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SENTINEL COMICS #4 Introduction
J Street: The pocket dimension that connects to all realities and possibilities. J Street is the transdimensional conduit to all the Omniverse. Tezcatlipoca: Aztec god of Shadows who has returned to the physical plane through the golden helmet of Quetzalcoatl, in order to destroy the Omniverse, and recreate it with himself as absolute deity. Quetzalcoatl: Aztec god of light, who opposes Tez’s darkness. His human representative is the warrior named Azangel. Azangel: Warrior chosen by the Q Foundation to wear the helmet of Quetzalcoatl. There is one “Azangel” per generation. The last chosen by the Q Foundation was Warren Falconer. Warren Falconer: Former Azangel. He was taken bodily from limbo and replaced as Azangel by the female Q Foundation warrior Ciela Jarras. Ciela Jarras: The current Azangel who has no idea how she ended up in limbo, wearing the helmet and armor of Quetzalcoatl. She is a member of the J Street Sentinels. J Street Sentinels: One of the self-appointed “super” teams of J STREET, who are under the watchful gaze of Guardian, and are sworn to oppose Zen Reaper. Guardian: Omnipotent Watcher of J Street who resides in Limbo. Recently, he has made his presence known to several key persons of J Street, warning them of the impending return of Tezcatlipoca. Zen Reaper: Seeker of world domination that has recently learned of J Street and wishes to conquer it, and thus the Omniverse, with the aid of his mind-controlled Raiders. Raiders: These minions of Zen Reaper are possibly kidnapped WeilandVerse superbeing citizens (or maybe clones, or doppelgangers, or Mirror Universe versions or Hyper Time versions, or…) subjugated to Zen Reaper’s mind control. ______________________________________________________ Tezcatlipoca has possessed Zen Reaper, and this composite being “ShadowZen”, has had the Raiders capture the JSS. The Raider Shocwave has transformed J Street into a rolling, snowballing tsunami of destruction. (See Sentinel Comics #3.) ShadowZen’s full plan is to be implemented this night; the more blood shed, the more shadow demigods (followers of Tezcatlipoca) will return to the physical plane. Tonight, the ShadowGod will declare war on J Street. __________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 1 (Thanks to Azangel, Silver Lantern and the other JSSers) Marty H. Jordan relaxed on the park bench as he unfurled his newspaper. It was late afternoon on J Street and everything was nice and calm. Marty was a well built man - about six feet high with swept back brown hair - his shiny green shirt and black pants made him look smart yet casual. He clicked his tongue with annoyance when a large shadow was cast over his newspaper. He looked up to see a large pirate ship hovering in the sky. Dismissing it as one of the unusual events that regularly occurred here, Marty went back to reading an article about an expedition that planned to map all of J Street. Loud sounds started coming from down the street but again Marty ignored it - just another super powered battle. The JSS's headquarters were down that way, they were probably already taking care of it. Not that Marty was that familiar with the J Street Sentinels but they were probably the third toughest group on J Street and short of some Dark God trying to take over the world, they could handle anything. A headless Robot with sparks coming from the top of its neck stumbled past the bench and collapsed in a crumpled heap not five feet away. Marty calmly turned the page and continued to read about Mayor Nope's election promises. Another robot came flying down the street - its flailing arms tearing the newspaper from Marty's hands. Quietly sighing with annoyance, Marty stood up and looked down J Street in the direction the robot had come from. What ever was happening it was too far away for him to see clearly so He opened up his right hand and after an instant of green light he raised the newly constructed binoculars to his eyes. A dark faced man and some others that had to be, judging from their garish costumes, super villains of some description. The dark faced, was that skin really blue?, man waved his hand and a gateway that seemed to be made of pure darkness wavered into existence. The shadow man, as Marty instantly labeled him, motioned for his colleagues and they moved to step through the gateway. As they moved, Marty saw for the first time that they carried other people - he recognized them from newspaper reports as members of the J Street Sentinels! Yes, that was definitely Azangel judging by the blue skin and golden wings. And that silver shape had to be the cosmic Silver Lantern. Marty concentrated for the briefest instant and a green aura changed him into his costume of black and green. He moved to fly to the aid of the JSS when a low rumbling caught his attention - he looked again and saw a huge wave of asphalt and concrete moving rapidly towards him, tearing down the fronts of buildings as it came. Marty stood still as he analyzed the situation - if he created another wave to counter this one then there'd be too much flying debris when the two clashed. It was also doubtful the wave would stop if he created a dam wall and a large ditch definitely wouldn't do it. No single effect would work perfectly here. The Emerald Knight thrust both hands forward and brilliant green light shone forth, a giant green wave sped down from Marty towards the fast moving earth wave. The two forces clashed and debris from the earth wave flew everywhere. With one hand Marty dispelled his own green wave and with the other he formed a huge flock of giant eagles that swooped down and proceeded to catch the debris in their sharp talons and place them in a pile further down the street where they could cause no harm. The earth wave had torn up the street surface badly and ripped off the faces of dozens of buildings but it had now been contained with relatively little real damage. *KA-BOOM!* A huge beam of energy tore into the street just a few feet in front of Marty, he looked up to see some sort of energy cannon pointing at him from the floating ship, there was someone standing on the bow of the ship shouting at him. "Ye flea ridden land lubber! Ye'll have a taste of Brak's vengeance now, to Davey Jones locker with ye! arrgh!" Another blast from the cannon came but Marty was expecting it this time, out of thin air came a green curved pipe - the energy beam went down one end and shot back out at the ship from the other. Marty launched himself from the ground, following the beam up to the ship. He smiled when the energy cannon was torn apart by its own blast. The man named Brak drew an energy cutlass out from his belt as Marty alighted on the deck of his ship. "Ack, 'tis rude for a man to board a ship without leave from the Captain! Ye'll walk the plank for that ye scurvy dog!" Marty calmly pointed at Brak's feet with one finger, the pirate captain glanced down and immediately slid over onto his backside on the green ice that suddenly appeared. As he fell he lost his hold on his energy sword and it went flying into the air right over his prone body. As it came flying back down Brak screamed and tried to curl up in a tight ball and shield his head with his arms. He stayed like that for several seconds and when he realized he wasn’t dead he timidly looked up. There stood a Barbarian warrior, glowing green, holding the energy sword with its tip just inches from Brak's face. The Pirate swallowed hard and glanced over to Marty, who was casually examining one of the ships still whole energy cannons. "You really terrorize space with these?" asked the Emerald Knight without turning around, "No wonder you haven't been caught before, you wouldn't be worth the effort of chasing down." Brak moved to spiel off a string of expletives but the sight of his own sword lowering a little seemed to steal his powers of speech, instead he just continued to watch Marty with a scowl on his face. Calmly Marty wrenched one of the cannons off its mooring on the deck and pointed it at the middle of the deck and let off several shots into the ship. The flying ship shuddered and its bow fell down toward the ground as its engines were blown apart. Brak screamed, "Me ship! Noooooooo!" As the ship fell toward J Street, Marty destroyed Brak's sword and calmly flew off the deck and down below the rapidly descending craft. He noted that it was heading straight for the damaged Hair and Hippo Pub - the headquarters of the JSS. "That won't do at all." muttered Marty as he sent a beam directly up at the bottom of the falling pirate ship. It slowed down to a gentle descent and gently landed on the roof of the Hair & Hippo. Marty chuckled to himself, this new feature would surely bring the pub more customers. He flew up onto the ship's deck again and saw Brak standing there, looking down through the large hole in the middle of his ship. Marty noted that Brak could do with a new pair of pants before handcuffing him to a rail with a giant pair of green handcuffs. He was just beginning to think of going back to his newspaper when he heard a shout from the street. "BOBDOLEHULK SMASH!" Marty sighed, this was getting ridiculous. He peered over the edge of the roof and saw a hugely muscled mountain of destruction with a receding gray hairline smashing large pieces of debris to dust with single blows. "BobDoleHulk find shiny battery! BobDoleHulk smash! BobDoleHulk .. huh?" The huge figure looked up as a green glowing Boxer dropped down from the sky and landed on his head. Heavy blows started connecting squarely on BobDoleHulk's face but appeared to do nothing. BDH lashed out with a savage blow and literally shattered the Boxer - pieces of the green construct lay everywhere. The small pieces suddenly changed shape, each piece became a tiny version of the boxer and started punching BobDoleHulk around the ankles. As the Goliath swatted the tiny constructs into nothingness, Marty silently landed on the street behind him and swung his fist down in mid air. A giant green fist appeared out of nowhere and connected brutally square on the top of BobDoleHulk's head. The street below shattered under the blow and BDH sunk up to his shoulders in asphalt. "You have no leverage in that position," stated Marty as he looked at where BobDoleHulk had been digging, "no matter how strong you are you won't be able to free yourself. Just sit tight and eventually someone will come along and take you off to jail." Something that reflected the light of the setting sun caught Marty's attention ... he used his green power to boost his strength and started tossing aside debris. It was a battery. A silver battery. "Is this what you were after?" asked Marty to the still struggling BobDoleHulk who was getting nowhere, "it certainly does have an interesting energy signature. Very similar to mine in fact." The Emerald Knight quickly waved his hand over the battery and a faint silver sparkle formed a trail away to the middle of the street where the shadow gate had stood earlier. Marty moved off to follow it. __________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2 The Sentinels sat dejectedly in the energy prison formed by ShadowZen. Patience was still trying to shake her headache; it was such so bad the only thing she had been able to do since she had awakened was to free them all from their bonds. She couldn't focus long enough to do much else. Rydgen's pacing was getting on everyone's nerves. "Sit down man, conserve your energy." Bishop said, sounding braver than he felt. "I can't sit still, how can any of you? This is crazy! If we can't get out of here, then what?" "We get our hearts carved out. Sacrificed to Tez. Isn't that right, Az?" Jayna looked at the winged Sentinel. "Yea. That about covers it." She said staring at the surface that could best be called the floor. The cell they were in was without form, just a constantly moving, swirling shadow that could not be penetrated. Ry had already tried, and had been thrown across the cell, slamming into the opposite side hard enough to crack bones. They had healed quickly, but it was apparent he would not be able to break them out. "Sacrificed? Great! Just freaking great! I like my heart IN MY CHEST where it BELONGS, thank you very much!" Rydgen shouted upward. He looked at his fellow Sentinels. Silver Lantern was sitting in much the same position as Azangel, both had their knees up. Az had her hands between her legs staring at her palms. Sil rested his arms on his knees and stared at nothing, lost in thought. He had awakened in his alien form, and muttered incoherently for a bit, before finally coming to. Both wallowed in self-pity, drinking deep in their failure. Pat was still laying on her back rubbing her temples, Jayna sat next to her. Bishop was sitting quietly next to Detective Torres. Of all of them Aquarius looked the worst. His lips were dry and cracked, he had ranted about needing a drink as soon as he woke up, and after getting a bit crazy about it, had sulked off and sat down. Rydgen continued ranting. "I don’t see why…" "Why don't you just shut up?" Patience asked, trying to rub away her migraine. "Oh, so you have a plan for getting us outta here?" Ry walked over and stood before her with his hands on his hips. "Why don't you whip up some spell to get us out, huh?" "I can get us out." "If you don't shut up, I'll shut you up." the witch snarled at Rydgen. "I know a way." "You and what army? You…" Ry shot back angrily. "Hey!" Torres stood up. "Did you say something Aquarius?" "I said, I know a way out." His voice croaked, he barely sounded like himself, he had some serious cottonmouth going. "I can get us out." His statement had brought silence to the cell. "Well, FINALLY we have a plan. Ok Aquarius, what do you have in mind?" Torres stood up. If Sil wasn't going to take charge, someone had to. "We are getting air, right? If we weren't then we'd have used up the available oxygen and would have suffocated. So, if air gets in, air must be able to get out." He sat up, even that was an effort. "I can turn into as large a mist as I can and find the way out. Once out I might be able to find a way to let you out, or go get the cavalry." Sil looked up at the mercenary. It wasn't a bad plan…and it was better than what the others had come up with, which was nothing. "Or you could just leave us here to die! He's probably still working for them!" Ry shouted. "You goog head!" Jayna spat at him. "Aw, come on! Why should we trust him?" Ry asked. "You're out of line, Ry." Sil stood up, for the first time since their imprisonment Silver Lantern could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe there was a way out of this. "Where the air goes you can go. Alright, you find the way out, and if you can't shut down the prison, then go back to J Street and bring help." "There's only one problem." He rasped. "It's been hours since I've had anything to drink. I need something to drink first." Aquarius tried to get up, and Detective Torres lent a hand. "Look at him, he can barely stand. He's going to save us?" Ry said flopping down. "We don't have anything to give you. I'm sorry." Sil said walking up to him. "No, I don't think you do Sil, but they do." He said, gesturing at the rest of the prisoners. "I'm sorry, Aquarius, I don't follow you." Aquarius reached down to pull off a boot, and lost his balance. Torres and Sil both grabbed him. "You're going to have to help me here. It's time to pass the hat." "By the goddess, it's the Crusades all over again." Jayna said looking at Aquarius. "Huh?" Bishop asked as Torres pulled off Aquarius' boot, while Sil held him up. "During the Crusades, they had to cross the desert. They had no idea where the watering holes were, and the Saracens poisoned the wells along the road. A lot of them died. Some of them realized that the human body used water very inefficiently…" "Oh that is sooooo gross!" Bishop said, making a face. Jayna had to fight to stifle a laugh. The kid caught on quick! "What are you complaining about? All you have to do is contribute." Aquarius croaked back at him. "Here? In front of everybody?" Az asked, horrified at the thought. "Alright. That's the plan, everybody up and over here. We'll face away until the contributor is done then the next person, uh, goes." Sil motioned towards the far side of the dome. -------------------- Sometime later: "That wasn't so bad... Tastes like Foster's." he spoke somewhat louder, and now he figured he'd be able to pull this off…just barely. Aquarius hoped like hell there was snow, and lots of it, on the mountainside. "I want you to realize, you guys owe me big-time for this..." “That’s what Hair always used to say about Fosters.” Ry shifted his weight trying not to think too hard about what was going on. “I wish he was here.” Bishop said softly. “Me too.” Ry looked down at the youngest Sentinel. After walking around a bit, allowing his body to absorb the much-needed moisture, Aquarius felt as ready as he could be for the task at hand. “OK, time to get this show on the road.” The Sentinels and Detective Torres turned to face him. “All right, on my signal everybody takes a deep breath and holds it as long as they can. If I’m not back with you before you breathe again, then I made it out. I will try to open the prison and set you free. If I can’t, I’m going back to J Street to get help. Every body needs to hold their breath because I need to retain as much volume as I can. I can’t afford for you guys to be inhaling me. Alright?” The group nodded in agreement. Aquarius looked around trying to feel any air currents. “Get ready. So, do I get a kiss for luck?” “OH GOD!” “YUCK!” “Go, just go.” “Deep breaths, now.” The team inhaled as one and watched their only hope disappear into a cloud of fog. The fog slowly faded away, and Bishop was the first to gulp for air. “He’s gone, but he’s going to make it. Pat, do whatever you can to build up your strength, you’ll be our first line of offence. Bishop, you’ll protect the Detective. We have to assume that reinforcements will not arrive in time, therefore when we encounter the Raiders again, we can give no quarter. We must disable them as quickly as possible, by any means necessary.” Silver Lantern looked at his teammates they were good people. He would be proud to die with them. Aquarius drifted through the halls of the Zen Reapers’ mountain base. He didn’t see any controls for the cell holding the JSS, it must have been made by his will. He followed the air currents outside into the mountain air, he drifted along the mountainside aiming for the snowline, and blending in with mountain fog. He drifted over the snow a quarter-mile away from the base. When he could see the base no more, he reformed and fell knee deep into the snow. There he scooped the snow into his mouth with both hands, gorging himself upon the frozen treat. Twenty minutes later, and his mouth numb from the cold, he was sated. Now he had to find the Reaper’s portal. Chapter 3 Sometime later: "I told you he wouldn't come back." Rydgen glares at Jayna, accusingly. "He's probably on his way back to J Street now to bring back help, you flanneled googer!" "Well of course YOU'D defend him, you hired him!" Ry pauses, eyeing Jayna suspiciously. "Wait…you probably work for Zen too! You're a SPY!" "Oh you green haired FREAK!" She shoved him to the ground, kicking him once for good measure. "You're so full of it it's not even googing FUNNY!" ------- Stryfe watched in amusement as the JSS went after each other in the confines of the cell. They had already been so close to the breaking point mentally that all it took was a few of his special 'nudges' here and there to make them crack. Witch-girl and the red-skinned alien were bickering loudly, with the cop and the kid not far behind. He tightened the screws on them a bit more and leant back to watch the fireworks. ------- "Listen here, Sabrina the teenaged bi…" Patience slaps Sil solidly, cutting him off in mid-sentence. She stares at him coldly. "NEVER call me that." She says in a voice so icy that Jayna, Bishop and the others all stop what they're doing and turn to look at her. Blue energy had begun arcing rapidly around her hand. With everyone's attention focused so intently on Pat, they have an excellent view of Sil backhanding her across the face. "I am Norrin Sur, successor of Galacthet, possessor of The Power Oan. YOU should not have struck ME." "It looks to me like only ONE of us here has any power." She says calmly. The energy around her hand, however, grows as she speaks, the entire cell now bathed in a blue light. "Patience." Comes a soft voice from the floor. "Shut UP Az!" She spat, turning back to Sil after glancing down at the winged woman. "I need to teach this alien a lesson about hitting women." "Are you going to let Stryfe play with your mind like this?" Az murmurs. "Stryfe?" Pat focused her attention back to Az, now standing and stretching her wings. "See him? He's right outside the cell, over behind the…" "Why…that…" When they first came to J Street, Stryfe had used his 'talent' to turn Hairbutt against her during a fight, resulting in her becoming drenched. She had been furious, and had taken her anger out on Stryfe. She thought surely he'd learned his lesson, but apparently he hadn't. The blue aura grew even darker with each passing second, her anger clearing away the last vestiges of whatever weapon they had used on her. ------- Stryfe, we're leaving. Meet the rest of the Raiders at the portal immediately. Shadow Zen's voice echoed in his mind, and he began to protest. "But the prisoners…" The prisoners are well guarded. They will not escape. Stryfe turned and left the central chamber. He knew better than to oppose the master, especially after what had happened to some of the JN duplicates. The master had made a big production over his 'priest' killing several of them, gathering up all the Raiders and forcing them to watch. He had promised to do the same to any of them if they failed him. Stryfe didn't like the little twits, but they deserved better fates than that, and he didn't want to end up the same way, with his heart in that creepy 'priest's' hands. Thinking about the gruesome scene again, he quickened his pace. ----------------------- Aquarius, once again inside the mountain base, was lost. Not just a little lost either. The whole base was riddled with unmarked, identical tunnels, stopped at a hallway juncture; he'd been unable to tell which way to go. That was, until he heard the voice. "…Stupid…having so much fun…Stryfe, we're going to invade J Street NOW he says…*mutter* *mumble* * curse*…" Aquarius watched as one of the Raiders walked quickly past him, head down and shoulders slouched. He's going to J Street? Aquarius glanced down the hallway the Raider had just come from, and seeing more than a dozen turns, he quickly followed the muttering Raider. ---------------------- Almost as soon as Stryfe left, the JSS returned to some semblance of normalcy, and apologizing commenced. Patience was still letting the energy build around her, trying to decide where to strike. There were no features to their prison other than swirling gray-black mists, no weak spots apparent. "Pat, why don't you hit the shield right there?" Az points upwards, towards the top of the cell. "I suppose it's as good as any place…" Patience mumbles under her breath, then begins chanting quietly, circling the cell. "Ciela, are you finally over your…silence of the last couple days? Are you feeling better?" Sil asks. "I've been praying. Is there a problem with that?" "No problem…I just thought that you were…" He almost stutters. "I was what, Sil?" "Mute?" He finishes awkwardly. She shrugs. "Like I said, I was praying" She looks him over quickly and grins. "Glad I'm not the only one with a strange skin tone." Jayna interrupts. "If you two are done flirting…" "Flirting?!??" The winged warrior and the Oan Sentinel say in unison. "We're not…" "Must be joking…" "Whatever you two say. Stand back, all of you." She clears them away for Patience, who has stopped circling but is still chanting in what now sounds like several ancient languages combined into one. Pat finishes her spell with a shout, blasting the energy barrier where Az had pointed. The bluish energy strikes it and seems to be absorbed into it, the whole barrier becoming for a moment a swirling mass of azure energy. Then the blue fades away, leaving the same smoke-shaded cell wall as before. All eyes turn to Az. "I thought you said…" "Just wait." Several seconds pass, and nothing happens. "Uh, Az…" "Be patient a little longer." A few more seconds pass. "Well, Pat, why don't you try another…" A shower of sparks from the top of the cell cuts Jayna off in mid-sentence, followed closely behind by chunks of stone and smoldering metal. The barrier drops at nearly the same moment. "Told ya." Az smirks as she steps out from their former cell. "Let's go." -------------------------- Aquarius followed Stryfe through the portal, after waiting long enough that he figured none of the Raiders would still be watching the gate. It was dark now, the sun having set while he was imprisoned in Zen's dimension with the JSS. Creeping through the dimensional nexus, he was relieved to discover the Raiders were nowhere NEAR it, they were some hundred yards away, with half a forest full of trees separating them from view. A few yards away was a sign proclaiming 'Superman Jal Store - this way yal', and the store was in ruins. Aquarius crept forward, ducking behind the sign. He had a fairly good view of the proceedings, but couldn't hear a word being said. He snuck forward quietly, getting within a dozen yards, when suddenly Zen Reaper motioned towards the Reapers. They all scattered in different directions, only tgs and Zen remaining behind. Aquarius had just enough time to wonder what was going on when tgs turned and opened fire, reducing the trees he was hiding behind to toothpicks. --------------------- "We're lost." "So you keep saying, Ry. Keep quiet, we don't want the Raiders to know where we are." The group turned another corner in the maze of hallways. "Is it me or do all these hallways all look the same? Haven't we been this way already?" Jayna mutters. "No, I would've remembered that kid in pink." Ry replies to her. "Yall lik superman JLA? Your not su'posd to bee out, I'm telling!" There's a flash of pink as the kid turns the corner ahead of them. "Oh no you DON'T!" Ry takes off running, trying to catch the kid before he can alert any other Raiders that they had escaped. A few seconds pass, and Rydgen comes BACK around the corner at break-neck speed, waving his arms and shouting, "Go! GO! GO!!!" Close behind him, almost nipping at his heels, is a sea of pink-shirted JN's, with a demon named Hellshoque leading the way. Azangel reacts first, opening her wings and slinging as many of the neuro-toxin-covered blades as possible. A half-dozen or so JN's go down, the rest of them simply stampede over their fallen duplicates. "Az, come on!" Ry shouts from further down the hallway. She turns and starts to follow the fleeing JSS, but Hellshoque swoops down and knocks her down one of the many side hallways. Getting back up proves pointless, as Hellshoque's tail slams into her face, sending her sprawling. ----------------------------- Torres looks back over her shoulder at the oncoming wave of JN's. "We lost Az back there somewhere." The group had taken several twists and turns, hoping to lose the pink freaks, to no avail. Now they faced a massive, solid stone wall, a huge padlocked door in front of them, and the JN's closing on them quickly. Rydgen was busy trying to smash off the lock with a chunk of the stone floor. Sparks flew, but the padlock stayed in place. Torres quickly makes her way forward and pulls a hairpin out, unfolding it and picking the lock in two seconds flat. "I could've done that. Let's get outta here!" Ry laughs, opening the door. A cold blast of air carries in a few flakes of snow, and Ry looks down and sees…nothing. The smallest hint of a cliff, then a straight drop into nothingness. "We're dead." Ry says despondently. "No we aren't. Everyone freeze, and hug the wall." Pat begins murmuring in her usual mix of ancient languages, and the view through the doorway flickers and changes. Another hallway seemingly appears, with the JSS running down it. She continues her quiet chant as the JN's come rushing towards the doorway, ignoring the real, now invisible JSS, and running after the illusionary ones. They drop out of view silently, one after another. When the last JN goes through the doorway, Ry slams the door shut, clicking the dented padlock back in place. -------------------------------------- "You can't fight me without your little toy helmet, can you?" Hisses the demoness through pointed teeth. Az is backed against the wall at the end of the hallway, blood dripping from several sets of claw-marks on her arms and neck. The female demon's leathery skin had deflected the blades Az had thrown at her. The walls were too close together for her to use them effectively, anyway. Az swings one wing in a wide arc, desperately hoping to connect with the demoness, trying to disable her. Hellshoque ducks under the razor-sharp wing, appearing in front of Az and attempting to gut her with her claws. The talons tear through her shirt and graze her midsection, but cause no real damage. "The master never specified you had to be intact, only alive until sunrise." Hellshoque screeches, tearing again into Az, who surprises the demon with a punch to the nose. The red-skinned creature drops back a few feet, holding her bloody nose, and staring. Azangel is now surrounded by a beam of light so bright Hellshoque is forced to shield her eyes against it. When the light fades, Az is left standing in her costume, with the helmet back in it's rightful place. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she opens fire with the armor's wrist gauntlets, sending the still gaping Hellshoque careening through the wall, and into the next hallway. As she watched, the entire wall fluctuated, shadows oozing to fill the huge gap in the wall, and sealing it. Cocking her head to one side, she looks at the wall. It SEEMED solid. She put one hand on it and pushed. It FELT solid… She stepped back and blasted the wall. Shadows parted under the intense beam of light, and she stepped through to the next hallway, following the running Hellshoque. ----------------- Aquarius dodged tgs's next few volleys of plasma bursts, formulating a plan. Satisfied with himself, the merc shifted his molecules around, becoming completely liquid, and quickly surrounded the cybernetic Raider. [You tried this before and it didn't work, remember? I'm waterproof!] The tank laughed, sending feedback ringing through his speakers. Well, Aquarius thought, good thing that's not the plan! He began superheating his water form, raising the outer skin temperature of the cybernetic behemoth as he did so. [Give me a break, you can't MELT me!] The speakers hummed again. Aquarius held in a laugh. This was either going to work amazingly well, or… He waited until the tank's armor was as hot as he could manage, then dropped his form to below freezing, turning to solid ice around the Raider. The ear-splitting CRACK that followed indicated his plan had worked, and Aquarius returned to his liquid, then to his human form. Stepping back to admire his handiwork, he sees that the outer shell of the cybernetic tank had split, revealing a smaller, half-human figure within. Aquarius reaches in and drags the teenager out of the battle armor, tossing him to the ground, where the kid promptly passes out. Just can't hire good help these days! Aquarius drops the teen and heads towards the pub. ----------------------------- Following the demon through the labyrinth of tunnels proves much easier once the walls are all revealed to be shadow constructs. The demoness leads her to one of the far walls of the compound, where she's busy trying to unlatch the door leading…outside? "You know, I think I still owe you for these scratches. Blasting you through a few walls just doesn't cut it, if you get my drift?" She unfolds her wings to their fullest. "You wouldn't…you're supposed to be one of the good guys." The demoness hisses, trying to back away. Az smiles for a second, the fires an energy net, which pins Hellshoque to the wall. "Pity you're right. But it makes for a good distraction, don't you think? Cover your eyes, ugly." She spreads her arms out, and a blast of pure light tears out of the battery in the center of her costume, dissolving the walls as it touches them, one after the other. The other JSS'rs are back in the main hallway, trying to decide which way to go. "Guys?" Bishop whispers. "Look that way, at the walls. They're coming apart, dissolving, and whatever is doing it is coming towards us…" The light pours over them all, and when they get their vision back, "Is that Az…?" "Come on! The door's this way!" Chapter 4 Meanwhile, back on J Street… Following the silver trail of energy to where it vanished in the middle of the street, Marty H. Jordan was momentarily puzzled. The Sentinels had been taken off of J Street by their attackers, that much was certain, he had seen it happen. The energy used to open the portal was unlike anything he had ever encountered before. It didn't take him long, however, to match it closely enough to re-open the portal leading to wherever the Sentinels had been taken. Following the luminous thread of silver energy issuing from the battery, he entered the unknown dimension. ------------------------------ Aquarius entered the pub through the new, extra-wide front door and whistled. Brak's ship, what was left of it anyway, had been placed carefully on top of the pub. The inside of the pub was just as badly damaged as the outside, with Kitty and Cap'n cleaning up the multitude of broken glasses and bottles. "About time you guys showed back up. Grab a broom." The caped feline muttered, holding a dustpan for the hulking bouncer. "No time for that." Aquarius answered, grabbing a plastic liter bottle of water from the fridge. In-between gulps of water, he continued. "I have to find some of the other heroes around here. The Sentinels need their help, they've been captured by the Raiders." "Well, you just missed some guy in green and black, he parked that THING on top of the bar, and flew off. Dunno where he went." "I could go to the JSTF." "They're kinda busy." "The Pantheon" "Ditto." "SSoS?" The cat sighed and shook his head. "There's a googin' TEMPLE in the middle of the park down the street, the Raiders are tearing the place up, and you're telling me ALL the other heroes on J Street are busy?" "Pretty much. They have lives too, y'know." Aquarius cursed loudly and stormed out of the bar, heading back towards the temple. ---------------------- Marty stepped through the portal, and quickly found himself at the base of a huge mountain, buried in fresh snow. Poking his head out of the snow bank, several more handfuls pelted him in the face. He levitated himself out, and looked up. Several figures were weaving their way down the steep side of the snow-covered mountain, apparently the snow had slid out from under them at one point, causing the mini-avalanche that had buried him. The Battery in his hand began to glow more brightly, and the silver energy, he could now see, terminated where one of the figures stood. "They must not be so bad off - they escaped. But I'm sure Silver Lantern would like his battery back." As he watched, one of the figures slipped, and began sliding down the side of the mountain, screaming loudly and thrashing his arms about wildly. The winged one, Azangel, took off and started to grab at the still-screaming, rapidly falling figure, when a green slide appeared underneath the mystery Sentinel. As the figure slid closer, Marty was able to identify him as Rydgen. Ry slid headfirst into a huge green pillow, which threw tiny feathers into the air when he slammed into it. Sitting up quickly, covered in green feathers, all Ry could say was "huh?". Azangel landed next to Rydgen a few moments later. She gave Marty a quizzical 'who the heck are you' glance, and helped Rydgen to his feet. "I come bearing gifts." He held up the Battery. "Tell the others it's safe to come down. I'm a friend; my name is Marty H. Jordan, and I'm with the JSTF. I'll keep the slide there so…" A shrieking blur shot past, interrupting Marty. Bishop landed on the pillow, jumping up quickly and asking, "Az, can I do that again?" She sighed, unfolded her wings, and took off towards the others. ------------------------- "Wow, sure got dark quick. I didn't think we were gone that long." Rydgen stated after the JSS stepped through the portal leading back to J Street. "You have no idea how much we appreciate this, Marty." "You're just happy you didn't go splat." Bishop whispered in his friend's ear. "That too." Ry whispered back. "I couldn't see leaving such a powerful weapon as the battery lying around." "Of course, and I thank you for that as well." Silver Lantern had yet to recharge his ring, mentioning he had something to do first, before they took on any more Raiders. They headed towards the pub, Marty following. On the outskirts of the Shocwave-ruined section of J Street, they found Aquarius sitting in the darkness, muttering and still drinking out of the liter water bottle. He was watching the newly formed temple, a mass of writhing gray-black shadows that sprung up in the park where Marty had been sitting before he had been drawn into this mess. It was barely visible in the nighttime shadows, unearthly and illuminated only by moonlight, which reflected off of it slightly. Something was forming at the top of the temple, a sphere of shadow-stuff that swirled in the air over the center of an ancient stone disc. No Raiders were in evidence, but that was sure to change quickly. Marty motioned towards the temple, looking at Sil, who shook his head. "We have to gather ourselves, regroup. We're all a bit worse for wear. We'll come back here just as soon as we visit the pub." "While you guys do that, I'm going back to the police station, try to find out what's going on." Torres split from the group and headed towards the station. ------------------- ShadowZen watched the JSS from inside the temple. He turned to face Warren, anger seething on his face. "When had you planned on telling me that you had lost the helmet?" Warren backed away from his furious master, not answering. "I should kill you where you stand." Black energy played around the dark god's hands like electricity. "This is twice you have failed me. Take the Raiders. Go and get the helmet back, and bring it to me personally. If you fail me again…" The blue-skinned former Azangel nodded quickly and backed out of the temple, never taking his eyes from ShadowZen. Chapter 5: Back at the Hair and Hippo The feline bartender, Kitty, watched from the top of the bar as the JSS plus three entered. He'd just finished cleaning up the last of the broken glass, and Cap'n was busy nailing plywood to the remains of the front wall of the pub. (With help from one of the regulars.) "If I may say so, you guys look like something this body used to cough up. What happened? Hey, Aquarius - I see you found the guy I told you about." The cat looked at Marty and grinned. "Helped them out, didja?" Marty nodded at the cat, looking around at the JSS; Patience, Jayna, Aquarius, Silver Lantern (Still in his alien form - he had yet to recharge his ring) Azangel, Bishop and Rydgen. Marty wanted to ask Silver Lantern about his ring, the battery, and the similarities in their powers, but he decided now was not the time. Perhaps after this was all settled, the two of them could discuss it, preferably away from the now-bickering Sentinels. “Aquarius, help yourself to as much bottled water as you like.” Silver pointed to the kitchen as he headed upstairs. “We meet back down here in five minutes, Sentinels.” “Thanks, Lantern...SILVER.” “I need to get to my emporium.” “Sure thing, Jayna, just let me wet my whistle first.” “Don’t think you can come in here and make yourself at home any time you want!” Rydgen said, still with a touch of anger in his voice. “You helped us and THIS is just payback.” “You’re welcome.” Aquarius shot back sarcastically, as he took another cold water bottle from the fridge. The Mystic Sentinel cut through the tension. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go to my room for some things as well." “So, what’s the plan, Az?” Bishop asked between gulps of Pepski. “We stop them. And I need to find Warren.” “Not happy with your old boyfriend, huh?” “Shut up, Aquarius. Cut her some slack.” “Sorry, Jayna…sorry, Az.” He guzzled down the bottle and went for another. “Okay, let’s go to yer shop.” “Yeah. See you later.” Rydgen glared at the merc. "Oh no. We're in this with you. I just need to gather some things." Jayna muttered as she and Aquarius left the pub. ------------------------------------- “Jason, status.” Silver said to his computer on entering his room. He began recharging his ring as the computer spoke. [NO CHANGE. THERE HAVE BEEN NO LIFEFORMS PRESENT NEAR THE MONOLITH’S INVISIBLE OTHER SIDE ON THE PLANET IN THE UNKNOWN UNIVERSE.] Came the male sounding voice through the JSN computer speakers. (Silver Lantern found The Monolith, 1 ft thick by 4 feet wide by 9 feet tall, in his closet. It’s been there at least 12 years. Sentinel Comics #2) “Time to next shift should be in…” Sil was saying. [THE NEXT SHIFT WILL BE IN 1.863 EARTH DAYS.] (The Monolith’s other invisible side “shifts” to a different point in the Omniverse every 4.2 Earth days.) “Thanks, Jason. If in one Earth day I do not return, I authorize that…” The Oan Sentinel gave the computer it's orders and quickly walked to Bishop's room. ---------------------------- “What do you mean I have to stay here with Kitty?" Bishop protested loudly. “Listen to me, Bishop. If I’m not back in 24 hours, I want you to go into my room. YOU will be able to enter then.” Sil put his hand on the younger Sentinel's shoulder. “What’s in there?” “A computer.” “You have a computer in your room, and you didn’t tell anybody? Do you get the Internet?” “No, better. Time to go downstairs.” The two Sentinels left Bishop’s room. ------------------------------ “We’re ready.” Patience said, seeing Silver and Bishop coming downstairs. Azangel and Rydgen were with her in the main part of the pub, with Jayna and Aquarius standing guard near the ruined front of the pub. “I’ll keep the bar clear of any vermin, and keep Bish here out of trouble.” Kitty added, from atop the counter. Captain, the bouncer, stood silently nearby. “I wish I had a speech for you all, but I don’t. In this situation, we will need to spread ourselves out to confront The Raiders and protect the citizens of J Street.” “Good enough, Sil.” Ry blurted. “Good luck, everybody.” He left with the sword that he and Bishop had gotten from Roland, the “invincible” warrior. The Sentinels left the pub except for Bishop, who waved goodbye with Captain and Kitty. They had barely made it out of the pub when a shockwave knocked most of them off their feet. The Raiders - most of them anyway - surrounded the pub. "Marty, go on ahead and see what's going on in the park. We'll join you shortly." Silver spoke quickly, and Marty nodded in agreement. He rarely took orders, but he had wanted to get back to the park - waiting for the JSS to 'gather themselves' had been a waste of time… He took off in the direction of the park. Shadows began oozing from the surrounding buildings, taking both solid and nebulous shapes, and launching themselves at the JSS. Most of the creatures slammed into Silver Lantern, sprouting wings and dragging him away from the pub. Meanwhile, the remaining JSS was left to deal with Roland, Trixx, Jon Foxx, Thrive, Scalpel, Stony, Timber Wolf by Night and Chicken Puppet. DreamWorld and Shocwave had vanished into the pub. Azangel was ignoring the Raiders, scanning for Warren. She saw him on top of a nearby roof and took off, leaving the already outnumbered JSS to deal with the Raiders. "Oh just great." Ry mutters to no one in particular. Chapter 6 The shadow creatures released Silver Lantern a few blocks from the pub, oozing back into the darkness they came from. Taking to the air, turning back toward the pub, he barely had time to wonder WHY he had been released before he heard a voice, calling to him. “Mr. Silver! Is that you?!?” A woman shouted from the street below, waving at him with both arms. He went to her. “I am Silver Lantern, yes. How do you know me?” He landed in front of her. “I’m Timmy Anderson’s mother Lori! Someone took him! Just a few minutes ago! They told us that they wanted you to meet them at the mall. You have to save him!” She was frantic, hyperventilating. “Timmy, the boy from the other day. You and your husband own the bookstore.” Sil gestured to the business across the street. “Yes! ‘Books a Billion’. Tim’s calling the police right now and I was headed to your bar the Hair and Hamster, to get you! They were two thugs and they said they were possessed by demons! You have to save my son! They said if you didn’t show they’d…” “Easy. I’m going! You get back inside with your husband. Can you defend yourselves well enough?” “Yes….Yes; this is J Street. We have a reinforced cellar for these sorts of things. But Timmy is…” “Timmy will be fine. I’m on my way.” “When my friend Mr. Silver gets here, he’s gonna beat you bad guys up.” Two shadow forms oozed around the boy, like black clouds they hovered over the ground in front of the 8-year-old. The thugs that had carried the shadows, and dragged Timmy away from his parents, stood nearby. "We did what your boss said, we can leave now, right?" One of them asked, timidly. "Of course," the smaller of the shadows whispered. "Just as was agreed. Go back to the park to receive your payment." The thugs turned to leave, kidnapping wasn't their usual gig, but the man in the park promised them a lot of money to do this particular 'job'. “What…what kinda bad guys are you? Are you like…ghosts?” Timmy asked, getting scared just saying the word, struggling with the rope that bound him to the railing. “Not ghosts, but just as bad, boy.” Timmy was alone with these two… Two WHAT? Smoke monsters He thought to himself. They aren't ghosts, that's too scary to think about. Two humans with a small bit of shadow power signatures were leaving the mall as Silver neared from overhead. He let them leave; Timmy was inside. At least he HOPED it was Timmy; it was a young boy. It HAD to be Timmy. Timmy and two shadow creatures. Silver Lantern entered the mall from the opposite direction than the two thugs had exited. He took off his ring, and instantly was transformed into the red-skinned, extraterrestrial humanoid, Norrin Sur. He made his way slowly, quietly towards Timmy and his captors. He paused behind a mall cart and peered around it. There was Timmy! He was tied to a staircase that led to the second floor of the mall. And hovering in front of him were the shadow creatures, formless at the moment. He crept over on hands and knees. “Boy.” Spoke the larger cloud for the first time, causing the boy to shriek. It sounded hoarse, raspy. “Boy, is your father stupid?” “N--n-no. Dad’s smart.” “Well, if he was smart he wouldn’t have come here. He was told that if he did we would kill you and THEN kill him.” “M-m-my dad’s here? DAD?!?” There was no answer. “He’s here alright, child.” Rasped the other dark cloud. “There’s a mortal here and he’s trying to sneak up on us. I guess Silver Lantern wasn’t available. Too bad for you and Dad.” The two forms levitated towards the mortal. “Dad! Look out! The smoke monsters are gonna get you!!” “Hello, ‘Dad’. Couldn’t find Silver Lantern?” The clouds were above him. “You were told what would happen if you failed to send him.” “Yes, I know. TIMMY, ARE YOU WELL?” “Dad? DAD? IS THAT YOU? It didn’t sound like Dad. He couldn’t turn to see. “He’s fine, but now we will kill him, and you get to watch.” The shadow forms were sinking to engulf him. Norrin put his ring on and in an instant he was Silver Lantern! The creatures were pushed upwards from the pain of the unexpected light. Silver Oan-blasted them simultaneously with both arms, and ran towards Timmy. “Nooooo!” Bellowed one of the shadows, transforming into a dark jaguar and hitting the floor a solid mass. It pounced on Sil’s back and both toppled over. Timmy couldn’t see a thing, but he had an idea that his dad was doing some serious hurting on those smoke monsters. “Get ‘em, Dad!” The second Shadowform oozed down the railing and formed into a bear in front of him, and raised a massive paw. An Oan bolt rammed into his face, knocking him backwards. Sil rushed to Timmy, blasting the jaguar and the bear. “MR. SILVER!! YOU’RE HERE!!” He still couldn’t see behind him, but silver energy beams were a dead giveaway. “Right behind you, Timmy.” The Sentinel fried the ropes loose with two quick zaps. Timmy turned around, looking about the mall. “Thanks, Mr. Silver. Where’s my dad? You gotta help him, too!” “Your father is protecting your mother at the bookstore.” He surrounded the boy in a silver-hued Oan Force Shield bubble. “And I’m taking…” He was struck by the jaguar again and the two crashed into a locked clothing store. The bear went in after them. “MR. SILVER! YOU OKAY?” Timmy was shouting inside his bubble, hovering a foot above terra firma. “Don’t be concerned about the silver one.” A dark cloud taunted as it came towards him. “Another smoke monster?” There is another shadow entity in the mall. It is within striking distance of the child. Silver’s ring informed him internally, as he struggled inside the blackness of the two foul entities. He commanded his board. “Yes. I’m another.” The shadow was forming itself into a bipedal iguana. “There are many more of us…many OTHER…beings waiting to enter this plane, creatures which are older than this place. Your blood will allow another to cross…” The emerald Board struck the dark being, sending it flying backward. “Nice hit, Mr. Silver! Mr. Silver?” He was looking at the Board hitting the dark monster over and over. Silver wasn’t around. The iguana became ethereal again and the Board was engulfed. The cloud began jerking around in the attempt of holding the cosmic transport. “Hello, small one.” Whispered a fourth dark cloud, as it levitated into the mall and paused before the boy in the bubble. “Get off of me!” Silver commanded as he regained his equilibrium and released an Oan Burst. The Omnidirectional wave tore the shadows from his frame, sending them hundreds of feet away through the masonry. A Shadowform is attacking the Sphere surrounding being Timmy. The Board is engaged with another. Silver fired from inside the clothing store, through the store’s merchandise, and a mall cart, swatting the two creatures. They turned to face him, “solidifying” into twin dragon shapes. They flew at the Sentinel. “Mr. Silver! Are you okay?!” Timmy asked from within the protective orb of Power Oan. He could see the Sentinel struggling inside the black molasses of the smoke monsters. A fist or a leg would break the surface, then submerge again as Sil clawed at them. Power Oan was lighting up the interior like a strobe light. The creatures exploded apart and the sound scared Timmy into a fetal position. “Timmy…you are unharmed.” Silver said to him. “Mr. Silver?” He looked up. “Are they gone?” “Yes, Timmy, they’re gone.” He looked at the boy within the Sphere. “Time to get you home.” “NO!” A black jaguar leapt at him. How many of these ARE there? Sil wondered as he blasted it. The shadow entities are appearing on J Street at a rate of… “Not now, ring!” he interrupted mentally while wrestling with this adversary, reminding Timmy of “Zartan of The Apes” battling a mean lion. “Timmy!” He yelled as he battled the minion of the Shadow god. “These creatures can detect me. You’ll be safer at home. Have you ever flown before?” “Sure! Last year I flew to California to see Wally World. Me and my parents went on all the rides.” “Close enough!” Sil shouted back. “Don’t be scared, and say hi to your parents for me!” “Huh? What d'ya mean?” The Board flew under the silver Sphere and the two were “attached”. Timmy had never flown like THIS before. "The boy is nothing to us. We merely used him to goad you here." One explained while entwined in combat with The Oan Sentinel. "I figured THAT out, you moron!" Silver blurted out, slicing it in two with an Oan Bolt. "We will bring your beaten body to Tezcatlipoca so that he can kill you personally." Another added. "Am I to be flattered that I die by him and not you demons? BEGONE!" Another omnidirectional Oan Pulse shredded the vile wraiths surrounding him. The Board stopped outside Books A Billion, hovering inches from the ground. The Silver Sphere "popped" and Timmy Anderson jumped off. "Thanks, green thing. Umm…do you have a name? Are you a droid?" The Board flew away. "Guess not." Timmy said to himself as he took his key out of his pocket and let himself inside. He made sure to lock the door behind him. "Mom? Dad?" He called out, as he made his way towards the cellar. They gotta be there. "Timmy!" Lori Anderson screamed through the intercom at her son. Her husband Tim hugged her as tears began flowing down her cheeks, and his. "Timmy. You're ok?" He asked his son through the system. "Sure, Dad! Mr. Silver came to the mall and he took on these smoke monsters who…" "Tell us INSIDE the cellar, son." He switched off the intercom. Timmy Anderson saw the cellar steel door swing open and his mom swept him in her arms, still crying. "Aww, Mom. How come you're crying'?" The family reentered their haven, and Timmy told them of Silver Lantern, the smoke monsters, and flying down J Street, faster than a speeding bullet. "Now, Silver one. Now you are defeated." A shadow bear gloated from outside the pile of shadows attempting to smother Silver Lantern. The Board cut through the dark grizzly as it entered the mass of shadows. Instantly, Silver grabbed it, as a man drowning would clutch a life ring. The Board never slowed; as it entered so it exited. Silver Lantern was whole once more. He and the board were one. "And now, demons. Your time is through!" A massive Oan Pulse erupted from his every fiber. Shadows were torn from the whiteness, the lightness of the energy wave. The Mall shook, was shattered by the physical force. Like a bomb, the Pulse was indiscriminate in the damage it brought. He recharged, and popped his battery safely into his ring once more. He left the mall quickly, wanting to get back to the JSS. Once outside, he saw the remains of the two thugs who had kidnapped Timmy. A multitude of smaller shadow creatures had stripped them to their bones as soon as they had stepped outside the mall. He was ready to Pulse again, in case they attacked, but the small shadows must have sensed his intent for they fled down the street. Riding the board, now above the former mall, Silver saw the devastation of the rest of J Street. He scanned quickly. People were in need, trapped in burning buildings. He went to work. Chapter 7. Which one do I want? Rydgen thought as he watched his fellow teammates engage in battle. Then he heard a breathy voice in his ear. “Why don’t you try me on for size, baby?” she said, and Rydgen felt her tongue flick in his ear briefly. She started rubbing her arms around his chest affectionately, but was thrown off her feet and over Rydgen as he flipped her over. Right, Ry thought, you know she uses her femininininty to distract her adversaries, so don’t let your hormo—ooohh, cleavage… Rydgen’s testosterone was getting the better of him as Trixx breathed deeply, causing her bosom to almost fall out of her low cut top. Then came pain as she roundhouse-kicked Rydgen in the jaw, knocking him a little off balance. “Now, now, lady,” he began, “That’s not playing nicely.” She stunned you umpteen times before, remember? Yeah, but look at her! Such nice round… Another kick, this time in the gut, knocking sense back into him. Hunched over and holding his stomach, Rydgen was wide open for Trixx to kick him in the face. Her stiletto-heeled shoe flew up, and stopped. Rydgen’s other hand was grasping it firmly. Mmm, firm legs, Ry thought. No, no, throw her dammit!! And he tossed her over his shoulder. “Oouf!!” Trixx exclaimed as she landed roughly on her behind. Rydgen turned around and saw her sitting there, all mussed up. He was fighting very, very hard to not feel sorry for the sexy lady, but she is the enemy. Urges… overwhelming him more than he’s ever experienced… Trixx’s ability to excite men, coupled with Rydgen’s hormonal problem caused by the trip through the Bag O’ Evil, equals uncontrollable primal cravings. So much that Ry was having a hell of a time keeping them under control. He couldn’t take it anymore. Rydgen leapt onto Trixx’s still sitting form, knocking her back to the ground, and pinning her arms down. “Damn, you’re a very lovely woman,” Ry commented as his face got closer to hers. “Tell me… why would such a beautiful girl like you team up with a jerk like Zen?” She tried wriggling out of Ry’s grip, but it was no use. He was at pretty much full strength, adrenaline and testosterone increasing it more. “Well, *nngh*, when someone says ‘join me or die’, I think that being in his little club might be the best choice,” she said. She slowly positioned herself for a strategic strike with her leg as they talked. “Live to seduce another day and all that, y’know…” “Yeah, you seduce all right. Here’s a switch,” Ry said, nose to nose with Trixx, “you’re the one who’s going to be sedu-*nnf!*” Trixx’s knee slammed into Rydgen’s crotch, but it wasn’t soft and easily hurt… “Heh, looks like I picked a good day to wear my titanium cup, eh?” Rydgen asked, grinning mischievously. He pressed his lips onto hers, kissing for what seemed like hours. Finally, when they broke for air, Trixx’s eyes were glazed over, looking at Rydgen intently, and she was breathing very heavily. “How’s that?” Rydgen asked. “Oooooooohh…” Trixx said, fainting. Ry’s smile fell. “Well she’s no fun; she passed right out…” ___________________________________________________________ A shadow loomed over Rydgen and Trixx. “Infidel!!!” the shadow’s owner bellowed, as Ry felt himself being lifted swiftly off of Trixx’s unconscious body. “What do you think you are doing to my sister little man?!?!” Roland demanded, spitting in Ry’s face as he talked. “Oh not much really,” Rydgen replied plainly, “just wiping dirt from her eyes, trying to find her contact,” and whispering into the Invincible Warrior’s ear, “giving her the best tongue she’s ever had…” “You DIE!!” Roland yelled, tossing Rydgen a dozen yards away. “Well he didn’t take that to badly,” he said, looking over at Roland. Rydgen jumped up as he noticed Roland had a sword in hand. I’ve still got his, so why does… must be a present from Zen or something. Rydgen threw off his flannel, revealing a scabbard on his back. He drew it out and headed towards his opponent. “You may have my old blade, but this new one is far superior!!” Roland gloated, swinging his sword in swoops as if to demonstrate. “Not to mention that you probably have no idea how to really use that weapon you’re holding.” “I’ve had a little experience, yeah,” Rydgen sneered back. He didn’t even beak a sweat against Trixx, so he had plenty strength to go against her brother. Except… that blade is giving off a bad aura. No good worrying about that, just do what you ca- “Whoa!!” Rydgen exclaimed, dodging Roland’s sudden lunge. Rydgen swatted the offending sword away, trying to remember what little swordplay he’s learned. Rol swung his sword around to slash at Ry’s side, but Ry swiftly countered. Another swing, another block. A fake lunge, then swipe which caught Ry by surprise. The sharp metal nicked Ry’s upper arm, but was deflected before it cut right through. The wound healed itself quickly, as Roland and Rydgen swung, lunged, and parried. It went on like that, Rydgen being kept on the defensive, and Roland scoring strikes here and there. “The only reason,” Roland started, “you’re still standing is due to that healing factor of yours.” “Well,” Rydgen said, blocking a couple strokes, “you’re not much better, with that robe and your healing factor. Which might I add,” Rydgen found an opening to strike, but was easily parried, “isn’t as fast as mine.” “Ha! You jest, green-haired clown!” Roland wound his blade around Rydgen’s, twirling them both until he knocked the sword out of Rydgen’s hand. “whoops…” “Why don’t we see just how great your healing abilities are?” Roland swung his sword horizontally, aiming for Rydgen’s vulnerable neck. Rydgen shut his eyes, his life flashing before him on the inside of his eyelids. And me with no popcorn, he found himself thinking. He also found himself thinking that it seems to be taking Roland some time to lop his head off. He opened an eye to see no Roland in front of him. Alarmed, he looked around for Roland, and found him on the ground to his left, and Trixx a yard or so further, getting up off the ground. “You are not my mother, Roland!” she was yelling as she rose. “I… like that man you’re trying to kill.” Roland got right up, facing Trixx. “No, but I know an improper mate when I see one! He is unworthy of touching my sister’s skin!” Seems Ry’s kiss did more than he thought. He took this opportunity and leapt onto Roland’s back, knocking him over. Because he had no other plan, Rydgen had Roland pinned underneath him, and started pummeling the back of Roland’s head repeatedly. Then he felt himself pushed off his punching bag and onto his back. “Don’t you do that to Roland! He is my brother, and I can’t have you kicking his ass, now can I?” Trixx said as she sat on top of Rydgen. Confusion set in. Trixx got up and walked over to Roland’s unconscious form. “Looks like I did a good job of it to me,” Rydgen commented. He watched as she woke Roland up enough so he was groggy, but able to walk with her assistance. She was cooing things like, “Are you okay, bro?” and “The bad man won’t hurt you,” as they walked away. “Well, um… I guess I showed him…?” Rydgen said. Chapter 8 Kitty, the cat with the mind of a man, and the current bartender of the Hair & Hippo, turned to Bishop as soon as the JSS left. "Grab a broom, we need to start cleaning up downstairs." "But…" "We've gotta get this place cleaned up, kiddo. You may as well help, since you're stuck here." Bish stared in disbelief. "Um, Kitty…I wanna go check something out, ok?" The Sentinel bounded up the stairs, not waiting for a reply, heading towards Silver Lantern's room. Kitty sighed. "We're just not gonna get any help, Cap'n. Let's go check the wine cellar." Cap'n, the human with the mind of a cat, mewed in agreement and followed Kitty. ------------- Trudging down the stairs, the tiny bartender and the hulking bouncer were shocked to see that the cellar floor was now covered in grass, and where the wine racks and walls were before, a forest had sprung up. "Impossible." The feline murmured. He could smell the alcohol in the air; it was so thick he could taste it, but his eyes were telling him he was entering a forest. He looked down at the stairs, they now resembled a steep hill, rocks jutting out, making a path to the forest floor. It was some sort of trick. There was no other explanation. Cap'n mewed in confusion, hissing as the door behind them slammed shut and vanished, leaving them surrounded by trees. "We've got company." One of the Raiders stood at the foot of the hill, laughing at the caped feline. "Aawwww look, it's puss-n-boots. Well, pussy, I'm DreamWorld." He looked the caped cat and the bouncer over critically. "What can you do, cough up a furball?" "Cap'n, get 'em!" At the cat's command, the bouncer launched himself towards the Raider, fingers curled into claws, screeching at the top of his lungs. The bouncer passed through the figure of the Raider, laughter filling the air as the bouncer lands on all fours in the illusory grass, howling in pain as the all-too-real broken glass cut his hands. DreamWorld appears next to the cat and flings him into a tree, where he strikes it with a loud thud. Has to be the far wall of the cellar, the feline thought to himself. "Now you two just stay down here and I won't have to hurt you." The Raider laughs. "Shoc and I are just here after the kid - Bishop." With the mention of the younger Sentinel's name, the cat charges at DW, not thinking about his own safety. He had promised Silver Lantern he'd keep the kid out of trouble, and here trouble comes looking for the kid. The Raider grabs his small adversary and tosses him aside. Then he turns and begins to climb the hill, the stairs, Kitty corrects himself, resisting the urge to lick the booze out of his fur. He figured that maybe if he was a bit snockered the whole thing would make more sense. Kitty looks up at Cap'n. "I think it's time." DW chuckles as he climbs the hill/stairs. "To what, change your litter box, pussycat?" DreamWorld was shocked to find himself grabbed by the nape of the neck and flung back into the cellar of the pub by the bouncer, who seemed to have grown even larger in the last few seconds. Realizing that his illusions were having no effect, he stopped casting them, and the forest vanished, they were standing in the cellar again. The Raider started tossing wine and other unbroken bottles at the Sentinel's bouncer, who dodged them easily. DW could no longer see the cat, he figured it was hiding somewhere nearby. "Here kitty kitty…come on out…" He giggled insanely. The bouncer pressed his attack, forcing the Raider further back into the cellar, striking DW across the head with the flat of his hand, batting him around like a cat playing with a mouse. Panicking, DreamWorld grabbed at one of the remaining wine racks, a wood and metal construct covering most of one side of the cellar wall, and topples it, hoping to pin the cat/human being. Cap'n Kitty simply leaps aside, landing at the top of the stairs. The metal rack scrapes the concrete of the floor, the resulting sparks igniting the spilled liquor. Blue flames quickly engulf the hapless Raider, and the heat and quickly growing flames force Cap'n Kitty out of the basement. By the time he returns with an armload of fire extinguishers, the Raider has thankfully stopped screaming. Kitty proceeds to cover the basement with the foam, emptying all but one of the extinguishers in the process. After making sure the flames are smothered and dragging the Raider's remains out of the basement, Kitty and the Cap'n split, and begin searching the pub for Bishop and the other Raider. Chapter 9 I saw the little brat walk up the stairs a couple of minutes ago. I ordered another round before following him. Figured it best that way. Nothing will look too suspicious. The bartender – – a cat – – went in back for a few seconds. Luckily for me, that’s all I needed. I made my way through the drunks and the beer-stained creeps until I reached the stairwell. Counted each one as I went up. I could come back down in two leaps if things get ugly up here. One, if I land it right. “Where do you think you’re going?” a voice called out from my left side. I didn’t turn around. I knew who it was. “Bishop.” I said aloud. I drew a dagger from my belt and lunged for his neck. He dodged it, much to my surprise. He was getting better. Unfortunately for him, the upstairs hallway was small and he belted into the far wall. He half-attempted to get back up, but I placed my foot on his chest, forcing him back to the ground. “I’m hoping you remember me, kid,” I say, breaking the silence. “Shocwave. Of course I remember you. I also remember you turning against Zen and helping me… not trying to kill me, like you appear to be doing now…” He trailed off. Strong words for one in such a vulnerable position. Or perhaps, he wasn’t in that much of a vulnerable position at all. He grabbed my leg and made me lose my balance. We both got up at the same time, but unlike him, I had a weapon at hand. Again he dodged a blow to the neck. Damn kid. It was his turn to get a lick in, though, I suppose. He kicked me in the lower chest, sending me flying backwards. He’s quick, too – – before I fully regained my balance, he gave me a swift upper-cut in the chin. “Courtesy of everybody’s favorite not-yet-allowed-to-vote-Sentinel.” I would have laughed, if he wouldn’t have broken my jaw with another punch. The pain blurred my vision, so I didn’t see him kick me out of the window that I was standing in front of – – but I sure felt it. I landed on something hard and sharp. Broke my wrist and whatever the hell that thing above your ribs is called. “Well you’re no fun, you fell right over and got wounded,” the youngest Sentinel said as he somersaulted out the window and landed flawlessly next to where I was lying. “You’re not looking too good, Shoc. I don’t think you’re trying your hardest really.” The little brat was actually right. I ain’t been sure about this whole thing with the shadow guy teaming up with Lord Zen, and I also ain’t been putting in full support. Like this fight. I shouldn’t be having such a hard time killing this kid, even if he has improved. He’s watching me, waiting to see what my next move will be. As it looks, I’m out of options. He has all the advantage right now, and I don’t feel like getting kicked around anymore by anybody. I think it’s time to take a break. Maybe a little vacation or something, somewhere where I can have time to myself, explore my inner soul, be in tune with my— “Hey, are you going to attack me or what?” Bishop asked, nudging me in the side with his foot. I think I’ll just *nngh* roll over and play dead or something until he goes away. “What’s the matter? I didn’t even kick you! Why’d you roll away? Shoc?” I hear the worry in his voice as he moves in to inspect my body. I don’t think the kid’s ever killed anyone before. Hmm… “oh no…” Yep, sounds to me like he thinks I’m dead. Maybe this’ll be my chance. “This wasn’t supposed to happen! I thought you’d be able to take a short two-story fall! You’re a super villain for Phil’s sake!” I hear him scuffling back to his feet. “Stay cool, man, I’ll go get some medical help! Don’t die you creep!” He’s running off now, most likely to find a medic like he said. I chance a glance in his direction, and I confirm him running away. Good. That’s all I need to *huff* get up and *groan* get away from here. Oh great, now I’m blinded! Who turned on the damn headlights? Man, those are some powerful high beams! Oh good, they’re off now. And I’m outta here. I’ve had enough of this whole thing as it is. I don’t think I’ll be missed as I disappear into the street. "He’s right over here, sir!” Bishop said, an off-duty doctor right behind him as he ran to where he left Shocwave. They arrived at the spot, but found no broken, bleeding bad guy. “Well son,” the medic started, “where’s the victim?” “He was right here, I swear!” Chapter 10 She stood at the edge of the roof, wings folded behind her back, watching him. She didn't know what to expect - the ShadowGod had clearly enhanced him, as he had the other Raiders. Below she could see Jayna and Aquarius mopping the floor with the remaining Raiders, Rydgen having finished with Trixxs and Roland already and lending them a hand. Patience had disappeared after Jon Foxx, but she could take care of herself. Warren, glaring at her with unconcealed hatred, gestured with his hands. "Give me the helmet." He hissed. Shadows poured from his body, covering him in what looked like a gray and black version of Azangel's armored costume, complete with bat-like wings. "Black's my color, don't you think?" When she didn't respond to his goading, he continued, shouting. "Tezcatlipoca has already brought through the first of the dark gods, the ones promised to serve him after their release. Tlaloc is here." Lightning flashed behind him, over the park, as if to prove his point, illuminating the darkness and framing the massive temple. She could see Marty in the distance as well. Was he insane? Taking on an ancient god he knew nothing about? "You and those pitiful J Street Sentinels have nothing -and your lightbringer has fled, Ciela, if he was ever here to begin with. Quetzalcoatl really was nothing more than a coward, after all." He paused to look at her. She was still standing at the edge of the roof, watching him quietly, unimpressed with his diatribe. "I'm supposed to bring the helmet back to Tezcatlipoca, to prove myself to him. I don't know why he's worried. The light god hasn't shown up, and he never will. You know it as well as I do…you have to know it. You just can't face the truth. You're an unfit host, and your god is a coward." "Look, Warren, since you're so confident in your powers, why are you TALKING me to death?" she finally spat at him. "That's all you've been doing!" "I was just giving you the chance to surrender quietly, to hand the helmet over and spare yourself the humiliation of being bested by me - again. Since that seems to be out of the question…" He flexed the shadow-formed wings, and lunged at her, taking them both off the roof, and into a side alleyway. Both of them blinked in surprise as they went through a nexus, Az recovering more quickly than Warren to the change in scenery. They were in the middle of nowhere - apparently the dimension itself had been destroyed, leaving a limbo-like void. Unsure how long either of them could - or would - survive in the odd dimension, Az immediately turned her back on Warren and, flexing her wings, propelled herself through the nexus and back to J Street. Behind her, Warren did the same, grabbing at the helmet when he 'appeared' back on J Street, only a few feet from where Az had landed. Electrifying the armor knocked the dark god's minion to the ground, where he stayed, folded over in pain, as Az's boot connected to his lower extremities. The other boot came across almost as quickly and smacked him in the head. "That," he wheezed "was playing dirty. I'm proud of you." A plasma beam shot out from one of her wrist gauntlets, only to be deflected back at her by Warren's shadowy armor construct. Dodging her own blast, the beam cut a wide hole through the building behind her. Warren began firing shadow-stuff at her and missing, trying to drive her back into the nexus they had just escaped. After several minutes of this, she stopped in her tracks, frozen in place. "Ready to give up?" "No." "Good. I'm looking forward to dragging your lifeless body back to Tezcatlipoca." "No. I have a message to deliver." Her armor, her body, everything around her began to glow slightly. "What did you do, trigger the self-destruct? Pathetic. I can form a gateway and teleport away before the battery reaches critical mass." "No. Not the self-destruct." Warren stood, suddenly transfixed, as the light emanating from her grew stronger. After a few seconds he was forced to shield his eyes, and, a few seconds after that, he began backing away as the light started to burn the shadow-stuff from his body. The wings and the costume dissolved under the blinding glare, and he could feel Tez's influence, his connection to the dark lord, begin to wane. Gathering his strength, he focused his diminishing powers into one last-ditch effort, a powerful beam of darkness that should have killed Az where she stood. Fortunately for her, it never even reached her, dissolving in mid-air under the blinding light now coming from her. For an instant the surrounding area lit up bright as day and Warren realized his mistake - too little, too late. He dropped to the ground, curling into a fetal position, attempting in vain to protect himself from Quetzalcoatl's light. After a few moments of this, the light faded away, leaving Azangel in the dark alleyway with the unmoving Warren. She moved closer, nudging him with her foot. He groaned and rolled over slightly - his eyes were wide open and unfocused in shock. She bent down and whispered in his ear. "The message was this: Don't call me a coward." Azangel picked Warren up easily, and tossed him through the nexus. She exited the alleyway and headed back to the pub, ignoring the floating green orb that seemed to be looking for her. Chapter 11: The Park Marty H. Jordan alighted on the ground lightly, carefully watching the towering Aztec temple before him, which was right in the center of the Park. It seemed to be a mass of writhing shadow with a stone circle resting at its summit. The Emerald Warrior placed one foot on the bottom step of the pyramid-like structure and proceeded to climb the fifty-foot height, his cloak fluttering in a slight breeze. As Marty reached the peak, he saw that the stone circle was cracked and chipped in several places - the wear that comes with great age. Carefully he started to walk around the outside of the circle while keeping a close eye out for possible danger. The wind suddenly picked up, Marty set himself for a confrontation as a swirl of dust built up within the circle; a faint humanoid shape could be made out within. Lightning suddenly boomed down atop the ziggurat, sending shadowy stone and Marty flying throw the air. Using his power to save himself from a high fall, Marty steadied himself in mid flight and looked back and the dust cloud. There, in the circle, stood a ten foot tall man. The figure wore an Aztec blue wooden mask that covered down to his nose while his skin was black, electricity sparkled along his arms. "I AM TLALOC!" boomed the figure in a great voice, "THIS WORLD IS MINE!" Tlaloc raised his arms and a great stream of lightning burst forth - Marty let it hit him, all he felt was a mild tingle. "Never fought flying foes before have you?" questioned Marty, "Your lightning won't hurt me as long as I'm in the air." The Aztec god roared in anger, lightning and massive hailstones came down in a torrent. A green shield deflected the hail while Marty simply ignored the lightning. The JSTFer swung his arm at the god and a giant battering ram flew forth, Tlaloc dove to the side as a great chunk of the circle was shattered by the construct. The Emerald Warrior and the Ancient Deity eyed each other off as they both floated on opposite sides of the temple peak. Tlaloc roared again and a wide sickly dark beam shot out, catching Marty square in the chest. He fell quickly to the ground, grunting loudly from the impact. He had always been weaker against magic, and this guy obviously knew how to use it - this was not going to be easy after all. Marty moved to get to his feet but the huge body of the god crashed into his back, blowing all breath from Marty's lungs. "Mortal scum!" screamed the God at Marty, "I shall devour your heart and drink from your skull!" Tlaloc's foot swung in, connecting squarely with ribs, Marty grunted again and rolled away, coming to his feet in a smooth motion. He lunged forward with a right hook, shattering the deities mask and making it stagger back a few steps. The JSTFer stepped back in mild shock; Tlaloc's face was hideous! Fire seemed to burn in sockets where eyes should have been and the black skin was cracked like drought-ridden land. Tlaloc motioned with his right hand, a torrent of water hit like a water cannon, sending Marty flying backwards again. He stopped in midair, a good three inches off the ground and sent back a green spear at the mad god. Tlaloc caught it in midair and it shattered under the pressure of his grip. Fire came next, searing the very air as it came forward. Marty simply let go of his levitation and dropped into the ground itself like a wraith. Tlaloc roared in frustration and he used lightning to tear up the ground where his human foe had just been. Just behind him, Marty rose back up through the soil and slammed both his fists onto the back of the deities neck with a blow so powerful small shockwaves sent rocks jumping along the nearby ground. The Aztec god dropped like a sack of potatoes to the ground, limp as a rag doll. Marty rubbed his sore ribs as he stepped over the body and looked up at the temple's peak again - the stone circle was still there and still had to be fully analyzed. He moved to walk up the stairs again but went flying head first into the dark stonework instead, Tlaloc was standing again, his head at an impossible angle. Even as Marty shook his head to clear his thoughts, Tlaloc's neck returned to normal. "What the hell is it going to take to bring you down?" muttered Marty, only half to himself. "Your power is nothing against the magic of a GOD, mortal." sneered Tlaloc. A fist crackling with lightning came down towards Marty's head, the Emerald Warrior threw himself forward and shoulder tackled the god, sending them both sprawling on the ground. Marty sprang back up at the same instant Tlaloc did, mud from the earlier water torrent squelching under foot. Both started to land heavy blows upon the other, until Marty suddenly dropped his guard and went flying from a harsh blow from the god. "Mortal, now you die!" screamed Tlaloc in a slightly insane sounding voice, lightning crackled down his arms and went hurtling at the prone JSTFer. Marty smiled at the rushing death and a green glowing metal rod suddenly appeared, sticking out of the ground. The lightning struck it and arced back along the wet ground back at Tlaloc, the god screamed as his own power struck him at full force. The Emerald Warrior rose to his feet and calmly brushed some dirt off a sleeve of his costume. Tlaloc was lying on the ground twenty feet away, his body nothing but a blackened corpse. After restraining the possibly dead god in many green bonds, Marty started dragging it back to the Hair & Hippo, so the JSS could tell him what was going on exactly... He stopped momentarily, attempting to contact them, sending a green construct out to find each one of them, hoping they were still near the pub. Chapter 12 ShadowZen watched several swirling obsidian mirrors at once, keeping a watchful eye on the Raiders, and their losing battles with the JSS. He smirked, savoring the massive amounts of energy he was gaining from every word, every emotion, every attack…and every defeat. It didn't matter which 'side' won or lost an individual battle, ShadowZen won either way. The heroes were under the misguided impression that he gained power from blood, and blood alone, and they further believed that by merely keeping the Raiders from killing, they could defeat him. This was untrue. Any form of destruction fed him and strengthened him. Battle just happened to be one of his favorite means of gathering that energy. In fact, Tezcatlipoca - the part of ShadowZen that was Tezcatlipoca - hoped the JSS defeated the Raiders quickly and arrived at the temple quickly. He had been trapped in limbo for centuries, and ached to do battle once again, if even with mortals. As proven by the green - energy wielder's defeat of Tlaloc, these were not ordinary mortals, and he looked forward to meeting them in the field of battle, defeating them, and removing their hearts with his own hands. Motioning towards one of the mirrors with one hand, the image changed, and he was now looking inside the Hair and Hippo, where the heroes who had already defeated their opponents were gathered, at the green one's insistence. They were speaking amongst themselves, trying to figure out how another Aztec god had managed to show up. He noticed that Azangel had not arrived yet. Perhaps Warren had managed to defeat her, and was returning now with the helmet. His mirrors had been unable to track her, but he was unconcerned. Without Quetzalcoatl, she was harmless. He laughed quietly. They really had no idea about Tlaloc, they thought he was dead. In the mirror, the green warrior spoke. ________________________________________________________________ "Tell me one of you know something about this guy." Marty dropped Tlaloc's charred, chained remains on the pub floor. "A bit of overkill, don't you think there, Marty?" Aquarius laughed, bending over the well-bound body, inspecting it. "Kitty was just complaining about the LAST corpse he had to get rid of. One of the Raiders made it into the pub, and Kitty took care of him before he could get to Bishop." "Well, I'm not convinced this one's dead, Aquarius. He claimed he was a god - Tlaloc, to be exact - and he wasn't easy to put down. I was hoping one of you could shed some light on this." He paused and looked around. "Where's Azangel?" "She went charging off after Warren, leaving the rest of us…" "With nothing that you couldn't handle." Sil finished for Rydgen. Aquarius looks up from his inspection long enough to glance at Sil and then at Jayna, who was trying to stifle a laugh. He opened his mouth to speak, but Jayna pressed one finger to her mouth in a 'sshhhh'ing motion. He grinned at her, trying to look innocent. She rolled her eyes in response but said nothing. "What's this guy a god of, anyway, Marty?" Aquarius had turned the probable corpse over, and was inspecting the god's horrific visage. "Seemed to be a storm god of some sort - hail, lightning…" "Ugh. Turn him back over, Aquarius!" "Maybe you shouldn't…" Marty sighed aloud. "Do you always bicker this much?" "Usually more." Patience entered the building, looking quite pleased with herself. "I finished up with Foxx. I thought we were going on ahead to the temple. What was the 'problem' you mentioned in your summons, Marty?" "We may be in for more of a fight than we thought - your friend Zen Reaper managed to pull another Aztec god through. He may be trying to bring all of them through." "Wonderful. Which one is this? I'm not up on my Meso-American religion." "He called himself Tlaloc. We're waiting on Az…she may know more about what's going on than we do." Just then there was a yelp of surprise as the 'dead' god reached up and grasped Aquarius's throat, emerald chains bursting as he did so, green links clattering across the floor. Electricity crackled around Tlaloc's hands, pouring into Aquarius's body. Much to the god's surprise, his trick had no effect: he was even more surprised when Aquarius shifted to his water-form and surrounded him. "See, no problem!" Aquarius joked, freezing solid in just seconds, containing Tlaloc inside his ice-form. "Do you think that's such a good idea…" Jayna began to protest. "Relax, he's on ice!" laughed Aquarius. There was a series of ear-splitting cracks as Aquarius's body splintered, breaking into fine shards and rushing towards Marty, in much the same way as the hailstorm had done earlier. The shards ricocheted around the room, bouncing off both Marty and Silver Lantern's energy shields, which covered both the JSS and the few patrons who had wandered into the half-destroyed bar. Tlaloc quickly stopped this attack as he realized it had failed, small shards of ice raining down in one last hail of shrapnel. Marty and Silver Lantern both dropped their shields, Marty shoving the customers out the door with a giant green hand. Then they both turned and focused their energies together, striking the god in the center of his chest. Tlaloc howled in pain, and lightning flashed around the room as he tried to strike back at his attackers. ________________________________________________________________ ShadowZen was watching the scene at the bar so intently that he failed to notice the slight whoosh of displaced air as a teleportation disk closed behind him. What finally took his attention away from the mirror was a slightly more noticeable sound - footsteps. ShadowZen turned towards the sound, only to be knocked completely across the room by a blunt object slamming into the side of his head. It had happened so quickly that he had been unable to see who or what had struck him. Before he could react, twin beams of scarlet energy slashed through the darkness, slamming him into - and through - the temple wall. Scrambling up out of the small crater caused by his landing, ShadowZen glanced at the hole he had torn through the temple wall, looking for his attacker. "Show yourself, coward! Face me now and die quickly!" A voice, bitter and angry, echoed inside the temple. "I won't be the one dying today, Zen." The body belonging to the voice stepped through the hole in the temple wall, glowing eyes and one visible hand providing the only light. The other hand was behind his back, as if he hid something there. ShadowZen hissed in surprise, as the part of him that was Zen Reaper recognized his attacker. "You came all this way back to face me, did you whelp? You will find things have changed since I sent you on your jaunt across the dimensions." "You're still evil, I'm still part of the JSS, and we're sworn to defeat you. What else is there to know?" The dark god's powers swirled around him, and he laughed. He was going to enjoy destroying this creature, this Thanos. Thanos, meanwhile, had brought his other arm around in front of him, brandishing his glowing red whiffle bat in front of him like a sword. Ebony energy immediately poured from one of the angry god's hands, impacting on the bat, causing it to shake in Thanos's hand. Thanos frowned. Zen's energy had never been black…but it didn't matter. He would destroy the evil one. He ran towards ShadowZen, his 600-pound body shaking the ground with his every step closer to the god, finally ending his charge with a mighty swing of his whiffle bat. Faster than Than could blink, ShadowZen's hand shot up, grasping the bat and shattering it like a toothpick. The other hand grasped Thanos by the throat, lifting the Titan easily and tossing him aside. Than's huge frame carved a rut into the ground for several yards before a tree stopped him. The teal giant stood up quickly, feeling shattered ribs grind together painfully. He looked at the dark god again and grinned wildly. "Let's get this over with, I want to be home in time for dinner." ________________________________________________________________ The Oan Sentinel and the JSTF'er stopped their attack when there was nothing left of Tlaloc but dust. They were taking no more chances. "Jayna, he's playing with us, right?" Rydgen was staring down at the melting Aquarius-shards in disbelief. "I mean, he's going to reform any second now, and laugh at us…" "Rydgen, I think if he was going to do that, he would have done it already. This may have been too much for him." Silver Lantern spoke quietly. "This is an unfortunate turn of events. We cannot afford the loss of ANY ally in this battle." "So what do we do now, Silver? Aquarius may be dead, and Az hasn't shown back up. Do you think Warren killed her?" "What we do now, is leave, before Tezcatlipoca sends any more creatures towards this building. He seems to be gaining strength, and quickly, despite our efforts. We have to stop him before this gets any worse." ______________________________________________________________ Thanos was getting tired. In fact, he was nearing exhaustion. Zen, or whatever the creature he faced was, had first sent a veritable army of creatures at him. Shape-shifting, multi-armed, sharp-toothed, evil little creatures. They had swarmed over him, tearing at his face, tearing every part of him. Only his healing ability had saved him from death in that terrible onslaught. He had destroyed - he thought - that small army using his energy blasts and various items procured through his 'Bag o' Evil'. He hadn't even healed up from that massive attack when a huge, dark-hued beast formed from the remnants of the small creatures, a shark's head on a lizard-like body, with wings similar to an eagle's. It began alternating between slashing him with claws and the spine-tipped tail, and snapping at him with the massive jaws, all while airborne. Thanos had just finished off that creature when Zen's appeared out of nowhere, fist smashing into his gut. Still injured from the battle with the second creature, he fell to the ground, blood dripping from between clenched teeth. Still, he managed to block the follow-up kick, knocking Zen to the ground. Chains swarmed up from the ground, holding him tight. Weakened as he was, he had no hope of breaking the shadow-formed bindings. "Who are you, because you aren't Zen Reaper. I defeated him once in battle already. You cannot be him." "Oh but I am Zen Reaper, and something more besides. My true name means nothing to you, but you DO deserve to know the name of the man who will now kill you." ShadowZen smiled, and the ground below Thanos became smooth as glass. Looking around, he realized they were both atop the temple. In the distance, he could see two bright glowing spots, one silver, one green. "Your friends will arrive shortly, but too late." The ShadowGod looked at Thanos, now bound hand and foot to the altar in the center of the ancient stone circle. "My name is Tezcatlipoca and I claim my first victim." He intoned, raising the obsidian blade above his head and bringing it down quickly. When the JSS and Marty arrived, he held Than's heart in his hands. "I've been expecting you." Chapter 13 "Please tell me that's not what - who - I think it is?" Bishop remarked, staring up at the temple and the figure standing atop it. Specifically, he was looking at the teal-skinned creature that was sprawled across the altar. "I can't tell, it's too dark…" Jayna whispered. With that, Silver Lantern grudgingly used a small portion of his power Oan to brighten the gloom around the temple with a small glowing orb. He knew he would need every once of power, and soon, against Tezcatlipoca, in his host body, Zen Reaper. Zen was grinning down at them, seemingly happy to see them, waiting for the heroes to make the first move. He held the obsidian knife in one hand; the other still contained the former Sentinel's heart. Silver Lantern glanced at Bishop worriedly. "Bishop, go back to the pub. This is too dangerous for you." Then he flew towards Zen, Power Oan glowing around him brightly, Marty close behind. "I'm not going back to the pub, no way!" Bish shouted at the Oan Sentinel. Jayna looked over at Patience, trying to gauge the witch's feelings. "Do you think those two will be able to stop him?" Patience frowned and continued chanting quietly. She didn't hold out much hope that they would be able to defeat him without divine intervention. He'd had time to build strength, and anchor himself to J Street, and considering he seemed to thrive on chaos… ---------------------------------- Above the temple, there was a flash of reflected light, and both Silver Lantern and Marty H. Jordan found themselves slamming into the ground a few yards away from the temple, their first assault unsuccessful. "That didn't work too well, Lantern. Plan?" "No plan! Just BLAST him!!!!!!!!" Marty, Sil, and Patience cut loose with their respective powers, Jayna slinging several of the water-filled spheres that had been so effective against Tezcatlipoca when he had possessed Azangel. ShadowZen extended one arm in a dismissive gesture, and the combined attack of the JSS reflected back towards them, curved past them, and streaked down the street, vanishing from sight in seconds. "Ok, why didn't he hit us with that?" Rydgen muttered, looking up now at the laughing Tez-tapioca. "Don't tell me his aim is that bad." "Somehow I doubt that's the case, Ry. Ry?" Jayna glanced around, looking for the green-haired Sentinel, and quickly located him, being dragged rapidly towards the temple by a swarm of tiny, silent shadow creatures. When he had been dragged about halfway up the temple steps, shadows erupted out from every conceivable location around the JSS and surged towards them. With a complicated gesture from Pat, a glowing sphere instantly covered her, Bishop and Jayna, who were both close enough to the sorceress for her spell to protect them. The tide of shadows crashed against the shield, teeth snapping and grinding against it, angered at their missed opportunity. The majority of the small creatures turned and focused on Silver Lantern and Marty, the energy wielders destroying their attackers as quickly as they appeared, only to have dozens more take their places. Rydgen by this time was at the top of the temple, not looking too happy about it. He struggled vainly against the tide of blackness, which deposited him at ShadowZen's feet and held him fast. "Um, guys? A little help here...?" Rydgen's eyes widened as Zen's hand raised over his head and plunged down, slicing the Sentinel's chest open wide in one quick motion, bones parting as if through magic. Reaching in and grasping Ry's heart, Zen wrenched it from it's rightful place in his chest cavity, then gestured for the shadows holding him to part, and kicked the moaning, writhing Sentinel down the steps. When Ry came to rest at the bottom of the temple stairs, he muttered something obscene and passed out. "Patience, do you suppose he'll live through that?" "Stranger things have happened." "Um, Pat…I hate to interrupt, but I hope you have another spell handy, because this one is coming apart at the seams!" The writhing shadow-forms had somehow made their way through the protective sphere, seeping in and filling it up like fluid. The trio was already knee-deep in the stuff before Bishop had noticed and spoken up. Outside the sphere, Silver Lantern and Marty H. Jordan had managed to pull themselves away from the hordes of living darkness, and now their combined attacks on the ShadowGod lit up the surrounding J Street skies in bright flashes of silver and green. Unfortunately, for all the power they were expending, they weren't affecting the dark god in the slightest. Sil gambled on what he thought was a sure bet, dropping his long-range attack in favor of a close-up one, plowing into the dark god and releasing one of his powerful omni-directional blasts at the same time. ShadowZen swayed slightly at the impact but did not fall, instead following up with a massive blast of his own, sending Silver Lantern crashing into the ground in a twisted heap, where he was quickly covered by legions of the shadow-creatures. Marty cursed Silver Lantern's impetuousness, and redoubled his efforts, creating a huge green dragon and sending it against Zen, then sending a small army of emerald bulldozers to try to free the trapped Silver Lantern. The dark god demolished the dragon within seconds and a bolt of black energy nailed Marty from behind, before he could clear very many of the shadows from Sil. Marty had barely touched the ground when another barrage smashed into him, pounding him into the ground, dazing him. He was slightly vulnerable to magic, and that was basically what this guy was hitting him with - some strange form of sorcery. The pounding continued, getting stronger as ShadowZen moved closer to him. After seeing what had happened to Rydgen, Marty had some general idea what was about to happen, this 'ShadowZen' thought he was too stunned to fight back, and was going to give him open-heart surgery? This guy was in for a surprise… He waited, unmoving, letting the blasts pass through his phased state. The relentless attack stopped, the knife began to swing silently towards him, and just as he was about to reach up and tear it from the dark god's hand…Bishop appeared out of nowhere and broadsided Zen, knocking them both out of Marty's reach. D@mn kid! He'll get himself killed! He lunged towards the two combatants, pulling the young Sentinel out of the way with a giant green hand before turning his attention back towards the madly grinning god. "We aren't done yet, Zen." "Oh, but this won't take long." Marty surrounded Zen with a green construct, focusing giant green spotlights on the shadow-creature from every conceivable angle. The dark god vanished, along with the remaining smaller shadows, leaving them all standing quietly in the empty park. "This is too weird…" Bishop muttered. Pat and Jayna used the brief respite to check on Silver Lantern, having been unable to free himself until ShadowZen's disappearance, while Bishop checked on Rydgen, still unmoving at the bottom of the temple. "Ok, Ry, rise and shine." "…what hit me?" "Not much, you got your heart cut out." "Oh…is that all? I think it's grown back…" Rydgen looked down at his sealed chest, then stood up shakily and looked around. "Did you beat him?" "I doubt it. He vanished after Marty hit him with some spotlights. Probably playing possum…" Bishop stopped in mid-sentence as the ground began to shake, and looked around in alarm. There was a loud, low rumbling and the ground split apart, the entire mass of shadows pouring forth and reforming around Zen Reaper's body, making him easily as large as the temple. One massive hand swung towards Bishop and Ry, catching them off-guard and sending them skidding across the park. Neither moved after they stopped rolling, slamming into a low stone wall. Behind Zen, at the top of the temple, the ancient portal flared to life. A thin, gangly humanoid figure could be seen, trying to free itself from the nothingness beyond. "Lantern…?" "Ready." Sil gritted his teeth and prepared for the worst. As a last resort, he was prepared to open his battery into the heart of the creature and empty it's massive store of Power Oan. The resulting explosion would likely destroy half of J Street, and kill the remaining JSS members. If it stopped Tez, though, it would be worth it… "Pardon me, coming through." A flash of blue and gold cut between the two men, causing them to reflexively step backwards. The blur slammed into the shadow's 'chest' and through it, slowing down just long enough to grab the mirror amulet from around Zen's neck and snap the chain that held it. Ducking the huge fist swung at her as she swooped back around the shadow giant, Az dropped down next to Silver Lantern. "Getting this away from him will help weaken him…" Sil grabs the obsidian amulet away from her and crushes it, polished black flakes sparkling slightly in the lightening gloom. She gave him a cursory glance. "I needed that…" She shook her head and sighed. "About time you showed up, Azangel…where the hell have you been?" "Well, he's NOT the only deity running around out there Lantern…I ran into Xipe Totec on the way over…but he was relatively weak and easy to get rid of." "If he was anything like the one I ran into - Tlaloc-…" Marty began. "Marty, block the portal any way you can. I think I know how to get rid of him, even though Sil DID just ruin my original plan…" She stopped and glared at him for a second then continued to Marty. "We can't afford any more gods getting out of limbo." "So someone finally has a plan here." Marty levitated to the top of the temple and surrounded the portal in green energy, holding it closed, keeping their next visitor stranded. At that the massive shadow construct around Zen dissolved into its component pieces, small shadows gathering together to attack Marty, trying to break his concentration. He wisely stayed in his phased state, floating above the temple. --------------------------- Patience, having already discovered her particular brand of magic was ineffective against both the creatures and Tez, had wandered over to the edge of the park to see if she could help Rydgen and Bishop. Ry was sitting up, looking around in dazed confusion, and Bishop was still unconscious. She knelt down to try to rouse the youngster. "Ry, how is it that you recover from having your heart cut out like it was nothing, but you get knocked out and it takes you longer to heal? "The thing with the heart took a lot out of me. I just need a recharge of sunlight and I'll be fine. " "It won't be too long - the sun should be up in less than an hour." She muttered, gently shaking Bishop's shoulder. "Is that your cat, Patience?" Ry asked, pointing out a large, gray tabby sitting on the wall behind the witch. "Yes, it is." She turned to look at the animal. "Willie, I told you to wait at the..." Her eyes met the cat's, and she trailed off, nodding. "I see. Perhaps it IS time to leave here then." Patience turned back to face Rydgen. "Help me with Bishop. I need you to get him to a safe place, preferably a doctor's. Neither of us will be any help in this fight anyway." She moved quickly across the park, avoiding a few of the shadow creatures most of whom were focused on Marty, Sil, and Az. She stopped once and quickly picked something up, placing it in a hidden pocket on her robe, before reaching Jayna. "I need you to take Rydgen and Bishop to a doctor. Stay with them and make sure he's all right, that he gets the best care possible. I'd do it but I need something from the pub." Jayna nodded and the pair quickly headed across the park, Jayna meeting up with Ry and going one direction, and Patience summoning her broom and flying off to the pub. ---------------------- "I thought you said that removing the amulet would weaken him…" "Nobody's perfect, Sil. It SHOULD have worked." "You DO have a plan, right?" Came Marty's voice from a small, green, floating face. He was still holding the portal closed, hovering above the temple, being attacked by Zen's creations, so he was using one of his constructs to listen in on the conversation. "Plan? Yeah. We have to separate Tezcatlipoca from Zen Reaper's body. It wasn't possible while he wore the amulet, but now we should be able to manage." "Once we get him lose, then what? He possesses you again and we start this cycle over again?" "Not quite, Sil. You have to trust me on this."
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