Chase said, “Good thing we found that abandoned liquor store in Reykjavik.”
Quark groaned, “I have never been so out of my head. I don’t know what happened. The last thing I remember was the fight at Fort Knox. No, wait... I remember a chair and a lot of pain. I heard voices, or really another voice in my head.”
Nova asked, “Who was in your head?”
“Lady Phoenix. She was...” Quark looked up, sorrow in his eyes, “scared. She is terrified. But, she isn’t there now. I feel normal. Okay, well, as normal as I can be this low on booze.” He took another swig.
“How did you know to create those turkeys?” Gar asked.
“Turkeys… turkeys…” Quark gasped. “Then, that really happened! I knew heroes would need help, so I gathered up the ambient morphons in the air and transformed them into something tangible. I guess I was thinking about Thanksgiving and all.”
“Whatever you were thinking, it seemed to help.” Nova turned back to the holographic image in the middle of the shuttle. A scientist waited to be addressed. “Update on the solar situation?”
“It’s getting much worse. The Mythics are providing enough light and warmth to help the evacuations. But, they’re losing power quickly. I estimate we have less than five hours before they can no longer help us. That won’t be enough time to reach everyone.”
Nova said, “That’s why we’re going to stop this at it’s source.” He flicked the screen away with a swipe of his hand. “Chase, Gar, get ready to head out, I’ll need you to help lead this battle from the ground and air. I will be here, monitoring things.”
Quark said, “wait, what about me? I...” He stood up to protest being left out, but wobbled and flopped back into his seat. “I think I will help observe from here.”
Nova looked back at Quark, “Good idea.”
Quark reached over and held both Gar’s and Chase’s hand. “Here, one last blast before you head out.” He lit up a bright blue and that sparkling energy covered them. He let go of their hands and said, “give ’em hell.”
“I need not a host. As I gather the power from the sun, I will remake myself.”
Krampus frowned, “But, my lady...” a blast of energy stopped him. Turning, he swatted at a pair of heroes flying directly for him. “PATHETIC PESTS. HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO DEFEAT YOU!”
The shuttle landed on the island of Surtsey, the side doors immediately opening with Gar and Chase both racing out. Heroes of all stripes returned, each with a new aura of energy around them thanks to the turkeys they had all found.
Gar spread hid wings and ran hard. Once he was moving fast enough, he lifted off and swooped up into the skies. Chase dodged left and right as heroes came bounding across the ground.
The moment the heroes came close enough, the ruby blasted out that red power. Waves of energy spread over the armies of heroes. This time, it did not instantly throw them away. Sunspot led several other heroes who grounded themselves by standing firmly on the black pumice. Each returned the onslaught of red energy with waves of orange, white, and yellow energies coming from their hands. The ruby’s power diminished, and the heroes bore down on both enemies.
The voice from the ruby yelled, “STOP THEM, YOU FOOL!”
Krampus launched himself at the throngs of heroes. He lashed out with his massive, clawed hands, kicked at them with his enormous feet, and fought with all the strength he had. This time, though, they were overwhelming him quickly.
Gar flew down, with Fiero and Hotwings right behind him. He led them toward Krampus’s face. With a quick turn, he swooped back up, grabbed one of Krampus’s horns and yanked his head back. Hotwings nailed Krampus in the cheek with an energy blast while Fiero shoved him with a massive telekinetic push. Krampus stumbled back, shaking the Earth as he struggled to stay upright.
Gar let go of the horn and flew down. He yelled at the heroes on the ground, “GET HIM DOWN! WE NEED HIM DOWN!”
Half the heroes on Surtsey focused on the overwhelmed Krampus. Energy bombs. Laser beams and other various projectiles hit the unbalanced enemy, and he fell. The shaking of the ground stumbled more than one running hero, and the flying heroes broke away for a moment to regroup.
Like the Lilliputians ganging up on Gulliver, the heroes stormed the fallen Krampus. They almost had him when he suddenly slammed the ground with both arms, causing an even greater Earthquake. In the moment of confusion, he flashed and was back to a normal human size. With speed to match any hero, he zoomed through the heroes, nailing one after another with well-placed punches and swipes of his deadly claws. Men and women flew away from his blurry onslaught, blood and bruises left in his wake.
Gar recognizing this attack from his encounter in Australia. He watched the blurry enemy zipping around the heroes, out matching their attempts at stopping him. With a surge of that temporary power, Gar sped down and hit the ground right in the path of Krampus. Both Krampus and Gar met in a body slam, each flying away from the other in uncontrolled tumbles.
Krampus lay on his back, a little winded for the encounter. Heroes were ganging up on him again, at least those who were the least injured in his speed attack.
“I can still fight the lot of you!” Krampus pushed himself up. However, just as he was about to his feet, he was met by waves of water. Then a giant green hand grabbed him.
Midgardsormr rose from the waters, glowing in that aura. He towered over the heroes and held Krampus in his hand. “TIME FOR A REMATCH!”
Krampus struggled for a moment, then suddenly also grew to his enormous size. “LET’S GO!”
At that moment, a massive explosion was followed by a huge fireball. The ensuing shock wave was so great that it threw even Krampus and Midgard clear into the waters.
Gar, laying on the ground, looked up at the blazing light and gasped, “no!”
Moments before:
“No, focus on the ruby! Destroy it!” Chase called out as she led a smaller band of the heroes.
Heroes threw everything they had at the glowing ruby hanging in the sky above the island. Arcane heroes were focusing all their power in a spell to encapsulate the ruby, hoping to cut off its ability to draw power from the sun and Mythics. Others blasted it with energy and basic weapons.
Furious Squirrel ran next to Chase, his guns ready. “How do we fight a rock?”
Chase said, “We break it. That’s our only option.”
“Will it be enough?”
Chase shook her head, “I have no idea. But, I’d rather try than let the sun go dark.”
“True.” Furious stopped and unleashed a volley of laser blasts from his pistols at the ruby.
“FOOLISH MORTALS!” The ruby bellowed and blasted hard waves of red energy at them.
Krystal Fae held up her hands, and a barrier formed that blocked this energy from hurting them. The power thrown against her barrier shoved her across the ground and caused her pain. The Wizard joined her and cast his own barrier. He said, “I can sense incredible magical power coming from that ruby.”
Krystal said, “I know. Push it back.”
Krystal Fae and the Wizard both fell as the ruby blasted even harder. A red bolt of energy came from the ruby, targeting both of them. Suddenly Maleficent, The Wizard’s dragon, landed in front of them and absorbed the blast. She then unleashed her own blast of magical energy right back at the ruby.
Chase came over and helped Krystal to her feet. Krystal said, “we can’t contain it with magic, and our powers, even enhanced, aren’t enough.”
All at once everyone jerked when a blaring sound cut through the battle din. The screeching chords of a guitar sliced through the air. The ruby stopped blasting energy and even screamed.
Chromatic Death wailed on his weapon of choice as he yelled, “Can’t handle the power, can ya!”
Everyone paused at the sight of the stopped battle. Chase suddenly realized what he was accomplishing. “GO! GO! Attack it now!” She rushed for the ruby, throwing her power enhanced blades. All the other heroes regrouped and attacked with all their might as Chromatic kept the ruby rattled.
There came a flash, then an enormous explosion that sent a ball of fire right back at the heroes. Maleficent covered as many as she could with her body, Krystal Fae and The Wizard helped protect many others. However, a few were extremely close and disappeared in the blast, including Chase.
Krystal lowered her hands, her ears ringing and her face burning with the residual heat. Part of the volcano had been destroyed in that blast. Heroes were strewn everywhere, most already gathering themselves, a few still down. Fires burned across the pumice. There was no sign of red energy, or even red light.
“What’s this?” She reached down and picked up a ruby shard, only it had gone completely black.
“LOOK!” Shinobi yelled out.
Sunlight broke through the clouds and bathed the world once again in its life-giving glow. The sky was blue again, the eternal night washed away. But it wasn’t the sun or sky that caught everyone’s attention at that moment.
Krystal watched the unbelievable as Chase strode out of the deepest part of that blazing fire. She seemed unharmed and even smiling. “Chase?”
Chase laughed and then laughed harder, her voice growing from a normal tone to a deep, echoing volume. Her body broke out in a fire, her hair turned red, and her clothing changed in the flames. Her face was the last to change, she was Chase no more. There stood a malicious-looking Lady Phoenix.
“Ah, physical form. It has been too long.” She held out a hand and Krampus lifted out of the waters and flew toward her. “Come, my pet. Our powers shall be Legion.” And she vanished in a ball of fire.
0 Comments