Chapter Twenty Three: The Raging Climax Part One.
"The time is coming, are you in this or are you out? You're either in all of the way or you're not, but….either way, I will rule the world. One thing is for certain, you have all had your problems with the Legion of Super Heroes…"
There was some titterings of agitation in the distance and there was a few seconds where Imperiax shifted his weight as he surveyed them all. They were rejects, aliens, misfits, mutants, horrors that he could shape.
"So, are you ready?" he asked and there was some more cheers from them. "Either you're in or you're out, you can see the Legion lording over us. Earth no longer belongs to you. I will allow you to have this planet, the rest of the universe is mine, but I can only help you."
There was loud cheers from the humans once again and they were stirred up to the point where they are about to explode. He stirred them up to get the reactions that he wanted, like the puppet master.
"You have seen what they can do!" he growled in a loud voice as his eyes flashed with anger that boiled from his eyes. "You saw how they stole the world from you. Earth once again belonged to the humans but….."
"They're coming."
"You've seen it, you've heard it, and you even feel it, we're going to be prepared, the human resistance movement will drive them off of the planet," Imperiax said as his eyes glowed with power. His personality compelled them to obey his every whim. "FEEL IT!"
There was a loud rumbling of cheers and there was a few seconds where he allowed everything to soak in.
"I don't know about this….."
"Perhaps you might support the Legion and support their efforts, and support his efforts, the efforts of a group of hidden treacherous humans, who wiped your minds and messed with your identities and lives," he growled as he cracked the pedestal underneath him with his power. His eyes glowed as he closed his fists together and his teeth gritted together.
"We're going to show our power," one of the humans yelled as he grabbed the supposed traitor, grabbing him around the throat and then with primal fury slammed him down to the ground. They were the few, the proud, true humans, that were not tainted by any DNA. They were completely pure.
"Yes, you will, you are humans, you are proud, I have weapons," Imperiex said as he caused the glowing bands that were placed out. "It will put the strength of your bodies, up with the strength of your minds."
It went without saying that it would also make them succumb to his power and it would shove him underneath his thumb. The power that flowed around him was shown and the human stepped forward.
"We will be able to get through….just like that," one of them whispered as he was trying to break through.
"See, you hear him, you hear the one known as Potter, he has corrupted your children with his demonic words and he will cause them to burn….if you allow him to," he whispered in a harsh voice and they became nervous. Their confidence grew under his power. They could do anything and that's what he intended. "Go forth my children, spread our world."
They marched forward, they were pushed towards the edge as they were let out into the real world. The Legion was close but Imperiex only knew them as warm bodies. He was not quite ready, although he nearly was.
"Nearly, nearly, Harry Potter, and when I am ready, you will be mine," he whispered in his most harsh voice as he placed his hands up against the back of his head. The energy swirled around his hands as he could see the Legion defeat more of his voices.
"Imperiex….he is….."
"He is but merely a child, they are all children, for I am forever, created forever, and created always," Imperiex said as the vagueness of his words caused everyone to grow even more confusion. And….things increased with even more insanity. "Past, present, and future, it's all mine."
"Do you hear me, pretty soon I'll be there, you can't hide forever!" Harry yelled as the villain viewed the images of shadows, extensions of his will being driven down to the ground.
"I disagree," the villain whispered as he crossed his arms together and power flowed through his eyes. No one dared disagree with his disagreement. "Reinforce the barriers, do not….do not allow them in here at all."
"It will be done," his minion said as he walked over to the edge and tried to reinforce the barriers. There was a second where he held onto it and it was rumbling around him. He checked everything. "It is secure."
"Make sure it stays secured them," he whispered to the minion and he nodded, with a nervous tick in his eye. "Treat it like your life depends on it, and it does, believe me it does."
"I know," he whispered harshly as he nearly had to stare his employer in the eye, hoping one day he would be set free but he knew that his will was weak.
Imperiex waited for the final moment. Soon all would be in his hand.
Harry could see that there was a big problem. He armed humans with artifacts that they were never meant to hold onto. His heart thumped across his chest as his breathing heightened and his chest lowered and fell. He crossed his arms across his chest.
"Okay, we've got things….the energy, it's pulsing from underneath the field….yes, that field," Harry said and Karen shifted nervously. There was a blinding glare that was around him as he felt himself succumb to the power.
"Harry, it's fine, we'll get through," Kara said and Rachel looked over her shoulder, checking for anything out of the ordinary. Which for her had a far more liberal interpretation than many but not in this group.
"Are you sure?" Rachel asked as she looked over her shoulder. She had heightened sensitivity to the dark spirits that combed around the air around her and Harry grabbed her gently by the elbow. She nodded her head up and down.
"Yes, I'm sure," Harry whispered to her as she leaned back, her back arching back for a second. "Just keep your head up, and we'll figure things out."
"I hope….actually I'm sure that you're right," Rachel said and Imra frowned as she could hear the scattered thoughts.
"You will get off our planet, alien trash!" one of the humans said as she lifted the gauntlet on her hand and rushed forward. The blonde caught her hand and pushed it back.
Karen hoisted the woman halfway off of the ground, twirled her by the arm, and sent her flying. Several cattle prods jabbed towards her but Imra held her hands up and there was an energy field that was placed around them. There was a block of the energy as the electrical burst shot back towards her.
Diana tangled up the two young men who dropped to blow her away with a gun. She took them down with a hurling smack, and they crumpled down onto the ground.
"I'm going for the gate!" Harry yelled as he looked over his shoulder and made his way down there ,slipping and sliding down the muddy path. He hovered above the ground so he did not have the disadvantage.
"I'm coming with you," Cir-El said, she knew that Harry was going down the tunnel towards the same enemy that he was going after. The dark haired woman rolled her shoulders back.
"If you can….." Harry started but she used her ice breath to freeze some of the dark shadows that popped up. They were a bit lighter on the humans, at least until they could figure out who was being more manipulated than others.
"I can!" Cir-El yelled fiercely as she caused the ground to become sticky beneath them.
Karen watched, she was pretty sure that was because of some charm work but it was nothing that Kal-El was able to do. She could not really think that much more, given that one of her adversaries conjured several jagged rocks.
Kara joined Karen with taking the jagged rocks out before they hit the other members of the legion. Ice breath and heat vision combined but Imra lifted her hand up in the air. She sent them back at them, not in a lethal manner but in enough of a matter to back them up.
Harry could see that the hole was about to close, and he sped up, trying to gain the momentum that he could. He could see the haunting face right ahead of him.
"So, you dare face me!" Imperiex whispered harshly and Harry shot through the tube and nailed him with the full force of a huge hammer.
Harry was knocked back like he was nothing and he could see the glowing fist of enemy. Reflexes were heightened as he dodged the attack. There was an explosion as the ground was scorched beneath him. He looked at him.
"You're the one….."
"You're the one who has tried to set my plans back, several times through the centuries, but now, I have you here," Imperiex said as he went for Harry but he just barely dodged the attacks. He teleported to the other side and grabbed Harry around the throat, squeezing, his fingers sinking into the young wizard's throat.
A series of glowing flash bulbs blinded him and Harry raised his hands up, and brought flaming spikes up from the ground. He bounced up against the wall, but his enemy caught him. He was hurled back like a ragdoll and his charms reflected like they were nothing.
Cir-El popped up and knocked Imperiex with a rocket buster punch in the face.
"You dare touch me," Imperiex grabbed as he wrapped his hand around her throat and squeezed, which caused blood to ooze from the side of her mouth.
"Yes….I dare…touch you….." she stammered, spitting the blood back at him as she was hurled back into the wall with a huge crunch.
"Where are the rest of them?" Harry asked.
"By the time they reach you, they will be too late," Imperiex said as he sent a blast of golden light towards Harry but he fired a combustion spell back. The two beams of energy shot each other and Harry summoned all of the energy that he could.
His knees were hanging off to his side, as he felt his hands were burned underneath the attempt to fight back. Harry's eyes shifted blood shot as blood poured from the edge of his nose and he pulled back, slumped against the wall.
"Fear…."
Harry dodged underneath the attacks, he showed no fear whatsoever. Spikes went underneath the feet but Imperiex hurled him back.
"NO!" Cir-El yelled, as it flashed through her mind, he was going to die the same way that Kal-El did and she could not….she would not….she sent heat vision, magically amplified and she burned through his armor, causing him to go down.
Harry felt like he had gone through a really bad case of flu as the green eyed wizard was pulled up and Cir-El picked him up.
"We have to go, now," Cir-El whispered as she placed Harry over her shoulders and he was about to argue, but he did not even have the strength to do so.
"That could have gone better," Harry said as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. There was a pair of black eyes and he looked on off into the distance. He had been beaten absolutely to one attack and his green eyes burned brightly.
The Legion had returned to a halfway base of operations that they set up on Earth.
"They should not be able to find you here," Chloe said as she breathed heavily. Harry could almost see that she was a bit nervous as he tried to check that of his injuries. They were not as bad as they were before. He brushed his hair out of his face and sighed. There was a second where he closed his eyes really tightly.
"They shouldn't or they won't," Harry said as Cir-El stuck next to him on one side, with Kara on the other side. "I can't believe that….."
"Imperiex is too powerful," Karen said as she came to the horrific conclusion. "He managed to keep us at bay for too long and he managed to acquire the power, there is no way he could be defeated now."
"I refuse to believe that," Harry said as he shook his head. He had taken the pessimistic side of things far too often but he had mellowed out over the years. Perhaps being submerged in ice had caused him to be less so but at the same time, if he was already defeated in the theater of the mind, he would have suffered something. The wizard braced himself, knowing it was now or never., do or die.
"I know you do, but we got to face facts…..he used you as a punching bag and if Cir-El didn't you out of there….."
"We don't know what and would not have happened," Zatanna said, ignoring the rush of nerves that she felt.
"You know, they're going to come after us, unless we come after then," Harry said as he flexed his fingers and he felt a heart beat against his chest. He got to his feet. "Besides, I don't look that bad."
"Oh of course you don't," Alexis said as there was a smile a she turned up.
"You just got your face reduced to raw hamburger…." Alexandra said and Harry cast her a very dirty look and the redhead teenage shrugged her shoulders up. There was a second where she kept her mind on what happened. "And you're going out to fight him again."
"I actually may have found a weakness, but there's a pretty good chance that he knows it as well, so I'm not hinging my hopes on the fact that I can exploit it," Harry said as his chest inhaled and exhaled as he crossed his arms over his chest. The green eyed wizard turned his head back and saw the glowing bio-schematics that he managed to grab onto him.
"I don't understand this," Tess said as she got a good look.
Naru blinked as she and the other Legion girls had been sitting in the shadows, silent, tending to their injuries. They won several battles but the war was not over. "So….what don't you understand?"
"What is he?" Tess asked as she frowned. "I could have sworn that I saw this sequence of DNA before….where…..I don't even know."
"Well let's try and figure this out," Chloe said as she ran a sequence and Harry grabbed one of the gauntlets that they captured from them.
"Help me analyze this," Harry asked Karen and Imra and both of them needed to scan everything. They were trying to exploit as many resources that he could.
"This is….almost Kryptonian….in fact there's no more almost about it, it is extremely Kryptonian," Karen said as she wondered about what he was doing. Future Earth technology had only finally caught up with Kryptonian technology fifty years before the destruction of the planet. She was awed at the complexities of the sequences.
"How could they replicate something like that?" Imra asked. A lot of the technology from the Fortress had been lost to time….and there was nothing compared to anything that they had in their databases. Granted, a lot of the information on Krypton had died with the planet.
"Well, I suppose that if they found some technology found at one of the colony planets, it's very possible," Karen suggested as she bit down on her lip, the frustration skimming through her eyes. Her arms were placed underneath her chest as she leaned back. "Although the components….they're not like anything I remember and my mother, she taught me a lot before she died."
"They are of Earthly make, although modified," Alexis suggested with a frown.
"Are you sure?" Tess asked and Alexis nodded as she looked at her.
"I'm positive, unless I'm mistaken and I rarely am….you know that don't you?" Alexis asked and Tess sighed long and hard.
"Yes, I know that, all too well," Tess said in agreement as she shook her head. "So, its made of ramped up Earth parts….."
"Someone would have needed to have a vast knowledge of that technology to know what parts from Earth are needed to work properly," Maxima said and they were nods of agreement. She might be a hot tempered warrior queen but stupid she was not. "If they weren't able to put that together just like that…..then it would blow up in their faces."
"I see," Harry whistled as he crossed his arms as there was a second where the green eyed wizard blinked heavily. He placed his hand on his forehead.
"NO WAY!" Chloe yelled as she found a match of the DNA scan.
"Who was it?" Karen asked, as she dug her fingers into the side of her face. The blonde swallowed immediately as she knew that she was not going to like it.
"We have a match, and it's….Kal-El."
"He was so close, but he fled, like the coward that he was," Imperiex ranted and his eyes lit up with a sinister glow. There was only one statement that flowed from his mouth, to the point where it chilled anyone who heard it. "Find him, you will find him, and you will destroy him. There will be nothing left of him, once he is done."
He had been warped, twisted, and turned as he could see the demise of Kal-El once again in his mind's eye. Superman tried to destroy the nameless shapeless entity that he figured was him. He cherished those memories, long gone as they were.
Yet he understood that he had destroyed the final son of the planet Krypton. And he came close but once again Harry Potter had made his way into his domain. Escaping at the last moment but next time, he would have him and he would crush him.
"My….my liege, I….I don't know what to say," someone whispered to him.
"Then say nothing, unless it brings fort the last wand waver underneath my nose," Imperiex said with a sinister howl. He saw the images of his enemies, they drew closer, they may have retreated, but they would return. And much to his annoyance, they had escaped with information. That would never happen once again.
He made preparations to allow Harry Potter in and never allow him to leave. The only thing that was left was his corpse. Whatever pit had created him warped his abilities and his energies. He held his hands up into the air, bracing himself and returned them back down to his side. He braced for an attack, eyes flooding with fury, sinister glowing red orbs that continued to escalate to the point where one might think that he had gone insane.
"He is….."
"Choose your words carefully," Imperiex said as he could see other forces around the world, groups that opposed him, falter. However the defeats were hallow and lacked meaning for they were not his enemy. "And speak, calmly, swiftly, respectfully."
Memories were shattered in his mind and he could see it from almost the perspective of Kal-El. He could feel the horror that the Man of Steel felt and that pleased him. It warmed his heart.
"Half of the human slaves have been defeated, they are underneath a sheet of ice," the shadow whispered as it cowered underneath mighty Imperiex and it could not even begin to fathom what happened.
"I see," Imperiex said as his teeth gritted together and the shadow swayed from one side to the next, the heart drumming against his chest. There was obviously something that was on the line. "You've done….what you could. I do not have any room for those that fail me as well."
The blasting energy field knocked the shadow down and ripped it apart with blinding fury.
"It will begin, with the end, of them all," he whispered harshly, teeth gritting down against his gums to the point where he looked like an extremely ill-tempered bulldog. There was no question about it, there would be no one who would argue with him now.
The swirls of bright light were seen in the glass case. It represented power and control, he extinguished more worlds, more groups of people, then armies combined. He had no idea what it was about this particular planet that seemed to be so very much rebellious but never the less, it caused him to great headaches.
"He is on his way," Imperiex whispered as once again, he wondered what was so different about this one where he refused to go down easily. There was few questions that burned in his mind more prominently than what made this Harry Potter tick. He was far beyond humans, he was far beyond most alien races. He was some kind of universal….abnormality.
He stepped over and he could see that he inspired the Legion to fight when he could have rolled over them just like that. His fist crushed together and sparks flew together.
"Someone is trying to break through!" one of the minions stated.
"I realize that, the hunt will be better, I will allow him through once the time is right," Imperiex said as he held up the tattered red cape that he had been carrying around him for all of this time. It crushed Superman just like that and now he would have Harry Potter's head as a souvenir along with it. His female companions would make excellent toys for the more unsavory forces that he struck a pact with as well. He had no such inclinations to have any fun with them himself. "Be silent, be still, you know what the plan is."
The wide smile of the menace continued to get even wider. Power flowed through his body as he braced himself.
"Power, I feel it, I need it," he breathed as there was something else that crashed against the wall. He stared forward, as he could see his battered face. "He thinks that he has found a weakness, well allow him to exploit it. The fool thinks that he could defeat…"
There was a loud squealing motion that popped through the border of the location.
"COME AND FACE ME, IMPERIEX!" Harry yelled in a booming voice.
"Amusing," Imperiex said without missing a beat and he motioned his hand towards his minions. "Allow them in….but only on my signal."
The empowered humans were blasted down in a heap. They were strong but the Legion blew through their defenses like dominoes.
Harry in particular was trying to keep his eyes locked on one individual and one individual alone. If he got his hands on Imperiex, then all would be over. He had to succeed, there was really no other way.
'Closer, he thought,' Harry thought.
'Harry, this is far more complex than we thought…..it appears that Cir-El was not the only thing created from Kal-El's DNA,' Imra said and he nodded. 'Whoever, did this made a terrible, terrible mistake, and it was an experiment that gone really wrong.'
'And they ended up creating the killer of Superman in an attempt to stop his utter demise, it's an interesting paradox,' Harry thought as he shook his head. This was messed up but Harry analyzed theid defenses. All defenses had holes and these were no exception.
'So the monster that killed Kal, was Kal, in the most twisted sense of the world, that's….' Karen thought but she dodged the horrific shadows. They had some of the same qualities of the Forbidden Zone Zombies.
'Do not get apart,' Rachel thought as other members of the Legion were fighting. She wondered how much longer she could stay. She did open the door for Trigon to return. The half demon reared up and she was this close to trying to banish the creatures. They flew backwards with a huge thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.
They landed so hard that the half demon could feel their despair. It nearly gave her a headache.
'This time if you go in, there might not be any way to extract you,' Cir-El said but Harry's determination was something that nearly took her aback. 'Oh you know it don't you.'
'Give me the cover, trust me,' Harry thought as he summoned up the full force of his powers, amplifying the energy that sprang out through his fist. He was deep in a pocket that was where past, present, and future intersected. As much as that did not make any sense, that's what the data that Harry drummed up told him.
'We trust you, but that could be a big problem, as you might not escape,' Tinya thought although she yanked them down, using her powers to trap them.
'Risk that I'm willing to take, and I've taken far more insane risks,' Harry thought and Kara sighed.
'Yeah, I'll vouch for that one,' the blonde said with her ice breath causing a barrier which Cir-El, Maxima, Karen, Diana, Rachel, and Harry all slipped past.
'The humans should not be able to break through,' Maxima thought although that seemed more like a question than a statement of fact.
'They should not be able to, no,' Harry agreed but he would leave nothing to certain.
'Portal dead ahead,' Cir-El said although she did not say that she was more worried about their dead behinds. However, she refused to let that defeat her. Her mind was of razor sharp focus and her heart hammered against her chest.
'Yes, something behind us, we'll….we'll see if we can buy you any more time,' Karen thought as she let go of Harry's hand.
Harry burst forward like a super nova at the speed of light and entered the portal.
"COME OUT AND FACE ME IMPERIEX!" Harry shouted as he hit the bright portal with the force of a ballistic missile. He was ripping through the portal, his skin blistered, he saw Rachel and Cir to his side as he popped through the portal.
He was surrounded like a bright light, like a super nova. He could barely see, all it took was instinct that pressed him forward. His heart thumped against his chest and his mouth dried up immensely as his hands started to shrivel.
'If anything happens….I love you,' Harry thought, although whether anyone responded or if he was heard at all, it was never known as he was in the Nexus.
It was a trip that no one should have survived, but somehow he did. That was another thing that he did with alarming regularity. He survived when no one should have.
He held his breath, ,mostly because he could barely breath. He was in the vortex, he could barely hear anything, he could barely see, but he dropped down.
Harry Potter looked up to the imposing form of Imperiex but one thing could not be denied, the determination that burned through his eyes was so intense that it was scorching.
"So, you think that you can defeat me," Imperiex said as he prepared to step down and destroy him like a cockroach. Harry noticed the tattered remnant of a cape in his hand.
"You're obsessed with the demise of Superman, aren't you?" Harry asked him, his throat nearly raw from his ragged breathing. "Because….in the end….you know that could not defeat him and what you think is the truth, what you think of as your power, is nothing but lies."
"I destroyed him," Imperiex said and Harry smiled.
"His legacy exists, and I'm looking at it, for if there was not a need to avenge his killer, you would not exist…..but it created the ultimate paradox throughout time," Harry said.
"It matters little of how I was created, all that matter is how I'm going to render your destruction."
To Be Continued.