DC/Marvel: Access Denied
Chapter 12
By Christopher W. Blaine
e-mail: darth_yoshi@yahoo.com
DISCLAIMER: The characters and situations contained in this story are ©2003 by either DC Comics Inc. or Marvel Entertainment Group and are used without permission for fan-related, non-profit entertainment purposes only. This original work of fiction is ©2003 by Christopher W. Blaine and may not be reproduced in part or as a whole without the express permission of the author.
Earth-CA …Holocaust stopped and sniffed the air and then closed his eyes to concentrate on the moment. He was fully aware that his enemies were about, new ones at that, some of them not even from this place. He knew about their plan to cut off his connection to his psychic anchor in that "other" universe. He realized that the last vestiges of resistance on this pathetic world had sent a monster to try and eat him.
None of it mattered because he had drawn as much from the soul of the Joker that he dared. For Holocaust, the idea of depriving any reality of the Clown Prince of Crime seemed so…evil that he dared not to consider it. He was strong enough now that he did not require the connection and he would cut it off soon enough.
He had moved his base of operations to the top of the famous Baxter Building where he had briefly considered using the devices there to unleash the demons and horrors of the Negative Zone on this planet, but changed his mind. Even now, several Church of Blood Acolytes were examining the computers and safeguards designed by Reed Richards to see how to safely block the entranceway.
Holocaust did not want to be watching his back as he moved off world.
Bullseye came out of the hallway and into the main receiving room that was once used by the world's most famous super team to entertain guests. Holocaust sensed a change in his underling, but could not quite get a read on him. Bullseye was a trained marksman and that required mental discipline that was nearly superhuman. Not that Holocaust could read minds; instead he read the currents of time and he knew that Bullseye and he were coming to an important point.
"You seem preoccupied my servant," Holocaust said as he took a seat in a large chair. Bullseye knew it had belonged to Benjamin Grimm, the Thing.
Bullseye said nothing for a few moments and then pulled out his trademark pack of cigarettes. "I just got a report that Wonder Woman, Spider-Man and Hawkman are battling the Hulk downtown. I thought they were dead."
"They soon will be inconsequential," Holocaust said, dismissively. "You and I will be on our way to Thanagar soon enough, leaving this world in the hands of the Church of Blood." Bullseye shook his head, his stomach turning as he thought about the remaining people on his homeworld being left in the hands of a cult of sadists.
He wondered what was wrong with him, why was he changing so much? Was it survival instinct kicking in? Were his eyes feeding his brain so much information about the demise of his world that his personality was starting to shift? Was he becoming a super-hero? He shook his head and then took another good look at his "master".
His skin was still chalk white, the eyes were pink and the teeth were little black daggers, but Holocaust had once again changed clothes. He now sported a leather uniform cut in the style of the Church of Blood, leather in black and red. He seemed more muscular and Bullseye became keenly aware that Holocaust was changing.
In the short time they had been together, both of them had transformed. Holocaust was healthier now, perhaps completely invulnerable except to the strongest of magic. Bullseye had developed a conscience and a part of him was sad. He knew now what his path was to be and it was most likely a path to death. It was through blood he found redemption and he considered the religious aspects of it all.
"Bullseye the messiah," he whispered.
"What?" Holocaust asked. An acolyte, an older man, was sitting at his feet now, cutting into his own flesh with a pocketknife. The quality of Church members was diminishing with every hour.
"Nothing, master," Bullseye replied with a small bow of the head. "I came to report that Despayre has been defeated."
The nightmare that was Holocaust shrugged. "He served his purpose. He spread his unique influence over that part of the country and like a cancer it ate away at everything it touched."
"Pardon my ignorance, master," Bullseye began in his most complacent tone. "We both know that the complete overwhelming of the planet will take much longer than your original estimates indicated. People are leaving the cities and reports show that the destruction is not as widespread…"
"Silence!" Holocaust demanded, smashing a palm on the armrest. He reached down and grasped the old man at his feet by the throat. His dark nails duck deep into the man's flesh as he started a tirade. "You dare to doubt me? I am the dark storm of entropy, living death in the flesh! I have killed gods and surpassed those called Almighty! I feast in blood and gorge myself with suffering! Let the rats scurry to their holes for I will unleash the hounds of hell to sniff them out!" He crushed the man's larynx and tossed the body away. Bullseye was sickened to see the smile on the man's face. Death was not supposed to be pleasant.
"Why do you doubt me suddenly?" Holocaust demanded as he stepped towards Bullseye. The assassin did not flinch even as several of the more militant members of the Church approached him with bloodstained swords. "My spies tell me that you have been meeting with people in the city…those spies that have returned."
"I didn't realize I wasn't allowed to talk to people," Bullseye replied quickly. He then turned to the nearest acolyte and smiled. "Better back up or you'll be sitting on that thing," he quipped.
The acolyte only smiled and Bullseye couldn't believe it. It was like anyone who got around Holocaust went insane.
Or sane in his case.
And suddenly there was a million light bulbs turned on inside his brain and he realized what it was that had been bothering him. Exposure to Holocaust caused a complete reversal of mental state. Bullseye had definitely been a nut job before; it was why he had sought out Holocaust when the slaughter had started.
Was that why Darkseid had sought out Bullseye out he wondered. "I'm not doubting anyone," Bullseye said, his voice slow and deliberate. Holocaust paused for a moment to allow his servant to continue. "In case you haven't noticed, there was a large lizard dropped in the ocean outside Manhattan and a bunch of super-heroes are popping up. I think it would be a good idea to eliminate them first," he said, hoping to buy some time, "and, at the same time, come up with a way to track where everyone else is going."
Holocaust laughed. "You are worried about these heroes, aren't you? Is the great Bullseye showing fear?"
"Yeah, I'm scared…"
The Boom Tube opened up and deposited the massive form of Darkseid onto the rubble-strewn streets of what had been New York City. In the distance, the master of Apokolips could hear the sounds of glorious battle. By the howls and roars and echoes of destruction, he thought that perhaps his son Orion was somewhere about. But that wasn't so; Orion had died fighting alongside many of the heroes of this regrettable little world.
Darkseid moved towards the spot that Desaad had indicated, his stride of regal arrogance. He walked through streets he once had dreams of lording over and watched with cold black eyes as human trash scuttled about to avoid him. According to the information Desaad had gleaned, it was almost miraculous the way that Holocaust had done what he had.
After killing Dr. Doom, Holocaust surprised the Fantastic Four and easily overwhelmed them. With them as his prisoners, he used his psychic abilities to learn about this world and he then sought out the Church of Blood as a logical ally. His natural ability to alter thought patterns turned the normally calculating Church members into blood-crazed zealots.
Then Holocaust had infected each and every person he came upon with a small psychic worm that, like a computer virus, made its way through the populace of the world in less than a week. The only problem was it didn't work on Skrulls and it was, ironically, the Skrulls that had come to the defense of the world they had intended to conquer.
Now the psychic worm had died out as the people spread apart and the remnants of civilization were holding out for a miracle. Darkseid smiled as he considered the irony; he was the miracle.
He would not let his beloved Diana die here alone. She was the key as the only truly magical being left on Earth…in the galaxy so far as the master of Apokolips knew. He loved her with all of his dark black heart, even more than his own wife. So now he had come here to join with her in final battle with Holocaust. Let Loki and the other false gods have Apokolips!
Darkseid would know Heaven by fighting with Diana!
Someone leapt out of the shadows at him, but Darkseid did not flinch. He was here to face death and he certainly would not cower before any mortal. Once the assailant was in the light, Darkseid noted that it was one of the world's heroes. By the tatters of the costume that hung from his bruised and bloodied body, Darkseid knew that it was the man known as Hawkeye.
An archer and member of the Avengers, he was best known for being a wisecracker and general smart-ass. Now he was nothing more than a disheveled husk of slobbering and gibbering flesh. "I know you!" Hawkeye cried out in a voice that was hoarse as if he had been screaming too much. "You are…the enemy!" He reached back, looking for his trusty bow. It wasn't there.
Darkseid folded his arms across his chest and watched the conflicting emotions that ran through Hawkeye's eyes. The psychic worm had ate away everything that made the man a hero and left him open to all of the horrors he had witnessed over the past few weeks. Darkseid wished he had the time to pursue the matter further; study of fear and dementia were always a favorite subject with him.
Twin beams of deadly energy escaped from Darkseid's eyes. The Omega Beams consumed Hawkeye and reduced him to cosmic ash. He then stepped through the black spot that marked the death of the hero and continued on into the heart of the city.
His goal was the Baxter Building, a place Darkseid knew all too well. It was there many years ago that Superman and the Thing joined forces to beat Darkseid in a hand-to-hand battle. Darkseid grinned as he remembered the bout; those had been glorious days indeed! Perhaps that was another reason why great Darkseid was marching proudly to his death. Certainly he loved Diana, but with Superman and all of the others gone, there were no more challenges worthy of the attention of Darkseid.
Two more times he was assaulted as he moved through dark alleyways, once by a woman demanding sex (he merely swatted her away) and second by a member of the Church of Blood (he slowly tore that one apart with his bare hands). At the foot of the Baxter Building her paused as the ground started to quake. The great battle was taking place not so far away and had been raging for over an hour. What a spectacle it had to be!
The doors to the building gave way as Darkseid paused and out stepped the man-creature known as the Abomination. Once a Russian agent, he had been exposed to gamma radiation and had become a giant green-skinned horror that had often battled the Hulk. "You and I…we battle, yes?" the Abomination bellowed.
Darkseid sighed and wondered where Diana was. She had to know that Holocaust was here because Desaad had provided all the necessary information to Darkseid. Darkseid had passed this on to the Amazon.
As of one cue, a tall and distinctly female form landed next to Darkseid. "I cannot believe you are here," she said.
"I cannot believe you are late. Had you been my queen, I would have expected you to be more timely," was the reply. It was hard for the novice to tell but Diana could actually see joy in Darkseid's face.
"I would never have been your queen," she lied.
"You will always be the queen of the kingdom of my heart."
Wonder Woman laughed. "So now the master of Apokolips becomes a poet! Where was this muse's spirit when we shared a bed?"
"I was charming enough to get you there…"
"Don't be so sure of who seduced whom, Darkseid," she said with a wicked smile.
Hawkman dropped down on the other side of Darkseid. "I can't tell you how sickening it is to picture you two making bacon…"
The Abomination stood at the doorway, scratching his lizard-skinned head. His massive muscles were rippling as he did so. "We fight…yes?"
His answer was Spider-Man who delivered a double-foot strike to the chest of the gamma-creature. There was a snapping sound as Spider-Man's leg broke and he fell to the ground howling. Hawkman shook his head. "Damn! That was stupid!"
The Abomination wasted no time in reacting to the attack. A giant green foot came down on Spider-Man's chest and a fountain of blood exploded into the air. Spider-Man screamed and then died a death so unworthy of a hero of his caliber.
"Oh my stars and garters," Kid Flash said as he entered a back room in the abandoned building. Before him was a large tarp that was moving on its own and the sounds of passion coming from underneath. "The world is ending and you two are…are…"
The flustered face of a young Bruce Wayne popped out from underneath. "Roy!"
"Bruce," the other hero replied, putting his arms across his chest. This sort of behavior he expected from himself and Aquagirl, but they were in their twenties. Bruce had just turned 18 and Batgirl was 19 at the most, though Kid Flash had to admit he could not really tell. "What in the hell are you doing? The world is ending, in case you forgot."
Batgirl's head popped out and Kid Flash noted that it was the first time he had ever seen her face. It was very pretty. "It is my fault…"
"Yeah, you set up a trap and he fell naked into you, right?" Kid Flash shook his head. "Please tell me you used protection…"
The awkward silence told him everything he needed to know and he then put his palms up to his eyes. "God save me from teenagers!" A voice in the back of his heads told him he was being a hypocrite, but he had no time to deal with foolish thoughts. "Get dressed you monkeys!" Then he added as a threat, "Wait until I tell the Huntress."
Bruce's eyes flashed briefly with anger; after all, he was once the past life of the Batman. All of the rage that made the Dark Knight was there, hidden under the exterior of a well-mannered teen hero. When Bruce spoke next, it was with the voice of someone much older. "Don't threaten me, Roy; that would be a mistake."
"Hey, I'm just trying to tell you that sex before marriage is not the way to go! This is wrong…" Kid Flash stopped and wondered why he was saying these things. Certainly Bruce and Batgirl were in need of a good stern tongue-lashing. Yes, what they had done was foolish, but Roy knew that in his heart of hearts, right or wrong, he did not hold such a conservative view of casual sex.
But then, Bruce, though he was the Batman per se, had never been anything but polite and nice to everyone. He liked girls, but as far as Roy knew, he was someone who held on to traditional family values. And for that matter, Batgirl was the most introverted person he had ever met! Not to mention someone with the discipline and training to never strain from duty. There was no way she should be having sex in the middle of a battle, it went against her very nature!
Something was not right here and he went for his communicator. Nightwing developed the device with technology left behind by the destroyed Justice League of Earth-T. It allowed for communication through Hypertime, but the lag was based upon the number of dimensions you were from the other person.
As it stood, there was a thirty-minute delay between the two worlds. "Van, this is Roy. Three to beam up," he said, mocking his favorite television show. "Focus in on my signal, Flying Fox and Batgirl." He turned it off and put it back inside his costume.
"Chicken! Too afraid to fight?" Bruce asked as he stood up.
"Put some clothes on man!" Kid Flash cried out, turning his head away. "Have some decency!"
Because his head was turned around, he never saw the fist coming at him.