In Sioux Falls, South Dakota,
Michael Robins gripped his steering wheel with whiting knuckles. How dare
they lay him off! He worked for a large insurance firm and had disregarded
warnings of layoffs. They said low profits were a concern. They said that they
needed everyone doing their best to avoid the layoffs. Michael never worried.
He felt his work far too valuable to ever lay him off. The reality came as a
shock. He pulled into the lot of a
liquor store and shut off the engine. He went in and bought himself a tall
bottle of cheap blended whiskey.
Mike was already a dirty mess. His
shirt was half untucked and his knuckles bled from punching walls. His black
hair tufted in all direction. Mike
ignored the odd looks from the store clerk as he threw the money on the counter.
He stomped back out to the car, unscrewing the cap as he went. He threw his
head back for a long swig and has he did, a loud crash almost made him drop the
bottle. The windshield of his car lay in tiny square pieces all over the front
seats.
“AAAAAAA!
You have got to be kidding me!” he smashed the bottle on the ground in a rage,
“Is the world out to hex me?”
A baseball
sized red jewel glistened in the driver’s seat.
“What a
minute,” he opened the door and picked up the gem. As he turned it in his hand
it glowed slightly. “What is this?”
He lifted
the jewel and looked through it for closer examination. He could see a red
tinted liquor store through it and felt a rumble in the ground. The shaking
increased and Mike fell back against his car. The windows of the liquor store
shattered and its walls crumpled. The building collapsed in a cloud of dust.
“No way,”
Mike said. “An earthquake.” Thinking it over he went back to looking at the
gem. He turned for better light and looked through it again. This time Mike
gazed at a smaller building across the street. The shaking began again and yet
another building crumpled to the ground. In his amazement he completely ignored
the murders he had just committed.
“Double no
way!” It began to dawn on him. He aimed at a third place, a car wash and the
same thing happened again. “Ha ha! Oh yeah!”
Michael grabbed a newspaper from
the back seat of his car and used it to sweep away the broken glass. He got in
and turned the key in the ignition. He knew just where to take his new find. With
screeching tires, Mike hit the gas and peeled out of the parking lot. With his
typical luck, he immediately drew the attention of a police officer. Mike
groaned as he pulled over for the flashing lights. Then he looked at the gem
next to him on the seat. Mike picked it up and got out of the car.
“You need
to stay in your car, sir,” the officer instructed.
“ But
look,” Mike lifted the gem toward him. A flash of red light flew from it and
hit the officer. He and his squad car both launched away into the air. Mike
almost couldn’t stop laughing as the officer’s body grew tiny in the distance.
He laughed all the way back to work in near hysterics.
“This is so wonderful,” Mike said
through tears of laughter. He pulled in at the edge of the parking lot and got
out his cell phone. He dialed his ex-boss.
“You idiots
should come to the windows,” he said and hung up.
Familiar
faces soon filled the windows, some with expressions of worry at what he must
be planning. He raised the gem toward the building, “Now you’re all fired,” he
chuckled.
The ground trembled, concrete cracked and the
building groaned. Windows shattered and he could hear the screaming begin. It
started from one side and then went across as it finally collapsed to the
ground. The screams were no more. More tears streamed down Michael Robinson’s
face as he laughed and went completely mad with power.
Sandstorm, Electrode, Atomizer, Dreamseer,
Kyte, and Redeagle stepped through the portal to a scene of desolation and
death. Red and blue lights swirled from several street corners. Sirens sounded
from all directions. Buildings lay in smoldering ruins and the air was dense
with smoke and dust. As much as they wanted to dive in and help find victims,
they knew there would be countless more if they didn’t find the Eye of
Destruction.
Dreamseer
concentrated, “I sense a mind drunk with power. That way,” she pointed down the
remains of a city street.
They
moved quickly and couldn’t help but free a victim or two along the way. But
they had to hurry. The longer anyone used the gem the further the range would
go. It was a matter of time before Michael’s influence went state wide.
“We
need to get moving,” Sandstorm said, “Kyte and Electrode, you two come ahead
with me and let’s see if we can shut this guy down. I can feel his effects.
He’s about to trigger a massive quake that will take half this state with it.
The rest of you catch up as fast as you can.”
As
Kyte took to the air, Sandstorm turned into a wind and gave him a push as
Electrode flashed on ahead.
At
the edge of the city, Mike reached out further with the gem, “Today I become a
God. Let the world tremble!”
“That’s
not very nice,” Electrode said as he paused in front of Mike.
Mike
automatically fired a force wave from the gem, easily dodged by the Nuclear
Electric Man.
“You’ve
hurt and killed a lot of people,” Electrode dodged another attack and then
returned fired but his bolts were stopped short by a red aura of light around
Mike.
“Okay,
that’s interesting.”
“You
can’t hurt me. I’m all powerful.” Mike laughed in madness.
Shadowy
tendrils snaked down from above as Kyte tried to force through the aura to get
the gem. The attempt proved futile as not even Kyte’s dark forces could move
through the strange barrier. A giant stone hand rose out of the ground and
tried to grab Mike, but it crumbled away at the power of the gem. Sandstorm
manifested an image of himself floating in the air.
“You
have to stop now!” his voice boomed.
Michael
was too absorbed in the power of the gem. The Eye of Destruction had his mind
and the madness of it made him foam slightly from the corners of his mouth.
Sandstorm sensed elemental power couldn’t pass
the barrier and found himself in a pushing match with the gem. It tried to
force him away, but he held his ground. As he made it turn on him, he could
feel the threat to the Earth around them lessen a bit. Still he fought to keep
another earthquake from rippling out and tearing the state of South Dakota
apart. The three of them battered away at the aura and Mike seemed oblivious to
them. He smiled stupidly while they struggled. Then his face changed a little
as Dreamseer arrived and tried to grip his mind.
“Ahh!”
she cried out holding her temple, “The gem is resisting me.”
Redeagle
dared not fire a shot for fear the bullet would bounce and hit a friend.
“I
can’t get through!” Sandstorm shouted, “It’s all I can do to keep him from
ripping the whole state apart!”
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