[LNH] The Team #25
Jess Willey
A Night in The Darkness - The Conclusion.
Death is Not The End.
By Jesse N. Willey
The traitor had waited a long time for this. He'd had to wait till
their forces were depleted, then wipe them out. It had been the reason
he joined them in the first place... to tear them apart. But why The
Team? Why not Teenfactor? His psychic forecasts had predicted
Teenfactor would no longer be a problem when the time for action was
right. There were only two of them at Team Headquarters tonight, and
only seven of them left. In a matter of seconds there would be even
fewer. He telekinetically held his faux team mates in place.
"You! But you're one of us!" Holly yelled.
"Or so you believed," Brain Boy said. "So you believed."
"I think I know what's going on... I read his LNH file. You've never
been Brain Boy at all, you're his evil twin Brain-O!" Alison shouted.
"Close, but no cigar. I told you... my name is Carter Darson. I am
more than either of them could ever hope of becoming," Carter said.
Carter reached his psychic tendrils into The Nothing, and grabbed the
quasi dimensional pocket. He understood it. Scientists and
philosophers had named it a hundred times over in the past two
millenniums. The Big Crunch, Dark Energy, Oblivion... and too many
others. It had another name. One known only to the non-substance. It
was the Birthdeath.
Whatever it was, it filled his being. It permeated
his soul. It appeared to him that the world was burning. The power was
beyond his scope to control, but he wanted more. But then he felt her,
the Greek psiwitch, trying to take it from him. Instinctively he
reached out for her telekinetically.
Alison saw her hand waiver in and out of existence in the air. It was
if tweezers were pulling her body onto the astral plane molecule by
molecule. whole body felt numb.
"What are you doing to me?" Alison asked as she wobbled up and down.
"Nothing, compared what I'm going to do to your friend," Carter said.
At the point Alison was so spread out on the astral plane that she
lost most of her awareness. She gave the void a strong push. She hoped
to pull herself back together and beat Carter. She began pounding and
pounding.
"Argggggh!" Carter yelled.
Holly felt the telekinetic arms release her. She ran, only to come
face to face with The Grey Phantom's shiny antiproton (gun?).
"Carter! What the hell are you doing? Use too much of that stuff now,
and you'll blow us all out of existence," Grey Phantom said.
Carter stared at him and smiled.
"Shit!" Grey Phantom said. "You're with us now, Lucky Girl."
"What's the problem... we're in the control room. We've tripped our
old back door program, and regained control. This place is ours
again," Gasmaster said.
"Our problem, ol' pal, is Carter. He's started his
energy feast," Grey Phantom said.
"Shit!"
************
Carter paused his hunt for Holly just for a moment. He heard his
communication card go off. He couldn't let any of the others think
there was a problem, at least not just yet. When Holly was out of the
way... bring them all on.He let himself smile, in an almost nice
looking fashion, and then switched the communications card on.
"Yo! Patient Zero! Absurd Lass! What's up?" Brain Boy asked.
"Can I tell him? Please?? Please?" Absurd Lass asked.
"We've got an incoming invasion by the Enobi in Las Vegas," Sam said,
ignoring his partner.
"You never let me tell them anything," Absurd
Lass pouted.
"Ouch! We kind of have our hands full here. You did read about the
school massacre didn't you?" Brain Boy asked. (See Issues #20-#22)
"No, we've been a bit busy," Patient Zero replied.
"Well, out of one crisis into another. We'll send someone when we can.
Over and out."
************
In the office of Andrew Weinstein, the young billionaire (or quite
possibly trillionaire, depending on who you asked) sat thinking. If
his computers readings on the dimensional energy pocket were correct,
and his vast array alien sensors seemed to be confirming them, a
cosmic event of biblical proportions was about to take place.
"Computer begin subspace engine protocol Weinstein Charlie Bravo,"
Andrew said to thin air.
"Security protocol engaged," the computer said with its normal lack of
human feeling.
The door opened. Ellie, his secretary and life long friend, walked in.
She glared at him with her blue green eyes. It was almost hypnotic. He
admitted, if only to himself, to having been in love with her in his
adolescence, before the accident.
"Andrew, what are you doing? The whole building is on level one
security lock down!" Ellie asked. "The
kids in the daycare center are panicking."
"What am I doing? I'm seeking shelter from the storm," Andrew said.
"You're scaring me," she whispered.
"It's happening too soon. I brought Henkerton in as a last ditch
attempt to stop it... but I was too late," Andrew said. "Luckily,
only a fool doesn't have a back up plan and it has been a long while
since anyone has called me a fool."
"Andrew, what are you talking about?" Ellie said.
"The transcosmic event. It's all in those notes I have encoded for
Level X only.... and then written in Enobiese which no human aside
myself is capable of reading," Andrew said. "As for what I'm doing..."
"Subspace shunt complete... all Weinstein Technologies buildings
connected to Project: Zeta Bravo have been relocated into preset
Perpendicular plane of reality," the computer said.
"What's this all about?" Ellie asked.
"I'm sure that will be all be made clear shortly," Andrew said.
"Now... where's that peperoni pizza I ordered from the food processor?"
************
Emil Doritron returned to his work. The brief visit by Boy Redundant
Lad had distracted him. It made him wonder why he was doing what he
did with his `free time'.
"Long have I pondered the advice I gave to Rick Henkerton. I sent the
boy to Weinstein's, not for help, but to keep him out of the way. I've
had very little contact with The Dark Conclave these days, but I still
believe in the cause. Their objective to save humanity, not from some
sort of external evil, but from humanity itself. Cliched yes, but the
truth often becomes cliche. However, in recent months the war on the
`good guys' has become too personal in the eyes of some of the
members. Conductress, Gasmaster and Grey Phantom have changed the
mission... to eliminate their spawn, The Team members Mystery and
Duplicator. At least one of their children will be spared the torment
of facing off against their progenitor in a battle to the death.
Weinstein will no doubt con Henkerton into running a mission for
him... and Henkerton can not resist bringing Mystery with him,"
Doritron mused.
(And Emil is right. See Patient Zero and Absurd Lass #5)
"Hey Emil, I'm locking up," Blanca said.
"Okay... I'll continue my experiment here tonight... it's at a rather
delicate point," Doritron said.
Blanca Variel, the medical facilities secretary, did not suspect a
thing. No one alive had ever suspected anything. Doritron had been
certain his nephew Jerome would have figured it out eventually. Emil
had been lucky. The demons had offed poor Jerome at precisely the
right time. Now there was one little trace of his
nephew's legacy to destroy.
To: Augu...@VAGMed.com
From: Dori...@VAGMed.com
Subject: Concerning Autumn Gully
She's not what she seems. I have come across these documents of
Jerome's. Thought you might be interested. For Ashley's sake.
Attachment: Gullyjournal40196.doc
************
"The Present," The Time Crapper muttered to himself in a dimensional
void. It was the turning point. It would decide the fate of a
universe. Would this batch have what it takes to break the cycle of
time? He so wanted it to end. He turned to face one of his echoes of
the now. A glimpse of what some the heroes on his chess board of time
were doing.
************
"No time like the present... I just got an emergency call from Holly.
We're under attack at headquarters. You three feel like fighting for
your home?" Mystery asked.
"You mean march like soldiers into an obviously lost cause? Look death
in the face and spit in it again?!" Absurd Lass replied.
"Afraid so," Mystery replied.
"Let's ride!" Absurd Lass yelled.
************
"No, I don't think you can do it," The Time Crapper said, almost
sadly. "I don't think you can."
Then off in the distance, a series of buildings that had never arrived
before, began shimmering in the distance. A large `W' was visible
from three hundred feet away. The Crapper smiled.
"Weinstein! Ha ha! The little bugger might be good for something after
all," The Time Crapper muttered with a gruff laugh.
"Prepare for hyperspace corridor," Boy Redundant
Lad's present echo whispered.
************
The corridor opened and Mystery, Boy Redundant Lad, Patient Zero and
Absurd Lass walked through. The Team Headquarters looked half torn
apart. The coffee table and chairs were wrecked beyond repair. Absurd
Lass looked angry.
"The invaders smashed the TV!" she screamed. "And there was a good
movie on Cable tonight!"
"I just know I'm some how I'm gonna take the blame for this," Patient
Zero sighed.
"Sam! How could you just let this happen?" Absurd Lass snapped.
"I dunno... I was kinda busy saving the planet from getting blown up."
Behind the wrecked control panel, there was a loud thump. Almost as if
a six foot rat was running behind it. They heroes turned to see The
Dark Conclave's endless attacker, The Eggman ran out, pointing a
blaster at Absurd Lass.
"Make one move against us, and I'll incinerate her," Eggman laughed.
"Who is this us?" Absurd Lass said. "I'm spoken for."
The others stared at her as if she were the stupidest person on the
planet. The knew that somewhere in the complex Eggman had at least
half a dozen of his retractable clones, not to mention other members
of The Dark Conclave.
"Yo! Eggie!" came Grey Phantom's voice over the comm
system. "Change of plans. Carter's about to blow his
top."
************
There was a very low probability that Carter could have taken in so
much of this dark energy without blowing out the entire space/time
continuum. The universe was being held together by luck of one young
woman. Holly Rogers was a very lucky girl. In fact her super human
powers literally made luck.
"You know how this is going to end. Eventually, you're gonna reach
your breaking point, and I'll win. Why continue this battle of wills?
It's pointless," Carter sneered.
She didn't answer. It was taking all of her concentration to contain
the anti-existence. She barely even pondered his words. He wouldn't
understand. She fought because she had to. She'd known it since the
day she arrived in this warped version of reality.
Carter released a psibolt. Holly's mind began to spin. He was right.
This was the breaking point. Her improbability field had reach a
plateau it had never reached before. One she could not reach. Someone
or something was amping it to one out of 1: 18004003125.
The universe began to tear itself apart. She felt the hands of time
grabbing her. Removing her from a universe she had almost learned to
call home. She knew he was there. The man who had set all this in
motion. The only man truly trying to stop it. His name was the Time
Crapper.
************
The Time Crapper stood before Andrew. The young genius business man
was not afraid.His face appeared to show no emotion whatsoever. He
waved his hand, signalling Ellie to leave. The Crapper was surprised.
He was the type of cosmic being who expected awe at his mere presence.
"Coffee, tea, a drink?" Andrew asked.
"What?" The Time Crapper asked in shock.
"Alright. Let us skip the pleasantries then. You, being everyone who
does or possibly could exist, with the exception of Sky Waters and
Holly Rogers, know what I know. That there is a way to limit the range
of this destruction to a very small area," Andrew stated coldly. "The
only question that comes to my mind is why would you need my help."
The Time Crapper remained silent.
"That only confirms my suspicions," Andrew said. "That was much as
you control time, it also controls you. You are the mouse and the
mousetrap. An endless cacophony of infinite upon infinite voices all
torn toward in an infinite number of directions, each pursuing their
own private agendas. You need one voice, one mind, to guide you,
neigh, make the right decisions for you. In a time of crisis, such as
this, you need a mind of reason. A mind unhindered by indecision. A
mind capable of reasoning in a least five dimensions. It's left you
with very few choices. So you turned to me."
"Don't flatter yourself Weinstein. After all, the reason you aren't
hindered by indecision is because you are unhindered by such things
like ethics or morality," Crapper growled.
"Drastic times call for drastic measures. Certainly you realize that.
You also know that I don't come cheap. I want a few favors in return."
"Like?"
"Only buildings and project headquarters that are essential to saving
Sig.ago, before and after the disaster, be located in the city.
Everything else be moved elsewhere," Andrew said with a wide eyed
smile.
"But... you already had that..." Time Crapper said.
"Yes but I, unlike you, know how that got to be," Andrew snidely
remarked. "Secondly, I want you to save the Big Boy's Kid. He's going
to show up at The Team's headquarters very shortly. Now... in order to
limit the damage, you must temporarily raise Holly Roller's power
level."
"That's what I've always done. That doesn't break the chain," Crapper
said.
"Listen to the voice of me inside you. You've always
known the truth. It isn't your chain that endangers reality. It is
constant attempts to break it," Andrew said with a gleam in his eye.
"P-parts of me believe that. Those that I am but am not don't
understand," Crapper remarked.
"Your Ouroboros is not a curse. It's a blessing. God may have decided
to let there be light, but you my friend, you decide whether not the
power company shuts it off. You want to quit being Time Crapper, but
you want to world to live to see tomorrow. I know a way to help. Trust
me," Andrew said.
"I don't know if I can."
"In the end, you might have to," Andrew whispered.
************
Officer Chesterfield arrived home. It had been a rough night. The mess
down at the high school the night before had left him just coming out
of an eighteen hour shift. His reflexes were still quick, but he
needed rest. He heard a loud fumbling noise from the kitchen, and he
readied his nightstick.
"Don't move!" he yelled.
He found himself staring down on someone he had met many times while
on the job. The former hero known as The Duplicator. The question that
sprang to Chesterfield's mind was `what the hell was he doing at my
house?'
"Whoa! Dad. Calm down.... they... they need me out there tonight,"
Duplicator responded.
"Josh? Huh? What?"
"We'll talk later," Joshua replied.
************
It had been a week, and the hero known as Night Knight had not yet
adjusted to the fall of Monark. He sat pondering it's meaning in his
small Spartan quarters. The other group of heroes had just arrived out
of nowhere to help them to help them topple their foe. When the evil
king's base was going to be destroyed, and Night Knight's life lost,
the one called Brain Boy saved him. (See The Team #11- 13) He had been
brought to their world, albeit briefly, and then returned. It had
always seemed a bit too convenient for his taste.
//Of course it was//
"Huh?" Night Knight said. "Who's there?"
//It is I... Brain Boy. I'm using my psionic powers to reach across
space and time to deliver you this simple message. //
Night Knight's mind began to receive an image. It was everything. It
was nothing. The ability to create or destroy a universe. Some even
thought of it as a micro-universe. It was a powerful thing. It was a
powerless thing. Night Knight knew it was his to command and
control... or did it command and control him?
"I... I understand," Night Knight replied.
The Mystic Might walked out of his room. He walked down the hallway to
the lounge. Kid Saturn sat their eating a doughnut. Knight Night
grimaced.
"Hey Night Knight! What's up?" Kid Saturn said.
"Oblivion!" The Knight responded.
A mystic blast erupted from Knight Night's hands. He barely missed
Kid Saturn, who went sailing off his chair. The startled gestalt life
form got up.
"Knight, that was not funny. You want a game, we'll go to the training
room. But remember, I'm vulnerable to magic," Kid Saturn said.
"I know," The Knight replied as another blast burst from his hands.
Kid Saturn's soul was torn from his body and Night Knight began to
drink. "Game over."
************
The Duplicator headed towards The Team's headquarters. Part of him was
wondering what the hell he was doing. After the Overlord incident, he
had sworn he would put his costume on again. He walked through the
park and noticed an old lady sitting on a park bench. Three men with
long chains were heading toward her. He quickly hid behind a tree.
"Alright Granny, hand over all your money!" one of the men yelled.
Duplicator hopped out of the tree's shadow. Before he could said `Not
in my town' in a heroic way, a man with shiny golden helmet, gloves
and boots stood in front of the men. The golden helmeted man faced the
palm of his hands toward the hoodlums. He pressed his thumb inwards
creating a compressed force beam that knocked them the ground. As he
tied the crooks up, police sirens sounded in the distance. The golden
helmeted man jetted off from the scene.
'Who was that Silent Avenger?' Duplicator thought to himself.
************
In a section of heaven, beyond the descriptive capability of mortal
kind, The High Chorus of Angels were preparing for a conference with
God. They were preparing for War. It was the type of decision that
hadn't been made since Lucifer's falling. This war was darker.
"We cannot go to war there. The Consul of Godly Entities has declared
it off limits!" Michael declared. "Going behind God's back would
surely get us cast out of Heaven."
"By Noah's Beard! Certainly you understand what is at stake here. If
one of us doesn't go down there and help The Team, there might not be
a Heaven to get cast out of. This is the time of prophecy. I am
speaking of the Armageddon. The end of all things," a cloaked figure
said.
"Jesus, do you have to be so melodramatic?" Michael
snapped.
"Yes, I do," the cloaked figure said. "And if you refuse to help me,
I'll take up audience with my father. I'm sure he..."
"That's always the way with you. `Look, it's Satan in disguise. Daddy,
Help me!' or `I'm getting crucified. Daddy, help me!" Michael
chuckled.
Jesus walked left the room, into God's personal chamber.
"Father? Father? Where are You?" he asked.
************
Reality unwove. The fabric of being collapsed as Holly vanished. In
her place stood a little boy who resembled the statue inside one of
Big Boy's restaurants. He looked divinely innocent. The angry snarl
that crept across his face did seem to be one of total rage, but
rather retribution.
"Carter Darson, I believe you know who I am?" the boy said.
"Not in the slightest."
"I am God."
"Then you are creation. You are nothing," Carter
replied.
"Don't talk in riddles," God replied.
"Why not? You always do," Carter grimaced.
God made a slight harumphing sound. His eyes began to glow. In his
younger days, before he had children, he would have laid the smackdown
on the upstart and be done with it. He wished he could still be that
person.
"But I still can be. I am omnipotent after all," he muttered.
"Yes, but can you make a rock bigger than you can lift, and then lift
it? Let's find out!" Carter chuckled.
He let go of the energy. And the world exploded. The Team
Headquarters was totalled. Many of The Teamers were obliterated by
the resulting energy wave. Over a million people top side lost their
lives.
The entire city was devastated.
"Good God! They're all dead!" Rick cried.
"Yes... and I too am dying," God replied.
God himself disappeared into nothing.
"He'll be safe.... in time," Holly said as she walked up behind Rick.
"They are all dead... dead..." Rick muttered.
"Aren't you gonna ask how I got here..." she asked, but Rick cut her
off.
"dead, dead dead..."
"I guess not," Holly replied.
************
Epilogue
Rick kept stuttering about his friends' deaths. Wads of snot streamed
from his nose, as tears fell down his cheeks. Andrew walked up behind
him. The busniness man pressed a few buttons on his watch. Rick began
to calm down. His mind turned only to the wreckage.
"I feel... " Rick said.
"... nothing. I know. My watch is emitting a signal which causes the
nanites to disrupt the biochemical processes for emotion in your
brain," Andrew said.
"Wait... are you telling me you can manipulate my thoughts... my
emotions? If you wanted your nanites back so much, why didn't you
manipulate my thoughts before?"
Andrew smiled. "Who's to say I didn't?"
"Wait... what are you saying?" Rick asked.
"Nothing... look. I've got your next assignment. My friends at the
Federal Emergency Management Agency have asked for parahuman support
to round up any of the surviving super villain population. Find a
bunch of your friends and start taking care of it. I've got your first
recruit right here," Andrew remarked. He handed a watch to Rick, that
look a lot like the watch Andrew wore.
"My new teammate is a watch?"
"Press the activate button."
As Rick pressed the button, a man-like figure of black quasimatter
filled with hundreds of ones and zeroes materialised in front of him.
"Yo! Rick, howzit going?" the man said.
"Sky?" Rick asked.
"Nope... I'm Virtual Man. I was created from the neural records from
Team Headquarters VR simulator. Pretty neat, huh?"
"Yeah, neat," Rick grumbled. "Look, Weinstein. I don't like you, or
the way you operate."
"Yes, but you need me and my resources. If I don't vouch for you and
your group, FEMA operatives have orders to shoot you on sight," Andrew
replied. "So you either play ball or fly right up to Heaven."
"You wanted me to build a team. The Team was built on trust. I don't
trust you," Rick Henkerton said.
"Like I told The Time Crapper earlier, some day you might have to. Now
if you excuse me, I have to catch an air cruiser. I have a concert to
attend."
Rick switched off Virtual Man, and was left alone. He began to cry.
He had spent so long... years... building his life. Making his world
something worth living for. Right when he had begun to enjoy it, it
had vanished. He wasn't grieving for the million or so who died. He
wasn't even grieving for all the friends he had lost. Only name came
to his lips.
"Ameila," he whispered.
"She's not gone. You'll see her again... sooner than you might think,"
came an eerie whisper.
"Wh-who's there?" Rick said as he turned around.
"I am Morte, one of the seven faces of death. Your lover, is not
dead...."
"... as long as I remember her. I've heard that kinda crap before. I
know who you are. I know you're full of crap," Rick yelled.
"You will see her again. Soon," Morte said reassuringly.
************
The Time Crapper didn't know how to classify his latest acts.
Patricide? Infanticide? Suicide? Omnicide? He guess all could
qualify, with the mere death of one. He knew this would be the only
way for The Time Crapper could end. He had to die. He had fulfilled
his promises to Weinstein. He now wove his way back through time and
became one with the nothing. His final act destroyed only one city,
yet killed all that ever could be. As his thoughts dissolved he
realized something.
This was far from the end.
************
Follow Andrew's search for new Team members in the main features of
Team Secret Files #2 (which has already been posted.) The rest of this
story continues in last year's The Team Annual #1. The new era begins
with The Team Annual #2. Plus in Patient Zero and Absurd Lass #6,
there begins a wild romp in the afterlife.