Journey's End

by Luke Derricks

  Ray assisted the police in escorting people to safety. When Mastermind almost stepped on a fleeing family, Ray quickly blasted them out of the way. The giant demon’s foot slammed onto empty ground. Then when Mastermind kicked a police car into the air, spinning it out of control towards defenseless civilians, Ray caught the spinning car in mid-air with his powers, regained control, and gently placed it back down on the ground.

  Luke’s cutting laser wasn’t even making a scratch.

  “What the hell is this thing made of?”

  He needed to increase the yield.

  200%.

  The cutting laser fired brighter and hotter.

  Still nothing.

  300%.

  The beam actually cut off a tiny chip.

  400%.

  Starting to bore through.

  500%!

  The pedestal started to crack.

  Dammit – 1000%!

  “Warning,” flashed across his HUD. “Power reserves rapidly draining.”

  “Do it!” Luke exclaimed.

  The pedestal cracked and split all over. It glowed red from inside. Luke held the laser focused on it, penetrating deeper and deeper. Blasting it harder and harder. It cracked a little more. And more. Chunks began breaking off…

  “Danger! Limit exceeded!” flashed across his HUD.

  “Almost there. Just a few more seconds…”

  The cutting laser suddenly powered off. It was dead. Luke tried firing again. Nothing.

  “What gives?” he demanded.

  His heads-up display read: “Laser overheated.”

  “Dammit!” he exclaimed, punching his metal-gloved fist into the badly damaged pedestal.

  It was just enough. The finishing blow.

  The cracks within the pedestal glowed brighter and brighter. The floating sphere disappeared. Large chunks and pieces of the pillar broke off, falling apart faster and faster. And behind those pieces, inside the core of the pedestal, Luke saw its glowing power source.

  His HUD read: “EXTREME DANGER! EXPLOSIVE CHAIN REACTION DETECTED.”

  Luke saw the glowing core get blindingly bright.

  “MASSIVE EXPLOSION IMMINENT!”

  Luke instantly teleported out of there, disappearing with a flash of light – only to reappear back in the garden near the portal entrance. He looked in the distance, past the beautiful city, and suddenly saw the most brilliant flash of light. It was so bright, it instantly turned everything in front of him into a black silhouette and completely white-washed everything else out. It made even the sun seem insignificantly dim for that instant. And then daylight returned to normal – revealing a radioactive mushroom cloud in the distance larger and more massive than anything ever dreamed of on Earth.

  Warning sirens blared throughout the nearby city.

  Luke stepped into his still-open portal, but stopped, and looked back at the giant looming radioactive cloud. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. And then he walked completely through, closing the portal behind him.

  Back in Los Angeles, he looked up to see Mastermind in the distance, with Ray and Dawn still fighting him – along with more uniformed officers and military personnel than he could count. But the death toll continued to rise. Mastermind, the giant that he was, smashed his fist through nearby buildings, instantly killing anyone still in them.

  Then he reached down onto the ground, scooping up a handful of terrified, fleeing people – men, women, children, officers, soldiers – who were too slow to escape.

  As he clutched them in his hands, they began screaming and transforming, turning all into demons – small, human-sized ones – at his mere touch.

  Driven mad by their transformation – or perhaps as part of his power – they became evil, rampaging throughout the streets, killing innocent civilians, attacking other police officers, violently digging their claws into soldiers and tearing them limb from limb. Bullets fired. But their wounds instantly healed. These newly-created demons were unstoppable.

  Dawn and Ray had their hands full.

  Ray tried levitating as many as he could at once, keeping them from harming anyone else. But Mastermind reached into a building, smashing his fist through the walls, transforming more people inside into even more demon spawn. The new monsters jumped down into the streets and joined the fray.

  Some demons centered around two small orphaned children. Dawn jumped into the middle, grabbed the two kids, threw them onto her back as she transformed into a unicorn, and then charged forward, rushing them to safety as she poked and tossed demons aside with her horn along the way. The kids rode to safety – but for how long?

  Dawn shape-shifted back into human form. Looked around. More and more demons everywhere. Killing fleeing civilians and fighting officers left and right. There were just too many of them.

  “Help!” shouted Ray, blasting demon after demon as more and more surrounded him. Dawn ran after him.

  Luke saw it all. Dammit. Mastermind was still turning people. He probably only lost his mind control, which no longer seemed all that important. He was still a giant, still transforming people, still very much taking over the world.

  A world that, if Luke didn’t do something soon, would be populated with nothing but mutants, monsters, and demons. And the countless bodies of all the slain innocent victims. A world recreated in Mastermind’s image.

  Dammit! He destroyed that pyramid on Eden for nothing! Only one option remained. He knew the mutants all got their powers from the pyramid on Sekhmet. It looked like Mastermind got his new powers from the same one.

  Only one small problem. Destroying that pyramid would make Luke and Ray lose their powers too.

  But then he watched Mastermind scoop up more people, turn them into demons and monsters: raging hellhounds, multi-headed ogres, hideous trolls, scaly beasts, and more male and female demons – all sorts of terrors from the darkest of nightmares.

  He saw the military unleash all their firepower and fury upon Mastermind, and the growing numbers of hellspawn, but their demonic bodies instantly healed and repaired themselves. More people died. Mastermind smashed through more buildings, and all who touched his red skin rapidly began transforming. There was no way to stop this. No way to take Mastermind down.

  Not while he still had powers.

  Luke took a heavy breath. He knew what he had to do. He wasn’t sure how they could defeat Mastermind or save the world without any powers – but if he didn’t act now, there’d be no world left to save.

  He took his crystal and began drawing a new portal.

  The massive pyramid on Sekhmet waited in the distance. Blazing heat, scorching winds, burning sands. The desert planet’s two suns sizzled from above.

  Luke’s suit automatically kicked in some kind of internal air conditioning system. That was cool. Literally. He teleported up to the pyramid entrance.

  He pushed the blue button at the door control panel.

  He really wished he didn’t have to do this.

  All his life, he wanted to be a time traveler. And now he finally had it. He finally had his dream. But… at what cost? As limited as his power was, it was still his dream. It gave him the chance to live the life he always wanted.

  Maybe, if he waited long enough, his power would recharge enough to let him go back and save his parents. Maybe, if he waited long enough, he could go back and prevent Mastermind from ever rising to power.

  No mutants. Ever. No mind control. No deaths. Life would be… normal.

  He’d still have a family.

  But could he take that risk? Even if he waited a year for his power to recharge, would it still be enough? What if he could never go back that far? History would remain unchanged. And worse, Luke would have allowed the present horrors to continue.

  Mastermind might eventually be taken down. Somehow. But after how many lives were killed or transformed? After how many mutants? After how many monsters? After how many demons? And what if Mastermind succeeded? What if Ray and Dawn died – permanently – this
time?

  All because Luke waited too long to do what he knew would end Mastermind’s reign right now. All because Luke wanted to hold onto some childhood dream, some fantasy, of being a time-traveling super hero.

  It wasn’t worth it.

  They would have to figure out a way to defeat Mastermind without any powers. They would have to be normal and powerless – so Mastermind would be normal and powerless.

  He entered the innermost chamber.

  He didn’t like this. But he had to do it.

  In one swift move, in one final act, he’d permanently destroy all of Mastermind’s powers.

  He stepped up to the pedestal.

  Wait.

  He had a thought.

  Maybe he didn’t have to do this.

  Well, not exactly.

  He didn’t have to destroy the whole pyramid. He didn’t have to blow up the Altar of Destiny.

  He just needed to cut off its power source.

  Simeon said the temples drew their power from deep within the planet. It was the very reason why he couldn’t travel that far back in time. The pyramid only had so much energy available. What if the pyramid, temporarily, lost all its energy? That would cut off everyone’s powers – but once the energy was recharged, they’d get their powers back. Good as new. But by then, they’ll have defeated Mastermind.

  He hoped.

  Okay. So if he just wanted to disable the pyramid, just temporarily drain and cut off its power source – where and how would he do that?

  Destroying the Altar would blow the whole thing up. Couldn’t do that. Hmm. Luke remembered how they got inside this pyramid the first time. He and his uncle were underground. In that snake den. They came up to a glowing mechanical cylinder of some kind. With a recall button that teleported them inside.

  Could that cylinder be how the pyramid drew its energy?

  It was worth the chance.

  Luke immediately ran out of the chamber, down the long corridor, and eventually back outside under the blazing suns. Okay. Where was that damn pit again? Where did he slip and fall before?

  He ran up the sand dunes. Tried to retrace his steps. Ah-hah! Found it! Over there. He ran down the slippery sand dune, started sliding uncontrollably, and then jumped into the deep, dark pit. Down he went. He fell. And fell.

  And splash! He sank deep into the underground aquifer. Deeper and deeper. Finally his metal boots hit rock bottom. Solid ground. Deep underwater. His suit’s heads-up display immediately displayed a scan of the area. Nothing but wide open vast space. A small ocean underground. Apparently his suit wasn’t very buoyant. Like at all. And it was a long ways back up to the surface.

  But he could still breathe. His heads-up display kept track of how much breathable air he still have left in reserves. Hmm. Okay. Now what?

  Scanning through the pitch black waters, his view screen outlined all the underwater boulders and sloping terrain. The ground seemed to drift up towards a cliff in the distance. That was probably the way he and his uncle went the first time.

  He teleported. A flash of white light in the midst of the perfect darkness. He landed on the ledge, near the surface of the water. He could see the tunnel ahead. It had to be the one they passed through before. He traveled onward.

  It was completely dark, except for the pink glow given off by his crystal still attached to his arm. Fortunately, the heads-up display outlined everything for him, allowing him to walk “blindly” through the dark. Still, having a pair of headlights or something would’ve been better.

  Just then, a single beam of light projected off the top of his helmet. Oh. That was nice. Why didn’t that come on before? At least now he could see where he was going with his naked eyes. He traveled up the tunnel – and entered into the den where they almost became that alien snake’s lunch.

  Deeper in. Up the last tunnel. Finally, he came into the small square cavern, where the large cylinder still hummed with its red lights still glowing. It gave off a lot of heat too. This definitely had to have something to do with the pyramid’s energy source. What else would it be?

  And look at that – a control panel! Luke looked at it carefully. He found the recall button they used earlier. But what about these other buttons? Could it be as easy as simply hitting an “off” switch?

  The control panel had a small interactive video screen. Luke pulled off his metal glove and placed his palm flat against it. The screen lit up.

  “Input command,” it read.

  Okay. This was promising. “How do I temporarily shut off all powers?” Luke asked aloud.

  No reaction.

  “Um, disable experiment. How do I temporarily disable the active experiment?”

  “Authorization required,” the screen read.

  Luke sighed. This was taking too long. Whoever these aliens were, and whatever “experiment” they were up to on Sekhmet, sooner or later they’d notice their pyramid was down. Let them fix the damn thing.

  Luke put his glove back on and aimed at the control panel. “I’ve got your authorization right here.” And he fired.

  Mastermind suddenly felt weak.

  Dawn was exhausted. Ray too. They attacked Mastermind when and as they could, but spend most of their time saving the innocents and fighting back all the demons and monsters. The military and police continued firing upon this giant, seemingly in futility, until one jet’s missile – soaring through the sky – struck Mastermind in the back with a powerful explosion.

  His flesh burned. He roared out in pain.

  The wound did not heal.

  Everyone noticed.

  Suddenly, all the tanks, jets, and countless other military vehicles spontaneously unleashed all their remaining firepower at once. Mastermind was bombarded. More and more wounds covered his massive body. He fell backwards, creating an earthquake upon landing.

  Ray and Dawn looked over. This was their chance. Dawn shape-shifted some wings and started flying. Ray pushed against the Earth’s gravity to begin moving – but nothing happened. Ray tried again, concentrating harder. Nothing.

  Why wasn’t he flying?

  He quickly looked around. He spotted a small piece of debris that used to be part of a truck or building or something. Too mangled to tell. He held his hand at it, channeling all his strength to levitate it off the ground.

  Nothing happened.

  “Dawn!” he shouted after her.

  She turned to look back.

  “My power’s gone!”

  That might explain why Mastermind was suddenly vulnerable. More bullets, rockets, missiles, and more bombarded him. He roared out in pain through all the fire and smoke.

  Dawn still had her power. She didn’t get it from the sphere. She transformed into the one thing demons fear the most – an even bigger and stronger archangel. Her blue body suit morphed and expanded with her. She stayed human, grew giant angel wings, and rose to fifty… eighty… one hundred… two hundred… finally three hundred feet tall!

  About a dozen news reporters caught it all on camera.

  She tried carefully not to step on anyone or anything. Of course half the city was already in ruins anyway. The military ceased firing. Mastermind’s giant demon body laid bruised, battered, and broken across the mountainside.

  Dawn – the mighty and powerful archangel – stood over him. She reached down, grabbed Mastermind, and kneed him hard in the balls. If only she had a giant sword right about now…

  Luke stepped through a portal, back into Los Angeles. Did it work? Was he successful?

  His view screen identified two giants – Dawn and Mastermind. The villain had fallen. But he wasn’t dead yet. Dawn held him down. He struggled against her. He fought hard. But he was weak from his many bad injuries. His body wasn’t healing any more. The relentless assault from the police and military had nearly destroyed him. And now Dawn was personally going to finish the job.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Justice at Last

  Luke looked back through his portal at the
pyramid in the desert. No explosion. No mushroom cloud. But apparently it worked. Mastermind lost his powers.

  Of course, so did they. Well, Dawn still had her powers. Lucky girl. But would it be enough? Mastermind may be powerless now, but he still was a giant demon with rapid healing and incredible strength. If they were going to defeat him, they were going to need some help.

  And he had an idea who might suddenly be willing to do just that.

  He quickly crossed out the portal to Sekhmet – and started drawing a new one. The symbol in the middle: two wavy lines. The portal opened to the tropical beach planet of Aquaria.

  Rhino-Man, Venom, Arachnus, Kraken, and Slimer were still there, not far from the portal’s entrance. They all turned to look at Luke through the newly opened portal.

  “Hey guys. Guess who’s no longer your master…”

  Mastermind struggled to get up. But Dawn’s strength far outmatched his own. Both news helicopters and military choppers swarmed overhead. And by now, they knew Dawn was one of the good guys. Thanks to her and her super-powered friends, many lives were saved today. They were indeed heroes. And now she had Mastermind right where she wanted him.

  “Get off me, you stupid girl!”

  Dawn shook her head, holding him down tight.

  “I said get off me!” Mastermind yelled, looking directly into her eyes.

  Nothing. Not a single damn impulse. Dawn smiled. “What’d you say?”

  “I SAID LET ME GO!”

  Total eye contact. And she heard every word.

  Dawn giggled. “I don’t think so.”

  Ahh, that felt good.

  Suddenly, Mastermind started shrinking. “Hey, what are you doing to me?” he asked. His red skin started to look a little pale. His body got smaller and smaller. His demonic claws started shifting back to human form. His horns withered away. He was transforming back to normal! “Stop that!” he demanded. “Stop changing me!”

  But it wasn’t her. This was happening on its own. She watched his face and body shrink smaller and smaller, morphing uncontrollably back to his pathetic and powerless human form. No more horns. His tail shriveled up. His muscles deteriorated.