The Stuff of Legends (Part 1)

written by Thomas Fritzinger

The flight into Greece was a bumpy one. A fast moving storm front had moved in over the last few hours out of the Mediterranean and was threatening incredibly severe weather over the small country. Already, a waterspout had been sited off the southern coast and the conditions were right for tornados.

Due to the highly charged atmosphere, and incredibly heavy rainfall, flights into and out of the greater part of Southern Greece had been cancelled. The Defender, upgraded as it was, was being tossed back and forth and it was all Wyldecard could do to keep it on course. Even Quan had decided to sit inside the craft for once out of concern that his own powers might agitate the atmosphere even further.

“We’re landing folks, hang on tight.” Wyldecard’s voice sounded strained as it came over the headsets to the team. They descended from the partially lit upper cloud mass into darkness.

Indeed, below the 500 foot thick cloud canopy it was nearly black. The only lights came either from dim city lights below in Athens as they filtered through the pouring rain or up above in the form of lightning bolts which would occasionally arch from cloud to cloud. When they flashed, the cloud cover almost looked green.

The Defender set down on a football field about a half mile south of the Parthenon itself. Stepping out of the Defender, the team could see it silhouetted in the Acropolis against the darkened sky and was occasionally lit by more bolts of lightning. Stepping out of the craft, they were immediately soaked to the bone.

Thousands of years old, the Acropolis used to be the crowning glory of the Greek civilization, and the monument in Athens representing the pinnacle of society. Many thousands of years and multiple wars later, much of it was still in ruins.

The Parthenon itself rested atop the Acropolis. It was razed once by Persians around 400 BC, but was re-built by the Greek People in just 9 years. Today, it is surrounded by scaffolding. Using computers, many archeologists have been attempting to re-construct the edifice. They have been doing so for 8 years so far and had barely scratched the surface. Being the largest structure in the world constructed entirely out of marble, it was a daunting task and the ground was littered with stones of all shapes and sizes.

Eron looked at Quan, who had a decidedly displeased look on his face. “How in the world do you keep that thing lit?” Eron chided. Quan was not amused.

“Looks like Zeus is angry tonight!” Vexator joked half-heartedly, slapping Quan on the back as he did. His mirth, however, died down quickly as the team saw a startling phenomenon manifest over the Acropolis. Descending down from the clouds like three shadowy tentacles descended the three tips of long, skinny tornados. Touching the ground at the base of the hill on which the Parthenon sat, they began to wind their way around the hill in a clockwise manner.

“Looks like Zeus, or whomever it is, is expecting us.” Eron said through pursed lips.

“You have that right” came a deep voice to his left. StrongArm stepped forward around the side of the Defender, followed by the rest of the Reverent Knights. “We just arrived. We locked onto your signal and teleported from Brussels. That boom tube on our lunar base is pretty handy.”

“Good to have you. What do you make of this?” Eron pointed to the hilltop.

“Don’t know just yet,” Captain Atom looked up, “but we sure need to find out.”

The combined teams set off for the base of the hill.

The streets of the town were desolate. Few homes ringed this side of the monument. It was a business district for the most part and most people had gone home early in anticipation of the storms’ severity. Few cars were on the road and fewer lights were on in the buildings near the hill.

As the team arrived, they saw a large mass of objects fly out of the clouds directly over the Parthenon and into the structure. Quan looked up and his eyes burned bright green. Vexator recognized them too and Zildoran took a step back and shot Cassandra a glance.

The beasts had returned.

A stream of them flew into the structure and began flying around the inside of it. From the center of the bunch a bright light burst forth. Something was happening inside. The light filtered through the hundreds of creatures now circling it. It streamed out of the Parthenon, between the pillars, in sporadic beams being constantly broken and reformed by the large creatures, illuminating the city in a random pattern of white light.

The team spared no words and charged forward. A twister came up quickly on them and The Great Angelia and Mr. F’in Fantastic used their mastery over the wind to deflect the storm. The rest of the team advanced, Zildoran and Cassandra on point.

Then something startling happened. Zildoran and Cassandra disappeared! They simply fell through the ground as if it was not there. The team stopped, nearly at the steps of the ancient structure itself. Quan stepped forth and reached out. The air before him rippled as if he had touched a pool of water. He looked over his shoulder and motioned Cap over. The two spread their arms and looked down. The air shimmered slightly and went still again. With the exception of the pouring rain, there was nothing.

Cap looked back, this time to Eron. “It was a trap, a one way dimensional portal to somewhere else. Zildoran and Cassandra went through. Quan and I are neutralizing it for now. You can pass.” Quan put his arms down, staring at the ground. He pointed to his left and turned back to Cap. They both ushered the team forward.

Moving up the steps, the rest of the team advanced to stand between the mighty pillars of the ancient temple to the Greek gods. Inside, they could see hundreds of the beasts flying in swooping circles around a figure at the center. He wore black robes and was chanting out of some ancient manuscript. Before him was a shimmering pool of water which emanated a brilliant aura and surrounding him were three bright candles. Rather than resting in holders each candle was floating, and slowly circling, in the air around the figure.

Glancing over his shoulder, he stared at the team with dead, black eyes. “Kill them.”

The beasts, as one, turned towards the team and advanced. Their screeching over the wind sounded a lot like high pitched laughter...

Elsewhere and Elsewhen…

Zildoran shook his head. The last thing he remembered was walking up the hill to the Parthenon when he was hit by a freight train. Well, not exactly a train, but he was certainly hammered by something and his head was pounding. Looking to his left, he saw Cassandra lying on the blackened earth… steaming. Looking at himself, he saw the same steam. Whatever sent them here was also hot. It had evaporated the water that was soaking them to the bone on the hill.

They certainly weren’t in Greece anymore.

He shook Cassandra’s shoulder and she started coming to. Looking around, he found himself on a rocky plain, charred by what must have been a raging fire. The sky was ashen and the air was dry. A stale wind was blowing and chilled him. Overhead, through the thin cloud cover, a faint red sun shone on the land, casting a red hue to everything. It’s exactly what he imagined Mars would look like.

As he looked up, he saw a shimmering silvery disk hovering some 30 feet up in the air. Floating in the air between him and the disk was a transparent image of Quan. His normally fiery green image muted. He looked down at the two heroes and pointed across the plain to Zildoran’s right. Then both he and the disk disappeared as if the doorway had closed for good.

Helping Cassandra to her feet, the two heroes began walking, hoping that he hadn’t just seen a mirage.

Not too far away…

Knoah had been in some tough situations before, but this one took the cake. He ran over the charred landscape at an incredible pace, realizing full well what would happen if he stopped. He could hear the hounds behind him, breathing heavily.

He was running through broken crags and over a very rocky ground. His deft agility helped him navigate the terrain in a way that he hoped his pursuer could not match. His package cradled under his left arm, he used his right to vault over rocks barring his path.

He stormed into an open clearing some 50’ around and came to a screeching halt. In front of him was a nest of sleeping Wyverns, dragon like creatures each as large as a horse. Although they had no arms, they had sharp, poisonous fangs that had been known to tear through solid steel. His cargo was too precious to take the risk. This was definitely not a friendly place.

He turned and headed back, reaching a broken cleft in the rocks. He shimmied through to the other side and found himself on a ledge a couple hundred feet off the ground far below. He looked around to assess his situation and was relieved to see that his quest was nearly over. To his right, a mile or so away, he saw his destination. The citadel of the demigod lay before him. The blackened sky lighting up with what must be heat lightning over her castle. His objective lay just outside it at the base of the mountain.

Looking to his left quickly, he had to do a double-take. In the valley below and behind him were two lone figures. Dressed as they were, there was no mistaking Cassandra and Zildoran. They seemed to be headed towards the citadel, but were on the other side of some crags and surely could not see it from their angle. The two obviously had no idea of what danger they were in and looked lost. Not only that, they didn’t appear to be astrally projecting. They had physically come through somehow!

He looked back at his goal, as close as it was, and shook his head. There was a reason for everything… even this. Changing direction to head back the way he came, Knoah set off to intercept the two heroes.

Back at the Parthenon…

The collected heroes were struggling to stay alive. The beasts were apparently somewhat disjointed in their attack. It wasn’t like before when they moved in unison. Something was wrong with them and they attacked without regard to any form of strategy. This actually helped the Knights and gave them an edge they did not have before.

When the first wave hit, the team responded as a unit. Multiple heroes combined forces to incinerate the first two while the rest set up a defensive perimeter, warding off potential attacks from other directions. Learning from their first encounter, the team created a spherical defense, those members who could fly floating in the air over the team while those who could not slowly moved the team into the structure. The GREAT Angelia and Mr. F’in Fantastic stayed at the center of the team’s defensive perimeter keeping the tornados at bay while Wrathius and Vexator led the way. Wrathius had torn the “tail” off of one of the creatures and was using it as a large club to batter his way inside.

They had advanced 20’ up the steps and were beginning to move through the antechamber of the ancient structure when the being at the center of the Parthenon must have realized what was happening. He turned towards them and let go of the tome he was reading aloud, which simply floated in the air where he was holding it. A disembodied voice continued to read the words on the page even after he turned his attention away. It was clear to see now that as each word was read, it blazed up in a spectral luminescence.

Knowing the battle goes to the best prepared, Eron lifted the EMP blaster from his belt and held it high. With a pull of the trigger, dozens of the beasts fell from the sky, squirming on the ground like fish out of water. Wrathius, Wyldecard and StrongArm tore into them and killed 3 within seconds. Dark Heart lifted his and fired. Dozens more fell to the earth and the team moves 10 more feet towards Darius. The beasts pull back and lightened the assault as if sensing certain death if they try again.

Noticing this, Darius raised his arms to the sky and called forth a volley of thunderbolts. He directed them at the ground around the team’s feet. Drenched to the bone, the bolts arc up and down each team member. Quan and Cap instantly absorbed the massive energy surge, but not before it could fry all of the other EMP blasters in the team. Seeing the blasters smoking, the beasts renew their attack, stopping the team in their tracks.

Raising his hands again, the three tornados converged behind Darius, forming a massive funnel. Looking up, it towered over the Acropolis, all the way to the cloud cover over their heads which began moving in a clockwise pattern very swiftly as the massive tornado gained strength.

“You know what they call this? They call it the Finger of God.”

Although his voice was soft and unassuming, it seemed to reverberate in the heroes’ ears and the funnel moved around the structure towards the team. The Great Angelia and Mr. F’in Fantastic lost control and fell backwards down the steps. Heedless of the beasts attacking the heroes, dozens were sucked in the twister and subsequently torn to shreds by the shrapnel it was picking up.

One of the beasts broke through the line, storming past Caledonia as she was casting a defensive spell. He hit Eron in the back and pinned him to the ground. Another shot a ball from its back end and hit Dark Heart in the leg. He let out a cry of pain as he fell. StrongArm, Wrathius and Captain Atom were besieged by three of the creatures and were pinned on the steps below, directly in the path of the F5.

The funnel rounded the corner and, exposed on the stairs as he was, Mr. F’in Fantastic lost his footing. Caledonia caught his hand as he was being sucked up into the funnel cloud, her other hand holding onto the column of the Parthenon for dear life. Not being cemented down, a cornerstone of the Parthenon was uprooted as the twister grazed it and swirled up into the air as if it was a feather. The pillar on top of it simply toppled, sending gigantic sections of what remained of the roof down the hill.

Time slows down for the struggling teams. The hooded figure allows a thin smile to cross his face as he looks at the feeble heroes. “The ritual calls for a blood sacrifice. Thank you for volunteering.” Bat MAn could read his lips but his voice was now engulfed by the torrent around him. Darius’ blood curdling laughter sounded through the Parthenon and in the ears of each hero.

Darkness looked up. Adreneline was pumping through his system. His heart was racing so fast that it seemed everything around him was moving in slow motion as he hung onto a pillar for dear life. Every cloud in the sky for miles was now swirling around the top of the massive tornado which had picked up stones, metal poles, and debris of all kind. He knew normally a stone or metal stake hitting him had no chance of causing serious harm, but one moving over 200 miles an hour might just kill him. Above his head, an iron rod ripped from the moorings of some unseen fence planted itself into the pillar above him. Bursting out the other side, it kept going as if the marble pillar was nothing more than a marshmallow.

A lightning bolt arches across the sky and twists around the tornado before disappearing into its base and the wind makes a moaning sound that drowns out even the thoughts of the paralyzed team below it. The scaffolding surrounding the Parthenon buckles and is ripped up into the atmosphere as if made of nothing more than paper. The pillar hit the ground with an earth-shattering thud. The giant cornerstone makes one complete pass around the funnel cloud and shoots at the center of the team like a 12 ton cannonball…

To be continued...