Chapter 13
Potluck
…
"Up ahead!" Mike called to the others.
"Slow down kid," said Logan. "You might know the direction, but we have to keep at a pace."
"Sorry," Mike replied. The group was behind him, going along the path dictated by Eleven. It'd been some time, yet nothing of significance had been found.
The gang of six entered what appeared to be a wider, open space than before. Some grass was absent from the ground, replaced by patches of gray. The mist was lighter here, and they could see the trees spaced in a bowl-like fashion. Things were really strange here.
Eleven looked at the ground. "Here," she said quietly, pointing her finger at the grass.
"El, what's here?" Iris inquired curiously.
Before anyone could respond, a mumble of sounds was heard from the other side of the clearing. As they all looked upon it, another group of six entered the space, equally confused at the cluster of unknown people. A man in a dark blue coat with gray hair, two scrounge-looking rebels, a green archer, and a pair of young people wearing modern clothing were included in their number.
The middle-aged man instantly recognized the group, or more accurately, people inside of it. Bill's eyes opened as she ran towards the Doctor. "Doctor!" she exclaimed before hugging him.
Mike felt puzzled. "Bill, who is that?"
Bill turned back. "He's my friend, the Doctor. We found him!"
"Let me guess," Ginny Weasley said to the group. "You all wound up here from some magic portal and are looking for your friends, no?"
"Something like that," Logan replied. He smelled these people; they were unfamiliar, but a single shard of himself made him feel like he could trust them.
Iris squinted at the new arrivals, feeling like a light bulb lit in her mind. "Green Arrow?" She walked over to the archer, getting close enough for them to whisper. "Who's with you? Did you see Barry?"
"No,' he said in a hushed whisper. "I was talking to Felicity before I got here. Best bet, she and Barry wound up here too. Just don't know where."
"He has to," said a worried Iris.
Mike and Eleven, meanwhile, walked over to the pair of Rebels. "Who're you guys?" he asked innocently.
"We're rebels, kid," Jyn replied with wit. "Just don't tell anyone about us, okay?"
Cassian glared. He didn't approve of Jyn slipping the beans on their mission. Luckily for them, the boy looked equally confused.
"What are you rebelling against?"
"The Empire, what else?" she said.
"Empire?" Eleven commented quietly. Both adults looked her way, taking in her odd haircut and off demeanor. The fact that she didn't know about the Empire made things all the more awkward.
SHOOOM!
Everyone in the group, where or not they had gotten acquainted, heard it in their ears. A shrill, ghastly sound that was reverberated throughout the empty space of the blue forest. All eyes turned to the back of the open space, where a robotic gecko has crawled out of. A body made of steel and blue flame, the cybernetic reptile motioned it's growling orange eyes to everyone.
"Welcome, all. You have made it this far. But now, my master has decreed this matter to come to a head."
"Ahem," the Doctor interrupted, "but who exactly is your master? Doesn't seem like he does anything, except maybe make riddles for us and meet in awkward places."
The gecko still trained a deathly gaze upon them. "Best I and my kin, and you will know." When it had said this, more sounds appeared to resonate. The combined groups stared in shock as a troop of geckos, similar in cold robotic appearance, stood next to it. Like a pack of snakes, the reptiles tensed and then leaped forward.
What happened next was hard to describe. The group acted in different motions, reacting differently to what was happening. Logan popped his bloodied claws and ran towards the reptiles, Jyn and Cassian behind him. Iris, Bill, and the kids ran to a nearby rock that obscured them from the fight. Jason and Ginny stood back to back, alien powers and magic working in unison. Whatever these monsters were, they had met some tough customers.
Iris looked from out behind the rock. She clearly saw Cassian and Jyn train their fire upon two of the geckos. Instead of instantly being blasted to scrap, the lizards still charged forward despite the damage to their exterior. Both fighters ducked out of the way. Jyn prepared another shot only to find her blaster empty. "Dang!" she said.
"Need some help?" a voice said.
She looked to find Green Arrow in front of her. Without any effort at all, he plucked an arrow from his quiver, prepped it in his bow, and fired the shot backhand into one of the damaged enemies. A second passed before a small explosion destroyed what had once been there. Seeing the little light show herself, Jyn chuckled.
"Nice job," she said. "You're not half bad, Robin Hood."
He smiled in response to this.
Some feet away, Logan slashed wildly at one of the lizards on the ground. His claws scratched the surface of its' metallic skin, but no real damage was sustained. He was about to curse when he heard a voice from behind.
"Y'know, violence isn't always the answer," the Doctor said, standing idly by behind him.
The aged mutant barely heard this before dodging a swipe from the gecko. "Kind of fighting for my life here, man. Talking doesn't solve the tough problems."
"You're right," the Doctor said. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, which to anyone who knew him resembled the TARDIS. It began swirling in colors, allowing a synthetic sound to escape. Then the same sound resonated from the gecko itself, and the once agile machine began to slow down. Logan took the chance to impale it with both sets of his sharp claws, ultimately giving it a severe and fatal wound. When he pulled his claws out, they were covered in blue liquid, and the life in the monster was gone.
He turned to the Doctor. "Thanks for…whatever you did."
"You're welcome, chap," the Doctor said. "Let's attend to our friends."
The two men ran towards Ginny and Jason, who happened to be contending with three geckos at once. The Red Ranger leaped towards one of them, delivering enough force in two punches to shatter it completely. Ginny kept his back protected, firing enchantments off like stray bullets. Suddenly, she noticed both reptiles running at her. Instinctively, she shouted "Protego!", but the sheer force of the charge knocked her backward. Both teens collided with each other and fell to the ground.
Ginny looked at the lizards in frustration. How? These lizards – machines – seem to be strong enough to bypass, or at least deal damage to my magic. But how? Her inner questioning had no time to process as they reared for another attack. Footsteps sounding behind her, the girl turned to see Logan and the Doctor running to aid. The Doctor held out his screwdriver, but one of the lizards shot an orange net from its mouth; this cobweb ended up pinning him to the ground, his device several feet away.
"Drat!" he yelled in irritation.
As the other lizard began its run, Ginny pointed her wand at it. She attempted to freeze it in slow motion, but it darted out of the way, knocking Logan with its tail. The metallic head was near her face before she could act further.
"You are finished."
"Guess again," said another voice. Jason smashed an armored fist into the gecko's face, sending it flying into the dirt some feet away. He helped Ginny to her feet. "You okay?"
"Certainly," she said. "That lizard really is tough."
A snicker was heard from it, even with all the damage sustained. Jason, Ginny, Logan, and everyone else saw what appeared to be a fantastical transformation; the lizard began to grow, flames spreading over its body like blueprints. After some time had passed, a fully grown gecko stood before the group, towering and deadly.
"Time for lunch," it bellowed before starting a run at them.
"No." Everyone turned to Eleven. She stood at the rock with the other noncombatants, yet her deathly glare was more than formidable. She held up her hand, causing the machine to become still. Blood ran from her nose, but she persisted. Suddenly, the metal plates and wires began to constrict as if bent and crumpled. The gecko hollered in pain, and then Eleven fell to the ground. Mike ran towards her, bending over in worry.
"El?" he asked in a panic.
"Hah," the now enlarged lizard coughed, damaged as it was. "You cannot beat me, even united. I am my master's wrath. This will be your grave."
Whish! A bolt of lightning ran across the clearing and hit the lizard smack in the jaw. As he recoiled, the lightning came to a stop and revealed the Flash, grinning in short-lasting victory. "Hey, guys!"
"Nice of you to show up," Green Arrow said. "Bring any friends?"
"You'd be surprised," he replied. The scarlet speedster pointed to a group emerging from the right. A big hairy beast in fancy clothes, a female warrior in pink armor, a lank and dark-haired man with glasses, and two young women of different eras comprised their number. Upon seeing the group, Jason's helmet opened up to reveal his face.
"Kimberly! Nice to see you," he shouted. "Any chance you can help us with this oversized lizard?"
The Pink Ranger's visor opened up as well. "Sure thing, but first let's work with our new friends."
As the three groups merged into one massive conglomerate, the massive remaining gecko looked at them all with hatred. Ferocity coursing through it, the machine charged. The Flash ran underneath its knees, Harry and Ginny fired separate explosive spells, and Jyn aimed a shot at some exposed circuits. All at once various spots on its body became targets of pain. However, that didn't stop its damaging tail, which proceeded to knock rocks of varying sizes into the air. One, in particular, headed for Mike and the unconscious Eleven, the former looking up in horror.
Suddenly, a massive shape covered the children. When Mike opened his eyes, he saw the furry form of the Beast covering them. The sheer strength in him has protected them from the rock, and the boy could see the power in him from just looking into his eyes. After some silence, the Beast asked urgently, "Child, are you alright?"
A little taken aback – as well as shocked – Mike replied, "Um, yeah. Thanks a lot."
The Beast turned his furry face to the massive battle going on, then looked again at him. "Get yourself and her to safety, quickly."
"Sure thing," Mike replied. He began lifting Eleven, only to gain more help from Bill, who had seen them and was prepared to help her up.
In the thick of it, both Power Rangers leaped towards the massive lizard. Kimberly divulged a punch to Jason that sent him forward, and he used the opportunity to cut the tail of the massive gecko with his blade. He landed to hear a large scream of pain from the lizard, which had come to realize blue liquid leaking from its' tail. They managed to dodge the swing of its damaged appendix in response to their attack.
Behind them, the Doctor stood admiring the scene. It really was fascinating, all of these different people fighting the creature. But something had to stop it, and he had a feeling it would be his role to play.
"Ahem," a voice said from next to him. The Doctor saw Felicity Smoak over his shoulder, smiling awkwardly. "You the hacker type?"
"If by hack, you mean override controls and mess with evil robots, then yes," the Doctor replied with charisma. "What do ya have in mind?"
Felicity held up her phone, opening an app called Hackware. "I created this hacking app which lets me override basic things. In the case of our robot lizard here, it's alive, but it gets its power from some sort of energy inside of it. And that energy seems to function because of a signal relayed from its head." She pointed towards the lizard, whose head was complete with a silver disk on top. "if we can damage that, somehow, we can stop our giant animal problem once and for all."
"Sounds like a plan," the Doctor said. "You try hacking into it. I'll go the direct approach."
"Hey—". Felicity's voice was cut off as the Doctor ran towards the lizard. Engaged in battle with Harry and the Rebels, it couldn't notice the old man underneath its belly and limbs. He aimed his sonic at the wires underneath, trying to find the source plug leading into the antenna disc on its head. Some seconds later, the screwdriver chimed and he knew it'd found it. He quickly maneuvered out of the way, only for a massive foot to prepare to crush him. Wind bit at his face as the Flash scooted him to safety, right next to the IT girl.
"What're you guys doing?" he asked.
"We're trying to hack into that giant lizard, Flash," Felicity said as calmly as she could.
"And I've got the signal we need to destroy it," said the Doctor. "All we need is someone to jam my sonic into the disc on top of its head. You fast enough to do that?"
A trademark smile appeared on the speedster's lips. "Of course." He grabbed the screwdriver and scanned the tense battle scene. The Beast had been flung into a patch of grass by the lizard's foot, while the Rebels kept it distracted with long-range fire. He quickly realized that its tail would make a suitable ramp, and bolted for it. Time slowed down for him as he ran off onto the damaged appendage. Trying hard to keep his balance, Barry maneuvered onto the surface of the metallic head. He soon found himself over the disc and aimed the sonic at it, feeling a vibration surging through it to the target. Seconds passed, then a wail from the gecko, and he began his descent. Whatever he'd done to the head, it'd seemed to be working.
The Flash ran to the collected group, which was gazing at the gecko robot. At this point, it was visible that multiple explosions, psychokinetic force, and an electronic jolt into its receiver were more than enough to kill it. The lizard wailed in a deafening pain, screaming from the mess of burnt wires and destroyed armor. Its body falling to the ground, it managed to send every bit of energy left into its horrible, hating gaze.
"You…will pay…." It breathed in garbled amounts of speech. "You…"
The last cries of the reptile were interrupted as Laura ran forward, screaming in rage while stabbing it in both eyes. Blue liquid poured out as she stabbed again and again, lost in the fury. Once the spark inside its eyes vanished, she relented, beginning to breathe normally again.
Everyone looked at her in shock. "Kid, enough," said Logan.
Laura turned to see the rest of the group watching her. She realized her hands were full of blue pus and proceeded to try to wipe it off. "Lo Siento," she apologized quietly.
The Flash looked at the massive lizard, then to the group. They had all defeated the massive robotic gecko, but many questions remained. How did it do that? Who was its master? And where do all these people come from? These thoughts circulated through his mind. Fortunately for the fastest man alive, he decided to come up with an icebreaker for the last one.
"Everybody!" Barry yelled, getting the attention of the group. "I don't think we fully know each other, but right now we should probably find some shelter, particularly if we want to survive the night. Anybody want that?"
A murmur of agreement went through the ground like a reverberated sound. Finally, Jyn stepped forward, a smile on her lips. "Sure thing, red. Let's settle down for the night."
Barry smiled. This group wasn't fully acquainted, but sooner or later, they would trust each other. If the battle had taught anything, that was possible.
…
The cauldron swirled with images, pictures of the group winning. Like a potluck of different cultures and food, these characters had put their differences aside and triumphed.
Just like he'd wanted.
The being walked carefully to the massive, expansive balcony. He looked out upon the field and saw the horizons of the dark gray mountains. His domain was nothing more than a discovery they would soon find, but he was fine with that. If anything, it would bring them closer towards his goal.
A bony finger twisted to touch the skull of his face, tracing along the bare teeth and gaping eye holes. For a skeleton, he was more than dead.
He was Oleander, the bringer of multiversal connections. He would finally make change.
Even if it meant their deaths.
Hope you all liked that! I took some time off for a break, but I'm back now! Chapter 14 is coming up soon!