Memories, Part 3 of 4

Altius' Backstory

Memories Part III

 

Present Day…

 

Altius shook his head violently.  The blow that Head Cheese had just given him stopped him dead in his tracks.  It was like hitting a brick wall for the most part, although brick walls didn’t usually hit back.  Head Cheese stood over him with an evil grin on his face, “Thanks for coming on over tonight.  I love a good clown killing on a Friday evening!”  He allowed a swirl of fiery energy to swell around his blue arms and pointed them at Altius.  What happened next startled both of them.

 

Out of the darkness above them, Curse came swooping down.  As he barreled into xx, he let out a primal, unearthly scream.  Head Cheese didn’t know what hit him as he went flying off his feet and into the side of the metal hanger behind him.  The blow caught him off guard and the air rushed out of his lungs as he hit.  Moments later he slumped to the ground, quite unconscious. 

 

Altius jumped up and grabbed Curse’s hand.  It had been up in the air, ready to deliver a killing blow to the downed SOB Bonecutter.

 

“Whoa there buddy!”  Altius was smiling as Curse turned around.  “None of that tonight.  We’re here to cause a little mayhem and steal some bikes, remember?” 

 

“I remember,” Curse intoned from the hollows of his being, “do you?”

 

Altius felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his head.  A bright flash of a memory overwhelmed him and he fell backwards into a fifty gallon barrel, using it to break his fall.  Curse turned to face him, offering no assistance.

 

In ancient times…

 

The horde ascended the hillside towards the Celtic defenders, adorned as they were in blue, opium laced battle paints.  The first wave had come and gone already and only ten men had died.  The plan was working so far.

 

Altius picked himself up off the boulder on which he was resting.  One of the undead warriors had gotten a lucky blow in on him and his head was stinging.  A black ichor was oozing out from under his cap, indicating he had a head wound already.  It mattered not.  He focused on the next wave quickly approaching. 

 

Moving quickly forward, he tore into the throng with glee.  He hadn’t had this much fun in a very long time.  Caledonia was farther back up the hill.  She was sitting on the ground behind friendly lines chanting.  He didn’t fully understand what she was doing, but he saw the effects.  The warriors at his side fought like men possessed.  Blows that would normally kill a man on the spot were bouncing off them and their strength had been magnified.  Somehow, she was enhancing their strength and endurance. 

 

They would need it.

As the second wave began to abate, he turned to see the men behind him pulling their wounded behind the line.  There were only about 70 strong warriors left, and a slew of old men and children farther back in the canyon.  Caledonia’s wards had better be really good.

 

He turned back towards the oncoming wave of undead to hear a horrific sound.  Several of the men clutched their ears in pain.  It was somewhere between the screech of a hawk and the grinding of metal.  Altius could not help but let out a startled “by the gods…”

 

Charging up the hill was the massive demon, Legion.  Its skin was oily and black.  It had no eyes and a gaping jaw large enough to swallow a grown man whole.  The foul sound coming from it was hellish.

 

Legion was charging directly towards Altius.  Behind him, riding atop a terrifying steed with hooves of fire and smoke coming from its wretched nostrils, was Lord Vercingetorix, ruler of this undead legion.  His left arm was bathed in an unearthly glow and his horned helmet created an imposing image rivaling the beast in front of him.

 

The line of men, grown veterans of many wars and leaders all, broke and ran back into the canyon at the sight of the monsters charging them.  Without another blow, the line had fallen…

 

Present Day…

 

Lobo ran by the fifty gallon barrel and slapped it hard, startling Altius back to reality.  “Pick up the pace ya pansy!”  A large, radioactive dog was hot on his heels as he ran towards the inside of the hanger. 

 

Altius shook his head and looked up.  Curse was staring back at him.  “I’m ok,” was all he managed to get out, although he had the feeling Curse was looking for something else.  He’d been staring at Altius all day.  Lobo didn’t seem to notice as he bolted into the base, the large, nasty looking pooch hot on his heels.

 

Above them, he heard an explosion and glanced up to see Ty and Thunder jumping out of the guard tower, whooping and hollering as they did.  The guard tower erupted into flames as they fell to the ground some forty feet below. 

 

Well, on the plus side there would be no search light to deal with… of course this team apparently didn’t value stealth very highly anyway.

 

Barney and Double Stryk were already on the ground at the base of the flaming tower, fending off some canines that looked like oversized pit bulls, albeit glowing green.  Altius could hear Barney complaining to DS, “And here I thought maybe we’d want to think this through before attacking…”  All DS could do was laugh.

 

Altius stepped forward and looked around.  There was no sign of the rocket bikes on the base so far.  As he stepped forward into the courtyard, a heavy, constricting vice shot out of the shadows and wrapped itself around his mid-section.  With his arms and wings pinned to his side, a giant robot rolled out of the shadows.  Its massive head with one giant eye looked up at him and an electronic voice intoned the only word it likely knew, “INTRUDER!”  A brilliant floodlight lit up on its head and shone in Altius’ face as another appendage with a wicked buzz saw extended towards his neck…

 

In ancient times…

 

The bright flash of light faded and Legion reeled back in pain.  Altius’ attack had worked, but it would only provide a temporary advantage.  Never the less, he pressed it and tore into Legion’s mid-section.  A black, frothing fluid erupted from the gashes he left in its oily hide and it screamed in rage.  The backlash it sent at him sent the Egyptian reeling back into the stone wall. 

 

Altius pulled himself to his feet and Legion fell to one knee.  No matter which one won this battle, neither would be in any shape to do anything for a long time.  He took a step and winced in pain.  A rib had cracked… or broken.  He glanced to his right and saw Caledonia in mortal combat with Vercingetorix.  The mighty warrior’s blade was swinging in wide arcs.  Caledonia was swiftly and deftly staying out of the way, sending small blasts of energy at him to weaken him.  It wasn’t working too well. 

 

Both heroes had been forced back into the canyon further.  Nearly halfway to the see, the Celtic men were nowhere to be seen.  He turned back to Legion just in time to block a well aimed blow to his head with his golden gauntlet.  The undead warrior had snuck up on him.  He’d almost forgotten about them in his battle with Legion.  A swift kick to the midsection tore the walking corpse in half.  Three more approached as Legion worked his way back to his feet.  Although they slowed Altius down, they didn’t stop him and the hero and demon collided once more.

 

More blows were exchanged and Altius hit the ground hard.  He started to get up and Legions talons shot down and through his shoulder, pinning him to the ground.  He managed to get his one free arm up just in time to grab Legion’s upper jaw and stop it from taking off his head.  On the other side of the canyon, some thirty feet away, he head a cry and glanced over to see Caledonia on the ground at Vercingetorix’ feet.  She was badly wounded and he was rising up for the killing blow.

 

As Altius could feel the end drawing near, he heard a horn in the distance.  It sounded a second and third time in rapid succession.  Legion relented for the briefest of moments and looked up towards the ledges of the canyon walls above him.  So did Vercingetorix. 

 

A rumbling could be heard, and the shifting of large stones could be made out overhead.  The powerful warrior and the demon looked at each other.  It was a trap.  Altius looked at Caledonia, “GET OUT OF HERE!”, and grabbed Legion’s claw, pulling it deeper into his shoulder.  Concentrating all of his energy, he summoned shadowy tentacles to rise out of the earth, ensnaring both the warrior and the demon.

 

Legion tried to pull away, but found himself unable.  The first boulder came tumbling down as the Celtic men far above pushed with all their might.  It found its mark and slammed into Vercingetorix, pinning him to the earth.   

 

The demon panicked, but all of his thrashing and pulling was of no avail.  Altius had him trapped. 

 

Altius’ eyes were bleeding from the effort of maintaining the tentacles.  He was giving it his all.  Looking up at Legion, he sneered, “Today you go back to hell!”

 

Moments later, a flood of stones poured down from above, crushing them.  The cries of the demon died and all was silent.

 

Present Day…

 

Altius stood up.  The remains of the large robot were all over the place around him.  He found himself holding the robot’s head in his hands and he dropped it on the ground.  Apparently, he’d been on auto-pilot for this battle and didn’t remember it all that much. The memories were coming quicker now.  He was recalling more and more of his life before the accident but it didn’t make sense.  Why now?  What was triggering them?

 

He looked up to see Curse floating in the air over him, silently watching. 

 

“What do you want?  Why in the hell am I so interesting to you today?  What do you want me to remember?”  Altius was about at wits end and despite the freakish power level of his teammate, he was going to get some answers.  He flapped his wings hard and started to take off to meet him face to face when he heard the revving of a powerful engine.  Turning around, he saw Lobo on a rocket cycle tearing out of the base.  Eight more were following him, apparently on auto-pilot. 

 

“Now this is a ride worthy of the Main Man!”  Lobo was apparently very pleased with himself.  “Anyone find any more SOB Bonecrushers skulking about?”

 

God of War walked around a corner with two of the large, glowing dogs on chain leashes.  They were walking low with their tails between their legs and looked much worse for the wear.  “It looks like poor Head Cheese was the only one here tonight.  What should we do with him?”

 

Lobo just grinned, “unless you think he’d look good as a hood ornament to this bad boy, leave him.” 

 

JudgeDredd didn’t waste any time and claimed his own rocket cycle.  LifeForce was right behind him.  The two had been virtually absent during the battle and Lobo had wondered what happened to them until they started to leave.  Apparently they had been busy dismantling about a dozen perimeter robots while the rest of the team had some fun. 

 

Altius landed back on the ground and walked over to a rocket cycle.  Looking back up, Curse was nowhere to be seen.  He thought quietly to himself, “he’s gonna be the death of me…”

 

Lobo put a large meaty hand on Altius’ shoulder, “You’ve got a problem there bud.  He gives you any trouble and you come see me.  Oh, and by the way, you’re buying the first round!”

 

At that, Lobo lit a fat cigar and whooped up a storm as he flew off on his new rocket bike.  The rest of the NMDS team followed suit to the nearest bar to celebrate.