When the site Ultimate Central began giving people incredible abilities, its creator Ultimate E created a team of heroes to bring justice to the world and deal with the astounding effects of the site. Icemastertron, Nurhachi, ProjectX2, and The Man Without Fear became the Avatars.
PREVIOUSLY IN ULTIMATE CENTRAL THE FANFIC:
Caduceus has returned as the prisoner of the mad Doctor Strangefate, and for the first time, his true form is revealed: an Angel.
What could this mean for the Ultimate Central Fanfic? Only one thing is sure. Everything is about to change.
(To Read from Issue #1, go
here, to read from Part One of this Story Arc, go
here)
NURHACHI PRESENTS:
ULTIMATE CENTRAL THE FANFIC
VOLUME 5. CHAPTER 37
HIS DARK MATERIALS PART 6
"THE BEGINNING"
BY DR STRANGEFATE
A Teenage Bedroom, Outside the City
Hawkeye101 sat at home reading his comic books. He had recently taken up an interest in archery, and was getting pretty good at it, but it was still nothing like losing himself in a weekly comic book. As a kid he imagined that one-day he would have cybernetic implants, or become a mutant, but he had always been just an ordinary kid, posting online here and now. A funny thing happened once when on this one message board named Ultimate Central, he imagined that a beam of light came out of his computer and changed him somehow. He woke up the next morning sad to realize that he had merely fallen asleep… His hopes had been raised for that one fleeting moment, and now he didn't even ever think about it, it was too depressing… But he did like his comics…
HAWKEYE101: Oh, Orson Scott Card, you are the master!
Suddenly the room turned dark and two men and an odd looking crustacean appeared from the shadows, which shifted into the form of a fourth man.
HAWKEYE101: Who are you?!
OURCHAIR: My name is Ourchair, Master of Magnetism, and I am here to offer you membership in our Brotherhood.
HAWKEYE101: Golly, are you guys real live Super-Villains?!
MARVELMAN: Yeah… I guess.
HAWKEYE101: And so you're going to kidnap me?
MARVELMAN: Wait… What?! No! We wanted to know if you wanted to join us!
COMPOUND: Clik Clik Clikikk!!
HAWKEYE101: Wowie… I'm being captured by real live Super-Villains! I can't wait to tell Ma and Pa!
Marvelman hid his laughter with an unconvincing cough. Ourchair sighed.
OURCHAIR: Kid… You are -not- being kidnapped. If you were a threat to us, you'd be dead, and if we needed you dead, you'd be dead… We do not, in any circumstances, kidnap people! It's too… well… Cliché.
HAWKEYE101: Come on, you guys! Super-Villains
need to be cliché! It's what makes them Super-Villains!
MARVELMAN: You know what? F-ck this, man. We don't need him.
OURCHAIR: Yeah…
Ourchair pressed the side of his helmet, opening radio-communication with the Brotherhood HQ.
OURCHAIR: Shihad, this is Ourchair. We're coming in without the target.
A high pitched squeek came over the intercom.
OURCHAIR: …and for the last time, KEEP YOUR SQUIRRELS AWAY FROM THE RADIO TRANSMITTER!!!!!
SHIHAD: Sure thing, boss. We're ready for you guys any time now.
Hawkeye101 was busily packing his belongings to go off with the strange men who no longer wanted him, when an optic blast ripped through the wall of the bedroom.
MANWITHOUTFEAR: Cabinet! You're not getting your hands on this one…
OURCHAIR: No, we're not.
MANWITHOUTFEAR: Oh no you're-- what?? What do you mean?
MARVELMAN: Take him yourselves, we don't want him.
COMPOUND: Clik Clik Clikikikk!
ICEMASTERTRON: Wait a second…
OURCHAIR: Oh, and by the way, We're the Brotherhood from this point on… Shade, take us away…
The shadows engulfed the brotherhood and dissipated. As the room lightened, the Brotherhood was gone.
HAWKEYE101: Gee! You guys are Superheroes, aren't you??
NURHACHI: I… guess…
HAWKEYE101: Can I be one too?!
Icemastertron and the Manwithoutfear exchanged an uneasy glance, and sighed.
In the darkest dungeon of Doctor Strangefate's Tower
CADUCEUS: You monster…
STRANGEFATE: Sticks and Stones, my friend… Sticks and Stones. So, tell me, Caduceus, how does it feel to be back in your true form?
CADUCEUS: It feels like sh*t, as you know d*mn well…
STRANGEFATE: Now, now… there's no reason to get feisty.
CADUCEUS: You forced me out of the shape I was condemned to when I first fell from heaven!! You have defied the will of God himself!!! You evil sack of--
The Good Doctor's eyes glowed red with a hunger, as he cut Caduceus off mid-sentence.
STRANGEFATE: So there is a Heaven? There is a God?
Caduceus' face fell, and the sweat on his back grew cold in terror, as he realized what he had done, and what the Doctor could do with this information. Strangefate's face contorted into a manic grin.
STRANGEFATE: Excellent… All of my work has not been done for naught. Heh. Oh… and you will only keep that form as long as you hang on that cross and remain in this room. It's the True Cross, from Golgotha, collected and reassembled from the hundreds of shards… It took years to build it… But then again, it took years to find a being such as you to test it on… Angelic magic is all theoretical, because you folk don't interact with us as much… But still, it's impressive, no?
CADUCEUS: You are the devil himself…
STRANGEFATE: Oh, please, don't be melodramatic. You of all people should know that is not the case. Hold still a moment, would you?
Caduceus, chained tightly to the cross, could do little but hold still. The Good Doctor smiled his wicked smile, and ran his knife over the palm of his hand, releasing his blood onto the ground with an uneasy sigh. He, in turn, sliced brutally into Caduceus' thigh, letting his thick, golden, Angel blood run. Caduceus screamed as the doctor pressed his bleeding hand to the open wound and let the Angel's blood flow into his body.
CADUCEUS: W-What are you doing?!!
STRANGEFATE: Tasting Immortality… Oh God... It burns! The blood, it's… it's burning from the inside-- OH! GAAAAAAHHD!!!
CADUCEUS: Let go of me!!
The Doctor glared with a flash of red light bursting from his eyes, and the Angel felt invisible hands crushing his larynx.
STRANGEFATE: NO!!! NEVER!!!!
The Good Doctor's skin glowed golden-yellow, and the power of Caduceus' blood pushed him onto his knees, spitting out the inferior human blood that was now being rejected from his body, and screaming in agony. Yet his grip never faltered… and quickly the changes to the Doctor became evident. His skin darkened from pale white to shining bronze. His muscles grew and firmed his body into perfection. He was instantaneously a man in his prime, and then, with a hearty scream, large white wings burst from his back as pure light, before softening into elegant feathers. The change completed, and with his lips and chest stained with red blood, Strangefate stood, releasing Caduceus, whose wound healed instantly…
Conjuring a mirror, The Doctor stood in awe of himself.
STRANGEFATE: It worked… heh… hehehe… hahahaha… Hahahahahahaha!!!!
The Doctor's shrill laugh filled the dungeon. Caduceus was broken… drained of his energy and yet burning with fear and anger.
CADUCEUS: What… what did you do?!
STRANGEFATE: I am like you now… Except for one thing… The creator, having created us in his image, seems to have a few of our flaws as well. He created a system of highly powerful programs built to ease the process of editing the universe, placing a small piece of his own power in each program, allowing simple processes like the weather or how the planets orbit the sun to go on without his conscious action. That's my theory, anyways, and it proved relatively true. One such program broke down a short while ago, and I managed to merge its central power into my own soul. I am now more powerful than any other being on this plane of existence, and soon,
every plane of existence.
What little color remained in Caduceus' face disappeared.
CADUCEUS: What do you mean??
STRANGEFATE: Isn't it obvious?
The Doctor's eyes sparked with red energy, jittering away in contrast to the most frightening, bloodstained grins Caduceus had ever seen in his life.
STRANGEFATE: I am going to be God… Not a God, mind you, -the- God. The big guy. The lord of the Cosmos. The creator… I am going to hold the universe in my hand and make it over in my image… I'm going to sit on the throne and be the one true ruler of existence.
The Good Doctor stared into the distance, glorying in achievements, his new wings stretching out as far as they could. Caduceus couldn't even bring himself to speak, cold sweat dripping from his forehead as he realized that there was nothing he could do to stop Strangefate.
STRANGEFATE: I must make a plan. Good evening, Caduceus. If you somehow managed to break free of your chains, I will personally remove all of your skin, and douse you in salt, so that even when your skin grows back, all you will know will be pain. Heh… I'll be seeing you.
And with that, the Dark Lord vanished.
Epilogue I: Elsewhere in the Dungeons
Goodwill hadn't slept in four days. He hadn't eaten in two, or at least what felt like two. His stomach was screaming for sustenance, his head pounding with a migraine that could take down an elephant. He wasn't even sure of time anymore… So, using the remnants of some molding bread on what had been his shirt, he caught the rat that had been plagueing his cell, and ate the meat raw, savoring the warm blood of the rat against his cheeks and fingers.
His head still pulsating with pain, Goodwill fell on his side and into a deep sleep.
Epilogue II: The Room of the Cross
Caduceus began to shake involuntarily… he knew what he must do, as it was the only thing he could do at this point. He lowered his head.
CADUCEUS: God… I know we haven't been on the best of terms lately, but we need to talk… You're going to make me say it, aren't you? Damn you…
He sighed, and losing his last drop of dignity, he straightened himself in reverence and began to sing.
CADUCEUS:
Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name…
-The Beginning-