Play Testers Wanted Pt. 12

I walked out to the back yard and strolled out along the rambling lawn that was shielded from the lights from the embassy giving it a better than average view of the night sky. The chilly winter evening was a reminder of losing my vampirism. I had never felt the cold or heat so intensely when I was 'cursed'. I looked upward to distract myself from my little pity party. The stars were especially intense tonight. The moon was dark and hiding her face and Orion the Hunter hung bright in the heavens. Suddenly the upper left star in the constellation flickered and grew larger and brighter.

"Holy shit! It just went supernova!!" I gasped in awe. "Traci? Left... let her out."

"Master?" Traci greeted me coolly as her hologram manifested.

"You have every right to be angry. I didn't need you contradicting me. I need to act. I'm sorry." I said and her logic overrode her emotions.

"I understand. Betelgeuse finally went nova." She declared as she pointed. "It has been expected for a few years now. The temperature is dropping."

"I feel it! Shit!" I said as I raced inside. I went straight to Shuri's lab. I went to the workstation and began fashioning an Elder Sign. Time had run out. I shut down all the external distractions and bent my will to this thing. I sanctified the ingot of mana alloy and invoked the spoken portion of the ritual. I couldn't hurry and that was the worst part of it. The stars were right. The death of Betelgeuse signaled the end of the Earth. It was dawn as I spoke the last few syllables and prepared to slam as much raw power into the icon as I could muster.

"Stand back," a familiar voice whispered in my ear. The lab lit up with the heart of a storm as massive bolts of lightning struck true and gave the relic the power it required to resist the Many Angled Ones. "Not bad if I say so myself." She purred. "How are you holding up Ghost man?"

"Storm?" I gasped seeing the dusky skinned mutant behind me.

"I got you," she said when I stumbled. "Shh it is okay. You did the heavy lifting after all."

"We did it," I said feeling the raw power of the thing.

"You did it," she corrected. "Strange said you might need my help at the end. What is it?"

"Well, I guess you could call it a crucifix for some dark and terrible things, things that dwell in the space between spaces. Mages call them the Many Angled Ones. They are primordial beings, dark gods, and they want back in. I hope this will drive them back once the gate is opened."

"Shouldn't we be out there trying to stop them from doing that?" Storm asked as the dizziness slowly left me.

"Of course, the thing is, these things often have the arrow of time on their side." I stated and she gave me a look. "You know why time travel is so silly? Things are set and fixed for a damn good reason. Events like these are so crucial because certain things will happen, but their outcome is for us to decide."

"I understand that," She said smiling with grim determination.

I stood the first watch. I sat cross legged hovering over the roof of a warehouse. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know that the icebergs parked there were there as a defensive action so that when the gate opened whatever the fuck was in those blocks of ice would emerge and stop us from interfering. Betelgeuse grew brighter day after day. Mages of all levels of skill had been conscripted to watch the harbor. Days blended and as the supernova grew ever brighter the sense of dread grew stronger and the temperature grew colder.

Even when I wasn't watching the harbor my thoughts weren't far from it. Though I will give it to Gwen for doing her damnedest to take my mind off things. She insisted on being on top and let me enjoy the view and what a delicious view it was. She was patient and rode me slowly drawing out both our pleasures.

"Close!" I said through gritted teeth and she had been shaking for almost a minute already. My hips moved on their own and as she moved down, I thrust upward as I climaxed. Her shriek brought one of the embassy's guard charging into our room. We looked at the Wakandan native and smiled. She apologized and left without another word. "Your voice is maturing."

"Sorry. I lost control." Gwen giggled. "Tell me lover, what do you call that?"

"It is called the demon cock technique," I informed her as she lay on top of me and caught her breath. "I didn't name it. I just use it."

"Very well I might add." She purred kissing me lightly. "Has the princess..." She began and I winced just before I heard Shuri's voice in my ear.

"Ha! I knew it," Shuri declared. "You are violating that poor young thing with that heroic cock of yours again!" Gwen clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laugh.

"That poor young thing as you described has managed to inhibit her gag reflex to an epic level." I replied as Gwen lightly punched my chest. "Though, none has an ass as nice as profoundly round as yours sweet Shuri."

"Despoiler of young women," Shuri growled playfully as I heard machinery working in the background.

"What are you working on at this ungodly hour?" I asked as Gwen got up to use the bathroom.

"I am tweaking Reed's treatment and fashioning a collar for Jennifer of the sexy green skin that will allow her to change at will." Shuri replied and the mechanical sounds fell silent and I could feel Shuri's intense concentration. "I believe I have done it. I will need to test it of course. Why not stop by and tell me what you think?"

"Let me get a quick shower in and I'll be right over." I stated as I joined Gwen in the bathroom. She was splashing water on her face and getting dressed. "What's up?"

"Late for patrol," she said as she kissed my cheek. "Take care of yourself." She said and was gone.

I relieved my bladder, took a quick shower, and as I stepped out to dry off Susan Storm was waiting for me. Her expression was unreadable.

"Did you speak with Reed?" She asked her voice soft and shaken.

"Yes. I took on your form so that he would talk to me." I admitted without her asking. "I am on my way to see Shuri and see if she is able to help Jennifer, you know She Hulk."

"What does one have to do with the other?" She asked.

"I got a treatment for Jennifer from Reed." I informed her and watched the parade of emotions cross her features. "I am sorry if..."

"I knew it," she gasped her lower lip trembling. "I knew you must have had a good reason for doing it. So, what was it like... being me?"

"Enlightening," I said and watched her smile. "Come with me and see the fruit of our labors." I said as I dried off and let my armor take on street clothes form.

Susan and I left my room. Jenny was waiting out in the hall and joined us on the way to Shuri's lab. We got caught up with each other's lives since the last time we hung out together. Susan had finally removed the last of Reed's possessions from the Baxter Building, including installing a new A.I. system Shuri had written for them. Reed had collected his possessions after being freed of the treatment pod and vanished from her life.

"Tell him," Jenny pseudo-whispered to her twin. "Or I will. We both have news, the same news."

"We are pregnant," Susan and Jenny said in twin-speak. I felt my jaw drop. "Think of the possibilities."

"I'll do my best to well help out I mean... wow." I stammered and they laughed.

"Perfect timing," Shuri stated as she made the final adjustment at the workstation she was standing in front of. The machinery let out a musical chime and he held up a vibranium collar. Shuri placed it around She Hulk's neck and fiddled with it for a bit. She checked the signal from the workstation to the collar and nodded to Jennifer. She Hulk closed her eyes and after a short delay she shrunk down to her depowered state. She reached up and touched her face.

"It's been so damn long," she cried, and I held her. The collar adjusted on the fly from her normal state to hulk state. I noticed there was an inscription in what appeared to be the Wakandan language. "Do I need to ask what this says?"

"Nope." Jennifer laughed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I don't know how to thank you."

"We do," Susan and Jenny said in one voice.

"Hey now, I made the collar and fine tuned the mechanism." Shuri said sticking out her lower lip.

"Princess, there is a Stephanie Rogers at the front gate. She is looking for Ghost Fire." One of the security guards informed us over the commlink.

"Let her in." Shuri growled.

"I don't want in," Captain America declared in her pronounced Brooklyn accent. "He needs to get his keister out here and join me on patrol. Something is going on."

"Shit," I cursed. "Hey, stay safe and I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Hold on," Shuri said rushing into my arms and kissing me good luck. "Here. This'll keep you warm. It's a minor armor environmental upgrade. Watch your ass out there."

"I'd rather watch yours," I replied as I armored up.

"Of course, you would." Shuri giggled.

I teleported to the front gate and saw the star-spangled heroine in all her glory. She looked amazing and I was a bit overwhelmed. Captain Stephanie Rogers looked me in the eye with those piercing blue eyes of hers. She wore her natural blonde hair short in a military style pixie cut. Instead of her standard patriotic colors she was clad in a black S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform with her iconic shield on her back. She caught me checking out her ass when she turned to leave. I followed her to the waiting Quinjet. We climbed aboard via the lowered ramp and strapped in.

"Widow speaks quite highly of you, as a combatant of course." Captain America stated awkwardly.

"Of course, she did," I agreed with a naughty smile on my lips.

"Don't even think about it," Widow warned me from her place in the copilot's chair. "She is America's sweetheart you perv."

"I have improved certain skills," I replied to see how the Black Widow reacted.

"No shit!" The redhead growled. "How is that even possible?"

"Hard... work." I laughed and looked over at Captain America. She touched the side of her head and I nodded. I reached out gently and touched her surface thoughts.

'Hi.' I whispered.

'Hello Ghost Man,' she replied. 'You don't mind if I call you that do you?'

'Naw, can I call you Cap?' I asked. 'Or is there something else you'd prefer?' I said feeling a knee jerk reaction along with a flurry of mental images. 'Repressed. When is the last time you got laid Cap?'

'... actually... I went into the ice untarnished.' She admitted. 'The internet has provided a variety of movies and images but uh... I just haven't found the right guy I trust.'

'I take it you've masturbated a lot,' I stated and another blistering series of images with sensory input this time. 'Damn girl, you need to get fucked and how.'

'I know. Boy do I know.' She admitted. 'Know anyone that might help me... someone patient.'

'I could ask around,' I snickered, and she gave me a brief glimpse of her hunger. 'Whoa! I'd love to stoke that heat and embrace the inferno.'

"Cap! NOAA just sent a code black transmission. Two of their buoys picked up some seriously strange readings. They'd like us to look." Widow called out indicating the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was concerned about underwater movement. I didn't like the sound of that.

"Let's drop off Ghost at the harbor on our way out." Cap said as she unstrapped, crossed the aircraft, and straddled my lap. She cupped my face in both hands and kissed me. "A promise and I expect some mind-blowing sex when this blows over."

"I am going to wreck you utterly and completely!" I promised.

"He will sweetie," Widow laughed as she set the jet in hover mode. "Good luck lust muffin!"

"Lust you too sweet cheeks," I replied as Cap stood and let me up. I grabbed her by the hair and kissed her back. "See you soon."

"Damn!" Widow and Cap gasped as I activated my glide wings and launched from the rear of the Quinjet.

Later that night.

"Twenty below zero," I shivered as I took over my twelfth watch. "A week and a half and nothing."

"Damn, it is fucking cold!" Gwen cursed as she joined me on the corrugated steel roof. "Shit!" I created a bubble around us and raised the temperature to sixty degrees. "You are a lifesaver. I thought my nipples were going to snap off."

"We can't have that." I growled. "Perfect nipples are so hard to come by."

"Perv," she giggled. "This is going to be bad isn't it?"

"Yeah," I said as the first quarter moon rose. It looked like we had two moons now. Betelgeuse was so bright in the night sky now. Even during the day, it was clearly visible. "Did it just get colder?"

"Yeah it did," she shivered, and I poured more power into the spell. "I hope you've modified your web shooters. Shuri tweaked mine for me."

"Meow." The fire cat declared as she rubbed against my leg.

"Oh hey, you are back!" I said picking up the cat and setting her into my lap. "She shows up at the most interesting of times... aw hell! Sound the alarm! Shit is about to get real." I cried out as I stood, and the cat leapt onto my shoulder purring like mad. The temperature plummeted to arctic levels of bitter cold.

"Director Grey," Gwen said touching her commlink. "Ghost believes the breach is imminent! Holy fucking shit... the ice... its breaking! What are those... things?!"

"Avengers... Assemble!!" Captain America's voice came over the link.

Six S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarriers headed for the harbor. Heroes from across the city were on the way as the lumbering flabby things crawled from the sea by the thousands. A flash of light near one of the icebergs heralded the arrival of three tall figures. I shifted my eyes to those of an eagle to see who they were. I recognized Namor of Atlantis instantly. He had his trident in hand and pointing it at the shore. Next to him was the white-haired beauty I had seen with Bobby Drake in the vision at the bar. In her hands was the Casket of Ancient Winters. On her left was the last figure and she was vaguely familiar. The resplendently dressed redhead carried an equally ornate trident in her grasp but hers was aimed skyward. The weather began to change directly above them, and the air chilled another few critical degrees.

A clap of thunder preceded Thor the god of thunder as well as his earthly equal Ororo Munroe known as Storm by the general public. I felt the gate begin to open and then snap shut as the temperature rose dramatically. Storm smiled as she contested with the Ice Queen and her allies.

"Elsa, why are you doing this?" I muttered as the army of aquatic horrors and Atlantean warriors struck the waterfront. It was times like this that I forgot that the Disney princesses were the bad guys. I conjured an elder fire elemental and sent it to destroy the fish creatures. Other mages were at work as they erected walls of flame to cut off the invaders and hamper their ability to maintain cohesion.

Aircraft launched from the helicarriers and filled the air. Discharge from energy weapons, missiles, and gunfire struck the beach and the invaders. The trio on the iceberg were protected by a powerful mystic barrier and shrugged off attacks easily. Gwen was long gone as she went to the front of the fray and swung into combat. The legion of fish creatures seemed endless. How long had they been preparing for this day? The water began to recede, and I saw the glow coming from the redhead's trident. I could feel the building of power as she prepared to send a tsunami against the city and its defenders.

'Tsunami!!!' I sent to every allied mind within my ability to reach. 'Jean, they are summoning a tsunami!'

'I hear you Ghost. I will inform everyone.' She coolly accepted my message and passed it along.

I teleported our troops that were within my line of sight to me. This building should be tall enough to withstand the incoming wave. I spied the white crest against the cracking ice. The wave was going to hit the layer of ice and fling it like shrapnel. I sent out a second warning.

'Ice shards, beware!!'

The wave hit. I threw up a wall shaped barrier just in case. The roar of the wind and waves was deafening. The water hit with titanic force and crushed all before it. I felt the ice hit the barrier with ballistic force. It wasn't over. Those that had been on the ground were drawn out to sea to freeze or drown. I dropped the shield and the wall of ice that had been flash frozen against it tumbled to the street below. I looked out over the bay and the icebergs that had been out in the middle were now shoved near the shore. They were lopsided now that they were in shallow water. You could see the blue ice and the blasphemous shape outlined within. We were so fucked. Storm rose in her wrath as the weather goddess and brought the heat. The fish folks were unimpaired but not for long. I tapped into her weather pattern and brought down lightning at clusters of the things.

"Deep Ones," Steph called out as she settled nearby using the cloak of levitation. "They are minor servants of the Many Angled Ones. Behind them the shock troops belonging to Atlantis. Namor has allied himself to them."

"Let's fuck some shit up." I suggested.

"Poetic as always," Steph said as she drew on her arcane arts. I went for a more up close and personal strategy. I dropped down to the street below and headed for the recuperating ground troops. Darksaber in one hand, smart disk in the other, and plasma caster set on auto fire I waded into the ranks for the enemy. I activated both blades of my weapon and cut my way to the Atlantean in his stylized scarlet armor. It had changed since the times of Conan. It was more streamlined for underwater combat and adorned with aquatic motifs. I mowed down his bodyguards with the smart disk and crossed blades with him.

"Even if you kill me, all you will do is martyr me to the great cause, hero." He said as we dueled.

"You are wrong on two points." I explained. "One, you aren't here to die as a martyr. Two, I'm no hero." With a quick flick of my wrist I shorn through the weak spot between gauntlets and forearm armor. He screamed as I took his hand and disarmed him.

"I surrender!" He said begging for his life. I plunged the black blade into his chest and took his life stuff and more. "So cold... my soul... dear gods no."

"I told you." I said as the life left his eyes. The morale of his troops was shattered. They fled into the sea while the implacable deep ones came on in their thousands. I called down lightning into the water electrocuting hundreds, but their numbers appeared limitless. "Damn." I cursed as I looked up at the supernova that was Betelgeuse. The air warmed noticeably as Storm took control of the weather despite their best effort. "Maybe, just maybe, we can pull this out of our asses."

Elsa raised the Casket of Ancient Winters over her head and opened it. Storm tumbled from the sky as the power of the artifact lashed out. I teleported upwards, caught Storm as she fell, and then levitated to a rooftop. "I got you," I told her.

"Look! Dear god what is it?" Storm asked as she pointed behind me. I turned and saw the gate opening.

"Well... fuck!!" I cursed as the portal grew and grew until it was the size of an office building. A blast of frozen hell erupted from that gate as a kaiju sized figure stepped from the rift in time/space. "I've seen bigger." I gasped as the abomination strode into our realm. It was covered in patches of white fur over its atrophied skeletal form. It didn't come alone. Winged beasts the size of large horses flew in the hundreds and spread out into the city.

'Ithaqua, the Wendigo.' Steph sent silently. 'Its minions the Shantak Birds. They will capture innocents and carry them back to his frozen hell. We need to stop it before it can wake the things in the icebergs.'