My Weekly Gag Villain Job Is Pretty Fulfilling: Chapter 7

My Weekly Gag Villain Job Is Pretty Fulfilling: Chapter 7

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Commissioned by Arksoul

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If there’s a special showing with a crossover, it’s usually more than an hour long.

The IHA’s failure to showcase their abilities at the initial fight made it clear that they and the Sentinels needed to work together to defeat the new, combined foe. Saturday morning cartoons might not be the end-all-be-all of storytelling, but they can follow decent comic-book story beats when it comes to team-ups.

IHA failed, and Sentinels had to assist.

The Shadow Legion gets away with alien technology.

Next, the IHA and Sentinels work together, and the alien technology the Shadow Legion secured is destroyed.

Since the alien world was of no use to us, I could make a grand showing of the entire thing.

Maybe I could keep a small dimensional cut open for them to find and research the alien world in and find it utterly destroyed?

Get a glimpse of the monsters the Shadow Legion can create?

Hm.

It’d be super great as a teaser to a movie or another special, but that was just asking to be hit by an international team of heroes.

Yeah, we’d get folded by that, even without the Sentinels working with them.

Like the bottom of the top 1000 would be enough to curbstomp us.

So, for the sake of future episodes, I needed to hold back on the cool factor and just deliver a satisfying special.

IHA and Sentinels work together to stop the Shadow Legion from turning the alien weapons against mankind!

Thankfully, there were a couple of coastal villages living at the equator that were hosting pirates that I could show an attack vector through.

Gotta give the Sentinels and the IHA some scenes to talk to one another, make plans, and unite against the common threat, after all.

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Interlude: Adam

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Just as the Sentinels predicted, after six days of rest, the Shadow Legion returned.

But unlike what the Sentinels described, the Shadow Legion was now acting differently.

Like the invaders.

“I’m of the mind that taking in the alien minds and their weapons gave them something. A sort of viscousness.” I flew beside the five of them. On my back were sensors and gadgets that allowed the others on the ship to see what I saw. The Sentinels, when in flight, were like dull motes of light traveling through the air. Red, blue, green, yellow, and purple beams of light vaguely humanoid in form. Red was their leader and spoke with a charisma that I would’ve liked to have. “This pattern looks like what I saw on television when the aliens attacked… But the aliens couldn’t take as much fire.”

“No, they could not.” The shadow versions of the aliens engaged small pirate coves that dotted the coasts of the Caribbean. Small pirate groups with small arms, boats, and superhumans were engaged. They were losing handily. Small shadow creatures formed the front line, like hunting hounds, but some were in the shape of the aliens. All the better to use the arms and armor of the invaders. They advanced like a wave across the coasts. The pirates had stopped scouting parties of aliens before. They could do nothing against this unrelenting force. “Anything that the creatures get their hands on, they can tear apart. How do you five survive?”

“We’re plenty tough. I’ve been punched through a building and came out just fine. Azure got hit through an entire candy factory. Lots of heavy machinery.” The red one, given the codename Scarlet, answered for them all. She raised up her hand, and they all stopped in midair. From flying to floating in an instant. Effortless. But more interesting was the reason why. “We’re being watched. Barriers up.”

Two came forward and summoned a sphere of light around us.

Moments later, green bolts of alien plasma crashed and washed ineffectually against the barrier.

Some sort of sensory ability?

“Drat, they’ve got us ranged in.” Scarlet spoke with jargon I expected from a soldier, or at least someone familiar with them. “They’re just out of our attacks. Adam, do you have something?”

I couldn’t see her face, but I knew she was looking my way.

“I’ll call it in. Where?”

“315 from our position.” She oriented herself north whilst flying and then pointed at the direction she stated. It was a general direction, but my gut told me that she could give more if prodded. I just relayed the information. Green, caustic energy continued to strike us. “They’re not shooting and scooting. I think the aliens did that, right?”

“They did. It seems they didn’t gain everything from the aliens… or they might be keeping us pinned down.” I grimaced. This could be a trap. I cast my gaze on the surroundings and strained my eyes and senses. The shouting of pirates, the rattle of small arms, and the scream of alien weapons were overwhelming, but I searched for the sound of their hovering tracks. Then, I found it. More than a dozen. “Down! Now!”

I flew towards the ground and landed within seconds. We were flying just a hundred or so feet above the coastline.

The Sentinels followed, but the trap was already sprung.

Arcing red orbs flew through the sky in parabolic arcs and slammed into the barrier. For a moment the red orbs spun and ground themselves against the barrier before suddenly stopping and glowing.

Then, there was a bright flash.

The barrier held, not even scratched, but our surroundings were turned into blackened glass from the salvo.

Invader artillery was absolutely devastating.

When I had been struck by one, at the epicenter of the blast, I was crushed, shredded, and incinerated at the same time. Each orb converted itself into large, whirling, shredding orbs of heat and gravity that existed for a moment before disappearing.

Those weapons were now in the hands of an endless legion, which most people could not harm.

Thankfully, their counter was already present.

“Get Thunderer over here!” I called out and received confirmation through my earpiece. I looked to the Sentinels. “Keep attracting the artillery’s attention. We can deal with the projectiles in just under a minute!”

“You heard him. Strengthen the barrier.” They moved with practiced ease and coordination. They told us that they gained their powers and came together out of instinct. That was most likely a lie. We suspected that another extradimensional force empowered them to counter the Shadow Legion. We’d be wary of the Sentinels, if not for the sheer threat the Shadow Legion posed. They worked seamlessly, like they had years of training with one another. With just one statement, all five worked in unison, and the walls expanded and gained thickness. Then, another barrage slammed into it… But the color was different this time. “They’re empowering it!”

I observed the next attack, and time slowed as I strained my senses. It felt like I was squeezing my brain into a tiny tube, but everything slowed to a crawl. Moving was impossible; I couldn’t go at breakneck speeds, but I can still perceive things that much faster. That was why I carried the sensors and had a gadget that recorded what I saw into them as data.

The arcing orbs fired by the alien artillery were no longer just scarlet; instead, they were wreathed in shadow.

The moment before the orb came into contact with the barrier, the shadows writhed and shaped themselves, turning into a springlike shape before launching as a lance towards the barrier. Heat and crushing force that could turn a concrete building into rubble in a second or destroy a tank completely could do nothing against the transparent barrier of light.

The lances of darkness sent cracks rippling through the barrier, and they sent shockwaves that blasted air away. The barrier around us slammed into the ground, and the Sentinels redoubled their efforts to empower the transparent dome of light.

I let go of my power so that I could report while more lances of shadow slammed into the barrier while heat and crushing force threatened to reach us.

I knew that I could survive the alien artillery, but the shadow’s attacks gave me pause.

It wasn’t my time.

Not yet.

“Thunderer, the projectiles are—”

“I see them. Let’s see if they’re a problem.”

Thunderer’s words were gruff and plain.

The sky suddenly went dark, the next barrage began to descend, but in an instant they were swatted out of the sky by bolts of lightning.

Then, the sound of thunder resounded after the dozen or so strikes that wiped the shadows from existence.

“They’re not.”

Thunderer descended, clad in long, green robes over his shoulders. At his back was a lightning storm waiting to be unleashed. In his hand was a rod of coiling metals, which was faintly aglow. Beneath the hood was a wizened face and a gray beard. One of the oldest heroes in North America. One of the strongest as well.

“This Shadow Legion reacts poorly to all forms of light-based attacks. Not just those of the Sentinels. That greatly diminishes the threat they pose.” Thunderer extended his staff, and lightning strikes of blinding brightness surged across the battlefield. The town we were observing was like a lightning rod. Numerous, powerful bolts surged across it. I thought that would be enough, until Thunderer spoke. “I stand corrected. Sentinels, the Shadows in the town are far stronger than those on the shelves.”

“They wouldn’t waste troops as projectiles.” Scarlet agreed before ascending a bit into the sky. “Azure, come with me. We’ll hit them hard first, scatter them, and make them give chase. Everyone else, roll in with the firepower.”

Thunderer would normally take control of the battlefield whenever he was present. Wisdom and experience were both his to call upon. Wherever he went, the IHA suffered far less, and there were almost no casualties amongst civilians.

I was surprised as he nodded.

“Keep yourselves safe. I will support as best as I am able.” My surprise must’ve been obvious as he clicked his tongue and gazed my way. “I’ve seen their efforts and read the reports. They know what to do.”

What reports?

What efforts?

I grimaced and left the questions unsaid.

He had higher security clearance than me and worked with more teams than my own.

It was likely that he knew more of the Sentinels through connections he cultivated himself.

Not that there was any reason for me to question it.

“Thunderer, sir, do you want me here or up in the air providing eyes from the sky?”

“Ah, you’ve managed to get a bit more perceptive since we last met. Very good.” His words were demeaning, but the frustration that arose from them was aimed at myself. I had offered him help at the base, asking him where his family was, and treated him like an elderly man outside of costume. I treated one of the greatest heroes of the age like a decrepit old man. “Stay close to the ground. These creatures have already demonstrated perfectly coordinated artillery fire. Let’s not test their ability any further with their remaining weapons.”

I nodded at his words and stayed close to him.

Three of the Sentinels stayed with us.

Scarlet and Azure moved forward, paralleling one another, before surging forward. They became beams of light, one red and one blue, and traveled across the battlefield in an instant. They were inside the town while we were just halfway there at a run. The small fishing town was a war zone recently bombarded by lightning strikes, but that didn’t matter to them.

The shadow version of the aliens tried to respond to them. Each one was a hulking, bipedal creature nearly two meters tall and wielding a weapon that could smash apart a light armored vehicle in a few shots. Before it took the combined force of our supporting infantry to destroy one of the creatures, and they used anti-vehicle tactics and weaponry. The ones infested by the Shadows cared little for pirate RPGs, took hits from superhumans without flinching, and tore through buildings without care.

Garnet and Azure tore through them with ease.

“It’s like a pair of pro linebackers at a little league game.” Thunderer chuckled. Azure and Scarlet cut a clean line through the squad-based groups of the shadow-corrupted aliens. “Let’s get a move on. There won’t be much left if we hesitate, kid.”

Azure generated a blade of light from an outstretched hand and, while moving, cut through anything within her range. Like an extension of her body, it cut through alien alloy armor with ease and dispelled the shadow holding it together. A sudden ambush of a group coming through an entire building only had her suddenly go into a rapid spin, while blades of light emitted from various points in her body. One moment the group was there ready to raise their weapons, and the next the group was gone and she was back to a single blade.

A scalpel one moment and a living blender the next.

Scarlet, meanwhile, was a speeding sledgehammer. She slammed into groups of the aliens while lances of light surged all around her. The creatures withstood the barrage, but they were suppressed by it and unable to raise their weapons. Once she came into contact with the creatures, she raised up her fists, stabilized her position, and proceeded to launch flurries of strikes at the nearest creatures. I watched armor that can resist anti-material rounds shatter into tiny pieces, holes blown into entire creatures, and a stomp at the ground create a crater more than ten meters wide in an instant.

Half the small cove was cleared of enemies by the time Thunderer and I were in range.

But all their strength only forced the creatures to come together.

One of the Sentinels, Emerald, suddenly spoke.

“The Shadows are gathering. We’re in for a fight now.” The moment she said those words… I felt something change in the atmosphere. The gunfire abated along with the sounds of battle. No more birds chirped, and the sound of the waves even seemed to be muted. Though Thunderer had readied a lightning storm and blotted out the sun, suddenly it darkened even more. I remembered the island assault… and remembered the giant walls that had surrounded it. Everything of the Shadows had a mind and volition of its own. “They’re massing up.”

A massive, long, and spindly limb then shot up and out of the center of the town. Alien armor crept up the limb as though carried by many hands. Plates of infantry armor were arranged and formed all over the creature. Alien firearms were carried up as well as entire tanks. In but mere moments, the Shadows went from an army with spread-out firepower to a ten-story-tall amalgam of alien firepower and armor strapped to a monster.

But while I tried to summon up the courage to look and analyze it, the other three Sentinels stepped forward.

“We’ll hold it off for a while, but we’ll need your big ship’s guns to put it down quickly. Just give us cover until then!”

They were ready to be heroes while I was not.