---Riley Family Home, December 31st,
10:56 PM, 2008---
"Guuhh..."
Amy rushes into the living room from the kitchen after hearing Evan finally make a sound. He had been asleep since fighting Thomas Steele several days ago. He kneels down beside the couch where Officer Fleihr had assisted her in putting him. Evan opens his eyes and closes them immediately after, the light hurting his eyes. He squints, opening his eyes again, forcing them to adjust to the light. He sits up and looks over himself, noting that none of his bruises remained, but that he was still a bit sore. He swings his legs down over the side of the couch, leaning over his knees. He shakes his head, attempting to wake up, and then looks up at Amy.
“You get the license number of that truck that hit me?”
She smiles in response, knowing that he would be fine since his sense of humor was still intact.
“How do you feel?”
Evan stands up and heads to the kitchen, answering her in the process.
“Shitty. What’d I miss?”
Amy follows him into the kitchen, watching as he grabs a Coke from the refrigerator, choosing how to answer him.
“Not a lot. Steele’s body wasn’t recovered; make of that what you will. Fleihr told me to call him when you woke up, so, I’ll do that soon. We brought you here because it has four solid walls, unlike your house.”
Evan pops the tab on the can and takes a long drink, quenching his thirst momentarily. He absorbs Amy’s information during his drink, responding once he swallows.
“Anything else?”
“Nope, that about does it.”
“Good. I’m not sure I could handle any more surprises.”
Evan heads back into the living room and is about to sit on the couch, when a knock at the door interrupts him. Expecting Officer Fleihr, Evan walks to the door and grips the handle, about to turn it, when an intense feeling of paranoia comes over him. He releases the handle and takes a step back, before questioning the knocker.
“Who’s there?”
A voice he hadn’t been expecting answers back, throwing him for a loop.
“The owner of this house.”
Evan immediately calls forth the Dragonskin, feeling the warmth crawl up his arm. He grabs the knob again and twists, opening the door. He quickly brings his left arm up, the only part of him covered in the inky blackness, ready to form a shield to block any attack. When none comes, Evan lowers his arm, though the Dragonskin continues to spread over him. He sees Richard standing on the porch, a bored look on his face. Wearing a dark brown coat and matching fedora, pulled low to hide his scarred face, Richard presents no threat. Evan gives him a suspicious look, ready to attack should the need arise.
“Put it away, boy. I’m not here to fight.”
Evan lowers his arm, but doesn’t pull the Dragonskin back. He gives Richard a long hard stare, before speaking to the father of his girlfriend.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you where you stand.”
Without missing a beat, Richard answers back.
“Because you don’t want to do that to my daughter. You know that if you kill me now, in plain view of her, that everything would change. No matter how much of a bastard I was, I’m still her father. You can’t just undo that kind of bond by shocking the shit out of someone. Besides, no matter how much you hate me, no matter how much you would just love to tear me to shreds…you won’t.”
Evan allows the Dragonskin to creep up past his arm, moving over his chest and up his neck, answering at the same time.
“And what makes you so sure of that?”
Richard appears to not notice, or not care, about Evan bringing more of the Dragonskin out, and answers.
“Because you don’t want to let the monster in you take over. With each life you’ve taken, the beast has grown stronger, more stable…and it scares you. I saw it in your eyes when you showed it to me. You had to fight just to take control back. You remember what happened last time you let the monster out…you almost killed her. That’s right, I saw. It would make me oh-so-happy if you would kill me now, only to kill her, and anyone else you encountered in your bloody rampage of insanity. We both know you won’t let that happen though, so I suggest you put it away and let me in my house, before I…provoke…a reaction from you.”
Evan clenches his fist, feeling the Dragonskin cover more and more of him, the warmth mixing with his rage. He looks down at his left hand and notices his fingers beginning to sprout claws; his arm starts to grow thicker, more muscular. He clenches his eyes shut, gritting his teeth, forcing the creature back down. He forces the Dragonskin back into his watch and almost immediately rips it off his wrist, stuffing it into his pants pocket.
“Good boy. Now, move aside. I have things to discuss with the two of you.”
Evan begrudgingly moves, allowing Richard to enter the house. He smirks and walks into the living room. He takes his hat off and tosses it onto the couch, before taking a seat next to it, completely ignoring Amy, who had been watching with trepidation the entire conversation, knowing that everything her father had said was true. She still felt…something, for him. Not love, no, that had been extinguished long ago, but…something. Evan walks into the room a moment later, having closed and locked the door, a dark look on his face. He stands in front of the couch, near a window, arms crossed over his chest, now glaring down at the still-smirking Richard.
“What do you want?”
“Simple. Fix my face.”
“Why-“
“Let me finish. Fix my face…and you two will never see or hear from me again. I will leave the city and never return. No more trying to kill or otherwise torment you, no unexpected visits, I’ll just vanish, and all that I ask in return is a normal face. You can’t imagine the looks I’ve gotten since you mutilated me. It’s gotten so bad that I’ve taken to the night; I’m living like a goddamned vampire. Just…fix my face. Please.”
During his speech, the smirk left Richards face, raw emotion replacing it. Evan contemplates his offer, knowing that, if he honored it, things would be much more peaceful for him and Amy. He also knew that Richard was a heartless bastard, and would likely renege on their arrangement. The worst that could happen would see Richard dead at the end of it. Without saying a word, Evan reaches into a pocket and removes a bottle of pills. He pops the top and removes two, tossing them to Richard before capping the bottle, sliding it into his pocket once more.
“Take them.”
Richard eyes the pills, not trusting Evan. Finally, he decides to risk it. He pops the pills into his mouth and chews them up, the bad taste being overpowered by his desire to have his face back. He swallows the bits and pieces, before spotting Evans Coke can on the coffee table. He grabs it and takes a swig, the remnants fizzing in his mouth a bit. He swallows several more times and takes another drink of Coke, finally getting the last bits of the pills down. Clearing his throat, he looks up at Evan expectantly.
“Now what?”
“Now you go look in a mirror. Give it about fifteen to twenty minutes, I’ve never tested them on an injury that extensive, so it could be longer.”
Richard gets up from the couch and heads into the hallway, where a mirror hangs. He looks into it expectantly, noticing a slight itching sensation beginning to form on his face. While he watches the mirror, Amy rushes around to Evan and begins whispering in a frenzied tone.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?! Are you insane!? There’s no way he’ll live up to his side of the deal!”
Evan gives her a withering stare, before whispering back.
“I’m counting on it. Go call Fleihr. If and when Dick tries to pull something, I want Fleihr to see it, that way they can at least be on the lookout for him from then on; since I have no doubt that he’ll pull another disappearing act. I swear, the man’s like Batman sometimes…”
Amy shakes her head, still upset with Evan. She leaves the room, heading for the phone in the kitchen. Evan goes to keep Richard occupied. He heads into the hallway and finds Richard staring at the mirror. Evan steps behind him, watching Richards face stitch up; the pills Evan gave him working extremely fast. Finally, after about ten more seconds, Richards’s face I completely healed, leaving smooth skin where scar previously occupied. He turns around, facing Evan, and rubs his now-healed face, a victorious grin on his face. Evan gets the same paranoid feeling that overcame him when he answered the door, making his skin crawl. He tries to shake it off, but is unsuccessful. Suddenly, Richard lunges forwards, grabbing him by the throat, pinning him against the wall. Richard leans in close, using his other hand to pull a kitchen knife from his belt. He presses the blade against Evans throat, a manic glint in his eye.
“You even start to bring it out, and I slice you from ear to ear, now…call her in here.”
Evans eyes flash red for a moment, before he growls out an answer.
“You remember that bond you mentioned earlier? The one between a father and his daughter?”
“Yeah…”
“Good. She’s about to break it.”
Something swings hard, slamming against eh back of Richards head, sending him to the floor, blood pooling around his head. Amy stands behind him, holding a rolling pin. Breathing heavily, she hurls the rolling pin at her father’s unconscious body, staring down at him intently. Another knock at the door prompts Evan to bring the Dragonskin forth, but only on his arm. He leaves the room, leaving Amy staring at her father. He hears eh start to kick his downed form as he approaches the door. Evan grabs the handle and looks through the peephole, seeing Officer Fleihr standing on the porch. He breathes a sigh of relief, pulling the Dragonskin back. Evan opens the door and allows Fleihr to enter, leading him to the hallway while explaining.
“Man, I’m glad you got here when you did, cause we’ve got a helluva’n arrest. Amy’s dad showed up, started talking shit, I set up a trap, but he started things off before I could get it going. Had me against the wall with a blade at my throat. Amy clocked him good with a rolling pin. He’s not disappearing this time.”
Fleihr looks down at Richards’s body, Amy having stopped kicking him. Fleihr breathes in, then out after a moment, weighing his next words heavily.
“I’ll get someone to come get him, but first….I’ve been ordered to bring you in, Evan. You too Amy.”
The two teens look at Fleihr strangely, not believing what they heard.
“Come again?”
“The Chief of Police has ordered for you to be arrested on sight.”
“Might I ask why?”
“Well…you did murder a dozen people.”
“Hey now, that wasn’t my fault, there was…something…controlling me, besides, most of them started it…”
“Even so, I was ordered to bring you in, and I’m legally bound to follow those orders. It’s a shame you weren’t here when I arrived.”
“We weren’t?”
“Nope. Found an empty house, save for the bloody guy down there. Shame too, catching you two would’ve meant a promotion. I suggest you leave Sanctus Ira as quickly as you can.”
“Where are we supposed to go?”
“I might have an idea. Come on Amy, let’s go, don’t want to get Blondie in trouble with The Man.”
Evan grabs his Bag of Holding from the ground near the couch and slings it over his shoulder. Evan starts to head for the front door, but stops next to Richards body. He delivers a swift kick to the man’s ribs, before continuing on, Amy in tow behind him. Just as they leave the house, they hear Fleihr reporting in with his radio.
“Got an anonymous tip that both Riley and Campbell were at Riley’s home. When I arrived, the house was empty, except for an unconscious man, possibly Riley’s father. Ambulance requested.”
Evan and Amy walk to the sidewalk, with Evan looking up and down the street. Seeing no cars moving, or people, for that matter, he takes a breath and looks at Amy.
“Up for a piggyback ride?”
She gives Evan a strange look, not fully understanding, until he calls the Dragonskin out. It covers his body, warping it into his red and black suit. She quickly hops onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Evan fires a tentacle from his right hand, latching on to a nearby light post. He looks over his shoulder at Amy, offering her a bit of advice.
“Hang on.”
Evan launches upwards, eliciting a loud scream from Amy as they fly through the air. Evan latches on to a house in the distance, propelling the two of them faster and further, Amy screaming the entire way. They quickly advance through the city, Evan obviously having some destination clear in his mind, but he takes the long way, purely for Amy’s enjoyment.
---Realm of the Gods---
Surrounded by thousands, maybe even millions of swirling pools of light, each swirling pool representing an alternate universe, the newly appointed Time Keeper stands. He stares down at a Time Stream, labeled 616, curious as to why its label was rapidly flashing red. He takes the manual for the time streams out of his back pocket and flips the book open to the section labeled ‘Warnings’ and begins to look. He quickly finds the proper section and reads it. A flashing red label meant that that particular universe was about to come to an end. When a universe was destroyed, it unbalanced the time streams, endangering every other universe. It was his job to keep the time streams properly balanced, lest the multi-verse, as the previous Time Keepers had liked to call it, be destroyed.
The Time Keeper wasn’t allowed to directly interfere in any universe; he could only influence those who would be able to alter the events responsible for destroying that universe. This naturally put a lot of strain on the new Time Keeper. Just ten days into the job and already, a universe was near its end. What did the Elder Gods expect him to do? The only thing he had to worry about before was making sure that the Devil himself stayed in Hell, and that was surprisingly easy. The Time Keeper sighs and, figuring that he may as well give it shot, fast forwards to roughly fifteen minutes before the universe was to be destroyed. The label zooms through time, finally stopping on a date and the place in which the destruction began.
‘616 Dimension- June 16th, 2032, Earth, 6:16 AM’
The Time Keeper stares at the image frozen in the Stream, that of seven people gathered before an impossible large creature, large enough to block out the sun, its skin a mottled green, claws at the end of its skinny arms, wings like a bat at its back, casting everything before it in shadow. He takes a closer look at the beast, having never seen anything like it, but fearing the worst. His eyes widen in terror as he finally recognizes the beast for what it was. Impossible though it may have been, the creature was supposed to be naught but legend, R’lyeh hadn’t been found across the Multi-Verse, so where could The Great Cthulhu have come from?
The Time Keeper decides to worry about that later, refocusing the image on the group of people huddled together in Cthulhu's shadow. The image, having frozen at their backs, doesn’t give the Time Keeper much information. He rotates the image in the Stream, showing him their faces. He zooms in on each one, the Stream giving him names for each of them in turn.
Evan Campbell
Amy Riley
Mary-Jane Liesca
James Dean Parker
Jaime Parker
Thomas Steele
Jay Bruce
The Time Keeper, father of one Jamie Parker nee Williams, stares at the Stream, before he enlarges the screen, intent on watching the events of the universes destruction play out. He stares at the Stream intently, watching as Evan and Steele transform into their respective forms, Steele into his white hulking beast, Evan into his streamlined black and red form. Evan and Steele stare each other down for several seconds, Steele’s monstrous side getting the better of him for a moment. A roar from Cthulhu quickly reminds them of their truce. The two glance up at the monster, watching as it levels several buildings with one swipe of its clawed arm. Steele leaps into the air, clawing his way up the side of a building on Cthulhu's left side, while Evan ascends to the top of the right side building, using several tentacles to pull himself to the roof.
Both men charge at The Thing That Should Not Be, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, dodging chunks of debris the beast was hurling at them. With each rooftop, the pair grows closer and closer to Great Cthulhu, hoping that they would be able to distract him long enough for their plan to work. They both notice that the debris had stopped falling, and look up and the creature. Its eyes begin to glow an ominous red, and, seconds later, the sky fills up with clouds, turning blood red in the process. Dozens of fireballs begin to rain down from the sky, heading towards Evan and Steele. The two barely manage to dodge the first wave, the intense heat driving them back several rooftops. They fight on, advancing at a much slower pace than they had been, dodging fireballs left and right.
The five people remaining on the ground, having seen Cthulhu’s display of power, are quick to begin their plan. They assemble around each other, forming a loose five point star, their hands connecting them to each other. The star slowly begins to form an imprint on the ground around them, digging into the concrete of the wrecked street, slowing a dull white as it does. The group begins to chant an ancient piece of Latin, designed to summon something that would seal Cthulhu back in its prison once again. Their attack, called the Polaris Maximus, had been created thousands of years ago, when Cthulhu was first awoken from his eternal slumber. It drew on the power of the stars and planets, drawing as much as possible from all around the Earth. A bright ball of energy slowly forms inside the star, smaller than a baseball, but increasing in size with every passing second.
Evan and Steele have finally reached the monster and have engaged him in combat, attacking him with whatever they could, having almost no effect on the creature. Steele slashed and hacked away at the monster with his claws and whatever he could get his hands on, while Evan, using the combined might of the Green Gem he had discovered in his subconscious years ago, as well as his Dragonskin, was blasting the beast with green pulses of light, singeing the creatures hide, but ultimately causing no damage. The bright light of the Polaris Maximus catches Cthulhu’s eye, he quickly locates the source and recognizes the light immediately. It had imprisoned him centuries ago, sent him back to R’lyeh; back under the sea…it would not happen again.
Cthulhu spears its wings, ignoring Steele and Evan. Great Cthulhu lifts off, kicking up dust and debris, the flap of his wings destroying the remaining windows of whatever buildings Cthulhu hadn’t managed to destroy just yet. Before Cthulhu can launch himself towards the group, Evan slashes out with a tentacle, hooking himself onto Cthulhu, while Steele leaps onto the monsters back, digging in with his claws. Cthulhu leaps towards the ever-growing ball of white light, his massive wings flapping intensely, holding up his immense weight. Steele claws his way up to the abominations neck and begins hacking away, finally drawing blood. He digs deeper and deeper, though to Cthulhu, it feels only like a mosquito.
The monster reaches behind him and grabs Steele with both hands and tears him in half, tossing the two pieces aside. Evan reels himself in, fighting against the immense wind. He shapes one hand to a blade and charges it with energy from his Gem, before slicing into the base of one of Cthulhu’s wings, tearing the membrane off the bone, causing the beast immense pain, sending the monster sideways, crashing into one of the few still-standing buildings, bringing it down on top of itself and Evan. Before the dust can even settle, Cthulhu bursts from the rubble, its anger literally shaking the ground beneath its feet. Cthulhu’s eyes glow red once more. He glares down towards the Polaris and its summoners. He calls forth another fireball, aiming it towards them. Before any of them can react, it slams into the ground, the impact sending them flying in different directions, the heat and flames immediately cooking them. The beast growls out what amounts to a chuckle and begins to approach the Polaris, intent on dissipating it, making sure that he could no longer be returned to his watery slumber.
Just as he reaches the ball of energy, a black tentacle dashes between his legs, wrapping around the white light. It is pulled backwards towards the bearer. Cthulhu whips around, his one remaining wing, taking out another building. The Great Monster stares down at a battered and bloody Evan, having fought his way out of the rubble, Dragonskin barely covering him anymore, holding the Polaris Maximus in his right hand, breathing heavily. Cthulhu lets out a mighty roar, Evan yelling right along with the monster as he hurls the Polaris towards Cthulhu. With a rush of light and the sound of millions of stars being snuffed out at once, the ball of energy slams into Cthulhu, virtually disintegrating him, taking every star that the Polaris had drawn from with it, including the Sun, plunging the world into darkness. Evan drops to his knees, unable to see anything, and feels the Earth being to rumble beneath him. The ground collapses within itself, drawing Evan down into what used to be a molten core, now lifeless, thanks to the Polaris sucking away all its energy.
Unknown to Evan and his friends, the Polaris was designed to be a one-time usage attack. Its creators had put in several limits, making it so that it could only draw a certain amount of power from the stars and planets, leaving them with just enough to survive on. Evan and his friends had stumbled upon the attack by accident, not knowing the risks. They had drawn away all of the energy the universe had to sustain itself with, resulting in the self-destruction of millions of stars and planets, including the Earths Sun, destabilizing the planet, collapsing it from the inside out, killing everyone and everything on the planet.
The Time Stream fades to black after the Earth collapses within itself, returning to its normal size. The Keeper sighs, wondering just how he was supposed to poke and prod his way to stopping that particular catastrophe. A light suddenly shines into the room, someone had opened the door. The Keeper looks towards the light source, finding Mephesto standing in the doorway. Several days prior, Mephesto had decided he was no longer happy with his David Carradine avatar, he wouldn’t tell the Keeper why, but he had changed forms. Before him now stands, not David Carradine, but a figure resembling Obi-Wan Kenobi, of Star Wars fame.
“Old Ben Kenobi eh? Interesting choice.”
“Isn’t it? I couldn’t keep using
Carradine as an avatar, knowing how his life ends. I see that you have yet to
choose an avatar. You are the only one in this Realm that uses their true form.
Several of the others are starting to question your choice.”
“I like me. I’ve always liked me, and since I got my arm and leg back, I’ve really liked me. I don’t wanna be someone else, I wanna be me, so I’m gonna keep on bein me, and no morons wonderin why are gonna change my mind. Look, there’s a problem with the 616 universe, you know, the one I was in for a good twenty years, the one my daughter still lives in. The problem is so big; I don’t see how a small bit of nudging on my part will be able to stop it.
Mephesto walks past his former apprentice, over to the 616 Time Stream. He reviews the universes future, before hanging his head, sighing. He walks back to the Keeper, his face resolute, his eyes filled with sadness.
“I’m afraid that…there is nothing
you can do to save it. You must prepare for the backlash that its destruction
will cause. If the others are not properly prepared, the energy released by the
616 universe will destroy all of them, as well as this world. Work quickly, my
friend.”
Mephesto leaves the Keeper to his work, knowing that he had delivered very bad news, and that the Keeper would need to work through things on his own. To do his job, one must be able to put aside ones emotions, and make the hard choices, even of one doesn’t like the outcome. The greater good must be taken into consideration, for if the loss of one universe could potentially save millions, is the sacrifice not worth it in the end?
The Time Keeper, however, doesn’t see things the way Mephesto does. He stands in the center of the time streams, staring down at the 616 Time Stream, lost in his thoughts.
‘I’m supposed to just let it be destroyed? But…my daughter…all the innocent people on Earth, and the countless other sentient beings in the universe…It's not right. I can’t let it happen...I won’t let it happen. I’ve got to find a way to stop it, but I can’t do it here, not with the limited powers of a Time Keeper. I need to talk to the Elders…”
The Time Keeper breaks out of his thoughts, an idea forming. He leaves the Time Room, venturing out into the greater depths of the Realm, heading towards the Elder Gods’ Chambers. He shoves past the guards at the entrance to the Chamber, barging into the room, the doors hitting both sides of the wall, the bangs echoing through the room, immediately, every eye, turns towards the Time Keeper. He marches to the center of the room, into the dip in the floor, now surrounded by the nine Elder Gods, seated in their raised platform in a circle around the room. He looks towards Odin, leader of the Elder Gods. Before he can open his mouth, Loki, God of Deception, opens his mouth.
“Oy! You just can’t barge in here like that!”
From the opposite side of the raised dais comes the voice of one of the only two female Elder Gods, Syn, Goddess of Defense and Wards.
“Relax Loki; perhaps our newest Time Keeper has a good reason for committing such an act.”
Next to Syn, Tyr, God of War, speaks up, siding with Syn.
“Yes, do shut up Loki. If I remember correctly, Time Keeper here was just shy of replacing you as God of Deception. I’m sure you remember his initial testing. Unfortunately, he, like myself, is too fond of the ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ method. Be happy about that.”
“Enough.”
A single word from Odin silences the three of them immediately. Odin stares down at the Time Keeper, an unreadable expression on his face. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, he speaks.
“Time Keeper, what is the reason for your unannounced intrusion?”
“Hear me out, I stumbled upon a universe that was about to destroy itself, and the amount of raw power that would be displaced would take every other universe with it. No amount of prodding from me could save that universe. It will take a direct intervention, otherwise, Universe 616 will be destroyed, and it will surely take countless universes with it, maybe even this one. I ask that I be allowed to return to the Mortal Plane, allow me to try and stop 616 from destroying itself. I’ve already determined the point of origin, and I might have a bit of a plan on how to stop it from happening.”
Odin takes in the information given to him, stroking his beard, deep in thought, while the other eight Gods and Goddess’ discuss what the Time Keeper said amongst themselves. After perhaps thirty seconds, Odin looks around the room, seeing each Elders reaction to the news. He quickly comes to a decision.
“I have checked your information with our records, and have concluded that you are, indeed, correct. Tell me…if your daughter wasn’t located in universe 616, would you be so ready to abandon your post and travel to that plane of existence?”
The Time Keeper appears to be offended by Odin’s remark, and is quick to answer back, his tone that of barely contained anger.
“You think I wanna do this just to save my own lineage, is that it? I happened to find out that she was there after I discovered the universes fate. She has no influence on my decision.”
“Calm yourself, I was merely making a joke, attempting to lighten the mood. I have come to a decision. We will take a vote. Each of us will speak upon this matter, and each will come to their own decision. If most of us are in favor for your plan, you may leave to Universe 616.”
Loki decides to be the first to speak his mind.
“I say we strip him of his title and lock him up in Hell for wasting our time. You get a no from me.”
Rolling her eyes, Syn speaks next.
“You really are the dumbest of the lot of us; you know that, don’t you Loki? I can see what the Time Keeper is saying; he knows how difficult his mission is, if we choose to send him on it. I say send him to Earth-616, lets see what he can do.”
Next to Loki, Baldur, God of Light, speaks.
“I hate to say this, but I agree with Loki. Not the locking him up in hell part, but the no part. I don’t see you saving an entire universe by yourself. I think we should brace ourselves and hope for the least amount of destruction.”
Hoenir, God of Creation, speaks next.
“I must go to the side of negative. If 616 does indeed take several other universes with it, I will be allowed to recreate them, a plus for me. I do so enjoy creating, but lately, I haven’t been able to create much. Entire universes will bring much enjoyment to me.”
Tyr interrupts Hoenir with a gruff chuckle, making his opinion known next.
“Yeah, unless this is one of the universes taken out. If this place goes, we go with it. You’ve got my vote, I can see that you’re just like me; you love a good fight and won’t stop until you’ve won. Kick some ass for Tyr, eh?”
Freyja, Goddess of Death, cracks a small smile from her seat next to Tyr, speaking after the testosterone fueled God.
“I think he should return to 616. The destruction of so many universes will result in an infinite number of deaths, which means more paperwork for me. I hate paperwork with a passion. When you get there, try to refrain from killing everyone you see, please, for me?”
At Odin’s right hand, his son, Thor, God of Thunder and Lightning, makes his presence known.
“I sense within you fierce determination. I know that you will not stop until you have exhausted all options available to you. I see you as quite capable of stopping the destruction of universe 616. You have my support.”
Forseti, God of Justice, sitting at Odin’s left, speaks.
“Time Keeper, may you seek justice from those who dare to summon that which will destroy everything. Do not allow this great misdeed go unpunished. I am on your side, as is Justice itself.”
The Time Keeper allows a slight bit of hope to build inside him. He had five out of the nine Elders on his side. Though he holds the majority, Odin has the final say. It was up to him now. Odin quickly speaks, already knowing his decision.
“It would appear that you have gained much support, Time Keeper. Though three amongst us do not wish you to go on what they believe is a fools mission, I see no harm in allowing you to try. If you fail, then, we shall deal with the results best as we can. If you succeed, which I firmly believe you will, then you will have proven three Elder Gods wrong. Return to your quarters, prepare for your journey. You leave tomorrow.”
The Time Keeper heads back to his housing arrangement and prepares for his task, knowing that it will be quite difficult to accomplish, hoping that luck would be on his side.
---Sanctus Ira City Limits, December 31st,
11:57 PM, 2008---
The two exiled teenagers stare at the only place they had called home as they walk away from it, not knowing when or if they would ever return. Evan stares at Steele Industries, the massive tower still visible even at such a distance, while Amy looks towards their old neighborhood, remembering a more peaceful time. Evan turns his back to the city and marches onward, with Amy quickly following his lead. Evan shrugs the Bag of Holding onto his shoulder, all of their possessions inside it, yet it remained light. After several minutes of silence, Amy speaks up.
“So…where are we going?”
“Anywhere but here.”
“I thought you said you knew a place we could go?”
“I…might know a place. Depends on whether or not he’s still alive.”
“Who?”
“Christopher Hammet.”
“And he is?”
“He’s the guy that helped my father make the suit. As far as I could tell, he left Sanctus Ira before Steele’s men could find him. If we can find him, he might let us stay with him for a bit, I hope.”
“And if he wants nothing to do with us?”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Oh good, here comes a car, thumbs out, maybe they’ll give us a ride.”
Evan & Amy hold their hands out in the street, thumbs up, hoping to hitch a ride with the approaching car. The car quickly passes them by, not even slowing them down, sending a stream of water splashing onto the two teens from a previous night’s rain, drenching the two from head to toe. Evan spits out a bit of water, looking over at Amy. She shakes her hair, attempting to free as much water as she could from it, only succeeding in drenching Evan once more, and poofing her hair out. Evan wipes the water from his face and glances at his watch, just as the time ticks over to 12:00 AM. January 1st.
“Happy fuckin’ New Year….”
