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CHURCH OF THE RISEN SON, PART 4 (OF 5)

"Out of this World"

For what seemed like the millionth time, the Disciples stood assembled in Nefaria's chambers. Their last mission had really boosted their confidence, and most believed that they could now work together as a unit. This, however, did not mean they all liked each other any more or any less than they used to.

On this day, all the Disciples were present. Even the Prophet, Mentallo was here. Pike guessed that if that was the case it meant that Nefaria had something important to say. After all, this had been the first time any of the Disciples had seen Mentallo in quite a while. *

(* If you want to find out what Mentallo's been up to, you might want to check out Baloo's Champions -ADS)

In the middle of the chamber, stood a large strange looking contraption. It looked like a big elliptical machine with a hole in the middle big enough for a person to walk through. Again, Pike had no clue what their latest mission had to do with, or why they were doing it. Nefaria was relying on the fact that everyone would simply follow his divine words.

At last the Son spoke, "In your latest mission, you will be out to retrieve an artifact from another planet. Another universe entirely actually. The artifact which you are out to retrieve is known as the Crazan stone. It has caused the inhabitants of its world great distress for generations. You must go free the this world from its torture and return the Crazan stone to me."

All this talk of different universes was confusing Pike to say the least. He looked around and everyone seemed pretty indifferent to all of this. They understood what they had to do, and they would do it unquestioningly. It was evident though that all the Disciples were trying to wrap their minds around what they had just heard. All except Nomad and Spiral who had probably already been briefed on it. They knew more than everyone else, and it showed in their demeanor.

Now, it was Mentallo's turn to speak. Designating the contraption he began, "What you see here is a doorway of sorts. It is the only way for you to go to and come back from your destination. I am the only one who can operate it so I will stay behind."

Pike thought it somewhat odd how Mentallo always stayed behind on the dangerous missions. He quickly dismissed the thought though, as he realized what he was thinking of the Prophet.

"You will go through the doorway in groups of twos," Mentallo continued, "and when you're ready to return, Nomad has a way of signaling me."

At this, Grimm edged his way closer to Spiral, hoping that this would make her his partner in the trip. Alas, his efforts were for naught.

As Mentallo activated the portal, Nefaria barked his orders, "Grimm and Spectrum, you two will be going through first."

Pike never thought he could see dejection on the face of a lizard, but that's what seemed to appear across Grimm's reptilian features.

The duo walked through the doorway without a hitch. Mentallo kept checking the controls though, as if he was to make sure nothing went wrong. Pike and Speed Demon went through next, with Speed Demon crying out, "In the name of the Son," as he went through.

This caused Nefaria to smile, and Mentallo to imperceptibly shake his head.

The trip lasted all of a couple of seconds, but it felt like an eternity to Pike. His head swam and he felt dizzy and thought he might vomit if it didn't end soon. Finally he stepped out the other side and had to kneel for a moment. He looked up to see they were on a barren landscape. Soon, the other Disciples came into view with the exception of Spiral and Nomad.

Then, the portal closed.

"What the - !?" exclaimed Pike.

"Calm down kid," Grimm said evenly, "There must be an explanation."

"Of course, the Son would never abandon his followers here," came from the nutty Speed Demon.

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice. "You there, trespassers, return from where you come from and we may not have to harm you."

"You, harm us? Hah! You amuse me," said Dr. Spectrum, actually chuckling.

The voice had come from a man who was accompanied by three companions consisting of a woman who looked all too regal, a humanoid-sized dragon and a warrior wielding an energy sword and wearing an impressive armor.

"I suppose you leave us no choice," sighed the man who had spoken earlier.

And the two sides clashed.

"What the hell happened!?" exclaimed Nomad as the doorway closed just as he and Spiral were set to enter it.

"Calm down," reassured Mentallo, "You'll be through in a moment, minor problem, I'll have it fixed in no time flat."

Nomad crossed his arms and began the wait.

Meanwhile, in the unknown world, the Disciples had all but neutralized the four strangers. The armored warrior refused to go down under the combined blows of Pike and Grimm and his dragon-like team-mate was evading Dr. Spectrum's attacks.

Finally, the battle ended as Speed Demon caught the dragon by surprise, stunning it for long enough that Dr. Spectrum could encase him in a bubble.

The warrior was already giving way to two members of the Disciples, he could not last much longer against four and soon he too went down. The four strangers each were now prisoners in a separate colored bubble.

Just as the Disciples were contemplating their victory the portal re-opened. Nomad and Spiral stepped through it, seemingly unfazed by the trip.

Upon seeing the doorway, the strangers' jaws dropped as one.

"While you two were taking your sweet time, we were doing our divine duty," commented Speed Demon snidely, pointing towards his four colored spheres.

As Nomad inspected the contents of the make-shift cells, his facial expression became a duplicate of the strangers'.

"Spectrum, release them now!" he ordered.

"Are you off your rocker? They attacked us!" Spectrum retorted.

"Of course they did you fool. They don't know who we are. They were trying to protect their home. These are the people we came to help, not to fight!"

All of this struck the Disciples like a brick. The idea of helping someone had not really occurred to them, and the thought that someone they would encounter would be an ally? That was even more foreign.

Pike noticed the look of disgust on both Spectrum and Speed Demon's face as Spectrum released the prisoners. He looked over at his friend, Ben Grimm and saw that the man-lizard was still busy contemplating Nomad's words. They seemed to make sense to him, but he hadn't felt the emotional draw of helping someone in a long, long time.

Nomad walked up to the speaker of the group, and took his hand. "I'm terribly sorry about what happened here. It was a misunderstanding. We're from Earth. We're here to help you get rid of something that's brought you a lot of trouble, the Crazan stone."

The last few words seemed to send a shiver down the man's back. "We don't need your help," he said coldly, turning his back to Nomad.

The woman in the group began to speak, "But…"

But Nomad cut her off. "Listen to me Denee. I think you should accept any help you can get. We're not enemies, if we were why would we have let you go when we already had you prisoner."

Denee turned to look at Nomad. He wondered how Nomad knew his name.

The woman went up to her companion and spoke to him softly so that the others could not overhear.

After she was finished the man known as Denee thought for a moment. Finally he spoke again, "Why would you help us?"

"We're always ready to help those in need."

Pike saw that Nomad was noticeably uneasy saying those words.

Denee, who by now was easily recognizable as the leader of this group, turned his back to the Disciples as he thought. The disciples waited patiently as Spiral admired the man's trim physique through his tight combat suit, his energy blasters hanging on either side of him.

The man's female companion noticed Spiral indulging in her leader and she shot her the kind of look that could kill without touch. This merely made Spiral smile wider.

Finally, Denee turned back to the Disciples. "I will continue this discussion further, but first we will return home."

Nomad realized the man's tactics and was forced to make a difficult decision. It was obvious that Denee was trying to get the Disciples to go back to his home turf so that he would have the advantage. This was not to Nomad's liking. However, the Disciple's leader knew that if they were to retrieve the Crazan stone, they would need the help of the natives.

Finally, Nomad reluctantly announced his decision, "Lead the way."

Pike was amazed by everything that surrounded him. They were now in the former capital city of this world. Former because the tyrant who had took over, now had the capital at the other end of the planet.

As they made their way to the capital building, Pike was in awe at how majestic everything looked. The capital building was actually a huge castle, guarded by what looked like knights wearing armor much like the warrior's armor, but less intricate and imposing.

The people didn't seem all too surprised to see a group like the Disciples walking through their city, even though the group did include a man-lizard and a woman with six arms.

As the group of ten entered into the capital building, the warrior and the dragon (whom apparently could transform into a man) split off from the group.

The Disciples followed Denee and the regal woman through many twisting corridors. Finally, they arrived at a room that was heavily guarded. The room resembled a large throne room, with a throne at the far end. The walls were lined with the knight-like guards, all of them standing at attention.

Denee took a seat, and the woman stood at his side. The man was obviously uncomfortable in the chair. He resembled someone who was incredibly out of place, who had been forced into a roll that he was not born to play.

"So, why don't you tell us why you're here?"

Nomad thought for a moment, "I've already explained that we're here to help you."

"Why? Who are you? Where are you from?"

"We're a group of protectors from a world called Earth. We were made aware of your predicament and we are here to help your cause."

Protectors? The word struck the Disciples as odd.

"What do you get out of it?"

"The satisfaction of knowing that a mad tyrant has been brought to justice. We've all lived under the influences of a madman before. We don't want to see the same happen to other worlds."

"So, then you know our situation?"

"Not entirely."

Denee took a deep breath and began, "The lovely lady on my left is Princess October."

Pike couldn't believe his ears. A real live princess?

"Her brother is the ruler of this world. Or was anyway. That was before Duhas took him prisoner and took over. He used the Crazan stone to give his followers superior power. The stone is also his own personal source of power."

Denee paused to let his words sink in and then continued, "The inhabitants of this city are the only people left who oppose Duhas. I suppose you could call us a rebel faction of sorts."

"So you're telling me that the rest of the people don't mind being ruled by a tyrant!" Pike spoke for the first time since his arrival in this new place.

"Of course they mind!" replied Denee indignantly, "But they're scared, terrified of Duhas."

"So if Duhas fell, there would be no one eager to take his place?"

At this Denee chuckled somewhat, "There's always someone who wants the power to rule an entire world, but the people want things to go back to the way they were. That means freeing our Lord and defeating Duhas."

"Then that's precisely what we'll do," Nomad affirmed.

Denee chuckled again, "And how do you plan on doing that? We've been fighting for close to a year with no success. You think with six more people it will make a difference?"

"You and your three companions are the Champions of your world, aren't you?" inquired Nomad. Without waiting for an answer he continued, "Four of us were able to make short work of you. The six of us working together are very good. VERY good. You say your people want things to be the way they were. Then it's time they did something about it. I want you to get as many able-bodied men together as you can. At dusk tomorrow we strike Duhas' fortress."

Denee was taken aback by this forwardness. "It's suicide! All the men on this planet can't win a battle against Duhas' super-powered minions."

"No, but they can drag one out for long enough for us to get to the source of the problem."

"And how do you intend to do that? Even with a battle raging, we will not be able to waltz into that fortress."

"You leave that to us. You worry about assembling as many of your countrymen as you can."

Denee looked in utter amazement at Princess October. The Princess returned his gaze. Could a plan of such simplicity actually work?

Nomad and the Disciples shared a grin. They knew that it would.

To Be Continued!!!

Reach me, Adam, at: adamds@videotron.ca