A TANGLED WEB Part 8: Endgame
Chapter 39
by Charlie Nelson a.k.a. Ordinaryguy2
Originally Posted: 10-10-2011
Updated: 3-19-2022
The main crossovers in this chapter include: Challenge of the Super-Friends (1978); DC Comics; Doctor Who; Land of the Lost (1974-1976); Star Trek (1967); Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999); Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994); Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)
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The young Paku Cha-Ka cowered behind the young boy who called himself the Other, also known as the Builder. They watched in fascination at the massive battle spread out in the valley before them. The Other just stared out at the panoramic mêlée, drinking it all in. It was over five minutes before Cha-Ka dared to say anything to Builder, who Cha-Ka perceived as a god since it was he who had created this micro-dimension that the young Paku had lived his entire life in. Even so, Cha-Ka had to say something.
"Cha-Ka scared."
"I know," answered the boy. "I have been scanning the beings waging war against each other. What I have found there is incredible even by my standards."
"Builder is scared?" Cha-Ka asked, fearing the answer.
The Other frowned. "Mostly somewhat perplexed. Those cybernetic creatures known as the Borg that have invaded my terrarium dimension have to be dealt with, possibly even eradicated from time. I can sense that they are trying to find a way to Gallifrey, and that I cannot allow, even if it means annulling this place that I have created. These cybernetic beings must not be allowed to reach Gallifrey."
"Builder would destroy this land?" Cha-Ka asked, incredulous.
"Hopefully not." He glanced around. "I've grown rather fond of this place despite its primitiveness."
Cha-Ka sighed with relief.
"But I also touched the mind of two renegade Gallifreyans; one being evil who calls himself the Master, and another calling himself the Doctor who is here in several incarnations of himself. It's an extremely forbidden practice. And even though he is from far in my future, this Doctor seems oddly familiar."
The young Paku turned to where he heard water being poured in the distance away from the battlefield. What he saw made him jump. "Builder! Builder!"
Sitting in the stream of a little grotto was a massively, large ape, lifting handfuls of cool water to make brief waterfalls as it flowed over some of the numerous burns and cuts it received while fighting.
"He's too large," stated the Builder. "It's appetite could not be sustained in the current environment here. He will have to go back." He pointed a small handheld device at the mighty Kong. A thin ruby beam of light shot out and encapsulated the giant simian leaving him frozen in place. "Later, I will come back, heal his wounds, and send him home."
"Trapped in red light!" Cha-Ka exclaimed, bobbing up and down in excitement. He looked out at the battle-scarred valley, ducking behind the Builder as Mr. Incredible went tumbling through the air over them only to crash high up in a tree. "Trap others in red light?" asked the young Paku.
"That would be simpler," said the young boy. "But there are three major groups on the field: the heroes, the villains, and the Borg. The heroes and villains can be easily placed in stasis. The Borg on the field as well, but not all of the Borg are here right now. Those not in the vicinity would adapt a defense and I may no longer be able to contain. Indeed, those running free would soon find a way to free the other containment cells freeing the trapped drones and then the other occupants while turning them into drones." He took a deep breath and sighed. "No, it is better that I leave them to fight for now while we go to search for the true heart of the Borg. Then I can work on getting the rest of these intruders back where they belong."
OoOoOoOoO
Brainiac was not pleased. Being an android, he has been without emotion, except for maybe the hatred that he had towards Superman which fueled his need for revenge against the Kryptonian. But the Borg Queen, his new intellectual companion, had provided him with an emotion chip. Curious as to how it would work, he connected himself to it and turned it on, letting him feel a myriad of emotions. At first, he had experienced wonder and awe at the various memories and emotions that she had collected. He had never considered sampling the emotions and memories of the various alien races nestled in the shrunken cities he had bottled because he had surmised that they were beneath him. But the way his new companion had arranged the linkup he was a little envious. It was so efficient and intense that there were almost no flaws in how it functioned. When he observed how her custom-made drone body walked past him, was this lust? If so, he approved of it despite the obvious errors it caused his logic logarithms. And while he knew he'd have to adjust to this new arrangement he had entered into with the Borg Queen, the one thing he could not accept, especially now that he could experience jealousy, was a rival.
"These are not the parameters we agreed upon!" he said, his tone showing his outrage.
The Borg Queen offered him a coy smile as she walked up to him. "It's not like that," she said. "True, I had sought Data as a consort previous to you, but this is his 'brother', Lore."
"I know who he is!" snapped Brainiac, who had already accessed all the files she had on both Starfleet officer Lt. Commander Data and his 'evil twin', Lore. "And I don't want him here."
"You are a vastly superior being," she said, lulling him. "I only wish to study Lore. He managed to take over a piece of the Borg Collective that had become corrupted and broken off. His insights on how this happened would serve to protect and strengthen the Borg."
The green Coluian android studied the golden-skinned android that stood still at attention next to its Human counterpart Jake Foley, one of the new first-stage drones that had been brought in to be processed. The only reason Lore spent as much time with Jake Foley was a program called the Three Laws of Robotics that had been uploaded into his system. The program made Lore a virtual slave to Jake's every whim. The Borg Queen had made sure that such a program could not affect her or her drones, but had been quite amused to have found that it had enslaved Lore to a Human's will. "And after that, can I destroy him?"
She made a slight shrug. "If you wish, though that would be wasteful. Why not try your hand at turning him into a cybernetic drone? It would be interesting to see what variation you would use in the construction. In fact, why don't you use Jake here for the organic components?"
Lore's face twisted in fury. The first reaction he'd displayed since being brought before the Borg Queen and her new consort. "I'll destroy you both! Wipe away your core being one gigabyte at a time by slow sporadic electrocution!"
His face jerked slight to one side as the nanites the Borg Queen had injected him with on arrival assume control of his being again. She sauntered up and gave his cheek a playful squeeze. "Don't be angry just because I/we have the upper hand. If you were in our position, you would be doing the very same thing."
Lore's face twitched. "You're damn right I would!" He glowered at the two of them until the Borg Queen took away the control of his face and vocal functions again, but purposely let his emotion chip run full throttle.
"I believe you are right," Brainiac said, as the emotions in him began to calm down. Now he had an inkling of understanding as to how organics can be so irrational most of the time. "I will enjoy converting him into another drone."
She smiled and then turned away to where the two Luthors, one claiming to be from the dimension they have designated as Earth-1 and the other from Earth-2, stood. "And what of these two?"
The Coluian android grinned. "My gifts? I think you will find them to be exceptionally ingenious and intelligent for their species. I have collaborated with the Luthor from my universe several times. Never have I met any being like him before in regards to tenacity and adversity. As for the other Luthor, he's almost as brilliant, but not as successful as-"
"I-I-I am superior," sputtered the red-headed Luthor from Earth-2, "to that bald… lab rat that… trusted you! I would… have never… made that mistake!"
The Borg Queen's eyes widened in surprise, but not alarm. "He's managed to override some of the nanoprobes."
Alexei Luthor from Earth-2, face pale with nanite veins spread all around, shook in pain as he tried to work his way free from the invisible control of the Borg Collective. He tried to raise his hand, only for it to fall back limply to his side.
"He'll be under control in a moment," Brainiac said, as he monitored the nanites in Alexei's body.
"You will pay… for this… betrayal," spoke the other Luthor.
"They both managed to mentally break free of the nanoprobes? They truly are marvelous!"
Lex Luthor shook his bald head as if to shake off the effects the hold the Borg had over him. "If it's the… last thing I ever do. You-you will… p-p-pay…" His eyes glazed over as the Collective resumed control over him.
"They are remarkable. I will want to conduct some more tests before processing these two."
"I thought you would," Brainiac replied, sharing her interest.
She turned to him. "And now I have another interesting development that I think will interest you." Using the Collective, she directed his attention to several drones that she had stationed at one of the tunnel entrances. It was there that the drones were battling against other drones.
"Why is this happening?" asked Brainiac.
"A good question," she said. "And I have the answer." She brought up visuals to show him. "Originally one of the Borg drone teams being sent into various parts of the multiverse, dropped my team into the year 1896 A.D. of the Earth calendar near the San Joaquin Valley, California. Then I began my incubation process for my avatar, as each team did upon gaining a foothold on one of the parallel Earths."
"There I had the good fortune of gaining a Gallifreyan Time Lord as a drone. Remarkably, he was able to keep most of his memories. But I did learn that he was trying to stop the Borg from spreading throughout the multiverse. And on one of his excursions, he recruited help from another universe from individuals named Clark Kent, Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan and Lex Luthor."
"Luthor?" He glanced over at the two Luthors he had already collected. The themes of curiosity and greed began to course through his system from his new emotion chip.
"Not only that, but this new Luthor is in his early twenties, and not a delinquent, evil mastermind."
"What does this have to do with Borg unaffiliated drones attacking our Borg drones?" He had made to stress the word 'our'.
"That's the curious part," she said. "That Lex Luthor had been captured and turned into a drone. Shortly thereafter, an unusual explosion had fractured the Collective. Lex had survived in a fractured part of the Collective that still functioned and quickly took it over."
Brainiac nodded. "That I can easily believe."
"Then on his own, he changed his allegiance, and helped to defeat the remaining Collective on that world."
"Luthors always want to be in charge and are rarely forgiving."
"This Luthor also decommissioned a majority of his drones, keeping only the drones that could not survive disconnected from his Collective."
"His Collective?"
She nodded slightly. "And he took on a new designation."
"How does that matter to us?"
"You may find this amusing. He took the name Brainiac."
The Coluian android froze even as his central processors went into override in order to factualize the implications. Was the multiverse somehow guiding events so that there was always a Luthor and Brainiac of some sort? The existence of two Luthors coming from parallel worlds with very similar histories seemed to suggest that theory, and now a third? After thirty seconds of studying the various knowledge on such subjects stored in the Collective, he knew there was only one action he could implement.
"I must capture and study him."
"You can direct the drones from right here."
Something within himself did not like that sort of action. Was this pride? This sudden insistence that he must do it himself? It was so illogical. It was even worse than when he insisted on fighting Superman one-on-one. With a feeling he identified as frustration, he considered turning off the emotion chip until a better time. But he knew he had to get a handle on these emotions. He concluded that there would always be something he'd have to deal with so he should just get on with it. "This must be done personally."
"I've already redirected twenty more drones to that location."
He looked at her. He could feel the lust from the emotion chip coursing through him. For a moment, he wondered if the emotion chip could make him feel love, and if it could, would that love be real, or merely just a program. "I'll be back." He turned and left.
She turned to watch as her drones were removing the amputated arm of Mr. Furious and were about to replace it with one of their prosthetic limbs. On the other side of him, the sailor Sinbad was having his eye removed and covered over by the Borg headgear. But it was the young woman named Maya that drew her attention. She was a shape changer, which would prove to complicate any or all assimilation attempts. She ordered more tests to be done. Eager to learn, eager to overcome, those were the things she chose to aspire to. This is what the Borg was made to do.
She knew she would keep this 'Maya' as a first-stage drone, as she had several others. There just was not enough resources here in this land that some called 'The Land of the Lost'. Fortunately, several of her first-stage drones had abilities that would be hindered if converted into a fully processed drone.
She examined the matter-converter as Mr. Furious' arm was placed there and the atoms were broken apart to be used in make the necessary Borg components. Sinbad's eye and sword were also added.
Other drones were bringing back the components that had been left on the field after Mist Master had dissolved away all the organic matter from the attacking drones.
It had been a setback. But not one she could not easily recover from. She had lost several unique drones. She would take care to gather the necessary items to clone such drones for the future.
She regarded Lore and wondered what Brainiac would decide to do to him.
OoOoOoOoO
The Founder brought her liquid form into one large mass in order to better communicate with her solid allies. "It is confirmed. Lore has been compromised again, this time by the Borg."
"That's too bad," commented Gul Dukat. The Cardassian had been resting against the warm cavern walls while the liquid shapeshifter did reconnaissance. Now he stretched his sore limbs so that he could be ready to take action if needed. "Lore was a good asset to the team."
"He still could be," said Captain Kirk as he considered something. "He's an android, so can we use some kind of device to blow him up? Maybe whoever created him kept a bomb inside him. I know I would."
Dukat looked at Kirk in surprise. He forgot from time to time that this Kirk in front of him was actually the Kirk from a mirror universe that had made the Earth man ruthless and diabolical instead of the honorable, trustworthy Kirk he had studied while learning about noteworthy persons of interest on alien worlds. "Taking into account the time we were with Lore, do you really think he would willing have an explosive device kept inside himself?"
Kirk snarled. "It was just a possibility."
Before another altercation could start, the Founder drew their attention to the returning of another member of their team, the Alpha Hirogen. The large alien had to bend low to get through the tunnel opening to the small alcove that the others had taken residence in. Once he was able to stretch to his full height, he gave his report. "We have company coming. I could identify three of them as members of the team we are working against."
Kirk chuckled evilly. "So their numbers have thinned some, too. That's good to know."
"Who did you see?" asked Dukat, who was more concerned with who they would be facing.
The Alpha Hirogen held the Cardassian's eyes. He was not used to working as equals with members of his own species, let alone inferior aliens. "Picard. Sisko. Ro. And there was a fourth member in a black outfit who seemed unusually agile."
"We could use this to our advantage," stated the Founder.
"What do you have in mind?" asked Dukat.
"Simply this: we use them as a diversion to make our own attack right to the heart of the Borg, the Borg Queen herself."
"Thereby we will the contest! I like it!" Kirk said, always eager for action.
"It makes sense," admitted Dukat. "How far behind you are they?" he asked the Alpha Hirogen.
"Three or four minutes."
The Founder morphed her body into that of a table with a three-dimensional map showing all the tunnels and caverns she had explored. "The X is where we are now," she explained. "The yellow highlighted tunnels are ones only I can fit through. The blue tunnels are only large enough for Kirk and Dukat. The green tunnels are large enough to accommodate the Alpha Hirogen."
"What are all the red tunnels then? They could work for us. They led right up to the Borg Queen," asked Kirk. Both Dukat and the Alpha Hirogen shook their heads at the man's density.
"That's because there are Borg drones all throughout that area, you thick-headed solid," reprimanded the female Changeling.
Kirk grit his teeth but said nothing. Dukat tried not to smirk. They needed to be able to work together for at least a little longer.
It was the Alpha Hirogen who had the answer. "If we stay here, and let the Starfleet team pass us by, we could cut back through this tunnel to this cavern here and come up nearly in back of where the Borg forces will be rallying."
"It could work except for the fact that the Starfleet team would have to pass right by us." Dukat shook his head.
"I could take the shape of a rock wall at the entrance to this alcove," said the Founder. "No one would know the difference as they pass in the tunnel. But they are unlikely to come in here without scanning as they go. I would not stand up to that kind of scrutiny."
The Alpha Hirogen took a device from his belt, flipped it open and began typing on a small keyboard. "I believe I have an answer." He put the device on the floor and stepped back. A beam of purple light did a quick sweep of the area and then focused its efforts on the entrance of the cavern which suddenly filled with rock.
"How'd you do that?" demanded Kirk.
"Holographic technology," Dukat answered. "But Sisko and the others would be able to detect it."
"No," replied the Alpha Hirogen. "This device is a couple of steps beyond the holographic technology I was introduced to in the Voyager. It doesn't make large hard light pro-"
"How new is this technology?" interrupted the Founder.
The Alpha Hirogen scowled. But knew he had to try work with these lesser lifeforms. "Testing was complete a little more than ten days ago."
"Ten days!" she exclaimed. "Turn it off, you fool! Turn it off now!"
"You dare?!" growled the Hirogen.
Realization dawned on Dukat. "She's right! Turn it off! Quick!"
"The Borg are constantly searching for new technology!" explained the female shapeshifter. "If they detect this thing of yours-"
The wall behind them began to heat up as something or someone made an opening.
"Too late!" Kirk began shooting at the back wall while Dukat vaporized the holoprojector that was blocking them in.
To be Continued!
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Original AuThOr'S NoTeS: 10/10/2011
Sorry for the delay. Lots of things going on from dealing with some kind of flu-diarrhea bug with the kids, death in the family and some computer difficulties. Ah, real life. No wonder we like to turn to fantasy for a time.
ChArAcTeR InDeX FoR ThE ChApTeR:
Alpha Hirogen (Vaughn Armstrong) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001)
Batman / McGinnis, Terry (voiced by Will Friedle) – from the TV series Batman Beyond (1999-2001) (mentioned only)
Borg – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation
Borg Queen (Alice Krige) – from the movie Star Trek: First Contact (1996), (Susanna Thompson) – from the TV series Star Trek: Voyager (1999-2000)
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), first appeared in the comic book Action Comics #242 (1958) by DC Comics
The Builder / The Other – from the TV series Land of the Lost; from the TV series Doctor Who
Cha-Ka (Philip Paley) – from the TV series Land of the Lost (1974-1976)
Data, Lt. Cdr. (Brent Spiner) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) (mentioned only)
Doctor, The 1st (William Hartnell) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1963-1966) (mentioned only)
Doctor, The 2nd (Patrick Troughton) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1966-1969) (mentioned only)
Doctor, The 3rd (John Pertwee) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1970-1974) (mentioned only)
Doctor, The 4th (Tom Baker) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1974-1981) (mentioned only)
Doctor, The 5th (Peter Davison) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1981-1984) (mentioned only)
Doctor, The 6th (Colin Baker) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1984-1986) (mentioned only)
Doctor, The 7th / Professor, The (Sylvester McCoy) – from the TV series Doctor Who (1987-1989) (mentioned only)
Doctor, The 8th (Paul McGann) – from the TV movie Doctor Who (1996) (mentioned only)
Doctor, The 9th (Christopher Eccleston) – from the TV series Doctor Who (2005) (mentioned only)
Doctor, The 10th (David Tennant) – from the TV series Doctor Who (2005-2010) (mentioned only)
Dukat, Gul (Marc Alaimo) – from the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)
Foley, Jake (Christopher Gorham) – from the TV series Jake 2.0 (2003-2004)
Founder / Female Changeling (Salome Jens) – from the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1994-1999)
Kent, Clark Jerome / Kal-El (Tom Welling) – from the TV series Smallville (2001-2011) (mentioned only)
Kirk, Capt. James T. (William Shatner) – from the TV series Star Trek (1966-1969) (mentioned only)
Kirk, Mirror Universe Capt. James T. (William Shatner) – from the TV series Star Trek (1967)
Kong – from the movie King Kong (1976)
Lang, Lana (Kristin Kreuk) – from the TV series Smallville (2001-2009) (mentioned only)
Laren, Ro (Michelle Forbes) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991-1994) (mentioned only)
Lore (Brent Spiner) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988-1993)
Luthor, Alexei, of Earth-2 – first appeared in the comic book Action Comics #23 (1940) by DC Comics
Luthor, Lex / Brainiac (Michael Rosenbaum) – from the TV series Smallville (2001-2011) (mentioned only)
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), first appeared in the comic book Adventure Comics #271 (1960) by DC Comics
The Master – from the TV series Doctor Who (mentioned only)
Maya (Catherine Schell) – from the TV series Space: 1999 (1975-1977)
Mist Master of Earth-1 / Sti-Tuan, Yer – first appeared in the comic book Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #253 (1979) by DC Comics
Mister Furious (Ben Stiller) – from the movie Mystery Men (1999)
Mister Incredible / Parr, Bob (voiced by Craig T. Nelson) – from the movie The Incredibles (2004)
Pakuni – from the TV series Land of the Lost (1974-1976)
Picard, Capt. Jean-Luc (Patrick Stewart) – from the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994) (mentioned only)
Sinbad (Zen Gesner) – from the TV series The Adventures of Sinbad (1996-1998)
Sisko, Capt. Benjamin (Avery Brooks) – from the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999) (mentioned only)
Sullivan, Chloe (Allison Mack) – from the TV series Smallville (2001-2011) (mentioned only)
Superman of Earth-1 / Kent, Clark / Kal-El (voiced by Bud Collyer) – from the cartoon The New Adventures of Superman (1966-1970), The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure (1967-1968), Aquaman (1968), The Batman/Superman Hour (1968-1969), (voiced by Danny Dark) – Super Friends (1973-1977), The All-New Super Friends Hour (1977-1978), Challenge of the SuperFriends (1978), The World's Greatest SuperFriends (1979), Super Friends (1980-1983), SuperFriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show (1984), The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians (1985), first appeared in the comic book More Fun Comics #1 (1945) by DC Comics (mentioned only)
Three Laws of Robotics – first appeared in short story "Runaround" by Isaac Asimov (1942)