Chapter IV: Interrupted Utopia
"We are here to talk about the Chosen," the man with the gun said as he pointed the weapon at Samus. The maniacal look on his face was accentuated from the expressionless purple lenses that replaced his eyes. "Now Miss Aran, please tell your friends to stand aside, and let us talk to the nice lady."
"You are one cocky son of a bitch, Wildfire," Samus said, pointing her gun arm at Wildfire as he doubled over in laughter. Iron Man readied his repulsers, and Hawkeye notched an arrow.
"Last time I checked, Miss Aran, we outnumber you four to three."
"Yes, Iron Man," Enchantress said in a soothing voice. "Go home."
"Or I'll send you home," Wrecker said. "In pieces."
"Original," Hawkeye said. "Your mommy tell you to say that?"
Wrecker growled, while Enchantress just smirked.
"What about you," Iron Man asked the girl in black, her jet black hair tied behind her in a bun from under the hat. "You have some banter you'd like to toss into the mix?"
"She doesn't talk much, tin man," Wildfire said. "Hence why we at the Syndicate call her Silence. Now about letting us pass.."
"I'm afraid we have you outnumbered," Samus said. All four figures, except for Silence, opposing them laughed. Samus smiled from under her helmet. "I have upgraded my weaponry a bit, and this is a plasma cannon," Samus said, pointing her gun arm to Wrecker. "Enough to knock you down, big boy."
"I think," Iron Man said. "What Samus is trying to say is that you are outclassed here. If you want to take the girl, you are going to have to get through us first."
"Ditto," Hawkeye said.
Wildfire growled, and then laughed maniacally, twirling his gun.
"Very well, let's get this over with, shall we?" He said with a flamboyant bow, his wild, gray-streaked black hair cascading over his face.
Iron Man took off quickly, kicking his boot jets into gear, but Wildfire also acted quickly. Just as Iron Man barely flew three feet, Wildfire steadied his gun, and with one precise shot, took out Iron Man's left boot jet, sending him crashing into the ground. That is when it started.
"Game on!" Wildfire said.
"Game over," Samus said, firing her plasma beam at Wildfire. He laughed as he dove out of the way, but the plasma beam nicked him enough to send him flying a few feet with a grunt.
Iron Man's head swam from the impact. He read his tactical readout and sighed in frustration as he saw that both jets were out, not just the left one. Putting his hands on the ground, he worked to pull himself up when he was forcibly sent crashing back to the ground.
"You ain't getting up, Iron Man," Wrecker's voice came from above him. "I'm goin' to give you a nice long, dirt nap." Wrecker's large form towered over Iron Man. He raised the massive crowbar over his head, and was about to bring it crashing down on Iron Man when an arrow penetrated his right shoulder. Wrecker grunted, but held onto the crowbar.
"Hey big boy," Hawkeye's voice rang out. "You forget that I have arrows that can pierce tour ugly hide?"
Iron Man looked over to Hawkeye, and saw him reading another arrow. His eyes widened as he saw the girl, Silence, approaching him from behind, both blades drawn.
"Hawkeye, duck!" Iron Man yelled as he let loose a repulser blast that knocked Silence back. Even then she didn't make a sound.
"Thanks Shellhead!" Hawkeye said, shifting his target back to Wrecker.
A boot came crashing down on Iron Man's head, causing his head to ring. This is getting old he thought. Wrecker stood on him, raising the crowbar again. This time, it was a missile that hit him. He recoiled slightly.
"You get away from him, ass-hole," Samus said. Samus? Iron Man thought. A bright flash erupted from behind her.
"Oh, afraid that I'll hurt your precious Iron Man," Wrecker said in a teasing voice.
"No, I'm afraid that he'll hurt you before I'd get a chance to," Samus said. Iron Man took his cue, and aimed blindly upwards with both repulsers and fired. Wrecker grunted, and stepped back. Iron Man quickly got up.
"Thanks," Iron Man said.
"Don't mention it," Samus said. Wrecker recovered from the blast, and was ready to charge at the pair. "And you," Samus said, aiming her gun at him. "Stay where you are." She fired her ice beam at his legs, causing him to stop in his tracks.
"You okay?" Samus asked.
"I can't move very well," Iron Man said, "but the weapons are all online."
"Good enough," Samus said as Wrecker let out a yell, and broke his legs out of their icy prison. He charged forward. "Tony, look out!" Samus cried instinctively as Wrecker knocked him out of the way with his crow bar. Samus fired a few blasts of power beam into him before he reached her.
"You metal heads are getting on my nerves, and are gonna get a beatin'!" Wrecker said, swinging wildly. Have to keep him away from Tony, Samus thought.
"You have to catch me first, bright boy," Samus said, rolling up into her morph ball, and tried to roll away. But Wrecker was quicker than she guessed.
"Fore!" Wrecker yelled, and hit her hard with his crowbar into a small rocky outcropping. She unfurled herself, and grimaced.
"That hurt, you bastard," she said through gritted teeth. "Time for the kit gloves to come off."
Hawkeye kept his arrows trained on Wrecker, but Samus and Iron Man kept jeopardizing his shot. Come on Tony. If I miss, these arrows will hurt, he thought. A flicker of motion out of the corner of his eye caused him to divert his attention. Wildfire was cresting in a slow stagger, his gun aimed and steady at Samus' back.
"Don't think so," Hawkeye said as he fired the arrow at Wildfire. Wildfire quickly turned and shot the arrow out of midair. Hawkeye's eyes widened.
"You'll have to do better than that, boy," Wildfire said. "This isn't some circus side show. Lights out." He aimed the gun at Hawkeye, who quickly notched and fired a flash arrow towards Wildfire while diving behind some rocks. The flash arrow went off before Wildfire's shot, and the gunman shot wide, narrowly missing Hawkeye's feet.
"That was close, too close," Hawkeye said. He caught his breath for a moment, and readied an arrow, and looked over the rocks. He saw Wrecker sling Samus into another pile of rocks, and he aimed his shot before the large man could reach Iron Man. Wildfire was still reeling from the flash arrow.
A sound brought him back to his reality, however. Hawkeye glanced over his shoulder and saw a black shape moving quickly behind him. He tried to move his bow behind him, but a flash of steel and the clang of metal interrupted him.
Right behind him, a figure wearing black plated armor and wielding a large sword was standing with his back towards Hawkeye. The twin blades of Silence were parried by this newcomer's sword. Hawkeye glanced strangely at his spiky blond hair.
"Rematch," the blond swordsman said as he pushed Silence to the ground. Silence back off for a bit, and stared at the pair of them, for Hawkeye now had an arrow trained on her as well.
"Thanks for the save," Hawkeye said, breathing hard.
"No problem," the warrior said.
"My name's Hawkeye," Hawkeye said. "You'll excuse me if I don't shake your hand."
"Cloud Strife," the warrior said, his sword at the ready. "Pleasure to meet you."
Samus stood up, reading her plasma beam, and was ready to aim it at Wrecker, but saw that Iron Man was doing a good job of fending him off. Wrecker swung at Iron Man, who, in return pummeled Wrecker with his metal fists and the occasional short burst repulser blast. That is when she saw Wildfire.
"So the worm came back, huh?" Samus said to herself, as she aimed at Wildfire. He rubbed his lenses as though he were a blind man. "Guess your optical implants aren't as good as you boast," Samus said with a smile.
"You don't want to do that," a soft, soothing, feminine voice came from behind her. "He is your friend."
"My friend?" Samus said, her mind clouding over. Enchantress stood behind Samus, putting a hand on her left shoulder.
"Iron Man is such a bad man, don't you want to hurt him?" Enchantress' voice flowed over Samus' consciousness like an ebb tide.
"Iron Man is a bad man?" Samus said.
"A very, very, bad man," Enchantress said. "He wants to hurt me. And you."
"He will not," Samus growled, aiming her gun at Iron Man. The armored Avenger had just knocked Wrecker back a hundred yards with a powered repulser blast. "The bad man must go down," Samus said, and fired.
Iron Man watched Wrecker fly back, and let out a sigh of relief. Without his normal maneuverability, his armor had taken quite a beating there. The power gage in his tactical display was now yellow. That blast had taken up too much power he thought. What the!? His warning light flashed for a split second before Samus' plasma blast hit him in the side.
He grunted as he rolled across the grass. When he stopped, he propped himself up to see Samus walking towards him with her gun leveled at him. In the background, he saw Enchantress smirking. This is going to hurt… Iron Man thought as he quickly stood up.
"You will not hurt me Iron Man!" Samus yelled at him, firing another plasma volley at him. Iron Man barely dodged. Can't take many hits from that. Iron Man grimaced. This is bad. I could barely keep up with her on full power. He thought, remembering their first encounter a year ago at Stark Enterprises.
"Samus," he said, trying to snap her out of Enchantress' snare. "I am not your enemy."
"Liar," She fired a missile square into his chest. He stood his ground. Barely.
"Samus!" Iron Man said, louder. "Listen to me! Enchantress is playing with your mind! Snap out of it!" Samus continued to walk forward, and fired again. This shot grazed Iron Man's head. "Samus, snap out of it for me!" She hesitated for a brief moment.
"What the?" Hawkeye said as he looked over his shoulder to see Samus firing on Iron Man. "Holy crap!" He yelled. "This isn't good."
"What?" Cloud asked, holding still in his face off with Silence.
"Samus and Iron Man are having a very violent lover's spat," Hawkeye said.
"Not a good time, don't you think?" Cloud asked.
"Not at all," he said as he looked around. He saw the familiar slender blond form of Enchantress standing by the hill. "Bingo," he said to himself. He brought his bow around, and aimed at Enchantress.
A flurry of motion erupted behind him as Silence leapt into action, Cloud parrying her twin blades. Hawkeye was about to bring his bow around when he heard Tony's voice over the din of metal.
"Hawkeye, I could use some help here," he yelled.
"Way ahead of ya Shellhead!" Hawkeye yelled.
"Do it," Cloud said, parrying Silence's blades. It was obvious to Hawkeye that the swordsman's stamina was fading. "I'll be fine." Hawkeye just nodded, and fired. The blunt arrow flew forward, and clocked Enchantress upside the head.
It was like a fog being lifted after a long night in Samus' mind. She was all of a sudden aware of herself again, the soothing little voice inside her head was now gone. In front of her, Iron Man lay on the ground, staring at her. Her gun arm was trained on him. Shocked, she let it fall to her side.
"Tony," she whispered. "What did I do?"
"Don't worry about it," Tony said, breathing heavily.
"Yeah, worry about this," Wildfire's voice rang out amidst laughter as a shot hit Samus in the torso.
"Damn it!" Samus said. "He hit my power supply, the bastard!"
"How much time?" Iron Man asked.
"Not much," Samus grimaced.
"Not good," Iron Man said. Samus shook her head.
Hawkeye took aim at Wildfire after he took his shot at Samus. Behind him, Cloud went on the offensive against Silence, but she parried his swings, and dodged out of the way of his slashes. Cloud was buckling, and Hawkeye could see it. He shut out the dance of steel from behind him and concentrated on Wildfire. A heavy fist, however, knocked him on his side. He landed with a grunt.
He looked up, and saw Wrecker standing with his back towards him, swinging his crowbar in tandem with Silence's swords at Cloud. The spiky haired warrior was tiring, his breathing labored. Wrecker then ended it by grabbing Cloud by the throat, and lifting him off of his feet. Cloud's sword fell on the ground.
"It is over!" Wildfire laughed. "And the day is ours!"
Wrecker deposited Cloud's limp form on the ground next to Hawkeye and Iron Man. Samus was struggling to keep herself upright, and Hawkeye watched Cloud's labored breathing.
"Seen worse before, eh Shellhead?" Hawkeye said.
"Not much," Iron Man said.
"I still have enough power to go down in a blaze of glory," Samus said.
The four villains encircled the heroes, jeering at them.
"That's the least we can do," Hawkeye said.
"Give them something to remember us by," Iron Man added.
"Leave them alone!!" A booming voice echoed, and a wave of energy washed over the eight figures, knocking Wrecker, Enchantress, Wildfire, and Silence down, while leaving Cloud, Iron Man, Samus, and Hawkeye unscathed.
"What the heck was that!?" Iron Man exclaimed.
"Wowee," Hawkeye said.
"Damn it!" Wildfire said, getting up. "Fall back. Don't think you've seen the last of us, Miss Aran," he said with a bow as the four villains ran off.
"Original," Samus said wryly.
"Are you all right?" Terra asked, running up to them. She glowed with a faint pink aura.
"Was that you?" Iron Man asked. Terra just nodded.
"I am afraid that I am the Chosen One you seek," Terra said heavily. "Please, come inside and talk."
"I'm afraid I'll have to pass," Samus said. "If I don't make it back to the ship and recharge ASAP, I'll be more useless than a decoration. I trust you can do an adequate job of not messing things up Iron Man?"
"I'll do my best ma'am," he said with a mock salute.
"Not you too," she said shaking her head. "Anyway, meet me back at the ship when you're done."
"Later," Iron Man said as Samus ran off.
"Come on, get up," Hawkeye said, helping Cloud to his feet.
"What happened," Cloud asked.
"I'll explain later," Hawkeye said, and the three of them followed Terra back inside.
Inside, Terra poured some tea into cups for each of the three heroes as they sat around simple, round table. The warm liquid steamed comfortably in front of Cloud, and he took the plain, white cup, and drank the warm liquid deeply, letting the warmth permeate throughout his body. Hawkeye, and Iron Man, now unmasked, soon followed suit.
"I am truly sorry about this," Terra said as she finished pouring the tea, and sat down. "I just wasn't ready to do this just yet."
"Understandable," Cloud said slowly. "But sometimes we have to face our destiny even if we are not ready for it."
"I was just hoping that it wouldn't happen, that it would somehow pass me by," Terra said slowly.
"When did you find out about this?" Iron Man asked.
"About two years ago, after we defeated Kefka and his Empire. I had a vision of people from some distant land, of a golden box, and some evil greater than Kefka. More of a feeling than an actual manifestation, however," Terra said. "I wish I could be more helpful, Iron Man."
"Tony. My name is really Tony Stark, and it is all right, Terra," Tony said.
"Where we come from," Hawkeye said. "Heroes have to use different ID's to help protect the ones we care about. My name is Clint, by the way."
"Okay Tony, Clint," Terra said. "What now?"
"You have to come with us, Terra," Tony said, knotting his fingers. "Not only to help us find the Heart, but also for your own protection." He paused. ""You are no longer safe here. You have to trust us."
"I know," Terra said. "I just hoped for a quiet life, free from adventures."
"We don't always get that," Tony said with a sigh. "It is part of what we do, though, and we must do it." He fixed Terra's gaze. "We will protect you, I swear to that."
"Then I am coming with you," Cloud said, setting down his cup. "I was sent by people on my world to find the Chosen and protect her, whatever the cost."
"Cloud," Terra said. "You are in no condition to fight."
"I have fared worse," he said bluntly. "I will not burden you."
"He's right, Tony," Clint said. "He held his own back there, despite the wounds. I think he'll be useful to have around."
Tony sighed.
"I'll just have to break the bad news to Samus that her ship will be a little crowded for the time being."
Terra and Clint smiled broadly, while Cloud managed a faint smile.
"I can't believe I let you talk me into bringing both of them," Samus said shaking her head as she piloted the ship through the reaches of space. "I've never had this many people on here before."
"There is a first time for everything," Tony said. The interior of the ship was dark, except for the various lights twinkling on the ship's control panels. Samus wore her black jumpsuit, while Tony had discarded his Iron Man armor for the time being for a gray jumpsuit provided by Samus. "Your suit powered up yet?"
"Almost. I barely got to the ship before it crapped out on me," Samus said, intent on her piloting. "I'm going to crease that bastard Wildfire's head next time we meet."
"So who were those guys back there?" Tony asked.
"They are from the Syndicate," Samus replied. "A group of criminals and terrorists who believe they can change mankind through acts of destruction. It is an intricate organization all leading to a man called Magius."
"What's he like?" Tony asked.
"Rumors say he is some sort of mystic. I don't really believe it, though," Samus said with a shrug. "I've been hired to take out Syndicate thugs before – including Wildfire – but it seems that no one can dent their organization. I am not surprised to find their dirty hands in this. How about the other two? Old friends of yours?"
"Wrecker and Enchantress go way back," Tony said sarcastically. "They both, at some point or another, were part of a villain team called the Masters of Evil, whose goals are much like the Syndicate's – to cause widespread destruction. There is one thing that puzzles me however."
"What?" Samus asked.
"Neither Enchantress nor Wrecker are considered types who take the initiative," Tony said.
"What's important about that?"
"It means there is someone else from my time period here pulling the strings," Tony said. "I have a few ideas who, and none of them are pleasant."
"Yeah," Samus said. "The whole situation is one big mess, and it has me really wound up."
"Is that why you're flying manually?" Tony asked.
"It helps me to relax," Samus said, as she did a barrel role, followed by a loop, a faint smile on her lips.
"It is so beautiful," Terra said, staring out of the small window. She had discarded her dress for a pink tunic with a pair of leggings. It felt weird for her to be wearing her old traveler's clothes again. She had almost gotten rid of them, and she was glad now that she didn't
"What is?" Cloud's voice came from behind her.
"Space, the stars, everything," Terra said, glancing over her shoulder. "Don't you agree?"
"Yeah," Cloud said.
"What's wrong?" Terra asked.
"Nothing."
Terra sighed and the two remained silent for a while. The door opened, and Hawkeye poked his head in.
"You two all right."
"Yes," both of them said.
"All right, I'll be in the other room getting some shut eye," Hawkeye said. "Go holler at Samus and Tony if you need anything."
"Thank you, Clint," Terra said.
"No prob," he said as the door shut with a hiss.
Terra went back to staring at the stars. Another silence.
"After we defeated Kefka," Terra said to break the silence. "I was unsure of what to feel. Of course I felt glad, but I also felt empty. Unlike my companions, I had nothing left to fall back on." She sighed. "In fact, part of me died that day. The part of me that had any concept of fulfillment and meaning.
"I searched for a while within myself for that meaning," Terra said in a thick voice, not really caring if Cloud was listening or not. "Then Iwent back to the orphanage and found my meaning. I found laughter, joy, and peace. I wanted to stay there forever, and forget the visions I had the day we beat Kefka. I had hoped that it would pass me by, that fate would forget me and I could go on living in my comfortable warmth."
A short pause.
"I spent a good portion of my life," Cloud said. "Thinking that I was someone else. I lived someone else's life. I had lived a lie. When I found that out, my life lost all meaning. I would have wasted away if it weren't for my friends, one in particular. However, I learned to pick up the shattered pieces of life and went on.
"All my life," he continued. "I just wanted the strength to protect my friends, and when I found out that my training was a lie, I felt like couldn't do that. After my friends helped me to start recovering, I found out that a warrior's real strength lies within, that the strength to protect my friends was inside me the whole time." He paused, and looked at Terra. "I guess we have more in common then we thought," Cloud said with a smile. Terra reached out, and touched his hand gently, a faint smile on her lips. "I will protect you."
"I know," she said.
"Tony," Samus said. "I want to apologize for what happened back there."
"What?" Tony said. "You were under Enchantress' control, it was okay."
"No, it is not okay," Samus said harshly. "I could have killed you Tony. I would have killed you if I hadn't heard your voice, and I stopped. I couldn't bear that if really did kill you."
"Samus?" Tony asked.
"I like you too much to have that happen to you. There I said it," Samus said firmly. She was blushing softly in the dim light as she stared intently forward.
"I feel the same way," Tony said as he reached out for her hand. He grasped it gently, and she didn't pull away. "I thought about you a lot since we parted after Zebes. I only wanted to see you again, and here you are. Here we are, on another life or death mission."
"Yeah," Samus said. "We really should stop meeting like this," she smiled. Tony laughed.
"You know, it was actually Clint's arrow that snapped you out, I had nothing to do with it."
"Huh?" Samus looked confused.
"Clint's arrow clocked Enchantress in the head, which allowed you to regain control and not vaporize me. It was a good shot. You shouldn't be so harsh on him."
"I'll try," Samus said as the intercom light blinked on. She flipped the switch with an annoyed look on her face.
"Samus," Ridley hissed.
"Ridley. What do I owe this honor?" She said dryly.
"Funny," Ridley said. "I just contacted you to tell you to go to the Jenova Station."
"What's at Jenova?" Samus asked.
"Answers," Ridley said. "I assume you have the Chosen?"
"How do you know about that?" Samus asked.
"Why keep secrets, we are allies here, remember?"
"I remember," Samus said icily. "And yes, we have the Chosen."
"Good, then head to Jenova Station. We'll meet you there," Ridley said as the intercom buzzed off.
"Jenova's not that far," Samus muttered to herself as she altered course.
Jenova Station was a wreck. It was an upright cylindrical station with five spiky arms at its center. At the end of each arm was a landing pad for small crafts. A big docking bay for larger ships lay at either end of the cylinder. In its prime, it would have been an immaculate, sparkling station, but now it was a ghost.
Three of its arms were broken, and large hole lay in the side of the cylinder. Smaller holes dotted the rest of the station, revealing much of the underlying infrastructure. Debris orbited the station. Samus carefully guided her ship to one of the remaining arms, looking for signs of Ridley. Her irritation grew as she saw that they were the only ship there.
The ship landed gently in the bay, the metal doors closing overhead with the sound of straining metal. Samus waited for the bay to pressurize before she opened the hatch, and the five heroes stepped onto the floor of Jenova.
"Jenova Station," Cloud said with a shudder as he walked off. "I don't like this place."
"Besides the fact that it can fall apart at any minute, what's not to like?" Hawkeye said.
"I just have bad memories of the name 'Jenova'," Cloud said dryly.
"Come on," Samus said in an irritated tone. She and Tony were in their armor again. Tony's boot jets, however, were not fully operational yet. "I want to spend as little time here as possible."
"Agreed," Iron Man said.
Samus activated the door out of the bay, and stepped through. The others followed suit, and were greeted with a holographic projection of a man in his early thirties with short hair and a goatee. His hawk like nose featured prominently on his face.
"Welcome travelers!" The hologram started as it shimmered in and out. The hologram had a bluish tinge to it. "Welcome to Jenova Station, the World of Tomorrow! I am your host, Joseph Aluren, and I am also the founder of this station."
The five travelers walked onto a non-functioning conveyer belt that, in its prime, probably served to carry travelers through the hall. Instead, they walked along it, Samus taking point, and Hawkeye bringing up the rear.
"Jenova Station was built from my dreams," Aluren's hologram continued. "In order to share my dreams with all the people of the universe. Here, we are inventors and scientists," Tony's attention peaked at this part. "In order to build a world of peace, a Utopia if you will, for all people." The hologram prattled on with its mission statement.
"Guy sure likes to hear himself talk," Hawkeye said.
"He looks familiar somehow," Terra said in a hushed voice."
"We shouldn't be here," Cloud said.
"Now you're just wiggin' out," Hawkeye said. "Sit back and enjoy the ride."
They reached the end of the hall, and the hologram shut off. Samus pressed the door open button. Nothing happened. She pushed it again. Nothing. She grumbled to herself, and then motioned for everyone to step back. She pressed some buttons on her gun, and fired a super missile into the door, leaving a big hole instead of the metal doors.
Wordlessly, the five walked through the hole, and were bombarded with another hologram of Aluren.
"Welcome travelers to the main plaza area." In front of them was a large, multi-leveled, atrium showing the decay of age. Debris littered the whole place, and many of the doors were blocked. "Straight ahead are the guest quarters, to your left are the shops, to the right are the offices, and below you are the stairs to the lab."
"That's where we're going," Samus said.
"Why?" Iron Man asked.
"Call it a hunch," Samus said. "Plus, aren't you the least bit interested Tony?"
"A little," Tony said.
Samus walked down a still escalator, with Iron Man close behind and the others following suit. They walked by long dead plants in decayed planters, rotted food, and ruined bits of furniture towards a door marked 'lab'. It was, surprisingly, intact. Even more surprisingly, it opened on the first try.
The five walked into a dark room, and as soon as Hawkeye stepped through the door, it closed behind him, and dim lights lining the ceiling flickered on. The lab was immaculate except for strewn papers and the occasional covered device.
"Amazing," Tony said in a hushed whisper as he went from device to device. "How did this survive such devastation?"
"Better shielding perhaps?" Samus said, looking around, he gun arm ready.
"Look at this," Hawkeye said as he motioned the others to a small computer terminal labeled the 'Janus Project'. "What do you suppose the 'Janus Project' is?" He asked.
"Let's find out," Samus said as she pressed the button. Again, Aluren's hawk like visage appeared before them.
"This is the first log of what I have dubbed the 'Janus Project'. The Janus project is one of our many projects worked on here in the lab to promote peace and prosperity for all the coming generations. The Janus is actually a device capable of supplying infinite amounts of energy to large groups of people."
"What the?" Tony said in a shocked voice as the hologram rattle of the theories and technical specs of the device.
"It sounds just like the Vulcan's Heart," Hawkeye said in a hushed voice.
"What is going on here?" Tony asked.
"He gives me the chills," Terra said. "I think we should leave."
"I'm starting to agree with you guys," Hawkeye said as he looked around.
Samus poked around another terminal and activated another hologram of Aluren, shutting off the previous one.
"I am afraid that this may signal the end of Jenova," he said in a heavy voice. The others crowded around this one. "An ancient evil approaches Earth, and they want us to find a way to stop it. But this creature knows of us, he comes towards us to destroy us. I know how to stop it, but I do not want to do that. That is not my dream, my mission." The hologram ended. Wordlessly, Samus went to the next terminal.
"Those bastards in the Federation," Aluren continued with a pained expression. "They want me to use the Janus as a weapon. It can be used for that, but that was not its purpose. It is meant to create, not destroy. But He approaches. What choice do I have?" He paused. "If I do this, though, all I have worked for will be in vain. I will not be remembered in the annuals of history for a weapon!" The hologram yelled.
Tony stood there, frozen, as though he were looking at a mirror of himself. Another hologram.
"He is almost on top of us, and the Janus is ready. However, I am not sure if I am ready," Aluren said with a heavy voice. "I am not sure if my soul, my conscious will allow me to be strong in this. For those who find this after the fact, I apologize for not being clear earlier. The one who comes is Kyliska ta Lekya. It is a name used by the Space Pirates for this ancient evil," Samus liked her lips in anticipation while Iron Man's heart beat nervously. Hawkeye and Cloud shifted their weight constantly, while Terra stood there, with a fixed gaze. "But I prefer the name given to it a long time ago on Earth: the Devourer of Worlds. Galactus himself."