The dark red day shrouded the world
in a deathly glare that sent people seeking shelter from whatever was
happening.
Rutkowski
and his gang ran into the streets. Cars stopped all over as people
abandoned them.
“PEYTON!”
Rutkowski called out.
Private
Eye Peyton ran along with the surrounding police. “Not now,
Rutkowski, we have to get this under control.”
“I
know! I’m here ta help.” Rutkowski sneered at him, “An I gotta
an idea, but need yous to help.”
“What?”
Peyton asked.
Rutkowski
said, “Use our
time powers. Ya know, freeze the city in a time bubble. It ain’t
the best thing, but it might stop some of dis madness.”
“Everyone
else will be frozen in time.” Peyton finally got it, “But they
might be safe. Sure, let’s try it.”
The
police chief said, “Peyton, are you gonna trust him?”
“Rutkowski
is a no-good, thieving scoundrel, but he’s not a liar.”
“Thanks,
I think. Now, get ready. We gotta do dis tagether.” Rutkowski held
up his hands.
Peyton
did the same. A wave of translucent energy expanded out from them and
covered the city. Everyone and everything in time
froze.
“Do
you think that will work?” Peyton looked around, seeing birds
mid-flight, people as statues, and some flying papers stopped in the
air.
“It’ll
have to work. Wait, what’s dat?” Rutkowski pointed.
A
black fog rolled through town, unaffected by their frozen time.
Beasts of shadow formed from within the mists.
"Aw,
crap!" Rutkowski turned, but then the sight of the creatures
freezing in time as they jumped out of the cloud they came from
stopped him.
“What
the hell is that?” Peyton looked at his BADGE comm from his coat
pocket. “Holy Moses, there’s a black cloud covering half
of North America, all of
Europe, and is spreading fast.”
Rutkowski
said, “We can’t freeze da whole world.”
Peyton
looked up at the dimming sun, “Come on, BADGE, we need a miracle.”
***
Justin
walked into the conference room with a tablet in his hand and Chase
behind him. “Torrik, you had better have something good. The sun is
almost out and a black fog
is spreading across the planet.”
Torrik
had several old books open with Nova’s letter in the middle. EB
stood next to him on the table with Santa right behind him. Dr.
Henderson sat in a chair nearby. The Satyr looked up with dread in
his eyes. “Black fog?”
“Yes.”
Justin frowned. “Do you know what this is?”
Torrik
said, “Yes. Darkness. It consumed a whole continent
in Yohan centuries ago. Shadow beasts form in it and attack those who
are unaffected by its power.”
“What
do you mean, power?”
Torrik
said, “It seeps into the mind and drives people insane. Those who
give in to its delusions will find safety from the beasts, but those
who resist will face attacks. I suspect your heroes will be
unaffected, as they have those strange morphons in them, which seems
resistant.”
Justin
put the tablet down. “The heroes are reporting beasts of all
descriptions coming out of it. They are relentless.”
“It
took centuries to quell the shadow war. And the beasts are still
around in pockets in Yohan.”
“Then
we need answers now. This world cannot lose its sun and fight a
shadow war at the same time.”
Torrik
actually smiled. “I do have an idea.”
EB
hopped over to Justin. “This is so amazing, like totally
mind-boggling. It was right in front of us all this time and we just
didn’t see it. You gotta hear this.”
“Let
him speak,”
Chase said.
Torrik
turned a book around with a painting of Norse deities. “When we
studied your legends and myths to learn more about what Lady Echidna
might do, I glanced over the myths about your Nordic legends, but
dismissed them since we already saw Fenrir rise. However, I
remembered the legend itself. It said that Fenrir would consume the
sun in the end of days, or Ragnarok.”
Justin
said, “But Fenrir isn’t around and the sun is just going dark.”
Santa
said, “Often, myths and legends have a modicum of truth buried
beneath artistic representation and fables. Listen to him, he has a
good idea.”
Torrik
said, “In talking with Santa and EB, I think we can pin down the
period when Nova finally banished Lady Echidna. It was around your
fourth century CE. In the Fifth century, legends arrived that spoke
of a pantheon of gods, but had a lot to do with the end of days. They
interpreted it as a religious lesson, but I think it was a warning
and possibly a hidden message of how to avoid it. You see, the story
tells of Hel, Fenrir, and Jormungandr. All three would play a pivotal
role at the end of days. Hel, a goddess of death, who lived in a
realm of perpetual darkness and held great disdain for mortals and
gods alike. Sound like anyone you know?”
Chase
said, “Lady Echidna. She was in the void all this time and she has
absolutely no compassion for anyone but herself.”
Torrik
said, “Then there’s Fenrir. His appearance after being bound
would be the harbinger to the darkness to come, which would culminate
in the consuming of the sun.”
Justin
said, “The Eye of Fenrir was contained in that statue for centuries
until released, and that’s when this all really started.”
Torrik
said, “Finally, there comes Midgardsormr, or Jormungandr. Which he
proudly called himself both names many times. He would fight Thor,
the mightiest of heroes, and then fall. But then Thor would fall as
well.”
EB
said, “Midgard fought all the heroes of Earth and we won, but the
darkness wasn’t stopped. It’s coming.”
"Recognize
the face?" Santa asked, pointing to the image of Odin, a
one-eyed king.
Chase
said, “Wait, are you saying that Nova is Odin? I thought you just
said he was an archangel.”
Torrik
said, “We aren’t saying that Nova is a god of your Nordic people.
I’m saying that he used the myths and legends to hide a prophecy in
plain sight. Somehow, he knew exactly how this would play out, but he
couldn’t let anyone know exactly until the right time. Otherwise,
Lady Echidna, or Hel as he has written her, might change her path and
all would be lost.”
Justin
asked, “What about the other two, the Hydra and Charybdis?”
Torrik
said, “The legend doesn’t include them, per se. However, it does
reference that with Midgard’s appearance, the oceans would stir and
great beasts would come. Both other monsters of legend are from the
sea.”
Chase
said, “This is all interesting, but how does it help? Everything
you just said has come to pass, if this was a prophecy.”
Torrik
smiled, “Because the last part of the legend was written in his
letter. You see, he alluded to himself as Odin when he said he
sacrificed to gain the wisdom to fight Lady Echidna. The legend says
that Odin sacrificed his eye to gain wisdom. His letter also said he
split himself, his soul.”
“His
eye?” Chase asked.
Santa
said, “Two years ago, as a special gift for Nova, I sent a hero on
a quest to find a jewel. But, not just any jewel, a stone that was
Nova’s eye. I knew he had lost it centuries ago, but I did not
realize the significance of it.”
EB
read the letter, “ ‘My last wish would be to see my old friend
Midgard one last time.‘ This isn’t about his bestest friend. . .
which EVERYONE knows is me. . . it’s him wanting to be reunited
with his eye. And, for some reason, it has to do with Midgard. But we
dunno why.”
Justin
asked, “Where is this stone?”
Santa
answered, “It was brought back up here and given to him. What Nova
did with it after that, I don’t know. It isn’t in the BADGE
vault. EB already checked the records.”
Gar’s
voice blurted on the intercom, “JUSTIN! Get in here!”
Justin
let out a heavy sigh. “What now?” He rushed out with the others.
They
came into the Operations center to find the screen covered in images
of the shadow enveloped
cities. However, three large screens showed the monsters of Fenrir,
the Hydra, and Charybdis, moving over the surface of the Earth.
“Report?”
Gar
said, “They just showed up on sensors. They are taking up positions
near Antarctica, protecting it. . . I think.” He pointed at a
screen.
Justin
looked at what was a snowy field with flashes of light blasting here
and there as two things darted all over the place. “What is
happening?”
Gar
pointed at a robot and the image zoomed in as far as it would go.
They saw a shadowy Lady Echidna attacking a brightly lit
Nova.
“NOVA’S
ON OUR SIDE! HE’S FIGHTING THAT SHE-DEVIL!” EB hopped around.
Torrik
said, “He said he can’t defeat her, and I‘m inclined to believe
that. She is powerful. In fact, she appears far more powerful than
before. He won’t last long, and there is nothing there to stop her
from walking into The Great Divide once she takes him down.”
Justin
watched this battle for a moment and then commanded, “EB, Chase,
Gar, search this station for that stone. I don’t care what you have
to do, rip out walls, tear up the floor, find it! Robot 10915, send
an all-alert. I want heroes heading for Antarctica at once!”
“But,
sir,” Chase said, “nothing can get through to that area.”
Santa
said, “I can bring that barrier down. With the help of Torrik, we
can interrupt it.”
“Are
you sure it’s safe?”
“Of
course it’s not safe.” Santa said, “However, Nova trusted us
with this prophecy and we must see it through, or this is truly the
end of days. I, for one, will go out fighting.”
Torrik
said, “I‘m a warrior and defender. I will not back down.”
EB
hopped up and said, “For Nova, anything. BFF’s!”
“Good.
Everyone you have your mission. Move.”
