Far Pangaea 48: reBORN FREE

For a starving Tyrannosaurus Rex all of this activity was the dinner bell ringing. Having been held hostage a mile out by a pair of drones he was bitter. When Jack Ramse had called the drones together to lift the Greenhouse he made an unpredicted error. The Dino busters abandoned their task to do as Jack directed. Thus, Jurassic Junior as Elle was calling him regained his mobility.

The massive flock of Vampires made for a great appetizer. To a T-Rex anything mobile was delicious. Every little bit helped. Jack had considered using him anyway. His error was merely in timing.

"Jurassic Junior's a big help Jack. Now if we can just keep from being crushed by Mal and Verago. Who knew Verago could grow." Elle Franklin battled on.

"I think he figured out Malcolm's runes. Let's just hope he doesn't use the other runes against us."

"Wait! You think Verago grabbed Malcolm's wanker? God! Cameron will never live this one down. First he was trapped in Sophia and now..."

"Shit!" Jack cuts her off, "Rex is turning on the Greenhouse."

Lowered toward the ground for safety was probably another mistake. The suspended enclosure swaying about attracted the T-Rex to examine the interior. Luckily with no lights within it kept Greta and Seth from being noticed. A blind man had no need for light. All he ever needed was the Earth Mother to keep him warm. Her tears although a mystery appeared within the Greenhouse as needed to quench the thirst of both Son and Eden. He had no reason to question how.

"Hold on Seth. I think we might be ready to ride the bronco." Greta Winston whispered.

Seth could only mumble. Her words beyond his comprehension. What in God's name was a bronco? His question goes unanswered as a mighty head of teeth rams the side of the Greenhouse jarring the plant life. Dirt from Eden toppling to the floor. In doing so the outside drones did their best to keep the den aloft. Two drones breaking away to counter attack through programming attempt the gravitational weight down. Said drones were blindly destroyed by swarming Vampires. The enemy was fighting back.

"Elle? Keeping flaring up. Try to coax Rex away from the Greenhouse before it gets too damaged. Or Greta and Seth get hurt."

"Or eaten."

"That too. Stay off the dessert list. I'll manage without you."

Elle bolts into a run, her diamond flesh resistance to incoming damage. The ultraviolet light she presented kept most Vamps at bay. Only the Kamikaze ones tossed her about. Her darting about was like a firefly to the T-Rex. Regardless it was enough to draw it further out.

Jack started making a perimeter of light using the ultraviolet grenades James factored into his arsenal. Once those surrounded him for protection he returned to his trigger happy Ion rifle with one hand, and applying the vibrational gauntlet he had been fitted with. The waves of vibration sent flying Vamps spiraling about. Losing their sense of direction.

Mal came crashing back down upon the soil with Verago on top of him. The beast feeling it had the upper hand. Attempting to siphon off Malcolm's mystical energies wasn't working as planned. For some reason the Nordic runes were only in tune with its wearer. At least as far as standing by their host. Regardless Verago's strength was building the more he battled. His true potential returning by the minute.

No time for banter Malcolm doubles up a mighty fist and connects with the Fallen Angel's jaw. Staggered by it Mal rolled Verago over into the devastated Tanker. Another crushing sound crumpled the vessel even further dismay. Anything within the Tanker would not last long under the pressure.

Within, Sabbath Black found a moment of reprieve. In the latest battery her covering debris jostled just enough to allow her freedom from being pinned. With the moonlight barely creeping through the opened hull her body was steaming. A full on ray of light might be her final demise.

"You're in pain Sabbath. Get to darker shadows before we all die." Cam growls inside her shared mind.

"Not without Lily." Sabbath cringes nudging metal aside and returning to her rescue mission. The light of Gaea still intense even under a collapsed roof. The Meat Locker was mangled. The walls of bloodied Deities gnarled by the surrounding concrete and steel. The more they grew closer to her the more her pain became. Lillian screams. Gaea tries to calm her. Such a comforting Goddess.

Sabbath rages onward shredding steel in a flurry of bestial snarls. Cam and the First Family were along for the ride. Prayers spoken to a long gone God. Was he gone?

Below ground Madigan Ridge felt a presence within the meteor. It was like a living breathing organism. Although stone it had glowing veins oozing one second. Drying the next. It was a constant indecision.

"Are you God? I can sense life. Even though I am death." Maddy floats around the stone inspecting it further. The glows seemed to follow her. Darkening where she had left her field of vision behind. She wanted to touch the stone but was hesitant. In her ghostly form she should be safe. Right? The unknown left her worried. Suddenly, she hears a voice so very far away. Digging into her mind. An unknown voice. Yet calming. Halting to study the voice for clarity she realizes what the voice was trying to communicate to her.

"Malcolm. You want me to go help Malcolm."

Haunted as dirt sifts down all around her from the war above. She chooses to vacate the stone and phase up through the surrounding Earth. Up, up, out into the night sky.

Gunfire. Light shows. Giants in battle. Vampire legions like a swarm of shadowy birds. A dinosaur resisting capture. A Greenhouse tilting ever so close to the ground. So much going on.

Eyes locking on Malcolm and Verago, Maddy makes a fateful decision. Phasing in and out of Malcolm's limbs as he wrestles the Fallen, she reaches out and touches the rune upon Malcolm's swaying ball sack. The one that conceived water. Instead of assuming the form of water then crashing to the ground as a puddle like her first attempt Maddy went from ghostly to the water construct of her human body. Wearing the life fiber assisted her control this time. Suddenly, she found herself in total control. Jetting herself skyward like a geyser she rained down upon Verago. Rain that disrupted the sky. Clouds manipulated into a seeded down pour.

As the tears of God fell upon a once lush Garden the soil soaked up the content. An awakened Eden recognizing necessity. Grass grew about everyone. Jack halting his gunfight to look up at the Heavens. This was the first rain he had witnessed since being on this world. It felt good. Even under pressure.

Verago finds the outburst distracting. Leering skyward he spots Maddy in the moonlight. A mighty hand rises with unprecedented speed and captures her in his grip. Her body exploding like a water balloon and trickling through his grip. Once away from his clutches her body reforms once again into a hard water state. With a renewed vigor Maddy takes the shocked initiative to fly directly into Verago's eyes. Hard water blinding him if not temporary. It was enough.

Malcolm rose to his feet and took a boxers stance. Fist after fist he pummels Verago. Maddy had given her friend the momentary breather he needed. Mal was ready. The battle took a turn.

Delighted she could help Maddy hears the voice inside her head once more. So very far away. Deciphering the words took deep concentration. Eyes flaring wide she understood.

"Gaea. You want me to help Gaea now. How?" She frets about between battle and the Tanker. Seeing how demolished the ship was gave her the fear that she might be too late. A second glance toward the ground she recognizes the plant life was revived through her rainfall. Smiling, she was inspired. Turning back to eye Malcolm she recalls the sequence of runes that bestowed certain abilities.

"Spine. Top rune." Madigan jettisons herself like water under pressure until she reaches Malcolm's blind side. Upon his back she palms the top rune. Transforming from water to a humanoid plant. As her body rebuilt itself she connected with the Garden. It was intoxicating. Falling in a dead fall she lands on her feet without pain. The ground soft to her feet. Protected by the Garden itself.

Bolting toward the Tanker she finds Jack racing to her side. The rain still falling had distorted the perception of the Vamps. Giving him a moment to calculate moves.

"That was insane." Jack calls over. Maddy was lost in her mission, ignoring him save for a wave. He felt her dedication and chose to support her by turning back and firing upon those Vamps venturing to stop her. Ion rifle like lightning strikes.

Climbing the hull proved difficult. It's slippery metal sending her three steps back, one step forward. Growling at her near impossible task she hears a familiar voice.

"This here might help."

"Greta? How?"

"Jumped down. Ankles a bit sore but I made it through. Here. Seth told me to give you this." Greta in her invisible state holds up a wooden box containing the untainted original soil of Eden. As Maddy claims it she feels its power. Her plantlike form sensing its nutrients. Reaching her fingers into the box she clutches the dirt and immediately adapts to its cosmic vigor. An unimaginable strength brews within her. It was like connecting with a livewire. Her feet upon the newly inspired ground, combined with the original soil in hand. She was the go between.

"Step away Greta. I can feel something happening to me."

"I'll go help where I can." Kansas was off with a hobble.

Her body morphing yet again under the influence of mystical energies Madigan Ridge reaches out toward the upper shell of the hull. Vines writhe outward from her fingers. Snaking over the metal and clinging to the ledge above. Mighty thorns protrude from the bottom of her feet like cleats. Strength incredible Maddy begins climbing. The vines retracting back into her the higher she ascended. At the top she laughs. She had never felt more alive. The ground that once consumed her body was now offering her an alternative.

Peering downward into the wreckage she see's the light of Gaea. As well as a stressed albino beauty. Utilizing her vines she lowers herself down into the creaking crypt. Touching down she makes her way to Sabbath Black.

"I am here." Maddy mumbles as if taken over by the voice she had heard so weakly. Her body no longer in control.

In her struggle Sabbath recognizes Maddy even in her new body. Stunned she pauses to grasp this new intervention. Cameron Scott within her is blown away by Madigan in this new persona.

"I have come Mistress. Command me as you will." Maddy recites.

"Remove the walls about me." Gaea calls out through Lillian Black, "I know you have very little time left in this realm. Hurry Yggdrasil. Before worlds collide."

Cam had zero clue what was being discussed. It was beyond his conception. It took Adam to offer enlightenment.

"Yggdrasil. The World Tree. Gaea has called upon it for assistance. There is still hope for us all."

Sabbath assists the creature within Madigan. Without the aid of Malcolm's runes and their mystical connection to the Gods of other realms Gaea could not have considered this option. Her Creator had given her the edge she needed. With massive strength Madigan grows into a larger, denser form. Bark like texture erupting across her flesh. Sinew rippling as if a living breathing tree. Mighty hands grip at the crippling walls of the Locker. Between she and Sabbath the walls rip wide and are tossed away as if a nuisance. They were. Sensing a painful cry as the walls expose their painted interior to Sabbath, Maddy quickly pulls the girl behind her for protection. Was it Maddy?

Light erupts in a blinding flare as if a rocket launching toward the sky in a breath of fire.

GAEA was free.

Feeling her power increase Gaea in Lillian steps out of her prison's crater. Life realizing just how precious it was. Lillian Black reached forward touching Madigan. Absorbing Yggdrasil's genetic structure. Feeding. Until finally, Madigan Ridge returned to normal. Dizzy she falls forward until Sabbath catches her. The Moon sizzling her back as if frying an egg. Not even the parasites could balance out her cursed flesh.

"Sister? Step beneath my shade." Lillian subsides her glow and transforms her own body into a similar frame as Yggdrasil. Branches entwining her sister. Leaves billowing into a safe confinement.

"Lillian? What have you become?" Sabbath tears up.

"I am Gaea. My soul reborn within this body. Your sister my host now and forever more. I shall protect her and those she loves forever more."

Maddy looks up from resting on all fours in the destruction. Her eyes realizing she had been used. In a good way. Gaea looks up at Madigan with a warm smile.

"Thank you, Madigan Ridge. You have saved us all."

"All? What about Verago? What about Lilith?" Maddy was concerned.

Cameron Scott expels through Sabbath's trembling lips, "Yeah. What about me? I'm trapped in Sabbath too."

"Patience Children. All will go as planned." Gaea then looks once more upon her sister. Digging deeper into her thoughts, "Adam? Eve? You are not welcome here. You must go."

Sabbath chokes up. Her jaw opening as light permeates from within. In a bizarre light show a soul rises through Sabbath and exits her mouth. Floating there a moment the spheres depart into the night. They would not go far.

The Greenhouse teeters under the war above. Finally giving way to break apart and topple down to a renewed Eden. In the collapse the Elder Seth lies breathless upon the floor. Frightened by the sudden fall he feels a glow of warmth about him. Reaching out blindly he touches the warmth above him.

"Father? Mother?"

As recognition claims him his Parents enter his body. Merging with their Son. Three souls in one. Seth became content. Rising he locates a wooden staff made from a life boat's oar. Staggering out into the rain of Eden. He touches the girth of grass about him. Laughter felt appropriate. Vampires avoiding him he takes a walk. Eden left behind. Even a blind man would see the light.

Far below ground Mother Lilith feels agony. Her children were falling. With Eden becoming sacred ground once more she knew she would have to flee. Her thoughts of an Empire of Darkness within a tortured home of her birth fading fast. Gaea would come for her once Verago was purged of this Earth yet again. She wanted to have faith in her Mate but even the short time they had she knew he didn't trust her. He was correct. Her own evil could not be held in check. Her sole desire now was to give birth and protect her little Angel. At all cost.

Easing from her nest of roots Lilith surrounds her swollen belly. Feeling kicks. Almost punches. She knew something was very wrong. This seeding had matured far too quickly. Uneasy she looks toward various tunnels for escape. Staring below her over a chasm of darkness it was obvious she could not go down to the Foundation stone. It couldn't possibly be safe now that Eden was returning. This would mean she must go elsewhere entirely.

"Come my Angel. I will take us from this place."

"I think not." She reels hissing at a thunderous voice.

"The Roman. I thought Verago had drained you of your Immortality."

Antonaeus Gaicazar draws his sword igniting a Heavenly light that makes Lilith cower before its brilliance, "Not all. I still live. I have much in this World to do."

"You have but to perish Roman. As did the God Son."

"Not in my many lifetimes Creature of the Night. The God Son is right here beside me. Protecting me. Only he may take my life. You however."

Lilith smiles, hearing another heartbeat approach in the shadows.

"Ahhh! Yes. Me however. Step forward Child. Let the Roman learn the error of his ways. Show him off."

Pulsing red enters Sophia Ridge. Her eyes tormented by a sudden possession overcoming her. Her intent coming down here was to help Gaicazar take out Lilith. The Amulet should be able to destroy the Vampire Queen. Maybe she was wrong. Obviously.

"Friend Sophia? Do not let her control you. God would not want you too become slave to such as she." Gaicazar holds his sword defensively.

"I'm not wanting to Romeo. My body says differently. Dammit! The Amulet is supposed to be helpful."

Lilith hisses, "You have no clue what the Amulet is. Can you not feel its pulse beating within you Child? The closer you come forth."

Sophia resists as best as she can. Pondering Lilith's words. Consulting her tiny new friends who aid in her stamina. All failing. Inch by inch she steps toward Gaicazar. Knuckles heard gripping the hilt of his heavenly blade ever tighter.

"Resist Sophia."

"Sweating my tits off Romeo. Stop yelling at me." She attempts to shake off her indecision. Lilith was too strong. Her control of the mind incredible. Only Gaicazar in his Immortal body could fend her mental attacks off. If not for God he would lose. If not for faith. A crushed man had renewed his vows.

Like a zombie Sophia lumbers toward Gaicazar, ever so slowly. In her reluctant stride a deafening screech echoes through the nest. The sudden trauma releases Mother's hold on Sophia.

Gaicazar reacting finds Lilith doubled over in pain. Awe upon his face. Sophia shaking off the influence.

"My Angel comes." Lilith's dark well breaks between her legs. Spilling out upon the cavern floor with acidic odor. In agony Lilith rears up to halt Gaicazar's advance, knowing he would take advantage of her momentary lapse.

Sophia chose differently. Once released by Lilith she studied the pulse within her. The Queen was right. There was more to this than anyone predicted. Called forward to the chasm Sophia stares down into the pit. Her eyes evolving to compensate the competing shadows. Indecisive her attention wavers. Eyes turning to see Lilith bent over in her massive size. Her belly distorted by movement within. Something wanted out badly. It was taking its exit by storm.

"Welcome my Angel." Lilith cries out as an arm slips from her gaping vagina. Then another arm. Bloodied by dark embryo. Followed by the back half of an upper body. A final push outward the full body drops to the soil. A mangled man of realized muscle control. Bones strengthening instantaneously. Lilith eases away and recoups her composure. Taking every bit of her energy to hold back the Roman Centurion.

In the confusion another visitor to the nest arrives. Even in darkness her flesh resilient. Sabbath Black stood tall. Now in total darkness her body healed. No contact with the Moon her saving grace.

"Mother." Sabbath looms.

"Child. Stand with your Mother. Fight back for your Brother's sake."

Sabbath eyes the body on the floor. Confused slightly she feels compelled to race to Mother's side. Crouching before the newborn in adult form. Daring to touch him while smiling up at Lilith. Lilith felt a renewed faith in Sabbath. As if ready to lash out at Gaicazar and Sophia. She wanted to help.

With blinding speed Sabbath Black darts to Sophia's side. Colliding with the girl microbe on microbe hurling her into the pit below. Sophia's words echoing in freefall, "Yoooooooooooooouuuu, Bittttttttttttch!"

Sabbath then turning toward Gaicazar snarling for effect. Her wink saying differently. Antonaeus did not understand.

Lilith grinning with triumph stands tall, mucus still easing from her thighs. Belly deflating in a miserable collapsed skin sack.

"Rise my Angel. Your time has come."

Dread rises slowly. Eyes adapting to the gloom of a distant heavenly swords interference. In shadow he reaches full height. A mere 6 foot tall plus. Wiping blood away with his hands to reveal white flesh beneath. Not alabaster like Sabbath's. Human pinkness. Caucasian. Blond strands of hair peeking through the blood upon his scalp. Stretching valiantly.