Visions of Futures Past

Alt Reality episode introducing Legend Seeker to the team. It also introduces the Aesir as a major villain to be further explored in a future story in the series.

Visions of Futures Past

 

Chapter 1: The End

 

In the mountain ranges of Northern Tibet…

 

The sky was dark, unnaturally so.  The air was cold at this altitude and there wasn’t a tree to be seen to buffet the wind.  Bolts of lightning arched across the sky in the distance to the East.  Although it was below freezing and flakes fell from the sky there was no snow on the ground.  There hadn’t been precipitation on the Earth in over two years.  There had hardly been any sunlight either thanks to a perpetual cloud cover.  Planet wide, most of the vegetation was gone and the animals with it.   It was pitch black.

 

Two lonely figures ran across the frozen landscape, survivors of a holocaust, up the mountainside towards the only visible structure larger than a hut, a Buddhist temple.

 

Two men ran trough the ruins of a small, deserted village and across the dark, blasted landscape towards the temple as quickly as possible.  The only reason they knew that they moved in the right direction was the small fire they could see at the entrance of the temple in the distance.  Fed by a natural gas vein, it provided the only pinpoint of light outside the occasional lightning bolts.

 

One of them ran with a limp.  The other was in obvious pain with every step he took.  The ground was scorched and the air was ashen, carrying the wildfires that were once Tibet over the mountain range to their East.  Had they been able to see through the thick cloud cover, they would have seen a starry sky.  It was nearly midnight.

 

The two battered men stopped to catch their breath, a hard thing to do with all of the ash in the air.  Both were wearing dark, dirty clothing.  Both were battered and torn. 

 

One of them was Eron.  He looked older.  Much older.  He had a streak of white hair over his left ear and several scars across the right side of his face.  He was unshaven and a long beard touched his chest.  His right arm, barely visible under his long cloak, was scarred from some horrible fire and he ran with a pronounced limp.  His trench coat was long since gone and he was now dressed in American military fatigues and a thick fur coat.  The tears from the gash that killed the previous owner were still visible on the blouse of the fatigues.  The American flag still hung on his shoulder, although with the fall of that great nation it was only a relic of a distant time long past.  He rubbed his shoulder under the flag absentmindedly.  His stomach grumbled.  How long had he been without food?

 

His companion was in no better shape.  The young man’s flowing cloak was battered and torn.  Without a coat, he was simply wearing multiple layers of clothing, hardly appropriate for the climate.  His hair had been burnt badly and he was showing age before his time, with multiple dirty lines running across his forehead and dark circles under his eyes.  He, too, was badly burnt on his legs and ran over the cold earth without shoes.  His feet were bloody and badly cut and his toes were showing signs of frostbite.  He tried to drink water from a bladder at his side only to find it empty.  They’d run out of water a day ago.  At this altitude, with no water or even snow to be seen, it was unlikely the two would find any more.  They knew the stakes. 

 

Eron put a hand on the younger man’s shoulder.  Nearly out of breath himself, he tried his best to smile.  “We don’t have far to go.  He can’t hold them off forever.  We have to move.”

 

Nodding, the younger man finished wrapping his bare feet from strips of cloth from his cloak and stood up, ready go continue moving forward.

 

Miles below him in the valley a bright red flash of light erupted, forcing Eron to shield his eyes.  The thunderous explosion that erupted from the valley floor sent a mushroom shaped cloud into the sky.  Red lightning arced out of the cloud to the surrounding mountain range and within seconds a burst of hot wind hit the heroes.  Eron could feel the blast of radiation and knew at once what had happened.  Although not enough to harm them at this distance, it was enough to knock them off their feet.  Nothing in the blast radius could have survived.

 

One of the mountaintops to the South nearest the explosion began crumbling; creating an avalanche that would blanket the valley in snow and rock within minutes.  Firebrand, the Fire Elemental, was finally down.  He had bought Eron and the young man as much time as he could.

 

“May God have mercy on his soul.”  The young man mouthed the prayer through parched lips.  Eron nodded.  After all the death and destruction, the only thing left for them was how they chose to die.  Neither man shed a tear.  Their friend had died well.

 

A beastly howl came from the valley below them, much closer than the blast.  Some of the Shadows had survived.  Both heroes started and stared at each other in fright.  Eron looked up the hill at the Buddhist temple, still over a mile away, and then back at his companion.  They were both injured and there was little chance of outrunning the predators stalking them in the darkness.  Taking his hand, Eron placed something in it.  He looked the youth in the eyes, “Go.  You know this is a mission for one anyway.  I’ll slow them down to give you time.”

 

“But…”

 

“No buts.  You are their only hope and they don’t even know it yet.  Go.  Save them.  Our time is past.  You know the stakes.”

 

He then turned around and raced back down the hill.

 

The young man looked down and saw the black amulet in his hand.  Tears began streaming down his cheeks as he watched Eron disappear out of sight.  “Yes, …”  He turned and hobbled up the hill as quickly as he could.

 

Minutes later, Eron stood atop a small stone hut in a village that the two had passed minutes before.  He could sense them coming.  He could sense them slowing their approach and encircling the small hamlet, long since deserted.  There were few inhabited places left in the world these days.  Raising his hand, he sent a small ball of flame into the thatch roof of a neighboring hut.  The hut burst into flames, the dry thatch having not seen a drop of rain in years.  He did it again and a second hut lit on fire.  He would at least see his attackers at the last.

 

He knew that their slowed approach was likely the only delay he could create.  It was too late to turn back now.   He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  He knew it was one of his last.  His mind wandered backwards.  He recalled when he was a youth, how he would play with his newfound powers much to the dismay of his parents.  He recalled his first car and his first love.  He remembered his adventures with the Akkadian Knights and how they had defeated many powerful foes together.  He chose to stop there.  The memories starting at the Parthenon and the incredible loss to Barthandalus were too painful.

 

At this high altitude, the perpetual cloud cover that had engulfed the Earth for years finally broke on occasion.  As it did, the full moon shone down through the cracks on the landscape below.  Looking to the East, Eron could see over a hundred miles away all the way across Tibet into China.  As far as the eye could see, the earth was blackened from fires.  Not a single living thing stirred.  No bird flew in the sky.  A thick black cloud cover created by the machines of war only allowed the briefest of glimpses at what was left of the Earth before the stars were blotted out again.  In that briefest of moments, Eron saw stars.  He forgot his plight.  Peace filled him in that one small blessing and he knew that he was not alone.  For only the briefest of moments…

 

He heard a twig snap and turned his head.  Two huts away, a dark shape stood in a shadow in the street, staring impassively at the last Knight with haunting, purple eyes.  The twig that had snapped dropped from its talon filled claws.  It was intentional.  The creature wanted him to know it was there.

 

“It is time again… Eron.”

 

Eron pulled a katana from his back, a gift from D years before, and faced off with the demon.  Using his powers, he caused the sword to turn into a bright line of flames.  Around him, he could sense four more Shadows appearing out of the ether.  The demon crouched, ready to spring, when a bright flash of light shot from the temple on the mountaintop above into the sky.  Looking over his shoulder, Eron thought to himself ‘save them’. 

 

He barely had time to turn and face his foes when the Shadows were on top of him, bringing him to the ground.

 

*

*

 

Present Day, at the Akkadian Knight’s keep in northern Scotland…

 

Eron went down hard, the wind knocked out of him.

 

Moments later, the big, burly kid stood up and extended his hand down to Eron to help him up.  Eron blew out, reached up and took the hand.  Standing back up, each team moved back to their respective huddles.  That was his third sack of the game.

 

Getting back in the huddle, he gave a wry eye to Vex who was supposed to have blocked the kid.  Vex eyebrows went up and he just shrugged his shoulders, as if to say ‘I told you I didn’t know how to play this game.’

 

The Knights were participating in a charity football game with the locals.  The idea actually came from the local mayor, looking for a way to pay for an expansion to the local clinic.  Eron had offered to pay for it, but the town had refused, citing all of the good things the Knights had already done for the town and the need “to stand on our own two feet”.  Eron couldn’t refuse.

 

The team they faced, the Shamrocks, was a team from a neighboring town that actually had a football program.  Most high schools in this area had soccer teams, and you had to get schools from several provinces together to make up a decent league.  This team had to travel over an hour to get to the keep for today’s game, although trips of 2 and 3 hours were normal given the distances to the next school with a similar program.  There were nearly 700 visitors in the stands, a really good turnout.

 

The Knights had enlisted the aid of a few other God’s Knights teams to round out a full 11 man team but the arrangement was working well.  The only rules, outside the usual football rules, were that the Knights could not use their powers.  Everyone was good with the arrangement and the current score, late in the 4^th quarter with :23 seconds to go, was 7 to 14, not in the Knights’ favor. 

 

Eron settled down again behind Khouh, who had taken Center.  Quan and Wylde crouched on either side.  Stumpy and StrongArm took up wide receiver positions while PkPay and FiL JuMpEr took positions as tight ends. The other team put up a 4-3 defense with an eye towards the pass.

 

Looking around, Eron hollered out some random numbers and then a “hike!”  The ball went flying back into his hands and he pulled back in a shotgun formation.  Vex ran by him and Eron faked putting the ball in the crook of his arm.  Eron pulled back further, the ball behind his back, looking for an open receiver.  He saw Stumpy and Wylde running down the field towards the goal line.  Two local brutes were quickly following, providing good man-to-man coverage. 

 

These lads could sure run!

 

Eron pulled back and let fly.  The football flew through the air in a perfect spiral towards Stumpy, who was running a Hail Mary pattern down the left side of the field.  Stumpy reached for it, touched it with his index finger, and promptly lost it.  Stumbling to a stop, he landed on his face inches from the goal.  He lifted his head and spat out a wad of grass in his mouth.  His face was a breath away a large pile of green, steaming manure.  Flies flew around it in lazy patterns, unaware that their lunch had nearly been smeared all over the turf by a big, burly brute.  Looking up, he saw the face of a large cow standing nearby contentedly chewing cud.  With a disgusted look, it turned its head and trotted off, its tail flicking up in the air.

 

“Better luck next time yank!” A local farmer on the side of the field was extending his hand towards Stumpy to help him up off the ground.  With a hearty pat on the back, Stumpy joined his team back in the huddle.

 

They now had :05 seconds on the clock, enough for one more play.  They were out of field goal range, well, they were out of normal human field goal range at any rate and they had promised not to use their powers so their only option was to attempt one last run.

 

They lined up one last time and Khouh snapped the ball.  The other team blitzed.  Vex fell on his butt and Eron was smothered in green uniforms. 

 

A cheer went up from the crowd on the sideline as the Knight fell, the sack sealing the game.  Caledonia walked over from the sideline dressed in a turtle-neck cardigan and blue jeans and offered her hand to Eron, “Better luck next time.”

 

The rest of the day was a family affair.  The Knights and locals retired to a local fair, invited to the event by Eron, to further build community.  It wasn’t until later that evening, when the sun was barely setting on the horizon, that Eron’s cell lit up.  Drinking some soda pop to wash down the cotton candy, Eron answered the phone.

 

“You’d better get back here.  Something’s up.”

BAt Man had hung up the phone before Eron could ask exactly what was up.  He grabbed Destiny, the closest Knight around, “Find everyone and send them back to the keep.  Something’s up.”

Eron headed back to the keep.

 

*

*

 

BAt Man had been monitoring the systems at the keep all day.  Somehow, he had transferred much of his own computer system over to the Knight’s base and was monitoring his own city from here.  Although he rarely left his city, he offered to come over today to at least watch the place while everyone “played silly games and acted immature”.  Eron attempted to explain that it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted.  He really didn’t have a sense of humor.   The two were now standing in front of a large computer console.  The LCD and Plasma screens were displaying a map of the planet and a single, red dot illuminated over a mountain range in Tibet, China.

 

“So, you’re saying that you picked up this fluctuation of tachyon particles in Northern Tibet?”

 

“That’s correct.  The satellite just came online today, and the burst occurred within 10 minutes of its activation.  It could be the instrumentation calibrating.”

 

“But it could also be something else.”

 

“That’s right.”

 

“And why did Wayne Corp put another satellite in space to do this again?”

 

BAt Man looked at him.  “We’re looking for other portals like the one in Athens at the Parthenon that we may need to plug up.  We noticed a large spike in tachyon particles when it flared before and think we can identify them planet-wide.  We have no need of another ‘incident’ like that again.  Several governments put money into the effort and the new God’s Knights merger gave us untapped capital to work with.  Wayne Corp. is actually a minor donor in the project.”

 

“Have you reported the burst to anyone yet?”

 

“Not yet.  I’d rather not have any more attention to this than we need right now.  It may be just a fluke.  We should check it out anyway.”  The Dark Knight flipped a switch and the main screen changed to show a map of Spain.  “There’s one more thing.  I’ve noticed a powerful energy signature in this region.”  He closed in on a volcano in Southern Spain.  “It may be nothing, it is an active volcano range after all.”

“It’s probably nothing.  What brought your attention to it?”

 

“It’s pulsing a little, like a beacon.  The crust of the earth is particularly shallow at this point.  It’s possible that it’s just reading the magnetic field of the Earth more accurately than normal.”

 

“Don’t worry about it.  Let’s go check out Tibet.”  Eron smiled at the thought of an excuse to go to a snowy mountain range.  He hadn’t been skiing in a while.  “I’ll gather the teams!”

 

 

Chapter 2:  The Face of Things to Come

 

“What do you mean there aren’t any ski resorts here?  I see snow everywhere!”   Eron was a little perturbed at the thought that he’d just hauled his ski gear halfway around the world for nothing. 

 

BAt Man stared at him.  “You do realize we’re here on business, don’t you?”  His normal black and grey armor had been replaced with a set that was nearly white, with only a hint of earthen brown showing at the seams where the titanium plates overlapped. 

 

“Of course he does,” Captain Atom chimed in as he patted Eron on the shoulder, “he was just eager to quickly scout the area from the ground level, that’s all.”  The sarcasm was deep in the old military man’s voice and quite unmistakable.

 

“Ok, ok, I get it.”  Eron dropped his gear back in the cargo hold of the Defender and walked out onto the tundra.  They had landed the craft approximately 2 miles south of the location where BAt Man’s satellite had found the energy spike.  The Reverent Knights offered to come along for the ride.  The two teams were out in the open air now, chatting with each other as BAt Man took the lead up the hill. 

 

THe JuMPeR flew into view over the rise, “you’ve got to see this!  I’ve never seen anything like it.”  Moments later, both teams had crested the rise to look upon a beautiful site.  Up on top of the mountainside before them was a large temple.  Although it bore no markings, it resembled Tibetan Buddhist temples in the valley below and was very large.  There were no obvious roads to the actual structure and it sat at the top of a short cliff.  The only way in was through one of its many windows or through the front door, which was suspended about 50’ off the ground.  There were no obvious ladders or staircases.

 

It took most of the non-flying team about 5 minutes to get there.  By that time, Captain Atom had led the flying heroes up to the structure and was busy looking around.  As the two teams began scouring the entry chambers and rooms facing outside, StrongArm positioned himself by the front door and soaked in the view.

 

For the briefest of moments, he thought he saw something moving quickly across the snow down the mountainside, but dismissed it as just an illusion created by snow-blindness.   Behind him, he could hear The Great Angelia call out to everyone else, “Everyone, come quick!”

 

 

*

*

 

At the base of the mountainside, a dark shape crouched under a rocky outcropping.  It was human sized, but definitely not human.  Its skin was oily black and it sported two large, leathery wings.  Its four arms ended in razor sharp talons and although it had no mouth, its purple eyes conveyed an evil intent.  It had many names in many countries.  In Venezuela, it was the Chupacabra.  In Germany, they once called it Vampire.  Truly it had no name at all.  It was the figment of an imagination, albeit a very powerful imagination.

 

“Master.”

 

“Yes my spawn.”  The words were not heard by the creature so much as felt.  It was far from home, but its mental link with its creator was strong enough to span even this distance.

 

“The Gods’ Knights have found him.”

 

“Kill them all.”

 

“Yes, Master.”

 

With that, the creature darted up the mountainside towards the structure, deftly remaining in the shadows.

 

*

*

 

The Great Angelia cradled the youth in her arms.  His face was leathery from overexposure to the elements and his clothing was ragged.  He was badly burnt on one side of his body and his feet were bleeding and torn.  Caledonia was peeling the strips of cloth off of his feet and tending to his wounds as best as they could.  Hiley was attempting to get some water into him.  He was badly dehydrated.  Hiley looked up at Captain Atom and nodded.  He would be ok.  “He’s super-powered or he wouldn’t have survived this long, Cap.”

 

Cap bent over and took the young mans’ hand.   He was barely conscious but was coming too with the attention he was getting.  Vexator touched Cap’s shoulder, “there’s something you should know.”

 

Vex whispered into Cap’s ear.  Cap cocked his head to the side and softly spoke to the youngster, “you’re not from around here, are you?”

 

In a weak, raspy voice, he replied “Good Lord almighty… did I make it?”

 

“Did you make it where, honey?”  Caledonia was stroking his hair at this point, using her mental powers to sooth his mind. 

 

“Caledonia!  Eron!  StrongArm! Dark Heart! You’re all alive!  I made it!”  The excitement in his voice was unmistakable.  Everyone looked at each other and nobody had a clue what he meant.  Eron stepped forward.

 

“What’s your name kid?”  At that, the youth shrunk back.  “I…”

 

“It’s ok, we’re friends.  We won’t hurt you.”

 

“It’s not that.”  He paused.  His hand went to his head and he put pressure on his temple.  Letting out a deep breath, he composed himself, “My name doesn’t matter.  What matters is that I found you.  I have a story to tell you that you may find hard to believe.” 

 

Vex chimed in, “let me guess, you’re from another planet.” 

 

The youth turned towards him.  “Wow, the legends were true about you Vexator.   How did you know?”

 

“Legends?”  Vexator looked confused for a second.  He dismissed it and continued, “That’s funny.  I didn’t know I was a legend in my own time!”

 

Wylde chuckled, “you mean a legend in your own mind, right?”

 

“Anyway…” he continued with a annoyed look going to Wylde, “I picked up traces of Radium-219 in your skeletal structure.  For it to be there and you not to be dead must mean that you grew up somewhere with more ambient radiation than anywhere around here.  It also means you are a little more than your average human.”

 

“Well, what you say is partially true.  I’m from Earth, but not the Earth or time you know.  I’m from a parallel Earth approximately 30 years ahead of your current timeline.  I’ve come back to try and save you from the same fate that befell us.”

 

Eron looked down at the young man.  His story was starting to be a little out there, but he’d seen enough in his own life to know that weirder things have happened.  He was obviously suffering from exposure to the elements and he may be out of sorts as well.  They’d have to nurse him back to health a little bit before they took him seriously.  “Tell you what, our ship is just down the valley.  Let’s get you there and we can talk more on the way back to Europe.”  At that, the youth’s eyes lit up.  He apparently liked the idea.  “THE Defender!”

 

As they got up to depart, the light from the noonday sun was occluded for the briefest of seconds and the room darkened.  The temperature in the room, already bone chilling, dropped even further.  Caledonia felt it first, a cold, dark, foreboding presence.  Its life energy was such a negative force that she could feel microbes in the air dying just to be around it.  The youth’s smile instantly vanished. 

 

“How could they have found me?”

 

*

*

 

 

 

Vexator’s eyes lit up and he bathed the room in a bright light.  Against the far wall was a creature resembling nothing the collected heroes had ever seen before.  It seemed to ooze out of the stonework.  Although it had no legs, it had four spindly arms that all ended in massive talons.  Its wings were large and its purple eyes radiated a bitter cold that could be felt 20’ away. 

 

The nameless youth recoiled in terror.

 

Without a word, it sliced through the air towards him.  StrongArm attempted to block but was easily pushed aside, the force of the shove slamming him up against a stone wall and sending dust everywhere as the wall cracked.  Kiriana and Cap both shot out beams of energy at the creature, but it deftly dodged both.   They, too, went flying as it barreled past them.

 

Merely 5 feet from the young man, Quantum Elemental stepped forth, raised his arm, and a curtain of green energy appeared in front of the creature.  Slamming into the wall caused the wall to flash a bright green color as the creature bounced off it.  Everyone in the room heard a primal scream of rage.  Caledonia and those more psychically attuned instantly recognized the telepathic link.  This creature was a powerful psionic.

 

Every hero in the room on the same side of the curtain as the creature opened up with everything they had.  Hiley covered the youth’s eyes as the room lit up in a powerful array of energy.  Quan’s shield held.

 

The creature, at the center of the maelstrom of power, writhed and covered itself with its wings as it slumped to the floor.  Cap raised his hand and both teams stopped the assault.  The creature was now completely wrapped in its wings on the floor, looking like a grey, shouldering egg.  Quan didn’t let down his shield yet. 

 

PKPKay reached down to touch the creature to see if it was still alive.  Without warning, it sprung.  With lightning quick reflexes, it grabbed PKPKay’s arm and flung him into the wall.  Another hit sent Captain Stumpy flying out a window.  Both teams opened up again on the creature, but in close quarters it was difficult to use ranged attacks.  Quan intensified his shield as a volley of plasma bolts hit it by mistake from Dark Heart. 

 

“Sorry about that, Quan.”  Dark Heart turned back towards the creature once more.

 

The creature maneuvered quickly, positioning itself in the center of the room.  As a hero missed it, another hero was hit.  It made the team, lining the edges of the room, hesitant to unleash their full power on it for fear of hitting each other.  One at a time, it began hitting team members.  Wyldecard was first.

 

Grabbing his leg with one arm, the creature swung him up into the air and used him as a shield to block a blast by StrongArm.  With another hand, it grabbed Eron by the throat and pinned him against a wall, using its impenetrable wings to shield itself from attacks to the sides.  A third hand batted away The JuMPeR as he attempted to hit him with an Atomic Grasp.  The blow sent him through the wall across the room and out onto the mountainside below.  It pulled back its remaining hand and black, oily knife-like claws extended from them.  His arm went straight for Eron’s throat.

 

A moment before it connected, Caledonia barreled into the creature, sinking a psychic dagger into its midsection.  At the same moment, a steel cable wound itself around the creature’s throat.  As BAt Man pulled on the line, Caledonia dug the dagger in deeper.  Its arm barely missed its target, sinking into the stone wall on either side of Eron’s face is if it were butter.  A thin trickle of blood dropped down his throat from as the claws nicked him.  Apparently he was not invulnerable to this creature.

 

Xion the Heretic leaped onto it from behind, grabbing the creature’s wings with both hands and planting a foot dead center in its back.  With all his might, he pulled on the wings until the creature dropped Wylde and Eron, howling in pain.  It reached back to grab Xion, but its arms couldn’t reach him.  It turned towards the center of the room and slammed Xion into the wall hard.  The stone cracked and shattered, but he held tight.

 

StrongArm and Cap grabbed two arms while Caledonia caused the stone under it to rise up and form a tight belt around its midsection.  Once again, every hero in the room blasted the thing with all their might.  Its skin began to boil and churn, almost as if it weren’t real.  The inhuman howl it blasted into everyone’s minds was horrifying, so much so that Kiriana threw her hands over her ears and dropped to the floor.  With Xion riding its back like a bucking bronco and holding its wings back, the creature couldn’t defend itself. 

 

The blasts were more than it could handle.  The combined might of two God’s Knights teams was too much to bear.  Before its flesh turned to stone, before it stopped moving for the final time, it spoke to them.

 

“It matters not.  You will all die.”

 

With that, the creature’s eyes dimmed and it ceased to move.  Its skin hardened to a stone like appearance.  Xion, StrongArm and Cap let go.  Moments later, after the Knights had fully released it, its body evaporated, leaving nothing as if it were never there.  The only proof it had been there at all was in the cuts and bruises left on the heroes in the room.

 

Cap turned to Quan, who dropped his shield.  Looking at the youth, still cradled in The Great Angelia’s arms, his expression was determined.  “I think we’re ready to listen to you now.”

 

The youth’s eyes hardened.  He stood up on shaky legs.  As he stepped past Quan, the youth grabbed his arm.  He had a surprising amount of strength in his small form.

 

“Out of everyone here, you are the one I don’t know, but I thank you anyway, Quan.  The fact that you stopped the Shadow was amazing.  I’ve never seen that happen before.”  Quan, always a man of few words, merely nodded.

 

The teams descended the mountainside.

 

 

Chapter 3:  What has Happened Before Will Happen Again

 

The engines of the Defender were nearly silent.  Using Zingonian technology, coupled with the latest scramjet technology available through Northrop Grummond, the Defender had truly become a masterfully built piece of machinery.  The exterior was a dull grey in appearance when it was visible, but a powerful cloaking field could be employed that rendered the vessel invisible in nearly all spectrums of light and radiation.  Of course, the ship was uncloaked at the moment as that took a great deal of power. 

 

Flying at stratospheric levels, the projected ETA from Tibet to Europe was just over an hour.  Inside the vessel, the teams were making good use of the time.  Situated around the interior, it was a tight fit for 19 heroes and their guest, but all of them crowded close to hear what he had to say.

 

“As I said before, I have no name.  The creature you faced was a Shadow, an imaginary beast conjured by the Aesir that rules Earth.  As you saw, they are nearly indestructible.  They feed off of the life forces around them, absorbing their Names and becoming all the stronger for it.  The more well known you are, the more powerful they become.  That’s why, when I was born, my parents chose not to give me a name for fear they would find me.”

 

Wylde rubbed his arm, “Didn’t feel imaginary to me.”

 

The young man continued, “You have a powerful Name.  If my time, you were a legend.  The Aesir came to Earth over 30 years ago.  Little did we know that they were on the planet when Barthandalus’ army broke through into Greece after the Knights failed to stop him at the Parthenon.”

 

“Wait a sec,” Eron interjected, “I thought you said our Earths were parallel.  We stopped him in that battle.”

 

“Maybe.”  The young man paused for a second. “As I recall, the legends said that the Knights fought a conjurer who was attempting to open a rift.  The Knights tried to get into the Parthenon when he summoned tornados to fend them off.  Some made it in, but Vexator and Cassandra disappeared never to be seen again and Caledonia,” he pointed at her, “you, were killed along with Mr. F’kin Fantastic by a massive boulder.”

 

Quan spoke up.  “I stopped that boulder.  I saved them.”  Cal nodded.  “He did.”

 

“Quan, I don’t know who you are.  You weren’t there on our Earth.  The boulder killed them.  Without their help, the Knights never made it to the conjurer and Barthandalus entered the world.  Vexator came back through the gate but died shortly thereafter due to some arrow wounds.  Zildoran and Captain Atom died in the initial assault.  Few escaped.”  At this, he paused for a moment.

 

“I was found by Eron years later as a small boy.  Our village had been razed by the Shadows.  They were systematically wiping out the population of Europe.  The American and Chinese armies were the last to fall.  They fought hard to the end to save us all.

 

Just as Barthandalus was looking like he was going to take the entire planet, the Shadows struck.  They used the confusion to assault his forces.   His army quickly crumbled.  In the confusion, the humans barely knew that there was a new force invading.  The only difference was that the Aesir didn’t want to conquer, they wanted to exterminate.  Our planet became a slaughterhouse.

 

We fought them for years after that.  Two years ago, we actually managed to kill an Aesir.  The second we did, thousands of Shadows vaporized into nothingness.  We lost nearly all of the rest of our heroes in the process though.  Only Eron, myself and Firebrand were left.”

 

“Firebrand?”  Eron looked confused and he glanced at Quan.

 

“Yes, Firebrand.  He was pivotal in our location of the Talisman of Dimensional Travel, the device I used to get here.”  At that, he pulled out the small black necklace from a pocket inside his cloak. “I’m afraid it was a one use item.  It was the prototype of a device the Aesir will be using to invade your Earth.  We discovered the plot only recently but knew that we had to do whatever we could to warn you.  He died helping us get to you.”

 

The cockpit was silent.  Quan spoke up, “on our Earth, Firebrand died nearly a year ago.  He was killed by Six.  He was tied to the Quantum Field when it happened and I was created.  His soul has passed on.”

 

Caledonia reached over and put her hand on Quan’s neck.   “You, my friend, have just as much of a soul as any of us.”  Her smile was reassuring.  He still wasn’t convinced.

 

“That must be the difference.  You must be the lynchpin on your planet that changed your history.  That explains why I don’t recognize you from the legends.  On our Earth, the legends about the Knights indicate that Firebrand was saved by a dark figure who never revealed himself.  He killed Six and freed Firebrand before the rest of the Knights arrived.” 

 

After a pause, Captain Atom interjected, “so, what’s next?  We faced one of those things and it nearly ripped us apart.  It took all of us to take it down.   Are you telling us we can look forward to thousands of those come pouring into our world?”

 

“No.  Millions.”  The young man was serious.  There was no humor in his voice.

 

The team was silent.  After a moment, the young man started speaking again.  “I don’t think we can destroy the Aesir, but I think our fate may be your salvation.  In the battles we had over the years, we discovered that the Aesir have destroyed Earth over and over again, at least one alternate version of it after the next.  They have used a device to travel from one Earth to another, wiping out the entire human race time and time again.  Their ultimate goal is to find the first Earth, the one from whence all others were created.

 

In our research, we found that each Earth ‘splits’, or generates a new Earth in the Multiverse at set intervals.  There is something special about the planet’s core that makes it unique and every 100 years a new Earth is born from each existing one.  When a new one is created, the Universe literally splits, creating an alternate reality.  Although identical at the time of the split, it quickly develops differences.

 

On one Earth a race of humanoids was formed.  We have no clue where they came from or how they got there, but they have incredible powers.  They create the shadow creatures from nothing more than their imaginings.  They aren’t gods, not like Barthandalus was, but they are incredibly powerful.

 

As they travel from Earth to Earth, they create machines that drain the Earth’s core of its heat.  We’ve discovered that once this happens, that particular Earth no longer ‘splits’.  It no longer generates more Earths.  Not only that, but the Earths that it generated and the alternate realities that were created disappear in the process.  Think about it like cutting a limb on a tree.  Doing so kills that branch and all of the smaller branches that come off of it. 

 

What we do know for sure is that they are seeking the first Earth from which all others were created.  They want to find the trunk of the tree.  Once they arrive at that destination and drain it, they can ensure that no other race of creatures can be formed on that planet to threaten them.  Kill the trunk, kill all branches.  No more Earths, no more ‘splits’.

 

They are working their way back through the Multiverse.  Your particular Earth is their ultimate goal.  Your Earth is the birthplace of the Multiverse.  All other alternate Earths stem from this one.  If they destroy your Earth, they rule all of reality.

 

Our Earth fell, but we discovered how they travel in the process.  They posses a powerful artifact that allows them to jump between dimensions.  This amulet is made form a piece of that artifact.  If we can destroy it, we can stop them and trap them on our Earth.  They’ll never reach you.  Let them languish in a dead empire.

 

There’s one more thing though.  To make it work, they need to find a city that appears time and time again on each Earth.  Its true name is lost, but we have called it the Earthen City.  Once they find it, they can use a portal it contains to travel to the next Earth, the particular Earth that ‘split’ and created the Earth they are on.”

 

Stumpy piped up, “if they have conquered so many Earths, don’t they know where it is?  Why bother even trying to destroy each Earth as they go.  They can just keep traveling until they get to the first one and save some time.”

 

“Not quite.  The location of the city seems to move with each Earth.  They have to hunt for it all over again.  We think that’s the reason why the drain the Earth’s core of energy and cool off the planet.  We think the city is underground but we don’t have any idea why it moves with each new Earth.  As you can imagine, the population of Earth doesn’t like it when anything attempts to destroy the planet.  War is inevitable.”

 

There was a pregnant pause as he let the information sink in.  Quan spoke up next.  “So, what can we do about it?”

 

“This is the hard part.  I need you, the legendary God’s Knights, to come back with me, find the Earthen City before they do, and destroy it.  Unfortunately, my amulet will only work on one person.”

 

Once again, silence ruled on the Defender.  Wyldecard flipped on the intercom, “We’re almost home guys.  We land in just a minute.”

 

BAt Man turned to Wylde, “Turn South.”  Wylde knew better than to question the senior Knight and dutifully obeyed.  Eron turned to him, “what are you thinking about?”

 

“I think I know why the city keeps moving.”

 

“Where are we going?”

 

“Spain.”

 

*

*

  

It was a good thing the shields on the Defender were well made.  The heat at this depth was enough to melt steel to slag within seconds.  Even with the shields at maximum, and Caledonia doing her best to lower the temperature of the magma surrounding the vessel, the ship was unbearably hot.  Vexator and Eron were attempting to cool the air inside the cockpit and it was providing a lot of relief to the tired teams. 

 

BAt Man could be cryptic in the best of times, but everyone had learned quickly that he was rarely wrong.  He spent time calibrating his new satellite while the team darted towards Southern Spain, to a set of active volcanoes.  By the time the Defender arrived, he was able to pinpoint the exact location of the volcano he was looking for and in no time flat the team was literally traveling down the volcanic opening towards the Earth’s mantle. 

 

They didn’t have all that long to wait before they got the results they were seeking.

 

Roughly 20 minutes into the exercise, about 35 miles deep into the Earth, they found it.  The ship bounced off something hard, really hard.  The sensors indicated that it was a roughly spherical shape that stretched over a mile in diameter.  It was made of a highly metallic, rocky exterior much harder than any known substance.  Its molecular composition was unlike anything else on Earth and the sphere quite literally floated in the magma comprising the mantle below the Earth’s Crust. 

 

The teams spent the next two hours encircling the entire surface of the sphere.  Finally, after nearly covering the whole thing, they found an opening of sorts.  An area of the sphere was slightly flatter than its curvature indicated it should be.  Strange, raised writing could be seen all over the flattened surface in a language the Defender’s computer couldn’t translate.  Not even Caledonia could translate it, only commenting that “that’s one old set of writing.”

 

BAt Man didn’t look up, but rather kept working on his instrumentation.  “It really doesn’t matter what it says at the moment.  The important thing is that now I know how to find this place on the other Earth and we know for sure why the Aesir haven’t found it yet.”

 

“We may have something too.”  KnockOut, a relatively new member of the Reverent Knights, was working at the science station with Kiriana and Quan.  “We think it may be possible to amplify the amulet to open a gateway between our worlds using our Boom Tube technology on our moon base.”

 

“That’s great!  Could it send everyone?”, Eron loved it when a plan started to come together.

 

“That’s the problem.  The energy required to do so would exceed the capabilities of our base’s fusion reactor.  We’re not quite sure just yet, but we think that the more people we send, the shorter the trip.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“Since we can’t completely duplicate the technology in the amulet, whomever we send will still be tied to this plane of existence.  Whomever goes will be pulled back once the power to sustain the Boom Tube aperture closes.  If we sent everyone, we would probably only be able to stay about 10 minutes.”

 

“And if we sent fewer people?”

 

“The power consumption would drain the fusion reactor pretty quickly.  10 of us would only have about 12 minutes.  If we drop to 8… no, that only gives them about 25 minutes.  If we go to 5, we start seeing real changes.  5 could stay for nearly 1 hour.”

 

“We would need at least 2 days.”  The young man spoke up.  “Traveling is going to take time, even if we can fly.  We need as much time as possible.”

 

“If we narrow down to 3 people, we get 4 hours 14 minutes.”

 

BAt Man had his hand on his chin.  “There may be a way to do it in 4 hours.  In fact, I’m sure of it.”

 

Eron and Cap looked at each other.  3 people.  That was a real gamble.  Their combined teams were required to take down one Shadow.  What real chance did 3 people have?  And to discover the Earthen City and destroy it in just 4 hours?

 

BAt Man spoke.  “I think we may have an edge.  THe JuMPeR has been working on a project for me for a while.  Care to explain?”

 

“Sure!  We’ve been working on a new set of armour ever since the beasts invaded the earth from space a year ago.  At the time, we managed to channel some of Quan’s energy into a set of guns.  Each one generated an EMP burst that disabled the beasts long enough to kill them.  We used them to enter the Parthenon and stop Barthandalus, remember?”

 

Everyone seemed to recall.  He continued, “We got to thinking, ‘what other applications could this have?’  I think I finally have an answer.  Quan was able to erect a force field earlier that stopped the Shadow cold.  If he can do that…”

 

“Then you can incorporate the force field into the armor?”  StrongArm was connecting the dots.

 

“I think so.”

 

Captain Atom, looking out the window at the sphere in front of the ship, turned to THe JuMPeR, “how long do you need to make it happen?”

 

“Give me a day.”  Opening up a comm. link, THe JuMPeR dialed the moon base.  Within moments, he, Quan, Kiriana and KnockOut were teleported off the Defender to begin their work.  The Defender began working its way back to the surface. 

 

Chapter 4:  The Plan Progresses

 

4:14:59

 

Normally, stepping through a boom tube aperture was akin to shuffling one’s feet through a shag carpet.  The hair on the back of one’s neck stands up for all of the electrical discharge.  On occasion, you could feel a tingling sensation across your body as your natural bio-electrical rhythm interacts with that of the machine.  Other than that, there was little sensation to be felt and absolutely no after-effects. 

 

That was normally.  Today was different.  Eron fell through the aperture, landing hard on the earth about 4 feet below him awkwardly.  He gasped for breath as he got up on his hands and knees.  He noticed that he was smoking, as if he had just been on fire.  His clothing was blackened and smelt as if someone had left them in the dryer for about an hour too long. 

 

Coughing, he stood up and looked around.  Quan was sitting on the ground nearby rubbing his neck.  The young lad that led them here was standing not too far away looking off into the distance.  It was dark and Eron could only make them out by virtue of the fact his bionic implants allowed him to see in the infrared spectrum.

 

He unclipped an LED flashlight at his waist and turned it on.  Looking at the immediate vicinity, he saw that the ground was parched and broken.  The earth was grey and devoid of any flora.  He shone it up and out but could only see more of the same for about 50 feet out.  The young man turned to Eron and put his hand over the light.  “It’s best that we travel in the dark for now.”

 

For the next 20 minutes, the three heroes traveled in the dark, the only light being the ever-present dim red glow of Quantum Elemental’s eyes.  After a while, Eron could swear he could see something.  The lad stopped the team and crouched down.  “We wait here for the Sun to fully rise.”

 

As they waited, the light began to grow.  Eron could now tell that the Sun was indeed up in the sky, but it was above an incredibly thick cloud cover.  Although it was dark, he sensed no precipitation.  As the light grew, he could see farther away and the sight that met him was almost too gruesome to bear.

 

For miles in every direction there was a flat plane of broken, dry earth.  It wasn’t until he could see the full distance that he realized that they were in the Chesapeake Bay outside Washington, D.C.  The entire bay was gone.  Ahead of them, the land rose up to level off in what remained of the once great capital.  The Washington Memorial was broken in two, but still visible in the distance.  The Jefferson Memorial was nothing but a pile of broken marble and the Capital Dome, at the edge of their vision even with binoculars, was a shattered dome and a burnt out building.

 

“What happened?”

 

“I told you the Aesir were looking for the Earthen City.  They were also drawing heat off of the planet’s core.  They did both by building a machine.  The machine went around the globe and punched hundreds of massive holes through the ocean floor, through the Earth’s crust, and draining the oceans.”

 

Quan was awestruck, “Now it’s obvious why they couldn’t avoid war with people.  Nobody would want that.”

 

“Yes.  Every nation fought back as best as they could.  Eventually, America, Russia and Iran unleashed their nuclear arsenals on the Shadows.  Although they destroyed the machine, the damage was done.  We went into a nuclear winter as the oceans drained.  The ambient radiation levels on the planet spiked and we went into a spiraling greenhouse gas loop.  The cloud cover never broke.  People died by the millions.  The Shadows finished off the few that remained.”

 

“Why did we appear here?”  Eron was more determined than frightened.

 

“This place was decimated by the Shadows decades ago.  The last time we had intelligence on it was years ago, but it indicated that the Shadows were far from here.  Quan, you should be safe to deliver your package.”

 

Quan nodded.  As they travelled, he had been hauling around a cart.  Rather than having wheels, it suspended itself in mid-air using an anti-gravity pack adapted from a Zingonian space ship.  On the cart was a box the size of a very large TV made out of what appeared to be aluminum foil.  Quan carefully picked up the box and floated into the air.  “This won’t take but a minute.”

 

With that, he shot straight up into the air.  Shooting through the cloud cover, the winds picked up dramatically, threatening to tear the package from his hands.  The clouds themselves were made more of ash and water and by the time he broke through the topmost layer, he was covered head to toe in a slimy grey sludge.  Minutes later, he achieved high orbit over the planet.  He pulled out a device from his coat pocket and pointed it around.  It flashed a red indicator light and he darted off in the direction it indicated.

 

Minutes more passed and he finally saw his target.  The shell of this planet’s International Space Station was still orbiting the Earth.  Although its inhabitants were long gone, or dead, the station itself was intact.  It was actually farther along than the one back on his own Earth.  This planet had arranged to build a metal shield around the station designed to repel most small debris.  All the better since his package was fragile.

 

He positioned himself on the Earth-side of the station and pulled a rip cord on his package.  The aluminum wrapping inflated as a CO² cartridge injected gas into it and popped silently.  Its cargo was a tiny spy satellite slightly larger than the one BAt Man had used to locate the Earthen City.  Removing a panel, Quan fiddled with a few of the buttons on the interior and turned the device on.  He pulled out the handheld device once more and fiddled with it just a bit before closing the satellite back up.

 

Turning around, he began the flight back to D.C.

 

3:27:51

 

Eron looked at his stopwatch.  It was counting down.  They had used up precious time already and Quan wasn’t back. 

 

The young lad and he had moved into DC and were sitting on what was left of the Lincoln Memorial.  Most of it was a pile of rubble, the subject of several explosions that left scorch marks on the stone walls.  Although no people were in sight, Eron had found a small pink teddy bear on the ground.  It was old and worn by elements.  One of its eyes was missing.  He sat on the steps staring at it.

 

“It gets easier over time.”

 

Eron looked up, “what does?”

 

“Dealing with the reality of it all.”  The lad’s eyes betrayed that it wasn’t as easy as he let on.

 

They heard a sonic boom in the distance.  Eron stood up.  “Looks like Quan is back.”  The lad was already moving to take cover behind some boulders.  “They can hear loud noises.  Sonic booms count.”  His eyes were scanning the horizon.

 

Quan indeed broke the cloud cover over them and flew down.  Using his handheld device, he had homed in on Eron’s tracking beacon.  Touching down softly in front of him, he put his handheld away. 

 

“It’s in place.  We won’t have long to wait.” 

 

“Good.  We don’t have long.”  Both heroes looked in the direction of the lad’s gaze to see two black shapes moving in and out of the buildings to the North.  They were moving towards the three heroes very quickly.  Eron flipped punched in a series of commands into a touch screen built into his gauntlet.  “Ok.  Let’s see if THe JuMPeR did the job or not.

 

His power armor hummed.  A barely visible energy field surrounded his entire body, as if he was wearing a green plastic bag.  He took a deep breath and girded himself.  The lad did the same.  Quan simply cracked his knuckles and took to the air.

 

One of the creatures broke off to follow Quan.  The other went straight for Eron.  Extending its claws, it slashed for his chest.  The claws that could tear through a stone wall like butter left bright green trails across his chest plate, but did not pierce it.  He smiled and returned the favor with a powerful Fission Fist to the creatures face.  It recoiled in pain, writhing on the ground for just a moment before gathering itself.  It pulled back to a safe distance and began circling Eron.

 

High in the air above him but below the level of the cloud cover, Quan and the other Shadow were exchanging blows.  Although the Shadow was powerful it was having a hard time making contact with Quan.  It seemed that the closer it got to him, the more disoriented it got.  He was landing one powerful blast on the creature after the next.  It was deft enough to use its wings to buffet most of the blasts, but one or two were getting past.  The Shadow was wearing out. 

 

It took a moment to register for him, but it finally dawned on him what was happening.  Thinking quickly, he opened up a portal directly to the Quantum Field behind the Shadow.  It literally became transparent and began faltering as if it was losing strength.  Quan put everything he had into a massive Relic Storm and blasted the creature directly into the opening in time-space.  The creature fought it, but was forced back into the hole.  As it went inside, it literally vaporized.  Closing the hole, Quan floated there for a second to figure out what he just did.

 

Below, Eron was having a rough time with the Shadow in front of him.  Although the shadow couldn’t hurt him, he was having a hard time hurting it as well and the creature was batting him around much like a cat would batter a ball of yarn around.  He could hold out for quite a while, but it was apparent that the Shadow would wear him out first at this rate. 

 

He allowed energy to gather in his hands and blasted the Shadow with a burst of radiation only to see it encase itself in its wings and immediately counterattack with a flurry of claws.  This was going nowhere.  Then something happened he didn’t anticipate.  The beast flew back towards the monument, picked up a broken piece of marble, and flung it at Eron.  Catching him in the chest, it flung him backwards onto the ground.  The aura surrounding him, his protective barrier, flickered once.

 

Seeing this, the Shadow picked up more marble slabs and began raining them down on the hero.  Realizing what was happening, Eron began taking evasive action.  This thing was smarter than he gave it credit for.  Finally, it got lucky and hit Eron once more with a rock.  Eron raised his arm to block it only to have the rock break open the battery pack powering his armor.  His armor flickered once more and the aura disappeared.  Dropping the remaining blocks of marble, the Shadow let out a primal scream and flew at him.  With the shield down, Eron would be easy prey.

 

Out of nowhere, a blast of blue-white energy hit the Shadow in the side, sending it careening off into a pit nearby.  Eron turned to look in the direction of the blast to see his companion standing on the steps of the memorial.  His hands were still ablaze with the energy he used to blast the Shadow.  “Don’t look at me.  It’s coming back for you.” 

 

Eron turned in time to see the creature flying out of the pit at him.  Both heroes opened fire.  The creature deftly dodged and flew past Eron.  As it did, all four appendages caught him and sliced through the armor on both arms, leaving long bloody trails as they sliced through him.  Eron was thrown backwards on the ground on his back.  Rolling to his knees, he grabbed his arms and applied heat.  The wounds, painful as they were, cauterized and stopped bleeding.  Looking up, he saw the creature feet away.   One wing blocked another blast from his partner while it raised its claws for one final strike.  Eron closed his eyes and turned his head.

 

A blast of heat threw Eron back on his back.  The lad was watching form the steps as a column of green fire descended from the heavens to land directly on top of the Shadow.  It screamed in agony as Quan descended over it, shooting a solid stream of Quantum energy onto it.  It attempted to cover itself with its wings.  It didn’t help.  The wings caught on fire.  Quan didn’t let up.  He poured it on.  Moments later, the Shadow vaporized, leaving no trace.

 

Quan fell to the ground, drained of energy.  Eron lay motionless feet away.  The lad ran to their sides and, falling on his knees he cried to the heavens.  “NO!!!  Not again!  I won’t let it happen again!”

 

1:34:01

 

Eron awoke as a blast of energy coursed through his system.  Although his vision was fuzzy, he could see the lad over him holding two paddles.  “gibberflish snotribbit…” 

 

“That’s right master, you’re not leaving us that easily!”  Eron thought, ‘did he say master?’, but the words didn’t quite ring true to him yet.  In fact, there were three of the lads dancing in front of his face.  The world was still spinning.  He could make out Quan’s voice in the background, but only faintly.

 

“… so it was pretty obvious that these Shadows don’t really interact well with the Quantum Field.  I’m surprised your Captain Atom didn’t fare better against them.”

 

“Captain Atom died at the Parthenon.  Barthandalus came through the portal in Cassandra’s body.  Cap led the charge to defeat him but he was simply too powerful.  In fact the entire Reverent Knights team was killed that day.”  The lad told the story as if he had done so a thousand times.  Quan realized at that point that the stories and legends were all he had left.  With nobody around to tell them to, he was sure the lad was afraid of forgetting what little he remembered.  “Is there anyone left on this entire planet aside from us?”

 

“I don’t know.  I don’t think so.  I’m not sure.”  The lad trailed off.

 

“Well, it’s time you stopped chasing legends and became one yourself little legend seeker.  I think I’m almost fully recharged and one more nucleic reaction should bring Eron back around.”  Quan pulled out his pocket computer once more.  A green indicator light told him all he needed to know.   “It’s ready.”

 

He looked up to see Eron sit bolt upright.  The pads of the nucleic reaction Legend Seeker was holding were smoking.  “It’s about time.  That was our last one!”

 

Grabbing his chest, Eron felt his heart pounding hard.  It always happened after one of those darned things took hold, but he knew he would feel better in just a moment.  “QUAN.” 

 

“No need to yell, I’m here.” 

 

“Right.  My head hurts.  Did the satellite locate the city?”

 

“Yep, we can go there right now.”

 

“Hold up.”  Eron reached into his pack and pulled out a spare gauntlet.  Replacing his destroyed battery pack, he felt his armor hum back to life.  “Good thing we brought spares.”  He stood up.

 

All three stood together.  Quan punched in some commands into his pocket computer and high above their heads, a small satellite lit up.  A small addition to it, a one use boom tube, activated and the air around the three heroes shimmered.  Reality shifted.  The hair on the backs of their necks stood up and a moment later the three vanished in a burst of light. 

 

In the shadows of the fallen Washington Monument, a silent observer stood.  It wasn’t a shadow.  It was humanoid but definitely not a man.  Without speaking, words rang from it like chimes in the wind.  Anyone nearby would not have heard as much as felt them and would probably have described them as chimes in the wind, or words made form the notes played on a harp. 

 

“They are coming.  All three survived this time.”

 

From somewhere else a reply could be heard.  “Good.  Even with the new wrinkle, all else is happening as it has before.”

 

“The satellite is working for them.  They will be in the city now.”

 

“Will this Quantum Elemental be a threat?”

 

“Yes.  We knew he would be if he were ever allowed to be created.  His true name is shrouded.  We knew this could happen eventually.  We had to take proactive steps on this Earth, remember?”

 

“How could we forget?”

 

“Be ready.”

 

“All is ready.  We cannot fail.”

 

Chapter 5:  Countdown

 

1:08:20

 

All went dark for the three heroes.  Quan’s link to the satellite was broken and his handheld device, the only source of light in the chamber in which they appeared, was now useless.  He set it back in the pouch sewn into his coat and looked around.  The three heroes could tell they were on a platform of some kind, and that there were multiple pathways off of it, but they could see nothing else. 

 

Legend Seeker popped a flare and held it up into the air.  The extra light didn’t help.  Wherever they were, the chamber was huge and the 60’ worth of light they had just wasn’t cutting it.  They began walking down the widest path into the darkness. 

 

After they had been walking for about 10 minutes, Eron had an idea.  Holding up his own pocket computer, he started searching for carrier waves.  Sure enough, he found a low level electrical field running through the air.  After a few more minutes, he held up his device again.  It started emitting a pulse on every frequency it was capable of doing.  Moments later, an audible humming could be heard as the device was registered by something overhead.  One light after the next began glowing, starting with the pathway under their feet. 

 

As the lights grew, the trio realized how large the structure actually was.  It was massive.  Many of the lights were hundreds of feet away.  It took the system nearly a full minute to turn them all on, but when it had the entire chamber was illuminated.   

 

 

At its center was a large structure.  Legend Seeker held the talisman in his hand.  “I’d bet it’s over there.  Well, if it isn’t then that fancy building is highly deceptive…”  He smiled for the first time that the other two could remember.  They all smiled and started towards it. 

 

Quan was scanning the perimeter of the room, memorizing where the doors and openings were.  “I wonder what happened to all the inhabitants?”

 

“What makes you think there has been anyone here recently?”  Eron was scanning too, but the question hadn’t occurred to him.  The place seemed so desolate.

 

“Not sure.  Just a feeling I guess.  I mean, why would this city emit a signal at all that we could locate?  Wouldn’t that make it easy to find for anyone who was looking?”

 

The other two didn’t have an answer to that one.  Quan pulled out his pocket computer again and attuned it’s wi-fi like receiver to the carrier wave.  Using the information on the symbols and waves BAt Man had picked up with the satellite, he began working to decipher the signal as best as he could.

 

The three walked the distance to the central structure in silence.

 

0:56:16

 

The door to the structure was open.  There were no automated alarms or defenses.  The structure itself was ornate, being carved out of solid marble.  Although it had reinforced steel doors and lights around it, the structure itself looked extremely old.

 

Moving inside, it quickly became apparent that whomever had built this had technology far beyond any found on the surface of the planet.  As they stepped into the room, a green laser light shone down from the ceiling on the three heroes.  It seemed to be scanning them. Seconds later, a hologram sprang to life in front of them.  It took the form of a male closely resembling Legend Seeker.

 

“And how may I be of service today?”

The three looked at each other.  Eron looked at it and slowly replied, “Uhm… don’t speak English, do you?”

 

The hologram was silent for a moment and then repeated Eron’s words back to him exactly as he had said them.  Looking back at the other two, Eron shook his head, “I don’t think this thing speaks English.”

 

The hologram repeated his words once more.  Legend Seeker had an idea.  He borrowed Eron’s computer and found a random .txt file containing instructions for working a program.  He started reading it word for word.  The hologram repeated word for word. 

 

It took about 10 minutes, but finally the machine held up a hand.  “Thank you.  Calibration complete.  You speak a loose form of English originating from the North American continent in the 20^th Century.  I am now ready to serve you.”

 

Eron looked at Legend Seeker and slapped his back, “way to go!”

 

Legend Seeker fiddled with the talisman for just a moment.   “We need to find this city’s power core.”  The hologram also looked at the talisman.  “I will gladly lead you there, but if you seek access to the mainframes, you can use that key in your hands.  It is nearly an hour’s walk to the core, but you can access it’s systems from a console in this command center.”

 

Quan tapped his gauntlet, still counting down the time until the boom tube would automatically retrieve them, ending their mission.  Eron nodded, “We’d love to see this console.”  The hologram turned for them to follow it.  Rounding a corner, the team saw a circular diaz ringed with dials, buttons and switches of all kinds.  In the center was a bowl suspended in mid air.  The bowl rested in a column of light.  Quan put his hand into the light and turned it around.  It felt tingly, but otherwise was harmless.

 

The hologram spoke again, “put the talisman in that bowl and push this button to start the machine.”

 

“But we don’t want to start the machine, whatever that is.  We need access to the power core.”  The hologram patiently repeated itself.  Legend Seeker shrugged and started to put the talisman in the floating bowl.  Eron reached up and grabbed his wrist.

 

Eron looked at it, “I don’t see a monitor or visual display of any kind.  How will we know that this is accessing the core?”

The hologram turned to him.  A sneer crossed its face.  “Put the talisman in the machine now.”

 

Quan had seen enough.  He erected a spherical barrier over the three heroes, between them and the hologram.  The hologram vaporized.  Around them, they could hear shuffling as something, or some things moved around the perimeter of the room.  Out of the shadows, a very tall, gaunt man strode towards the team.  His skin was white and he was wearing long golden robes.  His eyes were golden and had no pupils, giving him an eerie appearance. 

 

“This is very interesting.  All the other times the hologram was all that was required to get you to put the dimensional key into the machine.  Of course, you have never come here with guests before now...”

 

“Who are you?”  Eron’s voice had a hint of defiance to it.  Now it was Legend Seeker’s hand that touched his arm.  “This is an Aesir.”  At that moment, a dozen set of sharp claws left bright green trails on the shield Quan had erected.  As they scraped across the surface, they left green sparks in their wake.

 

“So, what am I to do with you now?”

 

Eron glanced at his watch. 

 

0:42:34

 

The hologram had eaten up much more time than they had anticipated and they were no closer to finding the power core that would enable them to destroy the city.  “Seems to me your pretty powerless right now.  We already know that your creatures are powerless to defeat Quan’s shield and in a couple of minutes we won’t be here any longer anyway.”

 

“Powerless?  Foolish little mortal… Eron…”  As he intoned Eron’s name, his eyes lit up.  Eron immediately felt dizzy and started to lose his footing.  Legend Seeker reached out to grab his arm.  As he did, the Aesir spoke once more.

 

“A name is an interesting thing, young Legend Seeker.” With that, he also felt a massive dizziness and both heroes fell to the floor.  “They say that to know God’s name is to control him.  Personally, I believe that to know antoher’s name is to be GOD!”

 

His eyes lit up brightly and both heroes clasped their throats, unable to breathe.  Quan reached down and grabbed each one’s gauntlets.  Flipping switches, their power armor engaged and a soft green glow encompassed both.  He looked up at the Aesir on the other side of his shield with anger in his eyes.  The Aesir returned his gaze.  “What are you?  What kind of a name is Quantum Elemental?  That’s nothing more than a title.  You’re hiding your name from everyone, even yourself.  You can’t deny yourself forever.”

 

Quan looked at his companions, both beginning to turn blue, “maybe so, maybe not, but I can sure hide it from you!”  With that, he turned all of his power on the floor below them.  The chamber lit up a brilliant green color, so much so that the Aesir had to cover his eyes.  When he turned back, a large hole had been melted into the floor and the three heroes were gone.  His mental link killing the other two had been broken.

 

“Spawn!” With that, 6 Shadows appeared around the Aesir.  “Retrieve the Talisman.  Kill them all.”

 

Chapter 6:  Breaking the Cycle

 

0:31:07

 

Eron and Legend Seeker choked and sputtered.  Quan offered them both water.  “I had to get out of there.  I couldn’t take all of those Shadows at once and still protected you.”

 

Between coughs, Eron sputtered, “you did the right thing, bud.”  He looked up at the pathways above him forming a spider-web like network across the entire chamber.  Whomever built this place knew what they were doing.  The three were hidden away in a dark recess on the bottom floor.  Although a doorway was nearby, it was sealed. 

 

“What did he mean by that whole “never come before” stuff?”  Eron was looking at Legend Seeker with a perplexed look.

 

“Remember when I said that they had destroyed other Earths?”  Both heroes nodded.  “We think they encountered alternate versions of us.” 

 

“But he said you were never with guests before?”  Quan was putting the rest of the water back in his pack. 

 

“True.  I can only surmise that this is all calculated.  They have done it before.  They have been waiting for us all along.  I suppose you would have both died in Washington had it gone according to their plans, but this time around they were facing the Quantum Elemental, probably the only being capable of destroying them.  Remember, they didn’t attack me in Washington, only you.”

 

The three ducked down as a dark shape flew by overhead.  It was oblivious to their presence but obviously searching.  Quan’s computer vibrated in its pocket.  Reading the display, he simply nodded and said “that’s interesting.”

 

“What?”  Eron was running out of patience.  Quan pointed at the readout.  “It’s not a message.  It’s literally the cycling of the power core in this place.  We should be able to follow it straight there!”

 

The three headed off in search of their goal.

 

It took some time, but 20 minutes later they were in front of the doors to a large metal structure.  Unlike the others, it was closed tight.  Looking it over, Eron affixed his computer to it and started punching the touchscreen buttons.  The lights on the door started to react.

 

Behind the heroes, they heard a loud howl.  Legend Seeker started.  Quan turned and saw a Shadow some 100’ away howling.  “He’s summoning the rest.  They found us.”  With that, he darted off towards it.

 

Legend Seeker began calling after him, but Eron stopped him, “He knows what he’s doing.  He’s buying us time.”

 

Moments later, “There,” the doorway began to silently open, parting in the middle and swinging inward.  It was several feet thick and made of a substance similar to the shell of the city.  Breaking through it would have been impossible.  As it opened, his gauntlet display turned pink.  “We’re running out of time.”

 

Behind him, he could hear Quan blasting away at the creature.  There was no time to stop and help.

 

0:05:12

 

The power core was like nothing he had ever seen.  The room was barren with the sole exception of a diaz in the floor in the center.  It appeared to be made up of thousands of tiny tiles, all varying metals.  Floating in the space above it was what looked to be a miniature sun.  Arcs of energy went out of it just as solar flares would off of the real star. 

 

“And what are we supposed to do with that?”  Eron was looking frantically for something in the room that they could use to shut it down.

 

Holding the talisman in his hand, Legend Seeker had an idea.  He fiddled with it for a second, setting small dials and knobs in various positions on the back of the talisma.  Rearing back, he prepared to throw it into the core. 

 

Just then, the door opened further.  Quan stepped through, literally smoking and sporting his right arm.  He was bleeding freely from a gash in his forehead and collapsed on the floor.  Legend Seeker stopped and picked him up.

 

“It’s down.  More… more are coming…”  He pushed Legend Seeker away and turned towards the doorway.  He grabbed one side and started closing it.  Eron grabbed the other side and together they closed the door.  Eron pulled out his pocket computer and affixed it to the door.  “Eron, there’s no time for that…”  Quan used his finger and let out a arc of plasma in the crack between the halves of the door.  He began fusing it shut.  No sooner had he fused a good 12” section than something hard hit the door from the other side.  Both heroes were pushed backwards.  Once again, they both charged the door and pushed with all their might.  A second blow caused the door to buckle.  A dent appeared in the door a few feet over Eron’s head.

 

Legend Seeker wasted no time.  He pulled back and threw the talisman at the miniature sun with all his might.  It never made it.  A few feet before it hit the power source, an invisible shield repelled it, sending it bouncing to the floor below.  As it did, he could see that there was a ring on the floor creating the cylindrical shield.  The shield extended all the way to the ceiling and the talisman rested on top of the ring, as close to the furnace as it was likely to get.

 

Quan finished welding the door.  The pounding on the door stopped.   Eron and Quan pulled back, looking at each other.  The three heroes backed up, back to back, between the door and the power source looking in every direction.

 

The room was bare.  Little shown except their own shadows cast on the door by the light of the miniature sun.  As they watched, their shadows began to move, and not by their own movement.  One by one, Shadows began moving outward from their own shadows along the wall of the room as if they were using the lack of light as a portal of some kind.  Within seconds, 5 Shadows had entered the room and were circling the three heroes in the air around them. 

 

Something began pounding on the door again.  The hinges, each pin weighing over a hundred pounds, began to shed dust and bend.  The door was slowly caving in. 

 

The first shadow came in at Legend Seeker, slashing him across the back.  Although his armor held, the blow knocked him to his knees.  All three heroes opened fire.  The room was bathed in different colors of light.  As they shot outwards at the Shadows, the creatures were swooping in and hitting them one at a time.  The battery packs on Legend Seeker’s and Eron’s armor was being depleted quickly with each successive blow.  Quan managed to erect a shield around himself, but was being drained rather quickly thanks to the first Shadow he had to defeat.  He didn’t have the strength left to extend it over the group.

 

Eron took a chance and looked at his gauntlet.  The display was blinking red and instead of a minute timer it was counting in seconds. 

 

0:25

 

The door to the room bust open.  The Aesir strolled in.  Seeing the situation, a broad grin crossed his lips.  “You thought it would be that easy?” He raised his hand and black tentacles extended from around his arm, formed out of nothingness.  They reached into the group and two large ones pushed Eron and Quan down on the floor.  The third wrapped itself around Legend Seeker’s throat and pulled him up into the air.

 

A cascade of energy bathed Quan in an orange glow.  A moment later, he was gone.

 

Eron looked at his gauntlet.

 

0:02

 

He had just enough time to look up at Legend Seeker before he too was bathed in light and disappeared.

 

“And what will you do now boy?” He motioned with a hand and a Shadow moved towards the talisman lying on the floor.

 

Legend Seeker saw his own gauntlet.  It still showed 5 seconds.  His eyes lit up and a devious smile crossed his face.  “Who needs to destroy the reactor core.  You forget that the talisman is voice activated.”

 

The Aesir looked confused.  It didn’t matter.  A orange glow began to cover Legend Seeker’s body.   He could feel a tingle go up his spine as the boom tube began to pull him back.  With his last breath, before he went, he intoned the word that would activate the device, “activate”.

 

Legend Seeker disappeared.  The Aesir looked up at the talisman.  It too was disappearing, taking the metallic ring it was sitting on with it!  The shield buckled and faltered.  A second later, it was gone.  The miniature sun, the reactor core for the city, began expanding without its containment field.  The Shadow closest to it was instantly destroyed as a mini-solar flare vaporized it.  The Aesir turned to run, but was too slow.

 

Moments later, the entire city was a ball of melted metal and slag.  The city was no more.

 

Chapter 7:  Inevitable

 

Apgar of the Aesir, commanding general of all Aesir forces, walked through the ebony hallways of his master’s palace.  He always marveled at the craftsmanship necessary to create this structure on each of the Earth’s they had made their conquest.  The walls were nearly smooth, every bone polished to a mirror finish.  Yes, his master’s palace was built using the bones of every creature on this pathetic rock that the Aesir had killed.  They had slain so many.  Entire populations.   Entire species.  In their early conquests, the Zingonians had attempted to lay siege and destroy the Earthen Cities before they could be used to travel to alternate Earths back in time.  They of course had failed and now their bones lined the halls of other palaces beside the humans.

 

They were weak.

 

Now he walked towards the room containing the only being in the Multiverse that knew his true name.

 

How many had it been?  It was so long ago, in ages yet to come.  Each ‘split’ Earth experienced a time dilation that sped up the flow of time to a factor of .00023.  Compounded over the numerous Earths over which they have had to travel put their particular Earth, their birthplace, nearly 14,000 years into the future.  They had managed to destroy it before it ‘split’, guaranteeing that they were unique in the Multiverse.  Finding their way back to the first Earth had taken them a long time, but their hunt was nearly over.  This delay wouldn’t slow them down long.

 

Entering his master’s chambers the Aesir fell to his knees.  “I am here.”

 

“I know.”  His master sat on a throne made of the bones of super powered beings.  His hand rested on the most recent addition, a skull that once belonged to a Knight named Eron.  The final Knight.  He was always the final Knight.  “Will this stop us?”

 

“No master.  As we speak, we are taking steps to pull the Earthen City from our most recent conquest to us.” 

 

“Is it possible?”

 

“In theory, yes.  In truth, it is our only option.  If it fails we fail.”

 

The room was silent for a moment.

 

“This Quantum Elemental, he has not appeared before now.”

 

“This Earth was the first time we faced him.  We traveled back in time to prevent his creation, knowing that it would interfere with our plans.  Unfortunately, we have a limited capacity to do so and were unable to prevent his creation on the next Earth, the first Earth, the one we have been seeking.  Our agent got to that Earth too late to save the hero known as Firebrand and Quantum Elemental was formed.  He also failed to kill Legend Seeker before he could alert the God’s Knights.”

 

“There is only one of these Elementals?”

 

“Yes, Master.  The quantum field connects equally to all planes in the Multiverse.  There is only one Quantum Elemental as a result.  One other hero, Captain Atom, possessed this ability but we have arranged that he dies to Barthandalus before we arrive on each Earth.  It is the primary reason we wait in each Earth 31 years before starting a new invasion.”

 

“And he has died on the final Earth?”

 

“No, Master.”

 

“Has the Aesir responsible been disciplined.”

 

“He is no more, Master.”

 

The room was silent once more.

 

“If this plan fails, you will bear the punishment for your student’s errors in judgment.  Don’t fail me again.”

 

The meaning was clear.  Apgar had no intention of failing his master.