by Mathy, Scott
Gesturing at the rolling cart, he watched as they passed between the tanks, heading toward a freight elevator they’d missed in the darkness, “Those are body bags. Maybe they’re heading for whatever he’s doing with the dead Capes.”
She silently agreed, following as Dwight crept down the metal grating toward their goal. By the time they’d reached the second set of stairs, the forklift and its escorts were already aboard, and the steel crosshatched doors had closed them in. As it departed, Dwight stepped out of cover to examine the controls. The lone key reader fixed to the wall awaited their identification.
He waited, listening to the elevator. When it finally stopped, he counted to thirty, bobbing his head along with the numbers. At thirty, he swiped his ID through the scanner. It chirped sharply in refusal, the red light on the reader blinking once.
“Shit!” Dwight exclaimed under his breath. He dug the stack out of his disguise’s inner pocket, quickly shuffling through the cards.
Glitch side-eyed the collection, attempting to maintain her illusion as one of the cloned army in case of hidden security cameras. “How many of those do you have?” she murmured through the corner of her mouth.
“Only twenty now; I’ve got more in a box near Ellis’ place,” he joked aloud, not bothering to control his volume. Locating the specific badge he’d been seeking, Glitch looked over her glasses to examine it. A snarling reptilian face filled the picture, its maw of jagged teeth taking up a disproportionate amount of the image.
He ran it through the scanner. This time, he was rewarded with a positive chime and the sounds of the elevator coming to life again. It rolled down, eventually triggering the grates to move aside. The open space of the cage beyond awaited them. They stepped in and pressed the button for the top floor.
Halfway through their journey, alarms began sounding. A bulb at the corner of the elevator spun, throwing its yellow light around the closed space. “I’d bet that’s our friend making himself known.” He checked his phone, “Well, shit,” he showed its screen to Glitch, “Twelve minutes before he got their attention. Either he learned to count or got lost in the garage.”
“I’m betting the latter,” the cyborg replied, still attempting not to break cover.
The elevator rocked to a halt, the doors parting as a sudden wave of humidity washed into the cage. Both passengers stood in awe at the veritable forest before them. The greenhouse was lined with bush after bush filling the space as far as they could see. Above them, banks of powerful lamps radiated through every inch the room. The tropical air was thick with something else, something Dwight couldn’t quite put his finger on. A few yards ahead, the forklift sat unoccupied; its driver and his guards tending to the bodies, unbagging them and carrying them into away into the foliage.
“What the fuck…?” Glitch trailed off, attempting to process the scene.
They ducked low, hiding between the massive plants growing toward the ceiling. Stopping by one of the stations, Dwight leaned out to investigate the busy Associates. One of the three was digging in an empty plot, pushing the dirt aside. As he finished, the two dragging the naked corpse pitched it into the hole. All three covered the body, leaving a small mound in the center. The driver reached for a sealed crate beside the plot, unlocking it with his thumbprint. As it opened, the leaves of a plant similar to the others pushed through the separation. The Associate removed the seedling from the container, placing it in the soil.
“Wulf’s grand scheme is corpse-farming?” Glitch asked, puzzled by the display.
Dwight examined the plant growing in front of him, feeling the leaves between his fingers when the answer hit him, “I’ve seen these before, in Void’s world. These plants enhance the abilities of Powers. They’re using the bodies of metahumans for nutrients. He’s farming Powers to make himself stronger.”
Just as he finished his epiphany, a door opened at the far side of the greenhouse. Spying between the growing stations, Dwight gazed out at the newcomers. The first was dressed head-to-toe in white, a bodysuit wrapped in a silvery high-collared cloak. Over its head, a mirrored mask followed the activity of the three Associates, regarding their work from a distance. The shrouded person walked with authority, stopped briefly several times to examine the growing plants before continuing.
Its companion froze Dwight’s blood in his veins the moment he laid eyes on it. The creature resembled one of the husks he’d fought on Acheron, but it was immediately clear this was something different. Despite the vaguest hints of femininity to its shape and features, its inhuman wasted flesh clung to a visible blackened skeleton. The pulses of energy that ran through its bones were more vibrant than any of the creatures he’d seen before. Its hands ended in vicious talons, jagged spikes punctuating every limb. It walked on the front of its sharpened feet, its heels never touching the ground. A razor-sharp tail, almost as long as it was tall, swung gently behind it as it moved. The steel tendrils growing from its scalp moved of their own accord, occasionally reaching out and touching the greenery as it passed between the stations. Wherever they contacted, a faint blue energy surged through the matter, causing each patch of leaves to instantly wilt and die.
The pair crossed the room at their individual paces, arriving at the Associates together. Dwight struggled to hear their conversation as the Associates listened attentively to the masked one. It gestured toward the elevator, dismissing the group. As soon as they left, abandoning the forklift, the masked person turned to face the station Dwight and Glitch were hiding behind.
“Hiding isn’t going to help you,” it announced. The voice coming from the mask was deep, muffled by the smooth covering.
They exchanged frantic glances before the voice spoke again, “You can step out, and we can settle this like reasonable beings, or I can order my companion to tear you to pieces.”
Dwight rose, directing Glitch with a hand to stay behind cover. “Drop the shit, Wulf. Your fancy new outfit is nice, but I thought we’d cut the crap and deal with this whole ‘Counsel’ business.”
The mask’s head tilted slightly, judging the trespasser’s words, “Elijah Wulf is no longer in charge of this operation. It was clear from his failures to complete his sole task that I needed to step in. He has unfortunately made himself scarce since I announced my arrival. I am Counsel. You are?”
“The Referee,” Dwight answered confidently, taking another step away from Glitch, testing the limits of the Counsel’s knowledge, “You’re awfully straightforward, for an enigmatic overlord.”
“If I believed you posed any threat to me or my operations, Zel would be standing over your corpse. I’ve heard of your work, Mr. Knolls. I never knew your name specifically, but I did know of Wulf’s assassin. Whether you knew it or not, you’ve been working for me for some time.”
He took a step toward Counsel and – he guessed – Zel, its tail raised like a predator waiting to pounce. “I suppose that you’re the real power behind StarPoint, then?”
“Quite. Mr. Wulf’s results were less effective than I desired. I try very hard not to question my minion’s methods, but when the order I’ve carefully crafted begins to come apart, I’m afraid more extreme measures must be taken,” he began walking toward the door they had entered through, Zel trailing behind. “We can continue this conversation in my office.”
Glitch eyed Dwight with panic as he left their row, trailing behind the mastermind and his pet monster. Upon reaching the entryway, Dwight recognized the dark blue tinted windows of Wulf’s lair. Counsel stepped around the marble slab at its center, making it clear that Dwight was to take a seat at the all-too-familiar front. Zel proceeded to the rear of the massive hall, staring out the floor-to-ceiling windows while the two talked.
“What’s with the cyber-skeleton?” Dwight began.
Counsel looked back at the creature as it dragged its claws over the surface, tracing abstract patterns in the colored glass. “She is an artifact of my past travels, a synthetic organism unlike anything I have ever seen.�
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“Can she talk?”
“For a time, she could,” his muffled voice filled with nostalgic memories, “I’m afraid her systems have degraded over the centuries. All that’s left is the compulsion to follow the last command I gave her.”
“And that was?” Dwight asked.
“To protect me and my work, Mr. Knolls,” he touched the glass dome covering Wulf’s prize skull. “You’ve met them – the Powers. Beings like them exist in every possibility of the multiverse. Individuals who are destined to fight and to rule; it’s inevitable. There will always be those with and those without powers; they can bring a world together in perfect order, or burn it in chaos. Look around you, outside of this city; it has already happened to this world once.”
He looked at his reflection in the outsider’s mask, “How about the name?”
The stranger stopped, reflecting on the question, “A moniker of times past. For a dozen lifetimes, I made my way as an advisor of sorts. I guided the rulers of worlds to their fortune,” he paused briefly, “or ruin; it hardly mattered in the long term. I’ve seen empires rise to the stars only to fall, return like the phoenix from their own ashes, and inevitably fall again. Some of the survivors took to creating prophesies about my return; it really was quite flattering of them. I’ve since abandoned those ways.”
Dwight felt the conviction in the masked person’s speech, “So how do you fit into this?” he pointed at the city outside the massive windows, “What are you now?”
Counsel grabbed the sides of his mask, unclasping the clamps holding its mirrored surface in place, revealing a face Dwight could only recognize as his own – much older, grayer, lined with a network of disfiguring scars, but his. “I – we,” he corrected, “are the answer.”
He set the faceplate on the desk, “The Referee – I suppose that’s how I would have originally been thought of – has always been about balance. We allow the Powers and the powerless to exist together as best we can. For a time, each world manages, but eventually, they all collapse under the conflict.”
Dwight shook off the shock of his other self’s revelation, “So you start killing them, wipe out the ones that won’t be ruled by you.”
Counsel’s demeanor darkened, his words growing more hostile, “If that is what must happen, better exterminate the defiant so the others can survive as long as possible.”
“Your point is? Wulf already tried to dictate his way to peace. It’s falling apart. The extradimensional prison was a disaster waiting to happen. You can’t just murder the ones that don’t agree with you.”
“This isn’t about agreement, Dwight. Do you have any idea what happens when the concentration of Powers grows too strong?”
He crossed his arms over his chest, “I imagine they kill each other, right?”
“Hardly,” the ancient Dwight scoffed, “It comes. The universe has a way of balancing itself. When there are too many Powers, a being of truly horrific, planet-shattering power wipes it clean: the End. I have seen it, fought it, and lost time and again. It can’t be stopped.”
“And you’ve been culling the herd, trying to keep it away.”
“Yes,” he said, letting his frustration abate. “For so long now, but we’ve crossed a tipping point. The incidents of metahumanity in New Haven are beyond anything I could hope to control without open slaughter.”
“But you have that option,” Dwight added solemnly, remembering the fate of Void’s world.
Counsel sighed heavily, turning to Zel. The patterns her fingers scratched into the glass panes had formed complex tales, the stories of civilizations wiped out and rebuilt in an endless circle. “Sadly, yes. If it keeps the End from gaining more power, I will do what must be done.” Counsel stepped around the desk, placing a hand on the seated Dwight’s shoulder, “It cannot be allowed to roam free, and every Power it kills makes it stronger.”
“Zombifying entire worlds as a final solution…” terrifying as it was, the answer made some sliver of sense to him. He thought of the poisoned surface of the other Earth, of the walking dead forever hunting the ruins of their New Haven. He thought of Zhu’s loss, and that of the other Referee. He stood.
He glared at the familiar stranger, then back at the impending doom of his world scratching softly at the glass, “But that’s what you’re doing with the dead Powers: making yourself stronger.” He clenched his fists, feeling sickness growing in the pit of his stomach.
Counsel recognized his counterpart’s aggression, “If I hope to fight for all of existence, I need an edge. We both gain power in response to other metahumans. Why do you think I can’t stop it? It will always be just as strong as us.” He grabbed the mask from behind him.
“So you’ll take it by stealing people’s lives, using them to increase your own chances of survival.”
“This is not about only my survival; it’s about the entire multiverse!” he shouted at Dwight, the fury growing in his eyes before clamping the mask back in place, its mirrored surface reflecting the young Dwight’s condemning stare.
Dwight reared back to throw an electrified punch into Counsel’s masked face. The masked Power extended his arms, inviting the blow. Before it landed, their exchange was interrupted suddenly as an explosion from the greenhouse rocked the building. Smoke poured through the doors, freezing them all in place.
Glitch stepped through the cloud, waving the choking fumes away from her. “Turns out forklifts are surprisingly prone to explosion,” she announced proudly.
Zel snapped out of her trance, rising to her bony feet at the rear of the chamber.
Even in his armor and helmet, Dwight could feel Counsel’s rage, “What have you done!?” the masked Power roared furiously.
She laughed, looking back at the inferno behind her, “Disabled your sprinklers and upped your insurance, I suppose. Your sick little farming experiment is going up in flames. Next time, I’d recommend herbs and tomatoes – far less likely to piss off this city’s guardians.”
“That was centuries’ worth of work you destroyed. Without those plants, the End will be unstoppable when it comes.” Counsel’s voice was shaking, barely coherent fury spat through the mask.
“What, these?” She held out a single vine of the green leaves, “I’m confiscating these as evidence of what you were planning.”
Before either of them could process the movement, Counsel was standing behind her. With one hand, he grasped Glitch’s outstretched arm. He crushed the limb at the forearm, twisting the steel between his fingers as he closed his fist. The cyborg’s face transformed from mocking laughter to terrified agony as he rammed his other palm straight through the center of her torso. Sparks and fluids sprayed across the black marble floor. The twitching woman, her systems registering the catastrophic damage, tried to look back at her attacker. Just as she made eye contact with the mirrored surface, Counsel spread his arms, effortlessly tearing the cyborg in two. In his right hand, Glitch’s dismembered arm clung to the stem. He shook her body’s vital fluids from his gleaming armored sleeve as he watched the woman’s body spasm on the ground.
Turning back to Dwight, he twisted Glitch’s clinging fingers, breaking each one like twigs until the plant was free. “Cute toy, Dwight, but appears I broke her.” He casually tossed the destroyed appendage across the floor.
Dwight sparked his knuckles, the blood in his veins boiling, “You wretched fuck,” he cursed.
Bernard came crashing through the door, an Associate hanging limply in each hand. “Finally!” the brute yelled at the top of his lungs. He flung the two unconscious guards aside as he stepped into the office, his vision sweeping the room before stopping on Zel’s skeletal form.
“B, get the monster!” Dwight shouted, charging forward across the office. Dwight’s fist connected with Counsel’s armor, but his spiked, electrified knuckles brushed futilely across the smooth surface.
Across the room, Bernard and Zel exchanged sweeping blows. Every scratch, every contact with the alien skeleton in
stantly blackened and rotted Bernard’s flesh, yet he continued to fight as the infection pushed his regenerative limits. She was faster and more vicious than Bernard, but every swing from the restored Goliath was a haymaker, inflicting brutal injury on his monstrous foe. Lifting the creature by the throat, his own hand decomposing as he held her, he rammed her into the etched glass repeatedly. Eventually, the splintering surface shattered, bringing with it a blast of frigid air. The light of the overcast sky beyond filled the office.
Zel lashed out at Bernard’s weakened hand with her talons, slicing clean through flesh and bone. She fell through the hole, shrieking horribly as she disappeared. Bernard staggered back, holding the stump where his hand once was.
Dwight continued to throw punch after useless punch into Counsel’s body. He screamed bitter hatred at the Power, all the time fixated on the reflection of his own face in the mask. Finally, his adrenaline spent, he stepped back, breathing heavily.
“Do you think for a single second that you’re the first Referee I’ve faced? I am the superior being here, Dwight. I will be the last one standing at the end of all things, because I am the perfect version of us.” He raised both of his hands to his collar, fixing the miniscule disturbance Dwight’s attack had caused. He froze as he realized the stem of the plant had been torn from his fist.
From the floor, Glitch let out a spiteful laugh, “I win,” she said, her vocal systems struggling to create the words. Her unbroken arm fired from her body at the elbow, rocketing through the glass and out into the cold afternoon sky, taking the last of Counsel’s secret weapon with it.
Counsel shook with rage, his fingers trembling as they followed the leaves’ path out of the tower. He glared down at the snickering cyborg for several seconds before lifting a boot and slamming it down in her neck, severing it in a burst of jagged metal fragments.
Dwight swung into action, kicking the head away with his boot. Bernard leapt forward, slamming into Counsel. The impact knocked him off his feet, hurling him through Wulf’s trophy cases. Bernard pressed the assault, charging forward with his one good hand. Dwight raced after Glitch’s head, diving to catch it before it plummeted out though the shattered glass her fist created. He clutched the head, filthy with oil and other fluids, to his shirt. The cyborg’s eyes were open in shock, but responsive.