An all new team that I've known for months.

Sorry for such a long absence, we've had to be VERY careful sneaking around gathering everyone. HG's takeover has definitely been slowed by something/someone, but he's watching for us. The worst thing I've come across so far has been these sort of tower/beacon things he's set up, that emit some sort of Electromagnetic field. It detects any use of technopathy, and tries to shut down the source, while warning HG about it! If it wasn't for Hana, I'd have been knocked out (again), and we only just escaped capture, but he knows we're active, so we've had to work extra hard to avoid detection.

But we've done it. We've got our new recruits.
It was weird to meet them all for the first time, having known them for so long. Especially as I knew some of them from Uni. But this was meeting them as future heroes, seeing them as they would become, if that makes sense. Very little does about all this.

We got to Doom's and were reaching out to knock when the door opened.
'Hey, you must be Tempest.'
'Oh, uh, hey. Yeah, I am. How do you know?'
'Hana's been showing me the blog. I'd have found it hard to believe if it weren't for the fact that the digital remains of a dead woman was right there nodding at me. Plus that thing in france with the T-rex was all over the news. And of course-' She pointed up at the dark sky, and round at the otherwise deserted street, with an HG tower visible a few streets over. '-and everything.'
'UH, yeah. So-'
'Will I join you, gain a superpower, and blast evil in the face with lasers?'
'Well, yeah.'
'Do you have my laser blasters?'
I held two out. 'Stolen yesterday, upgraded this morning.'
She took them, tucking one into her belt. She fired the other, narrowly missing an empty crisp packet and sending a lamppost crashing onto the road. She looked at me. 'Soooooo, super aiming powers?'
I showed her a small phial of black liquid 'Ready and waiting'
'Then let's go and show HG who he's dealing with.'





'I can't believe I'm hearing this.'
'Why? Seems like a perfectly reasonable response to me.'
'Maelstrom, please! We need you!'
'Nope.'
'Hana showed you the blog?'
'She did.'
'And?'
'We have a terrible time.'
'No we don-'
'We get shot at! Bullets, lasers, Psychos with superpowers! Everyone tries to KILL US!'
'But they fail!'
'They got Doolittle.'
I winced. 'Don't remind me. But she isn't dead yet, and I'm not going to let it happen!'
'Not interested.'
'But we save the world!'
'You plan the attack before I show up. Why should I help? You've got trigger happy over there, go get magic guy, he seems to do more.'
'You help keep us all alive at the end!'
'And nearly destroy myself in the process by the sound of it! What's in this for me?'
'Uh...Superpowers?'
He pointed at FDiffy. 'According to him, I get that fairly soon anyway.'
'Yes, and you are forced to use them to fight for your life. This is choosing to go into battle, head held high, trying to stop HG before the world becomes utterly screwed.'
He raised an eyebrow. 'and?'
I sighed. 'And every member of VHS gets access to our bottomless bank account, free use of almost all the advanced tech in our super awesome base, a bullet proof vest, protection of family members, and a goodie bag containing a membership pendant, a small taser, and lollipops.'
Doom waggled the lollipop stick protruding from her mouth at Maelstrom. 'They're really nice!' She said with difficulty.
Maelstrom narrowed his eyes. 'Hmmmm. I DO like money. and lollipops. and you swear I won't die?'
'You were still alive in the future, weren't you?'
'Aren't you trying to change that future?'
'...........Valid point. I swear to do everything in my power to keep you alive.'
Maelstrom considered. 'Ok, I'm in.'




'So let me get this straight. I get to fight bad guys, save the world, and be a Hero, AND, according to the blog, I get to use magic?'
'It's not really magic, it's a weak form of reality warping that allows you manipulate a form of energy that can transmute one form of matter to another, resulting in-'
'MAGIC?!'
'Yeah, it basically gives you magic.'
'YES!Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!!And I shall be called Blackmage, and ALL SHALL FEAR ME!'
'Excellent!'
I turned to Maelstrom 'See? That's more the sort of reaction we were looking for.'
He pulled a face, adjusting his bulletproof vest.




'Hey, we're-'
'VHS, yeah.'
'Hana showed you the blog, didn't she?'
'Yes.'
'Well?'
'How exactly do I get the giant cheeseknife sword?'
You pull it from a stone pillar. The structural integrity of the pillar is weakened though.'
'So I can pull swords from stone? Like King Arthur?'
'Future you told me you can draw weapons out of almost anything.'
Darkblade nodded. 'Sounds good. Alright, I'll join.'
'Yay!'


FDiffy says Jingle will be nearer the area the others are being held in, so we'll try and find him when we get there. Bye for now!

An unexpected guest

I'm not sure how long I lay there, thinking through everything I'd seen in that bleak, dead world of the future. I kept being drawn back to those last moments, and the last thing I saw as HG's base crumbled and burned around me, and I was being shoved backwards, into the shimmering light of Moira's timescoop.

Precog.

Strapped into a simple metal throne, a simple circlet of metal round his head, with wires flowing from it to the top of the throne. Long rolls of paper were scrolling past his hands, as he imprinted drawing after drawing, symbol after symbol, sentence after sentence of predictions for HG. But in that last second, as the world rippled away into nothingness around me, he looked up. His head jerked upwards, and Precog looked straight at me. Shining white eyes stared into mine. He saw me, recognised me. He smiled, and I heard two words inside my head:

Hand Bullets.

He's alive. I don't know how, but he's alive, and needs rescuing. I have no idea what his message means, but it must have been important. He had no time, but chose those two words to share with me, they must mean something.

I WILL find out. Find him.

There was a fit of coughing next to me. Remembering the second thud I'd heard, I turned to look. FDiffy emerged from a cloud of dust, crawling towards me, blinking madly to clear his vision.
'You ok?' he rasped, coughing again. 'This place is in quite a state, isn't it?'
I sat up, turning away from him. 'Why didn't you tell me.'
'What?'
I got to my feet, limping over to the base's computer. 'You didn't tell me. In fact, you actively tried to stop me finding out.'
'Ah, yeah, that. I'm sorry, but it would have been better for you if you hadn't found out, I was trying to make it easier for you.'
I placed a hand on the side of the computer, sending a current through it. The computer flickered into life.
'Oh yeah? Why would it be easier if I still thought one of my best friends was dead?'
'One of OUR best friends. Now that you know he's alive, you'll waste time trying to look for him. Time you don't have.'
'Of course I'm going to look for him! You may recall I was looking for him when he WAS dead, or when I thought he was. Anyway, how does that justify trying to keep it from me?!'
'Because you won't find him. None of us could, until he turned up there. You need to focus on stopping HG.'
The computer had rebooted, and Hana had shifted to it to help restore what remained of our system.
'That IS my focus, but if HG has him in the future, he may well have him now.'
'Nope, not for a few years yet. Besides, that future's already changed slightly.'
'Do you mean everything Glutton did?'
'Partly, but WE just changed something else.'
'You mean you, right? Future You never came back here originally?'
'Yep. If he, well, I...no. If HE had, I'd have had help, and known more about what would happen.'
'So how come you're here now?'
'When I got Moira to open the ripple, you were trying to push me out of the way so you could see Precog. At the moment I shoved you back into the ripple, you were holding my arm. I sort of got...pulled in, I suppose.'
Hana had finisheed her checks. 'They've all been contacted. They've seen the blog, and are expecting us to visit.'
As she transferred back to my phone, I turned to at last look at FDiffy.
'I'm still mad at you, but we have work to do. Are you coming?'
'Coming where?'
'To Doom's house of course. We have some old friends to recruit.'

2 Minutes to save the world.

HG was just standing there, cackling, as his timer ticked down to whatever diabolical cataclysm he had planned. I was exhausted, wounded, and filled with dread. But I could feel a tiny spark of hope. Feed that spark! I thought. Keep him talking. Back up is coming.
'2 Minutes?' I sighed, exasperated. 'Oh come on, Madonna got 4, and I bet she wasn't facing anything as bad as you.'
113.
'Ha! Is that all you can do?! Make jokes! Aren't you even going to try and stop me?'
110.
I looked around the chamber, taking everything in. The vast array of buttons had come back out, the smooth metallic walls, the huge red screen with the timer in the centre, and a single blue pixel blinking in a bottom corner. The hole in the middle of the floor where the lift should be.
108.
'Well you don't expect me to just run at you do you? The one on one fight thing hardly ever works against supervillains. I'm certainly not risking it now.'
103.
'A wise decision. On the other hand, what have you got to lose at this point?'
100.
'Oh I'm optimistic, let's see how things work out. What about you? You'll be destroyed with us. Surely that's not something you'd allow?'
094.
'Quite right! But I have had many years to grow stronger since your time. I have learnt how to use my gift on the most powerful forces of nature, giving me power over life itself! My mortality has been reversed, ensuring that I shall never die! I shall watch you all perish, see the world burn, and then rebuild, when all who oppose me are nothing but dust! I AM ETERNAL!'
'....Oh. Bugger.'
076.
More cackling. Man that guy loves evil laughter. I glanced at the screen. There were now 19 blue pixels dotted randomly about the screen. An 20th appeared as I watched. Then three more.
075.
HG turned to the passageway as a screeching sound was heard, with the roar of an engine.
074.
The bus Playwrite was driving the original one I'd somehow summoned, came speeding up the last bit of the tunnel, fire and water and lasers and beams of light streaming from it's top deck,skidding round as he brought it to an abrupt stop.
073.
The heat was getting unbearable now, it had kept rising since that moment I'd felt in the tunnel.
072.
The bus groaned, parked sideways at the top of the slope. I could see every window was broken, and people had been fighting shadow creatures as it drove along. VHS started to pile out, a mixture of the people I'd known for years, and all the new friends I'd made while I was here.
071.
Future me was getting off. He nodded at me, with a hint of a smile. I seem to have gained his approval at last.
070.
'Ah! I'm glad you could make it. You can all die together. How nice for you!'
Jingle glared. 'We came here to destroy you! If this is the end, at least we can take you with us!'
I sighed. 'I'm not sure about that. He says he's immortal now. Tingle? HG is immortal.'
Tingle nodded at my test statement. 'Sorry, but that's true.'
Doom swore.
059.
Hundreds of blue pixels now littered the screen, surrounding the timer, with new ones replacing red pixels all the time.
'I don't care.' said FDiffy. 'You will not win. You think you're unstoppable, but nothing's really changed. Immortality's just a word, another ability we have to get round. You can't rely on abilities to keep you safe. We've had ours prevented or blocked or taken away so many times, and we've done it to others. Abilities mean nothing. What matters is loyalty, friendship, working together to win. We are together, and you have nobody. Good will triumph, united, as a family!'
043.
We all cheered FDiffy, who was staring daggers at HG, fists clenched, steely determination etched all over his face.
A third of the screen was blue now.
HG considered FDiffy for a moment, and smiled. 'Sorry if I don't take you seriously, it's just that none of you have the power to kill me. For all your noble words, there isn't anything you can actually DO...'
034.
'He's got a point.' Maelstrom look dejected. 'We don't actually have anything that could hurt him.'
031.
'You don't even have that model of mars from SOLAR's observatory anymore.' said Jingle.
029.
Blackmage frowned. 'Oh yeah, I heard about that. What happened to it?'
027.
I grinned. 'I'm glad you asked. HG's right, we don't have an ability that can hurt him. But a while ago, it occured to me that, in order to acheive the same result, a smaller sun would have to be MUCH closer to the Earth than the original. I asked Tingle exactly how big poor Healthbar's generated sun was, and calculated quite how close she must be. Then I sent a flying warmachine up to her, with instructions to blast the control collar, with the aim of kicking her out of the destructive loop that put her in that coma. You may have notice that the sun's warmth flickered off a while ago, and that it's been getting hotter ever since.'
010.
FDiffy looked shocked. 'You mean-'
009.
There was a heat haze now, and intense light seemed to be burning through the ceiling. HG paled, running for his bank of switches and buttons.
I beamed. 'Yes.'
008.
Darkblade threw his sword. Half the screen was blue.
007.
The sword stabbed into the ground infront of HG, cutting him off.
006.
'Mars. Known as-'
005.
HG darted round the sword, but Blackmage pulled him back, surrounding him in blue energy.
'The bringer...'
004.
Three quarters of the screen. Hg was being held back by forcefields, energy, plants, everything we had to hold him in place.
'OF.....'
003.
Everything holding HG withered, flickered, dying under the force of his power. Water started swirling round my fingers. Maelstrom and Future Me took the hint, joining in.
'WAR!'
002.
We swept the water round everyone creating a thick, protective dome around us.
HG was free, lunging for a button.
A blazing column of fire burst through the ceiling above him, slamming him to the floor. Pinned under an inferno of fury, pain, and revenge.
The screen was entirely blue, but the timer was still red, she wasn't going to make it!
001.
The blue flooded the red timer. HG screamed inside the firestorm. Steam filled the room as our water barrier evaporated as fast as we could generate it. Maelstrom was spinning furiously, a blur inside a vortex of water. It was just possible to make out, through the steam, a second dark shape inside the fire. A figure, suspended above HG, head towards the floor, feet flowing upwards towards the ceiling. A hand was stretching out, reaching for HG's chest. He was gasping in between screams now, as if struggling to breathe. Parts of the room were starting to melt. The ground was shaking, as if it was about to break open.
The timer stopped.



The fire was starting to die down, and we stopped creating water, watching our barrier hiss into steam. Maelstrom slowed from a blur, coming to a stumbling, dazed stop. He fell backwards, and was caught by Tingle and Don.
'You think you're unbeatable just because you can control your lifeforce? Well so can she.'
We could all see Healthbar now, floating above HG, with her hand on his heart. Golden energy burned around them, and her hand has shining with power. Her face was filled with rage, and her eyes burned with vengeance.
'I have watched from above.' She said, fire crackling and stars twinkling in her voice. 'I have observed you from on high, I have seen all you have done. THIS. ENDS. NOW.'
He was little more than a skeleton now. Twitching and jerking under the force of Healthbar's anger, wasting away as his life was drained and his body burned.
The column of flame faded, and Healthbar slowly spun upright, landing gracefully next to him. Casting him a scornful look, she turned to us, and her face broke out in a smile. She staggered forwards, unstable on her feet after so long. Future me ran to meet her, embracing her in a hug.
'I've missed all of you so much!'
'We've missed you too! I'm sorry for what happened to you.'
We cheered, and everyone crowded round to congratulate her, but I was distracted by HG, rasping weakly on the floor.
'How the HELL is he STILL alive!?'
Healthbar frowned. 'I don't know....I thought I drained him completely...'
'You fools.....I told you......I am....everlasting......'
He was, incredibly, slowly recovering. His skull-like face was filling out, his sunken cheeks swelling. I heard running feet, and saw that the surviving shadow warriors from the tunnel were advancing, eager to complete the job of destroying us.
'Seriously? Do these guys EVER give up?'
Healthbar frowned, and her hair faded to a deep, shining black. The fighters skidded to a stop, and went down on one knee, head bowed, facing Healthbar.
'You serve me now. Do not harm us, and be ready to help.'
'Yes, my Lady' chorused the group.
'Well THAT makes things easier.' said Playwrite.
The distraction had allowed HG to push himself into a sitting position. Reaching up, he slapped a recovering hand onto a red panel, which glowed green. We tried to rush him but a huge jolt sent us sprawling to the far side of the room, which started to tilt.
What's happening!?' Panicked Broadcast.
'The world is breaking apart at the seems.' Tingle explained, looking horrified.
'What?!' I yelled.
'I'm doing my best to hold it together but we don't have long.'
'YOU're holding the earth togeth- how?!'
'Dragon....gave me....' he groaned, holding his head. He didn't finish the sentence, he was too focused, and whatever he was doing was clearly taking a lot out of him.
HG coughed up blood, hair regrowing to cover his head. 'You will pay...you will ALL pay....Resume countdown!' This last comment was shouted at the computer. A light by the pad flashed, and the screen flickered to red for a moment.
The timer ticked.

Everyone tensed, expecting the worst, but nothing happened. I opened my eyes and looked at the screen. And laughed.
101.
'What! What is the meaning of this! How do you meddle with my command center, it was designed specifically to counter your technopathic interference!'
'Trust me, I know. That's some impressive wiring you've got there. And there's no way anybody else could hack their way past all your security systems in a different way. Not with all the time you've had to set them up. If however, they started years ago, when there were fewer defences.....'
Doom was looking at the timer. 'But what happened to it? 101? What's that?'
I was still laughing. 'It's not 101. It's lol.'
A blue face appeared about the timer, looking smug. 'Nice to see you all again!'
'HANA!'
I was glad to see her. 'You cut it pretty fine!'
Hana rolled her eyes. 'Have you got any idea how many layers of encryption I've had to work through? I had to beat as many as I could in our time, then come back along the time link, which I am having to hold open all by myself thank you very much, then use what control I gained back then to get access to the deeper levels of security-'
'Thank you for saving all our lives.'
'You're welcome.'
HG was struggling to his feet. I punched him. He fell down again.
The world shook again, and pat of the wall began to distort, warping and twisting.
'His control over the world is failing!' Yelled Tingle, who was awake again, terror filling his face. 'He's used his power to change the world so much, and now the planet can't cope on it's own. I'm doing what I can, but without his power holding his changes in place, everything's starting to unravel!'
'Everyone but Tingle, FDiffy and me rushed HG, determined to destroy him. Maybe if his power died, it's influence would to?
'It's no good!' I yelled. 'He can't die! We've seen that! It's too late!'
I turned to FDiffy. 'I thought we'd done it, I thought we'd won, but we're too late! We're still going to lose!'
'Not necessarily. Have you learned enough about him? If you went back now, do you think you could stop him?'
'I...I don't know. I think so, but what if he's already learned how to become immortal, or set this place up, or-'
'Let's hope he hasn't. But look what you've done.' He gestured at everyone.
'We're back together. You reunited us, led us as a team to fight together, and we got so close. If you get back, do you think you could beat him?'
'I.....Yes. I promise you, he will fall. But can I even get back?'
'Let's find out. MOIRA!'
A burst of white light blazed into being infront of me. I felt the world start to spin.
Hana looked shocked, and called out. 'Tempest! I've found something! You need to see this!'
A door slid open next to the screen. I heard HG screaming in pain. 'I will still win! He has promised me! He has seen it!'
I squinted in the bright light. I saw a shape in a small room through the door. FDiffy looked, and started to panic. 'No! He doesn't need to see that! Don't look!'
He pushed me, and I grabbed his arm to stop him getting in the way. The contents of the room came into focus, and I gasped, my scream cut off as the world span, and everything vanished.

Next thing I know, I'm falling to the ground, landing hard. I hear a similar thud nearby, but I don't investigate. Because only a single thought fills my mind at that moment.

Precog is alive.

The turning tide

The battle was more even now. We were still vastly outnumbered, but the balance was shifting, as more and more people streamed down the ice ramp, joining the fight, reducing HG's shadow warriors to smoke and dust. Whooping with delight, I resumed blasting. HG was staring round, his smile faltering, shock and horror breaking through. He saw me, and pointed a skeletal finger, quivering with rage. 'YOU! YOU DID THIS! My glorious army, my unconquerable force of millions! You did this, with all your meddling! You made this! DIE! DIE!!!!'
He leapt from his throne, face twisted in fury. I panicked, and thrust out a hand to defend myself.
I swear, I am NOT kidding about this next bit. A bus, a full size, double decker bus, shot from my hand. It slammed into HG, sending him flying, screaming, into the sea of his fighters. The bus kept charging forwards at great speed, smashing through HG's throne, leaving a pile of shards and splinters as it vanished, engine roaring, into crowd.
I stared at my hand, stunned, and then looked at where the bus had gone. 'I...I assume there's an explanation for that. Or there will be. Or something.'
FDiffy ran past, arms huge and hulkish, crushing fighters. 'That. Was SO. COOL!'
Laughing, I swept my hand round in a curve. The bus moved with it, turning round and driving through another group of fighters. I saw Playwrite' laser blaster failing, and hoardes of fighters were closing in on him, so I sent the bus screeching over to him, bringing it to an abrupt halt as it destroyed a huge group of his attackers. 'Get in!' I yelled, and waited until he clambered up into the drivers seat and started the engine before turning my attention back to HG. He was floating over the chaos, heading for the hole in the ceiling.
'No!' I went to follow him, but a flock of airborn shadow fighters blocked my way. I froze them, sending them plummeting to the floor, and sent my forcefield platform shooting after HG. I passed the bus, and saw Playwrite had picked up Doom, who was now firing her laser eye beams out of the broken front window on the upper level. 'Get everyone else! We need to wrap this up!' I yelled as I went by, and Playwrite nodded, heading for Tingle, who had stopped to clutch his head, as if in pain.
HG had gone past the hole. Confused, I followed him. He was heading for an end wall, which was opening, revealing a large passageway. Blackmage was near the opening, and jumped backwards as the wall next to him jerked, and began sliding away. 'Tell Playwrite I meant EVERYONE. Our side have to get out, I'm going to destroy this place.'
He nodded, as a dragon comprised of blue energy leapt from his circle of light, clearing a path for him. I saw there were now at least seven buses racing around the huge cavern. Good, they could make sure everyone got a ride to safety. I set off, up the slope, storming upwards in pursuit. Shadow fighters started to swarm up after me, but I couldn't risk blocking the tunnel. The buses would need a quick escape. I saw HG ahead, and sped up. 'Stop! Get back here!'
'Ha! Does that ever actually work?'
'Good point.'
I shot lightning at him instead, as the huge path continued to curve upwards.
It happened very suddenly, and I know everyone else felt it too. There was a sudden wave of cold, sweeping over everything and everyone, and then I felt the temperature start to rise again.
Ahead, HG faltered, then carried on. I grinned. It had worked.
I heard Playwrite in my head as I chased HG past a turn off that seemed to lead outside. 'Everyone's clear! Destroy the hordes!'
I avenged Doolittle the same way I did Precog. I clenched my hand into a fist, feeling the rock and earth around the cavern crash inwards, destroying it, crushing it into oblivion. I heard sounds of fighting behind me, closer than the noise of the destruction I was causing.
I reached the top of the tunnel, and saw it came out in the wide corridor we'd been in earlier that lead to the central chamber. I ran to it, and saw HG frantically typing away at the vast array of buttons. The big screen was flashing red, and there was a box at it's centre, containing three numbers. As I arrived, the numbers started counting down from 120. HG turned to me, his face alight with glee. 'You're too late, Hero! This is the end! You will ALL perish, and this world shall be mine! You fought valiantly, but you have failed. In two minutes, EVERYTHING. WILL. END!'

Drowning in a sea of shadows

HG's dark hordes rushed towards us, and despite the blank, empty grey eyes, they conveyed malice with every fibre of their being. Maybe it was the snarling. Or the screaming. Or the fangs. Or the twisted expressions of pure hatred. Or the fact that they were trying kill us.
FDiffy looked thoughtful as he watched their approach. 'I feel like we need something to yell.'
'What?'
'Like 'For Aslan!' or something.'
'Sparta?'
'The future?'
'The past?'
'Freedom?'
I knew exactly who we were fighting for. He'd tried to stop this happening, he'd watched over us for so long, he'd fought HG with everything he had, and he'd given his life trying to bring HG down.
'For Dragon.'
'FOR DRAGON!'
With a roar, we broke our circle and surged forwards to meet our attackers, tearing into them.
With fire in one hand and lightning in the other, I started blasting. I put up a forcefield, but a fighter with blades for arms sliced through it like butter, causing it to flicker and vanish.
I rarely use gravitational manipulation, but this seemed a good time. I created a black hole in front of me, sucking shadow people into nothingness, but after each one it got smaller, winking out of existence after the tenth. Damn. This was going to be a LOT harder than I thought.
Blasting madly in all directions, I checked on the others. Darkblade was charging forwards, sword thrust ahead of him, destroying enemies as the blade plunged straight through any fighter unfortunate enough to get in the way. Blackmage was blasting them by hurling handfuls of blue fire at his attackers, the floor around him eroding in particles of blue light as he converted it to energy.
Maelstrom was disappearing into a swirling torrent of water, sweeping up enemies and churning them round until they dissapated into smoke.
Doom was firing madly, Jump was stabbing with a dagger while teleporting rapidly, dodging every attack, Centaur was taking on a group of fanged, winged, and clawed fighters having morphed his own, Tingle was running through the crowd, holding his arms out, enemies puffing out of existence at his touch.
It was a few hours later that things started to go wrong. Playwrite's telepathy didn't work on their minds, so he'd been given a guards blaster, and was firing lasers with a panicked look. The sheer number of fighters was making up for there frailty. One hit or blast, any decent attack that hit a shadow fighter would destroy them, reducing them to nothing but puffs of black smoke and a small pile of dust, but every time one was destroyed, another would take it's place, and they were getter closer. A blade armed fighter slashed my shoulder, Blackmage had sunk into a ditch caused by his power and was being piled in on, Tingle had suffered burns to his left arm, both of Doom's blasters had run out of power, forcing her to resort to laser vision which, while effective, made it harder for her to see what she was doing. Jump was getting worn out, and the pauses between her jumps were getting longer, leaving her vulnerable to attack. Scorch, far away, was flying through the air, blazing with fire, but was having to flee from a huge number of airborn foes. Darkblade was onto his third sword now, the others having been broken. He had a cut on his cheek, and the ceiling above him was buckling, it's pillars weakened by whatever it was he did to make weapons from them.
It was then we had our first loss. It was so fast, there was nothing any of us could have done. One moment Doolittle was riding a tiger through a crowd of warriors, waving a spear, then there was a scream. The tiger and it's rider were gone, suddenly lost in the depths of the army, leaving nothing but a splatter of blood on a pillar. We yelled, cries of regret and rage, shocked at what had just happened.
I shot past Jingle, destroying an attacker that was sneaking up on him. He flashed a weak smile, ensnaring another with tinsle. I was still determined to reach HG, all my focus on making him pay. I sucked another group of shadowmen into nothing ness with a black hole.
'Ha! You still have Gravitational Manipulation!' Future me was backing past me, firing beams of greenish blue light from his hands. 'Oh I miss that power! Give it to me!'
He grabbed my arm, and I felt a surge of power. My black hole flickered and died.
'What?! Oi! How did you-?!'
'Pete wasn't around. I needed more powers. I found a way.'
He rose into the air, soaring off to help Don. Resisting the urge to follow him and punch him in the face, I kept heading for HG. He started to laugh, gesturing. A huge wave of shadow people swept over me, blocking everything from view.
I have no idea how long I was submerged, but for a long time, all I knew was pain. Pain, and elemental blasts as I tried to free myself. I must have moved while fighting, because suddenly, HG's voice was close, gloating at me from above.
'You see? You are pathetic. Did Moira really think you could stop me? You will die here, Tempest, as Doolittle did, and there is nothing you can do. It may comfort you to think that, by dying now, you will be spared from having to watch the rest of your little friends get struck down, because let me assure you, YOU WILL ALL DIE.'
That was the wrong thing to say. I roared, exploding, a huge dome of fire and electricity blasting in all directions. I saw surprise cross HG's face as every fighter for metres round me was obliterated. Scorch cheered from over head, dropping a water balloon on my head. It broke, and I felt warmth spread through me, and saw my injuries shrinking, the wound in my shoulder healing before my eyes. Scorch passed over the others, dropping more balloons, and I saw Blackmage burst from his ditch in a cloud of firey blue energy. Everyone was being healed, and setting into the army with renewed vigour.
More good news. The hole in the ceiling was suddenly filled with bodies, a stream of people flooding into the room. Somebody was making a ramp of ice from the hole to the ground, and what seemed to be everyone from the forest was rushing down it, eager to join the fray. 'At last!' shouted Darkblade, beaming. He turned to me. We explained the situation. EVERYONE wanted to help. The world was full of equinoxes fighting back against HG, and every single one of them came to support us. Support you. Reuniting VHS spread hope throughout the world, and that's keeping everyone going. Nicely done.'
I gazed round at the two armies, as they tore into each other, both sides determined to do as much damage as possible. But now it was a much fairer fight. I grinned. Maybe there was a chance. Maybe this wasn't so impossible. Maybe we could win this afterall.

The palace of wonder and......death?

As we sank slowly into the open space, we saw exactly how big it was. A huge cavern, going on and on in all directions, with no end in sight. Tall columns, as high as skyscrapers, supported the vast stony ceiling. We could hear laughter as the lift reached the ground, and I looked round for the source. A few metres away, sprawled lazily in a large, ornately carved grey throne, was HG. He raised his staff in a salute, eyes twinkling as he gazed down at us. He looked drunk. Drunk on power. 'Aha! I knew you'd make it, I was expecting you sooner really. It seems nothing can stop you people when you're determined to do something. I've had you shot at, attacked by your own friends, brought buildings down on you, blown you up, that moronic bone morpher......and yet here you are. How did you escape the crushing ceiling?'
'We had a little help.'
'Naturally. That room stripped you of your powers, you MUST have had help.'
'Enough talk!' Future me was getting restless. He was seething, and his eyes were glowing a deep, burning red.
'Quite right.' HG was sitting perfectly upright in his throne now, all trace of mirth gone from his face. 'To business. I know why you are here. I know why there are two Tempests. I know how this is possible. I know everything. I cannot allow you to stop me, and I cannot allow you to remain alive. Let the slaughter commence.'
I ran at him, but his throne shot backwards, coming to a stop a couple of rugby pitches distance away. The floor around it rose in steps, creating an aztec pyramid style tower far away. He began to laugh again as doorways in the pillars slid open, and streams of shadow fighters poured out. Once again we were confronted by army of beings made from solid, shadowy, jet black fog. But this time, not only was the number easily into the hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions, they had a much wider range of skills. There were fighters with black flames surrounding their hands, grey lightning sparking from fingertips, some took to the air, and some had glowing eyes. Fangs, tails, extra arms, bulging muscles, claws, grey water pouring from hands, every power or ability you could dream of, but colourless, ruthless and ready to attack. They were the stuff of nightmares.
I backed towards the others, but got distracted by a yell. Far above, minute against the immense ceiling, I could just make out the large hole our lift had come from. A tiny shape had just shot from the hole, and and was plummeting towards us. It un curled to become human shaped, and reached out a hand, plunging it into the nearest stone column. The column seemed to buckle slightly, and cracks appeared all across it. The figure pulled it's hand from the stone, and was now holding a huge sword. 'Blackmage!' he yelled, as three flying fog warriors shot towards him. Gripping the sword in both hands, the figure spun round, slashing his attackers, chopping each of them cleanly in two. As his attackers halves fell to earth, dispersing back into fog and then nothing, the newcomer was enveloped in a blue aura, and I saw Blackmage guiding it, slowing the figure down until, still spinning, he landed in front of us.
'Everyone is keen to help, they're trying to move that chunk of metal over the entrance. Channel pushed me ahead so I could let you know. We figured you could use another fighter ASAP too.'
'You figured right.'
I held out a hand. 'Cool entrance! Nice to meet you, I'm-'
'Tempest from years ago, I know. I'm Darkblade. We've heard about everything you've been doing to help. Thank you.'
'I had a lot of help. Speaking of which....'
We turned to flook at the oncoming sea of shadows, almost shoulder to shoulder, our whole group forming a defensive circle, everyone looking outwards, facing our opponents, sweeping in from every angle.
I grimaced.
'........let's do this!'

Rabbit hole

We're alive! Well, for now anyway. Happy to say I'm posting this by thought again, I have my powers back! Let me explain:
The ceiling was only about 2 and a half metres from the floor now, and we were getting desperate, looking for a safe place to shelter, but there was nothing. It was sliding down, obscuring the screen, which was completely flat. I was looking at the control panel to see if, assuming it was going to be protected from being crushed, it could keep us safe as well, when i got a text. Which was really weird, because it hadn't worked as a phone since arriving in the future. It said '01001000Red01100001Square01101110Button01100001'

Of course, with my power now functioning perfectly, I can tell you that not only does that Binary tell me something wonderful, filling me with hope, but that the text turned out like that because it came from a machine with hundreds of layers of security, and this was the only way it could be sent out safely.
I knew none of that at the time of course, I just hoped it wasn't another trick. The door had reached 2m, so I frantically searched the rows of buttons. There were thousands!
'What are you doing?'
'We need to find a red square button.'
Doom and FDiffy came over, curious. 'You have an idea?'
'A solution. I hope.'
'Doom gestured everyone over while me and Diffy started looking.
'Oh, what's the point?!' Future me moaned. 'I have technopathy too remember, and it's fully supressed. There's no way of knowing which button, why are you looking for one you don't even know is there?'
'I WILL punch you.'
'Then you'll be hitting yourself.'
'Yeah, philosophical conundrums later, button hunting now, so shut up and help, or shut up and go away.'
We started to crouch as the ceiling reached 1 1/2m, when there was a 'pffft' noise, and the console started to slide back into the wall.
'Quick! Stop it, hold it back!'
Everyone but me and FDiffy grabbed the console desperately, pulling as hard as they could, and it slowed a little, but they were gradually being pulled with it as it kept going. The sloping top was slowly but surely disappearing into the wall, leaving a steadily growing wedge shaped gap, protecting the buttons from damage. Everyone was groaning, straining to keep it out for a few more seconds, sliding along the floor as it kept going. I heard a joint creak inside the console, and something popped. The ceiling was at 1m now, and seemed to have no intention of stopping again until it reached the floor.
'There it is!' FDiffy was further along, a couple of metres away, and made a sudden leap. Landing on a few hundred tiny buttons, he strecthed out a hand into the gap inside the wall, pursuing the vanishing button. There was a click, and he let out a yell of triumpth, sliding down the console to the floor. Crawling as fast we could, we scrambled towards the middle of the room, where a circle of floor was sinking down into the ground, making a hole.
'Where does it go?'
'Who the hell cares, just get in!'
By the time we got there it was low enough for us to sit down in. FDiffy's cap fell off as he slid in, and he darted a hand out to grab it, pulling it into the hole just as the ceiling touched the floor.

The platform we're on is continuing to sink. Why is everything here so slow? But at least we have our abilities back. We all felt it, about a minute after getting in. There was this sudden feeling of warmth, deep inside everyone, and the complete darkness was broken by a blue glow as Blackmage gave of wisps of blue light, and the flickering orange of a small fire that sprang to life in Scorch's hand.
'MUCH better.'
So that's it really, we're sinking into the earth, but we're all alive. Oh! Hang on, light is appearing around the edge of the platform! Open space! Looks like we're arriving wherever we're going, bye for now!