Back to GatefoldIssue #10 by Ed Ainsworth
|
"Mythical Star Strength"
Brother Nature stood in silence on the edge of the Conquistador. Mark had been making a habit of standing there, watching the horizon and thinking. He'd been spending a lot of time alone recently. Thinking about his son, and the possibility that his...certain way, had in fact creature more offspring around the world.
He shuddered slightly considering the prospect of a Moloid child with his face. He looked around at the slightly crowded deck today. Josef Huber and Kate Waynesboro stood a fair distance away from Mark, chatting to each other, seemingly passionately in hushed tones, occasionally flashing him a sideways glance.
Mark smirked, and leaned on the railing casting his glance to the other side of the deck, where Mr. Immortal, animatedly, spoke to his wife the Lizard like Dinah Soar. She stood in stoic silence, listening with attention to his every word. He smiled.
That is what love really was.
Finally, standing and talking to each other, in the middle of the deck, were She-Thing, Amalgam and Dragonblood. Apparently deep in conversation, though Mark didn't know what. Those three were rarely seen together, especially considering Dragonblood was a new addition.
Mark sighed, and ran his hand through his long hair. It wasn't long now, a year had nearly passed and the little group was going to need to get themselves ready for war. Complete and utter war. He closed his eyes, maybe some of them would survive. Maybe none of them would. Perhaps most of them would die.
He opened his eyes, as a black clad foot hit him squarely in the jaw, sending him hurtling through the air and embedding himself into the metal of the main chimney stack of the flying boat. He shook his head, trying to focus on the creature before him.
“Mark!” Sharon shouted, as the huge black and white warrior stood before them. His muscles bulged and a strange crackling energy appeared to manifest itself in a weird, almost rune like halo around his head. The top half of his face had been coated in salt, a warriors skull painted with his fingers leaving only his nose black. The blower half of his face remained completely obscured by what Mark was sure was oil, or soot.
At any rate, She-Thing joined the fight, her fists slamming into his chest and emitting a sonic boom that knocked the rest of the group on the deck off their feet. The boat listed ever so slightly, as the Eternal stumbled back, Sharon leaping forwards.
Their fists met, another boom knocking the occupants of the boat backwards. Mark managed to extract himself from the metal, to glance over at at the unconscious form of Kate Waynesboro. He shot his attention backwards, as the Warrior parried underneath the She-Things punch and hit her in the chest. The force broke the orange plates on her breasts and sent spatters of lava onto his body.
It was at that moment, the devistating fury unleashed from a single punch that Dragonblood spoke up, his fear over lapping his ever present anger and distaste for the world.
“Gilagamesh...” he shouted. “GILGAMESH!”
The Eternal paused and turned his attention to the huge Deviant, who squared himself up for a fight, his fin like ears flapping. As the Eternal approached, Sharon, from her position on the floor reached out. Her hand wrapping around his ankle and yanking him backwards.
“Ain't done with you yet!” the Eternal twisted in mid-fall, as Sharons own elbow shot out to protect her. His fist glanced off her joint, sending high-velocity chips of stone in every direction and slamming into the side of her face. The impact sent her flying off her position on the deck and a few feet to the side.
As she hit the deck, Gilgamesh landed tightly on his side, Mark and Dragonblood hitting him from both sides. The Eternals quick fists hit Mark in the stomach, and Dragonblood on the shoulder, spinning him around.
Picking a priority target, Gilgamesh thrust his heel downwards, into Dragonbloods quick and expectant palms. He held his opponent for a moment, before redirecting the pressure into the deck metal. Josef Huber was immediately on the immortal warrior, his elbow knocking colliding with the warriors chin, knocking his body back slightly.
His force was met with a downward swipe from the Eternal, slashing across Josefs face and sending him bouncing off the metal flooring. Mark was on him again, fire engulfing the Eternals shoulders from his open hands, both of his feet, covered in stone colliding with the small of his back.
“I been taught to fight by people you don't even know exist, Eternal,” Mark spat, his water covered fist hitting him across the face and forcing liquid into his nose and mouth, down into his lungs. “I fight with the Elements, not with my body. How do you fight nature?”
“With Eternity,” was his only response, as his head shot forwards, breaking Marks nose and sending him clattering to the deck. Mark watched, stunned for a moment as the Eternal broke through the strongest of the Elementals ranks. Mr. Immortal was on him, and equally and easily as dispatched as the others, the Eternal breaking and semi-removing the heroes spine as Amalgam and Dinah Soar watched in horror.
“God...This has go to end,” Mark said, getting to his feet and casting a powerful wind down the length of the deck. It whipped against the Eternal, as he struggled to move forwards. Mark poured it on, adding in razor like hail-stones, ball lightning and anything else he could conceive of. Still the Eternal pushed forwards, each foot fall digging into the metal of the deck.
Mark covered his feet in stone again and leapt forwards into the gail, sending himself hurtling down the length of the ship and into the Eternals chest.
Gilgamesh braced himself, and received Mark, throwing his arms open to brace himself and slamming both of them down into the heroes chest. Brother Nature's control over Nature immediately dissipated, as the wind left his chest. He lay on his back for a second before a powerful kick from the Eternal sent him hurtling back up the length of the ship, hitting roughly in the same place as his original impact in the chimney.
As the stars flicked across Marks gaze he thought he saw something falling from the sun...
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
“BOOM!”
Darwin's newly grown giant fist clattered against the side of Gilgamesh's head. He snapped backwards, his face bouncing off the metal of the decking and sliding forwards a few feet. Darwin landed in silence, his legs transforming into a sponge like material to absorb the impact. He stood for a few moments, watching the Eternal get to his feet.
“Darwin?” Mark asked, wiping blood out of his eyes and swaying in place.
“We're back,” Astra said, casually walking past Mark as her feet touched the ground gently, clasping something in her hands. She looked over her shoulder to Darwin, Mark and the fallen Elementals, before heading towards the lower decks. “I have things to be doing, so if you all don't mind handling this...roughian, I'd prefer it if I had something akin to complete silence to work with thank you.”
“I don't like her,” Mark said to Darwin, who flushed with blood. “Ha. But you obviously do. Good boy.”
Mark rushed forwards, slamming his fists into the Eternals chest and staring up at the man, who didn't move from Brother Natures attack. Instead, a simple backhand across the face sent the hero sliding across the ground and into the railings at the side of the ship. It was clear that Mark needed more than a few moments to recover.
“Where's...Sundown?” Mark gasped, gripping the side of his face and wincing. The bruising was coming up almost immediately.
“He used up all he had to get us back to Earth,” Darwin replied, as the Eternals massive fist exploded through his chest. His body had transformed itself into a gel like substance, that prevented Gilgamesh from removing his fist, sticking to his body, and pulling Darwin along with it. “He's passed out somewhere.”
“Find him later,” Mark added, wiping his face and attempting to pull himself to his feet. He wondered if he needed to bring out the big guns, but he didn't want to risk being not able to use them in the final fight. His grip on the railing faltered, as the Eternal headed towards him.
“Craig...” Mark rasped, as Mr. Immortal was once again dispatched with ease. He wasn't a great fighter, and a punch that tore the majority of his spine free only added to his useless he was in battle.
“Craig...Get me Boost...” Mark orderer. Mr. Immortal lay on the floor for a few moments, before his spine began to suck itself back into his body. Craigs vacant expression shattered, as he recognised what Mark was saying. With a slight nod, he watched his Wife, her wings battered and broken go back into battle with the Eternal.
“Christ...hold onto something...” Mark said to Darwin, and he remaining conscious Elementals.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
“God...” Craig Hollis was known as Mr. Immortal. He wasn't a particularly good hero, in fact, his fighting skills and everything else that was essential to being a hero were fairly limited, almost non existent. However, Craig had something most other heroes didn't even scratch the surface of.
Craig had heart. He cared. He cared so much his nerd-focused area was disasters and strange phenomenon. A twisted relationship with death left him curious of its forces and their effects on humanity. He was something of a death watcher, knowing the various fatalities across the world, the way a meteor would destroy life, the way higher sea levels would kill.
He all found it very morbidly exciting.
Even now as he raced down the corridors towards Boosts room, he wondered...
What would happen to them if they failed? Would he finally die properly? What cataclysm would come from being involved in such an event?
“Boost!” he yelled, skidding around a corner, trying dispel the thoughts. It was a curiosity, not a potential probability. He didn't want to die any more than the next person, he certainly didn't want his wife to die.
“Craig?” Boost poked his albino head through the door, “Whats the matter?”
“Mark,” Craig puffed, leaning over at the knees and breathing heavily, “Mark needs you up on the bridge. We're getting creamed.”
“There's a fight?” Boost pulled himself out of his room and pulled a flannel shirt on over his bare chest.
“Big fight, really big fight,” Craig said looking up at Boost through tendrils of hair. “You need to go,”
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
“Mark!” Boost ran up across the decking, skidding to a halt as the Eternal held Mark in his hands, the man limp in his grip. Boost felt his heart sink, as he wondered what to do next. How could he possibly help?
He shook his head, trying to work out if he was going to do the stupidest thing of his life, or make the greatest decision to save his best friends life.
He charged forwards, calling on his mutant abilities and leapt inside the body of Brother Nature. His now intangible form leapt forwards, merging itself with Marks body.
Immediately, the man known as Brother Nature spasmed, his body bulking slightly, and the elements around him lurched into life.
“Hello,” he said with a grin on his face, his electrified fist bounced off the nose of the Eternal. He dropped to his feet as the warrior released him, sweeping his leg upwards into the man's genitals.
“Don't care if you are a damn Eternal, you still got to take a piss,” he practically laughed, throwing his fist upwards, his broken fingers smashing into the jaw of Gilgamesh, knocking his head backwards, his other raised and flat hand lodged itself in his throat. The Eternal stood, choking, somewhat stunned by the sudden turn around.
Mark was flagging again immediately, even with Boosts help. He gestured for the scattered, and previously observing heroes, to make their presence known to the huge bulky warrior.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
“HOLD THAT ASSHOLE DOWN!” Mark screamed, his body coursing with the augmented power Boost allowed him. His lightning sparking fist, which spewed tiny fragments of granite and bursts of flame smashed into the Eternals face, knocking his head into the ground. With every punch a little bit of resistance seeped from the Eternals muscles. A battered looking She-Thing held down one arm, lava seeping from cuts and bruises over her face and dark imprints of where orange plates used to sit seemed to pulse with pain. The Bald head of the Isolationist held down the legs of the entity, his arms melded with the metal of the ship, pulling himself down, even as the Ship screeched and stretched underneath the strength of the Eternals legs.
“Again!” Dragonblood yelled, blood trickling from his nose as he held the Eternals head in place. Another resounding and explosive punch from Mark knocked the sound out of the air for a few seconds, leaving the group in silence as Amalgan stepped over the Eternal, straddling over his chest and sitting down.
“Do you know who I am, Celestial Puppet?” she asked, White curls dropping down onto his chest.
“Earth-Soul,” he said calmly, as blood seeped from his white and black face paint. He narrowed his eyes as his voice changed pitch and timbre, becoming alien and over-lapped with a thousand different languages.
“Dinah...” Amalgam said off handedly, noticing that the thousand-in-one-voice was causing the rest of the groups ears to bleed. The Pink skinned saurian woman limped forwards, sucking inwards and channelling the word-noise into a funnel of condensed wind and sound, one of the songs of the Earth, a reverse Echo.
“You know why I stand against you then,” Amalgam continued, placing her delicate blue fingers against his chest. The Eternal spat blood upwards, which hit her cheek and rolled down in sticky, coagulating streaks.
“I know that your world is dying of advancement,” Gilgamesh spat, through gritted teeth. “Evolution is rampant and destroying the fringes of your culture. You bleed into a singular being without cohesion.”
Amalgam smiled and raked her fingers across his chest, leaving tendrils of glittering elemental energy scoured into his flesh.
“Evolution cannot run rampant, Eternal or Celestial. Because it cannot run, it is a process that takes thousands upon thousands of years to change even the colour of an organism. Surely you, a creature of eons can understand this?”
“I understand that death comes to those who divide their genetic fortitude. I know that our Space-Gods have created us to safe guard the diversification and speciation on this planet to prevent EXACTLY what is happening now...a Garden grown wild with genetic speculation,” the Celestial controlled Eternal spat. Dinah continued funnel off the words that would blend the brains of the heroes around them.
“This is exactly the sort of God complex you imagine from an entity such as yourself,” Amalgam said, leaning forwards and gripping the sides of Gilgamesh's face with her fingers, nails digging into his cheeks. “Time to teach you the way of nature.”
She pulled his head up, looking directly into his eyes, as her powers, or rather the power of the Earth ramped up around the ground. Sharon was the first to release the Eternal, feeling the pull of the planet beneath them, screaming and channelling it's rage and pollution into Amalgam. The remaining heroes fell back as the heat and power radiating from her body.
“What are you doing?” The Eternal asked, his hands reaching up to grip Amalgam, only to find her body difficult to grip.
“Showing,” she said, with a smile on her blue features. Gilgameshes head snapped backwards as she poured the collection adaptations of the planet into his mind and back to their masters.
“You made the Deviants and the Eternals and you were shocked when they made war, to assist in the survival of the human race. While you did this, everything else around them continued to survive and live. Other the millions of years of this planets life the Celestial's for all their power and god like presence mean NOTHING. The Earth will continue to spin when you're all erased from existence.”
The Eternal shuddered underneath the power from Amalgam, as the energy slowly peeled away strips of flesh like burning jerky. It smiled and looked up at her, his teeth cracking and turning brown.
“You're dying aren't you?”
Amalgam's energy dropped away for a moment, before she lifted herself to her feet and pulled her foot back, punting the Eternal through and off the bridge of the ship towards the Ocean below.
“Jesus!” Mark shouted as the Conquistador banked violently to one side.
“DYING!” Amalgam screamed, the metal around her rusting and exploding from the heat, as she took off after the rapidly descending Eternal. He twisted in the air, as Amalgam ploughed into him, shooting the pair into the cool oceanic depths.
“Dying? I am dying, yes, but I have more life inside of me than you do,” she yelled, pushing forwards and thrusting her aura of life into the Eternal, forcing it down his throat and through his eyes, bursting blood vessels.
“This planet, every humanoid on it is a direct result of my powers. My abilities. Your Deviants, your Eternals. They failed. You failed. I am all that keeps this planet turning, I make the oceans blue, the forests green, the Earth fertile and the air breathable. I make LIFE HAPPEN, AND YOU SIMPLY DIRECTED A TINY FRACTION OF A MIGHTY OCEAN!” she screamed, forcing him deeper into the ocean. Their tiny bodies collided with the depths of the ocean floor. Darkness illuminated by the glowing body of Amalgam, forcing her very life force down into the Eternal. The strange creatures that lived at that depths slowly began to congregate around her, to worship their God as she pounded the Eternal into the dirt, slowly edging towards the very breaking point of the crust, the oceanic shelf that they sat on.
“What....what are you doing?” Gilgamesh asked, trying desperately to prevent the blows from landing on him. “What are you doing to me?”
“You'll find yourself blessed with a deeper understanding around now. Your celestial brain, or whatever counts for a nervous system is going to be riddled with pain. Because I am growing inside of you.” Amalgam slammed her open palms down into his chest, continuing to pump her powers into him, as the murky depths became even more illuminated showing the swimming forms of Brother Nature, Darwin and Ulysses Dragonblood.
“You'll find that your energy form is slowly being coded with electrons giving you mass, you'll find that your armor from the inside-out is being encoded with proteins, amino acids and other building blocks,” her eyes glowed with anger and hate as Gilgamesh began to cry out, his surrogate controlling unable to contain its pain.
“Limp along to your family, your friends, whatever groupings you Celestials call yourselves and tell them,” she hissed, pulling her hands away from the scared Eternal.
“Tell them that this is what happens when you try to exhert yourself over the Earth. Tell them that when they come I'll do the same to them.”
“Tell them that if you fuck with this planet, I'll fill you with life and kill you with an ecosystem.”
“TELL THEM.”
“'Mal?” Mark said, gripping the woman around the shoulders. She spun around, slamming her fist into Mark, sending him rocketting back through the water into Dragonblood.
“We should leave her,” he said, growling into his ear.
“She isn't right,” he replied, looking up at the Deviant.
“Excellent spot,” he replied, releasing the hero and allowing him to swim on his own.
“He's had enough, Amalgam!” Mark shouted. The woman floated in the water, watching him, and then turning her attention back down to the Eternal who was looking extremely worse for wear.
“I think you killed a Celestial as well. That's fairly impressive.”
“It's more than impressive, Mark. I can single handedly destroy a Celestial...imagine what I could do in the future?” she replied, reverberating with energy.
“Yeah, imagine. Using nature to destroy instead of create for a change,” Mark replied sarcastically. “That's what you want right? I mean, you came from the future to stop the Earth of now being killed. Why does that mean you can do what you just did?”
“I am the Earth. I am Earth and this Earth combined. We are two of the same soul,” Amalgam replied, swimming towards Mark. Dragonblood and Darwin backed off, leaving Brother Nature floating in the water.
“You'd have known that, so I ask again – Why does that mean you can do what you just did? How can you say you'll take on the Celestials alone when that was the reason for...all this.” Mark opened his arms to gesture, not meaning the ocean but the last few months of this life.
“It means I can because I want to,” Amalgam said quietly. Mark swam forwards again, reaching out for her.
“You can't possibly mean that, Amalgam. Otherwise, what was this all for? The Children, pulling James and Mattie from their lives, Boost form his own life. Everyone really. Why take everyone away from this when you can end this yourself?”
Amalgam swatted him away, his body, already hurt and beaten, bounced off the ocean floor.
“You're scared,” Mark said, swimming forwards again, “We're all scared. Obviously, I'm even more scared now I know the actual spirit of the planet is scared. God, I think I'm prolapsing from fear.”
Amalgam's blue feet back peddled pushing her through the water away from him.
“You have a right to be scared. Everyone craps themselves when the end is coming, it wouldn't be human not to, and No, I know you're not human but you got to understand...you made us, so we're a part of you. No animal goes into death lightly or without fear.”
“The Earth isn't scared of anything, little man,” Amalgam said, stopping her reverse swimming and hanging in the water. Her hands slid up the sides of her arms as the realisation came that despite the power she felt flowing through her, she had merely stopped a guardian of the Celestials. A Being powerful enough to beat the Elementals, but nowhere near the full extent of their power.
“Hey, hey...it's alright,” Mark swam forwards, wrapping his big arms around her, “It's okay to get carried away. I get carried away all the time, but you need to calm down that smack talk..”
He cupped underneath her chin and lifted her head up, looking into her eyes.
“We all nearly upped sticks and left because we thought you got this. You don't got this do you?” Mark said. The white haired woman shook her head and buried her head into his shoulder, her silent tears building into a resounding sob.
Mark turned to Dragonblood and Darwin and gave them a determined nod.
“I guess it's a good job we're around,” he said, holding her tightly.
“Because we got this.”
Next Issue: The Build up to the final issue! What the Hell has Brother Nature been planning this entire time? Well, now you lucky people get to find out!
He shuddered slightly considering the prospect of a Moloid child with his face. He looked around at the slightly crowded deck today. Josef Huber and Kate Waynesboro stood a fair distance away from Mark, chatting to each other, seemingly passionately in hushed tones, occasionally flashing him a sideways glance.
Mark smirked, and leaned on the railing casting his glance to the other side of the deck, where Mr. Immortal, animatedly, spoke to his wife the Lizard like Dinah Soar. She stood in stoic silence, listening with attention to his every word. He smiled.
That is what love really was.
Finally, standing and talking to each other, in the middle of the deck, were She-Thing, Amalgam and Dragonblood. Apparently deep in conversation, though Mark didn't know what. Those three were rarely seen together, especially considering Dragonblood was a new addition.
Mark sighed, and ran his hand through his long hair. It wasn't long now, a year had nearly passed and the little group was going to need to get themselves ready for war. Complete and utter war. He closed his eyes, maybe some of them would survive. Maybe none of them would. Perhaps most of them would die.
He opened his eyes, as a black clad foot hit him squarely in the jaw, sending him hurtling through the air and embedding himself into the metal of the main chimney stack of the flying boat. He shook his head, trying to focus on the creature before him.
“Mark!” Sharon shouted, as the huge black and white warrior stood before them. His muscles bulged and a strange crackling energy appeared to manifest itself in a weird, almost rune like halo around his head. The top half of his face had been coated in salt, a warriors skull painted with his fingers leaving only his nose black. The blower half of his face remained completely obscured by what Mark was sure was oil, or soot.
At any rate, She-Thing joined the fight, her fists slamming into his chest and emitting a sonic boom that knocked the rest of the group on the deck off their feet. The boat listed ever so slightly, as the Eternal stumbled back, Sharon leaping forwards.
Their fists met, another boom knocking the occupants of the boat backwards. Mark managed to extract himself from the metal, to glance over at at the unconscious form of Kate Waynesboro. He shot his attention backwards, as the Warrior parried underneath the She-Things punch and hit her in the chest. The force broke the orange plates on her breasts and sent spatters of lava onto his body.
It was at that moment, the devistating fury unleashed from a single punch that Dragonblood spoke up, his fear over lapping his ever present anger and distaste for the world.
“Gilagamesh...” he shouted. “GILGAMESH!”
The Eternal paused and turned his attention to the huge Deviant, who squared himself up for a fight, his fin like ears flapping. As the Eternal approached, Sharon, from her position on the floor reached out. Her hand wrapping around his ankle and yanking him backwards.
“Ain't done with you yet!” the Eternal twisted in mid-fall, as Sharons own elbow shot out to protect her. His fist glanced off her joint, sending high-velocity chips of stone in every direction and slamming into the side of her face. The impact sent her flying off her position on the deck and a few feet to the side.
As she hit the deck, Gilgamesh landed tightly on his side, Mark and Dragonblood hitting him from both sides. The Eternals quick fists hit Mark in the stomach, and Dragonblood on the shoulder, spinning him around.
Picking a priority target, Gilgamesh thrust his heel downwards, into Dragonbloods quick and expectant palms. He held his opponent for a moment, before redirecting the pressure into the deck metal. Josef Huber was immediately on the immortal warrior, his elbow knocking colliding with the warriors chin, knocking his body back slightly.
His force was met with a downward swipe from the Eternal, slashing across Josefs face and sending him bouncing off the metal flooring. Mark was on him again, fire engulfing the Eternals shoulders from his open hands, both of his feet, covered in stone colliding with the small of his back.
“I been taught to fight by people you don't even know exist, Eternal,” Mark spat, his water covered fist hitting him across the face and forcing liquid into his nose and mouth, down into his lungs. “I fight with the Elements, not with my body. How do you fight nature?”
“With Eternity,” was his only response, as his head shot forwards, breaking Marks nose and sending him clattering to the deck. Mark watched, stunned for a moment as the Eternal broke through the strongest of the Elementals ranks. Mr. Immortal was on him, and equally and easily as dispatched as the others, the Eternal breaking and semi-removing the heroes spine as Amalgam and Dinah Soar watched in horror.
“God...This has go to end,” Mark said, getting to his feet and casting a powerful wind down the length of the deck. It whipped against the Eternal, as he struggled to move forwards. Mark poured it on, adding in razor like hail-stones, ball lightning and anything else he could conceive of. Still the Eternal pushed forwards, each foot fall digging into the metal of the deck.
Mark covered his feet in stone again and leapt forwards into the gail, sending himself hurtling down the length of the ship and into the Eternals chest.
Gilgamesh braced himself, and received Mark, throwing his arms open to brace himself and slamming both of them down into the heroes chest. Brother Nature's control over Nature immediately dissipated, as the wind left his chest. He lay on his back for a second before a powerful kick from the Eternal sent him hurtling back up the length of the ship, hitting roughly in the same place as his original impact in the chimney.
As the stars flicked across Marks gaze he thought he saw something falling from the sun...
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
“BOOM!”
Darwin's newly grown giant fist clattered against the side of Gilgamesh's head. He snapped backwards, his face bouncing off the metal of the decking and sliding forwards a few feet. Darwin landed in silence, his legs transforming into a sponge like material to absorb the impact. He stood for a few moments, watching the Eternal get to his feet.
“Darwin?” Mark asked, wiping blood out of his eyes and swaying in place.
“We're back,” Astra said, casually walking past Mark as her feet touched the ground gently, clasping something in her hands. She looked over her shoulder to Darwin, Mark and the fallen Elementals, before heading towards the lower decks. “I have things to be doing, so if you all don't mind handling this...roughian, I'd prefer it if I had something akin to complete silence to work with thank you.”
“I don't like her,” Mark said to Darwin, who flushed with blood. “Ha. But you obviously do. Good boy.”
Mark rushed forwards, slamming his fists into the Eternals chest and staring up at the man, who didn't move from Brother Natures attack. Instead, a simple backhand across the face sent the hero sliding across the ground and into the railings at the side of the ship. It was clear that Mark needed more than a few moments to recover.
“Where's...Sundown?” Mark gasped, gripping the side of his face and wincing. The bruising was coming up almost immediately.
“He used up all he had to get us back to Earth,” Darwin replied, as the Eternals massive fist exploded through his chest. His body had transformed itself into a gel like substance, that prevented Gilgamesh from removing his fist, sticking to his body, and pulling Darwin along with it. “He's passed out somewhere.”
“Find him later,” Mark added, wiping his face and attempting to pull himself to his feet. He wondered if he needed to bring out the big guns, but he didn't want to risk being not able to use them in the final fight. His grip on the railing faltered, as the Eternal headed towards him.
“Craig...” Mark rasped, as Mr. Immortal was once again dispatched with ease. He wasn't a great fighter, and a punch that tore the majority of his spine free only added to his useless he was in battle.
“Craig...Get me Boost...” Mark orderer. Mr. Immortal lay on the floor for a few moments, before his spine began to suck itself back into his body. Craigs vacant expression shattered, as he recognised what Mark was saying. With a slight nod, he watched his Wife, her wings battered and broken go back into battle with the Eternal.
“Christ...hold onto something...” Mark said to Darwin, and he remaining conscious Elementals.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
“God...” Craig Hollis was known as Mr. Immortal. He wasn't a particularly good hero, in fact, his fighting skills and everything else that was essential to being a hero were fairly limited, almost non existent. However, Craig had something most other heroes didn't even scratch the surface of.
Craig had heart. He cared. He cared so much his nerd-focused area was disasters and strange phenomenon. A twisted relationship with death left him curious of its forces and their effects on humanity. He was something of a death watcher, knowing the various fatalities across the world, the way a meteor would destroy life, the way higher sea levels would kill.
He all found it very morbidly exciting.
Even now as he raced down the corridors towards Boosts room, he wondered...
What would happen to them if they failed? Would he finally die properly? What cataclysm would come from being involved in such an event?
“Boost!” he yelled, skidding around a corner, trying dispel the thoughts. It was a curiosity, not a potential probability. He didn't want to die any more than the next person, he certainly didn't want his wife to die.
“Craig?” Boost poked his albino head through the door, “Whats the matter?”
“Mark,” Craig puffed, leaning over at the knees and breathing heavily, “Mark needs you up on the bridge. We're getting creamed.”
“There's a fight?” Boost pulled himself out of his room and pulled a flannel shirt on over his bare chest.
“Big fight, really big fight,” Craig said looking up at Boost through tendrils of hair. “You need to go,”
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
“Mark!” Boost ran up across the decking, skidding to a halt as the Eternal held Mark in his hands, the man limp in his grip. Boost felt his heart sink, as he wondered what to do next. How could he possibly help?
He shook his head, trying to work out if he was going to do the stupidest thing of his life, or make the greatest decision to save his best friends life.
He charged forwards, calling on his mutant abilities and leapt inside the body of Brother Nature. His now intangible form leapt forwards, merging itself with Marks body.
Immediately, the man known as Brother Nature spasmed, his body bulking slightly, and the elements around him lurched into life.
“Hello,” he said with a grin on his face, his electrified fist bounced off the nose of the Eternal. He dropped to his feet as the warrior released him, sweeping his leg upwards into the man's genitals.
“Don't care if you are a damn Eternal, you still got to take a piss,” he practically laughed, throwing his fist upwards, his broken fingers smashing into the jaw of Gilgamesh, knocking his head backwards, his other raised and flat hand lodged itself in his throat. The Eternal stood, choking, somewhat stunned by the sudden turn around.
Mark was flagging again immediately, even with Boosts help. He gestured for the scattered, and previously observing heroes, to make their presence known to the huge bulky warrior.
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
“HOLD THAT ASSHOLE DOWN!” Mark screamed, his body coursing with the augmented power Boost allowed him. His lightning sparking fist, which spewed tiny fragments of granite and bursts of flame smashed into the Eternals face, knocking his head into the ground. With every punch a little bit of resistance seeped from the Eternals muscles. A battered looking She-Thing held down one arm, lava seeping from cuts and bruises over her face and dark imprints of where orange plates used to sit seemed to pulse with pain. The Bald head of the Isolationist held down the legs of the entity, his arms melded with the metal of the ship, pulling himself down, even as the Ship screeched and stretched underneath the strength of the Eternals legs.
“Again!” Dragonblood yelled, blood trickling from his nose as he held the Eternals head in place. Another resounding and explosive punch from Mark knocked the sound out of the air for a few seconds, leaving the group in silence as Amalgan stepped over the Eternal, straddling over his chest and sitting down.
“Do you know who I am, Celestial Puppet?” she asked, White curls dropping down onto his chest.
“Earth-Soul,” he said calmly, as blood seeped from his white and black face paint. He narrowed his eyes as his voice changed pitch and timbre, becoming alien and over-lapped with a thousand different languages.
“Dinah...” Amalgam said off handedly, noticing that the thousand-in-one-voice was causing the rest of the groups ears to bleed. The Pink skinned saurian woman limped forwards, sucking inwards and channelling the word-noise into a funnel of condensed wind and sound, one of the songs of the Earth, a reverse Echo.
“You know why I stand against you then,” Amalgam continued, placing her delicate blue fingers against his chest. The Eternal spat blood upwards, which hit her cheek and rolled down in sticky, coagulating streaks.
“I know that your world is dying of advancement,” Gilgamesh spat, through gritted teeth. “Evolution is rampant and destroying the fringes of your culture. You bleed into a singular being without cohesion.”
Amalgam smiled and raked her fingers across his chest, leaving tendrils of glittering elemental energy scoured into his flesh.
“Evolution cannot run rampant, Eternal or Celestial. Because it cannot run, it is a process that takes thousands upon thousands of years to change even the colour of an organism. Surely you, a creature of eons can understand this?”
“I understand that death comes to those who divide their genetic fortitude. I know that our Space-Gods have created us to safe guard the diversification and speciation on this planet to prevent EXACTLY what is happening now...a Garden grown wild with genetic speculation,” the Celestial controlled Eternal spat. Dinah continued funnel off the words that would blend the brains of the heroes around them.
“This is exactly the sort of God complex you imagine from an entity such as yourself,” Amalgam said, leaning forwards and gripping the sides of Gilgamesh's face with her fingers, nails digging into his cheeks. “Time to teach you the way of nature.”
She pulled his head up, looking directly into his eyes, as her powers, or rather the power of the Earth ramped up around the ground. Sharon was the first to release the Eternal, feeling the pull of the planet beneath them, screaming and channelling it's rage and pollution into Amalgam. The remaining heroes fell back as the heat and power radiating from her body.
“What are you doing?” The Eternal asked, his hands reaching up to grip Amalgam, only to find her body difficult to grip.
“Showing,” she said, with a smile on her blue features. Gilgameshes head snapped backwards as she poured the collection adaptations of the planet into his mind and back to their masters.
“You made the Deviants and the Eternals and you were shocked when they made war, to assist in the survival of the human race. While you did this, everything else around them continued to survive and live. Other the millions of years of this planets life the Celestial's for all their power and god like presence mean NOTHING. The Earth will continue to spin when you're all erased from existence.”
The Eternal shuddered underneath the power from Amalgam, as the energy slowly peeled away strips of flesh like burning jerky. It smiled and looked up at her, his teeth cracking and turning brown.
“You're dying aren't you?”
Amalgam's energy dropped away for a moment, before she lifted herself to her feet and pulled her foot back, punting the Eternal through and off the bridge of the ship towards the Ocean below.
“Jesus!” Mark shouted as the Conquistador banked violently to one side.
“DYING!” Amalgam screamed, the metal around her rusting and exploding from the heat, as she took off after the rapidly descending Eternal. He twisted in the air, as Amalgam ploughed into him, shooting the pair into the cool oceanic depths.
“Dying? I am dying, yes, but I have more life inside of me than you do,” she yelled, pushing forwards and thrusting her aura of life into the Eternal, forcing it down his throat and through his eyes, bursting blood vessels.
“This planet, every humanoid on it is a direct result of my powers. My abilities. Your Deviants, your Eternals. They failed. You failed. I am all that keeps this planet turning, I make the oceans blue, the forests green, the Earth fertile and the air breathable. I make LIFE HAPPEN, AND YOU SIMPLY DIRECTED A TINY FRACTION OF A MIGHTY OCEAN!” she screamed, forcing him deeper into the ocean. Their tiny bodies collided with the depths of the ocean floor. Darkness illuminated by the glowing body of Amalgam, forcing her very life force down into the Eternal. The strange creatures that lived at that depths slowly began to congregate around her, to worship their God as she pounded the Eternal into the dirt, slowly edging towards the very breaking point of the crust, the oceanic shelf that they sat on.
“What....what are you doing?” Gilgamesh asked, trying desperately to prevent the blows from landing on him. “What are you doing to me?”
“You'll find yourself blessed with a deeper understanding around now. Your celestial brain, or whatever counts for a nervous system is going to be riddled with pain. Because I am growing inside of you.” Amalgam slammed her open palms down into his chest, continuing to pump her powers into him, as the murky depths became even more illuminated showing the swimming forms of Brother Nature, Darwin and Ulysses Dragonblood.
“You'll find that your energy form is slowly being coded with electrons giving you mass, you'll find that your armor from the inside-out is being encoded with proteins, amino acids and other building blocks,” her eyes glowed with anger and hate as Gilgamesh began to cry out, his surrogate controlling unable to contain its pain.
“Limp along to your family, your friends, whatever groupings you Celestials call yourselves and tell them,” she hissed, pulling her hands away from the scared Eternal.
“Tell them that this is what happens when you try to exhert yourself over the Earth. Tell them that when they come I'll do the same to them.”
“Tell them that if you fuck with this planet, I'll fill you with life and kill you with an ecosystem.”
“TELL THEM.”
“'Mal?” Mark said, gripping the woman around the shoulders. She spun around, slamming her fist into Mark, sending him rocketting back through the water into Dragonblood.
“We should leave her,” he said, growling into his ear.
“She isn't right,” he replied, looking up at the Deviant.
“Excellent spot,” he replied, releasing the hero and allowing him to swim on his own.
“He's had enough, Amalgam!” Mark shouted. The woman floated in the water, watching him, and then turning her attention back down to the Eternal who was looking extremely worse for wear.
“I think you killed a Celestial as well. That's fairly impressive.”
“It's more than impressive, Mark. I can single handedly destroy a Celestial...imagine what I could do in the future?” she replied, reverberating with energy.
“Yeah, imagine. Using nature to destroy instead of create for a change,” Mark replied sarcastically. “That's what you want right? I mean, you came from the future to stop the Earth of now being killed. Why does that mean you can do what you just did?”
“I am the Earth. I am Earth and this Earth combined. We are two of the same soul,” Amalgam replied, swimming towards Mark. Dragonblood and Darwin backed off, leaving Brother Nature floating in the water.
“You'd have known that, so I ask again – Why does that mean you can do what you just did? How can you say you'll take on the Celestials alone when that was the reason for...all this.” Mark opened his arms to gesture, not meaning the ocean but the last few months of this life.
“It means I can because I want to,” Amalgam said quietly. Mark swam forwards again, reaching out for her.
“You can't possibly mean that, Amalgam. Otherwise, what was this all for? The Children, pulling James and Mattie from their lives, Boost form his own life. Everyone really. Why take everyone away from this when you can end this yourself?”
Amalgam swatted him away, his body, already hurt and beaten, bounced off the ocean floor.
“You're scared,” Mark said, swimming forwards again, “We're all scared. Obviously, I'm even more scared now I know the actual spirit of the planet is scared. God, I think I'm prolapsing from fear.”
Amalgam's blue feet back peddled pushing her through the water away from him.
“You have a right to be scared. Everyone craps themselves when the end is coming, it wouldn't be human not to, and No, I know you're not human but you got to understand...you made us, so we're a part of you. No animal goes into death lightly or without fear.”
“The Earth isn't scared of anything, little man,” Amalgam said, stopping her reverse swimming and hanging in the water. Her hands slid up the sides of her arms as the realisation came that despite the power she felt flowing through her, she had merely stopped a guardian of the Celestials. A Being powerful enough to beat the Elementals, but nowhere near the full extent of their power.
“Hey, hey...it's alright,” Mark swam forwards, wrapping his big arms around her, “It's okay to get carried away. I get carried away all the time, but you need to calm down that smack talk..”
He cupped underneath her chin and lifted her head up, looking into her eyes.
“We all nearly upped sticks and left because we thought you got this. You don't got this do you?” Mark said. The white haired woman shook her head and buried her head into his shoulder, her silent tears building into a resounding sob.
Mark turned to Dragonblood and Darwin and gave them a determined nod.
“I guess it's a good job we're around,” he said, holding her tightly.
“Because we got this.”
Next Issue: The Build up to the final issue! What the Hell has Brother Nature been planning this entire time? Well, now you lucky people get to find out!