Heroes Rising Fiction: Dea Ex Machina Part 21

 The Legion capital starship dwarfed the BADGE space station five times over. Behind it, still swirling in the firmament, was the wormhole that had deposited this behemoth on Earth’s doorstep. Countless spheres ascended above the atmosphere and surrounded the ship like ants protecting their precious hill.

There were no heroes to defend the station. Only a few weapon platforms were currently buzzing with energy, waiting for the command to fire. The platforms appeared like gnats ready to strike an elephant.

On the command level of the ship was a throne room right out of a horror story. Dark and foreboding ancient alien technology flickered with power and was ready for use. An eerie green glow bathed the room, emitted by a series of tanks, each holding the naked body of the same person, tethered by cords and tubes that processed the body's needs.

One such tank drained of the fluid inside and the person within weakly moved for a moment before one of the attached tubes sent a bolt of energy that seemed to cause intense pain, but then he gained the strength to reach up and tear out the cords and tubes. The front of the tank opened, and he stepped out. A beam of light hit him, and a strange uniform made of fibers and metals covered his body.

“Computer, is the program online?” He asked.

The computer answered, “Artificial intelligence program fully uploaded and integrated. Waiting for your command, Lord Drocha.”

He smiled with his greenish-yellow lips, elated by the deference from the computer. This was his ship, his throne from which he would rule the universe. All will call him Lord or suffer annihilation.

“Computer, prepare to activate all spheres.”

“Yes, Lord Drocha.”

He walked up to the command console and pressed a button. A massive window opened that spread across the room, revealing a spectacular view of Earth, with the BADGE station and Arena floating right before him. However, it wasn’t the station or the planet that caused a frown on his alien face.

“Computer. Explain!”

“Please elaborate.”

Drocha held out his hand. “Why are the spheres up here? Send them back and THEN open them.”

The computer did not immediately respond, and nothing happened.

“COMPUTER!”

“Spheres not...zzzzzzzzz” The sound buzzed and then came music faintly in the distance.

“COMPUTER, RESPOND!” Drocha’s hands flew over the controls, but nothing seemed to get the computer to answer him. He then saw that the comm channel was open, waiting for him to respond. “Nova.” He spat out the name. “What game are you playing at now?” His hand slammed the control.

“You’re strangely calm for the end of the world.” Quark stated as he and Nova stood in the Operations center of the BADGE station.

Nova casually looked up at the monitors that were all focused on various views of the spheres and Drocha’s command ship. “The end hasn’t come yet; there is still a chance.”

Quark snapped his fingers, and a tall mixed drink appeared in them with a frilly umbrella straw. “Do you think Drocha will just leave and give us time to prepare for a response?”

“No. I think he will flee soon enough.”

“You’re either horribly optimistic or delusional,” Quark quipped.

“I am certain.” Nova stated and then smiled when he heard a beeping sound from the comm station. “And so we begin this game.”

The screen activated without his request, no doubt under Drocha’s hacked connection. Drocha glared at him from inside his command room, the clone tubes behind him.

Quark covered his eyes. “Ew, naked Drochas... not what I wanted to see.”

Drocha's eyes seethed with confident fury. “It is over, Nova.”

“I expected as much. I will accept your surrender. BADGE will allow you a full trial in accordance with international agreement 548 section...”

“I AM NOT SURRENDERING! I WILL SUNDER THIS WORLD AND MAKE IT MY FOOTSTOOL!” Drocha’s face darkened as he screamed.

Nova said, “It is over, and you don’t even realize it.”

The music in the room grew with voices singing.

Drocha had an irritated look in his eyes as he said, “What plans you have to distract me, to fool around, will not work.”

“I’m doing nothing.”

Drocha pointed at the screen. “When the time comes, I will have every one of my creations tear you apart. The mighty Nova might be powerful, but even you will not survive that.... TURN THAT MUSIC OFF!” He looked around.

Nova smiled, “That is not from my system.”

“Don’t be immature, Nova. This is not up to your tactics. Now turn that racket off!”

Nova calmly said, “It isn’t racket, it is Tempus est iocundum, and I am not playing it. It is coming from your system.”

“Impossible! This system responds to my commands, my whims and wishes. I didn’t ask for music, therefore it isn’t from me.” He grew increasingly irritated by the volume of the music. “TURN IT OFF!”

Nova got closer to the screen, a confidence in his posture. “Listen, Drocha. Listen closely. That music is not playing because I wanted it to. Do you not know who you took? Do you realize you made a foolish mistake that will be your undoing?”

“I MAKE NO MISTAKES!”

“Perhaps the real Drocha could claim that, but you are just an imitation. Drocha’s plan was brilliant. You captured morphon-infused humans and aliens and tainted them with powerful doses of corrupted morphons aligned with their affinity. But you made a fatal mistake when you chose one of your people. She is not human, she is not a morphon user; her strength came from something else, something stronger than you can possibly believe.”

“STOP IT!” Drocha pounded at his controls to stop the music.

Nova said, “You not only took her, but you took her husband, and you forced them to abandon their child. I fear what she is about to do to you.”

“WHO, DAMMIT, WHO!?”

Nova looked up just as the finale of O Fortuna exploded in the music. “DEA EX MACHINA, The goddess in your machine!”

A sphere nearest Drocha’s ship exploded in a massive purple eruption of power. The impact destroyed several spheres near it. A bright purple light remained in the center of the explosion. From it expanded two massive fairy wings that spread out for miles. They were like stained glass, with incredible colors and energy flowing from them.

In the middle of the wings, an enormous fairy woman appeared, Krystal Fae in her pure fairy form. Opening up her arms, she sent a massive wave of energy out that split more spheres, destroying them in a single, unmitigated strike of pure magic and rage. The ship rolled to the side as its shields flickered and buzzed, barely keeping it safe from her attack. The station and Arena were completely unaffected by the energy that passed right by them.

Krystal Fae held out her arms, her body a bright light that was casting a glow across half the planet below. From her emitted another wave of energy. As it moved through the cloud of spheres, several more exploded. Then another wave came from her, destroying more spheres.

“NO! Computer, respond! Weapons! I need weapons!” Drocha screamed as he fought his controls. The computer was flickering on and off, and the Carmina Burana’s grand finale continued to ring around him.

There was a surge of power, and one of the clone tanks exploded, spilling the liquid across the ground. The figure inside screeched, and surging power ripped apart its body. Then another tank broke, and another. The horrid biomatter that would have been a cloned Drocha lay on the ground, dead.

“Stop! Computer, someone! HELP!” Drocha beat the controls with his fists.

A holographic face appeared in the middle of the room, using the same projector he once used to give commands. Alex Fae Murphy looked at him. “You lose, Drocha.”

“You! This is not possible! The program ended and deleted you, turning you to digital ash! HOW!”

Alex laughed, “How it pleases me to see the mighty tactician flummoxed.”

Drocha slammed both fists onto the console in a fit of rage. “I will destroy you. I will punish…”

Alex’s face grew as he yelled over the fuming Drocha. “I will punish you! You took my wife, you threatened my daughter! I will make you pay in ways even Legion never imagined. We will make you pay!”

Drocha looked up at the windows, seeing the enormous face of Krystal staring at him as she used all her incredible strength to bring down what the entirety of Legion could break a thousand years ago.

“I won’t go down like this! You don’t have the power. This ship is mine! It only thinks for me, for my goals. I will... stop you... damn it!” He fought the controls.

Alex smiled. With each syllable, thousands of voices echoed, doubling, tripling, and multiplying his voice as he spoke. “You crafted this AI out of the minds of billions. You tried to extract their thoughts from their feelings. We are human. We are compassion, love, mercy, and unity. We are the HUMAN RACE.” The computers flickered off, and several screens exploded. A light blinked as a siren screamed, warning that the shields outside were failing. “Your army is defeated, your ship is naked, you will succumb to death once and for all, Drocha. You will suffer for what you did to us.”

Drocha staggered and stumbled as he ran back toward the throne in the middle of the room. “No one will destroy me at the brink of my ultimate victory!”

Alex laughed, “Your throne won’t save you.”

Drocha grabbed the armrest and ripped it open, revealing a control station. “In fact, it will. I am Drocha... I always have a plan.” He pressed a command into the throne and the computers all went dark, including the hologram of Alex.

A different computer voice announced, “Retreat engaged.”

Nova watched the screen with absolute glee as Krystal battered the ship with all her power. Then, in a flash of light, the ship sped backwards and entered a warp rift, vanishing from sight.

Quark asked, “What just happened?”

Nova said, “My guess is a tactical retreat. I never thought I’d see the day Drocha would run with his tail tucked.”

“Is it over?”

“I think it is.” Nova said as his comm buzzed, he clicked it on. “Nova here.”

Dr. Henderson’s voice came through. “Sir, you will not believe this.”

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Heroes Rising Story: Dea Ex Machina Part 20

 Nova yanked the massive sword out of Drocha’s chest and made a massive swing at his neck. Drocha fell forward and tumbled to the side. He shot out a blast of green energy from his hands, which met Nova’s blade. They were locked in a fight for a moment, but Nova fell back a few steps before regaining his stance.

Drocha quickly returned to his feet and held his chest. “Why... why isn’t this healing?” A trickle of greenish-yellow blood flowed from the hole in his body.

Nova raised his blade, expanding his angelic wings. A hard slam to the ground caused white energy to cut across Drocha, flipping him back and sending him flying across the street before he jarringly slammed into an abandoned building.

Drocha coughed for a moment while a long gash in his body, running from face down to the side of his chest, smoldered. Looking up at the confident Nova, Drocha quickly slammed his hands into the ground, and a wave of earth rolled quickly, a spike of rock jutting up right under Nova’s body. The rock spike caught Nova and launched him. He quickly recovered in the air, gliding down on his wings, his sword ready for another strike.

Clapping his hands together, Drocha summoned the corrupted element of tech within him, and all the technological items in the area swarmed at Nova. He dodged cars, a bus, and two lampposts. Parking meters barraged him, throwing him off course, and he tumbled across the pavement.

“VINCULA LIGA!” Drocha called out, and purple magical chains sprung out of the air and wrapped around Nova’s midsection, his legs, his wings, and one of his arms.

His hands held out with the power in them controlling these ethereal chains, Drocha approached the bound Nova. “You can’t win. You might be able to hurt me, but I control the morphons better than any hero. Tech, magic, strength, all of them... they bow to my will!”

Nova turned his icy gaze onto Drocha. “You have no power, Drocha. The morphons you control are corrupt, vile, evil.”

“They are power, and that is all that matters. You don’t have any idea what I intend to bring into this universe.”

Nova said, “You intend to recreate The Malevolence. You do not know what kind of power you are toying with. It will consume you.”

“I know exactly what I am dealing with. I was there when it was first discovered by Legion.”

Nova said, “I was before Legion ever came to be. I had one mission, one goal in this universe.”

Drocha came close, his confidence soaring at the sight of Nova’s struggle. “What would that be?”

With a hard snapping sound, the chain around Nova’s right hand shattered, and he swung his sword to break the chains on his legs. Soon, he had shattered them all and was ready to cut Drocha to pieces. “Fight corruption.”

Drocha reached up to fight, but the light that came from Nova’s wings pressed him down. Nova raised his sword, his wings spread wide with light exuding from them. “Do you not know why your healing wouldn’t work?”

Cowering in agony, Drocha cried out. “Make it stop!”

“Because with every strike, I destroy another corrupted morphon power in you.” Nova slashed down, cutting across Drocha’s chest, then across his side, his right arm, his left leg. Soon, very little of Drocha remained, yet he still had life in his eyes.

Nova aimed his sword at Drocha’s head.

“Stop!” Drocha rasped.

Nova hesitated. “Why would I?”

“Because you should know that this is utterly pointless.”

Nova asked, “Why?”

“I am a clone; my body is just a manufactured object. My mind... it is being uploaded as we speak.” Drocha smiled, with a wicked flicker in his eyes. “You and your heroes failed, as they were always destined to.” He laughed, and then his eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell against the ground.

“Failed?” Nova turned around to see the heroes, including Santa and EB, still trying to destroy the box. He realized what Drocha meant. “Oh, no. RUN!” He ran and then took flight toward the box. “RUN, RETREAT! MOVE!” Diving toward the heroes, he shoved as many out of the way as he could while Santa and EB evacuated the others.

An enormous explosion followed a flash of light.

Once the waves of destruction finally passed and the fireball had finished rising into the sky, Nova stood with Santa among the heroes watching the crater burn.

“What happened?” Santa asked.

EB said, “You killed him. Right?”

Nova shook his head. “That was never possible. Drocha... he was always ahead of us. The same tech as the ship in orbit constructed this box, his computer storage. Legions finest couldn’t destroy that. We never stood a chance. His upload was inevitable.”

The Gentleman asked, “Why put us through this fight then? Why defend it as if it were so important?”

Santa looked up at Nova. “It was you. He wanted to kill you.”

Nova nodded. “I underestimated his knowledge. Drocha knows I am a threat to him. At least, he believes that. He hoped to keep me here long enough for that explosion to kill me.”

EB said, “Well, jokes on him, you’re still alive and he’s dead and... ew... in pieces.” He saw the remains of Drocha scattered around the street.

Nova said, “No. That was just a body. He has an army of Drocha clones on that ship. His mind connected to the upload. He is waking up there in a fresh, new body.”

Santa added, “In a ship that controls these spheres and a new era of Legion is about to be born.”

Strange Quark appeared in a flash of blue light. Actually, a large blue platypus appeared, standing for a second before flopping over, swearing, and then finally transforming into Quark. “Sorry, in a hurry. You gotta see the news. Check your comms.”

Everyone quickly flicked on their comms to the INN breaking news. They saw a shaky cellphone video of silver spheres flying upward. A voice from the desk spoke, “We are receiving reports from all over the planet. The Renn Tech spheres are ascending into the atmosphere. Every country is showing the spheres are leaving. The Legion creatures that are in combat with BADGE heroes remain and the fight continues, but the spheres are leaving. Governments are still trying to activate their nuclear arms in response to the threatening vessel in orbit. However, the sight of the spheres leaving is raising optimism among the population, though at this time we are uncertain as to the reason or outcome of the spheres removing themselves from our cities. We...”

Nova cut the comm. “This isn’t right.”

EB asked, “You think this is maybe, possibly, hopefully, a good thing?”

Nova shook his head. “Until we are certain Drocha is dead, any action taken by his tech is a threat. But, something is odd about this.”

Santa said, “Why remove his army from our planet?”

“Precisely,” Nova said. “What is his game? Damn it, I hate being behind our enemy at every step.”

Quark asked, “What do we do?”

Nova said, “You get me back to the station. Santa, heroes, get out there and stop those Legion Creatures we are still fighting. We may be behind him, but we are still going to put up a worthwhile fight.”

Santa said, “We will prove you right. This world is protected.”

EB said, “Hey, you hear something?”

Turning back around, Nova frowned. “Yes. I hear something. It sounds like... music?”

Tri-Blade pointed to the comm. “It’s coming from there.”

Nova held up his comm. “It can’t be. It isn’t... on.” Putting it to his ear, he frowned. “I hear it.”

“Something wrong with the comm channels?” The Gentleman asked.

Nova had the hint of a smile on his face before he said, “Nothing to worry about. Just do your duty. This day is not lost yet.”

In a flash of blue light, Quark transported Nova back to the station while the others left to fulfill their orders.

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Robert Ragan aka Chromatic Death: In Memoriam

In Memoriam Chromatic Death
Real Life Name: Robert Ragan

Rob was a cornerstone for Heroes, Villains, and Renegades (he even spearheaded the contest that changed the name from Heroes Rising to Heroes, Villains, and Renegades!). Having been a player since the early inception when it was Heroes Rising, his main toon was Chromatic Death, and he later created the toon Artemisia (which is now forever imortalized as "Dev Toon Artemisia"). He loved the game so much and wanted to see it grow, and he believed in it so much that he joined up with Justin and Cat Castle Games in October 2024 to do marketing for the game. Sadly, his time on this Earth was struck short when unexpected tradgedy took him from us in September 2025. He was a great guy, enthusiastic about HVR and life in general, who loved his friends and family dearly and took great care of them. Rob helped shape Heroes, Villains, and Renegades through collaboration with the devs and players alike, and was an endless source of positivity and enthusiasm for the game and the community as a whole. He is sorely missed.

Robert's widow, Kelli Ragan, shares her moving story of her life with Rob in her GoFundMe: Help Kelli Rebuild After Robert's Passing. Any support in the form of donations is much appreciated.

A tribute to all past Heroes is located in-game under the BADGE tab ➡️ BADGE HQ ➡️ HALL OF HEROES.

If you would like to write something nice to leave in memoriam, write and submit here. All Inscriptions are read by the devs before being approved for display, so keep it tasteful. Inscriptions are anonymous unless you input your name/user into text as part of the inscription. Thank you.

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Heroes Rising Fiction: Dea Ex Machina Part 19

 

The Avenger blasted two beams of radioactive power from his fists as he skidded across the ground in a crouching slide. Drocha took the blast and pushed his hands into the power. With a throwing motion of both hands, Drocha sent the beams to either side of him. Dashing toward The Avenger, Drocha called out a bolt of dark purple electricity from his hands. The Avenger held up his arms, and an energy barrier stopped the blast.

The Gentleman ran in from the side and used a mechanical gauntlet on his right arm to fire a repeating blast of energy.

Drocha was hit and thrown into rubble from the Renn Tech building. He rebounded quickly, grabbing a massive chunk of concrete and throwing it at The Gentleman. No sooner had the concrete left his hand did he turn and called a strange force of gravity to flatten The Avenger to the ground.

“This is child’s play. Hardly any effort, heroes.” Drocha taunted them.

Clearly, he was suffering more than he expected. The shock of each hit was apparent in his eyes. Nova’s orders to keep the corrupted spheres had paid off. In this fight, the heroes felt stronger if they had them. But it still didn’t seem enough to completely bring him down.

Tri-Blade came flying down as he threw both of his enchanted daggers at the floating box that was currently uploading the massive AI program to the ship above.

A wave of energy sent the daggers flying away, and Drocha quickly flew toward Tri-Blade, grabbing the hero by the neck and throwing him against the ground in a hard slam.

“Now, now. Let’s not mess with Daddy’s office. Kids should play with their own toys.” He flicked his arms out, and a series of energy blasts in the shape of knives rained down on Tri-Blade.

An eggshell covered Tri-Blade. The energy knives stuck into it one by one until it exploded. EB rushed in at his typical blinding speed and threw a barrage of his exploding eggs at Drocha. “DODGE THAT YOU ARROGANT MUTANT!”

Drocha blocked the first ten, but the three hundred that followed nailed him with an endless series of minor explosions. He crashed into the side of the box of his office and then hit the ground.

“HE’S DOWN! KILL THAT BOX THINGY!” EB yelled and began throwing his eggs at the box.

The heroes all targeted the same place and threw everything they had at it. An energy barrier flickered and buzzed.

The Avenger called out, “It can’t last forever.” He poured as much energy as he could into destroying Drocha’s box.

A massive eruption from the ground sent hundreds of chunks of concrete at the heroes. That was followed by a massive wave of energy that pressed them all to the ground. Drocha, dripping with greenish-yellow blood, rose into the air. His wounds were healing before their eyes as he hovered in the air, his hands controlling the gravity force pressing them into the dirt.

“Legion tech has withstood eons before this world had civilization. You think a few blasts of your pitiful power can stop me?” He flew toward them, still pressing them down. “Do you know the endgame? The reason for Legion? We never conquered worlds; we destroyed them. We sought only the most powerful to join our ranks. But that was not the end goal. Building a legion of elites loyal to a leader is hardly desirable if the result is all civilization across the universe burns. No, Drocha, my creator, had a vision. It was Drocha who discovered the true power of the morphons. How that these particles gave incredible strength and unique abilities to those deemed worthy. But the avatars, the gods of the morphons, refused to let him become a god among them. So, Drocha used his incredible power, his brilliant mind, to craft corrupted, twisted morphons. Using them, he would develop a new pantheon of power. Drocha would bless his generals, and those he deemed worthy would rule this universe as a new heavenly realm. Drocha would rule as supreme god, and his avatars of the corrupt morphons would reign over all mortals. We would crush the inferior avatars and dominate. That, my dear fools, is what our goal remains.”

Tri-Blade gagged out, “Why are you... telling us... this?”

Drocha drew closer to him and said, “Because, for some reason, the avatars gave your race powers. You didn’t have to beg or barter or corrupt anything. You harness the power that Drocha desired for eons. And yet you treat it as nothing. You are undeserving. This world is a blight in the eyes of the true god that will rule the cosmos.”

At that moment, Santa’s sleigh flew by. A sword hit Drocha across his midsection, leaving a long bloody gash that oozed yellow. Drocha went face down, his blood spilling across the ground.

Santa jumped out of the sleigh and landed near Drocha’s fallen body, his sword ready for more. He said, “This world was chosen because they have honor and compassion, something that the almighty Drocha never understood.”

The Gentleman rose to his feet, taking deep breaths. “You... you beat him.”

EB hopped up and down. “Of course he did. Santa is AWESOMESAUCE!”

Santa stood back as Drocha’s broken body rose, the gash in his chest slowly mending itself. Santa readied for an attack. “This is far from over. His powers are unstable and beyond any of you right now. I will keep him busy. Destroy that box before it finishes the upload.”

Drocha stood before Santa, glaring at him with his empty eyes. “You know you cannot stop me.”

Santa readied his weapon. “I don’t have to; I just need to keep your attention.”

Drocha turned to go after the heroes again when Santa attacked him with his sword. Drocha jumped back and grabbed the lower half of a lamppost, swinging it to counter. He met each of Santa’s strikes.

Santa struck Drocha’s improvised sword and pushed down on the villain. With a wicked smile, Santa said, “Having trouble countering my strength?”

Drocha struggled against Santa’s might. He growled at Santa, “You will succumb; everyone does.”

“You harness your false morphons to counter the power of morphons in the heroes. We Vexillians don’t use Morphons for power, which was why we were so hard to fight.”

Drocha purposely fell back and twirled on the ground to avoid Santa’s strike. With a hard swing, he hit Santa’s legs and toppled the old general. Drocha flipped up onto his feet and held the post above his head for a hard strike. “If I recall, Vexillia fell.” He swung down like a hammer to hit Santa in the head.

An exploding egg hit the post just in time to knock it away. EB rushed over and hit Drocha with five eggs that exploded into gummy goo that acted like inflating bubble gum, which messed with his ability to move his limbs for a moment.

“Vexillia remains while we still live, you piece of Legion trash!” EB ran to Santa, who was getting to his feet. “You okay?”

“I’ve been better. Seven centuries are taking their toll on this old general.”

They watched Drocha rip the gum off his body.

EB smiled and conjured an egg in each paw. “We can take him.”

Santa looked up at Drocha, who was now preparing for the next round. “No. We can’t.”

Drocha laughed, “Giving up so quickly. Afraid you can’t defeat me?”

Santa shook his head. “We can’t defeat you.”

“WHAT?” EB gasped.

Santa smiled. “But he can.”

A giant sword jammed into Drocha’s chest from behind and was shoved until the hilt touched his back. 

Nova stood behind him, glowing bright eyes, and wings on his back. He whispered into Drocha’s ear. “This world is protected.”

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Heroes Rising Fiction: Dea Ex Machina Part 18

 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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Heroes Rising Fiction: Dea Ex Machina Part 17

 Moments before the sky darkened;

Nova watched the screen as he followed Justin and EB’s investigation of the Renn Tech HQ in Seattle, Washington.

EB moaned, “There’s nothing here. I can name all the chunks of this building. That one’s Charlie, that one looks like a Deb, and this one is Phillip... since it has all these screws in it.” EB was poking at the bits of the destroyed building.

Justin said, “I hate to admit it, but EB’s right. We’ve scanned and scanned this place. The only oddity is there is a strange blip when we get near his office. But, BADGE robots and five specialists have scoured the remains of his office and the ground under it for five miles below the surface. There is nothing here.”

Nova said, “Go back to The Oracle and see if he can check your readings with his computers.”

EB groaned, “Seriously! We are never going to find...”

“EB, JUST DO IT!” Nova bellowed into the comm.

“Okay, okay, don’t blow your top, sheesh.” EB said, “I’ll zap us to The Oracle. Ready Justin,” He waved his paw, and a flash of power surrounded them, but went nowhere. They remained in the middle of the rubble of Drocha’s former office.

Justin asked, “What just happened?”

“Dunno,” EB said as he looked at his paws. “This normally works. I’m really good at teleportation magic. Let me try again.” He clapped his paws together, and the flash happened, but they remained. “Okay, now this is just annoying. Seriously, I use this magic all the time, especially at Easter. It has… Oh, wait! Oh, wait! I know this!!!” EB hopped up and grabbed Justin’s arm, so he could look at Nova directly. “Something’s blocking my teleportation. The only thing that can block folding space teleportation magic is... you know this, buddy, I know you do.” He smiled at Nova.

Nova’s mouth hung open. “Space is already folded. An interdimensional pocket in space.” He quickly clicked his comm. “Gar, have the Quantum Wave Generator focused into a rotating frequency beam and direct it at the location of Drocha’s office in the destroyed Renn Tech Building.”

“Um... what?” Gar replied.

A robot behind Gar said, “Orders confirmed, activating Quantum Wave Generator.”

Fortunately, the robots listened closely when Nova gave orders.

***

Drocha had been watching this situation. He could see both Justin and EB standing in the middle of the rubble. At first, their tenacity amused him. They had searched this place so many times already, and found exactly what he wanted them to find. They were wasting their time. Though he had to admit he found it interesting that they came back here, as if they knew it was the logical choice. He gave them credit for being that wise.

Then he heard EB make the connection. “That irritating rabbit figured it out.” This made him sit up and pay closer attention. However, he couldn’t hear Nova on the other end of the call. The scrambling of the signal to Nova prevented anyone from listening in with spying tech.

“What are you idiots going to do now?” He whispered as he watched them simply standing there.

The room he was in rang like a drum, and the computers within flickered. He could hear a loud pounding noise above him, like a massive waterfall crashing on top of a tin roof.

“No, no, no, this can’t be happening. Not yet.” He hurried to his Legion computer and called up the specs of the alien tech that was folding space around him. A red warning message appeared on the screen telling him that his room was being pushed out of flux and into normal space.

“Come on, recalculate the specs. Move power into the secondary system... come on, MOVE!” He attempted to counter this with little success.

The red warning sign appeared again on the screen, and Drocha snarled as he looked at a different part. “I know, stop telling me... oh, wait a minute.” He saw this was a different message. His fury returned to joy as he no longer worried about being revealed.

“Time’s up, BADGE.”

***

The screen in Nova’s room displayed the horrible truth. Outside the station, the rift in space opened, expanding wide with a strange cloud of energy from inside a wormhole. The cloud swirled around, creating a dark vortex that spread far. A deep shadow cast over the planet, cutting off the sun’s light.

Gar’s voice boomed through the comms. “DIRECTOR, A SHIP IS EMERGING FROM THE CENTER OF THAT!”

Nova had no response, just a deep, terrible, icy feeling in his gut as he watched an ancient Legion mothership pierce the center of the vortex. This was older than any known Legion tech. There were few alive who would recognize this style of technology, and Nova was one of them. He has seen this in a time before recorded history on Earth, before the Vexillians fought the Legion War, in the days when Nova and Lady Echidna were lovers, not enemies.

Gar broke his focus. “Sir, please come to Operations. I don’t know what to do. We need you.”

Nova glanced back at the sleeping baby. He had little choice. Grabbing his comm unit and taking up his legendary sword, he raced to the lift and sped away.

In moments, he burst through the door of the lift and raced down to stand with Gar. “Sensor information! NOW!” He looked up at the many various video feeds of that ship surrounded by the vortex of clouds.

A robot announced, “Quantum interference is blocking most available sensors. Active sensors cannot penetrate the vessel’s hull.”

Nova said, “Get me Strange Quark. I want him here immediately!”

Before the robot could respond, Quark appeared beside him. “I heard you.”

“Can you do anything?” Nova asked.

Quark shook his head. “Legion tech messes with my powers worse than anything, and with that wormhole around it, I’m afraid of ripping the fabric of space and time in this sector if I do something. I need information.”

“We don’t have any,” Nova stated.

A robot announced, “Defense sensors are active. Information available.”

“By all means, what do they say?” Nova demanded.

“Defense sensors indicate five thousand level twenty weapon target systems online and scanning the planet’s surface, the BADGE League Wars Orbital Stadium, and BADGE space station. No active weapons detected.”

Nova said, “That thing is already picking out targets.”

Quark frowned as he closed his eyes. “No, I can feel it. It isn’t targeting the planet exactly... It’s targeting much smaller objects.” With a slow opening of his eyes and a look of horror on his face, he said, “It’s targeting each of the spheres and active Legion clones. It isn’t targeting them; it’s connecting to them.”

“This can’t be good.” Nova said.

Gar held up a tablet. “Director, the Global Defense network has picked up the targeting. It has put the global defenses on alert.”

Nova grabbed the tablet and looked at it. “Damn! This is going to spread panic, or worse.”

“What could be worse than a global panic?” Quark asked.

Nova looked back up at the screen. “A planet-wide preemptive strike from a hundred nuclear-powered governments who don’t even know what they are attacking.”

“Oh, crap,” was Quark’s inarticulate response.

“All nuclear weapons activated,” stated the robot. “Fifty percent of nuclear weapon targets are targeting spheres; the others are targeting the spaceship approaching the planet.”

Nova bellowed, “Get me the United Nations, black alert channel! If they don’t pick up in five seconds, force the signal through. I don’t want...”

Everyone jumped when the screens all changed, activating a different feed entirely. Ten different views of Drocha’s putrid yellow, scaly face smiled down at them. His visage was that of the alien creature that spawned him, not the false human face he wore.

“It’s so nice to finally see you, Nova. You’re a hard man to find.”

***

Sirens screamed across the planet, all emitting a warning of utter doom. Military bases prepared their worst response. Missile silos opened, and nuclear weapons activated.

The news cut through every channel from the global emergency response system. “This is a priority alert to all citizens of Earth. Go to a shelter immediately if you haven’t gone to one already. The Global Emergency Response system has activated all nuclear weapons. God help us all.”

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Heroes Rising Fiction: Dea Ex Machina Part 16

Nova swayed gently with a baby sleeping in his arms. His private secret quarters flashed and flickered with the images running across his computer screens. Not unlike Drocha, he too had a dozen screens displaying the carnage in the world. Sirens screamed, local and national militaries organized to evacuate civilians, and heroes fought to the death against the growing menace of the Legion clones.

The door of his room opened and closed. Dr. Henderson walked in with a computer tablet in one hand. She stopped and stood next to him, taking in the horrific sights.

“I have to admit, you’re taking this calmly.” She said.

Nova turned and walked away from the screens, still rocking the baby. “Trust me, doctor, I feel it all. I learned a long time ago to focus myself, to seek the path through the storm. If I let myself get lost in the grief and horror of the moment, then the enemy wins.”

She held out the tablet. “From Gar, a report on all of... this.” She gestured to the screens.

He took it with one hand and looked it over. “This is getting worse by the moment.”

“If I read that correctly,” Dr. Henderson said, “the clones are all steadily getting stronger. And they spiked this morning, jumping to incredible strength.”

Nova flicked through the tablet with his thumb. “We aren’t capturing them any longer; Leagues and Rangers are simply containing them as best as they can. We’ve lost two dozen heroes already, and four hundred citizens.”

“What do we do?” She asked.

Nova said, “Find Drocha and his control center before that ship arrives. Stop him and figure out how to shut down the wormhole before it completely opens.”

She asked, “Can’t we close the wormhole without having to find Drocha?”

“We have a quantum wave generator that could be fine-tuned to try, but wormholes are dangerous at the best of times. Few spacefaring civilizations ever found a way to control them for travel. One slight miscalculation and it rips apart this entire solar system. The risk is too great. Even Strange Quark, who understands these things better than anyone I know, won’t touch it without getting into Drocha’s computers first.”

“That’s bad. We...” Dr. Henderson’s comm unit beeped at her. She pulled it out of her lab coat and clicked it on. “Henderson here.”

One of her assistants said, “Doctor, it’s Gamer G. He wants to speak with Nova. Say’s it’s urgent.”

Nova put the baby in the crib and then took the comm unit from Dr. Henderson. “This is Nova, put him on.”

“Oh, uh, yes, sir.”

Gamer G’s voice came through clearly. “I don’t want to talk to the doctor; I need to talk to Nova.”

“This is Nova.”

“Oh, good. Hey, I just had this incredible spike in my energy readings I’ve been monitoring using the tech Drocha left me.”

“We know. We saw it too.” Nova was slightly frustrated by this seemingly unimportant discovery.

“Well, then you know it lit up something like a firework.”

Nova frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Look, I’ve been studying the signals that your people followed that led to me. The signals are now dead, like totally dormant. But, when that spike happened, there was a suddenly flair, and it stuck around in one location for a full thirty-four point two seconds.”

“And?” Nova asked.

“This kind of signal can only be made by a Legion computer; I should know. And for almost half a minute, I was seeing a legion computer lit up hot. If there is any place to look for Drocha, it’s where there’s a random Legion computer.”

Nova had a refreshed look of determination in his eyes. “Send me those coordinates. Also, work with Gar and use every available scanner on this station and planet to scan that location.”

“Can do. Agent Gamer out.”

“You’re not an agent.” Nova said and turned off his comm.

Dr. Henderson said, “You have to admit, he’s being helpful.”

“He trapped us all in a simulation that nearly murdered eight billion people.” Nova commented.

“Point made.”

Nova punched in his comm channel and connected with Justin. “Justin, are you there?”

Justin appeared on the screen, looking down at his watch. “Director?”

“I am sending you coordinates. Check them out right away. We have a lead.” Nova sent along the coordinates that Gamer gave him.

Justin frowned as he looked at them. “Sir, this can’t be anything of value. We checked that place thoroughly. Not to mention we have a BADGE unit stationed there to monitor the rubble.”

Nova looked at the map after plugging in the coordinates. It was then he realized where this was. “Renn Tech HQ?”

EB jumped up, grabbed Justin’s arm, and yanked it down so he could look at the screen. “Ugh, not there again. I don’t think there’s a piece of rubble we haven’t turned over. No one is there, cept maybe some rats and bugs that got in. Plus, it smells funny.”

“Just go. We’re running out of time, and this is finally new information.”

Justin pulled his arm away from EB and said, “On our way.”

The screen shut off.

Dr. Henderson said, “Could this be a false alarm? That was Drocha’s place before it was destroyed.”

“If there had been even a microscopic piece of Legion tech there when we scoured that place, we would have found it. Something set off the sensors as Legion tech, and I want to know what it was. This has to mean something.”

***

Chaotic winds and ice crashed around the heart of Africa as dozens of heroes attempted to contain the icy form of Adrianne. A blast of intense cold struck hero after hero and sent them crashing to the ground frozen.

Santa swooped in and jumped from his sleigh, landing in the middle of the battle. “RETREAT! GET OUT OF HERE!” he screamed with a magical roar. His hands filled with power as he rushed toward her.

“YOU HEARD HIM, MOVE!” Trailblazer yelled, leading the retreat away from the fray. Heroes stopped to gather their frozen comrades, while others simply ran.

Santa sent blasts of fiery energy at Adrianne. “I’ve taken down a dozen Legion monsters like you!” he threatened her.

She screamed, “I will freeze this world... I....” Struck by a blast of his magic, she staggered back and then looked up with different eyes. “Stop me! Please!” She begged and then threw another blast of cold at him.

Santa balled up a bundle of his magical power and threw it at her. She deflected it and then sent a series of ice spikes back at him. He cast a barrier that shattered the spikes.

“I WILL END YOU!” Adrianne rose into the air, the gales turning into a hurricane and her hands readying a powerful energy.

Santa was ready with his own response when suddenly a hero bounded through the air and crashed into her, plowing her into the ground. They tumbled across the frozen wasteland until coming to as top. Arx was on top of her, pinning her down.

“Release me!” She screamed.

Arx pulled her to her feet, standing with her arms pinned to her sides by his grip. She was powerful but not as physically strong as him. His hands were frosting over where he held her, the pain in him obvious by the look in his eyes. "I will never leave you."

She cried, a weeping wail of mixed sorrow and fury, two minds fighting for control. "Please! Don't make me kill you!" 

"I will die in your arms." He pulled her close and kissed her with passion. She struggled at first, but then folded into him, returning the passionate kiss. The storms slowed down as the sky cleared up.

Parting from her, Arx said, “Come back to me. Please. I will save you.”

She jerked and groaned, “I... I can’t control it. It hurts so much. Leave me before I kill you. Please.”

“I would rather die here than watch you be taken from me again.”

Smiling at him, she said, “I love you.” Her pain seemed to lessen; her struggling weakened.

Santa approached slowly. “Adrianne... are you with us?”

She looked Arx in the eyes with a loving gaze and then grimaced in agony. “The power... in me... it’s burning... the world is... in danger.”

The skies turned dark, but it was no ice storm. Stars and the moon appeared as something blocked the sun. A strange celestial cloud expanded far above the atmosphere of the planet.

Santa looked up, and his rosy cheeks turned white. “Oh God.... it’s here.”

With an ear-splitting scream, Adrianne’s body emanated a blue aura, and her eyes were blindingly bright lights. Arx struggled to hold her. A thick fog of freezing air poured from her body and spread across the ground, what was icy earth became tundra. A blistering, cold world spread fast and far. Arx's arms had ice growing up toward his torso, his morphonic resistance slowly failing as she locked the world in pure ice.

“ARX! LEAVE HER! SHE’LL FREEZE YOU TO DEATH!”

Arx held her closer. “GO! SAVE YOURSELF! I WON’T LET HER DIE ALONE!”

“Damnit!” Santa ran as he rubbed the side of his nose. With a perfectly executed jump, his sleigh met him and sped away from the frozen Arctic Africa. He looked back to see Arx once again embracing Adrianne, their bodies connected, their faces frozen in a kiss. 

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