Marvel_Zombie Lad: Into the Void, Part 6
Benjamin R Pierce
MARVEL_ZOMBIE LAD: INTO THE VOID
Part 6
Marvel_Zombie lad was immediately aware of two things when he awoke. The
first was that he had a splitting headache. The second was that there was
precious little he could do about it, since he was securely strapped into
a big, clunky, impossibly complex machine of some sort. Craning his neck to
bboth sides, he could just make out the figures of Picasso, Rabid Beaver,
and Scrap Iron Man flanking him. They, too, were strapped down.
"Good morning, my arch-enemy!" A crow of triumph caused his attention to turn
to the environment around him. On a raised platform some distance away stood
the i-Mage, the one responsible for MZL's current predicament. In the center
of the platform, by the Mage, stood a seven-foot high-tech coffinlike device.
By straining, Marvel_Zombie Lad could just make out a vague shadowy humanoid
form inside. But it was the...thing the platform hovered in midair above that
really caught the eye. A massive, swirling whirlpool of multicolored energy,
constantly radiating a sound that seemed to penetrate to the very bones...this
could only be the Vortex.
The i-Mage's voice brought him back to reality. "I just thought you might like
to know exactly what it is I'm going to do, now that I've beaten you and your
feeble friends," he gloated. "What you see below you is known as the Vortex,
the interface between this and all other universes. It is the single greatest
source of raw power concievable. And I will use that power to create the
ultimate weapon..."
"Weapon Z?" suggested Rabid Beaver.
"No, NOT Weapon Z!" The i-Mage scowled in momentary irritation, but quickly
resumed his triumphant grin. "The weapon I speak of will be the most vicious,
most powerful, most mass-marketable warrior in the history of comics! With
him under my command, I cannot fail to dominate the LNH Looniverse, and then,
ALL the universes! ...but I need a little help. And that, my friends, is
where you come in."
"Hoo boy..." muttered Scrap Iron Man. "I don't think I'm gonna like this..."
"You see, in order to access the power of the Vortex, I need a substantial
activating energy surge. Naturally, I could provide this with my own awesome
powers, but it might tax them beyond even my endurance. So instead, I will
use YOUR powers...your very life forces...to begin the process which will
bring my creation into being. You should consider yourselves fortunate..."
Marvel_Zombie Lad blinked. "Fortunate? Why!?! We're about to be sacrificed
to create some cheesy knock-off of the Ultimate Ninja!"
The i-Mage laughed in triumph. "No, my old foe! This will be the ULTIMATE
knock-off of the Ultimate Ninja! And as an integral part of his origin,
your back issue sales are about to go through the roof!" His hand hovered
only inches away from the lever which would start the process...
"Waitaminit," hollered Rabid Beaver, "I don't even HAVE any back issues!"
The i-Mage paused for a moment and frowned, then shrugged. "Sucks to be you."
He pulled the lever.
Instantly, Marvel_Zombie Lad was seized by the most incredible agony he had
ever known. Every fiber of every muscle in his body seemed to be dying all
at once...which was pretty impressive, seeing as how they were already dead.
He could only imagine what it must be like for the others...and through the
thin red haze of pain, he could still hear the i-Mage's gleeful cackle of
triumph. But there was something else, too...
"Marvel_Zombie Lad..."
Somebody was calling him!
"Yeah, somebody's calling you. You're real perceptive. Now listen up."
MZL recognized the ghostly, disembodied voice of the Behinder. "You're in
a lot of trouble. Matter of fact, so are all of us. If this gizmo does its
work, it's gonna suck the Fandom Zone dry. So I need you to stop it."
"How?" gritted Marvel_ZOmbie Lad through clenched teeth.
"How else? You are the possessor of the Angst-Factor and the Fire Which
Sears Men's Soles. He wants power? Give him power!"
Suddenly, Marvel_Zombie Lad understood. Marshalling all his will to concentrate
through the pain, he let the power build within him...and then unleashed it,
a massive surge of raw angst energy which screamed down the power conduits into
the i-Mage's siphon. Immediately, it began to spark and crackle.
"You FOOL!" screamed the i-Mage. "What have you done!? Without that siphon,
I can't control the process! We'll all be destroyed!"
But the undead avenger wasn't listening. The power surge had shorted out
the shackles which held him and his companions, and he could see them grimly
staggering out of the machine as he did the same. "Okay, guys," he said,
"If we're going to go down, let's go down fighting!" Summoning the last
dregs of his power, he began to stalk grimly towards the pale, fear-stricken
i-Mage. "It's finished, Mage!"
"Not yet!" The i-Mage swiftly moved to his coffin. "You may have denied me
the full power of the Vortex, but my creation is still powerful enough to deal
with the likes of YOU!" His finger jabbed a large red button, and the coffin
lid began to slide open. A massive figure stepped out through the mists,
clad in a blood red and night black costume bedecked with bandoliers, pads,
spikes, chains, and countless weapons of every description. He flexed his
massive muscles and glowered at Marvel_Zombie Lad and his companions.
"Come forth," cried the i-Mage. "Come forth...BATTLEWARKILLBLOODSLAYSTRIKE!"
The massive BattleWasKillBloodSlayStrike let out a howl of rage and began
to lurch forward, step after ponderous step. As he moved, he seemed to grow
more sure of his footing. "Guys, I think we're in trouble..." muttered MZL.
"There's one chance," said Picasso tensely, "If we can destroy the hover-
disks on the bottom of the platform, it'll fall into the Vortex, and take
them with it."
"Good plan...but how do we keep from falling in, too?" Picasso shrugged.
Marvel_Zombie Lad winced. "I thought so. Oh, well...let's do it!"
The four battered heroes leaped forward. "Destroy them," howled the i-Mage,
"Destroy them ALL!" It was only then that he realized that their target was
not him and his companion, but rather the platform itself. "What are you...
no!" Adamantuim teeth bit deep into one of the disks, shredding it in
instants. "Stop!!" Reverse magnetism ripped another free of its housing.
"You can't!" A lajatang blow sliced the third in half. "NOOOOOO!"
As Marvel_Zombie Lad channeled a pure blast of angst into the last, the platform
lurched sickeningly, then pitched forward into the void. The last thing he saw
was blinding color, as he fell...fell...
His fall came to an abrupt stop as he crashed to the ground. Three more thuds
told him that his companions had made it, as well. But where were they! Marvel
_Zombie Lad leaped to his feet, ready to fight, as he realized that they were
surrounded...
..by the other Legionnaires?
Yes! Somehow, against all odds, the Vortex had dumped them in the middle of
one of the LNHQ training rooms! "But where's the i-Mage!?"
"Gone," said Rabid Beaver, "Flake must not have made it. Either that, or he's
in another universe."
Marvel_Zombie Lad was about to say something else when he suddenly realized
that he was still surrounded by the rest of the Legion, or at least the members
whose training session he had just disrupted. "Uhh, guys, I'd like you to meet
some friends of mine..."
Meanwhile, in an alley somewhere in Net.York City, a sudden flash of light went
unnoticed. So did the two looming figures who pulled themselves up out of the
rubble. "I will have my revenge for this..." rasped one of the figures...
END
Rebecca Drayer
have the power to one degree or another these days. :-)
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Rebecca A. Drayer, EMT-A | dra...@minerva.cis.yale.edu
(a.k.a Organic Lass of the LNH) | Silliman College, Yale University
"Death cannot stop True Love. All it can do is delay it a bit."
- The Princess Bride
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