A TANGLED WEB Part 8: Endgame
Chapter 16
By Ordinaryguy2
by Charlie Nelson a.k.a. Ordinaryguy2
AuThOr'S NoTeS: This is my 2nd chapter I updated today! This one may be short but it is getting out there before midnight!
The main crossovers in this chapter include: Batman Beyond (1999-2001); Challenge of the Super-Friends (1978); DC Comics; Doctor Who; He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1984-1985); The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! (1981-1982); She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987); Star Trek (1966-1969); Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999); Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994); Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001); Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980); Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996); The Terminator (1984); The Transformers (1984-1987)
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Studying the sensor readouts on the computer, the Master smiled to himself. The Borg Queen was proving to be a worthy adversary once she had adapted the drones to follow pre-set orders before walking into the field he had created to block the function of the Borg Collective. These weren't suicide missions she was sending her drones on, but learning maneuvers before a surgical strike.
Some of his team had already fallen to these attacks. The Needle, Mad Hatter, Queen Bee, Icicle, Leech, Vultak, Tomax, Xamot and a number of Shredder's Foot ninjas and Hordak's Horde Troopers had been subjected to the Borg nanoprobes and led back to the Borg stronghold before his side had been able to restore the field that blocked the Collective communication. Almost the same number of people had been infected by the nanoprobes and not made it back to the Borg for full assimilation.
Dr. Sivana, along with T.O. Morrow, Thinker, Wotan, Mr. Mind, the Evil Collector, Dylamug and Modulok, had worked on safely removing the nanoprobes from those that they had managed to keep from leaving. Dr. Sivana's daughter, Georgia, was one of those inflicted which is why he insisted on being in charge of the operation. Trickster, the Gambler and Dr. Mindbender and a few of the Foot ninjas had already died while trying to be purged. It was to be expected as many of the experiments being conducted were attempts at trying to learn the weaknesses of the drones and ways to exploit them. This being the case, Sivana insisted on being the only one to work on his daughter. Those still being experimented on were the Black Manta, Rattlor, Jitsu, Sisto, more of the Foot ninjas and some of the cyborg Horde Troopers. The Master suspected that either he or Brainiac could solve the problem a lot quicker, but they both had more important issues to deal with. Brainiac in particular needed to maintain constant surveillance on the jamming frequency used to block the Borg Collective. His computer mind was the only one capable of keeping up with the adaptations the Borg tried.
"They are ready for you," said General Traag, his orange silicon body standing at attention. He was enjoying the position of power that the Master had given him, thus garnishing some loyalty from the silicon humanoid.
The Master stood up with a sigh. "I suppose I must deal with this now." He turned to Brainiac. "Let me know immediately if there is any drone activity on the delta zone. They have been building up numbers there, but it may just be a diversion."
Brainiac frowned slightly at the implication that he might not have also reached that conclusion.
Those working nearby ceased their activities as the Master approached. He drew himself up as he addressed them. "As I'm sure you are all well aware, an attempt was made on my life in the last hour."
There were a few surprised looks, but most had a look of mild interest. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Deadshot accepting a hundred-dollar bill from the Penguin who had evidently lost a bet.
"General Traag, bring forth the culprit that endangered my life, and thus everyone else's as well."
Traag motioned the Dummy, an actual living wooden ventriloquist dummy, to come forward. "Where do you want him, Boss?" asked the Dummy, holding something within his two hands that he had cupped together.
The Master pointed to a small, long stone that could have been a short bench. "Over there."
The Dummy nodded. "Alright, there you go." He flicked the alien worm off of his hands and onto the rock.
"You ruffian!" shouted Mr. Mind through the miniature loudspeaker that he carried at his side. He twisted to right himself on the rock. "You'll pay for that indignity!" Mr. Mind was a two-inch long green and black alien caterpillar with an intelligence as great as that of Luthor or Sivana.
The Master leaned down to look at the tiny villainous mastermind. "Mr. Mind, you took control of one of the disconnected drones and tried to kill me by proxy. If it hadn't been for Solomon Grundy's quick actions to crush the drone you may have even succeeded." Solomon Grundy, a tall, muscular super-strong albino zombie grinned from the attention, but as usual, he didn't really know what was going on.
"Seemed like the thing to do at the time," shrugged the alien caterpillar in a casual manner.
"I see," replied the Time Lord. "Then you will understand when I do this." He rose up his right foot and stomped it down, grinding the tiny, alien genius into a green and yellow smear on the surface of the rock.
The Master glanced around at all the people staring at the mashed remains on the rock. "I hope now the message is clear as to what will happen to anyone else that tries to kill me." He turned and marched away. He had plans to make. Plans within plans.
Luthor and Brainiac glanced at each other. They understood the implications of the Master's warning, but it did not detour them. They did not plan on being in the servitude of the Master much longer.
ACT 2 -
Bossk stumbled on the path they were walking down. He knew he was going into shock due to blood loss and physical trauma, but his cyborg companion insisted that they continue in hopes of catching up to his elusive prey, Sarah Connor. Personally, Bossk thought that the cyborg next to him may have a couple of circuits shorting in the memory storage, but that just made the killer machine even more dangerous in his eyes. But the Trandoshan was more concerned with what would happen to him once the cyborg learned that he had been misleading it when he suggested that one of the women he had seen earlier could have been the Sarah Connor that it was looking for.
Why he still considered it a cyborg after the ball-like creatures had eaten off all its external flesh, he wasn't sure. Maybe because it still presented a certain sense of mayhem that it wore like a second skin.
Behind him, he sensed the cyborg stop. The last time that had happened they had had to wait as a large stegosaurus slowly crossed the path in front of them. "Now what?"
"We are surrounded," it said, as it turned its head to survey the surroundings.
Bossk glanced around. "Are you sure?"
"You're surrounded!" came a shout that confirmed the cyborg's statement. "Throw down your weapons and you won't be harmed!"
Bossk snorted in disgust and frustration. He recognized that voice as belonging to the dark-skinned Human that he had fought with earlier. Sisko was his name. "It's that group I mentioned earlier. The one that might have the Sarah Conner female you are looking for."
That seemed to be all the T-800 cyborg unit need to hear. It raised up one the blaster rifle it had taken from IG-88 and fired repeatedly at a nearby tree trunk until it was severed. As the tree fell, a figure dove away from behind it while another had to leap away to another tree over thirty feet up above.
The Terminator unit threw one of the Yautja homing shurikens at the man up in the trees, while continuing to shoot with the blaster rifle at the other person on the ground.
Bossk dropped to the ground and rolled the best he could behind a large boulder. He only had the Klingon blade on him. He held it and grinned. Perhaps he'd have a chance to return it. This time it would end up in the one-eyed man's guts. And with the T-800 shooting at everything, the Star Fleeters might be killed, thus fulfilling Bossk's agreement with the Master. And Boba Fett would be shut out of all the benefits.
A phaser beam struck near the metallic cyborg, causing the killer bot to aim at the new target. It charged forward leaving the wounded Trandoshan bounty hunter behind.
Bossk watched as shooting went on around him and he cursed in frustration. "By the dregs of Kessel! If only the cyborg had left me a weapon to shoot with!" But then fate intervened and the man climbing in the trees came crashing to the ground with Boba Fett on top of him.
"Fett!" Bossk grasped with all his might on the handle of the Klingon knife in his hand as an idea sprang into his devious mind. As Batman and Boba Fett traded blows, Bossk struggled to his feet and hurried toward them.
He raised the blade to swing it when suddenly the Klingon warrior stepped from behind one of the trees and fired his phaser, striking Bossk. He stumbled and fell onto the ground.
"Enough!" shouted Martok.
Batman, a.k.a. Terry McGinnis, rolled away from Boba Fett after knocking the bounty hunter's blaster away. He was breathing hard, and pressed a hand to the gash at his hip where the Yautja shuriken the T-800 unit had thrown at him had just cut him, but not badly. Fett had used that distraction to get close and try to take out the Batman, who he considered the most dangerous, but had not been prepared for Batman's resourcefulness.
"Look's like your friend won't be any more help for you," Martok said, as he prodded Bossk over onto his back. The Trandoshan had fallen on Martok's blade. Death had been instantaneous.
Boba Fett kept his hands in plain sight. "More than likely he was planning to kill me as well."
"No love lost between you two, eh," said Batman, who was applying something to his cut from one of his pouches.
The jungle was silent again. Batman looked around. "Where's the killer erector set?"
Martok, having retrieved his knife, was cleaning it with some leaves while keeping his phaser on Boba Fett. "They knocked it down over there. Ambassador Spock whipped up a miniature electromagnetic pulse that stopped it cold. That's why I was able to head over here and check on you."
"I'm glad," said Batman. "Regardless of who the reptile man would have tried to kill first, I'm sure he would have tried for me sooner or later." He got up with only the barest of a wince. "Lead the way."
Martok motioned for the bounty hunter to precede them. As they came to where a group of people were gathered around the fallen figure of the Terminator unit, more people trained their weapons on the bounty hunter.
Admiral McCoy looked up from where he was treating Ro Laren for a burn on her arm. He had just applied a hypospray and was in the midst of putting it away when he reached for his tricorder. "Let me guess. Either this is our sniper or we're taking in more strays."
"He's our sniper," Martok confirmed. The one-eyed Klingon pushed the bounty hunter toward a fallen log. "Sit down!" he commanded.
McCoy scanned the armored man and was surprised by the readings. "I could be wrong, it's not very easy to scan him through his armor, but I think he's a clone."
Spock, who had been about to start a scan on the fallen cyborg, looked over in interest. "Fascinating." What he didn't notice was that the tricorder he held had started to download itself.
"We want answers," insisted Captain Picard. "Starting with where is the one called the Master?"
Captain Sisko stepped close. "Now you can either remove that helmet of yours yourself, or I can do it for you."
Without responding, Boba Fett carefully raised is hands to his helmet, then suddenly kicked Sisko in the gut, while turning on his rocket thruster. It only flared on briefly, as it was damaged, but it did cause everyone to scatter as he was carried over a hundred feet away.
Batman, Martok and Sisko hurried after him, but McCoy just shook his head. "They won't catch him again. He's too good."
"Ambassador Spock!" Ro Laren called out as she quickly pulled out her phaser.
"Wait!" cried out a voice.
It took them a minute to realize that it came from the cyborg form that was now moving.
"Now you want to talk?" Picard said, furiously.
"I – am – Megatron!" said the Terminator unit.
Spock glanced down at his tricorder to confirm that the computer entity that they had discovered earlier had indeed left his tricorder and was now embodied the robotic shell before them. "Fascinating."
McCoy shook his head. "You know, Spock. You would think that after all these years you would have discovered another descriptive adjective to use by now."
To be Continued!
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Original AuThOr'S NoTeS: 1/15/2008
Sorry it's short. The next part should be longer.
Okay, you now have a taste of what the Master is dealing with. It's going to get really hairy soon.
As for the Q Team, Megatron has, more or less, joined the group at least for now, in the body of the Terminator android. What do you think he's going to want to do now that he is on his 'feet' again?
Next – Q2's team has some unusual encounters as they finally get to the Borg.
Updated AuThOr'S NoTeS: 1-26-2022
Hey there, Carycomic. I explained it once, but it was several chapters back. So here goes, the DC Universe I am using is both pre-crisis and also of the superhero cartoon shows. It's a mixture of them both. A little complicated, but with some imagination all you have to do is accept it.
And, Louie Pastiche, Two-Bad is a He-Man character, but had not got a lot of exposure because he was created late in the series after his action-figure was released.
ChArAcTeR InDeX FoR ThE ChApTeR:
Batman / McGinnis, Terry (voiced by Will Friedle) – from the TV series Batman Beyond (1999-2001)
Black Manta of Earth-1 / David (voiced by Ted Cassidy) – from the cartoon Challenge of the Super-Friends (1978), from DC Comics Aquaman #35 (1967)
Borg Queen (Alice Krige) – from the movie Star Trek: First Contact (1996), (Susanna Thompson) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1999-2000) (mentioned only)
Bossk (Alan Harris) – from the movie Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Brainiac of Earth-1 (voiced by Ted Cassidy) – from the cartoon Challenge of the Super-Friends (1978), (voiced by Stanley Ralph Ross) – Super Friends (1983), SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984), The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985), from DC Comics Action Comics #242 (1958)
Connor, Sarah (Linda Hamilton) – from the movie The Terminator (1984) (mentioned only)
Deadshot of Earth-1 / Lawton, Floyd – from DC Comics Batman #59 (1950)
Dummy of Earth-2 – from DC Comics Leading Comics #1 (1941)
Dylamug (voiced by George DiCenzo) – from the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987)
The Evil Collector – from the cartoon Space Ghost (1966)
Fett, Boba (Jeremy Bulloch) – from the movie Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Foot Ninja clan – from the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996)
Gambler of Earth-2 / Sharpe III, Steven – from DC Comics Green Lantern #12 (1944)
Grundy, Solomon, of Earth-1 / Gold, Cyrus (voiced by Jimmy Weldon) – from the cartoon Challenge of the Super-Friends (1978), Super Friends (1983), from DC Comics Superman #319 (1978)
Hordak (voiced by George DiCenzo) – from the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987)
Horde Troopers – from the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987)
Icicle of Earth-2 / Makent, Joar – from DC Comics All-American Comics #90 (1947)
IG-88 (Paul Klein) – from the movie Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (mentioned only)
Janeway, Capt. Kathryn (Kate Mulgrew) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)
Jitsu (voiced by Lou Scheimer) from the cartoon He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1984-1985)
Krites – from the movie Critters (1986), Critters 2 (1988), Critters 3 (1991), Critters 4 (1992) (mentioned only)
Laren, Ro (Michelle Forbes) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991-1994)
Leech (voiced by Lou Scheimer) – from the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987)
Luthor, Lex, of Earth-1 (voiced by Stan Jones) – from the cartoon Challenge of the Super-Friends (1978), The World's Greatest SuperFriends (1979), SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984), from DC Comics Adventure Comics #271 (1960)
Mad Hatter of Earth-1 / Tetch, Jervis (voiced by Ted Knight) – from the cartoon The Batman/Superman Hour, from DC Comics Batman #49 (1948)
Martok, General (J.G. Hertzler) – from the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1995-1999)
The Master – from the TV series Doctor Who
McCoy, Adm. Leonard 'Bones' (DeForest Kelley) – from the TV series Star Trek (1966-1969)
Megatron (voiced by Frank Welker) – from the cartoon The Transformers (1984-1987), the movie The Transformers: The Movie (1986)
Mindbender, Dr. (voiced by Brian Cummings) – from the cartoon G.I. Joe: Arise, Serpentor, Arise! (1986), G.I. Joe (1985-1986)
Mister Mind of Earth-S (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer) – from the cartoon The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! (1981-1982), from Fawcett Comics Captain Marvel Adventures #26 (1943)
Modulok (voiced by Lou Scheimer) – from the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987)
The Needle of Eath-2 – from DC Comics Star Spangled Comics #1 (1942)
Penguin of Earth-1 / Cobblepot, Oswald Chesterfield (voiced by Ted Knight) – from the cartoon The Batman/Superman Hour (1968), (voiced by Lennie Weinrib) – from the cartoon The New Adventures of Batman (1977), (voiced by Frank Welker) – from the cartoon The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985), from DC Comics Detective Comics #58 (1941)
Picard, Capt. Jean-Luc (Patrick Stewart) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)
Queen Bee of Earth-1 / Zazzala – from DC Comics Justice League of America #23 (1963)
Rattlor (voiced by Lou Scheimer) – from the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987)
Shredder (voiced by James Avery) – from the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987-1996)
Sisko, Capt. Benjamin (Avery Brooks) – from the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)
Sisto – from the cartoon Space Ghost (1966)
Sivana, Dr. Thaddeus Bodog, of Earth-S (voiced by Alan Oppenheimer) – from the cartoon The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! (1981-1982), from Fawcett Comics Whiz Comics #2 (1940)
Sivana, Georgia, of Earth-S – from the cartoon The Kid Super Power Hour with Shazam! (1981-1982), from Fawcett Comics Mary Marvel #1 (1945)
Spock, Ambassador (Leonard Nimoy) – from the TV series Star Trek (1966-1969)
The Terminator / T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) – from the movie The Terminator (1984)
Thinker of Earth-2 / DeVoe, Clifford – from DC Comics All-Flash Comics #12 (1943)
Tomax (voiced by Corey Burton) – from the cartoon G.I. Joe: Arise, Serpentor, Arise! (1986), G.I. Joe (1985-1986)
T.O. Morrow of Earth-1 / Morrow, Thomas Oscar – from DC Comics Flash #143 (1964)
Trickster of Earth-1 / Jesse, James – from DC Comics Flash #113 (1960)
Vultak (voiced by George DiCenzo) – from the cartoon She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985-1987)
Wotan of Earth-2 – from DC Comics More Fun Comics #55 (1940)
Xamot (voiced by Michael Bell) – from the cartoon G.I. Joe: Arise, Serpentor, Arise! (1986), G.I. Joe (1985-1986)
Yautja – from the movie Predator (1987), Predator 2 (1990), AVP: Alien Vs. Predator (2004), Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), Predators (2010) (mentioned only)