Vendetta stopped in the creature's path and let it strike him. His powers absorbed the force of the punch, and he reciprocated it with a solid blow to its chest. The creature crashed into the bridge and skidded hard across the ground.
Tri-Blade yelled, “Get it away from the islands!”
California Surf’n suddenly appeared near the bridge on a wave his powers had conjured. As soon as the creature woke up, the ocean washed it away. The wave continued tumbling the creature out to sea.
Aflima and Nebula sped toward it, each holding the end of an extremely thick metal cable. They caught the creature with the cable and then wrapped it up tight. It struggled and blasted energy out of its eyes, but this cable was just enough to contain it.
California Surf’n stood on his board near them as the rest of the team hovered over his head. He asked, “How many more of these creeps do we have to take out? This one destroyed half a hospital. They’re getting worse.”
An all-too familiar sound they hated deeply grabbed everyone’s attention. Someone activated the global emergency alarm system. This sound meant that citizens were in grave peril, and they had to find the nearest bunker to survive whatever hell had been unleashed.
Tri-Blade clicked on his comm and played it for everyone.
Gar’s voice announced, “This is a black alert, priority one. The Legion attackers have grown stronger and are only getting stronger. A new Legion creation just appeared in Chad, Africa, that is threatening to freeze the entire continent if we don’t stop her. Every country is now at top risk with the growing threat of the Legion monsters. And we have a dangerous ship approaching. Protect the citizens, contain the Legion creatures, and be ready. We have to find Drocha. This is a black alert...”
Tri-Blade said, “I’ve never heard them call a black alert without a specific target. This is seriously bad.”
Nebula snarled at the writhing creature in their grasp. “We will not back down. This world will not fall, not today... not ever.”
***
A pair of twin superheroes bounded across icy lands. One had a claw for an arm; the other used his hands to craft a bubble of water. He threw it out, and his twin shot through the water with his arm, springing forward at supersonic speed. His punch nearly hit Adrianne when she cast a wave of cold that sent the young man into the ground. His human arm froze to the earth while he tugged at it with his claw.
“HELP!” he screamed.
Arx raced by him, and then stood firm as a beam of icy energy sped toward the freezing boy. The beam hit Arx in the chest, and his body resisted the attack, protecting the heroes. The young man’s twin reached him, and together they could escape.
“ADRIANNE! YOU HAVE TO STOP!” Arx yelled out.
.jfif)
Hovering over the land, surrounded by gales of arctic winds, Adrianne looked down upon him with bright blue eyes. She called out with a voice that sounded like five people speaking at once. “I do not answer to that human name; I am Legion! I am the icy soul of power.”
Step by step, Arx pushed into the winds. Heroes tried to attack her, but her strength overwhelmed them. Only through fierce determination and love could Arx get close. He shoved through the storm, tears freezing against his face. His body struggled to resist the pure power being thrown at it.
“No, please! Stop! I have you back, I will not lose you again! I will save you!” He reached out with a desperate hand for her, ignoring the countless heroes she sent away and tried to kill.
Her eyes looked deep into his, the blizzard whipping around her stronger than ever. She held out her hand toward him. A flicker of pleading fell across her face as her fingers stretched to meet his. “Arx... I ... will not... I can’t...” her voice was still oddly multiplied.
His hand met hers, and he held tight. “Just stop this!” he screamed over the blasting gales.
She shook and jerked. “You... have to... kill me. I... I can’t... I will destroy... everything.”
“NO! I CAN’T DO THAT!” Frost covered his hand, and his arm began to turn blue. The pain was immeasurable, but he ignored it.
Adrianne wept as she said, “I am... programmed. I will destroy; I will obey. Kill me! PLEASE!”
“NO!”
She screamed, and the storm grew even further, freezing more of the land and tossing heroes away as if they were mere toys. His arm turned blue, and ice grew down from her to him.
A red blur swooped through the storm, pulling Arx’s body away from her. He felt himself being tossed over and slammed into a hard, wooden seat. Looking up, he saw Santa snapping the reins of his sleigh.
“Don’t be a fool! She’ll kill you,” Santa said and then threw a package at her.
There was a strange explosion, and the storm quickly stopped. Everything within a quarter-mile radius around her paused; ice and leaves hung in the air, and Adrianne stopped mid-motion.
“What the hell?” Arx held his quickly thawing arm, thanks to his resistance powers.
Santa said, “Time bomb, one of my specialties back in the Legion War. Won’t last long. We need a parameter!” Santa clicked his comm. “Heroes, this is General Santa. I am in command of this fight. Everyone, create a circle around the time-frozen zone. We need to contain her. MOVE!”
Arx watched the gathered heroes move, taking orders quickly. “Santa, we can save her. She is still in there.”
Santa turned the sleigh and directed it to a landing position. “Son, I know you don’t want to hear this, but she’s mutated beyond whatever you loved. That she retains any memories is both a blessing and a curse. This would be better if she were completely gone. I’m sorry. But, we have to stop her, we will have to stop them all.”
Arx put his head down and fought to breathe. He thought she was dead, and now he has spoken to her, and yet he has to let her go... has to watch her die.
***
An unmitigated joy beamed from Drocha’s calm demeanor as he watched all the carnage his creations were causing across the planet. His computers had many smaller screens showing him the horrible minions he unleashed being attacked by BADGE heroes. The minions reduced buildings to rubble, and some heroes died, which was beautiful.
The release of Adrianne, one of his masterwork creations, also elated him now. Ice spread across an arid continent. Not only was this driving fear and panic, it was doing terrible harm to the world itself.
Yet, through all this joy, Drocha still had one lingering worry. Nova. This was an adversary that remained a problem for his plans. Nova has historically defied the worst odds and triumphed over situations that should have ended life on this world.
To his right, the ancient Legion computer console let out a shrill beeping and an indicator blinked on a star map.
“What is this?” Drocha looked at his computer, reading the alien text as it sped by. “So, the power emanating from the forming wormhole is already enhancing my creations further than I expected. This ship must be incredibly powerful. Truly, I will be a god among insects.” He punched in a command. His fiendish mind concocted a plan as he considered the incoming power. After punching in the last code, he smiled and took his seat again.
Gazing upon the warring minions terrorizing the world, Drocha said to himself. “Nova, you have eluded me. That is a feat worthy of the greatest challenger of Legion. So, I shall change my course. If I can’t take you out, then I will take out all the rest of your little peons.”
The Legion computer displayed a growing scale that told of incredible power being siphoned from the wormhole to feed the monsters of his making.
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