The Crusaders

Chapter 8: Takedown and Showdown

Somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean, May 30, 2029

Nyx had never flown before. In the future, long-range teleporters had eliminated the need for those sorts of things. But she had to admit, flying across an ocean at high speeds twice in one day was pretty exhilarating. Mark's bubble was keeping them airborne, and they were currently heading at Mach 3 towards the US and back to the Belltower. 

She had been assigned to hold the bag with the monolith, and the heaviness of the thing could be felt inside of the bag. She still had no idea what the thing really was, and she didn't think that anyone else did either. Looking around at the rest of the team, she saw that they were exhausted, and all of them looked like they could use about 2 days worth of rest. To be honest, so could she. The encounter with The Watch had taken a lot out of them.

Looking at Mark with his strong physique and power, he was glad that he had come in when he had. They hadn't wanted to bring him in immediately, at the behest of Jasper and Mark, due to the fact he would draw too much attention, as well as his involvement might finally drive the nail in the coffin for all of them. But, when The Watch showed up, they knew they had no other choice. 

They were now in international airspace, having left London behind them, and Nyx watched the blue water rush by below them. She looked over at Jasper, who was looking out at the horizon as well, a thoughtful gaze on his face. She moved over in the bubble, then sat next to Jasper. "Hey." She said in a conversational voice.

Jasper stared over at her. He noticed that her pupils were dilated, and she was panting slightly. She'd never been in combat with another metahuman before, and she was still feeling the effects of the adrenaline. "Hello." He said back to her. "You alright?" He remembered that she was still a kid, and was probably trying to initiate conversation to either break the awkward silence, calm herself, or both.

Nyx nodded. "Yeah, I just...those guys were really strong. And I just found out I can freeze time...so that's cool." She shrugged and smiled a little bit. Jasper eyed her suit. "Who designed that thing?" Nyx stared down at it. "Well, this is a newer model, but the first prototype Personal Timeline Transport Suit was designed about...2031. It's been through a bunch of redesigns since then, but all of the Pursuers use the Model 3.5. " 

Jasper nodded. "Another reason why our universe is different from yours. If this was your timeline, we would have certainly heard of a suit like that at least in the development stages by now." Nyx looked down, her eyes a bit sad. "Yeah..." She said. Jasper suddenly reached forwards and held her shoulder. "Hey...you'll get back to your own time, I know you will. And now that we have the monolith, we have the advantage against these things. Without you, we would never have known."

She was quiet for a moment, then looked back up at Jasper with a bit of a hopeful smile. "You...really think so?" Jasper smiled back, nodding. "Yes. You did your job." Nyx's smile turned to a determined stare. "Thank you...but my job's not over yet." Then, Mark's watch started beeping, causing everyone to look up.

He looked at his watch, a bit confused. "I'm sure I turned this off..." Jasper's eyes widened, then he shouted up at him. "Destroy it! Now!" Then, a loud roaring sound was heard next to them, making Nyx cover her ears. It was an entire squadron of F-22 Raptors surrounding the small bubble. "How did they find us?" Arthur asked, and Jasper stared at Mark's watch. "The same way they found us in London."

One of the Raptors pulled up next to the 5 of them, and then tapped their headphones. Jasper grabbed his helmet, then tuned into the nearby signal. "Megaton, you will let us escort you to Ronald Regan International Airport, or you will be shot down. You have no warnings." Jasper looked up at Mark. "They want us to land at Regan. No warnings." Mark stared at everyone, then sighed. "Tell them we'll comply."