A massive black cloud of inky mists assaulted the barrier encapsulating the portal between the worlds. The three defenders inside struggled to maintain it, but the strain was apparent on their faces.
Torrik, still casting his barrier spell using his satyr horns as his casting tool, held up a hand and created a ball of bright light. The shadowy forces attacking them recoiled for a moment, but came back just as hard.
Lady Echidna’s face appeared in the clouds, though this face was far older and more wretched than the beautiful woman she pretended to be. “It is only a matter of time. My shadow is unstoppable and the heroes will fall to my minions before they even reach me. Give up.”
EB screamed, “NEVER!”
Just then, something exploded within her cloud, then beams of energy shot through her. She screeched and the attacking on the barrier weakened.
Torrik asked, “What is that?”
Santa let out a deep, laughter. “The heroes are coming.”
More blasts of energy struck her cloud and forced her to re-congeal into a figure instead of the darkness. In the sick darkness of the day, as the sun was almost nothing but a faded ball in the far distance, thousands of heroes rushed toward her. No monolithic creature stood in their way. Her minions had failed.
She watched them approach, her body flickering with black energy. “No matter. I will tear them apart. The battle has weakened them.” Swishing her hand through the air, she deflected several blasts of energy from the approaching Dirigible.
Santa said, “You are tactically wise and incredibly powerful, but they have an advantage you may not truly understand.”
Sending out a wave of darkness, she stopped, a barrage of energy blasts from the front line of heroes racing toward them. “What could these pests have that would be any advantage?”
EB said, “They aren’t just saving the universe, they’re here for revenge.”
She clapped her hands together and sent a blade of darkness at the heroes, cutting through them. However, she couldn't stop all the incoming attacks, and ten blasts hit her hard simultaneously. She flew back across the icy planes and crashed through a rock outcropping.
Santa dropped his barrier, which stopped EB’s defense. He produced his sword again. “Time to make this bitch pay.”
Torrik stood in the middle of the portal and summoned a thick covering of vines inside the opening and then enchanted an additional barrier. “I will stay here just in case. Go. Make her pay.”
EB produced two exploding eggs and said, “With great pleasure.”
***
Midgard’s broken body lay in the ruins of Lady Echidna’s temple. The crumbled remains of the ceiling above scattered around him. Darkness of the world left this room nothing but a void, no flicker of light graced his remains. The quiet of the room was as thick as the shadow that filled it.
Yet, a small particle of light appeared over him, then another, and another. They floated about as dust on a breeze, though there was no moving air in the room. Hundreds turned to thousands and a clean, glorious light filled this tomb of a throne room. The flakes of light drifted closer together and slowly formed the figure of a man in strange robes with glorious wings on his back, which chased away the darkness with glorious golden light.
He folded his wings, dimming the light slightly, and then knelt down next to Midgard. Reaching out with a hand, he touched the shoulder of the fallen ancient hero.
“What she stole from you she could not truly take. You do not remember, as you gave your memory to me for safekeeping. Now, my ancient friend from a bygone era, I return to you the part of your soul you left with me to protect this world.” This angelic being held out his hand, and Nova’s glorious sword appeared. The moment it formed, the man’s beautiful face changed to the wise Nova with one missing eye now filled with a red ruby. He placed the sword in Midgard’s hand and slowly closed the green fingers around the hilt.
“You will live on, my friend. You gave me strength to fight and protect this world. You trusted me to preserve that which made you whole. I never could tell you who you really were, and that we had a deep past between us as allies and friends. But you kept a strange honor that always gave me hope. You gave this world hope, even when you foolishly boasted and threatened with empty promises. I will never forget what you really were under the ego, a real hero.”
Nova stood back and looked up at the broken hole. His wings opened up, and a smile crossed his face. “The fight, my lady, has only begun.” He flew up with incredible speed.
As he cut through the skies, speeding across the land, the light in his wake split the darkness and sent it scurrying away. The mere sight of his passing destroyed the beasts that spawned from it, making them yelp and scream.
***
Lady Echidna stood atop a large rock and ice mountain with heroes all around her. Her body was half made of her shadow cloud. With it, she would strike out and bring down heroes and stop attacks. But there were innumerable heroes around her, pummeling her with weapons fire.
“I WILL NOT BE DESTROYED BY YOU PATHETIC MORTALS!” Lady Echidna screamed and her darkness sped out in a great wind that threw heroes away, smashing many into the ice, some even submerged deep in the bitter waters. The cloud condensed again, and she directed attacks with clear precision. A woman approached with her eyes blasting fire. The shadow stuck her right in the belly and ripped her apart with ease. Three shadowy tendrils gripped the legs and arm of the man, who had transformed into a large white gorilla, and ripped them from his torso.
“Pull back!” Santa yelled out and the heroes rallied behind him, putting distance between them and Lady Echidna’s slaughter.
Furious Squirrel drove his Dirigible directly above them and waited. He spoke over his loudspeaker, “What now?”
Lady Echidna rose and darted toward them.
Santa yelled, “We have no choice! Full boar! There is no backing down!” He ran as he created a blast of magical light from his hands directly at her.
The heroes all followed behind him in a single army, unleashing any form of power or weapon they had. The dirigible in the sky sped forward, its large cannon directly underneath it extended and charged. It let out a strong, steady beam. All this power met Echidna’s oncoming cloud.
She sent out thousands of tendrils of her shadow at them, one bisecting the dirigibles balloon, causing it to list to the side and head for the snowy fields. Her shadow killed hundreds of heroes and agents, but those remaining continued their attack.
“KEEP GOING!” Santa ordered. Lady Echidna’s body shrank and her retaliation weakened considerably.
With a horrid screech that shattered the ice for miles, Lady Echidna’s cloud exploded. The blast knocked people down. Instantly, the darkness nearest them faded away, revealing the stars in the sky again. The sun actually gained more glow.
EB sat up near Santa and said, “Did we do it? Is she really gone?”
Heroes rose to their knees, some to their feet. Santa used his sword to help stand. In the distance behind them the dirigible billowed with smoke, but Furious Squirrel flew down on his steampunk jetpack. Countless heroes littered the ground, the dead almost too numerous to count. However, more survived and were hesitantly joyful that the war was over.
“I think we did it.” Santa said.
The darkness sank in harder than before, almost blinding the people. The heroes felt the pressure of the darkness, and some of them found it difficult to breathe. Lady Echidna appeared in the middle, with the red glow of her eyes cutting through the shadow.
“I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED. I AM THE DARKNESS, I AM ETERNAL! I WILL HAVE MY VICTORY OVER YOUR PATHETIC MORTALS!”
Santa gasped. He slammed his wrist down to activate his BADGE comm unit. He wheezed out, “Justin....she...is unstoppable....you have....no other choice...”
***
Justin watched this horror on his screen. The Earth below was turning to a solid black. It was as if no light could escape this darkness.
The words of Santa sent a sickening chill through his gut. He knew what was being asked of him, but he never wanted to do it. However, he knew it was the last chance. “10915, set the Omega protocol, authorization, Beta Pi Alpha Seven Seven.”
If the eyes of a robot could show fear, it would be visible now. But he did as commanded. “The station's core is set to breach. Directing thrusters. Setting destination, Antarctica.”
Justin whispered, “God forgive me for what I am about to do. 10915, engage.”
All the thrusters on the station ignited and the entire facility sped toward the planet’s surface. Upon impact, one of the biggest explosions would take Antarctica and everything on it possible. The repercussions would be felt for centuries across the planet, but there would be a planet left and that is what mattered.
“The escape pod is ready, sir.”
Justin said, “No, If BADGE is going down today, I will go with it.”
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