Chapter Six
Earth Fifty-Seven
12:07 AM
The rain had been falling for hours. The streets of Urban City were less crowded than they usually were on Saturday. Most everyone had found something to do indoors. They were probably enjoying a movie or a concert. This town had plenty of both to offer. There had once been a time that the citizens had been afraid to leave their homes. Almost no one could be found after dark in a place that was not either a house or an apartment building. Urban City had been known by the world for decades as a pit of crime and desperate people. A hole filled with predators and victims. That had all ended three years ago.
Tyler McDawn sat perfectly still on the roof of the museum that he called home. Of course, no one knew that he lived here. He was the curator and worked here all day long, but even the security guards thought that he went home every night after the doors were locked. They even saw him leave. No one knew that he had a small apartment underneath the building, or that he usually spent most of his nights up here, looking out over the city that he had lived in since he was a child.
Tyler had once lived a normal life. He had once had a prestigious job as a history professor at UCU where he had been able to fill a lot of young minds with his own passion of ancient history and Greek mythology. Then, he was offered the position that he now held here at the museum. He had happily taken it. He had thought that it would be glorious to be surrounded by the history that filled this building. And he had been right. For a year he was the happiest man in the world.
Then, a few years ago, a traveling exhibit came to the museum. An ancient tomb had been uncovered in Greece. Aaron, who had been known in ancient texts as the lord of darkness, had been found encased in a rock bed that had once been a volcano. All of the artifacts that had been found with him were now being shown in various cities around the world, including the petrified remains of Aaron himself.
When Tyler first laid eyes on the golden medallion that had been found in Aarons grasp, he instantly felt some sort of connection to it. He had poured days into researching its origins. Myth had it that the medallion had been forged by a wizard and contained the soul of a griffin, the mythical beast that was part lion and part eagle. It had been given to a warrior. It was said that the medallion allowed the warrior to harness the powers of the griffin and ultimately helped him defeat Aaron.
After Tyler had learned all of that, he had gone into the exhibition room after the museum had closed. He opened the case containing the medallion and reached for it. His fingers had barely come in contact with the cool surface of the metal when a pulse of energy came out of it, ran up his arm and into his chest, sending him flying across the room.
Three years later he was living a life that was totally different. His reality had completely changed. At first, he had felt like he was living inside of a comic book. Especially after he learned that the warrior that had originally held the medallion was his own ancestor and that he was still alive. And then when Aaron came back to life it had seemed even more surreal. The battle that ensued had not only changed his life, it had changed who he was. And now he used the power that the medallion had given him to protect whoever he could. And so far he had been pretty successful. Urban City was not the cesspool of crime that it had once been.
Although the rain usually washed the scum out into the open.
Tyler winced as the sky momentarily lit up the sky. For just a second Urban City was brighter than the brightest day. When it subsided, he saw what looked like two falling stars fall quickly to the earth. One of them seemed to merge with the other before they hit the ground. He judged that they impacted about two miles north in the warehouse district.
Even before he stood he felt his face change, taking on the cat like features that came with the power. He leaped off of the roof, unfurled his wings, and glided toward the scene.
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Anya pressed another button on her belt and she shot forward just a little faster. She would not be able to gain any more speed. If she could not reach Lucas before he hit the ground, it would be over.
Or would it? Lucas was a Kryptonian with lots of yellow sunlight in his cells. He should be able to withstand a fall like that. But then again, he had been weakened. He had not regained all of his strength since he had come back together, and now something had caused him to lose consciousness and fall out of the sky.
They passed through a layer of storm clouds and Anya found herself rocketing toward a city twice the size of Metropolis. She knew that they only had a few seconds before impact. In one last desperate attempt, she lunged forward and caught hold of Lucas' leg. She pulled him toward her and pressed a button on her belt. A field of energy shimmered into existence around them just as the asphalt exploded in her face. She felt the rumble of the earth below her and the sound of rocks and dirt falling down all around. Then it was quiet.
"Lucas?" she said as she turned him over and looked into his face. He was not completely out cold. But his eyes had rolled back in his head and he was shivering badly. Anya looked down at the screen on her belt and saw that they were on Earth Fifty-Seven. At least they were on a charted world. She tried to remember if she had ever been here before. She could not recall the number so she pulled up the information that her computer had stored. A holographic display came to life in the air above her. As she watched the information that was known of this world play out she found herself recognizing various people and events.
"Am I in Urban City?" she asked.
Images of the history of the city began to flash in front of her. She now knew where she was, and she knew that she was going to have company soon. She was not a bit surprised when she heard a loud thump on the ground behind her and felt the wind rush across her back. She stood up and turned around.
"Tyler?" she asked.
The Griffin stepped forward from the shadows. There was a soft yellow glow in his eyes that seemed to stare into her soul as his wings folded and hid themselves behind him. Slowly, the hair on his body faded away and his face became human again. There was now a muscular man wearing nothing but a pair of faded shorts standing before her.
"Anya?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I just decided to drop in," she replied.
"Was that you that just fell out of the sky?" Tyler asked.
Anya nodded. "My friend is hurt." Tyler stepped closer and looked down into the hole that they had made in the street.
"Is that Clark Kent?" he asked. "The war hero?"
"No," Anya replied. She had forgotten that this world's version of Lucas was a general in the army. He had single handedly ended the war on terror. He had displayed his powers before the world and was not the secretary of defense. "This is Lucas. Kent's counterpart from another world."
"What?" Tyler exclaimed. "You took someone from one dimension and put them in another? Don't you know what that could cause?"
"I didn't take him," Anya said. "He's a jumper. He's like me, except that he can do it naturally."
Tyler looked down at him. "You shouldn't have brought him here, Anya," he said.
"I didn't bring him here," Anya replied. "We're trying to get to his world. He had some sort of spell and he fell. This is where we landed."
"He's been drained," Tyler said, still staring at the man in the crater. "We've got to get him off of the street before someone sees us. Urban City has come to except that there's a monster guarding them, but I don't know how they'd take to a man falling from the sky and surviving."
"If he survives," Anya said. "Where can we go?"
"I'll take you to my lair," Tyler said. Even as he said the words his body morphed back into the creature that she had seen a few moments before. He arms had tripled in size in a matter of seconds and he effortlessly grabbed Lucas with one hand and lifted him. His wings spread out and flapped three times, raising him up higher than the warehouses surrounding them. "Follow me."
Anya nodded and pressed the utilizer. A field of energy surrounded her and she shot up into the sky after him. Together they soared over the city. The lights had been dimmed by the rain, and every second that Lucas remained unconscious, her hopes dimmed as well.
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It had been over a year since Anya had seen Tyler's lair. At that time he had been a mess and so had his place. His wife had just left him and he was dealing with a crisis on a global scale. Not to mention that a crazy scientist had gone back in time to try and keep Tyler from ever acquiring his powers. Anya suspected that he had not gone back and stopped the man because he wanted to keep his powers. She was sure that he considered them more of a curse than a blessing. But he did not want all of the work that he had done since that day to be for nothing.
"I love what you've done with the place," she said as she looked around. The place that Tyler called his layer was really nothing more than a three room cell fashioned from concrete blocks and located under the basement of the museum. There was a hidden entrance behind a painting and another in the ally behind the building. There was a naked light bulb hanging from the ceiling and stacks of books that nearly hid the walls. Anya picked one of them up and blew the dust off of it. "You're really taking full advantage of your immortality by imprisoning yourself."
"I'm not immortal," Tyler said. "I told you that my aging process was slower than normal." He was in his human form now and had put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with the museum's logo on it. He had set Lucas down on the sofa that Anya guessed also served as Tyler's bed. He had plugged electrodes to different parts of his body and was busy studying the readout on his laptop.
"Any news?" Anya asked.
"I don't know much about Kryptonian physiology," Tyler said. "There seems to have been an energy surge that caused him to lose a good deal of strength. These levels are almost identical to the readings that you got from the cluster of worlds that contain his home."
"So, something happened at his home world that affected him?" Anya asked.
"Yeah," Tyler said. "But the energy is coming from all three worlds simultaneously. It's like someone is trying to do something that involves all three worlds."
"Is it the Anti-monitor?" she asked.
"I don't think so," Tyler said. "But that much energy output could certainly attract him. It needs to stop or all three of those worlds could be devoured pretty soon."
"I can't leave him," Anya said.
"Leave who?"
They both turned to the sofa and saw Lucas as he slowly opened his eyes.
"Good God!" he said. "I've got a headache."
"Yeah," Tyler said. "Taking a nosedive from the outer atmosphere into an asphalt street will do that to you."
Lucas raised his head at the sound of the other man's voice. "Who are you?"
"My name is Tyler McDawn," he replied. "I'm the Griffin."
"The who?" Lucas asked.
"We landed on Earth Fifty-Seven, Lucas," Anya said. "All of those stories about Greek gods and goddesses actually happened here. Tyler is a hero called the Griffin. He shares his body with the soul of a griffin."
"Which means that part you…" Lucas said.
"Part of me has lived for over three thousand years," Tyler said. "Although I spent most of that time in another host. One of my ancestors by the name of Raloam."
"You were alive before Christ?" Lucas asked in disbelief.
"Christ?" Tyler asked. "Jesus? He was a friend of mine. I was out of the country when they crucified him. But I did see the resurrection. It was awesome."
Lucas looked dumbfounded. Tyler and Anya laughed.
"He's messing with you," Anya said.
"Oh, an immortal with a sense of humor and a flying girl from the future," Lucas said. "Throw in a planet eating retard and its welcome back Lucas!"
"Calm down, man," Tyler said. "You had a spell."
"What happened to me?" Lucas asked. "One minute we're headed home and the next I feel like a got hit with a mallet made from a meteor rock."
"Do you remember anything?" Anya asked.
"I remember a light opening up behind my eyes," Lucas said. "It felt like my brain was burning. And then I heard….Clark."
"Clark?" Anya asked. "Clark Kent?"
"Yeah," he replied. "The Clark from the world next to mine. He was in some sort of trouble. He was being erased or something and he drew some of my energy."
"Erased?" Tyler asked. "Wait a minute!" He punched a few keys on his laptop and brought up the imaged from Anya's utilizer of the three worlds that showed the energy output. "Someone's trying to merge all three of these worlds and make some sort of hybrid."
"But wouldn't that erase a lot of people?" Anya asked.
"Yeah," Tyler said. "Especially if they don't have a counterpart on at least on of the two worlds. Nature would weed a lot of them out to give the new universe more of a balance."
"We've got to stop them," Lucas said.
"You need to rest," Tyler replied.
"There's not time," Lucas argued.
"He's right," Anya said. "They may have already done it."
"I don't think so," Tyler said. "If they had, Lucas wouldn't be here. He would either have merged with his counterpart or they would both have faded."
"Even with my new powers?" Lucas asked.
"Yeah," Anya said. "He can jump worlds now."
"It's hard to say," Tyler said.
"Which is why I can't sit here and wait," Lucas said.
Tyler closed his laptop. "Okay," he said. "Go. But I'm going with you."
Anya shook her head. "No, Tyler. We have to pass between worlds. You wouldn't survive."
"I would if I had a utilizer," Tyler said.
"And I don't have a spare," Anya said. "I have to have enough room in my shield in case something happens to Lucas again."
"I have one," Tyler said.
"What?" she replied.
"I have a utilizer," Tyler said. "I copied the specs the last time you were here."
"The utilizer is technology that mankind won't even harness for five hundred years," Anya said.
"Did I mention that Griffins were the smartest creatures to ever live?" Tyler asked. "It's in a safe across town. I'll have to go and get it. I'll be back in one hour." He turned to Lucas. "You should rest until I get back."
Lucas nodded and stared as Tyler transformed into the Griffin. His face changed, he grew bigger, and his fingers extended and grew huge claws. Finally, his wings exploded from his back and he shot out into the night.
Anya sat down on the sofa. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," Lucas said. "You saved me. You know that?"
"Yeah," Anya said. "I guess I've gotten fond of you."
"Thank you," Lucas said. He cupped her face in his hand and pulled her down to his. They kissed for a long time. And then they spent the rest of the time that Tyler was gone making love. They had found each other in a way that Lucas was sure was destiny. And for the first time in his life he felt that he could truly love this woman. It was deeper than anything that he had ever felt for either Lana or Chloe. Anya had completed him.
As they made love Lucas felt the biting memory of his old self slip away. There was no longer any bad left in him.
He would be a hero.
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Lucas was staring at the shadows on the ceiling of Tyler's small home. Anya had fallen asleep with her head resting on his shoulder. He was content and knew that if he never made it home, he would love nothing more that to stay here with her forever.
Then, the door flew open.
Lucas launched himself off of the sofa and into a fighting stance in a blink. Anya was beside him with no sign in her eyes that she had been asleep. A moment later a beast came running into the room.
"Tyler!" Anya said. "What's wrong?"
"We have to go!" the Griffin roared. He turned and ran back out. Lucas grabbed the shirt that Tyler had given him and slipped it over his head. He and Anya went outside to find Armageddon.
People were running everywhere as thin beams of green energy sprayed from the sky, incinerating anything that they touched. Across the street a car vanished in front of them. They looked up to see where the beams were coming from.
They saw the Anti-Monitor.
Lucas saw the Griffin strapping the utilizer around his waist. He ran over to him.
"You can't fight that thing," he yelled.
"I have to," he screamed back. "This is my world! It's my city!"
"No, Tyler!" Anya said. "You can go with us. Maybe we can do something from somewhere else!"
"I'm not leaving my world!" the Griffin said. He launched into the air, but Lucas grabbed his foot and slung him back to the ground. He pulled his fist back and leaned into the punch. The Griffin went slack and instantly turned into Tyler again. Lucas pressed a button on Tyler's utilizer and a shield surrounded them both. He took off into the sky with Anya behind him. They faded from the universe just as a blinding light enveloped all of existence and Earth Fifty-Seven was no more.
End of Chapter Six
I know that it's been a long time, and I don't know how long it will be until I write chapter seven. I hope you guys enjoy it. R & R.
Also, before you ask, the Griffin is not a comic character. He is a character from a series of stories that I wrote from the time that I was 15 until today. I'm trying to put it all together into a novel…don't know when that will happen.
As always…
Kal-El2k7