Heroes Rising Fiction: ATLAS

(Two months before the Shadow Krampus Incident)

 With a clear, loud yell, Strange Quark blasted clean through the rocky surface of the meteor. He turned to examine the dust that had been the hurtling stone. Three more heroes came flying by him, each plowing through their own tumbling rocks. Each meteor exploded on contact and was allowed to dissolve in the planet’s atmosphere.

“Quark, report!” Nova’s voice came through the earpiece.

Quark looked around at the heroes destroying more of the stones. “Looks like this little disaster has been averted. Plus, I found some really cool crystals in the first one I punched.”

EB spoke into Nova’s comm, “Hey, Quark, why d’ya punch them? You could just make them cupcakes?”

“I like punching things now and then.”

“Oh, hey, bring that crystal back, I’d like to...hey, stop it...I’m not done...”

Nova now spoke into his own mic. “Get back to the station when you’re done. Nova out.”

Quark appeared in the Operations center of the station moments later. He found Nova and EB still arguing.

“I told you before, don’t pull my earpiece out.” Nova said.

EB sneered at him, “Well, you took away mine.”

“You were using it to bother Chase in the shower.”

EB grinned, “Yeah, that was fun.”

Quark approached. “Having fun?”

Nova took in a controlling breath. “Not really. Now, what further information do you have from that incident?”

Quark said, “Nothing new.”

“That’s the third meteor shower that threatened the planet in two weeks. That cannot be coincidence.” Nova looked up at the video feed, showing the rest of the heroes out in space.

Quark said, “Something that did bother me is that the rocks appeared out of nowhere. Our sensors did not pick them up until they were a threat.”

Nova pointed at one of the robots. “I want astrophysics to analyze all the data on those meteors and exactly when they showed up and from where. Quark,” He turned to the blue hero, “see what you can do to help. This is a strange situation and you have a knack for all things strange.”

“Glad to be recognized.” Quark smiled and strutted up to the robots station.

A week later:

Nova watched the main monitor as a dozen windows were open, with complex calculations and charts sprawled across them. Quark walked around with Dr. Shapiro, an astrophysicist with BADGE.

“What am I looking at?” Nova asked.

Quark pointed at the screen. “We have been studying the information and have come up with something...well...strange.”

“It’s always been strange. What’s different now?”

Dr. Shapiro flicked his fingers over a computer tablet and changed the windows to show entirely new charts and calculations. “As you can see, the wavelengths of matter and light are converging on a strange singularity that seems to have no gravitational impact outside of normal...”

Nova held up his hand. “Okay, now, try that again, but with less geek speak.”

Quark said, “Here, let me show you.” He changed the monitor to show space outside the station. It zoomed in on a single location. “Now, this seems to be normal space. However, there is something wrong with it. Light and matter are both acting like there is a strong gravity pull on it, but our sensors don’t show it, and when I go investigate it, I don’t feel anything wrong. But just yesterday, our optical sensors picked this up.” He changed it and a video rolled by. Space rippled like a pebble thrown into a placid pond.

“What was that?” Nova asked.

Quark said, “We had no idea. But it was the first time we picked that up. Something seemed to emerge out of that exact location, but we couldn’t see it. After three hours, tracking the potential trajectory of this object, something came into view.” He changed the view again and this time a large asteroid faded into view, tumbling toward the planet.

Nova said, “When is that arriving?”

“In twenty hours.” Dr. Shapiro stated.

“Where did it come from?”

Quark said, “We weren’t certain at first, but I cross-referenced all astronomical events over the past few years and I found an exact match.” He flicked his fingers across the tablet and a picture appeared of The Darkness enemy they fought.

“The Darkness?”

“Yes.” Quark said, “You know that this creature was trying to breech space and create a doorway into our universe. Well, we stopped him, but he had already spliced a hole in space. I suspect this tear is still there and causing problems.”

Dr. Shapiro said, “There is just one thing about this that’s puzzling.”

Nova looked back at the screen. “Why are all the meteors sent on a direct path toward Earth?”

Quark nodded, “It does seem...strange. But, as it stands, this isn’t just another rock, it’s a huge rock. The biggest so far. We need to gather a lot of heroes to take care of it so that it doesn’t plow into the planet.”

Nova asked, “Can’t you do something about it? Turn it into a cupcake...I can’t believe I just said that.”

Quark smiled, “No, sir. If it were normal, sure, I’d make it a giant pie and laugh when it creamed the Atlantic. However, its molecular make-up is still being affected by whatever this anomaly is. So, we will have to go the old-fashioned route and just punch it. I’ll get a team together...”

“No, I have this.” Nova actually smiled. “This is the perfect opportunity to try our newest program, Atlas.”

“Atlas?” Quark frowned.

“Come with me. I think you’ll be impressed.”

Nova walked with Quark into a meeting room on the base level of the station. Agent Justin and Arx sat at a table with a few other agents around. Screens lined the walls with waiting signs for communication.

Agent Justin stood up straight when he saw Nova. “Sir, we have everything ready. We have transformed this room into the central communication center for Atlas.”

“Good.”

Quark asked, “What’s Atlas?”

Nova answered, “Atlas is a new emergency defense system for Earth based out of BADGE and the heroes who ally with us. If the Earth is in danger from a natural disaster of some nature, Atlas will bring heroes together to assist and possibly end the danger.”

Justin added, “This isn’t a tactical group. We aren’t here to fight villains. That job is taken by BADGE and the Leagues.”

Quark smiled. “Sounds like you got a promotion, Justin. Leader of Atlas.”

“I’m not the leader. He is.” Justin pointed to the man next to him still wearing old Greek style apparel.

Quark blurted out, “Arx?”

He answered, “Yeah, got a problem with that?”

“No, I just never thought you’d be interested in humanitarianism.”

Arx huffed, “The Arx that was the ego maniac that tried to destroy L.A. is gone. That man is not me. I can’t even remember anything from his life. I want to be a hero and actually contribute. I’m not much of a tactician, but I can do something.”

Nova said, “Surprised me as well. Arx came to me a month ago and pitched the idea of Atlas. I liked it, thought it had merit. Agent Justin has been organizing it with him since then.”

Quark asked, “What made you think of this?”

Arx plainly answered, “Publicity.”

“So, you’re still after making yourself look good?” Quark’s question was honest, not accusatory, but Arx took it as an insult all the same.

“Look. This isn’t about me. First, I wanted to do something to be a contributing member of BADGE. Second, this world is still distrustful of heroes after the World Corps crap. So, this makes sense. We help, I get to contribute, and the population sees BADGE working for the betterment of mankind. I think it’s a win/win, don’t you?”

“Sounds perfect. But why the name Atlas?”

Arx said, “Myths say that Atlas holds up the sky. Some say he held up the world. It was a burden, but if he failed, many would die. Our job will be to protect this world from natural disasters. It will be a great burden, but also necessary to maintain life.”

“I like it. Atlas it is. So, what do I do to help?” Quark asked.

Nova said to Quark, “You and Dr. Shapiro go and keep an eye on the sensors. I don’t want any ugly surprises. Arx will contact you if he needs your help. For now, I am going to leave Atlas in his hands.” Nova turned to Arx. “Looks like we are about to put Atlas to the test. We have an Extinction Level Event to subvert. An asteroid larger than the one that killed the dinosaurs is heading for Earth, and we need to muster our forces and take it on. Do you think Atlas is ready for the task?”

“More than ready, sir.”

“Justin, get the information from operations and keep me updated.”

Justin gave off a brief salute. “Right away, sir.”

Nova watched the monitor in Operations as a window popped up in the center. Arx stood before a screen that displayed the incoming asteroid. “This is Arx, new head of the Atlas program of BADGE. I am calling on all heroes, regardless of league or location, to join together and stop this from destroying the Earth. This will take time, as we cannot simply blow it up quickly, otherwise risk an even greater disaster by spreading the impact over a larger area of the planet. Follow Atlas guidelines and help prevent human extinction. Arx out.”