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#3
JUN 09 |
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“Feral At Heart”
Earth #170983
No one heard her desperate cries for help as she fled down the deserted streets. A year ago these streets would have been busy with traffic and pedestrians, even after midnight, but a lot can change in a year, even in New York City. These days, most people locked themselves in their homes as soon as the sun went down.
What were you thinking, Tatiana! she scolded herself silently.
Normal people don’t go outside, though they were relatively safe from the creatures that stalked the night these days. For supers, on the other hand, it was a death wish, but ever since her best friend Kiden had gone missing, Tatiana couldn’t content herself to just sit away inside. She had to search.
Her name was Tatiana Caban and she was a mutant, blessed (or cursed, depending who you asked) with the ability to take on the characteristics of any animal whose blood she touched, Tatiana spent her days in fear that the Shades would find her. As great as her fear was, the fear of being along was worse.
With a sample of beagle blood she’d kept handy from her job at the local vet’s, she had transformed into a half dog, half human hybrid. It was what Goofy would have looked like if Steven King had created him. It hadn’t taken her long to find Kiden’s scent but, unfortunately, the Shades had discovered her just as quickly. Rumor had it the creatures could see from any shadow. Right now she didn’t care; she just didn’t want to die.
As she ran she used the beagle’s stamina to her advantage, running for much longer and further than she could have in human form. It was no use, though, as she saw when she glanced over her shoulder and could clearly see one of the shadowy beasts running down the street behind her while another leapt from rooftop to rooftop nearby.
She had no choice: it was either stand and fight, or run and eventually die. Of course a half human, half beagle freak wouldn’t stand a chance against two Shades; she needed more firepower and she knew exactly where to get it.
After running another block she found her self outside Pete’s Quality Meats, one of the better butchers in the area. With a tinge of guilt she hurled a garbage can through the window and leapt though the hole while the alarms blared. Not wasting anytime, she jumped over the counter, reached into the refrigerated cabinet and grabbed the biggest, juiciest steak she could find.
She squeezed the steak like a wet cloth causing blood to run down both arms and immediately the changes began. The beagle features faded away to be replaced by that of a bull, her shirt ripping open and she doubled in height as her new, hoof-like feet destroyed her shoes. Within seconds she was a veritable Minotaur. This was why she was a vegetarian; when any undercooked meat could transform you into a monster, you learned to appreciate your broccoli.
The bull hybrid stood her ground as the two Shades stepped inside. In the dull light of the butcher shop she could make out the creatures clearly; they were two man-shaped creatures of shadow. One stood tall and firm, like a man in the prime of his life, and carried something large and round on its wrist. The other was smaller and thinner, and crawled across the ceiling like a cockroach.
Neither made a sound, they simply approached with single-minded purpose. Oh God, this was it! She would have to fight and yet she couldn’t bring herself to move, fear freezing every muscle in her massive body.
BLOONK! A group of figures suddenly appeared in the store, between her and the Shades.
A man with skin as white as snow said, “Never fear, beautiful princess, your white knight is he...uurrrgh! I though she was hot but she’s a total cow. Get it?” He elbowed a man dressed head to toe in a blue body suit. Spiderman?
“Keep your head in the game!” cried a pink-skinned woman in green, who hurled a pair of glowing sticks at the Shades. The sticks merely entered their shadowy bodies as if they were voids.
The Shades leapt in to attack her but were intercepted by a large woman in purple armor and a hairy blonde man with claws. The woman punched the smaller shade through a wall before diving through after it, while the clawed man ripped shreds off the bigger one. Still it didn’t make a sound.
The pink lady, the white man and the Spider-man knock-off held a defensive position between her and the Shades while another blonde man, this one sporting an out of date mullet and leather jacket, joined the fray. He slashed the beast up with several small blades held between his fingers and kicked it in the knee. The man with the mullet was handsome, but Tatiana couldn’t keep her eyes off the bigger, hairier man, as he ripped the Shade to pieces. There was something about his animalistic nature that resonated with her own.
“Things’ve got no organs,” he grunted with effort, “no muscles, either. Just gotta take ‘em apart!” Soon the shade lay in pieces on the ground, which quickly dissolved into black, oily goo. A few seconds later the armored woman returned, holding the head of the other shade in her hand as it, too, melted away.
The group’s eyes fell upon the stunned girl, who had unconsciously reverted back to human form.
“Now that’s more like it,” winked the white man, who seemed to have no real facial features.
“Who…are you?” she asked, hesitantly. All the heroes of the world were meant to be gone.
“We’re the Exiles kid, and we’re here to help you save the world,” grinned the clawed man.
She ran.
The Crystal Palace; nowhere, nowhen.
Heather cursed the viewing screen as the girl fled; they had laid it on too thick and too fast. The past ten minutes were probably the most traumatic of her life. But it wouldn’t be the first time the Exiles had made a mistake, in fact it was because of a series of mistakes that the team existed in the first place.
First, an insectoid race known as the Timebreakers had discovered a pan-dimensional viewing station known as the Panoptichron and, in the process, damaged reality. Instead of repairing the damage themselves, they utilised the newly discovered technology to assemble a team from across the multiverse they named the Exiles. After countless missions and many team mates lost, the Exiles took over operations.
Sadly, things didn’t get any easier after that. Mimic, one of the team’s founding members and lover to their leader Blink, was lost and a horrible evil was unleashed on reality. After a harrowing few weeks, the evil Proteus was defeated, but only by sacrificing team mate Morph as a living prison. Proteous now possesses the kind hearted mutant, though he actually believes himself to be Morph, thanks to some handy brainwashing technology.
Heather tried best not to think about it; even with the entire multiverse at her disposal she has been unable to help rid her friend of the vile creature controlling him. It didn’t help that they had been thrown into another perilous situation so soon after taking down Proteus either.
Just over a week ago, a man named Axel Asher had been blasted into the Crystal Palace. Something powerful had sent him hurtling across reality, damaging numerous universes in the process, and now the team raced the clock to save each universe, or else it would create a domino effect, essentially collapsing the entire multiverse.
Asher, who in reality was actually a fragment of a very old multiverse, was still unconscious. The Palace’s scanners indicated his brain was functioning normally and he should be waking up, but still he remained catatonic. It was frustrating because they still had no idea what had blasted him across reality, though she knew it had to be something pretty powerful.
She snapped herself back to reality and focused on the task at hand, monitoring the Exiles’ progress and providing direction where needed. It was vital that the team find and protects that girl; without Tatiana Cabon, Earth 170983 was doomed.
A slight scuffling noise behind her broke her attention, but it was likely one of the worker class Timebreakers here to attend to her.
“Could you grab me a cup of coffee, thanks…Argh!” she jumped in fright when she realized it was not a Timebreaker but a sickly looking man standing in the doorway. “Axel, you’re awake!” She stood up, clearly surprised by the man’s sudden appearance. Something in his eyes held her back from attending to him though, as he seemed to look right through her as if she wasn’t there.
He was a young man, in his early twenties and kind of handsome, but whatever ordeal he had endured had aged him. “Pan…optichron,” he said softly, gazing around the room with bleary eyes.
“You…you know this place?” she asked, although it was more likely he overheard the term in his sleep.
“I know you’re coming…I’ll stop you…” he spoke to no one in particular.
“Who’s coming, Axel? What’s going on?” It was then she realized he was holding a long, sharp shard of pink crystal. Greenish liquid dripped from it…Timebreaker blood.
“Asher, what have you done?!” Finally his head snapped around to attention and bloodshot eyes quickly focused.
“Heather Hudson of Earth 3470.” He seemed to recognize her before his focus once again drifted away and his forehead crinkled in frustration. “I’m sorry…I split you.”
“W…What?” Now was definitely a good time to call the team back.
“Don’t touch that dial!” The unhinged man brandished his crystal shard like a knife and took a menacing step forward.
Heather put her hands up in surrender. It would take too long to call the team back; Asher could easily stab her in that time, so it was up to her to save herself. “Axel, I’m a friend. No one here is going to hurt you.” She used her most soothing tone of voice, hoping to calm him.
It seemed to have some effect, as the man lowered the shard before clutching his head with his free hand. “Just stop it, get out of my head,” he cried weakly. “Stop whispering to me!”
A sovereign class Timebreaker had the misfortune of entering the room at that time, “Exile Heather Hudson, is everything satisfactory?” it asked, startling Asher.
“Go away!” he yelled and the creature disappeared in a flash of light.
“What did you do?!” cried Heather. Could he have atomised the poor alien? No, it was more likely he used his abilities to teleport the thing away, but where? It could be anywhere in the multiverse.
Suddenly she realized she had a lot more to fear than a sharp piece of crystal.
Earth #170983
Victor mentally kicked himself as he tracked Tatiana’s scent through the back alley. Just once he’d thought he would try and play the hero rather than the grumbling loner and look where it had got him. Tatiana had stayed on foot rather than transform again, likely for fear of alerting more Shades, but it was severely slowing her down. He had no doubt he could find her, just as long as the Shades didn’t get her first.
“Any word from Heather on the girl’s location?” asked Blink for what felt like the tenth time.
“No, she’s gone quiet, and I don’t like it.” He didn’t mention that they didn’t need Heather to find her, as he was more than capable, but he bit his tongue. Blink was just looking at all the options, like a good leader, and he was proud of her for it.
He lead group at a jog down multiple back alleys, often doubling back each other; the kid was good, he’d give her that. It wouldn’t help her in the end; her scent was growing stronger and stronger as they were closing in on her location. Unfortunately, this world’s inherent problems interfered.
A massive Shade with limbs like tree trunks melted from the shadows and towered over the Exiles. It seemed to lack a head though, with a dome-like structure resting there instead. On earth 170983, someone or something had abducted all the world’s heroes and villains and replaced them with shadowy replicates, and this one was clearly Juggernaut.
A second Shade appeared behind the team, this one of average height and shape, but with long tendrils extending from each hand. Victor didn’t recognize it and like before, neither Shade made a sound, which added to their eerie nature.
The Juggernaut Shade charged forward like an angry bull and Morph reacted by stretching himself across the alleyway at knee height in an attempt to trip it. He succeeded, only to end up tangled around the creature as it went tumbling forward. Everybody leapt aside save for Power Princess, who caught the tangled pair and used their motion to hurl them into the air and into the second Shade.
Blink attempted to teleport the creatures away but was once again unsuccessful. Instead she opted to have Spider-Man web the two beasts down once Morph had extracted himself from the mess. Miguel used as much web as he could without draining his organic webshooters, but none were confident it would be enough to hold Juggernaut down, even an evil shadow version.
Thinking outside the box, Blink teleported the ground away beneath the two shadow creatures and sent them plummeting into the sewer below. “That should slow them down long enough for us to find the girl,” she stated.
“Come on,” grunted Creed, who took off down the alley before the other could even collect themselves. He was anxious and felt responsible for putting the girl in this situation. He had made a rookie mistake, coming on too strong to the kid like that and scaring her away. He wasn’t about to let that mistake cost Tatiana her life.
Nearby
Tatiana had run until her sides ached and her legs cramped up and she had no choice but to stop and let her breath catch up to her.
You really need to exercise more in human form, she berated herself.
Suddenly, heavy footsteps nearby caught her attention; those freaks from the butcher shop were catching up to her. For a second she hesitated, since they had saved her life after all, but then dismissed the thought from her mind and continued running. It was a death sentence to have any contact with a superhuman, especially ones who dressed in costumes and used their powers so openly.
The alley opened up onto a wide, exposed street, so she doubled back and turned down another alley behind a Chinese restaurant. Unfortunately, after a few minutes of running she reached a dead end at the back of another building. In desperation she tried a nearby door but of course it was locked. There were fire escapes above her but from ground level she couldn’t reach them.
Running footsteps could be heard from up the alley and she was completely trapped now. Something deep within her, something primal, was urging her to stand and fight, like in the butcher shop, but she forced it away and used her intellect instead.
Although she gagged at the thought of what had to be done next, she swallowed her pride and kicked over a nearby garbage can. The racket would definitely draw her pursuers but it needed to be done. Half a dozen roaches skittered out of the trash and ran for safety; all escaped save one, which she crushed beneath her bare foot. She grimaced as the insects guts smooshed between her toes and it DNA was absorbed through her skin.
Only once had she transformed using insect blood, when she had swatted a fly without thinking. Because of that horrifying experience she knew it would work, only deep down she wished it wouldn’t. Quickly her skin began to harden, as hundreds of sharp black hairs erupted all over. It was difficult to keep from vomiting as her internal organs rearranged themselves into some ungodly hybrid of human and insect. Two whip-like antennae burst from her scalp as her eyes split into a thousand facetted lenses.
The world took on a whole new, terrifying perspective through those eyes, but at least she could see from every angle at once. When at last it felt as if the transformation was complete she ran for the nearest wall, only to trip over her bizarre new legs. Nearly crying with frustration, she scurried along the ground on all six legs, noticing that a second set of arms had grown from her ribs, further ruining her shirt. Surprisingly she moved fairly fast and reached the wall in no time.
Razor sharp, hook-like talons on each hand and foot allowed her to easily scale the brick wall, although it would take some getting used to. Unfortunately she didn’t have time, as the six super humans from the butcher shop had managed to track her down.
“Please, don’t run away! We’re here to help you?!” shouted the pink lady below.
“Jusssh go away!” she cried through her mutated mouth and continued climbing.
“Look out!” one of them cried.
She had been too distracted and hadn’t noticed the Shade melting out of the shadows below a nearby windowsill. One long tendril from the beast’s back ensnared her as she tried to scurry away, whilst another three held it to the wall. She cried in terror but there was nothing her roach form could do.
“Hhhhrrrraaaaaaoooowwwwwrrrr!!”
The feral, blonde man leapt upon the shade and began pummelling it. Instead of fighting back though, the creature ensnared him with two more tendrils, before pulling the three of them into the shadow it had come through.
The Crystal Palace
“Victor, no!” Heather watched the screen in horror as the Shade drew Sabertooth and Tatiana through a shadow portal to god-knows-where. She instinctively leapt for her control station to teleport him back but immediately felt something sharp against her jugular.
“Don’t…” hissed Axel in her ear.
“Look Axel, we’re you’re friends. We’re here to help.” She tried to remain as calm as possible but it was difficult with a six inch piece of razor sharp crystal against your neck. Axel slowly pulled her away from the controls; on screen she could clearly see Blink’s desperate eyes as she frantically tried to work out what to do.
“You can’t bring them back here…it wants that,” he let her go, but there was no way she could reach the console with out getting stabbed.
“What wants that? What’s going on, Axel?” This was driving her crazy; she couldn’t get any straight answers out of the man in this state. He needed psychiatric treatment.
Asher’s eyes glazed over once again and he seemed to be looking beyond the room, to some far distant point. “You’re not who you think you are anymore. I’m sorry.”
“What…do you mean?”
“I changed you, all of you,” he gestured towards the exiles on screen. “It hurt me, it wanted to use me…and it did. I left untold destruction in my wake that I couldn’t prevent…and…and I spit your timelines…” He began frantically hitting himself in the head, tears welling in his eyes. “Stupid, so stupid!”
Heather searched her mind for what the reality hopper meant. Did he mean the timelines of the realities he damaged? Somehow she didn’t think that was it.
Asher calmed himself down after a moment and stepped up to the console. Heather made a move to stop him but he extended his hand in warning. There were fates worse than getting stabbed, she thought, remembering the poor Timebreaker he’d vanished earlier.
He pressed various buttons at the controls for a few minutes before placing his hand on the screen and closing his eyes in concentration. A second later the scene changed from the Exiles to a cabin on a scenic tropical beach. What was he showing her?
A heavily pregnant woman stepped out onto the balcony and took in the view, a look of sheer contentedness on her features. Heather’s blood ran cold; it was her. To be clear it was an alternate version of her, but why would Asher show her this. A handsome, black haired man joined the other Heather and put his arms around her, stroking her pregnant belly. The man was James Hudson, Guardian of Alpha Flight…her husband.
Quickly her blood began to run cold. Never before had she seen an alternate world where she was married to James. It always made her feel like her marriage was extra special. Slowly her eyes drifted down to the universe’s code number…and her heart stopped. Earth #3470!
“That’s my world!” she screamed. “Some other Heather is on my world stealing my husband!” What the hell was going on? This had to be a trick, some sort of fabrication by Asher to win her over. That or the other her was a Skrull, it’s always Skrulls!
Axel seemed to read her mind, because he did something else to the controls, something Heather had never seen before. The image vanished, to be replaced by a three dimensional image of the multiverse. It zoomed in on earth #3470, particularly Heather Hudson, and revealed a glowing golden thread running from her. The thread seemed to weave around everywhere throughout the house and along the beach before stretching out into the vastness of space between the universes.
“This is Heather’s timeline,” explained Asher, his face twitching. Heather had already figured it out and tears were welling in her eyes.
The pregnant Heather’s timeline ran all the way back to the Crystal Palace where another timeline split off from it: hers, the Heather standing in the Palace now with Asher. She clutched her throat in despair, trying to hold back the sobs. The day Axel Asher had crashed into the Crystal Palace it had split all the Exiles timelines. In one timeline, he never struck the Palace, the Exiles went on with their mission and apparently she had retired and gone home. In the other timeline, Axel struck the palace, alerting the Exiles to the massive damage caused to the multiverse.
Timelines split all the time. Normally they’re no problem at all, as an entire new universe is born, but when you’re outside your own universe, things get bad. The terrible implications were only just starting to sink in: she could never go home. Although she hated the thought, that other Heather had just as much right to be with her husband as she did. It wasn’t fair! She wanted to kill Asher at that moment for taking her life away from her.
If Asher saw the despair and the rage in her yes he didn’t show it. “It used me…the Monolith will use us all,”
Finally they were getting somewhere! The name was enough to momentarily distract her from the crushing news she had just received.
“Axel, what’s the Monolith?”
“It wants to destroy everything…it whispers to me all the time,” he covered his ears and cried, “shut up, Shut up, SHUT UP!” He dropped to his knees and sobbed. “You can’t bring them back here. Every time you do it draws it closer to us.”
“Axel, please, we can’t leave my friends on that world…”
“I said no!” The man jumped to his feet, his eyes red with tears and his face an unrecognisable mask of terror and madness. Heather unconsciously took a step back but it was too late; she had pushed Asher too far. Energy tingled throughout her body in a strangely familiar sensation. Oh God, he was teleporting her! But where?
She disappeared in a flash of light.
Earth #170983. The alley.
“Mister Creed!” screamed Blink as her father figure was pulled into a shadow like it was water.
In a flash of pink light she disappeared and repapered up the wall where Sabertooth was taken. She hung from the windowsill and probed the shadow only to find nothing but solid wall.
“Dammit!” she cursed. Without Victor they had no way of communicating with Heather, although they all felt reassured she was watching from the Crystal Palace and was doing what she could.
“What do we do now?” asked Spider-Man, crawling up by her side.
“Obviously we learn as much as were can about this world to discover where those creatures have taken Creed and the girl,” stated Power Princess matter-of-factly.
“Any suggestion Zarda?”
The powerful Amazon had none; her world was too dissimilar from this one, just like the majority of the Exiles.
Morph sighed “It looks like it’s up to me, once again, to save the day.” In his time with the X-Men and Avengers of his world he had learned a thing or two about gathering information.
“I know just the person to report some answers to us,” he smiled.
Unknown Location
Victor awoke with a splitting headache and a slight sense of nausea. As soon as that creature had pulled him into the shadow he had been overwhelmed with a sheer sense of…wrongness, as if he didn’t belong there. It had knocked him out cold. From the looks of it the trip had the same effect on Tatiana, who was back in human form and unconscious beside him. She looked so fragile, but he knew she had strong determination and ingenuity, much like Clarice had when he first met her. He was so proud of Clarice.
He scanned the room and quickly ascertained they were locked in a three-foot square cell with walls on three sides. The forth side had bars but they weren’t made of steel but were formed of shadows. Experimentally, he reached out and grabbed one of the bars…and immediately wished he hadn’t as an unnatural coldness sent painful chills down his arm, causing it to go numb. He snatched his hand away and it went limp at his side.
“Don’t worry, we all tried the same thing,” said a voice from nearby.
Creed looked around and noticed a boy in a cell diagonally opposite to his. He looked about fifteen, with short blonde hair, tattered clothing and a little malnourished. He didn’t recognize the boy’s scent so it wasn’t anyone he had ever met before.
“What’s your name kid?” he asked.
“They call me Freakshow. Well, at least they did before.” The kid smiled ruefully. “Even in the ruins of Genosha we weren’t safe.”
“Don’t worry, kid, we’ll get out of this, I have friends in high places.” He spoke into the Tallus, “Heather, can you hear me? I need you to teleport us out of here.” Silence was the only response. “Heather?”
It looked like he was on his own. He looked back to the kid. “Who’s behind all this?”
“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Only the Shades come down here, every day to take some of us away, and they’re not very talkative,”
“There’re more prisoners?” All the cells Victor could see, save Freakshow’s, were empty.
“There aren’t many now, just us and a few others; an emo chick and a flaming guy. I can’t see the burning guy but I can make out his glow.”
“I’m not emo, I’m Goth!” cried a girl’s voice.
“Whatever,” Freakshow rolled his eyes.
“Don’t any of you have powers?”
“We all do. I was trashing this cell in monster mode before I hit the bars. Now I can’t transform.”
Great, thought Victor. If the Exiles didn’t come soon it was him and a bunch of powerless kids against an army of shadows and god-knows-what else.
The Daily Bugle
Although it was well passed midnight, the Exiles’ quarry was still toiling away. His name was Ben Ulrich, star reporter for the Daily Bugle. The other Exiles thought Morph was taking them to see some sleazy criminal or information broker but, as he explained it, reporters were very good at gathering information.
“Hello, Mr. Ulrich,” said Blink as the team appeared around his desk. His coffee mug flew into the air as he jumped in fright.
Thankfully Longshot caught it expertly and, miraculously, not a drop was spilled. “Here you go,” he handed the coffee back to Ulrich with a warm smile.
“Ummm….thanks,” the reporter looked at the coffee like it might bite his hand off before putting it down on the desk.
“We’re here for information,” said Morph, while dressed like a stereotypical reporter. “We want to know about these shadow creatures, what they want?”
“What’ve you been, living under a rock?”
“Yes, a very nice pink rock with a very nice spa, and if we don’t solve this mystery and rescue our friend I can’t go back and watch these two lovely ladies here wrestle in that spa over my affections.” Blink slapped her forehead in frustration and Zarda looked about to pop Morph’s head like a pimple.
Ben threw up his hands in defeat. “Fine, it all started a year ago when heroes started going missing. First the high profile ones like Spider-Man and the Avengers, and then the C- and D-listers like Darkhawk and Moon Knight. With the heroes gone, super-villain activity went through the roof, but then they started vanishing as well. It was as if someone used the hero’s absence to draw the villains out and now, with all the big players out of the game, other people have started going missing, mainly young mutants just discovering their powers.”
“But why?” asked Blink.
Ben shrugged. “It could be any number of reasons: someone could have a grudge against super humans, preparation for an invasion or take over, or…”
“Or experimentation,” said Miguel grimly. In his future, major corporations ruled the world and they would stop at nothing to one-up the competition, even if it meant kidnapping and experimenting on superhumans.
“Where do the do the shadows take their victims?” asked Blink impatiently. They could already be out of time.
Ben’s eyes widened in fear. “I…I don’t know…you need to leave now…”
She grabbed his arms and looked deep into the older man’s eyes. “Please, my friends been taken, along with an innocent young girl. You have to help us! If you know anything, please tell us.”
The reporter’s shoulder’s slumped; he couldn’t let innocents suffer, even if it meant putting himself at risk. “No one knows anything for sure but I have my suspicions, most people do, but they’re afraid to voice them. Just before the first heroes started going missing, something new appeared on the skyline of New York City. It’s too big of a coincidence don’t you think, especially once you see how bizarre it is.”
“Where is it?” asked Blink.
Ulrich pointed out of the office window to one particularly tall skyscraper illuminated brightly in the light of the full moon. Atop the building sat a bizarre black structure with multiple ‘horns’ extending from both sides.
“What the hell is that?” asked Spider-Man.
Morph’s jaw dropped to the ground, literally. “Oh crap!”
The Sentry’s Watchtower. Cell block.
Tatiana came to with a fright; seeing Sabertooth leaning over you can have that affect. She tried to crawl away but had nowhere to go due the size of the cell. When she foolishly reached for the shadow bars, Victor snatched her hand away, only to receive a punch in the nose for his trouble.
He couldn’t help but laugh; the girl had spunk. His laughter seemed to steal the wind from the girl’s sails, as she stopped trying to escape and asked him, “Who are you?”
“Call me Sabert…call me Mr. Creed. My friends and I have been trying to protect you, but you don’t seem to want protectin’.” He gestured around the cell, “And look where that got us.”
Tatiana slumped to the ground. “I just wanted to find my friend,”
Creed placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “If she’s alive, I’ll help you find her, but first we have to get out of here.”
As if on cue the room shook as a massive BOOOOOM resounded in their ears. Victor smiled to his comrade, “Sounds like the cavalry has arrived. Took ‘em long enough.”
The roof of a nearby building
It had only taken the Exiles a few minutes to formulate a plan, and a risky and daring one it was at that. Sabertooth would approve. The group stood on the roof of a building directly opposite the Sentry’s Watchtower, the bizarre structure residing atop Stark Tower. Only Morph had any idea who the Sentry was and he was scared.
“On my world, the Sentry is mega powerful. Only the likes of Thor could really stand up against him for long.” Morph was so serious he forgot to change into any silly forms. “The Sentry’s only weakness his that he’s a total wackjob. At all costs we need to avoid facing him but, if we have to, try to mess with his head…somehow.” He muttered under his breath, “Where’s a sexy alternate Emma Frost when you need her?”
“Are you ok, Morph?” asked Blink, as her friend looked a little off.
“Yeah…it’s just I didn’t remember remembering the Sentry until recently. I think maybe he was erased from my world’s memories and something’s unlocked it. Maybe my getting possessed Proteus?”
“We need to rescue, Victor.” Blink shut the conversation down fast; the last thing they needed was Morph thinking too hard about Proteus. “Everyone ready?” she asked, everyone nodded.
Next to the group sat one dozen drums of gasoline, recently ‘borrowed’ from a local trucking company. Longshot and Spider-Man quickly lit a fuel soaked rag sticking out of each drum and backed away quickly. It was Blink’s turn now; in a flurry of motion she teleported each drum away.
BLOONK! The drums reappeared on top of the Watchtower and exploded in a dazzling display of light and sound. Immediately Shades began melting from the darkness around the Watchtower to investigate. They flooded over the scene of the explosion to examine the superficial damage caused by the exploding drums.
Now for stage two. Next to where the drums had be resting sat something a little more…potent: an eighteen wheeler with a tanker trailer full of more gasoline. The pink woman couldn’t help but grin as she blinked the tanker away. The gasoline laden trailer appeared in the sky above the watchtower and plummeted directly onto the large collection of Shades.
BOOOM!!!
Needless to say it was a spectacular explosion, which incinerated the Shades and blew a sizable hole in the tower.
“Heh heh heh, did ya see that sucker go boom?!” laughed Morph, while looking like a redneck in a trucker’s cap. “You might be a redneck…”
It was their plan to lure the Sentry out of the Watchtower so that some of the team could infiltrate the base and extract Victor, Tatiana and any other prisoners. What they didn’t count on was something else entirely being in control of the Shades. What they had at first thought was smoke from the explosion began to coalesce together into a large humanoid form made from living shadow.
“Is that the Sentry?” asked Spider-Man.
“I don’t know what that thing is,” replied Morph.
It took on the form of a large muscular man, with long flowing hair and a cape to match. Like the Shades, the creature was made entirely out of shadow, with one noticeable difference: it had glowing yellow eyes.
“Who dares threaten the home of the Void?!” demanded the shadow creature.
“What’s the Void?” asked a worried Blink.
Morph looked panicked. “I don’t know! Wait…I think he fought the Sentry. It’s all a little vague, but I’m sure he’s bad news.”
“We stick with the plan,” said Blink resolutely. “Zarda, Spider-Man and I will distract the Void while Longshot and Morph rescue Victor.”
BLINK! Longshot and Morph vanished in a flash of pink light, transported into the bowels of the Watchtower. The remaining Exiles stood stalwartly on the roof as the Void spotted them.
“Ahhhh…fresh meat.” As the creature drifted towards them, storm clouds seem to form in the sky above, booming with thunder. This guy was clearly bad news.
The Sentry’s Watchtower
Morph and Longshot ran down a corridor with no real idea of where to go.
“Where are they?” asked a frantic Morph.
“Let’s take a chance!” cried Longshot as he took a random left turn.
The corridor soon lead them to a very large, very solid looking steel door. Bingo! The door was locked and held a digital keypad beside it. Morph grinned; they were making this too easy. People seem to forget he had a degree in computer science and was skilled at hacking all kinds of computer systems; he would have this open in a snap.
CRASH! Something smashed through a nearby wall before going right through the door and ripping it from its hinges. Power Princess leapt from the rubble, looking beaten and bloody, not to mention very angry, and charged back through the hole. “How dare he?!” she yelled in outrage as she flew back to the action.
Morph wiped the dust from his hands. “Well! I got that door open fairly easily, I’d say.”
“But…”
“I said I got that door open easily!”
Longshot shrugged and lead the way into a long hallway lines with small, bared cells. The nearest cell contained a young man seemingly on fire, who huddled in the corner in fear.
“Be calm friend, we’re here to help,” smiled Longshot.
“Its about time, Blondie!” shouted a gruff voice from down the hall. “Now get us out of here!”
Outside
The Void was dangerous, but he wasn’t unstoppable, as the Exiles were quickly discovering. Power Princess had already laid some heavy blows on the being, which seemed to hurt him, although he landed a backhand that sent her flying.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man and Blink were having less luck hurting the beast. Just like the shades, her teleportation javelins seemed to be absorbed by his body, while Spidey’s webs couldn’t hold him. They still managed to land a multitude of punches and kicks though, which managed to keep him distracted long enough for Power Princess to return to the fray.
She flew through the air at dangerous speeds and slammed into the monster’s back. The pair rolled across the rooftop, exchanging powerful blows, before the Void clutched her head and said, “Know true fear!”
Zarda screamed in wild-eyed terror and fell to the ground in a heap. It was one of the most shocking things Blink had ever seen; Power Princess was never anything but strong.
“Pathetic,” spat the Void. “You’ll make an excellent morsel like the rest of them though.”
Tendrils of darkness grew form the Void’s body and wrapped themselves around Zarda, drawing her to him.
“No!” screamed Blink, teleporting Zarda away to Spider-Man’s side on the other side of the rooftop. She figured it out in that horrible moment of revelation: the Void had eaten all the superhumans of the world and somehow replaced them with shadow versions.
“Ah, I see its all so clear to you, little one,” the Void Smiled, revealing a glowing yellow mouth. “I was so, so weak and they were so very strong…and tasty.” He extended tendril and Blink, but she deftly leapt aside. “It won’t hurt, little one, step into the never ending darkness and give me your strength. A part of you will live on, in your shadow. It’s so hard to kill a shadow.” He shot forward at tremendous speed and she just teleported away in time.
Things were getting too dangerous; their heaviest hitter was out of the game and half the team was in the Watchtower. As much as she would love to put the Void in his place, it was time to retreat.
With one quick motion of her arm she teleported the tree of them into the Watchtower.
The Watchtower. Cell Block.
“How do we open the cells?” wondered Morph.
Longshot, on the other hand, tried a different approach. Rather than try to think of the solution, he tried to feel it. He closed his eyes and focused hard, before hurling one of his razor blades at the wall. It ricocheted off the steel and struck a shadow on the ceiling, which promptly fell to the ground and formed into the shape of a man.
Both Exiles attacked at once, overwhelming the creature in record time. Longshot slashed the thing to pieces while Morph pounded it with oversized fists, until it was a black puddle on the floor. Immediately after the creature’s demise, the shadow bars disappeared.
“Well, I’m just on a roll today,” smiled Morph, adding, “oh, you helped too,” after seeing Lonshot’s look.
“Where are Blink and the others?” asked Victor with a very nervous looking Tatian Caban in tow.
BLOONK!
“Anyone order an exit strategy?” said Blink with a grin.
A howling vortex of shadow formed in the entrance. “Fools! You can’t hide from me! I am the shadow in your very souls! I consumed the Sentry and I will consume you all!”
A dozen shadowy tendrils extended from the vortex eager to ensnare them. One wrapped around Victor’s waist and jerked him aside. Tatiana leapt forward to grab him but dove into the path of a tendril, which impaled itself in her stomach.
“Shadowy monster! I’ll kill you!” he screamed as he shredded the tendril with his claws.
Blink worked fast, dodging the tendril and teleporting everyone present away in quick succession. The Void howled in rage as the last of his prey vanished from his grasp.
The Daily Bugle
For the second time in one night Ben Urich was surprised by a group of people appearing in his office. This time there were more of them.
Victor held the mortally wounded Tatiana close, clutching her stomach wound as it gushed blood. He cursed all the heavens and hell if they let her die. If she died then they failed their mission and the world was doomed. In desperation he slashed the palm of his hand with his claws and held it to her wound.
At first nothing happened, but gradually she started to change. She grew hairier as her muscles enlarged, while razor sharp talons extended from each fingertip. Thankfully, the wound quickly began to close as well. It would seem that along with his bestial appearance she had also received his healing factor. She opened her weary eyes, confused but understanding that somehow Victor had saved her.
She might not seem like much more than a scared child at the moment, but in the years to come she would use the ingenuity and determination she had shown tonight to unite the new heroes of the world against the Void. The freed prisoners, a flaming mutant named Ben, a Genoshan nicknamed Freakshow and a witch called Nico, were just the beginning of a new generation of superheroes. It would be a hard journey, but they would eventually get there.
“I…I saw the explosions. That was you, wasn’t it?” asked Urich.
Morph laughed and turned into a fortune teller. “I see a Pulitzer in your future,”
While the mission was a success, Zarda was still pretty far gone and was only just starting to recover from the Void’s psychic attack. They needed to return to base for rest and recuperation.
“Heather, mission complete. Bring us home,” said Creed into the Tallus.
A familiar voice replied, “Heather can’t come to the phone right now, can I take a message?”
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To Be Continued...
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