Lord Daemon stood behind a massive black curtain, on a wide stage in the museum's amphitheatre. It was dark, except for a few faulty stage lights that kept going out every five seconds. His team were all gathered in the auditorium, just below the stage, waiting for him to make his debut. Waiting for him to lead them off into battle. His head was throbbing with anxiety. As soon as I step out onto this stage and give my speech, that's it. That's the start of Phase Three. The revolution will begin, and there'll be no turning back.
He checked his reflection in a full-length mirror, and admired Allie's handiwork on the suit. Beautifully crafted, not just functional, but sleek and commanding. Every last seam, stitch, joint, and wire was so precise he could not see a single flaw.
It was something that would have taken any ordinary person months to build. Allie was no ordinary person. She had the brains of Einstein and the energy of a jumping bean.
He let out a sigh, turned his palms outward, keeping his arms by his sides. Walked forward, parted the curtain. The loud metal boots echoed off the walls of the auditorium as he clopped to the front of the stage.
There they were. Deadcode in his black and burnt orange suit, still under the influence of mind control.
Total Chaos using his telekinesis to float a few inches off the ground in order to keep weight off his legs, the tails of his coat were rippling behind him as if there was a great wind blowing at him.
Caliber, double the height of an average man, double the width, in a silver and dark grey exoskeleton.
Next to Caliber was his fiancee Roman Candle, her suit was crafted from soft beige leather and black coloured armour plates. Her hair was slicked back with gel, and she had aviator goggles on top of her head.
His four main horsemen of his revolution. He didn't like to think of it as an apocalypse since he wasn't ending the world, he was simply taking it over. Whatever got destroyed along the way was merely part of the process.
Then there were Caliber's six former prison pals, along with two street criminals Daemon had persuaded into joining. Suited in black armour, with massive rifles strapped to their backs, pistols on their hips, and what looked to be biker helmets.
In the aisle behind the row of soldiers was Clouds, in his all-white suit, atop his six-legged mist-dragon named Brunhilde. Her wings were spread as wide as they'd go, nearly taking up the whole length of the auditorium, her eyes were glowing, and despite being rather lumpy and made from clouds she was intimidating.
Every last one of them looked wonderful, intimidating, glorious, ready for action.
He gave a nod to acknowledge them.
"My friends, my soldiers, this is it. No turning back. Once we go out there it'll be the beginning of our revolution. Dusk Harbor is ground zero. We assert our dominance here, defeat Wild Claw's little team of renegades, and then we move on to the rest of the world. Once everyone sees how powerful we are, it'll be easy. But right now it's going to be hard. Probably the hardest thing you'll ever have to do. This is where we work the fields and bat away the weeds until we have a plentiful harvest. You understand?"
"Yes Lord Daemon!" They all shouted.
"Try not to kill innocent civilians, but destroy whatever you wish. Destroy cars, shops, roads, buildings, anything. If someone takes a shot at you, shoot back. If someone runs away from you, let them go. If any of you harm a child, I'll kill you myself. Got that?" He asked.
"Yes Lord Daemon!" They responded.
He nodded his approval. Went to the nearest set of stairs, stomped down them with his hands linked behind his back. He was glad Allie hadn't given him an LED plate for his mouth because he had the widest grin on his face. Excitement surged through him. Everyone was going to see him and speak his name. His head pulsed in the flickering light.
Once at the bottom of the stairs he turned and walked straight toward Caliber and Roman Candle, who parted to let him pass. Brunhilde flew up into the air so he could go underneath her. He walked about halfway down the aisle, looked over his shoulder, and let his arms fall to his sides.
"Let's move to the main foyer, so we can go out just as the sun sets." He said.
His team created a single file line, starting with Deadcode and ending with Clouds and Brunhilde, who shrunk down to the size of a horse in order to fit through the double doors.
Daemon marched up to them, parted the doors, and went out to the foyer. The high windows gave a view of the buildings and the sky above them. The sky was wonderfully coloured, splashed with pinks and oranges and purples. The sun was just peeking out from behind a low building, it's golden rays slipping through the windows and shining upon him and his soldiers.
They stood in silence, watching as the sun slowly slipped out of view, the golden rays fading one by one until finally, it was purple and dim in the museum. Here we go. Here we go. This is it. He took a deep breath, pulled himself together, and let the breath out.
"It's time." He exhaled.
He went to the front doors of the museum, put his hands out in front of him. Sent energy coursing through the arms, into the hands. Hot blue lasers blasted the doors right off the hinges, sending them tumbling through the air and into the street, causing a small car to swerve to the right and slam into a telephone pole. He stepped to the side to let his team go out before him, and one by one they went out onto the sidewalk.
People all around let out shrieks of terror, screams of surprise, laughter or amusement. A small group of teenagers paused in their footsteps to whip out their cameras and snap pictures. Wonderful, photographs for the textbooks they'll write.
He stepped out and walked to the front of the group, waved at the amateur photographers. Might as well make it look good.
An old lady across the street dropped her grocery bags and fainted. A man in a beige coat whipped out his phone and muttered into it.
He loved watching the reactions to them simply standing there.
Some kids ran in the opposite direction, a few businessmen walked by with their heads bowed as if they were taking no notice, or trying not to display fear. A green blur flashed past his field of vision, and he looked down the road to see where it had gone.
It flashed by again, and then stopped directly across the road from him. At once he could see what it was. The caffeine-fuelled speedster; Jitters, with a small grey cat sitting upon her shoulder. The cat leaped down onto the sidewalk, shifted into a tiger, and let out a roar so loud that it startled him backward an inch or two. It was Wild Claw.
"This should be fun," Daemon projected his voice across the street.
"For you or I?" Wild Claw asked.
"For both of us, and if you live at least you'll be remembered as the one who tried to stop me." He replied with confidence.
"Funny," Wild Claw said. She shifted into her human form and dug into her pants pocket. Pulled out a card. Walked halfway towards him so he could see it. It was an Uno reverse card. "That statement could go either way."
A massive blue portal ripped open beside her, and Evanesce jumped out of it, her golden brown hair flying in the breeze. A heartbeat later, The Living Weapon exited the portal and landed hard on both feet next to Evanesce. He materialised a flame thrower into his hands and grinned devilishly.
Herald, carrying Rhinestone Cowgirl by her underarms swooped down to the street and fell in beside Jitters, his wings spread out behind him. Rhinestone moved to stand near him. She raised her hand to high five him, he shot her a glare, and her hand fell down.
"I can't wait to turn all your suits into glitter!" Rhinestone Cowgirl shouted. "You'll all look ridiculous! Then the only history you'll make is being the naked guys who tried to take over the world!"
"You'll have to catch us first, child." Daemon countered. He looked back at his team, much larger than the one across from him. Much more powerful. Better armed.
A thunderous chopping noise came from overhead. He glanced up and saw a black BELL helicopter hovering above the street. Blue and red lights flashed off the walls on either side of him. Cop cars were coming. SWAT teams, FBI. Oh, I can't wait!
"Light up the sky," Daemon said.
YOU ARE READING
Dusk Harbor 1999
Science FictionYou've been out superheroing all night, and you just got your behind handed to you by a fellow hero who can't keep to his own territory. You come home to see that your beloved cat has brought in a business card, it's an invite to a secret meeting of...
