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At Spokane Community College, Gaio Matrix reflected on 'games'. He was playing one, with other mages. They called it an Olympics. But it was more like ritual combat. He'd thought they'd called that 'game' off, but they acted like it was still going on. And it was nearing its end. This end would be the end of the world if he had his way.
He asked a fellow student: "What do you call the last part of a 'game'?"
"Depends on the game. In football, it's the Two-Minute Warning. In baseball, it's the Bottom of the Ninth. In chess, it's the endgame."
"Yes. That's it. Endgame."
23 September 2011:
Nora Gibson finally had her spaceship back. The U.S. Government had grounded it, ever since the human-owned part of the secret Lunar base had been forcibly relocated to Fort Devens, Massachusetts. (www.eilertech.com/stories/2007/occupation.htm#earthfall ) But now they wanted someone to go to Jupiter. Their spaceships couldn't do that. Hers could.
Jupiter was on fire! Well, everyone knew that. Aliens had set off a runaway fusion reaction there in 2009 - while flinging a planet at the Earth. (www.eilertech.com/stories/2009/trillions.htm ) The Gov was afraid they'd fling more planets.
For her own part, Nora wanted to visit some real estate she had on Jupiter's moon Europa. She'd mined there. But now people might be able to live there, since Jupiter had turned into a sun...
Alarms went off in her spacecraft. Massive energy source, on the moon of Io!
Nora checked the scanners. One of the Infrared Sunbreaker Choir was back!
Io exploded.
...
24 September 2011:
Nora was still alive. She'd gotten to safety on Europa, after dodging a hail of meteors. They were all headed for Earth. One or two month trajectory on each one... but they were each dinosaur killers.
She sent a message to Earth.
...
9 October 2011:
Wyatt Ferguson gave the cab driver a good tip. His job paid for it. And the driver had earned it, by not being scared of his passengers. Wyatt was in his signature hat and trenchcoat; his companion was dressed the same way. Under the coats, Wyatt wasn't even scarier - but his companion was.
... Wow. This winery had really gone downhill, ever since Michigan stopped growing fruit. But then, who knew Lansing ever had a winery? At least the Gov was taking advantage. The construction was done.
Another car arrived. The driver stepped out. He was covered with electronic gear. He said, "Here's your car. Here's my card. I know I'm late. Just be glad you're not dead."
Wyatt's companion growled. The driver said, "We'll talk later," and disappeared in a poof of smoke!
The card said on the front side, "Thunderstrike". On the back was written, "You just survived an assassination!"
Wyatt pressed one button on his Gov-issued cellphone. It responded, "USIB."
"Hey! I'm on site, and I have my vehicle, but your driver just sucks."
"Oh... Thunderstrike? He's an old enemy of Ellipsis. He has teleport gear that nobody can build more of. We hired him away from the Black Mages."
"...Okay then. I'll check in again once I've made contact." Wyatt turned the phone off.
A three-foot-wide Space Jellyfish was floating beside him. It said, "Greetings, Progenitor of DominationFest. Preparation nears completion. David greets you."
"I greet David. See you tomorrow."
Wyatt pressed his cellphone button again, and said, "It's still on." He disconnected, then turned to his companion and said, "Pizza in the hotel room now."
"Rrrright."
10 October 2011:
Wyatt's hotel room was cheap, and pretty much untraceable. The former winery was almost as good for that. The north side of Lansing seldom got visitors. That made it near perfect for a new U.S. Government facility. It was about as secluded as a secret facility can be, while still being convenient to highways, government, and the National Guard. And now it had a sausage stand - because the Space Jellyfish were having a festival! It was their price for cooperating with the Gov.
Wyatt Ferguson had been asked to volunteer for another cyber-strike against aliens, in Lansing! The last one was against alien records; this one would be against alien minds! The winery had the apparatus for it; that's what the construction was. Wyatt didn't know why aliens were important all of a sudden, but Vice-President Corrigan had told him it was definitely time to find all the aliens on Earth.
Wyatt's companion was Reticent, The Alien Beast! He was there for both security and a reference point.
The Space Jellyfish were cooperating, on condition that there be another DominationFest! (www.eilertech.com/stories/2004/magellan.htm ) With their help, the U.S. Gov planned to rebuild the Occulator Compuplex, the ultimate alien eye of observation! (www.eilertech.com/stories/2005/occulator.htm ) It would find every alien on Earth, including the ones in hiding who meant Earth ill.
Wyatt wondered, why Lansing? Maybe something to do with Ellipsis technology. It had been invented in East Lansing, twenty years before. (www.eilertech.com/stories/1988/balance15.rtf ) Now that the tech was open source, the university was hosting a convention for it.
...
In Spokane the evil alien mage Gaio Matrix looked at his alien computer, and noticed the concentration of power near Lansing. He said into his communicator: "Send the full brood. Include the special."
Then he prepared a spell.
11 October 2011:
It was a Tuesday on the old-style calendar. But the Jellyfish considered that irrelevant, given Earth's new orbit. Their weekend festival would begin this day.
Humans didn't mind. So many were unemployed, they were ready for a weekend festival any time. The Jellyfish had insisted on free admission. Roger Waters and the Siouxsie and the Banshees reunion were co-headlining. So there were crowds.
...heh. The more the Earth dies, the more it still lives, Wyatt Ferguson said to himself.
...
Gaio Matrix got the message. "Brood on target."
"Excellent. Deploy."
...
The concert had reached its height. The headliners got on stage together to sing, "What Shall We Do, to fill the empty spaces..."
Over the stage, a giant eye formed! The Occulator Compuplex was underway.
Then the Alien Beast growled. "Rrrrr... Incoming!"
He was promptly mobbed by his own race!
...
Gaio Matrix got the message. "Deployed."
"Excellent." These aliens came from the breed farms on Venus, same as the Alien Beast! Surely numbers would tell.
...
Wyatt looked on from safety. Few people (or Space Jellyfish) were as good at getting out of the way of the action as he was. Still, the crowd was scattering, and the Occulator Compuplex had dissolved.
The Alien Beast was holding up so far. He was the best of his species. But then two streaks zipped in. The action started going faster than Wyatt could track.
"Well. That must be what this helmet was made for." Wyatt put on the Insight helmet USIB had given him for this mission. Their battlesuits only worked for women, but the helmets were good for anyone.
The Alien Beast was fighting his two children! Uh oh, could be trouble for him...
Well, not for long. They'd been bred to be stronger and faster than he was. But he'd still been bred to be their sire. He had them on the ground, with his hands on the back of their two necks.
...
Gaio Matrix got another message. "Main brood plus two additions neutralized." Gaio's spell had turned the Beast's two children, but not for long enough.
"Curse! ... Activate the special."
...
Wyatt said "Huh!?" as, from the woods near the winery, a sixty-foot alien emerged!
Now that was too much for the Alien Beast to handle. As the giant alien stomped, the Beast dodged and ran for the woods.
The giant started ripping up trees. But from one tree top, the Alien Beast jumped onto the back of its neck! Well, all right, Wyatt thought. One good claw strike and this fight would probably be over.
But in the sky from the southeast, five flying humans appeared - all crackling with energy.
Oh, shit. Ellipsises. Or Ellipses. Or whatever. Can you say Collateral Damage, Wyatt thought.
One Ellipsis had covered himself with flame; he was hanging back and shouting orders. Four others were apparently ignoring him. They buzzed the giant alien. It swatted one down. Another blasted the giant where the Alien Beast was perched! The Beast had to jump off.
Wyatt yelled, "You dumb$#!+s!" They didn't hear him. But wait... He was wearing a USIB Insight helmet! He cyber-twiddled a dial, aimed the helmet at the flaming leader, and yelled again, "YOU DUMB$#!+S!"
The flamer responded, "Hey, at least you can call me Mister Dumb$#!+. "
The voice was familiar... Wyatt said, "Jimmy Flamer? This is Wyatt. What you doing with these $#!+s?"
"Watch that potty mouth!"
"Sorry... hanging out with Corrigan does that to you. But stop being such a dumb$#!+! "
"What you mean?"
Wyatt pointed. The giant alien was stomping on cars in Interstate 69 now, as three Ellipses blasted it - and the road around it.
Jimmy turned toward the battle. "No no no! This is how you do it!" He aimed a flame burst at the giant alien's eyes. Then he burned its heels. It ran off the highway, onto an open field.
Jimmy yelled, "Now burn it! Full body! Like this!" A massive jet of flame came from his entire body, hitting the alien in the middle of its chest. It screamed.
The three Ellipses did likewise, with energy bursts which were concussion and lightning at the same time. Two of them missed. But one hit the alien's left knee. It fell down.
Jimmy said, "Okay! Can you ladies hit it now that it's not moving?" Wyatt was pretty sure, the Ellipses were all men. Oh well, that would be Jimmy's command style. And it worked. The Ellipses blasted the alien to unconsciousness - at the very least.
Wyatt turned to his side. The Alien Beast had crept up on him! It growled, "Overrrr?"
"Yes."
"Mmmmm." It collapsed!
12 October 2011:
Gaio Matrix had at least disrupted the Occulator Compuplex. But he knew his remaining time on Earth was limited.
He said, "Do it. Blow Yellowstone."
One of the other Black Mages said, "Of course, Brother Gaio. With provisions..."
...
Jimmy Flamer had been in Lansing to train Ellipses! That made sense, Wyatt Ferguson thought. When you need someone to train a bunch of novice energy wielders how to fly, blast, and look good in an energy field, if the original Ellipsis couldn't be bothered, the local equivalent of the Human Torch was an awfully good substitute. Of course Jimmy'd left town as soon as he could after the battle. USIB couldn't even find him! Hey, maybe he'd cashed in a ticket to his home universe. Wyatt would consider getting off this planet too, if it weren't his home.
The Alien Beast was in a coma! The Combine said, it was his way of healing after a great exertion. Too bad, Wyatt thought. The Beast was the best hunter on the planet...
Then Wyatt said, "Oh, screw it." The damned Black Mages had hurt his friends again. They'd done that every four years, for their damned Black Mage Olympics.
"That is quite enough. This time I hunt."
To Be Continued - in Earth 2011: Endgame #2! www.eilertech.com/stories/2011/endgame2.txt
Author's Notes:
And so Earth 2011 lurches on to the end.
Gee, writing is harder than it used to be. I'm not trying to reproduce any of my earlier writing styles; I'm just trying to get this story done. So it's kind of like a real story. It reminds me of Dvandom's stories of 2026, actually.
My plan is still to shut this universe down, since it's collapsing under the weight of its plotline. My ambition is to kill it with style.
I can't call this The Last Superhuman World Story. That slot's taken already - more than once. (www.eilertech.com/stories/neverwas.htm and www.eilertech.com/stories/2009/beyond.htm ) But I plan this to be the last text story to get me there. The story is probably worth more than one episode, though.
From the end of this story, the story shifts to comic strips. People don't want to read my dry boring text, they want to see my fun zippy art. And I don't blame them. When I read my old stories, I usually say "Wow, I drew all that?"
My present-day comic strips have helped me focus this story. When I have to describe the end of the world in eight panels, it helps me throw out unimportant plot elements. I really should have tried that long ago. But now that the story is focused, I'm tossing stuff back in while I can. Reference list with origins, where not mentioned in story:
The Infrared Sunbreaker Choir: www.eilertech.com/stories/2009/trillions.htm .
Thunderstrike: www.eilertech.com/stories/1988/balance9.rtf . Yes, he goes back that far.
The Space Jellyfish: www.eilertech.com/stories/me2002.htm#ultimatebrawl . Also seen in the Super Wizard from Space #23! wil.alambre.ca/racc/posts/read/726/. They get around.
Open Source Ellipsis Tech: www.eilertech.com/stories/2011/useless.txt .
The Brood Farms on Venus: www.eilertech.com/stories/powernaut/1954.htm ! Heh, this old Powernaut story really is in continuity. In fact, it's creepy how well the story fits in.
USIB, the United States Insight Battalion: www.eilertech.com/stories/2010/cauldron.htm .
Jimmy Flamer: www.eilertech.com/stories/2010/neworbit.htm#anotherearth . Hey, I got him in the story! It's unrecorded how he met Wyatt Ferguson, but they have lots of mutual friends, such as Nell the Waitress. (www.eilertech.com/stories/2010/waitress.htm ) I wanted to send Jimmy home with a murderous alien on a leash, but that's not this Torch's style. Unless he found one with big puppy eyes... hey, all the aliens have those!
The Combine: www.eilertech.com/stories/2008/reversal.htm#combine . It is the world's largest collective of superhumans and their allies. Depending on how you define it, President Barack Obama is in the Combine. Vice-President "Crusher" Joe Corrigan is too.
The Black Mage Olympics: www.eilertech.com/stories/me1999.htm#blackmage . Was someone asking for a story about the Olympics?
I'm going to give Wyatt Ferguson a special focus before I shut things down. He really, really hates evil mages. And he can actually hunt them. www.eilertech.com/stories/2007/me.htm#dog
This story is in response to Rec.Arts.Comics.Creative High Concept Challenge #31: Big Monster Battle. A big monster is precisely the extra ingredient this story needed. So the challenge is forcing my hand. The end of the world proceeds now!
(signed) Scott Eiler, 4 August 2012
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