-4- GOALS
Von Nebula and the six Villains who formed his crew wandered through the silent ruins of Makuhero City. Rising high above where they were standing in the faint distance was what remained of the Assembly Tower. The ruins of that facility were so large that there was not one place the seven-Villain gang went on the ground that it could not be seen standing guard over the skeleton of the city.
Night had fallen over the dead land. At the mercy of the thick clouds covering the landscape, a few spots of night sky could be seen and distant stars helped illuminate the darkness. XPlode was releasing multiple flames from the spikes on his shoulders to further light up the area around the six Villains and their leader. Von Nebula's staff itself glowed a faint bluish color to create additional light.
"What are we doing, Von Nebula?" Meltdown asked his leader. "There is nothing for us down here." Von Nebula did not answer. The black giant studied the land around them. He stopped when he saw a crashed Hero Pod buried in shadow near one of the rotting buildings that surrounding his group. Von Nebula approached the Pod and his henchmen followed. He studied the small craft, then saw that the Pod's escape hatch was open. Hanging out of the escape hatch was the dead body of a Hero. This sent a laugh through Von Nebula.
"This must have been one of the desperate reinforcements they called in to stop us," Von Nebula said, kneeling down to touch the dead Hero. He picked up the Hero's left arm with the thumb and index finger of his free hand, then pulled the Hero's entire body out and threw it off to the side. A loud thud sounded as the dead Hero landed on the ground.
Von Nebula then lifted himself onto the wreckage of the Hero Pod, pulling his huge body up onto its top. When he stood himself on the object, he rose above all of his henchmen including the tall Rotor. Von Nebula looked around, as if studying what his slight vantage point had given him. With a nod of approval at where he was standing, Von Nebula turned to his crew and delivered a speech.
"My friends," he began, trying to look each of them in the eyes. Each time he looked at one of his crewmembers, they would nervously look away to avoid the painful distortion of their vision that staring into Von Nebula's eyes would bring upon them. Von Nebula continued.
"We have done what was believed to be impossible," he said. "We have ended the Hero Factory." Von Nebula paused, trying to studying the faces of his henchmen. Noticing that they were unchanged, he continued.
"With the Assembly Tower destroyed, no more Heroes will be produced to fight us. With the destruction of the Hero Factory Headquarters, we have severed all communications between planets. Hero Factory's dominance over the universe was coordinated all within the building we have artfully reduced to ruin. Now all planets in the universe have become isolated. The prison camps the Hero Factory ran can no longer function without a connection to Hero Factory's primary network, and our so-called 'Villain' comrades are freeing themselves of their imprisonment and exacting a much needed revenge on their captors." Von Nebula's speech was so sudden and unexpected that most of the Villains below him were somewhat unsure of what to think. Von Nebula did not wait to explain himself further and continued.
"Planets once subjugated by the Hero Factory are finding their identities again as they shake off the shackles of the universal oppressor. Heroes stationed on other planets are totally cut off from their allies, and will now face an angry and vengeful army of Villains. But, as we all know, Villains are not a very united bunch. They all have their own motives and goals, and this is quite fine. You see, my friends, 'Villain' is simply a slur concocted by the Hero Factory. It was a convenient label for those who did not fit into their ideal society, those who refused to conform to their rules." Von Nebula paused in his speech, and looked around at his henchmen. They all looked puzzled and overcome with awkwardness. The Villains looked at each other, shrugged, looked back and Von Nebula, and then back at each other. Von Nebula gave a low chuckle before continuing.
"Do you not know where I am going with this?" Von Nebula asked, panning his gaze across all of his audience. There was more silence before he continued.
"My friends, we have achieved a most total anarchy!" Von Nebula spoke these words in a shout. "Now, the rules of each planet are not dictated by a single entity. Planets across this universe have only their inhabitants. Without Hero Factory's hub network, ships cannot navigate between planets. All beings in this universe are now stranded where they are!"
"Get to the point!" XPlode shouted.
"That is my point," Von Nebula asserted. "With all planets in the universe isolated, the playing field has been leveled. Now, everyone has a fair shot at running their own lives. They can be who they want to be, not what Hero Factory dictates they be. The titles of 'Heroes' and 'Villains' are irrelevant now. We are now all the same!"
"That's it?" XPlode shot back.
"What do you mean, 'that's it'?" Von Nebula asked in rage.
"You told us we were going to destroy the Hero Factory and take over the universe!" As he said this, the flames coming off of XPlode's shoulder spikes were burning brighter and with greater intensity as anger overcame his voice.
"I did not mean that we would conquer the universe," Von Nebula corrected. "Only that we would change it."
"Filthy liar!" XPlode shouted, pointing a metal finger at Von Nebula. The red-armored Villain began moving toward his leader, clenching his spiked club as if ready to attack. Von Nebula saw that he had angered his henchman, but was not concerned.
Von Nebula then raised his mysterious staff high into the night air, the once faint glow of the orb suddenly bursting with light. The strange orb suspended above the staff's pole was so bright that all of the Villains around Von Nebula flinched and covered their eyes with their hands. A loud pounding noise began sounding off, clearly coming from the orb itself. The air around the orb began blurring, appearing grainy and fuzzy. The Villains suddenly felt a strange force slowly pushing them away from Von Nebula. Even the weighty Rotor fell down after losing his balance from the strange force pushing him back.
The red light and the trails of red light that followed Von Nebula's eyes gained the brightness of red colored floodlights, their intensity meshing with the burning light of the orb on his staff. The deafening pounding noises combined with the light of Von Nebula's eyes and his staff cause the Villains to both shut their eyes and slam their hands and tools over their ears.
Finally, Von Nebula set his staff on the ground, instantaneously ending all of the droning noise and all of the blinding light. His eyes returned to normal and the force that had pushed all of the Villains back had ceased. When the event was over, the Villains were several meters farther away from the Hero Pod than they were moments earlier. The Villains stood themselves up, cautiously opening their eyes and removing their hands from their ears. They looked then at Von Nebula, trembling with fear and physical exhaustion.
"I will not have my dream undone by thugs!" Von Nebula roared. "You want to conquer the universe? Now is your chance. We have redrawn the lines of power across the universe. Now everyone has a chance at conquering their worlds, being exactly who they choose to be. Equality at its most pure!"
"So, what, are you going to just leave us to our own devices now?" Corroder asked with acid sizzling out of his mouth as he spoke.
"Yes!" Von Nebula exclaimed, extending his arms into the air. Expressions of surprise fell across all of the Villains' faces.
"We banded together to end the tyranny of the Hero Factory," Von Nebula continued. "Now that we have, we no longer need each other. We are free to run our own lives, make our own rules, and fight for our own reasons and goals. In this world, you are allowed to try and conquer all. In this world, you do not have to be a certain way to fit in, because there is nothing to fit into. Does this freedom not fill you with joy? We have for so long tried to pursue our goals, but when the Hero Factory disliked our practices, they painted us the evil ones. But no longer. Freedom is ours!"
Silence fell over the group. Despite the passion Von Nebula charged his words with, there was little indication that it had deeply affected his men. They began looking at each other, unsure of what to do or how to react to their leader's message.
"What stills you?" Von Nebula asked. "This world is yours to mold. We have made it so. Why do you idle, when you now have the ability to cause as much damage, destruction, and 'villainy' as you like? Is that not what you all did prior to Hero Factory's destruction? Create chaos across the universe? Were you not hampered by the meddling of Heroes in your business? Well, behold!" Von Nebula raised his arms in a wide span, his body leaning back slightly. "A total lack of Heroes!"
"What are you asking of us, Von Nebula?" came the rare sound of Vapor's voice.
"I ask nothing of you," Von Nebula replied. "I only wonder why you do not act upon your wishes when I have given you the freedom to do so."
"What will you do, Von Nebula?" asked Meltdown. "You have more power than any of us."
"I will go my own path," Von Nebula said. "Just as you all will go yours. I am a part of this universe, am I not? I have the freedom to pursue my goals. You have the freedom to yours. I am no different than any of you." Von Nebula saw how little an impact his message was having, lowered his head in annoyance, and then continued.
"Perhaps the only way for you to understand what I have given you is for me to leave you to discover it yourselves," Von Nebula said firmly.
"You're leaving us?" asked Corroder.
"You appear to have no comprehension of the gift I have bestowed upon you all," Von Nebula said. "Without my guidance, you will all soon understand. You have relied too much on my leadership. Discover that you now have your own leadership."
After Von Nebula said this, he slowly bent his legs on top of the Hero Pod. The Villains around him tilted their heads, trying to figure out what their leader was doing.
Suddenly, Von Nebula used his crouched position to execute a massive leap over all of the Villains. The giant black being catapulted himself through the air above all of the Villains below him and came hurtling down on the rubble ground behind their group. A cloud of dust floated up when he landed, the ground slightly rumbling after he hit it. The Villains stood stunned at their leader's physical strength to perform such an action.
Von Nebula then rose from the ground he had landed on. He stood with his shoulders propped and his legs straight and firm. His back was turned to the Villains, and he stood facing the ruins of the Assembly Tower in the distance. Still unsure of what was going on, the Villains continued looking at him, his dark body outlined by the bits of light coming off of his orb-staff.
Slowly, the shadowy Von Nebula turned his body just enough to allow his deformed skull to meet the gazes of the other six Villains, his red eyes burning through the cold darkness. The Villains were far enough away that they did not feel his vision bending powers when looking him in the eye.
"Do not follow me," Von Nebula said in soft but deep voice. "Go your own paths." With that, Von Nebula turned back around to face the distant Assembly Tower ruins. He then began walking away from their group and into the darkness in the direction of the Assembly Tower. Eventually he walked so far away that the only visible part of him was the glow of his staff.
"Well," began Meltdown, looking around at his fellows. When he spoke, the other Villains turned to him, forming something of a circle.
"Want to go see if there are any survivors outside these ruins?" Meltdown asked with a shrug and a sinister smile.
"Yeah, why not?" came Corroder's acid-filled voice, pounding his front claws onto the ground in eagerness.
"Bring me along too," Thunder's burly voice added. "If there are any of those little citizen bots, I'd like to personally smash them up!"
"Well, then, let's break some bots!" Meltdown shouted, jumping afterwards in glee. "Anyone else who wants to come, follow us." After Meltdown said this, he, Corroder, and Thunder all ran off into the night filled ruins of Makuhero City, screaming wildly and shouting gibberish as they did.
"I've always wondered how much of my vapor it would take to burn through metal," said the eccentric Vapor, who then too wandered off in an alternate direction from Thunder, Corroder, and Meltdown for seemingly no reason. Now, the only Villains who remained were Rotor and XPlode. The two stood alone for long enough that all of their comrades eventually vanished from sight, long lost in the labyrinth of wasteland.
"I want to fly around this entire wasteland and shoot things!" Rotor said with dumb happiness, beginning to slowly rev the motor to which his large black rotor-blades were attached.
"Wait, Rotor," XPlode said, setting a hand on Rotor's arm. When Rotor noticed this, he stopped his rotors from spinning.
"What is it, XPlode?" Rotor asked. XPlode then turned to look in the direction of the Assembly Tower ruins, particularly the path down which Von Nebula had been walking. Their former leader was now nowhere to be found, a sign that he had traveled far enough into the darkness that the light of his staff could not be seen.
"There's something screwy about all this," XPlode continued.
"What do you mean?" Rotor asked again. XPlode frowned as he studied the direction Von Nebula traveled.
"Von Nebula's up to something," XPlode said. "He could have given us that stupid speech on top of that hill we killed Alpha 1 on, and yet he drags us down the hill and walks us into the ruins of this city until nightfall." XPlode's eyes then looked up at the Assembly Tower, and he said, "Did you ever notice we're farther away from the Assembly Tower where we are now than we were on that hill?"
"Kind of," Rotor said, looking up at the Assembly Tower with XPlode.
"Things aren't adding up," XPlode continued. "Was he making any sense to you when he was giving that speech?"
"A little, I got the part about freedom," Rotor replied.
"Ugh, freedom. I'm no fancy Hero Factory Mission Manager, but I'm not an idiot either. That wasn't the reason he brought us out here only to just leave us." XPlode turned to Rotor, said, "I think he wanted to lead us away from the Assembly Tower." It took some time for Rotor to respond, but he soon perked up and frowned.
"Wait, what?" Rotor asked, confused.
"Think about it, Rotor. He brings us out here, gives us some weirdo speech to distract us from whatever he's planning, then he leaves us. Is it any coincidence that he left us and started walking in the direction of the Assembly Tower?" Rotor nodded in comprehension at this. XPlode continued.
"There's something about the Assembly Tower he doesn't want us to know," he said. "That's why he wanted to get us thinking about other things. Whatever he wants in there, he wants all to himself."
"You think he didn't really mean what he said to us?" Rotor asked.
"I just think there's something else we're not being told," XPlode replied. The red Villain paused for a moment, scratched his metal jaw with his hand. A thought entered his mind that made him twitch for a moment.
"And what about that freaky staff of his?" XPlode asked, swiveling over to Rotor as he did.
"Yeah, where'd he even get that thing?" Rotor added. "He never told us anything."
"I don't know, but I'd like to find out. There's incredible power in that thing, and I don't know what he intends on doing with it. If he really believes this whole 'everyone do their own thing' drivel, then is he just going to sit around with that staff? It's a waste of power, I tell you."
"What are you saying we should do, XPlode?" Rotor shook his head in confusion.
"You and me, Rotor, we team up," XPlode began, leaning in to Rotor to say this. "There's something bigger going on here Von Nebula isn't telling us. There's something in the Assembly Tower that he wants no one to know about, and he isn't telling us anything about that weird staff or how he went from being a Hero to becoming the…thing…that he is now. Let's follow him." XPlode pointed down the path Von Nebula went, said, "He went down that way. We'll follow him and see what he's really up to. And, if we get the chance, let's try and kill him."
"Kill him?" Rotor seemed stunned at the idea. "But he's so powerful!"
"He isn't powerful, Rotor. His staff is. Without it, he's nothing. I want to get a hold of that staff. Then you and I can put its powers to real use. What do you say, tough guy?" XPlode formed a fist and punched Rotor playfully in the side. Rotor nodded in agreement, and the two then started off into the ruins in the direction Von Nebula went.
"Hey, this goes right along with what he said, doesn't it?" Rotor began, looking at XPlode as they walked. "If we want to get his staff from him, that's us doing our own thing, right? Pursuing our own goals?" XPlode laughed and formed his trademark smile through his metal teeth.
"Rotor, I didn't take you for a philosopher," XPlode said sarcastically with laughter. "We'll bring that up to ol' Nebby once we grab that fancy stick of his."