Fires burned in cities along a line from Yokohama, Japan, to Daegu, South Korea. Air raid sirens blared across Seoul. Citizens ran for cover, not sure what was coming next. Some yelled about more augments possibly attacking, while others were worried that the World Corps was sending in Mercs.
Krystal Fae flew as fast as she could, along with the other fastest fliers of the BADGE heroes. They were leaving the slower heroes far behind, but they could hardly even see Drochah in the distance.
“He’s heading for Seoul!” Nova said over the comm.
“We’re trying to intercept, but I doubt we’ll arrive in time.”
“Do something. That city has ten million people in it.” Nova said.
Sunspark flew up hard next to Krystal. “That monster is going to murder millions if we don’t stop this. I’m going in. Make sure I don’t die in vain.”
This caught her by surprise. “Wait...what?”
Sunspark charged his body until he was glowing as bright as a star. He shot off at near light speed, casting amazing sonic booms in his wake. He met Drochah mid-air and plowed the villain into the earth. The explosion from the impact shattered the land for miles and sent a massive cloud of dust and debris into the atmosphere.
The flying heroes were all stunned, knowing that Sunspark had just killed himself to stop Drochah. Finally, Quark came through the comm, “don’t slow down. Get to him, make sure he got Drochah!”
When they reached the crater, they found a single person standing at the epicenter. Drochah was glowing bright yellow with that orb in his chest as though someone had shoved it into his body. Flames burned at the edges and no remains of Sunspark were to be found.
The heroes raced toward him, ready to fight, but he merely held up his hand and the heroes were stopped. In a single, effortless motion, he slapped everyone to the ground.
“It is finished, my core complete. I am god. Whatever you thought you were before, you now are nothing but insects.” His body grew in size, dwarfing even Midgard at his greatest.
Krystal Fae had dirt in her mouth and her nose pushed against the solid ground. Next to her lay Strange Quark. His body flashed odd shades of blue, fading in and out of this reality.
“Krystal....I...I have to stop him.” Quark said.
She pushed her arm over to him. “You can’t, no one can. He is...too strong.”
“I can. Just...tell Gar...he was my best friend, and he needs to tell...Chase...the truth...”
“No, don’t do it.” Krystal had tears in her eyes.
Quark screamed as he ripped something off of him, peeling away Drochah’s power. He grew in size, his body swimming with colors and lights.
“What’s this? Some pathetic little mortal wishes to challenge me?” Drochah looked Quark in the eye, seemingly amused.
Quark shoved his hands right into Drochah’s chest, attempting to rip out that orb. He screamed and had actual tears in his eyes as his own power was being shredded.
Drochah put his hands on Quark’s neck to rip his throat out. Both of them phased in and out of reality. The heroes on the ground slowly regained control of themselves.
Suddenly, Drochah lurched back as Quark almost pulled the orb out. Drochah jammed his hands into Quark’s chest and ripped his body in half. Quark screamed and turned a bright shade of blue that exploded in a beam of light. Somehow, Quark had used his own body, even in that state, to emit one last beam of strange quantum energy.
Drochah was thrown back, crashing through a broken hole in the air. He fell into another place...or really, another time. The heroes rushed in to finish him. As they reached the rip in the sky, they passed into the future.
***
Moments before:
Nova walked into the largest medical laboratory on the station. The six Avatars lay on beds around the room. Dr. Henderson and Dr. Osteen checked data in a computer station.
“Report?”
Dr. Henderson turned to him. “Sir, the Avatars regained their cores a short time ago. All of them are showing immediate signs of life.”
“Good. How soon will they be able to join the battle?”
“Give em a month or two.” Osteen crassly stated.
Dr. Henderson said, “sir, they are extremely weak. I was worried about this. They were in suspended animation for months, their energy reduced to almost death. Recovering from that will be a slow process. I don’t see how they will stand up today, let along actually fight anyone.”
“Find a way, Doctor. Our enemy is making his ultimate move.”
Father Time appeared next to Nova. “Our enemy has made his move and we are out of time.”
Nova was more than shocked to see this villain appear next to him. Then he turned to find EB, Santa, and Rutkowski in the room. “What’s going on?”
EB said, “you need to see this.”
Nova raced back to Operations, where he found the General watching the screens. The view of Earth was unbelievable. Time was falling apart. A great hole hung in the skies near China. From it, fractures were forming in time, shredding the planet.
“What happened?” Nova demanded.
General Nova said, “Drochah gained full power, but Quark tried to stop him. Their unstable energies caused a rift in time. Drochah has fallen back into the future through that rift and your heroes have followed to stop him.”
“What happened to Quark?” Nova whispered.
EB sniffed, “he didn’t make it.”
General Nova said, “Drochah ripped him apart. His power...is...is unbelievable.”
EB said, “but we still have our weapons. The six can stop him, right?”
Director Nova shook his head. “They’re too weak. They can’t go out there like this. They are going to need help even standing.”
General Nova turned with a shot and said, “that’s it! That’s the answer!”
“What is?” Director Nova asked.
The General said, “Gar from the future said several things. First, the six are our answer. However, he also said the battle would take place in the future. I didn’t understand that until now. They knew Drochah would end up there. That’s where he must be defeated.”
Father Time, standing with Santa and Rutkowski, said, “it is true. Drochah is tied to the future, that is where he is from, and where he started this time disaster. If he is defeated there, then time might fix itself, might return to the point before he broke it. We must travel to the future to stop him.”
Director Nova said, “but the avatars...”
“Are still the key.” The General interrupted. “You say they can’t hardly stand right now. What you need is the ability to give them legs. I just happen to have the technology to put them in mechs, give them strength, and put them in the battle. That must be it, that has to be it.”
Director Nova turned to Santa, who once was a great general of his people. “Is this a good plan?”
“I believe it is our only hope. There is just one issue you might not like.”
“What?”
Father Time stepped up. “ We cannot simply go through that rip in time to the future with the avatars. We would be thrust right into the battle with Drochah. We must create an alternate rift to travel through. I am the most proficient among us at time travel. But I need the clock you took from me.”
Nova stepped over to Father Time. “I agree. I don’t like this. But I know it is our only choice. I also trust that even while you have evil intentions for that clock...”
“you can trust me in this, Director Nova. I may have ideas about time that you don’t like, but I have no desire to watch this planet be crushed into a black hole.”
Director Nova said, “General, EB, head down to Medlab 1 and help the doctors to get those avatars ready for transport. Santa, I’m trusting you to watch Father Time and keep us safe.”
Everyone gave Nova a quick nod.
Nova pressed his all-comm button. “Heroes, those who can still hear me, head for that rip in time and follow it to attack Drochah. We’re going to need everyone for this. Time is against us.”
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