Chapter Thirteen: The Wrath of Cthulhu

 

Chapter Thirteen: The Wrath of Cthulhu

            “One…two…three…GO!”

            The second after Ben finished counting, he and Billy Batson commenced in their ice cream-eating contest. They held it in the kitchen of Maureen’s TARDIS as a means of entertaining Samuel, as well as Gizmo. Of course, Samuel had no clue why the two adolescent boys held such a meaningless competition – he didn’t even know what ice cream was until then.

            Tennyson and Batson ate an assortment of flavors out of bowls half their sizes, until one of them was hit with massive brain freeze. “Argh!” Tennyson groaned, clutching both sides of his head.

            “YEAH!” Batson cheered, standing up from his chair with his arms held high in victory. “The winner and still the Ice Cream Eating Champion, Billy Batson!”

            “Aw, man,” Ben groaned. “How did I lose?”

            “‘Cause you don’t have the explicit set of skills that I do, dude,” Billy told Ben.

            “Whatever,” Ben pouted. “One round of Sumo Slammers and I could totally kick your—”

            BANG!

            The boys’ fun came to an abrupt end when a massive quake shook the TARDIS.

            “Was that an earthquake?” Batson questioned.

            “If it was, it shouldn’t have shaken the TARDIS,” Ben observed. “Nothing’s supposed to even budge, according to Alicia.”

            “Yeah, Maureen told me the same thing,” Billy concurred. “But something definitely shook it.”

            “Let’s go find out what,” Tennyson suggested.

            Together, along with Samuel and Gizmo, they rushed to the console room, where they found the adults already gathered with a new group of people – Alicia, Si, Lovecraft, and the Malfoys.

            “Alicia!” Ben was more than relieved to see her among the congregation, hugging her the second that he saw her. Once he disengaged from the hug, he looked at her face and noticed something unusual: “Wait a sec. What happened to your bruises? Last time I saw you, your face looked like a bear kicked your butt!”

            “I’ll explain later,” she promised him.

            “What was that earthquake just now?” Batson asked Maureen.

            “It wasn’t an earthquake,” Maureen told him. “Cthulhu’s awakened.”

            “Must’ve been one heck of a nap,” Hopper quipped.

            “We need to get back to the boonies and get the kids,” Si demanded as she went to work on operating the controls to her predecessor’s TARDIS. “I’m triangulating on my sonic that I left with them, so that it’ll take us precisely near Amos’s shack.”

            The Doctor worked at the console as well. “I’ll do the same for my TARDIS.”

            “You can do that from here?” Si said with astonishment.

            “You should really stop underestimating my TARDIS,” the Doctor smirked.

            A second later, both the Type-Z and Type-40 TARDISes materialized within the boonies of Baton Rouge, to the shock of its simple-minded residents, some of whom perceived the strange phenomenon as voodoo or the work of the devil. They had already been alarmed by the sudden earthquakes affecting the area over the last few minutes.

            Amos, Mike, Dustin, Will, Lucas, Max, and Eleven rushed out as soon as the quakes occurred, witnessing the arrival of the TARDISes along with the rest of the townsfolk.

            Concurrently, Skeeta pulled up in Amos’s jalopy pickup with Penz and Grady.

            “What’s going on?” Skeeta asked as soon as everyone gathered in the square.

            “Cthulhu’s awakened,” Si told him.

            “Oh, no,” Penz muttered. “I didn’t think it would happen so soon.”

            Looking on her in confusion, Amos inquired, “Now who this white woman right ‘ere?”

            “You remembuh that youngin’ Harris, don’tcha, Amos?” Grady said.

            “I’s remembuh him, Grady,” Amos remarked. “Whadduh ‘bout ‘im?”

            Grady gestured to Penz and said, “This here white gurl be ‘im.”

            “You talkin’ crazy, Grady!” the disbelieving Amos disputed.

            “I’s seen it wit muh own eyes, I tell ya!” Grady argued. “Young Harris turnt as bright as duh sun and then he changed intuh that white woman yuh see in fronta yuh right c’ere.”

            “Gentlemen, I hate to butt into this conversation,” Penz politely interjected, “but we need to get you and everyone else out of here before…”

            BOOM!

            From the heavens appeared Vilgax, who landed in the square, just a few feet from where the group congregated. In one hand, he brandished what looked to be a sword with a lightning bolt-shaped blade. The townsfolk panicked at the very sight of him – women shrieking in horror and children crying.

            “Hand Lovecraft over now or I will tear this village and its inhabitants to atoms!” Vilgax threatened.

            Hopper inched close to Si and whispered, “Any chance your red friend with the horns would be well enough to go another round with this guy?”

            Si regrettably shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

            “Then we’re in big trouble,” Hopper sighed.

            Hearing the Hawkins sheriff, Ben professed, “Not on my watch!” He then proceeded to fiddle with the Omnitrix, choosing a specific alien on its dial. Once he found his preference, he slammed his hand down on the wrist device. Suddenly, the 10-year-old boy transformed into a humanoid alien – approximately twelve feet tall – with well-developed muscles, two pairs of four-fingered arms, and red skin.

            “Whoa!” Dustin bellowed as he and everyone else witnessed the transformation.

            “Wait…You really can change into an alien?!” Batson exclaimed, flabbergasted. “I thought you were just kiddin’ me!”

            “Now you know that I’m not,” Ben told him, his voice also transformed, sounding gravelly in this alien form. He switched his attention over to Vilgax and advised, “Leave these people alone, Gax, or I’m kicking your butt!”

            “Tennyson,” Vilgax hissed. “I wondered when our paths would cross again along the multiverse.”

            “Well, stop wondering and start fighting!” Ben challenged.

            The two aliens engaged in combat, exchanging thunderous blows that shook the ground more so than the reoccurring quakes that corresponded with Cthulhu’s awakening. Everyone watched the fight with mixed reactions of fear and entertainment. Those among the townsfolk were uncertain who to root for, but they were more than willing to bet on the four-armed stranger.

            Ben and Vilgax’s battle ravaged through the boonies, destroying much of the already worn-out homes of its deprived residents.

            Unfortunately, Ben was losing in his “Four-Arms” form.

            Vilgax had him pinned to the ground with one foot on his chest. The Chimera Sui Generis held his sword up high, ready to deliver the killing blow. “Goodbye, Ben Tennyson,” he bid to his opponent.

            “SHAZAM!”

            Distracted by the sudden exclamation by Billy Batson (followed by a lightning strike), Vilgax turned towards the boy to see a cloud that had formed around Batson. Those near him were caught in the fog, coughing and gagging until it cleared. Standing in Billy’s place was a man wearing a red suit with a white cape. Upon his chest was a lightning bolt insignia that glowed and sparked with electricity.

            Seeing the caped figure Batson transformed into, Mike’s eye lit up with recognition. “He’s Captain Marvel! That kid’s Captain Marvel!”

            “Impossible,” Lucas debated. “Captain Marvel’s a fictional character.”

            “Then who is that right there?” Mike argued, pointing towards Billy.

            Batson advanced on Vilgax and ordered, “Step away from my alien friend!”

            “Who are you to give me demands?!” Vilgax roared.

            “I’m…” Batson hesitated on his introduction, having yet to come up with a proper name to his adult superhero form. “…still figuring that out.”

            “His name’s Captain Marvel!” He heard Mike say behind him.

            Billy looked back at him, cringing. “Dude, that’s a lame superhero name! Plus, I think it’s already taken!”

            “ENOUGH!” Vilgax roared. “If you wish to die with Tennyson, so be it!”

            Vilgax lunged for Batson, removing himself from the downed Four-Arms. Batson responded by flying faster than the blink of an eye, charging directly towards Vilgax. He proved to be the strongest of the two, his fists connecting with Vilgax’s chest. The impact flung Vilgax into one of the shacks, crashing through its walls.

            With Vilgax out of commission for the moment, Billy assisted Four-Arms by helping him to his feet. “I thought you were kidding about your superpowers,” Four-Arms said to him.

            “Why would I kid about this?” Batson queried, gesturing to his adult form.

            “I dunno,” Four-Arms returned. “Why would I kid about my powers?”

            The childish bickering between the two superheroes was cut short once Vilgax reemerged from the shack he crashed through. Seeing that the squid-headed alien was more furious than ever, Batson knew he and Tennyson needed a plan to take the Chimera Sui Generis out before any further damage was done. Thankfully, he had one. He whispered it into Four-Arms’ ear (or wherever his ear was) before they put it into action.

            First, Four-Arms upper-cutted Vilgax, knocking him into the air long enough for Billy to slide underneath him and yell, “SHAZAM!” But rather than the lightning striking Batson, it struck Vilgax and fried his body to ashes. Vilgax’s defeat came at just the right moment, as Ben’s Omnitrix timed out, transforming him back to his human form.

            “SHAZAM!” Billy yelled, doing the same for himself to share in a high-five with his new friend and teammate.

            The boys’ celebration was short-lived, unfortunately, as the ground beneath them quaked more fiercely. Cthulhu was there underneath the boonies, and the townsfolk would undoubtedly perish in the Great Old One’s attack. For that reason, Skeeta yelled to all of them, “Everybody, listen! These things here will keep you safe!” He pointed to the TARDISes standing in the square. “Get in them now!”

            Although the naïve townsfolk had no idea what the TARDISes were or how they would be safe in them from the abnormally intense earthquake, they nonetheless trusted Skeeta and followed in his instruction. Every man, woman, and child rushed into either the Doctor’s Type-40 TARDIS or Maureen’s Type-Z model, shocked to find how much bigger the spaces were inside of them.

            “Lord have mercy,” Amos said as he took in the alien atmosphere.

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            Between the quakes and being tied to an electric chair in a pitch-black room, Bubba Joe’s fear got the best of him. He was so desperate to be free that he did whatever he could to get out of his predicament, including knocking himself and the chair over. He landed on his side with a hard thud and felt the right armchair break loose. That gave him the mobility he needed to wriggle himself free of the strange glowing ropes that bound him to the chair.

            Strangely enough, that seemed to be the easy part.

            The hard part was finding his way out of the dark room.

            He stuck out his arms and hands, slowly and carefully walking forward. As soon as his palms clapped against some semblance of a wall, he rubbed them across the surface to feel for a doorknob. After minutes of rubbing, he felt a crevice – a sign of a possible door leading out of the mysterious room.

            Bubba Joe kept his fingertips dancing along the crevice, searching for the doorknob. When he didn’t feel one on that side, he checked the other – there was still no knob. “What kind of door is this?!” he questioned in his frustration, slamming his fists against the knob-less piece of construction.

            That gesture proved to be the key to his freedom.

            In slamming his fists against it, the entire door lit up like one big lightbulb. Bubba Joe shielded his eyes to keep from being blinded. When the light dispersed, he unshielded his eyes to discover that he could see into the hallway outside. The door was gone, leaving no trace it was ever there.

            Rather than question the circumstance, Bubba Joe opted not to look a gift horse in the mouth and make his escape into the hallway. Even though he was free from the pitch-black room, getting out of whatever sleek, polished building he was brought into was another complication entirely. As he rounded a corner, he nearly collided with a young colored man in tattered beige pants and a dirtied white shirt. Bubba Joe thought he had recognized him either from the boons or the catacombs underneath Malfoy Manor.

            “Hey, boy, where you come from?” he asked him, but the young man hardly paid any mind to Bubba Joe, continuing on his way down the hallway in a rush. Infuriated by the lack of acknowledgment, Bubba Joe yelled to the man, “Hey, boy! I’m talkin’ to you! How I git outta ‘ere?!”

            “Bubba Joe?” the voice of an Englishman called from behind.

            Bubba Joe recognized the voice, although it sounded timid now. “Mister Malfoy,” he sneered, turning to see his employer standing there in the hallway, along with his wife and son. Lucius looked a little worse for wear, disheveled and exhausted. Bubba Joe couldn’t have cared less; as far as he was concerned, Malfoy was getting what he deserved.

            “What are you doing here?” Lucius asked him. “I thought you were…”

            “Down unduh’neath yer fancy mansion with that evil Hell beast you brought to this world?” Bubba Joe snarled. “It’s yer fault that thing is ‘ere! It’s yer fault fer lettin’ this madness loose all ‘round us!” Unable to contain his fury for much longer, Bubba Joe unleashed on Lucius Malfoy, socking him right across the face.

            Lucius collapsed to the floor. Narcissa went to his aid.

            Draco momentarily stood in shock from what just happened. He noticed Bubba Joe running away after the punch. Enraged, he reached into his suit jacket to retrieve his wand, taking aim for the man who assaulted his father. “Avada Keda—!”

            “No, Draco!” Lucius stopped him mid-incantation. “Let him go.”

            “That Muggle attacked you!” Draco hissed. “He deserves punishment!”

            “He’s right…” Lucius sighed. “This is my fault. I’ve damned us all.”

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            With the aid of the Doctor, the Tinkerer, Penz, and the three Gladiators, the townsfolk were successfully evacuated aboard the two TARDISes – and not a moment too soon. Shortly after the last man boarded, the foundation of the boonies buckled and cracked. Spikes as high as eighteen feet tall rose from the ground, outside of certain areas of the district. One massive tremor knocked the Time Lords to their feet, as they sensed everything elevating around them and the air getting dense. It quickly dawned on them that the entire district itself had been torn from the earth by the colossal grip of Cthulhu. He lifted it to his full monstrous height, holding it in the palm of his gargantuan claws. Over the edge, they could see the top half of the head of Cthulhu – his enormous yellow eyes glaring at them.

            The Doctor and his fellow Time Lords stood firm in the literal face of the Great Old One. “Mighty Cthulhu!” he addressed the entity. “I should let you know here and now that the multiverse is protected by the Oncoming Storm, the Tinkerer, and the Gladiators of Gallifrey!” He heard one of the women in their group purposely clearing her throat and turned to see Penz motioning to herself as a reminder. The Doctor immediately added to his declaration, “Oh, right…and Penz, too…even though she doesn’t really have a cool title.”

            “You are all fools!” Cthulhu bellowed. “You will suffer my wrath!”

            “Maybe so, but it’s not gonna be here!” Si proclaimed, and on her cue, the Time Lords retreated to their respective TARDISes.

            On the way into hers, Maureen was passed by Bubba Joe, who had escaped holding and emerged outside the Gallifreyan vessel. He stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he saw the face of Cthulhu bearing down on him. Regretting his decision to leave the bizarre ark that housed a plethora of poor colored individuals (and the Malfoy family), Bubba Joe rerouted himself back to it.

            Unfortunately for Bubba Joe, the TARDISes had disappeared.

            Now terrified beyond human capacity, he stood alone to face the wrath of Cthulhu. “P-Please…” he blubbered, his mouth dribbling in dread. Before he could try pleading for his life, the Great Old One ruthlessly crushed both Bubba Joe and the chunk of earth ripped from the ground.