The Time Stone, Third Edition (Extended Version)
Chapter 77

Above the epic battle that ensued below, the scorpion car began its ascent towards the citadel. It rose through the clouds of smoke in the reddish black skies like a leviathan seeping out of a large ocean, emerging forward and up with the a renewed sense of power as the underbelly and surroundings lit up intensifying. Its four inhabitants were steadfast and courageous as they prepared for their moment of truth as they approached the citadel.

“Ready to fire the dark star weapon, James?” asks Tina.

“Ready as ever” James replies.

”Try to make it quick” says Drax steering the vehicle higher and higher. “We have one shot and then if the Time Stone is ready, we jump out of here. We do not want to risk too much interference.”

“We do know a lot more about the Pregivers and the Time Stone. We could use it to help other Times” says Mercedes.

“What happened to trying to go home and clear our names?” asks Tina.

“I agree that is what we should do, but who knows what fate have in store for us,” says Drax.

“The time stone is still dull.” says Mercedes holding it. Then suddenly as they approached the citadel complex, they saw a large door opening like a two prong garage door and from within it came a gigantic form of a beast with a large respirator mask on his face, frail limbs, grey skin, white hair all over his body, and he leaped upward toward them striking them with his long skinny arm as his giant clawed hand nearly crushed them. Drax maneuvered the car around it narrowly avoiding the harsh blow.

“What the hell is that?” asks James.

“Company” says Drax, “maybe we should use the dark star now.”

“We don’t know how much power it has” says James looking at it “and we should save it for the energy barrier around the citadel when we are approaching.”

“James’ powers won’t work on it either, but …” Drax says.

“Milton, give me your elfin glove” says Mercedes. He takes it off and handed it to her as he drove the car around trying to avoid being swatted like a fly by the creature who kept hopping around in incredibly long leaps from platform to platform of the citadel complex as he kept trying to bat them out with his long arm and gigantic clawed hands. “I can’t get a clear shot with the scorpion car. This thing is like a super-fast moving target.”

“Let me see about see that” Tina says as she grabbed the elfin glove from Mercedes and put it on. She felt the energy charging up. “Pretty cool” and she fired a series of blasts towards the creature that moved rapidly dodging them all then suddenly slipping off one of the platforms and as Tina fired another round of shots striking the creature in the chest knocking him back. He reached out with his long arms as he is about to fall down towards the long narrow valley below and gripped the back of the scorpion car and hung on to it dragging it downward.

“I can’t fight this thing” says Drax pulling upward on the steering column as he tried to accelerate faster.

“I got it” James waved his right hand and struck at the respirator on the creature’s face sending him flying backward and downward into the valley below with a horrific crash.

The momentum sent the scorpion car flying in the opposite direction with the occupants letting out some terrifying screams. The vehicle flung to the side as Drax gained control of the wheel and maneuvered it about barely missing striking the end of the citadel’s left towers walls. They zoomed forward and around towards the citadel’s main structure, but a red light started beeping on the main console as the back discontinuing lagging.

“Uh oh” says Drax.

“What’s wrong?” asks Tina.

“The lateral thrust is off, damaged. I can’t get the car back up.” Drax yells in response.

“We can’t make it to the top of the citadel without it?” asks Mercedes screaming over the roar of the wind.

“I’m afraid not” Drax yells back.

“Keep pushing it to the max” yells James, “I got it from here” he waved his hands over the back of the vehicle and it slowly began an ascent lifting upward.

“Cool” says Drax as he steadied the vehicle moving it forward and accelerating. Now with James’ steady hand, the scorpion car is climbing upward past the citadel towers to the balcony just a few feet short of the central apex. Drax started to put the car in neutral as James leveled it from the back end with his powerful hands. “Get the dark star” says Drax.

Mercedes reached for it as the car approaches three figures resting in the balcony of the citadel’s central apex. “What is this?” asks one of the three figure heads in a French accent.

“Justice” yells Tina as they leveled the car right over the balcony several meters away and Mercedes held the curved iron-like rod and fired it. A hot white projectile spiked forward as a ray of energy emanated from the device and bolted towards the citadel fizzling upon contact with the orange light shielding and sending electric shocks throughout the barrier surrounding the entire complex. The barrier then neutralized in a flash of whirling light causing the bolt to strike the citadel itself, brick and mortar, the flashes of electrical light zoomed upward toward the apex and down covering the entire building, and sent it crumbling downward from the apex to the ground below. Drax drove the scorpion car downward and around the citadel spiraling with it as it’s debris came crumbling downward into the valley below and as the car approached the ground with the falling structure, the residual bolt of energy flung itself rapidly away from the falling remains of the citadel as Tina notices it is about to strike them and she turns the Time Stone and opens the vortex, the bolt passes through to another side and the vortex fades.

“That was close” says Tina looking back. Drax pulls up on the wheel and with James’ powers lending a hand, flung the car forward away from the complex and back to the battlefield starting to dissipate with the victors in hand as the rebels raised their weapons high in the air having overcome, taking the remaining beasts’ prisoner. “We did it” yells Tina hugging her small crew. Drax smiles as his fist pumped his hand in the air.

“Looks like it worked out” says Mercedes.

“At what cost?” Asks James rhetorically, but smiling a bit.

“Yes!!!” Alana yells to Daryl as she raised her fist in midair smiling towards the scorpion car passing overhead zooming away into the night sky.

“Looks like the time stone is glowing” says Mercedes.

“We’re ready to go” says Tina.

“Do it” says Drax.

Mercedes held out the time stone as the five orbs began to glow brightly and turns it causing the hazing beam of yellow whirling light to emanate and emit the vortex they were growing accustomed to.

“Where to now?” asks Tina.

“Where the wind takes us” says James as the scorpion car approached the vortex, transformed to a ball of yellow electrical energy as it is almost instantaneously sucked in. The gate fizzled a little and split the ball of energy into two sending them in two opposite directions.