Chapter 8

The city was now covered by Soldier Angels, each armed to the teeth. They all floated in the air, not moving from their positions. Each one looked at one another, eagerly waiting for the command to attack. Captain Marvel looked on with concern as Viviane was drenched with anxiety.

"I thought they only wanted you, Viviane!" said Marvel.

"So did I! Mother knows that she can't successfully take over Earth anytime soon. This all must be Nathan's doing," she explained. The Soldiers Angels hovered closer to the ground now. A few of the Angels were garbed with a blue line diagonally crossed across their chests. The blue was the sign of Commander Angels, a whole rank higher than the regular Soldiers.

"Why would he send so many Angels? There must be over a hundred of them in the city!" said Marvel.

"He intends to take it over, Billy, capturing me in the process. That's my best guess, Billy." said Viviane.

"Stay back, Viviane. Who knows what they might do?"

Then, suddenly, the Angels turned their attention to their commanding officers, who were intently listening in to their wrists. They nodded and looked towards the Soldiers.

"Take 'em out!" they yelled. The swarm of Soldiers swooped down from the sky, helping the ones already down in the streets. Explosions and screams were heard all over the city. Cars were flipped and blown up. Stores were set ablaze and people were sent running down the street. Police sirens were heard, but then mysteriously went silent. In the distance, gunshots panged off armor.

"Viviane, find a safe place to hide." said Marvel, pushing her behind him.

"No, Billy, I'm coming with- " she started.

"I said go hide!" he commanded her. She nodded in defiance and ran inside the adjacent building. From the second floor window, she saw him fly up and engage two Soldier Angels. Marvel grabbed their neck and slammed them together and threw them on top of a building. He flew higher, punching down another Soldier but was then blasted by two Soldiers. Marvel fell to the ground and regained his footing. He grabbed a streetlight and flung it towards the Angels. The two Angels fell like paper clips. Marvel, seeing the vastness of the invasion, flew towards the father side of the city.

Viviane turned her attention from the window and retreated deeper into the abandoned room. She sat in the far corner of the room, bringing her legs up close to her. She could still hear the noises coming from the battle but decided not to look.

Billy, why'd you have to run off like that? Why do you have to risk yourself for me?

She then heard cries from outside the window, followed by bursts of energy.

Of course…Captain Marvel needs to help the people. But is it true about what you said? Do you really care about me that much, Billy? Because…Because…

Viviane sighed and got up from her corner.

Because I care about you too, Billy…

Then, a loud thud came from outside in the street. Viviane turned and looked outside. Captain Marvel was down in a hole surrounded by a horde of Soldier Angels and one Commander. His cape was ripped up and dirty from all the fighting. The Commander had his staff pointed directly at Marvel's head; his eyes gazed right into the superhero's eyes.

"Now, if you value your life and the lives of the people of this city, you will tell us where the Princess is," said the Commander.

"I won't tell you!" said a winded Captain Marvel. The Commander Angel blasted a store right across the street from where they were without even looking.

"Tell us!"

"Never!"

"So be it. Let loose, men!" he yelled. The Soldiers then smiled and flew off in many directions.

"Wait! Stop! Don't…I'll tell you…" said Marvel, closing his eyes in regret. The Soldier Angels returned to their commander's side.

"She's…she's…she's in the Fawcett Building…" Marvel said, pointing towards the tallest building in town. The Commander smiled a smirk.

"You Earthlings…are such terrible liars…" he said. Marvel's eyes widened.

"But…"

"Don't bother! We'll find her, with or without your help! Staffs ready!" The Angel's staffs glowed with energy. Marvel raised his hand to block the incoming beams.

"Billy, NO!!" yelled Viviane from her second story window. The Angel squad kneeled and put their heads down, all except for the Commander.

"Your Highness, it is imperative that you come with us! Queen Jessica demands it," he said, looking up at her.

"Yeah, I know. The last guy told me the same thing. I am not going back," she said back.

"We were also told th-

"The use of force? I know. Do what you must then."

The Commander got back on his feet and flew at Viviane. Vivi released her wings and fired a Lunar Blast at the Commander. He was hit and blasted back onto the street. The other Soldiers saw this and flew up towards her. Viviane took flight and flew down the street with the others in close pursuit. She passed other Angels engaging local law enforcement and armed forces that happened to be in the area. Surprisingly, normal citizens took up arms and fought off the Angel invasion with futile attempts. Viviane dodged the blasts from the Soldiers while fighting back with her Lunar Blasts.

Five against one! she thought I'm not going to be able to fight this off like this! I have to come up with something new!

Viviane looked down the street and saw the alleyway where she had first learned that Billy was Captain Marvel. She took a hard left and teleported into the alleyway while the Angels took the bait and went left down the intersection. Viviane sighed and leaned against the wall.

They'll be back…In the meantime…I'll get ready…

She backed up against the third wall that closed off the alley and looked towards the opening. Just as she predicted, the Angels came in and raised their staffs towards her.

"We don't want to hurt you, your Highness," said one of the Angels.

"I don't want to hurt you either." she said with confidence. The Angel nodded and got ready to blast her. Just then, she slammed her palm to the ground and yelled, "Earth Spikes!" Where the Angels were standing, giant pointed Earth rocks came out and threw the Soldiers several feet into the air and landed them on the same rocks, immobilizing them. Viviane sighed a sigh of relief and flew back to Captain Marvel.

He was nowhere to be seen. The hole he made was still there, but nothing from the Big Red Cheese. Then, she heard a footstep behind her.

"Billy! It's…oh no!" she said, upon seeing the Commander with his staff pointed at her head. He sneered some at her and opened his mouth to talk.

"I didn't want to have to do this, but you've left me no choice!" he said in a stern voice. The staff glowed but was then snapped in half by a large, muscular hand. The Angel Commander was then grabbed by the collar and held to the sky by Captain Marvel.

"Wrong choice, buddy!" said Marvel before he was slammed into the ground. Marvel turned his attention back to Viviane.

"Viviane, are you okay?" he said to her.

"Yeah…I'm okay. Just a bit shaken though," she said.

"I thought I told you to stay put, Vivi," he said, placing his fists on his waist.

"You did…but I just couldn't stand by and watch you get pulverized into dust," she said, looking guilty some "I want to help you stop the invasion, Billy. This is my mess more than it is yours,"

Marvel sneered and then relented. "I don't like it," he said, but then he looked across the city at the chaos ensuing it "But I'm going to need all the help I can get. Just becareful, will you?"

Viviane smiled and said, "Thank you, Billy!"

"You have the true marks of a hero, Viviane. Now let's go!" he said, taking off towards the center of the city.

In Downtown Fawcett City, the streets and buildings were in utter chaos. Angels rounded up civilians and put them in makeshift prisons while others cleaned up the last pockets of resistance. The people waited, watched carefully by their winged captors, to wait for their beloved hero to come rescue them. Some of the more cynical residents doubted that anyone would come save them, let alone Captain Marvel. The area in front of the Fawcett Building was completely cleared of debris. The Soldier Angels surrounding the area were ever vigilant, even for an area as quiet as that. The prisoners sat, wondering what the invaders were waiting for when out from the sky came The World's Mightiest Mortal along with an Angel girl that had been seen several times before. The two landed next to the prison, taking out the Angel guards in a discreet manner. Upon being freed, the citizens backlashed against Viviane.

"She's one of them!" one person cried.

"She'll kill us all, Cap!" someone else cried.

"Don't trust her!" still another cried.

Viviane retreated behind Captain Marvel as he tried to calm the crowd down.

"Listen, people, she's here to help! There's no need to worry!" he said to the worried people.

"We saw her all those days ago! She was here to spy on us!" a man yelled out of the crowd.

"No, she wasn't! She's our only hope right now," he said as Viviane came out a bit from Marvel's shadow.

"Who are these people anyways?" somebody asked.

"They're Angels from the Moon. They're here for her,"

"Then let's give her to them!"

"No! There's more to it. You'll see soon enough. Now, everybody, get to a hiding place!"

The crowd dispersed into nearby buildings as a bright light appeared just above the street in front of the Fawcett Building. It was a teleportation disk that was usually used to teleport Moon Angels to the city. But this was a lot larger than any of the ones that had appeared before. It hovered for a second before it rose to the sky, leaving a gigantic circular machine on the street. The disk disappeared as the Angels all attached themselves to the machine. Viviane and Captain Marvel both waited to see what was to happen with the machine.

"Viviane…do you know what that is?" asked Marvel, hiding behind some wrecked cars.

"No, what is it?" she asked.

"I don't know, I was asking you."

The machine rose ever higher, going up the length of the ruined Fawcett Building. As soon as it reached the top, the Angels swung the machine and knocked off the top portion of the building, sending it crashing down to the empty streets below. After a few minutes, as the machine steadied, The Angels gently placed it on the flat roof of the Fawcett Building.

"They're using the Fawcett Building as part of some machine," said Marvel "And I don't think they're done with the machine. It doesn't look complete,"

"What could it be for?" asked Viviane, looking up at Captain Marvel.

"I'm not sure. But it's going to affect the entire city, or else they wouldn't have put it on top of the tallest skyscraper in town," he said.

"I wonder what it could be," pondered Viviane.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that we can't let them finish that machine!" he said as he flew up towards the machine. As he neared the machine, Captain Marvel was met with laser blasts from the Angels who had brought the massive machine from the streets below. The attacks knocked him from the air and into a nearby building.

Viviane, who was about ready to take flight, noticed a second major teleportation disk appearing where the first one had been. As it lifted up towards the sky, it left behind a thinner yet taller machine. The remaining Angels who weren't distracted by Captain Marvel went down and attached themselves to the second machine just as they did with the first. The ascension went slower this time, since there were less Angels to lift it up.

"I can't let them finish the machine!" yelled Viviane as she spread her wings and took to the air. Viviane blasted one of the Soldiers lifting the machine, sending him down to the top of the machine. The large metal dynamo wobbled as the Angels took notice of their Princess attacking one of their own. Without a moment's notice, they stopped lifting the machine and fired on her. The energy attacks forced her to fly away from the group. She flew back, readied her hands with energy and blasted the machine. The attack did little damage. The machine lifted higher and revealed a large group of Moon Angels ready to fire their weapons. Stunned, Viviane was unable to move as the energy blasts left their staffs. Viviane closed her eyes and waited for the heat and pain of the blast, but all she felt was the heat of a human being. Captain Marvel floated in front of her.

"Are you okay, Viviane?" said the deep voice of Captain Marvel.

"Yes, Billy. Thank you so much!" she replied. Viviane looked out behind The Big Red Cheese and saw that the Moon Angels had just finished placing the second machine on top of the first one, making both part of one big machine.

"Darn! They have both up there already!" said Marvel.

"Billy…I don't think the machine is finished. Look down there!" said Viviane, pointing towards the streets below. Down on ground level, a smaller machine, obviously the cap of the dynamo since the top part of the machine had three spires that joined up to make an open circle where they almost met, was being raised by a different group of Angels towards the other parts of the dynamo.

"We can't let them complete the machine!" exclaimed Captain Marvel.

"Then what should we do?" asked Viviane.

"I'll go destroy the first two. You go down and stop them from loading up the next one," he said, taking off towards the barrier of Angels protecting the first two machines. Viviane mustered her courage and raced down towards the rapidly rising machines.

"Lunar Blast!" she yelled as she let go of her attack, hitting of the attached cables that extended to one of the Moon Angels. The flying creatures took notice and once again fired upon her, but this time she was smarter. Viviane began her dodging attacks, occasionally appearing behind the Soldiers and kicking them in their back and disappearing. She flew down to the machine and began cutting cables, constantly dodging attacks. Soon, she got down to the last cable, dangling like a thread from several Angels who were trying to hoist it up.

Last one, she thought Then it'll take them awhile to bring it up again and by that time we can find away to stop this invasion. Now then…

Viviane raised her hand to blast away the remaining cable, but at that moment, she was knocked off the machine by a very powerful energy attack. The attack sent her off the machine and down to the street forty feet below.

"Viviane?" said Marvel, taking a break from his fight to look down at the ruined street. Viviane lay motionless; he wings spread apart. He dodged and punched the Angels away to quickly fly to her side. "Viviane! Wake up, honey!"

"Thank you, Captain Marvel!" An ominous voice was heard. Captain Marvel looked up towards the machine's last cable and saw the dark form of Nathan holding up the last machine by himself. "Thank you for taking care of my future wife."

Captain Marvel sneered at him as Angels surrounded him. Nathan flew up to the top of the Fawcett Building and placed the last part on top of the two joined machines. Suddenly, a large beam of energy pierced the now night sky of the city. I went up so about for a mile then it spread over like a dome across the entire span of the city. Nathan grinned and stood triumphantly next to his dynamo machine.

"By my proclamation, Captain Marvel," he said "This city is now under MY control!"