Soon, this World and all others will be engulfed in distortion, only you have the power to keep this from happening. Stop the incoming destruction, and save your future. Until we meet again, enjoy your fleeing time of rest.
The sound of inhuman creatures roared through the sky, soot flying from the open clouds while a crow dove through them. As their wings flapped, they were pushed further into the sky and zoomed past a structure in the sky. This structure in the sky was surrounded by a hovering creature with wings, a sharp piece of this structure's roof piercing even further into the sky. But, what was this structure? Well, a Temple. And inside this Temple, past the demons and manipulated superhumans that guarded this place, past the cannibals that were feasting on the remaining human flesh, and the dungeon that held only one old man as the prisoner, there was a throne. And who sat there, was an excuse of a ruler, an Emperor. He believed that he could sit on this Throne, but could he? He was barely even human, he possessed no ambitions and power that he wanted to gain. He just wanted for the World… to be Hell. Fiery orange eyes shot up from the floor, his bloodied teeth gritting with his 'lips' forming into a sadistic smirk. H'xler stood from the Throne, and whispered,
"Finally…"
A rift in time and space appeared on the grass, seven people emerging. Ben Rivera slid a more futuristic-like pistol out of the interior of his suit jacket throwing it to his older brother. Jason caught it, sliding back the… slide and nodding at his younger brother. Ryder stepped in front of the rest of the seven, using the controls on his cybernetic arm to show a sky's eye view of the distorted version of this once free land. Staring up into the sky, the clouds parted to reveal the Temple in the sky, Ben nodding to himself and Jason saying,
"Wait, I thought it was a castle. Aren't we in New York?"
"Either you have a terrible memory or you're just plain stupid. Palestine, remember? The Castle was nuked because of short ass over here {Madi: Hey!} Either way, we should search around the forest for some info on where those demons could be hiding out--"
"That will be unnecessary,"
"And why's that?" Ryder was questioned by Jason, with Ella's eyes shooting from the grass they were standing on toward the sky. Her eyes widened, informing the brothers and everyone else,
"I think maybe that's why," She pointed toward the clouds parted to reveal the hovering Temple in the sky, Ryder nodding while Ben glanced at Jason. The siblings nodded, the brown-haired CEO exhaling to himself as if something… was definite to him. A gateway in space appeared, engulfing the superhumans and then spitting them out right on top of their intended destination.
Madi looked off the edge of the roof, the wind flowing through her ears and brunette hair staring down at the dangerous fall below the Temple. Shivering, she stepped back bumping into Ben, who looked down at her. He didn't even need to ask anything before she informed,
"Afraid of heights?" Asked her older brother, to which she gave a shaking of her head as a response. How could someone like her, who's been through so much, be scared of some pathetic height that she could teleport herself before she even hit the ground... but then again.
"Little bit,"
"Don't worry, loser, I gotcha," To try and comfort his older sibling, his hand interlocked with her own, squeezing her palm, fingers interlocked. His lips pressed against the side of her head, the Protectors glanced at the duo, watching as the Emperor directed his sister toward the hole in the roof.
"Hate to interrupt such a cliche tender moment, but we got some shit to do, so hurry your asses up,"
"We're coming, we're coming," Although Ben felt a tiny bit annoyed by his brother's little comment, he was telling the truth. No distractions, only the mission, that was the point of this. It seemed that one of them forgot that, the Protectors awaiting the Chariot to finish his slicing of a hole in the roof. The Outcast couldn't help but dig his metal fingers into his artificial palm... time couldn't go by any slower,
A piece in the ceiling was cut open, big enough for about most of them to go through while one of them stayed on the top for recon. Who stood atop was Ryder, who, since he was staying on top of the roof, sent a roof to Ben's glasses which had an advanced futuristic like that of Tony Stark's helmet. Staring down at the other six, he said,
"I'll stay up here, the map's been sent to Ben. I'll see you guys when you reach the Throne Room," Before any of them could respond to Karlo, he walked to like the other side of the roof and did… something. Ben placed his index and middle fingers for his right hand on his forehead, scanning for a presence throughout this place and found one right in this same Dungeon. He led the way toward the location of this prisoner, Madisyn providing light for everyone using her eyes as flashlights that lit the way using purple light. The group walked through a hall, Matt stepping onto a skull and cracking it softly on top of its head. Picking his right foot up, he groaned irritably while Henry hovered across the bloodied floors in front of his friend. Something felt… weird, though. Madisyn took a right in the right direction without being told by any of her friends or siblings. But, none of them complained. The rest of them reached the prisoner that was kept inside of a lone prison cell, who was chained down to the floor with his arms confined into a straitjacket. His long curly brown hair swept over his face covering it indefinitely. Madi's left foot entered the frame and stood motionless in front of this prisoner's cell staring at the… seemingly supernatural person. And I use the term person extremely loosely. Because with the amount of power that this 'Being' possessed, they couldn't even be classified as a human 'person.' A bright purple aura surrounded her being as if she was going to teleport into this cell and make contact with this Being before she was stopped by her brother. Ben's left hand was placed on her shoulder, the brunet man informing her,
"We don't know if he's friend or foe. If he's been kept alive and not executed yet, he could more powerful than we know," Ben decided that it be best that they move on, and continue with their task of destroying the remaining pieces of the Kingdom, but, Madi couldn't do so. The Emperor turned to the Empress, she was immovable as she stood in front of the prisoner, it seemed that she was unable to change her mind. Because all she said was,
"Someone has to help," Her skin disappeared in a flash of purple light, revealing her flesh interior for a second before disappearing. And that same thing happened as she appeared in front of the prisoner, kneeling, she placed her hands on the chain and burnt them heating her hands to the temperature of the plasma. She was easily able to destroy the chains that bound him, the prisoner falling to his knees while she dealt with the straitjacket so his arms could be free. With the free, he was able to push himself up cracking his knuckles and finally feeling his fingers hearing them crack as he stretched them. Turning around, he moved his brown hair to reveal his eyes. His pupils were gone, replaced… with white spots. He was blind. For a second, she felt startled, gasping softly as he just seemed to stare at her without staring at her? Does that make sense? 4 seconds passed, and an impressed smirk tugging at his lips before muttering something in another language. The way that the words were pronounced made it evident that the language he was speaking was either Latin or maybe Greek. But what he said, to begin with, was,
"Callidus puella. Gratias ago tibi, quia non. Ego sum in debtium," Madisyn, who only learned Japanese during high school and college, did not know what she was saying. So, all she did was hold up both of her thumbs slowly stepping out of the cell. There had to be a reason he was being kept prisoner and not immediately executed by the Ruler of this place, so she took the prisoner's hand, and led him out of the Dungeon toward the direction of where her friends and siblings went. To the Throne Room, they went.
Ben, Matthew, and Henry ran into the Throne Room, it seemed that Jason and Ella ran off ahead to go and find Ryder and inform him of that they were about to face this ancient evil. Now in this room, they were able to spot an imposing figure shadowing over them. And by shadowing over them, I mean that the Demon King's shadow was cast in front of him due to the sun behind him coming in front of the window covering the group of superhumans. Before he would inevitably attack the others, he started to speak,
"H'xler... thought you were dead--"
"For six long years, I had been waiting, LONGING for this opportunity. To finally, meet the… Beings that had destroyed the Kingdom in just a matter of days, while people seemingly stronger than you pathetic mortals had tried for centuries and eradicated my physical form. People like that intrigue an old demon like me. Someone like me whose Ruler is entrapped in the former domain where he once ruled, being tortured for all of eternity with his younger brother. You would know him especially, Mr. Rivera. It would almost seem as though that you're the same person--"
"Enough! If you truly plan on trying to revive the dead spirit of the Kingdom, then you will meet the same fate, you sick piece of demonic trash!" H'xler stood up from his Throne, stepping down and reaching ever closer to Ben. It was pathetic to think that he could face them, especially in the state that this World is in, he has his hands on some of the most powerful technology and weapons in the World. And, another, was how they had seemingly fallen victim to his trap.
"Truly, you are a pathetic mortal. At war with your true self, so scared of what the future holds and what you might become. But, it's fine," H'xler snapped, and there was a flash of red and dark blue lightning. Behind the group of superhumans, Jason appeared with the younger Ella standing beside her with that same blue lightning crackling in her blue eyes. But, what about Jason? Well, he was holding one of his famous daggers to the throat… of Ryder. A smirk spread across the Speedster's lips, H'xler's eyes widening as his voice changed from that calm deep tone to anger.
"HOW?!" To tell you how they were able to figure out that Ryder was secretly a double agent working with the Demon King, H'xler, we would have to go back a day. But, let's save that for later. Right now, as the Demon King yelled, his voice echoed throughout the halls of the Temple, with Madisyn and that prisoner from earlier coming into the Throne Room. Even more than before at the revelation that these pathetic mortals had uncovered his plot to infiltrate the ranks of the 'Protectors', this was a bigger surprise.
"YOU FOOL!! HAVE YOU NO CLUE WHAT YOU'VE UNLEASHED UNTO THIS MORTAL COIL?!" The prisoner tilted his head at all the yelling, staring at H'xler and immediately recognizing him as the person who had twisted his Temple into this hellish piece of garbage. But, he did not get angry. The Prisoner's straitjacket disappeared from his body, with the skin and flesh that had once surrounded him being replaced with dark matter and plasma as he reappeared in front of H'xler. He did not say anything, but when the Demon tried to punch him, all the Prisoner did was catch the fist and rip off his hand. A shriek escaped H'xler's mouth, falling to his knees and looking around for his hand on the floor as blood leaked out from the wound. Deciding it would be best to get rid of the infestation, H'xler levitated off the ground and was heard choking on his blood. As he levitated, he landed into the right hand of none other than the Prisoner, and just like that, H'xler fell to the ground, died while his throat was exposed. Blood leaked out of the wound. The Short-Lived Demon King of the Future was dead. The Prisoner was now free, to transform his Temple back into the haven that it once was. As he levitated off the ground, a bright beam of light emitted from his being, causing the superhumans to all fall to the ground unconscious. Including Ryder.
All that remained… was light.
One Day Ago...
The snores of a beautiful woman were slowly fleeting away as Ben walked out of his bedroom, after leaving a soft kiss on his fiancee's ear, he disappeared as he exited the room reappearing in the living room where his friends and siblings were waiting in front of them standing in front of the TV. Since he wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible, he asked Ella,
"Whatcha got for me?" To which, El glanced at her ex's older sister, who nodded at her as she took out her cellular device and pressed play, and what had followed… was Ryder's voice. He said the following,
"It would be difficult to try and keep up the charade you have insisted that I play, since, of course, they know that I came here and sold them out in 2013, I doubt they truly trust me. Nevertheless, hopefully, we can be able to lead them here for the time being and be able to place her in his position. After obtaining him, we could say he committed suicide to the public. That would explain the power shift. All that needs to happen is for us to capture him. And then, her job is clear," The playback stopped there, with Ben nodding quickly and responding with,
"Despite my reluctance to believe this, my suspicions were true in the end. Still, to think his true intentions were to betray us, I suppose we do sorta deserve it. But, with that finished, and with the camera footage that Henry and Matt collected with Charlie, we now have evidence that he was truly a double agent. All that's left is to think up a countermeasure," Next, the Artificial Intelligence known as Artemis spoke, she was sitting beside Jason, and questioned,
"I have a suggestion. {Ben: Continue} From the recording gathered by Ms. Garcia, we can tell that both Ryder and H'xler have sources in the media. And with the state that the World is in the year 2542, he is speaking about this year. I suggest that while the rest of you go as you intended and destroy the traitor and the remainders of the Kingdom, Mrs. Kyles, Mrs. Lane, and I will search for records for this person. Since we don't know how long this operation will last, we should have someone in charge of Rivera Manufacturing in case something goes awry--"
"Yes, we had thought of that, as well!" El excitedly interjected while Jason followed up with,
"That's why we called up Athena Prelle. She's been helping the Police Department and giving me information on bounties. Most of them being former Prelle Family Mob members. And we all know she's cut ties ever since she was arrested for murdering an FBI agent years ago. So she'll be posing as my brother while this whole thing is underway. But… one thing has been plaguing my thoughts for a while. {Ben: Yes?} What if, and this is a big what if, this has all been planned? We have to come up with a contingency that maybe, just maybe, Ryder had planned all this. Maybe he knew that we WOULD suspect him, that we would go through all this trouble to prove it, and what if Athena isn't as good as we think she is. They did mention a female in the recording, and how they were going to be placing a female in a key position… something about this seems extremely fishy to me. Especially since Ryder LET himself be seen by the cameras and by us, he can remotely hack into cameras, so… why would he let himself be seen..? It's something to think about, and I think we should consider the possibility that we're the ones… being tricked--"
Present Day
His eyelids fluttered like the wings of a butterfly, his pupils glancing around the location of where he was. Using his hands, he sat upon the mattress hearing the faint whispers of souls in his ears, he held his head in pain trying to focus in on one question. Where was he? The architecture in this place made it seem like this was an ancient place of some kind, maybe? The runes on the walls beside him and the armored guards that guarded the entrance to this room made it kinda obvious. He quickly realized that he wasn't bound by any chains, so he freely stood up, and exited the room. Stumbling around, he grunted and leaned on his arm landing onto the right side of the door frame. These voices were so loud… and annoying. Just as he was about to use his remaining strength to try and enter the hall, his body started to plummet toward the ground before he was caught. By the Prisoner. And this time, he had a human form. Like before, he had puffy curly hair and a grey and brown beard, and he was blind… as stated earlier. Although this might be among the many questions he had of what this Being was, it didn't seem like the most important. So, when the Prisoner helped Ben up, the CEO's lips parted about to ask a question. But he answered before he could even ask this question, with,
"My name is Uraku. You… were going to ask me my name, weren't you? It seems as though you haven't heard of me. I am not surprised, to be completely honest. Before I explain to you what I am, I'd have to show you and your teammates some things. Wake them up," This person didn't seem like a threat, but they should be alert. Then again, he did save him and his friends from certain annihilation, so maybe he should trust what this guy says, but, what other choice does he have?
5 minutes later
"I have existed since the Big Bang had brought the Universe into existence. I was not like this, with a form like you mortals as you see now. Eventually, as I watched humanity grow on the primitive planet of Earth across multiple universes, I suppose I grew quite fond of this form made of flesh and bone. Upon my creation, I was given a purpose by a higher power. He has been known by many names. The Author is the one I know Him by, but on your planet, He was written in the Old Testament as 'God,'" Shocked to have been informed of this information, everyone's eyes widened. The most shocked was none other than the Emperor himself, notorious for being an atheist. If there was a God, why would He allow His creations to endure so much pain?
"Wait, wait, wait… God's real? Seriously?" Uraku responded with a silent nod, with a tiny smirk before both of his eyes were engulfed by this bright type of purple energy using his seemingly infinite power to project multiple versions of the planet; Earth. Part of Ben was confused. This seemed like Uraku was proposing the theory of parallel Earths. He had seen this type of shit in movies like Doctor Strange, or that one animated Spider-Man movie back in 2018. But, why would he show them this in the first place? Before he could ask this question, though, Uraku explained,
"6 years, you faced your supposed future self. Named the Superior, he was manipulated by his younger sister to have a deep hatred ultimately leading to World War III. This time, neither Germany, North Korea, America, Japan, England, Russia, or any other country won. As a last-ditch effort to try and keep these enemy powers from completely eradicating the Earth, the Government of the Earth sent their nuclear weapons to the last known location of the Kingdom. Not only did this not work, but some of the Nukes lead to the destruction of Cities, while some were turned back around to their origin eventually leading to the Kingdom's victory--now, trust me, I can hear what you're thinking. You probably know all of this already, maybe Artemis told you or something. But, one thing she didn't tell you was that the Kingdom lied to you. The existence of the Kingdom is a mere possibility ad infinitum. They are not what you believe them to be, which is your future selves. They are mere parallel versions of you, but they had been acting as not that to fracture your psyche. As you humans would say, it was fucking diabolical--" This couldn't be the truth... that whole Kingdom nonsense, believing their futures to truly be corrupted by something so evil like them. It wouldn't even come to fruition? What was the point of it all then? Sure, they got stronger, all of them have become better people, but for what purpose? If their future had always been protected- what was the point of their trauma?
"Is that it? Just to tell us that all of our trauma was useless? That there was no fucking point in feeling guilty over our mother's fucking death?! YOU'RE LUCKY I DON'T FUCKING MURDER YOU RIGHT HERE--" Before their older brother could do something he would probably regret, both Ben and Madisyn stopped him. Protecting their brother from this 'Being', Jason struggled, throwing them off of his arms, brushing the dirt off of his robe. Upon their release of their brother, the Protectors heard the devious sound of Uraku's laughter,
"What's so fucking funny, old man?" Inquired the Magician, to which Uraku seemingly have no audible response. Was he not worth his time or something-? He didn't blame Jay for attempting to try and kill this asshole- it was what he deserved. Henry was the first to stop his best friend from trying to commit the same mistake- that was when Uraku, back turned to the adults, spoke,
"Ad esse honestum, I am enjoying this. I've decided that this should be a place of help for you and your friends. This Temple, the one that guards the Multiverse of all threats, exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It does not have a physical form. And once it gains one, it will be corrupted and shift into a location of hate. And although I plan on helping you, I am breaking the rules of this place by letting most of you in here. You can only be inside of this Temple if you awaken to your real power and accept your true self. Meaning only three of you can visit this place. The rest of you will have to find your true selves and accept the flaws that make you human to visit the Temple. For now, you must travel back and prevent the incoming ruin. Until we meet again, it was nice to meet your acquaintance…"
Back at the Rivera Penthouse in Upper Manhattan, some purple eyes fluttered open slowly, staring tiredly into the ceiling sitting up from laying on the carpet-covered floor and glancing around confused. Next was her older brother Jason who shot up from the chair that was sat down to the left of the couch, shaking his head and speeding around with his signature red lightning following him. There were many things to discuss… but first, WHERE WAS RYDER?
The sound of scribbling was faintly heard in the office of the CEO, and with that scribbling was also humming following it coming from a certain white-haired Norwegian girl. It seemed that she was just writing some notes for her friend who was the actual CEO who she was substituting for. The scribbling ceased, and she closed her notebook sighing relieved that nothing had gone wrong. Pulling a hard drive out of the open laptop in front of her, she gently closed the computer. Suddenly, light leaked onto her face and she was aiming a pistol at the door. Who stepped into the office was none other than the half-superhuman, half-cyborg-- Ryder Karlo with both of his hands held up like he was a prisoner. Smirking, he placed his hands down as the girl put the pistol down. And she spoke in her Norwegian accent, saying,
"Catch!" And so he did, the Outcast grabbing onto the drive and smiling to himself. This was exactly what he needed. The hard drive was submerged into his cybernetic arm, and he stared deeply into her eyes, his cybernetic one scanning her heartbeat. She knew her place.
"A deal's a deal," A gateway in space appeared on the ceiling, and an old man fell in front of her feet grunting as he spat blood onto the ground. He was just falling infinitely for some time now, so… ya know. The old man looked at the cyborg and then the woman, knowing quickly what this was, he started to scream for dear life before…
BANG!