"Shielders!" Marie commanded, looking over the balcony as the forces of the Alliance attacked her stronghold. She was not on her own, however, for within the stronghold there were move than the Seven Horns. Her agents, as she called them, members of lower houses, seeking glory and fortune by working for her, would now come to her aid.
The telekinetics that she commanded sprung into actions, sending up psychic shields to hold back the assault. Fire and water, winds and earth, energy of all sorts slammed into the multiple barriers, trying to break through.
"Long Guns!" She called out, signaling for her own long range attackers to unleash their powers. Stone walls suddenly sprouted holes as Marie's agents pulled open secret attack holes, firing out their own blasts at the Alliance.
^&^&^&^
Biddy turned to Valencia, unable to stop herself from flinching when a lightning bolt struck near her. "Can't you just…you know…whammy them?"
Valencia shook her head, watching the first skirmish commence. "My flames wouldn't know the difference between friend and foe. I fire upon them, I hit my dead. I rip away his powers, I could kill him." She nodded to Derek, who was using his dimension ripping powers to open up holes in space to suck up the attacks. "Derek doesn't have a clue where my dad is, so I can't have him warp in there, and Gabriel's powers are for attacking, not for retrieval."
"What about Sarah?" Biddy asked.
"Sarah can't get her powers to work…we aren't sure what she can do….duck!" Valencia dove out of the way as a blast of sludge broke through their barrier. It hit Biddy, forcing her to pause before her powers sent it rocketing back. "Which means…" Valencia said, turning back to the battle, "we have to get a lot closer."
^&^&^&^
"Lorenzo, report." Marie demanded.
"Both sides hold strong, for the moment." Lorenzo stated. "I fear, however, that with our limited shielders, fatigue will cause us to come under fire unprotected."
Marie nodded, considering her options. "Perhaps we send a flyer…we do have one or two in the ranks, correct? They could be of much use in a more wide range assault, dashing the Alliance's hopes and sends us to glorious victory."
Gabriella nodded. "Not many, I think perhaps two…"
Joseph opened his mouth, letting out a terrible shriek that forced all around him to clutch their ears.
"I did not come to this stronghold to sit here like cowards." He drew forth the godfire blade, twirling Carter's stolen katana. "We saw how that worked out for Helms Deep and Minas Tirith…and I doubt we have any wizards or ghosts coming to our aid." He leapt up onto the stone wall, looking out over the battlefield. "No…if we want to win…" He snapped his fingers, letting fly a sound blast that struck the Alliance's shielding. "We must take to the ground."
Lorenzo frowned. "Suicide."
"Perhaps…but it is better than sitting here." Gabriella closed her eyes, shadows escaping her and gathering the sunlight to strengthen her. "I can cover our forces…Joseph will deafen them. It will be like lambs at slaughter."
Marie licked her lips, watching as another blast of water pounded on their psychic barrier. "You have begged for destruction and death for some time, Joseph. It appears you will finally gain what you desire."
Joseph rubbed his hands together. "Gabriella, call for the first wave." He turned to Marie. "There is more that must be done to defeat them. We must bring their spirits, as well as their bodies." He gave a truly devilish grin to all. "Where is the Metatron?"
^&^&^&^
"Their sending out their ground forces." Lee said, glancing over at Malcolm. "Just like you predicted."
"Most likely event, that is all." Malcolm said, watching as Marie's agents swarmed out of the stronghold. "Lee, you're up."
Lee nodded, pulling out a large handful of paper. He turned to his mother, nodding for her to begin.
Ashleigh focused, dupes of herself freeing themselves from her body. Lee began to pass the paper out. "They will fight well, but they need a leader."
"Then I guess I'm next." Gabriel said, yanking down his black mask. The lenses he wore flashed purple, his body covered in flames before they retreated. Gabriel was now covered head to toe in body armor, a motorcycle underneath him. "Ladies!" He held up his hand, before letting it drop. "Charge!"
The women nodded, rushing forward. Lee focused, and the papers turned into living swords, ones with teeth that would bite onto an opponent and never let go. Gabriel lowered his head, purple flames raging as he recalled a gun from within him.
"This is what you get for taking my dad!" He roared, firing off his weapon as he raised into the heart of the agents' fie wave. Behind him, he could hear the Ashleigh dupes battling the agents, with the heavy hitters of the Alliance joining the fray. "Come on boys!" Gabriel shouted, absorbing his motorcycle and calling forth more flames to take the shape of a large berserker sword. "Lets dance!"
He swung about madly, fists and steel and bullets and energy blasts pounding into his armor, scratching and ripping into it. When one piece would fall, purple flames would appear, replacing it. Guns fell to the ground as Gabriel emptied them like mad, changing what sort of weapon he was using within seconds.
"Oh, you want to get rough!" he snarled as one particually nasty looking bruiser grabbing him by the air. Gabriel smirked under his mask as a grenade appeared in his free hand. "I can heal…can you?" he asked, before smashing the explosive into the man.
One minute later, Gabriel slowly pulled himself from the crater, grunting as the stub where his right arm had been reformed into a full limb.
"Ok…that hurt worse than I remembered." He muttered. He rubbed his jaw. "Well…atleast I didn't blow off half my face this time." He focused, reforming his armor and rushing back into the fray.
^&^&^&^
"It seems Carter's time traveling brats are giving the Alliance a rather unfair advantage." Lorenzo commented.
"There is no such thing as unfair." Joseph stated, still perked on the wall.
"…in war?" Lorenzo asked.
Joseph shrugged. "War, life, death, scrabble…everything." He held up his hand, snapping his fingers and slaughtering 20 of the Ashleigh dupes. "Nothing is fair…nothing is luck or fate…it just happens." He nodded towards where the bulk of the Alliance's army still lay. "Look at Valencia…Carter's time traveling eldest. She could end this in a moment…but she's afraid we have her father in the line of fire. She believes there is a connection…except there isn't. At all."
Lorenzo glanced at Joseph, nose wrinkled in disgust. "I understand now, why you hate Carter Daniels."
"What's to understand?" Joseph asked, never turning to look at Lorenzo. "The Company considers him a threat…a threat greater than me. That…doesn't make me happy."
"The Company is dead." Lorenzo stated.
"And yet Daniels lives." He paused. "I thought I asked for him."
"We'll bring him soon." Lorenzo stated, continuing on even as the battle raged. "But the fact remains, I know the real reason you hate Carter Daniels. Its because he…is you. The you…you wish you could be. A wife…a child…a purpose…"
SNAP
Lorenzo groaned, looking up from where he had been thrown by the blast.
"Enough." Marie snarled, staring out over the battlefield. "I sense something…a change in the wind."
^&^&^&^
"Ten more steps…watch out for the idiot on the left."
"I see him." Hank muttered.
Kelly rolled her eyes. "Sure you did."
The young woman held Hank's hand tight as the two of them made their way through Marie's stronghold, dodging the agents that were swarming out of the building. Hank was focused on hiding them, Kelly working on getting them to where Carter was held.
"He's moving." She whispered. "Their moving him…take the stairway to the right…" She looked down at their hands as they climbed the stairs. "You know, a year ago, if someone had told me I was holding your hand, I'd assumed it was severed, me having cut it off after you made Carter cry again."
"Again?" Hank asked, grinning. "I made him cry?"
"Hank…" She warned.
"Seriously…like real tears, sobbing like a baby?" He laughed.
"You do remember you are his friend now, right?"
"Yeah, yeah…seriously, he cried?"
"Hank!" Kelly snarled. "If you say a word to Carter…"
"He'll cry?" hank asked…
…only to slam face first into a agent, breaking his concentration and revealing the two of them.
"Well…what do we have here?" The man asked, iron spikes erupting from his skin.
"…damn you Carter and your crying." Hank muttered.
^&^&^&^
"Why do I have to ride on your back!?" Malcolm screamed, his arms wrapped tightly around Madrid.
"Because you might be immortal now, but I have immortality, super speed, strength, and a much more offensive power." Flexing her legs, Madrid leapt into the air, flying high above where Gabriel and the Ashleigh clones were battling, landing at the gate of the stronghold. Several agents moved to shut the doors, but Madrid merely summoned several extra arms, using their strength to rip the metal away.
"I can bloody well walk through here!" Malcolm snapped.
Madrid shook her head. "Need to get to my man quick, and you said you needed to be at my side…that means we stick together." She raced up the steps, ignoring the sounds of battle, making her way to the balcony. "Chaos lines telling you anything?"
Malcolm eyes went cloudy for a moment. "I wish you'd have bloody well put me down…"
Madrid screamed, clutching her head, sending Malcolm flying into a wall, bones cracking as he landed with a thud, out cold. Madrid fell to her knees, screaming as she clawed as her skull.
"Your husband use to be able to do this." Marie said, holding out her hand and watching as Madrid cried out. "You know…we could never properly torture him…never thought of doing this."
Madrid managed to turn her head, staring in horror as she gazed at her husband crucified form. Joseph had gotten several agents to move Carter out onto the balcony, lumber and all, so that the entire Alliance could see him. He was screaming in outrage in pain, the power blocking collar shocking him violently, blood pouring from freshly opened wounds. The collar reved, and Carter let out a bloodcurdling scream before he passed out.
"DAD!" Valencia screamed, breaking rank and run towards her father, bursting into her glowing Will of God form.
"Hmmm…" Marie turned towards the battleground, just making out Valencia Daniels' red energy form as it rocketed towards her, the woman ready to rip Marie's powers away. Holding out a hand, the leader of the Seven Horns chuckled as Valencia tumbled to a stop below the stronghold, screaming as she clutched her head in agony.
Before any of them could react, Marie held up her hands, sending everyone below her, both enemy and ally, to their knees, terror and agony ripping away at their brains. She let out a laugh as she poured it on, enjoying it as they twitched.
"Oh, how the mighty have fallen." She whispered, flicking her hand, delighting in the screams. Joseph rubbed his hands together, soaking up the pain that swelled around them. "Scream for mommy…"
Gabriella frowned. "Why is one of them still standing?"
Marie followed Gabriella's extended finger, at last settling on the trembling form of Sarah Daniels. The young woman was nearly half a mile away, but they could see she still stood, still functioned.
Then…the white flames exploded from her.
Sarah rose off the ground. Marie watched on in amazement as Valencia and Derek Daniels' daughter went into her Metatron form for the first time.
"Get away from my family!" She roared, the flames burning hotter and sending her rocketing towards them. Marie held up her hand, sending more fear commands at Sarah.
The girl ate them up like they were candy, and her flames grew brighter.
"How interesting…" Joseph whispered as Sarah reached the balcony, forcing them to scatter as she threw fireballs at them. "Her powers are based in the brain. But instead of causing fear and terror, she absorbs them and uses them to activate her powers…fire, and lots of it."
Sarah grit her teeth. "Yeah…bored now." She called upon a massive fireball, hurling it at Joseph. He slammed his hands together, the clap bouncing the flames away.
"Good form…" Joseph snapped his fingers, and Sarah screamed as her leg snapped. She fell, her flames dying as she focused on healing herself. Joseph pranced up to her and kicked her in the ribs. "But you need more training to beat the likes of me. Here there be tigers."
"HEY!"
Joseph turned just in time to get smacked by a baseball bat, his jaw cracking.
Vally held the bat up, wiggling it at them, the toddler standing between the Seven Horns and her daughter from the future. "Stay away from my Sarah!"
Gabriella laughed. "This is just too weird…" She marched towards Vally, only to get smashed in the knee for her trouble. "Son of a bitch!" Shadows blasted out of her, seizing around Vally and smothering her. The little girl squealed in fright, dropping her back as Gabriella back handed the toddler to the ground.
"NO!" Madrid screamed, pulling out her gun and shooting Gabriella in the shoulder. Even as the Brazilian woman fell, Marie held out her hand and tampered with Madrid's brain once more, sending her into seizures.
"And now the entire family is here. Mommy, daddy, and the baby too…and the baby's baby. A bounce." Marie smiled, turning once more to Madrid, the former actress struggling to fight off Marie's attack. "Don't bother…my powers are much more cruel than Carter's. You can't fight mine off…but don't worry…when I'm done with you, these last few minutes will feel like bliss…compared to what I am going to inflict…"
Click
"Get…away from her." Malcolm snarled, keeping his gun trained on Marie. He turned to the others. He still lay on the ground, his own head pounding from the secondhand effects of Marie's tampering. If it weren't for the chaos lines, he would have given in by now. "Call off your dogs, Marie…now!"
Marie nodded, motioning for them to wait. "take the shot, Malcolm Grant…if you can." She grinned, holding out her arms, fingers wiggling as she played with his brain chemicals.
Malcolm glared at Marie, fighting to shake off the sheer terror she was pounding into them. The chaos lines screamed, telling him exactly what he had to do, demanding that he raise his arm.
His gun was heavy. It weighed down his hand and felt as if it were a thousand pounds. The single shot in it was heavy, heavier than if it had been fully loaded. Sighting it in was torture, but Malcolm endured the pain.
BANG
The British man lowered his head, his energy spent as he curled in on himself.
Marie chuckled. "All that work, all that pain and suffering…and you miss your one shoot? How every sad, how very pathetic, how very…anti-climatic."
Malcolm stared up at her, his eyes glassy as his mind screamed. "Who…who said…I…I…I…was aiming…for….you?"
RIP
Marie slowly turned, eyes flowing the path the large shock bullet had taken. It had gone over her shoulder, down the hall…
…and right through the power blocking collar Carter wore.
RIP
Carter fell to the ground, the collar sparking as he rubbed his sore wrists, blood coating his palms as he touched the spike wounds. He reached up slowly, fingers clasping around the smoking metal of the collar. With a violent tug he ripped it free, revealing the hole in his neck where the bullet had flown through.
Within seconds it began to heal.
The young man flexed his muscles, the scars and open wounds from where Joseph had wiped him sealing shut. He stood to his full height, bare feet planted on the floor as he rotated his shoulders. Carter slowly began to walk towards them, the bones in his neck popping as he turned his head right and left, working out the kinks.
WHen he stood within striking distance of Marie's inner circle, each tense and ready, Carter held up his hand, the skin glowing bright silver. The air around them seemed to pulse for a moment, the only warning before Carter unleashed his largest whammy blast ever.
But it was not aimed at Marie.
No, this blast struck his friends, family, and the Alliance, each of them feeling their minds ripped free of Marie's actions. More than this, a courage none had ever felt filled their veins, instilling within each the drive to stand. They all raised their heads, watching as Carter's entire body began to glow silver, two massive blasts of whammy energy erupted from his back like angel wings, eyes glowing gold, terrible yet beautiful white light pouring out of his throat like a miniature sun.
"Behold the Metatron," Malcolm whispered, "Master of the House of Ellis"
"Daddy." Vally whispered, Carter's head snapping in her direction as the toddler slowly stood, wiping the tears from her eyes. Her father's attention was drawn instantly to the blood that clung to the already healed slash on her forehead.
"Who?" Carter whispered, the quiet tone shaking all around him like a clap of thunder, the building itself seeming to quiver in fear.
Vally pointed at Gabriella.
Before any could react, Carter superspeeded to where Brazilian woman lay, still clutching the bullet wound Madrid had given her. Carter's hand lashed out, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her up. She didn't even have time to scream before whammy flames erupted over her body, Carter's glowing eyes filled with malice.
After a minute, the flames died to reveal Gabriella's corpse, her face twisted in absolute terror, fingers forever clutching at Carter's wrist in vain. Air blasted through Carter's nostrils as he threw her aside like a ragdoll, turning once more to the remaining Seven Horns, never once turning to watch as Gabriella's skull smashed open like a watermelon on the ground far below them.
"Carter" Madrid called out, running to his side. She held out the Kensei blade, her husband taking it without question. "Malcolm, get my daughter out of here…in the next 10 seconds, you aren't going to want to be anywhere near here."
Malcolm nodded, tossing her Carter's duster. "Don't have to bloody well ask me twice." He ran over to Vally, snatching the toddler up and hurrying to any safe location he could find.
"Now then…" Carter stated, eying up his enemies, his wife as his side, ready to do what needed to be done. He pointed his sword at them, the blade igniting in flames as Madrid slipped his duster over his shoulders.
^&^&^&^
"The most important of all our tasks is to remember who we are. Friend or foe, parent or child, leader or follower. We must know ourselves, if we are to know those around us. For it is only when we truly know ourselves that we can answer the most important of questions: What will we do to protect that which is ours?"
-Mohinder Suresh
^&^&^&^
Carter smirked. "…who dies next?"
^&^&^&^
It all comes down to this
Since Season 2, Carter Daniels' family has been threatened by the Seven Horns
But after this night, no more
Every sin
Every hurt
Every crime
All will be answered for
The Day of Reckoning Has ComeELSEWHERE
'Fugitives'
SEASON FINALE
'The Invisible Thread'
April 27th, 2009