Shadows of the Past, Part 1

The Gods Knights are asked to aid some long time friends in a battle to save their home, and ultimately the fate of all Earths...

Chapter I

 

Akkadian Knights’ Moon Base

 

After a year of steady work, the Akkadian Knights’ moon base was now a sight to behold.  Over a year ago, when The Knights’ Republic faced a swarm of creatures from outer space that threatened the very survival of the human race, the Akkadian Knights were forced to crash land on the Moon.  Fortune had it that they would land near the site of an old base.  Ever since this discovery, one that changed human history, the Knights had built on it to make it one of the pinnacles of human achievement.

 

The base itself used to be a Crazy 8 base some time back, but had been abandoned sometime after the first League War when the team disbanded.  Situated on the dark side of the moon on the lip of a large crater, the base was perfectly situated to provide easy access to high Earth orbit and a nearby jump point used by the Gods Knights fledgling fleet as it jumped to hyperspace on occasion.

 

The base layout really hadn’t changed much from its original configuration, with the exception of a large tower constructed near its center.  The center of the base was formed from two spires.  The original was about 12 stories high and shaped much like a needle.  The second one was nearly twice that height and more resembled the Big Ball in Dallas.  Branching off from the central spires, both connected at their bases, were three corridors each about 100 feet long.  At the end of each one was a large dome.   There were three in all.

 

The tops of the domes were transparent and provided unobstructed visibility to the night sky.  Supported by a steel geodesic frame, the superstructure of the dome was comprised of a very dense, shatter resistant glass.  Covering it on the outside was an invisible wall of energy.  This force field helped to protect the structure from small particles of dust and rocks traveling through space.  Every once in a while a bright spot of light would appear on the dome where a small rock hit it.  Ripples of energy would pulsate out from it in all directions before disappearing.

 

One of the domes contained a miniature forest and hydroponics lab.  It provided food and air for the facility.  Covering over 20 acres, it was large enough to supply a fully staffed base of 150 people for months should the Boom Tube connecting the base to Earth ever fail and no ship was available.

 

The second dome was a production facility where ship parts were constructed and assembled.  So far, it had given birth to three rather large craft used by the Gods Knights teams, the Odyssey, the Orion and the Prime.  The parts were ferried out of the dome to the launch pads surrounding the base, 5 in all with 2 more being constructed.  There they were assembled into new warships.

 

The third dome was a laboratory.  Each team comprising the league was granted space inside the lab to conduct experiments impossible in an Earth-side environment.  So far, it had directly resulted in the creation of two new metallic alloys (derivatives of steel) used in the construction of the Prime and the development of a hyper drive technology adapted from Zingonian wreckages on Earth.

 

Few lights were on in the base at the moment save some in the control tower at the top of the central, largest, spire.  In it, Bat MAn reviewed some logs that he had been pouring over for several hours.  Although Wayne Tech and Gotrhrop Nrummond had provided staff for him, he often wanted to see things with his own two eyes.  The doorway to the lift opened and an excited figure ran into the room.

 

 “Bat MAn!  Take a look at this!” 

 

The Jumper was holding up a silvery gauntlet in one hand and waving across the station control room at the Dark Knight.  Bat MAn put the tablet in his hand down and walked over to the Reverent Knight.  He could see Jumper was excited, but never seemed to share excitement with others.

 

Although Bat MAn was an Akkadian Knight, it wasn’t uncommon to see some of the Reverent Knights up on the base for various reasons.  Jumper was a stout fellow, about 5’ 8”, with blue eyes and black hair.  He often wore a technician’s jumpsuit while working on projects.  The one he had on now was bright blue with a GODS KNIGHTS logo on the pocket over his right chest.

 

Jumper put the gauntlet on.  “This is based on the Quantum Armor tech that we used when we sent Legend Seeker and Eron to that other parallel Earth a few months ago.  It took forever, but I think I finally mastered it!  Check this out!”

 

He pointed his hand at an empty Styrofoam cup on a nearby table.  His hand glowed brightly for a moment with his signature plasma burst and a ray of green energy shot out of the top of the gauntlet.   The ray pierced the cup and melted it.  A little coffee spilled onto the table and dripped to the floor.  Jumper allowed his energy to dissipate and his hand stopped glowing.  The beam died down as well.

“Awesome, huh!”  Jumper was obviously proud of himself.  Bat MAn was obviously unimpressed.  “Right...  That was amazing.  If we ever face any Styrofoam enemies I’m sure your gauntlet will turn the tide of battle.”  The Dark Knight rolled his eyes and turned to return to his work.

 

Jumper’s smile immediately went away.  “You don’t get it.  I literally transmuted the energy I shot at the cup to something completely different.  I actually sent a small plasma bolt at it.  The green ray of energy was Quantum!”

 

Bat MAn didn’t respond.  “Seriously, I had it on the lowest setting…”  Jumper was seriously becoming deflated.

 

“Hmmm… How large a charge can it accept?”

 

At that, Jumper looked down.  “I haven’t tested it fully yet, but I think it could hold a lot.”

 

“A whole lot of what Eron can pump out or a whole lot of what Vexator can do?”  Bat MAn still hadn’t turned around.

 

“Uhm… I’m not sure.”

 

At this, Bat MAn did turn and raised an eyebrow, “and its usefulness would be…”

 

“Uh…” Jumper was completely deflated at this point.  Bat MAn could have that effect on a person.  “I’ll figure that out sooner or later.”

 

“In that case, I’ll keep that eye out for Styrofoam monsters …”

 

Jumper sat in a large chair and fiddled with his gauntlet. 

 

The doors to the room opened with a ‘swish’.  Caledonia stepped out of the lift and into the room.  “Guys, we’ve been summoned.  Bat MAn, fire up the Boom Tube.”

 

The Boom Tube was a large cylindrical device greatly resembling a large CAT Scanning device.   As a metallic sheet of metal spun around its perimeter, a field of energy formed in its center.  It allowed for instantaneous transportation between two points of space.  Moments later the three were stepping through the boom tube aperture and back to Earth.

 

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Stalker looked over the assembled Gods Knights.  He had only received responses from two of his teams today and not all of them were close enough to attend the meeting quickly.  The others were all busy with the wrap-up from League War 7 and were unavailable.  Thunder was currently on Nexus and wouldn’t be back for 2 days.  Although the two seasoned teams before him were battle hardened, he wondered if they would be enough. 

 

Clearing his throat, he began “Good to see you all here again today.  I’d like to introduce WnAgEbOy.”  Stalker motioned to his right where a tall, balding man stood.  He was a massive person, standing about 7’ tall and rippling with muscles.  He was dressed in rugged leather clothing and his battle hardened expression would best be described as ‘upsetting’.  Seeing him for the first time, Legend Seeker thought to himself that he couldn’t imagine this man looking anything but upset.  Flicking for just a moment, it was clear that what stood before them was a holographic projection.

 

“He’s currently communicating with us from a parallel Earth.  WnAgEbOy…”  Motioning to the newcomer, Stalker stepped back to allow him to take the floor.  The holographic projectors mounted into the ceiling of the Gods Knights headquarters pivoted to allow the hologram to walk out to the center of the room.

 

“My name is WnAgEbOy, and I’m a member of the Dark Kings.”  Pronounced, W-nah-ag-ee-boy, most of the team was trying to wrap their own tongues around the name as he continued.  “We live on a parallel Earth very different from your own and our survival is being threatened by what we believe to be a mutual threat… the Shadows.” 

 

The Knights turned to each other.  Each of them knew what had happened months ago when Quan, Eron and Legend Seeker travelled to a different parallel Earth and stopped an invasion of the Aesir.  The race of beings was powerful.  Their mental projections alone could create shadow creatures similar to the Shadow King.  These creatures were nearly indestructible and few things could harm them. 

 

The Aesir are a race of humanoids from a parallel Earth far removed from the Gods Knights’ home.  This Earth was in a timeline set several centuries ahead of our own and they embarked on a conquest of all known Earths.  In the process, they discovered that they could have the power to destroy each parallel Earth’s ability to spawn additional parallel Earths.  In doing so, the parallel Earths it had created simply ceased to exist.  By destroying one Earth, they could in effect wipe others from existence.

 

Their ultimate goal was to follow the chain of parallel Earths back to the source, the first Earth, Prime Earth.  If they managed to “kill” its ability to spawn parallel Earths, they would wipe out all parallel Earths in every multi-verse and they could ensure that no race would ever rise to be stronger than them.  They almost succeeded.

 

Some months ago, the Gods Knights thwarted this plan.  Eron, Quan and Legend Seeker destroyed the machine they used to travel from one Earth to another.  They thought the Aesir were trapped without the ability to selectively travel from one Earth to antoher.  Apparently this was not the case.

 

Sensing the unease in the room, WnAgEbOy allowed the moment to stretch out as his words sunk in.  When he continued, he had an air of defiance about him.  “Our world is set far in the future of your own timeline.  We come from a time after a nuclear war has wiped out most of the planet’s population and resources are scarce.  Living in our world is a rite of passage unto itself and only the fittest make it for long.”  WnAgEbOy seemed to swell with pride at that statement.

 

He continued, “To have an army of nearly indestructible shadow demons invade our home was more than we could stand.

 

“Originally, we faced only a few of them.  Three appeared at the gate of our citadel some months ago with one of those ghost-white Aesir.  Although our team fought them off, it wasn’t before the Aesir had managed to taint our water supply.  Two weeks later we were forced to abandon our fortress to seek other refuge.  It was then that they attacked.

 

“An army of shadows descended upon our populous days later in a ravine and slaughtered most of the men, women and children there.  We managed to escape with our lives and saved about a hundred souls.  We’ve been on the run ever since. 

 

Eron leaned over to Stalker and whispered in his ear, “Something doesn’t make sense.  The Shadows would have been able to beat them even in their fortress.  Why did they let them live?”  Stalker just shrugged.  Tactical error maybe?

 

“Three weeks ago, one of our own did some recon on the citadel they are currently constructing off our eastern seaboard.  The citadel itself is being made out of the bones of every living creature that crosses their path.  It’s clear that they intend on wiping life from our planet entirely.

 

“During this recon mission our scout Vindy Blade found out that they were travelling from place to place seeking something.  Apparently they are looking for your particular Earth.  The problem is that they don’t have a reliable way to get there.  They have some artifact allowing them to travel the dimensions, but it won’t allow them to direct their travel.  It has, for several years, had them moving randomly from world to world.  In the process, they wipe out all life on each Earth they come across. 

 

Legend Seeker nodded.  He remembered destroying the key that would activate the Earthen City, allowing them to direct their travel from one place to another.  They must have found another way.

 

“We’ve had dealings with your planet before.  In fact, we travel there every once and a while.  There is a permanent spatial rift between our worlds caused by one of the nuclear explosions in Virginia a few decades ago.  The Aesir haven’t found it yet, but we believe it’s only a matter of time before they do.  Once that happens, their search will be over and they will flood into your world like a plague.”

 

Stalker spoke up after a moment.  “What do you want from us?”

 

“We need you to come and help us eradicate the Aesir before they wipe us out and find the rift leading to you.  You’ve faced them before by your reaction. If you have any special weapons, now would be the time to bring them out.

 

“We also understand that one of your number can hurt them.  Someone named Quantum Elemental.  Supposedly, he is more powerful than even me and can ‘teach us a thing or two’ about fighting these Shadow creatures.  I doubt it.”  A sneer crossed his face.

 

The room was silent.  Everyone knew the power the Shadows created by the Aesir had.  Eron finally spoke up.  “We need to talk this over.  How do we contact you?”

 

“You can’t.  I’m currently in the remnants of what once was the Gods Knights base on this Earth.  The communication equipment works, but the Aesir can detect its signal.  I figure I have about 20 minutes until they get here.”

 

“Give us 5.”  Eron signaled the feed to be temporarily muted.  Jumper, by the communication board, dutifully complied.

 

The room was quiet for a moment.  Finally, StrongArm spoke up.  “This is simple.  We close the rift.”

 

“What do you mean?  What about the people on that alternate Earth?”  Caledonia was slightly miffed at his brash statement. 

 

“Like I said, it’s simple.”  StrongArm shrugged, “We can’t face the Shadows and they can’t find us yet.  The longer we delay our confrontation, the longer we have to prepare.”

 

“I don’t know I can support that idea,” Captain Atom spoke up at this point.  “I respect your position, and it makes logical sense, but that’s not who we are as heroes.”

 

“Cap’s right,” Vexator chimed in.  “Odds have never mattered before.  We do what we need to do.”

 

Jumper’s eyes lit up, “you know, I’ve been working on the Quantum Armor some.  With Quan and Cap’s help I can have multiple sets of it ready to go within hours.  The gauntlet I worked up might come in handy too.”  With that, he gave Bat MAn a jab in the side.  The Dark Knight was less than amused but didn’t say anything.

 

At that, even StrongArm had to nod in assent.  Stalker stepped into the midst of the teams, “That settles it.”  Within moments, the comm. link was reactivated and WnAgEbOy was before them once again.  “We’ll be there in a couple of hours.  How do we find you?”

 

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The version of the Gods Knights main base on this version of Earth was in horrible disrepair.  The roof had collapsed over most of the base and there were standing pools of dirty water on the floor.  The occasional droplet of water would fall from the overcast sky to disturb the surface of the puddles.  Most of the base had been through a terrible fire and little was left of it that would ever remind a Gods Knight of home.

 

The communications panel was in surprisingly good shape.  Someone had recently repaired it and cleaned it up quite a bit.  Although most of its functionality was gone, it had been restored just enough to send a message to Prime Earth.   The feed had just ended and WnAgEbOy stood in front of the dark panel now, unmoving.

 

Too bad WnAgEbOy was not there.

 

“Very good my pet.”  The voice came from the darkness at the other end of the chamber.  It rippled through the air and sounded more like chimes in the wind than a man’s voice, although the words were easy to understand.  They resonated in WnAgEbOy’ mind as they were spoken.  As each word was intoned, he could feel his willpower fading.

 

The Aesir stepped into the dim light coming in through the hole in the roof of this carefully constructed replica of the old base and three Shadows silently slid through the room around him.  The Aesir was a tall slender humanoid, although easily recognizable as not being human.  He had more of an elfin appearance in the sense that his ears were point on the ends and his facial features were angular.  His skin was bone white and he wore dark purple robes with gold gilding.  Tied at his waist was a rope the same alabaster color as his skin.  He wore no adornments, although is bright purple eyes glowed with an inner light. 

 

“Turn.”  The Aesir’s command was soft, but easily understood.  WnAgEbOy turned around.  The expression on his face was pained, and his muscles tensed but he obeyed.  He had no choice.  The Aesir’s mind control was powerful indeed.  Trickles of sweat ran down WnAgEbOy’ brow. 

 

“There’s no sense continuing to fight me.  You have dutifully set the trap and you should be proud.  You are serving your master well, WnAgEbOy.”  As the Aesir spoke his name again, WnAgEbOy ceased his struggling and collapsed to his knees on the floor. 

 

True Names were powerful things and the Aesir had long ago learned to use them to control their opponents.  It was a form of magic that very few could fend off and, not surprisingly, nearly everything had a True Name they could exploit.  They were exceptionally good at it.

 

WnAgEbOy had been under the control of this particular Aesir for 12 days now.  He swore that if he ever broke it somehow, the b*****d would pay dearly.  So far, it hadn’t happened.

 

The Aesir stooped over him and put a hand gently on his temple.  “Now, I have one last task for you to perform…”

 

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Chapter II

 

The wind along the Atlantic seaboard was warm and salty.  Captain Atom stood on a yacht moored at the inlet to the Chesapeake Bay staring out to the East.  The sunset was turning the entire sky beautiful shades of orange, violet and various dark blues.  To the farthest Eastern horizon, the sky was pitch-black and he could barely make out the first stars of the evening.  Fortunately the smog from the surrounding area didn’t seem bad enough to occlude the view this evening and the breeze off the sea was cool and refreshing.  He liked that.  It was rare that he had a moment to himself.

 

Although his exo-shell was made of a highly reflective alien metal, he could feel the breeze on his skin as if he was not wearing it.  Occasionally, he would absorb the metal, revealing his human form, but not right now.  He often wondered if the accident that changed him to Captain Atom left him as a man with an exo-shell or an alien with a human shell.  He pondered once again for a moment and let his mind drift back to the beauty of the scene at hand.  He sipped on a hot cup of tea and closed his eyes.  The down times were good.

 

Justice Fury stepped up behind him, holding a phone in her hand.  “Stalker wants to talk to you.”  Cap took the phone with a nod and held it to his ear, “What’s the word?”

 

Cap listened for about a minute, only occasionally nodding and muttering a ‘no problem’ or ‘definitely’.  He silently hung up and sipped his tea again.  Justice Fury was still behind him.  “Come on Cap, tell us.  Is it true?”  The frustration in her voice was evident.

 

Cap sighed.  “It appears to be true.  The communication appears to be genuine and we need to prep.”  Cap turned to them and a soft blue nimbus enveloped his form.  He took one last sip of his tea and set the cup down on a small nearby table.  “He’s briefing the rest of the Gods Knights now.”

 

As he began to rise into the air, he motioned to Blood Wraith and Osiris.  “The two of you should follow me.  We’ll begin preparations at the rendezvous site.  Get on the comm. and gather as many Gods Knights as you can.  If our team fails, this will be difficult on everyone.”

 

As the three heroes flew off to the East, the remaining Gods Knights unmoored the ship and set course for the site of the spatial rift they must prepare to defend nestled in the heart of the Bermuda Triangle. 

 

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Four hours later, a strike force of 7 Gods Knights stood on the platform opposite the Boom Tube on the Akkadian Knights’ moon base.  A purple swirling vortex of energy floated in the air before them.  Eron paced back and forth across the platform looking over each hero’s armor closely.  Quan did not wear the armor.  His natural connection to the Quantum Field would protect him to a degree.

 

“Remember, your mission is clear.  Assess the threat, help Dark King if you can, evacuate him and his people here if you cannot.  If you see an opening to strike at the Aesir, take it but don’t take any chances.”  Eron was speaking quickly, obviously nervous about his team going on this mission without him.  “And remember, this gear has a battery life.  If you run out, you’re easy prey for these things.”

 

“The rest of us will be making plans to counterattack should they break through from Dark King’s world to ours.”  Captain Atom was confident as he spoke to the team over the loudspeakers.  He was somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.  His own link to the Quantum Field gave him the ability to battle the Shadows as well, although not as effectively as Quan.  His military experience made him the perfect hero to lead the Gods Knights left behind in this endeavor.

 

The heroes, Quantum Elemental, StrongArm, The Jumper, Vexator, PkPkay, Stalker and Legend Seeker were all looking over their own armor and their new gauntlets closely.  The Jumper stepped forward and turned to address the rest.

 

“The armor taps into the Quantum Flow.  It surrounds you by what amounts to a force field.  We discovered in our first encounters with the Shadows that Quan’s blasts could damage them.  We also saw that his force fields could hold them off.  I’ve combined the two to form your armor and weapon.  Your own energy will power the weapons although, as Eron pointed out, they rely on a battery to transmute the energy.”

 

The Jumper held up gauntlet and channeled a small flame through it.  A beam of green light shot out of it and heated up a metal chair nearby.  “The gauntlet is like a coffee filter.  Put beans in one end, run water through it and out comes java.  In our case, channel your power through it and it will generate a blast of quantum energy.  It won’t amplify your power, but it will transmute it.”  The chair glowed orange from heat when Jumper stopped shooting it.  “Larger amounts of energy will produce larger blasts.”

 

Vexator looked up, “How much power can it handle?”  It was a good question.

 

“I’m not sure.  This is the trail run.”  The Jumper obviously didn’t like his own answer.  Eron looked uneasy at that, but didn’t say anything.  “There is a plus side though; we attuned these to the specific wavelength of energy that Quan emits.  Should you run low, he can re-charge your suit and weapon by touching them and transferring energy directly from the Quantum Field to your battery.  It’s an electrical charge, so it might tingle a bit.”

 

Bat MAn stepped out from behind a console nearby holding a clipboard.  “The vortex is much more stable than the last time we traveled dimensions.  We’ve done a lot of work on it and it physically transfers you there.  You won’t have a time limit nor will you have a silver chord stretching all the way back to this dimension ready to pull you back at a moment’s notice like last time.”

 

Stalker chuckled, “I’m not sure any of us want to be gone long.  How will we get back?”

 

Bat MAn flipped a switch on a nearby board and the screen over the team’s head lit up.  It displayed a map of the Eastern seaboard of the United States.  A red dot shone in a suburb outside Alexandria Virginia called Dale City.  “There is a natural rift from their dimension to ours at this point.  It can only be opened from their side.  It dumps out somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, so expect a wet landing.  I’m still pinpointing the location and should have it within the hour.”

 

“Out of curiosity, why don’t they open it and come here directly?”  Quan had a good question.

 

“Not sure.  They haven’t opened it for some reason.  Maybe they don’t know about it yet.”  Bat MAn paused.  “Dark King and WnAgEbOy will know more but be careful.  Something doesn’t seem right.  The voice analyzer was all over the place when WnAgEbOy told us what he needed.”

 

The Jumper signaled and some technicians pushed over two large crates.  “There’s more.”  He reached down and unlocked the metal clasps on one of the grey steel cases.  The lid lifted up easily, having small hydraulics near the hinges.  The interior of the case held dozens of sets gauntlets similar to the ones they now wore.  “These are additional sets of armor and gauntlets for Dark King’s troops.  We’re not there to win the war for them, just to give them hope that it’s winnable.  If these work well, we’ve got about 100 more sets in production that will be ready in about 6 days.”

 

Having now looked over the team three times to examine the armor they wore, Eron piped up, “He’s right.  We’re there to give them a fighting chance and like I said earlier, if you see an opening take it but don’t take chances.  These things are deadly and I want my team home in one piece.”

 

Vex put his hand on Eron’s shoulder.  “Don’t worry boss.  We’re in good shape.  We’ll be back before you know it.”

 

Bat MAn, looking at a lit console to the right of the vortex pushed a button and the green lights on either side of the vortex lit up.  “It’s time.”

 

The team looked at each other.  Stalker was the first to step forward.  “Lead by example.”  He cautiously stepped through.  The gateway rippled for a second but was otherwise unchanged.  The rest of the team began filing through. 

 

One by one, the team stepped in and disappeared.  Quan was the last one.  Gripping his rosary tightly, he stepped through reciting the Hail Mary…

 

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Chapter III

 

The team stepped out onto a meadow.  Although the sky was partially overcast, the grass was green and verdant.  The smell of wildflowers filled the air and songbirds could be heard in the distance.  It was humid and the temperature was around 64°.  It felt good to the heroes. 

 

Stalker was floating in the air over the team already, looking off to the North.  The superhero threw a small metal ball hard into the air and it quickly went out of sight through the patchy cloud cover.  Out of his pack he pulled out a tablet PC.  The ball must have been some kind of radio transmitter as his PC lit to life with a rough topographical map of the area.  He floated back down to Earth.

 

“Got it?”  The Jumper looked at the LCD display with interest.  “Almost.  I’m overlaying the map now.”  Stalker was tapping the pad repeatedly.

 

Seconds later, the map of the area was overlaid with as street map of Alexandria, VA, and Stalker was projecting it into a holographic image in the air before the team.  A red dot appeared on the map, indicating their destination and anther blue dot appeared at their current location.  They were only a few miles away.  A third, white dot appeared to the south.  “That’s our exit point,” PkPkay offered.

 

Reaching down, StrongArm brushed the ground, revealing broken concrete underneath.  Quan pushed through the grass and found a bent metal pole with street names on it.  “Franconia Rd.”.  The letters were faded.  The metal hinted at radiation.  Although it had been some time, it was becoming apparent that a nuclear blast had hit this land some time ago.  The Jumper held a small handheld device up to the pole.  It started crackling and clicking.

 

“Whatever happened was about 30 years ago, give or take.”  The team looked at each other.  This wasn’t their world at all.  If they could do anything about it, this would never be their world.  They all started East along Franconia Rd.

 

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WnAgEbOy stood at the entrance of what was once a Methodist Church.  Most structures in the area had been flattened in the war, but this particular structure was a rather well built edifice.  With a geodesic frame of solid steel and a shell of sprayed concrete, it provided a strong supporting structure and actually weathered the two hydrogen bomb blasts that hit both Richmond and western Alexandria.  For now, it served as the forward operating base for the Dark Kings. 

 

When they lost their citadel a month ago, they reverted back to the survivalist techniques that had enabled them to weather the storm in this post-apocalyptic environment.  They had returned the majority of their family and other survivors to their old base of operations in the swampland of Washington, D.C., and relocated their own strike force south in Alexandria.  With the pump system keeping DC dry long gone, the land quickly reverted to the swampland it was long before it became the capital of the United States.  It made for a good hiding place.

 

He could barely make out the forms of the Gods Knights cresting the rise of a hill some 3 miles away.  He turned towards the open doorway and hollered inside, “Dark King, they are here.” 

 

Standing at the doorway, WnAgEbOy waved to them and ushered them to hurry.  With the sun beginning to set, he needed them to get inside as soon as possible.  As the team arrived at the ancient church, one of the Dark Kings, Dark Ness, was busy slowing wiping his hands over the outside of the structure.  Wherever he touched, the concrete lit up and began glowing.  It was as if he was leaving a luminescent residue on the structure.  Men and women were setting up floodlights and pointing them towards the field and trees surrounding the building and some were even pointing them back at the structure itself.  There wasn’t much of an attempt to hide their location going on.

 

Seeing their confused looks, WnAgEbOy offered “The Shadows travel in the dark.  They can transport themselves by using the natural shadows around them, enabling them to move almost anywhere, including through walls.”  Legend Seeker seemed to be the only Gods Knight to get it.  The team stepped inside the structure to a blinding light.  Dozens upon dozens of fluorescent lights illuminated the interior of the structure, rendering it nearly as bright as daylight.

 

“They do tend to avoid the light.”  Legend Seeker was the one offering info this time.  “We found that out early on in the war.  It didn’t stop them, but weakened them considerably.  By the time we figured it out though we were too weak to use it to our advantage.” 

 

WnAgEbOy turned to the junior hero.  “Who do we have here?  You bring a child to fight a man’s war?”  WnAgEbOy’ massive form dwarfed Legend Seeker.  The size difference between the two was incredible.  Legend Seeker, although being a stocky youth, wasn’t even 20 yet and WnAgEbOy was one of the largest men the group had ever seen.  He was much more impressive in person than his hologram suggested.  The sneer in his voice was unmistakable.  Quan strode forth and planted his face inches from WnAgEbOy, although he was still looking up at him. “He’s an expert on the Aesir and my personal choice for this mission.  Got a problem with that?”

 

WnAgEbOy directed the sneer at Quan and they stared at each other for a moment.  “So, you must be the mighty Quantum Elemental”. He put a big smile on his face and threw his hands up, palms out as if to say ‘no, no problem’ and ushered the team into a section of the large domed structure partitioned off with linen sheets.  As the team passed in, it was obvious that there were interior walls to the dome at one point, but that they had all been torn down.  No doubt to reduce the number of shadows in the area. 

 

Eron was the last to enter the little enclosure.  Inside, he saw Stalker exchanging greetings with a very large man, easily seven and a half feet tall.  Turning to the rest of the team, Stalker introduced Dark King, Destroyer of Leagues.  Dark King addressed the team in a booming voice, “We’re glad you came.  We think we can stem the tide of this invasion with your help.  I have a plan yet it may take more troops of our collective power level to pull off.  Do you have more heroes coming?”

 

The Jumper piped up, “no, they are all prepping the defense of our planet should this fail.  However, we do have an alternative for you.”  Popping the lid on the large case the team had been hauling, he pulled out a thick bodysuit.  It resembled a diver’s suit with large, green emeralds on its exterior.  “How many heroes do you have here?”

 

As The Jumper began to explain the functionality of the suits and gauntlets, Dark King’s smile was wicked.  Seeing it, Stalker was starting to feel sorry for the Aesir.  It made him chuckle to himself.  This would be good.

 

A well built man with twin katana strapped to his back stepped over to Stalker while The Jumper rambled on, “Hello.  I’m Raizo Hattori.” Introductions where shared and Dark Queen Jelousy ushered a few of the Gods Knights over to a table nearby.  WnAgEbOy and a few other obviously super powered beings were already standing at the table.  More introductions were shared as the rest of the Dark Kings team, Dark Aztec God, Dark Ice, Dark SSSnakeyO, Vera BlusSkai, and Vindy Blade introduced themselves. 

 

Dark Aztec God pointed at a paper map on the table.  It was hand drawn and crude, but did the job.  The team could easily make out the land surrounding the church they were in and it greatly resembled the map Stalker had brought up earlier. 

 

“We’re here,” Dark Ice jabbed the map.  “We’re pretty sure we found the Aesir base of operations here.”  He jabbed the map at a point some 20 miles South of their position.

 

StrongArm leaned over the map.  The point he identified was in what appeared to be a section of farmland.  It was hardly defensible.  “What leads you to believe that?”

“The Aesir seem to be constructing a tower. It’s only about 3 stories high so far, but its shape is unmistakable.”  Legend Seeker’s completion went pale.  Raizo Hattori caught it and looked up, “I see you recognize it.”

 

Legend Seeker nodded wordlessly.  Hattori looked at the rest of the Gods Knights.  “That tower is roughly a half mile round and three stories high.  Its made of the bones of every living creature the Aesir come across.”

 

The team shifted uncomfortably.  Dark Ice continued, “We need to strike soon.  We can’t hold this position much longer.  Here’s the plan…” 

 

A deep voice, Dark King’s voice, cut him off, “There’s a new plan.”

 

Pointing his arm at the map, a thin green beam of energy shot out of the gauntlet he now wore and burned a hole in the map where the tower of bone would be.  “We strike tomorrow and end this war.”  The tone in his voice left no room for questions.

 

Just then, the roof shook and an alarm was yelled by a guard outside.  Dust fell from the ceiling and gunfire erupted outside. 

 

“Tomorrow will wait.  We have visitors.”  WnAgEbOy led the teams out into the darkness of the night.

 

 

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Chapter IV

 

The night was hard.  There wasn’t much rest. 

 

Throughout the night, Dark Ness made continuous sweeps over the building to continue to apply the luminescent residue to it and keep it lit.  Apparently her name was apt and her powers involved a dominance of the visible spectrum.  It came in handy.  The light was the only thing that seemed to keep the Shadows at bay for the most part.  When they neared it, their inky black forms took on a dark grey hue and they seemed to become more substantial. 

 

Dark Aztec God used is feral senses to track movement in the surrounding brush and trees, warning the warriors present of the pending attacks.  It was hard.  The Shadows had an oily black appearance and emitted no odors.  They were nearly silent as they slipped from one dark place to another, often disappearing even from his sight.  They glided through the air and the only telltale signs of their presence was often the absence of noise as even the crickets stopped chirping when they were near.  If ever there was an antithesis of life, these creatures were it.

 

One at a time, all night long, one shadow after the next would assault the makeshift fortress, moving incredibly swiftly and striking hard.  They always stayed just long enough to do some damage and then retreated under the combined firepower of the men and women, heroes and heroines present.  In one instance Quan pinned a Shadow down and the combined might of both teams, aided by the Gods Knights with gauntlets, and fried it to a crisp.  It vaporized into a thick mist and disappeared.

 

It became more obvious as the night went on that WnAgEbOy was not appreciative of the Gods Knights’ help even though he was pivotal in bringing them to the Dark Kings’ home.  At one point he missed a Shadow and hit Quan full in the back with a Relic Storm.  Stalker wasn’t fully convinced that the hero hit him by mistake.

Although the Gods Knights took advantage of the armor and weapons Jumper used, they collectively decided to refrain from using the rest.  If the Aesir caught wind that an entire regiment of augmented superheroes was on the way in the morning they might be able to plan a defense. 

 

It made for an incredibly hard defense.

 

When the morning sun arose over the apple trees to the East, the Shadows were gone.  They took the lives of three brave men in the night. 

 

As the rays of sunlight filtered through the trees and the wispy cloud cover and lit up a beautiful stained glass fresco, they were buried in front of the church in a small fenced yard.  Amazingly, the little white picket fence surrounding the yard had survived the night unharmed.

 

Stalker looked back and saw long talon marks around the building.  Scorch marks scarred the structure and the earth around it as reminders of the battle that raged through the night.  Had the light not weakened these creatures, or if they had attacked en masse, the teams would have had no chance.

 

As the teams gathered back together, Dark King laid out his plan of attack.  Every man and woman present began hurriedly making preparations.   With the heroes gone, there was little chance they could survive on their own. 

 

Two groups began to form.  The first, led by Dark SSSnakeyO and Jumper, were to head back into the swamp to meet up with the rest of the survivors.  They carried with them the wounded and most of the supplies. 

 

The second group was made up of the rest of the assembled heroes and about a dozen heavily armed men.  Although most had conventional firearms, three carried grenade launchers and sub-machine guns.  Everyone on this team was wearing the armor provided by Jumper and the assembled heroes all wore his gauntlets.

 

Nobody said goodbye.  It would be a miracle if they saw each other again and they all knew it.  The Dark King wouldn’t have a mission any other way.  He was the only one relishing the battle to come.

 

Minutes later, both groups set off in different directions.    

 

To the South, in the direction Dark King led his rag-tag army, dark clouds began to unnaturally form on the horizon, billowing up out of nothingness.

 

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The trek over the course of the day was uneventful.  The Shadows rarely operated in the daytime and were often limited to shady places when they did.  The team stuck to what were once highways and roads to stay away from the thick foliage and remains of buildings that provided the best opportunity to be ambushed.

 

As they traveled south, the cloud cover intensified.  Although there was a strong northerly wind, the clouds did not move.  They remained stationary, defying the laws of nature.  Vindy Blade, attuned to the magical realms as he was, sensed something off about them.  Something was creating and controlling them, but the power needed to do so was beyond imagining. 

 

As the day wore on, the team only stopped once to give the unpowered members a moment to rest.  Dark King used them moment to call his scouts back and debrief them.  PkPkay and StrongArm had been scouting the land ahead to ensure the team didn’t meet up with any nasty surprises.  They hadn’t run across any so far.

 

To Dark King, this was almost too easy.  These creatures were incredibly powerful even in broad daylight and for some reason they were allowing the heroes to get very close to their stronghold.  He cautioned his scouts to be diligent before sending them off again.

 

As they traveled further, deeper under the ominous cloud cover overhead, the daylight faded and everything was cast in long shadows.  They only stopped once, as they crested the rise of a rather large hill.  Off in the distance, some 7 miles away, they could barely make out the shape of the bone white citadel on the horizon.  It was now easily 6 stories high and taking on the shape of a large spire.  The millions of bones required to make it was more than the mind could imagine.

 

In front of them, at the bottom of the hill, a deep shadow began to envelop the land.  It stretched forward as far as the eye could see, turning day into night.  If the heroes were to continue, they would do so knowing that their foes would be nearly invincible. 

 

The Aesir knew they were coming.

 

Stalker turned to the team, “We’re here for a purpose men.  If we fail, not only will this world fall, but our own will be next.  We take the battle to them before they are at full strength on this planet and save Dark King’s people.  There is no other way. 

 

“If you look down this hill and see something you cannot face, leave now.  We don’t need dead weight holding us back and I won’t suffer cowards at my side in battle.”

 

Nobody moved. 

 

One of the men, Gary, cocked his shotgun. 

 

Dark King smiled, “Let’s move!”

 

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“I’ve never seen a snake that big in DC before!”  Jumper was genuinely surprised, and strangely enough, glad he was able to fly.  He was floating some 20’ above the swampy waters of central DC carrying a rather large crate of supplies in one hand and holding a thick rope in the other.

 

The other end of the rope connected to a raft of sorts.  Measuring 6’ by 4’, three men and a few supplies were heaped on top.  Two of the men were bandaged in white cloth and sat on either side.  One was injured on the leg and the other around his mid-section.  Despite being injured, they both vigilantly scanned the surrounding landscape for adversaries.  Between them a man was wrapped in a light blanket.  A blood soaked bandage covered most of his face and head.  He was, fortunately for him, asleep.  A battered medical supply kit was at his feet.

 

The other end of the raft had yet another heavy rope.  Holding it, Dark SSSnakeyO floated through the air behind.  Between him and Jumper, they were effectively carrying the wounded over the swampy ground towards the Dark Kings’ hideout.

 

“Yea, a lot of the indigenous life, uhm… mutated a few years after the initial blasts.  As best as we can figure, that particular variety of snake used to be an average green garden snake.”  His expression darkened somewhat.  “We’ve lost two children in the last year to snakes like that.”

 

“I’m sorry.”  Jumper didn’t know what to say.  They travelled in silence for just a bit.  The dense swampland gave way to a small rise.  Covered in willow trees, it wasn’t until he was halfway up the hill that Jumper realized that he was being watched and that was only because a man stepped out in front of him holding a rifle above his head.

 

“Stand down!”  His voice was guttural and deep.  From around him, dozens of men, women and children appeared.  Dark SnakeyO floated forward and set down on the ground in front of the old man.  Reaching out, they clasped hands.  The crowd moved in and began helping the wounded towards the encampment that was now visible at the top of the rise. 

 

Many children crowded around Jumper, being the newcomer.  They were haggard and wore torn clothing.  They were dirty and obviously tired.  Despite all of that, they had a youthful smile in their eyes and the questions started flowing.  “Who are you?”  “Why are you dressed like that?”  “Why are you so clean?”  “You smell funny…”

 

They escorted Jumper back up the hill while he attempted to answer as many questions as he could.

 

In the shadows at the base of the rise a dark shape stared up the hill at the humans.  It’s eyes flashed a bright purple for just a moment and it darted off, zig zagging through the trees.  Nobody noticed.

 

Master, it thought, I followed as commanded and have found them.

 

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The land surrounding the Aesir citadel was a mixture of swampland and pasture.  There were a few tall trees, but most of them were willows.  The nature of willows gave them thick layers of foliage that made it very hard to spy on an opponent from all that far away.  The heroes were almost upon the citadel when they first caught glimpse of it towering over the tree-tops some half-mile away.

 

The land between them and the citadel was open swampland.  The standing water had no current and large dragonflies flitted across its surface.  Legend Seeker turned to Quan, “at least there won’t be many mosquitoes on the field of battle!”  He smiled, trying to add a little brevity to the situation.  Standing nearby, WnAgEbOy jabbed him in the side with a wicked looking hook.

 

“There is nothing funny about war, whelp!”

 

Quan moved between them.  The tension was palatable, only broken by an admonishing “shhhh” by Vexator at which point both heroes turned back to face the fortress before them.

 

Stalker, some 10 feet in front of them, was crouching behind some protruding tree roots, examining the structure in front of him with binoculars.  Pointing high on the wall, he handed the binoculars to Dark King.  Looking through them, he nodded. 

 

“What do they see?” Dark Aztec God couldn’t quite make it out. 

 

“There is a group of Aesir on top of the building.  They seem to be standing around, swaying back and forth.”  StrongArm could see farther than most but was still having a hard time making it out.

 

“I think they are maintaining the cloud cover above us.”  Vindy Blade was looking at the clouds, not at the fortress. 

 

Stalker and Dark King were whispering amongst each other.  Stalker turned back to the assembled heroes, “we have to get a look inside.  Something’s not right.

 

“Quan, you can hurt them the most but you can’t do this alone.  I can teleport four of us in so it’s going to be me, you, Dark King and WnAgEbOy.  We go in, figure out what’s happening and get out before we’re noticed.”

 

Dark Ice spoke up, “and what about us?”  Dark King looked at him.  “You are to stay here and wait.  They may not realize we’re here yet.  That will work to our advantage.  After all, who dares to challenge them now?  I leave the team in your capable hands until I return, Ice.”  Ice nodded.

 

If anything happens, call me on the comm. device Jumper provided to us.  Above all, don’t engage them by yourselves.  We don’t know what they are fully capable of yet.”

 

The men nodded.  They had no desire to perform any pointless heroics to achieve nothing. 

 

The four heroes gathered together and in a flash of light, they were gone.

 

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Chapter V

 

The interior of the citadel was as bleak and hopeless as the exterior.  The hallways were unlit with the exception of wooden torches that lined them at what seemed to be random intervals.  The walls were made of various types of bones from all manner of creatures, including men.  If it wasn’t as gruesome as it was, the engineering to craft this place would have been impressive.  As it was, it was just sick.

 

The heroes spread out immediately, moving to either end of the short hallway in which they appeared.  Dark King and WnAgEbOy gave each other an ‘all clear’ signal from either end.  They worked well as a team. 

 

Cautiously, Stalker and Dark King joined WnAgEbOy and Quan and the four began traveling down the better lit end of the corridor, looking for doors.  There were none. 

 

They travelled for what seemed to be a quarter mile and finally came to the end of the hallway.  Although well lit, there were no doors, no side hallways, no stairs, nothing else.  They had to have travelled from one end of the citadel to the other.

 

“Are you sure you got us in the right building?”  Dark King was feeling the hallway.  The polished bone was smooth to the touch. 

 

“Positive,” Stalker was examining the other side.  Maybe they had missed something.

 

Quan was looking over the ceiling and WnAgEbOy was impatiently tapping the end of the hallway, apparently looking for cavities and hollow spots.

“DK, are you sure we should have trusted these fools.  Seems to me they are trying to get us killed.”

 

Quan turned on that note.  Dark King and Stalker were apparently not listening.

 

“And you were doing so well without our help,” Quan’s tone wasn’t friendly.  He’d about had enough of this clown.

 

“We’ve survived worse.  I said calling these morons was a bad idea.  We don’t need them!”  WnAgEbOy was getting his ire up pretty good and Dark King was taking notice. 

 

“WnAgEbOy,” he admonished over his shoulder, “stay sharp.  Focus on the wall.  There has to be a way out.”

 

It was too late.  WnAgEbOy was letting himself get really fired up and his aggressive nature took over.  He shoved Quan in the shoulder, “so, what do you have after all?  You’re supposed to be something special, aren’t you?”  He shoved him again.  Quan clenched his fists.

 

“Back off, WnAgEbOy.”  WnAgEbOy pushed him once more and Quan lunged.  He had heard enough.  It was time to teach this nut-job a lesson.  The two of them hit the end of the hallway hard and a loud *click* could be heard.

 

While the two were still grappling, the floor opened up and they both fell from sight.  A second later, before Stalker or Dark King could react, the floor closed up and dust began to rain down on their heads.  The ceiling began to descend on top of them!

 

 ›››››&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

 

The fall was short but unexpected.  Quan had the breath knocked out of him.   Quickly rising to his feet, he allowed his hands to light up with his signature green quantum power, illuminating the room. 

 

He didn’t have time to look around.  From out of nowhere, WnAgEbOy struck.  His eyes were blood red and it was obvious that a bloodlust had taken him.  It was all Quan could do to dodge the blow that came hard and fast. 

 

As they fought around the arena, it became quickly clear to Quan that he was incredibly outmatched.  This warrior was skilled and possessed a power well beyond anything Quan had ever been able to master.  It was all he could do to stay alive as WnAgEbOy’ weapons came crashing down on his force field one massive blow at a time. 

 

In desperation, Quan opened up and hit WnAgEbOy with everything he had.  Not expecting the blast, it knocked WnAgEbOy off his feet and back onto the floor.  Quan jumped on top of him and began wailing with quantum enhanced strength.  WnAgEbOy was immobilized, blocking the onslaught as best as he could. 

 

It was obvious to Quan that he wasn’t slowing WnAgEbOy down at all.  He vainly attempted to keep up the assault, but WnAgEbOy was simply gaining strength from the conflict.  Just then, something hit Quan in the back of the head hard.  His eyes rolled back and he slumped forward.  WnAgEbOy pushed him off and stood up. 

 

“Master, I could have had him.”  He was looking down at Quan’s unconscious form.

 

A slender white figure moved forward from the shadows, his purple eyes glowing.  “Yes, but when he dies his unstable nature could cause him to explode.  We can’t have an atomic quantum blast in the heart of our home now can we dear WnAgEbOy…”

 

Medroth, the commander of the Aesir on this planet, extended his hand, palm down, and three Shadow constructs sprang forth.  They descended upon Quan with a purpose.

 

WnAgEbOy’ expression was blank, although beads of sweat were accumulating on his forehead.  If anyone could have heard his heart, they would have known it was racing.

 

 ›››››&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

 

The Aesir on the roof were chanting and swaying to an unknown force.  It was moving them more than they were moving it.  Their lead, Dormir, was rather short for an Aesir.  At only 6’ tall, he still stood higher than the average human hiding below them in the willow trees.  Around him, on the rooftop, were dozens of torches.  These created the only source of light in the area, although Dormir had no need of them to see.  His vision was not dependant upon visible spectrums of light.

 

Of course, the Aesir knew the heroes were coming.  Their spies had seen them the moment they left the pathetic excuse for a base they had.  They had only been allowed to get this far as a calculated plan to eliminate one of their own.  He had just received word that that objective was progressing.  It was now time to eliminate the rabble below.  He turned to his brethren.

 

“It is time brothers.”

 

Ten of the twenty Aesir forming the circle broke away and joined him on the rooftop.  As one, they raised their hands out in front of them, palms down.  As they closed their eyes, their own shadows, cast in the torchlight as they were, extended from them down the walls of the citadel of bone.  As they did, they took on inhuman shapes.  Leathery wings sprouted from their backs and wicked talons sprung from outstretched hands. 

 

As they reached the ground, the Shadows broke away from their masters and quickly flitted off into the darkness towards the heroes, the same thought being repeated in the minds of each construct over and over…

 

“Thy will be done my master…”

 

 ›››››&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

 

Chapter VI

 

Jumper reached up to his forehead.  He was bleeding freely.  The blow he had taken from the Shadow creature that knocked him backwards into the makeshift hut was powerful.  The man beside him stood up to take the blow in an effort to protect his newfound friend and was rent asunder.  Had he not done that, Jumper would have lost his head. 

 

He fumbled around in the dark, looking for the switch on his gauntlet.  He flipped it on and heard his power armor spring to life.  A soft green glow encompassed his body.  He hurriedly sprang to his feet and pushed his way out the door of the hut. 

 

The sight before him couldn’t have been more terrifying.  Three Shadows were tearing the village apart.  Men, women and children were running for cover and screaming.  Shotgun blasts could be heard and he knew that they were vainly attempting to fight back.  He also knew it wouldn’t do them any good. 

 

They must have followed the heroes back here from the forward base.  He counted three Shadows, which indicated that there was probably only one Aesir in the woods nearby.  Of course, three Shadows was more than one hero, powered up or not, could handle by himself.  Even so, he was on his own.

 

He reached for his comm. when he realized that everyone else was well beyond the range of the device.  Nobody would hear him.  Looking around, he saw a young boy, not even 5 or 6, running towards him crying.  A Shadow swooped up behind him quickly and raised his claws to end his life.  Without a thought, Jumper shot through the air towards it and slammed into its midsection.  It fell backwards, grabbing Jumper by the leg, and flung him into a nearby tree.  He hit the tree in the chest and the blow took his wind away.  He grabbed his chest in pain.  Who knew a willow tree could be so hard?  As he got to his feet, the beast grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up into the air. 

 

His gauntlet containing his power source must have been damaged by the impact with the tree and it was flickering on and off.  He raised his hand and made a feeble attempt to blast it with a bolt of quantum force but it was weak and un-concentrated.  The Shadow deftly raised its impervious wing and blocked the blast.  A third arm sprung from his chest and pinned his weapon to the side of the tree.

 

His power armor went out.  The force field protecting him disappeared.  The Shadow’s grip tightened around his throat and its other claw went back up in the air to deliver a final blow.  The world began to swim.

 

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Dark Aztec God looked out into the inky darkness.  He had seen the Aesir change formation on the roof, although he could not tell what they were doing.  His ability to see heat signatures was particularly useless against the foes they faced and he was nervous.  Although he thought he saw movement once or twice, he was not able to make anything out clearly in the darkness.

 

Vindy Blade had been in a trance for the last hour examining the cloud cover.  He was finally coming around and his eyes were wide with panic. 

 

“The cloud cover isn’t their goal.  They are doing something else.  They are opening some kind of gateway to another plane of existence.  The clouds are just a side effect.”

 

“Can we stop it?”  Strong Arm was looking up at this point, unsure what he could do.  Night was truly falling now and the land was being bathed in a supernatural darkness.

 

Just then, a gurgling sound came from the back of the team.  Hattori turned to see one of his men, Gary, floating in mid air.  His arms were limp at his side and he was convulsing.  As he watched, bright purple eyes lit up above him.  Another set, just behind them, appeared.

 

One of the other men, terrified, lit a flare.  The white phosphorous burn revealed more than the rag-tag heroes had wanted to see.  Gary was completely impaled by a Shadow.  In fright, the man who lit the flare shot the Shadow with his shotgun as he fell backwards. 

 

It had no effect.  The Shadow’s eyes narrowed in what could only be considered amusement.

 

The team pushed together, back to back.  There were dozens of Shadows in every direction, each one powerful enough to take them all out by itself. 

 

It was an ambush and they were completely surrounded and outnumbered.

 

“Oh crap…”  Ice was speechless. 

 

Legend Seeker put his hand on Ice’s shoulder.  “If we are to die tonight, let’s take some of these b******s with us!”

 

The Dark Knights and the Gods Knights braced for what could amount to their final fight. 

 

The Shadows, in perfect and lightning fast unison, attacked.

 

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Dark King’s muscles strained at the weight pressing down upon him.  He was down on one knee and the ceiling, which was 20’ high at one point, was now only 5’ off the floor.  His hair was matted with sweat as the ceiling continued to descend and despite his best efforts he had only managed to slow its progress only a little.  Stalker was frantically searching around on the floor for any indication of another secret passageway. 

 

They had attempted to run back down the hallway when it was obvious they couldn’t follow the quarreling WnAgEbOy and Quan only to find the way they had come blocked by a solid wall of bone.  Neither could penetrate it in spite of their best efforts.  Some form of force field was protecting it. 

 

Stalker attempted to teleport out to no avail.  He was being mentally blocked from doing so.  They were trapped.

 

Dark King fell to his back, still pushing with all his might.  He put his legs up to push as well.  Stalker joined him.

 

“I always thought I’d die in battle.”  Dark King had an edge of disappointment in his voice.

 

“I always thought I’d live forever.”  Stalker smiled.  Dark King began laughing. 

 

They let go.  It was no use.  Dark King reached towards Stalker.  “Brother,” the ceiling reached their chests, “thank you.”  They turned their heads to the side.

 

“It’s been an honor.”  Stalker whispered as he clasped Dark King’s hand.

 

Moments later, the ceiling hit the floor with a resounding thud.

 

 ›››››&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

 

On the roof, high above, Quan regained consciousness.  Surrounding him were around a dozen Aesir.  They were chanting and swaying to some unknown rhythm.  He was bound and gagged, lying on what appeared to be a table made out of human skulls. 

 

An Aesir dressed in gold-gilded purple robes stood over him, “So, it appears you will be awake to see your end after all, Quantum Elemental.  It’s too bad you don’t have a True Name, I would have liked to have known it.  ‘Quantum Elemental’ is more of a title than a name.”

 

Quan attempted to summon the power to fry the ropes binding him, but was unable.  Something was inhibiting him.  He then realized what the Aesir were doing.  They were creating a dampening field to suppress his powers.  The cloud cover overhead was the physical manifestation of a quantum dead zone, a place where the living Quantum Field could not touch the mortal plane.

 

“You see, we can’t just kill you.  Your true form is pure energy and it’s only your presence of will that binds it to this plane in this feeble mortal construct.  There’s no telling what would happen if we just kill you and we, obviously, want to continue living.  No, we had to get ingenious to deal with you.”

 

A bright light erupted at the table near his feet.  A brilliant disk of pure energy sprang upward from the Alter, extending some 12’ up before beginning to dissipate.  Quan had been here before.  Quan’s eyes grew wide with fear.

 

“Your presence was the reason we failed to achieve the Prime Earth.  Since we last met, the Aesir have wandered the multi-verse randomly seeking it, but have only now discovered a portal to it on this wretched planet.  Time is a funny thing.  It’s only been a few months for you, but we’ve been traveling for 200 years since then…”

 

The disk began to move up the table, consuming Quan’s feet.  As it passed over him, his body began to literally vaporize into the ether.  Sparks of green energy erupted from all over his body, only to be sucked into the brilliant disk. The pain was excruciating.

 

“You are the only being capable of wielding the power of the Quantum Field, the only source of energy that can stop our Shadow constructs.  Without you, and more importantly your influence, Prime Earth will be ours.”

 

Quan could feel his energy being sucked into the disk of energy.  His power was draining away.  His bonds on his hands burned away from the heat and he reached for the comm. device on his neck to warn the others about the trap the Aesir had sprung.  It was gone. 

 

“Goodby brave hero.”

 

Just as before, when Firebrand was killed years ago, Quantum Elemental felt his life force leaving him.  For just a moment he flashed back to that time.  He remembered how he was tied to a similar table, although made of wood not bone.  He remembered how the machine he was tied to attempted to drain all of the Fire Elemental energy out of him and how he had made one last ditch effort to destroy it.  He remembered how the machine completely passed over his body, and the horrible feeling as he passed away.  He had failed. 

 

He remembered how Eron and the rest of the Knights tried to save him.  He vaguely remembered the explosion that leveled the warehouse he was in as his link to the Elemental Plane of Fire was broken fully and the energy stored in his body was released.  He remembered the empty feeling as his consciousness drifted in the Quantum Field without life, without hope…

 

His eyes rolled back into his head and he mercifully lost consciousness.  He took his last breath.  The plane of energy passed over him completely.  His body completely dissolved as it did.

Quantum Elemental was no more.

 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

 

Medroth stared at the empty altar of bone before him for a few seconds, unbelieving that he had just succeeded. 

 

The Aesir around him stopped chanting and stood silently, awaiting orders.

 

Medroth took a deep breath, trying to hide the excitement he was feeling.  “The trap has been sprung.  The threat has been eliminated.  It’s now time to take our place in the annals of history.  Prepare to go to the gateway and open it.  With Quantum Elemental and the leaders of both the Dark Kings and the Gods Knights out of the way, our plan is moving swiftly.  Nothing will stand in our way.”

 

Without a word, the Aesir turned as one and left to face their final destiny.

 

Author's Note

I highly recommend reading the story Visions of Futures Past to allow some of the finer points of this story to make sense. They tie together very closely. Other stories both in Season 1 and Season 2 also play into this story as I tend to tie things together.