New chapter of the week poll up at the usual
Chapter Eight: The Star Conqueror.
Harry noticed in an instant these troops were further gone than the pilot he encountered on the plane. He could see them all surrounding him, preparing for a fight. If they wanted a fight, then Harry would give them one. He turned to Kara, who slumped over.
"The Kryptonite is…."
Harry waved his hand and Kara perked up suddenly. She looked from one side or another. A glowing white aura appeared around her body.
"You found a way to negate her….." Alex said, and she dodged the blasts from one of the troops. "So, the STARRO drones now have the memories and the abilities of these men, and….you know, I think I better shut up and start fighting."
Harry smiled, the plan was pretty sound to be honest. He waved his hand and tried to create a barrier. They could not be held back forever. One thought echoed through Harry's mind like a constant obsession.
'Find the pod, it has to be in here somewhere.'
Supergirl took out the drones, now having not been tied down by the problems of Kryptonite poisoning. She relished having one of her big weaknesses being taken away. Her fist curled back and nailed one of the drones.
"You might not want to get the dust all over you, even if I shielded you," Harry said. He waved his hand onto the ground and several cords poked up over the ground. They wrapped around the goons.
Alex shot the discs at the three most skilled of the shooters. The bio-energy shot around them. For a second, she thought the drones had grown stronger, adapted. Then the discs lit up and adapted as well, forcing a more constant stream of energy through them. The Starfish drones hung on for dear life.
"It's not working as well as it used to," Alex said, and she could see one of the drones crawl down on the floor. It attempted to latch onto her. Alex shot it. She kept shooting around.
"Oh, I was afraid of this," Harry said. He turned around and nailed one of the troops, dropping him to the ground. "They're adapting to change."
Harry would say this was not good, although he hated having to speak the obvious. The sorcerer noticed they positioned themselves around one door in particular. He turned around and watched when one of the drones rose up in an attempt to attach himself to Harry.
"Sorry, you're not my type," Harry said, aiming a glowing dagger through the fleshy underbelly of the creature. The creature responded with a hideous shriek and wilted underneath Harry's attack. "Right through the door, there's where the pod which brought the first creature to Earth."
"Good, let's find it, and…..see what we can do about….."
The two troops pinned Supergirl against the wall. The drones augmented their strength, but did not make their bodies any less squishy.
Alex dropped down to the ground and avoided one of them using his gun as a club to bring down onto her head. She pulled herself up and pushed a button on the console.
Kara clapped her hands to her ears when a shrill siren echoed through the base. Even Harry and Alex had been taken aback, but no one had been taken more aback than the creatures. The flesh bags they had taken staggered around and their limbs failed out of control.
The signal died and one of them blew up the console, causing sparks to fly in every single direction. Harry could see them retreating off of the base, moving towards the exit.
"Wow, that worked," Alex said.
"Yes, but only for a minute," Harry said. "I think you caught them off guard….are you okay?"
"I'll let you know when my ears stop ringing," Kara said, rubbing her ear lobes.
Harry could see her own healing abilities had turned on. He knocked on the door which the drones had protected. A knocking sound echoed from the other side of it. Harry turned towards them.
"I'm going to say off hand this may be a trap," Harry said to both of them. "But, it's just a hunch."
Kara turned her head towards the door and tried to peer through it. She had been caught off guard by her own ability to look through the door. Lined with lead, she was afraid of that.
"So, I guess we're stepping into the unknown," Kara said. She tried to push the door open, but the door refused to budge.
She tried to force it through her super strength. The door was really stuck.
"Kara, Alex, you both should stand back," Harry said.
Both of them stood back and watched when Harry raised his hand. Something hummed on the other end of the door. He waved his hand and the door melted away, leading them inside some kind of cavernous hallway.
"And again, the horror movie vibes continue," Alex said.
Kara put herself ahead of her sister, but Alex was not having any of that. The two of them walked side by side, with Harry making his way around the corner. He looked up on the ceiling, and could see several pods hanging from the ceiling.
"Eww," Kara said.
"I'd agree," Alex said. "Egg sacs…..and…..they're…..hatching…."
One slimy, newborn starfish arm pushed its way through the eggsac. Whoever thought all babies were cute, had never gotten a good look at these creatures. It moved in a deform way, and Harry could hear a babyish chant of "STARRO lives" echoing through his mind's eye.
Harry noticed another room full of cells. Base personnel who waited their turn to join the army and some of them looked in terror.
Alex moved behind one of the guards and kicked him in the back of the leg. The impact resulted in one of the guards dropping down to the ground. Supergirl went behind the other guard and knocked him out.
The mini-starfish children popped off of the chest of the guards. They looked to be trying to escape. Harry lifted them up and sealed them up into an orb.
"Please, Supergirl," one of the prisoners said. "You have to help us….he's coming for us…we should have never opened it."
"What?" Kara asked. "What did you open?"
"The pod…we found at the docks…before the DEO arrived," one of them said. Her throat looked about ready to close up. "It sent a signal, and he plans to bring them all to Earth…his home world is dying, he plans to make Earth his new base of operations."
"Homeworld?" Supergirl asked.
"He's already infiltrated here, and he's on his way to the DEO," one of them said. "The drones already sent two troops back with orders to free the herald, and the third….he could not be subverted for some reason…"
"It was Henshaw, wasn't it?" Alex asked.
Alex pointed her gun and could see a series of cracked rocks, along with a large hole in the ground. She stepped closer towards the hole and could see blood dripping on the side of it. The alarming possibility of what could happen already hit her.
"Henshaw's down there?" Kara asked. "Damn it, and by coming here he's opened up the entire DEO…"
"Kara, calm down," Harry said. "He knew what he was getting into, and he thought he could handle himself."
"What can he do?" Kara asked.
So they didn't know their boss's secret yet. Harry almost chuckled in amusement. Boy would they be in for a shock when they found that out. He wouldn't be the spoiler just yet.
"We're going down there, then," Alex said. "If he's still alive, we're going to need him….the DEO is compromised, so we can't go back there."
"If we were there, we could have stopped them," Kara said. Harry reached around and grabbed Kara around the hand.
"Don't beat yourself up on what could have been, just worry about what we need to do," Harry said. "If you think this is your fault, it isn't. There are some things which are out of your control….trust me, I know."
Kara smiled, she really did need the pickup, especially at her darkest hour. She knew how her mother felt sometimes, unable to save everything, despite her brilliant mind.
"We still need to find the pod," Harry said. "And I have a feeling we're closer than we thought….but first, we're going to need all the help we can get."
Hank Henshaw struggled up to his knees. The tunnels underneath this particular base had stretched for miles around. He recalled the despair of a long time ago.
He became less like Hank, and more like J'onn J'onzz, the last son of Mars. Memories flooded back to him, of the hopelessness of losing all he knew and loved. The White Martian barbarians attacked the greens with reckless abandoned. The Green Martians were by no means a perfect race and they often looked down on their White brothers and sisters. Still, the violence brought upon the White Martian race upon the Greens shocked J'onn and several others to the core. Perhaps they should have reached an accord and an understanding before it was too late.
Earth was not too different in these respects. J'onn could not believe how they had been so blind for the fact there were real threats.
The agents had been sent back, infected by the drones to base. J'onn made his attempts to stop them, but the base had countermeasures which forced him to flee. Fire, his old Achilles heel, the children of the Star Conqueror's understood and exploited this.
The Martian wondered if he could make his way back up and face what had happened. The one moment of weakness put both J'onn and Hank into a light. And in some ways, he failed in the promise he made a long time ago.
Light at the end of the tunnel, and he slumped against the wall. Could they be coming to finish him off?
"He's close by," a familiar voice said.
J'onn relaxed, hearing Alex's voice. Then dread filled him. What if she had been infected just like the other DEO agents he brought upon this investigation.
He shook his head, paranoia bred inside him like a well formulated virus. The Star Conqueror wanted this. He moved forward.
"Alex, I'm down here!" he yelled.
"Well, I was right," Harry said.
Alex stopped for a moment and pointed her weapon on Henshaw. He turned towards her, breathing heavily.
"How do I know he hasn't been infected?" Alex asked.
"No more than I know if you have been infected," Hank said, getting back into character. He almost slumped against the wall.
"He hasn't, and they haven't," Harry said. "But the entire base has and it's spread to the DEO, and soon it's going to spread to the world."
"You shouldn't have come after me," Hank said. "I knew what I was getting into…"
"We don't leave agents behind if we can help it," Alex said. "I seem to recall someone saying that. I wonder who that was?
The DEO Director smiled, he taught Alex a bit too well.
"There's a siren at the base which scared them off," Alex said. "Maybe we can find something like that and amplify it to bring the STARRO drones down."
Hank thought about it for a second. In theory it could work, but in theory, he thought he could handle picking up one drone from the military base.
"But, they're going to see it coming now," Kara said. "We blew our one big chance for them."
"Maybe, maybe not," Harry said. "But, you've forgotten what I've told you….we find the master, the slaves are going to fall."
The four of them made their way out of the hole. The egg sacs started to leak fluids on the ground.
"Don't step in it whatever you do," Harry said. He waved his hand and several orbs of light appeared on them. The orbs connected to the sacs. Harry stepped back. "They're not going to be long for this world anyway, when we destroy this base…."
"I'll get all of the people out," Kara said. "Although, I don't know where we'll take them to."
Anyone could be infected. Anywhere on Earth and the deeper the infection spread, the more problems there would be. Harry placed a hand on her shoulder and steered her towards him.
"I trust you'll think of something," Harry said.
Harry stepped over towards a vault on the wall. He frowned when he tried to open it.
"It opens by bio-metrics," Hank said. "I haven't been able to crack the code…and you would have to be a world class…"
The vault opened up and Harry saw a rod pod in there. The pod hummed and gave off a bright red light. It started to give off an interesting array of energy. To the point where Harry almost had been enraptured by it. Had it not been for his own strong will, which could also stave off Imperius Curses, Veela Charm, and door to door sales people, he would have been distracted.
"This is it, this has been what we've been looking for," Harry said.
Kara was about ready to tell him to be careful. Her mouth shut when she realized he knew all about being careful. Harry's finger pushed on the edge of the pod and could hear it hiss.
"It's been signaling for STARRO this entire time," Harry said.
Alex looked at it. Many questions ran through the mind of the brunette agent. She had one which gained in greater prominence than ever before.
"Then why is it sealed up in a vault?" Alex asked.
"Well, free will can be both wonderful and frustrating," Kara suggested. "Maybe in a sea of insanity, someone at this base had a moment of clarity."
"Maybe," Hank said. "They're going to be coming, in greater numbers, and when they've been called….."
Earth is in fact doomed, no need to sugar coat it. Harry frowned when he looked at the pod. He could see some kind of advanced form of alien circuitry in it. He spent some time analyzing it. The results kept popping up as inconclusive. After repeating his process about three or four times, Harry turned towards the rest of the group.
"I'd be happy of any of you know what's going on," Harry said. "Believe me when I'd say, I'd really be happy to know what this thing's doing….other than signaling home."
Home, of course, it was signaling home. All signals could be tracked, if Harry had the right equipment.
"We could track the signal," Alex said. "There's equipment back at the DEO…oooh….shit."
Alex realized the fallacy of her theory. The STARRO drones made their way back to the DEO and would have infected half of the base. It left her in quite the fix.
"Guess we're just going to have to improvise," Harry said. "Granted, when I do this normally, a lot of things have the tendency to blow up….but what other choices we have?"
Hank could not answer, because his attention had been diverted elsewhere. There was an incoming transmission. One of his DEO agents had called him and judging by the glazed over look on his eyes, he was one with the starfish.
"Director Henshaw, congratulations on surviving your fall," the agent said. "But, your type is pretty durable."
Kara and Alex exchanged a side look, communicating without words, both wondering what the hell was going on. Their boyfriend shot them a sharp look, which told them they would have this particular discussion later. So the two of them stifled their questions, for now.
Hank sighed. If he didn't think quickly, he was going to have to explain something he did not want to explain.
"I could say even more about your type, how you're durable," Hank said. "You're among one of the most durable forces in the universe."
"Yes," the DEO agent said. "And our master will return, STARRO will live. They thought they could stop him by banishing him to the outer reaches of the universe, but he will be back."
"Talk's cheap," Harry said.
The DEO agent turned to him.
"Ah yes, the annoying little flesh bag who keeps getting in our way."
Harry smiled, annoying little flesh bag had been one of the tamer insults.
"There are more of us now, our plans are….."
"Yeah, your master is coming, you're going to take over the world," Harry said. "I'm sure he has an entire army ready, a starfish to put on every man, woman, and child on this planet. And I'm sure he would not rest until I'm under his heal and destroyed."
"Good, I'm glad….."
"I understand the situation," Harry said. "And believe me, I do. I've dealt with this situation so many times….it isn't even funny. Parasites are a dime a dozen. They leach off of someone."
The DEO agent's eyes widened and narrowed. Harry could tell the anger flushing through the man's eyes. He hoped it would move into a full blown fit of rage. He hoped so, he hoped it really would.
"I can see it in your eyes," Harry said. "The darkness swimming in your eyes, and in your mind, it's really amazing. And very amusing as well, if you think you can get the better of me, or any of us."
"We're planning to take you down right now," Kara said, catching on what he was doing. "You think my mother was bad….you remember Alura In-Ze as well?"
Harry made an adjustment of the pod. He had a feeling this was the key of everything.
"Yes, I remember you, and you'll be crushed….."
"I'll pay because my mother was responsible for jailing one of your master's prime heralds, and your master is going to make me pay, "Kara said. "Oh, believe me, I've heard this one….about once every Monday….it isn't any kind of news flash."
"You arrogant bags of…."
"Let's face it," Harry said. "If you didn't leach off of people, you'd be nothing. And now I know your weakness, I'm coming after your master. He better get a move on, unless he wants to be taken down by me."
The viewscreen went completely dead. Harry took a moment to realize something.
"You know, it occurred to me they're sending several DEO agents here," Harry said. Harry levitated a box of weapons and made some quick modifications. "We can't take those people out now, we're going to need them."
"They're trainees, aren't they?" Alex asked.
"If they can shoot a gun, they should be able to take out some of these DEO agents," Harry said.
"It should be my responsibility to deal with them," Hank said. "I was the one who…"
"We can't be sure what is going to happen, before it happened."
Harry figured they were running out of time and the time to blame each other for what happened was not here. He burned out through all of his self-loathing during his school days. It was the fault of the criminals involved and they would need to be taken down.
"I've almost figured out this probe," Harry said. "If I can duplicate the same siren Alex stunned them with earlier, we may have a chance."
"How much time do you need?" Kara asked.
"About fifteen minutes," Harry said.
"And they'd arrive from the DEO in approximately twelve minutes and fifty seven seconds," Hank said.
Harry thought this was an oddly specific number to pan down. It was appreciated though. He worked carefully on the probe in an attempt to get it working. It started to blink in his hand and released a light signal.
"Just going to need to be quicker by two minutes and two seconds then."
The DEO members lined up in rows. Most of them had been gifted with their own starfish. The leader of the crew stepped forward.
"They have the equipment here which will be about our great awakening," one of them said. "For too long, we have been considered to be parasites. The lowest of the low."
The grand herald attached himself to one of the DEO agents. His excitement brimmed at an even more accelerated rate when he looked towards his fellow hosts.
"The Star Conquerors are almost a memory to many in the universe, but we will remind everyone of our power and our might."
A device had been fastened together by parts. The equipment used to imprison aliens at this base would be used to bring about the destruction of this primitive race called humanity.
"And the greatest of us all will return soon!" the lead herald droned. "We will crush all who stands before us, especially this Harry Potter, and Supergirl! The entire world will bow down before the might of their master."
The herald turned his hand over and they dropped to their knees. They all began to chant.
"STARRO Lives!"
A spark of light flashed through the air when the equipment had been put together.
"And I've just about got it," Harry said. "We'll know in about ten seconds."
If Harry configured it right, it would open a portal to STARRO's location. If he didn't configure it right, well they wouldn't be alive to worry about STARRO to begin with.
Harry loved all or nothing situations like he put himself in now.
To Be Continued.