Chapter 9: Lights Out
Markus picked up his refugees, the new ship was large enough to support them all without much problems. He picked them up and together they flew straight to the Crown city.
His goal was simple, shut down all of Mongul's resources with one swift strike to his main power center.
" Now, you fools!" Mongul shouted.
" Are you deaf? The emperor says now!" The emperor's advisor yelled.
The emperor's crew were working as fast as they could to get their weapons ready. Warships, bombs, everything.
Then Markus' ship passed over the crown city.
" Just one moment, your grace! They're using some kind of electromagnetical-pulse. It'll shut down every machine in the city. We're trying to save as many ships as we can- but."
The entire city suddenly went black as the EMP went off, and every ship that was preparing to take off, quickly died.
" Lights out, Mongul." Markus muttered.
Mongul's shout of rage was so extremely loud, that even standing on top of his ship, he could hear it. And he smiled.
...................
Markus and his men landed back in the wastelands. Joining those they had left behind, to distract the spikes.
" Vulcan! Vulcan! Vulcan!"
The refugees chanted the man's name to the heavens in unison.
" Does this remind you of anything?" Cir-El asked Virlal. " To save us."
" To unite us." Virlal muttered.
" Vulcan! Vulcan! Vulcan!"
" Not so fat." Sideros exclaimed. " Too much cheering. Now the time for fighting. For killing the browns before they kill us."
" No. Mongul and his men can't touch us anymore. No more bombs. No more power. Before anything else, we've got one last job to take care of." Markus told the bug. " You can smell it, can't you Sid? They're calling to you. Chemming."
"Sssss Stupid Spikes." Sideros muttered.
" Hmph! Let's go." Markus muttered.
The moment, Markus and the others crossed through the barrier of fire keeping the spikes at bay they were immediately set upon by the creatures.
" They're waiting for us. Careful, Vulcan." Grog told the man.
" I'm getting stronger, these things can't cut me anymore." Markus replied to the man.
" But they won't stop trying. Ready to throw that bomb?" Cir-El asked.
" We're not gonna fight them." Markus told the two of them.
" What?" Dregg asked.
" You heard me."
" We heard you. I just don't-"
" Kssssssssss!" The Spikes started hissing and slowly their bodies began to separate and form a straight and narrow walkway.
" Okay, that was unexpected." Grog stated.
" What now?" Dregg, asked the man.
" Let's go." Markus spoke. He started walking through the tunnel created by the spikes, towards the pillar they had been protecting.
" I can chem, with them Twohands. They calling for you. They want you on the ship. But can't trust these stupid spikes. What are you hoping to find in here?" Sid asked the man.
Markus grunted and walked towards the center of the crashed ship.
" Bigger spike." Markus told the man.
Standing in the center of the crashed ship were three large spikes, clearly different from the rest. Instead of being small spore like animals, they took the shape of humanoids, with glowing pink skin.
" What are those?!" Grog shouted.
" Spikes." Cir-El told the man.
" Not just spikes..... Spikes fathers." Sid told the woman.
" What did you do with that bomb?" Grog asked.
" Not scared are you?" Dregg asked the man.
" I might be." Grog replied bluntly.
" We're not gonna need it." Markus told the two men.
" Vulcan, you know what those spikes do to soft skins. We have to stop them now." Grog exclaimed.
" Can you hear them, Sid?" Markus asked the bug. He ignored Grog's worrying and instead continued to focus on communicating with the creatures.
" Yes. Spikes talking.... Chemming with Sid."
" Show us." Markus told the bug.
" Sid chemming with all of you. Showing you what big spikes saying." Side explained.
" SSSSSSSSSAnk you, little bug. And thank you, Vulcan. You could have.... Maybe you should have burned us. But you listened to our call. So, hear our story.... You know us as the spikes. Killing spores that consumer any organic material they touch... But this is not who we truly are. In our material form, we live in open space, absorbing cosmic energies from dying stars. Every few generations, we migrate, moving to new galaxies in our ancient ships. We meant to pass this world on our way to your sun. But something went wrong. Our ships crashed on the surface of the planet." The Spike fathers explained. " Stranded on the ground, starved of cosmic energy, we lost our minds and our souls. And we went insane. Hungry, so hungry.... We consumed everything we touched. But nothing could satisfy us. We killed millions. But finally, the father emperor's robots beat us back. Loaded us onto our few remaining ships and launched us into the skies. But instead of returning us to the stars, our ships landed on your shattered moon. Locked within their hulls, we spent three generations each other alive. Now, we've been released, but we are trapped on the ground once again. So, once again, our children run insane through this world."
" The emperor brought you back. As a living weapon to fight his enemies." Virlal stated.
" But we belong in the stars. And you have a ship." The spike father explained.
" Your children threaten our people." Cir-El told the man.
" They're hungry... So hungry. But for a little while we can control them. We can help you, if you help us." The spikes told Markus.
...................
Markus agreed to the Spike's offer, and with their new allies, Markus finally decided it was time to take Mongul. He led his troops, along with his new allies straight to the front gates of the capital city.
" Mongul! I've come for you!" Markus shouted. His voice boomed like the thunder itself.
" Your city is ringed with spikes. And they're fighting for us, now. Give up, Mongul." Cir-El exclaimed. She gave Mongul, one last chance to surrender with his life.
But Mongul did not care.
" To the death!" Mongul yelled. He leaped from the top of his palace and slammed his fists on the ground, sending those near, and far, flying with a powerful shockwave.
Markus, got back up to his feet and glared at Mongul.
" Sid." Markus called out.
" Right here two hands." Sid responded.
" I want you to chem, all of us, with him. So, when I beat him to death... He'll know why." Markus told the bug.
Sid, started his chemming, allowing Mongul to see why it was that the refugees fought against him.
" Killing my father. My hive."
" Broke my brothers in the Maul."
" Let the wildebots slaughter my wife and children in the Chaleean plains."
" Enslaved me for years."
" Burned the women and children of Ann-Sara."
" Killed my love in the great arena."
Sid, Grog, Virlal, Dregg, Cir-El, and Elara. Mongul saw all of their pain and memories. And he reveled in all of it.
" What is it you want from me? tears? Sorry, I cannot cry for something I feel nothing but pleasure in." Mongul exclaimed.
" And that's why, you'll break!" Markus punched Mongul in his face sending him flying several miles across the city. Markus ran, he ran as fast as he could and jumped into the air. He pushed, pushed as hard as he could and felt the weight of the world give way. He wanted to go faster. Lightning began to envelop Markus' body, like a cast and carried him forward.
Markus rocketed forward, carried by the lightning itself.
* Kraboom!
The sound of thunder exploded.
Markus quickly caught Mongul in the air. And while he had the edge, Mongul was still not out of the game.
He reached up and grabbed Markus' throat as they flew across the city.
Mongul yelled and threw Markus down into the city below, sending him crashing through multiple buildings before he hit the ground hard enough to shatter the glass of nearby windows. " Haaaaaagh!" Mongul plummeted straight down on top of Markus, driving his fists onto the man's body.
Markus punched Mongul, sending him flying out of the smoke and crashing into his palace. He chased after Mongul, flying straight through the palace.
" You don't want this fight, boy!" Mongul exclaimed.
" By the gods, yes. Yes, I do!" Markus exclaimed. " Because you're the only one on this planet. I can hit." Markus reeled back and slammed his fist into Mongul's chest, unleashing a mighty blast of lightning right in the man's face. " LIKE THIS!"
The lightning from Markus' fist obliterated the wall, behind Mongul, and sent him flying. Once again, Markus chased after the man, catching him mid-flight with his hands. " I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS! EVER SINCE THE ARENA! I'VE WANTED TO BREAK YOU!" Markus bellowed.
" You'll find I don't break easy!" Mongul exclaimed. He back handed Markus away, sending him back down onto the streets. Mongul landed next to Markus. Mongul grabbed Markus by his face and lifted him up over his head. " Welcome, to oblivion."
Markus, struggled within Mongul's grasp. The man was as powerful as he was large. But Markus wasn't just fighting for himself. No, He carried with him the weight and wishes of the people.
" BURN!" Markus channeled the lightning itself through his eyes, sending out two sharp and narrow laser like beams into Mongul's chest.
" ARGHGHHHHH!" Mongul, yelled out in pain and dropped to the floor. He clutched at the wound on his chest, the blood spilling out only further angered him.
Markus, went to punch Mongul once again, only to be knocked away by the man's giant boot. Mongul jumped back to his feet in anger. He rushed Markus and started hitting him with a flurry of fierce and powerful strikes.
He punched Markus once in his face, and then again, and again, before uppercutting him in his stomach.
When Markus toppled over, Mongul jumped into the air and slammed both of his fists down on top of Markus' back.
The two men went crashing into the basement of the building they were. Locked in arms as they fell towards the ground.
Mongul brushed the dirt off of his clothing and stood back up.
" Excuse me." Markus spoke. He tapped Mongul on his shoulder from behind, and when the man turned around, he uppercutted Mongul into the ceiling. Markus flew into Mongul, carrying up through the ceiling and back out onto the street. He punched Mongul over and over again, carrying higher and higher with each blow, until finally, Markus flew above Mongul.
He raised his hands over his head, and as Mongul's body approached, he slammed them both down onto the man's body. And behind his fists, were the might of a the strongest, bolt of lightning ever seen. The blast touched down right in the center of the once great empire, lighting up the sky in a bright, blue, blaze.
Markus, slowly floated down towards the ground, looming over Mongul as he tried to lift himself back up.
" Had enough?" Markus asked the man.
" Not quite... Yet." Mongul muttered. " I'm gonna give you one last chance. Kneel down before me, tear the hair from your head, lick the dirt at my feet, and beg me eight times to stay my royal wrath. Or I'll burn every soul you tried to save." Mongul exclaimed.
" You're dead." Markus told the man.
" No! You are!" Mongul exclaimed. He reached into the burnt remains of his robes and pulled out a small device and pressed the button on it.
The world itself began to tremble with fear and terror.
Suddenly the ground below split open and the very molten lava of the core itself came spewing out.
" What's going on?" Dregg asked.
" The King.... He's killed us all." Virlal muttered.
Cir-El could hear the planet's core itself, trembling. She knew he was telling the truth.
Markus landed near the two men with Hive lings in his arms.
" Grog, Dregg, Cir-El hold the little guys for a moment." Markus spoke.
" Farewell, Vulcan." Cir-El told the man.
" What are you talking about?" Markus asked the woman.
" I can hear it, Vulcan. My ears, they hear it all. The King has cracked the plates of the planet themselves." Cir-El explained.
" Yes.... Stone speaks to stone.... This is the end." Grog muttered.
" Have you forgotten, who I am?" Markus asked the two of them. He looked at them and smiled. " It's not over, until I draw my last breath." With that said, Markus threw himself into the very core of the planet, his skin burned, his blood boiled. But still he pressed on.
Cir-El watched in astonishment as Markus grabbed the plates themselves and started moving them one by one back into place with one another.
It was amazing.
She jumped in after the man, forgoing her own body, to save his and this world.
Cir-El grabbed the plates with Markus and together the two of them effortlessly shifted the plates back in place.
Markus looked upon Cir-El with a smile on his face. She extended her hand, and he took it. She flew the both of them out of the lava and together they landed back on the planet's surface.
" HAHAHA! I don't believe it!" Dregg exclaimed.
" Of course, you do!" Grog shouted. " He's the freaking Vulcan!" Grog exclaimed.
" Impossible." Mongul muttered. His plans to end the world with him, failed. Markus had done something he'd seen no other man before him could have done.
Markus and Cir-El together, leaped at Mongul, and together they smashed into the man, with enough force between the two of them to split a planet two times over.
one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten to a hundred times, the two of them punched Mongul in his face.
With one eye still open, Mongul looked upon his doom and in his last moments, he swallowed his pride. Accepting his fate as his father did before him and is father before him.
Markus, punched Mongul in his chest as hard as he could, driving his fist through it and out his back. His fist obliterated Mongul's heart instantly, and when the dust settled over the city, and after all was said and done. After years of deadly oppression and torture and misery Mongul was finally dead.
Markus stood up and all eyes, everyone, turned to him.
Elara, Virlal, Sideros, Dregg, Grog, Cir-El, all of them. Everyone.
He raised his fist into the air and they all cheered. As loud as they could, they cheered.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone