Chapter 8
"One More Time, and Again Already"
by Pen (Jeremy Schwennen, actually :-)
--The New Warriors' Factory Crash Pad. The Present--
In the darkness of the sub basements, Thomas Sorenson sat, clutching his knees to his chest, panting for breath. He had the lights dimmed, but still wore his signature mirror shades. He felt, resonating throughout the Pad, a low, ominous rumbling. In his mind, dreadfully complex calculations calculated, permutations permutated, and equations equated.. all in a failing struggle to cloud the perceptions of six people, many of whom he once called friends.
As the rumblings intensified, the tiny piece of his mind not engaged in the furious mathematic intricacies of his arithmetic telepathy thought back to what had occurred that night, over a month ago.. the night he had begun to lose control.
*begin flashback one*
--The Crash Pad. 35 days earlier--
"..and that is all there is. When I discovered the deadly intentions they had, I could think of no other way to prevent your demise than by systematically diverging your perceived reality from that of Psionex, and Silhouette." Mathemanic finally fell silent, after nearly an hour of conveying his motives to the assembled Warriors- Nova, Speedball, Foresight, Hindsight, and Dagger.
Rich shook his head as he tried to digest the fantastic story that he had just heard. "Lemme get this straight. Sil and Bandit were gonna kill us-"
"And Cloak." Robbie interrupted.
"- so you made us think THEY died? And you have kept us like this for all this time?"
Mathemanic nodded his head slightly, squirming as the yellow robot standing to his side liquefied and flowed over his shoulders, forming a gaudy necktie. "That is correct."
Rich continued, still trying to make sense of it all. "So.. Psionex is still alive, but they think WE died in the fight? What did THAT gain anyone? So what happens when we all wake up from this nightmare?"
"We find ourselves in a world ruled by Sil and Bandit, I assume." Carlton made his first comment since Mathemanic had appeared in the doorway.
"And Cloak." Robbie pointed out.. rather alarmed that no one was pointing out Dagger's former partner's involvement in all of this.
"But why would Sil want to hurt you? Every time I worked with her, she showed an honest and compassionate heart. When we defeated Darkling after that whole mess with the Darkforce dimension, it was Sil who wanted to help him deal with his problems.. why would she become so...evil..." Tandy Bowen knew evil influences.. she had fought against the increasing tide of drug pushers in the city ever since she first gained her powers.
"Because of Bandit! He must have made her do it! That psychotic @$$ tried to kill Thrash when they first met, and now he must have found some way to use Sil to get at us! But what did WE ever do him?" Nova felt the green energy within him begin to boil again, and vented the excess from his eyes.. growing more angry with each passing second.
"I remember you telling me, Rich, about what Kimeiko Ashu did to the Warriors, hurting you to get to Thrash, because you were his only family. Could this be something like that?" Rina attempted to shed light on the situation, but still felt uneasy being here, dealing with these issues. If she still had her powers, it would have been different... "but that still doesn't explain why Bandit wants to hurt anyone.. Thrash said they had resolved much of Bandit's old grudge."
"HELLO! What about Cloak you guys? Am I the only one that thinks HE might be in on it too?" Speedy stood up, sending his chair skittering backwards. No one noticed.
"Um.. guys? Rich? Rina? Carlton?" Robbie waved his hand in front of Hindsight's face.. and Carlton didn't so much as blink.
Time in the Crash Pad seemed to stop. Everyone ceased to talk, to move, to even breathe. Everyone, that is, except for Speedball and Mathemanic.
"You have always been an enigma, Masked Marvel. It seems my powers do not quite grasp you like they do others.. you proved a most difficult being to manipulate." Mathy's voice seemed almost...layered. Two voices in one. And the one that didn't belong to Thomas was one that Speedball easily recognized.
"Glad to be your enigma of the week... what's my prize... Thinker?" Speedy was growing frustrated. He still did not understand what was going on here.
"Mr. Baldwin, I assure you.. you're prize is, how would you put it? In the mail. But for now, it is necessary that Thomas and I continue this ruse. So, I regrettably inform you that I am about to temporarily remove your telepathic immunity with the neo-nuetralizer your friends were so gracious as to provide me with. Mathemanic can not deal with the extra stress required to alter your perceptions at this critical juncture in the plan." Mathemanic pulled a small device from within his yellow trench coat, and aimed it at Robbie.
"Do you have a license for that thing?"
*end flashback one*
--The Crash Pad. The Present--
As the massive armored Xandarian warship affectionately known as a Pendragon continued it's descent towards the Crash Pad, Turbo activated the full alert on her commbadge. Hopefully -some- of the Warriors would arrive in time to mop up what was left of her, Rich, and Robbie after the Xandarians were done with them.
"It's the ship I saw in my vision Robbie! Firelord is onboard!" Rina Patel had not yet regained her lost time twisting abilities, but her occasional flashes of insight into the future were nearly infallible. This was one vision they had all hoped would sully her record.
"Don't sit around people, let's hit em now, before they get a foothold! Mickey, you're with me! Toothpick, get Rina to safety and then see if you can break something!" Nova blasted into the sky, a gravimetric pulse building within him, causing him to pulse with star-like intensity for a brief moment, and then rushing outward, colliding with the outer hull of the massive starfighter, with no effect.
Turbo activated the turbines in her boots, lifting into the air not far behind Nova, her sensor array sweeping the ship, looking for signs of a weakness or opening... and finding none.
"This way Rina.. head down the street a few blocks.. the Fantastic Four's pier is not too far south of here... " Robbie ran, his hand clutching Rina's, desperately trying to get her to safety.
"Why aren't they returning fire?"
"Maybe they're waiting to rip our heads off with their bare-UMPF" Robbie was cut off in mid retort as he slammed into an invisible barrier, one which seemed to cut off the Crash Pad from the rest of the city. "Um... why didn't I bounce?"
"Rich! The weapons power is all diverted to that huge dish on the top of the dome there!" Mickey called to Nova, as he repeatedly pummeled the ship's exterior, making little headway. Mickey engaged her wrist turbines at full force, but her "hyper-punches" were even less effective against such massive machinery than Rich's incredible strength.
"Hmm.. I see it too. It's definitely NOT compatible with my energy absorption abilities either.. it's some kind of field generator... " before he finished his sentence, a blast of brilliant flame collided with his blue and gold uniform, heralding the arrival of the commander of the ship.
"Richard Rider. You have been ordered, REPEATEDLY, by her highness Queen Adora, to relinquish control of the Nova-Prime energy matrix within you. I have now been sent to reclaim it. Permanently." Pyreus Krill, the one time herald of Galactus called Firelord, hovered in the air near the Pendragon's observation dome, his staff flickering in rhythm with the raging flame that served as his hair.
--The Crash Pad Sub Basement. The Present--
He heard the battle outside. The Xandarians had come, to punish Nova. But all they were doing was making it that much harder for Mathemanic to smooth the wrinkles in reality that his actions were causing. He had assumed, after the visit to Doctor Strange, that things would get easier...
*begin flashback two*
--The Crash Pad. 35 days earlier--
The deeply thoughtful voice of the Thinker sounded loud and clear in Mathemanic's head, thanks to the linkup Primus provided. "Now that the neutralizer has allowed us to affect Speedball as easily as the others, I can finally consider the mission to convince Night Thrasher to give me the neutralizer for the good of mankind a success. It was almost of negligible difficulty to convince him I needed it to free my nephew of his powers when I truly needed it for this, one of the most critical difficulties I perceived in my calculations regarding the Warriors future. With only a few more ventures, my association with these heroes can finally come to it's pre-determined, and most desirable, end."
"What do we do now, Thinker? Do I erase their knowledge of everything I just told them? Do I reset their reality back to the Psionex battle?"
"No Thomas. You have cleared their memory of Cloak's involvement already, so you can merely resume the guise of "powerless Tyrone" for the time being. In several days, you will take Dagger and Hindsight with you, and see Doctor Strange. He owes me a favor.. and he will amplify your telepathic hold over Psionex and the three traitors, so that you can focus on keeping their perceptions skewed without having to worry about intervention from the malevolent force behind the betrayal. Once THAT is done, you can reveal yourself as Mathemanic once more.. and then you can insinuate yourself into their home, where you can maintain your hold on Psionex, Silhouette, Cloak, and Bandit, undisturbed. When whatever force is at work here reveals itself, THEN you can release your grip on Psionex, and the New Warriors can finally deal with the situation. Until then, I must leave you on your own. I have other enterprises which require my immediate attention.. and Primus has a mission to carry out elsewhere. Good luck Thomas Sorenson."
Mathemanic sighed as he altered the Warrior's perceptions yet again, took up the guise of Cloak, and waited for the meeting with Dr. Strange. He was no longer nervous.. because the Thinker's calculations, his plans.. unlike Mathemanic's own.. never seemed to come out undefined.
*end flashback two*
--The Crash Pad. The Present--
"Go Speedy. I will be fine.. they need you!" Rina shoved Robbie back toward the fray, hard, sending him bouncing off towards the aerial combat brewing between Nova, Firelord, and Turbo. She then turned to the strange field separating her and the Crash Pad from the rest of the city, and touched her commbadge, opening a link to Carlton's badge, hoping he was able to respond.
"Here I come to save the Daaaaaaaaaaaaaay!" Speedball slammed into Firelord's back, sending him tumbling a few yards before he re-stabilized.
The cosmically powered Xandarian wasted no time in repaying the Masked Marvel in kind, sending him soaring toward the upper limits of the force field with a single blow. When the bouncing bundle of kinetic energy hit the field, again he received a non-standard reaction. "Not again..." Speedball covered his eyes with his hands as his Kinetic Field shorted out, sending him hurtling toward the earth.. quite sure it would not re-engage in time to prevent him from leaving his mark on the rapidly approaching pavement.
"I've got you Robbie, try an go limp!" Turbo swooped low, catching Speedball and narrowly avoiding crashing herself. As soon as she finished pulling out of the upward end of the dive, the telltale stray bubbles of kinetic energy reappeared in the area immediately surrounding Speedball.
"That is sincerely weird @#$%" Robbie leapt from Mickey's arms, hoping to gain enough kinetic buildup from the bounce off of the ground to cut loose on Firelord, before he managed to crush the wind from Nova's lungs, as he was attempting.
Rina's voice came from his commbadge, crackling from the interference caused by the massive energy discharges Nova and Firelord were tossing about. "Carlton says the forcefield has some sort of kinetic dampening effect. It'll scramble your powers, and it won't let the teleport signal in! You have to shut it down!"
Turbo looked at Speedball, uncomprehending. "Teleport signal?"
"Hell if I know.. but why don't I go see if I can teach Fireface their about fire safety, and you see what you can do about shutting down the big metal killing thing. Sound good?"
Mickey flew up, towards the dish that her visor told her was receiving the energy from the ship's weapons systems. It looked to be of slightly lower quality metal than the majority of the ship. Maybe her hyper punches could penetrate the hull here. It was worth a shot.
"Adora can kiss my @$$, Krill! If being in the Star Corps means kissing Shi'Ar tail feathers, I will gladly resign. But Saal gave me back these powers to defend the Earth, and dammit, I intend to do it!" Rich and Firelord continued to exchange blows, but Firelord wielded the Power Cosmic of Galactus.. and his strength surpassed that of Nova, even at the peak of his powers.
"Fool! As long as you hold this power matrix, the Shi'Ar have Xandar under their power. I do this for the good of Xandar. You must forfeit your powers so that our world may survive!"
"Now where have I heard THAT before?" Nova released a relatively weak energy blast, composed of energy he had absorbed from Firelord, but it was enough to momentarily distract Firelord and allow Nova to pull free.
"Now, boiler-for-brains, I get to teach you the most valuable lesson I learned from watching cartoons with my buddy Rage last week!" Speedball rebounded from the Crash Pad roof, building intense momentum as he slammed into Firelord, fists extended.
"First you stop."
Firelord prepared a blast of flame from his flaming staff, but Speedy unleashed a barrage of kinetic force bubbles against him, causing him to lose his aerial balance and fall to the roof of the Crash Pad, as Speedy reached the apex of his trajectory.
"Then you drop.." Robbie pulled into a tight ball, gaining speed on his downward bounce to crash into the now earthbound Xandarian. As he reached the Crash Pad rooftop, Firelord swiftly rolled to the side, and Speedy ricocheted from the roof back toward the Force Field's upper limits.
Nova caught him just before he collided with the field. "I think he already knows the roll part."
Suddenly a massive explosion ripped across the upper regions of the Pendragon as the dish generating the forcefield vaporized in a blazing fireball. Turbo cam speeding ahead of the blast, a smile wide across her face. "Well.. it looks like I -CAN- punch through that armor."
"Hey, where did Firelord go?" Speedball looked around from his vantage point in Nova's arms.
"We have another problem guys.. my Visor is picking up ANOTHER incoming spacecraft. Smaller.. but it's building up energy for something..." Turbo launched herself into an intercept course with the beam fired from the small, white ship, as it lowered from the clouds into visual range.
Nova couldn't believe his eyes. "FRIDAY?"
With a strange, hollow roaring sound, a half dozen figures appeared on the street outside the Crash Pad. Alex Power, Kymaera, Dagger, Thrasher, Justice, and Rage. "Ohh. That kind of teleport signal." Speedball squirmed free of Nova's grasp and plummeted towards the Crash Pad once more. "Firelord just went inside, and I don't know about you guys, but I don't want some psycho alien digging through -MY- boxer drawer."
Nova landed next to the "rescue squad". "So, Vance... you decide to come back and play again?"
The former leader of the New Warriors smiled, his Telekinetic force field shimmering into place. "I was in the area.. and I thought you could use a hand."
Without another word, the assembled Warriors rushed inside, ready to put a stop to Firelord's rampage and get to the bottom of the Xandarian conspiracy once and for all.
Wishing she could go into the battle alongside her teammates, Rina sighed. "But Robbie.. you wear briefs."
--The Crash Pad, Main Basement. The Present--
Laura Dunham slowly began to wake up. A short while ago, Speedball had knocker her unconscious after she, unwittingly, attempted to kill Nova. Now, she found herself in yet another alarming predicament. She was in the grasp of Firelord, and his mighty hand was crushing the breath from her lungs.
Speedball was first to arrive. It took all of his skill using his volatile kinetic powers to bring himself to a halt before crashed into Firelord and Laura. "Whoa there, big fella. I don't really mind you trying to waste bucket head.. Supernova tried a time or two, and he turned out all right, so I guess it's some sort of ritual for you big powerful Xandarian types.. but not even that creep sunk to the level of threatening innocents." Speedy attempted to reason with Firelord.. but something in his eyes showed... fear? No.. desperation.
"You can not hope to understand Terran. My world needs me to succeed here.. I must take Nova's matrix!"
Rich and Nita led the charge into the room, followed by Dagger, Vance, Powerhouse, and Turbo. "Laura!" The concern in Rich's voice was deep.. and it made Nita feel a strange, bitter sense of rivalry with this normal, blonde human. AT last they stood face to face.. and she had no choice but to grudgingly admit that that Rich had feelings for her.
"Voluntarily turn yourself over to my custody, Rider, and I will let this human live. Please.. time grows short..."
Mickey whispered to Vance, "Can you use your TK to free her?"
Vance shook his head slightly. "No. He's holding her too tight.. his strength is incredible."
"Pyreus.. you have gone way too far this time." Nova scowled at the man who had, at one time, helped save his life. Taking one step forward, he called to the rest of the assembled Warriors--
"Vance, cover Laura! Alex, Dagger, Mickey, pour on as much power as you can! Nita, take the floor!" And as brilliant bursts of psionic white light, crackling spheres of energy, and tremendous gusts of wind were joined by a fierce gravimetric pulse from Nova, Kymaera ripped the floor up, causing Firelord to take only the slightest step back.
"NOW!" It was Vance who called, his nose suddenly dripping blood, as he fiercely spun Firelord around 180 degrees, so that he faced the opposite wall of the room.
With a tremendous creak, the wall burst inward, and in the gaping hole, Rage stood, with Trey Rollins, outfitted in the Night Thrasher armor, at his side.
A volley of gas and flash pellets flew from concealed wrist launchers as Trey leapt at Firelord, his retractable knife blade extended, stabbing into Firelord's shoulder only a hair's width from Laura's head. Firelord bellowed in pain.. and the combined energy attack of the Warriors cut loose once more.. sending him to the ground, and Laura into Rage's arms.
Vance telekineticaly secured Firelord as Dagger examined his unconscious form. But both of them kept their eyes on Rich, as he leapt over Firelord to heft Trey into the air, his anger seething. "What were you doing? You could have gotten Laura killed! You irresponsible...this is the last straw! I am peeling that armor off of you now, and you won't ever see it again!"
And then.. Nova found himself unable to move. He turned to see Vance's telekinetic field grasping him, and his friend and former teammate giving him a stern, reprimanding look. "Rich.. he saved her. We followed his plan.. he used the armor as it was meant to be used... and whether you wish to admit it or not.. Thrasher proved himself today." Vance turned to Trey. "And if I was Dwayne, I would be proud to have handed my mantle on to someone as worthy as you."
"Guys, he's waking up!" Dagger leapt to her feet, back away from Firelord, as he struggle to his feet, shrugging off Vance's TK restraints.
"She's dying Richard. The strain of negotiations with the Shi'Ar have been taking their toll on our Queen, and she is suffering from clonal degeneration..." A tear escaped Firelord's eyes as he confided the truth behind his mission to Nova.
"When Adora empowered you to serve Earth, after Xandar's rebirth, she gave you the most powerful energy matrix.. only your matrix can heal the queen.. but it will exhaust the matrix utterly to do so. Xandar will be crushed by the Shi'Ar if Adora falls. Our world needs you once more Rider.. and it needs you now."
Rich sank to his knees.. "Not again.. no, not again.. don't ask me to give up the powers again.. I can't do it... without my powers, I have nothing.... without them, I AM nothing..."
"You have me Rich." Laura, still supported by Rage, looked at her long time love.
"And me." Kymaera placed a single, webbed hand on Rich's back.. then pulled it back.. afraid of her appearance. suddenly terribly conscious of how she looked, compared to -her-. Laura looked so.. so... human.
"That's not the only option." Everyone spun to see Rina and Carlton entering the room. It was Hindsight who spoke. "I think I know something that will cure clonal degeneration.. and it won't cost any of us a thing.. but time."
"Spit it out Carl." Speedy had approached the two, and embraced Rina, happy that she had not been hurt.
"Actually, Rina came up with it in the first place..." Carlton looked slightly embarrassed standing next to Rina and Robbie as they exchanged a passionate kiss. "Well...um.. it's Dagger."
"What?!" Tandy gave a menacing glare to Carlton, white light flashing around her fingertips. "I won't give my powers up either! I need them to bring Ty to his senses when we find out what he and Bandit are up to!"
"No Dagger, you don't have to give them up.. you see, your light has healing effects.. well... not when you use it offensively, but otherwise.. you... you can reverse the degeneration with your inner light."
Firelord looked from Hindsight to Dagger, and back again. "You are sure this will work? This girl can save the queen. and prevent the loss of Rider's Nova-matrix?"
Carlton nodded solemnly. As he did so, a roaring alarm echoed through the wreckage of the main basement. <WARNING--TARGETING LOCK--WARNING>
In moments, the Warriors, Laura, and Firelord were all outside the Crash Pad.. and facing dozens of weaponry turrets from the Pendragon. Firelord activated a device on his belt.. but the warning systems in the Pad did not stand down. "The ship is not responding to my commands. It has been taken over by a hostile program."
Data streamed across the visor of Turbo's armor.. and a single word began to repeat, blinking. "Shi'Ar."
Rage summed up the feelings of all involved, as the weapons began to smolder with charging energy. "Not after all we have been through. We can't die like this.. to some automated ship controlled by people we've never even met.."
"It's against the Super Hero Death Code!" Speedball leapt to the forefront of the group, and Vance stepped to his side. The two combined their powers, and a telekinetic shield, laced with kinetic energy, surrounded the team.
"Rich, take Firelord, Alex, Dagger, and Carlton. Beam to Friday.. and get to Xandar. We will hold this thing as long as we can.. hurry back." Vance braced himself as the Pendragon let loose it's full arsenal. The last thing Carlton saw, as they were teleported to Friday and entered hyperspace, was the shockwave generated as the weapons of the Pendragon fired, and the massive vessel began to change course, to pursue.
*EPILOGUE ONE*
--The Crash Pad Sub Basement. The Present--
The shockwave tore through the Crash Pad.. blunted by the Warrior's defensive measures, but still considerably powerful. When it hit Mathemanic's chamber, he was unprepared for it. For the briefest of moments, he lots his grip on the psyches of Coronary, Bandit, Pretty Persuasions, Silhouette, Impulse, and Cloak. He quickly regained his control.. and hoped no one would notice.
*EPILOGUE TWO*
--Somewhere in NYC. The Present--
Bandit sat upright in bed, in the new, lush mansion he now owned. He had money, and power, and everything was going his way, now that the Warriors were dead. The.. changes.. that had affected him.. they didn't seem to mean as much now as they did in the beginning. He was happy. Silhouette also sat up in bed, disturbed by Bandit's sudden movement.
"Is everything all right Donyell?"
"No. I don't know how to explain it.. but everything is.... wrong."
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