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#3
APR 12 |
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“Apocalypse Rising!” Part Three
The Red Skull measured his words carefully. Whatever had happened to Glenn Talbot had clearly unbalanced him, but maybe…just maybe…there was still enough of the man in there. If only the Red Skull could get past the monster. “Listen to me, Glenn. The resources here at M.O.R.D.O. Base can undo what has been done to you. Simply come with me and–”
An emerald bolt of gamma energy exploded from the creature’s right hand, taking the Red Skull full in the chest and throwing him sixty feet across the already wrecked laboratory. The Red Skull crashed to the rubble strewn floor as the creature cackled with insane malice.
“Did you not hear what I said, fool? Call me not Glenn Talbot! I am he who has been birthed to bring carnage and black doom upon this planet! I am Apocalypse!” The creature threw his clawed hands up above his head, massive swirls of dark green energy crackling between them intercut with dancing Kirby Dots. “This world is ripe for dark madness and crimson ruin! And I shall be the king of chaos upon earth, remaking it into–”
Apocalypse’s rant was cut off by a solid cylindrical bolt of purest cosmic energy slamming into his back, hurtling him at near supersonic speed right through an already weakened ferroconcrete wall with an impressive THA-BOOOOOM!
Ulysses Bloodstone entered the chamber, his wonderfully embroidered crimson coat billowing around him imperiously. The jewel embedded in his forehead throbbed impressively with the colossal cosmic energies contained within. “You talk too much,” he said in a voice of thunder at the prone form of the stunned Apocalypse.
The Red Skull joined him. “I cannot believe you said that,” he grumbled with grim humor. “Can you assist me in keeping him down?”
“I am here for naught but the soul of Jonas Harrow! Your piddling, petty quarrel with these mortal gnats means naught to me! I am the Right Hand of Universal Balance and I–”
“I have known you for 4,422 years, and in all that time there has never been a moment I can recall where I did not wish that you would be silent. Do you never cease talking?”
“I talk that I may be HEARD!”
Apocalypse growled as he slowly got to his feet. The Red Skull brought his hands close together and a swirling ball of blue-white fire appeared between his hands, swirling as it grew in intensity. Apocalypse stood up and turned around with a roar, just in time to catch the mystic bolt right in the face. He was knocked again on his back.
“Bloodstone! Add the power of your bloodstone gem to mine and we can–”
“Bah! I have no time for such foolishness! I go to seek the soul of Jonas Harrow!”
“Not before I settle up with you, gruesome!” Captain Ultra flew into the chamber on his circular flying platform. “I owe you big time for that sucker punch and don’t think you ain’t gonna pay!”
Major Stark entered Operations Center leading a squad of his Skullbusters, an elite corps of soldiers that had undergone the most rigorous of training to battle not only conventional human and superhuman foes but supernatural as well. He strode up to Lt. Amy Wong. “My Skullbusters are ready for action, Lieutenant. Just point ‘em at the target.”
Two women in full combat gear stood at attention just a little behind Major Stark. He gestured at them. “And this will be a good time for me to break in my new second-in-command. Lt. Wong, Captain Nicole Fury.”
Captain Nicole Fury had obviously seen way more than her share of action in the past as a black eye patch covered her right eye socket. The eye patch actually gave her an air of the exotic to go along with her movie-star beauty and bee-stung lips. A garrison cap perched on the side of her head at a rakish angle.
“And this is Lt. Delores Davida Dugan.” The black woman standing next to Nicole Fury had the impressive build of a wrestler or professional bodybuilder. And like Nicole Fury she wore headgear that was inappropriate for the situation but obviously it was something she wore all the time. Her battered pillbox hat sat squarely on top of her head. “Just call me Dee Dee,” she said with a quick nod.
“Here’s the situation,” Amy said. “Once the Ameridroid reactivated itself, the base automatically sealed itself with all of us inside. Colonel Hardbottle and Dr. Talbot are in the lower levels, probably in the Gamma Womb. I’m going to override the security protocols and then you guys can take it from there.”
“Lt. Wong?” Major Stark looked around the Operations Center. “I don’t see Congresswoman Sharpe anywhere. Shouldn’t she be here?”
Amy fixed Stark with her hardest stare and spoke in a voice as cold as the dark side of the moon, “Congresswoman Sharpe was becoming a danger to the security of this base. She was a disruptive influence and I had her removed from Operations and confined to her quarters. And now it’s time for you to choose your religion, Major Stark. What side of the fence are you on?”
Stark was a lot of things but a fool wasn’t one of them. “Colonel Hardbottle’s standing orders are when he is not here, you are in charge. I’m under your orders, Lt. Wong.”
Nicole Fury and Dee Dee Dugan exchanged looks. Out of the corner of her mouth, Dee Dee whispered, “I like her.”
“Get your Skullbusters ready, Major. I’m going to open up the underground levels in two minutes!”
Captain Ultra flung a handful of bright silver spheres from his right hand while swooping in low over Bloodstone’s head. The silver spheres formed a pattern around Bloodstone and a lattice of electrical energy sprang up between the spheres. Against most foes the spheres would have proved effective. With a wave of his hand, Bloodstone dispersed them.
“Quincy! Cease your attack at once!” the Red Skull commanded.
“This chump sucker punched me! I aim to show him that Captain Ultra ain’t to be fooled around with!”
“Bloodstone is the one not to be ‘fooled around with’ as you put it! His cosmic power is enough to sunder worlds if he so wishes!”
“Heed the words of Zarathos, gnat. Antagonize me at your peril. I—AAARGH!“
Bloodstone was cut off by Apocalypse smashing into his back. The monster slammed Bloodstone face first into the floor. Apocalypse lifted his interlaced hands and brought them down on the back of Bloodstone’s head repeatedly.
The Red Skull sprang across the room, his iron booted foot taking Apocalypse in the throat. The Red Skull landed with the grace of a huge panther and swung a hung fist, slamming it into Apocalypse’s jaw with enough force to pulverize stone. Apocalypse merely grinned and came back in for the attack.
Bloodstone groggily got to his feet, looking around for something to hit and got a gamma energy blast right in the chest for his pains. The Red Skull shouted, “Quincy! Withdraw from here! You cannot hope to stand against this monster!”
Apocalypse broke off his attack. His huge horned head whipped around and his eyes were full of a compassion that hadn’t been there mere seconds ago. “Quincy?” he said in a voice quiet with surprise.
Captain Ultra flew closer and hovered in front of the emerald titan. The youth looked into the face of Apocalypse, searching his eyes, and then he said in a horrified, hushed voice, “Doc?”
“Quincy! MOVE!” The Red Skull thundered as he unleashed a haymaker that sent Apocalypse up and out in an arc that brought him back down to the ground in a massive crash that weakened the already crumbled floor. Apocalypse fell through the floor to the next level below while Captain Ultra hovered safely on his platform. He looked through the dust and dirt for the Red Skull and Ulysses Bloodstone and his eyes opened in stunned amazement.
They were gone!
The Red Skull looked around in surprise. He was no longer in M.O.R.D.O. Base. Indeed, he had been teleported away without his even sensing the presence of the power necessary to perform such a task. There were perhaps only half a dozen beings capable of teleporting him away against his will, all of whom he should have felt coming.
All around him towers of obsidian as tall as mountains speared upwards toward a blood red sky. The towers gave off a soft golden glow that washed over the crystal pavilion the Red Skull stood in. Veined with white, green and gold, the crystal pavilion gave off a glow of its own that did not clash with the golden glow. They blended and complimented each other.
Bloodstone stood nearby and he gave the Red Skull a wide grin. “And now you will be served properly for your foolishness! You had your chance to deal with me and you chose to insult the Right Hand of Universal Balance! Now will you face the ultimate judgment! Now will you–”
The Red Skull put his fist right in Bloodstone’s mouth. Bloodstone staggered backwards a few steps, his eyes radiating wild cosmic energy as the gem in his forehead pulsed. “Too long have I endured your arrogance, Zarathos! It is long past time I taught you your proper place!”
“ENOW!”
The booming of celestial power accompanying that command confirmed what the Red Skull feared. He had been transported to Yggdrasil, the throneworld of the Omniversal Majestor, the All-Seeing, All-Knowing All Father of the Omniverse…ODIN!
He stood before them in shining armor of azure and gold. His eyes burned like cold suns as he regarded first the Red Skull and then Bloodstone, and when he spoke his voice filled the space between the stars.
“What business do ye be about, Bloodstone?”
Bloodstone dropped to his knees. “I took myself to the mud ball Earth in the 2859th Continuum, Lord Odin! I sensed a grave disruption there and once I arrived I found that Zarathos and his human pets have dared to trifle with an Empyrean Soul!”
The Red Skull likewise dropped to one knee as he replied, “As usual, your servant acted without thinking, Lord Odin. He attacked me and several humans without asking so much as a single question or attempting to discover what was actual transpiring. Indeed, as a result of his actions, a human has been transformed into a brutish hulking monster.”
“He lies, Lord Odin! If Zarathos did not permit the humans to–”
“Be thou SILENT!” Odin commanded. “I know what has transpired on that Earth as I know what has transpired on all Earths that exist, have existed and will exist. For am I not the Omniversal Majestor? Am I not the will and the way and the wonder? Am I not ODIN?” Odin waved an armored hand. “Hie thee to the Shattered Hand galaxy at once, Bloodstone. Umar the Undying has arisen again and she works much mischief there. Go.”
And just like that, Ulysses Bloodstone disappeared. Odin sighed. “Whenever he is in error, I send Ulysses to the Shattered Hand galaxy. He hates it there.” Odin turned his fierce gaze upon the Red Skull, who felt what in another being might have been fear…and with good reason. The Ominiversal Majestor had the power to erase Zarathos from existence with just a wave of his hand.
As if he had read his thoughts (and he most likely had) Odin raised a hand in peace. “Fear not, Zarathos. I spoke the truth when I said that I knew of the events transpiring on your Earth. How could I not know of a threat to an Empyrean Soul? They are souls bound to the very fabric of reality. Any one of them in danger is a threat to the Multiverse entire.”
Odin opened up his other hand. What hovered in his armored palm sparkled and shone with a glory that would have made the Red Skull weep if he had eyes to weep with. In all the centuries of his existence he had seen many beautiful sights, but none were more beautiful than the human soul.
“I entrust this soul into thy care, Supreme Defender. Thou will return it to its proper body immediately.” Odin’s voice took on a darker edge. “Do not force me to involve myself further in this matter. I have an entire Multiverse to oversee. Thy Earth is thy responsibility. Have we an understanding?”
“We do, my Lord. I thank thee for thy abounding mercy and wisdom.”
Odin nodded in approval as the Empyrean Soul floated from his hand to the Red Skull’s.
“And now I return thee to thy Earth. And take care, Supreme Defender! Dark and grim days lie ahead of thee! Stand thee fast against the armies of the night but never forget that despite your great power there are still tasks that can only be accomplished by the hands of mortals!”
Before the Red Skull could ask what Odin meant by that, the Omniversal Majestor stretched forth his massive arm and, just like that, the Red Skull was gone.
“Okay, Quincy…let’s take it from the beginning, one more time,” Lt. Amy Wong said to the frustrated youth.
Quincy Harker gnashed his teeth and his gloved hands went up to his spiky hair as if to yank it all out, so mad was he. “Jeezly, Amy! I done toldja five times awreddy! How many times I gotta tell you the same story over and over again!”
“Until you tell me a story that makes sense! How could Dr. Talbot turn into that?” Amy pointed at the incredible hulk that was the still unconscious Apocalypse, now strapped onto an anti-gravity gurney, restraints being secured on his arms and legs by the Skullbusters. “And where’s Colonel Hardbottle?”
“I dunno! I never even saw him! The Red Skull was fighting this big guy he called Bloodstone, the guy who sucker punched me! They both disappeared after the floor gave way!”
“Mebbe they’re buried in the rubble and debris?” Dee Dee Dugan suggested.
Quincy shook his head in a negative. “I looked for ‘em, scanned the whole area. If they were here, I’d have found ‘em.”
Nicole Fury’s one eye looked the boy up and down with open skepticism. “Excuse me, but just who are you? Why are you here?”
Amy waved that away. “It’s a long story, Captain Fury. When we get a minute, I’ll be happy to explain over a cup of coffee, but trust me when I say that if Quincy said they’re not here then they’re not here.”
“So where is Colonel Hardbottle?” Stark said.
Colonel Felton Hardbottle emerged from one of the side tunnels, covered in dust and his uniform rumpled. He held in one hand what looked like a crystal sphere. Amy was at his side in an eyeblink. “Sir! Are you alright?”
Hardbottle smiled down at his trusted friend and aide. “I’m just fine, Lt. A little knocked around but I’ll live. Status report?”
Amy snapped to attention. “The base has been taken off of Red Alert, sir. We now stand at Yellow Alert. This creature, which Quincy insists is Doctor Talbot–”
“It IS Doc Talbot, I tell ya!”
“–has been secured by the Skullbusters. I was forced to confine Congresswoman Sharpe to her quarters. She was being disruptive.”
Hardbottle nodded. “I’m sure she was, Lt. Don’t worry about her; I’ll back up whatever action you took. And our young friend is right…that creature, which calls itself Apocalypse IS Doctor Glenn Talbot.”
“See! I toldja!”
“Sir,” Major Stark stepped forward, struggling to keep his obvious anger under control. “With all due respect, just what the hell happened down here? How did Dr. Talbot get turned into a monster? What is that in your hand? Where have you been all this time? I don’t think I’m out of line to ask for some answers!”
“Major Stark, the last time I looked, you took orders from me, not the other way around, am I correct?”
“Yes, sir,” Stark replied sullenly.
“Are you actually giving me attitude, Major Stark?”
“No, sir!”
Hardbottle fixed Stark with a meaningful glare. “It occurs to me that perhaps I’ve been too lax of late in discipline. I’m getting sick and tired of these petty displays of insubordination on your part, Major Stark. But because of your record I’m giving you a choice: you can request a transfer or I can transfer you. Which way do you want it?”
The Skullbuster squad had all fallen silent during the exchange. Several had their mouths open in surprise.
Major Stark said tightly, “You’ll have my request in writing on your desk within the hour, Colonel.”
“See that you do. And be packed. You’ll be leaving on the same Quadjet with Congresswoman Sharpe.” Hardbottle looked past Stark at Nicole. “You! Front and center!”
Nicole stepped forward, snapped a crisp salute. “Captain Nicole Fury, sir!”
“As of right now, you’re Chief of Security for M.O.R.D.O. Base. Secure the creature and report to me in my office. We can get acquainted there.”
“Yes, sir!”
Hardbottle motioned for Amy and Quincy to follow while Nicole smirked at Dee Dee. “Him I really like!”
Hardbottle, Quincy and Amy pushed the gurney down the long throbbing silver hallway toward the room containing the Infinity Engine. The comatose Jonas Harrow lay on it, oblivious to all.
“Colonel, I don’t get it!” Quincy gasped. “Professor Warlock is the guy who built the Infinity Engine and he’s the only one who knows how to use it!”
“You have to trust me on this, Quincy. I think, no… I know I’ll be able to use the Infinity Engine to restore Jonas’ soul to his body.”
“That’s what’s in that crystal sphere?” Amy asked.
“It’s not crystal. It’s a spell weaved by the Red Skull. No human hand can hold a soul. “
They stopped at the double silver doors inscribed with runic circuitry. Warlock’s bizarre scientific sorcery, a blend of magic and technology, had created a device behind those doors beyond normal human comprehension. It was a device that caused madness in any other than Warlock who had tried to use it and all Hardbottle had was the word of Odin, because he had figured out the meaning of Odin’s last words to the Red Skull.
“You two open those doors.” Hardbottle ordered. He placed the crystal globe on Jonas’ chest while Amy and Quincy laid hold of the thick, ornate handles.
“Doesn’t he keep this thing locked up?” Amy said as she pulled.
“Why? Remember what happened when Baroness Strucker tried to use it? She went just as mad as everybody else who tried.”
“So what makes you think you won’t?”
Hardbottle threw Amy a grin full of confidence he didn’t feel. “Faith,” he said simply. And he pushed the gurney ahead of him and both he and Jonas Harrow entered into the Infinity Engine.
Hardbottle and Jonas Harrow seemed to be floating in a world of gold, orange, silver and jade. It was as if thousands of hands, as gentle as the touch of angels stroked their faces, their bodies. Hardbottle had never known such bliss, such happiness. He heard the song of stars and for the briefest of moments he understood the totality of everything. He saw the eventual destiny of mankind and he comprehended the dance of Eternity and the celestial majesty of the true nature of the Multiverse.
And he wept with joy.
Jonas Harrow floated near him. In front of Hardbottle’s face was the crystal sphere. With hands that at once were heavy as a block of dwarf star matter and insubstantial as smoke, he gripped the sphere and cracked it in half.
The soul of Jonas Harrow sang with unimaginable happiness as it sped toward its body and entered it, returning home. The Infinity Engine throbbed with purpose and power, Jonas Harrow’s body exploding with silver light as body and soul were once more joined.
And Hardbottle knew with true glory was as he realized that he had been right. The Red Skull could not restore Jonas Harrow’s soul to his body, as the arcane energies of Zarathos would have disrupted the scientific sorcery of the Infinity Engine. It would take a human to restore another human’s soul.
Hardbottle’s eyes closed. His task here was done.
Eight Hours Later
Colonel Hardbottle and Lt. Wong stood on the airstrip, watching as Major Stark and Congresswoman Sharpe were escorted from M.O.R.D.O. base toward the waiting, warmed up Quadjet.
Congresswoman Sharpe paused and looked at Hardbottle with utter hatred on her lovely face. “You’ve made the biggest mistake of your life, Hardbottle. From this moment on my every waking moment will be dedicated to one thing and one thing only: seeing you broken. I swear it.” Rosalind Sharpe swiveled her head toward Amy. “And I haven’t forgotten you, bitch. Believe it.”
“I’m co-signing that, Colonel,” Stark said. “There’s something not right with you and I’m making it my business to find out what it is.”
Rosalind Sharpe’s voice was ugly as she continued. “Major Stark and I have come to an arraignment, Hardbottle. He’s my personal troubleshooter now and he’s going to be all over you like ugly on an ape. We’ll laugh and pop a bottle of champagne at your court-martial.”
Colonel Hardbottle’s reply was simple. “Take your best shot.”
As the disgruntled pair boarded the Quadjet, Amy said, “You think we should worry about them?”
“Let me put it this way: Congresswoman Sharpe isn’t to be underestimated as she’s a woman of considerable influence. And Major Stark is from a wealthy and powerful family, so he’s got considerable resources of his own.” Hardbottle grinned at Amy. “But then again, I’ve got the President of the United States on my side, and when President Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross happens to be your godfather…” Hardbottle shrugged. “Let’s just say I’m not going to lose much sleep over Sharpe and Stark…but I’m not going to turn my back on them either.”
A bleep from the communicator on Amy’s belt interrupted her response. She unclipped the silver gray tube from her waist and thumbed it on. “Lt. Wong.”
“Dee Dee Dugan here, Lt. Cap’n Fury requests that you and Colonel Hardbottle come down to Holding Cell Three. There’s something down here you both should see.”
“You gotta be kidding me.”
Amy Wong stood in Holding Cell Three, looking down at a twenty foot wide hole dug into the ferroconcrete floor and going straight down. Hardbottle stood a little ways back, along with Nicole Fury and Dee Dee Dugan. “You gotta be kidding me,” Amy said again. “You’re telling me that Apocalypse simply dug outta here?”
“Apparently so,” Hardbottle said. “Funny, in all this time we’ve never had anyone break out of our Holding Cells and certainly not by tunneling out. This is certainly a first. How far does the tunnel go?”
“It goes down a few hundred feet, then goes west about five miles, which is where we found the hole Apocalypse came out of.” Nicole shook her head. “I can’t imagine the damage something with kind of power and strength can do.”
“We gotta go after it, right Nicki?” Dee Dee asked. “I can round up a buncha Skullbusters and–”
“Nah, the Skullbusters need to stay here where they’re needed. I’ll find Apocalypse.”
They all turned to face Quincy Harker. The youth’s face had none of the usual bubbling merriment that was his normal expression and instead of being lively and light; his voice was grim and dark.
Dee Dee’s bark of laughter broke the silence. “Go back to playin’ with yer toys, kids. Stay outta grown folks bidness.”
“And you stay out of mine, lady! I’ve been here at M.O.R.D.O a lot longer than you have! I’ve earned the right to speak my mind!”
“He’s right, Lt. Dugan, leave him be.” Hardbottle ordered as he turned back to Quincy. “I appreciate what you must be feeling, Quincy, but the friend you knew is gone. Whatever Apocalypse is, he’s not Glenn Talbot.”
“That’s not true, Colonel. Back when the Red Skull and Bloodstone were fighting Apocalypse, he heard the Red Skull call my name. Apocalypse stopped fighting and looked right at me and I took a good look in his eyes. Doc Talbot’s in there somewhere and I can reach him, I know I can.”
Hardbottle appeared to seriously think this over. “Let’s say I approve this…where would you start?”
“Doc Talbot has got secret labs all over out there in the desert.”
Hardbottle nodded. “Built with secret funds from M.O.R.D.O.’s operational budget, I know, but I don’t know where those bases are. Glenn and I both agreed it was better that way. It gives me plausible deniability in case the wrong people started asking questions.”
“That’s my point. I know the location of each and every one of those bases. If you wanna start looking for Apocalypse, those secret labs are the place to start.” Quincy took a step closer to Hardbottle and said urgently. “Doc Talbot is the best friend I got, Colonel, and I owe him big time. Everything I have today is because of him. This is my chance to pay him back for what he’s done for me. Please let me do this.”
Hardbottle smiled. “Quincy Harker, Agent of M.O.R.D.O. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”
“Does this mean…?”
“Go find him, youngster. Go find your friend.”
Quincy whooped with joy and dashed from the Holding Cell.
Nicole Fury said quietly, “You think that’s the right thing to do, sir? Sending one lone boy after that monster?”
Hardbottle smiled at Nicole. “I’m going to pass on a piece of wisdom that was given to me not long ago, Captain.”
“What’s that, sir?”
“There are still tasks that can only be accomplished by the hands of mortals.”
Midnight in the desert. Brilliant stars twinkled in the ebony sky above. There was no sound in the desert, at least not here in the section of the desert known as the Cauldron. There never was any sound here at night mainly because nothing lived there.
The night was sundered by a bolt of eldritch lightning that struck the desert with a mighty roar like the Gates of Hell being thrown open. The bolt faded, revealing a huge figure in smoking red iron and thick black leather, down on one knee. Slowly, The Red Skull stood up, the crackling black flames haloing his crimson, fleshless skull blacker than the night itself.
Before him, the air shimmered, warped and a portal opened and from it spilled an appalling, frightening horde of screaming, howling demons. Massive tentacles sprouted from the portal, slavering mouths and suckers on the underside of the tentacles gnashing and writhing. Huge eyeballs on crab-like legs scrabbled out of the portal, followed by winged eels with fangs like scimitars and warbling creatures that were formless, shrieking like damned souls. All manner of demons that crept, crawled, flew, undulated…they all poured out of the portal.
The Red Skull drew Agamotto, the Blade of Brass and Bone.
And the army of darkness stopped.
The Red Skull spoke. “And once again you seek to invade a world that is not yours. And once again I stand here to repel your attack as I have done so many times and will continue to do so. This world is not yours. It will never be yours. Upon my sacred trust as the Supreme Defender, this I do swear!”
The army of darkness yowled in one voice of hellish defiance and surged toward the lone figure, which leaped right at them. One single, lone defender against an army of unimaginable evil, sword raised to strike.
“Come then! Come and face the power of Zarathos! He who men have named THE RED SKULL!”
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The End...
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