Riot Force Headquarters, Kallisti Wharf, Paragon City
Ifrit Romanova frowned slightly as she made her way down the hallway to the teleporter bay, phone pressed against her ear. “I’m sorry to say that flying backup in may not be an option,” she told her daughter. “Typhoon made it out safely, but only because our Quinjets can climb higher than F-22s. They’re on alert for us now.”
“Figures,” Alice grumbled. “What’re they playing at? They’ve got plenty of firepower around the island, but the civilians are saying they’ve been left to fend for themselves. And trying to blackmail Liberty into not getting involved? ”
“Not exactly the most subtle of methods,” Ifrit agreed. Entering the teleporter bay, she paused in the doorway, watching as Katy Kaboom and Dark Glass meddled with the innards of one of the massive machines. “Or effective. We’ve got people looking into it. In the meantime, Katy and your aunt are modifying one of the spare teleporters.” Miranda glanced over and waved, then returned to her work as Ifrit continued, “They’re planning to use your signal as a homing beacon to send a team in.”
“And from there, we can set up an array to get the folks here out,” Alice finished. “It’ll take time, but I think the locals could use that good news.”
Nodding to herself, Ifrit walked into the room and went up the steps to the small rest area, turning her attention to the water cooler. “As for the Draug, the name sounds familiar to me as well, although I have to admit, I’m not sure from where. If Street could upload her helmet camera footage, it might be helpful.”
“I’ll remind her,” Alice promised.
Behind Ifrit, Katy made one last adjustment with her hydrospanner, then nodded in satisfaction and closed the panel. “All set here,” she called out.
Turning back to the control panel in front of her, Miranda Barnes checked the readouts again. “Looking good,” she murmured. “Clean signal, projectors are aligned, Heisenberg denial fields set… We’re ready. Powering it up, starting tests.” Flipping open a plastic cover, she pressed the large green button underneath. The rooms ever-present background hum shifted slightly as the array powered up, turbines spinning. Then the hum shifted in pitch, becoming an ear-piercing shriek, and the Warshade slammed her hand down on the abort button before it got any worse. “Okay, what was that?” she grumbled, giving the readouts a disgusted look. “That was just a test pulse, how… Ah.”
Catching the sudden alarm in her coworkers voice, Katy began to back away from the teleporter array. “Mir?” she asked, before the panel she’d closed a minute before began to rattle. The engineer blinked, then she dove for cover as the panel blasted off the machine and flew across the room. In the space beyond, circuits and cables began to deform as a black mass grew around them, absorbing the materials. Several misshapen eyes began to open, looking around eagerly. “Oh, just wonderful,” she growled.
Before it could ooze its way out of the array, Miranda stepped forward, twin beams of nictus energy shooting from her eyes and burning into the mutating flesh. “I think we just voided the warranty,” she said dryly.
Unhooking the Hair Dryer of Doom from her belt, Katy smirked slightly “I was involved. It was void by default,” she pointed out, before raising her weapon and sending a small hailstorm into the creature's ‘face’.
Considering the sight for a moment, Ifrit sighed. “I’m going to have to call you back,” she told her daughter before hanging up. Putting the phone away, she placed her drink on top of the water cooler and walked towards the fight, flames dancing around her body. As the creature extended several tentacles, trying to drag itself out of the narrow space it had spawned in, Lady of the Peace raised a hand, and the flames flowed outwards, burning the creature and driving it back. “Miranda, what did you do?” she asked, giving her sister a glare. “Do I need to revoke your teleporter privileges again?”
“Whoa, hey, this isn’t my fault!” the Kheldian protested, jumping over another flailing tendril. Darkness flowed around her, and gravity increased around the array, pulling the now-sagging machinery towards the floor. A moment later, Katy blasted the creature with the Thug-A-Pault, an invisible force grabbing dragging it in yet another direction, drawing an unpleasant gurgle of pain from several forming mouths. “I was doing exactly what I was told to do!”
Katy shrugged reluctantly. “That’s a fair point. I mean, no one really expects this sort of thing,” she noted, then dived out of the way of another tentacle. “Someone lock the doors!” she added. “If this is what I think it is, it is way above securities pay grade!” Summoning a trio of particle clouds to try and distract the creature, Miranda dropped back towards the closest door. Growling, the black flesh ignored her ‘pets’ and tried to grab at her, only to have one of the clouds swarm over the outstretched tentacle, stripping the flesh away in large chunks.
As Miranda sealed the doors, Ifrit took to the air, firing a beam of focused flame onto the creature from above. “Katherine, I would really appreciate it if you actually told me what this is,” she growled, before more of the teleporter array began to warp and deform into another limb, forcing her back.
Reaching into one of her compression pouches, Katy pulled out a small quadcopter drone that showed all the usual signs of her modifications. “Point defense plan Kappa,” she told it, letting it float into the air next to her, the custom tazer built into its underbelly crackling. “Doctor Tesla called it the Shadow From Beyond Time,” she explained, jumping over a control panel and crouching down behind one of the uninfected teleporter stations. “He and Charles Fort ran into it back in the nineteen twenties.” Tearing the panel off the side of the array, she shrugged slightly. “He came up with a few tricks for fighting it.”
“I remember that story,” Miranda commented as she rejoined the fight, crafting a singularity inside the Shadows main body, crushing it inward. “I seem to recall him describing it as something along the lines of ‘nesting in the present and growing into the past.’”
“And trying to establish a teleporter link to Kingsmouth somehow let it back in,” Katy mused as she pulled more equipment from her pouches. “Not a good sign.” Above her, the drone opened fire with its tazer, frying flesh but not really slowing the Shadow down. “Could you guys try and keep it off me? I’m pretty sure I can get rid of it, but I’m going to need some time.”
The two sisters glanced at each other. Miranda shrugged, and then Ifrit grinned, flames that seemed almost solid forming around her body. "We can do that."
Growling from several mouths, the Shadow pulled free of the singularity and began to reshape its form, the lower section of its body splitting into legs, while the tendrils took on the role of arms, joints forming under pulsing flesh. Lady of the Peace and Dark Glass charged before it could finish, the Kheldian pinning the legs in place with a gravitic snare, letting the fae slam a glowing fist into the deformed mass that served as its face.
Maneuvering around the large, clumsy creature, the pair quickly settled into a pattern, with one of them distracting or slowing the Shadow, while the other moved in to strike. Keeping it away from Katy as she worked proved to be rather simple, its attention span seemingly limited to whatever had hit it last. Actually hurting it was a different matter however.
Twisting around one of the creature's limbs, Ifrit dropped to the ground, spun on one heel, and sent a wave of fire over her opponent's torso. “I hate to sound pessimistic, but it appears to be healing faster than we can kill it,” she pointed out.
Miranda's body language shifted, taking on a lighter, more agile stance as her alien partner took control of their body. “No, not healing,” Jade Barnes disagreed, carving a chunk out of the Shadows thigh with her beam eyes. “This isn’t regeneration, it’s just still growing.” Ifrit raised an eyebrow, then conceded the point as, rather than repairing the burns she’d inflicted, deformed flesh simply grew over the top of the damaged tissue. “Katherine darling, we’re fighting a losing battle here!”
“Almost done!” came the reply. “Just keep its attention a little longer!”
Sighing, Ifrit prepared for another charge, only to pause as the Shadow’s behaviour changed. Gurgling, it dropped to its knees, chest heaving and tendrils flailing. The sisters glanced at each other, confused, before the Shadow vomited, blackness spilling out from half a dozen mouths. Jade shrieked , jumping back and nearly tripping over the steps behind her, bringing up a shield to protect herself from the liquid.
Rising higher into the air, Ifrit gathered flames in both her hands and unleashed it on the Shadow’s back, trying to take advantage of the opening. A moment later however, she was forced back on the defensive, evading several tentacles emerging from the blackness spreading over the floor to try and grab at her. Flipping backwards, she threw a fireball into the mouth that was forming on the tip of one of the tentacles, burning it away clean to the floor, only to have another one clip her left wing, drawing a gasp of pain from her. “Katy!” she yelled as a third tentacle wrapped around her leg, dragging her down towards the darkness.
Emerging from behind her cover, Katy Kaboom held up her new weapon. It looked like a collection of random computer parts and equipment in the general shape of a rifle, a collection of thick industrial power cables connecting it to the teleporter array she’d spent the last few minutes modifying. “Doctor Sagan, be with me now,” she muttered, squeezing the trigger. A burst of gold-white lighting flowed out from the emitters mounted on the tip of her weapon, washing over the Shadow. While Ifrit and Mirandas attacks had cut and burnt the creature, as the light faded, they all saw that the parts of the creature hit by the attack were simply gone, as if it had never existed.
Regaining her footing, Dark Glass blasted the tentacle that had grabbed her sister, then they both backed away as the Shadow turned towards Katy, who was now grinning a savage smile as she turned a dial on the side of the gun up to its maximum setting. “Shadow from Beyond Time, meet the pure light of Science!” she declared, firing again. This time, the light filled the room completely, briefly blinding all three women.
When it cleared, the Shadow was completely gone. Every drop of the corrupted black had vanished from existence, leaving only the burnt and warped remains of the ruined teleporter, scattered across the room. Blinking spots out of her eyes, Katy lowered her weapon and gave the room a surprised look. “Well,” she mused. “I certainly wasn’t expecting that.”
“I think you got him,” Miranda commented, taking a scanner from her tool belt. “I dunno how exactly… I mean, you just zapped it once,” she muttered, holding the device up to where the Shadow had been, frowning at the readouts. “It shouldn’t just… disappear like that, should it?”
“It wants to eat the Omniverse,” Katy muttered, looking around the room as if she expected the black to emerge from the shadows. “I really don’t like it just wandering off.”
Behind them, the doors slid open to admit a security team, Nene Romanova and Sachie Hanagawa leading them in. “It’s alright,” Ifrit said, smiling gently at the concerned expression on her wifes face. “I think it’s over.”
Lowering her sidearm, Nene looked around the room, considering the damage. “What in the hell happened here?”
Nudging the burnt remains of the infected teleporter array with her foot, Sachie turned towards Miranda, the amazonian ninjas expression gently mocking. “Really?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Again?”
Grinding her teeth, the Kheldian gave the taller woman a glare. “You can all just go to hell.” Ignoring Nene’s snickering, she focused her attention on her scanner.
Resting her beam rifle on her shoulder, Katy smiled slightly. “I have to admit, this one really isn’t her fault.”
“I don’t suppose you could give us a bit more of an explanation now?” Ifrit asked. “Why exactly did some sort of mutant flesh monster grow out of one of our teleporters?”
“Okay, that’s not listed in the potential hazards section of the manual,” Nene muttered.
Not looking up from her scanner, Miranda shrugged. “Like Kat said, Robo called it the Shadow From Beyond Time. It might have other names too, but I’ve only ever heard of the run-ins he and his dad had.”
“The way he described it,” Katy continued, carefully reducing the power flowing through her weapon, “the Shadow is some kind of… reality virus, for lack of a better term.” One of the cables sparked, and she winced, adjusting a dial. “It slips into our Omniverse through weak points and starts trying to eat reality. If it ever got a proper foothold, we’d probably be looking at a Hamidon scale threat at the very least.” As she began to flip switches on a nearby control panel, she shrugged. “Given that the first time Doctor Tesla ran into it, it was clawing its way into reality through H.P. Lovecrafts head, I think we can safely say there’s a connection to the Cthulhu mythos as well.”
Holstering her sidearm, Nene turned her attention from Miranda, to Katy and her death ray, and finally to the destroyed teleporter systems. “Cthulhu is summoned by teleporting,” she said flatly. “This would have been good to know before.”
Miranda snorted, before her Nictus partner took control again. “Speaking as someone with centuries of experience in the field,” Jade commented, gesturing at herself, “if teleportation twisted reality in such a way that it invited that… creature in, my people would have died out long before we made that foolish deal with Romulus.” Brushing her hair back behind her ear, she frowned thoughtfully. “No, the Shadow was already in our universe, as worrying as such a concept is. We were just unfortunate enough to get its attention, most likely by attempting to teleport through it.”
Pausing before disconnecting the last cable attaching her weapon to the teleporters, Katy groaned in understanding. “Which means it’s probably on Solomon Island somewhere. Hell, maybe it’s the source of the zombies. Doctor Tesla mentioned it had a fondness for possession.” Sighing, she removed the cable and leaned the rifle against the wall before looking at Ifrit. “These teleporters are out of commission. We’re gonna have to give the entire system a once over before we even start cleaning up that mess,” she grumbled, waving a hand at the remains of array the Shadow had taken over. “And call me crazy-”
“You’re crazy,” Miranda said instantly.
Paying absolutely no attention to her friend, Katy continued, “But I don’t think we should try anyone else's teleporters either. Legendary, Beacon, it doesn’t matter. Until we can locate and destroy the original incursion point, any teleportation through Solomon Island runs the risk of the Shadow spreading.”
Shoulders slumping, Ifrit sighed in profound irritation. “Which means that air travel might be our only option after all. Which probably means we’re going to be picking a fight with the Air Force. I can’t wait to see how that goes for us…”
Rubbing her chin thoughtfully, Sachie smirked slightly. “Maybe not. I might have something.” Leaning down to give Nene a quick kiss on the cheek, she turned and walked towards the doors. “Back soon.”
Watching her go, Miranda frowned. “She’s not going to tell us what it is?” she asked.
Her sister smiled, although it was somewhat forced. “No point in revealing a secret if it turns out we can’t use it,” she noted wryly as she took her phone back out, tapping Alice’s speed dial.
“Also, she might just not want you to break it,” Nene added. Scowling, Mir threw a melted circuit board at her.
***
Kingsmouth, Solomon Island
As Leon and Robin stepped out past the barricades, Priss walked around to the back of the patrol car. Placing one hand on the boot, she pushed the vehicle back into position, blocking off the makeshift gates. “Dang,” Andy commented as he put the handbrake on and climbed out of the vehicle. “You didn’t even have to try. That’s one impressive suit of armor you have there miss.”
“It has its uses,” Street Sabre agreed with a grin. Glancing out past the barricade, she watched the other two heroes make their way down Arkham Avenue, forms already fading into the darkness. “It’s gotten me out of more trouble than I care to imagine, that's for damn sure."
Shaking his head, the deputy chuckled lightly. "And here all I ever had was a nightstick and a pistol," he mused. "Heck, never even used the gun on the job before all this..." The young man's smile faded as his eyes lost focus. "It was a nice, quiet place, you know?" he said quietly. “Nothing stronger on the streets than a hot cup of coffee and chocolate glazed donuts from Suzie’s.” Closing the car door, he looked out at Arkham Avenue, losing himself in memory for a moment. “The occasional DUI, domestic disturbance… human sacrifice,” he murmured under his breath. Leaning against the hood of the vehicle, he watched as the pair in the distance vanished completely, seemingly unaware he was still talking. “I guess all towns have a dark side. And now this. Instead of bacon and maple syrup, we’re waking up to the smell of rotten flesh… And I don’t need another thing to remind me of my dad.” Sighing again, he straightened and walked away, lost in his thoughts.
Watching him go, Street Sabre blinked in confusion. “Well, okay. Glad we had this talk,” she said to herself, before turning and jumping up to the roof of the Sheriff's Office. On the far side of the building, Purrfect Archer considered the phone in her hand, clearly frustrated. Sighing, she turned the screen off, before it vanished into thin air. “I know that look,” Street commented as she walked towards the taller woman. “What just went wrong?”
Unhooking her bow and powering it up, Alice sighed again. “Teleporting isn’t an option,” she muttered, looking out across the forest to the east of town. “Apparently, when Aunt Mir and Katy Kaboom tried to aim a teleporter here…” she paused, considering her next words carefully. “The teleporter was possessed by a non-euclidian tentacle monster that tried to eat everyone.”
There was a long moment of silence as Street considered that, giving Archer time to take an arrow from her quiver, nock it and take aim at something only she could see. “Right,” the armored woman said at last. “That’s new.”
Snickering, the purple haired woman nodded. “And before you say it, Mama Nene and Sachie have already given Aunt Mir grief over it,” she said, before drawing the bowstring back and holding her breath.
Priss waited patiently for the catwoman to release the arrow, sending it flying off into the night, before replying. “Well, at least that’s consistent. Course, now we need to find another way to get in and out. Again.” Frowning thoughtfully, she glanced out into the darkness, switching her visor to night vision mode. “The hell are you even shooting at?”
“Zombies,” Archer replied with a grin, drawing another arrow. “Even if it’s not killing them, it’s kinda hard to shamble over here when you’re pinned to a tree.” That got a laugh from the smaller woman, and Alice's grin widened as she she took aim again. “No sign of any of your Draug,” she noted, then sighed and lowered her bow. “Behind a tree… Either they’re still only on the beach, or they’re staying out of sight.” Turning towards her friend, the catwomans ears twitched. “So, Kaboom had heard of that thing before. Apparently, it’s called the Shadow from Beyond Time.”
“Dramatic name,” Street Sabre mused, considering the odd, familiar tingle in the back of her brain at that title. Knowledge that wasn’t quite hers flickered across her awareness, but it was gone again before she could grab it.
“Yeah,” Alice agreed. “So, you think that thing’s the reason you decided to not just kick the Draugs heads in?” Street snorted slightly, and the catwoman grinned. “Come on Priss, it’s you. Your reaction to an army is girlish giggles of excitement at more things to punch.”
Pausing, Street raised a hand. “Girlish giggles?” she asked.
“Mama Nene claims to have audio.”
“Yeah, well, she’s a damn liar,” Street replied, before she leaned against the stations air conditioning unit. “It’s close to what I said, actually. I was worried about escalation. Just not from the naked crab zombie men,” she said, folding her arms across her stomach and grinning at the face Alice made over that particular mental image. The grin faded quickly however. “Do you remember, after you Incarnated, how there was always this weird feeling when you were fighting Hamidons Devoured, or the Echoes of the Well?”
Nodding, Alice considered that. “Like you could almost see the power,” she replied. “And follow it back to its source…” Eyes glowing purple for a moment, she took aim again and drew the bowstring back. “You think they’re empowered,” the catwoman realized. Her voice was low, barely above a whisper, the heroine suddenly concerned one of the locals might overhear.
“Oh, I know they are,” Street Sabre grumbled as Purrfect Archer sent another arrow into the night. “I can almost taste it. The Draug have their own God, and it’s rewarding their worship with a fragment of its power. And the trail ain’t long. It stops right out there in that crap,” she muttered, pointing a thumb in the direction of the bay. “This freaking Shadow sounds like as good a suspect as any,” she added with a thoughtful frown. Sighing, she reached up to run a hand through her hair, only to be reminded of her helmet by the sound of metal striking metal. After giving her gauntlet an irritated look, she turned her attention back towards the other woman. “Whatever the hell it is, it’s damn powerful. If it decided to come in out of the Fog and just start breaking shit, well. We might be able to take it down, but there probably wouldn’t be much left of Kingsmouth when the smoke cleared.”
Lowering her bow, Purrfect Archer turned to look towards the bay, eyes glowing brighter as she reached out with her telepathy. After a moment, she frowned and shook her head, the light fading away. “Can’t track it,” she admitted. “There’s too much magic in the air for me to see that far. It’s probably residual energy from when the Fog rolled in… Which was probably the Shadow’s doing, now that I think about it.” Ears twitching, she considered that for a moment. “If you’re right, and it’s a God for these Draug, that would suggest it’s at least an Ascended level threat, right?” Street shrugged and nodded, and Alice's frown deepened. “When something’s that powerful, it doesn’t just wander in and attack some random town, just because it felt like it.”
Snorting, Priss nodded. “Yeah, it’s the sorta shit that gets noticed. So you figure it chose this place for a reason. Any idea what?”
“Not yet… but this place was founded by an old Illuminati faction,” she mused. “Who knows what they left buried around here.”
“You’re probably right… crap,” Street muttered, shaking her head. “Just once, I’d like a simple problem, ya know?” she complained. “Find the bad guy, punch the bad guy, go home.”
Drawing two more arrows, Purrfect Archer nocked both of them at the same time and took aim. “Please. You’d only end up complaining to your wife about how bored you are without something to punch.”
“No, I’d use the free time to cuddle,” she replied. “Same as you and Inyme.”
“That’s true.”
***
Landing on a white fence post, the raven ruffled his feathers and looked around, beady eyes considering his surroundings. A moment later, he screeched in outrage and took to the air again, barely avoiding the lunge from a hungry zombie that had been lurking in the shadows. The animated corpse proceeded to trip over the fence and fall face first onto the footpath with the horrible noise of bones breaking. Unconcerned by its new injury, it scrambled to its feet, all its attention on the bird circling overhead. Before it could try and jump after the raven however, a bolt of pure white light caught it in the back of the neck, vaporizing most of its head.
Lowering her hand, Knight of the Peace gave the body a satisfied look. “And that is why you leave hunting birds to the cats,” she commented. “We actually know what we’re doing.” Next to her, Leon chuckled lightly, earning himself a playful smile, before she looked up to where the raven had landed on a rooftop. “And you are lucky I’m busy,” she told him, getting an almost amused sounding caw in reply.
As she started walking again, Leon shook his head in amusement. As always, he found it utterly adorable when Robins catgirl side came out to play. Giving the zombie corpse one last check, he followed after her. Behind them, several more ravens landed on the edge of the roof, watching the pair with intense, thoughtful eyes.
“Maybe you should have brought your Scrapper gear,” Leon commented as he brought his rifle up, sweeping it across the buildings on the other side of the street.
“Hmm, maybe. I mean, there’s certainly a lot of hunting I could do here,” she mused, almost purring at the idea, despite being in a form that was supposedly completely human. After a moment, she pouted slightly and shook her head. “But I’ve tried hunting undead before, and it’s just no fun. Most of the time, you don’t even have to try to sneak up on them. And let’s not even start on getting rotten flesh under your claws.” Shuddering at the thought, Robin shook her head sadly. “Such a shame. There’s not as much good hunting in Paragon these days.”
Before Leon could reply to that, the woman came to a halt again, a frown visible under her visor. Following her gaze, Leon saw their first destination, the simple yet instantly recognizable design of the town's Church. According to Sheriff Bannerman, Kingsmouth Congregational Church remained a safe haven, with the Minister and several other people taking shelter inside its walls. She’d been a little vague on exactly how they were protected however, and the sight of the buildings front doors standing wide open did not exactly inspire confidence. “I wouldn’t exactly call that secure,” Robin said at last, matching the detectives unspoken opinion.
As if summoned by her words, two more zombies emerged from behind an abandoned pickup truck in the parking lot, running up the steps towards the Church. Swearing under his breath, Leon brought his rifle up, trying to get a shot off before they were obscured by the white picket fence. Next to him, the wings on Knights armor sprang open as she took to the air, energy gathering around her hands.
However, before either of the heroes could fire, the zombies reached the top of the steps. In the blink of an eye, whatever was animating the corpses vanished, gravity and momentum dragging both bodies to the ground in what would have been a painful impact for a living being. “...Well, okay,” Knight said, powering her gauntlets back down. “I guess I was wrong.”
“Looks like,” Leon agreed, walking towards the Church, keeping his weapon aimed at the bodies. “What the hell did it though? Holy ground or something?”
Landing next to the corpses, Robin shrugged slightly. “Maybe. We’d need Alice or Street to come and confirm it though.” The sound of footsteps from inside the church made her turn, raising her hand, only to pause halfway up. In front of her, a man in what appeared to be his mid-forties came to a halt, eyes widening behind his glasses as he took in the sight in front of him. “Oh, um, hello!” she said, waving slightly.
“Good Lord,” the man murmured, rubbing at his mustache with his left hand, while his right reset the safety on the .44 he was holding, putting it away in his sweater. “Superheroes! I assume you had something to do with that racket I heard coming from down the street earlier…” Realizing where they were all standing, he shook his head slightly, dismissing the topic. “Well, never mind that now. Please, come in, come in. The house of the Lord is always open, especially to those that are fighting the eternal battle against the darkness.”
Following the older man into the Church, Leon smiled politely as he looked around. In contrast to the chaotic war zone that was the Sheriff's Office, the Church remained calm and tidy, supplies neatly stacked in one corner, while several people slept in between the pews. “Well, we certainly appreciate the generosity,” he said, keeping his voice relatively low. Behind them, Knight knelt down and picked up the bodies, throwing them out into the street, safely away from the Church. “I’m Detective Leon McNicols, Paragon Special Investigations, and this is Knight of the Peace, from the Legendary,” he continued, gesturing to the woman behind him as she stepped inside.
“Well, it’s truly a pleasure to meet you, both of you.” His smile faded as he reached up to adjust his glasses. “Despite the rather… troubling circumstances that have brought you here.” Sighing softly, he pressed on, as a tired smile began to form on his face. “I am Reverend Henry Hawthorne. I assume Helen asked you to check up on us? Even with the Churches protection, she does tend to worry about us. I can’t really blame her I suppose,” he admitted. “She has always been a woman that takes her responsibilities very seriously.”
Removing her helmet, Robin nodded. “She did say that she’d appreciate it if we could look in on you while we were out collecting supplies,” she confirmed with a smile. Resting her helmet on a pew, she raised an eyebrow. “Also, she asked if we could check up on a Mister Dufrense?”
The comment earned a quiet laugh from the Pastor, even as he took his pistol out of his pocket and placed it on the lectern at the far end of the room, next to a well used copy of the bible. “Ah yes, I thought she’d be worried about him. Not to worry,” he said, nodding to one of the pews, where a teenage boy could be seen curled up in a sleeping bag, sound asleep. “Young Daniel made it here before sunset, but it was late enough I convinced him to remain.” Shaking his head, he considered the young man, expression a mixture of amusement and frustration. “I’d be much happier if he would stay here permanently, where it’s safe, but… Boys will be boys, I suppose, even in times like this. And at least he’s willing to follow some of the rules Helen and I have laid down. Besides,” he added, giving them a lopsided smile, “He’s better at getting around town safely than anyone else.”
Putting his rifle down on a pew, Leon shook his head, a slightly bitter smile flickering across his features. “Kids tend to be durable like that,” he agreed, thinking back to places like First Ward or the Cosmodrome, and the children that had survived, even thrived, under the nightmarish conditions. “Even if we’d prefer to keep them where it’s safe,” he grumbled, before gesturing at the walls around them. “Speaking of safe…”
Henry could only shrug. “Oh, I wish I could explain it Detective. As it is, we only discovered the Church's protections two days ago, when we came here to find supplies. We’re not even sure of its limits. It could be the entire building, or it could just be those doors.” He waved a hand towards the entrance, covering a yawn with his other hand. “Any of the walking dead that get too close to that door lose whatever it is that animates them. But only while they’re near the Church. If you move the bodies, well…” As if summoned by his words, the pair of zombies Robin had thrown back into the street came into view, snarling. A moment later they crossed the threshold, and repeated their earlier collision with the pavement. “That happens,” he finished.
“Well, that’s something,” Leon said. “Although it does explain why Helen was kind of vague about how you were protected.”
Nodding, the pastor sat down on one of the seats near the organ. “She doesn’t really trust it,” he said. “And to be honest, I can’t blame her. While I would like to believe that this protection is the work of the Lord, I am familiar with Kingsmouths… unspoken history.” The two heroes glanced at him, and he gave them a slightly bitter smile in return. “Depressingly few people here on Solomon Island remember our… Illuminated ancestors, and most of those that do, try to imagine them as enlightened, noble souls, who dreamt only of making a better world. But I’ve spent years studying them. The official history, the parts the history books neglect to mention, and the details that don’t appear on any google searches. They were simply men, with a lot of ambition and a lot of enemies. The Templars, Nemesis, why, they’d even angered the Church,” he noted, looking at their surroundings. “They fled Europe because they feared for their lives, and rightly so. But distance would hardly have been their only method of protecting themselves.” Sighing to himself, he rested his head against the wall, staring up at the stained glass windows, and the Eye of Providence each window contained. “And given what they’ve brought down on us now, one could argue those protections were more than justified,” he muttered.
Raising one eyebrow, Robin gave him a thoughtful look. “You believe that all this has something to do with your ‘Illuminated Ancestors?’” she asked.
Henry sat up, eyes gleaming with the excitement of a man and his favorite topic. “Indeed I do. Despite their many achievements, they often meddled in things that were better left alone. There is quite a bit of evidence that they built Innsmouth Academy to bury more than a few of their mistakes, quite literally.” Standing up, he began to pace back and forth. “The modern version of the organisation has very little contact with Solomon Island, even through the Academy. Although there are claims, unverified of course, that a number of the school's financial backers maintain clandestine membership…” His voice trailed off as it occurred to him he was starting to ramble, and he coughed slightly. “In any case, given their involvement in this town’s history, it’s almost certain that recent events are the consequence of their actions. Something they did, something they stole… history has shown that many occult beings and organisations operate with what we mere humans would consider a distorted perspective of time. Whoever or whatever is responsible for that fog may not even realize that their enemy has moved on. Mark my words, this attack is the sins of Solomon Islands past, returning to torment us now.”
Considering that, and remembering some of the monsters and villains he’d faced down in his career, Leon couldn’t help but nod slowly. Without even trying, he could think of perhaps half a dozen incidents he’d heard of where the events fit the pastors theory. And if the Illuminati were as connected to the towns history as Henry was suggesting... “You may be right,” he admitted reluctantly. “At the same time, it doesn’t really narrow down the list of suspects, does it? Asking who your ‘Illuminated Ancestors’ managed to piss off is like asking who’s sick of Nemesis claiming he meant to do that.”
Before anyone could reply to that, a series of growls and snarling echoed through the back wall of the Church, catching their attention. “Well, that’s cliche,” Robin muttered as she consulted her mental map of the town. “Zombies in the town cemetery.”
Coughing again, Henry scowled at the wall and whatever lurked beyond it. “It’s most likely more of the dearly departed, managing to dig their way out of their graves,” he said bitterly, before gesturing at his sidearm. “I’ve tried to contain them, even tried to rebury them and try blessing the graves, in the hope that might have some effect. But it seems that my Ancestors protections have a very limited range. Even going out there and attempting it is… rather dangerous.”
Her face paling, Knight of the Peace took an instinctive step in the direction of the cemetery. “Digging out of their graves,” she said at last, turning back to the Pastor. “As in, dead and buried for a long time?”
Blinking, Henry glanced between the pair, before understanding flickered across his features. “Oh, of course, Helen doesn’t know yet,” he realized. “I only saw it for myself last night. But yes, this darkness isn’t just afflicting those who were alive when the attack began. Many of the graves I’ve seen unearthed, well, it’s safe to say that they’re older than I am.”
Running a hand down his face, Leon sighed in frustration. “Which means we’ve probably got even more undead running around than we’d feared. Dammit, I hate this voodoo shit.” Glancing over at his girlfriend, she gave her a lopsided smile. “We’re probably going to be here a while.”
“I think we already knew that…” She paused, eyebrows rising, as growls and voices could be heard through the wall again. Where the zombies had been random noise, barely at the level of aggressive animals, this sounded almost like coherent speech of some sort. “Hello now,” Knight said quietly, retrieving her helmet and walking towards the door.
Grabbing his rifle, Leon turned to the pastor, who was now looking rather alarmed. “Wait here,” he said, before following Knight towards the exit. “Stay quiet,” he told her. “I want to see what they’re doing.”
“You got it,” she said, suits wings popping open. By the time she took to the air, her suits stealth systems were powering, leaving nothing but a faint ripple in the air. Stepping over the corpses at the threshold, Leon quickly made his way around the Church, sticking close to the wall. Nothing emerged from the shadows to try and eat him, and in moments, he was able to get his first look at Kingsmouth Cemetery.
A long career that had required him to fight zombies, necromancers, mad scientists and death cultists meant that Detective McNicols had spent far more time in cemeteries than he liked to consider. As his experienced eyes looked over the rows of well-maintained gravestones and a rather nice looking war memorial statue, he frowned slightly. “Picket fence exterior, no sign of defences, conventional or magical,” he grumbled. Maybe he’d lived in Paragon City too long, but all he could think of right now was, based off everything he’d heard about the seventeenth-century Illuminati, they damn well should have known to build a cemetery better than this.
Nearly a dozen undead wandered aimlessly around the grounds, growling and moaning at random. Another zombie could be seen, trying to climb out of the disturbed soil in the nearest row of gravestones, one decayed arm and a head sticking out of the ground it had likely been clawing at for days. And at the far end of the cemetery, emerging from the treeline, three deformed, rotten creatures approached. Well over six feet tall, flesh grey and swollen, coral growing from old wounds. Curiously, there seemed to be some consistency to the coral growth across all three creatures, with their left arms almost completely covered by the substance. As Leon looked closer, he realised that the coral had been polished and sharpened, forming crude melee weapons.
“So these are Street’s Draug,” Knights voice said over the comm. “Rather ugly, even by zombie standards.” The trio paused, looking around the gravestones, and the woman made a thoughtful noise. “They’re smarter than the average zombies too. It looks like they’re aware of their surroundings… One more, back by the treeline,” she added.
“What’s it doing?” Leon asked, keeping his voice low.
“From the look of things, serving as a lookout. Darn. They’ve got brains,” she grumbled.
Smirking slightly, the Detective adjusted his grip on his rifle. “It’s been known to happen, even with zombies. Hopefully they don’t get their intelligence by eating other people's brains.”
“Ewewewww…” the girl said, clearly shuddering in disgust even over audio.
“Sorry,” he whispered. Robin didn’t reply, and instead they both got comfortable and watched as the Draug moved through the cemetery. The three monsters moved with a worrying efficiency, gathering up the various zombies. One of them, taller than the other two, his left hand still free of the coral growing around it, inspected each of the animated corpses as they worked. Those that met whatever his criteria was were gently guided towards the other two Draug. Five of the zombies, including the one that was still mostly buried, seemed to fail the test, and were quickly knocked aside and ignored.
Less than five minutes after they’d entered the cemetery, the Draug had departed, taking their small collection of zombies with them. Those that had not met the creatures standards continued to wander around aimlessly, likely unaware the Draug had even been there. “Well,” Knight said. “That was interesting.”
“Very interesting,” the Detective agreed, stepping out of the shadows and bringing his rifle up. None of the undead even noticed him before he opened fire, and he quickly decapitated three of them with explosive rounds, while Knight vaporised two more with bolts of light from a seemingly empty sky. Frowning thoughtfully, the man turned and walked back around to the front of the Church.
Just inside the threshold, Henry Hawthorne was waiting, with as much patience as he could manage under the circumstances. “You… didn’t run into any trouble, I hope?” he asked, then jumped slightly as Knight of the Peace appeared out of thin air, landing next to him.
“I’m not sure,” the woman admitted. “We saw the Draug. Creatures that came with the Fog,” she explained as she saw his blank look. “I’m just not entirely sure what they were doing.”
“Harvesting,” Leon said as he walked inside. “They’re gathering up all the zombies they’ve created. The ones that meet their standards, they keep. The rest they leave behind.” Reloading his rifle, he frowned thoughtfully. “I’d bet good money the ones they’re throwing at the Sheriff's Office are their failures.”
“That might be the reason for his invasion,” Robin mused, following him inside. “Turn the island into zombies, collect the ones that meet some mysterious requirements, and use the failures to kill off the survivors. Brutal, but effective.”
“Or it’s a side benefit for them,” the Detective said. “Either way, I really don’t like it. Especially if their magic works on long dead corpses as well. They could have a lot more zombies than we thought.”
Coughing slightly to get their attention, Henry winced slightly. “Actually, it might be even worse than that,” he said. “I didn’t think of it until you pointed it out, but… As I was saying earlier, our Illuminated Ancestors made mistakes. And for the most part, their response to such mistakes was to bury them, quite literally.” He gestured to the north, and the forest just beyond the town limits. “Several of those mistakes had, well, quite a high body count. And out there, somewhere under the trees…” His voice trailed off for a moment, before he gathered his composure and finished the sentence. “Somewhere out there, there are mass graves.”
“Mass graves,” Robin said quietly. “Wonderful.”
***
Ifrit Romanova frowned slightly as she made her way down the hallway to the teleporter bay, phone pressed against her ear. “I’m sorry to say that flying backup in may not be an option,” she told her daughter. “Typhoon made it out safely, but only because our Quinjets can climb higher than F-22s. They’re on alert for us now.”
“Figures,” Alice grumbled. “What’re they playing at? They’ve got plenty of firepower around the island, but the civilians are saying they’ve been left to fend for themselves. And trying to blackmail Liberty into not getting involved? ”
“Not exactly the most subtle of methods,” Ifrit agreed. Entering the teleporter bay, she paused in the doorway, watching as Katy Kaboom and Dark Glass meddled with the innards of one of the massive machines. “Or effective. We’ve got people looking into it. In the meantime, Katy and your aunt are modifying one of the spare teleporters.” Miranda glanced over and waved, then returned to her work as Ifrit continued, “They’re planning to use your signal as a homing beacon to send a team in.”
“And from there, we can set up an array to get the folks here out,” Alice finished. “It’ll take time, but I think the locals could use that good news.”
Nodding to herself, Ifrit walked into the room and went up the steps to the small rest area, turning her attention to the water cooler. “As for the Draug, the name sounds familiar to me as well, although I have to admit, I’m not sure from where. If Street could upload her helmet camera footage, it might be helpful.”
“I’ll remind her,” Alice promised.
Behind Ifrit, Katy made one last adjustment with her hydrospanner, then nodded in satisfaction and closed the panel. “All set here,” she called out.
Turning back to the control panel in front of her, Miranda Barnes checked the readouts again. “Looking good,” she murmured. “Clean signal, projectors are aligned, Heisenberg denial fields set… We’re ready. Powering it up, starting tests.” Flipping open a plastic cover, she pressed the large green button underneath. The rooms ever-present background hum shifted slightly as the array powered up, turbines spinning. Then the hum shifted in pitch, becoming an ear-piercing shriek, and the Warshade slammed her hand down on the abort button before it got any worse. “Okay, what was that?” she grumbled, giving the readouts a disgusted look. “That was just a test pulse, how… Ah.”
Catching the sudden alarm in her coworkers voice, Katy began to back away from the teleporter array. “Mir?” she asked, before the panel she’d closed a minute before began to rattle. The engineer blinked, then she dove for cover as the panel blasted off the machine and flew across the room. In the space beyond, circuits and cables began to deform as a black mass grew around them, absorbing the materials. Several misshapen eyes began to open, looking around eagerly. “Oh, just wonderful,” she growled.
Before it could ooze its way out of the array, Miranda stepped forward, twin beams of nictus energy shooting from her eyes and burning into the mutating flesh. “I think we just voided the warranty,” she said dryly.
Unhooking the Hair Dryer of Doom from her belt, Katy smirked slightly “I was involved. It was void by default,” she pointed out, before raising her weapon and sending a small hailstorm into the creature's ‘face’.
Considering the sight for a moment, Ifrit sighed. “I’m going to have to call you back,” she told her daughter before hanging up. Putting the phone away, she placed her drink on top of the water cooler and walked towards the fight, flames dancing around her body. As the creature extended several tentacles, trying to drag itself out of the narrow space it had spawned in, Lady of the Peace raised a hand, and the flames flowed outwards, burning the creature and driving it back. “Miranda, what did you do?” she asked, giving her sister a glare. “Do I need to revoke your teleporter privileges again?”
“Whoa, hey, this isn’t my fault!” the Kheldian protested, jumping over another flailing tendril. Darkness flowed around her, and gravity increased around the array, pulling the now-sagging machinery towards the floor. A moment later, Katy blasted the creature with the Thug-A-Pault, an invisible force grabbing dragging it in yet another direction, drawing an unpleasant gurgle of pain from several forming mouths. “I was doing exactly what I was told to do!”
Katy shrugged reluctantly. “That’s a fair point. I mean, no one really expects this sort of thing,” she noted, then dived out of the way of another tentacle. “Someone lock the doors!” she added. “If this is what I think it is, it is way above securities pay grade!” Summoning a trio of particle clouds to try and distract the creature, Miranda dropped back towards the closest door. Growling, the black flesh ignored her ‘pets’ and tried to grab at her, only to have one of the clouds swarm over the outstretched tentacle, stripping the flesh away in large chunks.
As Miranda sealed the doors, Ifrit took to the air, firing a beam of focused flame onto the creature from above. “Katherine, I would really appreciate it if you actually told me what this is,” she growled, before more of the teleporter array began to warp and deform into another limb, forcing her back.
Reaching into one of her compression pouches, Katy pulled out a small quadcopter drone that showed all the usual signs of her modifications. “Point defense plan Kappa,” she told it, letting it float into the air next to her, the custom tazer built into its underbelly crackling. “Doctor Tesla called it the Shadow From Beyond Time,” she explained, jumping over a control panel and crouching down behind one of the uninfected teleporter stations. “He and Charles Fort ran into it back in the nineteen twenties.” Tearing the panel off the side of the array, she shrugged slightly. “He came up with a few tricks for fighting it.”
“I remember that story,” Miranda commented as she rejoined the fight, crafting a singularity inside the Shadows main body, crushing it inward. “I seem to recall him describing it as something along the lines of ‘nesting in the present and growing into the past.’”
“And trying to establish a teleporter link to Kingsmouth somehow let it back in,” Katy mused as she pulled more equipment from her pouches. “Not a good sign.” Above her, the drone opened fire with its tazer, frying flesh but not really slowing the Shadow down. “Could you guys try and keep it off me? I’m pretty sure I can get rid of it, but I’m going to need some time.”
The two sisters glanced at each other. Miranda shrugged, and then Ifrit grinned, flames that seemed almost solid forming around her body. "We can do that."
Growling from several mouths, the Shadow pulled free of the singularity and began to reshape its form, the lower section of its body splitting into legs, while the tendrils took on the role of arms, joints forming under pulsing flesh. Lady of the Peace and Dark Glass charged before it could finish, the Kheldian pinning the legs in place with a gravitic snare, letting the fae slam a glowing fist into the deformed mass that served as its face.
Maneuvering around the large, clumsy creature, the pair quickly settled into a pattern, with one of them distracting or slowing the Shadow, while the other moved in to strike. Keeping it away from Katy as she worked proved to be rather simple, its attention span seemingly limited to whatever had hit it last. Actually hurting it was a different matter however.
Twisting around one of the creature's limbs, Ifrit dropped to the ground, spun on one heel, and sent a wave of fire over her opponent's torso. “I hate to sound pessimistic, but it appears to be healing faster than we can kill it,” she pointed out.
Miranda's body language shifted, taking on a lighter, more agile stance as her alien partner took control of their body. “No, not healing,” Jade Barnes disagreed, carving a chunk out of the Shadows thigh with her beam eyes. “This isn’t regeneration, it’s just still growing.” Ifrit raised an eyebrow, then conceded the point as, rather than repairing the burns she’d inflicted, deformed flesh simply grew over the top of the damaged tissue. “Katherine darling, we’re fighting a losing battle here!”
“Almost done!” came the reply. “Just keep its attention a little longer!”
Sighing, Ifrit prepared for another charge, only to pause as the Shadow’s behaviour changed. Gurgling, it dropped to its knees, chest heaving and tendrils flailing. The sisters glanced at each other, confused, before the Shadow vomited, blackness spilling out from half a dozen mouths. Jade shrieked , jumping back and nearly tripping over the steps behind her, bringing up a shield to protect herself from the liquid.
Rising higher into the air, Ifrit gathered flames in both her hands and unleashed it on the Shadow’s back, trying to take advantage of the opening. A moment later however, she was forced back on the defensive, evading several tentacles emerging from the blackness spreading over the floor to try and grab at her. Flipping backwards, she threw a fireball into the mouth that was forming on the tip of one of the tentacles, burning it away clean to the floor, only to have another one clip her left wing, drawing a gasp of pain from her. “Katy!” she yelled as a third tentacle wrapped around her leg, dragging her down towards the darkness.
Emerging from behind her cover, Katy Kaboom held up her new weapon. It looked like a collection of random computer parts and equipment in the general shape of a rifle, a collection of thick industrial power cables connecting it to the teleporter array she’d spent the last few minutes modifying. “Doctor Sagan, be with me now,” she muttered, squeezing the trigger. A burst of gold-white lighting flowed out from the emitters mounted on the tip of her weapon, washing over the Shadow. While Ifrit and Mirandas attacks had cut and burnt the creature, as the light faded, they all saw that the parts of the creature hit by the attack were simply gone, as if it had never existed.
Regaining her footing, Dark Glass blasted the tentacle that had grabbed her sister, then they both backed away as the Shadow turned towards Katy, who was now grinning a savage smile as she turned a dial on the side of the gun up to its maximum setting. “Shadow from Beyond Time, meet the pure light of Science!” she declared, firing again. This time, the light filled the room completely, briefly blinding all three women.
When it cleared, the Shadow was completely gone. Every drop of the corrupted black had vanished from existence, leaving only the burnt and warped remains of the ruined teleporter, scattered across the room. Blinking spots out of her eyes, Katy lowered her weapon and gave the room a surprised look. “Well,” she mused. “I certainly wasn’t expecting that.”
“I think you got him,” Miranda commented, taking a scanner from her tool belt. “I dunno how exactly… I mean, you just zapped it once,” she muttered, holding the device up to where the Shadow had been, frowning at the readouts. “It shouldn’t just… disappear like that, should it?”
“It wants to eat the Omniverse,” Katy muttered, looking around the room as if she expected the black to emerge from the shadows. “I really don’t like it just wandering off.”
Behind them, the doors slid open to admit a security team, Nene Romanova and Sachie Hanagawa leading them in. “It’s alright,” Ifrit said, smiling gently at the concerned expression on her wifes face. “I think it’s over.”
Lowering her sidearm, Nene looked around the room, considering the damage. “What in the hell happened here?”
Nudging the burnt remains of the infected teleporter array with her foot, Sachie turned towards Miranda, the amazonian ninjas expression gently mocking. “Really?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Again?”
Grinding her teeth, the Kheldian gave the taller woman a glare. “You can all just go to hell.” Ignoring Nene’s snickering, she focused her attention on her scanner.
Resting her beam rifle on her shoulder, Katy smiled slightly. “I have to admit, this one really isn’t her fault.”
“I don’t suppose you could give us a bit more of an explanation now?” Ifrit asked. “Why exactly did some sort of mutant flesh monster grow out of one of our teleporters?”
“Okay, that’s not listed in the potential hazards section of the manual,” Nene muttered.
Not looking up from her scanner, Miranda shrugged. “Like Kat said, Robo called it the Shadow From Beyond Time. It might have other names too, but I’ve only ever heard of the run-ins he and his dad had.”
“The way he described it,” Katy continued, carefully reducing the power flowing through her weapon, “the Shadow is some kind of… reality virus, for lack of a better term.” One of the cables sparked, and she winced, adjusting a dial. “It slips into our Omniverse through weak points and starts trying to eat reality. If it ever got a proper foothold, we’d probably be looking at a Hamidon scale threat at the very least.” As she began to flip switches on a nearby control panel, she shrugged. “Given that the first time Doctor Tesla ran into it, it was clawing its way into reality through H.P. Lovecrafts head, I think we can safely say there’s a connection to the Cthulhu mythos as well.”
Holstering her sidearm, Nene turned her attention from Miranda, to Katy and her death ray, and finally to the destroyed teleporter systems. “Cthulhu is summoned by teleporting,” she said flatly. “This would have been good to know before.”
Miranda snorted, before her Nictus partner took control again. “Speaking as someone with centuries of experience in the field,” Jade commented, gesturing at herself, “if teleportation twisted reality in such a way that it invited that… creature in, my people would have died out long before we made that foolish deal with Romulus.” Brushing her hair back behind her ear, she frowned thoughtfully. “No, the Shadow was already in our universe, as worrying as such a concept is. We were just unfortunate enough to get its attention, most likely by attempting to teleport through it.”
Pausing before disconnecting the last cable attaching her weapon to the teleporters, Katy groaned in understanding. “Which means it’s probably on Solomon Island somewhere. Hell, maybe it’s the source of the zombies. Doctor Tesla mentioned it had a fondness for possession.” Sighing, she removed the cable and leaned the rifle against the wall before looking at Ifrit. “These teleporters are out of commission. We’re gonna have to give the entire system a once over before we even start cleaning up that mess,” she grumbled, waving a hand at the remains of array the Shadow had taken over. “And call me crazy-”
“You’re crazy,” Miranda said instantly.
Paying absolutely no attention to her friend, Katy continued, “But I don’t think we should try anyone else's teleporters either. Legendary, Beacon, it doesn’t matter. Until we can locate and destroy the original incursion point, any teleportation through Solomon Island runs the risk of the Shadow spreading.”
Shoulders slumping, Ifrit sighed in profound irritation. “Which means that air travel might be our only option after all. Which probably means we’re going to be picking a fight with the Air Force. I can’t wait to see how that goes for us…”
Rubbing her chin thoughtfully, Sachie smirked slightly. “Maybe not. I might have something.” Leaning down to give Nene a quick kiss on the cheek, she turned and walked towards the doors. “Back soon.”
Watching her go, Miranda frowned. “She’s not going to tell us what it is?” she asked.
Her sister smiled, although it was somewhat forced. “No point in revealing a secret if it turns out we can’t use it,” she noted wryly as she took her phone back out, tapping Alice’s speed dial.
“Also, she might just not want you to break it,” Nene added. Scowling, Mir threw a melted circuit board at her.
***
Kingsmouth, Solomon Island
As Leon and Robin stepped out past the barricades, Priss walked around to the back of the patrol car. Placing one hand on the boot, she pushed the vehicle back into position, blocking off the makeshift gates. “Dang,” Andy commented as he put the handbrake on and climbed out of the vehicle. “You didn’t even have to try. That’s one impressive suit of armor you have there miss.”
“It has its uses,” Street Sabre agreed with a grin. Glancing out past the barricade, she watched the other two heroes make their way down Arkham Avenue, forms already fading into the darkness. “It’s gotten me out of more trouble than I care to imagine, that's for damn sure."
Shaking his head, the deputy chuckled lightly. "And here all I ever had was a nightstick and a pistol," he mused. "Heck, never even used the gun on the job before all this..." The young man's smile faded as his eyes lost focus. "It was a nice, quiet place, you know?" he said quietly. “Nothing stronger on the streets than a hot cup of coffee and chocolate glazed donuts from Suzie’s.” Closing the car door, he looked out at Arkham Avenue, losing himself in memory for a moment. “The occasional DUI, domestic disturbance… human sacrifice,” he murmured under his breath. Leaning against the hood of the vehicle, he watched as the pair in the distance vanished completely, seemingly unaware he was still talking. “I guess all towns have a dark side. And now this. Instead of bacon and maple syrup, we’re waking up to the smell of rotten flesh… And I don’t need another thing to remind me of my dad.” Sighing again, he straightened and walked away, lost in his thoughts.
Watching him go, Street Sabre blinked in confusion. “Well, okay. Glad we had this talk,” she said to herself, before turning and jumping up to the roof of the Sheriff's Office. On the far side of the building, Purrfect Archer considered the phone in her hand, clearly frustrated. Sighing, she turned the screen off, before it vanished into thin air. “I know that look,” Street commented as she walked towards the taller woman. “What just went wrong?”
Unhooking her bow and powering it up, Alice sighed again. “Teleporting isn’t an option,” she muttered, looking out across the forest to the east of town. “Apparently, when Aunt Mir and Katy Kaboom tried to aim a teleporter here…” she paused, considering her next words carefully. “The teleporter was possessed by a non-euclidian tentacle monster that tried to eat everyone.”
There was a long moment of silence as Street considered that, giving Archer time to take an arrow from her quiver, nock it and take aim at something only she could see. “Right,” the armored woman said at last. “That’s new.”
Snickering, the purple haired woman nodded. “And before you say it, Mama Nene and Sachie have already given Aunt Mir grief over it,” she said, before drawing the bowstring back and holding her breath.
Priss waited patiently for the catwoman to release the arrow, sending it flying off into the night, before replying. “Well, at least that’s consistent. Course, now we need to find another way to get in and out. Again.” Frowning thoughtfully, she glanced out into the darkness, switching her visor to night vision mode. “The hell are you even shooting at?”
“Zombies,” Archer replied with a grin, drawing another arrow. “Even if it’s not killing them, it’s kinda hard to shamble over here when you’re pinned to a tree.” That got a laugh from the smaller woman, and Alice's grin widened as she she took aim again. “No sign of any of your Draug,” she noted, then sighed and lowered her bow. “Behind a tree… Either they’re still only on the beach, or they’re staying out of sight.” Turning towards her friend, the catwomans ears twitched. “So, Kaboom had heard of that thing before. Apparently, it’s called the Shadow from Beyond Time.”
“Dramatic name,” Street Sabre mused, considering the odd, familiar tingle in the back of her brain at that title. Knowledge that wasn’t quite hers flickered across her awareness, but it was gone again before she could grab it.
“Yeah,” Alice agreed. “So, you think that thing’s the reason you decided to not just kick the Draugs heads in?” Street snorted slightly, and the catwoman grinned. “Come on Priss, it’s you. Your reaction to an army is girlish giggles of excitement at more things to punch.”
Pausing, Street raised a hand. “Girlish giggles?” she asked.
“Mama Nene claims to have audio.”
“Yeah, well, she’s a damn liar,” Street replied, before she leaned against the stations air conditioning unit. “It’s close to what I said, actually. I was worried about escalation. Just not from the naked crab zombie men,” she said, folding her arms across her stomach and grinning at the face Alice made over that particular mental image. The grin faded quickly however. “Do you remember, after you Incarnated, how there was always this weird feeling when you were fighting Hamidons Devoured, or the Echoes of the Well?”
Nodding, Alice considered that. “Like you could almost see the power,” she replied. “And follow it back to its source…” Eyes glowing purple for a moment, she took aim again and drew the bowstring back. “You think they’re empowered,” the catwoman realized. Her voice was low, barely above a whisper, the heroine suddenly concerned one of the locals might overhear.
“Oh, I know they are,” Street Sabre grumbled as Purrfect Archer sent another arrow into the night. “I can almost taste it. The Draug have their own God, and it’s rewarding their worship with a fragment of its power. And the trail ain’t long. It stops right out there in that crap,” she muttered, pointing a thumb in the direction of the bay. “This freaking Shadow sounds like as good a suspect as any,” she added with a thoughtful frown. Sighing, she reached up to run a hand through her hair, only to be reminded of her helmet by the sound of metal striking metal. After giving her gauntlet an irritated look, she turned her attention back towards the other woman. “Whatever the hell it is, it’s damn powerful. If it decided to come in out of the Fog and just start breaking shit, well. We might be able to take it down, but there probably wouldn’t be much left of Kingsmouth when the smoke cleared.”
Lowering her bow, Purrfect Archer turned to look towards the bay, eyes glowing brighter as she reached out with her telepathy. After a moment, she frowned and shook her head, the light fading away. “Can’t track it,” she admitted. “There’s too much magic in the air for me to see that far. It’s probably residual energy from when the Fog rolled in… Which was probably the Shadow’s doing, now that I think about it.” Ears twitching, she considered that for a moment. “If you’re right, and it’s a God for these Draug, that would suggest it’s at least an Ascended level threat, right?” Street shrugged and nodded, and Alice's frown deepened. “When something’s that powerful, it doesn’t just wander in and attack some random town, just because it felt like it.”
Snorting, Priss nodded. “Yeah, it’s the sorta shit that gets noticed. So you figure it chose this place for a reason. Any idea what?”
“Not yet… but this place was founded by an old Illuminati faction,” she mused. “Who knows what they left buried around here.”
“You’re probably right… crap,” Street muttered, shaking her head. “Just once, I’d like a simple problem, ya know?” she complained. “Find the bad guy, punch the bad guy, go home.”
Drawing two more arrows, Purrfect Archer nocked both of them at the same time and took aim. “Please. You’d only end up complaining to your wife about how bored you are without something to punch.”
“No, I’d use the free time to cuddle,” she replied. “Same as you and Inyme.”
“That’s true.”
***
Landing on a white fence post, the raven ruffled his feathers and looked around, beady eyes considering his surroundings. A moment later, he screeched in outrage and took to the air again, barely avoiding the lunge from a hungry zombie that had been lurking in the shadows. The animated corpse proceeded to trip over the fence and fall face first onto the footpath with the horrible noise of bones breaking. Unconcerned by its new injury, it scrambled to its feet, all its attention on the bird circling overhead. Before it could try and jump after the raven however, a bolt of pure white light caught it in the back of the neck, vaporizing most of its head.
Lowering her hand, Knight of the Peace gave the body a satisfied look. “And that is why you leave hunting birds to the cats,” she commented. “We actually know what we’re doing.” Next to her, Leon chuckled lightly, earning himself a playful smile, before she looked up to where the raven had landed on a rooftop. “And you are lucky I’m busy,” she told him, getting an almost amused sounding caw in reply.
As she started walking again, Leon shook his head in amusement. As always, he found it utterly adorable when Robins catgirl side came out to play. Giving the zombie corpse one last check, he followed after her. Behind them, several more ravens landed on the edge of the roof, watching the pair with intense, thoughtful eyes.
“Maybe you should have brought your Scrapper gear,” Leon commented as he brought his rifle up, sweeping it across the buildings on the other side of the street.
“Hmm, maybe. I mean, there’s certainly a lot of hunting I could do here,” she mused, almost purring at the idea, despite being in a form that was supposedly completely human. After a moment, she pouted slightly and shook her head. “But I’ve tried hunting undead before, and it’s just no fun. Most of the time, you don’t even have to try to sneak up on them. And let’s not even start on getting rotten flesh under your claws.” Shuddering at the thought, Robin shook her head sadly. “Such a shame. There’s not as much good hunting in Paragon these days.”
Before Leon could reply to that, the woman came to a halt again, a frown visible under her visor. Following her gaze, Leon saw their first destination, the simple yet instantly recognizable design of the town's Church. According to Sheriff Bannerman, Kingsmouth Congregational Church remained a safe haven, with the Minister and several other people taking shelter inside its walls. She’d been a little vague on exactly how they were protected however, and the sight of the buildings front doors standing wide open did not exactly inspire confidence. “I wouldn’t exactly call that secure,” Robin said at last, matching the detectives unspoken opinion.
As if summoned by her words, two more zombies emerged from behind an abandoned pickup truck in the parking lot, running up the steps towards the Church. Swearing under his breath, Leon brought his rifle up, trying to get a shot off before they were obscured by the white picket fence. Next to him, the wings on Knights armor sprang open as she took to the air, energy gathering around her hands.
However, before either of the heroes could fire, the zombies reached the top of the steps. In the blink of an eye, whatever was animating the corpses vanished, gravity and momentum dragging both bodies to the ground in what would have been a painful impact for a living being. “...Well, okay,” Knight said, powering her gauntlets back down. “I guess I was wrong.”
“Looks like,” Leon agreed, walking towards the Church, keeping his weapon aimed at the bodies. “What the hell did it though? Holy ground or something?”
Landing next to the corpses, Robin shrugged slightly. “Maybe. We’d need Alice or Street to come and confirm it though.” The sound of footsteps from inside the church made her turn, raising her hand, only to pause halfway up. In front of her, a man in what appeared to be his mid-forties came to a halt, eyes widening behind his glasses as he took in the sight in front of him. “Oh, um, hello!” she said, waving slightly.
“Good Lord,” the man murmured, rubbing at his mustache with his left hand, while his right reset the safety on the .44 he was holding, putting it away in his sweater. “Superheroes! I assume you had something to do with that racket I heard coming from down the street earlier…” Realizing where they were all standing, he shook his head slightly, dismissing the topic. “Well, never mind that now. Please, come in, come in. The house of the Lord is always open, especially to those that are fighting the eternal battle against the darkness.”
Following the older man into the Church, Leon smiled politely as he looked around. In contrast to the chaotic war zone that was the Sheriff's Office, the Church remained calm and tidy, supplies neatly stacked in one corner, while several people slept in between the pews. “Well, we certainly appreciate the generosity,” he said, keeping his voice relatively low. Behind them, Knight knelt down and picked up the bodies, throwing them out into the street, safely away from the Church. “I’m Detective Leon McNicols, Paragon Special Investigations, and this is Knight of the Peace, from the Legendary,” he continued, gesturing to the woman behind him as she stepped inside.
“Well, it’s truly a pleasure to meet you, both of you.” His smile faded as he reached up to adjust his glasses. “Despite the rather… troubling circumstances that have brought you here.” Sighing softly, he pressed on, as a tired smile began to form on his face. “I am Reverend Henry Hawthorne. I assume Helen asked you to check up on us? Even with the Churches protection, she does tend to worry about us. I can’t really blame her I suppose,” he admitted. “She has always been a woman that takes her responsibilities very seriously.”
Removing her helmet, Robin nodded. “She did say that she’d appreciate it if we could look in on you while we were out collecting supplies,” she confirmed with a smile. Resting her helmet on a pew, she raised an eyebrow. “Also, she asked if we could check up on a Mister Dufrense?”
The comment earned a quiet laugh from the Pastor, even as he took his pistol out of his pocket and placed it on the lectern at the far end of the room, next to a well used copy of the bible. “Ah yes, I thought she’d be worried about him. Not to worry,” he said, nodding to one of the pews, where a teenage boy could be seen curled up in a sleeping bag, sound asleep. “Young Daniel made it here before sunset, but it was late enough I convinced him to remain.” Shaking his head, he considered the young man, expression a mixture of amusement and frustration. “I’d be much happier if he would stay here permanently, where it’s safe, but… Boys will be boys, I suppose, even in times like this. And at least he’s willing to follow some of the rules Helen and I have laid down. Besides,” he added, giving them a lopsided smile, “He’s better at getting around town safely than anyone else.”
Putting his rifle down on a pew, Leon shook his head, a slightly bitter smile flickering across his features. “Kids tend to be durable like that,” he agreed, thinking back to places like First Ward or the Cosmodrome, and the children that had survived, even thrived, under the nightmarish conditions. “Even if we’d prefer to keep them where it’s safe,” he grumbled, before gesturing at the walls around them. “Speaking of safe…”
Henry could only shrug. “Oh, I wish I could explain it Detective. As it is, we only discovered the Church's protections two days ago, when we came here to find supplies. We’re not even sure of its limits. It could be the entire building, or it could just be those doors.” He waved a hand towards the entrance, covering a yawn with his other hand. “Any of the walking dead that get too close to that door lose whatever it is that animates them. But only while they’re near the Church. If you move the bodies, well…” As if summoned by his words, the pair of zombies Robin had thrown back into the street came into view, snarling. A moment later they crossed the threshold, and repeated their earlier collision with the pavement. “That happens,” he finished.
“Well, that’s something,” Leon said. “Although it does explain why Helen was kind of vague about how you were protected.”
Nodding, the pastor sat down on one of the seats near the organ. “She doesn’t really trust it,” he said. “And to be honest, I can’t blame her. While I would like to believe that this protection is the work of the Lord, I am familiar with Kingsmouths… unspoken history.” The two heroes glanced at him, and he gave them a slightly bitter smile in return. “Depressingly few people here on Solomon Island remember our… Illuminated ancestors, and most of those that do, try to imagine them as enlightened, noble souls, who dreamt only of making a better world. But I’ve spent years studying them. The official history, the parts the history books neglect to mention, and the details that don’t appear on any google searches. They were simply men, with a lot of ambition and a lot of enemies. The Templars, Nemesis, why, they’d even angered the Church,” he noted, looking at their surroundings. “They fled Europe because they feared for their lives, and rightly so. But distance would hardly have been their only method of protecting themselves.” Sighing to himself, he rested his head against the wall, staring up at the stained glass windows, and the Eye of Providence each window contained. “And given what they’ve brought down on us now, one could argue those protections were more than justified,” he muttered.
Raising one eyebrow, Robin gave him a thoughtful look. “You believe that all this has something to do with your ‘Illuminated Ancestors?’” she asked.
Henry sat up, eyes gleaming with the excitement of a man and his favorite topic. “Indeed I do. Despite their many achievements, they often meddled in things that were better left alone. There is quite a bit of evidence that they built Innsmouth Academy to bury more than a few of their mistakes, quite literally.” Standing up, he began to pace back and forth. “The modern version of the organisation has very little contact with Solomon Island, even through the Academy. Although there are claims, unverified of course, that a number of the school's financial backers maintain clandestine membership…” His voice trailed off as it occurred to him he was starting to ramble, and he coughed slightly. “In any case, given their involvement in this town’s history, it’s almost certain that recent events are the consequence of their actions. Something they did, something they stole… history has shown that many occult beings and organisations operate with what we mere humans would consider a distorted perspective of time. Whoever or whatever is responsible for that fog may not even realize that their enemy has moved on. Mark my words, this attack is the sins of Solomon Islands past, returning to torment us now.”
Considering that, and remembering some of the monsters and villains he’d faced down in his career, Leon couldn’t help but nod slowly. Without even trying, he could think of perhaps half a dozen incidents he’d heard of where the events fit the pastors theory. And if the Illuminati were as connected to the towns history as Henry was suggesting... “You may be right,” he admitted reluctantly. “At the same time, it doesn’t really narrow down the list of suspects, does it? Asking who your ‘Illuminated Ancestors’ managed to piss off is like asking who’s sick of Nemesis claiming he meant to do that.”
Before anyone could reply to that, a series of growls and snarling echoed through the back wall of the Church, catching their attention. “Well, that’s cliche,” Robin muttered as she consulted her mental map of the town. “Zombies in the town cemetery.”
Coughing again, Henry scowled at the wall and whatever lurked beyond it. “It’s most likely more of the dearly departed, managing to dig their way out of their graves,” he said bitterly, before gesturing at his sidearm. “I’ve tried to contain them, even tried to rebury them and try blessing the graves, in the hope that might have some effect. But it seems that my Ancestors protections have a very limited range. Even going out there and attempting it is… rather dangerous.”
Her face paling, Knight of the Peace took an instinctive step in the direction of the cemetery. “Digging out of their graves,” she said at last, turning back to the Pastor. “As in, dead and buried for a long time?”
Blinking, Henry glanced between the pair, before understanding flickered across his features. “Oh, of course, Helen doesn’t know yet,” he realized. “I only saw it for myself last night. But yes, this darkness isn’t just afflicting those who were alive when the attack began. Many of the graves I’ve seen unearthed, well, it’s safe to say that they’re older than I am.”
Running a hand down his face, Leon sighed in frustration. “Which means we’ve probably got even more undead running around than we’d feared. Dammit, I hate this voodoo shit.” Glancing over at his girlfriend, she gave her a lopsided smile. “We’re probably going to be here a while.”
“I think we already knew that…” She paused, eyebrows rising, as growls and voices could be heard through the wall again. Where the zombies had been random noise, barely at the level of aggressive animals, this sounded almost like coherent speech of some sort. “Hello now,” Knight said quietly, retrieving her helmet and walking towards the door.
Grabbing his rifle, Leon turned to the pastor, who was now looking rather alarmed. “Wait here,” he said, before following Knight towards the exit. “Stay quiet,” he told her. “I want to see what they’re doing.”
“You got it,” she said, suits wings popping open. By the time she took to the air, her suits stealth systems were powering, leaving nothing but a faint ripple in the air. Stepping over the corpses at the threshold, Leon quickly made his way around the Church, sticking close to the wall. Nothing emerged from the shadows to try and eat him, and in moments, he was able to get his first look at Kingsmouth Cemetery.
A long career that had required him to fight zombies, necromancers, mad scientists and death cultists meant that Detective McNicols had spent far more time in cemeteries than he liked to consider. As his experienced eyes looked over the rows of well-maintained gravestones and a rather nice looking war memorial statue, he frowned slightly. “Picket fence exterior, no sign of defences, conventional or magical,” he grumbled. Maybe he’d lived in Paragon City too long, but all he could think of right now was, based off everything he’d heard about the seventeenth-century Illuminati, they damn well should have known to build a cemetery better than this.
Nearly a dozen undead wandered aimlessly around the grounds, growling and moaning at random. Another zombie could be seen, trying to climb out of the disturbed soil in the nearest row of gravestones, one decayed arm and a head sticking out of the ground it had likely been clawing at for days. And at the far end of the cemetery, emerging from the treeline, three deformed, rotten creatures approached. Well over six feet tall, flesh grey and swollen, coral growing from old wounds. Curiously, there seemed to be some consistency to the coral growth across all three creatures, with their left arms almost completely covered by the substance. As Leon looked closer, he realised that the coral had been polished and sharpened, forming crude melee weapons.
“So these are Street’s Draug,” Knights voice said over the comm. “Rather ugly, even by zombie standards.” The trio paused, looking around the gravestones, and the woman made a thoughtful noise. “They’re smarter than the average zombies too. It looks like they’re aware of their surroundings… One more, back by the treeline,” she added.
“What’s it doing?” Leon asked, keeping his voice low.
“From the look of things, serving as a lookout. Darn. They’ve got brains,” she grumbled.
Smirking slightly, the Detective adjusted his grip on his rifle. “It’s been known to happen, even with zombies. Hopefully they don’t get their intelligence by eating other people's brains.”
“Ewewewww…” the girl said, clearly shuddering in disgust even over audio.
“Sorry,” he whispered. Robin didn’t reply, and instead they both got comfortable and watched as the Draug moved through the cemetery. The three monsters moved with a worrying efficiency, gathering up the various zombies. One of them, taller than the other two, his left hand still free of the coral growing around it, inspected each of the animated corpses as they worked. Those that met whatever his criteria was were gently guided towards the other two Draug. Five of the zombies, including the one that was still mostly buried, seemed to fail the test, and were quickly knocked aside and ignored.
Less than five minutes after they’d entered the cemetery, the Draug had departed, taking their small collection of zombies with them. Those that had not met the creatures standards continued to wander around aimlessly, likely unaware the Draug had even been there. “Well,” Knight said. “That was interesting.”
“Very interesting,” the Detective agreed, stepping out of the shadows and bringing his rifle up. None of the undead even noticed him before he opened fire, and he quickly decapitated three of them with explosive rounds, while Knight vaporised two more with bolts of light from a seemingly empty sky. Frowning thoughtfully, the man turned and walked back around to the front of the Church.
Just inside the threshold, Henry Hawthorne was waiting, with as much patience as he could manage under the circumstances. “You… didn’t run into any trouble, I hope?” he asked, then jumped slightly as Knight of the Peace appeared out of thin air, landing next to him.
“I’m not sure,” the woman admitted. “We saw the Draug. Creatures that came with the Fog,” she explained as she saw his blank look. “I’m just not entirely sure what they were doing.”
“Harvesting,” Leon said as he walked inside. “They’re gathering up all the zombies they’ve created. The ones that meet their standards, they keep. The rest they leave behind.” Reloading his rifle, he frowned thoughtfully. “I’d bet good money the ones they’re throwing at the Sheriff's Office are their failures.”
“That might be the reason for his invasion,” Robin mused, following him inside. “Turn the island into zombies, collect the ones that meet some mysterious requirements, and use the failures to kill off the survivors. Brutal, but effective.”
“Or it’s a side benefit for them,” the Detective said. “Either way, I really don’t like it. Especially if their magic works on long dead corpses as well. They could have a lot more zombies than we thought.”
Coughing slightly to get their attention, Henry winced slightly. “Actually, it might be even worse than that,” he said. “I didn’t think of it until you pointed it out, but… As I was saying earlier, our Illuminated Ancestors made mistakes. And for the most part, their response to such mistakes was to bury them, quite literally.” He gestured to the north, and the forest just beyond the town limits. “Several of those mistakes had, well, quite a high body count. And out there, somewhere under the trees…” His voice trailed off for a moment, before he gathered his composure and finished the sentence. “Somewhere out there, there are mass graves.”
“Mass graves,” Robin said quietly. “Wonderful.”
***