Judgment Day *HF*
By Harbinger
Judgment Day by Harbinger
This story takes place soon after "The Legacy"
JUDGMENT DAY: A Hell's Fire tale of an ending, with the roots of a new beginning.
Prologue
Part One: Nothing
One Week From Now. Somewhere between galaxies.
Out here, where the nuclear fire of the stars had given way to cold, utter vacuum, there was nothing. It was the seemingly endless no-man's-land between galaxies. This was somewhere between the Milky Way and Andromeda, our galaxy's spiralled sister. Two and a half million light-years. The distance was incredible, and limiting. Nothing could possibly have lived out here. There was nothing here to keep one company, except for the occasional neutrino, or particle of space dust. And so we take a trip around our Local Group. There's Andromeda...that beautiful spiral galaxy. She was very bright and brilliant in the night sky. The second-largest galaxy in our Local Group, next to the Milky
Way. But Andromeda wasn't our destination. That speck...that tiny point of light. That was our Milky Way. Having taken a swing around Wolf-Lundmark, we saw our Galaxy up close. But we were really over fifty thousand light years from it. Let's move in a bit closer. There it was. The Saggitarian Arm. Our little corner of the Milky Way. Then we looked a little closer. Did you see it? That almost unnoticable point of light. That was our sun. We headed in to take a closer look...there's Mercury, barely seen against the brilliant glow of our star. Then Venus...the greenhouse effect gone awry. And then we came to Earth. Wait...it wasn't there. There was nothing. Nothing but a few freckles
of rock and ice here and there. What happened? Earth was here, just yesterday. This was the sum of our yesterdays. The universe will go on, with no trace of he who called himself Man.
Part Two: Anomalies
One Week Before. The IHFC mansion.
SuperGrover's eyes opened slowly on that day. That morning so full of hope and promise. Too bad he didn't take the time to notice it. No, all he would concern himself with was Jubilee. The woman who, for all intents and purposes, was dead. In her place was a woman calling herself Luna...someone with Jubilee's memories and face, but someone that wasn't her. She was gone for a time, after she first appeared to him, and then came back. She maintained Jubilee's position as leader of the Hellions: Red, even better than Jubilee ever had. He was finally beginning to accept that the Jubilee he knew was dead, and that the woman he saw now was someone completely different. Damn Anti Christ,
he mentally cursed. If only he had never existed...things would be so much simpler. Jubilee would be alive...so would GlitterGirl...Darque Feonix wouldn't be the wreck he is right now. He left us a Legacy, all right...
His thoughts were encroached upon by his wrist communicator. "'Grover here...go ahead."
"This is Doom," the voice of Dr. Doom came.
"What is it?"
"We are picking up some spatial distortions out near Saturn. Daemon's equipment is detecting it, but he's off to claim Palla's throne or something, so I can't get ahold of him."
"I have no time for spatial anomalies, Doom. Is this really that important?"
"It has a temporal signature, sir."
"Tempor--the Harbinger."
"Possibly. We can't tell. And you may even wish to enlist the aid of the Black Court in helping us find out what this is."
"I'll discuss it with Ryan for now. I'll talk about it with Jon and Blink* when they get back from their excursion to Cuba. 'Grover out."
He sat back down on his bed, and sighed. The day was new, and was already being tarnished by some impending crisis or another.
Part Three: Opening Move
One Hundred and Five Years From Now. High-Saturn Orbit.
The Koraxian fleet orbited Saturn, performing routine patrols and scans for Terran resistance. Earth had been conquered by the Koraxian Empire four years before, led by Kirax himself. On the flagship, Kirax looked over the latest reports.
"Terran resistance strikes have gone down in recent weeks. Our destruction of their stockpile on Ross 128 Prime has discouraged their movement," Kirax said to his second.
"Or perhaps they're planning something?" his second asked.
"Nonsense. Even a human knows when he's beaten. Besides, we now have the Focus. And if all goes as planned, Earth will be part of the Koraxian Empire for a long time to come."
"Ever as you wish, Kirax."
"Skritz...is the Focus Channeler online yet?" Kirax asked, turning to face his engineer.
"Almost, Kirax. When it's online, we'll be able to channel the Focus energy into space, and allow us to go to any point in space-time."
"That is the idea, Skritz. How long?"
"Ten Earth-rotations, sir."
Kirax's green exoskin turned a darker shade, indicating his impatience. "I want to go back NOW, curse you! We haven't time to wait!"
"Kirax, we have all the time in the universe."
"You don't understand...Robert Maxwell has been detected through the Focus' cross-temporal scanners. We're going back to Earth-year 1998 to kill him, and conquer his world. But there are some final preparations that must be made. Krivisa, do you have the time-coordinates of Maxwell's ship?"
His weapons officer answered "Affirmative. We can trigger its norm-space drive at your command."
"Do it."
Kirax electrochemically activated his main viewer, and a starscape appeared. Saturn was off to the right side, its rings as glorious as ever. Then, the screen filled with blue light, as a tremendous vessel appeared.
"Yessssssss..." Kirax hissed, almost ecstatic with satisfaction. "I now have Inferno! Without it, Maxwell will be helpless! I have done what no one else could...I have plucked his vessel from the ether of Time, and will use it to--"
Suddenly the screen flashed again, and the Inferno was gone.
"This cannot be!" Kirax screeched. "Where did it go?! A curse on your lineage, Krivisa, if you do not tell me what happened!"
"It...engaged some security protocol we had not anticipated. My apologies, Kirax."
"No...he will not do this to me! He will not deny me my prize!"
Kirax slithered up to the weapons console, enraged. Tendrils jumped from his body, punching commands into it. There were a few buzzing sounds, which abated. Then Kirax slithered back to his command post.
"What did you do?" his second questioned.
"I have cut off his ship's communications frequency. He will be out of contact with his ship, no matter where it is in the timestream. Now, Skritz, when will the Focus Channeler be ready?"
--End of Prologue--Coming Next: Impossible Man and Morph. The Clan Chosen goes to Cuba!
Chapter One
Part One: The Impossible Scheme
That Day (the Present). The Impossible Fortress.
The Popupian Impossible Man and the Mrrapphian Morph stood looking at the elder alien's plan.
"I don't think it's gonna work, Imp."
"Of course it will! Don't you see? We steal one of the Harbinger's Interpersonnel Assault Carriers, and perform a few modifications to it. That's all it will take. We can teleport ourselves into space, and head out to find Shatax."
"And when we find him?"
"We kill him, quickly."
"What if it doesn't work? We'll both be dead."
"So? Do you want to free your homeworld or not?"
"I do! But isn't there another way? I mean, wouldn't it be better if the Harbinger helped us? Or maybe Daemon?"
"Morph, there is a reason that I am in charge here. Because I can make the important decisions! You are so indecisive and unconfident...you have no leadership ability. So be quiet, and just do as you're told!"
"Okay...don't have to bite my head off..."
Part Two: Foreign Shores
That Night. Havana, Cuba.
The Harbinger looked at his charges. Nedereth, Bluespark, Thresh, Luthos, and Dragonmaster. Blink*, Siryn, Deadpool, Jenskott, and Jon had come on this mission to assist the Clan Chosen. The Harbinger outlined their objective.
"This mission's primary objective is the destruction of the EMP devices. Bluespark has obtained the blueprints of the facility, and where we believe the devices are. Nedereth, you'll be taking Jenskott, Siryn, Thresh, and Bluespark into the facility. You are to find the devices and destroy them. I will take Deadpool, Dragonmaster, Luthos, Blink*, and Jon into the facility to run interference. Lethal force is not sanctioned on this mission."
"Do we have any secondary objectives?" Nedereth asked.
"Extracting information from the computer systems here would be quite helpful. As some of you know, this is Cuban Intelligence Headquarters. They'll have very sensitive information contained within their databases. If at all possible, you should attempt to acquire that data. Anything else?"
No one spoke.
"All right, then...let's do it."
The Harbinger landed his Interpersonnel Attack Carrier on the ground, and lowered the exit ramp. Nedereth and his team walked out of the craft, and they cautiously advanced toward the building.
"We won't be detected, since I have all manner of jammers and countermeasures on this craft," the Harbinger explained. "But as soon as they figure out we're here, they'll lock down the facility. This ship is invisible to the naked eye, so that gives us an advantage...but if any alarms go off in the facility, we have to go and pull Nedereth's team out. That means running interference on Cuban forces. Understand that this is a clandestine mission...none of your usual sound and fury are tolerated here."
Those remaining with him nodded in acknowledgment. "Now, we wait."
Nedereth's hand tapped the doorknob on his right, as his back was pushed up against the wall. He carefully gripped it and very slowly turned it. As he suspected, it was locked. He looked at Bluespark, and motioned for him to approach the door. Bluespark opened a small pouch on his belt, and pulled out a tiny rod. The others recognized it as a lockpick. Bluespark fiddled with the lock, carefully picking it. When he was certain he had unlocked it, he grabbed a small half-sphere out of his pocket, and stuck it on the door. It started flashing red, and he turned the doorknob. No alarms went off. The flashing device had disabled the door alarm. He turned off the device and placed it back in his
pouch, along with the lockpick. They filed in, one after another, with Nedereth watching behind them. He carefully closed the door behind himself, and took a deep breath.
...
Two young guards stood in front of the door to the supply room, chatting idly.
"Así pues, cómo usted está haciendo?" one asked.
"No malo. Podía ser mejor. "
"Cuál es incorrecto?"
"Tenía una lucha grande con la esposa ayer por la noche... que ella amenazó dejar y tomar a nuestro hijo. "
"Cuál era la lucha alrededor?"
"Ven..."
Their conversation was ended when they noticed several individuals start down the corridor toward them. When they didn't recognize who they were, they aimed their weapons and shouted "Identifiqúese!"
Thresh took the initiative, and pulled a concussion grenade from her battle suit. She pulled the pin out with her teeth, and tossed it at the guards. She motioned for the others to back up, so they wouldn't be hit by the concussive blast.
The guards shouted as they were knocked out, falling to the floor with a thump. They moved toward the door, and Bluespark took out his electronics toolkit. "Nedereth," he said. "This is an electronic combination lock, with an alphanumeric password. This is gonna take a few minutes."
"You have five."
"I hope that's enough..." he said as he held a device up to the door's access panel. He tapped keys on his device, and hoped it could interface with the lock, and extract the password. The readout said "EncLev: 3" and Bluespark muttered "Fuck..."
"What is it?" Nedereth asked.
"It has a 3-level encryption...I need more time."
"Time's running out, Mitchell," Nedereth said as he heard guards approaching. "Siryn, cover me." He readied his weapon, a firearm that used sonic waves to incapacitate attackers. Siryn's weapon was a "dazzler", a laser used for blinding others. It resembled a machine gun, and had multiple beam emitters. She made sure it was set to temporary blindness before she followed Nedereth out to the next corridor. "Siryn, if they get past me, make sure you blind them, all right? And if they start shooting blindly, then get out of the way. Leave me, all right?"
"I understand," she said.
The guards approached quickly, and leveled their weapons on Nedereth and Siryn. They both ducked and rolled as the guards opened fire. Nedereth fired a sonic pulse that knocked down three of the ten guards, and Siryn managed to blind one of them. The blinded soldier fired wildly, and one of the bullets grazed Nedereth's shoulder. He grunted as he fired at the rest of the guards. He turned up the frequency and volume enough to rupture their eardrums, and watched as the fell to the floor, clutching the sides of their heads. They cursed in Spanish and writhed on the floor.
"Dammit...I'm getting old," Nedereth said as he put his hand on his wounded shoulder.
Bluespark had passed the first two encryption levels, and was stuck on the third. The third level was so heavily encrypted, his devices could make no sense of it. His small computer read "Password Unreadable". He cursed at it, and smacked it on the side. Its display changed to read "X249705LPT". He said "What the Hell..." and entered the characters on the door's keypad. It buzzed and unlocked. "Son of a...I don't believe it."
Thresh walked in first, holding an unprimed flash grenade. When she was certain the coast was clear, the others followed. Nedereth and Siryn rejoined them, and Jenskott looked at Nedereth's shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"
"I'll be just fine, as soon as we get out of here."
Bluespark found the shelves holding the EMP devices, and looked them over. "All I gotta do is set one of 'em off. They'll fry the shit out of everything in this building."
"Go ahead," Nedereth said, nodding his head slightly.
Bluespark set one of the EMP generators on a 5-minute timer, and suggested that they all run.
Bluespark packed up his tools and started running for the exit, with everyone else following. Halfway down the corridor, the Harbinger and his team appeared. "Sorry it took so long," the Harbinger said.
"No problem," Nedereth said.
Gunfire came from behind Nedereth, and they all dropped to the floor. The Harbinger fired an unusual-looking projectile at the oncoming guards, and it split open to cover the attackers in a large net. "Go!" the Harbinger shouted. Everyone else followed Nedereth, and the Harbinger stuck around long enough to make sure the guards were incapacitated.
He ran out to find the ramp to his craft, and sprinted for it. He practically flew up the ramp, and Deadpool closed it behind him.
"Blink*, get us the hell out of here!" he shouted.
"There's a red light on the primary intake," she said in a frustrated tone.
"Jesus Christ, just get us out of here! Ignore it!"
"All right, dammit!" she cried as she kicked the ship's engines into gear. It lurched violently, but otherwise took off without incident. It rose into the air quickly, and aimed its nose for America.
"Ten seconds!" Bluespark shouted.
"Blink*, burn the engines! NOW!" the Harbinger said, nearly screaming.
She tapped several buttons, and the ship propelled forward at five times the speed of sound. Fortunately, the ship was buffered to protect humans from extreme accelerations, but it was still an uncomfortable experience. "Is everyone...intact?" the Harbinger asked.
"We're all fine," Jon said. "Next time, why don't you just try to cut it a little bit closer?"
The Harbinger gritted his teeth, and prepared to make a snide remark to the White Queen, but quickly thought better of it. Though this whole mission was her idea, he simply didn't want to deal with her crap right now. Contact with Inferno was still cut off, and he was very frustrated. He ordered Blink* to take them back to the IHFC mansion, where he would drop of her, Jenskott, and Jon. Then he'd head back to the BHC mansion, and try to puzzle out just what had been going on lately.
--End Chapter One--Coming Next: The Director of Chronal Affairs. Plus: Kirax goes into the past!
Chapter Two
Part One: Infinite Possibilities
Six Years From Now (Alternate Timeline Designate 338-Iota). The Hellfire Mansion.
As he stepped out of the temporal gateway, the Director of Chronal Affairs wrinkled his nose. The scent of death and rotting flesh assaulted his nostrils, and heat and ash stung his eyes. He saw the bombed-out building he was searching for, directly behind him. He scanned for a particular bio-signature, and located it among the dozens of corpses. The first he recognized was his own. His mirror's face was twisted and burned, eyes still open. The cybernetic eye sparked briefly, and buzzed for an instant. The body's cybernetic functions were still active, trying to rebuild the host organism. But the Director knew that would be a futile attempt. There was one person he sought, one individual who
could tell him what happened here. He saw her standing among the ruins of the Unified Hellfire Club. He approached her. The child was no more than five years old, her face streaked with drying tears. Her face was red, both from crying and from the heat produced by the smoldering ruins. He knelt before her, and brushed away some of the flowing red hair matted to her forehead. "My child...what happened here?"
The child looked at him, her eyes unfocused. To her, this was all a dream. She had not yet accepted the reality of what surrounded her. Still, she spoke. "K-killed them...I din't mean to...was a accident...'m sorry. I tried t' tell 'em I was sorry...but they're mad a' me. They won' talk to me anymore. Please tell 'em that 'm sorry..."
"How did you do this to them?" he asked, his hand resting gently on her shoulder.
"Dunno...Gran'pa Robert said I was spikin' onna charts or sumpin'...'at I was gonna 'lease my powers...I din't know wha' he meant...'s he mad at me?"
"No, child...he is not angry with you."
"Ya know...ya look kinda like my Gran'pa Robert. Didja know him?"
The Director thought for a moment, and smiled. "You might say that. What's your name?"
"M' name is Arianna Wilson...but ev'body calls me Ari. I don' like it here, mister...are you gonna help me?"
"Arianna...I need to know a few things. Who were your parents?"
"Mommy and Daddy? Gran'pa Robert said Mommy's name was Sharon...and Daddy was Wade. But I never gotta talk to my Mommy and Daddy...Gran'pa told me that they're in a better place. Gran'pa Robert and Gran'ma Claudia always take good care 'a me. I sure hope they're not angry with me."
The Director took a look at this child before him. She was the one he had been seeking for the longest time, this child that could cure the scourge of his world. And as he stared into her innocent, naive eyes, tears began forming in his own, out of both pity and guilt. He wondered how much of what happened was directly caused by him. And he also felt sorry for this child, whom he would mold and shape into the person he needed to take his place, on the day when the Rift would consume him, body and soul. He tightly gripped her hand, and kissed her forehead. "We have to go now, Ari."
"Where are we goin', mister? Gran'pa Robert says not ta talk ta strangers...but you're nice to me, so I guess you're not a stranger."
The Director didn't speak. He telepathically triggered a time-portal, and stepped through it, the little girl following him.
Part Two: Transit
One Hundred Three years from the Present. High-Saturn orbit.
Kirax opened the comm channel to his entire fleet, which consisted of over a thousand Koraxian vessels. He spoke, and his words boomed across the fleet. "Today, we are going to take back that which should have been ours thousands of years ago. Earth, this shining jewel, will be ours. From the first day a Koraxian landed on this planet's rich soil, we wished to possess it. But the ever-present Oolians prevented us from claiming our righteous trophy. Now, we go back...back to a time when the Oolians thought we were no longer present on Earth. We go back to 1998. We will take this world, and cultivate its rich, fertile lands...adapting it to our own needs. And Earth will be part of the Koraxian
Empire for eons to come!" Cheers were heard over the open channel, and Kirax glowed a softer green, indicating his pleasure. He knew that none of them suspected his hidden agenda: to go back and destroy this planet, obliterating the time-lost Robert Maxwell. He was following in the footsteps of his father, the great warlord Shatax, and was going to destroy humankind utterly.
"Krivisa, is it ready?" he asked.
"Yes...we can send the entire fleet through the Focus Channeler on your command."
"Do it...now."
The ship began to shudder and shake, as did the rest of the fleet. A huge whirlpool opened up before the fleet, a swirling cloud of multi-colored energy and light. The ships were drawn inexorably toward it, still in their spheroid formation. As they passed into the vortex, it seemed as if the universe blinked for an instant. Kirax checked his sensor readout. "We're no longer in high-Saturn orbit. We are...at the exact location...Saturn will be in...one hundred and three Earth-years from now!" That meant the travel had been successful, and his skin turned almost yellow with delight.
His fleet was now in the past, about a week's journey (by sublight drive) to a comparatively primitive Earth.
--End Chapter Two--Coming Next: NORAD. DarkWolf and Outburst; Marvel Girl and Blaze.
Chapter Three
Part One: Crisis
The Next Morning (the Present). North American Air Defense (NORAD) Command.
Shawn Proctor walked briskly through the complex, holding a manila envelope in his hand. Sweat trickled down his forehead, as he thought about what he was holding. He was searching for General Clarke, the man who was to receive this folder. He knocked on the door to the general's office, and the general told him to enter. He came in and closed the door behind him, locking it.
"Proctor. What is this about?" the general asked.
"This." Proctor handed Clarke the folder, and the general unclasped it, removing the documents inside. On top was an image of Saturn.
"What am I supposed to be looking at?"
"At 0500 this morning, we got a call from NASA. They had Hubble pointed at Titan, and were trying to get some pictures of it done before it was out of view. This is what they found." Proctor took out a magnifying glass, and held it over part of the image. Hundreds of small points appeared, each a bright, sparkling blue. They were arranged in a spherical pattern.
"What are they, Proctor?"
"Look at the next picture."
Clarke did as Proctor suggested, and brought the next document to the fore. It was a magnified version of the last picture, with the dots now large, spiked spheres. Their formation was the same. "I've never seen anything like this...What are these objects doing?"
"NASA says they're approaching us, and will rendezvous in about a week. But they also reported something being launched from one of the objects, and it's going to arrive in less than a day."
"Has the President been notified?"
"He has. We're at Defcon 3, for now."
"Keep this under wraps. We can't let word of this get out. What action is being taken right now?"
"That's where you come in, sir. We need to know what you'd suggest."
"My suggestion is to send a shuttle up to get a closer look at whatever it is they threw our way."
"Actually, the shuttle Columbia is already up there...it launched last week, headed for Mir. We are evacuating the station presently. But we're not sure if the shuttle will get back to Earth before the object arrives."
"Keep all military bases on alert. Prepare to upgrade to Defcon 4 at a moment's notice."
"Defcon...FOUR? Sir...are you sure that's wise?"
"This is obviously a very dangerous situation developing here. We have to be prepared to strike back if we need to."
"Understood. I'll inform the President of your suggestion."
"Dismissed."
Shawn Proctor left the office, straight for his own office, where he would contact the President of the United States, and prepare the country, and maybe even the entire planet, for war.
Part Two: Panic Reaction
Less than an Hour Later. The IHFC mansion.
Ryan Jensen paced in the conference room, waiting for the rest of the Red's Inner Circle to arrive. Blink* was sitting at the table, watching the Red King pace. "Ryan, you have to relax. This isn't the end of the world."
"We don't know that, Rachel. This very well could be the end of us."
Madrox, Cyclops, Hazard, Jenskott, and Tangerine arrived a few minutes later, and took their seats. Almost immediately, Cyclops asked "Why is the White Court not present?"
"The reason will be clear in a moment. Allow me to explain."
He tapped a button on the table, and a projector lowered from the ceiling, and flashed the seal of the Red Court on the wall. Then, the image transitioned to a picture of Saturn. "About 30 minutes ago, I got a call from one of my friends at NORAD. It seems there are about a thousand unidentified objects near Titan, and they're heading for Earth. Keep in mind, this is exactly the same place Dr. Doom and Daemon were detecting a time/space anomaly just a few days ago."
He pressed another key, and the image changed again. "These images were e-mailed to me just a few minutes ago. Apparently, something has been launched toward Earth. It may be an advance probe, or some kind of nuclear weapon, or something we can't even imagine."
Jenskott chimed in, "What are we going to do about it?"
"We may be forced to involve the Whites and Blacks in this, but for now we are only using Doom and Daemon. Daemon left for Palla, where he is going to try to bring his fleet here for Earth's protection. But things may not go as well as we hope. The Harbinger's ship would be an invaluable asset if things get ugly. Do any of you hold any sway over Robert Maxwell?"
"I've had some...dealings with him," Hazard said. "I am confident he'll listen to me."
"Good. Be ready to contact him at a moment's notice. One more thing...NASA is sending the shuttle Columbia up to investigate the object that has been launched toward us. It is being launched TODAY, so we'll know very soon if the intent of this device is hostile. I'll notify all of you when I have more data. Until I decide it necessary, do NOT inform the White or Black Courts of these events. This meeting is adjourned."
Part Three: Practical Jokes
Around the Same Time. The IHFC mansion.
"Are ya ready, DarkWolf?" she spoke into her wrist communicator.
"You bet, Outburst. He's coming around the corner...now."
Outburst stepped out of her room and into the hall, to watch SuperGrover approach her. "Hiya!" she said cheerfully.
"Hello, Rhiannon. How are you today?"
"Oh, I'm just fine...what's new with the White King?"
SuperGrover was always more than happy to talk to the young Hellions, the students in the school part of the mansion. He chatted with Outburst for awhile, never noticing DarkWolf sneaking up behind him. DarkWolf reached into the White King's pocket, and pulled out a tube of hair gel, and replaced it with a similar-looking object. Outburst concluded her conversation with SuperGrover, upon seeing DarkWolf tiptoe around the corner.
"Was nice talking to ya, 'Grover. See-ya later!"
"Take care of yourself, Rhiannon..." he said as he continued down the hallway. Outburst immediately ran to find DarkWolf, and when they came face to face, they started laughing hysterically.
"Didja do it?" she asked.
"Yeah! It was in his pocket, just like you said...that hair gel he uses." He held up the tube of hair gel, to prove it to her.
"And did you put the new tube in his pocket?"
"I did! I can't wait to see how he looks with orange hair..." he said before he started laughing again.
"I sure hope he can take a joke!"
Outburst and DarkWolf immediately quieted themselves when they heard Marvel Girl and Blaze approaching. They knew that Blaze had been seeing Marvel Girl a lot lately, and were seldom seen apart. DarkWolf and Outburst ran off, hoping not to get caught.
"...So anyway..." Blaze began. "...He came walkin' around the corner, and there was a large, spherical object in the middle of the road...and it's not a piece o' the car!"
Marvel Girl started laughing at Blaze's story, which made absolutely no sense to her at all.
"And then...then...he showed up about an hour later at his house, with his sandwich in one hand, and his fuckin' hat in the other!" Blaze nearly keeled over from laughing so hard, and Marvel Girl was starting to turn red from lack of breath. "I swear, I got a million o' these...Wanna hear some more?"
Marvel Girl stopped laughing long enough to smile at him, and then burst out giggling again. Blaze continued his stories into the afternoon, entertaining her all evening.
Part Four: Concentration
A Few Hours Later. The BHC mansion.
Robert Maxwell gazed into the eyes of his opponent, boring into his soul. The man across from him simply smiled broadly, with a devilish twinkle in his eye. The Harbinger wiped his forehead, and grabbed the tip of his Queen. He moved it five spaces diagonally, placing it in a prime position to take out his enemy's Rook. He sat back, and grinned, believing he had his opponent beaten.
The man across from him took one look at the board, and moved the lone Bishop that the Harbinger hadn't noticed. "Checkmate!" he shouted.
The Harbinger brushed his arm viciously across the board, sending the glass chess pieces shattering into the wall and floor. "Dammit, Bluespark! I swear, you are fucking CHEATING!"
"You're just pissed 'cos I'm beating you at chess. Wanna play again?"
"No...I only played so it would help me concentrate on finding a way to get in contact with Inferno."
"All it did was get you all pissed off."
"Shut up, Bluespark. I really don't like you right now."
"That's strange. Everyone LOVES Bluespark! I mean, come on! I've got that bubbly personality, the perfect, muscular figure...my boyish face. And I make one helluva statement with this uniform you force me to wear. And how about my earring? Huh? Huh?"
"You are so obnoxious...God, just be quiet..."
"Come on, Harb...you're no fun."
The Harbinger was in no mood for fun and games, and Bluespark was simply trying to cheer him up. He was not succeeding. The Harbinger needed to contact his ship, and until he did, he would worry and fret for the safety of this planet.
--End Chapter Three--Coming Next: Scorched Earth.
Chapter Four
Part One: Chain Reaction
A Few Hours Later. Earth Orbit.
The space shuttle Columbia was finishing evacuating the Russian space station, Mir, when they heard it. The astronaut in charge, Lance Milton, raised his hand, indicating that the other be silent. There was the sound of tiny impacts on the space station's hull. "Do you hear that?" he whispered.
The others nodded. "Let's get out of here," he ordered.
They all went into the shuttle's cockpit, and looked out the front window. Before them was a large, sky-blue, crystalline object, hurtling quickly toward them. "Strap it in, we're getting out of here!" he shouted, barely keeping his panic in check. The shuttle quickly undocked, and they turned the ship back toward Earth. The precious seconds it took to re-orient the craft cost them terribly. They felt a rumbling as the object approached, apparently exerting some kind of force on the ship. Milton fired the main thrusters and propelled the craft toward Earth, hoping to escape the oncoming projectile.
Outside the shuttle, the object was gaining on them. It quickly split in two, with one half hitting the space station, the other heading for the surface. The one that hit the station caused it to explode violently, sending shrapnel and debris in all directions. Then, the energy of the explosion was harnessed by the projectile, and spread to the nearest satellites. They, too, exploded, and their energy was added to the reaction. Then, the energy was funneled across the satellite network, shorting out every circuit, frying every power cell. All satellites were now inactive and useless.
The other projectile was pursuing the shuttle, or so it appeared. As the shuttle was heading for Cape Canaveral, the projectile veered off, and headed North.
The astronauts sighed collectively as the object moved speedily away from them.
Part Two: Impact
At That Moment. Near New York City.
Cassandra Javins had lived a mostly ordinary life, having grown up in the suburbs around New York City. She had married young, barely seventeen years old, and had a son less than a year later. Her husband had left her almost three years ago now, and she was raising her four year old son by herself. It was dark outside, and she knew little Blake was catching lightning bugs, squealing with delight as he held one in his hand and watched it glow. Cassandra was washing dishes, looking out the window at her son. Suddenly, he started shouting. "Mommy, Mommy! Come lookit!" He was pointing into the sky.
She smiled, thinking her son was watching a meteor shower, or maybe a comet. She walked outside, and asked "What do you see, Blake?"
"That!" he said gleefully, pointing to a point of light that was getting brighter. The speed at which it was brightening began to frighten her, and she said "Blake, go inside." Her son mumbled something breifly before going inside. Very quickly, the sky was brightening, and in seconds, it seemed like daytime. The object was as bright as the sun, as it seemed to be getting closer. Then came the heat. The mere heat from this object was making her sweat on this chilly night. She stood transfixed to this object that approached. She ran into the house, and took her son into her arms. They could both see it out the window now, and she started speaking.
"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name..."
The fireball struck, and mother and son were swept into oblivion.
...
Two Minutes Before. The BHC mansion.
The Harbinger was resting comfortably in his quarters, thinking of ways to regain contact with his ship. His thoughts were shredded by a loud buzzing in his cybernetic brain. He realized it was a Koraxian communications carrier. "Holy shit..." he mumbled as he ran from the room to find Gomurr.
He wasted no time knocking on Gomurr's door, and simply knocked it down. Gomurr was meditating, and the Harbinger slapped him viciously across the face. "Snap out of it, dammit! We have to get out of here!" the Harbinger shouted.
"Calm yourself, Robert. And do not slap me again," Gomurr said, rubbing his cheek where he had been hit.
"Teleport all of us to Illinois, NOW!" the Harbinger demanded.
"Why?"
"Just do it! Or we're all DEAD!"
While Gomurr didn't trust this man, he sensed the sincerity in Robert Maxwell's words. He cast a simple teleport spell after mentally fixing on everyone in the mansion. He hoped they all would make it to their destination.
"Two seconds..." the Harbinger whispered grimly, before he realized he was vanishing.
He fell to the ground on a patch of grass, and felt the earth beneath him shaking. "Look!" he shouted, pointing East. Gomurr and those who had been teleported looked where Maxwell was pointing, and saw a tremendous fireball. It was growing quickly, apparently devouring everything in its path. But the Harbinger was certain it wouldn't get this far. The ground trembled even more violently, and many thought the world was coming to an end. Finally, the shaking stopped.
"What...was that?" Deadpool asked, the first to break the silence.
"A Koraxian weapon," the Harbinger said, brushing the grass from his uniform. "God help us...they're here."
"Who is here, Robert? You have to tell us!" Gomurr demanded.
"The...Koraxian Empire. Do any of you have a cell phone?" the Harbinger asked.
"I do..." Dark Claw said, pulling out his Ericson mobile phone. He tried to dial a number into it, and received nothing but static.
"This is definitely a Koraxian tactic. They've destroyed all satellite functions, and have made their first strike. New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, Virginia, and part of Canada...are all a smoldering crater."
"Wh-what about the others?" Siryn asked.
"Dead, fortunately for them," the Harbinger asked.
"How is that fortunate?!" Nemesis yelled.
"Because if the Koraxians conquer Earth, we're going to all wish we had died."
Part Three: Giving Up
SuperGrover coughed and wiped the ashes from his eyes. There was nothing around him but flat land. Flat, scorched, burning land. He put his hand on his abdomen, as it felt numb to him. He looked at his hand, and it was covered in his blood. His telekinetic shield had saved him, but this wound would be the death of him if he didn't seek help. His legs broken, he dragged himself on his side for several minutes, before the blood loss started making him feel light-headed. As he looked down, he noticed that there wasn't as much blood coming out now, and he started to see a light. His last thought was a joyous one, as he knew he was about to be reunited with Jubilee, Blink*, and all those that he
loved.
--End Chapter Four--Coming Next: The Final Blow
Chapter Five
Part One: More Than One
A Few Days Later. Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
Kirax's fleet was in orbit around Earth, arranged in an intricate network around the globe. He had ordered them to prepare for axial disruption, and wanted to fire upon the planet within the hour. "Krivisa...are we nearly ready?"
"Yes, Kirax. Axial Disruption Currents are online. We can shift the planet's axis in less than a minute."
"Splendid...how are Robert Maxwell and that little human female doing?"
"They are still unconscious. Your interception of his time-travel worked perfectly. But I still find no trace of him in our historical database."
"That is nonsense, Krivisa! I know who this man is...he is the most dangerous, cunning, calculating human being I have ever encountered. I hunted him for YEARS before I finally killed him, or so I thought. It seemed he was merely traipsing about the timestream all the while..."
"Indeed..."
Part Two: Global Chaos
About the Same Time. Somewhere above the Arctic Circle.
The Harbinger carried a tray into the room, and set it upon the oak coffee table. A dozen glasses of steaming hot cocoa rested upon it, and everyone took a cup. He looked at those in the room. Gomurr, Nemesis, Deadpool, Siryn, Silver, Avalon, Monet, ShockWave, the Iceman, Dark Claw, and Havoc1. They were the only members of the BHC to have escape the initial Koraxian attack. The air was heavy with sorrow and grief, but also with the fear of what was to come. The Harbinger sighed. They had been in his old Arctic base for the past few days, planning and trying to find a way to avert this crisis. The Harbinger had been less than open about what he knew regarding this situation. But he knew he
had to tell them what he knew. He looked at them, and spoke.
"I have a bad feeling about this...this attack...it is very reminiscent of Shatax's style. And there is one other who has followed Shatax's strategies...his son, whose name is Kirax. I believe that one of the two of them is here, and trying to conquer Earth. My money is on Kirax, since Shatax never bothered with Earth in his time."
"Wait a moment, Robert," Gomurr said. "Didn't you tell me that Kirax accused you of killing Shatax, and he said it occurred about this time?"
"That's...right...oh my God...he was right."
"What do you mean?" Nemesis asked.
"Kirax may have come back in time to stop me...it's the only answer. But if he came through the Focus, he won't be able to get home without this." The Harbinger reached into his shirt and pulled out a necklace that only Nemesis had seen before. The charm on the necklace resembled a toothless key with a square head. It was shiny, gold, and reflected light in all directions.
"Robert, you've shown me that before...but you never told me what it was," Nemesis said.
"It's the Focus Key. While it is possible to activate the Focus without it, you can't control the ENTIRE Focus network without this. Gomurr, when you took me to the Focus, I never had the chance to try to activate it, as my contact with Inferno was cut off."
"So what are we going to do now?" Deadpool wondered.
"We can't sit in my Arctic base for much longer, that's certain. Whoever is up there is going to find it, and blow it out of the water."
The Harbinger's words were prophetic, as the complex began shaking violently. Sounds of metal buckling surrounded them, and they all stood up.
"Gomurr," Nemesis said. "NOW would be a good time to teleport us out of here!"
Gomurr obeyed, and they were whisked away to...
...somewhere else. The Harbinger recognized it as the Shadow Rock. Its disguise quickly fell away upon Gomurr's approach, and revealed itself as the Focus. "It's our only chance, Gomurr...we have to use it," the Harbinger said. Suddenly, a beam pierced the sky, and shredded the ground, creating a chasm between the BHC and the Focus. "Goddammit!" the Harbinger screamed. "They're using an Axial Disruption Current! EVERYONE GET DOWN!"
Without speaking, everyone obeyed. They felt the ground lurch violently, and they all went tumbling through the air. The water that crashed against the Shadow Rock/Focus now came at them in a tremendous tidal wave. They were swept away by the current, and all lost sight of each other.
...
Across the globe, chaos reigned. The sudden shift in the Earth's rotation caused buildings to rip from their foundations. Humans and animals were tossed about by the upheaval. Seismic events occurred across the planet, and entire cities were shaken apart by earthquakes. Planes were caught in tremendous crosswinds, and ripped apart. Tidal waves obliterated coastal cities. Within a matter of minutes, millions were dead, and the sun was in a new spot in the sky. The planet's axis was shifted so that the North Pole pointed toward the sun. The Moon's orbit was affected, as well, and began to degrade. It would strike the planet in a matter of months, were the planet to last that long.
...
The members of the BHC lost sight of each other, with the exception of Siryn and Deadpool. They clung to each other for life, and Siryn flew out of the water, taking her lover with her. They headed for dry land, as she tried to avoid the crosswinds created by the axial shift. They both panted for breath, on semi-solid ground again. After what they had just been through, neither cared that they were lying in mud and grime. What mattered was that they were together, even if their time together was about to be cut short.
The Harbinger finally saw Gomurr, as the wave receded, and ran toward him. It was made difficult, as some of his circuits were waterlogged and damaged. Nevertheless, he approached the magician. "Have you...seen the others?" he asked between breaths.
"Nemesis and Silver and Avalon are fairly close. The others, I have ready to teleport here...but perhaps we should all go elsewhere."
"Don't waste your energy, Gom. Nowhere on this planet will be safe for long."
Part Three: The Cavalry
At that Same Time. Near Pluto, and closing on Earth fast.
"I can't believe this is happening," Daemon said as his Phoenix-class flagship sped toward Earth. Tachyon-drive was engaged, making the trip very brief, but it didn't make him any happier.
"Goddamned Koraxians...who do they think they are?" The entire Pallan fleet was behind him. He had received a distress call from his gunship in Earth orbit, before it was disabled. The gunship was able to identify the attackers as Koraxians. Needless to say, Daemon isn't having a very good day.
"I go to Palla to claim the throne, stop civil war...then THIS happens!" He sighed. "What would this galaxy do without me?"
His fleet practically crashed into the Koraxian network around Earth, as it broke into smaller fleets. His flagship veered past one of the more intimidating Koraxian vessels, and a beam from his ship lashed out, tearing the enemy ship in two. Daemon smiled in satisfaction. "That's more like it!"
His celebration was shortened by weapons fire. His ship lurched beneath him, and his head nearly rammed into the tactical console. "Fine, if you want to play it that way..." He tapped a few keys, and the mine bays on his ship opened. Literally hundreds of highly-explosive mines were sprinkled out of the belly of his craft, arming themselves immediately. The resulting explosions were spectacular, as over a dozen Koraxian vessels fell into the atmosphere in balls of flame. He checked his sensors, and watched as one of his fleets dived into a group of Koraxian vessels. The slower, less manueverable Koraxian vessels became sitting ducks, as they were broken apart.
...
"Mindblank!" Kirax screamed. "USE THE MINDBLANK!" Krivisa obeyed his commander, and they felt the mindblank spread across the fleets. The Koraxians were unaffected, but the effect on the Pallans was catastrophic. They immediately forgot who they were, what they were doing, how to pilot their vessels. They slammed into Koraxian ships, each other, the atmosphere; some even veered toward the moon and created brilliant craters upon its pocked surface.
...
Daemon's own mind was starting to slip, and he felt his memories being pulled from him, then his knowledge of piloting, then everything. He was an infant again, ignorant of the world. He had no coherent thought as his ship careened into a group of Koraxian ships.
...
Kirax watched as the battle ended, the last of the Pallans being blasted into nothingness. "Report, Krivisa."
"We lost about two hundred ships in that skirmish...the Pallans fought savagely. We were fortunate the mindblank worked."
Kirax did not speak. The weakness, the only weakness his race had, was dispicable. They simply could not comprehend unpredictable tactics. They always travelled in spherical formations, never deviating. When they engaged the enemy, they would simply split into smaller spheroids, still adhering to their geometric perfection. They were simply appalled that other races would attack them in such an uncoordinated fashion. But their ships were huge and powerful, which usually compensated for this weakness. Koraxians were inherently logical beings, always finding the quickest, best solution to a problem. Still, a few allowed themselves to be controlled by their passions and hatreds. Those
individuals usually rose to positions of great power, like Kirax, and Shatax before him.
"Do we still have enough ships for a Cascade?" Kirax asked.
"C-Cascade? Kirax, are you insane? That will destroy the planet!"
"PRECISELY! Now, DO IT!"
Krivisa looked to Kirax's second, who simply gazed back. Kirax knew what was happening. Krivisa and his second were debating mutiny. "I will kill you all for contemplating my assassination!" He lashed out at Krivisa with a biochemical bolt, and killed him instantly. He operated Krivisa's console, erecting a forcefield around himself, and ordering his ships into formation, where they would perform the Derris Cascade, and obliterate the planet which Kirax so dearly hated.
--End Chapter Five--Coming Next: Surely you can guess!
Epilogue
Part One: Captured
About the Same Time. Kirax's ship.
Robert Maxwell sat up, and glanced around. The last thing he remembered was taking little Arianna Wilson by the hand, and leading her into a timeport. He saw the child sleeping on the other side of the room, which he deduced to be a cell. The walls were all open to corridors, and he tried to walk out. As he expected, forcefields kicked in as he touched the cell's edges. "How in the Hell did we end up here?" he wondered aloud. He ordered the nano-microbes in his bloodstream to construct a long-range micro-probe so he could get a better layout of his prison. Before his eyes, a tiny cylinder formed in his palm. He gripped it and electronically interfaced with the device. He then hurled it into
the cell wall, and watched as it passed through. When he noticed that his probe wasn't destroyed, he configured his arm to feedback the forefield energy as he touched the boundaries. He expected it to fry the circuitry in the cell, but it didn't. Instead, the energy pulsed through HIM, knocking him down. "Ouch...dammit."
He looked at the child, peacefully sleeping a few meters away from him. He smiled as he admired her face. The few freckles that showed on her nose and cheeks, and her sweet smile brought out an instinct Maxwell didn't realize he had. He now knew that he had to protect this child...and Heaven help any who would put her in harm's way.
Part Two: No Tomorrow
A Few Hours Later. Kirax's ship.
Kirax manipulated his console, working furiously to set up a Derris Cascade. It would send a massive amount of energy to all his ships, who would then redirect the power toward Earth's core, causing the planet to, essentially, blow itself up. His personal forcefield held, and he eyed Krivisa and his second suspiciously.
"Do not dare to rise against me. This fleet is more loyal to me than it is to any of you. They will do as I command, or they will die. Watch now, as I obliterate this planet called Terra!"
He tapped a final, fatal key on his console, and Earth's fate was sealed.
Part Three: A Kiss Before Dying
That Same Time. Somewhere on Earth.
Gomurr was no longer able to determine where they were, as Earth had been so horribly disrupted in the last attack. He had managed to gather all the others, and led them to the relative safety of a bomb shelter he had found. "Gomurr," the Harbinger said. "This isn't going to do us any good."
"Quiet, Robert, or I'll silence you with a Babel Enchantment."
The Harbinger didn't even ask as he went inside.
Deadpool and Siryn sat off by themselves in the shelter, talking softly.
"Do you think we're going to make it out of this?" Siryn asked.
"Don't worry, Sharon. I'm sure Silver or Nemesis or Gomurr will find a solution to this mess."
"But...all the others are dead. Nothing can change that. Wade...I don't want this world to end."
"If it does end, at least we'll be together for eternity..."
"Hey!" the Harbinger called. "If you two lovebirds would like to live to see tomorrow, then maybe you'd better get over here and help us figure out what to do!"
They ignored him, only for a moment, then felt a trembling in the earth.
"This just is NOT a good week..." the Harbinger sighed. "If this is what I think it is, then this is IT!"
"Wh...what do you mean, exactly?" Deadpool asked.
"I mean, this is make-your-peace-with-God time. End-of-all-things time. The apocalypse...so this is Goodbye Forever time..."
"Robert, are you certain?" Nemesis asked desperately.
"Very. Any last words for me?"
"Robert...I..."
A beam sliced through the Earth, seeking its core. It passed right through the Black Queen, and she was simply gone. A sin, to die as nothing. There would be nothing of her to mourn, and no time in which to grieve her passing.
The Harbinger stood motionless. Beyond hatred, beyond tears. He did not speak another word.
In their last moment, they were not the Black Hellfire Court. They were human beings. Terrified, vulnerable, powerless human beings. Gomurr and ShockWave were holding tightly to each other, the ancient magician terrified, for the first time in centuries.
Deadpool and Siryn shared one last kiss before they were torn, ripped from each other.
The Iceman tried to say his goodbye to Monet, hoping to make her realize how much he cared about her before he died. His efforts were in vain.
Silver, Avalon, Havoc1, and Dark Claw all sat by themselves, silently bidding farewell to the people around them. And as their world fell away, all of them looked at the lives they had led, the paths that had taken them to where they were now. After all the battles, personal struggles, trials, and conflicts, they were being destroyed by a single enraged creature, a being fraught with hatred and savagery. The planet broke apart more quickly than expected, and exploded outward, engulfing Kirax's fleet in fire and dirt. The ships were obliterated, the Earth was lost, the Moon was consumed by fire. Nothing left of this shining blue planet.
Nothing.
--The End--