RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Writer's Block THE END OF THE MESSAGE BOARD LEAGUE

While the battle in Mandelovia is heating up, thanks mostly to Promethus, which is taking that leader role that this war will impose over him, I want to answer to a question that Shock posed to Ghaleon, and that remained unanswered. Why the dinosaurs appeared in Terranova? The answer is simple, the falling of the time and space barrier have opened a portal between Earth and Mars, that has its terrestrial end right in the Canadian Island. Because the dinosaurs arrived from Mars, a Mars that a few months ago was terraformed during one adventure of Jamb, and populated with a fauna from the Jurassic era. Bear in mind this thing. Now it seems a useless bit of trivia like the ones my granddaddy usually thrown at his teammates in the Smart Ass Squadron, but it will become important in the time to come.

Let’s stay in Mandelovia. The agents of MAN have arrived to help TOMB, Heritage and the Nerverian Knights to thwart the demonic invasion. One of the MAN operatives is called Agent Tuxedo. Perfectly dressed for a party, the man is armed with a powerful retcon raygun, and is turning many demons into harmless Tibetan goats. That man is my father, once known as Tailcoat Man.

But in Mandelovia has just arrived another one star of this colossal, pardon my humor. From the roof of the Mandelovian Palace, a dark horned giant observes the demonic horsemen and the nazi zombie troops closing like the two halves of a vice grip. The giants laugh. He is Viper, the current ruler of the Circles of Darkness, second only to the Abyss itself. When the demonic forces will have wiped out the metahumans and secured the palace, Mandelovia will be the gate of the Circles of Darkness. Humanity will be chained, and Viper’s race will descend from the stars to begin a new cycle for the dragon.

Why Viper laugh so loudly? Because his nemesis, Light, Aura Madza, the X, as he has been known trough the millennia, this time is not fighting him. He is an ally, or better, a pawn in his hands. The struggle of his servant Saros, months ago, even if was thwarted by TOMB, has given at last some fruits. The X, Dark Promethus X, sits in his throne in the giant, black castle that surmounts Thunder City. From the castle, an infinite army of undeads, not unlike the one that is besieging Mandelovia, is marching toward the Citadel, the MBL Headquarter, slaken, but not stopped, by Daniel Paige and a team of MBLeaguers.

Inside the Citadel, Gooz and Changeling observes the fight, worried by the sheer number of monsters that could easily overcome the patched up League.
“Daniel, Dev Em, and a few others are fighting valiantly. But most of the villains are cowards and useless…” whispers Gooz to Changeling.
“Yes, I see, but what could we do?”
Then, they see the half naked figure of Mighty Aphrodite running toward the Darkness Armada.
“What? I expressely asked her to stay in the Citadel” shouts Gooz. “With her powers she is useless with the undead. It’s not that they are sensible to ferormons…”
But the girls turns back to the heroes team. And suddenly, the villains, that are the most part of the group, charges at the monster, boldly and careless.
“She is using her power over the League, not the monsters” notes Changeling. “An ethically questionable behaviour, Gooz”.
“Since the attack is now much more effective, Changeling, who cares?”

In the Circles of Darkness, or Hell, as you can call that dark and burning place, there is a lot of activity, as many troops of demons are preparing the invasion of Earth to enslave the humankind. Among the middle rank demons, there is one large chested young devil, with a broken horn, called Bem, that is looking for a way to rise along the ranks of the hellish hierarchy fast and easily.
Yes, it is the Bem that in the future will fight JAMB, but now we are in the past respect to that story, and the demos has just recovered from the delusion of having being assigned to a dead Hyperboard, and has rejoined the Hell’s army in search of better look.
Now, a seductive she devil, totally naked if not for a little piece of dress covering her genitalia, and with a hundred of venomous snake sprouting out of her head, comes near Bem, and says, smiling: “Hi. My names is MeDuSa and I was looking for you…”

And finally, a quick look to the Hyperboard where has ended Disco Steve. Last time, we saw the Mobil Suit piloted by Joker1 falling toward the ground after the clown has suddenly disappeared.
But just a moment before the crash, the giant human shaped battlemachine go into a climb, and flies fast to reach the others Mobile suits of the MBL.
“Joker1! You are back!” shouts Digigrll in the Intercom.
“Yeah, friends, you can’t believe where I disappeared into! I was… somewhere, fighting giant dinosaurs, with thousands of other myselves! Umbelievable!”
But in that moment, the evil troops of Emperor Moon, aboard of their mechaborg, appears over the horizon…

It was his home.

The land he had sworn to protect.

And, now, this war was personal.

Yellow beams of solid energy shot from his hands as the maniacal devils that collided with them screamed in agony, their bodies disintigrating and returning to the pit of sulfur and brimstone from which they came.

Diving into the heart of the fray, the Major cast off all indiscretions that came with this fight. He fought his flawed human instinct to run from a fight... something he experienced before every battle he ever fought - even war games. But now, with a powerful orb powering his body in place of his heart, the urge was weaker... much weaker. Now, all that exists within him is love for his country and the people he calls his kin.

The man dressed in red and white and surrounded in blue energy flew in beside him, chanting words from a language D'goon did not even understand. Heritage recognized him as the Neverian king Llance. They had fought before...

Know thy enemy, D'goon thought, noting the irony that lay in the present situation.

Another man, this one much younger, swooped down on the other side of the former Mandelovian Armed Forces Head. This one sported hawk-like wings and talons, which he used to wrench an imp off of his black stallion, crushing him with the comparative strength of an ant. D'goon did not know this young warrior, but was impressed by his ability.

The wrath and rage of a man who spent much of his life as an extremeist spilled out onto the hideous cretins that poured in from all sides. As a superpowered fist ripped through the scalding flesh of another demon, he heard the spirit cry: "Abaddon!* Save me!"

D'goon quickly tossed the demon aside, ignoring his dying words... until a large form loomed in the night sky, causing the sky to go from dark to darker.

"What the...?" Danny Hearn said, his long fangs protruding from a demons neck, cobra venom dripping from them. The young man looked into the sky, not believing his eyes.

"By the sword of Crom..." Llance whispered, ceasing suddenly from casting a concussion spell that would have knocked out a group of demons ranging in the hundreds. But the sight that he saw stopped him cold.

D'goon's eyes narrowed and his teeth ground together. Before him lay another threat. Another hurdle. Another obstacle.

Before sat a giant demon, more than ten kilometers high, riding a black horse. The horse had gossamer wings, flaming red eyes, and burning sulfur spraying from its nostrils. It had the head of a lion and the tail that looked like a cobra snake, hissing head and all. The demon himself carried a huge schimitar in his hand and wore a foreboding suit of black medieval armor. The entire nation of Mandelovia stood still as he spoke.

"I AM ABADDON!" he cried loudly. "I HAVE BEEN SUMMONED AND I COME TO DESTROY! WHO DARES TO CHALLENGE ME?"

Suddenly, a lone figure floated a few meters from the large demons face. His form glowed an iridescent yellow and energy cascaded across his intimidating form. However, though he stood like an ant against an elephant, he stood his ground. He did not cower. He did not run.

"I," was the only thing that Major COlton D'goon, Mandelovia's Heritage, said before the beams erupted from his hands...

Below, on the ground, Llance and Danny Hearn led the collaborated Neverian soldiers and MAN members against the rest of the demonic hoarde....

*Read Revelation 9:11 for more details!

[ 08-28-2001: Message edited by: Heritage ]

A platoon of the undead made their way down Ellis Avenue, leaving a swath of carnage and terror in their wake. From flaming slugs tearing from the barrels of their dark weapons, to the grunts, heaving copper blades forged in the pits of Hell, they destroyed all life in their path.

That is, until six seconds ago, when their physical forms were shattered like glass from the backwash of a speedster breaking Mach-4.

In the sulfur-filled skies above, flashes of crimson lightning randomly illuminated the sickening, leathery hide of the airborne demonic invaders. Spanning bat-like wings, webbed with blood vessels of six-hundred and sixty-six rapists, beat against the rushing wind with the moans of psychopaths. Their mouths constantly vomited bile, while their six tongues babbled lies and deceit. Glittering fangs seethed toxin, each drop igniting the very air it touched.

Their numbers nigh-infinite, the aerial swarm of attackers constantly dove in strafing runs against their adversaries on the ground.

That is, until about four seconds ago, when five flying metahumans barreled through them with the concussive force of napalm.

Mandelovia was all but lost.

That is, until three minutes ago, when the Metahuman Analytical Network deployed a strikeforce into the heart of the city.

|||||We've just lost Brazil|||||

"Dammit!!" Prometheus shouted, the haggard 'voice' of Grimm, the 7th MAN, echoing along the tele-link. |||||Klarion, give me a broad-band|||||

|||||Go|||||

|||||This is the 1st MAN||||I want the Mexican contigent to re-route to the 7th MAN's location immediately|||||

The 21st MAN: |||||Acknowledged|||||

The pulverized pavement of the street just outside the Palace suddenly ripped upwards into a pair of enormous hands, mimicking Ghaelon's own. A clap of concrete sounded as the sorcerer slammed the hands together, crushing twelve advancing soldiers.

"...in my day, I would have used a Tarvin Illuminator chant in unison with a Necro-Puppet...." Avatar commented from behind, noticing this new Mage's efforts.

"...'your day'?" Ghaelon asked innocently.

"Never mind..." Kreagan mumbled, launching his current sword into more zombies.

Prometheus dove quickly to the ground, a billow of acrid flame spewing overhead.

|||||Things are getting hectic||||Begin coordination for the States|||||I'll be busy for the next few minutes|||||

|||||Understood|||||

"Uh-oh..." Bibbo commented, looking at his ring.

"Bibbo?" Pro asked, staring up at the man who had hugged the tree next to him.

"The ring's running low on juice..." he stated, shaking his ring-hand. "...that little interdimensional stunt drained it pretty raw."

Suddenly, a random demon soared down towards the two. Without even pausing Bibbo dropped him from the air with a solid punch from his steel fist.

"The old-fashioned way, I guess..." the sailor grimaced, noticing the demon beginning to rise from the ground.

That is, until Bibbo began beating him repeatedly with his metallic knuckles.

The demon did NOT get up.

Fires blazed all around them, as MAN agents streaked through the skies. Swarmed along the ground. Filled the harbor. From the pyrokinetic, August Tallmoore, to the micro-morph Amazona. From the speedster called Reflex, to the invunerable Dio. From Quax-Ren, the 21st Century reincarnation of the Ghengis Khan, to the 14th MAN called Agent Tuxedo, the Network continued to push forth as hard and as fast as a rolling storm.

Yet, already, twenty agents had fallen in battle.

Prometheus had noticed this. He had noticed this, and had come to a realization. A terrifying conclusion that was difficult for him to admit. But, it was a logical fact, nonetheless.

TOMB was not going to win this one.

No matter how many more agents he brought in. No matter how much back-up, or how much firepower he was supplied with, the forces of Hell continued to mount Earth's plane of reality.

Their numbers were almost limitless.

Earth's forces were dwindling by the minute.

This was all cannon-fodder. The true threat had yet to be realized. And that was what TOMB needed to deal with. Not the demons. Not the zombies. The real threat. The cause of this all.

The X and The V.

As he picked himself up off the ground, Pro noticed something of an abstract thought clinging to his mind. Something of no importance on the whole. But, in the midst of this chaos, something almost....humorous.

"...look at that..." Pro said, a small, sad smile coming to his face.

"What?" Bibbo asked, turning around, expecting another enemy. Or disaster. Or death.

But, following Pro's eyes, he realized what the ex-godling was on the verge of laughing over.

The Palace.

Still standing. Without a scratch.

"Son of a bitch..." Bibbo breathed. "Of all the times...."

"Yeah..." Pro chuckled through a delirium of exhaustion. "...any other time, a small wind would probably decimate the place..."

"Gob knows we've rebuilt the thing almost every other month..."

"Heh! But, of course, with the Apocalypse upon us, the old girl doesn't even have a broken window..." Pro stated, beginning to chuckle.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!" Bibbo began to laugh as well. "Hell...heh...Joker1 could probably have a cup of coffee, and reduce it to the ground...any OTHER time!"

The two men began laughing hard at this. It wasn't true laughter, really. Not the normal lazy-day laughter that accompanied so much of their precious free-time.

No. It was the laughter of fatigue. Of an unending torment. Of exhaustion plagued by depression.

Of watching their lives crumbling around them.

The laughter of finality. Of true sadness, and the ultimate irony of life.

The two men laughed hard, tears streaming from their faces, as their city crumbled around them.

Finally, panting hard from the spell, Pro glanced over at his friend, the sailor. His leader. He stared at him with such empathic eyes, that Bibbo knew what he was thinking without a word.

"We aren't going to win this one, are we?" Bibbo asked with an undercurrent of sorrow lining the question.

Prometheus sighed, watching one of his agents careen into the side of a far building. Watching as the man's body crumpled against the impact. Watching as chunks of bone-mixed blood sprayed from his chest, splattering the ground with a cushion of fluids that met his body in a sickening thud.

"...no, Bibbo..." Prometheus nodded. "...not this one."

Bibbo just stared at him, a look of near-defeat on his face.

"The war?" Pro added. "The war itself has yet to be lost. But...this battle...the battle for this city?"

An explosion ripped upwards some three blocks away. Screams sounded in their midst.

"No." Prometheus said. "No. For now...for right now....Mandelovia is lost to us..."

"And the longer we try and fight...here..." Bibbo began.

"...the more people we lose..." Pro finished.

Bibbo set his jaw, a mix of anger and helpless fatigue setting in.

Then, hardening his eyes and flipping his comm-link, Bibbo made the toughest call of his life....

"TOMB...this is Bibbo. Pull out. I repeat, withdraw from Mandelovia. Re-group in Thunder City."

"That's an order."

One minute later, Abaddon, a demon-lord from the pit, called into being by another, appeared in Mandelovia. The size of a small mountain, the hoof of his steed materialized directly on top of the Palace.

Leveling it to the ground.

Sadly enough, things had yet to get worse...

[ 08-28-2001: Message edited by: Prometheus of The X ]

The eyes of Igor Jr. glanced at the old man that sat next to him. He barely recognized him from the younger man that he used to know on the TOMB he was once a member of. He was hardened - severely hardened. His sunken eyes revealed nothing of his struggle, but revealed everything about the fact that he'd had one.

"What is this?" Igor asked, breaking a long silence. The round table that once occupied the cowled men was empty, leaving only the Sovereign and the boy lizard.

"This is the last resistance," Avatar said, looking Igor in the eye. "This is where we make our final stand against the principalities of Hell itself. This is where TOMB fell. This is where the Message Board League failed."

The mage slowly raised himself from his seat, walking quietly to a small corner of the room, pressing his hand to a small scanning device on the wall. As the device scanned his handprint, the entire wall lit up, revealing the most amazing thing Igor had ever seen.

A trophy room.

Of the things that had belonged to Avatar's friends.

The coat of Prometheus.

The steel hand of Bibbo Bibbowski.

Captain Nemo's possessed sword Ladnikia.

The tattered costumes of dozens of heroes, including Shock, Gooz, and Llance.

Igor watched in awe as he saw this. Avatar stood quietly aside, bowing his head to his fallen comrades.

"This was our last stand," Kreegan said again. "Now, I am all that remains of what the MBL and TOMB once were. Myself and my chief lieutenant."

"And who might that be?" Igor asked, curious.

"You knew him as the Snake-Headed Son, but now, he goes by the name of Guido Cicciolto. He is out fighting the forces of DarkFury for the moment... It is my hope that he returns."

"Why don't you fight?" Igor asked. "Wouldn't your magic be helpful?"

"I forfeited my magic long ago," Avatar explained. "It is for this reason that I have aged into a man you never knew. It is for that reason that I am slowly dying... I have cancer, Igor."

Igor hung his head silently, not knowing what to say. Avatar, however, did know what to say.

"Our world is doomed, Igor," he said, walking over to one item in his memorial to his friends. "You must prevent that from happening..."

The mage pulled Bibbo's ring from the steel hand that once belonged to the sailor and aimed it at Igor.

"Farewell, old friend." Before Igor could even raise his hands in protest, the beam tore into him, transporting him to another Hyperboard altogether.

Across the ethereal plains of the Hyperboard Nexus...

Another Igor Jr. sat solemnly in a hotel bedroom. Around him, the members of the band Mucus Creek lay drunk on their beds. Igor sighed quietly, picking up the same magazine that he had read cover to cover, at least twice, bored out of his mind.

A bright light outside his window caused his attention to shift as a lone figure materialized on the pavement outside the hotel.

"Battle mode..." the lizard whispered. "Shrink to one-fifth normal size..."

"Acknowledged," the tin voice of his armor chirped.

Igor, now small and armed to the teeth, flew out the open window, hovering in the air to get a good look at the new arrival. He didn't need to look long to verify the identity.

It was him...

"MR. YEZPITELOK!" and armored Lorelei shouts, hoping her teacher will hear her in spite of the dozens of robot-warriors fighting.

Max Yezpitelok, Joker2 and Hourly Quinn just teleported into this Hyperbaord to rescue Lorelei. Fate teleported them in the middle of the same fight Lorelei was helping her new friends win. They are confused, and now they are the ones that need to be saved.

"What the hell...?" says Zeek, master of the evil forces, that watches the fight from a high place.
The hologram of an alien face next to him senses where they come from, but leaves this information to himself.

"Lorelei, do you know these people???" asks Ack, one of the bravest Robot Warriors.

"Yes! I know one of them! He comes from that place I told you about...!"

"Then we have to save them! Quick, lets go!"

Spin Man, one of the leaders of Zeek's forces notices the confusion of the strangers and decides to attack...
"What have we got here...?" he says, as he charges the mega blaster in his left arm.

Max Yezpitelok tries to understand what he sees. "Am I inside a Mega Man videogame...?"

Lorelei aproaches him, and when she realises Spin Man's intentions, she shouts: "MR. YEZPITELOK! LOOK OUT!"

"What--? Lorelei? Is that yo--?"
Max sees a power beam coming to him. The next thing he sees is the ceiling of an infirmary. Not realizing he's not at war zone anymore, he automatically tries to dodge the beam, and falls from the bed to ground.

"You OK, Max?" asks Joker2

"I... guess... where are we? Where's Lorelei?"

"You were hitted by a power beam, so they took you here to take care of you when the fight was over" says Hourly "Your friend Lorelei is over there, talking to those robot guys..."

"I'm going to talk to her..." says Max standing up "I wanna know what the hell is this place..."

Meanwhile, in our loved Hyperboard...

Most of the villians fighting side to side with him start fighting with more excitation when Mighty Aphrodite appears, but Nobody Else doesn't realize this. He's too busy giving everything he has to try to be what he's suppoused to be; a hero. Another fighter that isn't affected is a sex-changing thing that doesn't care if he/she is dead or alive, because he/she has alredy lost everything he/she has.
His name (when he was a he) was Heterosexual Man, a proud member of the C-Men. He became a member to defend his conservative ideas, but, as the years passed, he watched as the team degenerated, getting every day closer to the villians they used to fight. He changed, too. Looking for something he considered "bad", he became Homsexual Man, as the rest of the team became recognized villians. During a fiht with the MBL, the whole team was killed except for him. Bombshell changed his gender, and so he became a woman. He thought he would be happy this way; that this was a new chance life had given him, but soon his gender, as well as his sexual preferences started changing back and forth, until he didn't know what he was anymore. One minute he's a man, the next she's a woman, then he's gay, then she's straight. His intentions changed as well.
He's no longer the hero Heterosexual Man was, the villain Homosexual Man became, or the happy woman he was until recently, he's just... something.
Nobody Else, a puppet with a pure soul created to be a hero, and... That... help each other win this fight, for diferent reasons.
Nobody Else thinks "what a great hero that guy... er, gal must be!".
That thinks "what a moron. Wait until you get corrupted, fella, if you don't die here with me"

Burning eyes, pupils red as the blood, a smiling forming under his little mustaches.

On the reflection over the glass windows behind him, I can see myself.

Fiery eyes, burning hotter than his ones, a crown of long, white hairs floating in the courrents crossing the sunken ship.

"I have found you, fiend" I think, my toughs projecting into his mind.

"Yeah, you found me. And now? What will you do? You know your sword is harmless for me?"

"Do you want to try it, demon?"

"Ah ah ah. Don't tell me you don't know about Ladnikia... drinker of souls... Well, let me make you apart of a little secret, pirate... your sword is dying!"

What does Hitler means? Dying? My sword?

"Ladnikia is the sword of Viper. It was forged by the dwarves many millenia ago in the fabled Atlantis, for our Lord Ahriman.
She feed on blood and swallows souls into his hilt... but what you don't know is that she needs to bond with her owner... the contact between the hand and the hilt ties the two beings... until the sword becomes the master, and the man becomes the slave.
Only with this bond the magik of the sword can manifest. And that blade become the most powerful arm that was ever created on the Hyperboards.
And you, stupid fool, have given your hand for the sword... precluding yourself to use her at her fullest potential... what a pity!"

Adolf Hitler begins to laughs maniacally.

"Kill, kill me now! I'm nothing but a spirit, Nemo. Swallow me inside Ladnikia, you will throw me back from where I come.
The sword is dying, I will be free in mere days..."

"TOMB...this is Bibbo. Pull out. I repeat, withdraw from Mandelovia. Re-group in Thunder City."

"That's an order."

I watch Hitler. He is in charge of the invasion. Killing him, as he just admitted, would get rid of him at last for some days...

A lot of time for regrouping, thinking strategies, fighting an army without a commander...

I could easily forget the order, kill Hitler, and in the ensuing panic among the troops, sunk the ship, maybe all by myself.

But the voice of Bibbo... I've never heard such fatigue and sadness in his voice...

Regroup in Thunder City, he said...

I wonder what's happening there...

I watch Hitler. I could easily kill him right now. But the delay of my return, which consequencies could cause to my friends?

"Well, demon, this time it seems you have won!" I say, and much to his surprise, I swim away at full speed to the surface.

I exit from the sea like I am flying.

Over me, an air cruiser labelled M-X.

I land over it, and enter.

Everybody is here, even Prometheus, sitting right next to Malvana.

Even in the darkest hours of the return of Viper, when he took possession of Chewy, I saw such a sad look.

I sit silently among them.

Then, I turn to Joker1, raise my hook and asks abruptly: "Can you heal my arm?"

I’m a guardian angel, the guardian angel of my orphan son, which, like many other kids, gifted with superpowers, is now protected in the basement of the Citadel, the mile high tower of the Message Board League. Outside, thousands of undeads and others monsters are marching on the Citadel, swarming off a black, giant castle that formed out of nowhere in the middle of Thunder City.

Running at them, a amde up line up of the Mesage Board League, made of reservists, rejected applicants, retired heroes, and plain villains. Because most of the true Leaguers have been displaced trough the Hyperboards, and the leader, Gooz, with the remaining members Changeling and Daniel Paige, had to assembled an army of metahumans to fight the immensely powerful threath.

Dark Prometheus X.

Now, let’s take a look at other places where this battle is fought.

On the way from Mandelovia to the USA

On a MAN carrier, Agent Tuxedo sits near Nuriko.

AT: “What I don’t get is the role of you sons and daughter of the first to fall in…”

Nu: “The names are respectively Nephilim and Grigori. Go on…”

AT: “I was saying, in this war. Are you with the Courts or with the Circles?”

Nu: “I’m on your same side, it’s obvious”

AT: “I’m wondering about most of you…”

Nu: “Each clan has its preferences. Most are waiting for the outcome. The first six seals of the Books or Revelation have been broken, but it is not yet written that this is Armaggedon. Word is that the Fog King is on the tail of Gaia. If he finds her before she will give birth to the Harbinger, Armaggedon will be stopped and the victory will be for the Circles of Darkness. If not, victory will be for the Courts, but I fail to see what should be better for the humankind…

AT: “What do you mean?”

Nu: “Ah, I owe a great debt to Prometheus and I will be forever on his side, but this war, owhever it ends, will be a defeat for humankind. Either way, they will be slave for the Basilisks or for the sons of Project Eden. Pro has chosen to side with the Courts, I understand, he was one of them, he WAS Light. And maybe Earth will be a golden cage for the humankind, after all. The term slave, for what they will become to the sons of Abel, it’s not really correct. Pet would be more appropriate. They will built flying cities, and man will dwell on the surface to works for them. Well, after all, the term slave maybe it IS appropriate.

AT: “But this races you speak of, the Sons of Abel and the Basilisks, where are now?”

Nu: “Well, the sons of Project Eden are the most wekll custodied secret of creation, and only Metatron knows… but is common word among the immortals, that the Basilisks are approaching fast….

This Hyperboard, near Proxima Centauri…

Twelve Basilisks Planetships, one hundred miles wide each, passes at ten times the speed of light , heading for Sol 3.

While, on another Hyperboard…

Disco Steve is happily returrning to the meeting room of the MBL Tower in Tokio, after the battle with the evil minions of Emperor Moon. All went easy, the only stange things the sudden disapparition of Joker1, that lasted only a few instants, and the capture of Digigrll by one of the Mechadroids. Luckily, the girl found a way to escape after only an hour.

Now, they are allsitting around the round table, when Digigrrll suddeenly explodes. The world becomes blank.

And then, Disco Steve is inside a virtual reality environment, and his memory goes to his distant past as one of the Seven Soldiers of the Virtual Reality. Everything is seen in wireframe, and only where he set his vision for more than a second the environment begins to renderize.

Disco Steve is baffled by this strange turn in the events, when from behind him arrives one old friend of him, the Scarlet Skater.

Disco seems relieved, but now the Skater tears off his mask to reveal his old enemy, Master Beta. And behind him, there is Aquarius and his Seamen!

There was only one way to save this world, or whatever was left of it, and that was to take Burdette down. The creature, who had told Tobias to simply call him "Charlie", had agreed to assemble his people to help.

"Come as soon as you can." Tobias said. "Giovacchino and I will find Burdette and find out just what we're up against."

"He was last spotted in California." Charlie said. "Good luck, you will need it."

The two leaguers were soon on their way. "Who do you think did it?" The cat asked. "Who do you think killed you?"

"I don't know." Tobias said. "But whoever did it apparently got to me before I told Walker what I found out."

"I wonder how the rest of the team is doing." Giovacchino wondered.
********************************
The real world

"He's dead." Andy said. "What am I going to do without Howard?"

"You'll come and stay with us." Jesse said. "Provided we live through this."

"We've survived worse." Grover said. "And we'll survive this. Now, let's go kick some ass."

"TOMB...this is Bibbo. Pull out. I repeat, withdraw from Mandelovia. Re-group in Thunder City."

"That's an order."

Danny looked up at LLance.

"Did you hear that?" He yelled. LLance nodded in reply, and turned to look back into the heart of the city. Towards the Palace. His gaze shifted across the city, towards the waiting MAN carrier that was ready to take them all across the world.

LLance's expression dropped.

"Not liking the idea of abandoning Mandelovia, huh?" Danny said, landing on the ground next to LLance and retracting his wings. LLance shook his head.

"Me either..." Danny replied, "I was beginning to get attached to the place. It was nice to have a proper home for a while..."

They turned back towards the approaching hordes of Larry Lance, being held off by Heritage.

"We've been given our orders..." LLance said. Danny nodded.

"Just a second," Danny said. He ran back to the battle, where Heritage continued to fight. He increased the strength in his arms, and regrew his wings. Danny grabbed D'Goon, and lifted him above the battle.

"Are you coming?!" Danny yelled.

"What?!" Heritage replied.

"I know you don't always see eye-to-eye with TOMB... but you've helped us here. And you should come with us. There's too many of them... if you stay, you'll be killed!"

"THEN I WILL BE KILLED DEFENDING MY COUNTRY! LET ME GO!"

"Don't be stupid! You'll die!"

"My life is a paltry sacrifice to protect Mandelovia! Drop me!"

"Listen to reason-"

D'Goon raised an arm and punched Danny across the face. He ripped himself from Danny's grasp, and fell back down into the battle.

"Shit," Danny said under his breath, then went back to LLance's side.

"That was a noble thing you just did. Stupid, but noble," LLance said.

"It was worth a try..."

The two team mates ran towards the waiting carrier.

Transport Carrier- Now

Danny sat, silently, with his head in his hands.

"What's up?"

Danny looked up at the source of the voice. It was Joker1.

"That General. Goes by the name Heritage..." Danny began.

"Big guy? Devilish good looks? I know him," Joker1 replied.

"He's probably dead right now. Or he will be soon."

"What makes you say that?"

"There was just too many of them. Larry Lance's men. And the Nazis. And who knows what the hell else..."

"Don't feel too sorry for him. He'd kill you as soon as you got in his way. Not a man renowned for his kindness and compassion, that one..." Joker1 said, sitting down next to Danny.

"But still... everything he does, he does for the love of his country. To protect Mandelovia. There's something to be admired there. However much we might disagree with his actions... he doesn't deserve to die just because he's patriotic," Danny said.

"Really?"

"...that's what I think anyway..."

"Of course it's what you think. You spent half your life in jail, then you were taken away to some lab. You haven't had a real home in a long time. So the concept of patriotism is important to you. You like the idea of having one place that's worth dying for."

"...You know Joker, you're a lot more insightful than people give you credit for."

"It's been known to happen. Now, where's the chandelier on this thing?"

For most people, death isn't something they know closely.

They rarely, if ever, have to deal with the passing of a loved one. And none of them have ever died themselves.

They all know it will happen, eventually. But they don't really fear it... it's a distant thing. Something not to be thought about in the here and now.

But for a soldier... death is always there. The spectre of the reaper looms large on the horizon. Surrounded by death, the corpses of both friends and foes...

On the battlefield, death is a very real thing.

Daniel Page surveyed the battle that was waged around him. The MBL, full of new, inexperienced recruits, and the armies of Hell. One trying desperately to reach and destroy the MBL's headquarters, and one trying desperately to stop that happening.

And death filled the air. Daniel could barely look anywhere without seeing the corpse of a Leaguer.

And he didn't have the power to save them all.

Daniel caught a glimpse of one of the new recruits. Kid Karma, or something like that. He didn't know much about the boy, other than what Gooz had told him.

Young hero. Inexperienced. But enthusiastic, and with a good heart. Potential MBL material one day.

And, in the split second that Daniel glanced at him, Kid Karma was being leaped upon by three ugly red demons.

Daniel tried to save the boy. To throw the demons off him telekinetically.

But a strong demon fist connected with Daniel's face as Kid Karma's face was smashed into the concrete ground.

Daniel heard the boy scream as he desperately tried to throw his attacker off. This... thing... this demon that had attacked Daniel... it wouldn't give him a chance to concentrate. To use his powers.

Daniel was thrown to the ground. He looked across the battlefield, and saw three demons laughing over the mutilated corpse of Kid Karma.

Daniel closed his eyes, and screamed. He rolled over, and flew upwards. He barrelled downwards, towards a demon. It might not have been the demon that attacked him. It might not have been one of the ones that killed the boy.

But it probably killed someone. Death was all these creatures seemed to think about.

Daniel rammed into it's chest, crushing it into the concrete.

"Gooz..." Daniel said telepathically, "We're not going to win this one. We're outnumbered. We need help here."

A black spot suddenly appeared on the horizon, headed straight for the city. It was the carrier ship, carrying the troops of TOMB and MAN.

"Please let that be help..." Daniel said quietly.

As you have just seen, the carriers of M.A.N. are arriving in Thunder City, and one of them is labeled M-X. Inside, shaken, bruised, battered and saddled, but with an immense desire of revenge, sit the members of TOMB: Prometheus X, Malvana, Bibbo, LLance, his cousin Redros, Danny, Shock, Mordecai, Avatar, Joker1, Ghaleon and Captain Nemo. This last one, which actually is the father of my grandfather, has a new look. Gone is the golden hook on his right arm, now he sports a normal hand of flesh and bones. Healed by Joker1, a very good work for the clown. But what repercussions this will bring, we’ll have to see.

Meanwhile, on the battleground, the MBL team is heavily beaten by the forces of Hell. Some powerhouses, like Daniel Page or the new hero from the future, Dev Em, do well, and easily overcome the attacks of the zombies and demons, but many don’t. Glass Eye, an old member of the second IGB, falls under the trident of a second rank devil, while Renegade, the first afro-american member of the Message Board League, long retired, is slaughtered by an enormous undead, that is revealed to be the Warlord, another old dead enemy of the MBL.
But even among so much blood, no one, even the most coward criminal, is willing to give up. Not for their own willforce, but because Mighty Aphrodite pushes them to their limits with her seductive powers. In the Citadel, Gooz and Changeling are observing the battle, slightly relieved for the arrival of TOMB and MAN, but totally unaware of two demons from the Circles of Darkness that are sneaking inside the basement of the Headquarter.

In Mandelovia, only one being is remaining to fight the invasion, after the departure of the Nerverian Knights. He’s Heritage, now overwhelmed by zombies, demons, undeads, and monsters of all sorts. Meanwhile, under the shadow of the towering form of the demon Abbadon, in all the City State the battle has ended, and the Mandelovian Army, as well the civilians are surrendering to the forces of Hell. The Darkness that has wrapped the whole planet thicken, as over the rubbles of the palace, an horde of demons begins to build the giant throne of Viper.

In the Hyperboards borderline, the millions of windows dotted place outside and between the Hyperboards, amid the currents of the timestream floats the Klone Dome of JAMB, the Junior Adventurer of the Message Boards.
In the Tactic Square, Crush, the second in command of the team, looks suspiciously at the young Eurostar, which is me when I was young, and time traveled to the future. It was my arrival there that coincided with the vanishing of Jake and EEG, two of his teammates, and while Joker2 and Hourly, other two jambers, were very warm with me since my first minute there, Crush just could’t trust me.
Now, J2 and Hourly are away with Max Yezpitelok, trying to rescue Lorelei, a friend of mine, from a world that resemble a videogame, when a giant penguin enters the room. It’s Bekenecker, the last of the retcon penguins, the alien birds that one time where the friends of my father. I had never meet any of them at that age, but Beckeneker did (the usual paradox of time travel) and seeing me, tears appeared on the face of the penguin. “Becknekbecknekbecknek” says the penguin (I don’t know if to use past or present telling this story, because it is happening right now, but I remember it from my youth) and Eurostar doesn’t understand. Crush looks serious: “Beckeneker says that he knows you, and that you will become best friends”.
“I’m flattered!” says Eurostar.
“No, he means that in your future you will be best friends” says Crush.
“Beknek!” the penguin takes Eurostar’s right hand with one of his wing, and brings him to a nearby console. “Becknek nekbeck” the bird says , turning to Crush.
“Beckeneker says that he can tracks your friend easily than Hourly” explains Crush.
“How can he knows?”
“Oh, he followed the happenings from his polar quarters”.
“Ah!”
The retcon penguin busily works around Eurostar, applying electrodes to the young hero. After a few minuts, the monitors of the room get on, in each one a different image.
On the main one, Hourly, Joker2 and Max talks to an armored Lorelei.
On the second, Tommy walks trough a joungle, an horned stone statue walking behind him.
On the third, Jason is in the arms of the Utterly Useless Guy in a grocery store, ran by a two headed dwarf.
On the fourth, Tobias Christopher and Giovacchino run across a devastated America.
On the fifth, Doctor Quantum explores the hidden treasures of Eldorado, while WolveRhine, the ubermensh of the Fourth Reich is on his tail.
On the sixth, Drax, stuck in dragon from, is hunted by Saint George in medieval Europe.
On the seventh, Disco Steve is caged in the Cheesy Disco Room, where Master Beta, Aquarius and the Seamen are about to kill him.
On the eight, Smasher is the resident superhero of Chimpago, the windy city of the Planet of the Apes.
On the ninth, Igor Jr. is in front of… Igor Jr.?
And, lastly, on the tenth, Jake is in a strange place, the Nexus, another of those point between the Hyperboards, this one inhabited by 88 identical brothers. What he is doing there, is a complete mistery.

His name is Ry-Chard, but in the past he has been known by many other names; including Little Ritchie, Richard, Dark Havok, and the Watcher.

Only feet away from him, a man stands in front of a huge opening looking over Thunder City, or at least what is left of the city. A battle rages on, many lives being taken on both sides, yet the man smiles. The longer the battle rages on; the more heroes that fall. No matter how many zombies, demons and undead creatures are killed, more and more rise from the ashes, there is nowhere else for them to go. In time, all the heroes will fall. Than, that is when he will have his 'key' to the gates of the Silver City. A single boy. One of the most powerful people in the universe. That is when he will take 'all that there is' for himself.

He will rule. How he sees fit. The only problem... He isn't sure just what that is. Infact, he has no idea what... Or even why he is doing this!

"Gooz... we're not going to win this one with brute force alone. We're too far outnumbered. We need some strategy happening. Permission to try something incredibly risky." Daniel said to his leader telepathically.

"Permission granted," Gooz responded.

"Thanks. Oh, and Gooz... I think TOMB is almost here," Daniel said, looking at the ship on the horizon.

Daniel looked downwards, over the city. He tried to gather an impression of where the battle was, and where it was going.

Okay... the demons seem to be concentrated within a few blocks... and moving steadily towards the MBL headquarters. Think, Daniel...

The demons were converging mainly on three streets that ran through the centre of the city. Vasquez Street, Mahfood Road, and Millar Street.

Okay... gotta cut off those three streets between the demons and the HQ...

Daniel began rearranging rubble that was left by the earthquake. A concrete chunk here, a steel girder there.

Within moments, Daniel had built himself a makeshift wall about fifty metres away from the MBL HQ, blocking off the three streets.

The demons' unstoppable march continued until they reached the wall. The Leaguers maintained the fight, and kept on hitting the creatures with all they had.

But the enemy's numbers were simply too great. It was all the MBL could do to just slow them down slightly. They couldn't stop the advance entirely.

The demons hesitated when they reached the wall. A few tried to dig through it, or break it open. But they soon realised that, with the walls' thickness, that would too long. Simply going around it was the more efficient option.

The demons turned, and walked along the wall, looking for where it ended.

Okay... stage one worked... Daniel thought to himself.

"Everybody... this is Daniel. Sorry about the mental intrusion, but it's the quickest way to impart the plan. Let the demons travel the length of the wall, then wait for word from me." Daniel said to the gathering of heroes.

Several of them turned to Mighty Aphrodite for confirmation. She nodded.

Daniel began hastily constructing two more walls, at either end of his first wall.

By the time most of the demons had reached the end of the wall, they were finished.

Huge, thick constructions, consisting of whatever rubble Daniel could scavenge from the earthquake.

Suddenly, both demons and heroes alike were trapped within a giant horseshoe-shaped wall.

All the demons turned, to regroup in the centre.

"Okay... everybody... let the demons regroup, then herd them into the Morrison Building... that tall concrete one in the middle there," Daniel announced.

The demons formed a massive herd in one major intersection, turning outward to face the heroes. The heroes, following Daniel's order, began to lead them into the Morrison Building. A few of the heroes walked into the building themselves, luring the demons. Some of the more powerful heroes chased the demons inside, attacking wildly.

Within moments, most of the demons were inside.

"Okay, Everybody! Clear the building, now!" Daniel said. The heroes all ran out of the building and took cover, leaving the demons inside.

Daniel hovered above the building, and pushed downwards with all his telekinetic ability.

He concentrated, hard. Collapsing a building took a lot of energy.

The steel and concrete of the building's walls began to buckle. Windows shattered, spraying glass all over the surrounding streets.

The building collapsed inwards, crushing everything inside. Including the horde of demons.

Daniel floated slowly to the ground.

"Okay... Gooz... I'm coming back to HQ. That took a lot out of me, I need a bit of a rest. I got a lot of them... not all of them... I didn't stop 'em completely, but it should slow 'em down for a while..." Daniel thought.

"Okay, Dan. Get back here. You did good," Gooz thought back.

What’s happening in Mandelovia?

While Heritage battles the overwhelming legions of Hell, a huge helicopter lands near the seemingly dead body of Danny the Dinosaur. Some men exit from the 'copter, secures the T Rex with steel ropes, and then take flight, heading toward the sea.

On the side of the Helicopter, a name: Tri-Vex Corporation.

[ 09-11-2001: Message edited by: The Eurostar ]

"Lorelei!" Max Yezpitelok shouts.

"Mr. Yezpitelok, you are awake!" says Lorelei "How do you feel?"

"Pretty good, I was lucky... Eh, Lorelei... What is this place?" asks Max.

"It's a long story... I found myself here a week ago--"

"A week, you say?" says Max, interrupting Lorelei "That's weird... time seems to flow differently across the hyperboards..."

"Yeah... It's 1988 here. At first I thought I was in the past, but then I realized that things that never happened were happening here, so I guessed this was some kinda parallel dimension or something... Anyway, the guys helped me escape from those other robots you saw over there. I helped here in the infirmary for a while, but now I learned how to use the armors, so I can go to the battles"

Max used to see Lorelei as a weak person. Now he sees how stupid he was being... He says: "The battles...? They do that all the time...? Nevermind, you'll tell me the rest in the Klone Dome..."

"'The Klone Dome'...? And, how did you find me? Did everyone else get teleported to a different place...? "

"I'll explain you everything when we get to the Klone Dome" Max says. When he notices she doesn't seem very happy with the idea of leaving this place, he adds "...Edulcore is there..."

"Oh! How is he? Has he asked about me? Why didn't he come?"

Ack, one of the robot warriors, listens to the conversation. When he sees how Lorelei reacts to the name Edulcore, he wonders who is Edulcore...

"I'll--" Max says.

"I know, I know, you'll explain everything to me in the Klone Dome... lets move, then!"

"Okay... let me tell Joker2 and Hourly that-- what's... that sound...?"

Suddenly, one of the walls of the infirmary collapses. A small army of robots is revealed on the other side.

Joker2 and Hourly, more prepared than the first time they saw the evil robots, take fighting possitions, as the robots inside the infrimary do the same thing.

"You escaped us the last time, you cowards! This time, you will have no place to escape to!" shouts Thucker, the leader of the army.

"PROTECT THE INJURED ONES!" Xen, leader of the opposite side shouts "TAKE THEM OUT OF HERE!"

Once again, the good and evil robots start fighting. Max holds Lorelei, and asks her:
"How often does this happen?!"

She answers "All the time!", as she jumps into the fight.

Meanwhile, Thucker speaks, apparently to himself:
"Do you see everything, sir?"

A voice inside his helmet replies: "Yes, Thucker, we can see everything"

Thucker, says "Good, sir", as he thinks "This stupid nutcase still refers to himself as 'We'... That's another reason for taking the bastard down..."

Max comes up to a decition. He contacts Joker2 and Hourly Quinn telepatically, using his powers, to let them know about it. Then he does the same thing with Lorelei:
"Lorelei, this can't keep going on. I'd love to help these people, but you are not the only one stranded in another hyperboard. We are leaving."

"But..." Lorelei says, and before she can say another word, she finds herself in the Klone Dome, along with Joker2, Hourly and Max.

"At last!" Joker2 says.

"What took you so long?" Crush asks.

"Max got hitted by a power beam" Hourly says "He was uncouncious for a while"

Lorelei looks around, then she looks at Max.
Max is happy that the armor she was wearing dissapeared when she got here...

"YOU!" she says "You... You... I'll never see them again! Do you realize I don't have anyone at...?"

Eurostar walks into the room.

"Lorelei...?"

Lorelei instantly stops talking. She runs to Eurostar and hugs him.
Max thinks: "How odd... she remembers about the people she met in the other hyperboard, but when I came back, I could barely remember anything... I guess it must have been because of the drug they say someone injected me..."
Max doesn't know it, but he's wrong. Later, he will discover that he's the only one that doesn't remember what happened to him when he was in another hyperboard...

Let’s take a look at the Klone Dome, home of JAMB.

Hourliquinn looks angrily at Lorelei, which is hugging Eurostar, after she has just returned from a different Hyperboard.

“Hey, sister, get your hand off Eurostar!” shouts the future daughter of Joker1.

The feline girl turns toward Hourly, growling like a lioness. “What – did – you- say?” she asks, angrily.

“I said, get your dirty hand off my man!”

“What? Your man? Eurostar is MY boyfriend!”

While the imaginary line going from the eyes of a girl to the eyes of the other girl becomes hot red, Eurostar feels enormously embarassed. “Ladies, please… this is not the moment… there is a war going on the central timeline, and we are wasting time bickering over trivial matter. We have to find a way to retrieve all my comrades dispersed in the Hyperboards, much more fast than how we have done until now”.

“You are not English, aren’t you?” asks Joker2.

“Beckneck nek nek beck beck ek” says the giant retcon penguin, bouncing toward the leader of JAMB.

“Really?” asks Joker2

“Hey, please translate!” says Eurostar.

“Beckeneker says that maybe there is a way of retrieving your friends faster that with singular missions to each Hyperboard involved. He, with the help of Hourly, can send a man trough the different timelines, bouncing from a Hyperboard to the next, like a billiard ball between the sides of the pool”.

“Cool” responds Eurostar. “Are YOU going, Jo?”

“No, Beck says that only a speedster can do it. You are the only candidate, Eurostar!”

“Oh mamma!”

"Lorelei! Where's Lorelei?!" Ack shouts, distracting his attention from the battle.

"She's probably out there helping the injured, Ack! Now get back to fight!" Xen tells him.

Ack obeys his leader, but he can't help feeling that he will never see Lorelei again.

Meanwhile, in a small fortess a few miles away from there, Zeek watches the battle...

"I wonder who those people were..." he says to the hologram floating next to him "I guess we will never know now"

The hologram, representation of the monarch of a world two galaxies away, thinks:

"Intresting, they seem to come from another plane of existance... The residual energies they left tells me wich one it is. This information may be usefull... one day..."

Heroes and villains alike fall to the demons who have risen. Young hopefuls, known vets and some described as unbeatable fall to the carnage. Daniel’s plan takes out a large group of numbers, but from the ashes, more rise.

It worked good. But we’re wasting time. We have to end this fast.

Alarms began to sound as a fleet of jets shot over the city, M.A.N. was here. Just the back up needed. The jets speeded across the city low, taking out large numbers of undead. M.A.N. agents take positions on top of buildings, safe from threat, and able to easily pick off the targets.

A plane stopped almost directly in front of Gooz, labeled M-X, the doors open, Prometheus stands looking into his younger self’s eyes.

[Requesting permission to enter]

Gooz: Granted.

Gooz pressed a button, opening the huge windows, letting a bridge let Prometheus and Tomb enter the Message Board League’s Head Quarters.

Gooz: I expected you guys sooner. How is Mandelovia?

Prometheus: Lost.

Gooz: I’m sorry.

Prometheus: Now is not the time, we’ll grieve later. Now, we fight. M.A.N has set post all around the city, shooting to kill. I am guessing our target is the castle…

Gooz: Prometheus X, is our target. But there is one much bigger problem. A young boy named Peter McLebovich, the son of Marc Campbell. He is the X’s key into the Silver City. The undead are advancing towards him, at all costs; he must be kept from them. I’m running out of men.

Prometheus: Well, call us back up. How do you want to proceed?

Gooz: I am going straight for Prometheus X, if I can take him out, this round is over. Bibbo, can you and Tomb stay here, make sure that Peter doesn’t fall into the wrong hands? Stop that at ALL costs.

Bibbo: Of course.

Shock: Gooz, sir, how do you expect to face down this X guy, he is godlike? It would be sucide…

Gooz: Don’t worry about me, I have my ways.

Gooz turns toward Prometheus. After a moment of silence.

Prometheus: I’m coming.

Gooz: I wouldn’t expect otherwise.

Outside, things were getting worse. Grover, of the Warriors, used his incredible speed to run right through a group of demons, busting them into nothing. He turned to see a young hero named BombBoy get a spike ripped through his chest, his insides poured onto the street. Grover wanted to throw up, but he held it back, he had to keep moving, to keep fighting, no matter what was happening around him. Not too far away, Daniel was making his way back to the HQ, when a figure appeared behind him. The telepath quickly turned at its presence, noticing it’s huge frame, six arms, and blood red face.

Daniel: What the hell are yo-

Before Daniel could finish, the Colony easily threw him to the side and kept on his journey towards the MBL’s HQ.

"What... the hell... was that...?" he muttered to himself, short of breath.

He noticed the giant red figure of The Colony moving steadily towards the MBL headquarters, destroying everything in it's path.

"Can't let it... get to... the League..."

Daniel tried a direct telepathic attack. He opened up his mind, and tried to look into the mind of the hideous creature.

He screamed, and fell back to the ground.

Whatever 'The Colony' was, it mind wasn't anything near human. It was more like... a collection of chaotic thoughts, with one primary destructive goal.

Daniel staggered to his feet, and went to stop it.

Nobody Else continues fighting against the undead, but he's body isn't tired. It's unable to get tired.
But only his body, because his mind is as tired as it has been since he was "born" a few days (or perhaps hours, he can't really tell) ago.
It's because of this that he misses the undead soldier coming from his right. When he's close, Nobody notices him, but it's too late. He sees the sword he's holding (probably stolen from some fallen hero), and understands that his intention is to cut his head.
He doesn't know what would happen if his cotton-filled head was cutted, but he's not eager to find out.
Suddenly, a small shadow comes from nowhere and sends the soldier 20 feet away.
Nobody, amazed, asks the short hero his name. He answers:
"Name's Doggy Dude, man, from the Team Dawg. You?"
"I'm Nobody Else"
"Whoa, that's a cool name, man."
Nobody, noticing the canine hero's young face, asks:
"Uh... how old are you?"
"What's age got to do with it, dude?"
"Well, I'm a few days old..."
"Oh. Then it's kewl, man. I thought you were older and you would, like, make fun of me and stuff... I'm 15"
"Uh... 'Cool'... We better get back to fight... things seem pretty harsh..."
"Yeah, I know what you mean, man... I came here with KewlSK8rMastrDude2000, but now I can't find him..." says Doggy Dude "I guess he chickened out..."
As they run to where the action is, Nobody asks:
"What is this 'Team Dawg' you mentioned?"
"Well, it's like, y'kno-- GHACK..."
Nobody looks at Doggy and sees a sword in his throat. Still shocked, he looks to the front and sees the soldier that attacked him earlier coming to him, really slowly.
That would have been the most horrifying thing he had ever seen, if he hadn't looked at Doggy again, hoping to see him with nothing but a small scratch in his neck, but instead he watched as his head separated from his body and falled to the ground.

The soldier was still walking to him.

Nobody ran to the soldier, jumped over him, causing both of them to fall to the ground, and started hitting him in the face.
He continued hitting him everytime harder, feeling anger for the first time in short life.
And he kept hitting him, until his mandible started breaking.
Then he stopped for a second. He looked at the soldier's demacrated face. Then he lowered his head, and small pieces of cotton started comming out from his eyes.
He was crying.

[ 09-08-2001: Message edited by: I'm Not Mister Mxypltk ]

"How do we get in?" Giovacchino asked.

"We sneak in." Tobias said. "Remember, this guy's omniponent. I've seen in action."

"But you know how to kill him." The cat said.

"Yeah, but the problem is that I'm not sure if I can do it." Tobias said. "Walker had the powers to do it."

"We'll find a way." Giovacchino said. "Let's get in there."
**********************************
Outside of Time

"Come on!" Jake pleaded. "My friends need me!"

"No." Randy said. "What kind of battle would it be if someone wished for the forces of hell to disappear? Or a wish for the MBL to be reunited on Earth?"

"You want this war to happen?" Jake asked.

"None of us wants this war to happe." Randy said. "But we're bound to protect the space time continuum. And until we're sure you can't interfere, you're staying here with us."

"I'll find a way to get out of here." Jake said. "Somehow."
*************************************
The war is getting out of hand. Andy is only twelve years old, and has seen more horror than anyone could ever imagine.

He has seen a war torn future, where his father was killed in front of his eyes. (Warriors #40) He is forced to live forever at the age of twelve due to a time glitch. (Warriors #58) He has seen his friends killed in a horrific battle by an unstoppable monster. He has had his head severed, only to be forced to watch the his friends die from a jar. (Warriors #173 and #170)

But this. This war is worse than anything Andy has ever seen. He has lost his adopted brother Howard, his friend Tobias is nowhere to be found, and hell is about to decimate the world.

Andy has been through a lot in his life, but for the first time, he does something he's never done. He cries.

The little kid, scared to death, that cries in the arms of his mother, goes by the name of Pete McLebovich, and is the target of the forces of Hell swarming from the black castle towering over Thunder City.

McLebovich. A very strange name. Scottish-Russian? Espertingonzian? It’s a made up surname, for a kid that actually is the son of one of the most powerful cosmic being of the whole Hyperboards. Marc Campbell, the former Moderator. A long lost God, whose seat in the Courts of Light is covered by a thick layer of dust.

The power of the Moderator lives in the small body of Pete, and in the last few months has begun to manifests. A power that is the key, for hell, to open the gates of the Silver City, the residence of the Courts of Light. And now wave after wave of demons, of dead damned souls, of monster, are heading toward the MBL Headquarter, where Pete is hiding, with many other kids from the TIAMAT Institute.

Many heroes are fighting, and many more have died, to contain the army of Hell.

Daniel Page is engaged in battle with the Colony, the six armed monster that one time was my superpowered alien exoskeleton. But while the battle enrage, the body of the monster grows many other arms, from the thorax, from the back, from the legs, from the head. And each hands falls to the ground, and grows in the shape of a giant spider. Twelve giant spiders that attack Daniel, while the Colony resumes its walk toward the headquarters.

Meanwhile, inside the Citadel, the MBL Headquarters, the TOMB members are taking position for the defense.

At the same time, away in the Hyperboards, in the Klone Dome, base of the Junior Adventurers of the Message Board, a complex device is being built by Beckeneker, the retcon penguin, Mr. Max Yezpitelok and Hourlyquinn. The device will project Eurostar, my younger self, trough the Hyperboards, to retrieve each displaced leaguer.

“Eurostar, you will have only a short time span to stay in every Hyperboard you will visit. That’s why we need a speedster. You have to locate the person to rescue, and throw yourself toward him at full speed. He will arrive here, while you will jump on the next Hyperboard.
Are you ready?”

The young Eurostar gulps. These kids talk to him like he is the hero one day he will become, widely known across half a galaxy. Now he is just an inexperienced seventeen years old boy with some not so weird powers, like being able to run fast like ten times the speed of sound, a flash vision, and a superwhistle. Not the uncanny powers that the Colony will grant to him, that has granted to me in the past.
But this moment is the exact moment in which I became a true hero. And even if my brain was shouting louder “No! I’m not ready. I will never be ready”, my mouth opened to whispers a softly “Yes.”

“OK” says Joker2, and presses a button.

And the world whirlwinds in a kaleidoscope of colors, and the young Eurostar is projected trough one of the windows that dot the sky.

“Oh mamma!” he shouts.

[ 09-10-2001: Message edited by: The Eurostar ]

Lost...

The word rang through Colton D'goon's head as he fell to the ground yet again, a long trail of glowing flourescent yellow blood ran from his mouth.

The former Major gripped the ground of his native soil, tired and weary. He spat more of the rapidly appearing blood from his mouth as he staggered, slowly but surely, to his feet. For all of a second, he was disoriented. Then, upon seeing the absolute carnage and desecration of his sole purpose for living, he tightened his fists, gritted his teeth and once again took flight.

Lost...

Lost...

D'goon shook the word from his head as he continued to mount skyward. As various demons raced by him, he let out many powerful, but small, energy blasts from his fingertips, destroying every demon that tried to pass.

They, however, were not his concern.

His concern was this great one... Abaddon. The one who had single-handedly wiped out the Palace. The one who had signalled the retreat of Mandelovia's alleged "protectors" - TOMB.

D'goon's eyes flared as he flew straight for the massive beast, not intending to waver in his pursuit. D'goon's mouth opened as his all too familiar battle cry errupted from his lips.

"Cry havoc! and let slip the dogs of war!"

Rapid fire energy bursts cascaded towards the head of his massive foe. Small burns began to appear on the monster's forehead as oozing black blood began to appear from the burns.

"FOOL!" Abaddon cried. "YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU DO! SURELY YOU SHALL PERISH FOR YOUR MISDEED!"

D'goon didn't say a word. Instead, he fired another blast off at Abaddon. This one sent him flying back into the wreckage that was now Mandelovia. As he landed, he surveyed the place where he was.

He was where the Palace once was. Gritting his teeth even harder so as to stop himself from crying, D'goon reached over for the dedication plaque to that great Palace.

It read:

quote:

---

Mandelovia.

"May God bless her and keep her as her legacy lives on from generation to generation."

Boris Mandelov
Palace Dedication, 1519.

---

A tear ran down D'goon's cheek as he rose to his feet one more time. Using his sleeve, he quickly wiped the blood from his lip and tossed it to the side. From where he stood he was right in the heart of Mandelovia, which was exactly where he needed to be.

All around him, the minions of Hades closed in. To his left, Larry Lance, riding a firey steed rode at him quickly, a host of horse-backed demons in hot pursuit. To his right, an armada of undead Nazis marched on, in perfect attack formation.

And above him, on the most horrific horse D'goon had ever seen, was Abaddon.

D'goon knew waht he must do. Taking the small plaque in his hands, he hurled it skyward with all his strength. As it flew into the stratosphere, D'goon pulled back his head and yelled for all to hear.

"FOR MANDELOVIA!"

As the words fell away from his lips, yellow energy began to cascade off D'goon's body. He grunted as the full force of his power struggled to break free.

"I'm... sorry... my love..." he whispered as the enregy inside him began to grow in intensity. Then, looking back at the demons, he muttered: "I'll see you all back at the clubhouse..."

A scream that could very likely have been heard all over the world flew from the man's lips as his power took over, breaking his very body into pieces. Like an energy tsunami, what had once been Colton D'goon spread like wildfire over Mandelovia, wiping out every demon that had desecrated his home with its presence.

Larry Lance pulled his horse quickly to a halt as his flesh fell away and he died yet again.

The German soldiers did not halt as the life draining energy stream caught up with them, decimating their reich once more.

And Abaddon, the Destroyer... fell.

Both horse and rider, disoriented by the burning wave, fell into the thick of it, screaming a deadly scream as their bodies were escorted back to hell.

When the energy storm subsided, nothing was left of Mandelovia.

And in that horrible moment, had D'goon been around to see it, he would have realized that his greatest fear had come true.

Lost...

Lost...

"Fools, I know all!" He shouted.

"Then you know we're taking you down." Tobias shouted back.

"How cute." Burdette said. "A boy and his pet cat. You will die now!"

"Not yet." Tobias said. "The MBL or the Warriors couldn't take this guy, but we sure as hell will."

"It's funny that you mention the MBL!" Burdette said as pulled out a necklace with several jewels.

"It can't be." Tobias said as he examined the necklace. Inside the seperate jewels were the members of the MBL, frozen in time, locked in their own little prison...

My younger self, the young Edulcore Cicciotto, has been just projected into the Hyperboards from the Klone Dome.

His mission: retrieving all the stranded Leaguers from the various board where they have ended.

But he has only a few minutes for every board to perform his task.

The first stop is Chimpago, the city of the Apes. In this Earth, evolution has took a strange turn, and many species of animals are as intelligent as a man.

Here, Smasher has become a living legend, Man-Ape the flying Avenger.

But the Mafia Boss of Fidodelphia, the Dogfather, has put 3 millions of dollars of reward over Smasher, dead or alive.

And now Smasher is on a roof, surrounded by twelve crooks ready to kill him. No doubt that he can dispose of the villains all by himself, but the young Eurostar doesn’t fear of hurting Smasher’s sensibility helping him.

The kid speedster runs at full velocity toward the heroes, passing in the middle of the villains crowd, and hit Patrick Walker with a loud boom.

Both disappear, Smasher finds himself in the Dome, with his friend Max Yezpitelock, Lorelei and the kids of JAMB. Eurostar jumps to the next Hyperboard, where Saint George is about to throw a spear to a giant, furry white dragon.

“Oh Mamma!” shouts Eurostar.

A army of super-powered men and woman have been doing there all against the unstoppable forces of hell; demons, zombies, creatures of the night, just to name a few. Two bases stand tall, the battle field in between them. One of these bases is the Citadel, the home and headquarters of the Message Board League. Within the sub-basement of this huge tower are a couple hundred super-powered children from around the World, the next generation of heroes and villains. Included in the mix is Patrick Walker’s little baby, Daniel and the late Eurostar’s boy, the Snake_Headed_Son, but more importantly, Peter McLebovich, the key to ending this War of the Underworld.

Tomb has set up a defense just a floor above the children, hoping that hell’s forces will not even make it that far. Little do they know, that two demon’s have already been able to break into the sub-basement. Their target, not Pete, but the Snake_Headed_Son, the son of one of the two demons. But in a few moments, Tomb will have a much greater problem, one with 6 arms and blood red skin.

* * *

On the battle field, all hope seems lost. MAN is holding their ground, not letting up for one instant. The Message Board League is all but fallen. Only a handful of the members remain to fight the incredible amount of un-dead. Hope seems ...lost...

A word that seems to echo over the battle field.

”In a City that has seen much destruction in the past, an Uncanny number of heroes and even some known villains are giving their lives to fight off what seems to be the END of the world.”

Only a few blocks out of Thunder City, a camera man stands firm while a news reporter sends a live feed all around the world.

“In the past, society has protested against these super-powered men and women, calling them inhuman or mutants. The army has even fought them at times, believing that there simple existence was a national threat. But now. They have nothing but this reporter's respect. And also the respect of the American people.”

The camera man moves the camera behind and around the reporter. The land is covered for miles and miles by the US army, tanks, jets, helicopters, police (from multiple states), firemen and normal men and women.

”These super-powered men and women, are our brothers, our sisters, and we will not let them fall. Not with out taking a stand by their side. And doing our all.”

As the reporter finished what she was saying, the troops began to move in. In a short time, they were able to fight their way through swarms and swarms of un-dead, and to the heroes. Officer O’Maley unloaded a round of clips clearing a short area, he then lifted an injured meta-human over his shoulder. Two strangers, New York police men, covered the officer as he brought the injured man back to get aid, not letting any of the bad guys near him. The tide had now changed, the HEROES now had a fighting chance.

Prometheus, with Gooz and Malvana by his side, was flying the M-X Inc jet. Speeding through the air at a blinding force, straight for the huge castle. Prometheus X stood in an opened window on the top floor.

“Gooz, be ready...” Prometheus said, grinning his teeth together, his eyes focused before him.

With a simple twitch of his eyes, the plane exploded in a fury of flames. For an instant, Prometheus X smiled.

A portal opened on the ground just in front of the castle; Gooz, Prometheus and Malvana were safe. If you could call where they were safe.

“Shit” was the only word Prometheus could muster.

The small group was surrounded by hundreds of the un-dead.

“Behind me,” Gooz began “No questions, just give it a second...”

Prometheus smiled for a second, beginning to understand his younger counterpart.

Just as the un-dead members were closing in, blue light covered the sky above them, 8 figures appeared in midair. More Help had arrivied. Zod, Stonewall, Flit, Rampage, Hawk, FlashFX, and Nowheregirl quickly attacked the un-dead army, as the man who brought them here, the silver lined hero known as Kidbucket, went right to Gooz and Prometheus.

“Wow buddy, that was cutting it pretty close!” Gooz said with a sign of relief.

“Hey, better late than never?” Kidbucket said with a smile. “Do you know how hard it was to find this damn thing?”

As he finished, he pulled a silver sword out of a long bag he was holding.

“Plus you wanted me to get back some back-up, right?”

Gooz nodded in amazement, “You did good man, you did good.”

Gooz turned toward Prometheus, “Always have a plan. Right?”

Kidbucket joined the fight with Zod’s Message Board League.

Gooz, Prometheus and Malvana entered the huge Castle, surprisingly, it was empty. Thick stone walls, but a hallowed inside. The only thing in the room was an old stone staircase going all the way up, to the top floor.

Prometheus looked at the silver sword within Gooz’s hand and smiled. Engraved along the blade were the words “Novus Ordo Seclorum,” latin for ”New Order of the Ages,” Gooz was able to somehow retrieve an ancient sword used to slay Gods, while at the same moment setting it up so that backup would appear only moments before sure dead. Prometheus could only be impressed, for once, he began to see himself within Gooz.

The battle outside the Citadel enrages. Many has fallen. Mighty Aphrodite has been deadly wounded by Skizm, a monster that the MBL fought years ago, without ever defeating it. Now she’s in the arms of Agent Tuxedo, which is my father, and also her. Because she is my half sister. Tuxedo has transformed the monster into an harmless gimpimon, thanks to his retcon ray gun.
Aprodite whisper a few word. “Dad, I’m a leaguer, now…” and then dies. Tuxedo cries, but suddenly the ghost of Lord Rypta of the Dark MBL materializes, and blast him to death.
And I lost my sister and my father in a matter of seconds.

But there is no time for tears.

The wave of undeads and demons seems unstoppable. The Colony is just landed over Edge Island. Even the arrival of a parallel MBL seems only a palliative to this incredibly powerful army of Hell. But then, Zod leaves his comrades and flies to the Citadel, where the Changeling is in charge of the defense.

“Angel, I need a transwarp com” says the blue dressed hero from a dead universe.

“All the citadel is at your disposal, Lone Survivor” says the Changeling.

Zod talks over frequencies never used before, and then hang the microphone and flies back into battle. But after nothing more than a minute, a huge tear in the spacetime continuum opens in the sky, and thousands of blue garbed beings heads for the battlefield.

The MB Corpsmen! The cavalry has arrived!

Meanwhile, in the Hyperboards, my younger self is trying to collect all the scattered MBLeaguers.

He is now in a medioeval Earth, where Drax, in dragon form, is confronted by Saint George. Eurostar hits the dragon at full force, but it doesn’t disappears from the Board.

The dragon shouts: “The young Eurostar? What are you doing?” Saint George, meanwhile, runs away terrorized.

“I should have sent you in the Klone Dome… ready to come back home!” explains the young meta.

I can't, my young friend. This place has still members of my species, and I have to help them. Now hurry, go to save the others.

And with a kik from his tail, Drax send Eurostar back trough the Hyperboards.

Meanwhile, down in the Circles of Darkness, Viper sits on his throne. In front of him, chained to the wall, nine beings all looking alike, all wearing the same black coat and the same fedora.

[ 09-25-2001: Message edited by: The Eurostar ]

Prometheus and Malvana have just left the HQ along with Gooz. Bibbo has order us to take position. He is at the main control room, next to the Changeling. I never noticed how the two of them are looking alike. Down in the basement there are two hundred kids, among them my descendant, the Snake Headed Son, and the target of these demons, the young Pete McLebovich, the son of Marc Campbell, the Moderator. With them, a powerful teen, I2, a relative of the Indestructible Man with all his powers.

Jack..

I wonder where he is now.

Mordecai, Avatar, LLance, Redros, Joker1, Ghaleon and Shock are scatter among the various levels of the tower, preparing for the attack. The synthetic mind of the computer, modeled over Doctor Quantum and called simply Harry, keeps us informed of the status of the attack. In the infirmary, the android Bombshell is in charge of the wounded metas that arrives here at dozens every hour that pass. Near the comatose Speedy, now lie Digigrll, Luvaduck, Morpheus Costantine, the Corpsman Hubba, Speck, the Heavy, Cosmic Bob, Crisco Steve and many many others.

And then, a powerful blast shakes the tower. And suddenly, thousands of demons are crawling like geeks over the walls of the Citadel. On the roof, exactly one mile above the Power River surface, has arrived the Colony.

The voice of Bibbo arrive, replicated by Harry: Nemo, you are the closest.

And I run, undressing me while I jump over the stairs. The only wardrobe that fit me in battle is my naked, impenetrable skin.

And finally I’m in front of it.

The Colony.

A six armed red skinned ugly monster, with six eyes and two fangs protruding from the mouth.

He smiles.

My newly restored hand goes to the hilt of Ladnikia, but stops before touching the sword.

I try a scan.

And a chaos of thousands of minds hit my brain.

I fall to the ground, nearly unconscious. The monster charges at me, when I am lifted up in air. Near me is Daniel Page.

We don’t have to talk. We are both telepath, and we don’t need word. It is as we share the same mind. He knows what I know, and vice versa.

So, we land softly and begin our combined attack.

Danny takes the painful part. He has to shield me from the chaos of the thousands of minds. That’s very painful, because each alien minds have been subjugated by a spider conscience, and the results is a powerful killing instinct.

I must reach the leader cell. The microscopic alien superbeings that one time was in charge of the whole Colony.

It’s a long, and desperate journey. What I see is a powerful army of spiders battling each one a replica of Danny. And each one of those daniels has the most suffering face I have ever seen on a human.

But finally I find him.

The leader.

Micromino.

He is tied to a X shaped cross. The willforce of the dark Prometheus X, that is enslaving him. And, to guard him, the spider that many days ago entered inside the Colony, causing his transformation.

But it is not a normal spider. It is a spawn from Hell.

A deliberate plan of the Courts of Darkness.

There is no time left. Only the two of us can stop this monster, or else he will get down to take Pete.

So I project myself inside the Colony collective mind, to attack the spider. And the demon in arachnid form fight back. My mental powers can’t do much, toward such simple brain. So finally I take Ladnikia in my hand, for the first time. And the spirit of Ladnikia welcome me. The curse has been set, and I will soon will be slave of the blade. But the surge of power is incredible. And the sword dances in my hand with a grace and an agility I never felt before.

I don’t have to fight. Ladnikia does all by herself, I’m simply attched to her. And quickly, the eight legs of the spider are cut off, and I sense the blood being sucked by the sword, reinvigorating herself but also myself. And when my blade bracks the spider’s heart, I feels its dark soul vibrating inside the blade, and then resting in the hilt.

The spider is no more. Now I have to free Micromino from the grip of dark Pro X.

What I found inside the alien brain is unexpected, but very logic. The mind pattern of Eurostar. His memories, his knowledge, his ethics, his fears. The key to free him.

I, one time before, have been in the mind of Prometheus. It was like a labyrinth. I have Ariadne’s thread, then. This time I must count over my memories from that time.

But it is not the same mind. This is the mind of a god, not of a human that once was god, like the previous time. This is a suicide mission. I know.

All the stuffed knowledge I found last time, now are fully decompressed, and offend my mind. Mathematical concepts that smells of lime and tobacco, rough or smooth iridescences of universe reaching adulthood, blinding sounds of Goddes giving birth. I have to cross a jungle of omniscience, travel trough deserts of feelings, sailing in the midst of an ocean of supponence.

There is no path behind me, I know this is a one way ticket. But far on the horizon, I can see a red garbed man. The mind of Eurostar, sleeping on a peaceful island.

I finally reach him (it). He awakes. “What do you want? Why do you disturb my peace?” he says.

“I’m here to free you” I say.

“I don’t want to be freed. I have committed many crimes, I have been used by Klone, I don’t want to be considered responsible for murders and atrocities. Leave me sleeping, it’s better”.

“But… but you have abdicated to the Darkness. The crimes you have just committed are much more great than those of Klone”.

“What?” says Eurostar mind. And for the first time the jungle of madness creates by the X clears, as the ocean dries and the desert flourished. “That’s… horrible”.

“Fight, Micromino, fight!” I shout.

His face his twisted by the horror of his acts.

“Call me Eurostar!” he says.

My mission is accomplished. I wonder what will happen of me.

Suddenly I’m back on the roof. The Colony, which has come back to his fully human looks, watches around.

Daniel look at me. “It was no easy task to bring you back from that labyrinth” he whispers, and then fall to the ground, exhausted.

The Colony turns to me. “I have started all of this?” he asks, pointing to the army of Hell.

“Yes… but it was not really your fault…” I try to explain.

But tears appears on his face. “I should have seen it coming… I am an hero, and I have turned intoi a fiend…” And saying that, the Colony flies toward the sky, disappearing into the setting sun, screaming.

“Will we see him again?” asks Daniel.

“Who knows Daniel, who knows?”

"I'm scared, Lucky." Pete said. "What if he gets to me again?"

"He won't." Lucky said. "The MBL will stop him."

Suddenly, Pete's eyes starting crackling with an evil red glow.

"But who will stop me?" Pete asked. The Colony had a powerful spell over Pete. Should the Colony be defeated, a subliminal command would take over him and force him to destroy his friends.

"Pete?" Tommy asked as McLebovich prepared to fire on the kids.

"No!" Lucky shouted as he grabbed Pete from behind.

"Fool!" Pete shouted. "You can not stop me!"

A huge wave of power surged through Lucky as Pete attempted to destroy him, but the boy wouldn't let go.

"No, let go!" Pete shouted. "My power! What are you doing?"

"I don't know!" Lucky said. An explosion followed, knocking the rest of the kids across the room. When the smoke cleared, Pete and Lucky were on the ground. Pete was his normal self. Lucky was unconcious.

"Lucky?" I2 asked. There was no answer.

"How is he?" Tommy asked.

"He's alive. Barely."

He was through. There was no looking back, he simply couldn't take it anymore.

A slight smile came to his lips as he thoughts of all the horrors he had encountered during his 3 centuries of life. He always thought it would happen in some spectacular way.

"Some things are simply not meant to be. And others should never have started..." Avatar mused.

He fingered the revolver he had taken from Bibbo, and placed the barrel into his mouth. His hands shook and a tear fell from his clenched eyes.

The report echoed off the stone walls.

One more hero crashed to the ground on this dark day.

[ 09-23-2001: Message edited by: Avatar ]

Anyway, it’s my younger self that we have to speack about.

He’s travelling fast into the Hyperboards, to retrieve all the missing MBLeaguers.

He is heading straight for the Hyperboard where DiscoSteve has gotten into.

He fells into a bubble of energy, where the blue dressed leaguer is fighting dozens of strangely dressed soldiers, plus an algae dressed white haired monster and a giant in a sort of armor.

“Disco, who is the giant?”

“Master Beta”

“And the monster?”

“Aquarius and his Seamen”

“I shouldn’t have asked. Let’s go!”

Eurostar hits DiscoSteve, and suddenly he finds himself in the Klone Dome, where Smasher and Mxy are awaiting.

Eurostar jumps in the next dimension, and land in a dark cave. There is gold everywhere, jewels, diamonds, but there is also Doc Quantum, and in front of him there is a supersoldier of the Third Reich, WolveRhine. The battery of the force field belt of the doctor has just worn off, and the nazi is pointing a gun toward the Canadian hero.

But suddenly the gun is nowhere to be seen. The German meta turn to his back. Nothing. Then he turns to his previous position, but this time is the Doctor to have vanished, because thanks to Euro superspeed, he is now safe in the Dome.

Next stop Tommy’s place. There are only a few minutes left to perform the task. He has no time to talk, to explain. Too much minutes he spent with Drax, but he did well with Disco and Quantum. Maybe not all is left.

Tommy is walking in the jungle.

“I have only to hit him straight!” smiles Eurostar. Put he passes right trough the boy, and the board fades away without allowing the Italian hero to turn back. “Shit, it was intangible… it’s not fair.”

And while he wow to himself to return to save him in the future, another difficult decision awaits Eurostar.

Because in the next Hyperboard there are two friends to resque, Jason and the Utterly Useless Guy. “Gob, please, let Jason be in the arms of UUG, please…”

But the kid has just be handled to the two headed caretaker of the space grocery store. Eurostar can only hit one of them.

“Jason is a friend of mine. UUG I don’t really know… if he is really useless…”

Many are the tears that crosses Edulcore’s face. Because he chose to hit the UUG. “He’s adult, I bet that he will needed much more than Jason” he thinks. But with a speed never shown before, the UUG jump away from Euro’s route, and throws Jason toward him, so that is the kid to leave the Hyperboard, comdenning himself to a voluntary exiles away from Earth.

Next target, Igor JR!

"Fools! I will destroy you!" The madman yelled as the cat at him, pouncing on and over him.

"Ha! That didn't even do any damage!" Burdette yelled.

"Want to bet?" Tobias said as he held the necklace, shattering it on the ground. In a burst of light, the captured MBL were freed. A quick battle later, and Burdette was against the wall.

"You haven't destroyed me yet!" He yelled as he disappeared in a burst of black smoke.

"We've got to find him before he does any more damage." Tobias said.

"We will find him." That Earth's Gooz said. "And make sure he pays for his crimes."

"That's great, but how do we get home?" Li'l Jo asked.

"No. Leave me alone," Daniel's body replied.

"I said GET UP!"

"And I said SHUT UP!"

"Witty bastard."

"Piss off. Leave me alone."

"Come on, we've got work to do," Mind said.

"We've done work. We just battled countless monsters, pushed an entire building onto a horde of demons, and then- THEN- we fought a combination of thousands of consciousnesses in the form of an unstoppable being of power..." Body said.

"But we have more work to do. Quit your whining."

"I said PISS OFF! Do you know how much energy it took to do all that? I'm tired."

"There'll be time for rest later! Right now, we have to fight the bad guys!" Mind yelled, growing increasingly angry.

"We fought the bad guys..."

"There's more bad guys!"

"Can't someone else do it?"

"Damn it man, we're a hero!"

"A very exhausted hero..."

"It's the end of the world out there! You're just going to lie here on the floor?"

"Well... not for too long... just for a little while," Body said, wishing Mind would just shut the hell up.

"You know we have a duty out there. We're in the MBL. That means something, dammit."

Body was silent for a moment.

"Fine..." Body said.

Daniel got up off the floor, and flew off to aid the MBL against Dark Prometheus X.

A minute ago, the being that begun this War, the Colony, have been defeated by the joined effort of Daniel Page and of Captain Nemo.

Now, while Nemo is taking his previous position in the defense of the Citadel from the hordes of demons, and daniel flies off on the streets to help the remaining MBL reserves and sobsitutes, Bibbo is discovering the dead body of Avatar. And is crying.

Near him, the soul of the ex-mage.

"Hi. My name's Eurostar. I was with the MBL, years ago.2

"Since I'm lying on the floor, I suppose that you are dead like me" says Avatar, with the understatement that I knew from him, and that was wiped away by the horror of this War.

"Dead, and made an angel" I say.

"Can I enlist?" he smiles.

"I'm not in charge. But suicide, I think, have to go to the basement."

"Must be pretty empty, there" he jokes, pointing his finger to the mass of demons crawling over the walls of the Citadel.

A collector demon appears, and handcuffs him.

"Seems I have to go. Farewell, Eurostar"

I observe the scene with agryness and sadness, then I say "'later, Avatar"

Meanwhile, in the Hyperboards, my younger version has just arrived in Burdette's world, right in the middle of a MBL meeting.

"Hey, you are the young Eurostar, right?" asks Tobias.

"Yeah!" says Giovacchino, happy to see his master, even if rom a time before the two met.

"Quick, we have no seconds to waste. Giovacchino, I will send you in the Klone Dome, with JAMB, and your comrades from the MBL. Tobias, you have to go with me, we have to resque the two Igor.

In a matter of a second Edulcore hits with his speed the cat, that vanishes and reappears into the JAMB Headquarter, while the two speedster jump to the next Hyperboard.

But there is no trace of Igor JR.

“I can’t really say to have fulfilled my mission. More than a half of the persons I had to resque have chosen to remain in the other Hyperboards, or I haven’t able to find them” says the young Eurostar.

“If the other parallel Earths were just like the one where I ended, maybe there is much more needs for them in the new places than on our Earth. At home there are thousands of heroes, but in the Earth where I was with Giovacchino, to fight Burdette there are only seven heroes. You can’t blame our friends if they have chosen to stay where they are needed most… I’m sure Igor will find a way to come back. I heard he is able to cross into the Phantom Board” replies Tobias

“So, you think I have not failed…”

“No, Edulcore. You are a good hero… Well, what do we do, now, to return home?”

“We hit each other at full superspeed. We should return to the Dome, and then we will sail for Earth” explains Eurostar.

“OK!” The two speedsters chrashes one in the other, and both disappears.

But in the Klone Dome only Eurostar reappear.

“Oh, crap. Tobias has disappeared!” shouts the young hero.

“It’s ok, Euro” says Crush. Beckeneker has foreseen that. The Hypersignature of Christopher should have brought him directly back on Earth.”

[ 10-04-2001: Message edited by: The Eurostar ]

Because of the reinforcements, things seem better for most of the members of this huge MBL.

Except for the dead.

And for Nobody Else.

He is only a few days (or perhaps hours) old, and he has alredy seen the horrors of war. His will is totally shatered.

Homo/Heterosexual Man/Woman watches Nobody cry as he fights with a demon, and is sorry to see that he was right about Nobody when he first met him in the MBL HQ.

He defeats the demon, and inmediatly another one takes his place.
But... there is something weird about this one...
Something that disturbs him...
Something... familiar...
When the Demon reveals his wings, it all makes sense for him/her.
"Birdman" he/she says, getting only a disturbing smile for an answer.
He/She looks at his old friend's demacrated face for a moment.
"WATCH OUT!" a voice yells.
He/She turns and sees another Demon coming from behind, but it's knocked down by the man that warned him.
He/Sheks back at Birdman to find out he's gone, and then looks at his/her saviour.
"Thanks"
"Anytime" the stranger says "Name's Walter Simonson's Stunt Doble"
"I'm, uh... call me Terry"
"What, no code-name?"
"Actually, too many code-names... You see--"
"Tell me later, the bad guys are coming. We'll kick their asses in two second."
He/She looks at what Walter is pointing and sees a group of undead soldiers leaded by a winged demon.
But they are not just that.
They are Prof. C, I Am The Law, Game Boy, Guy With A Weird Smell, Spandex Costume Woman and Captain Communist.
Along with the devilish Birdman and the confused Homo/Heterosexual Man/Woman, they are... The C-Men. Together again for the first time.
"This is gonna be harder than you think..." he/she says.
"Then I guess you could use some help" a voice behind them says.
They both recognize Nobody Else, with cotton tears still covering his face.
He/she felt sorry for him one minute ago. Now, for some reason, he sees him as the most heroic thing he has seen in his life.

The stone and shadow castle standing over what was once Thunder City rocks as energy soars through the old brick and high into the air. All fighting throughout the city stops short as the new found life force gifted to the dead is ripped from their bodies, leaving nothing but dust. The energy ripples through the air and breaks through the clouds high above the castle, creating a spiral vortex of color and light.

The ground rumbles with thunder, as metas and humans a like grab onto something to hold them selves up. The powerful winds pound onto their bodies and strike the partly left buildings, crushing them where they once stood.

Rain begins to fall, soaking the pavement, washing away the still wet blood. Men and women, close their eyes and cleanse their souls, feeling once again free. They let the rain wash the blood, sweet, and tear from their bodies.

It is over. The War on earth has ended. They live. They are free.

Daniel Page can barely hold his body up, as he finally reaches the huge structure. Than he stops, his eyes widen as the Castle falls. Tons and tons of stone break apart and crumble to the ground right in front of the young man. He has only been with the MBL for a short amount of time, but he has proved himself time and again.

As quick as the structure fell, Daniel was over the rubble, with his bare hands, he lifted stone after stone, blood dripping from his palms. For a moment he paused and turned to the ‘army’ behind him.

”Somewhere within this building are three heroes that risked everything to end this…”

Before Daniel could finish his TK message; humans, meta-humans, and MB Corpsmen were also over the rubble, lifting brick after brick.

Sweet poured from the young heroes’ head as he continued to search for his friends, for his family. A hand patted him on the back. Daniel turned, “…zod…?”

The large hero nodded his head and helped Daniel lift a huge slab of stone, which revealed a body. The body was draped in a black coat, a deep cut was through his chest. His face covered was by the dirt and dust from the collapse. Zod ripped off a piece of his suit and wiped the man’s face clean.

“My God,” was all that he could muster, as he looked away.

Daniel looked at the body and than back toward Zod, “What…?” Confusion set in, the body limp on the ground belonged to…

quote:

---

VIPER snapped LLance's neck in under a second, the King falling to the ground.

Joker1 similiarly unleashed a SONIC SCREAM that tore off one of VIPER's arms. But, the scream stopped once VIPER had ripped his vocal cords out.

VIPER wasted no time, turning, he flew straight for The X at the dome, screaming in rage.

"I-WILL-NOT-BE-DENIED!!!!!!" he roared, his still attached arm stretching forward.

His glowing opal hand got within ten feet of The X....ready for a fatal blow.

Suddenly, Caledfwlch shot through his chest, its' blade protruding from his back.

VIPER, utterly impaled, slowly turned towards a seething I-Man, who simply uttered one word:

"DIE!"

I-Man and VIPER locked into a powerhouse battle, Jack chopping away at the creature like a madman.

* * *

VIPER, sat slumped on his knees, staring at the ground, literally crying in anguish. The X stood behind him, arms folded, viewing the scene.

Chewy, The Tryst, LLance, Joker1, HourGirl, and Jonah had gathered around a joyous reunion, all smiling.

Malvana sat upright on her knees holding her newly returned son, Ritchie. Prometheus stood behind her, hand on her shoulder.

Dan walked up to Chewy.

"Son of a bitch..." he said.

Chewy looked at him. "What?"

Dan turned towards him, a smile coming over his face.

"We did it, didn't we? We won."

Chewy's smile broadened, slapping Dan on the back.

"Don't we always, Danny?"

Prometheus watched Malvana holding the semi-concious Ritchie, in silence.

He had done it. After all the planning. All the manipulation. All the centuries of strategy. He had finally done it.

Prometheus had won.

"You have lost, VIPER. Accept your fate." The X spoke to the sobbing dark lord.

VIPER said nothing. He knew that he had lost. He knew that the end was here.

YOUR TIME GROWS SHORT, X. PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE EVER-AFTER... Continuity's voice drifted across everyone's hearing.

Chewy looked at Prometheus.

"What happens now?"

Prometheus walked over next to the TOMB leader.

"Well, Chewy, this is where we say goodbye..."

Everyone present turned at the words.

"What?!" Dan asked

Prometheus smiled, pulling off his coat, and folding it over one arm.

"With Ritchie back in the proper universe, the chain of events that lead to The X and VIPER are broken. The paradox has ended."

Chewy's eyes began to grow wide.

"....and, without The X...there will be no you..." his words came in hushed whispers.

Prometheus just smiled.

"Time to say farewell, Chewy Walrus."

"No."

Both men looked down at Malvana, who was resting Ritchie's head softly onto the makeshift blanket Tora had put together.

Prometheus looked at her, perplexed.

"What?"

She walked over to the two.

"I said no. This is the end for The X...but not for you."

"Woman, he is me, as I am him." The X corrected her. "It is as he says."

"No, it isn't." She spoke towards The X, turning back towards Prometheus. "He still has one final destiny to fulfill. He still has a place in this universe."

"THE FEMALE SPEAKS THE TRUTH, X. THE MORTAL CALLED PROMETHEUS SHALL BE SEPERATED FROM THE DESTINY OF THE X. HE STILL HAS A ROLE TO PLAY..."

* * *

"The waves of time are building. I cannot hold back the effects for much longer, X." The 2000 spoke in a tense fashion.

"Are...are we going to forget you now?" I-Man asked Prometheus.

"No. Everything that has happened...everything with The X, VIPER, me...it all still stands as part of history. You'll forget the true nature of the universe. You'll never know that there has been anything but one universe. You'll even suddenly remember a history for Ritchie. And, the extra boost that The X gave your abilities this day will also be forgotten. It's best you learn them on your own, at your proper pace. But, the chain has been broken now. And, this is the finale of The X as you know it."

"THE TIME HAS COME, X."

The X merely nodded, watching as VIPER finally accepting his fate, stood up, facing him.

"I WILL....MISS THIS....X..." VIPER spoke, a sad tone coming from his words.

"It is as it has to be, VIPER. You were a worthy opponent. Farewell." The X spoke to his adversary of eternity.

With that, the two godlings met each others palms, their bodies beginning to fuse together in a bright, piercing light.

The blinding light ended and they were gone.

---

Elsewhere, a body fell to the ground. A dark alley. New York City. Bloody. Bruised. Alive. And finally… Free. Or was he?

For years he was trapped within the V, he was the Viper, but now he was free. No? He would rather be dead. The torture. The pain. The murder. But now he was free. Alive. No matter. He would rather be dead.

For weeks he simply laid there. Alone. Darkness. Pain. Soon death. But death would never come. Would it?

More weeks pasted. Than, darkness overcame the alley.

And a light.

Death? No.

Death, he asked again? No.

A force shot into his body, bringing the pain back, the torture. Zod was reborn once again, he was the X. Prometheus X. He had control. But his head hurt. He was “Viper.” He was death. Once again, he was death? Wasn’t he?

More weeks pasted.

There was another.

A new Viper.

TOMB? Fighting the Viper. Fighting him? And the MBL too? They are heroes? No, they had to be bad. Zod was a good guy, he wasn’t evil. Zod was Viper. Viper had to be good. Now, Tomb and the Mbl were fighting Viper. Tomb and the Mbl must be bad.

EVIL.

Then the Viper came to Zod, Prometheus X, with a pact. Two heroes working together. But then the evil Tomb and MBL must have done something evil. Hell opened. Bad things followed. Cities destroyed. People killed.

Then the Castle formed, and the armies fought. The good guys were winning, the bad MBL were losing. They were being killed. Death is bad. But they were EVIL. They had to be stopped. To be killed. Yes, Zod knew they had to be killed. He was Prometheus X. He was the only one with the power to stop the EVIL men.

But many others came. The Colony, one of Zod’s strongest allies, fell. The bad guys grew larger and larger, then a rip in space and hundreds of the evil men were all over the place. They were winning.

But Zod still had the most evil man captive. The W. The Warlord, as Viper told had told him. The W was crazy, trying to keep the V and X apart, to control us. He knew that only we could stop his armies. His bad bad armies. The EVIL mbl.

Three of the evil persons got into the castle. Zod’s home. They did something bad. Really bad.

They hurt Zod.

One really bad one called Prometheus, he was trying to use Zod’s new name for EVIL, yelled out words in Latin. He grabbed the one called Malvana’s hand, she turned to the other one, a bad man named Gooz, and did the same.

They hurt Zod. Ripped the X from his body, making him powerless. But Zod was able to call the X back to his body. That was until the bad one named Gooz stabbed him through the chest with the bad sword. Zod fell to the ground. Zod died. But the X force was loose.

The Castle couldn’t hold the pressure. It was hurt. The building fell. Everyone fell with it. It was to sudden for the bad one to use his shadow powers to help. The stone building fell on them.

But Zod was dead.

Zod was finally free.

Free.

[ 09-28-2001: Message edited by: GoozX ]

Daniel looked at the body and than back toward Zod, “What…?” Confusion set in; the body limp on the ground belonged to Zod?

"He is my double, from THIS world.” Zod began, “And may God rest his soul.”

The remaining Tomb members dug through the rubble, hoping to find their friends. Tears were in Bibbo’s eyes as he pounded the stone below him.

Then, there was movement under the rubble.

“GUYS!” Bibbo yelled, “I think I found something!”

The Tomb members rushed over, helping to clear the rubble, as a hand slowly lifted out. Bibbo grabbed the man’s hand and pulled, freeing both him and the young man held tightly in his arms.

Gooz fell right to his knees, softly dropping Ry-Chard to the ground. The remaining heroes gathered around.

“Are you ok? Where are Prometheus and Malvana? Are they…” Bibbo asked, barely able to speak, breaking down.

“I’m fine. Promethus… Malvana… They’re gone. Dead. They’re both dead.”

Gooz slowly made it to his feet, looking around.

“...The Message Board League is dead...”

An angel watched from above, a tear fell from his eye. It was over. This had been the END OF THE MESSAGE BOARD LEAGUE.

<The End>