The Silver Crystal

[BeakerSqueedom]

The Surfer looked heartbroken when he met her eyes, his ethereal voice catching in his throat. “Not always.”

That really choked me up. ;_;

“Not so tough now, are ya?u201D Phil van Neuter said in a menacing tone before giving the Surfer a swift kick across his face that had done more damage to Phil’s foot than it had on the Surfer’s face. “Ouch! Owie, owie, owie! That hurts!u201D

Mulch grunted a concerned question to his boss.

“No, I’m not alright, Mulch!u201D He snapped. “It was like kicking a big, stupid rock! OUCH! I’m gonna have blisters in the morning, I just know it!u201D

Zuko looked down upon the fallen Silver Surfer, noticing his weakened state. “He doesn’t look as powerful as he did when I first saw him. He’s not the god I imagined him to be, without his power.”

LOL! Never use the foot on the amazing Silver Surfer!
Naughty is de Van Neuter!

We have to get the h*ll out of here!u201D Crichton shouted.

Aeryn turned back to the metal case. She hadn’t activated the keypad. “It’s not set up yet,u201D she told Crichton.

His reply was immediate. “Forget about it! Just get out of there!u201D

Jen was not listening to either of them. He stood transfixed, unable to turn away from the glowing figure before him. It was the first time he had seen the entity up close. The surrounding woods were bathed in the Surfer’s glow. This time, the light gently caressed the trees, warming their trunks with its radiance. The chill in the air departed and Sue felt deep inside of her a sense of everything growing, everything breathing, alive. Her hands fell listlessly to her sides, the com links crackling and going dead in the radiation put off by the glowing silver entity.

Adventure, danger, and excitment!
That's what I felt!

“He destroyed our world, Kira.” Jen said. “Destroyed everything that stood for our existence as the last two Gelflings on Thra. That is something neither you nor I can lose sight of.”

She knew that Jen was right, yet something broke inside of her and she couldn’t stop the tears that swelled in her eyes.

“Hey, hey.” Irma said, noting her teary eyes. “We defeated the greatest threat we’ve ever faced. The planet is safe.”

“Yes,u201D Bunsen agreed. “So why do I feel that our actions today had only made things worse?u201D

“Meep mee.” Beaker acknowledged his friend’s sentiment.

*Shivers* Oh, gosh!
Yes, why do you feel that way?
I feel that uncertainty as well!
:O


Thank you, Sean!
*Huggles tightly*

D: Eddie, don't baby me!
I'm a big kid now. XD

Ok, Eddie-weddie?
Ok Seany....
*Clears throat*

Ok, cutting the baby talk....



LOL!

WONDERFUL CHAPTER!

 

[The Count]

Eh... If you wanna your head reverberating with a mighty temblor... Suit yourself. And just for that, know that I know what Bunsen is refering to in that last little bit where he and Beaker feel that their victory over the Surfer was hollow. So there. And I'll only tell you if Sean wants me to spoil it, though I doubt that very much.
*Disappears in a smug shroud of shadowy secrecy.

 

[muppetwriter]

Chapter Fourteen​

The oldest C.O.V.N.E.T. headquarters on Earth was nestled deep in the Artic, a mystery to even those stationed there. Strong gale winds blew snow and ice around furiously, all but hiding the institution from spy satellites and other international observers. Whiteouts were a common occurrence amid such primal and vicious weather, so far from the shelter of the civilized world. When the winds died down, the base’s structure became a bit clearer: one building for housing, one for operations, and a large hangar to house the swiftest and most powerful C.O.V.N.E.T. jets.

The night sky, here at the top of the world, was clear and bright, the silver stars casting a white light across the deep, inky night. Beyond anything within the United States, beyond Guantanamo Bay, this isolated and top-secret base in the middle of nowhere was reserved for the U.S. military’s most otherworldly dangerous creatures, the ones needing the most persuasion to cooperate. Even the most recalcitrant prisoner could turn helpful here in the center of nothing, with only miles and miles of blistering white to be seen in every direction.

General Luft and Captain Raye watched the arrival of the prisoner from their safe and relatively warm vantage point inside the main entrance of the base. Heavily armed soldiers in thick parkas and gloves unloaded the Surfer. Chains bound his wrists, holding them firmly behind his back. His feet were similarly shackled, with a loose piece of chain between them, allowing him to walk from the transport helicopter to the base. Duct tape was used to keep him blind, unsure of his steps, vulnerable. The Surfer displayed no reaction to the vicious cold as he was moved outside, the soldiers pushing him along with their thick guns, steam escaping from their mouths with each frigid word uttered. Another dozen guards, also heavily armed, stood waiting to receive the prisoner. General Luft grunted with satisfaction at the sight of the captured and bound Surfer.

Reed, Victor, and the others were not privy to the sight, having been brought in under military escort. Yet something odd occurred as they were escorted. Halfway into the building, the Gelflings and Crichton’s Moya crew had been separated from the group, taken to another section of the headquarters. One of them tried to get answers out of the soldiers to find out why they were being kept separated, but none of them gave any thought of answering.

The others were taken to a conference room in the rear of the facility. Luft surmised that they had served their purpose, and he would ship them out of here as soon as the prisoner was secured and he could spare a pilot to fly them away. But for now, they would be kept under guard. Out of his way.

Luft, Raye, and Jack Crichton silently walked the short distance to the rear conference room where the team was waiting. He was keeping them under close guard, not wanting any surprises until the Surfer was locked safely in the base’s special holding cell. But it wasn’t long before he heard a commotion and the brisk voices of the guards coming through the partially opened door of the room.

Reed’s face showed his obvious concern over the treatment of both his team and the prisoner. “We had an agreement, General,” Reed said, his words heated and loud.

“Calm down,” the general replied. “The enemy’s been captured. Mission accomplished.” He pasted a smile on his face, trying to sound convincing.

Despite even the smile, Crichton didn’t look so convinced. “Apparently it’s not only the enemy who has been captured.”

“What do you mean, son?” Jack asked him.

“What I mean is that my crew and two of my friends have been taken to a different area, without any of us knowing about it!” Crichton exclaimed. “How come we’re in this room and they’re in another?”

“I was just about to ask the same thing.” Will added.

Luft was a bit hesitant with his answer. “Look, the important thing is that the threat is being taken care of. He is contained.”

Victor stepped to the forefront. “And his board?” he asked.

Captain Raye spoke up. “It’s in a chamber that continuously scrambles the signal. A chamber right next to the one where we keep the crystal we discovered in Texas.” The information regarding the Crystal of Thra perked up a few ears, most particularly Phil and Crichton’s, as they were the two in the room that were most interesting in it. Victor eyed Captain Raye in a way that made her skin crawl.

Suddenly the air was filled with the sound of heavy wheezing. A chill swept through the room as if someone had just opened a window, letting in the arctic blasts of air. Luft turned to see a short, bald man standing in the doorway. His eyes were shielded behind large mirrored goggles that gripped his pale, thin-skinned skull tightly. A long mink coat was wrapped around his slight shoulders and gathered gently at his feet. One of the man’s frail, pale hands emerged from the sea of mink, holding the coat close around his chest. The short pink digits of his hand had long, tapered nails that looked slightly polished. The wheezing continued as the short man looked around the room, his gaze finally coming to rest on the general.

“Who’s this? Phil van Neuter’s long lost uncle?” Irma jokingly inquired.

“Of course not.” Phil answered. “My uncle is much more creepier than this guy.”

While the others stared at the strange-looking vision in the doorway, General Luft didn’t miss a beat. “Mr. Sherman,” the general said, trying hard to smile. “Good to see you. We could use your help.”

The eerie little man didn’t move but stood frozen to the doorway. His voice, when he spoke, held undercurrents of malice. “Take me to them,” he wheezed.

“Them?” Will uttered in confusion.

General Luft brought his hands together with a loud clap, stirring the room’s occupants from their momentary stupor. “If you’ll all excuse us,” he said, sounding as businesslike as possible, “we have work to do.”

Reed approached the general, keeping one eye on the figure in the doorway. “I’d like to be present for questioning,” he said.

“So would I.” Crichton demanded.

“John…” Jack began.

The general kept walking toward the door, barely acknowledging Reed and Crichton’s request, saying only, “Not going to happen.” He led the diminutive man out of the doorway and into the hall, then turned and stopped the team in their tracks with a look. With one gesture from the general, the guards in the room followed him out and positioned themselves on the other side of the door. “Please make sure our guests remain here comfortably,” Luft said in a clipped tone before shutting the door behind him.

Luft passed through the long, cold hallways of the arctic base, leading Mr. Sherman through a series of armed checkpoints until they reached their destination. Termed the “guest center” on all official documents, the area was little more than a high-tech prison. State-of-the-art locking mechanisms and surveillance equipment made the individual cells impervious to even the idea of escape. A mélange of lights, lasers, tools, and other items of coercion were carefully secreted behind locked cabinet doors. A number of trained intelligence officers, each known officially as a “concierge,” were employed at the base to see that each guest earned his keep in providing whatever information was deemed necessary by the military.

General Luft carefully dismissed the staff present in the information center, with the exception of his armed escort. Once they were alone, he led Mr. Sherman to one particular holding cell. He punched the secret security code into a small keypad on the wall and the double doors opened swiftly and silently. The two men entered the room.

The cell was a small, square room with padded walls. A small porthole was situated on the wall farthest from the door, displaying the great expanse of white nothingness outside. Inside this cell were the unconscious forms of Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Katara, each of them had their arms and legs bounded in case they regained consciousness and attempted to escape. The restraints were chained to the floor, thereby rendering movement almost impossible. The four aliens inside the cell were sitting on their knees in the empty, cold cell.

“Thanks to information we’d received from Dr. Phil van Neuter, we’ve discovered that these four beings were in alliance with the silver alien.” Luft told Sherman. “Apparently, much like their young friend, these things can bend the natural elements of our planet. I seriously doubt if their special powers can be useful toward humanity.”

Sherman nodded in understanding, observing the four otherworldly characters closely. His eyes stopped directly on Aang, taking notice of the markings on his body. “What’s the story on that kid?” he spoke in a wheeze, just above a whisper.

“From what Neuter told us, he’s known as ‘The Avatar’, a powerful being that can bend all four of the elements.” Luft explained. “He’s the most dangerous out of the four of them and needs to be taken care of as soon as possible.”

Sherman nodded again. “I’ll see to it.”

Luft closed the doors to the cell, and they automatically locked, only to be opened again through the security code. Afterwards, Luft and his escort went to the next holding cell, opening it up to reveal its occupants: Elyon, Caleb, Vathek, Clifford, Pepe, Robin, and the rest of the staff of the KMUP station—and even Traveling Matt, who had been jotting down the whole incident in his journal and a postcard he intended on sending to his nephew, Gobo Fraggle. Unlike Aang and his group, they were fully conscious and aware of what was happening all around them.

“Let us out of here!” Elyon demanded, wanting so desperately to unleash her powers on Luft and Sherman, but was refrained from doing so, thanks to the newly developed restraints that could absorb many types of energy and explosions without effort.

“You have no reason for keeping us here!” Caleb yelled.

Luft made no contact whatsoever with the prisoners, instead keeping his focus on Sherman. “I had sent my men to infiltrate the television station in Manhattan, where all of these aliens were housed.”

“Hey, man!” Clifford spoke up. “I ain’t no alien! Just because I’ve got dreadlocks don’t mean I’m The Predator!”

“Sí, h’okay.” Pepe said. “I’m supposed ta have four arms and an antennae. It says so in my birth certificate.”

Luft took notice of the small amount of KMUP employees they were able to obtain from the city. “Not all of them were present at the time we broke in, but there’s enough to get some answers.”

“What kind of answers can we give you?” Robin asked. “We just want to go home.” It was obvious that the tiny frog was scared, and Elyon did her best to keep him calm, as well as warm, putting her arms around him in comfort.

“You can at least let Rob outta here.” Clifford suggested. “He’s just a kid, man. He don’t know nothin’.”

“Hey!” Robin remarked.

“Well…maybe not everything.” Clifford corrected himself.

None of the group’s words were getting through to Luft, and he immediately closed the doors on them before anything else could’ve been said. He then led Sherman to the doors of another holding cell, which they had passed by instead of looking inside of.

“We’re keeping the two elf-looking creatures, their little fur-ball thing, and the crewmembers of John Crichton’s ‘living ship’ here for questioning as well.” Luft explained to Sherman. “Out of all of these prisoners, they were the ones who were in close contact with the Surfer and might be withholding more information than they’re providing us with.” Through the “tour” that Luft was giving Sherman, he had shown no remorse whatsoever for keeping the other prisoners in such unstable conditions. “I know Crichton and the others would be greatly upset if they found out about this. That is why I am refusing to tell them anything, at least until we know more about our silver friend. As soon as we do, they’ll be ship back to the States, joining their friends.”

After his statement, Luft had taken Sherman to the cell holding the Silver Surfer. He was restrained in much of the same fashion as the other prisoners and stared ahead silently, impassively, making no sign of acknowledgment that others had entered the room. He seemed focused on some other place, his silver-pooled eyes lost to the details around him. General Luft allowed Mr. Sherman to enter the cell, while he remained in the doorway, watching.

Mr. Sherman doffed his mink coat, which floated to the ground around him. He brought his pale hands together, the tips of his sharp nails resting against one another. His white face lit up at the sight of the silver being, his eyes traveling all over the Surfer’s tarnished and dull skin.

“I’ve always imagined what it would be like to meet a real live alien,” Mr. Sherman again spoke in a wheeze. “Ever since I was a child. And now,” he said, a thin smile spreading across his face, “here you are.” Mr. Sherman slowly circled the bound Surfer as he spoke, observing every inch of the specimen. The Surfer continued to stare into space, oblivious to the words of the small, menacing man near him.

Mr. Sherman stopped directly in front of the Surfer. He was almost at eye level with the bound alien, and spoke directly into his face. “There is so much we can learn from each other. Like what powers does that board of yours have, and how do we access them?”

No response, eliciting a sigh from Mr. Sherman. “There are some things that I am not permitted to do because they’re considered human-rights violations…” he said, letting his voice trail off into the empty space of the cell. He bent over, staring hard at the Surfer’s passive face. “Fortunately, you’re not human.”

~~~~~~~~~~~​

Back in the rear conference room, the team was stewing about their treatment at the hands of the U.S. military. Guards continued to stand outside the door of the room. Victor, Phil, Mulch, Zuko, and Iroh kept their distance from the others, each doing different things of their own, such as staring out the window at the endless white landscape around them or—in Zuko’s case—generating fire from the palm of his hand to keep himself warm.

Will took notice of the way Zuko had been generating the fire and was reminded again of Azula and her attack on Meridian. With little hesitation, she brought herself to ask him, “Do you know anybody named Azula?”

Zuko had been focusing his gaze upon the flame he was creating, but as soon as Will asked her question, he shifted it towards her. “Yes…she is my sister.”

Will didn’t seem too shocked by the news, seeing as how she had suspected it from the moment she first laid eyes on Zuko. “Well, just to let you know, your sis almost killed a good friend of mine back on another world, demanding to know the whereabouts of the crystal that these guys are keeping here. And now, here you are, probably waiting to make your move at any moment.”

“If you’re implying that I’m also after the crystal, you’re wrong.” Zuko said in a low, dark voice. “All that I’m after is the Avatar.”

“Aang?” Hay Lin said. “You mean you’re one of the guys after him?”

“I should’ve guessed.” Will said. “You’re not so different from your sister, after all.”

Iroh immediately stepped up in defense for his nephew. “Please, do not mistaken his actions for his sister’s. Zuko searches for the Avatar for humility rather than like monarchy like Azula.”

“What kind of humility?” Taranee asked with interest.

“His father had banished him from his kingdom and had told him that if he finds and captures the Avatar, he would be welcomed back.” Iroh explained. “Finding the Avatar is the only hope Zuko has now for a better life.”

The Guardians only slightly understood Zuko’s reason for pursuing Aang. Yet it still sounded wrong to them that the end to one boy’s life could bring back peace amongst another’s. And the fact that Zuko had allied himself with the likes of Victor Von Doom and Phil van Neuter did not help do much convincing to the Guardians either.

“Save your breath, Uncle.” Zuko said. “They can never understand the pain that I’d went through, having to please a father like mine to avoid getting burned in the face again.”

That revelation was what had Taranee nearly chilled to the bone. She couldn’t help but to stare at Zuko’s scar most of the time they had spend with him, trying to stop the Silver Surfer. And now that she knew of its origin, it brought a great shock to her.

“You mean…your dad gave you that scar?” Taranee asked, but Zuko did not respond. As someone who can control the element of fire herself, Taranee knew the importance of being cautious while wielding such a powerful yet dangerous ability. Her greatest fear had always been hurting someone she cared deeply for with her firepowers, one of the many reasons she hated being a Guardian. And to see how Zuko had been hurt was enough to convince her that the life this young man was living has to be a nightmare. “Maybe it’s best that you don’t find him. If your father is that savage enough to burn you, maybe you should…”

“What?” Zuko angrily snapped. “Pretend like I’m no longer his own son? Imagine that I never got this scar on my face? You think you have the answers to my life, but you don’t! You can never understand what it’s like to be afraid of someone you know you should love! Someone who is the very reason why there is a war raging on my world!” As Zuko grew more and more frustrated, the flame generated on his hand grew itself, until it had encased the hand entirely.

The room became a lot warmer, although it only was because Zuko’s anger influenced it. Soon the flame extinguished from Zuko’s hand, as he became much calmer. The conversation between him and Taranee was undoubtedly over, and no one else bothered him for the remainder of their time there.

It fell silent for a while, until Irma spoke up. “Are we prisoners? ‘Cause if we are, that really sucks.”

“Apparently they do not want us interfering with their methods,” Bunsen said, nodding toward the guarded door.

“I hate to think what they’re doing to him in there,” Sue added, crossing her arms in front of her. The very idea of it gave her a chill.

Ben seemed unconcerned about the Surfer’s welfare. “I say he deserves what he gets,” he stated loudly.

Sue turned to him with a look of disbelief. “What? I can’t believe you mean that!”

Ben held his rocky hands out in front of him. “I’m just saying. Maybe the general is right about this. The guy was about to destroy the planet. He said so himself.”

Sue dismissed Ben’s comment immediately. “It doesn’t make sense. He protected Kira from those missiles. Why would he do that?”

Crichton agreed with Sue. “There’s more going on here. He said he wasn’t the destroyer.”

Ben waved his hand at Crichton. “He could’ve been lying to mess with our heads.”

Will rubbed her jaw as she spoke. “I just wish we had some way of knowing what’s going on in there.” And that was when she realized something that made her slap her own forehead. “Duh! We have two people in this room who can turn invisible!”

Sue’s eyes lit up as she noticed Will gazing upon both her and Hay Lin. She looked towards Hay Lin and said, “Since when do you turn invisible?”

“Long story.” Hay Lin remarked.

A few moments later, Johnny and Beaker opened the door to the conference room. The two guards, holding large automatic guns, immediately sprung to attention. Their stance was not overly aggressive, but it was clear there was no going past them. Johnny and Beaker put on their most innocent faces—for Beaker, this wasn’t as hard as it appeared, being around Bunsen so often.

“Meep mee!” Beaker greeted.

“Sorry to bother you,” Johnny said, holding his hands up. “We were just hoping to get some DVDs to pass the time. Maybe some popcorn?”

“Mee meep mee meeon moo!” Beaker suggested.

Johnny listened to Beaker’s suggestion and turned back to the guards. “Perhaps The Muppet Show: Season Two DVD?”

“I’ll call it in, Mr. Storm,” the first guard said.

“Thanks,” Johnny replied.

“Meeper Mee!” Beaker said.

“That’s the Marine Corps,” the second guard told Beaker.

Johnny appeared a little perplexed. “Say what?”

“He said, ‘Semper Fi’,” the guard said, a look of contempt on his face. “That’s the Marine Corps. We’re the Army.”

Johnny just gawked at the guard in surprise, anticipating on the guard to be distracted long enough for the two familiar ripples of air to pass by them and into the hallway. But Johnny found himself distracted more over the fact that the guard understood Beaker enough to correct him. “Uh…sorry?”

Instead of thinking more about it, Johnny was just grateful that his sister and Hay Lin, both invisible to the human eye, made their covert getaway.

END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN​

 

[The Count]

Coldness... That's how to best describe this. But there's also some warmth I think. Wonder what plan those invisibles have in mind. Oh well, we'll find out soon.

 

[muppetwriter]

This'll be the last chapter that I'll post for 2007, because when the next one arrives, it'll be 2008. Enjoy.

Chapter Fifteen​

Sue and Hay Lin maintained their invisibility as they hurried away from the conference room and down into the main part of the base. They soon entered a long stretch of concrete hallways with numerous locked doors. Focusing intently, Sue cast a spotlight over each door they encountered, using her powers to make them invisible as well, so that both her and Hay Lin had visual access to the rooms’ contents. They reached several rooms in this fashion until they reached the main intelligence center.

There, they noticed the innocent people that were contained in four different cells, from Aang and his companions to the Gelflings and the Moya crew. Their friends, new and old, were being held captive by the people of the C.O.V.N.E.T. base, just as they had feared.

When Hay Lin saw Caleb, Elyon, Robin, Pepe, and Clifford in the holding cell next to the one Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka were in, she nearly screamed in a mixture of shock and fury. “I don’t believe it! They’re keeping them there like prisoners.”

“No doubt for keeping those element-bending friends you made secret from the C.O.V.N.E.T. goons.” Sue told Hay Lin.

Hay Lin’s gaze fell closely on Robin, who was shivering in Elyon’s arms. “Oh, look at poor little Robin. He’s so cold…and frightened.” She couldn’t bear to look at the sight any further. “We have to do something for them. We have for free them somehow.”

“We will, Hay Lin…eventually.” Sue assured. “But right now we have to find out where they’re keeping the Surfer.”

Staying close to the walls, she threw her spotlight onto the closed door of the Surfer’s cell. They could see the Surfer, bound on the floor, his head against his chest, prostrate in front of Mr. Sherman and General Luft. They both felt a catch in their throats when they saw the pitiful condition of the Surfer. His skin was duller, more tarnished than before. They could almost feel his pain as they moved closer to the door.

Just then, Captain Raye entered the intelligence center and punched in a code on the keypad near the door, which Hay Lin had paid close attention to, in order to find out how to open the other holding cell doors. It opened quickly, just as Mr. Sherman’s wheezy voice echoed throughout the room. “Let’s not do that again,” he said. Sue and Hay Lin once again felt a chill at the malevolent tone of the strange man’s voice.

Captain Raye entered the cell. Sue and Hay Lin snuck in quickly behind her, moving as quietly as they could. “Victor Von Doom and Phil van Neuter need to speak with you, General,” the captain said, her tone officious and matter of fact. General Luft nodded in her direction and then motioned Mr. Sherman to the door. They all left the room, leaving Sue alone with the damaged Surfer. They heard the doors lock, then the weakened, ethereal voice of the Surfer. “I know you are there.”

Sue and Hay Lin materialized and rushed to his side. They bent down, instinctively wanting to comfort him. Sue touched his head softly. “The people of our world don’t condone this kind of treatment,” she said. The words sounded hollow, even to her.

“Are you hurt?” Hay Lin asked.

“No,” the Surfer replied. They could tell he was not being truthful but he raised his head from his chest and made eye contact with them. They thought they saw a look of recognition before his face returned to its calm, expressionless visage.

“What is your name?” Sue asked. “You must have a name. I’m Susan.”

“And I’m Hay Lin.”

He looked confused, unsure of the meaning of their words. Being so close to him, even with him in such a beaten state, stirred within their powerful memories of their encounter in the Black Forest. Once again they fought the urge to protect him, to shelter him from the dire circumstances around them. His calm, gentle demeanor only enhanced those protective feelings. The Surfer had said he was not the destroyer, and they wanted desperately to believe him. Looking deep into his eyes, Sue doubted that such a creature could willingly perform such violent acts. She cleared her throat to speak. “You said you weren’t the one to destroy our world. Then who is?” she asked.

The Surfer’s expression changed then, as if a shadow had entered the room. “The one I serve,” he said quietly.

Susan and Hay Lin felt their hearts beating faster. “Who do you serve?” Hay Lin asked urgently. They watched as his expression grew pained, a curtain falling over his entire face. He fell silent and his gaze drifted away from them, into the thin air. “We want to help you,” Sue pleaded, “but in order to do that, you have to tell us the truth. Please.”

Sue and Hay Lin searched his eyes for some acknowledgment of Sue’s request. They wanted to trust him. Everything in them was telling them to do so. But unless he confided in them, unless he explained himself, they knew there was nothing they could do. For him, or the group, or the planet.

The Surfer dropped his head back to his chest. Sue and Hay Lin felt defeated; her words had no effect. She wasn’t getting through to him, or he wasn’t allowing her to. But suddenly a spark grew from his chest. Sue and Hay Lin took a step back, watching the light grow into a swirling mist of energy and light. They felt their faces grow warm as they were once again bathed in the tremendous power of the Surfer. The small cone of swirling light stayed near his chest and then grew out from it, filling the space between the Surfer and the mesmerized Sue and Hay Lin. The light danced as it formed a picture, a hologram to show the memory the Surfer was trying to convey.

The hologram showed a vortex of staggering size, made up of both energy and organic matter. Points of light flashed and reflected from it as the vortex churned its way through space, its obvious power seen in the pulsing, throbbing, angry clouds all around it. The hunger of the vortex was limitless; everything it touched was consumed. Asteroids shattered, stars disappeared, and entire planets were subsumed in an instant. The destroyer was unstoppable, ravenous, its fearsome power darker than the endless space that surrounded it.

The Surfer began to speak again, narrating the horrifying image in front of them. “It is known by many names. My people called it Gah Lak Tus, the Devourer of Worlds.”

“You mean…it eats planets?” Hay Lin remarked with a disgusted look.

The hologram projected the image of the Gelflings’ planet of Thra, rotating proudly in a pocket of deep space. Its isolation came to a swift and brutal end as Gah Lak Tus moved into the space around it, the darkness collapsing in on itself as the destroyer consumed the energy of the stars in the planet’s orbit. Even though no sound can exist in space, Gah Lak Tus seemed to roar as it sped closer to the planet, its hunger growing, engulfing everything in its path. Suddenly the surface of the planet became evident, the atmosphere dispersing and parting like the Red Sea. Silver craters littered the landscape and could be seen scarring the planet’s surface, even from space.

The craters started to glow and hum, shaking violently, putting off their destructive power in short flashes of light. Just then, huge elongated streams of volcanic molten rock gushed up from the craters to the swirling vortex, their fiery plumes of heated energy giving the vortex power and nourishment. The planet began to melt as it was consumed by the vortex, turning into nothing but stray matter and ash as it gave up its precious core to the swirling, voluminous, ravenous Gah Lak Tus.

Sue and Hay Lin stared at the hologram, horrified, knowing exactly why Jen was so upset about the Surfer eliminating his planet. The vortex had consumed it the way a person might punch a straw into an orange to suck out the juice. No thought, no remorse, no mercy. Only hunger. “The craters,” Sue said. “They let it draw the thermal energy from the planet’s core.”

The Surfer acknowledged her words with a slight nod of his head. “It must feed on energy to survive. Both thermal and organic.”

“Now that is just downright scary.” Hay Lin uttered, horror registering on both her face and Sue’s. Their hearts were racing.

“Organic? You’re talking about plants? Animals? People?” Sue could barely get the last word out. The Surfer was showing her acts that were nothing short of interplanetary genocide. It was too overwhelming to process. All the compassion the two women felt for the beaten silver being dissipated in the face of such total annihilation. They turned their rage on him.

“That’s monstrous. How could you willingly serve such a thing?” Hay Lin yelled.

The Surfer flinched at the anger behind her words. His voice grew softer as he turned away. “Because I must.” He let his head fall back to his chest as the hologram disappeared in a swift swirl of light. The room once again fell silent and cold.

Sue struggled to maintain her composure. “Doesn’t it bother you at all? The worlds, the people you’ve helped destroy?”

“Yeah, we’ve got a little elf dude around here that wants to kick your silvery butt.” Hay Lin added. “Don’t you find that disturbing?”

The Surfer stayed silent while Sue and Hay Lin waited for some kind of response, one that could possibly make any sense. His face remained expressionless but Sue and Hay Lin thought they could feel some kind of struggle going on within him. But they needed more. More of an explanation. “Why did you try to protect Kira…the female Gelfling?” Sue asked.

The even, calm tone of her voice surprised the Surfer. Her anger was already dissolving—or she was concealing it. “She and her male companion are all that is left of the recent planet I had helped destroy. The only survivors. Such a subject must be preserved for hope of a new generation for their species,” he finally said.

The humanity of his remark made an impression on them. For all the horrors Sue and Hay Lin had seen that day, for all the violence the Surfer had displayed, his words were not deceptive. The Surfer did not seem to lie. “Then you can feel compassion,” Hay Lin said. The Silver Surfer only looked up at her, his calm face a sharp contrast to the charged emotions running through Sue and Hay Lin’s bodies. They wanted to shake him from his placid appearance, wanted him to understand, or at least admit to, the horrors he had witnessed. But he stayed silent, helpless…

Sue walked away from the Surfer and over to the porthole window. She couldn’t look at him. Not right now. The hopelessness of the situation weighed upon her as she struggled to find a way out of this. She had to get back to Reed and tell him what she had learned. But part of her wanted to keep this from him, to shield him from how they were all going to die. Outside, the endless white horizon stretched out before her.

“Could you stop the Destroyer from coming if you wanted to?” Hay Lin asked the Surfer.

He answered her quickly, like a child who longed to be rewarded. “It is not I who draws the Destroyer here. It is the beacon.”

“What beacon?” Sue asked.

“The source of my power,” he said.

“You mean the earth is doomed to a fiery, apocalyptic demise because of a surfboard?” Hay Lin remarked. “Man! This day gets weirder by the second!”

“Take joy in the last few hours you have left,” the Surfer added. “For it is nearly here.”

His final words filled the room. Sue and Hay Lin’s reaction was calm, almost as if they were in a slight state of shock. Their expressions were not unlike the one they had witnessed so often on the Silver Surfer’s face, a visage, perhaps, of defense in the face of such overwhelming destruction and violence. Their gaze searched the frozen tundra for explanations or reasons, but they found nothing. Only a useless wasteland, a repetition of cold, white ice, a stark contrast to the future that was about to arrive.

END OF CHAPTER FIFTEEN​

 

[The Count]

And there you have it... The big bad G-Man revealed. What to say after such a revelation... If only the Surfer got up the courage to show them why he serves his master. But I know you've set this up to aid him in his plight and present an equal in his servitude. Again, that's another little secret I think I'll keep until it's been told here.

Post when you can man, and happy 2008.

 

[BeakerSqueedom]

I grow more drawn with each chapter.
I love that you give it your all in each chapter, rather than posting up short ones because of laziness.

Admirable.

I'm tense!
And it ain't the exercise.
*Excited*

 

[muppetwriter]

Thanks for the comments, friends.

I was writing the next chapter for the story and came across something rather disturbing. Pay in mind that much of what I'm writing is inspired from the novelization of the Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer film.

In the next chapter, there is a scene with heavy description of what one would call "intense mutilation", and it might just exceed past that PG-13 aspect of this story. I just want to warn everyone reading the story ahead of time that the next chapter will contain some disturbing imagery, and as a true fan of Muppets, I feel it'd be important to "whiten out" the paragraphs dealing with the graphic imagery of the "intense mutilation", and if you're curious to know what is happening, just highlight the area.

The next chapter should be coming soon, so hang tight.

 

[BeakerSqueedom]

BRING IT ON, MAN! ;D
LET THE PAIN BEGIN!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!

I mean...

D: Oh, NO!

;P Psh, man, I'm ready!

*Sits on Sean's back*
: ) Comfeh!

xP WRITE MY DEAR!
WRITE!

Erm...

*Sees keyboard*

I mean TYPE!

 

[muppetwriter]

Okay. Here it is, friends. Again, be warned. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.

Chapter Sixteen​

Orbiting the Earth for at least a day was a Command Carrier, a flagship of the Peacekeeper fleet. These massive ships measured over a metra in length and can accommodate upwards of 50,000 men, women, and children. Armed to the teeth, these ships were capable of destroying a planet. Their main weapons were four Frag-Cannon placements (2 fore, 2 aft), each having a 90-degree radius of fire allowing for target acquisition all around the ship. Many Peacekeeper soldiers were born and bred on Carriers; as such they had ample facilities to train the troops. These facilities included many different terrain halls, which gave the impression of planet side areas. The Carriers had many landing bays that housed fleets of attack ships, mainly Prowlers and Marauders.

The half-Sebacean/half-Scarran creature known as Scorpius commanded this particular Carrier. He prided himself on his patience and intellect, willing to do absolutely anything to achieve his goals, which he was very honest about when it suited him. Scorpius would lie, kill in cold blood, order the deaths of multitudes, torture innocents, and sacrifice those close to him in order to get what he wanted. He was also willing to aid his enemies or humiliate himself if it would further his goals. He had returned from fatal situations more than once, which he credited to his “foresight and preparation.”

Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee accompanied Scorpius on the main deck of his ship, as several technicians around them monitored the activity on Earth. Scorpius, by Azula’s wishes, ordered his men to search for any alien crystals that happen to be on the planet. He found himself becoming more interested in this special object that Azula and his two companions had heard about while on Meridian, as they came closer to Earth—the planet it was supposedly on. Neither Azula, Mai, Ty Lee, nor Scorpius had ever been to this planet, which was more alien to them than any other they had ever been to (in Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee’s case, there were very few planets they’ve been to other than their own). But they would be more than prepared to face any great challenges, if it meant obtaining the alien crystal.

“Sir,” the lieutenant spoke up, “we have picked up something at the northern part of the planet.”

Listening to this, Azula could only make one assumption. “No doubt it is the crystal that we seek. Being kept hidden within the icy regions of their world.”

“You believe that they suspect we are after it?” Scorpius asked her.

“They were pretty adamant about protecting their little queen when we came to that other planet.” Mai mentioned.

“Yeah,” Ty Lee agreed. “And they might be just as equally adamant about protecting that crystal from us, if it’s that powerful.”

Azula squinted her eyes, glaring directly at the view of Earth from the large window of the main deck. “It is that powerful…I can feel it…feel its power almost calling to me.”

The way Azula was talking about it made Mai and Ty Lee feel slightly more uncomfortable than usual around her. They knew she was absolutely insane when it came to being powerful. She already had enough power, as it was, being the daughter of a controlling king of an entire nation. To think what would happen if she ever obtained this “powerful” crystal brought chills down Mai and Ty Lee’s spines.

“Here is the plan,” Azula told Scorpius, “Mai, Ty Lee, and I go down there and get the crystal, while you and everyone else stay here in the Command Carrier, until we give the signal to be brought back on board, along with the crystal.”

Scorpius took more pleasure in making his own plans, especially when he was working with someone that he hardly even knew or trusted. Azula might’ve known more about the crystal than he had, after her trip to Meridian, but she didn’t command the ship she was on. Scorpius wanted to be every bit involved with the mission of obtaining the crystal. Staying behind on the ship made him feel useless in every way, and he didn’t appreciate that at all.

“Must you three go alone on this mission?” Scorpius asked them. “Can you not allow me to have a squad escort you, in case you run into any confrontations?”

Azula didn’t take that long to ponder over his proposal. “No,” she coldly replied, “I believe we’ll be just fine. There could not be any threat on this world greater than myself.”

Scorpius nodded in mock understanding. “Just be sure to bring it back here, once you have found it. I would like to see it as much as you do, Princess Azula.” He watched her grin at him sinisterly, as if she was playing with his emotions, knowing that she couldn’t be trusted. At first, Scorpius welcomed the notion of working with someone who could control fire with the slightest gesture of a hand, but now he was beginning to doubt it. Azula was no different than him, and if there was one thing Scorpius couldn’t tolerate, it was another scheming deceiver—it reminded him too much of Scarrans.

I will not take any chances on this, he thought. As soon as she finds that crystal, I will invade the planet, taking the crystal and destroying her along with the rest of John Crichton’s pathetic race.

While Scorpius and Azula made their schemes, there was another evil preparing to make its own move soon. It was something that the technicians on the Command Carrier couldn’t pick up even if they tried. Just behind the ethereal planet of Saturn, a series of flashes set off the expanse of deep space. The rings of Saturn began to bend and warp, before they were eventually pulled from the planet by a strong vortex. The Destroyer took them greedily, only wanting more.

In a matter of minutes, the planet known as Saturn was gone, a relic of history. Gah Lak Tus continued on its path, heading toward Earth and its inevitable destruction. And the Command Carrier was the only thing standing in the way of its path.

~~~~~~~~~~​

Hay Lin made certain to warn the others being held captive in the information center about the crystal being in the base and the reason they were being held prisoner there, before returning to the conference room, where she and Sue told the others what the Surfer had shared with them through his holographic memory. Much of it came back to Crichton, as he remembered Jen’s deceased friend, Aughra, telling them some of it.

Sue and Hay Lin told them everything: about Gah Lak Tus, the endless number of planets destroyed, the millions of people killed. They watched the reactions on their teammates’ faces—expressions that swung from fear and horror back to resolution and determination. Suddenly they felt comforted by their presence, by the collective strength of the group. They remembered that they were in the company of heroes.

“It’ll be here in a few hours,” Sue said in conclusion. “He said the board is drawing it here.”

“Meep mee moo!” Beaker exclaimed.

“That’s right, Beaker.” Bunsen acknowledged. “We have to get the board and lead it away from here, before it’s too late.”

Will thought that could be a lot harder to do than to say. “You think the general will go for that?” she asked.

“Who cares?” Crichton snapped. “That son of a b***h has got our friends locked up here! I say we just get the board, get the crystal, and bail on out of here before all h*ll breaks loose!”

“Crichton, please.” Reed said. “We have to enlist the general’s help on this. He’ll have no choice but to do so.”

~~~~~~~~~~​

At that moment, the general was walking down a hallway with Victor Von Doom, Phil van Neuter, Mulch, Zuko, and Iroh. He’d allowed his armed guard to escort them from the conference room, so they could talk in private, per Victor’s request. The general did not want Richards or his team to know he had struck a deal with Victor and his team behind their backs. I am the quarterback of this team, the general reminded himself. I have the authority to do what I want.

As they walked toward another containment facility, the droning voice of Victor Von Doom was already trying the patience of General Luft. The armed escort walked behind them, alert and ready for any disturbances. They passed several armed checkpoints within the facility on their way to another top-secret lab.

“We helped deliver the alien to you, as promised,” Victor continued. “Now keep your end of the bargain.”

The general held up his hands. “You can do your tests on the board and on the crystal,” he said. “But under armed guard. In my presence only.”

Victor scowled as they turned a corner and arrived at the containment lab. The general once again dismissed the armed guards and he, Victor, Phil, Mulch, Zuko, and Iroh entered the sleek, modern room filled with state-of-the-art equipment, enough of it to rival even Reed Richards’s back at the Baxter Building. Phil van Neuter’s gaze moved over a number of new toys he no doubt wanted to get his hands on, but his eyes stopped on one object in particular: the Crystal of Thra. It was contained in a see-through container that was big and wide enough to fit its entire frame, glowing ever so brightly in a light as silvery as the Surfer that illuminated the entire lab. The crystal was tilted, leaning against one side of the glass wall of the container, which was strong enough to support its massive weight, as well as its radiant energy.

While Phil was marveling over the crystal, Victor gazed upon his own prize nearby: the Surfer’s board. There, motionless on a pedestal beneath glass as thick as the one holding the Crystal of Thra sat the thin, shining piece of weaponry. It still radiated a strong, reflective silver hue. Only the Surfer had suffered from their separation.

Victor eyed the surfboard ravenously. He could feel it was the most powerful weapon in the universe. Its metallic hue was not entirely unlike his own. Standing so close to it, Victor could feel a vibrant hum course through his body. A slight sense of euphoria permeated his thoughts and feelings. It felt like the board was calling out to him, like it belonged to him.

And Phil felt the same way about the Crystal of Thra.

“Thank you, General,” Victor said, his eyes never leaving the silver board. “But I’m afraid the truth is—as much as I hate to admit it—something Reed said is right.” Suddenly Victor turned on the general, unleashing his powerful electric currents all over the unsuspecting man. Phil and the others jumped in surprise at the sudden action, as Luft collapsed against a wall, his clothes letting off trails of smoke. Victor easily shot down the armed guard as well, his chest scorched and still burning by the time his lifeless body hit the floor. “This is a tachyon pulse emitter,” he said to his companions, placing a small electronic device on the forearm of his metallic skin.

Victor’s body armor began to hum and glow, giving off the powerful and seductive tachyon energy. The Surfer’s board also began to glow and then, suddenly, sprung to life, rising off the pedestal and into the air. Victor raised his hand toward the board. The thick glass surrounding it rippled like water and separated, allowing the board to come to him.

Phil and the others watched as their bold leader stepped gingerly on the board and instantly felt it: the surging and powerful energy, the full-throated euphoria of being connected to every living thing. Victor could feel everything on a molecular level, could see the strains and bonds that kept matter intact, could see how to bend them at his will. He could even sense the intense power of the Crystal of Thra, which glowed even more as he was absorbing the power of the board. Its origin came clear to him, giving him understanding as to how the importance of the Gelflings known as Jen and Kira meant to it. It was indeed their life force…the life force of practically everything in the universe…the center of the universe itself.

“I don’t want you going near that thing, Neuter.” Doom demanded.

Phil looked up greatly to this man who had long harbored the secret ambition to be a god and now, standing on the board, he felt that dream had come true. Even now, Phil saw himself as his first disciple. But to hear him give his first command of abandoning the Crystal of Thra—something he had been waiting since the moment he first laid eyes on the image of it to see—was one order he couldn’t carry out.

“Dr. Doom, sir…I’ve always seeing something so…so alien!” Phil remarked. “You couldn’t possibly ask me to…”

“DO AS I SAY AND LEAVE IT BE!” Victor screamed, his voice like a thunderclap, shaking the walls intensely and cracking them completely. Phil stumbled over himself as soon as Doom’s god-like voice echoed in and out of his ears, with Mulch being the only one to catch him. Zuko and Iroh were marveling with fear over Victor’s newfound powers, never before seeing such a display, with the exception of the Avatar.

On the floor next to the wall, General Luft stirred. His hair stood on end and his fingers tingled—the aftereffects of Victor’s strong electromagnetic blast. The general looked up to see Victor glowing, lost to the power of the board. He pulled out his gun, armed with metal-tipped bullets, and aimed squarely at Victor’s shining chest. Victor noticed the general the way he would a fly. With a slight wave of his hand, the armor-shredding bullets turned to a fine dust that drifted lightly to the floor. He narrowed his eyes at the prone figure of the general, who was trying to crawl away, out the door. With a movement of Victor’s fingers, the general halted. His body became rigid, caught in Victor’s invisible grip.

Like a puppet, the general was lifted off the ground and spun around, suspended in midair while Victor locked his eyes on the petrified man. Victor looked deep inside the body of the general, sensing the molecular construction of his internal organs. He began making alterations, experimenting with his new power.

A thick trail of blood dripped out of General Luft’s ear as he writhed in agony, as pain lanced his entire body. Victor played with the general’s epidermis and his once clear, white skin shriveled like wet paper and fell to the ground below him in a puddle of blood and cells. His throat constricted as Victor brought his lungs and heart up from his chest, the general making wet choking noises, unable to move or defend himself. Blood vessels on his face and arms popped like grapes in a vise. His fingers turned deep purple as they pooled with blood. Violent tremors kicked his legs and feet. The base of his brain swelled and finally exploded, partially covering the wall behind him just as his aorta collapsed and the general sent out one long, final cough thick with phlegm and blood.

Victor let the bloody general fall to the floor, the insides of his body pooling around his lifeless form. Even Phil van Neuter, the mad surgeon that he was, felt truly disgusted over the gory act that Victor Von Doom just committed. Zuko and Iroh were more filled with fear than ever before, never wanting to be part of such violence. It was enough to give them all second thoughts about working with Victor.

“Let the general’s fate be a warning to the four of you.” Victor told them. “If you cross my path or disobey me in any way, I swear I will do the exact same thing to you.”

With the threat assessed into the minds of his associates, he turned to the wall of the lab and with a single clap of his hands sent the entire side of the C.O.V.N.E.T. base flying into the white, barren landscape. Explosions rocketed the structure as the fire reached out to the ice. Victor sped through the destruction, laughing, watching the flames begin to engulf the lab and the entire side of the isolated C.O.V.N.E.T. base. The flames looked radiant against the background of sheer white. He rose on his board, higher and higher, oblivious to the cold, crackling with energy and power. He shot off toward a deep black Arctic sky filled with stars, another silver speck in an already crowded and now deadly nightscape.

END OF CHAPTER SIXTEEN​