Happy New Year! Here we are! This would've been out yesterday but snow-mageddon knocked all the power out at my house for 13+ hours and killed the wifi for more than 25. But we're back in action and so excited to post this finale!
I have so many feelings about this one. I've been plotting this episode for a year and a half since I started writing this story and it's almost unreal to finally be posting it. I can hardly believe this is the end of Danger season 1. I hope you're all as excited as me.
Please read and leave a review. I hope you enjoy.
S1E30: Into the Void
April 14, 2022
Recap: "Blackout," O'Brien says with a discerning frown. His primate screeching on his shoulder. "Shadow Man is Blackout."
"Very good," Blackout compliments. He swings the axe down, the children run screaming away from its fall…
Henry and Miles appear in the Man's Nest on high alert. Shadow Man, or Blackout, has turned the place upside down. Piper is unconscious on the floor, the window is shattered, little fires and burns mar the entire room and only Chapa and a costumed Dawson are there fighting the villain…
The sword slices easily through the magical defenses of the soul-harvester. It is drawn to the twisted power. But it can't slice through the axe. The weapons clang and send sparks of shadow with each meeting. Henry takes step after infuriating step backwards once with every strike of Blackout's axe…
Miles and Chapa are back with the heavily bandaged Nurse Cohort in tow. She raises her black magic blaster without a second thought and shoots Blackout straight in the back. It cuts through his magic and causes him to shriek in pain.
Henry doesn't miss this opportunity. He slashes Blackout across the chest, tearing open his cloak and armor…
Blackout stares in angry, fearful disbelief. The sword hits home in his ribs and he chokes once. The point where the sword comes to stop lasts only a second before the mixture of dark powers causes the villain and hero to ricochet away from each other. Henry tumbles briefly through the air and over the ground to crash forcefully into the stone wall. Blackout flies the other direction, the rest of the windows shattering with the shockwave. He sails through the sky over Swellview, leaving a trail of shadow as he shrinks into the distance, coming to crash-land somewhere downtown…
His limbs are bent in odd ways and a pool of viscous dark blood and shadow spreads around him.
The civilian crowd begins muttering to each other. Relief and disbelief coloring the tone of the hum that raises over the scene…
She steps closer and prods at the body with the toe of her shoe. "What do we do with… AHH!" She jumps and screams as Blackout's hand lashes out to grab her ankle.
The crowd and Danger Force likewise give shrieks of alarm. Some people turn to run right then, other stay to peer fearfully at the not quite dead villain.
"Not beaten…" he wheezes pathetically. "Not yet…" …
Henry stabs the Seraphim's magic sword into Blackout's chest, gripping it as tightly as he can and using his full strength…
A swirling maelstrom of shadows erupts from the stab wound whipping around the street… Blackout's head rolls back for the last time, a bitterly triumphant grin splitting his gruesome face. He mutters directly at Henry, "I'm taking you with me." …
The bigger the black magic hole gets, the more it pulls them back. They sprint for their lives but lose ground… It takes only moments for the black hole to begin claiming people. The screams of the taken cut off in abrupt silences as they enter the center of the storm…
"We have to stop that thing," Rolling Thunder says. …
he drops his forcefield and swings the magic blade into the orb of black magic. It grates but creates a clean slice through it…
"Maybe if we keep slicing it up until it's gone?" Volt suggests.
"Not we," Danger dissuades. "There's only one sword. I'll see what I can do about this. You all need to evacuate the area. If this doesn't work, you'll need to get everyone away, including yourselves."
Lil' Dynomite looks back and forth between the black hole and Danger. "But you could die." …
"We can't lose you too. Not after everything," Bose says.
"You won't," Henry assures them in a kinder tone. "I'll come find you after I've dealt with this. I'll be fine. Blackout's already dead, I'm only cleaning up his mess. Now go, please." …
The second they vanish Henry turns back to the black magic hole to attack it. He slices it repeatedly open, creating a tattered hole into the void within…
he attacks the orb with the sword. His sidekicks and sister watch him carefully; anxious and hopeful as he seems to make a little progress… Danger appears to stop swinging the sword. They wonder what could be happening. What is he doing? Then to their horror and anguish, Danger is gone.
The darkness in front of him swallows him up, and he cannot escape it. With the still sword it seems he didn't even try. The teen heroes cry out in despair. Danger can't be gone. Henry can't be gone…
The six teen heroes stare down the road in a paralyzed state of horror. Henry had assured them he'd be fine less than two minutes ago. But he'd just been swallowed by the black magic hole. Piper screams in anguish and beats at the road beneath her with her fists. Bose is trying to offer her comfort while staring disbelieving at the still swirling storm around the black hole. Chapa and Dawson too are beside her, having been holding Piper back from running herself after her brother into the black hole. Now she sits in her grieving fury while he blinks blankly, frozen in his place as he tries to comprehend the new experience caused by the situation at hand. The Macklin twins are on their feet, Mika looking around for any kind of answer to the problem, Miles looking at each of his friends and, after a few minutes, speaking what is in all their minds. "Henrys gone. The sword didn't work. We can't stop the black hole. What the flip do we do now?"
His Danger Force teammates share looks with him and each other. Piper is still cursing at the road and Dawson still unmoving. Looks are all they share, however. Words are lost to every one of them.
Sirens wail from every street surrounding them. Cops come speeding their direction. Curious people begin peeking at and gathering to discuss the dark maelstrom leeching light and color from the city. Danger Force spring into action as they do. "Stay back!" Volt yells out. "Get as far away from it as you can!"
"We have to evacuate," Shoutout reminds. "His last command to us was to evacuate the area."
"We got to get all the people from the buildings close to it. I can pop in and out of them fast so no one else goes near it." AWOL volunteers. With a nod at them he throws his fist up and leaves.
Shoutout determinedly suggests directions to her friends. Volt cuts her off to point out. "Where are we supposed to be taking them? How much do we evacuate? It's a black hole, is there even a minimum safe distance we can get?"
"It's not a normal black hole," Shoutout argues. "Not like the kind in space. If it was, the whole planet would be gone by now. I think if we clear a few blocks, like Danger…" she falters, "Like he said, we should be in the clear."
Her teammates look concerned. "That is assuming it stops growing or we find a way to get rid of it," Volt says.
"Yeah," Shoutout admits lowly, only for herself to hear. More loudly she states. "It'll be alright. As long as we do our jobs, it'll all end up okay."
Volt does all in her power not to scoff disbelievingly. Her fists clench and she glares at the black hole. She mutters her own private words, though of course Shoutout can hear. "Sure, everything is going to be peachy."
"Chief Stalwart's here," Brainstorm says, indicating to the two girls the approaching police.
He runs through the pile up of cars and people, calling to them, "Danger Force! What's happening?!" He is followed by several other officers, most staying to maintain the crowd's position, and by the Mayor and the Vice.
"We need to get everyone away from here!" Shoutout runs to meet them.
"What is that thing?" Vice Mayor Willard asks with zero composure.
"Dangers," Mayor Blithe sounds agitated. "What is going on here?"
"Long story," Shoutout dismisses. "We need to evacuate the area."
"What?" she asks, blinking at the spinning vortex around the inescapably black hole. "Er, right, but what is it? Where did that come from?"
"Danger killed Blackout," Brainstorm answers swiftly. "It must be some kind of failsafe spell. It's getting bigger and is trying to drag people into it, we need to get everyone far away."
Chief Stalwart looks confused at him, "Who? Danger killed who and cast a spell?"
"Shadow Man!" Volt clarifies. "Danger killed Shadow Man."
"We'll explain better later," Shoutout dissuades. "Please, the evacuation."
"Right," Chief Stalwart says decisively, practically diving back into his car to get on his radio and call for backup. "I need all units downtown now! Highest alert! Major Catastrophe! I want an evacuation perimeter of ten blocks around Cumin Court Avenue and Captain Main Street One."
Vice Mayor Willard is not so quick to move on. He gapes at the young heroes and asks, "Danger killed Shadow Man? He's dead!?"
"That's where the black hole came from," Volt gripes.
"Wait," Mayor Blithe requests looking around. "Where is Danger?"
Suddenly, the heroes have anywhere to look but at her, or at anyone else. Their eyes glisten as they stare hard in random directions. None answer her and none need to. "What happened?" she asks. "Did Shadow Man get him?"
"No," Brainstorm answers after a long moment. "Maybe. Not exactly."
"He's not dead!" Lil' Dynomite insists fiercely out of the blue.
All the rest turn abruptly to look at him. The city officials wonder at his words with hope and confusion while his teammates frown with pity and loss. Brainstorm gives Lil' Dynomite a consoling hug. "He couldn't have survived in there." Shoutout says apologetically.
"In there? In the shadow storm?" Mayor Blithe asks.
"Into the black hole," Rolling Thunder confirms. Her face is covered in furious tears. "The idiot let himself get killed by it!"
Lil' Dynomite stands, shaking Brainstorm off. He argues her point, "He can't be dead! He wouldn't have let himself be taken by it like that! He would've kept fighting it!"
"He was fighting it!" Volt counters.
"But he stopped! He stopped fighting it," Lil' Dynomite says. "He wasn't fighting when it overtook him. The sword was loose in his hand; you saw! And he didn't use his forcefield; it would've protected him. He let it take him! He wouldn't have done that if he thought it was only going to kill him."
"But it did still take him!" Rolling Thunder says.
"He must've survived, though," Lil' Dynomite insists. "He must've known he wouldn't die."
"It's Blackout's magic! Killing is what it does. It steals people's souls!" Volt fights.
"Blackout's dead. He can't be doing anything with those souls anymore. Maybe they're not dead. Maybe Danger went to go save them or something." Lil' Dynomite fights back as stubbornly as her.
Before Volt can counter again, Shoutout speaks up, surprising them both by taking his side. "You think he saw something, or some people in there to help and went in on purpose?" she asks him intrigued. Her countenance lightening with relief and hope. "That he, and everyone that storm swallowed could be alive?"
"Yeah. Why not?" he says.
"You can't believe that. Not after all we've seen," Volt says.
Shoutout shakes her head, "But I did see him stop fighting the storm. And I did see that his forcefield can hold against that darkness. It would make more sense if he did it on purpose. Maybe he is alive. I don't know. We don't really know what's going on anyway."
"That's not a comfort," Vice Mayor Willard comments.
"It means he might still be alive," Lil' Dynomite affirms. "He must be."
Mayor Blithe sighs and maintains a controlled composure with some clear trouble. "I hope so," she says. "I pray he is okay and that he'll solve the problem of the black hole from within. God knows we cannot take the loss on another hero. Nevertheless, we must get the citizens to safety. The police will spearhead the evacuation. You do whatever you need to in order to get us all through this."
"If only we knew what that is," Rolling Thunder mutters quietly what they're all thinking. She glowers at the black hole some more. She grumbles, "You better be alive in there, Henry."
(Theme Song: Henry's Voice dubbed over the image of Captain Man's bronze statue. "It all just kinda happened. It wasn't supposed to be this way. He shouldn't have died. But now here I am, doing his job." Cut scene to Man's Nest in chaos as the members of Danger Force and Schwoz run around reacting to an emergency alert blaring through the base. "I'm not sure I'm ready for this." Henry states and the music of the theme song begins to play...)
Allowing the growing black hole to encapsulate him is undeniably the scariest thing Henry has ever done. As it is happening, he knows well that he is more than likely about to die. Nonetheless he's also positive that only from within will he be able to stop the maelstrom. The only way to truly end this is held inside the darkness, and if Henry has to sacrifice himself to reach that end, he will do so without hesitation.
The rips he'd made in the surface of the shadow orb are mending even as they pass over him. They seal themselves behind his back, trapping him in the thick, burning darkness. Every inch of Danger's skin ignites with agony. Tortured screams and terrified cries whirl around him, emanating from somewhere ahead of him in the darkness. He collapses, dropping the sword to clutch his head and chest as indescribable pain tears at him from all sides. Everything looses meaning as he finds himself dying. He can feel the life being clawed out of him, his body losing function even as his consciousness remains sharply aware of what is happening.
He fights with all his will power against the inevitable. All his effort going towards his determination that he cannot die here. Not until he's destroyed the black hole. He knows where he needs to go; can sense that he'll be able to stop this if he could just make it there. He needs to activate his forcefield. Flexing is near impossible. His power flickers over him as he struggles to hold his arms tight enough to maintain it. He cannot breathe until he's managed the feat. Instantly the magic pain is gone. Henry finds himself on his back, panting in his safe green bubble entirely surrounded by a blackness so black he'd never have dreamed of such darkness existing.
Now, if he could only get back up. He needs to find the sword; it must be nearby. He also needs to figure out how to stop this last act of evil that Blackout has left behind. Moving is not going to happen quickly though. Determined as he is, his body refuses to cooperate. He can do nothing but lie there for a long moment as control and normal feeling slowly return to him.
Getting to his hands and knees takes enormous effort. Getting to his feet is impossible; he falls back to his knees with one step. His cracked skull throbbing and disoriented from the last few minutes, he doesn't know which way to go. The darkness gives no hint as to what direction is what. Under his forcefield, Danger cannot sense what he had before. He pants and pushes himself back to his feet. He takes a few probing steps forward. His forcefield rolls in the groundless shadowy-sphere, making him feel like he's in something of a hamster-ball.
Not seeing the sword as he moves those few feet forward, he stops. It must be near where he fell, and he doesn't want to leave it. He backtracks, or at least he hopes that's the direction he's going. It's impossible to tell. He probes a few feet in each direction, turning after a few steps to try another way. It is probable that he's only getting himself lost. There is a distinct possibility that he's only moving farther away from the sword, but he cannot know.
He comes to a full stop, looking around hopelessly. He cannot see, he does not know any way to solve this. He runs his hand through his hair, muttering to himself, "C'mon Danger. Just… pick a direction." He glances around himself, trying to do exactly that. He grimaces and walks forward.
He finds nothing but the chaffing sparks of his forcefield and the dark magic as he walks. As he goes, he increases his speed, hopping to find anything. He's bound to find the source of this magic or at least exit the black hole. Still, he does not escape the blackness or find anything.
"Good going, Henry. You really stepped in it this time," he grumbles to himself. He sighs and slumps against the inner edge of his forcefield, sliding down the curved surface. Clutching his aching head he wonders, "What do I do? I don' know what to do."
He begins to argue with himself, "This is what I get for being stupid. Walking into a black hole? What would Charlotte say if she knew what I've done?"
He grimaces and answers, "There's no way she's not going to find out about this. And if I ever get out of here and see her again, she's going to lecture me about being an idiot."
He sighs. "Not that I wouldn't deserve it."
He looks up desperately towards the roof of his shield. "God, I wish I could talk to Charlotte. She'd have an idea that would fix everything, for sure. I am not a solo act. I cannot get things done without a team. I seriously could use some help." He requests it to the darkness and the darkness doesn't respond.
He slides further down to lay on the bottom, not wanting to give up but without any visible prospects. "I am alone," he laments. "My team is not here; which is good, I don't really want them to be in this situation. But that leaves me with no help, no clue and no chance." He consents himself to wallow in his pity party on the ground, relaxing everything but the flexed arms maintaining his forcefield.
His head rolls to the less pained side and he just about jumps out of his skin at the sight of the face on the other side of his forcefield. "Holy -!" he can't even speak a word strong enough to convey his jolt of terror. He almost loses his hold on his forcefield as he literally leaps backwards and crashes into the opposite side of his bubble. Staring in at him is a woman, her face contorted in terrible pain, hands pressed against his shield.
After his jolt of extreme adrenaline, recovering his bearings and pushing the pain as fair from his concentration as he can, he looks back at her. She's crying out to him something he can't hear. Her fingers claw at his shield intently for some kind of hold, for she is being whipped about by the roiling storm of shadows, with only her hands and face remaining in place against the forcefield. Danger crawls back towards her, mouth agape as he recognizes her as one of the civilians who'd been pulled in by the black hole.
The next thing he notes, which also surprises him, is that she appears to be alive. She is moving in a conscious way, fighting against the whirling maelstrom. Though she does also look off in a way; Danger can't put his finger on it but chalks it up to an effect of the magic shadows and the green light source.
Without any question in his mind, he knows he needs to save her. Somehow, he has to get her into the forcefield. The only problem with that being he will have to put down his forcefield to create another with her on the inside. There is no way to maintain it over him and let her in. Attempting to save her will put him at risk and under the onslaught of that dark magic again, he is not entirely certain he will be able to put his forcefield back up. Nevertheless, he doesn't cower away. He drops the shield and dives to grab her.
Everything goes wrong immediately. The physical pain, while expected, hits him like a train. The woman truly had been holding onto the forcefield; for the moment it's gone she is ripped away by the maelstrom. He spins around trying to follow her translucent figure. His fingers wrap around her wrist but sink right through it. She goes speeding away and he falls through the darkness. Vision abandons him, he is only aware of his surroundings in the form of the mind rending pain in his head, the burning, tearing power of the magic ripping at his body, and the sound of a thousand voices crying out for help. They call out all over top of each other: "HELP!" "PLEASE!" "NO!" "DANGER!" "LET IT END!" "HELP US!" "FREE ME FROM THIS!" "KID!" "I CANNOT GO ON!" "HELP ME!" "STOP THIS!" "THE AGONY!" "HELP!" "HENRY!" "MY BABY! NO!" "PLEASE!" "HELP!" "THESE FIRES OF HELL! THE DEVIL HIMSELF!" "DELIVER US!" "HOLD ON, KID!" Henry loses his breath, senses, and consciousness of anything but the pain. There is no doubt this time, he is dying. His soul is being torn from his body.
It's strange when it happens. All the physical pain leaves. In its place is a fire smoldering in what's left of him. Now he can see, the sense he'd had when he'd first interacted with the black hole returns. He can feel the terrible power as it lifts him out of his body. The sight of himself floating battered and lifeless is weird. Like the woman, his soul is whisked off by the darkness, speeding towards some unknown destination.
(Commercial break…If only I ended the episode here, it would be a great cliff hanger. But I suppose I've tortured you all enough. I'll have a little mercy for y'all. You're welcome.)
April 15, 2022
"How long has he been in there?" Charlotte asks as soon as she's in the Man's Nest. Danger Force and a whole collection of friends and allies are gathered there.
"Hey!" Jasper greets. "You came home too!"
"Of course, I came," she gripes. "There's a huge black hole slowly consuming Swellview and Henry is inside it! That idiot! Why didn't he get away from the black hole?"
"Because he thought he could fix it," Chapa grumbles. "Thought the sword and his forcefield would be enough to protect him."
"I wouldn't have thought even he could be dumb enough to think he could take on a black hole," Charlotte murmurs.
"Yeah, but he is. And he's been in there all night," Piper answers her original question. "At this point I seriously doubt he's ever going to come out."
"But you said his forcefield could protect him against it," Jasper fusses at her.
"But to hold his forcefield constantly for fifteen hours?" Schwoz points out.
"Even with his level of power, it seems unlikely he might be alright in there," Phoebe Thunderman comments.
"But he is powerful," Miles tries to convince. "Dr. Pennant said we're all weirdly, extra powerful."
Mika shakes her head, "Still, he couldn't have survived for all this time. Not with everything piled against him: the time, the properties of the magic, his own cracked skull…"
"His what?" Charlotte asks, shaking her head and groaning peeved. "He went in that with a cracked…? What the…? If he ever does come out of that thing, I'm going to kill him. Idiot!"
"Get in line," Piper says, frowning in furious agreement.
Charlotte steps beside her and puts a hand of comfort on the younger girl's shoulder. "How are you doing?"
"Don't get me started," Piper says quickly, stubbornly holding back tears. "We need to find a way to stop this. Clearly Henry's plan failed, we'll have to find a way to beat the black hole ourselves."
"How do you beat a black hole?" Chloe Thunderman asks.
"It's magic," Bose shrugs. "So, we'll have to use magic against it I think."
"Great," Max Thunderman says. "Where do we get that?"
Chapa huffs and answers, "That's what the sword was for. But Henry had it, so it's in the black hole and apparently it didn't work."
"That's not helpful," Max complains.
"Isn't there another way?" Phoebe asks. "Where did the sword come from? There must be more ways to battle that magic, right? Another weapon or a person?"
"No," Danger Force insist as one.
"It was a one-of-a-kind thing," Mika explains. "And asking the beings who made it for more help would probably be a mistake." Her teammates nod vehemently.
"They wouldn't help?" Hank Thunderman questions. "They would let this black hole keep growing and consuming things?"
"No," Mika hums. "They probably would come."
"That would be the problem," Miles continues her thought.
"The one guy, with the glassy wings, said they'd come deal with it if we didn't," Chapa says. "But that would be just as bad for Swellview."
"No descriptions!" Jasper begs nervously. "We're not supposed to make even vague suggestions about Dystopia and you're being plain blunt about it."
Charlotte rolls her eyes and gives him a look. "Point is: while the Seraphim are powerful and could likely stop this, bringing them here would be a terrible idea. Swellview and all it's people would be in no less danger with them around."
"So, what so we do then?" Max asks.
"We need to find something we can use that can counter the magic of the storm," Schwoz says. "I'm sure there is something scientific that will work. I simply don't know where to get anything that powerful on such short notice."
"What would work?" Hank asks.
"I don't know for sure," Schwoz answers. "Everything we've thrown at it has been dissolved or absorbed. Our best bet is probably to use an energy of extreme magnitude. But I don't have the ability to create them or amplify anything to a level that might work."
"How much energy are you thinking?" Phoebe asks. "X-ray? Gamma? Neutronic gravity? Hyper-gamma?"
"Something like that," Schwoz nods and shrugs.
"Oooh! Oooh! I know!" Chloe says bouncing and vanishing in her shimmering teleportation.
"What?... uh, Chloe?" Phoebe questions.
"What's she doing?" Miles asks.
Hank shakes his head. "I never know."
Chloe returns a moment later, clutching in her hand a shard of something translucent white and shimmering with colors. "I got it!" She announces, holding the shard up to display.
"Got what?" Bose asks.
"Is that a quasar remnant?" her mother questions horrified, standing from the couch where she'd been comforting the distraught Dawson. "Where did you get that?"
"Is that the Hero League's shard?" Phoebe asks,
"Yeah!" Chloe cheers. "I borrowed it!"
"Borrowed?" Hank questions. "That's kept in a highly secret, extremely secure vault. It's the most powerful and dangerous known substance in the universe. They don't let people borrow it."
"I just went and got it from the vault," Chloe says.
"Oh my god," Phoebe mutters. "Chloe! That's not borrowing, that's stealing!"
Chloe argues, "I'll put it back when we're done with it."
Max almost doubles over laughing. "Yes! Oh yes! This is great!"
"MAX!" the rest of his family berates.
"We can use it to make quasar rays to stop the black hole!" Chloe insists. "It's the strongest power ever!"
Her parents continue to get after her while Team Danger Force considers. "The strongest power?"
"Would that work, Schwoz?" Charlotte asks.
"If anything would," Schwoz answers. "If we could activate the energy within it, the quasar ray should be enough to combat the magic. I think. You did say Henry's forcefield could stand against the black hole?"
"Yeah," Piper answers.
"It must be similar in power. It should work," Schwoz says.
"Let's go, Teleporting Buddy," Miles says grabbing Chloe. "To the black hole."
"Make sure you only direct it at the black hole!" Schwoz instructs. "Keep everyone far away and make sure there is nothing else in the path of the ray!"
"Got it!" Mika acknowledges as he and Chloe vanish with his teammates in tow. Phoebe and Max grabbing hold to join them in travelling to the black hole.
"We'll want to be as close as we can," Phoebe suggests they move further down the road.
"Any closer and we're more likely to get pulled into the black hole than destroy it," Mika says.
"We're already closer than I thought we could be," Miles seconds.
"It's not swirling the same anymore," Chapa notes.
"Well, if we can't get closer, then we need to aim carefully," Max follows up.
"How do we aim it?" Charlotte asks. "And how do we make it work?"
"Have a way to hold it steady and hit it with a strong power source from exactly the opposite side you want the beam to come out," Phoebe says. "Then stay clear away because once it gets going you can't stop it. You'll have to ride it out. There's no chance of it hitting someone if we come from this side?"
"We got this entire section of town evacuated yesterday," Bose answers. "There's no one between here and the mountain."
"So, I can hit it with my lightening?" Chapa asks, sparking.
"Any and all energy sources you have. It takes a lot of power to activate it," Max corrects.
"So, all of us with energy powers," Mika nods. "Volt, me, Lil' Dynomite."
"Us too," Phoebe says. She offers her hand to her brother and orders, "Max, twin power. Everyone together."
"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Dawson asks even as he participates.
The collision of all their powers on the quasar remnant is a mess that knocks them all off their feet and sends a brilliant white beam blasting in the other direction. It's so big that it tears through the buildings lining either side of the road before hitting the black hole.
The two powers colliding is an implosion of insane power. They consume each other; the quasar ray not making it past the black hole and, when the quasar ray ends the black hole is much smaller than before.
The heroes get up, looking at it with varying degrees of relief. "Wow! That is powerful." Jasper says.
"Not enough," Chapa grumbles. "It was supposed to destroy the black hole."
"It shrunk it," Bose counters.
"Maybe if we try again?" Charlotte suggests. "Do it as many times as we need to."
Max shrugs, "Can't tear up the town more than we already did, right?"
The majority of the heroes prepare for another attack. Dawson hesitates, staring down the road. "Wait!" he cries at them all. He stares down the road questioning how he can possibly be seeing someone standing in the gouged-out ground where the black hole had so recently contracted from.
While his team plans their attack on the outside, Henry finds himself pulled to the center of the black hole. The whipping power of the shadows rip through his non-physical form until he reaches that point. The eye is still, and Henry isn't the only soul within it.
Dozens of pale souls, including the woman he'd tried to help, are floating helplessly around, trapped. Only one is in control of itself, unaffected by the lack of gravity. That being is the hideously distorted figure of who must be Blackout. Henry hardly recognizes him without the dark cloak; not to mention the missing chunks and bloody, festering wounds. It's hardly obvious he was once human. With his decrepit hands that are inversely glowing with shadow magic, he is latching onto the other souls and swallowing them into himself. Even after they disappear, Henry can hear their screams.
Henry does all he can to get to Blackout, angling and swinging his arms like he can swim through the eye of the storm. He feels ridiculous and pathetic in his attempt, only managing to spin himself in circles. Stopping upon getting nowhere he instead yells furiously at the villain. "HEY! STOP! Leave them alone, you psychopath!"
Blackout indeed stops. His gaze turns swiftly to leer at Henry, the grotesque line of his mouth curled in what must be a smile. "You came," he breathes pleased. "Foolish hero, you shouldn't have." He abandons his newest would-be victims and glides easily to come face to face with Henry. His maggot like tongue licks his bloody sored lip and he gives the new statement of, "But I'm so glad you did."
Everyone else is watching and wondering, "Danger?"
Henry glares and says, "I'm here to make sure you get put down permanently." He swings his fist, which is way more difficult than it should be, and brings it smashing into the side of Blackout's head. It sails right through with no resistance.
Blackout chuckles as Henry stares in shock at his own hand. "You have no physical form, Hart. You're nothing but a soul, you can't touch anything. You're helpless here. Only I, who have broken the restraints of all power can touch the intangible." He grabs Henry with vicious delight by the throat. "That power is mine alone, with which I will take your soul to build myself a new body. One even you and the Dark Angels magic could never destroy."
Henry is aware of the hand holding him, restraining his drifting. But he cannot feel it, and it is the strangest anomaly to him. As he thinks about it, he realizes that he cannot feel any sensation; his perception of his surroundings come from none of his former physical senses. He'd known he wasn't truly seeing inside the supreme darkness, there is some other sense that his mind was interpreting in a sight-like way. His 'hearing' is likewise not an interpretation of sound. And what he would've described as feeling is emotion and a certain discernment of the burning sensation of the shadows and a comfortable temperateness from within. The other souls all around bear their own unique levels of spiritual heat or coldness, all arranged in a moderate state. Save for Blackout.
Blackout is an extreme concentration of the severest temperature. "You're nothing but your soul now too," Henry recognizes. "Like all of us."
"Yes. But unlike all of you. I will return from this state of death," Blackout jeers.
"Will you? Look at yourself. If this is the state your soul is in, how do you expect to hold onto life? You seem way more dead than the rest of us." Henry states.
"You know nothing! My soul is far better off than yours," Blackout sneers. "My powers remain, while you have lost you defenses. I will consume you and return to life. While you will be destroyed."
"Try it then! Let's see whose soul is stronger," Henry challenges.
Blackout smirks and says, "I will, after I've consumed the rest of these flavorful volunteers."
"Why wait? It's me you've wanted all along. Why bother with them? I know you're picky about your victims. Are you sure they all meet your standards of human decency?" Henry tries to distract.
"They will all suffice." Blackout assures, pushing Henry's helpless soul away. "And I would want to spoil the rest of my meal by having you first. I do believe in saving the best for last."
"How can you savor me after gorging yourself on them?" Henry entreats, twisting in the gravity-void. "Take me! Leave them alone!"
"No, Hart," Blackout retorts, swallowing another soul. Henry protest vehemently. "Seeing your heroic distress is too satisfying to forego, and these meager appetizers will in no way put me off your delicious finale."
Henry tries, he thrashes and screams, but Blackout cannot be stopped. One by one the other souls are consumed. Though not bound, Henry feels as tied down as he had when he was Drex's captive. Henry weeps, though without a body he can produce no tears. His spiritual senses cannot be turned off either: closing his eyes, covering his ears, nothing even dulls his awareness of the terrible evil happening around him. Finally, the hero and villain are all that's left.
Blackout returns to Henry. A smile ripped across his face. His wounds look bigger and more grotesque than before, making him appear as little more than a ghostly corpse. Neither man says anything as Blackout pulls Henry right in towards his mouth.
Henry simply cannot describe the sensation that follows. It simply defies anything he's ever experienced or imagined. It cannot compute to a physical sensation. It is not pain; it is nearly worse. His soul is ground and torn at and resists the efforts fully. His not quite sight sense leaves first, the almost hearing following soon thereafter, leaving on the voices of the souls protesting, calling his name, and screaming insults at Blackout. The voices seem to multiply exponentially before they are cut of from him as he is consumed. It gets worse before it gets better. His soul is churned and twisted into the swirls of dark storm within Blackout and the black hole.
With no warning, the intense sensations are reversed. His 'hearing' and 'sight' return as he is ejected violently from Blackout. He is astounded to find himself free. Hundreds of screaming happy voices echo around him. He floats disoriented, still feeling the effects of Blackout's attempt at eating his soul. Questions and exclamations of surprise and delight and concern bombard him. It is not those voices, however, that rouse him. It is Ray's riveting voice saying, "Get up, Kid" that grounds him, in an abrupt ceasing of his other issues.
He opens his eyes, looking about for the source of the voice. "Ray?!" the name escapes his mouth before he has the thought to police it. The swirling maelstrom of the black hole had stopped and he is now able to move freely in the pocket of the eye of the black hole. Blackout is jerking around uncontrolled, a flood of less than darkness projecting from his mouth. Pure terrified shock reverberates from him as he chokes on it. Best of all, Ray's voice speaks again as though he is right beside Henry. "What in the blazes is going on, Kid?" it asks.
His voice is followed by two more of equivalent displacement. "Are you okay?" "Oh, baby, are you hurt?"
"Dad? Mom?" Henry responds to them, cracking his neck as he snaps around trying to find them.
"We're here, Hen!" his dad replies.
"Are we?" Ray counters. "Are we anywhere? All I can see is Kid Danger and that creepy ghoul thing. Who or what is that?"
"Captain Man," is all Henry speaks, voice cracking. He huffs some trembling breaths. "Dude? Where are you? How can…?"
"That's what I'm asking!" Ray responds. "What's happening? What is this place? How did we end up here? And what are you wearing!?"
Henry is unable to generate any response.
"NO!" Blackout shouts forcefully in protest. His oral projection stream gone. "You cannot hear them! They are gone! I destroyed them! My power consumed them entirely! None can return! They will not return! They are dead!"
"Kid. Explanation, now," Ray commands.
"He- he killed you," Henry says. "You're long dead... but, if you're talking to me, then you can't be gone. I- I don't… What is going on?"
"What!?" Ray demands.
"Silence!" Blackout screams, hands raised and emanating with dark power. "These souls are mine! They're dead! They're gone! You cannot hear them!"
The shadows around the two of them have changed. Instead of swirling as a destructive force the shadows turn on each other. Blackout casts his hands out, trying to regain control of the power rebelling against him.
He is in part successful. The rest continues to beat at him. "Obey me! You are my souls to command! I destroyed you; you are nothing but power in my control! Return to me!"
The voices of Henry's dead loved ones disappear in a pained, angry mele of hundreds. The contrasting motions of the shadows make it near impossible for Henry to stabilize himself in the directionless void of the black hole. Blackout shouts with effort to pull the power back into himself, making the blackhole ever tighter as he does. His wounds widen, edges burning away as he begins to succeed.
"Their souls," Henry realizes. "You've kept their souls captive to fuel your power. They're trapped. No!" he shouts. All the other voices cutting out. Henry barrels himself towards Blackout. He knows it won't really do any good, but he has to do something. "Let them go!" he demands.
Blackout glares malevolently at him, a very creepy sight as one of his eye sockets dissolves and a huge hole opens in his cheek. "They are mine! And as soon as I have regained my power I will have you again. You will not be kept from me!"
"They aren't yours! Let them go!" Henry demands, interposing himself with Blackout as an attempt to stop the villain.
Blackout backs out of the overlay and grabs hold of Henry. It's a small victory for Henry; Blackout must let go of the souls to grab Henry. "Don't interfere!" Blackout insists. "I will have them!"
"I won't let you!" Henry argues.
Blackout throws him aside. The voices spit curses at him and the shadows barrage him. He tries to take control of them again. "You cannot stop me! I…"
"I took control of the magic! I will not be beate…" Blackout is interrupted by a brilliant, iridescent light. It comes from nowhere and collides with the shadow magic in an implosion of insane power. They consume each other, battling for dominance. Blackout falls, cowering away from the light.
Henry is lost, staring dumbfounded at the implosion. Surely, there is something he should do here. This must be an opportunity, but he has no clue what. Through the light Henry begins to distinguish the world outside. The streets of Swellview flicker in and out of view as the powers destroy each other.
The voices of the souls rejoice at the light, crying words of relief. Blackout hisses in agony and moves as far from it as he can, pulling at the darkness behind him to create new walls. Each being burned away as fast as he can form them.
"Go!" Henry shouts to the souls. "Go to the light! That's your way out of here! Go while you have the chance!"
"We're free?" a small voice pleads.
"The shadows can't hold you! Go!" Henry reiterates.
With cheers and a low whooshing, the souls depart in droves. Once they've started all are pulled along. Henry breathes in deep relief. "What about you, Kid?" Ray's voice asks, growing distance as it goes. He shouts, "You need to get out too!" All the voices are gone in moments, Henry can sense it.
"NNNOOOO!" Blackout screams and launches himself at Henry. Henry is helpless to fight. The light cuts out and the two are left alone in a much tighter darkness.
Blackout squeezes Henry, rage burns through his decrepit body. He latches onto the hero and the same terrible sensation of his soul being chewed on rips though Henry. It lasts all of three seconds.
"Gah!" Blackout wheezes, releasing Henry from the hold. Henry tumbles away from his enemy. He stares trying to understand. Blackouts wounds deepen, his soul dissolving before Henry's eyes.
"This isn't over! I… will not… be beat.." the villain chokes. "No. No. This… cannot be." He reels, getting worse by the second.
Henry whispers, "You're dying. Why…?"
"No! I'm not…" Blackout protests. "I won't!"
"You've destroyed yourself. Erebus said something about you destroying your soul." Henry recalls. "By eating the other's you poisoned your own."
"The Dark Angel's know nothing! I have gone beyond their restrictions, made myself more powerful! I will live again!"
"Ever consider they follow their rules for a reason?" Henry mocks. "You may have gained more power but it's killed you. I don't have to do anything to stop you. Not even your soul can survive what you've done to yourself. At least all those you've killed have that."
"I- no…" Blackout's looks terrified. Henry watches as he fully burns away. The last remnants of him melting into a black goo that disperses outward into the shadows.
Some small globs of it hit Henry and feel the same to his soul as the physical burn had to his body. He keeps away from the rest. In the long moment of darkness and silence that follows, Henry realizes, he has no idea how to get out of here.
Without that strange light that had released the others, he cannot break the bounds of the darkness. Not without his forcefield. The black hole shrinks more and more. Henry can't tell how much time passes as they press in on him. The last of Blackout's shadows squeeze around him, the barrier of the black hole having nowhere smaller to go than his soul's form. It forces him to curl up, pressing tighter and tighter. Henry believes the darkness will kill him but is content that he saved the other souls and knowing that this power had no darkness over anyone anymore.
(Commercial Break)
The sight of the person in the black hole's wake ends for the heroes any idea of using the quasar ray again. Phoebe picks up the quasar remnant and carefully passes it to her little sister instructing. "Now it's time to take this back where it belongs. And don't ever steal it again. Just because it worked out today is not an excuse to take things like this without permission."
Chloe rolls her eyes dramatically. "Yeah, yeah," she grumbles and takes it. The Thundermans leave.
The Swellviewian sidekicks run the couple blocks to the edge of the crater. The one they'd seen is not the only person they find within. A couple dozen more are there as well. They blink in shock looking at each other and their own limbs, feeling their own bodies and faces. Many turn to those beside them, cheering, laughing and hugging each other in celebration.
"Where did they come from?" Charlotte asks. "Were they in the black hole?"
"They must've been," Bose says.
"How can they be alive?" Miles asks.
"Henry must've done something," Piper hopes. "He must've known they were alive in there and went to save them. He must be around here somewhere with them."
"Where?" Dawson beseeches, searching the crowd.
"I don't see him," Piper says. "But he must be around here somewhere."
"Um, I think somebody else just like backwards evaporated from the black hole," Bose notes. "Does it look smaller to anybody else?
"We did that," Chapa reminds.
"It's smaller than when we came over here," Miles agrees with Bose.
Dawson launches himself to fly around it. Coming back to land with them he confirms, "It's still shrinking."
They all can see as they watch. The once enormous black hole deflates before them.
"It's also making a weird noise," Shoutout says.
"That's a real sound? I thought it was in my head," Brainstorm says.
"What I'm hearing is not something you can be hearing," Shoutout says. "It's much too low, in volume and frequency."
"You can't hear the… the… musical sounds?" he asks. "Like music notes without a rhythm?"
"No," she says. "There's no sound like that."
"Are you listening to a song in someone's head?" AWOL asks.
"No," Brainstorm says. "It's not thoughts. Er, it's almost like thoughts. The notes almost are words but not. I don't know what it is. But there's a lot, and it's everywhere."
Raising her eyebrow, Haywire considers Brainstorm. "I get no readings from any of my sensors. Whatever you're getting is all on you. However your telepathy works must be allowing you to hear these 'notes'. Can you describe it any better?"
"I don't know how else to tell you," Brainstorm laments. "It's just what I said."
"Can we focus on these wired things later?" Rolling Thunder asks. "We need to find Henry! I still can't see him down there!"
"Danger Force!" the people below cheer at them. They climb through and up the rough half-sphere of debris, jovially calling to the heroes.
"Let's ask them," Bose proposes. "And help them out of the crater."
So, they do. Offering hands and sliding in to help the blackhole survivors ascend the enormous wall back to ground level. Dawson kicks on his repaired rocket boots and flies down to lift whoever he can out. Bose raises others with his telekinesis.
As they go, all the young heroes keep an eye and ear out for Henry; none finding any sign of him. They do find the sword laying in the rubble by itself. For some of them it feels like a bad omen.
They gather on the street. "Are you all okay?" Brainstorm asks the people nearest him.
"Yes! Oh, yes!" they enthuse. "More than okay! We're free of that darkness and we're alive!"
"You were in the black hole?" Volt asks. They confirm this for her.
"How are you alive?" Shoutout wonders. "That was Blackout's magic, how could you have survived it? Why didn't he take your souls?"
"I- I don't know," One woman says. "I was sure I was dead. When that black hole appeared. I remember going into it. Then there was such terrible pain. My body was torn away, I thought it was destroyed. I don't understand how I can be alive, how I am unhurt."
Another person answers, "I felt the exact same. We all did, I think." The rest of the people give agreement.
"You don't remember how you got out of there?" AWOL questions.
"They're minds are very cloudy," Brainstorm says, "all I can see in their memories is darkness."
"It was dark," the woman confirms. "That is all I remember. Darkness so complete it burned. Expect there was…I recall a glimmer of light. Once or twice."
"There was a light," another agrees. "A brilliant white light. After the darkness and pain. Right before we were here again.
"A light? The quasar ray?" Haywire hypothesizes. "It freed you?"
"It destroyed some of the black hole," Shoutout considers. "Could it have also brought them back? Restored their bodies?"
"I don't know anything about its powers," Haywire shrugs.
"It must be," Siesta Niño says. "What else could explain it?" No one has an argument for him.
"But what about Danger?" Lil' Dynomite shouts. "He was in the black hole too. Where is he? Why hasn't he been freed?" He's trembling and pleading at them with his eyes. Rolling Thunder seconds his questions with a look of her own.
"I don't know," a man comments when no one else speaks up. "He was in there?"
"Yes! He went in after you. We thought he was trying to save you" Rolling Thunder says. "But where is he. If it was the quasar ray that freed you, why didn't he come too?"
"Who knows?" Haywire says.
Siesta Niño frowns. "Maybe he still will. The black hole's still shrinking, and these guys didn't come out all at once. Maybe he's waiting to make sure everyone else is free first. He wouldn't leave until he knew he was the last, right?"
"Being completely heroic and taking no thought for his own health or safety?" AWOL asks sarcastically. "Yeah, that sounds like him."
Haywire shrugs, "Why not? It sounds reasonable. At least we have a glimmer of hope left. He might come back."
"He better hurry up about it," Rolling Thunder grumbles. "I am so going to…"
She is interrupted by Schwoz coming in over the comms with an urgent message. "Um? Guys?" he shrills with clear anxiety. "I think we may have a new development."
"You think?" Haywire asks. "What's wrong?"
"Well… I got a signal… but it's impossible… I don't know how…" he mumbles.
"What is it?" Volt cuts in.
"I need you to come up the mountain and check something out for me," Schwoz implores. "I got an alert that I should not be getting. I only even put it in because we had no idea what was going on, but after ten months… I don't know how it can be going off."
"What alert?" Shoutout asks.
"That… you will not believe," Schwoz hums.
(commercial break)
In the ever-pressing darkness, Henry wonders why he's not dead yet. Why hasn't the darkness destroyed him? He's not upset about it, he is resisting the pressure; but he has no idea how he is still there. Maybe because he's already dead? Because, like all Blackout's victims, his soul can't be destroyed by the dark magic?
But then how can he get out of it? Will he be trapped in this state eternally? That sounds worse than death. He struggles as he despairs. The anxiety grows and grows. He has to get out of here; there must be a way. If he only had the sword, or his forcefield. He's powerless and feels like Blackout's won, despite being dead twice over. He shakes his head, stubbornly refusing to allow that to be his reality. He tenses against the darkness, fists clenched, and pushes back.
A green glow filters through his eyelids. The shadows burst into nothingness around him, and he is assaulted with light and gravity. Pain surges new and familiar even before he's hit the ground. His head splits with white hot agony as he meets rough stone and asphalt. Henry peeks up at the brightness above through clenched eyes. He's not sure what he's seeing, the landscape is not one he recognizes, but it is light and that is good. He contents himself to that and lets his throbbing mind drift away. He's not at all sure where he is or what will happen, but he knows his mission is over. He can rest now.
"Danger?" a young voice calls. Someone is coming for him; someone he's sure he knows. They are beside him for a few moments asking him to wake up, to respond. He manages after a long moment to open his eyes. They are gone before he sees them, vanishing right out of existence before him.
Of course, as soon as he's drifted back out, he is visited again. "Kid?!" a most welcome familiar voice calls to him. This friend doesn't vanish as Henry works to open his eyes again. He gently lifts Henry up to recline into him, still talking to him. "Are you okay, Kid? Henry?"
Henry blinks and whines. "Ray?"
"Yeah, buddy. You've got a lot of explaining to do. What is this about a blackhole and you being in it? Why was I buried in a coffin? What is this 'soul eating villain' that destroyed so much of Swellview? And what are you wearing!?" Ray spits question faster than Henry can comprehend them.
"I-I… Ray!" Henry mumbles. Most his effort goes to forcing himself to move where he can hug Ray. His lip trembles and he tears up even as he chortles, "I thought pain would go away at death. But I still hurt a lot."
Ray hugs him back. He shakes his head over top of Henry's. "You're not dead!" he insists. "Though, apparently, not for a lack of trying."
"Oh," Henry mutters, control and conscious thought slipping. "That's too bad."
"Kid!" Ray chastises.
"At least… if I was dead… this would be… real," Henry heaves. "I… miss you… Ray." Henry slumps into Rays arms and ends his fight with unconsciousness. He really needs some rest.
END OF SEASON 1
Thank you all for reading. I hope to see you all in Season 2: coming soon. Troubles are far from over for Henry and co. Stay tuned.
Next Episode: S2E1: Resurrection