by Mathy, Scott
Dwight felt relieved to have the venerable hero standing beside him, “Yeah. Creepy over there is the source of the plague; don’t let her touch you.”
“How about your old partner?” he asked.
Counsel shouted an answer, “Oh, isn’t he magnificent? I’ll have to take him with me after I end this world. His regeneration has shown me a brand-new use for my companion’s nanites. Some more experimenting and I should be able to simply take control of my next conquest.” He raised his hands in the air, gesturing at the carnage around him, “No more messy ‘free will’ getting in the way of perfection.”
“We’ll need someone to deal with him while I get close enough to deactivate Zel,” Dwight said over his shoulder.
Linda leaned her head to the side, cracking her neck, “With pleasure.”
Glitch suddenly came to a stop beside her, “Oh, can I help? He’ll be a great test for this new unit.” Several of the plated folds on her reflective limbs adjusted themselves, readying for their first real challenge.
“I’ll get Counsel while you do your thing,” Zhu offered, passing Dwight his olive briefcase. “Don’t get yourself killed.”
Dwight stared at the weapon, “You went back for my launcher?”
“And some other things I dropped off at the Doc’s. Your other version was a hell of a hoarder; took me a bit to clear out the husks and find his stash.”
“Be careful; at this range, he’s got all of your powers,” Dwight warned, “I only need you to keep him busy while the remote transmits Doc’s signal.”
“Standing by,” Ellis replied in their earpieces, “Alice is putting the finishing touches on your new toys. She’ll send them as soon as she can.”
Dwight didn’t understand her meaning, but didn’t have any more time to argue. The possessed Bernard lunged forward, sprinting awkwardly at the group. Linda rushed to intercept him, the two meeting with an impact that could be felt by everyone gathered in the courtyard. Glitch raced to assist. She collided with Bernard as he grappled with Linda, the much smaller woman holding her own against the former Cape’s renewed strength. Each woman grabbed onto one of his arms before taking off with the struggling Power. Linda dragged him from the ground, throwing off his balance. They disappeared into the chaotic streets leading back into the city.
“Zel,” Counsel commanded, his voice echoing off the surrounding buildings, “Begin!”
The creature hissed menacingly, fixing her sights on a group of Rising Stars brawling a few hundred yards away. She broke into an animalistic charge on all fours, rapidly gaining speed as the black spines on her back rose like bristling thorns. Between her intimidating lunges, a portal opened in front of her. Before she could stop, a second appeared back where she had begun, right next to her master. The creature looked around, puzzled by the change in position.
Counsel glanced at Zhu, his masked head tilting slightly, “So, you’re the one I have to thank for the gift of my travel. I wondered where the power had gone after I unfortunately killed the last one to possess it.”
“What?” Zhu grunted.
“The anomaly, the doorway between worlds. I can’t just have anyone wandering the multiverse. It’s only a matter of time before someone inherits it and allows me to leave again. I suppose keeping you alive will save me the trouble of finding it again.”
A brilliant red portal ripped into existence both in front of the overlord’s pet monster and behind the Cape. Zel stood, the power intensifying in her bones, on the other side. Her armored tail raised high in the air. Zhu caught sight of it just at the appendage surged forward to stab him through the chest. He dropped to his knees, dodging the spike by summoning a hole immediately below himself. The elder power disappeared as the vortex closed behind him.
An instant later, another opened behind Counsel. Zhu leapt from it, catching the tyrant off-guard. He locked his arms around the other Power, the two vanishing as he briefly opened another. Zel stood still, searching for orders from her master. Dwight pressed the button on his launcher, transforming Ivan into its weaponized form.
Another crimson ring formed in the sky, the brawling Powers tumbling through it. As they fell, Counsel commanded his minion, “Zel! Spread!” They disappeared through a purple one before they hit the pavement.
The creature arched her back, letting loose a terrible hunting screech before bounding forward again at the recruits. Dwight raised the launcher, taking careful aim as she ran. He fired, the bolt of raw energy slicing a line through the monster’s black skull. The beam continued through it, cutting a chunk out of the Guild’s plated shutters in the distance behind them. Ivan’s superheated barrel glowed and steamed in the fading light of the winter evening.
Zel’s galloping body collapsed to the ground on all fours, her hideous head melted into oblivion. Smoke poured from the cauterized ruin of her neck. Dwight allowed himself a brief moment of satisfaction, lowering the weapon to his side.
No sooner had he congratulated himself than the dark nanite swarm that made up the monster’s body began to reform. It happened almost instantly, the material of Zel’s feral face reconstructed from nothing without a hint of its destruction. She rose to her full height, turning to face the lone hitman.
“Aww, fuck,” Dwight said aloud, watching the creature arch her back to roar a menacing howl in his direction. He spun around to run, listening to her claws tearing through the concrete as she chased after him.
Ellis shouted in his ear, “Dwight, status!?”
“I have the monster’s undivided attention!” he yelled back, the sounds of her rhythmic stride growing louder. He sprinted toward a cluster of abandoned vehicles to the south of the courtyard.
“Oh,” she said positively, “Great, can you get the others to subdue it? The remote should only take thirty seconds to transmit the signal, if you can keep it steady. I’m watching the transfer, but it keeps dropping.”
“Everyone is busy, Doc! It’s just me!” He dove under a nearby semi, sliding under the stationary wheels before rising to his feet to continue running.
Zel took the high road, leaping over the trailer in a single bound. Her landing crushed the roof of an empty taxi, caving in the yellow metal. She took a swipe at Dwight with a razor-sharp talon. He dodged the claw, stumbling but staying upright as he dashed to the side.
Grabbing the remote in his hand, he pressed the button, praying that the creature was close enough to receive its broadcast. Dwight ducked through the gap between an SUV and a sedan as he watched Zel careen overhead, contorting her inhuman shape in midair to land again in front of him.
Dwight whipped Ivan’s steel exterior into the thing’s face, swinging it wide by the handle. The hard briefcase clattered off Zel’s blackened bones with a crunch. She attempted an overhead smash with both claws, bringing them down over Dwight. He blocked it with the forearm of his prosthetic limb, the force pushing him to his knees. As her arms rose again, looking to repeat the strike, Dwight rolled between her thin legs. He reached up as he stood behind her, grabbing hold of her tail with his shock pads.
The nanites that made up Zel’s body distorted into chaotic formations as the electricity surged through her frame. Whole sections of her bones flared with energy before going dead. The creature roared in agony as she was pulled into a thousand shapes by the disrupted signals of the nanites. As the energy swelled within her, she erupted with jagged spikes in all directions. The spines sliced through steel and concrete like tissue paper. Dwight barely avoided the attack, leaping back as they tore through the air around him. He tumbled to the ground.
Zel reformed herself as he watched, the black nanites collecting into their unnatural limbs as if nothing had happened to their master. She twisted her right arm into a single spike, then wound back to impale her downed prey. Dwight braced himself.
But the attack never came. He opened his eyes, finding a violet ring blocking his vision. The black spear disappeared into the portal, reemerging from the side of the semi into Zel’s
horrified skull. Void crouched down next to him, breathing hard. He strained to stand but couldn’t, the exertion of his fight with Counsel clearly taking its toll. A second later, the black point of the creature’s tail pierced his chest, jutting out with a burst of bright crimson. She thrust forward, drilling the point of the appendage into the pavement, pinning Zhu down.
Dwight caught his footing, leaping up to catch Zel by the neck and unleash the full charge of his arm. The monster screamed, electricity overloading her nightmarish body.
“Transfer complete!” Ellis shouted over the mic.
Zel’s nanites went dead, the outer layer of her skin instantly falling away as billions of the microscopic machines went inactive. Her glowing blue eyes faded into the deep pits of her skull, the light of the plague dying forever. Dwight released the thing’s limp neck, allowing the seven-foot monstrosity to fall to the pavement. The bones collapsed into dust, freeing Zhu but leaving him holding the gaping hole in his chest.
Dwight rushed to the injured Cape, “Come on, say something.” He threw off his jacket, trying to stem the blood flow.
“Is it dead?” he asked weakly, pinching his eyes shut as he spoke.
Dwight grabbed a handful of the dead nanites with his organic hand, letting them slip through his fingers, “Yeah, buddy, we got her. No other world is going to suffer the plague. We did it.”
There was an electric whine behind them, then the sound of crunching metal as Lia pushed through the congested traffic on Jezebel. She raced from the bike, tossing her helmet to the side as she ran. She knelt beside the fallen hero.
“Doc,” Dwight said into the mic, “Void’s down. We need medical assistance ASAP.”
There was silence on the other end, then, “There aren’t any emergency services responding that close to the center of the city. Dwight, no one’s coming.”
They both looked down at the pool of blood collecting under the old Cape. He had turned pale and cold. He struggled to crane his neck upright. Dwight helped, looking into his one good eye.
“We’ll patch you up, old man,” Dwight offered, lying to them both.
“No, you won’t,” Zhu chuckled to himself, wincing at the pain in his chest. “I’ve seen enough to know when it’s time.”
Dwight regretted asking the question as it came out of his mouth, “Where’s Counsel?”
“Dunno. Asshole took off. Looked damned spooked about something to the south.” His face contorted in agony, a line of blood running between his teeth.
Lia looked to Dwight, then placed a hand on Zhu, reaching out both physically and psychically. She concentrated on his suffering, breathing slowly.
“End of the road, huh?” he whispered, the pain fading away as Lia channeled it into herself. “Going out saving the multiverse isn’t so bad. She’d have been proud.”
“Yeah, Zhu, she would,” he agreed.
Zhu coughed loudly – a wet, drowning sound. “Knolls, save this world. I know you’ll find a way. He’s not a god, just another Power who needs to answer for what he’s done.”
Dwight struggled to see, shaking his head, “How? I can’t fight him alone.”
“You never have. You have something the other Referees never had,” his shaking face looked up. “You have friends who will fight with you, believe in you.”
He reached one blood-soaked hand up, trembling as he touched the side of Lia’s face. She did nothing to stop the dying Cape. “One more job,” he said to her, looking pleadingly in her eyes.
Her face contorted, overwhelmed with the pain she shared. She nodded solemnly, but said nothing. At once, the light of the anomaly became unbearably bright. It radiated out, consuming Void’s body until all that remained was a singularity of cosmic energy. It transferred into Lia as the light glowed unimaginably bright in her own eyes. A moment later, Zhu was gone; not even dust remained of the old Power.
Lia fell backward. Dwight caught her before she hit the ground. He lightly shook her body, “Lia, come on, don’t check out on me, too.”
She was awake, but unresponsive. Her eyes, now filled with glittering cosmic energy, sparkled like a star field. He could barely make out her pupils rolling around, unable to focus on anything. She repeated, “It’s too much,” again and again.
Dwight hauled her to her feet, carrying the smaller woman on his side as he limped for the bike, “Ellis, I’m evacuating!”
“What? Why? You need to stop Counsel.”
He grabbed Lia’s helmet as he shambled forward, “Fuck Counsel. Zhu gave Lia the anomaly before he died. She’s completely out of it. I’m getting her back to the lab.”
He set the catatonic psychic in front of him, putting the helmet over her head. Taking off his belt, he threw it around both of their chests before clamping it shut. He raced off down the city streets, leaving the carnage of the Guild’s headquarters behind. The fires of a thousand battles lit the night sky as he crossed the warzone.
EIGHT
Dwight kicked open the steel door of the lab as he carried Lia’s limp body inside. All the while, Lia continued to repeat the same phrase. He couldn’t be sure what was going on in the psychic’s mind, but it was obvious from her frightened tone that it was beyond her control.
Ellis ran to assist, helping take the load as Alice cleared a stretcher for Lia. “What happened?” she asked, checking Lia’s glowing eyes.
Dwight sagged to the floor next to the bed, the shock of the battle finally setting in. “Zhu gave up control of the anomaly as he died. I’m guessing this is what happens when you combine cosmic power with the strongest psychic in the city.” He felt Lia’s reach sporadically in his mind, “Get the limiter.”
Ellis was taken aback by the order, “I will not. She made it undeniably clear that she wanted nothing to do with it after Bernard’s coup.”
“She is currently experiencing the thoughts and feeling of god-knows-how-many worlds and you’re arguing with what’s best for her. Doc, she’s going to lose it forever if we don’t help her. You feel her; what happens if she can’t control it anymore?”
Ellis sprinted away, searching through the dozens of drawers and cabinets of her workspace. She tossed heaps of designs, schematics, and prototypes to the floor frantically as she hunted for the one piece of technology she needed. She returned, holding the simple silver machine with its single light.
As she reached to attach it to the smooth plate on Lia’s forehead, the psychic’s hand sprung from the table, catching the elder doctor’s wrist. Ellis stopped, frozen by Lia’s power. “I’m alright,” the woman said coming out of her daze.
The Doctor and hitman breathed a sigh of relief as Lia released her hold on them. She sat up on the bed, kicking her legs over one side.
Dwight walked around it, looking into Lia’s radiant eyes as she turned to face him. “Good to have you back,” he offered.
“Thank you for getting me out of there, and for doing what you thought was best. I promise I don’t need it, though.”
Ellis tried to examine Lia’s eyes, bringing a light up to them. Lia gently brushed it away, “I’m fine, Beth. It was all just a bit too much to handle at once, but I’m managing. Zhu’s memories are mine now; I found the ones I’ll need to control the anomaly.”
“We’ve never seen anything like this, Dalia. I want to be sure that you’re safe.” She placed her hands on the woman’s knees.
Lia met her gaze, placing her own hands over the doctor’s, “I can hear the minds of so many now, understand so much more. I’m not sure how many there are anymore.”
A heavy foot kicked open the lab’s exit, bringing with it a gust of frigid air. Linda and Glitch stepped through, hauling Bernard’s unconscious body. They tossed the giant forward on the floor. Glitch immediately went for the tool set, determined to repair her damaged left side. “One down,” Linda announced triumphantly, panting from exertion.
“You two beat him?” Dwight asked, inspecting his sleeping ex-partner.
Glitch returned holding
an impact wrench, setting about tightening her frame’s bolts. “Didn’t need to,” she announced between uses, “He pretty much fell over sometime after he launched me through a mail truck and put your ex through a cement mixer. Fucker fights dirty.”
“Yeah, should have warned you about that.” Dwight flipped the huge man over, checking his eyes under the lab lights. The shimmering glow of the nanites was gone, purged with Zel’s demise.
“Where’s the old man?” Glitch finally asked, looking around for the familiar trench coat.
“He’s dead,” Dwight answered, standing before returning to Lia’s side.
“What? No. No, that’s impossible,” she stammered, “He’s got some trick, he always does. The void will heal him.” She struggled to find some loophole that would see him return in a rush of violet light.
Dwight clenched his metallic fist, forcing himself to find the strength, “He won’t. The last thing he did was give the anomaly to Lia. He’s gone.”
Glitch’s face was awash with remorse, anger, and fear. She lost her balance, taking a seat on the floor against one of Ellis’s cabinets. She buried her head in her chrome knees.
Dwight came over and knelt beside the cyborg, “Zel’s dead. He got to see his home avenged. He did it.”
She slowly raised her head; artificial tears ran from her eyes. “He was always there, always came back. It can’t be.”
The hitman put a hand on hers. “It is. At least he knew he’d succeeded when he went.”
The lab shook beneath their feet. Across the room, a hundred items fell from their perches. A few seconds later, it was over. In the distance, the sounds of car alarms filled the early morning.
“What the fuck was that?” Linda said first, checking on the neighborhood through the highest windows of the warehouse.
Ellis ran to the nearby central terminal, searching for answers. She placed a hand over her mouth. “Central. It’s gone.”
