Post by lawrenceliberty on Jun 9, 2017 18:02:26 GMT
Captain Comet: Like Clockwork!
By lawrenceliberty
Captain Comet heads into space and meets a powerful new foe and a surprisingly familiar new ally!
1
June 1988
Captain Comet (Adam Blake) nodded in approval as he emerged from his rocket the Cometeer and admired the Space Port at Thanaldane on the planet Thanagar. He knew that the planet which had once known a golden era of peace and scientific prosperity had suffered from more than one crisis is recent years. It was good to see the city and much of the planet had regained its original tranquility.
“I guess I can’t take any credit for that!” he mused as he remembered how an alien double had impersonated him in recent years and had worked with the heroic Hawkman to liberate and restore the planet to its old glory.
“While I was trapped in suspended animation that Martian did a lot of things as me. Some say I should feel as if I accomplished those goals since his own personality and morality were submerged beneath my own but I don’t see it that way!” he thought.
“My advanced mind was too strong for him and his mental probe left him truly believing he was me but I don’t like the idea that my own individuality is that easy to copy. That’s one reason I’m heading out for deep space. A little solitude might help me feel more like myself again!” he thought.
An honor guard of uniformed officials approached the red, white, and blue costumed Man of the Future as the mutant hero walked away from his ship.
A noble looking old man with a white beard approached him and smiled broadly.
“Welcome, Captain! You are always welcome here!” said the planetary ruler.
“High Mor Krandar Vat, it is good to see you again. I recall the last time we met was during the Starro business!” he said.
Vat nodded abruptly as he stopped himself from making some reference to the fake Comet’s liberation of the planet from several cosmic tyrants.
“Indeed so! You certainly came up with a brilliant way to save us from that monster!” he said as he ushered Comet down a decorative avenue that led into the heart of the city.
Captain Comet smiled ruefully.
“You don’t have to feel uncomfortable. I’ve accepted that my double interacted with a lot of people who may now find it difficult to realize that the memories they have of him had nothing to do with me!” he said.
He continued, “In fact I’m here to finish some business he started. I owe it to Willow and her son Jacques to explain to them about what happened to the man they thought was me. He died a hero and he cared for them both. I want to help them get some closure and then I’m going to find some for myself!”
Krandar Vat stopped in his tracks and said, “Captain Comet, I fear I have some bad news for you. We had some Martian inspired unrest here as well. During that time, from what we can gather from neighbors, the woman called Willow and her child vanished!”
Captain Comet said, “Zazzala the Queen Bee and Byth escaped as well! I’m’ sorry, sir but your thoughts were strong that I couldn’t help but detect them. I’ve read every file my double kept aboard my ship. He was as methodical as I am. I know Zazzala was imprisoned here after she was deposed.”
Vat said, “They may not have had anything to do with the disappearance of your friends but they certainly had cause to hold a grudge against both you and Katar Hol.”
Captain Comet said, “I’ll find them all. Don’t worry. I have an idea!”
Krandar Vat watched him go. “He’s a true hero. In spite of his own troubles, he instantly thinks of others in need!”
Meanwhile, as Captain Comet approached the Cometeer, he detected hostile thoughts in the shadows.
“You might as well give up. My security system is too advanced for you even with your past in law enforcement!” he said as he confronted a muscular man in the garb of a convict.
The fugitive stepped forward and said, “I’ve been hiding and waiting for a chance to steal a ship. Yours will do nicely once I’ve killed you!”
“Deron Ved or Darkwing, as you called yourself when Hawkman last defeated you, you really don’t want to do this. I don’t have time or the inclination to waste time with you!” said Comet.
The crooked ex-police officer smiled and charged at Comet only to double over with pain and collapse at his feet as Space Port Security Guards rushed forward to answer the sirens Comet had mentally activated.
“He’ll recover. I caused him to have a mini stroke!” yelled Comet as he boarded his rocket.
“Maybe I’m still angry about my own imprisonment but I’m not going to treat criminals with kid gloves anymore. I’m going to shut them down in any way I need to!” he thought as he piloted his ship skyward!
“The computer should allow me to track Jacques. The boy is supposed to be some kind of future champion according to what I’ve read in the databank. He emits a certain unique bio-energy that originated with his late father who was also some type of cosmic powered being!” he mused as he deftly worked certain controls.
“I’ll find them and then perhaps I can put all traces of the pseudo Comet behind me!” he said softly.
2
As Captain Comet trailed the energy signature of the boy Jacques, his view screen was suddenly illuminated by a glowing hourglass that seemed to hover in space!
“Great Scott! That’s the emblem associated with the Guardians of the Clockwork Universe! I haven’t been in touch with them since right after the Crisis!” he thought.
He referred to a small group of powerful alien scholars who together monitored the health of the universe itself and motivated various agents to correct any irregularities they detected from their home world. Captain Comet had been one of their selected champions during much of his career.
“Nestro, what is it? I know you well enough to know something serious has happened! You’re not contacting me because of two escaped felons!”
He waited as the mental projection of the hourglass altered into the gaunt features of a wise old man with vaguely orange skin tone and wisps of thin white hair.
“Captain Comet, my brethren and I need your services once more! As you know we have always monitored the cosmos and maintained properly universal order. The cosmic Crisis did much to mar the fabric of the universe. Gaze upon our representation of the heart of the universe. “
Captain Comet frowned as he saw a once well-regulated miniature representation of all known space now depicted as a ragged skein of torn and unraveling matter!
“I knew the Crisis destroyed entire worlds and took countless lives but I didn’t grasp how long term such damage would prove! It looks as if space itself is breaking apart!”
Nestro said, “Indeed, that analogy is not far from inaccurate. Recently as your race judges time, a rip in the cosmos was partially sealed by some of your Earth champions in the Justice League but that gap is small in comparison with the lingering damage caused by the Crisis itself!”
Captain Comet said, “What do you wish me to do? I know you must have some plan.”
Nestro said, “The situation is made worse by the fact that some dark stirring by a being of near infinite evil has spread across the cosmos and has in some manner generated an unrest that has led other lesser beings of evil to take actions of their own. We have a new agent who is looking to control some of them but we need you to address the root of the crisis. We need you to save all of creation!”
3
Captain Comet looked down at a weird structure that seemed to rest in an eerie solitude on a large asteroid. The building was crystalline in texture and gleamed as star light reflected off its surface.
“Nestro directed me to this place. He said I’d find what I need within. As usual, he knew more than he admitted. Jacques and Willow are below as well. I can see the energy trail leads directly to inside that odd building. The architecture is like nothing I’ve encountered before. I’d also say it is far older than any known human building!” he thought.
Captain Comet was used to dealing with the slightly manipulative and often enigmatic ways of some of the mysterious beings he encountered so often in his travels through space. Few alien races literally said what they meant or perhaps some truths were simply lost in translation.
He recognized a small ship that was nearly concealed beneath the blinding glow of the building. It was clearly of Thanagarian design.
“Willow and Jacques are within that place. I’d say that ship is the one that brought them away from home. The fact that they are in the very place Nestro wanted me to go must be more than coincidence. The Guardians always seemed to have their ways of manipulating events even though they live to maintain order
He entered the building and met with no resistance of any kind. All was silent and he saw little because of the combination of the glare and the distortion caused by the crystal composition of the structure.
“Willow and Jacques are deeper inside but they seem to be in some kind of trance. Just probing the environment makes me feel a bit sick. There is a powerful being within and his very essence radiates pure malice. He seems to be the most dedicated nihilist I’ve ever encountered. He wants nothing more than to end all life!” he said.
He frowned as he found several bodies on the floor of a chamber that branched off from the main hallway. The aliens were green skinned and their bodies were large and bulky by human standards.
“All of them are dead! The intruder killed them all!” he said.
“My brethren died but my spirit remains!”
The voice echoed from within each wall but seemed to originate in no fixed point.
“I who ended my existence at their decree remain while they have met their final end. Thus, is irony found in the face of mortality and tragedy!”
Captain Comet said, “You’re not a ghost. You’re a disembodied mental presence!”
The voice rumbled in reply and said, “Correct! And yet in moments I too will fade from this realm. I have held on to fulfill the destiny I claimed years before. I will truly be no more once you have stopped the sounding of the end of all! I will die when you have silenced the dread Cosmic Fugue!”
Captain Comet peered through the walls of crystal and thought he detected the vague outlines of a device that looked like a gigantic keyboard. He immediately realized that whatever the strange device was, it merely appeared like a piano to his mortal perception.
“You are too late. While I was briefly delayed by the need to amuse myself with the woman and her spawn, I am now ready to put an end to all life with the sounding of the Cosmic Dissonance!” said an armored figure who stepped into the room.
The humanoid figure was tall and powerfully built. He wore a red helmet that concealed his face and arched into flat decorative horns. The helmet had two slits that revealed malevolent red eyes. His armor was black and blue and he radiated a palpable evil as he approached.
“That keyboard is linked to the Cosmic balance. By sounding some series of notes, you can actually rip apart all of reality. You can tear apart those rips caused by the Crisis itself!” said Comet as he read the being’s mind and realized how much this killer reveled in the idea of ending all life in the universe!
Captain Comet moved forward and said, “I’ll stop you. Don’t think for one second, I’ll allow you to gleefully murder every life in the cosmos!”
The armored man laughed and said, “Murder? That’s a petty term from the language of a simple people! I prefer my true title. I am a destroyer. I am the Dark Destroyer!”
4
Captain Comet moved forward and as he drew closer to the Dark Destroyer he spotted a lithe green woman in a brief purple costume and a small boy with more human features and coloration.
“They are waking from whatever trance he placed them in. I think he’s turning all his energies toward this act of destruction!” mused.
He concentrated and tried to bring them back to a greater awareness even as he found the armored villain charging at him.
He staggered backward as waves of raw evil struck his heightened mind and his body was forced back by the armored being.
“You relish combat! For all of your lofty claims of cosmic power, you’re nothing but a barbarian at heart!” he said as he stood his ground and cushioned the blows with a TK force field.
The Dark Destroyer laughed and said, “For eons I existed as a wraith that fed upon hate and fear. When I manifested a material form it was so majestic in its darkness that it dwarfed whole planets. When my most hated foes destroyed that body I took a human form and with that petty physicality I also gained some human foibles like the desire to use my material form as well as my emotional poison!”
Captain Comet gasped as he felt his own mental powers being blocked by his enemy.
He gritted his teeth and fought back. He was not going to give up no matter how powerful this Dark Destroyer was. He’d die first!
“It is impossible! Your mind resists me! Your heroic spirit defies me!” shouted the Dark Destroyer as he wrestled with the Man of the Future.
Comet saw Willow stir as she helped Jacques to his feet.
She smiled when she saw Comet and she said, “This One is near the completion of This One’s destiny!”
The Destroyer whirled to fire red energy beams at the pair but Comet deflected them with a TK shield and blocked the Destroyer’s path until a sudden blast forced him to fall.
At that moment the disembodied voice echoed once more and Captain Comet spotted an object half encased within one crystal wall.
It was a staff and the slowly fading voice urged him to grasp it.
He dived passed the Dark Destroyer and as he touched the staff it shattered to emit a nimbus of energy that slowly assumed the form of a man!
He was handsome with blond hair and a slender but athletic build. He wore a costume of red and gold with a star on his chest and a mask that covered his eyes but left his lower face bare.
“It is done!” whispered the mental voice before fading into silence.
“Mn’Torr!” gasped the newcomer as he gazed around the room.
“This is the Temple at the Center of All! This is where Mn’Torr’s people lived!” he said slowly.
The Dark Destroyer cursed as he saw the young man help Comet to his feet.
“I don’t know who you are but I can spot a villain when I see one!” he said.
Comet said, “I’ve heard about you from a friend. You’re Prince Gavyn the Starman who died in Crisis!”
Starman shook his head.
“I fought to save my Throneworld during a cosmic Crisis but a wall of white energy swallowed me up! I don’t know what happened afterward. I just found myself here!”he said slowly.
Comet projected full awareness of what the Destroyer was trying to do into Starman’s mind.
As the hero’s eyes widened with shock, he nodded and said, “We must stop him! He murdered the race that built this Temple! One of them was my friend.”
The Dark Destroyer turned to make his way up a flight of steps to the piano but Captain Comet and Starman both tackled him.
As the heroes grappled with the armored killer, Jacques suddenly ran up the stairs and began to play the mystical instrument. A celestial harmony filled the crystal chamber and as each note sounded, Willow’s smiled broadened with pride.
The Dark Destroyer shrieked with pain as the boy used the cosmic machine to thwart the mad man’s scheme!
Captain Comet fought to sort out the thoughts that raced through his mind as he grabbed the Destroyer and realized what was happening.
“Jacques was meant to have some special heroic destiny. That was what Willow had told my double according the rocket’s files. He’s using that Cosmic Fugue to heal the Multiverse!”
Starman helped Captain Comet bind the now nearly helpess Dark Destroyer.
“The cosmic vibrations seemed to rob him of all energy!” he said.
Willow stepped forward and softly said, “We must go now. This place has served its ancient purpose as my child has begun to fulfill his destiny. All will shatter soon!”
Sure enough the crystal temple began to crack as Jacques stepped away from the strange instrument and the building started to shudder as if alive.
Starman said, “We better go. I can survive in space but I don’t know about the others!”
Much later aboard the Cometeer, Captain Comet and Starman listened as the mental projection of Nestro spoke from the void above the planet of the Guardians far from the scene of the now destroyed Temple.
“Jacques developed a fleeting cosmic awareness that led him to urge his mother to take a Thanagarian ship and come to the Temple. He sensed correctly that it was his special destiny to play the Cosmic Fugue in such a way that it would heal the damaged Multiverse! It was also your destiny to stop the Dark Destroyer for using the same device to end all life. Now, he is defeated and the instrument and temple are no more.”
A star chart appeared before them and its well-regulated pattern revealed all tears in reality had been repaired by the miraculous device.
Nestro said, “Willow and Jacques will remain with my brethren on our world and we will teach him to become our apprentice! It is time there was a new Guardian of the Clockwork Universe for my brethren and I are beginning to age! Thank you both for delivering them to us!”
Willow said, “This One knew the man I loved was merely your shadow but This One realized that he and you both had roles to play and all would work out in the end!”
Comet thought, “She knew I was a prisoner and the other Comet was a Martian but she didn’t care! She’s either the most enlightened woman in the cosmos or the most self-centered!”
Jacques smiled up at him and said, “Thank you for your help. We will be fine here. I have a lot to learn!”
Captain Comet said, “If you ever need me, just let me know. You’re the real hero of this story!”
Starman said, “When the Crisis struck I was somehow absorbed into the staff. There was a prophecy about me that I would die more than one time. I guess my late teacher Mn’Torr somehow transported the staff to his Temple. It was his voice that spoke to you. I suppose his people built that cosmic instrument to safeguard the cosmos!”
Captain Comet said, “Prince Gavyn, a friend of mine encountered that staff. He said he thought your spirit was tied to it in some way. He must have been right. I guess the time just wasn’t right for your return when my friend had that adventure with your wife Lady Merria.”
Starman said, “I am relieved to hear that she and our world survived the Crisis! I must get back to her! Thank you for freeing me!”
Captain Comet said, “I think you and the others freed me as well. You freed me from some self-pity and anger that had started to dominate my thinking. That won’t happen to me again!”
Starman said, “What about the Dark Destroyer? He hasn’t stirred since we carried him aboard the ship!”
Nestro said, “He has a role to play in the future of the universe. Our world is not a prison. You must take him with you and his proper place will become know in time!”
Captain Comet said, “Okay. It’s as if he lost all will to act when Jacques healed the universe! At least he won’t be the threat you warned us about any longer!”
Nestro frowned and he said, “The Dark Destroyer was the menace to all I mentioned but his arrival in this universe awakened an equally deadly threat! It is your mission to defeat this ancient terror. It is your role to battle him when the time is right!”
Captain Comet turned to Starman as Nestro’s image faded from view.
“Prince Gavyn, I’ll be glad to take you to your world but it sounds like my own work has just begun!”
Prince Gavyn replied, “As much as I want to see my beloved, I also have a role to play of my own. I became used to being a hero of sorts and I’m going to help you face this threat if you’ll have me!”
Captain Comet nodded and said, “You have a deal, partner!”
The End
By lawrenceliberty
Captain Comet heads into space and meets a powerful new foe and a surprisingly familiar new ally!
1
June 1988
Captain Comet (Adam Blake) nodded in approval as he emerged from his rocket the Cometeer and admired the Space Port at Thanaldane on the planet Thanagar. He knew that the planet which had once known a golden era of peace and scientific prosperity had suffered from more than one crisis is recent years. It was good to see the city and much of the planet had regained its original tranquility.
“I guess I can’t take any credit for that!” he mused as he remembered how an alien double had impersonated him in recent years and had worked with the heroic Hawkman to liberate and restore the planet to its old glory.
“While I was trapped in suspended animation that Martian did a lot of things as me. Some say I should feel as if I accomplished those goals since his own personality and morality were submerged beneath my own but I don’t see it that way!” he thought.
“My advanced mind was too strong for him and his mental probe left him truly believing he was me but I don’t like the idea that my own individuality is that easy to copy. That’s one reason I’m heading out for deep space. A little solitude might help me feel more like myself again!” he thought.
An honor guard of uniformed officials approached the red, white, and blue costumed Man of the Future as the mutant hero walked away from his ship.
A noble looking old man with a white beard approached him and smiled broadly.
“Welcome, Captain! You are always welcome here!” said the planetary ruler.
“High Mor Krandar Vat, it is good to see you again. I recall the last time we met was during the Starro business!” he said.
Vat nodded abruptly as he stopped himself from making some reference to the fake Comet’s liberation of the planet from several cosmic tyrants.
“Indeed so! You certainly came up with a brilliant way to save us from that monster!” he said as he ushered Comet down a decorative avenue that led into the heart of the city.
Captain Comet smiled ruefully.
“You don’t have to feel uncomfortable. I’ve accepted that my double interacted with a lot of people who may now find it difficult to realize that the memories they have of him had nothing to do with me!” he said.
He continued, “In fact I’m here to finish some business he started. I owe it to Willow and her son Jacques to explain to them about what happened to the man they thought was me. He died a hero and he cared for them both. I want to help them get some closure and then I’m going to find some for myself!”
Krandar Vat stopped in his tracks and said, “Captain Comet, I fear I have some bad news for you. We had some Martian inspired unrest here as well. During that time, from what we can gather from neighbors, the woman called Willow and her child vanished!”
Captain Comet said, “Zazzala the Queen Bee and Byth escaped as well! I’m’ sorry, sir but your thoughts were strong that I couldn’t help but detect them. I’ve read every file my double kept aboard my ship. He was as methodical as I am. I know Zazzala was imprisoned here after she was deposed.”
Vat said, “They may not have had anything to do with the disappearance of your friends but they certainly had cause to hold a grudge against both you and Katar Hol.”
Captain Comet said, “I’ll find them all. Don’t worry. I have an idea!”
Krandar Vat watched him go. “He’s a true hero. In spite of his own troubles, he instantly thinks of others in need!”
Meanwhile, as Captain Comet approached the Cometeer, he detected hostile thoughts in the shadows.
“You might as well give up. My security system is too advanced for you even with your past in law enforcement!” he said as he confronted a muscular man in the garb of a convict.
The fugitive stepped forward and said, “I’ve been hiding and waiting for a chance to steal a ship. Yours will do nicely once I’ve killed you!”
“Deron Ved or Darkwing, as you called yourself when Hawkman last defeated you, you really don’t want to do this. I don’t have time or the inclination to waste time with you!” said Comet.
The crooked ex-police officer smiled and charged at Comet only to double over with pain and collapse at his feet as Space Port Security Guards rushed forward to answer the sirens Comet had mentally activated.
“He’ll recover. I caused him to have a mini stroke!” yelled Comet as he boarded his rocket.
“Maybe I’m still angry about my own imprisonment but I’m not going to treat criminals with kid gloves anymore. I’m going to shut them down in any way I need to!” he thought as he piloted his ship skyward!
“The computer should allow me to track Jacques. The boy is supposed to be some kind of future champion according to what I’ve read in the databank. He emits a certain unique bio-energy that originated with his late father who was also some type of cosmic powered being!” he mused as he deftly worked certain controls.
“I’ll find them and then perhaps I can put all traces of the pseudo Comet behind me!” he said softly.
2
As Captain Comet trailed the energy signature of the boy Jacques, his view screen was suddenly illuminated by a glowing hourglass that seemed to hover in space!
“Great Scott! That’s the emblem associated with the Guardians of the Clockwork Universe! I haven’t been in touch with them since right after the Crisis!” he thought.
He referred to a small group of powerful alien scholars who together monitored the health of the universe itself and motivated various agents to correct any irregularities they detected from their home world. Captain Comet had been one of their selected champions during much of his career.
“Nestro, what is it? I know you well enough to know something serious has happened! You’re not contacting me because of two escaped felons!”
He waited as the mental projection of the hourglass altered into the gaunt features of a wise old man with vaguely orange skin tone and wisps of thin white hair.
“Captain Comet, my brethren and I need your services once more! As you know we have always monitored the cosmos and maintained properly universal order. The cosmic Crisis did much to mar the fabric of the universe. Gaze upon our representation of the heart of the universe. “
Captain Comet frowned as he saw a once well-regulated miniature representation of all known space now depicted as a ragged skein of torn and unraveling matter!
“I knew the Crisis destroyed entire worlds and took countless lives but I didn’t grasp how long term such damage would prove! It looks as if space itself is breaking apart!”
Nestro said, “Indeed, that analogy is not far from inaccurate. Recently as your race judges time, a rip in the cosmos was partially sealed by some of your Earth champions in the Justice League but that gap is small in comparison with the lingering damage caused by the Crisis itself!”
Captain Comet said, “What do you wish me to do? I know you must have some plan.”
Nestro said, “The situation is made worse by the fact that some dark stirring by a being of near infinite evil has spread across the cosmos and has in some manner generated an unrest that has led other lesser beings of evil to take actions of their own. We have a new agent who is looking to control some of them but we need you to address the root of the crisis. We need you to save all of creation!”
3
Captain Comet looked down at a weird structure that seemed to rest in an eerie solitude on a large asteroid. The building was crystalline in texture and gleamed as star light reflected off its surface.
“Nestro directed me to this place. He said I’d find what I need within. As usual, he knew more than he admitted. Jacques and Willow are below as well. I can see the energy trail leads directly to inside that odd building. The architecture is like nothing I’ve encountered before. I’d also say it is far older than any known human building!” he thought.
Captain Comet was used to dealing with the slightly manipulative and often enigmatic ways of some of the mysterious beings he encountered so often in his travels through space. Few alien races literally said what they meant or perhaps some truths were simply lost in translation.
He recognized a small ship that was nearly concealed beneath the blinding glow of the building. It was clearly of Thanagarian design.
“Willow and Jacques are within that place. I’d say that ship is the one that brought them away from home. The fact that they are in the very place Nestro wanted me to go must be more than coincidence. The Guardians always seemed to have their ways of manipulating events even though they live to maintain order
He entered the building and met with no resistance of any kind. All was silent and he saw little because of the combination of the glare and the distortion caused by the crystal composition of the structure.
“Willow and Jacques are deeper inside but they seem to be in some kind of trance. Just probing the environment makes me feel a bit sick. There is a powerful being within and his very essence radiates pure malice. He seems to be the most dedicated nihilist I’ve ever encountered. He wants nothing more than to end all life!” he said.
He frowned as he found several bodies on the floor of a chamber that branched off from the main hallway. The aliens were green skinned and their bodies were large and bulky by human standards.
“All of them are dead! The intruder killed them all!” he said.
“My brethren died but my spirit remains!”
The voice echoed from within each wall but seemed to originate in no fixed point.
“I who ended my existence at their decree remain while they have met their final end. Thus, is irony found in the face of mortality and tragedy!”
Captain Comet said, “You’re not a ghost. You’re a disembodied mental presence!”
The voice rumbled in reply and said, “Correct! And yet in moments I too will fade from this realm. I have held on to fulfill the destiny I claimed years before. I will truly be no more once you have stopped the sounding of the end of all! I will die when you have silenced the dread Cosmic Fugue!”
Captain Comet peered through the walls of crystal and thought he detected the vague outlines of a device that looked like a gigantic keyboard. He immediately realized that whatever the strange device was, it merely appeared like a piano to his mortal perception.
“You are too late. While I was briefly delayed by the need to amuse myself with the woman and her spawn, I am now ready to put an end to all life with the sounding of the Cosmic Dissonance!” said an armored figure who stepped into the room.
The humanoid figure was tall and powerfully built. He wore a red helmet that concealed his face and arched into flat decorative horns. The helmet had two slits that revealed malevolent red eyes. His armor was black and blue and he radiated a palpable evil as he approached.
“That keyboard is linked to the Cosmic balance. By sounding some series of notes, you can actually rip apart all of reality. You can tear apart those rips caused by the Crisis itself!” said Comet as he read the being’s mind and realized how much this killer reveled in the idea of ending all life in the universe!
Captain Comet moved forward and said, “I’ll stop you. Don’t think for one second, I’ll allow you to gleefully murder every life in the cosmos!”
The armored man laughed and said, “Murder? That’s a petty term from the language of a simple people! I prefer my true title. I am a destroyer. I am the Dark Destroyer!”
4
Captain Comet moved forward and as he drew closer to the Dark Destroyer he spotted a lithe green woman in a brief purple costume and a small boy with more human features and coloration.
“They are waking from whatever trance he placed them in. I think he’s turning all his energies toward this act of destruction!” mused.
He concentrated and tried to bring them back to a greater awareness even as he found the armored villain charging at him.
He staggered backward as waves of raw evil struck his heightened mind and his body was forced back by the armored being.
“You relish combat! For all of your lofty claims of cosmic power, you’re nothing but a barbarian at heart!” he said as he stood his ground and cushioned the blows with a TK force field.
The Dark Destroyer laughed and said, “For eons I existed as a wraith that fed upon hate and fear. When I manifested a material form it was so majestic in its darkness that it dwarfed whole planets. When my most hated foes destroyed that body I took a human form and with that petty physicality I also gained some human foibles like the desire to use my material form as well as my emotional poison!”
Captain Comet gasped as he felt his own mental powers being blocked by his enemy.
He gritted his teeth and fought back. He was not going to give up no matter how powerful this Dark Destroyer was. He’d die first!
“It is impossible! Your mind resists me! Your heroic spirit defies me!” shouted the Dark Destroyer as he wrestled with the Man of the Future.
Comet saw Willow stir as she helped Jacques to his feet.
She smiled when she saw Comet and she said, “This One is near the completion of This One’s destiny!”
The Destroyer whirled to fire red energy beams at the pair but Comet deflected them with a TK shield and blocked the Destroyer’s path until a sudden blast forced him to fall.
At that moment the disembodied voice echoed once more and Captain Comet spotted an object half encased within one crystal wall.
It was a staff and the slowly fading voice urged him to grasp it.
He dived passed the Dark Destroyer and as he touched the staff it shattered to emit a nimbus of energy that slowly assumed the form of a man!
He was handsome with blond hair and a slender but athletic build. He wore a costume of red and gold with a star on his chest and a mask that covered his eyes but left his lower face bare.
“It is done!” whispered the mental voice before fading into silence.
“Mn’Torr!” gasped the newcomer as he gazed around the room.
“This is the Temple at the Center of All! This is where Mn’Torr’s people lived!” he said slowly.
The Dark Destroyer cursed as he saw the young man help Comet to his feet.
“I don’t know who you are but I can spot a villain when I see one!” he said.
Comet said, “I’ve heard about you from a friend. You’re Prince Gavyn the Starman who died in Crisis!”
Starman shook his head.
“I fought to save my Throneworld during a cosmic Crisis but a wall of white energy swallowed me up! I don’t know what happened afterward. I just found myself here!”he said slowly.
Comet projected full awareness of what the Destroyer was trying to do into Starman’s mind.
As the hero’s eyes widened with shock, he nodded and said, “We must stop him! He murdered the race that built this Temple! One of them was my friend.”
The Dark Destroyer turned to make his way up a flight of steps to the piano but Captain Comet and Starman both tackled him.
As the heroes grappled with the armored killer, Jacques suddenly ran up the stairs and began to play the mystical instrument. A celestial harmony filled the crystal chamber and as each note sounded, Willow’s smiled broadened with pride.
The Dark Destroyer shrieked with pain as the boy used the cosmic machine to thwart the mad man’s scheme!
Captain Comet fought to sort out the thoughts that raced through his mind as he grabbed the Destroyer and realized what was happening.
“Jacques was meant to have some special heroic destiny. That was what Willow had told my double according the rocket’s files. He’s using that Cosmic Fugue to heal the Multiverse!”
Starman helped Captain Comet bind the now nearly helpess Dark Destroyer.
“The cosmic vibrations seemed to rob him of all energy!” he said.
Willow stepped forward and softly said, “We must go now. This place has served its ancient purpose as my child has begun to fulfill his destiny. All will shatter soon!”
Sure enough the crystal temple began to crack as Jacques stepped away from the strange instrument and the building started to shudder as if alive.
Starman said, “We better go. I can survive in space but I don’t know about the others!”
Much later aboard the Cometeer, Captain Comet and Starman listened as the mental projection of Nestro spoke from the void above the planet of the Guardians far from the scene of the now destroyed Temple.
“Jacques developed a fleeting cosmic awareness that led him to urge his mother to take a Thanagarian ship and come to the Temple. He sensed correctly that it was his special destiny to play the Cosmic Fugue in such a way that it would heal the damaged Multiverse! It was also your destiny to stop the Dark Destroyer for using the same device to end all life. Now, he is defeated and the instrument and temple are no more.”
A star chart appeared before them and its well-regulated pattern revealed all tears in reality had been repaired by the miraculous device.
Nestro said, “Willow and Jacques will remain with my brethren on our world and we will teach him to become our apprentice! It is time there was a new Guardian of the Clockwork Universe for my brethren and I are beginning to age! Thank you both for delivering them to us!”
Willow said, “This One knew the man I loved was merely your shadow but This One realized that he and you both had roles to play and all would work out in the end!”
Comet thought, “She knew I was a prisoner and the other Comet was a Martian but she didn’t care! She’s either the most enlightened woman in the cosmos or the most self-centered!”
Jacques smiled up at him and said, “Thank you for your help. We will be fine here. I have a lot to learn!”
Captain Comet said, “If you ever need me, just let me know. You’re the real hero of this story!”
Starman said, “When the Crisis struck I was somehow absorbed into the staff. There was a prophecy about me that I would die more than one time. I guess my late teacher Mn’Torr somehow transported the staff to his Temple. It was his voice that spoke to you. I suppose his people built that cosmic instrument to safeguard the cosmos!”
Captain Comet said, “Prince Gavyn, a friend of mine encountered that staff. He said he thought your spirit was tied to it in some way. He must have been right. I guess the time just wasn’t right for your return when my friend had that adventure with your wife Lady Merria.”
Starman said, “I am relieved to hear that she and our world survived the Crisis! I must get back to her! Thank you for freeing me!”
Captain Comet said, “I think you and the others freed me as well. You freed me from some self-pity and anger that had started to dominate my thinking. That won’t happen to me again!”
Starman said, “What about the Dark Destroyer? He hasn’t stirred since we carried him aboard the ship!”
Nestro said, “He has a role to play in the future of the universe. Our world is not a prison. You must take him with you and his proper place will become know in time!”
Captain Comet said, “Okay. It’s as if he lost all will to act when Jacques healed the universe! At least he won’t be the threat you warned us about any longer!”
Nestro frowned and he said, “The Dark Destroyer was the menace to all I mentioned but his arrival in this universe awakened an equally deadly threat! It is your mission to defeat this ancient terror. It is your role to battle him when the time is right!”
Captain Comet turned to Starman as Nestro’s image faded from view.
“Prince Gavyn, I’ll be glad to take you to your world but it sounds like my own work has just begun!”
Prince Gavyn replied, “As much as I want to see my beloved, I also have a role to play of my own. I became used to being a hero of sorts and I’m going to help you face this threat if you’ll have me!”
Captain Comet nodded and said, “You have a deal, partner!”
The End