Re: Ultimate Central: The Fanfic - Volume Ten
Milwaukee, WI – Out in the Suburbs
Our story begins in a quiet house in suburban Milwaukee. The house was small, painted white with a red brick chimney. It was pleasant and sunny looking. The sort of place you'd want to grow old in. The neighbors smiled and waved as they walked by. Spring made these walks pleasant, and you could see Lake Michigan when you made your way across the bridge at the end of the small lane.
A Lincoln Town Car pulled into the driveway of the little house and a tall man with jet black hair stepped out into the morning air. He lit a cigarette and paused to look down the road. A Frisbee came out of the field next door and he plucked it from its trajectory.
A young boy ran out and paused before approaching the man. There was something in the man's smile that made his skin curl. The man handed the boy his Frisbee and ruffled his brown hair, a sensation that filled the child with sudden terror.
He took his toy and ran back towards his house. The man's smile would come to him in nightmares for years to come. There was something inhuman and terrible about it he could not shake.
The man chuckled to himself a moment, and walked through his front door, dropping the cigarette on the asphalt driveway. The façade dissipated around him to reveal a pair of fluffy white angel wings.
DR.STRANGEFATE: Honey, I'm home!
HELLSBUTTMONKEY: I'll alert the media…
DR.STRANGEFATE: What's your progress?
The demon chimp was situated at a large computer with many windows open to numerous internet message boards and community websites. There were a few windows open of a less savory nature, but what can you expect from a demon?
HELLSBUTTMONKEY: There's a kid in Toronto who's setting off all the right signals.
DR.STRANGEFATE: Excellent. Why don't we see how things are going downstairs?
They walked through the cozy home. The walls were crammed with strange artwork and artifacts while books lay around the floor, as if the house had once somehow been larger and able to accommodate these features.
The stairs towards the basement lasted longer than it should have, and gave way to an immense ballroom that had no right to be sitting under such a small home. The Angel, Caduceus had been lain on top of a large, sturdy table, still tethered to the cross he had worn these last few years. Tubes carrying golden blood made their way from his body and into the various portraits that covered the walls. Occasionally the Angel would moan.
Shade carried an empty bucket to a small cage at the edge of the ballroom in which a dirty, crusty Goodwill had remained unconscious for the last several days. Strangefate smiled, gleefully.
DR.STRANGEFATE: Soon enough my army will have the strength to take on the forces of Heaven, that day draws nearer and nearer still. I think it's time to collect our guardian, and my lieutenants.
He signaled Shade to his side.
DR.STRANGEFATE: Shade. I want you to hunt down Ultimate Quicksilver. Bring him here immediately. Hell's Buttmonkey, I want you to find the man named Ourchair. I'll take care of this young man in Toronto.
HELLSBUTTMONKEY: Using magic will alert your counterpart to your presence here…
DR.STRANGEFATE: That is precisely what I am counting on.
Shade vanished into the walls, and the demon in a puff of smoke. The Good Doctor thought back to the old magicks, the ones he had studied for years before taking the Angel's blood into his body. He took a deep breath.
DR.STRANGEFATE:
TROPELET!!!
616 Central
Dr. Doomsday met with the Emperor every Tuesday and Wednesday for meetings that had always been called strategic, but were generally more concerned with the Emperor's well-being and self-image. Doomsday had studied psychotherapy in his school days, and found use for those skills after joining the Moderating Council of 616 Central. He also knew the simple enchantments to induce a calmness in the mind and soul. White Magic came hand in hand with the psychiatric arts, and he was happy to do what he could to assist his leader. Dr. Doomsday was proud of the work they were doing, bringing order to a chaotic world.
He exited the throne room and ran into his fellow moderator, Ice, the second in command in their great mission. He nodded at his colleague in recognition, a slight bow. He had been meaning to confront Ice after that morning's council session.
DR.DOOMSDAY: Are you feeling well, Ice?
ICE: Why do you ask, Doomsday?
DR.DOOMSDAY: You've seemed a bit off since our arrival here
ICE: I'm… I'm doing fine. We've suffered great losses to achieve our goals.
DR.DOOMSDAY: I didn't mean to sound accusatory. I just want to offer my services should you ever need to talk.
Doomsday lied then. He had been in suspicion of Ice for months. His very personality seemed to have shifted in the wake of the Red Star War, false hardness having taken him entirely.
ICE: Don't concern yourself with my business. Keep to your own work. Whatever problems I have will work themselves out.
Doomsday began to respond, but clutched to his chest, suddenly and without warning, slowly falling to his knees. As his eyes opened, they glowed a bright green. He forced them shut again with great effort. The pain was over.
Slowly, he rose.
DR.DOOMSDAY: I need to see the Emperor immediately… And call an emergency session of the Moderating council.
ICE: You just spoke with him! What's going on here, Doomsday?
DR.DOOMSDAY: Dr. Strangefate has returned.
Cover by Dr.Strangefate. Captain Planet stolen from Here.
~ NURHACHI & DR.STRANGEFATE PRESENT ~
ULTIMATE CENTRAL
THE FANFIC
Purgatorio
Volume 10, Issue 75,
By Dr.Strangefate
ACT ONE
Strangefate's Cottage
Goodwill listened to the Doctor and his cohorts as they made their plans. The past few weeks he had waited for an empty house. He suspected that Strangefate's magicks would be at their weakest in his absence. The house had changed in the jump from hell. The towers were gone. He remembered the odd sensation of being carried by shadows down a long staircase into this stuffy ballroom
He had watched as Strangefate brought the Angel into the hall. The being was tremendously beautiful and seemed to glow in spite of the darkness. Goodwill had spent many hours watching it writhe in pain. At times, he spoke to the Angel, but there had never been an answer. Strangefate had wired the Angel into the paintings surrounding the hall, and Goodwill noticed that the men in the paintings, with the pentagrams etched on their naked chests, had begun to sprout wings. Something was happening. Something profane.
CADUCEUS: Help me…
GOODWILL: Who's there?
He had been sure he was alone, but his eyes turned towards the crucified Angel, whose fingers twitched in an attempted wave.
CADUCEUS: We have only minutes to escape…
GOODWILL: What can we do?
CADUCEUS: Listen Carefully.
A Bedroom in Toronto
Parker had situated himself at the computer, and tried to pull up Ultimate Central, but nothing would load. It seemed strange to him that the Emperor would personally disable a comic book message board, of all things, but it was futile to question the New World Order. He spoke to his Irish friend, Rob, through a video conference.
PARKER: It's bizarre that it's gone.
ROB: What's bizarre is that we're living under control of Supervillains! The news is afraid to call them that, but that is exactly what they are! Where are the heroes? Where are the Avatars?
PARKER: We shouldn't be talking about this here.. You know they monitor the internet for things like this.
ROB: I've heard rumors of an Underground… People trying to fight this. Some people say they are what became of the Avatars after the invasion.
PARKER: And what? We should join them?
ROB: That's
exactly what we should do, Parker.
PARKER: It's not like we have powers. This is ridiculous!
There was a laugh behind him, a laugh that chilled him to the bone. The screen of the computer flickered and turned black. Parker turned to find himself face to face with a purple-cloaked Angel with Jet-black hair.
DR.STRANGEFATE: So you want powers, do you?
PARKER: Who are you?
DR.STRANGEFATE: They call me the Good Doctor. I help people like you find their potential.
PARKER: Look, man… I don't want your help.
DR.STRANGEFATE: That, my friend, is not entirely up to you, I'm afraid.
With a flick of the Doctor's wrist, chains appeared out of the ether and coiled around the young man like snakes. A moment later, purple-pink energy filled the room, and they were gone. The computer screen flickered back on.
ROB: Parker? You there? Parker? Parker?!
A Bar in Middle America
Ultimate Quicksilver did five shots in half a second. He was fighting against his quickened metabolism, hoping for a moment of intoxication. He had been running for months, searching for clues, for answers. He'd re-explore the Canadian wilderness tomorrow.
ULTIMATE QUICKSILVER: Another five!
BARTENDER: You scare me, man.
As he poured them out, a shape flickered in the Bartender's shadow. One hand pointing back towards the bathroom. Ultimate Quicksilver blinked, rubbed his eyes, and re-examined the floor. The shadow hand gestured only more dramatically.
ULTIMATE QUICKSILVER: Hold onto those a moment…
He wandered hesitantly towards the back. Something insubstantial slipped under the door of the Men's room. Ultimate Quicksilver smiled as he entered.
ULTIMATE QUICKSILVER: He's back, isn't he?
SHADE:
yes.
Ultimate Quicksilver felt shadow engulf him for the first time in ages.
ULTIMATE QUICKSILVER: It's about time.
Location Unknown
Ourchair knew he was being followed as he approached the designated meeting place. As they had all practiced, he calmly led his stalker away from the others. By no means could he allow his peers to be revealed. They were Hidden, and needed to be so. He grasped at metal piping with his mind, ready to strike the man behind him. He walked into a dead-end alleyway.
OURCHAIR: Reveal yourself!
With a wave of magnetic energy, he wrapped the stalker in pipes and windowsills ripped from the window around him.
HELLSBUTTMONKEY: Man, what's your problem. Jesus…
He vomited lava, easily pushing aside the softened metal.
OURCHAIR: What… are you?
HELLSBUTTMONKEY: What do I look like, an Emu? I'm a demon. Strangefate sent me.
OURCHAIR: Strangefate has returned?!
HELLSBUTTMONKEY: No, I was only joking… Jeeze, nobody takes a demon seriously anymore.
OURCHAIR: Take me to him.
HELLSBUTTMONKEY: That was the general idea.
Cold fire surrounded the two, and they were gone.
The Moderating Council of 616 Central
DR.DOOMSDAY: He is a threat to everything we have secured, and everything we have planned over the next few years. Strangefate's power at present rivals that of our Emperor, and if his current plans succeed, he will be unstoppable.
Doomsday stood before the Moderating Council, with an image of Dr. Strangefate, his dark double, projected onto the wall behind him. The room was silent.
ICE: What do you sugg—
HOUDENMEYER: Wait, wait, wait… Doomsday, we all know how you like to stroke your ego, but why the hell should we believe Strangefate is this all powerful being when we know you're nowhere near that power level.
DR.DOOMSDAY: If we were dealing with him in the early stages of our invasion, as I originally suggested to this council, I would have been able to defeat my double without question... But due to certain lapses of judgment, we have waited for Strangefate to increase his power in triplicate. We needed to secure Caduceus, but he slipped through our fingers. He has accessed the Angel's power, not to mention the power of the paradoxical entity known as "Lil Kis".
HOUDENMEYER: Oh please, I don't want to hear any more of this metaphysical bull****.
DR.DOOMSDAY: Why they even let you attend these meeting after your consistent failure as a component to our plans is beyond me.
ICE: Settle down. This isn't going to devolve into a debate on whether magic does or does not exist. I'd like to mention that the Emperor believes in the abilities of both our Doctor and his duplicate.
DR.DOOMSDAY: Thank you.
LUNAR LORD: But Houdenmeyer brings up a good point. Why can't you get to the same power level as your double… At some base level, you're the same person.
DR.DOOMSDAY: I am a disciple of Order. White magic… I follow the rules of magic, Strangefate breaks them. Chaos is dangerous in magic, and it takes extraordinary ego to let yourself do that much damage to your soul. Strangefate wants immortality in this life. I want Immortality in the next. In most cases we wouldn't even be equals, the powers of the White are much more powerful than the black. Angelic power, however, is unspeakable. And this "Kis" being gave him reality warping powers. Even if my magic beats his, he could still easily destroy my body.
ICE: You make it sound like its hopeless.
DR.DOOMSDAY: I have a plan that would effectively disable him, not just displace him as we did last time.
ICE: What do you need?
DR.DOOMSDAY: Full access to our resources. And I will require one of Houdenmeyer's transdimensional gates.
HOUDENMEYER: Absolutely not.
ICE: Overruled.
DR.DOOMSDAY: We should also ready the foot-soldiers. I sincerely doubt Strangefate will be waging his war on his own. He has past associates within this group of unaccounted super-humans who have been causing so much trouble for us. We cannot allow ourselves to underestimate Dr. Strangefate.
ICE: Well, I think our course is clear. Any questions?
HOUDENMEYER: I Just—
ICE: Meeting adjourned.
Houdenmeyer stormed out of the room, muttering profanities at Dr. Doomsday. The others followed quietly, leaving the Doctor alone, staring at the projection on the wall. There was a blinking, popping noise, and her knew he was no longer alone.
DR.DOOMSDAY: You shouldn't be in here, Skott. Top ranking persons only.
SKOTT: I
was waiting outside, but somebody wanted to sulk in here a while, so I figured I'd come stop you.
DR.DOOMSDAY: How considerate.
Skott placed his hands on Doomsday's shoulders, massaging them gently.
SKOTT: You'll stop him. I know you can do it.
DR.DOOMSDAY: I wish I had your confidence…
Strangefate's Cottage
The bars of Goodwill's cell became more insubstantial as the Angel sang, just as he said they would. Pushing against them with all his bodyweight it didn't take long for him to make his way through.
GOODWILL: I'm out!
CADUCEUS: I need you to pull these stakes out of my hands and feet…
Goodwill eyed the staircase, then the Angel on the cross. He knew Strangefate would not be long. Every moment spent trying to save another was a moment wasted. He had spent what must have been years in the custody of the Devil Doctor.
CADUCEUS: If you get out of here on foot, they will catch you in a matter of minutes. If we get out of here together, I can assure they will not follow us. Now, hurry! They'll be back in moments.
With a quick movement of his arm, he knocked the tubes from the Angel's chest. Golden blood ran down its chest and splattered on the ground. It gave off a rosy, pleasant smell that disturbed Goodwill. It took every ounce of strength to remove the stakes, and every slight creak from above sent shivers down his spine. Time was running out.
CADUCEUS: Oh Lord, that feels good…
The angel climbed off the cross and stood on his own for the first time in months. His glow brightened and it seemed to Goodwill that he could hear choirs singing in the distance. The wounds healed almost instantly.
GOODWILL: We need to get out of here.
CADUCEUS: Hold onto me.
Goodwill did as commanded, and felt the angel's wings beat heavily. He expected a crash as they hit the ceiling, but none came. They passed through several feet of cement and found theirselves in a pleasant foyer, face to face with shadow. If one could read Shade's face at that moment, they would have seen panic in the servant's demeanor.
ULTIMATE QUICKSILVER: Is that an angel?!
HELLSBUTTMONKEY: Don't let it escape!
Jets of fire bellowed from the demon's breath towards the Angel and Goodwill. A blast of golden energy from Caduceus' fist kept the flames at bay. Another knocked open the front door to the house.
GOODWILL: Get us out of here!
The Angel flew out the doorway into open air and sunlight. A lamppost sprang to life in an attempt to tie Caduceus down, but missed entirely. As Caduceus picked up speed, he began to laugh. Goodwill caught on too, nearly crying with joy.
Back in the Cottage, Strangefate emerged in a flash of Purple-Pink energy with a gagged Parker thrashing in his arms. Shade appeared at his side at once to take the boy, and the Good Doctor stood to examine his surroundings.
DR.STRANGEFATE: What did I miss…
HELLSBUTTMONKEY: The ****ing Angel escaped with your little pet nemesis.
Strangefate's eyes flashed red as he scowled out the front door. With a wave of his hand, it shut. Loudly.
OURCHAIR: What's going on here, Sir?
ULTIMATE QUICKSILVER: Should we go after them?
DR.STRANGEFATE: It's certainly a setback, but nothing insurmountable. I'll explain everything over some dinner.
Shaking the negativity out of his mind, Strangefate smiled an evil smile.
DR.STRANGEFATE: And then I think we have some real work to do.
The Quarters of Dr. Doomsday
Skott-Kun watched Dr. Doomsday pace back and forth through their living area, determined to design the plan that would put an end to his duplicate.
DR.DOOMSDAY: It has to be perfect…
SKOTT: You're worrying yourself to death over this.
DR.DOOMSDAY: If I don't, then it will be my death.
Skott sighed and allowed himself to fall back onto the bed. He didn't like it when the Doctor got like this, caught up in worlds Skott would never truly understand. He didn't understand the difference between the light and dark magicks, it was all the same to him. He just didn't want anybody to get hurt. This instinct, more than anything else, put him on edge against The Emperor's plans. A perfect ordered world sounded great, but there was already so much death, and who knows how many more would die before it was over. And then what? Another world?
DR.DOOMSDAY: He wants to become God… And we need to be there before he can even reach the gates. Before that, though… Hmm…
SKOTT: What is it?
DR.DOOMSDAY: I think its about time I talked strategy with the guy upstairs…
SKOTT: I thought you already had the Emperor's approval.
DR.DOOMSDAY: Heh… I wasn't talking about the Emperor.
An Open Field, Midnight
Dr. Strangefate wore his purple cloak hood up, his wings outstretched reverently as he paced around the stone circle his men had constructed over the last few hours. At the center was a large, flat, circular stone, serving as an altar to their dark cause. On the rock sat a large black cauldron, in which sat Parker, shivering and afraid.
PARKER: What are you doing?! What do you people want from me?!!
HELLSBUTTMONKEY: For the moment, mostly, we just want you to shut the **** up.
The demon stuffed a sock in Parkers mouth, mumbling to himself about the cost of dragging elementals into all of this. Ourchair and Quicksilver had little concept of what was going on tonight. They stood in robes matching Strangefate's, waiting solemnly from outside the stone ring.
DR.STRANGEFATE: From the ground beneath me, I call on the powers of EARTH!
The Doctor flung a fistful of dirt at Parker, now crying in the ceremonial cauldron.
DR.STRANGEFATE: From the passion within me, I call on the powers of FIRE!
The Doctor waved his hand, and flames sprouted beneath the cauldron.
DR.STRANGEFATE: From the breaths of every living being, I call on the powers of WIND!
The Doctor flapped his wings, and a gust surrounded Parker, circling around him like a whirlwind.
DR.STRANGEFATE: From the tears of Gaeia, our Mother Earth, I call on the powers of WATER!
With another hand gesture, the cauldron filled with water. It began to boil instantly.
DR.STRANGEFATE: From the breast of the innocent, I call on the powers of HEART!
Without warning, the Good Doctor shoved his hand inexplicably into Parker's chest, a moment later it re-emerged with the young man's still-beating heart. Parker stared at it in horror as his consciousness fled. He dropped it into the boiling water, which began to glow in a number of colors. Orange. Red. White. Blue. Pink. Over and over, in rapid succession.
DR.STRANGEFATE: By these powers combined, I call on the elemental force. I call on PLANET-MAN!
The ground shook, and green light shone brightly across the open field. The cauldron had simply vanished. Where Parker had died, stood a new being. His hair had turned green, his skin turquoise. It was a bizarre sight. The sheer power of it proved too much for him, and Planet-Man fainted on the stone dais.
ULTIMATE QUICKSILVER: What has he done? What just happened?
The Good Doctor laughed and the redness of his eyes seemed to glow bright enough to light the scene in front of them.
DR.STRANGEFATE: I just picked up my ticket to heaven. Now we can begin.
ACT TWO
A Park, Many Miles from Strangefate's Cottage
GOODWILL: I've seen him building the army, but I never expected… He's going to try to take over Heaven? That's insane!
CADUCEUS: It won't be the first time someone's tried, but few have ever reached the sheer power of Strangefate. Without me, I'm not sure how he'll get into heaven…
GOODWILL: I'm still reeling from the fact that you're Caduceus… Who would've thought you were an Angel?
CADUCEUS: Fallen Angel.
GOODWILL: Still!
CADUCEUS: We need to find out what Strangefate is planning. We know the goals, but not the method… He needs to be stopped.
GOODWILL: Well, yes, he does…
CADUCEUS: We've each been in his grasp for too long. You must want to see him fail, crush his dreams once and for all.
GOODWILL: Alright… Alright, already, you've sold me.
CADUCEUS: I can follow his energy trail to his last stop. From there we should be able to figure out where to go next.
Strangefate's Cottage
The Good Doctor led his entourage into the ballroom beneath his humble abode. Golden blood lay in puddles on the floor, and the portraits on the wall who had not yet grown their wings looked sadly down upon the men.
HELLSBUTTMONKEY: Looks like a solid quarter of them didn't get a chance to finish the transformation.
OURCHAIR: This is incredible… Each of those portraits contains a living being?
DR.STRANGEFATE: They certainly do. My army… My longest and greatest achievement. Virtually every sorcerer and magic user on the planet grace these walls. Some of them I trained myself, others I merely collected. They are essential in the next stage of my plan.
ULTIMATE QUICKSILVER: What is it exactly that you plan to do?
DR.STRANGEFATE: It's quite simple, I plan to become God.
PLANET-MAN: What?!
Planet-man had been moved to Goodwill's cage upon their return to Strangefate's home. He paced within the bars, incredulous to what he was hearing.
PLANET-MAN: That's insane!
DR.STRANGEFATE: Just because a man has a little ambition, he's called insane… Such a strange world it is.
He laughed, still examining the broken tubes and wires that had once hooked up to the Angel Caduceus.
OURCHAIR: I don't mean to subvert your… grand schemes, but now that you're back, why don't you first focus on taking down the Empire.
DR.STRANGEFATE: Politics don't interest me… There are factions within their ranks who will be addressed in the coming days, but once I achieve my goal, The Emperor will mean nothing to me. I will not only crush him under my foot, but send him to the fiery nowhere.
HELLSBUTTMONKEY: The Fiery Nowhere's overrated. I'd take the Desert of the Damned, or the Labyrinth of Terror over the Fiery Nowhere any day of the week.
OURCHAIR: Sir, I just think—
DR.STRANGEFATE: You have your own Hidden agendas now, my disciple. Don't think I'm not aware. Keep at it, do what you feel you must. I shall assist the faithful from my new seat of power.
HELLSBUTTMONKEY: Alright, Doc, but let's be clear here… We're down by ¼ of your army at the moment. Caduceus really ****ed things up.
DR.STRANGEFATE: No, it just leads to the other obvious solution to the problem. We shall hook me up to finish the process.
PLANET-MAN: I think I've gone insane…
DR.STRANGEFATE: Not yet, my friend. Certainly not yet.
ULTIMATE QUICKSILVER: And what do we do about this cross?
Strangefate's eyes burned red.
DR.STRANGEFATE: Chop it up for firewood.
As Shade attached the tubes with Hellsbuttmonkey, Strangefate couldn't help but laugh. He felt it. It was coming. So close now, he could almost feel it.
A Bedroom in Toronto
CADUCEUS: Can you find anything?
The Angel stood with Goodwill in the fairly ordinary bedroom of a college-aged kid. There was nothing to indicate why Strangefate would have come here. Why he would have chosen some random person named Parker.
CADUCEUS: Check the computer.
GOODWILL: Ten steps ahead of you…. It looks like he was talking to someone named Rob. It looks like he's from Dublin.
CADUCEUS: Sounds like a good place to start.
Professor Houdenmeyer's Sub-Base
Hundreds of soldiers poured out of the series of jets landing continuously in Houdenmeyer's backyard. He had initially set off his defense modules to keep the men from entering his compound, but The Emperor must have overridden the codes himself. From one of the planes, following the soldiers, Dr.Doomsday arrived, with Skott-Kun at his side.
Houdenmeyer ran up as if to greet him. His scowl told Doomsday everything he needed to hear.
HOUDENMEYER: I resent you for this, Doomsday. This is my work. My lab. You have no right to be here.
DR.DOOMSDAY: I have every right to be here. This lab belongs to the Empire, and we are fighting to preserve it. Put your petty differences aside, and fall in line.
HOUDENMEYER: Don't you tell me what to do! This is my post!
DR.DOOMSDAY: I have been put in control for the time being. Provisional command of this base until the crisis is over. If you have a problem with that, take it up with the Empire.
HOUDENMEYER: Oh, I certainly will.
The crooked scientist scrambled off to his telecommunications center. Skott winced with exaggeration once he had turned his back. Doomsday stifled a laugh.
SKOTT: He creeps me right the **** out.
DR.DOOMSDAY: You and me both, babe.
Dublin, Ireland
He had been trying to tell Parker. Trying to tell him for months. All those hints at joining the resistance, all those direct mentions of becoming better than who they had ever been before. Rob started training the day the Red Star came. He pushed his mind, He pushed his body, He pushed everything he had within him, and had become something greater. Something more than himself.
He called himself Gothamite.
A scream one rooftop and an alley away from where he was standing. He ran. He jumped. A grappling hook took him all the way to where he needed to go.
MUGGER: What the...
Gothamite slammed his fist into the mugger's face, knocking him over onto his back. He turned to hand the young woman her purse.
WOMAN: Who are you?
GOTHAMITE: I am Gothamite, the Night Spirit of Dublin.
With another shot of his grappling hook, he found himself back on the rooftops. This time he wasn't alone. Rob wasn't excessively religious, but he could not help but sign the cross with an Angel standing just a few feet away from him.
GOODWILL: We're looking for a kid named Parker.
GOTHAMITE: Planet-man? Parker from Canada? What are you looking here for, I talked to him earlier today.
CADUCEUS: What did you call him?
GOTHAMITE: Planet-Man, its his online tag… On Message Boards and whatnot.
CADUCEUS: Of course…
GOODWILL: What is it?
CADUCEUS: Names have power. If you name yourself something artificial, you are choosing the power that comes with that name. Strangefate is going to turn this kid into Planetary Elemental.
GOODWILL: So what?
CADUCEUS: With that, he'll be able to break back into limbo and march into the gates of Heaven. He's going to create a Transdimensional Gate.
GOTHAMITE: Am I getting this straight? Parker's been captured?
CADUCEUS: Yes, and if you'll excuse us, we need to find our own gate before we run out of time.
GOTHAMITE: Take me with you.
Caduceus looked at Goodwill and shrugged, Goodwill looked at Caduceus and shrugged. The Angel wrapped his wings around the three of them. They disappeared with a flash of light.
Strangefate's Cottage
Planet-Man could feel the water moving deep beneath the ballroom in which he was locked. He had begun to realize that he could vaguely control the temperature around him. He wondered how many more tricks he had up his sleeve, and whether he'd get the chance to use them. The future looked increasingly grim, especially as this Dark Angel bestowed his blood to the final paintings.
DR.STRANGEFATE: I had almost forgot what pain felt like
The Doctor winced as the blood pumped out of his body through the various arcane tunnels bestowing his angelic gift to his children, his army. The others were on guard and tense. A weakened Strangefate could do very little to help their cause.
Planet-man saw his chance to act. He pulled up the forces of the earth in a vile rush. Water and rock made for an impressive Golem. The rock-creature made its way towards Strangefate, smashing the hardwood floors beneath it with every step.
DR.STRANGEFATE: Keep it away from me! We can't allow him to stop the blood transfer!
Water was gushing out onto the floor, coming alive at points in an attempt to drown Hellsbuttmonkey and Ourchair. Ultimate Quicksilver ran around the room, creating a whirlwind of water, desperate to save his teammates. Planet-man took control of the whirlwind, turning it inwards on the speedster. The sudden rush of water knocked him unconscious. The Golem continued to advance.
With a wave of Strangefate's hand Five Finished Portraits leapt to life, diving on the Golem, using their magicks to return it to a pile of rubble. Strangefate followed this up with a purple pink blast of energy at Planet-man, knocking him out cold.
HELLSBUTTMONKEY: That was close.
The Demon spat dirty water onto the floor, still shaken. Ourchair did his best to resuscitate Ultimate Quicksilver. The former portraits flew in circles around the ceiling, rejoicing in their newfound freedom.
DR.STRANGEFATE: Bind him tighter, I'll weave my spells to keep his powers ineffectual. We can't afford any more mishaps. We have a war to win.
Heaven
The Archangel, Michael looked down upon the real world. Things were happening, and quickly.
MICHAEL: It's really quite amazing. Both sides have pulled together entire leagues of extraordinary gentlemen. Strangefate's array in particular is worrisome. He represents beings from Earth, from Hell, and from Heaven. How can you stop the Man who has everything?
The heavenly creature knew not to expect a reply. The throne was often quiet these days, but he knew that it was watching these men closely. The rumbling voice was a surprise then, adding only gravity and fear to this unusual occasion.
A VOICE OF FIRE: So it begins…
TO BE CONTINUED
