Outta My Mind

Author's Note: A lunar eclipse occurred on 16 June 2011. Yet culturally, it is also regarded as a symbol of a bad omen. What is strange is that even though I was unaware that the eclipse had occurred that night (until later that day when I read the news), I had this strange dream during the event. Pardon the crazy logic in it. I'm still finding trouble figuring this mess out. But I hope you will enjoy it anyway. :)

Disclaimer: The Justice League, The Avengers, Duke, Guile & Wolverine do not belong to me. The only characters I own are myself, Angel, Natasha, fake "Wolverine" and the rest of the unnamed team members. (Yes, my head is that messed up.)

I had finally found a group of friends whom I clicked with. A tight-knit group slowly discovering our special powers. We were suddenly thrown together in an ad hoc team and have been temporarily living in the back of a moving pick-up, which was alright for us since we were always on the go/run anyway. So far, we've been saving lives on a daily basis but recently, we have been on a covert mission, strictly on need-to-know basis as ordered by the higher-ups. (A drive-by truck had stuck intel packages on their roof meant for our team leader to pick up.)

Our team leader, a human forced to "babysit" us under orders, was a tough and decisive blond soldier who looked a lot like a cross between Duke (G.I. Joe) and Guile (Streetfighter). He reluctantly took up the position and eventually came to recognise us as fellow soldiers. At first, his Wolverine (X-men) temper would be directed at us, but after some time, it got directed at those who teased or bullied our amateurish team, which was when we came to know of his soft side and why we respect him so much. (We nicknamed him "Wolverine" as a joke, a name which he came to accept.)

Back to our mission: our latest intel mentioned a possible zombie case and we were to "take care of the source" before it became an outbreak. Unconfirmed intel suggested that the disease may be airbourne. We were soon transferred to a more spacious and well-equipped truck for additional security measure. We had to keep the curtains closed at all times. Even though it was noon, the thick beige curtains that cascaded down to the floor blocked out most of the light, which made it dark and creepy compared to our previous open-air ride.

A few hours later, the zombie somehow came aboard our truck.

That was when we heard our leader fire several shots in the cargo room. The rest of the us rushed there and surrounded the zombie, which continued inching closer despite the chaos of shots (magical and bullet) that came whizzing from various directions. The zombie turned and headed straight for Angel. Horror overwhelmed me, and the burst of emotion sent cupboards slamming into the zombie, to no avail. As the zombie lunged toward Angel amidst shouts, in her panic, Angel flung her arms outward and opened up a swirling mass of purple which swallowed the zombie and vanished.

"Angel, where did you send it?" Natasha asked, suppressing a choke.

"I d-don't know. Its destination is selected at random. Pr-probably some other dimension."

"Can your portals cut across time?" I asked, a sudden worry rising at the back of my throat.

"I-I don't know. I haven't gone into one yet," Angel replied shakily.

"Answer the question, Angel. Is there a possibility that that thing got sent back in time?" Wolverine asked.

"Yes."

In an instant, sunlight flooded into the room as the trucked walls ripped apart and Angel was sucked out of the truck towards a horde of zombies, only to fade into the air along with them before our eyes. She screamed.

"ANGEL!" we yelled.

And I began seeing things. The images of Natasha, Wolverine and the others flickered unsteadily into zombies. I shook my head and blinked hard. They were human again.

Natasha turned to me, her forehead creased, and asked, "What's wrong? You okay, gal?"

As the others turned and came towards me with questions of concern, they began flickering back into the hungry-looking zombies. I clutched my head and shook it harder. "Come on, change back...!" I mentally willed. Their zombie images lasted longer this time before switching back to normal. This couldn't be happening. Could history really have been changed? Then why haven't I turned into one of them? No... someone else must be messing with my head... someone psychic perhaps. If it's just an illusion, then the zombies shouldn't hurt me, in theory.

"What's happening? Tell us, please," Wolverine urged.

*Flicker* They lumbered towards me, some dragging their limbs behind them, some dragging their bodies across the floor.

"Oh my god, what do we do?" I heard Natasha's voice.

*Flicker* The zombies groaned in hunger. "You're turning into zombies! Don't come any closer! I'm just seeing things... I'm just seeing things..." I yelled, trying to tell my friends what I'm seeing and trying to calm myself down. But the zombies continued moving towards me. "This is just an illusion. You won't bite me- Stay back! You won't bite me."

They don't change back this time.

My friends surrounded me and grabbed my arms, ready to chomp. I pulled my arms away and closed my eyes, bracing myself for the inevitable.

The bites never came.

I opened my eyes. The room was dark and empty. Time had indeed changed. I had to get out of there and find out how bad the situation had gotten.

Slowly, I opened the door and peeped out. Strange. I was in a room of a house? And it was daytime. (Phew.) But then at the corner of my eye, there was plenty of movement. Scuffling. Zombies. And one of them spotted me. One by one, their eyes met mine. I'm gonna need serious backup.

I pushed open the door and ran for the backyard. I climbed up the brick wall, kicking away the clamy grey zombie arms and jumped away from the house. There were more fighting over scraps on the streets.

As I ran, my eyes scanned the city, trying to spot familiar landmarks to identify my location and plot a safe route. Then I saw our white domed-shaped headquarters. Thank God! They'll be able to contact the Justice League and The Avengers. Stray zombies milled around outside the HQ entrance, so I decided to climb up the dome and enter through the emergency roof exit.

I peered in through the thick square glass door and what I saw sent a chill down my spine - zombified Justice League members and The Avengers encased in glass pods, being studied by our HQ scientists. Our last hope gone. Closing the emergency hatch, I climbed down, lost my balance and fell onto a pod. Superman's contorted arms slammed against the pod wall in frail response, trying to get out. The scene was disturbing yet pathetic. I glanced around the room and saw the same thing. Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain America... A confusing wave of sympathy, despair and hopelessness washed over me. Suddenly, his skin became taut and firm, returned to a healthy pink colour and his limbs returned to their sockets.

"How did you do that?" an old scientist asked, bewildered. He was wearing a white lab coat, tapping a pen on his clipboard.

"It wasn't me. I didn't do anything."

"Are you sure? Try it again."

I went over to Green Lantern's pod and placed my hands on it. Nothing. I closed my eyes and concentrated. Come on, heal... heal... heal...

I opened my eyes. It had been a miracle.

Superman and Green Lantern, now both conscious, busted themselves out of their pods.

"Shit. We screwed up big time, didn't we?" John Stewart announced begrudgingly.

"Well, yes. But she cured you," the old man said, nodding his head in my direction.

"Thank you."

I returned a slight grin.

It's going to be a long day ahead. And afterwards, we still have a world to save.

END