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.”
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