He flew towards them at a leisurely pace. There was no need to hurry. After all, their time had come at last. "No more games." He declared. "This ends today!"
X X X X X X X X X X
Jessica Lovejoy flew through the city, observing her surroundings like she did every day. And like every day, the shield glittered up above them. She wished it wasn't necessary, since it was very difficult to keep powered, but thanks to Frink's skill, they had gotten through it.
Looking at everyone going about their daily lives almost allowed her to forget what lie beyond the shield. Outside it, nothing lived, not even plants or small animals. Even now, she vividly remembered what occurred the last time. It helped remind her that the shield guaranteed safety. To venture outside meant death.
If someone had told me 12 years what I would become, I would have thought they were crazy. Jessica said to herself. At the time, she was rebelling against her parents and she had to admit, she was a horrible person. However, she was forced to grow up fast, just like all the other people her age. She was nearly 26 years old now, and heard rumors that the other members of the defense were preparing a surprise party for her. She would act surprised, as she would the other times they did this for her. Guess there's a bit of my old self left in me after all.
Over time, she had grown into a beautiful woman. She was around 5'5, with the same hair she had all her life. However, her body was to die for, as a result of the training regimen she put herself through every day. People depended on her and she was not about to let them down.
She flew above the land they had reserved for farming. They had some vehicles that ran on generated electricity, again courtesy of professor Frink, but they still had to do much of it by hand. The luxuries she once took for granted, she no longer had, and many people younger than her barely remembered them. They only remembered the fear.
"Hey, Jessica, how are you?" She heard Ralph Wiggum greet her. He was only two years younger than her, but like her, also had to grow up very fast. Ralph was still husky, but not nearly the weight his late father had been.
"Just… looking things over," Jessica admitted.
"Yeah, hard to imagine a time when we didn't live hand to mouth." Ralph sighed. "I wish they'd send us more supplies, but we're lucky to get the ones we do. Besides, we have to lower the shield for that and it's extremely risky."
"I know, but we've managed to survive so far." Jessica admitted. On a few occasions, they had to risk everything and lower the shield so supplies could get through. Thankfully, their menace had disappeared by then and so far, they hadn't had word of him. Though his anger was primarily towards this city, others didn't want to risk anything and thus, supplies were sent only infrequently. "How long will our current ones last?"
"About a month before we have to risk things again." Ralph stated matter-of-factly. "If he does show up, the defense will have to hold him up. We've made great strides in training people and we've got new recruits."
"All the same, I wish we didn't have to risk it." Jessica sighed, rubbing her temples. Over 80,000 people lived under this shield, making it one of the densest population centers in the world. Over 2,000 were part of the defense force; more if they counted the auxiliary branch. She was the de facto leader, even if they never formally declared her in charge.
"We'd better do our daily check of the shield towers." Ralph suggested, to which she nodded. Surrounding them were 16 shield towers that allowed their protection to exist. They monitored them daily, since any kind of glitch or malfunction would mean the end of them. He sped off to do his daily check, while Jessica went in the opposite direction.
She accelerated her jet sled, making her grateful for the magnetic boots. Jessica looked down and saw Evergreen Terrace below her. Even after so many years, it caused a hole in her heart. The old memories started to flood back before she forced them away.
Jessica looked over the shield towers, finding the first three functional. The fourth had some minor problems, so she called the defense and informed them to send their technicians. She flew off to the fifth one, where she pulled off the panel and inspected the electronics. They appeared to be in order. Jessica heard a beeping on her communicator and answered it, expecting it to be confirmation.
"So how is the inspection going?" Smithers asked. He looked older than he was, his hair completely white and much of his face wrinkled. Smithers was now the mayor of Springfield and ran it far better than Quimby ever had.
"It's mostly going fine, Mr. Mayor." Jessica replied.
"Call me Waylon; I've told you before." Smithers smiled, a rare thing from him these days.
"Force of habit; I'll check in once I'm done with the inspection." Jessica informed, cutting the communication. Frink may have provided the technology, but he had provided the finances, along with various other sympathetic billionaires and government programs. The shield had cost tens of billions, and was still expensive to maintain, but it was better than the alternative.
She finished the inspection and nodded in content, even though no one could see her. Her communicator beeped again and she looked at it, deciding that Smithers would want to speak with her again. "Hello?" she asked.
"How wonderful to see you again, Jessica," A voice from her nightmares replied. She gulped, trying to fight her fear. What was HE doing here?
"Why are you here, demon?" She screamed, trying to fight her fear with anger.
"The same as always: I want this city to BURN." The voice hissed at her, taking a dangerous edge. She nearly trembled despite the fact she was inside the shield and thus, safe.
"Give it up, demon; you've tried it before!" Jessica screamed, feeling her courage return. She made a note to warn the others that he was back. "You can't break the shield; why bother trying?" She couldn't imagine that he would ever find a way to get through.
He laughed at her for several seconds, likely knowing the fear in her heart besides her best efforts to hide it. "Yes, I've tried and failed. I can't break the shield… until today, that is." Before she could make a reply, she heard a loud scream, and felt the tower begin to shake. A massive beam of pure power smashed into it, beyond anything she'd seen before. However, the shield continued to hold.
"Is that all you can do?" She smirked. They'd all been through this before.
"Wait and see, Jessica." He laughed, momentarily ending his onslaught before beginning once again. She saw the energy spread out, enormous shockwaves slamming into the shield. Jessica never imagined he would be that powerful. She began to lose her confidence. The electronics on her tower were indicating that the structure was weakening. She hurriedly jumped on her jet sled and flew about 150 feet away, watching and praying. The tower began to blow up, all its devices shattering.
Jessica gulped, seeing more towers do the same out of the corner of her eye. This wasn't possible! How could the shield fail? She knew at least 10 were necessary for it to stay up. Another tower failed, then another… and another. His firepower continued, her communicator speaking again.
"Jessica, 5 of the towers are down!" Ralph screamed in panic. "What are we going to do?"
"Prepare for the worst; tell everyone to get their gear on and move out!" Jessica ordered. She used her binoculars to see a sixth tower begin to malfunction. This had to end soon. Even he couldn't keep this up forever! Unfortunately, it was a chain reaction. The weaker the shield became, the more vulnerable the towers were. Finally, the 7th tower gave out and the shield slowly disappeared.
Everyone in the street gasped in horror as their safety disappeared with a final glow, people transfixed, looking up at the sky. The crowd screamed in terror, trying to find some shelter, some escape, feeling in their heart that their hour had come at last.
"Like the new power, Jessica?" He laughed. "I wanted to give you a proper introduction." The line was cut and she simply stared at it for a second. She flew higher, looking around, hoping to find him. The defense had to stay together, had to stay coordinated if they were going to stand a chance.
X X X X X X X X X X
He laughed to himself as he watched the shield disappear. He was badly drained from using his new ability, but it was worth it to see that thing fall at last! He sped towards the nearest tower and blew it to pieces. He was not going to allow them a chance to repair it, not after he had waited so long.
Already, some of the defense forces were responding. For the most part, he ignored them. There was a more important enemy. Even so, he wasn't about to let them off completely. He launched powerful blasts towards the ground, tearing through the buildings and the fleeing people. Let them run; there was no safety to be had now!
He sped towards his destination, murder in his eyes.
X X X X X X X X X X
Ralph gasped in pure shock. He could never have imagined that their enemy would have been able to break a shield of such power. "Is there any way to get that shield back up?" He demanded, speaking through his communicator.
"It's possible, but it's going to take time." The other person stated. "These towers are badly damaged and it'll be a while before they're operating."
"Work as fast as you can." Ralph ordered. "We'll see if we can lure him outside the shield." He cut off the conversation and sped towards their enemy, picking up his strongest weapon. There was no time to go back; he had to make do with what he had. He aimed at him and fired at maximum power, although he knew at the speed they were traveling, it was unlikely that anything would hit its target.
Other members of the defense force had begun to mobilize, all of them speeding after him. Unfortunately, they could not come up with his speed. Ralph watched as he fired deadly energy into the crowd, tearing any unfortunate bystander to pieces, but he didn't have time to help him. Stopping him was their top priority.
They pushed themselves to the limit, trying to catch up to him. Their enemy turned around and fired more blasts, forcing them to scatter, although a couple were not so lucky. Ralph told them to surround him on all sides, hoping their combined firepower could do some lasting damage, but he sped off again, at a speed they couldn't follow.
Ralph gulped as he realized where he was going. He's heading towards the lab! Towards Jessica! He tried to contact her, but something was wrong with his communicator. He only gulped she would see him in time.
X X X X X X X X X X
Jessica moved at top speed towards the lab, trying to equip the strongest weapons. She cursed herself for not doing so earlier, but never truly imagined that he could break a shield 50 square miles in size and 2,000 feet in the air. After what seemed endless, she finally reached the lab. She grabbed the most powerful gun she could find and got back on her jet sled.
Only to hear a cracking sound above her. The roof shattered like cardboard to reveal Springfield's deadliest enemy. Jessica was ready to fight, but felt deep down that Bart Simpson would finally achieve his goal.
He only barely looked like the boy she once knew. He was much taller, standing at over 6-5. His muscles were even bigger than she remembered them and she could almost feel the power radiating off his body. He was dressed in black, with a red lightning bolt across his chest. Jessica saw his fangs glint and aimed her gun, firing it at full power.
She scored numerous direct hits, hoping to at least stun down, but when her vision cleared, Bart didn't seem to be harmed in the least. "I have nothing more to say to you, Jessica." He glared with hate at his smaller opponent. "Good-bye!" The others could wait; he was going to make sure she was done for.
As she blacked out, she couldn't help but feel like Springfield had created its own monster.