Three individuals sit ensconced in a hospital room. Two of them are girls, one wearing a cowl that obscures her face but not the cuts that lacerate her stomach while the other sits in a business skirt and blouse. The final occupant is an aging man visibly wounded and in some pain but sitting with a dignified aura. He speaks and the other two listen intently, hanging off his every word.
“Where was I?” he asks the girls.
Erika leaps at the chance to tell him saying, “Ash’s sister died, the Association was splintered, and the Temple was built.”
“Ah yes,” Beacon says with a smile, “things were starting to get dark again.” Clearing his throat he continues, “Gwenny died, but Ash had disappeared long before then. He hardly made it to the wedding to be honest. With the Association splintered, we managed to create a functional system. It worked, for all that it limited us, but at the time the limitations weren’t clear.”
“What limits?” asks Eldritch.
Erika answers, “They didn’t interact with one another. Each unit was self-contained and jealously protected their autonomy. It got so bad that supers could hardly cross borders without registration and an escort.”
“I’m ashamed to admit it, but I was just as much part of the problem as the rest of us. We’d become so blind and caught up in our little power struggles that we forgot why we began the Association in the first place,” Beacon replies. Then his face turns grim as he continues, “But Ash reminded us.”
“How?” says Eldritch in a cowed voice.
“By conquering Europe,” Beacon simply responds, “His sister’s death must have set him off because he came into the headquarters of the Association in Europe about a week after Gwenny died and ordered everyone to submit or die. They refused, and then they died.”
Erika interjects, “Black Nod, did he reach out?” seeing Eldritch’s confused expression she clarifies, “he ran the European division.”
Grief in his voice, Beacon answers, “He tried. But Ash killed him and we just let it happen.”
Eldritch, in a confused voice asks, “I don’t understand. Why did you let someone like that have free reign?”
“Our divisions came back to haunt us,” Beacon replies, “Black Nod didn’t want to call on us for help until it was too late to save his branch. Even when the news reached us, we reacted with suspicion, thinking it was a trick or a trap. So instead of sending our full force against him, we sent token help. When Ash began to organize, christening his lieutenants, we were still waiting for our initial groups to report back.”
“But once they did, once you understood how dangerous he was, you counterattacked in force?” asks Eldritch.
Beacon shakes his head in a weary motion. “No, we continued to argue instead. We couldn’t agree on a plan, who should lead, or much of anything really. Ash exploited that to send out his propaganda videos and begin recruiting villains en masse. By the time we mobilized, he had prepared for us. Europe was in a delicate balance. Governments secretly paid him tribute and openly skirted any discussion of an official response. Of course, at the same time they begged us to fight back, and with the public execution of Black Nod, we did.”
Erika adds, “That’s one of my earliest memories. I was only seven but I can remember how my parents reacted. They let us out of school early so we could be with our families. The entire time I hardly understood what was happening, but I knew it was awful.”
As if seeing her for the first time, Beacon looks at Erika before looking down at his hands. “I forget how it must seem to the youth,” he says in an exhausted tone. “We imagine our tragedies will stay fresh forever, but time scabs over all wounds, even those we feel will never heal.”
“They talk about it in school,” supplies Eldritch. “Ash killing Nod, I mean. But nobody wants to explain what happened.”
In a soft voice, Beacon says, “It was the end of an era. Up until that point, fights between supers were more the stuff of myth than reality. Even during the worst conflicts in World War II, the government carefully controlled exactly how much information the public got about the activities of the more dangerous supers. But Black Nod died in full view of every camera Ash could pack into the Temple alongside every dissident, resistance fighter, and hero he could capture in the days leading up to the execution. For the first time the public understood exactly what someone with powers and no sense of restraint might be capable of.”
“What did the people do?” asks Eldritch.
“They were terrified. They begged us to act quickly.” Pain radiating from his expression, Beacon pauses and gathers the strength to continue before saying, “I cautioned restraint. I wanted to isolate him first, attacking his army. Once they were contained, we could move on Berlin together and finish him. The others disagreed and went forward without me.”
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Erika calmly says, “How could you be so callous?” Her emotions remain in check, but they swirl as she grapples with his words. “How could you delay for a second against him?”
Beacon raises his voice and snaps back, “Because he was my friend! He held us together for so long and I trusted him with everything! He was the first person I told my secret identity to and the man who convinced me to stay a hero after Hellraiser.” Breaking down, Beacon continues in anguish, “He’d saved my life and I just couldn’t imagine he’d changed to such an extent. I thought it was mind control, manipulation, or something worse that I hadn’t thought of.”
Eyes never leaving Beacon’s, Erika starts to speak, “I know the rest of the story,” she says in a dangerous voice, “the other three attacked the Temple of Interfaith unity, throwing everything they had against Ash and he won.”
“Or,” she says in a cutting tone, “he would have won if it wasn’t for the timely intervention of Brigadier Beacon who slew Ascherus the Annihilator in single combat in full view of all the cameras he’d set up to film Black Nod’s execution. With the others weak from the battle and riding a wave of popularity from his success, Beacon became the public face and de facto head of the Association.”
Pausing to collect her breath, Erika’s tone turn mocking as she adds, “And once in charge, he worked to unify the competing branches of the Association into a comprehensive and cohesive group that, with a stronger position based on overwhelming public support, could now negotiate with governments on an equal footing.”
Angry, she continues without missing a beat, “This led to the formalization of the mediation corps and the ratification of the Temple Accords by the U.N., an agreement giving the Association sweeping privileges and established support in regards to negotiating on behalf of supers everywhere.”
Quietly, Beacon answers her scorn with, “It was a mistake to act without unity. But in our haste, we allowed the lieutenants and his followers to escape the aftermath of the Temple.” Looking at Eldritch, he says, “You’ve already suffered for that decision, having encountered a lieutenant already.”
Looking back at Erika he adds, “I don’t know what the right decision was. It’s plausible that Ash might have destroyed more lives if we took our time, but I know exactly how many people his lieutenants and sycophants have hurt since then and I can’t say which is worse. All I can say is that we made a decision and we have to carry the weight of that decision.”
Erika slumps back into her chair, sorrow overtaking her expression as she says, “I’m sorry, it’s just this is Ash were talking about, it’s hard to understand. I know you’re not to blame, but I’ve been to the Temple and I’ve seen the devastation he caused.”
Hailey answers her in a small voice, “It’s like the Nazis. People don’t want to believe it could really happen.”
Nodding, Beacon continues her line of thought, “Until the Temple. Then we had to believe he was capable of everything he promised. Our attack came barely too late to save Black Nod and continued for three days straight. The remaining military and police joined our side quickly as they could muster and the fight began. I arrived after the first day, bringing the government forces.”
“How did the battle last so long then?” asks Eldritch.
“Ash went after the other leaders immediately,” continues Beacon, “leaving them unable to continue. I arrived just in time to save them and engage Ash as the battle spilled out of the Temple and into the streets of Berlin. We’d evacuated as many civilians as we could, so nobody bothered to hold back. Artillery fire, magical blasts, energy beams, and God only knows what else filled the air while the close combat powers fought bitterly for every building. All the while, cameras rolled. We couldn’t keep the reporters away and Ash’s own network supported them. For the first two days, the world watched us fight without restraint.”
“What happened on the third day?” asks Erika.
“You already said,” says Beacon with a smile, “I defeated Ash and his army scattered.”
Erika leans in and asks in an intent voice, “Yes but that’s all the textbooks say. I want to hear you tell me the details.”
“Perhaps,” muses Beacon, “I should show you instead.” At his words, his hand begins to light up. On the hospital bed, a three-dimensional spread begins to form creating the tiny, but incredibly detailed, figures of Ash and Beacon.
Slowly the lattice forms the shape of a temple that carries symbols of all faiths. In the rafters sits a multitude of cameras, some of them operated by frightened looking figures. On the floor of the temple, the two face one another, the younger version of Beacon against The Cripple, leaning on his metal cane. Beacon shines with the full radiance of his light while Ash seems to devour it, leaving behind a muted color that stands in stark contrast to the rest of the room. Slowly, The Cripple limps his way forward and starts to speak low enough to avoid the cameras. His voice sounds hollow as he begins to speak.
“Once more Beacon, come and face me one more time.”
Beacon and his miniature speak in unison as both say, “Ash, please, let it end! Stop this madness and turn yourself in, don’t make me kill you!”
Ascherus shakes his head as he replies, “No, it will not end here. I am certain of it.”
“Please Ash,” cries out Beacon, “listen to me!”
The Cripple leans on his cane and regards his opponent before answering. “I have seen it, Beacon, the end of it all. I have seen what Anathamizer sought. I know why Becca hunts. I understand the destruction Hellraiser wrought. I even find myself aware of your endless struggle as well.” His face twisting into a hideous visage, Ash continues, “And it is not enough. We are not enough.”
“I don’t understand,” says Beacon.
Ash shakes his head and answers, “No I didn’t think you would. Beacon, the light that shines ahead, beckoning us forward to the bright future.” Grimacing, Ash spits out, “You make them weak. You allow them to bask in your reflection and it cripples them. Without conflict, they will not survive.”
With an unholy gleam, he raises his free hand and says, “But I will give them the terror, the enemy, they need! I am Ascherus, The Cripple, The Annihilator, and the one who will destroy this city and everyone in it!”
Slowly a tear builds in the light. The Temple begins to shake as it eats at the foundations and supports. Beacon finds himself standing on a platform of his own make as the floor falls away. Frantically, he sends out puny bursts of light that Ash effortlessly extinguishes in the rents of nothingness that open at his will. The camera operators race from the building as the entire thing turns into a gaping wound of emptiness.
As the void grows in size, the tempo of Beacon’s frenzied attacks rises as well. He manifests hundreds of different weapons and sends them at Ash. One moment it is a set of blades, in another he carries a gun, the next he hurls a javelin. Despite the onslaught, each one falls into another hole as Ash simply stands at the center with his hand held high.
All across the room, battles like these play out in miniature. Behind Beacon’s head, a hole in reality rips open and promptly falls into a box of shining light. Blades form and shatter. Guns fire and disintegrate. Beams of light lance toward Ash and fold into unstable realities, reflected back towards their progenitor only to wink out of existence and reappear moments later aimed back at Ash. The ground itself writhes and boils as lances of light combat furrows of void. Endlessly, the battle expands and rages with each combatant pushing their immense powers to the brink in control, scale, and speed.
Finally, Beacon abandons his ranged attack. Folding the platform into a glowing armor, he races forward and tries to strike directly at the immobile man. In response, Ash brings his hand down in a cutting motion, neatly lacerating Beacon’s armor. Every blow of Ash’s empty space cuts into the armor before regenerating all within moments. But Beacon’s continues.
Finally, reaching Ash, the void and light begins to spill out in uncontrolled and unfocused bursts that cause the final destruction of the Temple. As it crumbles, the real Beacon pauses the image and says, “What you’re about to see is not on the official or unofficial records. Keep it secret.”
What does Beacon mean to show Eldritch and Erika? Find out next week in the conclusion of Beacon’s story… “Battle at the Temple!”