A TANGLED WEB Part 8: Endgame
Chapter 17
by Charlie Nelson a.k.a. Ordinaryguy2
Updated: 1-27-2022
The main crossovers in this chapter include: The Adventures of Sinbad (1996-1998); The Avengers (2012); Dark Shadows (1966-1971); Doctor Who (1987-1989); Dungeons & Dragons (1983-1985); Escape to Witch Mountain (1975); Fantastic Four (2005); Farscape (1999-2003); Firefly (2002-2003); Jake 2.0 (2003-2004); The Krofft Supershow 'Electra Woman and Dyna Girl' (1976); Land of the Lost (1974-1976); Lexx (1997-2002); Sapphire & Steel (1979-1982); Space: 1999 (1975-1977); Star Trek (1967); Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999); Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988-1993); Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001); Static Shock (2000-2004); Tracker (2001-2002); X-Men (2000)
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Enik led the way through the tunnels alongside the large frame of the Alpha Hirogen. Two Sleestak bowmen followed behind them. Two more Sleestak bowmen came at the very end of the group as a rear guard. Those in the middle of the group of travelers going through the tunnels had different origins.
Captain James T. Kirk came from an alternate universe where he had murdered his way up to captaincy of a starship for the Terran Empire. Dukat, more or less, had a similar history, but in a different alternate universe, and with the Cardassian Empire. While they didn't trust each other, they were like minded enough to contrive together.
"But what can this kid do to help us?" Kirk asked, in a hushed whisper, glancing back at Eric, the teenager wearing the bright medieval style armor, who was busy talking with the enigmatic man known as the Professor and the diminutive alien, Rygel, as they walked through the tunnels.
Dukat's thoughts darted this way and that. "It may be just as Sela said; this kid may be the key to keeping the Borg off us as we pick off the drones one by one."
"There's got to be more to it than that!" insisted Kirk. "Romulans always have ulterior motives. I think that's true in every alternate universe." He paused for a moment in thought. "You don't think she went off with the others just to rescue Khan, do you?"
Dukat thought about playing with Kirk's ego regarding Khan and Sela. After all, Kirk was all about the ladies from the files Dukat had read on the man. This Mirror Universe version is probably the type that doesn't like anyone but him getting the attention of beautiful women. He thought about testing that hypothesis by suggesting that Khan truly had already won Sela's heart just to see Kirk's reaction, but now was not the time to build falsehoods. Especially ones that wouldn't yield any potential benefits to him. "No. Sela must have something else in the works. Besides, when would Khan have had time to woo her?"
Behind them came Eric, a dark-haired teenager who had spent the last year or so lost with his friends in another dimension where magic and myth were the norm. He was fortunate that he had been given a rare and powerful magical weapon in the form of a shield that could erect an impenetrable force field fueled by his will power.
Next to Eric walked Dominar Rygel XVI, deposed ruler of the Hynerian Empire. As a Hynerian, he was only just over two feet tall and had to walk fast to keep up with the others.
Eric found the Hynerian to be pompous and crass while Rygel found the Earth boy to by arrogant and rude. The reason they kept company, despite their common similarities, was that the Professor wanted to talk to them.
"But I am telling you that these fellows are not our friends!" whispered the Professor, who walked along using his umbrella as a cane.
Eric held up his hand, indicating he had heard enough. "Look! I don't know what's you're trying to do. You say that there are two teams coming to take out the Borg, both trying to win some prize doing it. How are we supposed to determine which team wins? These Borg characters gotta be taken out no matter who's fighting or what their reasons are, right?" He looked down to Rygel for support.
Rygel looked up in confusion. "Hmmm? Oh, I just want to get as far away as we can from those nightmare creatures that attacked us back there." He shivered at the very remembrance of the xenomorphs creeping through the shadows.
Before the Professor could bring them around to his way of thinking, they had noticed Lore way up ahead signaling them all to be quiet.
As they gathered together, Lore explained to them that he and the female Founder had found a battle happening just ahead of them. "There is a large-scale battle going on against the Borg. The people appear to be Human, but they are displaying a variety of powers and unique equipment."
"We could wait and let both sides wear themselves out before we appear," suggested Dukat.
"Are you nuts?" Eric exclaimed. "From how you described these Borg fellas, it would be better to do something about them sooner than later."
"He's right," nodded Kirk. "Plus, we could win some more allies to our cause."
"The Borg must be stopped in order to save my people," stated Enik.
"We should fight, not argue," added the Alpha Hirogen, eager to be a part of the fight.
"Very well," said Dukat. "Where is the Founder?" he asked Lore.
"She is strategically placing herself so that she can spring a trap when we attack."
Rygel raised a hand. "Perhaps I should stay back here to guard the tunnel in the event we need to retreat. I may not have a weapon, but I can spy on any-"
"You'll go out with the rest of us!" snapped Kirk, who grabbed the Hynerian. "You'll go if I have to carry you out there under my arm!"
"Ah, but wouldn't that make you more of a target?" pointed out the Professor. "As well as hinder your ability to defend yourself, not to mention slow you down?"
Kirk glanced down at Rygel who was trying to squirm away. "Bah! Why did we even bring him along? He doesn't even have a weapon to use!" He dropped the Hynerian who hit the floor with a thud.
"You lout!" exclaimed an outraged Rygel. "I am an emperor of billions!"
Kirk snorted. "And I've deposed-"
"Enough!" shouted the Alpha Hirogen. "Our fight is out there! Not among ourselves!" He was used to his hunters obeying his every word; not bickering among themselves. He wished Q2 had just brought him and his hunters instead of these idiots he would rather have as prey instead of allies.
Kirk stormed away before he killed anyone, which he knew, despite his rage, would only cause more problems at this time.
The Professor gave Eric a knowing look but said nothing. They all left the brooding Hynerian and headed up the tunnel.
The sight that they found consisted of just over a dozen people fighting against about forty drones in a large opening leading to the outside. The ceiling in this part of the cave rose to just over thirty feet which proved good for the people facing the Borg as some of their fighters were also flyers.
A man that appeared to be made out of ice projected an ice barricade to block the drones from his comrades. Meanwhile a black woman with white hair was flying about calling down hail and lightning on the drones while an orange rocky male humanoid and a man who seemed made out of steel were tossing a barrage of rocks at them as well. A large, agile blue furred man jumped amongst a couple of drones and knocked their heads together, kicked over two others before somersaulting away. Another skinnier blue furred man with a tail teleported in and worked at keeping the drones off balance before teleporting in a whiff of smoke to another area where he started all over again. A flaming man flew through the air tossing fireball at every drone he saw. A muscular man with a short handled hammer threw his weapon at the drones, knocking them to and fro before the hammer was summoned back to the blond man's hand.
"Now!" The Alpha Hirogen charged into the conflict. Dukat and Kirk ran to the side where there were some large boulders that they could hide behind as they fired.
Eric moved out after the Alpha Hirogen with the Professor, Lore, Enik and his four bowman using the mystic shield of the Cavalier for cover. Eric was knocked back briefly as he repelled a shot from a drone, but Lore steadied him. "Thanks," he said to the android. As Eric peeked over his shield, he saw a man in a tight-fitting chain mail colored in red, white and blue. The patriotic man used a red and white circular shield to deflect a drone's tubular while sparring with another drone. Kicked that one aside and then returned to face the other. "Whoa! Guy's got moves!"
"Let's try getting closer to the Alpha Hirogen," suggested the Professor.
The Hirogen hunter was fighting side by side with a short dark-haired Human with metal claws coming out of the knuckles of each hand. Both had been hit by a stun beam but other than staggering for a moment, they mostly continued on due to tenacity, resilience, and in the Hirogen's case, good deflecting armor. A man in red and gold armor crashed next to them briefly before turning and firing a blast at the drones from the palms of his hands.
Erik moved between the drones that the Alpha Hirogen and the shorter man were fighting and erected his shield to keep off phaser fire from other drones that were trying to pick them off from further away.
Enik tossed a couple of crystals at one nearby drone which shocked it. His bowmen were only effective for one shot each from their crossbows before one of them fell to the nanoprobes of one of the drones.
"Where is that Changeling?" Kirk scowled.
"There!" pointed out Dukat, at a blue figure stretching to incredible lengths around a couple of drones.
"Somehow I don't think so." As they watched the stretching form was stunned and reverted most of the way back to the shape of a man. Then a section of floor pushed up knocking a dozen arriving drones over. The female Changeling zipped away as more Borg stun beams tried to hit her.
"That's more her style," said Kirk as he fired repeatedly.
Dukat did a double take at one of the figures off to the side. "There's a familiar face."
"Who?"
"Captain Picard." Dukat studied the figure over four hundred feet away. "Something is different about him, though."
"Well, shoot him and we'll figure it out later!"
"One moment." Dukat pulled out his tricorder and did a quick scan. "Hmmm. Same face, but not the same underneath."
"Why'd you waste time doing that for? You could have just shot him."
Dukat frowned. "Because he is part of the group fighting against the Borg. If we want them to join us in our fight against the Borg, then we should refrain from shooting down their people along with the drones. But he's being kept in an unconscious - almost hypnotic - state."
Kirk snorted. "Fine, as long as you're sure that it isn't Picard."
Dukat glanced down at the remarkable readings again. "Definitely."
An invisible force field seemed to keep out newly arriving drones at the front of the cave opening. Near the man that looked like Captain Picard, another man, wearing a green outfit with purple armored leggings while donning a purple helmet with a blue faceplate, stepped forward. "To me, my warriors!"
Eric, who had been trying to get a nice-to-meet-you, thanks, or even a high five from some of those unusual fighters they had just helped at considerable risk to themselves, found that they didn't even acknowledge his existence, but turned to go to the man who had called them. "Hey, what's the deal? They're practically ignoring us."
"Everything is not as it seems, young one," commented Enik, who was at his side. "Be on your guard."
The man with the blue faceplate regarded the Alpha Hirogen and the others. "I am Kang the Conqueror, ruler of an interstellar, interdimensional, inter-temporal empire! And I have come here to annex this temporal oddity to my dominion!"
"Good grief! He's a time-traveling Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great!" exclaimed Eric. He looked from the Alpha Hirogen to Enik. "Not that either of you would know who they were."
Kang ignored the teenager for now. "You have fought well against these cybernetic beings. I admire remarkable fighters like yourselves, which is why I have conscripted the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and the Avengers to my side. Now I would have you join my services, as well."
The female Changeling had not been idle during this discussion. She observed Mr. Fantastic and a number of the others. "They are in a form of mental control," she said.
"We have our own quest; our own obligations," stated the Alpha Hirogen, stiffly. "We decline your… offer."
Kang smiled evilly. "I never said you had a choice." In his hand was a thin collar that was exactly like the collars worn by all of his fighters. Kang motioned to his dazed fighters, and they charged forward.
As the Changeling became intertwined with the elastic Mr. Fantastic, the Alpha Hirogen shot the charging Colossus, knocking him back into a large stalagmite that collapsed on top of the organic steel man. The Hirogen then grabbed the Thing's swinging fist and used the inertia of the blow to throw him up and into the invisible force field that was still keeping out the Borg. It was the Beast that snuck in and knocked the Hirogen off his feet. Thor came in next to hit the Hirogen harder than he could ever remember being struck. He staggered back, barely managing to shoot his phaser into Thor's face, stunning him in turn.
Lore shot at the Angel, Storm and the Human Torch as they swooped in on him from above. Angel was hit early and crumpled to the ground. Storm struck at him with the lightning at her command, but Eric had intervened at just the right moment and knocked the lightning into Wolverine who was about to pounce with claws extended. Iron Man landed behind the android and Lore began to grapple with him. "They don't want to kill us. But they are willing to come damn close while trying to capture us for their master."
Nightcrawler teleported in and began taking out the Sleestak bowmen. Enik managed to duck in time and use two crystals to make a light burst that blinded Nightcrawler when the mutant teleported near him again. The Wasp flew in close to Enik's face, stinging him with her bio-stingers, making him drop the crystals.
"Oh, dear," said the Professor, shaking his head. "The pudding is all a-boil again. I guess I'll just have to-" Just then, Iceman encased the Time Lord's feet in a block of ice. "Hmm. Then again, maybe I won't."
Kang looked over to the Invisible Woman at his side. The strain of keeping out the Borg drones was beginning to show on face. The newcomers were proving to be more of a challenge than he had earlier estimated. But it would prove to be all for the better. Once they were bested and converted into his services, his forces here would be even stronger. Off to his side, Professor X's head slumped to the right. Kang was using the utmost caution with this powerful telepath and kept him unconscious. Potentially, Xavier couldn't even use his powers unless Kang allowed him to, but the time-warlord didn't want to chance it, keeping Xavier out until absolutely needed.
Kirk and Dukat fired at Captain America who was running at them with his shield up. They were having problems aiming accurately due to the fact that the Human Torch was tossing fire balls everywhere.
Kirk cursed something in Klingon. Ants were crawling all over him. "What the…?"
From back where they had come up in the tunnel came a shout. "Have no fear! Rygel is here!"
Flying out of the tunnel, Rygel was sitting at the feet of a young black teenager wearing a purple coat outlined in yellow. They both rode a small metal disk which seemed to fly on its own.
Static Shock flew through a small cloud of flying ants which exploded on contact with him. "Great, now I'm a bug zapper, too!" He didn't notice Ant-Man falling to the side of the tunnel unconscious, because he was busy sending a bolt of electricity at the Human Torch. "Take that, match head!"
The struck Torch faltered as he flew.
Behind him, other newcomers came out of the tunnel, ready to fight.
"I'll take on the flaming man, Static" called out the yellow and red costumed Electra Woman. "You can travel faster than me." So saying, she adjusted her ElectraCom on her wrist. "Electra-Force Field!" A beam of energy shot out of her wrist and encased the Human Torch in an energy bubble. "That should hold him for a while."
Static spied Storm from across the opening as she rained down lighting against Eric's mystic shield. "Oh man! I hope she digs younger dudes because, man, I am smitten!" He raced away through the air while Rygel, holding tight to one of his legs, either yelled a Hynerian war cry or a shriek of sheer terror.
Dyna Girl stood next to Electra Woman, both in their red and gold uniforms. "If you are going to hold him, you'll be left vulnerable. You'll have to keep your ElectraCom trained on him."
A woman in a blue dress came up next to her. "They are under the control of Kang, a madman who abuses time to his own whim. Stay here and guard your friend, Dyna Girl. The rest of us will fight our way to Kang."
"You're Electra-right, Sapphire!" said Dyna Girl, as the others passed her. She soon found herself busy trying to zap the Wasp while trying to keep from getting zapped herself.
A man in a grey suit walked next to Sapphire. "Do you think Kang is responsible for all these chronal displacements?"
"Perhaps not, Steel. But he's guilty of numerous other time violations. Bringing him in will be quite a feather in our cap."
Steel frowned. They were not often in corporal form, so he did not always understand some of the metaphors that his partner, Sapphire, liked to use. "It least this will look better on our record then when we took away the time machine of those two California delinquents."
Sapphire shook her head. "First off, Bill and Ted had merely taken Jules Verne and Phileas Fogg on a tour of time. Time Travelers are all around exploring every aspect of time. The only problem was when they took them to the future to see all the books Jules had written. But the problem was diverted with a quick mind wipe. Besides, you seemed to enjoy the music of Wyld Stallyns."
Steel seemed a little embarrassed. "They're later albums were very enjoyable. Can't say much for their early works."
Their discussion ended quickly as Steel rushed forward to grapple with the oncoming organic steel-bodied Colossus. Colossus was stronger, but Steel was no slouch. Plus, Colossus was dazed due to mind control which was affecting his fighting ability.
Dukat and Kirk hurried up to Sapphire, more than a little amazed at what they were seeing. Dukat had never encountered Humans like this before.
"Okay, everyone," Sapphire called out to the group of people behind her. "Try to clear a path for me to the loud man with the blue faceplate." Then she started fast walking toward Kang as if she was strolling down a busy street or mall, trusting the others to keep her safe.
A blond-haired teenager named Tia Malone nodded. "I think I can handle the rocky-orange one," she said as the Thing came charging toward them. Tia tilted her head and concentrated. Abruptly, Ben Grimm, otherwise known as the Thing, was telekinetically thrust through the air and into the far wall where he slid down to the floor only to get up again, unfazed. "I can keep this up for a while," Tia said. "But I think I'll probably tire out before he will. Please hurry."
Sinbad knocked aside the soaring shield of Captain America with his sword before it could hit Tia. "It would be a great injustice to strike down a young girl. Perhaps you should try something more your size. Myself perhaps?"
Captain America said nothing as he launched himself at the young knave.
A tall athletic man turned to Sapphire. "I'll be over there," he said, pointing toward where Thor was holding down the Alpha Hirogen as the Beast was struggling to get close enough to put on one of Kang's controlling collars. Moving at hyperspeed, Cole, a Cirronian alien in Human guise, shoved the Beast and Thor off of the Alpha Hirogen, but it was too late, as the collar was already on the Hirogen's neck, and he was no longer fighting his attackers.
"This could be a problem," Cole said, and then jumped back as the Alpha Hirogen reached for him.
"Some help then?" said a feminine voice.
Cole turned to see Maya there. "That would be appreciated," he said to the Psychon. As he watched, her shape contorted into something hairy, muscular and very tall. Before he could join her in taking the Hirogen out, Cole found himself in a fight with a speedster called Quicksilver. No matter how fast he ran, Quicksilver was right there next to him.
"Where did you all come from?" Dukat asked as he hurried next to Sapphire, hoping to gain some details on these incredible beings, and hopefully use them for his benefit.
"From many places. Many timelines."
Dukat scowled. Normally he loved cryptic answers, especially when he was the one giving them. This was not that time. "But we had just come from that tunnel. And why are you willing to fight up here?"
"There are many tunnels hereabouts, sir. As for why we are here, can it not wait until after we have won the day?"
Dukat fell back as Sapphire continued on. "I hate waiting," he mumbled. He took out his frustration by firing at Iron Man and Wolverine in his frustration.
Nightcrawler bamphed above Sapphire. He was still in the midst of falling onto her when another pair of hands grabbed him and pulled him back.
"Ah, a demon! He's mine!" Barnabas Collins bared his vampire fangs as he pulled Kurt Wagner close. Nightcrawler teleported away and behind Collins, kicking him in the head. The vampire snarled and lunged at the mutant's tail, but he teleported away again. Collins swung with his cane but merely grazed the quick and agile mutant.
"Wrong way," said River Tam, a shy girl who had been mumbling to herself as she followed behind Sapphire.
Collins ignored her in his growing fury with the blue teleporter. As Nightcrawler appeared to his right, Collins swung his cane, but the teleporter anticipated that and vanished again, leaving the vampire to mutter obscure eighteenth century curses under his breath.
"Show him the right way, River," Sapphire said over her shoulder as she kept walking toward Kang.
The thin seventeen-year-old girl stood there staring straight ahead while Collins was knocked to the floor yet again by the uniquely mutated feet of Nightcrawler. With a twist of her body and a high kick, her foot reached the spot where Nightcrawler's head appeared just in time to be struck.
The dark blue mutant fell hard and unconscious to the rocky floor.
"I said he was mine!" shouted Collins in outrage. "I was to defeat the demon!"
River knelt down by Kurt's head and began unfastening the metal collar around his neck. "The demons you want haunts your mind, vampire. As you look Human on the outside so is this one on the inside. By appearance he has been deemed demon and monster by many. But in truth he is only guilty of birth, to have been born." She tilted mutant's head to the side and a trickle of blood oozed down his cheek.
"He bleeds," the vampire said, hungrily. "Then perhaps this annoying creature can slack my thirst as well."
River pulled out a small necklace that had been tucked into Nightcrawler's shirt. "But you can't eat him now. He's not in season."
"You must be touched in the head, girl," he said as he drew closer. But then he turned a wary eye to the lithe girl. "What do you mean 'season'?"
"It's Lent." A small silver metal cross was at the end of the necklace, and she neatly placed the emblem directly on his chest.
Barnabas stepped away, repelled by the symbol of atonement. "Damn you, girl!" Then he turned and melted sulkily into the darkness.
Barnabas moved past Kai, who had proclaimed himself an undead Divine Assassin. Barnabas found the very Human looking animated dead alien to be devoid of emotion, yet comical with his towering black beehive hairdo. But there was nothing comical about the weapon Kai used. The brace was a bladed device on a line that emerged from his wrist that propelled out and could be contracted on whim. Currently, Kai was using it to chip away at Iceman's defenses by repeatedly extending and contracting it in rapid succession.
Meanwhile, Iron Man had taken offense at the phaser fire from Dukat and was flying closer to return the favor.
"I can take the flying robot man!" interjected Jake Foley excitedly to Sapphire, who was still walking away. "I've got a way with machines." He was a nerdy looking guy, but taller, better looking and better hair than most nerdy guys. Jake stood a few feet away from Dukat, which turned out to be a good thing as one of Iron Man's repulsor beams struck the ground right in front of the Cardassian knocking him back off his feet.
Jake concentrated, focusing his thoughts through the tiny nanobots circulating in his body, using them as a means to connect with the controls within the Iron Man armor.
Iron Man landed a few feet from him and was preparing to stun Gul Dukat where he lay when his suit seized up and powered down.
Jake exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Man, that couldn't get much closer." He glanced at the armored figure once more before going over to the Cardassian. Dukat was struggling to sit up while reaching around for his phaser. "Here," Jake said, offering Dukat a hand up. Jake was thrilled to actually meet another alien, as the last twenty-four hours had been like a geek-fest for him.
As Dukat took Jake's hand, it started to tremble. "Are you all right, Human?"
Jake looked in puzzlement at his hand. "Must be all the excitement." But then his other hand and his left leg started to shake. "Hey! What's going on here?" The panic was clear in his voice.
"Something is controlling you?" Dukat asked.
"Something…m-m-must…b-b-b-be!" His body was racked in tremors. At first he turned to Iron Man, thinking that he must be the source of his problem. But he could sense that the source was further than that. "T-t-t-there-re." He managed to point at the line of Borg drones still being held on the other side of Invisible Woman's force field. Some of them were pointing their cybernetic prosthetic limb towards him.
Dukat stepped away from Jake. "The Borg must be trying to control you the same way you controlled that armored man. Can you turn you power off?"
"N-n-n-no!"
"Try!"
The Iron Man armor suit started powering up again, and Dukat realized he had little choice. Setting his phaser to stun, he turned it on Jake who fell unconscious to the floor. Iron Man's armored form still did not move so Dukat figured he must have acted in time.
The Cardassian glanced around to assess how things were going. The telekinetic girl, Tia, still had the Thing bouncing off the walls, but just barely, as the feat was wearing on her. Electra Woman still had the Human Torch contained. Captain America had just defeated Sinbad and was retrieving his shield when Captain Kirk jumped him from behind only to be tossed over his body. They stood to face each other.
Dyna Girl, who had finally managed to stun the Wasp, managed to zap Captain America with enough electricity to knock him out. Kirk, taking in the pretty young woman, pulled her in for a passionate kiss as well as copping a quick feel. She responded with a quick knee to his groin and shoved him away in disgust.
Looking elsewhere, Dukat saw Wolverine, who had been pierced by Kai's brace, had tried gutting the last of the Brunnen G, but Kai didn't feel any pain and his wound simply closed up. Iceman lay unconscious on the floor next to a similarly stunned Storm. Static Shock was trying his luck against Thor and immediately didn't like his chances. There was no one else to do it so he tried anyway. Off to the side, Eric used his magic shield to protect himself, Rygel and Enik from some of the excess lightning produced by Thor and Static Shock.
Steel and Colossus were still going at it in the middle of the room as if it were a gladiatorial arena. Nearby, Beast was tearing into another furry monstrosity that had to the female metamorph, Maya. Rolling around amongst all of this was a large grayish, blue ball that consisted of Mr. Fantastic and the female Changeling. Lore was off to one side and seemed to be trying to recalibrate himself after Iron Man had melted off half of the left side of his face.
Confident that they could hold out a little longer, he hurried after Sapphire just in time to see the vampire, Barnabas Collins, trying to take on the now Kang-controlled Alpha Hirogen. Seeing that display of fighting made him more determined than ever to end this soon. Dukat strode past River who was singing something while removing the control collars from Iceman and Storm. He could see Kang staring at the approaching Sapphire. The self-proclaimed conqueror of time seemed to be fighting on some other level with Sapphire that was totally indiscernibly to the Cardassian, but he didn't care about that. He found a good place to shoot from and began firing on Kang.
Kang was starting to get frustrated by how long everything was taking. He was angered even more by the volley of shots that almost hit him. He ducked away and returned fire. Yelling, he called out to two of the mutants he had kept in reserve. "Rogue! Shadowcat! Get out there and stop them!" He began firing at Sapphire who had to run back to some boulders for cover. He considered rousing Professor X, but decided against it. "Scarlet Witch! Turn your probability hexes on them!"
Wanda Maximoff began firing hexes at Sapphire. While not showing any harm or unusual effects from the hex, she had still been knocked backwards several feet and seemed a bit bewildered at the experience. After that, Sapphire worked at dodging the hexes that came her way, and thus her forward thrust towards Kang had been hindered.
Shadowcat had taken off running toward Dukat. The Cardassian tried stunning her, but the beams from his phaser just went through her no matter what setting he used. Not seeing what he could do and not wanting to find out what she could do to him, he turned to run. Glancing back, he saw the super-fast Cole somehow tackling the immaterial girl and removing her collar.
Rogue, able to absorb other people's powers and memories, walked over to the downed Angel. She removed her glove and touched the face of the unconscious mutant, after a few seconds wings broke through the back of her shirt and jacket.
The Professor, still cooling his heels in a block of ice, regarded this phenomenon in amazement. "Ah, now that is an interesting ability. She assumes on the characteristics of others. I wonder just how much she actually takes on?"
As she started to fly over him, he used his umbrella to hook her foot with the handle. Unbalanced, she jerked back and forth while he pulled her down just far enough to grab hold of her ankle. As she strained her new wings to fly out of his grasp, he pulled off one of her boots and grabbed on tight to her bare foot with his hand.
She stopped struggling and slowly came to rest next to him. The Time Lord removed the collar from her neck. Then Professor quickly put both of his hands on her face to keep as much skin contact as possible before collapsing.
As the Time-Lord slowly fell to the ground, Rogue turned, and took wing again, but this time she headed back toward Kang. Kang was pulled up into the air before he knew what was going on. "Rogue! Stop this immediately!"
Rogue shook her head. "You do not comprehend the forces with which you play! Time is not a plaything!"
Seeing himself only moments from defeat, Kang adjusted a dial on his belt, and he was no longer there.
Rogue shook her head. "Typical. Raises all sorts of havoc but won't stay around to face the consequences. Looks like he unhinged himself from time to get away. Very reckless, but so very typical of his sort."
With Kang gone, all of the heroes that still had the collars on fell over in a faint. Including the Invisible Woman, who had been holding the Borg at bay.
"Uh oh!"
To be Continued!
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Original AuThOr'S NoTeS: 1/23/2008
Kang's actions here are not out of character. He has often used others to obtain items and conquer for him. The domination over others seems almost as important to him as winning. Plus, after taking over world after world, it makes it more of a game for him.
I had wanted to bring in the X-Men for a while for a number of reasons. I chose the movie versions because of Patrick Stewart having played both Jean-Luc Picard and Professor X. I included Iron Man, Ant-Man, Captain America, Wasp and Thor because not only do they consist of some of the most well-known Avengers, who were usually Kang's biggest foes, but they all have movies coming out this year and next year.
In the comic books, when heroes met heroes there was almost always the misunderstanding that causes them to have a slug-fest. It looked like it would be fun to add, and I sure enjoyed it. Hope all you readers did as well.
As for Sapphire and Steel, they are from England and are actual agents of time that have that have manifested physical form to fix problems in time. Because of the abrupt arrival of the Borg causing havoc with the machinery that runs the Land of the Lost, they are drawn here as well. And they gathered a team of useful misfits along the way.
Hope you liked it because I have an even bigger fight coming up.
ChArAcTeR InDeX FoR ThE ChApTeR:
Alexander the Great – (mentioned only)
Alpha Hirogen (Vaughn Armstrong) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)
Angel / Worthington III, Warren (Ben Foster) – from the movie X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Ant-Man / Lang, Scott (Paul Rudd) – from the movies Ant-Man (2015)
Beast / McCoy, Dr. Henry 'Hank'(Kelsey Grammer) – from the movie X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Caesar, Julius – historical figure (mentioned only)
Captain America / Rogers, Steve (Chris Evans) – from the movies Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Cavalier / Eric (voiced by Don Most) – from the cartoon Dungeons & Dragons (1983-1985)
Cole / Daggon (Adrian Paul) – from the TV series Tracker (2001-2002)
Collins, Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) – from the TV series Dark Shadows (1966-1971)
Colossus / Rasputin, Piotr 'Peter' (Daniel Cudmore) – from the movies X-2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Doctor, The 7th / Professor, The (Sylvester McCoy) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1987-1989)
Dukat, Gul (Marc Alaimo) – from the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)
Dyna Girl / Judy (Judy Strangis) – from the TV series The Krofft Supershow 'Electra Woman and Dyna Girl' (1976)
Electra Woman / Hall, Lori (Deidre Hall) – from the TV series The Krofft Supershow 'Electra Woman and Dyna Girl' (1976)
Enik (Walker Edmiston) – from the TV series Land of the Lost (1974-1976)
Fogg, Phineas (Michael Praed) – from the TV series The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne (2000) (mentioned only)
Foley, Jake (Christopher Gorham) – from the TV series Jake 2.0 (2003-2004)
Human Torch / Storm, Johnny (Chris Evans) – from the movies Fantastic Four (2005), 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
Iceman / Drake, Bobby (Shawn Ashmore) – from the movies X-Men (2000), X-2: X-Men United(2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Invisible Woman / Storm, Sue (Jessica Alba) – from the movies Fantastic Four (2005), 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
Iron Man / Stark, Tony (Robert Downey, Jr.) – from the movies Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Kai (Michael McManus) – from the TV series Lexx (1997-2002)
Kang the Conqueror – from Marvel Comics Avengers #8 (1964)
Kirk, Mirror Universe Capt. James T. (William Shatner) – from the TV series Star Trek (1967)
Logan, Ted (Keanu Reeves) – from the movies Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991) (mentioned only)
Lore (Brent Spiner) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988-1993)
Malone, Tia (Kim Richards) – from the movie Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), Return From Witch Mountain (1978)
Maya (Catherine Schell) – from the TV series Space: 1999 (1975-1977)
Mister Fantastic / Richards, Reed (Ioan Gruffudd) – from the movies Fantastic Four (2005), 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
Nightcrawler / Wagner, Kurt (Alan Cumming) – from the movie X-2: X-Men United (2003)
Picard, Capt. Jean-Luc (Patrick Stewart) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) (mentioned only)
Preston, Esq., Bill S. (Alex Winter) – from the movies Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991) (mentioned only)
Professor X / Xavier, Prof. Charles (Patrick Stewart) – from the movies X-Men (2000), X-2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Quicksilver / Maximoff, Pietro (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) – from the movie The Avengers 2: The Age of Ultron (2015)
Rogue / Marie (Anna Paquin) – from the movies X-Men (2000), X-2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Rygel XVI, Dominar (Jonathan Hardy) – from the TV series Farscape (1999-2003)
Sapphire (Joanna Lumley) – from the TV series Sapphire & Steel (1979-1982)
Scarlet Witch / Maximoff, Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) – from the movie The Avengers 2: The Age of Ultron (2015)
Sela, Cdr. (Denise Crosby) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) (mentioned only)
Shadowcat / Pryde, Kitty (Katie Stuart) – from the movies X-Men (2000), X-2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Sinbad (Zen Gesner) – from the TV series The Adventures of Sinbad (1996-1998)
Singh, Khan Noonien (Ricardo Montalban) – from the TV series Star Trek (1967), from the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) (mentioned only)
Sleestak / Altrusians – from the TV series Land of the Lost (1974-1976)
Static Shock (voiced by Phil LaMarr) – from the cartoon Static Shock (2000-2004)
Steel (David McCallum) – from the TV series Sapphire & Steel (1979-1982)
Storm / Munroe, Ororo (Halle Berry) – from the movies X-Men (2000), X-2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Tam, River (Summer Glau) – from the TV series Firefly (2002-2003)
Thing / Grimm, Ben (Michael Chiklis) – from the movies Fantastic Four (2005), 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) – from the movies Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013), The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Verne, Jules (Chris Demetral) – from the TV series The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne (2000) (mentioned only)
Wasp / van Dyne, Hope (Evangeline Lilly)– from the movies Ant-Man (2015)
Wolverine / Logan / Howlett, James (Hugh Jackman) – from the movie X-Men (2000), X-2: X-Men United (2003), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), The Wolverine (2013)
Xenomorphs – from the movie Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Alien³ (1992), Alien: Resurrection (1997), AVP: Alien Vs. Predator (2004), Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) (mentioned only)