Looking Glass (Darkest Secrets Volume 2)

Part 6 Crystal Echoes

Direct contact with Red Global's power was supposed to exceed the sun's heat. Rosenquartz didn't doubt it. Once the energy struck him, a painful warmth condensed in his chest and flowed through his limbs - almost faster than he could handle. Containing the power wasn't going to work; he'd explode before she finished her first volley. He focused the ever-growing energy into his forehead and released the flow.

The ray sliced over Red Global's beam and struck her in the shoulder, slowly searing through her jacket and into bone - burning her face and arms. She let up the flow of power once she understood what was happening. As Gabriel's cannons ceased, the Supers stood in silence amidst the smell of ion and steam. Two skyscrapers burned in the distance, the consequences of Gabriel missing Omicron Beta.

Red Global's beautiful face in a half-burnt scowl was the stuff of nightmares. "I was going to give you all a chance - and you trick me and burn down civilian buildings trying to kill me? Ha!" Her laugh dripped with crazed joy. "Zero. Can you believe that? Why do mortals always bite the hand that feeds them? Boys, rid me of these pests."

Was Red Global not mortal?

A surprising shove from Gabriel knocked Rosenquartz a few steps forward. Turning, he saw that Omicron Beta had broken through the floor and covered most of the power suit like putty. Only one of Gabriel's arms remained free as he tore at the mass threatening to coat his face. A black pool of shadows moved in for the kill, and Rosenquartz threw himself into it, only to fall to the floor, feeling nothing but a touch of friction from the cloud.

Before Rosenquartz could stand, immovable hands caught him by the wrists, and an unstoppable boot forced his face to the soft steel. Red Global chuckled. "You go last stone man."

She tore Rosenquaurtz's arms off and kicked him over. "Watch." She said, tossing her head towards Gabriel's plight.

Zero's tiny frame snatched Gabriel's enormous arm and held it tight. Thin tendrils of shadow worked their way around the armor, looking for a way in. The captain struggled, but Omicron Beta's grip tightened with a telling whine of metal. Zero pulled harder on the arm as Omicron Beta forced Gabriel to his knees. A muffled snap from inside the suit was followed by a bellow of pained rage from the Hero.

The yell was quickly drowned out by the scream of the suit's engines, and a thick mass of antimatter extended from behind Gabriel, through Omicron Beta's goop, and sliced through Gabriel's own arm. The armored hero blasted away through a wall with another bellow, taking Omicron Beta with him.

Good luck, captain. Rosenquartz thought to himself.

Zero's shadows lifted from his body, revealing an ordinary-looking, disappointed man, left holding a metal arm twice his size - like a kid whose friends had gone home for the night. "I'll just go help Omi."

At Red Global's slow nod, the shadows returned, and Zero took off in pursuit. After he was gone, she dug her heel into Rosenquartz's midsection. The cracks she heard made her smile. "I guess you're first then. Unless you tell me where your Speedster ran off to?

He can't have made it very far carrying that UnClassed granny, and I, well, to put it simply, don't want to tear the nearest five city blocks to rubble finding them... Nothing? I can't fault you for protecting your friend, but this is goodbye, Crystal Whatever-you-are."

Red Global stomped until Rosenquartz's head rolled away from the pebbles and dust that remained of his body.

"TREE! What am I supposed to do with this karma if the sheeple won't settle!? Four thousand years... and I still feel like I'm right at the beginning. Everything still looks... red." Red Global fell to her knees with her head in her hands. After a muffled sniffle, she huffed and flew out through the wall in anger.

Whatever that was, Rosenquartz was surprised he was still conscious. He couldn't roll his head at all, but he could still see and hear well enough. He tried using his jaw to work his way somewhere, anywhere - only to discover he didn't have a jaw anymore. After a moment, he felt an itch under his nose. Then, his mouth felt itchy. Wait, he had a mouth? So, he was getting somewhere. He concentrated on the image of a jaw and neck, and the itch spread.

Now he was up and running... sort of. With his neck and jaw, Rosenquartz worked around the pile of his body toward the hole Lilith made. There might be some chance she'd find him.

From behind, a snort caught his attention. It was Falco!

"Were you gonna crawl like that all the way back to Canada?" Falco's musical voice eased tension Rosenquartz didn't know he had.

"I would have healed at some point between here and the nearest police station."

Falco smiled. "You don't understand jokes very well, do you? It's nice to see you. Now hold on to your... head." He couldn't contain another burst of laughter.

In the blink of an eye, Rosenquartz found himself in darkness. Falco's arms still held him, but his eyes had to adjust to the dim light of a solitary candle in a cramped tunnel. An old man in rags sat on the floor behind a table.

"Quartz, this is Grandpa Bava. You can call him Bavaros. Bava, this is my friend Quartz," Falco said, putting Rosenquartz's head on the table by the candle.

The tired man gave Rosenquartz a humble nod. "In all the years I've known Falco, he's never introduced someone as a friend. Good to see you Quartz. If only these were quieter times." As he talked, the paleness of his face, the sweat dripping down his forehead, and the sunken bags under his eyes all became more apparent.

"Likewise."

Falco shifted. "Crystal of few words Grandpa. I should go find Lilith. Before I do, Quartz, where's Gabe?"

Bavaros interjected. "You won't have luck in that department. Bring Lilith; you'll find her at the police picket line. Quickly Falco. We have much to discuss and little time."

The Speedster disappeared.

With that, Bavaros poured himself a cup of tea and looked Rosenquartz in the eye.

"Have you ever heard of reincarnation Quartz?"