Journey's End Read online

  Luke reappeared back in New York City.

  Dawn was back in human form, still wearing his specially-made blue one-piece body suit. She was kissing Ray when Luke reappeared.

  “Any other mutants in the area?” Luke asked.

  “No. I lost track of Mastermind when that bat guy came out of nowhere.”

  “It’s okay,” said Luke. “We need to take out the other mutants first anyway. You want to stay here and keep tabs on him or help us capture the next one?”

  “Um, hello – help you get the next one!” Dawn exclaimed.

  “What’s our next stop?” asked Ray.

  Luke stepped up next to them – and the three teleported.

  The Parthenon. Athens, Greece.

  Beautiful. Ancient. Magical.

  They really needed to come back here when they had more time. And weren’t trying to stop super-powered mutants from taking over the world for a mind-controlling madman.

  Kraken stood over a dead body. One of several dozen around. All the bodies were twisted and torn. Strangled and mutilated. Kraken showed no mercy.

  Neither would they.

  Ray waved his hand, lifting Kraken up into the air. But then the sea monster faced them and suddenly they were being pulled towards him.

  “Ray, what are you doing?” Dawn asked.

  “I’m not doing this – he is!”

  “Shields up!” said Luke. A force field surrounded them.

  Kraken dragged them up close and personal – and all back on the ground. Kraken’s tentacles lashed at and banged against the invisible force field. Thank God for that. The sea creature hissed and roared, growled and gurgled.

  “I take it he’s got some kind of telekinetic power too?” Dawn reasoned.

  Kraken started laughing. “As if.”

  Suddenly all three of them got a pounding headache, simultaneously feeling bloated in their chests while parched and dry in their mouths. The pain shot throughout their bodies.

  “I control water,” said Kraken. “And you’ve got tons of it inside of you!”

  Luke couldn’t think straight. He was in so much pain. Like his body was twisting, swelling, and getting ready to explode from the inside out. What was he doing to them? He couldn’t breathe. He started coughing. His lungs were filling up with water! They had to act fast. Dawn and Ray started coughing uncontrollably.

  They had to get away.

  Luke teleported a hundred feet backwards. Dawn and Ray came with him.

  Kraken too. The sea monster was still a little too close. The teleporter radius accidentally included him.

  No problem. Luke teleported again.

  This time they all went to the Mojave Desert.

  They fell to their knees, difficulty focusing, choking on their own body fluids. Kraken made a laughing gurgle.

  Ray saw the open portal behind them. He reached up, struggling to control his own body, and used his power to suddenly push Kraken backwards into it. The sea monster stumbled, falling down into the hole. He momentarily lost his gripping power over them. Luke, Dawn, and Ray could suddenly breathe again. Their bodies started to relax and return to normal.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Ray said, his throat still a little dry from the displaced body water.

  Luke nodded. “I agree,” he also struggled to say. “They’re not going anywhere.”

  The three of them teleported out of the desert.

  Chapter Eight

  The Battle Continues

  Next stop: Jerusalem. Dome of the Rock.

  The three of them appeared on top of a hill, overlooking the crowded desert city below. The city was so pretty, even at night. Ray coughed up the last of the water that was still caught in his lungs. “I wasn’t expecting that. We gotta be more careful.”

  “You guys both okay?” asked Luke.

  Dawn nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay. My body seems to heal pretty fast now, actually.”

  “Okay, so remind me who’s here again?” asked Ray.

  “The slime girl,” said Luke. “Scanning for her now.”

  “Any idea what her power is?” asked Dawn.

  “Afraid not,” said Luke. “Found her!”

  “Where is she?” asked Ray.

  “Right over… there,” he said, pointing. “In what looks like… a local jail cell?”

  “Oh this I gotta see,” Ray said.

  They teleported in closer. Inside the local jail. Guards armed with semi-automatic weapons stood outside her cell. Slimer sat by herself, leaning on her hand, facing the floor.

  As soon as Luke and his friends appeared, the guards started yelling in some other language – probably Arabic. Luke’s HUD started translating it immediately, displaying English text along the bottom of his view screen.

  “Don’t shoot!” shouted Ray, sticking his hands up.

  “We just came for the girl,” said Dawn.

  The guards kept yelling in Arabic.

  Luke’s translation was not favorable. “Okay, time to go…” He pointed his hand at the jail cell bars and fired the cutting laser. He actually broke Slimer out of jail.

  She looked up at him. “What the hell are ya doin’?”

  Luke ran over to her, grabbed her slimy arm, and dragged her back to Ray and Dawn. Then they all teleported out of there as the guards started waving their guns a little too excitably.

  Back in the Mojave Desert, they reappeared.

  “Great, another desert,” Slimer sighed.

  Luke pushed her into the open portal.

  Rhino-Man had already climbed back out, but hadn’t wandered far. Kraken was still on the other side, though, apparently preferring the nice cool ocean waters.

  “Back you go,” said Ray, using his gravity power to drag Rhino-Man back into the portal hole. Rhino-Man dug his feet hard into the ground, but Ray’s power was stronger. The gray mutant fell in again, roaring in protest, but helpless to stop it.

  “Keep your eyes out,” said Luke. “The bat one disappeared on me. He could be anywhere.”

  “Will do. Who’s next on our list?” said Dawn.

  “That would be…” Luke said, reading an on-screen list inside his heads-up display. “Great. The snake lady. In India.” He took a deep breath. “You guys ready?”

  “Let’s do this,” said Ray.

  A flash of white light and they appeared in front of the Taj Mahal.

  Ray checked behind them, Dawn faced the right, and Luke looked to the left. No one in sight.

  The place was dead. Vacant. Empty of all people.

  And eerily silent.

  Sure, it was the middle of the night. Well, probably just before dawn. There was a faint glow on the eastern horizon. But still. Where was everybody?

  Luke started scanning for life signs.

  Ray stared at the magnificent Taj Mahal behind them. Its massive dome ceilings, elegant architecture, and surrounding towers. Beautiful in pictures. Even more impressive now that he saw it in person.

  “You know, I always wanted to come here,” Ray said. “Not like this, but hey – we sure saved a lot of airfare!”

  “Where is she?” asked Dawn.

  “I don’t know,” said Luke. “I’m scanning. Not picking up any life signs anywhere.”

  “Could we be too late?” asked Ray. “You sure we can trust this hacker guy? This could be a trap…”

  “No way,” said Dawn, still looking around. “His intel’s been good so far.”

  “Still,” said Luke, “best to stay on our toes. This snake lady killed the other me on the other timeline.”

  “And this timeline too, you mean?” asked Ray.

  “Right.” Luke shook his head. “It’s tough keeping track of all this.”

  Dawn shape-shifted herself some wings. “I’m going to get a better perspective.” She grew large white feathers. Like massive angel wings. She started flapping them. And elegantly, she lifted herself up into the air. She flew higher… and higher still…

  She saw people. Sort of.


  Dead people. Everywhere. Hidden away in corners. Laying out in the streets. Some piled on top of each other. It was horrible.

  “Oh my God,” she said, quickly descending back down. “We are too late.”

  “What? Did you see her?” asked Ray.

  “Found her!” Luke shouted, still scanning the entire time. “Over there! Hurry!”

  Together, they ran down the open path, around the corner, and into the narrow city streets.

  “Jesus!” Ray shouted, almost tripping over a dead body. They saw more around every turn. It was worse than a low-budget horror film.

  The look of terror and pain etched every dead face. Fang-like puncture wounds were found on their necks, backs, legs, and anywhere else unlucky enough to feel Venom’s deadly strike. The lucky ones died in their sleep. Apparently everyone else started fleeing and panicking – and seemingly no one got out alive.

  This mutant was definitely a killer. And she seemed to enjoy it a little too much.

  “We’re getting close!” shouted Luke as they kept running, weaving through the streets. “Almost there!”

  They ran around another corner. Luke stopped abruptly, sliding across the rough ground. Another body fell freshly dead under Venom’s fangs. She turned to see them.

  She hissed.

  “Ray, keep her in the air,” said Luke.

  “Got it.” He held both his hands out, lifting Venom off the ground. The snake lady leaped after them, but Ray’s gravity control kept her in place. She was helpless. Couldn’t move. It was so much easier taking on these mutants one at a time!

  Venom hissed again, louder, fiercer, with a look of hatred and intimidation in her snake-like yellow eyes.

  Luke prepared to jump. From inside his heads-up display, he charted the exact trajectory and force needed to jump up to her position, grab her, and teleport her back to the Mojave Desert with the rest of the mutant monsters. His suit’s mechanical hydraulics gave him the power he needed. He leaped up. Jumped through the air. Opened his arms to grab Venom.

  And right at the very instant he was about to nab her – she disappeared. Poof. Vanished. Gone.

  Luke stopped himself from teleporting. He landed on the other side of the street, turned around, and started to panic. “Where’d she go?”

  Ray and Dawn looked around. “I don’t know!” he said.

  “She just disappeared!” Dawn exclaimed. “No wait, up there!” she said, pointing up to the one of the rooftops. Venom crouched on the edge of the roof, looking down at them. The snake lady hissed again and leaped down upon Dawn.

  “Look out!” shouted Ray. He used his force blast to push Dawn out of the way, just as Venom’s claws narrowly missed her. That was close. Venom hissed at him, then leaped towards Ray, fangs exposed. Ray quickly blasted gravity against the ground, launching himself backwards and up away. Venom narrowly missed him too.

  Ray tried to hold himself up in the air. He was still getting the hang of flying. It always looked so much easier in the movies. Venom leaped up to bite at him. “Whoa!” Ray exclaimed, using his power to move himself out of the way. Venom missed. But was undeterred.

  Luke held out his hand, lined up the shot, and fired his cutting laser. The red beam shot across the street. Venom turned just in time to see. She disappeared again, avoiding the shot. Damn she was fast.

  Luke’s heads-up display couldn’t track her. She wasn’t turning invisible. That could only mean one thing. She was teleporting. She was going to be a little harder to catch than he had hoped.

  “Luke, get ready!” Dawn shouted to him.

  “Oh-okay!” he replied, not sure what to be ready for.

  Dawn shape-shifted into a snake mutant look-alike. Identical in almost every way, except less hideous and a little sexier. Hey, when you can control your own appearance, why not? Dawn exposed her fangs, hissed, and taunted Venom.

  “That’sss cheap!” Venom complained.

  “Come and get me, you bitch!”

  Venom leaped at her.

  Dawn leaped at Venom.

  Both had fangs out in the open, ready to bite the instant the other was close enough. The two met half-way, locked arms, and rolled and tumbled to the ground. They fought hard. Struggled ferociously. A battle of wills. A battle of strength. Keeping each other’s fangs at bay. Desperately trying to get the upper hand.

  They struggled. They rolled. Dawn slammed Venom up against the wall. Venom kicked Dawn hard in the stomach. One jumped onto the other’s back. They twisted and turned. It was hard to tell which was who. Was Dawn winning? Was Venom winning? The two snake mutants battled it out, hissing and screaming, biting at each other, narrowly missing each time.

  A battle of equals. Equally matched. Equally powerful. Equally strong… Or were they?

  Dawn shape-shifted a little more. Gave herself bigger, stronger muscles. Made her entire body a little bigger. Even gave herself a nice big cobra hood and fully expanded it. Venom was suddenly overpowered and overwhelmed, quickly terrified by the larger, more deadly snake mutant looming over her. The shadow cast by Dawn’s larger snake body washed over Venom. The snake lady cowered.

  Luke instantly teleported next to Venom, grabbed her – and they both teleported – but not together.

  Luke found himself back in the Mojave Desert empty handed. “Dammit!” he exclaimed. He quickly teleported back to India.

  Ray still floated in the air. He searched the rooftops. “I don’t see her. Where’d she go?”

  Luke reappeared.

  Dawn shape-shifted from her powerful super-cobra form back to her angel-like appearance. She flapped those massive white wings and lifted herself up into the air. She hovered next to Ray. “She’s gotta be somewhere.”

  Luke scanned the surrounding area. No life signs. Any surviving people had long since run away. Venom was nowhere to be found. But with all those dead bodies she left in her wake, they couldn’t let her escape.

  “She’s gotta be somewhere,” said Luke.

  Ray landed on one of the nearby roofs. It was a dense city. And still pretty dark out. She could be hiding anywhere. Assuming she was even still in India. “How far can she teleport?” he asked.

  Dawn shrugged. Luke didn’t know either.

  “I mean,” said Ray, “can she teleport as far as you can?”

  “Possibly,” said Luke.

  Dawn said, “So she could be anywhere in the world right now?”

  “I guess. I don’t know. We barely know the limits of our own powers,” said Luke. “I didn’t even know she could teleport until a minute ago!”

  “Alright,” said Ray, still keeping a careful eye out. “We just need to stay cool and think this through. If we were a mind-control killer snake lady, where would we go next?”

  Venom appeared directly behind Luke.

  “Luke, look out!” Dawn yelled.

  Venom grabbed Luke’s helmet, trying to pull it off. As long as he wore that armored suit, he was protected from her lethal bite. She intended to fix that.

  “Get off me, you scaly monster!” Luke shouted.

  She managed to pull it off.

  “Hey, give that back!” he demanded, head exposed to the open air.

  Venom hissed, fangs exposed, and bit down.

  But just as the tips of her fangs started to scrape against Luke’s face, something big pummeled Venom from the side, moving fast and hard, knocking the snake mutant away from him!

  It was Dawn, transformed into a giant armadillo, rolled into a ball, who then shape-changed back into human form as they rolled away. While Venom was still briefly stunned from the sudden impact, Dawn transformed into a giant eagle – like, a really giant eagle – and clutched Venom in her huge talons.

  The snake mutant squirmed to get free, but couldn’t. Dawn, as the giant eagle, let out an ear-piercing screech of victory. While Venom continued to struggle, Luke ran over to her, threw his arms around Venom, and teleported them together.

  Venom got dropped off into the still-ope
n portal in the Mojave Desert, and Luke instantly teleported back to India.

  Dawn returned to human form. Ray descended down from the rooftop, softening his landing with his anti-gravity power. Luke picked up his helmet and put it back on.

  “That was close,” he said.

  “You think she can teleport out of the desert?” Dawn asked.

  “Let’s hope her power doesn’t go that far,” said Luke.

  “Sorry I was a little slow back there,” said Ray. “I didn’t see her behind you before it was too late.”

  “She’s quick,” said Dawn. Then she smiled. “But I’m quicker.”

  Luke took a breath. “Okay, five mutants down. Two to go.”

  “That hacker guy said the cat girl was in Tokyo, right?” said Ray. He checked his watch. “Should be morning rush hour over there by now. That our next stop?”

  “Okay, the cat girl can turn invisible,” said Luke. “So be ready for that. Fortunately, my scanner can still track her.”

  “And then the spider guy in Russia,” said Dawn.

  “I hate spiders,” said Ray.

  Chapter Nine

  Final Mutant

  Apparently the Japanese love cat girls.

  Luke, Ray, and Dawn teleported into the heart of Tokyo. A city so busy, so crowded, so lit up with billboards, ads, signs, and lights that it made New York City’s Times Square seem dull and boring in comparison. Most of the ads and signs were in Japanese, with some English and other languages mixed in there too. And people. Tons and tons of people. Everywhere.

  Venom had killed off and scared away most of the people back in India. But here in Japan, it was just the opposite. There were too many people. No way Luke’s scanner could isolate and detect one person, even a mutant cat girl, out of this massive crowd. But at least people weren’t dying. That was a good thing.

  “Um, Luke?” Ray said.

  “Wassup?”

  “Is that her?” he pointed.

  The three looked over to a street corner. People were all gathered around. Posing and getting their picture taken with – could it be? Shadow. The cat mutant. They weren’t afraid of her. They thought she was part of some publicity stunt, or marketing campaign, or just a really well-dressed cosplayer.