JL New Wave: The Challengers from Beyond! (IC)

The sky over southern California was dark.

Night time.

And still.

KrekkaBAAAAAADDDOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!

It sounded like the sort of thunder which would herald the arrival of an Asgardian with a hammer of Uru.

Instead, it foretold of the coming of a Martian with red eyes.

As the echoes from the Boom Tube faded, J'onn J'onzz cast those red eyes about below him. His Martian Vision sought and found the one he was seeking.

The one the Master had sent him to find.

The one he had been sent to destroy.

With the remnants of the teleportation matrix still burning in his flesh, Martian Manhunter flew towards his prey.

Little Boy Blue, Come Blow Your Horn (part 1 of 3)

Like most caped crusaders, Blue had his favorite moping spot. He didn't do it high above the filth and decay of a city though. Instead, Blue leaned back against a rock outcropping five feet above a flock of fluffy white sheep. One of Blue's feet dangled rakishly over the side while he kept the other bent and firm upon the rock itself. He heard the sheep whimper and baa in their sleep below.

He still hadn't gotten over how dark the sky was, how deep the night could be with no light pollution to dull its blackness. The stars shone like candles, and he knew here that if you caught a shooting star you had a good chance of convincing it to marry you. Unlike in the mundane, no, he put that comparison out of his mind. He was working on forgetting about the past two centuries despite the monkey that refused to get off his back.

There was lifetimes worth of baggage he still carried that he always meant to dump in some bottomless pit but never did. Instead, he took his time disposing of the tangible reminders of his past life. He plucked one such memento of it from between his thighs. The bottle of Budweiser was cold, refined, and watery. The ale served in these parts was anything but. It came in a mug or a keg. It was rough hewn and gritty. The people of his homeland lacked the alchemy of the Mundy. He sighed and tipped the bottle back against his lips. The cold bubbles bit at his throat and made him giggle like a child. He set the beer back down and enjoyed the buzzing in his brain. Alcohol was a great way to forget.

He reached into his cloak and retrieved a battered bugle. Somehow he'd stumbled upon it against all odds and reason. His foot had found the bugle when he'd been walking through the cloverleaf meadows where the sheep now slept. So he came to this place each night, mulling over his past and trying to forget it in equal measures. Night after night he spent it beneath the stars with some beer and his bugle.

He didn't look at the thing. It was a piece of shit. His father must have traded a dozen eggs for it from a tinker too hungry or too clever. The sound that came out as he blew on it was warbled and refused to stay on any recognizable octave. He didn't care. He paused every few notes to chug at his beer until there was none left. He enjoyed hurling the bottles into the meadows and forests of his Homeland, and knowing no one cared. And he continued to play horrible, groaning, mournful dirges until he passed out.

The sheep's in the meadow, The wolf's all forlorn. (part 2 of 3)

Blue came around to a wet, smacking sound interspersed with the pathetic bleating of a lamb. He blinked against the sun that seemed to take up the entire sky and rain down blinding pain into his pupils. His head pounded like a smith was using his brains as an anvil and this smith wasn't trying to make anything so much as just exercise an extreme amount of frustration. Blue closed his eyes and the pain in his eyes receded over the course of several seconds. It didn't do much for his headache nor for the cottony feeling in his mouth. He smacked his lips but couldn't do much to erase the feeling and rank flavor of fermented barley from his tongue. It hadn't occurred to him to bring a toothbrush when he left for his homeland, and he had no desire to go back there, but here he had fit in. Everyone had bad breadth.

He pulled down the hood of his cloak to better block out the sun and drifted back off to sleep. The biggest perk of the cloak these days was to insulate his back from the hard, unyielding stone of the outcropping where he usually spent his nights and sometimes most of his days. The darkness provided by the hood was cool, almost menthol in its refreshingness. Blue yawned and reached for another bottle of Bud. Without a bottle opener and not feeling all there anyway, he just broke off the neck and poured whatever he could into his open mouth. The beer splashed all over his face and down his neck. His tunic did a shitty job of absorbing the runoff, but enough got to where it needed to. Blue burped and passed out a few minutes later.

It was much later in the day, somewhere in the afternoon when he came around again. His headache wasn't as bad, and he fished around for a Snickers bar to help satisfy the gnawing hunger eating at his stomach. He'd developed an ulcer somewhere along the lines or maybe he'd allowed an ulcer to develop. Either way, if he didn't eat often enough the acid gave him a wicked bad case of indigestion and heart burn. He felt the sticky aftermath of the beer, the residue that remained after the liquid portion evaporated. It always reminded him of bukkae and not in the good way.

"Fuck." Blue sighed, wishing not for the first time that he'd brought a few crates of smokes with him. They always seemed appropriate in this situation. The meadow was quiet except for the sound of licking. It was weirder for how loud it sounded. "Damn it Gmork."

Blue inched his way up along the rock until he had sufficient support to sit upright. With another great sigh, he pulled the hood off of his face. The light was still way too bright. Everything was gleaming daggers at him. Outlines resolved from the blurry watering of his vision. The meadow. The forest beyond. The small bluff rocks. And a giant goddamn wolf.

Gmork was rough hewn black fur and yellowed fangs. His claws were a match for an equal number of longswords. What wasn't black and yellow was dark red splattered to such an extent that if Blue looked at Gmork like a Magic Eye Picture, the beast was not a wolf but some three dimensional image of a chair. Of course Gmork left enough evidence to leave no doubt as to what had slaughtered all of Blue's flock of sheep.

"I liked you better before you gave up all hope-" Blue paused, as he always did when they were having this conversation, and they both looked at the horrid purple-blue welt on Blue's left forearm. The wound still seeped a poisonous, midnight purple puss from time to time, Mister Dark's parting gift. "Don't get me wrong. The external hope and optimism was annoying sometimes-" Blue tore off another chunk from his Snickers bar. He chewed. Neither of them was in a hurry. "But do you have to piss in my Cool-Aid every other day?" Blue took two more bites and tossed the remains out onto the meadow. He missed Gmork by a few feet.

Gmork had watched Blue with a predator's patience throughout the monologue. Indeed, he'd been watching Blue for hours. His giant yellow lights were like two lanterns whose flames never went out. Finally in a breath that didn't carry the North Wind anymore, but still cracked with the thunder of a high storm, he said, "These are the last."

Blue stopped with the bugle half to his face and then lowered it. "No way." Then after a minute's silence. "Stinky too?" He raised his hand before Gmork could respond. "Never mind. I don't want to know."

"It is the end then," The very rock upon which Blue rested rumbled.

"Jesus not you too." Blue grunted as he rolled forward and then pushed himself up to his feet. He teetered a bit, his drunkenness hadn't been completely replaced by a hangover. The distant buzz was welcomed though.

"The Nothing-"

"Yah," Blue turned his head towards the horizon.

The sun had been there alone just a moment ago in the afternoon sky about to set down behind, but now a tremendous, destructive storm, covered the sky with dark clouds, winds, and much lightning. The sun flickered from within like a candle caught outside in a gale. The sun fought, pulsing on and off several times, before it too disappeared. The whole western sky was dim and gloomy with only the flashing of the lightning providing illumination. Like a vanguard, mist billowed before the storm, obscuring everything for miles and days before the rushing storm front. It was hypnotizing and all three of them spent a long time, maybe hours looking at it. It was hard to process what really stood there devouring the landscape. It hurt to even contemplate what the Nothing was.

Gmork was the first one to tear his gaze from the Nothing. "I honored the deal. My debt is settled." His voice cracked the air and brought Blue's head swiveling around.

Blue sighed again and popped his neck. "Yeah, I suppose you did." He dusted off his pants and pulled his sticky shirt from his chest. A leather tunic had seemed like a good idea, better than wool, but well none of that mattered now anyway.

Gmork lunged at where Blue was with a speed that matched a stroke of lightning. The invulnerable curtain of the Witching Cloak that rose to meet the wolf might as well have been a rock wall. Blue reappeared on the other side of the meadow, and watched Pyornkrachzark enclose his hands around the body of Gmork.

Gmork's roar was terrible. He tore himself from the rock biter, rending rock as easy as if it had been flesh. Pyornkrachzark's left arm, a column of living rock, fell away beneath the frenzied onslaught. Chunks of its chest and half of its face came seconds later before Gmork was free.

Pyornkrachzark's body shuddered and fell to the side. Gmork tore into Pyornkrachzark's other hand with his yellowed teeth. Despite being rock, Pyornkrachzark's hand might as well have been a Twinkie. The chalky white dust that gushed from Pyornkrachzark's wounds could have been the cream filling of that Twinkie.

"They were such strong hands," Pyornkrachzark said, its voice a soft, sad rumble that no longer shook the earth. "Such strong han..." it trailed off as its eyes fell upon the onrushing Nothing.

But where is the boy who looks after the sheep? (part 3 of 3)

Blue managed to keep from looking at the Nothing. The mist was already upon the meadow and crept with maddening speed towards him. Gmork was quicker, but the Witching Cloak only needed a memory. It only allowed him to find and travel to people if those people were filled with despair, terror, or sorrow. Fortunately, she had all three.

There hadn't been much left, so he shouldn't have been surprised where he found himself. He even had thought he couldn't be surprised anymore but all that was left was this small chunk of white marble. That was it. She knelt in the center of the dais staring doe eyed at the rolling, undulating mass of dark clouds, yellowish fog, and lightning below and around them. It was coming up to reach them. This was the last. Blue watched it come and might have watched it devour him, if she hadn't roused him with her perfect, childlike kiss to his cheek.

Despite her terror, despair, and sorrow, she still inspired dreams with her presence. She was hope and inspiration. The youthful seed of optimism from which all children's daydreams sprung, and for those lucky enough, kept springing. Blue only dreamed of sheepherding and maybe a good riff or two, so she was like a drug to him. A drug he had tried to resist, even as he'd felt her calling to him in his black out drunk slumber.

"I couldn't do it," Blue said, shaking his head and fishing a tear from his eye with the back of his hand. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't."

"It's okay, Gabriel."

She sounded so sad to Blue that he couldn't help but cry for her, mourn for the loss of everything, for the weight that was on her and him, for failing her.

"You need to go, Gabriel-"

"NO!" He roared, stopping whatever she'd been about to say with a full lip kiss. They shared all their feelings, but none of them were sexual. It might as well have been a bedtime, good night's kiss. Neither of them were exactly children, but it was their roles in their respective stories to forever straddle the twilight of childhood and dawn of adulthood.

She wasn't Red, and she had no name that he could find to give her. Never had been able to do that. Not even for her, he was too loyal to his friends, even their memories to look through Gmork's entrails for her name.

To him she was White. Her white silk kimono blossomed around her like the petals of a lily. Her skin was pale snow colored. Her hair was naturally bleached blonde. Even her eyes were pale, almost like she suffered from cataracts. It was her smile, exposing bone white teeth that always tore at his heart. How she managed to do that in the face of this, he would never know.

"You must'nt ever give up hope, Blue." She looked up at him. She was so tiny and birdlike in his hands, and he was small by almost anyone's standards. "Promise."

Blue tried to smile, to reassure her somehow, to give her hope. But he couldn't. "It's hard-" He tried to look away as she gazed up into his eyes. He wanted to look anywhere but there. The Nothing couldn't even hold his attention like she could. She looked at him with all the hopes of her once vast empire; all of it gone now. "I, ah." He swallowed and wished that he had been able to brush his teeth before coming to see her. Not that she'd ever minded in the past, but she deserved more than him and this, here and now. He wanted to give her everything, but he settled on giving her what he had left. "Okay."

Her smile was pure and genuine. So radiant was her smile that his cloak recoiled from it, flinching back and away. Her smile didn't last long, but it was a treasure the likes of which he'd probably never see again. It ignited a smile in him, and they both shared a completely irrational bout of laughter. That didn't last long, but it was nice, better than sex.

"You have to get out, your good at that."

Although he expected to see it, there was no recrimination in her eyes. Instead her gaze was clear and pure like always. He could have fucked her sister right in front of her, and she'd never show jealousy. She'd be glad he found someone to make him happy for awhile. "I love you. I thought I'd known love before. What a joke." More tears bubbled up around his eyes and cut through the sticky remnants of beer plastered to his cheeks, chin, and neck.

She laid one of her tiny little hands on his chest over his heart. "It was too much to ask." Again that radiant, glorious smile erupted on her face. How could she do that? Not blame him for being a failure? She did shed a tear then, just one, that she caught with the tip of forefinger as it ran down her cheek. "I enjoyed our time together, Gabriel."

Blue looked up like he could look past what was left of the sky and beyond. Jack had claimed to have been outside of it all to where the Watchers watched them play out their lives. The people like the Mundy who read his story and reveled in all his suffering. He wanted to shout at them to just leave him alone. Why did he have to go on? Why couldn't they just let him be.

"Gabriel, there's no time for that. You must go."

The Nothing was upon them. Tendrils of its billowing yellow fog reached over the remnants of the dais. That was all that was left of everything. The last proof that anything had ever been.

"I don't have anywhere to go!" He shouted and regretted it.

"BBBLLLLUUUUUEEEEEEEEEEE!" A sound like thunder came from below. Gmork had found him.

She laid a hand upon his elbow and squeezed. It wasn't much, but it was enough to get his attention. "I am going to buy you a few more moments to think of something."

"No, dear god don't leave me." Blue's knees gave out on him and fell into the same position the childlike empress had been in when he'd first arrived. He forced himself back to his feet. "I should have killed him. I could have for you. I..." He was tempted to look away as another wolf's howl came from below, closer now.

She smiled. "There's your optimism. It's a start." Somehow she escaped his hold on her and slipped away. One moment she was there in his arms, her presence reassuring and eternal, radiant and warm. Then she was gone over the side and falling away from him towards their final enemy. The Nothing rushed to consumer her but it choked. She was still too much for it to eat fast. Like a python, the Nothing choked and twisted as much as a nameless, all consuming dark ending of everything could be compared to a snake.

The tendrils of mist even retreated off the dais and there was a pregnant moment where everything was still. Except for something moving, impossibly flying through the endless, eternal Nothing towards him. Not something. Gmork flew, somehow in a way he couldn't through air, but through the Nothing he sailed towards the dais.

Blue watched the friend turned fiend grow from a black smudge to a giant, slobbering maw. Its mouth latched and bit down on the dais. With a quick jerk, it tore the dais in half. The rock sheared and the portion in his mouth disappeared into the Nothing. Still, blue's heart and forearm ached at the thought of killing the last trace of the last friend he had.

Gmork's body bunched, and he was about to hurtle himself at Blue again, when the Vorpal Blade flew out form the cloak and into Blue's hand. Gmork paused. His mouth drew back, exposing rows of teeth in a mockery of a smile. "Finally, we end this charade." His laughter was low and throaty. "Come or I will rip you to shreds! There is nothing left to prevent our deaths."

Blue's hand white knuckled around the hilt of the sword. Instead of shouting his response, he raised the hilt to his mouth and...

[size=+2]BLEW![/size]

The Horn of Gabriel shed its guise, a thing that was usually anathema to its nature. Blue poured his entire being, all his training, all that he had left into a final shout to the long night. I. DEFY. YOU. The noise was the sundering of worlds. It split the sky. It called out to the Heavens and beyond. It was hope and faith and possibility. It wasn't a whimper. It wasn't the death cry of his homeland.

Gabriel was the Herald. He called forth.

[size=-2]
A shout filled with hope went out,
A warning against the dangers ahead.
Blue held the line in spirit if not in strength."
[/size]

Five Things Go Wrong: One.

Varshanka said:

“Space.. time.. and weird other dimension.. so across dimensions and into theoretical timelines?” Kyle asked, his eyebrow lifting like he was a vulcan or something. “That’s.. “

“Wow..”

Click to expand...

"Yeah," The Doctor nodded, little quirk of a smirk on her lip. "That just about covers it."

Varshanka said:

“It’s.. wow.. Why is it smaller on the outside? Ease of transportation and tight spaces?” he asked walking around it and looking at everything he could. He didn’t smack, hit, or pound though. It was more a caress of admiration.

Click to expand...

The Doctor was enlightened enough that she didn't get jealous. In either direction. She just smiled a slow-burn smile.

"Stealth is a nonzero factor. I try to park a shift-ship the size of The Watchcarrier in orbit around, say, a Level 5 Earth like this one, I bring a horde of parademons on me quicker than--" a flicker of shadows danced across her eyes, but her expression didn't quite change "--well, a Flash."

Varshanka said:

Looking over at her, The Doctor, the physician, The Medic. Doctor Hamilton. He came to a decision and wandered over to his closet and grabbed a backpack. “Ok, I’m ready.” he added as he transferred files to the tablet from his main computer.

Click to expand...

She could have looked into his mind again, but she chose not to this time. It took all the fun out of conversations if she always knew what someone was going to say. She liked to hear them say it.

Instead, Jamie frowned. "Ready?"

Varshanka said:

And with Tablet in hand he walked back to the Big Blue box and waited.

Click to expand...

For all her vaunted superintelligence, The Doctor took a full two seconds to realize what the Hell he was talking about.

"What? No!"

She shook her head fiercely, took a long step back, hands in her trouser pockets, narrowing her eyes at him.

"No. No, absolutely not. This wasn't some invitation on a Magical Mystery Tour! I told you about this to be honest with you, to be truthful with you about the stakes I'm up against, to convince you to help-- to appeal to the better angels of your nature. But all I need from you is just a sitdown and a cuppa, we go through all the stuff you've drawn based on intuitions, imaginations in your head, that's it. I find where he's gone in The Multiverse and-- and I get a hint as to his long game-- and then I'm gone. I'm out of your hair. Forever. You go back to living your life, day after day, the one adventure I can never have."

"I have access to powers you can't even dream of," The Doctor insisted. "Not even-- not even you. And even I'm in deadly danger. Beyond deadly. There's no way I'm taking a normal mortal baseline human man into the middle of that. No way, ever!"

AmenRa said:

KrekkaBAAAAAADDDOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!

Click to expand...

You didn't need 20 heightened senses to hear that sound rip the skies apart over SoCal.

But the Doctor did so very much more than hear it.

There was nothing sonic about that boom. At least not in the way that human senses would experience it-- universal harmonic turned to cacophony-- vortex manipulation--

She felt reality breaking open, an Einstein-Rosen Bridge straight out of a Hell more terrible than anything even Dante envisioned.

The Doctor whirled to face the window, her brown brown deep deep eyes wide in horror.

She could see him.

Through walls and through the dark, she could see him.

And fear clutched her heart.

Fear deeper than the trackless gulfs between galaxies. Fear deeper than the R-Complex instinct evolved into every human being from their reptilian ancestors. Primordial primeval prime evil panic.

Green Martian.

FatherBox.

Anti-Life Equation.

Here.

AmenRa said:

As the echoes from the Boom Tube faded, J'onn J'onzz cast those red eyes about below him. His Martian Vision sought and found the one he was seeking.

The one the Master had sent him to find.

The one he had been sent to destroy.

With the remnants of the teleportation matrix still burning in his flesh, Martian Manhunter flew towards his prey.

Click to expand...

A Martian could achieve transluminal velocities if they wanted to-- an aspect of their abilities that transcended even the Kryptonians of most universes.

They had less than instants. Negative time.

She whirled back to face Kyle, that deep deep terrible terror still writ large within her eyes.

"GET IN! RUN! GO! NOW!"

~Earth 11, 3017~

Laurel floated among the slowboats remaining on the edge of the Vega system. The system that the Dark Circle had killed. Just like Conda. Just like Andi and Lyla. She watched as the last FTL ship, the Legion cruiser, fled. Laurel triggered her telepathic plug and said "Fenton's Foly, move into position, place your fusion drive into neutral. Once you are clear engage drive and break starboard."

As the Foly moved in, Laurel got under and behind it. Gripping the handles welded there she used her flight to brace herself in place and she hurled the Foly hard. This went on five, then six more times. The rift just kept growing. The rift the Circle opened in their sick attempt to end the Earthwar with mutual destruction was going to work. They were going to start with the Vega system. And the rest of the U.P. was going to follow. Unless Element Lass and the team could find a way. Laurel had no doubt they would try. They would try and they would fail. Another ship away.

Conda had died stopping the catalyst of the war. Too late. She had died in vain. Died a hero, like that mattered anymore. Heroes are just fools that get others killed. Two more away. The Circle had manipulated Validus next, using parts from Tharok's computer brain. Poor Lyla had died destroying the control components, crushed by Validus. Another three away.

The team had discovered that the Circle was a pawn for the Dominion. The Dominators came out swinging. They unleashed a Suneater and Andi had cheated in her fight with Laurel for who would take the weapon to save Earth's sun. She'd figured out the Kryptonite flaw in Brainys syrum. Two more away. This wasn't going to work.

Too much death. M"Onel couldn't stand it. So many deaths on her watch. One more away. Llorn had lost a third of his self taking a shot meant for Laurel. Two more away. The rift was almost on the last twenty ships. Laurel knew she was crying. Crying for those still here about to die.

Laurel keyed up her telepathic plug one last time. "M'Onel here. Any ships with children aboard move to the head of the line." And chaos ensued.

One more away.

Allon-zy

ChasNicollette said:

"No. No, absolutely not. This wasn't some invitation on a Magical Mystery Tour! I told you about this to be honest with you, to be truthful with you about the stakes I'm up against, to convince you to help-- to appeal to the better angels of your nature. But all I need from you is just a sitdown and a cuppa, we go through all the stuff you've drawn based on intuitions, imaginations in your head, that's it. I find where he's gone in The Multiverse and-- and I get a hint as to his long game-- and then I'm gone. I'm out of your hair. Forever. You go back to living your life, day after day, the one adventure I can never have."

"I have access to powers you can't even dream of," The Doctor insisted. "Not even-- not even you. And even I'm in deadly danger. Beyond deadly. There's no way I'm taking a normal mortal baseline human man into the middle of that. No way, ever!"

AmenRa said:

KrekkaBAAAAAADDDOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!

It sounded like the sort of thunder which would herald the arrival of an Asgardian with a hammer of Uru.

Click to expand...

She felt reality breaking open, an Einstein-Rosen Bridge straight out of a Hell more terrible than anything even Dante envisioned.

The Doctor whirled to face the window, her brown brown deep deep eyes wide in horror.

She whirled back to face Kyle, that deep deep terrible terror still writ large within her eyes.

"GET IN! RUN! GO! NOW!"

Click to expand...

Not taking the time to ask why the immediate and sudden seven hundred and twenty degree change in logic, Kyle launched himself through the door and into the Big Blue Box. Definitely needed a better name.

For some reason a feeling of loss washed over him. Like he’d never see the apartment again. But it didn’t matter. You Only Live Once. Right? Right.

But to burn out than fade away. Keeping out of the way he watched as she moved.

Tactically-Advantageous Retreat Done by Immediately Skeddaddling.

Varshanka said:

But to burn out than fade away. Keeping out of the way he watched as she moved.

Click to expand...

It was definitely the plan to fade away before they were burned alive by Martian vision, that was for dead certain.

The Doctor launched herself with perhaps-surprising agility after Kyle, slamming the-- Transit-womb A-something R-something D-something Interdimensional Shift-ship--

--Authority Reassembly--

--Deus-ex-machina--

--Focus!

--shoving the "screwdriver" into her pocket she instantly started working the controls again, the machine had started to calculate some vague assembly of a course through Bleedspace after their target, it wasn't enough, it wasn't nearly enough, they might as well be jumping blind--

--but a blind jump was all they had time for and The Doctor growled and swore as she hammered switches, toggled toggles, cranked a crank--

The Bleed Rotor started to plunge and rise.

The sound echoed throughout the structure, that ghostly, eerie, unnatural sound-- like an ancient alien civilization crying out for hope against implacable extermination--

VWORRP.

The light atop The Box started to strobe.

The Box started to fade out of this reality.

But was it fast enough?

"Come on," The Doctor begged, pleaded, cajoled, demanded, slapping The Console.

"Come arrrrrrrrn!" she roared, glancing back at the doorway, half expecting giant jade fists to smash in one of the windows any second...

ChasNicollette said:

The sound echoed throughout the structure, that ghostly, eerie, unnatural sound-- like an ancient alien civilization crying out for hope against implacable extermination--

VWORRP.

"Come on," The Doctor begged, pleaded, cajoled, demanded, slapping The Console.

"Come arrrrrrrrn!" she roared, glancing back at the doorway, half expecting giant jade fists to smash in one of the windows any second...

Click to expand...

Looking over his shoulder Kyle looked at the doors, wondering what Doctor Hamilton was looking at. Waiting for. Taking a step away from the doors, he didn’t stop until his ass was pressing against the console. “Do I want to know what you’re afraid of?” he asked, looking down at the twitches, and toggles, and switches, and knobs, and levers, and cranks.

“Damn, I left my bat..” he sighed. “Well, fer fracking fracks sake. Guess I can punch it. If I need to.”

Into the Sky

He still couldn’t believe that Doomsday had come back. His parents had told him about the creature for years, and how his father had sacrificed himself, to stop the beast. It was only thanks to a confluence of events that his father came back to life several months later. Now years later his father takes off to stop the beast again only to not make it. Instead someone claiming to be his father stopped the creature by lobotomizing it with his heat vision. That was something his father would never have done, he would have found another way to stop the beast. Jon knew that. Whoever that was, wasn’t his father. When he emerged from the vault in the Fortress he was dressed in a suit not unlike his father’s. The red and blue were a lighter shade then what his father had worn. Now dressed he took off to the sky and headed towards Metropolis.

It had been a few years since he had taken to the sky. When he went to high school his parents wanted him to focus more on his studies than super heroics. It was good to be in costume again, to hear his cape flapping in the wind. It was almost enough to make him forget why he was doing this again…almost.

ChasNicollette said:

The light atop The Box started to strobe.

The Box started to fade out of this reality.

But was it fast enough?

"Come on," The Doctor begged, pleaded, cajoled, demanded, slapping The Console.

"Come arrrrrrrrn!" she roared, glancing back at the doorway, half expecting giant jade fists to smash in one of the windows any second...

Click to expand...

THUNK!

...was the sound Martian Manhunter made as he flew onto the blue box. He grabbed hold of it, wrapping his arms tightly around.

Tell me.... his voice of dusty bass echoed in The Doctor's mind.... do you bleed?

You WILL!

And with that, the voice receded as the TARDIS began its withdrawal from the current space/time.

But, the Martian Manhunter phased through the protective barrier of the construct's housing.

And he solidified before them.

A uniform adorned him, a cape hung from his broad shoulders.

And those eyes...those terrible eyes....glowed a red so sinister and bright.

The psychic odor of fear within the construct was palpable. He could smell it. He could taste it. He could feel it.

A corner of the Martian's mouth raised in a sinister smile as the Anti-Life soaked in the fear.

The Martian's other senses scanned and learned what he could of this...place. Logic escaped him, for it was bigger on the inside.

Panic in The Sky.

ChasNicollette said:

Earth-Prime, aka Earth-0.
Star City.
Then.
********​

Impacts rang so deep into the foundations of Star City that they seemed to rattle the spine of the world.

With every punch, windows would shatter for blocks.

The very tectonic plates beneath the city would buckle-- not only would geologists consider Star City to be at seismic risk for years later, official topographic surveys would later discover that Star City was now 582 feet above sea level, as such things were reckoned. Before the fight, they had been 586.

This is what happened when The Man of Steel held nothing back.

His right hand was a crumpled mess, slick with blood the red of his cape.

But standing there in the crater that had once been Magnuson Plaza, over the battered, seething Doomsday, Superman saw in one shuddery instant that repeated pounding punches to the center of Doomsday's forehead had shattered both its unbreakably-reinforced endoskeletal skull and the exoskeletal growths of jagged bone that provided additional invulnerability. All of it had been rendered concave-- fragmented and fractured--

Clark's micro-vision could already see the beast healing. Fighting back against any and all forms of damage, adapting-- but Superman wouldn't give him that chance.

His eyes flared with heat that seemed bright as the surface of the sun and stabbed down through the cricks and jags of Doomsday's shattered brow, spearing into the bestial creature's multi-lobed, neutronium-resilient brain.

Eviscerating it.

Lobotomizing it.

Vegetating it.

Doomsday tried to raise its fist one last time, but then slumped, drool spilling out of the corner of its mouth.

Superman stared down at it, and nodded to himself when it did not immediately rise again, when its brain did not immediately prove capable of rejecting the injury and reasserting its structural integrity.

"It's down, Ms. West-Allen. I advise you to keep your distance all the same, though I doubt you'll listen. Something tells me you're as headstrong as a certain reporter I know-- knew --out east in Metropolis."

She staggered, picking her way through the obliterated plaza parking garage.

"Superman, I-- I have a duty to the story, to the network-- but more than that, I had to know. I had to see it in my own eyes that the monster was gone, and that the Earth was safe. After what he-- after he-- took--"

Superman gazed at her quietly with those wild-yonder eyes, ache mirroring hers. His right hand, already healing, gingerly reached out and touched her shoulder. "We've all lost so much today. My cousin. The Justice League. My mind's still in shock, to be honest, still reeling. But none of their sacrifices have been in vain-- the monster is gone. Dead. I only wish I could have gotten here sooner..."

"No-one blames you," Iris promised, though something in her tone said she was reminding herself as much as Superman. "Even Superman can't be everywhere at once."

"Thank you, Iris," he nodded gratefully, and smiled a light-years distant smile. "I'm going to throw this thing's rotting carcass into the sun now, to make sure he'll never threaten this planet again. Go and be with your family. Cry your tears. Honor your..." he paused, knowing how much Barry had meant to Iris but unwilling to say so aloud in case of prying ears "...hometown hero."

Biting back some of those very tears, Iris nodded: "Thank you, Superman."

And with that, The Man of Tomorrow bore Doomsday's corpse aloft, and whooshed up into the ashen Star City sky, accelerating furiously towards orbital escape velocity.

Iris paused, for a moment, unable to decide which way she should turn-- or if she should just collapse into the rubble of Magnuson Plaza and just weep her heart out into the broken concrete and rebar.

And it occurred to her.

Just the tiniest intrusive thought.

You think the strangest things when your world has just come crashing down around you.

Didn't he used to be taller?

Click to expand...

LuckyVic said:

When he emerged from the vault in the Fortress he was dressed in a suit not unlike his father’s. The red and blue were a lighter shade then what his father had worn. Now dressed he took off to the sky and headed towards Metropolis.

It had been a few years since he had taken to the sky. When he went to high school his parents wanted him to focus more on his studies than super heroics. It was good to be in costume again, to hear his cape flapping in the wind. It was almost enough to make him forget why he was doing this again…almost.

Click to expand...

After disposing of Doomsday's battered shell, he returned to Metropolis.

Levitating high above The Big Apricot, he surveyed his territory with impossibly heightened senses, his cape swirling behind him.

He flexed his hand-- it had already healed, even in the few minutes this had taken, but it was still a little stiff.

And he counted to himself on his fingers. "Let's see. Lois. Supergirl. That low-rent excuse for a Justice League. Am I missing anyone?"

And then he smirked to himself, and glanced in the direction of Jon Kent flying towards him-- faster than a speeding bullet.

"Oh. Right. The wannabe Superboy. This should be interesting."

An Error in my Genesis.

The Doctor was going to give Kyle a panicky replying quip, but--

AmenRa said:

THUNK!

Click to expand...

--the whole shift-ship shook, rocking hard to the left, and coral dust hissed down from somewhere up in the rafters.

The Doctor hissed-- "Nonononononono!"

AmenRa said:

Tell me.... his voice of dusty bass echoed in The Doctor's mind.... do you bleed?

You WILL!

Click to expand...

She clutched at her head, rerouting all of her considerable mental resources to containing the mental intrusion-- it was cold, sickening, just the sound of those deep tones bereft of Life was enough to chill her spine at the molecular level-- but she managed to keep his Anti-Life infection from seeping in, from contaminating her and The Garden of Ancestral Memory.

<"Not as badly as you'll burn,"> she snarled back telepathically.

AmenRa said:

And with that, the voice receded as the TARDIS began its withdrawal from the current space/time.

Click to expand...

The Doctor had all of an instant to relax.

He was gone. They'd escaped him.

Merciful Buddha, they'd escaped.

AmenRa said:

But, the Martian Manhunter phased through the protective barrier of the construct's housing.

And he solidified before them.

Click to expand...

--and in an instant even briefer, The Doctor stiffened again, her eyes going wide wide wide wide. "No! That's not possible! The Heisenberg firewall--"

AmenRa said:

A uniform adorned him, a cape hung from his broad shoulders.

And those eyes...those terrible eyes....glowed a red so sinister and bright.

The psychic odor of fear within the construct was palpable. He could smell it. He could taste it. He could feel it.

A corner of the Martian's mouth raised in a sinister smile as the Anti-Life soaked in the fear.

The Martian's other senses scanned and learned what he could of this...place. Logic escaped him, for it was bigger on the inside.

Click to expand...

But that hesitation-- that moment of logical befuddlement in what passed for his reason-- that nanoheartbeat where J'onzz' considerable senses were defied by the dimensional transcendence that was The Clever Blue Box's interior--

--was all she needed.

Her screwdriver was in her hand, pointed out like a fencing blade, her teeth gritted, her eyes blazing, her hair spilling in the backsplash of her lunge--

--it whistled and glowed--

--the FatherBox embedded in J'onzz' shoulder sparked and squealed and screamed--

TING.
TING.
TING.

And--

krekkaBOOOOM!

--a Boom Tube ignited, swallowing J'onzz up and dumping him out into raw, drowning Bleedspace, the incalculable depths between worlds.

For a moment, it almost seemed like it would swallow up the interior of the shift-ship too, pull it inside out, but the Boom Tube winked out again just as quickly.

The Doctor slumped to the deck on all fours, her hair falling in her face, her tie falling out of her suit.

The screwdriver fizzed and popped and fell from her hand, twisted and ruined.

"Oh. Oh God." The Doctor laughed brokenly, the only light of hope she'd had in desperate danger of going out. "...we're so buggered. Sideways with a coracle."

ChasNicollette said:

Earth-Prime, aka Earth-0.
The Sky over Metropolis.
Now.
********​

After disposing of Doomsday's battered shell, he returned to Metropolis.

Levitating high above The Big Apricot, he surveyed his territory with impossibly heightened senses, his cape swirling behind him.

He flexed his hand-- it had already healed, even in the few minutes this had taken, but it was still a little stiff.

And he counted to himself on his fingers. "Let's see. Lois. Supergirl. That low-rent excuse for a Justice League. Am I missing anyone?"

And then he smirked to himself, and glanced in the direction of Jon Kent flying towards him-- faster than a speeding bullet.

"Oh. Right. The wannabe Superboy. This should be interesting."

Click to expand...

Jon stopped several meters away, but with their speed that distance was nothing. He stared at the man that looked like his father, scanning him with his x-ray vision. He had no doubt that this individual wasn't his father, he might look like him but he didn't act like him or have his morals. "Who are you?" he asked getting right to the point.

Secret Identity.

LuckyVic said:

Jon stopped several meters away, but with their speed that distance was nothing. He stared at the man that looked like his father, scanning him with his x-ray vision. He had no doubt that this individual wasn't his father, he might look like him but he didn't act like him or have his morals. "Who are you?" he asked getting right to the point.

Click to expand...

The other figure wasn't, upon inspection, that much older than Jon.

Waiting on his next growth spurt.

But if Jon swept the figure with deeper senses, read him at the molecular level, his DNA would sequence almost almost almost exactly exactly exactly like Jonathan's father, Clark Joseph Kent. If there were variations between identical twins, that's how little the variation would be between this man and Jon's dad.

"Who am I?" he grinned darkly.

"I'm Clark Kent. I'm Kal-El, The Last Son of Krypton."

"I was more of a Superboy than you ever were."

"And I am more of a Superman than you'll ever be."

ChasNicollette said:

The other figure wasn't, upon inspection, that much older than Jon.

Waiting on his next growth spurt.

But if Jon swept the figure with deeper senses, read him at the molecular level, his DNA would sequence almost almost almost exactly exactly exactly like Jonathan's father, Clark Joseph Kent. If there were variations between identical twins, that's how little the variation would be between this man and Jon's dad.

"Who am I?" he grinned darkly.

"I'm Clark Kent. I'm Kal-El, The Last Son of Krypton."

"I was more of a Superboy than you ever were."

"And I am more of a Superman than you'll ever be."

Click to expand...

"Your DNA might confirm who you say you are." Jon stated. "But your younger than you should be. Also the way you delt with Doomsday. The real Superman would never have done that." he added. Jon easily ignored the comment about the other being more of a Superman then he'd ever be. He wasn't here to take on the role of Superman, that belonged to his father. He remembered all the stories his father had told him. It reminded him about something, but he wasn't sure what. "That symbol stands not just for hope but for a better way of doing things. My father would have found another way."

What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and The American Way?

LuckyVic said:

"Your DNA might confirm who you say you are." Jon stated. "But your younger than you should be. Also the way you delt with Doomsday. The real Superman would never have done that." he added. Jon easily ignored the comment about the other being more of a Superman then he'd ever be. He wasn't here to take on the role of Superman, that belonged to his father. He remembered all the stories his father had told him. It reminded him about something, but he wasn't sure what. "That symbol stands not just for hope but for a better way of doing things. My father would have found another way."

Click to expand...

"Oh, man, if you could hear yourself," the other shook his head, chuckling mockingly. "Such pale imitation. A copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. The heir of a reboot of a reboot of an AU of an adaptation. How could you possibly know what's 'real?' Where I come from, you're all nothing but fictions, and all the details are wrong, even the colors of your world are all washed out-- it's all wrong. You call me young, but I remember the real version, and you don't even hold a candle."

"You're all just variants."

"The only real #1 here is me, that gives me the right and the privilege to decide what goes and what stays."

"And when you end up with too many copies of something, you delete the extras. When you end up with too many characters-- you kill them off."

He curled his hands into fists, clenched them tight, and his knuckles popped like gunshots-- like cannonfire-- loud enough maybe even to hurt Jon's ears.

"And when you clear the decks of all the fakes... then you can tell the real story again. The way it was meant to be. I'm just putting things right."

Ready to Rumble

ChasNicollette said:

"Oh, man, if you could hear yourself," the other shook his head, chuckling mockingly. "Such pale imitation. A copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. The heir of a reboot of a reboot of an AU of an adaptation. How could you possibly know what's 'real?' Where I come from, you're all nothing but fictions, and all the details are wrong, even the colors of your world are all washed out-- it's all wrong. You call me young, but I remember the real version, and you don't even hold a candle."

"You're all just variants."

"The only real #1 here is me, that gives me the right and the privilege to decide what goes and what stays."

"And when you end up with too many copies of something, you delete the extras. When you end up with too many characters-- you kill them off."

He curled his hands into fists, clenched them tight, and his knuckles popped like gunshots-- like cannonfire-- loud enough maybe even to hurt Jon's ears.

"And when you clear the decks of all the fakes... then you can tell the real story again. The way it was meant to be. I'm just putting things right."

Click to expand...

Jon moved his neck from one side to the other making it crack just as loud as the imposter had his knuckles. He had been taught by the best of the best. His father, the Batman, and Wonder Woman. Hell he'd had the whole Justice League, not to mention Damian and the other Teen Titans. He had grown up watching his father fighting other galacitic threats, he had even faced a few of his own, he wasn't a rookie at this. He was ready for whatever this... Kryptonian could come up with... at least he hoped so.

ChasNicollette said:

The Doctor slumped to the deck on all fours, her hair falling in her face, her tie falling out of her suit.

The screwdriver fizzed and popped and fell from her hand, twisted and ruined.

"Oh. Oh God." The Doctor laughed brokenly, the only light of hope she'd had in desperate danger of going out. "...we're so buggered. Sideways with a coracle."

Click to expand...

“Hmm.. ahh..” Keep his mouth shut. That’s what his brain said to do. But then his human mouth kicked in. “Friend of yours?” He quipped. “Maybe next time he could bring roses and chocolates, and get invited inside.”

“So he was.. um.. green. Is he from Mars or is that just a fable.. a story?” Walking over he knelt a little. Not quite all the way down, just in case she went all panicky and clubbed him in the face with her forehead or something. Or punched him with her fist. “Can I get you something? Water?? If I knew where the sink and glasses were..”

“Frell this place is big, I can hear an echo..”

Birthright.

LuckyVic said:

Jon moved his neck from one side to the other making it crack just as loud as the imposter had his knuckles. He had been taught by the best of the best. His father, the Batman, and Wonder Woman. Hell he'd had the whole Justice League, not to mention Damian and the other Teen Titans. He had grown up watching his father fighting other galacitic threats, he had even faced a few of his own, he wasn't a rookie at this. He was ready for whatever this... Kryptonian could come up with... at least he hoped so.

Click to expand...

The "Superman" opposite Jon Kent-- flickered.

And with the sort of speed an electron exhibits when it jumps shells, he appeared to Jon's left.

And before Jon could react, could swing, could evade, he flickered again.

And appeared to Jon's right.

So much faster than a man who was faster than a speeding bullet that Jon might as well have been a drifting continent in comparison.

And then he was in front of Jon, right back where he started, except Jon was turning towards him now, and the angle of his chin was just so...

...and "Superman" uppercutted that chin so incredibly hard it would rattle Jon's back teeth and send him damn near into orbit.

With eyes that could count grains of dust on the moon from The Marianas Trench, "Superman" watched Jon go.

And grinned.

And flew after him.

Anti-Life, The Multiverse, and Everything.

Varshanka said:

“Hmm.. ahh..” Keep his mouth shut. That’s what his brain said to do. But then his human mouth kicked in. “Friend of yours?” He quipped. “Maybe next time he could bring roses and chocolates, and get invited inside.”

Click to expand...

"'Kyle Raynor,'" Jamie mumbled, "'and The Case of The Vampire Valentine.'"

Varshanka said:

“So he was.. um.. green. Is he from Mars or is that just a fable.. a story?” Walking over he knelt a little. Not quite all the way down, just in case she went all panicky and clubbed him in the face with her forehead or something. Or punched him with her fist. “Can I get you something? Water?? If I knew where the sink and glasses were..”

“Frell this place is big, I can hear an echo..”

Click to expand...

"The galley is down the hall to the left. About... two, three hundred yards. It's all right. I'm effectively immortal. It's just-- psionics are a dicey affair for me. I have so much going on in my head at any given moment-- I'm entrusted with the spirit of a planet and the collective memory of all mankind-- it's-- any intrusive presence of advanced power disrupts all of that and-- seriously fucks me up."

She got up, a bit, sat with her back to The Console and her long legs out in front of her. She picked up the damaged screwdriver, and, disconsolate, tossed it aside.

"The ship can grow me a new one. But that's not the point. I liked that screwdriver. And Kyle? Nothing is just a story. Just a fable."

Her eyes swam back into focus. "Martians aren't always Green. (Hell, they're not always from Mars.) But in many universes that vibrate within this Multiverse, Green Martians are one of the most powerful species in existence. Shapeshifting, mind-reading, telekinesis, flight, speed, energy projection, almost as many senses as me, and density control that gives them immeasurable might and resilience. All of it held in check by one-- single-- primordial fear. Fire... and intense heat. It shuts down their powers, causes them pain, sometimes they'll even psychosomatically spontaneously combust because the sight of the fire is just... so overriding."

"But that one. That one is infected with The Anti-Life Equation. Which robs him of all things that make a living thing an individual-- a sentient, conscious being-- his will supplanted, his reason overwritten, his emotions crushed into a tiny little box inside himself until that too is gone like a candle in a cyclone. So he has no fear. No fear of fire. He's unstoppable."

She thunked her head back against The Console and laughed another broken laugh.

"On top of which-- with the possible exceptions of Majestros the Manhunter of Earth-14, Super-Martian of Earth-32, and Blue Lantern J'onn J'onzz of Earth-24, The Martian Manhunter of Earth-25 could well already have been the most powerful Martian in The Multiverse. And to have that power unbridled... makes him almost even more dangerous than the being we're already trying to track down. And on top of that, he has a FatherBox that allows him to Boom Tube between worlds at will. He can track us anywhere."

She trailed off, stared to nowhere for a moment. Tucked a fallen forelock of chestnut brown back behind her ear.

"Our only hope is to stay the course. The shift-ship's primary objective is to help me assemble a new Authority, those who would Challenge what lies Beyond their world-- Defenders of The Multiverse. If we can keep going. Stay ahead of him. Just long enough. To find allies and make a stand. Maybe we can still beat this. Maybe we can still win."

"Never say 'never.'"

She licked her lips.

"Maybe say 'maybe.'"

Another long pause, as though she realized just how much she'd been talking, preventing even Kyle's human mouth from getting much of a word in edgewise.

"I should really figure out where we're landing nex--"

VWORRP.
VWORRP.
VWORRP.

With a subtle but unmistakable thwoooom, the shift-ship settled into a new existence, materialized... somewhere, on some Earth.

The Doctor seemed surprised, and hesitant. "...oh. We're there, then. ...riiiiiight."

ChasNicollette said:

The "Superman" opposite Jon Kent-- flickered.

And with the sort of speed an electron exhibits when it jumps shells, he appeared to Jon's left.

And before Jon could react, could swing, could evade, he flickered again.

And appeared to Jon's right.

So much faster than a man who was faster than a speeding bullet that Jon might as well have been a drifting continent in comparison.

And then he was in front of Jon, right back where he started, except Jon was turning towards him now, and the angle of his chin was just so...

...and "Superman" uppercutted that chin so incredibly hard it would rattle Jon's back teeth and send him damn near into orbit.

With eyes that could count grains of dust on the moon from The Marianas Trench, "Superman" watched Jon go.

And grinned.

And flew after him.

Click to expand...

Jon had never seen anyone move that fast, except the Flash. He also couldn't remember ever being hit that hard, at least not since he was a kid. The imposter had knocked him into the thermosphere. Jon looked down and saw the red and blue blur coming towards him. He wasn't going to just float there and take it. He began to fly towards him at his top speed. His eyes glowing red with determination. He didn't know if he could beat this man, but he knew he wasn't going to give up.

ChasNicollette said:

"I should really figure out where we're landing nex--"

VWORRP.
VWORRP.
VWORRP.

With a subtle but unmistakable thwoooom, the shift-ship settled into a new existence, materialized... somewhere, on some Earth.

The Doctor seemed surprised, and hesitant. "...oh. We're there, then. ...riiiiiight."

Click to expand...

He’d tried a couple times to speak. To make a comment. To breathe loudly. But that wasn’t happening. Nope. Nope. Nope.

Then the sound effects kicked in and she paused.

“Anti-Life Equation? And you didn’t know we were.. landing.. arriving? Did you steal this ship? Do you have a license and or training for it?”

She was crazy, just not Earth crazy. Seeing a guy appear out of nothing and then vanish again, removed any doubts as to the shit hitting the fan. “Is it.. safe out there?” Safe? Fuck safe. ADVENTURE!! YOLO and all that.

Walking over to the doors he looked at her. At least he was respectful enough to wait for permission.

Worlds Collide.

LuckyVic said:

Jon had never seen anyone move that fast, except the Flash. He also couldn't remember ever being hit that hard, at least not since he was a kid. The imposter had knocked him into the thermosphere. Jon looked down and saw the red and blue blur coming towards him. He wasn't going to just float there and take it. He began to fly towards him at his top speed. His eyes glowing red with determination. He didn't know if he could beat this man, but he knew he wasn't going to give up.

Click to expand...

"Superman" was more than a little intrigued that Jon had already recovered from that punch and was flying back at him at a modestly impressive speed. The kid had been holding out on him. ...huh.

Maybe this wouldn't actually be boring.

He grinned to himself... and left himself wide open for the boy to come crashing into him right where the thermosphere met the mesosphere, the impact ringing like the thunderclap of a god. Like a one-punch Ragnarok.

Hurtling back from Jon's fists, "Superman" wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, and laughed softly. "That's actually not bad. What have they been feeding you? Something in the water?"

But he grinned a wicked, wicked grin. "It won't be enough."

And unleashed a hellstorm from his eyes that could roast a city off of a map quicker than microwaving popcorn.

Five Things Go Wrong: Two.

Varshanka said:

“Anti-Life Equation? And you didn’t know we were.. landing.. arriving? Did you steal this ship? Do you have a license and or training for it?”

Click to expand...

"I imagined this ship, rewrote the fabric of Wonderworld to create her in front of me," The Doctor retorted. "There is no training, no license. But-- but I haven't had her for very long and we're still getting to know each others' quirks."

Varshanka said:

She was crazy, just not Earth crazy. Seeing a guy appear out of nothing and then vanish again, removed any doubts as to the shit hitting the fan. “Is it.. safe out there?”

Walking over to the doors he looked at her. At least he was respectful enough to wait for permission.

Click to expand...

The Doctor rounded The Console to a monitor screen, tilting it and typing on it--

She mumbled to herself as she squinted: "That's not on the course we were charting. Why'd we divert?"

"'Angelic summons? Sonic flash? Distress call?' I wasn't aware The Presence had delegated any members of The Eagle Host to Earth-27-- not that They tend to loop me in on these things--"

She stopped. Her eyes widened.

And flung her hand out, gesturing frantically to Kyle.

"STOP! WAIT! DON'T OPEN THAT!"

She pelted around The Console, her coat jumping to her hand with a tiny burst of telekinesis, she swirled it around her shoulders--

--and darted in between Kyle and the door.

"Get behind The Console. Say a prayer, if you do that sort of thing."

"There is an all-consuming nullomantic entity noshing a Fableland out there and-- and I have to help, I have to-- but you. Need. To stay. Put."

Hoping against hope that Kyle would listen to this perfectly reasonable request but unwilling that she should let the people who called for help wait any longer--

--The Doctor yanked the doors open and lunged out--

kizkiz said:

[size=-2]"A shout filled with hope went out,
A warning against the dangers ahead.
Blue held the line in spirit if not in strength."
[/size]

Click to expand...

Gmork raged--

--The Nothing devoured--

--The Doctor's rubber-soled shoes planted upon the marble--

--her palms flung up ahead of her and crackling with dark energies that looked like rifts and vortexes into deep and empty space--

--nullomancy, the magic of nothingness, called upon from the memories of past Doctors--

--The Abyss could gaze also all it wanted, but she could make it blink--

--the power expenditure was incredible--

--she could feel her home Earth-14 trembling under the strain, the amount of life energy she was diverting to try and stem the tide of The Nothing--

--ten square miles of rainforest wilted and died, then twelve, then seventeen--

"ALL ABOARD WHO'S COMING ABOARD!"