Vero Regi, Alpha Centauri

Muttering in the tongue of her mother, Persephone allowed an explosive field of emerald energy to fold around her before pulsating outwards and knocking the first fleet of guards onto their asses. It was more magically aided than she would have expected from the cousins she was so desperate to emulate, but they had always been quicker to think with their fists than their brains. She wasn’t necessarily one to speak about brainpower, she wouldn’t have needed to escape Earth if she had thought ahead all of those millennia ago. Backing away towards the others, she saw Suspensor manhandling the Queen of Alpha Centauri – Asdís.

“Where is the entrance to the Leviathan? This is important you crazy wench,” snapped the Luminal angrily, she was one more giggle away from ripping the woman’s head off of her shoulders. “I don’t have time for this.”

Persephone stopped beside them. She needed to usher them onwards, the guards were quickly recovering in the distance. “It does not matter were the entrance is. If we can get beneath the city I am sure we can find it. It cannot be easily hidden.” She gave them a slight push forwards when the bullets sounded and blood stained her golden ringlets. Her doe-eyed gaze widened as she watched Asdís fall to the ground.

Crimson puddles quickly formed around her head and abdomen. Persephone had never witnessed an attack such as that before as she turned to face the guards. Fire flickered from her fingertips as she summoned all of the power granted to Helios and unleashed it across the street. It flared up between the heroines and their opponents and blocked their views of one another. It granted limited stealth, but they would have to do with whatever could be offered. Suspensor moved ahead – she exhibited the agility of a cat, fast and hard which seemed to be her main strategy for survival.

Guards of House Lygg continued to scream and shout angrily, unsure how to best tackle the unnatural flames that now held them back. Suspensor slipped into one of the shafts leading beneath the City, drawing the covering back easily and disappearing into the darkness. Persephone followed her with some reluctance, it was not the place of a Goddess but she knew that she had to complete this trial before she could call herself an intergalactic hero. She could handle a little grime; she had already remodelled an entire planet on a whim. Her eyes looked back towards Asdís before she replaced the covering and descended after Suspensor.

Flicking her fingers, light burst through the tunnels that represented a fork in the road. Suspensor growled from shortly ahead, eyeing both with disdain.

“We don’t have time for this…” She didn’t seem to care that the waste of the city sewers was up to her knees. Her turquoise hair shifted with every frustrated twitch of her head.

Persephone pretended not be bothered as she breezed past her and moved left. “We will just have to check them all as quickly as we can. Try not to stand there all day complaining.”

THE TIDE THAT LEFT AND NEVER CAME BACK

Part IV: Timescales

By Gavin McMahon

Regem Maris, Alpha Centauri

Arka was thrown backwards over the throne but quickly recomposed himself, and grasped for one of the tridents held by his guardsmen. It was clear that they had wanted to dive into the action but they were waved back. Brightstorm saw that he was a traitor but not a coward, even if his first assault had been by way of poison. He had never before been faced with a situation such as this but he had often wondered how cases such as succession and the politics of royalty had never fallen beneath the jurisdiction of the Luminals. It was wars such as this that threatened the peace of the galaxy, perhaps the Imperial Guard of the Shi’ar were the more capable force.

“You assault me in my own home. You sign your own death sentence, alien,” snarled the arrogant Emperor Arka as he moved down the steps that had led to his throne.

Baubles of bright light danced around the fingers of the former monk and current Luminal, Brightstorm’s antennae also began to glow with a similar energy. He expected little damage to be done – a trident was a close range tool and he could strike from the other side of the planet, his blasts were incredibly potent, and the blond emperor had been physically shaken from the attack.

Arka arched his back as if he was preparing to launch the trident when a violent electric current was released from it. Brightstorm was slow to react but, luckily, Stormbreaker slammed in front of the diplomatic Luminal and deflected the current into the guards that lined the throne. It created something of a riot as Beta Ray Bill forced the semi-conscious Rocket Raccoon behind them. He had stopped squirming and it seemed as if time was definitely running out for them. Bill knew he was meant to stand back but Brightstorm seemed to understand the importance of a speedy resolution.

“May I?” enquired the Korbinite.

Brightstorm nodded. “Sometimes the heroes have to make the toughest decisions and we cannot allow turmoil to come to this planet.”

“What are you saying?”

Brightstorm sighed. “We must exterminate those gathered here and hope that the others have had more luck restoring peace than we did.”

Bill nodded. It wasn’t that he wanted to murder the men and women gathered but he would do so if it was all that would save the planet. Some might have considered him amoral but he found himself being practical. It was a minority, and they were not worth the lives of the majority. Like Brightstorm had said, he could only hope the others were more successful in their respective areas. He moved forward, heavily footed as always, and began to plough his way through the guards – leaving Brightstorm to deal with Arka as he seemed to want.

Globules of dancing light were thrown from his elongated, twisting fingers as they knocked Arka back onto the staircase. Boils started to form where he had been hit but he refused defeat and swung his triton back through the air. Electricity arced towards the Luminal but he slipped forward and wrapped his fingers around the golden haired emperor’s face and repeated his now familiar light trick. Arka’s eyes shone with the same bright energy that Brightstorm wielded so easily but he it then disappeared. It had only been done to one other person in his life, but Brightstorm had burned out Arka’s neurological system.

The Mari stalled their attack on Beta Ray Bill and all eyes turned towards the corpse of their ruler – who they had followed blindly and passionately – and then onto the blue-skinned mutant as he became public enemy number one. Bill was bowled over by the rush of guardsmen as they charged towards Brightstorm. His hands began their faint glow.

Rex Caeli, Alpha Centauri

“Any bright ideas of what we’re going to do now?”

Major Victory furrowed his brows. “It’ll come to me.” He could only hope he wasn’t lying or else the two of them would soon be joining the daughter of Dynas.

Throwing his shield up against the strike of the guard’s sword, Major Victory allotted himself the time it took to concentrate on the thing that made him stand out. He could be described in a lot of ways but he was still a mutant. He had come from a world where that wasn’t an issue but a gift and he had been trained accordingly, his psionic ability of telekinesis had made his career as a hero but he hated to fall back on it. It felt like he was cheating. Major Victory couldn’t waste time in this case, and he telekinetically grabbed the man’s ankles and knocked him onto his back.

Cynosure had drawn his long sword and found himself in battle with three of the guards. His movements were swift and precise, it was clear that he had mastery of his weapon. It raised the question about his culture and training but those weren’t questions that Major Victory had time to find the answers to at the moment. He had bigger problems to deal with, particularly the two men that now charged towards him. Forcing one back across the room with his mind, he settled for disarming the other and smashing his shield into his head.

When he brought his attention back to his colleague, he found him breathing heavily with a long sword pressed against his neck. The second of the guards lay bleeding to death at his feet and the third had forced Cynosure’s arms behind his back. Major Victory was about to telekinetically intervene when another sword pressed into the bottom of his spine, and a dagger was held to his throat.

Dynas had watched in silence.

“It was an excellent effort but there is no honour in killing you now. Instead, I shall have your heads in a public execution tomorrow.” He seemed facially pleased with his decisiveness. “Disarm them and take them both to the dungeons. We have a war to wage.”

Major Victory and Cynosure were hastily removed from the throne room, minus their shield and sword respectively, and down a damp staircase. Neither man made a sound as they descended; it was all about memorising their escape route. Major Victory had initially considered throwing his own captor across the room as he done with the others but that would certainly mean the death of Cynosure. He may not have liked the man but he didn’t want him killed. It wasn’t how a hero would have resolved the situation.

Ignoring the smell of damp, both men moved into their respective cells. They had been placed across from each other but otherwise left alone. All three remaining guardsmen ascended the stairs and they were left in darkness. Cynosure was vocally annoyed at the situation but true to his previous interactions with the man, the Luminal remained silent.

Major Victory opened a small pocket of energy in the keyhole. He hadn’t made a fuss then but he wasn’t going to sit around and let the war they needed to stop occur around them. Expanding the small telekinetic bubble until the keyhole exploded, he moved towards the opposing cell. Cynosure looked more frustrated than grateful with the turn of events.

“You had the greater advantage.”

Major Victory smirked. “I can let you make your own way out…”

“Open the damn door.”

Para Bellum, Alpha Centauri

“So, you’re just gonna stand back and allow a war to happen?” Mantis was incredulous at what she had just been informed. It had taken much to get brought into the confidence of Ismene and the Opulentia, but she wasn’t sure she liked what she had been told. It made the work they had been sent to do feel almost futile but most importantly, it meant whoever had died had done so for nothing.

Ismene shrugged, nonplussed. “It is not the role of the Opulentia to interfere. We merely arrive as observers at the end of the world.”

“This one thinks that’s an idiotic strategy. This one and her colleagues have been sent to stop this war because the planet will fracture into a million pieces and everyone will die,” Mantis was starting to lose her patience. She would have considered herself the calmest and most reasonable of the Guardians in this situation but she couldn’t understand the motivations for this suicide mission. “You will die.”

“We have long ago come to peace with our deaths. It is the first vision the Opulentia ever see as preparation for the final day,” Ismene echoed.

Mantis could see that she was getting nowhere fast. Impact and Discharge suddenly jolted their faces blank and vacant unlike how they had been since the arrival of the nomads who now accompanied her. She looked towards Ismene had to wait for no answers.

“They no longer see the happiest outcome.”

The Celestial Madonna rolled her eyes somewhat childishly as she struggled to regain control of the situation. It was almost as if the people of this nation were determined to undermine them at every opportunity. She had already been informed that whoever had been sent to the East had been killed – it was as if the planet had no need for their help. “We’re trying to help you.”

“We do not need your help, earthling. The prophecies have been passed down for thousands of years,” Ismene continued. “The Alpha Centaurians have known their fate yet they fight it. It is their attempts to derail the prophecy that will lead to it being fulfilled.”

“You’re going to give up on life because of a prophecy?”

Ismene turned serious. “Leave this place. The Guardians of the Galaxy have a future that is necessary to the survival of the galaxy. It may seem like you are pawns but your destiny is entwined with all of ours.”

Mantis frowned. “What do you mean? This one does not…”

Marching in the distance, she saw an array of white lights. In turn, she also saw the green behemoth that marched them towards the epicentre of the planet. Her heart raced as she realised Drax the Destroyer was leading them to war – contrary to the objective they had all been given. Her concerns about Drax had gone unheard beforehand, and she silently feared that they had presently been confirmed. His behaviour had been erratic and his mood ever-changing. If he was back to what he had once been, he could be the cause for the planet’s destruction. Mantis still had blank spots but she could never forget the atrocities he had committed.

Still, he was supposed to have been amnesiac.

Horses sounded from the East as clouds of dust were thrown into the air. It appeared to be a horde of women that rode towards them, and the South was equally as hectic as the chariots rushed forward. Mantis had been sent to stop wars that she was now watching unfold and she felt helpless to stop it. If she intervened in any way she would only add to the destruction that could occur. She had been an Avenger and a terrorist in her lifetime but she had never been more conflicted that she was now.

Ismene’s hand rested on her shoulder. “This is your last chance to leave, earthling.”