Darkness Triumphant

A/N: Chapter seven was just lame, I think it's because I couldn't think of anything, and it didn't explore any of the world of Middle Earth….also cause if my sis found out I'd be dead. Anyhow, I do not own any of the characters or story lines mentioned, I wish I did, and I also wish I was rich.

Bell: The fact that you wanted a glory chapter maybe.

Writer: Huh?

Skuld: You wanted a chapter where you could be the hero and have your glory, you let Finderkind reality stomp us and you made yourself look like an idiot.

Toby: Yeah, think about what the readers are going to think.

Writer(Sigh): What readers?

Sara: Oh. Sorry.

Chapter Eight: Revenge of a former good guy………or what happens when we get a whole mass of characters from too many realities and they get captured, leaving it up to the noobs to rescue them.

Instead of going through a doorway, Gandalf summoned a spell circle and we went down instead of through, it felt weird to say the least, but at least it was comfortable, however when we landed, we seemed to be in a controlled landing.

"Welcome Gandalf," said a sultry woman's voice, "You made it."

I looked to see where we were, we were in a spacious house, or a mansion, and a young woman who looked about 18, wearing army fatigues greeted us.

"Greetings to you was well Cheryl Blossom," said Gandalf, "how are things?"

"Unfortunate," she said. "You're going to need an extraction as soon as I get a hold of Science Geek."

I had to rack my brain, Cheryl Blossom, which meant only one thing; we'd entered Centerville, which meant that we were in Archie comics' continuum.

"May I ask where the rest of my crew is?" I asked.

"When Finderkind whacked them, they spiraled through a broken portal which landed them in Moxiburg, an industrial town which hates out of towners and considered your friends dress, assumed they were a spy group, they are now in jail in Moxiburg Central, a factory that's more of a jail then factory." Said Cheryl.

"Why the army fatigues then?" I asked

"Moxiburg is threatening to invade Riverdale and Centerville and make us part of the Moxiburg coalition," Said Cheryl.

"So," I said, "Let's go get my crew."

"Sorry squirt," said Aragon, "But the place is heavily armed and guarded, machine guns, cannons, rocket launchers cover the whole area, you'd have to be a mole to get in easier."

"So," I said, "How do we get in then and rescue them?"

"Archie Andrews and Crew," said Cheryl, "Dilton Dodley is bringing in some help from around here to help us."

"So how do we get to where we need to go?" I asked

"That's right now," said Cheryl, going to the screen in front of her, "Shopping Girl."

The screen lit up like a child at Christmas, it had various programs running, maps showing and other things going.

"Activate internal procedure twenty one." She said, "This is Shopping Girl to Brainy Whiz."

"This is the Brainy Whiz," said Dilton's voice, "Has the cheese come yet?"

"Yep," said Cheryl, "all five flavors,"

"I see," he said, "Pickup will be shortly, prepare for transit one."

"Understood," said Cheryl, "Shopping Girl out."

"What may I ask is going on?" I said, "What's with the code names?"

"Simple," said Gandalf, "Moxiburg is an island as well, in the Pacific Ocean, they've been making threats of invasion and war against the lower United States since three years ago after Lord Mayor Perkinstien came to power."

"So," I said, "What's the sitch?"

"They have over 400 bombers and assorted aircraft, a whole bunch of submersibles, a battalion of tanks, and three nuclear mobile rocket launchers," said a familiar voice coming in, "And they're army is all former Yazuka."

"Reggie," I said, "why are you here and not going after Midge or something?"

Surprise filled the eyes of almost everyone in the room; Reg went and stood by Cheryl, as if protecting her. Then I saw the ring on his finger, and it hit me even as he said it.

"Cheryl and I married," he said, "You come from a reality that has us as comics, I've stolen a few comics and whatnot from your reality, and am surprised what a whole funniness they've turned this into."

"Explanation please," I said.

"In the comics, I chased Midge, in real life I loved Cheryl, after we graduated high school we married, it's been 6 years, and hardships have hit us, but we're still together." He said, "Also, in the comics, Archie was an idiot, he's actually not….much, he too made a decision, three years ago to marry Betty, Veronica married Jughead, Moose married Midge, Dilton married Betty's cousin, and so we're all together still, fighting crime and whatnot."

"Oye vey," I muttered, "This is incredible."

"Tell that to the comic's continuity people," said Reggie, "If they found that this continuum existed in the same with a few others, they'd stop writing and start asking us for scripts."

Suddenly a tingly sensation filled the air and next moment we were standing in a work shop that had a whole bunch of computers in it.

"Welcome to my humble abode," said Dilton, "We've already been talking; we've brought in a few other groups to help out as well."

The six of us walked into Dilton's house, if the lab was huge, then the house was larger. We made our way to the conference room, and when I got there, I was surprised, but the thing that Reggie had said about Continuity was here.

A kid with brown hair and glasses was at the head of the table, on his body was armor, and he was looking at a map, he looked up as I entered and smiled.

"Ah," he said, "Phoenix, I'm…………."

"You're Jason Fox," I said, "Now I understand what Reg said about the Continuity factor."

"Yes," said Jason smiling, "It is kinda funny when we see what we look like on television and comics."

Then I saw who was working on a big computer next to him, the girl who was his constant enemy/love interest in the comics, he noticed me looking at her and smiled.

"Yes," he said, "The comics have it all wrong, they think because I'm smart and a geek that I don't like women, well they've got that wrong, and my age, I'm 20 years old and we married after I graduated from Harvard."

"Eileen and you married?" I said, "What about Peter and his girlfriend?"

"They're still together," he said, "Peter enrolled in the army and became a general three years ago and is now semi-retired and Denise got her eyesight back."

"How?" I asked.

"I helped somewhat and Dolton did too," he said, "It was a simple procedure, though illegal because of the fact that we did it."

"Does she still have her eye sight?" I asked.

"Yep," he said, "And she should be here momentarily."

Even as he said it, Denise Fox walked in, wearing a blue military uniform, she was carrying a bunch of papers and pictures.

"Three Moxin ships were spotted out of St. Peter's Harbor," she said, "Eye in the sky say's they were scouts."

"What's Peter say?" asked Eileen.

"We can move at any second," Denise said, "We can move round past Filburg and sneak in the back way."

"Commander Garzooka," said Denise, "Is your team ready?"

A large cat, or should I say, Garfield's pet force mode nodded, "We're ready,"

"Commander Jeremy Duncan," said Denise, "is your team ready?"

Jeremy Duncan from Zits™ nodded, "Yes, we're ready."

"Alright then," said Archie Andrews stepping up, "We know the drill, get in, get the prisoners, and take out Marcus."

I then remembered. Marcus was a friend of Jason's, but I hadn't seen him, then when they showed the place and a picture of Marcus, I realized what was afoot.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," I said, everyone was getting weapons and armoring up from the let down that had dropped in, "Let me remind you that we shouldn't be hasty here, that we will need to be slow and cautious, this is an island, so it will have traps, and we'll have the sea power to contend with."

"General," said Jughead, this Jughead was different, he wasn't eating, he was glancing over a large blade before sheathing it, "Remember that this universe is different from yours, nothing is ever same or sane, Marcus is wanted by international courts for way too many crimes against humanity, he's got a death warrant on him, signed by the president of the United States, all the major world leaders want him dead as a door nail."

I blanched, Jughead never was that powerful a wordsmith, but then I saw that he was not to be taken lightly.

"Dilton," said Archie, "Get the subs ready; as soon as we're gone I want that distraction so we can get on the island."

Dilton nodded, "The mass transporter is ready," he said, "On your voice command."

Archie nodded, "Everyone ready?" Everyone nodded, "Teleport!"

A tingling sensation and once again we moved through space, and soon (five minutes later, since it was a mass cargo for you trekkers teleporter) we were on some big island. Or to be precise Moxiburg, home of the industrial prisoners.

Archie looked at me, and nodded. Everyone had a psychic link, so it would be easier to get things done without being overheard. How wrong we were about to find out we would be.

Main office of Moxiburg Industrial.

The tactical/command officer rushed into the main office of Marcus Bradburg's office, panting, "Sir," he said, "Three incoming nukes, they're from offshore."

Marcus was not a man to tick off, at times he could be lenient, and at other times he would shoot on sight if things like security were and went lax. "From where?"

"The identifier say's Middle eastern sir," said the officer, sweating, "We just picked them up on the radar now."

"I see," was all Marcus pondered, "Alright, get phoenix silo's one and three up and launch counterblast to knock them down."

"Aye sir," said the Tech as he rushed out, glad to live another day.

Marcus turned to his supercomputer, "Get me Tech Command now!" he roared.

Immediately his chief security officer appeared on screen, "You called sir?"

"I think it's time to demonstrate our full capabilities now," said Marcus, "Tell me Elwood, how soon can we launch full Nuke spread?"

"Three hours, ten minutes, and 2 seconds," said Elwood, "That's for minimal safety; maximum is three hours, ten minutes and 30 seconds."

Marcus laughed, "There's a difference?"

"Yes," said Elwood, "Targeting sequential."

Marcus glared, but he knew Elwood was right, he didn't want to end up blowing up half his island because of faulty programming, "Alright, you have 3 hours, 15 minutes, and 55 seconds."

"Aye sir," and the screen went blank.

Suddenly a softer but harsher "BOOM" hit the island.

"Teris!" he called into his desk com unit, "Report!"

"Unknown sir," said the tech that'd shown up earlier, "All camera's outside are offline."

"Since when did I authorize that?" asked Marcus.

"Since you hated being distracted by almost everything," said the tech, "you ordered shutdown of all external cameras and land based sensors, except those for the air and missile sensors."

"Damn," muttered Marcus, "Do we know where the blast originated from?"

"No sir," said Teris, "But Elwood sent out a small scout contingent on level 3 alert after the missiles were spotted."

"Thank you Teris," growled Marcus, "Keep me informed if anything arises."

"Aye sir."

Marcus turned to the woman who was lingering in the shadows of his room, "Tell me Rosaline, who might it be?"

"You captured some off islanders two days ago," she said in her harsh voice, "methinks that it might be another invasion party here to rescue them."

"The original intruders surrendered on spot," said Marcus, "Apparently the rescuers don't want to receive my mercy."

"Milord," she said, "Don't underestimate these ones, they're more powerful then the first group, and they have an unknown with them."

The way she said it scared him, if the unknown was here, then that meant the prisoners were right and that a large party was here to rescue them.

"You know one of the prisoners," smiled Marcus, "You used to baby-sit him when he was younger………lord Calvin, I think his name is."

"Subsequentious young brat!" she snarled and nearly blew two lights in the room with her power, "I will never forgive him for his tiresome antics against me that cost me my humanity."

"Aye," said Elwood walking in, "But brought us a power that is unique."

Rosaline glared at Elwood, "Watch thine tongue you impotent fool, for I could strike you down right now."

Elwood smiled and pulled out an elongated blaster with a snipers scope, "And let me remind you that I can shoot first and dodge, you need your anger to work your powers, which gives me advantage."

She glared but stood her ground.

"Report," sighed Marcus tired of the bickering, "I want some good news."

"We've got a small army out there lord like Teris thought," said Elwood, "Dagwood contingent went out and never came back, of course if I had been more smarter, I'd of sent a smaller number with lesser tech."

"Meaning…..?" asked Marcus.

"Our hand to hand Fusion cannons," said Elwood, "We lost them to that group, that noise you heard earlier, was them fighting and taking down the contingent, and in the process now giving the invaders an advantage, camo tech as well."

"Oh great," said Marcus sarcastically, "Why not leave the door open so they can blast in here and shoot us?"

Elwood and Rosaline just glanced at each other and sighed, knowing the boss he was always ticked with invasions, and two in the same week he was getting ticked.

"Kabooooooooom!"

"What was that?" asked Marcus

Elwood checked his wrist com then looked back, "Sir," he said, "That was our counteroffensive rockets taking down the nuclear rockets."

"Okay," said Marcus, "So how about back to the problem at hand?"

That's when the problem at hand showed up.

"I believe that can be answered simple," said a new voice, "You're under arrest Marcus Bradburg."

Fifteen Minutes before.

"Spread out," I called, "If we get a welcoming committee, I'd like to remind them that we're armed as well."

"Door opening," called Garzooka, "Armed squad coming through!"

A small contingent of heavily armed men came through a doorway armed with really big cannon like guns.

"Id those guns!" I called.

Jason had his spy glass out and was inputting the details into his mini computer, "Fusion cannons," he called, "Experimental ones, but still in good shape."

"Let's knock these buggers out and take the cannons," I called, "Then let's get into the prison level and get the prisoners."

We moved into a pincer formation and started firing, since we had no overhead we simply lit into the punks with no mercy, we moved from position to position so as to make it hard for them to hit us, and it worked, in five minutes we cleaned up everything real well, for a bunch of trained amateurs we did real well.

"Take a gun," I said, "Then form a circle; Jason get a lock on where the prisoners are being kept."

We got into the circle and grabbed hands, Jason told us that it was the lower level, which meant we'd have to teleport in through a layer of rock.

"Our standby is coming through," I said, "and their counter is firing, lets go!"

We teleported in, and found the area completely unguarded. At first I thought it was a trap, but then I saw why, they were chained with power inhibitor chains, and each one had a different chain around them. The three goddesses weren't chained, they had some magic force field around them, the robots had immobilizer pins on them, everyone else was chained. I could tell that Toby was mad, he had a look of pure distain on his face, and he looked like he was going to kill the first villain he saw. Now I understood the part of his blood wrath, it couldn't be stopped, but it could be put to good use.

"Techs," I said, as I motioned for the door to be covered, "Get the prisoners down and out, arm them and let's move out."

Keiichi looked at me with a bit of spite, "You took your time getting here Phoenix, have fun?"

"Believe me K1," I said, "Finderkind was hard to beat, but we're here and you're all safe now."

It took about ten minutes to get them undone, "The surprise will have been figured out by now," said Garzooka, "we don't have the power to fight out of here, I suggest a secondary option."

I looked to Archie and Jason, as secondary command leaders it was up to them. "I'm up for teleporting to the top level if it means we can teleport into his main office area," I said.

Archie nodded, "We can do that," he said, "We have all we need,"

We stood in the circle again, and since this time we had more people the trip was easier.

Back to now.

"You're under arrest Marcus Bradburg." said Phoenix striding in, "You are under civilian authority of The Army of Light."

A harsh laugh and then Calvin went down under a fuselage of blows. It was a woman with vengeance in her eyes, and she looked ready to kill, this must be Rosaline, Calvin's babysitter. She hit hard, and Calvin tried to dodge, but it was impossible. She was going to complete what she wanted to do long ago, when Calvin had accidentally given her powers, she would complete her destiny. I wanted to do something, but with a bunch of armed thugs holding us all at gunpoint, one sort of snaps….badly.

I felt as if my spirit was leaving my body, and I realized why. Marcus was holding a spirit gem, which was set on capture, this was not good. If he controlled me, then hope was lost.

"Radiant Blast!" a blast came out of nowhere and blew up the orb. Next thing I know, I'm back in the Spirit Zone.

Spirit Zone.

"ah not again," I said, "who pulled me in again, not to mention when I'm sort of dealing with a soul stealing jerk?"

A presence which felt different then I was used to, put into my hand a stone, pure black that had a phoenix on it. It was different, because it felt heavier, but if the Guardians gave me something, then I shouldn't question it.

"You...are...the...The...PHOENIX!"

The force of the spirit expelled me from the zone and back into my own body, right as Marcus brought out another orb, this time three of them and activating them to stop us.

Back outside.

My power had intensified and the stone in my hand was now interconnected with my other Phoenix Jewel and I felt the power.

:This ends here and now: I didn't say that to them out loud, but yet they heard me, via psi-link. I had to begin it. But then, I felt a power arise inside of me.

"Phoenix digital alignment of Dark Phoenix Stone to…………..Dark Omega Phoenix!"

The usual light arose around me and Marcus gave up and started blasting at Calvin, who by this time was bleeding. I felt a new transformation, like I was going through a blender instead of a washer, and it felt weird, but at the same time I liked it. When I emerged, Marcus looked up, stared then started firing my way.

"They say that sometimes it takes a new look," said Gandalf, firing his staff as we reengaged the battle, "but this is absurd, Phoenix has become more powerful."

I look around, battle seems weirder now, stranger, as if I'm in a new body. Then I realize my transformation has initiated a dark transformation. Now I understand the presence that was in the Zone; something had gone through Harald's Gate and used the Zone to give me something dark and powerful. I knew one thing I'd have to do, too many people here, it needed to be me and Marcus only.

"Alignment of Gates; Return to the Outside!" everyone on my side, including Calvin disappeared in a haze of light and all Marcus's people disappeared as well, probably somewhere inside the building.

"This is between me and you Kalraiser," I said going with the arcane term, used to describe those who used magic to enhance themselves to appear to be powerful.

"You should of learned that when the Darkness wins it's best to stand down Phoenix, especially since you Are the Phoenix Lord."

"What does The Dark One want with the Digital World this time?" I asked, grasping Excalibur.

"He wants to take over all dimensions, he wants total domination," said Marcus, "The first time, The VERY FIRST TIME, he failed because of the destined ones; the battles that the new destined ones fight every time a new evil is a continuation of the war from before, and it will never be over, not until we win, and you lose."

"Then apparently The Dark One doesn't know of Kariman's Gate Grave," I said, "Or if he does, he doesn't seem worried."

"The Ultimate Gate is a legend," said Marcus powering up, "Even if you could find it, and harness its myth elements you'd have to become The Gate to destroy him."

"Why do you think the Phoenix Clan and the Dragon Clan exist?" I ask, "We've found the Gate, but we don't know where it is, we only know where it is when we choose to remember."

"Then that secret will die with you," said Marcus, "Flash Wave!"

I wasn't prepared, the energy struck me hard and sent me through the wall, and out the door to his outer office, I crashed into a computer bank, which at my velocity pretty much destroyed it.

"You see Phoenix," laughed Marcus, "We will prevail and soon we will all rule the multiverse, its only a matter of time before you die."

"That remains to be seen," I said, holding up my sword, "You forget I am The Phoenix, and I have it's power to transform."

I tried, but no sequence happened, it was like I was being blocked, I was in Dark Form, but I couldn't transform.

Marcus looked at me and laughed, "You see," he said, "The spells in here inhibit you're ability, and influence mine to a degree of ten which is higher then yours."

"Laceration Wave!" A wave of power went out at Marcus, but he activated a shield spell and it just absorbed into it. I couldn't transform, and my sword would pretty much be useless.

"Give up Gartz," laughed Marcus using my real name, "Nothing can help you now."

I had my hands in prayer formation, which was actually my psi-link, which was open, calling on all my friends to lend me their power. Marcus could sense something cause he saw my aura grow Green which meant something was happening. I felt it, a fresh wave, like water wash over me and I was ready.

"Eat dirt," I said, "Omega Beam!"

The beam shot out and circled around the office and building; building up strength, Marcus looked around fearfully. He realized I had gotten to him, but, he didn't look totally fearful.

Then I realized why, he was absorbing the power, but if he was able to absorb, then that meant he had the power to….

"Marcus Bradburg, power of Darkness, transform to Desniod Crudian, Wrath of Darkness."

"You see Phoenix, you've just lost." Laughed the creature, "I've just won."

End Chapter Eight.

End notes:

Calvin: What? That's how it ends?

Writer: yeah.

Bell: You're gonna get conked and this is gonnna be only nine chapters long.

Writer: No. I survive, hopefully.

Sara: Hopefully? Isn't that my line?

K1: He's the Phoenix, he should survive, we're just cannon fodder.

All: SHUT UP KEIICHI!