A Resurgence tie-in

The TV in Stagger Lee’s displayed live footage of New York. Figures flew in the sky, launching attacks, vessels of various sizes flew past and brown, scaly creatures with small horns running along their heads ran through the streets with energy weapons. Farrell Creed watched the calamity while drinking a beer, “They came back… No one thought they would but they did”. The Invasion of 1981 began when the U’ntari race came to Earth clandestinely and ended when Rex Robinson brought down the ships by attacking their network with a computer virus. For many people of Earth, the attack had been mostly forgotten about until they suddenly returned with a massive ship hanging over several metropolitan areas around the globe including Brussels, Tokyo and Washington DC. At the moment, they had only attacked New York as far as most people knew.

Creed sat in the bar alongside his friends Pete Bone Splitter and Lucille Hudson. His girlfriend Cassandra tended the bar (or at least she would have if she wasn’t distracted by the news). “So… are you gonna… do something?,” Pete asked.

“The hell am I supposed to do?,” he asked, “Drive over to New York? The fight will probably be over by the time I got there and if not… you think I’m gonna shoot down a space ship the size of a city block with a 45?”

“Please don’t,” Cassandra told him, only half-jokingly.

“I get it,” Pete continued, “But, you’re kinda the monster killer around here.”

“Around here, maybe. This is a helluva lot bigger than my pay grade.”

“I feel so helpless,” Lucille explained, “Not to mention scared. What if we can’t beat `em?”

“Rex Robinson kicked their asses by himself last time. Now, we got guys in tights all over the place. They can handle this.”

“What if they come here?”

“They ain’t coming here,” Creed confidently took a swig of beer.

“But what if they did?,” Pete asked.

“Look, if the Minions show up in town, I’ll take their asses out but I’m tell’n ya, those things won’t show up.”

Alysa Saraki burst into the bar, panic-stricken, “Creed, they’re here!”

Everyone in the bar fell silent and stared at Creed. He dipped his head slightly as a sign of admission, “Yeah, I know I shouldn’t have said shit,” then he took another sip of beer before getting up.

“There’s one downtown,” Alysa told him, “No ship or anything, so I’m pretty sure it teleported. Cops are out there asking for you.”

“The Chief of Police has to be pretty shook if he needs me to handle it,” Creed turned to Cassandra who had a worried expression.

“Swear to God you better come back home,” she said quietly.

Creed gave her a sure smile, “Keep my beer cold,” then leaned in to kiss her. He had been putting on a brave face for his loved ones but in actuality, he was as scared as they were. A single vampire or a strange cult was something he could handle but this situation was far larger than what he dealt with before.

****

The U’ntari culture did not allow for religion or any sort of spiritual practice such as magic. The only exception was Ta’rik Kruk, a female special agent who never received an official ranking but was tasked with handling supernatural threats. She studied a form of mysticism on a planet with civilizations that evolved through magic rather than technology. Once the U’ntari returned to Earth, she was given intel on Winghaven being a hub of paranormal activity so she made it her first mission.

When Creed and Alysa found her, she was in the middle of the street with police cruisers parked on either side, blocking it off. She wore a veil over her face, made of small, interlocking gold discs with twin gaps acting as eyeholes. The top of her head was exposed, showing rows of ridges and short horns, like all other U’ntari, but her body was covered in red strips of fabric and gold jewelry, which was unlike any U’ntari they had seen from available footage. Creed and Alysa approached Chief Meyer while he had a shotgun trained on her. Meanwhile, she remained crouched in the middle of the street, her palms running along the pavement as she gazed curiously at the ground. “It’s been doing that since we got here,” Meyer told them, “Hasn’t attacked nobody yet.” “We better go welcome her to the neighborhood,” Creed passed the police cruiser with Alysa in tow. Ta’rik ignored them as they approached, still fixated on the ground.

“Got a sense of someth’n down there, huh?,” Alysa asked once she noticed the alien seemed to realize what was underneath the town, “The signal’s stronger out in the woods.”

She continued to ignore them and placed a pierced ear on the pavement.

“Even we don’t what’s down there,” Creed added, “But it’s agreed that whatever it is, it’s dangerous. Maybe it’s best to get your people together and find some other planet.”

Ta’rik stood to her feet, eyeing the two of them. First, she began to sway back and forth in a snake-like fashion while Alysa and Creed backed away slowly. She raised her arms, the jewelry clanging together with every movement, then she began to move her hips as she swayed forward. “Okay, is she dancing?,” Creed asked. She twirled her arms into the air and then fell back to the ground where she slapped both palms on the pavement. An eruption shot out like a sewage pipe bursting, sending debris into the air. Then came a rapid series of smaller eruptions, moving in a line toward the two of them. They threw themselves in either direction as a swathe burst through the street, eventually hitting a fire hydrant. Once it was ripped from the ground, a geyser of water shot into the air.

Alysa clapped her hands and rubbed them together, then raised them to the sky as dark clouds began to form overhead. Meanwhile, the police began to open fire. Ta’rik crossed her arms and rocked back and forth, generating a mystic shield that deflected the hail of bullets coming her way. As the dark clouds formed, lightning flashes appeared in the sky. Alysa then threw her hands down, sending a stream of lightning to the alien mystic’s location. The shields still held fast as Ta’rik continued to rhythmically sway as a strong electric current rained down. With the fire hydrant destroyed and a steady flow of water spewing out of the ground, Creed had an idea. He picked up a flat slab of concrete and angled it against the water, causing it to spray in Ta’rik’s direction. The water and lightning caused a massive burst of light and a loud popping sound. A moment later, Ta’rik was seen picking herself off the ground as a gust of smoke blew past.

“She looks pissed,” Creed took note of the piercing green eyes beneath the veil.

“That’s what happens when you start shit in Winghaven!,” Alysa called out.

Ta’rik twirled around, her arms flailing in the sky; as she did so, a strange harp-like instrument appeared in the air beside her. She spun, running her fingers along the strings and releasing multi-colored streams of light in addition to a noise that did not resemble any instrument on Earth. Alysa and Creed dropped to the ground once more as the streams hit the walls and and pavements, almost instantly eating away at them as the mortar became corroded. She continued to spin and clap, occasionally strumming the harp to release strange music along with streams of light. Creed leapt over the hood of a car and took cover while Alysa ducked behind a mailbox. Then a mystic blast shot out, striking the bizarre instrument, the small explosion knocking Ta’rik back down again.

Mama Johnson and Papa Abadie stood in the street, taking stances. “Good of them to show up,” Creed said under his breath. “It’s okay, Alysa,” Mama Johnson called out, “We can handle this.” When it came to the Iseda religion, a priestess and priest were present at most temples as the followers believed a natural order of leadership needed feminine and masculine energies in balance, although the concept was not exclusive to gender as there had been male priestesses and female priests in some cases. In the case of Papa Abadie, he was a trans man, which was acceptable in the community. A priestess was meant to protect the village which could mean anything from bestowing kindly advice to charity. A priest was meant to strengthen the village which could mean anything from ensuring safe practices of the followers to showing courage in hard times. In this case, protecting and strengthening the village had other interpretations but the same goal.

Johnson held a crystal in her hand and said something in Patois. As Ta’rik stood to her feet, she began to scream and clutch her head. Then she bowed down, her astral self appearing in a ghost-like form before being pulled toward the crystal. Meanwhile, Papa Abadie cupped his hands together, generating pure mystic energy before launching a second blast in hopes of destroying Ta’rik’s body. Her astral self seemingly reached into her nearly-prone body, which animated it. Her arms raised again and she performed another move, which deflected the energy blast back at the attackers. Mama Johnson raised a mystic shield but the impact knocked both of them to the ground.

Across town, in Winghaven First Baptist Church, a pastor led his congregation in prayer. The pews were full of people silently kneeling and praying for protection against the invasion. Gary held the hand of his wife Susan; likewise, she held the hands of her children. Gary had been a vessel for the angel Briathos for some time and for reasons he didn’t understand. While Briathos spoke to Farrell Creed regarding certain cases if asked, a complete manifestation hadn’t occurred. As Gary prayed, he felt the telltale warmth in his body, a heat that was intense but oddly painless. The angel was coming but he didn’t understand why. “Gary, what is it?,” Susan whispered as she noticed Gary looking uncomfortable. He shook his head and whispered back, “Just stay here with the kids,” then he quickly got up and rushed for the door. “Gary!,” she called after him which got attention of the rest of the congregation. He didn’t respond and continued outside, then fell on his knees. When Briathos took over, the feeling was always intense but this was the worst it had ever been. His mouth opened into a silent scream and light poured out and his eyes lit up.

Across town, Ta’rik walked with her head and back arched and her hands shaking while stretched out. She stomped forward in time as her body began to light up with green flame. The three Iseda followers had positioned themselves in a triangular pattern raised their arms, creating a triangular barrier. The alien was trapped and Creed decided to take the shot by pulling his gun and firing. The bullet burned up as it came near the green flame, then it became more intense. An explosion erupted within the barrier and while the green flames were contained, it was enough to throw them back to the ground and break the mystic bond.

Ta’rik stood in the center of the damaged street with the green flames swirling around her. She eyed her opponents as if choosing which one to kill first, then she cocked her head to the side as if someone called her name. She turned and looked to the sky. Creed and Alysa almost didn’t notice the orange dot in the sky but Ta’rik was staring at it intensely. She gathered the green flames into her arms and then began to twirl, releasing the burning energy into an arching wave that shot into the sky. Above, the orange dot seemingly jumped over the energy as it flew past, then it came to Earth with enough velocity that the people below didn’t fully register it until force winds blew past them, kicking up debris and litter.

Ta’rik continued to gaze at the sky even though the orange dot was no longer there, her eyes unfocused. Her torso began to lean forward while everything from the waist down fell in the opposite direction. The two halves of her body dropped to the ground, cut in a perfectly straight line; the flesh had been seared to the point that there was no blood or visible organs. It was clean and quick. Alysa, Creed and the others stood silent as they processed what had happened. A moment later, a figure dropped from the sky in a three-point landing with four wings stretched out, nearly taking up the width of the street. It wore gold armor with human limbs, winged feet, and a helmet that appeared to be the face of an eagle with the beak coming down over a marble-white face with glowing white eyes. His shoulder plates had a lion head on one side and an ox head on the other and he held a sword with a gold hilt and a blade engulfed in flames.

“We got another one!,” Meyer shouted as he and his officers drew their guns on the being.

“I don’t think this one’s a threat,” Mama Johnson informed them.

The angel strode forward and in a deep voice said, “Indeed, I am not.”

Creed leaned in once he heard a familiar voice, “Wait,… Big Bird, is that you?”

“I have briefly taken over this mortal vessel. This is my true form, yes.”

“Briathos,” Alysa exclaimed, “So is this it? This is the big threat you were put on Earth for?”

“No, that threat is yet to come and will be much more dangerous.”

“That’s comforting.”

“But I have emerged with a purpose. Both you and Farrell Creed are fated to take part in this war.”

“I knew it,” Alysa pointed a finger at Creed, “We were gonna get roped into this no matter what.”

“I am afraid you both have to leave now,” the angel explained, “I am charged with staying behind to guard this area against any more invaders while the two fo you are needed elsewhere.”

“Damn,” Creed sighed, “Cassie is gonna be worried as hell,” he produced his cellphone and began to call.

“Alysa,” Mama Johnson began, “I urge you to stay here. This situation is not something we should involve ourselves in. It could bring more trouble.”

Alysa brushed her off, “I can’t with you right now, I’m sorry. This is bigger than just our people.”

“You are getting more and more defiant,” Papa Abadie warned.

“You heard the man,” she pointed to Briathos, “This is my fate.”

“…Cassie, I know…,” Creed spoke on the phone, “…I’m gonna be tied up in this longer than I expected but I’ll call as often as I can… love you too,” he put the phone back in his jacket, “Let’s do this.”

Briathos turned and raised his sword, slashing it through the air, which created a tear in space. Creed and Alysa looked at one another curiously then at the newly-opened portal which led to what appeared to be an empty city street. Briathos then made another slash that opened a portal revealing what appeared to be the Pentagon. “Farrell Creed, you are fated to go to the city of New York,” he pointed to the second portal, “And Alysa Saraki, your fate lies in Washington DC.”

“Wait, we’re splitting up?,” Creed exclaimed, finally indicating worry.

“Like in the horror movies?,” Alysa added with a look of dread.

“That is your fate,” Briathos answered calmly.

“So… then what?,” Alysa asked, “We get out there and somehow humanity is saved? What are we supposed to do when we get to where we gotta be? Do we even like… survive?,” she took a second look at her portal, “And is that the Pentagon? They might shoot me just for showing up.”

“It is not my charge to know what happens after this. I only know that you must separate if the Earth is to be saved.”

“But we do this together,” Alysa protested.

“Not this time, I’m afraid.”

“You gotta work on your people skills, Big Bird,” Creed stepped up to his portal, “I guess this is it. We can’t fight fate, right?”. Alysa did likewise, “I guess not.” Both took one last look at Winghaven before turning to one another.

“You be careful,” Creed told her cautiously.

“You too,” she answered.

Then they both disappeared through the portals which closed behind them.

The Resurgence Reading List

The Resurgence Prologue

The Resurgence #1

The Resurgence #2

Formerly Known as Brain Boy #8

Winghaven #20

The Cavalier #21

The Badges #12

The Resurgence #3

The Resurgence #4

The Resurgence #5

The Resurgence #6

Astra Machina #10

The Resurgence #7

The Upstarts #11

The Resurgence #8

The Resurgence #9

The Resurgence #10

The Resurgence #11

The Resurgence #12

The Resurgence Epilogue