Back to GatefoldIssue #7 by Ed Ainsworth
|
"Battlement Dirge Spell"
The Bridge of the Conquistador
“Fine,” Mark said to himself, as he leapt to his feet, a gust of wind throwing him towards the Godstalker. Mark summoned all of his strength and kicked upwards at the beasts head. It snapped backwards, and thrust it's spear down, horizontally smashing into Mark and pinning him into the ground.
Mark let out a yelp ,digging his fingers into the metal of the ship and ripping up two large chunks of the material and slamming them either side of the Stalkers head.
“Rrrr...Form on me!” Mark yelled, pulling himself out from underneath the Spear and pulling on it, trying to yank it from the Celestial dogs grip. As the Stalker pulled itself to his full height, Mark was lifted off the ground as well, still gripping the spear firmly.
“Ah,” Was all he could manage as he was flung off the end of the spear and into a chimney stack of the Conquistador.
She-Thing and Monopole were up next. She hit low and he hit hard. Flying at full pelt, which wasn't all that fast for the untrained Monopole, he hit Stalker in the stomach, as She-Thing launched both of her fists into his knees, dropping him down a peg. She then twisted her position, and landed a haymaker against the side of it's head with so much force, she actually knocked it off it's balance and onto the decking.
“Mark...” Sharon said, as the God-Stalker got to his feet slowly. She steeled herself, and cracked her knuckles. The Children of the Vault were out for the count, impact marks, and spatters of blood gave their tell-tale signs to the battle that had previously happened across the surface of the ship.
“I know, Sharon,” Mark responded to his rock coated team-mate. He gestured for Monopole to bear 'round, while he hoped other members of the group would appear soon. He knew that Josef and the others should have returned. Perhaps they had been delayed in finding Snowbird?
The God-Stalkers huge fist flew down towards Sharon Ventura. She threw her weight upwards, her palms open, to catch the fists, her legs spread apart enough to allow her to take the weight of the creature, but it was still more than she, and the hull of the ship could bare. Some of her plates were popping free from the intricate patchwork of orange rock that covered her body, leaving weeping sores and wounds of magma dripping and melting away the foundation of her position.
With the sound of shredding metal, Sharon went through the hull of the Conquistador, and down into the lower levels. As she hit the solid metal below, fragments of her hide ricochetted across the floor, exploding on contact with other objects, leaving her a magma weeping mess where she landed. She looked up with weak eyes towards the battle above, hopefully one of the other heroes could take out the Monster that was besieging them.
~~~~~~~~~~
Monopole watched as the wounds inflicted on Sharon by the Godstalker caused her to fall through the layers of the ship, as he bolstered himself on another pass. His fists were as dense as he could make them without his bones breaking, and his speed was much greater than the other two passes. He was going to hit the Godstalker in the side of the head, and knock him off balance.
Or at least that was the plan.
As Monopole banked to the left, he threw his fists forwards, flying in a very stereotypical position. His fists aimed at the side of the Godstalkers head. Sensing this the Stalker of Gods turned around at the last second, bringing his fist up into the young heroes stomach, knocking him off his course.
Swirling through the air, he barely had enough time to notice the Godstalker leaping through the air, and ramming his fist downwards into the centre of his back, sending him hurtling towards the ground below.
His last thought before in pact was how disappointed Mark would be in him.
“Shit, damnit, and balls,” Mark said, his clothes ripped up as he leapt forwards, his fists cracking into the Godstalkers lower back with sparks of lightning and the crack of stone knuckles.
Barely phased the beast turned around, lashing out with it's leg, which Mark managed to avoid by ducking low and throwing his fist into the creatures groin. It had little to no effect. Mark was pretty sure that whatever the thing was, it didn't reproduce.
“I guess now isn't a good time for our intervention, right?” Stood in the doorway, Mr. Immortal held a gun aimed at from the hip towards the giant. Behind him his girlfriend, Dinah Soar stood, her eyes narrowed in anger.
“You are weak,” The Godstalker said, in a voice like rubble, his massive arms, moving to grab for the others. Dinah took to the skies, screaming the sonnet of Thunder at the Godstalker, hoping that the loud noise would knock it off balance for a moment, while Mr. Immortal charged between his legs, firing off rounds from the gun. Both attacks were ineffectual, however, it left the Isolationist, and a very tired looking Amalgam either side of the doorway, both preparing to attack the creature. As Amalgam ran forwards, Josef darted through the entrance way and down into the bowels of the ship, calling out for the other heroes.
“Josef?! Boost? Mattie!” He yelled, charging down the corridors, his foot falls not nearly as loud as the sound of Amalgam being beaten into the decking. Her screams of pain resounded through his body, as he skidded around a corner and continued through the corridors of the ship. Josef, along with many of the others had been resting when the Godstalker attacked. His long mission with Snowbird had taken it out of him. He'd been burning the candle on both ends, working with Mark, and returning to his normal job in the SHIELD environmental unit.
Banging his fist against Chrome's room door, he waited for a few seconds before trying the handle. The door was locked.
“What?” Chrome poked his head out of his room, standing naked and holding his large headphones in his hands, “I'm busy.”
“Not as busy as you will be,” Josef thrust the mobile phone into his hands and turned down the corridor, breaking into a sprint.
“Dial the first number and tell her it's an emergency. We need back up, and we need her to get our location. She won't be happy,” Josef said, transforming himself into air to move up the stair well quicker.
As his gaseous form exploded through the doorway of the stairs leading down to the lower decks, Josef saw the limp form of Amalgam get thrown over the edge of the Conquistador. He cursed himself for running to get Chrome to help. Why did he not simply call Kate himself? Why did he not think to do this? He was supposed to be trained for high pressure situations, not break to psychological problems. What an idiot.
As he changed his body to metal, he charged forwards, his fists glowing red hot. Josef was the next step in natural evolution – Classified by the SHIELD environmental division, as Homo Naturalis. He was nature given a humanoid form. Previously a mutant, Josef was well versed in hate, and fear and the standard issues that most mutants have to deal with – However, in this instance, when his ability to absorb his surroundings backfired, he was left with a connection to nature that could not be conquered. It could not be removed, and it changed his very make up.
He was part of the natural world now, as much a part of it as the wind, or the earth that it grew from. His fist, a mixture of metals and sediment stretched from his body, his arm turning into a mixture of sinew and super-stretchy cellulose polymers, landing a heavy blow across the domed helmet of the Godstalker, knocking him off balance.
“So, you come here, and think that you can remove us from our path?” Josef asked, as a burst of energy vaporised his clothes and what little body hair he had. He leaned forwards a little, jets of steam and smoke plumes from his body, as he spat through gritted teeth.
“Your power is inconsequential to those of the Earth,” Josef said, his eyes leaking tiny streaks of blood as his insides shifted themselves around to prevent themselves from burning. The Godstalker said nothing, pointing it's huge staff towards the fallen form of Amalgam, and Mark's battered and beaten body.
Mark's eyes were both black, and his face swollen, but he still stood. Mr. Immortal was helping him to his feet, as Dinah covered them both in a cone of energy, perhaps a song that created hardened air, or stone. All Josef knew was that their leader was safe, and he could cut loose.
Charging forwards, his body shifted to metal, as fire belched from his stomach, over-flowing from his jaw. Shooting a concentrated concoction of Phosphorous, Potassium and acid over the armored celestial dog, with explosive results.
The blast threw Josef onto his back, and the Godstalker off balance. Mark watched in the distance, as his team was taken apart, and beaten into a pulp. They didn't work as a team, which might have been a reason for their downfall, but the reality of it was just that the Godstalker was simply too powerful for them.
When they had people like Mr. Immortal and Dinah Soar on the field, Mark knew they were going to get beaten. He heard a faint whistling through the air, as the Godstalker landed another powerful blow against Josef.
He was taking a serious beating, but still going. How, Mark would never understand, never know. In desperation, he ran through possibile strategies in his head – He didn't want to release any of his secret weapons yet. What if he couldn't control them yet, or if they were used at the wrong time.
If it continued going the way it was going, Mark might have to throw those concerns out the window and just go for it. There didn't seem to be much in the way of hope.
~~~~~~~~~~
A glowing fist cut through Mark's dazed stupor. It wasn't his super powers that made him this resilient to unconsciousness, but rather his own stubbornness that forced him to stay conscious. The fist hit the Godstalker square in it's already dented domed helmet. The force of the impact not only almost completely shattered the helmet, but also sent the Godstalker hurtling through the guard rail and off the side of the boat, towards the ground below.
The huge, hulking form of the creature stopped and looked down at Mark, offering a blurry hand to the hero.
“It has been a while, Diering,” Mark grabbed hold of the hand and was pulled to his feet. He swayed a little, his eyes slowly coming into focus, noticing Mr. Immortal pulling his insides back into his body, as the blonde woman known as the Bio-Path helped him, with a look of disgust on her face.
“Yeah,” Was all Mark said, looking up at the huge form of the former Celestial Gatherer known now as Requiem.
“I see Katja came as well,” Mark said, nodding behind them. The glowing android nodded.
“I found her. It seems you have both been looking for me?” He asked, his face twisting in a way that wouldn't be usual for curiosity. It almost looked like angry confusion.
“We have. Still working on being more human like, then?” Mark joked, looking over the edge of the Conquistador at the dust cloud below.
“He is still there, Mark,” Requiem said, putting one foot over the railing of the Conquistador, and looking back at his former friend.
“It's good to see you, Req,” Mark said. The former slave to the Celestials nodded.
“I know. Katja and you are not far from my thoughts every day. You freed me, Mark, and for that I will do anything,” He launched himself over the edge of the boat, and hurtled towards the Godstalker below.
“Mark,” A Germanic accent preceded the arrival of Katja, who put her hand on the man's shoulder. He shrugged it off gingerly. Everything hurt.
“How did you find him?” He asked, looking back at her. She smiled, and tapped the side of her nose.
“He was living underground in the Moleman's kingdom, Mark. He was teaching the Moloid's how to farm.”
She closed her eyes and smiled, shaking her head gently.
“A former Celestial killing machine is now teaching underground humanoids how to farm luminescent heather to eat. Isn't that an insane juxtaposition?” Katja said. Mark nodded. He didn't want a philosophical conversation now. He wanted to hit things.
“Stay with the others,” He ordered her. Her smile turned to a frown as he launched himself over the edge of the ship, following the hurtling Requiem towards the impact crater of the Godstalker below. As he shot through the air, Mark noticed that the ground appeared to be alive, almost like a semi-liquid state.
He called upon the air around him, the subtle winds to slow his descent. Although Mark could control the winds, he couldn't actually use them to fly in the same way that Storm could.
The ground below him yawned, swallowing up the Godstalker, even as it tried to crawl it's way from the chasm that tried to consume it. Tendrils of semi-liquid rock, and semi-solid gases pulled the monster into the hole, which sealed itself slowly.
As Mark hit the ground, he saw the source of the odd environmental factors. Stood facing each other were two women. One who was constantly surrounded by a subtle mist, had blue skin. He recognised her, as he made his way towards the pair.
The second woman was much younger, her face still had the appearance of a teenager, despite the streaks of white in her hair. She dropped out of her focus for a moment, to notice Mark, shock appearing on her features as she noticed how battered and broken he was.
“Ande..” Mark said, to the blue skinned woman. She rolled her eyes and broke her trance, flicking Mark in his bruised face.
“Idiot. We're working here, I don't need you to distract her and then me. We're trying to save your stupid little body,” The blue skinned woman spat. Andromeda, not the daughter of Attuma, but rather a ceremonial title given to Atlantis' greatest sorcerer. Mark had spent some time with her while she was studying for the title. His time in Atlantis had been all too short, and without the knowledge he wanted to gain from it.
He did gain some very important information into the sexual lifestyle of Atlantean's though. Andromeda was a very accommodating and adventurous lover. She had been his first lover to expose her to the world outside of the seas, and his first lover to show him something he truly didn't know.
The ground shook violently, as the Godstalker forced it's way up through the surface.
“Stephanie,” Andromeda turned her attention back to her apprentice, “We need to get back to it. Focus!”
Stephanie turned her attention away from Mark, as Andromeda shot him a filthy look. Licking her lips and winking at him. Andromeda pulled herself away from him, and cast her vision back towards Stephanie.
As the Godstalker burst from the ground, Mark rushed towards it, but Requiem was already there, throwing his fist into the entities chest, and sending it hurtling through the rocky outcroppings behind it. The Godstalker was starting to loose steam, as Requiem hurtled after him.
Mark charged forwards, his naked and battered form running and leaping over the chunks of rock that became more numerous as he approached the fallen form.
Ichor and slime trailed back towards the sounds of violence, as Requiem and Godstalker traded blows. As Mark ran towards the source of the noise, he was blind-sided by a severed arm.
“Jesus,” Mark sat up, holding the huge black arm in his hands. It didn't belong to Requiem.
Casting the limb off, Mark rounded the mound and leapt over the final, huge pile of rubble, landing a few feet from where Requiem was beating the final squirts of ichor from the broken body of the Godstalker.
“Christ, couldn't you have at least murdered him slowly?” Mark asked, looking at the spattered mess before him.
He rubbed his hair slowly and looked at the impact craters in the ground, and the battered remains of the Celestial's Dog.
“I don't wanna be funny here, Requiem, but...that was the Godstalker. That was a Celestially powered entity that could have destroyed us. You just beat it apart like it was soft bread. Christ.”
Mark sighed and rubbed his temples.
“We can't really strip mine him for information now, neither,” Mark looked down at the remains as Requiem stood tall, wiping the green slime from it's knuckles.
“This is only a warning, Mark. The Celestials will send more to test you and attempt to destroy you before they come themselves. They do not want to directly involve themselves in violence with an entity such as yourself, a lower being,”
“Thanks,” Mark replied.
“This is not a matter of pride, Mark. This is a matter of reality. You will be tested again, but I do not know what form it will take. You may be visited by more Godstalkers, or more Celestial Gatherers, or perhaps something different entirely.”
“Comforting to know,” Mark nodded.
“I may not be able to respond again, Mark,” the towering giant replied. Mark nodded and sighed.
“I know. I'm Glad you responded this time, but I know it's a blessing that won't repeat itself.”
Mark clapped his hand on Requiem's shoulder, and winced in pain from his own body rebelling against him.
“Just don't leave it so long next time, Okay?”
NEXT ISSUE: Mark and his team have just defeated one servant of the Celestials...what next?
FROM THE FILES OF BROTHER NATURE
DIXON, STEPHANIE: Stephanie is an unknown quantity. She is the student of Andromeda, and as a result of this is studying under the most talented and unique environmystics that has ever lived. Andromeda has stated that Stephanie has undiscovered power and reserves, and her only weaknesses to date have been her self-confidence and her focus. If she were able to somehow over come these things she could give Stephen Strange a run for his money. (Probably.)
ANDROMEDA: The Ceremonial title given to the most powerful Sorcerer in Atlantis, Andromeda's give up their names during their training. Having a long, and torrid history with Mark, Andromeda is one of the best Environmystics on the planet, currently training the first non-atlantean Environmystic as her apprentice.
REQUIEM: A Re-purposed Celestial Gatherer, he was beaten and eventually reprogrammed by Katja Meier, the Bio-Path and Mark early into his career as a superhero. Requiem spent some time with Katja before moving on to find his own path in live. He spends much of his time spreading information to the less privileged races on the planet.
“Fine,” Mark said to himself, as he leapt to his feet, a gust of wind throwing him towards the Godstalker. Mark summoned all of his strength and kicked upwards at the beasts head. It snapped backwards, and thrust it's spear down, horizontally smashing into Mark and pinning him into the ground.
Mark let out a yelp ,digging his fingers into the metal of the ship and ripping up two large chunks of the material and slamming them either side of the Stalkers head.
“Rrrr...Form on me!” Mark yelled, pulling himself out from underneath the Spear and pulling on it, trying to yank it from the Celestial dogs grip. As the Stalker pulled itself to his full height, Mark was lifted off the ground as well, still gripping the spear firmly.
“Ah,” Was all he could manage as he was flung off the end of the spear and into a chimney stack of the Conquistador.
She-Thing and Monopole were up next. She hit low and he hit hard. Flying at full pelt, which wasn't all that fast for the untrained Monopole, he hit Stalker in the stomach, as She-Thing launched both of her fists into his knees, dropping him down a peg. She then twisted her position, and landed a haymaker against the side of it's head with so much force, she actually knocked it off it's balance and onto the decking.
“Mark...” Sharon said, as the God-Stalker got to his feet slowly. She steeled herself, and cracked her knuckles. The Children of the Vault were out for the count, impact marks, and spatters of blood gave their tell-tale signs to the battle that had previously happened across the surface of the ship.
“I know, Sharon,” Mark responded to his rock coated team-mate. He gestured for Monopole to bear 'round, while he hoped other members of the group would appear soon. He knew that Josef and the others should have returned. Perhaps they had been delayed in finding Snowbird?
The God-Stalkers huge fist flew down towards Sharon Ventura. She threw her weight upwards, her palms open, to catch the fists, her legs spread apart enough to allow her to take the weight of the creature, but it was still more than she, and the hull of the ship could bare. Some of her plates were popping free from the intricate patchwork of orange rock that covered her body, leaving weeping sores and wounds of magma dripping and melting away the foundation of her position.
With the sound of shredding metal, Sharon went through the hull of the Conquistador, and down into the lower levels. As she hit the solid metal below, fragments of her hide ricochetted across the floor, exploding on contact with other objects, leaving her a magma weeping mess where she landed. She looked up with weak eyes towards the battle above, hopefully one of the other heroes could take out the Monster that was besieging them.
~~~~~~~~~~
Monopole watched as the wounds inflicted on Sharon by the Godstalker caused her to fall through the layers of the ship, as he bolstered himself on another pass. His fists were as dense as he could make them without his bones breaking, and his speed was much greater than the other two passes. He was going to hit the Godstalker in the side of the head, and knock him off balance.
Or at least that was the plan.
As Monopole banked to the left, he threw his fists forwards, flying in a very stereotypical position. His fists aimed at the side of the Godstalkers head. Sensing this the Stalker of Gods turned around at the last second, bringing his fist up into the young heroes stomach, knocking him off his course.
Swirling through the air, he barely had enough time to notice the Godstalker leaping through the air, and ramming his fist downwards into the centre of his back, sending him hurtling towards the ground below.
His last thought before in pact was how disappointed Mark would be in him.
“Shit, damnit, and balls,” Mark said, his clothes ripped up as he leapt forwards, his fists cracking into the Godstalkers lower back with sparks of lightning and the crack of stone knuckles.
Barely phased the beast turned around, lashing out with it's leg, which Mark managed to avoid by ducking low and throwing his fist into the creatures groin. It had little to no effect. Mark was pretty sure that whatever the thing was, it didn't reproduce.
“I guess now isn't a good time for our intervention, right?” Stood in the doorway, Mr. Immortal held a gun aimed at from the hip towards the giant. Behind him his girlfriend, Dinah Soar stood, her eyes narrowed in anger.
“You are weak,” The Godstalker said, in a voice like rubble, his massive arms, moving to grab for the others. Dinah took to the skies, screaming the sonnet of Thunder at the Godstalker, hoping that the loud noise would knock it off balance for a moment, while Mr. Immortal charged between his legs, firing off rounds from the gun. Both attacks were ineffectual, however, it left the Isolationist, and a very tired looking Amalgam either side of the doorway, both preparing to attack the creature. As Amalgam ran forwards, Josef darted through the entrance way and down into the bowels of the ship, calling out for the other heroes.
“Josef?! Boost? Mattie!” He yelled, charging down the corridors, his foot falls not nearly as loud as the sound of Amalgam being beaten into the decking. Her screams of pain resounded through his body, as he skidded around a corner and continued through the corridors of the ship. Josef, along with many of the others had been resting when the Godstalker attacked. His long mission with Snowbird had taken it out of him. He'd been burning the candle on both ends, working with Mark, and returning to his normal job in the SHIELD environmental unit.
Banging his fist against Chrome's room door, he waited for a few seconds before trying the handle. The door was locked.
“What?” Chrome poked his head out of his room, standing naked and holding his large headphones in his hands, “I'm busy.”
“Not as busy as you will be,” Josef thrust the mobile phone into his hands and turned down the corridor, breaking into a sprint.
“Dial the first number and tell her it's an emergency. We need back up, and we need her to get our location. She won't be happy,” Josef said, transforming himself into air to move up the stair well quicker.
As his gaseous form exploded through the doorway of the stairs leading down to the lower decks, Josef saw the limp form of Amalgam get thrown over the edge of the Conquistador. He cursed himself for running to get Chrome to help. Why did he not simply call Kate himself? Why did he not think to do this? He was supposed to be trained for high pressure situations, not break to psychological problems. What an idiot.
As he changed his body to metal, he charged forwards, his fists glowing red hot. Josef was the next step in natural evolution – Classified by the SHIELD environmental division, as Homo Naturalis. He was nature given a humanoid form. Previously a mutant, Josef was well versed in hate, and fear and the standard issues that most mutants have to deal with – However, in this instance, when his ability to absorb his surroundings backfired, he was left with a connection to nature that could not be conquered. It could not be removed, and it changed his very make up.
He was part of the natural world now, as much a part of it as the wind, or the earth that it grew from. His fist, a mixture of metals and sediment stretched from his body, his arm turning into a mixture of sinew and super-stretchy cellulose polymers, landing a heavy blow across the domed helmet of the Godstalker, knocking him off balance.
“So, you come here, and think that you can remove us from our path?” Josef asked, as a burst of energy vaporised his clothes and what little body hair he had. He leaned forwards a little, jets of steam and smoke plumes from his body, as he spat through gritted teeth.
“Your power is inconsequential to those of the Earth,” Josef said, his eyes leaking tiny streaks of blood as his insides shifted themselves around to prevent themselves from burning. The Godstalker said nothing, pointing it's huge staff towards the fallen form of Amalgam, and Mark's battered and beaten body.
Mark's eyes were both black, and his face swollen, but he still stood. Mr. Immortal was helping him to his feet, as Dinah covered them both in a cone of energy, perhaps a song that created hardened air, or stone. All Josef knew was that their leader was safe, and he could cut loose.
Charging forwards, his body shifted to metal, as fire belched from his stomach, over-flowing from his jaw. Shooting a concentrated concoction of Phosphorous, Potassium and acid over the armored celestial dog, with explosive results.
The blast threw Josef onto his back, and the Godstalker off balance. Mark watched in the distance, as his team was taken apart, and beaten into a pulp. They didn't work as a team, which might have been a reason for their downfall, but the reality of it was just that the Godstalker was simply too powerful for them.
When they had people like Mr. Immortal and Dinah Soar on the field, Mark knew they were going to get beaten. He heard a faint whistling through the air, as the Godstalker landed another powerful blow against Josef.
He was taking a serious beating, but still going. How, Mark would never understand, never know. In desperation, he ran through possibile strategies in his head – He didn't want to release any of his secret weapons yet. What if he couldn't control them yet, or if they were used at the wrong time.
If it continued going the way it was going, Mark might have to throw those concerns out the window and just go for it. There didn't seem to be much in the way of hope.
~~~~~~~~~~
A glowing fist cut through Mark's dazed stupor. It wasn't his super powers that made him this resilient to unconsciousness, but rather his own stubbornness that forced him to stay conscious. The fist hit the Godstalker square in it's already dented domed helmet. The force of the impact not only almost completely shattered the helmet, but also sent the Godstalker hurtling through the guard rail and off the side of the boat, towards the ground below.
The huge, hulking form of the creature stopped and looked down at Mark, offering a blurry hand to the hero.
“It has been a while, Diering,” Mark grabbed hold of the hand and was pulled to his feet. He swayed a little, his eyes slowly coming into focus, noticing Mr. Immortal pulling his insides back into his body, as the blonde woman known as the Bio-Path helped him, with a look of disgust on her face.
“Yeah,” Was all Mark said, looking up at the huge form of the former Celestial Gatherer known now as Requiem.
“I see Katja came as well,” Mark said, nodding behind them. The glowing android nodded.
“I found her. It seems you have both been looking for me?” He asked, his face twisting in a way that wouldn't be usual for curiosity. It almost looked like angry confusion.
“We have. Still working on being more human like, then?” Mark joked, looking over the edge of the Conquistador at the dust cloud below.
“He is still there, Mark,” Requiem said, putting one foot over the railing of the Conquistador, and looking back at his former friend.
“It's good to see you, Req,” Mark said. The former slave to the Celestials nodded.
“I know. Katja and you are not far from my thoughts every day. You freed me, Mark, and for that I will do anything,” He launched himself over the edge of the boat, and hurtled towards the Godstalker below.
“Mark,” A Germanic accent preceded the arrival of Katja, who put her hand on the man's shoulder. He shrugged it off gingerly. Everything hurt.
“How did you find him?” He asked, looking back at her. She smiled, and tapped the side of her nose.
“He was living underground in the Moleman's kingdom, Mark. He was teaching the Moloid's how to farm.”
She closed her eyes and smiled, shaking her head gently.
“A former Celestial killing machine is now teaching underground humanoids how to farm luminescent heather to eat. Isn't that an insane juxtaposition?” Katja said. Mark nodded. He didn't want a philosophical conversation now. He wanted to hit things.
“Stay with the others,” He ordered her. Her smile turned to a frown as he launched himself over the edge of the ship, following the hurtling Requiem towards the impact crater of the Godstalker below. As he shot through the air, Mark noticed that the ground appeared to be alive, almost like a semi-liquid state.
He called upon the air around him, the subtle winds to slow his descent. Although Mark could control the winds, he couldn't actually use them to fly in the same way that Storm could.
The ground below him yawned, swallowing up the Godstalker, even as it tried to crawl it's way from the chasm that tried to consume it. Tendrils of semi-liquid rock, and semi-solid gases pulled the monster into the hole, which sealed itself slowly.
As Mark hit the ground, he saw the source of the odd environmental factors. Stood facing each other were two women. One who was constantly surrounded by a subtle mist, had blue skin. He recognised her, as he made his way towards the pair.
The second woman was much younger, her face still had the appearance of a teenager, despite the streaks of white in her hair. She dropped out of her focus for a moment, to notice Mark, shock appearing on her features as she noticed how battered and broken he was.
“Ande..” Mark said, to the blue skinned woman. She rolled her eyes and broke her trance, flicking Mark in his bruised face.
“Idiot. We're working here, I don't need you to distract her and then me. We're trying to save your stupid little body,” The blue skinned woman spat. Andromeda, not the daughter of Attuma, but rather a ceremonial title given to Atlantis' greatest sorcerer. Mark had spent some time with her while she was studying for the title. His time in Atlantis had been all too short, and without the knowledge he wanted to gain from it.
He did gain some very important information into the sexual lifestyle of Atlantean's though. Andromeda was a very accommodating and adventurous lover. She had been his first lover to expose her to the world outside of the seas, and his first lover to show him something he truly didn't know.
The ground shook violently, as the Godstalker forced it's way up through the surface.
“Stephanie,” Andromeda turned her attention back to her apprentice, “We need to get back to it. Focus!”
Stephanie turned her attention away from Mark, as Andromeda shot him a filthy look. Licking her lips and winking at him. Andromeda pulled herself away from him, and cast her vision back towards Stephanie.
As the Godstalker burst from the ground, Mark rushed towards it, but Requiem was already there, throwing his fist into the entities chest, and sending it hurtling through the rocky outcroppings behind it. The Godstalker was starting to loose steam, as Requiem hurtled after him.
Mark charged forwards, his naked and battered form running and leaping over the chunks of rock that became more numerous as he approached the fallen form.
Ichor and slime trailed back towards the sounds of violence, as Requiem and Godstalker traded blows. As Mark ran towards the source of the noise, he was blind-sided by a severed arm.
“Jesus,” Mark sat up, holding the huge black arm in his hands. It didn't belong to Requiem.
Casting the limb off, Mark rounded the mound and leapt over the final, huge pile of rubble, landing a few feet from where Requiem was beating the final squirts of ichor from the broken body of the Godstalker.
“Christ, couldn't you have at least murdered him slowly?” Mark asked, looking at the spattered mess before him.
He rubbed his hair slowly and looked at the impact craters in the ground, and the battered remains of the Celestial's Dog.
“I don't wanna be funny here, Requiem, but...that was the Godstalker. That was a Celestially powered entity that could have destroyed us. You just beat it apart like it was soft bread. Christ.”
Mark sighed and rubbed his temples.
“We can't really strip mine him for information now, neither,” Mark looked down at the remains as Requiem stood tall, wiping the green slime from it's knuckles.
“This is only a warning, Mark. The Celestials will send more to test you and attempt to destroy you before they come themselves. They do not want to directly involve themselves in violence with an entity such as yourself, a lower being,”
“Thanks,” Mark replied.
“This is not a matter of pride, Mark. This is a matter of reality. You will be tested again, but I do not know what form it will take. You may be visited by more Godstalkers, or more Celestial Gatherers, or perhaps something different entirely.”
“Comforting to know,” Mark nodded.
“I may not be able to respond again, Mark,” the towering giant replied. Mark nodded and sighed.
“I know. I'm Glad you responded this time, but I know it's a blessing that won't repeat itself.”
Mark clapped his hand on Requiem's shoulder, and winced in pain from his own body rebelling against him.
“Just don't leave it so long next time, Okay?”
NEXT ISSUE: Mark and his team have just defeated one servant of the Celestials...what next?
FROM THE FILES OF BROTHER NATURE
DIXON, STEPHANIE: Stephanie is an unknown quantity. She is the student of Andromeda, and as a result of this is studying under the most talented and unique environmystics that has ever lived. Andromeda has stated that Stephanie has undiscovered power and reserves, and her only weaknesses to date have been her self-confidence and her focus. If she were able to somehow over come these things she could give Stephen Strange a run for his money. (Probably.)
ANDROMEDA: The Ceremonial title given to the most powerful Sorcerer in Atlantis, Andromeda's give up their names during their training. Having a long, and torrid history with Mark, Andromeda is one of the best Environmystics on the planet, currently training the first non-atlantean Environmystic as her apprentice.
REQUIEM: A Re-purposed Celestial Gatherer, he was beaten and eventually reprogrammed by Katja Meier, the Bio-Path and Mark early into his career as a superhero. Requiem spent some time with Katja before moving on to find his own path in live. He spends much of his time spreading information to the less privileged races on the planet.