A Hero's Song (Darkest Secrets Volume 1)

Chapter 34 - The Quantum Conundrum

"...Zeus?" Quantum rocked back from the portal, where a strange bald man in an oddly familiar jumpsuit gripped onto the writhing energy.

He gave Quantum a direct stare. "Nah. Name's Lucian. Mind closing this portal?"

Lucian? Gabriel's Lucian? He would have darted to the portal and yanked his brother back home in an instant if Quantum wasn't in the way.

Glancing over his shoulder, Lucian looked towards the cloud. "You're, uh, you're doing great, honey!" His voice boomed in echo between mile-high pillars of stone like a bullhorn. "Hit him again!" The crowd cheered in agreement. Another explosion went off within the screaming monstrosity.

Lucian yanked on the portal, his eyes shone blue, and he grunted, managing a little progress. "You screwed us all if we don't get this thing closed, shiny man."

Quantum looked confused. "I don't understand. My kingdom... and... you. You? Out of everyone in existence, I made you?" He let out a haunting, crazed cackle. Looking around wildly, he yelled at seemingly no one, "The cosmic joke's on me, is it?"

Lucian barked back a laugh. "You want to rule the Bastion? Get in line, kid. And what? Made me? You must be jo-" Quantum's head morphed for an instant, and Lucian's eyes glinted with amazement. "No... way, Holmes? Man, the things I'd have given to get you alone in a room. Hey, wait, are you Quantum, too? Jesus man, you must be pretty fucked up. Is Gabe around?"

That is your brother? Alfred's words failed to register through Gabriel's uncertainty.

Justice, Janus, Quantum, and now Holmes?

Gabriel's stomach turned over. Was he just a pawn in some sort of long con? He felt unwell at the prospect. Antimatter gauntlets slowly rose once more; all the anger he'd hidden, the frustration, and now the shame of looking up to Professor Holmes - even as Quantum - was too much to bear.

Alfred stopped him. What if you hit Lucian?

Gabriel sent the mental command to fire, but Alfred canceled it.

What if you hit Lucian? Gabriel!

The rage faded.

Lucian grasped the other side of the portal with a synthetic metal arm and tugged. Blue energy sparked around his body, and the doorway gave a few more inches. Pain wracked his face at the effort, but he clenched his jaw, and the lighting intensified.

Quantum gawked, dumbfounded, at the scene behind Lucian. "What is happening in my Haven?"

"You mean the Bastion? Shitshow, Prof, shitshow. I can see you aren't going to help me close this portal." He tapped the side of his head. "Telepathy, remember? Now, would you kindly go back to, eh, whatever victory monologue you were doing? I think your friend over there is almost done waiting." He nodded towards Zero.

Zero was watching their exchange with interest, and he tilted his head in greeting. "You know, Lucian? You aged nicely. He's right, Janus. I am almost done waiting - and you were wrong, I'm not too weak. It just takes me longer to get the old motor runnin' nowadays." His body sank into space in a blur of pixels and popped into existence behind Quantum.

Quantum's eyes widened for a moment before he scoffed, giving Zero a swift once-over. "Your atoms will fall apart in five minutes."

"Meh, you got me. I bluffed - lucky for me, I can make five minutes seem like forever." Zero smiled from ear to ear and headbutted Quantum into the cavern wall.

The rock explosion stopped the moment it started, leaving cracks along the rock and a bulge that looked like it would ripple out the moment time started again. Zero's power held everything in place - except Quantum.

Zero looked over at Grizzly's body. She was still breathing. He moved to her instantly, leaving a slight distortion in the air between them.

Before he could help her, Quantum appeared with a flash of light and a peel of thunder, kicking Zero in the side of the face. The concussive force powdered the cavern wall and floor, but Zero didn't move an inch. His shadows had converged into a form Gabriel hadn't seen or read about before, hugging Zero's frame so tightly it looked like he was made of black metal.

As Gabriel watched, the shadows coiled tighter - until Zero stood around 4 feet tall. Zero snatched Quantum's leg and threw him aside, but Quantum disappeared in smoke and reappeared behind Zero - fist shining with concentrated power.

This blow sent the Sentinel skipping across the ground, a pebble over water.

Quantum took a deep breath, and his glow brightened. Shining rays multiplied until Gabriel's visor couldn't offset the light anymore. Heat alerts pinged on multiple parts of his HUD. He resorted to blocking the beams with his gauntlets until the light, and pain, dissipated. A muffled boom from elsewhere told him the coast was clear, for now.

Darting to the wall as fast as he could, Gabriel knelt beside Grizzly. She was a mess; her face was all torn up. A river of tears flowed freely down her cheeks.

"Liberty. I'm so sorry. Liberty." She croaked, over and over.

She wasn't going to move for a while. With no sign of any accelerated healing, Grizzly's life was at risk. Bones stuck through her legs, one of her eyes looked like it would never work again, and her arm was shattered. An evac team would probably be best, but Gabriel had a second option.

QUERY -- Check connection to Spire network

--- Connection Confirmed

Breathing a sigh of relief, he reached behind him and took out the teleportation crystal he'd used to reach Brazil. It fit snuggly in Grizzly's thick fur vest.

Sending EVAC request.

The crystal flashed once, twice, then zapped through space - Grizzly in tow. Since she was the only survivor, he could check the only box in the 'Obvious things to handle' list.

Next up, the 'What the *&^% is going on?' list.

First off, what does one say to a long-lost brother?