Ahem. Hello again, sorry for the spectacular delay to this story. There are a number of reasons for it. Firstly, writers block, secondly a brief illness, and thirdly a lack of confidence. To cut a long story short, I really am not enjoying writing this story as much as I have some of the previous ones which makes it very hard going at times. So an ideas where I'm going wrong, or words of support would be appreciated. Okay, I hope you enjoy it.
25. In the Know
An eerie chill emanated through the streets, seeming to oppress all human noise and life. The entire of existence was momentarily overridden by the gently whooshing of still open portal in the night's sky, and the sound of Trigon, King of the Demons, snorting into the air, as he surveyed the scene. Taller then even the largest skyscraper in the area, his powerful presence dominated the scene. Eventually, he spoke.
"I am back!" he hissed, quietly by his standards, but still plenty loud enough to hurry up any Superheroes that Cyclops was having trouble raising, as the sound echoed across the planet.
Edward stood in a mixture of fear and awe of this situation, finding himself taking an involuntary step back. A small part of him was conjecturing as to whether it might have been advisable to have taken action to try and prevent this, although he wasn't sure what he could have done. The rest of his mind however, was frozen by the impact of the moment.
His mind only clicked back into gear when the silence was broken suddenly by a sharp squeak from his sister.
"Master," MJ babbled, "I'm sorry, I have failed you…"
Trigon turned his massive head to allow his four glowing eyes to focus solely on his Spider-puff servant. "Nonsense," he scoffed. "You have done exactly what I required of you. The extra task you where trying to complete was for your self." He looked up slightly at SP. Buttercups child had also frozen, but not with awe, only with fear. Her knees were knocking together, her pupils shrunk and her mouth hanging open. Edward also thought that he could see a few tears.
Trigon studied her for a moment. "This task was also irrelevant," he said blandly, and with that a huge energy beam fired from his eyes.
Just as it had with Bubbles' attack long ago, SP's spider-sense was completely overloaded, and just as then, she made no attempted to doge. The calm, confident and talented warrior had vanished, to be replaced by a shrivelling, terrified child. SP only action was to flinch as the blast cannoned towards her. Edward made a dive forward, but was stopped halfway through the movement by someone grabbing his leg. So he could only watch as Sandra Patricia was smashed by the blast, the land around her vaporising in it wake.
When Trigon had finished, SP had almost been burnt to a crisp. Her scarred, motionless body heaped at the bottom of a disconcertingly large creator, with MJ near by dancing around in delight. "No more SP! I'm the only one again!"
Sickened by this display from his sister, Edward swung round to see who was holding his leg, only to find to his surprise that it was Alice. "What the Hell…" he began, but she quickly cut him off.
"That is Hell!" Alice bellowed, her eyes filled with an emotion he'd never seen in her before – genuine terror. "It can't be beaten, we must run!"
"Yes," said a new voice. "Run away Edward my dear, not that it will help you." Him was hovering around just behind him. "You and your entire planet is doomed, all because you didn't use contraception…"
The red ruff swung a furious punch at Him, but it was the floppy, awkward punch of someone that has never had to throw one before. Him easily dogged it, before drifting back upwards towards his master.
"Oh dear," he continued mockingly. "I fear that you may regret not learning to fight properly. Not that it will be your last regret once I'm done with…" Trigon coughed gently but firmly. Him stopped, slightly flustered. "Sorry master, once we're done with you!"
Edward really wished now he had done some superhero training now; at least then he'd be able to think of a witty come back. But instead he just stood there like an angry lemon, until Alice tugged on his shoulder fearfully. "Please let's go…" she began to plead, they where interrupted by a blue flash.
Sonic, with Blossom hanging on behind like Tails used to, screeched to a halt just in front of the scene. The two of them quickly assessed the situation. Blossom managed to just get away with a surprised and disappointed look when she saw MJ, but couldn't as well suppress the gasp of horror when she saw her niece.
"SP," she whispered, before making a move in that direction. Sonic grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"If she's dead you can't help her and if she's alive you won't be doing her any good by drawing her into the line of fire!" he hissed, with the experience and harshness of a veteran soldier. "Now stay here and follow my lead!"
From up above, Trigon – who was not in a great hurry today – studied the newcomers with an element of twisted amusement. "Tell me Him," he muttered commandingly. "Who is the blue spiky creature with that Puff?"
"Its Sonic," Him spat. Trigon nodded.
"Tell me hedgehog," he said smugly. "Why do you risk your life for a planet that isn't yours? Surely you want to go home to your friends."
Sonic, who'd been tipped off earlier about Trigon's mind reading capabilities, refused to be flustered by this. Instead, he looked straight into those terrible eyes, smiled slightly, and turned to MJ.
"It's always the daughter's isn't it?" he said in an over-the-top manner, waving his arms about to make his point. He turned to Blossom with a huge smile on his face, the bitter soldier of moments before gone, to be replaced by the natural exhibitionist. "I mean, what are us parents supposed to do with them eh? They take all your money, never listen to your advice, and then marry some awful, stupid bandicoot." He said the last bit with rather too much feeling.
Trigon was feeling a lot too. As the might king of the demons, he wasn't used to being ignored. "Answer me when I speak to you rodent!" he bellowed with hell-born furry.
"Do you mind," snapped Sonic, "we're having a conversation over here." He nudged Blossom in the ribs, and she stopped gaping and sprung into life.
"Why MJ?" she asked sadly. MJ didn't look bothered by this appeal.
"I did it because I needed to be free!" she replied aggressively. "Free of those human emotions that I couldn't satisfy, free to be the monster I am!"
"Oh I see," interrupted Sonic, "you did it for attention."
"WHAT!" stuttered Edward and Blossom together. MJ twitched embarrassedly.
"That's not true!" she argued, but she didn't seem totally convinced.
Blossom was now pissed. "For Fuck's sake MJ!" she stormed, "can't I leave you alone for one week without you going crazy and trying to kill us all! You've unleashed this terrible planet destroying monster on us all just because you felt ignored! Couldn't you see that the problem we had with Edward had to take priority, just for a little while?"
"I don't think so," Him spoke for MJ, who was busy starring at her feet. "Not since she was being eaten alive by the guilt of killing someone." He paused for a moment, to take in Blossom's and Edward's faces, both of which had drained of colour. "And you two didn't even know."
From up above, Trigon chortled evilly "It's a good job that I find this so amusing," he cackled, "otherwise I would have vaporised the lot of you by now." He turned to Him. "It appears that I have underestimated the cruelty of your genius, congratulations."
If Him could have blushed he would of. "It was nothing sir," he said modestly.
"It was sick, and I've had enough of it," snapped a new voice. The crowd looked round to behind Sonic and Blossom, where Brick had just arrived. "MJ, get down here now!"
The Spider-puff looked up again. "NO!" she hissed. "You're not my real Dad!"
"Maybe, but I am!" Eddy stepped out from behind Brick. His tone of voice and expression were firm and commanding like and angry father should be, but his knees where knocking together so fast, that the fat on his stomach rippled like an ocean.
MJ hesitated. "I…" she managed, before glancing around aimlessly, looking for guidance.
Blossom, however, took a step towards Eddy, turning her back to the enemy in the process. "What are you doing here?" she asked worriedly.
"Oh, Brick came round to my house because he'd lost my daughter and was wondering if she was with me, and then we saw this on the news," he explained. Brick nodded to confirm the story.
"You shouldn't be here, it's not safe…" Blossom began.
"Obviously," boomed Trigon viscously for behind. He raised a finger and fired a beam. It was much narrower then the one used to take out SP, more like a laser then an energy wave. Sonic moved like a whirlwind, but he wasn't quite quick enough. Sure, he managed to bundle Blossom out of its path, but the laser still surged through his own hand and Eddy's shoulder, although it would have got his heart otherwise.
Trigon smiled. "I warned you not to bore me," he said.
Sonic rolled off Blossom, blood pouring from the wound in his hand. The pink Puff however ignored Sonic's earlier advice and scrambled straight over to Eddy. The trauma of the attack had rendered him unconscious, and his breathing was slowing as the massive wound settled. Blossom jerkily managed to blow some ice over it, sealing the damage, as Edward – who'd got there a few seconds latter – checked for a swallowed tongue, his own face pale with horror.
Brick swooped in to put an arm around Blossom, trying to calm her down. "It's okay," he whispered gently, "it's going to be okay." But Blossom couldn't disagree more. It was her own fault, wasn't it? Surely, Brick returning had been the greatest event of her life, but it had lead to her a bad mother on two counts, a bad wife for abandoning Eddy, and a bad superhero, of not questioning earlier how Brick had escaped. The end result was the mess in front of her, and it was all down to… the two demons standing behind her. Him cackling like a lunatic at her pain, and Trigon emitting endless self-satisfaction. It was they who had taken advantage of her brief loss of control, and turned it into this terror. Blossom was crying now, but they weren't tears of sadness, they were of anger. It couldn't possibly hurt to lose control just once more, could it? Anyway, it was too late now.
Sonic and Edward were already taking a few steps back, when Blossom turned to Brick, seeming quite calm about things. "Brick," she said, in a toneless voice. "What ever happens from now, I love you okay?"
Brick looked puzzled. "What does that mean?" he asked, but he never found out, because in a flash of yellow Blossom had elbowed him in the ribs and propelled him through the nearest heap of rubble from a destroyed building. Then she stood up, her eyes burning bright red, and her hair a glowing, fizzling yellow. She swung round and stared straight up at Trigon.
The demon sneered. "You going to entertain me Blossom?" he asked.
"I'm not Blossom," she replied defiantly, energy sparking off her, "and I'm going to destroy you!" She blasted upwards, propelled by that (depressingly) familiar feeling of uncontrollable endless rage, and in a flash landed a firm punch on Trigon's enormous chin. The demon's head rocked backwards and for a moment, Blossom's rage was eased at the thought of causing the oaf an element of pain.
It was a short lived feeling, because Trigon rocked his head straight back forward again, smashing Super Blossom straight back down from whence she came. The tarmac gave way once more on impact, creating a large creator.
As the dust rose from the impact, MJ found her voice. "What did you attack my Dad for!" she shouted at Trigon. "He wasn't a threat… and he hadn't done anything against me!"
"Don't question my motives," replied Trigon curtly. "All mortal life will perish, and as a demon, you will welcome that." The S shaped mark on MJ's head glowed vigorously, and the anger faded from her face and her eyes glazed over.
"As you command Master," she said tonelessly.
"If I may suggest master," Him piped up, "would it not be best for her to wait in Hell until all emotional distractions have been eliminated?" Trigon nodded slowly.
"Good thought. MJ, return to Hell and wait for further instructions."
"Yes Master," MJ nodded obediently, and with out a backward look she flew through the porthole and out of sight.
Blossom crawled slowly out the creator, her rage and the extra power it brought gone in a flash. With Brick still picking himself up from his impact, Edward trying to help Eddy and Sonic now keeping his distance, she forced her self on to her shaking, battered hands and knees alone.
"Shit he's strong," she muttered, but before she could come up with another course of action, she felt the presence of her sister's energy.
"He can't be that strong," Bubbles said cheerfully, as she landed gently on her right hand side. She was wearing suit-trousers and a blouse, so had probably come straight from a campaign meeting.
"You just haven't trained for four years," Buttercup added from her left hand side. The two of them grabbed an arm each and pulled Blossom back on to there feet, which was quiet an achievement of coordination, since neither was even willing to look at the other.
Meanwhile, Butch, who had arrived with Buttercup, had made a beeline straight for SP's battered body. As Blossom watched, the first though that came into her mind was that Sonic wasn't bothering with the lecture he'd given her earlier. Butch studied his daughter with fear in his eyes, as Buttercup watched in a furious silence.
"Admiring our handy work I see," interjected Him, who obviously felt the need to gloat. "Don't sweat son, you'll soon be joining her."
Butch said nothing. He simply reached down to SP's neck, and pulled the chain necklace she had taken earlier off. On it, was a simply, sliver cross. Butch wrapped it gently round his own neck in silence, leaving the talking to his wife.
"Stay out of this Bubbles," she muttered with undisguised hatred. "This is our fight, and besides, Republicans only start battles; they don't fight in them." With that she and Butch rocketed off towards Trigon, launching an attack that reminded Blossom of the old days of giant monsters, long ago. To her surprise, they were far more affective then she had been; Buttercup even managed to seemingly bruise Trigon with a blow to the chest. The demonic king was unflustered however, and as soon as he became bored of attack it took a mere flick of his wrist to send the two of them hurtling towards the ground.
They never got there because Bubbles swooped in and caught them both, one in each arm. "You've been listening to far too much Democrat propaganda sis," she said in a sweet voice that was bound to get Buttercup angry. Choosing not to wait for a reply, Bubbles fired an eye blast at Trigon, who effortlessly batted it away, before replying with his own attack. The three heroes split, all of them narrowly avoiding vaporisation.
Sonic had scene enough. "Alright!" he shouted commandingly, "get down here now! It's time for a bit of tactics."
"Ha!" laughed Trigon, as the heroes (and the recovered Brick) formed up around Blossom and Sonic, "tactics are futile and pointless against me. I was going to wait for my beloved daughter to show up before I obliterated you, but if you going to be that predictable… " He fired a large blast towards the crowd, cackling with joy as he did. His excitement was short lived, as a back shape emerged from the ground in front of his targets, and blasted the beam straight back, with such ferocity that it landed him on his back. Him gasped and looked in fear at the figure that had just emerged.
"You should have known that I'd be waiting for you to do something that arrogant before revealing my presence Dad." Raven spoke with a soft confidence.
"Yeah, nice cool entrance, but do you mind cutting it a little less fine next time," Sonic snapped from behind her. Raven glanced round at Sonic, and at the wound in his hand.
"Pain making you touchy?" she asked.
"What this? Mere flesh wound, barely noticed it," lied Sonic.
"No, that looks really painful," said Beast Boy, who'd materialised seemingly from a fly moments before, "you should go see a doctor." He swung away before Sonic could bawl him out, but the Hedgehog was distracted anyway, by the arrival of Cyclops' assembled team.
It was a good bunch, Sonic thought. Other then the man himself, Cyclops had brought Jean Grey, Wolverine, Iceman and Colossus from his own X-men, all five former Titans (as they had lots of previous experience), Wonder Women, The Flash and the Green Lantern (for there functional abilities,) and Boomer, Goku, Vegeta, Trunks (who annoyed Best Boy by positioning himself next to Raven, much to Sonic's pleasure) Krillin, Piccolo and Gohan who as required had brought a fair amount of equipment with him. Of course they could have deployed more Heroes, but Sonic had made it clear that he wanted only those best suited to this task: in the upcoming battle, time could not be wasted looking after those who were not suited to this kind of fight.
With him and the Puffs included, Sonic seemed to have achieved his objective. There was just one or two modifications to be made. "Civilians, take the wounded man away and stand back."
Edward moved immediately, but there was a pause before Brick – who was busy trying to find out from a reluctant Blossom why she's attack him a moment ago – realised he was being spoken to too. "What me?" he spluttered.
"Yes of course you," interjected Wonder Women bitterly. "You're not a member of the SSR, thank god."
"What's that supposed to mean," asked Blossom coldly, although she knew full well.
"It means we only have people that we can trust," Wonder Women replied, "so come to think of it, quite why you're here is a…"
"THANK YOU!" Sonic shouted firmly. Trigon was beginning to regain his footing and they still weren't ready yet. "Brick, Edward, now, if you please." As Brick reluctantly when to pick up Eddy, Sonic turned over his other shoulder, to look at the half Saiyan Alice, who was still cowering some distance away. "You, get over here," he barked.
Alice, clearly still rattled, shook her head. "N..n..no," she stuttered.
"Gee," murmured a voice from with in the crowd, "I've never known Vegeta to train a coward." This did the trick. Enough of Alice's confidence (or at least anger) returned for her to stand shakily up and make her way over. Sonic sighed. This wasn't ideal for her or them, he though, but they might just need her.
"Good girl," he said encouragingly, before suddenly whipping his head round. "Leave her!" he bellowed. Edward, who had made a move to SP's wounded body, retreated rapidly. Sonic nodded. "Okay Gohan, turn it on now."
Behind them Brick had just placed Eddy's body on the ground. Edward zipped over to him. "Err, shouldn't we get him to a hospital?" Edward asked desperately.
"You can do that," snapped Brick, "but if Sonic thinks I'm abandoning Blossom he'd got another thing coming!" He flew back towards the battle group, and straight into a yellow force field. "What the hell!" Brick stormed, as he thumped it angrily with his fists, "why on earth did he do that?"
Inside, Trigon was of much the same opinion. "What is this?" he muttered furiously. Sonic laughed.
"Well horn head," he scoffed, "this is a force field powered of Saiyan energy made by that machine over there. As long as my Saiyan friends are on there feet, we have you trapped right where we want you!"
"That's impossible," Him bleated, "how could you have prepared for this so quickly! You only could have known that Trigon was planning an escape a few hours ago when Brick admitted what he'd done to Blossom!"
"Yes, I was wondering that," muttered Raven. Sonic smirked.
"Ha. We had a tip off from the Hell police force after they raided your house. I knew exactly what you where going to try. Where do you think Alice got the correct pregnancy test for Puffs from? I planted it for her."
"Those secret meetings," Blossom muttered in astonishment. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Frankly, I thought you'd blow it," Sonic replied, "and you too Raven. It had to be done this way, I mean if you know an enemies' attack plan, you don't stop the plan. You lay a trap instead."
"Besides," muttered Jean Grey darkly, "you can hardly complain about Sonic keeping secrets, can you Blossom."
"We'll discuss this latter," Blossom spat, as Raven nodded in agreement.
It was at this point that Trigon lost his temper. "There will be no later!" he bellowed. "So you've got me trapped in here for a while, what's that going to achieve! Those Saiyans will tier eventually…"
"Want to bet!" Goku called out.
"I bet on your life!" the demon stormed. "Besides, even if you can shove me back into Hell, MJ's the only one who can close the portal. I can return when ever I like!"
"Maybe," put in Boomer, as he hadn't spoken yet this chapter, "but there's twenty-six of us, and only one of you, we'll grid you down."
Trigon laughed. "Now," he said calmly, his temper cooling momentarily, "this time, do you want to bet?" He waved his arm, and suddenly, an army of demon's surged out of the portal, charging at the assembled heroes, grinning like maniacs.
There was just about enough time for a collective intake of breath and then, there was just the chaos of battle.