MISC: The Girl Who Saved The World Part 3
George Phillies
phillies at 4liberty.net
Thu Nov 5 19:34:33 PST 2015
Aside: The explosive throwing katana is, of course, the top-level
weapon of the Spiderman giant combat mecha, as seen on the live-action
Japanese spiderman TV series. I am rewriting the early pieces a bit.
“This is Vera Durand on Atlantis. It’s full daylight here. I’m standing
on a ledge close to the Grand Exit, waiting for Eclipse to appear. I’ll
do my best to get an interview,” she said.
There was a slight popping noise. Twenty feet to the side of the
stairs, a tall, blonde woman wearing plate mail and holding a flaming
sword had appeared. “Richard,” Durand said, “that’s unmistakably
Valkyria, lead persona with the League of Nations Peace Enforcers. I
must be surrounded by her invisible teammates. Valkyria? Would you care
to tell the audience how you feel at this historic moment?”
Valkyria kept her eyes on the stairs. There came the faintest sound of
tearing cloth. Standing twenty feet on the other side of the stairs was
a short, solidly built man dressed entirely in black: Black boots, black
trousers and belt, black shirt and vest, and wide-brimmed, floppy,
solid-black straw hat.
“That’s the Screaming Skull, himself,” Vera said, not that any of her
viewers did not already know. “Now a Lord of Eternity is here.”
Eclipse came up the stairs from the Tomb. The Namestone was not to be
seen.
“Miss Eclipse,” Durand started, “what are your plans for…”
“Be still, Durand. There is important business.” The Screaming Skull’s
voice was as chill as a tomb. Durand found herself frozen in place,
unable to move or speak.
“Where is she, little girl?” Valkyria snapped. “Where is the bearer of
the Holy Namestone?” Kang stared sharply at the video. The Peace
Enforcers must have been en route while Eclipse confronted the Martyr,
if they did not know her name.
“I’m about twenty feet in front of you,” Eclipse answered.
“Aren’t you … isn’t the real Bearer a bit taller?” Valkyria asked.
“I am tall. Wait! Isn’t the real Valkyria a bit less … pudgy?” Eclipse
responded. Valkyria’s nostrils flared. There was nothing, Kang thought,
like a friendly, considerate opening to potentially delicate
negotiations. “I mean, how do you keep fitting into that armor?”
“You!” Valkyria shouted. “Inform the Bearer. She is to turn the Holy
Namestone over to League of Nations Supreme Chancellor Lars Holmgren.
Immediately! That is a direct order!”
“I am the Bearer. If you wanted the Namestone, you should have walked
the Maze first and taken it,” Eclipse answered
“Give it to me! Now! The League has decreed: The Namestone is the
property of the world.” Valkyria screamed.
“Give it to you? You and which army?” Eclipse said languidly.
“This one.” Valkyria waved her fingers. Most of the League of Nations
Elite Strike Force appeared at her back. They began to fan out, left
and right, moving toward Eclipse.
“That’s far enough,” Eclipse announced. The Strike Force kept advancing.
Eclipse gestured, ending with hand facing skyward. The Namestone
appeared, its cerulean fire burning a few inches above her palm. The
Namestone’s tuneless tune was heard distantly. Eclipse, Kang saw, had
brought up her own body aura, a color not different from the
Namestone’s, and what sounded to be her own theme music, clearly audible
in Durand’s microphone.
“Behold the Holy Namestone. Come no closer, or face my gifts.”
Someone, Kang thought, had given her superb training in rhetoric. “The
Namestone is mine. I took it. I’m keeping it,” Eclipse said.
“You defy the League! International law specifies: The League of
Nations owns the Namestone. Hand it over!” Valkyria shouted.
“You know the Maze Rule: Namestone belongs to he who takes it. I took
it,” Eclipse answered calmly.
“The Namestone is too dangerous for mortals,” the Screaming Skull
announced. “Give it to me, or face my wrath.”
“Team! The Namestone is indestructible! Kill her!” Valkyria drew her
explosive throwing katana. That weapon, Kang thought, packs the energy
density of a star-core bomb, albeit one with very localized effects.
She threw it at Eclipse. The Screaming Skull gestured. Black hail fell
around the Namestone-Bearer. Lights and sounds marked the rest of the
League Elite Team launching their attacks. Someone, Kang decided, was
protecting Durand and the island, both of which would otherwise have
been obliterated by the energies being unleashed. Eclipse simple stood
there, her shields unwavering as attack after attack struck her.
Eclipse flicked her wrist. The Namestone vanished. She stepped into a
royal blue waterfall, unseen bells tolling, leaving behind a vacant
flight of marble stairs. Teleport, Kang thought, the waterfall and
bells are the material traces of her teleport. And someplace in Europe,
a team of teleport blockers are somewhere between having splitting
headaches and being little clouds of incandescent plasma.
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