Three minutes ago…
“Sombra,
wake up. Now is your time.”
The prerecorded message played
clearly through the quiet basement of the abandoned apartment complex that
previously housed the super villains. The message was played out of a laptop
situated in front of a young girl whose head was slumped over in an
electrically induced trance. The same signal that started the message turned
off the device on the back of the girl’s neck, stopping the current flowing
into her brain. But the trance was used for more than just to hold the girl.
While her conscious mind was elsewhere, the subconscious took control. With
slow but controlled movements, the girl’s head rose. Her eyes were wells of darkness
and the shadows of the room overtook what little light came from the computer.
“The
one who abandoned you is here. Your enemy, your hated foe, the one person who
gave you everything before taking it all away. Matt is here, Sombra. Now come
get him.”
With
a look of hatred, Sombra tore the building down around her, the very shadows
pulling it down brick by brick. Tendrils of shadow energy poured from the
girl’s body, reaching out and growing in strength as she moved through the
night sky towards the center of the city and the heroes of Frontier.
Now…
Jackson
and Marian rejoined Steve and Natalie as the darkness swept along the city,
blotting out any light source available. The floodlights lining the perimeter
were blackened and the cries of those overtaken by the darkness pierced the
lightless void. Confusion and chaos spread quickly, but nobody could escape the
shadows. As the heroes stood together, the darkness overtook them, leaving them
completely blind. Jackson tried to create a spark of light, but it was quickly
swallowed up again. Natalie put a force field around the four, but even then
the shadows were too thick to pierce with any light they could make.
From
within the field, Richard laughed, the heroes forgetting he was still at their
feet. “Nobody can stop her; she will finish what we started!”
“Enough!”
Steve swung his hand and, knowing Richard was by his feet, smacked the old man
to the ground, knocking him out. “You don’t get to see this.”
“Look!”
Marian cried out, pointing towards the crater in which Matt was last seen
standing. In the center, a tiny blue light began to glow. Suddenly, the blue
light flashed out, and everyone could clearly see Matt floating in the air. His
entire body was radiating energy, and even though the shadows ate at the light,
they could not extinguish it. Floating not three feet in front of him was a
girl, a few years younger, but cloaked in black shadows, making all her
features indistinguishable. Her long dark hair flowed and moved as if alive,
and even Matt’s light could not separate this girl from the black atmosphere
that surrounded them all. “That must be Jasmine.”
“My
God,” Jackson said through the darkness as he stared at the two young
metahumans, “such power! And they’re so young!” Nobody said anything in reply;
there was nothing they could do but stare.
In
the city’s center, Matt poured energy out of his body, cutting through the
darkness so he could look into Jasmine’s eyes. Instead he found himself face to
face with her darker personality: Sombra, the Shadow Empress. Jasmine had always
been in control, but the constant creation and use of shadow energy took a toll
on the young girl’s mind. In their training sessions, Matt came to understand
that she harbored this violent, chaotic force of nature within her. When she
lost control all those years ago, it was Sombra that emerged for the first
time. Matt had just barely beaten her then, and that darker side went back into
Jasmine’s subconscious. But the strain was too much, and Jasmine’s mind shut
down, putting her into the coma. Matt knew all this, but he had hoped so
strongly that it was Jasmine who was in control, and that he could talk her out
of doing this damage. Now he knew he was wrong, and it was up to him alone to
defeat the darkness once again.
Still,
he clung to hope. “I know Jasmine is in there,” he told the shadowy figure in
front of him. “Let her out so we can talk.”
“There
has been too much talk from too many people who shouldn’t,” Sombra hissed, her
inhuman voice sending chills down Matt’s spine. He did not want to fight this
being.
“Then
let someone talk who should,” he said, maintaining a calm tone. “Let Jasmine
out.”
The
blank face of Sombra twitched, and started to take form. Matt’s eyes widen as
he saw Jasmine’s face appear. She smiled and extended her hand to him. Matt
reached out, a smile creeping onto his face. However in a flash, Jasmine was
gone, and the blank form of Sombra returned.
“Never!” she screamed, and shot
tendrils of shadow energy at Matt. The tendrils hit his body, knocking him
backwards to the ground. Sombra continued her relentless attack, smothering
Matt with shadows until the light from his body was gone within the blackness.
“We have to help him!” Marian
cried out, “Put down the field and let’s go!”
“What can we do against her?”
Natalie asked, not budging from where she stood.
“Anything we can to help,” Steve
replied, and a few sparks of electricity popped from where Jackson charged his
remaining gauntlet. Natalie took a breath and dropped the force field. The four
took off towards Sombra, but did not get far. Shadowy tentacles tripped them up
and held them still, attacking them and forcing them each to fight for their
lives blindly against an unstoppable enemy.
Suddenly Matt’s light flashed
once again, and a second pulse went out, this one containing pure energy. The
energy smashed into the heroes of Frontier, knocking them down but freeing them
from the shadows. Quickly, before the light faded, Natalie pulled them all
together and put another field around them.
Another blast hit the field, and
they turned to see Matt’s body lit up by a bluish flame, the energy rippling
out of his body. “Not them!” he yelled, pointing towards the members of
Frontier. “This is between me and you, Sombra!”
A
mad cackle sounded through the darkness. Tendrils shot at Matt from every
angle, knocking him around like a human-sized pinball machine. “What can you do
against me, Matt? I am everywhere! I am the very darkness around you!”
Matt
unleashed another wave of energy, stopping the assault for the moment. “Then
let there be light,” he growled. Matt’s blue aura dimmed as he switched from
expelling energy to absorbing it. As fast as he possibly could, Matt starting
absorbing the shadow energy around him, pulling it all into his body. At first,
with the darkness absolute and no light to see by, the others feared the worst.
As Steve tried to plan a second attack, Marian watched in horror for any sign
of Matt.
Minutes ticked by, with no
results. Finally she saw a flicker of light, then a flash, and then the central
area was flooded with light. Swirling around the light and spiraling into
Matt’s body, the shadows were in turmoil. Matt was floating above the ground,
crouched almost in a fetal position, his body illuminating the area and getting
brighter every second. The shadows rushed into his body as it sucked up as much
of Sombra’s shadow energy as it could. Marian looked into the sky and cried in
glee. Far above them she saw the unnatural darkness ebbing and the pink light
of dawn appearing. It was only then did they realize how long this ordeal had
lasted.
“What are you doing?” Sombra
screamed at Matt as he continued absorbing all the energy she put out. “You
can’t take it all! Not this time! You can’t beat me!”
Matt looked up, his eyes barely
visible through the brilliant light. “Yes, I can, and I will win, Sombra.”
Slowly the shadows melted off
Sombra’s head, revealing Jasmine’s face and her teary eyes. “But you’ll die!”
“If that’s what it takes to rid
you of her, then so be it.” Matt increased his absorption even further, pushing
himself to his outstanding limits. Jasmine’s face disappeared behind a veil of
shadows once again, but it was clear Sombra was no longer in complete control.
As her body showed signs of the internal struggle, the shadows began racing
towards Matt, helping the absorption along. The light of dawn aided in the
destruction of the darkness, and soon everyone was able to see once more.
As the last of the shadow energy
was absorbed into Matt’s body, his own light shone brighter than the morning
sun. Many of the observers had to look away from the light, while others tried
to shade their eyes as they refused to miss what was happening. In front of the
light, Sombra fell to the ground. On her hands and knees, Sombra screamed as
Jasmine fought her for control. Walking up to the girl, Matt stuck out his
hand. She raised her head, and slowly reached out her own hand.
“No,” Sombra hissed, but the
hand went into Matt’s. As the shadows from her body were ripped off, Sombra
screamed in pain. “As long as she lives, I will never die!”
In a burst of light and energy
directed upward, the excess energy was expelled, and Matt stood with his blue
aura still lighting up the field, but low enough that everyone could watch. He
helped Jasmine to her feet, the girl unsteady and unclothed, but alive. She
looked into Matt’s eyes, her own spilling tears. “I never meant for this to
happen,” she choked.
“Neither did I,” Matt replied,
pulling her closer, “but it can’t be helped. It’s over now.”
As they embraced, Jasmine
whispered to Matt. “I will always love you, but you’re right, it is over. This
can’t be helped either.” He held on tighter, sensing what she was about to do,
but not able to stop her. Slowly her body began disintegrating, the particles
floating up into the dawn’s early light. As everybody watched in awe, Jasmine
dissolved into shadow energy, flowing out of Matt’s arms and scattering into
the wind.
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