
"... no word yet. I have been able to reach our US team, though..."
posted
NB: This takes place between Earth War #2 and #3
An Army barracks in California
"Where are we just now?" Cos asked Kid Quantum as he entered the room where most of the conscious Legionnaires were gathered. It had been eight hours since the group of Legionnaires had been airlifted from the edge of the crater that had formerly been Coast City. The Legionnaires who had been kept asleep by the vampires had stayed fresh enough to keep abreast of events, but the others, including Cosmic Boy, had been forced to crash out for some hours.
"Spark and Gear are out for a while - her ankle isn't too serious, but she's been told to keep her weight off it for a day or two; and he needs to heal some parts that got crushed in the building collapse. Trinity, well, you know." Jazmin replied. He did indeed know about Lorna, who was currently sleeping courtesy of some tranquilisers. Any thought of her acting as a Legionnaire in the forseeable future had left all minds. "The rest of us are okay for now."
"What about Agent Carpenter?"
"Dox and a base medic have looked her over quickly. Physically, she's apparently fine, but she's insisting on Dox keeping his promise to check her over thoroughly back in NYC. She's still suffering some confused episodes they can't account for, and I suggested Irma look her over as well if possible."
Cos' lips pursed slightly at the mention of Tela. "And the Big Picture?"
"Not looking great." She bit her lower lip.
"What?" Cos barked.
"They confronted Mordru head-on in Khundia. And lost."
"By lost, do you m--"
"No," Jazmin cut him off quickly, "No-one's died - not yet, anyway - but none of them are holding up well from the experience either. Right now, they're in Paris trying to regroup."
"Perhaps we should send some reinforc--"
Again, Cos was cut off, but this time by an army tech who'd suddenly appeared in the doorway. "Who's in charge here?"
"I am." Two voices had spoken simultaneously, and Cos couldn't help but smile. Apparently, Jazmin was getting used to the idea of being in command. She backed off, and Cos asked what the tech wanted.
"Signal coming in on your channel, call sign 'Shifter'. Is it kosher?"
"If you authenticated the sender, it should be. Where do we take it?"
"Follow me."
Cos indicated that Kid Quantum should come with him, and the rest remained behind as they walked to a room filled with monitors, microphones and speakers, along with the equipment to control them all. The tech directed them to a station, then backed off - it wasn't his place to listen in.
"Shifter, this is Cosmic Boy."
Relieved to hear your voice, Cos. We're having trouble on the Asian front. Reed went on to describe some of the things they'd encountered. We're being spread thin, and the Europe team can't spare anyone. Can you?
"Can't confirm yet, Shifter. Call back in one hour - six-oh minutes - on that."
Right. Good hunting. Shifter signed off.
"I'm going to take that recording to Dox for analysis - with all this magic crap, we need to check it's actually Reed. In the meantime, I want you to ask for volunteers to bolster the Asia team if need be. If we don't get called on here, then I'll find it safe to presume the only major fighting is on the Mexico border."
"You're not going yourself?" Jazmin asked.
"I'm going to need to report back to HQ on Coast City, but Ella, Igor and Quentin - who'll never volunteer - can cover the rest of the debrief, I think. And if the remainder of the team is needed somewhere in the field, then that's where they should be."
-------------------- My views are my own and do not reflect those of everyone else... and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic | Subscribe To Topic
