Upper Holloway
London, England
January 5th
2023 A.D.
The ground was shaking once every few seconds. The smoke from the distance in all directions was only serving to feed the dense unnatural clouds that already dominated the skyline. The air would light up every time there was a explosion and that would usually be followed by the same god-awful sound that the creature made.
It was obvious that the army had already started engaging the gargantuan monster that was tearing it's way through London.
Behind them, the more frequent flashes and rumbles hadn't ceased. Aurora was in the lead, walking faster than any of them. No matter how tired or scared she was, it was doubtful that anything would make her stop. Just behind her were Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione who were looking around very nervously.
"I just want to go on record one more time and say that heading towards the huge terrifying monster is a bad idea!" Hugo yelled out, "whilst moving towards the heavily military presence that is meant to be protecting us is a very good idea!"
"Then go that way Hugo! Nobody's stopping you!" Aurora hissed back.
They were moving down an empty street lined with houses that were no taller than three floors. Most of the outer city was completely deserted as people were fleeing to the coast or the Thames river or at least they were before the Godzilla sized beast came out of it. The power had gone out all over that section of London but the larger buildings in the center and to the south were still bright.
"We were all going that way not too long ago!"
"I told you! I saw him fly overhead. He's gone back to the city so that's where I'm going!"
"How do you know it wasn't a jet?"
"A man sized Jet?"
"I can barely see anything! I'm just saying, how do you know it was him?" Hugo asked again.
"I know all right! Just keep moving and we'll -"
Rose screamed as the house on the right about twenty feet in front of them suddenly exploded into a cloud of rock and dust. One of the Mantis-like creatures burst through the collapsing structure. It's roar was even worse than the giant one in the distance. It wasn't a long rage-filled howl but what sounded like thousands of high pitched screams coming in rapid buzz.
Hugo, James, Scorpius, Lynx, Violet and Lily opened fire as Aurora hit the deck. Rose, Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione joined in, unloading everything they had at the monster as it roared with fury. The bullets that connected left tiny puncture holes on it's hide where a horrible greenish-black goo started to seep out.
Aurora rolled out of the way and pulled her wand. She fired off a Blasting Hex but it bounced straight off the monsters armor and sailed away into the air. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny's spells had the same effect causing them to move out the way and take cover.
The beast suddenly turned and showed them it's back as if it was about to simply walk away from them. The spear-like spines on it's back started to vibrate violently.
"GET DOWN!" Aurora screamed.
The spines blasted out in every directing like a massive living nail bomb sending the razor sharp bone spears. They tore through everything they touched and even dug straight into the tarmac of the street.
Without waiting for an invitation they started firing at the Mantis again. This time bullets clipped through the holes in it's back where the spines had been. This seemed to do way more damage than just taking chunks out of it's armor because it roared and hissed in pain and quickly spun around to protect it's exposed hide.
Scorpius aimed straight at the four dark, balloon sized, bug-like eyes on it's head and fired. His bullets connected and one of the capsules popped causing a rancid black liquid to bleed out from it. The creature shrieked and held up one of it's mighty crab clawed forearms to protect itself.
Slowly it started backing away until it moved back through the destroyed building and disappeared.
They wasted no time in reloading and making sure that their guns were trained on the broken house before continuing down the street.
"Jesus! Did you see that thing?!" Lynx breathed.
"If they're already getting through the line -"
"Then the defenses are already starting to fail." James finished for Scorpius.
"You see that spell, it just bounce straight off it?"
"Yeah...it's armor must be like Giant skin or something!" Rose deduced.
"We need to find Albus..." Aurora said before charging off towards the city again.
She felt nauseous and dizzy from what had just happened but it wasn't going to keep her from finding him.
Moorgate
London, England
January 5th
2023 A.D.
People were still running and screaming, trying to get away anyway they could. Whether it was the enormous beast that was ripping the city apart or the large contingent of soldiers trying desperately to kill it, death was everywhere.
Bodies lay on the streets, some crushed under falling rubble while others had actually been trampled to death, either by the crowd or by the monster.
The soldiers continued to fire even though only their heavier weapons were doing any kind of damage. The creature was so huge, it would take nothing short of a major air strike to take it down but that would also result in hundreds of deaths and destruction to a huge portion of the city.
Although the entire area was covered in smoke, people were nevertheless able to actually get a good look at it now. It resembled a millipede. A millipede the size of a battleship. It had tent sized bone spines all over it's body and horrible tuck shaped legs running down it's sides and six much larger, spider-like legs at it's rear.
On it's head were a pair of huge pale blue domes that looked like eyes but weren't. They were the monsters most destructive weapon. It's particle canon. At the very bottom of it's head were crane sized mandibles that flanked both sides of it's mouth.
Suddenly, great streams of lightning shot through the air and connected with it's legs causing it to howl in pain. The creatures legs buckled from the shock and it collapsed onto it's stomach while groaning. That only lasted a few seconds though. It shook it's head and started to climb back onto it's endless rows of legs. Athena was pumping off as much voltage as her body would allow but it still wasn't enough to put the beast down.
The domes on it's head started to glow and ominous blue colour as it powered up it's primary weapon.
There was a fierce rush of wind followed by what looked like a meteor that slammed into the monsters side. The impact was so strong that the creature actually toppled and fell onto it's back, crushing dozens of buildings as it did. It's particle canon fired as it fell sending two huge blue beams into the sky that would probably continue out into space.
Albus had just acted as a human torpedo and driven himself into it after getting a seven thousand foot run up. He flew back through the air, landing next to Athena.
"Their armor's like titanium or something!" he growled.
"Maybe we can get armor piercing rounds?"
"No, the only thing that's gonna get through that is an air strike!" he said as he charged over towards a group of soldiers gathered around a Lieutenant that was yelling down a radio.
"You gotta order an air strike now!"
"We've still got civies all over the place! An air strike would kill em!" the Lieutenant shouted back.
"It won't get the chance! That thing'll kill em before the planes even get here!"
"Sir! It's getting back up!" a soldier yelled.
They turned to see the enormous monster trying to roll itself back onto it's stomach while it's legs flailed around in the air.
"Order the strike! Now!"
The Lieutenant hesitated as the soldiers opened fire once again. This time there was a massive roar from next to them as they started deploying rocket launchers against it.
The Lieutenant started giving co-ordinates down the radio just as Athena noticed something strange. One of the rockets that shot towards the beast had skimmed off it's armor and exploded next to it's head but as it did, the monster seemed to become momentarily enraged and panicked.
Then she realized why. The rocket had exploded right next to it's eyes.
"Light...they hate the light!" she yelled out, "that's why he covered the sky in clouds! They can't stand the light!"
Albus couldn't believe he hadn't realized it sooner.
"Get your flare guns! All of them! Fire at my signal!" he commanded.
Soldiers ran to their vehicles and started pulling out small plastic cases. Inside were a pair of flare guns and several rounds. They loaded the guns and took aim, waiting for Albus to give the order.
"FIRE!"
As they fired, so did he. He blasted himself into the air, right in front of the monster that had finally managed to tip itself back over. He floated in mid air as the flares ignited into balls of red light.
Albus held out his hands causing a massive shift in gravity. The light seemed to turn into liquid in mid air and rush towards him. He brought it together in a huge ball in front of him then let it out in a concentrated beam.
The beam struck the monster in the head causing it to roar and shriek. Unlike the smaller Mantis-like creatures, it couldn't cover it's eyes. He flew around to the side, still keeping the light beam burning brightly. The beast panicked as it's eyes were scorched and blinded.
It took off, smashing straight through the buildings around it, heading back through the devastation that it had already caused. The ground shook like as if a seven point five on the Richter scale was taking place. Albus stayed with it, using the beam of light to guide the monster away.
He drove it straight back towards the river where it didn't hesitate to throw itself back into the water. It sunk itself deep beneath the water going all the way to the bottom, probably completely blind by now.
Albus broke off his attack and shot back towards Athena and the other soldiers. He landed just next to the Lieutenant that was already informing his superiors that their effective weapon was bright light.
"We gotta find a way to clear these clouds!" Albus stated looking up at the sky.
"Won't do much good now. It's almost midnight! We won't get sunlight again for another seven or eight hours!" Athena said grimly.
"Well we can use spot lights, flare guns, whatever until then," he turned to the Lieutenant, "what's the status on the evacuation?"
the Lieutenant held up his had as he listen to the orders coming down the radio. After a few seconds he looked up at Albus, "three more of the big ones have been spotted. One up by Grimsby, another out by Cardiff and one by Southport."
"Oh Christ! What about the evac?"
"Fifty one percent complete."
"Half the population in eight hours?" Athena sounded impressed.
"The number of people to evacuate is going down because they're dying," Albus sighed.
"Shit!" the Lieutenant slammed down the radio and stood up, "listen up! We just got reports of hostiles breaching the line and moving into the city. We're heading north to cut em off!"
"Whats your rally point?" Albus asked.
"Lower Holloway."
"We'll meet you there," he said grabbing hold of Athena and blasting them both into the air.
Lower Holloway
London, England
January 5th
2023 A.D.
"To the right, to the right, to the right!" Violet yelled as one of the cat-like monsters pounced on top of a car.
James span around and opened fire. These ones were fast, smaller and more agile then the others which made them a lot harder to hit. The only good thing was that they weren't armor plated which meant that both bullets and spells caused them significant damage.
It dived off the car after getting hit with a few of James bullets and retreated around a corner as Ron and Ginny fired off spells at it.
The group had taken cover in an alleyway the moment they saw that the street was filled with about a dozen of them. They were breaching the line somewhere and moving quickly into the city as if they had some kind of meeting spot to get to.
"We can't stay here! We gotta move now!" Scorpius yelled.
"Hold on, I'm loading!" Lily snapped.
They waited a few seconds while they checked their ammunition before jumping out and bolting down the alleyway. A quick look later and they were back on the main road. They knew they had killed three of the cat-monsters and they others had scattered but where they were now they didn't know.
They stopped and ducked into a shop that had the door smashed open after hearing a terrible shrieking noise. It was coming from above them followed by a clawing, flapping sound.
Lynx peaked out and looked up. Above them, maybe a hundred of the bat-creatures were flying overhead, moving towards the center of the city.
"Stay down! Wait till they pass," Aurora whispered, praying that they wouldn't get spotted.
"What are these things?!" Hermione blurted.
"I don't know...all I know is that they're the enemy!"
The street was suddenly lit up by a blinding blue light that caused the bat-creatures to shriek and scatter. A huge streak of lightning shot past the shop window and stuck one of the bats, roasting it alive.
"Athena!" Scorpius darted out of the shop and low and behold, she was there. Standing about thirty feet away from them looking like a human conductor and firing off bolts of lightning was the woman that would supposedly decide the outcome of the war.
Their faces lit up as the Colossus landed next to her.
"ALBUS!" Aurora bolted down the street towards him.
"What the fuck are you doing here?!" he roared. He sounded about as terrified and angry as he possibly could.
"Why did you leave me?! WHY?!" Aurora slapped him across the face as tears started to pour from her eyes, "WHY?! WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?!"
"I'm trying to protect you!" Albus ignored her attempts to hit him and simply wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him, "it's me he wants! Not you!" Albus turned his attention to his father, "you were suppose to get her out!"
"She's right, Albus! We won't abandon you!" Harry said without shame.
"You can't leave me! We go together!" Aurora cried.
"I love you so much but you can't be here! I have to get you out!" Albus yelled back.
"I'm not leaving without you!"
"INCOMING!"
Before James had even finished yelling his warning he had opened fire. His bullets struck the cat-creature but also hit the petrol tank of the car it was crouched on. The vehicle exploded with such force that it blasted everyone off their feet.
Albus was slammed into the side of another car. It had happened so quickly that he hadn't managed to put up a shield and the impact had caused him to smash his head against the door, dazing him. His vision was blurred and moving.
Around him people were screaming and fires were burning. He managed to focus just enough to make out Aurora. She was in front of him but something was wrong. She was screaming. Screaming at him.
Pain erupted around his shoulder as long thin spike stuck straight through it. One of the bat-creatures had put it's talon right through him and latched on tightly.
Once again, Albus's horrible glimpse of the future had come true.
He was suddenly lifted high into the air as Aurora screamed at the top of her lungs. She and the others and even that part of London started to shrink into the distance just as the pain from his shoulder and the whack to his head finally over took him and he passed out.
"NO! NO!" Aurora screamed as she raced after him but it was no use. The winged creature was already almost a mile a way from them and heading deeper into the city.
"Aurora! Aurora!" Athena had grabbed hold of her, forcing her to stop chasing them, "We'll get him back! But first we need to find him!"
She kicked and screamed as Athena continued to hold her back. She had just found him and then, in a single moment, she had lost him all over again. She wouldn't give up though. She would die before she gave up.
The rest of the group joined them, also ready to get Albus back.
"Which way did they go?" Harry asked.
"That way," Aurora pointed before trying to wipe the tears from her eyes.
Athena looked into the distance. The bat-creature that took Albus was gone but from what she could see, the power was still on in the direction that it had taken him. She looked around the street for some sign of electrical life but everything in this part of the city was dead.
"Get me to a computer, I can hook into the cameras around the city and find out where it took him!" she said quickly.
Athena wanted Albus back just as much as Aurora did. They loaded up and took off towards the lights.
Isle of Dogs
London, England
January 5th
2023 A.D.
It could have been an hour, a day or a minute since he had passed out. He just didn't know.
As his eyes fluttered open, the thunderous rumbles from explosions, sounds of gun fire and screams echoed around him. He was obviously close to the city center where most of the civilians were heading, trying to get onto transports.
Then the pain in his shoulder and head returned causing him to groan. He slowly picked himself up but his body felt so heavy and weak. His eyes were still having trouble focusing and he wasn't even sure if he had the strength to put up a shield of fly if he had to.
Then a horrible growling sound made his eyes shoot open. He looked up to see three of the snarling bat-monsters standing around him but holding their positions. They were just guarding him. His attention suddenly jumped from them to what was behind them.
Men, hooded and cloaked.
They simply stared at him in silence. They were all holding their wands but none of them were acting like anything but spectators. Albus didn't recognize any of them.
Then a rusty screeching sound started to move closer. A few seconds later, another cloaked man entered pushing a wheel chair in front of him. In the chair was a man that looked so ill and frail it was as if he had just come out of a World War II concentration camp.
He had no muscle on him what so ever and his skin seemed almost wafer thin. He had black lesions, like slimy bruises all over him and seemed barely conscious. The cloaked man that had brought him in pulled what looked like a small glass cup out of his robes and held it in front of the sickly mans face.
Albus watched in tried horror as the ill man started convulsing and choking. Suddenly and putrid tar-like substance poured from his mouth into the cup. It looked like he was literally throwing up oil. After a few seconds the cup was full and the ill man flopped to the floor dead with his eyes still wide.
Albus knew exactly what that black liquid was. It was the thing that had been eating people from the inside out. The thing he'd been chasing.
He started to crawl backwards but his body was still weak. The bat-creatures pounced on him, holding his arms and legs down as the cloaked man walked forwards with the filled cup.
Albus tried to focus his power and sent off a shock wave but it was barely powerful enough to knock them off balance. This time the other cloaked men in the room gathered around, ready to attack him if he tried anything. He would never be able to fight them all off.
One of the cloaked men suddenly grabbed Albus's head, holding it steady as he pried open his jaw. Albus struggled and kicked but against them, he seemed almost like a child trying to fight off a lion. The blood loss from his should combined with what was probably a skull fracture had sapped his strength completely.
The cloaked man began to pour the liquid into his mouth.
Albus tried to spit it out but it seemed to glue itself to the inside of his jar. Then fear struck his body like never before as he felt the ooze come alive inside his mouth and force it's way down his throat. It was freezing cold and seemed to somehow be clawing at his insides as it moved.
The cup was empty and Albus let out a scream of pain like he had never done before. He would have happily died right then and there just to make it stop. It felt like his entire body was being ripped in half and just when he thought that the agony itself might actually stamp out his life, it vanished.
It was replaced by a strange numb feeling that took over his whole body. Suddenly his head didn't hurt anymore, neither did his shoulder. He didn't feel weak or tired anymore just confused.
Then he felt something strange. Like he had just drank an entire carton of off milk. It was disgusting. Suddenly he felt something coming up his throat and then he vomited everywhere. But it wasn't food he had brought up, it was the horrid tar that had just forced it's way inside him.
It seemed endless. Like his entire body was just a tank filled with it. He puked over and over again, causing a black puddle to form on the floor in front of him. Both the bat-creatures and the cloaked men stepped back and watched as he bought up more and more of the oil.
Finally it finished. He had no more inside him. He gasped for breath and looked down at the puddle.
It started to move.
Slowly at first, then quickly. It moved towards itself, forming a circle of black goo in front of him. Then it began to take shape. Rising up like a gelatinous black snake before expanding and refining. It grew arms, legs and a head.
Then the blackness started to fade in places and was replace by the pink whiteness of human skin. It covered it's hands and head but the rest remained black, still changing and molding into something else.
A suit.
Albus knew that he should have been trying to escape. Now that he had some strength inside him again, he need to get away as fast as he could but at the same time, he couldn't move. He was compelled to stay. He had to know who his twin was.
After a few minutes, Albus as in total shock and looking at back of a dark haired man wearing a perfectly tailored business suit.
The man took a long deep breath.
"Ahh...feels good to breath again," he said before turning around to look at Albus, "hello brother."
The resemblance was uncanny but they certainly weren't twins. Albus knew his own appearance well enough to see the differences. This mans jaw wasn't as pronounced and his cheeks seemed slightly narrower but he nevertheless had the same jet black hair and striking emerald eyes.
"It's nice to finally meet you. I've been looking forward to this for a very long time," he smiled.
His voice was different as well. Deeper and more relaxed somehow.
"Who are you?" Albus demanded.
"You don't recognize me? Well, that's not unexpected, I didn't always look like this, you know," the man, still smiling crouched in front of Albus, "here, see if this rings any bells."
His face suddenly reverted back to it's black liquid form then reshaped and molded again just as it had before but this time, he had the face of a young man. A handsome teenager with dark hair and brown eyes but Albus still didn't recognize him.
"No? Okay, hows this?"
Again his face turned to black and reshaped itself. The face that appeared afterwards caused Albus's eyes to go wide with horror and he even crawl backwards a few steps.
"No!"
"Yes, I'm afraid so," he smiled.
"It's impossible!"
White skin. Red eyes. Slits for nostrils.
"Impossible?" he chuckled, "it's destiny!"
"Voldemort..." Albus breathed.
He nodded happily as his is face reverted back to the one that resembled Albus's.
Albus raised his hand to send out a shock wave at him but nothing happened. It was as if he had never had his power in the first place.
"You don't have your powers anymore Albus," Voldemort held up his hand causing a ball of light to appear in his palm, "because I have them now."