The world screamed around Arx. Unbearable cold spun around him in a cyclone that expanded out across the heart of Africa. Heroes fled the growing catastrophe. A few maintained a barrier around the extent, bitterly trying to contain the ice.
Arx had Adrianne in his arms, holding her close to him. The horrible pain of cold that was cutting at his flesh and burning his muscles was not enough for him to give up on her.
She struggled, fought against him with a wailing scream that twisted into a sobbing cry.
“Please... let me go.” She yelled over her own hurricane of ice.
Arx yelled back, “I will not leave. I won’t let you destroy the world.”
She looked him in the eyes, hers as clear as the day he met her. “Let me go.”
Arx only then realized what she was saying. This wasn’t the monster Drocha created; it was the remnant of the person inside. Ice formed at the corners of Arx’s eyes; he couldn’t control the tears. “I can’t. I have never loved anyone as much as I love you.”
“I’m gone. There is nothing left of me but this.” She struggled and grunted as she fought the invasive thoughts planted into her mind. “No! I won’t!” She writhed back and forth, resisting the demon within her.
“Fight it! Don’t let it win!” Arx yelled.
“I’m not strong enough... I can’t... it hurts so much... I can’t stop this!” she screamed over and over as the surrounding energy grew stronger, the storm sped up and threatened more of the continent.
“Stay with me! Don’t give up! Fight this to the bitter end!” Arx doubted the demon in her would let her hear anything he said.
In a moment of clarity, she looked up at him one last time. “Save yourself.”
Arx flattened himself against her and pressed his lips onto hers. She grabbed him with her hands like claws digging into his flesh. He did not stop; he held her to him and embraced her with all he could. Her grip on him turned loving, and she returned his kiss.
The storm calmed down as the energy fled back into her. She beamed a bright blue. In an instant, they froze solid while still embraced.
Santa lowered the sleigh back to the ground as he and the remaining heroes watched the storm subside and the icy winds vanish. Though still frozen, the August heat of Africa had already started to thaw the ground.
“General Santa, what’s going on?” A younger hero asked, her hand still up ready to create a barrier again if the storm returned.
Santa pulled out an ornate spyglass and looked through it. He scanned the area and then his gaze fell upon the frozen couple. “Oh, no.”
“What is it?” She asked.
Santa slowly put the spyglass away. “He did it. He stopped her. Why must victory always come at such a high price?”
“What do we do now, sir?” She asked.
Santa looked at his comm device on his sleigh. “Looks like we are being called to Seattle. Follow me.” He snapped the reins, and the sleigh quickly launched into a low flight and sped up as a portal opened. Heroes followed behind him, speeding into the warp.
***
Before that:
A metallic box hovered in the middle of the air above the center of the destroyed Renn Tech building. Small lights flickered on the outside, while the surface reflected the miasma cloud that blocked the sunlight from above. BADGE guards surrounded the object at a great distance, all training weapons on it. Justin held his communicator up to his face, desperately trying to get Nova back on the channel while EB held an exploding egg in his paws ready to throw.
“Is Drocha in that box?” EB asked.
Justin said, “That’s a safe bet. I just wish I could get Nova back on; something is blocking the comms.”
“Let’s just break this box open and get Drocha.” EB tossed the egg up and down in his paw, eager to slam it into the object.
Justin said, “We need to be certain. I would hate to trigger a trap or kill an ally. We thought we had him when we found Gamer G.”
EB admitted, “Good point.”
Nova glared at the horrible visage before him. Drocha, as he appeared in his original form, smiled at them through their monitors. He seemed to have complete control over their systems and was taking delight in looking down on them.
With a calm, threatening tone, Nova said, “This is far from over, Drocha. We’ve defeated Legion before, and we will do it again.”
Drocha merely smiled. “The Legion you defeated before was not Drocha’s, not my creators. They feared him enough to banish him. His plan, in me, is far more than this pitiful world can handle. Not only are your best heroes currently occupied by just a tiny portion of my creatures, the nations of this world are about to irradiate the planet in a desperate attempt to fight what they barely understand.”
“Never under-estimate me or this world. I have seen it through worse times than this.”
Drocha scoffed at him. “I doubt that. Fortunately for me, Legion tech is way beyond simple nuclear weaponry. It will reduce the surface of this world to radioactive dust. And given a little time, this world will be my home to launch a new, more powerful Legion. On the mass graves of the former human race, an empire that spans this galaxy and beyond will be born. An empire without end. And it will begin with these people killing themselves. I will simply sit here and watch.”
Nova’s gaze looked to the side. He could see Gar desperately trying to cut through the interference to get the United Nations on the line. He knew better than to offer surrender. Drocha doesn’t want cowering populaces; he wants death.
Drocha looked at his computer and leaned closer to the camera so his face filled the screen. “Time’s up.” He smiled and waited, then lost his arrogance as he looked back at his monitor. “What? The systems are offline?”
Nova looked back at his Gar and found him confused, then he looked at the robots; they were not doing much of anything. Something stopped the nuclear launch.
“Doomsday will have to wait, Drocha.” Nova didn’t question this turn of events; it was in his favor, and that is all that mattered.
Drocha pounded his computer in fury. “The spheres won’t respond! The ship... it needs the program.”
“Surrender, or I will destroy you.”
Drocha laughed, “This is nothing. The AI program is uploading to the ship now. Once it is in place, that ship will command every creation, every sphere, and a dozen Drocha clones will activate. The war, my dear Director Nova, has only begun.”
“I will send every available hero to take you down, you...” Nova’s threat was cut off by a slam of Drocha’s fist against the computer console in front of his camera and a wild face.
“Bring them to me! I will buy all the time I need while I rip apart all of your heroes. So many are occupied right now, but I’ll take the dregs. If they thought fighting my creations difficult, they have no idea what I’m capable of!” He destroyed the camera with a quick punch of his fist.
Gar said, “We have the comms back. The United Nations is screaming mad.” He held up the special comm device for a Black Alert.
Nova waved his hand. “Tell them I’ll call back.” He clicked his own comm and pressed the all-call button. “Director Nova to every available hero, head to Seattle. Meet me at the Renn Tech HQ remains.”
Gar asked, “You are going?”
Nova pulled out his sword. “Drocha’s right. This is a threat like few we’ve faced before. None of us can sit on the sidelines. Robot 10915, you have Operations. Quark, get us down there.”
Quark smiled and snapped his fingers. All three vanished in a flash of blue light.
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