Thanks X and Guest for the reviews. Again I'm assuming that the lack of comments means that the rest of you are okay with whatever I'm writing or I'm just talking to myself.
I do not own nada.
Calan scowled at the newscast of the fight in New York. He wished he could be there but Holiday had played the medical card. He was not fit for duty yet. He gritted his teeth. He knew the doc meant well but he should be there with his men. When the Providence scout ship disintegrated before his eyes he felt his heart drop. Those were good men. He slammed the console. The fight was not going well. He was about to limp to the hanger himself to get down there when he received a call.
"Hello?" He asked not bothering to look at the caller ID.
"Calan? I need your help." It was Valentina. She never asked for help before. The fact that she was calling meant that it was something serious.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Can you come here?" Her voice was laced with fear.
"I… I don't know." Calan hesitated. He wasn't technically on duty but he shouldn't be running off when his men were in trouble.
"Calan, it's Breach. There's something wrong and I… I'm not sure what to do." She said.
Calan frowned. Well, White Knight did say he had to keep his ear to the ground. "I can be there in 2 hours." He answered.
"Thank you. I knew I could count on you." She hung up.
Calan felt a little dishonest. But he was Providence first.
0o0
When Calan arrived, Valentina was waiting for him herself.
"How bad is it?" He asked.
"See for yourself." She replied.
They flew in the copter in silence to the castle. Calan found himself trudging through the familiar corridors leading to Breach's quarters. This time Biowulf and Skalamander were outside her door.
"What happened?" Valentina asked sharply.
"She transported us here." Biowulf answered.
"I was in a middle of a mud bath." Skalamander grumbled. Calan noticed the mud dripping from his lower half.
Valentina steeled her self. She looked at Calan. "Be careful. We have no idea when or where her portals will open and where it would lead to."
Calan nodded wondering what he got himself into.
Valentina opened the door. Calan tried not to gasp at what he saw. Around the room portals opened and closed randomly. Sometimes things would pour through like books or tools. Other times things would be sucked through only to reappear somewhere else or not at all. Breach was curled on her bed in the fetal position. Her eyes were open but they were white and unseeing. She was muttering incoherently to herself.
"Careful," Valentina yanked Calan away from a portal he was standing too close to.
"How long has this been going on?" Calan gaped.
"It started several hours ago." Valentina said.
"What in tarnation do you expect me to do?" Calan looked at her.
"You're the only one in Providence I trust. Rex is preoccupied right now." She said ruefully.
"You've seen the news?" Calan inquired.
"Bits and pieces. I've been busy here making sure nothing disappears permanently." She said.
"Well, that still doesn't explain what you want me to do." Calan said exasperated.
"I know that Lansky and Rombauer told you about Breach's black outs." Valentina said.
Calan eyed her incredulously for a moment. Then he shook his head. "Figured it was no accident you let those two around me."
Valentina smirked before she jumped to avoid another rift. "Can you try to talk to her?"
"Me?" Calan almost yelled. "How is my talking gonna help?"
"I figured she has tuned out all of our voices because she hears them so frequently but we hope you can reach her. Tell her to stop."
"This is nuts." Calan complained but nonetheless he approached Breach cautiously. "Breach? Can you hear me? This is Calan." Calan felt incredibly stupid. "Honey, I need you to stop this right now. People can get hurt."
Breach moaned. But the portals still blinked in and out.
"Breach! Wake up!" Calan called as he side-stepped a portal under his left foot.
There was still no response other than some pitiful whimpering.
Calan tried one more time. "Breach! Snap out of it! What would Rex say?"
"Rex?" Breach's head lifted a fraction. "Rex!" A wind started whipping through the room destroying the carefully organized piles. Calan stared as Breach was lifted from her bed by a mysterious force, hair whipping around wildly.
"Rex, I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!" She yelled into the wind. Then she let out a blood curdling scream. There was a flash of red and just as suddenly she dropped back onto her bed. She lay sobbing on her disheveled blankets. The portals disappeared.
Valentina ran to Breach and held the crying girl. She looked questioningly at Calan who could only shrug in response.
Something was definitely up.
0o0
Beverly was glad for the goggles as she flew through the air in the bi-plane. It was hard to negotiate a deal with the owner of the airfield when he heard where she wanted to go. But she was stubborn. After much going back and forth, he finally agreed to fly her in the old crop duster to Teterboro Airport near the city. It was the best she could do so she accepted.
"We're here!" The man yelled.
Beverly nodded. Even from that far away she could see the smoke and… something swirling around the city. She bit her lip. She hoped she knew what she was doing.
The plane circled and landed. Beverly hopped out and thanked the man before running to try to find someone who would be willing to drive her to the city.
0o0
"Look out!" David pushed Rex aside. Alpha hit him square on. David went flying into a store front.
"Hey! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Rex made his smack hands and punk busters. He kicked the solidified form of Alpha. Alpha slid back on his hands and knees. Rex watched as Alpha raised his head. His eyes glowed bright white. His hand shot out so quick that Rex had no time to react. He grabbed Rex who struggled to get free. Alpha began pulling Rex in. Alpha's face morphed as his eyes grew more menacing and a fiery tongue came out of his mouth. His mouth opened wide. Rex planted his punk buster on the ground. His punk buster dug into the ground but he was still unable to stop Alpha from pulling him in.
Just as he was close enough to see Alpha's sharp teeth, Six dropped from the air and sliced through the nanite arm. The constraint around Rex dissipated when he fell.
"Rex, quit playing around and stop that thing." Six ordered.
"Playing around? That's not playing around." Rex retorted. He smashed a fire hydrant with his smack hands before directing the spewing water at Alpha who was washed away in the violent spray. "This is playing around." Rex declared.
Six, however, wasn't listening. He used the magnetic force from his magna blades to pull up a manhole cover which he then flung at Black Knight. Black Knight raised her hand. The red mass shot from the sky and covered the manhole cover. The cover shattered then reassembled into a sword. It changed trajectory and flew at Six who blocked its bath with his own blades.
"Back for another beat down, agent?" She taunted. "But I grow bored of this." She raised her hand and the swirling red mass in the sky moved to a rooftop where pigeons were locked in a coop. As the mass passed through a shadow grew until a monstrous winged creature with several heads flew out of the mass.
The creature landed next to Black Knight with a thud. One of its grotesque heads nuzzled Black Knight who gave it a light pat.
"Kill them all." She ordered. The heads gave a loud squawk before leaping to the sky.
"Aww man, it's like Thanksgiving all over again." Rex groaned as he formed his BFS. He sliced off a head.
"Eww, gross." Rex said as he tried to shake the blood off his blade. The falling head however started to grow a body. Soon there was another monster pigeon.
"Rex!" Six snapped.
"How was I supposed to know it would do that?" Rex said defensively before he was attacked from behind by Alpha.
Several Scout ships landed and agents poured out to help fight the hydra-pigeon.
Holiday watched the fight from the scout ship. She turned to Caesar.
"We have to help them!" She said to him.
"Yes, but now that Black Knight has the power to alter reality we may have a problem." He said in his usual calm manner as he tinkered with his gun.
"What kind of problem?" Holiday really didn't want to know.
"Well, she can disrupt my dimension disrupter." Caesar shrugged." Unless I can alternate the signals so that they counteract each other. There done. Now we need to get close enough."
"Let's go." Holiday grabbed the young scientist and pulled him to a jump jet.
Caesar and Holiday landed in the middle of the chaos. Buildings were being reconfigured. Six was holding off a killer pigeon. A few Providence agents that managed to survive were trying to hold off the multi-headed bird. Kenwyn and Beasly were shooting at several heads. Tuck and Cricket fired an electrified net. The heads merely shook everything off.
"Nothing's working." Cricket said.
"Keep firing. We have to keep this thing off Rex." Kenwyn yelled.
"Yeah, who's going to keep it off us?" Beasly asked.
"I am! Take this!" Bobo yelled as he fired off the broiler.
The heat blasted the bird back onto its back.
"Ooo, well done… literally." Tuck joked. But his smile faded when the bird got up.
"Aww, man, stay down!" Tuck growled as he fired another net.
Rex was trying to fight off Alpha who was trying to absorb his Omega-1 nanite.
"Stop trying to eat me!" Rex bellowed before he swung his funchucks at him.
"Caesar!" Holiday yelled at him. She took out her Providence issued firearm and shot at the monster pigeon Six was fighting. "Go!"
"Oh right." He snapped out of his stupor and aimed at Alpha.
He pulled the trigger. A large hole ripped open.
0o0
"Can't anyone give me a ride?" Beverly stomped her feet in frustration.
"Yore be needing a ride, mum?" Someone asked her with a think cockney accent.
Beverly startled as she spun around to see her speaker. She came face to face with a tall man in a trench coat. He seemed to have only one arm as the sleeve of the other hung empty. His face was hidden by the upturned collar of the coat and a large ascot cap that was pulled over his eyes. His long salt and pepper hair was tied back in a pony-tail.
"Umm, yes?" Beverly said uncertainly.
"Well, yore in luck, as I am headin' in yore direction." He said.
"How... how do you know where I want to go?" She asked suspiciously.
He guffawed, "I heard yore speaking loud'nuff to wake the dead." Now yore be wantin' that ride or not."
"I… I guess." Beverly was getting strange vibes from the man but seeing as he was the only one to even give her notice she realized she didn't have much of a choice. "Sure." She said more firmly.
"Right tis way, miss." The man walked to a beat up old Chevy. "Not much to look at but'll get yore where yore goin'." The man said jovially.
Beverly got into the passenger side hesitantly while the cheerful man hopped into the driver's side.
"Hang on now, miss. Ol' Bessie here… can be temperamental." He said in a slightly menacing tone.
Beverly put her seat belt on just as the car jerked forward in an ungodly speed. Beverly let out an involuntary yelp and clutched the dashboard.
"So why yore be headin' to the mess? Looki' fer some thrills?" The man asked conversationally.
"No, my family is there." Beverly simply answered still clutching for dear life.
"Ah, that's a shame. They're jaspered all right." He chuckled.
Beverly had no idea what he was talking about but said, "I just want to find them."
"Yore thinkin' yore be helpin' them?"
"I… I don't know. I don't think there's anything I can do." She admitted.
"I think you know what yore hafta be doing, miss." He said seriously.
"What about the consequences?" Beverly asked.
"Then why come?" The man asked back.
Beverly thought about it.
"We're here!" He announced pulling to a sudden stop.
Beverly looked up in surprise. "How did we get here so fast?"
"I've got me ways." He reached over and opened the door for her. "Best be leav'n now."
"Uh sure." Beverly got out of the car. She stared at the turmoil down the block. Then she remembered her manners. "Thank you for the…." She trailed off when she saw the mysterious man was gone. She frenetically looked around but he had disappeared completely. "Weird." She muttered. A roar brought her back to the present. She ran down the block.
0o0
Beverly spotted the rift in the sky. Her heart sank. She was too late. The rift seemed to suck in the red swirling mass. Rex grabbed Alpha and swung him like a discus. Then he let go and Alpha went flying into the void. Then just as quickly the rift closed as Caesar turned off his machine. Rex then put his hand on the pigeon monsters and they reverted back to their original form.
"Ha! Black Knight, we just got rid of your partner and your monsters." Rex gloated.
"Oh did you now?" Black Knight said smugly.
"Uh, yeah we did?" Rex was a little uncertain now.
"You're such a fool." Black Knight started to glow red. "Those nanites… they were just a part of a bigger Alpha… the real Alpha, who still resides in ME!" A giant burst of red energy came out of Black Knight's body. It knocked everyone off their feet.
When Rex looked up a snake-like red cloud hovered over Black Knight.
"I am a goddess! And no one can stop me from getting my revenge!" The Alpha snake split into multiple snakes and shot into various objects. One went into a car, one a tank, and another took possession of the scout ship. The newly created mechanical EVOs rose.
"I'm gonna need a bigger broiler… and a new diaper." Bobo muttered.
Caesar fired up his disruptor.
"Eh, eh, eh," Black Knight wagged her finger which she then pointed. The disruptor shorted and the sparks shocked Caesar who promptly dropped it. An Alpha snake came out and hissed at him before returning to Black Knight. Alpha then materialized above Black Knight in his energy form.
"Hello father. You see that I did not need your help after all." He said haughtily.
"Alpha, you don't belong here." Caesar said simply.
"No father! I do belong but you… you don't!" Alpha answered. He waved his hand and the EVO car approached Caesar.
Caesar, however, stood his ground. The car roared and leapt to attack. Six blocked it with his blades. He split it halfway down the middle. The monster reeled back but then the two halves reformed.
Rex was finding he had the same problem. Every time he cut them they reformed. The guns were also having little effect.
"It's like we're shooting spitballs at it." Beasly said as he continued firing.
"I'm open to suggestions." Kenwyn said as she backed away from their own scout ship.
"I'm thinking a tactical retreat would be in order." Tuck replied.
"Good idea! Ruuuunnnn!" Bobo yelled. "Monkeys and dames first. But really monkeys first." He rushed past Cricket.
"Gee, thanks." She muttered.
"Holiday, how do we stop these things?" Six asked as he continued to cut and slash at the car EVO.
"I… I… don't know Six. It's like nothing I've ever seen before. Each of his nanites is moving independently yet simultaneously with the original Alpha." Rebecca was at a lost. "Caesar?"
Caesar didn't answer he was running computations on his hand held computer. He finally looked up. "This is not sustainable. The nanites will burn itself out, We just need to wait it out."
"Uh bro? I don't think we can wait it out." The tank had wrapped it's cannon around Rex and was squeezing the life out of him.
Black Knight approached him. "Once we get your lovely nanite Rex, we won't have to worry about our nanite supplies." Alpha plunged his talon into Rex's chest. Rex screamed in pain as Alpha rummaged through his body as if Rex was a drawer.
"Here it is." Alpha cried triumphantly.
"No!" Rex struggled to hold onto it.
"Rex!" Six tried to get to him but the car EVO knocked him down. Then he pinned him to the floor.
Beverly took all this in. Her friends and family were in trouble. She had one last card to play.
She ran into a building nearest to the fighting and pressed the elevator hoping that they were still running. The door opened and she got in. Pressing the top floor she waited impatiently as the elevator ascended ignoring the awful elevator music. When the elevator reached its destination, Beverly scrambled to the roof. Using what she learned from Circe she kicked down the door.
Running onto the roof she called out at the top of her lungs.
"ALPHA! HEY ALPHA!" She waved her arms to get his attention.
Her voice echoed through the buildings and Alpha looked up.
"I have a deal for you!" Beverly yelled.
"What is she doing?" Holiday gasped.
"Don't listen to her, kill them all" Black Knight demanded.
"Do you like taking orders from her?"Beverly continued. "Well, if you don't then I have a proposal for you. A body that won't break down because its nanites are special one-of-a-kind. The person won't tell you what to do… and most importantly you CAN LIVE!"
That got Alpha's attention. "Where's this body?" He asked.
"It's me." Beverly said.
"NO!" Both Black Knight and Rebecca screamed.
"Beverly don't do this." Rebecca ran toward the building but was stopped by falling debris.
"We had a deal!" Black Knight yelled at Alpha.
"I have fulfilled my end but I still do not have a sustainable body." Alpha said.
"Once you have Rex's nanite, you will have your body." Black Knight told him.
"If you take mine, you won't have to take anyone else's nanites ever again. Mine can sustain you. And you have full autonomy. I won't tell you what to do. Just leave my family and friends alone. Do we have a deal?" Beverly offered.
Alpha analyzed her nanites. "Yours are different, very different. How can this be?"
"Alpha, we can rule the world, you and I. Think of all the power... power to remake this world!" Black Knight said urgently.
"Power is your goal. It is not mine." Alpha replied.
In a split second Alpha flew out of Black Knight's body. She shrieked and tried to grab Alpha but it's impossible to grab onto pure energy. As Alpha shot to where Beverly stood, he entered her body. Beverly staggered back at the impact. It was like getting hit with a bucket of ice water. She gasped as Alpha's power overwhelmed her. She felt her body being invaded, her thoughts were no longer hers, and then a whirl of energy enveloped her. She felt herself rising off the roof.
"I finally live!" The voice that came from her mouth was no longer hers. She looked at her loved ones on the ground. The EVOS Alpha had created clattered to the floor. Everyone was just staring at her. She looked at her sister. Rebecca had tears running down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry." Beverly mouthed to her sister. But that was it. Alpha had total control. In a second she was gone. The last thing Beverly heard was her sister screaming her name.
That took a lot out of me. Hope you liked it.