Silent Jury
Issue #13
by Tom Zjaba
Chapter 17
War of Wizards
Zero looks up at the meteor that is headed right at him. Most
people would be cowering in fear, but Zero is not like most people. He is insane
and the thought of being crushed by a meteor is not enough to scare him. But
then he has an ace in the hole. He has the Madness Ring that allows him to
create whatever he wants. It has a side effect of making its wearer go insane,
but Zero was insane well before receiving the ring. As the meteor gets closer,
he raises the ring towards it and concentrates. His deranged mind thinks of
something that can halt the meteor. As he closes his eyes and concentrates,
smoke starts to come out of the edges of his eyes. He mumbles something as he
keeps his hand raised. Then a giant coil of steel rises from the ground, like it
was the beanstalk from the fairy tale. It is followed by several other large
coils of steel. They rise and twist like metal vines, growing at a ridiculous
rate. Within seconds, it all comes together and Zero looks up at the giant bed
springs that now tower over him. And they come together with little time to
spare. As soon as they done growing, the meteor hits them with all its force.
The springs recoil under the great strain and are pushed down towards Zero. He
looks up and watches as the meteor pushes down on the springs. He can see the
coils straining as the meteor pushes closer and closer to him. But before it
reaches him, they stop. For a brief second, nothing seems to be happening. Then
the springs push the meteor back up as they uncoil. Like giant snakes, the
spring into the air, sending the meteor up with them. The force sends the meteor
flying into the air. As the meteor flies away, the springs sink back into the
ground. Zero stands there smiling as he watches the meteor disappear into the
horizon.
The girls scream as they see the Myth looking into the hole
made in the side of the car. The Myth is quite scary looking with his large size
and long, wild beard. He has a crazed look in his eyes as he has plans for the
women that would be deemed barbaric. He looks right at them and says "If you
give up, I may be gentle with you." This upsets Connie as she knows what he has
on his mind. She instinctively aims at him and shoots out two missiles that fly
right at his giant face and explode. He screams at the impact and pulls his head
out of the hole. While he is not seriously injured, the blast has temporarily
blinded him as well as burn most of his beard and hair off. But before they can
do anything, they see a flash of light and then a beam of energy rips through
the car. They dive to the floor to dodge the beam coming from the Miner. The
beam rips through one side of the car and goes out the other side. The smell of
seared metal fills the air. Vanessa looks up and sees that there is an actual
hole going through the car. She whispers to Connie "Follow me, I have an idea."
Connie nods in agreement. Vanessa then crawls over to the freshly made hole and
climbs out. As she falls to the ground, she turns on the jets and flies away
from the car. Connie quickly follows her and in no time, they are both free of
the car. But before they can be completely safe, they hear the all too familiar
crackling noise as the Miner sends a beam of power at them. "Hit the ground!"
Vanessa yells as she flies towards the ground. Connie follows her and just in
time as the beam of energy flies over their heads and down the subway tunnel.
Knowing they have a few seconds, Vanessa veers to the right and heads towards
the stairway up. Connie is right behind her and they quickly get out of the
tunnel and are headed towards the stairs. Once again, they hear the crackling
noise, but they are able to get up the stairs before it hits. The power of the
beam hits the wall and knocks its over. The force makes the stairway begin to
cave in around them. Vanessa and Connie rush upwards towards the street, barely
making it before the stairs begin to cave in. As they fly out, they see the
ground beneath them caving in. "Got out of there in the nick of time." Vanessa
says as the both stare at the hole. Satisfied that their adversaries are now
buried underground, they take off to go help Robert.
The Fallen One and Doctor Warlock stand over the body of the
Fury. He lays there motionless as he drifts in and out of consciousness. The
Fallen One is feeling drained as his battle with the Fury has taken allot out of
him. He looks at Doctor Warlock and says "Kill him now. I do not desire another
battle with him." Doctor Warlock mumbles an incantation and out comes another
bolt of lightning. The impact of the lightning is strong as it hits The Fury.
The room crackles with energy and both the Fallen One and Doctor Warlock have to
shield their eyes. When the crackling subsides, they open their eyes to see that
the Fury remains there with no signs of the lightning affecting him.
"Impressive. Even in his unconscious state, he maintains a mental shield." The
Fallen One says as he looks at the body. "I have another solution." Doctor
Warlock says as he begins to cast another spell. He waves his arms as he closes
his eyes and begins reciting a different spell. This time, a black hole begins
to open underneath the Fury. It starts small but quickly grows until the entire
ground under his is one giant black hole. His limp body then falls into the hole
and quickly disappears. After the body has completely fallen in, the hole begins
to close back up. Within seconds, there is no evidence that the hole or the Fury
ever existed. The Fallen One looks at him and asks "What spell did you use on
him?" Doctor Warlock smiles as he says "It was a dimensional jump spell. I sent
him to some parallel universe." The Fallen One looks at him and asks "How do you
know he will not return?" Doctor Warlock laughs and says "He will have no idea
where he is or even how he arrived there." The Fallen One then asks "But which
universe did you send him?" Doctor Warlock laughs as he says "I have no idea.
All I know is it a universe that mirrors this one with some minor differences."
The Fallen One laughs as well as he says "He will wake up in a strange world
with no way home. That is a fate worse than death." They both break out
laughing.
With the threat of the meteor behind him, Zero heads over and
checks on Robert. Having time to recover, Robert is once again awake and
struggling to get back on his feet. Zero walks over and lends him a hand. "Easy
there, yogi bear." he says as he pulls Robert up to his feet. It is not easy to
do as Robert in his armor is quite heavy. As Robert stands up, he speaks to his
computer. "Langston, give me a damage assessment." He hears some noise and then
he hears the familiar voice in his ear. "Glad you are still with us. I am
assessing the damage as we speak." Robert then looks over at Zero and says
"Thanks for saving me." Zero salutes him and says "No problem dude." Robert
looks at him oddly as he is an odd person. He has long, wild hair sticking out
of his mask. He wears a strange looking costume and has a crazed look in his
eyes. "And who might you be?" Robert asks as he puts out his hand. "Friends, if
I had any, call me Zero. I am the wearer of the magic ring." He then shows
Robert his ring which is a simple silver ring with a face on it that looks like
someone screaming. "This is the ring of madness. It drives a normal man crazy,
but it does not affect me." Robert looks at him and says "I see." After he
finishes speaking, Langston speaks "The armor needs extensive repair. The Flight
systems are down. The shield is gone. Most of the weapon systems are either
depleted or damaged." Robert then asks "So what is still working?" There is a
moment of silence, while Langston tallies up what still works. "The
communication system is working fine. The repulser rays still work. The smoke
screen works fine." Robert quickly cuts him off. "Smoke Screen? What's that?"
Once again there is a moment of silence while Langston pulls up the information.
"Smoke screen is a defense mechanism. The armor is equipped with liquid smoke
that can be shot out of the gauntlets in the form of smoke. It allows for escape
or to temporarily blind an opponent." Robert is amazed that he never knew about
this feature. It makes him wonder what other features this suit has that he is
unaware of. Maybe he could have used that feature in battle.
With the Fury out of the way, Doctor Warlock and The Fallen
One emerge from the building. The plan is to gather their men and plan the next
step. With Justin Rage out of the way, they can easily rule this city. But The
Fallen One has larger plans as he wants to rule the planet. But first, he needs
to recuperate from the battle. The Fury was more powerful than he thought and
the fight seriously depleted him. But any rest will have to wait as he quickly
learns that all of his foes have not been destroyed. They come out to see Robert
and Zero. Robert is leaning against the wall and Zero is standing next to him,
admiring his ring. "What kind of sorcery is this? I killed you." Doctor Warlock
says as he looks at the two men standing there. Zero turns to see them and
quickly makes a smart comment "Close, but no cigar." He then holds his ring up
and concentrates as he thinks about what he wants the ring to do. The smoke then
comes out of his eyes and a light shoots up into the clouds above the city. A
cloud above them turns dark and the sound of thunder shakes the entire city.
"What madness will we have to endure this time?" Doctor Warlock asks as he
prepares himself for some kind of insanity. There is another crack of thunder
and the cloud opens up. Out pours a bunch of objects that are falling right at
Doctor Warlock and The Fallen One. As Doctor Warlock looks up and sees the
objects getting larger as they fall closer, he is stunned. What he sees falling
towards him are hundred of Narwhal whales. These are no ordinary whales, but
they possess a long tooth that looks like a unicorn's horn. These tooth can be
up to nine feet long and can be quite dangerous, especially when it is falling
towards you with a large whale attached. Doctor Warlock quickly casts a shield
spell to prevent both of them getting gored by the Narwhals. Within a second of
casting the spell, the first whales hit the shield. Their long tooth impales the
shield and each one causes a mental strain on Doctor Warlock. And what is worse
is the Narwhals keep falling. It is literally a monsoon of whales. The repeated
impact with his shield is putting a massive strain on him and he literally falls
to his knees as he struggles to maintain the shield. Luckily for him, the rain
of whales comes to an end after a few hundred Narwhals have fallen on him. The
Narwhals all disappear after they hit the ground. He is kneeling on the ground,
breathing heavy as he looks at Zero who is sticking his tongue out at him. He
then mumbles a spell without getting up and casts it. Once again, a black hole
appears. This one opens up under Zero's feet and before he knows what is
happening, he is sucked into it. He struggles to grab the edge of the hole, but
the pull of the black hole is too great and soon he is completely sucked in.
Then like before, it closes back up.
Robert is leaning against the building, watching it all. He
is now worried as it is only him against the two strongest enemies that he ever
faced. "Langston, it was nice knowing you." he says as he prepares for his final
battle. Doctor Warlock turns to Robert and says "Now we only one left to
destroy." Robert pushes himself from the wall and braces for the battle. He
knows that he has no chance, but he must try to stall them as much as possible.
"Do your worst." he says as he struggles to stand up straight. Langston then
responds "Would you like me to take over sir?" Robert looks at them and says
"No, I want to die fighting." He then raises his hands and shoots out his smoke
screen. Smokes pours out of his hands and in no time, the area fills with a
thick cloud of smoke. Knowing an attack is coming, he quickly moves to the
right. And like he predicted, a fireball cuts through the smoke and hits the
wall where he was standing only moments before. The fireball hits the wall and
bursts into flames. He jumps down as flames shoot out from the impact. Most of
the flames goes past him, with only a few actually hitting the armor. Even in
its weakened state, the armor easily absorbs the flames.
Doctor Warlock coughs as the smoke fills his lungs. He does
not know if his fireball hit its intended target, but he wanted to retaliate as
quickly as possible. The smoke is so thick that he cannot see more than six
inches in front of him. He lifts his hands and prepares his next spell. When he
finishes, a strong wind blows in from an unknown source and pushes the smoke
away. The smoke flies off into other parts of the city as the wind carries it
off. With that out of the way, he can now find Robert, who is laying on the
ground. Behind him is the scorched wall that took the brunt of the fireball.
"You possess more lives than a cat. But even a cat runs out of lives." he says
as he raises his arms and starts to mumble a spell. Before he can cast it,
Robert jumps up and uses his repulsor rays. The rays shoot out and push Doctor
Warlock back into The Fallen One. This stops his spell as he was not able to
finish the incantation. The Fallen One easily stops Doctor Warlock's momentum.
The Fallen One then pushes Doctor Warlock to the side and says "Move aside, I
will finish him. I grow weary of this battle." When he finishes speaking, he
looks right at Robert with a look of pure evil. Robert, knowing he has nowhere
to run, braces himself for an attack. The Fallen One then opens his mouth and
shoots out a column of fire that heads right at Robert. With no shields, he has
no idea how he is going to survive this one. He closes his eyes and begins to
pray.
Before the flames can engulf Robert, they just stop. The
flames are literally frozen in the air as if time has completely stopped.
Robert, expecting to be burnt to death, opens his eyes to see why it has not
happened. He sees the flames, mere inches from his face, frozen in mid air.
Before he can wonder what happened, he hears a familiar voice. "Your fight is
with me. Leave him alone." Daniel says as he floats down and lands next to
Robert. The Fallen One laughs as he says "I thought you ran away. You will
regret coming back, I will see to it." Daniel laughs and says "I did not run
away, I went for help." Doctor Warlock jumps in "We have beaten every hero you
have thrown at us, we have nothing to fear." Daniel then says "You may not fear
them, but The Fallen One will." Just then, the other three wizards appear next
to him. They were invisible the entire time, just waiting for the right moment
to appear. "No!!!" the Fallen One screams as he knows that he has no chance
against all four of them. Knowing this is a losing fight, Doctor Warlock quickly
creates a teleport spell and disappears. While he has pledge his allegiance to
the Fallen One, he knows a losing situation when he sees it. He has no desire to
go back to the other dimension and be imprisoned. Before The Fallen One can
curse the cowardice of Doctor Warlock, he is attacked by all four wizards. The
battle is over in seconds as they all throw an imprison spell on him and he
finds himself sealed in a magic box with no chance of escaping. Daniel then
turns to the other wizards and says "Take him back to the fortress, I have some
work here." With that, they disappear along with The Fallen One. Daniel turns to
Robert and says "We need to find the others." Robert nods in agreement.
Before Daniel can start looking, they see the girls flying
in. Vanessa and Connie are flying towards them, waving. As they land in front of
them, Vanessa rushes over and hugs Robert. Connie goes over and hugs Daniel.
This catches him by surprise as he is not used to such signs of affection. "So
is it over?" she asks Robert. He nods his head and says "All we need to do is
find The One."
The team heads over to where they last saw the One. Robert
remembers where Doctor Warlock hit him with a lightning bolt and figures that
would be the best place to start looking. When they arrive there, they find his
body laying there. It is lifeless as before. Connie runs over and checks to see
if he is breathing. As she tries to feel for his breath, Daniel does a spell
that scans the body. When it finishes, he bows his head. "Is he dead?" Connie
asks Daniel. He looks up at her and just shakes his head yes. She breaks down
crying as she puts her head on his cold, metallic chest. She then looks up at
him and asks "Can't you do a spell to bring him back?" Daniel shakes his head as
he says "Some things are beyond our powers. Only God can give life. Daniel then
casts a teleportation spell and takes the whole team, including the lifeless
One, back to headquarters.
Silent Jury © 2006-2009 Tom Zjaba