Marty Morgan rubbed his bald pate with a gloved hand. Age had taken his hair and

carved lines in his face, but he was still fighting trim thanks to his gift. It burned

calories like no one’s business.

Finch, his wife, stood at his side. Gray strands of hair was the only difference he

could see from when they had first met in ‘79. Who would have thought they would

be together so long doing what they did.

He looked to his right. Blue flame marked where the Lamplighters were doing what

they were doing blocks away. He hoped they knew what they were doing. His kids

were out there, and he wanted them to have a chance.

“I, the Queen of Genn, the Sister of the Destroyer, the Mother of the Myriad, the Sun

of a Million Lands, pronounce sentence on this miserable place for the crime of

accepting my rebellious daughter as one of your own.” The image of a burning tree

held up its prize in its grasp. The image covered the world so everyone could see what

was going to happen. “You will all be exterminated just like this hero who tried to

stop me.”

The net around the Mark caught fire as magic poured down on him. He felt the green

spark in his body being ripped out. Then he blew apart in a cloud of ash and smoke.

Marty’s radio exploded in his ear. He gritted his teeth. Now was not the time to start

losing it.

“Everybody, pay attention,” he said. “We have to hold this line. Fliers, knock

anything in the air that’s not one of ours down. Ground troops, keep their armies back

as much as possible. We need to give the Lamplighters a chance to do their thing.

Rangers, keep moving people out of the way. We don’t want to kill somebody by

accident.”

“I have to go,” said Finch.

“Be careful,” said Marty. “I’m going to try to distract that thing until the Lamplighters

can do what they can.”

Finch moved to the edge of the roof. She vanished over the side.

A streak of light appeared over the city. Marty frowned as he watched it head right

at the center of the chaos. Then the giant hero known as M-37 punched the Queen of

the Genn in the face with a metallic fist.

That was a big distraction in Marty’s book. He needed to add to that.

Purple pulses lit the night along the line. Air ships came apart as he watched the night

sky. What was causing that?

“I have some help over here, Marty,” said Scarrow on the radio. “We’re covering our

point.”

Another giant blasted through the air. Marty didn’t recognize him, but he was

throwing blasts of energy into the Queen as he flew across the city.

“He’s with us, Marty,” said the Scarrow. “Don’t shoot him.”

Marty frowned. New players on the board were changing the positions. It looked like

their mad scheme might work after all. All he had to do was keep his children safe,

and the city by extension.

“Mr. Multiverse is here on the ground,” said Plus. “He’s everywhere.”

Marty expected that. Mr. Multiverse often showed up at events where there was a rip

in the air. He only stayed around long enough to help out, and then he was gone.

The Mark’s kids flew through the air. If the Mark couldn’t make a dent in Big Ugly,

they couldn’t either.

Other fliers joined them. Marty hoped none of them were his kids. He had to hold the

line, and keep the air clear. If the Lamplighters were right, they would become targets

soon enough. The Queen wasn’t going to let them pose a threat for long.

“How’s it going?,” said a voice on his right. He looked down. A teenaged girl with

dark hair and eyes smiled at him. “Name’s Sara. This is my brother, Moshe.”

Moshe stood behind her. He scanned the air for danger as he tried to keep an eye on

everything at once.

“Our parents wanted us out of the way until they got done helping the Americans

build their lamps,” said Sara. “Al-a-Din is down on the street with his butler and felt

we should help you instead of getting in his way.”

“That’s kind of him,” said Marty. “I’m trying to concentrate here. The goal is to

protect the Lamplighters and keep the enemy confined close to the door. Can you do

either of those things while I do what I have to do?”

“I think so,” said Sara. She smiled. “What do you think, Moshe?”

“I think we’re too close to the front line,” said Moshe. “I don’t think this is what Al-a-

Din wanted.”

“Concentrate on what’s going on,” said Marty. “We have to hold this line one way,

or the other. If things get ugly, get clear.”

“Don’t worry about us, old man,” said the girl. “We can handle walking trees.”

“I don’t think that’s right,” said the boy. He flung blue balls of light across the roof.

“Sorry, something moved over there.”

“Need some light,” said Marty.

Sara said a word. A column of light sprang into existence across the street. Trees with

jack o’lantern faces looked around at the revealing fire. A rain of blue bolts fell on

them before they could snuff the light out.

“Keep doing that until the coast is clear,” said Marty. He sat down on the gravel of

his base roof and concentrated.

Marty started out his career as Animal Boy of the Hazard Scouts. His gift was the

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ability to summon animals to help him out. His foster family had brought him along

on adventures until they were ambushed and for the most part wiped out.

Barry Nicklaus, Mister Robot, spent ten years as a brain in a jar while Marty was

figuring out how to survive without resources. As soon as Marty and his new friends

had rescued him, he went back to solving problems with a new body. When the call

went out, he had been the first to fly into New York to set up to repel the invasion.

He had shifted to help the Lamplighters with his expertise while the rest of the newer

generations of Scouts went about their business.

Marty had originally only been able to summon animals. Then he had been able to

summon mixes of two different animals. Then he had been able to move into

imaginary animals after that.

He crafted his summoning to keep the Queen busy. The Scouts had to hold the line

while he worked. If the plan worked, he would be able to gather his extended family

and take them home after a job well done. If it didn’t, he would go down fighting.

Either way, he wasn’t giving up.

“Are you okay?,” asked Sara.

“Yes,” said Marty. He didn’t open his eyes. “Just keep the roofs clear while I cook up

this surprise. It’ll take me a couple of minutes. It’s the biggest crafting I have ever

done.”

“Don’t worry,” said Sara. “We’re handling things.”

Marty didn’t open his eyes to check the veracity of that statement. He needed to

concentrate on what he was doing.

He had been younger when he had started out. He hoped they knew better than he

had.

A roar answered his summons. He smiled. He opened his eyes as a wave of heated air

washed over him.

“What is that?,” asked Moshe.

“The biggest distraction I could come up with,” said Marty. “Scouts, Behemoth is

walking. Let him go by.”

The summoned monster stomped forward, casually knocking aside any building in

its way. The fins running down its back glowed in anger as it closed on the fight

ahead. It roared its challenge at the Queen.

“That is a big distraction,” said Moshe. “I don’t think I have seen anything bigger.”

“Hopefully she hasn’t either,” said Marty. Weariness settled into his bones. He closed

his eyes again. Maybe he had created too big a distraction. Maybe he should have

tried for something a little smaller on scale.

The roar of the big lizard was followed by the sound of burning air as it breathed on

the Queen while still blocks away.

“Are you all right?,” asked Sara. She said something else. Marty felt a tingling, but

it wasn’t enough to get him back on his feet.

“I just need a moment to rest,” said Marty. He knew that no matter what happened

next, he was out of the fight. Calling on his monster had broken something inside. He

could feel it.

No one would be able to fix what he had done to himself. He was too old, and at the

end of his life. He should have stayed home with his feet up and sipping Pepsi.

Saving the world was a young man’s, person’s, game.

“I can’t fix this,” said Sara. “I’m sorry.”

“Everybody has problems,” said Marty. “Are we holding the line?”

“I think so,” said Sara. “Your monster is forcing the tree people to defend their queen.

They aren’t doing a good job of it from what I can see.”

“The Mark’s girls are probably wrecking a lot of the mooks,” said Marty. “That’s

what I expected.”

“The Mark is dead,” said Moshe.

“I didn’t expect that,” said Marty. “Doesn’t matter if we lose the fight.”

If they lost, who was going to care how hard they fought, or who fell in battle. The

human species would be forced to live under a yoke and possibly put on the path to

extinction.

He hadn’t joined the Scouts to let that happen.

“It looks like we’re pushing them back, Marty,” said Corona in his earpiece. “That

was some stunt you just pulled.”

Corona and Ren had come out of retirement to help with this. Their son, Bond, was

out there fighting with the other Scouts. She still looked like the blond girl from the

poor side of town he had asked to move from Detroit to help him restart the Scouts

after they had saved Barry.

Ren had aged better than Marty. The former Animal Boy put it down to the magic he

used to solve mysteries. Forty years had only given him some streaks of grey in his

dark hair and a few wrinkles to go with the scars he had picked up in the battles they

had waged.

“The lines on the street have stabilized, Dad,” said his son, Mark. “We’ll need some

more people on the street if we want to start pushing them back for real.”

Marty tried to talk into his radio. There had to be something he could say to change

things. His mouth was so dry.

“I have a wedge of clear sky,” said Harmon, the Scarrow. “Darla says she can knock

down anything flying too close to us.”

Marty wondered who Darla was. He thought she had something to do with the second

giant helping M-37. That made her the source of the purple lightning he had seen

earlier.

“Finch,” said Marty. He didn’t know if the radio would activate. He didn’t know how

loud he was talking. “Can you hear me? I love you.”

It would be beyond expectation to think she had heard him. He couldn’t do anything

about it now. He had to hold on to give his monster time to do its work.

If he died, his animal would expire too. He had to hold on to buy it time to do its job.

“We’re ready to fire,” said Mark Hadron over the radio net. “Magicians, get ready to

push.”

Marty smiled. He only had to hold on until the Lamplighters did their job. He could

do it for another ten seconds.

“Counting down,” said Hadron. “Three...Two...One...Fire in the hole.”

Blue flame pressed against Marty’s eyelids. He tried to turn his head, but he couldn’t.

He grimaced as the light seemed to go on forever. Then it shut off and the night sky

was back.

“Mister Morgan?,” said Sara. “Can you hold on? It looks like we’re winning.”

“Finch,” said Marty. “Can you find her?”

“I’ll call,” said Sara. “We’ll get her for you.”

Marty held his breath as he waited. He couldn’t open his eyes. He felt a hand touch

his face. He smiled at the familiar calluses.

“Here,” said Finch.

“I love you,” said Marty. “Thank you for the time you’ve given me.”

“Hospital,” said Finch.

“I’m broken on the inside,” said Marty. “It’s my time, and no one can change that. I

just wanted to say goodbye before I go.”

“Love you,” said Finch.

The city of New York lit up in a display of blue flames at Martin Morgan’s passing.

His gargantuan creation went with him as it became thunderous clouds casting

random lightning that broke apart over the ocean. His unknowing enemy, the Queen

of Genn, looked down at the hole in her body in shock. A giant fist punched her back

into her cloud door. Chanting closed the door as the various magicians summoned

into action cast their spells to fill the hole in the boundary between worlds.

The fighting continued for a bit, but the children of the Genn were beaten with their

queen sent home, and no way to distract the Mark’s daughters. They were rounded

up and sent home to get rid of them.

The Scouts gathered where Finch had covered Marty with his jacket. Others like the

Robot Rangers arrived to report in after the action was done. The city’s emergency

services were taking over, surveying the damage.

Tanner Lerner and his cousin, Darla, stood at the back of the crowd. A blond man in

a dun coat stood with them. He puffed on his cigar as he watched things with his

squinty eyes.

“So we didn’t save everybody,” said Tanner.

“Couldn’t be expected to,” said the man in the dun coat. “You two still did okay

considering.”

“If you can call running across the country and nearly getting killed fighting someone

that killed the Mark okay,” said Darla. “What the frack was that?”

“It needed doing,” said Tanner.

“Exactly,” said the man in the dun coat. “Some things need doing. Have a safe trip

back home. I doubt things will be this bad for a while. This Earth has beaten two

menaces from beyond. The others might decide to leave us alone for a bit.”

“What if they don’t, Mister Mysterious Mister Who Likes Crappy Smelling

Smokes?,” asked Darla.

“You’re the heroes who have to fight for the world,” said the man in the dun coat.

“I’m just a nobody comedy relief.”

He raised his cigar in a goodbye gesture and walked away.