Delayed Reaction
One hundred and fifty six seconds remain. The Artefact hurtles through space, just inside the orbit of Mars around the sun.
Four of the five new heroes begin to get their bearings. Core, however, is stricken by panic—every movement they make pulls rocks up from the ground or sends them flying, and they soon find themselves isolated on a rocky island as stone around them begins to glow with the heat of rising magma. Overcharger and Remix rush to their aid, trying to calm them down.
Mega, however, cannot take her eyes off her sister, and Forcemaster, too, looks on in concern. Mega’s sister who, she had thought, had remained unaffected by whatever had done this to the rest of them. Now, though, she stares down at her hands as dark tendrils creep out of every shadow around her. Darkness envelops her, a shockwave pushing Mega back. Forcemaster raises a translucent shield in front of them against the swirling dust. As the dust clears, Mega looks on in horror, as a huge and inhuman shape stands where her sister was moments ago.
The Emissary pauses, flexes a shadowy fist—then turns and leaps away with superhuman speed.
Forcemaster takes Mega by the shoulder. “Mega… Mega! Look at me! Do you hear what I’m saying? Two minutes to save the world—the whole world. Not just your sister. Everyone.”
“I don’t care, okay!? She is my world. You do something. I’m going after her.”
Mega roughly brushes the tears from her eyes and takes off, leaping into the sky and leaving Forcemaster and the others behind.
“Fine.”
Two minutes remain. Thirty-six million kilometres lie between the Artefact and its target.
As Mega and Emissary vanish into the distance, Forcemaster turns their attention to the others. They conjure a forcefield over the rising magma, allowing Remix to get close to Core and stopping Core’s wayward powers from causing too much more damage. Remix copies Core’s power and, working together with a somewhat calmer Core, puts a stop to the local destruction.
One minute remains. The Earth appears as just a speck in the distance as the Artefact speeds inexorably towards it.
With no further sign of Emissary, the remaining heroes simply huddle up and start trying to work out what they can do. There’s a lot of wild gesturing and some careful testing of powers while trying not to cause any more damage. After almost a minute of frantic discussion, they seem to have settled on a plan.
Ten seconds. The Earth stands out from the field of stars behind it now, though it is still no larger than the tip of a pencil held at arm’s length; the moon is a pin-prick of light less than a hand-span away.
“Everyone ready? We have one chance at this.” Forcemaster has gathered the three other heroes around them.
Core and Remix, using a copy of Core’s power, work together to pull a spire of rock up from the Earth. Atop the spire stand Forcemaster and Overcharger. As the spire grows, a moat forms around it as material is brought up from deep below ground. As soon as the glowing molten mantle of the Earth becomes visible beneath the moat, Overcharger targets it and pulls energy out from the Earth, redirecting it to Forcemaster. Forcemaster holds their hands up above them and, with a look of sheer determination, begins to form an enormous, crackling shield above their head. It grows and grows, the normally transparent forcefield becoming practically opaque as more and more energy is drawn up from the ground beneath, and Forcemaster rises ever higher on the pinnacle of rock.
It may or may not save the Earth from the Artefact, but the shield looks solid enough to withstand a blow from just about anything else. Unfortunately for the heroes, no one is guarding the side of the rock spire.
Emissary appears from the sky, shooting down at an angle. She smashes into the side of the tower with a flash of dark energy. The tower crumbles; Forcemaster loses concentration, the shield dissipating as if it had never been there. All their plans undone in but a few seconds. Already a kilometre high, the remains of the tower crash down into the city beyond. In the distance, Forcemaster can just about bee seen to throw a bubble around themselves and Overcharger as they plummet towards the ground. Emissary slams into the ground at the tower’s base, wreathed in swirls of shadow.
Two.
Emissary stands and her voice booms out across the wrecked city.
“Cower, mortals! Say your final words, and prepare to—” before she can finish, Mega, covered in dust and debris, slams into the back of Emissary, knocking her down.
Finally, the Artefact flashes past the moon.
Mega tumbles in the air, then lands unsteadily and slides to a halt in front of Emissary.
One.
“Give me back my sister you— !”
In the last millisecond, the Artefact punches through the atmosphere. Through air, through cloud, through into rock as if it were tissue paper. There’s no sound—there’s no time for there to be sound. There is the Artefact, and there is light.
Within a thousand miles of the impact site, everything is obliterated. Compared to the time it took for the Artefact to bury itself in the Earth’s core, it takes an age for the matter around it to respond to what has happened. As the energy of a million million hydrogen bombs is unleashed, there is no meaningful way to describe the forces which rend the world apart.
Half way around the world, the atmosphere shrieks in protest as its atoms are subjected to forces they have not seen since they were forged in the nuclear furnace of a supernova. The atmosphere boils away, and entire continents crack from their foundations.
The Earth is destroyed.
Moving Mountains
One hundred and fifty-six seconds remain. The Artefact hurtles through space, just inside the orbit of Mars around the sun.
Four of the five new heroes begin to get their bearings. Core, however, is stricken by panic—every movement they make pulls rocks up from the ground or sends them flying, and they soon find themselves isolated on a rocky island as the stone around them begins to glow with the heat of rising magma. Overcharger and Remix rush to their aid, trying to calm them down.
Mega, however, cannot take her eyes off her sister, and Forcemaster, too, looks on in concern. Mega’s sister who, she had thought, had remained unaffected by whatever had done this to the rest of them. Now, though, she stares down at her hands as dark tendrils creep out of every shadow around her. Darkness envelops her, a shockwave pushing Mega back. Forcemaster raises a translucent shield in front of them against the swirling dust. As the dust clears, Mega looks on in horror, as a huge and inhuman shape stands where her sister was moments ago.
The newly formed Emissary flexes a shadowy arm and lashes out, a mass of tendrils slamming into Mega and pushing her away. Mega takes Emissary’s appendage in her hands and pushes back—with a roar of effort pushing Emissary away.
Emissary speaks, her voice distorted and inhuman—yet still it brings a twinge of recognition to Mega’s ears. “Foolish humans. Say your final words and make peace with whatever false idols you call gods. Your time of reckoning is here. Be grateful that you lived to see your Sundering, and lay down in supplication as you were born to do.”
Mega floats gently into the air and stares down the things that was her sister. “No. No—we will never give up. We know what is coming and we will stop it. We will save this planet—and I will save my sister.”
Two minutes remain. Thirty-six million kilometres lie between the Artefact and its target.
“Overcharger—transfer her power to me. Remix—copy me and follow. Forcemaster, you’re with us. Core—focus. The world is literally in your hands. Move it. Move the Earth out of the way.“
The fate of Mega’s sister has only made her more determined. Her commands are delivered with such authority that the others start to obey even before they realise it—and they are filled with hope and determination too. This fight they will win.
A shimmering thread is drawn out from Emissary and redirected to Mega by Overcharger. Emissary cries out angrily, but it is clearly slowing her down. Remix holds his arm out and makes a motion as if grabbing something thrown by Mega—as he clenches his fist, he rises off the ground as Mega does. He grabs Forcemaster, who wraps a shield around the three of them as Mega leads them off and up into the sky.
They push faster and faster up into the air, Forcemaster reshaping the field around them to be more streamlined. Mega is clearly outpacing the others, infused with energy from Overcharger. She grabs the other two and helps to pull them onwards, accelerating out of the atmosphere and into space.
Meanwhile, on the ground, Emissary is slowed by Overcharger’s drain on her powers, but she isn’t stopped entirely. Overcharger keeps jumping back and away, trying to keep their distance while also maintaining the link to Mega, who is now getting quite far away. Core has been shaken out of their panic somewhat by Mega’s speech and is trying to follow the order they were given—while occasionally slinging a chunk of stone towards Emissary to distract her. Focusing all their power on the ground beneath them, they are causing a slight indent to form in a radius around them, as if they are indeed exerting a force on the planet. It’s difficult to tell how much luck they’re having, though.
Emissary makes a sudden lunge forward and catches Overcharger off guard. The link to Mega falters, though Overcharger just manages to maintain the drain on Emissary.
One minute remains. The Earth appears as just a speck in the distance as the Artefact speeds inexorably towards it.
Now out beyond the orbit of most satellites, Mega, Forcemaster, and Remix prepare to meet the Artefact.
Mega turns to the others mid-flight, “We need to hit it from the side. Forcemaster, can you use a field to help guide us in?”
“I think so—but it’s going to be rough.”
“Ok. Keep flying towards it until the last moment—the further out we hit it, the more the deflection will count.”
With a ferocious determination, Mega pulls reserves of speed as if from nowhere, pulling the others along behind—and then, briefly, falters.
“Something’s happening to Overcharger. No turning back now, though. This is our only chance.”
Ten seconds. The Earth stands out from the field of stars behind it now, though it is still no larger than the tip of a pencil held at arm’s length; the moon is a pin-prick of light less than a hand-span away.
“There—I see it!”
A tiny glint resolves itself, brighter than any other star and growing brighter by the second.
“Steady—”
Five Seconds.
Forcemaster extends a field in the path of the Artefact. Remix and Mega both draw back their fists, tensed, and give each other one last nod.
Three…Two…
“Now!”
Finally, the Artefact flashes past the moon.
“Rrrrraaaaaagh!”
Mega launches her fist forwards at a target still thousands of kilometres away. In the time it takes to blink, it’s suddenly in front of them. A sound like shattering glass reverberates through the air bubble surrounding the heroes as the Artefact tears through the forcefield. Mega and Remix both feel resistance, though, as with an almighty crack their fists collide with the exterior of the Artefact.
One.
Mega stares down at the receding spot of light below them. She has just enough time to register that it worked—almost. The Artefact was deflected away from its original impact site… but it’s still heading, inevitably, towards the Earth.
In the last millisecond, the Artefact punches through the atmosphere. Through air, through cloud and into rock as if it were tissue paper. There’s no sound—there’s no time for there to be sound. There is the Artefact, and there is light.
Within a thousand miles of the impact site, everything is obliterated. Compared to the time it took for the Artefact to bury itself in the Earth’s core, it takes an age for the matter around it to respond to what has happened. As the energy of a million million hydrogen bombs is unleashed, there is no meaningful way to describe the forces which rend the world apart.
Half way around the world, the atmosphere shrieks in protest as its atoms are subjected to forces they have not seen since they were forged in the nuclear furnace of a supernova. The atmosphere boils away, and entire continents crack from their foundations.
The Earth is destroyed.
A Hero is Born
One hundred and fifty-six seconds remain. The Artefact hurtles through space, just inside the orbit of Mars around the sun.
Four of the five new heroes begin to get their bearings. Core, however, is stricken by panic—every movement they make pulls rocks up from the ground or sends them flying, and they soon find themselves isolated on a rocky island as the stone around them begins to glow with the heat of rising magma. Overcharger and Remix rush to their aid, trying to calm them down.
Mega and Forcemaster stare at the shadowy mass which, moments before, had been Mega’s brother. Striding out into the street, Emissary extends a mass of dark tendrils which take hold of a van, lift it high, and smash it down into the street in a display of strength. Emissary leaps up onto the wreckage and addresses the new heroes.
“Humans, hear me! Soon you will be freed of this mortal coil. Your planet has been chosen, and the Sundering is inevitable. To resist is pointless. But,” Emissary stands tall, stretching to his full height, arms spread wide, “I invite you to try!”
Despite the struggle with their powers, Core attempts to launch a chunk of pavement at Emissary. Emissary smashes it aside with one sweep of a shadow-clad arm.
“Pathetic! You deserve the fate that awaits you.”
Two minutes remain. Thirty-six million kilometres lie between the Artefact and its target.
Mega flies at him next, grappling him and trying to pull him to the ground.
“Give me back my brother!”
“Your brother is already gone! But don’t worry—you’ll be joining him soon enough!” Emissary snatches Mega off their body and slams them hard into a wall with a blast of dark energy. He raises his arms and a mass of tendrils creep out from the shadows at the base of the building, climbing up it like vines. When they reach the top, they pause, and clench, and pull, the entire building crashing down on where Mega fell.
The dust settles to reveal Mega standing—barely—inside one of Forcemaster’s shields. As Mega clambers from the rubble, Overcharger shouts to her companions. “Emissary is just a distraction! The real threat is up there, heading towards us. Remix—copy Mega’s and Core’s powers into each other. Maybe we can’t stop the Artefact, but maybe—”
“Maybe we can dodge it.” Finishes Remix.
“Right. Forcemaster—you and I will deal with Emissary.”
Remix makes gestures at Mega and Core, and suddenly both are floating just above the ground, pieces of rock and rubble rising with them. They turn together and start to fly up when Emissary lashes out, grabbing Core with a sinewy tentacle which extends from his arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Emissary pulls Core back towards himself, the centre of his body opening up to reveal a gaping maw which bellows at a terrified Core. Core panics and flails wildly. Mega swoops in, grabs Core and pulls them away from Emissary’s grip. Emissary lashes out again but meets resistance as he slams against a forcefield.
“Running away, sister? Come now—don’t you want to spend your last moments with your dear old brother?”
Core continues to flee, but Mega turns back, fury in her eyes.
“No!” Shouts Overcharger, “There isn’t time! Stick to the plan!”
One minute remains. The Earth appears as just a speck in the distance as the Artefact speeds inexorably towards it.
“New plan,” says Mega, “You stop the Artefact. I’m dealing with Emissary.”
Emissary looks away for a moment, seemingly distracted by something. Mega seizes the opportunity and tackles Emissary. The pair crash through concrete walls and through the front of a building. Almost immediately they fly out again, Emissary landing on top of Mega and pinning her to the ground. He brings up a fist and slams it down—into a forcefield. Overcharger targets Emissary too, draining his strength.
Emissary looks up breathing heavily, moving as if under a great weight. “Enough of that!” Summoning reserves of strength, he lashes out with a shadowy appendage and knocks both Forcemaster and Overcharger to the ground. He wraps Forcemaster in a huge pillar of darkness, raising them up off the ground and then slamming them down again, hard.
Forcemaster doesn’t get back up.
Emissary picks up Overcharger next and throws them at Mega. Mega catches them, but the force throws them both backwards. Overcharger struggles to their feet, but weakly. Mega charges at Emissary again and the pair exchange a flurry of blows. Mega appears worn down and desperate, but Emissary seems almost to be toying with her.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
A burst of energy emanates from Emissary and sends Mega flying backwards, bowling over Overcharger once again.
Ten seconds. The Earth stands out from the field of stars behind it now, though it is still no larger than the tip of a pencil held at arm’s length; the moon is a pin-prick of light less than a hand-span away.
Emissary strides towards the fallen heroes, picking up a car on the way.
“I really expected more, you know.”
Emissary grips the car tightly and tenses, as if about to strike the finishing blow—before turning quickly and throwing it back instead, directly into an unsuspecting Core. Core is struck full-force by the vehicle and is brought crashing to the ground.
Two.
Emissary looms over the fallen Mega. “To be killed by the Sundering is a gift, dear sister. A gift which I will deprive you of.”
Finally, the Artefact flashes past the moon.
Emissary draws his fist back—
One.
In the last millisecond, the Artefact punches through the atmosphere. There’s no sound—there’s no time for there to be sound. There is the Artefact, and there is light.
And then… it stops. A hundred metres above the city square, the alien object stands still, wreathed in a fireball of shock-compressed air, frozen in time. Directly beneath it stands a figure, surrounded by slowly-rotating rings of glowing light.
“No. Not again—never again.” They adjust their stance, and the rings slow, stop, and turn back, rotating with increasing speed in the opposite direction. The Artefact begins moving again, but up, not down—it moves, slowly at first but gaining velocity, back up into the sky. On the ground, the destroyed buildings begin to repair themselves, the rubble and debris setting itself back into undamaged storefronts. Time reverses.
The figure looks around at everyone and smiles. “Let’s try that again, shall we?”
Give Me a Place to Stand
One hundred and fifty-six seconds remain. The Artefact hurtles through space, just inside the orbit of Mars around the sun.
Five of the six new heroes begin to get their bearings. Core, however, is stricken by panic—every movement they make pulls rocks up from the ground or sends them flying, and they soon find themselves isolated on a rocky island as the stone around them begins to glow with the heat of rising magma. Overcharger and Remix rush to their aid, trying to calm them down.
Mega, Forcemaster, and Chronologist stare at the shadowy mass which, moments before, had been Mega’s brother. Striding out into the street, Emissary extends a mass of dark tendrils which take hold of a van, lift it high, and smash it down into the street in a display of strength. Emissary leaps up onto the wreckage and addresses the new heroes.
“Humans, hear me! Soon you will be freed of this mortal coil. Your planet has been chosen, and the Sundering is inevitable. To resist is pointless. But,” Emissary stands tall, stretching to his full height, arms spread wide, “I invite you to try!”
Chronologist steps forward, conjuring rings of light around themselves. “We will do better than try, villain!” Half-turning to the other heroes, they continue, “In just over two minutes, an alien object will collide with the planet and extinguish all life. It may seem an impossible task, but today is a day of impossible things. These powers—like nothing we have ever dreamed of. We can win—we will win.”
Emissary reaches behind himself and a mass of shadows wrap themselves around the base of a building. They crush the foundations and send it toppling towards Chronologist. A few smaller pieces of debris smash into the ground around them, but most are caught in another field of glowing light. They reverse their trajectory and begin to reform the building.
Two minutes remain. Thirty-six million kilometres lie between the Artefact and its target.
Overcharger shouts to her companions. “Emissary is just a distraction! The real threat is up there, heading towards us. Remix—copy Mega’s and Core’s powers into each other. Maybe we can’t stop the Artefact, but maybe—”
“Maybe we can dodge it.” Finishes Remix.
“Good plan,” says Chronologist, “Overcharger, Forcemaster—you can help me with Emissary.”
Remix makes gestures at Mega and Core, and suddenly both are floating just above the ground, pieces of rock and rubble rising with them. They turn together and start to fly up when Emissary lashes out, attempting to grab Core with a sinewy tentacle which extends from his arm. But the appendage is caught in a faint light and sent back towards Emissary. Emissary snarls and turns to Chronologist. Mega and Core continue up and away.
Overcharger targets Emissary now, and his movements become slow, sluggish. The writhing shadows emanating from his body seem to wither and fade. Forcemaster throws a dome of forcefield over him, trapping him inside. Mega and Core fly up into the sky until they are no more than specks above the city.
Emissary seems to draw back into himself, trapped under the forcefield. Overcharger and Forcemaster approach, warily, keeping their powers trained on Emissary. When they get close enough, Emissary strikes. He smashes a fist into the ground, sending a shockwave out which puts Forcemaster and Overcharger off balance. As their concentration is broken, both forcefield and draining effect falter, and Emissary throws them both backwards with a blast of energy.
Chronologist catches both of their companions in fields of light and they drift gently to the ground as if in slow motion.
“Almost,” says Chronologist, “target him again, Overcharger! Direct the energy towards Mega and Core—they’ll need the help!”
One minute remains. The Earth appears as just a speck in the distance as the Artefact speeds inexorably towards it.
Up in the sky, Mega and Core look at each other. Glancing back, they see the twinkling speck of the Artefact, still impossibly far away and yet approaching so fast. Below them, they see the Earth, unimaginably huge. But they can both feel it, and maybe, just maybe, it can be moved.
The cold, dry crust; the churning mantle; the roiling core. Slowly, carefully Mega and Core push, exerting a force across all of it, all at once. Slowly, slowly, it starts to move…
“It’s not enough…I… I can’t…” says Core, through gritted teeth.
“Keep going—we have to try!”
On the ground, Overcharger once again pulls a thread of energy from Emissary—but this time sends it off into the sky where she can just make out Core and Mega. Below the heroes’ feet, the Earth shudders.
“Something’s happening!”
“Yes! Here, let me help!” Chronologist’s power envelops Overcharger and the flow of power out from Emissary doubles in strength. Emissary tries to fight it, but every time he lashes out, Forcemaster blocks the attack.
Overcharger’s energy pulse reaches Mega and Core, flickering between them. They both slip forward, their new power dimpling the surface of the Earth below them. They adjust, shifting their energies.
“It’s working!”
Ten seconds. The Earth stands out from the field of stars behind it now, though it is still no larger than the tip of a pencil held at arm’s length; the moon is a pin-prick of light less than a hand-span away.
Though continually blocked, Emissary has slowly gained ground on Forcemaster. He reaches out and grabs Forcemaster, mustering the last of his strength to slam him into the ground. Again. And again.
“No!” Overcharger cries out.
“Maintain the link!” Shouts Chronologist, “We have the entire planet to save!”
Above the city, Mega glances at the point of light which is the Artefact, now brighter than ever.
“It’s not enough…but maybe—one last push.”
The two heroes look at each other, nod, and start falling…
Two.
Mega and Core accelerate towards the surface…
Finally, the Artefact flashes past the moon.
BOOM!
Mega and Core slam into the ground, giving the planet one last, almighty shove.
One.
In the last millisecond, the Artefact skims through the very edge of the upper atmosphere. In the blink of an eye it is gone, off into the vastness of space.
Emissary collapses. The shadows which had enveloped him recede.