Sky High After Dark - Cosmic

"Void, what's your position?!" Chery grunted into her communicator as she tore a robot apart.

"Beside you, watch out!" Shielding herself as a giant head came crashing through what resembled a twisted man's thoughts of what an amusement park looked like.

******

"I know we're watching it!" Vera spoke rapidly into her phone as Isabel had called to inform her of what was on TV. "I know they're working so well together!" Smiling when she watched Jill throwing punches when Aron and Tazia took down the third giant robot.

"This can't be Void! It can't be!" Vera and Isabel laughed at the villain's lessening grip on the situation.

"He's not the same Void, you idiot! That's my son you pissed off. Now deal with the strongest man in the world, you cur!" Vera shouted at her TV.

******

Elsewhere...

The Sovereign Crusaders Headquarters...

"Yes, I know he's Void; he's going to need back up, so get your asses down there!" Nightshade shouted into her phone as she spoke to the Gold team leader that was in the area. "Fucking idiots!" she hissed as he declined. "Hold out for us Void, if I'm the only one that will go, then so be it."

"Find me some damn heroes that will fight!" Nightshade barked at those just standing around.

Metaville, NSA Hub...

"Aron, don't do anything stupid," Sara whispered low as she watched, as did the rest of them as the battle raged on.

"Ma'am, the Director wants a sitrep," one of her male subordinates spoke over the noise of the command center.

Supermax...

"Kill the bastard; I want to see his entrails!" Maximins growled the best he could with his missing teeth.

"Settle down in there ex-hero or I'll take your TV away," the guard taunted, smirking down at the now ex-strongest man in the world from behind the cell door before walking off.

"Just wait, when I figure out how to get this damn thing off, you'll be the first to die, then that man," Maximins said as he glared hatefully at his very small black and white TV.

******

"Spread out, he could be anywhere and anything, so keep your wits about you," Aron directed as they entered the main building. Seeing them nodding before splitting up.

"You might have destroyed my robots and this base, but you're too late, hero. My rocket is ready to launch. It's target. DC. Isn't that quaint? You go to all that trouble to save that man only for me to kill him and everyone else."

"Everyone out now!" Aron roared as the building began to shake. The hiss of the fuel lines snapping off told him they didn't have much time before the whole place was filled in the fires of the rocket's exhaust.

"Aron! We're out; where are you?" Aminah asked into her communicator. Praying that Aron wasn't about to do something foolish and heroic. Like he had done in Bosnia.

"Hitching a ride on a rocket." She could hear his heavy breathing as he ran to where she couldn't say.

"What?!" They all screamed out.

"Hey, I would blow it up, but this is a man that put a nuke in a robot. So I can't do that without the fallout ruining the surrounding area."

"You can't do this Aron, think of Nettie and Henry! What about Jill? What about us! We need you!" Aminah sobbed into her mike.

"Why do you assume I'm going to die? I'm not dying today, fuck that shit. No, you and Tazia are going to get those tight asses in that car and follow me, and you better fucking catch me since I can't fly." They listened to him grunt as Aron jumped onto the side of the rocket.

"Aron, is my ass not tight as well?" Chery asked in an annoyed tone causing Carl and Neil to edge away from their sister.

"Oh yeah, you could bounce a quarter off that thing."

"Nice save brainiac," Chery huffed.

"If I go splat, I'm so haunting all of you..." What was next, they couldn't hear as the rocket's engine fired.

"Everyone in!" Neil shouted as the rocket tore through the roof of the building.

Aron fought against the wind as his fingers plunged into the metal skin as he climbed up the length of the rocket. Ripping off the small access panel once he reached it. Gasping for breath as he reached forty thousand feet and climbing. First, he tried to rewire the guidance computer, but all that did was short it out and destabilize the rocket's trajectory. "Nice going, Aron; you sure you're a genius?" Aron cursed out loud. Shaking his head as the lack of oxygen was getting to him as the altimeter read seventy thousand feet, knowing they were approaching the Karman Line. If he didn't do something quick, he would be royally fucked. With his air running out, time running out, and no way to divert the rocket, it only gave Aron one choice. "Ah fuck me..." Were Aron's last words as the rocket exploded.

"Where is he?!" Tazia bemoaned as she tried to spot him. Yet the jet car wouldn't go any higher than forty thousand.

"I don't know. I can't reach him," Aminah said, trying to reach him with her mind. "He must be unconscious."

"There!" Chery shouted, pointing at the object that appeared to be a body falling along with the debris. "Aminah, can you slow him down?" she asked, so glad Aminah had installed the oxygen masks when she built the car.

"I'm going to do better than that; I'm not going to be a widow?!" Aminah growled, pushing the improved neutralizing interface he had built for her to its limits. Sweat beaded along her brow as she taxed her powers to beyond the range she could normally reach.

"Aminah, we have him..." Chery caught her sister as Aminah collapsed in exhaustion.

"Speak to me, Aron," Tazia pleaded as she smacked his face. Very worried about how blue his lips were, bending down, pressing her lips into his, and breathing lifegiving oxygen into his lungs.

"Hey, didn't think I'd ever see an angel," Aron said weakly after his fit of coughing.

"Oh, you charmer," Tazia spoke with a trembling voice as her hot tears dripped down onto his lips.

"Told you I wasn't going to die today," Aron said as Tazia's thumb brushed along his lip.

"For someone that's not a hero, you sure do a lot of stupid heroic stuff," Tazia teased, so very glad he was still alive.

"Well, in my defense, I'm an idiot," Aron smiled as Tazia just chuckled as she shook her head.

"Here, breathe, you idiot," Tazia said in a loving voice as she placed her oxygen mask over his mouth and nose. "Let's get out of here, Neil," she directed, looking over at her brother.

"Home sounds nice," Aron muttered softly as the weariness of the day overtook him.

"And when we get home, you better make me those crepes or no pussy for you," Tazia threatened in a teasing light.

"Yes, honey, crepes it is," Aron mused with a smile on his lips as Neil entered Null space.

******

"Where is he?" Sara asked when Carl answered the door.

"He's in the kitchen," Carl stated, stepping out of the way. Smirking at the luck his nephew had as Sara raced into the house.

"Aron!" Sara leapt into his arms, planting kisses everywhere as he held her aloft. "I was so worried!"

"Join the club," Vera said from the table where she and all the others sat watching Aron cook.

"Is it done? Is it over?" Sara asked, knowing she had to report back to her bosses about it.

"No. The Collector wasn't there, if he ever was," Aron said, setting her down.

"Sara, come, sit," Lyla said, patting the seat beside her.

"So, what are you all doing in here?" Sara asked once she got settled in her seat.

"We're going to have the best meal ever!" Jill said, thrusting up her arms.

"Glad someone thinks so," Aron mused as he slid the crepe onto the stack.

"Oh? I can't wait," Sara uttered excitedly. Running her eyes over the cut fresh fruit, the jars of jam, the cans of whip cream, and everything else one could want to stuff their crepes with lining the table.

"Carl, here, made this stack just for you," Aron said, handing Carl a plate lined with five layers of crepes.

"Thanks, Gramps," Carl teased as he took the plate from Aron.

"Well, what are you waiting on? Eat," Aron said once he had set the other plate down in the middle of the table.

"We will once all of our family is sitting down, grandpa," Vera said in a sultry light.

The End.

Epilogue

Fear raced through his veins as he ran for dear life. Sweat soaked his shirt as he tried to escape the thing that hunted him. His muscles burned as he climbed and climbed, trying to reach safety as that unkillable monster drew near.

"No, no, no!" He hissed as he had backed himself into a corner.

"Peter Rusinko, where is he?! Where is The Collector?!" Growled the demon behind him as he heard it landing on the roof behind him.

"I don't know!" Peter screamed out for the hundredth time. "I told you I was only a lowly minion, a stupid boy! And that was over sixty years ago!"

"Don't lie to me?!" Peter felt the cold hand of death on his soul as that faceless man in black drew near.

"I swear I haven't even... Oh god." Peter knew his life was over as the photo of him and the man who claimed to be The Collector landed at his feet. Peter gasped as he struggled to breathe as that monster hoisted him up by his throat. "Why would a hero be doing this?" The thought crossed his mind as he flailed wildly to break the man's hold. "I... thought... you're a... hero," Peter spoke the best he could between gasps of breath.

"I am far from a hero; I am Void! Now, where is he!"

"Alright! Just don't..." The bullet spiraled through the air as it left the assassin's gun; its target, no not the masked antihero named Void, but the man in his grasp.

"Fuck!" Aron cursed, dropping the man's body as he turned around, looking for the shooter but saw no one.

"Void? What's the matter?"

"The informant is dead."

"Did you...?"

"No, someone else took the shot," Aron spoke, running his hand down his face at the wasted three weeks he had spent hunting down the man.

"Understood, come back; I know this is a setback, but we'll think of something," Sara directed as she stood in the center of the command center of the NSA Hub in Metaville. "After all, the great Void can't be skipping out on his special day. I do hope you got your own Void day t-shirt."

"Don't remind me," Aron groaned.