...everything crumbles, sooner or later...
"That which does not kill me makes me stronger."
High above the world, on the thirty-ninth floor of the tower reaching to the heavens itself in hopes of calling down a demon with unstoppable destructive power, a building its inhabitants all referred to as Digireign Spire despite the fact it was merely a pale imitation of the original, a god was being reborn. Of course, very few people around the Earth were aware of this. In fact, only two living beings knew the true details of this first miraculous resurrection. The first was Krista Mercuric, the diabolical but almost childlike leader of the religious sect called Twilight Legion, who was proclaiming herself to be the third and final being in the Trinity of Darkness, a unholy precursory group whose lot in life was to bring the Eternal Demon back from the perpendicular universe to which it was banished three thousand years ago. The second was Doctor Ronald Cain, an innocent scientist who was abducted six months ago before a speaking engagement by Krista herself, then tasked to create life using only three DNA sequences. From a lonely computer disc, a stack of papers tied together with flimsy string, and a vial of blood from a child, Cain had converted the thirty-ninth floor into a womb, nurturing the lives of his charges and accelerating their growth to return them to their former selves.
The first was ready to be released. Approaching the tube labeled "Air," Cain carefully switched off the life support system and drained all of the dark red liquid from the tube. His knee throbbed with pain, the deep gash of an injury months old still visible at the joint. Taking an ordinary screwdriver, he pried the containment system open and revealed the lifeform contained within. A fully grown man stepped out, some of the red fluid still dripped off his body, and looked confused and amazed simultaneously.
"My god," Cain whispered as his success slowly dawned on him, "what have I..."
The man reached out, seizing Cain's neck with his left hand and punching straight forward with his right. His fist easily went through the geneticist's body, tearing away his clothes, his flesh, his organs, until the man's hand came out the clearly-dead doctor's back. The murderer started laughing at what he had done, a rich blended laugh containing a degree of joy and mirth.
Merely seconds after the death of the innocent person, the doors of the elevator opened, admitting Krista into the laboratory, and the look that overcame her face was enraged that slowly transitioned to content. "Lord Arcanza!" she exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips, like a mother scolding a child who had done something wrong. "What have you done?"
His crystalline eyes shining with excitement at his second chance at life, Arcanza merely smiled wickedly, pushing the scientist's corpse off his arm. "Nothing," he told her, "compared to what I am going to do to this world."
The air was stale. There was a window here, in her cramped and dank little cell, buried in the most godforsaken part of the second floor of Omega Complex, but it was sealed off with two sets of iron bars and what was probably electrified barbed wire inbetween them. As for the cell itself, it offered little more than nothing at all. There was a sink and toilet, pushed into one corner, with a cot and blanket shoved into the other. Thankfully there was one colorful thing in this place, or else she would have gone mad after the first few days, a brightly colored carpet with a pattern of triangles and diamonds in several different shades of color. Grey paint splattered the walls in a half-asses paint job, creating a somber and melancholy mood...as if she needed more help in that department.
From what little she could gather when people would come visit her, it had been approximately three months since Cecil had died. Since she had killed him. Immediately after it had happened, Amber could not remember anything that had happened; over the time she spent here in incarceration it had come back to her piece by piece. First, Cecil had jumped off the Titan's head, intending to kill himself in a self-destructive state of mind. Then Amber had teleported to the OmniZord's controls and caught him with the humanoid robot's open hand, but when she collapsed from exhaustion, and let go of those controls, the hand had closed itself, crushing and killing the young man who had once been one of her closest friends. When the other Rangers returned, they discovered her, unconscious, and brought her back to Omega Complex, where she was currently being held under close supervision. Apparently, the surveillance over Ivory Glade had been disabled during the entire ordeal, and that fact almost made it look conspiratorial to Amber's premeditation and guilt.
As it stood now, everyone hated her. Even the EON agents treated her like a poisonous snake whenever they were present. The only people who were courteous in the least bit were Victor Wilson and Gabriel Kaisa. In fact, Gabriel was sneaking her extra food, books, and Gameboy games once in a while to keep her occupied as she whittle away time in her cell. She wished she knew what was going to happen to her.
"Miss Donaldson," an EON agent announced himself as the door's lock clicked open and he peaked through nervously. His face was almost ghostlike and white. Maybe she was getting her wish sooner than expected. Instead of saying anything else, he pushed her down into the sitting position on her solitary wooden chair, then quickly injected a syringe filled with clear liquid into her left arm. Amber knew better than to question what it was, or ask him to be a little bit more gentle, because she knew none of them would answer her. He pointed toward the open cell door. "You are free to leave."
"Huh?" she asked, rubbing the sore spot on her upper arm where the needle had been inserted and withdrawn.
The agent's expression and tone never changed. "You have been ordered to go directly to the Executive Director's office."
Amber stood up and swung her arm around to ease the tensed feeling then, without speaking further to her visitor, she walked out and proceeded to the elevator. There was nobody else on the second floor and the elevator was unoccupied as she rode it up to the top floor. There, a whole bunch of EON high-ranking officers were circulating back and forth, completely ignoring her. She knew she looked drastically out of place. Everyone else was wearing suits, ties, or skirts, while she wore a week-old sleeveless black undershirt and a pair of gray sweatpants.
The door to Cecil's old office was already opened, so she walked in without hesitation, completely unconcerned with knocking or announcing herself. Victor Wilson was standing behind the desk, watching her, waiting for her, his permanent scowl fixed in place. He made no formality either, only eye contact. Laughing sharply, Amber flopped down into the couch and leaned back in the first comfortable furniture she had felt in many months.
Wilson blinked before speaking. "You were injected with saline solution," he informed her. "But contained within that saline was a miniature explosive device. If activated, the detonator will create an explosion with a two-foot radius, the approximate distance to your heart. You understand what that means?"
"It means you're anxious to kill me," Amber answered, disgusted with his calmed and subdued manner, "whether I'm innocent or not. So much for a fair trial."
"The device was necessary," Wilson continued, pretending she had not spoken, and nothing was new in that regard, "because, with Director Mercuric dead, the EON Committee has seized any and all operational control, and they would agree to your release only under this specific condition."
Amber shook her head defiantly, rolling her eyes during his explanation. "Does this phantom 'Committee' even exist? I've never seen a shred of evidence they exist."
Unsurprisingly, Wilson continued, "The fourth and final Legendary Jotun is attacking Japan as we speak. The other Rangers have been dispatched, but they are at a severe disadvantage. The Crimson Crusader and Titan OmniZord are still non-functional and out of commission. Their new attack, the Elemental Quartet Dirge, was ineffective. We tried to activate the Dark Crusader and Cerberus OmniZord, but they will respond only to the ShadowTech Ability Band, and none of the candidates we have tested are able to utilize its power. We need your help immediately."
At last, he paused, creating an uncomfortable silence between the two of them, a quiet confrontation of male versus female, old versus young, captor versus captive. Amber breathed heavily, mostly because she was desperate for fresh air after so long, but refused to answer him forthright. "Well?" Wilson prompted, the first signs of irritation appeared in his creased face.
"No," she said.
"No?" repeated Wilson.
"No," Amber confirmed, this time accenting her answer with a smile.
Nodding, Victor Wilson picked up a bundle of papers that were sitting on the desk and quietly proceeded to leave the office. He stopped briefly in the outline of the door, turning around, and stared at her disapprovingly. "Since we first met several years ago, I have respected you, Amber Donaldson. Not only as the Black Ranger, but also as a human being, one of the most pure-hearted and innately good people I have ever known, for what that is worth. Since the incident, I have asserted nothing more than your complete innocence, arguing your case until I was literally blue in the face. Today, I think my opinion is changing."
"Things change," Amber told him in a frigid voice.
Wilson vanished, but a silhouette still remained outside the room, shrouded in darkness with the sun directly behind them. The figure glided into the room and revealed himself to Amber. "Things certainly do change," the newcomer agreed, sitting down next to her.
She could only bit her lip now and pursue a different path of conversation. "I thought you swore never to come here."
"I did," answered Bane, his mouth twisting angrily, "and Rachel and I intend to go straight back to Ivory Glade when I finish this." He lifted his hand to reveal that he was holding the Shadow Morpher, that disturbing familiar device sent from hell, and it was obvious he intended to give it to her. "Nobody wants out of this more than I do, but we are at a crossroads, and if we give up now, yours and my home is doomed."
Amber reached across and took the Morpher.
The giant billboard proudly announced: "Welcome to Downtown Ivory Glade, Colorado! Hometown of the Power Rangers!" It was inserted inbetween an advertisement for Pepsi and one for the Channel 7 News Team, a little ordinary compared to its neighbors, but still clear in its message. Far below it, people were streaming back and forth on the sidewalk, cars bumper to bumper, bicycles zooming to and fro, and a few dogs stopping to sniff the early autumn scents of warm grass. The little city was cozy, nestled among the mountains, surviving despite all those unrelenting attacks from alien creatures and monstrosities.
Walking down the main street of the city, Arcanza was a little chilly despite the temperature still lingering in the seventies range. He was dressed in a violet shirt, a gold-and-black striped tie, a pair of black dress pants, and a pair of dress shoes, the perfect image of your run-of-the-mill average professional, complete with a leather suitcase grasped firmly in his hand. The people circulating around him paid virtually no attention to him; if they did, he would certainly be recognized, considering he successfully occupied the entire city for all of two days a little more than five years ago. Certainly no one would forget the Destroyer of Life. And, even if they had succumbed to fading memory, they definitely would not forget him after today.
He bumped into a woman, knocking her back a couple steps. "Jesus! Would you watch were you're going?" she growled, angry, shooting him an evil look. Arcanza smiled, amused, and continued walking.
There was an intersection up ahead, where an empty bench sat at the bus stop and about ten or more people were hurrying back and forth to beat the traffic light. Cars cut one another off as the light turned yellow and drivers sought to save themselves a few second now, never mind that the next light was already turning red. One man glanced in Arcanza's direction, made a strained face, then wrapped his jacket tighter and rushed to the other side of the street. One smart man out of thousands.
Arcanza sat down on the bench, dropping the suitcase onto the ground beside him, and took a moment to relax. Folding his hands in his lap, he merely continued to observe, watching the busy Tuesday morning commuters. "Five," he whispered to himself. There was a woman shopping, clutching several oversized bags in her hands, a fashionable little hat atop her head. "Four." A ragged man, perhaps homeless, hunched over and walking inbetween parked cars, staring through their windows. "Three." A girl who could not be more than twenty years old jogged past him, outfitted in a gray sweatsuit replete with a headband to keep her hair from falling into her eyes. "Two." This was Ivory Glade at its most energetic, a city filled with life and purpose.
"One," he said, and that familiar rush of excitement he had longed for since his rebirth zapped through him like an electric surge.
Suddenly, there was utter whiteness all around him, and a sound that eclipsed even the loudest, most thunderous boom he could imagine. The raw power literally forced him to the ground, but he did not really fall because the cement that was there two seconds ago was now entirely gone. His eyes stung so much. It was ecstasy. And then, to augment his thrill even more, he heard people screaming, cars crashing, then the disgusting sizzle of matter being incinerated.
The nuclear device he had placed inside the suitcase worked perfectly.
He spent the next several minutes thinking to himself, basking in the glory of annihilation, reliving his most happy days and realizing none of them even began to approach the wonderful feeling he felt now. Arcanza's smile never faltered. He never felt the slightest amount of pain. A nuclear explosion left him completely unharmed.
At last his eyes began to readjust, and he stood up, although all he could see in any direction was dust, smoke, rubble, and death. High above him was a mushroom cloud, blooming outward and upward, a grand announcement to the world that their prayers were all for naught. Ten minutes ago, the city of Ivory Glade had enveloped him; right now, there was no trace of the city at all. Not even the buildings at the edge of town escaped his wrath, as now there was flat wasteland for miles all around.
"Welcome to Ivory Glade, Colorado!" Arcanza screamed, a euphoric explosion. "This is just the beginning!"
They all filtered into the office in silence, no one daring to break the uncomfortable stillness that had penetrated the atmosphere ever since she had rejoined them. It was easy work once Amber had arrived: they formed the Crusader Megazord and, almost immediately, succeeded in destroying Kan, the final of the four Legendary Jotuns. But they avoided talking to her at all costs. Rebecca did not even look at her once. For a while, Amber had wanted to break the ice and apologize, but held her tongue at the last possible moment for fear whatever she might say would be misconstrued and make the situation worse.
"We did a good job this time," Gabriel told them with his gentle smile. He was dressed in a red velvet shirt and black slacks, and Cecil's Omni Morpher was strapped around his left forearm, still crackling with energy. Gabriel Kaisa was the Red Ranger now, but the OmniTech power was reacting so strangely under his control that he was essentially no help to the team at all. Despite that, he was an excellent leader, and flawless integrated himself into command of Kan's defeat. "Thank you."
Brittany allowed herself to smile before noticing Wilson standing behind the desk and instantly losing her expression of relief. The old man looked like he had a mouthful of nails; it would be impossible to paint a portrait of someone more tense and distressed.
"Hi," Patrick said upon noticing Wilson's presence. "What's wrong?"
"You look like you forgot to take your Metamucil last night," Rebecca grumbled, sitting down on the couch with her arms folded. "That's okay, 'cause I'm going to make you shit your pants by the time I'm finished chewing you out for sending her to help us today." She did not need to indicate Amber for the others to know who she was referring to.
Wilson shook his head sadly, still acting strangely. "Please, not now," he addressed her, "I have some...some disturbing news."
Snorting, Patrick leaned against the wall and sarcastically replied, "You guys don't get any other kind of news, do you? We're like the Chicago Cubs of Power Ranger teams, never winning when it counts."
"Not now," Wilson repeated, visibly angry at the pathetic attempt at a joke, "I'm not enjoying having to tell you this."
Stepping forward, Amber told him, "Please tell us what this bad news is."
Heaving a tremendous breath, Wilson was clearly bracing himself before delivering whatever new developments he was anxious to get off his chest. "During your last battle, Ivory Glade was destroyed." Rebecca released a horrified gasp, and Alexander made an even more desperate noise, but Wilson continued talking over them, probably afraid if he stopped now he would not be able to finish later. "Not simply destroyed, but wiped away completely. It was a nuclear attack centered at the geographic center of the city, so it was quite obviously orchestrated. We have no other details besides this. There were...there were no...no survivors."
Rebecca buried her head against Alexander's shoulder, unable to stop a primal urge to openly weep. In fact, Alex himself looked ready to cry, his entire body trembling under the pressure of holding it within. Brittany was hugging Gabriel tightly, and the EON agent's face looked chiseled out of stone for all the emotion it revealed. Patrick placed his hands on Rebecca's shoulders, and the tears were already falling along his cheeks. Only Amber was alone, her heart unable to return to a normal rhythm, her breath unable to be caught, her head unable to stop throbbing. She fought her gut reaction to cry, but her knees gave out under the weight of her body, and she had not realized she had fallen until Wilson was bending over her, brushing her forehead with a cloth soaked in cold water.
"They're still not ready," Krista groaned with a growing sense of disgust in her stomach, unable to suppress her totalitarian rage. She paced back and forth between the Ice container and Fire container in the lab, watching the vital signs closely, anxious to get the last two clones woken up before the Rangers came. They were definitely coming, now. And this time they were not going to stop because of some silly invisible force field; their vengeance would break through, and Twilight Legion's plan would be ruined.
Arcanza materialized out of thin air, and before he was able to take his first breath of stale formaldehyde-filled laboratory air, Krista was screaming angrily. "What the hell are you doing?"
His smile made his crystalline eyes shimmer with pride, and his voice was so smooth and silky it could have lulled her to sleep if her heart was not ready to leap out of her breast and beat the idiot to death. "I decided to nuke Ivory Glade," he told her matter-of-factly. "Then Reefside. And Angel Grove, and Stone Canyon, and Mariner Bay, and Blue Bay Harbor, and Silver Hills. Oh, yes, and Turtle Cove, just to be sure. What would you Earthlings say about that? It was an eight-for-one sale."
"You destroyed eight cities in less than two hours!" Krista raved, her fists clenched so tightly her hands were beginning to turn ghostly white. "Now those Omni Ranger assholes are going to stop at nothing to break through our barrier and destroy us in retaliation."
"Let them come," Arcanza told her. "I will end their pain."
The Resurrector laughed, completely unimpressed by the deadly declaration, and threw her hands into the air. "'I will end their pain'?" she repeated in exasperation. He only nodded his reaffirmation. "If they stop us before the Eternal Demon returns, all of our efforts will have been wasted. We'll be dead, they will probably be dead, millions of others will die, and..."
"It is time to raise the other two Spires," the Destroyer announced. "I will oversee their rising." With that, he vanished.
Apparently, this was the big room. A large stained glass window depicting the five-diamond symbol of EON, filtering in colored light to spill across a large oak table with at least twenty chairs seated around the edge. On the walls were maps, photographs, diagrams, all virtually torn from their experiences as Omni Rangers. There was a sketch of the disturbingly gaunt Ego, the creature who fed on souls, who finally was destroyed when his spiritual energy was negated by Meridian-Omega's physical energy. A schematic of the former Alpha Complex, as well as Gemini Destiny, and some other space ships unfamiliar to her. One of the most interesting ones to her was an outline of how energy waves siphoned through OmniTech and to ShadowTech, signed at the bottom by Abner Donaldson. Maybe she had seen it before, when Soleron and Seraide were prepping her to become the Black Ranger, but something about it screamed with familiarity.
Seated at the head of the table were three men well into their thirties and forties, as well as three women who looked slightly younger, but all of them regardless of age or gender wore a mask of worry and concern. Creases in foreheads, permanently clenched teeth, and bloodshot eyes all indicating something very troublesome. One of the women looked familiar, like Amber had met her once before long ago, but for some reason she just could not place her. She must have been awfully close in age to Amber by her appearance. One of the men, shockingly, was Richard Spencer.
"Dad!" Rebecca sobbed, literally flying into his arms upon recognizing his face. She was utterly unconcerned about her own appearance, tears flowing freely and gasping when she ran short on air.
The father gently told her, "It's okay, honey, it's okay, relax." He stroked her back lovingly with his hand and held her tight with his other arm. "I believe your mother and your sisters are in Heaven, now, safe and sound. Even with all I know, I still believe that. Shhhh."
Turning to Amber and her companions, Wilson indicated Richard and the five other people, informing them, "This is the EON Committee."
"We need to address business right away," the oldest of the three women said firmly, glancing at Rebecca and her father with an impatient look. "As you are aware, apparently, Ivory Glade was destroyed a short time ago. Immediately afterward, seven other cities suffered similar fates, all of them located on the western half of the United States. The common thread seemed to be that they were all homes of current or former Power Ranger teams. There were no survivors at any of these sites, only large craters, and fallout radiation has already begun to contaminate surrounding areas."
Amber took a seat on one side of the large table and, instinctively, Brittany, Patrick, and Alexander glided to the opposite side and tried to avoid eye contact with her at all cost. Gabriel, to the contrary, continued standing behind her chair, with one of his hands placed comfortingly on her shoulder. When she noticed it, Brittany squirmed but kept her mouth shut. "This had to have been Twilight Legion," Patrick growled.
"Which leads us to our next topic," one of the Committee men spoke up. His voice was rich with an Oriental accent, and he looked Asian from his appearance. There was a bandage wrapped entirely around his left hand. While he was talking, Rebecca and her father stood up together and left the room so he did not have to talk over their mourning sobs and sighs. "Two structures identical to Digireign Spire have appeared approximately one kilometer southeast and one kilometer southwest of the original, creating a triangle shape, and the barrier that used to be invisible is now visible, an unapproachable wall of fire, and surrounds all three of them. Even more disturbingly, the black cloud that previous hung over only the one Spire has begun to grow larger at an alarming rate. It may well enshroud the entire world in less than eight hours."
The familiar woman spoke up at last. "It's nice to see you again, but I wish it wasn't because of something like this."
"I wondered why you disappeared," Alexander replied. "But everyone from home seemed to be disappearing and reappearing so much it was almost strange to stay put for so long. How have you been, Harper?"
Of course. Amber had met this woman a couple years ago, during a skiing trip with some of her other friends. This was Harper Quinlan, a girl a year behind in school, who had been captured by Rapture Hold until Amber had freed her. So, at least two of the EON Committee were from Ivory Glade, another sickeningly complex lie to assimilate into her world of deception.
Harper shook her head sadly, and changed the subject back to what mattered. "We are referring to the three towers and the wall of fire as the Gates of Hell. There must be something in the center of them of tremendous importance that they are doing all they can to hide from us."
"There is satellite footage," the third man informed them, sliding a single page-sized photograph out from a manila envelope, as his face turned a nauseated pale greenish color. "This picture was taken approximately five minutes post-detonation."
Alexander made a motion to take the photograph, but Gabriel moved quicker than him and seized it forcefully from the Committee member. The new Red Ranger glanced down at the image and instantly lost any last remnant of innocence or kindness left on his face. He glanced at the others, including Amber, one by one, then finally tossed the picture onto the table face-up.
"God damn it," Alexander, the most religious person among them, and the very last man the world would ever see use those words, swore.
The photograph was black and white, but the figure standing at the very bottom of the crater that used to be their home was as clear and as recognizable as he had been the day he descended from the heavens and introduced himself to them. His head was thrown back, almost as though he knew the satellite was watch him and he felt obligated to watch back. There was a smile etched on his smooth face that made Amber's heart freeze in place. "Arcanza," whispered Amber.
Something came over her. It was something unexplainable, a feeling of deepset rage at the world, suddenly able to manifest itself in a constructive purpose. One second, her thoughts and emotions were heavy and jumbled, and the next they were all so clear and composed. Slamming her fists on top the table as she stood up, Amber pronounced, "That son of a bitch is dead. I'll kill him with my bear hands." The flesh beneath her ShadowTech Morpher was literally burning, but she could not feel any pain in her enraged state of mind.
"Okay, we agree, but first..." began Gabriel.
Amber refused to let him finish. She was teleporting by the time he finished his sentence.
They stood before the flames leaping up high into the sky, daring to scratch those ominous black clouds floating so very far above them. All six of them, their hearts set on nothing but vengeance, unable to proceed further because of this evil wall in their path. Sweat clouded Amber's vision, but she simply blinked and resolved once more to finish what these bastards had started.
"Arcanza, Krista, and any man, woman, or child in a Legion outfit," Amber told them in a calm but bloodthirsty voice, "dies. No exceptions."
Gabriel almost choked as he protested, "You can't mean..."
She lifted her Morpher and screamed loudly, hoping her voice was carried to the ends of the earth in an all-encompassing declaration of their rage. "It's morphin' time!"
"Omni Cerberus!" Amber Donaldson, who had called Ivory Glade her home for five challenging but wonderful years, whose parents had been victims of the destruction, transformed into the Black Ranger.
"Omni Dragon!" Alexander Revell, who had moved to Ivory Glade while still a young child with his now-deceased parents and grandfather, transformed into the Green Ranger.
"Omni Pegasus!" Rebecca Spencer, who spent her entire life in Ivory Glade as her entire family had done, even the two sisters and mother who perished today, transformed into the Pink Ranger.
"Omni Hydra!" Patrick Manus, another lifelong Ivory Glade resident, his own parents now lost, transformed into the Blue Ranger.
"Omni Sphinx!" Brittany Elliott, herself a part of the Ivory Glade from the day of her birth, whose father, brother, and sister-in-law-to-be were killed by Arcanza, transformed into the Yellow Ranger.
"Omni Titan!" Gabriel Kaisa transformed into the Red Ranger.
"No matter what the cost, we're going to break through and avenge our home!" Rebecca screamed at the flaming barrier, her fists tightly balled up and ready to strike the first thing that appeared in front of her.
Amber held out both hands, palms outward, and summoned, "Eclipse Surge!"
"Environment Surge!" Alexander added, doing the same.
Rebecca also used, "Electrocution Surge!"
"Blizzard Surge!"
"Blinding Surge!"
Finally, unable to withhold their crusade alone, Gabriel folded and held out his own hands, but instead of calling upon his ultimate attack he unleashed his Talent powers. "Angelic Fire!" Instead of a tremendous burst of energy like the others created, a bright white fireball exploded from his palms and struck the barrier alongside the combination of five other OmniTech powers.
That tipped the scales in their favor. Gabriel's power was augmented by theirs and physically ripped a hole inside the Gates of Hell.
And then, united as a team once again by an unholy act of terror, the Omni Rangers charged through, into the pandemonium that awaited them within.
Six thousands years ago, when it all began again after a blissfully long era of calmness, there used to be a star here. Not just any star, but the star, a ball of gas at the center of the universe that was responsible for everything, the residual energy of Creation. Any stray energy released anywhere in existence would find its way here of its own accord and rejoin its origin, the inception of reality. And then there was the star's sole companion, the gentle paradise that revolved around it.
Thirty years ago, the star went supernova, destroying paradise. Of course, the action had an equal and opposite reaction, and instantly the star began to implode, creating a massively empty space and leaving the poor universe to fend for itself. Unknown to those beyond that boundary of blackness, the implosion actually replaced the ball of gas with a ball of rock, and the burnt-out star became an empty planet unto itself. But it continued to collect stray energy.
Four years ago, that energy was stolen, then returned, but the damage was done. Unable to keep the evil back any longer, the Ethercell began to reappear, until its physical presence was completely formed. And then, suddenly, it was gone. The Ethercell had departed, and could very well be light-years away by now, probably being drawn in by the last Seal keeping it closed.
Today, after so much turmoil and unrest, the burnt-out star is still there, lifeless and useless to anyone. It simply waits, anxious for the day it knows is coming soon. And the presence within grows anxious, as well, because He knows the day is here.
Original Publication Date: 27 February 2005
